Cyrus: I'm impressed

Hello all. I know its been a while since I posted about a movie. But you know... school, stress, school, more stress.....

But I will write my review on the new Spider-Man movie later.


I just finished watching Cyrus with my little brother. He recorded it and wanted to watch it, so I said sure. I only remembered the plot vaguely from commercials, surprised I remember it at all since it came out 2 years ago. Basically, John (John C. Reily) is alone, coping with the fact that his ex-wife is getting re-married. Then he meets and falls for Molly (Marisa Tomei), but her son Cyrus (Jonah Hill) isnt happy about that.

Now, from what I remember about the advertisement and the posters, the whole thing is depicted as a wild comedy, and that's probably why I didn't see it in theaters. With the scenes they cut out of the film for the trailer, I was assuming alot of forced comedy. And when I watched it tonight, I must admit, I did find myself expecting it. After all, the two leads are John C. Reily and  Jonah Hill, two actors who work prominently in comedies. 

Which can be harming to an actors career. After all, anyone who's scene John C. Reilly in Magnolia knows he can really act.

However, this is overshadowed by films like Step Brothers,

and especially his character Dr. Steve Brule Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule.

When I watched the film, I found myself waiting. And waiting. And then you realize, its not that kind of comedy. Yes, there are humorous moments, but its not a zany comedy. This was in fact, a mumblecore film. Should have known from the two film festival stamps on the poster. 




"Mumblecore" is the classification of indi films that have a distinct style of being natural and low budget. By natural, I mean that the overall tone of the film, through the acting, dialogue, and cinematography, is made to feel like events are happening as if its how regular people interact with each other.  The cameras are set so the perspective mimics the point of view from someone invisible witnessing the scene, so it will shake and swivel a bit. Not necessarily a "shaky cam" resembling those of mock documentaries, but how "normal" sight would thought to be in calm situations. A key component is improvisation. The actors are directed toward whats needed in the scene, maybe given some key lines to express, but most of the dialogue comes straight from the actor, not the writer. 


The interactions between the characters John and Molly are very good. There is alot of good chemistry, and it didnt seem forced at all. It gave a sense of a real, honest relationship between two really lonely people.


What really made you pay attention is Jonah Hill's performance. You knew his general motives just from the advertising, but something about the character just made you keep watching, which is a sign of really excellent acting. But its not because of what he does, it's what he doesn't do. The son is just staring, and there is definitely emotion in his eyes, but you don't know the specific reasons. You dont know if he was ok with John dating his mother at first, or if he was set on hating him from the start. You dont know if it's because he's mad, or if he's possessive of his mother, or if he's psychotic. 


Hill's take on the character is to make him slightly dysfunctional, not in a comedic sense, but in a disturbing sense. You're left questioning whether or not he's sane or sick. 


The ending was pretty abrupt, but with how the last scene played out, it was an overall good ending. And that really embodied why you kept watching the film. You had no idea what was gonna happen next.

If you feel like a quiet night in, with an interesting, mellow story, I'd say give this a rent.

Adventure Time: Hot to the Touch - Wow

I know I havent posted in a while, but I had to share.

That was the most adult episode of a children's cartoon on Cartoon Network I've seen in years...

not like "dirty" adult, 

emotionally adult.

It was strangely poetic...

Really makes you think. 

Finn and Flame Princess kinda like each other, but because of who they are. Or rather who SHE is. They are constantly hurting each other.

Yes, I am aware that I am an adult talking about the plot of a children's show. I am going to sound sill.

Her flames burn bright when feeling emotional, but destroys everything because she can't control her emotions and feelings. And burns Finn. And she's completely oblivious. To the harm she does..

Finn puts the fires out out of reflex, but that physically hurts her. So every time he tries to show emotion, it confuses her.

Then she goes on a burning rampage. So if he saves people, he's HURTING her.

Talk about finally taking kids seriously with good story telling!

Just think about it. When you take away the childish parts of dialogue, ignore the style and design of the world and characters, you have the plot of what could be a very real adult drama.

Two people want to make things work.
But one is over emotional and hurts people without realizing it. The other causes her confusion and pain whenever he tries to fix things.
He wants things to work, but her way of destroying things because of her emotions and actions just doesnt allow it.
He ends up questioning and risking his responsibilities to do whats right, all for a possible chance with a girl that he cares for, and wants to like him back.

All for that one chance.

Seriously, this plot is like a summary of a novel you read for an English class.

The ending was kinda bitter sweet...

reminded me a bit of high school. Only my situations never involved mutual feelings.

you know, you like a girl alot, but you can never be together because of who she is and what she does? 

Yeah, we all had those....

Art Direction was excellent as ever. It showed intricacy despite the minimalist style of the show.
And of course the dialogue had the excellent mix of silly and reality.

Its going to be a good season this year.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: A "Holy Sh**" Review.

Wow... its been a while since my last movie review post... like a LONG while. College will do that.

But since its 2012, I thought "Hey, the world's going to end soon. Might as well get back to what I started"

Thing is, not sure if I'll be able to have the time like I used to have to write reviews. So I'm thinking of switching to video. Just hope I can put up with talking to a camera.

So what movie did I see? The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the American Interpretation.

Now yes, a friend of mine told me "Dude, you got trolled, the Swedish version is better". Well, true. I haven't seen the original, nor have I read the book. Or its sequels (or prequels if you want to be specific). However, I do plan on seeing the original, but I saw this first so that when I DO see the original, I wont worry about missed subtitles.

Before we get into the story, we should discuss the intro. It start with an old man making a call about a mysterious package that apparently has been coming repeatedly in the mail. Then we get the most metal music video intro EVER with version of Led Zeppelin's The Immigrant Song by Karen O with Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose. The imagery uses a lot of ink, black oil, and C.G.I. So it kind of serves a purpose of "shocking" the viewer into the story, rather than easing them in. And that theme goes out through out the movie. In the film, there is a trend of silent, quiet scenes, followed by the most intense sh** you've ever seen (well, if you haven't seen A Serbian Film).

Now to the story. The film follows our protagonist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a journalist who has just walked out of court, being sued for libel due to a article he wrote on a billion dollar company. He lost. His life consists of an ongoing affair with his publisher, and trouble talking to his daughter who has found religion.

Add glasses, and your automatically convinced they are playing a writer.

He is hired by Henrik Vanger, a retired CEO, to handle a delicate matter. Under the guise of doing a memoir on Henrik, he is actually hired to try and investigate the disappearance of his niece, an event that happened 40 years ago. Henrik is convinced that she was killed, despite no body being found. He also believes a member of his family is responsible.

However, before Mikael is hired, Henrik's people at Milton Security do a thorough background check on him. Enter our next protagonist: Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara).  Researcher and a bad ass computer hacker.

How bad ass of a computer hacker? Put it this way, every scene she has a computer, I was thinking Jolie from Hackers. 

Yes. That bad ass.

Lisbeth is a twenty three year old ward of the state, due to being deemed mentally incompetent. Her personality is asocial, and is very angry at times, but within reason. She is a woman with a mysterious past, and only had one guardian that she cared for and visited. However, when her guardian suffers from a stroke, her life becomes much more harder, becoming a victim and overcoming it.

What I like about the film is the fact that the two character's don't meet until about half way through the movie. Instead of having them team up right away, we get a valid look into each of their lives, so the style of parallel stories in the first half really does build characterization.

The mystery of the disappearance is truly the style of an old murder drama set on a much larger scale. Instead of "one of the hotel guests was the murderer", its "someone on this island is the murderer."  The film does get quiet and suspenseful at only a few moments, but they are done REALLY well. As someone who didn't know the story, I was really happy that I never knew what was going to happen next.

The acting was amazing. Every scene involving Mikael interviewing a family member always gives off a sense of suspicion. No one is obviously guilty, and yet there is still an air of conviction about them.

The casting was also just perfect for each character. Daniel Craig does an excellent job of being the eyes of the audience as well as being a character. However, his performance is really out shined by Rooney Mara.

Holy freaking **** this girl mesmerized me, right when you see her for the first time. And no, its not because of the piercings and goth look. I've been around a few people to get used to that. It was the way the character... felt. She felt distant, and yet like you knew her. She was strong, and yet gave a sense of vulnerability.

That's why the pairing of these two characters work. You see the mystery through Mikael, while you feel with Lisbeth through HER ordeals.

I gotta make a comment on Rooney Mara's transformation. This is what she looked like before:

This is after:

This is before:

This is after:

Like I said, holy sh**. Talk about dedication. 

From Audrey Hepburn look-a-like, to a Hot Topic wet dream.

And this girl REALLY made a big jump in her career with this role and showed her acting talent. She went from being the love interest girl from The Social Network, and the screaming girl from the horrible Nightmare on Elm Street remake, to this role, which demands a lot from an actress. You have to play an independent rebel, a rape victim, be Swedish, and try to be convincing all at the same time.

Now, the events in this movie isn't exactly... for the squeamish. Or the prudish for that matter. There is a constant sex motif in the film, mainly in the forms of rape and affairs. Keep in mind, the original title was Män som hatar kvinnor, "Men who hate women". The story constantly revolves around the victimization of women, both physically, and in the end emotionally. You really feel it through Lisbeth's character, and what is true in society. Yes, men will say that sex is use by women as a weapon to bribe. But don't forget: Men also use sex as a weapon, and sadly, it's to inflict pain, and feel powerful. However, sex can also be used to feel comfort. Like all things, the issue of sex has it's duality.


The only thing I didn't like about the story: how it ended. I mean... wow. Given all the rape and murder and... more rape, you kinda hoped it ended on a better note.

Now all that's left for me to do is compare it to the original version.

And Rooney just became a new crush. Seriously, the girl can pass for Hepburn... that's awesome.

Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football. Building Pride, Educating America

Last weekend, my father took me to see the independent documentary on Fordson High School, which was the high school that he, my mother, and practically 90% of my family attended, as well as the rest of the community of eastern Dearborn.

Now, even though I did not have the honor of attending this high school (my family moved to Dearborn Heights just after I finished eighth grade, thus being out of district), me and my family do share a connection with the subject of this movie, since we built our family in that neighborhood.

The subtitle is simple, accurately depicting what this indie documentary is all about. Faith, Fasting, Football, and the American Dream.

Now I'm not going to lie, when I was a kid I was pretty odd because apparently it was abnormal in the neighborhood to be indifferent towards football. Why? Because the neighborhood really did center on this high school, and thus centered on football. Think of the town of Arlen from the cartoon "King of the Hill" only one key difference:

Practically 90% of the population of this community is of Middle-Eastern and Muslim descent. Including my family. This is what generally separates this community from any other one. There are hundreds of other ones that are either mostly Black, or Hispanic, or... who knows, maybe Jewish. But this is the ONLY one that’s almost entirely Arab-American and Muslim.

When it comes to my relationship with my home town, I was a bit skeptical about what this documentary had to offer. I was unsure if it was worth seeing what exactly it had to talk about. 

I didn't know whether or not it was going to outlandishly build the ego of the school, or beautifully inspire pride in it. I didn't know whether or not it was just going to be about the football team, or just another person saying, "Hey, being Muslim is OK!" again. For the hundredth time.

More importantly, would it show the area in a positive light, or a negative light?

Well, I'm happy to say (speaking from an unbiased perspective) that it was a pretty well made documentary. The intro was pretty compelling, and made you think you were in the middle of a PROFESSIONAL game. Referee constantly calling penalties on the team of protagonist, the coaches yelling, and then the show really begins.

The film, directed and produced by Rashid Ghazi, starts out explaining the roots of the high school and explores the interactions of the people in the community (after the opening of the football game). 

It does an excellent job of showing a pretty typical Arab-American family, following the routines of four of the players pictured above, during the holy month of Ramadan, where a Muslim must fast for 30 days, from sun rise to sunset (I knew the Quarterback! He was the Quarterback when I was in Little-league. He's taller than me now... I think I was taller back then... actually I think I knew most of them...). 

It portrays the Islamic faith in a fairly decent light as well, and the best part is that there aren't any stereotypes! Because let's face it, when you're a kid like me who's been surrounded by "your people" almost your whole life, you are expecting to see them.

Now, one of the reasons I was skeptical about the film was that a great deal had to do with football, and as I said, I'm not much of a football fan or a fan of sports movies. 

Sure, Remember the Titans was good, but everyone knows the formula for a sports movie now, and it gets mundane. Some scenes of training, coach yells at the team by insulting and encouraging them, big game comes, they seem down at first, big half time speech, they win. 

The second reason why I was so skeptic was that I didn't know whether or not the movie would discuss an actual issue.

I mean, discussing an issue is what separates a documentary from something good and interesting from a film that you sleep through in a history class. If it was just going to go on and on about the greatness of  Fordson and how unique it was, then it would have been the same as staying home listening to my dad reminisce about his days in high school. Again. And again.

But luckily, it DID talk about issues, especially about events that happened after September the 11th against the school, the argument of separating faith from the school system, and stereotyping by non-Arabs as well as recalling a false arrest made some time after September 11th against two young Arab men and former football players accused of buying up disposable phones to trigger car bombings. Hate mail was also shown that was sent to the school accusing the institution of pushing the Islamic faith and being "non-American" (which of course, the institution doesn't and isn't).

While at first it does build up the pride of the school centered community, it also educates the viewer about many issues that affect us all, and releasing the film on the weekend of September 11th was rather ingenious play, since people do forget how that day affected those of Arab and Muslim descent just as badly as it affected the rest of America. Hell, do you have any idea what that was like for me in fifth grade? Being the only Arab Muslim in class? Sheesh...

After it takes care of those issues, it goes back to football, building up to what you would consider the climax. The Big Game. Fordson High School vs Dearborn High. Rivals as well as brethren. 

And I do have to say, the way the whole film builds up to it is rather exciting. The director and editor does well to make you feel involved, even if you were part of the neighborhood and already saw that game two years ago. It still excites you. 

I mean, I don't even like football, but I felt pretty amped

And, I have to admit, this documentary did make me feel a bit proud being connected to that community. 

I was raised there They are my people. Can't change it. Might as well show it off a little. 

My rating: 8.5/10. Go see the movie if you get the chance. 

The only real thing that marked down the score was the little mini video portraits of the team members at the very end, such as standing in proud poses in their foot ball uniforms, ending with slowly raising their heads to face the camera. That was... kind of cheesy. 

But other than that, good film. Definitely one to keep on your shelf.

Conan the Barbarian: Really "Conan the Scorpion King of Persia among 300 with the Mummy""

After viewing Colombiana, a much better film, I decided to try Conan: The Barbarian.


I thought, "Hey, the original was silly in a good way, maybe this remake will also be silly in a good way. Maybe it wont be silly."

That was a HUGE misconception. This film is what I like to call "Hollywood Cheese". This was made to try and look as epic as possible for a trailer, and then added a title to a cult classic to get attention.

THIS is what we were promised... Oh the Glory...

Now I kinda get the whole "re-imagining of the mythology" excuse, but that doesn't fly with me. If you're going to make a Conan movie without it being related to the other Conan movies, then DONT CALL THE MOVIE CONAN. DONT NAME THE MAIN CHARACTER CONAN.

THAT MAN IS NOT ME!!!!!

I'll admit, the way Conan is born is kind of bad ass, but then they kind of up the ante by making 12 year old Conan kill about 4 demon-like geronimos. That's.... kinda much. I mean, the origin was OKAY..... but then the whole movie started taking itself too seriously with its testosterone filled manliness.

Yes, I have muscles, and I scowl... there for me am MAN.

And I'm not kidding about the "testosterone filled manliness." I mean the formula is pretty basic: He gets a mean look on his face, he does something bad-ass for a short period, says something that tries to sound like "clever" badass, rinse and repeat.

It LITERALLY tried to re-invent itself as the new Conan, and failed.

THEY ONLY MENTION CROM ONCE! ONCE!!!! It wasnt even in saying something awesome, it was just Ron Perlman saying "By Crom boy, what are you waiting for?"

By Crom, not even Ron Perlman's awesome-ness couldn't save this move.

... Thats it. That's as much call back to the original as it gets. As the REAL Conan would say, "To hell with you." No mention of snakes, no creepy cult, no discussion of "what is best in life".

The villains failed to be as awesome as Thulsa Doom. Whoever that actor was, he needs to work on being... memorable. Not type casted...

First the blue cat people, then, THE WORLD

The summary of the villain in the whole movie can be put in his own quote in the film: "I don't like you anymore!"

As for the villain's daughter.. well.. i guess having an evil sorceress made sense... but still.. cheesy..

Don't be fooled, this isn't Christina Ricci being Wednesday Adams... although might as well be...

And the whole weird vibe of... ugh... the sorceress daughter wanting to "be the wife" the the conqueror father kinda... creeped me out.. But I guess incest isnt frowned upon in this universe of Conan.

"Dont worry, people do that in this time"

Look, the reason why the original Conan was good was because it played out as a kind of play, without taking itself too seriously. The cinematography was good, and sure the effects was a bit cheesy and obviously fake, but thats what made it fun! That's what made it as memorable as movies like the first Never Ending Story, Labyrinth, even The freaking Muppets Take Manhattan.

This new "Conan" was just another of a long line of over produced action movies hoping to be the next thing remembered for decades. And... its not.

Hell, I dont even remember the name of the love interest. Only that she's... a pure-blood or something... which made me wish I was re-watching Harry Potter. She was just a pretty love interest with an English accent who liked to charmingly argue and or flirt with the hero.

You, sir, are an arrogant brutish ape... and yet...

Wait... I have seen this character before... The pure spirited love interest... a charm coming from a high class "strong woman" attitude... an accent that has nothing to relate to the setting or time period..

In Conan her name was Tamara now that I googled......

Tamara.... 

TAMINA! YOUR KIDDING! THEY RIPPED OFF THE PRINCESS FROM PRINCE OF PERSIA!

Yes, we've seen this before....

Ugh... They ripped of Prince of Persia, Scorpion King, the freaking sand monsters were from The Mummy, the fights were from some gladiator movie... 

See, you KNOW its hollywood cheese when the writing and movie elements were OBVIOUSLY taken from other movies of the same genre. If it was subtle, its forgivable, but, in ever aspect of my closing statement, this movie lacks any subtlety. 

Colombiana: The Professional 2?

I am a Luc Besson fan.

When I was a kid, I was just getting into movies. And I watched a crap ton. Then I saw an amazing film. Sure it came out in 1994, so it was kinda old when I saw it, but it was still awesome. The Professional. Also known as Leon. 

And this is also where I started my crush on Natalie Portman (I was a kid, she was a kid in the film, and she is 8 years older than me. So its NOT creepy).

This movie was more than just Portman's onscreen debut; it was an amazingly done film, with perfect cinematography, some of the best action scenes, great acting from Jean Reno and Gary "Awesome" Oldman (especially from Portman. Her first film, and she can emote as if she was acting longer than fricken Meryl Streep). And the story is amazing.

A quick sum up of The Professional: An Italian hitman named Leon (Jean Reno) is considered the best there is. He lives next door to a family; a member of which is a little girl named Matilda (Natalie Portman), who is the target of abuse by not only her father, but her stepmother and half sister. The only one she loves is her little brother. However, her crook father tried to hide some drugs from some crooked DA detectives, the leader being a psychotic detective called Stansfield (Gary Oldman). Stansfield kills the whole family, including the little brother, while Matilda is away and manages to find refuge next door by Leon, the hitman. She requests to be trained since she cant pay him to kill them. Action ensues, and a relationship develops.

This movie became my favorite film, and thus, Luc Besson became one of my favorite writer/directors. The man is responsible for the cult classic The Fifth Element, as well as many other great movies like The Transporter, La Femme Nikita, Kiss of the Dragon, Unleashed,  and more recently, Taken.

Now, when you watch a Besson film, you know it. And his newest written piece is Colombiana. While not directed by Besson, much like Taken wasnt, I have to say, it was good. The story is basically about a  little girl, Catalaya, who (kinda) sees her parents being killed due to involvment with a drug car-tel in Colombia. She escapes and finds her way to her uncle and Chicago, and grows up to be a great professional assassin (hit-woman?) while also persuing the people responsible for her family's death.

This stars Zoe Saldana, who is slowly being known as the next Halle Berry.

The movie does have its moments of predictability, but still pumps out the cool of a good revenge flick.

Not only that, but it also conveys what the main character has to sacrifice even MORE. You can understand why she may believe she has nothing to lose in the beginning, but as you watch more of the story, it's shown that she STILL has a lot to lose.

The film also has alot of fun symbolism play especially with the orchids, and every character has a certain depth. Well, accept for a couple villains.

The love scenes are kind of... sporadic, giving a sense of certain scenes being just fanservice since, lets face it, Saldana IS well on her way to being the next Halle Berry.

However, stay calm feminists, she never goes full frontal. The love scenes, and the very short shower scene, are still tastefully shot with the camera work. So it doesn't down-grade her character by showing her as an attractive woman.

Hell, a good part of the story builds BECAUSE she is female, and is one of the main reasons why cops were mislead in the first place.

My favorite part of the whole film is the constant call back to the professional.

This to me seemed like what Besson would have done if the story of The Professional was writtin slightly differently and continued. Think about it. In the film starring Portman, she is a little girl who loses everything due to a drug thing, and is taken in by a sympathetic assassin. In Colombiana, a little girl also loses everything due to a drug thing, and is also (kinda) taken in by an assassin. The key difference being two points in these character's lives.

In The Professional, Leon regretfully agrees to help Matilda learn the "basics" of being a hitman, however, she grows to love Leon like a new father figure, and both of their love for one another (the appropraite kind of love people) was able to help Matilda through her trauma, and Leon takes revenge for her anyway when she was in danger.

In Colombiana, Cataleya never really gets over her trauma. She is taught how to kill, yes, but she actually goes through with the business, so far so that it swallows up her morality and judgement all together. She was shown love, but shuns it all away for revenge. Unlike in The Professional the antagonists responisble for her parents death were in hiding and survive into her years as an adult. 

There were other call backs, like how the Cataleya character dresses, as shown above. The scene where her Uncle randomly shoots in the street vaguelly reminds me of when Matilda does the same.

Aside from all the references, it was a good story well told. I went to see a Besson film, and was satisfied, and Besson proves that an assassin film is always entertaining. The film really portrays how even though you want revenge so badly, bad enough to a point where you work outside justice, its sometimes best to let things go and appreciate what you survived with.

...but.... I would LOVE to see Natalie Portman reprise her role as Matilda.

Toonami... Where are you?

Go back some years ago. The earliest year being 1997. Your home from work, but most likely school. But you dont turn on the tv just yet. No you wait. You wait for that glorious block schedule, usually no later than 4. You get hyped. You recall what happened last time. And then you turn on the tv. You go to the channel your fingers have memorized....

TOONAMI

So what is Toonami? Toonami, in my opinion, started the afternoon block of action packed cartoons.

Especially Anime. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon (yes I watched some of that too), Gundam Wing...

And dont forget the ones from here at home, Batman the Animated Series, in fact anything Batman, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, Samurai Jack....

And the great classics that will never go away; Thundercats, He-man, Voltron even the short lived Silver Hawks.

And  even gifts from good ol' Canada eh, REBOOT!

So... what happened? Where did it all go?

It all started with a simple theme intro. And the first host of this cartoon block. Moltar from Space Ghost, in space ship...

And the action commenced on March the 17th, 1997. And our generation was introduced to anime. And the otaku generation was born.

We were fascinated. Compelled. Both by amazing never before seen art and stories that made you constantly think "what? what happens next?" A martial arts master can shoot energy beams from his hands and fly on a cloud. An awkward teen-aged girl can become a superheroine. Both girls and guys were HOOKED.

The american shows hooked an even larger audience. The american shows CN produced brought in a more mature look. These shows dealt with mature and slightly adult stories of intrigue, action, inner conflict, and real life changing decisions in the ongoing battle against good and evil.

Plus, thanks to shows like Batman The Animated Series, it revolutionized the way animated stories are told and made.

And of course they added a perfect dash of nostalgia, with the older showsfrom the 80s and back (my favorite being Thundercats). And this is where the newer generation became fans of the old.

Then in summer of 1999, Toonami was relaunched with a new host Tom. Just in time for the start of the new millenium.

Toonami kept reformatting itself. And it was still loved by many. More anime. More action. They even gave a side story to explain the constant changes to the formats and Tom...

But then... the years went on....

the interes in anime through Cartoon Network started to fade....

And CN was losing money. And gaining rights to air anime on cable is expensive, as well as going through the trouble of dubbing the shows (which doesnt make sense to me personally. I mean, the animation is done, all you do is add new voices, and censor it to a point where its still good but not as good as it should be)

Toonami officially cancelled on March 17, 2008.

The host Tom, voiced by the great voice actor Steve Blum, now reduced to this:

had this to say;

"Well, this is the end, beautiful friends. After more than 11 years, this is Toonami's final broadcast. It's been a lot of fun, and we'd like to thank each and every one of you who made this journey with us. Toonami wouldn't have been anything without you. Hopefully we've left you with some good memories. So, until we meet again, stay gold. Bang."

They had to appeal to a different audience, and quickly. They didnt have time to wait for the newer generation to catch up to the content already made. So they basically pooped out whatever they thought the kids would like.

Unfortunately, this is too easy, because if its new, and the TV says the show is popular, then the younger kids would HAVE to like it. Because this is the first thing they see. And they like the first thing flashy they warp their minds onto.

The Japanese perfected the technique of feeding children what they "enforce" as "the thing that everyone likes". Case in point, most children's anime like pokemon or yu-gi-oh. Its constantly aired on the network to a point where you dont escape it. Then it features someone young with some type of item or pet that gives power. This allows marketing for toys, games, and collectible cards. And of course, you add a lesson to each episode about loyalty, friendship, and laughing at the end, while milking "kid friendly epic-ness"

This technique is the tool of the media moguls to make money off youth. But thats a blog for another time..