At Least Some of Us Believe

Another decent review, this time from DVD Talk, one of my fave cinema sites based out of UK, I believe.

Some points to note:

"Carter has made a commitment to a more cerebral adventure for his characters, fixating on the discomfort between Mulder and Scully as they assume their old responsibilities...sticking with spooky happenings and faltered interpersonal communication. It's a mysterious film, building dread through brutal kidnapping, displays of Bryukhonenko-inspired horrors, and the Crissman character, who Carter employs as the critical figure of eerie face-value judgment. It takes nearly an hour for "Believe" to work up a sweat; the film favors the tempo of the series, not the bombast of the screen. Fans are sure to drink up every last frame. The less inclined might be checking their watches with increasing regularity.

I was immensely satisfied with Carter's intent, and his appreciation for Duchovny and Anderson, who really shines as Scully is dragged through a vigorous questioning of self. "I Want to Believe" is not a feature that provides instant results; instead, even with a handful of faults, it gets under the skin, offering the faithful a rewarding odyssey with these unlikely knights of the unknown.

Well, that's three of us who truly liked the film. I'm still eager and curious to hear input from anyone out there who has seen it and has some opinions.

Believe Again!

mike

The Comic Haul - Addendum

I realised after posting the last Comic Haul that there were a number of books that didn't get onto the list because they were sitting on a different pile at he other end of the room (for shame, I know). As a result, I thought I would add a few to the ever growing list of CH reviews, like so...

The Mummy: The Rise and Fall of Xango's Ax #1-2: "The Rise and Fall of Xango's Ax" is billed as a prequel to the new Mummy movie, but in reality it is just a story that occurs between The Mummy Returns and the new film. That little grammatical quibble aside, I really quite enjoyed the first issue of this mini. The story revolves around Alex O'Connell and his father Rick becoming embroiled in a caper involving a stolen priceless jewel, a missing archaeologist, a bunch of prehistoric baddies trying to reclaim the stolen jewel and a doomed train ride. The script by Joshua Jabcuga moves along competently and handles the reintroductions of thee characters rather nicely, while the art of Stephen Mooney captures the mood and era of the piece with enough flair to make me forgive any shortcomings either creator may otherwise show.

The second issue falls a little bit shorter than the first being more of an expository story and less of a thrill ride. You learn the background behind Xango and his ax, the plot moves from the train to the great outdoors and the villains plans are revealed. Mooney slips a bit and shows some weakness in his storytelling. The issue picks up immediately after the first but there's a confusing transition or change in point-of-view that creates some strange continuity quirks in the opening pages of the story. Jabcuga also cracks as the dialogue gets awfully wooden here and most of the conversations are done off panel in captions which takes the focus off pretty much everyone in the story.

In all fairness, they do catch their stride about halfway through and do manage to pull you through to the end, albeit with a bad taste in your mouth. I'm still looking forward to #3 but am steeling myself to be disappointed.

Wetworks #13: The art has improved, and DeMatteis (who has been writing the book solo from issue #10) is joined by long-time partner in crime Keith Giffen to give readers an all out vampire war for the Wetworks team to fight.

I've read a lot of reimaginings of these cheesy '90s super-teams that came out of the image boom, and a lot of them were really good. StormWatch was one, Wildcats was another, Casey and Donovan's Youngblood wasn't bad, you get the picture. So here I am with two of my favourite writers with carte blanche to make a crappy premise into an engaging reinvention and the whole damn thing just falls flat. DeMatteis showed some inspiration with #12's character driven star-cross'd lovers tale, but this is all hackneyed plot contrivances and cheesy dialogue. To be fair, the guys probably knew they weren't going to be around for more than a couple of issues after this, so I'll cut them some slack, but I would recommend this only for the Giffen/DeMatteis completists or truly die-hard fans of Wetworks. Otherwise, don'teven bother with this puppy in the dollar bins.

The Invincible Iron Man #2: The plot thickens. There's really not much else to say since Matt Fraction is of the Bendis school of comic book writing where obfuscation and drawn-out storylines are the order of the day. Really, not much happens in #2 that didn't happen in #1 other than Tony kicks the heinies of some A.I.M. fringe group called Advanced Genocide Mechanics and their leader, M.O.D.O.G..

What I do genuinely like about the series so far is the adherence to what Warren Ellis established in "Extremis". Tony is bleeding edge. He's a futurist. Fraction portrays him as such and has the character wrestle with these ideas constantly. I love the sequence where Iron Man is flying away from heat-seeking missiles and wonders to himself, do I need jet boots? Can I not find a new form of heatless propulsion? That's good comics, in my humble opinion.

Maybe not for everyone, but I do hope this iteration of the character and title last for a while. Enjoy itwhile it lasts, I guess.

Tank Girl: Visions of Booga #1: Ever since IDW's last Tank Girl mini I just can't get enough of Alan Martin and his crazy cast of malcontents. I would get genuine belly-laughs reading those crazy comics, so I'm thrilled that they've gone back and made more. And I totally loved the Adam Ant guest shot in the back-up story. Chynna Clugston-Major appears to not be the only one who can put the Ant Music love to paper and make an enjoyable yarn out of it.

I used to associate TG, visually, with Jamie Hewlett and Jamie Hewlett only, believing that if Jamie wasn't drawing it, what was the point? But after seeing Ashley Wood handle the characters amazingly, and now Rufus Dayglo, I'm officially a convert. Wood showed a whole new way of looking at TG which, I think, paved the way for me accepting the wonderful non-Hewlett stylings of Mr. Dayglo. They're so close to Hewlett's take on the world so as to respect the stuff that has come before, but there's just such a different kind of heartbeat to the art that works for me. I don't know, the edges are less blunt, the layouts more organic...I won't ruin it with trying to figure it out. I'll just go and grab the next issue and enjoy it some more.

Okay, that's officially all for now. Hopefully more next week.

Cheers!

mike

The Comic Haul

I haven't been to the LCS in a while, but I still have a backlog of books that I have yet to throw on the ol' blog so, without further ado, here we go-go-go...

Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods #1: The man in the hat is back. This is probably the best Indy mini-series to come out in some time. As much as I loved the fact that Dark Horse was publishing anything Indy related a few years ago, some of the efforts put forth were less than stellar in either the writing department, the art department, or, in some case, both. With Tomb of the Gods, DHC has a winner. Rob Williams concocts a plausible adventure for the intrepid archaeologist and Steve Scott's artwork is very much up to the task of balancing character likenesses and well-paced action storytelling. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the next four issues will play out.

Detective Comics #846: "Heart of Hush", as a story concept, doesn't really grab me by the lapels and scream read me, but I've been liking what Dini has done with this book and, having given up on Morrison's title, think I'll stick with Detective for a while and see how comfortable I get. I'm loving the art by Nguyen which I've praised before in other reviews, and the fact that Catwoman will be making this series her home when her monthly gets the axe is yet another reason to check in every 30 days.

The story itself? Too early to tell, I'm afraid. Hush has a secret hospital of zombies, it appears, Batman and Catwoman start hanging out and that's pretty much it unless you want me to talk about the ads. Still, the atmosphere is good, so far, and I'm anxious to see what Dini does with a 5-part storyline after so many onesies and twosies. It's worth checking out.

Robin #170-173: Hey, when did this series get good? I've been a fan of Robin for a long time (that always sounds weird when I say those words in public) but haven't had any reason to check out Tim Drake's or Dick Grayson's monthlies for many years. A few weeks ago I picked up a trade of some of the Adam Beechen and Freddie Williams stories at my local library, just to see what they were like, and found myself really enjoying them. So, when Chuck Dixon (the guy who launched the series 175 issues ago) returned to the character and the book with issue #170, I had to check it out.

I'm liking where the character is at. I'm liking the fact that Dixon is bringing back things that have been absent, like the long-dead Spoiler and Ives (another supporting character), yet maintaining the feel that this guy is older than when he first wrote him. He has matured, things in his life have changed and it's a tangible thing when you read these stories. I hear Chuck may be leaving the book but I'll give it a few issues post-Chuck to see if the tone stays right for me, or if things go out of whack again and I drop it like a hot potato.

By the way, loving the Freddie Williams covers, too!

Final Crisis #1-2: Okay, I'm liking the issues as I read them, but I'm simultaneously not caring, one way or the other, where this is going or how it fits into the greater scheme of things. I generally like Morrison's writing and I rarely have any complaints about J.G. Jones, so I'm not at all surprised that I'm not outright rejecting this whole event, but I think I'm just Uber-Evented out, you know? I'd rather see these guys doing something with an obscure character off in the corner somewhere, like when Morrison took over Animal Man or Doom Patrol. The DC Universe as a concept just doesn't interest me on this scale, anymore. Less with the 'widescreen' comics, I think.

I know I'm shooting myself in the foot when I say I'll keep buying for the next couple of issues because, really, we vote with our dollars, but when I see the huge stack of these comics sitting at my LCS, I can't help but think my contribution is not being felt. So, at least I can sleep at night.

John Constantine: Hellblazer #245: I think Jason Aaron and Sean Murphy wanted to pay tribute to the Jamie Delano/John Ridgeway era Constantine because this issue has all the hallmarks of that period of the book. For starters, John is nowhere to be seen for 99% of the story. Instead, we focus on a group of documentary filmmakers who are trying to get the skinny on Mucous Membrane, John's old punk band from back in the day. Over the course of the issue we see the slow decay of the group as they all go progressively mad and start doing things that, in some cases, will make you wish you didn't eat that sandwich before sitting down to read.

The end of the story (called "Newcastle Calling", by the way) has the single appearance in the issue of our John and he is buying a train ticket to Newcastle, leaving you, the reader, with the cliffhanger ending.

I've been enjoying this book since Andy Diggle took it over a handful of issues ago, and I think it's fair to say that, despite having big shoes to fill, Jason Aaron does an admirable job here. Sean Murphy's pencils were an added bonus, changing up the look of the book for a couple of issues. Manco's art is a good fit for the series, but after a while it all starts to get muddy and blend together. Besides, even at Hellblazers height of popularity, it has always been able to shift between artists and writers for different takes on the character and this is no different.

Anyway, I look forward to the conclusion (which I know is out, I just haven't gotten my hands on a copy yet) and I'd recommend it to anyone out there who likes a little slow-boil psychological horror with a dash of gross-out thrown in for flavour.

The Batman Strikes! #46: Yeah, you can feel this series winding down. #50 will likely be the final issue so I'm kind of glad this story by Russell Lissau and Christopher Jones stuck closer to the dynamic that fans of the show saw in seasons three and four as opposed to the 'All-New Justice League' show it became in season five. In this issue, Killer Croc gets a crush on a news reporter and Batman, Robin and Batgirl have to save the day. It's not Shakespeare, I know, but it was a pleasant diversion and a welcome return to a format that doesn't undermine the main character in his own book. If the next four are like this the series will go off on a high note, as far as I'm concerned.

Badger Saves the World #1: I consider Nexus to be one of the finest comic books to have ever graced the medium, so it kind of surprises me that I can find so little to like in Mike Baron's other 'famous' creation, The Badger. His appearances in the aforementioned Nexus have always been enjoyable, but the solo stuff I've seen just doesn't grab me, you know? Sometimes the satire and the strangeness of the book just seem forced, and the storytelling...well, off. I know that it's supposed to be manic and fun and zany, but I'm just not buying it. To quote Mr. Horse, "No sir, I just don't like it".

If I ever run across another issue in a dollar bin or see something online, maybe I'll give it another try. In the meantime, I'll stick with Horatio, Dave, Sundra, and the residents of Ylum for my Baron fix.

Will Eisner's The Spirit #13-16: I really wasn't sure what I would think of the post-Darwyn Cooke Spirit series but, I have to say, Evanier and Aragones are writing good stuff that feels very much in line with what Eisner was doing with the character, and Paul Smith is a Godsend of an artist. There have been a couple of other pencil jockeys to take a crack at Denny Colt since Cooke's departure (Risso, Amancio, and Ploog being three worth mentioning) but something about Smith's clean lines and superb storytelling give this book just the right feel to be nostalgic yet carrying the look of The Spirit's world forward.

I'm enjoying it, I'm keeping it on my pull list and so I'm sure DC will cancel it. Maybe they'll hang on to it for a while since the movie's coming out.

Legion of Super-Heroes #42: Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss. Like back in the old days when I bought my books off a spinner rack, and I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes of my favourite monthly comic books. That's the mentality I had when I started picking up the Jim Shooter Legion of Super-Heroes. I thought I'd give it a try because it looked fairly promising. Like it was trying to be classic without tossing out the any of the new stuff that the creators before this had established, and, it should be noted, that the artwork of Francis Manapul's was not entirely unpleasing to the eye. Fast forward a few months when I find out that Shooter's run is just temporary. That he's essentially killing time until the Final Crisis event has its way with the characters and then DC plans to relaunch the book later with a new creative team and direction. So, when I look at the last couple of issues, which feel very much like Shooter is either lost or spinning his wheels a little, I get miffed because I now realise that it's not just a brief lull in the story, it's useless filler to pad out the remainder of Shooter's run.

Overall, I still enjoy it when I do pick it up, but all the anticipation for it, as well as the fun of it, has been sucked out for me. There is probably a half-dozen issues or more to the Shooter run, so we'll see how it goes.

FCBD X-Men: I finally got around to reading this story and all I can say is, "Ugh!" This is why I will not be buying a regular X-Title any time soon. Carey's story is dull and his new X-Character, Pixie, less than engaging. This 'joining the team' story tries to be a new "Welcome to the X-Men, Kitty Pryde, Hope You Survive the Experience" but falls dreadfully short. Considering I dropped Carey's Ultimate FF recently, I shouldn't be at all surprised that I didn't enjoy this issue at all. Add to that Greg Land's art which makes my eyes bleed and I won't be peeking around Xavier's Institute for another couple of years, to be sure.

Amazing Spider-Man #555-557: This is the first time in a looong time that I've been able to buy, read and enjoy a mainstream Spider-Man comic book and this makes me glad. I have no interest in the whole "Brand New Day" brouhaha, but if it means that for short little bursts during the year I can enjoy Chris Bachalo's pencils on my favourite Marvel super-hero, I think I can live with it. Also, Zeb Wells wrote a Spidey that was quick-witted, a little hard-done-by, and utterly human which was, ultimately, the driving force to me actively seeking out all three issues so I can enjoy the whole story. Fun stuff.

I'm not sure if Wells and Bachalo will get another crack at the web-slinger anytime soon (I think it's McKone and Slott right now?), but I'm crossing fingers.

Later!

mike

Hey, Kids, Comics!

I was looking at the Diamond Shipping List for July 30th and thought I would do what many other bloggers have done before me and tag those items that I think are worthy of note. The legend below will explain how I'm going to lay this sucker out.

Bold is what I will grab for sure.
Italics mean it's something I want, but won't necessarily pick it up right away.
Regular text indicates something that has caught my eye but is either too pricy to be reasonable, or I would only pick up as an impulse buy.

JIM BUTCHERS DRESDEN FILES #4 (OF 4) WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
BATMAN GOING SANE TP
REIGN IN HELL #1 (OF 8)
SKRULLS VS POWER PACK #1 (OF 4)
MUMMY MOVIE PREQUEL RISE & FALL OF XANGOS AX #4

That's all she wrote, folks. I don't make it down to the comic store as often as I would like, but I think I will keep this little exercise up until I become thoroughly bored with it.

Cheers!

mike

Pondering More Indy...

The Sunday Times conducted an interview with George Lucas regarding his upcoming Clone Wars movie, but the real interesting bit that came out of the piece (from a Indyphile's perspective) was this little bit here:

"Really, with the last one, Steven wasn’t that enthusiastic. I was trying to persuade him. But now Steve is more amenable to doing another one. Yet we still have the issues about the direction we’d like to take. I’m in the future; Steven’s in the past. He’s trying to drag it back to the way they were, I’m trying to push it to a whole different place. So, still we have a sort of tension. This recent one came out of that. It’s kind of a hybrid of our own two ideas, so we’ll see where we are able to take the next one."

I'd be curious to know which parts of the film were Spielberg and which were Lucas inspired. I'm guessing all the Sci-Fi elements probably came from George, we all know Shia was Steven's doing...I think I'd have to go and see the film again to really break it down.

Still, I've always upheld that I would continue to watch and love Indy even if he was 80 with a cane and dealing with life in 1971. I just enjoy the character that much, moreso than the adventures themselves. That's partially why I'm such a fan of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, too. I don't need Nazis and death-defying stunts, seeing what makes the guy tick engages me.

Anyway, it's a decent interview and worth checking out.

Later!

mike

Spreading the Ditko Love

The Comics Reporter has a nice interview with Blake Bell, author of The World of Steve Ditko. If you've ever read and/or loved a Ditko comic, this is a book you should really check out. The interview is also something you should really check out.

Have I ever steered you wrong?

mike

Belief Does Not Appear to Come Easily

Looking at the overall response to The X-Files: I Want to Believe, both critically and commercially, after only a single day of release, it appears that Chris Carter's return to the franchise that made him a household name is a certifiable flop.

Personally, I think it is still too early to see how things will play out for the film despite a lackluster $5 million opening night. Seeing as how The Dark Knight is still going strong and stealing almost everyone else's thunder, if I Want to Believe can hang on for a few weeks before slipping off the radar, it may still make its money back and turn a small profit. Hope for a green light on a third film is not completely dashed, just stretched to its uttermost limits.

I think the most damage to the movie is going to come from critics who seem to be very much in on the X-Files hate. I'm not sure which show they were watching 10 years ago, but the movie I saw last night was very much related to the show I watched religiously and loved, even after they switched leading actors. I know I sound like an apologist at this point, but considering how many downright lazy reviews I've read over the last 24 hours complaining about how uncool the new movie is and picking at it like a festering scab, I think I sort of have to be. I don't know what everybody else was expecting. A bigger, bolder storyline, I'm sure, with lots of monster stuff and flashlights in the dark. The two leads shouting their names across a gulf of shadow as the villain of the piece stalked one, or both, of the heroes?

Didn't we see that before? On the small screen? For 9 years?

After reading Roger Ebert's review of the film (which I expected to be exceptionally harsh but who is, in fact, the only 'esteemed' reviewer to date to actually get the picture) I think what people are ultimately missing is the whole freaking point of the movie.

He goes on at length describing the plot and points out how silly it all sounds, which is fair, but the part that truly stood out to me was this section here:

"The movie lacks a single explosion. It has firearms, but nobody is shot. The special effects would have been possible in the era of "Frankenstein." Lots of stunt people were used. I had the sensation of looking at real people in real spaces, not motion-capture in CGI spaces. There was a tangible quality to the film that made the suspense more effective because it involved the physical world."

He also goes on to competently address the film's themes and, surprisingly, compares what is essentially one of the three biggest failures of the summer (Speed Racer and Meet Dave being the other two) to one of the most successful movies currently around, The Dark Knight:

"What I appreciated about "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" was that it involved actual questions of morality, just as "The Dark Knight" does. It's not simply about good and evil but about choices. Come to think of it, Scully's dying child may be connected to the plot in another way, since it poses the question: Are any means justified to keep a dying person alive?"

And lastly, Ebert closes off with this:

"The movie is insidious. It involves evil on not one level but two. The evildoers, it must be said, are singularly inept; they receive bills for medical supplies under their own names, and surely there must be more efficient ways to abduct victims and purchase animal tranquilizers. But what they're up to is so creepy, and the snow-covered Virginia landscapes so haunting, and the wrong-headedness of Scully so frustrating, and the FBI bureaucracy so stupid, and Mulder so brave, that the movie works like thrillers used to work, before they were required to contain villains the size of buildings."

And that, my friends, is the most articulate (and possibly accurate) critique of the new X-Files film that seems to be taking a lot of flack for no othewr reason than the fact that it survived long enough in people's minds to warrant coming back for another go.

I'm genuinely curious to hear what others think about the film and the response it is getting in the media. Feel free to comment.

Believe Again!

mike

X-Files: I Want to Believe Reactions

Hit the first matinee at the local Galaxy theatre because I knew I would not be able to wait until 7 or 10 o'clock tonight. I woke up a little unfocused and found it difficult to work, figured the movie would galvanize everything for me.

Despite being in the middle of the afternoon, getting into the X-Files mood was pretty easy. Once those lights went down and the music and images started rolling, whoo-baby, I was locked in for the next couple of hours.

I was doing some reading the night before re: the soundtrack (which kicks-ass, by the way) and accidentally read what I thought may be a spoiler. Wasn't going to let it ruin the experience for me but it turned out not to be true. The soundtrack piece is worth checking out, though. Click through here to read it.

Stand alone episode was definitely the way they should have rolled on this one. If they went with a mythology episode, die-hard Philes like me would be happy but we'd never get a third movie out of Fox because it wouldn't make any money. Simple but within the X-Filesian realm thriller played out nicely and allowed for maximum character development.

God, I missed these characters. I didn't know how much until they started hanging out together on screen again. Man, I thought Indiana Jones was going to be the tentpole movie for me but I was so wrong. And yeah, I know Dark Knight will make me get religion but the pure, raw, nostalgic feeling of seeing Mulder and Scully together again after 7.5 years...it was pretty f***ing cool.

Lots of really neat easter eggs in the movie for fans to find, plus a 'blink-and-you-miss-it' cameo by Carter himself. Seeing things like Nutter's Feed (named for amazing series director David Nutter), the vodka and OJ on Mulder's table, the names Gilligan and Shiban on Mulder's Cell phone...I just gobbled all that stuff up. It was great eye-candy that didn't jump out and say, "HEY! Look at me, do you remember me from the series?"

A character or two from the show do make an appearance which, again, was rewarding without being obtuse.

Well cast movie. Really. Connelly, Peet and Xzibit were all really good in their roles. Callum Keith Rennie did an equally good job. Hell, it wasn't until the third or fourth time I saw him that I realized it was him.

Hmmm, not sure what else to say other than, "I sure liked it a whole lot".

Go see the movie.

Listen to some of the tunes on the player below.

Believe Again.

mike

I Still Want to Believe

I'm watching "Sanguinarium" from Season 4 right now as I type this in preparation for the X-Files movie which premieres in a few scant hours. A wonderfully greusome episode about black magic and plastic surgery. The opening teaser actually counts as one of my favourite X-Files moments but, unfortunately, I couldn't find a link to it anywhere. Oh well, those of you who know the episode know what I'm talking about, right?

Anyway, I can't tell you how excited I am to be seeing this thing tomorrow. I know everyone is feeling pretty lackluster about the whole thing, but I'm just looking forward to seeing old friends, do a little catch-up, you know? If the movie turns out to be kick-ass, all the better. Heck, I just want it to make enough money so that we can get the true finale to the series mythology with the conclusion of the colonization plotline. I believe 2012 is the set date. Only time will tell.

Next up is "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" so I gotta go. I'll post some thoughts after I see the movie.

Believe Again!

mike

Ultimate FF Actually Pretty Marginal

About a year ago I started buying the Ultimate Fantastic Four series by writer Mike Carey and artist Pascual Ferry (at least, those were the guys on the title at the time). It was the Silver Surfer storyline and I was jazzed about the new movie coming out, and a combination of being a slave to hype and the monthly comic doing everything it could to drive me away from it, I chose the Ultimate version of Marvel's first family to latch on to for my first family of Marvel fix.

After picking up the first issue or two (#42 & #43, I think), I went back and started reading the earlier issues from the beginning. When they initially launched the title, I didn't want anything to do with it, partly because I was skeptical regarding anything Ultimate, partly because it was Bendis or Ellis or Millar and Hitch and I was tired of these big 'widescreen' event comics, and mostly it was because they reintroduced the team as teenagers. Something about that ticked me off.

Still, after reading the first few issues, I saw something in it that was dynamic, interesting and not without its charm. Sort of the same reaction I had to reading Ultimate Spider-Man for the first time. I decided to continue catching up while picking up the newer issues and do so until the newer stuff no longer interested me.

As of issue #53 I'm officially done.

Not only am I having tremendous amounts of trouble with the artwork of Tyler Kirkham, but the stories by Carey have lost all their momentum. What originally felt like a slow, interesting building up to the cosmic cube storyline eventually fell horribly flat when it finally hit its climax with the return of Thanos to the book and the Four to Earth. Bad dialogue, bad storytelling, bad art and bleah characters finally killed this thing for me. And it's strange because it sort of came out of the blue. I mean, I wasn't truly happy with some of the issues in the late forties, but they were still readable. And Carey's other work still engages me whenever I run across it.

Go figure.

Anyways, the good news is that, with UFF, The Batman Strikes,and Teen Titans, Go! all getting (or having gotten) the axe (by me or their respective publishers), and with Whedon's Runaways storyline completed, there's a spot or two now open on the ol' pull list that I can fill with stuff that I enjoy. I've been picking up Chuck Dixon and Chris Batista's Robin and I've really been digging it, so...

Later!

mike

Mornings with Meiko

I discovered this artist through MySpace when I got the automated 'add friend' request, but after listening to her stuff for a bit I think I really dig it. My wife says it reminds her of Feist (a name we don't mention in this house) but I get a little Fiona, a little Cat Power...maybe even a smidge of Edie. There are a few things jumbled up in there that blend together well.

As the link below states, click on through to listen to some of her stuff.



mike

Spielberg Vanity Fair Interview

I thought it was a decent read. It was part of the "Keys to the Kingdom" interview that appeared in the February issue of Vanity Fair, but obviously it's the parts that didn't make it into the main piece.

If you know anything about me, you know that those are usually my most favourite parts.

Anyway, go here if you're curious about Spielberg's thoughts on the new Indy film, Frank Darabont's rejected version of the script, and other Spielberg flicks.

mike

Birthday Shout-Out

I just wanted to give a birthday shout-out to one of my favourite actors/personalities in Hollywood, Harrison Ford. Harrison, who proved he can never be too old to play the inimitable Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, turns 66 today.

I know he's had a string of not-so-great movies prior to "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" but I'm sure if someone gave him a chance to play another Allie Fox, a la The Mosquito Coast or a John Book (Witness), you might get something more interesting out of the guy. Ultimately, I don't think he needs to take any movie jobs these days. Since he's more of a craftsman than an artist I find that he tends to not search out those juicy little roles in indie films or character parts in bigger movies, sticking to more traditional box-office leading man fare.

C'est la vie, I guess.

Anyway, happy 66th, Harrison. Hope it's a good one!

mike

Favourite X-FIles Moments #4

Finally, a non-shipper post!

This next clip is from an episode I just watched called "The Field Where I Died". It's from season 4 and this opening clip is one of the more powerful moments in an episode filled with many. The direction of Rob Bowman is unmistakable with the lighting and the movement, and Duchovny, without doing much, gives a performance full of pathos.

Judge for yourself...



Believe again!

mike

Favourite X-FIles Moments #3

For someone who is most definitely not a 'shipper' (someone who desired a love/sex relationship between Mulder and Scully on the show) I'm kind of posting a lot of relationship type scenes here, aren't I? That may be a result of the availability of cool non 'shipper' scenes on YouTube, though. I'll keep looking until the 25th.

This particular scene is a nice quiet one between the main characters after Scully has a rather poignant solo adventure (written and directed by Gillian herself) where she is forced to examine her life and the choices she has made over the course of it. I like these quiet scenes between these two actors because they have so much chemistry and play off of each other so well. It helps when they're well written, too.



I'll try and step up the posts leading up to the film's release.

As always, I'm curious which episodes/moments are perhaps your favourites. Don't be shy. Feel free to share.

Believe again!

mike