visual feast

here's a quick rundown of what i've been visually feasting on:

- comics history
one late-night channel surfing, i came across the history channel's take on comics. it takes us through the early dc comics and how marvel came up with its own line to challenge dc and other developments in the comics industry. comic covers, stories, notable personalities like stan lee, neil gaiman, story tactics like resurrecting the dead (e.g. robin) were featured.

the feature says x-men became such a hit because the characters weren't perfect. the readers could relate to them, unlike superman who was all steel that nothing can get him down. spiderman also became popular because peter parker was an ordinary high school boy who was just trying to get through high school. the power that he acquires all the more endears him to the readers because of the internal conflict brewing inside him. responsibility is a really heavy thing on one's shoulders, and deciding between being happy and doing something for the greater good will tear you apart many times. batman and robin weren't really accepted by the public, especially the elders because of the more-than-comrade treatment they seem to bestow each other. it's for that reason that robin was finally killed, i think, when batman comics sales were low. wonderwoman was also resurrected although i don't think it was very successful, after making her more like an image of modern times. there were also other moneymaking ventures like the hulk, the fantastic four, the punisher and daredevil.

frank miller, the author of the recently adapted sin city, was also an important figure in comics. his storytelling style was different. i believe his themes were usually dark but with really something good to say. the mention of gaiman's sandman is very short. it wasn't seen as a revolutionary piece, just one more comic joining in the fray which started being called graphic novels.

comics were tied to the social consciousness of their time. various issues like war and drugs were tackled. there were debates in the board room whether stories containing such themes will be published and eventually, they did after much grilling. the way the subjects were tackled should show that it's not cool to be doing such things. since much of young america was reading comics those days, it was really a very valuable medium to reach out to them.

i also found out that during the earlier years, writers and artists didn't have ownership of the works they were producing. the companies owned them. it was only around spiderman and the whole dc following suit that the creators got the credit for their work, i think, after another company started doing it.

- peter pan
yes, it's still the tale of the boy who never grew old. there's a bit of humor injected into it, and a few deviations from the original story, which i don't remember well anymore. anyhow, the - forgive the term - innocence that was inherent in the original story and various other adaptations of it, as well as in other elements of our childhood that had been abused and bastarded these times (e.g. bulaklak - why would they even think of putting double meanings in such harmless childhood games? the suggestive dance steps are the beginning of this. now every girl will enter school knowing that being sexy is an important thing.), was lost. peter was at first smitten with the 13-year-old wendy, who then starts to fall in love with him. yes, it did provide some focal points for this adaptation. yes, it's a new take on barrie's original story that captured the world. but i don't really agree with kids getting the idea that falling in love at a young age is such an important thing in the world. they are still kids. they should just enjoy their childhood, like what peter wanted to do. how could they exploit those young minds? crushes are all right, but love is another thing. pardon this outburst. i just wish things kids see nowadays are the same as what i used to watch before, untainted and full of good things. don't argue with my use of the words here.

- carnivale
i've been drawn to this ever since i first saw the advertisement on tv. i religiously watched the first few episodes while i could. it's still season one i think and i was able to watch four episodes this weekend. a pity that i only found out about it just recently. but i think the previous episodes were the ones i've watched already so no harm done. it's when i get back to up that i'll miss it again. sex has come up lately in the stories. i initially thought it would be something different since the beginning was really different from anything i've seen. i don't know what's been happening - the ratings are probably down or the creative minds behind it are not creative anymore - but yes, sex has been one of the key things that's making the story get on. even ben hawkins has been involved in it, and that's probably why he set out to save that woman's life. all of a sudden, life in the carnivale is no longer as it usually was. actually, it ceased to be when ben hawkins came along. however, i'm still stalled as to his connection with the priest Brother Justin who's situated in another part of the world and living in a perfectly normal environment. he, however, is not normal as the last episode has shown.

- fabulous life on vh1
yes, who else's life would be more interesting than ours? none other than the stars. though i don't really understand why some people would care to know everything that has been happening to everyone in tinseltown - local or foreign - i am grateful for those fansites being put up by faithful fans. a latest obsession over something or someone would find me scouring the net for anything and everything about him/her/it. most notable are the pictures so i say just keep them coming. but mind you, my obsessions don't last for long. eventually, i'd be content with what i have. i don't fixate on that obsession for long stretches of time. they usually come to an end, as soon as i've finally collected everything about it - a task i still have to accomplish with my manga scans and translations of rurouni kenshin. so i come back to my initial wonder at why people want to be always updated on everything that celebrities are doing at the moment. there's even a ridiculous kapamilya sim being sold in the country just so the ordinary citizen can stay in touch and in the know on what abs-cbn's stars are doing. they're feeding useless knowledge and promoting inappropriate priorities. the ordinary person would rather see claudine barreto cry on tv than understand the current political situation.

anyway, i've strayed far from my topic. another late night channel surfing chanced upon vh1's feature on the fabulous life of j. lo. she's rich. i was amazed, aghast at the extravagance that she indulges in to live her life. at least pam anderson doesn't keep her money all to herself. she's even got 3 kids. j. lo., i mean jennifer, has all the rocks that she's got. no longer jenny or j. lo. - a change of name ought to change people's perceptions about her - but she's got being rich and a star out strong.

- korean movies
of course, who can discount the comic relief provided by these? not to mention the touching endings that usually come with the laugh. i've only laid my eyes on windstruck and my little bride during this sick leave. but i still can't forget the images from my sassy girl. my 14-year-old brother even watched it with me and my sister and he wants to watch it again. of course, their flawless skin and their different nature provide a refreshing new view on these love stories. oh yeah, have you watched my tutor friend? cholo from stairway to heaven is there. i only saw him crying his heart out on tv before and it's great to see him playing it tough here. i do love chinitos, yeah nika? he's also got this killer smile and this killer bod. i could go with him right now if he wanted me hehe :D

- chocolat
i had the impression that this was a very sensational movie when it was shown in theaters. i stumbled upon it being shown on studio 23 after another late-night meditation in front of the tv. i wonder what i'd do without the remote. the wonders of technology hehe :D doesn't really take much to keep me happy. Ü anyway, i knew johnny depp was starring here. and being the fan that i am, i watched it to indulge in his acting prowess and downright charm; the images of luscious chocolate i remembered from years past also drew me to this. however, a boring pace soon got me surfing again but i did get the gist of the story. i wasn't able to start it so i didn't know the history of the women there. but they were considered outcasts in that society where religion keeps a strong hold on the people. the chocolate they make somehow induces people to commit sins because of the sheer enjoyment they get. that's really sad. once more, women are placed in categories which shouldn't be there. these outcasts are expected to conform to what they were used to. stubbornness led to a boycott on immorality which was fixated on them. never mind their happiness, their sense of self. i'm not aware of the turning point but eventually, the town's main man understood these women's side and the whole town no longer sees them as a threat. johnny depp's character is subdued but comical in his own way. this is the first movie i've seen him kissing another woman. heartbreak anyone?

- the tailor of panama
brosnan plays the kontrabida here and he gets away with it. imagine stirring up trouble in panama over a fake story of the intended sale of the panama canal, a very important trade port. all that trouble and shame - the us army, after getting info from the british, once again suits up to become the hero of any conflict - for 15 million US dollars. just for money once more, folks.

- desperate housewives
the wives of wisteria lane are unique in their own ways. all have their own concerns - from the ridiculously outrageous to the genuine simple ones. i don't know what's all the fuss about these women, but theirs is an interesting story in their own right. sex and getting back is not everything in the world. i guess i'm still tied up by conventional beliefs. anyhoo, i think i'd be happier in what i believe to be right than what's happening over there in the studios.

- metropolis
i just watched this animation awhile ago. i read that there's also a vintage movie titled metropolis but i'm not sure if they're the same thing. after months of putting it off, i finally put it in the player and surprisigly, the story took me from the very start when other chances didn't before. i guess it was just waiting for the right moment. it's based on the comics of osamu tezuka so the story must've been really old. metropolis is like any ordinary city of the future. the people have a characteristic appearance here different from the usual drawings. they did look strange the first time i saw them. two looked quite normal, resembling astroboy's round face but not his hair - kenichi and rock, two of the main characters. one looked americanish in appearance (he's supposed to be a japanese) - this is kenichi's uncle - and one looks like the normal anime drawing, the robot fashioned from the rich man's late daughter. it's robot fiction. robots are now in use to do more work. the downside is many people, mostly from the impoverished sector are staying that way with no jobs and no means to succeed. so there's growing interest in the elimination of these robots. there's also the rich sector who try to stay in power, and who want to take control of the world. the latter is being accomplished with the help of a special robot. but the rich man's adopted son wouldn't hear of it and tries to thwart his plans even if his father would disown him. in the end, the structure built for that purpose, the ziggurat, is destroyed by that robot he tries to use after she realizes what she can do. but total world doom is prevented by a human, the first person the robot meets who knows her enough to stop her and try to reach to that being he once knew. an interesting facet of this animation is the musical score. it's different from the previous ones - or is it the trend in some animation nowadays? - because jazz music is featured here. i do not know the artists but they do keep you up on your toes. instead of the sound of a big explosion when the ziggurat was getting destroyed, what i heard was silence from the main explosion, the one that should've been the biggest, and then the entry of a jazz ballad with the lyrics sung by a man. the music was quite at home with the colors of the film. the bright colors seem to bring you back to the lively scene that i imagine new orleans once was, before that devastating hurricane.