Nerd Wave Paradigms

TCAF 2012

2012-01-26T17:46:00.000-08:00

Spera is coming to TCAF! Kyla Vanderklugt, Hwei and I will be promoting Spera: Volume I at the Toronto Comics Art Festival on the weekend of May 5th and 6th. Also in attendance will be Vol. I artists Emily Carroll, Jordyn Bochon and Luke Pearson. Admission to TCAF is free.

5 Favourite Games Of 2011

2012-01-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

All right, here we go: my five favourite games from 2011.

1. Yakuza 4 - CS1 Team

Players into Japanese gangster dramas and RPG/beat-'em-up hybrids should really check out the Yakuza series (starting with 3 if you prefer drama, and 4 if you prefer beating people up). Yakuza 4 has a story for thinking, feeling adults that http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifblends themes of brotherhood and honour with absurd humour. Exploring the city is always atmospheric, and beating up thugs (yet never killing anyone!) is always a treat.

2. Sonic CD - Christian Whitehead (port)

I've played through this game 10 times since it's been out on PSN. It's a game I've been wanting to play since 1993 but never had the hardware -- the only Sonic similar to the first game, where platforming and exploration are as important as speed. The 90s neon colours are the best kind of gaudy. Also, this level theme.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Nintendo EAD
4. Dark Souls - From Software
5. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 - Eighting

SPERA Now In Stores

2012-01-11T15:08:00.000-08:00

The first book from Archaia is officially out in stores today. If your local comic shop or bookstore doesn't have a copy, they should be able to order one in. If you don't have a comic store near you, you can order a copy from most online retailers.

5 Favourite Albums of 2011

2011-12-27T04:20:00.001-08:00

1. Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
2. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3. Little Dragon - Ritual Union
4. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
5. Cut Copy - Zonoscope

Spera-Comic.com Winter Update

2011-12-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

Head to Spera-Comic.com for the site's first seasonal update, which brings Pira and Yonder to its pages (Online Comics and Graphic Novels, respectively).

This update was put together by Olivier Pichard (backgrounds and coding) and Afu Chan (characters).

Newsarama.com Interview

2011-12-20T02:38:00.000-08:00

Click here for an in-person Spera interview with Newsarama.com.

Spera: Volume I now available at Amazon.com!

2011-12-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

Spera: Volume I is now available to purchase at Amazon.com!

It should be in bookstores on December 19th, comic stores on the 28th and will be available from other online retailers on January 3rd.

Spera: Volume I is a hardcover graphic novel from Archaia featuring art by Kyla Vanderklugt, Hwei, Emily Carroll and Olivier Pichard, short comics by Jordyn F. Bochon, Cécile Brun, Luke Pearson, Leela Wagner and Matt Marblo, and pin-ups by Don Cocor, Paul Maybury, Jack Teagle, Sam Beck and Gigi Digi. Cover art and character designs are by Afu Chan. For a full description of the book, look here. You can also preview the first 16 pages here.

The Starless

2011-12-13T01:00:00.000-08:00

A new Spera short is now online! Illustrated by Anna Wieszczyk and lettered by Ed Brisson, The Starless is a dark, foreboding prequel to Spera: Volume I, offering the first real look at Pira's old life.

The Archaia hardcover edition of Spera: Volume I will be in bookstores on December 19th and comic shops on the 28th.

Spera: Volume I interview at Don't Write Me Off

2011-12-04T21:54:00.000-08:00

I somehow bumped into blogger Andrew Russo at both TCAF and NYCC. Here's an interview Kyla Vanderklugt and I did with Andrew as a result of these encounters.

Don't Write Me Off
Spera-Comic.com

OCB: Private Enemy -- Phase One

2011-11-19T17:53:00.001-08:00

The latest issue of Giannis Milonogiannis's Old City Blues is finally here, and it was definitely worth the wait! Everyone with even a passing interest in cyberpunk should take a look — unless you have yet to read the first major story arc, in which case you should go here right away.

With thrilling chases, gruesome technological crime scenes and a poolside seduction as cold as ice water, Giannis knocks it out of the park once again!

Spera-Comic.com has a new look!

2011-11-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

The new design is a collaboration between Olivier Pichard, Afu Chan, Kyla Vanderklugt and myself. Our goal is to clarify the different aspects of Spera — the original collaboration, new online shorts and Archaia graphic novels — in a way that’s more in line with the series’ current direction. Although only Lono appears on the site for now, Pira, Yonder and Chobo will be showing up on the other pages in the coming weeks.

To help celebrate the new site, two new shorts — She Saw It Then by Julia Scott and Free Verse by Roman Muradov — can be found in the Online Comics section. Both focus on moments that took place in Lono’s castle before the events of Volume I.

We hope you enjoy how it all turned out!

Spera-Comic.com

Spera: Volume I Preview

2011-11-04T01:58:00.000-07:00

You can now preview the first 16 pages of Spera: Volume I at the Archaia site! These specific pages feature the art of Kyla Vanderklugt.

Diorama + NYCC

2011-10-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

Diorama is a new Spera short illustrated by Matt Marblo. Read the full comic here.

This was an attempt to write something specifically for younger readers, though we do hope adults enjoy it as well. Originally this was going to be for a little booklet to give away at NYCC but there just wasn’t enough time to put everything together.

Speaking of NYCC, you’ll be able to find me, Kyla Vanderklugt, Emily Carroll, maybe sometimes Polly Guo and maybe sometimes Matt Marblo at the Archaia booth for scheduled signings. Although Volume I has been delayed to December 19th, we’ll still be there to give away free postcards, posters, bookmarks and other promotional items. We hope to see you there!

Spera NYCC Postcards

2011-09-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Spera NYCC postcards are in! These were designed by Kyla Vanderklugt and include art by her and Emily Carroll.

Treasure Menu

2011-08-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Treasure Menu is a tasty new Spera short by Kris Mukai featuring Pira, Lono and a whole lotta crustaceans. Click the panel above for the entire comic.

Spera in Previews

2011-08-04T00:30:00.001-07:00

Preview panels from Leela Wagner's comic in Spera: Volume I.

Volume I is now listed in Previews with the order code AUG110809. The hardcover book is $19.95 USD and appears on page 238 of the catalogue. If you're interested in Spera, please ask your local comic book store to order it in!

Spera: Fetch Quest

2011-08-02T23:44:00.000-07:00

Fetch Quest, a brand-new, dialogue-free Spera short illustrated by Mike Dialynas, is now available on Spera-Comic.com! Read the full comic here.

Roxie Vizcarra on Spera

2011-08-01T23:11:00.001-07:00

Spera: Volume I is coming this fall from Archaia

Spera: Volume I Pre-order

2011-07-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

Spera: Volume I is now available for pre-order from online retailers such as Amazon.com. Above is a sneak peek at one of Emily Carroll's panels for the book's third part.

Spera: Volume I -- Coming Soon from Archaia

2011-06-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

Big news time: Spera: Volume I is coming out this September from the fine folks at Archaia!

The first half of this 176-page hardcover is a remake of the original story, illustrated here by Kyla Vanderklugt, Hwei, Emily Carroll and Olivier Pichard. The second half is a collection of short comics illustrated by Jordyn F. Bochon, Cécile Brun, Luke Pearson, Leela Wagner and Matt Marblo. Cover art is by Afu Chan.

I’m very excited to finally be able to reveal this. The book is just bursting with great art and adventure, and I’m sure fans of those involved will be blown away by their contributions here.

From the site:

“Lono’s life as a princess consisted of sitting, reading, and dreaming—until the day Pira, princess of a neighboring kingdom, arrived with news of a waking nightmare! With the help of Pira’s best friend—a fire spirit in the form of a dog named Yonder—the princesses now find themselves in a race against evil. The goal: Spera, a magical realm of which the princesses had only ever heard the tallest tales. The prize: their very lives!

Written, created, and edited by Josh Tierney, Spera Volume 1 is the first book in an ongoing series of graphic novels illustrated by artists from around the world.”

Spera at TCAF!

2011-05-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

Kyla Vanderklugt and I will be representing Spera at this year's TCAF. You can learn all about this incredible festival here.

Our table is number 250 on the second floor (and here's a handy map of the area).

We'll be selling a 40-page colour anthology featuring cover art by Afu Chan, comics by Jordyn F. Bochon (who will also be at Table 250), Luke Pearson and Emily Block, and pin-ups by Jack Teagle and Gigi Fritter. You can see Afu's cover here and an interior preview here.

We'll also be selling Adel's Hammer, a 20-page black & white comic with a cover by Afu, comic pages by Polly Guo and pin-ups/sketches by Sam Beck, Don Cocor and Giannis Milonogiannis. You can check out a preview of Adel's Hammer here.

We hope to see you there!

From the TCAF site:

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival

Saturday May 7th, 9am-5pm
Sunday May 8th, 11am-5pm

@ Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge St., Toronto, Canada
416-533-9168
Admission to TCAF is Free.

Spera: Arina's Forest

2011-02-15T08:20:00.000-08:00

Arina's Forest, an all-new 17-page issue, is now online at Spera-Comic.com, where it can be found in the Vol. II section of the site.

This issue is a collection of three short comics centred around Arina, a winter witch that relies on human warmth for survival. The comics were illustrated by Sarah Searle and Liana Buszka, the cover painted by Ella Kurki and the pin-up painted by Kyla Vanderklugt, who also designed Arina. The cover and index were designed by Joel Hentges.

Afternoon Tea

2011-01-16T00:45:00.000-08:00

Afternoon Tea, a brand-new Spera short illustrated by Emily Block, is now online at Spera-Comic.com!

This comic offers a brief glimpse into Pira and Lono’s younger days, as well as an early peek at the conspiracy that will later change their lives.

My Top 10 Games of 2010

2011-01-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

1. Super Street Fighter IV

I haven't been able to get into a fighting game since Street Fighter III: Third Strike (and I look forward to the PSN version of that). I also had to miss out on the original Street Fighter IV due to disposable income woes. But when this came around, I was ready, especially since I had moved away from my hometown and knew this would be the one way I could steadily keep in touch with friends. I grabbed a little Bluetooth headset and my first ever fighting stick in preparation. When I finally got the game, I was blown away even after building up some hype: colourful and charming graphics, a great cast of old favourites and bizarre new faces, fun music and a fighting system that emphasises the individual style of the player. The only games with in-game clocks that I've played over one hundred hours of are this, Oblivion and the original Phantasy Star Online. It's just an absolute blast.

2. Final Fantasy XIII

I absolutely love the linearity of this game. Outside of the music (which I consider the second-best soundtrack of an FF, just below Final Fantasy VI), the linearity might be my favourite aspect. It feels and plays like an RPG intended for arcades. The story may not make much sense, and the characters may not have much character to them, but this is undoubtedly the most fun I've had with a more traditional JRPG since Persona 4.

3. Yakuza 3
4. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
5. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
6. Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition
7. Super Mario Galaxy 2
8. Nier
9. Gran Turismo 5
10. Kirby's Epic Yarn (co-op with wife)

Olivier Pichard’s Spera New Year card

2011-01-04T23:20:00.001-08:00

Nier: An Adventure Game About Playing Adventure Games

2010-12-31T03:04:00.000-08:00

Nier is a game tailor-made for gamers who grew up losing themselves in the worlds of the 3D Zeldas (Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twlight Princess) and 16-bit/32-bit action-adventure games (specifically Landstalker, Alundra and Brave Fencer Musashi). It is also a game made by fans of Team Ico for fans of Team Ico (Ico and Shadow of the Colossus), capturing the melancholic feel of those games through its adult fairy tale-style story, overblown lighting, sparse environments and overall art direction.

The Story

A father vows to save his daughter from a curse. The player controls the father. To say more would be to take away one of the greatest joys of experiencing Nier.

The Gameplay

Nier is an action-adventure RPG, with its gameplay most closely resembling Landstalker at its most simple and Brave Fencer Musashi/3D Zelda games at its most complex. This means lots of hacking at enemies, using powerful spells and solving simple puzzles.

There are a few towns to explore, fields to traverse, dungeons to conquer, bosses to fight -- everything one might expect from a classic Japanese adventure game.

The Legend Of Nier

Nier is loosely structured after Ocarina of Time, with a central hub, plains that act as a Hyrule field substitute (complete with drifting boar instead of Epona), and towns which give way to further dungeons. The puzzles never become anywhere near as complex, and the game world is not nearly as detailed, but it is clear the 3D Zeldas were an inspiration and influence on Nier. Those familiar with Navi will have their ears burn when a specific townsperson says 'Hey, listen!' once spoken to. And if that little reference isn't enough, there's a moment when a character retrieves an important item in a dungeon and holds it up to the camera -- all in a parody of the 'item found' pose from the 3D Zeldas, complete with unintelligible grunt and catchy jingle.

The Graphics

The graphics, which have often been referred to as 'generic' and 'mediocre' by both reviewers and players, are actually more appealing to me in their simplicity and general lack of detail than many of the big budget games currently available. I personally find that too many games of the current generation opt for incredibly busy graphics and overly-detailed textures, leaving almost no room for the imagination.

The look of Nier does far more for my imagination than most of the games I've played since the Dreamcast days, with notable exceptions being the aforementioned Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. There's also a certain thickness to the graphics that make it look like how I would imagine a Dreamcast 2 game to look like, in the very happy alternate dimension where that console exists. In other words, it looks how Dreamcast games tend to look in my fond memories of them.

The Music

The heavy use of vocal tracks can quickly become repetitive and grating, which is my biggest complaint, but I do find it interesting that one of the lowest points of the game for me tends to be one of the most loved aspects for Nier's defenders. The instrumental music, however, is almost always charming and beautiful, with a special oddness to the sounds and arrangements.

The Fetch Quests

The endless fetch quests in Nier are awful, focused almost exclusively on inane grinding and farming. They're entirely optional, of course, but really shouldn't have been in the game in the first place.

In The End

By combining its influences in clever ways, the whole of Nier becomes a game that is altogether unique. If only it had been marketed as such and not as a Devil May Cry-style clone. I highly recommend Nier to fans of atmosphere and originality, and of course to fans of Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Landstalker and Twilight Princess.

My Top 5 Albums of 2010

2010-12-28T01:15:00.000-08:00

1. Autechre - Oversteps

Autechre take the best of their glitched beats & ambient washes and add an accessible spin to it all, resulting in my favourite album of 2010.

2. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Already a contemporary classic, this album somehow feels like it's been around for ages. Despite the reserved positivity of some of the lyrics, it really just makes me want to leave the sprawl even more.

3. Envy - Recitation

Lots of pained screaming and kitschy, melodramatic post-rock instrumentation in a quirky Japanese wrapper (love the traces of Christmas carol melodies).

4. Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle

Blonde Redhead go electro-pop with what has to be my second favourite album of theirs, after the lovely 23.

5. Autechre - Move of Ten

More material in the vein of Oversteps, though lacking the textural hooks of that album.

And for some context, and because I love lists, here is my Top 10 Albums Overall, with the albums presented in alphabetical order:

Arovane - Lilies
Autechre - Draft 7.30
The Knife - Silent Shout
Ladytron - 604
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
Mogwai - Mr. Beast
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
The Organ - Sinking Hearts EP
Radiohead - Amnesiac

Places To Find Me

2010-12-06T20:17:00.000-08:00

deviantART: http://gyroscope.deviantart.com/
MUBI: http://mubi.com/users/34036
Tumblr: http://joshtierney.tumblr.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jwtierney

Spera: Blood

2010-12-04T22:13:00.000-08:00

Spera: Blood is a brand-new, full-length 24-page comic available right now on Spera-Comic.com! Pira, Lono and Yonder, now full-fledged adventurers in the realm of Spera, seek out the valuable blood of a band of horned demons. By selling this blood the trio will gain enough income to eat for two months. But is it really worth taking the lives of others to improve their own?

Blood was drawn by Matt Marblo and features cover artwork by Leela Wagner, a backup comic by Belicosa, a pin-up by Nick Edwards and a design by Joel Hentges.

Solandy Garcia for Spera-Comic.com

2010-10-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

Pauliina H. and Minna O. for Spera-Comic.com

2010-10-18T23:55:00.000-07:00

Ariel Stater for Spera-Comic.com

2010-09-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

Joanna Krótka for Spera-Comic.com

2010-09-19T23:10:00.001-07:00

Nick Edwards for Spera-Comic.com

2010-09-19T23:09:00.000-07:00

Escape From Suicide Wolf Forest

2010-09-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

Click here for an interview I did with the comics blog.

Sam Beck for Spera-Comic.com

2010-09-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out Only So Much, Sam's online comic. From Sam:

Only So Much is a webcomic about some kids that happen to possess some unique abilities while attending a fancy boarding school. It is also a story about friendships; more specifically, it is about the limits of trust and the consequences of trusting someone too much. It’s about the lack of a definable good and evil or black and white; it is an exploration of the grey area, when everywhere is grey.

Anna Wieszczyk for Spera-Comic.com

2010-09-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

Hwei for Spera-Comic.com

2010-09-08T00:07:00.001-07:00

Miss Irina for Spera: Volume II

2010-09-08T00:05:00.001-07:00

Jesse Tise for Spera-Comic.com

2010-09-02T00:22:00.000-07:00

on their way to totoro

2010-08-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

Pauliina H. and Minna O. for Spera-Comic.com

Nick Edwards for Spera-Comic.com

2010-08-25T23:07:00.001-07:00

Spera: Volume II

2010-08-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

This is Kyla Vanderklugt's promo piece for the new four-issue Spera series that will begin coming out in print by the end of the year.

Yup, Spera is finally continuing -- and not just in beautiful, printed issues bursting with art, but also online via free short comics! Watch out for shorts by Cecile Brun and Missirina on the Vol. II page of Spera-Comic.com. Both the issues and shorts will comprise Volume II of the story.

The story is a direct continuation of Volume I (Parts I-IV of the site) and finds the characters coming to grips with the large, odd and action-packed city of Kotequog.

Keeping with the spirit of Spera-Comic.com, each issue from the mini-series will be illustrated by a different artist: the first by Giannis Milonogiannis, the second Kyla Vanderklugt, the third Afu Chan and the fourth by Timothy Weaver. The cover for each issue will feature art by Afu Chan and will be designed by Joel Hentges, designer of Spera-Comic.com.

Included in each issue will be short comics by artists such as HamletMachine, Paul Maybury and Julia Scott, along with pin-ups by artists such as Jack Teagle, Luke Pearson, Nick Edwards, Harvey James and Angie Wang.

Also included will be a lot of action, humour, drama, monsters, animals with eye patches, drunken adventurers and evil clerks, along with the usual giant flaming dogs and troublemaking princesses.

Please keep an eye on this blog for further information and news!

Joan Casaramona for Spera-Comic.com

2010-08-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

Jaime Herrera for Spera-Comic.com

2010-08-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

Angie Hoffmeister for Spera-Comic.com

2010-08-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

Neon Horses: Yaoism

2010-08-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Yaoism is the story of a girl obsessed with yaoi -- or boy love -- comics. And movies. And videogames. And music.

Sometimes this girl wishes she was one of the love interests. Sometimes she kisses the holographic poster of her favourite singer before bed. Sometimes things come to life that should not.

Yaoism is the third and final story in the trio of science fiction love stories known as Neon Horses. The super cool illustration is by saicoink.

Introducing: Chobo, the warrior tabby

2010-07-26T02:12:00.000-07:00

Design by Afu Chan. Chobo is soon to be the star of three short Spera comics.

Two photos from a trip to Kansas

2010-07-26T00:04:00.001-07:00

Erin Harrison for Spera-Comic.com

2010-07-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

Neon Horses: Slush

2010-07-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Although Laon rejected its creator, it is still left with a certain longing, its software and hardware aching for its own personal (mis)understanding of love. With this all too human desire the android sets out to find a soul mate on the cityship of Chiago 2, a strange place that becomes even stranger the more Laon tries to understand it.

Slush is the second in the trio of science fiction love stories known as Neon Horses. Ariel Stater created the stunning portrait of a cool and determined Laon that serves as this story's illustration.

Neon Horses

2010-07-06T21:19:00.001-07:00

A cityship drifts through space, pushing past the ashes of a long-dead god. Surrounded by such vast emptiness, the citizens onboard learn the only real way to survive is to find true love.

The Sea is the first in a trio of science fiction love stories arriving under the title of Neon Horses. In The Sea the brilliant but eccentric conceptualist Vicente searches for love and, when that fails over and over again, attempts to create it.

This first story is illustrated by Sam Beck (Only So Much, Softcore World, Spera) and was proofread by Marisa Williams. New installments of Neon Horses will appear biweekly.

Zombies In The Sky: Part 2

2010-06-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

The second part of Zombies In The Sky is now online.

Celine Loup for Spera-Comic.com

2010-06-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

Dado de Guzman for Spera-Comic.com

2010-06-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

Jake Hill for Spera-Comic.com

2010-06-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

Zombies In The Sky: Part 1

2010-06-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

What could be worse than rain falling on an already dreary day? How about a zombie? How about a lot of zombies?

The Battler is faced with Clot City's most overwhelming zombie invasion yet in Zombies In The Sky, a new story written and created with Ramón Sierra. Helping the Battler are the mysterious orphan Jacob and angelic Crystal, two characters I created in childhood.

Zombies In The Sky is the third and final story in the Battler trilogy (with Respect The Dead and The Battler being the first and second, respectively). Reading the other stories is not required to enjoy Zombies.

In addition to co-writing the story, Ramón Sierra also created the many illustrations that complement the two parts. Part 2 will be released next week.

The Many Faces of Yonder

2010-06-02T17:37:00.001-07:00

Yonder from Spera-Comic.com as seen through the eyes of Sarah Ferrick, Ray Jones, Matt Houston, Afu Chan, Sourya Sihachakr, Angie Hoffmeister, Timothy Weaver, Bettina M. George, Muura, Sam Beck, Kristin Mukai, Luke Pearson, Eva Vercauteren, Stephanie Holmes, Hotcoffee, Julia Scott, Jack Teagle, Ramón Sierra with Gisel Gonzalez, Gabrielle Rose, J. Arashi Hara, Olivier Pichard, Michael Dialynas, Oliver Hull, Cynthia Lim, Valerie Chua, Vlad Gusev, Paul Maybury, Nick Edwards, Olli Hihnala, Anna Wieszczyk, Giannis Milonogiannis, Eva Eskelinen, Inés Estrada, Sloane Leong, Bruma Gris, Yana Moskaluk, Matt Marblo, Mel Stringer, farfocle and HamletMachine.

The Many Faces of Heph

2010-06-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

Heph from Spera-Comic.com as seen through the eyes of Sarah Ferrick, Matt Houston, Afu Chan, Sourya Sihachakr, Jack Teagle, Katri Kallio, Christina Siravo, Ramón Sierra with Gisel Gonzalez, J. Arashi Hara, Olivier Pichard, David Grimshaw, Dado de Guzman, Sallamari Rantala, Kyla Vanderklugt and Olli Hihnala.

The Many Faces of Lono

2010-06-01T01:49:00.000-07:00

Lono from Spera-Comic.com as seen through the eyes of Sarah Ferrick, Matt Houston, Joanna Krótka, Afu Chan, Sourya Sihachakr, Angie Hoffmeister, Timothy Weaver, Bettina M. George, Mikkel Sommer, Muura, Sam Beck, Kristin Mukai, Luke Pearson, Eva Vercauteren, Stephanie Holmes, Hotcoffee, Julia Scott, Jack Teagle, Katri Kallio, Christina Siravo, Ramón Sierra with Gisel Gonzalez, Gabrielle Rose, J. Arashi Hara, Olivier Pichard, Michael Dialynas, Cynthia Lim, David Grimshaw, Valerie Chua, Dado de Guzman, Vlad Gusev, Paul Maybury, Rachel Saunders, Nick Edwards, Sallamari Rantala, Kyla Vanderklugt, Olli Hihnala, Anna Wieszczyk, Giannis Milonogiannis, Eva Eskelinen, Inés Estrada, Sloane Leong, Bruma Gris, Yana Moskaluk, Ingunn Dybendal, Matt Marblo, Mel Stringer, farfocle, Polly Guo and HamletMachine.

The Many Faces of Pira

2010-06-01T00:59:00.000-07:00

Pira from Spera-Comic.com as seen through the eyes of Sarah Ferrick, Ray Jones, Matt Houston, Joanna Krótka, Afu Chan, Sourya Sihachakr, Angie Hoffmeister, Timothy Weaver, Bettina M. George, Mikkel Sommer, Muura, Sam Beck, Kristin Mukai, Luke Pearson, Eva Vercauteren, Stephanie Holmes, Hotcoffee, Julia Scott, Jack Teagle, Katri Kallio, Christina Siravo, Ramón Sierra with Gisel Gonzalez, Gabrielle Rose, J. Arashi Hara, Olivier Pichard, Michael Dialynas, Oliver Hull, Cynthia Lim, David Grimshaw, Valerie Chua, Dado de Guzman, Vlad Gusev, Paul Maybury, Rachel Saunders, Nick Edwards, Sallamari Rantala, Kyla Vanderklugt, Olli Hihnala, Anna Wieszczyk, Giannis Milonogiannis, Eva Eskelinen, Inés Estrada, Sloane Leong, Bruma Gris, Yana Moskaluk, Matt Marblo, Mel Stringer, farfocle, Polly Guo and HamletMachine.

Spera: Part IV Now Online

2010-05-31T01:02:00.001-07:00

Every escapist fantasy must end sometime, and for Pira, Lono and Yonder that end comes in the form of a horrific reality. A battle for freedom ensues that will physically and mentally change the princesses. It is a change that will colour all future adventures to come.

The fourth and final part of the collaborative fantasy comic Spera is now online at Spera-Comic.com. Part IV features the artistic talents of Louise McLennan, Rachel Saunders, Nick Edwards, Sallamari Rantala, Kyla Vanderklugt, Olli Hihnala, Anna Wieszczyk, Giannis Milonogiannis, Eva Eskelinen, Inés Estrada and Sloane Leong. The site was designed and coded by Joel Hentges.

But it can't really be the end, can it?

Spera will be continuing in various forms in the future. Think of the four available parts as Volume I.

Timothy Weaver for Spera-Comic.com

2010-05-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Giannis Milonogiannis for Spera-Comic.com

2010-05-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

Old City Blues

2010-05-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

Everyone (yes, everyone) should check out Old City Blues ( OldCityBlues.com ), a sci-fi thriller webcomic by the impossibly amazing Giannis Milonogiannis. Noir detectives, robot ninjas, badass mechs, violent cybernetic crime scenes, intense rooftop action, New Athens -- any of those would be reason enough to get excited, and Giannis combines them all in Old City Blues without breaking a sweat.

The comic is being released monthly, online and completely for free, in full, thick issues of stunning black and white. The first issue is up now, so if you want to be one of the lucky readers who can say they've been there since the beginning, now is your chance.

Is one of your favourite comics / animations (in any of its iterations) Ghost in the Shell? This is the comic for you. Do you still find the time to watch Blade Runner at least once a year? This is the comic for you. Is one of your favourite videogames the Hideo Kojima adventure Snatcher? This is the comic for you. Do you get the slightest pleasure from anything even remotely cyberpunk? This is the comic for you.

HamletMachine for Spera-Comic.com

2010-05-20T00:26:00.001-07:00

Polly Guo for Spera-Comic.com

2010-05-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

farfocle for Spera-Comic.com

2010-05-17T15:04:00.001-07:00

Conversations with Oliver Hull

2010-05-16T01:56:00.001-07:00

Oliver Hull has an interesting project going on at CK++. Different artists are given the same piece of art (created by Oliver) and asked to respond to it as though it were the opening line of an artistic conversation. Their response comes in the form of another art piece. Oliver then responds to their response with another piece, and so on and so forth, until the conversation either ends or trails off. Seeing how the different artists react is fascinating. A highly recommended experiment.

Mel Stringer for Spera-Comic.com

2010-05-12T22:46:00.001-07:00

A 10-second Pira sketch by Paul Pope

2010-05-10T15:40:00.000-07:00

One of my many treasures from TCAF, including a non-stop succession of great new memories and friends.

Matt Marblo for Spera-Comic.com

2010-05-10T01:18:00.000-07:00

Ingunn Dybendal for Spera-Comic.com

2010-05-10T01:16:00.000-07:00

TCAF

2010-05-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

I'll be walkin' around at TCAF on Saturday if anyone wants to meet up.

On Ambient Films

2010-05-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

On Ambient Films
(Text and art excerpted from the narrative essay Softcore World, viewable in its entirety at JoshTierney.com. Art by Sam Beck.)

An ambient film is largely plotless, focusing on character through a more objective yet also more intimate viewpoint. In ambient films we see characters live their lives in long takes that are typically soundtracked with diegetic sound. There are only a few pages of dialogue to be found in these films, the characters preferring to speak when spoken to. More discerning audiences are able to see the character as nothing other than the actor broken down to his or her barest elements: we have Ana Torrent in Víctor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive, Lee Kang-sheng in Tsai Ming-liang’s What Time Is It There? and Yo Hitoto in Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s Café Lumière as examples. By watching the characters/actors go about their daily routes, accompanied by what is often mistakenly referred to as ‘silence’, the audience is more easily able to acknowledge the fact that characters are also actors, real people asked to do real things.

These films are referred to as ambient rather than minimalist as the minimalism is done in service to the ambience and not vice versa. We are able to experience the serenity of a small town in Spain, along with the bustling cities of Taipei, Paris and Tokyo on their own terms – by following these characters/actors as they quietly make their familiar treks, we are able to visit and breathe these locations with them, as opposed to films which relegate their settings to half-seen flashes of artifice.

What prevents all this from crossing over into documentary is the seemingly universal approach to gorgeous cinematography of ambient films: the camera tends to be set up for the framing of a setting rather than the framing of a character, while the character is there to balance out the composition and add humanism to the shot. With locations having the most major role in these films, they are filmed as lovingly as a genre film’s stars.

Along those lines, when non-diegetic music is incorporated into ambient films, it is used to complement the scenery rather than as a link to the emotional state of the characters – examples here would be Luis de Pablo’s score for The Spirit of the Beehive and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Ennio Morricone’s score for Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven.

To watch an ambient film is to enter the time and place in which it was made; not only are they objective experiences but also the purest form of escapism I have yet to come across. They are made to reflect upon us as we reflect upon them.

Ten examples of ambient films, in no specific order:

Café Lumière - Hou Hsiao-hsien (2003)
The Spirit of the Beehive - Víctor Erice (1973)
Linda Linda Linda - Nobuhiro Yamashita (2005)
What Time is it There? - Tsai Ming-liang (2001)
Days of Heaven - Terrence Malick (1978)
Small Change / Pocket Money - François Truffaut (1976)
Syndromes and a Century - Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2006)
L'eclisse - Michelangelo Antonioni (1962)
Flight of the Red Balloon - Hou Hsiao-hsien (2007)
Whisper of the Heart - Yoshifumi Kondo (1995)

Softcore World

2010-05-04T01:34:00.000-07:00

The narrative essay Softcore World has been added to JoshTierney.com. The piece is several things: it is an essay on the act of watching a movie, a short story where the locations are as important as the characters and a screenplay for an ambient film. Each of these aspects relies fully on the others.

Sam Beck illustrated each segment of Softcore World with a series of art pieces presented as frames from the titular film. Through the painstaking attention to detail and atmosphere in these frames the film becomes utterly real.

Please visit JoshTierney.com for our latest project.

Yana Moskaluk for Spera-Comic.com

2010-04-26T21:47:00.001-07:00

Bruma Gris for Spera-Comic.com

2010-04-26T21:42:00.001-07:00

Hana

2010-04-22T23:46:00.001-07:00

Not counting the JoshTierney.com site itself, The Untitled Saga of Hana was my first large project, begun in the summer of 2007 and brought to something resembling a conclusion in early 2009. Comprised of two whole volumes of episodes -- about 300 pages altogether --, The Untitled Saga of Hana concerns a young girl named Hana who is capable of making things out of her dandruff. This strange power comes in handy when Hana and her friends -- James and Henri -- are confronted by a barrage of bizarre creatures and foes in the form of a kappa, kidnapping lobsters, a giant chicken, a giant dandruff lizard, a boy made out of Brussels sprouts and many, many others.

Hana was my first project to involve a consistent illustrator in addition to a different featured artist for each episode. Alison Berry created an illustration for each episode of Volume 1 while Victoria Assanelli (aka Toia Bates) provided illustrations for the first half of Volume 2. The featured artists for the two volumes were (let's take a deep breath): Afu Chan, Timothy Weaver, Bettina M. George, Secil Cokan, Soe, Alice Zheng, Stephanie Holmes, Francesca C., Sarah Ferrick, Joan Casaramona, Ramon Sierra, Mel Stringer, Angie Hoffmeister, Basia Konczarek, Gabrielle Durán (now Gabrielle Rose), John Wilkins, Danielle 'Knee' Estefan, Maaike Verwijs, Nina Fides Garcia, Cinanti Astria Johansjah, Lo Ning Wong, Jake Hill and Olivier Pichard.

In 2008 Joel Hentges designed a Volume 1 book using Alison Berry's illustrations for the interior and one of Afu Chan's featured illustrations for the cover. Hana is the girl playing the Spera RPG in one of Afu Chan's pieces for Spera-Comic.com.

Hana was originally going to be a short story. The thought process during the brainstorming session went like this: what is the strangest thing I can possibly come up with? I scratched my head and the answer fell onto my lap. I figured the idea was worth about ten pages and opened up Word.

The Untitled Saga of Hana still holds a great, big, dandruffy place in my heart. I made many wonderful, true friends on it. Its story of friendship and long summer days is one I still very much believe in. I hope readers will continue to give it a chance.

Videogames As Art

2010-04-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

Once again this has become a popular debate amongst my fellow nerds. What follows is a comment I posted on The Auteurs:

For the most part, Hollywood films are products created with the intention of pleasing as many people as possible, so that they can make that much money through ticket sales. Videogames are even more of a product than Hollywood films — if the gameplay is not enjoyable, the game is considered unplayable. To add to this, the most ambitious game developers aim to create experiences as close as possible to Hollywood films, which — again, for the most part — are really just crowd-pleasing entertainment, like going to a small circus or amusement park. The most well-liked contemporary videogame at the moment is possibly Uncharted 2, which comes across as even more empty and impersonal than the brand of film it attempts to emulate.

Gamers don’t want to be challenged (and I do mean in a different way than level difficulty) by videogames in the same way that the casual moviegoing public do not want to be challenged by art films. They paid their money and want to be entertained. They do not want their dollars to be challenged by someone’s singular artistic vision — they want to be engrossed in an experience made by a company to appeal to not only them but those enjoying the game with them. One of the only instances of artistic alienation in videogames was masterminded by Hideo Kojima with the midway point and ending of Metal Gear Solid 2, a postmodern game that comments on the gamer as much as it comments on its own in-game events. Because of this it was met with a huge backlash from fans. Hideo Kojima learned his lesson. He would not make games that alienated his audience, because gamers do not want their games to be art. They merely want their games to be considered art so that they are no longer questioned with why they spend so much time and money on their hobby.

Why is there so rarely a narrative game that does not involve killing? Why does ‘videogame’ seem to automatically mean shooting someone in the head? There is some wonderful and intelligent dialogue in the film Yi Yi about this. There is no wonderful and intelligent dialogue in a game that comments on either itself or any other medium. It is a closed-off world of meaningless rules, relentless depictions of murder and hackneyed attempts at emotion which rarely reach beyond melodrama or sentiment. There are games that are artistic but there are no games that are honest. One day this may change, but until then we are left with nothing but charming vessels of instant gratification.

My five favourite games:

1. Landstalker
2. Shenmue
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Super Mario Galaxy
5. Jet Set Radio Future

The Many Faces of Heph and Yonder

2010-04-06T16:29:00.001-07:00

Heph / Yonder of Spera-Comic.com as seen through the eyes of Sarah Ferrick, Ray Jones, Matt Houston, Joanna Krótka, Afu Chan, Sourya Sihachakr, Angie Hoffmeister, Timothy Weaver, Bettina M. George, Mikkel Sommer, Muura, Sam Beck, Kristin Mukai, Luke Pearson, Eva Vercauteren, Stephanie Holmes, Hotcoffee, Julia Scott, Jack Teagle, Katri Kallio, Christina Siravo, Ramón Sierra with Gisel Gonzalez, Gabrielle Rose, J. Arashi Hara, Olivier Pichard, Michael Dialynas, Oliver Hull, Cynthia Lim, David Grimshaw, Valerie Chua, Dado de Guzman, Vlad Gusev and Paul Maybury.

Spera Faces

2010-04-04T00:50:00.001-07:00

The princesses of Spera-Comic.com as seen through the eyes of Sarah Ferrick, Ray Jones, Matt Houston, Joanna Krótka, Afu Chan, Sourya Sihachakr, Angie Hoffmeister, Timothy Weaver, Bettina M. George, Mikkel Sommer, Muura, Sam Beck, Kristin Mukai, Luke Pearson, Eva Vercauteren, Stephanie Holmes, Hotcoffee, Julia Scott, Jack Teagle, Katri Kallio, Christina Siravo, Ramón Sierra with Gisel Gonzalez, Gabrielle Rose, J. Arashi Hara, Olivier Pichard, Michael Dialynas, Oliver Hull, Cynthia Lim, David Grimshaw, Valerie Chua, Dado de Guzman, Vlad Gusev and Paul Maybury.

Spera: Part III now online

2010-03-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

The third part of the collaborative fantasy comic Spera is now online at Spera-Comic.com. Exiled princesses Pira and Lono -- along with their companion, the fire spirit Yonder -- have finally entered the realm of Spera. There they discover sights far more disturbing and beautiful than anything that has come before.

Part III features the artistic talents of J. Arashi Hara, Olivier Pichard, Michael Dialynas, Oliver Hull, Cynthia Lim, David Grimshaw, Valerie Chua, Dado de Guzman and Vlad Gusev. Coinciding with the release of Part III is a gorgeous, action-packed pin-up by Paul Maybury of Aqua Leung fame.

2010-03-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

Adorable Spera art by Hotcoffee.

2010-02-28T12:58:00.001-08:00

A blood-drenched pin-up by Julia Scott for Spera.

2010-02-05T23:11:00.000-08:00

Promo art by Hotcoffee.

Spera: Part II

2010-02-04T01:19:00.000-08:00

The second part of the international collaborative comic Spera is now online at Spera-Comic.com! Join princesses Pira, Lono and the fire spirit Yonder as they continue their journey to the land of Spera. Pink skies, rising hills and hidden caves are just some of magical things they'll come across in this latest installment, the continuation of a story that should sate any reader's desire for adventure.

Part II features the illustrative comic work of Mikkel Sommer, Muura, Sam Beck, Kristin Mukai, Luke Pearson, Eva Vercauteren, Stephanie Holmes, Hotcoffee, Julia Scott, Jack Teagle, Katri Kallio, Christina Siravo, Ramón Sierra, Gisel Gonzalez and Gabrielle Rose. Each individual part of the site is designed by Joel Hentges.

With this update we also introduce the Gallery section, where you can find promotional art as well as preliminary art by the project's artists.

One More Retrospective

2010-01-31T01:02:00.000-08:00

I've put together a series of six posts on Untitled, my Tumblr blog, focusing on my personal favourite short stories from JoshTierney.com.

P.S. I have a Tumblr blog.

What Hana has been up to lately

2010-01-30T00:23:00.000-08:00

Afu Chan has created artwork of Hana playing a Spera RPG. Tofuman is a particularly tough boss considering how early he appears in the game!

Some Kind Of Time Travel

2010-01-21T00:32:00.001-08:00

I drew the drawing on the left in 1996 when I was about 12. It's of a character I had created when I was even younger, a dangerous orphan in a green cloak whose parents had been eaten by vampires. Ramón 'Cocor' Sierra drew the drawing on the right this year (approximate age: 26). It is for an upcoming collaboration: a new Battler story that features this character along with a couple other childhood creations. Ramón knows how to make me feel like a kid all over again.

It's got Laurence Fishburne in it

2009-12-24T23:52:00.001-08:00

Dorian Hall takes a running joke to new heights with Ifburne.

Hornet's Night Off

2009-12-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

Hornet's Night Off, the action-packed sequel to The Hunters, has been uploaded to deviantART. It is another commission for Kilkov Masmus, again using his characters and plot. In it Hornet discovers a secret about his date that he wishes had been kept hidden. A whole lotta chaos ensues, most of it taking place in a single apartment.

Spera via Afu Chan

2009-12-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

Afu Chan has created a beautiful and highly-detailed ad / poster for Spera-Comic.com, the full version of which can be found here.

The Hunters: A New Short Story

2009-12-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

I've uploaded a new story called The Hunters to deviantART. It was written as a commission for Kilkov Masmus, using his characters and plot. The story is in line with my more masculine works such as The Runners and the Battler stories, starring a cast of demon hunters as they work together for a rather unique hit. I definitely had a great deal of fun writing it and feel I've learned a few things about writing action scenes in the process.

More information on commissions can be found in this post.

Spera-Comic.com

2009-12-04T02:25:00.001-08:00

Six months in the making, the first Part of Spera -- a fantasy comic that will be presented in four large Parts -- has been published online. Each Part of Spera will be told in short sections by an incredible assortment of artists, creating a world formed and coloured by their inventive visions. The comic has been given its own unique domain at Spera-Comic.com, while news updates for it will appear here and on JoshTierney.com.

The story for the comic comes from a four-part novella written exclusively for this project. It is about the adventures of two princesses – Pira and Lono – and a fire spirit in the form of a dog named Yonder. Fleeing their homelands after a cataclysmic event, the trio turn their escapist fantasies into a stranger reality, venturing into a land of which they had only ever heard the tallest tales.

The characters were given elegant designs by Sarah Ferrick, while the website was meticulously designed and coded by Joel Hentges. The Part 1 comic features the talents of Sarah Ferrick, Ray Jones, Matt Houston, Joanna Krótka, Afu Chan, Sourya Sihachakr, Angie Hoffmeister, Timothy Weaver and Bettina M. George. Marisa Williams proofread the novella.

We hope you enjoy the first Part of this beautiful and magical project.

The Convergence Of High And Low Culture In The Limits Of Control

2009-12-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

The Limits of Control is a film that only ‘clicks’ once Bill Murray arrives in its final moments. Until that point it is another type of film – a cold, desperately philosophical film which aims to serve as a document of what it means to be cool in the 00s. Another cold, desperately philosophical film attempted this for the 60s: Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï, which The Limits of Control owes a great deal to.

Isaach De Bankolé’s detached samouraï is a hitman who must harness the power of his imagination in order to make his hit. He does this as a pop culture hitman, wearing a blue suit and sculpted demeanour, through paintings found in the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid. By viewing these paintings – here used as an example of legitimate art – and applying them to his pop imagination, he is able to form encounters with other genre caricatures. The ‘legitimate art’ of these encounters is found in the characters’ simple philosophical musings.

Until Bill Murray arrives, the characters of the film only tell Isaach what he wants to hear. His imagination can only stretch so far. After all, the reason Isaach exists is so his life can be given its empty poetry by the writing and direction of Jim Jarmusch and the cinematography of Christopher Doyle: the bulk of the film is comprised of sometimes gorgeous, always cool shots of Isaach as spare selections of drone metal accompany his existence. Then Bill Murray gasps ‘fuck you’ and the film suddenly means something.

What little dialogue and lyrics there are up to this point focuses on the need for arrogant men to remind themselves they’ll be in the same spot at the end of their lives as everyone else. At its most basic and obvious, the film is about the battle between artistic bohemians wishing for a world of colour and stuffy businessmen not knowing what colour is. I believe the film is not necessarily on either side, and in this way the film becomes an allegory on the need for the low in high culture and vice versa.

To illustrate this I will use the film’s references to film history. There is, first of all, Isaach De Bankolé’s approximation of Alain Delon’s character in Le Samouraï: both are hitmen who exist solely in their own minds, who rarely speak and only hear what they desire. Both have their own unique rituals: Isaach De Bankolé does his controlled stretches every morning and drinks two (2) cups of espresso, while Alain Delon straightens his hat in front of a mirror every time he leaves his apartment. Through references to noirs of the past, Le Samouraï is both an art film that aims to be a gangster film and a gangster film that aims to be an art film. Through references to Le Samouraï, The Limits Of Control is a film that aims for these aims.

There are the constant references to film in the dialogue: when Isaach De Bankolé meets the Always Nude Woman, the Always Nude Woman – lying on a bed on her stomach much like Brigitte Bardot at the beginning of Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt – asks Isaach De Bankolé if he thinks she has ‘a nice ass’. He replies, with only a split-second of hesitation, ‘yes’. This is, of course, the opening to Contempt, and will be obvious to many film buffs and European cinema-goers but obscure to most North Americans. I use this as my example of a reference to a film considered art, and thus a reference to film as art.

For the reference to film as pop culture, Tilda Swinton stops by Isaach De Bankolé’s favourite café and not-so-casually says The Limits Of Control is a Hitchcock film. If Jim Jarmusch had not focused on the film’s alienating aspects, this would almost be true, at least as far as film as entertainment is concerned.

For one other example of one of the many ways in which The Limits Of Control both contrasts and parallels high and low culture, I will use the Always Nude Woman. When she first appears on screen, as a reference to Contempt, her body is utilised both in a gently exploitative way (far more gently than Brigitte Bardot’s producer-mandated appearance) and as an example of beauty in the female form. This combination then branches out in the two directions: there are the sequences where she is posing in a transparent raincoat, a packaged object, and there are the sequences in which she is lying on the bed beside Isaach, and the lighting is hitting her just right, and we’re able to look at the female form as an example of the highest possible art.

That it is not until Bill Murray appears on screen – a comedian known to one generation for his roles in films such as Ghostbusters and Caddyshack, and now known to another generation for his roles in films such as Rushmore, Lost In Translation and Broken Flowers – is only suiting. Like the paintings Isaach De Bankolé uses to ignite his imagination, The Limits Of Control offers a lot to read into, far more than its juvenile philosophical musings might imply. The fact it is so ceaselessly cool while doing this makes it a (mostly) successful convergence of what is considered high and low art in our culture today.

On Tumblr

2009-11-30T15:49:00.001-08:00

It's strictly reblogs but there ya go.

Buy Thulu: The Hot New Graphic Novel By Timothy Weaver

2009-11-29T20:51:00.000-08:00

Timothy Weaver is one of my most prolific collaborators, with our first team-up battle being the very second episode of The Untitled Saga Of Hana: Volume 1. Since then I've been coming up with as many excuses as possible to work together.

Timothy Weaver breathes his art. His style is his life. If this man was ever killed in a street, his chalkline would be rendered with jagged lines of ink, the body filled in with gradient half-tones. And such are his autobiographical tendencies that he would probably draw this with his own hand.

If his art wasn't self-referential enough, his sense of humour has a sense of humour about its sense of humour. His dialogue is biting but knows that it's biting -- and so goes on to bite even harder. He is as honest with others as he is with himself.

His new graphic novel, Thulu, is fun, ridiculous, hilarious, beautiful, meaningful, vulgar and a call for people to live as they want to.

You can purchase Thulu here.

Une femme mariée

2009-10-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

'Are you crying?'

'No. Why do you ask?'

'Because there are tears in your eyes.'

A Few Thoughts On Film

2009-10-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

Good movies are entertaining.
Great movies are engrossing.
The greatest films are alienating.

We go to the cinema to escape the lack of miracles in our lives.
We go to the cinema to see miracles occur in the lives of others.
We become changed by the cinema when, instead of providing that escape, we are shown how beautiful the world is regardless, and are reminded of our place in this beautiful world as conscious entities.

To be confronted is to think,
and I want to think,
so let greatness confront me
lest my mind become someone else's.