Matt’s Week in Dork! (10/6/13-10/12/13)

    Not a whole heck of a lot going on.  I did read Godzilla: The Half-Century War.  Otherwise, just having my spirit crushed.

Jesse James:  Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda are fine in this perfectly OK film version of the classic American outlaw tale.  Pushed too far by railroad men, two brothers fight back…then keep fighting until they become full fledged bandits.  A nice supporting cast helps, but at the end of the day, it’s only an OK movie.  Not bad, but not amazing.

The Return of Frank James:  Henry Fonda reprises his role as Frank James in this sequel to the previous year’s Jesse James.  It too is fine, but nothing special.  If anything, this revenge movie is far too nice, too much of what TV would become.  And the Clem character?  Holy crap does he suck.  Gene Tierney made her big screen debut as a plucky girl-reporter.  Sadly, she’s not very good.  She’s cute enough, and it’s not like she’s terrible or anything.  Just not memorable.  Sort of like rest of the film.  Director Fritz Lang seems to have brought none of his visual flare along with him.

Dinosaur Valley Girls:  You may not expect it, but this movie is garbage.  Sadly, it’s not all that fun either.  I like dinosaurs.  I like dames.  Dinosaurs and dames have made a great combination many times before.  But cavegirls and fake boobs don’t work.  Also, writing is always a plus.  Good writing even more so.

My Young Auntie:  I’m generally not a fan of Hong Kong comedy (or any non-English language comedy).  I find there tends to be too much cultural specific stuff for me to engage in the humor.  And humor is such a monumentally subjective thing, that is very, very difficult to translate.  So, imagine my shock when I found myself enjoying the heck out of this story of a pretty young woman battling expectations and greedy relatives.  The fighting is top notch Shaw Bros. stuff, too.  I’d recommend watching it with the dubbing, as that adds to the amusement.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home:  The first Star Trek film I saw on the big screen is still one of my favorites.  It’s goofy fun, with lots of great lines.  And it’s probably the best film where it comes to giving all the characters moments to shine, especially McCoy and Scotty.  Considering this is one of the most successful films in the series, it’s frustrating that no other movie has imitated it, instead opting for rehashing Wrath of Khan’s formula.  Where are the dilemmas that need solving?  Where is the fun?  No, it’s darkness, war, and the villain that needs to be punched into submission.  Cut it out, Star Trek producers/writers.  It’s time to recapture some of the lighthearted and hopeful spirit of Star Trek IV.

Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric:  One of the best Sylvester McCoy stories, this one has some good bits, and some interesting ideas.  But it’s still only OK.  As I near the end of McCoy’s run, and of the original Doctor Who series in general, I can absolutely see what it was canceled.  From the last season of Colin Baker on, the writing seems to have gone down the toilet.  Occasional bright spots serve to highlight the overall drop in quality.  And unfortunately, a lot of the worst aspects of this era seem to have been held over into the new series, especially the Stephen Moffat era.

Frankenstein The True Story:  This 3 hour, made for TV adaptation of the classic novel is pretty good.  It’s not as ‘faithful’ to the source material as I’d been led to believe, but it’s still probably the best adaptation of the book.  I have yet to see a film that treats the monster right, but this one seems to have done a better job of capturing the irresponsibility of Victor.  The thing about the original Shelley novel that I always liked is it didn’t actually condemn the science, so much as the lack of responsibility on the part of the scientist.  Adam was not evil, but was driven to do evil by circumstances created and exacerbated by his creator, Victor Frankenstein.  He is an immensely powerful child, given no direction or love by his parent.  This movie does not really get into that aspect of things as much as I’d have liked.  Still, it’s pretty good, and it’s worth seeking out.

    I tried a new wine that I ended up really enjoying.  Dearly Beloved: I Thee Red.  It’s mellow and went with the seared chicken and spicy rice I had for dinner.  I’m not much of a wine guy, so I’m trying out some various types to see if I can develop some kind of appreciation of it.

Human Desire:  Director Fritz Lang, stars Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame reunite a year after making the amazing film The Big Heat to craft another twisted Noir tale of love and betrayal.  Unfortunately, lightening did not strike twice, and this film is nowhere near as tense, brutal, or compelling as The Big Heat.  It’s not bad, but it’s not especially good, either.  Ford is fine, though he seems a bit out of place as a blue-collar rail worker.  Grahame is fine, too, if a bit shrill.

    So, I’ve had access to cable TV for a few months; the first time since moving to Virginia six years ago.  And generally speaking, it sucks total ass.  But TCM is a pretty cool channel, and on Saturday it gave me a chance to see a couple science fiction films I’d never seen, It Came from Outer Space and The World, The Flesh and the Devil.  TCM, the AFI Silver and to a lesser degree the Alamo Drafthouse have all combined create a kind of ambient noise of classic cinema that has me feeling pretty good about movies, even as I suffer through a dreadful year of film.  Plus, I’ve been catching a bunch of other older films through various other means recently.  It’s been quite nice.

It Came from Outer Space:  In tune with a lot of 50s sci-fi films, this has plenty of heavy-handed moralizing.  The acting is fine and the film looks good.  But the story is meh.  The creature is kind of cool, and I like the way seeing it seems to drive people temporarily mad, like something out of Lovecraft.  The ending is pretty cool; and somewhat unusual for its time.

The World, The Flesh and the Devil:  Harry Belafonte is working underground when something really bad happens.  Finally climbing up into the sun again, he finds himself alone in a desolate New York City.  The first half hour or so is carried completely by Belafonte, and there are moments that remind me of the early part of The Omega Man, making me wonder if this served as something of an inspiration (beyond the novel I Am Legend, obviously).  This certainly covers some similar ground, though without any supernatural/plague element.  When he meets a woman, things become more complicated, and suddenly the racial tensions ramp up.  This becomes even more intense when another man, a white man, arrives on the scene.  How much of their pre-nuke baggage will they hold on to, how much can they cast off?  Once the conflict becomes a three-way, it becomes quite odd, building to a rather strange ending that can’t be accused of being typical.  Good use of early morning New York to create a lifeless world.

Thunder Birds:  On the home front, some young men need to learn the ins and outs of flying.  And of course, along the way, catch the eye of a lovely young lady.  Gene Tierney is that lady, and by Odin’s beard, she’s gorgeous.  From her extremely sexy reveal through her search for love.  Goodness.  The movie is an interesting look into the Wartime attitudes about various things, including people from other countries, romance, and stockings.  By no means a great classic, it’s still quite entertaining.

    That’s about it.  I’ve spent a lot of time staring at the wall this week.  It’s been a rough go.

Get it done!

-Matt

Transformers - Age of Extinction

One Summer down, time to start preparing for the next one.  I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a Transformers apologist (I don't really believe in Guilty Pleasures - Own Your Love!), but as much as I recognize the problems of the Michael Bay trilogy, I really just get giddy watching all the overwrought CG catastrophe.  And I hear this next one has Dinobots.  DINOBOTS!!!!!!!  Yes!  And the trade of Shia LaBeouf for Mark Wahlberg is decent - sure, The Rock would have been better but Dwayne can't save every franchise.

--Brad

Comic Review: Age of Reptiles Omnibus Volume 1

    Yeah, I was that kid.  I was the kid who had all the books about dinosaurs.  I stared at pictures of them, and imagined their world.  I watched every single documentary that ever played on TV, and when I finally got a VCR, I rented a few more.  I was always excited to see movies featuring dinosaurs, like King Kong or any kind of time travel thing.  Those giant beasts were the bee’s knees.  And you know what?  They still are.  Once in a while, something like Jurassic Park or Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake will come along and remind me they’re still totally awesome.

    Richard Delgado has captured that wild mystery of my childhood imaginings.  He’s created a world as exotic and alien as it is plausible.  It reminded me of the best wildlife documentaries I watched as a lad, following the narrative of these creatures who quickly take on unique personalities, without ever speaking.  And, like those same nature documentaries, the camera’s eye watches no matter what befalls the subjects, not passing judgment.

    The first story, ‘Tribal Warfare,’ deals with the back and forth hunting and eating of various species.  With several fascinating environments, on land, sea, and air.  The art is impressive, with lots of different creatures.  Even without dialog, you can follow the story along just fine.  In that way, it uses the visual nature of the comic book medium to great benefit.

    The second story, ‘The Hunt,’ is probably my favorite.  Following a single red dinosaur as it makes its way through the dangerous world, chased by a pack of killers hungry for its flesh.  The adventure takes it into strange new lands, vast landscapes that stagger the imagination and capture a primal awe.  The two page spread of the gargantuan mountain-like cloud formation hanging over the massive stone pillars is gorgeous.  Actually, that whole segment is very impressive.

    The final story, ‘The Journey’ follows an epic multi-species migration and the various dangers found along the way.  One of the things that impresses me is the occasional touch of tenderness.  That said, the viscious battle by on the ocean shore is truly epic, feeling like some kind of Moby Dick titan-fight.

    At the end of the volume there’s a nice series of essays by Delgado about the folks who inspired him.  Reading about his younger days, I was reminded of my own.  I even took to drawing dinosaurs and dragons for a while, but sadly, never stuck with it.  Any artistic talent I ever had slipped through inactive fingers years ago.  These are the images I wish I could create.  A great book, and a must for anyone interested in visual storytelling or obviously, in dinosaurs.  Though violent and bloody, I think this would be very popular among young kids with any kind of interest in nature or dinosaurs.

Age of Reptiles Omnibus Volume 1
Author & Artist: Richard Delgado
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-683-1

-Matt

Matt’s Week in Dork! (6/24/12-6/30/12)

    Another weird week.  I guess most of them are.  These are the days, though.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou:  Probably Wes Anderson’s most surreal trip through family dysfunction, The Life Aquatic takes the archetypal aquatic nature film maker and applies his usual bent sense of tragic humor.  There’s that sense of failed dreams captured by the video tapes of the Dharma Initiative on Lost, or flashbacks on Venture Bros.  The good times are long gone and things are just grinding down, falling apart, consumed by entropy.  Anderson’s world is not our world, and the strange undersea sequences bring that home, if the characters hadn’t already.  But elements of reality creep into the fractured people and their difficult interplay.  Plus, when Zissou goes all Commando, it’s just straight-up badass.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter:  OK, OK, OK.  It’s about Abraham Lincoln, but you know, as a vampire hunter.  There’s no way you can enjoy this if you don’t embrace the madness.  Is it stupid?  Oh, yeah.  But it’s a heck of a lot of fun.  Frankly, I was expecting another disappointment, like Battleship or Ghost Rider 2, where it never mans up and goes as crazy as it needs to.  But it did.  Not as crazy as I wanted, but crazy enough to be a lot of fun.  Horse throwing, shotgun axing, old Lincoln kung-fu fighting, and all the other things that make a movie worth watching.

Doctor Who: The Awakening:  A lot gets crammed into a short story.  Trying to see Tegan’s grandfather takes the Doctor and his friends to a dumpy little village where some local history enthusiasts have gotten a little too into their historic reenactments.  And what’s up with the simpleton from the past?  Pretty weird stuff, and that awful little stone goblin thing is freaky.  Not really a great tale, but a fair two-part bridge story.

Slaughter:  Jim Brown bashes his way through the mob, and anyone else who gives him some crap.  This movie is awesome.  So many sleazy bad guys, especially the disgusting Rip Torn.  And Don Gordon makes a great partner, his way with the ladies and his jean jacket.  Oh, yeah.  Cool music, plenty of fisticuffs, and some great dialog.  Slaughter!!!

Watchmen:  I just really, really like this movie.  Sacrilege or not, I think that like the Lord of the Rings films, this actually improves some on the book.  Yup.  I said it.  Trimming a good deal of the unnecessary bits, especially the whole magazine stand thread that always annoyed me in the book.  The cast does a fine job.  The movie looks amazing.  Great soundtrack and score.  And the story is very cool.  This is a grand epic with a large cast of characters and deep history.   Graphic violence may disturb some; sadly the nudity seems to disturb more; and the moral ambiguity without a clear judgment will almost certainly throw many viewers for a loop.  Hero?  Villain?  Both?  Where is the line?  Is there a line at all?  Take one life to save a hundred and maybe they make you a hero.  What if you kill one hundred thousand to save six billion?  What happens when a man becomes a god?  Great stuff.  F the haters.

The H-Men:  Slow paced late 50s sci-fi horror, this is entertaining, if not especially exciting.  Some cool creature effects (melting folks, dripping slime, etc) help things along.  But there’s way, way too much sitting around in police station offices jabbering on about this gang or that criminal or some boat in the Pacific.  It feels like there are too many side stories or subplots for a movie about killer ooze.  Still, it was fun.  Probably best watched with friends.

    Ben and I started watching The Pacific, and some more Venture Bros.  Both excellent shows for totally different reasons.  And I started watching The River, which could be interesting, but suffers from network TV syndrome.

    Saturday night, Brad hosted a Batman night.  We started with a couple Adam West episodes featuring Cat Woman.  Goof-tastic fun.  So many awful puns, over the top acting, and twisted ‘plots.’  We followed that with a great episode of Brave and the Bold, featuring Bat Ape.  Yeah, he fights ‘jungle based crime.’  We followed that up with Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman.

Batman:  There are a lot of things I like about this movie, but I’ve never really been a fan.  Keaton is solid both as Wayne and Batman, the effects are good and the set design is awesome.  But it feels like there are too many balls being juggled.  I know it’s well loved, but I never connect with this film.  It’s muddy in tone, the plot wanders, and frankly, I just never like Jack Nicholson.  And Prince’s music makes me want to scream.  It’s so bloody awful.

    Then another bit of Adam West awesome.  And we followed that up with some more Brave and the Bold.  Oh, Aquaman, and his musical number.  What is up with that?  Sadly, I passed out not long into Batman and Robin.  What little I saw was absolutely awful, but some sick part of me feels I need to watch the whole Burton era series again one of these days.  I woke up when it was over, and saw one last Adam West story.  Love that show.

    I read the first hardcover volume of Invincible, Age of Reptiles, some 28 Days Later (reviews to follow).

    I also read the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 2009, which was all kinds of Alan Moore nutty.  I don’t feel like I’m ready to review it.  I think I’m going to have to go back and read the three parts of Century, 1910, 1969, and 2009 as a unit.  Maybe I’ll have to read all of League again, before I’m really ready.  But if you’ve been reading League up to this point, you need to read this. 
Dang, man.  Total madness.

    Brad and I attended a live recording of Big Planet’s 50th podcast.  That was fun.  We weren’t sure what to expect, and were perhaps a bit quiet, taking in more than giving.  But it was pretty cool.  We’ve really got to get on the ball and do either a podcast, or a weekly video or something.  But it helped make for a good week in dork anyhow.

    And on Friday night, after watching Watchmen, Northern Virginia got hit with a CRAZY powerful storm that came on with no warning.  I’ve lived through at least three substantial hurricanes, countless massive snow storms, torrential downpours that would make Noah crap his pants, and all kinds of madness, and honestly, it’s the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.  When I looked outside, there was no rain, but the sky looked like a strobe light.  And the air was alive.  Not going in one direction or another, but seemingly every direction.  My building, which deadens the sound of the worst weather, creaked and moaned, and I could feel the air getting sucked out and pushed in.  On several occasions, the whole place suddenly smelled like outside, like trees and soil.  And I became genuinely concerned that there might be a tornado or something.  From what I understand, it was even worse elsewhere, and at least I never had more than flickering power, no long-term loss.  But it all reminds me how reliant on technology we all are.  I don’t think that’s a bad thing, exactly.  Just something to be aware of, and something to take into account.

-Matt