Blog - 2020 November
2020 November 30th - Nostalgic for Flash games
I’ve just spent two solid days playing flash games and writing up this retrospective on some of the classics. I don’t want to write any more, so I won’t.
2020 November 18th - Animation is the Highest Artform
As a 90’s kid, I grew up alongside Flash animation and games, and with Adobe finally dropping support at the end of the year, now feels like just as good a time as any to revisit some of those classic days of yore. In the spirit of this, I’ve prepared the first in what will hopefully a series of features, this time focusing on the Bunny kill series.
On the topic of animation, I recently watched the Aladdin live-action, and, while decent as a stand-alone flick, it really feels lacking compared to the original, surprise surprise. I think it’s the way the musical numbers are framed that really weirds me out; the original songs were clearly written in tandem with the cartoon, with the lines and character positioning lending itself to the fast cuts and movements that animation allows for, so trying to watch longer shots of real actors trying to sync with it just looks and feels wrong. The movie is at its strongest when it’s doing its own thing; case- in-point that Iago scene near the end is an absolute show-stealer, it’s so unexpected and so good, I love it.
Also not happy with how dirty they did Jafar. Not only did they change every one of his iconic lines (no “ETERNAL REWARD”?) but also removed the few singing lines he had really disappointed me. Still, actor Marwan Kenzari did the best with what he was given, and while it’s hardly an iconic performance, he at least managed to make the role his own.
Still, fuck Disney live-action, can’t we just stick to the originals? Haven’t seen the Lion King remake, and intended to keep it that way; you just can’t mess with perfection.
2020 November 2nd - Farms and Frights
I’ve been a fan of HFY-style sci-fi for a couple of years now, and finally got around to giving a go myself, so here is my short story; The Goose Farm. It was a lot of fun, I’d love to do another one, just need to wait for inspiration to strike. I have a few ideas for other shorts (more sci-fi as well as some horror) so hopefully I’ll be able to realise one of those soon.
Speaking of horror, we just got Disney+, and decided to give one of their old straight to TV Halloween specials a go, “Mr. Boogedy”. It was incredibly 80’s, and somehow even cheesier than we could have imagined. It was good for a laugh, but about the only saving grace it had was John Astin’s appearance as a side character, as there’s nothing he can’t improve. There was apparently a sequel, “The Bride of Boogedy”, not sure if I want to give it a go though!
