Omar Harris

Cartoon Network just seems to be making one bad change after another. The days of good shows like "Thundercats", "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest", "Dragonball Z", "Sailor Moon", "Voltron" and others are long gone. Now, Toonami just seems to overhype the Dragonball trilogy and tries way too hard to cater to anime fans. Yeah, it was cool for a very long time, until this past year or so. Teen Titans and TMNT are awesome shows, so they can only help, rather than hurt, Miguzi, though it will need a third good show to further strengthen it (I suggest eitehr He-Man, Thundercats or Justice League). Toonami replacing SVES is a bad idea. SVES is possibly the best thing on Cartoon Network right now, Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh aside. Cartoon Network should keep that programming slot, replace Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh with stronger shows (after all, what's the point of having those animes on such an action-oriented lineup, when they should be more for the younger crowd, such as Miguzi's target audience). Or, here's a thought, Miguzi should be the new name given to that after school block that comes on before Toonami, keep Toonami intact, with a better lineup, keep SVES, with a better lineup, and have adult swim. Now we have Cartoon Network for all generations, young and old.

Yes, I've seen both movies. Heavy Metal the Movie was an awesome trip. The film not only translated some of the best Heavy Metal short stories nicely, but provided excellent voice acting (John Candy R.I.P) and made the standard Heavy Metal artwork shine on the big screen. "Tarla" is my personal favorite of all the shorts, primarily because of its action-oriented, fantasy tale. I also loved "B-52" with its ironic "Tales from the Crypt" like twist, and "Captain Stern". I really didn't care for the whole story of the Loc Nar, until the ending. It was great to shows its evil, but the story should have displayed the little girls "power" moreso than it did. Never ever watch Heavy Metal the movie 2000: F.A.K.K. While the artwork was superb by most standards, the story was bland and unoriginal,providing twists that made little or no sense considering they had little back-up, the character one-dimensional, and the overall movie was just a Tarla rip-off (notice the scene where Julie swims to the clothing and sword?), pulling out material when it needed it for no apparent reason. The only highlights, besides a bodacious female lead, voiced by Penthouse Pet Julie Strain, and the aforementioned animation, is hearing the voice of Michael Ironside (who plays Darkseid, my favorite villain, on the "Superman" and "Justice League" animated series).

Regardless of what anyone thinks of the English Dub, it was the dub that introduced me to Sailor Moon and began my love of the show. Sure, I can't stand some of the changes they made, but hey, what can you do. Anyways, I've been a fan of this show since day one. I didn't care for that whole "Sailor Moon says" crap they added, but the storylines were pretty awesome. I loved the final half of Sailor Moon R. Wiseman will always be my favorite villain, so dark, mysterious and above all, a manipulative SOB. I didn't care for the Wicked Lady arc but the way Wiseman cut through the Dark Moon family was just pure evil. Hopefully, now that the show, in its entirety, is coming to DVD, I'll have to save up to get it all. They better not skimp out on SailorStars and not bring it.

This series was created in the 1960's, s previously mentioned, by the creator of not only Kikaider, but also a very popular and long-running live action series known as Kamen Rider. Some of you may remember Kamen Rider from the series Kamen Rider Black, which was "Americanized" into the crappy "Power Rangers" spin-off "Masked Rider". The creator of "Cyborg 009" is responsible for pretty much laying down the ground work for Sentai (task force), the series of live action Japanese superhero shows the Power Rangers, Masked Rider, Big Bad Beetleborgs, Beetleborgs Metallix, Ultraman, and Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad were all derived from. (of those, only Ultraman is an authentic Japanese show, while all the others are "Americanizations" of existing shows). Anyways, 009 is a huge breath of fresh air from the moody and somewhat arthouse-like animes of today. In addition to a racially diverse cast (I'm glad the series got rid of 008's Minstrel-like appearance), whose members have individual personalities that are very well defined, and retaining the original manga's Disney-inspired artwork all make for a unique experience, and thus a great show, and personal favorite of mine.

Of all those DJs you've named, I only know the X-cutionors from their song "It's going down" with Mike Shinoda, and Mr. Hahn from Linkin Park. I love that song, and listen to whenever possible.

I love R and B when I'm not in a crappy mood, or wanting to listen to something heavy. I'm a big fan of Brian McKnight, have been for years, and I love just about everything that Boyz 2 Men and Babyface, used to, put out. I haven't listened to the radio much lately, though I love Ashanti. I am not the biggest rap fan, or more precisely, the biggest fan of modern rap. The "bling-bling" era of rap just aren't my cup of tea without their soulless, gloating lyrics. I really don't care about how much money, and "ice" these guys have. I just want to hear what you have to say. I do like some modern songs, for the sole purpose of using them as a means to let off steam or whatnot. "Krunk" songs by groups like Lil' Jon and the Eastside Boyz, for instance, though I don't like most of their beats, and I can't stand how much they use the word "skeet". That just feels, sick. That's all I can say, sick. Like many others, I love Outkast's music and how different it is from the rap that is currently being marketed. I love Nelly and am a fan of Eminem and Cash Money (the latter solely for their beats, much like Lil Jon). I prefer to go with people like Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot (though her songs are starting to sound almost exactly alike), and Timbaland (nobody makes better beats, IMO). I also love "old school" rap like Run DMC (especially the song "Rock Box"), MC Lyte, Salt n Peppa ( gotta love "Push it"), and yes, MC Hammer. Hey, I was like five when he came out. :smirk:

What happened to Fred? Can summon give me a summary of last night's episode? I missed it. Also, how did Fred and Gunn break up?

I only recently began reading manga. I'm twenty years old and have been an avid comic book reader almost as far back as I can remember (like, I don't know, age 7). I'm a huge comic fan still, and collect Wizard on an almost regular basis to fill me in on what's going on when I'm penniless (like now). My opinions of manga are the same as my opinions of anime. I used to be the guy who ran around saying that anime is better than all American cartoons, but then there were still so many American cartoons that continued to blow me away (if you haven't seen "Legacy", the last episode of the Superman cartoon, or any of Mainframe's stuff, you're missing out, IMO). I just don't see much of a difference between American comics and Japanese comics other than cultural stuff. Honestly, what is the difference between what Goku does and what Superman does? None. There is a lot of great art and artists in American comics (Jack Kirby, Alex Ross, Jim Lee, Steve Ditko, Olivier Coipiel etc.) and loads of great writers. There are layers, even to superhero comics, that many fans dismiss without giving a second chance. After all, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby made careers out of creating superheroes who were had fallibilities and flaws, from the fallen angel-like Silver Surfer, who hated mankind's destructive tendencies and yet fought for us nonetheless, if only to be proven wrong about his opinions; to the Hulk, a brute who wants only to be left alone; to the X-Men, men and women who fight a war for racial peace and tolerance, even though, fighting such a war is not as easy as black and white. To go even further, read Alan Moore's the "Watchmen" or Alex Ross' "Kingdom Come". Both are superhero stories, but both have layers of complexities, designed to reveal the human sides of even seemingly omnipotent or "boy-scout" heroes who have long been considered "boring and unreadable" by fans. It's also not a reality when people believe that American comics are all about superheroes. Are all mangas all about Dragonball and giant robots and people trying to catch pet monsters? No. There's almost something for everyone in both markets from the childlike mind (Pokemon and Spider-Girl) to the complex, brooding thinkers who believe they are better than everyone else (Neon Genesis Evangelion and Neil Gaiman's the Sandman). Most fans only read get to read what Marvel and DC are putting out, which currently seems to be the 100th Superman comic or the 100th Spider-Man comic. I don't see much difference, artistically or literally, between the two markets. It's like apples and oranges. You like one, you eat that one. You like both, you eat both, and personally I'm an apple and oranges man.

I don't know if this has been answered yet but MM's real name J'onn J'onnz is supposed to sound like John Jones. In fact, in the ocmics, he took on the identity of a dead human by the name of John Jones and uses it as his secret ID. As far as the cartoon goes, it would be nice if the League's power was at its max and we got to see real League villains, instead of a 1st season of hit and misses. Darkseid, Despero, Dr. Destiny, Doomsday (notice a pattern), Brainiac, and others would have made nice picks for the entire show to work.

Well, some of my favorite films include Space Jam (guilty pleasure) The Spy Kids Trilogy (SK 3-D sucked however) Anything animated by Disney (though Pocahontas sucked) Dreamworks animated films (including the Prince of Egypt and Shrek) Pixar films The Dark Crystal The Neverending Story Transformers the Movie and yes, I'm a sucker for Power Rangers the Movie, though the 2nd movie blows

Hey, I have a similar problem, actually with the PSone. Several of my games, each one having been played only every so often and thus lacking scratches or anything like that, freeze up at specific places. Does anyone have any idea why this occurs?

Oh man, this is a great show with such off the wall, irreverant humor. It's a wonder why this show hasn't matched wits with the Simpsons yet. Favorite line Deer: I'll take him. Come my son. *blam*

Despite allegations that it is a rip-off of Tezuka Osamu's "Kimba, the White Lion" I have always been a huge fan of the "Lion King" and indeed consider it the best Disney project outside of their various Pixar collaborations (almost nothing from the House of Mouse beats "Finding Nemo" though"). I hope to get this and the "Sleeping Beauty" special edition as soon as possible. I hate the whole "Disney Vault" thing, but I guess they have to be perfectly preserved before Disney decides to send them out to leech money again;)

There are two songs that I associate with. 1st is "Tearing Away" by drowning pool I'm tearing away Pieces are falling I can't seem to make them stay You run away Faster and faster you can't seem to get away Break Hope there's a reason For questions unanswered I just don't see everything Yes I'm inside you Tell me how does it feel to feel like this Just like I do I don't care about anyone else but me I don't care about anyone Do I really want this Sometimes I scare myself I just can't let it go Can you believe it Everything happens for reasons I just don't know I don't care about anyone else but me I don't care about anyone I don't care about anyone else but me I don't care about anyone or anything but me G** **** I love me And Linkin Park's "Somewhere I belong" When this began I had nothing to say And I'd get lost in the nothingness inside of me I was confused And I let it all out to find/That I'm Not the only person with these things in mind Inside of me But all the vacancy the words revealed Is the only real thing that I've got left to feel Nothing to lose Just stuck/Hollow and alone And the fault is my own And the fault is my own I want to heal I want to feel What I thought was never real I want to let go of the pain I've held so long [Erase all the pain 'til it's gone] It's gone] I want to heal I want to feel Like I'm close to something real I want to find something I've wanted all along Somewhere I Belong And I've got nothing to say I can't believe I didn't fall right down on my face I was confused Looking everywhere/Only to fin that it's Not the way I had imagined it all in my mind So what am I What do I have but negativity 'Cause I can't justify the Way everyone is looking at me Nothing to lose Nothing to gain/Hollow and alone And the fault is my own The fault is my own I will never know Myself until I do this on my own And I will never feel Anything else until my wounds are healed I will never be Anything 'til I break away from me And I will break away I'll find myself today I want to heal I want to feel like I'm Somewhere I belong

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Nerdsy [/i] [B][/b] [color=deeppink]YES! YES! YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES! *dances around like a drunk monkey*[/color] [color=deeppink]... excuse me while I break something. I don't really like Cam being a Ranger for some reason. I like him and all, but he just doens't scream "ranger" to me. I think his place is in NinjaOPS, but I guess they could have done worse. Personally, I think that the owner of the Bike shop that Dustin works at (I can't really remember her name) would have made a good ranger, despite her acting skills. I've always wanted to see a female sixth ranger. So far, I'm really liking everything else in Ninja Storm. I felt that the Thunder Rangers turned a little too quickly, though. It's much better then the past 3 seasons, though. [/color] [/B][/QUOTE] Why does everyone think Kelly would have been a good GSR? I mean, she has no development going for her and is pretty much nothing more than just another "Ernie". Can she even fight?:huh: Personally, it had to be either Cam or someone new a la Trey from Zeo. I'd rather see Cam for a little while

I'm sure many of you are manga fans, so I wanted to talk about Tokyopop. Recently, Tokyopop held a contest in America for aspira manga-kas and as a result, have produced "Rising Stars of Manga" featuring short stories by U.S. manga fans. Has anyone read this book? If so, what do you think. Also, would you like to be a manga-ka (creator) yourself? What type of ideas do you have?

Hi, I'm back from saving the world and feel like talking, ;) I haven't been on this board for a while but I was wondering if anyone has seen "Kikaider" on Adult Swim? The show is about a boy named Jiro who is an android built by the mysterious Dr. Gill. He seeks to realize what it is that makes one human and on the way, battles numerous android monsters of Gill's own design, transforming into a sentai-esque uniform (anyone not in the know, sentai is the series of Japanese shows that Ultraman and Power Rangers are derived from). The show looks like something created by Osamu Tezuka (Astroboy, Metropolis) as the characters all have cartoonish appearances more close to that of a western animated series rather than "traditional anime". It also features several voices familiar to Digimon fans (Dave Wittenberg as Jiro, Melissa Fahn, and several others) while the series does appear as though it were an animated Power Rangers show, it is very serious, and in some cases, very depressing. Other than the fast camera angles and depressing themes of "can a machine be human" (done to death in Asimov stories)the series seems pretty decent. Only four episodes have been shown so far. Is anyone watching (especially episode one which I missed.)

"You better not be doing anything illegal." -Cam. "Ladies and gentlemen, the saviors of the Earth." Man, I love his wit. Supposedly, Shurikenger was a wacky character in Hurricanger, so I wonder if, since his footage'll be in NS for Cam, Cam will retain that wacky edge. I'm still steamed though that they changed the name of his "Fire Mode" to "Super Samurai Mode". Oh wow, just drop the armor and change the faceplate around and bam, "I'm a Super Samurai" :rolleyes:

I know this might not get many views, but I know I'm not the only fan on this board. For all two or three of the people who care, Doug Sloan, the current head writer of "Power Rangers: Ninja Storm", hangs out at the Power Ranger Central message boards and AOL, and has confirmed the title of next year's series to be "Power Rangers: Dino Thunder" (yeah I'm not too thrilled about the title either.) To further confirm this, zyuray, the host of rangerboard, has posted the "Dino Thunder" poster and press kit. We already know that the series will be based on the current super sentai "AbaRanger" which focuses on AbaBlack, a being from an earth in another dimension ruled by dinosaurs, who gives powers from the dinos to three kids who become AbaRed, AbaBlue and AbaYellow. Recently, we have been introduced to AbaKiller, the white ranger, (finally a male white ranger again) who appears to be a potential villain-turned-good. (No news on a possible sixth AbaRanger, though here's hoping to another American made sixth ranger, especially one who gets more screen-time than the walking wasted potential known as the Titanium Ranger.) From what little info has been revealed, it seems that a big surprise will appear in "Dino Thunder". [spoiler] The black ranger is none other than Tommy Oliver himself, the greatest of all rangers. However, it is rumored that Jason David Frank will not be returning to the series, thus this Tommy Oliver may or may not be from a different continuity. He is a teacher who was the Black Ranger years ago and becomes so again to defeat a corrupted paleontologist, giving the Dino Thunder powers to three students. Also, it has been confirmed that there will indeed be a Ninja Storm/Dino Thunder crossover, even though NS will be skipping a Wild Force/Ninja Storm crossover this year.[/spoiler] As for NS, well [spoiler]if you don't know, Cam is the Green Samurai Ranger (I knew it all along. It was obvious from the beginning) His zord is called the Samurai Star (cool name) and is a helicopter that becomes a warrior. It can merge with either megazord or both to become the Hurricane Megazord. Shane will have his own armor, as has been the tradition for red rangers since "Power Rangers in Space" and supposedly, Lothor will prove to be more evil than we thought. Also, almost every villain from "Hurricanger" will be in Ninja Storm. The series has only 21 episodes to go before the ending, for a total of 38 in all, and Sloan says that it will blow us away (here's hoping). From what I've heard, Shurikenger (Green Samurai in "Hurricanger" died and the Thunder Rangers' japanese counterparts pretend to die. Hopefully Cam will not meet the same fate in NS. He's too cool to die.) [/spoiler] That's it for now "gang". Now my superhearing detects a maiden in distress. Time for me to get lucky. lol. As always I am...whoever.

Dr Jekyll/My Hyde Allan Quartermain Mina Murray (Harker) Captain Nemo The Invisible Man Campion Bond

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Manic [/i] [B]The vampire chick is from [u]Dracula[/u] by Bram Stoker. I forget her name, though. This seems like a pretty good movie. A lot of classic literary characters in there. Jekyll, Invisible Man, Tom Sawyer (as an adult), ect. It seems pretty interesting. I read somewhere that James Bond's ancestor was in the comic, but the people making the film aren't using him. [/B][/QUOTE] The vampire chick is Mina Murray, the main character of Dracula. I don't see how she became a vampire in the movie though.

Pixar has yet to not impress me, so I'm excited to see this. I haven't seen very many animated movies lately.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Manic [/i] [B]Mel Brooks, not Mel Blanks. Mel Blanc was the guy who did the voices of the original Looney Tunes. Mel Brooks is the Hollywood/Broadway producer/writer/director/actor who makes spoofs and comedies. [/B][/QUOTE] D'oh! I always get those two confused. Random quote: Carter: Lee, what are these triads gon' do to us? Lee: Well first, they torture us. Carter: Ok, I'm cool with that. Lee: Then, they cut off our eggrolls. Carter: Oh hell nah!

Martin Lawrence's "Def Jam's Runteldat" was hilarious. What made it funnier is that I saw it right after I saw "Austin Powers in Goldmember". If you are looking for just plain out funny, stupid humor look no further than spoofs. My personal favorites include any Wayans brother spoof ("Scary Movies", "I'm gonna getcha sucka" and "Don't be a menace to South Central while drinking your juice in the hood"). Whatever you do however, stay as far away from "Scary Movies 2" as possible. Mel Brooks movies are also comedy gold, whether it be "Spaceballs" or "Robin Hood: Men in Tights". As for none spoofs, "Friday" is pretty funny when it relies on Smokey's jokes. Neither of the sequels are worth the watching, unless you are looking for new annoying catchphrases to spring on people who have grown tired of "Yeah baby" and "Oh behave". The "Rush Hour" series is always funny, no matter how many times I've seen them, and I'm probably the only person who loved the first of Eddie Murphey's remakes of "The Nutty Professor". If you are looking for an "intelligent" comedy, Kevin Smith is your man. He has five movies: Chasing Amy: About a comic artist whose dream girl is a lesbian Dogma: In which a woman who has "lost touch" with God must stop two angels from accidentally undoing reality. Mallrats: About a guy who tries to win his girlfriend back Clerks: About a day in the life of two store clerks Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: The last of his five-parts series in which Jay and Silent Bob, who have been recurring characters in all five movies, go to Hollywood to stop a movie about their comicbook superhero alteregos Bluntman and Chronic, believing that it will shut up all their critics. I've heard Mallrats is bad. "Jay and Silent Bob" is hilarious, "Dogma" actually has some witty religious humor, and "Chasing Amy" is good for what little I've seen of it.

First we had cigar-chumping, laugh-a-minute George Burns as God in "Oh God!" and "Oh God 2" Then there was Alanis Morisette as God in "Dogma" Now Morgan Freeman in "Bruce Almighty". Personally, Jim was, as usual, at his best, but the movie it self fell short of originality. Of course you can figure out even before reaching your aisle seat that he's going to screw things up, using his power for personal gain, and ruining civilization. Most of the greatness to this story comes from the gags, rather than the plot. Where else can you see [spoiler] a monkey pop out of a gangster's ***, or Jim part of a bowl of soup like the red sea. The ending was actually a near tearjerker compared to most of Carrey's other movies, but undeserved. After all that occurred in the movie, everything should not have ended up so nicely wrapped up the way it did.[/spoiler] Surprisingly, for a movie to be co-written by Steve Oederkerk (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, and writer/director/star of Kung Pow: Enter the Fist) this movie is rather tame when it comes to gags as compared to the absolute silliness of Oederkerk's other movies.