Secondlina's Panels

Still working on making a zillion pages. Creating buffers is long!

The new Game of Throne episodes are quite tantalizing. It's too bad I don't have cable. I'll most likely do what I did for the first two seasons - watch them online and then buy the DVDs. I really like the ladies in this show. Especially Sansa and Dany, who display opposite spectrums of badass.

Last week I went to a Draw and Quarterly event : a talk by Alison Betchel (mostly know as the comic origin of the Betchel test). I picked up her books while I was there. I mostly knew her for her strips called Dykes to watch out for. This is my first time reading her graphic novels. The first, Fun Home, is about her father. The second, Are You My Mother, is about her mother. In both cases, it's also about how Alison grew up, about the evolution of her sexual identity, and the evolution of her general identity. I love the spot color used in both books. I love the drawing style that reminds me of classic strips drawings like those of For Better or for Worse. It really adds to the story, i'm not sure why. Maybe because cartoon strips are so associated with family life? The story is very interesting too. It's unique, just like it's composer, which is appropriate since it is her life. The book also analyses literature and the value of the memoir genre. In general - a great read. Cannot recommend enough.



On the subject of comics, I was surprised to learn that a rather dated French comic series (from the 70's) is being currently addapted to the big screen in an american/korean co-production. The original comic is called "Transperceneige", which translates to Snowpiercer, the title of the movie version.



The film is set in a future where a human engineered Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels non-stop around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. The train is divided into a harsh class-system. The story is difficult to describe because it's so ambient in the books. Basically, picture this as a strange mix of Space Opera with the Hunger games. It's got virtual realities, revolutions, weird science, military conspiracies, religious sects, everything. The movie looks like it's going to kick-ass with it's multi-cultural badass cast. 

I'm looking forward to it because, let's face it, more cool European comics SHOULD be adapted in big budget movies. There's a lot of stories in European comics that are unique. It's a group of comics that needs more translations and adaptations because it's chock full of amazing things for all ages. 

I just hope that in the Snowpiercer that upgrade the gender roles a bit though - because in the 70's comic version, all the guys are stoic badasses and all the girls and sexy emotional minxes. So yeah.

 

So this week, I downloaded and watched a movie called "Penelope". I heard both good and bad things about this movie. So I was pretty curious about it. 



(The Japanese poster is adorable).

Generally, the story of Penelope is a modern fairy-tale inspired romantic comedy, heavily inspired by Beauty and the Beast. Du to an inter-generational curse, Penelope was born with the face of a pig. The spell will break if someone of her "own kind" (aka royalty) accepts her. So, with the help of her neurotic mother, she conducts various romantic interviews via a two-way mirror, behind which you can find her whimsical lair full of plans and trinkets. However, whenever she finally shows herself to the suitor, he runs away. Until, of course, she gets to this suitor who doesn't, but still refuses to marry her for a mysterious reason.

Now. I'm not gonna lie. This movie was kinda bad. There's a few bad things that really weight the movie down. For starters, it doesn't seem like the movie decided if it wanted to be mainstream Hollywood or alternative. So it mixes elements that are very classic and predictable with details that are very artsy. As a result, both sides are never pushed fully, giving us a movie that kinda awkwardly rides in-between. Some of the acting is flat. A lot of montage is weird, and the whimsical background look fake more then enchanting. 

But I still watched all the way to the end because this movie had some really good plot twists. I mean, really, really good plot twists that basically do add a lot to the Hollywood fairy-tale twist. Such has to how they solve the spell. Without giving anything away, Penelope ends up saving herself. But the fact that she does unlocks her own tower opens up this huge "I guess my parents never loved me" thing that is never exploited. There's a lot of subplots (about the father, the sister, the butler, Penelope's friends, her boyfriend) that could have been really awesome. They are brought in well, but then never exploited. I think that's the main idea with Penelope - lots of great ideas that go nowhere, making the movie rather dull and skin-deep rather then really intriguing. But it is cute, and Penelope is a fun character. Making it a good movie for the younger kids that won't annoy the living crap out of parents, since it does have good points. It just doesn't know what to do with them. 

My last critique would be about Penelope's "pig face", which is about as horrifying as Gerald Butler's "mild sunburn" in the Phantom of the Opera movie. Again, the beast side isn't pushed enough. She's downright cute. A bit odd-looking, but cute! There's this "evil" (again, not pushed enough) prince that seems to see her worse then she really is (he describes her with fangs and stuff). And you get to see his vision at some point and it does look terrifying. I wonder if the movie was trying to imply that Penelope "looks" worse to someone who has a bad heart? Maybe explaining why all the blue-bloods basically going to the interviews to score her dowry run out screaming. But again, the movie never pushes that, never tells us anything about that, reducing the bad guys as really shallow wimps. 

Penelope - Could stand a good remake. Because it really has a ton of potential. 



- Isa

I seriously have a short temper lately, and I apologize for whomever is at the receiving end of it. I think the weather, multiple flues and sheer job annoyances are slowly reducing my patience in this fine powder-like substance. Grrrr. Oh well.

Today, I managed to get many of my "obligations" out of the way early, so I got to sketch a bit for fun, which happens rarely these days, unfortunately. So I drew sketches about "Labyrinth", that I had watched a few days earlier. 






I love that movie and it's it's 80's glorious Bowie-themed cheesiness. Link hates it. He calls it "that creepy children's movies from our childhood" *laughs*. He probably feels this way because he's not a girl, since mostly girls seem to have liked this movie for some reason (some reason other then the contents of Jareth pants, in my case). Too bad this story is still copyrighted, Sara fits the "Namesake" description to a T. Oh well. I'd still like to get my hands on the book that was the inspiration for this movie, "Outside Over There" by Maurice Sendak. I love Sendak's drawings and dark humor. I didn't manage to get my hands on one of his artbooks yet. I wonder what tools he used to draw...

Speaking of awesome drawings, an artist I strongly admire on deviant art just finished her animated movie. She studies at a school called "Gobelin" in France, which is basically one of the best, if not the best school for animation out there. And it show. Click on the image to see her beautiful film. and be sure to check out her deviant art too.



That's all for now, folks!

- Isa

Teeth problems being slowly solved. Still got a few wisdom teeth to remove.

While my face wakes up, have a few cool things.

First off, sorry for being so quiet. Things have been crazy over here. Plus, Lj has been offline a lot. In any case, Namesake is a few comics short of hitting the 100th comic mark. Woo! we are getting more and more readers too. Seems a lot of people like Oz. Heck yeah.

To celebrate and to encourage donations, I'm working on a new wallpaper. The theme for this one is "Witches and Wizards of Oz". You got Ozma, Selva, Glinda, Renge (or Jellia), the Scarecrow, Chiseri, Anlise and Warrick surrounded by all the ladies of magic. You also get to see what Hercilia looks like a human. This is going to be pretty sweet, fully colored and inked, I can tell you that.



Aside from that, I recommend that all aspiring artists read Austin Kleon's "HOW TO STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST (AND 9 OTHER THINGS NOBODY TOLD ME)". It's hilarious and pretty much true as a whole. It's basic rules we all know, but it's cool to see them listed and drawn out.

I've been going crazy on etsy. I wanted to reward myself for all my hard work (I just love me... No but really, I earned it), so I decided to buy some jewelry. Of course, I went for the geekiest stuff there was. I bought Harry Potter themed bling. Oh yes. A metal bracelet that said "Expecto Patronum" and a golden snitch necklace. Aw yeah. i'm cool and I know it, kids.

In other news, why haven't I heard of Michael Pangrazio until now? This dude is a painter of WORLDS. He drew the "backdrop" for scenes in movies like the old Star Wars and Labyrinth. You know, before there was blue screen and computers, there was him, making a wall look like the blasted HORIZON. Kudos, sir Pangrazio. Kudos. Technology marches on, but you still work in character design and exude awesomeness.

That's all for now.

- Isa