Words fail me in describing my reaction to The Expendables. At least, written words. Put very simply: I didn’t like it. After several failed drafts, I finally just gathered my notes, fired up the mic, and spoke my peace about this movie.
**SPOILER WARNING!** Proceed with caution.
Since this is just myself and no Kevin for this round, it’s not to be considered part of the Method to Madness canon, though he and I might have a followup to this on the podcast in the future.
Awww… He’s a lover AND a fighter!
What is wrong with this picture? (Don't worry, you'll get two chances to guess.)
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
Melty Lancer is like a Japanese version of the Justice League, minus any of the familiar character history. The fact that this OVA is based off of a JRPG on the Sega Saturn doesn’t earn it any favors from us either.
The lead characters rapidly transition from pop culture icons to super-secret black ops to street cops to saviors of the galaxy…all within six episodes. To suggest that this series needed more episodes will earn you a slap in the face… Because we’re not watching any more of this crap!
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
For years, I’ve adamantly opposed the idea of completely replacing tangible media with digital distribution for video games and other forms of entertainment. It’s a fantastic alternative, but could spell disaster for consumers if it becomes the standard.
This resistance on my part stems from an age where products that you purchase (like video games) became your property. Media publishers have begun adopting digital distribution as a lucrative business model, now that they’ve realized that they can use it to destroy the secondhand market and overthrow consumer ownership.
For nearly a decade, Yaya Han has traveled to conventions all over the world, adorned in some of the most intricate costumes ever designed. Yaya was able to spare some time from her busy schedule to share with us some insight to the brains behind the beauty.
To give a bit of background, Yaya Han has lived in all corners of the world: China, Germany, and various parts of the US. Growing up, she’d always had an affection for anime and manga. It wasn’t until one fateful con that she was introduced to cosplay and has since built an extensive career of realizing her favorite characters. Every year, she attends several events around the world, posing for photo shoots in fantastic, sexy outfits.
Best of all, she’s truly one of us–a genuine geek.
Cutie Honey Flash is a bizarre attempt to turn a sexually-charged Go Nagai creation into a child-friendly franchise. That is, with the intent of selling toys of said franchise to toddlers. That would be like adapting the gruesome, violence-saturated Beast King GoLion into a neutered, Americanized children’s cartoon… Oh, wait.
It’s most likely because of this series’ distillation of exploitation that makes the show more accessible to audiences of all ages. Cutie Honey Flash is about a super-heroine who is a resourceful master of disguise. I grant you, her arsenal consists of the full gamut of cosplay fantasy against a horde of incompetent she-monsters, but the girl’s got heart, dammit!
She's accustomed to stairs...
This man is a masochist and a pedophile...NOT A HERO.
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
Whenever I’ve mentioned my advice column, the first topic requested for discussion is a list of successful pickup lines. I can’t agree more; this subject demands exploration.
First and foremost, pickup lines are bullshit. They don’t work. If ever they do work, it’s because the woman targeted is either too inebriated or devoid of scruples to make any prudent judgment. There is no incantation a man can recite that will enthrall a woman in fascination with him. The “pickup artists” you saw on TV have sold you a false bill of goods.
God of War III and Bayonetta are the closest I’ve ever come to considering video games as actual erotica. Not because of their obvious sexual themes, but because their simple modes of gameplay enveloped in lusciously rendered cinematic eye candy. They may have their flaws and lack much depth, but these titles serve up satisfying portions of escapism, like a well-prepared filet mignon.
Trolling RUINS Lives, Y’all.
Not even Seth Green can convince me to eat Butterfinger.
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
It’s Shark Week here on the Method to Madness podcast. Yes, it’s a week later than the actual Shark Week they play on TV, but we knew that Space Thunder Kids simply could not wait.
We’ve discussed sharks on the podcast before, and will likely continue in the future. For sharks are the harbinger of nightmares–insatiable feeding machines and sentinels to the oceanic Eden our primordial ancestors inevitably fled.
Except for basking sharks. They are the nerd herd of sharks. Indulge your impulse to throw dodge balls at them.
Free Willy Vs. Air Jaws
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
For long-time fans of this website, you both may have noticed that my Cosplay of the Week feature hasn’t been “of the week” for a while… Or “at all” for that matter.
One reason why is because for the most part, the well for that column’s run dry. At least for me, since I have very finicky tastes in costumes and their symbiotic hosts. It’s been a while since I’ve discovered a new cosplay model with an impressive photo gallery, either from conventions or in-studio. My worry is that the column will become less interesting if I reduced it to posting from only my favorite few (Omi Gibson, Hezachan, etc.)
I will, however, put more effort into generating interviews with cosplay models, when possible. There are a couple I’ll cull from my time at GotGame.com, but I’ll see if any more cosplayers would be interested in an interview.
Another reason why I’ve been reluctant to update is the rampant overuse of Photoshop enhancements in the cosplay community. Touch-ups and light/color correction is one thing, but virtually creating a different person for one’s portfolio is offensively deceptive in my book. Models like Kipi, Arisa Mizuhara, and the amusing “Duck Face“, abuse digital effects when their natural appearance is already quite pleasant on the eye.
I would like to comment, however, that I still find practical make-up effects to be completely acceptable. Make-up can just as easily transform one’s face into something (or someone?) completely unrecognizable… But it feels less like cheating to me because there is a greater sense of craft involved. Unlike the digital effects which restructure the person’s anatomy, make-up changes nothing about the face on which it’s applied, save for how it’s decorated.
I encourage you to watch the videos below to see how a supposed “average” girl transforms herself into a supermodel, using practical make-up effects.
Here’s where I find the real magic of the above videos: At first sight, this girl may rank as a “6″…maybe a “drunken 7″. But as I watch the video, I pick up on her voice, the attitude of her speech, and body language. Through that, I’d bump her up to a solid “7 1/2″. She’s confident, funny, and that sarcastic burp gave off that tomboy vibe that I personally find attractive.
Then when she’s fully transformed and dons her cute, “little girl” voice, I strangely find her less attractive. She’s now super-cute, but the voice radiates “fake” in my mind. Before you post a comment about beauty being in the eye of the beholder…well, I just beat you to it.
Back to the fate of the column; if you know of any super-amazing cosplay models, feel free to link me up with their names and photo galleries. But for now, it’s on hiatus.
My girlfriend made the video below for a Japanese class she took in college a few years ago. It has zombies, sock puppets, and hamburgers. This is why I love this woman.
