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January 31:
Box Office Poison, Il Mare & Waterboys reviews.

I just finished reading the very enjoyable Box Office Poison by Eisner-awardee Alex Robinson. A collection of slice-of-life vignettes, BOP offers a peek into the lives of struggling gen-x writers and artists living in New York City. Amazingly the characters seem so real that after a few pages you'll feel like they're really your friends (... or maybe our friends are just really like them).

By the way the book is 600+ pages thick but rest assured that you'll hardly notice the length -- I actually wanted to read more and had to turn the last few pages very slowly to savor the experience. If you have a week two week's worth of lunch money to spare, consider adding this one to your collection.

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So what was I up to between posts? I managed to finish and submit two album package designs (due out next week, watch for them -- as if) and am now about to work on *sigh* four more. And then there are a couple of website projects slowly making their way into my to-do list. Busy, busy, busy first quarter. I really have to stop accepting job requests by September.

Last weekend we were also able to meet up with U.P. friends that we just don't see enough of anymore. More pics here.

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Arn and I also finally got to watch the movies Nic sent (scroll down to see last week's entry). Here are some short reviews:

Il Mare - lovely and touching (yes, I cried). It struck us as a warmer, fuzzier Griffin and Sabine (because of the surreal plot twists). A must-see, even for the awesome art direction alone.

Waterboys - funny, funny, funny! How come the Japanese can be funny in a low-budget film without having to go the slapstick route? If you liked Shaolin Soccer (which we did) you'll enjoy this too.

(Thanks again, Nic!)

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The H.P. Lovecraft edition of the US-based Graphic Classics is now available at comic book stores. Check it out and see illustrations by Arn and Gerry Alanguilan.