I was wondering why you haven't posted a review of Pirates of the Caribbean although it's been out for awhile (unless it's a delayed release in Norway). I think it was excellent and I found myself sincerely laughing throughout the movie. Most of it was down to Depp's performance.

There's a good reason I haven't "reviewed" Pirates, Mike, and that's because I haven't seen it yet. You were right in assuming that it hasn't arrived on these distant shores quite yet. Disney movies are often slow to show up in Europe - or at least in Norway. I'm looking forward to seeing it, however, and I'll let y'all know when I do.

Next weekend, finally, I'll get to see Terminator 3. Should be fun.

Also what stage in production is TLJ2 at?

Thanks for your time!

TLJ.s is in the latter stages of pre-production, meaning the script's receiving the final brush-up, the concept art is well underway, the technology is close to being nailed down, and very soon we're going into full production. Expect to see some early material by Christmas. Rock'n'roll.

Just browsing through your blog and i felt the need to make a complaint and a suggestion :)

I played the Longest Journey some time ago and i want to play it again but the sad thing is, the game was that good and made such and impact that i still remember all the puzzles!!!!!! (that was the complaint :) ). So my suggestion is with TLJ.s can you add a wee memory flashy thing from MIB so i can wipe my memory and play the game over and over again.

Also if you can give it a reverse function then is would also be handy for me to remember what i did on my various drunken encounters...........ummm maybe that's not such a good idea after all.

Love all your work by the way. Looking forward to TLJ.s

Sorted. We're offering a memory-wipe with selected copies of TLJ.s. Ask your local game supplier to put you on the pre-order list.  ¶ 13:49   

  The radio show aired this morning. I didn't get to hear it, but that's just as well. Not so much with the Radio Voice. I'm more with the pretty face. Supposedly, it was quite good, but my source was quite biased: My mother.

There's an article over at MSNBC regarding the next Harry Potter flick. Sounds great, and I'm glad to see that they're taking the series in the right direction - darker, spookier, more adult...or as close to adult as you can get with a movie aimed at the PG crowd. The franchise is still, of course, a kid-friendly one, but thankfully one that can be enjoyed by "growns-ups" like myself. I recently finished book four - loved it, of course, more so than number one and two - and I'm eager to get started on number five...although, if I do, no more Potter for a good while. After finishing Goblet, I actually had to watch the first movie again (third or fourth viewing now, I believe), and it's still suprisingly entertaining - a solid adaptation. I'm ordering Chamber with my next DVD shipment. I'd like to see how that holds up the second time around.

Summer's still got a tight grip on the city, and it's pleasantly balmy out, though the last few days have been quite fluid. Rainy, that is. Good thing it's not as blazingly hot as it was a week ago. It's actually possible to work now. With August on the horizon, we're heading into the home stretch, but no need to worry yet. It'll stay warm until September. Probably. Besides, I love the autumn - my second favourite season; with the leaves and the crystal clear night skies.  ¶ 21:37   

  Punch-Drunk Love is a truly fantastic movie.

I've been a P.T. Anderson "fan" since Boogie Nights, and I was really looking forward to Punch-Drunk. I missed it in theatres, however, and for some reason the DVDs been sitting on my shelf for a couple of weeks. But tonight I finally got around to it - and I'm glad I did. It was very powerful, very honest, very good. Adam Sandler was so unpredictable, wound so tight, and so natural, it was a revelation (and proof that all the goof needs is a solid script and a great director). There were scenes in there that were as moving, thrilling, frightening as anything I've ever seen. You just didn't know what was going to happen. Anything could. And that's incredibly refreshing, to be incapable of second-guessing the story and the characters. Anderson is the very definition of a writer/director; someone whose voice is so unique, whose universe so quirky and idiosyncratic, that it's almost inconceivable that he could direct someone else's script...or write another director's movie. I hope he continues to evolve as a filmmaker and storyteller, because thus far, he's not taken a single false step.  ¶ 23:35   

  Took the day off, and ate way too much potato chips. Ate too much period. Stuffed now.

Spent a few hours today writing - possibly something that may turn into a Project of Interest - but mostly I conversed with family members in from foreign parts. My sister and her two daughters are visiting from Israel (via Canada), and we're all gathered at my parents' house this weekend to catch up. Which is nice.

(Except for the excessive snacking bit. Not so much with the nice, no. More 'bleurgh!')

Was interviewed by Norwegian broadcaster NRK's radio channel P2 this week, for a programme called Kulturbeitet; mostly about The Longest Journey (getting so very, very tired of talking about that game now, almost four years after it was first released), but there was also some talk about static. Nothing to get very excited about, no new information or anything like that, as the focus was on how we go about creating the story for a game. I expect the interview to be reduced to a few soundbytes, as usual, and since I have no idea when it's going to be broadcast - some time next week, probably - I won't have the opportunity to listen in. Which is most likely for the best. I don't much appreciate my Radio Voice, for it is silly.  ¶ 00:44   

  To what extent, if any, will knowledge of concepts or people introduced in TLJ be of any help in TLJ.s? Will newbies feel disorientated or have a substantial learning curve, or will veterans have to wade through a lot of rehashed material they already know, or will the initial scenes be virgin ground for everyone? I could imagine a situation where newbies will be merrily plugging along while experienced players will swear that someones' pet cat must be a Draik Kin, leaving opportunities for red herrings that newbies will never bother with.

Can't - won't - say too much about this, but, initially, newbies and veterans will be on equal footing, seeing as the interface and controls are new, the lead character is someone we've never met before, and the story begins on "neutral ground".

As the game progresses, however, those who've played the first game will understand how the new story links back to, and carries on from, what's happened previously, and there will be tons of clues and intriguing references back to the first chapter in the saga.

Because this is a saga, and TLJ.s is the second chapter, middle part, of a longer story. That may not be apparent at first, but veterans will soon catch on, and by the end...

...but no, that would ruin the surprise.

Will the game be easier for those of you who have played TLJ? Probably not. You'll get the references, you'll understand how it all ties together, and you'll be able to theorise about where the story is heading - but the game will stand on its own two feet, and provide an equally fun, surprising, and challenging experience to players old and new.

/sales-pitch off

Will the game feature easter eggs ala the hidden video on the television in the first one?

Absolutely. We've even started working on some cool stuff. You'll be able to unlock and uncover lots of fun secrets (including, of course, a blooper reel featuring the voice actors; my favourite bit in the Book of Secret).  ¶ 14:53   

  My thanks to everyone who sent me their suggestions about how to solve my e-mail woes - and a great big "THX!" to Leanne in particular, who sent me this link. That sorted it out. For a while. I had a brief relapse into crash country, which almost brought me to tears (but not quite *sniff*), and then everything turned out 'ayght.

Can't use any spam filters now, though. That gets it with the crashing again. And I haven't had time to sort through my e-mail yet, so if you're waiting for an answer, you're gonna have to wait some more.

There's this one, though, from 'Monkeyman' Tom:

I noticed you were looking for it and here is a direct link to it. http://download.theforce.net/theater/
batman-deadend/Batman_Dead_End.mov
I hope you enjoy it and maybe you could mention me in the blog as thanks. Looking forward to TLJ:S as the original is one of my favorite games. Bye.

Thanks, mate! 'preciated.  ¶ 18:32   

  The ending of Kong never fails to bring a tear to my eye. I always seem to identify with the outsiders...and the big ape.

"It wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast."

Ah. What a closer. Cheesy dialogue galore, but that's the way it should be in a 1930s adventure movie. Really looking forward to the Jackson version now, more than ever. Shame that Willis O'Brien never got to make his King Kong vs. Frankenstein. That would've been sumthin'.

Mullets! For pure comedy value, you can never go wrong with mullets.

I need to see this. If you can get me a copy, I'll love you forever.  ¶ 23:15   

  The End of Hand-Drawn Animation?

Here we go - you knew it was coming. The musical was dead, too...and then Moulin Rouge and Chicago came along and proved that, no, the musical wasn't dead; only the bad musical.

The following statement in particular, made by Jeffrey Katzenberg, irks me: "I think the idea of a traditional story being told using traditional animation is likely a thing of the past."

Um...what? A blanket-broad statement like that serves absolutely no purpose. He's also quite wrong. There's absolutely no question that there will be "traditional" stories told using traditional animation in the future - and sooner or later, one of them will be a huge box-office hit. That is, unless all the animation studios take Katzenberg's word for it and stop producing traditionally animated movies. If that happens, we will have lost one of our great art forms.

Yes, right now CGI-animated movies are the soup du jour, but at some point the audience will crave something different - and then cel-animation will appear fresh and original. And around and around it goes.

King Kong is on TV. Best. Movie. Ever. They don't make 'em like that anymore, though I have great hopes for the Peter Jackson "reimagining", due summer 2005. While you can't top the original's special effects for pure genius and craftsmanship - and significance in the history of filmmaking - you can certainly retell a great adventure story for a new generation, and utilise all the latest tricks of the trade to design and bring to life a stunning new vision of Kong. Go Pete.  ¶ 21:58   

  I still don't have access to any mail sent to me up until today, so if you're expecting an answer - or waiting for something to be posted in the journal - you'll have to hang in there. Hopefully we'll have this fixed. At some point. In the not-too-distant.

In the meantime, you can send me e-mail. I'll be accessing all new RagnarTornquist.com mails using another client, so don't let my issues curb your enthusiasm.

Right now, I can't even open Outlook without it going screech-boom. Very inconvenient, since I haven't been able to respond to any work mail for five days. On the bright side, if I get fired via e-mail, I won't know about it.

If someone out there has any suggestions about how to solve my e-mail blues, let me know. Whenever I start up Outlook, it crashes almost immediately with the message "OUTLOOK.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows." That's it. I've uninstalled Outlook and reinstalled it - to no avail. Of course, I could do a complete system reinstall, but that'll take ages, and it might not help.  ¶ 12:47   

  Sunday night already? Hey. No fair. Someone's been pilfering my weekends. Bastards.

Watched an astonishing Brazilian movie tonight, City of God; powerful, stylish, violent, in-your-face, and disturbingly real. A heady mix of directorial and visual flourishes, a cracking good story, intriguingly structured, and genuine and impressive performances from a young and (mostly) inexperienced cast, City of God is one of the year's best. I need to see it again, and soon. Do not miss this one - it's being released on Region 2 DVD in September, but there's no confirmed release date yet for R1. It might still be playing in theatres where you live, so go check. Now. I command you.

So I got my widdle hifi shelf rack thingy on Saturday, and, yes, thanks for asking, it does look rather stylin'. (That's "stylin", sans the 'g'. That's how us hipsters spell it, see?) Damn, damn expensive, though - especially for what amounts to your basic five-shelf stereo rack. In steel. And glass. But now at least I can clear up some of the high-tech clutter around my TV, redistribute the bookcases in the living-room, and hopefully come out of this laughing. Laughing.

...and broke. But hey! Laughing.

Been another breathtakingly hot day today, and I got a slight sunburn. My face and arms are quite red. Not pleasant. Or attractive. Being a particularly fair-skinned and freckled white boy, I should learn to stay out of the sunlight (the night is my domain; the shadows my refuge; the darkness my berth). But I was comfortable, I was enjoying the book, and there was a pleasant breeze. By the time I began feeling a bit warm, it was too late. Still, I think it's a superficial burn, and it'll probably fade in a couple of days. And tomorrow's supposed to be rainy, so little chance it'll get worse, then.

I definitely need some cooler weather in order to function properly at work. Sunny blue skies are all well and good when you're on holiday, but when there's writing to be done, I'll take the grey skies and rain, thank you very much.  ¶ 00:19   

  Without giving away too much, just let me say that if you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about, don’t worry. The Onion hasn’t ruined Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for you. As usual, their content is funny and sharp-edged, but only has a limited foothold in reality.

Even if that particular item had been true, I don’t think the book would have been ruined. I gobbled it up in a matter of 24 hours after standing in line for it at one of the midnight parties. It’s not my favorite (Prisoner of Azkaban still holds that crown), but it’s probably the best 870-page (American version) book I’ve ever read. Not that it has a lot of company. I won’t say anything more, because I don’t want to succeed where The Onion failed. Enjoy!

Phew. What a relief. I figured that it was a joke, but hey, you never know. I'll have to polish off the fourth book as quickly as possible - so far, so good - just so I can dig into Order of the Phoenix. Thanks for putting me straight on that one, Andy.  ¶ 17:53   

  Big trouble with my mail today, as Outlook crashed during the night, and then refused to start up again. Nothing appeared to help. Only after reinstalling the program and clearing all preferences and settings did Outlook run without crashing, but now I'm having trouble receiving e-mail from last night and today, so if you've sent me anything in the last twenty-four hours, I might not get it.

But there's still plenty of reader mail to get through:

Sounds like you’ve been watching the “I love the 80’s” shows on VH1. Anyway, you asked about the Hanson brothers, and while I know nothing about the oldest and youngest, the middle one (Taylor, I think) got married to his high school sweetheart. That info came from another VH1 special, something about Celebrity Weddings…that might’ve been the name. Good luck on finding out about the other two. Probably have to search fan pages (but I’d only suggest that if you really enjoyed the Hanson thing….who know what kind of kooky sites are devoted to them).

On a side note, I’d like to know how you liked Shenmue II. I recently bought it and finished it (depressingly, I might add, but only because I don’t want to get my hopes up over a 3rd installment that probably won’t happen) and I loved it. The series so far is so immersive (the fact that I’m a martial artist and only a year older than Ryo has nothing to do with it…ok, maybe a little) and so much different than anything else I’ve ever played. I’m also wondering if Ryo is ever going to pick up on the fact that it seems as though every girl he meets has at least a small crush on him…except maybe Xuixing (sp?) AKA Master Tao.

Thanks for the update on the Hansons, Lee, and I just want to make one thing very, very clear: I never "enjoyed the Hanson thing". Really. It just struck me, looking into the sad fate of the Coreys, that there must be some happy stories about kids who make it big then vanish completely. Don't some of them become successful lawyers or doctors or rocket scientists?

I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't yet played through Shenmue II, even though I started it several years ago - on the Dreamcast - and went back to it on the Xbox. I want to finish it. There's just no time. Luckily, it appears that Sega has now announced that there will be a third game in the series...which means that I just have to see it through. I'll return to the Dreamcast version, however. It's so much better with the original Japanese voices. The game is quite excellent, however, and I'd recommend it to anyone.  ¶ 17:50   

  Rained today, quite heavily, and there was a whopper of a thunderstorm to accompany the torrent, but it really hasn't helped all that much. It's still hot and muggy, and it appears that it'll keep getting warmer until at least next week. Surprisingly enough, though, I've been quite productive today. With many people on holiday, there aren't a whole lot of interruptions, which is nice.

My apartment is morphing. Or, rather, my apartment's "living room" (AKA Entertainment Central...unfortunately) is. I'm probably getting some rather stylin' hifi furniture this weekend, manufactured by, appropriately enough, Soundstyle. (See what I did there? With the "stylin'" and "Soundstyle"? Huh? Huh?) Earlier this week, I assembled (a rather tame word for the trial of sweat and blood that I went through) a DVD cabinet, to store my obscenely large collection of movies. And on Saturday, I'm putting everything up and moving everything around. The old bachelor pad will be even more, uh, bachelor paddy. Maybe I'll post some piccies. Maybe.

Sky going boom again now - Thor's on the war path. Fun.  ¶ 21:00   

  I'm sorry for going on and on and on about this, but it's so unbearably hot, it's quite...unbearable. How I'm going to sleep tonight, I have no idea. It's also quite impossible to get any work done, since brains (and this is a well known fact - ask your Dad) stop working when they reach the boiling point. They go all mushy. In fact, I blacked out earlier today, and when I came to I'd written a script for the "My Little Pony" animated series. Don't ask.

Just watched Gremlins on DVD, and while the movie has held up quite well (primitive effects and all - the critters have more personality than most CGI-generated monsters), the climax is a little anti. (Climatic, that is.) It's certainly more low-key - and a heck of a lot darker - than most modern horror-comedies. Not that there are a lot of horror- (or critter-) comedies anymore.

Funny to think that Joe Dante used to be one of my favourite directors. Whatever happened to him? His last good flick was Matinee, back in '93, and he's currently doing the live-action-cartoon Looney Tunes: Back in Action with Bugs, Daffy, Fudd...and Brendan Fraser. Been hearing not-so-good things about that one, but fingers are firmly crossed. What makes talented directors go poof?

If you haven't seen Dante's The 'burbs or his excellent TV-show Eerie, Indiana, do yourself a favour and watch them up if you can. Great stuff.  ¶ 00:03   

  ...hot.

Summer - real summer - has struck like a pie in the face. Think "hot". Think "apple". Think "splat".

I would kill for some air-conditioning. Kill. Many, many people. The fan I've put in the kitchen window isn't helping much. Pity the cat. She's got fur.

Lots of e-mail these past five days, so expect some fun-fun-fun Reader Mail tomorrow. That is, if there's not another hackattack. Yup, I'm worried. Colour me concerned. I'm a pretty pointless target, though. Like tagging a burn-out barn, eight miles from the nearest road, in a particularly uncrowded (and unfriendly) part of Wisconsin.  ¶ 21:36   

  I'm not sure what happened earlier, why my site suddenly looked completely different, or why you could post comments to each and every topic. Someone's obviously been messing around, but my technical web savvy is not, so I can't say for sure what was done to the site, or how. Needless to say, if it happens again, I'll be forced to shut the site down until someone can take a look at it. And that would be very unfortunate.  ¶ 18:11   

  It appears that my site has been hacked, which means that, unless I can get it fixed today, I'm taking the whole thing down. And no, the 'comments' feature wasn't my idea.  ¶ 11:12   

  I am physically and mentally incapable of putting together a piece of IKEA furniture without getting at least three (3) pieces wrong.

The instructions just aren't made for guys like me. There are strange figures, arrows, and tools - I don't know what's going on, I get all confused.

I always end up having to dismantle parts or whole of whatever it is I'm putting together. It's a trial, it really is.

Is there any wonder I'm not getting any dates these days? The women are picking up on my IKEA-itis. It's very counterproductive to that whole nesting thing. If you can't assemble a DVD shelf, you're not a man.  ¶ 00:24   

  It is very, very hot.

It's been warm since Saturday, and yesterday was almost tropical - hot, muggy, and very much summer. Feels like today will be no different.

I'm still on my "holiday" - long weekend, really - and I'm torn between just lounging in the sun, walking around town, eating ice-cream and enjoying myself, or actually doing something useful.

Not that relaxing can't be useful, but there's rarely any time to do the things I need to do...and there's lots to be done.

One thing I'm not going to do, however, is Blog.  ¶ 12:54   

  Just came back from seeing Hulk, and here are a few thoughts.

My favourite Marvel superhero has always been the Hulk - partly because he's an anti-hero cursed, rather than blessed, with super-human powers (tragedy and darkness has always appealed to me); and partly because I can identify with both Bruce Banner and the Hulk.

Anger is something I'm very familiar with. Those who know me well know that I can get very angry - angry enough to turn big and green (unfortunately, I haven't been exposed to any gamma radiation...yet!): repressed rage, perhaps, but that's besides the point. Mostly it was Banner's - and ultimately the Hulk's - sense of isolation, loneliness, of being an outsider, a freak, that I identified with when I began reading the comic, decades ago. Growing up, I was a freak myself; disturbingly tall for my age, nerdy, a loner - and I totally understood who Banner was, and how the Hulk came to be. I got it. (Me and a million other unhappy pre-teen boys.)

So I went into the theatre today wanting to love the movie, wishing it to be as good as I'd always hoped a Hulk movie would be, needed it to be.

The Hulk TV-show always disappointed me, on a lot of levels. I'd read the comics, and Lou Ferrigno looked nothing like the Hulk that I knew. He was just a big and ugly guy painted green - you couldn't fool me. Bruce Banner was inexplicably named "David Banner", and his origin was nothing like the comic-book. There was no Betty Ross, no Thunderbolt, no Leader, no nothin'. Only a guy hitching rides and helping small town folk. Great music, yup, and a melancholy feel that appealed to me - and to be honest, the show was pretty good. It just wasn't the Hulk. And I always wanted it to be. I wanted to see the Hulk smash.

Tonight I did get to see the Hulk smash, and that in itself was reason enough to love the movie. If for no other reason than to see the Hulk toss a tank, fight a mutant poodle, and jump a mile. This was the Hulk that I grew up with, the Hulk from the comics, the Hulk that we've never seen alive and "in the flesh" before. And those parts were glorious.

Then there were bits that weren't as good - and on the whole the movie was too long - but all that's just petty criticism. There's so much dreck out there, so many wasted opportunities (read: The Matrix Reloaded) that when something like this comes along, a diamond in the rough, a movie filled with ambition and desire, exciting direction and editing, marvellous acting, and many, many great scenes, it's really not fair to pick on it too much. Yes, it had its fault - but let's look beyond that. This, to me, was a much better superhero movie than Spider-Man, Daredevil, Blade X-Men - perhaps even X2, though I'd need to see them again to make that call - and Batman. Not as good as Superman, but few things are. This was the comic embodied, the characters true, the scope both human and real and tragic and grand and...comic-book. Taken seriously. As an art-form dedicated to story, to characters, to themes, to metaphors.

For that, for all it does - rather than the things it doesn't do - you should go see it.

Heck, go see it to see the Hulk smash. Hulk smash good.  ¶ 01:01   

  I've taken the day off, so naturally it's cold and rainy outside. Yesterday, on the other hand - a regular workin' day - was sunny and warm.

Not that I mind; there's plenty to do inside. I'm working (yes, yes - a "day off" really just means that I get to wake up late and write from home) on a couple of crucial early scenes in TLJ.s, and later today I hope to solve a number of plot problems with a screenplay called "Prosperity's Rules".

In addition, there's a TV to be moved, shelves to buy (my ever-expanding DVD collection is beginning to evoke shades of "The Trouble with Tribbles"), and general cleaning-up to be done - my apartment has obviously been the site of some mysterious, unheard-of World War...possibly involving my cat, an army of dust, and gremlins: The type of Gremlins who shuffle your CD and DVD collection, use your dishes and then don't wash them afterwards, and toss your as-far-as-you-can-remember clean clothing into the laundry basket.

Luckily, I have Saturday, Sunday, and possibly even Monday to get everything sorted.  ¶ 13:05   

  I think The Onion just spoiled Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for me. Bastards. Funny bastards, but still - bastards.

The Two Coreys ruled the 80s, and I just found out what happened to the "cute" one, Haim. He moved back in with his Mom and made a horrible and horribly depressing website. Okay, so it's a little bit funny, and serves as a stern warning to parents considering selling their offspring to Hollywood (like the Mac wasn't enough of a cautionary tale), but it's mostly just sad. And a little funny. But sad.

Corey number two also has a website, but it's not as funny or sad.

Now the question is, whatever happened to Isaac, Taylor, and Zachary Hanson? Are they all growns up now? Inquiring minds want to know. (Not really.)  ¶ 22:28   

  From IMDb.com's Studio Brief today:

Is Hand-Drawn Animation Dead?

Analysts are once again predicting the demise of traditional animation following the failure of DreamWorks' Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.Harvey Deneroff, president of Animation Consultants International, told today's (Wednesday) USA Today, "I suspect [traditional animation] is dead as far as most studios are concerned in terms of large-scale, big budget films." The newspaper observed that Sinbad marked the third major "2-D"-animated film to flop in recent years, following The Road to El Dorado and Treasure Planet.However, other analysts point out that few animated films that weren't comedies and/or musicals have ever been successful. And pointing to the success of last year's hand-drawn Lilo & Stitch, Disney chairman Dick Cook told USA Today: "Good storytelling is a lot more important to an animated movie than the way it's drawn."

Any comments would be superfluous.  ¶ 21:54   

  Found a great new source for R1 DVDs - for you European (and possibly Asian) readers out there; Americans have cheaper and better options - at DV-Depot, a Canadian store.

While the prices are generally higher than, for example, Amazon.com, shipping is cheaper ($10 for 7 discs, $20 for 14, and so on - all via DHL). They also open and check every DVD before packing it - which is good - and then they wrap each and every disc in a paper towel - which isn't necessarily so good. Yes, it prevents "floaters" (discs that are, um, floating around inside the case, getting all scratchy), but it adds a whole bunch of tiny paper fibres on the disc's surface, which have to be cleaned off before the disc can be played.

Nice gesture then, but I'm not sure how helpful it is. I rarely had trouble with floaters from Amazon, and although Play.com - my favoured source for R2 releases, and, via their new PlayUSA.com site, the odd R1 disc - has too many of them, that's probably because they ship via regular postal service.

But hey, you can opt out of the service, so no biggie. And by opening each and every case, they can mark the DVDs as "used" on the customs slip. Neat-o. So if you're looking for a reliable and helpful place to shop your DVDs, check 'em out.  ¶ 21:40   

  A Ring manga. That sounds interesting.

Even more interesting, however, is the news that Dark Horse will publish a series of comics (or "comic material") based on Michael Chabon's excellent Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (read it - now). I'd love to see what they've got planned. I want that origin issue of The Escapist.  ¶ 23:12   

  The. Best. Movie. Ever.

Seriously:

The Indian Superman.

You will believe.  ¶ 22:54   

  I just got Throttled by Charlie's Angels.

(Look, it sounded pretty cool in my head.)

On the RagT* Fun-o-Meter (which, unlike your garden variety Fun-o-Meter, goes to eleven), Full Throttle rates a...six. A strong six. And if that sounds like a low score, keep in mind that the Fun-o-Meter - at least this one - is a harsh mistress. There's never been an eleven. I reserve that for the movie that will make me fall to my knees in the theatre and weep tears of joy and rapture. A strong six is certainly above the Fun-o-Meter average.

The Angels kept me entertained for two hours. I had a silly grin on my face through the entire movie. The talky bits were excruciating, but the action - and the ass-wiggling (and there was a lot of that going on) - was sweet, the chicks were cute, and Bernie Mac was funny. What more can you ask for? Nothing. You really can't.

(I liked the first one better, though. And there wasn't nearly enough of Crispin Glover. I mean, you got Crispin Glover in your movie, and you don't include him in every scene? What's up with that? Never mind that he died in the first one.)

* Yeah, uh, about that... See, McG got the street nom de plume going, so I figured I needed one too. Look out for The Longest Journey: Static, written and directed by RagT. The Pen Name Generator (ironically enough located at a website called TheRag.com) wanted to name me "Scott Tornquist". But homey don't play that.  ¶ 21:40   

  I was very interested to hear that you're diving into other-region DVDs lately. I made the plunge a few years back when I began to learn about the jewels of Japanese cinema. There's something about the sheer humanity and elegance to good Asian film. Even their most horrifying fright-fests or romping action films display an undeniable beauty and discipline that, when coupled with the difference between our cultures, I find absolutely fascinating to watch.

Anyway! To make a long story short, I wanted to second the recommendation for DDDHouse and Hkflix. Furthermore, I might also recommend www.pokerindustries.com as a site that carries some films that might be difficult to find elsewhere (especially in the Korean and Japanese department).

Now, a recommendation: Ju-On. If you liked Ring, Dark Water, The Eye, you owe it to yourself to see the Ju-On films. The movies have a rather complex history, but with a bit of digging, I think you'll discover some very cool films. They're a bit difficult to find on the internet, but I know a source or two if you're interested.

Last but not least...I would like to mention the finest movie forums on the internet: www.mhvf.net . Their asian film forum is without peer! In general, I find the most interesting discussions here -- made by some of the most intelligent, insightful, and helpful people I've come across on the internet! Please swing by and join us sometime!

Until then, cheers mate!

Thanks for the suggestions, Justin. I've heard of the Ju-On (or "The Grudge") films before, and I'll definitely try to get hold of them now.

I also checked out the Mobius forums: looks like a great place to discuss film in general, and cult cinema in particular. I'll keep it bookmarked.

Thanks again, and keep the suggestions coming, people!  ¶ 12:40   

  According to Jim Tharp, DreamWorks' head of distribution, Sinbad's failure at the box-office over the holiday weekend "indicate a continuing downtrend in popularity of non-comedy traditional animated movies."

Uh, no, Jim - you can't lay the blame at the audience's door. It's simply that your movie wasn't what they wanted.

A blanket statement like the one above ignores the fact that there are filmmakers like Hayao Miyazaki who make very, very popular non-comedy traditional animated movies. True, neither Spirited Away nor Princess Mononoke did particularly well at the North American box-office, but that has more to do with bad marketing and distribution than with the fact that they're "non-comedy traditional animated movies". If Disney and/or DreamWorks made a cel-animated movie with as much focus on story and characters as Japanese studios - and made sure people knew about it - they'd have a hit on their hands. No question about it. Like I said yesterday, it's about the content, not the medium...and there's certainly room at the box-office for more than computer-rendered animated movies.

Of course, that's from someone who's been madly in love with the art and craft of hand-drawn "two-dee" animation all his life. I studied animation at NYU (and was lucky enough to have John Canemaker as a teacher), and though I'm a lousy illustrator/animator myself, I have a true appreciation of the form. I even bought last summer's Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron (notice the word 'tradigital' - you just can't stop 'em) on DVD - not exactly a classic, but hey, I even enjoyed that. So, okay, maybe I'm not completely objective, but I do think that Mr. Tharp's statement is not only damaging - it's also very, very wrong.  ¶ 21:47   

  Just a quick question: Why is the game in development called .static?
Is it some deep, dark secret? Probably not, but I'm still curious!

It's a deep, dark secret.

No, really, it is.

The name isn't final, and could very well (and probably will) change, but if I told you why it's called "static", it would certainly spoil the story. And you don't want that.  ¶ 16:22   

  Surprising findings about video game players: they aren't all anti-social hermits!

Wow.

Trust CNN to publish those stunning reports to shock and...stun us.

We're all very, very stunned.

The article is (unintentionally) funny and worth a read. It's quite amazing that you'd need a scientific survey to make such an obvious observation. After all, games became mainstream entertainment more than twenty years ago, and it's pretty sad that something like this can still be considered newsworthy material.

When will games get the credibility they deserve as a genuine entertainment medium? Discuss.  ¶ 11:13   

  I'd like to suggest that, if you choose not to directly support the Mac, that Funcom consider licensing a Mac software company to port it, such as MacSoft.

Alternatively, there seems to be a supposedly DirectX-compatible library for the Mac called MacDX, although it looks like it's by a small outfit so no idea how well it works.

On the Linux side, there is Transgaming's currently-alpha-quality DirectX wrapper that might be more polished in the next few years.

Not sure if this is any use to you/Funcom, but it'd be nice if it were available for non-Windows platforms (besides consoles.)

One of my many guilty desires is to get a Mac, simply because I'm very aesthetically oriented (I have a New Beetle for Pete's sake), and because it would look great in my living room. In fact, I'd love to get both a standalone Power Mac G5 with a 23" Cinema HD Display (in glorious widescreen), and a 17" (also in glorious widescreen) PowerBook G4. The latter would be very convenient on those long trans-Atlantic flights. The problem (aside from that whole cost issue) is software - and especially games.

So, yes, I'd love to see TLJ.s on the Mac, but I'm not so sure it's going to happen. There's a reason why most games aren't ported over. It takes time and money, even if it's handled by someone else, and we have to be sure that it's going to pay off. It could happen, especially if the Mac games market keeps growing, and if the game is a huge success on PC/consoles (or a Mac publisher throws a pile of money our way). But don't hold your breath.

Linux is even less likely to happen. If you have a PC and you want to play the game, you're probably going to have to bite the bullet and install Windows. Make it dual boot, and you won't have to sell your soul to the Bill.

Or, alternatively, get a console.  ¶ 10:46   

  The new DreamWorks animated movie Sinbad performed a major bellyflop this holiday weekend, further driving the nails into the cel animation casket.

Studio executives and the media are propagating the myth that movies like Treasure Planet and now Sinbad do poor business because they're not computer animated - like this summer's biggest hit, Finding Nemo - but that's a load of bull. Fact is that Pixar, PDI, and Blue Sky Studios (with Ice Age) are making movies that focus on great stories and interesting characters rather than just visuals, and that's why they've done well...not because they're CGI.

It's a sad state of affairs when a "traditionally animated" movie like Sinbad has to be sold on the fact that "it's got CGI, it really does!". The studios want to brush the wonderful craft of hand-drawn animation under the carpet, and focus on 'cool' technology, because we all know that's what people want. (Hey, sounds like the game industry.)

Problem is, from what I've heard, Sinbad is a merely okay movie, and it would've had a hard time competing against all the big summer flicks regardless of the methods used to make it. But now its failure is being read as a sign (and sold as a story) as to how "2D is dead, long live 3D" - and soon there will be no more cel-animated feature films made...and no more artists and animators to make them. What a horrible shame.  ¶ 20:58   

  Oooh, and I almost forgot:

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

(To my treasured American readers. To everyone else, happy...Friday! Wheee!)

What to say about July 4th that hasn't yet been said? Let me count the ways:

1. It's the day when we can all remember and celebrate how the United States of America placed a solid boot up the proverbial British arse. Yay America.
2. It's the day when the movie studios release some of their biggest summer movies. Yay Hollywood.
3. It's the day when Americans eat a lot of BBQ'ed food (and God knows they don't have a lot of opportunities to do that), drink lots of beer (ditto), and set off fireworks. Yay horrible, disfiguring accidents.
4. It's the day when all Americans, black and white and inbetween, join hands, put aside all differences, and sing happy, joyful songs of love and friendship and acceptance. Yay you wish.

All in all, July 4th is very much like every other country's Independence Day (including ours): An excuse to get really, really drunk, wave big flags, shout nationalistic slogans, and sing anthems...loudly, annoyingly, off tune.

Happy 4th, y'all!  ¶ 00:22   

  If you're into alternative cinema (and I know you are), and you love them Asian movies (I know you do), you've probably thought to yourself, "Hmmm, where to get them Asian movies cheap?" Or maybe you haven't. But I have. Many, many times.

(We're not talking about "Asian movies (wink-wink, nudge-nudge)" here, by the way. We're talking about serious cinema - not porn. Okay, so maybe Shaolin Soccer isn't serious cinema, but it's certainly more serious than Beauty and the Breast.)

Most of the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (I got The Eye in the mail today - looking forward to seeing that one) movies I've purchased have been through sites like Amazon (.com, .co.uk, and even .co.jp), and Play.com - and thus I've been mostly limited to Region 1 and 2 releases (with the sole exception of the Japanese version of Spirited Away, which I ordered from...Japan. Go figure).

Last weekend, I desperately wanted to get a hold of Dark Water, but since the flick has yet to be released on DVD in "the West", I had to explore other options. Of course, I also needed a version with English subtitles, which excluded the Japanese release.

I found a site called HKFlix.com, which is supposed to be reliable, and found Dark Water for $15 (plus $2 shipping) - not bad at all. I ordered the DVD, paid via PayPal...and have yet to hear anything, even though PayPal transferred the funds immediately. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't get it. I'm sure they're professional and reliable. It's just that I would like to be able to see the status of my order, and they 'discourage' that. We'll see what happens.

So today I decided I wanted to get Shaolin Soccer - another movie that hasn't been released over here yet, but is available on DVD in Hong Kong. HKFlix didn't have it (and until I receive my original order, I won't use them again), so I looked around for another source - and found a store called DDDhouse.com. Again, they came highly recommended, and when I began going through their pricelists I also found that they were incredibly cheap. In fact, Dark Water was half the price of HKFlix...shipping included.

Not only that, but at DDDhouse they let you see your order history, and check on the status of your orders. Ignore their awful website - they are, after all, foreigners (he said ironically).

So I ordered both Shaolin Soccer (US$12) and Dark Water (again - at less than US$10 delivered, it's worth the risk that I'll receive two copies. I'll just give away one of 'em), and now we'll wait and see. If they arrive in a timely manner, and in good condition, I know where I'll satisfy my craving for Asian cinema in the future. If not - bold experiment gone sour. I'll keep y'all updated, and I suggest you wait for my final word on the issue before pulling out those credit cards.  ¶ 00:09   

  My legs are mush after yesterday's marathon workout. Okay, so what I call a 'marathon', others may call a 'wimp-a-thon', but I carry my badge proudly. Nevertheless: leggies go ouch. Ragnar rigid.

I slept a grand total of five hours last night, but I'm surprisingly frisky today. The ton of bricks will probably drop on my head some time around eight tonight, at which point I'm hopefully curled up on the couch with a good book.

Speaking of good books (hopefully), I bought Terry Pratchett's latest opus on Tuesday, The Wee Free Men, in addition to Tad Williams' (also brand spanking) The War of the Flowers.

Discworld novels I buy just 'cause (I have them all, each and every one), regardless of reviews - which are almost always positive - but Flowers was something of a calculated gamble. I've read, and enjoyed, a lot of Mr. Williams' work thus far, but like most authors he has his definite ups and downs. I'm looking forward to finding out which it is this time around ('up' or 'down', I mean). I have absolutely no idea what the book is about, and that's always a plus. There are too many spoilers in my life as it is. Nothing is ever a surprise anymore.

Been sorting through insurances today, at great pain to me and the people around me. There are so many of them (insurances, not people), in so many different places, and attempting to combine them all in one place is proving extremely difficult - the mathematics of it approach a quantum level. I fear that, should I succeed to find the best combination of cost and service, the universe will collapse on itself.

To top it all off, I'm grappling with big story issues today, and although it looks as though it'll be resolved by the end of the week, it's still very much akin to climbing Mount Everest. With no safety. In my underwear. We'll rise to the challenge, however, and conquer the mountain - I'm sure of that. If anyone tries to tell you that storytelling is easy, however, slap 'em for me. Please.  ¶ 16:23   

  Apparently, Activision is suing Viacom for poor management of the Star Trek franchise. You'd think that allowing their once-biggest meal ticket to suffer an ignoble death would be punishment enough, but Activision paid a whole lot of dough for the license, so their frustration is understandable. Come to think of it, it's about time someone got around to giving Paramount a swift kick in the arse for messing up Trek. I used to be a Trek fan - though I was by no means a 'Trekker' - back during the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine days. Voyager was dull and had Neelix (one clue: Neither charming nor inventive), and I gave up on Enterprise after a dozen episodes. ST:TNG had intelligent stories and likable characters, DS9 had a great multi-season arc and an interesting interpersonal dynamic, with more drama, conflict, and more mature stories and themes. Subsequent shows had neither.

Sad, but that's the way of things. Nothing lasts forever, Star Trek has outstayed its welcome, and there's no going back. Except on DVD.  ¶ 23:40   

  Hi,

I made a French website dedicated to the TLJ saga ( www.minstrum.net ), since your blog is a “nexus” for TLJ fans around the world, I’d really be thankful if you could mention my site on your page.

Also, did Funcom choose the distributor in France? Ubisoft did a good job on TLJ1.

Thanks, Draikin. Consider yourself mentioned. It's great to see new TLJ sites popping up, and I promise you there will be much to write about in the months and years to come.

As for the distributor question: No we haven't, and yes they did. We'll see what happens.  ¶ 20:30   

  It's a grey and cold Wednesday in July. Listening to Michelle Branch's Hotel Paper, and finishing my tall skim milk café au lait. Got into the office at 9 AM today, and as usual the first hour is spent reading e-mail, browsing the web, and chatting with the team. At ten o'clock - five minutes from now - we have our morning meeting, and after that we get down to business. Today there's story stuff to wrestle with, and I wrote down some notes in bed last night, just before turning off the light. Hopefully it'll be a useful starting point for our story meetings.

This is my day.  ¶ 10:00   

  Had a meeting with some 'TV' people ('TV' means 'TeleVision', you know; the kids love those crazy acronyms) earlier today, and got to kick a few ideas around - brainstorming-style - regarding a show they're putting together. Fun stuff. I always appreciate the opportunity, even for a few short hours, to escape the drudgery of making games, 'cause that's harrowing stuff, I'll have you know. I think our amazing creative talents surprised and amazed them. When we rock, we really rock.

Ahem. Anyways. (Don't worry, I'm not deserting the game industry. Yet.)

I want to be the Naked Chef. I don't actually want to be the Naked Chef (nor a naked chef, because that's something completely different), but you know what I mean. It'd be nice to cook as well as he does, because then, chances are, I would get more dates. Or at least more hungry visitors - not necessarily the same thing. Nor, come to think of it, not such a good thing. Think of all the dishes. My point - and it's here somewhere - is that my cooking abilities are suffering. Mostly because it's rare that I have the time or energy to cook, but also because I'm so out of practice that anything but the most basic of meals frightens me. I need to get back in the saddle, so to speak. The saddle of cooking. Maybe I'll try something daring and new tomorrow. Or Thursday. Any suggestions?  ¶ 21:01