Matt’s Week in Dork! (6/30/13-7/6/13)

    Not an especially grand week, but not a bad one.  Another enjoyable viewing of a classic film on the big screen.  And some other general fun.  To avoid repetition, I will not talk about the weather.

King Eagle:  “You are so kind; but unfortunately we are the evil brothers of Tai Shan, not the benign brothers.”  The opening credits aren’t finished before the second fight starts.  Some petty squabblers wake the dragon and pay the piper.  ’Lone ranger’ King Eagle doesn’t care about you.  He doesn’t care about anyone.  But some people can’t let still waters rest.  They just keep poking until he kills them all.  Assassins and warriors in the know won’t help.  They know what’s up.  Overall, it’s nothing to write home about, but a perfectly adequate Shaw Bros. movie if you’re looking for one to watch.

Godzilla:  Another day, another trip to the Alamo Drafthouse.  This time to see the original Godzilla (no Raymond Burr).  Had a great time.  The movie is an interesting glimpse into the post-War mindset of Japan.  I found little bits especially effecting, like the guy who just didn’t want to evacuate again.  It’s a good flick that takes its subject quite seriously.  Later movies would get pretty crazy, generally moving away from the whole ‘shadow of the bomb’ thing.  But this first one is quite a thing.

The Lone Ranger:  Who would have guessed this film would become one of my favorite of the year.  Yes, I’ve been a Johnny Depp fan for some time, and I’ve liked several of Gor Verbinski’s movies.  But I have never been a Lone Ranger fan and thought the movie looked dreadful.  But it’s all kinds of surreal fun, with a very dark and strange sense of humor and plenty of exciting stunts.  It’s a bit overlong, and does go off the rails (before literally getting back on them) at one point.  The cast does a fine job.  Depp isn’t doing one of his Tim Burton performances.  Yes, it’s weird.  But not annoying and stupid like his work with Burton.  All that crazy stuff with the horse and the rabbits?  Bonkers.  But bonkers funny.  It’s clear America wasn’t looking forward to this film, and I sure as heck wasn’t.  However, it’s pretty danged fun and well worth a watch.  Much better than other summer action fare, like Iron Man 3, White House Down, Man of Steel and some others.

Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster:  All kinds of crazy is descending on Japan, and the worst of it is Ghidorah, a giant, three headed, golden dragon with erratic space lightening shooting every which way.  He’s so danged powerful, it takes the heroic Mothra, the cantankerous Godzilla, and …Rodan to drive him off.  In the meantime, a pretty young princess is possessed, a plucky reporter is on the job, and a dull cop is ready to save the day.  This is full-on crazy Kaiju action, but like a lot of these movies, it spends a good deal of time building to the action, getting to know a few characters and letting the tension mount.  This is on the better end of the Toho monster movie spectrum, though I do miss Anguirus.  It just doesn’t feel right to fight Ghidorah without him.

     I finished up Scrivener's Moon, the last book in Philip Reeve's new Traction City trilogy.  Good stuff.

Drive Angry:  “I want you to holster that iron god-killer and say ‘thank you.’”  That this movie hasn’t been embraced by the general public is beyond me.  It’s a world of bent genius.  Just amazing.  Boobs, guns, cars, explosions, and cussing like drunken sailors.  Nic Cage looks like he’s having a blast.  Amber Heard is surprisingly fun as the feisty chick he’s traveling with.  But William Fichtner is the real standout as Hell’s accountant.  Just a heck of a lot of fun.  Awesome.

Red:  “Moldova sucks!”  A darned funny, stupid, and action packed movie about a bunch of ex-government sanctioned action heroes being pulled back into the fire.  Everyone seems to be having the time of their lives, gleefully spouting mad-bastard dialog and blazing away with heavy weapons.  Honestly, if nothing else, it’s worth checking out just to see Helen Mirren wearing a classy dress, firing a huge machine gun.  Whatever the case, the movie isn’t going to change the world, but it’s a lot of stupid fun.

Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror:  Trying to drop off Barbara and Ian, the Doctor and companions end up in the past of France, and plenty of trouble.  The French Revolution is not a time period I’m especially interested in, and the story doesn’t have a lot of new to say about it.  Not one of the more interesting Hartnell tales.  The animated sequence is pretty well done, and I hope they do more for the episodes where the video is missing.

    So, for the first time in a good deal of years I decided to read the Bible.  Perhaps one might think it an odd thing for an atheist, but it is an important work of literature if nothing else.  And so far, I would have to say, not much else.  Working my way through Genesis, it’s such a hodge-podge of messy old wives tales that it’s hard to pull out a narrative.  There are some interesting images, but it’s all so vague.  Reminds me of reading Gilgamesh.  The idea that people would think this stuff was anything but the mythology of Bronze Age savages is beyond me, but people believe in homeopathy and crystals.  So who knows?

-Matt

Book Review: Sad Stories of the Death of Kings

    I don’t know exactly when I became a David Lynch fan.  I think it was Twin Peaks.  You know that feeling you get, when you come home and you feel like you really and truly belong, and all is well?  That’s what I got (and still get) when I first watched Twin Peaks.  I’d never been there, and it never really existed, but if there was ever somewhere where I belonged, that was it.  From there, I got into his movies and began to enjoy the way he saw the world.  But there was one stumbling point, Wild at Heart (Fire Walk With Me hadn’t come out yet).  It was the first Lynch film I didn’t like.  It was the film that cemented my long time dislike of Nicolas Cage.  It was the film that decided me, that Laura Dern chick wasn’t someone I wanted to see naked again (or clothed for that matter).  And it let me know that even my favorite filmmakers didn’t always do what I wanted.  Years later, I got to see my first Lynch film on the big screen, Lost Highway, which became and has remained my favorite of his films.  While reading up on the film, I found out a bit about the co-writer.  I found out he was a novelist.  I found out Wild at Heart was based on one of his novels.  I was intrigued, but also wary.  Wild at Heart?  That Nic Cage movie where he wants to be Elvis, where the Good Witch shows up, where Laura Dern embodies everything I never want in a female companion?  Hmmm. 

    With these thoughts bouncing around, I read my first Barry Gifford book.  It was the first one I could put my hands on.  I went to my favorite used book store, Pro Libris (if you’re ever in Bangor, Maine, it’s THE place to go), and snagged a copy of Baby Cat-Face.  Wow.  What the crap?  That book rocked my world for a lot of reasons.  But as a long time reader of science fiction and to a lesser degree fantasy, and as a huge fan of H.P. Lovecraft, the book felt like some crazy stripped down murder machine of Literature.  I’d not read Hemmingway yet, nor was I up on modern fiction.  I wasn’t ready for the way he used language, the way he shot dialog at you like bullets.  And the only person who had ever prepared me in any way for his twisting, almost haphazard, storyline was William S. Burroughs (to whom, Gifford bares almost no resemblance, style-wise).  Like when I finished my first viewing of Southland Tales, I wasn’t sure if I’d just seen genius or garbage but I was driven to find out.  Subsequent books, including but not limited to Night People, Sailor’s Holiday, and (yes, the very same) Wild at Heart made me a devoted fan.  And his work inspired my own, helped me, if not sweep away my wordy prose, free myself and maybe become more visceral.  And helped me create a more natural voice in my dialog.  For the writer in me, his work was like opening a window and letting in some much needed air.

    At some point, I became aware of Gifford’s young adult novel, Sad Stories of the Death of Kings.  I was immediately curious, and genuinely didn’t know what to expect.  I knew he had varied interests and a wide ranging talent, but at no point along the way had I thought to myself, this guy is right for a kids book.  Well, this really isn’t one.  It’s for teens…I guess.  But it’s more along the lines of those ‘serious’ books your high school English teacher makes you read, that always remind me of 70s after school specials, where the pretty girl dies, someone tries weed, and a kid with a rockin’ fro gets into trouble at the playground.  This book seems to be one of those autobiographical novels, where big chunks of it are based on either Gifford’s own memories, or fragments of stories he heard as a boy.  This might work more for dramatic purposes, but for me, it meant I never quite connected.  I would have much rather read a memoir about growing up in Chicago during the 50s than about this kid Roy who goes through various adventures, some probably real, some no doubt imagined.  In that sense, it’s kind of like Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, but without the fanciful elements that prompt me to forgive it’s fictional nature or the chronology to give a sense of growth.

    And more than any other book that I’ve read from Gifford so far (I’ll admit, he still has many I haven’t gotten to yet), this book is extremely disjointed.  There isn’t a narrative thread at all, unless I missed something.  It’s a series of vignettes that hop about willy-nilly throughout this Roy kid’s youth, from about age 10 to age 18 or so, with a few hints of a life to come.  This brief glimpse, combined with the fact that it isn’t a straight-up biography, left me somewhat unsatisfied.  It’s a story without a beginning, without an end, and without enough narrative structure to say it has a middle to speak of.  Yet, like the similarly disjointed (but for this reader, FAR less enjoyable) Slaughterhouse Five, it does have moments of poignant beauty that ultimately make me glad I’ve read it.  But it also makes me wish that much more for a less fictional collection of stories about growing up in the same area at the same time.  Gifford is a great storyteller and I have a feeling he has a great story to tell about himself.  Will he?  Did he?  I don’t know.

    If you’ve never read Gifford before, don’t start here.  You should probably go with Night People, or maybe Wild at Heart (which is not at all like David Lynch’s adaptation, by the way, though Lula is still pretty awful).  But if you’re a fan, it has some very good stuff.  And to those high school English teachers, there are some chapters which might make for good class reading.  But give your students some context.  Context makes all the difference.  One would think English teachers, of all people, would get that.

Sad Stories of the Death of Kings
Author: Barry Gifford
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
ISBN: 978-1-58322-948-4

-Matt

Brad's Week In Dork! (6/10/12-6/16/12)

Comcs!  Comics!  Comics!  That's what took over my Week In Dork this time out.  Only watched four films this week and not a single episode of Star Trek or Batman - The Animated Series.  Saw Prometheus again.  Sigh.  And Ghost Rider 2.  Double sigh.  Sherlock Holmes 2?  Freaking love that movie!

But most of the week was spent building up for The Wife's very first graphic novel book club AKA The Ultimate Justice League of Extraordinary Book Club.  And in getting her hooked on comics I found myself craving more and more of the stapled darlings.  She's been cranking through Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man run and as I saw her catching up to where I dropped off nearly a year ago, I decided that I had to jump back on board to stay ahead of her ravenous reading.  And I'm so glad that I did.  Sam Raimi's dreadful Spider-Man 3 nearly killed my Spidey enthusiasm, but once I dove into the deep end of Bendis' teen melodrama I was hooked on Peter Parker once again.  And where the series is now?  Oh my lord, it is so dang crazy good.

However, my pick of the week has to go to Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips' Fatale series.  Those five issues killed everything else I consumed this week.  If you're not reading this book than you are missing out on one of the finest bits of horror entertainment I've ever experienced.  Hyperbole?  Maybe.  But it's seriously awesome.

And one last thing.  After a month's break, I'm finally back to writing my Weekly Western Reviews for cineAWESOME!  I returned with the nearly unheard of Alien Thunder and I'll be back next week with the Sergio Corbucci revenger, Navajo Joe.  I know no one is reading these things but I love writing into the Western fanboy void that is the Internet.

ROAD TRIP OF THE WEEK!

Greg Proops At The DC Improv:  Well this was a shock.  My wife had been going on and on about how damn funny Greg Proops' The Smartest Man In The World podcast was, but all I could think of were those Comedy Central reruns of Whose Line Is It Anyway and I just refused to believe her.  But then she dragged me to the DC Improv on Sunday evening, and dammit! This was the funniest two hours of stand up comedy I've ever experienced.  Proops was brutally hilarious, attacking every type of idiot that dared to stand in his way.  America is an awful place.  The rest of the world is an awful place. How can we stand it?  Well, at least Proops is here to tell us how stupid we all are.  He's definitely a long way away from goof improvisational prop comedy.  And I loved the DC Improv basement.  I've decided that munching down on burritos and drinking beer is the only way to watch Stand Up.


MOVIES OF THE WEEK!

Alien Thunder:  "Don't Let Him Eat Your Heart." Donald Sutherland is a Canadian Mountie out for revenge against the Cree husband who killed his partner. It's a lot of moaning rage from Sutherland and too much time is spent arguing with diabolical government officials, but the film picks up once the cat & mouse revenge chase takes over and Sutherland is given plenty of room for his soup-straining mustache to scream. It's never going to be remembered as a Great Western, but it's a fun enough oddity for film collectors.  For further musings check out my review over at cineAWESOME!

Ghost Rider - Spirit of Vengeance:  Hey. This is waaaaaaay better than the original Ghost Rider film, but it fails to live up to the promise of Neveldine & Taylor. For a Marvel Knights film directed by the boys behind Cranks 1 & 2 and starring the great acting mad man Nicolas Cage, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance falls short of the crazy you obviously desire. Yes, every moment the demon biker is on screen is all kinds of gonzo mondo weirdo action and some of the road warrior choreography is absolutely stunning.  Nic Cage's snakey skull head movements are fantastic and the rage of the fallen angel is stunning. But when the beast is under control and Nic Cage has to suffer the lackluster plot of the anti-christ son...it's rather dull.  Basically, you can't help but anticipate the crazy of the Crank films and if Marvel had the gonads to embrace the hard Crank R than maybe there would have been another violent masterpiece. But as is, this is just a little fun and a little weird. But not mad genius.

Prometheus:  Gave the film a second chance in IMAX 3D. The film still looks amazing, and Ridley Scott definitely knows how to work the three dimensions. But the script problems are still there. The characters are two dimensional and never divert from their path of cliches. The third act deteriorates into yet another stalk & slash alien picture. And the film starts and concludes with the same unanswered questions. Why are we here blah blah blah. Still, the movie looks fantastic. And Michael Fassbender's David is wonderful. If only the film took his POV instead of following Noomi Rapace's boring faithful scientist.

Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows:  Robert Downey Jr's Sherlock Holmes is crazier and more coked out than in the original and I love him for it. His nearly homo erotic relationship with Jude Law is a pure delight and if you're one of those folks that just can't get behind their joy than I've got nothing for you--just continue on with Cumberbatch. Guy Ritchie puts together some rather amazing set pieces with a train assault that truly cracks on and a forest bombardment that completely makes use of that digital slow mo absurdist action. And Jared Harris, what a fantastic Moriarty! The man has a wonderfully creepy stalker vibe mixed with brilliant amounts of snobbish villainy. If you didn't buy in to the first film than the second will probably feel like a bloated beast, but if you enjoyed the original as much as I did than this is more of the same....thankfully.

COMICS OF THE WEEK!

Red Lanterns Volume 1:  I really wanted to love this book. The Red Lanterns are a fascinating creation and a great counter for the Green Lantern Corps.  But there have been books revolving around villains before (Doom 2099! Venom!) and what usually happens is a whole heap of understanding motivation is forced upon their malicious actions and with understanding comes a softening of their iconography. And it's no different for Red Lanterns. Ed Benes' art is phenomenal and I could stare at his blood spewing creations all day long, but Peter Milligan's script goes too far in excavating these monsters backstories and pitting Atrocitus against Bleez. And the first human Red Lantern? Snooze. His story is shoehorned into the plot and I don't care what's going on with his granddad or his punch up with Guy Gardner. Stick to the beasts, and keep them beasts. More Atrocitus & more of his hateful pet cat Dex-Starr. But I seriously doubt this book is going to be around for much longer anyway.

Kick-Ass 2:  A wonderfully mean spirited sequel to an already horrendously dark book, Kick-Ass 2 picks up after the Hit Girl mini series with Mindy shedding the Katanas and trying to be a real girl. Meanwhile, Kick-Ass has joined up with another collection of super hero losers called Justice Forever and they're having a blast batting the kneecaps of small time crooks...until the Red Mist returns from over seas with the massive KGB bodyguard Mother Russia. Much, much, much gore ensues and staring at the horrors concocted by artist John Romita Jr is a real delight even when Mark Millar's story fails to excite. Seriously, this might be my favorite JRJR art; there is some seriously sick glee in his depiction of decapitations and severed limbs. Not for everybody and I'm not even sure I really liked it, but Kick-Ass 2 sticks to its hateful engine.

The Infinity Gauntlet:  The absolute height of Marvel insanity, The Infinity Gauntlet sees the mad Titan Thanos attempt to woo the heart of Death personified by blinking out half the populous of the Universe with a snap of his Infinity Gem incrusted glove - eat your heart out Michael Jackson. When Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Nicky Fury, Namor, Thor, Iron Man, Nova, Firelord, Quasar, Scarlet Witch, Dr. Doom, Drax The Destroyer, Cloak, Scarlet Witch, The Vision, Galactus, The Celestials, She Hulk, and Dr. Strange all fail to stop the cosmic devastation it's up to The Silver Surfer and the golden quaffed Adam Warlock to pry the purple giant from his magical gauntlet. A person unfamiliar with the sometimes bonkers storytelling of comics would probably loose their mind in some terrifying Lovecraftian manner attempting to read Jim Starlin's bugnuts 90s epic, but for the well-initiated The Infinity Gauntlet is a wonderfully whacky saga of spandex and stardust. My only wish was that the Omnipotent Nebula had left the power thirsting treachery to her grandfather Thanos, as the last issue seems to steal some of the Titan's thunder.

Fatale Volume 1 - Death Chases Me:  Frankly, there is not another book on the market more exciting or beautiful than Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips' Lovecraftian Noir. What starts off as Detective Pulp quickly descends into the bowls of demonic sacrifice and faustian blood bargains. The story follows three broken men in two different points in time as they fall under the spell of the mystically mysterious Josephine and suffer the violent consequences. Gun Shots and Twisty Stone Knife Stabbings! The art is stunning and the horror startling; some of the best genre fiction happening in any medium right now.

Batman Issues 8-10 - Night of the Owls:  Picking up seconds after the Court of Owls conclusion, Wayne Manor is under siege.  Dozens of undead Talon assassins break their way into the Bat Cave forcing Wayne & Alfred into the armory.  Sucks for the Talons.  Dropping the temperature to below freezing and donning another trademarked fire suit, Batman takes the war to the Court of Owls.  But will these high society villains fall as easily as their soldiers.  Issue 10 of the series offers a startling revelation I would have thought only Grant Morrison would have had to stones to deliver.  But Scott Snyder aims for the fanboy's gut and reintroduces a character from the deepest, darkest dungeons of Bat continuity.  After a little soul searching, I'm totally cool with the decision.  Can't wait for issue 11.

Winter Soldier #6:  Sleeper Number Three, Bucky's former Cold War Student, is on the loose!  And I'm starting to not really care what happens to the Winter Soldier.  I find that realization to be damn depressing.  Ed Brubaker's Captain America used to be one of my favorite comics and I'm loving, loving, loving his Fatale but his recent Marvel stories seem to be lacking passion...or at least I'm lacking passion for poor Bucky Barnes.  This does seem like the proper jumping off point for this series instead of all that Dr. Doom third person monologuing nonsense from the last arc, and I do appreciate the reappearance of Michael Lark's art but I'm fading fast from this series.  Will I pick up the next issue?  I don't know.  Probably.  Maybe I'll connect again, but right now I'm just not feeling it.  Of course, this might all read fantastically in trade.

Secret #2:  I'm betting this will read great in trade, but I barely remember what happened in the last issue.  I will say that I found the story of the two brothers here to be a little more intriguing than that corporate interrogation business from the premiere issue, but I really haven't hit that WOW moment yet for me to start praising Jonathan Hickman's new series.  We will see.  Art looks good though.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Volume 1 - The World According To Peter Parker:  Writer Brian Michael Bendis relaunches Ultimate Spider-Man with the mangafied art of David Lafuente...yeah, not crazy about these designs but Bendis hasn't lost his understanding of Peter Parker. Set six months after Magneto spun the world on its axis and nearly destroyed the world let alone New York City, Peter Parker is still suffering a whole heap of teenage melodrama. Mary Jane has dumped him (again). He's in lip lock with Gwen Stacy. Kitty Pryde is loosing her mind with new found rage. The Spider Woman clone is still swinging around the city. Aunt May has taken in stray cats Ice Man & The Human Torch! And oh yeah, the Kingpin has been rubbed out by the gaseously mysterious Mysterio!  The first volume in the new series is just a lot of teen angst but that's exactly what fans of this series are looking for.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Volume 2 - Chameleons:  Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends are still trying to get along under Aunt May's roof, but it gets kinda tough when the Human Torch starts making out with Petey's clone. Gross. And hilarious. Plus, Rick Jones nearly blows up Queens when his Watcher gifted powers make him go all glowy. The real threat of the book though comes from The Chameleon, who not only takes over Peter Parker's girlfriend complicated life but also the man behind the Daily Bugle...J.Jonah Jameson. Dun Dun Dunnnnn. The second volume in the new Ultimate Comics Spider-Man has a lot more power to its emotion than I was expecting and you can really sense the doom and devastation on the horizon.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Volume 3 - Death of Spider-Man Prelude:  The events of The Chameleon's attack have pushed Gwen Stacy outta Peter's arms but never fear! Mary Jane is waiting in the wings. Geez. All this Gwen/Mary Jane/Gwen/Mary Jane girlfriend swapping should probably get a little tiresome but I'm a sucker for all this ridiculous love triangle stuff. And let's not forget about poor Kitty Pryde...she is heading down a dark Brotherhood of Evil Mutants kinda path. But the prelude to The Death of Spider-Man centers mostly on SHIELD attempting to finally train Spidey, but night classes with Iron Man & Captain America are put on hold when Mysterio focuses his attack on the well-latexed feline burglar, The Black Cat. And what does this all have to do with Egyptian mysticism and the deceased Kingpin of crime? I gotta say I'm surprised by what a threat old fish bowl has become, not the joke he once was in the Hollywood story arc from years back.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Volume 4 - The Death of Spider-Man:  Damn. This got to me. I've been holding off reading this book for a long, long, long time and part of me thought this whole Death of Spider-Man thing was kinda lame and you know these things never last and blah blah blah. But Bendis and Bagley (so glad to have him back on the book even if it was for a short run) turned the knife and I found myself kinda rocked by this event book. Even though the return of The Sinister Six is pretty lame (STAY DEAD OSBORNE!) and this arc feels completely separate from all the Amazing Spider Friends shenanigans in the previous volumes, The Death of Spider-Man was powerful. And it was a fine send off for Peter Parker. The kid done good.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man - Fallout:  Well, this is just what the title suggests. The characters of the Ultiamte universe attempt to come to grips with The Death of Spider-Man. The best bits center around Aunty May and Gwen Stacy and most of their dialog got my all weepy. Mary Jane is obviously super pissed and ready to take down Nick Fury via the power of the press. And Kitty Pryde is even more pissed dragging Ice Man & The Human Torch into the tunnels of New York City. There's a bunch of other stuff in regards to mutants and evil Reed Richards but all I care about are the Spidey family members. And yes, Fallout introduces the world to the new web head. Can he possibly live up to the reputation of Peter Parker?

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Volume 1:  Peter Parker is dead. But that doesn't mean there wasn't another genetically altered spider crawling around New York City. Uh, what? Other than that bit of convenient plot device, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man is still loads of wholesome fun. And I absolutely adore how Peter Parker's demise is for Miles Morales what Uncle Ben's death was for Peter--the eye opener, "with great power comes great responsibility." And the relationship between Miles, his father, and his evil Uncle Aaron aka The Prowler is intriguing. But where's the teenage romance? We've got the geeky goofball friend in Ganke but will there be a Mary Jane for Miles? Could it be the clone lady Peter?  Don't think it really matters. What I'm really curious about is how this Spider-Man will react to Peter Parker's cast of characters.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Volume 2:  Life gets a little more complicated for the New Spider-Man. His uncle, The Prowler has garnered the attention of Mexican crime lord The Scorpion and he's quickly running out of simpleton baddies like The Ringer and Omega Red to practice on. It's about to get real. And word of a new Spider-Man is spreading across the ocean, Aunt May & Gwen Stacy need to emotionally prepare themselves and I'm incredibly excited to see these two worlds collide. But maybe the most interesting aspect of Ultimate Spider-Man these days is that we readers have no idea how these stories are going to play out. No more character and plot remakes--this is completely new territory. Fabulous. Still, one question? SHIELD was in the process of training Peter Parker, why are they not bothering to continue that chore with Miles? Don't make the same mistake twice Fury.

THE ULTIMATE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY BOOK CLUB:

Astonishing X-Men Volume 1 - Gifted & Dangerous:  Well, our first book club meeting was a rip-raoring success.  I am quite shocked (and pleased) that all six members of the UJLEBC seemed to have really enjoyed the first volume of Joss Whedon & John Cassady's X-Book and they all appeared to be interested in continuing on with the story (I know that The Wife & Co-Dork Matt have already devoured parts 3 & 4).  But even more shocking was the level of discussion brought forth from the "Gifted" storyline.  Once you start talking Mutant Cure and the power of metaphor vs. reality...things got a little heated at a few points.  Nothing bad or rage inducing, but it was thrilling to hear folks argue back and forth over whether it was right for Beast to even contemplate curing his mutation.  The X Books have always been a stand in for civil rights issues and when you start having folks talk about curing race or homosexuality - damn, be careful with your words.  But can mutants be a compatible metaphor for race and sexuality?  Beast is devolving, becoming more brute than man?  Curing his mutation is not like curing homosexuality...or is it?  Yeah, it was a great night for discussion and engorging on cheap Francis Ford Coppola wine.  And it all stemmed from a Marvel Comic!  Awesome.  But will our next pick, Batman - The Long Halloween be as engaging?  Very curious.

--Brad

Brad's Week in Dork! (11/6-11/12)

My original intention for this week was to follow up Hest Fest with a marathon run of the Planet of the Apes movies (yes, including the grotesque Burton remake!), but life got in the way and I just puttered about with my typical random movie watching.  Started off the week on a movie date night with my wife and even though I had no interest in a Shrek spin-off I came away thoroughly entertained.

I also managed to get my hands on an Advanced Reader's Copy for Elmore Leonard's Justified spinoff novel Raylan.  I'm only 40 pages in but I can easily see Timothy Olyphant strutting about those pages.  I really can't wait for the next season to start in February.

MOVIES OF THE WEEK!

Puss in Boots:  It's amazing how much more entertaining Dreamworks' Storybookland is without the buffoonish Mike Myers bumbling about with his annoying brand of fart joke humor. Not to mention that Puss in Boots is the sequel I wanted so desperately from Desperado--Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek partnering up to wreak mischievous violence against Jack, Jill, and Big Mama Gooses!  Their vocal sparring is more exciting here than anything in the jumbled mess of Once Upon A Time In Mexico.

Jurassic Park III:  The great thing about Jurassic Park III is that it just wants to be a simple dino eat man kinda movie, a pulp adventure similar to the old Harryhausen flicks. Sure, it's saddled with everyone's enthusiasm for the high entertainment of Speilberg's original Blockbuster and I know there are lots of folks who just want to bemoan Tea Leoni's screamer and the ridiculous forced plot points, but dammit, just enjoy the Spineosaurus! Joe Johnston is just having fun here, as is the whole cast. You should too. And it's infinitely superior to the ultra dull and stupid second film.

Trespass:  There's nothing new under the sun so there's definitely nothing new in this Joel Schumacher home invasion thriller. That being said, the a to b to c acts of violence are handled extremely well by both the director and the actors. Both Nic Cage and Nicole Kidman sell the hell out of their whimpering and screaming and Ben Mendelsohn's head honcho intruder reeks with the appropriate desperation. Once again, I can't really sing the praises of the bland Cam Gigandet but he's been more annoying elsewhere. Typical excitement but excitement nonetheless. It's no Drive Angry.

Henry's Crime:  Keanu Reeves serves several years in prison for a crime he never commited. Upon release he decides to earn that time by robbing the bank he went up state for; with the help of professional criminal James Caan and stage diva Vera Farmiga Keanu's ambitionless mope finds his way in the world. This is a simple, but enjoyable comedy caper that won't stay in your memory banks for too long but it pleasantly kills an hour and a half.

Planet of the Apes:  I LOVE THIS MOVIE! It's not my favorite Heston performance (that would be a toss up between Major Dundee and Touch of Evil) but it's easily my favorite Heston film. I love the first thirty minutes leading up to the Apes int he cornfields. I love what a bastard Heston's explorer is and his cantankerous frustration at everything he encounters on this new world. Hell, there are no real nice guys in this flick. Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter, those wonderful chimps are smug, stuck-up, and racist. Love it. The monkey makeup still holds up, amazingly expressive.

Win Win:  Tom McCarthy has mastered the feel good, thoughtful introspective drama genre. Paul Giamatti needs some extra dough so he takes on the role of Burt Young's (so great to see Burt Young again!) legal guardian...little does he know that's going to include a troubled wrestling wunderkind and his drug addict mother. Bobby Cannavale and Jeffery Tambor are fantastic sidekicks, but it's Amy Ryan's frustrated but fascinatingly understanding wife that sticks out as the film's heart. If you enjoyed The Station Agent or The Visitor than you're going to adore Win Win.

The Rum Diary:  A spiritual prequel to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Rum Diary may not be as whacked out of its head crazy as Gilliam's mondo fantasy but I found myself thoroughly involved in Johnny Depp's meandering quest to take down Aaron Eckhart's villainous real estate mogul. I'm a sucker for stories involving horrible, depraved spiraling addicts going to war against the true evil of corporate humanity smashers. It's all very pretend idealism, but I dig it.

MUSIC OF THE WEEK!

The Devil's Rain:  In high school I was way into The Misfits.  Not so much the Danzig years (sorry, I know you hardcore fans out there only care about the Danzig years), but the Famous Monsters & American Psycho albums.  I love their obsession with classic (and not-so-classic) monster movies.  Their latest album is not quite up to snuff with some of their previous work, but you gotta appreciate the titular love letter to one of my favorite forgotten Shatner horrors.  And yeah, I absolutely love this mashup fan video below.

--Brad