Anyone who knows me, knows my disdain for anime and manga. I got into it when it was still called Japanimation, and out as is was just being called anime. These days it’s all either violent heroes who fight their way out of their problems, pounding or slicing them into solutions. I was pleasantly surprised by Astro Boy. His main mission is maintaining peace between humans and robots, meaning the bulk of his time is spent trying to stop fights. He’s not only a robot, but a little boy, who brings a child’s outlook to every situation, but is also taken along on experimental or dangerous missions, because he’s also a robot. But the BEST part is his origin! The main villain, a brilliant robot engineer, grief struck over the loss of his son, builds himself a new one, and programs it with all the past memories of is real son, and tries to pick up where he left off. But just as before he is too controlling and the child rebels. The robot is deactivated and the lab destroyed in a fit of rage at his inadvertant creation of a powerful machine who thinks and feels as a human does; one that can disregard and even change his programming. The robot is re-activated and renamed Astro, all the while, pieces of memories of his old life, and even his REAL life, come back to him. In the end, at the final confrontation, there is no fight, and Astro defeats his villainous former-father by a simple hug and an offer of forgiveness. Try THAT in Dragonball Z, or in Bleach. It doesn’t work because the characters don’t have the depth offered by Astro Boy. I great work of animation with a hero too hard not to love. Highly recommended.

Luby’s Review: 8.5 out of 10.

P.S.: This does not mean it is without flaws, parts are outlandish or predictable, but past all that is something worth watching.

Warren Ellis’ BlackGas is a short run zombie comic, now collected into 2 packaged Graphic Novels, published by Avatar Press. First off: I like zombie flicks. I owe a slew of zombie flicks and hope to obtain even more, from the mainstream (Night of the Living Dead (remake) ((AWESOME!!!!))) to the obscure (Death Valley. Two words: Racist Zombies) So I thought I’d weigh in on BlackGas. All-in-all the concept seemed sound, like something you’d see in a living dead knockoff: An engaged couple returns to the guy’s old island-bound hometown. Just so happens it has a mysterious dark past that the natives used to talk about. Surely that’s the last time we’ll hear anything of it! Its okay to let our guard down, even for a second! (poor Rusty)
Anyhow a horrendous earthquake rends open the earth and a strange BlackGas seeps out and turns the residents into zombies, sorta. As Ellis himself said, “All that black stuff in the back of our brains that we never act on… That all comes out. They’re out of control, but technically they’re not mindless. They’re just beyond reasoning with.” (thank you Wikipedia) And sure enough the local dirtbag is infected, people are killed savagely, eaten, etc. All the stuff you’d expect out of a zombie flick, but they’re cussing all the while! Really, is there anything so far that doesn’t sound like a horror film knockoff? Look, there’s almost no explaination in Night of the Living Dead either, but it still stands as it tries to show people attempting to make sense of it, you feel like there is something there other than personal terror or guilt. In BlackGas, its nothing but personal terror and guilt, and there is rarely even a hint at there being an outside when its clear the threat is not global. Its just about these people, who we were barely introduced to, trying to survive the zombie attack on an island which is safely cut off from the rest of the world. The global threat is a staple among most zombie flicks, bt seems lacking here. In the end, the Pres calls out a nuke, which opens up a crack in the earth and lets out enough of the BlackGas to cover the world. So, I guess there’s your global threat. I guess it counts if ya throw it in. Anyhow, the only other thing the books have to carry them is shock; and they try damn hard. But there’s so little new, the only thing they have is sex. So periodically a zombie or two will stop to screw something, a person, animal, dead body. (headless body once) But they’re aware of it all, so they tend to by crying ot apologizing between growls, curses, or bites. That’s really it; BlackGas tries to shock or gross us out, but what with South Park and all we’re remarkably well-equipped to deal with it, so it just looks sad or sick, or both. The shock quickly gives way to disgust and really what else is left to keep your interest in this book? Not much. Do yourself a favor and watch Night of the Living Dead again, its better, trust me.

Luby’s Review: 2 out of 10
P.S.: Don’t get me wrong, I like Warren Ellis’ work, just not this time.

Chocolate is a Martial Arts film produced by the same studio that put out Ong Bak Warrior (good) and the Protector (not so good).
In a nutshell, Chocolate is about a savant (the handicapped fellows that have one peak-human skill, like adding any two numbers, remembering every day of their life, etc.) whose one peak-human skill is kicking everyone’s ass! The set up is a bit unbelievable, having learned to fight watching the next-door kickboxing school. In any case, there is a big showdown because her mom has a history with these mobster types, having double-crossed them with this yakuza dude. Afterward they fathered the movie’s heroine, and collected most of the mobsters collection money, and took off. Well, years later, mommy contracts cancer and young daughter, who can by now fight, having tested herself against a few street punks, goes out to get the rest of the money to pay for mommy’s treatment. as is standard with martial arts flicks, she goes up against hordes of enemies which get progressively stronger, and one or two mid-bosses, then the final boss. Unfortunately, their mid-boss is the mobsters’ own savant warrior. Yeah, that’s right, one of the high points in the film is a fight between two mentally handicapped martial artists. Retard fight! Makes you feel bad just to see it. It all culminates with a ridiculous fight on a 3-story apartment building.

All in all, its a bit strange. Unique, but not necessarily great.

Luby’s Review: 5.5 out of 10

Incidentally, the credits include a long bloopers reel. there seemed to be a LOT of injuries in this film!

So, I finally watched the copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine that was gathering dust on my DvD shelf. And I went into it with dampened hopes and shattered allusions, having heard virtually universal negative criticism. So I have to say, it wasn’t that bad. Honestly, it wasn’t. True, there were some abysmal moments: The fight between Logan and the Blob, the ENTIRE fake-wife deal, and the final villain. But, I don’t really think any of that are out of place in a comic-themed movie. Fact is, if the entire film was animated and they left in all the costumes, nothing would be a bit out of place! Face it, the movies are written this way because that’s the way comics are! I’ve seen even worse stuff out of Marvel in the 90’s. In the last 5 years or so, all their stuff is trying to be so high brow and mature (mostly because kids rarely read comics, more adults do) but their roots are still a bit childish, so take the lumps with the good. All-in-all, the end was bad. The final Deadpool was stupid. But the wars were a cool touch, and the whole thing taking place in the 80’s or so was kinda cool, after all, he is supposed to be about 125, so hes got a lot of  time to take from. The retconing was as to be expected, as with all comic movies. But is wasn’t so bad as “I’m the Juggernaut, bitch” That was shameful. Wolverine was just okay, not fantastic, which is what most people seemed to expect.

Seriously, lowball your expectations people. Less disappointment that way.

Luby’s Review: 6 out of 10

Arnie as the Commando

Command is an old movie from the shoot ‘em up 80’s, starring that seminal 80’s action star: Arnold Schwarenegger. So, there is a long list of problems, but we’ll start with the cliche`s (who knows, maybe they did them first and everyone else made them cliche`s)
its your usual over-the-top action film. Arnie is a retired special forces commando forced to do one last mission for the traitorous ex-comrades who’ve kidnapped his daughter.
In a fight with one of the named villains, he kills him by uppercutting him onto a table leg, impaling him. He then proceeds to ask the man to talk. Now I understand the dramatic necessity for the desperate hero to try and get information out of a mortally wounded villain, but hes got a 3 foot spike through his chest, he ain’t sayin’ NOTHING! There IS a limit to even MY suspension of disbelief.
The spunky girl along for the ride. Arnie basically kidnaps a stewardess and drags her along. I would think that anyone would call the cops before developing Stockholm Syndrome.

The main villain is an ex-partner, rumored to be dead, who’s back to take on his former friend who thinks he’s gone soft. But the part is filled by Vernon Wells, a flabby, skinny-armed doofus who looks more like a crooked Florida cop than an ex-commando. Maybe if he beefed up and did some military training I could almost believe it. Perhaps we’re more used to that complete experience where millions of dollars are spent training the actors to make sure they look the part, and can do the stunts.etc. believably. maybe we’ve become spoiled…

There are all the usual ridiculous deaths, invincible heroes, infinite ammo, storm trooper effect, lame one-liners, and predictable last-minute twists, etc. you’ve already seen in every other movie.

Really the only thing I like about the movie is the fact that when the bad guys grab Arnie and send him off on his mission, the first thing he does is escape, track them down and go after them.

What I didn’t like was the fucking steel drum and saxophone in all the soundtrack!!!!

Yes, Arnie, somewhere, somehow, someone did pay: ME!

Surprisingly, having seen Arnie’s later movies, I CAN see a development as an actor, he was horrible in the movie: wooden, bland, etc. But, he is much better in later films, still no prize-winner, but not nearly this bad.
Luby’s Review: 4 out of 10

I saw it! I’ve been wanting to see it for quite some time, and I was not disappointed! Django came out a couple years after A Fistful of Dollars, which should technically be called a spaghetti western, and it was written and directed by the director and his brother (I think) who had worked with Sergio Leone, the director of FoD. It centralizes on an anti-hero from late 1800’s Old West (they toss around references to the Civil War left and right, so its likely soon afterward.) Django, the protagonist appears, walking into town carrying a girl (who he saved) and dragging behind him a coffin. The local villain, Major Jackson, waltzes in to shove him around and he shows him whats up by wasting all his cronies but letting him off the hook. The Major then rounds up all his guys to kill Django (about 50 guys) he waits patiently for the attack outside the saloon, and as they mass up in the streets, he reaches into his coffin, pulls out a gattling gun, and mows them all down, but still lets Jackson escape. Turns out, while burying the bodies in the  cemetary, the Major had killed Django’s ‘girl’, and he wants revenge. With the Mojor on the run, Jackson’s rival General Rodriguez, moves into town, and then meets up w/Django, the two are old friends. Django is a gun-runner, intent on selling a few of the gattling guns to the embattled General. The two plan a heist of gold, both to weaken the Major and to pay Django for those machine guns. Off they go, stealing a treasure of gold, but when the time comes for the General to pay Django for his help, the General stalls, and Django makes off with the loot, smuggling it in his coffin. But Django is followed by the Girl he saved, Maria, and they, in turn, are followed by the General’s men, who cause the coffin to be lost, and take out their frustrations on Maria, shooting her, and Django’s hands, crushing them, but not killing either of them. While out looking for Django, Rodriquez’s men are ambushed by the Major, who eventually finds and kills Rodriguez, and corners Django in a cemetary, hiding behind his girl’s gravemarker. A tense few seconds passes as they close on Django, who has bitten off the trigger guard of his pistol to use it withhis broken hands, killing the lot of them.

Simple enough, but the style with which it was done sticks in the memory, and now that I’ve seen the movie, I see its echos in many places. An ear-severing scene in it is the forerunner of Tarantino’s Resevoir Dogs’ infamous scene. (turns out Django had a great deal of influence on Tarantino, hence his appearance in SWD, see below). But the stranger with the coffinful of Death is a trope I’ve seen in many places, from video games and comics, to film and television. Personally I think this movie has had as much a creative impact at FoD, but I could be wrong. It seems its a smaller, more localized spread in comics, anime, and video games, all of which interconnect, and are of interest to me.

All-in-all, though, I thought it was a great spaghetti western and I dearly want to add it to my collection.

8.5 out of 10

~Luby

Sorry for the long absence, I recently moved and have been a bit busy at a new job.

BUT, I have been watching and reading, so…

I recently watched Sukiyaki Western Django, a Japanese-style spaghetti-western; hence the title. The oddest thing about the whole movie is the English: every actor speaks English, even though its not their first language, or they learned enough for the lines and they have heavy accents. Its a bit odd, really. Not sure the affect they were going for, but it got my attention…
Its supposed to be an attempt at the backstory of the cult spaghetti-western (which I now want to see as a result of this film) Django. SWD is fairly action-packed, and very eastern in its feel and execution. I’ve heard many parallels drawn between Japanese samurai flicks and American westerns; both being simple moral stories with a hero (and later anti-hero) who wins over the villain(s) while defending someone(s) helpless, ect. And in the film they make reference to the similarities between gunfighters and samurai, but really its about a bunch of people getting shot up. The BIG difference between this film and American westerns it the divorcement from reality: at the climax the villain is parrying bullets with a sword. But for anyone like me, who has played the cool (yet repetetive) game Samurai Western, this movie is a cool extension of the concept, or rather blending of the concepts.
Anyhow, two rival gangs move into a town rumored to have a great treasure from a long-past gold rush. The hero wanders in, impresses them both with his masterful gun-fu and is offered deals from each to help dispose of the other. he joins the larger force to take out the lesser, then turns on his bosses (reminds me of a fistful of dollars) over a girl, whos life, and son’s life, were ruined by an inter-gang romance. ANYhow, there’s a big finale featuring an armored villain with a gattling gun, which is pretty awesome, and the aforementioned crazy swordplay is also cool.
Oh, also, Quentin Tarantino makes a lengthly appearance as the master gunfighter, blending the mannerisms of the western outlaw and eastern master samurai. All-in-all, though I’m not a fan of Tarantino or his movies, and especially NOT his ‘acting’.

6 out of 10
~Luby

Marduk is a character of mine from WAY back, from high school! Originally, his purpose was to maim and kill my friend, Brian, during English class, along with the rest of the violently goofy cast of the weekly ‘comic’. Things have changed with time and now I’ve reinvented him with more attention to the original mythology I took his name from and more detail on the world, which has become much darker and much, much more serious, as I’ve grown up. 

Marduk is very powerful, very bitter, and very, very old creature. His universe was once one of great science and powerful magic working in unison towards great ends, but magic has fallen out of practice in the last millennia, and is regarded as superstitious nonsense by most of the modern worlds. Marduk lives on the dingy world, Moraine, overrun by organized crime and under the control of corrupt government. It’s a seedy, vicious place where everyone has criminal records, mob ties, and dark pasts. Marduk himself has been there as far back as he can remember, over 700 years, when the place was still an un-colonized outpost. Beyond that, his recollection is a bit fuzzy, but he knows its only the tip of the iceberg and he knows he has a heinous past indeed to hide from. Currently he runs a small private eye operation, and has advertised no limits on the job, any person, organization, or world. No job to big, no job too small, no job too far. Unfortunately, he’s made more business as a bounty hunter, and his reputation for efficiency keeps the jobs coming in.

Marduk is a very efficient and ruthless fighter, with an unknown breadth of martial skill and training. His is a high-range Emp (Empowered: superhuman individual) but not high enough on the scale to warrant too much attention. He is a gruff, secretive, P.I., who has no qualms about taking on jobs for the mob, or taking dirty money as payment. On a world this crooked, he reasons, all money gets dirt on it sooner or later. So do people, it seems, and Marduk has a dim view of humanity, knowing that in a forgotten corner of the galaxy ruled by the mob, all people get dirt on them too.

I saw Seven Swords again today, and thought I should put in a word or two about it. As most people who read this page know, (that’s right, all 4 of you)I like kung fu flicks. Put on any kind of Martial Art movie, I’ll enjoy it. From time-to-time, I find Kung Fu flicks which are modern (done within the last 20 years) and they usually tend to be pretty good, rarely there are the “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” kind of movies that try to be moving or in some way profound with their story ot imagery, most only try half-heartedly, seeming more tongue-in-cheek than sincere. This was one of those. Like “The Warrior”, they favored action over drama and I think, made out fairly well.

The story is set in China, in the mid 1600’s, or so, an Imperial Decree has outlawed the practice of martial arts, or of training in the martial arts. As such, a roving band of killers, with Imperial authority, led by the crazed Fire-Wind, is attacking comunities who harbor fighters and killing everyone to present their heads for reward offered (3,000 silver peices, I think). He and his gange have slaughtered hundreds, perhaps even thousands, as they move through the country. A survivor from one of their attacks is found by a woman of a small settlement of warriors who warns of the approaching killers. Mistrusted, but greatful for the help, he ventures into the Mountains of Heaven and speaks to a great swordsmaster, who send him back with 3 swords of power, as well as his 4 best students, all of who bear weapons of power. He takes on of the swords, another is given to the woman who found him, and to a local man. The Seven Swords, as they’re known, repell the attack, and then follow up by making an attack on Fire-Wind’s base as he is unaware. With a break in the persuit, the village tries to flee as Fire-Wind regroups, fleeing to a system of caves. Along the way, a traitor is suspected when water and food is poisoned. Once they reach shelter, the greatest swordsman of the group, named Chu (played by Donnie-freakin’-Yen!), takes his invincible Dragon Sword to try an stop Fire-Wind by destroying his treasure hoard. (his soldiers wont fight if they aren’t paid, very anticlimactic) of course he’s captured and the former prisoner, who he’s in love with AND who conventiently knew where siad treasure hoard was, is mortally injured but makes her way back to the caves where she tells the rest of the group to save Chu. So they set out, and there’s a great big fight at the end, and the bad guy dies, and the good guys win, and then they decide to go try to get the emperor to repeal the edict that caused this whole mess, and ride off into the sunset. -THE END-

However, this does not mean the movie is bad, just a bit predictable. But, in all honesty, what movie, TV show, or book isn’t predictable. People like a certain amount of routine in their entertainment. You don’t need to focus on routine, it doesn’t stimulate you, and there is no thought involved. You can relax in a routine. The real problem I had was with the 4 virtually nameless swordsmen, as well and the virtually nameless enemy officers they fought. I understand how these movies go, Heroic Bloodletting and all, but they even tried to tack on little back stories to them in a brief sequence, they all have a tiny little bit of character play, but it just draws attention to their lack of character, if you ask me.

BUT there were several very cool fight scenes, with a bunch of wirework, some worked seamlessly, some, no-so-much. And there were a few ‘holy shit!’ moments where I had to back it up to see what had happened, and how. A lot of creativity in the fights, so little monotony. And it was a kind of fantasy, with the medieval fight scenes being the key note in the film. A good movie, but not a great movie. If you like kung fu movies, you’ll like this, if you like fantasy movies, you’ll like this. Heck I like both and I liked it!

Although the end fight, up-and-down between the walls of a narrow corridor with long swords, was a bit much, even for me.

7 out of 10
~Luby

Oh, and yes, it was a bit of an homoage to Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai

I had given some thought to the idea of airships and sky pirates, and wht with a look back at some ideas of mine in junior college, I came up with these characters.

Sam is a sensetive, shy young 16-year-old who, unfortunately, has a family full of rowdy, carousing Sky Pirates! He has a very strong honest streak, doesn't like loud noises, hates the taste of rum, and would much rather spend a quiet afternoon in the sun with some books, star charts and paper and ink to persue his true passion: cartography! He is an expert navigator, and has had his training in arms since age 6, like the rest of the family. He also likes to tell people he's adopted.

Sam's uncle, Crash, is the Sky Pirate's Sky Pirate! He's the loudest, most boisterous rowdy pirate in a family or loud boisterous rowdy pirates. He was going to be the one to inherit Granddad's Pirate Lordship, but showing up drunk to the preceedings violates even a Pirate's morals. He's elected to go on a quest of self-discipline out on the open sky where all the temptations of a pirate will be there waiting for him to resist them, that'll prove his will. His nephew, Sam, has been brought along as the most level-headed of the Lander family to help steer him on the right path, literally and figuratively.