"Up"

Let's face it, after taking into consideration all the wide release films this year, the choice for best picture(so far) is pretty obvious. It has to be "Up." If we are only discussing wide release films, that means not taking into consideration films like "The Hurt Locker," than "Up" is by far, as good as it gets.

Is it my favorite movie of 2009? No, actually it's my third, first being the 3hr 35 min cut of "Watchmen," with Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" being second, but in terms of quality, neither of those even come close to "Up"

After 2008's "Wall-e" which was nothing short of a masterpiece, Pixar had a lot to live up to, and with "Up" they proved that at 10 films, it's just about impossible for them to do wrong. Pete Doctor came back as a Director, he is one of what I call the "Big Four" of Pixar Directors. He was the first person who was not John Lasseter to direct a film for Pixar, and to date, Pixar has only had 4 people direct their film projects, John Lasseter, Pete Doctor, Andrew Stanton, and Brad Bird. I've noticed that with Doctor, his films tend to go for a more emotional punch in the gut.
Who didn't get a lump in their throat by the end of "Monsters Inc." and if you didn't get misty eyed watching "Up" than you simply aren't human.

The film mixes the traditional aspects of a kids adventure story with one of the most devastating opening montages in recent memory.

Unlike something from Dreamworks animation, such as the Shrek films, where adult jokes are thrown in to keep parents happy, a Pixar film just tells a strong, solid story, that is purely entertaining, regardless of the age of the viewer. I admire that they don't dumb anything down just because they are making a movie for "Children."


*Spoilers*

I'm sure the idea of Ellie being unable to have children is a concept that flies past a kid's head, just like the heavy environmental themes in "Wall-E"

*Safe to read once again*


It was strange, this was a film I couldn't completely appreciate right away. After watching it the first time in theaters, I knew I liked what I saw, but I couldn't process everything. It was hard for me to accept the power of this film while wrapped in such an entertaining fantasy film. I am the first person to defend animation as a truly legitimate medium to tell all sorts of stories, but even I fell prey to the power this film held.

This isn't really me reviewing the film, nor am I explaining why this is the best film of the year so far. In all honesty, I just purchased this film on Blu Ray, and I feel the need to express my love for this film again.

The Con

Yeah, it was still awesome. Crowded? yes, but awesome nonetheless. I'm now trying to get over the post comic con crash. It feels like the equivalent to waking up from an all night bender, only this one didn't involve any drugs but lasted 3 days.

later

randomness

blah...

Family Guy Emmy Nomination?

In the past, the best a show like Family Guy or The Simpsons could hope for would be to win the best animated program emmy, which isn't even fucking broadcast. Now however, Family Guy has gotten nominated for an Emmy in the Comedy section, running against shows like 30 Rock and The Office.

Now don't get me wrong, I basically like Family Guy, it can be very funny. It is also really pretty awesome that finally, animation is starting to be seen as a legitimate form or entertainment, no matter the age, but seriously?

Three words, The Fucking Simpsons!!!!

I can not believe the utter bullshit that a show like Family Guy would be nominated for a comedy Emmy while The Simpsons still has to settle with the category which was basically created for it. Now I know all about the drop off in quality with The Simpsons, in fact I am one of it's harshest critics.

BTW for me the show was fucking amazing through Season 8, then it had a transitional season, going from good to ok, then it turned to utter crap. However it did pick back up again in Season 13 when Al Jean came back as showrunner.

So yes, The Simpsons aren't as good as they once were, they probably never will be, but guess what? It's still better than Family Guy! Especially since Family Guy has already suffered it's drop in quality/Jump the shark point. If you were to take any given episode from the past 7 years of The Simpsons, chances are, it's better than any episode of Family Guy since it's second revival. There is also no question in my mind that any episode from the first 8 seasons is better than the most wonderful amazing fucking episode of Family Guy, ever.

Here's the kicker, most of the people who work on Family Guy, will agree with that last statement, even it's creator. I could probably go further to say that most people working in animation on television will tell you the same thing. Don't believe me? Just ask the South Park guys.

Let's take a moment here to think this through, The Simpsons is often in the top 10 of lists of greatest television shows ever. In fact both Entertainment Weekly and Time have named it the greatest show ever. Family Guy? Not even close. In fact I do not even recall seeing it among the top hundred.

Let me say this one more time, I like Family Guy. With that said, fuck it up the ass for being nominated for a Comedy Emmy before The Simpsons.

later

P.S. I know that Family Guy's chance of actually winning is practically 0, don't bother bringing it up

Watchmen: The Director's Cut

I loved it. I think Harry from aintitcool basically described it best. Loved the original, director's cut made me love it more.

Although the thing that had always bothered me about the film adaptation was the loss of paranoia in the streets. I've been thinking, and I discovered what I would have done differently if I made the film. I would have removed most of the Nixon scenes and instead had scenes with the news vendor. Mostly because this would provide us with a view of the actual world of Watchmen, outside of what only relates to our heroes. Secondly because I feel it really was not necessary to show Nixon. He should have existed more as an outside force. Like his presence is felt, but we don't actually have scenes just following him.

I would like to hope that the upcoming Ultimate Cut will have all the stuff with the vendor, but let's face it, it's only 15 minutes longer than the director's cut, and the black freighter film is 21 minutes long. Not quite sure how it will work. Besides, I think Zack Snyder has said that his final official cut is the director's cut, the ultimate cut is really only created as a fan service.

-raspberries, later

Annoyance

So I'm pretty damn annoyed. I have been waiting for the Watchmen Director's Cut since March 6, 2009, the moment I finished watching the original film in theaters. Well it's playing in LA this weekend, and I'm not going. Fucking ridiculous, makes me wanna strangle a kitten or something. Sure the Blu Ray is only 2 days after that, but as a real lover of cinema will tell you, there is no comparison to watching a film on the big screen, especially if that big screen is at one of the most well known theaters in the world!

I'm gonna go perform carbicide...

later

Chapter 4: Obstacles... well at least the main one

I am putting chapter 3.5 on a hiatus because I feel the point of these articles should be to discuss the concept of serious porn, not a how to for creating it.

I have been pondering these ideas for a while, and on a shallow level, it appears to be something that could easily work. It's all been fun and games so far folks, here come the problems.

The single largest obstacle I can see preventing the legitimacy of porn is porn itself. The reputation that porn has among anyone, is that it is a horrible, terrible thing that we must keep to ourselves. It's dirty and uncivilized. This is a problem.

Allow me to give an example. If you ask most people over 40 what they thought about animation, or cartoons, they would respond that it is for children. Hell, most people will say that. I have a friend who is 39, and he loves Family Guy, however he always talks about how he had to get over himself to like it. He would always think Man, this is a cartoon, how much could I like it, cartoons are for kids, blah blah blah. He said it took a long time for him to get over himself and simply admit that he found it funny.

Animation faces this stereotype. People consider it something only for children, not to be taken as a serious storytelling method. Until you hit a certain point where the generational gap occurs. You see, people who are older now can only remember cartoons as amusing distractions when they were children. People of my generation grew up during the Disney Renaissance of the late 80's and 90's. See we remember crying when Simba's dad was killed by his own brother. We are able to take animation as a legitimate art form.

This is until the preconceived notions our society has placed upon us take effect. Then all of a sudden everyone's too mature admit to watching cartoons. Even phenomenal works such as things from Pixar.

But the seed has been placed, and strong animated films will still have an emotional effect on these people.

In the early stages of legitimate porn, it will be fighting this uphill battle. People's ideas of what porn is will definitely handicap it. For example, when telling several of my friends this idea, all they could do is laugh, or politely act like what im saying is true. To all of you I must say FUCK YOU!!!!!

Just Kidding, I don't blame you, I might react the same way, of course I didn't, but, you know what, never mind, you're all small minded fucks.

Unfortunately most of the rest of America is also a small minded fuck who will only laugh at the idea of serious porn.

The worst part is there will be no way to really combat this. People will have to just legitimately give it a shot and make a decision for themselves.

later