Yo, Joe.
Aug 07Like a generation before who divided their cultural lines along the critical Beatles vs. Stones question, I believe a generation of boys who grew up in the 1980s are split along a similar divide: G.I. Joe or Transformers?
I was a Transformers kid, but I was agape with envy at the exceptional G.I. Joe anniversary toys I saw at Target yesterday.
They’re basically the classic figures, with silver coloring where the white would be, and they cost something like $6. Compare that to the similarly-styled Star Wars “vintage” repros that ran more like $12 apiece.
Plus, there’s this RAD boxed set.
(There’s one for the good guys, but the COBRA stuff was always WAY cooler.)
The front of the box is basically the Joe logo with a little hole where the star goes, and you reach into that hole and you press a star-shaped button, and the FULL G.I. JOE THEME PLAYS.
I love you, Hasbro.
I Still Miss Karina Lombard
Aug 06As most of you know, The 4400 is driving me completely fucking insane this season. OK, so now they’re making it look like Diana and Marco might hook up again, which I would actually be OK with since I like Marco way better than the walking oil slick she supposedly has “chemistry” with. But the way they’ve set it up is sort of weird, with Maia acting as the annoying catalyst (Maia, remember, was also strangely psychotic about Diana getting together with Oil Slick. Maybe it’s time to stop taking romantic advice from your sometimes-creepy pre-teen adoptive daughter, Diana!).
They’re also moving Tom and the Totally Expendable Blonde closer together, which is expected, but still very tiresome. The preview for next week is especially hilarious. I don’t see it on the USA website, so let me re-create it for you:
OK, so first Richard comes back and they’re like, “Richard’s back!” and Isabelle is all, “Dad?!”
Then they’re like, “He has plans for his daughter!” And they show him acting shady, like he’s kidnapping Isabelle or something.
THEN, they’re all, “But Tom has plans of his own!!!” And they show Tom…making out with Totally Expendable Blonde.
How are these two things connected to each other?! They don’t say, “MEANWHILE, Tom has plans of his own.” The way they say it makes it seem like Tom making out with Totally Expendable Blonde will somehow save Isabelle from the possibly-nefarious clutches of her father. And maybe it does. That would make about as much sense as some of the other storylines going on this season.
One good thing I’ve been noticing: Isabelle must have taken some acting lessons or something, because she is like 5 million times better this season. Maybe it’s because the character has gained some humility and is no longer a psycho hosebeast, but I actually enjoy watching her storyline!
Yay, Dresden. Boo, Files.
Aug 03OK, so apparently The Dresden Files is not returning, but the actor who plays Harry (Paul Blackthorne) will appear recurringly on the new fall series Big Shots (that’s the one with Michael Vartan and Dylan McDermott, not the one with Peter Krause. I keep getting them mixed up). I tried in vain to get into the Files and never could, but I do think Blackthorne is sort of mind-meltingly hot. Not sure about the Big Shots character, though — sounds kinda oily. I like him in scruffy Harry mode. I also like pre-judging things before I see them, because it’s the geekly way.
Reviewing the Review-Proof: Deathly Hallows (SPOILERS)
Aug 03I realize I am about to commit nerd hara-kiri as my geekly brothers and sisters worship at the Altar of Rowling, but I must do it:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is good, but not great. And it’s because Jo Rowling has desperately needed a strong editor for YEARS.
File-sharing: A giant shoe silently drops
Aug 02According to this (admittedly unsubstantiated) story, The Pirate Bay is raking in something like $25,000 per day on advertising revenue, or like $9 million a year. (Their math, not mine, or maybe I saw those numbers on Digg.)
Anyway. This is the strand that some intrepid young reporter could pull, methinks, to unravel the whole mess*–this is NOT just a fun hobby project to thumb one’s nose at the MAN of corporate content conglomerates.
It’s about the money. It’s always about the money.
*Please do not actually DO such a thing and expose this fine, fine establishment. I need to steal crap off the web like everyone else.
