James Rasmussen: April 2009 Archives

This past Saturday kicked off the Street Fighter Tribute Art Show "Jab Strong Fierce" at Gallery Nucleus just outside downtown Los Angeles in Alhambra.

From the press release:

"Gallery Nucleus and I am 8-bit are proud to present, with support from CAPCOM, a Street Fighter tribute group art exhibition. In celebration of Street FIghter IV and all things Street Fighter, they have created an exhibition of Street Fighter influenced art that all Street Fighter, video game, and art fans will enjoy."

During the kick-off party there was a Street Fighter 4 tournament, cosplay contest, a house DJ spinning music all night, and of course walls full of Street Fighter art. The front of the gallery has an area where you can purchase prints of each piece of art, and also official art books from Capcom or Udon, who publish an assortment of Street Fighter comic books and manga every month.

These are just a few of the pieces of fan art that are on display at Gallery Nucleus. 

The art exhibition runs from April 25, 2009 - May 11, 2009 and is free to attend.

Gallery Nucleus information:
210  East Main St. Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 458 - 7482

Last night I checked out Dragonball Evolution. I'm a fan of the franchise as I grew up watching Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT. I didn't have my hopes set high for this movie, and I attempted to enjoy it for what it was.

For the price of admission though I got tons of laughs from a movie that is so bad, it's good.

The film synopsis goes like this. Long ago a menacing alien threat named Piccolo and a destructive god named Oozaru laid waste to the earth before being imprisoned by a loyal order of monks. Now Piccolo is loose and is after the seven mystical Dragonballs. It's up to Goku, a young Ki master, played by Justin Chatwin, and his friends to stop Piccolo and collect the Dragonballs.

First off, the movie is only around 90 minutes long. Events happen right after each other with no real logic or understanding behind any of it. New characters are introduced and plot points are being checked off, but you don't really care about any of it because there is no character development. They could have killed off Goku in the middle of the movie and I wouldn't have cared. You leave the theater without knowing anything about the main characters.

From the official movie website:

"The movie is an adaptation of the King Piccolo and Piccolo JR. sagas of Dragonbal. However, it will also contain important elements from the first season of Dragonball, such as Bulma meeting Goku, and Goku training with Master Roshi. It's the most important parts of Dragonball in one movie."

Except that you don't understand anything about Piccolo who says less than 10 lines throughout the whole movie, and never understand why he is trying to destroy the Earth. Bulma meeting Goku happens in less than 2 minutes, and there is no screentime of Master Roshi training Goku at all.

These are important events that any movie lover would care about, not just the fans. They are essential points which connect the audience with the characters. I don't understand why they took these events out when you still have 30 more minutes of movie you could have included.


TOKYO - MARCH 10: (L to R) Actor Joon Park, actress Jamie Chung, Eriko Tamura, actor Chow Yun-Fat, Justin Chatwin, actress Emmy Rossum, actor James Marsters, actress Megumi Seki and director James Wong pose for photographs during the world premiere of 'Dragonball Evolution' at Nippon Budokan on March 10, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. The film opened on March 13 in Japan. (Photo by Akihiro I/Getty Images)

The movie had a horrible script with corny dialogue and tons of material taken out of it. All the actors had poor timing with their lines, and the climax of the movie actually made me laugh out loud.

Despite how bad the movie is I still have to recommend that fans of the series wait until the DVD release and watch it with each other. You'll get more than a few chuckles out of it, and have tons of memorable moments. If you are brand new to the Dragonball universe then you shouldn't see this movie first. You should pick up the manga, or watch the anime.

The sequel is already green-lit according to the official movie website. I hope they explain everything in the next movie with a better script, and try to engage the audience in the Dragonball universe instead of slopping together a bunch of random scenes, and praying it all comes together in the end.

If you saw Monsters vs. Aliens last week you were treated to the second teaser trailer for Astro Boy.

The trailer is now on the web and the CGI animation looks brilliant.

Set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist named Tenma (Nicolas Cage).  Powered by positive "blue" energy, Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) is endowed with super strength, x-ray vision, unbelievable speed and the ability to fly.

Embarking on a journey in search of acceptance, Astro Boy encounters many other colorful characters along the way.  Through his adventures, he learns the joys and emotions of being human, and gains the strength to embrace his destiny.

The script sounds like they are sticking to the overall recipe that is Astro Boy which is one part Pinocchio and one part Superman. The movie is set to release this fall on October 23rd.

If you want to learn more about Astro Boy there is a ton of material to check out. Head over to this link at anime news network for a complete list.

For more on the Astro Boy movie go to to the official site at

http://www.astroboy-themovie.com/