A long time ago...

No this post isn't Star Wars related...

Ok so kind of in tandem with some stuff that my good buddy Chris has been posting over on his blog Edible Brain (go look! it has stuff!), I have been thinking a lot about the comic project that he and I have been working on for the past... actually I don't like to think how long it has been going on!

Most of the basics about the comic are already detailed in various posts on his blog (here, here, here, here and here) so I wont go too much into it at this point. What i will say is that having him post all this has got me thinking about revisiting what I have already done to the comic. Looking on it with fresh (albeit older and dare I say wiser) eyes may give me the kick I need to actually crack out an issue or three for Chris to play with.

You see, as Chris has said, the comic itself is actually remarkably fleshed out. All the main characters are pretty much designed, as are many of the various alien species that inhabit the universe. The main "mythology" had been established and a few of the initial plot lines were also pretty much done. Really all that is actually missing is an actually completed issue, in either written or drawn form.

So here is my goal. I want to have an actually completed issue of Dead End written by the end of the year. I will keep an update on my blog as to my progress with it (as that is pretty much what blogging is all about!), as I will be doing this in my spare time I wouldn't expect too much progress too quickly.

First job is to find all of the Dead End stuff I have stored on my hard drive at home to see exactly where we were with it...

Time flies...

Eep! It's been a week since my last post! I was getting so good at posting as well...

Anyway I still have a few things to write about that I haven't gotten around to yet, like the Avatar day footage for example. I am also working on another post that hasn't quite gone right as yet, but I'll be sure to get on that as soon as I can. I have also been spending a fair chunk of time getting some work done on my other blog and website which are more work related. If you fancy checking them out they are linked bellow as well as on my side bar.

I also have a youtube channel now where I have been uploading short films and such that I have done for work. most of it is pretty unexciting, but I do have some projects for work and some more fun things in the pipeline so it is sure to fill up pretty quickly.

oddportfolio.weebly.com

www.youtube.com/user/IamOddzilla

Check them out if you have the time or the inclination. I'll be posting more here soon!

Inglourious Basterds Review

Inglourious Basterds is Quentin Tarantino's 5th (or 6th if you count Kill Bill as 2 movies) film. This time he tackles the subject of World War II, specifically the exploits of the so called "Bastards" a group of 8 Jewish Soldiers tasked with fighting a war of terror against the Nazi's. In a non spoiler way, the films main plot revolves around a plan to kill off the majority of the Third Reich's high command at a movie premiere in Nazi occupied France.

The one thing that should be pointed out about this film is that one of the very first things to appear on screen is the phrase "Once upon a time...". That said I am sure there will still be people who see the film who will think that this is based on actual events!

So is it any good? This is most definitely a Tarantino movie. To sum it up simply the movie revolves, as is often the way with a Tarantino movie, around several long conversations, more often than not around a table. These conversations are broken up by actions shots (of which there are very few, but more on that later), exposition elements (my favorite being a brief shot explaining the relationship between Goebbels and his french Interpreter!) and Chapter breaks (the film is split into five chapters.) Being a Tarantino movie it doesn't shy away from the gore, although it does go for more realism than say Kill Bill with its over the top Blood Spray. Brad Pitt's Aldo Raine asks for 100 Nazi scalps from each man under his command, and it is safe to say that you see that happen at least once! Tarantino's love of movies is clearly shown throughout the film with winks and nods to various styles of film and film makers throughout, perhaps even more so than in previous films.

The one thing I wasn't expecting to be such a large element in this film was the humour. Don't get me wrong, I was expecting it to be funny, but there are parts of this film that had me giggling far into the next scene (Brad Pitt's attempt at Italian, while still speaking with Aldo Raine's southern drawl is particularly amusing). As if to juxtapose this, there is a real sense of menace to the film's main villain, SS officer Col. Hans Landa, played by Christoph Waltz. His character has some of the best scenes in the film. He is also one of the funniest characters, but everything he does is done so with an underlying menace. It's difficult to explain, but particularly the first chapter of the film, he comes across as funny and a nice (for a Nazi) but at the same time you get the very tangible sense that at any second something really horrible is about to happen.

The acting varies from hammy to dead pan to emotionally drenched straight depending on the character rather than the acting prowess of the whoever is playing them. Brad Pitt's Aldo is played with his tongue firmly in his cheek (Although it looks like his tongue is firmly in his bottom lip through most of the film), but that works perfectly. The rest of the Bastards vary in performances, Eli Roth's is also fairly hammy, where as the character of Hugo Stiglitz (played by Til Schweiger) is played totally straight. This isn't to say that anyone one particular character is there for comic relief. There are a few cameo's to look out for, Mike Myers being a good example (although his name is in the beginning credits so its hardly a spoiler to point him out.) There are two others that led to fun debate after the film as neither are credited. But I'll let you see if you can spot them yourself.

Overall the film is a lot of fun. At just over two hours it never feels long. The pace is typical for a Tarantino film, in other words a lot of long conversations, so some people may find this a tad tedious. If you are expecting a full on action movie with lots of shooting and explosions and heads blowing up, then you will probably be pretty disappointed. I'm also pretty sure a fair chunk of people simply wont get it. This film is Tarantino's take on how he would have liked WWII to have happened, it's not historically accurate, but it is a really good fairy tale.

Overall 9/10 - go see it!

Avatar Day

It's safe to assume that anyone reading this is at least aware of the new James Cameron movie, Avatar, which is being released at the end of the year. Well tomorrow (Friday 21st August) is officially Avatar Day! It's the day that the first trailer for the movie will be released, but that's not all! There will be a special screening of 15 minutes of the film at select cinemas all over the world many of which in Imax 3D.

So why am I blogging about this? Despite trying in vain for the last few days I was unable to secure myself a ticket to any of the screenings near me (being near London gave me a few options as well!). Empire magazine had codes for 10% of the allocated tickets, as did Total Film but all of those seats were snapped up pretty quickly. I tried to find out from the Odeon cinema website whether the tickets would be available, but to no avail. However, last night after I got back from seeing Inglourious Basterds (review to come!) I checked my email and found that within the cinema listings for the Greewich Odeon, there was a link and a code to get Avatar Day tickets! So tomorrow night I will be going to the Greenwich Imax to see the footage :) I am intending to put up a post as soon as I can afterwards to give my thoughts on what I see. I'll probably stick up a link to the trailer as well.

UPDATE: The Avatar trailer appears to have broken a whole day early and is currently available on the Apple website if you can get it to work...

Sneak a peak at it here:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/avatar/

Man versus Alien...

Ahhh the amount of time I spent playing Space Hulk in my youth. The only thing that puts me off of getting the new version when it is released later this year, is the fact that it's being released in conjunction with the original game's 20th anniversary. That makes me old.
The version does look quite fantastic though, the new miniatures are awesome looking and I already have intentions to add the new Genestealers to the already heaving ranks of four armed gribblies in my Tyranid army - not that I will ever get the buggers painted. Alas it has no potato headed Genestealer Hybrids, which is kinda a shame as I always had a soft spot for those guys, even if it was in the same way that you always kinda feel sorry for club footed pigeons.
There is also a pang of disappointment with the Terminators. Don't get me wrong, the new ones are amazing and would look at home in any self respecting Space Marine army (once you have filed off all the dirty Blood Angels gumpf...) It's just that I always like the 2 dimensional nature of the old ones, with their shoe box guns and the neat gimmicky way you could sheath the guns with a lame looking flame thrower attachment. Sod it, they were lame. The funny thing about nostalgia is that when you actually think about it, the old stuff was always shit. Try watching the original Transformers cartoon... go on...
I dare you...

Back to Work...

Well those three weeks or so off sure went quick! Here I am back behind my desk / fortress at work doing all kinds of worky type things. Which is nice. Actually it's pretty cool as I am the only one not on holiday in my office this week, so I have the place all to myself. That means I can listen to music all day without any interruptions :) I'm currently in a metally kinda mood so have my "work mix" playing on my headphones. All good :)

Tomorrow I am gonna put up a post of cool stuff from my holiday to Norway. Would do it today but all the pics are at home lol. Was an awesome week, but more on that later :)

In other news, I have started working on some more reviews. I have decided though to tackle the format and such of these far differently from my lengthy and still unfinished Wolverine review / rant... You may also notice that the Wolverine "Review" has vanished, I may post it again one day, who knows lol.

Anyway off to do some more stuff... mmmm stuff....

It's August!

Not that this is anything to be particularly excited about but I am just getting onto the second week of my three week holiday and its August. I know this isnt really interesting but had you spent the las 12 years working for Games Workshop you would know that the summer holidays is the busiest time of the year next to christmas. Having time off in the summer was only ever allowed due to special dispensation. Having it the end of July, beginning of August was unlikely at best. Having over THREE WEEKS which spanned July and August wat unthinkable!
That said I feel that I have currently squandered much of this time. Yesterday I spent the entire day playing Warhammer Online in my pants. The day before I spent playing Call of Duty 5 with Ian (I like Tanks). Wednesday I think I spent the entire day playing Warhammer Online (in my pants). I am noticing a pattern...
Well as I sit here writing this (in my pants) (with Warhammer Online windowed behined this window) I have come to several conclusions.

1. I should spend more time in the holidays dressed.
2. I actually NEED to get out more.
3. It is possible that I am becoming one of those Gollum like creatures that does nothing but play MMORGS.
4. Next week I am not at home for most of it and will be out in the world doing "stuff".
5. The week after I am in Norway for a week.
6. So thats effectively 2 weeks that I wont be able to play Warhammer Online.
7. Therefore playing it a little obsessively lately isnt such a bad thing as I will be having a break.
8. I think I'll log in after I have written this post.
9. I have realised I have a knack for justifying my own actions, even if only to myself...

Ok well I am going to post again later as I have stuff to post about for a change, I might even post some of my previously written posts that I deleted long ago lol.

Also intending to do some movie reviews in the near future, I thought a good way to start would be GIJoe as I am seeing that this week. I then thought I would retro review the other Summery type films. Mainly because I already have most a review written for X-Men Origins: Wolverine which I need toi finish and edit down as thus far it is somewhat epic lol.

Goal for the day: Stop typing lol.

Apparently there is a new BSG soundtrack CD out.. I may have to find a way of obtaining it...