It's probably a good sign that we're already three days into a new month before the Month in Review rolls around, and it's not because we forgot. Means we've got a lot to talk about, and for the first time in a while, I've got writing ideas more than a few hours in advance of the posting deadline.
However, that was now. This is then. We're looking back at what we've already written, in the glorious month of March. Feel free to replace "glorious" with "review-happy," "YouTube-crazy," or "horror-oriented." See for yourself:
- A recap of my contributions to videogame humor website GameCola.net in both February and March
- A review of Stephen King's post-modern vampire horror novel, 'Salem's Lot
- My new whatever-I-feel-like weekly feature, Sunday Spotlight, covering The Dick Tracy Show, Mario Party 2, Stop Making Sense, Clannad and Clannad After Story, and Airplane II: The Sequel
- Spoileriffic general thoughts on television's The Walking Dead, a specific review of Episode 2x12, and a follow-up blurb
- Crowd-driven anxiety about releasing more YouTube videos
- Alex's weekly comics news/ramblings feature, Waiting for Wednesday, Volume 4, Issues 10-13, covering Fairest, a candid interview with Alan Moore, The Goon, and New Deadwardians
- Reactions to YouTube's new layout, and my pleasantly successful protest
- A review of the well-crafted animated feature Justice League: Doom
- The conclusion of nearly two years of Mega Man 6 on YouTube
- An announcement that we'll be posting at 1 PM Eastern moving forward
- A calamity-ridden collaborative playthrough of Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
- A discussion of how Stephen King doesn't take his own writing advice
- A shrug and a grimace for Avengers: The Children's Crusade
- The search for motivation to write a new Dungeons & Dragons quest
- Reflections on spring from a guy who's been hunkered down inside for quite a while, and the season's annual call to play baseball
- Preparations for Wrestlemania XXVIII
- A guest post recounting the accidental death of a nerd
- I have a sudden urge to go outside
- A Saturday satire that, as far as I'm concerned, is not so much a satire as a straightforward discussion about how so much is riding on Avengers vs. X-Men
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Everybody plays the fool, sometime...
Exfanded by Neko-chan, who has written several things for this blog in the past, some of them entertaining.
Yesterday was "Socially Acceptable Deceit and Deception Day," otherwise known as "April Fools' Day."
Not only do individuals try to pull the wool over their friends' and families' eyes with false claims of success or disaster such as "I won the lotto!" or, "I'm sorry, I accidentally put your child in the dryer..." but major internet sites have also jumped on the prankster bandwagon.
ThinkGeek released a whole line of false products that we wish were real, including a Skyrim shouting hoodie, Minecraft marshmallow "Creeps," an Admiral Ackbar singing bass, and Keurig K-cup instant meals. One thing we thought was a joke, though, actually exists: a child-size inflatable Star Trek:TOS captain's chair.
Google also got into the foolish spirit, announcing a fake Nascar partnership, as well as releasing a YouTube video advertisement for an 8-bit NES port of Google Maps. Being huge retro gamers, Nathaniel and I were both highly amused by the NES gag, especially because it spoofed Dragon Warrior. Then we found out that Google had also converted the entire Google Maps website into a "trial run" of the 8-bit format. Not only did they turn the world map into an overworld map, but major landmarks were redrawn in pixelated glory, and "street view" became a bad VGA remake of reality. *hilarity ensued* I think we spent a good 20 minutes typing in every tourist spot and geologic feature we could think of.
Next, DeviantArt finally succumbed to the totalitarian rule of the feline overlords. Major General Whiskers, an anthropomorphized cat general, launched a threefold attack on the site.
1) the site's mascot was taken hostage, and users needed to submit 15,000 cat-related artworks in order to ransom him and appease the new government.
2) random gallery images were replaced with cat propaganda posters.
3) "mandatory cat education" popups bombarded the site, re-programming users to the ways and customs of their new leaders.
As a reward for Participating in this April Fools event, DeviantArt awarded users a free "cat badge"
to display on their page.
Finally, Nathaniel and I spoofed our own little corner of the internet with a fake teaser trailer for Mega Man 7. This was a two-part gag. First, Nathaniel only releases a teaser once he has recorded all of the playthrough footage for his next set of Mega Man videos on YouTube, so this trailer insinuates that he is magically close to completing his next video series, less than 3 weeks after finishing MM6...highly improbable given that he is slower than a snail in molasses at recording.
The second part, and the main kicker, was that the playthrough footage and commentary was recorded by me, not him, making it appear as if I would be taking his place for the next set of videos. Ha! As I stated in one of my YouTube comments, instead of Nathaniel's showoffery, users would have to suffer through my show-awful-ry, which would just be cruel and unusual punishment. As you can see from the video, I am the *best* at this game. Yeah...no...I think I'll just stick to my RPGs and let Nathaniel handle all the platforming from now on.
Yesterday was "Socially Acceptable Deceit and Deception Day," otherwise known as "April Fools' Day."
Not only do individuals try to pull the wool over their friends' and families' eyes with false claims of success or disaster such as "I won the lotto!" or, "I'm sorry, I accidentally put your child in the dryer..." but major internet sites have also jumped on the prankster bandwagon.
ThinkGeek released a whole line of false products that we wish were real, including a Skyrim shouting hoodie, Minecraft marshmallow "Creeps," an Admiral Ackbar singing bass, and Keurig K-cup instant meals. One thing we thought was a joke, though, actually exists: a child-size inflatable Star Trek:TOS captain's chair.
Google also got into the foolish spirit, announcing a fake Nascar partnership, as well as releasing a YouTube video advertisement for an 8-bit NES port of Google Maps. Being huge retro gamers, Nathaniel and I were both highly amused by the NES gag, especially because it spoofed Dragon Warrior. Then we found out that Google had also converted the entire Google Maps website into a "trial run" of the 8-bit format. Not only did they turn the world map into an overworld map, but major landmarks were redrawn in pixelated glory, and "street view" became a bad VGA remake of reality. *hilarity ensued* I think we spent a good 20 minutes typing in every tourist spot and geologic feature we could think of.
Next, DeviantArt finally succumbed to the totalitarian rule of the feline overlords. Major General Whiskers, an anthropomorphized cat general, launched a threefold attack on the site.1) the site's mascot was taken hostage, and users needed to submit 15,000 cat-related artworks in order to ransom him and appease the new government.
2) random gallery images were replaced with cat propaganda posters.
3) "mandatory cat education" popups bombarded the site, re-programming users to the ways and customs of their new leaders.
As a reward for Participating in this April Fools event, DeviantArt awarded users a free "cat badge"
to display on their page.
Finally, Nathaniel and I spoofed our own little corner of the internet with a fake teaser trailer for Mega Man 7. This was a two-part gag. First, Nathaniel only releases a teaser once he has recorded all of the playthrough footage for his next set of Mega Man videos on YouTube, so this trailer insinuates that he is magically close to completing his next video series, less than 3 weeks after finishing MM6...highly improbable given that he is slower than a snail in molasses at recording.The second part, and the main kicker, was that the playthrough footage and commentary was recorded by me, not him, making it appear as if I would be taking his place for the next set of videos. Ha! As I stated in one of my YouTube comments, instead of Nathaniel's showoffery, users would have to suffer through my show-awful-ry, which would just be cruel and unusual punishment. As you can see from the video, I am the *best* at this game. Yeah...no...I think I'll just stick to my RPGs and let Nathaniel handle all the platforming from now on.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Sunday Spotlight: Airplane II: The Sequel
Airplane!
With an exclamation point.
It's a comedy classic, a quotable treasure trove of hilarity, a slapstick goldmine, and anything else that's ever been said about it. I have yet to come across anyone who didn't giggle at least a little bit at the ridiculous sight gags and the deadpan delivery of such clever and outrageous lines. From my personal experience, the film's current rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and its preservation by the Library of Congress, it's evident that Airplane! is well-loved, or at least well-liked, by all.
Also, they made a sequel.
When you've got something as popular as Airplane!, it's only natural to consider a sequel. Why squander all that potential acclaim and fame and profit by taking your chances with an unrelated new project? If lightning struck once, it could certainly strike again.
All I'd ever heard about Airplane II was that, if lightning had struck again, it had struck an outhouse in a field of manure. This wasn't the kind of sequel people talked about as disappointing--this was the kind of sequel people didn't talk about at all.
Being a fan of bad movies, I was willing to give this unnecessary sequel a shot.
I liked it nearly as much as the original.
No, no. This isn't an April Fools' joke. I know it's April 1st. I liked Airplane II more than I probably should have.
Yes, it follows almost exactly the same formula as its predecessor. Yes, it reuses most of the same gags, too. It's simultaneously a tribute, a parody, and a flagrant derivative of the first film. I'm fine with this. I grew up on Power Rangers and Mega Man--I don't exactly demand total novelty in each new installment. All I ask is that my entertainment be worth the time I spend with it, and for Airplane II, my time was well-spent.
Well, well-spent enough, anyhow.
There are jokes that fall flat. I'm not talking about halfhearted chuckles and barely cracking a smile; I mean jokes that not only fail to be funny, but actually damage the film a little bit by their existence. Two crewmen get sucked out an airlock and begin drifting creepily into space...and then their corpses bump into each other and begin waltzing together. Maybe this gag had the potential to be funny, but it came off as a little uncomfortable and unsettling.
Oh, I should have mentioned: Airplane II takes place in space. That is, it takes place in The Future, and instead of being on an airplane, everyone is on board a space shuttle that gets thrown off course toward the sun by its crazy navigational computer. I like space. I dig The Future. And I like that, despite too many jokes that fall flat, the humor manages to be more consistent than in the original Airplane!.
Airplane! reaches hysterical heights, but not consistently. At least to my comedic sensibilities, there are entire sections of the film that don't even come close to being as funny as the best parts. Even if the movie as a whole is entertaining, those not-as-funny (but still funny) areas feel like low points in comparison. With Airplane II, there are a few laughs worthy of the original, but rarely or never anything so uproarious that I thought, "I need to quote this movie for the next two decades! Ha ha!" This actually worked to the film's advantage--by maintaining a fairly steady stream of chuckles and giggles and balancing out the no-good jokes with some better-than-average ones, the movie never became so funny that I began anticipating "the next joke that is as amazing as that last one."
I was pleased to see that the majority of the original cast returned, too. I can think of a few sequels that have suffered because they made do without one or two of the key cast members, either writing their characters out or replacing them with look-alikes who couldn't act alike. I know there are several layers of complexity as to why people take part in a sequel, but on the surface, at least, seeing the original participants return is a sort of stamp of approval on their part. I'll conveniently leave out the part that virtually none of the big names behind the camera returned for Airplane II.
Still, it's the same feel and the same kind of humor as the first movie (even when they're not rehashing the old gags), which isn't always the case when a completely new band of directors, screenwriters, etc. takes over an established property. The only two areas that feel lacking--which I differentiate from being overdone or simply not working well--are the plot and the delivery of some of the lines.
Airplane! only needed enough plot to set up its jokes. Airplane II starts off with a plot of, "it's the first movie, but with a space shuttle instead of an airplane," but then loses sight of itself with a random love interest for heroine Elaine Dickinson followed by a courtroom flashback and a psych ward scene that complicate the story of hero Ted Striker's life between sequels. Beyond that, the movie never decides whether it's truly set in the future or whether the future is a pretense to have everything look exactly the same as it did in Airplane! but be humorously passed off as futuristic. It's the same complaint I had with the fantasy elements of Clannad--either commit to what you're doing, or don't bother at all. As it is, Airplane II has plot lumps that need to be smoothed out and a lack of stylistic cohesion where The Future is concerned.
One of the things that makes the first film so hilarious is the way the actors can deliver these absurd lines with a straight face and seemingly natural timing. The sequel falls short here on several occasions, resulting in a number of rehashed jokes sounding like...rehashed jokes. The "...but that's not important now" gag is one of my favorites, and if you can catch the audience off-guard, it'll stay funnier for far longer than it ought to be. A slower delivery with just too much of a pause before the punchline can give the audience enough time to see where the line is going, and the brain catches on to what's happening before the viewer has a chance to laugh involuntarily at the surprise.
Yet, despite all this, I still liked the movie. I still thought it was funny. I believe you have to be in a good, lighthearted mood going into the film, and not be expecting the first Airplane! all over again. If nothing else, it's worth it for the big-name cameo toward the end of the film, which was somehow completely unexpected and yet exactly what I had been counting on the whole movie.
Airplane II never surpasses its predecessor, but there are moments when it comes close. It's a little bit of a turbulent ride, and some of what they feed you is a mite unpalatable, but the trip is an enjoyable one overall if you're not demanding first class.
With an exclamation point.
It's a comedy classic, a quotable treasure trove of hilarity, a slapstick goldmine, and anything else that's ever been said about it. I have yet to come across anyone who didn't giggle at least a little bit at the ridiculous sight gags and the deadpan delivery of such clever and outrageous lines. From my personal experience, the film's current rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and its preservation by the Library of Congress, it's evident that Airplane! is well-loved, or at least well-liked, by all.
Also, they made a sequel.
When you've got something as popular as Airplane!, it's only natural to consider a sequel. Why squander all that potential acclaim and fame and profit by taking your chances with an unrelated new project? If lightning struck once, it could certainly strike again.All I'd ever heard about Airplane II was that, if lightning had struck again, it had struck an outhouse in a field of manure. This wasn't the kind of sequel people talked about as disappointing--this was the kind of sequel people didn't talk about at all.
Being a fan of bad movies, I was willing to give this unnecessary sequel a shot.
I liked it nearly as much as the original.
No, no. This isn't an April Fools' joke. I know it's April 1st. I liked Airplane II more than I probably should have.Yes, it follows almost exactly the same formula as its predecessor. Yes, it reuses most of the same gags, too. It's simultaneously a tribute, a parody, and a flagrant derivative of the first film. I'm fine with this. I grew up on Power Rangers and Mega Man--I don't exactly demand total novelty in each new installment. All I ask is that my entertainment be worth the time I spend with it, and for Airplane II, my time was well-spent.
Well, well-spent enough, anyhow.
There are jokes that fall flat. I'm not talking about halfhearted chuckles and barely cracking a smile; I mean jokes that not only fail to be funny, but actually damage the film a little bit by their existence. Two crewmen get sucked out an airlock and begin drifting creepily into space...and then their corpses bump into each other and begin waltzing together. Maybe this gag had the potential to be funny, but it came off as a little uncomfortable and unsettling.Oh, I should have mentioned: Airplane II takes place in space. That is, it takes place in The Future, and instead of being on an airplane, everyone is on board a space shuttle that gets thrown off course toward the sun by its crazy navigational computer. I like space. I dig The Future. And I like that, despite too many jokes that fall flat, the humor manages to be more consistent than in the original Airplane!.
Airplane! reaches hysterical heights, but not consistently. At least to my comedic sensibilities, there are entire sections of the film that don't even come close to being as funny as the best parts. Even if the movie as a whole is entertaining, those not-as-funny (but still funny) areas feel like low points in comparison. With Airplane II, there are a few laughs worthy of the original, but rarely or never anything so uproarious that I thought, "I need to quote this movie for the next two decades! Ha ha!" This actually worked to the film's advantage--by maintaining a fairly steady stream of chuckles and giggles and balancing out the no-good jokes with some better-than-average ones, the movie never became so funny that I began anticipating "the next joke that is as amazing as that last one."I was pleased to see that the majority of the original cast returned, too. I can think of a few sequels that have suffered because they made do without one or two of the key cast members, either writing their characters out or replacing them with look-alikes who couldn't act alike. I know there are several layers of complexity as to why people take part in a sequel, but on the surface, at least, seeing the original participants return is a sort of stamp of approval on their part. I'll conveniently leave out the part that virtually none of the big names behind the camera returned for Airplane II.
Still, it's the same feel and the same kind of humor as the first movie (even when they're not rehashing the old gags), which isn't always the case when a completely new band of directors, screenwriters, etc. takes over an established property. The only two areas that feel lacking--which I differentiate from being overdone or simply not working well--are the plot and the delivery of some of the lines.Airplane! only needed enough plot to set up its jokes. Airplane II starts off with a plot of, "it's the first movie, but with a space shuttle instead of an airplane," but then loses sight of itself with a random love interest for heroine Elaine Dickinson followed by a courtroom flashback and a psych ward scene that complicate the story of hero Ted Striker's life between sequels. Beyond that, the movie never decides whether it's truly set in the future or whether the future is a pretense to have everything look exactly the same as it did in Airplane! but be humorously passed off as futuristic. It's the same complaint I had with the fantasy elements of Clannad--either commit to what you're doing, or don't bother at all. As it is, Airplane II has plot lumps that need to be smoothed out and a lack of stylistic cohesion where The Future is concerned.
One of the things that makes the first film so hilarious is the way the actors can deliver these absurd lines with a straight face and seemingly natural timing. The sequel falls short here on several occasions, resulting in a number of rehashed jokes sounding like...rehashed jokes. The "...but that's not important now" gag is one of my favorites, and if you can catch the audience off-guard, it'll stay funnier for far longer than it ought to be. A slower delivery with just too much of a pause before the punchline can give the audience enough time to see where the line is going, and the brain catches on to what's happening before the viewer has a chance to laugh involuntarily at the surprise.Yet, despite all this, I still liked the movie. I still thought it was funny. I believe you have to be in a good, lighthearted mood going into the film, and not be expecting the first Airplane! all over again. If nothing else, it's worth it for the big-name cameo toward the end of the film, which was somehow completely unexpected and yet exactly what I had been counting on the whole movie.
Airplane II never surpasses its predecessor, but there are moments when it comes close. It's a little bit of a turbulent ride, and some of what they feed you is a mite unpalatable, but the trip is an enjoyable one overall if you're not demanding first class.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Saturday Satire
Just a quick hello from behind my desk this afternoon.
I’m hunkered down for the weekend, working my way through my company’s busiest week (and weekend) of the year. At this point, there’s still an awful lot left to do, but the end is now in sight and I plan to get back to normal posting by Tuesday, or so.
Well, you know, about as normal as I’m capable of.
In the meantime, however, let’s talk comics. This past week, Avengers vs. X-Men, issue zero, hit shelves, and issue one ships this coming Wednesday.
AvX, as it's becoming known to us nerds, is supposed to be the Next Big Thing.
And, since I'm the one who officially decides such things (clearly), I'll say this: I read issue zero (at some point between buying it on Wednesday and right this moment), I liked it, and I think there's something intriguing about the book.
However, the last thing comics needs right now is an all-encompassing cross-over event. That said, comics really, really needs a meaningful event, and we need one now.
I will not pick up the tie-ins to AvX; I plan to read the main book and that's it. My hope is that Marvel puts the actual story of the event in its main event book. If that sentence sounds funny to you, then you obviously didn't follow The House of Ideas' last big event--Fear Itself.
For that story, most of the actual event occurred in places other than the main book.
I wasn't a big fan of that decision, and I pretty much stopped reading a whole mess of Marvel books out of complete apathy.
I'm hoping that AvX is the thing that pulls me back in.
As I said, issue zero was good, so I do have high hopes for the book. Will it be The Thing That Brings Me Back to Marvel? We'll have to wait and see. One thing's for certain, though--either way, I'll be writing about it here in the coming weeks and months.
So stay tuned...and cross your fingers.
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