Amentep

My problem isn't that it doesn't make sense in the real world, but that it violates the premise of the movie itself (something which even less critical children should be able to pick-up on). Humanity leaves Earth in starships because they've polluted Earth. Wall-E is left behind to take care of the waste, etc. But once we get to the starships, we find that they have the technology to waste resources almost infinitely in an environment many times smaller than that of Earth. Which means they have some form of replication technology (or else it makes even less sense, since these are generational ships). So why did they blast themselves off into space instead of...blasting the trash itself off into space? There's no reason for the piles of trash to exist on Earth if they have replicator technology AND spaceships. Well the reason is that in that case you wouldn't have the environmental themes of the film, but those themes are completely undercut by having humanity never actually learn the lesson of conservation anyhow, since they're still wastrels on the ship - wastrels, in fact, until they crash on earth and then, inexplicably and with no motivation, break free of the shackles of technology and embrace nature (which is, I'm sure, what they want you to take away from the film, but its not an earned takeaway). I have the same basic problem with UP! It also sets up a premise that it violates in the end of the film. UP! establishes in the opening the fragility of humans and the inescapable effects of aging...then spends the rest of the film having Carl bounce around like a Looney Toons character without suffering any real harm. And the thing is, that both films could have used their established concepts and still had their adventure finales had they better crafted the sequences. Wall-E finds the ship, but finds a humanity that, while initially the wastrels that left Earth have learned conservation (and thus earned their regaining the planet) or have Carl still be adventurous but wary of what age has wrought on him and his own frailty. But neither film pays off its set-up, and therefore both violate 'Chekov's gun', IMO. I think instinctively, most people recognize this but then dismiss the problem under "well its just a kid's film", but I think as a kid I would have still been bugged by it (then again, we saw films as the theater as a kid so infrequently, I had a lot of time to think about them, which maybe isn't the case now for kids who saw these films and had tonnes of channels and DVDs to pick from as well as cinema releases)

Yeah, its the blu-ray. I've been watching weekly since I watched the US Cobra pilot, but haven't had much posting time. Next week I'll watch the last of the intro to the Masked Racer / Racer X. There's been some funny faces for sure.

WALL-E bugged me seriously. I think I've mentioned this before...

I think they may already be AT DragonCon...

Watched the first three episodes of the original 67 Speed Racer. I just barely remember the show, so it's been fascinating to see what memories it tickles Very limited animation - almost Hanna-Barbera level, but I can sew why it struck a chords with the viewers.

But...SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW is awesome. "...lens cap." I hate that the planned sequel got scrapped.

I still can't believe I got roped into seeing the original. Yeah, it can happen, even if its not often. So I guess I shouldn't have been as dismissive as I was. But I personally didn't like Top Gun, so admit I wasn't likely to find out if Maverick was the exception or not.

The original TOP GUN was mediocre, not sure why the sequel would be any less mediocre.

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Bill Pitman of the Wrecking Crew

Slman Rushdie attacked on stage. Its being reported in some places he was stabbed in the neck.

I still haven't managed to catch up with that one.

Gene LeBell, stuntman, wrestler

Herbert Jenkins "The Strange Case of Mr Challoner" from 1921's Malcolm Sage, Detective predated S.S. Van Dine's 20 Rules for Writing Detective Stories essay by 7 years and had the butler as the killer. It is the earliest still known use of the idea; the 1930 book (Mary Roberts Rinehart's The Door) is much better known, so gets erroneously mentioned as this first. The continuing fame of Rinehart, possibly because she was a major seller and continued writing detective fiction into the 1950s is comparatively different from Jenkins, who is probably better known as the guy whose company published the original P. G. Wodehouse books than by his fiction stories (even if three of the Malcolm Sage stories were collected in a 1929 collection of best of detective fiction and Sage was favorably compared at the time to Messrs Holmes and Poirot). EDIT: To be clear, Van Dine's essay basically says using a servant (butler, maid, footman, valet, chauffer) isn't in the spirit of detective fiction (as disgruntled employees killing the person or whatever being too obvious), so doesn't call out Butler's, specifically, either.

It tested poorly from what I've read, which is why they did allegedly around $20 mil in reshoots and were re-editing the film. That said studios have dumped absolutely horrible films to theater, home, cable and streaming. However they've also dropped the SCOOB! sequel, and a lot of the industry reports are indicating the issue is that WBD is looking to release mammoth budgets and prestige to theater and smaller budget to streaming, and these two films at mid-budget wouldn't make their money back (they think) with a traditional theater only or streaming only release (ie they were made for day-and-date delivery, that WBD promised creatives not to do in order to win them back*) and there is a tax incentive that allows them - if they use it - to write off the entire cost of the film (under the condition the film never be released). Some cynics have thought that perhaps WBD is trying to generate their own Snyder-cut press; leak they're taking the tax break, then relent due to public outcry and release it and get more eyes on it than they would have due to controversy. I also admit I'm not surprised they haven't sidelined the Flash film as well. *Not sure how hiring people to create a film and then canning it so no one ever sees it will go over with creatives, so this bit seems to be a bit short-sighted, perhaps.

Looks like WB-DIscovery just scrapped the already filmed, 90 mil BATGIRL film.

Hmm, wouldn't the easy lore explanation be that Anakin used the force to cushion her fall? Its been so long since I've seen the prequels, I can't rightly remember if they'd explicitly said Anakin at that point wasn't able to use his force powers. Obviously the Geonosians and Watto are also force users, but only at low levels and only for the ability to support their weight when flying.

SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA the 1980s US pilot. An attempt was made to sell the 1979 Cobra series to the US market. Like other anime at the time, significant changes were made to try to make the show saleable to early 80s tv stations as a kids adventure series. Americanizing Cobra, he becomes a key figure of the rebellion against the Darkside Pirate Guild which has taken over the galactic government. Using the idea from the pilot that Cobra has changed his face and become a galactic Salary man named Johnson. Lazy and incompetent, Johnson is sent by his company to look into the theft of a gold shipment. But instead he gets his robotic butler to detour to a casino which happens to be where the gold is being held. His butler is revealed to be hiding Galaxina (Lady) like in the Japanese show and Cobra fights the theif (in a sequence taken from Episide 13: Roulette of Death). Lots of animation is reused, but recontextualized. A lot of death, but everyone is robots (which leads to a horrific lingering shot of a burning robot boy, which is part of new animation made for the pilot). If it'd been a syndicated series when I was a kid, I'd have watched it.

Weirdly, I tend to like most things. I've only ever walked out of one film, for example (and ut wasnt an Alien film). I've seen a lot of truly terrible z grade films and had a blast. I've enjoyed art films, international films and all sorts of other films. I think, EVENT HIRIZON, MORTAL KOMBAT: ANNIHILATION, and the AVP films are terrible films but I was mostly entertained by them, often despite themselves. Heck I watched the original Street Fighter video game live action adaption last week for the first time in a decade, the one with Raul Julia who was actually fantastic as a live action cartoon villain, and found it to be quite amusing even if it's a poor adaption of the source material and a compromised narrative taken on its own terms. Ultimately the worst thing a movie, book or TV show can be is boring.

Necrobiotics: Researchers are turning dead spiders' legs into robotic grippers

Volume 11 of GLEPNIR I figured we were setting up for a transition, and that proves to be true. I don't know if it'll turn out to be a three act story, but it feels like we just finished the first act.