A quick word re: the score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

I would love to go into great detail regarding this release. I would. I just have so many problems finishing started projects. I believe I have about 10 articles that I plan to write. I plan on getting to them in the future. I hope.


So here is a quick post  and maybe one'll expand in the future, who knows.

I recently acquired a copy of the Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Extended Edition score by James Horner. As a lover of the original release, getting this in the used bin at a store was a rare find. 


We all know that Wrath of Khan is one of the best films in the Star Trek franchise. The direction  the story, and the score all help to push it to the limits and beyond. Everything about the movie is wonderful. And James Horner really helped to come into his own on this one. It's powerful stuff, never really letting go, always pushing forward and always action packed. 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Half Blood Prince

Frustration and Love. 

Two ways to sum up the next two movies in the series. 

These movies are when the kids start changing into adults, despite almost dying time and time again.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is my least favorite of the movies. It also just happens to be my least favorite book, one in which J. K. Rowling decided to torture the hell out of the audience, by giving us an angry emo Harry, an evil witch Umbridge, more torture, long pages of the same thing over and over, tons of useless of subplots, and lots of pages of the same damn thing over and over. It is bad.

The movie doesn't score much better. In this case, it is because most of what they cut to make this movie the shortest in the series is a lot of the stuff that made the book tolerable. What's left is amended and incomplete. In fact, it feels like half a movie, and that is a huge reason why this is my least favorite.

It's not that the acting is bad. The kids kick ass and the adults are amazing. The new character of Umbridge  is played so deliciously evil by Imelda Staunton that it is going to be hard  to see her in anything else without being pissed off at her for her treatment of Harry and the Gang. The character is just so nasty, and Imelda just hits the right cords to make her just so unlikable. Plus the addition of Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood really adds another level to this growing cast. She is so enduring in her obliviousness and innocence. She is great fun to watch on screen. On the evil side, Helena Bonham Carter is brought in as Bellatrix Lestrange and just hits it out of the park. She is evil and crazy and creepy as hell to watch. She is great fun. 

Harry Potter Week

This was the way to usher in the last movie in the series. 8 movies, 4 days. Seeing them in a theater filled with other fans who want to be there. Seeing the films in order really helps show how the films improved and how certain mistakes that were left out that later came back to haunt them. You get to see the kids grow up and you get to see them deal with loss and hurt.

This was the way to see Harry Potter! I am so glad that my family was able to enjoy this experience. It won't happen like this again.

---MGS

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Fire

With the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, there was somewhat of a shake up when it came to the making of these movies. Chris Columbus decided to bow out as director of the third film and the search began for a replacement to take over the next film. Loads of names were tossed around, but with a big project such as this, there is always names that come and go.

In the end, they settled on Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, know for such films as the critcially acclaimed Y Tu Mama Tambien, which is known for its extreme sexual content, and the film adaptions of A Little Princess and, afterwards,  Children of Men. To me, he didn't really seem to fit the expected mold. There was just something about the way he adapted A Little Princess that never sat well with me. It always felt like it went way to far away from the source material, but not in a terrible way, just enough hat it felt like it was only giving slight nods to the book. I was more than a bit worried.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is an interesting film. It shows that sometimes the established and expected norm can change, and with it comes a big breath of fresh air. Except for the fact that there is a huge budget behind this thing, this could amost be a fanasty indepant film, as it has that sort of sensabilty to it. 

Chris and his films felt a bit tired after the second film. Chamber still had too much presentation in it, it still had that weird paint by numbers feel, it still has very little in the area of surprise. In some ways, it was getting dull. This was apparently an assessment shared by others. 


After the second movie, somebody felt the need to want to re-launch the series, even taking it as far as redesigning parts of the established school buildings and designs. Alfonso's Hogworts, while still very similar to its earlier versions, have changed just enough to be quite noticeable which is both frustrating and interesting. Still, they are good changes, some welcomed, in fact.  An example of this being Hagrid's hut is further away from the school and down a hill. Such a simple change that makes the grounds, and therefore the castle, feel that much more spread out. Hogwarts isn't just a little place for students to go and study. Hogwarts is now a huge and spread out compound where people go to learn magic. 

'nuff said'

--MGS

Harry Potter and the First Two Movies

Harry Potter films are debatable. Ask any fan and they will tell you which one they like above the rest, and which one they aren't too crazy about. A good test would be, if that movie is on and you just happen to come upon it, do you turn the channel, because that is the film that you just don't want to watch, or do you continue watching it, because you just can't get enough? 


Having watched these recently again on the big screen, I am able to make a judgement call of my own.


Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is not my favorite. 

And why is that, you ask?


Sorcerer's Stone is an uphill battle the entire time. From the moment the movie opens, it has a very presentation feel to it. What do I mean by that? Simple, everything feels like it has to be announced before it is allowed to continue. Of course, this was done because of this being the first movie, it needed to have its characters, setting, and situations set up and brought the audience. If you haven't read the books, it does its job very well of giving you a lot of information. However, since this movie came out before the series was even half done, some of the choices that they went with feel out of place and lacking. Going back and looking at this movie feels like polite to a television show that will run for many seasons but is slowly, over time, began to ret-con itself.


The movie begins with the set up of this world, via John Williams' score and the arrival of Albus Dumbledore, here played by Richard Harris. Within the first five minutes we are introduced to Albus, Professor McGonagall (who is introduced to us via these words: "It is nice to see you this evening, (pause) Professor McGonagall." Now that we are properly introduced...), Hagrid, the word Muggle, Privet Drive, and Harry Potter as a baby. It's a lot to take in. A lot!


As the film progresses, it does introduction after introduction. Here's Ron, here's Hermione, here's the train, here's the hat, here's Draco, here's Quidditch, here's Nick, here's Snape, here's the story of Voldemort, here's Voldemort. It just goes on and on, which is why this film is such a challenge. The filmmakers HAD to do this stuff. They were required to do this stuff. They had to give us the old "Now coming to the stage, give a warm welcome for..."


The acting is, to be quite frank, wooden. Now, I am not talking about Alan Rickman or Maggie Smith and although at times there is a bit overacting they both rock their parts into greatness. No, I am talking about Ron, Harry, Heromine, Draco, and the rest of the kids. Basically, they are all trying, and you can see that on screen. I feel bad for them as they have so much weight and expectations on them as actors bringing these characters to life. One can almost say, that they got close to blowing it. Close.  But the dialog mixed with the so-so direction of, "now stand here, don't look towards the camera, and deliver the line," pretty much vindicates them. Chris Columbus is having trouble pulling off performances that don't feel distant and unrehearsed. Then there is the lack of development for such entities as Nick and the ghosts, the other kids in Gryffindor, and the main "villain," Quirrell. Basically they are given very little screen time, and for the most part, ham it up. Like I said before, it's rough.


I want to hit on the special effects here for a moment. I know that this was 2002, but those effects are terrible. The CGI looks cheap and not finished. The lack of motion capture makes these characters look like they live in a video game and the creatures that they meet are done so bad that they are actually distracting. And don't get me started on the Neville flying scene. Oy! Thank goodness they fixed this in later movies. 

Begin at the beginning...

Somebody I was talking to told me that they hated origin stories. I was confused because doesn't an origin story help set up important characters? Doesn't an origin story take the audience from knowing nothing of what they are walking into, to giving us all the details that we need to form an opinion of the character and their ways? I don't understand how somebody, especially a person that claims to enjoy superhero movies, can even say that they hate origin stories. After all, it all has to begin somewhere. 


I don't mind a good origin story movie when it comes to superhero films. After all, how do you introduce that character to a new audience, or an audience that doesn't know much about that character? Sure, you can take the approach that dropping the audience into the story forthright will make it more appealing. And maybe it could, to some of the audience. However, not giving anybody a place to start with is dangerous, and may lead to even more issues with the movie.

How'd you like a nice Hawaiian punch?

When The Green Lantern came out, I shared my view of this movie in a recent post. It wasn't a bad film, per se. It just didn't have anything terribly good to offer. It was an origin story, showing Hal Jordan's journey from a reckless pilot to a superhero saving the day. This movie had the task of giving us Hal before, during, and after he becomes this new hero. Some of it worked, Sinestro for one, and some of Oa as well. But most of it didn't. And therein lay the problem here. GL is an origin story that causes troubles, because at the end of the film, you still don't really know who Hal is, what the Green Lantern can truly do, and who the Corps really are. There are more questions than answers, and that feels like a cheat and a cop-out of sorts.

Cars 2: or Pixar puts on the brakes...

I am not going to review the movie. There seems to be very little need to do that sort of thing. I enjoyed it, critics hated it, various audiences are split.


No, I am going to talk about the importance of this film, from my perspective.

If you didn't cry during this scene, you have no hope

Cars 2 is not going to win any awards. Nor should it. This is not because it is a bad movie, it's really not. No it is simply because it isn't a normally high end Pixar film. Those movies, ones like UP and Toy Story 3 and Wall-E, those win awards. Those are movies that carry with them messages of hope and wonderment, while taking it's audience on a marvelous adventure into the depths of the filmmakers imaginations. Those stories take animated characters and flesh them out enough that you care about them, about what happens to them, and what will become of them long after you have left the movie. Those stories are the best live-action movies, starring animated characters. In other words they are gold.


Cars 2 is not in that category.


No, Cars 2  is just fun. It's not brilliant, it's not thought provoking, it's just fun.

team fortress 2

I really don't know why it's called "2." Nobody I know knows about Team Fortress 1. Team Fortress 2 is a war game where you can play as 9 different people: the heavy, who has a mini gun; the soldier, who has a rocket propelled grenade; the spy; who has a zapper, a knife, a disguise case, and a pistol; the pyro, who has a flamethrower; the medic, who has a saw, a syringe gun, and a thing that gives health; the engineer, who has a wrench and tool box; the scout, whose only good attribute is that he can run really fast. There is also the demoman. who has explosives, and the last is the sniper, and guess what he has ... did you guess sniper rifle? Well, you're totally WRONG! He has a sub machine gun, a machete, and, yes, a sniper rifle.

-adevlupes

Jane Austen Heroines - Part One, Elizabeth Freakin' Bennet

So, Jane Austen.

She was a poor woman dependant on her relatives for support. She was a "husband-hunting butterfly." She was a dedicated sister and the daughter of a clergyman. She was a girl disappointed in love and a woman disappointed in her prospects. She was a writer, popular in her time and astoundingly respected a hundred years later.

I dig her. It's a little bit annoying that I like Jane Austen so much, because it's kind of cliché, but what can you do? She was awesome. She wrote these witty, insightful novels that teased at the social issues of her time while being light and frothy enough for public consumption. And she wrote amazing women.

There are authors (so, so many authors) who write the same characters over and over again. Despite her limited canvas - she pretty much exclusively wrote about country gentry - Jane Austen never fell into this trap. Darcy is not Knightley is not Wentworth is not Crawford. But more importantly, Elinor Dashwood is not Anne Elliott is not Lizzy Bennet is not Emma Woodhouse is REALLY not Fanny Price. She wrote such a rainbow of fascinating, diverse heroines, strong and flawed and intelligent and unique, and I love it. I love them (except Emma, but we'll get there).

So let's talk about Jane Austen heroines.

Oh, no, Mr. Darcy! Please continue to insult me in public.

I think any discussion on this topic has to start with Lizzy Bennet, because damn. How much cooler can you get than Elizabeth Bennet? The heroine of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth is clever and caring and prideful and a little bit daring. She's easy to love because she's so modern. You can identify with her. Pretty and smart, she overhears the hot new rich guy in town, Darcy, dissing her, and her feelings get hurt. Duh. Of course they would. A different hot guy, Wickham, is nice to her and talks shit about Darcy, and she believes it. Why wouldn't she?  Obviously, Darcy is an ass. And since Darcy very carefully keeps her from noticing that he's falling head over heels for her, she's taken off guard and PISSED when he proposes, especially since he makes a point of telling her how much her family sucks while he's proposing.

But the thing about Lizzy is, she listens. She learns. She doesn't just let her prejudices run away with her. And I don't care what you say, I find that admirable. It's hard to let go of your pride and your confidence in your own judgment and really accept that you were wrong. And Lizzy does that. She does that - on the strength of one letter from Darcy and some careful observation of Wickham - long before she encounters Darcy being all hot and sweet and a good brother on his own property.

These are what is known as "very fine eyes."

Frankly, Elizabeth Bennet is awesome.

And I'll tell you now, that's why I can't read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It's not because of the zombies. It's not because the Bennet girls are somehow martial arts experts. It's not because WTF, how would Georgian/Regency society even work in those conditions? It's because Lizzy - dear, teasing, loving, brilliant Lizzy - is a bitch to her sister in the first few chapters. Can you say Out of Character? I can, and I said it loudly and repeatedly as I threw the book at the wall.

So what have we learned today? Frankly not much, except that Lizzy Bennet rocks. So much that, and if I were (in a tragic breakdown of birth control methods) to have a daughter, I would name her Elizabeth. And I haven't even touched on the fact that Elizabeth and Darcy's antagonistic-until-it-isn't relationship is the model for a huge chunk of modern fictional romances. But you know what? I'm fine with this post not having a lesson or a point. Because Elizabeth Bennet is just. That. Cool.

Deal with it.

--Al

Weird Al- Perform This Way (Music Video)

Today Weird Al released his music video for "Perform This Way".  His first single off "Alpocalypse".
 All I can say is that's it's odd. Brilliant but odd (and a bit disturbing). Then again this is "Weird Al" we're talking about!

Alpocalypse comes out tomorrow!

-Adnor

Green Lanterns...um...lite?

"In Brightest Day..."

Oh, Green Lantern.

I know that I am going to be pretty harsh on the movie soon, and for the most part it's warranted. However, I still enjoyed the movie, dispite a lot of its flaws.

So what's good?

Let me get this out right now: Ryan Reynolds does a very good job as Hal Jordan. He takes the character that he is given, and really helps push it to that level that it really shines in the movie itself.

Mark Strong's Sinestro, who is given very little to do, is great. The chracter design, the acting, the way he takes control of the scenes he is in is great. His talk of having no fear and showing how to use the ring to his standards is really well handled. You can just feel him looking through and judging Hal, without even changing his expression. Without a word, he says loads. So good.

I liked Parallax, even thought it wasn't developed too well. The design was interesting, and the backstory was cool. Too bad I didn't get much else. (as an observation, had Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer done something similar to this character design, that movie would not have sucked quite as much as it did. That little change could have easily made the movie, at least, tolerable.)

The Guardians are pretty cool, but they don't do much in the comics, and they don't do much here. Still, their design is pretty neat, and the way they are presented is very epic, so it's got that going for it.

Some of the Corp character designs are pretty awesome as well. I love seeing what people come up with when they are being creative.

The voice acting, and subsequent CGI work, for Tomar-Re (Geoffrey Rush) and Kilowog (Micheal Clark Duncan) is very good. I like these character designs. Sure they were animated, but they still were cool to watch. No Jar-Jar here. I hope that there is more of them in the following films.

The use of humor is handled very well. After all, there is a lot of darkness here, so it really helps that they were able to work in some laughs for the audience. Most of it is at the expense of Hal, but that's alright.

When Hal uses the ring, especially later on, it's pretty darn cool. His suit in action is not bad.

The quick end sequence! Bring on the sequel! 

"In Blackest Night..."

Best of 2010: Inception

Hans Zimmer does good work. Sure, at times it's a bit over the top and over powering, but he does a good job of bringing his presence to a motion picture. His Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks were filled with powerful cues that were exciting one moment, reflective and sad another, and tender right after that, before jumping right back into the action. He keeps time with the action very well. I am posting a rather long track, but it helps to illustrate what I am talking about very well.

 The Dark Knight score (co-written by James Newton Howard) is nothing, if not  incredible. One of my favorite tracks of all time is on this soundtrack. The title is "Like A Dog Chasing Cars." The track is written with the ablsoulte chaos of the moment in mind, as it become more and more frantic, but never loses its thematic musical self. I love it and can't get enough of the power of this one scene of music.

And his theme for 2009's Sherlock Holmes is another on my list of great tracks. It captures the fun of the movie, the time frame, and excitement. It doesn't just sit there and take a breath, but dives right into the themes presented in the movie. This is the theme of a crime solver that lived a hundred years ago, and kicked ass! I mean listen to those strings. They are working overtime something fierce. And then that send off with a banjo? Brings chills.

He's also done some great work in The Lion King, Rango, The Rock, The Simpsons Movie, and The DaVinci Code, among so many others. Click here for a (much) bigger list.

Last year, Zimmer joined forces once again with Christopher Nolan to score a movie that was a great mystery to so many of us, Inception (click link for synopsis). From the first trailer, with its booming soundtrack and amazing visuals, I was sold. I couldn't wait to see this movie. Plus, it was from Nolan, so I knew that, at the very least, it would be interesting. 

hetalia (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

hetalia episode 19

this time the allies are having a confrance and china comes in late. he says that he had to make crab also he brought a whole lotta people to help him build a Chinatown there. then Germany is giving the Italian army a lesson on why you shouldn't run away. in the middle the Italian army runs away. then back at the confrance every body feels like their being watched. mostly because they are being watched by Canada and no one knows he is there. then Germany is making Italy run laps but instant ly runs away. then at the end of the confrance the allies realize Italy is in the room with them





-asevlupes

hetalia (i thought that died)

I'm doing posts on actual episodes now. the episode im writing on is episode 18. in the episode the axis (italy Germany and japan) get attacked by the allies (Americana england china Russia and France) it looks like the axis can protect them selves. Germany gets a gun japan takes out a sward and Italy waves a white flag. then Germany and japan get knocked out and Italy surrenders. then a giant person comes out of the water and starts to sing. the allies get freaked out and run away and Italy says that person was his grandpa Rome. then the allies attack again same deal but grandpa Rome sings a different song





-adevlupes

Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

Star Wars Blu-Ray extras reveals.

Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

Sweet Tooth: Out of the Deep Woods

Sweet Tooth is your normal post-apocalyptic comic book that takes place after a huge sickness or plague that has wiped out many people on the planet, but nobody knows why. Oh, and it has a boy with deer antlers.

To me, this volume of Sweet Tooth never really accomplishes much. It is an interesting story, with mysterious characters in a mysterious setting. There was, apparently, a plague that wiped out the population. Oddities grew out of this, such as Gus, who is a normal enough looking boy, aside from the antlers on his head.


<SPOILERS>

Hetalia

I'm out of characters from Hetalia so I'm just posting this:

-adevupes

dr who

i really would write a post about doctor who episode 2 but i have no clue what the heck is going on






-adevlupes

Harry Potter 2 trailer

Bring on JULY 15th!

Enough said!

---MGS

A look at iZombie

I'm going to be honest; I am pretty tired of Zombies. Oh sure, I can sort of see the appeal and the interest in them, but there is only so much you can do with the storylines before it feels stale and overdone.


However, there are always exceptions. In my mind there are such things as Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead, because they bring humor to the situation at hand. In comics, though, you can't go wrong with The Walking Dead, which is more about the characters trying to live in the world that has been turned upside down, rather than about the zombies themselves. In books, World War Z is a must read, as it is what feels like a very real historical account of an event that hasn't happened. It is so well told that it you would swear that we all lived through it. 


So, while the whole zombie movement is, for the most part, lost on me, I still do dip my toes into the world from time to time. 


Case in point, iZombie. I had only encountered this title as a preview on the back of another series that I read. It interested me, a woman who is a zombie who must eat brains from time to time to survive, only when she does, the memories of the dead person become stuck in her mind, forcing her to deal with the problems that may have happened to the person during their life. It got my interest, but not enough for me to invest in the comics themselves. When I was looking for something new to try and read, though, I decided to give the trade paperback a whirl. 

"Well here we are again..."

I am not a hardcore gamer.


Now, hold on! Before you raise your hand in the back to make your case against that statement, let me explain. Yes, I do play games, which is obvious from the graveyard of games that litter my floor and boxes upstairs. That would be a tick against me, yes. Except, how many of those games have I finished? A lot? All of them? Would you believe almost none? 


Ok, so I then I hear you ask, why do I have so many games if I am not going to complete them? Well, to be quite honest, I am not sure what type of games I am going to be able to finish, and which ones I am just going to give up on, with the hope on returning to later (which almost never happens). With the expection of The Legend of Zelda, and several Mario games, and Uncharted 2, there haven't been a lot of success stories here. Not that I don't enjoy returning to these games again at a later date, but I mostly have to restart from the beginning, and hope to get through them. 


Unfortunately, Portal (part of The Orange Box) falls on this list.


Fortunately, Portal 2 doesn't.


I will say that Portal 2 joins the company of Ocarina of Time, Windwaker, Twilight Princess, Red Dead Redemption, and Uncharted 2 as being one of my top and favorite games. It might even hit the top spot, under a bit of soul searching. 


<SPOILER WARNING!!> 

New Weird Al

Enough said:

--MGS

"Thanks for your concern"

For the better part of my high school life I had one show to turn to. One show that put my fear of the government and its many conspiracies was the The X-files. Ok, so I didn't really believe that there were government cover up about event that may or may not have happened. For sure, it's fun to pretend, but at the end of the day, there is nothing there. Or is there? Ok, so maybe there are some things that I believe in, but not as many as I used to.

It definitely had one of the best theme songs ever. The moment I heard this, goosebumps would begin:

To look up and see it all

I often look up at the sky and feel exactly how I should feel. Small and insignificant. The millions upon millions of stars that I see will make a person just feel so lost. Imagine all these stars, all these planets, all that potential for life and new discoveries that I will never see and never experience. The universe is too big to even comprehend in my mind, but it is beautiful to look at and take in. Even the just seeing the moon lit at night shining in the night sky is amazing. Space is wonderful.

Here is a video that shows just this. If you don't feel floored by what the universe has to offer outside our world, then you should after this.


The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

--MGS

The Prequels: a look back

1997.


Florida.


The AMC movie theaters, at the Disney West End.


It's a crowded theatre, but one filled with electricity. On the screen, the orginal Star Wars has been re-released. As the anticipation grows, up through the trailers of coming attraction, including those of the next two Star Wars movies to be released soon, people are becoming more and more restless. Then the lights go out, the cheers starts and the music booms to a louder applauds and yelps! The moment has come! For those of us too young to have watched Star Wars on the big screen, the moment is finally here. I am surrounded by others who have also dreamed of this for years. The moments go by one by one, and we couldn't be happier! Quietly we quote along, knowing the dialogue by heart. We are that kids who watched it when we little, playing along with our action figures and homemade costumes. Those kids were once overwhelmed at the sheer joy of watching Darth Vader enter the ship in dramatic fashion and the wonderment of seeing Obi-Wan take out a lightsaber and slash the air around him. And the greatness of seeing Greedo shoot first. Wait, that's not right. Han shoots Greedo, argument over. Did that really happen? Oh well, it's still Star Wars and we are all still super excited in our chairs. This was a moment of pure magic for the geeks.


And then, that weird Jabba scene happens. You know the one, right after Greedo is killed, we get a scene that says exactly the same thing that that previous one just said. It shows Han talking over things with Jabba the Hutt, who is CGI, and looks odd. He sounds different and even a bit smaller than he looked in the original Jedi film. It's weird. The effects look weird. The scene just doesn't work. Even after all this time, and with updated effects, it still is out of place and seems ridiculous.

Maybe this should be an indicator. Maybe this should be the inkling that something is amiss, and yet, we are so excited to see this film that we let it pass! After all, the SW: Special Editions are still the old movie, just added with something more. We are so excited that it passes us up that there is a problem looming.


It's 1999. The year has finally come. The rumors had swirled for years that maybe, just maybe, Mr. Lucas was going to finally give us those prequels, giving us the back story about Darth Vader and his downfall as a Jedi. And now it's true. After all this time, we are going to see just how awesome Darth can be. This is going to be epic.

The Long Halloween

Batman has been through a ton in his life. He's lost his parents, his companions, and his life. He been broken, destroyed, and left for dead. He's faced villians that have ripped him mentally to shreds and others that have left him confused and scared.

With The Long Halloween, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sales gave him a villian that was challenging for him to deal with. This was because the clues didn't just lead to one person. Unfortunately, as the story goes on, it does appear that a trusted friend is the culprit. This disturbs him, above all other things. The mystery is engrossing and keeps you guessing up until its ending.

One thing that I must start off with is that this is considered to be noir in both its art and its storytelling. It does have a very old style to the art, with loads of shadows, and, of course, the murder mystery of who is killing these people. The images have hard edges and colors that are both muted and vivrant at the same time. There are some odd decisions made in regards to the character designs, so the art is a bit off putting, taking time to get used to. So, with this knowledge in place, I will say that noir is not my favorite type of storytelling, and this could have been a detractor for this book.

However, I really like this story. It's never dull, making you want to find out who the killer is.

(Spoilers follow)

"The Octopus was very scary" *

The Goonies.


In 1985 two movies came out that rocked my world. One was the afore mentioned Back to the Future. The Goonies has the honor of being the other film.

Sure, it's not perfect. It has some terrible moments of acting, blue screen work, storytelling, and character development. Sure, it's unbelievable at the best of times. Sure, its ending is the great and sappy happy ending. But you know what? None of that matters, because these kids were just like me. They wanted to go on an adventure. The only difference was, they did it!

"Be sure to drink to drink your Ovaltine"

Here were these kids, not too much older than me, and they were looking for lost treasure. Each one of the kids had a wonderful character trait, Mikey, the leader, had asthma. Mouth talked too much. Data was an inventor who didn't have working inventions. Chunk, the heavy kid, was the butt of jokes. 


But these guys weren't alone. They brought along Mikey's older brother, Brand, who wanted to stop them, the cute high school cheerleader, Andy, who Brand liked, and her friend Steph, the semi-plain looking, but fun companion. 
Unfortunately, the Goonies, named for the place where they live, the Goondocks, houses were being bought out by a wealthy land owner (and let's be honest, is there any other type?) . Living their last days in their homes, the Goonies found a map, a map to the lost treasure of One-eyed Willie, a local pirate legend story. This set them on their new adventure, for better or for worse. 

A look at "Marvels"

"Marvels," is one of those graphic novels that snuck up on me. I was at the library one day, and happened to see a book with the art of Alex Ross staring back at me. I liked it enough to actually pick it up, assuming it was just a drawing book of his work within the Marvel Universe. I didn't expect to do much than to leaf through it, be impressed and then put it back. 


My surprise came at the fact that there was a real story here. It wasn't just a bunch of reflections by Ross about his time and effort into doing these pictures, and about how great he is. No, instead, it has a story that is both engaging to read and enduring. This is powerful stuff by author Kurt Busiek, mixed with an amazing amount of art that helps illustrate it. 


"Marvels" is about just that. It's about when the Marvel Universe came to the world. It tells the story from the perspective of Phil Sheldon, a working man who is trying to make it in the newspaper business as a photographer. He is young and just beginning to get into living his life, getting married, moving into a new house, even going to war to do his time required of him. It all changes suddenly one day, however, when the superheroes of the Marvel Universe appear. It starts off small, but before long, they are everywhere. Phil will spend this time taking and gathering pictures about these people, giving him a reputation for having an eye and a gift for this sort of thing. 

hetalia (ugh... again?)

Today I will talk about South Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

South Italy was taken care of by Spain most of his life. He was almost sold by Spain to France and was kidnapped by France.

 Greece is really laid back and chillaxes all day. He sleeps a lot of the day and is super obsessed with cats. He tries to renovate but he keeps finding ruins.

 Turkey is super mysterious and wears a mask. That's it.

-adevlupes

hetalia (once again)

Today I will talk about Austria, Hungary, and Spain.

Austria is one of many people that live in Germany's house. He mooches off of him and doesn't really know how to do any thing.

Hungary is the person who has done most of the things for Austria and has stood up for him against Prussia.

 And Spain is just as helpless as Austria but can still survive on his own. He also took care of south Italy for a while

-adevlupes

Some thoughts on Tron: Legacy

This is a copy and paste of the review I wrote for Facebook. I will offer some additional comments at the end. 


"Tron: Legacy is an amazing movie. It has some of the most wildly imaginative spacial effects that there are to offer. The story is pretty well done, even though there are still elements that aren't original. Still, there is a lot there to love and that is the best about it. Is this movie for everyone? No. There are many who have looked at this movie and written it off. That is too bad. It is filled with adventure and really cool things to watch. It is a great revisit to some characters that we are familiar with, if you watched or remember the original, while giving us new characters to enjoy. Is there problems in the movie? (Spoilers, just in case) Isn't there always? One of the biggest problems I have is with the de-aging of Flynn. In the old days, they would have just put some makeup on Jeff to make him look oddly old, my wife would have complained about it, and we would have gone on with our lives. Now, with digital technology, we feel its something that we must use for everything, and, in this case, it doesn't always work. The major issue being that his eyes looks mostly off and his mouth seems weird. I am glad that they tried this route, but I wish it had been better. Also, we are given loads of introductions into this world, yet we aren't given a ton of time to get adjusted. That being said, when we are able to move around said world, it's amazing. I wish that there had been a bit more given to one of the characters, but maybe one day, if they follow this up, there will be more time. What worked? So much more. The games were awesome. The action is top notch. The surprises are really wow- inducing, and the ultimate outcome is a bit shocking and sad. The End of Line club is great, Daft Punk's score is amazing, and the little bits and pieces that they put in there for the fans of the original made me smile in so many ways. Yes, I feel this movie is good. I am so happy that this film turned out as good as it did, and I was able to return to a world that I loved as a kid and as an adult. I hope it does well, and we can get other movies."


This movie came out, made very little money, made very few waves, then disappeared. Why? Well, that's where it gets interesting. Or not. In any case, I think that it suffered from two major issues.

The importance of Back to the Future

I remember that day so well. My dad, being a physical education teacher, decided to give me this challenge: climb a rope at his school and get to see a movie. I hated that. So very much. To climb this huge rope to the top was a daunting task, at best. I had been trying to do it forever, only to fail. Yet, somehow, this deal seemed to be a motivator.

So what movie did I chose? What movie did my Dad take me to? He took my 8 year old self to see Back to the Future. When I got to see the movie, I was amazed. I remember just how floored I was by the very idea of time travel. Of course, I didn't understand why or what it was. It was just some kid who went back into the past. I loved it. If nothing else, I loved the Delorean. For years, I had no idea what that car was, but it was silver and it made noise, the doors lifted up, and it sparked and left a fire trail. All in all, I was stupefied.

So why, after all these years, do I still fall back on this? Yes, the nostalgia does play a huge part and just how wonderfully it holds up after all this time, even filled with full on 80's sensibilities and clothes, but there has to be something else. I think it's because even after all this time, I still can't wrap my head around the idea of traveling back in time.

For those who don't know the film, and if you don't I feel sorry for you, it is about Marty McFly, your average high schooler whose family seems plagued with bad luck. His parents are losers, his family is a mess, and his dreams are crushed. After he is able to go back in time, he meets up with his parents and almost is lost because of the changes he's made. In the end, he travels back home and finds his whole life has changed.

Next time, you wear it!

Doc Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, has always been one of my favorite characters. He is a mad scientist type, who invents the time-machine to travel through time, solving some of the Universe's biggest mysteries. He's a blast to watch and somehow, when I was a kid, he was just so darn funny. His facial expressions and over-the-top acting skills are just dead on. Not to mention that hair.

Marty is played by Michael J. Fox, who just screams that aura of teenage years. You can really see this kid growing up in this time, in this place, in this world. He was the character that I most wanted to be like when I grew up (from this movie) just so I could go back in time! His "life preserver" vest was always something cool that, even when that fashion went away for good, I still secretly wanted one. And the fact that he could ride behind a car on a skateboard while holding on to the back bumper? Who didn't want to do that? He was a cool teenager! I was never that cool in high school.

hetalia (again)

Today I will do Prussia, Lichtenstein, and Egypt. Prussia is Germany's big brother. He is constantly making fun of Germany even though he lives in his house. Also when he learned to talk, he kept a diary and has never missed a day writing in his diary. Lichtenstein's big brother is Switzerland who is very protective of her toward Austria. And last but not least, Egypt doesn't talk at all.


-adevlupes

Soap operas are neither soap nor operas. Discuss.

The current decline of the soap opera is a tragedy. For me, soaps are bonding with my sister over long summers of Another World. Soaps are sick days spent bundled up on the couch with my mom, watching General Hospital. Soaps are evenings of dedicated YouTube searching, looking for the clip that shows John Paul and Craig finally, finally getting their sunset ending on Hollyoaks.

Soaps give me an almost giddy sense of nostalgia. You wouldn't expect them to give a lot of attention to continuity; characterization, motivation, and emotional arcs veer wildly from extreme to extreme, and aging is always subject to the whims of casting, so why would story continuity matter? But when I tune in to the weekly repeats of General Hospital on Sundays, I see call-backs to storylines and characters I remember from when my roommate used to watch the show thirteen years ago ... sometimes even from when my mom used to watch it twenty-five years ago. I can't even tell you how hard I smile when Robin Scorpio is on the screen, still played by the same actress I used to see when she and I were both eight years old.

I've also derived a lot of joy over the years from seeing actors from soaps go on to wider success. Every time I see Amber Tamblin in something, I think of Emily Quartermain, drunken teenager. At the height of her fame, I never admired Anne Heche more for any role than I did for her turn as good and evil twins Vicky and Marley. James Franco, Sarah Michelle Geller, Nathan Fillion ... so many successful actors started out on soaps.

Every time another soap gets cancelled, I feel a stab of disappointment. I can't help but hope that the soaps that are left keep going for many, many years. I want to see the absurd drama and sweet romances, I want to watch tomorrow's stars before they're stars, and I want to be able to look back and 'remember when.' Sure, they're melodramatic and unrealistic and over-the-top. But so are 'reality' shows.

Al

hetalia (cont.)

More Hetalia! The countries I will talk about are America, England, France, Russia, China, and Sealand. First up, America is an egotistical little moron who always thinks he's the hero. Also, the only thing he eats are hamburgers and he has no sense of taste. England has equal amount of taste and his pastimes include pointing out other people's mistakes, going to war with France and knitting. France is the one all the girls on the show fall in love with, and I seriously don't care about him. Russia only drinks ... vodka (who didn't see that coming?).China ... I don't really pay much attention to.  And last and very certainly least is Sealand, who just wants to be a country. He has a nice sailor outfit.

-adevlupes

Superman: Earth One

J. Michael Straczynski's Superman: Earth One is amazing. However, it is another take on the origin of our favorite Krypton survivor, so if that isn't what you want, then you might want to move on. Also, if you are Superman origin purest, well, you're not going to find a lot here that you are going to enjoy. If you give it a chance, though, you might be able to see the gold that is hidden within the pages.

I remember seeing the cover to this book at one time and I immediately assumed that this was going to be a Twilight version of Superman, with an emo, whiny, boo-hoo superhero who has too many personal issues. Imagine my reaction when I found out that this was not the case. Yes, he is a younger Superman, almost like the Smallville version, but looking younger. He is young enough to know that he has these powers, but he is struggling with the idea of not really using them for much, preferring to use them sparingly. Sure, he wants to do the right thing, but he needs to find out what exactly the right thing is. This Clark can at times be off-putting. He is making what look like selfish decisions while he does his soul searching. In fact, this Clark almost feels like Peter Parker, kind of stumbling through his decisions and sometime rash decisions. He is learning to become Superman.

There is a bit of Smallville background, which is fine, but doesn't have a huge amount of pages, as this is Clark's entry into Metropolis, using his knowledge and abilities to get the good jobs and opportunities. At one point he heads into the Daily Planet, his iconic home, where is given some advice to keep trying, to which he walks away. It shows that for everything that is super about him, this Clark is still learning and still just starting.

Then the world is attacked. He is now forced to make that final decision, does he finally reveal himself to be the hero he can be, or does he stand by and watch the world end?

Okay, so it's Superman, so there is no surprise there, but the struggle to get to that point is important, learning along the way his world's background in the process.

This is just a darn good read. I am not the biggest Superman fan; he's never been a huge draw in my comic selections. The movies are good, for the most part (Superman the Movie, Superman 2, Superman 2: The Richard Donner Cut are standouts, to be sure), and I have read some stories involving him in different situations, such as Red Son, or True Brit. I have even read the Death of Superman, A World Without Superman, and The Return of Superman, not to mention many different stories where Superman makes an important appearance in, like Kingdom Come. So, yes, I do encounter him, but I am still not a huge Superman person. So, with the cover showing an emo-looking Superman in a hoodie, and the promise of yet another reboot, didn't sound appealing, but the reviews kept saying otherwise. Now, I understand why. This is well written, well illustrated stuff. It keeps the reader wanting more, even when it comes to its end. You want to know more about this Superman. How is he different? What will he do when another supervillain threatens his world? These questions may be left open in the end, but the story before gives us enough for the moment.

So is this recommended? I say yes. It's a good read, and an interesting new take on a classic tale. Even purists should find something here to enjoy. One of the few complaints I do have with it is that it does feel like the first part of a much bigger story. However, there doesn't seem to be anything announced that will be following it up. While that is a bummer, this is a good first step.

This is a hardback edition retail price of $19.99

--MGS

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