Monday movie quote challenge #26
“My brain is like oatmeal. I yelled at Kenny today for coloring outside the lines! Megan and I are starting to watch the same TV shows, and I’m liking them! I’m losing it.”
Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!
Comics vodcast: Captain America 49, Amazing Spider-Man 591, Rampaging Wolverine 1, Uncanny X-Men 508
Kyle Roberts and Matt Price discuss Captain America 49, Amazing Spider-Man 591, Rampaging Wolverine 1 and Uncanny X-Men 508. Meanwhile, Kyle’s claws come out.
Cartoonist Jim Lange dies
Jim Lange, longtime cartoonist for The Oklahoman, has died at age 82. NewsOK has the full report. From the article:
“Jim Lange was not only one of the greatest political cartoonists Oklahoma ever produced, he was one of the most outstanding cartoonists in the history of American journalism,” said David Boren, University of Oklahoma president. “Jim had the remarkable ability to produce cartoons that were fully understood by the public and expressed the feelings of rank and file Americans. He truly loved this state and our country, and those patriotic feelings were constantly communicated through his work. His life’s work was a gift to all of us, and I will personally miss his friendship and wonderful sense of humor.”
- Matt Price
DVD review: “Max Fleischer’s Superman: 1941-1942”
A high point of early animation comes to DVD with “Max Fleischer’s Superman: 1941-1942.” These 17 war-era cartoons originally released by Paramount get an official release from Warner Bros.
Since the cartoons themselves are in the public domain, cheap reproductions of them have been available for years. These remastered editions, however, are much higher quality. Hardcore Superman fans may already own these remastered editions, as they were split between the special editions of “Superman: The Movie” and “Superman II” in 2006.
The DVD is marked “not for children – for adult collectors,” which likely has to do with the racial stereotypes that were commonplace in 1941 and 1942 but are glaring now.
Extras include “The Man, the Myth,” which talks about superhero archetypes in mythology, and “First Flight,” which examines animation and the rotoscoping technique used in the “Superman” cartoons. Bruce Timm talks about these cartoons’ influence on “Batman: The Animated Series” in “First Flight.” The Fleischer “Superman” cartoons are even more fluid, however. The facial expressions, detailed backgrounds and smooth movements are still among the best in 2-D animation.
- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Guitar Hero rocks with Metallica
The heavy metal band Metallica comes to “Guitar Hero,” as the second band to get its own “Guitar Hero” game, after Aerosmith. “Guitar Hero” doesn’t scrimp on the adaptation, making “Guitar Hero: Metallica” a near-perfect adaptation for fans of the band.
The members of Metallica were motion-captured for “Guitar Hero: Metallica.” So, while the overall feel is cartoony, the motions are very accurate to the real-life musicians.
The game contains 28 of Metallica’s songs, as well as an additional 21 songs from bands chosen by Metallica, including Motorhead, Alice in Chains, System of a Down and Foo Fighters. The Metallica album “Death Magnetic” is available as downloadable content for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
One of the few negative points in the game is that none of the downloadable content for World Tour will work in “Metallica.” Maybe Metallica didn’t want its avatars forced to play nonrocking songs, but it does mean “Metallica” is less fully featured than it could be.
However, as a plus for Metallica fans, the game contains lots of extras and behind the scenes footage of the band.
Gameplay is similar to previous “Guitar Hero” games, but adds an “Expert +” level for the drums.
Overall, “Guitar Hero: Metallica” is a “Guitar Hero” game that will be best suited for Metallica fans, perhaps obviously. Activision has significantly improved the single-band game from “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith,” and has created a game that plays to the strengths of the franchise.
- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Contest gives Moore writer a chance at dream
WORD BALLOONS
A Moore man seeks a $700 prize and his shot at small-press fame as part of the sixth annual “Small Press Idol” contest from Dimestore Productions.
Brad Huffman-Parent is the writer of “Steel Rising,” which made it to the second round of the competition. Voting in the second round continues through April 30. Forty-two projects entered Round 1; of those, 27 have moved on to Round 2.
While Huffman-Parent can’t say much about the story as part of the contest, he did share that it’s a twist on classic fantasy.
“One day I just started thinking about how the standard fantasy characters would act and interact in the modern world,” Huffman-Parent said. “But I didn’t want to just stick them in the modern world for them to have an old-style adventure. This is a world very, very close to ours, but with elves, dwarves and orcs; a reality (where) things have evolved just a bit differently. I thought hard about how these characters would integrate realistically into the modern world.”
Huffman-Parent moved to Moore in 2001 when he was stationed at Tinker Air Force Base. He left active duty in 2007, taking a pay cut to spend more time with his family. “I’ve decided to really dedicate myself this year to getting somewhere with my writing and hopefully turn it into a full-time career.”
Huffman-Parent is working with three artists to bring “Steel Rising” to life. They met via the Internet; and while they’ve never met in person, Huffman-Parent says they meld well as creators. Brad Thingvold is the penciller, who designed the characters of “Steel Rising.” Inker Joe Armour is also a makeup effects artist, writer/director/producer and a 3-D modeler/animator. And Armour has some comics history in his family, Huffman-Parent said: Armour is the nephew of George “Inky” Roussous, who was an inker for Jack Kirby. Armour is designing the logo for the series. The color will be provided by Michael Summers.
In the second round, Huffman-Parent and his artists will create bios and various poses of the characters in the series, as well as an official logo. From this round, 20 projects will advance to Round 3. Round 3 will require three completed pages of sequential art; the fourth round requires a full 12-page story.
To vote for “Steel Rising,” go online to www.dimestoreproductions.com and sign up. Voting takes place in the Forum, under the heading “Idol judging.”
By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Q&A with Brad Huffman-Parent of Steel Rising
Brad Huffman-Parent, who is the writer of “Steel Rising,” a contestant in the Small Press Idol competition at dimestoreproductions.com, answered some questions for The Oklahoman about his project.
Matt Price: Tell me about the competition.
Brad Huffman-Parent: Small Press Idol is a huge opportunity for independent creators to get noticed. This is its 6th year and the biggest one ever. 42 projects entered into Round 1 and 27 of those have moved on to Round 2.
The requirements for Round 1 were a basic premise/pitch write-up and a rough cover image.
Round 2 is all about the characters– bios, front, 3/4, and side view of each character, plus 3 action poses for each. And also the official logo that will appear on the cover. From here 20 projects will advance to Round 3.
Round 3 is where the real challenge starts. All projects that advance will have to submit 3 completed pages of sequential art, penciled, inked, and lettered (and grayscale if you want). These can be any 3 pages from your planned #0 issue or origin story, but they have to be in order.
And from there a number to be determined will advance to Round 4 which is the full 12 page 0 issue story, with completed cover and logo. The #0′s will be available for sale, and the grand prize winner will be the book that sells the most copies.
This year, the Grand Prize will be a 4-issue commitment from the Dimestore Imprint to sponsor the launching of a series based on the winning concept, with an option to continue with it if successful. The Winner will also get half of the entry fee monies taken in as a bonus payout, as well as money paid into the prize pool by sponsors, which is $700.
MP: What inspired your entry?
BH-P: I have a love/hate relationship with fantasy. I love to read it, but hate that so much of it is unoriginal and makes me feel like I’m just reading the same story with slightly different characters. I’m always looking for the new twist to my old favorites and one day I just started thinking about how the standard fantasy characters would act and interact in the modern world. But I didn’t want to just stick them in the modern world for them to have an old style adventure. This is a world very, very close to ours, but with elves, dwarves, and orcs a reality things have evolved just a bit differently. I thought hard about how these characters would integrate realistically into the modern world.
I can’t really say much about the story due to the contest restrictions, but there are a lot of political and social issues that I plan to explore. But I won’t beat people over the head with those as the main goal is to tell a fun action-packed story.
MP: Tell me about the artists you’re working with.
BH-P: What can I say about the art team? I may be the guy with the ideas, but none of this would exist without them. I found them by posting on internet forums, we’re spread across the country and have never met, but we all mold together perfectly.
First we have Brad Thingvold on pencils. He’s the first one I met and really should be credited as co-creator. I had some basic idea of what I wanted the characters to look like, but he’s the one that designed them and brought them to life as they exist now.
Surpisingly he’s only had his work published once before in a 9 page short for an anthology. Besides that he’s been honing his craft and putting together samples. I was lucky to grab him before someone else did because he has some serious skills. I’m really impressed with what he’s put together so far.
Next is our tracer, I mean inker, Joe Armour. He’s the “royalty” of the team, being the nephew of legendary inker George “Inky” Roussos. It’s some cool little history, but he doesn’t need to do any name dropping as he’s amazingly talented all on his own.
In addition to inking Joe is a special makeup effects artist, 3D modeler/ animator, and film writer/director/producer. He’s designing the logo for the book alongside his inking duties.
Finally we have Michael Summers doing colors. I don’t have much to say about him as he doesn’t say a whole lot, but he gets stuff done and gets it done well. He loves Photo Shop and he knows how to use it.
Follow Nerdage on Twitter
If you’re a Twitter user and want to keep up with Nerdage there, as well, you can follow at www.twitter.com/nerdage.
Entertainment Insider: Kanye and more
Gene Triplett, Heather Warlick, Matt Price and Brandy McDonnell discuss recent celebrity mishaps in this week’s Entertainment Insider, including Kanye West’s takedown at the hands of South Park.
See Wolverine Helicopter Scene
You can check out the entirety of the Wolverine-vs.-helicopter scene from the upcoming “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” at the Papa John’s Web site. Because Wolverine loves pizza.
- Matt Price
