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On August 29, 1974 Zardoz debuted in the Netherlands.
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Here's a new portrait of Sean Connery to celebrate!
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Dystopian themes in the Prequels
“Looking back is helpful in understanding his work. Lucas started out in the 1960’s as an experimental filmmaker heavily influenced by the avant-garde films of the San Francisco art scene. Initially interested in painting, he became an editor and visualist who made abstract tone poems. His first feature, THX 1138 (1971) was an experimental science fiction film that presented a surreal, underground world where a dictatorial state controls a docile population using drugs. Love and sex are outlawed, procreation is controlled through machines, and human beings shuffle meaninglessly around the system.”
—Anthony Parisi, 'Revisiting the Star Wars Prequels'
The bolded parts in this description correspond with the Coruscant Underworld, the Jedi Order’s code, and the creation of the clone troopers, respectively.
Notably, in THX 1138's setting, emotions such as love and the concept of family are taboo:
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I’ve always found it so interesting that Lucas incorporated the dystopian elements of his earlier sci-fi into the Prequels, taking place as they do in the context of the final years of the Repubic, with all its colourful and sumptuous visual spendour. In comparison, the post-apocalyptic ‘Dark Times’ of the Original Trilogy would seem on the surface to be the more outwardly ‘dystopian’ setting of the two—however, the actual story of the OT is a mythic hero's journey and fairytale, complete with an uplifting and transcendent happy ending. The OT's setting may be drained of colour, and its characters may be living under the shadow of the Empire, but as a story it is far from bleak or dystopian in tone. Rather, fascinatingly, it is the pre-apocalyptic era of the Prequels that is presented as the more dystopian storyline:
“On the surface, [The Phantom Menace] is an optimistic, colorful fantasy of a couple of swashbuckling samurai rescuing a child Queen and meeting a gifted slave boy who can help save the galaxy from the slimy Trade Federation and its Sith leaders. But beneath that cheerful facade is a sweatshop of horrors.” —Michael O'Connor, 'Moral Ambiguity: Beyond Good and Evil in the Prequels'
This is referring to the state of the galaxy during the Prequels era, including the fact that slavery is known to exist, but is largely ignored by the Republic and the Jedi alike due to being too economically inconvenient to combat. It also refers to how the Jedi of the Old Order come across as cold and distant atop their ivory tower on the artificial world of Coruscant, far removed not only from the natural world but also from the true realities of the people they claim to serve. And then there is the additional revelation in Attack of the Clones that love and family are 'outlawed' within the Jedi Order, creating an environment in which their own 'Chosen One' is unable to flourish, leaving him vulnerable to the Dark Side. Finally, there's the fact that the characters end up so distracted by fighting a civil war (something that goes against their own principles and involves the use of a slave clone army in the process), that they are blinded to the entity of pure evil that is guiding their every move...until it is too late.
“Without a clear enemy, the Jedi Order, the Galactic Senate, the whole of the Star Wars galaxy bickers and backstabs and slides around the moral scales. But there is one benefit to Palpatine’s pure evil crashing down upon the galaxy; against its oppressive darkness, only the purest light can shine through.” —Michael O'Connor, 'Moral Ambiguity: Beyond Good and Evil in the Prequels'
If anything, the Dark Times allows for the OT generation's acts of courage and heroism to flourish and succeed, because they are not hampered by the Old Jedi Order's restrictive rules, nor by its servitude to the whims of an increasingly corrupt Republic—so corrupt, in fact, that by the time of RotS, it is practically the Empire in all but name. Indeed, one of the key features of the Prequels, and what makes them so tragic, is that the characters are already living in a dystopia...they just don't know it.
There is, paradoxically, a level of freedom to be found in the midst of the Dark Times which had not been possible during the Twilight era, which allows Original Trio to rise above the tragedy that befell their predecessors. They are able to act as free agents (not as slaves of a corrupt government), serving only the fight for the liberation of all the peoples of the galaxy (not just citizens of the Republic), and are likewise free to live (and love!) on their own terms. Free to act on their positive attachments to one another, without having to hide the truth of their feelings. It's particularly telling that *this* is, above all, what makes the Prequels era so dystopian—the characters' inability to freely and openly participate in normal familial human relationships.
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sarthak2405 · 2 months
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Unveiling Nightmares: The top 10 most Anticipated Horror Movies of 2024
Greetings from a spine-tingling voyage into the future of terror, horror enthusiasts! The horror genre threatens to unleash a tsunami of fear unlike anything seen before as we approach 2024. The list for this year is sure to have you on the edge of your seat, with titles ranging from otherworldly horror to psychological thrillers. Let's explore the most anticipated horror films that will make you shudder in 2024 as we go deeper into the shadows.
1- Lisa Frankenstein(Release date 9th February 2024)
Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse star in this horror comedy about a misunderstood adolescent goth girl who uses a broken tanning machine in her garage to reanimate a handsome Victorian corpse during a lightning storm and begins to rebuild him into the man of her dreams. The amorous couple undergoes a hilariously horrifying transformation before setting out on a homicidal quest to discover real love, happiness, and a few missing body parts.
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source - Universal Pictures
2-Imaginary (Release date: 8th March 2024)
The forthcoming supernatural horror film Imaginary is an American production that was written, produced, and directed by Jeff Wadlow, together with Greg Erb and Jason Oremland. DeWanda Wise, Tom Payne, Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun, Veronica Falcón, and Betty Buckley are among the movie's stars. It was produced by Jason Blum under the names Blumhouse Productions and Tower of Babble, and Lionsgate is set to release it on March 8, 2024.
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source Youtube.com
3-A Quiet Place: Day One (Release date: June 28th 2024)
The planned American post-apocalyptic horror movie A Quiet Place: Day One is written and directed by Michael Sarnoski and is based on an original story by Sarnoski and John Krasinski. It is meant to be the third full film in the A Quiet Place film series as well as a spin-off prequel. On June 28, 2024, the movie is slated for theatrical release.
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source Warner Bros
4- Speak No Evil (Release Date: August 9th 2024)
James Watkins is the writer and director of the upcoming psychological horror-thriller Speak No Evil in the United States. It is a reimagining of the Danish movie of the same name from 2022. James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, and Scoot McNairy are the film's main stars. Producer Jason Blum operates under the Blumhouse Productions name.
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Source - Blumhouse Productions
5- The Watchers (Release Date: June 7th,2024)
Artist Mina, 28, becomes lost in a vast, uninhabited forest in western Ireland. After taking cover, she unintentionally finds herself stuck with three strangers who are being followed and observed by enigmatic beings every night.
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Warner Bros
6- Saw XI (this film is expected to be released in September 2024)
John Kramer goes to Mexico for a dangerous and experimental medical treatment in the hopes of receiving a miracle cure. However, he finds out that the entire procedure is a hoax designed to deceive the most vulnerable. Equipped with a renewed determination, the notorious serial murderer employs bizarre and clever traps to subvert the scam artists.
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Source - Lionsgate
7- Beetlejuice (Release date September 6th 2024)
Beetlejuice 2 is an upcoming American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on a story by Seth Grahame-Smith.
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Source-Warner Bros
8 Alien:Romulus (Release Date: August 16th 2024)
An upcoming science fiction horror movie in the United States titled Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone entry in the Alien franchise that takes place in between the events of Alien and Aliens. Fede Álvarez, who co-wrote it with Rodo Sayagues, is the director.
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Source - 20th century productions
9-Nosferatu(Release Date: December 25th 2024)
Nosferatu will arguably be one of the biggest releases of 2024, horror or not. Written and directed by Robert Eggers, the film stars Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Nicholas Hoult, and serves as a remake of the 1922 film of the same name. Fans of Eggers' previous films—including The Northman, The Lighthouse, and The VVitch—should be in for another treat
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Source Universal studios
10 The Crow (This film is expected to be released in 2024)
Bill Skarsgård will also star in a reboot of The Crow, alongside musician FKA Twigs. The film follows a murdered musician who is resurrected to avenge his death and his fiancée's.
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Source- Lionsgate
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blood-injections · 4 months
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Okay fineee finally getting back into figuring out an original comic of mine i plan to draw and publish. Well two✌ comics maybe three the third one i wanna make a movie or animation. They're The original stories ive had forever but keep losing inspiration for but that always live in my head ones like danger days meets the matrix meets the terminator and im working on my style guide for it rn getting inspiration back and sketching the creature designs. That ones science fiction post apocalypse gay dystopia and the other one would be like. Short like one part while the dystopia one would be like a series or at least multiple issues but the second one is apocalyptic fantasy and kind of cosmic horror? But its not really horror it just has the same like. Unexplainableness. Its just kind of sad tbh its like. Hopeful but somber but Weird and has a nuclear war and powers and mental illness and genderless entities and a lonely god and queer love facing an apocalypse together and life and reincarnation and ends and beginnings and just. Its my darling. And the third one i want to be a film of some sort is straight up horror lol a lot of body horror and like. Its a hopeless apocalypse it doesn't have a happy ending. Im thinking since i dont know like. cgi or anything. Im thinking of making it a mixture of live action for the characters and stopmotion for the Creatures since i could greenscreen them in if i just make them puppets. itll be a project for when i have free time and money for an adobe subscription lol. If you guys wanna hear abt any of these i might make a sideblog if i start drawing the comic until then just ask me abt any of these and ill gladddly infodump lol. Gay matrix terminator danger days dystopia is for now called In Our Dreams(we can be complete) the weird fantasy apocalypse one always been loosely titled The Stargazer but i could call it Sending My Love(from the other side of the apocalypse) to match lol. And the third one i just call the Bonepocalypse. Also these all came from wild dreams i had like the universes i fully dreamed up its crazy
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It’s November, and that means it’s Thanksgiving season! What better way to celebrate than by reviewing some of the most infamous turkeys in cinematic history? Here are some of the biggest box office bombs around! Which one will I have to endure this weekend?
One of the single biggest animated flops ever, grossing under a million bucks on a budget forty times that. This science fantasy film just couldn’t catch a break.after it’s tumultuous production.
An infamous comedy that was once shorthand for “bad movie,” it features two white idiots going to the Middle East, something I’m sure had aged really gracefully.
Kevin Costner gets wet and wild in this post-apocalyptic flop. Is it as bad as its over-exaggerated bomb status would tell you?
Kevin Costner goes postal in his second shot at post-apocalyptic stardom. Not even making back one fourth of the eighty million dollar budget probably made him want to return to sender.
John Travolta really wanted this Scientologist clusterfuck to make it big and be the next Star Wars. To say he failed beyond his wildest dreams is an understatement.
“That's how big I am. I bomb over a hundred million." - Will Smith’s own words about this weird western, which features a legless Kenneth Branagh and a steampunk spider mecha.
People were really looking for a redo of one of the most famous X-Men stories after the last attempt at adaptation tarnished the series. Unfortunately, this movie ended Fox’s run with the characters on a wet fart.
Warren Beatty’s so vain, he probably thinks this bomb is about him… because it is. He’s the star of this rom-com which tanked his career for 15 years, something not even the aforementioned Ishtar managed.
It’s not very often a bomb blows up the whole studio with it, but this one tanked Image Movers and saved us from whatever the fuck they were gonna do to Yellow Submarine. But is it really app that bad?
In a shocking twist no one could have foreseen, up-and-coming director M. Night Shyamalan tarnished his career and turned himself into a punchline with this bizarre modern fairy tale.
Surely remaking South Korea’s greatest revenge thriller of all time with white people will lead to success, right? At any rate you get to see Elizabeth Olsen in a sex scene, surely that’s worth it…?
That motherfucker Johnny Depp is at it again, though at least he’s only in a supporting role… as a Native American. Surely the rest of the movie isn’t as bad as that, right?
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pandoramsbox · 5 days
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Sci-Fi Saturday: The Invisible Man
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Week 12:
Film(s): The Invisible Man (Dir. James Whale, 1933, USA)
Viewing Format: DVD
Date Watched: August 13, 2021
Rationale for Inclusion:
After a diversion into aeronautic sci-fi and a post-apocalyptic narrative, our survey returns for one last example of a Pre-Code horror hybrid: The Invisible Man (Dir. James Whale, 1933, USA).
As with Island of Lost Souls (Dir. Erle C. Kenton, 1932, USA), The Invisible Man is based on an H.G. Wells novel. Unlike when Paramount Pictures bought the rights to adapt The Island of Dr. Moreau, however, Wells demanded script approval as part of the deal with Universal Studios for them to adapt The Invisible Man. Wells had hated the adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreau, finding its emphasis on horror and lack of imagination miserable, and was not going to let a similar fate befall another one of his novels.
Although the rights were secured by Universal not long after the success of Dracula in 1931, it would take two years for the studio to assemble a satisfactory crew, script and cast. James Whale signed onto the project in 1931, but after the huge success of Frankenstein (1931, USA) left the project, not wanting to be associated as a horror director. However, after his return to romance with The Impatient Maiden (1932, USA) failed at the boxoffice, Whale returned to horror, first with The Old Dark House (1932, USA), which reunited him with Boris Karloff, and then signing back on to The Invisible Man. During Whale's absence from the project many screenwriters and drafts of screenplays, some of which used elements from another novel that Universal bought the rights to, The Murderer Invisible by Philip Wylie, had come and gone and failed to meet with Wells' approval.
In June of 1933, a script that finally met with Wells' approval was produced by R. C. Sherriff, who had written the play Journey's End, which sent Whale's star on the rise. This screenplay originated the idea that the experimental monocane serum that Dr. Jack Griffin (Claude Rains) produces not only makes him invisible, but slowly destroys his sanity. Similar to the lab setup and lightning power in Whale's Frankenstein, insanity as a byproduct of the invisibility would inform later adaptations of the Wells novel, including the early 2000s television series, which also featured a clip from the 1933 film in its opening credits sequence.
Reactions:
As resistant as Whale initially was to making horror films after Frankenstein, he proved with each subsequent one that he made how good he was at it. With the help of a group of repertory creatives both on and off screen, Whale put a pathos and humor into his horror films in a way that no other director working in the genre in the 1930s did. It's why over 90 years later Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935, USA) are some of the best horror films of their era and amongst the most influential of all time.
Yet, the horror genre aspects in The Invisible Man are not as prominent as its science fiction categorization. Griffin is a mad scientist, that is an otherwise average person, whose hubris and curiosity makes a monster out of him. My partner noted that he considers The Invisible Man to definitely be a monster movie, but more of a suspense or mystery film than a horror film. Any movie that features a serial killer is at least partially horror in my reckoning, but the way the narrative of The Invisible Man unfolds, it is closer to a suspense film like M (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1931, Germany) than an unquestioned horror film with a fantasy monster like Dracula (Dir. Tod Browning, 1931), despite all three having narratives that boil down to "what is the mystery surrounding this man" then "this man is a monster and must be destroyed for the greater good."
The mystery and monstrosity around Griffin is rendered possible through the performance of Claude Rains and some inventive special effects. As with Whale's casting of Karloff in Frankenstein, his role as the title character in The Invisible Man was a star-making role for theater actor Rains. Having to rely on his voice and physicality, but not his face, gave Rains some trouble during production, but he ultimately created a character that oscillates between aloofly mysterious and a madcap lunatic. 
A combination of post-production optical work, clever blocking, and use of wires rendered Griffin invisible. The special effects used would remain the standard way of conveying an invisible entity prior to computer generated imagery and post-production work becoming dominant in the industry. As silly as it may feel knowing that Griffin unwraps his head revealing nothing beneath is achieved by something as simple as Rains wearing his shirt and jacket above his head as he removes the bandages it remains visually iconic.
My only issue with the practical special effects comes at the film's climax when Griffin exits the cabin where he is hiding out and he leaves shoe prints in the snow, despite it being previously established that to be fully invisible (as he is in the scene) he must be totally naked. What baffles me if the use of shoe prints instead of footprints was a question of deliberate censorship or thoughtless oversight. I usually don't get nitpicky about these types of goofs in movies, but it stands out sharply in an otherwise carefully engineered film.
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canmom · 1 year
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Animation Night 125: Peter Chung
[Animation Night archive]
Hiii everyone, it’s Thursday! And it’s a multiple of 5, which means it’s time for something ‘big’. Which is to say... full circle back to the creator whose Aeon Flux started this whole thing, Peter Chung~... one of my favourite directors.
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^ me setting up an Animation Night...
But! We’re not here to watch Aeon Flux again this time! [Though if you wanna read about Aeon Flux, go check out Animation Night 52]. We’re here to watch the other works of Peter Chung! Such as Alexander Senki aka Reign: the Conqueror...
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You see, Peter Chung is one of the few people to have the experience of directing both anime and western animation. The insights this gave him, related once upon a time on the anipages forums, were one of the seeds of what would become the ‘sakuga fandom’.
But let’s start at the beginning. Here’s a picture of Chung via imdb...
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He was born in Seoul in 1961, the son of a guy in the foreign service, which meant his childhood was spent travelling all over the world (Wikipedia lists Seoul, London, Nairobi, Washington, D.C., New York and Tunis). Eventually they settled down to migrate to the USA, in Virginia. I’m not exactly sure when Chung got the animation bug, but it was early enough to send him to CalArts, where he attended their experimental animation program.
At age 18, he graduated CalArts joined the animation industry, working for the Spanish painter Salvador Bru. You can see some of Bru’s abstract paintings here; I haven’t been able to track down any of his work in animation. In any case, within a year Chung landed at Hanna-Barbera, working on character design, and also working with Ralph Bakshi [Animation Night 63] on layouts for his barbarian movie Fire and Ice (1983).
At this point he apparently got scouted by Didney for feature development, although which features he may have developed is not entirely clear. He also has layout and art direction credits for a couple of franchise works from this mid-80s period, such as The Transformers (1984, animation outsourced to Toei) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987, animated at an American studio then called Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, now Fred Wolf Films), and some less well remembered ones such as C.O.P.S., a bizarre animated spinoff of a reality show following cops on the job, and Ring Raiders, a toyline-driven show promoting toy aeroplanes.
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Chung’s major break came, so far as I can tell, when he designed the characters for the inaugral Nickoledeon show Rugrats (see Animation Night 31 when we watched the Hanukkah episode), in which a group of children play in elaborate fantasy worlds. The show was a huge hit, although it was still a few years until Chung got the opportunity to create something purely according to his vision in Aeon Flux. In the intervening period he got to work on the post-apocalyptic superhero show Phantom 2040 (1994), once again on character design.
Then came Liquid Television, and Aeon Flux. Aeon Flux stood out amidst Liquid Television because its animation could easily have belonged a mainstream show... if it wasn’t horny philosophical science fiction, heavy on ambiguity. But by the same token, it’s specificity won a lot of die-hard fans (like me).
Since there are a number of interviews out there, let’s get some of Chung’s own words on what went into it...
O: You tend to broadly exaggerate your characters' physical characteristics, especially their height and their musculature—is there any particular symbolic or aesthetic reason?
PC: That's a hard thing for an artist to try to analyze. I could kind of try to pick it apart, but the simple truth is, that's the way I draw. I mean, I can tell you about my influences—my favorite artist is Egon Schiele, the German Expressionist. If you look at his drawings, they're very economical, very expressive. The first time I saw them, I thought they were perfect for animation. So I did make a conscious effort to try and adapt that approach to drawing. The other thing is… I was going for a style, when I was doing Aeon Flux, that was much more dependent on expressive drawing as opposed to lots of surface detail. In Japanese productions, they like to put a lot of highlights and shadows on things, to make things look very rendered. Each drawing has to stand out individually as an illustration. Having been trained in American animation, I wanted to have characters that were very realistic, but not so loaded with detail that they were going to be hard to move.
O: Your characters, both in Aeon Flux and in Reign, tend to dress in a way that's half formalized costume, half fetish gear. They often don't wear much, and what they wear is elaborate and stylized. What are your fashion influences?
PC: Well, I struggled a lot, when I was doing Aeon Flux, with how far to push the costumes, and how realistic to make them. I think a lot of illustrators realize—and you see this a lot in American comics as well—that if you draw costumes realistically, it's very difficult. You end up spending all your time trying to create believable drapery. So the tendency is to draw skin-tight costumes that mold around the body. This allows you to use the body more. You see this with classical sculpture, and dancers. You try to use the expressive qualities of the human body more—that's why sculptors prefer to work with nudes, as opposed to trying to make the clothing look accurate. Otherwise you end up concentrating on the clothing and not the person. The same is true with animation—I think of my animated characters as dancers. I want to be able to use body language as much as possible.
Chung’s comments here are interesting, in that his talk of forgoing highlights reminds me of the kagenashi approach taken by Mamoru Hosoda - in both cases, putting less complexity in the static drawings to allow for more motion, but still strongly influenced by the more solid drawing style of anime instead of the more 2D graphical approach of most American TV animation. Chung’s style of lanky anatomy with exaggerated bumps and details is uinstantly recognisable; only Robert Valley, directly inspired by him, is all that similar within animation.
What about Egon Schiele? Let me show you some of his paintings...
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...you can probably see how he influenced Chung! (Expressionism if you’re wondering was a pre-first world war Modernist art movement which responded to naturalism and positivism by emphasising the personal, subjective emotional experience of the world. Thanks, Wikipedia!)
Alongside Schiele the German expressionist, Chung cites a whole lot of influences; lemme pick out some of the ones we’ve talked about on here...
I don't consciously model my style or techniques on any particular body of work.  I try as much as possible to draw from personal experience and observation.  I'm inspired by the work of other artists, mostly because they show me how good it's possible to be at practicing one's craft.  They would include, in no special order:
David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Federico Fellini, Alexandro Jodorowsky [Toku Tuesday 27], Michelangelo Antonioni, Alain Resnais, Jean Cocteau, Allain Robbe-Grillet, Seijun Suzuki,
Osamu Dezaki [Animation Night 95], Yoshiaki Kawajiri [Animation Night 25, Animation Night 67], Yoshinori Kanada [Animation Night 62], Moebius [Animation Night 71], Kazuo Umezu [author of The Drifting Classroom, whose adaptation we watched on Toku Tuesday 19],
Egon Schiele, Horst Janssen, Frank Lloyd Wright, among others.
On comics, he’s pretty down on the state of the American industry, describing it as largely divided between heavy-handed narration where the illustrations feel gratuitous, and artistic flexes with weak story. He describes his aspiration to communicate the feelings of the characters visually, without being heavy-handed. So while I’m citing influences, lemme pull up Peter Chung’s favourite comics...
 Here is a list of my personal favorite comics stories in no particular  order. My choices are based as much on mastery of narrative form, as on  originality of conception. Each of them appear to have been impelled by  an inner vision; they are not comics inspired by other comics, but rather  by dreams, obsessions, yearnings. 
1. Baptism, Makoto-chan, Fourteen by Kazuo Umezu  2. Savannah by Sanpei Shirato  3. Mighty Atom, No-man, Phoenix by Osamu Tezuka  4. The New Gods by Jack Kirby  5. The Airtight Garage, Arzach by Moebius  6. The Incal Saga by Moebius and Jodorowsky  7. The Tower, The Hollow Earth Series by Schuiten and Peeters  8. The Jealous God, Envie de Chien by Cadelo  9. Be Free! by Tatsuya Egawa  10. Hard-Boiled by Geof Darrow and Frank Miller
I love Aeon Flux, but I’ve talked at length about it in the past, so let’s not spend too long on it here, since tonight the focus is on what came next!
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In 1998-9, four years after Aeon Flux, Chung got his chance to work in anime - and not only work in anime but on a series co-directed by Rintaro (Animation Night 53, AN 62, AN 67).
So. Alexander Senki began life as a series of light novels by Hiroshi Aramata, a prolific and widely talented natural history researcher and novellist known otherwise for the occultist historical fantasy novel Teito Monogatari. Alexander Senki tell the story of Alexander the Great, but projected into a futuristic scifi setting.
For the animated version, Madhouse went for an international approach, and invited Chung to come in and design the characters and settings for a 13-episode TV anime, later compiled into a 90-minute film. Much of the animation was outsourced to the Korean studio DR Movie - one you’ll see frequently in the credits of recent anime, but I believe this was more novel at the time.
Chung commented on the experience in the above interview...
Peter Chung: There are many ways I could answer [what it’s like to put a particular stamp on a work he’s not directing], I suppose. In this particular case, it was different from a lot of other shows I've worked on as a designer. I've done a lot of work in the U.S. as a character designer, but in Japan, it's much more of an auteur role, where they really want your individual style on a project. In the U.S., it's much more collaborative. What was good about Reign was that they really liked the idea of things having an eccentric, personal style. And for me, that was great. A lot of that has to do, usually, in animation, with the ability of the animators to adapt to the drawing style of the designer, and they did a very good job, they tried very hard, to follow my original drawings. Whereas often, in American productions, they will try to simplify or adapt a designer's drawings to what the animators can draw.
O: Do you prefer the auteur method over working collaboratively?
PC: Well, as a designer, I like having the freedom and the license to design the way I want. So for me, working with the Japanese is better, at least from a designer's point of view. Now, working from the point of view of an animator, I think the animators had a lot of difficulty adapting to my style.
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Animation-wise, Alexander Senki draws on the familiar techniques of Madhouse’s OVAs: limited animation and multiplane effects with moments of more complex animation. But Chung’s character and environment designs give it a particular flavour that makes it feel very different to most Madhouse works, really underlining the significance of a character designer to a project. The result, which takes a wander through the story of Alexander with a lot of philosophical musing was... polarising, but if you like Chung’s style, very appealing.
Since I cannot find the movie and it’s said to cut too much anyway, tonight my plan is to show 3-4 episodes of Alexander Senki - enough to give a taste. Because then the question is, what did Chung do next? He got a little more anime work, animating the credits to Party 7 - a live action comedy film which also Takeshi Koike on the map for its title sequence. Years later, Koike would make a spectacular tribute to Aeon Flux as an ad for the cancelled computer game...
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And then we get the third entry in the ‘Aeon Fluxlike’ canon: Chung directed a segment of the Animatrix (Animation Night 6, long overdue for a rewrite though!). This was his first time working with significant CG - something he found a much more fluid process than traditional animation - and he was brimming with ideas, many of which ended up cut. Nevertheless, his entry is effective - pretty much just ‘what if Aeon Flux but the Matrix’, featuring a machine in a virtual environment designed to persuade it to defect. Chung says...
I mean, how many variations can you do on the story of someone suspecting that he's living in a simulation, then waking up?  I decided to take a radically different approach and view the world from the point of view of the machines.  After all, a robot would be more susceptible to delusion than a human.  Also, I wanted to show that the human mind is just as capable of creating a rich and seductive dream world as a computer is. 
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And after these three splendid creations, what did Chung do next? I think most people if asked would draw a blank, since he kind of fell off the radar. Aeon Flux was adapted into a feature-length movie, originally described as more of an art film by director Karyn Kusama, but it was taken out of her hands and heavily re-edited by the studio into a very generic sci-fi action movie. Chung had little involvement, and was heartbroken at the result:
With apologies to both Phil and Matt-- who have publicly been effusive in their praise for the show-- the movie is a travesty.  I was unhappy when I read the script four years ago;  seeing it projected larger than life in a crowded theatre made me feel helpless, humiliated and sad. (...)  I know that the studio made a lot of cuts against the wishes of the writers and director. Most of the cuts concerned further development of the secondary characters.  Since my main problems are with the portrayal of Aeon and Trevor, I doubt that I'd have liked the longer version much better. I didn't when I read the script, and there are definitely some things I'm glad WERE cut-- like Catherine's pregnancy.   Maybe the makers didn't understand the source material and thought they were being true to it; or they understood it, but didn't think it would appeal to a wide enough audience and altered it to suit their presumed target.  They claim to love the original version;  yet they do not extend that faith to their audience. No, they will soften it for the public, which isn't hip enough to appreciate the raw, pure, unadulterated source like they do.  (...) Presuming to know what an audience wants to see and tailoring the product to fit is a method that sucks all the drive I'd have to ever create anything.  It's self-defeating disingenuous.  I'm not naive about the realities of making unconventional films in the arena of "mass entertainment". It's possible to make good unconventional films; it's also very hard. In any case, if you're going to risk failure, I say do it boldly, with conviction. The problem with the movie is its failure of nerve.
But Chung never seems to have gotten the chance to direct a wholly original project again. The remainder of his work is adaptations or franchise work, with various big productions reaching out to him to put a stylish auteur’s spin on their IP.
The first of these is a short film bridging the gaps between the two Riddick movies.
Riddick? Riddick is a series of sci-fi action movies featuring Vin Diesel as a space criminal. I admit, I haven’t seen them! They weren’t especially successful at the time, but became cult films, kind of present in nerd culture back in the 2000s... and kind of forgotten since. The first movie, Pitch Black, sees Riddick and co on a pilgrim ship which crash lands on an alien planet, where they have to survive. The second, The Chronicles of Riddick, opens with Riddick in hiding from bounty hunters. However did he get there? Telling us is Chung’s job!
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The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury is a 35 minute short animated film, created at Universal Animation Studios, which specialise in direct-to-video films. This was the first time that Chung worked with Robert Valley, who would later become well known for his two films in Love Death and Robots (Animation Night 99); fortunately this being a franchise entry does not overwrite that distinctive Chung/Valley style, as seen in this distinctive fight scene animated along with Jorden Oliwa and Lee Hong. It’s full of cool distorted perspectives in the drawings and distinctive layouts.
Chung next appeared three years later, on another franchise spinoff, titled Revisioned: Tomb Raider, a compilation series bringing on a variety of comics artists and writers to put their own spin on the game. This was supposed to be the first in a whole series of Revisioned projects based on games, but in the end it seems only one was ever made. Chung provided designs and scripts for the first three episodes. They’re all available on Youtube, starting here...
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Videogame spinoff animations have a curious quality: they tend to have exceptionally lavish animation with all the videogame $$$ coming in, but often feel quite limited by being a promotion - more on that when I talk about Trigger’s Cyberpunk anime sometime soon. I’ll be interested to see how Chung handles this one.
Another three year gap later in 2010 and Chung directs his only feature-length film, Firebreather, adapting an Image comic about teenagers battling kaiju in CG. It sounds honestly... pretty plain by Chung’s standards, without much to distinguish it in either animation or the energy of the story. It seems to have disappeared without really making a splash.
In 2012 comes another brief videogame promotion, this time for Diablo.
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In both this and Tomb Raider, Chung seems to have moved away from his earlier unshaded style; this one especially skews much more to ‘Western animation taking after anime’. There is, sadly, very little of that Peter Chung flair to be seen, and honestly I wouldn’t have guessed he was involved: it’s just a string of fight scenes.
The next year, Chung started working as a teacher at USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he remained ever since. It’s not quite the end of his creative output in animation, since he did produce the titles for Victor and Valentino (2019), most likely because the author of the original comic book sees him as a huge influence and asked directly. And that’s it, basically! A complete slice through the creations of the Aeon Flux guy...
What’s the plan tonight? Essentially the cross-section of Peter Chung works presented above: we’ll watch a fair chunk of Alexander Senki, and then have a look at everything since. If people are in the mood we might even rewatch a bit of Aeon Flux!
So! Let’s go! Animation Night 125 will be starting shortly, at https://twitch.tv/canmom - hope to see ya there ^^
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applejamzscribblez · 3 months
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Writeblr Introduction
Hi everyone! I'm new to the writeblr community, and I've seen that a lot of writeblrs have introduction posts, so here's mine!
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My name is Apple! I've been writing forever, but I eventually lost motivation with it, as my work kept piling up. I'm at Uni now, and I want to get back into writing!
Genres~
My favourite genres are Apocalypse, Fantasy, and Science Fiction - my love being Science Fiction! Usually the things I write are a weird mix of the three. I also enjoy reading these! I really don't like romance, so all of my work will not be romance based, or will have small romantic sub-plots.
WIP~
I have a lot of WIPs that I need to start, but the idea is there! (The problem with most of my work is that it just stays in my head!!) My current WIP is a Vampire detective noir set in a futuristic, blade runner-esque city. It is a mix of blade runner (as referenced before!!), matrix, and your classic detective-noir movies. I was also inspired by the game 'The Wolf Among Us' - I love how they mix classic fairytales with the gritty, gruesome backdrop of a corrupt city. Many of my works are inspired by video games!
Books I'm reading and recommend~
I am currently reading 'In the Miso Soup' by Ryu Murakami, and I'm loving it so far!! I love weird and strange books, so this murder mystery really gripped me within the first few pages. I can't wait to find out what happens next! (Also, I did pick this up to look at because of the cover!! Don't judge a book by its cover and all that, but the cover for this book is incredible!)
Some more books I would recommend are:
Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky - A post-apocalyptic book set in the Moscow Metro. We follow Artyom as he journeys through the Metro to deliver a message.
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin - Set in a totalitarian state, we see the change of perspective of our main character, D-503, through a series of journal entries.
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk - The book that went on to become a cult-classic film, this book tells the story of the mysterious Narrator, and his relationship with Tyler - a charismatic soap salesman and extremist.
The Whole Town is Sleeping by Ray Bradbury - A short story following Lavinia Nebbs as she walks home amidst rumours of a woman-strangler. The descriptions of the town and the environment are so good, it makes me feel like I am in the book, sitting there with Lavinia!
The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster - A short story about an isolated world, where people are taken care of, and can only communicate to one another through the use of machines.
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spacepunksupreme · 1 year
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What is some good vampire media i. Like just came to the realization that I don’t know much. Finishing Dracula and watching the movie soon, watched the Netflix castlevania and i wanna watch iwtv soon (both of them)! I ask because I trust ur taste :-]
AH Hi! Feeling very honored that you trust my taste aha
I hope you enjoy Interviw with The Vampire and whichever Dracula movie youre watching! There is certainly no shortage of Dracula movies out there for one, both actual attempts at adapting the book and otherwise. There is literally (at least) one for every year from 1969-1979 lol so if you dig 70s stuff that’s certainly something to explore.
Obviously there’s vampire stuff out there in a range of aesthetics and subgenres, so I’m gonna try to cover a little variety of vibes off the top of my head, and hopefully one of these things is in your preferred flavor of vampire :) 
unorganized list with brief synonsis’ under the cut
As for serious vampire series the only thing that comes to mind rn are some anime/manga. Vampire Hunter D is a light novel series with two anime film adaptations. The newer one, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) is like an all-time favorite animated movie for mine. D is an angsty half-vampire vampire hunter, and it’s also set in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy world. Really good mix of more traditional vampire lore with science fiction elements. Vampirism is implied to be the effects of a plague that swept earth as well as like a magical affliction in this.
Trinity Blood is a similar post-apocalyptic hard sci-fi/fantasy mix. Leaning more on the gothic fantasy side. It’s set in a world where we’ve gone back to the Catholic church being the dominate like governing force, so the main character Abel is (again an angsty half-vampire vampire hunter) a funny little priest man. The vampires are like really demon/angel vibes in this, but are also implied to be the result of intermingling with an alien species that humanity fought pre-apocalypse, if I remember correctly. I havn’t read or watched any of this since high school so it might suck now lol
The Hellsing manga/Hellsing Ultimate OVA. An all time fav of mine, but I also havnt reread any since high school so, again, it may suck now lol. This one is more modern than anything traditional fantasy. It’s set in the 90s and centered around Abraham Van Helsing’s (great?) granddaughter, Integra, running a vampire-hunting organization, with thee Dracula now calling himself Alucard (lol) as her weird devoted man-slave. The villains are undead nazis who have come back to take over the world after scientifically achieving vampirism in the pursuit of immortality. So it’s basically like Dracula and his cool lesbian boss fight vampire nazis … with guns. It’s good stupid fun. And Alucard is a really good example of vampire character who is both a gleeful killing machine and a miserable “I regret the loss of my humanity and the fact that I can never die” poor little meow meow type.
And in non-serious and non-anime (lol) there’s also the What We Do in The Shadows TV show which I’ve seen best described as “what if vampires were gay and stupid”, pokes good fun a lot of common vampire media tropes. And the characters are great. The 2014 movie is the same premise, but different characters. 
Some other movies I might recommend are Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) cheesy 70s movie but has some really great exploration of lesser-discussed vampire lore; the main vampire antagonist doesn’t drink blood but drains youth with a kiss, can have their hypnotic power projected back at them with a reflected surface, and causes dead animals to come back to life when passing over them in the ground, etc. It’s also got fantasic sword fighting scenes, and really fun characters. Kronos in particular is definitely supposed to be a mysterious badass type, but he really just comes off as a socially awkward loveable weirdo. He’s super strange and he smokes weed lol. Set in like a mid-19th century fantasy germanic country. 
Lost Boys (1987) or Blade (1998) for more edgy modern vampires. Both movies are stupid. Lost Boys is fun for the vamp characters which are southern Californian teenage biker gang members (gay). and Blade is fun because it’s just so bad it’s good, it’s a movie to be watched for laughs, with vampires who are just like goths that go to blood raves and sit around in suits in fancy rooms. Blade himself is also another angsty half-vampire vampire hunter (I’m realizing I’m fond of this type of character lol). 
And finally if you’re looking for something more similar to the Dracula novel, I think I can only recommend Le Fanu’s Carmilla. Older and shorter than Dracula and perhaps a little less exciting, but a solid classic in vampire literature (and lesbian literature), and has a lot of its own adaptations ranging from serious to silly as well. 
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myupostsheadcanons · 1 year
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Books “Read” in 2022
I listen to audio books during work to fill up the time instead of listening to the radio or pod casts. Often a good reader can make a bland book sound better than it is.
I rate these books not totally on literary quality, but by how much I enjoyed experiencing them. Fun Garbage >>> Boring Navel gazing.
List from 2021
Previous entries: 2020. 2019, 2018, 2017
https://www.listchallenges.com/audio-books-myu-read-in-2022
My Top Books/Series This Year
Shadow of the Gods & The Hunger of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Trilogy, Books 1 & 2) - John Gwynne - Was your favorite part of “The First Law” Series everything that happened in The North?  It is cold and grim. Gods once ruled this land, but all that remains now is their bones and their descendants, those tainted with their blood. But someone is going around taking tainted children from their parents, a mother goes on a bloody rampage to get her son back from these people.
Suttree - Cormac McCarthy - dark/stark modern fiction. McCarthy is a master at making bleak and grim stories that show the dirty underbelly of people and society. The main character, Suttree, lives his life on the fringes of the underprivileged, having been exiled/turned his back on his previous life of wealth, escaping one set of social pressures to be faced with the turmoils of another.
Pit Bull - Bronwen Dickey - a book about the history of the Bull Terrier breed of dogs, the laws put in place to regulate ownership, the abuse these dogs go through, and what can be done to salvage the reputation of these dogs. A dog book that made me cry because I’ve own pitty’s and they are perhaps the best dogs we’ve ever owned.
The Demon-Haunted World - Carl Sagan - I highly recommend this book as an object lesson in how to use critical thinking skills and how to debunk basic conspiracy theories. Using science and basic logic Sagan debunks several ‘supernatural’ occurrences commonly believed as true among the superstitious, conspiracy nutwads, and alien abduction theorists. 
The Raven Tower - Ann Leckie - Having one of the main characters be omnipresence and tell the story about the other protagonist by using gender-neutral language, by referring to them as “you” rather than he/she/them/they. Ann is solid when it comes to having complicated main characters that are on the LGBTQ spectrum and do it tactfully and not feel forced in. This is a stand alone book, and a fantasy. Good for someone that doesn’t want to read her Science Fiction work.
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World - Gender Neutral Main Character. I know the author asks for reviews not to spoil it bc it is kind of a twist at the end, but I think the title itself turns the people that would find this a really good read “off” bc they aren’t looking for another “boy-focused adventure book”.... it isn’t. If you aren’t wanting a post-apocalyptic story as soul crushing to read like The Road or something deep but still appropriate for a tweenager to read.  
Space Odyssey - Michael Benson - An in-depth documentary on the making of Kubrick’s iconic movie and Clark’s writing of the novelization. It doesn’t sugar coat that Kubrick was an ass, demanded perfection, spent hours on scenes, even broke laws on filming scenes that were ether cut or only a few seconds long. It does humanize him rather than paint him as a total demon. Clark also had many short comings. He was scammed out of money by his ex-wife, on the rights to the book/screenplay of 2001, having his finances tied up in a movie his boyfriend was making on the side, then had to fight against peddo allegations when he was older.
Other Favorite Books and Guilty Pleasures
Star Kingdom, Books 6, 7, 8, Asylum (Book 9) - Lindsay Buroker - The second half of my favorite series from last year. These books do not disappoint. I absolutely love the characters, how they interact off of one another, and the conclusion was so satisfying. Asylum should be considered a sequel more than a continuation, and Buroker has hinted at continuing on in the Star Kingdom universe soon.
The Emperor’s Edge (Books 1-3) - Lindsay Buroker - Ex-Cop and Former Royal Assassin team up to create a task-force to protect the young Emperor from within and outside threats. There is a “love triangle” but it isn’t insufferable, the way Buroker writes characters makes many of her romance subplots more digestible and no where near as sappy. The amount of sarcasm and snarky-witty dialogue in her writing is always a treat.
Roxy - Neil Shusterman - a good companion book to “Challenger Deep.” The framing device by giving the various drugs personas is well done, it makes a complicated subject easy to digest for 14-16 YA readers.
The Raybearer, Redemptor (The Raybearer, Books 1 & 2) - Jordan Ifueko - African Mythology Flavored Fantasy. Made for the Young Adult audience, so has the obligatory romance plot in the middle of it, but also has poly, lgbt, and ace relationships. The premise itself is set up around creating a “ruling council” of diverse characters, each bringing a unique magic skill/ability to the table, and the group having to learn to work together. “The younger generation fixing generational institutionalized violence, racism, and corruption.” with a bit of “Jesus and his 12 disciples, atoning for the sins of mankind.”
Too Many Curses - A. Lee Martinez - A satire/comedy fantasy about a kobolt hench that “inherits” the castle and all the responsibility of governing its cursed wacky inhabitants. It is a cute read, mild enough for a tween to read. A YA book that doesn't have a romance subplot in it.
The Sandman: Act 2 - Neil Gaiman - If you can’t wait for the show to make more episodes... the full-cast audio production is a good way to fill that void.
The Victorian City - Judith Flanders - One part biography on Charles Dickens, another part breaking down how daily life was during Victorian London. A good read for people wanting to write stories taking place during that time period or have a love for things like steampunk settings.
Slewfoot - Brom - those damn puritans. a woman wise in folk craft is sold into colonialism and has to struggle against the patriarchy of the church. God vs. Nature, both being portrayed as good and evil. It has a couple call-backs to Brom’s ‘Lost Gods’ but don’t have to read that book to understand what is going on.
Shards of Earth - Adrian Tchaikovsky - Earth is destroyed by Eldritch Space Horrors. The remainder of humanity has to deal with protecting their new home from the return of the Architects and survival among other alien races. Among the best-of-the-best of humanity defenders are the “Amazon Warrior Women” and genetically modified psychic pilots that can communicate with the ‘other side’.  Rag-tag group of misfits suddenly find themselves front-and-center of the war for galactic survival.
Good Books, But Not Everybody’s Cup of Tea.
Provenance - Ann Lickie - Sequel to the “Ancillary Justice” books. It is more in tone with the second and third book than the first one. Lots of Politicking, but in a snarky kind of way.
N0S4A2 - Joe Hill - If you liked Steven King’s works, this takes place in the same universe as The Shining/IT/Pet Sematary (The SKEU... if you will). Same tone and quality as well.
Philip K. Dick’s Collected Works, Vol 2. - Has the short stories that inspired The Terminator and The Thing, as well as a few others I enjoyed. The one about the woman that believe the world revolved around her was neat and also played into Solipsism, the same philosophy that tied back into Jack Campbell’s “Pillars of Reality” series and how the magic system works there.
Flowers in the Attic - V. C. Andrews - if you are “ok” with ASOIAF’s Targaryans, you’ll be fine with this book. My mom said she read the rest of the books after I told her I read this one, I am not interested in the others bc the series becomes a Soap after this one. This book is closer to being a Gothic Horror (of the non supernatural type).
Hercule Poirot (The Complete Short Story Collection) - Agatha Christie - The cases aren’t really the important part, it is the character writing. Poirot will always win in the end.
The Blacktongue Thief - Christopher Buehlman - Trickster Main Character. The book is read by the author, in brogue. It has more singing in it than “The Kingkiller Chronicles” and that book’s main character was a Bard. This main character isn’t ashamed of being a morally gray character and the story doesn’t exaggerate his exploits.
Vampire Hunter D - Hideyuki Kikuchi - The light novels that inspired the future punk vampire genre. If you had seen the movie from the 80s, this expands on a lot of it and explains how their world works better.
Ex-Purgatory, Ex-Isle (Ex-Heroes, Books 4 and 5) - Peter Clines - EP is more fallout from the previous book. It is kind of cruel what happened to “The Karen”... but then, there are more than a few politicians that should have karma happen to them. “It couldn’t of happened to a better person.”
Existentially Challenged (The DEDA Files, book 2) - Yahtzee Croshaw - A satirical commentary on social media, using children for fame, and bogus faith healing.
Sorrowland - Rivers Solomon - Handles issues of racism and lgbtq. Southern Supernatural Horror. It uses the ‘transforming into another being’ as an allegory for the main character not to understand what is going on with her body and feelings, and why they aren’t normal and are being demonized.
The Wizards of Sevendor (Spellmonger, anthology), Arcanist,  Footwizard (The Spellmonger, Books 12 & 13) - Terry Mancour - This is when this epic fantasy series takes a hard turn and becomes a science fiction series. If you read the series this far, just keep on reading. I only like the books that have Minalian as the main protagonist. The books where he isn’t in them very much nor the main focus can be skipped, as events do get summarized in other books later.
Ariadne: A Novel - Jennifer Saint - I liked this one more than “Daughters of Sparta” and “10,000 Ships” but not as much of “Circe.”  The first half is “ok” it picks up in the second half after being left on the island.
Priest of Bones - Peter McLean - dirty, gritty, and grimy (with a pinch of dark sarcasm). A thief/thug earned his priesthood on the battlefield, returns home to “clean house” and ends up climbing social ladders and getting more trouble than bargained for.
A Case of Possession (Charm of the Magpies, book 2) - K. J. Charles - Like the first book, it has a decent mystery/crime plot that moves the story along and characters that don’t overstay their welcome... have to like MLM smexy scenes.
Boundless (The Lost Fleet: Outlands, Book 1) - Jack Campbell - the first book of a new Lost Fleet Series. The fleet is unable to stay in system as politics fester, so go on a deep space mission to talk to aliens.
Out of House and Home (Fred the Vampire Accountant) - Drew Hayes - shit just got suuuuper serious as the rivalries pick up between the vampire houses. A friend and their home is targeted, the group has to find a new place to live while they recover and plan their move.
Comet - Carl Sagan - it is half a biography on Edmond Halley, the guy the comet is named after, and the other half science behind how we discovered what they were made of before we could shoot rockets at them.
The Magician’s Guild, The Novice, The High Lord (Black Magician Trilogy, Books 1, 2 & 3) - Trudy Canavan - If you had read the “Shades of Magic” books, this series has the same tone/quality (it addresses homophobia and that some societies do treat people different shades of acceptance). Street Urchin finds out she has magic, has to run from the law, but ends up accepted into the magic school... which the head mage is a rather shady. The “ship” in the third book is just as shady.
Tongue Eater (Mage Errant, Book 6) - John Bierce - Revenge at any cost is too high of a price. It is a compare and contrast between how the main antagonist is going about to carry out their plans of revenge and the apprentice group are coping with the betrayal and the deaths of friends and family.  
Average Sauce
The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon - This book is over hyped. It is an average book that gets recommended to progressive-readers just because it has some representation.  The exciting part of the plot doesn’t pick up until the dragon attacks the city 1/3 of the way into the book.
Belgarath The Sorcerer - David & Leigh Eddings - Made during that time when “strong female character” = bitch. If you can ignore the “boys-club” champion, the world building is rather solid.
The Color of Dragons - R. A. Salvatore - By the Numbers Fantasy. It is a Stand Alone, so if you are after a “one shot“ that isn’t very long and isn’t trying to be challenging on any issues.
Two Necromancers, a Dwarf Kingdom, and a Sky City (Unconventional Heroes, Book 4) - L. G. Estrella - The Elf is still annoying, there is some repetition in information, the novelty isn’t as shinny as it was at the start, but the actual plot is picking up more.
The King Must Die / The Bull From the Sea - Mary Renault - The Story of Theseus, grounded less in mythology and more in reality. IE: the Labyrinth is a bull fighting ring, there is no actual Minotaur. 
The House of Sixty Fathers - Meindert DeJong - A children’s book from the 50s that I read during a power outage. It is from the POV of a Chinese child during WWII. Full of Pro-Ally propaganda of the era.
Andria Vernon and the Superhero Industrial Complex & Andrea Vernon and the Big Axe Acquisition (Andrea Vernon, Book 2 & 3) - Alexander C. Kane - the humor is hit-or-miss, some of the character’s powers are pretty neat. I kept yelling “GLARE!” at random.
The Dragon’s Blade Trilogy - Michael. R. Miller - There are a lot of good things in this series, but it just didn’t “stand out” from other series of its kind. It is one of those series that characters “randomly” die, and the protagonists are vilified by history.
Elric of Melnibone (Vol 1.)  - Michael Moorcock - The opening by Neil Gaiman is tone deaf to the rest of the stories. The stories themselves are reminiscent of old adventure stories like Conan and John Carter, and if you like those series, this would fit in quite well.
Machine Learning (Short Story Compilation) - Hugh Howey  - I don’t remember half of the stories from this short story anthology. I do remember a couple and I thought were really good. There is a Wool/Silo story. The rest are rather PKD like. 
Daughters of Sparta: A Novel - Not the best reinterpretation of the character’s I’ve came across. It tries to go “dark” in some places, but doesn’t quite get there.
The Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood - Interesting framing device, with the character telling her story from the after life to a modern person. It is part satire, part Greek Play.
The Science of Middle-Earth - Lehoucq, Mangin, Steyer - It’s educational. Not a whole lot else to say about it.
Casts and Outcasts, books 2 & 3 - Davis Ashura - Solid fantasy story, not a whole lot to make it stand out from the crowd. It has more of a South-East Asian flavor to it than a typical Westernized Fantasy story.
A Bad Deal for the Whole Galaxy, The Worst of All Possible Worlds (Salvagers, Books 2 & 3) - Alex White - It is Science Fiction with a Magic System. Read the first book last year, figured I would finish the rest of them. Group of misfits trying to save the galaxy. One of those average series that gets recommended more often because of people looking for books with main characters that are LGBTQ.
Tides of Fate (The Ronin Saga, Book 4) - Matthew Wolf - A series just interesting enough to pick up the next book each time one comes out. (Gather your new team member, go to magic city, fight the bad guys there, find clues to point to next city.)
Second Story Man, War of Posers, Skull and Thrones (Bad Guys, books 2, 3 & 4) - Eric Ugland - Eric Ugland - Lit-RPG Isekai series. The main character is morally gray and is trapped in the game world.  It is very much “of the genera” but with more dark sarcasm.
Readable/Passable.
Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian Omnibus. - I don’t remember most of the stories. I actually found the blurbs before each story talking about the author more interesting.
The Wind’s Twelve Quarters - Ursula K. Le Guin - if you are a completionist, read this book. There is a couple stories from her Hanish and Earthsea series in here. The rest of the stories are on par with other contemporary authors at the time.
The Silmarillion -  J. R. R. Tolkien - it is dense. there are few conversations. it would be difficult for anybody to adapt it into live action. it is like reading a bible and a guide book.
From Russia, With Love, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service -  (James Bond) - Ian Fleming - what I realized while listening to these books, it isn’t the plot nor the characters, it is how things are described that are really well written.
The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy - you’re fine if you just watch the movie.
Bottom of the Barrel.
Between Planets - Heinlein - It isn’t necessarily a “bad book”... it is very much full of Heinleinisms. “Libertarians in Space.” The Farting Alien is the best character.
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motivationalvamp · 2 years
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I watched this movie yesterday for the first time. It’s so fucked up but I couldn’t stop watching. The war at the end shows actual clips of Hitler. wtf. But of course in good VS evil movies, good wins. Sorry for the spoiler but this movie is 45 years old. Mark Hamill and David Proval are the only voices (people)  in the movie that I recognize via Wikipedia. 
Wizards is a 1977 American animated post-apocalyptic science fantasy film written, directed and produced by Ralph Bakshi and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film follows a battle between two wizards (who are brothers) of opposing powers, one representing the forces of magic (the good) and the other representing the forces of technology (the bad) .
The film is notable for being the first fantasy film by Bakshi, a filmmaker who was previously known only for "urban films" such as Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic and Coonskin. The film grossed $9 million theatrically with a $2 million budget.
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On July 22, 1960 The Time Machine premiered in Chicago, Illinois.
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litgenchronicles · 19 days
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Graphic Novels: A Genre for the Visual Storyteller.
What are Graphic Novels?
Graphic novels are books that tell stories through a combination of text and illustrations, usually arranged in panels and pages that resemble comic strips. Graphic novels are not necessarily novels in the traditional sense, as they can also include non-fiction, anthologies, or collections of short stories. Graphic novels are also not a subgenre of comics, although they share some similarities and history. Rather, graphic novels are a format that can encompass any genre, style, or theme.
How did Graphic Novels emerge and evolve?
Graphic novels are a relatively new term that emerged in the late 20th century and gained popularity in the 21st century. Some of the precursors of graphic novels include European albums, which are hardcover books that contain original or serialized comic stories, such as The Adventures of Tintin or The Ballad of the Salty Sea1; and American underground comix, which are self-published or independent comic books that explore adult or controversial topics, such as A Contract with God or La rivolta dei racchi1. Graphic novels were influenced by the development of the graphic novel market, which allowed creators to produce and distribute longer and more diverse works, and the graphic novel canon, which recognized and celebrated the artistic and literary merits of graphic novels, such as Maus, The Dark Knight Returns, or Watchmen23.
What are the characteristics and themes of Graphic Novels?
Graphic novels are characterized by their use of visual and verbal elements, such as images, words, colors, fonts, layouts, and transitions. Graphic novels often exploit the possibilities and limitations of the medium, such as breaking the fourth wall, playing with time and space, or using symbolism and metaphor. Graphic novels also allow the reader to participate in the creation and interpretation of the story, as they have to fill in the gaps between panels and pages, and decode the meaning of the images and words. Graphic novels also challenge the notions of authorship, authority, and authenticity, as the story can be influenced by the collaboration, adaptation, or appropriation of multiple agents.
Some of the common themes of graphic novels are:
The relationship between language and reality.
The impact of history and culture on identity and society.
The exploration of new forms of expression and communication.
The critique of the conventions and expectations of the medium.
The celebration of creativity and innovation.
What are some notable examples of Graphic Novels?
There are many examples of graphic novels that have been bestsellers, critically acclaimed, or adapted into other media. Here are some of them:
Persepolis (2000) by Marjane Satrapi: A memoir that depicts the author’s childhood and adolescence in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution. It was made into an animated film in 2007.
Fun Home (2006) by Alison Bechdel: A memoir that explores the author’s relationship with her father, a closeted gay man and a funeral home director, and her own sexuality. It was adapted into a musical in 2013.
The Walking Dead (2003–present) by Robert Kirkman and various artists: A horror series that follows a group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. It was turned into a TV series in 2010.
Saga (2012–present) by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples: A science fiction and fantasy series that tells the story of a couple from warring alien races and their daughter, who are pursued by various factions across the galaxy. It has won multiple awards, including the Hugo Award and the Eisner Award.
American Born Chinese (2006) by Gene Luen Yang: A graphic novel that interweaves three stories: one about a Chinese American boy who struggles with his identity and culture, one about a Chinese folk hero who wants to be a god, and one about a racist caricature of a Chinese immigrant. It was the first graphic novel to be nominated for the National Book Award.
Conclusion.
Graphic novels are a genre that reflects the realities and potentials of the visual age. They offer new ways of experiencing and creating stories, as well as new perspectives on the role and function of literature in the contemporary world. Graphic novels are not a trivial or superficial genre, but a valid and valuable form of literature that deserves attention and appreciation.
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hayley-michael · 1 month
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What I've Been Watching On Netflix
Ricky Gervais: Armageddon & After Life
Always a pleasure to laugh at myself with Ricky. We got somewhat serious with the After Life series; Ricky survives his wife's death from cancer and contemplates what to do.
Big Bug
Big Bug is a fairly good series full of robots acting badly. It's a Sci-Fi black comedy from France.
Godzilla: King of Monsters
I watched these out of order, so I almost turned it off. But I'm glad I stayed through the end. It was worth the watch. Rogue scientists race to reset the balance of humanity by awakening monsters. Godzilla rises to fend off the Titans.
The Midnight Sky
George Clooney does sci-fi in a slow-moving post-apocalyptic story about a lonely scientist in the Arctic. He works to stop astronauts from returning to a global catastrophe on Earth.
Atypical
I enjoyed this comedy-drama series set in Connecticut. It focuses on 18-year-old Sam Gardner, who is on the autism spectrum. But we get to know the whole family and their various quirks and foibles.
Chimp Empire
An excellent documentary about our cousins' culture.
Prometheus
I didn't know this was the 5th installment of the Alien franchise. I began to suspect as familiar objects appeared and the action progressed. Actually, it was a quite satisfying way to watch it!
The Social Dilemma
Billed as a docudrama, this is about the negative effects of social media. It may be informative if you live under a rock, but I did keep watching to the end.
You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment
I learned that little things in your diet can make a big difference in your health. Our food system is screwed up. You can look slim on the outside and still be fat on the inside. A lot of doctors are still not educated on what a healthy diet consists of. I also lost my appetite for animal protein.
School Spirits
Not another High School series! But I liked it. Maddie investigates her own murder at the local high school. She meets other ghosts from different eras and becomes friends with them. They are all trying to figure out how to move on.
65
Humans discovered Earth 65 million years ago. After a crash landing, an astronaut finds a girl from one of the other ships and works to get her off the dangerous planet. Slow moving, but it works well.
Lift
Heist comedy worth $500B in gold bullion. Exciting. You can see the twist coming.
LIve to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones
Another long drawn-out documentary. Nothing you haven't heard before, except the Blue Zones are shrinking and disappearing. You need to do some work to create your own Blue Zone.
Detective Forst
Polish detective movies are in their own genre: grungy, dark, brutal, complicated, frenetic, blurred lines of right and wrong, survival against the odds.
Cowboys and Aliens
A spaceship arrives in 1873 Arizona. Yeah, okay, good movie. But it begs the question, why are aliens who are smart enough to build an interstellar spacecraft so brutal, running around naked, trying to kill everyone? So they are the advance-testors, but even so.
A Trip to Infinity
A documentary about the concept of infinity filled with enough explanatory moments to give us a brief idea about the endlessness of the universe.
Level 16
A mostly boring, science fiction B-movie. Nothing to see here people. Move along.
The Magicians
Fantasy with depth and young adult angst. I never watched season five, so I watched the whole thing from the beginning again. I also read the novels at least three times. You probably won't believe me when I claim to like hard science fiction better. But you would be correct to say that I love Mr. Grossman's story. I am satisfied with the TV series timeline.
Made in Italy
Starring Liam Neeson and real-life son, Micheál Neeson, this film is about a father and son who travel to Italy to sell a house they inherited. The film examines themes of art, loss, and family.
Queer Eye: Season 8
So nice to have the Fab 5 back on my screen, but oh so short! This season seemed a bit too slick, but I loved it anyway. What am I going to do without them?
Orion and the Dark
This is a kid's animated movie. It's a bit jumpy--maybe that's a reflection of the neurotic kid who's afraid of everything. Just when you're thinking it's over and that was real short, it starts in again.
Rim of the World
Another kid's movie. Not much to see in this poorly developed sci-fi movie. Crudely pasted together: for example, an injured child with vital information is unconscious, then up and running when it is time to go. Lots of running around in circles because there is nothing better to do, and the movie needs to be longer.
Anon
This is future hi-tech criminal noir. How can you get away with murder when everyone records what they see? Great science fiction.
Alexander: the Making of a God
A dramatized documentary. Very enjoyable, but they draw things out. It probably could have been done in half the episodes. I enjoyed hearing the historians interviewed as much as I liked watching the dramatic presentations.
Freaks
Science fiction story. Some humans have new powers and are being discriminated against out of fear. They fight for their life.
Einstein and the Bomb
Another dramatized documentary. All of Einstein's words were taken from real life. A good show for the most part.
Pluto
Anime about strong robots with strong AI.
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dan6085 · 11 months
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Here are the Top 20 Popular movies based on role-playing games:
1. Warcraft (2016) - Based on the popular MMORPG game World of Warcraft, this movie follows the conflict between the Horde and the Alliance in the world of Azeroth.
2. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) - A science fiction movie based on the Final Fantasy video game series that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world.
3. Mortal Kombat (2021) - Based on the popular fighting game franchise, this movie follows a group of Earth's champions who must fight in a tournament to save their world from the evil Outworld.
4. Resident Evil (2002) - A horror movie based on the survival horror game series of the same name, where a group of people must survive a zombie outbreak caused by the Umbrella Corporation.
5. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) - While not based on a specific role-playing game, this movie is inspired by the concept of being sucked into a video game and follows a group of teenagers who must navigate a dangerous jungle world.
6. Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God (2005) - A sequel to the original Dungeons & Dragons movie, this film follows a new group of adventurers as they attempt to stop a powerful dragon from destroying the kingdom.
7. Silent Hill (2006) - Based on the survival horror game series of the same name, this movie follows a mother's search for her missing daughter in the mysterious town of Silent Hill.
8. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) - Based on the popular action-adventure game series, this movie follows a prince who must stop an evil nobleman from using a magical artifact to destroy the world.
9. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) - Based on the Tomb Raider game series, this movie follows adventurer Lara Croft as she races against time to find a powerful artifact that can control time.
10. Monster Hunter (2020) - Based on the action RPG game series of the same name, this movie follows a group of soldiers who are transported to a dangerous world filled with giant monsters.
11. The Witcher (2019) - While not a movie, this popular Netflix series is based on the book series and video game franchise of the same name and follows the adventures of monster hunter Geralt of Rivia.
12. Dragon Quest: Your Story (2019) - An animated movie based on the Dragon Quest video game series, this film follows a young hero who must save the world from an evil sorcerer.
13. Warhammer 40,000: Ultramarines (2010) - An animated movie based on the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game, this film follows a squad of Space Marines as they investigate a distress signal from a planet under attack.
14. Dead Space: Downfall (2008) - An animated movie based on the Dead Space video game series, this film follows a group of miners who uncover a deadly alien artifact.
15. Super Mario Bros. (1993) - While not strictly a role-playing game, this movie is based on the popular Super Mario Bros. video game franchise and follows the Mario brothers as they battle the evil King Koopa.
16. Street Fighter (1994) - Based on the popular fighting game series, this movie follows a group of martial artists who must stop the evil General M. Bison from taking over the world.
17. Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (2015) - An animated movie based on the Dragon Ball Z anime and manga series, this film follows Goku and his friends as they battle the resurrected Frieza.
18. The Legend of Zelda (TBA) - An upcoming movie based on the popular video game franchise, details about the plot and release date are currently unknown.
19. Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners (TBA) - An upcoming animated series based on the Cyberpunk 2077 video game, which follows a group of mercenary "edgerunners" in a dystopian future.
20. Halo (TBA) - An upcoming live-action TV series based on the popular Halo video game franchise, which follows the adventures of super-soldier Master Chief as he battles alien threats.
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