Rants And Raves From The Synthetic Samurai

Batman: The Black Mirror Review

I love Batman, I think he's one of the most interesting characters in literature. Everyone knows how miserable Gotham can be, how twisted it's criminals can be, and how dire Batman's situation can be. In the Black Mirror however, the focus, at least in the second half of the book shifts it's focus to Jim Gordon.

Jim Gordon, some might say, is a throw away character, just someone that helps ground Batman, a supporting character. Well in this book he gets the dire treatment. The story starts out with a familiar structure, a kid is bullied at school and at one point the bully gets his and batman is notified of a crime mystery that he has to figure out.

What makes Batman stories so good in my opinion is the mix between the super heroic stuff like diving off buildings and fighting great great villains like Joker and Two Face, and the mysteries that Batman has to solve. In the really good stories, their's a mystery that Batmna doesn't solve until the very end and everything ties together, and you understand things that you didn't understand in earlier pages of the book. Well, this book is one of the best stories of this kind.

The artwork is done by Jock and Francesco Francavilla. Their work blends amazingly, I love Jock's covers and the lighting and mood set in Jim Gordon's story by Francesco is really well done. bravo.

If you like any of Batman's detective stories like the Long Halloween you'll love this book.

4.5/5

Chris

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Jan 12

Persepolis review

Hey Hey,

So it's been very very long since my last post, a few big life events have happened since then, one, I got married, and two I moved into a new house. Add in Christmas and a new portfolio at syntheticsamurai.com and it's been a busy few months. I was hoping to replace this blog with one on my own site, but decided for now, I will keep this one.

So on to this review. I finally purchased and watched this film, it has been on my list for a while ever since the graphic novel came out.

I can't compare the adaption from the comic because I actually haven't read the comic. However this film is powerful. I actually felt really bad during this film.

Persepolis is an animated film revolving around a young Iranian girl and her life growing up during the Islamic revolution. It's the true story of director Marjane Statrapi's upbringing. The film tells of 'Marji' and her family trying to live in the middle of a war zone in the 70's. The back cover seems to suggest that the film is about Marji's rebellion and liking of alternative, and punk music in a conservative home, but this film is so much more.

Marji's story is one that will open your eyes to Iran and it's people and some of the misconceptions that not only Iran but any place may be faced with in today's world of half-truth's and twisted 'news' reports.

The animation is superb, at first I wasn't into it, it felt a bit rigid, but then I started to see what the animation style helps to convey in the story. The sometimes awkward movements to me, translates into the Marji's own awkwardness and loneliness.

The art style as a whole is breathless, the characters feel very much french and the scene's that have heavy shadow or are at night are very powerful in their minimalism.

The story is straight forward, if dealing with complex and sensitive situations. The film feels like an animated timeline from Marji's early life as an idealistic kid to her experiences with love, to her understanding of life in Iran and France and the development of her beliefs. Extraordinary work!

If you are into animation or want to watch a political or historical film dealing with war or independence or girl power even, watch Persepolis.

Overall 4.5/5

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Aug 25

Review - I Wonder What Human Flesh Tastes Like

This book is a collection of short stories written by Justin Isis. This is the first book by Justin Isis that I've read, and although it's a little rough around the edges, it is probably one of the best books I've read. It's subject matter goes from cannibalism, sexual fixation, incest, suicide, animal cruelty, murder, transsexuality and more.

The stories take place in Japan, and each one is 100% 21st century story telling. Each story is off-beat, and has an underground, almost taboo feel to them. Justin Isis writes with passion and immense imagination, his stories in this book border on the fringe and everyone of them has some kind of twist at the end, some kind of shock, but not for the sake of shock.

So how is this book 21st century story telling? well, read the title, it's pretty apparent that this is a forward thinking novelist, someone who is not afraid to write what he thinks. There's a story about twin girls that grew up vegetarians, their parents didn't eat meat and so they didn't either. One of the twins is grocery shopping and see's a woman buying meat from the butcher, she stares and wonders what the meat would taste like, and so forth. There's a story about two guys who love pop idols and when they see on the news that one of their favorites is caught smoking which could ruin her career they set out to find the photographer. Their are two stories that I seem to remember the most vivid however.

The first is about a woman who is sitting on a park bench staring at the pond in front of her, the story however is narrated by a man who approaches her and starts to talk to her about stuff, eventually they meet again at the same park bench and build a weird relationship. The second is about a kid who goes to school and meets another kid and they become friends, one day one of the kids gets beat up while his friend watches.

I'm not doing these stories any justice by my description but Justin's writing is raw but poetic, he seems to find that balance between self-indulgent prose and lucid story scripting. The things he writes were easily imagined by me, with details.

The best part of this book and Justin's writing style in it is that in each story the main character(s) have little epiphanies, little things that they realize, and each character seems to grow and be very different at the end of the story then they were at the beginning, this to me is great story telling, he's able to give the reader the same sense of wonder and awareness that his characters seem to have.

If I had to put a theme to these stories and unify them as a whole I would say that the overall theme would be that of obsession. Each story after I read it seemed to come back to this theme at some point, each story is different of course and deals with other themes and idea's but obsession seemed to keep coming back to me. Fantastic.

I feel very fortunate to have stumbled onto the review of this book, I never heard of Justin Isis or his work, and I probably never would have if it wasn't for this blog review, thanks to blog subscribing I now have experienced a great author's writing.

5/5

I really really loved his stories and I will be reading his other works, Justin's creativity and subject matter makes what he writes worth reading and it's not dumb gore and shock it's intelligent, it's culturally and politically aware, it's satirical, it's eerie and disturbing at times as well.

-Chris

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Aug 1

My Dog Shanty

I love dogs, man's best friend.

I've had a dog most of my life, and every time we would get a new dog, we would say that we will love it as much as we did the last one. We had an Australian Shepherd for many years, she passed away from a health complication. That complication changed the habits of some of my family, and so when came time to get another pet, we chose to give it to my Grandmother, I think it was to help her deal with the passing of our previous dog.

Grandma's dog is a Cocker Spaniel, she's almost 6 years old and her name is Shanty.

Because Grandma was home during the day, Shanty obviously, grew closer to her than the rest of us, we all love Shanty the same but Grandma and my mom were the one's that took care of Shanty most of the time.

Shanty really likes to sniff trees and explore around our area, there are a lot of dog owners where I live and we kind of all let our dogs off the leash every now and then.

Shanty also likes going to the grooming place, she seems to enjoy hanging with the other dogs, you know just kickin' it with her hommies. My grandmother loved Shanty a lot and Shanty really brought a lot of joy to her, and that's why Shanty is so special.

My Grandma like I'm sure most people her age, smoked cigarettes most of her life. Unfortunately she developed Cancer last year and had been battling with it for a while. There was a time where I thought she would make it through, and I personally thought that Shanty our little dog, who was so attached to my grandmother and vice versa would help lift her spirit and help her, somehow, through it, but unfortunately my Grandma passed away recently, and aside from my mom, I think Shanty took it the hardest.

You don't realize sometimes the power that animals have, or how much they understand about the world. I for one would take Shanty for granted sometimes, sometimes even getting annoyed at her barking when she'd see a squirrel or something out the window, but when my Grandma passed away, I noticed I was taking more interest in Shanty, for whatever reason she reminds me of my Grandma and how they both made each other happy.

Sometimes I would see Shanty just laying on the floor like she does, and I'll look at her and I know she knows what's going on, and I feel bad because I know she misses my Grandma, and so I would pet her and just try to let her know that she's not alone. Sometimes I would even hear Shanty in the middle of the night crying or whatever and it would really tear me up, so I would get up and talk to her and tell her it's ok and I know that she understood what I was saying.

Yesterday, we had a gathering at our place and I decided that I would finally take some shots of Shanty so, here's to my dog Shanty, one amazing dog.

-Chris

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Jul 23

Captain America review

I never liked Captain America.

I always thought he was too American for me. Me being a Canadian. I am a comic book fan, don't ever doubt that and I have been reading since i was 13 years old, and I know that Cap is an old character and I understand the context that he was created in. Jack Kirby (created Captain America) is a comic book God, and as of late I've been getting into the history of comics and reading about where some characters came from, why they were created and in what era, however, I still never liked Cap.

I never liked him as a character because when I started reading comics he was already out dated in his values, not to mention his costume, wow, so being 13 in the 90's while listening to Nirvana and Fear Factory, wearing plaid and reading Spawn, I'm going to relate to a guy who says "ma'am" and has a costume that looks like he wrapped himself in an american flag?

When Captain America was rebooted by Ed Brubaker I thought that he would change his costume but that didn't seem to happen and essentially the character stayed the same, for those who like Cap this was great news, but for those who did not, this didn't do anything to bring them over (although Brubaker's Captain America is an excellent run I'm told, I just haven't read it myself).

So three paragraphs of basically me hating on the character. So what about the actual film? Well, despite what I've just written and what you've just read, the film itself was really good. It's one of the better super hero films to come out. Chris Evans did an outstanding job portraying the character Steve Rogers, and he looked really good in the costume. Some of these films the actor looks out of place in the costume, but in this film he looked good. The costume itself is atrocious but the actor did a fine job making it his own.

The Red Skull character however, I have always liked. I've always liked the bad guys, and the Red Skull is one of those bad guys that doesn't seem out of place in the present day comics. He's old for sure, but he's a mean sob that is hellbent on world domination, and he thinks he's a god. Hugo Weaving did a great job portraying the character.

What I have come to really appreciate in these comic book films is the set design and environments, I'm noticing more and more details in each film and it's this stuff that I'm really enjoying. The special effects of course were top notch as usual, Marvel somehow always seems to get the CG stuff right, how they made Chris Evans look like a scrawny kid for almost half the film is something to congratulate them on.

Make sure to stay till after the credits of this film, there's something true comic fans will love!

4/5

Captain America is a really good super hero film, it stays true to the character, and hired all the right actors to play the parts, the CG is outstanding and the story, although an origin story, didn't feel like one. Even though I don't like Captain America as a character, this film deserves full marks for what it's achieved.

-Chris

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Jul 17

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2

That's got to be one of the longest movie titles I've ever had to read, write, or say in a while.

So the last Harry Potter film. Finally. Yes, I had a sense of relief come over me as I was walking into the theatre. This is what? number eight? Eight films about a little boy who becomes a little man and his friends and enemies who all play wizard in a (parralel?) world filled with magic and fantasy.

I like stats so i'm going to show some numbers, the first book was released in 1997, the last four books consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history. The films are the highest grossing film series in history, and collectively the Harry Potter brand is estimated to be worth over 15 billion.

So you could say it's a popular story.

I actually really like the Harry Potter films, I never read the books, admittedly I feel childish every time I go see a Harry Potter film, the first film came out when I was in my twenties, and even now I still see kids that look under the age of 10 in the theatres. Harry has grown up in those films, and I have enjoyed each film. I'm a fan of darker films, so I actually liked when the series went darker.

As for this final instalment, I would say it was slightly anti-climactic, the ending being not what I had expected. The effects and sense of the world as with the previous films was outstanding, and the visionaries that brought this imaginary world and all it's wonder to the screen all deserve a great deal of gratitude. However, it was no more apparent to me that Harry Potter is geared towards a youth audience then after seeing the final few scenes of this film. I felt a bit robbed, I felt a bit childish, and I felt like an idiot for getting into this film half way and caring yet again, about this group of kids and their adventures in wizard world.

The acting is on par with what you've seen in the other films, and by now I am completely used to seeing stubble on Harry's and Ron's face, and Hermione's cleavage. What I will always applaud is when a film franchise manages to keep it's principle actors for every film in the series, and Harry Potter with 800 films that came out managed this superbly, keeping not only the main actors but seemingly all the others.

I like Harry Potter, and although I probably won't be first in line for it, I will most likely be shelling out many dollars buying the special edition, complete boxed set of this series, this being my greatest compliment to the franchise.

4/5

The actual film was on par with the others in terms of quality of acting, set design, sound, effects, and everything else. How the story ends however, left me feeling ever so slightly cheated.

Chris

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Jul 4

Taste Test #37 - Tsaa Tea Shop

I'm not much of a tea guy. I'm not a starbucks hipster, I don't take my mac (ya I own a mac shut up!) to the coffee shop and stroke my beard and fix my glasses and spill ice cream mixed with caramel and some other bullshit coffee onto my lime green size small t-shirt with the ironic saying about something so obvious that it doesn't need to be on a t-shirt and is not ironic nor funny.

Heh. Ya, so I'm not THAT guy.

However, I do like this place, it's called Tsaa, and it's a nice little spot. Perfect for those Danforth hipsters but not high brow enough to deter ordinary folk like myself.

So what's so great about this place you say? well, for one they have a prime spot on the danforth, it's close to the subway but not like right beside it. They have a nice cozy atmosphere with a fire place no less. But the biggest reason you should get your tea and the like here: no pretentiousness.

That's right. The cut eye you get at your local spot, the over the top enthusiasm you get at starbucks nowhere to be found at Tsaa. They are genuine and they love tea. Seriously, go there and ask them, they love tea and love talking about tea.

It's a family owned business, and I'm proud to say that they are my friends.

They started up last summer and have been growing in popularity ever since. The deserts are amazing and they have a large variety.

But the tea is where it's at. Like I said, I'm not a big tea drinker, but every time I come to Tsaa, which is pretty often all things considered, I somehow always get a tea. They have this chocolate mint tea that is pretty amazing. It taste like a hot chocolate without the heaviness, mixed with mint, it's really good.

So go check out Tsaa, it's way better than wherever you're going to get tea right now, and the owners are super nice and genuine.

http://tsaateashop.com/

Overall 5/5

Honestly for a tea shop this place is set apart from the others, it's got a lounge area, feels like an indie starbucks without the fake-ness.

-Chris

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Jun 18

Green Lantern Review

First off, this film is better than what some of the review sites are telling you. Rottentomatoes.com gave it a 24%, ya, the "I know the basics of green lantern but nothing else" crowd certainly showed up to spew some hate on a film that does not deserve such a low rating.

Now I confess, I'm not the biggest GL fan, in fact I have yet to read any of the recent event books (brightest day / blackest night, sinestro corps war etc), however I have read some GL, mostly the modern books featuring Kyle Rayner as GL.

What's good about this film

-Ryan Reynolds was a perfect choice to play Hal Jordan, he's in excellent shape, has a great comedic timing, and can act.

-Blake Lively is the love interest...ya try hating on that.

-For those who don't know about GL, it's like a modern day star wars, can't ever go wrong with that

-There's 'too much CG' ya that's good in this case

-the notions of fear and will power were excellently used

What's bad about the film

-came out at a time when there is too much to compete with

-the essence of the character might be too 'out there' for casual viewers to appreciate

-the film tries to do a little too much

-the film doesn't really have a strong 'bad guy'

So one of the many criticisms was that the film was too much like all the other super hero films in terms of set up. Well ya man, it's an origin story and the writers of these films have the origin story down to a science. Let's see, you start off by showing some scenes that seemingly have nothing to do with main character, then some danger / tragedy happens, then cut to light-hearted average joe day with main character, then love interest is casually introduced, then maybe cuts to scenes of bad guy becoming bad guy, or scenes of the 'other world' in the case of films that have other worlds like Asgard in Thor. Then cuts to the discovery of main character to something that turns them into the hero, then some knowledge about what it is to be that hero, then some training, then a mini fight, then some soul searching, then big fight, then bad guy seemingly dies, but you don't know for sure, then happy ending.

GL follows this formula almost to a tee, and if you look at most of the comic book films' first film you can see this is pretty much how it runs. So ya, it's nothing new, but even spiderman followed this formula. So this isn't really something to frown upon, I mean it is but it isn't, you have to introduce the hero, the love interest, the villain, their motivation for being a villain, the universe and then show how the average joe handles being a hero and then some fighting etc. You have to show all that in the first film because there are more people who are casual watchers than there are who are hardcore fans, and you have to cater to everyone.

So this isn't a problem for me. The next issue that critics had was the amount of CG in the film. Ya when the costume of the hero including the face mask is CG you know there's a lot, but who cares? I mean really you're gonna bitch because there's too MUCH CG? the film's based off a guy who travels to other planets, talks to aliens regularly, and has a ring that can make whatever he imagines a reality. Ya I can see it now "no we need to keep this film real, so when you use the ring to create the gun, we're going to give you a real gun just painted green, that'll win over the viewer right?" This isn't batman, there's no 'realism' with GL it's science-fiction with super heroes.

So so far, critics seem to be just un-informed bigots who have seen one super hero film and have labeled every other to come after as 'redundant, over-stylized child's play' and not really worth their consideration.

However, if you really want to know the 'quality' of a character or franchise, wait for the second film. The first one is always a wash, it's the origin, but the second film will show you if it the franchise has legs, because now everyone is familiar with the characters and universe, so if the second film isn't compelling than you know it's a failure. The first film will always bring in audiences because a lot of people are curious about the hero "who's Green Lantern?".

Not all these super hero films can be batman begins, so if you're into comics at all, you'll appreciate Green Lantern, if you're not into comics but know superman and spiderman, and aren't an art house film snob and just want to be entertained you'll like this film too.

If you're an 'adult' and are looking for something to 'really make you think' then don't see this because you're not capable of having fun.

Overall 3/5

it's in the same 'quality' as fantastic four and thor. it's not batman begins or punisher, it's not gritty or 'real' it's a fun CG summer romp and unless you're looking to hate it you should enjoy it.

-Chris

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Jun 16

Chromebook laptop

Well, the new Chromebooks came out yesterday in the US. Oh you never heard of these? well, they're pc laptops with google chrome OS. Yep you read that right, GOOGLE CHROME OS. check out the link here

These pc laptops claim to boot in 8 seconds from power on to 'start doing stuff' and all your saved data is saved in the cloud instead of on the machine, it's got a new security system that uses multiple layers of security.

The Chromebook also is 'always connected' using Wi-Fi and 3G, and the 3G models include 100mb of free mobile data provided by the internet carrier, Verizon. They're also super affordable at $499 (US).

So you excited to buy one as much as I am? well, if you're like me, you live in Canada, and you're probably aware of the whole 'internet cap' thing that was hot news a few months ago...well, basically this great sounding product isn't available in Canada, and it doesn't seem like it'll get here any time soon.

So, ya, if you never heard of this product and are now interested in it, but also can't buy it because you're in Canada and are now mad at me for telling you about this product, well, sorry.

-Chris

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Jun 7

Picked Up Infamous 2

Went and got this at lunch today, considered just going home and playing, then remembered that I need money to buy the next game, and my job provides said money, so I went back to work.

This game has a bigger city than the first one, a more badass bad guy and cole keeps his powers from the first game and only gets stronger through this one....I loved loved loved Infamous, and so far it seems like I'm going to LOVE LOVE LOVE infamous 2.

-Chris

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Rants And Raves From The Synthetic Samurai

Batman: The Black Mirror Review

Persepolis review

Review - I Wonder What Human Flesh Tastes Like

My Dog Shanty

Captain America review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2

Taste Test #37 - Tsaa Tea Shop

Green Lantern Review

Chromebook laptop

Picked Up Infamous 2

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