No Gnu's is Good Gnu's (with Gary Gnu)

Yeah, its The Great Space Coaster. Deal with it.

I got nothing. I spent the past two days in South Texas, visiting colleagues in Corpus Christi and Kingsville. Returned home, ate some food, watched Monday's Bourdain on Rome, swore to get to Rome some day, then went and read some Jimmy Olsen comics.

I'm a bit wiped and will likely turn in early.

Not much of a pop-culture-tastic week.

I recently started using Google Sites to create a bucket list of books I'd like to read (or listen to), movies I need to see, and albums I need to add to my collection.

I figure this is good as the list will be a sort of nagging reminder that I need to get some of this stuff out of the way when I'm considering what to read, watch or listen to next. The book list is still very short, and I don't think I ever want to have more than ten or fifteen books on the list at one time, lest I decide its impossible and give up.

So, right now I'm listening to a very good audio book of Catch-22 and reading Lonesome Dove, which Jamie shamed me by reading last year, thus becoming more Texan than myself by at least a factor of three.

Catch-22 is brilliant and maddening and kind of reminds me of The Admiral. Not that The Admiral is maddening, but I think the sense of humor Heller demonstrates in the book is the sort of thing that The Admiral (a) finds amusing because (b) The Admiral has a pretty wicked sense of humor that I don't think many people really realize is there. But, no kidding, The Old Man is hilarious.

People always ask me where I eat when I travel. I always disappoint them by telling them the truth. I like to eat in the lobby restaurant of whatever hotel I'm staying. I don't expect a good meal, but nobody looks at you sideways for sitting there with a book, nobody wonders why you're eating alone, and the places are usually so empty, nobody cares if you sit and read for an hour (as long as you tip well. And I do.).

Last night the bartender/ hostess at the Hilton Garden Inn asked what I was reading, what with the massive brick of a book that is Lonesome Dove (which is why I've never read it. ADD usually means I'm good for about 400 pages and then done). I was surprised anyone under 25 had read the book, let alone also watched the movie.

Anyway, I'm not getting to West Texas anytime immediately, so I figured South Texas was as good a place as any to get into the book.

Next week: Waco. Then Brownsville in October.

Grant Morrison talks Superman, etc...

Not a ton of new info here, but a good interview.



Thanks to Ransom for the link!

Signal Watch is taking a break

We're taking a break from posting. We're sure you understand.

The Signal Watch Watches: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

I have previously discussed the Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels from Oni by Bryan Lee O'Malley. You can read my previous columns here and here.

As any self-respecting comic geek has already read: yes, the movie mostly follows the comics very closely, condensing time and space in order for the movie to move along at a good clip. Yes, Kieran Culkin is the most amusing thing about the film.

As Scott Pilgrim, I honestly think I preferred Cera's deadpan delivery to the Scott of the comics. At least I found him far more sympathetic. And Mary Elizabeth Winstead and a slighty smarter script breathe life into the cipher-on-a-pedestal that was the Ramona of the comics. And, for good or ill, Ellen Wong played about the Knieves Chausiest Knives Chau I think we were ever going to see on film.

As you've likely also heard: yes, O'Malley's expansive cast of characters is trimmed back severely. In two hours, there just isn't time for sub-sub-plots about thirs tier characters' romantic entanglements, etc... But the film's team also cut what I saw as fat and parts of the books that didn't seem to go anywhere. And, honestly, they also kind of cut parts of the book that I felt O'Malley just really didn't carry off very well.

I've read a few reviews that complained that the movie wasn't specific enough in its homage to this or that brand of manga or missed the essence of MegaMan or somesuch. And, to be honest, I kind of sort half wondered if those reviewers were reading something into the comic that wasn't really there to begin with, but... whatever.

Edgar Wright is a talented director, and despite the poor performance of the film in its opening weekend, I kind of felt like he took the comic and made the sharpest, funniest picture anyone was likely to make. He "got" what O'Malley seemed to be trying to do, and kept the core honest while tweaking some things to make them a bit tighter or kicking up the visuals, incorporating game visuals in a way that was truly fun.

I still have a bit of a problem with the notion that the comics were about Scott growing up, and so I appreciated Wright steering the story to suggest what Scott really got was "self respect", but... somehow it just didn't feel like that had been the set-up. And I'm not sure the ending (which differs from the comics) is any less convoluted when it comes to the semi-metaphor of the movie.

Further, Ramona's choices in the film do sort of pull some of the wind out of the "love story". The plot device was perhaps a bit too plot-devicey, even for this movie.

But, you know, its a big, bright colorful movie with surprisingly great action sequences, clever bits about every four frames, a killer soundtrack and lots of cute hipsters girls. So... you know, your mileage will vary.

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS

I didn't miss:

1) the fight with Knives' father.
2) Scott "forgetting" stuff and the Nega-Scott. If one thing O'Malley tried to do and it just fell flat on its face, it was Scott's memory lapses. It might have worked, but when its explained in the sixth volume, its anticlimactic and doesn't actually solve or resolve anything. The movie handled "Nega-Scott" and Scott's ambivalence about his own past in a much more concrete manner.
In a way, I almost felt like the treatment of "Nega-Scott" here was Wright's suggestion that maybe a big fight isn't the answer, but it got one of the biggest laughs from em of the movie.
3) The entire last half of the 6th volume.
4) The dangling thread about Scott's old house, his family, etc... that never really resolved or went anywhere.
5) The random hook-up of Kim Pine and Knives, that suggested something big, and then... nothing.

Things I might have liked better from the comics:

1) Knives' conclusion to her storyline in the comics makes far more sense. She doesn't need to get engaged in the big boss fight, and she's over Scott and sees what he did for what it was. In the movie, it just felt sort of dishonest, like "I have to smile and forgive. You're our lovable protagonist".
2) Any explanation whatsoever of how Scott got his money.
3) The extended timeline. Its hard to get your head around the storyline in the movie if it all takes place within about three weeks.
4) They really dropped the whole Envy thing after a ton of set-up, didn't they?
5) The fight in the central Toronto Library between Knives and Ramona. Not just visually striking, but it ends things for Knives' beliefs in getting Scott back and sets Ramona on a different path with Scott. This happening so late in the movie felt very, very off.

At the end of the day, it still seemed like a movie about coming to maturity or finding self-respect and love with each other just shouldn't end with kung-fu and video game cliches. What's wrong with either of these characters just taking one another's hand and walking away from a ridiculous situation?

So Long to "At the Movies"

Nathan C. has talked a bit about this topic, but At the Movies airs its final episode this weekend.

Yes, the show ran for 35 years. Which means it aired as long as I've been alive. It's been spoofed everywhere in popular culture (I liked the Animaniacs episode, in particular), imitated endlessly, and championed movies both big and small. Lots of people are eulogizing the end of the program, and I recommend looking around for those articles.

The show took a hit when Gene Siskel passed in 1999, and another when Roger Ebert had to step away from the cameras in 2006 when he became ill (I never heard what became of Roeper). I felt like the past year, the show was returning to its Siskel & Ebert hey-day under Scott & Phillips after not caring for the awkward Lyons and Mankiewicz team. In an era when you can confirm or deny your suspicions by surfing to Rottentomatoes.com, and every jerk with a blogger account can shoot his mouth off (ahem), "At the Movies" fell off as a cultural touchstone. And, of course, Siskel & Ebert had become such icons, losing both left viewers wondering why the rotating cast of characters, etc...

One thing I love in the comment section here at Signal Watch (or back at League of Melbotis), is the spirited debate that can carry on in the comment section when discussing the merits or problems of a movie. Loving movies does not mean that there's a body of work that's always going to be agreed upon, and the two-headed monster of "At the Movies" was always the best indication that even the people who've seen it all won't agree, and those debates aren't concocted just for good TV. The hosts always truly believed what they said, and could mount a spirited defense (or offense), and left it to the viewer to vote with their wallet.

Although I was not likely to tune in every week, I can honestly say the show would often convince me to see or avoid movies (and I still check in with Ebert's online reviews. The man is just a punchy writer) far more than even word-of-mouth from friends and family.*

Sadly, the balcony is now closed. At least on the Buena Vista Television syndicated program. I wouldn't be too surprised to see current hosts Scott and Phillips find a new home and carry on elsewhere. Clearly, they're having a ball.


*You guys are great, but its often tough to come back later and have to explain why I didn't love "Cats and Dogs 3D" after you'd given it such a ringing endorsement.

Batwoman Ongoing Series in November

We interrupt your regularly scheduled websurfing to point to the announcement regarding the date on the all-new Batwoman series.

From Robot 6

If you wonder why I am excited, here's Simon's post from just today on the superlative Batwoman run in Detective Comics, now collected as Batwoman: Elegy.

Checking in...

So. We've been back and blogging here for a while.

Any topics you want to see that aren't being covered? Anything you miss from the good old days at League of Melbotis?

Just ping me in the comments or via email and let me know.

Jamie is back (with Bacon Salt)

My always amazing wife, Troubles McSteans, has posted a new video taste test.

You know what day it is

Because I have very little else to add today...

here's to Jamie, my very own Lois Lane