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Saturday, April 07, 2007
Flixin: "Stranger than Fiction"
The pull here obviously was Will Ferrell. In the commercials, this film looked like a quirky, more subtle way for him to flex is comedic chops. But, as commercials and actualities go - Stranger than Fiction was not really what I expected it to be.
Most of it wasn't all that wonderful in the beginning. I was a bit confused and disconnected. Eventually, the journey of Howard Crick grew on me. Anyway, I have nothing too smart to say about the film other than it was entertaining and made you use your mind on existential and creative issues.
The classic elements? Comedy versus Tragedy. Both contain a hero. What is a hero?
I'm getting The Good Sheppard in the mail today or monday. I'm excited.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Comic Nerding: Civil War #7
So, here's the VERY quick synopsis of what was supposed to be Marvel Universe's epic summer crossover that would shake-up all that the House of Ideas stands upon:
Some silly kids called the Thunderbolts, during their reality show, went overzealous and killed innocent children. Because of this, America became panicked and reactionary at the idea of unsanctioned superheroism - even though the spandex folks have been kicking ass since black and white frames.
The government responded with the help of Corporate stooge and Military Industrialist: Tony Stark aka Iron Man. They created the "Superhero Registration Act" and demanded that ALL superpowered people register with the government so they could be regulated. Okay, let's pretend that's realistic in an unrealistic world. What about the villains? Anyway.
So, this brought up the question of freedom, civil rights, and American values. Think Patriot Act but instead of hunting middle eastern folks they're looking for non-steroid induced super people. This split the superhero community in half, hence a CIVIL WAR.
Iron Man led the gestapo. Captain America led the resistance.
7 Issues later, Peter Parker unmasked, Reed and Sue Richards (of the Fantastic Four) were having a spat, Punisher showed that he's a relentless vigilante who would never fight against the ideal called Captain America, a bunch of side-switching and double agenting, and villains being recruited by the government and Iron Man to now staff the registered superhero teams.
It's very convoluted and definitely had its moments. I never really liked the idea too much because I thought the real world-ism of the content was too much of a cake walk over SERIOUS societal issues. I mean, really, in the end, do we give a frak if a spandex-clad mutant lost his/her rights? Blah blah blah.
I stayed on because it was interesting and because of being busy fell off at the end and have bought a pile of comics since just to catch up. But I couldn't catch up with Amazing Spider-man or Fantastic Four because they went right along with the Civil War mini-series happenings. So, that's why I was excited to see how Civil War #7 would be wrapped up.
And boy, Civil War now seemed like a whole whopping waste of time and money. The end was anti-climactic. The issue was relatively boring. The tying of the loose-ends was rushed and disengaging. And the way Captain America ended the resistance was stupid AND didn't make any real sense. This is why I hate shows like 24 that take themselves too seriously with "hyper-realism" and then feed their minutes with non-sensical bullshit. Yes, I know I love LOST, but does it REALLY take itself that seriously? C'mon - a SMOKE MONSTER?!? You have THE OTHERS with their omnipotent knowledge versus very real-world terrorists? Okay, now I'm off on a tangent.
My issue is this: if you're going to try to take on a serious issue - why suspend reality to play games? That was my issue with the high school shooting episode of One Tree Hill when they ended it with Dan, the resident villain, murdering his brother to finally exact various reasons for revenge. WHY DO THAT IN AN EPISODE WITH SUCH A LOADED TOPIC?!?!
I'm rambling and not making a solid point. Or a connection.
Civil War 2006-07 was rooted in the real life parallelisms of our modern American society. What freedoms are still rightfully ours in a FEAR-based society? Then, at the end of the mini-series because it was super late and backing up the line of storytelling all over the Marvel universe, they had **** SPOILER ALERT **** Captain America stop the fighting because random people made him realize they just fucked up NEW YORK!??! Really? If Captain America was really the pillar of American Morality he would've thought about that before the stupid fight began. He would've either fought to the death or fought through the system. No, they just spent people's time and money trying to show the one-time, supposed "where were you when" moment when SUPERHERO A beat the shit out of SUPERHERO B.
Stupid writing. I can't fucking stand it. And the editors let it go to press.
The Cool Crowd: Week of March 17, 2007
[monkey's note: this is WEEKS late. sorry. no one reads this anyway.]
The Cool Crowd: Week of March 17, 2007
WINNER: Supernatural “Heart” – 26 Points
Wow, this must be the first time Supernatural ever won. This is the 3rd extremely solid episode of the last 4. Last week’s – though you can never really go wrong with Tricia Helfer – was way too Sixth Sensish. Even the self-parodying at the end didn’t save it. It wasn’t a BAD episode, but forgettable. It’s also hard to go wrong with Emmanuelle Vaugier – but it was more than her hotness that carried this episode obviously. It was nice to finally see Sam start moving on. I even yelled out, “go Sammy!” when they started to go at it. Then what happens? He had to kill her. That’s basically two love interests in a row that died, essentially, because of him. Anyway, it was rough and well done. The previews messed up the surprise. I like how the ending didn’t go the way it traditionally could have. Congrats to Supernatural!
2nd, Tie: Lost “The Man from Tallahassee” – 25 Points
Locke going nuts? Wonderful. Locke looking down a narrow shaft? Very Season 1 Finale! Good episode. I loved Jack and Kate’s parts.
2nd, Tie: BSG “Crossroads Part 2” – 25 Points
WTFrak?!?! I really enjoyed this episode despite the confusing and rushed ending. It’s okay, it’ll be back and running hard in 2008. I loved Lee’s exposition-and-morality filled speech. The 2nd half of the season’s been spent rummaging through the soot of human indecency. Now that the Cylon’s are back – they have no reason to bitchslap each other again – at least, not until they’ve escaped their grasp again.
Bones “The Boneless Bride in the River” – 24 Points
Bones has quickly become one of my favorite shows. Like I said before, it’s honest to its pieces but then it also doesn’t take itself too seriously. PLUS, Bones and Booth are the best leading couple in broadcast television right now. This episode in particular wasn’t all that fascinating but since I’m writing this review almost 3 weeks late I’ve forgotten its perils and instead am still laughing from last week’s episode.
The Black Donnellys “Lies” – 22 Points
The good about Black Donnellys is its lead: Tommy Donnelly. The other brothers are drastically underdeveloped at the moment. Olivia Wilde is hot – but on a more creative end – she’s also good as Jenny. But still, there’s not much there. The crime aspect is decent. It’s crafted well enough to be interesting but it can grow old if it doesn’t start picking up.
Smallville “Combat” – 17 Points
I hated this episode and I rarely hate Smallville episodes. Ashley was TERRIBLE in the beginning. I don’t give a frak about Kane. (Mind you, this is from a lifelong wrestling fan.) I thought Chloe’s one-liners were bland. I liked Clark going nuts as a response to his depression. I don’t think the Baby is really dead. I liked the fight scene at the end – but there’s no way that 5 minutes of a superhero smash-em-up can carry 44 minutes of badly scripted storytelling.
