rootboy

I feel like the drive to do a lot is draining.

...

This is unacceptable. |8

I WILL WORK TILL I PIERCE THE HEAVENS DOLDRUMS WITH THE BURNING FIRE OF MOTIVATION.

When I figure out how.

I took the day off today to watch the second half of the final season of Avatar, and /damn/. What a show.

( Cut for spoilers! )

And yes, at the end of the epic, Toph is still my favorite.

My friend/co-worker dropped out so we are down from 7 people to 6 people in the room. Here's the math :

$350 per night x 3 nights + estimated taxes = $1150 / 6 = $192

If you know anyone else who wants to go but don't have a room then tell me.

I need a job. But this post is not about this.

I need to write up about the Philippines. This post is ALSO not about this.

Randomly watching Baccano! again to get Nice's character down. But yes.

This one's for you nuimi, _0_skie_0_ and ratiosu! Because you are fellow Baccano nuts.

BEHOLD! PROOF THAT GRAHAM AKER (Gundam 00) AND LADD RUSSO (Baccano!) WOULD BE LIKE BFFS OR THE BEST CRACK OTP EVER.

( CUT FOR RANDOM LARGE WATFUX!? IMAGES TO PROVE MY POINT )

The end.

So yeah. o_o

Update about the Philippines coming soon I swear.

Did finally get my luggage back. \o/

Oh internet. Even after three weeks of non-internet, when I come back you are still as SRS BUSINESS as ever. Fandom when prompted with anon-status IS the internet haet machine.

Hahah why left the collective womb known as fandom ages ago. I won't say which fandom I lurked that made me say I am GTFOing now, but suffice to say when it turned into a DRAMAZ party I jumped that ship faster than passengers on the Titanic.

Actually bad example. Hell I would STAY on that boat till the last minute if it was that or FREEZING ASS ATLANTIC OCEAN.

Moving ooooooonnn.

And if Wikipedia is to be believed. I have the same birthday as Suzaku (Code Geass).

You know what THAT MEANS.


WHO WANTS TO BE MY LULU? 8D

I will have a full of win write up about my trip.

After my luggage is finished sightseeing in Detroit.

And when I say sightsee, I mean, lost en route to Chicago due to airlines or baggage handlers at Detroit. Thanks guys.

rikkai_exchange reveals are up, so it's now safe to post this:

Better than the Real Thing: 2882 (though only slightly), G-rating. Niou and Yagyuu visit a gallery of forgeries and fakes. Set prior to the Kantou matches with Seigaku, and references (obliquely) the manga canon. For onlysayitonce as part of the rikkai_exchange festivities.

Much love for my beta, lady_of_water.

( No room for a little smudge out of place, hmm? )

I haven't updated in a bazillion years, and not for lack of free time. The internet is finally hooked up at the house, though I haven't managed to locate my wireless router yet, so it's just Morganna plugged into the wall. The moving van finally arrived yesterday, so the house is now filled with boxes. I've been unpacking pretty continuously since yesterday afternoon. At least now I have my TV, so I can enjoy the glory of NCIS on a screen that is not my laptop's.

There is /so much stuff/ to be unpacked, it's ridiculous. I couldn't even get into my kitchen this morning because there were so many boxes. I am happy to report that I am making somewhat of a dent, though with some less than pleasing results. Two of my bookshelves were completely destroyed and will have to be thrown out, and a couple other pieces of furniture were damaged. Most upsetting, though, was that about half of my Christmas ornaments were crushed and had to be thrown out.

Galen finishes up Institute today, so hopefully his schedule will loosen up a little for the next couple of weeks. I've barely started job hunting yet; I'm to busy unpacking, watching NCIS, and just generally being a bum.

Actually, if anyone wants to come visit, this would be a great time :D

After finding out that some new Lucky Star figures were coming out, I decided to hunt some new ones and these will be on my pre-order list.

(Already pre-ordered)


Konata XD!!!


Tsubasa, my fav from Lucky Star.


Other twin sister, Kagami


These are figma figures so they are fully poseable.

I have to get this one too...wuestion is where to pre-order this...




Gotta love the bird on him.

On Sunday, jordan_baker and I went to see...

 

You all need to ask jordan_bakerabout our initial experience with the first Hellboy movie; she tells it much better than I do. ^_^

The two of us saw the movie together with a group of friends literally hours before I told her I actually liked her, 4 years ago.  I have to admit, I didn't really know at the time whether I liked the movie or not; I appreciated it, but it was still very uneven.  Over time, I grew to like it.

Part of it is, in no small part, credited to Guillermo del Toro.  Over the years since Hellboy, I have grown a bit more of an understanding of his work as a whole.  The man has shown an interesting mix of both artistry and mainstream asthetics: compare Pan's Labyrinth to Mimic, or Blade II to Cronos.  Yes, some of his more artistic endeavors are more enthralling than his more theatrical pictures -- I anointed Pan's Labyrinth but damned Blade II --, but the man nevers makes a movie that's visually uninteresting.  What's ingenous in Hellboy II is that del Toro manages to combine both his mainstream and artistic elements and make it work.

Hellboy II begins with a bit of a recap; not to events from the first movie, mind you, but somewhere within Hellboy's biography.  In 1955, a young Hellboy is told a bedtime story by his "father" Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt reprising his role from the first film).  The story tells of an ancient war between the world of man and the world of mythical creatures: dwarves, elves, trolls, and the like.  The Elf King, King Balor, is given a malevolent creation from the goblins in the hope of winning this war: The Golden Army.  A force of (I love this) "70 times 70" unstopable mechanical warriors whom only follow the orders of one who wears the royal crown.  Balor accepts, and the army decimates the armies of men.  Balor regrets the destruction and offers a truce to humans: we get to keep our cities, the myths keep their forests.  However, Balor's son, Nuada (Luke Goss) is enraged by this decision and he goes into exile.  Balor splits the crown in three giving one piece to us and two for himself, thus ensuring that the Golden Army will sleep forever.

Well, you know how these things go...

In the present, Hellboy (Once again, Ron Perlman) is living with his girlfriend, Liz Shurman (Selma Blair), and the two are sharing in all the festivities/anguishes of love; much to the chagrin of their boss, Agent Manning (Jeffrey Tambor), and to the bewildered amusement of their co-worker, Abe Sapien (Doug Jones, who is finally allowed to speak).  To make matters worse, Prince Nuada has found the location of one of the crown pieces and is intent on making sure that his kind don't fade into the night.  Action, drama, and humor ensue.

I have a lot of love and a lot of anger towards del Toro.  The man was inspired by the same things I love -- in an interview with Entertainment Weekly he mentioned Blade Runner, The Road Warrior, and Brazil as some of his inspirations; and anybody who knows me knows how much I fucking love those movies -- so he puts forth a lot of visions on screen that I imagined since I was a kid.  Then again...he puts forth a lot of visions on screen that I imagined since I was a kid!  It creates a sort of "well if I had a few million dollars and a camera..." jealousy in me.  It's all right though.  In the end, I'm just happy that movies like these can exist in this world, still.

I'm not someone whom you would normally call a "fan" of the Mignola series (is he still doing it?), but I was familiar with the character and the world; enough that I actually paid to see the first movie.  What I like with these movies is that del Toro puts a lot of himself into these movies, but still manages to honor Mignola; he has a genuine love for the source material, moreso than most Hollywood directors given the charge of directing "comic book movies".  The fact that del Toro actually worked side-by-side with Mignola on how to make Hellboy's story work.

The duo definitely like working with mythology in ways that difer from the norm -- though the idea of "myths" and "normalcy" makes for strange but probably bedfellows.  Take, for instance, del Toro's version of Toothfaries: instead of spritly elves, they are depicted as swarms of ravenous, bone-devouring...well, bugs -- not unlike some of the fairies from Pan's Labyrinth, they tend to bend the boundaries of verbal description.  It's a novel idea, I must say, and it makes sense for the most part.

Even further, the movie makes a spectacle any chance it can.  It's remarkable that none of it is shallow.  Every scene that involves fairytale creatures bustling about -- the often cited Troll Market sequence, for example -- never seem cheap and just continue to build upon an already established world.  If the first film dealt with history and the occult (Rasputin, Nazis, and Lovecraft) the second one works with the shadows between the shadows.  It's not surprising that these forogotten lands would be home to things we've only glimpsed in Disney movies and books published by Wizards of the Coast; even those stories couldn't work the same kind of kitsch as this movie.

The art design is immense.  I find it even more interesting that this film was made at $85 million; just $10 million more than the first one, and a fraction of the cost for movies like Wanted, Prince Caspian, and Hancock.  I shudder to think what del Toro's crew would make if they were given a budget the size of Pirates of the Caribbean -- the snark in me says Pirates of the Caribbean except good.  

What's more, he manages to make the designs work in a way that would only seem possible in...well, comic books.  He stages his fights with enough interaction between the characters, foreground, and background that there is never a moment when the film doesn't feel alive.  

Beyond that, there are several little things that call attention.  A rock formation that comes to life and resembles a lazy man is given subtle notions that most film makers would overlook just so they can get to bigger bangs (see Stephen Sommers The Mummy, Brett Ratner's X-Men 3, or anything by Rob Cohen): here it merely turns it's head to watch our heroes.  It's a background shot but it's still in the frames.  It's nothing terribly big or exciting, but it's something small and wonderous; life where others would leave blank.

withtheirfists said it the best when he alikened this movie to "a Jim Henson movie with stone-punches to the face."  There is more than enough imagination working on screen to earn the applause of fantasy-feteshists and younger audience members, but there is also a certain "bite" provided by the writers, F/X division, and cast.

And what a cast.

Perlman is probably the best "realized-for-their-role" superhero actors.  You know how there have been several arguments over the years as to whom was the best Batman; the best Superman; Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is more dead-on than Tobe Maguire's Spider-Man; Ed Norton was better than Eric Bana; etc. etc..  Perlman is one of the few who completely owns this role.

I know some people might argue that it doesn't matter who plays the role, it's all just a bunch of prosthetics.  Those people probably enjoy sniffing paint fumes and Norbit.  

Hellboy's main attraction is that he's just an average guy...or at least he wants to be.  Sure he's a demon, possibly the destroyer of our world, but that's all at face-value.  In reality he just wants to enjoy life.  This causes a good portion of tension in the movie: how can someone who just wants to be an average guy be normal when they aren't even allowed to go outside?  Perlman does play up to this act remarkably well; he generates enough tough-guy machismo and heart ache without falling into pretentious emo territory like the Spider Man and X-Men movies.  He's just a dude...who happens to have a giant stone gauntlet for a right hand.

Selma Blair is given enough space in this movie to really show her chops.  I'm glad that she was given scenes where she could hold her own against all the other characters, and she is hardly portrayed as needless.  In more than one scene she shows a degree of usefulness higher than most female characters in comic-book flicks.

Doug Jones is also given more screen-time and has not been mandated to having someone else speak for him (David Hyde Pierce did that for him in the first film) -- the movie is richer for it.  Jones is one of the few names in the industry who can work constantly in a full-makeup freak suit and still manage to make it unique -- I am reminded of how he learned Spanish during Pan's Labyrinth, and how he had to memorize the lines of his co-star just so the mask-motors wouldn't bother him.  He also manages to work in some time as both a Chamberlain and a rather sinister, and appropriately cryptic, Angel of Death.

Abe is probably the heart of the movie.  His constantly optimistic attitude and his eventual crush on Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) -- whom just so happens to be the antagonist's twin sister -- is as much charming as it is bizarre.  If you ever wondered if a fishman has a heart, well here ya go.

New to the cast is spirit medium Johann Kraus, a sort of ectoplasmic entity in what looks like a diving suit.  His movements are provided by John Alexander and James Dodd, and his voice is Seth MacFarlane's.  It's a kooky character who does everything by-the-book, but does so with a German accent (Hellboy doesn't work well with Germans) that sounds like Colonel Klink.

Why am I spending so much time describing these characters?  Because at the end of the day, Hellboy II is a fantastic character study and an even more telling portrait of humanity as told through the eyes of characters who cannot easily be classified as humans.  As I told jordan_baker later: between this and WALL-E, this summer has really lessened my faith in humanity.

Prince Nuada's ultimate goal is annihilating the human race because we has turned our backs on fairy tales, dishonored an important agreement, and decided to plow the Earth for nothing more than shopping malls and parking lots.  This is a crime, as Nuada blatantly points out, but is retaliating with genocide right?  This is what makes him a truly interesting villain: the fact that he's not entirely wrong with his argument, but he can be wrong with his methods.  He honestly believes he is the hero here.  

I have always been saddened by the constantly growing cynicism in humanity; the desire to sit behind screens, grow fat, and complain about every little thing.  The fact that most young people nowadays know more about who's on American Idol than any remote interest in mythology. 

kbomber stated he didn't like this film (why, he never says) and went on to say "all the critics in the world seem to love this movie...FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS!!"  First off, he is wrong on the first count.  Second, what would be the right reason for loving this movie?  I pity him.  Poor guy let the same kind of cynicism destroy an open mind.  

One of the true standout scenes is Elemental sequence.  Hellboy and company fight off a gigantic plant monster, and it is a nice mix of humor, action, and excitement.  Then, we're given a twist, Nuada asks Hellboy mid-fight if all this is worth it.  A moment in a film where a demon with a giant gun is fighting a towering monster plant, while a Marilyn Manson-looking elf goads him is not a common sight in today's cinema.  Leave it to del Toro to give the sequence resonance.

On the other side of the spectrum, we get a nice scene where Abe and Hellboy drink beer and sing Barry Manilow.  It's so out-of-place, it's bizarre, but it's familiar.  Who hasn't tried to drown out worries and emotional problems with friends at their side and songs in their head?  Anybody who doesn't get it should probably leave this planet.

I look back and I realize I've probably mentioned a lot about the inner-workings of this movie, and that is it's only flaw.  Del Toro really covers his film in spectacular sets, costumes, and overall imagery that it almost seems in danger of toppling.  This was a problem with the first Hellboy: a lot of funkiness, not enough brakes.  The good news is this is not too much of a problem this time around.  He knows to bring humanity to his freaks, even when the humans can't see it.  There's still a lot going on, but it never feels cumbersome.  
    
I recommend Hellboy II to everyone.  Like the first film, it will probably take some time to find an audience, but those who take to it will feel a little better for it.  To most people, it might just be another comic book movie in a multiplex filled with them.  To others it might mean something more; the way a demon with a big gun and bigger attitude can be. 

Final Count: Hellboy II: The Golden Army  ***1/2

-JE


 

Well, at least for the entertainment area.



I moved my other PC to the floor (can't see in the picture, camera battery died before I could take more pictures). The Xbox 360 is new, got it on sunday after leaving work early due to a certain someone...that text you told me to "Don't spend to much." was too late, hahaha... Also love my Kon where he is. Too bad the picture couldn't include all of that wickedly awesome poster.


Here's my TV area



Yes, that's another PS3 to the left. And yes that red thing is my Wii.

Here's a closeup of the PC area for the techies wondering how I can connect 2 PCs with 1 Keyboard and mouse to 1 monitor, and how I can connect 4 systems with HDMI (PC, white PS3, black PS3 and Xbox 360) to my 1 HDTV. I use a nice HDMI switch that comes with a nice remote.



That 360 is just in time for Tales of Vesperia and the upcoming Infinite Undiscovery. I am sad that Star Ocean 4 is Xbox 360 only SO FAR!!! Also don't like that Last Remnant is coming out for Xbox 360 first also, grrrrr! As for Final Fantasy XIII coming out for X360 also, could care less.

Quick update fromt he philippines.

It is ass hot.

I turned 22 here.

I go home the 18th.

As much as I like it here. I miss alot of things. Such as, flushing toilets, non-humid weather, central air-conditioning, HOT WATER, and cable internet.

And GOD WHAT WILL I COME BACK TO FOR PURG?

And.. Should've have brought more money to spend.