Shit I Read (April 30, 2007)
Apr 30Action Comics, Amazons Attack, Helmet of Fate: Zauriel, Wolverine, and a crusty old issue of The Joker.
Shit I Read for April 26, 2007
Apr 26Back in the day, I wrote regular comics reviews for a fledgling pop culture website and for usenet under the pretentious title “Four-Color Critiques.” I had aspirations to model myself after a Randy Lander or Elayne Wechsler-Chaput. My “output” lasted for several months, at which point I got sick of it.
Let’s see how long it takes me to get sick of it again. Random, capsule-ish reviews of the comics I read every week (though not necessarily the comics that came OUT that week), posted every Thursday. And it WILL post every Thursday, whether it’s done or not–I’m setting the timestamp now.
That’s right–another comics reviewer on the web. Oh, joy.
This week: Catching up on Detective Comics, 52, and more, plus a few oldies-but-goodies, Star Wars and Transmetropolitan. In alphabetical order, cause I know that’s how you like it, sweetie poo.
Random Spitting & Pluggage
Apr 24Rick Berman is writing a tell-all book about his years in Star Trek. I CANNOT WAIT TO READ THAT FUCKING THING.
James Cameron’s Avatar will cost $195 million to make. I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THAT FUCKING THING.
I have a pair of new reviews up at ComicBloc, one of them under my real name, the other under my super-secret pen name, “Matthew.” I HAVE ALREADY READ THESE FUCKING THINGS.
Don’t forget, either–my novel Unconventional is now available. Buy it in softcover, or enjoy it as a free PDF download. Also visit Alert Nerd Press, our new publishing arm…or rather, finger, since it is quite a small appendage at this stage.
13 minutes, 47 seconds
Apr 21That’s about when the Raiders of the Lost Ark march first soars, in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
I noticed it because I’ve been thinking that what precedes it ranks among the best things both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have EVER done.
I don’t know that there’s a more note-perfect, clever, intricately paced action sequence, anywhere, in any other movie. The only competition would probably be something from the Star Wars films, or another Spielberg production–they are, after all, the masters.
We are jaded, hateful geeks, and so it is easy to snark upon both of these men, who many say (including me) have stumbled well past their prime. (Lucas, moreso than Spielberg, IMHO.)
And yet, there was a time when they could craft exquisite gems out of an old showtune in Mandarin Chinese, a tiny vial of green liquid, and a big rolling gong.
Speaking of The Lost Room…
Apr 20I have no commentary on Lost – I got to the fourth episode of the season and then my viewing schedule impoloded. And I haven’t opted to jump to digital recorders just yet, until a few more standards fall into place. I’m just going to do like I did with the first seasons – wait until it’s on DVD and then watch it all back-to-back.
In the meantime, I picked up The Lost Room – a Sci-Fi Channel mini-series. It was on DVD and pretty cheap for two discs. Since I’d heard good things from another friend, I went for it and holy crap – it’s teh awesome!
The story idea is refreshingly brilliant – in the 40s, something happened in a hotel room in New Mexico. The room ceased to exist as part of reality and the items inside were given strange properties. Now, 40 years later, various collectors and fanatics are struggling for control of the items and a cop with no knowledge of what’s going on, ends up stuck in the middle, and forced to solve the mystery of the room in order to save his daughter.
It’s a nice companion to Heroes, really – the idea of average people with not-so-average abilities – only, the abilities come from nail files and clocks, and thus can be taken away.
The rules of the story are really well thought out, which is always a big deal with me. If you’re going to be wacky, there have to be rules, or it turns into Next Generation, where they just invent the magic item they need to solve their problems.
Where it kind of breaks down is at the end, and it’s not that it breaks down, but rather you can clearly see The Salem’s Lot effect – meaning, you can see how they’re hoping the mini-series will transition into a series. Some loose ends aren’t tied up, and not all is right in the world – there are still things to be worked out, and not all the items are known, so there’s a lot of material to work with there.
I’m of two minds about a series, but the DVD is one of the best things I’ve seen in awhile, honestly. I mean, it’s got 8.1 at IMDB, and the Internet Uni-Mind that casts those votes hate everything, so that says something. Right?
