So I saw Ironman last night at midnight. A kick ass flick, but I’ve come to realize that I have the same issue with every superhero movie. And that is the first film’s tedious origin plot.
Yes, we have to introduce Tony Stark for those few friends that went with you not knowing anything about Ironman. OK, I get that. Then we have to introduce Ironman’s powers abilities, for the same reason. OK. Then we have to sit through Tony Stark building not 1, but 2 suits? What?
Yes, most of the excitement in this movie is seeing the suits in action for maybe 10 - 15 mins after watching him build them for like 45 minutes. Which is definitely kick ass, these fight scenes rock. But watching Robert Downy Jr. play with a welder and screw driver for 60 mins isn’t really mind blowing.
I guess this just sets it up for the sequels, and makes you want to see them that much more. Because every movie after the origin, will always have loads and loads of fighting. Which really, is the heart and soul of the superhero movie. It just kind of sucks that we have to wait that long to get some real meat out of the movie.
And make sure you stay until after the credits. You will NOT be disappointed
It seems I can’t go on digg these days without seeing 50 stories about Clinton VS Obama and how mainstream media is messing up the debates. But really, the media isn’t the problem in this election. Your votes will be tampered with, and here’s how.
This video is a bit on the long side but it brings the point across. This may just be one model of an e-vote machine, but they are pretty much all flawed, and election officials refuse to address it. Hmmm I wonder why?
I’ve always said that security and convenience work on a spectrum, where they are the extremes. You can’t have one without forfeiting the other. And for something serious like, oh I dunno, The election for the “leader of the free world”, we should probably choose security, not convenience.
As many of you already know, I am a big fan of Tokusatsu. Which for most people, can best be explained as “The Power Rangers” and related shows, in their original Japanese forms. From Wikipedia:
The term “tokusatsu” is a contraction of the Japanese phrase “tokushu satsuei” (特殊撮影,“tokushu satsuei”?), meaning “special photography”. In production, the special effects director is given the title of “tokushu gijutsu” (特殊技術,“tokushu gijutsu”?), Japanese for “special techniques” or “tokusatsu kantoku” (特撮監督,“tokusatsu kantoku”?), which is Japanese for “special effects director”, the title usually used by English language productions.
Tokusatsu is one of the most popular forms of Japanese entertainment, but most tokusatsu movies and television programs are not widely known outside Asia. In recent years, however, tokusatsu has begun to develop a small but loyal and growing fanbase outside of Japan
My fasination started of course when I was in like kindergarten, when my favorite shows were Power Rangers, VR Troopers, Big Bad Beetle Brogs, etc. These shows are classic, and I don’t care how old you are, You can still go back and watch your favorite shows from when you were a kid. But it wasn’t until recently that I discovered, in the true magnificence of the internet, that these shows had been imported VIA fansubs.
I had watched fansubed anime before (Ragnarok the Animation), but the thought had never crossed my mind that people were fansubbing live action shows, let alone the originals of my favorite kids shows! I always knew that Power Rangers was adapted from a Japanese TV show, because every time they morphed, the footage suddenly got darker, the fighting suddenly got much more intricate, and the character stances suddenly changed. But watching the original footage, with the original characters and story lines, it was like my favorite TV show had been redone and taken to the next level.
Super Sentai still reaches out to the same audience in Japan that Power Rangers tries to reach here. The main difference I suppose, is that they aren’t taking an original show and trying to re-work it for an American audience. It’s the original work (always better) for a Japanese audience. Which think is better, because here all parents do is submit complaints to the FCC that their kid’s shows are too violent / homosexual. Really Power Rangers these days might as well be Barney the Dinosaur fighting off the boogey man with huge explosions
Tune in to mattmccullough.net/live today around 2:30 for the live broadcast. It will most likely suck, as all I have is my built in isight on my macbook pro, But it’s something if you are interested.
