Professor Bluntman's 5-Minute Film Studies #1

Pay attention, folks. Class is now in session. Today's film is the criminally underrated Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. To fully appreciate the film, we'll start with a quick history lesson. In 1997, Squaresoft's Final Fantasy VII was released and immediately recognized as one of the greatest videogames of all time, a position it holds to this day, and deservedly so. Beginning with this game and moreso the one that followed, the CG animation used for the story scenes was on a level far beyond anything else being done at the time. I, and I assume many others, longed for someone to do a whole movie with that kind of quality and in July of 2001, Square delivered. Although the human animation seems a little stilted, the film remains visually breathtaking. The cast, which includes Ming Na, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Donald Sutherland and James Woods, turns in some stellar performances and the music by Elliot Goldenthal is magnificent.

The story, set in the year 2065, involves a pair of scientists who are attempting to save the Earth by using spiritual energy gathered from what little nature remains on the desolated planet. At the same time, humanity is battling alien beings known as Phantoms, but they are not what they seem. The use of the Pagan spirit Gaia in a matter-of-fact way, and the characters' dependence upon it for their ultimate survival, is a refreshing change of pace from the usual "Humans know everything" point of view that a number of sci-fi narratives seem to have. Superbly written, Spirits Within, in my opinion, stands as one of the great sci-fi films, on a par with Blade Runner or Planet of the Apes, despite a few cliches here and there. It starts with a bang and builds to an awe-inspiring conclusion which is left for the viewer to interpret.

It truly is a shame that the film is remembered as a bomb because, from a creative standpoint, it most certainly is not. If you enjoy serious cinema, you could do far worse than this film, which is both highly intelligent and entertaining.

Homework:View the film and post your thoughts in the comments section. I would be interested to hear what you think.

I Want To Believe

I finally got my hands on the X-Files: Revelations dvd and as I revisit the show for the first time in years, something funny is happening. On the one hand, I'm understanding the stories a lot more than I used to (I was ten when the show started, after all) and it's like seeing it for the first time. On the other hand, memories of all the best episodes are flooding back, as is the whole conspiracy storyline (which I had to explain to my mother since she forgot). This is all in preparation for the new movie, which I hope to see soon (Billy Connelly alone should be worth the price of admission. He always was one of the best character actors and it's a pleasant surprise whenever he pops up). Supposedly a stand-alone story unconnected to the series' mythology, I'm curious as to how the movie will reintroduce Mulder and Scully after they were last seen running from the law. In any event, Chris Carter has said that he wants to do a third film to continue the mythology from where the show left off, so hopefully there will be more to come before the actors outgrow the characters. I look forward to finally getting the seasons on dvd and rewatching it in full (something I've been meaning to do and have never gotten around to). The Truth Is Out There, indeed.

I Think I'm A Clone Now

As the anticipation builds among Star Wars fans for the new Clone Wars movie, and the series to follow, let us not forget the first such production from 2004. Produced as a series of short "micro episodes", the show was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, a man who, in my opinion, stands among the modern masters of American animation and is one of the few who realize the medium's potential.

His unique sense of style, seen to greatest effect in the underappreciated Samurai Jack,produces designs which seem very simple, but are amazingly fluid when in motion. It is no mistake that Lucasfilm adapted his designs to 3D for the new series.

The original show is available on two DVDs (though, sadly, I have yet to see the second) and the trailers for the new film can be seen at http://movies.yahoo.com/. Take a look and perhaps you'll be as impressed as I am.

Rebooting System...

Sorry for the long delay, folks. I've had to deal with personal issues all summer, but things are getting better now so I hope I'll be able to post here more frequently from here on. The reviews I was going to write on this summer's movies will now be written for the DVD release. Maybe that's for the best, since the films will be readily available at that point and a second viewing will allow me to get a better perspective. In any case I'll do my best to be more regular in updating.

Cool Movies for a Hot Summer

Well, folks, the summer movie season is almost upon us. This is my favorite time of year and it looks like we've got an excellent crop heading our way. I thought it would be a good time to post a calendar. I got the dates from http://www.comingsoon.net/ so you can go there for info and trailers. I'm gonna try and see as many of these as I can, so when I do, expect a review to pop up here.

May 2: Iron Man (I still can't picture Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, but I could be wrong)

May 9: Speed Racer (Check out the trailer. Total hardcore eye candy.)

May 16: Prince Caspian (The first Narnia film stunk, but I'm hoping this one will be better.)

May 22 (?): Indiana Jones (No commentary needed. This one speaks for itself.)

June 6: Kung Fu Panda (Looks like it could be the best Dreamworks cartoon since Shrek 2.)

June 13 (Friday The 13th! Oooohh, creepy!): The Incredible Hulk

June 20: Get Smart (If you never watched that show, you've been seriously deprived)

June 27: WALL-E (Pixar's latest also speaks for itself. Check the trailer.)

July 11: Hellboy II: The Golden Army (It's about damn time!)

July 18: The Dark Knight AND Space Chimps (DK speaks for itself, but poor Space Chimps doesn't stand a chance and that's a shame cause it looks good.)

July 25: The X-Files 2 (This is a must-see. Nuff said.)

August 1: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Wait, what? What does China have to do with mummies? I'll be seeing this one to see if it's as good as the last one of these they did. Fingers crossed.)

August 15: STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (No comment needed.)

And that's it. Not a bad lineup, eh? If half of these flicks are as good as they look we'll be in for some great times.

Local Band Kicks Major Ass, Film At Eleven.

Just got back from Cat's Den. Went to hear a band that was playing and man, they are awesome. I actually know a couple of guys in the group but I had no idea they were musicians. Their original material was great and the covers they did weren't bad either. They said they were working on a CD, so it'll be great to hear what they come up with. Check 'em out: http://www.myspace.com/summertimewhiskyband

And So It Begins...

Hi all! Welcome to my world. After reading other people's blogs for years, I thought I'd chime in with my own. I have always been a massive pop-culture junkie [comic books, movies, videogames (mainly retro stuff), fantasy/scifi/horror, cartoons, you name it I'm probably a fan of it] and so this blog will be me giving a geek's perspective on things.

To start this thing off, I found out this morning that Marvel had to pull the trailer for Wolverine and the X-Men and remove it from Youtube and everywhere else because it seems that the Foo Fighters songs in it were used without permission. Reportedly, the band is considering a lawsuit.

Personally, I think that would be excessive. Yeah, Marvel screwed up but the vid's already been taken out of circulation. A lawsuit wouldn't accomplish anything at this point. I, of course, had the foresight to snag the trailer when I first saw it, so I and anyone else who did that can still watch it whenever but it's a shame that no one else can cause it really is an awesome video. The show is supposed to be on the Nicktoons Network in 2009 and I wonder if maybe they pushed it back to then to let the controversy (however small it ends up being) blow over. Oh well.

Speaking of X-Men, I found a nifty bit of treasure yesterday. Remember the old X-Men arcade game? The one that, for some reason, was based on a pilot that failed rather than on a series that succeeded? Well, some cool person ripped the audio from the game to put together a soundtrack! After giving it a listen, I'll say that it's your typical early-90's videogame music, but it sounds great and is very enjoyable. If you're a True Believer like me, than get thee to http://nexusdarkblue.blogspot.com/

Excelsior!