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Mr March

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  1. Mr March
    Seriously good video. Feels almost like a real commercial, which is what makes it so damned creepy.
  2. Mr March
    Yeah, the stinger at the end of The Wolverine did get me quite excited for this upcoming new X-Men film. Definitely worth staying after the early credits.
  3. Mr March
    I watched The Wolverine yesterday and was pleased with the film but not blown away. The format of the film is much more interesting than the most other comic book action films. The scale is small and personal with more character and story that makes for a refreshing change in the typical comic book adaptation climate. Hugh Jackman again owns this role and luckily in this new film he has far more to work with than the previous X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The Wolverine presents Logan in many different lights, as an immortal that has grown tired of life and the people living in it and also a struggle with the death of Jean Grey. These two facets of the character are treated well by the script and make for a compelling lead, but the rest of the film isn't so compelling. The character of Logan endures some issues in the early part of the The Wolverine the consequences of which are never really explored in a satisfying way. They could have done so much more with Logan dealing with the limits of this issue than what was presented here. The action in the movie is interesting and fun for the most part but I felt the latter part of the film relied too much on action without the promising character and story elements built up to that point. The strength of The Wolverine was initially the character and story, but both seem to fall short in the last third. I also felt the setting in Japan was mostly window dressing and there wasn't much to learn about Japan or the people in this film that hasn't already been made cliche in hundreds of other Hollywood films. Discussing the movie wouldn't be complete without mentioning the original Frank Miller/Chris Claremont comic book that inspired so much of the style and setting in the film. Numerous characters and events from the original limited series do make appearances in The Wolverine but are written in a different configuration not necessarily more satisfying that the book. I also felt at times that director James Mangold was including certain visual components of the comic book into the film when it was not justified but because it was visually arresting. The snow/ninja sequence outside the final locale was a perfect example of a scene that felt jarring. Most choices using the source material worked well, but the film clearly wanted to touch upon too many halmakrs of the comic book whether it was relevant or not. I give The Wolverine 3 out of 5. A comic book hero adaptation that makes for a nice change from end-of-the-world or the tired origin story, but doesn't offer enough to elevate the film above simply being good and disposable entertainment.
  4. Mr March
    A few weeks ago Steam had a sale from which I purchased this game called Dust: An Elysian Tail for about $7 (regular $15). The game had some of the best reviews of last year. With the exception of Fez it had been over a decade since the last time a 2D platform game with brightly-colored anthropomorphic characters caught my attention in any positive way. Having just finished Dust, I have to say I am sure glad I took a chance to buy this on sale because this game is incredible. I sunk almost 30 hours into the game and can't recommend it enough. I'd purchase this game for $20 and have no regrets. The game play is very metroidvania, using that familiar style of map progression for each location you explore and featuring light RPG elements that enable the player to build the character of Dust and collect treasure and items to enhance Dust's abilities. You have a flying companion named Fidget who has some basic magical abilities which Dust can then interact with using his enchanted sword to create storms of magical attacks. The combat is fun, varied and extremely addictive. The game uses a combo system in which Dust can combine various types of maneuvers into strings of spinning, jumping and whirling destruction. When combined with Fidgets magic attacks, Dust can achieve impressive visual onslaughts that light up the screen. Thanks to a very simple and elegant control scheme, the combo system is very easy to learn and reliably perform from one battle to the next. As you progress, Dust will gain new abilities and while most are familiar staples of platform games (the double jump, the slide, etc) they are all implemented exceptionally well. Developer Humble Hearts knows how important game control is and has built the game in such a way that playing the character of Dust is like a dream; smooth, responsive and reliable. Graphically Dust looks, plays and feels like a 2D Platform Game given the Triple-A developer treatment despite it's indie origins. Dust enjoys similar benefit of modern technology applied to a 2D engine in the vein of Mark of the Ninja. Every screen is dense, filled with animation, detail and a deep illusion of dimension. Dust goes straight for high definition in all the character, level and effects design. This is a game in high resolution with gorgeous animation and effects of a level that we all desperately wanted 15 years ago playing our Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. The player character, the NPCs and enemies all look fluidly animated and the levels and effects are given just as much attention. Locations with snow, rain, wind, fire, lava and other visually striking effects are fully realized in stunning detail, each of which have an effect on game play. Dust is also fully scalable and some sequences in the game have the frame pulled far back to display your tiny player appearing in front of beautiful, immense vistas or enormous statues in the background all displayed in sharp, high-resolution graphics. I give "Dust: An Elysian Tail" 5 out of 5. Immersive, funny, silly, gorgeous, exciting, challenging and non-stop fun: Dust: An Elysian Tail pretty much has it all. If you're interested in taking a break from all the dark, gritty and realistic modern shooters and RPGs to enjoy some lighter, addictive retro-re-imagined fun then Dust is just the game for you. Available on PC via Steam and X-Box 360 via X-Box Live.
  5. Mr March
    Lead star Karl Urban is thinking a sequel to Dredd could happen with enough fan interest. I'm game! http://www.slashfilm.com/want-to-see-dredd-2-sign-the-online-petition/ Check out the page and sign the petition. It's also on Facebook so you can share. I've signed up and spammed my Facebook friends
  6. Mr March
    Yes, the VF-11C Protect Armor is an official in-universe mecha. It's from the 1994 Macross 7 TV series. The current profile I have for it can be found here: http://www.macross2.net/m3/macross7/vf-11c-protectarmor.htm I've been building a large amount of improved content for my website, both by adding trivia from the Macross Chronicle but mostly by improving the mecha art with new scans and improved colors/shading. That's what I'm doing with the VF-11C Protect Armor right now. I've been inspired after seeing the new VF-11C art in the latest issue of the Macross Chronicle
  7. Mr March
    Every time they release more footage of this film, it looks better and better. Visually astounding!
  8. Mr March
    Never seen any pics of such a VF-1S and I don't personally have one in my own custom collection, but perhaps I can build one. I'm currently building a new VF-11C Protect Armor, but perhaps while I'm working on that project I can bounce between it and a CF VF-1S. No promises, but I'll see what I can do.
  9. Mr March
    I am inspired! Time to work on a revision of the VF-11C Protect Armor
  10. Mr March
    Well, since you asked *speaking only about the show and not all the other IP/legal reasons to dislike HG (and by extension, Robotech itself)* While I'm sure everyone involved with Robotech had their reasons for doing what they did to the original anime in the mid-1980s, examining the first Robotech series post-release (meaning 15 years ago, when I last revisited it) I simply found the show to be a poorly edited, poorly localized, poorly dubbed and strangely sterilized version of the original SDF Macross series. Given that the age of the internet has made the original SDF Macross series (and all the official Macross merchandise) so easily available, I see no reason for watching Robotech, other than nostalgia. Personally, I found my nostalgia made a very smooth transition into the original SDF Macross series. Being fully immersed in the original SDF Macross series also makes the continuity, history and world building of the broader Macross franchise much more coherent and enjoyable when viewing all the many sequels.
  11. Mr March
    I always hold out hope that eventually you'll like something All joking aside, I must agree with you. This film is receiving little attention (relatively) yet appears to have more potential than all the similar fare made so far this year. As we've come to expect of Hollywood year after year, it is more often the less-anticipated films that result in quality while the hyped movies so frequently disappoint.
  12. Mr March
    @Graham and @raptormesh, There's nothing wrong with thinking about this film critically, but just realize that like every other movie which provokes these same kinds of questions one should understand the point behind showing what they did. The opening montage was to show the audience the inadequacy of the conventional military as succinctly as possible. Like all films, the trick is to limit the exposition Btw, they did not state in the film the Kaiju were impervious; quite the opposite. They "eventually" killed the first of the Kaiju. But as was stated in film, the losses suffered BEFORE they killed the Kaiju was enormous. A deadlier weapon was required to kill Kaiju before entire cities were lost; hence, the Jaegers.
  13. Mr March
    If the canopy cover is supposed to be a heatshield, where is the shield to cover the rest of the craft from heat I wonder? I suppose the canopy cover could be used to shield the cockpit from heat (albiet the primary purpose would certainly be armor). But since all other VFs (and many other "windowed" vehicles) are shown re-entering the atmosphere without such a shield, I'd conclude it's something else. Perhaps it was to shield the brightness of re-entry, perhaps Hikaru felt more comfortable with the canopy cover in place, maybe it standard operating procedure, etc.
  14. Mr March
    There are some of us who don't see big Hollywood blockbusters UNLESS someone of talent actually makes an honest, geniune attempt at the film. Let's be objective here and understand that good idea or bad, the big Hollywood studios have a quota to fill each year with movies that SOMEONE has to make. Why not take a good idea originally implemented poorly and use the potential of a good filmmaker to take another shot at doing it right? That's how it's SUPPOSED to be done; instead we get far more remakes of great, classic genre films that would have been better left alone. IMO, The Wolverine appears to be a step in the right direction. This is mentioned in the video blog reaction from the guys on Slashfilm. Taking a break from "origin sotries" and "saving the world" is a refreshing change. I hope I like it.
  15. Mr March
    Well, I said I'd wait for word of mouth before I gave this one a chance and word has come, most enthusiastically. Slashfilm posted a very positive reaction to "The Wolverine". Looks like this isn't your average super hero flick and is nothing like the other Wolverine film (so much the better). They say it's big on character and story and only carefully portions out the action scenes. http://www.slashfilm.com/the-wolverine-video-blog-reaction-james-mangold-impresses-with-latest-x-man-movie/ Highly skeptical has just turned into curiously interested
  16. Mr March
    Good catch nexxstrait! I instantly noticed the correction of the VF-19S silver face plate as well. I guess it was too early for me to write off the editing in the DeAgostini re-issues...at least in the case of some. I suppose there is some hope other errors will be corrected yet
  17. Mr March

    YF-21 WIP

    Mr March replied to 3D-Brainx's topic in Fan Works

    I know how it is to have years pass in between working on hobby projects Nice work, as always. I don't have a better version of picture you posted, but I do know it is the schematic for the Yamato 1/60 scale transforming toy the sold just a year or two back.
  18. Mr March
    I would think the new Macross Chronicle wouldn't sell as well or as many as the first Chronicle run. I'd guess most fans - myself included - don't have the budget or desire to repurchase 50 issues just to get another 30 of new content. I wouldn't even consider buying the second series wholesale if I wasn't running my website. Though I admit if I weren't buying the whole series, I would try to obtain some issues of the new series piecemeal, to obtain the important content I don't already own (like content from the new Frontier movies and such). This might be what a lot of fans are doing right now. Buying select issues for new content could explain why certain issues are difficult to obtain or are on back-order due to their popularity among non-subscribers.
  19. Mr March
    That is a really good photo. The lighting and background match seamlessly. Well done!
  20. Mr March
    Very nice work.
  21. Mr March
    I'm really surprised something like this hasn't happened far sooner than now. An amalgamation/crossover of franchises seems right up the alley of a company like HG. They are in the business of exploiting old franchises without adding anything new or of any interest. This is a perfect marriage in my eyes. That being said - in true HG fashion - they are about 15 years late to the comic book crossover craze
  22. Mr March
    Low sales might explain why it's taking so long to get backorders. Because of the prohibitive cost of international shipping, I'm purchasing the new Chronicle in batches on 10-12 issues at a time, just as I did with the first 50-issue series. When issue #10 was released for the new series, I ordered my first batch. It took almost 3 months until all the issues came in. Can't afford the subscription route, but I hope the series finishes.
  23. Mr March
    Saw Pacific Rim in 3D IMAX earlier this evening and had a good chance to chat about it afterard with my friends. This movie is unapologetically melodramatic and epic in a manner completely at odds with the way modern movies are made. There is no attempt at a middle ground; no attempt to appeal to "four-quadrant" demographics. And this film is all the better for it. From the opening of the film you are either with the tone or you're not. This is Star Wars, this is Superman, this is Jurassic Park, this is Gladiator, this is Pirates of the Caribbean...this is the antithesis of gritty, dark and grounded. Pacific Rim is space opera of the grandest sort made heightened and bold without any excuses for it's absurdness or escapism. The characters are archetypal and the actors play them broad. Every actor is on the same page here and as the audience you better be on board too because it's sink or swim (pun intended). The story is simple and the stakes are galactic. We have a bunch of monsters from another "place" invading Earth through portal in the Pacific Ocean. It's all over the top and silly from there. As a fan of cinema and an anime fan, I can confidently say Pacific Rim understands what it's doing and does right what so many other movies do wrong. It doesn't whitewash the cast, it doesn't localize the story for North American audiences, it doesn't sexualize the female characters and it doesn't pull punches with the story. The film presents a truly international cast of characters from all races and genders and gives them all equal weight in a truly ensemble production. Almost every character is fun and the story delivers the dramatic heights demanded of such a big film. Any realism this film has is reserved for production design and CGI. You will not find CGI monsters or robots in any other film that consistently convey a totally believable sense of weight and a constant perspective of immense scale. Even better the art design and sets meld beautifully with the special effects and CGI world to create a seamlessly blended whole. At no point did I feel removed from the CGI action when cutting to the sets; everything appeared thoughtfully integrated to ensure the audience always felt like the characters were actually in the thick of things at all times. The battles between Jaeger and Kaiju are astounding. Rather than bland and repetitous, each battle had true dramatic purpose and upped the stakes at every turn. As Pacific Rim progresses it's war story, the enemy adapts and our heroes have to adapt too or perish. And perish they do, always in dramatic fashion and always ensuring you're invested in the titanic carnage happening on screen. It's been a long, LOOOONNNGG time since someone made a movie that put this much thought into each battle sequence and understands audience demands would change for those battles that followed the earlier fights. Pacific Rim is 4 out of 5 for me. Melodramatic space opera that understands the right way to make such cinema and all the excitment and absurdity that comes with it. This film is a love letter to mecha anime in all the best ways and reminds us once again why we became fans of this style of ridiculous entertainment.
  24. Mr March
    Interesting article on the film http://www.slashfilm.com/five-ways-pacific-rim-succeeds-where-other-summer-blockbusters-have-failed/ Good read. Hope it pans out.
  25. Mr March
    Well done, dude! I can't wait to see your work on the big IMAX screen.
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