I'm looking forward to Robert Rodriguez's MACHETE for more reasons than you can imagine. Friday couldn't come sooner!

All the hype I've been seeing and reading about the upcoming Nintendo Wii METROID: THE OTHER M game inspired me to revisit Metroid 2D classics like Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. The more I read about THE OTHER M, the more convinced I am that it isn't the game for me... but anything that reminds me of the beauty of Samus (Metroid's main character) is a good thing.

As with most males my age, I fell in love with robots and mecha during my formative kid years. My mom would buy me coloring books and children's books starring old-school japanese robots like Raiden during my pre-school years. For my Kindergarten graduation, my parents got me the Megatron Transformer action figure. Now, that was when people didn't even know what Transformers were. The cartoon had not been released and the toyline had barely hit toy store shelves. So, opening my graduation present and seeing Megatron for the first time was a revelation (and the envy of my classmates). My love for robots became a childhood passion.

Flash forward a couple years to the early days of the Nintendo Entertainment System. I didn't have an NES for several years, but I would take full advantage of times at my friends houses. If they had an NES, our play time typically was dominated by time in front of the television playing Nintendo. I would also often borrow my friend's Nintendo Power magazines... even though I didn't have a Nintendo system... and would study all the little bits of artwork in the colorful articles and level layouts.

The first time I saw the design for Samus, I fell in love. A video game starring a cool looking robot?! SOLD. The design was amazing! I remember being jealous of my friend who had some Metroid stickers from an issue of Nintendo Power on his Trapper Keeper. Samus was the embodiment of a cool robot design! When my friend told me that there was actually a beautiful woman INSIDE the robot suit, my mind was BLOWN. A cool design became even COOLER.

Sadly, the first Metroid game was way too hard to enjoy. I remember repeatedly trying to play the game at a neighbor's house and quickly giving up from getting lost or repeatedly dying. Bummer... but it didn't take away from Samus' cool factor!

Years later, my design tastes have changed with experience and a little wisdom... but my love for Samus' design is still strong. Yeah, the character gets small minus points for being an obvious rip-off/inspiration of Ridley from Alien; but the iconic colors (gold and red) and solid fundamental design make up for the lack of originality.

Those of you that buy THE OTHER M, enjoy. I'll be playing SUPER METROID, METROID FUSION, METROID: ZERO MISSION and finally get around to beating METROID PRIME 3.

Below are some promotional art from various Metroid games and some amazing "fan art" by super talented cartoonist Eric Canete and Torokun:

I watched the SCOTT PILGRIM film and my reaction was... a weird one. It's difficult to say if my reaction was swayed by the underwhelming performance it had at the Box Office. As much as I'd like to pretend that I am never swayed by stuff like that, there was a part of me that was going into the film that was simultaneously anticipating my enjoyment of the film while looking for reasons as to why it failed to reach a larger audience.

First and foremost, this was a comic movie done right. The cast was perfect. Edgar Wright's narrative choices as a director show he's an expert craftsman. Any fan of the Scott Pilgrim comics (as am I) couldn't DREAM of a better adaptation. Yet despite the near perfect execution, it failed. Why?

The bits I had a problem with are:

First, Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim. Sorry, I couldn't buy into it. Cera's a funny dude and you can tell he really tried to capture the spirit of the character. But Michael is way too nerdy to be Scott Pilgrim. If a guy's able to steal the hearts of a beautiful cast of females (as Scott does) he's got to have a bit of a hunky quality to him... particularly if he's as aloof as Scott Pilgrim is. He's also got to look a bit more athletic if he's going to kick that much kung-fu butt. Cera's physicality doesn't convince me he could do either.

Second, somehow knowing that Scott Pilgrim had to fight all 7 of Ramona's evil exes made the movie feel LOOOONG. After the fight with the second evil ex, I started to freak out, knowing that there were still 5 evil exes to fight before the film ended. In the comics there were 6 books within which the 6 battles take place (one fight involves 2 evil exes). Crunching all that down into one movie was done superbly, but it gave me a quantitative way to see the overall length of the film that hindered my enjoyment.

The video game logic of the universe held me back from investing emotionally into the film. Now, this is an unavoidable problem. Scott Pilgrim's world is fundamentally built on several concepts established by video games. When people die, they burst into coins. Point systems are given for beating key characters. There are even 1-ups. While it worked in the imaginary world created when a comic book reader reads Bryan O'Malley's comics... it doesn't work on the same level in the film. It kind of reminds me of the similar problems that arise when watching the underappreciated live-action POPEYE film directed by Robert Altman and starring Robin Williams. When the "rules" of the live-action world are so vastly different from reality, the audience emotionally disconnects from what is happening on screen. I found that to be a very big issue in Scott Pilgrim. The drama and stakes didn't feel all that huge (despite the beautiful epic spectacle on screen) because I wasn't instinctively invested in the film's world. With the comic (as comics are an experience where the reader actively moves through the world as he reads them) I felt more comfortable in the Scott Pilgrim world. In the film, I was repeatedly being reminded how unnatural it all was.

But beyond the problems I had with the film, it was a brilliant piece of film making magic that pushes the limitations of film style and storytelling... and it breaks my heart that I can fervently defend it's genius. Every dollar spent on the film can be seen on screen. The budget is said to be $60 million. But the film looks like it was made on a budget that was easily double that. The martial arts influenced action sequences are distinct, kinetic, and visually beautiful. Every fight celebrates the distinct personalities of each "Ex". They also manage to get bigger in visual and physical scope as the film progresses. I also loved the way that the band performances were done. There's a bit of a raw, punk aesthetic that was very cool. And the cast of the film was as perfect a cast as you could ask for... with every actor giving their role just what was needed.

SCOTT PILGRIM is a film that is so ambitious and well executed that it pushes film forward so far that it shows the limitations of the medium. And, in so doing, my heart's a little bit broken.

Minutes ago, we got our first look at the King Katch Paint Sample photos from the factory. Boy, does he look MARVELOUS. Here's a partial sneak. Yes, we're generous!

The second issue of Jerry and Bill's UNFABULOUS FIVE comic (formerly known as the LUCHADORES FIVE) can now be read for free via streaming internet to your computer or iPad. As this issue prominently features our good friend (and lovely Designer Toy) RED DEMON, I hope you find this issue of interest!

And while you're at it, don't forget to read BOUNCER by Jodorowsky and Boucq. One of the best (and brutal) Western comics I've read.

CLICK HERE to see both UNFABULOUS FIVE #2 and BOUNCER #2.

The amazing Mega Man fan art by Kiniku reminded me of two things: 1. How much I love Mega Man character designs. 2. How much I love Chibi-style characters.

The Mega Man games are a weird thing for me. It's one of those game series that I have tried so hard to LOVE but that I just cannot get into. The character designs are consistently awesome and the overall artistic style in the games is beautiful. But the basic game design doesn't work for me. My main issue with them is that I HATE how you can only shoot your gun in one direction. It'd be okay if the overall game design was built with some level of respect to this limitation... but the games consistently do the opposite; positioning various enemies in ways that are intentionally a few degrees above or below your shooting range. In fact, the entire Mega Man world is built around annoying design choices whose sole intention is to make things punishingly harder. You know what I'm talking about! Stuff like disappearing platforms whose patterns you have to memorize. Or, what about that ridiculous series of huge lasers that shoot at you during the second half of Mega Man 2's Flash Man stage!? I love hard games... but stuff like that was enough to make me quit on the series.

But... I so, so want to love those games...

Oh well, I can just STARE at the beautiful characters and enjoy them for their beautiful designs!

I'm also a big fan of Chibi-style art. For those that haven't heard of "Chibi", the word is slang in Japanese for a short person. It is also a term for cute, fat miniature versions of characters. The first time I recall seeing something in this style was when I was in Japan and discovered the Super Deformed Gundam toys on my first visit to Japan (that was in 1990). My adolescent brain went crazy for that stuff!

The Chibi-style Mega Man designs of the PSP Mega Man game (Powered Up) is a lovely take on the Mega Man characters... but I don't think it works from a gameplay stand point. When you see those big-headed characters walking around in a Polygon rendered game, it reminds you of how awkward it'd be for such a big-headed character to move around. It also gives Mega Man's gun a very weird angle from which to shoot.

Since I'm not into playing the game, though, the design choice is a lovely reason for me to salivate over cute reinterpretations of Mega Man's already beautiful designs. Keep in mind that Powered Up is an OLD PSP game (it came out in 2006)... but I feel the look still feels refreshing. That recent Kiniku's art (and my old buddy's mention of Powered Up) just reminded me of how much I loved the look!