While I love my job, it does get unbelievably boring sometimes and today was one of those days. So as my mind wandered as my work computer reached speeds previously seen only by sloths and the ice age, I came up with a list of three shows that started out great, but then sort of … fell.

Heroes: I admit, I didn’t get what the hype was all about at first. But on a lark, I watched the first episode and it was love at first sight. I quickly caught up on the eight episodes I was lagging behind and waited religiously for Monday to roll around. I loved the characters, the writing, the situational set up. I loved everything. I even went and watched the last two episodes in Spanish just to see them on time instead of waiting until I was back in an English speaking country.

The show had everything going for it, and then it flopped. Season 2 was dull, Season 3 a headache, and I simply gave up before Season 4 even came around. Originally, Heroes had planned to have an all new cast every season with the old cast making cameo appearances. That? Would have been awesome. Some new blood, some new plot lines, it would have given the show a new start every season. But the characters were too popular. So popular in fact, that some have been brought back from the dead more times than the Summers family.

I suppose Heroes has achieved its goal of being comic book like. Between the characters who won’t stay dead, the plot lines that go nowhere, the plot holes you could loose a dump truck in, drops in continuity from one story to the next, retcons, and the general repetitiveness Heroes has indeed become a comic book with a tv show budget. However, the problem is the that those same things are what bother a lot of people about comic books.

Perhaps some new blood would help rejuvenate this show, but for now the only new blood we get is whichever new Petrelli pops out of the wood work.

Without a Trace: I am a TNT addict. For six years, lunch time was in front of the television with whatever was on TNT at the moment. The only times the channel was changed was when ER was on and the Food Network had Good Eats running. When I stopped having regular access to a television, the only things I really missed where TNT and Food Network. And now that Food Network is no longer watchable – TNT is the only thing.

Among the shows I discovered on TNT was Without a Trace. As usual with me and most shows, I was horribly behind and was watching in syndication and out of order. It didn’t matter. I was in love. I loved the characters, the writing, the cases, the cinematography, everything. When I got a Netflix account, the first thing I ordered was Season 1 of Without a Trace and watched it in one afternoon. (The second thing was all six Star Wars movies. Also watched in one afternoon. That was also the year I watched all of Doctor Who Season 1 in one night.)

Needless to say, it was one of my top shows for a while. I managed to watch all of the first three seasons in a rather unhealthy amount of time and got some friends and family addicted as well. And then…Season 4. And 5. And 6 and 7. I tried. I really did. But about halfway through, I would want to either kill or kick or just scream at the characters. And the new girl in Season 4 just bothered me. I think it says something that I can’t even remember her name. Rosalie or something? Or was that the actress?

Let’s just say that if even adding James Masters to your show doesn’t help, you have a problem. When you can tell that the actors are not even phoning in their lines and wish they were ten miles away, you have a problem. When your writing is horrible and your plots simply make no sense, you have a problem. When half your fans are begging for the show to be canceled, you most certainly have a problem. Thankfully, it was finally put out of its misery last season. As far as I know, the campaign to keep it afloat was superficial at best.

At least we’ll always have reruns and three excellent seasons.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Yes, Buffy made my list. I only got into Buffy between season six and seven and for some reason didn’t realize that that there were more than three seasons. I don’t know how I managed that. But that summer, I watched all three seasons and my best friend and I ran all over town to read every single Buffy book there was and then getting our families addicted to Buffy.

There is a reason Buffy is a cult show and is still popular to this day. Say what you want about Joss, but the man knows how to write an excellent show. The characters were real and diverse (in personality at least), the writing was outstanding, the acting worked, and you wanted to know what would happen next. For three years, Buffy rocked.

But then came college. Few shows survive the move from one setting to another. And Buffy did try. Season Four did have the ever excellent Hush and the season finale that was both unusual and full of excellent foreshadowing. But it also had Beer Bad, Riley, and chip!Spike. Season Five had a very good overarching plot, some excellent episodes, and a stellar, well written and well executed ending. I would have been perfectly happy had the show just ended there.

But then we got Seasons 6 and 7. I don’t know which one is worse. While 7 was unbelievably dull and pointless, it at least didn’t make me want to throw things at the television or made me walk out of the room rolling my eyes. But Season 6 had Once More With Feeling. Either way, both seasons were barely watchable for their own unique reasons. Between emo!Buffy, pod!Spike, and addicted!Willow, I barely recognized the characters I had fallen in love. By the time Season 7 ended, I was ready to say good-bye. Of course, now there’s Season 8, it’s not a TV show so I’m not going to go into that here.

Honorable Mentions That Didn’t Quite Make the List:
Charmed: Yes, it got really bad there at the end. But it was never that good to begin with. Sure, the first three Seasons were entertaining, but they were never Buffy, Heroes, or Without a Trace good.

Battlestar Galactica: While it started out incredibly strong, Season 4 was probably one of the weaker seasons. But the drop in quality was really not that large when compared with every other show and they did at least tie up all loose ends.

Torchwood and Doctor Who: They’re both two uneven for me to fit them in this pattern. Doctor Who Season One is strong, but so was Season 4 and bits of 2 and 3. Torchwood had a much stronger Season 2 than 1, and the problem with 3 was not the quality but the content. Plus, they’re both in progress – at least I think both, I’m not sure about Torchwood – so who knows what will happen.

Coupling: Again, while the last Season was weaker than the first three, it wasn’t enough to really warrant that much of a complaint. Same goes for Veronica Mars.

L’album de Dry est déjà disponible, donc on l’a déjà écouté et on l’aime déjà beaucoup.
Parce que Dry enfin en solo, c’est tout un univers à découvrir. Un univers tout à fait Wati Blavoguable.

Démon -Salut Dry, ça avance ton album ?
Dry -Ça avance bien oui, je suis épaulé par mon label, mes Wati Bon gars.
Démon -Salut les gars.
La Sexion D’Assaut -Wati Bonjour, akhi. Wati Bien ou bien, akhi ?
Démon -Euh… Bien…
Dry -Tu vas me donner ton avis sur le dernier morceau que je viens d’enregistrer. C’est une chanson d’amour.
Démon -J’ai toujours su que sous ta carapace se cachait un coeur gros comme ça qui a envie de dire je t’aime.
Dry -Là je suis allé au bout de ma sensibilité, j’explique bien qu’ils n’arriveront pas à briser mon couple. Si ils essayent je les tuerai tous.
Démon -hein ? mais qui ça ?
Dry -Ben, ceux qui veulent nous séparer, ma douce et moi. On les tuera, on prendra les armes et on les tuera tous. Les juges et les jurés, Delanoë, l’État, les Francs maçons, les américains, tous ! Ils sont partout mais ils nous font pas peur. On doit se cacher tu vois ?
Démon -Pardon ?
Dry -Pour plus de sûreté, on s’embrasse pas en pleine rue… Ils sont partout je te dis.
Démon -Tu crois vraiment que des Francs maçons veulent t’empêcher d’aimer ? c’est pas illégal d’aimer en plus…
Dry – je suis sûr que si. la preuve, on a jamais parlé de loverie sur nos cd, et on parlait de bicrave, donc ça doit être encore plus illicite. logique.

Mais Démon One n’aura pas le temps de finir sa phrase (d’ailleurs il n’a pas non plus le temps de la commencer si tu regardes bien). La porte s’ouvre, Dry plonge immédiatement derrière un canapé, l’arme au poing. C’est alors qu’entre Jay Z, il regarde à gauche puis à droite, il ne semble pas trouver ce qu’il cherche.
Jay Z -I’m looking for a guy who’s called Harry or something like that.
Lefa -Akhi ?
Jay Z -Yeah ! Harry.
Gims -On s’appelle tous akhi ici, akhi.
Jay Z -… Ok…

Finalement il s’en va. Dry réapparaît de derrière son canapé.
Dry -Tu vois ?
Démon -…
Dry -Et j’ai appelé Kayliah, c’est un peu la Rihanna Frinçaise !
Démon -En fait, je crois que je ne mesure que maintenant à quel point tu es totalement cinglé…
Rohff -Que serait Kayliah sans qui est l’exemple ? Pas reconnaissante. Si t’étais humble, girl, tu serais déjà au top 50 !
Dry -Tu emploies souvent le mot «　girl　» comme ça dans les phrases ?
Rohff -Houlàlà mais c’est quoi ça ? Déjà, que tu invites Kayliah c’est de la provocation pure et simple envers moi, tu ne trompes personne. mais ça c’était vraiment en trop ! Ikbal !!! Viens ici !!
Ikbal -Green ?
Rohff -Note ! À compter de ce jour, je quitte de nouveau la Mafia K1 Fry définitivement !
Ikbal -Mais tu l’as pas encore réintégré depuis la dernière fois Hous’…
Rohff -Alors on va virer Alain De L’Ombre !
Ikbal -C’est déjà fait Hous’…
Rohff -Pas green !

　
On retrouve Dry en studio, il va désormais enregistré un son avec ses copains de label, la Sexion D’Assaut.
Dry -Je vous préviens, la dernière fois je me suis abstenu de tout péter sur votre projet, mais là c’est mon album et je vais tout déchirer. Et pour plus de sécurité, Black M tu feras le refrain.
Black M -Wati Bien, akhi.
Gims -Ahah, akhi !
Dry -Rigole pas parce que toi aussi tu vas faire le refrain.
Gims -Akhi ? Mais je croyais que c’était Black M qui le faisait, akhi.
Dry -Et ben y aura 2 refrains pis c’est tout. Vous vous démerdez. Je peux pas prendre le risque que vous fassiez des couplets.
Maska -Et moi, akhi ? Moi aussi je fais le refrain parce que je suis trop Wati balaise, akhi ?
Dry -Non, toi tu fais juste pas de couplet mais tu fais pas de refrain non plus.
Maska -OK akhi.
Lefa -Et moi, akhi ? Je pourrais parler de l’occident qui dévergonde nos soeurs, des homos qui mènent ce monde au désastre ou du complot Israélien, akhi ?
Dry -Non. Juste tu kick pis c’est tout. Si je voulais un enculeur de mouches j’inviterais Kery james.
Maska -Mais akhi, je viens de percut, si je fais ni de couplets ni de refrains, je fais rien, akhi.
Dry -Tu te rapproches de l’idée de base, oui. Je vais aussi faire un son story telling, il me faut le meilleur du meilleur, le fin du fin, je veux des dialogues de merde mal joués entre les couplets comme dans votre street album. Il me faut les meilleurs acteurs pour faire ça, je vais faire appel au mec qui joue Piccolo, Brainiac et Spike dans Buffy, j’ai nommé James masters ! Maska trouve le moi, tu peux faire ça ? Comme ça tu participes.
Maska -Bien sûr, akhi !

à suivre, akhi.

dry et kayliah, le couple le plus dangereux de toute l’histoire de la musique
dry feat sexion d’assaut – wati bonhomme

Pewnie już nikt na tym ziemskim padole nie pamięta kiedy pojawiły się pierwsze plotki o nakręceniu ekranizacji Dragon Balla. Kiedyś w roli Goku fani chcieli zobaczyć Jackiego Chana czy Jeta Li, a gdy w zeszłym roku oficjalnie potwierdzono kręcenie tego filmu główną rolę dano młodemu Justinowi Chatwinowi. Wszyscy jak jeden mąż wiedzieli, że ten wymoczek Polakom znany głównie z Wojny Świątów nie podoła. Byłem wśród tych wszystkich. Jeszcze dziś oglądając krótki wstęp opisujący historię świata filmu będąc przekonany jąką to on nie jest porażką nazywałem go Crap Ballem. Później zaliczyłem zonka. Dragon Ball: Ewolucja wcale nie jest synonimem słowa “crap”.

Siedząc w kinie najważniejsze jest by wyłączyć część mózgu odpowiadającą za uwielbienie do DB (które i tak u większości objawia się tylko lubieniem Zetki, bo większość małolatów nawet nie tknęła pierwszej serii). Ewolucję należy potraktować  jako spin-off; nową interpretację znanej historii, która wcale nie musi być jej wierna; jak Elseworlds w komiksach DC. To po prostu nie jest ten Dragon Ball, a jakiś Dragon Ball. Dlatego śmiać mi się chce z ortodoksów besztających film zanim jeszcze go zobaczyli. I po części z tego jak sam podchodziłem do tej adaptacji przed jej premierą.

Historii nie ma za bardzo co opisywać, bo po początkowym treningu Goku z Gohanem, wybraniu się młodego na domówkę u Chi-Chi i zabiciu dziadka przez Piccolo film w bardzo fajny sposób ociera się o to, co działo się w pierwowzorze. Wiecie, poznajemy Bulmę, Son jest pod wrażeniem pojazdów z “kapsuł”, jadą odszukać Żółwia (Kame House jest genialny!), później Yamcha i tyle ode mnie, bo po tym trafiają się pewne różnice. Gdybym miał streścić film w kilku słowach powiedziałbym, że całkiem fajnie go wymyślono. Jest sporo odwołań do komiksowej i animowanej wersji, postaci są ciekawymi (znów ważne słowo) interpretacjami znanych bohaterów, używanie ki wygląda nieźle i wcale nie jest nachalne, o dziwo nawet humor przypomina ten znany z DB (sprawdzone, na sali oprócz mnie było pięciu innych gości w moim, studenckim, wieku i wszyscy śmialiśmy się jak jeden mąż). Myślę, że we wszystkim spokojnie powinni się połapać nawet niezbyt obeznani z tematem. Dzieciaki na pewno będą się cieszyć jak głupie oglądając kolorowe walki i śmiesznych bohaterów, rodzice przeżyją bez problemów i od czasu do czasu się zaśmieją, a otwarci na innowację fani poczują się zadowoleni.

Mimo to poprawiłbym coś w tym filmie. Dobrze by dla niego było gdyby rozwinięto trochę postaci, bo część z nich jest zbyt płaska, szczególnie słabo na tle innych wypadli Bulma i Piccolo. Warto by było także skupić się bardziej na Yamchy i nie zarzucać tego, jak Roshi zaprezentował się na początku, jego imidż starzejącego się pijaczka-erotomana naprawdę przypadł mi do gustu. Na szczęście Goku i Chi-Chi dają się polubić bez problemu. Szkoda także, że humor zniknął jakoś trochę za połową filmu. Dragon Ball Evolution moim zdaniem mógłby być o te 20-30 minut dłuższy jeśli tylko miałbym gwarancję poprawienia tych kilku wad. Nawet jeden moment przywodzący na myśl Power Rangers mógłby zostać bez zmian.

A, jeszcze jedna rzecz, warto by było wydłużyć trochę walkę Goku z Piccolo, bo nie dość, że zielony strasznie mało pokazywał się w samym filmie (można odnieść wrażenie, że Mai jest od niego ważniejsza i źlejsza), to jeszcze małpi chłopiec rozwalił go raz, dwa. Choć, tu ciekawostka dla znających temat, cieszę się, że zrobił to w ten, a nie inny sposób. Brakowało tylko wyrzucanego z ust jajka.

Podsumowując, dla tych, którzy nie lubią za dużo czytać, naprawdę warto wybrać się na DBE do kina. Wystarczy tylko nie być twardogłowym pseudo fanem i lubić niezobowiązujące kino akcji, dobry średniak nie jest zły. Osobiście mam nadzieję, że film się zwróci, bo chętnie pójdę do kina na sequel. Heh, a jeszcze dziś myślałem, że ta produkcja zamknie trójkę najgorszych filmów jakie widziałem.

Shinigami

I watch this movie yesterday afternoon, after my session in ILLC, on Cinema 2 of Shangri-la’s Shang Cineplex.

The movie in general, a “just ok/okay movie” movie. Parang minadali yung paggawa ng movie na ito. My oldest brother don’t like to watch the/this movie. I didn’t dare to ask him why.

The movie stars Justin Chatwin (War of the Worlds (2005 film)) as Goku; James Marsters as Lord Piccolo; Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi; Emmy Rossum (Myster River (film), The Day After Tomorrow, The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film), Poseidon (film)) as Bulma; Randall Duk Kim (he played the Keymaker in The Matrix Reloaded, and voiced Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda.) as Grandpa Gohan. And directed by James Wong.

And as the title suggests. I am a first timer viewer at Shangri-la Plaza’s Shang Cineplex. And this is my second time to watch a movie in/on the aforementioned cinema/s. My first time to watch a movie there is Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film), with my family, in 2005.

The movie stars Dennis Quaid, Mirando Otto (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; War of the Worlds (2005 film)); House (TV series)’s Hugh Laurie. And directed by John Moore.

Come non parlare del mio telefilm preferito?
Ebbene sì, anche la televisione brulica di vampiri e il serial Tv di cui vi sto per parlare dimostra come questa creatura della notte affascini l’immaginario collettivo tanto da tenere il suo pubblico incollato allo schermo per diverse stagioni.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer non è un semplice telefilm horror incentrato sulla mera descrizione delle avventure di una giovane ragazza (Sarah Michelle Gellar) che lotta contro i vampiri, ma è un mix ben congegnato di ironia, satira, scene di lotta in puro stile action movie e intrecci drammatici.
Nel corso delle puntate viene sviluppata una vera e propria mitologia, costituita da temi quali la solitudine, la difficoltà di relazione e crescita, e l’incontro-scontro tra razze diverse, vampiri e uomini.
Compare inoltre la rivisitazione dell’amore impossibile di Romeo e Giulietta, dove le due controparti non sono più impersonate da nobili famiglie ma sono svolte da due acerrimi nemici per natura : cacciatrici e vampiri.

Il vampiro ama la cacciatrice. Molto poetico, sebbene un pò sdolcinato

(Giles nell’episodio La profezia).

I vampiri di Buffy sono creature non-morte, in cui un demone si sostituisce all’anima della persona che abitava il corpo umano, ora posseduto dal mostro. Inoltre sono dotati di una vita sociale: si circondano dei loro simili, cercano amore e comprensione, si rendono conto che la vita eterna non è poi tutto questo granchè, se bisogna passarla da soli.
Soffermiamoci solo su i due vampiri che mettono maggiormente in crisi la cacciatrice: Angel e Spike.

Angel (David Boreanaz) sembra essere la naturale evoluzione di Gary Oldman (Dracula di Bram Stoker): come lui è dannato, temuto, esiliato dall’uomo, e, come lui, è capace di amare in eterno. Il fatto che Angel possieda un’anima lo rende un “vampiro buono” agli occhi di Buffy, mettendo in crisi i suoi valori da cacciatrice.

Spike (James Masters) è il vampiro perfetto: accattivante, spiritoso, romantico e spietato allo stesso tempo. E’ l’unico vampiro senza anima capace di dimostrare sentimenti umani.

I vampiri di questo telefilm riprendono inoltre alcune caratteristiche del mito folkloristico: rifuggono la luce del sole, non si riflettono negli specchi e devono essere invitati dal proprietario per poter entrare in una casa; temono croci e aglio ma non volano e non si trasmutano in un animale. La miglior arma della cacciatrice è il paletto di legno.
Infine i vampiri di Buffy sono presuntuosi, sbruffoni, preoccupati della loro reputazione, bevono, fumano..etc.
Le debolezze umane sono in pratica estremizzate in queste creature infernali con lo scopo ultimo di far riflettere il pubblico.

Mr. Peebles – The World’s Smallest Cat – [Wa!eg]

James Marsters as a Alien Fighting Cowboy…Hot! – [i09]

Madonna…Un-Photoshopped?  6th Sign of the Apocalypse People, Duck and cover – [The Blemish]

Keanu Reeves as Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Beebop — I am Skeptical – [/film]

Atari Lamp and Tetris Mirrors – [Wonderland]

A Promo for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse – [i09]

Bored?  Slap Some Bitches — It Will Make You Feel Better -  [nigoro]

Nice job trying to change the name guys, but it still looks horrid.  As I have said before though, I am gonna see it.  James Marsters is making me.

What can I say?  His cheek-bones are hypnotic.  So in support of them I must see this.  Even though his face looks like ass in the trailer.  Being a fan girl makes you do strange things.

Check out the new trailer below.  It is atrocious, but worth the time.

Dragonball Evolution Trailer

Comentem

Obs:S e o video não estiver pegando entre no endereço :

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo4t8PeqJ6E#

Isso foi o que a minha irmã de 10 anos falou depois de ver o teaser trailer de DragonBall. Infelizmente eu só tenho a concordar. E olhem que eu era um dos que dizia “não po, deve ser legal sim.” Aff. Tão legal quanto o velho Street Fighter! Meu Deus como conseguem estragar coisas tão boas assim? Essa é a magia do cinema não? Ai ai. Mas eu vou pro cinema pra ver essa vergonha. Isso se não baixar antes, o que seria muito melhor que gastar dinheiro com esse fiasco. Mas que tristeza…

Chow Yun Fat como Mestre Kame. Ai Deus tenha misericórdia...

Se você está totalmente por fora, Dragonball é um dos animes mais conhecidos e aclamados por 11 entre 10 rapazes dos 15 aos 25 anos. O anime trata de um jovem chamado Goku, que descobre possuir grandes poderes e começa a utilizá-los para salvar o mundo onde vive. Fazendo parte da trama existem 7 esferas mágicas que quando reunidas trazem um gigantesco dragão, chamado Shenlong, que permite a realização de um desejo. Encontrar essas esferas, espalhadas por todo o mundo, acaba sendo o desejo de homens maus e bons. Bom, Goku vai ser um dos que enfrentará o mau.

Mas na verdade explicar toda a saga de Dragonball não é coisa pra um post só. Pelo menos não um pequeno, então eu vou me conter.

Dragonball, na primeira fase do anime.

Dragonball Z. Segunda fase

Bom, essa adaptação está sendo dirigida por James Wong (do filme Premonição) e tem Justin Chatwin (o filho do Tom Cruise em Guerra dos Mundos) como Goku, e James Masters (o eterno Spike do seriado Buffy – A caça vampiros) como o vilão Piccolo.

O Goku não era um pouquinho mais forte?

E o Piccolo não era verde?

Infelizmente o WordPress não me deixa colocar o teaser aqui (por usar de plataformas diferentes das que prefiro) então basta clicar aqui pra assistir.

Watch it here.  Let me know if it disappears.

Uh, mostly frightened.  This looks pretty atrocious.  That said; I am totally gonna see it for the James Martstersiness of it.  I have to be a good supportive girlfriend, uh, I mean fan.

]]> http://diversepurse.com/2008/09/25/will-police-pay-for-pot/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:43:29 +0000 TheDiversePurse http://diversepurse.com/2008/09/25/will-police-pay-for-pot/ http://vegetarukawa.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/impresiones-de-un-piccoro-sobre-piccoro/ Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:18:57 +0000 vegetarukawa http://vegetarukawa.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/impresiones-de-un-piccoro-sobre-piccoro/

La falta de tiempo me permite solo actualizaciones relampago, así que aquí les dejó una joyita que habla por todos nosotros…

Es el actor que dió voz a Pikoro en el doblaje que todos vimos en latinoamerica de Dball, Z y GT, Carlos Segundo…

Su reacción… bueno, creo que fue la que todos tuvimos al ver la nefasta creación norteamericana…

Cortesía de Dezconocido quien lo publicó en el foro de Otakus en Venezuela.