X-Men: The Last Stand Shocks By Not Sucking So Much
May 31I was alarmed by the degree to which I did not hate X-Men: The Last Stand.
I have been a pretty vocal detractor of the idea of Brett Ratner making this movie. Many things I read about it made me irritable, and so, in the grand modern nerd tradition, I bitched about it all over teh intarwebs. What it boils down to is that I was convinced they didn’t “get it”–with “they” being director Brett Ratner and exec producer/Marvel movie guru Avi Arad.
I would like to eat all those virtual words. I would like to squirt barbecue sauce on them and devour them, or at least most of them.
Because I was pretty wrong. X3 did not really suck very much at all. It was actually good, and at times, almost great.
Spoilers ahead, ye matey! Dead men tell no tales!
Souvenir of Canada
May 30I have no clear gauge of Douglas Coupland’s notariety outside of Canada – I mean, he wrote Generation X, so I’m guessing someone out there must know him. But to us, particularly on the West Coast, he’s just Douglas. Nice guy, a bit strange, writes good books.
A few years back he wrote a book called Souvenir of Canada, in which he attempted to outline things that are particularly Canadian, and shoot down a few things that non-Canadians think are Canadian, but actually aren’t. I have it – it’s a really nice book. Then he followed up with a second volume, suggesting the potential for a series. Again, great book. And ultimately, they turned into exactly what he wanted – something Canadians can give to their pals before they get on the plane and go back from whence they came.
And I’m saying all this, because the made a movie out of the books, and they just opened. I have no idea if they’ll ever make it to the US or anywhere else, but if you have the chance, check it out. And if you don’t, buy the book. In fact, buy the book anyhow. It’s great, eh?
PS – The trailers are stupid. Ignore the first part and just watch the montage at the end.
PPS – In Generation X, Coupland outlines the CostCo shopping list for a funky, late 90s style, high-tech company. He based that list on the CostCo shopping list of Radical Entertainment, a Vancouver video game development house. Coupland had a high school pal that worked there as a producer. I worked there as a grunt, which is how I know this. JPod, his latest novel is, apparently, specifically about a Vancouver video game company. I am, for obvious reasons, curious to read it.
WikiWikiWhack: Douglas Coupland, JPoD.
Egad
May 30Why does the Dr. Who season 1 box set cost so dang much?
I know there are a lot of extras, but…it’s 13 episodes. Isn’t $100 (without the Amazonian discount, which brings it down to $70) just a wee bit exorbitant? Is there some special reasoning behind this that I’m just not getting?
Does it come with a real Dalek?
Two points of interest.
May 28First off, the people who brought us Puzzle Pirates has an open Beta for their new MMORPG, Bang! Howdy. It’s all about cowboys, cowgirls, and… well, I don’t know, I’m still installing. But I dug Puzzle Pirates, so this should be fun. And for the time being, it’s free.
And, after weeks of transcribing (we talked for an hour – it’s, like nearly 7000 words, and I left stuff out!) I’ve posted my interview with Rick Moranis. Lots of good stuff.
My comic shop can beat up your comic shop
May 27
I have a short, but slowly growing list of comic shops that I consider world class. I call the list, “Comic Ships That I Consider World Class.”
Meltdown Comics and Golden Apple Comics in LA would be good examples. I worked at another, way back when – Another Dimension Comics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (you’ve heard of it – they had an Olympics there once.)
In Vancouver, I count two (with two near misses that I won’t name drop today) – Imperial Hobbies in Richmond, and my home base (home is where your account box resides), Elfsar comics.
In the four years they’ve been operating, they’ve been big advocates of Wizkids Clix games, hosting a couple of gaming nights a week. One of thier regulars went to LA a few months back and won the Hero Clix tournament – Ethan, Elfsar head honcho, took it upon himself, as a way to celebrate the victory, to build this awesome championship belt. In the middle are an excellent selection of hero clix figures, collaged together, and spraypainted gold.
Sweeeeeeet.
