Telling Stories

"Hans Christian Andersen", written by Myles Connoly, Moss Hart, and Ben Hecht; directed by Charles Vidor.

It's movie night with my wife, and we're trying to pick a film to watch. While we're not the stereotypical couple - "I want to watch 'Die Hard'!" I want to watch 'Beaches'!" - I do tend towards darker fare, while she prefers sunnier comedies. So we agreed on "Hans Christian Andersen", one of her favorite movies.

I'm not a big fan of musicals or Danny Kaye films, so "Hans Christian Andersen" had a steep uphill battle to win me over. The whole film is painfully earnest, which can certainly set the stage for a good post-modern mocking. I steeled myself to bear the brunt of a flimsy plot strung with forgettable patter songs that Kaye would burble as he hopped about, twiddling his fingers or something. I was surprised to find that, while the film has it flaws, beneath its surface lay a thoughtful, affecting story. Not only was it engaging, but it had a few things to say about the joys - and pitfalls - of fantasy.

Mr. Kaye (of course) plays Hans, a small-town cobbler who spends most of his time flying kites and telling stories to the local children. He does this so much, in fact, the schoolmaster successfully campaigns to have him driven from town. To save his pride, his apprentice Peter (Joseph Walsh) talks Hans into travelling to The Big City - in this case, Copenhagen. Between this exchange, and the travelling song that follows it, the word "Copenhagen" is said about a thousand times, or a least enough for a small-scale drinking game. It isn't long after arriving that Hans and Peter set up shop in their "temporary" home. Unfortunately, it also isn't long before Hans gets thrown into jail through his ignorance of the city's laws. Happily though, one of the gentry pays to have the cobbler freed.

Things get more complicated when the benefactor enlists Hans to make new ballet slippers for Doro (dancer Zizi Jeanmaire), the prima donna of the local ballet company. One look at her and Hans is smitten, blinded to everything. Doro's marriage to the company director Niels (Farley Granger) is tempestuous, and Hans misreads this to be a damsel in need of rescue. More fuel is added to the fire when the company adapts "The Little Mermaid" (ostensibly written as a love letter to Doro) as a ballet. Peter tries desperately to warn Hans, but a painful collision with reality is inevitable.

Interestingly, it is Hans' very gift at immersing himself so completely into his dreams that gets him in the most trouble. Indeed, his burgeoning career as a writer and his friendship with Peter are almost destroyed by his romantic fantasies. While Hans does go on to storybook immortality, his tall tales seem to be double-edged swords, giving the frothy plot depth and emotion. It's a far cry from the modern take of stories as teachers and healers, innately resolving any conflicts by the final curtain.

Many of Mr. Loesser's songs are bright and fun ("Thumbelina" is a highlight, and viewers may remember "Inchworm" from a later episode of "The Muppet Show"), and the art direction, while cluttered at times, is fairy-tale cheerful. Some sequences are overlong (the climactic ballet especially so), and the ending seems rather abrupt (Hans makes the transition back from crushed cobbler back to chipper writer in a single scene), but all in all "Hans Christian Andersen" is a charming musical with some intriguing ideas.

Rosa Parks dies at 92

Activist Rosa Parks died on October 24th. She is most famous for refusing to relinquish her bus seat to a white man in 1955, a key moment in the civil rights movement. Register and read more about her life surrounding that moment.

...And Speaking Of Good Design...

Alessi also has a great line of products - we just bought this cat feeder this weekend. They have their own website, or you can look at many brands of well-designed stuff at this site, unicahome.com. I just found it with Google, which I use constantly.

PS - The feeder runs about $70. Most of this stuff, like the Koziol line, is pricey.

Something Nifty In Denmark

It's the website for Koziol, a cool line of products for the kitchen, bath, home or office. Fun designs and bright colors! Check out the link - it's translated from the German. You can get some of these products at a store called Karikter in San Francisco. Others may require a store locator.

"Toy Story" Lives On, Part II

Here's a Buzz Lightyear television set, made by HANNspree California, Inc. The $400 price tag is steep for a 10" screen, but the design is great -- right down to the movable visor! They have lots of other fun designs, too. If they ever make one of the crane game alien, I'm there!

Speaking Of Short Stormtroopers...

Hasbro's second Mr. Potato Head/"Star Wars" character fusion, the SpudTrooper, is in stores now. I know this takes synergy to a patently absurd place, but I do find it oddly pleasing. But then, the Stormtrooper was one of my favorite designs in the first movie, so there you go.

You can buy it for $11.95 + shipping at wickedcoolstuff.com.

Aren't You A Little Short For A Stormtrooper?

Yes, she's finally on the way... the 1/4 scale Princess Leia figure from Sideshow Toys! There's never really been a sculpt of her that I've liked, so I'm really looking forward to this one. From what I've heard, they're going to start taking pre-orders for it next week. I've pre-ordered all the other "Star Wars" figures (at least the ones from the original trilogy)...why stop now? I'm doomed to buy them until the end of time, or until my display space runs out.

"Toy Story" Lives On

There's two examples to celebrate!

First, the 10th Anniversary DVD, available now where videos are sold. Yikes! I remember starting to work on this movie, and now it's TEN YEARS OLD (I know, there'll be plenty more of that). I've got a few sound bites on one of the new documentaries, so I'm pretty excited!

There's also a new Babekub "Toy Story" figure set available. They're similar to Kubrick figures, but bigger and even cuter, if that's possible. Check 'em out!:

You can buy the trio for $32.00 + shipping at ningyoushi.com.

It's great to have worked on something that has such longevity!

We're Not Here To Raise Your Kids

Showtime's 13-episode series, "Masters Of Horror", begins tonight at 10 PM. The first hour-long segment, "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road," was directed by Don Coscarelli, who helmed "Phantasm". Check here for local listings.

The other directors are Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Larry Cohen, Joe Dante, Mick Garris, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, William Malone, Lucky McKee, John McNaughton and Takashi Miike. The episode budgets were small, but they all had a considerable amount of freedom. You can also read how the series came to be here, but you'll have to register if you haven't already.

I'm not a huge horror fan, but I'm certainly curious.

More Fun With Resin

Kamikaz Comics is another site with beautiful resin figurines of comic book and animation characters. The prices range from about $30 to over a thousand, depending on the piece. Check it out!

Elmo Arrested In Hollywood

Well, sort of. Here's the full story, or a least more than you need to know.

I resisted putting this story up for a couple of days, but that headline was too tempting.

Fly The Insanely Cute Skies

Hello Kitty Airlines!
Sure, why not? She's already on everything else.
If you can read Japanese, you can book your flights here. Of course, there's music that you'll want to shut off pretty quickly.
There's also an article about the airline, as well as an excerpt from Hello Kitty's bio. Did you know she lives in London? I didn't.

Another MP3/Pop Culture Collision

An MP3 player in a Pez dispenser! You can read more about it here.
This guy actually got Pez's permission. Smart! Now he needs to start calling musicians and getting approval to put their heads on these things.

Two words: Elvis Pez.

Filling Your iPod With Stryper Not Quite Cutting It?

Then here's the next step - a cap for your iPod Shuffle:


You can buy one for $13.00 + shipping at this nicely designed site.

I've got to hand it to Steve Jobs. I like iPods, but they really seem to have captured the public imagination. When did you see people falling all over themselves to dress up their Walkmans? Or decorate them like religious icons? Or would it have happened then if there had been an internet to encourage it?

I can't wait to see the Nano with lenticular pictures of Jesus or the Pope on it.
Just kidding. For now.

When Your Baby and Dog Already Have Costumes

It's time to dress up your iPod!... I guess.
The latest October opportunists since the Spirit Halloween Superstore call themselves iAttire, and they're based right here in California.
I scoff, but I wonder how much money they'll make this season...

Monitoring Traffic

Neat! I figured out how to track hits to this blog. I signed up for this free gadget called Site Meter, which helps to do that. It's very inobtrusive to the site, which I like a lot! There's plenty of other gadgets you can use - this was just the first one on Blogger's recommendation list.

A New Animation Blog

It's called "Spline Doctors", and it's a forum moderated by a group of Pixar Animators. There's funny posts and pictures of Lego sculptures to be had. Enjoy!

Flash Video

"Corporate Dummy", by Manuel Fallmann. See it here.
I like the music (C-60, by Erfolg). Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available at the iTunes music store.

Elmer Dresslar, Jr. Dead at 80

You know him best as the voice of this guy.
Read more about Mr. Dresslar here.

James Jarvis Does Wrestling!

The new addition to the "In-Crowd" series is the IC Wrestling Federation. These don't grab me as much as the previous release, but there are some neat designs here! You can buy the set of seven 4" figures for $75 + shipping at ningyoushi.com.

Mergers And Meaning

"In Good Company", written and directed by Paul Weitz.

I'd been eagerly awaiting the follow-up to "About A Boy", having enjoyed its thorny fun. "In Good Company", while sharing its strong structure and polished craft, sadly lacks its sense of mischief. "Boy" deals with 'letting go' and allowing yourself to risk failure, while in "Company", being 'let go' is the failure itself.

It's the story of Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid), who, due to his magazine's acquisition by a comglomerate, finds himself assisting Carter Duryea (Topher Grace), its latest protoge. Carter is terrified, but he clings to his winning recipe of caffiene and corporate charm - "I think you'll make a great wingman", he offers to Dan. The new regime begins to clean house, and as more and more familiar faces clear out their desks, it seems that no one is safe.

With another child on the way for Dan, and a stint at NYU looming for his daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson), there's little for him to do but sign a second mortgage and stay the course. In light of Carter's inexperience and work philosophy, this becomes increasingly humiliating.

Carter is rather adrift himself - struggling to maintain purchase on a path that seems increasingly foreign. It has already cost him his wife, but his only recourse seems to be to throw more and more of his life at the problem. What remains is beginning to wither, so he begins to look to Dan and his family for a vision of fufillment. Alex is attracted to Carter's wounded qualities, and they begin to have a relationship. It's a fine premise, with plenty of complications from the role changes that can come with maturity.

The problem comes when the characters aren't allowed to truly adjust to the situation. In the end, the conglomerate arbitrarily sells the magazine again, and much becomes as it once was (I understand that Dan's speech about an employer's responsibility to its employees is meant to motivate this, but it's not all that satisfying). Dan regains his previous position, and Alex decides not to pursue the relationship. Only Carter - who loses his job completely and decides to re-examine his priorities - goes though a large transformation. And it's not really his story.

It's also not much of a stretch for Carter or Alex to view Dan with more respect, or for us to find that the fast track is ultimately valuless. A fine cast and crew can't keep this story from being a genial disappointment.

Bread Is Back!

... and the massive gap between Jack in the Box's ad quality and food quality continues.

Granted, the food poisoning article is twelve years old, but still.

This Just In...

Another funny news flash from The Onion.

PS - This is pretty funny, too.

Leave Me Alone, Dammit

As part of the publicity surrounding the "Complete Calvin and Hobbes" boxed set, here's an interesting article on Bill Watterson, the cartoonist who created the strip. It maintains he's not a recluse, but I don't know about that. Here's a picture of him (circa 1986) so you can holler at him from across the street the next time you're in Chagrin Falls. Like most cartoonists, he looks a lot like the dad in the strip.

Of course, the grubby collector side of me was annoyed. I finally learned where the autographed copies of his books were being sold, only to learn that he'd stopped doing that. Crumbs! Stupid eBay-ers...

... like me ...

You Had To Be There

"Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song", written and directed by Melvin Van Peebles.

Made for a pittance, initially released in just two theaters, ultimately grossing over ten million dollars, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" became the progenitor of the "Blaxploitation" film craze of the seventies. Considered a seminal film in African-American cinema, Director Van Peebles feels it influenced the independent film movement as a whole. Its jazzy editing and strong hero set it miles apart from the standard fare - one can see how African-American audiences could see this film as a long-overdue cinematic thunderbolt.

The plot is simple. Sweetback (Van Peebles himself) has grown up in a bordello to become one of its central attractions. One night, he agrees to accompany a pair of police officers downtown for questioning. A murder case lacks suspects, and the gesture appears to be compensation for the force's lenience toward the establishment.

En route to the interrogation, however, the police intercept a youth on the street and brutally beat him. Using his handcuffs, Sweetback kills both officers. The rest is a protracted chase, with Sweetback using his fists (among other body parts) to make his way to the border. The police question his companions, hot on his trail with guns, bloodhounds and (at one point) a helicopter.

Van Peebles has an eye for a striking shot, and there's some vivid scenes of police officers brutalizing Sweetback's friend Beetle that get their point across. While its historic contribution is clear, "Sweetback" has little to offer modern audiences beyond its kitsch value. Van Peebles is a strong presence as the laconic hero, but there's not much in the way of narrative or memorable characters to savor. There's plenty of sex and violence to be had (the 'X' rating is fully earned), but it's episodic - much of the film seems to be an enormous montage of repeated street scenes and dialogue clips, and the effect rapidly becomes tiresome.

Thirty years after its explosive release, "Sweetback" will remain compelling for film historians and students. Its torch has been passed on to to other filmmakers, but the pioneering effort itself has not dated well.

PS - The DVD release has an interview with the director. Initially, it shares some formal similarities with the feature, but later it settles into some interesting (and amusing) anecdotes.

PPS - I just saw "Badasssss!" (Mario Van Peebles' docudrama on how "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" was made) last night (10/25). It makes for a great double feature, as it really helps you to understand how difficult that production was.

Self Googling

I caved in and became a joke out of "The Onion" - that's right, I Googled myself. Cah-mon! Haven't you ever been curious?
As it turns out, I discovered an article written about one of the projects that I helped storyboard. You can see some of the drawings here.

Goodbye, Gramma

My maternal grandmother, Isabel Sorrell, died on Saturday night.

She'd been in poor health for some time, and I'm sure it was much harder for her after Granpa had passed away. She'd gotten pneumonia recently, and we think she may have had a heart attack or stroke on top of it. She was on morphine, so there wasn't any pain.

Gramma was the quintessential grandmother. She spoiled us kids rotten, always giving me little things she found at the Charlotte flea market and yard sales all over the area, which of course only made me beg for more. They hoarded as only the Depression generation did - their house is still filled with belongings ranging from Edison cylinder players to Cool-Whip tubs. Some items were repaired and sold, others were kept 'to come in handy' later. I'm sure her sizable doll collection was an antecedent to my own collecting obsessions.

She ushered my sisters through their crocheting phase - I still have afghans and cozies that she made for us, as well as a Santa wall hanging that she made for me one Christmas. She was the queen of yarn, rollie eyes, and styofoam balls.

Her theories on dieting were a source of fun for us. She felt, since raisins were good for you, that they would lower the calories of any recipe!

She was the sugar to Grandpa's flint. She was warm, giving and thoughtful to a fault, always the last to eat at her own family dinners. I have fond memories of the coziness of her home, and the chiming of their mantel clock. I'll always remember her wearing garishly colored tank tops and stretch pants.

Goodbye, Gramma. I hope God lets you eat first.

Cynicism For Sale

There's a story behind this.

Apparently, in preparation for ILM's move to their new location in the Presidio, the company president gave a speech. The staff was told that since ILM employees have a reputation for being "prickly and cynical", they were being encouraged to be on good behavior as they mingled with the other Lucas divisions.

This inspired an anonymously created line of clothing, presumably made by an employee. Snap 'em up now before the inevitable legal action!

"Little Nemo" turns 100

Windsor McKay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland" celebrates its one hundredth birthday this year!
In celebration, comic collector Peter Maresca has published a new compilation of this beautiful, classic strip (you'll need to register with the New York Times to read the article).

In order for readers to be able to see the strip in the way that it appeared in newspapers, Mr. Maresca meticulously restored over a hundred Sunday strips and published the book himself - at the original page size - to insure the highest quality.

You can buy the book directly from his website for $120 + shipping, or (as usual) at your local comic or book store.

Mind The Gap

"The Quitter", by Harvey Pekar and Dean Haspiel.

Harvey Pekar, until recently, has lived a double life.

By day, he worked as a file clerk in a V.A. hospital. By night, he would write comic book stories, most dealing with events from his own life. These scripts were brought to life by other artists to become "American Splendor", the title Mr. Pekar has been writing and publising since 1976. It was adapted into a successful film in 2003.

Mr. Pekar wrote "The Quitter", a chronicle of his early years, as a way to thank artist Dean Haspiel for introducing him to the film's producers. While Haspial is not the ideal pairing for Pekar's writing, his work is a strong, clear accompaniment. Haspiel's cover design clearly evokes the imagery of Will Eisner, one of the medium's masters. This, coupled with Pekar's reputation for consistently strong writing, is enough to raise expectations.

Considering the fact that Mr. Pekar has been writing about himself for thirty years, there's a suprising amount of new material on his Cleveland childhood and adolescence. We see the beginnings of personality disorders that have plagued him all his life - anxiety attacks and compulsive behavior eroding his attempts to function happily in school, at work, or at home with his family. He felt trapped in his workaday life, but recoiled from any interest in which he couldn't immediately excel. Even with these obstacles, Mr. Pekar begins to find his voice as a jazz critic, connect with others in his neighborhood, as well as enter into a relationship.

Since it isn't his wife Joyce Brabner, the reader expects a depiction of the relationship and how it breaks down. Instead, there's an abrupt segue into familiar territory - his friendship with comic legend Robert Crumb, the evolution of "American Splendor", culminating in the film version. There's a brief coda that shows how some of his early demons still inform his life, but we never discover what happened with his first serious girlfriend, or much connecting material that helps pull the two parts of the book together. It's a big disappointment.

Newcomers to Mr. Pekar's work will enjoy his trademark combination of eloquence and candor, but for longtime Pekar fans, I can't recommend it. You can buy this book used at Amazon for $12.00, or get it from your local comic or book store.

Another One For The Library

"Black Hole", by Charles Burns.

This gorgeous, weird mutant teenager comic series has finally been collected in hardcover. It's in black and white, but Mr. Burns' drawings are so rich and powerful as to render color unnecessary. You can buy it for $16.50 at Amazon or at your neaby book or comic store. I highly recommend it!

Future Bookshelf Additions

* Watchmen: Absolute Edition, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons - This is one of the big ones, which (along with Maus and The Dark Knight Returns) redefined the comic medium in the late eighties, giving it a well-needed nudge toward maturity. This edition comes with a DVD-like supplement, including the original project proposal, early Gibbons artwork, and samples of Moore's script.
Oversized pages show off the artwork better than ever - a must for any comics fan, and a great introduction to the medium for newcomers. You can buy it for $48.00 at Amazon, or your local comic or book store.

* V For Vendetta, by Alan Moore and David Lloyd - Not as famous as Moore's seminal "Watchmen" series, this is still a very well-written comic (Generally, it's hard to go wrong with Alan Moore). Buy it now for $20.00 at Amazon.com! Soon to be a feature film released through Warner Brothers.

* The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson - Three hardcover volumes, collecting almost every strip created for the series! You can pre-order it at Amazon for $95.00, and I'm sure it'll probably be even cheaper after Christmas. There's not many comic collections that are worth full price, and this is one of them. If you've never read this strip... well... you should!

A Very, Very Addictive Game

You can play it here.

So far, I've made it to level 50.

The Latest From James Jarvis

Pictured are Harvey and Jubs, the newest of a seemingly endless parade of Muppet-esque characters from UK artist/toy designer James Jarvis. These two 12" figures are from his graphic novel, "Vortigern's Machine". Click here for a short biography.

You can pre-order both of them for $5.00 each at ningyoushi.com.

Also, check out Amos Toys, the manufacturer of James' creations.

Up 'n' Atom!

Mattel's put out an Atom figure in their 5-inch "Justice League Unlimited" line. It's a great size to go alongside your 10" Justice League figures. It comes with an even smaller Atom if you want to use that one instead.

You can get one for about $5.00 at your local Toys 'R' Us.

So Is It The New Bluesmobile, Or What?

A 1:18 scale Bluesmobile. SWEET.

You can buy this for $40.00 + shipping at monstersinmotion.com.

More 'Ink' For E-Ville Press

Roger Colton (through Jim Hill Media) has written an article on E-ville Press. You can read it here.

Wookies Within Borders

From the AP: Chewie to Become U.S. Citizen

"I've always been interested in the cowboys and the history of the West and the history of America..." - Peter Mayhew

You can read the story here.

Moment of Triumph

It's really great how the shirt-makers edge their way around the infringement in the item description. It's also really sad that I know exactly what they're talking about, and what this design is.

Get 'em before the cease and desist order arrives at glarkware.com.

The Last Flying Monkey

Sig Frohlich, the last of the thirteen performers to play flying monkeys in "The Wizard of Oz", died on September 30th. He was 97 years old. You can read more about his career here.

All The Time In The World

"Cronos", written and directed by Guillermo del Toro.

It's said that there's no original stories, that it's all in the telling. Give Guillermo del Toro (better known these days as the director of "Hellboy") credit for a fresh spin on the vampire legend in "Cronos", his first feature film.

This version focuses on the Cronos device, a gadget that looks like a cross between a Faberge egg and a scorpion. Created by an alchemist five hundred years ago, it falls into the hands of Jesus, an antique dealer. Much of the plot deals with Jesus and his wealthy adversary Dieter de la Guardia, who, because he is dying, wants the device for himself. He browbeats his son Angel (Ron Perlman) into procuring archangel statues - the object that originally concealed the ancient mechanism - from all over the world. Jesus manages to hide the device before Angel can find it.

Unfortunately, while examing his discovery, Jesus unwittingly activates it. While the Cronos device brings everlasting life (barring the traditional heart impalement), it comes at an even worse price than usual. No suave Bela Lugosi types in this movie!

There are some flaws in the story. Little is made of the device's rejeuvenating effects - the descent to vampirism begins almost immediately, weakening the sense of a Faustian bargain. Though much is made of an instructional tome, Jesus and the inventor seemed to have suffered equally from the device, even though we assume the latter used it 'properly'.

The pacing and tone, though, are strong, and the relationship between Jesus and his daughter Aurora (the central bond in the film) is well-developed and sympathetic. The special effects are simple, but work well to help the narrative along. It's an interesting first effort, well worth checking out if you're curious about the director's early work. There's some creepy scenes that'll certainly stay with you.

Hoax? You Decide.

Weird is the only word for this: "Unicef bombs the Smurfs in fund-raising campaign for ex-child soldiers."

Read stories about the spot here and here.

There is a clip included with one of the news stories, but who knows? It wouldn't be hard to fake.

Fire hits Wallace and Gromit sets

"A lot of the original sets were there, including several panels of original storyboards and that, in a way, is the biggest loss." -- Dave Sproxton, Aardman co-founder

Read the full story at the BBC news site.

Batmen Return

In the wake of the success of "Batman Begins", Warner Home Video is releasing a fancy two-disc special edition for each of the five "Batman" films, as well as a boxed set of the first four.

While "Batman" will have audio commentary by director Tim Burton, unfortunately "Batman Returns" - my favorite of the series until recently - will not:

"Batman" special features: Audio Commentary by director Tim Burton; Documentaries - Legends of the Dark Knight, Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight Parts 1-3, Beyond Batman Documentary Gallery; Featurette - On the Set with Bob Kane, Shadows of the Bat Pts. 1-3, Batman: The Heroes and Villains Gallery; Music Video - Partyman by Prince, Batdance by Prince, Scandalous by Prince.

"Batman Returns" special features: Documentaries - The Cinematic Saga of Batman, Shadows of the Bat Pt. 4, Beyond Batman Documentary Gallery; Featurette - The Heroes and Villains Profile Galleries; Interviews - The Bat, The Cat, and the Penguin; Music Video - Face to Face by Souixsie and the Bashees.

"Batman and Robin" special features: Audio Commentary by Joel Schumacher; Documentaries - Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of Batman, Pt. 6, Beyong Batman Documentary Gallery; Featurette - Heroes and Villains Profiles; Music Videos - The End is the Beginning is the End by the Smashing Pumpkins, Foolish Games by Jewel, Gotham City by R. Kelly, Look into My Eyes by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

"Batman Forever" special features: Audio Commentary by Joel Schumacher; Documentaries - Riddle Me This: Why is Batman Forever?, Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight, Part 4, Behind the Scenes Gallery; Featurette - Heroes and Villains Profiles; Music Video - Kiss from a Rose by Seal.

"Batman Begins" special features: atman Begins Mobile Game Demo & Weblinks; Genesis of the Bat - Batman Incarnations from the Mid-1980s to the Present; The Journey Begins - Creative Concepts, Story Development and Casting; Shaping Mind and Body - Fighting Style; Gotham City Rises - Production Design; Cape and Cowl - The New Batsuit; The Tumbler - The New Batmobile; Path to Discovery - Filming in Iceland; Saving Gotham City - The Monorail Chase Sequence; Confidential Files Character/Weaponry Gallery; INNER DEMONS COMIC - Explore the special features through an exclusive interactive comic book; Exclusive collectible 72-page comic book; Detective Comics #37 - the very first Batman story; Batman - The Man Who Falls - a classic story that inspired Batman Begins; Batman - The Long Halloween - a chilling excerpt that also inspired the film.

Oddly, though, the "Batman" television show remains nowhere to be seen. What's up with that?

PS (11/02/05) - After reading the actual packaging, "Batman Returns" does indeed have Burton commentary. So I upgraded for $23.00 at Best Buy, though it probably won't be long before you can get it used elsewhere.

Paul Schrader's Second Chance

Unless you're a total "Exorcist" freak, you probably didn't hear about what happened with the most recent prequel, "Exorcist: The Beginning".

It seems that after Paul ("Blue Collar") Schrader finished directing the film, Morgan Creek/Warner Brothers wasn't happy with it. Rather than go the usual route of preview screenings and revisions, they decided to shelve the film, hire a second filmmaker - "Die Hard 2" director Renny Harlin - and have the script made a second time with much of the same cast and locations. The same amount of money was spent as the first time, but to no avail - the new "Beginning" didn't spin heads around in theaters.

Figuring that they had nothing to lose, the studio decided to release the original version of the film theatrically. It didn't perform well either, so it didn't stay in theaters long. I'm interested in Paul Schrader's work, so I can't wait to see this on DVD. Seems like both films would make a great two-disc set, doesn't it?

Appropriately, "Dominion" will be released on October 25th - just before Hallowe'en.

Still More Hanna-Barbera Love

Two more Hanna-Barbera shows are coming to DVD! "The Huckleberry Hound Show Vol.1" and "Yogi Bear - The Complete Series". The "Flintstones" love also continues with the release of season four. While my blind affection for H-B cartoons doesn't extend to "Wheelie And The Chopper Bunch" or "Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home", I am excited about these releases! They're coming out November 15th, but you can pre-order these sets for 31.50 each at dvdplanet.com.

PS - dvdplanet.com is a great place to go if you want to find out what exactly is on that new special edition of your favorite film. They're pretty good about thoroughly describing DVD supplements.

Irresistible Forces

"Woman of the Year", written by Ring Lardner Jr. and Michael Kanin, directed by George Stevens.


Sam Craig (Spencer Tracy) works as a sports writer at the New York Chronicle. Overall he's a solid, unflappable fellow, but when he hears international columnist Tess Harding (Katherine Hepburn) support the abolition of baseball during wartime, he can't resist retaliating in print. The battle is soon joined, and it's not long before the editor calls them together for a cease-fire. One look at Tess, though, and Sam is a goner. Their mutual attraction can't be denied, and it's not long before they're married.

But what is Sam in for? Tess' career has a life of its own, and he can barely get a moment with her alone. Most of the time, he's trailing in her wake along with countless diplomats, refugees and other international figures. While Sam is successful at his work, it's a world Tess has little time for - and it's not long before the relationship feels the strain.

"Woman of the Year" happily manages to avoid many of the pitfalls inherent in stories focused on sexual politics. While Tess' career is not endorsed as inherently fulfilling, typical gender roles aren't offered as the solution (however much Tess would like to believe they are). Indeed, the film asks for compromise and balance from its characters - in fact, no clear solution is reached by the film's end. It's up to the viewer to hope that they'll find one.

One of the film's delights is that's precisely what you do wish. It's easy to see from their debut why Hepburn and Tracy went on to become one of cinema's most indelible teams, making eight more films together. Their deep mutual affection for one another (on and off the set) lights up the screen. It's a terrific, palpable energy.

The screenplay won the Oscar for 1942, and it's a wonderful complement to the cast. The dialogue bubbles with wit and pleases with brains - a romantic comedy tha's so good, you suddently realize what so many others have tried to do. Give it a look!

Another monthly pleasure

"Daredevil", by Brain Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev.
I haven't had enjoyed this comic so much since the Frank Miller days - the storyline is great right now!
Daredevil's secret identity has been revealed. He's taken over Hell's Kitchen, *and* gotten married. Not to mention that Kingpin's coming to take his turf back. Involving stories, nice artwork - you know I'm going to look for a Maleev piece at WonderCon this winter!

You can get current (or back) issues at your local comic shop, or buy the compilations at the "Daredevil" link.

How To Feel Old - Part 1

I'm sure there will be plenty more of these to come...


I'm at my friend Shelby's birthday party, and I'm talking with someone about "A Christmas Story", one of my favorite movies. This young lady couldn't remember when it was released in theaters. I'm not sure I nailed the exact year, but I know it was an early eighties movie (1983, as it turns out).

She remarked something to the effect of, "I didn't think it was THAT OLD a movie".

You know, a movie that was released when I was graduating high school. A long time ago. OLD.

Well, welcome to forty!

Simple is good

There's such a charm to the character designs of the Japanese anime "Doraemon". Here's one of the vinyl figures made by Medicom , the maker of some of the coolest toys ever!

You can buy this Suneo figure (and other Doraemon characters) for $35.00+shipping at hlj.com.

My Artwork at MOMA!!

I think that deserves an exclamation point or two.
About a month ago, I discovered that at least one drawing (maybe more) of mine will be displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York! You can read about the exhibition here.

The show will be running from December 14th - February 6th. Anita and I will fly in for a reception on the 13th, and we'll stay on the east coast for a little while since both of our families are there. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures of the festivites for all to see!

So - if you're in the New York area, be sure to take a look!
I can't tell you how staggering this is. I never thought my career would take me to a place like this.

How lucky I am!!

Y - The Last Man

Here's a great comic I've been reading for a while. It's written by Brian K. Vaughn, and drawn by Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan, Jr, among others. You can read more about it here.

The book takes a pretty common premise - a mysterious plague wipes out every male sperm, fetus, and mammal on earth - and gives it a contemporary, believable context. Rather than taking the usual approach of protraying every woman in the book as desperate to have sex with him, our hero Yorick meets many women with a whole spectrum of reactions to the plague and himself.

My initial take on the book was that it would be a cross-country journey, sort of a road-picture-type story with the goal being the safety of Yorick's girlfriend. The current installments have veered away from that expectation, which is a little less satisfying. Still, it's a good comic, well worth picking up every month. I'm not sure if this is an ongoing series or not. In my mind, it seems like it should be a finite series, but we'll see.

Since this is a DC comic, you should be able to get current issues at your local comic book shop. To start from the beginning, you can get paperback collections of the back issues here for about $11.00 + shipping, $7.50 + shipping used.

Informing The Present

"A History of Violence", written by John Wagner, Vince Locke and Josh Olson, directed by David Cronenberg.


David Cronenberg's latest film may not have exploding heads or cockroach typewriters, but rest assured, the creatures are still there. The bad news is that they're inside the hero.

"History" is the story of Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen), who lives in a small town that's probably a lot like yours -- it definitely reminded me of where I grew up in Vermont. He lives happily with his wife Edie (Maria Bello) and his children Jack (Ashton Holmes) and Sarah (Heidi Hayes). He runs a diner surrounded by old friends, and the only unusual things about his life are the sex games his wife initiates, and the level of bullying Jack has to endure at school.

This all changes when a pair of killers hold up the restaurant late one night. Tom dispatches them handily -- and mortally. His grateful friends praise him to the local news, and Tom is hailed as a hero, who modestly tries to get past all of it as soon as possible. This even inspires Jack to stand up to his bully, though in a way no one quite expected.

Word continues to spread, and soon more come to visit - a group led by a scarred thug, Carl (Ed Harris), who claims that Tom is in fact someone else entirely, someone who has other obligations. It is up to Edie and Jack to decide which of Tom's lives is the true one.

Much of this is familiar territory, but Mr. Cronenberg casts a fine shadow on the proceedings, especially in the first hour. The performances and storytelling are strong, evoking memories of the original "Cape Fear", another story of a family threatened by a father's past. "History" goes a step further by insinuating that the future is tainted as well, possibly beyond repair or redemption.

The last half hour is less compelling. The events make sense in the scheme of the story, but the execution seems abrupt and lacking character interplay. William Hurt is especially jarring as Tom's brother Richie - his accent erratic, he seemed a poor choice for a such a coarse antagonist. Still, thought the resolution may be unsatisfying, conceptually it's quite disturbing, making us re-evaluate what we thought the characters were capable of, and by extension, the capacities of all of us.

Mezco goes for Hellboy in a small way

The smaller scale "Hellboy" action figures are now available at your local Suncoast Motion Picture Company for $16.00 each. They look great!:





How can you not want the gorilla with the head in a jar?

I love the past offerings by Mezco and Sideshow based on the "Hellboy" movie, but I've always hankered for toys that look like Mike Mignola's artwork. And here they are!

Resin goes to the devil

This great resin figurine of the Tazmanian Devil is made by a company called Avenue of the Stars:


You can buy it for $64 USD at a-bd.com, a French website (don't worry, all the text is in English) loaded with tons of fantastic European character statues (and American ones as well). They're pricey, but their selection is really good!

Vikings ROCK!

Check out this great animated video by Joel Trussel, for the song "War Photographer" by Jason Forrest. It's great to see Flash used so well!

Victoria is getting married

I went with my wife Anita to our friend Victoria's bridal shower. Sean, Victoria and Anita, while all of them are members of Swazzle, they've all known each other for quite some time. It was a co-ed event, so happily I wasn't the only fellow there. It was nice to meet many more of their relatives (who were all very sweet), and I got to take part in the games.

They had a nice mixer activity where you give everyone two name badges - one on your chest as usual, but one on your back as well. Those badges have words written on them from a specific category - in this case, it was kitchen items - and you have to guess what the word is. I guess it's a common thing to do at parties, but maybe it was something their family created.

I didn't go to a lot of game-type parties when I was a kid, so I'd never heard of this before. Social stuff? What's that? For me, it may as well have been some arcane rite of the Druids. I read Anita's word out loud before someone could explain to me what was going on.

There were a couple of other games, too - the next one was 'dress the bride', which seemed like it could be a traditional shower activity. Everyone groups up into teams, and each team picks a 'bride'. You get fifteen minutes, toilet paper and tape, and you have to make a 'gown' for the 'bride'. Interestingly, none of the adult women seemed to want to be a 'bride' - just the little girls or the men were picked. Maybe they could see what was coming.

Actually, though, most of the gowns looked pretty good!



Ultimately, if it looked really good - great! If not, everyone had a good laugh.

The other game was probably not a shower standard. All the men had to kiss the blindfolded bride on the cheek, who then had to guess which one was her fiancee. I wasn't a very good kisser, but you try to kiss someone with their fiancee and your spouse watching! It's probably best to do badly at that game, anyway!

Sean and Victoria opened their gifts, and we had cake and chatted. A nice afternoon -- I finally got to meet Sean and Patrick's famous Uncle Matt, who is also a collector. He collects mostly Disney stuff, so we talked about a lot of the nifty stuff we'd been seeing at disneydirect.com lately. I need to have my nerding-out allotment every day!

I gathered up some e-mail addresses, and we went on our way. Thanks to everybody there for the hospitality!

Another big thank you to Sean and Victoria for the photos!

Monk and Coltrane, sounding better than ever

There's a new Blue Note CD that came out last week, "(The) Thelonious Monk Quartet With John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall." Apparently, the 1957 recording upon which it's based was misfiled at the Library of Congress, only to be re-discovered this past January. Here's an article about it from the San Francisco Chronicle. I'm not a rabid jazz fan, but reading it makes me want to check the CD out.

PS - Aren't Blue Note album covers cool? Every one's a work of art.

I love eggs!

Here's a film from a different band of the sweet spectrum.
Weird!

A quoi ça cert L'amour?

Here's a great short film! Beautiful animation, and so sweet.

PS - The song's by Edith Piaf. You can get it at the iTunes music store.

Feats of Clay

"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit", written by Bob Baker, Steve Box, Mark Burton and Nick Park, directed by Nick Park.

It's been sixteen years since Nick Park created our favorite clay characters since Gumby, Wallace and Gromit. The plasticine pair have been astronauts, sheep shearers, window washers, and (of course) inventors. After three delightful short subjects and a bundle of internet mini-films, one can't help but want to see them on the big screen. Still, there's plenty of cartoon characters who've bubbled with life in a short film, only to fizzle in the ninety-minute format. Could they make the leap to a feature?

The answer, resoundingly, is in the affirmative. "Curse of the Were-Rabbit" is a pure delight -- my choice for the best animated feature of the year! It's a strong story chock full of fine performance animation, adorable animals, clever gadgets, and the many surprises that we've come to expect from the Wallace and Gromit films.

"Curse" finds our heroes cultivating a thriving business -- a garden security service featuring humane pest removal. The Tottington vegetable festival is rapidly approaching, and everyone in town is feverishly cultivating (and protecting) their oversized greenery. Wallace and Gromit's solution to the pest problem, though, is a finite one, and their company is reaching the saturation point.

Wallace pulls one of his devices out of mothballs in an attempt to solve the problem, hoping to impress his latest client and new crush, Lady Cottington herself (again well played by Helena Bonham-Carter, who is cornering the animation voice market this year). Wallace is never a force of stability, and true to form, things spiral more and more out of control. He and the ever-patient Gromit try to keep all of their plates spinning as their business' respectability crumbles. On top of it all, Wallace is competing with Victor Quartermaine (an arrogant sport hunter well-performed by Ralph Fiennes) for the Lady's affections. Who will win her hand? Who will win the coveted prize of the Cottington festival? What is the mystery surrounding the enormous, herbiverous Were-Rabbit? To say more would be unfair.

When you start a film off as strongly as this one does, the expectations for the conclusion escalate. The first two acts are a perfect parody of classic monster movies, with original, entertaining characters you're fully invested in. The third act is a bit more familiar and predictable than the rest, but when you've had such a surfeit of laughs and heart, it's easily forgiven.

Go see "Curse of the Were-Rabbit", loads of fun for children and adults alike! You'll be very glad you did.

Peep and the Big Wide World

I don't know that much about this show, but the animation looks really good, and the design work is super cute!
The only minus I've run into is Peep's voice, which is pretty shrill.
You can hear the theme song here.

Neil Gaiman and otters.

"I saw a lovely analogy recently. Somebody said that writers are like otters. And otters are really hard to train. Dolphins are easy to train. They do a trick, you give them a fish, they do the trick again, you give them a fish. They will keep doing that trick until the end of time. Otters, if they do a trick and you give them a fish, the next time they'll do a better trick or a different trick because they'd already done that one. And writers tend to be otters. Most of us get pretty bored doing the same trick. We've done it, so let's do something different."

--Neil Gaiman to Joss Whedon, on why they both ended their franchises while Sandman and Buffy were still popular

Uncle Jeff's Activity Page!

I made this up for my nieces, so I thought all the kids out there might enjoy it too! Click on the image for better reading, or print it out:

Something New Has Been Added!

Mainly, the ability to post via e-mail. I wasn't sure how this was going to work, but I set it up in the "settings" section, and tested it. Works great!

There's something so satisfying about getting *anything* on my computer to work by myself, even if it is through the made-for-laymen-Blogger!

So continues...

... the "Black and White" line of Batman sculptures. The Brian Bolland one is available now for $50.00 at Comic Relief:


There's going to be a series of these figurines sculpted from different artists' interpretations of Batman, including Tim Sale, Simon Bisley, Eduardo Risso, Joe Kubert, and Mike Mignola:


The Tim Sale statue is available now at Entertainment Earth.
You can pre-order the Kubert, Mignola and Bisley statues at the wizarduniverse.com store.
The Risso statue was the first of the series, so you may have to go to eBay for that one.

Scutmonkey

Click on the image for easier reading.


I found this online comic by a fellow blogger, Michelle Au. She's been a med student for about five years, and has created some strips about her experiences. It's simply drawn, but the stories are interesting and funny. You can read from her archive here.

E-ville do-ers at Super 7

The E-ville press gang were at Super 7 for a book signing event last night. I went too, though I don't really need an excuse to go to a cool toy store!

The joint was packed to the rafters, and many books were bought and signed!

Of course, I couldn't attend and not buy something! We're on a bit of a budget right now, so I didn't go crazy. I did buy Jamie Baker's book, "Rocket Rabbit". Looks like fun!:


You can also see a sample of the inside art here, as well as cool T-shirts displaying his artwork.

I also bought some coasters for the house. How can you resist them when they're personalized?:


Keep your eyes open at the E-ville blog and website for more news!

Big thanks to Ronnie Del Carmen for his photos.

Toys You Never Thought You'd See

SEG introduced a line of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" toys (based on the 1968 film) at last summer's Comic-Con. The movie's always been a holiday staple for me, so I was thrilled!
Who could do this toy line and not do the car? It's great (though I wish it had the wing rotors)!:


There's also a fairly extensive line of figures made to scale with the car, though their costumes sometimes don't allow them to sit in it:


Also, there's larger (8") deluxe figures of everyone's favorite nightmare - The Childcatcher:


There's even a few plushes, including a cuddly stuffed car!


Some of these items will be arriving any minute at Entertainment Earth, while the smaller figures will arrive in February of next year. Check out the site for details!