The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

I was seriously tired when I got home last night, so this review - and yes, the linkage to another Ace Of Thorns video - have been delayed a bit. But first, and regretfully belatedly...

Legends We Lost... Dammit. Another inspiration passes from this increasingly bland world, this time the eldritch genius that was H. R. Giger. Taken from us by, of all things, a fall down the stairs at his home, he was truly unique, and impossible to replace. I mean, how many generations of special effects artists have channelled his work since Alien...?

Guess I may have to get my Harkonnen chairs second-hand, now...

And so, to our main feature...

Review: GODZILLA...

So here it is - quite possibly, and literally, one of the BIGGEST movies of the year, and one with SO MUCH to prove...

( WARNING: SPOILERS... )

The Final Word... So long, G. I. N. O. - the real King is in town! Our faith has been well repaid! 8.25/10

Yay, I have my seat booked for GODZILLA - and that's just about the sole glowing highlight of the last week. The weather on Thursday better be good, and the shopping, too.

Ooops. Distinct lack of posts this week, after what's been a more consistent month, but what can you do?

ITEM! I'm onto Book "Five" - or more correctly Book Four, after a two-part Book Three of A Song Of Ice And Fire a.k.a. The Game Of Thrones books. Damn these are GOOD - no, make that EXCELLENT, as in the best reading experience I've had in YEARS. Hooray for my local bookshop , running a "Buy One, Get One Half price" promotion at present, 'cause it's saving me £5 a time when I get two volumes of the series. I just got Parts 1 and 2 for (the actual) Book Five, and I believe those purchases bring me up to speed.

Now, the TV series...

ITEM! By this time next week, Blockbuster Season will OFFICIALLY be underway, as CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER opens in the UK on Wednesday. I have an IMAX showing booked for Opening Day - the first of several this year, including GODZILLA and (if it's out in IMAX) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY...

ITEM! Damn. Should've posted another video yesterday. I'm trying for 3 a week...

ITEM! I didn't mention it before, but AGENTS OF SHIELD is definitely on the up-turn with Friday's revelations - and it's going to get even better as Marvel Studios realise the show HAS to resonate with the movie and comic fans, or die in the attempt. The latter, I'm thinking, is hardly likely...

What more can I say? How about "sit back, go to full-screen, and bask in the awesome that is..."



THIS is what we wanted, back in 1998.

I HATE it when there's, for want of a better term, a "communications clog" with a family member. What you say is misinterpreted, and an uncomfortable silence descends... but this time, the evening was saved by, of all things, an unexpectedly empty waste recycling bin. An enquiry about whether the bins had been emptied or not follows, and the log-jam is broken, allowing for any damage to be undone. Phew.

So, that was last night - and so was the hinting at a teaser/trailer for Guillermo del Toro's highly-anticipated robots-vs-monsters blockbuster Pacific Rim. Dammit, I hate these convention reports that mention material we, the home viewers, don't get to see - especially when the director says: (and I quote)

"This has been the best film-making experience I have ever had."

The buzz gets even stronger about this movie. The moment I heard about it, I felt we would be blessed with something truly awesome - maybe even 2013's AVENGERS. I need to see this damn trailer. Something glorious is in the air...

And on that positive note, I end for today. Oh, except for this one little thing: my nephew sure picked the best time to get interested in Godzilla. By the time he's seven, he we may just have a new movie to look forward to...

Nah. I got nothing. A lot of today involved a search for Godzilla toys for a new fan, and that led to trudging through page after page of intriguing anime figures and statues...

So, not very productive, really. Kinda anti-productive, in that it seems to have leaked into Tuesday, taking blog-posting with it. I absolutely MUST rationalise my free time more effectively.

THIS JUST IN... Incoming - the first Iron Man 3 trailer!!!

Riiiight. So, where to begin?

Hardly an exciting work day - are they ever? Still managed to do some solid writing at lunch-time, and pretty much reach a conclusion for TDD-701 "A Star Is Rising" Chapter 1! There was a stack of comics and a "well done on REIGNFALL" present waiting for me when I got home. Caught a repeat of "Day Of The Moon", whilst doing some more "sampire" training in Ultima Online.

"But wait! There's more..." (to quote Blue Oyster Cult) I happened to come across IMDB's list of movies to come, and 2012 is actually shaping up to be rather interesting. December this year sees a second try at Judge Dredd, in Dredd, then its the Ghost Rider sequel/reboot in February - now hold on, is that a movie of intriguing book Cloud Atlas as well? - John Carter of Mars in March (enjoying the comics right now), then it's AVENGERS in May, followed a couple of weeks later by Alien quasi-prequel Prometheus at the start of June, Star Trek II (or whatever they're gonna call it) later that month, then to round things off for now, Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises in July!

That looks pretty solid to me, but it's still not a patch on this year (but I might revise that if they really get the proposed new Godzilla movie to screens next year). I mean, take another look at the list...

***** THOR...
*** 1/2 Pirates... 4...
**** X-Men First Class...
***** Green Lantern...
**** Transformers - Dark Of The Moon...
*** 1/2 Potter 7.2...
***** Captain America - The First Avenger...
*** 1/2 Super 8... (Cloverfield prequel...?)
(maybe) Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (Andy Serkis might just tip this one for me)
*** 1/2 Dredd.

I'm really getting the impression that this bunch are taking the piss. "But the letter says events in the main venue will end at 9.30... but we're in the cafe tent, so that doesn't count" will be the lament - but the tents are connected, forming one structure, so up yours, buddy. Don't go dancing on the fine edge of technicalities - you might fall off...

And then I'm thinking... "Why is there never an event of this kinda magnitude in this area for something that actually interests me?" This area is fnajing dead apart from golf and the occasional university tradition - that Japanese culture exhibition at the town hall was a colossal freakin' joke, let's not forget.

Thinking I'm needing to expand my influence a bit more. I'll be looking into such things 1) when CLAN are gone, and 2) when financial matters are in order.

But then, there's... a certain Sunday in Perth, which is coming up a whole lot sooner than I'd prepared for. Saturday is going to be another busy one...

In the meantime... 2011 is very much looking like The Best Year For Movies EVER, with its superhero triple-header, but 2012 just got a LOT more exciting...

Can you say...

GODZILLA?

Sure you can...

Was going to post something, then I happened to come across a link to a clip from Godzilla Final Wars on YouTube - the clip showing The King flambe-ing the ass of GINO, a.k.a. 1998's "Notzilla". Priceless.

This ROCKS too...

Development News... Doing a pretty good job of breaking the ice on MoN-203 "Mane-of-Night And The Wayward Child", Chapter 9!