Reading Update

Arrival, Chiang

This was a book of short stories. I learned about it because of the movie Arrival, which is great. The other stories had fascinating concepts too. The one that I remember the best is based off of the Tower of Babel. 

Babylon's Ark, Anthony

An amazing true story of trying to save the remaining zoo animals that are trapped in a war zone. 

Wayward Son, Rowell

I quite liked Carry On. The other two books in the series I wasn't as crazy about. Possibly because Simon was so depressed, which made him mean to everyone. He did go through a lot. Anyway, I just didn't find the sequels as fun as the first book (which was the freaking book that made me actually enjoy a vampire romance). 

Sharing a House with the Neverending Man, Alpert

Stories of Studio Ghibli as told by a rare westerner who has worked with them. It's fascinating to hear about the company, and to hear some of the cultural differences are explained. 

One thing that surprised me is that there's a character based off of him in The Wind Rises. He didn't even mention it in the book! I was wondering why that character was on the book cover, so I looked it up and discovered that I was right. 

Warriors, Hunter

Okay, I finally finished the first series of Warriors. Only because I promised two of my cousins that I would. But the books drove me crazy. And not just because they glorify feral cats. The characters were all so frustrating. They didn't share information that was vital, or refused to believe certain things for no reason. Or just randomly went crazy. Yeah, I rather suffered through these books. If I want cool animal cultures, I'll stick with Watership Down. 

Challenger Deep, Shusterman

I learned about this book because I went to an event where the author was present. He said that the book is based off of what his son went through. The book is amazing, and harrowing. It was really good, and quite stressful to read. I felt off balance for a while after reading some parts of it. It's about a boy with schizophrenia, and the story is split between the real world and the world that the illness has created. 

My Side of the Mountain, George

Kids fantasize about running away from home and going to live in the wilderness. This kid does. It takes a while to adjust, but he learns to live on the mountain. 

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel, Clarke

I've heard about this book so many times. It's amazingly written, and a good story. I think I need to read it again though. There's so much happening. I even missed part of the ending. I keep meaning to find a book so I can go back and see what I missed. It was something important. TT^TT

I just saw that they made a show based on the book! Gotta check that out. 

Sailing with Noah: Stories from the world of zoos, Bonner 

Some great stories about zoos, animals, and the people who care for them. 

Rogues, Martin

A collection of short stories about characters who are, well, rogues. The stories are in a variety of genres, and there are some big-name authors in it. I learned about it because there's a Name of the Wind story amongst them. I think my favorite was where the team managed to steal an entire road. 

Sheine Lende, Little Badger

The prequel to Elatsoe. This is the best book comp I've found. It's good, but why can't I find mooooore? 

Beauty and the Beast, Rudnick

A novelization of the Disney live-action movie. I just stumbled upon this at a used store, so it was a cool find. 

Annihilation, Van der Meer

A strange, dangerous, fantastical land is slowly spreading. A team of people crosses into this land, to try to learn what they can about it. It was a pretty bewildering read. The strange land is interesting, but they didn't give me enough of it to want to read more of the series. 

Tending the Wild, Anderson 

A great book of how the native California people cared for the land in ways that the Europeans never bothered to understand when they arrived. The entire state was cared for, unlike now where much of the land has been destroyed, or is in danger of burning to the ground. 

The Star-Seeking Demon

I drew the demon from the plum blossom story. 

The creature I learned about was called the celestial stag, but that seems to be a strange translation from a larger group of monsters. I renamed it the star-seeker stag, which keeps the feel but implies that they're trying to get above ground to where the stars are. 

Star-seekers slink low to the ground, and looks like skin and bones. The antlers grow into each other, pressing together painfully. 

I made the antlers bigger, but they still seem too small. 

This Year at Fanime:

There were a couple cool guest speakers at Fanime this year! 

My anime/manga repertoire is slowly expanding, so I actually know some of the Fanime guests now. This year there were two anime voice actors that did roles I liked: Atsushi Abe and Tsubasa Yonaga. 

Atsushi Abe was Mashiro from Bakuman. He was one of the racing members in Yowamushi Pedal too, and he did a character in Haikyu.  He's also been in an X-Men anime? I'll have to check that out. 

Tsubasa Yonaga was also in Yowamushi Pedal, and he did one of my favorite characters from the series: Manami. He also had a role in Tiger and Bunny. 

I always liked Manami though, because both he and Onoda just seemed to enjoy biking up hills. Why was that important? Because it encouraged me to bike the unending hills around my house! Though Tsubasa Yonaga admitted that he's not a sporty person himself. 

I got to say hi to each of them. I told Atsushi Abe that Bakuman was. great inspiration for my writing. And I told Tsubasa Yonaga that he encouraged me to bike the steep hills near my house. I've put that to good use. 

Mapping Snags

After my road trip for planning Starsung, I decided it was time to finalize the map. I printed out the chunk of land they cover, and started plotting out locations. As well as the distance they could cover in a day in a horse-drawn wagon. Some locations needed specific features, like forests or lakes, so I needed to account for that.  

Yeah, it's a much longer trip than I had originally planned for. It turns out that their starting location is about two weeks south of the main events. I may have to change it... Which means the research I did at that location is no good. And I didn't really research the area where the new beginning will be. 

And even if I do move the starting location north by two weeks, their trip will still take longer than I thought. I don't know what happened. I had calculated this stuff out long ago. I guess I made a mistake. 

Yeah, I guess maps are important. 

Is it weird to look up someone's height?

I often don't notice how tall actors are. When I was watching some Star Wars bonus features, they said that Dooku is 6 1/2 feet tall. Holy crud! Well, movies like to use tall people for villains. They can look more looming and dangerous that way (In Back to the Future, they chose a different villain because an earlier option wasn't as tall). 

Unfortunately, short guys are often not picked as a main hero. Not always, luckily. Though as I've mentioned, I'm unlikely to notice either way. Mostly because I don't really care how tall they are. 

For example, Matthew Broderick is known mostly for "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." But I mostly know him from Ladyhawke (and The Lion King, but you don't actually see him in that movie). In Ladyhawke, his character is called Philippe the Mouse. Everyone makes a big deal about how tiny he's supposed to be. It didn't occur to me for a while to wonder if the actor really was that small (They're sitting on a horse here, so it's hard to really tell). 

I also saw a video that teased Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) for being short. He never struck me as short. Even looking at pictures, he's not that much shorter. 

All this is buildup to my actual point. 

When I was watching Spider-Man earlier this year, Tobey Maguire was standing next to another actor. 

The height difference struck me for the first time. Which got me wondering, Tobey Maguire he short, or is the other actor really tall? Or both. In Seabiscuit, Tobey Maguire plays a jockey. Jockeys are small, because that means the horse can run faster. But Red (the jockey he plays) was a very tall jockey. They even make fun of it in the movie. So I don't think I can judge by that (Why do I know so much about this? I read the Seabiscuit book, and I have the documentary, which is really good. I've watched it several times with my dad, who also loves it). 

I would have stopped there. But I wanted to draw one of the characters in a comic with other characters. So I needed to know his general height. 

Now, this may seem like a random aside, but it will work its way back in. In manga, they'll often slip in character bios. These bios generally have a picture, the character's likes and dislikes, foods they enjoy, their age, and blood type (I never understood why the blood type was in there). One of the factors is height. 

I suddenly wondered if wikipedia did that for actors. I really hoped it didn't - that would be weird. I usually only check out an actor's wikipedia page to see what movies they were in. Maybe they really did have personal stuff like that. I waffled around for a while, not wanting to look it up. But finally I caved. And I was rather relieved to find that wikipedia didn't list the actor's height. 

Except I'll still need to figure out how tall to draw the character... Is it weird that I feel really strange doing an internet search about that? 

I Think That was Misread

Occasionally I've watched movies with people, and been stunned at their totally flat interpretations of scenes. 

One friend, who I love, made some comments that stunned me. To be fair, this was back when we were in middle school. Neither of us had taken any classes in analyzing literature (or cartoons). Fantasia 2000's Pines of Rome is a beautiful animation about flying whales. They fly up into the sky, where they arrive a sort of heavenly sea. But because the whales ended up leaping out of the water, she decided that they hadn't actually gone anywhere. To me it seemed so obvious that they had reached a special land (sea) in the sky. I think I was wondering where her sense of imagination was XD 

But the funnies one was when we watched X-Men 2. At one point, Magneto says, "you are a god among insects." And she decided that in the next X-Men movie, giant insects would take over! 

That's not what that phrase means! It's possible she was teasing, but I don't think so.  

Gotta Love the Cameos

How is it that Hugh Jackman gets the best cameos, even if he doesn't appear in the movie? 

His appearance X-Men First Class cracked me up. 

(the prequel where he was basically a crazed lab animal was just depressing). 

And I may not be much of a Deadpool fan, but the end of the second movie had me laughing too (while at the same time cringing as Deadpool shot his other self repeatedly. Or maybe it was stabbing?) 

Even the first Deadpool, he had stapled a picture of Hugh Jackman's face onto his own. 

But the cameos go far beyond Marvel movies. I haven't even seen the sequels for Night at the Museum (though I may have to). But I have seen on Youtube where he's in a stageplay, and even references the fact that he played Wolverine. I can no longer find the full scene, which is tragic. I want to see it again! 

I watched Despicable Me 2 with my cousins. The cool lady was planning to go to Australia, and figured she'd better practice her Australian phrases. "Hugh Jackman" was one of those phrases. 

And in Penguins of Madagascar, they slipped in all kinds of actor names, by using them as words in sentences. Apparently two of the octopuses are named Hugh and Jack. So the leader octopus calls out, "Hugh! Jack! Man the battle stations!" All of the actor names were cleverly done. But of course that one had me laughing the hardest. 

I guess filmmakers have found creative ways to include him in their movies, even if he never shows up on the set. Would I do the same thing if I were making a movie? Very possibly. 

Cringe Can be Fun

The day after Halloween, Nicole and I watched Van Helsing. I told her that it was one of two movies that I was embarrassed to admit the I like. 

To which she replied, "why would you be embarrassed? It's Hugh Jackman!" 

I couldn't argue with that statement. But I said, "some of the scenes are so cringey." 

She said that cringey is good sometimes. 

So we watched the movie, enjoying the interactions between the three heroes (they're a fun team) and laughing at the cringey parts. Like poor Velkan. 

I said, "Movies look like they can really fun to make. But then there's this poor guy who has to writhe around in agony." 

"He's like that in most of the movie!" Nicole exclaimed. It's true. Poor Velkan must have had to do a lot of that during all the takes. 

I told Nicole some random facts. Like how the original character of Van Helsing, in Dracula, was an old professor. And how the Frankenstein monster tried so hard to be good, but everyone treated him so bad that he eventually did become a monster. And I mentioned other movies some of the actors were in (Like Faramir, which blew Nicole's mind). When I watch all these bonus features, I start spouting commentary when I watch a movie with someone. 

 

I said the baby vampires were "Goo Balloons." And then felt very proud of myself for coming up with that phrase. Because they fly around, and pop, and are full of goo. 

Is it Mean for a Reason?

Grease was on Youtube for free, so I decided to watch it. Now I really liked this movie as a kid. I still like some of the songs. But I hadn't seen it in a long time. And now I know why. I kind of registered this subconsciously as a kid, but Grease is really mean-spirited.  

And there's West-Side Story. I only saw that once. Then earlier this year, we performed a medley of music from the movie. So I rented it to watch again. And yeah, its basis is pretty mean. But that's the point. At the end, Maria calls everyone out on it. And they all realize that she's right. 

Unlike Grease, where Sandy apparently decides to join the mean people? 

But how many people in West Side Story are actually Puerto Rican? 

The Best Battle Scenes

I think I started thinking of this post after I saw Avatar the Way of Water. The final battle in that movie felt unending and tedious. It was a jarring comparison to the original Avatar film, where the final battle kept me on the edge of my seat. 

So, I started thinking about the best battle scenes. In my opinion, any way. 

For example, the battle at the end of the Avatar film. The heroes don't have many assets to work with, but they put everything to excellent use. Knowledge of terrain, a helicopter pilot with a few communicators, an ex-marine riding a huge dragon, and a lot of warriors with determination and skill. And though it has been done a million times, I still love when the cavalry arrives to save the day. In this case, all of the wild beasts. I bought the book about the creatures of Avatar. The thanator - the huge black panther creature, is one of the most feared creatures to the Na'vi. No one has ever ridden one. But the thanator comes to Neytiri and offers its alliance. I wish they mentioned that in the movie. It adds so much more to that scene! 

Then there's the ewok battle. It does a similar thing, where the people without technology use determination and creativity to kick butt. I love that stuff! 

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. This has another great end battle. All of the different creatures use their own strengths and skills. And it too has the cavalry arrive. 

(Prince Caspian didn't rise to the occasion. For some reason, they had to randomly add in a new battle, where they killed most of the good guys? That movie kept all of the war, and pretty much none of the wonder and fun). 

Lord of the Rings has amazing battles. My favorite part is when the ents take down Isengard. My parents love to come in and watch that scene, even if they haven't been watching the rest of the movie. And it's awesome when Gandalf brings the Riders of Rohan in to win the day (I told you, I love it when the cavalry comes to the rescue). 

Princess Mononoke does it differently. You see the boars preparing for battle, but we see almost none of the actual fight onscreen. It's mostly told through the account of a traumatized survivor, which gives it a very different gravity.  

 

Willow has some good battles. Like how Willow and Madmartigan single-handedly rig the abandoned castle with booby traps and manage to hold their own against an entire army for a good amount of time (and Willow does so while carrying a baby around! Not to mention the fact that he has absolutely no fighting experience, but still holds his own) My favorite part of the final battle in Willow is how it starts. Willow and Raziel stand alone, challenging the enemy. They're clearly not fighters, but it's the perfect trick to get the upper hand in the battle. And Willow's strategy works perfectly. 

I'm not sure Mulan counts, because Mulan ends the big battle before it even begins. But wow, that scene with the enemy coming down the mountain is so awesome. I guess the scene in the palace doesn't really count as a battle. More like an infiltration. But it's awesome too! 

The Twelve Kingdoms also manages to end the battle before it begins. But the buildup and execution is so awesome! 

And in an extremely different direction, I might even choose "All You Need is Love." The words themselves become physical to defeat a giant flying glove. Which sounds so bizarre if you don't know what I'm talking about. 

 

And ever since I was a kid, Brother My Brother  from Pokemon: The First Movie" has always gotten me. It really drives home the message that there are no winners in these kinds of conflicts. 

These are more fight scenes than battle scenes. They're between two people, or a few people, instead of entire armies. But I'll give them quick mentions. 

The House of Flying Daggers, Hero, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon have stunning fight scenes. They're more like dances. Where people can almost fly. 

Some of the lightsaber duels. Like Qui Gon and Obi Wan against Darth Maul. Or Anakin vs Obi Wan. 

The battles in Doctor Strange were really cool. What awesome effects. 

Pirates of the Caribbean. What awesome choreography. I think my favorite is at the end, between Jack and Barbosa, going in and out of the moonlight. Freaking awesome! 

Same with Princess Bride. Westley and Inigo trained with a fencing master. They got so good that they could duel too fast. Which meant they had to extend the fight so it would take up more time. 

The live-action Rurouni Kenshin fights. 

The Mask of Zorro has some great fencing fights too.  

Avatar: The Last Airbender has amazing elemental battles. Some of the highlights are Katara vs. Master Paku, Toph vs. the wrestlers, and Zuko vs. Azula. Though Zuko is awesome both in his bending battles, and his sword battles. 

The end of How to Train Your Dragon. A dragon battle which leaves your heart in your mouth. I am so sick of the, "oh no, the character died! Oh, never mind. He's fine." But this movie nails it (though the live-action one milked it too much). 

Fullmetal Alchemist has great battles. 

Big hero Six, seeing them figure out how to get out of tight spots. 

The Pixar short, Sanjay's Super Team, has a super cool animated battle. 

And finally Stronger than You, with Garnet vs. Jasper. Hell yes. Best fight song ever. 

So, now that we've mentioned the visual battles, what about the written ones? 

Dramatic arrivals may be overdone, but there was a good one in the last Harry Potter book. They didn't really go into that as much in the movie. But the first time I read the book, that scene got me pumped! 

Brandon Sanderson has amazing battle scenes. I haven't read all of his books yet, but Wax's fights have been my favorite. There was one in particular that I could see so clearly. 

And in middle school, I was crazy about the final battles in Tamora Pierce's books. Her newer books don't have as much of that. I should reread some of those. 

I have a few honorable mentions. These were less about particular fights and battles, but more the way the battles are portrayed. 

For example, Howl's Moving Castle and The Boy and the Heron. Those bombs are chilling. And while The Wind Rises is an anti-war movie, you only see a couple seconds of the "cursed dreams," going down in flames. Then there's Grave of the Fireflies, which shows the horrors of war. 

Wolfwalkers is fascinating. Not only are there flames and guns and wolves, but you can see the battle through different senses, like sound and scent. 

This is more of an invasion than a battle, but I love it. Nightcrawler attacking the White House. 

 

And I've gone this far, so I might as well throw in a couple video games! 

My favorite game is Twilight Princess. The final battles in that game were awesome. I especially loved beast Ganon. 

In Pokémon, I think Ghetsis was the most heart-in-my-mouth battle. I barely beat him the first time. (Cynthia in Brilliant Diamond is difficult too, but that was mostly just a tedious battle because it takes  so freaking long to beat her Milotic). 

And the final battles in Pokémon Colosseum and Gale of Darkness might be a bit hokey, but I was crazy about them when they came out. 

Zack's last battle in Final Fantasy: Crisis Core. Mostly because you literally experience how he's given everything he had, until he can barely move. I'd never seen anything like that in a game before (and maybe not since, either). 

And freaking Underale, which breaks all the rules of gaming. Particularly the battle against Sans, which you should never do.