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Archive for ‘September, 2008’
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The Specials
I really enjoyed this movie! Released in 2000 for a minimal budget of one million dollars, this movie has real heart. The writing is top notch, and the main characters are really well fleshed out.
Witch the exception of Rob Lowe, I didn’t know who any of these actors were. Almost all of them are journeyman actors with long resumes and regular work, but I just wasn’t aware of them. That having been said, they took their parts seriously, acted as if they weren’t in a small budget film that would go largely unnoticed, and they really grew on me.
There is virtually no super heroic action in this movie, and almost no special effects shots. Only one punch is thrown, and the movie is really a relationship film. Despite their awesome powers, these characters lead really lonely, dysfunctional lives, and in the end they need each other. As the 6th or 7th most popular super team in the world, they get little attention and have lives full of indignity piled on top of more indignity. Some of them are angry (Amok), some are self-deluded (The Great Strobe), some are oddballs and outcasts (Nightbird), some are disconnected from themselves (Deadly Girl), and some have a sense of existential sadness and self-awareness (the Weevil).
James Gunn, who wrote this screenplay and played the part of Minute Man, is an exceptional writer. I say this, because, despite the large cast, none of these characters are really one-dimensional. Amok, besides being angry, is a would-be artist. Deadly Girl, despite her rough-edged Goth attitude, has close friends and a gentle side. Power Chick is the living embodiment of a positive attitude, yet she is the self-appointed guardian of Doug, the alien orphan. The Strobe, probably the most one note character in the film, has his world fall apart and he realizes that he has been deluding himself, that he’s not what he thought he was.
I’ve often commented that small budget films like this can excel because a lower budget means fewer intrusions from outside. This movie absolutely excels, and I intend to purchase this movie as soon as I can to watch it repeatedly.
I give the Specials an unqualified A.
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Hi, Folks!
My apologies for not blogging last week. Our computer ended up in the shop for five days, and I was so cut off from the world! Honestly, it’s a mystery to me why people have to create malware. I did use the time away wisely, however, and I created a lot of new art.
If you are reading “Being Johnny Saturn,” with new prose posted every Saturday, let us know what you think. Benita is a fabulous writer, and I love this story. Plus, it’s all in continuity, and it explains some of what happened to the characters between issue six and seven.
Speaking of Issue Seven, it’s all penciled and inked, even the cover. Every issue has its own character, and I’ve really enjoyed this one. I’ll be moving on to issue eight right away, so there won’t be any interruption in the webcomic. We won’t be publishing the print and PDF version of issue seven right away, because I still haven’t rendered the first ten pages in color. You shouldn’t have to wait too long, though.
I thought it would be fun to post pictures of all the characters I’ve dreamed up for this series but have never had the opportunity to include in the comic yet. That was the plan, but then I discovered that I had made up scores of these characters! So, I’m going to put them out in small groups.
Here we have the Astral Geek, EMBER, Gauge, Head Case, Mattock, and Melody Darling. I have big (or not so big) plans for all of them, so I really hope they eventually get some face time in the strip.
Thanks! Scott
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Hi, Folks:
For this episode, I watched Ang Lee’s 2003 movie, the Hulk. I had never seen it, but from other people’s comments I had come to expect problems.
The movie was shot beautifully. Directed to feel something like a comic, the picture was often broken into panels, and hard-edged transitions rolled across the screen in a somewhat unique manner. Not everyone agrees with me that this faux-comic book approach worked, but I appreciated it for what it was. The special effects were quite beautiful, and great effort was made to make the Hulk himself appear believable, even when he’d grown to eighteen feet tall or thereabouts. I heard that the animators employed more than a hundred separate mattes making up the Hulk’s skin to get him just right, and it showed.
That’s all well and good, but then there was that plot. Whoa-boy. With millions of dollars at stake, how do they let monstrosities like this happen? I guess, put more succinctly, how do a bunch of smart people produce a dumb thing? There were huge holes in the plot, and ridiculous omissions, and actions that defied all logic taken by characters. You want me to name the plot holes? I’m not going to bother. The writers certainly didn’t. I’m positive these are talented, professional grade writers each capable of great things, yet…
Then, there’s the acting. Eric Bana was a complete cipher, yet I’m sure this was because he was instructed to act in this manner. (I’ve seen him in other movies, such as Troy, and I feel confident that he can indeed act.) Sam Elliott was awesome as General “Thunderbolt” Ross, and Nick Nolte, whose character was awkwardly shoehorned into the plot, was outstanding. Nolte and Elliott each made the movie enjoyable for their performances, so some small grace is to be found here.
This movie gets a C-.
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Hi, Folks:
Consider this particular blog more a production blog, because I’ve got a lot of plates in the air at the moment.
Item: I’m working on next month’s big sale, which will involve new merchandise, digital downloads, and some free stuff. I had some technical issues to overcome, but now I’ve done so—Yay, me.
Item: The cover to issue seven is quite haunting—it surprises even me, and I drew it. Benita came up with the original concept, and then I took a symbolic twist on it. You know, I didn’t leave a space in the online archives for it! I’m not sure how I’m going to integrate it into the collected web strip…
Item: I’m working on a cover for a future Coscom book about zombies, and it’s coming along very well. I’m not sure if I’m going to show it off here or not, because I haven’t asked the editor/publisher for permission to do so yet. Maybe I will.
Scott at the Indianapolis Art Center
Item: The other night, I watched the animated “Batman: Gotham Knight” movie. It’s gritty and progressive in a way that reminded me of that animated Matrix movie. I was appropriately diverted, but at the same time I don’t feel the urge to go purchase a copy of my own. I still maintain that one the best Batman movies ever was the animated “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.” I also like the Director’s cut “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.”
Item: Remember, I’m on Twitter now, and you can follow me at http://twitter.com/SStory. Twitter has been helpful in keeping track of people I know throughout the comic industry, and beyond, the way Myspace used to. I still have my Myspace page, but I think I’m going to repurpose it.
Scott—Large Cartoonist at Large.
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Happy Thursday, Folks!
If you are just checking in to follow the ongoing story, you’ll have noticed that John Underhall (Johnny Saturn I) and Persephone, his lovely demigoddess of a wife, have re-entered our tale. It’s fun to have to them back, and it was great fun for me to draw them again. We also have Dr. Horatio Synn, the villain from our first story arc, aka Persephone’s dear ol’ dad, making his comeback. But, who is that dazzling, multi-hued creatures getting off the plane with Dr. Synn?
The last time we saw John Underhall, he had been patched up by Doc in Elysium City, and his clothes had been cobbled together by his loyal mole people. Now, John is cleaned up, he’s let his hair grow back in, and he’s finally kicked all the pain-killers that sustained him during his mystery man days. You will note that John’s cane looks suspiciously like a sledgehammer; it was constructed by the mole people as a going away gift for John, and he treasures it. It would be too heavy to use as a cane for most people, but John Underhall is still nearly 6’6” and a mountain of muscle. I think it’s safe to say that, because of all his past injuries and surgeries, the cane is no mere affection, but probably necessary for him to get around. Better a cane than a walker or wheelchair!
If you are curious as to Dr. Synn’s whereabouts since he was last seen in defeat and on the run in Elysium City, deep beneath Spire City, all that is covered in a prose short story we will be running for free here on this site after “Being Johnny Saturn” wraps up.
Let me know if you have questions or comments, because I love to talk about this stuff!
Scott.
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