Next Club Meeting: April 20, 2024, at the Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

The Animatrix Network is an anime & manga fan club located in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. We usually meet on the third Saturday of each month (except when holidays or conventions coincide). The meetings are free and open to the public. Join us for a day filled with anime.

This site provides news, reviews, commentaries, and previews of the world of anime and everything it inspires, such as live-action films, comics, music, art, and other weird things to enjoy and contemplate.

Monday, October 31, 2011

This is Halloween!

'Tis the Season to Scare!

Kakurenbo - Hide and Seek

When fun and games turns to Terror...

Its time to Hide or Seek!
The film is based around "Otokoyo", a game of hide and seek played by children, wearing fox masks, near the ruins of an abandoned old city. The children who play this disappear, believed to be spirited away by demons. Kakurenbo follows Hikora, a boy who joins the game with hopes of finding his missing sister, Sorincha. The storyline is built on the idea that Tokyo is losing its natural aesthetic, which includes child's games such as hide and seek in order for industrial progress to ensue i.e. lighting the city of Tokyo costing innocence of childhood games.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Disney's Trick or Treat

Classic Animation
[Source: Wikipedia] Trick or Treat is a 1952 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon, which takes place on Halloween night, follows a series of pranks between Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie who are aided by Witch Hazel. The film was directed by Jack Hannah and features the voices of Clarence Nash as Donald and his nephews, and June Foray as Hazel. The film introduced the song "Trick or Treat for Halloween" which was written by Paul J. Smith.

The film opens with the song "Trick or Treat for Halloween," the lyrics of which tell the story's lesson – one must be generous on Halloween or face trouble.

One Halloween night, Witch Hazel observes Huey, Duey, and Louie going trick-or-treating. The trio, dressed as a ghost, a devil, and a wizard, go up to the door of their uncle Donald Duck's house under a covered porch and ring the bell. But instead of giving them the traditional candy, Donald explodes firecrackers in their bags, then pulls a string leading to a rigged bucket of water hanging under the porch roof and tips it on the boys. Donald laughs, and the discouraged nephews go and sit on the curb.

But Hazel, who was secretly watching the drama unfold, tries to comfort the boys. When she discovers that they believe in "real witches," she decides to help them get their treats from Donald after all. At first Hazel tries to convince Donald herself, but he dumps another bucket of water on her. Realizing that the job may be harder than she thought, she turns to her magic.

At another location, the nephews watch Hazel concoct a magic potion in a large cauldron. In a scene paying homage to Shakespeare's MacBeth (see Three Witches), Hazel adds ingredients somewhat toned down from the play. ("Eye of needle, tongue of shoe, hand of clock that points at two!" etc.) Hazel fills a spray bottle of the potion and returns to Donald's house with the nephews.

Hazel sprays a Jack-o'-lantern and three fence posts with the potion and they become an animated chorus singing the theme song. A terrified Donald instantly agrees to treat the boys, but when Hazel refers to him as a pushover, he changes his mind. Donald locks his pantry and swallows the key. Hazel then uses the potion on Donald's feet, and commands them to "kick out that key." But when the key is kicked out, Donald throws it under the pantry door. Hazel then orders Donald's feet to "smash that door down" with Donald. After several attempts, Donald finally breaks down the pantry door and is left unconscious on the floor.

In the end, Huey, Duey, and Louie collect their treats and Hazel departs. A final shot shows the enchanted Jack-o'lantern suddenly pop onto the screen saying "Boo!"

Saturday, October 29, 2011

DyE "Fantasy" - Official Video by JEREMIE PERIN

Most Disturbing Music Video in Years...
WARNING: Mature Images, WTF, NSFW
Tigersushi and Excuse My French are pleased to present the new video for DyE's new single, Fantasy. Directed by animation wunderkind Jérémie Périn, the video tells the story of a group of highschool kids ready for teenage mischief. They break into the local swimming pool intending a session of innocent nightswimming, in an awkward climate of romance and apprehension. What happens next is for you to discover here...

Behind Closed Doors

A Monstrous Aniboom Animation

Troubled by his parents fighting and haunted by the monster that dwells in his bedroom closet - Gregory must confront his demons and defeat the true evil that exists behind closed doors.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Halloween Light Show 2011

This Is Halloween!

At the Mountains of Madness

A Cthulhu Film
 
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
This short animated film is based on the novella by H.P. Lovecraft. The story is written in first-person perspective by the geologist William Dyer, a professor at Miskatonic University. He writes to disclose hitherto unknown and closely kept secrets in the hope that he can deter a planned and much publicized scientific expedition to Antarctica. On a previous expedition there, a party of scholars from Miskatonic University, led by Dyer, discovered fantastic and horrific ruins and a dangerous secret beyond a range of mountains higher than the Himalayas. The group that discovered and crossed the mountains found the remains of fourteen ancient life forms; completely unknown to science and unidentifiable as either plants or animals. Six of the specimens are badly damaged and the others uncannily pristine. Their highly-evolved features are problematic: their stratum location puts them at a point on the geologic time scale much too early for such features to have naturally evolved yet. Because of their resemblance to creatures of myth mentioned in the Necronomicon, they are dubbed the "Elder Things".

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Redline Anime's English Dub Trailer

UPDATE: on DVD and Blu-ray January 17, 2012

Vampire's Crown

A Dental Aniboom Animation

A grumpy vampire has a toothache and takes a visit to the dentist. He is tempted to bite the sexy dentist, and tries to go for it after she fits a gold crown on his fang.

Monday, October 24, 2011

The Costumes of BlizzCon 2011

Fans of Blizzard Entertainment Unite!
[Source: Yahoo.com] Well, it's that time of year again. Time for BlizzCon -- the annual gathering in Anaheim, California, where fans celebrate the massively successful WarCraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises created by Blizzard Entertainment. And BlizzCon means costumes. An intrepid photographer has captured snapshots of the wildest and winningest costumes to grace the Anaheim event this year. Click through to see them all! (Photos by Derick Tortorella)
 

Scary Cakes!

Edible Horrors that are more Tricks than Treats...

Friday, October 21, 2011

Young Justice

Episode 14 - "Revelation"
October 1: When Plant Creatures attack major cities around the world, the team is eager to join the fight alongside the Justice League. Instead, Batman assigns them a still more dangerous task which is taking out the Plant Creatures' masters: a secret society of super-villains called the Injustice League, consisting of The Joker, Count Vertigo, Poison Ivy, Atomic Skull, Wotan, Black Adam, and Ultra Humanite. In the end, it is revealed to the audience that the Injustice League are a public fall guy for "The Light" consisting of Vandal Savage, Ra's al Ghul, Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, Ocean Master, Klarion the Witch Boy, and The Brain who were truly behind what has occurred all season.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

New York Comic Con 2011 coverage

Dayside TV's coverage of NY Comic Con 2011
The 2011 New York Comic-Con took place last weekend. Here are some highlights...

Snarkiest Star Wars T-shirt on the Web

"Show Us on the Trilogy Where George Hurt You"

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

iHOBBY EXPO

America's Largest Model & Hobby Show
October 22 & 23, 2011 - Rosemont, IL
Final Show in Chicago
iHobby Expo is moving to Cleveland starting in 2012. Don't miss your opportunity to see the World's Largest Annual Model and Hobby Show before it leaves the Chicago area. This will be iHobby Expo's last and best appearance in Chicago!

iHobby Expo 2011 - America's Largest Model and Hobby Show - The Quick facts:

WHAT: iHobby Expo is the largest hobby show in the country featuring over 500 booths and 250,000 sqft of attractions. It is a fun show for all ages where you can fly planes, race cars, run trains, battle robots and much more.

WHERE: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center 5555 N River Road Rosemont, IL.

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday October 22nd and 23rd, 2011 from 10am to 5pm.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: The entire family will enjoy this fun show.

WHY ATTEND: You can see over 500 booths of hobby exhibits. The are attractions for all ages. It is the most fun you'll ever have indoors.

HOW MUCH: Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for Seniors over 65 and CHILDREN ARE FREE!
 
SPECIAL LIMITED OFFER - VIP Access!
For the first time iHobby Expo will allow a limited number of people to purchase a VIP pass which will provide admission on both Saturday & Sunday. In addition it will allow access on Friday from 10am to 5pm during times normally restricted to just industry members. There are only 500 of these special VIP passes available and they are being sold on a first come first served basis.
 
For more information Click here

New Poster For Disney's Release of "Arrietty"

Coming February 17th, 2012
[Source: AICN.com] Disney's latest promo art for their North American release of Studio Ghibli's acclaimed The Secret World of Arrietty. The Hiromasa Yonebayashi directed movie, also known as Arrietty the Borrower, adapts Mary Norton's novel The Borrowers, about the little people secretly living in human dwellings. Studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki wrote the film's script.
Trailer from the UK release, which features a different dub cast than the American.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Newsletter - October 2011

October 2011
News Collected and Edited by Octavio Soto

Ranma 1/2 Manga Gets Live-Action Special with Yui Aragaki posted on 2011-09-26 13:08 EDT  
Kento Kaku, Natsuna to play Ranma's male/female sides in 2-hour December special
A live-action television adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma ½ martial arts comedy manga will air this December as a two-hour special on Japan's NTV network. Yui Aragaki (Digimon: Data Squad, Koizora) will play Akane Tendō, and Kento Kaku (Paradise Kiss, Gokusen) and Natsuna (Gantz) will play the dual male/female sides of the title character Ranma Saotome.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Running Man (1989)

The Classic Anime Re-released to a New Generation
(Click to watch video)
Zach Hugh is the king of the dangerous sport of Arena Racing at a venue called The Circus. Drivers push jet powered hovercraft and themselves to the limit as they race around a track to the delight of spectators who place bets on, among other things, the odds of the drivers dying. It is a sport which leaves most competitors burned out or dead within a year, yet he has remained champion for a decade. A sports reporter sent to interview him about his longevity discovers the dark secret of his success: he has telekinetic powers and uses them to destroy his rivals vehicles. Sitting in the command center where a team monitors the status of Hugh's vehicle and health, he watches him claim another victory... and keep racing. His monitors indicate that has died, yet he races on, challenged by the spirits of those he killed until he himself is finally destroyed. The reporter then explains that The Circus closed shortly after that final race. The fans finally saw what they'd wanted to see for all those years. A visually stunning meditation on the law of karma, and a warning on the danger of the "win at any cost" mentality. While disturbing at points, it is one of the most gorgeous pieces of anime ever done and some of Yoshiaki Kawajiri's finest work.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Kimi ni Todoke

"From Me to You"
Sawako Kuronuma has had a difficult time fitting in. Is it her long black hair, her hushed manner of speaking, or is it her name's similarity to Sadako, a character from a popular Japanese horror series? On her first day of high school, Sawako meets the one boy who treats her like a normal girl—Shota Kazehaya. Through his selfless aid, Sawako slowly learns to come out of her shell and even begins to make friends for the first time in her life. However, with a new social life come social pressures. Rumors begin to circulate about her, her friends, and even the kindhearted Kazehaya. As she grows into her new identity, Sawako must learn to deal with such pressures as well as start to understand the unfamiliar feelings inside of her, especially in regards to the boy who made her new start possible.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Animatrix Theater Presents: REDLINE

The Wildest Race in the Galaxy...
Watch the entire movie here

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Young Justice

Episode 12 - "Homefront"

September 22: When Mount Justice itself is attacked by two "relatives" of Red Tornado called Red Inferno and Red Torpedo, Artemis and Robin (the two teens without super-powers) must save the team from the unknown invaders.

NOTE: Bette Kane and Barbara Gordon make small appearances in this episode as students at Gotham Academy with Artemis and Robin.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Motivational Poster - Awesome

Fate/Zero

Promo Video

The second promotional video for the upcoming anime series Fate/Zero, a prequel of Fate/Stay Night.

Newsletter

August - September 2011
News Collected and Edited by Octavio Soto

Iron Vendetta Robot Anime Production Put on Hold posted on 2011-08-13 06:00 EDT
Ankama Japan division's dissolution cited for halt on former dōjin robot anime
The staff of the Iron Vendetta (Kōtetsu no Vendetta) military robot anime project confirmed in a Thursday blog entry that the project is on hold due to the dissolution of the production division of its sponsor Ankama Japan. As a result, the release of the anime's episode 0 is now unscheduled. The staff is looking for a new sponsor, and the members are manning a booth at the semiannual Comic Market event — just as they have had since they started the project, before Ankama Japan agreed to sponsor it. The staff members thanked their fans for their email messages of support and expressed their desire to continue with project. The project began as a series of dōjin (self-published) shorts by the unit Thumbnail, but the Japanese arm of the French company Ankama Games agreed to produce the anime. The voice cast would have included Ami Koshimizu as the heroine Rain Yashima and Rie Kugimiya as Flor.

Hulu to Launch Subscription Streams in Japan This Year posted on 2011-08-13 22:14 EDT
The online video service Hulu announced that it will launch a subscription service in Japan later this year — its "first international expansion." Hulu will offer films and television shows on personal computers, televisions, mobile phones, and tablets. The Hulu announcement did not give any more specific details about the Japanese launch, but described its move into the country as meeting an “unfulfilled market need with respect to premium film and TV content."

Hulu also announced that it opened Tokyo offices with a Japanese staff designing and running the new service, which will be tailored for Japanese customers.

Quake Charity Miku Figure Delayed in Overseas Shipping posted on 2011-08-13 22:17 EDT

The figurine manufacturer Good Smile Company apologized about delays in delivering its “Nendoroid Miku Hatsune: Cheerful (Support) Ver.” figurines, which may not arrive in some countries until mid-October. Good Smile said that the delays were caused when the figurines were accidentally sent by surface mail, whereas they were supposed to be sent by Express Mail Service (EMS). Express Mail takes about 10 days, but surface mail can take three months. (The Miku Hatsune figures were shipped by surface mail in July.)

As international orders were charged 2,000 yen (US$26) for EMS delivery, this fee will be refunded to credit cards or PayPal accounts depending on how the original payment was made. The refunds will start on August 11 and should be completed in a few days, the company said. Any figures that turn out to be damaged during the surface delivery will be replaced. As of August 10, surface mail packages have started arriving in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. However, other countries may have to wait until mid-October. Good Smile will update its website as the deliveries come through.

The company promised that all future shipping from its online shop will be sent by Express Mail. It said in its statement that, “We wish to extend our apologies to everyone who ordered the figure, there is no excuse for the error we have made.”

New Mari Iijima Songs to Air on Tennessee Radio Tuesday posted on 2011-08-13 23:18 EDT

Four new songs by Mari Iijima, the voice of Lynn Minmay in the Macross anime franchise, will air and stream on the radio show Battle Fever on the Tennessee college radio station 88.3 WMTS on Tuesday, August 16. The songs are from Iijima's new EP recording, 2 Seconds of Infinity. The broadcast will be from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m CDT, with two songs aired back-to-back each hour at around 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Listeners in the Murfreesboro area can tune-in to 88.3 FM, and worldwide listeners can find the stream at http://wmts.org.

Attendance Dropped by 20,000 at Comic Market 80 posted on 2011-08-14 23:57 EDT
An estimated 200,000 people came to the third day of this year's Comic Market 80 event in Tokyo on Friday, tying the record for the most visitors on one day. However, the total attendance for this summer's event was 540,000, compared to the 560,000 that came to the Summer Comic Market events of 2009 and 2010. The 20,000-visitor decline is the largest year-to-year drop for a summer Comic Market since 2006's Comic Market 70 (430,000 visitors) attracted 50,000 fewer people than the previous summer's event. The event organizers cited the effects of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake (Higashi Nihon Daishinsai) disaster. Comic Market 81 will take place at the same Tokyo Big Sight event center from December 29 to 31. (A person who came to all three days of Comic Market would be counted three times, under the tallying system it uses.)

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Anime Programming Schedule for Oct. 8, 2011

Say Hello to Fall!
NOTE: We are returning to Building K, Room 131, as well as to our regular time of Noon to 8:00 pm for the rest of the year.

Noon - 12:50   Dragon Crisis 5-6
[Source: Wikipedia] A normal high school boy Ryūji Kisaragi's peaceful life is turned into an adventure by the return of his second cousin, Eriko, a sexy young woman with a penchant for adventure and trouble. Ryūji and Eriko seize a relic box from a black market broker named FANG. In the box, they find a red dragon girl whom Ryūji names Rose because of her rose like pattern on her left hand. In order to protect Rose from the black organization, Ryūji decides to fight using his power as a relic handler. High school student Ryuji's older cousin Eriko returns from abroad to drag him to the scene of an underground transaction where he gets caught up in a shootout and car chase. While they thought they had stolen a miraculous Lost Precious from the criminal brokers, they ended up with a mysterious young girl. The young girl happily latches on to Ryuji even though they have never met. Who is this little girl? Thus begins the romantic story of the beautiful young Rose and Ryuji. Rose, Ryuji and Eriko are suddenly invited to the Japanese branch of the society by a researcher named Tokura. While Rose is indistinguishable from a young girl, the society performs a variety of examinations after hearing she is a dragon, and the results are...! Unconcerned by her situation, Rose is simply happy to be with Ryuji, and enjoys eating ice cream. However, a young man in black and an underground broker has come for Rose!

12:50 - 2:05  Fractale 9-11 (end)
[Source: Wikipedia] The story takes place on an island resembling a futuristic Ireland (certain scenes are directly taken from Galway city in the west of Ireland), in a world ruled by the "Fractale System" that ensures mankind's stability and prosperity. One day, Clain meets a fleeing girl called Phryne, who disappears during the night leaving a pendant. When he is able to activate the pendant (which turns into a "doppel" named Nessa), Clain sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret behind the Fractale System. After the destruction of the Temple base and the continued deterioration of Fractale, the Temple begins attacking the home villages of the Lost Millennium factions. While the faction leaders meeting to discuss what to do, Dias informs them that Sunda possess the "key" to restarting Fractale. Viewing the Temple as backed into a corner, the factions agree to Dias's plan to join forces and attack the Temple and destroy Fractale. Meanwhile Phryne tells Clain the truth about Nessa and herself and how they must eventually become one in order to restart Fractale. Although Clain wants to join Sunda in the attack on the Temple, Sunda instructs Clain to stay behind instead and protect both Nessa and Phryne. However, the night before the attack, Phryne sneaks out and returns to the Temple to put a stop to everything. When Clain and Nessa discover Phryne missing, they set out after her. Clain and Nessa catches up with Sunda and tells him that Phryne had returned to the Temple. While Phryne confronts Archpriestess Moeran, Sunda and Clain take a mini-airship and enter the Temple. But Moeran, who is also a clone, hates Phryne because of the younger's greater importance and attempts to strangle Phryne. Meanwhile, Nessa, who remained on the Danan, begins to lose form. After a message from Dias, Enri decides to enter the Temple with Nessa so that they can join Clain and Phryne. Phryne escapes from Moeran during the commotion while Clain, Sunda, Enri, Nessa, and Dias meet up. Although Dias encourages Clain and Nessa to search for Phryne, his real goal is to kill Phryne. Phryne encounters Dias's soldiers but barely escapes before finding Clain and Nessa on the other side of a transparent wall. However, Barrot appears on Phryne's side and claims that he and Phryne are bound together.

2:05 - 2:55    Appleseed XIII eps. 1-2
[Source: Wikipedia] Appleseed XIII (アップルシード XIII Appurushīdo Sātīn?) is a 2011 Japanese CGI anime adaptation of Masamune Shirow's science fiction manga series Appleseed. Composed of 13 episodes, the series is a retelling of the exploits of E.S.W.A.T. member Deunan and her cyborg partner Briareos. The series is produced by Jinni's Animation Studios in association with Production I.G and under the direction of Takayuki Hamana with Junichi Fujisaku as script supervisor. In the wake of the destruction of a worldwide non-nuclear war, the city Olympus has become the control center of the world. Run by Bioroids (cloned humans made from only the best DNA), it is defended from terrorists by special military forces. Among these are former LAPD SWAT member Deunan Knotts and her multipurpose cyborg partner Brialeos. They face a challenge from the Human Liberation Front and its terrorist underbelly the Argonauts. The leader of this group, Al Ceides, supposedly died 20 years ago in an attack on Poseidon, but now his shadow emerges once again.

2:55 - 3:45   Deadman Wonderland 9-10
[Source: Wikipedia] After recalling the time she joined Scar Chain, Karako defends herself from the acid spewing robot and destroys it, falling down with it. Meanwhile, Nagi is betrayed by Rokudo and confronted by an Undertaker named Hibana Daida, who uses a special weapon to neutralize his Branches of Sin. As Hibana starts slicing off bits of Nagi's flesh, he provokes her into chopping off his arm, giving him the opportunity to activate the elevator Ganta's group needs to take. However, Ganta's group is confronted by Genkaku and his men, leaving only Ganta and a few others left alive to carry the chip containing the information. Whilst bleeding to death, Nagi makes a call to the hideout, which is heard by Shiro who catches up to Ganta and throws the chip into a fire. Ganta becomes angry at Shiro for throwing away the data chip, telling her he never wants to see her again. Meanwhile, Mikuni investigates Tamaki's office, overhearing a conversation between him and the Defense secretary concerning the Deadmen. As Karako and the others discuss their next plan, Rokuro appears and reveals the data chip was actually a bomb he had made before announcing that the group is being held hostage unless Nagi agrees to become an Undertaker. As Rokuro decides to execute Ganta first, Crow appears on the scene, managing to fight back against the Undertakers using sonic blasts. As Shiro laments her situation with Ganta, she meets Toto "Mockingbird" Sakigami, the one who told her about the bomb.

3:45 - 4:45    Club Meeting and Announcements
Wonder Woman Pilot Review
-  Animation News from around the world
-  Cosplayers
/Skits/Masquerade
-  New Anime Releases

-  And other interesting stuff...


4:45 - 5:10    Kamisama no Memo-chou 3
[Source: Wikipedia] Narumi Fujishima is an ordinary high school boy who remains isolated from his fellow classmates. One afternoon fellow classmate Ayaka Shinozaki invites Narumi to join the gardening club and introduces him to a reclusive detective named Alice. Alice hires Narumi as an assistant and puts him to work solving the strange mysteries of Angel fix, an illegal drug. Little does he know it could put him and Ayaka in serious trouble. Alice is a mysterious girl who lives on the third floor over Hanamaru ramen shop. Her age is unknown, but looks like a 12 or 13 years-old girl. She is short, pale white and has long black hair. She calls herself Alice (a mixed reading of the kanji for Yūko) and a "NEET Detective". She is a hikikomori and a cracking genius. Her diet is based practically only on Dr Pepper and she suffers a severe insomnia. She always wears bear patterned pajamas and she is always surrounded by a pile of teddy bears. She is the brain of the NEET Detective Team and gathers information to solve the cases with her laptop without stepping out of her bedroom.
  
5:10 - 6:00    Gosick 12-13
[Source: Wikipedia] Gosick takes place in 1924 in a small, French-speaking fictional European country of Sauville. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, the third son of a Japanese Imperial soldier, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends and horror stories are all the rage. There he meets Victorique, a mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading the entire content of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can't solve. The series mostly focuses on Kazuya and Victorique getting involved in different mystery cases and their struggle to solve them, at the same time forming important bonds with different people. Everybody in school is preparing for their summer vacation. Kujo has turned down his vacation trip with Avril to stay with Victorique. During his quiet days with her, Kujo has a flash back of his childhood and his reasons to leave Japan to study abroad. Kujo and Avril explore one of the school's towers and Avril figures that it is related to the legend of Leviathan, an alchemist who lived there decades before. Victorique stumbles on a pop-up book containing a cryptic message allegedly from Leviathan himself and when a death occurs at the top of the tower, she decides to investigate by herself.


FEATURE PRESENTATION:
6:00 - 7:50    Redline [MOVIE]
[Source: Wikipedia] Following his dream, "Sweet" JP becomes a racer and gains a large following because of his retro-style sense of fashion and his frequent and spectacular crashes toward the ends of his races. He gets by with money the mob pays him for losing, although he is out on bail for something possibly related to match-fixing. During a qualification race called the Yellowline, JP's engine explodes. On the verge of giving up, he learns that, by popular vote, he has qualified for the prestigious no-rules race called Redline after two other drivers dropped out. The reason behind this is that the government of Roboworld, the military planet the race is to take place on, is opposed to the race and has threatened anyone participating with death. JP participates in Redline in spite of the danger.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Steve Jobs Passes Away

Apple and Pixar Chief Executive, 1955 - 2011
[Source: ToonZone.net] Steven P. Jobs, former CEO of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios, passed away on Wednesday in Palo Alto, CA, at the age of 56 after a long struggle with cancer. In 1976, Jobs and Steve Wozniak launched Apple Computer, becoming instrumental in launching the personal computer revolution and began a career as a major influence in the industry. Jobs oversaw the development of the Macintosh, released in 1984, which was the first mass-market computer with a graphical user interface, but was ousted from Apple only one year later. His return to the company in 1996 led to a revival of the company's fortunes, and under Jobs' second tenure, the company produced iconic computing hardware including the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad.

After his departure from Apple, Jobs founded NeXT Computer and purchased an underused computer graphics department from George Lucas' Lucasfilm. The department became Pixar Animation Studios, which released the first CGI feature film Toy Story in 1995 and has become the gold standard in the industry for both techincal and storytelling achievements. The protracted feud between Pixar and Disney CEO Michael Eisner over the two companies' distribution deal ended in 2006 when Disney purchased Pixar in a deal valued at $7.4 billion, which also made Jobs the largest shareholder in Disney.

Guilty Crown - Trailer

After the outbreak of the unidentified virus "Lost Christmas" in 2029, Japan has been under the control of a multi-nation organization called GHQ. Ohma Shu is a 17 year old boy who has a psychic power in his right hand. He can use the power "Ability of King" to extract tools or weapons from his friends. He has been avoiding making trouble for others but his life changes when he meets a girl Yuzuriha Inori, a member of a resistance guerrilla group called "Undertaker", whose members pilot mecha weapons to fight against the government. Anime is set to release in October.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Girls of the Justice League

Girl Fight! Girl Fight! Girl Fight!

Next Animatrix Club Meeting is Oct. 8, 2011

Building K, Room 131, from Noon - 8pm
ANIMATRIX NETWORK
When: Saturday, October 8, 2011, from Noon to 8:00 pm
Where: College of DuPage, Building K, Room 131

(Located near the Intersection of S. Lambert Road and Fawell Blvd) Click for Regional Map and Local Map for Directions.

Please note that we are returning to Building K, Room 131, as well as going back to our regular time of Noon to 8:00 pm. We will remain in Building K for the rest of the year.

A Viewing Schedule will be posted soon.

Monday, October 3, 2011

A Review of the Wonder Woman Pilot

A Superhero Show That Deserves to be Seen!
(Photos from iFanboy.com)
Right off the bat, I have to admit that when I heard the news that the creator of Ally McBiel, David E. Kelley, was going to make a TV series based on Wonder Woman, I was highly skeptical about whether they could capture the very essence of what makes Wonder Woman great. I was concerned that it would turn out to be too "girly" and overly melodramatic, concentrating more on mundane lawyer stuff rather than superheroics. But recently, I had the opportunity to watch the pilot episode for this new Wonder Woman, and wow, was I very surprised! This Wonder Woman kicks ass!
(As CEO of her company, Diana can market her own action figures)
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!! 
At the beginning of the episode we first see Wonder Woman running after a meta-human through a crowded city street. Both of them moving at nearly three times the speed of a normal person. She leaps onto cars, running on top of their hoods, even gets hit by a taxi, smashing the front of the car while she remains unharmed. She looks at the damage to the taxi with utter annoyance and continues the chase. All of this happens at real speed. No slow motion like in the Bionic Woman. Also, no "girly" running with arms and legs moving at a very feminine motion like in the Bionic Woman. This Wonder Woman is an athlete, a superhero, an amazon. Adrianne Palicki pulls it off. She... is... Wonder Woman. 
(A car slams into Wonder Woman who emerges unscathed, the car however...)
The chase through the street traffic is frenetic, and she's pissed. Finally, she puts an end to the chase by whipping out her golden lasso at her prey. I like seeing it used as a weapon rather than a truth detector. Throwing the lasso as if shot from a gun, and finding the perp's neck, wrapping around it like an iron claw, Wonder Woman pulls him to the ground hard. She lands on top of him, twisting his arms behind his back, and quickly jabs a syringe into his neck. He goes limp. The cops arrive and ask Wonder Woman to relent the bad guy to them. Her reply, "Why? So he can lawyer up?" She looks like she wants to break some more of the perp's bones, but she eventually releases him to the care of the cops. And then she walks away. The crowd parts, giving her a wide berth, and we hear them cheer for Wonder Woman.

Now that was awesome! David E. Kelley had gotten it right! This Wonder Woman is tough, no nonsense, and doesn't take any crap from anyone. 
(Wonder Woman: "Get out of my way or else.")
Wonder Woman, herself, has three personas. First, in the public eye, she is Diana Themyscira, CEO of Themyscira Industries. Second. everyone knows that Diana Themyscira is also Wonder Woman. This is very much like how the world knows that the billionaire industrialist, Tony Stark, is also Iron Man. For Wonder Woman, it works just as well. Third, in her private life, she is Diana Prince, a young woman, who lives alone in an apartment with her cat, Sylvester. As Diana Prince, we see the vulnerable side of Wonder Woman. There is a scene in which Diana is on her computer starting her own Facebook page. On the line where she's suppose to list her friends, she types in only one name... Sylvester.
(Returning from hero duties; back to the corporate grind)
What sets Wonder Woman apart from other comic book heroes is her sense of justice. Batman and Superman do not kill, at least they try not to. For Wonder Woman, its eye for an eye. She sees no problem being judge, jury, and executioner. She views the legal system as needlessly bureaucratic, and she despises lawyers. David E. Kelley managed to capture that aspect of Wonder Woman in this pilot episode. Its sort of a dark twist on his lawyer loving show Ally McBiel. We can see an example of this near the end of the pilot when Wonder Woman storms into the secret labs of a meta-human experimentation facility. She fights off dozens of armed guards, literally throwing some of them through concrete walls. In one scene that is reminiscent from the movie Kick-Ass in which Hit Girl runs through a hallway with guns blazing, tosses her guns in the air to reload, and continues firing. Here we see Wonder Woman trying to reach a door at the end of a hallway where a guard is shooting at her. She runs at full speed, deflecting the bullets with her bracelets, while fending off attackers from the sides, even using one bad guy as a human shield. The guard continues to fire at her as she charges towards him. Finally, Wonder Woman grabs an iron pipe and throws it at the guard, impaling him in the neck, killing him. Its this type of violent vigilante justice that reflects her amazonian ways. Bad guys deserve what's coming to them, in the most hurtful way possible.

David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman isn't perfect, but it is by far enjoyable, and in the spirit of the source material. I like this version very much. Too bad NBC (or any other network for that matter) didn't pick it up. It had strong possibilities for being a hit show.