Zombie Alert!

What is this? It’s dead, but still moving, it’s craving living flesh and it’s got less brain than Paris Hilton. Yep, it’s a zombie.

To those of you who like games (console or computer, I’m not choosy here) the name “Resident Evil” will be familiar. It’s a long-running series of survival horror games (No. 5 is due this year) which all center around the Umbrella Corporation and the T-Virus (which has turned most of the population of Raccoon City, a fictional city somewhere in the US, into zombies). There are three real-life movies and now there’s also a CGI-movie: “Resident Evil: Degeneration.”

I’m mostly wary of CGI-movies, especially when it comes to ‘real’ scenarios. But “Degeneration” (just like “Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children”) has lived up to my expectations. The animations are getting better and better - though I wouldn’t call them ‘lifelike’ yet - and the story was good, too - at least for an action-horror movie.

In addition, just to say something feminist here, the movie featured two strong women.

What did I like about the movie? Well, the zombies, the action, the enormous monster (created through a variety of the T-virus known as the G-virus) and the whole ‘company conspiracy’ background. (Don’t you just love it when companies risk the end of civilisation just to make money, too?)

The camera movements in “Advent Children” are a bit more inspired, breaking up the traditional movements more clearly (as a rendered movie doesn’t need to take care of walls, the ground and so on, they only exist if the programmers want them to). Still, better a well-photographed traditional action sequence than a modern one that doesn’t caption the audience’s attention. And there’s plenty of action around.

As far as deep philosophy goes, you’d be disappointed by this movie - but who the hell is looking for deep philosophy in a horror movie with zombies? If you like masses of zombies and huge, un-dead monsters, you could spend your time a lot less entertained than with “Resident Evil: Degeneration.”

Back from the Dead

After a week mostly spent in bed (that sounds better than it actually was, believe me), I’m up and about again. I caught the flu ... or rather: it caught me.

It was really hard until the early Wednesday evening (or the late afternoon, that’s up to your decision). At that point my immune system decided to play along and give me a good boost. After another rather weak day, I was at least up again. The about took some more time.

Now I’m finally back at work, still a bit under the weather, but fine on the whole. It’s not easy, but I actually prefer it to staying at home. It’s ‘Fasching’ in Germany - and I hate it. I always have, because I’m not the type for ordered happiness. I hate the idea of being funny and amusing (and probably drunk, too), just because it’s the time for it. I like being subversively funny and sometimes quite amusing (without being drunk) whenever I feel like it. Judging from the rounds of laughter I’ve been able to draw from my colleagues at work, I’m pretty good at it.

During my time in bed (or resting on the couch), I also had the chance to catch up with some movies/series on DVD. Namely those:

• “Case closed” (aka. “Detektiv Conan”) OVA 8 and 9
• “Wyrd Sisters” (after Pratchett’s novel)
• “Resident Evil: Degeneration”
• “Kindred: The Embraced” episodes 1-4 (5-8 will follow)

In addition, I watched TV (you don’t really need a fully functional brain for this, good for me) and slept. Then I slept some more and finished the day sleeping for another couple of hours. Did I mention I slept a lot last week? Well, I slept a lot last week.

Valentine's Day

Just so you know I have not forgotten you.

Bender's shrewd game

“Futurama” was and still is one of my favourite animated series of all times. Compared to the long time “The Simpsons” was - and still is - aired, the four seasons of “Futurama” were quite short.

I only learned recently that there’s a full-length movie featuring the Planet Express crew (and some other recurring characters). “Bender’s Game” is a-one-and-a-half-hours movie with good animation and the characters I’ve come to know and love.

In addition, the story is quite strange, dancing from ‘conspiracy theory’ (Mom’s company keeps antimatter - the fuel of the year 3,000 - expensive, even though there’s enough of it around) into ‘fantasy’ (“Dungeons & Dragons” meets “Lord of the Rings”) and back again.

As a fan of the series, who’s well acquainted with the characters, I was quite comfortable while watching the movie. The characters developed, but still stayed the same. (Bender, for instance, activates his fantasy circuit, turning into a real D&D-addict, but even his fantasy character is ‘Bender’ deep inside.) Something new emerged (although I’m not going to tell what it is, I don’t want to spoil it for you), but didn’t completely change everything we knew before.

I can only tell every fan to watch this movie at least once. It’s funny, the jokes are on time (the hardest part of every funny movie) and the parodies work out perfectly (imagine Fry as a mixture between Frodo, Smeagol and Gollum).

Hello

*Sidles back in.* Um, hello again.

You might have realized I have not been around much, lately. Writing posts, that is. I have been online at least three to four days a week, checking my emails, reading other blogs, surfing my favourite sites. I’ve also got tons of pictures to use for my funny little picture posts. What I lack, is time. And inspiration.

Yesterday, I spit out four posts at once, two for “Feminism Wow!” and two for this blog. I hope to continue that row, at least posting twice or three times a week.

So, hello again ... provided there’s still someone reading this blog.