See, this is the kind of initiative I like to see from up-and-coming Pacific Rim powers... and it mirrors the origin of a very deadly villain in the TRDL Original Universe as well, so bonus points!



:::



"While it's not unusual for a nation to desire a full fledged robot army to handle its dirty work, Singapore's Defense Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) is actually offering up a reward to anyone who can "build a robot that can operate autonomously in urban warfare conditions." Obviously, the task is easier said than done, but the country is aiming to acquire an intelligent, street-fighting machine that can move in and out of buildings, open and close doors, and most importantly, "search and destroy targets like a human soldier." Notably, anyone (including institutions) in the world is open to participate in the TechX Challenge, but foreigners must collaborate with local partners in their construction. The contest is being created in order to shift away from remote-controlled robots that tie up human resources, but the goals of the project may indeed be a bit lofty for today's technology. Robert Richardson from the University of Manchester, UK has proclaimed that the "competition could present a major challenge to even the most sophisticated robot," and added that doors and elevators would likely give the autonomous drones the most problems. Crafty individuals interested in the admittedly tempting S$1 million ($652,000) reward must (hastily) submit their entry by May of this year, where a few rounds of elimination will eventually end when a winner is chosen in August of 2008."

-engadget

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I think the title of this article says it all:



"How to build a sword-wielding, tennis-playing, WiiMote-controlled, friendly robot"



Read on...



Lung, I expect big things in the build-a-whatsis ManRoom(tm) this year...

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OK, no, but it could.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/29/robo ... s-5-cents/

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Oh god oh god oh god oh god. Not……Jack’s…….Evil…….Brother.



Things were generally fine up to this point. 4 more nukes to find, Jack outraged back into action, panic in the streets, random info brokers and their annoying girlfriends who are sure to screw things up later, and of course exploding helicopters. But now we have to go into Jack’s family life again, and find that Mr. Bluetooth from last season is Jack’s estranged brother who tried to get him killed. I don’t want to talk about it. Except for one of the best Jack exchanges ever: “Don’t make me hurt you.” “You’re hurting me already.” “Trust me, I’m not.”



Well at least it wasn’t Jack’s Evil TWIN Brother.



4 whirrs…

Related posts:

1. 24 Season 6: hour 6
2. 24- Season 4 Recap: Ep 8
3. 24- Season 4 Recap: Ep 6

I was a little annoyed when all this started out. Despite Jack’s haggared return from China, it seems a lot like we’ve seen this season of 24 already. Islamic terrorists, nuclear threat, teenage muslim kid, cabinet members with questionable motives…Enjoyable, but despite the shocking bits, it hasn’t quite hooked me yet like previous seasons.



The good…

- I like that this has started out in the middle of a terrorist crisis – things have been blowing up for weeks and the public is freaked out to the point of not letting arabic looking people on buses, and random drunk contractors attacking teenagers.

- President’s advisor Lennox. Annoying and threatening in the right way.

- Morris is back. A weird relationship with Chloe, but could be a fun character.

- Jack’s scars, physical and emotional. I like him flipping back and forth between old invincible Jack and emotional wreck Jack.

- Jack’s best kill yet - biting a man to death.

- Though implausible, and will probably lead to a twist later, Assad’s character, and well played by the Star Trek guy.

- The detention centers – I like this as a reaction to the terrorism.

- The subway incident. The struggle, the conductor, kicking the guy off the train. But see below.

- Jack’s faux car crash with the terrorist – great concept, if again a bit implausible.

- Ahmed (teenage kid) dying, so we don’t have to deal with that plot line anymore.

- Curtis. And Curtis dying. Even though I liked the character, it was good to see someone reacting adversely to the plethora o’ pardons from the White House. And of course jack’s reaction to shooting him.

- Once again, though insane, the plot to get the nuclear guy released from Palmdale…we’ll see if the evil guard comes back into play.

- Actually detonating the bomb in LA. Good potential for panic in the aftermath.

- Oh, and no Kim…yet.



The bad…

- Hiding boxes of money inside a sheetrock wall without your parents noticing.

- Damn cell phones with lat/long lookup capability conveniently left in cars.

- Cars vs helicopters…once again Jack can get anywhere in LA in a car faster than an attack helicopter.

- Bill and Karen’s marriage – this can only end badly after too many sweet nothings over the phone.

- Sandra Palmer.

- Wayne Palmer as President, just because it seems ridiculous to have happened so quickly.

- Does anyone actually use the ‘subway’ in LA? And why would the bomber sit at the back of the last car…wouldn’t more damage be done in the middle?

- Blowing up a laptop and of course recovering the single document from the hard drive that tells what’s going to happen. I guess this should just be technology on general.



7 whirrs…

Related posts:

1. 24 – Season 4 Recap: Ep. 17
2. 24 – Season 4 Recap: Ep. 14
3. 24 – Season 4 Recap: Ep. 18

The Illusionist was thisclose to being a brilliant film. Despite Neil Burger's savvy choices with lighting, staging, mood and presentation, style was the undoing of this movie for me, at least in that primary detail that kept me out of the Suspension of Disbelief club, like a bouncer who didn't like the look of me. The Illusionist fell into the trap that I believe Prestige wisely avoided: it showed us the illusions by employing visual F/X. What a frustrating choice!



I didn't yet have a chance to read the Steven Millhause story, but I was primed to love both this film and The Prestige for similar reasons: both are films by accomplished directors, with wonderful casts, set in the mysterious and exciting post-Victorian period, each involving the questions of faith and technology at crossroads with each other, and the people who use them. I love it all. The Illusionist is loosely based on elements of history, woven into an interesting fictional account of a magician run afoul of the Crown Prince of Austria, over his dual afronts of the seduction of the man's fiancee, and by extension, trespassing out of his class bracket, and personally challenging the pride of an unstable leader with ambition and issues. Much like Usual Suspects, and several of it's pretenders, The Illusionist establishes a reality premise for the audience, then uses the audience's empathy with the spectator narrative int he film, to enter into a level of investment in the fantasy that, once the trick is revealed, we cock an eyebrow and delight in having been tricked into tricking ourselves. Or, at least, that's what's supposed to happen.



Edward Norton plays Eisenheim the Illusionist, based on the magician/clairvoyant Erik Jan Hanussen, an early 20th century performer of noteriety in Vienna before eventually being executed by the Nazis in the early 30's. Wifebot(tm) struggled with Norton's accent, and while I agree it didn't have the natural clarity of that of Rufus Sewell, his strength is not in the accuracy or consistency of the accent, but his ability to make his voice, inflection and vocal patterns sound so natural that you frequently forgive slips out of character, because you get groomed by Norton's charisma and acting style into engaging with his performance on a more subtly familiar level. I simply love how he speaks. He really nailed the majesty and mystery of a post-Victorian magician persona, completely comfortable in the spectacular dark, velvety costumes and sharp, sculpted goatee. He was total history-buff eye candy, like most of the production, in that near-Coen-Brothers-level of stylized realism in the sets and costumes. More real than was real, so to speak. Rufus Sewell is beyond intense as the hair-trigger Crown Prince Leopold, also loosely based on the historical figure of Prince Rudolf, who was found, along with a Baroness, dead at his hunting lodge, in a cinematic conspiracy of it's own, known as the Mayerling Incident, in which Emporer Franz Josef's administration attempted to cover up details of the scandal. Sewell is so convincing as an unhinged, ambitious monarch, his piercing eyes darting with lazy suspicion and a kind of insolent disrespect for everyone around him, that when you are told, through other characters, that he is rumored to have murdered his previous mistresses, beaten women, has ambition for the thrown, etc. he fits the bill perfectly. And, seriously, what a way to own a mustache. He looked like a realist portrait in the flesh, dark, forboding, never at edge. And his accent was flawless. I struggled with why he seemed so familiar to me, in a sympathetic way, for most of the film, until I realized he was the protagonist in Dark City, which was a bit of a shock. Jessica Biel's Countess was servicable. She didn't have a lot to work with, but her grace and earnest commitment to the character made her more than just a lover in peril, but a believable woman, both as the grown-up counterpart to a childhood romance (which is so hard to make convincing in film,) but also as a woman who was independent and passionate enough to take the sorts of risks, and say the things she does in this film, without feeling like forced dialog compensated with aesthetic appeal and rosey cheeks. I'm somewhat biased: I've often thought Jessica Biel was a secret weapon as a beautiful woman, so rarely seen dressed up or in feminine roles. She had the radiance for the part. Lastly, two character actors I greatly enjoyed, for different reasons. Eddie Marsan, playing Eisenheim's manager, is this character actor who keeps jumping out at me in each of his roles, making me think 'There's a guy to watch!" and each time, I feel like it's the first time I've discovered my interest in him. Most recently, he played a role in Miami Vice which was so jarringly skewed that I was delighted by how incongruous his bloated, Miami Beach hustler character was in the company of all those cool cats and their Go Fast Boats. This time, he's a smart, bright-eyed entertainer, with a vibrant mustache and that slightly swept-back look to his hair that makes some turn of last century men look more adventurous in photographs than they actually were. The other actor to mention is Paul Giamatti, not because he was performing so wonderfully as a character actor, but because I felt he owned this film. I love this guy, and I feed off the slight nuances of vulnerability in his characters, from the slumped shoulders of his Harvey Pekar, to the stammering courage of Lady in the Water's Cleaveland Heep, to...Miles in Sideways to well...The Amazing Screw-On Head. Here, though, his character was so compelling to me, that I was irritated in every scene in which he did not appear. As a blue-collar man elevated to Chief Inspector, thanks to his loyalty to the Crown Prince, he conveyed that outsider's envy and resignation of a man about as close to aristocracy as he's going to get, but never actually making it. He's sharp, humble, loyal, sympathetic, and carries most of the film's emotional weight on his shoulders, as a man forced to conspire with corrupt leaders and abusive cops while little by little, admitting to himself that he has more to offer. It was another Paul Giamatti performance I leave thinking about after the film is over.



So, the sets were lush, the locations, the costumes, the urgency of the dark tones of the film mixed with the enthusiasm of the audiences, lit amber by lanternlight, everything was sharp, sharp, sharp. The film's tone instantly makes clear that we are to be amazed with wonder at the magic and mystery of the Illusionist and his performances. Stylistic cues in the presentation, like the kino-style black-out transitions and black, fuzzy circular crops in certain scenes (though sometimes inconsitent with the tone of the scenes themselves) and details like the unidentifiable body parts and shadowy, lush mounds and planes of flesh during the love scene (a clear metaphor for the power of illusion and the viewer's unintentional empowerment of the trick int hat sneaky, Freudian way) all make for a clever, satisfying visual experience. The basic elements of the plot were enjoyable, most of the script was decent, ands the pacing was well balanced. And this is what makes the big mis-step so frustrating: everything was in place to make a Usual Suspects-style mystery thriller work, except that Burger, either out of a desire to play with F/X, or studio pressure, used digital fabricatiions in the display of tricks in the film. This is something I cannot stand: when we are to experience the events on screen with the same incredulity and wonder as the narrator and audience int he film, we muct not be given any clues that pull us out of the contextual ambiguity of the moment. Much in the way films that re-present the same scene filmed different ways in order to reflect different theories or to keep the whodunnit mystery going (the primary criticism I have of Usual Suspects, actually) but in doing so cheapen the ability of the viewer to actually try and play along and figure it out, so here with the illusions being computer-generated, we are faced almost immediately with a difficult decision, at a time when we are supposed to be engaging the film: are these images supposed to be fantastical events in the film's story, or stylistic moviemaking tools designed to represent real illusions. And much the way Giamatti's Inspector intones at the end of the film, whether they are real or fabricated, it's awe-inspiring either way, but you can't be sure. Unfortunately, that level of disbelief and wonder when seeing real illusions and sleight-of -hand is the real MEAT of watching such things, but when applied to having to guess at the filmaker's intentions, it just pulls you right out of the moment. And unfortunately again, it makes you, as the viewer, not try as hard to figure out what's really going on in the narrative. I felt kind of cheated at the end, because it was a very well-crafted stunt, in reality, that was completely undermined by us being shown digital effects and being told they were magic. It sucked. In contrast, all of Edward Norton's true sleight-of-hand tricks were real, and it showed. Ironically, they were the most compelling details in the film. In the end, I was left with that disappointment you get when a film is good, but could have been AMAZING, had they done things just a little different. When you see this movie, at the end, think back to every F/X moment in the film, and imagine haw those scenes could have been done using tricks of the camera, editing, camera placement, etc in order to keep you, as the viewer, as on-the-fence as the audience in the show, over what they are seeing, and if they can, as in all magic shows of any style, spot the trick. And in contrast to the film's rival, The Prestige, which also involves post-Victorian magic and elements of potential-fantasy, that film worked in it's choice of which side of the trick/reality fence because the filmaking style, and the way the story was told, supported the choice made, at least as far as I was concerned. Here, I saw nothing in the film's style that warranted F/X at all.



So, disappointing in the use of otherwise interestingly stylized F/X, but the sets and the performances kept the film very intriguing and enjoyable for me. I wish it could have been the perfect magicican movie, but the audience was perhaps underestimated in that regard. But the positives last with me longer than that frustration did. I have to go with The Prestige as the more compelling film in this genre-battle. But The Illusionist certainly had it's moments.



8/10 Clicks

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According to Newsarama this AM:



"Newsarama has learned that Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s Wildstorm series, The Boys has been cancelled by DC, effective with issue #6 of the series, which is currently on shelves. Issues #7-#10, as well as the trade collection – all of which have been solicited – will not ship.



DC declined to comment on the series or even confirm that the series has indeed, been canceled.



The series sales appear to have been healthy enough, with issue #6 seeing an estimated 27,000 copies shipping to stores in December, placing it at #81 on Diamond’s Top 300 list. For that month, only two other Wildstorm titles sold more copies, Gen13 and Midnighter. August’s issue #1 saw an estimated 31,000 copies sold.



The series was announced with much hoopla at last spring’s WizardWorld LA, and was heralded by Ennis here on Newsarama as the book that would “out-Preacher Preacher.” The phrase was later picked up and used on promotional posters for the series from DC, who saw it as part of the Wildstorm revitalization.



Robertson had perhaps the most succinct description of the series, saying: “The Boys are a team of five super-powered operatives who work for a secret department within the U.S. government. It's their job to monitor and investigate superhero behavior, they gather intelligence- i.e. dirt- on them, and occasionally to use it against them. Just as the C.I.A. has had a use for the Mafia, Sadaam Hussein, and Columbia's FARC terrorists (to name a few), so they also need superheroes. Sometimes they need them on a leash. Sometimes they have to put them down. The Boys are the people who do the job.”



When the series launched, readers found that little of what Ennis and Robertson was saying was hyperbole. The series was violent, rude, crude, and…essentially, what you’d expect if you put Ennis and Robertson together in a room with superheroes.



The series was clearly in crescendo mode in regards to content, and this was clearly seen in issue #6 when, after a super-powered individual was accidentally killed by Hughie, a hamster crawled out of…his backside.



While DC has published graphic violence, sexual situations, and individuals who prefer the ruder and cruder side of life (much of it with Ennis’ name attached) in the past, it has also, on a handful of occasions, pulled material from a comic it felt crossed the line. Again, DC declined to comment on the reasons behind the series cancellation. If the series was cancelled because the publisher felt it was too over the top, The Boys would be in rare company, joining Marvel/Epic’s Void Indigo by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik, which only saw one issue published before it was ended, due to content issues.



On a purely speculative note, The Boys is a creator-owned property, jointly owned by Ennis and Robertson. After his series, Fallen Angel was cancelled by DC, co-creator of the property Peter David was able to regain the property and move it to IDW, where it has been published since.



When contacted by Newsarama about the situation with the series, Robertson replied:



"The Boys has been canceled effectively with issue #6.



"It became obvious that DC was not the right home for The Boys. DC is being good about reverting our rights so we can find a new publisher and we're in the process of doing that now. I'm continuing to work exclusively for DC in the meantime. I want to thank Scott Dunbier and Ben Abernathy at Wildstorm for all their hard work."

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"Hell yes! My beat is correct!"







http://smpenterprisesllc.com/flash/bin/ ... del04.html

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NewUniversal +1-2

Writer: Warren Ellis

Artist: Salvador Larocca





New universal is the book that gives me the most deja vu in terms of seeing TRDL concepts in print done probably a scale factor more interestingly than our own stuff. That's not false deprecation. When Ellis is paying attention, he comes up with great concepts that read fresh, even when they aren't much different than what he's done previously. To the contemporary comic reading generation who may not of heard of, if not read, Marvel's original 'New Universe', NewUniversal probably reads like Planetary with less organic looking design work for the Bleed. But what he's done is much more interesting to me personally: he's redesigned the familiar benchmarks of the original New Universe (the White Event, Starbrand, Justice, etc) and given them a fine coat of cool paint. But more simply, he's done a good job at my number-one interest in my own work: building the transitionary world where humans and superhumans can co-exist for the first time, the superhero-concept origin story.



I won't lie: reading this book is thrilling but sometimes makes me frustrated that more of my own work isn't done so that I could point at it and rant. There are several things going on, from visual style to format to script to basic concepts, that I feel possessive about. And you don't get into a comparison match with Warren Ellis: you'll lose and look foolish doing it. And these aren't rocket science ideas in the first place. But damn!







Sometimes, NewUniversal feels like an alternate reality version of Finit-e and the TRDL superhero universe rolled into one, but, you know, with Ellis and Larocca kicking ass. First, look at the page structure.



Hmm...







Time/date stamps in both a global standard and local time. Jump around spectator style narrative. Complex, international storyline. Superhero origin story. Merging of powered armor and powers as equally interesting phenomenon. Damn! I'm adding this to the list of projects that paint my picture for me better than I could, one way or another.



Larocca's new style is interesting. The colors are great and for once, the lack of a formal inker helps instead of hurts. He's always had a strong, cinematic compositional style. I've really enjoyed the art, especially the first meeting between the notBleedSentience and the AlternaChineseCutie in the first issue. I will say, however, that the fact that he's begun painting from celebrity photo refs pulls me out of the narrative, despite his technical competence.







I mean, I even recognize the photos of Josh Halloway, Ashlee Simpson and James Cromwell that he used. The assignment of actors to characters is fine. I liked it when Hitchy did it in Ultimates. But it wasn't so literal.



Anyway, super strong start to this book, and its made me interested in characters like Justice, who I hated before. Good stuff.



9/10 clicks

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1. NewUniversal #3 – 5
2. NewUniversal #06
3. Frank Ironwine #1

cool my hometown got a shout out on the newest episode of Heroes. Almost missed it. excelent episode. Hiro is still a blast. Loved him watching the video of the T-rex's. I wonder how long it'll be till psycho mom realizes that she doesn't need her dopplehalf to have power. and cool Dr. Who as the unnoticable man.



5 fo 5 in my book

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