9

Spotted the trailer for 9 on the internet.

Looks really good. One of the few movies I’m actually looking forward to.

Sideshow’s Darth Vader Premium Format

Growing up in the 70s, Star Wars was a HUGE part of my life. Endless imaginary lightsabre duels with imaginary foes (complete with sound effects), asthmatic breathing (who else do you know made asthma cool?) and the all important, invisible FORCE.

And the penultimate bad guy in Star Wars? Obviously, it has to be Darth Vader. In the 30+ years since his debut, there has been no badder-ass, evil-exuding asthma sufferer that’s quite caught the world’s attention as Lord Vader.

Sure, the fashion’s gone out of style since then, and he might have only come in 3rd by The American Film Institute’s list of the greatest movie villains after Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates,  but hey, who else do you know can force choke you with only a flick of the wrist with nary a care in the world?

If I saw Vader in real life today, I’d prostrate myself in front of him in awe. I remember going to bed worried that Vader was hiding under there.

Heck…Darth Vader IS Star Wars.

Tall and menacing, Darth Vader is the most potent icon of the Galactic Empire’s might. The protege of the Emperor himself, Vader answers to only the highest in the Imperial command structure and is granted great leeway in the work he conducts on his master’s behalf.

Once a Jedi, Vader possesses absolute command over the Force, and through him it is directed to terrible and often fatal effect. As a Lord of the Sith, the Dark Side flows through him, and it can be channeled to kill with a single thought or to subdue his detractors, enemies, and sometimes even subordinates.

Feared by Rebels and Imperials alike, Darth Vader is a terrifying union of man and machine hidden beneath black robes and forbidding armor. Determined to hunt down and extinguish the Rebel Alliance, Vader commands the massive Imperial fleet and rules his forces through unquestionable terror, much like some bosses we’ve all come across in real life at least once. *rolls eyes*

Having been such a big part of my childhood, it was inevitable I caved in and got myself a Sideshow Collectibles Premium Format Darth Vader statue. This piece is a museum quality 1/4 scale reproduction of the Dark Lord’s appearance in Star Wars: A New Hope.

The multi-layered costume has expertly tailored clothing with a body and armor cast in heavy-weight polystone and other mediums, each chosen to best represent the original costume.

The lightsabre, chest and belt panels feature electronic light function, as you can well see. However, as you can also see, the light up function on the lightsabre doesn’t seem to be even, showing up bright on only the tip and base of the sabre. Nitpicking aside, this is still totally beautiful. The light saber is an exact replica of Vader’s saber in Episode 5.

The clothing is real: Cloth for the cape and drapes, leather (or vinyl) for the suit and boots!  

Towering over most other collectibles at a height of 23″, this statue certainly has the presence befitting of such an iconic character.

I’d give this beautiful statue 4.5 / 5. This piece basically loses points over the uneven light of the lightsabre and the unimaginative pose. Although, it has to be said, this pose is truly movie accurate.

The first Star Wars film hit screens in 1977 and was titled Star Wars: A New Hope. Basically this was Episode 4 in a series of 9, the last three of which seem unlikely to be made at this time.

Just for kicks, I pulled out a clip of duel between Obi Wan and Vader:

The Dark Knight Rawks!

I.

Was.

Completely.

Blown.

Away.

Fwah.

Yeah, so Synn and I chucked the tyke in his room late Sunday night and prayed for his deep, uninterrupted slumber while we turned out the lights in the living room and watched the long anticipated The Dark Knight on DVD.

Those who know us, will know by now we haven’t gone to the movies since getting our home cinema complete with projector and 5.1 audio.

What can I say. The Dark Knight is easily the best movie I’ve watched this year. Being a long time Bat-fan, I feel vindicated that Chris Nolan and all the actors in the movie took it seriously and finally made the reinvigorated Batman franchise how it was meant to be: A seriously dark, twisted and smart epic.

Kudos to the late Heath Ledger on his outstanding portrayal of the Joker. He really nailed the voice, and all the other nuances that make the Joker in the comics and animated series so horrifyingly psychotic yet brilliant. But the movie isn’t carried on Heath’s back alone and the rest of cast weren’t slouches, either. Brilliant performances by Christian Bale, Michael Cain, Morgan Freeman and Maggie Gyllenhal were also very deeply appreciated.

I’d also like to commend the scriptwriters for the fantastic lines in the movie as well.

All in all, Synn and I TOTALLY enjoyed the movie. I cannot say this enough. Heath Ledger as the Joker was brilliant, and I cannot think of how another actor could possibly top it, and I have to say, I can’t think of how anyone else will do at this point in time.

5/5 for this one.

Terminator Salvation

The new trailer for the first of the next trilogy of Terminator movies starring Christain Bale has been released!

Watch it here:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/terminatorsalvation/large.html

Good lord, it looks solid!

New Ironman Movie Trailer!

Woah.

Looks pretty damn awesome. I don’t really consider myself an Ironman fan, but dammit, the trailers so far look pretty sweet. 

Watch it here!!!

New Animated Ironman Clips

Check out the new animated Ironman clips.

Some cameos from two very familiar superheroes as well. Fantastic!

Blu-Ray Wins Format War!

I was chatting with Senior Citizen Phua over the weekend, when he mentioned that it looked like Blu-Ray was set to win the format war.

S.C. Phua: Ey…looks like Blu-Ray has won the format war.

Me: What? So fast? Can’t be!

S.C. Phua: I’ll send you the link.

Wow.

So I googled and behold. Looks like it’s for real on Scientific American, and on T3 as well !

And since the PS3 has been rated by T3 to be a great blu-ray player, I think its shelf life has just been extended for just that much longer. ^^

New Ironman Superbowl Spot Is Online!

If the first Ironman movie trailer got you as stoked as it did me, you’ll LOVE this new spot.

And if things go my way, I should be seeing an original Sideshow Ironman Comiquette landing in my home soon.

*prays very hard*

Invader Zim

Started watching Invader Zim recently.

An overall plot synopsis from Wikipedia below:

The plot of Invader Zim revolves around the life of its titular character, Zim.

Zim is a member of the imperialistic Irken race, an extraterrestrial species whose social hierarchy is based on height. The Irken leaders are therefore known as the Almighty Tallest. During the course of the show, leadership of the Irken Empire is shared by two Tallest, Purple and Red, who are exactly the same height.

 

As recounted during the premiere episode, “The Nightmare Begins“, Zim, who is both very short and very naïve, was banished to the planet Foodcourtia for attacking his own planet and allies during Operation Impending Doom I.

(flashback)
Zim: (in giant robot destroying a city) AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Pilot: But sir, we’re still on our own planet!
Zim: Silence! Twist those knobs! Twist those knobs! You! Pull some levers! Pull some levers!
(end of flashback)
 

Upon hearing of Operation Impending Doom II, Zim escapes from Foodcourtia (or “quits”, as he seems to have thought of it more as a mission than an exile) and arrives at the Great Assigning.

Tallest Purple: Weren’t you banished to Foodcourtia? Shouldn’t you be frying something?
Zim: Oh, I quit when I heard about this.
Tallest Purple: You quit being banished?

Here elite Irken soldiers are chosen to become Invaders; special soldiers whose mission it is to blend in with the indigenous life forms of their assigned planet, collect intelligence, and prepare the planet for conquest by the Irken Armada. Zim pleads with the Tallest to assign him a planet, and in a desperate act to get Zim as far away as possible, they assign him to a presumed planet on the outskirts of their known universe that has never been explored. This “Mystery Planet” is Earth, and Zim’s erratic attempts at world domination and/or the eradication of the human race begin.

The first 5 episodes of Zim basically show him getting assigned to Earth, deploying there, and subsequently trying to blend in at school.

Here’s Gir, his not-so-able assistant:

He’s super cute in his undercover disguise, making squeaky noises as he roams around the house.

And of course, Zim’s arch-nemesis, Dib:

Their teacher, Ms. Bitters, is one creepy old lady:

She could quite possibly not be human as well. Seeing as how she ‘flies’ from student to student terrorising them. Added sound effects her speech also makes for more creepiness lol.

In Episode 2:

Zim: I never agreed to attend this “Parent Teacher Night”!
Ms. Bitters: Yes you did.
Zim: No. You lie! YOU LIE! (I love his voice here! Lol!)
(Ms. Bitters puts a DVD into a computer. The chalkboard turns into a screen and plays the video.)
Ms. Bitters: Zim, are you going to bring your parents in for Parent Teacher Night?
Zim: Yeah. Sure. Whatever.
(the video ends)
Zim: (staring at a video camera) Why would you tape that? (Here as well! )

Voice acting so far is superb, in particular Richard Steven Horvitz, who voices Zim, and Lucille Bliss, who does Ms. Bitters. They are both so suitably…evil…lol.

Art and animation is fantastic and I absolutely can’t wait to see how this whole thing plays out. Highly recommended, and I’ll keep editing this post to rate it once I’m done with this season.

The Batman Season 4

Just finished watching Season 4 of The Batman.

The season starts of very quickly, introducing Dick Grayson, and formalising him as Robin. Batman reveals his and Robin’s identity without any fanfare to Batgirl and it’s obvious the writers just wanted to quickly get this out of the way and move on to bigger things for the season. The art for Batman has also changed, with the artists giving Bats a much stronger jawline from previous seasons, which is closer to the famous chin I’ve come to recognise.

Immediately, the difference in story telling and dialogue is obvious right from the get go. Dialogue has matured and the voice acting has improved considerably from the first three sesasons. The relationship between Batgirl and Robin is fantastic to watch develop. They alternate between sibling bicker and banter throughout the season, and their witty comebacks are just priceless. And it’s funny to watch how even Batman occasionally pokes fun at either one of them.

In Season 4, there were quite a lot of episodes that really stood out and left a deep impression. In particular, Strange New World (Ep5) and Artifacts (Ep7). These two left me at the edge of my seat and chills down my spine after the episodes ended.

The episode ‘Two of a Kind’ was done really nicely introducing HarleyQuinn, the quips were entertaining and the comebacks quick: 

Robin: The neighbors say they saw the doctor leave freely with Mr. J. I wonder what he could want with her.
Batman: He saw a vulnerable person he could manipulate. Someone good for a few laughs until he got bored.
Batgirl: (picking up a banana peel) … And join us again next week when Batman analyzes the Freudian implications of Penguin’s umbrella! 

It was hilarious watching Joker trying to win HarleyQuinn’s affection, and the voice acting for Harley was fantastic. The character is suitably insane and a perfect joy to watch.

The season finale, ‘The Joining’ was great as well. My favourite part:

(Thinking Alfred is a robot)
Batgirl: Kick his head off.
Robin: You kick his head off!
Alfred: Attempt to do any such thing, and I assure you, there will be no hot buttered raisin scones for either of you for a year.
Robin: Only Alfred sounds that much like Alfred.
Batgirl: Yup.

Priceless! Lol.

It introduces the Martian Manhunter, who helps Bats fight off the alien invasion, and at the end of the episode sets the stage for the Justice League of America!  OMG!

(After announcing he has been monitoring the construction of the spacestation for months)
Batman: You’ve put together quite a league. (Poignant pause)  Let’s get to work.

Oh! My! Gawd!

I would say this is the best season I’ve watched so far. Many, many memorable lines and episodes, and I’d rate this season 4/5.

Apologies for the absence of screenshots…too exciting to watch to take the time out to get some, lol!

I can’t wait to start on Season 5.