What Warner Bros. Should Be Doing With the Harry Potter Franchise

I was talking to Jen a few weeks ago about the new Harry Potter film, Order of the Phoenix. One of her comments on the adaptation was that the filmmakers left out some really significant things this time, moreso than with The Goblet of Fire, which is fairly understandable considering both books are heavy enough to fell a grown man or perhaps maim something the size of a housepet. And really, it's not like anyone is surprised by this, but it did get me to thinking about an idea I had some time ago (circa Chamber of Secrets movie, perhaps?).

Knowing that there were some hefty volumes to come I figured the screenwriter, Steve Kloves, would be challenged to bring as much detail and attention to the script as he had with the the films based on much smaller books. One of the things I remember hearing after the first movie was, "they were exactly the same. You really don't have to read the book if you see the movie and vice versa". This was also a time where the certainty of the three main cast members going the distance (not to mention the fiolm series as a whole) was still up in the air and the idea of having to cast new Harry, Ron and Hermione's was something I, if not the folks behind the scenes, had considered.

My solution? Take the three movies and leave them as a trilogy. Trilogys work. People like things being in a nice, neat troika despite what they say otherwise. Sure, we want another Indy movie, but it throws the balance of the series off just a smidge, don't you think? The same goes for the Die Hard series. Personally, I loved the new film, but it's still the red-headed stepchild of the series.

But I digress.

Mini-series. Make it a four or six part mini-series on cable and it would not only accomodate the longer stories Rowling was writing in the books but it would possibly take some of the heat off of the young actors and make for a nice transition to a new cast. In my eyes, problem solved, not to mention big money made on DVD releases.

Obviously, none of that came to pass. The fourth movie proved that the franchise was still a solid money maker for Warners and their four film option would officially extend to include all seven in the series. Also, the three actors decided to dig their heels in and go the distance as well making this the longest film series (as one complete saga) in film history.

So, back to the present. I'm talking to Jen and she says things are left out of the movie that probably should be there. The kids cleaning Sirius Black's house after his death, for example. In the book, I'm told, this is when they find some important magical object (a horcrux?) which is supposed to play into the next book, The Half Blood Prince. Leaving this bit out creates a narrative hole that the screenwriter for the next film will have to overcome (is Kloves still writing these things? I can't be bothered to check), and this is not the only example to speak of.

What I think Warners could have done with the series is to do a longer version of the film incorporating these little tidbits and details, seeing as they have everything and everybody in one place as it is. Keeping an eye on a theatrical release, they cut the film as a two-and-a-half hour movie and let it loose in the theatres just as they always have done. While that hullabaloo is going on, they finish up their longer version and wait for the theatrical version to run its course. Then, on a cable network like HBO (which is owned by Warners, if I'm not mistaken) they release a mini-series version made from the longer cut of the film, partly to satisfy fans wanting a beefier story, and partly to bridge the gap between the theatrical film leaving theatres and the DVD release. Then, when you eventually get to the DVD release, you pull a Lord of the Rings style one-two punch. The regular edition hits shelves and rental outlets and everybody buys it. Then, either simultaneously or a short time apart, they release the extended version to much fanfare and Potter freak appreciation. In the time it takes all of this to happen, they prepare the next film and start the process all over again. If you consider the books release dates over the years, they could literally have had Potter goings-on throughout the whole year keeping the franchise buzzing and their coffers fat.

I think it reeks of absolute brilliance, but then I work in a hardware store and haven't even read the series, so who am I to talk.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

Kind Of Moody

I just got back from work and figured I'd sit down to do some long overdue blogging but I find myself in a strange humour and I'm not entirely sure what to write. I had intended to do another Comic Haul since I've been reading quite a few comics lately, but the mood to be all reviewey isn't too strong right now. I also considered doing a linkblog, but that just seems tacky.

I will mention one interesting thing I read recently. A friend sent me a link to Empire Online where Neil Gaiman jokingly asks people to give Terry Gilliam 70 million dollars to make a Good Omens movie. Sure, you chuckle at first when you think about it but really, why doesn't Gilliam set up a PayPal account or something and raise the money that way. It couldn't be any harder or less reliable than studio funding (Man From La Mancha anyone?). When you think of all the people that love that book, and how many people would front a guy a few dollars, it's not an entirely bad idea.

I mean, Darren Aronofsky financed much of Pi that way. He sent letters to everyone he knew and to prominent people in his community asking for $90, or some number like that. He managed to raise a decent amount of money that way and if you watch the tail end of the credits you'll see a looong list of names which happen to be all the people who wrote him a cheque back when he was scrounging up money for the picture.

I know I'd send some money to the Good Omens fund. Buy a few shares, if you will.

They could even make it something cool by having a web page or blog or internet presence of some kind and let the folks who donated cash get sneak peeks at stuff, like seeing some rushes or first look exclusive news. Kind of like the Star Wars Hyperspace access, only instead of a fan club, it'd be a financiers club. Access to sneak previews of the film when it opens...the list could go on and on.

Even if the thing tanked Don Quixote style, it would be an interesting way to spend a few dollars, meet some people (virtually or otherwise) and be part of something fun. And for those of us who love the book it would be a chance to give something back to Pratchett and Gaiman (as long as the movie doesn't suck eggs).

Somebody tell me why this isn't a great idea, cuz I'm lovin' it.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

Pleased and Pissed

I'm a little bit tweaked about this book that I just received today. I was very much looking forward to getting the hardcover version of The Fountain graphic novel, partly because it was kind of my 'official' birthday present from Jen and partly because I was just really looking forward to it. I haven't seen the film in its entirety yet but I loved what I saw, and I didn't want to settle for the paperback edition of the graphic novel because of the original art that was commissioned for the hardback, including a piece by Seth Fisher who we lost recently and who was very much admired by Darren Aronofsky.

I ordered the book that is featured on my sidebar at the end of last week, I read the product description, I checked (or I thought I checked) the publication details and did my level best to make sure that this was the one that I wanted to get.

I'll admit that I should have picked up on the cover image not being very Kent Williams-ey, and I should have also noted the lack of any Vertigo mention or logo anywhere visible, but I guess the heat of the moment had me clicking away through the checkout process and instead I received a coffee table book.

I'll give you it's a beautiful coffee table book. From the cover to the original screenplay embedded in the back cover, this is a really purdy package. The art pieces inside are also remarkable, all based on scenes from the film manipulated in a computer to give slightly different interpretations of the story and the images within.

To ease the 'pain', I managed to find this very nice little piece in The New York Times that offers a slideshow with some commentary by the artists themselves. A nice little extra touch that I wouldn't have gotten from the book had I managed to actually buy it. I particularly enjoyed the commentrary by Barron Storey while loving the pieces by Seth Fisher, James Jean, Phil Hale, and Dave Gibbons.

I will eventually get my hands on the book I intended to buy, hardcover or softcover, I guess it's not a huge deal anymore. Especially since the hardcover is out of print now and it will require some extensive searching on the internet to find one for a reasonable price. In the meantime, though, I think I'll just finish the movie, check out my book with the screenplay, and be glad for happy accidents. I think more than anything I just needed to rant and ramble until I felt a little better about my purchase.

Onwards and Upwards!

mike

P.S. I just hit the Rizzoli site (which is the publisher of the book I bought) and it says that there is supposed to be commentary by Ari Handel and Darren Aronofsky in the book. Othe than a brief End Comments at the back of the screenplay, there isno commentary to speak of.

Urgh.

Filthy Luchre

Hey, folks. I'm experimenting again with this Amazon.ca stuff, specifically their aStore program. I've added a link to the new Meanwhile... House of Swag under the My Websites category and what I'm basically planning to do with it is add everything I've included on the sidebars to the aStore. If the spirit moves anyone, or myself, to click through and actually purchase something from the site that would be cool (more for the fact that you've taken a reccomendation than for any monetary gains I may incur) but I'm not expecting to quit my dayjob or anything here.

It's kind of like assembling a mixed CD of all the things I've run across and found cool. Check it out if you're curious and any opinions, as always, are welcome.

Anyway, errands to run, computers to price.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

To Build or Buy?

That is the question I am now facing with my computer situation. Jen and I have been talking about 'upgrading' our computer but we can't decide on whether or not that means buying a new one outright, or purchasing the components to upgrade the one that we currently have. Normally in these situations, I would consult my buddy Brad and throw some ideas around before making a final decision, but it looks like I'll have to go it alone this time seeing as he's a province away and probably glad to not have to worry about me and my computers anymore.

The factory machine I'm looking at is nicely put together but has most of its hardware onboard. I could almost live with the non-component nature of it but also I found that there aren't any real TV outs to speak of (that I can see, anyway). The overall price of it would be around $750 so we started talking about what I could do if I hit the local computer store and picked up the pieces individually. I'll probably head down there Monday and see what I can put together with one of the guys there, but until then my head will be a little spun, I'm sure.

Jen is also trying to get the system out of the living room and into the bedroom (which I really do not agree with) but that's a rant for another time.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

The Comic Haul

My last comic haul post was about a month ago, so I figured it was time for another.

There has been quite a mix of books on my bedside table over the last 30
days, some new, some not-so-new. We'll start off with...

Annihilation Conquest: Starlord #2 - Giffen's still phoning it in with this mini-series but that's not really as bad as it sounds. This is all stuff we've seen before but Keith keeps it pretty lively with somewhat interesting characters who don't get along too well with each other and the artwork by Timothy Green is out of this world. There's an interesting contrast between the atypicalline work (which feels more European than American) and the cliché guys who don't like each other try to achieve the impossible hero story. I look forward to issue #3.

Giant-Size Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #1 - Fun fun fun fun fun fun! Although I am a big fan of Jeff Parker, I am not a great fan of Parker's
Marvel Adventures: Avengers run. Maybe it's the curmudgeonly old continuity troll in me having difficulty with Storm,Wolvie and Spider-Man on the team, or maybe it's just not my cup of tea. Still, team these guys up with the cast of my absolute favourite Marvel book of last year and you have a winner. The story is essentially a
What If...with Kang duping the Agents into freeing Captain America from the ice several years too early, thus changing history and allowing Kang to conquer the past. I'm going to scurry off to my LCS and nab the Spider-Man Family with the Agents. There is just not enough of these guys on the market.

Danger Girl: Back in Black #1 - I know this mini is a couple of years old, but I did say there was an odd mix on my nightstand, didn't I? Anyway, I really enjoyed the original Danger Girl series back in the day so when I found this in the dollar bins at myLCS I thought, what the heck, try it out. Nick Bradshaw is a great artist but he's still finding his way here, I think. The work he does on this issue is a little clumsy, which seems to match the writing of Andy Hartnell which fails to capture the spirit of fun that I remember from the Cliffhanger days. It may be due to the absence of Campbell but I don't know how much he contributed to the writing of the original series so I can't say for sure. The story seems like a venue for a lot of pointless cheesecake but lacking the tongue-in-cheek sense of humour that made such a ridiculous concept work so well. I have a few more of these on the unread pile so my opinion may change as the story progresses, but I doubt it.

Batman: Dark Victory - I liked this story much more than I did "The Long Halloween" partly because it didn't seem quite as locked in to a format as the holiday themed issues of its predecessor, and partly because I found the mystery far more compelling than simply, "Who is Holiday?" I did find the big extravaganza ending a little much, but the overall feeling about the book was definitely a positive one. Some of the better Batman stuff I've read in a while.




Ultimate Fantastic Four #45 - Definitely a step in the right direction as the Four go from doing absolutely nothing to doing something. I'm actually embarrassed to say that I never picked up on the bad guy as being Psycho Man. I think with the Surfer connection, and my relative unfamiliarity with the Ultimate universe outside of the FF and Spidey, I just assumed that this was a Galactus re-imagining. I like it much better knowing that it couldn't be farther
from the truth. It also makes me think I should maybe go back and reread the previous issue seeing as how it may have an entirely new spin on it now. At the very least, I am still enjoying this story and I'm looking forward to how it's going to end. That, and to see what Carey has up his sleeves for the next arc (not being tied into the
'must-have-a-Surfer-story' because of the movie and all).

JLA: World War III - I know the idea here was to have
Morrison go out with the biggest bang possible but all he really managed to accomplish with this storyline was 6 or 7 issues of total gobbledygook. It was no mystery that Morrison was taking the 'widescreen' approach with this book and he was playing to the fact that these are the Earth's mightiest heroes from the very beginning, but he was always able to tether these crazy ideas and epic battles to something real. The first story with the white martians ("New World Order") was
entertaining, the recruitment drive was entertaining, ConnorHawke running around the Watchtower fighting the Key with his dad's old trick arrows, pretty much everything right up to the World War III story had some balance and was fun on some level.

Not so much here.

And I don't even want to talk about the 'artistic contribution' by Howard Porter.

I guess if one is to look at the bright side of things, it did help with the overall transition to Waid as writer, although the darker tone of his run is something to be discussed at another time.

That's it for tonight. I should be back with some thoughts on Umbrella Academy #1, the new issue of The Flash and some other stuff.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

Worried About The Spirit

I just saw this article on ICV2 and I have to say that my worries about Frank Miller handling the Spirit film are not unfounded. That tagline, "Down these mean streets a man must come. A hero born, murdered, and born again.", and that image make me shudder. I never thought Miller was the right guy for the job and the more I see and hear about this project the more I feel convinced that I'm right.

Shooting starts next month and my opinion may change once I start to see stills and the early reviews eventually roll in, but I'm not going to hold out hope for this one. I know Miller is a huge fan of Eisner and The Spirit but I think I would have rather had Jeph Loeb stay on as screenwriter. Loeb's body of work is hit and miss with me but Miller's output since 300 (and in some cases, even before 300) has stunk to high heaven (Dark Knight sequels or All-Star Batman & Robin anyone?).

I guess I should hold out a little hope that Miller will not turn this into another Sin City and stay faithful to the (pardon the pun) spirit of the source material.

Ugh. I just can't stand seeing that picture.

mike

Full Moon Fever

How can I tell it's a full moon? Everyone around me goes a little wonky, that's how. My children and wife sleep restlessly, the customers at work get stranger and stranger as the day approaches, tensions in the workplace build to a boiling point and generally anything that could go wrong inevitably does. I've heard from some friends that they also see the evil and weirdness in their lives bubbling to the surface when the moon is full, so I know it's not just me. Our experiences are probably not as strange as, say, that of an ER or police services are, but the ER doesn't have to deal with my burnt out passenger side headlamp or my wife's retarded boss.

Anyway, it's been a bit since I've posted so I figured I'd give a bit of a State of the Union as my kids get ready for school (for anyone who cares).

September was birthday month for Jennifer and I and, as is usually the case, we had some fun for hers and mine sucked eggs. I posted about the long sordid history of my birthdays a couple of weeks ago, so I won't repeat the grisly details, but for Jen's we sort of celebrated all weekend. We had a very good and fun lunch at Montana's (a ranch-themed steakhouse in town) with a massive dessert that was the literal icing on the cake that afternoon. Jen also rented Bandidas (which turned out to be very entertaining and written by Luc Besson) and Rent (which turned out to be not-so-entertaining and proved that I just can't get into musical theatre). The weekend then ended with a successful supper over at Jen's parents, with mine also in attendance.

My crummy day was totally trumped, however, by the fact that I received the Emma Peel DVDs which have already brought countless hours of pure, unadulterated joy into my life and are apparently preferred by Jen as my late night viewing of choice since it replaced The X-Files in my DVD player (she hates the music and all the audio floating upstairs while she's trying to sleep). I'm 6 episodes and 2 discs into the set now which leaves my 15 to go. Woot! Right now my favourite episode is called "Death at Bargain Prices" and features some wonderful Steed and Emma dialogue and a perfectly written scene with Steed getting some information out of a female food clerk at a department store. As I told a friend recently, they don't make 'em quite like that anymore.

I also seem to have a convert to the Avengers fold. Jen doesn't care for them too much but her friend Jillian thinks they're pretty cool and stayed after Jen had gone to bed to actually watch an episode with me. It was called "Castle De'ath" and it was appropriately campy and fun to match the title.

Good times.

here's the opening titles for the show after they went to colour:



Actually, I should also mention that before I received the DVD set, I discovered that on the 9th of September, Lucasfilm announced the title of the new Indiana Jones movie, which I considered to be a gift since it happened right on my birthday. As a huge Indy fan, how could I not consider it deliberate?

The fourth film will be enetitled Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, for anyone still not 'in-the-know', and the actual press release can be found at the official Indy site.

I'm thinking this post is getting a bit long so I'm going to cut it off there. I have the day off, however, so I may be back in a bit to get some more stuff out of my brain and onto the e-ther. Also, I have to go make my kids lunches for school, so...

As always, onwards and upwards!

mike

Birthday Present to End All Birthday Presents

After much anticipation, window shopping, and web surfing, I've finally gotten my grubby little hands on the Complete Emma Peel Mega Set of The Avengers. 17 discs of Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee and the bonus disc has such cool, fun stuff on it.

I'm in heaven, what can I say.



I'll post a review or something when my brain has stopped processing this.

mike

All Good Things...

Just to prove that the world is a cruel and unjust place, I've just read news that Abadazad book three, "The Puppet, the Professor and the Prophet", has been pulled by its publisher, Hyperion Books for Children, and will not be seen in bookstores this side of the Atlantic. To add insult to injury, they will also no longer be publishing any Abadazad books, effectively cancelling the series where it is at book three.

For more info, check out J.M. DeMatteis' Amazon blog here and to purchase your copy of book 3 go here.

I'm going to go soak my head or something.

mike

Pre-Birthday Address

Well, it looks like I'll be turning the big 3-4 tomorrow. Another year, another birthday.

More than likely it'll be a bit of an anti-climax as so many birthdays and 'special' occasions tend to be for me. I probably won't be doing much since I gave up on the idea of 'doing something' to celebrate the passing of years a long time ago. I know that sounds a little bleak but I still remember the last real party that my wife tried to organize for me. I think it was 4 or 5 years ago and nobody could come. Friends, family...absolutely everyone passed on the invitation. That was not one of my best years.

I keep my expectations prettyb low these days but I used to get kind of grouchy when stuff like that would happen. Birthdays were always a big thing with me. Christmas and birthdays were the two 'holidays' or celebrations during the year where I really cared about who was around and what I/we were doing. I figure Christmas is supposed to be about family and goodwill and togetherness (which so often gets lost during the chaos), and the purpose of birthdays is to celebrate a person's coming into the world. If someone has had an effect/impact on you or your life, birthdays are as good a time as any to pay tribute to them. There's also an intimacy there since usually only friends and family bother with the whole birthday thing, so I think that's part of what's always made it sort of special in the past.

Oh, and I should give some credit to my friend Karl. That year everyone declined, he was one of those who had decided not to come for whatever reason but when he heard that nobody else was coming, however, he dropped whatever it was he was doing and came anyways. We met at a local burger joint and had a really good time.

So, if you're reading this, Karl, you'll always have points for that one.

Yeah, so, not to be broody or anything, but the main point of this post was to mention the two 'gifts' I picked up today. I was at my LCS and found the first issue of Glister by Andi Watson and the third volume of Southland Tales by Richard Kelley and Brett Weldele.

Glister is about a girl of the same name who has supernatural experiences: haunted teapots, disappearing houses, that kind of thing. There's a slight nod, I think, to books like the Courtney Crumrin series (or at least the material that originally influenced Ted Naifeh) and Watson has adopted a different style which has a Watson meets Ed Gorey kind of vibe to it. Having a new Watson book for my birthday was a treat and a half and I adored the material, especially the Skeleton Key back-up story, 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'. I miss those characters like nobody's business and it was great to see them again. Also cool to see them in the new style. I am very much looking forward to the second issue.

I have yet to finish Southland Tales but it reads much like the second volume. Richard Kelly is a relatively new discovery for me and exploring this world so soon after seeing Donnie Darko for the first time is an interesting trip. A lot of similarities and a lot of differences. The art reminds me of Ben Templesmith's 30 Days of Night and Fell stuff. Looks like the movie will hit in November as well, so we'll hopefully make it out to that when it arrives.

And before I sign off, a tip of the hat goes to the mother-in-law whose monetary gift provided the means to purchase these two books.

With that, I'm gonna blow. I'll try and blog tomorrow as well.

'Night all!

mike

Favourite Videos 5

"Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. always stood out to me as an exceptional song and video. The concept is very similar to "Just" by Radiohead with the running subtitles acting as dialogue while the song plays, and there's a bit of a performance from Michael Stipe keeping it from becoming a short film rather than a video, but the overall vibe and purpose of the two are different enough for me to include both on my fave videos list.

I like a lot of the shots and editing choices made by the director and editor and the slow but deliberate camera movement that keeps pace with the music is a nice touch. The ending of the video is also a nice little bonus.

I've been told that there is a goldfish cracker on Stipe's hat, placed there by the other band members. It pops off when he climbs up ontp the median or when the song hits its crescendo. I can't remember which, but I heard that if you watch for it you can actually see it go.

Enjoy.



mike

The Comic Haul

In my continuing effort to start a somewhat regular comic review post (something which I have yet to truly conquer) I bring you some thoughts on my comic haul for this week, with some carry over from previous outings and library stops.

The Flash #231 - I think I like where this series is going, but I'm not sure yet. I'm a loooong time Flash fan so I'm kind of excited about the new creative team, but considering prior hits and misses, I'm reserving judgment. I reluctantly gave up on the previous Bart Allen incarnation of the character after its first storyline and will give Waid and Acuna the same benefit of the doubt here. My main worry, however, is that I'm still seeing traces of the wishy-washy soap-opera crap that made me tire of the Geoff Johns stories that came post-Waid (the first time around) but before the Bart-as-Flash stuff. I mean, for a character that doesn't really offer up much in the way of...well, character, Linda Park-West has managed to occupy a lot of story time that could have better served past storylines by being greatly abbreviated. Having recently reread some of the issues between #206 and 213 (the stories that ran parallell to Identity Crisis, I believe) I'm hoping that Waid goes in the opposite direction, takes full advantage of this new start and the new characters, and just hits the ground running like he did so many years ago when he took over from William Messner-Loebs. Gone, I hope, are the countless pages of Wally worrying about his marriage or the Rogues talking, talking and doing more talking about what's coming in the next collectable 6-issue arc in favour of fun, adventure, interesting character developments and a some, but not a lot, of melodrama for flavour. So, far, this first issue has a strong start and the makings of a cool arc for Wally and the family so I'm crossing my fingers. I really hope these guys throw me for a loop for a change. I'd love to be buying a Flash book again after all this time.

The Batman Strikes! #36 - I haven't been paying a lot of attention to the credits lately but it looks like regular series writer, Bill Matheny, has been on an extended hiatus. According to the DC site, the last few issues have been written by the likes of Russell Lissau, Jai Nitz and J. Torres (that might go a long way to explaining why I've been unhappy with the series for the past 5 months or so) and #36 is no exception. The writer's credit for 'Gearhead 2.0' goes to Mail Order Ninja's Josh Elder who brings a welcome new voice to the book, and possibly the only Gearhead story I'll ever admit to enjoying. This issue was a vast improvement over the Harley Quinn disapointment in #35, and stood out as one of the better issues of the series in recent months. My interest in this title hasn't been what I'd call very strong of late, but Elder's managed to rekindle something and I can say that my curiosity for future stories from him, and other writers, is piqued. I look forward to checking out #37 (another Jai Nitz issue) followed by the return of Matheny a month after that.

Hellblazer #234 - This one improved for me on the second attempt. The first time I tried to read it I only got a few pages in before I had to put it down again. I was really hoping that it wasn't something indicative of Diggle's run so early on into the new storyline and that it was just me not being in the mood for a horror comic. As it turned out, it was the latter as a couple of days ago I gave it another crack and thought it was very remiscient of the very early Hellblazer books written by Delano and illustrated by John Ridgeway. Pretty grim subject matter but I am interested to see how this one plays out.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #44 - A definite downswing for this title as the Silver Surfer storyline hits its third, and most blindingly dull, chapter. Carey seems to be spinning his wheels in earnest with this issue and has the Surfer mumbling a lot of jibberish about how his master will do this and his master will do that while the FF and S.H.I.E.L.D. wander around and wonder how everything went so wrong. The only real 'event' that we needed to see this issue occurs in the last three pages. I know this is so Marvel can package it as a 6-issue story in an upcoming trade, but the whole deconstructionist style only works if your timing is right, and the characters carry you through the dead points. Carey's done the SciFi/Super-hero/Space opera thing in past issues so we know he's got the touch, it's just missing here. #45 is already out so maybe it picks up again. We'll see.

Annihilation Conquest: Starlord #1 - I shouldn't like this book but I do. As much as I love the writing of Keith Giffen this is not him doing anything even remotely new. Readers of his other work will recognize the overlapping chatter, the witty quips and comebacks, and the overused hackneyed plot contrivances that drive the story's main points: suicide mission, motley crew of misfits 'volunteer' for the job, no expectation of coming back, sounds like fun. The characters within the story even acknowledge the obvious Dirty Dozen parallels and there is a definite leftover resonance from Giffen's run on Suicide Squad. Still, the art is beautiful, the dialogue better than a lot of stuff out there, and the Rocket Raccoon jokes alone were worth the price of admission. I'll probably carry through with this 4-issue mini but I won't knock over old ladies and small children to get to it.

That's all I have time for just now. I'll try and come on again later tonight and post the rest of them.

Ta!

mike

Avatar: The Last Airbender

I finally got around to checking this show out and it has quickly - very quickly - become the animated series closest to my heart. All the things that made Teen Titans the Jozic family favourite are present here: great characters, cool music, sharp humour, beautiful design, and very nice animation.

I don't have too much time to comment on the show right now so I'll leave a clip courtesy of YouTube to give you an idea of what the show is about if you're unfamiliar with it.



mike

Harold Bloom's Genius

Jen showed me a book the other day called Genius by Howard Bloom. The idea of the book is that this English professor/literary critic has decided to celebrate 100 of the most creative literary minds in history. Naturally, having run across a section on Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby, Jen figured I would want to have a look at what Bloom had to say about one of my favourite books and authors.

I should preface my comments by saying that I have a long history of not agreeing with English professors and generally find them to be cloth-eared nincompoops. I originally went into University with the intention of getting an English degree, but after a couple of years couldn't stand to be a part of that department, or deal with those professors, anymore. I'm sure that it's not indicative of English departments everywhere, nor of the UofS faculty (I'm open to believeing that there are even some good profs in our neck of the woods), but when you start to bend basic historical events to fit into your romantic, idealised version of the environment a literary work was produced in, I get aggravated.

I know I'm probably being overly sensitive but Bloom got off to a rough start with me by mentioning Hemingway right off the bat and making something of a direct comparison between the two writers. His first words are, "Like his equivocal friend, Ernest Hemingway, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald has joined American literary mythology." Now, admittedly, I'm no great fan of Hemingway. I tend to agree with Dave Sim's analysis that he was a typist, not a writer, especially when compared to the lyrical storytelling of someone like Fitzgerald. So, I ask myself, why does Bloom find it necessary to enter Fitzgerald's world through a Hemingway filter?

Looking back I found no mention of Fitzgerald in the Hemingway section. Surely, as one of the preeminent literary critics, Bloom should already know that he is speaking about an author who is three years the senior of Hemingway, and whose 'genius literary contribution' was published a full year before The Sun Also Rises, Bloom's choice for Ernest's 'genius contribution' to literature. He should also know that Fitzgerald served not only as an equivocal friend to Hemingway but as something of a mentor until the two eventually parted ways.

Instead, Bloom treats him almost as an afterthought. Perhaps, like Hemingway, he has difficulty seeing beyond the excesses of F. Scott and Zelda. Many critics have commented on how Fitzgerald's drive to write was financially motivated, earning money by writing short stories for magazines rather than devoting his life to more artistic pursuits. Scott liked his quality of life and did what he could to maintain it. He wrote sometimes for the love of writing, and sometimes he did it because that was his job. No shame in that to my reckoning, but it does get the intelligentsia stomping their feet.

This was also part of the reason why the two writers stopped fraternizing. Hemingway didn't approve of how F. Scott conducted himself as a person and as an artist. He felt that commercial concerns had nothing to do with the process of 'writing' and left to make his contribution to the literary world and show his genius. Then again, it probably didn't hurt that he and Zelda couldn't stand each other, particularly after she accused Ernie of being a closet homosexual, and if you know anything about Hemingway, you know how that probably stuck in his craw.

Anyway, the whole point of this rant was to let off some steam and I think I've achieved that. I have to say that I was honestly surprised at how impassioned I was to post this after reading bits from Genius. I don't normally care enough to comment on things like this, especially when they have that ring of "who's stronger, the Hulk or The Thing?" to it. I just needed to get that off my chest, throw my two cents in and give Bloom the bird in the process.

I feel a bit better now.

mike

Busy Beavers

I actually felt a little lame leaving the blog with three birthday posts in a row, even if one of them was for my eternal crush, Diana Rigg, so I feel even more lame for having left it like that as long as I have.

Still, in all fairness, I have been busy with work, family and friends, and when I haven't been busy with those I've been flooding my brain with movies, movies and some cool television shows (with a few books and comics on the side for variety) to keep the insanity away. Kinda like shaking the bugs out of the ol' grey matter with some shock treatment.

I'll be changing the sidebar soon so if you're curious to know what bits of entertainment joy I've been getting into just mosey over to the left side of the page and there will be some new Amazon links up.

I have the weekend off so I'll probably post a bit more through that, and possibly even finish off my fave music video stuff that I started last month.

Anyway, that's it for me for now. Be back soon, hopefully with more stuff.

mike

Birthdays Redux

I never had a chance to go on last night and post so I'm giving belated birthday wishes, this time to the wonderful Dame Diana Rigg. She turned 69 yesterday.

I was going to hang out and watch some Avengers episodes (and post something on the blog, as mentioned before) but Jen wanted me to come with her to this ridiculous Harry Potter midnight book purchasing thing at a local bookseller so the opportunity was sort of squandered (and it wasn't all her fault because I did have time to watch the end of Ocean's Eleven when I got home, too).

Anyway, Happy Belated Birthday, Diana. May there be many more.



mike

More Birthday Wishes

The always adorable Kristin Bell celebrates her 27th birthday today. S'funny since Jen and I were watching Veronica Mars tonight.



mike

Birthday Greetings and a Treat

On this Friday the 13th I'd like to extend some birthday greetings, Meanwhile... style, to the man in the hat, Harrison Ford. He turns 65 today.



And to celebrate, the fine folks over at Indy 4 gave us THIS.

mike

More Than Meets the Eye?

I'm just gonna spout off here so if there's no coherent flow then don't worry. Also, there may be a spoiler or two, so if that concerns you, don't continue.

Anyway, I just got back from seeing Transormers with my brother tonight and I would say that the subject line is an apt description of what I saw. Considering it was a Michael Bay movie, I was expecting something more along the lines of Bad Boys or The Rock as far as style and attention to plot were concerned, but being apart from the Bruckheimer machine appears to make some difference because this is probably one of the best Bay movies I've ever seen.

Not to mention one of the most expensive GM car ads I've ever seen.

Was it the best Transformers movie I could have ever imagined? No, not really. There are some good ideas crammed in there and, technically, it's an extremely well done movie. It's definitely the best special effects I have ever seen from ILM (these robot fight sequences must have been like wet dreams for the animators) or any company currently working out there.

They also don't get bogged down with a lot of exposition, which is good since it would not only make the movie slow and plodding, but sound just a little foolish, as well. I mean, we used to get picked on for knowing about these toys and cartoons when we were kids (coincidentally by the same people who are flocking to the theatre and saying, "that's the coolest f***ing movie I've ever seen, man"). This is a pretty silly concept and they managed to sell it with bells on, so props to the marketing guys and the filmmakers.

Still, the movie does lose narrative focus somewhere in the middle. The human story, the one that's supposed to help us relate to these events and, really, the audience is supposed to be seeing the movie through Shia and Megan's eyes, gets sunverted by the Government knows there are aliens and we really need to wrap up all this set-up we've done in the next 45 minutes or else narrative.

That said, they do have a shitload of plot, character. action and dialogue to handle and they do a very good job of it, overall. I mean, they only introduce a fraction of the toy line so it isn't as top heavy as it could have been, and the Bumblebee/Shia story does go a long way to helping keep things anchored. Shia himself was convincing and entertaining and how cool is it that they got the cartoon voice for Optimus to be in the movie?

To sum up, for plain and simple entertainment value, I'd give it 3.5 points out of 5, and for sheer spectacle, I'd give it 4.5 out of 5. Definitely worth seeing in the theatre if you go and probably worth spending some hard-earned money on.

Autobots, roll!

mike

First Time Donnie Darko Viewer

I just watched Donnie Darko for the first time last night. It was reccomended to me a year ago by a co-worker so I went out and acquired a copy of the Director's Cut but never got around to watching it. Then, a couple of days ago, another co-worker at my new job sprung the "Have you seen Donnie Darko?" question out of the blue and it got me thinking about checking out the movie again.

Having the day off, and free reign of the house, yesterday, I got into a vibe of getting to some movies I haven't had a chance to check out. A friend gave me a copy of Saw a looong time ago and I figured with the family gone it was the perfect time to watch it. The same with Donnie Darko only, after watching 20 minutes of the movie, I was convinced that Jen would like it as well and decided to hold out 'til the evening and do it as a movie night sort of thing.

To make a long story short, we got inot it, I thought the movie was phenomenal (Jen liked it, too), that it was one of the best films I've ever seen and that I would highly reccomend it to anyone who ever had a curiosity about the movie but was afraid to pick it up.

I'll also probably go and track down a copy of the theatrical version to see it as it was originally presented because I enjoyed it so darn much. I think there may be an audio commentary on that version as well, and I think it would be neat to listen to that one after hearing the Director's Cut one.

Anyway, I just wanted to throw that out there and share the love as I am wont to do. I'll leave you with a fun clip from the film where Donnie discusses his thoughts about smurfs.



mike

Favourite Videos 4

This was Bowie's least 'interesting' video from Earthling but was, stylistically, the most appealing to me as a piece of mini-cinema. I can't argue that 'Little Wonder' wasn't a great, trippy little clip to watch, but everything in this video from the lighting to the composition to David's jacket and sweater combination and the use of Trent Reznor as the 'bad guy' left a lasting impression on me.

I think the fact that it was story based (something most of his videos from this period were not) probably had a lot to do with why this one stands the test of time and why it made the list.

Watch, enjoy, comment...



mike

Farewell, Moonshadow

First, a little history.

20 odd years ago, Epic, a mature imprint of Marvel Comics, published a 12-issue series, which was a coming of age sci-fi fantasy fairy tale for adults - Moonshadow. Created by writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Jon J Muth, the book helped, along with its Epic brethren, to redefine American comic books and spearheaded the fully painted comic story, something that came to be en vogue a few years later. It was a difficult project to pigeonhole into any one genre and the creators operated under very few restrictions since nobody knew exactly what it was they were creating. As a result, what is arguably one of the finest comic book works to ever be crafted on this continent was produced, packaged and sold with little fanfare.

On a personal note, at this time I was just discovering John Byrne's Superman revival and the creation of the new DC Comics Universe post-Crisis, so I, unfortunately, missed this landmark book on its release. Not being a complete cloth-eared nincompoop, however, I did eventually discover it in the back-issue bins (through an ad in the back of an issue of Elektra: Assassin, I'm sure) and found myself drawn, first to the beautiful painted covers by Muth, and then to the magical, heartfelt and inspired writing of an author who's work I'd only ever seen in the pages of Marvel Team-Up, The Defenders and Justice League. This was good stuff. I made a point of buying up every issue I could find.

Before finally completing my Epic run it was republished for a new audience to discover with new covers, better paper, and supplemental material at DC's aforementioned Vertigo imprint (something DeMatteis and Muth apparently lobbied for). This was followed shortly thereafter by its sequel, Farewell, Moonshadow, which featured the original creators, DeMatteis and Muth, reuniting to tell the final chapter in the life of the young wanderer. Not a comic book, per se, the story was told in prose and comic format with spot illustrations and panel work done by Muth. It's a powerful, enchanting tale of found and lost love, and how an individual's journey to awakening never truly ends.

I just completed reading the maxi-series yesterday and about a half-hour ago I finished the sequel. I'm going to risk some cool factor by saying that the saga as a whole deeply touched me (as it has since the day I first laid eyes on it) and had me a little teary by story's end. I hesitated to put the book down for a few minutes because it would have meant the end of something that I wasn't quite ready to let go of just yet. I wanted to hold the moment for a few seconds longer, then proceeded to tell Jen that she should read it, too.

The only thing just as good as experiencing it yourself is seeing someone else going through it as well. Just as I encouraged Jen to try it, I throw out the invitation to you. Find a copy, crack it open, see what you think.

And if J.M. or Jon happen to stumble by this post, a humble and profound thank you to the both of you.

I'm going to leave this post with one of my favourite images from Farewell. It's a spot illo from a dream sequence and it features Moon's mother and the hat of his best friend, Ira. Both figure and object carry greater meaning when you've read the previous work but I think it's striking, poetic and just plain beautiful to look at. I want to make prints of them all.



mike

Things Are Looking Up

Or are they?

I'm not really sure, one way or the other, but I can say that today had some good points, for a change, that managed to outweigh the crappy ones. Work was a disaster, as usual, but I had a good chat with some of my workmates afterwards, I have an option of going in tomorrow if I want to and for time-and-a-half because of a scheduling error (which also gets me a 2-day weekend if I go that route), and I'm listening to JET: Rare Tracks, which is bringing me a lot of good feelings right now. A good shower, some clean clothes, a little decompression time and things are looking a little better than they were only 2 hours ago.

There were a couple of good customers who helped take the edge off, too. I should be sure to give credit to where credit is due, especially when I can so rarely ascribe it to that particular demographic. There was a lady who showed up right in the middle of a total clusterfuck wanting help with an air conditioner problem. Now, usually, I hear air conditioner and problem and I want to run, but this lady was really great to talk to and probably managed to keep me from snapping entirely before lunch.

There was also a younger girl who was working for a local television production, Rabbit Falls, who came in to get some materials for props that will likely be appearing in a future episode. She wanted these 4x8 sheets cut into 4x4's, so we had a good 20 minutes to chat about University, television, work, life the universe and everything.

They both acted like cooling rods in a nuclear power plant that keep the reactor from going poof, pop, ping! One in the afternoon before lunch and one just before the end of my shift. I'm wondering if there's some synchronicity or cosmic intervention involved there at all.

Another hopeful sign tonight was after the aforementioned good conversation with work people I walked out into the parking lot to go home and found a dollar lying on the ground.

If that's not the universe telling me that things are levelling out, I don't know what is.

Anyway, I'm going to go figure out what I'm doing tonight. Looks like going to see Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is an option. I got a free pass, so...

mike

Favourite Videos 3

'Perfect Drug' was a bit of a departure for Trent Reznor both visually and musically and when I first caught this video my antenae perked up instantly. It borrows a lot from Coppola's Dracula and Anne Rice, to be sure, and the rest of it is coloured by your usual Victorian Goth motifs, but something about this rich, surreal four minutes of angst managed to imprint itself on me and I've never tired of watching it. I also never got a chance to watch it much since it didn't get a lot of airplay around here (so hooray for YouTube) so it was kind of fun familiarising myself with it again.

If you happen to like the song, be sure to check out the album version on the Lost Highway soundtrack. It has a longer drum solo/breakdown which just makes the song for me. It's worth checking out if you can.

Enjoy.



mike

Favourite Videos #2

The Police's 'Every Breath You Take' has the distinction of being the first music video I ever saw, or at the very least, the first one I clearly remember seeing. It was on NBC back in, I guess, 1984 on a show called Friday Night Videos. I think it was followed by Duran Duran's 'Hungry Like the Wolf' and Prince's 'Little Red Corvette'. For a 10 or 11 year old who had just spent the last year in a communist country the experience was revelatory. I'd always had a love for listening to music but now I could watch it too. That night with my brother and mother in front of the tube managed to spark, not only a lifelong love of The Police, but an appreciation for what a really good music video can be.

Those of you who were around at the time know that there was a lot of shit being mass produced to fill a hungry market and the artistry that we've become accustomed to with video directors over the years wasn't so much en vogue at the time. Seeing this stark, noirish, high contrast and painfully simple video that fit the song more in tone and theme than in trying to tell any kind of story, while showcasing the band in what is, essentially, a performance video was something I really responded to. It's a little abstract, a little haunting and very beautiful.

Since starting down this path I've gone through a lot of videos from favourite songs, past and present, to see where they stand on the 'all-timers' list. I found that even though I still love many of the songs, the videos really weren't anything 'important' or overly clever. It sounds lame to say it but there needs to be a deeper connection for me, somehow. Like a movie you finish watching, leave the theatre, go 'round to the box office, buy another ticket and go back in to watch it again just to experience it again. Watching this clip the other night cemented its place on the list.

As always, your own comments are encouraged.

Enjoy.



mike

My Favourite Music Videos

A conversation with my brother has sort of inspired this line of posting. He has recently discovered Radiohead's 'Creep' and we began talking about the band's videos. A casual mention of 'Just' and it's clip sparked a "That's one of my favourite videos of all time" response and it has since stuck in the back of my head.

'Just' is one of many videos I've been keeping in my noggin as part of my running tally of favourites so I decided that I would, through the magic of YouTube, share said mini-movies with y'all and maybe spark a comment or two in the process.

I'll start off with 'Just' since it's responsible for all of this.



Yeah, I just can't say anything bad about that one. Love the song, love the premise, beautifully shot, well acted...I never get tired of watching it.

Feel free to toss out any of your own opinions. I'd love to hear them, good or bad.

mike

Sucks to Be Me

I'll warn you ahead of time that this is a bit of a self-indulgent-feeling-sorry-for-myself post inspired by the retarded events of the last 24 hours.

You ever get that feeling where you just want to shake your head, lie or sit down and listen to some music that gets right under your skin and massages that lingering knot in your brain? Or possibly read something that does an equally fine job of filling that hole in your soul? That certain something-something that helps put just a smidge of poetry back in your life? That's basically me for the last couple of months and today was just another notch on the wall.

After a reasonably blah morning and decent afternoon, I went on to meet some people from work for a stat holiday dinner - which was good and bad in it's own way - then came home to discover that I'd forgotten my keys when I left. Shortly before I left, I had mistakenly given them to Jen thinking they were the car keys. She probably put them back in the key jar and I totally forgot about them. I tried calling her on her cell and ended up driving around for a couple of hours until I could finally get a hold of her to let me in. She was out with a friend and wasn't answering her cell phone, which is funny when you think of them as a reach-you-anywhere sort of technology.

I'm just glad I wasn't lying in the street bleeding to death.

Anyway, I'm home, I'm cranky as hell and I've pissed away a day that was supposed to be a kick back and relax sort of Monday before I have to go back to work.

The urge to shop is becoming slightly overpowering at this point.

Happier thoughts in my next post, life willing.

mike

Bit of a Cheat

I know I promised proper blogging with words and everything, but I found this video for Aqualung's 'Pressure Suit' and I just had to post it. Ben Hales is a Meanwhile... favourite and has made the blog a few times in the past, so it should come as a surprise to no one.

And for those of you still paying attention Stars have released a sneak preview of their new album, In Our Bedroom After the War, with this track called "The Night Starts Here".

Download, preview and enjoy.

And now, Aqualung...



mike

One Last Addition to the Love In

I know my last two posts were both Indy-related and lacking in what could be termed 'original material' but I'm still feeling the buzz from that pic earlier this week and with no other outlet...

You get the picture.

Anyway, Shia LaBeouf (soon to be on big screens in the new Transformers movie) chats briefly about being cast in the new Indy movie courtesy of, who else, IndianaJones.com.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming shortly.

mike

It Just Gets Better and Better

Browsing around the IndianaJones.com site I stumbled upon this video of the first day of shooting.

It's gonna be a good year.

mike

I'm Actually Vibrating, I'm so Excited

This picture is recent.



Go to IndianaJones.com for more info.

mike

Besson to Un-Retire?

A little while ago I talked about Luc Besson's comments regarding his retirement from the directing business. As a big fan of his films, this was not a great thing to be reading or hearing, but according to an April article on Sci-Fi Wire that may change. Besson claims to have another Sci-Fi project in mind, a la The Fifth Element, only better.

Fingers crossed, and knocking on wood that he'll not only write this one but direct it, too. Nothing against Ronny Yu or Pierre Morel, but I'd just like to see him back in the saddle again, you know?

mike

He's a Demon On Wheels...

I'm not sure if I'm going to get a chance to post today seeing as Friday sort of got away from me, so I thought I would leave you with this:



Click through for the story.

mike

Things I've Been Reading

I've had the opportunity to do a little bit of comic book readint in the last week and I thought I would post some thoughts here.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: It was awaited with much anticipation, it was greeted with much adulation, what soon followed was a brief capitulation which ended with some grand celebration. That pretty much sums up my experience with the first four issues of the series. I was thrilled with the first issue, found the middle two a bit lagging and loved the conclusion. For a while there, I honestly thought I might not be keeping up with this revitalized version of the comic book franchise, but I'm happy to say Joss pulled it off in the end and I happily await Brian K. Vaughan's 4-issue Faith storyline. If they manage to keep the quality up and the other TV writers revive the magic, this could earn it's way up to 'top-o-the-pile' reading like its predecessor.

John Constantine Hellblazer: I had been absent from this series for a very long time (I bought 6 issues during Mike Carey's run and quit somewhere during Azzarello's) but the coming of Andy Diggle caught my attention. I liked some of his work in the past and I really wanted to see where fresh blood would take the character since the previous writer left a bad taste in many poeple's mouths and I was sure that there was very little left to do with the guy after years and years of the same-old same-old.

His first issue was simple, predictable John but a nice read overall. It featured a guy who wants to do nasty things to our John that suffers an enjoyable Tales From the Crypty sort of bad end. The second starts off seeming redundant, continuing the story from the first which you thought was completed, but ends with a nice hint as to where Diggle will be taking the series for the immediate future. The third has some big things happening but I think on first reading it lacks the satisfying build that the first two had.

Overall, I'm enjoying where this book is going more than the stories themselves so I'll stick with it for a while.

Ultimate Fantastic Four: My favourite new book, really. I've been catching up on back issues and picked up the latest, #42, because I liked the art and wondered how they'd introduce the Surfer into the Ultimate Marvel U. I find this book endlessly entertaining and Mike Carey does a great job of continuing what Mark Millar, Warren Ellis and others have set up before him. The ideas are big, the science is wild, the threats are interesting and the characters are, arguably, better and truer to their roots than their adult counterparts. I think I'll be picking this one up monthly from now on.

Loners: Cebulski and Moline continue making me happy with their retired super-hero support group tale. Cebulski's writing is very real and the dialogue comes off as effortless and individual to each character. I honestly wouldn't care if these guys had no previous connection to the Marvel U, I find their story interesting and truly hope that they get a monthly book out of this mini. It seems to be selling well so who knows.

That's it for today, probably more to come.

mike

I Owe It to Meryl

I've always been a watcher of people. There's something about the behaviour of people I know and people I don't that just gets the gears in my head turning. Some things are so very particular to one person while others are more generalized, some are cute, some are odd, others are downright perverse.

The reason I mention this is because I was at work the other day when one of the ladies from the administrative offices upstairs walked by me in one of the paint aisles while I was stocking the shelves. As she passed I noticed her hand go to cover her back end and she sort of waved it to and fro as if to brush away something. Normally I wouldn't even give it another thought but an interview I saw many years ago with Meryl Streep where she was talking to Gene Siskel about her career, and The Bridges of Madison County in particular, has permanently made me aware of this odd bit of female behaviour.

Siskel commented to Streep that he loved the scene where she was talking to Clint Eastwood on the porch because as she walks away and out of the scene, she brushes her hand behind her and ruffles the back of her dress. He thought it was a cute affectation and symbolic of how her character must have felt like a young girl at that moment, flirting with Clint and all, and that was an impish, youthful sort of thing for her to do in that situation. He wanted to know ehere the impulse to do it came from and if he was right in his assumption.

Meryl shyed away from answering at first but admitted that it had nothing to do with feeling youthful and instead was the byproduct of her character not wanting Clint, who she was flirting shamelessly with at the time, to see her fat ass as she walked away. That's what the impulse was for her to add that little moment to her character. They both had a laugh about it and life went on.

Almost immediately after seeing this interview, I was aware of this sort of thing going on all the time. Whether it was someone I knew, or a complete stranger walking down the street, probably 9 out of 10 women would do the little hand flap behind them as they passed you by. Probably assuming that you're, as a man, going to stare at their behinds anyway, it may not even be a conscious thing. Still, every time I see it (which is a lot) I get a chuckle and it always makes me think of Meryl and that ridiculous movie which I don't think I'll ever bother watching.

People, though, people I'll always bother with.

mike

The Descent

I thought I would make a couple of comments on this movie/DVD since I slapped it up there on the sidebar in my 'In the Spotlight' section.

For those of you who don't know, this movie was made by Neil Marshall, the same director who put together another fabulous horror flick, Dog Soldiers. Originally, I had no interest in seeing it despite my absolute adoration of his werewolf vs. SAS soldiers free-for-all, partly because of the poster (which makes it look like every bit of torture porn out there) but mostly because of a mention on the IMDB that referred to Marshall as a member of the unofficial "Splat Pack", lumping him in with the likes of Alexandre Aja, Darren Lynn Bousman, Greg McLean, Eli Roth, James Wan, Leigh Whannell & Rob Zombie.

Not a group of writer/director/producer/actors that I have a lot of respect for.

Anyway, I'd changed my mind somewhat when I heard Joss Whedon give this movie some major kudos in an interview he did with The Word Balloon. He, like I, is sick to death of all these Hostel and Saw movies and was just about ready to stop watching contemporary horror movies altogether until the lights dimmed down and he went on this journey with this group of women.

I sat through the first hour of the movie absolutely engrossed in their dark descent into an unexplored cave where the physical dangers and hardships mirrored those going on within the group. Watching these women start to fray at the seams and deal with the loss of supplies, direction and ultimately hope had me to the point where, if a creature never bothered to grace the screen, I wouldn't have cared. I wanted to see what happens tho these guys, first and foremost.

Like any good horror, Marshall saves the actual creature reveal until very late in the game and from that point on it is a roller coaster ride to the end of the film's 100 minute running time. The big moment also got a hop off the chair from yours truly, something which almost never, ever happens to me while watching one of these movies. But there I was, my brother and I, jaws agape and sitting on the edge of our seats as all hell breaks loose.

I've since purchased the movie and started to delve into its array of bonus features. There are a couple of commentaries, some featurettes and a making of documentary which is both informative and fun. Marshall is an interesting to guy to listen to. If I ever get the chance to interview him myself one day, I'll consider myself lucky.

I have yet to listen to the commentaries, but if they're half as good as the one on Dog Soldiers then it's all good.

In a nutshell, I loved this movie like I haven't loved a show in a long while. I highly recommend it and would be interested to hear what you think about it. SOme of the comments I see on other sights are indicating that a lot of people aren't getting the ending or even understanding the idea behind the whole movie.

I'm going to go back and watch some X-Files now. I need to plough through Season 2 so I can get to some of the juicier parts of the series. The end of 2 and the beginning of 3 is where things really start to kick off, as any X-Phile will tell you.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

End of May Report

Okay. I'm finally ready to get the 'everything up 'til now' post out of the way, so here goes...

It's been a pretty turbulent month in the ol' Jozic household. The job search, which had the Red Cross position as the place to be, turned out to be not exactly what I had hoped. After a long deliberation period the fine folks with the Canadian Red Cross (Saskatoon branch) decided to go with someone who had previous experience with the organization and I was given a cold reminder why one should never put all of his eggs in one basket.

I was feeling pretty spun afterwards and started firing résumés off here and there, mostly in the area of communications, with nothing resembling a reply but the sound of wee crickets in the wilderness. Jen, naturally, was going absolutely bonkers even though things were going better than ever with her job-related stuff. An impending possible promotion and extension of her contract were greatly overshadowed in her mind by the impending doom my job situation was presenting for the near future.

Add to this the Irish Dance Competition (from here on referred to as the Feis) that was building up a head of steam as its start date approached and we were really starting to pull out our hair in earnest.

My involvement with the Feis as hospitality chair meant that I would be tied up all weekend, working the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but Jen's was more labour intensive. She had agreed to make and handle the printing for the program, which seemed like a weekend job at the time but grew to monstrous proportions as May 18th came closer and closer. Naturally, everything that could go wrong did and she was going on practically no sleep for those last couple of days before the event.

Then she had to ramp up and do it all over again for her boss as they were going to be attending/hosting the biggest academic conference of the year (that happened this week, by the way).

In the midst of all this we still had to ferry the kids around to all their practices and school events (the year is wrapping up and field trip season has begun in earnest) and with my parents gone on holidays we called in the in-laws to lend a hand with the younguns. This was a big help but did take some recoordinating since the system we had set-up with my mother was tweaked somewhat to better suit Jen's folks. Nothing major, mind you, but any change when things are that off-balance and you feel every twitch and twitter.

With all that stress floating around it's no wonder the homefront became a demilitarized zone. We got so far behind on so many things we're still scrambling to catch up, or at least get things back to a reasonable semblance of order.

Part of the reason I can be sitting here typing this is because when I look around at the room I'm in, I can actually see the couches and not huge piles of clean but untended laundry and the work area around the computer is more or less back to its usual state of disrepair as opposed to the vortex of chaos it had become over the last 30-60 days. The dishwasher is humming away in the kitchen doing what it does best and the kidlings are all upstairs falling asleep after a pleasant evening of tidying up and some quiet reading time.

All of these things are helping dial down the tension and I've got some sweet Charlie Parker playing on the media player right now, so the state of mind can be said to be good.

On the upside, there were some great things that came out of May that deserve acknowledgement. Like I said before, Jen has some sweet career climbing ahead of her and the conference led to another conference, this time only as an attendee and not a coordinator, program maker or go to girl when things go wacky. It's a pretty sweet deal, too, since the admission alone for this one is $450 per person. The fact that they spent the money to send her to what is, in effect, a huge networking opportunity means that they don't plan on getting rid of her just yet.

I finally snagged myself some decent employment with the Saskatoon Co-op. It's retail, and I'm not sure I know any more about selling plumbing and electrical goods as I did about cars, but the pay is decent, the hours are full-time with regular pay raises and there are benefits and a pension plan which all kick in after the 3 month probation. They're also looking at me as more of a management trainee candidate because of my degree and background, so the whole clerk thing could be a thing of the past in a little while.

The kids have been keeping on despite all the kookiness. To be honest, I think they were probably the best shielded from the chaos since their schedules demanded they spend a lot of time away from home and us. I know they saw the seams fraying and they had their share of getting balled out for missing some of the simple things but, as always, we did our best to keep their lives running smoothly, even if ours were falling apart.

Their school seems to be wrapping up nicely and both girls did great at the Feis, winning several medals and trophies between them. We're really hoping that Emma moves ahead a level after this year so fingers are crossed. Simon got to go to the lake with his grandparents and be pampered for a little while

Bucky also benefitted, somewhat. While I was off work and home, he got to go outside for around 30-60 minutes everyday, which he was sorry to see go when I started work again. That time outside with the cat was some probably part of the reason why I didn't totally cave under all the pressure. I would sit there with my book, whatever it happened to be at the time, and read a chapter or four while he prowled around and made sure he sniffed every corner of the yard. It was very calming. Even though things are lightening up a bit, I miss those afternoon yard brakes with the cat terribly.

Another good thing about May was appliance related. We toasted our old kitchen hardware and picked up a new fridge which has officially started the unofficial kitchen renovation of 2007. Jen's been wanting to replace those eyesores for, oh, 7 years and she finally got her wish. I won't get into details but with things finally rearranged, family dinners are now possible for the first time since moving in almost a decade ago.

There are some other things that made May an okay month after all, such as my acquisition of this Jonny Quest figure from McFarlane toys' Hanna-Barbera series and the purchase of the Ultimate Superman DVD collection as a 'you got a job' gift to myself, but those things will probably get their own post at some point. I'm sure one day I'll get around to addressing all the stuff I keep saying I'll post about.

Anyway, that's my rant on May and a 'keep you up to date' for anyone who actually cares about what goes on at Jozic HQ. I'll get back to the minutia of stuff as I settle into a regular posting schedule again.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

Connor Hawke Bit of a Disappointment

Probably much like this post.

It's been forever and a day since I've posted on here and so much has been happening in my life right now that I thought instead of giving you guys a big 'what's been shakin' at the Jozic pad' I'd post on something smaller and easier to digest.

I posted some time ago how much I was looking forward to this limited series so I was a little surprised when I stared at it on the shelf and passed it over month after month until there was no point in picking it up. Connor Hawke replaced Oliver Queen in the pages of Green Arrow as the title character after Olly died a while ago and something about the combination of Chuck Dixon's writing and Rodolfo Dimaggio's artwork just hooked me completely on this book that I hadn't given the time of day since long before Mike Grell left to do other projects. Considering how jaded I've gotten in recent years with super-hero comics my hope was that this would be a cry back to the days when I was still excited about this character and the DC Universe as a whole.

When the book debuted there was just something about the presentation and the first impressions of it that didn't speak to highly for it so I always just left it alone.

I finally found a copy of the first issue for a buck the other day so I figured there was nothing to lose and picked it up to give it a try, only to find that all my reservations were well founded. I know that a first issue is supposed to be all set-up for the next 3, 4 or 5 issues, but Dixon doesn't really do a good job of making these characters live and breathe the way he did back in Green Arrow. For that matter, they weren't as good as when Dixon had Connor and Eddie do a guest-shot in Birds of Prey. Heck, when I hit the point where I just knew that this was going to be a hackneyed intro story I even tried to give it the benefit of the doubt so far as looking for a deeper hook in the potential for a cool continuing plot.

Alas, the effort was in vain.

I should probably mention that I did not mind the artwork of Derec Donovan whom I was first exposed to as a fill-in for Karl Moline on Rogue. He was no Rodolfo, to be sure, and there was a simplicity to the style that I don't think really helped the book, but it wasn't bad. It still looked like Eddie, Conner, Shado, and the whole gang, it just didn't excite me too much. Javier Pulido would have been a nice choice, as would Moline or ex-Green Arrow/Connor Hawke artist, Will Rosado.

So, that's my story, there's my review, and this is my big come back post. I hope it wasn't too much of a waste of time.

mike

Jobless No More

What a difference a week can make. A couple of days ago I was given the word that I would be working again, full-time, as of this coming Tuesday (I think the 22nd). I just wanted to put up a quick note here since it's been forever since I was last on, but I will be back later with more details. This Feis (Irish Dance competition) thing Jen and I are volunteering for is sucking the life right out of us. It'll all be over by the weekend, though.

TTYL!

mike

Still Jobless

The search continues, although I'm starting to wonder if it's all in vain. I've put out a number of applications in the last little while and haven't heard back from any of them to date (well, that's not entirely true. I did get an interview with a local co-operative retail company, but I'm not holding out hope for that one). I know it can sometimes take a while to hear back, especially when you're dealing with competitions where you have to wait for the application deadline to hit, then wait for the selection process, but the whole soul-sucking experience is starting to take its toll on me. I'm starting to feel that mental exhaustion that comes from doing something unsuccessfully for a duration of time and I don't see that playing too well to the significant other when there are pressing matters bearing down on us over the course of the next 3 to 6 weeks.

In the meantime, my wife is starting to grasp at straws and encouraging me to join the RCMP who offer a great salary, good benefits package and are, apparently, desperate for candidates. They've had a lot of retirings in the last little while and have spent so much time and effort encouraging equal hiring practices that they are now in need of hiring some "big white guys" for the force. It looks almost attractive except for the part where I'm not all that physical a person and have no love of being shot at.

And so, the frustration grows and the days drag on and nothing seems to change.

Until next time.

mike

Lupo the Butcher Takes the Stage

It's been a few days since I've posted and I know it'll be a little while longer before I get anything new done on here so I figured I'd post a YouTube video that I caught a short time ago.

This clip is an animated short done by Danny Antonucci, the creator of Ed, Edd and Eddy, only this one's a little less work friendly than that show.

It's as disgusting as it is hilarious.

Enjoy!



mike

Room For Squares

Welp, I'm off to see John Mayer this weekend in Edmonton so I won't be blogging for the next couple of days. Also going to watch my daughters Irish dance in the Sherwood Park Feis (pronounced Fesh) while I'm there.

Should be a lot of fun.

I'll come back with a concert report, I'm sure.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

Gorillaz Break-Up Not New

I ran across this article over at The Village Voice where writer, Tom Breihan, discusses the break-up of the animated super group, Gorillaz.

Now, the piece is dated for the 25th of April, and this has been pretty comon knowledge for, like, 4 or 5 months, if I'm not mistaken. The Gorillaz autobiography, Rise of the Ogre, was supposed to be the closing bookend on what was a wild and crazy near-decade of Gorillaz music and madness. I distinctly remember reading press on the book saying that the band was finished as of album #2 and the book is one last hurrah for the fans.

I checked the wiki entry on the group and it seems a little more vague on the whole notion of the band breaking up, as it were, but with Albarn having moved on to his new pet project, The Good, The Bad, and The Queen, one could say the writing was on the wall.

Anyway, there was no grand point to making this post other than to complain about Breihan's lack of spidey-sense when it comes to nailing the current events and to join in with the disgruntled comment crowd from the Voice site and say 'poo' for the ill informed and churlish comments he made regarding the band, their releases, and Albarn.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

mike

More Interview Links

I found this great interview with David Simon, the writer of Homicide: Life on the Street and the creator of The Wire for HBO. It's conducted by Bob Andelman (Will Eisner's most recent biographer) and was a pretty decent read.

I'm trying to get the wife to watch the first season of The Wire with me but she doesn't seem to be budging. Everything I hear about the show is superb and everyone keeps calling it the best thing on television, so I figure I gotta at least give it a look-see. I love Homicide to bits so I'm pretty much expecting to love The Wire, as well.

Hmmm...maybe when I'm done posting I'll fire the first episode up.

The second link is one that I wasn't expecting to find when I cleaned out all the lingering Google News alerts that were sitting in my inbox. Apparently, the Star Bulletin (a Hawaiian paper, if I'm not mistaken) featured a very nice article on the inimitable Darwyn Cooke. It focuses mainly on the new Spirit stories Cooke is working on but the writer makes sure to mention Cooke's past works and adds a little bit of commentary, as well.

Overall, I was impressed with the piece. This sort of thing usually gets three or four paragraphs buried in the Arts section somewhere and someone is usually prefacing anything they say about comic book creators with a Pow or Zowie!. It's worth the read.

I was also going to post something about the new animated Doctor Who but I'll save that 'til next time.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

Composer Yoko Kanno Interviewed

Over at the Production I.G. website there is an interview with acclaimed composer, Yoko Kanno. If you've ever watched an episode of Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Ghost In the Shell: SAC or various other shows, you know her stuff and probably love it as much as I do.

The interview is translated from Japanese so some of the answers are a bit wiggy, but the general idea of what she's saying always gets across in the end.

A nice little peak into the process of this fabulous artist.

mike

Blood & Iron From Mignola and Stones

There's a getting blood from a stone joke in there somewhere but it would be too much work to tease it out so I'm just not gonna bother.

Anyway, the always well informed ToonZone has a nice interview with Hellboy Animated creators Mike Mignola and Tad Stones up on their site and if you have any interest in big red's animated adventures, than this'll be worth the price of admission.

I haven't seen Blood & Iron yet but it's on the list of things to do when I have an hour-and-a-half to spare. I've previewed it, though, and it looks pretty decent. Much darker than the first.

Seeing this actually reminds me that I should post my own interview with Tad Stones sometime soon.

mike

Ramping Up to Spidey 3

Only a short time before the premiere of the the third installment in the Spider-Man series and the hype machine is working overtime. Not that I'm at all surprised by it, but I can't click anywhere on the web without seeing an interview with a cast or crew member who worked on the film.

The few I've read with Tobey, Kirsten or Bryce Dallas Howard generally leave me wanting but I love seeing the stuff on the usually quiet Raimi. Short of listening to his audio commentaries Sam has, in the past, been one to stay just outside of the spotlight. He does the press junket like everybody else but when you've got people like Bruce Campbell or Rob Tapert hamming it up for the fans, it's not a difficult task to sidestep the mob.

Moviehole has an interview with Raimi which I enjoyed and thought I would link to because I always share the love when I find an interview I enjoy. In it Sam talks about the movie, the choices they made with the characters, and the question as to whether or not he would return for a fourth film. In the past he has said three would likely be the end, but he doesn't sound convinced that the answer would be no this time around.

And while on the Raimi subject, check out this news item from FirstShowing.net which talks about Sam and a number of Pulp heroes who are looking to hit the big screen.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

Life's Little Disappointments

I got word on Friday on that Red Cross job I posted about the other day. Turns out I came in as a strong second and they chose, instead, to hire someone who had some previosu history with the organization. Fair enough. It's their NGO and they can do what they want with it. ;)

Normally I wouldn't even blink at this. I've been rejected many, many times before and by less than the RC, but I was kind of putting all of my eggs in the one basket there, so I'm a little disappointed in myself for being such an idiot, and I'm also nursing a bummed ego because I didn't get the job and it was actually a pretty cool position - something I was looking forward to sinking my teeth into.

I know they say that you have to get 100 or more rejections before you get the job you want, and that I'm supposed to just hammer the market with my name and papers, but I'm just so tired of the whole process. With the wife and I being students for more years than I want to think about I've been in and out of seasonal jobs and contract positions for so many years that I wish, just once, that a half-decent opportunity would just drop in my lap.

"Oh, are you looking for something to do with the next few years of your life? Well, it just so happens I know the perfect thing. Here you go. You can have this job."

I just feel like banging my head against a wall for a while. Then, maybe, some sleep. Or a good book, that might do the trick, also. Then, back to the job postings and the résumés.

And, hey, if anybody out there in the MySpace community happens to know anybone who may be looking for a publicist or an events coordinator or a freelancer - something along those lines - I'm all ears. ;)

Onwards and upwards!

mike

World On the March

A couple of things in the news caught my attention today.

First off is this bit off of CBR News talking about the return of Jon J. Muth's adaptation of the Fritz Lang classic, M. I'm really looking forward to this reproduction because I never have gotten around to picking up the old series in the back issue bins even though I check them out from time to time.

Next up is the news that Spielberg and Dreamworks are working to bring Hergé's Tintin to the big screen. Personally I'm not so sure these are the folks who should be working on the project but we'll see how it all turns out. Maybe Transformers will be the acid test to see how SPielberg and his people adapt an existing property.

mike

1300 Words and Counting

It would appear that the oft commented on screenplay/comic script for Smitten has muscled its way into becoming a short story. I'm not entirely sure why, or what makes me think I can do prose, but I was in the bathroom, the source for all truly great ideas, when the first line came to me, fully formed and ready to be typed:

"It was dark in the room except for the thin slivers of dawn that forced themselves through the slats in the closed blinds."

Sure, it's not Shakespeare, but it didn't completely suck and it was a great jumping off point. It should come as no surprise that 2 hours later the line now rests somewhere in the middle of the fourth paragraph rather than kicking off the whole affair, but the chain reaction it set off has been both surprising and gratifying for me. I'm not usually comfortable writing outside of an interview or screenplay format so I'm really happy so far with how things are turning out. I may even start posting sections of it here as I smooth out the rough edges.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

Only the Lonely

Recent statistics place the number of users on the internet at close to 900 million cyber savvy souls. That's a heck of a lot of people when you sit down and think about it. Especially when you consider that, out of those 900 million people, not one of them has made a comment on my blog. At least, not for weeks. And there was, like, no activity before that last Speed Racer related comment.

I was talking to my wife the other day regarding the lack of comments on the ol' blog and how it reminded me of how difficult it was to generate any kind of feedback when I was the Features Editor for Silver Bullet Comicbooks. At the time, I would look at the other sites and there would always be a discussion going on about this interview or that, but over at SBC it was like pulling teeth getting anyone to even acknowledge they were at the site. Heck, I even arranged to get the creators we interviewed to come on the message boards and answer extra questions provided by the fans, adding a bit more interactivity to the mix.

But, despite all my efforts, and the probably 600 million poeple on the internet at that time, we were still unable to generate a more vocal fanbase.

Which brings me back to the blog.

It's not the reason I do it, for sure, but it does surprise me sometimes how quiet things get in my corner of the blogosphere. I'm sure there are tons of other bloggers out there who experience the exact same thing, and I'm not trying to cry and bitch that more people should be talking to me, but there is a certain degree of reach out and touch someone mentality when a person gets out on the web and does something like this.

Or maybe I'll have to write more interesting posts.

Onwards and upwards!

mike

Making Buffy Season 8

I ran across this neat feature at the Dark Horse website showing the process of how a comic book gets made from script to lettering. I'm sure most of is on the comics blogosphere know what that process is by now, but if you don't I guess this would be cool to you for that reason. Mostly it's cool because you get a sneak peek at 6 pages from Buffy the Vampire Slayer #3 by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty which comes out on May 2nd.

I'm enjoying the series so far, although I was a little disappointed in the second issue. It's filling the Whedonverse void that IDW attempted but never quite succeeded at (some valiant tries, but their Angel books just aren't quite right), so kudos to Whedon and Scott Allie at DHC for making this happen.

mike

'The Music'

David Usher has a new video from his latest album. The song is called 'The Music' and, while not groundbreaking or even deeply moving, it does have a nice melody that I find myself toe-tapping and head-bobbing to, so I thought I would give it a shout-out on the blog.



mike