Here, Ms. Charisse dances her way into New Years.
May your New Years Eve be Cyd-worthy.
Film. Comics. Sci-Fi. Superheroes. Pulp. Noir. History. Superman. 20th Century Archaeology.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Happy New Year's Eve from Me and Cyd Charisse
60 years ago, Cyd Charisse helped bring in the New Year!
Here, Ms. Charisse dances her way into New Years.
May your New Years Eve be Cyd-worthy.
Here, Ms. Charisse dances her way into New Years.
May your New Years Eve be Cyd-worthy.
New Years High Definition Resolution
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| Ann Miller wants for us to have a Happy New Year! (from 1946) |
My wrist is still pretty messed up. It seems I pulled the tendon. I'm in a brace, and the first medicine I tried did not agree with my tum at all. I sort of sweated my way through UT's victory over UCLA in the Holiday Bowl (and kudos to Baylor for their stunning Alamo Bowl win over Wash last night. That was one kooky game.).
Thursday I watched the better part of That's Entertainment and all of That's Entertainment III. I finally have committed to memory the name "Ann Miller", which I have never been able to remember before, but who I've always found very spunky in the movie below (Easter Parade) and On The Town.
Jamie will be required to learn this dance routine in 2012.
Speaking of 2012, it may seem fruitless to try to better oneself, what with Mayan Astrological Apocalypse upon us, but on the off-chance a civilization that didn't have the wheel may have been wrong about stuff like The End of Days, I am making plans.
So here's the rundown for How in 2012 I Shall Become Physically, Mentally and Morally Superior
1) I shall strive to lose an additional 20 pounds
Because, hey, why not? I can certainly afford to lose some more weight. I've plateaued as of Halloween, and I've been trying to maintain through the Holidays. I can say in 2011 I lost weight while also building muscle mass, so more of that, I think.
It is a pain to buy new pants all over again, but I'd like to live a life as Hoveround-free as possible.
I have a pretty specific vision for how I want to go out of this world, and it is not going to involve getting hooked up to a lot of devices in my golden years. Really, one must be in shape if they think they can take on a den full of mountain lions and put up any kind of fight.
2) Less Twitter and Facebook.
I like you people. I really do. I don't know that hanging out online at night with twitter open while the TV runs is really "building" or "participating in a community", though. You know where to find me, and I didn't say "NO twitter or facebook".
3) Stop with the knee-jerk, acerbic posturing
Frankly, I think that less Twitter and Facebook may resolve this issue to an extent on its own. One of my goals with Signal Watch as a blog has been to try to remain a bit more upbeat, and I need to extend that to other places online and in, I am thinking, my face-to-face communication.
I don't think it hurts to be realistic or to share your views, but I can tone it down quite a bit and likely have a friendly conversation which I'm just shutting down at the start at the moment.
4) Get through 12 books in 12 months
Seriously, I'm so poorly read anymore, I feel like an idiot. I'll continue with a mix of "books I should have read", non-fiction and the occasional throw-away, fun book. I also need to start reading more for work, which I am not including in the 12-books list.
5) Finish 6 chapters of my own thing
It takes me a long time to put a chapter down. Not of the adventures of Kaya, which usually takes about 30 minutes to pound out (and his made me really wonder why I'm fighting writing this sort of thing, as it seems to flow like a fire hydrant), but the Great American Novel I work on sometimes when I'm not working here.
I'd like to finish all the way through before I'm 40.
I did write several chapters last year, which is a change of pace. I'd like to continue on that trend, as I write The Least Impressive Thing, Ever.
That's it.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Signal Watch Watches: The Artist
Yes, The Artist is a silent movie. Shot in black and white. A period piece (it takes place during and immediately following Hollywood's silent era). You will not recognize the two leads.
It comes to Austin on the heels of Hugo, an excellent handshake of a film to The Artist, the two acting as a sort of before-and-after look at the silent era of film, one looking at the earliest days of small film producers and this movie examining life for the stars within the studios as the transition to sound became a reality.
The territory will feel at least a bit familiar to the millions of us who love Singin' in the Rain, and, indeed, our lead reminds me a bit of a love child of Gene Kelley and Douglas Fairbanks. To catch you up: while sound revolutionized film, it also meant the end of many careers for working actors and actresses. In Singin' in the Rain, Jean Hagen's Lina Lamont has a terribly annoying voice that doesn't match her aristocratic screen persona.
Ye Compleate Santor o' Yon 2011
A final Christmas gift from us to you this year. Collected here are the many videos Santor left us all behind. Watch in amazement as Santor warms each heart with the true meaning of Christmas.
Yon foretelling o' his'n arrival
The message of preparedethness
Yon foretelling o' his'n arrival
The message of preparedethness
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
I have no idea which chimp died
Randy has alerted me that the earlier reports of Cheetah the Chimp's death may be inaccurate. It seems a number of parties and news sources are claiming that the chimp was not Cheetah.
Obviously I have no idea, so I'll just go with whatever. Here's HuffPo on the topic.
One need only watch Antiques Roadshow or History Detectives to see how family lore about items around the house can be incorrect or a skewed version of a half-remembered story. Sounds like this may be true of Cheetah the chimp.
Goodnight, Mr. Chimp, wherever you are.
Obviously I have no idea, so I'll just go with whatever. Here's HuffPo on the topic.
One need only watch Antiques Roadshow or History Detectives to see how family lore about items around the house can be incorrect or a skewed version of a half-remembered story. Sounds like this may be true of Cheetah the chimp.
Goodnight, Mr. Chimp, wherever you are.
a hiatus for a few days - I seem to have injured myself
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| apparently this is the danger of push-ups |
Gah, this is annoying. Blogging shall be limited for a few days.
I seem to have injured a tendon in my left wrist, and I'm not really sure how. Maybe exercising. Its not clear.
That big, honkin' brace is making it hard to type, so... you know, less blogging.
We'll be back up and running as soon as we get this sorted.
Cheetah the Chimp Merges with the Infinite
I haven't watched any Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies in 30 years, but as a kid, I knew exactly who Cheetah the Chimp was. He was Tarzan's wacky little buddy.
The chimps you see in TV and movies not played by Andy Serkis or Roddy McDowell are usually very young chimpanzees, usually younger than 5 or 6. After that, its a highly intelligent and willful animal with hands that can tear your arms out of the sockets. So, getting them to hit their marks can be a bit of a challenge. I think casting juveniles in movies also gives people funny ideas about how big chimps actually get.
So, in his way, Cheetah was a child actor when starring in Tarzan movies between 1932-34. He has just passed at the age of 80. That's pretty old for a chimp, most of which don't make it to 40.
Godspeed, Cheetah. You were one awesome primate.
Like many retirees, Cheetah had lived in Florida in recent years.
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| I will never be in a picture even 1/4 this awesome |
The chimps you see in TV and movies not played by Andy Serkis or Roddy McDowell are usually very young chimpanzees, usually younger than 5 or 6. After that, its a highly intelligent and willful animal with hands that can tear your arms out of the sockets. So, getting them to hit their marks can be a bit of a challenge. I think casting juveniles in movies also gives people funny ideas about how big chimps actually get.
So, in his way, Cheetah was a child actor when starring in Tarzan movies between 1932-34. He has just passed at the age of 80. That's pretty old for a chimp, most of which don't make it to 40.
Godspeed, Cheetah. You were one awesome primate.
Like many retirees, Cheetah had lived in Florida in recent years.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Santor's Work Ends for another year...
Santor must say good-bye for another year...
Santor hath finished his merry work for another Christmas!
Do not worry, children. Santor is with us all the year through, so long as you keep him in your hearts and your dreams and think of him when you hear a noise in the house when you believed yourself all alone... (it might just be Santor checking up on you!)
Santor will return next holiday, and the holiday after that, always with us, always watching you.
Santor hath finished his merry work for another Christmas!
Do not worry, children. Santor is with us all the year through, so long as you keep him in your hearts and your dreams and think of him when you hear a noise in the house when you believed yourself all alone... (it might just be Santor checking up on you!)
Santor will return next holiday, and the holiday after that, always with us, always watching you.
Watchmen 2? Blergh.
We placed an empty cardboard box on our stairwell this morning, intending for it to go up when one of us had reason to walk upstairs. The box was about two feet deep. The stairs, not two feet deep. And so it was that I sat, watching Jeff the Cat as he approached the box. From his perspective, this was a box. They all do the same thing. You hop in them, and you have a fort and it is all pretty awesome. Boxes, by their nature, mostly stay put when you jump in them.
However, if the box is just sitting there, perched on the edge of the stair, likely eleven pounds of cat at the end of the box not supported by the stair is going to cause quite the calamity. He's done it before, this leaping into the box on the stairs. And even if it starts well, it ends poorly, with him suddenly at the bottom of the stairs, a box tumped over, him looking around wondering who is to blame for what happened. For when he has jumped in boxes on other surfaces, this just never happens.
And so it is, so often, watching DC Comics of late.
Once Dan Didio and his seemingly-in-need-of-ritalin-yes-man Jim Lee took over at DC Comics as publishers, its become increasingly clear that neither of them really cares all that much about the characters and properties of DC Comics.
I mean, it kind of makes sense. Lee rode off his success on X-Men and other work to jump ship from the big 2 and create what became the Wildstorm Universe, which was an answer to how boring and wimpy he must have found traditional superhero comics. Lots of shouting and bullets and whatnot seemed to be the formula, and I know the Wildstorm U has its relatively small dedicated defenders and supporters (but not large enough to sustain series any longer). I, myself, enjoyed the first few volumes of The Authority before the sameness of the premise, a sort of Boris the Bear-ish approach that saw the angrier Justice League stand-ins straight up killing analogs from other properties.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Signal Watch watches: Tintin
As I understand it, Tintin is a global phenomena that somehow never exploded in the US the way the character has entertained generations across good chunks of the rest of the globe. Its telling that the release of The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn came to the US months later than the rest of the world. Because it is not "ours", this has meant low-flying expectations for the boy reporter here in the states and a welcome not unlike how we treat foreign exchange students when they arrive at our high schools in clothes not bought at Foley's.
We're talking about the movie here for a number of reasons. 1) It is based upon the comics by Belgian comics-smith Hergé. 2) It is a high-flying adventure movie. 3) Its the creation of a wide-range of geek friendly folks from Steven Spielberg to Steven Moffat.
At the Alamo Drafthouse here in Austin, the pre-show rightfully showed clips of adventure serials, Indiana Jones homages, etc... before the movie. The comic strips in which Tintin appears actually pre-date Indiana Jones by about fifty years, so I want to make this clear to the legions of Americans who believe that action stars come in either Sylvester Stallone or Jason Statham models and find the idea of a Belgian action hero hilarious:
A) Van Damme B) this is the most pure adventure movie to hit the screens in the US in a decade. And that sort of worries me about American movie-making.
We're talking about the movie here for a number of reasons. 1) It is based upon the comics by Belgian comics-smith Hergé. 2) It is a high-flying adventure movie. 3) Its the creation of a wide-range of geek friendly folks from Steven Spielberg to Steven Moffat.
At the Alamo Drafthouse here in Austin, the pre-show rightfully showed clips of adventure serials, Indiana Jones homages, etc... before the movie. The comic strips in which Tintin appears actually pre-date Indiana Jones by about fifty years, so I want to make this clear to the legions of Americans who believe that action stars come in either Sylvester Stallone or Jason Statham models and find the idea of a Belgian action hero hilarious:
A) Van Damme B) this is the most pure adventure movie to hit the screens in the US in a decade. And that sort of worries me about American movie-making.
Nothing is scary when you understand it: American Horror Story Wraps It Up
I am a bit fascinated by the concept of Numbers Stations. Not enough to buy a copy of The Conet Project, but I have lost full evenings online listening to clips.
If you're not familiar with Numbers Stations, you may remember the first season of ABC's Lost, where our heroes were picking up a seemingly random sequence of numbers coming over their radio. It was spooky stuff, because you're hearing a human voice, and they seem to think they're making sense, but there's something else clearly going on, something organized, and not knowing what is happening puts you at a disadvantage.
These things are very real, and they make no sense. Hearing someone repeating "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" over and over, or a series of chimes, or a series of numbers appearing mysteriously over shortwave (where the broadcasts got their name) sets you back a pace. Disembodied voices, garbled by the inconsistencies of the aether, making no sense... its utterly discomfiting.
No, it does not steady the nerves to think: oh, its spies broadcasting via shortwave from behind enemy lines. But it is an explanation. But what if its not spies...? What if we don't know...?
We know that people will generally come up with some sort of animistic explanation for the world around them when they don't have facts. Its the source for stories of goblins, faeries, leprechauns, and, of course, ghosts.
American Horror Story was a ghost story. A 13-episode ghost story, which breaks from the usual mold of ghost-story movies, which give you 90-120 minutes to get a deep immersion, get spooked, and get out. It doesn't give you an opportunity over several months to let you question too much about the situation, or, indeed, become familiar with the ghost or learn the "rules" of the ghosts or show.
What made my two favorite ghost-story movies, The Shining and The Haunting, work so well was the slow boil to meltdown. We may have seen pieces of what was happening, and most certainly the creators of both films (Kubrick and Wise, respectively), knew not to just create a separate magical world with traffic laws and a tax code, if they wanted to keep their movies frightening.
You can ride American Horror Story as a ghost story right through the Halloween 2-parter, but after that, the show was trying to explain too much. In fact, 13 episodes may have been too much. I can't help but think that we never needed more than 8 episodes.
There are still plenty of avenues to explore in American Horror Story, but much like the undoing of Lost (a show that it seems we all agreed to quit talking about simultaneously), it seems that explaining things will only reduce the show in the end, make it a shadow of the early promise, where nothing is ever scary because we now understand what's happening, and when we understand, how scary can something really be?* Even ghosts. The show's ghosts, after all, seem to be on a continual character growth curve, which is sort of the opposite of what I'd always found frightening about the concept of ghosts, that they were caught in a loop of a moment of despair, an idea the show plays with, but seems to apply with terrible inconsistency.
Nonetheless, I think from a "fantasy TV show" aspect, American Horror Story still came out fairly well. And I'll be very curious to see how they handle it if they're given another season.
*obviously there are exceptions to this rule, but when your show is based on the ethereal, I think that's a whole other set of challenges. I think its more often in real life, when we uncover the truth about the past, that things become distressing, but that's different from "scary", as in "fight or flight"
If you're not familiar with Numbers Stations, you may remember the first season of ABC's Lost, where our heroes were picking up a seemingly random sequence of numbers coming over their radio. It was spooky stuff, because you're hearing a human voice, and they seem to think they're making sense, but there's something else clearly going on, something organized, and not knowing what is happening puts you at a disadvantage.
These things are very real, and they make no sense. Hearing someone repeating "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" over and over, or a series of chimes, or a series of numbers appearing mysteriously over shortwave (where the broadcasts got their name) sets you back a pace. Disembodied voices, garbled by the inconsistencies of the aether, making no sense... its utterly discomfiting.
No, it does not steady the nerves to think: oh, its spies broadcasting via shortwave from behind enemy lines. But it is an explanation. But what if its not spies...? What if we don't know...?
We know that people will generally come up with some sort of animistic explanation for the world around them when they don't have facts. Its the source for stories of goblins, faeries, leprechauns, and, of course, ghosts.
American Horror Story was a ghost story. A 13-episode ghost story, which breaks from the usual mold of ghost-story movies, which give you 90-120 minutes to get a deep immersion, get spooked, and get out. It doesn't give you an opportunity over several months to let you question too much about the situation, or, indeed, become familiar with the ghost or learn the "rules" of the ghosts or show.
What made my two favorite ghost-story movies, The Shining and The Haunting, work so well was the slow boil to meltdown. We may have seen pieces of what was happening, and most certainly the creators of both films (Kubrick and Wise, respectively), knew not to just create a separate magical world with traffic laws and a tax code, if they wanted to keep their movies frightening.
You can ride American Horror Story as a ghost story right through the Halloween 2-parter, but after that, the show was trying to explain too much. In fact, 13 episodes may have been too much. I can't help but think that we never needed more than 8 episodes.
There are still plenty of avenues to explore in American Horror Story, but much like the undoing of Lost (a show that it seems we all agreed to quit talking about simultaneously), it seems that explaining things will only reduce the show in the end, make it a shadow of the early promise, where nothing is ever scary because we now understand what's happening, and when we understand, how scary can something really be?* Even ghosts. The show's ghosts, after all, seem to be on a continual character growth curve, which is sort of the opposite of what I'd always found frightening about the concept of ghosts, that they were caught in a loop of a moment of despair, an idea the show plays with, but seems to apply with terrible inconsistency.
Nonetheless, I think from a "fantasy TV show" aspect, American Horror Story still came out fairly well. And I'll be very curious to see how they handle it if they're given another season.
*obviously there are exceptions to this rule, but when your show is based on the ethereal, I think that's a whole other set of challenges. I think its more often in real life, when we uncover the truth about the past, that things become distressing, but that's different from "scary", as in "fight or flight"
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Superman (and I) wish you a Merry Christmas Eve!
Merry Christmas, Signal Corps!
I can think of no finer sentiment to share on this Christmas Eve than the words of the Man of Steel.
Tonight, let's be grateful for those with whom we spend the holiday, loved ones or otherwise. And I hope you were able to help out your neighbors and fellow humans here on Planet Earth.
Here at Signal Watch, we're raising a glass to you! May your Christmas Day be merry and bright!
If you're out and about, come home safely. Tell your family I said "howdy", and let's look forward to 2012 as the year where we figure it all out.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! God bless us, every one.
SW Advent Calendar Day 24
Merry Christmas Eve, Signal Corps!
I hope you've had a chance to get out and enjoy the sights and sounds of the Holidays, however you celebrate them and however they look in your town.
Like Superman, here, I get to spend Christmas Eve with the lady for whom I'd make the world spin backward. That's all I need for Christmas this year.
Have a lovely silent night.
I hope you've had a chance to get out and enjoy the sights and sounds of the Holidays, however you celebrate them and however they look in your town.
Like Superman, here, I get to spend Christmas Eve with the lady for whom I'd make the world spin backward. That's all I need for Christmas this year.
Have a lovely silent night.
Friday, December 23, 2011
SW Advent Calendar: December 23
Sometimes Christmas is all about having it out with the extended family.
I have very warm memories of watching this movie as a child. Donald's coat is still one of my favorite visuals in cartoons or live action comedy. This may inform much of what I find funny.
For Christmas, I look like a villain
So, I've been off work since Wednesday at 5:00. Thus, the last time I shaved was early Wednesday morning.
Before heading out to the gym today, I decided to do some shaving. If I don't shave, and I sweat, my face can really start to break out.
I use an electric razor. Something about real razors that close to my jugular has always freaked me out, so I spend money every couple of years on a Norelco or Braun electric razor. Of late, I've used a foil razor. It sort of does the trick. But with a foil razor, if you wait too long between shaves, it can actually hurt a bit as you scrape your face. But, of course aside from redness which immediately goes away, no big deal.
Today while I was shaving, I noticed the usual slight discomfort was a bit amplified and of a different, sharper character. I looked at the razor and noticed nothing out of the ordinary, so I went back to shaving, and it seemed to get worse. And then I noticed I was actually bleeding a little.
This is what I did to myself:
So I scratched the living hell out of myself, and now - I look like a villain in a 90's movie. Just in time for Christmas.
The scratches should be part of a cautionary tale, like: oh, you can tell he fought a bear. But in my case, it looks like I lost a fight to a cat. Which isn't as cool.
Apparently Jamie noticed my razor fell over and put it back. What neither or us noticed was that the foil was damaged. Because my razor was sitting where it always sits, I couldn't figure out what changed between Wednesday morning and today, and just assumed I was a bigger wimp today than in every other preceding day. Until the blood.
See, this is how I know I'm going to die in a completely preventable manner. "Oh, you mean you shouldn't just wake up with your pillow soaked in your own blood every morning? I just thought that was part of getting older."
I am an idiot.
Before heading out to the gym today, I decided to do some shaving. If I don't shave, and I sweat, my face can really start to break out.
I use an electric razor. Something about real razors that close to my jugular has always freaked me out, so I spend money every couple of years on a Norelco or Braun electric razor. Of late, I've used a foil razor. It sort of does the trick. But with a foil razor, if you wait too long between shaves, it can actually hurt a bit as you scrape your face. But, of course aside from redness which immediately goes away, no big deal.
Today while I was shaving, I noticed the usual slight discomfort was a bit amplified and of a different, sharper character. I looked at the razor and noticed nothing out of the ordinary, so I went back to shaving, and it seemed to get worse. And then I noticed I was actually bleeding a little.
This is what I did to myself:
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| the red in my eye if just from an overabundance of Yuletide Spirit |
The scratches should be part of a cautionary tale, like: oh, you can tell he fought a bear. But in my case, it looks like I lost a fight to a cat. Which isn't as cool.
Apparently Jamie noticed my razor fell over and put it back. What neither or us noticed was that the foil was damaged. Because my razor was sitting where it always sits, I couldn't figure out what changed between Wednesday morning and today, and just assumed I was a bigger wimp today than in every other preceding day. Until the blood.
See, this is how I know I'm going to die in a completely preventable manner. "Oh, you mean you shouldn't just wake up with your pillow soaked in your own blood every morning? I just thought that was part of getting older."
I am an idiot.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Blog Spotlight - Down and Out: An Austin Love Story
So, some time this summer PaulT and I headed down to the Alamo Ritz to see Babyface because I was promised lots of Barbara Stanwyck (which it delivered in spades). Prior to the movie, a lovely young woman sat down a couple seats down from PaulT, and because it turns out PaulT, myself and this person are all the sort of person who will talk to just random people, we talked a bit before the show began, and then afterward all wound up at a bar next door for a few drinks.
That lovely young woman was LT. She's fairly new to town, a world traveler, highly educated, and now unemployed and trying to make a go of it here in Waterloo. Turns out she can also turn a phrase, so I encourage you to check out her blog Down and Out: An Austin Love Story.
I think you'll find it an interesting read. I know I do. I'm personally totally rooting for LT, and it wasn't so long ago I was also unemployed in this town under very different circumstances. So if you have a chance, give it a read.
That lovely young woman was LT. She's fairly new to town, a world traveler, highly educated, and now unemployed and trying to make a go of it here in Waterloo. Turns out she can also turn a phrase, so I encourage you to check out her blog Down and Out: An Austin Love Story.
I think you'll find it an interesting read. I know I do. I'm personally totally rooting for LT, and it wasn't so long ago I was also unemployed in this town under very different circumstances. So if you have a chance, give it a read.
SW Advent Calendar December 22
and now, in what's becoming a Christmas tradition, I think, here's my annual posting of The Pogues and Kirsty McColl's "Fairytale of New York"
Some good reads: Memorial #1 and Daredevil #7
If you haven't been past your comic shop yet, or you might be heading back soon, I wanted to pitch two comics to you. One is a brand new series, the other one of Marvel's oldest mainstay characters, and so it gives me two very different things to discuss and recommend for different reasons.
Memorial #1
written by Chris Roberson, art by Rick Ellis and colors by Grace Allison
I have a feeling that if issue #2 continues on from where issue #1 started, and this thing expands the way I think it could, we're going to be looking at one of the "next big things" for comics fans.
In TV and comics, there are ways to lay groundwork while laying out tantalizing bits of "what's really happening" or setting up a mythology, and its difficult to pinpoint how a series on TV like Lost can do this so well, and then the reboot of V comes along, and it has all the fun of solving a big book of word problems.
It has to do, of course, with clearly defined (and new but readily understood) characters, buy-able circumstances for characters that set an internal logic from the beginning, what was presented as hints about what's happening without being unnecessarily oblique.
If this were a TV series, I think we just saw the first half-hour of the 90 minute pilot, and it was very promising. We get a lovely tabula rasa set up for our start, that we know we'll populate with backstory, despotic fairytale queens, and plenty of hints about who our villains are, and the circumstances that led them to villainy. Its a compelling soup of familiar and unfamiliar, and I am very curious to see where it heads.
Mostly, unlike so many #1's I've read in the DCU relaunch, this didn't have me wanting to know more to guess how they would do this, or fix it, or how this compared to my expectations. This was starting fresh, and it felt fresh and absolutely necessary against the backdrop of the state of the industry.
Give it a shot. You can find Memorial #1 from IDW out as of Wednesday, Dec. 21 at your local shop, and online at comixology.
Recommended for fans of Sandman, Fables, Unwritten and Books of Magic.
Daredevil #7
by Mark Waid, Paulo Rivera and Joe Rivera with colorist Javier Rodriguez
The constant push to write for the trade and the industry's devotion to the 6 issue storyline has meant that we've all but lost a vestige of the 80's on most of superherodom in comics. When writers like Claremont were on books like X-Men, as powerful as a multi-issue story-arc could be (and how that was handled differently them plotting out over years sometimes), often it was the stand-alone story between stories that worked as a short story, and revealed character in the way day-in-the-life or short-form stories can.
Waid has always been talented, but of late, the man has been firing on all cylinders on all of his projects. On Daredevil, he's rescued the character from a whirlpool of negativity that started in the 1980's with Miller's work, was used to excellent effect in some of Bendis's run on the character, built upon by Brubaker, but essentially left Matt Murdock with nowhere to go.
Waid continues to play off this problem in this issue, as the mission of this run has been to make Matt Murdock a character whose stories people might want to read for enjoyment, not endure out of duty. Matt Murdock, the character, has reclaimed life, and as readers, we get to enjoy that, too.
This issue follows Murdock in a set of unfortunate circumstances leading kids to safety through a snowstorm. the subject material shouldn't feel like an 80's throwback, but I simply can't point to enough periods in the past 20 years when a writer was offered the opportunity to tell this kind of revealing story in a mainstream book, or saw the potential in such "ordinary" circumstances.
Its a straight up amazing read, and shows not just why Daredevil works as a character, but why Waid's understanding of character and what real drama can look like in a comic about men in tights, keeps the whole thing engaging and reminds readers how this medium and this genre can work on a very good day.
Memorial #1
written by Chris Roberson, art by Rick Ellis and colors by Grace Allison
I have a feeling that if issue #2 continues on from where issue #1 started, and this thing expands the way I think it could, we're going to be looking at one of the "next big things" for comics fans.
In TV and comics, there are ways to lay groundwork while laying out tantalizing bits of "what's really happening" or setting up a mythology, and its difficult to pinpoint how a series on TV like Lost can do this so well, and then the reboot of V comes along, and it has all the fun of solving a big book of word problems.
It has to do, of course, with clearly defined (and new but readily understood) characters, buy-able circumstances for characters that set an internal logic from the beginning, what was presented as hints about what's happening without being unnecessarily oblique.
If this were a TV series, I think we just saw the first half-hour of the 90 minute pilot, and it was very promising. We get a lovely tabula rasa set up for our start, that we know we'll populate with backstory, despotic fairytale queens, and plenty of hints about who our villains are, and the circumstances that led them to villainy. Its a compelling soup of familiar and unfamiliar, and I am very curious to see where it heads.
Mostly, unlike so many #1's I've read in the DCU relaunch, this didn't have me wanting to know more to guess how they would do this, or fix it, or how this compared to my expectations. This was starting fresh, and it felt fresh and absolutely necessary against the backdrop of the state of the industry.
Give it a shot. You can find Memorial #1 from IDW out as of Wednesday, Dec. 21 at your local shop, and online at comixology.
Recommended for fans of Sandman, Fables, Unwritten and Books of Magic.
Daredevil #7
by Mark Waid, Paulo Rivera and Joe Rivera with colorist Javier Rodriguez
The constant push to write for the trade and the industry's devotion to the 6 issue storyline has meant that we've all but lost a vestige of the 80's on most of superherodom in comics. When writers like Claremont were on books like X-Men, as powerful as a multi-issue story-arc could be (and how that was handled differently them plotting out over years sometimes), often it was the stand-alone story between stories that worked as a short story, and revealed character in the way day-in-the-life or short-form stories can.
Waid has always been talented, but of late, the man has been firing on all cylinders on all of his projects. On Daredevil, he's rescued the character from a whirlpool of negativity that started in the 1980's with Miller's work, was used to excellent effect in some of Bendis's run on the character, built upon by Brubaker, but essentially left Matt Murdock with nowhere to go.
Waid continues to play off this problem in this issue, as the mission of this run has been to make Matt Murdock a character whose stories people might want to read for enjoyment, not endure out of duty. Matt Murdock, the character, has reclaimed life, and as readers, we get to enjoy that, too.
This issue follows Murdock in a set of unfortunate circumstances leading kids to safety through a snowstorm. the subject material shouldn't feel like an 80's throwback, but I simply can't point to enough periods in the past 20 years when a writer was offered the opportunity to tell this kind of revealing story in a mainstream book, or saw the potential in such "ordinary" circumstances.
Its a straight up amazing read, and shows not just why Daredevil works as a character, but why Waid's understanding of character and what real drama can look like in a comic about men in tights, keeps the whole thing engaging and reminds readers how this medium and this genre can work on a very good day.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
SW Advent Calendar December 21
The most rockin' Christmas song of the past 15 years.
Which, of course, was really this:
Which, of course, is trumped by this:
Which, of course, was really this:
Which, of course, is trumped by this:
Signal Watch Trailer Park: DKR, Hobbit, etc...
Its not like right now, this Christmas, is shy of movies I want to see. I've got tickets set for Tintin, and there are a couple things I want to see at The Alamo and elsewhere, if I've got time and money. I might even go see War Horse although I figure if its Oscar-bait, that horse is going to get himself dead so we all have a good cry about the innocence lost during wartime.
I have a rough idea of what elements they're playing off one another from back in the Broken Bat era of Batman comics, and I know a bit about Selina Kyle (hey, how about that Anne Hathaway, huh?), and I know Talia al Ghul is slated to appear in the movie played by the lovely Marion Cotillard, so that's always fun.
In general, this looks about five times as intense as The Dark Knight, and that's kind of hard to wrap my head around, as after seeing that movie the first time, I deeply wanted a nap. But that's also what makes for a good Batman tale, I think. Things just keep getting ratcheted up.
And hopefully Joel Schumacher will have a moment of clarity in regards to how Bane could have been useful in a Batman movie.
Last night the trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hit, and the internet sort of blew up.
Truthfully, I only remember bits of this book. The first half left a much smaller impression on me than Lord of the Rings. But that doesn't mean this trailer doesn't look extremely promising, even if it includes bits and pieces that seem to have been created just for the movie.
I am thrilled to see Cate Blanchett back as Galadriel, even if I don't think she was in The Hobbit as a book (correct me, folks, I just don't remember). And, of course, seeing artifacts that come into play in the LOTR trilogy show up onscreen is hugely welcome.
I don't pretend to be a Tolkein scholar, and I'm sure you guys know way more about the movies and books than me, but this all looks terribly promising.
And, of course, for some reason Bryan Singer made a high-budget version of Jack and the Beanstalk.
No, I have no idea why.
I also need to see the new Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as this may be the version that makes the story less hackey and delivers on the promise of the premise (I still think the book is roughly a Mary Sue story for a middle-aged journalist and all the kinds of women he wants to bed). Despite my aversion to Tom Cruise, Randy has sold me on MI:4. And I'm hearing good things about Young Adult.
But we're here to talk MOVIE TRAILERS.
Apparently America's completely lazy "please feed me fatty foods while I lay here" approach to life is now extended to the voice of Batman villain Bane in the new trailer, whose not-American nor upper-crust-British accent has made him apparently completely unintelligible to many online angry people. Having had seen the trailer, if that's a hard accent to parse, none of you people would make it working at a research university.
I have a rough idea of what elements they're playing off one another from back in the Broken Bat era of Batman comics, and I know a bit about Selina Kyle (hey, how about that Anne Hathaway, huh?), and I know Talia al Ghul is slated to appear in the movie played by the lovely Marion Cotillard, so that's always fun.
In general, this looks about five times as intense as The Dark Knight, and that's kind of hard to wrap my head around, as after seeing that movie the first time, I deeply wanted a nap. But that's also what makes for a good Batman tale, I think. Things just keep getting ratcheted up.
And hopefully Joel Schumacher will have a moment of clarity in regards to how Bane could have been useful in a Batman movie.
Last night the trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hit, and the internet sort of blew up.
Truthfully, I only remember bits of this book. The first half left a much smaller impression on me than Lord of the Rings. But that doesn't mean this trailer doesn't look extremely promising, even if it includes bits and pieces that seem to have been created just for the movie.
I am thrilled to see Cate Blanchett back as Galadriel, even if I don't think she was in The Hobbit as a book (correct me, folks, I just don't remember). And, of course, seeing artifacts that come into play in the LOTR trilogy show up onscreen is hugely welcome.
I don't pretend to be a Tolkein scholar, and I'm sure you guys know way more about the movies and books than me, but this all looks terribly promising.
And, of course, for some reason Bryan Singer made a high-budget version of Jack and the Beanstalk.
No, I have no idea why.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
SW Advent Calendar December 20
 |
| Merry Christmas from (left to right) McSteans, Santa and The League |
Santa is taking one for the team, indeed.
Also - the beard and mustache were totally real. I like to think we met the real Santa. He's at The Galleria in Houston.
2nd Anniversary
Today marks the Second Anniversary of the final post at League of Melbotis, the original blog under which I posted.
If you've never been there and are seeking answers to questions you dare not utter, there are years and years worth of postings.
May God have mercy on your soul.
If you've never been there and are seeking answers to questions you dare not utter, there are years and years worth of postings.
May God have mercy on your soul.
 |
| the ghosts of 2005 say "hi" |
Monday, December 19, 2011
Comics I read and Chris Roberson's "Memorial" comes out on Wednesday
As a reminder, Chris Roberson's hotly anticipated new series Memorial starts on Wednesday. If you're in Austin, he'll be at Austin Books and Comics in the afternoon from 1-4 to sign copies (I'm getting my copy signed).
If'n you haven't read any of Chris' work, this is a great opportunity to jump on and see why I keep talking about this guy.
Some other stuff:
Tintin - Secret of the Unicorn: I'm the guy who keeps going "oooooooooh...!" at the trailer for the new Tintin movie, and so I read the book Secret of the Unicorn this week. Its a very manageable volume, but also, apparently, part 1 of the story. So, while I was a bit thrown by the fact that the story didn't actually end, I also just emailed Austin Books to see if they had a copy of the subsequent volumes.
As you know, I'm a Scrooge and Donald Duck fan, and this is in roughly the same sort of vein of high adventure, but with a lot of goofy stuff happening around the characters and our heroes being a bit off-kilter themselves. Its also amazing how much of a master of the form Hergé was as far back as these stories first appeared. Today's action strip artists could most certainly learn quite a bit about pacing and scene management from Tintin.
Incorruptible Volume 4: I've been a fan of Mark Waid's "superhero" work at Boom! with the pairing of Irredeemable and Incorruptible. I did fall a bit behind on my reading of these series, and I'm now trying to catch up, but I hadn't forgotten how much I like how Waid's exploring the central thesis in each book of the hero turned mad/ WMD, and the villain who, in a world gone crazy sees the only sensible thing to do is fight on the side of the angels, even if he has no idea how that works and the people around him are all terribly, humanly uneven in their own approaches to life.
Just a great series for the superhero fan who can't deal with another reboot, civil war, etc... Its some dark stuff, but its smartly done and is genuinely building a coherent storyline. Someting I'm not sure you can say about most of the New 52.
If'n you haven't read any of Chris' work, this is a great opportunity to jump on and see why I keep talking about this guy.
Some other stuff:
Tintin - Secret of the Unicorn: I'm the guy who keeps going "oooooooooh...!" at the trailer for the new Tintin movie, and so I read the book Secret of the Unicorn this week. Its a very manageable volume, but also, apparently, part 1 of the story. So, while I was a bit thrown by the fact that the story didn't actually end, I also just emailed Austin Books to see if they had a copy of the subsequent volumes.
As you know, I'm a Scrooge and Donald Duck fan, and this is in roughly the same sort of vein of high adventure, but with a lot of goofy stuff happening around the characters and our heroes being a bit off-kilter themselves. Its also amazing how much of a master of the form Hergé was as far back as these stories first appeared. Today's action strip artists could most certainly learn quite a bit about pacing and scene management from Tintin.
Incorruptible Volume 4: I've been a fan of Mark Waid's "superhero" work at Boom! with the pairing of Irredeemable and Incorruptible. I did fall a bit behind on my reading of these series, and I'm now trying to catch up, but I hadn't forgotten how much I like how Waid's exploring the central thesis in each book of the hero turned mad/ WMD, and the villain who, in a world gone crazy sees the only sensible thing to do is fight on the side of the angels, even if he has no idea how that works and the people around him are all terribly, humanly uneven in their own approaches to life.
Just a great series for the superhero fan who can't deal with another reboot, civil war, etc... Its some dark stuff, but its smartly done and is genuinely building a coherent storyline. Someting I'm not sure you can say about most of the New 52.
It is remarkably hard to write a non-trite Christmas story
I had an idea that I would try something new this year and try to write a Christmas story. It turns out that, in the short story format, this is very hard.
Of course, the short story format is an enormous challenge to begin with, but add in the complication of the sentiment and sentimentality of Christmas, you can either go sweet and twee, or you can go dark and maybe just end up wallowing in an obvious bit of cynicism or horror that really doesn't get anyone anywhere.
One of the challenges that Hollywood faces, that I've become acutely aware of, is that the message of Christmas is a generic "believe" or "fill yourself with the spirit of Christmas", but what one is to believe, or how one defines the spirit of Christmas (or what that spirit should then encourage one to do), is never really explored.
Of course, the short story format is an enormous challenge to begin with, but add in the complication of the sentiment and sentimentality of Christmas, you can either go sweet and twee, or you can go dark and maybe just end up wallowing in an obvious bit of cynicism or horror that really doesn't get anyone anywhere.
One of the challenges that Hollywood faces, that I've become acutely aware of, is that the message of Christmas is a generic "believe" or "fill yourself with the spirit of Christmas", but what one is to believe, or how one defines the spirit of Christmas (or what that spirit should then encourage one to do), is never really explored.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
To me, fashion is a mistur-ee
I recently saw this image online at the NY Times Magazines tumblr. This is the latest collection from designer Thakoon Panichugal.
This picture is the worst thing I have ever seen.
Call me kooky, but this outfit is a mishmash of clothes randomly pulled off the shelf from a box store and put on a really dumb person suffering from malnutrition. I am led to believe that this poor, sick girl has gotten lost on a tour of the house where James K. Polk spent his post-presidency golden years. She cannot see to the end of the room.
I do not understand fashion.
This picture is the worst thing I have ever seen.
Call me kooky, but this outfit is a mishmash of clothes randomly pulled off the shelf from a box store and put on a really dumb person suffering from malnutrition. I am led to believe that this poor, sick girl has gotten lost on a tour of the house where James K. Polk spent his post-presidency golden years. She cannot see to the end of the room.
I do not understand fashion.
San Fran in Jan(uary)
Heads up, Bay Area folks.
So, in January I'm headed for San Francisco.
I arrive on the 19th. I had originally planned to run around the city and whatnot the first night, but it turns out that its the first night of the San Francisco SketchFest. As part of the Sketchfest, the crew from RiffTrax is performing on night 1 of the SketchFest. So, while this means I may have a problem with the Alpha Plan of @#$%in' &%#@ up in San Francisco on the 19th, it does mean I get to go to SketchFest see the guys from RiffTrax do a bunch of shorts. And that is awesome! (and, no doubt, means extra time hangin' with The Dug and a more likely scenario of seeing MikeF and others)
Oddly, the event is at the Castro, where I will also be the following few days.
The schedule and tickets are now available for Noir City X, the tenth installment of the Eddie Muller-helmed Film Noir Fest.
I'm in and out of town fairly quickly as a man can only afford to stay in one place too long, and the fact that every time I leave work for a few days, some disaster is awaiting me on the other side.
I'm pretty darned excited. The line-up for both before and after I'm there features some great films I've seen and a long list of films I haven't seen. If you live in the area, take advantage.
I am a bit down that I'll miss Naked Alibi on Thursday, which features both Sterling Hayden and Gloria Grahame (and I've been trying to track it down for a while), and it seems this year they've moved the party to the second weekend, so I'm missing that. But they did add Angie Dickinson to talk Point Blank, which is a great movie, so I'll get to see her in person.
But I also will be looking to fill days while I'm around, so if you have helpful touristy hints for me that don't involve wandering The Tenderloin in a Batman costume, I'd like to hear them.
So, in January I'm headed for San Francisco.
I arrive on the 19th. I had originally planned to run around the city and whatnot the first night, but it turns out that its the first night of the San Francisco SketchFest. As part of the Sketchfest, the crew from RiffTrax is performing on night 1 of the SketchFest. So, while this means I may have a problem with the Alpha Plan of @#$%in' &%#@ up in San Francisco on the 19th, it does mean I get to go to SketchFest see the guys from RiffTrax do a bunch of shorts. And that is awesome! (and, no doubt, means extra time hangin' with The Dug and a more likely scenario of seeing MikeF and others)
Oddly, the event is at the Castro, where I will also be the following few days.
The schedule and tickets are now available for Noir City X, the tenth installment of the Eddie Muller-helmed Film Noir Fest.
I'm in and out of town fairly quickly as a man can only afford to stay in one place too long, and the fact that every time I leave work for a few days, some disaster is awaiting me on the other side.
I'm pretty darned excited. The line-up for both before and after I'm there features some great films I've seen and a long list of films I haven't seen. If you live in the area, take advantage.
I am a bit down that I'll miss Naked Alibi on Thursday, which features both Sterling Hayden and Gloria Grahame (and I've been trying to track it down for a while), and it seems this year they've moved the party to the second weekend, so I'm missing that. But they did add Angie Dickinson to talk Point Blank, which is a great movie, so I'll get to see her in person.
But I also will be looking to fill days while I'm around, so if you have helpful touristy hints for me that don't involve wandering The Tenderloin in a Batman costume, I'd like to hear them.
Happy Birthday, JimD
edit. Oh, hell. Apparently tomorrow is Jim's birthday. Just consider this an early present on Jim's B-Day Eve
we don't do birthdays around here much anymore. But it's Jim D's B-Day, and I remembered.
we don't do birthdays around here much anymore. But it's Jim D's B-Day, and I remembered.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
SW Advent Calendar December 17
You know, I just don't see this happening in a current issue of Batman or Detective Comics. But its nice to know that Batman and Robin, once upon a time, totally got into the Christmas spirit.
Kickstarter Project - Folk Documentary
Hey! I've known Hilary since the 4th grade, and now she's one of the subjects of an upcoming documentary on the hard-traveling heroes of Americana/ Folk Music.
Hilary and Stuart are The Flyin' A's (who I went to go see just last night). I've known a lot of musicians at this point, and some have been successful, some less so, but I haven't seen anyone who has worked as hard at keeping their music going as these two. And they're actually very good, too.*
A while back Stuart and Hilary were noticed by a documentary crew and were approached to take part in the film. You can see Hil (not really the shyest of daffodils) gets a lot of coverage.
1. You can see a trailer for their documentary here.
2. You can help fund the documentary by contributing to the Kickstarter at this link.
They only have a couple of weeks left, so if you can kick in a few bucks, it would get the documentary a really long way and get Hilary and Stuart in front of more eyes and ears than a summer's worth of touring.
*I think we've all known that band or musician we really didn't want to encourage
Hilary and Stuart are The Flyin' A's (who I went to go see just last night). I've known a lot of musicians at this point, and some have been successful, some less so, but I haven't seen anyone who has worked as hard at keeping their music going as these two. And they're actually very good, too.*
A while back Stuart and Hilary were noticed by a documentary crew and were approached to take part in the film. You can see Hil (not really the shyest of daffodils) gets a lot of coverage.
1. You can see a trailer for their documentary here.
2. You can help fund the documentary by contributing to the Kickstarter at this link.
They only have a couple of weeks left, so if you can kick in a few bucks, it would get the documentary a really long way and get Hilary and Stuart in front of more eyes and ears than a summer's worth of touring.
*I think we've all known that band or musician we really didn't want to encourage
Friday, December 16, 2011
SW Advent Calendar December 16
Provided by our own AmyD.
This was my response to her email:
I doubt you guys listen to much Magic 95.5 for their magical month of Christmas, but I think they play this song every hour on the hour. Its insane.
Sometimes... this is the song that gets stuck in my head, and even a power drill and a tire iron cannot get it out.
And now I share with you. Merry Christmas.
Marvel finally starts working on Disney comics
It seems Marvel is going to release a Toy Story limited series later this year. Toy Story, while more Pixar than traditional Disney (although the Disney Store would beg to differ), was also one of the first titles launched by Boom! when they began rolling out Disney properties under their license.
I thought Boom! did a phenomenal job handling the Disney properties. Maybe TOO phenomenal as I spent a lot of money on Disney comics for a spot there as Boom! flooded the kids' section with Pixar and Disney properties, both new and licensed from the European and classic American Disney comics.
They also wisely repacked their comics in inexpensive, kid friendly collections.
Really, it was a lot of fun. And so when Disney purchased Marvel, I knew that a wrench would get thrown in the works.
Now, this is one comic of a four-issue limited series of one property. I am still not able to buy new issues of Mickey, Scrooge or Donald. But I will be watching Marvel in 2012 to see what they try. And, hopefully, it won't mess with the great work Fantagraphics is doing collecting the really old school Disney strips and comics.
I thought Boom! did a phenomenal job handling the Disney properties. Maybe TOO phenomenal as I spent a lot of money on Disney comics for a spot there as Boom! flooded the kids' section with Pixar and Disney properties, both new and licensed from the European and classic American Disney comics.
They also wisely repacked their comics in inexpensive, kid friendly collections.
Really, it was a lot of fun. And so when Disney purchased Marvel, I knew that a wrench would get thrown in the works.
Now, this is one comic of a four-issue limited series of one property. I am still not able to buy new issues of Mickey, Scrooge or Donald. But I will be watching Marvel in 2012 to see what they try. And, hopefully, it won't mess with the great work Fantagraphics is doing collecting the really old school Disney strips and comics.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
End of the Year List?
You know, I don't want to do a "best of" list, because, seriously, I didn't watch that many movies or TV shows, read that many books, etc...
So, instead, here's sort of a list of stuff I liked this year.
TV
Friday Night Lights - final season. The show nobody watched while it was on, but everyone seems to be finding now. The show wound up on a great note, bringing together years of storylines.
Louis - Louis CK's odd non-sitcom. Its on FX, its critically acclaimed and lightly watched, but its maybe the closest to a singular vision you're going to find on TV.
Game of Thrones - I wasn't expecting much, and instead I got totally wrapped up in the show. And started rationalizing reasons why it was okay to like the really pretty bad bad-guys. Peter Dinklage was terrific.
American Horror Story - gets a mention because so many people didn't give it a chance, and until the penultimate episode, it was one seriously messed up show that was way more entertaining than I was guessing (your mileage will vary). Also, its show #2 on the list featuring Connie Britton.
The League - I don't even think this show is terribly good, but it is funny in a misanthropic, semi-nihilistic sort of way.
Park and Rec - This show has always been pretty solid, but this year it hit a particular stride, even with the tragic loss of Lil' Sebastian (RIP).
Adventure Time - I would try to explain this show, but the only way you're going to find out about it is if your kids tune in. You'll enjoy it/ get it more than they will.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Probably my favorite show on TV this year, and it went out with a bang.
There were a lot of good shows. I didn't talk about my perennial favorite Mythbusters, for example. What else can you say in season 8 or whatever they're on?
Movies (first run at the theater)
Drive - This one hit so many of my personal buttons for a movie, they might as well have asked me what I thought I'd like to see in a crime flick.
Hugo - Likely the best bit of direction I've seen in a couple of years, and a true piece of art talking about art. And, of course, its flopping.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - APES.
Attack the Block - this one was such a pleasant surprise, I likely overhyped it. But it was a nice contrast to the nostalgic Super 8.
Captain America - My favorite superhero movie in a while
Movies (on my TV or elsewhere)
The Glass Key - just a kick-ass bit of crime cinema
The Hustler - I am kicking myself for waiting so long to see this movie. Absolutely brilliant.
Gun Crazy - Those crazy kids. They almost made it work. Except for all the gunplay and murder.
Night of the Hunter - Hey! Its also sort of a Christmas movie!
Books
Oh, I don't know. They've all been fine.
Music
Ha ha ha. No.
So, instead, here's sort of a list of stuff I liked this year.
TV
Friday Night Lights - final season. The show nobody watched while it was on, but everyone seems to be finding now. The show wound up on a great note, bringing together years of storylines.
Louis - Louis CK's odd non-sitcom. Its on FX, its critically acclaimed and lightly watched, but its maybe the closest to a singular vision you're going to find on TV.
Game of Thrones - I wasn't expecting much, and instead I got totally wrapped up in the show. And started rationalizing reasons why it was okay to like the really pretty bad bad-guys. Peter Dinklage was terrific.
American Horror Story - gets a mention because so many people didn't give it a chance, and until the penultimate episode, it was one seriously messed up show that was way more entertaining than I was guessing (your mileage will vary). Also, its show #2 on the list featuring Connie Britton.
The League - I don't even think this show is terribly good, but it is funny in a misanthropic, semi-nihilistic sort of way.
Park and Rec - This show has always been pretty solid, but this year it hit a particular stride, even with the tragic loss of Lil' Sebastian (RIP).
Adventure Time - I would try to explain this show, but the only way you're going to find out about it is if your kids tune in. You'll enjoy it/ get it more than they will.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Probably my favorite show on TV this year, and it went out with a bang.
There were a lot of good shows. I didn't talk about my perennial favorite Mythbusters, for example. What else can you say in season 8 or whatever they're on?
Movies (first run at the theater)
Drive - This one hit so many of my personal buttons for a movie, they might as well have asked me what I thought I'd like to see in a crime flick.
Hugo - Likely the best bit of direction I've seen in a couple of years, and a true piece of art talking about art. And, of course, its flopping.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - APES.
Attack the Block - this one was such a pleasant surprise, I likely overhyped it. But it was a nice contrast to the nostalgic Super 8.
Captain America - My favorite superhero movie in a while
Movies (on my TV or elsewhere)
The Glass Key - just a kick-ass bit of crime cinema
The Hustler - I am kicking myself for waiting so long to see this movie. Absolutely brilliant.
Gun Crazy - Those crazy kids. They almost made it work. Except for all the gunplay and murder.
Night of the Hunter - Hey! Its also sort of a Christmas movie!
Books
Oh, I don't know. They've all been fine.
Music
Ha ha ha. No.
SW Advent Calendar December 15
Every year, right around Christmas, Ms. Darlene Love appears on the Late Show with David Letterman to perform "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)", not just the best modern era Christmas song (in my opinion), but one of Phil Spector's best, no matter what Holiday or day we're talking about.
So the internet might be dead by the end of the day today
Hey, all four of you who read this site.
If SOPA passes today, that may be the end of this blog. Just FYI. If it does pass, I'd have to likely not just stop posting, but may need to pull this blog and the archives of League of Melbotis offline. And forget tumblr.
Basically, its going to make 95% of what I do and talk about here not just a risk to me (of a felony, not just a law suit), but to any of you who might link back to me.
I've written to my congress people, but they're from Texas, so if anyone is waving a $20 bill their direction, they'll be insisting Jesus pre-ordained SOPA and anyone who doesn't love the bill hates America.
So, you know, now would be a good time to write your local congressperson and see if you can't shake the tree a little.
Funny. This really wasn't how I was expecting to end this blog (I assumed one of us would die while saving orphans from a submarine fire), but The League is not going to jail for posting pictures of Superman online without the express written consent of the NFL or whomever.
I think the good folks at Get Your Censor On can help fill in some of the blanks.
Enjoy your internet full of nothing but Kim Kardashian updates.
@#$%
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Signal Watch Reads: Batman - The Black Mirror
Written by SCOTT SNYDER; Art by JOCK and FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA; Cover by JOCK
Unlike a surprisingly vocal group on the comics internets, I wasn't pulling for Dick Grayson to remain Batman forever. For many, many reasons, Grayson is Nightwing, and the longer he stayed in the cape and cowl, the more likely we'd end up in some new "Kyle Rayner is my Green Lantern!" conversation a bit down the road as we dealt with that small section of the populace that came to Batman during the window of Grayson as Batman.
But I like the stories that came out of the era, at least those by Morrison, and I'm pleased to say I quite enjoyed Scott Snyder's The Black Mirror collection as well (and, hey, what are the chances he's an Arcade Fire fan? Pretty high, I'd guess).
Black Mirror started as a series of back-ups in Detective and dovetailed into the mainline story, which must have been quite thrilling to watch unfold over the course of the year. I missed all of this as during the post Return of Bruce Wayne era, I have relegated all new Batman reading to trades.
Snyder's Batman is as close (closer than Morrison's) to how I've been interpreting Gotham and Batman's place in the city as anything else I've read. I'm not sure its exactly Alan Grant-riffic, but it is back to Batman as the line of defense against a city under siege by human monsters (which, actually, is more or less how I read Arkham Asylum by Morrison some years back. It was the pen for all the monsters/ the inside of a madman's mind).
The story throws red herrings, plays off paranoia developed after living so close to the Gotham's violent undercurrent and explores the lives of characters that were present in the assumed past of Batman comics, but whose lives were moving steadily forward in parallel to those of Batman and Robin, but off frame. Sure, its a bit odd to come in so late in the game with this entirely new backstory, but it fits for the Gordon family, and fills in gaps and works with ellipses Miller left at the end of Year One that no other writer has ever picked up.
It does, however, raise some questions even while it cements issues around "so how old is Batman, exactly?"
But the real success here isn't just in playing well as a continuity cop. Snyder manages to tell a compelling page turner of a tale that I thought worked great as a collection, even while enjoying the episodic nature of the book. The various alleys taken, from the Etienne story to Tiger Shark to our final conclusion all manage to fold together nicely, and while its not so much a mystery at some point, its still manages to work as character study for some of our primaries and for Gotham, itself (something Snyder is exploring in current issues of Batman.
I'd be remiss not to mention the impressive collaboration of artists Jock and Francesco Francavilla, who managed to blend their two distinctive styles of Klaus Janson-esque scratchy line art and illustrative exactness a la Mazzuchelli. Its a nice blend as they handle separate assignments within the same book. And that's not to mention the exemplary coloring.
Its an odd contrast to the sort of stuff I felt Tony Daniel was doing over in Batman last year and that it seems he's doing in Detective now that just feels so much like watered-down retreads of other stuff you've seen before. Snyder seems to have found a way to tell a fresh story using familiar parts of the Batman mythos without the need to overhaul everything we've known, and that's not small thing.
Anyhoo... its a little pricey as a hardback, but if you can find it on sale, its a nice, solid Bat-read.
Unlike a surprisingly vocal group on the comics internets, I wasn't pulling for Dick Grayson to remain Batman forever. For many, many reasons, Grayson is Nightwing, and the longer he stayed in the cape and cowl, the more likely we'd end up in some new "Kyle Rayner is my Green Lantern!" conversation a bit down the road as we dealt with that small section of the populace that came to Batman during the window of Grayson as Batman.
But I like the stories that came out of the era, at least those by Morrison, and I'm pleased to say I quite enjoyed Scott Snyder's The Black Mirror collection as well (and, hey, what are the chances he's an Arcade Fire fan? Pretty high, I'd guess).
Black Mirror started as a series of back-ups in Detective and dovetailed into the mainline story, which must have been quite thrilling to watch unfold over the course of the year. I missed all of this as during the post Return of Bruce Wayne era, I have relegated all new Batman reading to trades.
Snyder's Batman is as close (closer than Morrison's) to how I've been interpreting Gotham and Batman's place in the city as anything else I've read. I'm not sure its exactly Alan Grant-riffic, but it is back to Batman as the line of defense against a city under siege by human monsters (which, actually, is more or less how I read Arkham Asylum by Morrison some years back. It was the pen for all the monsters/ the inside of a madman's mind).
The story throws red herrings, plays off paranoia developed after living so close to the Gotham's violent undercurrent and explores the lives of characters that were present in the assumed past of Batman comics, but whose lives were moving steadily forward in parallel to those of Batman and Robin, but off frame. Sure, its a bit odd to come in so late in the game with this entirely new backstory, but it fits for the Gordon family, and fills in gaps and works with ellipses Miller left at the end of Year One that no other writer has ever picked up.
It does, however, raise some questions even while it cements issues around "so how old is Batman, exactly?"
But the real success here isn't just in playing well as a continuity cop. Snyder manages to tell a compelling page turner of a tale that I thought worked great as a collection, even while enjoying the episodic nature of the book. The various alleys taken, from the Etienne story to Tiger Shark to our final conclusion all manage to fold together nicely, and while its not so much a mystery at some point, its still manages to work as character study for some of our primaries and for Gotham, itself (something Snyder is exploring in current issues of Batman.
I'd be remiss not to mention the impressive collaboration of artists Jock and Francesco Francavilla, who managed to blend their two distinctive styles of Klaus Janson-esque scratchy line art and illustrative exactness a la Mazzuchelli. Its a nice blend as they handle separate assignments within the same book. And that's not to mention the exemplary coloring.
Its an odd contrast to the sort of stuff I felt Tony Daniel was doing over in Batman last year and that it seems he's doing in Detective now that just feels so much like watered-down retreads of other stuff you've seen before. Snyder seems to have found a way to tell a fresh story using familiar parts of the Batman mythos without the need to overhaul everything we've known, and that's not small thing.
Anyhoo... its a little pricey as a hardback, but if you can find it on sale, its a nice, solid Bat-read.
SW Advent Calendar December 14
Brooksie just isn't going to make a big to-do about decorating, one supposes.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
SW Advent Calendar December 13
I've not read this issue of Flash by Mark Waid, and I've got to find a way to correct that before Christmas.
We're not crazy about the SOPA Bill
I've censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet--a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/6377/uncensor
I don't ████████████ ████ it in for the ████ or the ████. ████ █████ █████ ████████. But ████ I do ████ a ███████ ████ is the ████ █████ ██████ ████████ ████ █████ ████ █████ 95% of the ████████ on the ████████ a █████ █████.
No, you ███████'t be █████████ ███████████ ██████ or ██████, you █████. But ████'s █████████ now is ████ a ████ has ████ ███████ ████ █████ an ████████ ██████ of ███████ ██████ ██████ ████████████ █████, █████████ ████████ █████████. If you ████, ███████████, a ██████████ ██████████ ████████, go █████ and ███████ ████.
I ██████ █████████ ████ ███████.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Signal Watch Reads: Action Comics #4
Action Comics #4
Superman and the Men of Steel
writer - Grant Morrison
penciller - Rags Morales
inkers - Rick Bryant & Sean Parsons
colorist - Brad Anderson
letterer - Patrick Brosseau
One of the funniest things about this issue wasn't what was on the page so much as a few comments I read online. Man, a lot of superhero comics fans really, really do not know their Superman. Even after the recent terrific Brainiac storyline in Action Comics by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, culminating in the crazier and better bits of the conclusion of the massive New Krypton storyline.
Superman and the Men of Steel
writer - Grant Morrison
penciller - Rags Morales
inkers - Rick Bryant & Sean Parsons
colorist - Brad Anderson
letterer - Patrick Brosseau
One of the funniest things about this issue wasn't what was on the page so much as a few comments I read online. Man, a lot of superhero comics fans really, really do not know their Superman. Even after the recent terrific Brainiac storyline in Action Comics by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, culminating in the crazier and better bits of the conclusion of the massive New Krypton storyline.
Dames to Watch Out For: Today is Jennifer Connelly's Birthday
which gives me an excuse to post a picture of Jennifer Connelly.
Ah, Ms. Connelly.
Unlike a lot of her contemporaries, Connelly never really became part of a Brat Pack or became known in the sort of faddish way many actresses get used up and spit out, only to wind up on absolutely terrible Lifetime and Hallmark Channel holiday movies. Which I've been watching again, and they are awesome.
Connelly was a child actress, showing up in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America as the 12-year-old Deborah, but I remember her as the girl from Labyrinth that I was crushing on and who was pursued by David Bowie and Muppets. Of course later she wound up as Bettie Page stand-in Jenny in The Rocketeer, which is worth watching just for Connelly in a cocktail dress.
She's gone on to all sorts of work, and has carved out an interesting career for herself while not melting down in public, but managing to mostly appear in movies I just never see. I think the last of her movies I saw was the iffy remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Still, my hat is off to Connelly, because, dang, yo. You keep being you, Ms. Connelly.
 |
| along with some dude's 'stache |
Unlike a lot of her contemporaries, Connelly never really became part of a Brat Pack or became known in the sort of faddish way many actresses get used up and spit out, only to wind up on absolutely terrible Lifetime and Hallmark Channel holiday movies. Which I've been watching again, and they are awesome.
Connelly was a child actress, showing up in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America as the 12-year-old Deborah, but I remember her as the girl from Labyrinth that I was crushing on and who was pursued by David Bowie and Muppets. Of course later she wound up as Bettie Page stand-in Jenny in The Rocketeer, which is worth watching just for Connelly in a cocktail dress.
She's gone on to all sorts of work, and has carved out an interesting career for herself while not melting down in public, but managing to mostly appear in movies I just never see. I think the last of her movies I saw was the iffy remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Still, my hat is off to Connelly, because, dang, yo. You keep being you, Ms. Connelly.
 |
| ah, heck. here's Ms. Connelly in that cocktail dress. |
a wee bit more on Superman Family kids' comic
DC Comics' blog made a formal announcement today regarding the Superman Family Adventures comic I mentioned Friday.
It sounds exactly like the sort of thing I was hoping DC might do this year. Well, 2012 is close to this year, so I'll take what I can get.
From the article:
This is, of course, in tandem with the line of kids' Super Pets books which will soon have volumes featuring Super Turtle, Comet and more Krypto and Streaky.
I did notice on the bigger image DC provided of the FCBD comic that Superman is in his new suit. I'll be curious how Jim Lee's design translates.
But, yup, that's Superman. I am pretty excited about this!
It sounds exactly like the sort of thing I was hoping DC might do this year. Well, 2012 is close to this year, so I'll take what I can get.
From the article:
This May, the Eisner Award-winning creative team of the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling TINY TITANS, Art Baltazar and Franco, will continue bringing their wonderful and unique humor to DC Comics with the new ongoing monthly series, SUPERMAN FAMILY ADVENTURES. The series will be starring (you guessed it!) the whole Superman gang – Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor, Bizarro, General Zod and … Fuzzy the Krypto Mouse!As near as I can tell, Fuzzy the Krypto Mouse is all-new, but its been a while since anyone was added to the Legion of Super-Pets, so I welcome Fuzzy with open super-arms. (But "Krypto Mouse"? Could he be Streaky's nemesis?)
This is, of course, in tandem with the line of kids' Super Pets books which will soon have volumes featuring Super Turtle, Comet and more Krypto and Streaky.
I did notice on the bigger image DC provided of the FCBD comic that Superman is in his new suit. I'll be curious how Jim Lee's design translates.
 |
| the kids love a high collar! |
But, yup, that's Superman. I am pretty excited about this!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Signal Watch Watches: Hugo
When the trailer hit for Hugo, I think a lot of folks were bemused or confused. Scorsese made his bones with some tough subject material, is closely associated with his gangster work like Casino and Goodfellas, and still turns out good stuff, the most recent that pops to mind for me is The Departed and the doc Public Speaking.
Of his contemporaries, Scorsese never went off the rails as much as Coppola and Lucas seemed to after their initial decade or two of success. He's been consistent, usually sticking to fairly mature material even when handling a costume drama like The Age of Innocence. Thus it may have been, I raised an eyebrow when I saw he was doing a family movie for release at Christmas with 3D, storybook sets, a bright-eyed little boy a lead and dogs. I still wanted to see what he'd cooked up, but more or less planned to write it off as Scorsese's holiday-film lark.
Firstly, Hugo is not at all the movie I believed it would be from the trailer. Nor the poster. And, I'd argue, its barely a kids' movie. Or, if it is for kids, its not going to slow down for your dopey kids as it goes about telling very exactly the story it has in mind.
Of his contemporaries, Scorsese never went off the rails as much as Coppola and Lucas seemed to after their initial decade or two of success. He's been consistent, usually sticking to fairly mature material even when handling a costume drama like The Age of Innocence. Thus it may have been, I raised an eyebrow when I saw he was doing a family movie for release at Christmas with 3D, storybook sets, a bright-eyed little boy a lead and dogs. I still wanted to see what he'd cooked up, but more or less planned to write it off as Scorsese's holiday-film lark.
Firstly, Hugo is not at all the movie I believed it would be from the trailer. Nor the poster. And, I'd argue, its barely a kids' movie. Or, if it is for kids, its not going to slow down for your dopey kids as it goes about telling very exactly the story it has in mind.
SW Advent Calendar December 11
Thanks to Nicole for this video.
Actually, this video might actually be of Nicole.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
SW Advent Calendar December 10
This evening we host our annual Holiday Party.* Were we only so lucky as to have Enemy Ace come flying in out of the snow to party crash as he did in the story "Silent Night" from Christmas with the Superheroes #2.
*you're invited. Come on by!
Friday, December 9, 2011
SW Advent Calendar December 9
...why is Santa so HUGE? And shouldn't Wonder Woman put on some pants if she's going to sit down in the snow?
So, so many questions...
Superman Family Kids' Comic Coming?
Well, this looks three kinds of promising.
Free Comics Book Day is announcing their upcoming titles for this spring/ summer, and included in the "Silver" book announcements, I read the following:
Let me pull out the relevant/ exciting part.
So maybe this summer we're getting a kid's version of The Superman Family? Well, count me in.
You can see Superman in the little bullet there towards the bottom of the cover.
It's a nice little surprise in my day.
Free Comics Book Day is announcing their upcoming titles for this spring/ summer, and included in the "Silver" book announcements, I read the following:
DC COMICS
DC Nation Super Sampler / Superman Family Adventures Flip-Book
(W) Art Baltazar, Franco, Various (A) Dario Brizuela, Art Baltazar, Various
This super sampler is the place to check outGreen Lantern Adventures and Young Justice, two sensational new comic series from the DC Kids line based on Warner Bros. Animation’s popular Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice, featured on the upcoming DC Nation programming block on Cartoon Network in 2012. The sampler includes two exciting, all-new stories that readers of all ages will enjoy. Plus, get a sneak-peek at the brand-new Superman Family Adventures monthly series from the Tiny Titans creative team!
Let me pull out the relevant/ exciting part.
Plus, get a sneak-peek at the brand-new Superman Family Adventures monthly series from the Tiny Titans creative team!What?! That could be AWESOME!
So maybe this summer we're getting a kid's version of The Superman Family? Well, count me in.
You can see Superman in the little bullet there towards the bottom of the cover.
It's a nice little surprise in my day.
Garth Ennis's "Battlefields"
A comic that's gotten sadly too little conversation, in my opinion, has been Garth Ennis' war comic, Battlefields.
Ennis is famous for Preacher, Hitman, Punisher: Welcome Back Frank, The Boys, Adventures in the Rifle Brigade and other over-the-top comics adventure stories aimed squarely at the 17-and-up crowd. Yes, he knows how to a work a good de-nosing, be-facing, entrail gouge and other such entertaining topics into his work. And, I admit, when I'm in the mood, I absolutely love that stuff.
But a number of years back now, Ennis did a two-issue, prestige format Enemy Ace story that more or less set up my current fascination with the character (especially after learning Pratt's work on War Idyll and the original Kanigher and Kubert work was so astoundingly good), and I'd highly recommend it as a good "here's a comic without superheroes" comic.
He went on to write some great stuff in his War Stories comics at DC, and, again, I'd recommend.
But a couple years back he started a new banner at Dynamite where he could tell short, 3 issue stories, called Battlefields.
Truthfully, I'm not sure if I've discussed his work on Battlefields here before or not. But it bears discussion.
Unlike most of comic-dom that plays with facts, refuses to do so much as a Google search on even the historical figures or events they're talking about, or grossly misrepresents facts in order to "tell the story", Ennis clearly does his research. He clearly knows his topics, from New Zealand army bombers to British tank commands during WWII. And on top of that, he tells brilliant, human stories in the grinder that is war. Sometimes sentimental, sometimes less so, but never with the varnish of a John Wayne war movie, nor the melodramatic flair of Platoon, Ennis actually carves out a pretty straightforward way of relating his stories, and that makes the tragedy surrounding the characters all the more grim.
If you get a chance, at least pick up that first collection. Its of 9 issues, 3 separate stories on 3 separate fronts, and all chillingly well told. I'm pretty sure it'll mean you go ahead and pick up Volume 2.
While Ennis most definitely gets a nod of respect, there's so much more internet ink spilled (and I suspect sales are much higher on) his books like The Boys. And that's great, but its missing what a tremendously talented and versatile (and damned smart) writer Ennis really can be.
Ennis is famous for Preacher, Hitman, Punisher: Welcome Back Frank, The Boys, Adventures in the Rifle Brigade and other over-the-top comics adventure stories aimed squarely at the 17-and-up crowd. Yes, he knows how to a work a good de-nosing, be-facing, entrail gouge and other such entertaining topics into his work. And, I admit, when I'm in the mood, I absolutely love that stuff.
But a number of years back now, Ennis did a two-issue, prestige format Enemy Ace story that more or less set up my current fascination with the character (especially after learning Pratt's work on War Idyll and the original Kanigher and Kubert work was so astoundingly good), and I'd highly recommend it as a good "here's a comic without superheroes" comic.
He went on to write some great stuff in his War Stories comics at DC, and, again, I'd recommend.
But a couple years back he started a new banner at Dynamite where he could tell short, 3 issue stories, called Battlefields.
Truthfully, I'm not sure if I've discussed his work on Battlefields here before or not. But it bears discussion.
Unlike most of comic-dom that plays with facts, refuses to do so much as a Google search on even the historical figures or events they're talking about, or grossly misrepresents facts in order to "tell the story", Ennis clearly does his research. He clearly knows his topics, from New Zealand army bombers to British tank commands during WWII. And on top of that, he tells brilliant, human stories in the grinder that is war. Sometimes sentimental, sometimes less so, but never with the varnish of a John Wayne war movie, nor the melodramatic flair of Platoon, Ennis actually carves out a pretty straightforward way of relating his stories, and that makes the tragedy surrounding the characters all the more grim.
If you get a chance, at least pick up that first collection. Its of 9 issues, 3 separate stories on 3 separate fronts, and all chillingly well told. I'm pretty sure it'll mean you go ahead and pick up Volume 2.
While Ennis most definitely gets a nod of respect, there's so much more internet ink spilled (and I suspect sales are much higher on) his books like The Boys. And that's great, but its missing what a tremendously talented and versatile (and damned smart) writer Ennis really can be.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
SW Advent Calendar December 8
 |
Dang, yo! Batman gets all the cool presents.
Then again, Jamie doesn't like how I drive as it is.
Jerry Robinson Merges with The Infinite
Comics artist and creator of Batman's arch-nemesis, The Joker, Jerry Robinson has merged with The Infinite.
There are fact-filled eulogies and appreciations drifting in from all over the internet, so I'd rather link to better-written and better-researched articles and eulogies.
From CBR
From Newsarama
Jerry lived to the age of 89, but in his youth was part of the comics explosion, working side by side with the pioneers and greats of industry. He was also a comics historian, and advocate for creator's rights.
With the production of The Dark Knight as a major film (and featuring The Joker), Robinson was given emeritus status at DC Comics, and has enjoyed a close relationship with the company the last few years.
Another of the great ones has passed.
There are fact-filled eulogies and appreciations drifting in from all over the internet, so I'd rather link to better-written and better-researched articles and eulogies.
From CBR
From Newsarama
Jerry lived to the age of 89, but in his youth was part of the comics explosion, working side by side with the pioneers and greats of industry. He was also a comics historian, and advocate for creator's rights.
With the production of The Dark Knight as a major film (and featuring The Joker), Robinson was given emeritus status at DC Comics, and has enjoyed a close relationship with the company the last few years.
Another of the great ones has passed.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
So, someone has made an all new Three Stooges movie
...I find this idea bizarre.
Yes, the Three Stooges were characters portrayed by actors. I do not labor under any illusions that the three Stooges really went about poking one another in the eye, slap-sticking each other and pulling one another's nose, no matter how totally awesome that illusion might be. But its also, for this human, impossible to separate the characters from the actors. Hell, the Stooges didn't just hire some new guy to play Curly. They replaced him with Shemp.
Which opens the door to the whole "Fake Shemp" discussion, which is sort of morbidly fascinating.
Now, according to my intensive Stooges research, the Stooges struggled for years with their third stooge, and it could be said that somehow that makes them all fungible. Hell, after Curly and Larry died, Moe did continue on with Shemp, then Joe, then Curly Joe. Then a replacement Larry. Then, when Moe died, an "all new Stooges" formed from the replacements, but who the hell remembers those guys?
The point is - Moe, Larry and Curly are so tightly bound between actors and characters, bringing them back in 2012 with new faces and actors trying to emulate the original formula seems ill-conceived.
In all honestly, I originally thought when I heard there was a movie about the Three Stooges, it would be a biopic about the men behind the eye-poking. It wasn't until I watched the new trailer that I learned otherwise.
I don't think you'd see a new Little Tramp movie. Or a new Marx Bros. movie. Laurel & Hardy. Abbott & Costello. A new Lucy TV show, etc... And while, yeah, we'd all like to see some new Stooges movies*, if none suddenly surface, I think its okay to just live with the many, many shorts and features they released.
Also - these guys, all talented, just aren't the Stooges. They're guys approximating what the Stooges refined every day of their lives for 30 years. The timing looks off, and it looks like half-realized impersonations of well known characters more than, well, I guess just BEING Moe Howard
I guess its a kids' movie, but given current trends in parenting, I'm hard-pressed to believe that the eye-poking, face-slapping antics I enjoyed as a youth will go over well today.
All this said - I'm not a huge Stooges fan. I don't dislike the Three Stooges, but it isn't something I watched all that often as a kid, and they just didn't air much anymore by the time I was an adult. I appreciate that they have a cult following (you know who you are), and I am certain someone is thrilled to license the image of their dead relatives to get this movie made, but I'm not sure how this is going to work.
Prove me wrong, new Stooges movie directed by the ever-increasingly-dull Farrelly Brothers.
*your mileage will vary on that sentiment
Yes, the Three Stooges were characters portrayed by actors. I do not labor under any illusions that the three Stooges really went about poking one another in the eye, slap-sticking each other and pulling one another's nose, no matter how totally awesome that illusion might be. But its also, for this human, impossible to separate the characters from the actors. Hell, the Stooges didn't just hire some new guy to play Curly. They replaced him with Shemp.
Which opens the door to the whole "Fake Shemp" discussion, which is sort of morbidly fascinating.
Now, according to my intensive Stooges research, the Stooges struggled for years with their third stooge, and it could be said that somehow that makes them all fungible. Hell, after Curly and Larry died, Moe did continue on with Shemp, then Joe, then Curly Joe. Then a replacement Larry. Then, when Moe died, an "all new Stooges" formed from the replacements, but who the hell remembers those guys?
 |
| the classic formula |
The point is - Moe, Larry and Curly are so tightly bound between actors and characters, bringing them back in 2012 with new faces and actors trying to emulate the original formula seems ill-conceived.
In all honestly, I originally thought when I heard there was a movie about the Three Stooges, it would be a biopic about the men behind the eye-poking. It wasn't until I watched the new trailer that I learned otherwise.
I don't think you'd see a new Little Tramp movie. Or a new Marx Bros. movie. Laurel & Hardy. Abbott & Costello. A new Lucy TV show, etc... And while, yeah, we'd all like to see some new Stooges movies*, if none suddenly surface, I think its okay to just live with the many, many shorts and features they released.
Also - these guys, all talented, just aren't the Stooges. They're guys approximating what the Stooges refined every day of their lives for 30 years. The timing looks off, and it looks like half-realized impersonations of well known characters more than, well, I guess just BEING Moe Howard
I guess its a kids' movie, but given current trends in parenting, I'm hard-pressed to believe that the eye-poking, face-slapping antics I enjoyed as a youth will go over well today.
All this said - I'm not a huge Stooges fan. I don't dislike the Three Stooges, but it isn't something I watched all that often as a kid, and they just didn't air much anymore by the time I was an adult. I appreciate that they have a cult following (you know who you are), and I am certain someone is thrilled to license the image of their dead relatives to get this movie made, but I'm not sure how this is going to work.
Prove me wrong, new Stooges movie directed by the ever-increasingly-dull Farrelly Brothers.
*your mileage will vary on that sentiment
Happy Birthday to The Dug
Schniekies.
Today is the birthday of The Dug, brother of League-wife, Jamie.
Happy B-Day, Dug. I won't reveal how old you are, even if I get punched in the stomach forty times. Why, if forty angry badgers were biting my shins, I'd never say how old you'd become. For forty days and forty nights I could resist questioning that would reveal your true age.
Happy B-Day, Dug. May it be contain the fun of 40 Nukies.
Today is the birthday of The Dug, brother of League-wife, Jamie.
 |
| I'm sure today is important for other reasons, too |
Happy B-Day, Dug. May it be contain the fun of 40 Nukies.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
The Mass Delusion of The Muppets
I was watching the National Tree Lighting Ceremony on PBS, and First Lady Michelle Obama took to the stage to read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to a bunch of kids. No sooner had she sat down and pulled up the book than who should pop up beside her but Kermit the Frog?
The wife of the President of the United States of America turned, greeted Kermit, and off they went reading the story together. Because, you know, talking frogs make total sense.
And it struck me, its pretty awesome that we've all agreed that it doesn't matter where or when The Muppets show up, we're all going to act like that is not a sock puppet, we're going to always join in with the illusion Jim Henson and Co. cast with The Muppet Show 30-odd years ago, and we're going to insist on a reality where The Muppets are absolutely real.
Its like if I were presenting at a conference and looked over and Rowlf were on my panel, I'd know exactly how to deal with it. Just say "oh, hi Rowlf!" like its no big deal, join in his banter, and then follow his cue if he bursts into song.
I know that's not how it works, but that's the illusion we've agreed makes complete sense to us all. The Muppets can just show up, we're on a first name basis, and we're going to have a little conversation in front of all these people.
Thanks to the arrival of the movie, which I highly recommend you see for some good cinema fun*, The Muppets have been popping up all over the place, from Ellen to Saturday Night Live. And, of course, there's a difference in that actors and hosts can interact directly with The Muppets. Its not like a cartoon or CGI bit that will be subbed in later. There's a felt thing with eyes, hands and expressions that you can react to. And I think that helps.
But I do think its pretty awesome, in general, that we're all in on this Muppets thing.
*and some GREAT commie propaganda!
The wife of the President of the United States of America turned, greeted Kermit, and off they went reading the story together. Because, you know, talking frogs make total sense.
 |
| Mrs. Obama does not know Kermit is a member of the Green Party. |
Its like if I were presenting at a conference and looked over and Rowlf were on my panel, I'd know exactly how to deal with it. Just say "oh, hi Rowlf!" like its no big deal, join in his banter, and then follow his cue if he bursts into song.
I know that's not how it works, but that's the illusion we've agreed makes complete sense to us all. The Muppets can just show up, we're on a first name basis, and we're going to have a little conversation in front of all these people.
 |
| see, I would be prepared for this eventuality |
But I do think its pretty awesome, in general, that we're all in on this Muppets thing.
*and some GREAT commie propaganda!
SW Advent Calendar: December 6
The Disney Comics gang has a very weird way of decorating their tree. And that just looks terribly poke-y if you ask me. Also, where are Donald's nephews? On the back side of the tree, unloved and unwanted, I suppose.