review Posts

25May
1

Twilight Saga – Eclipse (Book 3)

I have finally finished Book 3 of the Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

I can’t remember the last time I read a book that had me going back and forth between hatred for the main character, boredom and disgust. Now, I’m sure there was a spot here or there that I liked or was tolerable, but it was so overrun by a total disgust with Bella Swan that overshadowed everything else.

In fact, I’m pretty sure any discontent I have with the Twilight series has to deal with Bella Swan. I don’t think I’ve ever found a main character in a book that was this unlikeable. There is nothing I like about her and by now I’m sure you’ve realized this is a rant more than a review.

It took me so long to force myself to finish this book (I kept putting it down and reading each chapter was quite literally a chore) that I barely remember what happened in it. So I’ll have to settle for ranting about what I do remember.

But! We’ll start off on a positive note with a few quotes that I actually quite liked:

“He’s like a drug for you, Bella…I see that you can’t live without him now. It’s too late. But I would have been healthier for you. Not a drug; I would have been the air, the sun.” – Jacob Black

“The clouds I can handle. But I can’t fight with an eclipse.” – Jacob Black

“I wasn’t about to send you off alone. With your luck, not even the black box would survive.” – Edward Cullen

“If we had happy endings, we’d all be under gravestones now.” – Rosalie Cullen

And from there – we’ll start with subject one:

Werewolves

I like Jacob Black. I think it’s the movie’s influence because they did a good job with him, but even in the books I’ve liked him. He was interesting, down to earth and he’s a werewolf. Can’t go wrong there really. In fact, despite the fact all of her werewolf references and the like are made up and new, its’ actually a concept that works (unlike the sparkling, glittering skin of the vampires). The hive mind thing they have going on is interesting and it helps bring all the characters together.

Eclipse goes out of its way to try and destroy Jacob. I think it became apparent in New Moon that Jacob was probably the better choice out of the two and so it had to demonize him. He’s now screwing with Bella (don’t get me wrong, she’s still a selfish, manipulating brat but even she doesn’t deserve some of what he does) and going so far as to forcefully kiss (molest) her and corner her into choosing either him or Edward by force and guilt. It wasn’t as horrible as it could have been, but it was definitely a character derailment – but I will admit it was funny having the other wolves complain about his thoughts about Bella leaking into all of their heads.

Not to mention when Bella broke her hand trying to punch him I laughed out loud. Physically. I really had needed that.

Vampire Fight

I feel gipped. They spend a great deal of this book setting up a giant Vampire Battle with Victoria & a crew of new borns she’d recruited…and we don’t get to see it. We hear about it via Seth’s mental link with the pack, but Edward & Bella are separated from the action. We do get a bit of a fight between Edward, Victoria, Seth & a guy named Riley but it was so-so and ended predictably with you guessed it – Edward winning.

Not to mention the Volturi. Talk about a missed opportunity. They show up at the end go “opps, did our job for us” kill some poor sap and leave. Just about the only thing I enjoyed was them mentioning that Aro really wants to see Carlisle again – and that lead to me getting depressed yet again because the storyline with Carlisle and the Volturi would have actually been interesting. Ah well, maybe one day I’ll brave the Twilight Fanfiction section and find something there.

Bella and Marriage

I could tolerate Bella being too dumb to live.  I really could. I could even deal with her being a selfish, spoiled brat who couldn’t make up her mind with ‘some people are just like that’ and move on. What I could not tolerate – were Bella Swan’s views on marriage. They just baffled me.

Let’s lay this down – Bella in all of her selfishness wants to become a Vampire before she’s too much ‘older’ (older being relative because she keeps forgetting he’s pushing over 100 years old) than Edward. She’s claiming it’s to avoid the Volturi but let’s face it – she just wants to sex up Edward. Anyway, Carlisle has agreed to change her after graduation but she wants Edward to do it. Edward has one condition – he wants to marry Bella before he turns her into a vampire and gives her the ride of her life. So far, I’m not seeing any problems. She wants to be with Edward for eternity – he’s taking the logical first step.

Bella is instantly disgusted by the idea and she thinks Edward is an old fashioned and joking with her. Bella absolutely does not want to get married and I was flabbergasted. I didn’t understand at all. It made no sense whatsoever. And eventually, Edward drags an explanation out of her and we find out it has to do with her perception of marriage. She’s using her mother’s teenage marriage as a basis and I suppose I can understand that – but her attitude about the entire thing is what gets me. She’s willing to DIE and become a vampire – and somehow that’s better than a teen wedding brought on by unexpected pregnancy?

I want to quote for you Bella’s exact explanation for why she doesn’t want to get married. I’m hoping I’m not the only one who’s confused and disgusted by it.

I’m not that girl, Edward. The one who gets married right out of high school like some small-town hick who got knocked up by her boyfriend! Do you know what people would think? Do you realize what century this is? People don’t just get married at eighteen! Not smart people, not responsible, mature people! I wasn’t going to be that girl! That’s not who I am….”

This is a girl who’s been trying to jump Edward Cullen since she met him. This is a girl who wants to be turned into a vampire (let us recap: dead, immortal, drinks blood, permanent life change) absolutely right now without listening to the people telling her to wait until she’s older. A girl who claims she can not live without Edward Cullen in her life for the rest of her life forever and ever bound to him for eternity and she gets disgusted by the idea he asks her to marry her. She’s disgusted by how other people might look at her for being a teen bride. She was also disgusted by the idea that people would think it weird Edward dating someone so much older than him (I’m sorry, but there isn’t that big of a stretch between 17 and the 20′s with someone as mentally mature as Edward.). But this marriage thing topped the cake for me.

I have never wanted to leap into the pages of a book and slap someone so much in my life. If I give Twilight anything, it is the ability to induce emotion in the reader be it good or bad.

The General

So far of the three books – this has been the most painful. I really hope the movie is better (because we’ll at least get to see the fight scene – there’s no way they could get around skipping it in the film) and by the grounds that I actually enjoyed the other two films, books aside.

And now I start my journey into Breaking Dawn – which just may kill me. Apparently not even the fans can stand that one. Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

Posted by Liliy in Books and tagged with , , , , , , , ,
01May
0

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010

Alright, let’s start off with a little background before getting to the movie.

Some Background

Once upon a time, I saw a trailer for a movie. And in that movie, I saw Rorschach deliver the line “Why are you screaming? I haven’t even cut you yet.” and I went – I must see this movie. So, I prepped. I realized that it wasn’t fair to see a remake of a movie series I hadn’t seen. So I asked Mike to lend me the Nightmare films & I systematically watched the other 8 films in the series. And I loved them.

I am not a huge fan of the horror genre. I have no intention of ever seeing a Friday the 13th Movie (the closest I’ve gotten was Freddy vs Jason) because I don’t want to see gratuitous sex, nudity and violence. For this same reason I’m probably never going to see any Saw films or Texas Massacre films or what have you. The Krueger films – they don’t have these. I think the worst thing in these films has been a breast shot sprinkled here and there, but for the most part the films have been fairly tame. (With a notable exception of the 5th Film where a couple of the deaths passed into just disgusting and as such this is my least favorite of the franchise).

So why enjoy the films? Freddy Kreuger & his kids.1 These aren’t so much horror films as they are dark action flicks. The big bad monster hunts down the kids and they fight back. I don’t think I’ve ever found the Krueger films to be particularly scary, even the first one, but more so visually attractive and attention grabbing. These films don’t have to figure out the most gruesome way to kill someone to freak out the audience2

On that note – I still maintain that Tina’s death in the first film was by far the worst death in the series for emotional impact and horror. It wasn’t grotesque or over the top – there was a realism to it that hit you close because you watched a girl be beat to death and dragged across a ceiling. It was other worldly while still being realistic and I think that’s the most disturbing part.

But – we’re here to talk about the 2010 Remake that made me want to get into this franchise in the first place.

The Theatre

I sort of want to talk about my experience in the theatre itself first. I went to go see a 12AM Matinee of this film. As such, there was maybe 10 people in the largest screening room in the building. There were about 6 guys all by their lonesome speckled about the theatre, me and 3 teens who wandered in after the previews (who talked for most of the movie…). It was sort of interesting; it’s been a while since I got to sit in a premium spot in a theatre walking it at the start of the film. XD

It’s also fun to note that I had my ID checked to get into the theatre. On the one hand – I’m sort of flattered. On the other…I’m 25. XD

The Movie – Their be SPOILERS here. Enter at your own risk.

(more…)

  1. Nancy is a regular teen who stepped up to the plate and fought back. Jesse had Freddy possessing him and fought back and broke free. Kristen fights back and frees her friends. Alice had enough and kicked Freddie’s tail, twice. Katherine? She tells Daddy where he can shove it. And of course Krueger himself who always comes back with a smile on his face and a joke on his lips as he reminds the kids whose in charge.↩
  2. At the start anyway, after the first movie they definitely started reaching for more stomach churning deaths.↩

Posted by Liliy in Movies and tagged with , ,
14Feb
1

Twilight Saga – New Moon (Book 2)

Alright, let’s see how I do reviewing Book 2. For once I’m not writing this immediately after finishing the book so my thoughts are a tad less organized. But here we go -

The Book

Better than the first one.

Now granted, New Moon had it’s head banging moments and horrible scenes. But it had one or two good scenes and I actually enjoyed reading about Jacob & the Werewolf crew. So not a total loss. I think part of that is the fact Edward was missing for over half the book.

Edward alone I can handle.

Bella alone is almost tolerable.

Bella & Edward together gets near unbearable. I can’t even really put it into words but them together is some of the most unbelievable stuff I’ve ever read. It just pushes my suspense of belief out the window. Maybe it’ because I’ve never been in love or seen anyone in real life act like this. But the sheer level of obsession these two have with each other can not be healthy. It just can’t.

People date, they break up, they move on. Sometimes it’s harder than others – I realize that. I believe in love. But this sort of love that they describe almost has no basis. Why do they love each other? What really caused Bella to be near Catatonic for months? As far as I could tell the only thing Edward did (other than the save her life thing – which isn’t really a basis for a romance…) was be mean to her and mention she smelled really really good.

]Though, in New Moon towards the end, Bella refuses to believe Edward could love her so I ended up reading a page of Edward declaring why he loves Bella and I stared at the page – when did she show any of those behaviors? It was like he was describing a different person. I, it was just odd.

But I’ll move on. It’s almost baffling and I’m not sure I could keep up with it.

Let’s talk about things I liked instead. Because admitting there are things I liked in this book are good. I could go on forever about how Bella’s a selfish idiot (Her Vote to become a vampire? No. Just. No.) So let’s talk about good things:

Aro – I loved Aro. This is a vampire. He’s a total monster who still manages to be bright and cheery and keep his manners like a real gentleman. There’s a charisma there that I didn’t expect to find in this book.

Jacob – I’ve already stated he’s the only person in the book who not only seems believable but sympathetic. Plus, werewolves are cool. And her recreation of the classic myth for them isn’t nearly as intolerable as say, the sparkling.

And…that’s all that comes to mind at the moment. Overall, save for a few frustrating moments with Bella & Edward, I liked it.

Which brings me to -

The Movie

I’ve admitted it before and I’ll admit it again. I liked the New Moon Movie. There! I said it.

The directing was 100x improved and it was obvious with the new cinematography and pacing. It featured Jacob (one of the few who could act) and dare I say it – Jacob and Bella actually had chemistry on scene. I was actually drawn in a few times as they interacted.

Plus? I actually laughed when the joke was intentional. I can’t say that about the first movie (save for her dad pulling out the shot gun – that’s always gold.).

But yeah. Not many complaints about the movie, actually. Aside from the plot but that can’t be helped sometimes.

Now…for Eclipse.

Posted by Liliy in Books, Movies and tagged with , , , , ,
19Dec
7

Twilight Saga – Twilight (Book 1)


“I decided as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly.”

-Edward Cullen, Twilight

I think the above quote summarizes my jump into Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I’m not actually sure what to quite think about this first book and will probably discuss it by just writing what comes to mind as I just finished reading the thing a few moments ago. I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled or impressed by it either.

I think the best way I can think to describe Twilight is “Mediocre Fanfiction.” It’s like, what you read when your favorite author isn’t updating and your alternative is something literally unreadable. It’s not good, but it’s not bad either. It’s in the middle and writing wise it’s tolerable. As someone who reads a lot of fanfiction (good, bad and ugly) I can’t really say anything against the writing style without sounding too hypocritical because I’ve read worse for leisure more than I probably should have.

Plot wise, I think “Harlequin for Teenagers” seems appropriate. It’s about 70% Bella describing what Edward looks like (I think she used at least eight words to describe his eye color in the first three chapters alone…) and what he does to her on the inside. Her feelings, how much she loves and adores him, blah blah blah. It’s a ‘guilty pleasure’ at its best. To help things along? It’s written in first person so if you try just a little bit, the name “Bella” can be replaced with your own and it’s like reading your own little love story where the vampire’s in love with you.

While not a huge fan of first person writing in general (when I read fiction I want to read about someone else’s life…not pretend mine is different), it did put how this book got so popular into focus. The teenage girl audience it was aimed at can put themselves in Bella’s shoes and live her life.

Though why they would want to is beyond me. Bella is quite possibly one of the least likable women I’ve ever met. She’s cruel to her father (in the beginning, she improves eventually) for no discernible reason (a description of what exactly he did during his & her mother’s divorce might have been nice to fill that in. Because the man’s a little awkward, but there’s nothing wrong with him from what I could see…), she’s almost falsely modest (she described herself as being plain and blending into the background, yet on her first day of school she gets asked out by at least three guys) to the point where she’s constantly berating herself for being ‘uninteresting,’ and she’s well. She’s dumb as a brick for someone who gets straight A’s in all of her classes and reads Wuthering Heights for fun. She’s also a bit of a drama queen and constantly whining when she doesn’t get her way. Edward has every right to be mean to her half the time. She deserves it. (And she refers to her parents by their names in her head…what kid with a good relationship with her parents does that!?)

And I think this is where it gets into the ‘bad’ area that so many people complain about. 70% of Twilight is tolerable. About 10% is actually interesting and well, good. (Carlisle’s backstory, Alice’s backstory, basically all the Cullens sans Edward.)

The other 20% is just unforgivably awful.

It’s been a while since I stopped reading a book to just stare at it and go “Huh? What? No.” And then I reread the section to confirm that I had read what I read. There is a scene (mind you this is after Edward has displayed feats of super speed, super strength, and lots of cryptic hints about his soul being damned) where Jacob is describing the legends of his lands and he goes on to talk about “The Cold Ones” (Edward has been described as ‘cool’ and ‘cold’ and a million other things that describe his body temperature as being frigid) which should have been a big hint. But then he goes on to literally say “The Cullens are the Cold Ones who made a pact with my grandfather. They’re vampires.” – Now it’s not in those exact words, but he did name the Cullens and he did call them Vampires.

Bella does not put two and two together at this point.

Instead, she goes home and looks up Vampires on the internet. And comes to the conclusion that Edward doesn’t fit any of the characteristics of vampires, except…that he does. Instead, Bella compared him to Superman or Spiderman.

But I digress.

That’s just one of a few scenes that are well. Just bad. Not writing wise, just story and plot wise. It makes no sense and interrupts the story with its absurdness. But what’s worse than that? The good stuff!

Carlisle. Edward talks about his backstory (very, very briefly) and describes him as the son of a minister who instead of mimicking a salem witch hunt and killing innocents, goes to find the real monsters under the city. And you know what? Through careful work he does. And he manages to corner a vampire by himself – but unprepared for his super strength and powers, Carlisle finds himself being bitten. To his luck (or horror) his back up arrives and he’s dropped to the ground while his friends chase down the vampire. Forgotten, the venom flows through his veins and he realizes he’s turning. To save his own life he crawls behind a sack of potatoes and waits out his three day transformation. After that, he tries many, many ways to try and kill himself (and fail) before realizing that animal blood works as well as human to sustaining his life and body. From there, he starts making use of his eternity and meets up with others like himself and eventually gets tired of them trying to turn him over to human blood. Lonely, he gets it in his head that he wants to create a companion that can share his ‘vegetarian’ philosophy. Enter Edward, dying boy with flu.

You see that above paragraph? It’s interesting right? You’d like to know more about Carlisle and his transformation and what he did in more detail? Me too. But you know what? That above paragraph is basically all you get in the story. I’ve counted at least four to five pages of Bella describing Edward in near intolerable amounts of detail, and Carlisle’s entire backstory takes a page and a half. Alice suffers the same fate later on in the book.

It’s a very frustrating book, and I still have three more to go.

Well, any farther and I’ll be mostly repeating what you’ve all read before concerning this book. I’ll admit, it’s got its place in fiction and I can see where the appeal is. I did find myself smiling in parts (when Bella wasn’t describing Edward…) and kinda’ liked it at the end of the day. But before I go – I want to touch up on the movie.

The Movie

I saw the movie before I read the book (I heard that the movie was a fairly true adaption so I figured it was about the same) and afterwards found that the movie did mirror the book fairly well. There were a few minor changes that included Bella remembering who Jacob was (and Jacob not actually telling her the Cullens were vampires, they cut that out thankfully) but not much else I can remember at the moment. Mostly the cutting of her friends backstories. (And Bella getting asked out by like five guys…).

I liked the movie more than the book. Probably because while watching the awful movie, I was laughing. It was so bad it was hilarious – the book didn’t quite fit that description. When the book was bad, it was just bad. At least the movie I could find some joy in my sides hurting.

Plus? I loved the side cast. The Cullen family was amazing, I adored Charlie (Bellas’ dad was amazing) and Jacob Black was one of the best actors in the film. Anyway, in this case the movie > book.

Now then, moving on to New Moon! Wish me luck.

Posted by Liliy in Books, Movies and tagged with , , , , , ,
27Sep
2

Pan’s Labyrinth

Creepy Dude

Creepy Child-Molester Dude

  • Pan’s Labyrinth (Or El Laberinto del Fauno). I finally got to see it this weekend (about twenty minutes ago to be exact) and I feel the need to write about it. So there you have it.

Let me start by saying that I really should have enjoyed this movie. I really should have. But – I didn’t. Don’t get me wrong though, there were a lot of good things going on in this movie and there was a lot about the film I enjoyed. So let’s go ahead and start with the spoilers, commentary and all that below the cut:

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Posted by Liliy in Movies and tagged with , ,
26Aug
0

Goodbye Chains

Well, haven’t posted in a while, and I came across a lovely offer over at a favorite webcomic where if you drop a link/name/plug you’ll get an exclusive three-page comic.

And considering I’ve been a huge fan of Goodbye Chains since I discovered the comic oh, around when page 115 (Lucky me! I got in just in time for a new arc. Tee hee) was posted, there’s no way I could pass up such a great chance to see Banquo and Colin locked in a cabin.

So, I figured I’d give you a quick idea of why I’ve enjoyed and continue to enjoy this series.

For starters? It’s memorable. Pages 1&2 had me hooked. Banquo meeting Colin was simple, well drawn and it worked. These two pages set up their entire relationship for the rest of the series and while they’ve grown and changed (a plus) it’s still that same sense of humor.

Banquo

Banquo, Page 1

Goodbye Chains is a comic about a bandit named Banquo who befriends a communist named Colin and together they rob banks and learn about life, love and all the rest of that fun stuff running into everyone from Ex-performer thieving cowgirls, to gullible townsfolk.

Though, what I appreciate most – is this comic handles both humerous & serious storylines very well. The transitions between these two genres is fluid and it’s easy to be laughing one moment and then sobering instantly within a single page. I think this happens because the characters are real. Banquo and Colin are easy to connect to and you find yourself caring about their relationship with each other and the people surrounding them.

As far as content goes, Goodbye Chains is rated R because it “May contain fantasy cannablism” (I’ve always loved their rating banner XD). However, while there is definitely mature topics covered (i.e. Sex), it handles it in a very tasteful manner. It handles these topics both humerously and dramatically without being overly graphic or obscene.

So, on a wrap-up note, Goodbye Chains is a wonderful story about two men in the old west (Did I mention the author has posted Historical Notes? :D) And you should go read it.

(I love you Banquo!!)

Posted by Liliy in Comics and tagged with , , ,
25Jun
6

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Today I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

I loved it.

Now, I’d like to set this up for you all – before the movie, I (being the spoiler lover that I am) read up on the plot summary and was instantly excited because I was promised (finally) some talking scenes with both Megatron and Starscream. Plus, Frank Welker is playing Soundwave and Devastator. How could that possibly go wrong?

However, after that I figured I’d read some reviews to get an idea of what I was in for and see how it was being recieved after it’s opening day.

Almost every single review declared it a horrible travesty. It was attacked for being plotless, boring, full of horrible acting and dialogue, offensive, and without any sort of character development. They hated this film. Review after review declaring it a piece of trash.

I laughed after looking at their complaints and had only one thought: They have never seen the cartoon.

All I could think while watching was – this is classic Transformers. At it’s best. Now, it was not without its faults – the Autobots could have had a little more screen time and one or two sex jokes could have been cut, but more or less it was full of everything that made the Transformers cartoon so great.

Let’s begin.

The Plot

In the reviews, they mentioned that this film barely had a plot and it was hard to follow what was going on. I’m not quite sure where they got this – it was fairly straight forward. The Fallen came to Earth millions thousands of years ago to harvest the sun for Energon and was attacked by his brothers for trying to destroy a planet with life on it. Present day, he’s back for revenge and to try again and create energon. The side plot? Get the Matrix (the key to turning on the big machine that makes energon) before the Fallen does.

This is standard Transformers. Season One of the G1 Cartoon was entirely about Megatron trying to collect energon from various sources on Earth from mining gems, to raiding oil rigs or using electricity. All things considered – using a machine to capture the sun’s energy almost makes more sense than what the cartoon did with pouring oil into a clear box.

I’m not sure what else to say. I guess if you’re not familiar with the original cartoon you may not realize that the hunt for energon is a classic plotline in this franchise.

The Characters

I will admit though, there is something to be said for the lack of Transformers speaking roles. There is a bit too much of humans and not enough Autobots. But, compared to the first film they doubled their screen time so I’m not complaining too much.

Though, I have to clarify that it was the ‘Autobots’ who didn’t get much screentime (Aside from the twins, Skids and Mudflap…they got a little too much. They weren’t as awful as people describe them, but I would have preferred more Bumblebee.) – because the Decepticons got a lot.

Megatron and Starscream had three long scenes together. I nearly wept with joy seeing Megatron strangle Starscream. This is Transformers. This is what the first movie was missing – the Decepticons talking and bickering and Starscream being the groveling suck-up he is. I may be a tad biased considering Starscream has always been my favorite character, but the two of them more than made up for one too many scenes with the twins.

Plus, Simmons returned. I liked him in the first film, and I like seeing him on the good guys side in the second.

The one character I was hesitant about was Jetfire (Also known as Skyfire in G1) because he was being portrayed as a senile old man. Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry. Jetfire was great. He was crazy and lovable and declared his father to be THE wheel. His greatest moment? Hearing there was a Prime on Earth. He got this puppy dog happy look on his face that was just too endearing.

Oh, and Soundwave as a satellite? Much cooler than I anticpated. I blame it all on Frank Welker and his sheer awesomeness.

As for the humans – seriously. What series didn’t have annoying kids that no one liked who had too much screen time? >.>

The Dialogue/Acting

“I’ll take you all on!” – Optimus

Transformers is built on corny, pun-filled dialogue. The fact that they railed on such things as Simmons going “Not on my watch!” makes me shake my head. Again, going back to the source – it’s always been a mix of the awful and the amazing. Optimus is the only person who can get away with saying both  “Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing”  and “Let’s roll!”

Awful dialogue blended with moving inspirational statements is the blood of this series. I won’t hear a word against it.

Final Thoughts

I loved this film. The action was amazing – Megatron and Starscream had three amazing scenes together – Optimus kicked ass. There were so many things to squeal about.

And Ravage – did I mention Ravage? That cat was made of win. Made. of. Win.

I wish I could remember where it was, but in one review the author commented he couldn’t understand why such advanced robots with such impressive technology were hitting each other with their fists.

Why?

Because they’re Transformers. They’re not mindless fighting machines, they’re people. And most people will tell you there’s a difference between the satisfaction of decking someone with your flesh and blood fist and just shooting them. Optimus knows this well and he is one kick-ass brawler. Let’s face it – Giant Robots beating the crap out of each other with their bare hands rules.

And we all know that Megatron beating on Starscream just wouldn’t be the same if he shot him instead of slapping him upside the head.

Let’s see…I think that’s it. Revenge of the Fallen is a movie that is most appreciated by those who loved the cartoons, the comics and everything that makes Transformers Transformers.

I can’t wait for the third one.

Posted by Liliy in Movies and tagged with , , , ,
20Jun
1

Baccano or The Magical Murder Train

Baccano was described to me as “The Magical Murder Train” by my brother (the nickname created in his anime club).

I honestly can’t think of a better description. Well, aside from “Incredibly convoluded and intertwined plot with a giant cast” – but it’s all good. In fact, it makes giving a review of the series rather difficult. When the plot of a series is piecing together a series of scenes told from about 20 different points of view in order to put together a complete event, pretty much telling you anything about the plot could ruin it.

Baccano is interesting in that it is told in a very complex fashion. I can’t even begin to imagine watching this series one episode at a time. But as stated earlier, you basically have 3-4 interconnected storylines told over the course of 16 episodes from the points of view of about 15-20 characters. It’s intense, but worth it.

Besides, it involves a train, a whole bunch of senseless violence, idiots, crazy people, at least three-four mafia families, alchemists, cultists, chicks with knifes, fights on moving trains, immortals, regular joes who scare the crap out of immortals, guys in oil drums with cement,  and more couples that are matches made in heaven than you can shake a stick at. Oh, and did I mention the mysterious Rail Tracer?

Though, one of the characters put it best – Baccano has no main character. Which means the point is – words just won’t do Baccano justice. Just watch it; it’s worth it. (Unless graphic violence is disturbing to you; then you might want to skip this one – it’s well, let’s just say seeing faces shoved into a railway from a moving train and bones sticking out from a hand that was ripped off isn’t that uncommon…).

And well, I think I’ll spend the rest of this entry sharing witty commentary over some screencaps. Ready? Let’s go! Follow the cut!

(more…)

Posted by Liliy in Anime & Manga and tagged with ,
07Jun
2

Megatron Origin

The Miners oppose the government.

The Miners oppose the government.

Summary

The Transformers: Megatron Origin is a four-part comic series (also available as a graphic novel) from IDW Publishing, written by Eric Holmes with art by Alex Milne and Marcelo Matere. It tells the tale of Megatron’s rise to power from a humble energon miner, to an outlaw gladiator to the beginnings of the Deceipticon army.

I enjoyed this comic imensely. Not only do we get to see the real motivations behind Megatron and the birth of the Decepticons, but it gives us more depth to see just how far he falls from his original goals. It’s an odd place Origin, if only because during this time and this continutity – the Autobots are essentially the ones in the wrong.

The hard working miners find themselves being replaced by automated, thought-less machines and they rather don’t like being out of work. In a rage, Megatron ends up killing a guard and from there, the miners revolt and cause an upheaval. However they are quickly put down and Megatron goes into hiding (accompanied by Rumble and Frenzy, no less.) It is at this point that Megatron starts to see potenial for more and starts building his army to strike back.


Starscream Blushes at Megatron

Starscream Blushes at Megatron

The Love

There are two things I enjoyed most about Megatron Origin: The Artwork. The Writing.

The art of this comic is gritty, detailed and just plain gorgeous. I’ve reread it many a time just to take in all of the detail and structure. In all honesty, there isn’t much I can describe to do the artwork justice. (Well, aside from noting this is the most attractive/sexy I’ve ever seen the Transformers drawn on paper.) The faces are particularl well done, though my favorite is how he draws the energon. The splashes are thick and more remenescent of blood than I’ve seen yet. It drips and clings in a brutal, sensual manner.

A splash of Energon

A splash of Energon

I’m also quite fond of how he draws their mouths and teeth with accented canines to reinforce the raw, more animalistic nature of the Transformers featured in this comic. It’s quite the treat.

Though, I believe comics are where art and writing need to shine together – and Eric Holmes pulls through with moving, and real dialogue. Instead of going into it too much, I think instead I’ll finish off this little rave over Megatron Origin with some of my favorite quotes from the book.

Quotes

“Looks like these guys got no respect for industrial equipment.” -Frenzy, pg.18

“Heh…you [Starscream] can fly?” -Megatron, pg.50

“So…what if the badge never came off?” -Megatron, pg.62

“Heh. Nobody’s perfect.” -Starscream, pg.70

“Wake up, cybertron. Your era is ending.” -Megatron, pg.75

Megatron the Miner

Megatron the Miner

“I’ve heard it said that we only gain wisdom through suffering. And tonight, I intend to make you very wise.” -Megatron, pg.88

Conclusion

If you enjoy Transformers, particularly if you are like me and love the Decepticons, you should take a chance and pick up this book. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Posted by Liliy in Comics and tagged with , , ,
28Sep
1

End of Geass

Spoilerfest ahead. You’ve been warned. :D

Well. Um. The first half of episode 25 was seriously bad-ass and all sorts of hardcore. Kallen vs Suzaku; Lelouch vs Nunally, Orange-kun being Orange-kun. Just watch it.

And I fell in love with Lelouch all over again. *snuggles the crazy* There’s just something great about every time he goes off into over-dramatic land and goes “Lelouch Via Britannia Commands You!”

The second half…eh. If you watched it you know what I’m talking about. I mean, I kinda figured that it would end that way. Suzaku killing Lelouch wasn’t a big surprise and I KNEW Kallen didn’t kill him. Heck, the moment Zero showed up during Lelouch’s little parade I was like “Suzaku.” Kinda’ obvious.

Though, I did appreciate Suzaku crying. *nods* And the music for these last few episodes has been particularly nice. I really like the soft vocals; it really added something else to Lelouch’s death.

I’m still mad they didn’t fake Lelouch’s death. Or that Lelouch didn’t take a code from someone and become ‘LL’ or as some other blogs have pointed out: “R2″ – get it? “C2″ “V2″ – R2? (Yes, I know you spell it “CC” and “VV” but they say “C2″ and “V2″). Which would have been awesome. Lelouch x C.C. the whole way. (Or xKallen, or xSuzaku, or whatever person I’m throwing Lelouch at in any given moment.)

And what’s with the giant time skips? First a “one month later” and Lelouch is emperor and now a “Two Montsh Later”. They never did tell us what happend in that one month of just Lelouch, C.C. and Suzaku. Which is sadness.

And now I’ve just started rambling. So we’ll end this the right way:

Jeremiah Gottwald, you are the most amazing and hardcore character – ever. I salute you!

(Seriously folks, the guy jumped out of his freaking mech in mid-air, did a flip and took out a Knight of the Rounds. HARDCORE. *glomps Orange-kun*)

Posted by Liliy in Anime & Manga and tagged with ,
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