Comic Review: Saga Volume 2

    Sometimes, I just don’t get other people.  Look, taste is taste.  I get that I like things that others don’t like.  I get that others like things I don’t like.  But sometimes the disconnect, especially when it comes to people with whom I share similar views, is rather profound.  Many science fiction fans, for example, put Terminator 2 on their list of best sci-fi films.  Huh?  Getting past it being a shallow remake of the first film, it also manages to do all the things everyone hates about the Star Wars prequels, nearly a decade earlier (read: make everyone and everything cool into someone or something stupid and lame).  This struck me again when I picked up the first trade of Saga.  Here was a comic being hailed as one of the best new series, as a great science fiction epic, etc.  Well, everyone who said those things is wrong.  Not saying they can’t like the book, but they’re wrong to claim it as a) good or b) good science fiction.  And as I read the second volume (for a graphic novel club), my bafflement at the love and my general distaste for Saga crystallized.  What Saga is, is not a grand science fiction epic.  It’s a bland retelling of Romeo & Juliet, filtered through years of wink-wink snarky Joss Whedon dialog.  This feels like something a teenager would scribble on the back of her English Lit notebook after discovering Piers Anthony.  It’s like Jewel poetry turned into a comic.  And this from the guy who wrote one of my all time favorite comics, Y: The Last Man.  I don’t get it.

    In skimming the first volume again, as I prepared to read the second, I was struck anew by how uninteresting most of the characters are.  The introduction of The Will and The Stalk made me wish the story would immediately change directions, dropping the sappy love story and turn instead into some science fiction adventure tale.  Alas, by the end of the first volume, one of the only interesting characters to come along was dead.  In volume 2, the other interesting character quickly gets tied up in a creepy anime-vibe storyline I’d rather not dwell on.

    As my comment about the 16 year old girl might indicate, I found this whole thing to be quite childish.  There’s even a lot of ‘shocking’ stuff, that feels like it was thrown in by an adolescent in the hopes of getting a reaction (see: the film career of Lars Von Trier for an example of this on a larger scale).  I was not shocked, but mildly annoyed by obvious stunt writing.  And the narration.  The narration.  Ugh!

    I’ve read worse comics.  Astonishing X-Men, Young Avengers, etc.  These are worse.  But I’ve read few things that make me more angry.  So much wasted talent on such a juvenile and hackneyed series.  And people are eating it up?!  I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.  It’s like when I tried to watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory, and I felt like I was being punked.  Certainly it is not one of the most popular shows on TV, right?  Someone is was having a go.  Alas, it is popular.  And Saga is, unaccountably well received by people who otherwise seem to have a functioning sense of taste and quality.  I don’t get it.

(edit: After the group discussion, I understand more of the reasons why other people like the comic.  From its exploration of parenthood to the 'fun' things it does.  I can't join in on the love; and I am glad I don't have to read any more of it; and I still don't think it's one of the best comics out there.)

Saga Volume Two
Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Fiona Staples
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 978-1-6070-6692-7

-Matt

Comic Review: The Massive - Black Pacific

    I’m torn.  On the one hand, I really dig the 70s environmental/apocalyptic vibe of this comic, with its retro-art and sprawling Lion Uris (without the racism) vibe.  On the other hand, the pacing seems to be somewhere just behind that of a snail.  And there’s a hint at something that I don’t like at all, that feels extremely weird and wrong in a book of this type.  This is only the first volume, however, of what I assume (and hope) is a limited series with a planned direction and known ending.

    The plot is pretty simple.  The world has fallen apart due to series of natural and manmade disasters.  A group of environmental activists have survived, and decided their mission isn’t over, and that this new world needs them.  However, their primary ship, The Massive, has gone missing, and they’re on a quest to find it, following a dwindling trail of breadcrumbs.  That’s it.  Like Lost, it takes on complexity and depth by use of frequent, revelatory flashbacks that develop the overall plot and the characters involved.  By the end of the volume, you’ve got a pretty good idea of the motivations behind two core members of the crew, Callum Israel and Mag Nagendra.  But you also have an enigma in Mary, the mysterious black woman who does her own thing and knows stuff.  This prompts me to ask, what exactly is it with comics and mysterious black women?  Almost immediately, she reminded me of Agent 355 from Y: The Last Man, which made me think of Michone from The Walking Dead.  What’s the deal, comic industry?  Are you trying to say something?  Or, am I just reading too much into some coincidence?  It’s with Mary that the most fertile seeds of my discontent are sown.  If Brian Wood has the plans for her I think he does, I feel like calling a preemptive “Bulls#!+” right now.  But, I’ll wait and make sure.  She could be responsible for a genre change I am not OK with.

    While I think there’s potential here for something really cool, I don’t feel like the first volume is strong enough.  Maybe more needed to happen, or some kind of dramatic reveal was needed.  But no.  It just kind of ends.  If I were a smarter guy, I probably would not read further, but I probably will.  The back end of the trade does feature some introductory stories, which actually kind of cement my trepidation with where this series is likely headed, which is not where I want to see it go.  But though there are a few genuinely intriguing bits, it’s all kind of blah.  Actually, that makes it feel even more like a lot of those 70s movies with a message, that have a lot going for them, but come off as somewhat hollow and a bit boring.

The Massive: Black Pacific
Author: Brian Wood
Artists: Kristian Donaldson, etc.
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-61655-132-2

-Matt

Comic Review: Y: The Last Man Volume 5

    Dang it.  I am not, by nature, an emotional man (other than anger).  But this book kicked my emotional ass.  Maybe even harder this time than when I first read it 5 or 6 years ago.  Here are the final revelations and final resolutions.  And it’s rough.  Yorick isn’t the same he was five years earlier, when all the other men kicked it.  And the women have changed a great deal along the way as well (those who have survived).  The whole world has changed…sort of.

    I don’t feel right talking about the plot points of this volume, as this is where the various story threads all come together.  But man, Brian K. Vaughan doesn’t let you have what you want.  It’s compelling, and it works.  But it’s so danged harsh.  So danged harsh.  The last chapter/issue just destroys me.  It’s beautiful, uplifting I guess, but so, so darned sad.  Gah.  Just read it and then we can talk about it.

    I’m glad that the final volume is primarily illustrated by co-creator Pia Guerra.  I know that schedules for comics can be very grueling, and that fill-in work is often needed.  And Goran Sudzuka did an excellent job on this series, maintaining the style and tone very well.  But it felt right to have Guerra back for the end.  The last chapter/issue is especially good.  Like the rest of the series, it’s not flashy or in your face with style.  But it’s so tonally right for the wistfulness, the melancholy, the nostalgia.

    So, yeah.  There are a lot of reasons Y is among my very favorite comic series.  It’s a good story, well told.  It has a bunch of cool characters and never quite goes where you expect.  But it has something else.  It’s one of the few pieces of literature that can pull genuine tears out of me.  It makes the chunk of coal that rests where my heart should be ache almost like I had the real thing.  I am not, by nature, an emotional man.  But you wouldn’t know it as I write this, still wiping at the corner of my eye.

Y: The Last Man Deluxe Edition Book Five
Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Pia Guerra
Publisher: Vertigo
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3051-7

-Matt

Comic Review: Y: The Last Man Volume 4

    The fourth hardcover of this apocalyptic epic spends a lot of time looking into the pasts of our various players, seeing 355’s origin, Dr. M’s childhood, and even Alter’s twisted rise to power.  After years, the manless world is reaching a kind of emotional breaking point.  Some women have begun the difficult project of reestablishing civilization; trade, communication, war.  But others have lost all hope, descended into drugs, murder, sex, and illusions.

    It’s a hard world, and Yorick seems to have finally come to terms with it, with himself, with the things he’s done.  But 355 may finally be cracking, her iron exterior may have a weakness after all.  And Dr. Mann, she’s falling apart with the possibility of having to face her past, her family, and her guilt.  Japan provides a strange backdrop for Yorick’s search for his missing monkey, and there are plenty of interesting characters grasping for power.

    Pia Guerra is largely absent in this volume, with most of the art being done by Goran Sudzuka.  But he manages to keep the style established by Guerra.  Other than frequent full page panels, there is virtually none of the all too common panel over-design, where style gets in the way of story.  The art and the design simply let the story unfold.

    The story is building to its eventual climax.  The board is set, the pieces are all coming together, and soon, the moment will come when answers will be had, blood will be spilled, and the fate of the unmanned world will be decided, discovered, or created.

Y: The Last Man The Deluxe Edition Book Four
Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Goran Sudzuka, etc.
Publisher: Vertigo
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2888-0

-Matt

Comic Review: Y: The Last Man Volume 3

    Things get pretty crazy in this volume, with lots of dreams and portents, redemptions and betrayals.  And so much more death.  But there’s also hope, with major progress being made in understanding what killed all the men, and why Yorick and Ampersand didn’t bleed out with the rest of ‘em.  Yorick is still looking for his lady love, but that seems to have become like most people’s religion, something to say when people ask, but otherwise, mostly forgotten.  In the meantime, the wall he’s built around himself seems to have a few holes in it.

    With Amazons, ninjas, pirates, and gun wielding cultists, 355 and Dr. Mann have a devil of a time keeping Yorick and his monkey breathing, as their odyssey takes them finally to California.  But it’s not over, and a trip across the pacific is in the cards.  And be it to forgiveness, romance, or death, the adventure drives everyone on.

    Guerra’s art remains solid, and I think continues to improve as the series progresses.  Yet, she still avoids cluttering pages with experimental or pointlessly stylistic panel design, generally saving flashy bits for dreams, flashbacks, and the like.  The writing does provide an opportunity for some pretty crazy stuff.

    Two years into the unmanned world, and nobody is quite the same.  Everyone has faced something, survived something, seen something that has changed them irrevocably.  Death, violence, depression, starvation, guilt, and the gauntlet of human suffering has broken even the stoutest heart.  Everyone’s armor is bent and broken.  The story of these wounded people can be difficult and challenging.  But, it’s also tinged with brightness, with beauty and humor.  And I can’t help but want things to turn out well for everyone.

    Of course, I’ve read this series before.

Y: The Last Man The Deluxe Edition Book Three
Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Pia Guerra, etc.
Publisher: Vertigo
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2578-0

-Matt

Comic Review: Y: The Last Man Volume 2

    Yorick may not be alone after all.  Not exactly.  Will a pod descending from space bring two more men into the mix?  And what will the various militant factions think of it?  This volume sees blood on many hands as our heroes are tested.  And poor Yorick, he goes through a surreal gauntlet in order to come to terms with…well all the various things he’s gone through.  If the first volume is the introduction of the concept, this volume is shift in focus toward the greater story.

    Pia Guerra’s art is even better in this volume, and guest artists Paul Chadwick and Goran Parlov do a good job of keeping the style cohesive.  Again, the few strong stylistic moments serve the story; sepia for a specific childhood flashback; Polaroid pictures for a happy memory tainted with shame.  And the whole ‘Comedy & Tragedy’ chapter is a reflective eye on the series’ conflict.

    While this series could easily fall into more exploitative territory, it continually challenges expectations.  And there is a sadness in it.  Not just the sadness of a species passing on, but of the realization that all the blame heaped on men for countless generations could have been passed around to the women, too.  Humans are humans, and women have the same capability to achieve great good, but also the same capacity for terrible evil.  And watching a civilization collapse from the outside makes you so much more aware of how easy it would be to fix.  But inside, things are never so easy.

    Brian K. Vaughan is as brutal toward his characters as Robert Kirkman, introducing great characters you can’t wait to see do great things, only to see them shot in the face a few panels later.  It feels a bit like watching Lost, where every time Jeff Fahey showed up, I spent the whole episode expecting him to get killed.  Every time I like a character, I keep waiting for a bullet, an arrow, or a knife to snuff them out.

Y: The Last Man The Deluxe Edition Book Two
Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Pia Guerra, etc.
Publisher: Vertigo
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2235-2

-Matt

Brad's Week In Dork! (1/6/13-1/12/13)

This Week In Dork was just a big batch of random.  And with that random comes a little less passion to my dorkery.  Feels like I'm just biding time until I can get crazy with next week's post-Holiday vacation.  Started the second week of the year with my first Big Screen movie, Texas Chainsaw 3D.  Went with a batch of friends and we enjoyed ripping it a new one in a practically empty theater.  Laughably bad and my least favorite entry in the franchise...and that is really saying something.  But, ya know, the year generally starts off with a pretty shitty flick.  That's part of the joy of January.  And after thinking about it for three or four seconds, I have to admit that I enjoyed Texas Chainsaw much more than last year's first film, Underworld: Awakening.  There was no fun mockery with that movie, just boring Beckinsale deadvoice.

However, the most exciting news this week was the return of FX's Justified.  I know the whole world seemed to be lukewarm on the last season, but I still enjoyed Raylan's showdown with Neal McDonough's Detroit mafioso.  And I've missed the charm of Timothy Olyphant's contemporary cowboy.  We all need more Elmore Leonard in our lives.

Texas Chainsaw 3D:  "Do Your Thing Cuz!!!" The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise has always held my attention, especially when comparing them to horror counterparts like Friday the 13th & A Nightmare on Elm Street. The original film is a genuine American Classic (No matter how much Matt whines). The sequel is a superior bit of gory 80s (head)cheese elevated to the high heavens by the mega acting of Dennis Hopper. Parts 3 & 4 are shockingly fun thanks to various goofy character performances (Viggo Mortensen's squirrelly hitchhiker & Matthew McConaughey's hydraulic barrel moaner). And then you've got the super slick, Bayification remake and its struggling prequel. And now, we get a sequel to the original '74 film that picks up seconds after its truck bed climax. That takes some balls.  But does it have the brass tacks to pull it off. Nope! Texas Chainsaw 3D is easily the weakest entry in the franchise. The film plays like a series of excuses just to showcase Alexandra Daddario's pasty white midriff, and only a few bursts of chainsaw butchery remind you that this is not a long lost Shania Twain music video. For the first half of the film she's partnered up with a the usual batch of faceless teen sluts and the frosted tips of Deputy Blue Jeans, and when Leatherface clears the cast list we're given a new group of characterless adults to slaughter. Toss in a few unique faces and you might have had a fun, crappy night out at the movies but as is?  Texas Chainsaw 3D is utterly forgettable. Chainsaws popping at ya, and cartoon blood geysers do not make for memorable slasher moments.

Side By Side:  Keanu Reeves produces an interesting if not revelatory documentary exploring the pros & cons of Digital Photography vs. Film aka The Real Deal.  On one side you've got directors like Martin Scorsese holding firm to the old, true ways and on the other side you've got neo auteurs like David Fincher praising the progressive whiz bang cool of RED cameras.  I'm guessing that if you go into this film with one point of view you're not going to leave with a fresh, new perspective.  I'm a film guy.  I certainly appreciate what digital can offer, especially in the hands of folks like Fincher and Michael Mann, but I don't see the new ways capturing the texture of film quite yet.  People talk about "the soul of film," and "the essence of cinema" but I just gotta fall back on the "It Don't Look Right."  But progress is progress.  We're gonna get on the train whether we like it or not.  And filmmakers are only going to get better with HD processing.  The conversation is fascinating for sure, but I'm with the old hats.  Let's hang on as long as we can.  When Quentin Tarantino caves, I'll cave.

Looper:  After a mini debate with my mother on what exactly transpires during the climax of the film, I decided to give Looper another glance but with the audio commentary clicked on this time around.  Safe to say, my opinion on the narrative is the right one.  Sorry mom.  Having watched the film three times now, I'm happy to report it as one of my favorite science fiction films of the last five years and a lot of that has to do with how much the sci-fi is actually toned down.  The film is not about the future, flying motorbikes, or time travel.  They're just background elements used to tell a very human story.  I only wish more modern genre stories worried about character and less about the cg wizardry.  The commentary itself was all well and good, but neither Rian Johnson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, or Emily Blunt reveal anything extraordinary.  Seems like the good ol' days of The Thing or Desperado  commentaries are long gone.  It's a rare treat to experience a supplement of any worth...outside of a Criterion disc that is.

Dredd:  Sooooo much fun.  Karl Urban's Judge Dredd is perfectly one dimensional.  You break the law.  He frowns.  He kills you.  End of story.  You want to join the Hall of Justice than you better share his particular point of view.  And dammit, this Dredd pulls off the rookie partner story in a surprisingly satisfying manner with Olivia Thirlby's Judge Anderson.  They don't try to match toughness - how could you top Urban's unflinching scowl, but they still manage to give Anderson a violent edge with her psychic prowess.  The manner in which she reduces thugs to urine puddles is almost as brutal as Dredd's headshots.  But you can't back a Dirty Harry without a truly heinous villain, and Lena Headey's scarred Ma-Ma is a truly despicable psycho killer.  She's not Darth Vader, all badass in black.  She's a drug pushing maniac willing to butcher whole families to maintain her pathetic way of gangster life.  Dredd's ruling is shattering and just.

Frankenweenie:  Tim Burton, I wash my hands of you.  In the last ten years you have made one miserable disappointment after the other.  But I keep shelling out the cash.  No more.  Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie are the end.  Seriously.  This was a miserably tough challenge to sit through.  It's an awkward and mocking look at children.  It doesn't celebrate the odd and strange, it just snickers and chortles its way through its oddball supporting cast.  It feels like Tim Burton is picking on all the kids who picked on him.  The fat kid.  The cat girl.  The hunchback.  These are not lovable celebrations of the weird, it's just finger pointing comedy and I hate that.

End of Watch:  Missed this one in the theater cuz I had no interest.  Modern cop dramas post-Training Day seem to only want to focus on the Dark Blue - to fight monsters we must become monsters.  And dammit, I'm sick to death of watching gray hat justice; give me a white hat, give me a black hat.  But when End of Watch started popping up on several critics' Top Ten lists I thought I should give it a VOD whirl.  Thankfully this is not another Harsh Times r from director David Ayer.  It's more of a ridealong kind of experience; a peek behind the thin blue line.  Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena have tremendous chemistry and there is a sense of genuine friendship as they patrol the dope infested world of East LA.  It's obvious from the start that it won't end happy, and the war on drugs is appropriately endless.  These guys are just a band aid on a festering wound.

BPRD #103:  Taking place before the traumatic events of The Return of the Master, this latest mini arc centers on a couple of minor BPRD players who discover in the ruins of Chicago a secret underground lair of the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra.  There Agent Howard lays his hands on a mysterious sword (seen in Hellboy Seed of Destruction as well as Witchfinder - In The Service of Angels) and we get a pretty epic flashback reminiscent of Robert E Howard (as well as recent issues of XO Manowar).   It's looking like we're going to get some serious mythology building in these next couple of issues.  I'm most certainly for that.

Detective Comics #16:  Easily my least favorite issue since John Layman took over as writer.  This really feels like he was forced to tie-in with Scott Snyder's Death of the Family arc and nothing terribly new was built into the Joker saga.  He does get a few pages to expand on the Emperor Penguin story (which is obviously the narrative Layman is most interested in telling) and Jason Fabok offers a slickness to the dark that reminds me of the very best of early 90s Image artistry - and I don't mean that as a slight, I promise!

Shadowman #3:  I really want to love this Voodoo nonsense, but Jack is just not a particularly interesting lead.  I love the stuff with him confronting his shadow daddy and who doesn't love a talking monkey in a top hat, but I have no connection with the central character and all the white suited demons in the world can't excite me if I don't give a cuss what happens to the main man.

Avengers Arena #3:  And speaking of characters I don't give a crap about...This is the problem with the Marvel Now relaunch - you cannot just simply dive into Avengers Arena without having read Avengers Academy.  I don't know who these brats are.  I don't care if they fight each other.  And I don't care if they die.  And by slapping this blatant Hunger Games wink on the cover, all you are doing is drawing attention to what a money grabber of an idea this murder world nonsense is.  I guess my 13 year old self is happy to see Darkhawk get some play, but not really.  No one cares about Darkhawk or his stupid amulet.

Thor - God of Thunder #4:  Jason Aaron has a few surprises for us.  This is not simply a story of past, present, and future Thor.  There might be some trickery at play in telling The God Butcher storyarc and for once I'm not offended by the twist ending...that is if it's even a twist.  There's a lot of talk in this book, and a chunk of that feels a little bit like filler, but I'm extremely curious to see where this saga is going.   It feels epic in a way that past Thor tales have never achieved, and there's more mythology to this character than we've ever been given.  A real Marvel Now achievement.

Thunderbolts #3:  Probably the most fun reading a comic book I had all week.  Here we get the joy of having Deadpool and The Punisher on the same team.  The way one character sets up the punch line for another.  Pure genius.  I just hope they don't mess it up with a retcon on the first page of the next issue.  And maybe Red Hulk should have his head examined for putting Frank on the team.  

The Superior Spider-Man #1:  I caved.  Bought into the hype.  But I will not be purchasing the second issue.  I'm all for fun, goofy Silver Agey comic book plots like Doctor Octopus inhabiting the body of Peter Parker, but when the final page of this issue is turned and the return of the status quo is already in sight - that just feels like neutered storytelling.  And when my Spider-Man book reminds me of Patrick Swayze & Whoopi Goldberg - that's when I know I'm really out.   Ultiamte Spider-Man is truly the only good Spidey worth reading these days.  Long Live Miles Morales!  Stay Dead To Peter Parker!

Justified Season 4 - Episode 1 "Hole in the Wall":  It's good to have Timothy Olyphant back behind the role of Raylan Givens.  And the first episode of the fourth season gives him a few too cool for school moments as well as a couple of whoopsies that makes him so darn charming.  We're given a mystery surrounding parachuting money, Raylan's murderous father, Patton Oswalt's dopey Constable Bob, and Ron Edlard's triggerfinger war vet.  At first glance, it does not appear as flashy as the last season's Double Trouble structure and I'm perfectly happy with that.  And I have a feeling that Papa Givens is going to end up as this season's Big Bad.  Still my favorite show currently airing on TV (sorry Fringe).

The American Scream:  From the documentarians that brought us Best Worst Movie comes this look into the mad world of "home haunters" in the suburban wilds of New England.  The film splits its time between three families and I wish it focused on the professional passion of Victor Bariteau and less on the the goofy father/son shenanigans or the lackluster partner-in-crime.  But if you excised those other players, do you have a movie here?  Probably not.  To me this feels like an excellent episode of some spooky themed TLC episode.  You admire these people's passion but I'm not sure witnessing their story adds anything to my personal outlook or even my entertainment.

Y - The Last Man Deluxe Hardcover Book One:  Friday night was our monthly Graphic Novel Book Club.  And it was our largest gatherings yet with friends coming in all the way from Houston, Texas.  Most folks really enjoyed the tale of Yorrick Brown, the last man on earth, but a couple of attendees couldn't get past the central concept of the man-pocalypse.  What would happen if the world lost half its population in the blink of an eye?  Would power go out for months?  Would pile ups occur immediately?  Would the government fall apart?  The debate that came out of those questions confounded me.  But if you can't get past the central conceit you're definitely going to have trouble with the rest of this saga.  For me, there are some definite problems with the first couple of arcs of this book.  Brian K Vaughn writes a lot of these characters with the same voice and sometimes their Whedony banter distracts.  Yorrick is a child, and he behaves as such, but that's the point.  As the series goes on there is real growth to character.  And I love the road narrative and the obvious disappointment that awaits at the destination.  I'm not really rushing to reread the rest of the books, but I might.  Frankly, I'm more excited to dive into The Walking Dead which is our next book.

How To Survive A Plague:  This doc was brutal.  If you are not reduced to heaving tears by the end than you most certainly do not have a soul.  The film follows two groups of activists (ACT UP & TAG) from 1987 to 1996 as they battle politicians and media types to transform AIDS from a death sentence to a manageable disease.  Attacked by bigots and ignorants, both groups should be looked upon as heroes and their is a humanity to this film not often realized in dramatized "message movies."  It's also proof that evil acts are perpetrated everyday in this country and you do not have to look to far into the past to witness shameful history.  How To Survive A Plague is a reminder that we should open our eyes, look around at the horrors we've accepted in our society, and act.

Double Dragon:  Um...and then I watched this amazing bit of garbage cinema.  Based on a crappy video game that was always crappy, Double Dragon stars Scott Wolf & Mark Dacascos as two brothers from two different mothers as they karate kid their way through the mystical warriors of Robert Patrick's frosted icing sandman.  Partnering up with Alyssa Milano and her horrifying butch haircut, the Double Dragoners devastate horrendous CGI spirits and big bluto buckets of latexed abominations. The film is gross in its abysmal execution and represents the very worst of video game adaptations - which, by the way, is an era we still have not evolved from to this day. I'm looking at you Silent Hill.

Magnum P.I. Season 2:  Well it took a few months but I finally worked my way through the second season of Magnum PI.  So much silly Hawaiian fun.  This season we got guest stars from Wings Hauser, Vic Morrow, Jill St John, Darren McGavin, Ian McShane, and Mimi Rogers.  I do have to say that my least favorite episodes are the ones dealing with Thomas' Vietnam past - I just don't like it when my Ferrari PI gets so dang mopey.  The show works best when the plots are at their most ridiculous and Magnum has to charm his way through a bevy of beautiful ladies just to plant a bullet in the heart of the most righteous crime lord scum.  And the angrier Higgins gets the better.  Already jumped into season 3.

Saboteur:  Saturday saw the start of my 10 day vacation and I had to celebrate by cracking into the Hitchcock blu ray set I got for Christmas (Thanks Mom!).  This was my first experience with Saboteur.  It's a solid little flick.  Production started on the film just two weeks after the attack on Perl Harbor and it's fascinating to watch the fictional paranoia set to a very real sense of World War danger.  Robert Cummings plays the classic Wrong Man type as a factory worker framed for setting a fire at an aircraft plant.  He flees in pursuit of the man responsible and has a series of odd encounters with blind men, circus freaks, and Priscilla Lane's bickering dame.  Really enjoy the first half of the film, but as the conspiracy gets thicker and the pursuit races up the steps of the Statue of Liberty, I lost a little interest.  Hitchcock is definitely in full studio mode here and all his tropes are present, but I just don't think Cummings and Lane were right for this flick.  And I can't get the trivia of the original cast wanted for Saboteur outta my head: Gary Cooper & Barbara Stanwyck.  That would have been something.  As is, minor Hitchcock.

Cleanflix:  I remember when I first heard of the concept of Clean Flicks.  You mail your DVD to them and they cut out the potty words, the boobies, and the blood.  I've always found that notion to be completely ridiculous.  How can you take a movie like The Matrix and sanitize it to your liking?  You're cool with all the kung fu and killing as long as you actually don't see the bodies hit the floor?  That's bonkers.  But as this documentary proves, there are a lot of bonkers people out there.  And if you're a semi-passionate liberal like myself than you'll probably be driven a little mad by this doc.  Especially when the juicy hypocrisy rears its wonderfully ugly head in the third reel.  Cleanflix is easily preaching to the choir and no real conversation is going to come from this documentary, but it's a nice reminder of the crazy out there.

--Brad