Brad's Two Weeks In Dork! (7/8/12-7/21/12)

Oh vacation...I am sad to see you go.

That being said, obviously, it's been a pretty damn great couple of Weeks in Dork for me. With my second trip to the  Comic Con behind me, I am declaring that I will try to make it to each and every Comic Con for the rest of my life.  For four days in July, the San Diego Comic Con is a place of pure pop culture bliss and for someone like me (and thankfully my wife) there is no happier place on Earth.  Genuine Dork Heaven.  Me & Comic Con must never be apart.

MOVIES OF THE WEEKS!

The Green Hornet:  While packing for San Diego I was trying to find the perfect movie to send us on our way to Comic Con.  For some reason, Michel Gondry's slacker hero saga seemed like the perfect fit.  Of course, I can't really say I gave this viewing of the film my full attention, but dangit, I really do love Seth Rogen's dumbass dolt interpretation of the classic pulp hero.  This may not be the film purists wanted, and I could see why it could bring the fanboy rage, but once you accept it as an action comedy, The Green Hornet is plenty fun. Christoph Waltz is goofy scary as Bloodnofsky and his introductory double barreled confrontation with James Franco cracks me up every time. But, again, it's Rogen that steals my heart here. He's such an awful human being, and poor Jay Chou and Cameron Diaz just has to put up with his grotesque do-gooder charm.

Comic Con Epiosde IV - A Fan's Hope:  As I wrote in Part I of my Comic Con Report, seeing this actually at Comic Con with a crowd of Ballroom 20 enthusiasts is a much different experience than watching it home, alone On Demand.  I still question whether this film would have any sort of impact on a non-Comic Con attendee, but as one of the initiated I can safely say that I adore the exploration of Geek Love being done in Morgan Spurlock's documentary.  True, the Boyfirend/Girlfriend characters are kinda annoying and The Collector's story (I actually saw him outside the Convention Center on Thursday night) does not hold much narrative weight.  But the Skip Harvey story pulls the heart strings, as does the triumph of Holly Conrad.  I'm not a huge Morgan Spurlock fan, I enjoyed Super Size Me enough I guess but I do cherish moments of this film.  Something I'll probably return to ever couple of years, especially if...gulp, I can't make a particular year.

Batman Begins:  Christopher Nolan & David Goyer cobble together various bits of comic book history to present the first ever (anywhere) origin of The Dark Knight. Batman Begins sharpens the theme of fear beyond its choice in villain, pinpointing Bruce Wayne's childhood nightmares as a contributing factor in his parent's death and The Batman's ability to refocus that energy as a weapon against the enemies of Gotham. And, finally, Michael Caine's Alfred is used as the father figure and not just a vigilante enabler. There are definitely some wonky bits of exposition and the fight sequences are a little too jump cutty close-up for my tastes, but Batman Begins remains my favorite cinematic interpretation of the Caped Crusader.

The Dark Knight:  "He's Not The Hero We Need." The story of Bruce Wayne takes a bit of a back seat to the tragedy of Harvey Dent, but The Dark Knight manages to up the villain ante in a successfully terrifying manner with the introduction of Heath Ledger's horrifying, serial killing anarchist. But, again, the real star of this film is Aaron Eckhart's White Knight and the potential curse brought upon Gotham by the very presence of The Batman. The Mob War story introduced in Begins is perfected by Eric Roberts's smarmy night club don, but the stretching of narrative definitely pulls back from the tale of The Bat. And the Marvel Crowd sensibilities of the ferry sequence still rub me the wrong way.

The Dark Knight Rises:  Eight years have passed since the fall of Harvey Dent. Gotham appears to be enjoying a period of unprecedented peace. There is no need for Batman, or for Bruce Wayne. Enter Tom Hardy's Wrath of Khan...Bane. The Dark Knight Rises offers few narrative surprises, but nearly four years of anticipation and a lustful consumption of Batman comics have given me (and I'm betting plenty of other Bat-Nerds) plenty of time to write and rewrite the script in their brains. Give it a few months (or maybe years) and we'll see The Dark Knight Rises as a perfectly satisfying conclusion to Christopher Nolan's epic Batman saga. Not to mention, Nolan has finally given us a couple of humdinger, knock-down drag-out cage matches between Bats and Bane--steadying the camera and delivering a proper super hero battle. And yes, I could listen to Hardy's Bane voice all day long, I love that robot rasp. Sure, I'd love to go into further spoiler territory and discuss some issues with the climax, but that's for a later date.

COMICS OF THE WEEKS!

Batman - Earth One:  DC's Earth One books are pretty much another incarnation of Marvel's Ultimate Universe, taking classic characters like Superman & Batman and re-imagining them for the modern era. The pessimist fanboy inside me wants to respond with a big yawn. But Geoff Johns & Gary Frank have a lot of fun with Bruce Wayne and the cesspool that is Gotham City, placing Oswald Cobblepot at the center of the Wayne Murder Mystery and elevating Alfred Pennyworth into a serious Royal Marine badass. Sure, some of the changes are a little wincing. Svelte Hollywood Harvey Bullock just doesn't work for me, and Bruce is a little too much of a blusterous ass. But Gary Frank's art is stunning. I want him on a regular Bat book pronto; his cowl close ups are seriously menacing in a Sergio Leone Once Upon A Time In The West sorta way. A fun read, but ultimately disposable since I don't see them continuing any further with this Earth One incarnation. But come on DC, prove me wrong. Go for broke.

Batman - The Long Halloween:  The book I often cite to those sorry folks unfamiliar with the world of The Dark Knight, The Long Halloween offers a wonderful tour through Batman's rogues gallery while positing an engaging murder mystery pulsating through the heart of Gotham City's crime world. A serial killer targets the family of mafioso Carmine Falcone, striking only on Holidays and igniting the fervor in Gotham's shining knights: Captain Gordon, DA Harvey Dent, and The Batman. Fans of the Christopher Nolan's films will find the origins of the Falcone/Maroni war, the "I Believe In Harvey Dent" tragedy, as well as the general relationship between our trilogy of do-gooders. Writer Jeph Loeb has never been better (despite numerous rehashes) and Tim Sale's cartoon caricature art style offers several beautiful stings of iconic imagery. An Absolute Must for Fans of The Bat.

Batman # 11:  The Court of Owls storyline appears to be over...for now anyway.  And as much as I enjoyed this tour through the hidden history of Gotham City I gotta admit that I'm a little disappointed by the conclusion.  Curious to read it in trade for sure, but my first impression is that this Massive Conspiracy is wrapped up a little too neatly, especially after the crazy shocking revelation of last month's issue.  Still, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are offering up some really great Bat narratives and I'm excited to see what comes next...even if it's another Joker story.

Spider-Men # 3:  Mysterio Attacks!  And kicks the Spider-Men's asses.  Love it.  And Peter Parker seems to be loosing his mind in the Ultimate Universe and I really cannot wait till the next issue.  Seriously, it's time for some really crazy crossover melodrama and I find this aspect of the Spider-Men event more satisfying than all the craziest incarnations of the Sinister Six.

BPRD - The Devil's Engine:  The concluding issue in The Devil's Engine reveals the filler nature of this Hell on Earth story.  I guess it's good to build the characters of Fenix and Agent Devon but I was left craving a little more story from this arc.  But it looks like we're gonna get it with The Return of the Master storyarc on the horizon and I'm excited to see the monstrous science of Zinco revving up the crazy.  Still, I'm more than ready to get back to our regular cast of characters.

Baltimore - Dr. Leskovar's Remedy # 1 & 2:  Another short story while we bide our time for the next big vampire hunter saga.  Lord Baltimore arrives in Croatia bringing gnarly Lovecraftian crab monsters that somehow manage not to be as terrifying as the vampire hybrids hidden in seaport town below.  It's a fun story and Ben Stenbeck continues to rock the horror landscape.  Just keep 'em coming.

Before Watchmen - Minutemen # 2:  I'm still waiting to be wowed by the story.  I don't see that happening.  But I will keep on going with this title thanks to Darwyn Cooke's art.  He's a perfect artistic fit for this story even if his scripting can't seem to drum up my interest.  I just keep coming back to the idea that there was already plenty of backstory in Alan Moore's original book and all this prequel stuff seems completely redundant.

ROAD TRIP OF THE WEEKS!

San Diego International Comic Con:  What?  You thought I was done droning on about my Comic Con experience?  You were sadly mistaken.  Actually, I just wanted to share a few more photos taken inside the Convention Center.  Nothing major, just some GI Joe Retaliation love, some Hobbit Legos, and a crazy collection of Boba Fetts.

--Brad

Brad's Week In Dork! (5/20/12-5/26/12)

A lighter than usual week for me, there were still a few rather nifty highlights.  Back at the AFI Silver, Matt & I caught Chinatown on the big screen.  Roman Polanski's wannabe noir has always been one of my favorite films and getting the chance to see a living print on Sunday was a real delight.  The only bummer was that the theater was not packed, and they relegated the screening to their smaller theater # 2 while the Avengers of Old British People i.e. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel played in their main hall.

The other two films I caught on the big screen were Battleship and Men In Black III, but I both film were rather disappointing-which is saying something cuz I wasn't expecting much from either flick.  I mean how could anyone expect anything of quality based on a board game, right?  

And with all the Dark Knight Rises posters and banners popping up on the internet this week I found myself surprisingly purchasing the new Batman - Knightfall omnibus from DC Comics.  It's a beast of a book and it's wonky writing for sure, but it was a fun nostalgic trip back to the goofy 1990s.

MOVIES OF THE WEEK!

Chinatown:  "Well, to tell you the truth, I lied a little." Chinatown is at once a tribute to film noir and a continuation of the genre; Jack Nicholson is a smartass P.I. with a reputation, grabbing cash from the product of infidelity that leads him down the rabbit hole of corporate and government treachery. Faye Dunaway is the damaged goods damsel and John Huston, the smiling chomping dragon. As the plot unravels and the obvious becomes less obvious, Nicholson discovers even further depths of futility that even his hardened gumshoe knew not possible. A painful, brutal tale handled artfully by both Roman Polanski and Robert Towne. Maybe not in my Top Ten films of all time, but it's right there in the Top 20.

Battleship:  Despite some potentially wonderfully terrible lines of dialog like "Chicken Burrito her" and "Mustard done got run over by a garbage truck," Peter Berg's Battleship takes itself way, way, way too seriously and is far too much in love with itself to be any kind of fun. Taylor Kitsch continues his streak of attaching himself to doomed properties and sucks up the screen as a slacker sailor forced into action as light sensitive alien mech suits invade Hawaii for some god forsaken reason. Prepare yourself for loud whirring sounds, sparks, sparks, sparks and crash boom bang boring nonsense. Maybe, just maybe, if the script had a sense of humor or at least a wink to Michael BayAwesomeness than you could chuckle at the ridiculous board game turned multi million dollar blockbuster, but as is, Battleship is just an embarrassment.  And long.  And boring.  Sunk.

Jack's Back:  1988, 100 years after Jack The Ripper terrified the city of London, a series of copycat murders spring forth under the neon lights of Los Angeles. James Spader plays twin brothers caught in the middle of the killings with Robert Picardo's mama's boy police detective hypnotizing his way to the truth. Director Rowdy Herrington would go on to direct the 80s cheeze classic Road House, but Jack's Back is a rather weak rip off of the much superior Robert Bloch short story "Your's Truly, Jack The Ripper." Still, Spader is fun in the duel roles, especially the slimy naughty brother.

The Two Jakes:  Fifteen years after Chinatown, Jack Nicholson returned to the hanky panky world of private detective JJ Gittes and decided to step behind the camera when original director Roman Polanski simply knew better. The neo noir style is gone despite the addition of unnecessary pulpy narration and the flat eye of cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. Honestly, The Two Jakes is not a terrible film. It's just no Chinatown. And when your first film was so damn good, you really have to have a fantastic narrative to justify your existence, but try as he might Robert Towne fails to elevate the poisoned past plot.  This sequel is better left forgotten.

Top Gun:  Once a staple of my childhood, Top Gun now seems to slog through its fighter school plot of ass hole pilots trying to out-jackass their fellow students by spiking volleyballs, chewing gum, and causing nearly catastrophic aerial "look at me!" stunts. Tony Scott obviously loves mounting his cameras onto planes and I remember the dog fights looking fairly badass on the big screen, but trapped inside the television, the fight choreography fails to sizzle. And the relationship between Cruise and McGillis is completely lack of romance no matter how much shadowy lovemaking montages they splice together.

Men In Black III:  It's been fifteen years since Will Smith originally got jiggy with the shadowy organization known as the Men In Black and its been ten years since Agents J & K took down the abomination that was Laura Flynn Boyle. And was anyone looking for a third outing? Not me. And for the most part, this sequel feels worn-out and tired, even when it's thankfully not relying on worm aliens or talking pugs. The time travel plot involving Josh Brolin's young Agent K is kinda fun with his dead-on (and dead pan) Tommy Lee Jones impersonation but there's also plenty of missed historical opportunities and flat jokey jokes.  Jemaine Clement does a pretty good Tim Curry as the one armed baddie Boris The Animal and Alice Eve stands around looking pretty. Michael Stuhlbarg steals the show (as usual) as the fifth dimensionally challenged being at the center of the alien murders. Men In Black III is a solid way to kill an afternoon, but I would not shell out for nighttime (and especially not 3D) prices.

COMICS OF THE WEEK!

Batman - Knightfall Volume 1:  The 90s Epic that pit crime lord & wannabe luchador Bane against Bruce Wayne's sick & sniveling Batman. The first volume of Knightfall is a massive tome weighing in just over 600 pages, and only towards the end, after The Bat has been broken and Wayne has awoken from his coma do we get any sense that Bats is any kind of a badass. For most of this story, Wayne is on the verge of collapse. Even before Bane busts all the loonies out of Arkham, he's got the sniffels. Just taking down C List villains like The Ventriloquist and The Mad Hatter is a challenge let alone the main rogues like The Joker or Scarecrow. Honestly, seeing every issue conclude with an exhausted and frowny faced Batman is rather annoying. Especially when the mantel has to be passed to Jean Paul Valley's god crazy Azrael and this new bling bling Batman takes on Bane's underworld with such ease. Bruce Wayne is tougher than this book gives him credit. It tries too hard to justify Bane's reign over Gotham, slighting the character of the billionaire vigilante; transforming the icon into a mental weakling.

Still, it's fun to revisit this media orchestrated event. And there is a glimmer of an interesting creation in Bane, the anti-Batman. I can easily see Christopher Nolan molding this oh-so-90s idea into a brutal brawl for The Dark Knight Rises, and I really hope the final Nolan film takes its climax cues from Knightfall's conclusion. BREAK THE BAT!  And I gotta admit,  I am looking forward to venturing into volume 2 (&3!) of Knightfall. Jean Paul Valley is a serious loon and even if I don't quite understand what Wayne was thinking when he gave the suit over to this nutter, it's fun to see this razor clawed Batman beat the maniacs of Gotham to a bloody pulp.

Batman - The Court of Owls:  Collecting the first seven issues of The New 52 Batman, The Court of Owls doesn't necessarily retcon everything we've come to know about the caped crusader (this is still Bruce Wayne, the revenge?/justice? fueled vigilante, caretaker of three acrobatic wards), but it definitely has some fun with the history of Gotham. A John Doe murder sends Bats through the mirror darkly of historical conspiracy, involving a legendary court of manipulative high society bird brains and their unstoppable Talon assassins. Writer Scott Snyder takes full advantage of former Spawn artist Greg Capullo's slick and violent style, plunging The Batman into the sewers of Wayne's psyche. And his Owls creep me the hell out. I appreciate how this first volume doesn't neatly conclude the plot and even promises further exploration of Gotham's secret history as Batman & company will most definitely face off against an armada of fresh rogues. Man, it's nice to not just have another Joker punch up.

--Brad

The Dark Knight Rises: 2nd official images of Bane

(***Minor Spoilers Ahead***)

The upcoming issue of Empire Magazine has revealed some rather nifty images of Tom Hardy's Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.  I've stated in the past that I'm staying away from all these spy set photos, but I'm totally cool with this official stuff.  Still, I don't want to have everything spoiled for me.  One key plot point the article reveals from the horse's mouth is that this latest film will take place 8 years after The Dark Knight.  I love the sound of that.  An older, more worn down Batman.  Yes.  Enter Bane to snap his back, hopefully.

Whatever the case, this more than makes up for that last post about Tom Hardy and This Means War.

--Brad