Impressive, most impressive

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS

I dont normally comment on TV shows, but with this I'm going to have to make a rare exception. Admittedly, I was a little sceptical of this show at first. Years have gone by, but the bitter taste of the atrocious prequel movies still lingers on my tongue :P Despite that, the “Star Wars: Clone Wars” animated show is an excellent addition to the Star Wars universe.

The series was directed and produced by Genndy Tartakovsky, the man responsible for the daring “Samurai Jack” (a show I’ve yet to experience firsthand). It tells the story of the Clone Wars, which chronologically takes place between the 2nd and 3rd prequel movies. As such, it’s somewhat necessary to have seen the first two movies (“The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones”) to get where the Clone Wars characters and stories originated.

And here lies the shows one and only failing; it’s so intertwined with to the dire prequel movies that it’s practically impossible to fully enjoy or appreciate the show without having seen the other Star Wars movies first. Having been subjected to the first two prequels, it was tough to get past the awful acting and clunky dialogue and see the characters as viable persons worth exploring. Clone Wars quickly changed my mind on this though.

The main cast of characters are handled wonderfully. Gone are the hollow, soulless movie incarnations. Anakin is far less petulant and whiney when you take away Lucas’s clunky dialogue and Christensens scowling face. It’s easier to believe that Anakin and Padmé are actually in love and the evolution of Obi-Wan relationship with his padawan is handled skilfully.

But what I found most appealing about this show is its use of secondary characters. For example, I really enjoyed the brief excursions with the lesser-known Jedi. It bolstered the idea that there was actually a vast Jedi Order in existence, populated by diverse aliens from throughout the galaxy.

They took a very stylised approach to the design of the characters, using bold lines and colours and simplifying everyone’s look, so that only their key identifiable characteristics remained. Simpler designs allow for more fluid and complex animation, and the hand drawn work here is exquisite.

The ships are brought to life using 3D animation (very reminiscent of those on Futurama). The backgrounds are highly detailed, almost painterly affairs, offering up beautiful backdrops against which the action plays out.

The action scenes were impeccably staged, with a fast pace that still left time to appreciate the spectacle (something the new movies never accomplished). Also refreshing was the inspired use of “the force”. Not only did the Jedi use it more often, but they also employed it in surprisingly imaginative ways.

Considering the theme of the show was war, violence was a necessary part of the story and I have to applaud the creators for not shying away from it, even considering it was a kid’s show broadcast on the Cartoon Network. Characters (good and evil) are dispatched in various, sometimes shockingly brutal ways.

The first volume is made up of twenty three-minutes shorts, the length of which forced the writers to be very economical with their plotting in order to get the story across. Each episode usually involved a brief battle sequence, with little or no dialogue. Some of the episodes are constructed so well visually, that they manage to convey the story with no dialogue at all. But when dialogue IS used, it’s believable and true to the characters. It’s telling when the dialogue in a cartoon is more accomplished than that in its big screen movie counterparts.

Volume two differs in not only the show length (five fifteen-minute episodes), but also that the story directly leads up to the opening scenes of Episode III. When seen back to back, the two volumes of Clone Wars are the perfect bridge between Episodes II and III. That’s not to say they improve the movies. If anything, they only serve to highlight the inadequacies of the feature length films. In just two hours, the creators of this show manage to give more depth to the Star Wars characters than Lucas et al managed over the entire run of prequels (which clocked in at well over six hours in all).

There are a few inconsistencies here and there as some of the characters in “Clone Wars” were handled differently to their movie counterparts. This was mainly due to the fact that Episode III was still in development when Clone Wars was already in production. But I think in almost all cases, I prefer the cartoons interpretation of the characters.

If you consider yourself a fan of Star Wars and were let down by the disastrous prequels, then do yourself a favour and check out the fantastic “Clone Wars” on DVD. It reaffirmed my faith in Star Wars and gave me some hope for its future as a franchise.

Both volumes can be purchased right now at a bargain price in HMV :D And watching the show in a two hour-long burst is infinitely preferable to the 3 and 15 minute bites they were originally aired as! :P

Flavour of the week - Justin Timberlake

Hes got a brand new single out (the scorching hot "Lovestoned") and his two night run in Dublin starts this very night, so what better time to celebrate the unstoppable force that is "The Trousersnake" :D

PS: Can anyone remember those bleached blond curls he used to sport back in his old N*Sync days? Awwww :P

Not a nipple in sight!

My bat-radar is bleeping, which can only mean that a tasty new morsel of info on the upcoming “The Dark Knight” movie has been leaked to the public. This week it’s the reveal of the brand new (and apparently much improved) Batman costume.

A huge failing of previous costumes was the neck, which prevented the actor to turn his head without turning his shoulders at the same time, severely limiting his performance. This has now been remedied!

Also updated is the bodysuit, which now appears to be made up of lots of smaller pieces, making it far easier for the actor to move around (and perform more exciting moves and stunts, I imagine). Weapons have been added to the gloves and the cape has been given new capabilities (the extent of which are still top secret!!). More bat-info as soon as its revealed.......

Acceptable in the 40s

CALL ME IRRESPONSIBLE ~ Michael Bublé

Quality seems to be on a bit of a downward spiral when it comes to Michael Bublés output. I simply adored his self-titled debut, where he put his own stamp on a few old standards. What impressed me most though, was how he took some contemporary songs and “jazzified” them (sometimes a lil, in other cases a LOT). His follow up "Its Time" followed a similar approach, but the choice of older material was less than inspired.

His latest effort (if you can call it that) “Call Me Irresponsible” just comes off bland and uninteresting. Maybe the novelty of the whole jazzy/swing trip has worn away, but I’ve really grown tired by his lack of innovation in the genre. I won’t accept the reasoning that just because its jazz, then you HAVE to sing a cover, or it HAS to sound dated. I would point sceptics towards Linas first album “Stranger on Earth” or Christinas “Back to Basics” for how brand new songs can have a jazzy or big band twist to them. Sadly, it seems as if Bublé is content to regurgitate album after album of covers, which is not an appealing thought, and a waste of talent as far as I’m concerned.

I still can’t fault his smooth voice, which handles the range he’s given quite admirably, but there’s the distinct sense that he’s not pushing himself vocally as much as he once was.

Unless it’s an absolute corker, I’ll be giving his next one a miss.

Bloody Melly

APOCALYPTO

Mel Gibson sure seems to love his bloody epics, doesn’t he? And there’s no getting away from the fact that Apocalypto is pretty much non-stop violence from start to finish. It was brutal, raw and ultimately quite enjoyable!

The film takes a good while to get going, but that works in its favour, as it gives us plenty of time to get to know the main characters first. I know I must sound like a broken record at this stage, but the importance of setting up protagonists who the audience will actually care about cannot be overstated!! Thank god this fact is still understood by SOME filmmakers.

Gibson has come under a lot of fire for the way in which he depicted the Mayan civilisation, but I don’t think his aim was to give a true and accurate representation of this ancient culture. Instead, the Mayans are seen through the eyes of their captives, and as such, it’s natural that their view would be biased towards seeing them as frightening and evil. Some of the Mayans were perhaps made a little too moustache twirlingly evil for my liking, but there was at least some attempt to give them a bit of depth. A villain with motivation is far more frightening than one who’s evil for no reason.

The film itself was beautifully shot and the locations were breathtaking. The incredible costume design (especially where the Mayans were concerned) warrants a mention as well. Gibsons direction can’t be faulted, giving the sweeping scenes a feeling of awe and majesty. He manages to give the action a sense of urgency, without having to resort to the choppy editing that seems to dominate choreographed fight scenes nowadays. The last half hour of the film was a wonderfully paced, heart-stopping chase that left me gripping the arms of my chair.

Its certainly not for everyone’s tastes (especially if excessive violence and subtitles put you off), but its one I can definitely recommend.

Feel the magic, hear the roar

My prayers have finally been answered! And no, I'm not referring to Jake Gyllenhaal lying on my bed wearing nothing but a big cheeky grin :P Thundercats (that classic 80s cartoon) is finally being made into a movie! The movie rights have recently been bought by Warner Brothers and they’ve already hired someone for the script.

I’ve always thought the show had huge potential for the big screen and it was really only a matter of time before some studio took a shot at it. I’m just hoping that they don’t go down the camp or childish route, as the show always struck me as being quite dark and scary when I was a wee lad.

Comeback Keri

Brand spanking new pics of my fav girl Keri Russell promoting her latest flick Waitress in Interview magazine. Doesn't she look terrific ladies and gentlemen?

Shes serious like crazy

N.B. ~ Natasha Bedingfield

Ah Natasha, how I’ve longed for your return. Her debut surprised me with its goodness and turned out to be one of my fav albums of 2004, so I was eagerly awaiting her follow-up.

Never one to play things safe, “N.B.” (fantastically clever name, by the way) is a bit of a mixed bag, much like the first. Like Pink, her style is still very fluid, mixing up rock, hip-hop and 80s electronic but she remains more or less true to pop throughout.

She seems to delight in being different with her sound and almost goes out of her way to create a sort of harmonic or rhythmic dissonance on certain tracks (the opener, with its “against the rhythm” drum beat, for example). It’s nothing if not refreshing. Sadly, she still hasn’t lost her penchant for daft lyrics. :P

Her voice can still sound a lil strained at times (even bordering on screechy in some places, as she struggles to reach those high notes), but she keeps it in check for the most part. What works in her favour is that her voice is deceptively emotive and does a great job of making the lyrics resonate.

Few of the tracks are as instantly likeable as those on “Unwritten”, and overall, the album probably isn’t as strong or coherent as her first. That said there are some cracking tunes on offer and I can tell that the album is definitely a grower. What I’ve always found interesting and unique about Natasha is her ability to surprise and take a song where you least expect it.

For those brave and bold enough to take the risk, “N.B.” is a distinctly different and thoroughly enjoyable listen.

Standout Tracks:

• How Do You Do?
• Soulmate
• Who Knows
• Pirate Bones
• Backyard
• (No More) What Ifs
• Not Givin’ Up

Streets ahead

Google has updated their Maps page to include an astonishing new feature. As well as the usual “Map” and “Satellite” view, there is now a “Street” view on offer.

Zoom in on a city (New York, for example), click on any of its streets and a pop-up window will appear that allows you to see things from the point of view of someone standing in the middle of the road. If you click and drag the picture, you’ll find that you can rotate your point of view a full 360 degrees!! :O It really is amazingly cool.

This impressive feat was accomplished by driving around the cities with a camera strapped to the car and then joining all the images together later. Understandably, given its colossal scope, this addition has only been applied to a handful of the larger cities in America. But I’m guessing we can look forward to something similar for all major cities in the years to come.