Starting Again, Remembering Joe and More Movies
:::Getting Up Again:::
It's really hard to write something out of nothing. To date, I've already scrapped four possible stories for the Philippine Speculative Fiction V, stories that have so much promise but when I get to the middle part it gets unraveled. Right now, I'm choosing either a bounty hunter story, a kidnapping between worlds, a tribal jungle hunt or going something contemporary in the lines of Robert Howard (Conan) or maybe even H.P. Lovecraft (Cthulhu).
I usually get disheartened in the middle of writing, like last time these past years (Palanca, PSFIV, Nanowrimo etc), but after hearing Neil Gaiman's short talk about writing, it opened my eyes, and allowed to dig in and continue. He talks that everyone can get ideas, and even from the worst situations and experiences. Like the one where he was visiting in Iceland and was wandering around blindly, lacking sleep, when he stumbled upon a Japanese restaurant. Staring at the menu, he wondered how could someone live here, and with the differences of culture and all, and wondered whether they brought their gods with them.
And with that simple off hand thought, he went back to his hotel and wrote the first two pages of what ultimately became the Nebula Award novel "American Gods". Pretty powerful stuff.
Now for me, stories like this inspire me to continue writing. All I need to do is finish it. Easier said than done I suppose.
:::G.I Joe: The Rant:::
*spoilers ahead*
I watched G.I. Joe yesterday, and as much as I tried to leave the old backstory at the door, rage creeps silently in my brain. Scarlett and Ripcord?! The Baroness and Duke?!!! The movie producers took a lot of liberty with G.I. Joe canon, then I belatedly realized that this movie was made in with the approval of Hasbro TOYS. So it probably makes sense that each of the backstory is either twisted, patched up or redone totally.
Several things come to mind:
Snake Eyes never took a vow of silence, he was wounded during the war and his throat was torn out.
Ripcord is a paratrooper, not a pilot, hence his codename. But why quibble over small details?
Hawk was ok, but Duke is a idiot. Channing Tatum must have taken lessons from the Keannu Reeves of Acting School.
Scarlett was a such a bad-ass, I almost forgave her for hitching up with Ripcord when it was supposed to be with Snake Eyes. Scarlett made my day.
Cobra Commander comes across as a homicidal maniac, but his back story is just atrocious. Brother to the Baroness? Where did that come from? Star Wars?
Destro was also ok (he could have been more bulkier), as was Storm Shadow. Again the back story is totally warped. Storm Shadow killed the Hard Master and blamed Snake Eyes, thus having the allegiance of the ninjas to the banner of Cobra
Heavy Duty was just meh, as was Breaker. It would have been more cool if it was Lifeline, Dialtone and Roadblock.
Finally, what the hell was Brendan Fraser doing in the movie? Supposedly he was to play Gung Ho, but I watched the credits and never saw his name.
So, taking these all out. I could say that I enjoyed the movie as an action smash-em-up, but as a G.I. Joe original? Epic fail. Looking back at all the battle scenes, I'm guessing the next step. Games in Xbox 360 and PS3. The whole movie is actually a game, and the dialogue are the cut scenes.
Good lord, I miss Mutt, Shipwreck and Bazooka. And especially Sgt. Slaughter. Hmmm...where's my G.I. Joe TV series...
:::Movies to Watch Out For:::
Fresh from Howl's Moving Castle, visionary director, producer and all around 'supah creative genius' Hayao Miyazaki again creates another sensational masterpiece entitled Ponyo. Normally I wouldn't judge any movie by its trailer, but with Miyazaki's track record (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and all the other greats) I have no question this is going to be another one of those Miyazaki films: powerful, fun, intense and deep inside the plotline, a moral story. If you haven't yet seen any Miyazaki film, please take the time and watch one, especially the Oscar winner for Animation "Spirited Away". Can't wait for this one.
If you're like me, you would be somewhat late 20's and remembering the awesome movie Tron (this was after Star Wars). The plotline for that one was simple: a programmer (Jeff Bridges) got his program stolen by a company, which then used it to bring millions of dollars into their own bank account. In the attempt to get his program back, he broke into the mainframe and accidentally sent himself inside the computer, where he had to battle it out with the security (think Norton Anti-Virus as the massive police network. After surviving the computer and getting out of the system, he became the CEO of the company ( my mind is foggy as to why, I'll hunt my VHS and watch it again.) Anyway, the trailer is gorgeous to behold, and it shows Jeff Bridges, older now, watching the program. I don't know any more details, but again it's so shiny.
Imagine a world in an apocalyptic state. Imagine the world without humans, only big, giant, nasty robots. Imagine that you're small doll made of rags and sand. And imagine that you're mission is to save the human race. Tim Burton's 9 promises a lot and more, and with a power cast of Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly and a whole slew of good actors, this promises to be one very good eye candy. Slated on September 9, 2009 or 9/9/9, I think one will work well with the masses. Here's another trailer of 9, and introduces the 9 and a glimpse of their personalities. Personally I like 5, hehehe.
State of Mind: I See Paperworks ... Everywhere.
Song of the Day: Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria
Book of the Week: Death at Koten by Shawn Carman
Want or Need: A Clean Desk ... Without Paperworks
It's really hard to write something out of nothing. To date, I've already scrapped four possible stories for the Philippine Speculative Fiction V, stories that have so much promise but when I get to the middle part it gets unraveled. Right now, I'm choosing either a bounty hunter story, a kidnapping between worlds, a tribal jungle hunt or going something contemporary in the lines of Robert Howard (Conan) or maybe even H.P. Lovecraft (Cthulhu).
I usually get disheartened in the middle of writing, like last time these past years (Palanca, PSFIV, Nanowrimo etc), but after hearing Neil Gaiman's short talk about writing, it opened my eyes, and allowed to dig in and continue. He talks that everyone can get ideas, and even from the worst situations and experiences. Like the one where he was visiting in Iceland and was wandering around blindly, lacking sleep, when he stumbled upon a Japanese restaurant. Staring at the menu, he wondered how could someone live here, and with the differences of culture and all, and wondered whether they brought their gods with them.
And with that simple off hand thought, he went back to his hotel and wrote the first two pages of what ultimately became the Nebula Award novel "American Gods". Pretty powerful stuff.
Now for me, stories like this inspire me to continue writing. All I need to do is finish it. Easier said than done I suppose.
:::G.I Joe: The Rant:::
*spoilers ahead*
I watched G.I. Joe yesterday, and as much as I tried to leave the old backstory at the door, rage creeps silently in my brain. Scarlett and Ripcord?! The Baroness and Duke?!!! The movie producers took a lot of liberty with G.I. Joe canon, then I belatedly realized that this movie was made in with the approval of Hasbro TOYS. So it probably makes sense that each of the backstory is either twisted, patched up or redone totally.
Several things come to mind:
Snake Eyes never took a vow of silence, he was wounded during the war and his throat was torn out.
Ripcord is a paratrooper, not a pilot, hence his codename. But why quibble over small details?
Hawk was ok, but Duke is a idiot. Channing Tatum must have taken lessons from the Keannu Reeves of Acting School.
Scarlett was a such a bad-ass, I almost forgave her for hitching up with Ripcord when it was supposed to be with Snake Eyes. Scarlett made my day.
Cobra Commander comes across as a homicidal maniac, but his back story is just atrocious. Brother to the Baroness? Where did that come from? Star Wars?
Destro was also ok (he could have been more bulkier), as was Storm Shadow. Again the back story is totally warped. Storm Shadow killed the Hard Master and blamed Snake Eyes, thus having the allegiance of the ninjas to the banner of Cobra
Heavy Duty was just meh, as was Breaker. It would have been more cool if it was Lifeline, Dialtone and Roadblock.
Finally, what the hell was Brendan Fraser doing in the movie? Supposedly he was to play Gung Ho, but I watched the credits and never saw his name.
So, taking these all out. I could say that I enjoyed the movie as an action smash-em-up, but as a G.I. Joe original? Epic fail. Looking back at all the battle scenes, I'm guessing the next step. Games in Xbox 360 and PS3. The whole movie is actually a game, and the dialogue are the cut scenes.
Good lord, I miss Mutt, Shipwreck and Bazooka. And especially Sgt. Slaughter. Hmmm...where's my G.I. Joe TV series...
:::Movies to Watch Out For:::
Fresh from Howl's Moving Castle, visionary director, producer and all around 'supah creative genius' Hayao Miyazaki again creates another sensational masterpiece entitled Ponyo. Normally I wouldn't judge any movie by its trailer, but with Miyazaki's track record (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and all the other greats) I have no question this is going to be another one of those Miyazaki films: powerful, fun, intense and deep inside the plotline, a moral story. If you haven't yet seen any Miyazaki film, please take the time and watch one, especially the Oscar winner for Animation "Spirited Away". Can't wait for this one.
If you're like me, you would be somewhat late 20's and remembering the awesome movie Tron (this was after Star Wars). The plotline for that one was simple: a programmer (Jeff Bridges) got his program stolen by a company, which then used it to bring millions of dollars into their own bank account. In the attempt to get his program back, he broke into the mainframe and accidentally sent himself inside the computer, where he had to battle it out with the security (think Norton Anti-Virus as the massive police network. After surviving the computer and getting out of the system, he became the CEO of the company ( my mind is foggy as to why, I'll hunt my VHS and watch it again.) Anyway, the trailer is gorgeous to behold, and it shows Jeff Bridges, older now, watching the program. I don't know any more details, but again it's so shiny.
Imagine a world in an apocalyptic state. Imagine the world without humans, only big, giant, nasty robots. Imagine that you're small doll made of rags and sand. And imagine that you're mission is to save the human race. Tim Burton's 9 promises a lot and more, and with a power cast of Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly and a whole slew of good actors, this promises to be one very good eye candy. Slated on September 9, 2009 or 9/9/9, I think one will work well with the masses. Here's another trailer of 9, and introduces the 9 and a glimpse of their personalities. Personally I like 5, hehehe.
State of Mind: I See Paperworks ... Everywhere.
Song of the Day: Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria
Book of the Week: Death at Koten by Shawn Carman
Want or Need: A Clean Desk ... Without Paperworks
posted by Big Hamster at 9:31 AM
2 Comments:
Ripcord and Scarlett?? The Ripcord who barely had any speaking lines in the cartoons? And Scarlett??????? I think i'm going to hhave eppillllieptic seeiizuresssssssssss hhelllp ambulannnnceeeee!!
Excuse me, Senador, but your geek is showing. ;)
GI Joe continuity was shaky coz I imagine the writers just played w/ the action figures like kids, matching up whoever and whatnot, ex. having Duke and SeaSpray team up either because the toy store only had those 2 in stock, or we could only afford to buy 2 action figures.
Trivia: Channing Tatum used to be a male stripper. Make of that what u wish. :p
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