I Made You A Muxtape: Summer '08

Dicking around with Muxtape, I made a nice little mix, perfect for an afternoon kicking it back on the patio with a book and a beer. Now if only it actually reached a temperature in Chicago where I could be on my patio without a parka....


*Most, if not all, of these songs are available on eMusic, so if you hear something you like, head on over there and pick them up (if you're not a member, you can get 25 free tracks for no obligation up front, it's a great deal).

Quickly: Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I liked it. Perhaps not as much as I wanted to, but that much enjoyment would have proably required at least one change in pants during hte film, so perhaps it's fo rhte best. It certainly fits in with the other three and Roger Ebert put it the best as to their order of quality:

"All you can do is compare one to the other three. And even then, what will it get you? If you eat four pounds of sausage, how do you choose which pound tasted the best? Well, the first one, of course, and then there's a steady drop-off of interest. That's why no Indy adventure can match "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981). But if "Crystal Skull" (or "Temple of Doom" from 1984 or "Last Crusade" from, 1989) had come first in the series, who knows how much fresher it might have seemed? True, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" stands alone as an action masterpiece, but after that the series is compelled to be, in the words of Indiana himself, "same old same old." Yes, but that's what I want it to be."

So let's just say it was still some tasty sausage.

Quick breakdown of the problems I had with the flick (THAR BE SPOILERS BELOW MATEY):

-They're pushing Shia LeBouf to be the "next" Indiana a little too hard in the movie. Not wholly over the top (ie. Jar Jar), but just enough to grate a little.

-This is my damage: why do I find aliens less believeable than Hindu Stones, The Lost Arc & The Holy Grail?

-I don't think Indiana Jones shot anyone at all.

-In Last Crusade you had the perfect ending to the series: Indiana & Co. literally riding off into the sunset. To justify a next installment, I felt they had to improve upon that ending. They didn't.

And to leave on a high note, what I liked:

-Karen Allen & Harrison Ford's back and forth dialoge was really good. I'd pay to see them together in a screw-ball comedy of some type.

-Along with that, Harrison Ford actually looked like he was enjoying himself, something I haven't seen from him in a movie since, probably, the last Indiana Jones movie.

-All Cate Blanchett was missing was moustache to twirl. The best villain this series has had since Belloch and the Creepy German Dude in Raiders.

-Come on, no matter what, it's Fucking Indiana Jones. I mean, just thinking about the theme music makes me want to go see it again. Here, take a test, sing the lyrics to the theme (below, from here) and try and stop your body from involuntarily getting up and walking ot the theatre:

In-di-ana fuck-ing Jones

In-di-ana moth-er-fuck-ing Jones

In-di-ana fuck-ing Jones

Bite my ball-sack you Na-zis I’m In-di-ana fuck-ing Jones

Three New (ish) DC Comics

The Brave & The Bold #13

Oh TB&TB, what shall become of you? Oh, I know, cancellation. Anyway, here's what happened with this book, the fans said, "Hey DC why can't you give us a solid, fun, action comic with star creators, star characters, that doesn't require vast knowledge of continuity, and is shockingly free of decapitations?" DC's reply was, "Here you go." The Fans then said, "Never mind, I think Mark Millar has Mr. Fantastic punching a baby this week somewhere else."

Anyway, on to the issue at hand. Now that the story arc that was told over the first 12 issues is over, Mark Waid is filling out the remainder of his run with a few done-in-one issues, this one featuring art by Jerry Ordway. This is a fun little murder mystery starring Batman and the Golden Age Flash and is pretty much exactly everything people say they want out of comics. It's a full story, well told, with action and easily the best bit of dialogue I've read this month:

Yes, that is geriatric Flash yelling at those DAMN SAMUROIDS TO STAY OFF HIS LAWN!!

Booster Gold #9

After reading Calvin and Sallyp's raves (maniacal raves on the part of Sally) about this title, I decided to give it a shot, as I was paring down my pull list. Booster Gold is a bit of a sticky wicket. Despite a newer costume design, he's still the most 1980's of superheroes. I mean, just say his name and you'll induce giggles in anyone who didn't love the Justice League International days, indeed, it even seemed like DC had given up on him, making him only the latest of the members of that team that were sacrificed to event-o-mania (the hit list: Blue Beetle, Rocket Red, Max Lord, Ralph & Sue Dibney, and coming soon: J'onn J'onzz and Batman). But instead, they turned it on it's ear and gave him a very good character arc in 52 and launched this series, which I promptly waited for trade on, and that will finally arrive next week.

Anyway, this is another one of those series fans seem to have been clamoring for. Nobody gave a flying fig about Ted Kord until he bought it in the run-up to Infinite Crisis and suddenly half of the world was clamoring for them to bring him, along with the rest of the JLI, back to life. Well here you go fans, now buy the damn book.



Blue Beetle #26

For our final exercise in fan-service, we have Blue Beetle. This is another one of those books people have been asking for, for years. It's a new title, featuring a young, Hispanic super-hero that is appealing to both teens and older fans alike. It's fun, well paced and oftenly hilarious. Of course, no one is buying it.

ANYWAY, in order to broaden their fan base for this series, they decided to do an issue with 90% Spanish dialogue. Mind you, this is appropriate, with Jamie (Blue Beetle) taking his new girlfriend to his family reunion, most of whom only speak Spanish. Unfortunately, I don't speak a word of Spanish, but the art makes most of the action clear, and the english-language script is reprinted in the back of the issue. It's a well done, but it left me rather cold, mostly because I'm a moron who doesn't understand a word of Spanish. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a xenophobic jackass like this guy, and I totally support their reason for doing this issue, this way, but it just wasn't my favorite of the bunch. I would hope that DC makes an effort next year during Free Comic Book Day to put out this book, as I have a feeling it would bring in some new readers. Mind you, that assumes that DC is still publishing this book in one year's time, which is, at best, a 50/50 proposition.

Anyway, that's my round-up of the low selling DC titles I've read in the last month. I've been debating on whether to plug into the blogohedron zeitgeist and take a pass at Secret Invasion, but I just can't do it. Here's hoping Final Crisis turns out well, Grant Morrison, make like Flash Gordon and save us all.

Movie Review: Speed Racer

So, finding myself with a freed-up late-afternoon yesterday, I decided to go see a movie. Though Speed Racer was singing to me with the siren call of the explodo, I was determined to see a "good movie" and looked at David Mamet’s* kung-fu flick Redbelt as a good opportunity. Well, after reading Kevin Church’s lukewarm review of Redbelt and two trusted reviewers' raves about Herr Racer, I decided that I could take a chance on the Wachowski Brothers (er…whatever they are now).

WARNING: Speed Racer contains the following: Jumping cars, exploding cars, racecar vikings, ninjas, John Goodman, John Goodman fighting ninjas, Shaft, a character named Inspector Detector, kung-fu, British gangsters, a distinct lack of physical laws, a car-mounted catapult that fires beehives, piranhas, a chimpanzee wearing a tuxedo, and candy…Dear God the candy. If any of the above sound too absurd for you to suspend your disbelief, well, stay home and watch some Bergman. For the rest of you, buckle up.

I’ll say it first off, this is not a great movie, or really a movie at all. It’s a spectacle, the colors, the quick cuts, the sheer insanity of many of the visuals that borders on the incoherent. At times I had to remind myself to blink because I could feel my contacts drying up on my eyes because I was staring so intently. 12 hours after walking out of the theater, I’m hard pressed to remember exactly all of what I saw, but I know it was cool. I realize that this sounds as if I’m damning it with faint praise, but this movie feels as if it was made for and by 12-year-olds. From the early, imaginary scenes featuring crayon-animated dream sequences, to the candy-coated visuals, to the use of the word “ass” as if it’s the most damning swear of them all, I can totally see kids across the nation watching this movie on HBO hundreds of times on the living room floor as their Mothers beg them to, for God’s sake, go outside and play. It’s a next generation Karate Kid.

As for the visuals, the CGI doesn’t look quite real, but it’s not supposed to so it’s not jarring. Complaining that the racing scenes don’t look photo-real is like comparing Bugs Bunny to a real rabbit, sure they’re not the same, but Bugs is a hell of a lot more fun.

Yes, the “plot” scenes between races tend to drag a bit, but they’re still not bad, the actors do the best with what they’re given and the fact that they hired several very good actors attest to the fact that they were at least trying.

Overall, if you can put your brain into the right frame of mind for this flick, I have a feeling you’ll enjoy yourself immensely. If not, go see Made of Honor and suffer for your so-called maturity.

*Update: If you're still wondering whether this movie is for you, here are the first seven minutes:



Between this movie and the sheer enjoyability of Iron Man, I have a feeling this could be a very fun summer at the multiplex.

*Quick Mamet link, I was amused to see that the character Sparky was played by the same actor (the awesomely named Kick Gurry) that played the mercenary Jones in Mamet’s totally fantastic Spartan. A movie you should watch right now, if you haven’t seen it before.

Stop Theft on the Internets

Just a quick link to a post on Stuart Immonen's blog. This is a really frightening story of how quickly info posted to the web by artists can be used for nefarious means.


So, should you find this book: “Colorful Illustrations 93°C”, published by this company: “Great Creativity organization” [sic]. Be sure to alert whoever is selling it that the work is stolen and include the link on Stuart's site to the original artist.

The Next Big Thing

Awesome, thy name is: The Cover to Marvel Adventures: The Hulk #13

I demand nothing but Mummies from Marvel for the next three years!

Hey, Frank Miller

You know, when I think "sexy nurse" and "Scarlett Johansson", I don't really see this in my mind's eye:

(more here)

I guess, I'm with Kevin on this one. Sorry Frank.

What I've Been Up To: Part One, The Movies

Over the weekend, I'm going to run a quick re-cap of what I've been reading, watching, and, perhaps, listening to.

Southland Tales - What a mess. No, let me start again. What a fucking mess. I mean seriously, who looked at this script and thought, "This is a fantastic idea, mountains of incomprehensible plot, with absolutely no story behind it! You're a genius Kelly!" Unless your last name Lynch or Kubrick, you don't get to make a movie that's completely incomprehensible and think that I'll take more than one viewing of your film to figure out what the hell is going on.

Let's back up, Southland Tales is the second film from Richard Kelly, maker of Donnie Darko. While I thought that movie was interesting, ultimately, I felt it was pretentious clap-trap. This movie is ostensibly a vision of an alternate America where nuclear warheads were detonated in 2004 and since then, the Bush administration has gone crazy doing all the things we won't let them do right now. Anyway, from there we get: Neo-Marxists, half the cast of the 90's SNL, wormholes, zero-point energy, evil twins, porn-stars-turned-talk-show-hosts, time travel, mega-zeppelins, and enough D-list stars that you keep thinking your self, "Hey looks, it's Kevin Smith in a ton of old man makeup," or, "Hey look, it's Christopher Lambert, 'There can be only one!'"

There's just so much plot in this movie, that really, they could ave made, like three other, possibly-decent movies. A new source of emission free power generating technology that could possible rip a hole in the space-time continuum? Good idea. An alternate history piece of how the Country would deal with the current Administration being able to enact all of the laws they'd like to? Pretty good idea. A vision on how fascist governments and the insurgent groups that fight them often end up being very similar in their methods, despite differences in their ideologies? Cool! But all at the same damn time? Fuck that noise.

And the acting (or "acting"), ug. The only one who actually engages in anything close to a real character is The Rock, who actually gets away with playing an action-movie star who's in way over his head. Everybody else is just terrible.

I could go on, but really, I already wasted 2 hours watching this move and another 30 minutes writing this. Consider this a warning.

I Am Legend - OK, this was much better than I thought it would be. Pretty much everyone know the drill. Will Smith is the "last" man on earth after a plague wipes out the global population, except for the few that it turned into vampire-zombies. Not as good as the book, and it kind of falls apart in the last five minutes, but still pretty darn good for big-budget entertainment. A quick bullet-point rundown:

• Will Smith was very, very good, this almost seems like an acting reel that someone would submit to show their range. I think I liked him so much, simply because he wasn't playing "Will Smith", it was an actual character, and in a big-budget action pic, that's a shock.
• The vampire-zombies were probably the worst part. I don't know why the animated them in CGI. They just looked too cartoony, and would have been much better if they were real. Part of me thinks they made them look slightly cartoony (a technical term) in order to get the PG-13.
• A dog dies, I cry. It's like basic math.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes - Blame Dr. K (and Netflix). Anyway, this is probably the first time I've watched this flick all the way through in 20 years. I think all children of the 70's/80's are familiar with the entire apes cycle from lazy Sunday afternoons spent trolling the upper-reaches of the UHF dial (look it up under 25-ers). Anyway not much to be said, other than the fact that I'm amazed that this G-Rated movie, which features crucified, burning apes and the destruction of the entire Earth did not manage to scar me in any way.

I guess that's all I got on the movie front right now. Hope all is well, and I should be back soon with books or comics, depending on what I'm feeling up to tonight.

Finally (Hopefully) A Cartoon My Kids Can Watch

TV Guide (via Blog@Newsarama) is reporting that yet another Animated Batman series is coming soon from Cartoon Network. Personally, I think that this is pretty cool, since the 90's animated series was freaking fantastic and loved its gradual progression through Justice League Unlimited. The most recent series, The Batman, wasn't necessarily my cup of tea, but it was made mostly for "the kids". My only real problem is that a lot of these series seem to have been made for "kids" ranging in ages from 13 - 33. I have a five-year-old who loves Superheroes, but I can't in good conscience have him watch most of these shows since they're so freaking violent. I mean seriously, let's take this fight between Superman and Darkseid from the last episode of JLU:

Now, we can all agree, that is awesome. But seriously, I don't want Jack attempting to hit his brother so hard that he will disrupt the laws of gravity and knock him through five buildings, mostly because Sean would totally kick Jack's ass afterwards. So let's hope that this new series is a tad gentler than what has come before. I gotta admit, I'm really happy that the latest version of the Blue Beetle is showing up, that book really rocks.

Next, can I hope for a Superhero movie I can take my kids to? Shazam, I'm looking at you.

Apparently....

I'm holding off on posting until the Cubs finally win a game this season.

Anyhoo, I promise some type of content this weekend. Really, no really. For reals, reals.

Saturday Night Double Feature

So, finding myself with my first completely clear Saturday night in months, I decided to kill off the two DVD's from Netflix that had been haunting my shelf for a week or so, this proved to be a good plan, since I liked both movies quite a bit.

The Darjeeling Limited

Wes Anderson's most recent film may end up being my favorite of his so far. It boils down a lot of the things he does so well, odd tracking shots, neurotic families, sudden left-turns into melodrama into a short one and a half hour movie that is just beautiful to look at. The story is of three brothers, all going through current life-crises, who embark on a cross-India train trip to find themselves. The first hour of the movie is deftly comic, showing the adventures of three men who consider themselves to be quite intelligent, but are ultimately, like most Americans abroad, morons. The thing that I liked the most about this part is that the three leads (Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman & Adrian Brody) all look and act like real brothers. You feel that under the surface of every argument and snide comment that passes between them, there's a life-time of history there. There's also something there that I can't quite put into words, but if you have siblings you'll understand. I have an older brother, and though we live far apart and are five years apart in age, whenever we're together we fall into an easy rhythm, as if no matter what differences there are between us, our genetic code still allows us to operate on the same wave-length. That may seem bizarre, but this movie gets that. You feel that when these guys are looking at each other their communicating on another level that comes from a life-time of being brothers. Or maybe it was just the three beers I had while watching the movie.

Anyway, as I said, a about the one-hour mark, the movie makes a sudden left-turn towards melodrama, but it works, it helps to show that these guys aren't just self-involved jerks, and it led to some beautiful moments for the actors. The great thing about it is that you can see the changes in each of the characters after this, but Anderson doesn't hit you over the head with it. Nobody suddenly announces, "I'm going to be a better person now that this has happened.", but it comes out clear in the narrative.

One more thing, after watching the featurette on the DVD, you learn that they filmed the movie by buying their own train and outfitting it as a moving set. The train itself, and the country that it moves through are beautiful.


King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

OK, onto my second movie of the evening, this one was a little more difficult. The story, per se, as this is a documentary, is of Steve Wiebe, a laid-off engineer from Boeing, who, in order to pass the time, went to work on the Donkey Kong video game in his garage with his sights set on beating the world-record. It's obvious that when he sets out on doing this, he just want to pass the time, but it becomes something more. Steve is one of those guys who always seems to come up short, when the documentary makers interview your friends and family and everyone of them (including your wife & parents) pretty much describe you as a loser, I think it's time that you should take a hard look at your life. Anyway, he eventually beats the record and earns the wrath of Billy Mitchell, the current record-holder and world-class asshole. Seriously, you couldn't fictionalize this big of a jackass because no one would believe you.

Now here's where I have to step out of explaining the narrative to interject how difficult it was to watch this movie during its first hour or so. Now, I say this as a 33-year-old man who just this week was discussing at my local comic shop how disappointed I am that Green Lantern's ring is no longer powerless against the color yellow, these guys are fucking nerds. I could feel my inner-frat-guy growling in Ogre-ish tones, "NNNNNERRRRDDDDSSS" while watching this. It's obvious that a lot of these guys never made the football team, and when they discovered that they were really good at playing circa-1982 video-games, they ran with it as a life choice, becoming so obsessed that one of these guys, who helps authenticate world-record scores, will watch 48 straight hours of video in order to confirm that some kid in Japan is the record-holder for an Atari 2600 game. That's fucking nuts. I really had a hard time watching these guys, since I just can't imagine the level of obsessiveness involved here. Really, if I was the documentary maker I would have had to punch one of these guys in the gut, just once. That's not to say that this level of geekiness is limited to video games, I'm sure that right now, somewhere out there, a guy is making an almost shot-for-shot remake of this documentary about fantasy football. If you are a masochist and want to revel in more of this type of jack-assery, check out Kevin Chuch's new project at GetOffTheInternet.org, it's painful, but it makes you feel a great-deal better about yourself.

ANYWAY, getting back to the movie, after the first 45 minutes or so, if you can handle it, the move gets very good, as Steve Wiebe goes on his quest to prove that he is the "real" world-record holder in Donkey Kong and Billy Mitchell, along with his underlings, goes on to prove that he is the biggest dick in the world (at least the biggest dick that is currently not the leader of a country). It really is fascinatingly tense and I do recommend it, even if it is going to piss you off.

So that's what I have for today, I do have another review of a movie I watched earlier this week that I will get finished today or tomorrow simply because I want to do a little boosterism.

Lazy Posting

For some reason I find this incredibly amusing:



Hope all is well. Real posting will resume this evening (in theory).

New # 1's (and a #9)

Hey there, got a big pile o' comics at the shop last night, mostly due to me forgetting to pick up a couple of books for the last month or so, but what the heck. Anyway, just some quick reviews of two books that started (or re-started) this week and a look at the (apparent) end of the first arc of ASBAR.

Criminal #1

After delivering two excellent arcs of this series, writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips closed up shop for a few months to re-tool the book into a slightly different form. Packing in a few more story pages and some extra back-matter, their crime series revolving around the dirty dealing in an unnamed city in the US returns with a done-in-one tale about Clevon, the bartender at the Undertow, the bar where most of the characters in these books tend to hang out. Truth be told, it's a fairly standard noir tale, but then again, all of them are, but it is done very well. I don't want to talk to much about the plot, since the joy of this book is in the reading. Suffice to say, if you like crime stories, you'll like this book.

A note on the format, in the back, Brubaker notes that they will be featuring articles in the back that will not be reprinted in the trade collections and highlights that this is a reward for the people who buy the monthly format. In this he refers to the comic as a "crime magazine" and that's what Criminal feels like. Not a comic, but an old-school pulp magazine that just happens to feature illustrated tales instead of prose ones.


RASL #1

Jeff Smith, writer-artist of Bone and Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil returns with his first creator-owned work since Bone ended years ago and it starts off with a bit of a fizzle, for me at least. The plot of the book is that our "hero" is an thief that steals artworks by transporting himself to alternate Earths and takes their stuff. Thusly, he's not hunted by the authorities on his own Earth. The only problem is that A. the process for passing between worlds is painful and imperfect and he ends up on the wrong Earth and B. while the police aren't looking for him, someone (thing?) else certainly is. The problem of the book, is that most of the details of the plot I just explained to you are not in the book itself, but from an interview that I had read with Jeff Smith when the book was announced. Coming into this book cold, it would be easy to get confused about both what was going on and why you would want to bother finding out. This is not to say I'm against using a mystery as a hook, but you've got to give a little at the outset to get your reader involved. You know how in every episode of Lost, there's some kind of reveal at the end to keep you hooked? Imagine an episode of Lost without that, just a building mystery with no, however minor, payoff? Mind you, this is only the first issue, but it frustrated me a great deal simply because I'm a huge fan of Smith's previous work and I know he's an excellent story-teller. I'll give this series one more issue before I decide to wait for the first trade for my final verdict.

All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #9

So the first arc comes to a close...and this issue pretty much sums up the series, it's funny, cringe-inducingly violent and oddly-poignant. While I'm still convinced that Frank Miller is writing this series as a giant "fuck you" to DC Comics, I think he may actually, you know, have a point here instead of just writing over-the-top situations for Batman to growl his way through. Oops, I'm sorry, that's The Goddamn Batman. In this issue TGD Batman had a conversation with Green Lantern and comes up with a clever (and hilarious) way to bring them down to the same level. The first ten pages of this book are laugh-out-loud, until things go south for everyone involved. I won't ruin the details, but suffice to say, this is not a "nice" book. Anyway, everyone pretty much knows what they're getting into with this book and I haven't decided yet whether I like this book as a satire of Batman or as a straight-forward Batman book. I may try to go more in depth on this one once the collection hits.

Anyway, that's the big stuff I got this week, a few quick bullets on other things I got:

• Dan Dare continues to be a very good little sci-fi series from Garth Ennis.
• Marvel's revivial of Damage Conttrol is a lot of fun, but I'm really disappointed that there's only 3 issues to the series. Hopefully the sales will shake the tree for at least a collection fo the old stuff.
• Captain America continues to be excellent, but I'm really hoping that the build-up they've been doing for the last two years get s a realease soon, because it's been a while. I'm also hoping that Skrulls do not appear in the plot-line of this book, but I know my hopes will probably be dashed.

Anyway, that's what I got, talk to you soon.

Thoughts on the Oscars - 2008

Well, since I haven't posted in a week, I figured I'd jot down some quick thoughts on the Oscars, and the ONE nominated movie I actually saw - Juno.

Juno was good, but not much more than that, certainly not a life changing experience as many have seemed to want to elevate it to. It's joined Lost in Translation and Little Miss Sunshine as being the indie-movie-that's-good-but-ultimately-is-hated-due-to-the-hype for this year. It doesn't help that almost all of the other nominees are indies as well. You can almost feel the coming animosity for Diablo Cody's next movie. If it doesn't literally give critics orgasms in their seats, she'll be forever labelled as a one-trick-former-stripper.

The biggest complaint about the movie is that, "no real teenager talks the way Juno does." Well shit, as a friend (who is a high school teacher) and I agreed last night. If you really made a movie featuring "real high schooler" dialogue, you'd want to shoot yourself in the head, cause they talk like morons. Movies aren't real, all they do is give you the illusion of realism, now if they can't get you to suspend your disbelief, that may either be the movie's fault or yours. There was a similar argument made by some returning Iraq War Vets about how a lot of the movies being made about the current war feature Soldiers either doing horrible things in Iraq, or having trouble adjusting to returning home. They argue that this is simply not the case the majority of the people who saw action over there. That's all well and good, but no one's going to go see a movie about a guy (or gal) who goes over there, does their duty and comes home and goes back to normal. Much in the same way I don't want to see a cop movie that focuses on the mundanity that is normal cop-life. Real life is dramatic, but not movie-dramatic. I don't understand why a lot of people can't get past that.

Anyway, on to my Oscar picks:

Best Picture: No Country For Old Men - with no clear favorite this year, I think this could be the Coen Brother's year to take a victory lap and get a "career" Oscar. Not that A) from all accounts this pic doesn't deserve it on its own merits and B) they don't deserve a "career" Oscar anyway.

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis - DDL is like the late-90's/early-00's Atlanta Braves of Best Actor Nominees, I always pick him because odds are that he's gonna win the NL East.

Actress: Julie Christie - Just a hunch.

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem - Always go for the guy who was a really cool villain, unless one of the Noms is a comedy.

Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton - Apparently she sweat a lot in this role. I guess I'll find out if it ever comes off "very long wait" on my Netflix queue.

Director: Joel & Ethan Cohen - Continuing the victory lap.

Adapted Screenplay: P.T. Anderson - To make up for not giving him Director, he gets this.

Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody - Cause everyone will want her to say something outrageous on stage. Please note, post this evening there will be an incredible back-lash against her.

Animated Film: Ratatouille - Simply cause this was the best movie I saw in 2007. I wouldn't mind if Persepolis won, since the book was so good. Too bad it didn't play in the burb's.

That's all I got time for. Oh yeah, I figure Transformers will sweep the effects categories since it looks to be the only bog explosion movie out there this year, and Michael Bay likes the explosions:



Anyhoo, enjoy the Oscars.

It Came From.......The Sick Bed

Well, if you're not aware, being sick sucks. That said, at least I didn't have it as bad as Kevin. Luckily, my new Doctor diagnosed me with strep pretty fast and was able to give me some antibiotics to knock that shit out (along with Robitussin with Codeine, which was disappointing. I expected to see some cool swirly colors at least). Fortuatnately, I did get to expereience some truly epic fever-dreams on Tuesday night and get to watch the entirity of the Clemens Hearings directly from my sick bed. I was also able to stagger to the shop on Wednesday, cause let's face it, if you're stuck in bed, there's nothing better than a pile of fresh comics at your side. It lets you harken back to the grade-school-days when being sick was something to strive for.

Anway, here are some dis-jointed thoughts on the weeks events, I'll try not to refer to things that may have happened only in my aforementioned epic dreams.

The Clemens Hearings - OK, first things first, this was a tremendous waste of time. But come on, that's what Congress does, waste time. At least this week it was on something interesting. I don't like Roger Clemens, and I've never doubted that he used PED's, but still, so did most likely 50% of the rest of the major leagues and we all need to get over that fact. We're never going to know everyone who did, so either give up on that era or accept it as it is. I don't think Roger Clemens got any more of a boost from HGH than Babe Ruth did from not having to bat against an African American pitcher. That said, man, was that an entertaining hearing. I love that Jose Canseco's pool party has now been parsed out (in Congress) about as much as whether there was a second shooter on the grassy knoll. High Comedy.

Final word: to paraprhase Bill Simmons on the subject, if your defense in front of Congress require you to throw:

1. Your Wife
2. Your Best Friend
3. Your Best Friend's Wife
4. Your Former Employee
5. Your Former Employer (Bud Selig)
6. Your Union
7. And (as a matter of course) The Media

....under the bus, you may want to reexamine whether or not you're an asshole.




The Indiana Jones Trailer - This was surprisingly not bad. Granted, the thing that most worries me is the need to add some "new hotness" in the form of Shia LeBeouf, smacks of Cousin Oliver. Regardless, they seem to be ackowleding that, yes, Harrison Ford is old, but shit, if Sean Connery can kick ass in his 80's, Indy can certainly do so into his 60's. Granted, my hopes have remained high for this flick simply because of Spielberg. In the last few years he's made some fantastic movies (Minority Report, Munich, Catch Me If You Can) and even his mis-steps (War of the Worlds, A.I.) were interesting and by no means bad. He's definitely nowhere near as out of touch as Lucas is.

Also, while I was sick, I re-watched Last Crusade for the first time in quite a while and I was struck that there's a lot of bad in that movie. The effects are pretty crap, the story is kinda stupid and it's a little too goofy, but, the thing about it (and the other Indy flicks) is that it moves. You just don't get a chance to stop and say "Hey....that was dumb," cause next thing you know, Indy is stealing horses and bitching to Sallah about camels. So that's the thing, Indy 4 doesn't need to "good", it just needs to be fun.

If I hadn't already talked about it too much on this blog, I'd tell you that I watched most of the first season of 30 Rock on Thursday, and damn if it's not getting close to beating Arrested Development in terms of re-watch-ability.

Read while sick:

Nova Annual #1 - A good issue, but I'm kinda leery of these mid-storyline issues getting re-branded as Annuals (see also: Iron Fist). It used to be that Annuals were held separate from the on-going storylines, though sometimes they would be used to wrap them up. But this annual is, essentially, part 4 in a 6 part arc, so it's kind of odd that it's an Annual. Sure, it's longer than an average issue, and it's very new-reader friendly, but still. Call a spade a spade and don't charge me an extra dollar for a regular issue. Still, on its merits, it still a good issue in a very good series.

Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure - Kudos to Marvel for publishing this, a "lost" issue that Jack Kirby drew, but due to deteriorating relationships at Marvel, never saw print, except for panels cut up to be used as flashbacks in a later issue. It's a good, fun late-period Stan N' Jack tale, though it's odd, since Stan Lee only recently scripted this issue, he plants some 21st Century references to cell phones and DSL lines, that just seem so out of place. Also included are Kirby's original pencils, with his notes, which is fascinating for anyone interested in his craft. Also, there's the story from FF #108, which some of the panels were recycled into. Overall, a very interesting package and while something of a curiosity, and interesting glimpse into how a book was put together 40 years ago.

Iron Man: Hypervelocity - Have owned this for a while, but I re-read it while I was cycling through sweating and shivering (I swear to God, I thought I was going thorough The Change). A pretty-much out of continuity tale that feels like it was commissioned so Marvel would have enough done-in-one I.M. trades on the shelves in time for the movie, this book features a self-aware set of Iron Man armor that's been st-up by terrorists to be chased down by S.H.I.E.L.D. This is a fun series that is so over the top, it makes Shoot Em Up look like a think-piece. Adam Warren continues his exploration of Mecha-Life in the Marvel Universe that he had begun in Livewires (a really fun little series) and you can almost hear him cackling with glee at the weapons he invents for S.H.I.E.L.D. to throw at our hero. The art, by Brian Denham, is very good, but in the extras they give you Warren's sketches of issues number one, and it just makes you wish he'd been able to draw the whole thing.

Marvel Adventures: Iron Man Vol. 1 - Apparently, I had Iron Man on the brain while ill, but hey, I don't know why. Anyway, I've had this digest laying around for a month or so and finally got around to reading it and it's pretty great. So far, I've only read the Avengers in Marvel's all-ages Adventures line and that book's been a hoot. Iron Man, though not at the same super-high level, is still very good. Four done-in-one tales that are perfect for kids who are, you know, too young to be going to see the movie when it comes out. I understand the need to make these movies cool for us 20 & 30 -somethings, but hey Hollywood! Can you make a superhero flick I can let my 5-year-old watch? That's right Shazam...I'm looking at you.

Other books read, that were good, but were mid-storyline, thus not much worth reviewing: X-Factor #28 & '76 #2.

Anyway, so that was my week, hope everyone had better health at least, I'm going to try to get a longer post about the one book I picked up this week, but didn't mention later on. Plus, I ordered a bunch of cheap-o CD's on amazon, so hopefully I'll have some music thoughts to shout at you later too.

Camden Fire

Years ago, just after graduating college, I did an internship in London for six months. My favorite day of the week was always Sunday because I would ineveitably begin the day with a tube ride up to Camden market for used clothes, bootleg tapes and cheap vinyl, capped off with a stop at the Hawley Arms for a pint and maybe a "hot dog" on the street.

Well, a good portion of the market (along with the pub) burned yesterday, and it makes me a little down. But, it also brought back memories that I haven't been reminded of in years. So tonight, I'll have to pick up some ale and have a toast to a place that I hope can regain its glory as a really cool place to hang out and shop in.

No real reason for this post, just remembering. Anyway, here's a good lazy Sunday song about the area:

Belle & Sebastian - Morning Crescent

Apparently, Scientology Makes You Feral

Just got sent this by a friend:

Chilling.

Update!!!

While I'm getting my celebrity snark on, I remembered this cover photo from the Parade Magazine circular that came with the Sunday Trib a few weeks ago. I had originally assumed that Xenu's programming erased the section of her brain that allowed her to smile like a sane person, but, perhaps she's silently sizing up her co-stars for dinner?

Lazy Posting: Creepy Comics of the 70's

Man, there was some weird shit going on in comics the year of my birth:

UNUS

NO

Also:



Damn, that Magneto is creee-azzzy.

Anyhoo, somewhat normal posting will resume once work stops, literally, kicking my ass, and I get back from vacation.

Panels taken from The Defenders #15 via Essential Defenders Vol. 2. Joke stolen from Mike Sterling.

Lazy Posting: 30 Rock

Yeah I know, I have three posts that are so old they smell right now, but I just can't get them done. Anyway, I promise that I'll be back on Thursday with this week's "Two Reviews". I've decided that each week, I'm only going to offer two reviews of whatever struck me the most a given week, good or bad. Hopefully this will make what I write a little more concise.

Anyway, in the mean-time, here's the best 2 minutes of 30 Rock from last year:

Geekery

OK, I'll admit that this looks pretty damn cool:

But, then again, I'm the target audience. I wonder wha tthe general public will think of this?