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Friday, March 24, 2006
Two new pieces for a local motor cycle shop
Both of these designs along with a number of other T-Shirt designs I've done are available at www.zazzle.com/Kimwood
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Monday, March 20, 2006
Fearless
The new Jet Li film is called Fearless. It will be out in the states in August. If you like Jet Li, go see it. He claims this is his last WuShu film. WuShu is a genre of historical martial arts movie thatJ et Li has done a number of. Drunken Master and the Once Upon a Time in China series are perfect examples. A good WuShu film will have a number of action set-pieces tied together with a plot that keeps the story going. Fearless does this very well. Jet Li's portrayal of Huo Yuanjia is very different than his portrayal of another historical figure, Wong Fey Hung. They will look the same on the DVD covers, but Jet Li actually does some acting here. Huo is a darker, more selfish character who has some learning to do. As charming as Jet Li is you probably won't like Huo at the beginning on the film.
Ronnie Yu, who directed this, is back doing what he does best. I will try to forgive him for Freddy VS. Jason. Hong Kong directors never seem to work well within the Hollywood system. Another intersting fact is that Micheol Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, SuperCop) was originally in the film and her entire appearance is gone. They removed a subplot involving her character that trimmed the picture by 40 minutes. I'm all for shorter films, but I"m all for films with Michele Yeoh too. We'll never know if it is better shorter, but I'm guessing it is. I think the only films that are actually better longer are the Long of the Rings Director's Cut DVDs. I agree with John Waters. Films shouldn't be over about an hour and a half long and songs shouldn't be over 2 1/2 minutes long. Sure there are exceptions to this rule, but if the Ramones and Hank Williams (SR) can do it in that amount of time, maybe others should as well. Y'know... films used to be a lot shorter. Check out the running time of the Universal Horror pictures. Some are barely over an hour. Home video makes longer films easier to take, but almost every film I ever see, I think it could use about 20 minutes off the running time. Don't you think most movies could use a bit of tightening up? Movies shouldn't allow you to look at your watch or go to the bathroom. Action isn't required, but good dialogue and plot development to keep things moving along will do. Just no dead spots or boring sub plots-PLEASE! Also, as long as I'm yelling out to no one my cinema desires... Let's have more black and white movies. Remember films in the 60's when people made both back and white AND color movies? They made B&W films either to save money, or because it was an artistic choice. Would ED Wood be as good in color? Hell no!!! Would Good Night and Good Luck work in color??? NO!!!! Now, if I can get a black and white animated flick. Those just aren't made any more. In the 4th Urotsukidoji film, they start with some B&W animation and it looks kick ass. Oh, and I mean good old flat cel animation. No computer stuffs. Actually the cool looking B&W computer animation in Toy Story two was pretty good.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Kawajiri Is God!!!!
I make no bones about it, I love Yoshiaki Kawajiri's work. He is the animator behind the second anime I saw after AKIRA. Now, it is hard to top AKIRA. Otomo hasn't done many films, and most are actually short films within other films. But, thankfully Kawajiri keeps 'em coming. After having my mind blown by AKIRA, I needed more. This was back in the day when you got your anime in Japanese with no subtitles. You didn't know what was going on, but the animation was so cool, you just didn't care. My second anime after AKIRA was another masterpiece-Wicked City. Also known as Beast City or Demon City-Yoju Toshi. This film is wild, bizarre and not for the squeamish. It ranks right up there with Kawajiri's best work, and from my first viewing, I was hooked. I now have all of Kawajiri's work, including his short subjects. Ninja Scroll is very popular in the states, but much of his other work remains unseen. In fact, some of his work hasn't made it onto DVD in the US at all.
Some might complain about the plot, or the characters... but is films have style to burn. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, The Animatrix, and Ninja Scroll are widely available. Check out Wicked City if you like your aime with bizarre sex and violence. It is R rated at least, and very memorable for its use of sexual imagery. Too bad the sequel Beast City-Shinjuku was a PG-ish sequel that couldn't offend anyone.
Kawari has nearly finished work on a Highlander anime. Yes, that Highlander. The (in my opinion) lame fantasy crap series that nerds dig. They already are complaining about the anime being all wrong. Screw 'em. It is Kawajiri and he rules. Check out the trailer and see for yourself. It's way cooler than the lame-o movies.
http://www.imagi.com.hk/movie/web/highc.htm
There has been kind of a trend lately for anime sequels/prequels to live action films. Van Helsing, Chronicles of Riddick, and The Matrix all have had animated projects. The last two are worth seeing and feature animation by Peter (Aeon Flux) Chung.
Some might complain about the plot, or the characters... but is films have style to burn. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, The Animatrix, and Ninja Scroll are widely available. Check out Wicked City if you like your aime with bizarre sex and violence. It is R rated at least, and very memorable for its use of sexual imagery. Too bad the sequel Beast City-Shinjuku was a PG-ish sequel that couldn't offend anyone.
Kawari has nearly finished work on a Highlander anime. Yes, that Highlander. The (in my opinion) lame fantasy crap series that nerds dig. They already are complaining about the anime being all wrong. Screw 'em. It is Kawajiri and he rules. Check out the trailer and see for yourself. It's way cooler than the lame-o movies.
http://www.imagi.com.hk/movie/web/highc.htm
There has been kind of a trend lately for anime sequels/prequels to live action films. Van Helsing, Chronicles of Riddick, and The Matrix all have had animated projects. The last two are worth seeing and feature animation by Peter (Aeon Flux) Chung.
People shouldn't fear their goverments Governments should fear their people.
Wow. What a concept, and it is in a major motion picture from a major studio. V for Vendetta is a good-looking, and well-made piece of film that feels a bit light despite its subject matter. It is much like a superhero version of 1984. And, it will piss Republicans off...."Big Time". I'm guessing O'Riley will call them traitors and say, "I'm not calling for a boycott of this film, but I won't be seeing it." In fact most people trashing this film won't see it or read the graphic novel. There will be a Republican talking points memo and everyone on Fox news will use the exact same language to decry the ideas in this film and call it "irresponsible".
The film could be interpreted by people of differing political views in varying ways, but hopefully it is simple enough and obvious enough to make even the dumbest viewer think about the world we are living in. Are things as you'd like them, or do you fear your government? Do you feel like your personal freedoms are in jeapardy? Do you think your government is honest with you about their intentions?
I'm not suggesting you do this, but the next Viva Bush! sticker I see, I might paint a circle V right over it.
The film could be interpreted by people of differing political views in varying ways, but hopefully it is simple enough and obvious enough to make even the dumbest viewer think about the world we are living in. Are things as you'd like them, or do you fear your government? Do you feel like your personal freedoms are in jeapardy? Do you think your government is honest with you about their intentions?
I'm not suggesting you do this, but the next Viva Bush! sticker I see, I might paint a circle V right over it.
Monday, March 13, 2006
#2 in a series of Beautiful Progressives
Arianna Huffington. God bless her! See Huffingtonpost.com
Drawn with chalk pencils and then inked over with a pen.
Drawn with chalk pencils and then inked over with a pen.
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Production art from Ronin Apocalypse-The Sequel to Samurai Apocalypse
The film starts at night as we see two lanterns illuminating a dark and eerie woods. The two men are unemployed samurai (ronin), and are a bit nervous and a bit scared out here alone in the dark. They are are walking a foot path and bump into something heavy hanging from he trees. One of the ronin holds his lamp up slowly and we realize he bumped into a woman's corpse, hanging upside down and twisted up like a pretzel. The samurai fall down in terror as they hold up their lanterns to see 5 women hanging from the trees like bizarre ornaments. Their bodies are upside down and twisted in strange ways and pretzeled so that they look like Cirque De Sole corpses hung on trees. The men cry out, "what is this?" A creaky,withered voice answers, " Students."
The men hold their laterns higher to see and old, short man balanced on a single branch, reclining. He barely notices the intruders and doesn't look at them as he talks.
"Students? They are dead! You killed them?
"I have killed no one. They came to me for certain knoweledge and couldn't handle what was imparted on them. Some don't have the will to handle what I can teach them." The old man replies.
"knoweldege?" The ronin holds his lantern closer to one of the women's corpses. He sees her eyes are gone and only two smoldering holes remian. "You are a demon!"
"A demon to some, a teacher to others. I have knoweledge that others wish to share. I have information that can help you men."
He explains how they are raggedly dressed and he can hear their stomachs growling. He tells them that if they travelled by day, they actually might fight work, and wants to know what they are hiding from and offers them a way to fill their stomachs and make some money. He tells them to go back to the village they jast passed through and look for work on the next day. They explain that there is no work there and the old man says to eat at an outdoor restaurant and be seen. There will be work.
The ronin leave and are very unsure about what they have seen but with few other options the decide to give it a shot. We cut back to the old man concentrating very hard. We see him from behind and slowly pan around to see he is hard at work performing magic using hand seals.
We track into a village where it is very quiet and few lights are on. Slowly we hear shuffling and notice zombies, only one are two at first and then upwards of twenty. They make their way through the town to a sparesly guarded building where the guards at first don't understand what is happenening, and then see this as an attack on the gold storehouse. The two guards pull their swords but are quickly overcome by the zombies. The zombies take a few containers of gold and walk out of the town without awaking anyone in the town. One of the injured guards sees the retreating zombies walk away to the river and walk right underwater. As he paases out, he notices the undead walking out on the other side of the river.
The following morning, the village is awake and talk is of the robbery and how to solve the problem. They plan on going after the attckers and are trying to put together a "posse" to do this. A couple of ronin arrive in the town looking ragged and tired and settle in to eat at an outdoor cafe. At the restaurant they order only rice and no sake. Clearly they want to eat, but can't afford it. Being seen at the restaurant the ronin are offered work by the head of the viallge (who arrives after being told of their arrival). They are told their isn't much money to give them, but they will house them and feed them well. The two ronin agree and move into the home and village elder and plan to protect the village and go after the theives.
That night the two ronin are outside relaxing and having a smoke when a voice appears out of the darkness. It is the old man who is returning for his "pay. The ronin are told that in exchange for their good fortune, they need to finish the deal. He says he needs a young, determined "student". He suggests that their is one right under their noses. He leaves as mysteriously as he arrived.
The following day, the ronin meet the elder's grandaughter, and one of the ronin,Toshiro is clearly smitten by Miko. Throughout the day we see Miko traing in martial arts of various types and is an obvious archer of great skill. As the day turns to night we see Toshiro and Miko spending more time together and flirting some. That night as Toshiro lays in his room, he is again surprised by the appearance of the old man in his room. He is told again, that he wants a student, and his patience is at an end. He is told to leave and that Miko is not to be his next "student". The old man says that he provided them food, housing, and money and they have done nothing to repay him. He offers a warning to Toshiro again, and explains that he knew the nature of the deal when they first met. Toshiro grabs his sword snd waves his sword at the old man to find him gone.
Early the next morning, the villagers are surprised by a spring shower. But as the ronin and villagers soon find out, the rain is hot to the touch and seems to sear the earth and anything outside.
More to come soon.....
The Sequel-Ronin Apocalypse is coming soon. A treatment is in the works and will be posted soon.
The men hold their laterns higher to see and old, short man balanced on a single branch, reclining. He barely notices the intruders and doesn't look at them as he talks.
"Students? They are dead! You killed them?
"I have killed no one. They came to me for certain knoweledge and couldn't handle what was imparted on them. Some don't have the will to handle what I can teach them." The old man replies.
"knoweldege?" The ronin holds his lantern closer to one of the women's corpses. He sees her eyes are gone and only two smoldering holes remian. "You are a demon!"
"A demon to some, a teacher to others. I have knoweledge that others wish to share. I have information that can help you men."
He explains how they are raggedly dressed and he can hear their stomachs growling. He tells them that if they travelled by day, they actually might fight work, and wants to know what they are hiding from and offers them a way to fill their stomachs and make some money. He tells them to go back to the village they jast passed through and look for work on the next day. They explain that there is no work there and the old man says to eat at an outdoor restaurant and be seen. There will be work.
The ronin leave and are very unsure about what they have seen but with few other options the decide to give it a shot. We cut back to the old man concentrating very hard. We see him from behind and slowly pan around to see he is hard at work performing magic using hand seals.
We track into a village where it is very quiet and few lights are on. Slowly we hear shuffling and notice zombies, only one are two at first and then upwards of twenty. They make their way through the town to a sparesly guarded building where the guards at first don't understand what is happenening, and then see this as an attack on the gold storehouse. The two guards pull their swords but are quickly overcome by the zombies. The zombies take a few containers of gold and walk out of the town without awaking anyone in the town. One of the injured guards sees the retreating zombies walk away to the river and walk right underwater. As he paases out, he notices the undead walking out on the other side of the river.
The following morning, the village is awake and talk is of the robbery and how to solve the problem. They plan on going after the attckers and are trying to put together a "posse" to do this. A couple of ronin arrive in the town looking ragged and tired and settle in to eat at an outdoor cafe. At the restaurant they order only rice and no sake. Clearly they want to eat, but can't afford it. Being seen at the restaurant the ronin are offered work by the head of the viallge (who arrives after being told of their arrival). They are told their isn't much money to give them, but they will house them and feed them well. The two ronin agree and move into the home and village elder and plan to protect the village and go after the theives.
That night the two ronin are outside relaxing and having a smoke when a voice appears out of the darkness. It is the old man who is returning for his "pay. The ronin are told that in exchange for their good fortune, they need to finish the deal. He says he needs a young, determined "student". He suggests that their is one right under their noses. He leaves as mysteriously as he arrived.
The following day, the ronin meet the elder's grandaughter, and one of the ronin,Toshiro is clearly smitten by Miko. Throughout the day we see Miko traing in martial arts of various types and is an obvious archer of great skill. As the day turns to night we see Toshiro and Miko spending more time together and flirting some. That night as Toshiro lays in his room, he is again surprised by the appearance of the old man in his room. He is told again, that he wants a student, and his patience is at an end. He is told to leave and that Miko is not to be his next "student". The old man says that he provided them food, housing, and money and they have done nothing to repay him. He offers a warning to Toshiro again, and explains that he knew the nature of the deal when they first met. Toshiro grabs his sword snd waves his sword at the old man to find him gone.
Early the next morning, the villagers are surprised by a spring shower. But as the ronin and villagers soon find out, the rain is hot to the touch and seems to sear the earth and anything outside.
More to come soon.....
The Sequel-Ronin Apocalypse is coming soon. A treatment is in the works and will be posted soon.
Friday, March 3, 2006
#1 in a series of Beautiful Progressives
Maureen Dowd. Clever and charming. Give her book "Bushworld" a shot.
Thursday, March 2, 2006
Seeking funding for Samurai Apocalypse
Alternate titles: Undead Apocalypse-Zombie Apocalypse-Zombies VS Samurai-Curse of the Living Dead-Samurai Undead
Different names for foreign markets
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
More Samurai Apocalypse
The story would also feature the tsuba on the poster below. A tsuba is the traditional hand guard on a samurai sword. The drawing below is based on the tsuba I put on my own personal sword.
It also features japanese hand seals that represent the 12 animals of the Zodiac. This is japanese magic used by the old man. I will add some examples later.
It also features japanese hand seals that represent the 12 animals of the Zodiac. This is japanese magic used by the old man. I will add some examples later.
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