Here's the variant cover for Kevin Keller #6 in which George Takei beams down to Riverdale for what's hopefully a really rockin' Trekkie convention. Other than a couple Sonic Comics and that weirdo Punisher crossover, I haven't bought an Archie book in a decade. Looks like I'm gonna dip back in for some "It's Okay To Be Takei" action.
Archie Comics has been having a lot of fun crossovers of late. First their was Marvel's The Punisher. Then came Barack Obama & Sarah Palin. And last year they joined the KISS Army. But this October, Kevin Keller issue #6 will find one gay icon meet another when George Takei beams down to Riverdale. "Oh my!" indeed. I will most definitely have to score a copy.
Things calmed down a bit this week, and I got a bit more movie watching done.
Moon: Classic, story and character based science fiction is a refreshing change of pace in the CGI action movie field of recent years. Sam Rockwell is almost a one man show, and carries the weight of this film quite well. The score and effects (using models!) are fantastic. Check this one out for a nice break from all the Avatars and Transformers. Enjoy a good Heinlein/Clarke style story. And just think, this was made on something like one sixtieth of Avatar’s budget.
How to Steal a Million: A charming caper film featuring two leads in their prime. Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole play a sort of cat and mouse game, while goofy Hugh Griffith plays a lovable old rogue art forger. The movie looks very pretty in that 60s sort of way. Movies like this, from this era, always feel a little off when they don’t have Cary Grant starring in them. However, it’s still plenty of goofy fun. And young Eli Wallach is a trip and a half.
Hard Ticket to Hawaii: Not nearly as much nudity as Malibu Express, it still has more than a dozen movies today. It’s silly, poorly made, awfully acted, and utterly stupid. Also, tons of fun. If you like this brand of stupid, it’s worth checking out. And man, the finale is just amazing. Cancer Snake!!!
Attack of the Crab Monsters: A very, very weird atomic horror film from Roger Corman. Is it someone eating corn chips? Or is it…CRAB MONSTERS!? The film manages to ramp up the weird beyond a simple giant atomic monster, with mysterious voices calling folks out to their deaths. The production on this one looks surprisingly good, though the creatures could use some work; mostly not having human eyes would have helped. If you enjoy Corman type movies, it’s worth checking out. (And don’t worry, the lady scientist still makes the food for the menfolk).
Island of the Fishmen: The sound on this movie is like a bad cassette tape being played in an old church. Everything echoes, yet everything is muffled. Horrible dubbing. Bad effects and choppy editing. Mix in some voodoo, colonialism, and the like. Oh, and Barbara Bach. Not really as pretty as I remember her. Still, I found the general story/setting interesting. Voodoo. Atlantis. Sunken treasure. And yes. Fishmen.
Doctor Who: The King’s Demons: A very short (only two part) story, it still manages to feature the Master, hamming his way through some Medieval Times reenactments. This episode features the debut of the short lived attempt to have a robot as companion on the show. It’s an interesting idea, but clearly technology hadn’t caught up with imagination (still hasn’t, really).
Underworld Awakening: Kate Beckinsale’s Ass stars in this craptastic orgy of bad CGI and cornball dialog. Every cheesy line of dialog feels like it stepped out of the scriptwriting classes of James Cameron and George Lucas. Every slow motion walking shot looks like it was inspired by Michael Bay. The plot is a whole bunch of who cares. Most of the actors look like they just walked off a GQ photo shoot. And man, those CG werewolves just looks awful. About 20 years later, and they don’t look any better than An American Werewolf in Paris, and nowhere near as good as pre-CG practical effects. Still, star Kate Beckinsale’s Ass certainly does a lot with the screentime allotted, flexing, shining, and generally looking perfect. Too bad there wasn’t a script half as meaty.
Razorback: The 2001 of giant killer boar movies? Well, it’s certainly a trip. There is something darned peculiar about Australians (heck, most folk from below the equator). Everything from the way the movie is shot to the actions of the characters are somehow off. Even the way the movie progresses isn’t quite right. Bits of this remind me of the South African film Dust Devil. Other parts have obvious similarities to Walkabout and the Mad Max films. And it’s more than just the accents and locations. Something in the mindset of the production. Make the effort and find a copy of this movie to watch. It’s something special. Or at least unique.
The Gray: A handful of crash survivors are stalked by some tough wolves in this intense thriller. Liam Neeson is a man driven to edge of society, living as a wolf killer in the wilds of Alaska. An alpha male, he may be the group’s last hope. A very good cast of relative unknowns back him up, as the weather and the wolves take their toll. The film is a nice reminder that we are beasts, for all our posturing and high mindedness. We’re still a part of nature, and nature is still a part of us. When the chips are down and the hounds of hell are coming, I hope I have someone like Neeson at my side. Wolves are beautiful and majestic creatures. They’re also the product of evolution, and packaged to kill. And so is Man.
F#%@ it! I'll do it myself.
And I checked out a handful more Star Trek episodes from season 3. Again, some good, some really bad.
I read and reviewed a new Dark Crystal graphic novel, a new Aliens graphic novella, and the first of the D’Argo centered Farscape graphic novels. I also finally wrote my reviews for the last three volumes of the new Conan series.
And another installment of Prodigal Son went up. It’s a short one about music for games.
Last Wednesday saw the release of the first issue in the Archie Meets KISS quadrilogy. Sadly, I have yet to make my way to the comic shop to score a copy, but that's okay cuz I can enjoy Francessco Francavilla's variant covers via his most awesome blog. This above one is even more awesome than the one I posted a few months back. Archie has looked into The Demon and likes it. Cold Gin time.
I've been obsessing over Francesco Francavilla lately. Mostly it's due to all the great, weird art he's been posting up over on his blog (a place where Francavilla waves his Dork flag high with all kinds of tributes, from Dr. Who & Swamp Thing) and the crazy covers he's been doing for the Mignolaverse. But in December he's going to be tackling Captain America, and as you should know, one of my all time favorite comic book characters. Just check this stuff out, absolutely beautiful. Cap smashing some androids on the cover of issue 627 is definitely my favorite, but it's really hard to choose from these images.
As far as weeks in Dork go, this one was kind of meh. Work was rough, and my legs were still pretty messed up from my bike crash (finally starting to really get better, I think). I got a little reading in. Mostly comics. But I haven’t written any reviews, because…well, because I kept finding other things to do instead of what I should be doing. So, first up, the stuff I watched.
Fright Night: One of the better remakes I’ve seen in a while, it was a solid updating of the classic 80s horror film. Plenty of nods to the original, but with lots of fun new twists. The cast was excellent, even the usually annoying Colin Farrell was good. As always, I could have dealt with less CG blood. How hard is it to make the real stuff? Definitely worth a watch. It’s a nice looking film with a solid script and good performances. Not amazing. But good.
First Man Into Space: “The conquest of new worlds always makes demands of human life. And there will always be men who will accept the risk.” It seems like this tale has been told just too many times. Every other science fiction/horror film in the 50s seems to have involved a guy going up in a rocket, getting manipulated by something, then returning to earth as a slavering monster. This one has a good cast and is well shot. But it’s just more of the same. I think The Quatermass Xperiment has a bit more flare. But this one is better than several others I’ve seen.
Hi Mom!
Being There: A strange, quiet film. Peter Sellers plays a simple, good man, with not understanding of duplicity or cynicism. As he wanders through the world, he spreads a strange kind of peaceful message that people misunderstand but are attracted to. Very odd. But interesting. And what an ending.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Far better than I was expecting, and far less steeped in anti-science, this movie isn’t amazing, but it’s certainly worth a watch. The effects are uneven, some being fantastic, others kind of wonky. And the story is largely a retelling of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. But it’s moderately well done. It did remind me how different movie ratings are today. This film is clearly held back from being as brutal as it seems to demand, and gets a PG-13, where Conquest of the Planet of the Apes really is brutal and had a PG rating. Times have changed.
Doctor Who: Underworld: A fair story arc, based largely on the legend of Jason and the Argonauts, it’s heavy on effects, though not always effective. Budget issues kept it from looking as good as it might have, considering how grand the vision was. A good guest cast in this story.
The Perfect Host: David Hyde Pierce is charming and fun, but sadly this is one dinner party you may want to skip. The film just never quite works. The performances are fine, I guess, and the idea not too bad. But it never really comes together. Still, if you like his work, Pierce is probably worth the price of admission. I just wish it had more to recommend it.
Erik The Conqueror: An Italian Viking epic? Why not? Some pretty impressive sets and location shooting pepper this so-so tale of Norsemen brothers, raised separately who are thrust back together through various machinations. It’s OK, but nothing to write home about. I kept wanting it to be a bit more brutal, a bit more action packed, a bit more sexy, …something.
Corridors of Blood: Boris Karloff is once again trying really, really hard to do right by mankind. But, like nearly every scientist in a 50s movie, his efforts go awry. Overall, a solid film, but not really especially good. Karloff has a lot of heart, though, and it’s nice to see him work.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Season One-Part One: Boy oh boy this show is wacky. More crazy, obscure DC characters get pulled out of the dusty cartoon closet to team up with or stand against the Dark Knight. Interestingly, a multi-part story is being hatched in the opening tags that I can’t wait to see the end of, featuring Starro the giant starfish from space. It even had an all to brief appearance of The Challengers of the Unknown.
Shark Night 3D: Do you love gory horror movies with lots of gratuitous nudity? I know I do. Sadly, this isn’t one of those films. A bland cast of people who look like other people you’ve seen in movies that are pretty much the same as this one. And, man, the weird, awkward, unintentional (?!) racism that swims around Sinqua Walls’ character…Yikes. Sadly, the best part of the film is the post credits tag, which had me laughing. Probably the first intentional emotional response I had to the film.
Yeah. That happened.
I also watched a few episodes of Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, which was fun in a sort of Ray Bradbury Theater sort of way. Not quite The Twilight Zone, but a little more consistent than Night Gallery. And I caught a couple episodes of Space Angel, which seems fun. But I do hate that mouth thing they do. I’d rather they just embrace their primitive animation style than thrust in weird looking live action mouths.
I watched this Nietzsche lecture that I found somewhat interesting, as well. Nietzsche has been coming up a lot lately, and it’s making me want to start reading him again. We’ll see.
I read some graphic novels, like Afrodisiac and Tales from the Motherland. And I really do need to get on the ball and do some write-ups. But they are getting me pretty excited about going to SPX next weekend.
Did you know that KISS was invading Riverdale? It's true! And here's the cover to issue #2 of the mini-series and I friggin' love it! Granted, I'm currently obsessed with all things Francesco Francavilla thanks to all his beautiful Hellboy/BPRD work and that Swamp Thing image I posted here a few days ago. Man, though, I love how freaked those teens look in the crowd. KISS is Coming! Be Afraid! Be Amazed! Genius.
