Slaine: Warrior’s Dawn

Slaine: Warrior’s Dawn

Writer: Pat Mills

Various Artists

 Review by Jacob Malewitz

Ghost in the Shell, Monarchy Notebook, a new novel coming out soon.

FreeJournalismnotebook.blogspot.com

Creating a fantasy world isn’t easy, and even harder if you’re taking the story into comic books. Yes, Conan did it, as did Sojourn and Dragonlance, but we comic fans tend to like adventurous super heroes. Every now and then, however, we are gripped by an adventurous barbarian. This one happens to be named Slaine.

He is Slaine Mac Roth of the tribe called Sessair. The story, I will say simple a couple of times here, does go forward in such a way as to keep you reading. The artwork does it better, because, for an old comic, it’s almost experimental. And according to the foreword by Pat Mills, the many artists who worked here took a lot of flack from the major fan base of 2000 AD. The artwork is really what stands out in Slaine Warrior’s Dawn. Epic. More, it pushes the story right into an adventurous, vibrant land. In the beginning, Slaine is fighting a T-Rex-like Time Monster. He looks mean; not mean enough. I mention that only because you get the simplicity of most of the stories: Slaine is truly some kind of Conan for the British world, but in the beginning he’s just another coy disguise for a ruthless Celt barbarian. Maybe he’s closer to barbarian than even Conan is. Maybe …

While the similarities to Conan are obvious in the beginning, like having a companion named Ukko who’s quite greedy (Conan had similar lackeys), this hero stands on his own. The core of the stories, when compared to the core Conan comic adaptations from decades ago, sometimes are better. The artwork is by far better, even if you want to argue the Conan vs Slaine idea.

These tales of high adventure lack in characterization, but appeal to the eye and have a great combination of action and dark horror. I kept stopping, not used to the five page short stories which the book is full of, but there is another difference between this barbarian and other warriors. After all, Slaine is a 2000 AD creation, by Pat Mills I believe, and most of the older 2000 AD trades are full of 5 page shorts, even if it is a bigger arc.

The differing range of artists who worked on Slaine add plenty to each story, and it allows us readers to get a chance to see many different visions. And Pat Mills, I am guessing in his early years, doesn’t quite match the scope of the artists’ talent. The stories are far too simple. I digress.

You get darkness and light, character details and shadows of monsters. And even though the artists each open a different box, they tend to capture the story in a way that, though different, fits in with the characters.

As a whole book, it shows promise, but seems to be more a work in progress waiting for the big bang to happen. But it is an older 2000 AD book with an older style. It did begin the story of a hero rivaling the very best in all of fantasy comic books.

Kurosawa, Fellini, and Truffaut Are the Masters of Foreign Films

Foreign Films You Must See

on GHOSTINSHELLMESSENGER.BLOGSPOT.COM

GHOSTANDPAGE.BLOGSPOT.COM

By Jacob Malewitz

Takeaways

• Akira Kurosawa and "Seven Samurai"
• Fellini and "La Dolce Vida"
• Truffaut and "Shoot the Piano Player"
  

Foreign films are in vogue lately. Just tune into channels like Independent Film Channel (IFC) or Sundance, and you'll find a plethora of them. I'm no expert on foreign films, but I do enjoy directors like Francois Trauffaut and Akira Kurosawa.

What's interesting is the effect each of these directors has on American film. Take Kurosawa's masterpiece "Seven Samurai." Hollywood reworked it into "The Magnificent Seven," which the only thing I can remember is the fact that it wasn't close to being as good as the original.

What makes films like these so strong is the vivid characterization. Action isn't essential in "Seven Samurai," but it is there. The same could be said of Trauffaut's greatest film, "Shoot the Piano Player."

Both had action, but focused on characters. Hollywood should take note. Some directors have learned from the masters. Directors like Paul Thomas Anderson ("Magnolia") or Martin Scorsese ("Age of Innocence") do at times seem to understand that characters are often what make films great.

If one wanted the most known and famous of all foreign directors, Federico Fellini would likely be the choice. Films like "La Dolce Vita" and "8 ½" are always tops on best films ever lists. American filmmakers aren't always outdone. I recently watched the Japanese film "The Eye," and saw how a lot of Japanese horror has fallen into simple copycat stories. "The Eye" was very much like the "The Sixth Sense" in the way it was presented, in which a person was able to see the dead.

"The Eye" was released in 2003 and "The Sixth Sense" in 1999. These films together are a prime example of how movie ideas are constantly recycled in the major film markets. Independent films may have a better chance now than they used to, but Hollywood has opted away from character films for more action films which usually guarantee money.

Character stories are still used, but films by action stars like Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwar-zenegger usually make more money. Take "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," Schwarzenegger's latest film, which ended up grossing over $400 million.

Any time foreign films are discussed, anime should become at least a side note. Anime does extremely well in America, where some young adults desire to learn Japanese just because their favorite movies are in Japanese. Some TV stations are devoted to playing anime films, like Cartoon Network and Animid-night on Encore.

The success of these anime movies provide a good note for foreign films. Though action epics tend to succeed, every now and then films like "Akira" and "Princess Mononoke" prove characters can be alive even if they are animated.

Today, older foreign films tend to get more respect and the newer ones might not be successes until the next generation. Movies are in many ways like novels.
But movie markets are expanding through the world, even countries like Russia are beginning to get an influx of directors. How many foreign film directors who are still living can you name off the top of your head?

Even if you know a couple of directors because of your time at Blockbuster, it still merits some thought. I've seen a lot of foreign director films and while I know of many movies I can't think of one living director. Foreign films may be in vogue, but the clock is still ticking on when a great foreign director will make the next "Seven Samurai" or "Shoot the Piano Player," and have it noticed in America.

You may have to look beyond Blockbuster to find it.

Mind Escape -- The Importance of Films - with a Ghost in the Shell remix

Mind Escape – The Importance of Films
Histories, Novels, Essays

by Jacob Malewitz

In his classic “Oldboy,” Chan-wook Park creates revenge, with a dash of madness; pain and sex, with a dash of incest; violence and noir, with some sprinklings of John Woo films. I have this bitter fascination with Asian films, the kinds of Akira Kurosawa, or the anime movement (hell yeah “Ghost In the Shell”), or the “Hard Boiled” and “The Killer” modes created by a madman of action by the name of Woo. There is, in these films, a dark escape. The characters are on the run, dark things are happening, and we can smell the gunsmoke, smell the blood. It allows an escape.

How to Choose an Anime Film

How to Choose an Anime Film
By Jacob Malewitz

Mecha, assassins, ninjas, angels, telepathic forces, secret evils and more each have there place in the anime film. Are you ready to explore Japanese animation? Better yet, want to add something good to your movie collection? Anime films are a good start, especially when you go for the classics. I have watched hundreds of anime films, from “Akira” to “Princess Mononoke,” but still consider myself a novice in the field. Let’s see where the anime begins and ends.

White Trash Party, on Ghost In the Shell Blog Ghost After Ghost

White Trash Party
Jacob Malewitz

What is word of POD music? What is word of ancient scribe to the water field? Can music heal you, can music help you, and what is song for POD on deftones white trash party. Influence is early modern, but who is copywriting handbook for science fiction.

Copywriting handbook for science fiction is hot pulse; coffee is hot pulse, but doesn’t get paid enough. New jacket is color: Rome is red, green, and blue. Athens is hot on chess board; Athens has chess and board. What is Pericles II: who is he in science fiction guide. Copywritng handbook says, what is win of Athens. Copywriting hanbdbook says: Magistrate  is best novel. It could win you to idea of novel. On its move, Wordpress, you could read science fiction for five days and win fifteen minutes of play to a novel. Where is idea, where is your notebook, and what is Prototype idea to your notebook. Think of Absolution Gap and what Alastair Reynolds might say, or how you drink coffee for a day, quit, and say chess. Absolution gap is out to cheap. Sell it and cheat its move. Copy it down and say I like you and Jericho Reach. What is Jericho Reach; where is Jericho Reach? White Trash Party is Deftones and illegal Nine Inch Nails. Tool is best out out--to Jericho Reach.

Wordpress is hot.

Wordpress is hot.

Wordpress is color.

Hydrogen Theory by Jacob Malewitz

Hydrogen Theory

Jacob Malewitz

Do you listen to deftones? What is this white trash party? You like REM sleep stuff? What is water? Why do you like Athens, why do you like water, and what is mars and where is mars. How do you get there Do you see the sword of lancelot peered to Arthur during his days as king of France. Who is the real king.

Athens is hot. Social media is hot. He has a job as a brander and writes hydrogen theory novels. What is the play of ancient scribe. Who is this old book. Social media is hot. Jacket is blue down. Short story form is pete yourn, and the strange doc or strange condition is the idea of art drive. Does this have water. Do you like water?