Big Al's Reviews©

Elric of Melnibone Saga

2009-05-04T13:45:00.002-06:00

I recently finished reading:

Elric of Melnibone
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
The Weird of the White Wolf
The Vanishing Tower
The Bane of the Black Sword
The Storm Bringer
Elric at the End of Time

And to get a taste for the writer's style, I read The Blood Red Game, which deals with the concept of the Multiverse central to the Elric Saga, but in a Sci-Fi Setting.

The Good:

The series explores some archetypal High Fantasy concepts with an energy and forward momentum that carries you all the way to the series completion:

Elric is the emperor of an amoral pre-human race in decadence, living in the capital and last bastion of their civilization.
His race is more attuned to magic phenomena, and in the clash between Chaos and Order, they have aligned themselves with with Chaos. They're evil, remorseless hedonists.
He has an innate weakness he must compensate with special drugs, or herbs, and eventually he acquires the soul-stealing sword Stormbringer, which sets him on a path that will define the result of the universal struggle.
The choices he makes along the way bear little satisfaction to him, as they all occur in function and by influence of the forces tugging at his fate.
The world building is amazing at some points; here is a land that was ruled for ten thousand years by the Melniboneans, and there were dominant civilizations that predate even them. This means that there are ruins, dungeons, people, monsters, curses, pacts, treasures, etc, to be explored aplenty.
Michael Moorcock is only too glad to carpet bomb the reader with, even today, original and revolutionary concepts.
There is a pervading sense of doom throughout the series, which haunts Elric and is all too apparent to the readers. You know how it's going to end. You just don't know when.

The Bad:

The biggest flaw that I perceived is ex-machina. Whenever Elric is in the direst of situations, he is saved because he knows a spell, casts a summon, or gets saved by pure dumb luck without a very noticeable price to pay or harm received. This eventually gets better, as it was probably a product of the short serial genesis of the stories.

The other flaw that I can think about is the archaic writing. It just feels old, with a lot of exposition, exclamation points and some other things that are not necessarily bad, but a bit cumbersome nowadays. As a non-native reader I found it distracting at times.

The Veredict: Recommended

If you're into fantasy and would like to read the saga of one of the grand daddies of the genre, by all means dive in. You will be surprised by the sheer imagination at work in the mythology, and perhaps find the origin of quite a few conventions of the genre.

On a lighter note, Elric may well be the first Emo Barbarian and he dressed like an asshole. Read the books and you'll see.

Oh, and The Blood Red Game sucked real bad. It's a moralistic fable of the struggle of man to ascend to the next level of evolution and to find his place in the multiverse. I thought it was horrible, and one of the characters sounded like wish fulfillment on the part of the author. I think the term is "Mary Sue"?

Gary Frank in Superman? No, thanks.

2008-12-12T15:53:00.003-06:00

As much as I'd like to be courteous to Gary Frank and his take on Superman, I can't. In any case, nobody cares about anything I write.

Why I hate it:

Drawing inspiration from the Christopher Reeves movies is a bad move, as they were a product of their time. They are as dated as the first Shreck.

The fact that everyone he draws is strangely over-rendered and looks 60 is definitely not going to help when he draws Superboy. Just look at that face, he looks like he is pooping in his red Super Diaper. And Saturn Girl looks like Hideous Girl.

And the proportions he uses, with those enormous heads, really break the illusion further. Heroic proportions? Don't make me laugh.

Actor likenesses are so passé...

El Juzgado de Transito de Pavas es una Mierda

2008-10-02T07:17:00.001-06:00

Llego al lugarejo como a las 11:45 AM, leo un letrero de cartulina que parece que hicieron con los pies. Las instrucciones confusas me dirigen tomar un ficha y sentarme en unas bancas.

Espero un rato y me llaman mi numero.

En el momento en que voy a llegar, un enano gordo con pinta de conductor borracho reincidente se sienta en el espacio libre y comienza preguntar como logra que le devuelvan su basurero con ruedas.

Puesto que el tipejo que me tenia que atender se pone explicarle, les doy un chance de que terminen de hablar. En ese momento, la unica otra vieja que estaba atendiendo termina lo que estaba haciendo y me pregunta que si era lo mismo del enano. "No", dije con toda tranquilidad, "necesito una copia de un expediente."

"Tiene que volver a la 1:00", me respondio ella, "falta un minuto para las 12:00; ya vamos a cerrar."

Les dije que yo habia estado a tiempo, que no me habian atendido por atender al borracho, y el idiota que no me atendio me dijo que era mi culpa por no haber dicho que tenia la ficha.

El servicio en las entidades gubernamentales es de lo peor, yo creo que ni ante Dios se humilla uno tanto como cuando tiene uno que ir a hacer un tramite. Ni siguiendo los procesos de mierda que imponen para maquillar su ineficiencia se salva uno de tener que sufrir en manos de los inutiles y perezosos que existen en toda dependencia gubernamental. Notese que no digo que todos los empleados gubernamentales son mediocres y vagos, pero tristemente son tantos!

Lo mas simpatico del caso es que en la tarde, cuando regrese, me asignaron una oficinista que me llevo a sacar las copias a un video pirata! Esos son los proveedores estrella del gobierno; robando mientras atienden al publico.

Alvaro Matteucci W.
-Sent From My Phone

Catching up

2008-06-07T01:39:00.001-06:00

Got an HTC Touch. This may help me blog more often.

Code Lyoko

2007-11-07T14:13:00.000-06:00

I recently had the opportunity to watch an episode of Code Lyoko. I have to say that not only was it ugly, but it was also boring and pretty pointless.

One thing that I truly dislike is the fact that the characters are so bland and inexpressive. The CG parts are reasonably good, but all the same, they lack a lot of personality in their designs. The enemies were pretty blah as well and the story was pretty bad.

While the interaction with a virtual world is always a good topic for fiction, they really don’t make the most of it. It really surprises me that it has become so marketable, with a lot of tie-in products.

Anyways, not worth anyone's time.

My Hime

2007-06-26T15:37:00.000-06:00

My Hime is about a group of students with special powers, they are gathered together at Fuka Academy to fight a secret war. They are all girls, they all have the ability to materialize weapons and a giant monster avatar they call a "child". Their powers are aligned in some cases with the classical elements (you know, water, fire, etc) and they fight creatures they call "orphans".

The story begins when a girl and her brother are traveling on their way to the Academy and their boat (ferry?) picks up a girl who is floating in the ocean. With a giant sword she won't let go of. Which makes all the sense in the world, since you want to hold on to heavy metallic objects when you are drowning.

In any case, someone is chasing after her; a girl with a Digimon like mechanical wolf. A fight breaks out, where the girls show their amazing powers, catching Mai in the middle. She mysteriously makes it to the school grounds even though the fight sinks the boat.

The production values are above average even if there is some animation recycling, and the story is good to the point that I was actually shocked or concerned by the events that occurred in the show, since all the main players are young and inexperienced girls. That was a smart play on the part of the writers. Like inexperienced super heroes they face crises, sometimes win, sometimes loose, and their frailties play against them.

The character designs are good, with very appealing appealing familiars that mix technology and organic elements. Of note are the human characters as well, since they are designed with attention to their wardrobe and physical characteristics such as hair, expressions, mannerisms, etc. Similar to Full Metal Alchemist, the body proportions are a bit "chunkier" than the anorexic aesthetic that seems to pervade anime nowadays, and it gives them a lot of personality.

The story meanders a bit, and in the end it falters somewhat, but I guess if you like hollywood endings, this is your show.

I would recommend it as an entertaining mishmash of superhero and magical girl conventions, with a bit of mystery thrown in. The fact that it has a cast you can care for and above average visuals seals the deal.

Late Reviews.

2007-06-14T15:08:00.001-06:00

Casino Royale:

James Bond has never been so gritty, realistic and such a jerk. You see Bond as he goes from a messy and violent first kill to a totally remorseless second. No silly gadgets, no Koreans turn redhead, no geriatric spies; just pure unadulterated action.
And Eva Green, who lights up the screen as one of the best acting Bond girls like, ever.
Just like with Batman, a good director manages to resuscitate a floundering franchise.

Chronicles of Narnia:

A good example of doing a lot with limited resources; the little girl and the youngest boy really pull their weight, and the modest special effects are used very effectively.
While the story is rough and under developed in a few places, Liam Neeson’s voice as the Lion and an amazing Tilda Swinton as the White Witch manage to move the whole movie forward.

Spiderman 3:

An amazing letdown. The story is poorly told, and gets terribly maudlin in the end.
Venom was cool but felt tacked on, and the sandman was an outright predictable character. And why are directors compelled to kill all the bad guys? What does it prove? Are movie-going audiences so stupid they need all the cool enemies killed because it gives them closure? Good thing the chances for another one are pretty slim, it’s better to quit while you are ahead.

Ben Affleck in New Movie!

2007-01-25T14:11:00.000-06:00

There's this new movie called Smoking Aces. After casting Ben Affleck, they should have renamed it Smoking Asses, so he could be the Ass of Diamonds. You have to consider his participation will render the movie Spades of Ass.

Aren't Dragons Supposed to be Cool? No se supone que los dragones son cool?

2007-01-05T22:15:00.000-06:00

Eragon looked very promising just based on the strength of its cast, but it turned out to be a disappointment. Poor dialogue, inconsistent photography and bad direction in general made the movie less than stellar. From what I gather, the books themselves are very derivative and the world is not very fleshed out.

Mr Paolini (the very young and very rich writer) has my admiration for doing so much with so little; the books may actually benefit from the reader's imagination filling in the narrative gaps.

Aside from the amusingly stupid dragon, the real highlight from the movie was seeing Robert Carlyle's character Durza. Instead of an evil sorcerer, he looked somewhat like a cross between Cher and Donald Rumsfeld. I couldn't help think he was going to break into a little song number with the King's sailors at any moment! Here's hoping he fulfills his promise in the inevitable sequel.

Eragon se veía muy prometedora basada en su excelente reparto, pero resultó ser una decepción. Diálogos débiles, fotografía inconsistente y mala dirección en general hicieron que la película fuera menos que estelar. Según entiendo, los libros mismos son muy derivativos y el mundo no está creado muy bien.

El Sr Paolini (el muy joven y muy millonario escritor) tiene mi admiración por haber conseguido tanto con tan poco; los libros de hecho deben de beneficiarse de que los lectores llenen los huecos narrativos con su imaginación.

Aparte del dragón, que era divertido por estúpido, el verdadero punto alto de la película fue ver el personaje de Robert Carlyle, Durza. En lugar de un hechicero malvado, parecía un cruce entre Cher y Donald Rumsfeld. No podía evitar pensar que en cualquier momento se ponía a bailar con los marineros del rey! Espero que lo cumpla en la inevitable segunda parte.

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. No te gustaría cuando me molesto.

2006-01-06T10:17:00.000-06:00

Movie: Batman Begins

2006-01-06T01:14:00.000-06:00

Batman Done Right.

I went to see Batman this weekend, and I’m happy to say the movie’s really good. Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman did a great job, and Christian Bale is an adequate Batman/Bruce Wayne.

As has become commonplace for super hero movies, a theme was identified, and the story was told in a way consistent with it. In this case it was fear, since the Batman persona was assumed for intimidation, and you get a glimpse into the hardships of appearing more than human when you are just a guy who eats right and get into lots of fights. It does help that he’s filthy rich, and for the first time it is shown to great effect. Schumacher was too in love with the Batman’s arse to do an effective job of fleshing out the character, and who knows what Tim Burton was smoking when he decided Michael Keaton was the image of a playboy billionaire.

Bruce Wayne comes across as intense, angry and inexperienced, and matures as the film progresses. We are given some insight into the training process he went trough, and how come he knows the criminal mind so well.

Special effects were managed in a very smart “Minority Report” kind of way, where even though you were seeing illusions, they looked completely credible because of the effort put into design and artistic direction.

Concessions and revisions were made to the Batman mythos in order to keep the story consistent, but I’m willing to ignore them because they will make the material more accessible to the mainstream. In any case there were also several nuggets to appeal to the hardcore comic geek, so I think it balances out in the end.

Things that went wrong:

-The Scarecrow was a real wimp; I haven’t seen such a crappy villain since Stephen Dorff in Blade 1.

-The fear toxin didn’t appear to provoke panic, just mild stomach discomfort.

-The damn shaky cam in the fight scenes; it doesn’t look like you are there, it looks like the cameraman is drunk.

- The plot's "mystery" was so easy that it deserved to appear in Scooby-Doo.-Katey Holmes couldn’t find Dawson, who is probably a villain in the second movie: “The Demon’s Forehead”*.

*Rha’s Al Ghul means the “The Head of the Demon”

In closing, this is a great movie, and if there ever is a Daredevil sequel the director would do well to learn from it.

Batman Bien Hecho.

Fui a ver Batman este fin de semana, y estoy feliz de decir que la película es bastante buena. Michael Caine, Liam Nelson y Morgan Freeman hicieron un excelente trabajo, y Christian Bale es un Batman/Bruce Wayne adecuado.

Como se ha vuelto común para películas de súper héroes, un tema fue identificado, y la historia fue contada de una manera consistente con él. En este caso fue el miedo, puesto que la personalidad de Batman fue asumida para propósitos de intimidación, y vemos las dificultades de aparentar ser más que humano cuando solamente sos un tipo que come bien y se mete en bastantes peleas. Ayuda que él esté podrido en dinero, y por primera vez se muestra exitosamente. Schumacher estaba demasiado enamorado del trasero de Batman como para hacer un trabajo efectivo desarrollando al personaje, y quién sabe qué estaba fumando Tim Burton cuando decidió que Michael Keaton era la imagen de un playboy billonario.

Bruce Wayne se muestra intenso, iracundo e inexperimentado, y madura conforme la película progresa. Nos dan claves del proceso de entrenamiento por el que pasó, y por qué conoce la mente criminal tan bien.

Los efectos especiales fueron manejados de una manera muy inteligente, estilo “Minority Report”, donde a pesar de estar viendo ilusiones, se ven completamente creíbles por el esfuerzo puesto en el diseño y dirección artística.

Concesiones y revisiones fueron hechas a la mitología de Batman para mantener la historia consistente, pero estoy dispuesto a ignorarlas porque hicieron el material más accesible a las masas. En todo caso había también muchas notitas hechas para premiar a los fanáticos de los comics, así que pienso que se balancea a final de cuentas.

Cosas que salieron mal:

-El Espantapájaros era un verdadero inútil, no he visto un villano tan malo desde Stephen Dorff en Blade 1.

-La toxina de miedo no parecía provocar pánico, sino un ligero malestar estomacal.

-La maldita cámara temblorosa en las escenas de pelea; no parece que uno esté ahí, más bien que el camarógrafo está borracho.

-El "misterio" de la trama era tan fácil, que merecía salir en Scooby-Doo.

-Katey Holmes no encontró a Dawson, quién posiblemente va a ser un villano e la próxima película: “La Frente del Demonio”*.

*Rha’s Al Ghul significa “La Cabeza del Demonio”.

Para cerrar, esta es una muy buena película, y si alguna vez hacen una secuela de Daredevil el director haría bien en aprender de ella.