It's Dark Out There

I just finished Obscure, a really fun game for PC (and PS2 and XBox). It didn't take too long, but then again, I'm on Thanksgiving break, so I had plenty of time to spend in front of my screen. And, I was playing it Easy, hehehe. It has a great atmosphere, and it's quite intense, so I ardently recommend it to everybody that wants to have a great time slaying monsters and prowling the dark hallways of a high school flashlight in hand. Ah, the joys of PC gaming...

GeoStygma

It seems the long-awaited Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is finally being released in the US in January 2006, and it was about time. The preview looks absolutely awesome, and you can see it for yourselves here. It's in Japanese, but it's still highly enjoyable even if you don't speak the language. It truly looks much better than Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within from a few years ago.
There are tons of sites devoted to the FF saga and this movie in particular. I got the image accompanying this text from ffmoonflow.com/ ff7acscreens.php, but that one is only one of many. Enjoy.

The circle is now complete

Finally, I've fully watched my Episode III DVD. And when I say fully, I mean deleted scenes (interesting ones, this time), documentaries, commentaries and other bonuses included. Oh, and the movie itself, of course. Great contents for a very good DVD. But still there are a few snags.
The main documentary, Within a Minute, seems perfect to me. It's centered around a specific forty-something seconds long scene, and how it was created, from script to screen. But, of course, it's almost all special effects. That sequence doesn't have even a single line of dialogue.
And also there is the now obligatory audio commentary to hear while seeing the movie. Well, that revolves round special effects too. Lucas, scriptwriter, director and producer, is the only person who speaks from time to time about the story, or the characters. Not very brightening. I wish all DVDs were more like the Special Edition of Spartacus, or like the Expanded Editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Let's dream.
So, everything is about the special effects?. Well, almost everything it is. You only have to see the Easter Egg to realize it. Seriously, not that funny.

Mmmh... that's crunchy!

Last week I saw a movie I'd been expecting to cross paths with sooner or later. The prequel (gosh, some word. Overused much?) of that great thriller that was Silence of the Lambs: Red Dragon. I don't know if it's because of its unstoppable rhythm, the great performances of its great cast (Edward Norton, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Fiennes and so on...) or the marvellous scriptwriting behind it, but for me is, without doubt, the best installment of the Hannibal the Cannibal trilogy. And Gessle knows Silence of the Lambs was a hell of a movie.

The face of beauty

Well, here it goes. My very first post. I hope I'd be able to contribute more often to this blog, since good not-so-old finn5fel (I'll be damned if I know what that name means. At this time, I actually thought I knew you, pal), good finn5fel, I was saying, has been carrying the full weight of it. But the times they are a-changin'. Or aren't they?
Weight issues aside, there is only one thing this first post deserves to be about. Beauty. And, for me, she is. The face of beauty. The breathtaking, incomparable and overwhelming face of beauty. Laetitia Casta. She... and my girlfriend, of course. I love you too.

Go Blue Dragons!

This is an idea I had on Thursday night for a team mascot (long story). The pencils took like ten minutes, and the inks a bit longer than that. It's supposed to be blue, but I suck at coloring...

Outlaws

I just thought I'd swing by my own blog and post a little drawing I did a couple of weeks ago. I used pencil and ink and ink washes. The pencils didn't take too long (I'm becoming faster and faster). The inks, though, took much longer, which is kind of sad, because I think I'm much better at drawing than inking, so all that extra effort should mean something. Oh, well...
I was also experimenting with perspective, space, and drawing characters' backs, since I usually draw then "standing in front of the camera". I'm happy with some things, and not so happy with some others. But the main goal was to entertain myself, and that I accomplished. So I guess it could be worse...

Artists worth checking out

This is a post for Halagan for two reasons. One, because we were having this conversation about comic-books; and two, because nobody else actually reads this, so hey, I'm writing for my audience. So, dear Halagan, you could do worse than getting stuff by these wonderful pencillers (and order does matter --kind of):

Jeff Scott Campbell
Joe Madureira
Humberto Ramos
Nick Bradshaw
Chris Bachalo
Jim Lee
Michael Turner
Joe Benitez
Talent Caldwell
Greg Land
Carlos Pacheco
David Finch
Whilce Portacio

Wraithborn

With really cool art by Joe Benitez, the story is entertaining enough to keep you wanting more. I'm still waiting to see if they explain why when Melanie gets the powers of Wraithborn, her underdeveloped teenage anatomy suddenly blossoms... Maybe she gets taller and stronger, just like good old Fairchild in Gen13? At any rate, and despite my stupid remarks, it's really worth checking out.

Per Gessle Strikes Back

Per Gessle, the best songwriter of all time (okay that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I personally think he's a genius) is back with a new CD, "Son of a Plumber". This double CD hits the -Swedish- stores on November 23rd, so either go to Sweden to get it, or order it online.
This album is supposed to be quite different from his previous material, but he's never disappointed me, be it in English with Roxette or his wonderful solo album The World According to Gessle; be it in Swedish with fantastic band Gyllene Tider or his surprising Mazarin. Therefore, I trust he'll deliver this time. And hey, it's in English!

Plane Movies

I know it came out a long time ago, but I hadn't seen Flightplan until last Thursday, and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. What's with plane movies recently? I mean, Red Eye was a lot of fun too. Maybe we need fewer Zorros (I do like the first one, though) and more air thrillers. Or just plain good thrillers. Or good movies. That shouldn't be all that difficult, should it now, Mr. Lucas? But I won't talk about Episode III here because this was supposed to be a post about cool movies...

Revelations

I just read the third issue of Revelations, by Paul Jenkins and Humberto Ramos. This series might just be the best comic-book being published right now. Absolutely worth checking out.

Witchblade, by Chris Bachalo

I just found this picture of Witchblade by one of my favorite artists, Chris Bachalo. I think it's going to be part of the Witchblade 10th Anniversary issue (ish 92, I think). A shame Bachalo won't draw all of it, but I guess he's busy with Uncanny X-Men. Anyway, you should check out his Witchblade issue from a few months ago (#87). I love his artwork and storytelling, and his covers are usually outstanding. In fact, I've been buying some comic-books with covers by him just to hang them on my wall.
Another awesome cover artist is good old Salvador Larroca. I'm not a big fan of his interiors, but his covers are usually spectacular.
And talking about books worth checking out, later today I'm going to B&M Amusement, my favorite comic-book store in this part of the world, to get Revelations (drawn by amazing artist Humberto Ramos), WildCats Nemesis (by another great artist, Talent Caldwell), and Wildsiderz, by my favorite penciller Jeff Scott Campbell. You could do worse than check out all those series, dear readers.

Alice

Well, let's see if this works. This is a picture I drew a few weeks ago. It is based on the videogame Alice, which I hear is being turned into a movie starring cute Sarah Michelle Gellar. There's a heated debate on IMDb.com about SMG being the best choice for the role that is kind of entertaining. I was especially amused (not to mention horrified) with the people that thought Christina Ricci would be a much better choice. I guess everybody has an opinion...