ZIIIIIIIM!

Invader Zim is returning with a new TV movie!

 Now, if you weren't a kid/teen/adult who watched Nickelodeon in the early two thousands, let me explain; Invader Zim was a short-lived, but very popular show about an alien named Zim trying to take over earth for his overlords. This is complicated by a neighbor boy Dib, who knows what Zim is, but can't get anyone to believe him due to his constant Mulder-esq spouting of conspiracy theories. Also, by GIR, Zim's insane robot assistant. Also, Zim is a bit of an idiot.

Like many of my pop-culture obsessions, I happened across Invader Zim long after it was popular/cancelled. I didn't have cable when it was on (still don't) but thanks to Netflix, DVD, and piracy, I too can enjoy the adventures of Evil Alpha 5/AKA Daggett Beaver/AKA Orthopox 13.

He's a cool dude.

 I love that studios are starting to bring back things we love, realizing there IS a market and we will watch them. Sure, that means you get a few Fuller Houses in the bunch, but I'll take it for more Invader Zim.

Also, because I can't resist, have some memorable show moments/memes:

Batman & Harley Quinn: Voices, quotes, and plots, oh my!

Kevin Conroy, aka The Best Batman tweeted an important announcement last night:

So, we finally know who will be voicing Harley in the now titled "Batman and Harley Quinn" movie.  The...who is this chick?

Oh, Bernadette from The Big Bang Theory. That's where I know Melissa  Rauch from! I like her on that well enough.

Rauch had this to say about her role: "I love that Harley is a badass and, beyond that, that she uses her humor as another weapon in her arsenal. She knows just how to diffuse a situation with her humor, and how to incite a situation with her sarcasm. It's a dream role."

Okay, good start. But will this Harley sound just like Bernadette? Apparently not: "I knew Harley had a higher pitched tone, and a bit of a New York accent — and I come from a New Jersey family where everyone could be former gun molls. So I wanted to give a nod to my background without being as shrill. In all honesty, I used to speak exactly like that — my acting school professors really worked the accent out of me. So it was fun to find those tones and accent again."

Hey, not too shabby! Apparently this film will center on Harley, Batman, and Nightwing (played by Loren Lester from the classic DCAU) fighting Poison Ivy (played by Paget Brewster) and Jason Woodrue, aka Plant Master, aka Floronic Man.

I know Woodrue from Swamp Thing, where he doesn't get along with the titular character.

At least he didn't wind up in hell, like the last guy who crossed ol' Swampy.

This is not the weirdest team up, plant villain and plant villain. They've even worked together in a terrible anti-pot comic.

See Linkara for a more in-depth analysis.

I'm more interested in the dynamic between Harley and Ivy, who have ranged from bitter enemies, to close friends, to straight-up lovers. Whatever is causing her to work with Bats is gonna be interesting at least.

Not that they haven't collaborated before.

I'll post more when I get it, but this a good start.

April F*cks

So, on 4/1/17, they released the first new episode of Rick and Morty with no warning.

Predictably, the internet has gone insane. There are spoilers ahead, BTW. Like, major ones.

There's also new promos, which are fun. Frankly, the episode was good, smart, dark, and filled with the crazy turns that I never see coming. And now I want more.

I also want some of that damned sauce. I'm not alone, BTW; go sign the petition.

Now, we do have months to wait until the next episode (no release date yet, just 'summer'). So just remember the reason why we're all here...

Electric Boogaloo

After years of waiting, my favorite computer animated film Wreck-It Ralph is getting a sequel!

Accurate representation of my feelings.

Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 is the title. The fans have known for a while that this sequel was going to delve into the world of online gaming. Plus, everybody is coming back; possibly even Alan Tudyk.

This asshole.

I'm actually really excited about this; there's so much for Ralph and the gang to explore beyond arcade gaming, and the possibilities for stories are rich and exciting. Characters I love dealing with new challenges? Yes! That is exactly what a sequel should be!

It doesn't hurt that the director Rich Moore also directed the first one, and worked on The Simpsons, The Critic, and Futurama.

In context, this is a very classy joke. Don't believe me? Better watch it to be sure.

And just won an Oscar.

So once again in regards to not getting my hopes up...

WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?!

How did I not know Bruce Timm (one of Harley Quinn's daddies) was directing a Batman and Harley Quinn animated movie?!

This was announced back in July, and somehow I totally missed it. I am ashamed, but also way to excited to feel ashamed.

Here's the first picture from the movie:

Look at that! It's close to classic DCAU, which gave us the first iteration of Harley, and my favorite Batman, Kevin Conroy.

Favorite Batman. That includes every live action one.

 There doesn't seem to be an IMDB page for this movie yet, so I have no idea who is playing Harley. And as much as I enjoyed Margot Robbie's portrayal, there's only one real animated Harley: Arleen Sorkin.

Ms. Sorkin retired from the role in 2012, though, and her IMDB comes to a stop at the same time. Since then Harley's been voiced by a trying very hard Hynden Walch, the flat Janyse Jaud, the Betty Boopish Meghan Strange, the capable, if grating, Tara Strong, and a host of others that I'm either unaware of, don't care for, or just did it once and not notably at that.

There's rumors of course that Ms. Sorkin may return, and while I'm trying not to get my hopes up...

This is in full effect.

It's too early to be ecstatic, but the art style and Bruce Timm directing are great indicators that the movie will be good, and true to Harley's character.

Even if Ms. Sorking doesn't return, we did just get a really good animated Harley by way of Jenny Slate, so who am I to complain?

Contrary to what you just saw, Ms. Slate is not the worst, and was a good Harley.

So, when I hear more, I'll make another blog. Until then, time to ravenously surf the internet for any tidbits about the movie!

I have a bad fin

I saw Finding Dory last night. I also got the worst calf cramp ever, and my usual 'point my toes upward' thing didn't help. I accidentally woke hubby with my pain noises.

So today I'm walking with a limp.

Remember the little flappy motion Nemo does when he swims? That would be dignified next to my klumping gait. But it's a temporary thing. I'm hydrating, and later I'll try and massage the area. I'm just here to complain.

On a pleasanter topic, Finding Dory was a fun movie, and a great step up from the cry-fest that was The Good Dinosaur. I only cried a little!

Screw you, Arlo.

I also saw The Nice Guys, a sadly overlooked Shane Black romp. It's got sex, drugs, action, humor, bees, and Keith David. What more could you need?

Awww yeah.

Now, off to 8.5 hours of limping and yelling.

Dead Bart, Simpsonwave, and the lost generation

I recently stumbled across something called Simpsonwave. It's a sub-genera of punk (apparently) where you distort old footage of The Simpsons and put wavy music over it.

See this for further explanation.

This reminds me of another video that distorts old Simpson's footage, but for another purpose. There is a type of internet horror media called 'Creepy Pasta' It's short horror, mostly written, often using pop culture as the base.The "Dead Bart" story is one of the most widely spread, inspiring a wealth of 'lost episode' stories.

If you don't have time to read it, Dead Bart is an episode description, of, well, Bart getting killed, and the surrealist aftermath. It includes creepy descriptions of the funeral, weird animation, pretty typical of this sort of story.

Someone went to the trouble of re-creating as much of the 'episode' as they could with existing footage, and the story's narration.

Simpsonwave and the Creepypasta have VHS distortion. It's an integral part of the 'authenticity'. For the few generations  that grew up when VHS tapes were plentiful, before DVDs came along, we all know what those wavy lines mean. Kids today don't even know what a VHS is from firsthand experience. They won't understand the intrigue of finding an unlabeled tape; is it a Disney movie? Your mom's soaps? Something...dirty?

Let's see Indy snatch a piles of these from a cave.

Maybe it's because VHS tapes aren't easy to transfer to the internet, and are thus harder to share worldwide. You have to have a VHS play, hook it up special to a computer, convert it, all that jazz. There's an air of mystery in the blank black plastic.

That's not to say Simpsonwave or Dead Bart are necessarily good. They're interesting, but I wouldn't choose to listen to Simpsonwave. There are better Creepypastas than Dead Bart. Why pick The Simpsons as the focal point?

Maybe like the VHS tape the old Simpson episodes have an air of mystery. They're weird looking, the voices are off, and they're generally not rerun before season 3. Perfect fodder for 'artists' and trend hangers-on alike.

I know what DVDs I'll be breaking out tonight.

Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared (of the internet)

Some of you may not be familiar with the puppetry phenomenon taking the internet by storm. If not, check out these two videos. Warning, they are CREEPY and a bit gory. Probably not safe for work, depending on if your boss is around or not.

Go ahead, watch 'em. I'll wait, and they're less than 8 minutes put together.

 The two videos are very interesting, and personal favorites of mine. Childlike whimsy mixed with puppets and creepiness: sign me up!

Of course, with popularity, comes fandom. And with fandom, comes people  who will recreate your characters in their own image. Just have a look at some of the art the two DHMIS's has inspired.


(From this artist)

Yep, that's the notepad and the clock. One artist on Tumblr drew humanized versions of the characters, and now the fandom has exploded with art.

And cue the ridiculous hate storm.

On Tumblr (the source of most of the art) people are complaining about the drawings. 'Why is it a herto couple?' 'Why do they 'look white'?' 'Why is their only one set design?'

These are drawings created by a fan that other people recreated of INHUMAN (but not inanimate) objects.  And other fans are offended by this. Instead of creating their own designs, they're just bitching and complaining. Kind of a microcosm of actual societal problems.

By the way, the puppets are voiced by a woman and man, respectively, which is why they are drawn that way.

For my part, I'm just boggled by the depth and creativity of some of these things. And for the record, there needs to be more art of the Red Guy (nicknamed Harry by the fans for obvious reasons). He's become an unofficial mascot of being done with weird stuff.

 



(the artist)

(this artist)

(original post)






So, you can understand why I might identify with Red.

Futruama: the end (for reals!)

The series that brought together the living memebers of Star Trek TOS (Except Scotty)

The series that gave us such hilarious (yet completely inapplicable to humans) catchphrases like 

and

is ending. And unlike the last two times, this one looks like it'll stick. Moreover, I'm...not really that broken up. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have more Futurama, but after the 4 movies and resurgance on Comedy Central, most of the big series questions have been answered. The #9 man is the leader of a mind reading cult who saves the world. Fry and Leela finally got it on. And...well, that's really about it. Leela was once called 'The Other' by Nibbler, but that's pretty much fallen to the wayside.

So, if Futurama really IS over, I'll be a little sad, but not destroyed. Not like if it ended after it's Fox run with NOTHING answered. Still, I'll be watching these last few episodes with a LOT of interest.

Dilbert

With the advent of Netflix, many older shows that only lasted a season or two are coming back into the public eye. One of my favorite programs in this category is the Dilbert animated series.

I own several of Scott Adams books, including The Dilbert Principal, The Dilbert Future, and assorted cartoon collections. All of them are funny and insightful: some scarily so now that I work in an office (And a manger! At least I'm not a Pointy-Haired Boss. Yet). The animated series is just as much fun, if a bit lighter on the actual science stuff.

You've gotta love the voice actors: Dilbert is grown-up Kevin Arnold, Dogbert is Lily's Dad,  The PHB is Mr. Poole ESQ, and a whole host of others. Even over ten years later, Ratbert still sounds like Sponge Bob. Then again, I have an uncanny knack for determining who a voice actor is. For example, did you know The World's Smartest Garbage Man, Egon, Morbo, The Brain, and Kiff Kroker are the same man? But I digress.

The animation looks like it jumped right off Scott Adams notebook. Simplistic, but colorful and fun. No beauty there, but the idea of Art is somewhat foreign to engineers.

The writing is fine. If you like the 3 panel cartoons, you'll like the show. Millions of readers can't be wrong! Well...I suppose they could be wrong...I'd have to find some data on amount of people inverse to quality of whatever it is they adore...Aw, damnit Jim, I'm a writer not an engineer!

Anyway, if you missed this series in the early 2000s, I encourage you to check it out. People are still dumb, lazy, and stupid. Business still tries to suck every last dollar out of our pockets. Work still sucks. Might as well have a laugh about it before you head back to your cubical.