So, the news is out and it would appear that this is finally happening.

Live Action Dragonball Z movie to film in Montreal.

A lot of people have been talking about this, making their jokes, and acting like this is some kind of big deal. Well, come on now. Let’s be reasonable about this.

First of all, is anybody actually surprised that there is going to be a Dragonball Z movie? OF COURSE there is going to be a Dragonball Z movie. Such a thing has been written in the stars for ages. This should really come as a surprise to no one.

Allow me to explain why a Dragonball Z movie is so inevitable. There are certain things about the movie business that we know to be true. We know that Hollywood will latch onto just about any material it can and make a movie out of it regardless of whether or not it would logically work as a decent movie. Case in point: There is a movie called “The Brady Bunch“. Do you all know what the Brady Bunch is? It’s an old sitcom about 3 brothers and 3 sisters and their parents who marry. And they made a movie about that. So if such a film exists, then it simply stands to reason that it was only a matter of time before a movie based on Dragonball Z were to be made as well. In light of this reality, there needs to be a Dragonball Z movie for the world to continue to spin!

Of course it’s going to be cheesy. Is there any reason to expect anything else? It just wouldn’t be Dragonball Z if it wasn’t at least a little bit cheesy. The alternative would be to make it really dark and dire, or just remove all the fantasy elements entirely, and I’m thinking that would be pretty stupid. For this to be a movie that really is “Dragonball Z”, and not just another martial arts film that happens to have that name attached to it, we’re all going to have to eat a little cheese. I have absolutely no problems with that. Just because it’s going to be cheesy, doesn’t mean it should not exist.

People think they are funny with all their punch lines about how it’s going to be nothing but 2 hours of powering up and 5 minutes of fighting, or other such nonsense. Ha ha. Very funny. I’ve only heard that 500 times since the news broke. Yes, and go ahead and make fun of how all the characters are going to be talking in Canadian accents too. That’s real original. Don’t let your limited knowledge of Canadian geography and the fact that other movies, such as “300“, were also filmed in Montreal stand in the way of a lame joke that no one wants to hear.

It’s frustrating yet amusing how people have been essentially making fun of this movie before a single frame has been shot. I suppose that sort of thing is to be expected in this day and age. But people are acting like they aren’t interested in seeing it at all, and that is the biggest joke ever. You will all be in line at the theater just like everyone else. Even if it’s a complete train wreck, you’ll be there, so don’t go and act like you won’t be. It’s Dragonball Z, and while I’m not going to say that it’s definitely going to be an awesome movie, I will say that they’d have to screw up awfully hard to make a movie about Dragonball Z completely devoid of any entertainment value.

So, I say, bring on Dragonball Z – The Movie. It doesn’t even matter if it’s any good. Let’s have it as cheesy as possible with insane martial arts, crazy costumes, and over-the-top dialogue. The movie will be made, and then we can all watch it and move on with our lives, knowing that it happened.

But what do I know? I coincidentally wrote this while wearing a Dragonball Z T-Shirt. Maybe I’m biased.

PS: It’s over Nine Thousand.

Sayonara.

Like I had said in my previous post, I was sick, but I still went to FanExpo for all 3 days anyway. I kept to myself most of the time, didn’t talk much, didn’t bother to show anyone my artwork, and didn’t really hang out with anyone before or afterwards. Despite that I was able to connect with a few old friends, tchat a little with some artists, and take part in some very cool panels. There were obstacles, but it was still a successful convention.

Highlights included:
– Voice Actors. Saw a panel with Veronica Taylor (Ash from Pokemon, April from Ninja Turtles), who was very nice, and another panel with Sean Schemmel (Goku from the Texas dub of DBZ), who is a very crazy and entertaining guy.

– Japanese Artists. Yasuhiro Nightow (Trigun), Daisuke Moriyama (Chrono Crusade), and Suzumi Atsushi (Venus Versus Virus) were there and had an decent discussion panel that wasn’t nearly long enough. They also took part in a sketch-off with Toronto’s own Alvin Lee of UDON’s Street Fighter comic. They each drew one of the other artist’s characters and the resulting artwork was incredible!

– Star Wars Guests. Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett) and Daniel Logan (young Boba Fett) had a panel together that was definitely worth seeing. Temuera even sang and danced Polynesian style for us.

– REBOOT! Reboot was certainly on people’s minds in a big way, what with the recent possibility of it coming back somehow. Creator Gavin Blair was there, and there was a huge amount of fan interest in the property, so things are looking really good! Speaking of looking good, check this out:

ReBoot cosplay. That’s so cool.

So, I saw some things, I bought some stuff, I had a good time, but I was still sick, and by the end of the weekend I was in a real bad way. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more had I not been sick, but all things considered I had a good time.

Shawn Allison! I’m bloggin’ you out, boy! You officially fail at meeting people at conventions! This injustice will not stand. Prepare yourself.

Anyway, I’m still not feeling so good, so that’s enough from me for now.

Sayonara.

Some people say that anime should not be made into live action movies. While there is a lot of potential for things to go wrong, I don’t completely agree with that statment. In the right hands, anime can be the basis for a really awesome film. And here’s an amazing little video, made by some Spanish-speaking fans, that proves it.

Oh my God. I freaked out when I saw this. I want this to be a real movie so bad. This just looks awesome. Unfortunately, this is only a fan produced trailer, and no actual movie exists.

Captain Harlock is one of the all time classic anime characters, and one of the coolest characters of ever. This story is absolutely prime territory for a live action movie, in any language. If such a thing were ever to happen, with Harlock or any other famous character, I can only hope that it is done with the same quality and attention to detail as this clip.

There have been several live action movies based on anime released in Japan, with mixed results as you’d expect. As far as Hollywood goes, Speed Racer comes out next year, so maybe that’ll be the start of a trend.

Sayonara.

Yesterday I worked at a Summer Camp at the school I was teaching at last year. I was brought in to teach comic book and cartoon art for a special “Cartooning Day” they had. I taught 4 different periods, and all combined I ended up teaching the entire range of elementary school students, from grade 1 to grade 8. I must have seen over 70 of them in total. It was a busy day. Some of them really enjoyed it, and most everyone was able to take some artwork home that they were proud of. Not bad for a day’s work.

In my first class there was a little girl who was in my class over the past year, and when I was finished the lesson she came up to me and gave me a hug. I’m not really supposed to get hugs from students for various reasons, but she did this 4 or 5 times and she said she missed me. It was kinda cute. I have to take that as a sign that I’m a decent teacher.

The first graders were an interesting bunch. I’ve never taught anyone that young before, let alone a big group of them. You can’t really teach them the same way you teach older students, because they’d forget everything by the time they started. So I showed them how to draw a super hero one step at a time, and stopped after every step to let everyone catch up. So I first drew a circle, and then went around and helped everyone draw their own circle. It went slowly, and even the simplest things went slowly, but most of them were able to get through it and have a finished drawing by the end. They all weren’t angels through, and a few were really disruptive, but that’s pretty much always the case with any age group. There was this one creepy little squirt who was just vehemently opposed to the very concept of cartooning and was very destructive the entire time. This is ironic because this kid had these ridiculous looking glasses with perfectly round lenses that made him look just like a cartoon character. Somehow I imagine that he’s got an army of insects waiting for his commands. Far be it for me to make fun of a 6 year old, but still, this kid was something else. He could be a villain on Yu-Gi-Oh.

Anyway, me teaching at this camp was pretty much a one off, special occasion. There isn’t a “job” in it, so to speak, just a gig. But I’ll be doing the exact same thing again next month. So I’m not completely without anything to do this summer.

Sayonara.

A little late, but here as promised, pictures from the Weird Al Yankovic concert in Toronto last week. I didn’t take very many pictures because I didn’t think they would turn out very well with the way the lighting was set up on stage, but the few that I did take didn’t turn out too badly. I was too far away to get very much detail, but at least you can see what’s going on. Take a look, amigos.

He opened with a Polka!

In his Jedi robes for his Star Wars songs. This part of the concert was just awesome.

“They see me roll on… my Segway…”

White & Nerdy.

Of course, these pictures don’t do the show justice. See him live if you can!

Sayonara.