Comic Review: Stranger Comics’ –The Untamed #1, A Sinner’s Prayer

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Stranger ComicsIf you were given the opportunity to leave hell for seven days, what would you do?

For one man, locked in hell after the death of his wife and daughter, killed when he was, the answer is simple: Vengeance.

As we are taken on this man’s journey, his return to his hometown, it is clear that he is no ordinary man. He once ran the town, Oasis, and was cruel to its people. However, he was not the only one to pay the price.

When first asked to watch/read this comic, I was interested, but I’ve never been a huge comic fan. There are some I have read (Buffy, Fray, X-Men, and others), but I wasn’t as ‘into’ them as some of my friends. However, from the beginning of this animated comic, I was hooked. The art is beautiful, the music heart-wrenching. The story itself opens up with an image reminiscent of various underworld myths. The first one that springs to mind is the ferryman of the Greek river Styx and the dead he would take to Hades. The familiar image of the Reaper is ferrying the protagonist of the story out of the underworld and back to shore. He states that he was only ‘given’ seven days to send seven souls to hell, and that he doesn’t remember what he came back for. Death’s watchers, in the form of crows, follows him on his past.

I use the word protagonist loosely, because such a word can not fully describe this man, this ‘sinner’. He doesn’t react the way the normal ‘good guy’ might; for example, he ignores a woman who begs him for help, instead moving on to visit a blacksmith who reveals more of the man’s story, yet is unable to reap his reward.

After watching this comic, I surprisingly want to know more. What will happen in the next six days? Will he find his vengeance? Will he fulfill his duty to the underworld? Will a girl’s eyes dissuade him? The Untamed is an amazing comic, whether watched or read, and I, for one, will be on the lookout for more. However, I strongly recommend watching the animated version for best results. The music and the artwork, coupled with light animation (bringing to mind favorite cartoons from the early 90s), adds an incredible depth and richness to the story.

The Untamed, A Sinner’s Prayer is written, produced, and directed by Sebastian A. Jones, with art by Peter Bergting. The comic can be found online at this site: http://www.strangercomics.com/asunda/untamed1/ where it is available in both written and animated forms. There is also an amazing gallery of artwork from the comic, as well as an alternate cover. I sincerely recommend this amazing tale to comic readers everywhere.

DVD Review: The Cheesy Adventures of Captain Macaroni: The Greastest Treasure

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Buy The Cheesy Adventures of Captain Macaroni: The Greastest Treasure on Amazon.com.

When I first received a screener copy of The Cheesy Adventures of Captain Macaroni I was extremely excited. I grew up on a variety of great Christian kids programs (like The Greatest Adventure Stories From The Bible, The Flying House and Superbook). I was delighted to get the same enjoyable, funny and memorable experience with The Cheesy Adventures of Captain Macaroni that I did with my childhood videos.

The best part of the DVD was the characters. Captain Macaroni is a lovable, enjoyable super hero who is a bit silly but also wise. His sidekick, a cream-pie throwing rooster named Cheese, brings in the comedic value and offers a good foil for Captain Macaroni. I was especially impressed with the inclusion of a Hispanic character, Eddie and an African-American character, Mikey. Eddie is a genius and gets to throw in a tiny bit of Spanish when talking with Captain Macaroni.

Another great part of the DVD was the humor. It was, as the name suggests, kind of cheesy, but fun. With jokes that kids and adults can enjoy, while still being clean and wholesome. I was very glad to see there was little in the way of teasing or poking fun at other characters (an extremely easy to pick up trait that kids shouldn’t get help with).

The animation is done by the Animation Collective, who also work on cartoons for Disney, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. I really liked the hybrid of Anime and traditional animation styles, which make the cartoon seem modern and enjoyable. Produced in conjunction with Daystar the plot is focused on good values, but told in a way that makes it fun (not preachy).

If you’re looking for a great, wholesome DVD for kids 4-9, I’d say give Captain Mac.A.Roni a try!

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of “The Cheesy Adventures of Captain Macaroni: The Greatest Treasure of All” for review, but the review is entirely my own personal opinion and I was not compensated for this post.

Joss Whedon fans are reaching their goal to raise $150,000 at the “Can’t Stop The Serenity” Worldwide Charity Events

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Season Finale Charity Auction offers chance to tour Dollhouse costume department and more

Since 2006, fans of popular cult television and film writer/director Joss Whedon have hosted charity events worldwide to raise money for Equality Now, a charity dedicated to promoting the human rights of beleaguered women and girls. In 2009, they have already raised over $128,000 for charity. This auction aims to reach the goal of $150,000 raised by “Can’t Stop the Serenity” in 2009.

For the fourth year in a row, in over 50 cities across 7 countries, thousands of people around the world have participated in “Can’t Stop the Serenity” fund-raising events to benefit “Equality Now,” a charity organization working to protect the basic human rights of women and girls across the planet. Since 2006, more than a quarter of a million dollars has been raised, and in 2009 we’re aiming to add another $150,000. And we’re almost there.

The final effort to reach that goal is a global charity auction, featuring dozens of prizes that will be much sought after by fans.

One of the auction highlights is a chance to tour the Dollhouse costume department with costume designer, Shawna Trpcic. With the recent news heralding the cancellation of Joss Whedon’s latest television adventure, this is a once-in-a-lifetime never-to-be-repeated chance to get up close and personal with a piece of the Dollhouse. This may be one of the last opportunities for a lucky fan to see the depths of the Dollhouse wardrobe, and explore the many looks of Echo, Sierra, Victor, Adele, Topher, Boyd, Ballard and the rest of the Dollhouse team. Shawna Trpcic is the creative genius behind the unique looks of each of the dolls as they go from persona to persona, and has generously donated this rare chance to take a behind the scenes look into this cult series. In addition to Dollhouse, Shawna is also responsible for costume design on Firefly and Dr Horrible’s Sing-along Blog.

Other prizes up for grabs is autographed memborabilia from Joss Whedon, Dollhouse‘s Dichen Lachman, the cast of the Emmy Award Winning Dr Horrible’s Sing-along Blog, and Felicia Day’s The Guild, as well as props from Serenity and Dollhouse, rare scripts and more.

The auctions will run until the end of November, and a full list of prizes can be found on the Can’t Stop the Serenity Auction Guide.

All proceeds from the auction will be donated to Equality Now to help fight for the rights of women and girls who can’t fight for themselves.

For more information on the auction, see www.CantStopTheSerenity.com or contact:
Jen Cummings
Global CSTS Auction Coordinator
Jen@CantStopTheSerenity.com
About Can’t Stop the Serenity:
Conceived in late 2005 by Christopher “TheOneTrueB!x” Frankonis, “Can’t Stop the Serenity” (or “Serenity Now/Equality Now” as it was known in it’s first year) included over 41 charity screenings in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, most held around June 23 (Joss Whedon’s birthday). All to benefit Equality Now, one of writer/director Whedon’s favorite charities. And all organised entirely by volunteer fans. This staggering achievement raised over US$65,000 and began a movement that is growing stronger each year. In 2007, 42 cities in 7 countries raised over US$106,000. And in 2008, this grew to 45 cities and over US$107,000 for Equality Now. Over $250,000 has been raised for Equality Now to date. In 2009, we are proud to have 55 cities in 7 countries involved in Can’t Stop the Serenity.

About Joss Whedon:
Whedon is a well known proponent of encouraging gender equality, from his mother being actively involved in Amnesty International and helping to found Equality Now precessing his dedication to the organization, to the well known strong female characters he has created in stories like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, Firefly and Serenity. “There are two ways to fight a battle like ours.” says Joss Whedon, “One is to whisper in the ear of the masses, try subtly and gradually to change the gender expectations and mythic structures of our culture. That’s me. The other is to step up and confront the thousands of atrocities that are taking place around the world on an immediate, one-by-one basis. That’s a great deal harder, and that’s Equality Now. It’s not about politics; it’s about basic human decency.”

About Equality Now:
Equality Now was founded in 1992 to work for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women around the world. Working with national human rights organizations and individual activists, Equality Now documents violence and discrimination against women and mobilizes international action to support their efforts to stop these human rights abuses. For more information, visit www.EqualityNow.org or contact Amanda Sullivan, Director, Women’s Action Network, Equality Now at (212) 586-0906

About Serenity:
A passenger with a deadly secret. Six rebels on the run. An assassin in pursuit. When the renegade crew of Serenity agrees to hide a fugitive on their ship, they find themselves in an action-packed battle between the relentless military might of a totalitarian regime who will destroy anything – or anyone – to get the girl back and the bloodthirsty creatures who roam the uncharted areas of space. But, the greatest danger of all may be on their ship. From the mind of Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel) comes a new edge-of-your-seat adventure loaded with explosive battles, gripping special effects and fantastic new worlds!

TV Review: Supernatural 5×7 – The Curious Case of Dean Winchester

spn507-0241 Watch Supernatural Thursday nights (9/8c) on the CW.
Not caught up? Buy Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season on Amazon.com

Non-Spoilery Review:

So far in the Supernatural season we’ve had so much about the overall arch that it was nice to take a break and do a “case of the week” type story. While the episode isn’t the highlight of the season it still cleaned up some important emotional points. Sadly it was one of the most poorly constructed (story-wise) episodes I’ve seen from Supernatural in a long time.

Rating: [rating:2.5]

Quotes of the Episode:

Dean: And you beat me here.
Bobby: Brains trumps legs, apparently.

Sam: Have you seen … you?
Dean: The old chick in Titanic, I know.

Doctor: You expect me to believe you’re CDC?
Sam: Excuse me?
Doctor: It’s just that you’re a day early. First time in history I haven’t sat on my ass waiting for you people.
Dean: New administration. Change you can believe in.

Spoilers after the cut.
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TV Review: Legend of the Seeker 1×1 & 1×2

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Non-Spoilery Review

Legend of the Seeker on the outside might look like just another Xenia or Hercules-style show (which isn’t entirely a bad thing in my opinion) that’s way too campy to be taken seriously (point in fact all three shows are produced by Sam Raimi). Yet the show has a surprisingly awesome cast, beautiful shooting locations and a story line that is compelling and, at times, complex. If you enjoy fantasy odds are that you’ll really enjoy Legend of the Seeker, which is based very loosely on The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. Since I watched both episodes together we’ll review the first two episodes together. More spoilery review about the pilot episodes “Prophecy” and “Destiny” after the cut.

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TV Review: Glee Pilot Episode (Director’s Cut)

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Watch on Hulu || Buy Pilot – Director’s Cut on Amazon || Watch Glee on Fox, Wednesday Nights

Forget what preconceived notions you have about Glee if you haven’t seen it yet. Sure it’s a high-school show with music, which may lead you to believe it’s a Highschool Musical clone, but the exact opposite is true. Glee is one of the tightest, most refreshing pilots I’ve seen in a long time – and the director’s cut even more so. On a recent trip to Wal-mart I picked up the Director’s Cut DVD ($5) and was extremely pleased with it.

Glee is one of those shows that just makes you smile, but don’t take that to mean it’s a fluffy romp – the characters have a lot of inner angst and torment and high school to deal with. Despite only having an hour to set up 11 characters (and some minor ones), Glee doesn’t fall fall with adding depth and character to most of the main cast (regrettably not Tina, who I think could easily be my favorite character). And it’s not just the kids who have problems, the main characters are also fraught with real life issues (including the main character, Will Schuester played by Matthew Morrison).

The Director’s Cut only has a couple extended scenes that aren’t in the original cut, but worth the watch. One of them is Matthew Morrison’s performance of Leaving on a Jet Plane, which is hauntingly beautiful.

With an infectious combination of songs, dances and a cappella moments used in addition to the musical scoring make Glee a show that can lift your spirits and have you singing all night long.

Tonight’s the second episode of Glee, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

TV Review: Project Runway 6×1 “Welcome to Los Angeles”

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Watch Project Runway on Lifetime, Thursday nights, 10 pm et/pt.
Buy Project Runway: Season Five on Amazon.com

On the whole, I despise reality television. Yet, there’s something about actual creative people competing that seems entirely different than people trapped in a house shouting at each other (sorry Heidi). So when Project Runway went through the trauma of switching networks from Bravo to Lifetime, I missed it.

But now it’s back, and in my hometown! Yay!

While I was not worried about the move to LA, I was curious to see if it would change the show’s feel any. Anyone who has visited LA’s garment district knows it’s a lot different than New York’s. Plus, downtown LA is a much different than downtown New York. As much as I love the Fashion Institute, the designers should be at a beach house somewhere. Thankfully they do get to run around LA some it looks like.

Season 6 Ep 1 “Welcome to Los Angeles”
Rating: [rating:3.5]
Quote of the Episode: “I don’t watch the red carpet. I don’t differentiate between different color carpets.” – Malvin Vien

Spoilers after the cut.

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