Flash

So, I was trolling Newgrounds when I noticed that the new "There She is Cartoon" is out. I clicked on the "Play this Movie" button expecting the usual light hearted and upbeat adventure the series is famous for producing, and instead I got, well... this, and it blew me away.

It's simply amazing how much this cartoon does. It made me care about characters who don't talk. It made me muse upon our condition as a race, in paticular the way we deal with prejudice. It made me think about the exact nature of love, and how far it can be pushed. It represents everything that Flash can achieve as a medium, and is the single most outstanding thing ever produced using the tool.

This got me thinking, and ultimately let me come up with the question "can flash cartoons be considered fine art?". I know that on the surface this may seem a stupid question, but if a single 5ish minute cartoon can make me think more than an entire film, or an entire television series, then surely Flash deserves as much recognition as other genres.

However, I doubt anyone will ever come around to my way of thinking. Most people still don't consider any television to be fine art, and unbelieveably a vast majority of people don't even consider video games art at all (which is beyond stupid). So unless "There She Is! Step 4 " is somehow stapled to a canvas, and the animator cuts his own ear off, then I'm guessing Flash isn't even art in pop culture.

This is rapidly becoming irrelevant so I'm going to move to another topic. Namely the Facebook-Myspace triangle of despair. Recently a large number of my friends have been arguing about which is better, and I think the time has come for me to offer my opinion.

They both suck, shut the fuck up and leave me alone.

I mean I own both a Myspace and a Facebook, and can see only a few differences, mostly appearance based differences. Alright, I admit Myspace is better for music, and Facebook has better networking options, but ultimately your just wasting your lives arguing over which coporate monstrosity is better. Although I can't talk, what with being a critic and all.

All right here's the deal...

Okay, regarding my horrible and horribly neglected webcomic. I haven't quit - technically. I won't be doing any of that "plot" stuff that I promised anytime soon, I find that webcomics with meaning and subtext generally have to have good art; something I find myself sorely lacking. So as of now the webcomic shall be refined to random jokes, released whenever I get the time.

In a related matter, I'm plugging (yes that's right) my friend's (same friend) webcomic. I promised that I would write, and draw a guest comic for him, and considering that I have over three years worth of expeiriance in not doing anything at all (well I release every six months or so) I think he should be honoured. So, go here.

Okay in semi-related matters. I've begun filming for my first video-review, it should be finished within the month, I hope. Other than that written reviews will still be released every thursday, and other projects shall stay in development.

Blogging

Isn't blogging a stupid pass-time?

There are millions of things that I could, and should, be doing right now and yet I choose to type out stuff about myself. Why? To feed my ego? To annoy you? To promote worth causes (Look I'm plugging a friend's music already - http://www.myspace.com/nin10joe64)? To inform you of things you might actually care about? All equally valid possibilitys, none true. I'm doing this because I'm bored, well that and so I can plug (http://www.myspace.com/nin10joe64) things. Lots. (http://www.myspace.com/nin10joe64)

Okay, I'll stop doing that. (http://www.myspace.com/nin10joe64)

Okay, on another note, I went to see Hellboy 2 today, and my opinion is a resounding "Urgh". First off I would like to say that I loved the art direction, and the special effects were good, but other than that the film has very little to be proud of. The script is all over the place, one moment dealing with the concept of genocide, then returning to obsess over the intricacies of puns. The sound is ripped directly from the "generic action movie" school of classical music (unlike my friend's music - http://www.myspace.com/nin10joe64 - sorry, it was just too easy), and the actual plot is so... dull. Full review coming soon.

I also picked up the Force Unleashed demo from the Playstation Store earlier this week, it's too early to say how the full game is going to be, but if the demo is any indication; I'm out. The force controls are crap, you never really feel involved in the action, and the enviroment in the demo is so lifeless. Also, the graphics are crap, which is a real no-no in this day and age (which are the same thing, damn phrases). I'll wait until the full game is out until I condem it though.

Last thing I'm gonna rant about today is the Max Payne trailer (go to youtube), which looks very pretty -- but already confirms that they messed up the plot. I mean, Flying Demons? Unless this is the Director being artsy and using physical representations of a Valkyr to show what happens when someone takes the Valkyr drug, then I think we're screwed. The only other explanations that I could think of were that the Valkyr drug somehow causes people to mutate, or the director was high and thought he would make Constantine 2.

Whatever, I'm done for today. First comic issue should be released this week, and reviews are gonna be released as usual.