30 Second Movie Review:The People Vs. George Lucas

I thought the prequel trilogy and everything GL has done to the original Star Wars films pissed me off.Man am I out of my league,there are people out there destroyed by George's actions.

This is a cool documentary that serves as both a hate filled diatribe to the man many of us grew up loving,and still do even after all the hateful words have settled.GL is a man who sits atop the biggest franchise in history,yet feels that it is his and he can do what he wants and show it how he feels it should be shown.The question of when does art belong to the masses who embrace it is asked and it is a good question.If we all grew up loving what we saw,yet the creator was never truly happy poses the question is it alright to tinker,or is it now the masses property?

Well this film gives us many passionate nerds and their opinions and raises some interesting ideas.My personal opinion remains Lucas has always been more of a savvy businessman than storyteller,as cemented by the fact that two of the three original films were co written and directed by other people.Yet the entire new trilogy was all Lucas all the time,and was pretty terrible at best.GL will remain a subject of nerd fascination and repulsion for the rest of time,and this doc does a good job of explaining why.Check it out.

The D Is Silent

QT has had me since 1992 or 93 when I first saw Reservoir Dogs on VHS

Who Watches?

We are now officially living in a time where there are more original Watchmen comics being published.Today's release of Darwyn Cooke's Minutemen series is the first new story featuring the characters from DC's series released since 1987.

Alot of fans have their undies in a bunch over this.It is sacreligious,unneccesary,a sin.Dragging a dead horse through mud,etc.I have no problem with this for a simple reason.Watchmen is one of the greatest stories ever told.Comics,books,whatever.It has proved that it is as relevant today as it was 25 years ago,and will continue to enthrall new readers for the rest of time.There is nothing that these prequel stories can do that will change that.Good or bad.I don't feel that there will be a great moment that will make me see the original story in a new light,and I don't think that there could be anything bad enough to stain it either.I still enjoy the original Star Wars trilogy on it's own(admittably creakier as I get older)merits.The terrible prequels didn't impact my feelings on the original at all.I greatly look forward to seeing Ridley Scott's Prometheus,which is a film set in the Alien universe,many years before the story of the original film.Great or terrible,it cannot take away from my enjoyment for Alien.To me The Matrix ended when Neo flew up to the screen,doesn't matter that two whole movies followed.

We live in a time when well enough can't be left alone.And it won't.In 20 years when TV is looking for a hit show they will reboot or continue Lost or any number of things we love.The reason is simple,money is to be made and people get curious.If you don't want to read the new Watchmen stuff,don't.Ask me and I'll tell you how it's been because I have faith that these creators can tell intersting stories.

Fun Cover Song

Me and Lin saw the always awesome Weezer at the Mohegan Sun Arena the other night,and here is some footage from an unexpected,yet great cover song.They also encored with Talk Dirty To Me by Poison and killed it.

30 Second Movie Review:Tower Heist

The comedic version of the Ocean's films.This looked terrible from all previews.

I liked it.Ben Stiller,Matthew Broderick and Casey Affleck play people ripped off of their life's savings by a businessman played by Alan Alda.They devise a plot to steal money they believe is hidden in the penthouse of one of New York City's most luxurious apartment buildings to make good on what he owes.Along the way they get help from Eddie Murphy's thief character.

Not much too say other than some good laughs,a fun heist sequence and a surprising ending.Way more fun than I expected.

Gay Scott!

DC has reintroduced original Green Lantern Alan Scott into it's New 52 and have decided to change the character to a gay man.I have no issue with sexuality at all.Some of my favorite characters in comics and other fiction have been gay(Midnighter,Apollo,Agent 355,Northstar,ok well not Northstar)and it bothers me none.

What bothers me is taking an existing character (from the 40's!!)and making him gay to what seems to me to pander to what DC thinks the homosexual consensus would like to see.In my opinion I think if I were looking for equality in comic book characters I would appreciate a newly created gay character,as opposed to this type of stunt.Marvel is marrying Northstar and his boyfriend in a issue soon,and I have no real issue with it,despite the fact that it is also being sensational for it's own sake(to a point).At least Northstar is a longtime Z list character who came out of the closet about ten years ago,and in todays day and age,marriage is the next logical step.And the major difference between Alan and Northstar is that Northstar really needed an additional little oomph to beef up his character.Alan,despite being a younger,different version from the old DC timeline could have grown into his own character without this.This move seems reactionary on all cylinders,to Marvel,and to what they think will please the masses.

I am not going forward in buying or reading Earth-2,the series that stars Alan Scott.I'm not doing it for hatred of difference but as a show of no support for the carelessness with which DC has shown a CLASSIC character.There is no need to reintroduce anyone as gay or black or Native American to appease anyone.Just do what you should do and CREATE new characters with these traits,leave mine alone.

30 Second Movie Review:Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol

A fourth movie in a series being the strongest?Wow.

Brad Bird directs his first live action film(after animated greats such as The Iron Giant and The Incredibles),and shows a flair for action.Tom Cruise does his own stunts,including an exhilirating scene featuring a climb up the world's tallest building.So what if the plot is just about the same as the first film?The IMF is disavowed and have to stop the bad guy on their own.Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner add some better than usual support for Cruise,and the humor quotient is kicked up a bit.

Overall a really good action film,very enjoyable.Now if only the makers of the Pirates films could have taken notes on how to make a good movie late in a series..

30 Second Movie Review:The Avengers

Joss Whedon did it.He made a film that I was worried could not work and he made it to the best of his sensibilities.Action packed,funny,and full of great character moments.I haven't felt like leaving the theater and going in for a second time directly afterwards in a while.

Marvel has been building to this moment for the last four years and the payoff was worth it.Every little bit and piece in this film worked for me,there were no moments that felt forced or wrong.This may be the definition of a true popcorn movie,with pure momentum from beginning to end.Mark Ruffalo was a welcome addition to the Marvel U stable of actors,bringing his own vibe to the role of Bruce Banner.The rest of the ensemble fit perfectly,and every character,and just about every combination of characters had great moments.

Stop reading this and go see it.

This Will Rock

Loved the first,they turned it up to 11 for this one it looks like...check your brain at the door

30 Second Movie Review:The Hunger Games

The Anti Twilight!A hugely popular young adult book series that actually spins an interesting tale.I haven't read the books but The Hunger Games made me want to,where Twilight made me want to find Will Smith and see if he could do that mind wipe thing on me.

So supposedly this rips off the Japanese film/Manga Battle Royale to an extent.Kids having to fight kids to the death for amusement is a shared theme,but haven't we seen that even earlier,although a bit differently in The Lord Of The Flies?In any case we are in a futuristic America where a very Orwellian Government controls it's citizens with intimidation and starvation.Once a year,to demand tribute for a failed uprising against them many years ago,the Government orders 24 boys and girls,to fight to the death until one victor arises.We follow the chosen kids from District 12,Katniss,a huntress who volunteers to take her younger sister's place,and Peeta,a frightened Baker's son.The film follows their journey from being chosen,thru training,and onto the actual competition.

I really liked this film,and could feel the groundwork for what is going to be the body of the other two stories in the series.Uprisings seem to be abound.

30 Second Movie Review:The Cabin In The Woods

Joss Whedon,who has brought us plenty of good fiction in the last twenty years,from Buffy to the soon to be released Avengers film,tries his writing skills on a good old fashioned horror movie.

Wrong.Right from the first scene we are aware that this is not a film simply about a group of horny college kids going to the proverbial creepy cabin in the woods.This movie is something more on several different levels.I know some of the surprises are right there in the trailer,but I will not discuss any of them.My advice is go see this movie,and revel in the layers of the story.Are there scares,sure,are there surprises,yes.This is one of those movies that I bet will be largely ignored in theaters,but will gain cult like status on DVD in a few years.

I'm just glad I was there to see it.

Offensive Bounty?

Was Earl campbell the first offensive player to be taking up bounties on defenders?This is one of my all time favorite NFL highlights,first he headbutts the Ram's defender dead in the chest,then when they try to tackle him,his jersey EXPLODES off of his torso.Badass.

Bullying Sucks!

For every big Summer action film,check out at least an indie,or like this a documentary.This trailer made me want to cry and fight at the same time.I never had it that bad,but I dealt with bullies,and whether it is because kids will be kids or not,bullying sucks.There is nothing worse than a kid being picked on for any reason.

Yup It's Still A Red S

Meet the new logo,basically the same as the old logo

Vingadores Assemble!

May 4th here yet?

The Walking Dead

Season 2 ends.Shane is dead,the group is mad at Rick for withholding info about the virus,Hershel's kids are dropping like flies!Oh and Rick is starting to lose his cool,a prison showed up and Michonne finally sliced a walker in half.No it's not the book,but it is a damned entertaining and well written show.Sure Carl wanders around too much,and they looked for Sophia a bit too long,but no show,no matter how good doesn't have it's plot issues.My only advice to people only watching the show is buy the trade paperbacks,the book is better and you don't have to call it a comic book if thats not your thing,call it a trade,it sounds grown up.

Musical Interlude-Jodeci

I miss alot of 90's Rand B.I am mostly a rock guy but this song has always struck me as a pop classic.

30 Second Movie Review:Apollo 18

Found footage movie,based around the concept that there WAS an Apollo 18 mission and it went horribly wrong.

Not bad,not great.Made on a pretty small budget with no name actors.the film does a good job of using lighting and sound to build apprehension for what comes next,unfortunately,this being a found footage movie you automatically assume that our protagonists are in for a rough go.The reveal as to what is causing the strange Moon happenings is creepy and silly,but the last ten minutes are pretty suspenseful.

Don't ignore this one,but don't move plans around to see it.

Conventioneering

East Windsor show the other day,here is some of the bounty I picked up.

Detective Comics #745,nothing special about this other than it was 50 cents and the Dave johnson cover is sick.

An issue I have always wanted,a historic cover.Decent shape,got it for $12.

I'm slowly but surely putting the America's Elite Joe series together,here is #17.

I have been half heartedly putting together the Giffen/Dematteis JLA stuff,couldn't let this great cover go for 50 cents.

A FF special one shot that I never saw at my shop,picked it up for a buck.

I have every issue of DD series 2 from 9 to it's end.In the last two shows I went to I found both 4 and 5 for a buck a piece.

More to come!

30 Second Movie Review:Warrior

Once in a while a movie hits all the right notes with me and succeeds on every level.

Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy play estranged brothers,both at opposite points in their lives who enter a Mixed Martial Arts tournament for different reasons.Nick Nolte reminds us that he is a great actor and not just a real life punchline as the troubled,yet recovering father of the two.

This movie is about forgiveness,and relies heavily on the theme of catharsis,and what it takes for these men to repair the damage the past has done.Oh,and the fight scenes are damn well awesome.

This is easily one of the best films I have seen in the last two years,instant classic status.

Wow....

I feared they couldn't do an Avengers film right because the scope would be too big.Whedon may have handled that.

30 Second Movie Review:Fright Night

A superb remake!Of a horror film!That doesn't usually work out too well as we have seen from "Prom Night"to "Black Christmas".And the original "Fright Night"was a good film on it's own.

 Colin Farrell plays Jerry,a vampire who has just moved into Charley's neighborhood,leaving a trail of disappearances in his wake.Charley is played by the great young actor Anton Yelchin,and does a fantastic job of going from doubter to believer to take action hero mode in the span of the film.And no I didn't ruin the is he or isn't he a vampire aspect of the film,because they establish early on that he is,and there is really no game of cat and mouse past the first half hour.Once Jerry comes out as you may,the film becomes an extended chase scene between predator and prey.Along the way the great David Tennant plays Peter Vincent,Vegas magician and Occult expert who begrudgingly helps Charley.

Great gore,lots of humor and a great cast keep this version worthy of the original,and helps it stand on it's own.

30 Second Movie Review:Ghost Rider:Spirit Of Vengeance

The makers of Crank,and Gamer take on GR in a sequel no one asked for.

I love the Crank films,and think that the directing duo of Neveldine/Taylor are dynamic and unusual,and I was quite excited to see what they could do with this.Turns out they put together a totally different sequel that still doesn't quite work,just in different ways then the predecessor.The first was too tame for the character and just felt too homogenized by trying to get the family out to see it.GR should be a scary,intimidating figure,instead we were left kind of flat.The most memorable thing in the first is that Nic Cage put his own spin on the Johnny Blaze character,making him an outright Nic Cage weirdo.

He turns it up to 11 here.There are some really cool moments in this film,but nothing that connects into a great movie.The action is better as is the imagery and FX,but we are left with another rudderless story.I can't deny that I enjoyed the film as I watched it,but it was like eating a McDonald's burger....it tasted good but your not going to think about it later on.I also accidentally saw this in 3D,not realizing that it was only available in 3D at my local theatre...post 3D transfer,nothing worth seeing here.I figure the next time we hear of a Ghost Rider movie it will be one of those inevitable reboots with a new cast,and let's hope they take notes from Neveldine/Taylor on visual tone but have someone else write the script.

Single Issue Standout

Warren Ellis took over Secret Avengers for a handful of issues recently and delivered an excellent,high concept,high action series of stand alone stories.#20,his penultimate issue on the title features Black Widow prominently,and shines a light on a very cool character who gets lost in the shuffle too often in this and other books she appears in.

The issue starts with the Avengers in the midst of a firefight with members of the Shadow Council when suddenly Steve Rogers is shot down and killed as are the rest of the team,except for Widow,who uses a device in War Machine's armor to transport her to safety.The machine flings her back in time to before the assault,and thats where the issue really starts to kick ass.

Widow spends the rest of the issue trying to set up every event that will lead her back to the present,and also try to figure out how to avoid her friend's demise and save the day.She can't just go forward in time and help herself,because that would collapse the space time continuum,y'know the usual time travel headache.

We follow Widow as she sets out to have the time machine that she will eventually use in the future be invented,reverse engineer the weapons that the Avengers were defenseless against and generally move back and forth in time setting up the correct sequence of events.The storytelling is brilliant and the outcome is more enjoyable because you see every piece fall into place.Alex Maleev's art is gritty and at one point he uses the style of old newspaper comic strips to tell a chunk of story,and it's welcome,not distracting.Right down to the John Cassaday cover tributing Jim Steranko's famous S.H.I.E.L.D. covers this issue is well worth the time even if you don't read the series.

I'm In

The teaser trailer lost me,this one just won me over

Musical Interlude:Genesis

Possibly my favorite Genesis song,live and awesom in 1980

I Just Don't Know

Well it is official.DC will be unleashing a slew of Watchmen prequel miniseries focusing on the various characters.I have mixed feelings,mostly in the negative.I like the creators involved(Brian Azzarello,Darwyn Cooke,Jae Lee,amongst others)so my confidence level in them delivering an interesting story isn't the problem.The problem is do we need to know more about these characters.I have read the original multiples times and feel that despite not seeing much of these characters prior history,I knew them pretty well.That is thanks to Alan Moore's writing.We were told what these characters represented at one point,we see who and where they are now,and we see the resolve to their story.I didn't need to know what happened to Neo at the end of The Matrix,and when I did I was let down.I never wanted to find out that Boba Fett is just a Stormtrooper with better training,I was fine without it.I am going to read these books,because I know that they can't taint my love for the original,and I also know that the odds of them adding anything to my Watchmen experience is slim.I will read them because of a morbid curiosity.I will read them because I went and saw all 3 SW prequels,and I saw the third Matrix after having my ass kicked by the second.I will read them because I can't take a hint.

Cover To Cover

This is just a sentimental favorite.Werewolf By Night #20,cover by Gil Kane.This may be the oldest issue of any comic I have owned from my original collection.I got this at Printer's Devil Bookshop in Middletown as a little kid and have held onto it since.It is the only issue of this series that I own,but I still hold it in high regard.Dated at August of 1974,it has a several year head start on most of the older books in my collection.

Organizing A Plan To Organize

I need to start reorganizing my Comics room.Here are some pics of the stuff I've got.




One of my display/book organizers.Bottom shelves are lined with Marvel Universe figures

 


Marv,the Hessian Horseman and a whole lot of Manga for me to catch up on.I don't traditionally like Manga,but Battle Royale is supposedly the stuff




Swamp Thing fell over.Gotta love The Trinity Bobblehead from Dexter.



Lonny Chant original Bat Symbol,and a airbrushed Punisher logo on Tshirt by my buddy Tony




Doctor Who figures

 



  

Signed Greg Horn Joe print from NY Comic Con 10.He used Purell immediatley after shaking my hand.

Great Poster from Doctor Who,found it on Amazon for 3 bucks!New!It's the TARDIS as painted by Van Gogh.To the bottom left is one of my all time favorite issues of Wolverine,The Man In The Pit by Jason Aaron.

A cool print of the last page from The Killing joke



More to come....

New Shitty DC Logo

7 years after the last logo change,and strangely like 8 months after relaunching their entire line,DC comics has decided to abandon it's swoosh style logo and replace it with this peelback style.The various designed versions will accompany different books and they will from all I can tell suck equally.

Another Bit of Muppet Goodness

Awesome song.

Jason F'ing Aaron

I just wanted to give due to one of the best young comic writers,no make that writers out there right now.Jason Aaron has worked his way from winning a Marvel contest in the last decade to being one of that company's head writers,while still doing incredible creator owned work elsewhere.

Yesterday I read PunisherMax #21 and Scalped #55,both by Aaron.One is obviously a Marvel book based on a 30 plus year old character,the other a creator owned book published by Vertigo.Both books are within 5 issues of concluding their respective runs,and both issues knocked me out.Both books featured the long awaited encounters between two characters who have been on a collision course for a long time.And each book featured two of the finest fight scenes I have seen in comics,a perfect interaction between writer and artist to convey the brutality that was going on.

I know it sounds funny that I'm raving about two issues that center around physical action,but if you read comics,I think you know how hard it can be to truly convey action.These books also were full of story beats that progressed the overall arc,and have me drooling for the next,and last issue of PunisherMax,and the next 5,and last 5 issues of Scalped.

Jason is also currently writing The Incredible Hulk,and the first four issues have been fantastic.I had a chance to meet him in NYC last year at Comic Con,and he was also a cool,genuine guy.I have met some real douche comic pros and he was not one.If you are looking to read some cool books,or read this blog and have any interest in hitting your local comic shop to see whats what,I suggest you look for some books by Jason Aaron,I don't know if you could go wrong.

The New New 52

I can't believe Green Arrow made the cut!

DC announced cancellations on 6 low selling titles and their replacements.It seems that the strategy is to have 52 ongoings and no more,so if 5 titles get cancelled,only 5 can be started.The 6 cancelled books are : OMAC, Mister Terrific, Static Shock, Men of War, Blackhawks and Hawk and Dove.I only read Terrific and have enjoyed it,but expected the ax eventually.I am curious to see any backlash with 2 of the books being half of the books starring an African American hero in the current DC universe(Terrific and Static,Batwing and Firestorm remain safe).

In the wake of this we get 6 new titles.

Batman,Inc-Grant Morrison's Bat series from the prior DC universe picks up again.

Earth 2-James Robinson's Justice Society book.

World's Finest-The Huntress is stranded on Earth 1 and trying to get back to Earth 2.Paul Levitz writes.

Ravagers-Howard Mackie writes a series spun out of Superboy.

Dial H-The old H for Hero concept reborn,under novelist China Mieville's pen.

GI Combat-A rotating war series,written by a rotating crew,featuring The Haunted Tank amongst other DC war properties.

So 6 months in and we get our first casualties,interesting to see what is next.

VH Mach 1

Closer to 60 than 20,28 years after their last album together,and this still rocks harder than any of the Van Hagar stuff.New album out next month,definetly a curiosity.

Musical Interlude:Blink 182

I have never been a huge Blink fan,but I got their new album Neighborhoods for Christmas and have been playing the hell out of it.Check it out,nice high energy power punk rock.

30 Second Movie Review:Pirates Of The Carribean:On Stranger Tides

I love the first three.Many People loved the simplicity of the first and felt the next two were too convoluted and long.Not me,I loved the many characters,mix of action and humor,and a grand sense of story.

I was disappointed when I heard they were making a fourth,mainly because I felt that they did such a good job that we could only go down from there.I am not against further adventures of Capt.Jack,but it is hard to maintain such a level of high quality.On Stranger Tides is proof of that.In no ways is it a bad movie,it is just a sub par movie compared to the absolute awesomeness that came first.Capt.J gets caught up in the search for the Fountain of Youth,and along the way hooks up with Penelope Cruz as a very uninteresting female character from Jack's past.That's her role in the film.The villain this time is Blackbeard,played by the great Ian Mcshane,who must find the Fountain or perish.This character is described in the script and even in history as maybe the most fierce pirate ever,and I can only imagine what Mcshane could have done with a better script,but here the character is fairly weak and leagues less menacing than Davy Jones or even Barbossa from the first film.We also get a watered down romance between two ancillary characters meant to evoke memories of the actually good love story between Will and Elizabeth from the first trilogy.

In the end Pirates 4 has some amusements,but nothing really memorable.3 stars based on fondness for the series,closer to a 2.5.

Snyder=Good Reading

I haven't had a chance to read Scott Snyder's run at the end of Detective Comics last year,but I do have them all and can't wait.The reason is that Snyder has been writing the relaunched Batman book and has caught my interest in 4 issues more than any writer has on the main Bat title in years.He has given Bruce Wayne,Batman and Gotham a powerful foe in the Court of Owls,a mysterious society behind the city's deepest darkest inner workings.The story has utilized all the aspects of a good Bat story at once,focusing on the detective work,sprinkling on some superheroics for good measure,and adding a truly creepy factor.When Batman discovers where the Court of Owls have been hiding for years and years,the hair stood up on my arms.Now the Bat,who himself relies on being an urban myth,must figure out what a foe who most think is just a macabre nursery rhyme,wants and why Bruce Wayne has been targeted for death by them.Great reading.

Muppets Goodness

Bret Mckenzie,one half of the great New Zealand folk duo Flight of the Conchords,wrote and arranged most of the new music for the new Muppets movie.Here is a bit of him and Kermit singing "Life's A Happy Song".