E. Allen's P.O.V.

Reports of Both My Personal and Financial Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

2010-08-25T11:36:00.003-05:00

An update at last.

Financially, I'm doing much better, although I still have to worry about the health of my father, which, let's face it--millions of people are currently facing this same issue with aging and elderly parents. Dad's still in good, if not great, health, so no immediate reason to panic.

As for my business, well the less said about that, the better. My self-published novel should see the light of day pretty soon, so I can't wait to announce the date that it will hit shelves. In other news, I am reeling from an announcement that Satoshi Kon has died at 47. He was one of my most favorite directors, animation, live-action or otherwise; I keep wishing someone at Madhouse will announce this as a hoax of some sort. That's pretty much the worst news I've received in a pretty damn long time.

More to come . . .

Bump, Again

2010-01-27T21:47:00.002-06:00

Just checking back in.

At some point, I will update with some review that should've been done a looooooooooong time ago. At what point? I dunno.

I also will complete my Annie Award voting duties soon. Which is exciting, since these Awards are the first time in many years I've seized the chance to do so.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more.

AVATAR and Other Stuff

2010-01-23T19:06:00.002-06:00

I didn't even get the opportunity to make a year-ending post, like I've done in years past, because I've been feeling burnt out. Seriously, I know you guys don't read this for the excuses, but I'm writing one anyways. Read on if you will; or, if you don't want to, go here and enjoy yourself.

When a writer is burnt out and writes anyway, the quality of the writing can reach comments-on-YouTube-and-IMDb levels of incoherence. Just check some of my past posts to see evidence of this. Or, some writers just do the lazy thing, and copy-and-paste.

I'm old-skool. I don't believe in copy-and-paste, unless if what you're copying-and-pasting are useful links. That lead to interesting websites. I haven't had the time, even, to do the things I've said I'd would do in earlier posts. Like review Superman/Batman: Public Enemies or First Flight or, like, any animated film that had its DTV premiere between last summer and the date of this post. Being burnt out has a way of sapping the energy to even get up in the morning, let alone update three blogs plus an animation forum in a perpetual state of evolution.

Best I can offer you at this point is I'm working on a way around it. Yes, there is a way--because I say so--but, more specifically, because we no longer type on typewriters but computers, with the aid of word automation software--offline and online. This has allowed us to produce more content in less time! I will unlock its secrets, and exploit these killer apps to my advantage.

At any rate, I will also make a bid for expanding my audience by advertising this blog via both free and PPC methods. This also means that I will have to purchase better equipment, since the laptop I've purchased a mere two years ago looks to be on its last legs--though still performing marvelously even now, because guess what I'm using to produce this post.

I have big plans, and I have already started on working on some of them. But not all of them.

So while not making any promises, I can assure you that action is being taken to increase my posting activity, I remain very much in the game, and to Jeff and Melon--I still read your posts! Even if I don't always have the energy to respond, fully in some cases, to them!

Stay tuned or if not, happy trailers!

For Jeff: Geph #214 & #215

2009-11-05T17:49:00.001-06:00

Haven't linked to any of Jeff's work in a while, so might as well begin here with his newest--Geph #214 and #215!

Enjoy, guys.

Post!

2009-11-02T21:08:00.003-06:00

I saw that it has been a month since I was able to make a post; so here is one.

I may or may not post a review of Rob Zombie's Haunted World of El Superbeasto. Given that I have yet to honor promises of reviews to earlier releases, consider the above not to be a promise--but a contingency on whether I will post my reviews of earlier releases, like Wonder Woman and First Flight, and even a film I should be reviewing but haven't found time to even comment on, the extraordinary Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.

My deck is loaded. But I will still commit myself to finding a way to clear it!

Scenes from DIXIE DYNAMITE on YouTube!

2009-10-05T20:35:00.002-05:00

Check it out, if you'd like.

Dixie Dynamite is a feature-length animated film, animated entirely in Flash for under $1 million smackers. Currently playing at film festivals, let's hope it gets distribution soon!

Music to Bring Down Your Stress Levels

2009-10-03T14:24:00.003-05:00

Slippery Sky, the brainchild of Adrian Foster--check it:

Play Exit Insanity First

Blenka, FUNSHINE FM

2009-09-23T17:36:00.001-05:00

It's tragic these guys haven't gotten even close to the amount of attention they deserve.

I'm linking to them in the hopes that their work will entertain a few more eyeballs other than mine.

Funshine FM from Blenka on Vimeo.

Pop Cultural Literacy 102 AT Woodbury

2009-09-20T21:43:00.002-05:00

Folks, I have some news for you, news that finally caused me to update this sadly neglected blog.

Steve Worth, ASIFA Organization Director, is screening the latest in his acclaimed series of Pop Culture Literacy Events at the Fletcher Jones Auditorium at Burbank's Woodbury University on Friday, Sept. 25 starting at 7pm. It's gonna be a hell of a lot of fun. You'll see me there, as well.

7500 Glenoaks Bl
Burbank, CA 91510

And, it's free. Did I say free? Yes, I believe I did.

All those who can join us this upcoming Friday, please do. You won't regret it.

Click here for a printable map.

This is my 301st Post!

2009-09-04T19:41:00.002-05:00

Check out David Houry's Martin Koala comics here.

I met David at a recent Animation Night event, August 25, in Burbank. We talked about his website and his experiences with haggling with prospective clients over the prices he charges for his talents, which are more than fair, as you'll see when you click on the above link.

His Flash artwork is humorous and rich. Plus, some of it remarkably moves!

Sommore Image Testing!

2009-08-21T16:04:00.002-05:00

That last one went well, agreed?

Let's try out some more, this one is again from my days in Houston. I think this one is the Davis Food City project, again pulled off in Autodesk Combustion 4.

Test Post of Images From Past VFX Projects!

2009-08-21T15:38:00.003-05:00

Sorry, the look for this post can get quite messy, but I'm doing this in a hurry, so please forgive me.

These are images hosted by ImageShack, which seems to be a bit more reliable than ImageCave.

After many frustrating attempts to batch upload images to ImageCave, I gave up and decided to cancel my (free) account with them. Went to ImageShack and had a pain-free experience.

I will try out ImageCave again in the near future, as they do seem to be working out their issues with their reportedly aging servers.

Anyway, these are images from a portion of a VFX project I did for the (now-defunct) Houston skateboarding shop Freestylin’.

IMAGE UPLOAD

2009-08-12T17:31:00.002-05:00

Finding a place to host an image!

John Hughes is Gone

2009-08-06T16:43:00.002-05:00

He was 59.

I am in a state of pure shock.

Links below talk about this absolutely jolting event.

Nikki Finke

Quint--Ain't It Cool

CNN, of course

MSNBC

Bump #2

2009-07-07T14:55:00.003-05:00

To push down the older posts with updates.

Just finished watching the Michael Jackson memorial online, courtesy of CNN.com.

Hey CNN, if you want me to take this pic down at anytime, let me know and I'll comply.

Michael Jackson and Farrah die on same day

2009-06-25T18:37:00.002-05:00

Now is that like Jefferson and Adams dying on same day? To some, it's bigger.

I think it goes without saying Michael Jackson is going to have a pretty huge funeral. Anyway you cut it, both news items are incredibly shocking, and extraordinarily tragic.

10 Best Picture Nominations

2009-06-24T17:43:00.003-05:00

Okay, so as the story goes the Academy is expanding the field of Best Picture nominees, from five slots to TEN.

The first half of this moviegoing year is days from being over, and I can't even count 5 that should be considered for such a distinction.

AMPAS, what you ladies and gentlemen have done is still admirable, but you're a year too late. The Dark Knight (along with Wall-E) has been permanently snubbed. Sure it got eight nominations (and two Oscars, one for Heath Ledger) but the one nom that counted was given to an arguably inferior film. Which one, I'll let you readers determine.

At any rate, AMPAS finally corrected a slight, but which films will benefit? An arguably more important question is, which films should?

Bump!

2009-06-22T21:40:00.003-05:00

Still running around Los Angeles, trying to get a grip on the various transportation systems. . .

I will post as often as I can, but between this and doing intermittent CG work, I know one thing--the Wonder Woman review will likely suffer. Still, I will try to post it soon.

I Have Watched WONDER WOMAN. . .

2009-05-30T17:14:00.002-05:00

. . .And will review it soon.

I'm just having a lot of fun running all over Los Angeles at the moment.

I had the opportunity to meet Don Hahn @ the Glendale Barnes & Nobles on May 28th. He was there to sign purchased copies of his second installment into his Drawn to Life series of books on the art of major Disney animator Walt Stanchfield. Good time was had by all.

Before that, I attended the 20th anniversary Little Mermaid panel, moderated by Tom Sito, at Burbank's Woodbury University. Lots of insightful anecdotes, got an John Musker autograph + Tom Sito's, got to talk to Ron Clements for a little bit before he took off, got to chat up Robert from Blue Sky + some Woodbury art students.

I also talked at length with Nancy Parent who attended college with famed Broadway and Disney composer Howard Ashman. She was called to the panel to discuss her friendship with Ashman and got emotional when she described to us how much she missed Ashman, who would've turned 59 the Sunday after the event. Afterwards, she told me about his work, how Disney brass discussed manhandling Ashman's work behind his back, and how ultimately Ashman (at times collaborating with Alan Menken) had to fight sometimes to keep his work from being molested by The Suits. She shared with me and a fellow animation colleague much interesting stuff (go on and criticize me about word usage later) about her own career, as well as the career of her star classmate.

I talked to Jerry Beck, who has a post of this evening @ The Brew blog, Antran Manoogian (ASIFA honcho), Donovan Cook. . .OK I give up, I can't list all the guys I talked to at the event (not out of some effort to maintain secrecy, but to truncate the length of this post) but I had wanted to talk to Andreas Deja, Floyd Norman (Mr. Fun), and Don Hahn (who was apparently there for a little while, then skipped town shortly thereafter--got him eventually at B&N Glendale, as the top of the post will remind you). Couple others, as well, though their names slightly escape me at the moment as I am typing at blurring speeds to try to get this post done within a manageable time frame.

Ultimately, this post isn't about my experience watching Wonder Woman but all of the factors going into the delays in the posting of that experience. I'm in the midst of capturing screencaps from the DVD & I hope to have them up sometime within the next two weeks, as I am still engaged in attending LA events at the moment.

Stay tuned! (Tooned?)

Bump!

2009-05-04T22:22:00.002-05:00

Surprised to learn that the Green Lantern DTV is being pushed back to almost friggin' August! Oh well--should still give me some time to post a review of Wonder Woman, which I add to my own unseen (by you, the reader) embarrassment, is late by about four months. I will humiliate myself further by saying that Hulk vs. has yet to be reviewed by me as well.

I'll get to those. It's just hard to even find the time to watch this stuff. Makes me wonder how I ever made it through something as unworthy of my time as Brave and the Bold. . .

End of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

2009-04-30T22:06:00.004-05:00

Steve Fritz does this write-up on the long-running Craig McCracken series. Craig spills a little bit about his plans for the future now that Foster's will be airing its last ep this Sunday after a planned six-hour marathon.

UPDATE: Damn, Toonzone--you're good.

Toonzone has beat me to the punch with the Newsarama McCracken interview and the news of Foster's finale. Still, you can get at it from here or from Toonzone. Always nice to have choices.

Pixar's UP Will Be PG

2009-04-21T18:18:00.003-05:00

The MPAA has rated Up PG for "Some Peril and Action".

Gee, MPAA, how about that? Prince Caspian (incidentally, from the same studio that's gonna deliver UP to us) deserved a PG-13 but got a PG. Sorry if I'm calling the carriage before the horse on this one (haven't seen the final cut of the film, and one won't exist until hopefully, unlike Wolverine and the Fox studio's piracy scandal, the film is released in late May), but it's extraordinarily unlikely that UP will contain anything remotely earning a PG upon its release.

I fully expect to be vindicated when, after you see this, you'll likely end up agreeing with me. Case you don't, there's always my Comments section if you want to share your grievances!

Bump!

2009-04-20T22:20:00.002-05:00

Still thinking (agonizing is more like it) about my next posts to this still-neglected blog and Gather. Boy, if this isn't writer's block, I dunno what is!

Variety Blogger Lowry Writes About CN's Upcoming Lineup

2009-04-07T22:02:00.002-05:00

Like Mr. Harris, Brian Lowry isn't too keen on "Cartoon" Network's upcoming slate of programs; however, he does damn the masterminds behind it with faint praise for its handling of Clone Wars.

And for not changing the name of the channel to something stoopid like Syfy.

CN's upcoming slate

2009-03-27T14:00:00.002-05:00

I have much to say about CN's upcoming premieres of mixed programming. I could bitch on and on about the six-to-ten live action programs, about half of which are comprised of cheaply-produced reality show challenges, viral clip shows and one "edutainment" program, slated to air on the heavily-criticized network. I am awaiting a sharply-worded editorial from my esteemed colleague, Jeff Harris on this relatively tragic turn of events. I'm sure his will be an entertaining read.

More on Zeebo Console

2009-03-24T13:56:00.003-05:00

The night after I published my article on the Zeebo console, Forbes posted an article further explaning their position on the Zeebo console for emerging markets. If you click on the link, then scroll down to the comments, you'll find a couple guys expecting this system to go they way of the Sega CD, the Jaguar, the Game Gear, the Saturn, the Virtual Boy and other consoles with short market life spans.

Beware of Zeebo's new console!

2009-03-23T22:09:00.002-05:00

Stumbled across this while making the rounds for my news fix at Google News.

This new console seems designed to be piracy-proof. You can only download games to it; no popping in a CD or a DVD or any kind of removable media. I myself can't remember having any "pirated" games circulating in my neck of the woods (Southern California), although maybe that's because I haven't been out much.

The Zeebo console hard drive is just a paltry 1 GB in size--if this were 1994, that feature would impress, but in Q2 2009 seems embarrassing. Content can only be downloaded over a special "closed" WiFi Zeebo-calibrated network.

I'm sorry if the following may sound ignorant to you, but piracy to me sounds more prevalent in the film industry than it does in the gaming industry. When it comes to publicized attempts at combating piracy, you always hear MPAA and RIAA as the organizations responsible for them, not any established interactive gaming association suing elderly grandmothers or single schoolteachers with no children whatsoever. Maybe gaming piracy is a bigger issue overseas (obviously, a system like this makes better sense for the Chinese market) and, per the PC Mag article, this system is debuting there first (Brazil, Russia, India and China). We may see it here in the States, but I'm not counting on it due to the limitations of the system's hardware in comparison to its established counterparts (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo), which would obviously limit its appeal amongst casual and hardcore gamers alike.

All in all, unbelievable.

2009-03-16T17:36:00.002-05:00

Warner Bros. Animation's next animated film will be Batman/Superman: Public Enemies, according to Ain't It Cool News. Film will be based on the DC Special Edition comic created by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness.

Looks like this will be a blast, and a best-seller for WB Animation.

I still have to wirte about Wonder Woman, and I will get to it soon, I promise. I have the DVD. . .

Needless Animated Sequels Not Limited to Disney

2009-02-23T19:39:00.002-06:00

March 24 will see the release of Happily N'ever After 2. Who was expecting this?

Again, I repeat (with added emphasis). Who the hell was waiting for that shit?

The Latest Bump

2009-02-08T22:02:00.002-06:00

How 'bout that? My poor negleced blog stagnates for 38 days while I party it up on Gather. To this end, it's no wonder why this blog gets such low readership.

At any rate, I'm glad Jeff Harris is updating Thoughtnami (congratulations Jeff on your new computer), and I continue to read it in excitement of the new ventures that will most certainly follow as a result of these late developments!

Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo film is scheduled to make a splash stateside this summer. Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey and Liam Neeson are lining up to take part in the US dub. Personally, I'm excited, but you guys saw that one coming a continent away.

Hulk vs. has been released, and once I get my hands on the copy I'll post my reaction to it as well as my reaction to Wonder Woman, the newest WB animation DTV slated for release March 3. I think I won't like the former as much as I will like the latter--how can you go wrong with Bruce Timm on your team of creatives? Lauren Montgomery is directing Wonder Woman, but I'm expecting Bruce Timm's influence to come shining through.

2009.

2008-12-31T17:55:00.002-06:00

I think I just might make these postings an annual thing for my blog. I like publicly reflecting on how far I’ve come (in 2008’s case, not that far) and where I think I’ll be going next.

If you guys recall (all two or three of you), around this time last year I had pledged to post more in 2008. This was the year that I should have made good on that promise, especially when you take into consideration that I purchased my new laptop in late May, and can update this from just about anywhere. It didn’t happen, not even the way that I had expected it to happen. In fact, I haven’t counted, but I don’t believe that, even including this post, I made it to 30 for the year. Yes, audience, I don’t think I even made it to writing thirty posts, though I did make my first long post since FLUTEMASTER, and that was, like, three friggin’ years ago.

Visual effects work is certainly down; being a freelance artist, I can vouch for this. And, if you’re a regular listener to the podcasts featured on both fxphd.com and fxguide.com, the state of the VFX industry has seldom looked grimmer. Many artists working at major houses have or are being laid off—extremely tragic news. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however—video game work is on the rise, and the console gaming industry is actually reporting profits. In this recession. And seeing as I can work in both worlds (effects for media and effects for gaming), it looks like I’ll be okay and doing even better as our economy regains its standing in the world again.

I’m still concerned for the fates of my colleagues, and will do whatever I can to make sure they get the work they needed to get through these temporarily tough situations. When we help each other make it, we all make it.

Back to my blog. I’ll go out on a limb here and predict that 2009 will be a banner year for postings here, especially when you consider that I’m not yet done trashing The Brave and the Bold and there are still animated series currently airing that I need to write about on here, as well as animated series that have yet to air on U.S. televisions (Wolverine and the X-Men, Iron Man: Armored Adventures) and even live-action films I’m keen on seeing and analyzing to death. So, yeah, there’s still much more to come here.

I just can’t promise that I’ll get to them in a timely manner; one promise, however, I feel entirely comfortable in making. You will be seeing a lengthy article soon on more Brave and the Bold episodes, which should serve to put the final nail in the coffin regarding my viewership of this series. How could one expect any differently?

Jennifer Contino's Interview with James Tucker

2008-12-10T15:06:00.003-06:00

The following is an except from Ms. Contino's interview with James Tucker on his Batman: The Brave and the Bold work:

James Tucker: "In my case, it means the buck stops here. I approve just about every faced (sic) of creating the show from scripts to designs. I also do a lot of the designs myself. Plus I approve the color styling on the characters, the background color, the takes at the recordings; basically I supervise the entire production at every point. If you don't like anything on Batman: Brave and Bold, it's my fault."

Okay, James. If you say so. I think a replacement should be in order. . .

SPECIAL EDITORIAL: BRAVE AND THE BOLD Pilot Recap

2008-11-29T07:49:00.009-06:00

Okay, so let’s get this thing started.

I endured the experience of seeing the kiddie-fied design of one of my most favorite Bat-villains—Temple Fugit, aka the Clock King. No, I didn’t get to see Temple Fugit’s face. I didn’t get to see him quip some actually intelligent one-liners. I didn’t get to see him do that awesome bad-ass back-flip onto a moving train—at “3:15 on the dot!” no less.

No.

No, what I got here was Dee Bradley Baker’s grating performance as the clock fetishist who bids our imperiled heroes by saying “Auf Wiedersehen” then flies away standing straight up on a giant clock-copter along with his thuggish-looking goons. Didn’t have a problem with James Arnold Taylor’s performance as the Green Arrow—really liked the following exchange:

“Like you never made mistakes before, Bats!”

“The only mistake I made was thinking you could help me!”

I’m not claiming verbatim accuracy with those above written lines, so, word-for-word to get the proper character-to-character exchange, I suggest downloading the pilot from any number of the file-sharing websites or peer-to-peer channels in operation. Plus, if any of you saw the pilot, you’ll know what I’m talking about here.

To get back to Taylor’s vocal performance as Green Arrow, he sounded a bit young—which, hell, I don’t have a problem with. But Diedrich Bader as Batman . . .

I wasn’t as angry as I thought I might be. Bader did an okay job, considering the tone of the show, the lines he got saddled with and the time with which he had to prep himself for this performance. He did okay. Not great. Not good. But, you know, alright.

When I first learned that Brave and the Bold would exist in some fashion and would serve to soften the Dark Knight character, I felt simultaneously a wan bemusement and, well, disgust. I kept going over and over to myself, “How fucking dare they!” Watching the first five minutes of the pilot, I’m still going “How the hell dare they!” But this time, with less fervor and vitriol. No, my virulent protests wouldn’t get gassed up until the primary plot of the show kicked in, which it did after the theme—the theme, which reminded me somewhat of the intro Cowboy Bebop theme—certainly not its end theme, The Real Folk Blues from the fantastic Seatbelts. Oddly enough, when you consider that in the minutes before the pilot was to air, I immersed myself in a certain amount of meditation, with focus on hating this show as much as a work produced by an artistic team can be hated on by an audience—when you consider that, none of my urge to throw the remote at my TV materialized—as I had predicted to myself—would happen when the very vibrant theme sequence exploded (I felt it seemed like an explosion, because after all, there was no buildup, no “smoke” before the “fire” if you will—there were just loud big band brass music accompanied by 60’s Batman fonts imposed against different colored backgrounds, or superimposed against character action) onto my and millions of other TV sets and computers. And I went to myself, “Interesting!” Never, really, great—similar, again, to Bader’s performance. On its own, I found that it worked. On me, it got me ready for the show.

Then, the show went insanely downhill for me after its title card “Rise of the Blue Beetle” flashed on the screen. This is where I will start my rip of Brave and the Bold.

So, okay, Michael Jelenic is credited as the writer primarily responsible for the upchuck-worthy dialogue our well-liked actors Bader, James Arnold Taylor and Will Friedle are saddled with. Let me once again indulge myself with a brief aside here.

I’m ecstatic to hear Friedle voicing animated characters again. To me, Friedle will always be the excellently written Terry McGinnis. Even if I have to sit through episode after episode of his stomach-churning, Y7-FV dialogue courtesy of Mr. Jelenic, it will be Friedle’s voice delivering them. That’s the way I hope it will always be, that he’ll never lose what is clearly a passion for voice acting. He’s good at it.

Okay, back to the lousy story. We’re introduced to Jaime, this post-puberty fan of Batman, the type who savors every news clipping of the Dark Detective’s exploits through Gotham, and who especially loves analyzing miraculously captured extended news footage of Batman laying the smack down (with a partner, no less—ugh) on some campy villain who’d be totally raped repeatedly in jail by criminals half their size. Guys, it’s to the point where he and his chubby friend, the name of which I don’t care to remember despite the fact that I sat through this hoe-down of a pilot three times, are making cheesy play-by-play calls of Green Arrow’s activities regarding the Clock King’s henchman, then watching Batman tear the Clock King a new asshole before finally throwing him over to hang on the long hand (or the short hand? Ah well . . .) of a life-sized outdoor clock. Oh, and we have to sit through, at the beginning I think, some predictable one-liners about getting the Clock King’s time right or fixing his clock or somesuch nonsense.

After the news, Jaime’s friend teases Jaime about his “geek level”. Here on out, it should become a fucking mandate that all character exchanges featuring teenagers should be constructed to mirror, even within the suffocating constraints of episodic animated television for Saturday mornings (this was a prime-time premiere, but its still a Saturday morning cartoon that just happens to be airing in a weeknight primetime slot), real-world dialogue shared amongst human adolescents. Hell, Batman Beyond and Invasion: America were relatively successful at doing this, so BatBold doesn’t even have that hook to be let off of. Come to think of it, even The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest was more successful at ingraining its teen characters with believable dialogue. You know what, I’m having fun here—I’ll take this one-step further. I have heard more believable dialogue from the direct-to-video Scooby-Doo features, featuring teens, than the few on Brave and the Bold. Between those two teen characters, there were two funny lines. Both effective lines belonging to Jaime with an assist from the inflexion Friedle’s voice provided them—and an another assist from voice director Andrea Romano.

In one of the least credible story arcs ever animated (in my opinion), Batman shows up to Jaime’s window and recruits Jaime for what will soon become a galactic space adventure (?). Jaime wears his Blue Beetle costume, his transformation sequences taking up an entire human era, during which I yelled out, “This is not fucking Power Rangers, you dicktards!”, before joining Batman on his journey into deep space.

They soon find themselves in the middle of yet another galactic struggle for power. One race finds themselves teetering on the edge of extinction because their bodies are harvesting crazy amounts of naturally-occurring energy—and the other race wanting to kill them by extracting that energy using the most brutal methods conceivable. Kanjar Ro, another bipedal extraterrestrial villain archetype we have come to know if not love, reminds me, a bit, of Khan from the second Star Trek film. That’s higher praise than his one-note characterization deserves, I am aware, but Jelenic did well enough by him to not make Kanjar a complete ass-clown.

Anyhoo, after Jaime-as-Blue-Beetle gives a less-than-rousing speech to the blob-like race (during which, he cuts together a hilarious statement about this not being a football film) known, I think, as the Gibbles (yeah, Gibbles) they proceed to attack the enemy floating ship fortress. He takes Kanjar Ro down faster than Tyson took out Lou Saverese, though this is due largely to plot constraints. Blue Beetle then gloats, rather predictably when you take into account Jaime’s maturity level, about his quick victory over Kanjar, prompting some groans and headshakes from Batman. What Batman was doing is what I was doing from the very minute the crime fighters left Earth’s atmosphere.

Then Kanjar Ro gets up to prove that Blue Beetle isn’t the badass that he wants those little extra-terrestrial blobs to believe, and proceeds to lay the smack on BB as the Team Kanjar henchmen dispatch a couple Gibbles. Kanjar gets the magikal scarab (through one of the most ridiculous plot contrivances I’ve seen anywhere, and for my money a rip-off of Spidey 3’s device for defeating Venom) and uses it on himself, as he wished he had done the first time he took down the Blue Beetle (when apparently another guy was wearing the suit, and was killed off by Kanjar). Batman gets beat up, tied up (again!), then saved by one of those alien blobs who says something like “I’ve discovered the power within” or something to that effect—I’m writing this for the people who did put themselves through the pain of watching this tripe, so y’all know what I'm talking about here. If not, go illegally download this off some bit-torrent. If you care that much.

Jaime uses the same lame plot device that caused him to lose his power to defeat Kanjar, and learns a couple lessons about Teamwork and Humility, and off they go to the Gibble-Alien-Blob territory to be formally recognized and honored with larger-than-life statues which look composed of Earth-like material but is obviously primarily made up of foreign substances. At first, I was arching back my hand to hurl the remote at my TV in anticipation of another nonsensical speech by Jaime the Blue Retard Beetle; I was spared of that wretchedness, thankfully. It also happened to be one of the things I was thankful for at Thanksgiving dinner, as well.

One final thing about this first episode (I’m of two minds as to whether I should even insult the concept of a series pilot by bestowing such a distinction upon this first Brave and the Bold episode) was the freeze frame at the end. Yeah, they went there, didn’t end the ep right as far as I was concerned (would’ve liked to see what they were able to do with that asteroid), but it wouldn’t be quite like polishing a turd if they gave us a minute more of Jaime on Earth, thinking this whole superhero thing over—and at least making some effort to demonstrate how Jaime’s character was affected (while still making the tone of the show) by his experiences fighting for this alien race, against what could have been his killer. That he narrowly avoided the fate of the last hero to wear the Blue Beetle get-up doesn’t faze him in the least, and that my friends compromises his entire character arc—to the extent Jaime was allowed to have one. And then, the freeze frame, seemingly just to spite us. I’m thinking at this point, there hasn’t been an episode of episodic television that has closed out with anything other than a fade straight or jump cut to black in at least a decade! And this crapper, to be followed nearly immediately by the equally-wretched Star Wars: The Clone Wars, thinks that it can get away with a fuckin’ freeze frame and not get called out. Well, maybe if this were World’s Finest, but James Harvey or Zach Demeter I am not. I’m emphasizing that shit—Rise of the Blue Beetle ended with a motherfucking freeze frame!

In conclusion, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is colorful, energetic, relentlessly eager to please but ultimately empty even by the low standards of budget children’s entertainment. I’m not criticizing this show (as I hope is clear by now) because it contains elements of camp and flights of fancy—there are some shows (Fringe and the animated Secret Saturdays come to mind) that do that kind of thing well. But that Warner Bros. Animation tried to pull that kind of thing off with Brave and the Bold, with Batman at the helm, a show that should’ve stayed on the comics page, a character that had no fucking business going into outer space (and, no, I don’t mean to the Watchtower or a neighboring planet—I’m talking the other damn solar system-kind of adventure) and he had no fucking business fighting a guy with an actual functioning clock for a mask and being stuck (with the exception of Green Arrow) with partners who for the most part aren’t worth a shit—hell, we just saw Mumbai’s human antiterrorism squad embarrass the hell out of these overly super-powered hero wannabes. Just goes to show you, special powers don’t mean a damn thing if you’re not using them the right way.

I’ve decided that I’m going to take Brave and the Bold on an episode-by-episode basis. The only reason why I’m putting myself through further pain is that there were reports, on Newsarama and Toonzone and a couple other reputable sites and forum boards, that claim there were some Brave and the Bold episodes that were going to take a serious turn or two. That the tone of each ep would vary—largely based on the plot. Now, personally, I should probably surf World’s Finest and wait until some of these eps air and judge from the review whether I should give time I will never get back to these episodes. But, masochist that I am, that choice seems to me like a cop-out. If I decide to write another editorial, it will contain my reactions to about five or six Brave and the Bold episodes up until the no-bullshit “serious” episodes, after the airing of which I’ll likely stop watching. Let it be written here. It is not a matter of if I will stop watching, but when. And after I stop watching, I will go back and view some of the WB’s more sophisticated animated masterworks (season-packs of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited), using them as a soothing tonic antidote to the afflictions I contracted as a direct result from exposure to Brave and the Bold stories.

And I’ll go on pretending that the only Batmans that exist (or deserve to exist) in our universe and parallel universe are the ones that Burton, Nolan, Kevin Conroy, Jeremy Sisto, Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Randy Rogel, Alan Burnett and Boyd Kirkland and above all, Bob Kane, gave us.

The PG-rated NEXT AVENGERS

2008-11-24T19:45:00.001-06:00

As a quick aside before I post my Brave and the Bold review:

From the first paragraph of James Harvey’s Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow review:

“It also happens to be the first PG-rated movie in the line, a line consisting to date of PG-13 lines, so naturally, that must mean this is a very tame kid flick? Not so! I was absolutely surprised at the amount of action, coupled with an enjoyable story and some pretty cool characters. For those fans that plan to dismiss this title as nothing but a kiddie release, well, you may want to rethink that. Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow manages to deliver both a fun all-ages tale coupled with some very intense action sequences that stays true to the Marvel style.”

From the looks of this clip, it seems as if James Harvey was paid to endorse this film. I’ve seen the trailer twice, and groaned both times. I just saw the Ultron clip as of this writing, and it is absolutely nothing to write home about. Something you could put on a SatAm show. On Toon Disney.

I will buy this film, and this film better kick the proper amount of ass I’m expecting it to kick, or I will refrain from purchasing any future Marvel Video Premieres, distributed by Lionsgate and featuring kid protagonists “getting ready for action!” This goes for that other glorified pilot Iron Man: Armored Adventures (set for 2009 release on Nicktoons and in stores shortly thereafter). I think James Harvey will like that one as well, because a show can get away with depicting feigned murders and feigned sex and still earn the distinction from James Harvey as being “edgy”.

Not from me.

Very late with article.

2008-11-22T14:35:00.000-06:00

Again, writer's block. Oh, what the hell. It will be forthcoming!

Editorial to be longer than expected. . .

2008-11-19T18:14:00.003-06:00

For all three of you tuning in, I'm still embroiled in trimming the length of the article. For those of you concerned with the possibility that this effort may turn into a Suite 101 endeavor-type affair, I promise it will not. Late, the article will be but it will materialize!

I can qualify the above as being a promise since I'm around eight sentences away from completing the editorial!

Still Not Done

2008-11-19T15:50:00.004-06:00

Writing at a fast and furious pace now. . .this page is beginning to look a bit like a Twitter feed, but not to worry. It won't turn itno one.

Brave and the Bold editorial to be published any hour now.

UPDATE: Special BRAVE AND THE BOLD commentary upload postponed

2008-11-19T00:46:00.002-06:00

Hi guys. It is with great regret that I post this notice of postponement for the Brave and the Bold editorial, due to quality control issues. It should be up within the next 24 hours, albeit probably without screencaps or anything elaborate.

Here's my first take on the show, and perhaps you might read into this as a preface for how I feel about this new Batman show. It sucked, but not completely. It wasn't quite FLUTEMASTER awful, so I suppose I'm damning the show with faint praise. That's about as far as I'll go with my compliments of this disappointment.

The complete editorial forthcoming.

Okay, maybe not in an hour. . .

2008-11-17T20:15:00.001-06:00

Writer's Block is the reason I'm citing for my tardiness. I'm almost finished with it, though. Give me another couple of hours!

My Delayed Excoriation of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD

2008-11-17T02:14:00.002-06:00

No, this is not a blog post apologizing for my tardiness in excoriating Batman: The Brave and the Bold, but rather a notice that the special editorial will be published an hour after this one goes up.

As Jeff Harris would say, Watch This Space.

I must be Brave, Bold or Stupid to tune in to this.

2008-10-23T01:28:00.002-05:00

We have recently learned that Batman: The Brave and the Bold will premiere on Cartoon Network on the evening of Friday, November 14th.

To all connected to the show—my apologies, but I can’t wait to skewer what I expect to be a travesty of previously unforeseen and unpredictable proportions, in a way that not even The Batman could aspire to be.

Watch This Space closely.

Bump!

2008-10-18T16:02:00.002-05:00

This is just a bump to let readers know I’m still writing.

Had a rash of freelance projects to work on as of recently, but will get back to posting more content to this sadly neglected blog over the next couple of days.

R.I.P.

2008-08-10T15:50:00.000-05:00

Bernie Mac, Bernie Brillstein, Issac Hayes. . .

Aw, man, this is some of the saddest news I’ve heard in a very long time. In a row, at that.

2008-08-05T21:31:00.007-05:00

All Pictures (c) 2007, 2008 Studio Ghibli.

It seems that Miyazaki’s latest film is aimed at very, very little kids. It’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, and it’s premiering at the Venice Film Festival in competition apparently. I emphasize “in competition" because usually Miyazaki-san’s work is beyond the reach that his contemporaries need to have to even be considered rivals.

And this stunning work is no exception.

Still, I can’t help but have this George Lucas feeling, that aesthetically Miyazaki’s (Studio Ghibli) product is beyond reproach--but substantively, story-wise, something’s feels lacking in a way that a movie like Spirited Away, by comparison (or even Howl’s Moving Castle) seems made all the brighter.

What I’m trying to illustrate is way Miyazaki-san and Co.’s present efforts suffer in comparison to their earlier ones, and while none of their efforts will suffer when being compared to the efforts of their American animator countrymen, the level of quality in the storytelling and characterizations we’ve come to expect may be falling by the wayside.

I hope, and sincerely that is, that this is not becoming a thing of the past, that maybe the young generation will pick up where the older ones left off.
Thanks to Ghibli World for these tips.

The Post Below THE BATMAN ONE Premieres the ALLENPOV Widget!

2008-08-05T00:33:00.003-05:00

I've always wanted to make my own widget, but didn't know how until I went on Spring Widgets. Now, you can either post mine to your blog or download it to your desktop.

I find Widgets to be fun and cute. More websites and bloggers should have widgets, because with all the new social networking websites popping up all the time, who has the time to keep up with it all?

Batman: The and the _

2008-08-04T23:06:00.000-05:00

I’m sorry, guys, but what the hell is this? What the hell have they done?

Ok. Ok. I’m willing to forget about launching a castration endeavor against WB animation for Teen Titans, but what the Frak is this monstrosity?

One: don’t like the design. It looks like they cut one too many corners with their overseas animation house firm. I know the economy’s bad guys, but. . .Two: Diedrich Bader as the voice of Batman? Huuuuuuuh?

Three. The villains. The theme music. I’ll be damned to hell--it sounds retarded! I don’t recall having these feelings since I put myself through Flutemaster nearly six years ago. While the animation is a step above, the trailer for Batman: The Brave and the Bold just indicates that all involved had this “It’s a kiddie Batman for the kids, let’s not try too hard with this” attitude. Sad, just sad--and if the pilot for this crapulence is anywhere near like the retch-a-thon I think it’s going to be, I’m gonna rip into this show the same way that most mainstream critics are ripping The Mummy 3 right now.

Come to think of it, I’ll probably rip this show worse than I ripped MarVista’s Flutemaster, simply because it’s a Batman property and they (Warner Bros. Animation) couldn’t be bothered to give it the same TLC they gave the other Bruce Timm/Paul Dini produced animated shows.

New SpringWidget

2008-08-02T17:36:00.001-05:00

Get this widget!

Batman: Gotham Knight

2008-07-08T04:23:00.003-05:00

Gotta see this, gotta buy it, gotta own it, gotta write about it, Gotta, Gotta, Gotta. . .

For Those of You Keeping Score at Home. . .

2008-06-23T03:33:00.001-05:00

Okay, so, we lost Tim Russert, Stan Winston, Cyd Charisse and now George Carlin. All in less than two weeks.

Oy. Not good.

Burn After Reading

2008-06-08T14:21:00.000-05:00

I found the trailer for it here. The Coen Brothers give us another Big Lebowski, and lo and behold, all is good in the world again.

I can't friggin' wait to see this. I need to go on Moviefone right now and get them tickets. I wonder how far in advance they're gonna sell these. . .

Screenshot of my new laptop

2008-06-03T22:47:00.003-05:00

This is a screenshot of the desktop on my HP Pavilion dv9730us laptop. Updates to come fast and furiously from now forward.

Slight but New Post.

2008-06-01T17:49:00.003-05:00

Okay, the good news is that I will be updating much more often. Instead of three new posts a year, I will soon be able to give you five new posts a year.

Yeah, almost no difference. But, here's why. I'm replacing my current laptop with a super-fast HP Pavilion dv9730us notebook. This one has wireless capabilities, leaving me with the least number of excuses to not write since I learned how to.

Next time I log in here, I'll be using that from more wi-fi enabled remote locations to connect to Blogger and type longer posts that will hopefully contain more richer content.

WTS #166

2008-02-27T19:21:00.000-06:00

(Warning: rough language ahead.)

Buckle up, guys.

Jeff, it’s been time for a revolution. Waaaaaaayyyyyy past fucking time. But how many true Toonami lovers are out there?

The answer frightens me, and I hope it’s just my jittery nerves which are deceiving me. It seems that there are TWENTY. Maybe less. And why is that? A possible reason is mentioned in your audience—Toonami’s growing irrelevance. This generation has lowered its threshold of quality for entertainment, letting mediocre singers like Hannah Montana and cartoons like Naruto steal their time away from programming more deserving of it. Justice League would still be on air with its original cast if DCAU fans had mobilized, instead of having faded away to nothingness, its series finale little hyped. Nickelodeon is the channel Toonami was, and that’s depressing. Because while CN had the Saturday evening action block, Nickelodeon was left sucking its fumes—actually, to tell you the truth, I believe Nick was sucking Toonami fumes for years and before Toonami, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and S.W.A.T. Kats and Exosquad. Hell, they arguably were choking on Aladdin the animated series and even sub-standard Disney afternooner shows like Bonkers and Goof Troop. They couldn’t hold a damn rolled-up Rand McNally plastic one-sheet map of the world to Gargoyles.

But then that stopped and now Nick has Jimmy Neutron, Avatar and, fucking, The Fairly Odd-Parents. CN has the promising Ben 10: Alien Force, Storm Riders, and not much else in terms of watchable action programming. Even their George of the Jungle is an import which looks to have been made with a budget that would embarrass even Jay Ward. If all of CN’s watchable animated content were integrated into the Toonami block, it would truthfully consist of Storm Riders and Ben 10. Pathetic.

I’m joining the call to arms, Jeff. I’m just not sure how many more people will follow and reciprocate. This feels a bit like the King of Sparta, when neighboring regions needed military assistance, only one man would be sent. Here, there are two; our odds do not improve, however.

Newer Post.

2008-02-10T18:50:00.000-06:00

I do plan on purchasing the new direct-to-DVD Justice League when the WB kicks it out Feb. 26. Every new DC movie gets me hyper-crazy-excited, and this one is no exception.

Other than that, I have more to say about the current state my life is in, but will have to wait longer to write about it since I now do not have enough time to even eat. (JK!!!!! ROLFAO.)

WTS #164 and my elaborate take

2008-01-24T22:46:00.000-06:00

WTS #164 HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, I felt, was one of the greatest animated programs of my youth. I was 11 when the first episode premiered in the summer of 1996. I watched it over, and over, and over, and still over again. I recorded it and watched it again. All in all, after 20 viewings of the kick-ass pilot I lost count.

I didn't really care that the 2nd season was animated by a different animation house. Sure, I liked the first season a little more, but to me complaining about the style of either season was just like hating an apple eater if you're an oranges fan. I didn't care--I was just glad that there was going to be more Jonny Quest.

I also liked how the animated series had more violent content per episode (in the first season, Race Bannon kicking a woman across the face--what a SHOCKER) than your average animated program, staying true to the original and not pulling punches. I always felt you could get away with more on Cartoon Network than any other network that aired animated shows.

God, Jeff, you're like some good wine. Your writings just resonate even more with me now than they likely ever have.

WTS #162

2008-01-16T19:50:00.000-06:00

It's been 10 damn years since Jeff Harris came to animation and made the airwaves for our generation a bit more sophisticated than it would have been sans his involvement. WTS #162 is enormously affecting to me (enormously) because the article allows me to see not merely the journey that his endeavors have taken him on, but this journey I became a part of, if not vicariously through Jeff's vivid reportage.

By the end of this article, Jeff vows to keep fighting. For some reason (taking into account Mr. Harris's recent experiences as of late), these closing words brought tears to my eyes, and made it several times difficult than it normally would have been for me to finish this post for Blogger. Instantly, I thought these words to myself (having, myself, a mini-epiphany): "This is what the animation industry needs--a few brave souls to endure, to suffer, to fight for the absolutely uncontestable and fundamental right to produce quality animation for fair wages and without interference from the higher powers." Jeff has been fighting for this by elegantly bitching and astutely, literately writing. And then writing some more. He expresses himself tirelessly through elegiac forum posts, each time demonstrating the reason why he has arrested my attention since I was in early grade school, logging on by 56.6kbps modem (telephone line) to see his latest article.

I remember then, as I know now, why people like Jeff Harris are all that stands between today's generation of budding animation cineastes and the greedy studios which are all too happy to pay low cents on the dollar for a cheaply animated, poorly localized Asian acquisition--and slam it on air in the hope that a satisfactory ROI materializes as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

You keep fighting Jeff. And, I shall soon fight as fervently with you.

2008.

2007-12-30T17:14:00.000-06:00

Not much thoughts for 2008--except 2007 won't end without a final post of this year from me.

It is painful to realize that I've made fewer than 30 posts for this entire year. I'll chalk it up to some seismic changes which have occurred in both my personal and professional life--the relocation of my business, moving, expanding--and I have no full time employees (other than myself), only part-time ones.

So that meant little time for projects like writing either Gather posts or Blogger ones. That meant next to no time for watching animated programming, though thanks to the 'Net I was able to stay a little bit more on top of the current programming trends than I previously believed I would. And regular postings from Jeff Harris and Melon vastly improved my understanding of the goings-on in animation.

Not much else to say, other than--well, I'll just have to try harder to post more often, more substantively. In 2008.

Stuff I should have said already

2007-12-13T22:49:00.000-06:00

Ok, it's been a wicked long time, but here's another post. Just to let what readers I have (Melon, and one other bloke) left know that I'm still alive. And that I haven't forgotten that I have a Blogger account.

We post when we can. I need to post more. Forget that--I need to write more. I'll work on that in the coming weeks.

Lying to Kids

2007-11-11T18:03:00.000-06:00

This is GOOD parenting?

Watch This Space #158

2007-10-20T16:12:00.000-05:00

You know, I’m almost overjoyed, giddy with excitement, to read a classic Jeff Harris rant on the state of animated programming on the networks. WTS #158 brings back those lazy winter afternoons where I would sit behind my mother’s HP Pavillion on dial-up (of course), AOheLL and a cup of either chocolate milk or Sunny D or Jell-O pudding made from DIY instant powder. And read CNX, eventually renamed X-Bridge.

Remember, Jeff, when you picked on USA, Fox Kids, syndication (UPN) and ABC? I think CBS was in there somewhere as well. . .

I do. In fact, I still have many of those ‘toons on tape! Gosh, a decade plus gone away so fast. It was a whole generation, back when I used to rely on local listings for TV Guide instead of TV.com, back when Mom used to remind me to stock up on “blanks” (blank VHS tapes) for the weekend. When I anticipated each new episode of Superman, or even earlier, Batman before he joined Supes on Kids’ WB. I taped the classic (and I can’t believe those shows are, today, so old they contain a degree of film grain and are labeled as “classics”) X-Men, Spiderman, Super Dave, Eek!, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and a few others I can’t readily call to mind.

Keep on complaining, Jeff. The industry needs it.

Busy Life

2007-10-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

So much to do, so little time to do it. . .

This will be a very short post. I just want to start by saying that it's great to come back and post this little bitty post--and to read something new by Jeff Harris again.

This time, it's scratchbuilding #2 and it is a work of genius. One question, Jeff.

Disney jumping in bed with Warner Brothers again? Wouldn't they, like, want too much in terms of licensing? Mickey licenses are through the roof these days! I mean, Square was lucky to get to use Disney characters in their Kingdom Hearts series of games. . .

Placeholder

2007-10-03T18:22:00.001-05:00

It is a placeholder for a post that I will EVENTUALLY put above this one.

2007-07-28T13:23:00.000-05:00

It is a new post. Too bad, this is what I call a bumper, in which it contains just enough content to qualify itself as a post. Thanks for tuning in.

2007-06-30T16:34:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I'm still posting!

I know the last post lied in the closer by saying that this post was imminent. Now it's July and I'm just now posting this.

All I can say is, I blame everything on my endeavors!!!!!!!!

Updating. FINALLY. (And, how many times have you read this? Hee hee.)

2007-05-07T19:16:00.000-05:00

My first post in a month.

I had planned this update as an explanation of why I’m here in Santa Barbara County, CA (details on my exact location forthcoming). But, I am on an extremely, comically, cartoonishly limited schedule, so I’ll keep this focused more on the condition of my endeavor, which I’m excited to say—

IS NO LONGER ON LIFE SUPPORT.

Those words, I have yearned to say with candor for the past nine months. It’s rough to do business in a region where competition is thick, concentrated, and unforgiving. It’s rough to do business in a region where support is not as plentiful as one might surmise—Houston’s VFX industry, despite massive reports to the contrary, is not as robust as the professionals already based in the region would have you believe. There’s one big VFX studio there—VT2—and they do mostly commercials.

Southern California needs no introduction, when it comes to places to be when doing VFX work. The only other comparable place (I use “comparable” loosely here) where support for VFX artists and franchises are plentiful is Vancouver. Vancouver comes to mind here; it has strong ties to the worldwide animation industry, not to mention it’s just an awesome place to live if you’re working in the arts.

But Vancouver still can’t touch SoCal.

And that’s why I’m here, back almost to where it all started for me, nearly five full years after I began writing about animation for Suite 101 (the remainder of the articles, I still have to post), more than five years after I received my acceptance letter from Brooks, five years after I left my massive children’s (and young-adult) library behind with my mom, of 1100 books, to become independent for the first time in my life 3000 or more miles away from home. A unique challenge, aspects of which ultimately proved too great for my inexperienced brain to properly process and execute.

I’m talking of course, not of the challenges of running a business, but of attending and ultimately graduating from college. I did not graduate. But, I am working professionally, which has at least made me more successful than some of my peers (don’t read this the wrong way—I’m not bragging in the least and I hope to someday see them on the up-and-up, which I know I will if their work in the classes I took with them is any indication). On the other hand, some of my peers are much more successful than I am, which is a testament to their networking aptitude and savvy.

Nevertheless, I feel great that my team and I were able to overcome the logistic challenges of transplanting an entire operation from an area we initially bet the farm on in terms of its favorable market conditions to an area where its supportive qualities are beyond dispute—this initiative, by virtue of its execution without the occurrence of any major negative incidents, can be labeled a success.

We still have a very long way to go, but what a long way we’ve been and what accomplishments were wrought along the way. As Jeff Harris once wrote, “This path was always connected to the bridge I've been crossing all this time.”

Until the next post, which is coming very shortly.

My First Post since leaving Texas. . .

2007-04-09T18:54:00.000-05:00

. . .And all I do is start talking about Jeff Harris.

In WTS #149, he wasn't as visceral as I expected him to be. I expected Jeff to rant more about the live-action programming. I expected him to rail on more about the Miguzi-type pablum taking timeslots away from the more serious, violent animated fare. I kinda, sorta expected him to complain about Ben 10, for some reason.

None of this came to pass, of course.

And I will be eagerly, rabidly anticipating WTS #150.

(P.S.--I promise to start talking more about the relocation of my venture to Southern California, when time permits. But, you see, that's the problem. WHEN TIME PERMITS. I want to buy a timewarp temporal disruptor, so that I can use it to milk 25 hours out of each day instead of settling for the 24 we all get.)

2007.

2006-12-31T21:54:00.000-06:00

So, here’s my last post before 2006 draws to a close. I will not write any Top 10 lists, since I’m strapped for time as it is. I will not write about what I liked most or least about 2006. I instead will write about what I look forward to seeing in ’07.

We’ve just upgraded our creative tools and software, so I look forward to working with these new tools, and new artists. I look forward to seeing the new TMNT. I look forward to seeing Delgo, which we may have to wait ‘till ’08 for. Looking forward to seeing Ratatouille. Ditto for Bee Movie.

I eagerly anticipate the onslaught of the next San Diego Comic-Con, which promises to showcase new technologies and film methods alongside entertainment properties. I hope webcomics gain more prominence in the American landscape—they are overdue for recognition. I look forward to the next version of Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Flash.

Last but not least, I’m excited about the BXT, the next incarnation of the TXB. Jeff’s got some stuff brewing that we should all keep our eyes peeled for.

I’d make this post longer, but it would seem pointless to do so. So I’ll end it here.

Cinematical nails it.

2006-12-28T23:12:00.000-06:00

This is awesome. Yes, it's past time that animation is taken more seriously.

James Brown dies.

2006-12-25T09:28:00.000-06:00

"Severe pneumonia" is what was first reported when we first learned of the state of the Godfather of Soul's health. The AP report, according to his agent Super Frank, said he'd be out of the hospital by Saturday in time for some concerts he was going to do in the South.

Today we learn of his death.

You know, it seems like more people in the entertainment business have died during the month of December than the soldiers in Iraq. And no, I did not mean that as a joke.

I'll be going now to Mark Evanier's blog, newsfromme.com, to see what he has on this latest celebrity death.

Mr. Stafford, and more

2006-12-23T19:09:00.000-06:00

It was because of guys like Robert Stafford that I made it in college as long as I did.

I don’t usually write about the lives of senators and politicians, but I take exception in the case of Sen. Robert Stafford, R-Vermont, because millions of college students today are benefiting from his dedication to making it easier for the underprivileged to pursue higher education. He died today, according to the AP and other major news outlets at 93.

He was also an environmentalist of sorts, but his championing of clean air didn’t necessarily make college more accessible to lower income students. I believe he will be remembered most for the federal student loan named in his honor.

Some of you already know that my business venture here in Houston is centered around VFX. (If you don’t, well, now I guess you do.) I am proud to announce that I have mastered one of the most vital components in Combustion, key to fine-tuning and in some cases creating visually-stunning sequences of animation from white flatspace. The Timeline.

There are times like these when I remind myself that purchasing a second monitor could speed up the entire arduous process of conjuring 3D from scratch and compositing it with 2D elements. Many design programs (Adobe After Effects, Premiere, Maya 8, Max 9) have options which allow you to make thorough use of a second monitor—whether it’s placing File Bins or Timeline windows on your viewer helper or raw data, if ever our work can be made simpler it would probably start with the purchase of the second monitor. So, I’lll mull that over for the next couple months.

My Website

2006-12-17T09:17:00.000-06:00

As some of you guys know (all four of you), I had been wrestling with my website for nearly two years now, sometimes working with a couple of other acquaintances or going at it utterly alone. Well, now I’m announcing I’m throwing in the towel on big parts of it. That’s right. I’m done with it.

I will try to update my static Wordpress enochallen.com blog, followed by the Webcomic Directory and revamp the index page somewhat, but I in all honesty can’t tell you exactly when those changes will come about. I’ve been juggling quite a bit lately, and my workload will only grow in volume, not decrease, so some activities of lesser importance will have to be indefinitely sidelined. Wrangling with enochallen.com is that activity I have just classified as being of lesser importance.

This blog will continue to be updated VERY sporadically, but it will be maintained—this is stark contrast to what I had originally thought months back (and posted on here), but times change and so do human goals, and I have just altered mine to make room for this Blogger account I’ve had since June 2005. (Can’t believe it’s been a year and a half. . .)

I want to thank all you guys (especially YOU, Melon) for taking time out your tight schedules and busy days to check out my comparatively insignificant ramblings. Without your indulgence, I would not have the will to write (it is not that strong as it is—I have to make myself press each key. That guy who said “writing is agony” was onto something. . .)

Until the next post.

2006-12-03T17:07:00.000-06:00

Read Jeff Harris’s remembrance of Shirley Walker.

Shirley Walker, 1945-2006

2006-12-03T16:58:00.000-06:00

I am saddened to hear of the passing of one of the great animation composers, Shirley Walker.

She was every bit Danny Elfman’s equal. For the first episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, I believed I was hearing the music of Elfman but proved myself wrong when I became old enough to desire reading the end credits of animated shows. Her name popped up numerous times in the end credits of numerous animated programs. You can always feel an artist’s sensibility through their music, and Shirley’s was one of sophistication. Yoko Kanno, Joe Hisashi and Hajime Mizoguchi are the only other composers for animated works (that I can think of as of this writing) who possess this quality characteristic.

She took writing music for animation as seriously as she did for her live-action projects. To her there was no distinction. It was all about what the story required. Artists today composing music for animated entertainment would do well to internalize Shirley’s concept of writing music for story and not animation. The end product not only elevates the story’s sophistication and resonance with its audience but animation in its entirety, which the genre really needs these days. Which brings me to my next point. The loss of Shirley Walker represents a big loss not only to the music community but to the animation community, and indeed animation as a whole, being that her work cemented in our memories the gloriousness of the storytelling in Batman: TAS and all of its incarnations, the film based upon the animated series, Mask of the Phantasm, representing the need for artists to take creating music for animation more seriously as this is what is necessary to increase the genre’s potential and our respect for it, as Shirley has done.

It will be a very long time, possibly not even within our lifetimes, before we will see an American composer in possession of the particular brand of talent Shirley had. Meanwhile, we still have Yoko Kanno, Joe Hisashi and Hajime Mizoguchi. . .

Watch This Space #148

2006-11-16T11:41:00.000-06:00

I have just finished reading Jeff Harris’s latest WTS posting, and I’m seriously asking myself, is it the most moving WTS I have ever read? Seriously, it’s really poignant. Here we have one of the most respected figures of TZ baring his soul in ways I personally have never seen before, about an area of animation oft-neglected as of late. The fact that Cartoon Network no longer feels the urge to keep the programming wholly cartoon-centric should be viewed as a crime perpetrated against humanity and is not lost on me—however, never in a million years would I expect that someone who has had such a huge passion for animation and a huge impact on how animation fans think and assess animated entertainment would eventually suffer burn-out. I should have seen this coming, but my naïve mind wouldn’t let me.

I think Jeff should get some kind of award for this. Seriously.

I was determined not to begin my rare posting on a down note. . .

2006-11-10T22:34:00.000-06:00

. . .And I didn't even post when I learned Ed Bradley died.

But Jack Palance and Gerald Levert? Gone from us? On the same day?

A triple whammy, all within 48 hours.

This almost (almost) beats the time when Johnny Cash and John Ritter kicked it the same day. Terribly sad. My condolences to both their families.

Aaaaand. . .another update

2006-10-29T19:07:00.000-06:00

Well, I just had to write something. I have already written as much as I could about the latest Fantastic Four; I haven't seen many later episodes, although I have recorded them. Still doing freelance projects here and there. Okay, see you guys in another month or so!

The New Fantastic Four

2006-09-18T00:16:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to watching the new Fantastic Four on Cartoon Network. My eyes are still getting used to the French anime-inspired design.

Let’s start with the costumes. Okay, I know the four-or-five color costume exists to simplify animation and reduce costs, but even by my own low expectations regarding the aesthetics of TV animation the costume design looks primitive.

The look of Ben Grimm (The Thing) is alright, I suppose, but this version of Johnny Storm looks like a member of Tangerine Dream, post-plastic surgery.

Dr. Reed Richards looks more like a spiky-haired UCLA student than anything else.

Sue Storm is the only character which seems to be an improvement over the original. And that’s about it for the main characters.

The Fantastic Four redux is less of a travesty than Loonatics (arguably, it is not a travesty at all) but many aspects of Fantastic Four leaves a bitter aftertaste—action sequences are not that compelling, the first episode (which doesn’t even seem like a first episode) is a pathetic intro to what will hopefully be an engaging season; and what the hell is up with these “alien trial” plots? I’ve seen these in the mid-90’s Bureau of Alien Detectives series, and they were beginning to grate after a while. Fantastic Four is not going to improve upon the “alien trial” genre anytime soon.

I think that after viewing the 3rd episode, I’ll take a pass on the rest of the season and wait for the season DVDs to hit Wal-Mart or Target shelves. Assuming that, when the series finally does make it to DVD I’ll have the copious amount of time needed to canvas the entirety of the first season of Fantastic Four.

2006-09-04T02:07:00.000-05:00

Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, is dead. Killed by a stingray. WTF?

For some reason, because of this tragic bit of news, I had really hoped today's date would have been 4/1.

I'm still alive.

2006-08-27T21:01:00.000-05:00

Let me begin my new post here by saying that Thoughtnami needs a new entry by Jeff. Bad. Even if it's just one sentence, a one-sentence update. Hope everything is well with you, Jeff.

I will go to my other blog on enochallen.com and attempt to update that one as well. I believe that update will be of more substance than this Blogger post.

I will conclude this post by saying that all of you two remaining readers out there (Melon, Sean, Dad and Mom--okay, that might be four) are awesome for even coming back here, and we shall soon meet. At some film or animation festival. Maybe.

Not a Farewell--more like a hiatus, actually. . .

2006-07-30T14:08:00.000-05:00

Well, thanks to my new venture and a bunch of other exciting and not-so-exciting developments in my life, I will not be updating this particular blog as often as I would like—it’d be best for the few who are reading this to check out my WordPress one at enochallen.com/blog, which will feature not only business updates as I had originally envisioned but personal updates as well. Thanks to all who have frequented this blog, and I hope to eke out some free time in the near future for this poor, neglected journal. Priorities, priorities.

2006-07-23T21:12:00.000-05:00

I’d hate to begin this first post on this blog in two months with something downbeat, but just learned of Mako’s (Makoto Iwamatsu) death from cancer. Sucks.

I should write more. I loved his vocal performances, even the so-so ones. Comparable in talent is another Asian-American voice actor (and all-around great actor), Clyde Kusatsu, who thankfully is still alive to give performances. Mako will, doubtless, be missed by many who grew up adoring his throaty deliveries.

Okay, it really is up, now.

2006-05-18T21:49:00.000-05:00

Webcomic Directory is up. And once you peep that, talk about it here.

The X-Bridge

2006-05-18T17:41:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't been able to post more links to articles by Jeff "X-Bridge" Harris, but that's only because with the moving and everything I've been sinfully busy.

The new site looks awesome, Jeff. Here's to eight more years of no-holds-barred criticism of the animation industry.

2006-05-18T16:46:00.000-05:00

Webcomic Directory is finished. It will be uploaded to enochallen.com in just under an hour from the date on this post.

A couple other aspects of the site are almost done, as well. I will use the blog as a splash page, followed by a link to my other splash page—the old one.

And then you’ll see a couple more pages up by the end of the month, and that’ll do it. None of these pages will be updated very often, but I hope that you’ll understand and pardon the lack of activity.

P.S.--Webcomic Directory is finished. It will be uploaded to enochallen.com in just under an hour from the date on this post.

Well, two hours from now.

The enochallen.com blog is finished!

2006-05-07T00:25:00.000-05:00

I am proud to announce that the blog for my site is finished. After many long, frustrating hours and days, this part of the site is done. Check it out here.

Why do I get the feeling that there may not be even TEN movies this year that get the four-star rating stamp from Berardinelli?

2006-04-25T02:32:00.000-05:00

A killer review by James Berardinelli on United 93. Read it here.

Can somebody surgically outfit me with some tentacles, please?

2006-04-22T16:13:00.000-05:00

Okay, this is kinda unacceptable. Eight days since I last updated? Unbelievable.

Not much has changed. I’m preparing to move and coding the website at the same time, so it has been a bit hectic. Nevertheless, not much to talk about. Business as usual.

Will update with more when things get completed here.

Some more thoughts

2006-04-14T04:26:00.000-05:00

I never thought that, with the exception of Keenswim, there would be something like 5000 regularly-updated comics. By the end of this year, I expect that number to drastically decrease as Photoshop, Illustrator and Corel addicts (or even Serif addicts) alike realize that not as many people read or keep up with these things as one might expect. Still, I hope all of these content creators find their audiences, as some of these comics deserve a wider audience. That’s why, I guess, I find it necessary to create yet another Webcomic Directory for my site, so that if you’re bored with the other parts of it, there will be at least one that really interests you.

Like most parts of the site, this part will be updated only occasionally—but I will at least make a somewhat half-hearted (how’s that for a statement) attempt to make one new entry every day. That’s the plan.

I know I’ve been saying this for nearly six months now, but—guys, the site is almost ready to go live.

2006-04-11T16:31:00.000-05:00

Proof of Enimem's D12 is gone.

More details are forthcoming.

Wow, this long since I've posted anything. . .

2006-04-10T20:17:00.000-05:00

I really should update this more.

I have just finished coding the Webcomic Directory portion of my website (the “Webcomic Directory” is no more than a chart with links to the comic and some scant additional info) and the functionality is finally where I want it to be. I think I’m doing a little bit better with the forum, but writing little bit better is like saying that you’d rather light a match and singe your skin with the flame than get shot. (Like the aforementioned makes much sense; I chalk it up to not having a complete day off since the beginning of February.) I love how coding on the Recaps! section is going, and it looks like I may be done with that section by the end of the week.

That said, I believe I will have to scrap the design of the News Marquee header, and merge it into my Typepad blog for the site because there are already so many daily updating tasks having to do with the site—I mean, if I keep going I will start each day with 52 objectives having to be fulfilled by noon. And, I don’t have a fully functional company yet, so—one guy doing all of these things sounds impractical, even to a workaholic like me. That means some activities will have to be scaled down or decommissioned altogether.

More updates later. . .

Some Diversions!

2006-04-02T12:41:00.000-05:00

In my travails across the endless virtual universe that is the ‘Net, I have come across The Dreamland Chronicles. It’s so pretty and full of production values that I feel like I’m overdosing on eyecrack! Oh, damn, I’m really jonesing for some right now. Man, gotta get it. . .

2006-04-02T12:19:00.000-05:00

I am astounded at the performance of Ice Age 2. By all accounts, the animated film has taken in over $70 million so far. WTF?

Well, this should make the studios happy. $70 million smackers. Holy mother of . . .

2006-03-30T09:56:00.000-06:00

Coming soon, Knight of the Living Dead.

2006-03-26T15:29:00.000-06:00

Spike Lee’s Inside Man takes in nearly $30 million, a hefty hefty haul. Inside Man may be the first Spike Lee film to have made more in one weekend than any of his previous films did during their entire theatrical run, or even combining home video revenue with the previously mentioned figures. I’m excited for him. In terms of B.O. appeal, Spike is beginning to venture into Michael Bay territory!

Going 20,000 Leagues in either direction will probably take you to some interesting places!

2006-03-26T08:50:00.000-06:00

Richard Fleischer is gone at 89—I couldn’t post this earlier because I am still embroiled in this website thingy that I’m doing, and because I wanted to double-check this piece of news.

My condolences!

Liar, liar. (I'm feeling suicidal today, that's why I made the pun.)

2006-03-24T04:33:00.000-06:00

I'm beginning to really like The Liar, a series of animated web shorts from the mastermind of Hayasa Pictures, Hayk Manukyan. I think even you low-band users could check out some of the cartoons; at the very least, you can look at some of the images. Thanks to Animation Nation (and by default, Charles Zembillas).

OMG I can get some projects in the can faster now! Jeez!

2006-03-20T05:51:00.000-06:00

Probably the reason for the lack of news this week is my website. Work, website. Website, work. You know, they usually run together.

I’m really excited about Panasonic's newest P2 Series Camera, the AGHVX200. Has no moving parts. HD out the box. I’ve been wondering when Panasonic would stop smoking the hooch and get some serious research and development done.

Needless to say, I’ll be getting me one of these soon (but only if a better camera at a cheaper price doesn’t come along, or a camera that’s both 24p/HD interchangeable and battery efficient isn’t currently available at the same price.)

2006-03-18T07:19:00.000-06:00

Okay, I’m just not going to waste much time here—Jeff Harris has a new article up and you should just obey the thirst and click here. I know a hitwoman I can call on you if you don’t do it.

2006-03-17T09:03:00.000-06:00

Okay, so apparently the author of Stone Fox, John R. Gardiner, died March 4 of pancreatitis and we are just now learning about it (well, I am at least). I own two copies of that book. That’s right; not one, but two. This is a big loss for me, and I’m sure a big loss for those who were avid children’s book readers. I was (still am) a voracious consumer of children’s stories. One day I’ll be a father; the first or maybe the second book I will read to my son or daughter will be Stone Fox.

2006-03-14T09:42:00.000-06:00

Jeff Harris has yet another informative article up on his site, and if you click here you'll get the drop on info that's still not widely known (article entitled Hellboy, Tony Hawk, Marvel movies, Stan Lee Movies (not the same as Marvel Movies): 2006 is looking a LOT Clearer For Toonami).

E. Allen's P.O.V.

Reports of Both My Personal and Financial Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

Bump, Again

AVATAR and Other Stuff

For Jeff: Geph #214 & #215

Post!

Scenes from DIXIE DYNAMITE on YouTube!

Music to Bring Down Your Stress Levels

Blenka, FUNSHINE FM

Pop Cultural Literacy 102 AT Woodbury

This is my 301st Post!

Sommore Image Testing!

Test Post of Images From Past VFX Projects!

IMAGE UPLOAD

John Hughes is Gone

Bump #2

Michael Jackson and Farrah die on same day

10 Best Picture Nominations

Bump!

I Have Watched WONDER WOMAN. . .

Bump!

End of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Pixar's UP Will Be PG

Bump!

Variety Blogger Lowry Writes About CN's Upcoming Lineup

CN's upcoming slate

More on Zeebo Console

Beware of Zeebo's new console!

Needless Animated Sequels Not Limited to Disney

The Latest Bump

2009.

Jennifer Contino's Interview with James Tucker

SPECIAL EDITORIAL: BRAVE AND THE BOLD Pilot Recap

The PG-rated NEXT AVENGERS

Very late with article.

Editorial to be longer than expected. . .

Still Not Done

UPDATE: Special BRAVE AND THE BOLD commentary upload postponed

Okay, maybe not in an hour. . .

My Delayed Excoriation of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD

I must be Brave, Bold or Stupid to tune in to this.

Bump!

R.I.P.

The Post Below THE BATMAN ONE Premieres the ALLENPOV Widget!

Batman: The ________ and the _________

New SpringWidget

Batman: Gotham Knight

For Those of You Keeping Score at Home. . .

Burn After Reading

Screenshot of my new laptop

Slight but New Post.

WTS #166

Newer Post.

WTS #164 and my elaborate take

WTS #162

2008.

Stuff I should have said already

Lying to Kids

Watch This Space #158

Busy Life

Placeholder

Updating. FINALLY. (And, how many times have you read this? Hee hee.)

My First Post since leaving Texas. . .

2007.

Cinematical nails it.

James Brown dies.

Mr. Stafford, and more

My Website

Shirley Walker, 1945-2006

Watch This Space #148

I was determined not to begin my rare posting on a down note. . .

Aaaaand. . .another update

The New Fantastic Four

I'm still alive.

Not a Farewell--more like a hiatus, actually. . .

Okay, it really is up, now.

The X-Bridge

The enochallen.com blog is finished!

Why do I get the feeling that there may not be even TEN movies this year that get the four-star rating stamp from Berardinelli?

Can somebody surgically outfit me with some tentacles, please?

Batman: The and the _