Late Night Television going down the tubes...

Thought of the Day:

Personally I have never watched to much late night talk shows besides Conan O'brien. But now I heard that Jimmy Fallon will replace Cona O'brien as host of NBC's Late Night in 2009. I'm not saying I'm not a fan of SNL, believe me I am, butI really didn't like the fact that most media outlets pointed to Fallon to be the saving of SNL a few years back. The man couldn't hold back from laughing almost every skit he was in! After Will Ferrell left in 2002 I believe that was the beginning of the rapid end of the long series. Once a juggernaut producing the next big comedy star for the movie industry (Eddie Murphy, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Adam Sandler etc etc) has now fizzled out. In its place is now the alumni from the Daily Show taking charge of the market in a to totally different fashion. If anything they should get a shot of primetime television. This is exactly why I stopped watching basic network television...

Sidenote: One the head writers for the Daily Show first got his start for writing for Space Ghost Coast to Coast.

"Why So Serious?"

I'm Just Sayin'
The Essential Movie Review Before You Go Out and Spend Your Hard Earned Pennies.
On Tap: The Dark Knight

I can't really think of a witty way to open this review. Perhaps because it's close to 4 a.m. when getting out of the movie theater, or most likely because it was just a great film. The movie had an all-stars cast from Christian Bale to the late Heath Ledger. They director took a thoughtful look of the best story arcs of Batman done in the last 30 decades and created the best comic book adaptation movie yet.

Synopsis: The movie unfolds about a year later after the first movie, Batman Begins, takes place. The movie shows how he struggles to bring villains to justice while still trying to have someone to come home to. The mask crusader eventually meets up with his arc nemesis, The Joker, and mayhem ensues (literally) as they have a battle of the wits, placing everyone in a high stakes chess game throughout the entire movie. Batman tries to figure out how the Joker ticks and his motivations. One line the Joker spat during the film was, "You complete me."

In-depth: This Batman film succeeds where all the other movies in the franchise failed. The movie gets a chance to focus on several "super villains" throughout, but not in the campy 1960s Batman show that was re envisioned in Batman Forever and Batman and Robin pictures. Christopher Nolan (with his brother Johnathon Nolan penning the screenplay) showed other villains, but without developing a story to how they hate the Batman, and how they should work together to kill him. The villains were presented in a natural way how they fell into fighting Batman. The bad guys were great, and enough can't be said about the performance Heath Ledger gave to portray the Joker. I thought he was going to be good, but he was fantastic. He really made the character seem crazy even down to his body movements. The twitching and the little adjustments really drive home the point that the Joker has no real plan, he just enjoys killing.

The movie's theme was also powerful. What would people do if they were pushed to the limit? Would anyone keep it together? Or would they just act out like a pack of untrained dogs? It was perfectly illustrated as the Joker tries to show everyone how difficult life was for him every opportunity he got and how if they were in the same position they would do the same exact thing. Strongly based on Alan Moore's The Killing Joke and The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb they blended the world perfectly for the tone of the Dark Knight. This is a intense story and placed in a dark environment. Just read the title: The Dark Knight. It made Iron Man look like the Care Bears Motion Picture.

Underneath it all: Just go see it. But it's not a kids film.

Score: 7/7 BoomShakalakas
"This town needs an emima!"

Sidenote: The only thing I wish I had in my movie was the trailers. I was pissed when I didn't see Watchmen or Terminator Salvation in my theater... I had to go all the way to youtube to find them!

-Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari

Suit Up, Again.

Thought of the Day
I was watching an anime show the other day that was meant for 7-11 year olds. It touched on the subject of the fabric of time, the meaning of dreams and what true love meant. I then turned to Nickelodeon where I was plagued by a show call, Sponge Bob Square Pants. Then it became painfully obvious that this why all the good technology and advancement is coming from Japan. Over there, they are filling their minds with these awesome story lines and shows encouraging imagination and in-ward thinking, while we in America are watching shows about Sponges living in pineapples under the sea!!! Although I have to admit the one episode I watched was about Sponge Bob dealing with the issue of cannibalism. The picture apove is what I found of kids in Japan inventing things in there spare time. (If you don't know, that is a full scale Gundam in someone's backyard)

Sidenote: Learned a new word the other day. Paroxysmal N- any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of violent action or emotion: paroxysmal of rage.

Michael Bay is the King of B-rated Movies

Don't get me wrong I love Michael Bay. He has brought us movies such as The Rock, Bad Boys and Transformers. But after reading his script for his version of the highly anticipated movie, The Dark Knight, I believe he has lost his sanity. Here's an excerpt from the script. Maybe I should have seen this coming since he did direct The Island...







page 3


BRUCE WAYNE is standing in front of a mirror, flexing his sculpted, shirtless torso.

BRUCE
Let's do this.

Cue AC/DC's "Back in Black." A series of quick shots show BRUCE gearing up: putting on the boots, slapping on the gloves, a brief across those beautiful pecs. Finally, there is no longer BRUCE WAYNE, but BATMAN standing before us.

BATMAN
Back in black.

Pyrotechnics erupt in the distance. Guitar solo.


I'm not making this up!!!! Check out the whole article at spill.com

"I've set my laser from stun to kill."

I'm Just Sayin'
The Essential Movie Review Before You Go Out and Spend Your Hard Earned Pennies.
On Tap: Wall-E

I have never been a fan of "children" films. It reaffirmed my claim when I saw the trailer Beverly Hills Chihuahua in front of Wall-E. My heart sunk to think this is what Disney has become, a shell of its former self since the mid 90s. But to my surprise Pixar (which is now keeping Disney in business) has another hit on their hands for the kids. With the beautifully intertwined mechanical love story, and the complexed social and economical issues as the backdrop, it made for an excellent film.

Synopsis: A love story about a little robot named Wall-E that was left on Earth to clean up all the trash. After a probe (EVE) comes to Earth for a mission, Wall-E falls in love with her and is determined to follow her to the ends of the Earth (or in this case, to the edge of the galaxy).

In-depth: For the first 23 minutes of the film the characters did not utter one real word. And yet it didn't matter. The nature of Wall-E being lonely and needing company screamed so loudly words were not needed. The element that everyone needs somebody was presented throughout the entire movie without verbalizing it once.

Also the element that was brilliant in the film was the issues of social and economical dilemmas, such as obesity, and wastefulness. In one point of the movie it mentioned how people of the spaceship no longer needed to walk but propelled by hover-chairs. As a result the entire human race became over weight and lazy guided by helper robots. Slowly this world has become more and more like that. Gone is the phrase, "a hard day of work", and replaced with "a day that I go through by when I'm suppose eat my next processed meal." People roll out of bed, into their cars, to cram into a cubicle all day before they woddle to the couch to unwind for hours watching needless TV. Further, because the people became so lazy, in the movie, the captain of the spaceship has trouble reading a book (which it seems be an epidemic for kids in this country). On the Earth sequences ruins of the city showed advertisements of how much society promotes super-sizes and bulk items. Earth was riddled with trash and no where to put it any longer. It showed the need of people to be more conscious of the environment. Al Gore probably started crying during the credits.

Underneath it all you need to know: That is the best children's film this year and is well worth your money. Once again Pixar is raising their own standards of well crafted films.

Score: 6.3 BoomShakalakas/7
"Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood. "-Walt Disney

Sidenote: From several sources it has been revealed that from 1995's Toy Story, til Wall-E all the films from Pixar were discussed at a lunch!!! At one lunch! Outlining the raising success of, at the time, a relatively new company. I fear what suburb ideas Andrew Stanton and fellow writers at Pixar would think of if they all went on vacation together for a weekend...

- Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatan

Remember, remember the 5th of November. The gunpowder, treason, and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.

The New Bi-Weekly Column
The Series of Most Slept on:
Comic Book Author
Alan Moore

I have now decided to update the world of what is outside of their boxes that they hide in. And this is starting with the essential graphic novels that you need to buy/to add to your collection.

First up for people that don't know Alan Moore wrote some of the best story arcs ever that sprawled across DC, Marvel and Vertigo's universes. Alan Moore wrote such classics as the Killing Joke in the Batman Franchise and wrote such groundbreaking graphic novels such as Watchmen and V for Vendetta.

Why Should I even care?
I'm glad you asked that question. Because these story lines have been presented in a lot of popular TV and Movies without giving them credit. A small example of this would be NBC's Heroes. Although it hit a snag this year after the Writer's Strike, they stole some story lines from Watchmen. I don't have a problem when other shows borrow ideas but they jacked pretty much the entire story line and then claimed they had never read the book. Fools! If you come from a comic based background you've read it. The whole story line when the bad guy at the end of Season 1 wants to blow up New York city to "unite" the world by the tragedy. I heard people yelling thats genius! It was already taken in almost twenty years prior in Watchmen. But I'm not bitter.

V for Vendetta is captivating. Although a close second to Watchmen it has great ideas that comment on real life heavily while making a different kind of anti-hero. V is on one mission only. And that is paying back everyone who destroyed his life. The way Moore portrayed the government in the story was also great. It controlled people by fear, since it's such a powerful emotion, people give up their own free will slowly without even noticing. Also a well crafted idea in the story was how the government agents are broken up into symbolic representation of the five senses into 5 different branches.

Simply put, Alan Moore has a unique voice and is the best thing to come out of the 80's since slap bracelets.

Life is X-men

About every week I get called a geek or a nerd because I read comics. I was in class reading a comic, and this blonde girl turns to me and asked,"What are you reading?"
I said, "A graphic novel."
"You're reading porn?"
Nuff said. The public school system has failed another child.

I also find it foolish that people look down on my kind, seeing the fact that almost every movie out in theaters were based off comics. For example see:The Dark Knight, The Incredible Hulk, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (horrible adaptation compared to the graphic novel). Also: Wanted.

I love hearing a good story and life is alot like being in a X-Men comic. Almost like those 90's X-men comics. One character would say, "Hey how are?" and Beast or someone would reply, "I'm alright...now that I'm back from having my mind controlled and back from the Savage Land.x" And then in a small box in the lower corner of the panel it would say something like:

x This was a result of the evil Man-Bird called Sauron, Karl Lykos as he tried to drain the life energies of the The X-Men in Ish 364.

And that was great! The little x would appear at the bottom of the page telling you the back issue where I could find out what happened. Just like in real life when you're walking around and you ask someone how they are doing. You get a back story of their own individual series as if they are just guest star for an issue in yours.

Unfortunately, nowadays people don't even stop and read someone else's back issues anymore because too preoccupied by their own story lines. Instead people give a mechanical, heartless, repetitive, "Hi! How are you?" and then walk away. Next time just take the time and see how the other X-Men are doing. So many fascinating stories people carry around and all it takes is a little time to find out what happened. As for me I don't want to ever stop reading comics.

Marla Singer:Why do you do this?
Narrator: I don't know... it's just, when people think you're dying, they really, really listen to you, instead of just...
Marla Singer: - instead of just waiting for their turn to speak?
-Fight Club

"Mr. McGee, don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. "

I'm Just Sayin'
The Essential Movie Review Before You Go Out and Spend Your Hard Earned Pennies.
On Tap: The Incredible Hulk

Walking into the theater I had my doubts. I still was recovering from paying $11 for a 1 hour and 54 minute movie ticket when the trailers started to roll. I thought to myself, "Is it even enough time to do a reboot of a franchise,when its only been five years? Could they possibly make Hulk an interesting enough character? Will he look like a bloated Shriek again?" Well in this review you'll find out what spike walls and the French finally succeeding in life have to do with actually making The Incredible Hulk a strong film.


Synopsis: The film followed the tragic self-isolating tale of the tortured soul of Bruce Banner. And for once it was done right. Don't get me wrong I've liked Ang Lee's work in the past but I quickly realized in the first 5 minutes that this was the Hulk that was meant to be seen. It gives a summary of his origin in the scene and then straight to the action. The movie captured the Hulk, not against some poor CGI green dogs, but instead this time against one of his arch enemies, the Abomination. At the same time Banner struggles with trying to cure himself and saving the people around him that actually afraid of him and trying to kill him.
I read a few reviews saying the movie didn't have enough character development in the plot and it felt rushed. I personally found it refreshing, the movie focused on Bruce Banner's control issues, his relationship with Betty Ross and gave time for sequences of him on the run paying homage to the show (you know that dramatic music of him hitchhiking at the end of each episode).

In-Depth: The acting was on par like most Edward Norton films, with a very talented supporting cast. Perhaps not well known actor Tim Roth played the main bad guy (some of his most notable work was in the early 90's when he burst onto the American scene with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction). And also along with Liv Taylor, who contrary to popular belief, cannot look bad in any movie.

Initially I heard the script was in shambles. Even though Edward Norton didn't get recognition in the credits he helped rewrite the script and the film reaped the benefits.The script was excellent and had drama and bits of comedy intertwined. On one side it focused on Banner isolating himself trying to figure out how to control his own demons, while on the other side having throw back lines from the TV series, both live and animated.

One of my main concerns about the movie was about hearing all the news coming from the Marvel studios reps that they cut down the timing of the movie to keep it fast moving. Translated: they took out all the well developed dialog. My heart sank thinking that this too would be a great idea gone bad. It was valid, I didn't trust the director Louis Leterrier who brought me disappointments such as The Transporter 1 and 2. And for those people that might think, "Hey I liked that film buddy," no you didn't. Go back and watch the second movie and answer me why a random blonde chick is fighting Jason Statham by swinging by a rope in the family room before getting impaled by a random spike wall. And don't get me started on the sinking airplane that looked like it was filmed in my grandma's bathtub (you know, that throw-up green tint of a color from the mid-70s tubs). This time the French director was paired with a good script that matched his story telling style for once. Although the time was short the film was balanced with action and a character driven plot. And the word on the suburbanian streets is when it goes to Blu-ray DVD it will contain 70 minutes of extra scenes.

Underneath it all you need to know: The Incredible Hulk was a great pop corn flick and did not take itself too serious. It looks like Marvel is pumping out all the good movies by having skilled actors, an action director mixed up with a storyline and script to match.

Score: 6 BoomShakalakas/7
"Get your pop corn ready."


Sidenote: I would like to take the time to say Marvel and by extension its comic book staff are geniuses. I love that every Marvel movie is now being put under one banner, and they can not connect all their characters. The movies now feel like the Marvel universe. And one of there main writers also have been putting out quality as well, Mark Millar. The man has been doing his thang for awhile but alot of his ideas have been coming on screen (Iron Man, Incredible Hulk and Wanted). For example, in Iron Man having Nick Fury as Samuel L. Jackson. He wrote that in his original run of The Ultimates (The Avengers revamped nowadays) in 2002. And also when the Hulk is dropped in the middle of the city in this movie that scene also happened in the first volume of The Ultimates. All I know is that Marvel is going to make a killing at the box office this summer.

-Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari

"Come back and make up a good-bye at least. Let's pretend we had one. "

Well the blog is now fully operational!!!!...this is for everything I think of during the day. The random abstract thoughts I might have, art propaganda, new short stories, and of course movie reviews. Stayed tuned.

-Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari