About Michael Edwards
Location: Dallas, Texas
Occupation: Knife Sharpener
Bio: I was born in 1518, in the village of Glenfinnan, on the shores of Loch Shiel...and I am Immortal. (cough…cough) (You know, writing a silly origin like this makes me think of the time I was at a Star Trek Convention and saw a balding, overweight guy in a Starfleet Uniform on a stage say, “Hello, I am Captain Hochsteader from the USS Klondike.” I wanted so badly to say, “Noooo, you’re Melvin Goldfarb, Accountant from Plano.”)
Favorite movie: Hmmmm... It's a toss up between Schindler's List and Cabin Boy. (Kinda makes you wonder about my ability to review DVD’s don’t it?). Actually, if I use the criteria I used above of “never get tired of watching…etc…”: The Road Warrior, The World According to Garp, Creator, Terminator 2, Somewhere in Time (If I wanna get reaaallly weepy)
Greatest video game accomplishment: Buying and beating the first ever home PONG game. Haven’t really played much else… Well, there was the time I died on the first level of MediEvil. Or the time I died at the beginning of Resident Evil. Of, course my favorite was dying while playing Tetris.
If you could have any one superpower, what would it be?: The power of Super Speed. There just never seems to be enough time to do everything I want to get done. And I can never get anywhere fast enough. (However, this would have to be combined with certain degrees of Super Agility and Invulnerability so as not to have to wear Band-aid Brand Nuclear Knee-Pads.)
Posts: 427
More from this author
If you’ve ever seen Wallace and Gromit or Chicken Run, then you’re familiar with the work of Nick Park’s Aardman Studios. Most of Park’s early work was in the area of claymation shorts, most of which won various awards. Once the original short for Wallace and Gromit broke out and became a huge hit, it opened the doors for other projects, all major successes for the studio.
Creature Comforts started out life the same way. Park created a short which featured claymation animals moving and talking to dialogue recorded during interviews with everyday people as opposed to actors in a studio. The short won an Academy Award in 1990, then went on to become a British television series. Thinking it would work over here, Park created an American version, but unfortunately only three episodes aired before it was pulled.
Sony/Columbia Tristar is releasing a DVD of all seven episodes that were produced. I love Park’s unusual style and found the series charming at first. Listening to average people on the street talking about everything from personal grooming to eating preferences was nice and all, but watching it come out of the mouths of polar bears and birds was really kind of funny. The only problem I started having was that the episodes went on too long. The humor started to dwindle as the interviews became long-winded rambles.
The DVD also includes a few bonus interviews that weren’t included on any of the episodes, a few of the actual live-action interviews, some promos and compilations of some of the better characters.
The idea was great, and I commend Park for a job well done, but I think it belonged more in the arena of short films as opposed to a half-hour show.
