A Taste of My 2009: Cats & Dogs 2 Trailer

So what have I been up to most of the year? Here's your first glimpse at the long-awaited sequel to the spell-binding 2001 blockbuster everyone remembers so fondly - CATS & DOGS.

Aye Carumba!

The voice of Bart Simpson turns 52 today. Also apparently she's a Scientologist.

UPDATE!

About a year ago I was working on a series of anti-smoking PSAs for the state of Arizona. I rolled onto another production before they were completed, but I was kind of excited to see the final product go live. After the spots were delivered, I remember hearing that the client had a change of heart and decided to hold off on airing them. I was hoping to at least find them online, but I couldn't find them and figured they may never see the light of day.

This past weekend I caught up with an old college buddy and he mentioned having seen the PSAs online and liking them. He'd found them on the blog of the guy who directed the ads. It turns out Arizona finally decided to air the ads and released them online as well. Below is the one I was most involved with. It's the most subtle of the three, but I enjoyed reading in the comments that it also seems to be the most relatable to smokers.

(Watch it in HD by clicking the video twice then clicking "HD" in the Youtube player)

Check out the director's blog to see the other ads.
 

It's All True

???

Everything you've heard or read about Transformers 2 and/or Michael Bay is absolutely true. Unfortunately I verified it this weekend.

I've been collecting the reviews and such that were floating around work last week. So rather than beat an undead horse, I'll share some of the best critiques and lampoons.

Michael Bay finally made an art movie

Transformers 2 FAQs

Storyboards from Michael Bay's The Great Gatsby

If everyday life was directed by Michael Bay

Michael Bay Facts (like Chuck Norris...)

Michael Bay signs $50M deal to f--k up 'ThunderCats'

Roger Ebert's brutal-but-spot-on Transformers 2 review

Transforminators (because really, there's no need to see both... or either)

One more day

As a reformed comic book junkie whose favorite character back in the day quickly became the furball/runt/canucklehead, I am starting to dread the day that I used to wish for. There was a time when the idea of a Wolverine or even an X-Men film was a pipe dream restricted to the "who would play who in the ______ movie" section of Wizard magazine. Clint Eastwood and Jack Nicholson always stood out as prime candidates for Wolvie, if only you could reverse-age them by a decade or so.

Times have changed and probably thanks to the trickle-down effect of advanced technology, comic book movies are practically saturating the box office. What's funny to me though is the characters and plots on the screen today are taken from the comic books of my youth and not from the crap I see on the shelves these days. I always felt like Marvel's universe hit a second Golden Age right around the time I started getting into comics (age 10 or so), but I couldn't make an impartial decision because... well of course I'm going to think stuff was the best when I was into it - that's just how people are - the "back in my day" syndrome. But maybe this on-screen onslaught of heroes and villians from yesteryear serve as evidence to support my self-serving theories. Or maybe it's just that today's film-makers are around my age, got into comics at the same time, and are glorifying what we thought was awesome when we were growing up.


At any rate, much of the appeal of Wolverine's character stems from his mysterious past and origin. Even when I was into the comics I would get antsy when some writer took it upon himself to make his mark on Logan's backstory. Because - for better or worse - once that change is made it becomes canon (assuming there won't be any later time-travel or alternate dimension nonsense). Some very good writers have woven a rich history for Mr. Logan and for the most part still managed to preserve a core mystery to the whole thing.

And now here comes this movie that I'm trying to remain excited for, but the more I hear and see of it, the more it seems like a stinker. For one thing... (stop reading now if you're desperately trying to avoid spoilers) Wolverine's history is vast enough - why the heck are they adding in all these other characters that have nothing to do with it? Gambit is cool, but does he really need to be in the Wolverine origin movie? Young orphan boy Cyclops? Really? Of course you need Sabretooth, but it seems like the film-makers are screwing up that relationship. Then there's the rest of the Weapon-X folks, including Deadpool apparently. I mean geez, are they going to throw in Alpha Flight as well? Elsie-Dee and Albert? They already screwed up Lady Deathstrike in X-Men 2, so I guess we won't see her. Then again, they screwed up Sabretooth in X-Men 1 and we're definitely seeing him...

And what's with Sabretooth being twins with Wolverine in this movie? Wolverine is too tall and Sabretooth is too small. You lose the whole dynamic. This is turning into one of those nightmare IMDB message board ultra-loser rants, I know... I just hate to see something that has so much potential get so short-changed. Hmm, maybe that means I'm in the wrong business.

I think a good Wolverine movie would almost have to be presented Kill Bill style. You gotta have two parts... and you gotta jump around a bit, and allow for segments to have their own visual styles. I don't see anything from the previews about Wolvie's time in Japan - I mean that's huge. That could be a Frank Miller segment, I mean he drew a great miniseries about Logan in Japan.

Well. Anyway. I may have to see it, but I don't have to like it. Here's hoping though.

Bale-out

Check out the winning entries to the Spline Doctors' Christian Bale meltdown audio animation challenge! My favorites are from Brandon Beckstead and Alex Jansen. They exhibit some spot-on timing and great choices.

I ♥ Coraline

Coraline is my valentine this year.

Congrats to the folks at Laika. I'd been looking forward to this film for a long time and it didn't disappoint. I hope it attains the success it deserves and enables to the studio to bring us more good stuff. I was saddened that in box office terms it took a backseat to an epic shallow regurgitated garbage heap, but at least it did better than an ill-conceived sequel to a needless remake. Hopefully word of mouth will spread and the people who decided to watch crap last weekend will redeem themselves and see Coraline this weekend. And you should too! In 3D or not, it's well worth it.

Check out this interview with character designer & sculpter Damon Bard as well as examples from his amazing portfolio.

End of an Age... an Orphan-Age

Most of you following the industry will have heard by now - last Friday The Orphanage closed it's doors and a lot of wonderful, talented people suddenly had to say goodbye and scramble to find the next big thing. You can read the more or less official announcement on Stu's blog. I'm happy, grateful, and proud to have been an Orphan and to have worked with such amazing folks.

Lisa Simpson once asked her father if he realized that the Chinese word for "crisis" is the same as "opportunity." Wise Homer replied, "Yes... Crisi-tunity!" I hope this crisis quickly becomes opportunity for all the Orphans and I'm excited to see where everyone goes next.

As for me... well that's a story for another post.