All random, all the time (or at least for right now)
Category: Life

Day 792

Randomness...

I played in one of the best softball games I've ever played in on Friday night.  It was a 9 or 10 inning epic that we pulled out with a 24-22 win.  I hit really well (on base with every at bat), and fielded well (threw a guy out at second and forced a gal out at first on a caught fly ball).  It was a looong game.  Nearly two hours.  And I would have been happy and satisfied at the end even if we hadn't won.  I'm glad we did, though.

I'm happy I'm an undecided voter.  Both Obabma and McCain are talking to me.  I have enjoyed reading what both candidates are saying.  Let's be generous and say that both candidates have been stretching the truth with a lot of what they've been saying, and I enjoy reading the rebuttals that reporters have come up with.  Ultimately, it comes down to whichever candidate stops spouting platitudes and tells me specifically what they're planning on doing.  And, I'll say this, Joe Biden, even being as much of a politician that he is, really impressed me in the debate last Thursday.  Palin didn't embarrass herself in my eyes, but for me, I say Biden won.  But it's still early.  I also have enjoyed listening to people who are smarter than me in this arena explain certain policies, and why they were implemented.  And those same people aren't being condescending to me.  There's no badgering, no deep sighs.  It's all been very civil.  I know people who have their minds made up and there's nothing in the world that will make them change their minds.  That's not me.  I try to pride myself on getting as much information as I can in areas that I don't know a lot about.  It makes things fun.

The Steelers won tonight.  I'm 3-0 in my fantasy football league.  It's the best record I've had in this league.  Woo hoo!

I know people who don't own a television.  That boggles my mind.  I watch an ungodly amount of television, and I couldn't fathom not owning one.  Heck, as I write this right now, I'm watching South Park (and laughing).

So, what's up with you?

Currently listening : The Bends By Radiohead Release date: 1995-04-04

2:59 AM - 16 Comments - 14 Kudos - Add Comment

The Critic Wannabe (reviews Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead)
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Day 792

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead

I just saw Troma's latest offering and I really enjoyed it.  I thought I'd get that out of the way as I want to give a little personal history of me and Troma's films.

In college, I saw The Toxic Avenger and thought it was pretty darn good.  Sure, the effects were done on the cheap, but you have to accept that when you watch a movie that was made for 2 bucks.  But in terms of fun, campiness, and wacked out violence, you couldn't get much better.

In 1996 Jane Jensen released her album Comic Book Whore, which I still love.  What does that have to do with Troma?  Well, she went on to star in Tromeo and Juliet which I finally saw when it was released on VHS after a couple of years.

Then came 1998 - the second year I went to the San Diego Comic Con.  At one of the booths they were selling All I Needed to Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger.  The nice guy at the booth actually gave me a copy.  I think I have read this book every year since I first got it.  It's one of the funniest books I've ever read.  It also, in between the laughs, gives a really detailed history of Troma films with an emphasis on how hard it is to get funding for these films.

Finally, Troma made Terror Firmer, a (very) loose adaptation of All I Needed to Know...   I saw it on DVD before I saw it on the big screen, because I remember bringing my buddy Adam with me to see it with me in the theater.  I wanted to see if he'd appreciate it as much as I did.  He didn't.  But he does agree with me that lead actress Alyce LaTourelle gave one of the best performances we've seen in a movie that will continue to never be seen by a large portion of the population.

And that's the thing about the current Troma films.  Even as their budgets get smaller and smaller, the acting seems to get better and better.  Sure, there's a lot of mugging for the camera, but it helps to sell the craziness when the main actors play everything straight.

As for Poultrygeist, I have one more thing to say.  Jason Yachanin, who plays Arbie, is brother to my buddy Joe.  I've only met Jason once or twice before seeing this, but I've known he was in this for a long time.  Whether or not my insider knowledge of the film influenced my view of it is up to you.  On with the review (it's about time, isn't it?).

I think it's pretty common knowledge that when you have an Indian burial ground it's best to leave it alone and not build anything on top of it.  But sometimes big, evil corporations pay that no mind.  And soon you have angry possessed chickens angrily possessing unwitting American Chicken Bunker patrons.  That leaves Arbie (Jason Yachanin, like I said), Wendy (played by Kate Graham), his high school sweetheart now turned lesbian, Micki, the ultra-liberal meat-hating lesbian (who's Wendy's main squeeze), and Humus, the Middle Eastern cook/suicide bomber left to hold off the forces of undead chicken/human zombies.  Oh, and did I mention the movie's also a musical?

Here's the thing.  This movie had me smiling throughout every minute of it.  From the opening sequence when Arbie and Wendy are making out in a graveyard being groped by the undead, to the scene in the bathroom where Jared (played by Troma regular Joe Fleishaker) lets loose the bowels of hell (which incidentally had four people literally running out of the theater, never to come back - Ha!  Posers.), to Denny giving his best Quint/Robert Shaw impersonation after which the film turns into a near fully realized horror/gore film.

The film is one giant satire on the fast-food industry.  It takes potshots at every big corporation.  And of course, every main character is named after a franchise (I couldn't figure out Paco's name until they said his last name at one point - Bell.  Clever.).  The movie revs up with a large group of protestors outside the American Chicken Bunker, and the amount of effort put into the signs the people are holding is clearly evident and well worth the freeze frame when this comes out on DVD.  Racists are lampooned as well.  Actually, I think every creed, nationality and type of person is lampooned at least once in here.

And this continues throughout the film.  But as the lampooning goes on, about halfway through, the movie takes a fairly drastic turn from comedy into gore.  The comedy is still there, but the gore takes center stage.  And for all you gore fiends out there, this movie is a primer on how to make cheap, but effective effects with a tiny, tiny budget.  At the Q & A after the movie (Lloyd Kaufman - the director, himself, was there) was asked if he purposely made the blood look generic.  It was a stupid question from a person who obviously had never seen a Troma film or just wanted to be a jerk, but it had some validity for Lloyd, because he WAS upset at how a lot of the blood turned out.  He did want it to look more realistic.  But I know, for me, that if the blood had looked more realistic, it might have been off-putting as opposed to amusing.  But even beyond the blood, the effects work of turning people into poultry, or people being torn apart/bitten to death/chopped into tiny pieces by said poultry was pretty darn impressive.  Scenes of people with eggs coming out of their body or getting torn in two were done so well, you simply have to be impressed with how much they did with so little.

As I said waaay back at the beginning, Troma's been getting a better class of actor as they keep making movies.  Kate Graham, whether singing Slow Fast Food Love, or making out with Jason or making out with Allyson Sereboff (Micki), creates a character who may not be entirely believable (which is so not the point, I know), but could work even outside a Troma movie.  Jason Yachanin sings his heart out, never mugs too much for the camera, and plays the dimwitted Arbie to the hilt, never breaking character.  Robin Watkins as General Lee Roy is deliciously evil.  The turmoil he goes through when he's "forced" to eat some of his own possessed chicken is perfect.  And when he fights back against what comes out of him, it's gross, and funny, and completely in character.

The more I think about the movie, the more I wonder how well it would do if it was released in the theaters.  Obviously, I wouldn't expect my mom or dad to go see this.  But I gotta figure that the number of people out there who want to see something so completely different, funny and gory is pretty big.  I'd be willing to bet that it would make back more than its budget if it could actually make it into theaters.  Of course, there would also be the whole NC-17 hurdle to cross (cuz if this got an R, I'd wonder what crack the ratings board was smoking), but if it could get past that, then I think the cult staying power of the film would prevail.  But I'm just going off on a random tangent now, so I'll wrap things up.

This is a low-budget film.  This is a musical.  This is a comedy/satire.  This is a gory film.  This is a movie that has a lot of toilet humor (literally and figuratively).  If none of that is appealing to you, then stay far, far away.  But if you want to have a good time with Troma, then it doesn't get much better than this.

***

I'd also like to point out that I have the Poultrygeist soundtrack listed below as what I'm listening to.  Unlike people who just put a CD in there to correspond with what they wrote even if they aren't actually listening to it, I am.  Thanks Lloyd, for letting me buy it for 5 bucks.  My car may run on fumes for the next couple of days, but it was a five dollars well-spent.

Currently listening : Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead By Original Soundtrack Release date: 2008-06-10

3:41 PM - 10 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

The Critic Wannabe (reviews Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist)
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Day 790

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

George Michael, I mean Nick, is in love with snotty Tris.  Snotty Tris goes to school with Norah.  Norah loves Nick's mix CD's.  Nick and Norah meet at a bar/club and some laughs ensue.  But not a whole lot.  Mostly because if you categorized this film as a romantic comedy, you'd probably be doing a disservice to the film (which is more romantic) and to an audience looking for a comedy.  This is very much about two misplaced and confused individuals who slowly stumble and stutter-step their way through the beginnings of a new relationship.  There's awkward pauses, longish silences, arguments and misunderstandings.  The movie does a good job of making all this work within the context of one crazy night.

Michael Cera, as Nick, does his normal endearing job as the put-upon romantic lead.  His awkwardness works well for the movie.  We get the mental turmoil he's going through as he essentially has to choose between the hottie who's bad for him (the devil he knows) and the hottie who's perfect for him (the angel he doesn't).  Tough choice, right?  Yeah, I wish I had those types of choices when I was growing up (or even now).  But, hey, that's the wonders of movies.  Those types of choices can be made in 90 minutes.  Ahem.  Sorry for the digression.  Anyways, Norah is played by Kat Dennings, who I've recently seen in The House Bunny (funny, but see more for Anna Faris just going absolutely insane, with a no hold's barred, way out there performance), and Charlie Bartlett (a movie that just digs and digs at you and gets better the more you think about it).  Dennings does a fine job as Norah, letting us see that she isn't really a messed-up individual, but more of a person who's undecided with what she wants to do.

I really don't have much more than that.  The movie is quick and sweet.  It goes everywhere you expect it to go.  There are no surprises.  But it feels authentic.  Again, not too terribly funny (at least to me), and your appreciation of a very long-running gag (pun intended, for those of you who've seen the move) with some gum depends on your sensibilities.  I thought it was amusing, but the people next to me were groaning everytime it came up.

I enjoyed myself.  I'm happy I saw it.  But it never rose to greatness, but then again, I don't think it ever aspired to it, so, really, no knock against it.

***

Currently listening : 18 By Moby Release date: 2002-05-14

3:15 AM - 14 Comments - 16 Kudos - Add Comment

The Critic Wannabe (reviews In Search of a Midnight Kiss)
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Day 787

In Search of a Midnight Kiss

Kevin Smith has said that one of his major influences is Richard Linlater's Slacker.  When Slacker came out, I read about it in Film Threat magazine (oh, how I miss it), and I remember checking it out from the school library, watching it and HATING it.  I think the movie is horrible, with a bunch of verbal vignettes that go nowhere, are uninteresting, and come from the mouths of uninteresting people.  All of which makes my love of Linklater's Before Sunrise and Before Sunset so surprising.  Or maybe not.  Both of those films have engaging characters talking about stuff that I care about (or at least find interesting).  What does all this have to do with In Search of a Midnight Kiss?  Well, it's the low(er)-budget version of both those films.

Our main character, Wilson, at the urging of his roommate, puts up an ad on Craigslist, looking for someone to hang out with on New Year's Eve.  "Misanthrope seeks misanthrope" is his opening line.  Of course the girl he meets is special and messed up all at once.  But what makes this movie work (and it does work) is how real and affecting these two are.  Wilson is introduced in one of the funniest, crudest and somewhat uncomfortable of ways.  Yet that introduction draws us in immediately.  Whether you sympathize with him, laugh at him, or feel weird about him, at least he becomes someone you "get."  For the rest of the movie, as his character grows, we see how he slowly builds himself up from the depths of his ennui.  And when we're first introduced to Vivian, the date, she's merely a voice on the phone.  But we also get a glimpse of all the pills that she's on.  I don't know about you, but as a moviegoer, when I see a character on a lot of pills, it gives me nothing but a deep sense of foreboding.  It doesn't even matter how charming Vivian is with her first impression, MY first impression is always in the back of my mind.  And that's what we call good manipulative filmmaking.  Because the director knows that, and can use it for his own ends.  So when I get to the end of the film, even though my expectations have been met (to a degree), I get to release a sigh of relief when all is said and done.  But I'll get to that more in a minute.

All Wilson and Vivian do, from the moment they meet, is walk and talk.  Wilson is sometimes befuddled by the rat-a-tat dialogue and conversation starters that Vivian throws, nay, hurtles at him, and you know something is up with her.  But Wilson, just like us, is both entranced and interested in her.  She brings out the side of him that's been hidden over the last six years.

Now, I've compared this to Before Sunrise and Sunset.  Obviously, this film doesn't have as much on its mind as those two films, but it works on the characters.  Through even the littlest bits of dialogue and the most casual of gestures, we get a history of these characters.  We know that Wilson is in a shell.  We know what put him there.  We know that Vivian is running from something.  And we eventually find out what.  That's the journey this movie takes us on.  It wants to reveal these characters to us, almost in the same way that these characters reveal themselves to each other.  And what ties it all together is an ending that feels satisfying.

The cast is solid.  Scoot McNairy as Wilson does a good job of playing a guy who's so defeated that he has no argument for his roommate when he's pushed to put the ad up.  He stumbles and flails and does his best to keep up with Vivian throughout the day, and it works.  Sara Simmonds has the harder job of playing the chain-smoking, fast-talking young lady who's wondering if Wilson is the guy she wants to spend New Year's with.  She's such a mystery throughout the film, and only very slowly does she peel off the layers of her personality to Wilson and the audience.  But as each layer is peeled off, and more is revealed about her, the more interesting her character becomes.

If it feels like I'm overpraising this film, it's only because I like to champion some of the smaller films that are out there, that few people ever get a chance to see.  I'm giving the movie ***.  It's worth that.  I'm also a big fan of smart people spouting off smart dialogue, and regardless of whether this is a Before Sunrise clone, that's the type of movie people should be emulating.

1:53 AM - 7 Comments - 7 Kudos - Add Comment

The Critic Wannabe (reviews Burn After Reading)
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Day 781

Burn After Reading

How often have you gone to see a film with some friends, and you're the only person who liked the movie?  That was my experience tonight.

When you see a movie by a certain director (or in this case, directors), we all have preconceived notions based off their previous films. For example, I just saw a trailer for What Just Happened?, the new Barry Levinson film.  The trailer looked interesting, possibly funny.  And it's directed by the guy who made The Natural, Avalon and Wag the Dog.  So that's good.  But I also know that he made Toys, Envy and Man of the Year.  So, I'm left to wonder which sort of film What Just Happened? is going to turn out to be.  So it is with the Coen Brothers.  I've made it no secret that I think their first four films are my favorite.  But I've found the rest of their films to vary wildly after that from excellent to pedestrian to missed opportunities.  But these two filmmakers have made movies that I care deeply about, so, for the most part, whenever they come out with a new flick, I'll give it a go.

Burn After Reading is not a great film.  It doesn't compare to their classics.  It does sorta meander on.  But I thought it was entertaining and funny.  Maybe not all the way through, but enought to recommend it.  Here's why.

1. The movie is essentially a spy spoof.  Our two wannabe blackmailing goofballs (played by Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand) get involved in a fired spy's life (John Malkovich, playing said spy), whose wife (Tilda Swinton) is sleeping with Treasury Agent/US Marshall lothario (George Clooney) who, in turn, is sleeping with Frances McDormand.  And there's even more connections from there.  On paper, it's much more complicated than how it plays out.  And it plays out badly (for the characters, not us).  None of these characters are particularly likeable or smart.  But it is a bit of a treat to see them all heading towards a final confrontation (that disappointingly) never really arrives.  But my enjoyment comes from all the character interaction with characters who think they know what's going on, but, in fact, have no idea.  We, as the audience, are privy to all the information and we know that certain expectations aren't going to be fulfilled.  We know what secrets are being kept.  We get to laugh at all the misconceptions and failed power plays.

2. The acting is amazing.  From Frances McDormand playing one of the most vapid, shallow and selfish women ever, to Brad Pitt channelling a more hyper version of his dim-witted True Romance character, to George Clooney's reactions to all the bad things that eventually happen, to John Malkovich being John Malkovich there's nary a bad one in the bunch.  And even more fun is seeing David Rasche, Sledge Hammer! himself, holding some of the funniest conversations on screen with J.K. Simmons.

3. The whole idea of everybody either being a spy or being spied upon, I thought was funny and interesting.  Because it's everyone in the film.

It is, by no means, a masterpiece.  The movie feels longer than it is.  There is no main character (Frances McDormand comes the closest).  There's no moral to the story.  And some of the jokes may be a bit crass (or a lot crass).

I get why my buddies hated the movie.  But in many respects, they're still waiting for the Coen Brothers to make another Fargo.  I don't think they have it in them, anymore (please - no more 'No Country For Old Men is brilliant' replies on this one.  The movie frustrates me more an more).  But I also think they aren't trying to make that type of movie anymore.  But hey, I just saw on IMDB that they're making The Yiddish Policemen's Union, so I may be way off base.

***

Currently reading : Soon I Will be Invincible (Vintage) By Austin Grossman Release date: 2008-06-10

1:05 PM - 16 Comments - 18 Kudos - Add Comment

The super-huge comic book review blog
Category: Art and Photography

Day 778

If you don't read comic books, then this probably won't interest you at all, so feel free to pack up your bags and come back to my next blog which will possibly be about Strange Wilderness, Chuck or Fringe.  But otherwise, if you are reading comics, or are just interested in what's good or entertaining, here we go.  In no particular order...

1. The Boys - Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson's comic booky goodness.  This is no classic like Preacher or Transmetropolitan (very few comics are), but in their tale of regular people keeping stuck-up, irresponsible superheroes in line, they manage to make all the real human interest stuff more compelling than the superhero stuff.  I want to know what's going to happen with Wee Hughie and Annie's relationship.  That's what keeps me coming back month after month.  Well, that and hoping that Love Sausage makes another appearance (easily one of the funniest and most disturbing "superheroes" ever).

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - They're doing Season 8 as a comic book.  If you loved, or even liked the television show, then this is a must-read.  When you read the book, it really sounds like the characters acting it out in front of you on the page.  Joss Whedon's done a bunch of the strips, and even the ones he hasn't have been great.  One of my personal favorites is the reappearance of Dracula and his interactions with Xander.  Funny, funny stuff.

3. Usagi Yojimbo - Stan Sakai's samurai rabbit.  This book moves effortlessly between massive epic storylines and small, personal one-shots.  Usagi may be a rabbit, but he's more human (and more deadly) than a lot of characters out there.

4. Booster Gold - I'dve never thunk that a piss-poor time travelling superhero could be so compelling.  But writers Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz have done more than made me care.  They taunt me with Rip Hunter, one of my favorite DC characters.  My dad had a bunch of his early issues (which are now mine, thank you very much), and seeing Rip in this book gives me an added level of pleasure.

5. Detective Comics - Writer Paul Dini has crafted some fantastic Batman stories.  If you're (understandably) confused about what Grant Morrison is doing with Batman, then this is the book you should be reading.  Dini has been writing one shot stories for the last year or two (with an amazing Zatanna two-parter thrown in for good measure), and yet his current multi-part epic with Batman vs. Hush is everything you want a Batman book to be.  And the most recent cliffhanger with Catwoman is almost heart-stopping (no pun intended).

6. Ex Machina - Brian Vaughn and Tony Harris' underappreciated epic about the mayor of New York who used to be a superhero.  It manages to deftly mix politics and superheroics in such a way, that I actually care more about politics than I ever did before.  And it's not boring.

7. Fables - The first epic storyline just finished.  And it was epic.  But the story of characters like Snow White, Prince Charming, Pinnochio, Hansel and Gretel, and so many others, living in the real world is filled with so much intrigue, that it's hard not to like.  Not that you wouldn't want to like it, because the book is good.

8. The Goon - Eric Powell has turned this book into a fantastic noir epic, while still throwing enough "knife to the eye!" and poo jokes to keep the base audiences happy.  It may totter unevenly between the absurd and the funny and the dramatic, but there's no other book out there willing to even combine all three.  And he draws real purty, too.

9. Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps - I've never cared for Green Lantern.  Guy Gardner in Justice League International, sure.  But Hal Jordan?  Not really.  But ever since Geoff Johns (on GL) and Dave Gibbons (on GLC) restarted these series, I've been on the edge of my seat when reading each issue.  It's crazy.  It's also great writing.  And the Sinestro Corps War that came out last year is one of the very best crossover epics of all-time.  Hands down, one of the best from either company in ages.

10. JLA - Ever since Dwayne McDuffie took over, the book has been great.  I read a book like this to see superheroes take on bad guys that are worth their mettle.  This book gives me that month in and month out.

11. Jonah Hex - Palmiotti and Gray are writing one of the best books out there, with stories that usually last one issue, and nobody seems to be reading it.  Why?  Is it because it's a western?  That's crazy.  Month after month this book has delivered fantastic stories.  Just pick up an issue at randon and see if I'm lying.

12. JSA - Geoff Johns (again).  This time, in conjunction with Alex Ross, he's fashioning an epic that crosses worlds and time.  Earth 2 is back.  Kingdom Come is coming into play.  It has great character interactions.  It has something jaw-dropping in nearly every issue.  It has fights.  It's Tony the Tiger (Gggggrrrreeeaaaattt!).

13. Action Comics - My last Geoff Johns book.  I like Superman.  Don't love him, but I like him.  But in that Superman universe, there's a few things that I've tried to like and yet have come away empty time and time again.  One of those is Legion of Superheroes.  Tried it a few times - still don't care for 'em.  Brainiac as a bad guy?  Meh.  Yet, in the last year, Johns has made both of them things I deeply care about.  Superman is fighting Brainiac right now and I've never been more interested.  Gary Frank's artwork on the book is a fantastic plus as well.  With its constant rotation of artists, it's nice to see a little stability.

14. Fell - Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith put out this book whenever they feel like it, but whenever they do, it's easily one of the best of that week.  Each issue is stand-alone, and each issue is compelling or disturbing or both.  Detective Fell works in Snowtown, and be happy that you don't live there. (Although I would feel a touch safer knowing that he was on the job.)

15. Invincible - Great superhero book that reminds me of early issues of Savage Dragon.  Stuff happens.  Lots of stuff.  Relationships build.  There's a larger story going on.  Characters do crazy stuff, yet it all seems in character.  If you think you know where this book is going and you're not writer Robert Kirkman, then I call you a liar.

16. The Sword - The Luna Brothers are two of the best comic creators out there.  Their first book, Ultra, was a variation on a superhero book that was well-done.  They could have continued that, but they told the story they wanted to tell, and then they moved onto their next project - Girls.  I can't really explain what Girls was about, but suffice it to say, I liked the sci-fi, bigger picture sorta stuff they did with the book.  And when that was over, they jumped into the realm of fantasy with The Sword.  Who are these guys that consistently do interesting work every time out.  And The Sword is more than interesting.  It's gripping.  Paralyzed girls that can walk, swords healing people, people losing limbs, corrupt authority figures, petty gods, and a revenge story - it's all here.  Eat it up.

17. True Story Swear to God - Tom Beland is crafting one of the most compelling romances out there.  And it's his own life!  Apparently there are real-life spoilers out there on the internet, but I like my surprises coming from the book itself.  Charming and compelling.

18. Walking Dead - THE zombie epic.  Nothing else comes close.  Brutal, violent, sad, disturbing, edge-of-your seat, insane.  If you're not reading this because zombies aren't your "thing" then you're a dope.  Like the best zombie movies, Walking Dead is about sooo much more than zombies.  They are simply a (very deadly) backdrop in an exploration of the human condition.  Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard are crafting a masterpiece, and we're in the front row.

19. Knights of the Dinner Table - The funniest book I read month in and month out.  It's about a group of gamers, and while I've never played a role-playing game in my life, I "get" the humor.  It's universal.  It's actually very similar to when I used to get together with a bunch of people to play Halo.  Same personalities, same types of situations.  And really, really funny.

20. New Avengers and Mighty Avengers - Right now they're both about the history of Marvel's big event - Secret Invasion, where Skrulls are invading Earth (Nick Fury to the Skrulls: "My God has a hammer!").  I find the books to be a great read, but I can't wait till the books go back to being about the Avengers on the run, and the Avengers that are government-run.  People may argue that they're not Avengers books, but my argument is - Who cares?  I just want great stories, and Bendis gives them to me more often than not.

21. Captain America - I just read the newest issue on Saturday, and I'm going to give a little spoiler* - looking away?  Here goes - Bucky is the new Captain America, and it looks like it's going to stay that way for the time being.  And I find that I'm not that disappointed at all.  Ed Brubaker has crafted an epic.  He did the unthinkable by bringing Bucky back (and making it work), and then killing off Steve Rogers (and making it believable), and then making Bucky the new Captain America (and with this last issue, making it work for the readers and the Marvel Universe).  Good job, Ed.  *Spoiler ended*

22. Daredevil - Brubaker again.  This book has been bleak and depressing ever since Bendis was on it.  But I've been hooked on it like a junkie on crack.  Both Bendis and Brubaker seemed to have taken the axiom of "What situation can we put our hero in that would cause the most difficulty?" and amped that up to eleven.  Sometimes you may want a happier ending, but I'm getting over that want as more issues come out, and it becomes less and less likely that'll ever happen.  Crime drama at it's best (and darkest).  Side note: Dakota North in this book?  Brilliant!

23. Guardians of the Galaxy - Two words - Rocket Raccoon.

24. Hulk - Jeph Loeb may only be able to write DC books well, but Ed McGuinness on the art more than makes up for it.  And I will say the shock and awe factor of this book is fantastic.  I really shouldn't like it, but seeing the new red Hulk punch out the Watcher and seriously mess Thor up IS fun to read.  The mystery of who the red Hulk is, is sorta fun, but if it's not Doc Sampson, then there better be a very good explanation as to why not.

25. Ultimate Spider-Man - First by Bendis and Bagley, and now by Bendis and Immomen.  It's been my favorite book for years, and it's still my favorite book.  Peter Parker is pitch-perfect.  He gets to intereact with the rest of the Ultimate universe.  He has problems.  He's got Mary Jane.  Aunt May isn't a geezer.  I didn't see what happened to Norman and Harry Osborn coming at all.  Venom is incredibly creepy.  It's just a great book.

26. New Thunderbolts - Norman Osborn is CRAZY.  And he's so slimy and oily, and I absolutely can't wait to see what happens next.  I thought that when Warren Ellis left the book, the quality would drop just as fast.  But it hasn't.  It's reinvented itself so well with the villains who are now the "heroes" that rooting for them is fun.  And I'm just waiting for Bullseye to go nuts on everyone.  It's coming.

27. The Twelve - J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston are fashioning Marvel's version of The Watchmen.  I might be using hyperbole, but I don't think so.  This series about a group of twelve heroes that wake up after being in suspended animation for more than 60 years is well on its way towards that status as long as it doesn't derail itself in the last 5 issues.  Well see when it's over.  But until then, there's seven great issues for you to pick up out there.

28. Wolverine - Mark Millar and Steve McNiven are doing Old Man Logan, an epic set in the future, with Wolverine playing the Clint Eastwood role from Unforgiven.  Which is easily forgiven, because the series is so much fun.  In what other comic will you see the Spider Mobile playing a major role?  Blind Hawkeye is just as deadly as sighted Hawkeye.  And the death of the new Kingpin is one of the most violent images in a mainstream Marvel book I've ever seen.  Wolverine has been broken and the villains have won.   All we're waiting to see is "Snikt."  It's gonna be good.

So there you go.  That's only a small sampling of what I read every month, but I went through my list and those were the titles that jumped out at me as my favorites at the moment.  I'm tired, so I'm gonna stop there.  Let me know what you think.

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Sam Phillips, art and introspection (a big word for whining)
Category: Writing and Poetry

Day 775

Bear with me here.  This may have a point, it may not.  But I'm feeling melancholy, and I'm already beginning to ramble.

I saw Sam Phillips at the Beachland ballroom last Thursday.  She's a singer/songwriter who may be more known for her role as the silent terrorist in Die Hard With a Vengeance than as a singer/songwriter.  That'd be a shame, since she's actually very, very good, and the show was a great experience.  But after the show, I got to talk to her and tell her how much I liked her album Omnipop (It's Only A Flesh Wound Lambchop).  I picked it up for a buck at the CD/Game Exchange and it's done nothing but rise to the the top of the heap in what I listen to on a regular basis.  Sure, her other albums are great (you like one, you like the rest... at least I do), but Omnipop is the one that stays with me the most.  However, a quick glance at her Wikipedia page shows me that Omnipop was pretty much a commercial failure.  And the inscription that Sam gave me on the album pretty much reinforces that - "John - You might be the only one who likes this - Thank you!  All the best from Sam."  As I was waiting to talk to her, I got to hear some of her conversations with other fans, and she said she considers Omnipop to be overproduced.  She would be the one who knows.  But I got to tell her how much I liked the album, and explained to her that I thought it sounded like she was a female Tom Waits on it.  She seemed to take it as the compliment that I meant it to be.  But I got to thinking...

How often does an artist get a fan coming up to them with something the artist did (music, book, whatever) that the artist really doesn't care for?  I figure it has to come up all the time.  But does the artist accept that what they did affects people in different ways, or are they disappointed that the fan doesn't fully appreciate the things the artist thinks are better?

This is a purely hypothetical situation, but what if J.K. Rowling's favorite Harry Potter book that she wrote was the first one she wrote?  Yet, at every appearance every fan came up to her and said that Goblet of Fire was their favorite book.  Maybe she thought that was her least favorite, even as fans and critics, alike, called it their favorite Harry Potter novel.  Does she get sad or mad that nobody calls out Sorcerer's Stone/Philosopher's Stone as their favorite?  What sort of emotions goes through a creator's head when they meet a fan?

I mean, for the 100 or so people who've read Mask and Cape Double feature, I know that the one or two positive reviews that I've gotten for American Knight do nothing but make me happy.  If somebody went out of their way to tell me they didn't like my first issue, I'd probably only be upset if they took it apart in a critical manner as opposed to simply saying, "This sucks."  Those sorts of comments are easily dismissed.

But it's something that I think about.  Because I know the creative impulse is strong.  If Uwe Boll can continue to make movies, as bad as they may be (and I can't really say, since I haven't seen any of his flicks), at least he has the passion to keep making "art."  Obviously, we can argue whether or not what he does is art, but you get the idea.  But the point is this - even if "art" makes people angry, at least it causes an emotion.  I figure any creative person wants that.

And here's where I turn everything personal.  See, I may only get a few comments on this (or any other blog that I write), but at least I know I have a select few people who gravitate to what I write.  My audience is me, but I appreciate the small audience of "you" that is out there.  But out of those people out there, a lot of my closest friends don't read what I write.  And that's more disappointing than anything else.  I mean, we hang out, we watch movies, we play sports, we do stuff.  But they don't take that extra few minutes a day to see what random thing I have to say.  It's frustrating.  And it's not for lack of me telling them that I write on here.  And what's funny, is that I can see my dad actually bookmarking this page and checking up on me to see what I wrote and reading it if it looks to be up his alley.  And he might never tell me that.  And that'd be fine, especially since I never really advertised the fact that I write here often.  But it wouldn't surprise me.  But my friends... that disappoints me.  Again, I write for me.  But I really appreciate the audience.  Working in the dark doesn't help one grow.

Yeah, this turned maudlin pretty quickly. Sorry.  It goes completely against the album that I have playing in my computer right now.  She and Him: Volume One is just a joyous romp.  Go listen to them.  Or listen to Sam Phillips at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=108768553 It's worth it.

Maybe I just need more sleep.

Currently listening : Volume One By She & Him Release date: 2008-03-18

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The Critic Wannabe (reviews The Killer)
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Day 772

The Killer

Let me start off with a little story.  When I was in college, one of my film teachers (and it bugs me to no end that I can't remember his name) was one of the most influential guys in my life in regards to movies - probably in my top three.  But it was in his class that I saw one of the worst, most disturbing films I've ever seen - Sweet Movie.  But it was also in his class that I was first exposed to John Woo's The Killer.  The class was given no preamble other than we were going to be shown a very kinetic and insane action scene that was the culmination of years of action movies shoved into a twenty minute balletic orgy of gunfire and flying bodies.  And then he proceeded to show us the last scene of The Killer.  I was wholly unprepared for what I saw (which I'll get to a little later), but I knew that I had to see all of this movie.  And soon.  After class I went to the teacher and got more information - title, director, etc.  And within a month or two, the video store in town got a copy of the film.  I don't know if watching it was a life-changing experience, but I do know that I consider The Killer to be one of my most favorite movies ever.

If all you know about director John Woo is that he was the director of Hard Target, Mission Impossible 2, Broken Arrow and Face/Off, then, I'm sorry, but you don't know John Woo.  The Killer (or even Hard-Boiled) is where your education should begin.  The Killer is ostensibly about a hired killer, who on one of his jobs, accidently blinds a singer during one of his gunfights.  He decides that it's time for one last job, but his employer wants him dead.  Oh, and there's the cop that follows his own rules after him.  Pretty cliche, right?  That's the trick.

See, The Killer is more concerned with matters of honor and friendship.  All that other stuff is there to keep the plot moving.  But the fact of the matter is that this movie has a huge heart.  We are supposed to (and do) sympathize with every character that knows what the word "honor" means.  You know your bad guy is bad when he refuses to live up to his side of the bargain.  Even the killer would be able to respect him more if he simply paid him what he was supposed to, and then tried to kill him.  It's just the way things are done.  But the killer has his friend (the guy who sets up the jobs), the cop has his friend (his partner), and while the cop and the killer may be at cross-purposes, they find out that their feelings on how the world should work, and how it actually does work are very, very similar.  It's no surprise that when things fall apart, these two are standing back to back, covering each other.

Dr. Royce Clemens has written a great blog on this (and Hard-Boiled) where he talks about the slow-motion action sequences here: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=175281339&blogID=433177758 so I'm not going to repeat it.  But I do intend to talk about the action sequences themselves.

For starters, you have to dismiss the whole idea of reloading your weapon when watching this film.  These are characters who shoot lots and lots and lots and lots of bullets.  Into lots and lots of people.  Actually, a lot of the bullets may just go into one person.  But if you start thinking logically about any of this, then this movie probably isn't for you.  But from the opening sequence, we get all the information that we need.  The killer is hired to kill a guy.  He does (with extreme prejudice), and then he proceeds to kill off that guy's entire entourage.  To be fair, they are trying to kill the killer themselves.  You could easily make a case that he was defending himself.  But when the singer gets in the way of one of his bullets, causing her to go blind, he not only bandages her wounds, but also takes a couple of bullets in the back to keep her protected.  For all his killing, that's a good guy.

When the cop and the killer meet for the first time, it's because the cop is after him.  But it's also in the midst of another huge gun battle that leaves a little girl shot.  The killer risks everything (life and capture) to rescue her.

And it all culminates in a gun battle in a church, with the killer and the cop protecting the singer, getting the money and taking down the guy who's caused all this trouble and his 100 or so of his men.  Apparently it takes about 20 minutes to kill 100 or so men, because that's how long that final sequence is.  And it's amazing.  From machine guns, to shotguns, to two-handed pistols, to exploding rounds of ammunition, to exploding statues of the Virgin Mary, to exploding gas tanks, to fluttering doves, to finally melodrama so thick that it threatens to ruin the movie if we weren't already so invested.  It has it all.

And the reason that we accept the final melodrama so easily (or at least why I'm able to) is because of the performances.  Chow Yun-Fat as the killer is mesmerizing.  You accept that this is one of the baddest dudes on the planet, but you also completely get that his soul is crushed any time someone innocent gets hurt during of of his assassinations.  You also understand how the singer, Jenny (played by Sally Yeh) is completely terrified by her last memory of the killer's face, yet manages to fall so in love with him that when she finds out that the man who's been helping her all this time is the same one who is responsible for her blindness, she lets all her anger go and focuses only on the love.  And then we have Danny Lee as the cop.  This is the most thankless role of the film, yet Danny does such a great job of building up his character, and letting us see what he's thinking all the time, that when he finally joins forces with the killer, it's not a matter of "really?" but rather,"what took so long?"

As much as I love Hard-Boiled, I've yet to see an action film that even comes close to this one in emotion and action all rolled into one.  Simply put - a must-see.

****

Currently listening : Title Tk By The Breeders Release date: 2002-05-21

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I remember when...
Category: Life

Day 765

I remember when...

I saw first saw Evil Dead.  It was freshman year of college.  I was all alone in Mike and Kevin's room, and I had just watched Fright Night.  But nothing could've prepared me for the genius of what was to come.  I still remember being dazzled by the camerawork and watching in awe at some of the goriest horror I had ever seen.  But, even as gory as Evil Dead is, it's not unwatchable because most of the bad stuff happens to demons.  Well, with some obvious exceptions, including the best use of a pencil until The Dark Knight came out.

I remember when...

I saw Streets in the movie theater.  It was a Roger Corman produced film starring Christina Applegate at the start of her Married With Children career.  I went in hoping for some gratuitous exploitation, and came away with a devastating film that mixed social commentary and, well, gratuitous violence, in  such a way that I consider it a crime that this hasn't been released yet on DVD.  I was the only person in the theater for about 5 minutes, then another guy came in.  After a half hour, I guess he realized this movie wasn't for him and he left.  He missed a good flick.  The director, Katt Shea has done a number of other films, including Poison Ivy and The Rage: Carrie 2.  Say what you will about all three of these films, but she does a really good job of emphasizing womens' roles in a genre that has a history of disposing of them.

I remember when...

I first read Stephen King's The Stand.  Freshman year of college (again).  I don't remember if I borrowed it off someone or if I bought it, but I do remember spending the afternoons outside reading it that spring.  It's a long book, but I remember blowing through it in a couple of weeks.  It's still one of my favorite books, and the expanded edition (which I've read twice) is even better.  Except for the last two pages.  Just get rid of those before you start reading.  I hate them.  Everything else is great, though.

I remember when...

I saw my first theatrical film without parental supervision.  It was Rocky IV.  My buddy Billy and I were dropped off at the theater to be picked up later.  We were now men.  I thought the beginning was long, I didn't care for James Brown (I know better, now), and I thought the training sequence was one of the best things I had ever seen.  I still like the movie a lot.

I remember when...

I first saw the house I now live in.  It was at night.  My real estate agent, Judy, and I walked up to the front door.  I was upset because it was a side by side, but since we were here we decided to take a look.  The living/dining room wasn't much to look at.  But then we went upstairs.  I saw the bedroom, I saw the extra room, and I saw the library.  The owner had three bookshelves (pretty much filled) lined up in the other room.  I started to get ideas.  Then we went into the basement.  It was big and finished.  I started to get more ideas.  The house really started to grow on me.  I had my parent's look at it the next day.  It was the best place I had found in the three months I had been searching.  And as some added bonuses, it was around the neighborhood I grew up in and it was minutes away from both my jobs.  A day and a half after looking at the place I put my bid in.  I still love it.

I remember when...

I heard each of my grandparents had passed away.  When my Grandpa Shearer passed away, it was a Saturday morning.  I had just been to see him the previous night.  We had a softball game Saturday morning.  I got to the field, and Pastor Joe asked if I had talked to my dad.  I hadn't.  And that's when he told me my Grandpa had passed away just about an hour or so ago.  My dad told him to tell me there was nothing that I could do and that my grandpa would want me to play ball.  He was right.  I played (well) and we won.  We knew he was dying, but like with my Grandpa Rowland, when my mom called me up at work to tell me he had passed away, it was the finality of it all that hit the hardest.  But when my parents told me that my Grandma Rowland passed away, when I came home late one night during the year I was living at home saving money for the house, that was a complete and utter shock.  It was sudden.  There would be no more times I could talk to her about her favorite books.  There would be no more times I could hear her laugh.  But because of each of those events, I continue to treasure my family.  I don't see my Grandma Shearer as often as I should, but I still make an effort to go to as many family functions as I can.  I will say that it helps to get along with your families when you go to those things.

I remember when...

I first asked a girl out.  I was a senior in high school.  She was a junior.  It was December.  I asked her to go to a work party.  She said, "Yes."   Then later she said she couldn't make it.  No prob.  But when I asked her if she wanted to just go out on a date, she said she had a boyfriend.   I think I'm still pissed about that.  Or not.

I remember when I went to my first San Diego Comic-Con.  It was 1996.  My plans for going to the Olympics in Atlanta got derailed when my buddy Greg, who initially was willing to go, bailed on me.  I took the Olympic money and bought an airplane ticket for San Diego.  I stayed at the EZ8 Motel in Old Town.  I talked with Kevin Smith one on one for about 15 minutes.  I remember the first costume contest I saw out there.  It actually wasn't at the Convention Center.  We had to take a bus to get to the building it was in.  I bought Garth Ennis a six pack of beer.  Good times.

There's many more, but tell me one of yours (if you want).

Currently watching : Ghost in the Shell SAC Complete 1st Season Collection Box Set Release date: 2006-10-31

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The Critic Wannabe (reviews Breathless... eventually)
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Day 765

For those of you who don't know, I live in Cleveland, Ohio.  On the east side of town is the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque.  It's the place to go to see movies that don't get a wide release, are foreign, or just classics.  It was there where I got to see Cannibal: The Musical, Meet the Feebles, Drunken Master 2, Bullet in the Head and many, many more.  It's also great for seeing whole runs of films from "important" directors.  And here's where I'd like to get even more pretentious than usual.

I'm going to limit this little article to directors who worked primarily during the fifties and sixties and were foreign.

But there are the directors whose work I've seen a substantial amount of and really liked or was moved by.  They would be Akira Kurosawa, Luis Bunuel and Michaelangelo Antonioni.

Then there's the directors who I've only seen one or two films of theirs, but really liked what I saw.  They would be Francois Truffaut and Eric Rohmer.

Finally, there's the directors who've made many films, but I've only seen one or two and didn't care for them.  Federico Fellini and, now, Jean-Luc Godard join those ranks.

All of this is my own opinion.  And I want to start off talking about the directors whose films I like.  Let's start with Kurosawa.  He's an interesting case for me.  See, the first couple of movies of his that I saw were The Hidden Fortress and Ran.  I watched The Hidden Fortress because it was what George Lucas supposedly based a lot of Star Wars on.  And I got that connection, but I really thought the movie was overly long and didn't grab me on any personal level.  Ran was even worse.  It was even longer.  Fast forward a few years, and I watched The Seven Samurai.  Brilliant.  And then I went on a Kurosawa kick and rented a bunch of his films.  It was when I watched Stray Dog (a film about a cop who gets his gun stolen and his quest to retrieve it) that it hit me how great Kurosawa's films were.  If a light could have shown down from heaven illuminating me at that time, it might have been like what I felt.  Even better was when the Cinematheque had a program devoted to his movies.  I never did go back to see The Hidden Fortress, but how can you go wrong seeing The Seven Samurai or Stray Dog on the big screen?

Then there's Luis Bunuel.  I've said before, the only reason I watched That Obscure Object of Desire was because Bond girl Carole Bouquet was in it.  However, that didn't prepare me for the surreal masterpiece that I finally saw.  And after watching that, I had my dad get Exterminating Angel from the library, so I could see that.  Exterminating Angel is probably in my top 20 favorite films of all time.  It's about a group of rich people at a dinner party who find out they can't leave the dining room.  And once you start watching Bunuel's movies, you start getting compelled to watch others that he's made.

And thanks to Brian DePalma, I discovered Michaelanglo Antonioni.  See, I love DePalma's Blow Out.  And knowing that Blow Out was inspired by BlowUp gave me all the more reason to see it... and love it.  I still remember my dad taping it off channel 55 back in the day.  It was (like the rest of these films) unlike anything I had ever seen.  It was a murder mystery where the murder was incidental.  As with the rest of Antonioni's films that I have seen, it won me over by the strength of its visuals.  His movies are like visual poetry.

So those are three directors whose work I like/love and have seen a number of their movies.

In college, the school had a great selection of foreign films on tape (DVD was still in that distant place we called "the future").  One of the movies I watched was Pauline at the Beach by Eric Rohmer.  I liked it a lot, and besides owning that one, I now own another four of Rohmer's films.  They sit on the bookshelf calling out for me to watch them.  And I will... someday.

Francois Truffaut will first and foremost always be Claude Lacombe from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Then I know him as one of the best interviewers of Alfred Hitchcock.  Hitchcock/Truffaut is required reading for anyone who's a fan of Hitchcock's work.  And finally I recognize Truffaut as a filmmaker.  But all I have seen of his stuff is Antoine and Collette, a short film that he did.  I saw it just this last year, and thought it was amazing.  If his other movies are like that short film, then I can't wait to start going through them.

So there's a couple of directors who made a great first impression on me.

Next we come to Federico Fellini.  I saw La Strada in college.  It won the Oscar for Best Foreign film back in 1957.  I was underwhelmed.  I've always planned on seeing some of Fellini's other films, such as 8&1/2 or La Dolce Vita, but because I didn't care for La Strada I've never gotten around to watching the others.

And all this finally leads to Jean-Luc Godard, director of Breathless.  Godard, along with Truffaut and others started the French New Wave cinema movement.  The New Wave movement was all about directors being auteurs (authors) of their films, injecting "real" life into the movies, and not following any conventional filmmaking wisdom.  Style was an important component of these films.  Jump cuts seemed to be par for the course.  And Breathless is filled with all of this.  But it failed in the one area that I needed it to succeed in, which was characters we care enough about to spend an hour and a half with.  Jean-Paul Belmondo's Michel starts off the film by killing a cop.  But none of that matters to the movie.  It was simply a plot device that never gets fully utilized.  All Michel wants to do is get some money that was owed to him, and hang out with the girl of his dreams - Patricia Franchini (played by Jean Seberg.

The movie meanders so much, that and hour and a half starts to seem like weeks.  But these characters are so banal that we have a hard time eliciting any sort of reponse, good or bad.  And as Before Sunrise and Before Sunset proved - smart, intelligent and charming people are fun to watch.  I started to get into Breathless much more in the second half of the film, but the slow "realism" of the opening half  bogged down the rest of the film for me.I would write more about it, but the story is one that can be read up above.

Ultimately, I wanted less/no jump cuts.  I wanted dialogue that would suck me in, not keep me from pinching myself to stay awake.  I wanted a visual feast that might explain why people think this is such a great film, because I don't get it.

But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try.  There's a whole  bunch of Godard films playing throughout the month, and I've pencilled in many of them.  I figure if I don't like any of them then I would give up and focus on cinema classics like Bangkok Dangerous.

** (and that's being generous.)

Currently reading : Killshot By Elmore Leonard Release date: 2008-03-25

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