Fav Movie(s)

[Blog post for Drawing I]
[...wait, how many more of these to go?]

Movies... I don't watch many movies. And of the few I can think of right offhand, and which I'm sure I enjoyed, I can't think of much interestingness to make a lengthy post about.

So even though I've put this off until literally hours before a morning class (that I'm not sure if I absoloutely need to have this ready in time for, but beter safe), here's an in-order list of the three movies I've been able to remember enjoying.
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3. Wall-E

I saw a Wall-E... um... figurine, of sorts, in an office attached to College of Dupage's Academic Computing Center yesterday. That reminded me about the movie (poster left) pretty effectively. It's an interesting one- summary on Wikipedia, if you haven't seen it and don't mind spoilers.

The highlights for me: first, when the mini trash compactor Wall-E's love interest, the futuristic EVE, lands on the planet... and ends up shooting at him with an arm cannon. I do enjoy a strong female character, though she soon ends up in need of rescue.

Second, skipping ahead to the finale: EVE's rescued, but all the too-fat-to-walk humans have ended up wiggling helplessly on the floor of the recreation deck. Zoomed out, it's a bit disturbing- and great for driving in the secondary (maybe just second main?) moral of the movie, to not let humanity wind up like that. And it's a better moral than the standard friendship or confidence ones, I figure.

2. The Incredibles

The Incredibles (poster, summary) is another Pixar movie, a slightly older one. This time there's forcibly-retired superheroes instead of robots, present day instead of future. And the moral, um, I guess it's not so blatant as Wall-E's- there's a subplot about confidence, but the main story seems to involve avoiding lawsuits, not snubbing psychotic fans, and not building a killer robot that can figure out you've got its remote.

Well, what happens on the way is fun enough- and though there's action, a rapid-fire slideshow of deceased superheroes making their only appearance next to the evolution of the aforementioned killer robot, that really grabbed my interest. When I got the DVD, the second disc of which even included short bios for all those superheroes, I worked through the slideshow something like frame-by-frame, to make out all those names and 'TERMINATED's. (Or, uh, whatever synonym was used in all-caps.)

The most memorable bit, though? No capes! That is, a short but example-filled (with a fully-animated cut to each one) rant by the wonderfully eccentric Edna Mode as to why traditional full-length capes are very bad for their wearers' safety. While hilarious (perhaps morbidly so), it's also a good point... though I'm sure simply making the cape detachable would work fine. The things do sometimes look nice...



1. Ice Age

My favorite movie, however, is from Blue Sky Studios. Ice Age (poster, summary)- the first one, mind you, not so much the sequel (well, that one's nice too) or the one after that (haven't seen it; dinosaurs, really?).



Ah, dandelions- one of Sid the human-sized Megatherium's favorite snacks, unlike pine cones, as revealed when he tries to calm down two rhinos... having just stolen and eaten said dandelion, while tracking something brown he stepped in onto the remainder of their salad. The herbivores, unfortunately, are still willing to kill Sid the Sloth; at least they'll "just break [his] neck; [he] won't feel a thing."

He survives, by running away. Scrat the Saber-Toothed Squirrel, meanwhile, continues to run right into painful and normally deadly situations while searching for his acorn, in a continuing sideplot. Despite being squeezed by glaciers, trampled by migrating hordes, and zapped by lightning, the poor bushy-tailed thing survives as well... to never get his acorn. Sad, but in a slapstick-funny sort of way.

While Ice Age has a plot, returning a human baby to its family from which the heroic band of misfits' Saber-Toothed Tiger stole it, more important is how it ferries the characters from one scene to another. One sees them trying to coax one watermelon out of the stockpile a large group of Dodos have prepared for the coming disaster, so as to feed the baby they're currently taking care of.

A stockpile consisting of three melons. Two of which end up smashed, despite the Dodos' hilariously incompetent efforts to save them, and after they all get themselves knocked out, the last of which comes to rest in Sid's hands. In his victory dance, he smashes it.

While Manny the Mammoth yells at Sid, the baby chows down.
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The strength of my memories- here interpreted to which were my favorites -of these movies is the reverse of when they were released, the oldest standing out most, although Ice Age did get those two sequels... I wonder how much that has to do with it, come to think of it. But hey, it's computer-animated, funny, and plays to my interests- animals, at the time. I guess that well enough seals it as my favorite movie.

...maybe I should have made this whole post about it, after all.

Bionicle Artist + Piece

[Hopefully-not-overdue blog post for Drawing I]

BIONICLE is a series created by LEGO, mainly sold as sets containing buildable action figures. But when introduced back in 2001, it was also the first LEGO series to boast an original storyline, replete with a line of comic books. The series' lore has since expanded to encompass web-based games, serials, and podcasts, multiple video games, and even three direct-to-DVD movies. All this has been fostered by an active community which has created the large yet well-maintained BionicleSector01 Wiki.


My own interest in BIONICLE was, perhaps, triggered at the end of 2002, as the Bohrok Saga was tied up in issue #7 (or was it 8?) of the comics' initial series- I having received said comic with the LEGO Club magazine. I received my first set in Summer 2003, and things snowballed for a time after that.

The BIONICLE comics have moved through five main artists over the years, from Carlos D'Anda's detailed set-accuracy from the first comic in '01 (shown right), to Randy Elliott in mid-'03, who made heavier use of black in '04 as the series delved into its timeline's past. Come '06, Stuart Sayger drew far more stylized designs, complementing the Darker And Edgier* storyline as it shifted back to the present; Leigh Gallagher brought back the more set-accurate style in '08, perhaps using sleeker detailing than those prior.

*Look it up on the TVTropes Wiki, if you don't mind losing half your day in there.

In 2009, Pop Mhan took over, another freelancer who's worked with DC Comics- the publisher of the BIONICLE comics. Mhan's art style is reminiscent of Gallagher's... still set-accurate, helped over earlier artists by the sets' increased articulation over the originals of 2001. I can't really think how else to describe it.

I especially like the image of his to the right, of former god Mata Nui's newly human-sized body, scaling down from a giant robot but up from that mask he's wearing. See, his body is technically composed out of sand, explaining the dissolved foot; don't worry about how he gets golden-black armor and glowing blue eyes (not shown) from that.

Er, anyways, the angle is looking upwards, giving a greater impression of size, and just a nice look to things. Solid black regions prevent an overload of detail, diverting your eye until you realize, 'Where's his torso?' Behind the whipped-up sand, a pleasant blue sky provides a nice change of color, and perhaps also an appropriate heroic note. The silver pointies at the base are from an unfortunately cropped-off beetle. But overall- a striking and heroic image, of a single character.

In fact, being able to create this type of illustration, showing the viewer a character otherwise described through words (even if this one has an action figure, too), is my practical goal in taking Drawing I.

Recent events in the BIONICLE storyline have given us two giant robots fighting, one of which hosted the entire setting prior to 2009. Fortunately, this makes for some very awesome pieces of artwork, as the folks over at the BionicleSector01 Wiki have decided lately, and I think can be seen here.

Unfortunately, the battle of these robots- well, at least the collecting-armor-pieces antics of their allies and enemies, -mark a climax to the BIONICLE line of sets. I've personally stopped purchasing the things, that not coincidentally coinciding with the release of Spore. But I do still follow the story, those web serials and podcasts (as transcribed by some nice Wiki folks), and those'll be continuing a year, more, longer.

The comics- available free with the Lego Club Magazine via subscription or in LEGO stores, as well as a sampling on BIONICLE's official site, -however, will go with the sets, making Pop Mhan the last main artist for the series. I figure he and the rest of the team are saying goodbye in great fashion.