Can't Get Away From It All When You Take It All With You

So there was an article in the Edmonton Journal a few weeks ago that caught my eye. My beloved Jasper National Park is looking at making some changes in order to lure more campers out to the campgrounds.

At Whistler Campground, just outside out of the town of Jasper, they're going to introduce these things next year called "cottage tents." They're massive canvas tents that can hold up to six people. They're fully heated, have comfy futons, complete kitchens, and they'll even teach you how to cook over an open fire, all for just $90 per night.

That's not all! Also coming soon to campgrounds in our national parks are Internet cafes, newspaper sales, and ice machines, "like you'd find in private campgrounds."

Here's the complete original article, detailing more things they'd like to try.

For my summer vacation this year, I got to go camping for the first time in years. I loved it when I was a kid. Every vacation included at least one camping trip out to Jasper. And I can't help but noticed how camping sure changed over the years. Granted, some friends of mine used to scoff at my notion of camping, which included pitching a tent in a campground. To them, camping was hiking several miles into the bush...no need for your "vehicles." Anyway, I'd turn around and scoff at those who'd pull into a campsite with a monstrous 50' trailer with a generator running all hours of the day so they could watch TV.

So, you could imagine my surprise a few years ago when my parents bought themselves a nice, new trailer...a monstrous 50' unit. "But Mom & Dad," I said, "these are the kinds of units we used to mock when I was younger!" "You don't understand," said my parents, "this is now a minimum size, with one of the more basic packages that there is."

I will admit, when we were camping this past summer, some of the now-basic features were nice. In the brutal summer heat of southern Alberta, it was nice to have A/C in the trailer.

For some reason though, this seems wrong. It's like Parks Canada feels like they have to compete with the hotels. But it's a supply and demand thing, right? The people are demanding it, so they feel they need to supply it.

Long story short, I'm just sad that things are no longer like they were when I was a kid.

Now We Are 2...Iron Man 2!

Alright, the first poster for Iron Man 2 was just released. Not only do we have Iron Man, but we've also got our first pic of Iron Man's partner, War Machine!



To recap, Iron Man 2 is due out in May. Robert Downey Jr is back as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Gwyneth Paltrow is back as his faithful assistant Virginia "Pepper" Potts, Don Cheadle takes over for Terrance Howard as Jim "Rhody" Rhodes (who becomes War Machine), Mickey Rourke plays the villanious Whiplash, and Scarlett Johansson plays the Russian superspy the Black Widow.

No official word yet on when the first trailer hits, but director Jon Favreau has been hinting that it'll be in front of Sherlock Holmes.

The Targ Returns!

Well, after a one week hiatus, I come roaring back with a new episode of my podcast, U62: The Targ!

Why was there no episode last week? Well, it's all explained in Episode 3.10: Angst All Over...and That Stuff Stains. Long story short, car troubles ruined my good mood. I also talk about getting records for Christmas and buying new gloves!

Oh, and special thanks to Trouble for letting borrow one of her blog tags to title this week's episode.


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

The Spirit of Christmas Specials

It's that time of year again. Our TVs are about to be flooded with all manner of holiday specials. Holiday specials just don't have the same pizazz for me as they once did.

Last week, I stayed up late to check out Merry Madagascar, aka the Madagascar Christmas special. For those who haven't been keeping tabs on it, DreamWorks is trying really, really hard to turn all of their animated films into full-blown franchises, and one way they're doing that is by giving just about every film they've produced a holiday special. It all started with the Shrek Christmas special from a couple years back, and continued with the Monsters vs. Aliens Halloween special from last month.

The plot of Merry Madagascar follows your fairly standard "famous characters save Christmas" plot. Santa crash lands on Madagascar, and all of our favourite talking animals who've been stranded there since the first movie figure they can use Santa's sleigh to get home to New York, after they finish delivering all the presents of course. Meanwhile, an amnesic Santa wanders around Madagascar and teaches all those wacky lemurs about the true meaning of Christmas. It was nothing remarkable, and scattered with pop culture references that'll be lost in a year.

I don't know. Modern Christmas specials just aren't that magical anymore. Most modern Christmas tales seem to have replaced the Magic of Christmas with a Cynicism Towards Christmas. I tend to consider "modern Christmas" tales to be anything made after 1994. I use 1994 as my cutoff date because that's when the remake of Miracle on 34th Street came out, and I use that as my case study.

See, in the original Miracle on 34th Street, Santa is in a court hearing to determine whether he's really Santa or not. Near the end of the hearing, Santa's lawyer comes up with a dazzling defence to prove that Santa is really Santa. All these letter carriers come in, carrying bags full of letters to Santa. Since the post office recognizes Santa as Santa, then surely he must be Santa. The judge agrees and Christmas is saved! That, my friends, is magical. But what happens in the remake? Instead of that, Santa's lawyer starts waving around a dollar bill and giving a lecture on the nature of faith. That's not magical...that's preachy.

Nothing's been made celebrating the magic of Christmas post-1994. Well, The Polar Express came closest. And there has been the odd Christmas special, such as 1995's Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree.

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree was notable in that it was one of the first Muppet things produced following the death of Jim Henson. Kermit the Frog served as our narrator, and a whole cast of original Muppets was created just for this special. The special all starts with Mr. Willowby, an eccentric millionaire who loves Christmas the most, and is well-known for his lavish Christmas parties. And, of course, the centerpiece of his parties are always the magnificent Christmas tree. But the heroes of this special are this little mouse family, who set out to find the perfect tree. And oh, they do find the perfect tree, but it is far too tall for their little mouse house. So they decide to just take the top. But then, Mr. Willowby's lumberjacks come along and take the whole tree. The mouse family clings to the top of the tree for dear life. The tree is taken back to Mr. Willowby's place, and it is determined to be too tall, so the top is cut off and given to another family...and so on and so on, and the mouse family hiding in the top of the tree gets to observe how all these different cultures celebrate Christmas.

It had an all-star cast of humans, too. Mr. Willowby was played by Robert Downey, Jr, Mr. Willowby's butler was played by Leslie Nielsen, and a kindly Sweedish boarder in Mr. Willowby's house was played by Stockard Channing.

Speaking of Christmas specials, I should brace myself. I'll probably start getting my annual deluge of e-mail requests asking for a copy of A Mouse, A Mystery, and Me.

Anyone else remember this holiday special? It first premiered in the late-1980s. Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a big hit, and live-action/animation blends had become all the rage. A Mouse, A Mystery, and Me followed the Christmas adventure of two teenage girls. These girls had a very special after-school job...they were best selling mystery writers! But see, they didn't really write the mysteries...the mysteries were written by a talking animated mouse that live in their purse. They took the credit for his writing because apparently the world isn't ready for talking animated mice. Anyway, when a beloved department store Santa goes missing, its up to these young ladies and their talking mouse to find Santa, thwart some department store embezzlers who intend to frame Santa, and save Christmas! Television mainstay Dick van Patten played Santa.

A Mouse, A Mystery, and Me was quite popular in Edmonton, mainly because it actually was filmed in Edmonton. That fact made it a regular holiday tradition on ITV (now known as Global Edmonton) well into the late-1990s.

Now why do I get deluged with e-mail requests for it every Christmas? Well, when I was younger, I taped as many Christmas specials as a I could. And, every couple of years, I would catalog my Christmas special collection. A few years ago, I decided to post my catalog online. And, lo and behold, I mentioned that in my collection was A Mouse, A Mystery and Me. So, I get people with fond memories of that special, e-mailing me, asking me for a copy.

And sadly, I have tragic news for them. I cannot give them a copy. For, the last time I was home, I discovered that my mother had taped over it with her precious Coronation Street. It is lost to the ages.

Much like other Christmas specials that celebrate the magic and the wonder of the holiday season. Whatever you do, just be sure to watch the original Miracle on 34th Street, and not the remake.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Specs

So, as I've blogged a few times in the past, I have been loving the DC Comics direct-to-DVD movies so far. It's been announced that the next one, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, comes out in the spring. They just announced the bonus specs for the DVD, and there's something on it that's really cool.

The producers of these DTV films have begun doing a concurrent project called DC Showcase. DC Showcase is a series of animated short films focusing on some of DC's B- and C-list heroes. And, one of the bonus features on Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths will be the very first DC Showcase!

For the first one out, we get DC Showcase: The Spectre. The Spectre is the Spirit of Vengeance in the DCU. In his original incarnation, Jim Corrigan is a hard-boiled detective who is brutally murdered. However, he is refused entry into the afterlife, and is sent back to Earth to be...the Spirit of Vengeance. In the forthcoming short, he'll be voiced by Gary Cole. Yup, Harvey Birdman.

Other bonus materials on the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths DVD include a featurette on all the various crises that the DCU has endured, two episodes of Justice League Unlimited, and a sneak peak at the next DTV film, which is still TBA. It's still slated to come out on February 23.

Latest Targ is Up!

I seem to be going through a creative drought as of late. This blog is going unattended, and I just can't figure out how to express myself.

Which kind of leads into the topic of this week's show, Episode 3.09: Little to Do, in which the first few minutes are wasted figuring out what to talk about. But eventually, I settle on the Best Animated Film Oscar and naughty Christmas tree ornaments.


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Clash of the Titans Trailer

I really haven't been blogging that much lately. It's often been said that blogs are for people with little to say and even less to do. I guess that means I haven't been blogging because I have a lot to say and a lot to do.

Anyway, a movie trailer I've been waiting for for a while now has finally appeared online. As we all know, remakes are all the rage in Hollywood right now. And, thanks to The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, fantasy films are equally big. So, it was only a matter of time before they started remaking fantasy films.

Which brings us to Clash of the Titans.

Clash of the Titans is a much beloved fantasy film from 1981. It was a retelling of the Greek legend of Perseus. We got to see Perseus tame Pegasus, slay Medusa, and rescue Andromeda from the Kraken. And, of course, the Gods of Olympus manipulated the events to curry favour. The film has also grown somewhat dated. With Star Wars and R2-D2 still fresh on people's minds, cute robot sidekicks were all the rage. So, Perseus got a cute robot sidekick in the form of a mechanical owl named Bibo, built by Hephaestus.

The cast was legendary as well. Perseus was played by Harry Hamlin, who went on to greater fame on L.A. Law. Zeus was played by the legendary Shakespearean actor Laurence Oliver. And Aphrodite was played by the legendary Bond girl Ursula Andress. But, where the film gains its true lustre among movie geeks is that it was the final film to feature special effects by the legendary stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen.

With this being a beloved classic, you just knew a remake was a comin'.

The new Clash of the Titans hits theatres this spring. Perseus is played by the up and coming action star Sam Worthington. We saw him this summer in Terminator Salvation and he'll soon be 10 feet tall and blue in Avatar. The Gods play a larger role this time, as well, with the goal of Perseus's quest being to assemble the tools Zeus requires to hold off Hades. Liam Neeson is Zeus, Ralph Fiennes is Hades, and Danny Huston is Poseidon.

And, in a wonderful tip of the hat to the original, Ray Harryhausen, who is now well into his 90s, was brought in to consult on the creature designs.

So, ladies and gentlemen, here's the new Clash of the Titans.

Latest Targ is Up!

I suddenly had a flashback to 12 years ago. As I was struggling with my dial-up Internet connection, my computer sciences majors were telling me that, soon, people would be able to get Internet access through cable companies, and that you'd be able to download a 5M file in under 5 minutes!.

I was thinking about that as I was uploading Episode 3.08: Hey! That Song! Guess how big this week's episode is? And I downloaded it in under 30 seconds! The future is here!

Anyway, the topics of this week's show are Christmas albums, Sunshine Girl calendars, and some wacky stats about my personal life.

So get into the belated Halloween spirit!


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Latest Targ is Up!

This is Halloween...this is Halloween...nothing like Halloween traditions on the radio! Or, in my case, on my podcast, U62: The Targ! One such tradition, going all the way back to my college radio days, is playing songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

You'll get one of those on Episode 3.07: The Ghost Pumpkin, along with some visiting trick-or-treaters, and a few rants about Halloween!

So get into the belated Halloween spirit!


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Once More, With Batman

Being the Batman geek that I am, I occasionally take the time to sit down and watch Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The latest Batman cartoon is a more lighthearted and Silver Age take on the character, providing as many laughs as high-flying adventure. And, taking its cues from the comic book it's named after, each episode features Batman teaming up with another DC character...usually, some third-stringer who had yet to be portrayed in animation. So it can get really geek-tacular.

Recently, they aired an episode entitled "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" The Music Meister is an original villain created for the show. His power is that he can hypnotize people through his song, and is thus out to conquer the world. Naturally, with a power like that, the writers on the show had an excuse to go all "Once More, With Feeling" and do a musical episode.

The mainstream entertainment media has been geeking out over this episode, mainly because of special guest villain Neil Patrick Harris as the Music Meister. Apparently, no one knew that Harris could sing like that. Apparently, no one remembered that Harris was in the Broadway cast of Rent.

I want to take a moment to geek out about the other powerhouse singer in the episode. In order to defeat the Music Meister, Batman teams up with the legendary DC hero Black Canary. On the show, Black Canary is voice by voice actress Grey DeLisle.

Once upon a time, about a couple years ago, I was googling the names of voice actors in an attempt to learn more about them. (Being a geek who loves cartoons, it's how I frequently kill a rainy afternoon.) I entered DeLisle's name into a search engine, and discovered that voice acting is just her day job. By night, she's a country music singer, and had released a couple of indie albums a few years ago. One critic described her voice as a "Goth-infused Dolly Parton," and with a description like that, you could colour me curious. My next online visit was Amazon.com, where I bought her album Iron Flowers. It's a really good album...very classic country music, more bluegrass in flavour, and I still listen to it quite a bit.

So I'm really glad that she finally got this mainstream exposure, and here's hoping she releases another album soon. (Iron Flowers is her most recent, and it came out in 2005.)

Here she is from "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" singing "If Only," a Disney Princess-ish ballad where sings of her love for Batman:



Here she is, singing live, one of my favourite songs off Iron Flowers, "The Bloody Bucket:"



Hey! And here she is on New Zealand television talking about being a superstar voice actress:



I guess all I'm trying to say here is Grey DeLisle is awesome.

Another New Burger Family Member

So, it was around a year ago, that A&W rocked our world by introducing a new member to the Burger Family, the Sirloin Uncle Burger.

Hey! Here's my original blog entry on the Uncle Burger.

Anyway, with a lot less fanfare, A&W introduced yet another long-lost member of the Burger Family...two members to be specific. Ladies and gentlemen, it's the Sirloin Baby Burger Twins!



Packed inside this foil bag are two bite-sized cheeseburgers with two bite-sized sirloin patties on them.



Their OK. They're kind of bland. These are basic cheeseburgers. Just cheese on them...no ketchup, no secret sauce, no nothin'.

However, they are small enough that they make a handy snack.

Sadly, though, the Mozza Burger is still not welcome as a member of the Burger Family. I still say we lobby to make the Mozza Burger the "Cute-Cousin-You'd-Sleep-With-If-You-Weren't-Related Burger."

New Movie Reviews For You!

Alright, I saw some movies over the weekend and I finally reviewed them!

I saw Astro Boy and Where the Wild Things Are!

Click here to read the reviews!

Latest Targ's Up!

Not gonna lie...you almost didn't get an episode of U62: The Targ this week. Real life got in the way, so I wound up throwing this together really late at night, almost like the ol' college radio days.

Episode 3.06: Quick 'n Dirty tells you why I was so darn busy. Rare film scores are purchases, and movies are reviewed!

Try it...today!


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

A Little Bit o' Movie News

I feel like I've been neglecting ol' bloggy here for the past few days. No real reason...just, quite literally, nothing to write home about. But I feel like writing some stuff anyway, so let's do it.

So, let's see. A lot of classics from my childhood are coming to the big screen. We've had G.I. Joe, we've had Transformers...what's next?

How about The A-Team?

Yup, the movie version of The A-Team is now filming for a June 11, 2010 release. And today, we had our first picture of the cast!



So, who is the new A-Team? From left to right we have:

Bradley Cooper, star of the sleeper hit of the summer The Hangover, as Templeton "Face" Pack.

UFC fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as BA Barracus.

Sharlton Copely, star of the hit summer film District 9, as "Howlin' Mad" Murdock.

And, rounding out the team, none other than Qui-Gon Jinn himself, Liam Neeson as John "Hannibal" Smith.

Not pictured is Jessica Beal as Amy Allen. They changed the character of Amy for the movie. In the early seasons of the show, she was a plucky reporter who frequently assisted the A-Team. In the movie, she's the hard-ass MP with the task of bringing in the A-Team...and one of Face's many ex-girlfriends.

The director is Joe Carnahan, who brought us such fine action films as Narc and Smokin' Aces. Ridley Scott, who brought us such classics as Alien and Gladiator is producing.

This could be good.

---

And in another bit of industry news, Nickelodeon, the children's TV network in the USA, bought the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

Nickelodeon's plans for the franchise include a new cartoon (computer animated of course) and a new movie (live action of course). It'll all be coming in 2012.

Latest Targ's Up!

Sorry there was no new episode of U62: The Targ last week. I went home for Thanksgiving and forgot to do a new episode in advance. But that's OK, we're back, and it's back to my ravings.

Episode 3.05: Sunny Skies in the Afternoon is all about James Bond, Where the Wild Things Are, and Toy Story 3.

Give it a spin!


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Saturday Morning Straight to DVD Cartoons

Wow. This is kind of weird. But in a way, nice and nostalgic.

For those who don't keep up on such things, 2009 is the 25th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. There's been all kinds of celebratory stuff going on, from re-prints of the old comics, special storylines in the new comics, and even the movies getting some fancy Blu-Ray special editions.

And now, the cartoons are celebrating.

Coming soon to your favourite DVD emporium is the direct-to-video animated film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles Forever. Thanks to some multiple earths style hi-jinks, this film features the current day animated Ninja Turtles teaming up with the 1980s animated Ninja Turtles! A clip just surfaced online.





My only complaint? It sure doesn't sound like the original 1980s voice cast. Sounds like they got the current voice cast to impersonate the original voice cast. But still, seeing those original character designs, takes me back to my misspent youth.

No word yet on when it hits DVD, but it will air on the CW network on Saturday morning, November 15.

---

And speaking of straight-to-DVD movies, a surprising announcement out of the WB/DC direct-to-DVD movie camp.

You know Superman/Batman: Public Enemies that I've been raving about all month?

It's getting a sequel! It is officially the first of the WB/DC DTV films that's getting a direct sequel.

No word yet on when Superman/Batman 2 will be hitting store shelves, or which classic Superman/Batman team-up they'll use for a basis. If I had to guess? It'll come out next year some time.

The New Slinky Dog Is....

So one of the big questions that me and my fellow Pixar fanboys have been wondering is, "Who's doing the voice of Slinky Dog in Toy Story 3?" You're probably even wondering why this is an issue.

Well, in the first two Toy Story films, Slinky Dog was voiced by Jim Varney, still best-known to a generation of children as Ernest P. Worrell. Varney passed away from lung cancer back in 2000. Voicing Slinky Dog in Toy Story 2 was among his final film roles.

So today, it was announced that the new voice of Slinky Dog is...Blake Clark. Clark is a stand-up comic and a real "that guy" actor. You know what I mean...the type of actor where he pops up in dozens of supporting roles and makes you go, "Hey! It's that guy!" Clark has done a lot of Adam Sandler films...you may remember him as Farmer Fran in The Waterboy. If you watched a lot of Home Improvement back in the day, you may remember him as Harry, the owner of Tim the Tool Man's favourite corner hardware store.

Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich says that Blake Clark was actually a friend of Jim Varney's and Clark considers taking on this role to be a great honour.

Another member of the Toy Story 3 voice cast announced today is Kristen Schaal. Schaal is a cast member of the hit comedy series Flight of the Conchords and also a correspondent on The Daily Show. No word yet on who she's voicing.

New Toy Story 3 Trailer!

Here is it, the new trailer for Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3! This has been in theatres in front of the Toy Story double-feature, but now it's officially online!



So this is our first trailer giving us some hint at the plot. Looks like the rumors are true: it does deal with Woody, Buzz and the rest of Andy's toys realizing that they are nearing the end of their time. And having followed the development of the Toy Story films, the concept of being left behind in a daycare centre traces all the way back to the very first draft of the Toy Story script dated 1992! Neat-o.

And I like the bit with Buzz being reset and going back to thinking he's a real Space Ranger. I remember listening to the running commentary on Toy Story 2. Director John Lasetter said that part of the fun of the first Toy Story was deluded Buzz, and they wanted to bring back deluded Buzz for the sequel. In Toy Story 2, the approach they took was Buzz being replaced with a brand-new Buzz in the toy store. Looks like in #3, they decided to do it by pressing Buzz's reset button...both literally and figuratively.

All in all, it's looking good! Godspeed, Pixar!

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Review

Wow! I can't believe it took me so long to rip this out of the shrink wrap and pop it in the DVD player. It's time to sit back and check out the latest Warner Brothers/DC Comics direct-to-DVD animated epic....

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

Directed by Sam Liu

Starring the voices of Clancy Brown, Tim Daly, Kevin Conroy, Alison Mack, Xander Berkley, Ricardo Chavira, John C. McGinley, LeVar Burton, and CCH Pounder.

Backstory: Ya know, out of all these DTV movies they've been pumping out, my gold standard is still The Batman/Superman Movie. When it comes to character moments between the top two of the DC universe, that is still the ultimate in cool. So an epic Batman/Superman team-up could be so fantastic if done right. Of course, one of the big selling points of this one was the fact that they reunited the main voice cast from The Batman/Superman Movie who are, in fact, the main voice cast from the heyday of the 1990's toons: Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tim Daly as Superman, and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor. And throw in some great source material. This DTV film is based on the same-named graphic novel, which I've never read, but I always find myself leafing through it at the bookstore. This movie might finally encourage me to read it. All in all, there was a lot of good stuff going into this movie. Would it pay off?

Plot: Lex Luthor got himself elected President of the United States of America. And, under his watch, the world has become a better place. Crime is down. Poverty is down. Employment is up. And he's even brought several superheroes into the federal government to work for the people. But there's one notable person who will not work for the office of the President: Superman, who still thinks that Luthor is up to something. When a giant meteor made of kryptonite is spotted heading towards the Earth, Luthor makes one last effort to bring Superman into the federal fold. But instead, it turns out to be an ambush, and Superman is soon framed for the murder of his old enemy Metallo. Luthor says the massive kryptonite meteor is turning Superman into a mentally deranged lunatic, and places a $1 billion bounty on Superman's head. There's only one man who can help Superman now...his BFF, the Dark Knight himself, Batman. So Superman and Batman are soon on the run from government-sanctioned superheroes and bounty-hunting supervillains as they try to clear Superman's name, save the world from the meteor, and uncover Luthor's true plot.

What I Liked: This movie is just one massive brawl. So many C-list supervillains come out of the woodwork that I had trouble recognizing them all. If you like watching gigantic superhero throw-downs, then this is right up your alley. And the dialogue...the banter between Superman and Batman is priceless. So perfect, so in character, and so funny.

What I Didn't Like: I was a little disappointed that Power Girl didn't have much to do in her animated debut. She doesn't kick much ass...she spends a lot of time standing around being conflicted. Tim Daly's voice acting as Superman was also a little flat in the beginning, like he needed time to get back into the groove. And the editing seemed somewhat abrupt. It did feel like some lines, and even an entire scene, was missing at one point.

Final Assessment: Despite my reservations, this did hit all my right geek buttons in terms of the Superman and Batman portrayals and the super-brawling. This is my second favourite of the franchise. #1 is still Wonder Woman.

3.5 Nibs

Bonus Materials: This disc is available in single-disc movie only version, 2-disc special edition, and Blu-Ray. I have the 2-disc special edition. For bonus features, you get the trailers for all the other DTV films, a featurette on this year's DC comics epic crossover, 2 episodes of Superman: The Animated Series featuring team-ups with Batman, and a sneak peak at the next film, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. There's also two really unique featurettes. The first one is called A Test of Minds: Superman and Batman, in which some comic experts and psychologists analyze Batman and Superman and figure out why they work so well. The second one is Dinner with DCU and Special Guest Kevin Conroy, in which Kevin "the voice of Batman" Conroy and several members of the creative team sit down, have lunch, and reminisce about the good ol' days of Batman: The Animated Series.

Woody & Buzz & Wolverine & James Bond

I hate going into Edmonton on Sunday.

I usually go in on Saturdays. My job has me programmed to get up early. I'm at 7, on the road by 8, I hit Edmonton right at 10, just as all the stores open. Bing, bang, boom, I get all my shopping done. Have lunch, catch a movie at 1, get home in time for supper.

But this weekend, I couldn't go in on Saturday because the job called me away. Nope, I had to go in on Sunday. On Sundays, nothing in Edmonton opens until noon. So I get in at around 11, have lunch, catch my movie, and go shopping afterwords just as things are super-crowded. I wind up getting home later than I want. It's just a longer day.

Especially if you run into crazies. While at Best Buy, getting my DVDs, one stoner started yelling out that Best Buy's DVDs are "cheaper than whores in Thailand."

*sigh*

But what, pray tell, was so important that I had to go into Edmonton on a Sunday? Well, right now, in theatres, for a limited 2-week engagement, is the 3D special edition double feature of Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Now, the Toy Stories are the only Pixar films that I've never seen in the theatre, so I knew this would be chance.

I don't think I'll do a full review of these films for the website, because we've all already seen them about a dozen times. No need to rehash what we've gone over a dozen times before. All I can say is I still love them. The grand climax of Toy Story 2, where Woody rides to the rescue chasing down that airplane? Still gets me all goosebumpy.

That being said, I'm still not sold on the whole 3D thing. Putting the films in 3D didn't really add anything new. Showing them as a double feature though, that was a stroke of genius. I mean, they're both short movies, only 1.5h each. Watching them as a double feature is just 3h long...as long as, say, Titanic or Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

So it was really good.

But as I said, I was on a quest to get some DVDs. I was after the 2-disc special edition of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Yeah, I thought it was kind of weak, but hey, I must have the complete X-Men franchise in my collection.

Now I was all worried. They're starting to put out the 2-disc special editions in fewer numbers, so that way you'll buy the Blu-Ray instead. And with Wolverine having been out for a couple of weeks now, I was afraid that the 2-disc special edition would be all sold out by the time I arrived.

"Oh, well," I thought. "I could always buy it at HMV." Granted, HMV still tends to have the best selection, but they make you pay for it. When it comes to new releases, I've noticed that they tend to run at leas $5 more than Best Buy or Future Shop. I was certain that HMV would have it, but would I want to pay more?

So, after the film, I was browsing through HMV, I saw it on the shelf and thought, "There it is, right in front of me. What the hell, let's get it."

The other big DVD on my list today was the latest Warner Brothers/DC Comics direct-to-DVD animated film, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. As I've done with the other direct-to-DVD films, I'll have a complete review later in the week.

And then, I made a lucky strike in the discount bin!

When I first started with this DVD thing, I set a little goal for myself. Like a lot of guys, I enjoy the James Bond films, but I didn't really want to buy the box sets and get all 20+ films. So I said that I would only get my favourite films with each Bond actor. So, to represent Sean Connery, I got Goldfinger. To represent Roger Moore, I have The Spy Who Loved Me. For Timothy Dalton, I have The Living Daylights, and Pierce Brosnan is represented with Tomorrow Never Dies. Daniel Craig is just starting out, so right now, I only have Casino Royale.

But I was left in a bit of a pickle. To complete my collection, I still needed the lone George Lazenby Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It hasn't been available outside of a boxed set for at least the past five years.

So, there I was today in Wal-Mart, and what was floating on the top of the discount bin but the long out-of-print, outside-of-a-boxed-set edition of On Her Majesty's Secret Service!

Only $5 out of that discount bin. $5.25, including GST. And, lo and behold, in my pocket, was five loonies and a quarter. It's the first-ever DVD I've bought with nothing but pocket change.

So I'm going to be watching a lot of DVDs on this upcoming Thanksgiving weekend!

Latest Targ's Up!

I'm not going to lie to you. I have many episodes of U62: The Targ where I just go through the paces. This is one such week.

Episode 3.04: Paper Trail just complies some miscellaneous rants about the 2016 Olympics, getting a haircut, and fast food secrets.

Enjoy!


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Rio 2016

Hey! Since I am fascinated by all things Olympics, I should take a minute to acknowledge the big Olympic story of the day.

Congradulations to Rio de Janeiro, which was awarded the Summer Olympics for 2016! It's the first time ever the Olympics will be heading to South America. And apparently, that came up in the final pitches. Giving their final speeches, the president of Brazil went, "COME ON! We know how it works. The pattern goes Europe, North America, Asia, and repeat. It's time to let South America in. COME ON!" Of course, he used more professional, political language.

The also-rans were Chicago, Tokyo, and Madrid. Chicago was the odds-on favourite, what with both US President Barack Obama and Chicago's favourite daughter Oprah Winfrey both lobbying in person for Chicago to get the games. But it all fell apart, meaning late night talk show hosts are going to have some fodder for the next few days.

So, to recap, here's where all the Olympics are going to be held over the next decade:

2010 Winter Olympics - Vancouver, BC, Canada
2012 Summer Olympics - London, England, UK
2014 Winter Olympics - Sochi, Russia
2016 Summer Olympics - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

New DreamWorks Holiday Specials

Ya know, I don't want to rag on DreamWorks Animation a lot, but if there's one thing that I've done that I truly hate, it's how they've turned animated films into over-exposed franchises. I mean, do we really need four Shrek films? However, they do occasionally do some good work, and that needs to be acknowledged, but they are once again trying to create franchises out of stuff that doesn't look franchise-ready.

As part of their expanding franchises, they're really starting to tackle the old realm of the holiday special. Based on the success of their Shrek Christmas special, Shrek the Halls, it was just announced that, this year, we're getting a Monsters vs. Aliens Halloween special and a Madagascar Christmas special.

So, Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space will be airing on October 28. Taking place after the first film, those dasterdly aliens try to invade once again using mutant pumpkins, and so it's up to the monsters to repel the alien invaders. It reunites the entire voice cast from the movie, including Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogan, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnet, and Keifer Sutherland.

Merry Madagascar takes place between the first and second films. When Santa Claus crash-lands on Madagascar, the animals figure they can use Santa's sleigh to get themselves back to New York City. But, Santa's got amnesia, so the animals decide to finish his run, get caught up in the spirit of giving, and yes, they save Christmas. Also, we learn that those famous Madagascar penguins don't get along too well with Santa's reindeer. The logic? The North Pole and the South Pole have kind of a Calgary/Edmonton thing going on. Once again, the entire voice cast from the film is back, including Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, and David Schwimmer. That hits the airwaves on November 17.

And doing the Wikipedia links for this article, I see that DreamWorks is also working on a Shrek Halloween special, a Kung Fu Panda Christmas special, and a Bee Movie Halloween Special.

Make it stop!

Latest Targ's Up!

Another one of those weeks! If there's one thing worse than having a busy weekend that almost results in no podcast, it's having a glut of free time but nothing to podcast. So, in those situations, you just fire up the recorder, start rambling, and before you know it, you have a pretty tight episode of U62: The Targ!

Episode 3.03: Crisis on Saturday Afternoon turned into a nice little ramble about superhero DVDs. Will I get the 2-disc special edition of X-Men Origins Wolverine? Can I wait any longer for Batman/Superman: Public Enemies? And what else is DC/WB cooking up for DTV films? Find out in this week's episode!


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Movie News Aggregator

Wow. I feel like I've been neglecting this here blog, if only because I have ideas for stories about my vacation that I want to sit down and write, but I've been putting it off and putting it off and putting it off. So, in the interest of writing a blog entry just for the sake of writing a blog entry, here's some movie news from the past week that's caught my eye.

Thor - Casting is going full-bore on this Marvel comics adaptation. Star of the canceled TV show Kyle XY and general hot chick Jamie Alexander has just joined the cast as Sif, Thor's Aasgardian main squeeze. Also joining the cast, veteran Canadian actor Colm Feore! The official announcement was mum on Feore's role, just that he'll be playing a "shadowy character." To re-cap, Chris Hemsworth, briefly seen as Captain Kirk's daddy in Star Trek, is playing Thor, British actor Tom Hiddleston is playing Loki, and Natalie Portman is playing Jane Foster, Dr. Donald Blake's nurse and Thor's sidekick back when the comic began. The director is British actor/director Kenneth Branagh. This is Branagh's first attempt at directing a major Hollywood blockbuster since 1994's Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

Barbie: The Movie - Thanks to Transformers and GI Joe, and toys becoming the hot new property in Hollywood, this really isn't much of a surprise. But yeah, Universal just signed a deal with Mattel to develop a movie about Barbie. Script, director, writer, star, release date, all TBA.

Ghost Rider 2 - Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Blade writer David S. Goyer just announced that he's in negotiations to write and direct the long-awaited Ghost Rider sequel. You may remember that Goyer was attached to write Ghost Rider about 10 years ago. The plan back then was to re-unite the writer and director of Blade, Goyer and Stephen Norrington. The first Ghost Rider was written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson, who wrote and directed Daredevil.

The Social Network - So, they're making a movie about the origins of Facebook, and how it became one of the fastest-growing dot-coms in the history of the Internet. It might sound kind of lame, but the behind-the-scenes talent really has me excited. The director, none other than Fight Club, Seven, Zodiac, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button director David Fincher! The writer, Aaron Sorkin, who was the writer and creator of The West Wing and SportsNight, two of the most brilliantly-written TV shows ever. They also announced the cast. Jessie Eisenberg will play Mark Zuckerberg, the programmer who created Facebook, and pop star Justin Timberlake will be playing Sean Parker, the founder of Napster who talked Zuckerberg into making him Facebook's founding president.

Sweet Valley High - Oscar winning writer Diablo Cody has revealed her next project. She's going to be adapting the long-running series of tween novels Sweet Valley High for the big screen. Cody was apparently a big fan of the series when she was a youngster, and says that the books were quite influential in her junior high years. No word yet on when it might be hitting the big screen.

Latest Targ is Up!

Still getting back into the swing of things with the ol' podcast. Almost no episode this week because it turned out to be a busy weekend! But I still found 15 minutes in front of the recording equipment to get something on tape!

Episode 3.02: Snurkles goes off on a variety of geek topics, including World of Warcraft, Winnie the Pooh, and the Beatles! It's a pretty good one, if I do say so myself!


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

The Worst of 2008

Let me let you in on a little secret. I hardly rent DVDs anymore. Mainly because I own so darn many, that I figure that rather than rent something, I'll just watch The Dark Knight again. But this evening, I finally made good on something I've been threatening to do, well, all this year.

There were two summer blockbuster that came out last year that I really wanted to see, but I didn't, mainly because the reviews were so horrible that I figured it wasn't worth driving into the city and dropping my $12 to see them. So tonight I rented them. And I just finished watching them.

First up, it was the long awaited return of Mulder and Scully, The X-Files: I Want to Believe. So, it's been 6 years since the end of the show...six years since Mulder and Scully last rode off into the sunset. Scully has gone back to her roots -- in both her training and her faith -- as she now works as an MD at a Catholic hospital. Mulder lives in her basement, in hiding, where he still investigates paranormal activity through the Internet and by clipping articles out of various newspapers. But when an FBI agent mysteriously disappears, the FBI reaches out to Mulder, offering to clear all the charges against him, and bring him in to consult. For you see, a pedophile priest is having psychic visions about this agent's abduction. Is the psychic genuine? Well, Mulder and Scully are the experts in such things, so they're in on the case!

Truth be told, I was kind of "meh" towards the whole thing. Maybe The X-Files is just one of those things I've outgrown. Maybe it's because the whole thing really didn't feel like a movie. I agree with one critic I read online who said that, 12 years ago, at the show's peak, it would have been a very good episode. It does feel like a very good episode...but not a movie.

One thing, though, I do feel like addressing. A friend recently tweeted that one of the problems he had with The X-Files all those years ago is he didn't believe that Scully would have been a skeptic for as long as she was. "All 9 seasons and both movies," my friend said. Well, the true fans will remember that Scully did become a full-on believer comes season 8 -- the season Mulder left. And the new character, John Dogget, became the new skeptic. And in this second movie, Scully is once again the skeptic. But this time, her skepticism is rooted in, "I have a normal life now! I don't want to go back to chasing monsters in the dark!"

So, yeah. Good but not great. I'm going to go all Dr. Hackborn on this and give it a 2 out of 4, even though I really want to give it 3.

The other one was Mike Myers' latest comedy, The Love Guru. I've been a fan of Myers comedy all the way back to Wayne's World, so I was hoping that Myers still had it.

Myers latest characters is the Guru Pitka, an American raised in India and now uses elements of Hindu spiritualism to be a self-help guru. The Guru Pitka is soon contacted by the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, played by Jessica Alba. It seems that the Leafs' star player has a marriage that's on the rocks, and it's starting to affect his performance on the ice. So, the Leafs' owners wants the Guru Pitka to get the star player to reconcile with his wife, so his game will return to normal, and the Leafs can win the Stanley Cup. Can Pitka save this marriage and finally wind up on Oprah?

Yeah, a lot of the humor is crude and tasteless (the climax involves elephants fornicating), and the plot is rather formulaic, but you know what? I laughed my ass off. And as many a wiser film critic has said, at the end of the day, the only way to judge a comedy is whether you find it funny or not. And I found it funny.

I give it 3 out of 4.

So, come back a year from now, when I rent and review "the worst of 2009," the films I wanted to see this year but the reviews scared me off. Just taking a quick look at things, that'll probably be Terminator Salvation and Land of the Lost.

And the next DC Animated movie is....

Yay! Today, Warner Brothers Animation and DC Comics announced what they're next direct-to-video animated movie is!

Well, the next one is Superman/Batman: Public Enemies which comes out in two weeks. I'm talking about the one after that one. And the next one is....

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.

This is a largely original story, drawing from the rich multiple Earths of DC's Silver Age. Although, some are already pointing out that it bears many similarities to Grant Morrison's graphic novel JLA: Earth Two, which re-imagined DC's "parallel Earth populated with evil twins" concept. You heard me right, evil twins.

Here's the plot. One day, the Justice League is approached by Lex Luthor. But this isn't our Lex Luthor...this is a heroic Lex Luthor from a parallel Earth. In this Luthor's world, all the heroes are the villains, and the villains are the heroes. Luthor has come to the Justice League's universe because he's been overpowered by the Crime Syndicate - the evil counterparts to the Justice League - and he needs help. So the Justice League teams up with this good Lex Luthor to defeat the Crime Syndicate! But all is not as easy as it seems, as Owlman - the evil counterpart to Batman - unleashes an evil plot that could mean the destruction of both Earths.

And they even announced the first batch of celebrity voices in the cast. We've got:

- Mark Harmon, currently kicking ass and taking names as Special Agent Gibbs on NCIS is voicing Superman.
- William Baldwin, one of the Baldwin brothers and a big-time heartthrob back in the early 1990s, is voicing Batman.
- Chris Noth, best known as Det. Mike Logan in the Law & Order franchise and Mr. Big in the Sex and the City franchise, voices the heroic Lex Luthor.
- Legendary actor James Woods is voicing Owlman.
- Gina Torres, still best remembered by nerds and Whedonites as Zoe on Firefly/Serenity, is voicing Superwoman, the evil counterpart to Wonder Woman.

It'll be hitting your favourite DVD emporium sometime in the spring.

But let's not forget about Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, coming out in two weeks!

It's looking really cool so far. It's based on the first storyline in the Superman/Batman comic book, written by Jeff Loeb and with art by Ed McGuiness. In fact, for the animation, they tried to adapt McGuiness's style. Anyway, the plot. A gigantic kryptonite meteor is heading towards the Earth, threatening to take out most of the planet's population, and President Lex Luthor decides to turn this negative into a positive. Luthor frames Superman and Batman for the whole thing, declares them public enemies #1, puts a $1 billion bounty on their heads, and starts making plans to conquer what little of the world remains. So, on the run from bounty-hunting supervillains and government-backed superheroes, Batman and Superman seek to clear their names and save the world from Luthor and the meteor.

What makes this notable is, once again, the voice cast. They reunited the big three voices from the Batman and Superman cartoons of the 1990s. Kevin Conroy is back voicing Batman, Tim Daly is back voicing Superman, and Clancy Brown is back voicing Lex Luthor.

Some of the new special guest voices in this film include John C. McGinly, still beloved as Dr. Cox on Scrubs as Metallo, Alison Mack, still beloved as Chloe on Smallville, as Power Girl, and Geordi LaForge himself, LeVar Burton, as Black Lightening.

As I said, two weeks!

Disney Odds and Ends

So, this past weekend, Disney held their first ever D23 event down in California. You know how George Lucas does his "Star Wars Celebration" official Star Wars conventions? Well, D23 is pretty much the same thing...it was the first official Disney convention. As such, a lot of news came out about upcoming Disney projects, and since a former co-worked once called me "Mr. Disney" because of my knowledge of all things House of Mouse, I figured I should comb through the news and highlight what I think are the highlights.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - They made it official at D23...a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film is on the way. Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow, Ted Eliot and Terry Rossio are once again writing the script, Jerry Bruckheimer is once again producing and...that's all that's been announced so far. Summer 2011 is when this'll be hitting theatres. But what got me excited is, as soon as their done making this, the entire creative team goes on to make....

The Lone Ranger - Always had a soft spot for the masked man when I was a kid. As I said, it's the same creative time as POTC. Bruckheimer producing, Eliot and Rossio writing, and Johnny Depp is NOT playing the Lone Ranger...Depp will be playing the Lone Ranger's faithful sidekick Tonto. The search is on for the Lone Ranger! Summer 2013 is when this comes out. But what will be filling the gap in 2012?

John Carter of Mars - Edgar Rice Burrough's other famous pulp fiction character comes to the big screen. (The first one, of course, is Tarzan.) John Carter is a soldier during the American civil war who passes out in a cave one day and wakes up on Mars. Mars -- or Barsoom, as the locals call it -- turns out to be a rich fantasy land with all kinds of dragons to slay and princesses to rescue. Oh, and because of Mars's weaker gravity, John Carter has super-strength. So, Barsoom is pretty much Eternia, John Carter is pretty much He-Man, and Mattel pretty much ripped off the whole thing for Masters of the Universe. But why I'm excited is this is going to be the live-action directorial debut of Andrew Stanton, the brilliant Pixar animator who wrote the Toy Story films and wrote and directed Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Summer 2012!

Toy Story 3 - Speaking of Pixar, there were a few more announcements on Pixar's blockbuster for next year. Newly added to the voice cast are Jeff Garlin, Bonnie Hunt, Whoopi Goldberg, and James Bond himself, Timothy Dalton. The only new character revealed was Mr. Pricklepants. Mr. Pricklepants is a lederhosen-wearing stuffed hedgehog that "one might buy as a souvenir from Europe." That's who Dalton is voicing. Summer next year.

Yellow Submarine - One of the most controversial announcements was that Disney is looking to do a remake of the classic Beatles animated film Yellow Submarine. Robert Zemeckis, who gave us the Back to the Future trilogy and Forrest Gump, looks to make this his next performance capture epic. Zemeckis, of course, has become the performance capture guru, having given us The Polar Express, Beowulf, and this Christmas's A Christmas Carol. Apple Corps, the company that manages all things Beatles, are officially on-board with the project. 2012 is when they want it in theatres.

The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made - Yup, Disney now owns the Muppets, and they announced that this is the title of the next Muppet movie. What raised eyebrows was that Jim Henson originally proposed a fourth Muppet movie back in 1985 that was called...The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made. The plot apparently had Gonzo as a film director, and his budget quickly got out of control. Frank Oz tried to resurrect the project in Y2K, to little success. This new one is being written by Jason Segel, the writer and star of the romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Winnie the Pooh - So, Disney makes their triumphant return to traditional, 2D hand-drawn animation this Christmas with The Princess and the Frog. Their next traditional 2D animated film is going to be an all-new Winnie the Pooh movie. Head of Disney animation John Lasetter revealed what this new Pooh film will be about. Lasetter said that they decided to go back to the source. They poured through all the original A.A. Milne stories and found 5 Pooh stories that have yet to be adapted to another medium. So they took those five stories and wove them together into a singular plot. Christmas 2011.

Star Tours II - Lucasfilm was on hand to make this announcement! Ever since Episode I hit theatres 10 years ago, it's been rumored that Lucasfilm and Disney would be overhauling and/or updating their ever-popular Star Tours ride at Disneyland. And they finally made it official. The new Star Tours will be done with cutting edge computer animation, be in 3D, and incorporate many of the new planets we saw in the prequels. The original Star Tours will be closing next year, and the all-new Star Tours II opens up at Disneyland theme parks in 2011.

Disney's Double Dare You - This is an interesting project. Disney has teamed up with Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy director Guillermo Del Toro to create this new production arm at Disney, dedicated to creating spooky tales to provide thrills and chills for all ages. Del Toro will have a hand in everything that this label produces. Their first project is a film called Trollhunters, which will be written and produced by Del Toro.

The Bear and the Bow - And I do feel I have to mention this one, because Pixar was making a big deal about it. This Pixar animated film is due out Christmas 2011. Now, Pixar is regarded as the best computer animation studio working today, however, they are starting to get a lot of flak for the fact that they have yet to make a film with a female protagonist. The Bear and the Bow will be their first film where the main character is a heroine. Set in medieval Scotland, The Bear and the Bow follows the adventures of Princess Merida, who decides to renounce her title and become an archer. Sadly, though, this decision has dire consequences for her family, and she's soon on a quest to restore her parents to the throne. This is also Pixar's first film directed by a woman. Director Brenda Chapman who was a writer and storyboard artist on Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Chicken Run and Cars.

There was lots more news, but as I said, those were my highlights.

The Targ is Back!

Hey! There's been no episode of U62: The Targ for the past three weeks. Why? Because I've been on vacation, that's why! And it's time to tell you all about it!

It was also time to add another click to the old odometer and start re-numbering them. So, may I present Episode 3.01: Back from Vacation, in which I tell you all about my vacation!


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

A Hard Day's Basterds

I do so love spending a day in the city. Especially days like today, where I have my goals in place, but they're spread out enough so I can accomplish several side quests.

First and foremost was to finally see Inglourious Basterds. Quentin Tarintino's latest opus has been in theatres for almost a month now, but because I was off on vacation and far from theatres, I didn't have a chance to see it until now.

What can I say about Inglourious Basterds? It's awesome. It's fantastic. It's thrilling. It's got Tarintino's trademark over-the-top with everything. However, there were enough scenes that made me go "Meh," so I'm not ranking it as highly as Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill. I give it 3/4 nibs. Full review coming in the days ahead.

I also had to succumb to the hype and pick up one of the Beatles' remastered albums. I just had to pick up A Hard Day's Night. People usually get a charge out of hearing me tell the joke about how, during my time in Japan, I used to close the karaoke bars...and in Japan, that's really difficult to do seeing as to how karaoke bars are open 24/7. But the detail that I usually leave out is that it was songs off A Hard Day's Night that I would belt out. That's how I really discovered the music of the Beatles...a little Hard Day's Night, some Can't Buy Me Love...I found that all of their early stuff was the easiest and most fun to sing.

Plus, as is well-documented, the album doubles as the soundtrack to the film of the same name. I have the DVD of the film...it really is a great film. Very funny, and of course, fabulous music.

But yeah...no DVDs on this trip to the city. We're at a point right now where there's not much in the way of blockbusters that I want to pick up. All the summer blockbusters are going to start coming out on DVD next month, in anticipation of the Christmas shopping rush. And I usually have a list of discount bin stuff that I snatch up, should we be in a blockbuster lull, but the discount bins at my usual haunts seemed strangely empty. But that's OK. Because today, my usual DVD budget was earmarked for another purpose.

I bought a bookshelf!

See, it's like this. I have my extensive DVD collection, and I keep most of it in a bookshelf. It's one of those cheap, particleboard, assemble-yourself bookshelves that you can get for around $50 at most department stores. At around this time last year, the bookshelf became officially full. And ever since, I've been keeping my DVDs in neat little piles all around my apartment.

So today, I bought a second bookshelf. It's another cheap, particleboard, assemble-yourself bookshelf that you can get for around $50 at most department stores. Getting it home, though, required some engineering. As I looked at the box, I started fearing that the bookshelf would be too big to fit into my car. So, I ran over to the hardware department, bought a cheap tape measure for $2, and then ran out to the parking lot to measure up my car and make sure it would fit. Once I had the numbers, and with some clever arranging, I figured that yes, it would fit. And lo and behold, it did!

It's now lying on my apartment floor. Assembling it will be my lazy Sunday project.

The Latest on Weird Al

Alright, I've been away from a computer for two weeks, so let's get to it. A lot happened in the world of "Weird Al" Yankovic while I was gone.

First up, the fifth and final song from his Internet Leaks project was released. It's a cute little ditty about a problem of the modern age, called Ringtone.



I like this one. This is some old-school Weird Al, from the guitar solo to the arrangements. This would be right at home on UHF, despite the timely subject matter.

And that's not all!

While I was gone, Weird Al announced the release date of his next album! Sad news, it's not a new album. It's going to the long-awaited Greatest Hits vol. 3. It's called The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic and drops on Oct. 27.

Thing is, this is a 2-disc CD with 38 SONGS on it! In the past, Weird Al could only fit 12 songs onto a greatest hits album. As he explained it once on his website, he still has to pay royalties to the original artists for his parodies. And when he did greatest hits albums in the past, he'd eventually reach a point where royalties paid out to the artists became more than the royalties he'd get, and thus the album become unprofitable. But, his new record label figured out a way around that, hence the massive number of songs.

Anyway, here's the official announcement on Weird Al's blog, where you can see the album artwork and the complete track listing.

Latest Targ's Up!

Here we go once again. It's a new episode of U62: The Targ! This week, we're hitting you with Episode 2.43: New Ones, where I pick apart the new works of "Weird Al" Yankovic and Hayao Miyazaki.


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Ponyo and GI Joe: Off the Cuff

Had me a wonderful day in the city! I did something I don't do very often anymore...I did a double feature day. You know, that's when you see two movies in one day. I don't do it very often anymore because, damn, dude, movies are expensive now! When I was frequently doing double feature days around 10 years ago, I'd go to half-price matinees, and it'd pretty much work out to be 2 for 1. But now...it's just too expensive! But still, it's fun to do every one in a while.

First up was one I've been blogging about for quite some time now, the latest from world renowned Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo.



Miyazaki's films truly work in transporting you to another world. You just accept this world where a goldfish with a human face can become a little girl. The traditional, hand-drawn animation is wonderous to look at. And that music! Composer Joe Hisashi kicks all kinds of ass. This is definitly lighter fare than what Miyazaki's been putting out recently (ie Spirited Away). This really feels a lot like My Neighbor Totoro. And there ain't nothing wrong with that!

If I have one complaint...it'd have to be with Lisa, the character of Sosuke's mother. Now, Miyazaki is renowned for putting strong female characters in his films. And Lisa looks to be about the same...except for one scene.

SPOILER WARNING!

So, Sosuke's father/Lisa's husband is a ship captain. He decides to take another job and thus be away from home for longer than expected. Naturally, Lisa is upset. But Miyazaki has her throw a very childish tantrum and then sulk like a 7 year old. Seemed kind of out of place.

END SPOILERS!

Other than that, it truly is a magical film so go see it! 3.5 nibs.

And then, we went across the theatre to see G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.



Wow, what a world we live in! Two live action Transformers films, a live-action G.I. Joe...bring on He-Man!

What can I say about The Rise of Corbra? It definitly draws more from the classic cartoons than the classic comic books...there's a stronger focus on the action than the character development.

It's formulaic as hell, they made some deviations from the source material, but you know what? Enough of what I enjoyed as a kids was retained, and that made me happy...kind of like the first Transformers.

3 nibs!

Now let's hope they learned from Transformers example and don't fuck up the sequel.

Astro Boy Trailer

Another of my childhood heroes is coming to the big screen! Hitting theatres this October, it's the all-new feature film version of Astro Boy!



The vital stats: this is the second film from animation studio Imagi. Their first film was 2007's computer animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The director is David Bowers, a long time Dreamworks and Aardman storyboard artist who made his directorial debut a few years back with Aardman's Flushed Away.

We've known for a while now who the celebrity voice cast is, but only recently was it revealed who all their voicing. Previously, the only celebrity voice and who they're playing that we knew was Freddie Highmore as Astro. Highmore is probably still best remembered as Charlie in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Astro's creator, the distraught scientist Dr. Tenma, who creates Astro in the image of his deceased son, is voice by noneother than Oscar winning actor, well-known comic book nut, and all around crazy guy, Nicholas Cage.

As we trace through Astro's origin, of which this film largely tells, we know that Tenma soon regrets what he did, and sells Astro to an abusive ringmaster, Hamegg, who makes Astro the star attraction in his circus. Hamegg is voiced by Nathan Lane, still best loved by a generation as the voice of Timone in The Lion King.

Astro is soon rescued from the circus by Tenma's old colleague Dr. Elefun, who recognizes Astro and knows that his potential is being wasted. Elefun is being voiced by Bill Nighy, who's still probably best known in North America for playing Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Elefun soon encourages that Astro go to a regular school with regular kids, where he meets Cora. Cora is voiced by Kristen Bell, still beloved by geeks the world over as Veronica Mars.

In addition to the origin, they also drew a bit from the "Peacemaker" storyline from the original manga. President Stone (voiced by Donald Sutherland) sees Astro's obvious military potential, and when Astro refuses to become a WMD, the President unleases the Peacemaker robot to bring in Astro.

And there's a couple of celebrity cameos revealed at the San Diego Comic Con a few weeks ago that are worth noting. Samuel L. Jackson voices Zog, that robot that Astro brings to life in the trailer up there. And Charlize Theron reads the opening narration.

What am I thinking? Well, I'm cautiously optimistic, because I liked the CGI Ninja Turtles. However, there's a lot of gags in that trailer, like with the robot going "Is this thing on?" and the dog driving the car and all that. I understand the need for comic relief, but that trailer leaves me thinking they may have made the film a little too goofy.

We'll find out on October 26 if it really is goofy, or if they decided to cram all the comedy into the trailer to make it look goofy.

Lost in Translation

OK, if you've been reading this blog all summer, then you know I'm kind of looking forward to seeing Ponyo when it hits theatres this Friday.

Most of Hayao Miyazaki's films have become known for their catchy theme songs. The theme from My Neighbor Totoro is still hummed quite a bit. And the theme song for Ponyo was likened to the Totoro theme, and was quite a big hit in Japan. Here it is:



While it is cute and catchy, it's not quite radio friendly, Billboard Hot 100 material here in North America.

Well, like Miyazaki's last batch of films, it's being dubbed by Disney. And Disney's gotten very good at making the bubblegum pop these days, what the prevalance of the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus on radio these days. And hey! Disney got Frankie Joanas (little brother for the Jonas Brothers, and frequently joins his big brothers on stage as the "Bonus Jonas") and Noah Cyrus (little sister of Miley) to do voices in the American dub. So let's have them cover the Ponyo theme. Sounds good on paper.

But the resulting version is AutoTuned to death and will make your ears bleed. They threw in every cliche of modern pop. Oh my God. It's like some incestuous child of the MiniPops.

Fencing off the Hoodoos

First up folks, sorry there's no podcast this week. I was down in Red Deer for my brother's wedding! We'll be back next week.

And now, I story I saw in today's paper that I want to share. Let's head further south to Drumheller.



Word from Drumheller today that they're going to fence off the Hoodoos.

Being one of Drumheller's best known landmarks, for the past five years, Drumheller's best known museum, the Royal Tyrell Museum, has been co-sponsoring folks to look after the Hoodoos for the past five years. And the results are no good. All the tourists walking around them, climbing on them, and carving their initials into them have significantly accelerated their erosion. So, since the "please keep of the hoodoos" signs are no longer effective, they have no choice but to fence them off.

The plan is to take tenders for the fencing-off project this fall, build the fences over the winter, and have it ready for next year's tourist season. They want a set-up where you can get nice and close to them on a boardwalk, and fences on the hill behind so no one can jump down on top of them.

Here's the whole story.

Weird Al's Latest: CNR!

Alright, the summer of "Weird Al" Yankvoic continues! His new song was released today. It's a loving homage to both The White Stripes and Charles Nelson Reilly entitled CNR:



I really like this one. The sad thing is, though, you don't get the joke until someone clues you in that Charles Nelson Reilly was a flamboyant effeminate television personality and actor back in the 1970s. I'm already seeing the comments, "Who the heck is Charles Nelson Reilly?"

But once you get it, it's funny as hell.

New Ponyo Trailer!

Hey! A new trailer for Ponyo went online last week!



I've already blogged about it quite a bit.... Ponyo is the latest work from Hayao Miyazaki, the Oscar-winning director of such animated fare as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke. His movies are awesome and you should watch them all...like I did last year.

It finally comes out here in North America on August 14. I managed to catch his last film, Howl's Moving Castle in the theatres, and dude, Miyazaki's animation is made to be seen on a big screen, so go see it when it hits your town. They say it's opening on 800 screens...the biggest opening ever in North America for a Miyazaki film. I just hope that one of those 800 screens will be in Edmonton so I can go see it opening weekend.

Now, I know there are some anime purists out there who are like, "NO! I refuse to see it in the theatre! Because in the theatre, it will be dubbed. Only subtitled anime is the proper way to watch anime!"

Yes the whole "dubbed vs. subbed" debate is one that has torn anime conventions asunder. It seemed to have been rendered moot with the advent of DVD, where you can switch between the two with a push of a button. But it rears its ugly head now and then when you get a major theatrical release like this.

So, in this case, let's talk to the director himself, Hayao Miyazaki. Several years ago, in an interview, he was asked if he prefers that English-speaking people watched the dubbed or subtitled versions. His answer? He wants you to watch the dubbed versions. His logic is he wants your eyes to be on the animation, not on the subtitles on the bottom of the screen.

So, there you go! You have the director's blessing to watch the dubbed version. So everyone head out on August 14 to see Ponyo!

Latest Targ's Up! Latest Movie Review Up!

Doing lots of catching-up on the website on this long weekend. First up, hey! I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince a week ago. I finally review it!

Read the review here.

And now, the regular Sunday business....





Yup, another week, another episode of U62: The Targ! Still trying out my endless rant format. In Episode 2.42: He Fights for the Users the rants include gourmet coffee in fast food places, the first look at Disney's Tron Legacy, and DVD extended editions!


Click here to listen!

Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Green Lantern: First Flight Review

Alrighty, I was just in the city last week. I rarely run into the city on the weekend two weekends in a row, mainly because it gets costly. But, it was a long weekend, and I felt like going a little nuts. Besides, there was a DVD out that I really, really, really wanted to get. As longtime readers of the blog know, I've been collecting and enjoying all of the Warner Brothers/DC Comics straight-to-DVD animated films. I knew I had to get their latest one. I just finished watching it. So sit back, as I review....

Green Lantern: First Flight

Directed by Lauren Montgomery

Starring the voices of Christopher Meloni, Victor Garber, Tricia Helfer, Michael Madsen, John Larroquette, Kurtwood Smith, William Schallert, Larry Drake, Malachi Throne, Rob Paulson and Kath Soucie.

Backstory: Well, like most average joes, my favourite character in the DC pantheon has always been Batman. But I've always had a soft spot for Green Lantern, going back to when I was 8 years old and my brother gave me a Green Lantern Super Powers action figure for Christmas. I also thoroughly loved the last DTV animated film, Wonder Woman, and when I saw that most of the same team that did Wonder Woman was working on Green Lantern, I was ecstatic. But would this one live up to the hype I was placing on it?

Plot: Test pilot Hal Jordan is summoned to the dying alien Abin Sur. Sur is a Green Lantern, and on his deathbed, his power ring chose Jordan to be his successor. Now a Green Lantern, Jordan is promptly taken to the Lantern's home base, the planet Oa, where the debate begins as to whether Jordan is truly worthy. The Green Lantern known as Sinestro volunteers to take Jordan under his wing. Jordan goes along with it, but soon grows disillusioned with Sinestro's brutal tactics. As Jordan begins to investigate into Abin Sur's death, it appears that there's a traitor within the Green Lantern Corps. Who could it be?

What I Liked: The film opens with a very anime-influenced transformation sequence when Hal Jordan dons the ring for the first time. We journey to strange new worlds, we see all kinds of aliens, and Sinestro really gets brutal for an animated film. Way to earn that PG-13 rating! And, the voice acting is really top-notch.

What I Didn't Like: There's so much action that it's a detriment to character development, as we barely get a chance to get to know anyone.

Final Assesment: Thoroughly satisfying, but Wonder Woman is still the best one.

3 Nibs

Bonus Features: For bonus features on the DVD, you get previews for the last three DTV animated films, a sneak peak at the next one (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies), a featurette about the epic Green Lantern storyline The Blackest Night, playing out in the comics right now, a featurette on the history of Green Lantern, two episodes of Justice League focusing on Green Lantern, and an episode of Duck Dodgers spoofing Green Lantern.