GIANT ROBOT CLUB!

Live-action GANTZ.

http://www.gantz-movie.com/

Also spoof of Wes Anderson movies:

Sorry for the lack of updates, it’s been another month, and i’m headed into #5, which is the start of half way through a 10 month term. But I’m not a normal short term so my time really does vary.

This post will not include pictures because i am not up to slogging through 1000 pictures taken in about 3 weeks, but I will post some soon after I sort through the bad ones. I had a souring experience deleting ALL 300 of the English Speech Contest Finals pictures and only being able to recover half of them with fail results. I’ll get back on top of them soon.

At the end of this week/month is a huge culture festival in Seoul Land (it’s what it probably sounds like). Strangely enough neither I nor Wilson, the two actual foreigners, are an active part of this IYF event that promotes cultures around the world, but some of our university youth friends are. . .whatever I only paid 1000 bucks and ‘volunteered my youth for their hearts’ (quote taken from IYF/Good News Corp poster) to be a bystander. . .really though this gives me a chance to enjoy the event instead of being stuck doing it, so I’ll get to walk around with my kids and have fun.

That’s whats happening at the end of this month, here’s what happened at the start.

May 5th is childrens day holiday in Korea so we all went to the Millenium Park (again for me) and it was really cool. I took some better pictures and knew what I was doing while there so it made it a very enjoyable experience. I also had my own group of kids to watch over. Coincidentally last time I was here I was in a group with the older sister of one of the girls I had in my group this second time.

Eulalia! (for Miles) I got better pictures of the Zodiac animals in armor and swords, if I recall, Pig, Monkey, Mouse, Dog, Dragon at least.

Next we had a Sunday Service at an emptied Archery Range, which in Korea is a huge field since archery is big here, and it was cool. There was lots of sports and our own group did their own ‘Field Day’ (no ribbons tho). Had some funny things go on, a great idea is to do a ‘bob for a piece of candy buried under a pile of corn starch’, faces were covered in white, and near the end we made a plate that had no candy in it- just a face digging around. I got some cool pictures from that day too.

The next week, the 13th i think, was teachers day. Its pretty big here, they even close schools for the day because of the close competition in schools theres controversies of students ‘bribing’ teachers with expensive gifts. But here we make sure our students stay poor so we get flowers and cards. I actually got 3 cards, in English, and were very heart warming and amusing. Here’s a quote “I wrote this in cursive so I expect you to understand it. But I can’t read it.” This boy does all his English in cursive…genius

that friday the 15th I got to see Star Trek in theaters and it was awesome. I also saw some Levi’s that are 188-200k won. Thats about 140 a pair. I just bought 3 pairs and had them shipped to me for as much from the states. Perhaps I should resell them. I also ate a place called Stech. You may have seen my mobile upload on facebook, it is a restaurant advertising itself as ‘Steak Technology since 1996′ Almost sounds like a college.

This last week we had bible seminar webcasts from the main church so I got to just sit in the office and listen to the english translation. much easier to listen to service then sitting on a pew(-pew).

and thats all so here’s some random tidbits

besides just doing the teaching thing, I am now teaching TOEFL classes, and am reconsidering college with teaching ESL or English abroad as the focus. I go to the college in the mornings sometimes and just kick it and participate in an English bible service.

I constantly have people come up to me and start speaking Korean- it’s cool that i can understand but better that I just ‘LOOK AT SIGN’ them.

watched/torrented a lot of movies lately-

Knowing (lame, total Robot chicken M.night shamalan “WHAT A TWIST!” bs, wtf aliens).

Bolt was fun, pidgeons reminded me of the Animaniac’s of course, and they even said “Redonkulous” which is a little too much for me given its a childrens movie and the changing of the word Rediculous revolves around the PENIS. wtg Diseny keeping the ‘percieved’ tradition alive.

Paul Blart Mall Cop – watchable, for one viewing.  Loved king of queens (not the Sean kind of King of Queens tho)

History of the world Part 1 – why not

Star Trek like 4 times then theater

Australia – cool movie, but damn long at 2:45

Over the Hedge and Tropic Thunder – both full of awesome and win

Role Models is hilarious and I hope to do some LARP/LAIRE shit when I get back, i even saw a lakeridge LARP group on facebook – if they can do it so can we.

I Love You Man – havent watched it but heard its good.

Quantom of Solace – havent watched yet, even if not that great still gotta do it, plus its free

I also torrented books 1-16 & 18 and just need 17, 19, 20, and 21 when published, of the Redwall Series and put them on my iPhone. Win.

Some of the kids have shirts that are completely inaproriate for school but because its in english they have no idea what they say.  “Peanut Butter Mother Fucker” and “Fuck tha Police”.  The second one is N.W.A. therefore American and just a judgement call on allowability, but the first one is complete ENGRISH, I even saw it on the Engrish website from lolcats. I also so the pastors daughter (our age) wear a Jackass for the DS video game shirt to sunday morning service.  I think the attraction was that it’s just a white t-shirt.  The lack of English/letting it just go is stupifying.

The church recently served spagetti.  it was weak sauce, literally it wasn’t all that red and kinda barren.  I noticed after I started eating it that I was, again, truly in Korea, as it had squid as the protein.  Sounds strange but its all the same now.  I also got to try me some Okonomiyaki, it was ok, not exactly as awesome as it is portray’d in Ranma 1/2 but I’ll attribute that to the fact that I was at a buffet and didnt have a girl weilding a giant spatula throw it at me /swoon

and I actually have one picture to share that I took from the university right next to their greenhouse(is that the right word? its a garden that has lots of various plants from all different regions and climates in controlled states in separate sections. it’s really humid in there)

Keeps TRex away, all yours for only $5

New Star Trek Wiki page – made by nit-picking nerds!

Song of Ice and Fire to be made into a game! (Geoff will love this, miles will probably like it too.)

White Knight Chronicles for PS3 trailer! (Miles will love this.)

Legend of Kamui (from Kamui anime) live action trailers!

Vitamins after workout cancels workout benefits?

Crazy awesome reverse-dungeon-crawler-game with awesome name!

Russian-designed, Japanese animated movie looks FUCKING AWESOME!

AND FINALLY- MEGA SHARK VS GIANT OCTOPUS!

So how do you protect japan from giant monsters? Some would say giant monsters, some would say the army, others might suggest using two or more armies. I would recommend transforming robot super teams.

But apparently Japan says they will utilize….

Giant crazy-haired, stick-wielding, pseudo-sumo men!

I am going to love this for ever and ever. Anyone else think this might be one of the best things in 2009?

As good as the last Batman film was, it did have a couple of flaws that I hope don’t show up again in the next installment of the series.  For example, for citizens of such a crime-ridden city, all the people in  Gotham City are such gullible idiots.  Not only do they believe that Harvey Dent is Batman despite having absolutely no proof whatsoever and the two having completely different-looking chins, but they also believe that Batman killed a bunch of people for no reason whatsoever at the end of the film.  That said, this obvious lack of critical thinking might explain why nobody in DC comics is able to figure out that the guy who looks just like Superman but wears glasses is actually Superman.

Another problem with this movie is that it followed in the trend that has been going on since the second Tim Burton Batman movie, where the script tries to shove as many villains in at once and clutter up the plot.  Many of the best comic book films involve only one main character fighting only one new antagonist (Spider-Man 2, for example), while many of the worst have the main character being lost among a multitude of sidekicks and three or four new villains (Spider-Man 3).  Hopefully the next Batman movie recognizes the problems with putting so many characters in one movie that none of them have the screen time to be fully explored and only brings in one new foe.

Spider-Man 4

Among the new villains proposed for the new movie, Harley Quinn is among the most logical.  Since the character of the Joker never died but the actor kind of did, the writers might have unused story ideas for the Joker that could easily be switched over to Harley, the Joker’s psychopathic sidekick (though the crew could simply cast a new Joker at the risk of angering fans).  Less likely villains include the Mad Hatter (who, being nothing more than a pedophile with a magic hat, might be too gimmicky for the big screen) and Killer Crock.  Despite having one of the best names of all Batman foes, the superpowers of Killer Crock push the believability of the Batman universe.  In fact, the only member of the Batman rogues gallery who has a believable origin for his superpowers is Bane, an otherwise interesting villain who had the poor misfortune of being dressed like a gimp and filmed screaming his own name by Joel Schumacher in Batman and Robin.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaane!!!!!!!

In my opinion, the only way to top Heath Ledger’s Joker is to have Batman fight the one character who is truly his opposite…Superman.  Where Batman is a capitalistic sadist with a loose sense of ethics, Superman represents the pinnacle of human morality and is a defender of the working class.  The final chapter of Frank Miller’s graphic novel showed Batman, on the run from the law, in a climactic battle against the Man of Steel.  Since the Dark Knight ended with the title character labeled an outlaw, the next film should depict Batman clashing against the only force that the US government has capable of bringing the vigilante to justice.  My ideal version of The Dark Knight 2 (The Dark Knight…Returns?) would depict a fantasy scenario where a corrupt republican (Bats) fights to the death against a hopeful Democrat (Supes).  The only way to make that movie cooler is to add in Rob and Don, the Mutant Leader’s henchmen from Miller’s comic book, who had such great dialogue as…

God, I love those guys.  Maybe they can get their own spin-off…

With the commercial success of the Dark Knight film and the real-life death of the only surviving antagonist, there has been a lot of speculation about which characters should be in the next Batman movie.  The director claims that he hasn’t made any decisions about the script, so hopefully the rumors circulating on the internet are just that- Eddie Murphy as the Riddler, for example.   Not only is the Riddler, a normal guy whose only defining characteristic is that he leaves clues that make him easier to catch then anyone else, the dumbest villain in all of Batman’s rogues gallery (yes, dumber than Egghead and Man-Bat), but also, Eddie Murphy is not the man for the job.  In fact, there is one man who has been auditioning for the role for years…

To be honest, I would rather see some new villains than the characters that have already been used in the previous bat-franchise.  Before The Dark Knight came out, everybody associated the Joker with Jack Nicholson, though Nicholson’s Joker was basically the same character that he plays in every single film.  They even changed the Joker’s name to Jack in the movie, perhaps because Nicholson didn’t understand the script and thought that the writers were making fun of him.  Heath “Heathcliff” Ledger not only knew which lines were his without making the writers change the Joker’s name, but he also did such an amazing job that people didn’t care that they basically already saw the movie 20 years ago.  Similarly, Aaron Eckhart got away with playing Harvey Dent because the character’s role as Two-Face was hidden in the last half hour of the movie and was substantially different from the more-or-less clinically retarded portrayal of the same character by Tommy Lee Jones.

While some portrayals of Batman villains are ultimately forgettable, others are either completely unforgettable or completely unforgivable.  Danny Devito, for example, was born to play the Penguin, a disgusting little man who lives in the sewer and eats raw fish (the Penguin, not DeVito…I think).  No other actor has the body type, the freakish sadism, or the troupe of carnies in their employ to play the Penguin correctly.  On the unforgivable side are such villains as Catwoman, whom most of the moviegoing public still holds a grudge against due to the 2004 Halley Berry film, and the Arnold-Schwarzzeneger-powered Mr. Freeze.  Actually, maybe they should do a movie where Devito and Arnie reprise their roles as the Batman foes, with the Penguin as Mr. Freeze’s long-lost brother (or, more accurately, freakish sentient afterbirth).

Who wants to see Throw Momma From the Train again?

The only character from the previous movies who I think might work in the new franchise is Robin, who is associated with Batman more than any other character.  Despite the fact that bringing the boy wonder to the big screen signaled the beginning of the end of the previous Bat-franchise and that Nolan’s Batman already has two brilliantly acted sidekicks played by Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, reporters will hound the crew until Robin is introduced in the new series.  Bringing in Robin in fits with the overarching theme of Nolan’s Batman movies (Bruce Wayne wanting to know when he can give up being Batman and live a normal life), since Batman can train Robin as his successor so that he can retire.  Plus, Nolan can have Robin killed at the climax of the movie to show how dangerous Gotham really is and how Bruce must never give up being Batman.  The death of Robin has been done in the comics (twice!), would shock the moviegoing audience, and would let Nolan continue to make solo Batman adventures free of nubile superhero jailbait.