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| Monday, February 13, 2012 11:04 AM |
| (Last updated on Monday, February 13, 2012 12:19 PM) | | Recyclotron |
 by Fëanor |
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
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| Tagged (?): 3D (Not), Animated GIFs (Not), Art (Not), Avengers (Not), Books (Not), Celebrities (Not), Clothing (Not), Comedy (Not), Craft (Not), Harry Potter (Not), History (Not), Holiday (Not), Indiana Jones (Not), LEGO (Not), Links (Not), Mario (Not), Monty Python (Not), Movies (Not), Music (Not), News (Not), Photography (Not), Recyclotron (Not), Tolkien (Not), Toys (Not), Transformers (Not), Vampires (Not), Video (Not), Video games (Not) |
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| Thursday, May 26, 2011 11:03 AM |
| On the Viewer - Kung Fu Panda 2 |
 by Fëanor |
I reviewed the first Kung Fu Panda film here. One thing I failed to mention in my write-up is that it's a surprisingly moving and emotionally effective film. That's doubly true of Kung Fu Panda 2, which made me weep more and longer than any other recent film I can think of.
Of course, part of the reason for all the crying could be the fact that I'm a new father, the kind of person whose buttons this movie seems specifically designed to push. You see, as in the first film, one of the major themes of Kung Fu Panda 2 is parents and children. It opens (after showing off a clever, redesigned version of the Dreamworks logo featuring the late kung fu master Oogway) with a prologue which tells the story of a peacock named Shen (Gary Oldman). The prologue is animated in a stylized, flattened, puppet-show style and narrated by Michelle Yeoh, who also voices a new character - a (rather hungry) goat known only as "The Soothsayer." In the prologue, Shen's parents found a grand city and invent fireworks, but Shen spends his time developing a deadly new use for the fireworks' black powder. The parents, worried for their son, ask the Soothsayer what will become of him. She tells them their son will be defeated by a black and white hero. Shen overhears, gathers an army of wolves, and raids a nearby panda village, thinking to eliminate any potential black and white heroes before they can move against him. (Yep, that's a genocide before the main story has even begun!) When he returns in triumph, his parents, horrified by his terrible acts, are forced to banish him.
Meanwhile, in the present, our titular hero (Jack Black as Po) has settled comfortably into his role as Dragon Warrior and protector of the Valley. But a meeting with Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and a confrontation with some metal-scavenging wolves leave him with a difficult new task to complete, and a disturbing mystery to solve. Shifu wants Po to achieve the next level of kung fu enlightenment: inner peace. But a symbol on the wolves' armor leaves Po anything but peaceful. Was the vision it invoked - of fire and a female panda pushing away from him - just a nightmare, or a memory of his earliest, forgotten childhood? Soon Po has even more to worry about, as it becomes clear that the wolves are working for the evil Shen of the prologue, who has now returned to take over all of China, wielding a mysterious new weapon that could destroy kung fu itself. How can Po achieve inner peace and defeat Shen's terrible weapon when he's no longer sure who he is or where he came from?
I was quite taken aback by Shen as a villain. He's not at all like Tai Lung, the villain of the first film. Tai Lung was the ultimate kung fu master - tall, muscled, physically imposing; the embodiment of power and strength. But Shen is thin and small and delicate. Although he holds his own in the film's numerous, exciting, visually stunning action sequences, by his own admission he is not a master of kung fu. This is at least partly why he's developed a weapon that can defeat kung fu - a weapon which he is almost constantly hiding behind. Because, also unlike the proud and confident Tai Lung, Shen is fearful and cringing, still haunted by the Soothsayer's prophecy of the hero who will defeat him. The constant is that Po is once again that prophesied hero. And once again the real conflict happens, not between Po and the villain, but between Po and his own doubts and fears.
Po's partners in kung fu, the Furious Five, are all back, voiced as before by Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, David Cross, Lucy Liu, and Angelina Jolie, but they are now joined by a handful of new kung fu masters: Master Croc (actual martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme), Master Oxen (Dennis Haysbert, the guy from 24 and those insurance commercials), and Master Thundering Rhino (Victor Garber, TV guest star extraordinaire, whom I still remember best as the Dad on Alias). These new characters are barely characters, really, and are just here to fill functional roles in the plot, but that's okay, as the movie is not about them. It's mostly about Po, who is just as fun and lovable a character as he's always been. It's wonderful to see his joy as he leaps into battle beside his friends, new and old, and to see him grow and change - and succeed.
Yes, as in the first film, and most films of this type, you already know how everything's going to turn out. Of course Po is going to find inner peace, defeat Shen, and discover the truth about his parents. But you might not be ready for quite how dark that truth is. The flashbacks to Po's childhood are surprisingly traumatic, and although the death and horror suggested by them is ultimately at least partially negated by a surprise final scene, there's still some serious "Bambi's mom"-type stuff going on here, and there's a lot more death and doom in this movie than there was in the first. When I saw the film, the theater was packed with kids, and none of them seemed particularly horrified, but I still can't recommend taking any really young children to see this.
It's not just the trauma and violence that seems calculated to push parents' (and likely sensitive children's) buttons. There's also scenes of a very cute, rampaging baby Po, eating anything he can get his hands on, and scenes between Po and his (now it can be confirmed!) adopted father Ping (James Hong) that are so cute and touching that they will grab your heart and wrench it out of your chest, if you have even the gristliest ends of a heart to be grabbed and wrenched. (Indeed, if you yourself are the father of an adopted child, I have to imagine this film will simply melt you into a puddle.) Messing around with a cute baby panda might seem like a cheat - essentially taking a manipulative shortcut to the softer bits of your audience - but I think the movie earns it by building that panda into a fully-developed character, and by being so well written and so beautifully drawn and acted. And anyway, like its predecessor, every time Kung Fu Panda 2 threatens to veer too far into mushiness, it takes a sidestep into (very funny) comedy and sarcasm, and thus saves itself.
The theme of parents and children extends much further than Po himself. Tigress' rather complex relationship with Shifu, which was so wonderfully (and mostly wordlessly) evoked in the first film, is not explicitly discussed in this film, but is clearly on Tigress' mind and informs her sympathetic reactions to Po's troubles. And Shen's poisoned relationship with his parents - he considers their banishment of him to be a personal betrayal and a sign that they never truly loved him - is the motivation for nearly all his actions in the film. He even tries to convince Po that his true parents also betrayed and didn't love him, in order to similarly poison his mind, and is utterly flabbergasted when he discovers that Po is able to rise above his difficult past and find inner peace in spite of it - a truly great and triumphant moment in the film.
I saw Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D, kind of against my will. If you're the kind of person who likes 3D, I recommend it; it's pretty well done here, and there were a number of oohs and aahs from the audience, especially the younger members, and especially early on. But if you're anti-3D or on the fence, I'd say skip it and see the plain old 2D version. You won't be missing much, and some of the action scenes will likely be easier to follow. Then again, those big, dark 3D glasses are the perfect thing for hiding your tear-stained eyes. It's a pity they make you give them up when you leave the theater. |
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| Friday, April 22, 2011 12:08 PM |
| Recyclotron |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
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| Tagged (?): 3D (Not), Advertising (Not), Art (Not), Business (Not), Cartoons (Not), Celebrities (Not), Clothing (Not), Comedy (Not), Comic books (Not), Commercials (Not), Links (Not), Lists (Not), Mashups (Not), Movies (Not), Photography (Not), Pixar (Not), Recyclotron (Not), Shirts (Not), Star Wars (Not), Superman (Not), Thor (Not), TV (Not), Video (Not), Web comics (Not) |
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| Wednesday, September 29, 2010 03:36 PM |
| Recyclotron |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
- I believe George Lucas mentioned a long time ago that he was planning to release all the Star Wars movies yet again, this time in 3D, but it got a lot more official the other day when it was announced that the 3D re-releases would begin in 2012 with everybody's least favorite, The Phantom Menace. Despite how annoying the Special Editions and Prequels are, I'd still totally go and see at least the original trilogy again in 3D. Because Lucas owns me.
- Apparently Trent Reznor's concept album Year Zero (it was a concept album?) is lurching towards becoming a TV miniseries.
- I have to admit I did not read this whole article, but I'm very amused by the concept: io9 argues that Syfy's next hybrid monster should be the bearantula.
- The Birds of Prey sing an outrageously racy song about the male superheroes in a surprising scene from an episode of Batman: The Brave and The Bold.
- Tons of concept art and stills from Tron Legacy.
- "In honor of Back to the Future's 25th anniversary... select AMC theaters will screen a digitally remastered print of the film in more than 40 cities on October 23 and 25." Yes, the Philadelphia area is included! Exciting.
- Guillermo del Toro is writing and directing an animated film called Trollhunters for Dreamworks, and will also serve as executive producer and consultant on a number of the studio's other animated films. Apparently he's not busy enough and wants to take over animation, as well. (Via)
- These parodies of Star Wars toys really crack me up for some reason.
- Batman always does things the hard way - like fighting off a jungle cat by throwing a snake at it!
- I tweeted this a while back, but I wanted to blog it, too, because it's just that cool: the trailer for the Coen brothers' remake of True Grit.
- Here's a trailer for a movie called I Am Number Four, which is about super-powered aliens fighting each other, a subject near and dear to my heart.
- Cool Batman art.
- Another fun clip from Red.
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| Tagged (?): 3D (Not), Aliens (Not), Animals (Not), Art (Not), Batman (Not), Cartoons (Not), Celebrities (Not), Comedy (Not), Comic books (Not), Links (Not), Monsters (Not), Movies (Not), Music (Not), News (Not), Photography (Not), Recyclotron (Not), Star Wars (Not), Toys (Not), Tron (Not), Tron Legacy (Not), TV (Not), Video (Not) |
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| Friday, June 4, 2010 09:53 AM |
| Recyclotron |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
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| Tagged (?): 3D (Not), Art (Not), Avatar (Not), Avengers (Not), Books (Not), Captain America (Not), Celebrities (Not), Comedy (Not), Iron Man (Not), Links (Not), Lists (Not), Monsters (Not), Movies (Not), News (Not), Photography (Not), Recyclotron (Not), Simpsons (Not), Star Wars (Not), Thor (Not), Transformers (Not), Video (Not), Web comics (Not) |
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| Friday, April 23, 2010 12:57 PM |
| Recyclotron |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
- A sequel to Monsters Inc. is scheduled to be released on November 16th, 2012. Good stuff! (Via)
- Dark Night Of The Soul, the musical collaboration between David Lynch, Danger Mouse, and some dude who calls himself Sparklehorse, now has a release date: July 13th. (Via)
- Fun new clips from Iron Man 2.
- The Venture Bros' awesome ode to progressive rock. YES!
- If Daniel Craig doesn't come back for the next James Bond movie (whenever that is), Sam Worthington might take his place. Man, that guy gets all the jobs anymore!
- Word has it Marvel might make a series of smaller budget films to cover some of its lesser known properties, like Dr. Strange and Luke Cage. While I'd definitely like to see a Dr. Strange movie, I'm not sure I like the idea of them throwing together a cheap film adaptation just to have one. But we'll see how this goes.
- Ridley Scott revealed some plot details for the upcoming Alien prequel in an interview with MTV. It'll be set 30 years before the first movie and focus on the story of the "space jockey" who appeared in the derelict spacecraft.
- Check out this beard trustworthiness scale. Depending on whether you interpret my beard as a "Full Beard" or a "Homeless Beard," I'm either "Very Trustworthy" or verging on "Threatening." (Via)
- A couple of cool gamer-related images.
- Fun with LEGO.
- Looks like The Last Airbender and Green Hornet are both getting converted to 3D now, too. I was all for 3D at first, but this is really getting a little ridiculous.
- Okay, now that's just kind of twisted.
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| Tagged (?): 3D (Not), Aliens (Not), Art (Not), Avatar (Not), Cartoons (Not), Celebrities (Not), Comedy (Not), Comic books (Not), Craft (Not), Gaming (Not), Iron Man (Not), James Bond (Not), LEGO (Not), Links (Not), Monsters (Not), Movies (Not), Music (Not), News (Not), Pixar (Not), Recyclotron (Not), Star Wars (Not), Toys (Not), Video (Not) |
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| Thursday, April 22, 2010 01:18 PM |
| Recyclotron |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
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| Tagged (?): 3D (Not), Art (Not), Books (Not), Cartoons (Not), Celebrities (Not), Comedy (Not), Craft (Not), Links (Not), Mario (Not), Mashups (Not), Movies (Not), News (Not), Recyclotron (Not), Shirts (Not), Terminator (Not), Tron (Not), TV (Not), Video (Not), Video games (Not) |
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| Tuesday, March 23, 2010 07:23 PM |
| Recyclotron |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
- Good lord. They're going to remake the horrible MST3K Sasquatch film The Legend of Boggy Creek.
- Sounds like Bryan Singer directing X-Men: First Class isn't a done deal after all.
- Olivia Munn's original cameo in Iron Man 2 ended up being a bit too lighthearted for the film's dark tone, so they cut it out, made her an entirely different character, and shot all new scenes with her. Still no word on who she's playing, though.
- NBC just announced a new show called Camelot which will be a contemporary retelling of the King Arthur legend, written by Torchwood's former showrunner.
- Nintendo's making a DS that has 3D! And you don't need glasses to see it! How that works I don't know, but it sounds cool.
- Guile is guilty of vandalism, and there's video proof!
- Chainable USB plugs!
- Cute Star Wars illustrations.
- Here's a trailer for Blue People: The Movie.
- Wow! Warner Bros. wouldn't let Louis Leterrier make Clash of the Titans until he wrote two other movies and promised them a trilogy! They really love the franchises there.
- A review of Red Steel 2. Joystiq says it's not really a hardcore FPS, and focuses really strongly on swordplay, which sounds good to me!
- Hamlet: The Video Game is on the way. Damn it, that was my idea!
- Pretty clever James Bond/Duck Hunt mashup T-shirt. (Via)
- Cool head-shaped sculpture/building in a forest, and excellent Princess Mononoke cosplay.
- Scream 4 is finally really moving forward, maybe, with Wes Craven, Kevin Williamson, and the major cast members all on board.
- A 3D Popeye movie??
- Another fun illustration for A Wrinkle in Time.
- Nice Street Fighter II tattoo!
- You may think a bouquet of red roses says love, but no! The true symbol of love is a bouquet of bacon.
- A sweet Batmobile limo and a cool list of the top five expanded universe Star Wars stories, which includes one of my favorite episodes of Clone Wars. (Via)
- Hey, nice art. (Via)
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| Tagged (?): 3D (Not), Art (Not), Bacon (Not), Cartoons (Not), Celebrities (Not), Clothing (Not), Comedy (Not), Cosplay (Not), Costumes (Not), Food (Not), Hayao Miyazaki (Not), Iron Man (Not), James Bond (Not), King Arthur (Not), Links (Not), Monsters (Not), Movies (Not), MST3K (Not), News (Not), Nintendo (Not), Products (Not), Recyclotron (Not), Shakespeare (Not), Shirts (Not), Star Wars (Not), Tattoos (Not), Technology (Not), TV (Not), Video (Not), Video games (Not), X-Men (Not) |
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| Tuesday, March 2, 2010 12:26 PM |
| Recyclotron |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
- Above is OK Go's latest music video, and it just might be the best thing ever. I watched it with my jaw dropped open and chills running up and down my spine. (Via)
- A fantastic image: Darth Vader riding a cat. (Via)
- First, here's some behind-the-scenes stuff on Iron Man 2, plus a clip from the actual movie (albeit in French). Next, here's some analysis of said clip claiming that Thor appears in the background of one shot. This seems unlikely - why would Thor be in a jail in Monaco? - but you never know.
- Robert McCall died recently, and as a tribute to him, io9 has posted a small gallery of his stunning space art.
- The Hobbit could be going 3D, and Tron Legacy might pull a Dark Knight and have five sequences shot exclusively for IMAX.
- Roland Emmerich is trying to calm the worries of fans over his upcoming film adaptation of the Foundation novels, claiming that he wants to "give people exactly what the Foundation trilogy is." He also mentions how disappointing I, Robot was (and yeah, it really, really was - good lord, what a crappy movie) and how he wants to avoid those mistakes. Emmerich also says he wants to use 3D and motion-capture, a la Avatar, to make the movie. After reading these comments, I still don't feel safe, but I feel better. At least Emmerich doesn't think I, Robot was awesome.
- Dude spent three years building Minas Tirith out of matches. It's a thing to behold.
- More Super Punch Tarot cards!
- It's Christopher Nolan Bat-Week at Springfield Punx!
- 30 awesome, rare Star Wars photos. (Via)
- Radio 4 in the UK is airing a radio version of Goldfinger in which Ian McKellen will play the title character. Cool.
- Comics blogger extraordinaire Chris Sims and friends have launched a new web comic called Awesome Hospital. It's taking its time getting started, but I have high hopes.
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| Tagged (?): 3D (Not), Animals (Not), Art (Not), Batman (Not), Books (Not), Cats (Not), Celebrities (Not), Iron Man (Not), James Bond (Not), Links (Not), Movies (Not), Music (Not), News (Not), Photography (Not), Recyclotron (Not), Simpsons (Not), Space (Not), Star Wars (Not), Technology (Not), Tolkien (Not), Tron (Not), Video (Not), Web comics (Not) |
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| Tuesday, February 23, 2010 10:12 AM |
| Recyclotron |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
- BBC Worldwide and PBS' Masterpiece Theatre will co-produce a new TV series called Sherlock which will feature a 21st century spin on the famous detective, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson. (Via)
- Fascinating story about a temple discovered in Turkey that rewrites what we know about the history of humanity. It's 7,000 years older than the Great Pyramid and 6,000 years older than Stonehenge. The archaeologist in charge of the dig thinks it's proof that religion came first, then civilization. Also fascinating: a scientist discovered the site years ago, but walked away from it when he simply couldn't fit it into his view of the world. Cognitive dissonance to the extreme! (Via)
- Incredible papercraft recreation of Howl's Moving Castle. Oddly similar: a gigantic walking city made out of LEGO.
- Nic Cage as the Norwegian curling team. Have I mentioned that I'm obsessed with curling now? Because I'm obsessed with curling now.
- io9 lists 18 upcoming TV shows that could save small-screen sci-fi. I hope they're right, because all the good TV shows seem to be going away. Anyway, a lot of these sound neat.
- io9 gives a good review to the new DC animated movie, Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths. Looking forward to it!
- Mark Strong is officially Sinestro.
- They're making Missile Command into a 3D action/adventure film. Will it end the way the game always did: with a huge explosion and the words "THE END?"
- One of my favorite entries on Covered in a while.
- Potato chips with real bacon! I'd buy that for a dollar!
- John Carpenter returned to directing after a ten year absence to make The Ward, a horror flick about a bunch of young women disappearing one by one in an insane asylum. Sounds pretty cliche, but maybe it'll have something new going on that's not obvious from a plot summary.
- Yet more fun toys from the Toy Fair, including Bubo and Lord of the Rings bobbleheads (seriously - a Sauron bobblehead), and a Klingon disruptor.
- A used car (and droid) dealership. (Via)
- Hilarious Mola Ram valentine.
- Here's an amusing online app which you can use to make it look like you're updating your Facebook status via various outrageous methods, including mental telepathy, toilet, and your mom. (Via)
- Dude figured out how to control a whole band's worth of percussion instruments using a couple of Wii Remotes. Pretty amazing stuff.
- Ian McShane as Blackbeard? YES. I would totally watch the next Pirates movie if they do this.
- B-Side is a company that helps run film festivals, providing various handy online scheduling gadgets. I kind of liked some of the stuff they had to offer when I used it during the Philadelphia Film Festival. Sadly, B-Side is now no more.
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| Tagged (?): 3D (Not), Art (Not), Business (Not), Cartoons (Not), Celebrities (Not), Comic books (Not), Craft (Not), Curling (Not), Facebook (Not), Food (Not), Gadgets (Not), Green Lantern (Not), Hacking (Not), Hayao Miyazaki (Not), History (Not), LEGO (Not), Links (Not), Movies (Not), Music (Not), News (Not), Philadelphia Film Festival (Not), Photography (Not), Pirates (Not), Recyclotron (Not), Science (Not), Sherlock Holmes (Not), Sports (Not), Star Trek (Not), Star Wars (Not), Technology (Not), Tolkien (Not), Toys (Not), TV (Not), Video games (Not), Wii (Not) |
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Jim Genzano's books on Goodreads
