Sunday, September 26, 2010

Time Jam streamed by Crunchyroll

I've been working for a while now on an article about the animated version of Valerian and Laureline (it's taking a long time because I am quite busy and it's a 40-episode series; also I am writing it in french, but will probably include a synopsis of the article in english whenever I post it online) so I was quite pleased when I read on Anime News Network that Crunchyroll was streaming it.

Based on the famous graphic novel written by Jean-Claude Mezieres and Pierre Christin, Time Jam: Valerian and Laureline is an animation co-produced by the French publisher Dargaud and the Japanese studio Satelight. All premium anime and all-access Crunchyroll members will have access to the entire 40 episodes immediately, while only the first five episodes will be available to free users now with the subsequent five episodes rolling out henceforth. Unfortunately, due to licensing limitations, the series is available only to the U.S. audience. If you are located in the right region, episodes can be accessed from Crunchyroll.com, tv.com, the free iPad and iPhone application, the Boxee application and affiliate partners.

More information can be found in the full press release and on www.crunchyroll.com/valerian. You can also find a previous blog entry with the series' trailer.

Sherlock

As many of the interesting TV shows I've watched over the years were produced in the UK (The Avengers, The Champions, Desperate Romantics, Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I Claudius, Lark Rise to Candleford, Life on Mars, Merlin, Murder Rooms, Primeval, Red Dwarf, Robin Hood, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Sherlock Holmes (with Jeremy Brett), Space: 1999, Thunderbirds, Torchwood, UFO, Upstairs Downstairs, just to name a few), I have developped a special appreciation for British series (and I'll definitely write an article on that subject when I have the time). So, when I heard that the BBC was planning a modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, I was already intrigued. When I realized that it would be co-created by Steven Moffat (who's now the lead writer for Doctor Who), I was really interested and determined to check on this new series.

Simply titled “Sherlock”, the series is a piece of very clever writing. The first episode, titled "Study in Pink", is probably the best. It is obviously based on the original story "A study in scarlet". The character of Watson is introduced in a manner that is superbly similar to the original: he is a recently discharged soldier back from a tour in Afghanistan where he injured his leg (although Sherlock diagnosed his limping as psychosomatic). In the original, Sherlock also deducts lots of information on Watson family background by looking at his pocket watch. Here, he does the same by looking at his cellphone! In the first episode the parallel between the clever adaptation and the original story is more easily drawn. In the subsequent episodes (titled "The Blind Banker" and "The Great Game", respectively inspired by “The dancing men” and “The Bruce-Partington plans” amongst others) the story is increasingly complex and the parallel less obvious. Unfortunately, this complexity and the fast pace of the storytelling make the series a little too hard to follow for the people who prefer more simple and quiet stories. It really gets worse with the third episode, as if they wanted to cram too many elements in the 90-minute broadcast show.

Despite the fact that Holmes uses the latest of technology to solve crimes, the modern adaptation is, in many aspects, more respectful of the spirit of the character than Guy Ritchie's recent movie. It is exactly the same type of adventures as written by Doyle, but played in fast forward for the attention-deficit plagued video-game generation. In his crazy way, Sherlock (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) almost feels and speaks like The Doctor in “Doctor Who” (no wonder there considering Moffat's involvement). There's quite some good acting in that part. And, having watched the entire Granada Television series, I can certainly say the adaptation is brilliant in its every details: Watson writing a blog, Holmes using nicotine patches instead of smoking and shooting heroin, etc.

My main disappointment was that only three episodes were broadcasted on the BBC in late July and August 2010 (they are due to air on PBS in the USA from October 24th 2010). There will be a new series in Fall next years, but unfortunately it will be again only three 90-minute episodes.

Another disappointment is that Moriarty is way too present in the story. I guess the general public perception of Holmes stories is probably at fault here: since Moriarty is Holmes archenemy, people imagine he must occupy a large place in the original stories whereas he appears only in a few episodes. Interestingly, the modern adaptation ends in a way quite similar as in the first Sherlock Holmes book: rather than letting his enemy go, Sherlock doesn't hesitate to die with him. In the original story, he jumps (or falls) into a waterfall with Moriarty. In the modern version, it is suggested that he will blow a bomb to kill Moriarty as well as himself (and Watson). Will he really die? We'll see in the second season, I guess.

A clever and intellectually challenging tv drama. It is quite promising. I can't wait for more. It is already available on DVD in the UK and the North American release will be in November. It would also be a good occasion to read (or re-read or read about) the original stories.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Revue de Presse / Press Review (2010/09/23)

Personal update: So many stuff to do and so little time! Feeling a little better, but still tired as always. Now that automn is here it really starts feeling cold. It's sure time to uninstall the air conditioning. Just finished watching Shogun again and spent some time yesterday reading the latest news:

Anime & Manga related, Japan, Popular Culture
Apple & iPad news
Books, Digital Edition & Library
Economy, Environment & International Politics/News
Health, home & garden
Media, Culture & Society
Montreal & Local/National Politics/News
Sciences & History
Technology, Gadgets & Internet

See also the “Suggested Links (Shared Items)” in the column on the right side

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Unshelved #8: Large Print

Unshelved makes me appreciate those busy librarians of my school days even more. They were my best friends no matter where I went, and I worshipped them. Seeing what they had to deal with only notches up my love for them! —Tamora Pierce”

“What do you get when you mix adults, teenagers, children, babies, seniors, professionals, parents, teachers, students, homeschoolers, and the homeless? That very funniest of places, your local public library, home of the hugely popular Web comic Unshelved.” [texts from the back cover]

Everything in this comic is eerily familiar: it tells the daily life of the staff from a dysfunctional library. Large Print is the eighth yearly compilation of Unshelved, a daily online comic strip originally published on the Unshelved website from February 16, 2009 to April 26, 2010, and ALA CogNotes newspapers in June 2009 and January 2010 (CogNotes is the daily paper of the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting and ALA Annual Conference, where the famous Unshelved “Conference Tips” are published). I have already reviewed the previous volumes in the blog entries “Unshelved” and “Unshelved #7: Reader's Advisory”. You can also find more information in the Wikipedia entry, the Official Unshelved Facebook page or the Unshelved Readers Facebook group.

This volume is noticeably more hillarious than the previous one. Everyone will laugh at the funny and often absurd situations happening in the Mallville public library. I am probably laughing even harder because I recognize myself a lot in there, since I experienced first-hand many of those situations. It's written by a real-life librarian and it shows. Of course, the art is a little crude and cartoony, but —as I often say— it's the story that counts.

This volume has something new: it has a few comments from the writers underneath the strips. It's interesting to read and I would have liked to have more of those. Also, this time the book is in a smaller format and in b&w only. However, since part of the book deals with how the library is coping with the recession, I think this downsizing is befitting the story. Large Print is compiling 313 daily strips (mostly in their original publishing order), 16 “Library Tips”, and 9 ALA “Conference Tips”. Unfortunately, the color “Book Club” pages (where the authors illustrate book recommendations) are absent and I am quite disappointed with this (however you can still read them online). But I guess it was necessary if they wanted the book to be only in b&w. All in all, Large Print offers a good laugh, particularly if you have ever spent some time in a public library. Highly recommended.

One of my favourite strips (from 2009/10/26):
My top 25 strips (in the order they appear in the book): 2009/03/02, 2009/03/07, 2009/03/25, 2009/04/01, 2009/04/13, 2009/05/02, 2009/05/12, 2009/06/09, 2009/06/06, 2009/07/17, 2009/07/22, 2009/08/05, 2009/10/26, 2009/10/17, 2009/10/06, 2009/10/08, 2009/10/19, 2009/12/08, 2009/12/29, 2009/12/31, 2010/03/03, 2010/03/22, 2010/04/01, 2010/04/22, and 2010/04/20.

Unshelved Vol. 8: Large Print, by Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes. Seattle, Overdue Media, 2010. 21.8 x 17 cm, 128 pgs., $11.95 US / $14.95 CDN. ISBN-13: 978-09740353-7-6.

Unshelved: Large Print © 2009 & 2010 Overdue Media LLC. All rights reserved.

P.S.: I pre-ordered this book via amazon.ca in january 2010. It was due to be released in mid-July, but it was only delivered in mid-September even if it had been available through the publisher's web site since july... Go figure! It is also disappointing that this book is not available at all through my local libraries network (where I work)!

Revue de Presse / Press Review (2010/09/16)

Personal update: We started feeling that automn is getting close as the temperature has sharply dropped around 12'C. I've got my schedule for the new season and its nothing to get excited about: twenty hours over four days that I will complete with ponctual replacements. Unfortunately, in order to reach a thirty-five-hour week I'll have to work six days, like this week. So today is my only day off of the week. I have to cram all the house chores, as well as the blog updates, in this one day and still find time to rest and relax while reading and watching tv (my wife and I recently finished watching Upstairs, Downstairs and just started watching Shogun again)! I'll try not to work six days a week too often (if I want to stay healthy and sane). Strangely, there was lots of interesting news this week:

Anime & Manga related, Japan, Popular Culture
Apple & iPad news
Books, Digital Edition & Library
Economy, Environment & International Politics/News
Health, home & garden
Media, Culture & Society
Montreal & Local/National Politics/News
Sciences & History
Technology, Gadgets & Internet

See also the “Suggested Links (Shared Items)” in the column on the right side

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Villain / Akunin (video)

Screening presentation and press conference for the Japanese movie Villain (Akunin) at the 2010 Montreal World Film Festival (filmed September 5th & 6th 2010). Please note that I am not a pro videographer, so this video is a rather shaky rough cut with limited editing.

Villain from clodjee on Vimeo.

Also available on Blip.tv

Box - The Hakamada Case (video)

Screening presentation and press conference for the Japanese movie Box - The Hakamada Case at the 2010 Montreal World Film Festival (filmed September 2nd & 3rd 2010). Please note that I am not a pro videographer, so this video is a rather shaky rough cut with limited editing.

Box - The Hakamada Case from clodjee on Vimeo.

Also available on Blip.tv

Hommage à Nathalie Baye (video)

Conférence de presse rendant hommage à Nathalie Baye lors du Festival des Films du Monde 2010 (filmé le 5 septembre 2010). En français seulement.

Press conference paying tribute to French actress Nathalie Baye at the 2010 Montreal World Film Festival (filmed on September 5th). In French only.

Please note that I am not a pro videographer, so this video is a rather shaky rough cut with limited editing.

Hommage à Nathalie Baye from clodjee on Vimeo.


Also available on Blip.tv

Caterpillar and Torocco (video)

Here are the screening presentation of the movies Caterpillar (Le Soldiat-Dieu) and Torocco (Rail Truck) at the 2010 Montreal World Film Festival. I am not a pro videographer, so these video are rather shaky rough cuts with limited editing. Note that the Caterpillar video is only in French.

Caterpillar [ Vimeo ] [ YouTube ]

Torocco [ Vimeo ] [ YouTube ]

Monday, September 06, 2010

Revue de Presse / Press Review (2010/09/06)

Personal update: Not much happened in the last week. The health is a little better, but I am still quite tired. Still too busy to put online my list of items to sell at my “Virtual Yard sale” [Be patient, it's coming]. Last Wednesday Apple announced a bunch of new products, but none of them seem really interesting to me (save maybe the iOS 4.2 update for iPad that I am eagerly awaiting [it's announced for November]; neither the new AppleTV or the 4th gen iPod Touch would be useful to me). I've also been screening Japanese movies at the Montreal World Film Festival; expect several “reviews” and press conferences video soon. In the meantime, here's a few news that got my attention:

Anime & Manga related, Japan, Popular Culture
Apple & iPad news

Books, Digital Edition & Library
Economy, Environment & International Politics/News
Film Festival
Health, home & garden
Media, Culture & Society
Montreal & Local/National Politics/News
Sciences & History
Technology, Gadgets & Internet

See also the “Suggested Links (Shared Items)” in the column on the right side

[Updated 9/07 with extra news; 9/08 with Apple Keynote links]

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Clip: Losique sur le cinema japonais

À la conférence de presse dévoilant la programmation 2010 du Festival des Films du Monde tenue le 10 août dernier, le président du festival, Serge Logique, a fait quelques commentaires sur le cinéma Japonais. Ce n'est pas la première fois qu'il exprime ainsi une attention particulière au cinéma Japonais (quoiqu'il y a quelques années, c'était dans le cadre d'un “Focus sur le cinéma Japonais”) ce qui démontre qu'il l'apprécie et s'y intéresse beaucoup.

Il déplore que le cinéma Japonais ne soit malheureusement pas très présent ni bien connu en Amérique du Nord et que c'est la tâche des journalistes de le faire découvrir et apprécier du grand public. Il rappelle que le Japon nous a donner de nombreux grands réalisateurs et que, après quelques décennies de vaches maigres, le cinéma Japonais est revenu en grande force. Il explique que le cinéma Japonais a toujours été très présent au Festival des Films du Monde parce que les producteurs Japonais le considère comme un tremplin vers le marché international.

Vous pouvez visionner la conférence de presse présentant la programmation 2010 du FFM dans sa quasi-totalité sur Vimeo.

Losique sur le cinema Japonais from clodjee; on Vimeo.


At the press conference unveiling the Montreal World Film Festival 2010 programming, which was held on August 10th, Serge Losique, the director of the festival, made some comments on the Japanese cinema. It is not the first time that he express such a particular interest for this cinema (although a few years ago he did it while the festival was presenting a special “focus” on the Japanese cinema) which seems to demonstrate that he is quite fond of it.

He laments that Japanese cinema is unfortunately not very present nor known in North America, and that it is up to the journalists to introduce it to movie goers and make them appreciate it. He recalls that Japan gave us many great directors and that, following several decades of lean times, Japanese cinema is coming back with great strengths. He points out that it has always had an important place at the Montreal World Film Festival because Japanese producers see the festival as a stepping stone toward the international market.

You can watch the MWFF 2010 programming press conference in almost its entirety on Vimeo.