Steanso ends old blog, starts new blog

After a lengthy hiatus, my brother and one of the heads on this multi-headed hydra of bloggers with which I've been associated, has shut down operations at The Adventures of Steanso.

Steanso provided a nigh-daily-dose of personal journal and political observation from a Texas Dem's perspective.

I knew, of course, that the blog was on indefinite hiatus and might shut down, and today he kind of at least put it out there that it looked like he was done.

However, he's not quite done with the internets yet. It looks like he's started a new blog to share his musical stylings.

http://logmagsubtrans.blogspot.com/

Sure, the URL reads a bit like a Craigslist person-to-person ad for somebody with a very particular lifestyle, but its short for: Logician Magician Transmission Submission

You can go there now to listen to the first tune he's posted to the site.

Yes, I watched "Piranha 3D"

I sort of missed out on horror movies growing up, and I have only vague recollections of watching the original Piranha on VHS circa 1982 or so at a friend's house. As near as I can recall, people were attacked by, and eaten by, small fish.

The movie didn't leave much of an impact on me, and despite having an absolutely amazing cover to the VHS box, I never saw Piranha 2: The Spawning.


Yes, they are flying. And, no, I can't really get my head around how many great ideas are going on here.

It should be noted that Piranha 2: The Spawning was Avatar creator James Cameron's second directorial effort.

I have no idea how much Piranha 3D has in common with its forebears, but SimonUK - master of anything with beheadings - indicated to me after the movie that it gave several nods to the original. And as there are only so many things that can really occur in a story in which fish surprise and then eat people, I assume the plots are largely similar.


now just imagine how crazy Elizabeth Shue would look here IN 3D!!!

This movie features the my-she's-held-up-remarkably-well Elizabeth Shue, she of Adventures in Babysitting and Adventures in Nicholas Cage Sitting (aka: Leaving Las Vegas) fame. Shue doesn't act much these days, and I think she lives in Arizona, which is where our story takes place.

Lake Havasu is not terribly well known to folks east of New Mexico, but as a reference point for us Texans, its sort of the South Padre of the Arizona/ California region, where college kids on Spring Break go to booze it up on the water. The movie fictionalizes Havasu as "Lake Victoria", but its pretty clear exactly where the action takes place.

In case it matters: an earthquake opens a pathway to an underground lake, sealed off from the outside world for millions of years, where our beasties have been eating presumably each other, becoming super-jerk fish.

But, of course, none of that is as important to the movie as 3D blood-splattered mayhem once the fish discover people, which happens before the credits, you'll be happy to know.

This is a horror movie that isn't going to pull any punches with the gore even though you half expect the actors to do a take to the camera during a few scenes. Its comedy by familiarity with the genre, with characters established for the sole purpose of a bloody comeuppance, and knowing underwater POV shots, letting you know pretty much anyone with a toe in the water is going to get it.

Its also a surprising return to heaps and heaps of nudity in a horror movie, which was more or less part and parcel of the genre during its heyday (and there is a whole genre of water borne horror + boobs). Anyhow, the movie does not forget its in 3D at any point, and there's at least one swimming scene where you can almost hear the gears working in the director's head.


again, in 3D. Yes, this is a still from the movie. There's a whole lot of this in the movie.

This is not going to be a movie for everyone, as even I got a little queasy during the climactic "oh, the undergrads are over THERE" sequence.* But its also not torture porn. Its much more along the lines of a creative crew gleefully thinking up new and interesting ways that a fish is going to do you in. Obviously, your mileage will vary. I will say, Jamie (who does not watch horror movies) was cackling next to me, so... there you have it.

As an added bonus, it seems like pretty much everyone that director Alexandre Aja called up to participate had nothing going on that weekend, because the movie has a curiously great couple of cameos and a remarkable supporting cast. In addition to the lovely Ms. Shue, there's also Ving Rhames, Jerry O'Connell, and more. But the cameos by Christopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfus are just gold.


as Jason pointed out, once Eli Roth showed up as a party promoter, we all knew exactly how awful things were about to get for the Spring Breakers.

Sadly, one of the biggest laughs of the movie came during the trailers. They showed the trailer for "Devil", which, when the screen proudly stated "from the mind of M. Night Shayamalan", received a collective groan, which then received a collective burst of laughter.

At any rate, if you're looking for a capital S "Summer Movie" relishing old school plot with a wink and a nod, you could do far worse than Piranha 3D.



*I also almost barfed in my popcorn bin during Dead Alive, in between laughing so hard I was crying.

I am unironically sad to hear The Star Hustler has passed

My friends, I am sorry to report that The Star Hustler, Jack Horkheimer himself, has merged with the infinite.

In high school my weekend evenings usually ended the same way every week. I'd take my girlfriend home, go home and watch an awful movie or two on USA Up All Night or MST3K, then watch the PBS show "The Star Hustler", just before PBS signed off for the night.



If you've stayed up really really late, like, ever... especially in the 1990's, its likely you've seen "The Star Hustler". It was a Green Screened thing from some Florida affiliate, with a middle aged guy in a Members Only jacket or wide array or sweaters (which I found odd, because he was in Florida), and he talked about astronomy. And he @#$%ing loved astronomy.

I began to think of Jack Horkheimer as a sort of excitable sandman, the person who eased me off to slumberland with tales of stars I was never going to actually step outside to see, because I lived in the suburbs near a large street light, and then in the middle of the city. And I often pondered what an amazing life this guy had as scientist by day, and enthusiast for his own field by night. Plus, he got to get green screened, and that was neat.

He also ruined me for the one astronomy class I dropped in college. My professor was interesting in that he was a genius and had Turrets that made him do this odd "b-kok" sound every once in a while but he was nowhere as engaging as Jack Horkheimer, and had none of the knack for teaching young minds. Nor, I suspect, the Members Only jacket or collection of sweaters.

So, I salute thee, Jack Horkheimer, and bid you godspeed. Sure, I found your show because the title "Star Hustler"* sounded like it might contain boob when I was 14 or so and was staying up too late. But I was actually interested in what you had to say. the world is poorer without you in it, walking across the green-screened cosmos.

And if there's any justice, you're up there among the stars right now.

a PDF download on the show (thanks to Jeff S.!)





*Apparently in 1997, the show changed names to The Star Gazer as someone pointed out that the program did, indeed, sound like it might be a soft-core sci-fi program.

Its the Birthday of The Admiral

All hail The Admiral, pater familias of Clan Steans.

Today is his birthday. I got him a present and everything.

Happy b-day to the man who has put up with 35 years of asinine nonsense from his second, last, and most disappointing child. As far as we know. The man travels a lot on business.

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.