materialhauntings - Tumblr blog

materialhauntings · 10 years ago

Text

Review: "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"

I need to get this film off my chest. Spoilers under the cut.

The good first. What little there is.

Thilbo shippers rejoice. That pairing is... as canon as it would ever be in something like this without actually being canon. The Thilbo scenes were honestly what stopped me from falling asleep. As someone who wasn't really a Thilbo shipper prior to this film, that should say something.

Thranduil and Bard's relationship was cute and funny to watch.

BEORN WAS IN THE FINAL BATTLE! For background information, I grew up with the 1977 animated "Hobbit" film, which didn't include Beorn at all and that always rankled me after I read"The Hobbit" because I thought a werebear/bearwere and his army of animal friends fighting orcs alongside Elves and Dwarves and Humans was so cool. So I spent most of this film thinking okay where's Beorn where is he where's Beorn come on Jackson don't let me down you stuck him in film 2 for approximately five seconds don't let me down... And he didn't! Sort of.

Lee Pace's armor is pretty.

Dwarves on giant wargoats. This really made me happy for a mix of humor and 'that's a neat idea' reasons. Yeah it's in WoW and I'm sure it's elsewhere but I don't think I've seen it on the big screen before and it worked really well.

Billy Connolly as Dain is simply magnificent. I loved every one of his scenes (even with the CGI army/body). Possibly biased because I love Billy Connolly but he did do a pretty good job. He was one of the few actors who sold me on every one of his lines.

Thranduil and Legolas' like... two scenes together wrenched at my heart (largely in a good way) and left me wanting more.

The scene of Gandalf sitting next to Bilbo after the climax, while Gandalf cleans out his pipe, is nice. It's funny and sad and oddly too long and just right at the same time.

The return to the Shire was actually mostly how it was supposed to go! With Lobelia showing up, the spoons scene... Didn't make up for the Scouring of the Shire but good on you for keeping that ending, movie crew! Good on you.

And now... well.

So Bard The Bowman doesn't get to simply kill Smaug with a special dwarf arrow and his badass archery skills using information from Bilbo via Thrush. Fine. Less Achilles Heel and somewhat more sensible.

But even then the scene where Bard fires the arrow at Smaug is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Even ignoring Smaug's overly drawn out, ridiculous dialogue (he actually had nice dialogue in the book so I don't really understand this, even for character development). There's a reason archers wear arm-guards: the bracers protect the archer's skin from their own arrows/bows because fletching firing at that speed will hurt/cut and bowstrings can snap and catch you. A child with his completely unprotected neck next to a fletching larger than his head before it's fired from a giant crossbow by a muscular adult human, even ignoring the huge bowstring and metal shaft, is dead. End of story. And Bard, as a trained archer with his beloved family history, should bloody well know that.

If you had removed the KilixTaurielxLegolas love triangle, Thorin's dragon madness(?), the ridiculous Smaug-dwarf chase through Erebor, the pointless plot with the Master/Alfrid and the weirdly underdeveloped Laketown politics plotlines, they could have made two probably solid films. And lost nothing of value. Thorin's madness serves little purpose other than kinda of confirming Thilbo (isn't it interesting that the last voice Thorin thinks of before he comes to his senses, the one that resounds in his head, alone, is Bilbo's?). I really hate it when people harp on the why a trilogy it's one book blah de blah blah but they really didn't do much in film 3 to merit a third film. It's like when they were sketching out plotlines the third film lost out on it all so they stuffed it full of nonsensical battle scenes. They could have made a really awesome trilogy by developing all the different characters and the world, even if they added no one else to the story (or they could have added and filled in gaps; Diz could have shown up; we could have more Hobbit/dwarf/elvish/human women since exactly zero exist in the book). Instead they largely turned it into a draft for an amusement park ride/video game.

Every time Alfrid (aka the Grima Wormtongue ripoff) reappeared, I kept asking why is this guy still in the story? Why do any of you trust him with anything? What is he adding to the plot? He wasn't even funny for the most part and every scene he had could have developed other characters. What did he do that, if no one else, one or both of Bard's daughters could not have done, or one of the townswomen, maybe to demonstrate the growth of the new town government or delve into the town's culture or at least give women more lines in this all-male film because Tauriel and Galadriel and Bard's daughters simply existing didn't fix that. The conclusion to Alfrid's storyline is that he steals(?) coins from a broken pot in Dale and runs away from the fight in a dress. That's it. I figured he'd at least die heroically or something and force us to actually like him. But no. He started evil and disappears as a selfish coward, adding nothing other than I guess a generic moral that greed is selfish? I can't decide if what happened is worse than I predicted or not. Why did no one attempt to overthrow Bard when he kept Alfrid around to keep treating people like dirt, especially since every job he was handed he executed poorly and typically bullied the townsfolk? Why did no one attempt to kill him after Bard wasn't around to see? Food is short after all and all these townsfolk are getting their hands on weapons. He gets killed off in a deleted scene added to the extended edition. Why was that deleted exactly?

Legolas is probably my favorite special snowflake of any special snowflake. Read "The Lord of the Rings" for his parts at the least. He's simply adorable. "I go to find the sun!" indeed. But the Valar protect me I don't know what happened in this film. There's a scene in episode 8 of "RWBY" (around 8:03) where the characters very obviously defy gravity by jumping upward on falling debris during a rather prolonged sequence that's probably meant to be badass but has always just looked silly to me. I let it go because the rest of the episode is amazing (I love "RWBY" but honestly) and the epic ending battle scene was a nice payoff and it felt earned, and the scene was relatively short. I never expected a blockbuster film with the funds behind Jackon's "The Hobbit" to mimic this type of nonsensical action sequence and not even build it up well, let alone prolong it. Even with Legolas. I understand he has a hard act to "follow" since the shield surfing in "Two Towers" and the Oliphaunt antics in "Return of the King". But really? I actually burst out laughing at this point.

Legolas also gets a prolonged action sequence that just makes you sigh in exasperation. Or laugh. Or both. Maybe I'm just smarting from the lack of father-son time between him and Thranduil that I would have loved to see more of (cause I figured, if nothing else, character development was the point of making the book into three films), or that apparently the gems Thranduil wanted so badly have an actual plot around his family/wife that never made it into the film, probably losing out to battle scenes, as if we needed more of those, and would have explained the corny 'what is love/missing love' plotline a little more. The way Legolas finally steps out of the story outright pissed me off. I understand gluing the films together as prequels for Jackson's LOTR trilogy but no. You can easily write something better than that. The script was bad and it was really frustrating that when Tauriel is suffering, in a trilogy where Legolas has largely been an ass to her, he ultimately turns his back on her when she could use an old friend the most. Yeah, it sucks that someone you cared about and maybe wanted to be more than friends with was in love with someone else. But grow the fuck up and at least be there for them when they're in pain. They had that bonding scouting sequence! I thought Legolas grew up out of the 'you are mine how dare you look at a dwarf bs'. Nope.

I honestly don't mind Kiliel or TaurielxLegolas, in theory. I've seen hundreds of beautiful Kiliel/TaurielxLegolas headcanons and fanart. But out of the many easy possibilities for exploring those ships if they seriously wanted to shove them in our faces like they did (certainly the original plans for that 'plotline' made up on the sly are better than what we got), how it ended up in the films was simply bizarre. It was at least mildly bearable in the 2nd film but it was so undeservedly shoved in our faces for film 3. Tauriel's last speech with Thranduil was so cheesy and cliche and idiotic to the extreme that I wanted to scream. Tauriel, Thranduil and Kili deserved better than that. Evangeline Lily, Lee Pace and Aidan Turner deserved better than that. The whole plotline was so idiotic and pointless and downright painful to watch and the time could have been better used to develop backstories for the Dwarves among the Company who got barely any screentime or maybe adding in some female Dwarves to the mix or highlighting more female elves or giving Tauriel a plot to herself that didn't involve Legolas or Thranduil or Kili because she does so little in the film and doesn't seem to understand the 'I'm a monarch, you're my underling' relationship very well.

I don't hate love stories. I don't hate Kiliel or TaurielxLegolas because it was a love story (although I do hate Legolas a bit for being a territorial arsehole while Tauriel is just gettin shit done). I don't hate the addition of the love story because it wasn't in the book and/or because it's LOTR/The Hobbit and love stories "only distract from the story" or some other stupid bs people keep spouting off that's largely just sexism (sorry folks, but people fall in love; that's often why we have more people to tell stories about). I do have a deep-seated hate for love triangles because of their typically poor execution and the stupid often-used tropes in them. Anyway, you can write in romances without destroying the plot and distracting too much from it. Thilbo and Thranduil's plot with his wife are demonstrative of that. I just felt like the love triangle was so completely ridiculous because it came out of the blue and didn't feel real or earned (and also because Evangeline Lily refused to do the part unless they wouldn't write in a love triangle with her character but the writers boxed her into a corner on it I mean wtf). Sure, Kili thinks Tauriel is hot. Fine. Tauriel hates Legolas' racism towards dwarves. Tauriel had a nice conversation with Kili that one time. And then...? Everything is basically made up in Kili's head. Tauriel abandons her post (although for reasons other than 'rescuing Kili' specifically, I guess) and Kili has the weird prolonged healing scene where Tauriel heals him (where Tauriel stole character development from Oin, the medic, who, so far as I can recall, had no other scene to call his own in any of the trilogy even though A MEDIC DWARF, PEOPLE!!! HOW COOL IS THAT). Kili stops her by the boats after the dragon attack and talks to her (while she largely doesn't say anything; Kili's just convinced they have something and talking at her). Then nothing until she holds his dead body and makes that utterly ridiculous speech that I really did try to care about. Even ignoring the very weird tangent of her saying it to Thranduil of all people. Kili and Tauriel have precisely two conversations: one in Thranduil's dungeon and one after they land on the beach after Smaug's death. If you're going to write a romance, at least write a half-decent one.

Where was Beorn's animal army? Yes we have a Werebear falling from the sky but I'd like an animal army please. No? Okay. You had that epic horse attack scene at Helm's Deep and on the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Jackson. You lose points on this one.

Why did the Orcs attack Dale and not, say, Erebor, their goal? The humans weren't even a significant portion of the fighting force (in the film). The elves and the Dwarves were. Shouldn't the Orcs have focused their efforts on the elves and the Dwarves and besieging Erebor? What purpose did attacking Dale accomplish when the Orcs had no evidence that the elves and Dwarves would even care, or that the humans might come to the defense of the Dwarves or Elves if the orcs attacked Erebor? Besides that, the city didn't have any weapons and the fighters were all on the field already. I guess separating the attention of the army works since the human fighters at the least could be expected to return to defend it, leaving Erebor open to attack but the Orcs sent a pretty large chunk of their forces after Dale from the get-go and it just seemed odd at best. Me during the entire 'Five Armies' battle sequence:

I think the main issue is that in the book the armies are fighting on a field somewhere between Erebor and Dale and the orcs just attack everyone because that's what they do. But in the film Dale is a lot closer to Erebor and the battle is right on Erebor's doorstep and it's kind of silly to besiege a mountain if you're not a dragon I guess so besiege the other fortress? It ultimately just didn't work for me.

That giant battle sequence was also really confusing and rather boring. I know they shoot scenes in a different order than what we end up seeing on the big screen but it seems like someone didn't run through the battle plotline very well to make sure it fit together in the movie. There's a scene where Bard and other humans are being swarmed by Orcs on a bridge. And then later they're just standing and waiting somewhere before Bard sends them out again. Every time we returned to the battle it was a lot of CGI violence with no comprehension of what goals were being met and then every time we left you were wondering "um why are we leaving the giant battle, isn't that where plot is happening?" Especially when we went to the Alfrid scenes. At least stay with Bain, the next King of Dale after Bard to see him develop leadership skills or the beginnings of them or something. But no (well not much anyway).

What were the Were-worms for other than someone waving their 'I read all of Tolkien's Middle Earth stuff' flag? I understand it was basically just for transporting the Orc army but really? You're gonna make that awesome demonstration of giant worms straight out of any "Dune" fangirl's dreams and terrify the enemy armies but then not use them on said enemy armies? What was the point of that whole scene where they rise up majestically and the sight of them struck fear into the hearts of everyone with eyes staring in their general direction? Yeah I understand they were largely used for transportation in "Dune" too but you could still die around them. They do eat Harvesters and people sometimes and they're kind of really important to the plot. Or is this a hint that Jackson's team is setting their sights on a "Dune" remake? After BoFA I can't say I'm all that excited...

When the Dwarves neatly maneuvered around the Elves to face the oncoming Orcs I worked very hard to suppress my laughter. It was simply comical. If you're going to fight the Elves anyway, why not let the Orcs work out their frustrations on the Elves first? Doesn't seem like Dain cared that much for them. This, followed by Elves running on top of the Dwarves to jump over their lines and attack the Orcs was downright hilarious. Possibly more comical was the Dwarves of the Company running out of their fortified fortress as if thirteen Dwarves would seriously add anything to a battle with trolls and an army of Orcs and Goblins. It was one of those situations where I know we were supposed to go aw yeah it's go time but I kept thinking 'yeah fine, can we get to the actual help now?' There are things a few well-placed fighters can do. But not if you just run onto the battlefield yelling. Sabotage can go a long way. But I guess there's a reason Gandalf hired a hobbit to do all the sneaking.

The only part of Thorin's fight with Azog that was worth keeping was when Thorin tricked him into "drowning", which was quite funny (purposefully so I think), like a Looney Toons cartoon. Everything else was anticlimactic (e.g., the toe scene), downright stupid on Thorin's part and overly drawn out.

As for the Necromancer plotline... I tried so hard and failed to take Cate Blanchett seriously during that. The acting/script was so shoddy and it hurt because I think that Cate and everyone else did the best with what they had and it just looked bad. The only part I liked was where she turned dark(?) and banished(?) Sauron. The Ringwraith fight was kind of silly (think Whack-a-Ringwraith) but neat-looking. It was better than the stupid overdrawn seizure-inducing Sauron scenes, anyway.

My end-all assessment is that the film was overly drawn out, corny, ridiculous at best and just plain bad. I was ready for this film to maybe not rock my socks off but at least be as enjoyable as I found the second film. It didn't even meet that low bar. If you want an enjoyable "Hobbit" film, go watch the 1977 animated version. Or read some fanfiction. Actually just read fanfiction (at least there's women there). Although at least the animated film had a good soundtrack ("I See Fire" exempted from the lackluster trilogy assessment because I love that song).

But hey, we sort of got Thilbo out of it, didn't we? And a decentish pair of Thranduil & Legolas father-son moments. And Galadriel kicking Sauron's ass. And Elrond and Saruman fighting Ringwraiths. And Lobelia Sackville-Baggins attempting to steal spoons.

#The Hobbit #The Battle of the Five Armies #BOFA #TBOTFA #BOTFA #sigh #spoilers #movie review #movie commentary #movie critique #BOFA spoilers #battle of the five armies spoilers #the hobbit spoilers #long post

2 notes · View notes

materialhauntings · 12 years ago

Note

I just read your Frozen review. I don't mean to be rude, but I wasted my time on that. The entirety of it was complaining about pointless things that you didn't love. Plus writing "lazy writing is lazy" after every sentence is "lazy writing". The movie was obviously not lazily written. And, I do understand that we both have our own opinions, but the few things you did appreciate were petty. It was a wonderful film and you had almost nothing good to say about it. Just saying to calm down.

Okay. Well, sorry you felt you wasted your time. I do that too when I read stuff, sometimes. You’re so right about pointless things in a film, like the music in a musical, the plot and plot holes, character development, sexism, perpetuation of rape culture in what has been sold as a children’s film, erasure, logic… The point of a review/critique/commentary on a film is not to simply say good things about it. It’s to look at what worked and what didn’t work. Some things worked. A lot of things didn’t. I attempted to explain why I saw things this way.

I’m so glad that you think liking part of the finale is petty, liking a major character design is petty, appreciating the animation in an animated film is petty, appreciating any song in a musical is petty, seeing characters enjoy themselves is petty, watching a female character triumph is petty, calling a character cute is petty, and admiring an aspect of the story development is petty. I think you should look up the definition of ‘petty’. Part of the reason the list of things I liked/thought worked is small is because there was not much I liked and felt worked. You think it’s a wonderful film. I don’t.

0 notes

materialhauntings · 12 years ago

Text

"Frozen" review

I saw "Frozen" yesterday. I agree with a lot of the very critical reviews I read, but there were some other writing things that also irked me. Spoiler warning.

- I love that it focused on sisters and not a heterosexual romantic relationship. It's different and fun and we don't see enough sister narratives. I wish that relationship was more present... but, well. And now the bad: - This movie's plot was shit. Let's break it down.

- The beginning and ending music make no sense with the rest of the songs. It's opens with this really beautiful cultural music and then we get this off-Broadway 21st century knockoff glue between the songs. I love folk music and I love pop music. They really should've picked one and stuck with it, or at least found a better medium between the two, because overall it sounds really bad.

- The opening with the ice pickers was completely unnecessary. I understand the purpose of having an icy theme but this just didn't work, especially since there is no connection made between this and Elsa's powers as some sort of explanation for why they manifest. And why does a story that's supposed to be about sisters start out with a bunch of random guys somewhere working on ice? Plus, this whole thing never comes back. All it does is introduce Kristoff in a completely unnecessary way. The movie is not supposed to focus on Kristoff, yet we get introduced to him before we even see either of the primary protagonists. There's even a part in the movie where he's repeatedly saying "This isn't about me!" I'm guessing it's supposed to parody how past Disney princess films often focus on the prince over the princess or about the focus in fiction on princes and male heroes, but this just doesn't work because it's a blatant lie. Also, a little orphan and his baby reindeer that he got from who knows where were wandering around with some tools, getting in the way of the actual workers and no one cared? Then he ran into some trolls and got adopted by one of the grabby ones? Where does this come from? We could have met his actual family (or seen his hometown at least) and thus learned a lot more about the Sami people and their culture. Instead we get not-Smurfs. - Here's what they could have opened with: how Elsa got her ice powers. It's a question they dance around. She's just born with them. No ancestry issues. No "this happened to your great-grand-x and so we have this arcane knowledge about it and it was a dark time that we're afraid of repeating" or something. This added introduction might have given the Queen a chance to talk! I'm mildly certain she exclaims something when they find Anna and Elsa after Elsa's accident, but then she never talks again. I don't understand why we couldn't have a ruling Queen hand off her throne to her daughter, even through death. And she just never says anything and it's really frustrating! This might not matter if there were more than two women with speaking lines in this entire film. We need to bring the focus back to the two primary protagonists because this sister relationship is supposed to be the focus and Elsa is the source material's titular character. - The troll healing power is a deux ex machina. One fix requires removal even of memories of magic which would most likely leave brain damage, and another fix requires an act of true love? What???? - The memories thing is stupid. You could have made the narrative work without it, especially because it's never really dealt with beyond Anna persisting in her 'my sister would never hurt me' narrative because she doesn't remember the incident. Also, it just plot silences Elsa, which is irritating. I understand that this is probably reference to the source material and how Kay, the boy Gerda has to rescue, "forgets" his old life so he'll stay with the Snow Queen and a big part of the story is making him remember his old life, but this hackjob is not the way to do that, especially because memory restoration isn't how Anna or Elsa get saved. If you left the memories there, it would have created an interesting storyline and character development between Anna and Elsa. - This is Tangled 2.0, from character design to character personality design to overall plot. The princess has been trapped in a building without contact with just about anyone for most of her life, bored out of her mind. She finally gets out and most of the story is about her naivete and inexperience with the world and how she just wants to explore. She is summarily brought to reality/made fun of by the primary male protagonist who is far more world weary. "Let's Build a Snowman" is honestly just "When Will My Life Begin", but with worse writing. - I hate just about everything about the parents storyline. This could have been fractionally amended if we had seen how Elsa first used her powers or done something with how she got them. Maybe a relative had powers like that. Maybe the parents pissed someone off before Elsa was born and they were cursed. Maybe there was a prophecy. Just something to develop her parents' character beyond worry and let's trap our daughters forever. I can see where Disney might have been going with some of this. It parodies the old Romance trope of locking crazy women up in rooms to hide them from the world and how this is a ridiculous idea on so many levels and messes with their heads worse than before they were trapped. If that is the angle they were going for, I applaud that. But it's not fucking necessary. After she runs away, Elsa is on her own for maybe an hour or so and she's already exerting her freedom and mastering powers that terrified her only a short while ago, after years of being trapped in that room. Her parents just end up looking like morons. I understand that this is probably further snub at the trope and saying YEAH, TRAPPING PEOPLE WITH ODD HABITS/ABILITIES IS SHIT! YOU NEED TO SET THEM FREE TO HELP THEM! or education or parental control, and I applaud that. But it feels painful and shoddy. And then the parents get vanished in a storm. Going... somewhere. We don't know. I didn't even care about these people and then they're gone. And I'd love to be a fly on the wall when Anna and Elsa talk about how much their parents fucked them both up. Heck, if this last bit had been used in the film, we could have had more sister time and character development! - Elsa says so little in this film. I was begging for her to just get more speaking lines. I wanted her to sing more. You have Idina Menzel in this and she barely uses that badass voice. The Snow Queen is the title of the source material and she feels so non-present! I wanted more of her character development. I wanted this to be her story. Instead it was mainly Anna dealing with her crazy sister in the backdrop of falling in love with Kristoff, dealing with Villains Anonymous and meeting Olaf. There's no expansion on Elsa's very good but poorly explained because story 'why you can't marry people you just met' beyond Kristoff's Boys Will Be Boys BS talk. Elsa doesn't even think about Anna unless someone else mentions her first even though Anna is at the core of all of her fears. There's barely any of the 'older sister teaching the younger' in this film, and those moments were two of my favorite parts of the story. First, when they're in the ballroom, standing together, and later when Elsa is helping Anna skate. I wanted more of that so badly. YOU PEOPLE WROTE "LILO & STITCH"! YOU KNOW HOW TO WRITE SISTERS! Heck, "Mulan 2" had better sister portrayal than this. - Did Anna and Elsa have any friends before their parents trapped them in their palace for the rest of their childhood? Anyone who missed them? What was their connection to the locals? Why did the locals like them so much if their royals were all but absent for years? Funds had to have gone to quieting gossiping servants and dealing with Elsa's accidents and the weirdness of Anna's memory screw-ups with servants. Someone had to have noticed what Elsa's room was like and that it was abnormally cold all the time by her room. Who sized her clothing and put it together? Did the servants who brought her food see her or interact with her? What about the servants who knew about Elsa's power before the original accident or who had to clean up after her and Anna's exploits? Were there any tutors who were curious about them? - there was no interaction between ElsaxAnna and their people until near the end of the film, when two of the servants ran up to take Anna from Kristoff. We don't even see them interact with the palace staff beyond this point and once when Anna runs into a servant briefly during a song. This film feels so empty and the royalty aspect feels so tokenesque. Interaction with people who aren't their parents and their other sibling would have been easy character development for both sisters. Even during the ball, the only people we hear either sister interact with are Hans and Weaseltown dude and that group of people we spot Elsa talking with before Anna pulls her away. Make the royalty aspect matter or don't use it at all. This kingdom doesn't make any sense. There should be rebellions or people should push for a removal of these people who keep sucking up their taxes for living expenses and never make an appearance or something. Heck, a great mini storyline would have been about whatever amazing feat Elsa and Anna's father did during his rule, or maybe something the Queen did, or both. So that the people loved their past rulers so much that they still care about their daughters. Or maybe Anna and Elsa were well-known before they were locked up and got love that way. Or maybe the people of the city know the daughters from their servants and tutors and like them and welcome the sisters back and toss out the easily frightened foreigners because these are our princesses and we love them! Although I suppose this could explain why they're so ready to accept Hans... - For a woman who has been cooped up in one room all her life and is rather a little thing, Elsa sure does make tracks pretty fast. She runs out of the palace, uses all of her ice powers, and climbs a fucking mountain some distance away from Arendelle, and can still puff out enough gusto to sing "Let it Go". That's really cool but also a little weird. - Weaseltown guy. I understand you are supposed to think of him as a bad guy, but I don't think we needed a sexual assault metaphor made by a creepy old man very near the start of the film. When he first talks about Arendelle and how he wants it to open up so that he can take all its juicy fruit or something and it creeped me the fuck out and is clearly played for laughs. It's disgusting. There's also a stupid dance thing he does that just... what? I want more AnnaxElsa/AnnaElsaxcitizens, not AnnaElsaxrandom unnecessary villain. He was completely purposeless beyond saying IT'S A WITCH! There is no reason a townsperson, servant, or whatever could not have held that role. And let's make it a woman while we're at it because... - there are so many men in this film. I was honestly not prepared. I knew about how many men they filled the primary cast with beforehand but.. wow. There's Weaseltown, the guards, all the foreign dignitaries, most of the servants, the dude running the store, nearly all of the extras with lines, the King, Olaf, Sven, and Kristoff (so 75% of the primary party members, plus 2/3 of the antagonists, unless Elsa isn't considered an antagonist and then all of the antagonists are men). Is there some reason women couldn't have played more of a role in this film? Did two female protagonists scare the writers so much that they had to coat this film with men? - the music was largely unimpressive. The only songs I liked were the opening and ending Sami songs and "Let it Go". Idina Menzel sings almost nothing. She has ONE solo and shares a fraction of two songs with Anna. THAT'S IT! YOU HAD IDINA MENZEL AND YOU DID THIS? - Anna leaves her people and leaves a total stranger she's known for less than 24 hours in charge of her nation. Besides the fact that this is so ridiculously stupid, let's go to an actual story point that this ignores. The main story starts with Elsa's official coronation because she has finally come of age, some time after her parent's death. Anna is not Queen before her. They have no other siblings and we see no family hanging around to rule. It's also implied that this is Elsa's first time showing herself to the public since she was hidden away as a child, and someone has to run the government in the meantime. So who exactly was in charge during the period between their parents' deaths and Elsa's coronation? And where exactly was this person or group of people when Anna left? Why did Anna think that a random stranger was a better ruler than these people who have clearly well-managed the nation for all this time (no one is in abject poverty, people are well-dressed, the city looks nice, there's no word about robbers or anything)? It's a big plot hole that pissed me off. I understand that Anna is supposed to be kind of dumb, but this move further elaborates how little contact she's had with her own people, makes me question why the locals care about the royals, and makes me like her even less. Also. Anna is a princess. She should have tutors. Elsa clearly has training. If no one else, her parents trained her. They could clearly afford to get someone else to help Anna. There's no reason she's as dumb as she demonstrates. This isn't Rapunzel stuck in her tower with her three books and one human contact. This is a princess in the middle of a kingdom with access to a large personal library and servants and a great deal of money. - Hans interacts with the citizens. An antagonist. Not either of the female protagonists. Hans. He even gets numerous lines with officials other than Weaseltown guy, while Anna and Elsa do next to nothing as rulers besides the coronation and a royal... ice rink... - Olaf's first song is completely fucking stupid. It is so out of place and pointless and takes up time that COULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT ANNA AND/OR ELSA! - Kristoff is an arrogant jackass who starts off the main part of his tale by invading Anna's space. He watches Anna's antics and he chuckles at them. I do not like seeing a female protagonist trying to be assertive and then get laughed at by a male character. It's insulting. I also was not impressed by the whole crazy reindeer thing. It was dumb. It also detracts from the already dismally Elsa/Anna empty plot for no apparent reason other than this obsession with slapstick comedy animals in the animation industry rising from the popularity of the Despicable Me minions. - I think it's funny that Anna and Kristoff are the only ones who apparently slip on Elsa's ice. Elsa doesn't have a problem, even in heels. Hans doesn't have a problem, nor do the guards who save him when he almost falls from the staircase bridge. Weaseltown's goons don't have a problem. It makes perfect sense for people to slip on the ice and even for Elsa not to. But that's not what happens. Plot continuity. It's fun. - The only aspect of the trolls that I appreciated wasn't even really about them. It was Olaf's reaction to watching Kristoff speak to them. That's it. Their song is so stupid. I appreciate a song about accepting some of the problems people have. We're all a little damaged. No one is perfect. Don't expect to find someone that way. But like one reviewer said, this song veers into the 'love people with their flaws no matter what', which veers dangerously into the 'even when you feel like you need to get out of a relationship, don't' territory. You should not look at a potential partner as a canvas to paint on or a broken car to fix. You should love them despite many flaws they'll possibly have. But there are limits for what you should have to take in a relationship. Don't love someone no matter what they do. Also, this film needs to learn something about personal boundaries. - My favorite part of the trolls song is the arranged marriage aspect. -heavy sarcasm- - Did I mention how little Elsa talks? Yet we're taking time for snowmen singing about summer and trolls making up arranged marriages and giving dating advice and groping a guy AND IDINA MENZEL WAS ON THIS PROJECT PEOPLE! IDINA MENZEL! - why are the all-male extras of the Foreign Ministers and Hans solely in control of the nation? Are there any members of the government outside of the Arendelle royal family? Maybe high-up servants of some kind? The captain of the guards? A mayor or city governor? A parliament? Advisors? A city council? Anyone who just might be ticked off if a foreign dignitary just stepped right into the ruling seat over their nation? No? The make-up of this nation is so poorly put together. If you're not going to use it right, don't use it at all. - After Anna saved herself, I hate the ending. I don't understand what Elsa did to figure out how to finally control/reverse(?) her powers. Love explains nothing. It felt like someone said "okay, this story needs to end now, let's wrap it up." And they did. I also really don't get why the all-male extra Foreign Ministers are cheering (since Weaseltown tried to kill Elsa for most of the film and was ready to burn Anna along with her at the stake), or why we're focused on them when they were by-and-large not important characters. Anna could have introduced Kristoff to Elsa. They could have walked back to the castle and greeted their people and learned about how much the people had faith in their monarchy or how much everyone missed them or how scared people were or how much damage control they need to take care of and what duties Elsa has to take care of to deal with backlash from her 'freezing the entire kingdom' bit. IDINA MENZEL COULD HAVE SUNG A SONG (like the planned one that was removed ffs)! All in all... uuuugh. I just... ugh. And that's my final verdict.

#Frozen #Disney #spoilers #movie commentary #movie review #movie critique

1 note · View note

materialhauntings · 12 years ago

Text

Desolation of Smaug Critique

- why does Smaug know who Thorin is? I can maybe understand him knowing the line of kings, with Thorin at the bottom and being pissed that the trumped up 'King Under the Mountain' dares to attempt and return, but Thorin, according to the films, got the name 'Oakenshield' after they left the mountain. And Smaug has supposedly been sleeping all that time, without contact with the rest of the world. I doubt any adventurers spouted Thorin's entire backstory post-Smaug while trying treasure or escape. It was just odd.

- where's the scene where Thranduil does his cool -throws off cape- thing? IT WASN'T IN THE FILM! It's probably in the extended cut but really? I WAS WAITING FOR THAT!

- I'm curious about what exactly Sauron wants from the mountain. I thought he wanted to control Smaug, but I'm not so convinced. Maybe he thinks the Arkenstone is a silmaril? Or he thinks his ring ended up there somehow? It's a very loose storyline that I don't get, and the only reason it works at all is because the orcs and wargs have to be in the battle of the five armies. But 'because they have to be there' isn't a great reason. The mountain doesn't seem to hold any other weapons of mass destruction, and if it does, we should really have been shown them by now.

- I would like to know the story behind the gems Thranduil wants from the dwarves. I know their refusal to give them to him in the first movie is a deleted scene added in the extended edition, but we were promised more about them this time around, so I'm kind of hoping that there's more in the extended edition. One scene about him demanding them from Thorin does not 'more about them' make for me. But seriously. It was a fun movie. Would definitely watch again, despite all the problems. I mainly laughed at all the artistic liberties taken and I didn't even shut my eyes for most of the spider scene although blech... The costumes were beautiful. The environment was beautiful. It was very humorous.

Final Conclusion: if you really want a great adaptation of "The Hobbit" itself that doesn't take a lot of liberties with the source material, look up the 1977 animated film by Warner Bros. It is perfect in almost every way.

But do not brush the live-action series aside just because it takes liberties. It's worth your time, too. I said I'm not as much a fan of movie 1, but I honestly think the writing in the first film was better. Movie 2 is just funnier to watch.

#Desolation of Smaug #The Hobbit #The Hobbit 2 #movie critique #spoilers #Peter Jackson

4 notes · View notes

materialhauntings · 12 years ago

Text

The Dragaera Books/The Vlad Taltos Books by Steven Brust

Vladimir Taltos. Professional assassin. Human. Easterner. A local underworld boss in Dragaera's capital city, running the Jhereg's interests there, as well as his own. Witch. Sorcerer. Surrounding by the proud, long-lived, powerful, sorcerous Dragaerans, he's bent on making his mark in the world, despite his unfortunate position of being an Easterner. Having sold out with his father to be a part of the Dragaeran House of the Jhereg, the criminals of the aristocracy, and making a name for himself there, he is despised by both his own people and non-Jhereg Dragaerans. Despite his noted dislike of the Dragaerans and his odd position in the make-up of the nation, he and his Jhereg familiar Loiosh will be drawn into numerous plots with some of their upper echelons, and his actions will help decide the very future of the Empire. Will Vlad be able to decide where he stands, and what he stands for?

My oldest friend introduced this series to me. She's known me for about sixteen years, so when she said, "I have this book called "Jhereg", and I think you'd like it. It fits your sense of humor", I said I'd give it a shot. I researched it beforehand and found out that it's actually part of a series. Written by Steven Brust, the Vlad Taltos books are currently 13 in number, although 19 are apparently planned. In the same universe, you have "The Khaavren Romances" - a series based off of "The d'Artagnan Romances" by Alexandre Dumas ("The Three Musketeers" and the following novels), and “Brokedown Palace”, a stand-alone novel.

I started reading the series and I was hooked almost immediately. Starting with “Jhereg” is a little confusing at first, since the books play with time, flashbacks, and flash-forward a lot, but you get the hang of it. It’s also interesting to try and understand the “chronological” order of the series. Brust did not write the books in order, and the compendiums do not contain the books in order. For instance, going chronologically, his most recent book is #6, #14, and #16 in the story series, since it jumps from time to time. “The Book of Dragon”, which only contains “Dragon” and “Athyra”, has five books between the two, chronologically.

There is a lot to love about this series. It is at once a high fantasy story as well as a soft science fiction story. There are references to very advanced alien technology, aliens, and there is interplanetary travel (although sans space ships, at least with our protagonists). Otherwise, the story is set in a medieval fantasy setting, with Elves, magic, and tons of sword-fighting, and so on.

The title of each novel refers to one of the 17 Dragaeran Houses and their representative animal. It is believed that members of the houses share traits with their representative animal, and there are various trades mostly specific to and associated with each House. Each novel then focuses, often in a seemingly vague sense, on that House. For instance, “Orca” is about economic skullduggery, since the House of Orca is associated with the economic/banking system in the Empire. “Dragon” focuses on a mini-war, since those of the House of the Dragon are very war-like and typically serve in the military or lead armies. And so on. The detail is really neat and it is yet another way to examine Brust’s world-building.

I could go on about how, while the story focuses primarily on Vlad, there is a wide variety of characters and Brust uses some creative writing techniques to push them into the spotlight, while still focusing on Vlad’s story. For instance, one book is from the point of view of a village boy who discovers Vlad as the latter passes through the former’s town and gets into trouble. Another novel is from the point of view of a friend of Vlad’s relating her recent adventure with Vlad to a mutual acquaintance. An important point to add in here is that there are a lot of women in these novels, and they all fill numerous roles. They all have their own agency, none of them are just there for Vlad’s story, and they don’t strictly fill either the damsel in distress or the heroic female roles. The Dragaera world is one of the best examples of “what would it be like if men and women were considered equals?” I have ever seen. The Empire is currently run by an empress. Men and women seem to hold something of an equal number of positions in all branches of the military. The secret police (such as it is) is run by a woman, who also happens to be the most knowledgeable and powerful sorcerer known. The best-known thief is a woman (silly as that sounds, just go with it – it’s awesome). Vlad’s principal love interest is a fellow assassin who is a member of a dual-female assassination team, and the pair is infamous for their skill. The deity spoken of(and seen and heard) most often is the Demon Goddess, herself a very powerful and terrifying, as well as very loving and kind person. The leader of the military is a woman. There are female healers, female cooks, female politicians, mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, women who do fit into stereotypically female roles and women who break them. There are men all over the place, but women are everywhere and doing really cool things and it is really awesome.

I could also talk about how this series touches on a lot of different things like politics, psychology, friendship, family, finding a path for yourself as a young person, marriage, divorce, class conflict, racism, elitism, assassination (as you might have guessed), pride, greed, selflessness, fine dining, social niceties, theft, nostalgia, music, self-discovery, and so on. You go with Vlad to the front lines of a war, other worlds, distant forests, the middle of an ocean of very hazardous material, and so many interesting places with many interesting people. There are many parallels that can be drawn between Vlad's world and ours, and it is still fun to get lost in his world and just enjoy your stay without constantly seeing The Message of the work.

But I would rather focus on the humor, because that is what keeps bringing me back. I have never laughed so hard and so long and so early on in any novel, let alone an entire series. Even when I’m not laughing while reading these books, I’m typically grinning ear to ear. There is a great deal of sarcasm, but there is also a great deal of playful irony, parody, and simply funny situations that Brust throws his characters into. I keep thinking that it’s going to stop – that Brust will use the same tired jokes, the same situations, or that he’ll lose that humorous writing style entirely. But I keep being pleasantly surprised. For instance, I recently picked up the latest book, “Tiassa”, and I was on page six when I started laughing so hard I had to put the book down. I think it might, at times, rely on something of a dark sense of humor, but I don’t think that’s necessary to find these very funny. If you really enjoy humor, I would suggest you pick these novels up.

Overall, this is a great book series and my favorite adult fantasy series. You should definitely pick it up if you have the chance.

The first image is a copy of the chronologically first novel's cover, "Jhereg". The second image is a piece of fanart (it's a picture of Vlad and Loiosh) by AshleyCope, and can be found on her deviantart here.

#Vlad Taltos #Steven Brust #writing #books #review #critique #Dragaera #science fiction #fantasy #adult fantasy #AshleyCope #fanart #Loiosh

5 notes · View notes

materialhauntings · 12 years ago

Text

Gargoyles Season 2 Part 2

In case you were not aware, Disney released a DVD copy of the remaining part of "Gargoyles" season 2, only a few days ago. It's officially available at a cheap price for Disney Movie Club members only (around $21), but people are also selling it on Amazon, eBay, and elsewhere so that you don't have to become a member to buy it (it's kinda pricey if you try to become one just to buy this), although that's the easiest way to let Disney know they finally did the right thing. Also - the DVDs contain only the episodes. They are all the completely uncut originals (so that's awesome), but there's no extras. Still, there weren't that many extras on the other DVD sets anyway.

Greg Weisman was just as surprised as the fandom was at this development, but he supports it now and he has urged fans to show their support, in the hopes of good things in the future of the "Gargoyles" franchise. Let's show Disney what we want to see more of!

#gargoyles #season 2 part 2

4 notes · View notes

materialhauntings · 12 years ago

Text

Natsume's Book of Friends/Natsume Yuujinchou

Since he was small, teenage Natsume Takashi has been able to see youkai, but dealing with ability – which allows youkai to take more notice of him – has made his life very hard. One day, he discovers a piece of his inheritance from his grandmother, Natsume Reiko: the Book of Friends (Yuujinchou), which contains the names of youkai his grandmother defeated, and allows the bearer to command the youkai who own the names within. He discovers that his grandmother could also see youkai and was also very involved with youkai. After meeting Madara (Nyanko-sensei), a powerful demon masquerading as a fortune cat, he he attempts to deal with the Yuujinchou, he meets numerous people, humans and youkai, and has quite the number of adventures.

I was at Katsucon 2013, wandering the Artist Alley with a friend, when we came across a “Natsume Yuujinchou” poster. It attracted my eye because it looked beautiful and interesting, and after my friend told me what the anime was called, I wrote it down for later. Months later and I’m trying to watch something interesting, and one of my best friends hears that it’s on my to-watch list, and tells me that it’s her favorite anime. She tells me that it’s a great, beautiful story, and that it has a “warm” sense to it. It also involves the supernatural and a boy who can see demons. So I decide to give it a try.

The series is by Midorikawa Yuki. “Natsume Yuujinchou” (Season 1) aired in 2008. “Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou” (Season 2) aired in 2009. “Natsume Yuujinchou San” (Season 3) aired in 2011, and “Natsume Yuujinchou Shi” (Season 4) aired in 2012. The entire series is available for free to stream on crunchryoll.com. The first three seasons are collected together under the title of “Natsume Yuujinchou”, while season 4 is still standalone, but they are all there in their entirety.

I love this series, especially because, after four seasons/52 episodes, I still want more of the same. That’s unheard of, for me. The closest anything I’ve watched has ever gotten to that is “Twelve Kingdoms”/”Juuni Kokki”, at 45 episodes, which wasn’t nearly as good as “Natsume Yuujinchou”, but certainly picked up very well after a while. That’s the really weird thing about this show, though. I love basically every episode. Most series with their share of gems also have more than their fair share of stinkers, or else they have to be incredibly short and beautiful. In my experience, longer series have a higher likelihood of bad episodes. That’s not to say that this series is perfect – some episodes are definitely not as good as others – but they’re certainly all incredibly enjoyable.

This series is rather episodic (although there are a few two-part episodes). The story is simple. Natsume tries to fit into his new home and find happiness and keep his newfound family happy and safe from the youkai that plague him. He’s trying to learn how to be good, and that’s hard, especially for an orphan who’s lived as something of an anathema for everyone he’s been foisted off into. Seeing youkai has not been a blessing to him. He also has the goal of returning names to different youkai, but it’s more an occasional thing that helps set up many stories than “this is my continuing life quest that makes my life”.

There’s also a fair share of humor in this story. Most of it revolves around Nyanko-sensei, but there’s humor elsewhere. The character interactions are also incredibly touching, and it’s a very easily relatable story in many ways. For example, while I certainly didn’t go through the traumatic experiences that Natsume went through, I can relate to that sense of being an outcast and a burden on those I love, and that desire to be kind and useful to my loved ones, as a way to pay them back for their kindness. I wish I had Natsume’s strength and gentleness, as well as his compassion (and his ability to punch). There are lessons on bullying, recovery, healing (physically and mentally), the definition of loneliness, charity, friendship, family, belonging, outcasts, hatred, true love, the proper use of power, finding a place in the world, and the complexities of immortality versus mortality. The depth in this story is astonishing and beautiful, and as a writer I simply adore it.

The art is very pretty and cute. One of the best parts of this show is Nyanko-sensei, Natsume’s bodyguard. He is utterly adorable in his fortune cat form and he is constantly doing adorably cute things. As someone who really doesn’t go for cute in large doses when I watch anime, this just blew my mind. I realized that a big reason for my enjoying episodes was the antics of Nyanko-sensei. HE’S JUST SO CUTE! Also, he turns into a big-ass youkai dog, similar to Sesshoumaru’s (“InuYasha”) youkai form. Beyond him, though, I really do love the style, and the first season came out in 2008, so it looks very good from the beginning, and only improves as time moves on. It also does it at a relatively slow rate, so even though this anime has come out over the course of five years, it almost looks like it hasn’t changed at all (and that’s not a bad thing). There are no ridiculous hair-dos, no fanservice (that I can recall, beyond Natsume angst), some beautiful nature and town scenes, and a beautiful assortment of character designs.

I love just about everyone in this show. Even the token annoying characters are lovable. Learning about Natsume’s backstory is always compelling. It’s very sad, but very deep and well written. He’s also really trying to keep his problems out of his life and try and make the best of things, so his character growth is really enjoyable and while there's a decent amount of angst, it doesn't bog down the story. He likes having fun with friends and going on adventures and spending time with his loved ones. He doesn’t just mope and angst all the time. His friends, companions, and even enemies are all interesting, amusing, and fun.

The youkai are also very cool to learn about. There’s a varied range of youkai and you learn about where it was they came from, their place in the local culture, and some other Japanese culture bits that are just fun to learn about. Their character designs are gorgeous. It probably also helps that I tend to like outsider ageless characters with different ethics (or a lack thereof) and screwed up personalities, and I like watching people explore the morals of characters who don’t have what we traditionally view as human morality.

One of the best things about this series is the music. I adore the music in this show. There are two themes, Haru wo Shiraseru Mono, and Kimi ga Yobu/Yume no Tsuzuki that just… they get me every time. The soundtrack isn’t all that varied over the course of the series (although I’ve got thirteen beautiful tracks in my iTunes from it), but you honestly never get tired of it. It’s just so beautiful and peaceful and perfectly captures the feeling of the story and wonderfully sets the tone. As my friend stated, this is a show that is simply warm. It’s not “mushy” or corny or over-the-top with its messages (most of the time). It’s very deep. It can be sad. But every episode (we’ll only count the second part of the two-parters) leaves you with a deep sense of peace. You’ll spend this series just smiling. Your heart strings will be tugged. You’ll laugh. You’ll grin. But in the end, you’ll be a bit teary and warm down to your toes.

Please check this series out if you have the time. It began as a manga, which currently has 14 volumes. I haven’t given it a look, but that might be worth your while, too. Enjoy!

The image above is the one that first drew me to the series, and is by Animus-Rhythm. It can be found on their deviantart here.

#natsume yuujinchou #zoku natsume juunichou #natsume yuujinchou san #natsume yuujinchou shi #nyanko-sensei #madara #natsume's book of friends #natsume takashi #matoba #youkai #anime #midorikawa yuki #Animus-Rhythm #review

8 notes · View notes

materialhauntings · 12 years ago

Text

Inverloch, The Phoenix Requiem, and Dreamless: Sarah Ellerton (Arts-Angel)

Two Elvan children go exploring, but young Kayn’dar mysteriously vanishes on the journey, and years later his friend, Shiara, begins a quest to finally discover his whereabouts, with the help of a da’kor named Acheron, whose quest to find Kayn’dar will lead him to places he never imagined.

“Inverloch” is a webcomic I found early on when I started reading webcomics. It’s a five-volume, 25-chapter webcomic created by Sarah Ellerton, which was published online and completed from 2003 to 2007. It’s very strange to realize that I started reading it back when only the first eight chapters were up. It sure has been a long time…

This is always a bit odd to explain to people, but I really love watching artists develop and grow as artists (and often authors). You can clearly see Ellerton’s development as you read the webcomic. Her art began as good, but she improved so much in the course of this webcomic and it was just so wonderful at the end. She actually pulled a neat trick and took an issue cover she drew for the beginning of the webcomic and basically re-did it for the end of the comic with older versions of the characters and her new style, and it’s just all around one of the coolest “time warp” images ever.

Narrative-wise, “Inverloch” is a very fun and enjoyable read. The characters are all interesting and Ellerton’s world is fun to run around in as you read the story. The best words I can use to describe the story is “pleasant” and “warm”. It’s not edge-of-your-seat thrilling or truly exciting (although back when it was still updating it certainly was), but it is a very enjoyable read. I’m also really happy with how the story ended.

“Inverloch” is still available online, for free, in its entirety here. But you can also buy volumes 1-3 here, if you’d like. The nice thing about getting copies of the books is that she added a completely redrawn and extended intro in the physical copy of volume 1, which isn't available online, along with some other comic extras. Her deviantart is here if you’d like to see some of her other work. As a disclaimer, I have a couple reasons for posting “purchase” links. I know that artists benefit from people buying their work, and that’s one way to make sure artists keep making content for us to enjoy. If an artist puts something up for free for you to see, and you really like that artist, consider trying to find a way to support them in some other capacity, whether it’s buying prints or commissions or other works from them. They need to eat and pay rent, too. I’m also really sad that “Inverloch” never saw books 4 and 5 published, so I just keep hoping. Also, purchase links mean that you can have your own copies and don’t have to rely on occasionally faulty and slow Internet connectivity and website issues, or if artists take things down, which frequently occurs. I also know that a lot of people don't know that you can get your own copies, so... there you go.

As a fan of “Inverloch”, I was excited to learn that she was going to be making another webcomic called “The Phoenix Requiem”. Published online from 2007 to 2011, this webcomic is also 5 volumes and 25 chapters long, and is completed.

“The Phoenix Requiem”, set in a Victorian-inspired world, begins when a mysterious stranger is found shot in the woods on All Soul’s Night, near the town of Esk. Jonas’ arrival is curious and mysterious, and the investigation of his past, as a precursor to a mysterious new plague, will lead Anya Katsukova, the local nurse, Robyn Hart, a local farmer and suitor of Anya’s, Petria Grey, a local jack-of-all-trades, and the inhabitants of Esk on a life-and-death adventure with the supernatural that will shake the foundations of their world.

This webcomic is simply beautiful. Ellerton has clearly come into her own here, and it’s just a joy to look through the pages and see all the gorgeous artwork. The story is also quite fine and intriguing. It’s a bit darker than “Inverloch”, but still very enjoyable (although I like grimdark, so that’s really just a disclaimer for people who like lighter stuff). There are a lot of interesting characters and settings to explore in this story, and you’ll find yourself dragged in quickly (and not regret it). It can be found in its entirety for free here, but you can also purchase volumes 1-2 here. You might have to do some exploring, but that's where you can buy them.

Ellerton also worked on another project while working on “The Phoenix Requiem” called “Dreamless”. Set in the backdrop of World War II, this is the story of Elanor, a young American girl with an interesting ability: she can see the life of a Japanese boy, Takashi, when she goes to sleep, as he sees the reverse when he sleeps. This is the story of their lives together, and apart.

Ellerton provided the artwork for Bobby Crosby’s story, and it’s a rather beautiful stylized work. Crosby’s narrative is also quite enjoyable, so I HIGHLY suggest you give it a read. It’s a far shorter read than Ellerton’s other two webcomics (only 70 pages), but you’ll get dragged in and find yourself rereading it in no time. The story can be found online, for free, in its entirety here. You can also purchase it here.

All in all, there’s a lot of fun webcomics out there to read, if you’re interested. At the least, I highly suggest you check out Ellerton’s work. It’s some great story-telling and artwork and best of all, they’re all completed, so no waiting for updates!

The image for “Inverloch” is a later comic issue cover in the webcomic online. The image for “The Phoenix Requiem” can be found on Ellerton’s deviantart here. The image for “Dreamless” can be found on her deviantart here.

#inverloch #the phoenix requiem #dreamless #sarah ellerton #bobby crosby #marry me #remy mokhtar #webcomic #comedy #romance #supernatural #victorian-era #fantasy

4 notes · View notes

materialhauntings · 12 years ago

Text

Knite by Yuumei (Wenqing Yan)

The story takes place in China. Sen flies his electrically lit kites every evening, to light up the heavily polluted sky with artificial stars. Kai, the son of a politician, takes an interest, and their meeting will leave them both changed forever. It’s a comic about friendship, school, family, dreams, responsibility, corruption, and pollution, beautifully drawn and written by Yuumei.

My roommate introduced me to this story earlier in the year, and I am in love. There are so many good things about this story, but I’ll try to keep it short and simple.

Firstly, the art – it is gorgeous. If you haven’t seen it and happen to take a look after this, or if you have read the comic but not looked through her art gallery, you should definitely take a moment to look through her art gallery. She has a lot of beautiful, touching pieces about environmentalism, pollution, oppression, freedom, imagination, and love.

Secondly, the story. As a narrative, the story is incredibly beautiful and enjoyable. All of the characters are amazing, from Sen and Kai and their relationship to their schoolmates, Sen’s stepmother, and Kai’s sister and new-found ally. It seems a bit whimsical at first glance (at least in the beginning), but overall, it’s a pretty harsh storyline about the problems formed by pollution, political corruption, ignorance, cruelty, and poverty. You can learn a lot about Chinese culture by reading the story, especially if you’re curious and go searching for information on your own.

Her prose is also poetic, which makes the story more touching and thus more painful. Overall, it’s wonderfully written story with beautiful art, and you’ll be done and waiting for the next segment to be published before you know it. Also - don't forget to read the bonus segments. They're short and completely worth the time.

If you like Knite, which has a couple chapters out currently, you should check out her other comic: Fisheye Placebo. It’s about hackers, oppression, the importance of social media in today’s world, and the Firewall in China (but the creator has a better explanation here). It’s very enjoyable, and even with only the pieces that have been published now, I can’t wait for the next chapter. If you love her other work, you will love this.

You should also take a look at 1000 Words. It’s a story about divorce, family and love, and the way the world looks from a child’s perspective, as well as that sense of responsibility children for their parents’ actions, and how a parent’s actions, even if they weren’t meant to, can still strongly affect children in terrible ways. As a child of divorcees, myself, I very strongly relate to this story, and it’s just as beautifully drawn and written as her other works.

Yuumei also has a tumblr account, if you’re interesting in following her here, and she just put the first volume of Knite up for pre-order if you'd like to get your own copy.

The picture above is called Knite: Bringer of Stars, and it's on her deviantart here.

#yuumei #wenqing yan #fisheye placebo #1000 words #knite #webcomic #flash comic #pollution #environmentalism #china #culture shock #education #divorce #abuse

23 notes · View notes

materialhauntings · 12 years ago

Text

Gargoyles: Bad Guys

Following the 1994-7 TV show “Gargoyles” by Greg Weisman, a series of comics was produced to continue the story after its cancellation. “Gargoyles: Bad Guys” is a sort of spin-off of the show, as it features non-primary cast members, but it definitely deserves a moment in the spotlight, and it is undoubtedly my favorite of the comics. Here's a quickie overview if you don't know what you're getting into when you see this and if you're not sure if you should try it out.

The comics are set after the end of season 2, not 3, the latter of which is not considered canon. “Bad Guys” was published from 2007-8, with two issues never published single issue, and only saw the public eye when they were published in a compendium that collected the whole "Bad Guys" series, in order. If you are a “Gargoyles” fan, I highly suggest you go out and buy all three compendiums ("Gargoyles: Clan-Building Volume 1", "Gargoyles: Clan-Building Volume 2", and this). They are very much worth the time.

“Bad Guys” follows the exploits of a few recognizable characters you might have forgotten about: Dingo – former Pack member, Aussie, last seen when the gang fought off the Matrix; Matrix (the same being) is another member of the team, serving primarily as Dingo’s armor in most fights (they’ve been fighting crime together since we last saw them); Fang – the mutate who tried to take over the Labyrinth; Yama – the Ishimura Clan gargoyle who almost led to his clan’s downfall when the gang visited Japan; and Robyn Canmore – still bearing the Hunter’s persona, but now trying to do right by the world and lead this team.

It’s a bad guys doing good deeds redemption storyline, Gargoyles-style. Robyn reaches out to a number of wayward souls with promises of penance and doing good, and we get to see the team work on two rather interesting cases. The first is a plot by Doctor Sevarius involving more mutate experimentation and an almost-massacre during the New Year. The second is an attempt to get to the bottom of the Illuminati – who they are and what they want. On the way, you learn a lot more about the backgrounds of the characters, especially Dingo and Robyn. You also learn about their interactions with other characters you’d recognize – Yama’s interactions with his clan after the gang leaves them, what Fang’s been up to since he was incarcerated for his takeover, and Robyn’s interactions with her brothers since the end of season 2.

Unlike the other two compendiums, which were full-color, this collection was done in gray scale (most likely to go with that “it’s not black and white, it’s just shades of gray” vibe). And I have to say that it looks gorgeous. The art is wonderfully done and, overall, it just looks a lot better than the other two. It also stands up well next to more recent comics. As a mostly complete story (ignoring what could have followed for the moment), it also holds together wonderfully, and it’s a great graphic novel. Quite frankly, it’s just a fun romp through the “Gargoyles” universe, with characters you recognize interacting in ways you didn’t think about, and characters that you forgot coming back to play.

The narrative is a little difficult to follow at first – there’s a lot of jumping back and forth through time and memories, but you get it after a while, and the collection definitely improves in rereads, so going back shouldn’t be a problem.

Hope you pick this up and enjoy it!

#gargoyles #bad guys #redemption #comic #gargoyles comic #gargoyles bad guys #graphic novel #greg weisman #team-up

10 notes · View notes