Burn After Reading

Another solid movie from the Coen Brothers, I saw Burn After Reading just before this weekend. I really enjoyed it, Oh Brother Where Art Thou? is still my favorite but Burn ranks up there with that and Fargo. No Country for Old Men really isn't in the same class as their comedies. I think George Clooney is one of my favorite actors.

I suspect that when Brad Pitt is to old to play leading men, he's going to easily slide into more comedy.

Hyperion Gunblade Tutorial Video Part 1

I've posted a video on YouTube that is the first part of what should become a multi-part series demonstrating the techniques I use in creating my various prop weapons. For this project I'll be building a new Hyperion Gunblade from Final Fantasy Eight.

I produced this with the assistance of my friend Nick. (he's behind the camera)

Baccano Swing! at AWA

I received word that Baccano Swing! won Best Action at Anime Weekend Atlanata's Pro AMV contest.

Benihime Update

I've received a lot of feedback on my Benihime tutorial. Most ask how I created the raised trim around the edge of the hilt. I realized I don't have a picture of what I did, so I just finished adding a diagram of how the hilt is assembled as well as two cut sheets, showing what needs to be cut from what type of wood.

Rightous Kill

Since I posted about Bangkok Dangerous I thought I should mention Righteous Kill. I saw it last night. There was a lot of hype over this film, the first Robert De Niro/Al Pacino film where they really acted together. Overall I'd say the hype played out, it was a well done cop drama, and in a world where there are tons of cop drama movies, this one stands out pretty solidly.

I'm not a De Niro or Pacino fanboy, but this was one of those movies where you understand why they are actors of such high reguard.

And once again John Leguizamo proves my theory that I think he can play almost any role.

Bangkok Dangerous

I went and saw the new Nicholas Cage movie Bangkok Dangerous last night. Directed by the Pang brothers, it turns out this movie is a remake of their 1999 movie of the same name. I enjoyed the film, it tried to be something more than just a run of the mill hitman film and often succeeded. It wasn't the best film, but I liked it better than this year's X-Files movie.

As far as Nick Cage movies go, its on par with the National Treasure movies, rather than a Ghost Rider.

Dragon*Con 2008 Photos are up

I've uploaded photos from Dragon*Con 2008 to my Flickr site.

Check them out!

Studio Hybrid Site Refresh

I've updated my Studio Hybrid Anime Music Video site, removing the news section since this site will replace it. The original site will still cover my AMVs as well as cosplay and other anime fandom related topics.

I did this for two reasons, the first is that the site is just hard coded html, so I wasn't taking advantage of the more modern blogging tools and updating was a chore. Secondly, with the release of Dell's Studio Hybrid computer platform, my site doesn't pop up immediatly when searching.

Back from Dragon*Con

Dragon*Con was a blast, both fun and informative at the same time. Friendly people, tons of great costumes, and panels covering an amazing breath of subjects. Where else could you sit in on a panel about science based medicine, the impending doom of our planet (Phil Plaite's new book), cosplay costuming tips and Anime Music Video creation?

Baccano Swing didn't make it into the AMV Contest, not sure what criteria the judges used in their process. Oh well, can't win 'em all.