The Secret of Roan Inish (1993)

Every once in a while we put a movie in the netflix queue for the kids.  Invariably they initially rebel, and sometimes, like with the Black Stallion, they come around and end up loving it.  Not so, here, and we finally admitted defeat 40 minutes in and did something else with the rest of the evening.  After the kids were put to bed, we finished watching.  There's a lot of film of people telling stories, and the cute little girl running around shrieking "JIMMY!", and one very cool special effect of a selkie transformation.  So, no, I can't really recommend it, and am not sure why netflix thought we'd like it.


On the other hand, the current Bad Machinery storyline (which started, I think, here, back in January) features selkies, and even though I only get a single strip at a time, I'm still engaged in the story and want to know what will happen.

Head Trip

Been sick since Saturday night, which mostly sucks but gives me a good reason to putter aimlessly around the interwebs.  I stumbled across Head Trip, and working back from the most recent comic, this strip, which exactly describes how we watch movies nowadays, convinced me to put the series in the google reader, and go back and read it all from the beginning.

As with all good webcomics, I learned about something new today: the Wilhelm Scream.  And by the power of YouTube, I immediately got to see a compilation of Wilhelm Screams and the original scream.

Pure (Girl) Genius

I still haven't written about Girl Genius, and that omission has to come to an end *now*.  This is a brilliant comic with wit, art, and plotting to die for.  I actually first came across "girl genius" years ago because of the Cheapass Game, but didn't really start following the comic until a friend mentioned "Studio Foglio" in passing last year and I thought, "Foglio, where have I heard that name?  Oh, right, that Cheapass card game!"  and remembered that I hadn't really looked up the comic at the time, and as it turns out, it's now a webcomic, so I could get caught up without plunking down a lot of money on the print versions (though acquiring all the print comics is now a solemn vow). At any rate:

Plotting.  Kaja and Phil Foglio did years of research and plotting before starting the series.  Things that happen in one Volume crop up later on as important in later Volumes, and upon rereading, you see things that you didn't notice the first time around... but *most importantly* the characters and main plots all make sense the first time through.  The "extras" add layers to your experience without obscuring the primary action.  This is truly a rare accomplishment.

Art.  The backgrounds give you an immediate sense of setting; they are very detailed and also often contain sight gags.

Wit.  During the 2008/9 winter "break" from the main story to re-tell Cinderella with the GG characters, Agatha shouts, "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!" as a twist to Clarke's third law.  Hee-hee-hee!  Okay, it's funnier if you've read it.

All three converge in the best panels, and today's was pure genius, with great faces on Gil and Zola (not much background to see, but I love the purple on the ceiling and the changes in what little background you see to give the illusion of movement through the castle), with a reference to an earlier page to show us the difference between Zola and Agatha, and ending with a twist on what we thought to be true!  They aren't who we thought they were!

True, the series can move a little slowly at times (though Volume I is better on the second time through) and doesn't really get going IMO until Agatha's line: "It's a falling machine.  I'm so impressed."  (it's on the next page; reading this one helps set the scene)  But it's so worth it.