Thoughts On The New Arrested Development

So by now if you don’t know about Netflix’s upcoming Arrested Development release you have probably been frozen in the banana stand. Arrested Development is hands down my favorite sitcom of all time. I decided that in preparation of their upcoming new episodes on Netflix that I would re-watch the original three seasons and I am glad I did. They are still fresh, original and funny and more importantly every time I watch them I catch something I didn’t the first time.

The release date is May 26^th and while I am excited about it I do have some questions. Namely, after so much time away, will the show still keep its fresh originality? It is hard to imagine they can just pick up where they left off but at the same time the show ended in full stride and we never had to watch it die the slow, painful death hit comedies usually suffer. The temptation for them will be to try and cram in as many of the old bits that they can so that it feels forced. I think the key here is to trust the cast, writers and director. They did a great job with the originals and I believe they will nail the new ones as well. They certainly have had more than enough time to come up with ideas.

The other question of course is how much has the cast aged?  The most obvious would be Alia Shawkat (Maeby) and Michael Cera (George-Michael) and possibly Jessica Walter (Lucille) and Jeffrey Tambor (George Sr.). So to answer that question here are the promo posters.

So Lucille and George still look pretty much the same. Here is Maeby and George-Michael.

George-Michael is a little older but he still keeps his baby face. Maeby has definitely aged the most, from cute rebellious kid to college student, but she still fits the role. Now for fun here is Lindsey.

She still looks amazing. Most of the rest of the cast haven’t changed to much either. I can’t wait. If you want to check them out here is the trailer.

Does Reading Game Of Thrones Ruin The Show?

I, along with millions of other people, am a huge Game of Thrones (GoT) fan on HBO. I can’t get enough of it, and I may even have an addiction to all things Westeros. So it was at the end of season two I found myself tempted to read the books.  I had been putting it off reading them since I didn’t want to ruin the TV show but I kept hearing about how good they were and I had to quench my thirst for more GoT.  So I broke down and read them, which leaves the question: does reading the books ruin the TV show?

The answer is both yes and no. First of all, let me just go ahead and be that guy that says the books are better. The TV show is brilliant but the books add so much more to the world and that is why it doesn’t ruin the show. There are so many minor characters explained, so much backstory being told and so much information about the world that it really enhances your overall understanding and appreciation of the show. Like the rug on the Dude’s floor in The Big Lebowski, the books really tie the show together.

It also ruins the show because I know more or less, what is going to happen. There are no more “WTF, I can’t believe they just did that,” moments because you already know what is going to happen.  That being said, that being said it is so well done that I still enjoy watching it transpire. The episode from a couple of weeks ago with Daenerys Targaryen leading her army out of Astapor still sends chills up my spine.

To read or not to read is you own decision but personally I am glad I did. Besides, do you really want to wait four more seasons to learn what happens? I think  not.

New Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer

As we creep ever so closely to the May 17th release date- more and more images of the new Star Trek movie are coming out- and it is looking better and better each time. This may take the franchise where no Star Trek movie has gone before!

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2013

LAAPFF 2013 is coming to Los Angeles on May 2- 12, 2013!

The 2013 documentary competition line-up includes:

• A RIVER CHANGES COURSE – Kalyanee Mam (Cambodia/United States)
• HARANA – Benito Bautista (Philippines/United States)
• JAKE SHIMAUKURO: LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS – Tadashi Nakamura (United States)
• LINSANITY  – Evan Jackson Leong (United States)
• RASKAL LOVE – Byron Q (United States)
• STATELESS – Duc Nguyen (United States)
• TO WEAVE A NAME (E Haku Inoa) – Christen Marquez (United States)
• TONGUES OF HEAVEN – Anita Chang (United States / Taiwan)
• WHEN I WALK – Jason DaSilva (United States/Canada)
• XMAS WITHOUT CHINA – Alicia Dwyer (United States)

The 2013 narrative competition line-up includes:

• ABIGAIL HARM – Lee Isaac Chung (United States)
• BEST FRIENDS FOREVER – Brea Grant (United States)
• CHINK – Stanley Yung (United States)
• THE HAUMANA – Keo Woolford (United States)
• THE PLAYBACK SINGER – Suju Vijayan (United States)
• SAKE-BOMB – Junya Sakino (United States)
• SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW – Nadine Truong (United States)

The 2013 international showcase line-up includes:

• COMRADE KIM GOES FLYING – Kim Gwang-hun, Nicholas Bonner, Anja Daelemans (North Korea/Belgium/United Kingdom)
• DREAMS FOR SALE (Yume Uru Futari) – Miwa Nishikawa (Japan)
• FALLEN CITY – Zaho Qi (People’s Republic of China)
• JISEUL – O Muel (South Korea)
• KEY OF LIFE (Kagi Dorobo no Mesotdo) – Uchida Kenji (Japan)
• THE SOUND OF CRICKETS AT NIGHT (Ainikien Jidjid ilo Boñ) – Jack Niedenthal, Suzanne Chutaro (Marshall Islands)
• TOKYO BOY – Sato Yoshinori (Japan)
• TOUCH OF THE LIGHT – Chang Jung-Chi (Taiwan, ROC)
• WHAT ISN’T THERE (Ang Nawawalang) – Marie Jamora (Philippines)
• WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW? – Arvin Chen (Taiwan, ROC)

The 2013 line-up of special presentations includes:

• DEAD DAD – Ken J. Adachi (United States)
• HAFU: THE MIXED RACE EXPERIENCE IN JAPAN – Lara Perez Takagi, Megumi Nishikura (Japan)
• NICE GIRLS CREW: SEASON 2 – Tanuj Chopra (United States)
• YELLOWFACE – Jeff Liu (United States)
• “Secret Screening Presentation” – (United States, South Korea)

The Morality of Zombiefication

I have to admit, as much as I love con’s, some of the panels can get pretty out there at times and so it was with some chagrin that I saw the strangely titled “Not Guilty by Reason of Zombification? Law and Forensic Psychiatry After the Zombie Apocalypse.”  Okay that is a mouthful but you get the idea.  Or do you?

We all know that in the coming zombie apocalypse the laws of morality and ethics will change greatly. Self-defense, looting and death by zombies are just a few of the problems humanity will face. All bets are off as only the strongest will survive. It could be an interesting panel, but this panel takes it further. What if suddenly a cure for zombification was found and those former zombies return to being human again? Would they be held accountable for their zombie actions? Or is being a zombie a good enough legal defense in and of itself? That’s the premise of this panel and while it may be a little out there, it could be fun. Which raises the questions, are werewolves accountable for their actions too?

Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter!

Were you a Veronica Mars fan? Do you long to return to Neptune High? Well, you’re in for some great news. Rob Thomas.. no.. other Rob Thomas (creator of the show Veronica Mars) started a Kickstarter for fans crying out for a movie adaptation for years and REACHED their 2 million dollar goal in less than 24 hours. It has been almost 10 years since I became a fan of the show. And ‘Veronica Mars’ happens to be the first background job I’ve ever worked. You can even find me in the background in a few of the earlier episodes. I am a big fan, own the dvds, and would love to work on this project again.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project

Kick-Ass 2 Redband Trailer

I’ve been a huge fan of the comic, so it’s great to finally see Kick-Ass resurface after disappearing from my radar.

Check out the trailer here: http://www.mtv.com/videos/movie-trailers/887615/kick-ass-2.jhtml

I Liked The Hobbit And I Am Not Ashamed Of It

Alright, I have been meaning to write this for a while since most critics (including one Babbler) hated The Hobbit. Look, I know it reeks of Hollywood milking a franchise to stretch it into three movies to make money (and I do hate that). I know there was too much CGI.  I know the Goblin King looked like a boil that was about to burst. I know the rock giants fighting had no place in the movie and I know the dwarves fell down a ridiculous amount of stuff, and yet after all of that, I still liked it.

To me it was just fun. Maybe it is because I am such a fan of Tolkien that anything involving his works I will watch. Maybe it is because as a kid I was dying for LoTR/Hobbit movies and now I finally got them and maybe it was just because it made me feel like a kid again. I will say they did a brilliant job with the Riddles in the Dark sequence between Bible and Gollum. So as a whole I liked it and thought it was fun and maybe sometimes that is all a movie needs to be. Then again I am not approaching this as a critic.

I don’t like that the sequel is called The Decimation of Smaug. Smaug and the ensuing battle should more or less be the last movie. I have no idea what they will do with movie three other than the rise of the Witch King, which was not in the books. Will it be good as part one or more contrived who knows? But for now, I liked the first part.

Star Trek Into Darkness #2

Another AMAZING trailer has been released for the new JJ Abrams highly anticipated Trek adventure. This one takes more of a humorous and personal approach which was missing from the first awesomely action packed trailer. It’s great to see Kirk up to his rebellious shenanigans with his failthful crew following their Captain’s lead. I can’t decide which movie I am more excited for- this one or Man of Steel. Each new trailer puts either movie in the lead in my conflicted mind. Either way, I will be their for opening night of both eagerly hoping for my world to be rocked. What do you think of this new trailer?

Dean Koontz At Wondercon

So yesterday I wrote about how I loved hearing from the creative types, like the writers and directors, talk about their work and mentioned that Neil Gaiman was one of my favorite panels ever. This leads to another panel I surprisingly, really enjoyed and that was Dean Koontz. As it turns out, he is coming to WonderCon in a few weeks.

At Comic-Con you have to get in line way early for a panel which means you often have to sit through panels you may or may not be interested in. So my brother and I, along with one of my friends, found ourselves arriving early and sitting through the Dean Koontz panel. None of us had read any work by Dean Koontz so we weren’t sure what to expect. As it turns out it was another fascinating panel. Dean fielded questions and talked for an hour about being a writer and about his work. He also gave advice for writers and listed several resources on his website writers may want to use.  All three of us found it really interesting and left wanting to read some of his stuff. Okay, I admit that I still haven’t read anything by him but I will probably be attending the panel at WonderCon. If you get the time you should too, you’ll enjoy it.

One Of My Favorite SDCC Panels

While I love the panels with all the famous celebrities, sometimes they can be a bit of a letdown.  Don’t get me wrong, some are epic, but for some reason it seems like the actors/actresses bring a lot to the table. The panels I have found the most interesting are the ones where you hear from the creative types behind it all such as the writers and directors. In my six years of Comic-Con one of the best panels I have ever been to was a Neil Gaiman panel.  So I was naturally thrilled to hear that he is returning to Comic-Con in 2013!

Neil could pack out Hall H or Ballroom 20 but it wasn’t one of those, it was the large room across the other half of the convention center.  Officially I think he was there for Beowolf, but he really didn’t talk that much about it. Instead he just spent an hour talking about writing, the industry, creativity and fielding all sorts of questions from the audience. It was a really fascinating panel.  Just listening to these guys experiences and how they think about things is pretty fascinating, especially if you are a creative type. Needless to say, I will be there as close to front and center as I can. He is one of those types that if you can invite any five people over to dinner he would be on that list. I am sure he will be talking about his new novel, The Ocean At the End of the Lane, but I can’t help but think he will mention the new Sandman he is working on as well.

Comic-Con Hotels Go On Sale Today!

Well everyone, hope you had good look booking hotels! Hope to see you there!