Matt’s Week in Dork! (9/21/14-9/27/14)

    I get right up in sports’ business, hit the theater, and talk the Victorian weirdness of Alan Moore.  This Dork had a heck of a week.

The Losers:  OK, this movie isn’t very good.  Everyone’s always uttering silly one-liners and walking in slow motion.  None of the characters are especially interesting and the action is only so-so.  Still, I find myself enjoying it in spite of its faults.  If you’re in the mood for a lighter, more PG-13 Expendables, this is a good choice.  Everything about it, the violence, the language, and especially the sex is very, very PG-13.

Kim:  I like this little kid adventure yarn set in the twisting political world of British ruled India.  A smart and resourceful boy gets involved in the deadly Great Game of empire.  Learning from various men different ways of living, he becomes a sort of super spy, taking messages and collecting intel.  I’m sure there are dozens of ways the film is racist, or supports currently unpopular views, and I’m sure the same could be said of the book it’s based on.  But taken at face value, it’s a fun watch with plenty of excitement and plot twists.  Plus, Erroll Flynn is devilishly charming as the Red Bearded Horse Trader.

Snow White and the Huntsman:  When this film focuses on Charliz Theron, it’s pretty good.  Her performance is wonderfully campy and crazy and she’s captivating.  Unfortunately, the movie focuses too much on a dead-eyed Snow White and a faux-Irish Huntsman.  Ugh.  The fantasy elements are cool, too.  They had all the pieces in place, but the casting of the two leads brings down the whole.

    Monday night, Brad and I headed up to the AFI Silver.  Man, I wish I could get up there more often.  I love that place, and it’s a wonderful resource for the film buff.  The fact that it’s not packed every showing makes me sad.  I assume there are enough film fans in the area, but they just don’t take advantage of what they’ve got.

The Zero Theorem:  Terry Gilliam has been one of my favorite directors since I understood what that meant.  The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, Brazil, Time Bandits, 12 Monkeys.  Even newer films like Tideland and the mainstream studio effort Brothers Grimm.  While The Zero Theorem might rank among the lesser works of the director, I think that still puts it above the average film.  It’s awfully weird, and it has some very funny bits.  I enjoy the heck out of Christoph Waltz.  And the weird computer hacker kid, while not a very good actor, has something that makes him amusing where he could easily be extremely annoying.  There’s a lot to like.  And I can’t even say what didn’t work necessarily.  But I didn’t love it.  Gilliam fans should certainly check it out, and folks who like weird movies.

    Tuesday night, Rebecca took me to my first Major League baseball game.  You may be shocked to learn this, but I am not a follower of sporting events.  I’m aware that some ladies and gentlemen enjoy running about on fields and the like, attempting to move one type of ball or another to other parts of said field.  With the brief exception of an Olympic games back in the 80s, where I thought for a brief time that I would follow soccer, I have avoided sports of all kinds.  My lady, however, is quite the fan of various strenuous team activities.  So, I sat down to watch the Nats do battle with the Mets upon the diamond shaped field.  As various champions faced off against each other, the team we had gone to support and cheer rose to the occasion.  The Nats defeated their foes and there was much rejoicing from the gathered throngs.  I found various elements of the whole enjoyable.  There was an electricity to the crowd not dissimilar to that of a comic convention.  There were hot dogs being peddled for a dollar a piece.  In spite of my monumental ignorance of the game and its rules, etc., I had a good deal of fun.  Am I now a baseball fan?  Well, no.  But I look forward to enjoying a bit of sport in the future.

The Signal:  Not a perfect film, by any means.  But this was much better than I was expecting.  I ended up liking the three main cast members, which was something of a shock.  While some of the eventual resolution wasn’t as cool or exciting as it might have been, I found it satisfying.  And there are some very cool sequences.  Definitely one of the better low budget science fiction films I’ve seen recently, and more creative and interesting than many big budget films.

Prix de Beaute:  A time capsule with a few interesting moments, this is a mostly forgettable film with little to recommend.  If you’re in the mood for an early film with a mix of comedy and drama and some darker twists, it’s OK.  But don’t go out of your way.

    Saturday night brought the latest gathering of the graphic novel club.  This month, one of my favorite comics, one that helped convince me to give comics a try, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  It was a rather spirited group, with lots of opinions.  Some, I’ll admit, I found baffling.  But that’s the wonder of groups like this.  Whatever the case, revisiting the book was an excellent experience.  I find Allan Moore extremely hit & miss, but have to count this one as a palpable hit.

-Matthew J. Constantine

Matt’s Week in Dork! (9/7/14-9/13/14)

    This past week I spent much of my time at Rehoboth, Delaware, a beach resort town right up against the Atlantic Ocean.  My goodness, it was swell.  We hit just after the end of the Summer season, as much of the community was winding down, so we had the place largely to ourselves.  This meant that some businesses and activities were closed (no mini-golf that we could find), but much of the vacation madness and crowding was over.  That’s more my cup of tea anyway, being somewhat averse to large crowds as a general thing.  Consequently, there’s not a lot in the way of movies for this week, but plenty of other cool stuff.

    On the journey up, I read the first volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, this month’s graphic novel club book.  It was one of the first comics I read when I started getting into the medium about 12 years ago, and this was my first re-reading of it.  I enjoyed the heck out of Alan Moore’s referential smorgasbord of Victorian literature.

    We arrived in Ocean City, where we hailed the first cab to come along…the craziest, most 70s, adventure cab you could ever want.  Despite having a Huey Lewis and the News cassette (along with the Big Chill soundtrack!), it was not, as we were briefly worried, a murder van.  It did have a sweet surfboard on top and a rubber skeleton hanging out the back window.  Bam!  In that character filled van, with a character of a driver, we crossed the length of Ocean City to catch another bus, the Dart, which took us out to our lodgings.  Sadly, the public transit in the Ocean City-Rehoboth corridor is not the most user friendly, with very little helpful info on their website, and no ability to track bus progress.  And when you’re talking about bus routes that can be as much as an hour and a half, easier tracking would be very helpful.  Still, in Rehoboth itself, the buses seemed pretty frequent, even in this off season.  The buses were nice (and clean), but their website could use some work.

    When we hopped off the bus, we were greeted by a cute little farmer’s market, called Fifer’s.  The folks running it were very friendly, and the food we snagged was quite good.  I’d recommend the apple cider donuts, and their tubs of snacks (dried fruit, trail mix, etc.) were quite good.  The chocolate covered pretzels even used real chocolate, not that waxy crap you get in most grocery stores.  Oh, man….

    Though the weather was a bit drizzly, we took the short walk to the beach after getting settled in, and it was simply beautiful.  I’ve been to precious few beaches in my day, and most of them were on the frigid and rocky shores of Maine.  This was a classic resort town beach.  Stretching off into the misty fog  at the far end of either direction, the sand gently sloped down to the rolling waves, giving plenty of room for people to set up and enjoy.  However, due to the lateness of our visit and the wet weather, the beach was mostly deserted.  Perfect.

    After the peaceful view of the rolling ocean, we headed to Rehoboth proper, where there’s an awesome, old-timey boardwalk that looks like what Atlantic City would look like without the sleaze.  I was reminded of the Bangor State Fare mixed with the usual tourist trap shops.  But it was all pleasant and fun to walk around.  But first up was The Frogg Pond, which we had heard had the best wings in town.  I don’t know if there are better, but they were sure as heck delicious.  I was only disappointed that I wasn’t hungry enough to eat another round.  The general atmosphere was of a typical sports bar, but it was pleasant and clean, and the staff was friendly.  There was some live music of moderate quality and perhaps a touch too much volume, but nothing offensive or too off-putting.  After our meal, we stopped by a Candy Kitchen, a shop more common in the region than Starbucks in New York City to purchase some extra snacks and sweets.  Again, I was reminded of the difference real chocolate makes.  You know it’s good when it starts melting on contact with your skin.  Wowzer.  Good stuff.

    Tuesday morning, we had breakfast at The Sunrise Restaurant, a highly rated local favorite.  I have to admit, I found it a bit underwhelming.  The portions were enormous, but the food was sort of middling.  It had that awesome local diner type vibe, but I can’t really rave about it.

    After a trip to local outlet stores (I needed a new pair of sneakers) we walked back into Rehoboth and had a drink at The Summer House.  I drank The Painkiller, which did it’s job.  It was on these walks through town that we discovered the whole place seems to be ruled by a benevolent dictator, Jack Lingo.  His signs are everywhere, and he seems to be the name behind nearly ever real estate deal going.  His office complex is quite impressive, and looks like a historic monument.  We never met or saw the man, and that’s too bad.  I would love to have a face to put with the name.  I’m sure it’s handsome, well quaffed, and accompanied by a rich, smooth voice.  After passing the massive palace of the Mighty Lingo, it was on to the boardwalk where we ate some fries at Thrasher’s, which were quite good.  And we made our first stop at The Ice Cream Store with its dizzying array of flavors.  If we’d stayed another week, I would not have grown tired of trying ice creams and if there were more hours in the day, we’d have likely been hitting the place up a couple times each one we spent in town.  Another walk on the beach brought us home, where we quickly turned around and headed down to the water, putting our feet in for the first time.  While it was a bit cloudy and windy, the water was amazing.  And standing there with the surf breaking around us was pretty darned spectacular.  It was what I’d always wanted the beach to be, not the shiver inducing, dirty green harshness of Sand Beach.

    Later that evening we walked back into town to have dinner at Dogfish Head Brewpub.  My lady was very pleased with the selection of beers, being so near the actual brewery.  (Heck, even I enjoyed sips of a few of those beers, and I normally can’t stand the stuff).  Their burger special was excellent and easy on the wallet.  And the service was exceptional.  I think this may have been my favorite eating experience of the week (a week full of good eating).  It would appear that there is a Dogfish Head close to me, and I definitely plan on visiting sooner rather than later.

    Early Wednesday morning, we walked down to the beach to watch the sunrise.  While the clouds didn’t cooperate as much as we might have hoped, it was still quite lovely.  After that, we grabbed some breakfast sandwiches from Fifers and settled in for a relaxing day.  We were feeling kind of lazy, so we spent much of the early day lounging and watching a couple movies.  Each of us brought along a few the other hadn’t seen, just in case we were stuck inside.  So, I’ve now seen Dirty Dancing, and she’s now seen Buckaroo Banzai.  Ain’t love grand?!

Dirty Dancing:  Apparently set in the early 1960s, this extremely 80s film is filled with everything you expect.  Dancing (sometimes dirty), cheesy dialog (“Last month I was eating Jujubes just to keep alive!”), and hacksaw editing.  Oh, and surprise After School Special/“very special episode of Blossom” B storyline.  Jerry Orbach is particularly awesome as the greatest dad ever.  Plus, like all good 80s films it ends in a dance/concert/big game.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension:  One of the most madcap, off the wall, weirdly involved, sprawling, never explains who the deuce these people are movies you’ll ever see.  It hits the ground running and it runs all over the danged place.  A bunch of hard rocking scientists/crime-fighters/doctors led by Peter Weller face off against criminal aliens in the form of the best 80s movie villain actors, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, Dan Hedaya, and Vincent Schiavelli (yes, not ONE, but all FOUR!).  The movie feels like what a good comic book movie should be.  There’s little in the way of origin story, and lots in the way of implied history between various characters.  It feels like you’ve been thrust into their world and you’ve got to figure out what’s happening and why.  Infinitely quotable, funny, weird, and often outright bugnuts.  It’s kind of amazing.

    Wednesday afternoon we had the best weather of the whole week, so we went down to the ocean again, enjoying the heck out of the surf, getting pretty well soaked, and even laying out for a while in the sun to dry off.  There were so many people with dogs, too, which were having a great time.  The vibe of the beach was really chill all week, and while never crowded, everyone seemed to be into the water.

    Wednesday night, we walked to Bramble & Brine, a classier place than I’m used to, but quite nice.  It had a slightly hoity-toity, very family-owned feel to it, while not being too stuffy.  The food was excellent.  Not cheap by any stretch.  But excellent.  Both of us were blown away by the lamb porterhouse, which was just an appetizer, but was darned good.  Darned good.  And they had a bunch of Prohibition era cocktails, which you know I’m into.  The service was exceptional, friendly and attentive, without hovering.  On the way back, we hit up The Ice Cream Store again, and Gidget's Gadgets, a kind of nicknack and kitsch shop.

    Thursday morning began the clean-up and return trip prep work.  With another round of breakfast sandwiches from Fifers, we set about tidying up.  By around noon, we were out the door and heading for the bus pick-up.  Once back to Ocean City, with suggestions from a friend, Rebecca directed us toward Ocean City Taphouse.  Good burgers and good homemade chips (with Old Bay).  From there it was back on the bus with a few stops, transfers, etc. and back home.  On the return trip, I read the second volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which I enjoyed even more than the first.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be rereading Black Dossier and Century in the coming weeks.

    This was, without a doubt, the best danged vacation I’ve ever taken.  And I’d recommend Rehoboth to anyone looking for a fun, relaxing time by the beach.  I’m sure it is crazy during the peak season, and maybe not as much fun for introverts like myself.  But generally, it was pretty amazing.  The people were wonderful and the food fantastic.  Getting home, I understandably fell into a post-vacation funk.  Still, it was a great week. And I sure as heck want to give a big thank you to the owners of the place we stayed at.  You can check out the listing here: http://www.vrbo.com/513559.  Excellent location, wonderful and friendly owner, and spacious enough for a larger group, if you're interested (one group that stayed there before us was a bachelorette party/week).  I can't say enough good things.

Muppets Most Wanted:  After hearing some pretty bad press about this film, I found myself enjoying the heck out of it.  Plenty of the usual Muppets antics, lots of blink and you’ll miss ‘em cameos, and some fun musical numbers.  While it’s not going to change the world, it’s a very fun movie, and lots of fun for the family.  If you like the Muppets, you should find plenty to like here.

    Saturday, Brad and I headed out to SPX.  I feel more and more each year that I’ve lost the thread (if I ever had it) of the whole SPX thing.  I enjoy going, but I’m usually done with the place relatively quickly, and a bit relieved when I leave.  As the years have gone by, I’ve found the Baltimore Comic Con has become more diverse, more interesting, both in content and in attendees, while SPX has become more homogenous.  Table after table of similar, often not especially impressive work.  And the crowd seems to have all gone to the same clothing shop and the same stylist.  Purple or blue or pink flannel shirts, skinny jeans, thick-rimmed glasses, Converse sneakers, and haircuts that looked a heck of a lot like Pete White’s from Venture Bros., all mixed into a kind of ugly, utilitarian androgyny.  And almost everyone in attendance was white.  Jim Rugg and Tom Scioli were there, and I was glad to get some stuff from them.  But overall, it didn’t get me too awful pumped, as it has in years past.

The Phantom:  This serial is a bit longer than I was expecting.  15 chapters, instead of the 12 I’m more used to.  It’s better than some, but not among my favorites.  It features the usual ‘Mysterious Lands’ that are some vague hodgepodge of Africa, South America, the American West, and tropical islands of the Hollywood cliché factory.  Tom Tyler, who I enjoyed so much as Captain Marvel in The Adventures of Captain Marvel, one of my favorite movie serials ever, is super dull in this.  His lifeless performance as the Phantom is one of the weaker elements, which is rough when he’s the main character.  Good but not great.

Blood Money (aka: The Stranger and the Gunfighter):  It’s not just East Meets West.  It’s East Meets West with spaghetti sauce.  Unfortunately, as with several of these attempts at genre mashing, the end result is a diluted, half-way version of both, not a good synthesis of both.  Lee Van Cleef is pretty much phoning it in, and Lieh Lo lacks the charm to make up for it.  It’s not terrible, and less dull than a good number of forgettable Spaghetti Westerns, but don’t go out of your way.

    And that was that.  A fine week, with plenty of good food, good fun, comics, movies, and more.  Who’d have thought an after season beach in Delaware would be so darned nice?

-Matthew J. Constantine

Comic Review: Nemo - Heart of Ice

    League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is right up there at the top of my list of favorite graphic novels.  It taps into all those things I love so much, the wide array of Victorian and pulp adventure fiction, from H.G. Welles, to Jules Verne, to Edgar Rice Burroughs, and beyond.  And of course, one of the coolest characters was Captain Nemo, master of the Nautilus, dashing, suave, and deadly.  With Nemo, we follow his daughter, haunted by his shadow and his deeds, as she tries to find her own path in life.

    In 1925, Princess Janni Dakkar, the new Nemo, lives as a brigand.  When she runs afoul of Aisha and Charles Foster Kane, a chase across the world begins.  She blazes a trail across Antarctica and all the strange wonders it hides, from Present Land to the Mountains of Madness.

    If you’ve read previous League universe books, you’ll know the drill.  It’s sad, dark, full of ugly twists on classic characters.  But it’s also thrilling and strange, and challenges the reader to figure out the reference.  I know there were several I didn’t get.  One of these days, I’m going to have to go back through the whole series with some annotations or something.  I know there’s stuff I’m missing, meaning I’m not catching.

    I’ve never been a huge fan of Kevin O’Neill’s art, but it gets the job done, and helps to set the whole uncomfortable vibe of Moore’s bent literature rollercoaster.  Moore is one of those writers I go back and forth on.  He’s written some of my favorite books, but he’s also written stuff I can’t even force my way through.  He seems like a colossal jackass, and possibly more in love with himself than his rabid fans are.  But he’s also good at capturing the magic of the classic fiction I love so much.  Heart of ice is surprisingly upbeat; still kind of a downer, but for this series, it’s relatively positive.  I could see this being a really nice companion series to the later stuff involving the League.

Nemo: Heart of Ice
Author: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O’Neill
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
ISBN: 978-1-60309-274-6

-Matt

Brad's Week in Dork! (2/24/13-3/2/13)

A light week.  Guess I was just taking it easy on the dorkdom front.  My enthusiasm for this year's Oscars was fairly extreme though - for the first time ever I managed to watch nearly every nomination including all of the major awards and even the short films.  Devouring that much content will get you excited for any award ceremony, even one that's as awkward and misguided as The Academy Awards.  At the very least I gotta appreciate Seth Macfarlane's obvious manhandling of the ceremony, hamfisting my favorite Federation Captain into the opening act.  Seeing Shatner floating above the stage was surreal and enjoyable, despite some lame brain comedy that didn't just fall flat, it sank like a (kidney) stone.

The big comic this week was Batman Incorporated #8.  The Big Shock of the issue was ruined for us weeks ago thanks to an annoying Tweeter, but DC Comics also ran the story in USA Today days before the release so it's hard to get upset at some anonymous internet troll when The New 52 can't keep their gobs shut either.  I get it, if you have the opportunity to promote an event in a major newspaper yer gonna do it, but does anyone in America not already reading funny books know or care about Damien Wayne?  And will that USA Today article send anyone running into the comic shops?  Not bloody likely.  But whatever, Grant Morrison is still killing it with his Bat-run and I'm dying to see how he wraps up this epic.

The 85th Annual Academy Awards:  Well, evaluating my predictions last week, I missed 6.  Argo took home the big prize; as did Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, & Anne Hathaway.  No big shocks there.  I was pleased to see Christophe Waltz win Best Supporting Actor - I guess that man should never stray too far from QT.  And speaking of ego incarnate, Tarantino shockingly took home the Best Original Screenplay Oscar and despite some chatter about homage vs originality, it's hard to believe that this is his first gold statue since his writing win for Pulp Fiction.  I was too cute in my thinking as far as the Best Director category was concerned.  Spielberg & Ang Lee did not split the vote for Russell, and Ang got his accolades for Life of Pi.  Not sure I can really hate on that, he did a fine enough job on that film.  My problems with Life of Pi stem from the content of the narrative not so much the filmmaking.  As far as the show itself goes, it was the usual mess of misfires and chintzy class.  I can't say that I full-on hated Seth Macfarlane as host (especially when you consider James Franco's cokehead turn of yesteryear), but I'm a little tired of the standup routine.  I wanted more of his soft shoe and less of his dull potty humor.  At the very least he did get Tommy Lee Jones to chuckle.  Kudos.  Best bits included dancing - Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Daniel Radcliffe, Charlize Theron & Channing Tatum.  I definitely want more film celebration and less mockery.  These Hollywood egos make such easy targets anyway, and it would be nice if The Academy Awards actually had respect for their art.  The tribute to Bond was nice and all, but not much more than a glorified DVD extra.

The Walking Dead Season 3 - "Aint No Judas":  Andrea comes crawling back to the prison, and Rick & Company want nothing to do with her.  Can't say I blame them, I was waiting the whole episode for Merle to pig stick her.  Of all the tragic interpretations from comic to screen, Andrea is easily the most brutally butchered in the writer's room.  As if Dale wasn't self righteous enough, Andrea takes up his mantel, screaming her all-knowing wisdom at her former gang of sadsacks.  As the show built to its final moments I was almost certain The Governor was going to slit her throat - no real SPOILERS here, but obviously this show is still concerned with stretching the season than deliver shock & awe.  Nothing important happened here.  You could probably skip this ep altogether and not even notice.  The sick thing is though, now that my respect for this show has pretty much vanished, I'm starting to really enjoy the presence of Michael Rooker.  He's the ham of the series, and this drab narrative certainly could seriously use some ham.

Batman Incorporated #8:  I'd warn you of spoilers, but DC pretty much gives it to ya on that cover above.  One of the most notable aspects to Grant Morrison's run on Batman has been the acceptance of Damian Wayne into the hearts of DC fanboys everywhere.  Seven years ago, Morrison reached back into the 1980s and yanked the forgotten child of Talia Al Ghul & Bruce Wayne out of an Elseworld's one-shot (Son of the Demon) and plopped him into continuity.  And for that "Batman & Son" storyarc we got a lot of bitching & moaning from the internet community.  However, through much hard work and creative labor, Morrison proved the new arrogant Robin to be not only the real deal Son of The Batman, but a sidekick worthy of both Wayne & original Boy Wonder Dick Grayson. Damian Wayne is what makes Grant Morrison my favorite Bat-Writer.  He does not dismiss the whacky, crazy, or stupid of comics.  He loves it all.  He uses it all.  Bat-mite.  Knight & Squire.  Zur-En-Arrh.  Bastard children.  They all exist in his universe.  He makes the square bricks fit into the triangular holes like the meanest block smashing infant.  And his crazy multicolored tapestry is set ablaze with this single issue...out of the ashes will hopefully arise his masterpiece.  Now we all know that Dead Ain't Dead in comic books.  Damian Wayne will return - just look to your left, that's the other once-dead Robin, Jason Todd waving at you.  But for Morrison, Damian is dead.  Don't expect this writer to script another animal-loving sentiment from him again.  And for my money, Batman Inc #8 has more punch and anger than anything Scott Snyder was trying to do with his Death of the Family arc found in the flagship sister title.  This has been a long time coming and I cannot wait to see Batman face-to-face with the mother & killer of his son.  It's gonna be ugly.

Justified Season 4 - "Outlaw":  Possibly my favorite episode of the season so far.  Raylan accidentally sets into motion events that land papa Arlo into the infirmary.  There father & son exchange more nasty familial hate, and the origin of Raylan's rage is obviously buried deep within their contempt-filled stares.  Meanwhile, across town, Boyd pits the Detroit Mafia against the rich bastards controlling Harlan and despite a close call, the quickdraw Raylan Givens puts Boyd on top of the backwoods Kentucky Empire.  Of course, Cousin Johnny has other plans.  Have we now reached a point where Ralyan & Boyd will ride this season out together?  It definitely feels like we're at the end even if the whole Drew Thompson mystery seems less important every day.

Nemo - Heart of Ice:  Taking place between Books 1 & 2 of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century, this one-shot is a much needed return to the spirit of classic Adventure Comics.  As much as I loved the reference-blitzing insanity of Century, it's nice to be reminded that Alan Moore doesn't treat everyone of his creations as an acid laced internal plunge into his Heart of Darkness.  This book picks up right as Captain Nemo's daughter (Pirate Jenny) robs the American tycoon, Charles Foster Kane of some treasure that Allan Quartermain would no doubt find appealing.  Nemo's spawn escapes to Antarctica, where following her fathers rambling journals, discovers The Mounts of Madness.  Still, as much fun as you can have spotting Lovecraft and Tom Swift, Heart of Ice is singularly enjoyable as an Adventure Comic.  It's impossible for you (or at least me) to grasp all the literary links, but it's less important here than the more recent LXG outings.  Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neal are simply concocting a fun read - the winks are cute, but not necessary.

Gattaca:  Matt's been bothering me for a long time (possibly our entire existence together) to watch this flick.  It's something that's obviously near and dear to his heart.  That much anticipation can sometimes make it difficult to enjoy and I tend to drag ass when people shove dvds in my hand.  I know that's why he's never seen Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid - a film I generally pester him about.  This week he finally forced me in front of the television to watch his blu ray copy.  And it's a solid flick.  I'm not the biggest Ethan Hawke fan, but I appreciate how he inhabits a good boy 1950s attitude.  In fact, I like the general warmth that his character has towards space travel and adventures in science.  Not sure I totally agree with Matt in regards of the film's final answer to the question of Frankensteinian anti-science storytelling, and the final moments for Jude Law felt anti-climactic as well as rushed.  And yeah, I really don't like the cold blooded Uma Thurman.  She's meant to be a sterile character but she felt generally lifeless.

The Imposter:  A fascinating and mentally frustrating documentary.  There were points in the narrative that had me shouting at the screen "WHAT!?!?" or "YOU'VE GOT TO BE JOKING!"  Similar to my response to the heinous actions discovered in The Invisible War, this documentary boggled my mind as far as what people were willing to do as well as willing to accept as a means to Keep On Trucking.  A 13 year old boy goes missing in San Antonio, Texas.  Three years later, a 24 year old Frenchman claiming to be that child is accepted by both the family and the US Government.  Told talking head style from the mouths of The Imposter, the G-Men, and the family members; the mystery never quite unravels but its path is both shocking and deeply sad.  I really hope that the documentarians return to this subject further down the line, I want to know more - I need to know more.

FF #4:  Matt Fraction has delivered one of the few standouts from the Marvel Now relaunch.  Funny, considering how ordinary his sister book, The Fantastic Four, feels in comparison with this oddball beauty.  And this latest issue is an even better Valentine than last month's cute, but gloomy Sue & Reed tale.  The Moloids are madly in love with She-Hulk - an impossible, aching teacherly crush.  When they learn of her prospective date, The Moloids must act drastically.  They partner with Bentley-23, attempt to raise monsters out of oceans, and rape the mind of hapless waiters.  But all their efforts hopelessly bring She-Hulk closer into the arms of her lover.  Mike Allred continues to kill it on art, and I wanted to instagram nearly every panel of this book.  Final words: just darling.

The Rocketeer - Hollywood Horror #1:  I wanted to love this book.  Mark Waid's previous Rocketeer mini, Cargo of Doom, was pure pulpy bliss.  However, Roger Langridge's work on this first issue feels rather ordinary and I don't respond well to J Bone's Darwyn Cookey art style.  It's another story in which evil scientist and government goons want Cliff's backpack - does this really have to be the plot of every Rocketeer comic?  But I'm still continuing.  After all, Cargo of Doom was only a so-so first issue and the promise of Lovecraftian tentacles (hmmmm, a theme this week) and Betty's female empowerment meddling is appealing.  We'll just have to see next issue.

Hawkeye #8:  I was kinda lukewarm on Fraction's last issue, but #8 is back in the saddle of greatness.  The mysterious redhead from previous issues appears again to make-out with Clint and embarrass him in front of all his exes (Black Widow, what a bitch).  She's got something dark & dangerous stored inside a safe, and the combination to its secrets are hidden within a batch of yellowed romance comics.  David Aja has all kinds of fun with those fake covers.  What I love so much about this title is how Fraction can take one & done storytelling and still manage to complete an overarching narrative.  The Bro Gang is back, they're chit chatting it up with The Owl & The Kingpin.  Life is only going to get more difficult for my new favorite Avenger.  Cannot wait to see more awkward pain land on his doorstep.

Gone With The Wind:  Woot!  I completed another Cinematic Resolution!  And who knew it would be so closely tied in emotion with Birth of a Nation?  I certainly had no idea I would react so poorly to the plight of Scarlet O'Hara.  But when I saw it on the AFI Silver's calendar I knew I wanted my first experience with this film to be on The Big Screen.  Not at grandma's house.  Not on Turner Classic Movies or TNT.  This movie is grande and it's meant to be seen 100 feet tall.  So The Wife, Matt, & I jumped in the car and flew to the theater Saturday afternoon.  And we all hated it.  Yes folks, wait for it...I Hated Gone With The Wind.  **GASP**  **CRY HAVOC**  and **BOO!**  One friend on Facebook told me I'm just a victim of overblown expectations.  Maybe.  But I genuinely knew nothing about this film other than "Frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn," that it was tied to the Civil War, and that it was really, really long.  I had no idea that Vivian Leigh's Scarlet was just a manipulative and heinous human being.  I'm told we're supposed to despise her.  Mission accomplished.  I wanted to slap her across the face for nearly the entire four hour run time.  Especially since she seems to enjoy slapping the hell outta her slaves and lovers.  Clark Gable is a stunning brute.  I enjoyed his spitting dialogue and self-depricating morality.  At least he knew he was a monster.  A rapist to boot, but thankfully when morning comes, Scarlet seems to enjoy the act of rape.  No means yes after all.  But I can enjoy a film peppered with deplorable human beings (see LA Confidential, Unforgiven, French Connection, Citizen Kane, and a million other movies).  What really irked me about Gone With The Wind is its general romanticizing of the good old days - you know where "the sound of negro laughter" filled the stables.  The title itself is an insult, sweeping across the screen as blacks pick cotton in the field.  Just gross.  I love overwrought melodrama as much as the next guy, but Gone With The Wind left a shameful taste in my mouth.  Not nearly as bitter or sad as Birth of a Nation, but it shared the same flavor.

--Brad