metalocalypse

I have rapidly been becoming a rabid fan of Metalocalypse on Adult Swim. It is an 11 minute-per-episode cartoon about a death metal band called DethClock and their deadly misadventures. It's made by a guy named Brendon Small, and it turns out that he does some voices in the Venture Brothers, and also was behind the show Home Movies, which I enjoyed a great deal. What I find the most awesome is that he plays all of the killer guitar in the show, as you can see at the site, where he teaches us all to play the intro! Their website changed sometime tonight, to become covered with rainbows, horses and quiche. I am looking forward to seeing what they do next, as it's a great thing to see creativity be funded now and then.

Also, I don't care what anyone says - the fact that they're showing Pee-Wee's Playhouse on adult-swim is fantastic. I just saw the episode where Jambi gets meka-leka-hi-meka-hiney-itis. And the King of Cartoons showed up with this amazing 2 minute cartoon about slave bound gnomes, the product of who's toils results in the glory of spring. Also we all learned not to take our friends for granted, but to thank them for the things they bring to our lives. Paul Reubens really put together something amazing - this show is so much more than people think.

Holy Crap....In the course of looking up the imdb info for Paul, I discovered this. Transformers and a Pee-Wee movie in 2007? I think I am being even more encouraged to relive my youth! Amazing! I'm just so happy to see that, maybe, just maybe, Paul Reubens finally gets to be in the spotlight one more time.

Also. Shin-Chan, which is on adult-swim also, is pretty insane. I believe it's a Japanese cartoon from 1992, which has excellent style and crazy subjects, though I hear it's been brought 'up to date' a little in the translation.
Posted by charlie on August 28th 2006
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doctor who booklist

In order to grow my new Doctor Who novelization collection, I just got this set from eBay. I'm looking forward to seeing which books are actually in that set! The current book list is here.
Posted by charlie on August 16th 2006
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the illusionist

Today, The Uncle told me of a new film called The Illusionist, which is about a magician in 19th century Vienna. He goes on to tell it best:

so, all the Illusions in the film are real magic tricks, no cg bullshit.
and guess who supervised and meticulously researched all the illusions?
Your hero and Mine
Ricky Jay.

Readers of the site will remember my rant about Ricky Jay, and how amazing he is. Knowing nothing else about this film, I am now convinced that it must be seen.

In other news, Sam Jackson just gave an absurdly awesome interview on the Daily Show about, of course, the much anticipated Snakes on a Plane which will be released shortly. If you are able, catch the rerun Wednesday afternoon.
Posted by charlie on August 15th 2006
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Cybertron

I admit with some degree of embarrassment that I have been off and on watching the Transformers Cybertron cartoon. Every episode feels like I'm watching some mash-up of Pokemon and Teen Titans (to arbitrarily select two shows I've never really seen and still dislike - unfair I know). But, in the course of each episode, they generally drop at least one completely awesome quote from the old show, or from the movie, and they pull me back in! It feels as though there's at least one writer on the show who is a legitimate fan of the old series, but that they understand how they have to make a show these days to fit in. A particularly strange aspect of the series are the absurd voices that many of the characters have, including the Crocodile Hunter rip-off, and a fair but well short attempt at Chris Latta. The current watered down Decepticon jet who gets to carry the famous name of Thundercracker has, in this version, an imitation of the voice of Larry the Cableguy. Yes that is as sad as it sounds. I was amused, though, in spite of myself, when he and Starscream were exchanging words. Once ol' Screamer was out of earshot, Larry shrilled "He think his oil don' stink! But stink it does! Hoooo-EEE! At least I can tell myself that one was for the not-6-year-olds.

This program, like many before it, suffers from a constant reuse of what is the first few times awesome footage. Right now, they're going through the overly complicated launching-from-the-base sequence for the Autobots, where they all get positioned and lifted into their various garages/launch pads/ catapults. They're playing heroic orchestral pre-conflict anime music over it, and it's about a 2 minute sequence. I swear that it reminds me of the old Tranzor Z launch sequence, or really any number of old Japanese heroic robot shows. Again, something that, just as I'm about to give up, appeals to me and pulls me back. Oh well, back to the rejuvenility.

The episode is called Speed, in case anyone actually wants to check it out. Oh, and Optimus Prime has a mouth - what the hell. At least in super battle mode he gets a little shield over it that makes him look legit.
Posted by charlie on August 3rd 2006
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