I don't have cable right now so I'm rewatching old shows and movies. A lot of them are animated. Such is my way. I'd like to have a nobler reason for rewatching them--something like when James 
Let's say you're the newly-sentient internet. How would you decipher
the meaning of all the bits and bytes whizzing past you? And what about
the real world outside your electronic realm?
Former Comics Editor, Guy Leshinski
has very kindly given us permission to reprint a prophetic interview
with Bryan Lee O'Malley in 2005. Will Bryan Lee O'Malley attain the
Holy Grail of cartoonists? As Bryan says, "We'll see..."
Results tagged “YA” from The Cultural Gutter
Saturday Morning Happy Hour
Racial epithets. Topless women. Speeches interrupted by blowjobs. Steve Guttenberg.
Doesn't seem like fodder for a Saturday morning cartoon show. But in the late 80s the film Police Academy, which subjected viewers to such adult situations, spawned an animated series of the same name. Running for two seasons, the series featured the original franchise's characters--Mahoney, Tackleberry, Hightower, Hooks, Jones, Callahan - if not their voice talents.
Continue reading...
LEGO Harry Potter Trailer
Gamers and Harry Potter fans rejoice! It's the LEGO Harry Potter trailer! (thanks, Dan!)
Another Interview With Joe R. Lansdale
Spinetingle has an interview with Champion Mojo Storyteller, Joe R. Lansdale: "I don’t mind a stimulus for a story-do something noir, etc., but I like
to play with those expectations. Genre has its place.... But I don’t like genre to rule my
reading. If I had, I’d have never discovered how many different kinds of
writing and reading I like."
Even More Project: Rooftop Projects
Just as Project Runway has Models of the Runway, so too Project: Rooftop has spin-offs. Now there's features like: "All Ages All-Stars," redesigning superheroes for all ages (for example, Martian Manhunter); "How It's Done," spotlighting official superhero redesigns (like the Iron Man briefcase armor); and "Retrofix," giving Golden and Silver age comic characters a new look.
RIP Zelda Rubinstein
Actress Zelda Rubinstein has died after being taken off life support in L.A. last month. Most Gutter readers probably know her best as the psychic in Poltergeist, but she also starred in movies like Anguish, Sixteen Candles and Southland Tales. She was a human rights activist and also a lab tech, so pour 1L for a righteous sister.
10 Comics I Liked in 2009
It's that time of year when writers
list the year's best things. This year, some people are listing the
decade's best. And, oh, my temples ache because if there's someone
who manages to read every comic every year for a decade, let alone
every comic setting fans a-twitter, that someone's not me.
Continue reading...
Talking More Twilight
Gabe Lezra hits a nerve when he writes about the white man's burden in Twilight and New Moon and wonders why there's no Team Bella and the comments at The Wesleyan Argus are all kerfuffled.
"My First Book of Noir"
People in the 1950s knew what was important, getting their children reading noir young: "'Mom was right!' Sweat Weasel thought. 'I am the world's worst blackmailer ever!'"
"If Not For Brent Spiner, I'd Be Illiterate
LeVar Burton isn' t the only bridge between Star Trek and the reading rainbow. Dan at Faust's Fantastically Fantasmagoric Forum explains how a media tie-in novel, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Metamorphosis transformed him into a reader.
RIP John Hughes
Stepanie Zacharek looks over John Hughes' complicated, heartfelt and well-targeted movie legacy.
We Need to Talk
I’ve put it off long enough. Thought, ‘We can get into that later’, and ‘I should wait till the fuss dies down a little’. But truth is, we’re overdue. It’s time we talked.
About Twilight
Continue reading...
Slog Scans
Scans of Dave McKean's artwork for The Slog (written by David Almond) look a little slicker than his work for Neil Gaiman on Punch and Judy and The Sandman.
Where the Wild Things Are
Filmopia sights the trailer for Spike Jonze' Where The Wild Things Are.
Coloring Book, Blood Red
"[W]hat if there was a way to get the youth of today in on all the polygonal war recreations that modern gaming has been nice enough to bring us, but without getting their precious little mitts all bloody?" That would be the Call of Duty Activity Book For Kids. (via Adult Swim)
Follow-Up Visit
I love shiny new things. I’m also getting more ruthless about my time than I used
to be. Those competing impulses get resolved in a simple activity that everyone does naturally: following writers who have proved themselves in the past. On that note, here are a few follow-up visits to Gutter pieces of the past. What's been going on with the best stuff of the last few years?
Continue reading...
Yatterman!
Takashi Miike follows up his smart and fancy family films Great Yokai War and Zebraman with Yatterman. Looks promising--there's a giant dog robot and a lot of leather. (What the hell, trailers for GYW and Zebraman, too).
The Nature of the Hero, Rowling-Style
A few months ago, I decided to take the plunge: I would burn through the Harry Potter series, now complete, all in one go. It's been... interesting. I've discovered all kinds of things I had not realized before, including the fact that Harry is - to put it diplomatically - not a particularly effective hero.
Continue reading...
Coraline's Crafty Marketing
Artsy craftiness prevails in Coraline's marketing with sweater patterns, secret handmade boxes, sheet music and a cat puppet.
Presidential Futurism
Slate surveys African-American presidents in tv and film--with clips! Salon looks at "Black Presidents We Have Known," looking at DW Griffith, the year 2228, Sammy Davis, Jr. and 24 along the way. Meanwhile, Io9 urges you to choose Nixon as your dystopian president. (updated!)
23 Variations on the Vampire
From Sesame Street's the Count to Swamp Thing's aquatic vampires to The Lost Boys, hopping vampires and Richard Matheson, the AV Club has 23 variations on the vampire.
Saturday Morning Happy Hour
Racial epithets. Topless women. Speeches interrupted by blowjobs. Steve Guttenberg.
Doesn't seem like fodder for a Saturday morning cartoon show. But in the late 80s the film Police Academy, which subjected viewers to such adult situations, spawned an animated series of the same name. Running for two seasons, the series featured the original franchise's characters--Mahoney, Tackleberry, Hightower, Hooks, Jones, Callahan - if not their voice talents.
Continue reading...LEGO Harry Potter Trailer
Gamers and Harry Potter fans rejoice! It's the LEGO Harry Potter trailer! (thanks, Dan!)Another Interview With Joe R. Lansdale
Spinetingle has an interview with Champion Mojo Storyteller, Joe R. Lansdale: "I don’t mind a stimulus for a story-do something noir, etc., but I like to play with those expectations. Genre has its place.... But I don’t like genre to rule my reading. If I had, I’d have never discovered how many different kinds of writing and reading I like."Even More Project: Rooftop Projects
Just as Project Runway has Models of the Runway, so too Project: Rooftop has spin-offs. Now there's features like: "All Ages All-Stars," redesigning superheroes for all ages (for example, Martian Manhunter); "How It's Done," spotlighting official superhero redesigns (like the Iron Man briefcase armor); and "Retrofix," giving Golden and Silver age comic characters a new look.RIP Zelda Rubinstein
Actress Zelda Rubinstein has died after being taken off life support in L.A. last month. Most Gutter readers probably know her best as the psychic in Poltergeist, but she also starred in movies like Anguish, Sixteen Candles and Southland Tales. She was a human rights activist and also a lab tech, so pour 1L for a righteous sister.10 Comics I Liked in 2009
It's that time of year when writers
list the year's best things. This year, some people are listing the
decade's best. And, oh, my temples ache because if there's someone
who manages to read every comic every year for a decade, let alone
every comic setting fans a-twitter, that someone's not me.
Talking More Twilight
Gabe Lezra hits a nerve when he writes about the white man's burden in Twilight and New Moon and wonders why there's no Team Bella and the comments at The Wesleyan Argus are all kerfuffled."My First Book of Noir"
People in the 1950s knew what was important, getting their children reading noir young: "'Mom was right!' Sweat Weasel thought. 'I am the world's worst blackmailer ever!'""If Not For Brent Spiner, I'd Be Illiterate
LeVar Burton isn' t the only bridge between Star Trek and the reading rainbow. Dan at Faust's Fantastically Fantasmagoric Forum explains how a media tie-in novel, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Metamorphosis transformed him into a reader.RIP John Hughes
Stepanie Zacharek looks over John Hughes' complicated, heartfelt and well-targeted movie legacy.We Need to Talk
I’ve put it off long enough. Thought, ‘We can get into that later’, and ‘I should wait till the fuss dies down a little’. But truth is, we’re overdue. It’s time we talked.
About Twilight
Continue reading...Slog Scans
Scans of Dave McKean's artwork for The Slog (written by David Almond) look a little slicker than his work for Neil Gaiman on Punch and Judy and The Sandman.Where the Wild Things Are
Filmopia sights the trailer for Spike Jonze' Where The Wild Things Are.Coloring Book, Blood Red
"[W]hat if there was a way to get the youth of today in on all the polygonal war recreations that modern gaming has been nice enough to bring us, but without getting their precious little mitts all bloody?" That would be the Call of Duty Activity Book For Kids. (via Adult Swim)Follow-Up Visit
I love shiny new things. I’m also getting more ruthless about my time than I used
to be. Those competing impulses get resolved in a simple activity that everyone does naturally: following writers who have proved themselves in the past. On that note, here are a few follow-up visits to Gutter pieces of the past. What's been going on with the best stuff of the last few years?
Yatterman!
Takashi Miike follows up his smart and fancy family films Great Yokai War and Zebraman with Yatterman. Looks promising--there's a giant dog robot and a lot of leather. (What the hell, trailers for GYW and Zebraman, too).The Nature of the Hero, Rowling-Style
A few months ago, I decided to take the plunge: I would burn through the Harry Potter series, now complete, all in one go. It's been... interesting. I've discovered all kinds of things I had not realized before, including the fact that Harry is - to put it diplomatically - not a particularly effective hero.Continue reading...
Coraline's Crafty Marketing
Artsy craftiness prevails in Coraline's marketing with sweater patterns, secret handmade boxes, sheet music and a cat puppet.
Presidential Futurism
Slate surveys African-American presidents in tv and film--with clips! Salon looks at "Black Presidents We Have Known," looking at DW Griffith, the year 2228, Sammy Davis, Jr. and 24 along the way. Meanwhile, Io9 urges you to choose Nixon as your dystopian president. (updated!)23 Variations on the Vampire
From Sesame Street's the Count to Swamp Thing's aquatic vampires to The Lost Boys, hopping vampires and Richard Matheson, the AV Club has 23 variations on the vampire.