"To hell with the critics!"

Just the other day, I was having a conversation with someone while I was working (I won't say who), who said he dislikes a movie, claiming that his reason was that either "...it bombed at the box-office" or "(some critic) said that it was...". I pity the poor kid...

I have to admit, at one point in my life I was just like that. I wouldn't see a movie because of what some critic (or critics) had to say about it. "I was going to see "...", but I heard that Ebert & Roeper gave it a thumbs down, so I changed my mind." Now that I look back, I can't believe how gullible & stupid I was to think that way. I was subconsciously brainwashed into thinking that. I was basically bending over to only one person's opinion. You got to remember, a critic's review is only his/her opinion, not the entire film-going audience's.

I know many people like that nowadays, especially here in the Apple. Somebody is bad-mouthing a movie left & right because of how "they" considered it a failure. I never take somebody's word for it until I see the film myself. For example, this past weekend, I saw Be Kind, Rewind. It was an OK film... not the best, but good. The next day at work, we were having one of those philosophical conversations when I brought up the film. The aforementioned person went on a big rant, saying:

"Oh, what a terrible movie!" ETC, ETC, ETC...

I asked him, "Well, did you see it?"

"No, but I heard that it was awf-"

"Then you have no right to say anything."

"But-"

"No"

In the end, I completely chastised his pride.

It also works in reverse. After everybody was telling me how great Princess Mononoke was & how it's the greatest animated film ever, I rented the DVD with high expectations, watched the film & left somewhat disappointed. Everybody has a different taste in what they like to watch. Hey, I think Fantasia is an awesome film, but I know that there are many people out there who aren't into it as much as I am, so I accept & respect their opinions & move on.

This kind of thing really irks me. You can't judge a movie by it's critical/box-office performance. Hell, even if the mass public DOES hate it, there's still somebody out there who'll sit down & watch. Every movie has it's place & it's audience. Now that I've been in the city for nearly 6 months, I've definitely learned & accepted a lot. I've learned to tolerate the things I don't like (movies included) & by doing so, I've been inspired by things my old self wouldn't dare to acknowledge, like Miyazaki films or the "anime" style or Thai food.

So take a lesson: go out there & try new things, accept something for what it is,don't believe everything you hear & don't judge a book by it's cover (or in this case, 'review').

I'm Goin' to Comic-Con!

Hey everybody!

I just got my plane tickets & hotel reservations for the San Diego Comic-Con! It's gonna be a blast coming up this July! If anybody else is going too, let me know. I'd like to meet you there, "mono y mono".

By the way, what do you think of my new headline I put up top? Now it's a blog!

"This concludes my brief announcement. We hope you enjoyed our broadcast day!"

Disney Bastardization #3 - Dinosaur Battle

Here's my third Disney monstrosity. This time, taking a clip from the "Rite of Spring" sequence from Fantasia. Enjoy the carnage! BWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

Maybe a little TOO scary?

Hands down, this has got to be THE gayest thing I've ever done in my entire life. Bet you thought so too.

I cheated a bit too, I was supposed to only use 1 sound effect, but I ended up using two entire song sequences. Oh what shame have I brought to the craft!?

Disney Bastardization #2 - "Bambi Meets Flower"

Here's my 2nd Disney Bastardization video. Like the last one, this clip also comes from Bambi. It's the scene where Bambi meets Flower the skunk for the first time.

Everybody knows that first impressions are always the most important. Let's see what Bambi thinks of Flower, shall we?:

Cute, isn't it?

Hope you liked it! More to come soon!

& the Oscar Goes to...

Well, the Oscars are over & the winners have been announced. Being an animator, plus the fact that I don't really care that much about "Best Makeup" or "Best Supporting So-&-So", my focus was mainly on the "Best Animated Feature" & "Best Animated Short" categories.

I'll start off with the shorts: Peter & the Wolf was the winner & I'm glad it was. I've always loved Peter & the Wolf (especially the music) & out of all the P&tW adaptations I've seen, this one is by far the best out of the bunch. I'm usually not that big a fan of stop-motion, but the animation in Peter & the Wolf blew me away.

As for the feature category, I was a bit mixed. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed Ratatouille, I believe that Persepolis really deserved the award. Sure, I think Ratatouille had some great animation (even for CG) & I think Brad Bird is a genius, but Persepolis has that certain something that I can't quite describe...

Eitherway, I'd like to say congrats to all the winners & nominees.

Disney Bastardization Time!

Before the hilariousness of ElCid's Bambee, there was this:

Years ago, Thad K. over at Animation ID made a few videos called "Disney Bastardizations". The point of these videos was to ruin the point of a classic Disney scene using only sound effects (make sad scenes happy, fun scenes scary, etc.). At the time, these were probably the funniest videos I had ever seen online.

Unfortunately the videos were removed, I think because he posted the videos on Youtube, where the Disney people spotted them & made him take them down. Since then, I wanted to bring back these hilarious videos somehow, but I didn't have the ability to do that. Now, after learning a few tricks, I can finally bring these babies back.

My favorite of the videos he did was of the infamous death scene from Bambi. Since the video has been gone for a long time, I had to recreate the video myself using Windows Movie Maker. This will be the only scene I will recreate, the rest will be completely original works.

Finally, I just want to say that all credit for this video goes to Thad. This was all his idea, not mine. & Thad, if you see this & you're upset that I'm doing this without your permission, I just want to say sorry in advance, & if you want me to take it down, let me know & I'll take it down without any trouble. Thanks & enjoy!

Just by adding that one sound effect, it completely changes the mood of the scene! Look forward to seeing more of these in the near future! Now if only I knew how to put these on my iPod...

"StreetWise"

Here's something I thought I posted a while ago:

Back in September, I drew out & submitted this for a magazine called 'InkStains'. It got turned down flat, probably because it wouldn't look so good in black & white print.

I later adapted this into a script & storyboard for Storytelling class & got a 'A'. At least it amounted to something in the end.

Oh, & here's a little behind-the-scene trivia: I based the look of the homeless man off of my father. "No offense, Chim!"