Thursday, February 17, 2005

I Thought I Told You Not to Panic!

Well well. It looks like the full trailer to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is finally up... at Amazon, of all places. It should be on the front/index page of the site. If you don't see it after clicking the link, try reloading. If you still don't see it... um... I don't know what to say. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Hitchhiker's Guide was originally a book written by Douglas Adams. It's a deep space comedy. So if you liked the first (or even second) Men in Black movie, then you'd probably like this. It's about a completely normal guy named Arthur Dent who finds out that the world is going to be destroyed by aliens. Rather than do anything stupid like try to stop it, he and his best friend (who turned out to be an alien) hitch a ride through space. Wacky adventures ensue. I just finished translating a massive Cartoon Network press release into a long-ass news report for AnimationHQ, and boy are my... um... typing fingers tired. The rundown: a butt-load of shows are coming to Toonami, and nothing's getting cancelled anytime soon. For anyone else who's a fan of the X-Men, you might want to check out this humorous Flash animation. It satires just how ridiculous death is treated in those comics, and sums up pretty much everything that's happened in the comics in the past couple of years. By the way, the girl with the pet dragon is Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat. And yes, Wolverine is Canadian. Much Love

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Monday, February 14, 2005

Superman is a Dick

I haven't had the motivation to write an entry in about a week. Whenever I did try to write something, I couldn't actually complete it. I have two movies I want to review, and a political rant I can't get past the first paragraph in. So instead of writing actual content, here's a link to a gallery of (real) humorous comic book covers, featuring Superman acting like a complete bastard. CLICKAGE. Here are some of my favorites... Much Love

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Sunday, February 6, 2005

Acceptance Speech / Cartoon Chronicle

Looks like I made it into OB's Nifty Fifty. This was a huge surprise to me, as I hadn't actually done anything last year. Also, I've never gotten higher than Second Runner-Up during the Otaku Awards. Still, I'd like to give my thanks to God (or whoever is responsible for creating this messed up universe), Shy, and the rest of the Nittee Fittee Committee. "Just because he's Manic. I remember one or two people mentioning before that Manic was one of the members here who sort of flies under the radar, for whatever reason. But, yeah, Manic is cool. His myOtaku is a fun read, he takes great care of the Music, Movies and TV forum, and he seems like a great guy in general. There should be a Manic Appreciation Day." -Shinmaru Damn you, Shinmaru! This means I'll have to keep putting effort into my entries. And after I spent all this time flying under the radar. Oh, and thanks for the compliments. Let's wrap this up with a Cartoon Chronicle. I'll have a This Fortnight in Stupidity in my next entry. Cartoon Chronicles: The Smurfs This show is smurfin' sweet. Meet the Smurfs. They're small, little blue men (and one woman) who live in a tiny village outside of a magical kingdom. They're led by Papa Smurf, and live a life of peace and fun. However, there is a human who lives in a nearby tower named Gargamel, who intends to capture the Smurfs for... um... uh... Why did Gargamel want the Smurfs, again? Every other word they said was "smurf." It was a noun, a verb, and an adjective all in one. You could smurf to the store, smurf a loaf of bread, and do it all in a smurfish way. The Smurf civilization is a strange one. I've heard of Patriarchal societies, but theirs is ridiculous. They have only one female. Okay, so there was also Sasette and Nanny, but Sas was illegal and Nanny had already gone through the change. Actually, Smurfette technically isn't a smurf at all, as Gargamel (somehow) created her to destroy the other smurfs. But then Papa Smurf worked his magic on her (make of that phrase what you will), and she began to frolic with the best of them. Since I'm already knee-deep in sexual references, I might as well say that Smurfette was (no doubt) banging Papa Smurf. She was probably also giving some to Hefty, putting hands on Handy, and braining Brainy. Yeah, I said it. Would I recommend it? Don't let that last paragraph fool you. It's good, quality, family fun. It's a great kid's show filled with magic and wonder. I mean, it was on the air for 9 years. Much Love

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Thursday, February 3, 2005

Thea-thea-thea-That's [edited for content], Folks!

What are those bastards doing to the precious the Looney Tunes? I tune into a few classic Merry Melodies on the Boomerang channel the other day, and you know what I find? Edits. The Looney Tunes, which remained untouched for decades, are being edited for content. I know! I'm surprised, too. How many of you are familiar with the Scarlet Pumpernickel? It was a cartoon where Daffy Duck goes to a movie studio and pitches the idea of a Zorro-like movie about a nobleman who's secretly the rogue bandit known as the Scarlet Pumpernickel. Anyway, as Daffy reads through the script, he gets so caught up in all of the drama that he gets carried away and shoots himself in the head. After he collapses, the studio exec says it's a brilliant script. Daffy then gets up and says something like "it's getting to where you gotta kill yourself to sell a movie in this town." So I watch the cartoon on Boomerang, and you know what happened? We see Daffy get caught up and act like he's about to do something... then we see him get up and say the quote from a paragraph ago, smoke rising from his head for no reason that can be seen. They cut out the gunshot. Why does this bother me? Well, besides his jealousy of Bugs and ability to hop around on his head, Daffy's trademark is getting shot in the head. Everytime he meets Elmer, he gets shot in the head. LT fans are all too familiar with Daffy's bill ending up on some misplaced part of his face-- the back of his head, even. If we're going to take away all instances of Daffy getting shot in the head, then what's the point in the "rabbit season, duck season" jokes? Him getting shot was the punchline. I also noticed a cartoon of Porky and Sylvester staying in a haunted house was mysteriously shorter than usual. Then I realized that several scenes were cut from the cartoon; probably because they skipped the "ghosts' " (actually mice posing as ghosts) many failed attempts to kill them. It was like watching Sylvester freak out for no reason. And if there's anything worse than violence in cartoons (assuming a few Looney bouts are harmful at all), it's seeing a cartoon cat behave like a cocaine addict. Then there's Boomerang's reluctance to air any Speedy Gonzales cartoons. See, despite Speedy being among the most popular Looney Tunes in Latin America, Boomerang in the US is afraid airing his cartoons will offend people. See, because a quick-witted, fast-running Mexican mouse who speaks Spanish while in Mexico is something today's children should never be exposed to. By the way, Pepe LePew's portayal of a filthy, foul-smelling Frenchman remains untouched. So don't worry. Much Love

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Tuesday, February 1, 2005

Oh, Jeni! Oh, Jeni, don't stop!

Oh, Richard Jeni. Don't stop making your HBO comedy specials. Your humorous slant on society brings joy to the world. I recently saw Richard Jeni's new comedy special, A Big Steaming Pile of Me. Very funny stuff. See it if you can. With my ungodly amount of freetime these days, I'm thinking of getting back to my D.Moon parodies. I'm currently in the middle of writing the sequel to The Saiytrix. I've got an idea for a Kill Bill parody, as well as Pulp Fiction. This might mean my next Justice League Unscrewed is on the backburner, but you never know. Sadly, I haven't even started writing my next chapter of New Planeteers. Then again, it's not like anyone has been reading it. I've also got another idea for an OB Anthology exclusive-- The Chronicles of Manic. If I get around to writing it, it'll be a parody of a summer blockbuster movie. Considering the list of stories above this paragraph, it might not come out until this summer. Much Love

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Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Club Plug

I'd like to take this time to plug my new OtakuBoards club: The Science Fiction Otaku Club aka SFOC. I haven't actually started a club since the "This isn't another otaku boards club, I swear" club back in 2003, so I figured it was time to take a wack at it again. The SFOC is for Jedis, Siths, Trekkies, Gaters, Browncoats, Matrixters, Darkos, Hitchhikers, 2001-ers, Gunslingers, Bionic Men/Women, Babylon 5-ers, Twilighters, DeLorean-Riders, Time Cops, Terminators, ET-ers, MIB, X-Philes, Highguards, Final Conflictors, Galactigeeks, Predators, Aliens, Starship Troopers, RoboCops, Scapers, Thunderbirds, and any other sci-fi fan group I'm too lazy to think up a clever name for. Leave a comment or PM my OB account to join, and list your 3 favorite sci-fi shows/movies/books. Much Love

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FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUdge!!!!11one

You've done it this time, Webby. Okay, so like the idiot I am, I failed to pay for my classes by the deadline, and the school dropped my entire schedule. I was aware of this weeks ago, by the way. When the semester started, I attempted to late-add back into my classes, but to no avail. So I tried to late-add into new classes the next few days, but I couldn't because some teachers refuse to add after the first day of classes-- and I spent the first day trying to add into my old classes. So now I don't have any class. Also, I don't have any courses scheduled this semester. That was a pun. Laugh. LAUGH! It's all I have left. So for everyone attending Cal State who's wondering when I'm going to transfer... 2006. In the meantime, I'm gonna get off my ass and actually try getting a job. There's no way in Hell I'm sitting around this house with my grandparents until June. Much Love

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Sunday, January 23, 2005

This Week in Stupidity [Jan. 16-23, 2005]

Heads up, people. It's time for another week in Stupidity. There are multiple candidates running for the position of Leader of the Demoncratic National Committee. Among the candidates is Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont. Oddly enough, Dean is doing very well, and has the committee's ear like wax. Wow. It's funny how easily we all forget this... "YEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Samsung has unveiled their new motion-sensitive mobile phone handset. This new handset is supposed to recognize certain hand movements, then translate them into certain commands on the phone. For example, one could dial a phone number without actually touching the pad. Also, shaking the handset 2 times gives it the command to hang up a call or delete a message. Oh yeah. That's just brilliant. I can't wait for all of the wrong numbers that are dialed because some bozo didn't want to move his fingers 2 inches closer to the phone. And let's not forget all of the calls that'll get disconnected when someone sneezes, runs, or makes any sudden movements. I can only wonder: when the flip the phone the bird, does it decide to drop your signal to one bar? Donald Trump got married. I know, I know. Again. This marriage won't make it past her 30th birthday. But this wasn't just any wedding. It was a Trump wedding-- one of the world's finest weddings. It was huge! Still, somehow, Donald couldn't seem to hire a stylist to fix that thing he calls a haircut. VH1 aired I Love the 90s: Part Deux this past week. Congratulations, VH1. You're not only out of decades, but you've resorted to reviewing most of them twice. I'm surprised they haven't done a second installment of I Love the 70s. But then, most of their panel was born in the 70s. Anyone else notice how that decade seemed to concentrate mostly on toys, children's programming, and school? Ice Cube released another movie. And there's your week in stupidity. Like, loath it, or just be apathetic toward it. Much Love

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Friday, January 21, 2005

Top 200? Fanboy Rants.

On the 19th, I finally reached my goal of making myOtaku's top 200 blogs. I came in at 198. A day later, I'm back at 201. This is what happens when you only update every other day. On the plus side, I'm up from 236, which I was stuck at from the moment I joined myOtaku until the day I copied Shinmaru with "Manic Vs. The World." I think my rank shot up to 229 (it pays to mimic, kids). When I changed my OB username to Manic Webb (instead of just Manic), my rank slowly winded its way up to where it is today. I got an application to work at Fry's Electronics. I've been having a hell of a time applying for retail positions. Probably because the manager at my old job doesn't work there anymore. Also, my old job wasn't retail-- it was market research. FOX premiered a new series called Point Pleasant, which is a supernatural drama. See, the battle between Good and Evil is about to take place on Earth, and the battleground is on the Jersey Shore. Commence laughing. Anyway, a teenaged girl (whose name I completely forgot) is secretly the daughter of Satan himself and some normal human woman. She has incredibly evil powers, but has no idea how to use them, because nobody told her that her daddy was freaking Lucifer until she reached puberty. So now she's torn between trying to live a normal life, her humanity, and her dark nature. Sounds interesting, right? WRONG! I saw the first episode, and it was like watching The OC, only a swarm of demonic insects killed a priest at the end of the episode. Here's the basic rundown of the first episode: Someone almost dies, sex, teen angst, sex, angst, sex, someone else almost died, sex, more angst, sex, sex, sex, swarm of demonic insects, sex, angst, and some more sex. I'm a little pissed off, because FOX cancelled Tru Calling for this shit. And Tru Calling was good. After half a freaking year of reruns, the Sci-Fi Channel is finally going to air some new episodes of Stargate. Rerunning episodes between seasons doesn't bother me so much, but Sci-Fi decided it was a good idea to air only half of the first season of Stargate Atlantis from July to September, and finally air the rest of the season in January. The last new episode they aired ended on a freaking cliffhanger. Will the Genii take over Atlantis? Did they kill Dr. Weir? Will Rodney act like a little biyotch again? Will Teyla continue to be fine as hell? I don't know. It ended on a cliffhanger! Much Love

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Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Cartoon Chronicles: One Shots (Charlie Brown)

The full trailer of the Fantastic 4 movie is now online at Apple.com. CLICK! What little I've seen of Mr. Fantastic looks good enough. I would've been really shocked if they screwed up Invisible Girl's powers, so it's nice to see that they didn't. I agree with many fan complaints that Thing looks a little too small, but there's really no way they could've made him bigger. They refused to use CGI for him, so they did the best I could've expected with prostetics. Better, actually. And what can I say about the Human Torch? They've got him fully flamed on, and shooting through the air like a bat out of hell. That's all I expected of him. Then comes Doom. They changed his origin, not that his original backstory would've fit on the big screen. It looks like the screenwriter took a cue from the Ultimate Fantastic 4 book, with having Dr. Doom actually turn into metal, and sharing his powers' origin with the Fan 4. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad move. Then again, it's not like that decision could possibly make this movie worse than The Hulk. Strap yourself in and feel the G's. It time for a new Cartoon Chronicle! Charlie Brown (aka Peanuts) Good grief. Meet Charlie Brown, a little boy going through the normal trials of a kid his age. He worries about school, crushes, and the well-being on his dog. Joining him are the rest of the Peanuts; kids with their own little quirks. There's the shrewd Lucy; Linus, who has a blanket dependancy; the budding pianist, Schroeder; the tomboy, Peppermint Patty; and Snoopy, the dog that's almost human. There are adults, but we can't really understand them. Looking back, what surprised me about the Peanuts was how incredibly depressing they were. Have you seen the way Charlie handles his problems? He talks to himself, talks to his dog, pays $0.05 to talk to Lucy, and eventually fails anyway. Yes, he failed. He never kicked the football, never got to know the Little Redheaded Girl, and his baseball team lost every time. He wasn't the only one going through issues, either. Linus had so many insecurities that he carried his security blanket everywhere he went. Most little kids use their security blankets to hide them from the "unknowns" of the world, kept it at their bedside, and eventually grew out of that phase in their lives. Linus not only refused to give his up, but he took it out in public, and used it to hide his own personal issues. People usually see Lucy as the kid who took advantage of the other kids. After all, she always pulled the football away from Charlie before he could make a field goal, and she charged hard cash for giving advice. However, let's not forget her unreturned love for Schroeder. Day after day, she sat at the end of his piano, making it very clear that she had feelings for him. More often than not, however, he would knock her off of his piano, turn away from her, and just generally ignore her. If you've ever wondered why we, as a people, are so cynical, it's probably because Charlie Brown depressed the hell out of us at a young age. We cling onto things that make us feel safe, harm others to make us feel better, are deadly afraid of failure, and sometimes bury ourselves in our work. Sadly, this cartoon prepared us for the real world better than any educational show ever did. Ironically, the only Peanut kid who was entirely secure with himself wasn't even a kid. If you look at Snoopy, he was totally fine in his skin. He danced like a complete idiot, slept on the roof of his house, and wrote cliche horror novels-- despite critical feedback. That's probably why Snoopy is such a fan favorite. He was the only character on the show who ever looked happy. Ever. Well, okay, there was also Woodstock. Now... if only someone would explain to me why everyone thought Snoopy (who was clearly a beagle) was "that funny-looking kid." Much Love

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