Jack the Giant Slayer

So when i went to go see the Rise of the Guardians i saw the preview for Jack the Giant Slayer and i must say it looks pretty good. Jack the Giant slayer is a modern day fairy tale in which the long-standing peace between men and giants is threatened, as a young farmer leads an expedition into the giants' kingdom in hopes of rescuing a kidnapped princess. It stars Nicholas Hoult as Jack, Stanley Tucci as Lord Roderick, and Ewan McGregor as Elmont. Sounds like a really great cast and i can't wait to see it on the big screen! 

A Tale of How

I wasn't a really big fan of the Animated short we viewed awhile back, just because it was so creepy and kinda disturbing but i will give it this the music was really good. I'm a bit curious to see if the creators of this film has created any more stuff thats not so....you know...creepy.  Their animation style was really cool and visually it was pleasing but still very disturbing.

Hans Zimmer...Musical Genius

Hans Zimmer is one of my favorite score composers, he's done soundtracks to Sherlock Holmes 1 and 2, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, 3, and i think 4, The Lion King, The Dark Knight, and more recently The Dark Knight Rises. He's music style is dark, pounding, and very well recognizable to people who have heard his work before. Heres some of his music, check it out!

Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm

Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm is the 1993 animated film based around the 1990 animated tv show. The film's storyline introduces Andrea Beaumont, an old love interest of Bruce Wayne's, who returns to Gotham City, restarting their romance. At the same time, a new mysterious vigilante begins systematically eliminating Gotham's crime bosses, and due to the person's dark appearance, he is mistaken for Batman. Now on the run from the police, the Dark Knight must apprehend the killer, clear his name, and deal with the romance between him and Andrea.  If you ever get the chance i really recommend that you guys see this movie. 

Batman the Animated Series

Have to say hands down one of my  favorite cartoons is Batman the Animated Series and heres why: 1) the theme song to it was created by Danny Elfman, 2) the story lines are actually really good,  3) you get to watch Batman do what he does best, saving Gotham from the crazy villains that try to destroy it all the time and 4) you get to hear Mark Hamill, the best voice actor ever, play the voice of the Joker.

 

The theme song to the show just gets me pumped up when i watch it and the fact that Danny Elfman help make it doesn't hurt either. The story line is actually pretty great, it has a dark dramatic vibe that makes this show very enjoyable to watch. If theres one person who can play the voice of the Joker its going to be Mark Hamill. He is the only voice actor that can actually do the Jokers laugh right...its absolutely chilling!! I can only check out reruns of the show on this channel called the HUB, always watch it when i get the chance to.

Warm Bodies

So...has anyone heard about  this new movie called Warm Bodies.....you know the one about a zombie falling in love with a girl? yeah that one. I can't even to being to wrap my head around this one, i guessed Summit Entertainment figured, "hey if sparkly blood sucking vampires can learn to love a human girl maybe a flesh eating zombie could learn to love one too." I mean...what?! are they serious?! I saw the trailer not too long ago and i have to say....it looks...cute...but I'm still trying to figure out how Summit Entertainment came up with this one.

Christmas Specials

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, The Little Drummer boy. When i was growing up i would get so excited to see the Christmas specials, even if the stop motion animation was awful it didn't matter to me! Theres just something so sweet and simple about them, its hard not to find them charming. Even now i find myself watching one or two of the Christmas specials on ABC Family and i still love them. One of my favorites would have to be The Year Without a Santa Claus, the part when Heat Miser and Ice Miser sing their songs are too funny.

The Dark Knight Rises: Lego Trailer

Ok so i was looking around during the summer time for the Dark Knight Rises trailer and i stumbled upon this little gem:

George Lucas in Love

I've never seen this film before but i have to say it was pretty funny! It was so clever and all of the Star Wars references i got right away. I also really liked the guy who played George Lucas, it amazing how much he looks like him. Clever and hilarious, i will totally recommend this movie to anyone that wants a good laugh.

Psycho Thrillers...one of my guilty pleasures

I must say that did enjoy TJ's project on Psychological Thrillers, one mainly because i love the king of all Psycho Thrillers(in todays world that is) Chris Nolan, i mean come on, Inception is like the definition on a Psychological Thriller. It questions what is reality, and makes us think about the world we live in. I've probably seen that movie 50 times and the ending still makes me mad, but thats just Chris doing what he does best, making us think what the ending really is...

Todays Presentations

So after watching the presentation about motion graphics(sorry i can't remember who did it) it made me think about another music video with visual moving graphics in it:
                                                               "Casa Bay" by: Mose Deff

Gorillaz

So after watching the live performance of the Animated band the Gorillaz i couldn't help but look up some more of their songs. Now as long as they have been around i never really got into any of their songs but now that I'm a bit older i can appreciate their style. here are two songs of theirs that i really like:

 

"Dare"

 "Feel Good Inc." 

9 music video

So for my intro to Digital Media Class we had to make a music video for our final project. i've never had any experience with Premiere Pro so there were some moments when i had some trouble but as Mrs. Ford said it was a "teachable moment." For the music video my group chose the animated movie called 9. I watched the original trailer for it and it was pretty good, it gave me some really good ideas on how i wanted to set up my music video. After several hours of sitting in front on a computer screen i finally finished it and i must say i really liked how it turned out. As I've said there were some tough moments but i did actually enjoy editing and creating this movie.  

Drawing is a major stress reliever....

Mad Hatter and Alice

Sweeney Todd

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson

Drawing is a very big stress reliever for me; whenever I get a little too overwhelmed with school or something else I find a nice quite spot and start drawing.  The hardest part of drawing, for me, is that sometimes it takes me awhile to figure out what I want to draw. Its like I have the idea, but I just don’t know how to draw it sometimes. When those days happen, I usually get some inspiration from real life pictures. It usually helps me get out of my drawing rut, which then, helps me create more drawings. Getting inspiration first is what I believe will make the best drawing creations. As I’ve said before, it is tough coming up with things to draw, but if people took the time to stop and look around, they would be surprised to see that there’s inspiration all around them. Such as an old couple walking down the street, a boy on a skateboard, a lamp, a car, a dog, maybe even an evil little sibling, anything!  To create the best drawings, people must stop, look, and listen at everything that’s around them. Drawing has always had a big impact on me, because art is my life. It relaxes me; it gives me strength, confidence and hope. My art helps me to see the beauty beneath everything in life, and because of this creativity, it also stretches my imagination. When I’m drawing I feel more at ease with everything, it gives me a time to just relax and clear my mind of everything that’s going on at the moment.  Its not just a hobby for me, I feel that drawing is a mirror that I look through and understand my place in life, which makes me feel great.  

Why Batman Arkham City is the best video game ever.

Ok...lets be honest...i'm a bit obsessed with Batman and the release of the video games are not helping my obsession one bit. The reason why Arkham city(the second Batman Arkham game) is awesome is 1) it has Batman in it 2) the villains are amazing and 3) the visuals are amazing.

Batman first got me hooked with the 1992 animated series, i just thought that it was so cool that  one of the greatest superhero ever doesn't have super powers at all! He doesn't rely on super speed or his heat vision to save the day, he relies on his Batarang, Batclaw, his smarts and his Bat...fist. All the things that make a true super hero great. The villains in Arkham City are pretty awesome. The Joker makes his second appearance in this game but....theres something wrong with him(i will not spoil the surprise ;) ) Catwoman shows up in this game and as a bonus you get to play as her! The Riddler (as annoying as he is) comes back with a vengeance, and this time you have even more of his "Riddler Clues" to solve. Mr. Freeze( a villain i have a soft spot for) has something that the Joker wants...what it is i won't say, but it is very important to The Joker and...to The Batman.
The visuals in Arkham City are nothing short of amazing.It has a smooth feel to it that makes the game enjoyable to play. As i've said before Batman is superhero and he always will be.

Les Miserable

okay so lately I've been getting super pumped for the new Les Miserable movie coming and i can't wait!! Ive already seen the trailer with Anne Hathaway singing and she does not disappoint, but I'm very curious about how Hugh Jackman and  Russell Crow are going to sound in the movie. Hopefully they sound good because this movie looks like its going to be absolutely amazing!   

The West Bank Story

Last week was amazing i was really glad that Leeper showed us West Bank Story. I've always been a sucker for musicals and i have to say that this is one the best "remakes" of West Side Story i have ever seen. Too funny for words and it really opened your eyes to the feud between the two nations that is going on in the Middle East. the message at the end of the musical was really nice...its their love of food that brings both sides together.   

Emily's presentation

I really enjoyed Emily's presentation about video game graphics. As an animator i always a fascination with visual effects in movies and in video games and one video game that has just blown me away with it's graphics is the Uncharted series. Uncharted is a Indiana Johns/ Tomb Raider type game with amazing voice acting and plot line. It has such a action movie vibe to that sometimes you forget that your in the middle of playing a video game. The amount of details in this game is absolutely amazing. If you like a good action adventure game then you have to check these games out. 

 check out some of the actual gameplay from Uncharted 3:Drakes Deception.  

Elementary

Elementary is a brand new twist on Sherlock Holmes. In this series CBS Sherlock Holmes (Johnny Lee Miller) is solving crimes in New york city with his new partner....Joan Watson(Luck Liu). I think this is an awesome twist to the well know duo. Elementary is probably the closest thing to a new fall-season surefire hit. Lee makes an amazing Sherlock, he's arrogant, annoying, and brilliant! Luck Liu surprisingly makes a very good Watson, and I'm looking forward to see how she progress during the shows. I highly recommend that you guys check this out. 

Rise of the Guardians

I checked out The Rise of the Guardians during Thanksgiving break and i have say Rise of the Guardians tells the story of a group of heroes(Santa,The Easter Bunny,The Sandman, The Tooth fairy, and Jack Frost) -- each with extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit, known as Pitch, lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world. And without saying to much and ruining the movie for people who haven't seen it, go see it!!