- It was a pretty low key weekend; MK came over to my place in Brooklyn with some DVDs, and we watched the third season of Red Dwarf, as well as a few episodes of Pete & Pete. On Saturday we went to the city to catch the Little Boy exhibition at Japan Society which I really wanted to see since it was the last weekend. But because we were running late, we just opted to sit in the park (it was the first day in forever that the weather was actually good and not humid as fuck) and shop for comics at Jim Hanley. Then later in the evening we went to the Tea Lounge in Park Slope to see Raph and Deanna who are both moving to San Fran later this week. We all played Scrabble in teams, but I let MK do all the work while I chatted it up with Raph (it always great talking to anybody who truly appreciates good cinema, such as Tron and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure). Plans were made for later this week to go sake drinking.
The next day MK & I did manage to make it to the Little Boy show, and as expected, it was amazing (albeit a bit small). Though there was still pleny on hand, including various painting and sculptures from folks such as Nara and “Mr.”, Doremon manga pages, post WWII tinker toys, character design sketches from the old Ultra Man and Ultra 7 shows, a visual history of the evolution of Godzilla, scientific drawings show the cross sections of various kaiju, tons of Hello Kitty crap, and an entire wall made of storyboards from Daicon IV. Though my favorite part had to be a video featuring one person (I forget the name)who created mascots for each of the prefectures or regions in Japan, one for each. It was set up as a stage show with each character represented as a guy in a goofy costume, each with various degrees of mobility, and the show was outdoors, plus it was raining. It look liked such a clusterfuck, with 40 or so folks dressed as really bizarre things (my fave had to be some sea captain with a whole crab for a head, or the sexy planet earth) on a crowded, slick stage. And the man who created them all was onstage, dressed like one of those Hollywood gossip writers but in disguise mode, and he was getting all chocked up by the sight of it all. Intense.
Later in the day, MK prepared beer chicken, which is just an open can of beer shoved into a chicken, then placed over a grill. And it was damn good.
- OK, time to talk about Transformers: Just recently I found out about a new site has been launched to keep the hype for the upcoming film alive and flowing.. There’s even a clip featuring Steven Spielberg going on about how much he’s loved the Transformers. I really love how he, like everyone else (especially producer Don Murphy) keeps emphasizing that there’s going to thirty or so TF films coming down the road.
Plus here’s a shaky-cam version of a video that was produced for the Comic Con which I’m guessing was designed to make all Transformers fans feel warm inside. It feels like a real fan vid, with sloppily put together bits and pieces of the various shows, really crappy CGI that was either used for just promotional purposes (like at trade shows) or maybe done by fans, and clips of folks talking about how amazing the show was (hey I loved the original series, but its no War & Peace, I can at least admit that), all to that TF techno remix that’s been around since 1999.
Also, I came close to finally getting a re-issued Soundwave toy, but lost the eBay auction. Though in the end, I’m sorta glad my maximum bid of $100 came short. I think I’ll just go after this pretty keen Soundwave bust:
I’m assuming they’ll have some at the Transformers convention taking place later this week in the city (as well as the re-issued Soundwave, but for astronomic prices I’d have to assume). Though I’m certain that they probably won’t have this shirt available:
Now that I’m willing to pay top dollar for, no problem.
- As for the world of video games, the Hot Coffee controversy is still making the headlines. Now folks who are trying to make a profit on eBay are finding their listings being cancelled and being instructed to re-list in the adults only category. Ha.
Otherwise its a bit slow… the Xbox Summit just took place in Japan with some game announcements from Capcom, Konami, and Namco. But nothing really exciting took place; some pics from Ridge Racer 6 was shown, but it was just a render of one of the cars, and there was zero gameplay footage, which is a bummer. Though even more disappointing is that Battlefield Pizza Girl once again was a no show.
I hear Ouendan got great scores from Famitsu, and its even import friendly, so I might pick that up. Meanwhile in the states, Nanostray, the overhead space shooter from Majesco is the hot title that everyone wants, mainly because its impossible to find. With rumors that Majesco is going bankrupt due to Psychonauts and Advent Rising being bombs floating about, people are going nuts trying to get their copy, especially those who pre-order the game via EB or GameStop and yet they still didn’t get theirs.
On a side note, its been how many days now, and I still haven’t gotten my copy of Flipnic, a game I also pre-ordered. Jesus fuck do I hate EB/GameStop. What’s the moral here folks? Pre-ordering is a fucking sham. Do not be intimidated by the clerk monkey.
- Haven’t had much time for general screwing around on the web, but here’s a slew of really bad/creepy computer art featuring various super heroes, but mostly Captain America.
Plus here’s a list compiled by the British Film Institute for the 50 films you should see by the age of 14. First up, the top ten…
1. Spirited Away (2001) – Animated Japanese film about gods and sorcerers
2. The Wizard of Oz (1939) – Musical classic
3. Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959) – French 12-year-old turns into a hellraiser
4. The Night of the Hunter (1955) – Robert Mitchum as a serial killer in America’s Deep South
5. Where is My Friend’s House? (1987) – One of Iranian director Kiarostami’s earlier works
6. Show Me Love (1998) – Coming-of-age tale of two Swedish girls
7. Toy Story (1995) – Buzz Lightyear and Woody brought to life by computer animation
8. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi tearjerker
9. Bicycle Thieves (1948) – Italian film focusing on life after World War II
10. Kes (1969) – Gritty working class British drama
And here’s the rest…
A Day at the Races (1937) – Marx Brothers comedy
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) – Oscar-winning Sherwood Forest action
Au Revoir les Enfants (1987) – World War II drama set in French boarding school
Back to the Future (1985) – Michael J Fox’s time-travelling adventure
Beauty and the Beast (1991) – Disney’s musical masterpiece
La Belle et la Bete (1946) – French telling of Beauty and the Beast
Billy Elliot (2000) – Working class boy discovers a love of ballet
Edward Scissorhands (1990) – Romantic tale of an uncommonly gentle man
Etre et Avoir (2002) – Portrait of a French school staffed by one teacher
Finding Nemo (2003) – Underwater animation
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – Frank Capra’s uplifting family feature
Jason and the Argonauts (1963) – Greek hero and his adventures
The Kid (1921) – Charlie Chaplin as a tramp
King Kong (1933) – Giant ape thriller
Kirikou et la Sorciere (1998) – Animated African folk tale
Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953) – French comedy about a holidaymaker who wreaks havoc
My Life as a Dog (1985) – Swedish boy abused by his family
My Neighbour Totoro (1988) – Japanese animation
Oliver Twist (1948) – Charles Dickens’ classic
The Outsiders (1983) – Francis Ford Coppola crime drama
Pather Panchali (1955) – Indian story of survival for a boy in Bengal
Playtime (1967) – Jacques Tati in a French farce
The Princess Bride (1987) – Rob Reiner directed fantastical fairytale
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) – Aboriginal epic
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Harrison Ford goes on a perilous quest
The Railway Children (1970) – Charming drama set in Edwardian England
The Red Balloon (1956) – French parable
Romeo & Juliet (1996) – Baz Luhrmann’s modern take on Shakespeare’s tragedy
The Secret Garden (1993) – Maggie Smith stars in the classic journey of discovery
Singin’ in the Rain (1952) – Gene Kelly musical
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs(1937) – Classic animated fairytale
Some Like it Hot (1959) – Classic comedy with Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) – Tense drama set in post civil war Spain
Star Wars (1977) – George Lucas’s sci-fi epic
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) – Movie of the Pulitzer winning novel
Le Voyage dans la Lune (1902) – Vintage French space travel
Walkabout (1971) – Children stranded in the Australian outback
Whale Rider (2002) – New Zealand tale of love
Whistle Down the Wind (1961) – Hayley Mills finds Jesus on a farm
The White Balloon (1995) – Iranian tale
Gotta say, number 3 (known in the US as 100 Blows) is an excellent choice. And number 4′s inclusion takes some real balls (but is ultimately very appropriate… I really I first saw it when I young). And as a big-time Miyazaki fan, I am elated to see one of his films to take the top spot, but I wish it wasn’t Sprited Away, which I found to be fairly disappointing. Kiki’s Delivery Service or Nausicca would be better placed in its spot.
This list has gotten a lot of scrutiny, and deservedly so (though some seem to have an axe to grind with the British Film Institute, which I have no qualms with, at least not yet). But like everyone else, I have to wonder about the glaring omission of the Goonies.
Now as a kid, I watched a ton of movies (and television), so if I had to comprise my own top ten list of movies that I saw by the time I was 14 that left an impact, it would look like this:
10. Ghostbusters
9. The Jerk
8. 2001: Space Odyssey
7. Akira
6. Clockwork Orange (believe it or not, I saw this when I was ten!)
5. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
4. Transformers the Movie (guess, what a surprise, huh?)
3. Tron
2. Empire Strikes Back
1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Easily the most influential film of my entire life (go ahead, laugh), it was what inspired me to follow my own artistic pursuits.
And even though its not in my “top ten” I feel like I have to mention Back To The Future, Yellow Submarine, Popeye, The Terminator, and the Blues Brothers.
