Mighty Morphin Power Rangers...

In an unofficial tradition that started when I was bored enough to reminisce about the old Disney animated series Darkwing Duck three years ago today, I'd like to post a quick entry talking about another show that I enjoyed watching when I was a wee little...adolescent. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers grew in popularity in mid-1994, and was even watched by some people I knew in the 'cool crowd' back in high school. (I was a 9th grader in the fall of '94... No comments). The Power Rangers were really awesome once the White Ranger (formerly known as the Green Ranger) showed up on scene, and I'll quickly point out that I was geeky enough (moreso than now) to um, have a Tigerzord toy collecting dust in my closet. Now if only they do another Power Rangers movie—and the Zords looked like the ass-kicking Jaegers featured in Guillermo del Toro's latest flick, Pacific Rim. I have just one question about that, though: Which actress would replace Amy Jo Johnson as the Pink Ranger? Facetious question... Look at the tag words below to get a hint of who I have in mind. Oh, and here are two last words on why the Power Rangers were bad-ass: Lord Zedd. That is all.

Photos of the Day... Last Saturday, I drove down to Pasadena to attend an autograph signing by none other than Jessica Alba...who was promoting a new book that she wrote. I totally lucked out in meeting her in person—as I didn't find out about the signing till about one hour before it started. (Thank you, Facebook; you're not a total piece of crap, after all.) Needless to say, I had to quickly get directions to the bookstore where Ms. Alba (err, Mrs. Warren) was at and immediately haul ass to The City of Roses. So how was Ms. Alba (err, Mrs. Warren) in person? Just as beautiful as she is in TV shows like Dark Angel, movies like Sin City (its sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, gets released in theaters this October 4...my birthday!) and magazines like Maxim. Didn't really have a chance to say hi to her though; the two ushers standing near her table were pretty adamant (and naive— Did they REALLY think that I, as well as everyone else in line, wouldn't try to get a picture with her? PLEASE) about moving the line along. It's all good.

THERE IS NO GOD!! Otherwise, Jessica Alba wouldn’t have gotten knocked up...till she was 30. Which will be 4 years from now. Anyways, life won’t truly suck till she and the gal below both have little runts running around in their million-dollar homes. Which would be soon. I’ll get over it, I guess. Haha, just kidding. I’m not that despondent. On the outside.

TODAY... A MUCH BIGGER big-screen reincarnation of Transformers gets released in theaters, and so does Jessica "I’m-so-clumsy-I’m-FREAKIN’-HOT" Alba’s newest film Good Luck Chuck. Speaking of Ms. Alba, I could’ve friggin' met her at San Diego Comic-Con last July!! She showed up unexpectedly to promote Chuck. Son-of-a... French poodle. Ah, screw it—that was lame. BITCH. Anyways, where was I? Oh yea... You can’t accuse me of wasting cash on seeing Transformers in IMAX when I wasted so much money on seeing it multiple times at the regular cineplex throughout the summer. Hah! Can’t wait to see what those two extra minutes in the IMAX version consist of, haha. By the way, I was thinking about showing that poster where an ice cream cone is melting in one of Alba’s hands, but I decided to post this more modest pic instead. Very subtle, eh?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSICA ALBA!!! Not that she'd visit this site in a billion years. Or maybe she already has... I'd get one of those large birthday cakes where some hot girl (hey, this is MY idea... I ain't getting some dude to pop out of the frosting. Unless it was me, heh-heh-heh) pops out of it singing the birthday song, but you know, the girl I want to hide in the pastry happens to be the girl this entry is devoted to. Ms. Alba turned 24 today.

I’m 9 days late, but on April 3rd I watched Sin City. So what did I think? It was good. In the words of one of my female co-workers who also saw the film, it was a 2-hour "wet dream" for guys, hahaha. And that’s not far from the truth... On one hand, you have extremely-gory violence—with Nick Stahl’s character (the Yellow Bastard) getting an arm and ear blown off and his crotch shot in the beginning of the film (by Bruce Willis), and him getting his tallywacker literally ripped off and his head pummeled into mushy goo by someone’s fist (again, Bruce Willis) at the end—and on the other, gratuitious nudity. And not only do you have the Kill Bill/Monty Python and the Holy Grail-like violence (there are moments when Marv, played by Mickey Rourke, is slashed by someone’s clawed fingers, gets shot numerous times, and even gets run down repeatedly by a car, and yet all he does in response is put some bandages on or gets sent to an emergency room, only to leave the emergency room and continue his quest for revenge. Borrowing a line from Monty Python...it’s "just a flesh wound"), but you have hot chicks like Jaime King and that one actress from Spy Kids (Carla Gugino) walking around topless as if that was as common as wearing pajamas when you sleep. Oh—and to add more to Sin City’s family-friendly atmosphere, you have a cannibal (played by Frodo, err Elijah Wood) who proudly hangs the heads of his previous meals (a bunch of prostitutes) along a wall. And this cannibal meets his nice little fate by getting eaten alive by a dog. Ahh, poetic justice. And the nicest girl in the film (Jessica "I look good in brown or blonde hair with blue polk-a-dots sprinkled on" Alba) is a stripper. Go figure.

Aside from the awesome violence and girls walking around topless and in a thong, Sin City also has some nice cinematography. I heard Director Robert Rodriguez did his own DP (director of photography) work... All he needed to do was make a small cameo in Sin City and he’d be a triple threat. But he didn’t, so oh well. Anyways, that’s all. I feel like watching Spy Kids now.

SIN CITY: I just saw the trailer for the upcoming film today, and needless to say, Sin City looks awesome! Sure, I've never read the Frank Miller graphic novel of the same name, but that's okay. The movie's awsome look is enough to get me to watch it. Well... That, and Jessica Alba, Jamie King, Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson and all the other hot chicks in it. Speaking of which, this movie features an all-star cast, with all the hot actresses mentioned above as well as Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Tero, Elijah Wood, and Josh Hartnett—among others. The movie has a way better visual style than Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, but I enjoyed that film as well. If you want to see Sin City's trailer (though it is a small version), click here. Can't wait till the movie comes out this April!

DARK ANGEL. Yesterday, I finally finished watching the second of two DVD sets that I have of the now-defunct TV show Dark Angel, which aired on Fox from 2000 to 2002. And thanks to Fox, I was disappointed with the Season 2 finale of Dark Angel. Do you know why? Because the series was immediately cancelled after that, and the story's not finished yet! The Season 2 finale ended in a cliffhanger, with Max (played by Jessica Alba. *drool*) and the other "transgenics" (AKA mutants created by a secret government agency called Manticorp) holed up inside an abandoned building (in Terminal City) and facing a standoff with a mob of ordinary humans and police officers (who surrounded the building) bent on attacking them. One of the last shots in this episode was of a group of mutants hoisting up a new flag (representing the transgenic race) atop the building (with the Seattle skyline in the background). While the show admittedly ends on a dramatic note because Max and her people face the fight of their lives right up to the last image in the season finale, there are other plot points that remain unanswered.

First of all, what happened to Donald Lydecker (the main villain from Manticorp. who chased Max around for much of Season 1)? He was last shown driving alone in his truck when another truck showed up to force him off the road at night (in an early episode of Season 2). A few days later, the police found his truck submerged in a harbor, but Lydecker's body was nowhere to be found. So is he dead or alive?? Second of all, what happens to the virus inside Max's body? This virus was implanted into her body by Manticorp as a secret weapon against "Eyes Only"...the mysterious cyberjournalist who is actually Logan Cale, Max's main love interest on the show (and Jessica Alba's former fiance, I think, in rea life. Logan's real name is Michael Weatherly). If Logan comes into any form of skin contact with Max, Logan will contract the virus and die. So does Max ever get rid of the virus? And does she and Logan finally do the deed? Third of all, what happened to the "Sandman"...the guy who Max's (part man/part dog) friend Joshua said created Manticorp? It was revealed in the Season 2 finale that Agent Ames White (the main villain in Season 2) apparently killed Sandman. But what else do we know about him? Last I recall, it was Sandman who would've known how to kill the virus that prevented Max from gettin' her freak on with Logan.

Fourth of all, what happend to Asha, or Osha (played by Ashely Scott), Logan's hot blonde friend in Season 2 who was part of a political activist group known as S1W? Or is it SW1? Wouldn't hurt to know what happened to her after she found out Logan's apartment was f*cked up by Agent White's men (who found the apartment by tracing the location of Logan's last Eyes Only broadcast). Fifth of all, what happens to Max's relationship with Normal, her boss, and Max's other co-workers, including Sketchie (or is it Sketcher) at Jam Pony Express? At the end of the Season 2 finale, Normal apparently had a change of heart about transgenic people after he helped deliver a transgenic's baby during the climax of this episode.

Sixth of all, who was that person Renfro (the blonde lady in charge of Manticorp, who oversaw Max's re-training after she was recaptured by the agency in the last episode of Season 1) was speaking to on the phone? Renfro was speaking French, I think, so did the French government have some sort of allegiance with Manticorp? Just being facetious with this sentence. Not really. Seventh of all, what about that secret "breeding cult" that Agent White was part of? This breeding cult raised kids who had the power of telekinesis (the ability to lift objects with one's mind). Wouldn't hurt to see more of 'em had Fox let James Cameron (who created Dark Angel) do Season 3.

And finally...eighth of all: What happens to Max? Not only was it revealed that she's the most perfect genetically-enhanced killing machine ever made by Manticorp (since she didn't have "junk DNA" in her body and whatnot), but she also had those mysterious Japanese letters-like symbols all over her body...after she was bitten by some special snake used by the cult in a previous episode. It was revealed in the last few Season 2 episodes that Max was some sort of Chosen One, who would save the world from a "biblical" disaster that was suppose to take place. But that disaster never took place, since Dark Angel didn't last long enough on TV for that to happened!

Darn, too bad Dark Angel got cancelled. It had a lot of potential to become a pretty cool sci-fi series. But oh well. At least I wouldn't have to spend how many more days watching its episodes on DVD if the show made it to at least three seasons. Imagine if I bought the DVD sets for all 9 (or is it 10? or 11?) seasons of The X-Files... Or the DVD sets for all 15 seasons of The Simpsons? Good grief...

UPDATE: (I like typing parenthesis.)


UPDATE #2: One bad thing about Dark Angel is that it will become dated a few years from now. There was this one episode in Season 1 where Max and Logan are having a conversation about a bad guy and his potential ties to the Taliban militia (which, in real life, was ousted from Afghanistan in 2002...a year after Season 1 ended). Unless the Taliban reclaims power in the years between 2009 and 2019--the time period in which the story of Dark Angel takes place--that particular episode will have lost a bit of realism to it. In another episode, Max is talking to Alec (a fellow transgenic) about stealing the film reels for Star Wars: Episode 7 from the Fox studios...so that Max could sell it and use the money to pay off a doctor who could cure the virus that Manticorp planted inside of her. Episode 7 was supposedly filmed in 2007...so once that year passes by and there's no word from Lucasfilm that a sequel trilogy to the 3 original Star Wars films will be made...that episode will also become dated. But oh well. I'm taking things too literally.