Optiology verse 1

This time around i need to tell you about two really solid films, so let's get to it:

The Fall

Okay, first off, if you've seen The Cell you have a good idea of what this visually will be like. same director (Tarsem), and no J LO, so it's gotta be a winner from right there, right? well, disregarding that, this film is fantastic! literally the story is alive with color. but why? you may ask. well that ties directly in with the plot.

Basic premise, a little girl fell while picking oranges in a grove with her family (around WWI). She goes to a hospital. In the hospital she meets a guy in the older persons area and he starts telling her a story... i can't say more because i don't want to give anything away.

It's effin amazing! Plain and simple, a great fairy tale. I easily put it in the ranks of Labrynth, the Dark Crystal, and Princess Bride(the classics before Harry Potter changed the face of fantasy). The little girl is fantastic and sincere in every scene you see her in (and when she enters the fantasy, it's epic). then there's the main dude. his story in the real world is a little, uh, simple/trite, but it fits the character. Meanwhile, his fantasy version is utterly Inego Montoya.

So yeah, the abbreviated version there it is. I know this hasn't gotten a wide release yet, but please see it when it comes around. Really worth it.

Death Note (the animated series)
So, my buddy Kiwi first turned me on to this, and it was rant and rave, and honestly i didn't believe him. it sounded cool, but i wasn't in an anime mood at the time. well, fast forward a couple months/states and someone from work lent me the entire series (fan subtitled).

I marathoned it!

The plot (as much as i want to give away) is that an intelligent high school kid finds a notebook one day at school. The notebook is actually from a Death God and any name written in it (as well as thinking of the person's face) that person will die. There are a ton of other rules involved (you can write the method of death, otherwise they will have heart attack) and that is part of what made it so great in my mind. it was a fully fleshed out universe with its own set of laws! So I ask you, what would you do if you found that notebook?

Anyways, I also have found one of my favorite detective-type characters in Light, the totally weird detective/pseudo-protagonist. Now, i know there is plenty of room to judge the anime tropes/conventions that are glaring in this, but it was so much fun to see who was going to plot what on whom next. So, with every instance of a really deft move in the cat&mouse game, you'd have a full explanation on how and why it would have to work.


so there you go. two things you should definitely check out given the opportunity. i think i'm getting some more artwork from the boys later on next week, so check back for that. i'm also hoping for another audiology and maybe another short story, but we'll see how the tides take us. otherwise, enjoy the weekend!

-pet