V and The D

So The Watchmen feature film seems to be in what the folks like to call Development Hell [I'll take down that link to the site that even had a message board which is non-existant now I guess?]. And of course that's a shame indeed. These next two years -- with all these bottom tier comic characters getting their movies -- would be a perfect time to cut to the real point of what the whole superhero mythos is all about and shed the metaphors and put some real substantial issues out there. But in the meantime we do have a different Alan Moore book coming out to the move screens in V For Vendetta.

You may have heard about this movie recently with the London terrorist bombings as this is indeed a book that takes place in London and has "terrorist" bombings as the crux of the plot. I must say I'm proud that the WB hasn't pussied out on this movie and is going forward with the release date of November 4th. This story does take place in a completely alternate reality -- in the book it takes place in the 1990's in a what-if-the-fascists-had-gained-power-England. I don't remember the book actually referencing the Nazis but that's the impression you get. It's a very much Orwell Big Brother society where subversives (homosexuals, most music/movies, literature, theater, etc.) are banished/exterminated and the powerfull are a type a hierarchy and rule unchecked.

It's a pretty great read, but the recently released trailer for the movie does not do much for me. The book was affecting in its artwork as presenting this quasi future of England as being a bit grimy and ugly. But it seems this movie has quite the glossy coating. The screenplay was written by the Wachowski Bros of Matrix and Bound fame and they were reportedly the second unit directors and it seems they and their former second unit director -- who's the actual director of this movie -- are unable to film a frame of realistic settings. I mean, remember how Zion, or whatever their "real" world was, looked in those Matrix movies? It was like the cleanest raggety clothing and most pristine underworld put on film...

Yes, in most of your mainstream, well known comics you're given a brightly colored, sharp lined, and clean universe in those tiles. V For Vendetta is not one of those books. DC Comics are known for getting darker and getting mort dirt under the nails of their characters -- especially those on their sister imprints like Vertigo. Which is why I always liked DC more than Marvel when I was a kid. This is the reason why I'll again say Batman Begins is a truly great adaptation. Even though the Batman character has gone full spectrum in that regard -- from cheesy to dark and brooding -- in both movies and comics unfortunatley enough....

Anyway, I also wanted to mention the release of a, well I guess you could call it a teaser, for the Tenacious D movie -- The Pick of Destiny. The interview at least in rather entertaining. I think of it I guess as a guilty pleasure with these guys. I fell in love with them when I unwittingly witnessed their HBO episodes back in '99, and was rediculously hppy when they released those episodes on DVD last year. But I was initially let down with their CD release in 2001. But since then it has indeed grown on me and I'm looking forward to the new album/movie soundtrack. Good goddamn am I looking forward to it... You can read an interview with the funny fuckers here.

P.S. - Back to the previous points, I should say that I thought Constantine was a pretty decent movie. This also being an adaptation of a Vertigo comic that Alan Moore had a hand in at it's incubation. Reeves does a good job with the role without being a blond haired Brit -- and I really don't think that whole issue makes a difference. It's a bit wattered down, but he does get Constantine's essence to make the movie work. I'd love to see a sequel to this one -- just as I'd like to see a sequel to another unfairly maligned adaptation, Hulk. Hulk, to me, was the closest film has ever gotten to capturing the experience of reading a comic book. Now, this isn't necessarily a great thing for casual goers -- or even faithful Hulk fans -- but Ang Lee's use of paneling and framing is about as good as it gets in that regard.

Holy Shit Did The Island Suck!

No joke, the thing has steam coming off it -- look out. I wasn't even expecting much from the movie. I'd seen the usual ad on my way to work to send an email off for a free pass -- ok. Can't be that bad, and I doubt I'd pay money to see it in the theater anyway, so why not. It'll be in a nice air conditioned room on a hot Wednesday... Wrong and wrong. First off the theater's cooling system seemed to be keeping the room at a thick 80 degrees or -- maybe a little less than that... And after all was said and done the movie itself offered about 10 minutes of decent entertainment. People were walking out of the place right before the 15 minute "climax".

Now I'd bitched about War of the Worlds being a bit of a letdown but by comparison -- well let's just say WOW is a dutch oven and The Island is a Cleveland steamer. So far this summer's been a crap fest for movies. I've heard Land of the Dead was a fun time, and I can vouch for Batman Begins an Me and You and Everyone We Know, but besides that... nada.

Not much to report from the Netflix front either. Pretty much been enjoying the Freaks and Geeks and Wonderfalls sets. Though most of you have probably already caught those... maybe not Wonderfalls, it's a pretty good show that I'd describe as a cross between Joan of Arcadia and Northern Exposure... but better than that sounds...

Anyway, I did catch up on some Kurosawa with a nice Yojimbo and Sanjuro double feature. And revisited some classics like Flirting and The Station Agent (yes I already consider that one a classic). But there's also been a few duds like The Yes Men and Harold & Kumar... And the rest of them fall in the middle and aren't even worth mentioning really. Time for sleep.

Geek Reflex

Every year I see these photos from the San Diego Comic-Con and every year I laugh at the foolish geeks that get their picture taken next to sweaty storm troopers and whatnot -- and then wish to god, satan, Ellis, Clowes, Moore, etc. that one day I too will be able to be counted among the elite of geekness. [For the best/most hilarious coverage of this perennial event I turn you to this.]

I’ve always been firm in my belief that there’s a broad line between The Nerd and The Geek. Most often these two are considered interchangeable in uses. I really don’t feel like getting into it now but I’ll try to simply graze the issue…

Let’s take an icon like the Comic Book Store Guy from The Simpsons… Yes, clearly a Geek. The nerds were the ones that helped Homer in that Animal House episode… Okay, maybe further clarification is necessary. Let’s break it down to its simplest level: Nerds – good grades. Geeks – good swag. Would a Nerd be a high school dropout with a collection of every issue of Big Ass Comics? Or a copy of every Bruce Campbell movie on VHS…

Do you see the difference? Good.

One of these days I will be there, as satan as my witness. But it's second on my list after the SXSW fest. I mean, they do show some movies at the Comic-Con and have panels for upcoming the much-anticipated sci-fi summer flicks but compared to SXSW it’s all strictly bonus material.

Stop Me If...

I posted about this probably more than a year ago on a different blog. But now that the movie is finally gaining some steam I feel compelled to make another note of it.

I like David Fincher. Even his sorta crappy movies (Alien 3, Panic Room) have an appeal to me -- not sure why. I think I have a weakness for directors, or autuers if you will, who even though they've created something uneven, flawed, and frustrating -- they're still trying out new techniques, pushing some boundaries, and well, being interesting.

Mr. Fincher's been keeping it low-key for more than a few years now, mostly collecting producer credits. But he's got a couple of director efforts in the works now and the one I'm a bit intersted in is an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Click that link to read it yourself. It's a cool little story you can take care of during a lunch break. It's a bit sci-fi -- the story of a man born 80 or so years old and grows backwards. A bit like that Seinfeld joke of the similarities between being elderly and an infant -- but more profound... It's already collected Brad Pitt as Benjamin and Cate Blanchet as his wife. The three of these people together, I'm pretty confident it'll be a nice piece of work.

Also, I'm kind of sad this web site hasn't been in my life since now, but Boing Boing is one of those blogs that makes you feel rather useless if you're trying to create your own "directory of wonderful things". I could spend a few days curled up with it's archive... Anyway, a fun site.

Bogus Journey

Just spent an hour working on a post to have Firfox crash. Wicked pissah. So we sum up:

The Aristocrats. Documentary about a filthy joke. Looks like a funny movie (check out the cast). Here's a segment they got from South Park. Here's the trailer.

War Of the Worlds. Kinda sucked.

Me and You and Everyone We Know. Great. Shitty comments out there comparing it to Napoleon Dynamite are retarded. If anything it's the antithesis of that crap factory. Real characters resulting in honestly funny situations. Rather than caricatures acting funny in manufactured situations. Granted, you can say both movies are unique and original and made on small budgets but that doesn't make them at all comparable.

Well, there was a bunch more commentary on those three things but alas...