The 2009 Oscar Memorial Reel

Every year I try to catch this part of the Oscars, even if I don't see any of the rest of it. In case you missed it, here you are. Queen Latifah's cover of "I'll Be Seeing You" serves as a lovely counterpoint to the visuals.

I Got No Clue What This Was Made For...

I hope this is the trailer for an upcoming videogame (the mixture of CGI and cel animation lends itself toward that conclusion), and that would be too damn cool for words.

Back when I was in junior high school and dinosaurs walked the Earth, Space Cruiser Yamato (or Star Blazers, as it got renamed for US audiences) was the shit as far as cartoons were concerned here in North Texas. We'd never seen anything quite like it - the style, sure; we'd had Speed Racer, and I think the neutered version of Gatchaman had made it over here by then, but this was a kid's show where consequences existed as something other than just something that happened to the bad guy of the week. You had the sense that people could die, if only because the announcer opened each episode telling you just how many days the crew of the ship had before humanity and its home planet would be rendered extinct.

Here we are, nearly thirty years later, and when the opening bars of the theme kick in, I get that same thrill that I did as an 11 year-old. But I digress. Here's the clip that I found in jeriendhal's LJ:

This was one of the things I learned about heroism and sacrifice for, and I will always be grateful to the creators for that.