Daicon Film
The opening animations to Daicon III & IV are so much fun. They're colourful, fast and playful, with parodies of Star Wars, Godzilla, Spider-Man, Superman and pretty much everything else. The group of independent animators that created and directed these shorts that opened the 1981 and 1983 Nihon SF Taikai conventions, went on to form the animation studio Gainax responsible for Neon Genesis Evangelion. Daicon Film also created and produced 1983's Return of Ultraman, directed by and starring Hideaki Anno, which I also watched recently and enjoyed immensely. Its really high quality for a student film and really captures the fun of the original Ultraman series. It has me even more excited for Shin Ultraman later this year.
Ask a Scientist
I can't even remember the article from last week's New Scientist but something in it prompted me to question whether it was possible for snails and slugs to mate and to search what the differences between the two actually were. The top result was a youtube video from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History where the Curator of Mollusc Collections at the museum, Tim Pearce, answered that exact question. It was part of a whole series on the channel called Ask a Scientist where questions were sent in and an an expert at the museum answered them. I've seen nearly all of the videos from this series and found them really informative, interesting and fun.
The Batman
The Batman (2022) felt like a Batman film for me. It pandered to everything I wanted out of the characters, out of Gotham and out of a film. I am now completely obsessed. Watching the film also reignited an interest in one of my novel ideas from last year and I have since written a new opening, experimenting with a style, tone and voice inspired in part by the film. The detective noir elements made me reassess plot constructions and how I control different character's voice and mannerisms. The cosmic sense of fear and paranoia felt by the criminals of Gotham also renewed an idea I had about my own corrupt and paranoid town.
Still reeling from The Batman, I also watched The Lego Batman Movie from 2017 which I enjoyed and Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub Zero from 1998 which, although had some fun ideas and often looked really good, wasn't on par with even the average episodes of The Animated Series. I also enjoyed playing through Batman: Arkham Origins, the only one in the series I hadn't yet played. I definitely enjoyed it more than Knight and it felt a lot more personal than City but the last act felt noticeably weaker than the really strong first half of the game. Some of the interiors felt a bit bland too but I'd definitely say the boss battles were the best of the series. Some of my favourite Batman comics I've read this last week have been Batman-Shaman (recommended by Robert Pattinson) and Gotham After Midnight which both experimented with the more spiritual aspects of the Batman mythos. Also Death Has The Last Laugh from The Brave & The Bold #111 which has the Batman team with Joker was really cool and I finally finished Grant Morrison's Batman Inc. run which I really loved. And The Batman Adventures - Holiday Special #1 was a cute and well written anthology from the world of The Animated Series.
Dr. Death Defying, Three Dog & Crazy Taxi
Currently experimenting with some free flowing lyrical statements and short prose pieces inspired by fictional post-apocalyptic radio hosts. Trying to replicate the voice of Dr. Death Defying from The Killjoys comic and My Chemical Romance's Danger Days album has been a fun exercise in playing with voice and world building with just a few short phrases. Fallout 3's Three Dog has a similar lyricism and playfulness with his announcements and I've gotten a little carried away with seeking out this kind of voice elsewhere. The GLITCHWORDS online publication matches really cool cyber/ cosmic inspired poetry with glitchcore artwork that has inspired me to consider the visual design of my own post-apocalyptic radio host ramblings.
DIY Search Engine
This independent search engine focuses on non-commercial content so your searches tend to result in more obscure articles, blogs and websites. I've had a lot of fun this week searching topics I find interesting and seeing what strange and cool results marginalia yield. Some favourites that came from searching 'Batman' were this site listing every Batman reference in The Simpsons, a review of a box of licensed Batman '89 cereal and this character list showing all the enemies present in a Batman-themed mod for Doom.
Dr. Seuss - The Midnight Paintings
This video by youtube user Solar Sands introduced me to The Midnight Paintings of Dr. Seuss which I think are so interesting and beautiful and really cool. Some of my favourites are 'Cat From The Wrong Side of The Tracks', 'Surly Cat Being Ejected', 'The Great Cat Continuum' and 'The Tower of Babel'.
Playlist - YOU GOT A LOT OF BATS
A playlist by bambismith inspired by The Batman (2022) featuring Nirvana, Nick Cave and Seal.
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