TV Show Review: Attack on Titan

Finished up watching this series last night.  Its certainly not for everyone.  Its Japanese, its a cartoon, its subtitled, its got naked giants without genitalia eating people.  Its anime which if you don't already know what it is, you probably won't like it.

That said, its about as good as anime gets.  Its weird in all the best ways.  Humanity has been stuck inside three concentric walls since it was almost exterminated some 100 years earlier by these giant "Titans" of which there are different kinds but all of which love to wordlessly eat people--lots of them.  Besides the enormous walls the only thing standing between humanity and extinction are teams of military like individuals who use waist mounted devices to swing from building to building or tree to tree with their reloadable swords to slice the Titans apart.

So you have the classic Japanese anime with lots of people flying through the air showering each other in oceans of blood.  Behind it all are the questions of what exactly are the Titans?  Where do they come from? Why does the royal family get to stay inside the safest circle and get all the resources?  How do we kill more of the Titans?  Why can Eren turn himself INTO a Titan?  Has a Titan who can transform into a human infiltrated the group?

It started off as a manga (comic) in Japan and has quickly spread across the globe with novels, films, video games, etc. with millions of editions in print.  The english subtitled anime series does not carry it all the way through where the manga has gone and leaves much unresolved and unanswered and thus a bit dissapointing that more answers aren't given and so I'm waiting for the collection of episodes (this first "season" was some 25 episodes long).  The translation is fairly good though a bit too literal vs. conversational as is typically the case with anime but there is definitely a bit of info lost in translation and there are gaps in information that leave you asking if you missed an episode or part of an episode that I attribute to the move from Japanese to English.

The series has been a bit controversial in Asia with those in Hong Kong and Taiwan seeing the Titans as stand-ins for invading China and South Korea calling it a reflection of Japan's recent militaristic turn.  I doubt its either but the fact that it has gotten a lot of people all riled up over it shows its now widespread influence.  If you've given things like Akira and Ghost in the Shell a chance in the past and enjoyed them (as I have, though I am only a VERY small anime aficionado, knowing only the largest of titles and series), I would recommend some binge watching to include Attack on Titan for a current look at the top level of work coming out of Japan.

Flim Review: Snowpiercer

During my time in my youth as a clerk at the Canyon Ranch Resort in Lennox, MA I had the unfortunate pleasure of bumping into one of the Weinstein brothers of film and TV fame.  Whether it was Harvey or Bob matters not.  They (he) was a fat dink then and he's a fat dink now.  Only now they own The Weinstein Company vs. Miramax which they founded and sold to Disney.  In either case the Weinstein slobs have a habit of requiring major edits to Asian films they acquire the rights to or drastically curtailing their distribution in the West.

So it was with Snowpiercer.  Though an English language film staring Chris Evans, it was directed by a Korean and was based off of an early 80's French comic.  For whatever reason the Weinstein's chose to play games with this most excellent movie.  They demanded major edits of the film with additional voiceovers at the beginning and end of the film likely in an attempt to make it more suitable for American tastes...which is odd given the number of decidedly independent and quirky films the Weinsteins have backed in their career (Clerks, Pulp Fiction, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Kids, Heavenly Creatures, etc.)  Fortunately the Korean director, Bong Joon-ho, refused their demands and kept the film as is--which is likely why the Weinsteins then refused to give the film the wide release it deserved, limiting it to some 150 very small, obscure theaters in its initial release and then sending it on to the Home audience via NetFlix and DVDs.

Thankfully a few people in the sci-fi world saw the film and have been singing its praises since.

It took me about the first half hour of the film to warm (pun intended) up to Snowpiercer.  It begins slowly and the special effects are initially not the best that money can buy.  That said, the premise of the film is what drew me in.  Not to say that its realistic, but it sure is interesting.  Virtually the entire population of the Earth has died out due to man's attempt to reverse global warming that has lead to a ice encased planet that is now too cold to live on.  All that remains is a few hundred or thousand individuals aboard an ever moving train that circles the earth once every 365 days.

Aboard this train the population is stratified by class.  The wealthy and powerful live in the front cars of the train and exist in comfort and ease.  The poor and unwanted live at the rear, existing on jello "protein bars" made from well, its not people but its supposed to be just as revolting.  The plot then revolves around an uprising lead by Chris Evans' character "Curtis" who along with his fellow rear train inhabitants have tired of being told what and how to exist.  Watching the progression from the rear to the front of the train as conditions improve and both the rear-trainers and the audience learn just what comforts those in the front have been partaking of is great theater.  The action scenes are excellent and you don't get the "claustrophobic" feeling you might get expect from a film that takes place in such a tight environment (just the opposite in fact, you end up forgetting the action takes place entirely within a train at times).  The story also has a few nice twists to keep it from being a straightforward thriller and makes you reassess the motivations of a number of characters.

There are traces here of your classic futuristic dystopian films and books--1984, Brazil, etc. but the material is definitely fresh and does not feel derivative.   Tilda Swinton is nearly unrecognizable and will get a good deal of Best Supporting Actress buzz for her role as "Mason" the train's second in command and will be the most memorable part of the film for most, I spent much time wishing that she had MORE screentime despite the "evil" of her character.

No self respective fan of Sci-Fi should miss this film.  Its worth nearly every moment.

Comic Review: Letter 44 #1

I read the first few pages and a synopsis of the comic on the iO9 website and had to pick up a copy (or seven).

No silly superheros in dumb costumes here--I really can't stand Superman, Batman, the X-Men and any other of the million "superhero" genre stories--just solid political and sci-fi drama.

Issue #1 is tightly written and bounces between an incoming president (#45) who is just being inaugurated and a team of scientists and soldiers on an outbound spaceship bound for the asteroid belt.  #45 is notified via the titular letter from #44 that unbeknownst to all but the former president and a literal handful of other officials, a suspected alien operation was discovered to be building "something" in the asteroid belt some seven years earlier.

All the wars and conflicts president #44 embroiled the country in were to serve the purpose of generating as many battle hardened soldiers as possible while funneling as much money into military R&D programs as could be done in whatever time they had before the aliens come visiting.

#45 is now caught between meeting the demands of his proposed "hope and change" agenda and confronting the looming alien encounter.  If this sounds a bit like our current presidential setup, its meant to--to an extent.  Its not that the comic is taking a political stance (as of yet) its that its setting up an interesting alternate reality to drive the thoughts of the reader.  This is an intelligent comic and not one for a reader looking for lots of explosions (so far), shootouts, etc. Or at least that's not ALL the comic is as there is none of this in the first issue. 

The art is plain and not distracting.  There are no "artistic" flourishes for their own sake and the space scenes appear particularly well done--the sense of weightlessness is conveyed in an excellent manner here.

You can read issue #1 in full here: First issue of Letter 44... and the publisher issued this with $1 cover price with two known variants that I am aware of.  The first printing of some 22,000 copies is sold out with a second printing on its way.  The most common edition of the comic is already going for about $7 and the more limited variants heading up to $30.  As the story has already been optioned (reportedly) to a TV network to work on a series there...so perhaps these prices will stand up.  Regardless, I've now got to go out and find a copy of issue #2 which has already come and I haven't found at a retail store yet.  If you like smart sci-fi and/or comics...this might be a good series to follow along with.  I'm subscribed at my local comic store, hopefully I'll be returning on a regular basis to pick issues up...god I hope the aliens in the asteroid belt don't turn out to be something remarkably dumb...

Comic Review: Fall of the House of Usher #1

I'm not a hardcore follower of comics, illustration or popular art so I didn't know Richard Corben from anyone. I was more interested in a comic retelling of Poe's tale.

Richard Corben ends up being a fairly well known (famous?) illustrator known initially for his work in Heavy Metal magazine but working prolifically in many arenas since the 70's.  Turns out his style fits quite well for this story.  His human creations are bulbous and odd.  His backgrounds are detailed and sharp.  His style wouldn't be called realistic but a strange tale such as Fall doesn't necessarily call for pure reality.

The story itself is slightly "adapted" from Poe's version though the basics remain, an old friend asks for a visit to his strange mansion buried deep in the heart of some strange woods.  As they get reacquainted the homeowner becomes increasingly unhinged and his relationship with his sister is odd to say the least.

I'll be interested in seeing the conclusion in issue #2 as issue #1 really just sets the scene while the true craziness and "fall" occur at the very end of the story.  How Corben portrays this ending will be very interesting to see.  I would recommend reading the actual Edgar Allen Poe story in full before reading the comic as it allowed me to understand a lot of the nuances and background that perhaps aren't able to be conveyed in a short form comic like this.  I felt like I enjoyed the comic a lot more becuase I knew the story beforehand.

Its an interesting comic and a solid, short feature crafted by an famous artist based on and even more famous short story.  The comic is produced by Dark Horse and was released on May 15.