I dunno. The other night it came on HBO and I was messing with uploading photos, etc... And I did say "every movie in 2012".
The movie is probably most remarkable for the 1980's-ness of the idea and overall feel.
Of the sub-genre of movies now referred to as "The Manic Pixie Dreamgirl" movie, Something Wild (1986) follows the adventures that follow when a straightlaced stocks and bonds man (Jeff Daniels) gets hi-jacked by Melanie Griffith channeling Louise Brooks for 1/3rd of the movie (the character goes by "Lulu", among other names). I've never really understood the appeal of Melanie Griffiths, and I'm not sure this movie did much to change that perception. She's not a bad actress, but she seemed much more important in the 1980's than necessary, and while she's fine in the movie...
The idea behind the Manic Pixie Girl movies is that the right girl will find your poor, lost soul and save you from the comfort zone that you've spent decades building but which now, clearly, doesn't work anymore. She's often an iconoclast, seemingly invulnerable and always sexually charged. Sometimes the movies can be a bit creepy, if the Manic Pixie Girl is significantly younger than our hero, or even underage.
I'm not going to say the right girl can't shake things up for a guy in real life, but there's something odd about way these movies work that always feels a bit strained.
There's a certain weird high-school or undergrad take on women, a possessive object-oriented approach to character that I think calls back to how far away girls seem in younger days when you have absolutely no idea how to communicate with the object of your desire, especially someone who seems perfectly happy without you (ie: has no idea you exist). And I guess I get it, I just sort of see characters skewing towards the one in this movie as "unstable, crazy people who you can enjoy in your personal life, but you have to know might explode at any minute". But the idea vs. the reality of a person is, maybe, one of the best realizations is a worthy topic for movie making, I think.
Curiously, movies deal with this stock character differently. Some stay manic pixie girls and dance out of frame mostly untouched by the lead character by movie's end, and in other cases they're Melanie Griffiths here, where their "growth" means abandoning the MPDG character and becomes... sort of boring by films end.
But I mentioned the 80's-ness.
The movie begins in New York, I believe. With a blond-haired stock broker on the make. The soundtrack, including Paul Simon-friendly World Beat tunes and touching lightly on primordial but suburban friendly hip-hop. Griffiths' lack of self-consciousness at wearing a huge Africa medallion for a chunk of the movie (we were still working some stuff out in 1986). The utter mistrust and difference between city and country. The movie devolves into this weird thing where Daniels and Griffiths have to fight a young and scrappy looking Ray Liotta to the death. It was like the movie forgot what it was about somewhere at the hour mark or a near two-hour film.
There's a subplot about going to see Lulu's mom that doesn't really go anywhere except to set some baselines for who Lulu is that seem like they could have been better handled. I dunno.
The movie was directed by the very talented Jonathan Demme, The cast is fine, but the material feels oddly dated. I dunno.
This is probably enough talk about a movie I was barely watching.
Film. Comics. Sci-Fi. Superheroes. Pulp. Noir. History. Superman. 20th Century Archaeology.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Signal Watch Reads: Edison Rex (from MonkeyBrain Comics)
The first batch of MonkeyBrain Comics is now available for about $6 for 5 comics. I don't think I've seen that kind of value since I was in high school*, so I want to get that out of the way first and foremost. Secondly, all of the books are worth at least checking out. They all hit different beats and will find their specific readerships. Of the five, three really hit a chord with me, but at that price, I'll still follow all five for a while because, seriously... a dollar. That's gum money.
I'll probably talk about Aesop's Ark and Bandette later, but I thought that first I should cover the book by MonkeyBrain co-founder, Chris Roberson.
Roberson and artist Dennis Culver paired to bring to life Edison Rex, a sort of Silver Age Superman and Lex Luthor homage that takes a decidedly interesting turn in the first issue, setting up the nemesis of Earth's greatest hero as the protagonist of the book, but not in the way you might expect.
The book is pure gold for both Superman fans and fans of the broad concept of Silver Age superheroics, lantern jawed do-gooders and single-minded mad scientists intent on ruling the world. It's not that other comics haven't explored some of this territory, be it Waid's Empire** or, now that I think on it, Waid's Incorruptible. Roberson, however, takes a lighter touch, providing me with my favorite comics quote of the month:
The tone is almost Atomic Robo in flavor, and that works well for me in my jaded old age of wanting to have fun reading my funny books, especially those about science villains with plans for world domination. I've no doubt that by issue 2 or 3, the riff on Superman will be in the past and we'll be moving on to new pastures, but the twist in this makes the homage totally worth it.
The art style feels appropriate in a cartoony, animation-ready style, that totally fits modern sensibilities and is broad enough to handle what I think will be a world with giant robots, laser pistols and the occasional caped superhero. Well done.
The comics weren't supposed to be out as early as they were released. But released they are! I suppose with Comixology seeing MonkeyBrain Comics trending practically worldwide on Twitter, the idea of striking while the iron was hot meant that they did not want to make anybody wait any longer. You can jump online and check out the full line at Comixology!
It's a dollar, for goodness sake. Give it a shot.
*and given inflation, maybe not since Middle School when I could slip a copy of Batman on the conveyor belt with the family groceries and my mom didn't blink at the cover price.
**Man, now that was a hell of a comic. Why don't I own that in trade? That's just crazy. A beautifully drawn, craftily written volume.
I'll probably talk about Aesop's Ark and Bandette later, but I thought that first I should cover the book by MonkeyBrain co-founder, Chris Roberson.
Roberson and artist Dennis Culver paired to bring to life Edison Rex, a sort of Silver Age Superman and Lex Luthor homage that takes a decidedly interesting turn in the first issue, setting up the nemesis of Earth's greatest hero as the protagonist of the book, but not in the way you might expect.
The book is pure gold for both Superman fans and fans of the broad concept of Silver Age superheroics, lantern jawed do-gooders and single-minded mad scientists intent on ruling the world. It's not that other comics haven't explored some of this territory, be it Waid's Empire** or, now that I think on it, Waid's Incorruptible. Roberson, however, takes a lighter touch, providing me with my favorite comics quote of the month:
Lord Edison! Are you certain we should not be conquering, instead?People, that's just good comics.
The tone is almost Atomic Robo in flavor, and that works well for me in my jaded old age of wanting to have fun reading my funny books, especially those about science villains with plans for world domination. I've no doubt that by issue 2 or 3, the riff on Superman will be in the past and we'll be moving on to new pastures, but the twist in this makes the homage totally worth it.
The art style feels appropriate in a cartoony, animation-ready style, that totally fits modern sensibilities and is broad enough to handle what I think will be a world with giant robots, laser pistols and the occasional caped superhero. Well done.
The comics weren't supposed to be out as early as they were released. But released they are! I suppose with Comixology seeing MonkeyBrain Comics trending practically worldwide on Twitter, the idea of striking while the iron was hot meant that they did not want to make anybody wait any longer. You can jump online and check out the full line at Comixology!
It's a dollar, for goodness sake. Give it a shot.
*and given inflation, maybe not since Middle School when I could slip a copy of Batman on the conveyor belt with the family groceries and my mom didn't blink at the cover price.
**Man, now that was a hell of a comic. Why don't I own that in trade? That's just crazy. A beautifully drawn, craftily written volume.
Alan Poindexter Merges with the Infinite
Astronaut Captain Alan Poindexter has died in a water craft accident.
There is an article on his death here.
Poindexter served with NASA for over a decade and served as Pilot for Shuttle Atlantis and Commander for Shuttle Discovery.
There is an article on his death here.
Poindexter served with NASA for over a decade and served as Pilot for Shuttle Atlantis and Commander for Shuttle Discovery.
Andy Griffith Merges with The Infinite
The Signal Watch bids farewell and Godspeed to entertainer and personality Andy Griffith. He passed today at the age of 86.
Ann Miller Sez: Let's Get Patriotic on This 4th of July!
Happy Fourth of July, Comrades!
Today we celebrate our independence with acts of patriotism, be it lighting off fire crackers, grilling foodstuffs, singing some nationalistic tunes, going to an outdoor concert sponsored by the city, or heading to the beach. And, of course, FIREWORKS.
So long as we're saluting America this week, I'd like to take a minute to salute American Ann Miller, the woman of 10,000 taps. Ann Miller loved four things: tapping, singing, smiling and AMERICA. And probably saying things like "Tinsel Town" and "That's showbiz, kid!".
I invite you to view the photos, most certainly, but also to watch the two clips below, both pretty great war-time patriotic numbers and feature Miller's amazing footwork and, uh, the things between her feet and hips.
If I thought this was what it looked like to have a factory, I'd be a titan of heavy industry and manufacturing:
So as we brace ourselves for Independence Day, let's hope we can all get as excited about America as the lovely Ms. Ann Miller, who was never afraid to be show some leg for Mom, Baseball and Apple Pie.
Today we celebrate our independence with acts of patriotism, be it lighting off fire crackers, grilling foodstuffs, singing some nationalistic tunes, going to an outdoor concert sponsored by the city, or heading to the beach. And, of course, FIREWORKS.
So long as we're saluting America this week, I'd like to take a minute to salute American Ann Miller, the woman of 10,000 taps. Ann Miller loved four things: tapping, singing, smiling and AMERICA. And probably saying things like "Tinsel Town" and "That's showbiz, kid!".
I invite you to view the photos, most certainly, but also to watch the two clips below, both pretty great war-time patriotic numbers and feature Miller's amazing footwork and, uh, the things between her feet and hips.
So as we brace ourselves for Independence Day, let's hope we can all get as excited about America as the lovely Ms. Ann Miller, who was never afraid to be show some leg for Mom, Baseball and Apple Pie.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Oh, for Pete's sake, DC. Just let Rob Pratt make Superman cartoons for you.
You'll remember Rob Pratt from his prior Superman Classic cartoon.
These things totally get everything great about pre-Crisis Superman. Especially the circa 1941 years. Just great Lois and Clark chemistry.
Special thanks to SimonUK for showing me the latest video. We've been emailing back and forth today in a sort of geek fest on the topic.
On the Announcement of MonkeyBrain Comics and the New Digital Model
You guys will have to forgive me. My brain has been on vacation mode for several days, so while I was able to participate in the MonkeyBrain Comics kick-off press call (I KNOW. Look at me all acting like a legitimate news source.), I was unable to muster an intelligent question during the MonkeyBrain Q&A.
The basic idea behind MonkeyBrain is as follows:
MonkeyBrain will be your middleman and promotions arm if you're a creator-owned comic that wants to start off in the digital world. That said, this isn't for just any schmo off the street to submit their work. MonkeyBrain is Chris Roberson and Allison Baker's effort to develop a direct-to-digital channel for creator-owned work. It sounds like a non-exclusive, digital-print-rights contract that will enable creators to show up on Comixology on Wednesdays alongside players like DC, Marvel, IDW, and more.
You can read the press release here.
In short, it seems Team Roberson/ Baker looked at what was going on and saw a way to support independent creators by creating a channel for them to get into the same "newsstand" as the big boys.
The effort is the logical outcome of the past several years of (a) the big players not adjusting their model to take advantage of the ability for distribution of chancier works the internet truly provided (b) the infinite newsstand of the internet - but placing the comics where they'll be seen.
The basic idea behind MonkeyBrain is as follows:
MonkeyBrain will be your middleman and promotions arm if you're a creator-owned comic that wants to start off in the digital world. That said, this isn't for just any schmo off the street to submit their work. MonkeyBrain is Chris Roberson and Allison Baker's effort to develop a direct-to-digital channel for creator-owned work. It sounds like a non-exclusive, digital-print-rights contract that will enable creators to show up on Comixology on Wednesdays alongside players like DC, Marvel, IDW, and more.
You can read the press release here.
In short, it seems Team Roberson/ Baker looked at what was going on and saw a way to support independent creators by creating a channel for them to get into the same "newsstand" as the big boys.
The effort is the logical outcome of the past several years of (a) the big players not adjusting their model to take advantage of the ability for distribution of chancier works the internet truly provided (b) the infinite newsstand of the internet - but placing the comics where they'll be seen.
MonkeyBrain Comics is GO!
MONKEYBRAIN AND COMIXOLOGY ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTION AGGREEMENT FOR
MONKEYBRAIN’S NEW LINE OF INDEPENDENT CREATOR-OWNED COMICS
CELEBRATE INDEPENDENTS DAY!
New York Times Bestselling Author Chris Roberson to Head Up New Comic Book Publishing Imprint with Co-Publisher Allison Baker
July 2nd, 2012 – Portland, OR / New York, NY — New York Times bestselling comic book creator Chris Roberson is celebrating “Independents Day” a little differently than others this year as he and co-publisher Allison Baker launch MonkeyBrain Comics, with a slate of creator-owned titles from some of the top names in the field. MonkeyBrain Comics will debut digitally first on comiXology — the revolutionary digital comics platform with over 75 million comic and graphic novel downloads to date —through a exclusive distribution agreement between the two companies.
Joining New York Times bestselling author Chris Roberson (iZombie, Memorial, Cinderella) under the Monkeybrain Comics umbrella with their own independent titles will be a who’s who line up of creators, including; Grace Allison, Nick Brokenshire, J. Bone, Chad Bowers, Wook-Jin Clark, Colleen Coover, Kevin Church, Dennis Culver, Matt Digges, Ming Doyle, Curt O. Franklin, Ken Garing, Chris Haley, David Hahn, Phil Hester, Joe Keatinge, D.J. Kirkbride, Adam Knave, Axel Medellin, Jennifer L. Meyer, Michael Montenat, Ananth Panagariya, Thomas Perkins, Adam Rosenlund, Chris Schweitzer, Brandon Seifert, Chris Sims, Matthew Dow Smith, Paul Tobin, J. Torres, Josh Williamson and Bill Willingham, among others.
More creative teams with new titles will be announced next week at Comic-Con International during the Monkeybrain Comics panel on Friday, July 13th at 7PM.
“MonkeyBrain Comics was born out of a desire to directly explore what opportunities there were in the newly expanding digital marketplace for creator owned material,” said Chris Roberson, co-publisher of Monkeybrain Comics. “We knew from the get go that we’d want to work exclusively with comiXology, who have become the undisputed leader in the digital comics field with their platforms’ unparalleled reading and shopping experience. And we’re pleased to have so many of our close creator friends along for the ride. I can’t wait to see what fans around the world think about our first batch of releases!”
“We’re excited to be the exclusive digital home of MonkeyBrain Comics,” says co-founder and CEO David Steinberger. “ComiXology’s mission is to get comics into the hands of people everywhere and we look forward to doing just that with Chris and Allison’s stellar line of creator owned comics!”
Available exclusively worldwide via comiXology’s digital platform across the iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire and the Web starting July 4th, the initial Monkey Brain Launch titles are:
Aesop’s Ark by J. Torres and Jennifer L. Meyer
Amelia Cole and the Unknown World by Adam P. Knave, DJ Kirkbride and Nick Brokenshire
Bandette by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover
Edison Rex by Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver
October Girl by Matthew Dow Smith
MonkeyBrain Comics is a new comics imprint of Roberson and Baker’s long-running publishing company MonkeyBrain Books. Over the past decade, MonkeyBrain Books has published a line of prose novels by authors such as Phillip Jose Farmer, Michael Moorcock, Rudy Rucker, Paul Cornell and genre collections edited by such notables as Joe R. Lansdale, Lou Anders and others.
Launching their first titles on July 4th with the slogan “Independents Day” exclusively on the comiXology digital platform, Monkeybrain Comics are currently exploring following up their digital releases with trade paperback collections.
About Monkeybrain Books and Comics
Owned and operated by Chris Roberson and Allison Baker since 2001, Monkeybrain Books was originally founded as an independent press specializing in science fiction & fantasy and nonfiction genre studies. Print titles from Monkeybrain Books are distributed to the book trade by National Book Network, and are available from wholesalers like Diamond Comic Distributors, Baker & Taylor, and Ingram, and from finer booksellers everywhere. In 2012, Monkeybrain launched a new creator-owned digital comics line, Monkeybrain Comics, which is distributed exclusively digitally by comiXology.
About Chris Roberson and Allison Baker
New York Times bestselling writer Chris Roberson is best known for his Eisner-nominated ongoing comic book series iZombie (co-created with artist Mike Allred), his modern fantasy series Memorial (co-created with artist Rich Ellis), the Fables spinoff Cinderella mini-series, and his work onSuperman, Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes, and Elric: The Balance Lost, all of which are available for digital download at http://cmxl.gy/CRoberson. His favorite food is meat, he’s allergic to wheat, and his favorite cocktail is a caipirinha, the national drink of Brazil.
Allison Baker has worked in feature film and political media production for over 13 years, while also managing the day-to-day operations of Chris Roberson and Monkeybrain Books. She likes the color pink, enjoys a challenge, fixing things, and is allergic to being bored.
Chris and Allison met at a Ben Folds Five show in 1997, got married in 2000, started their own business in 2001 and had a baby girl in 2004. All three currently live in Portland, Oregon with a lot of books and their two cats, Bubbles and Blue.
About comiXology
Founded in 2007 with the mission of bringing comics to people everywhere, comiXology — in just five short years — has revolutionized the comic book and graphic novel world. From creating the industry leading platform for digital comics to tools and services for brick and mortar retailers, comiXology has lead the charge in exposing new audiences to the rich history and culture of comic books. With the development of the Comics by comiXology digital comics platform — available across iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire and the Web — comiXology provides the easiest way worldwide for people to enjoy comics at just the click of a button! Regularly ranking as the top grossing iPad app in the entire iTunes App Store, Comics by comiXology was recently selected as a preloaded app on Amazon’s Kindle Fire. Providing digital comics across multiple platforms, comiXology will not stop until everyone on the face of the earth has been turned into a comic book fan.
Vacation Slide Show! Chicago 2012
What would a vacation be without snapshots with which to annoy friends and family?
Well, we don't want to leave you hanging, so here's some snapshots from Jamie and Ryan Go A'Touristing in Chicago: 2012.
For our Google Album (public for now, but not forever) click here.
Well, we don't want to leave you hanging, so here's some snapshots from Jamie and Ryan Go A'Touristing in Chicago: 2012.
For our Google Album (public for now, but not forever) click here.
 |
| The lobby of the beautiful Palmer House Hotel |
 |
| Jamie and I headed to Grant Park |
 |
| at Buckingham Fountain. A tourist on a Segway took this one. Very nice man. |
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Signal Watch Goes Loco: Taco Time
You know, when we said we were going out of town a lot of people asked us "where are you going to eat?" or made suggestions for where we should go. In fact, nobody seemed to care what touristy stuff we were going to do, all anybody talked about was restaurants. Chicago is a vast tapestry of food options, and I appreciate all the suggestions, but could not possibly have considered travelling to even a quarter of what was suggested due to geography and other factors.
Do not worry: We had our day of nice meals where we had a terrific breakfast and a stellar dinner, but, seriously, I'm not made out of money, and unless all we were going to do in this center of culture and history was pat ourselves on the back for eating poached mushrooms or whatever the hell, our money was going elsewhere during this trip.
Don't worry, we ate in a couple tourist dumps and paid plenty. But I also ate lunch one day from the refrigerated section at CVS. And yet, somehow, still managed to have a swell time.
But, if you're looking for a food adventure, the great thing about America is that you need never go far. On the way back from the airport, Jamie said "just go get Taco Bell", and indeed, we did.
I took the opportunity to get myself the Doritos Loco Taco.
There it is in all it's glory. It looks and smells pretty much like a Taco Bell crunchy taco. The shell is lightly dusted with the Doritos cheese, notorious for finding its way onto one's fingers and then their white linen pants leaving orange fingerprints. Fortunately, Taco Bell lovingly wraps each taco in a specialized cardboard taco protector so one need never muss their fingers, nor stain their favorite seersucker suit.
Here I am moments from tasting the taco. I'm pretty excited. Jamie really was discouraging this whole enterprise and probably would have supported me just chucking the damn thing in the trash.
Here I am enjoying my first, savory bite and trying to comprehend the wild palette of flavors hitting my tongue.
That's not a thumbs up of awesomeness. That's a thumbs-up of "I'm not going to barf". The truth is, the taco isn't all that bad. It basically tastes like everything else at Taco Bell, only there's a mild zing of that Doritos cheese flavor somewhere in there.
To be honest, it's nether good nor bad. Your mileage will vary depending on whether you like Taco Bell crunchy tacos to begin with, and if you like the flavor of Doritos. My guess is that the demographic for Doritos and Taco Bell is a near total-eclipse on the Venn Diagram. Whether it's worth the extra money for you to taste the weird faux-cheesiness of Doritos (something I'm usually only into when beer is involved) is up to you.
Apparently Taco Bell has already sold more of these than there are people in the US, so I guess the matter of whether this was a good idea will settle itself.
Do not worry: We had our day of nice meals where we had a terrific breakfast and a stellar dinner, but, seriously, I'm not made out of money, and unless all we were going to do in this center of culture and history was pat ourselves on the back for eating poached mushrooms or whatever the hell, our money was going elsewhere during this trip.
Don't worry, we ate in a couple tourist dumps and paid plenty. But I also ate lunch one day from the refrigerated section at CVS. And yet, somehow, still managed to have a swell time.
But, if you're looking for a food adventure, the great thing about America is that you need never go far. On the way back from the airport, Jamie said "just go get Taco Bell", and indeed, we did.
I took the opportunity to get myself the Doritos Loco Taco.
There it is in all it's glory. It looks and smells pretty much like a Taco Bell crunchy taco. The shell is lightly dusted with the Doritos cheese, notorious for finding its way onto one's fingers and then their white linen pants leaving orange fingerprints. Fortunately, Taco Bell lovingly wraps each taco in a specialized cardboard taco protector so one need never muss their fingers, nor stain their favorite seersucker suit.
Here I am moments from tasting the taco. I'm pretty excited. Jamie really was discouraging this whole enterprise and probably would have supported me just chucking the damn thing in the trash.
Here I am enjoying my first, savory bite and trying to comprehend the wild palette of flavors hitting my tongue.
That's not a thumbs up of awesomeness. That's a thumbs-up of "I'm not going to barf". The truth is, the taco isn't all that bad. It basically tastes like everything else at Taco Bell, only there's a mild zing of that Doritos cheese flavor somewhere in there.
To be honest, it's nether good nor bad. Your mileage will vary depending on whether you like Taco Bell crunchy tacos to begin with, and if you like the flavor of Doritos. My guess is that the demographic for Doritos and Taco Bell is a near total-eclipse on the Venn Diagram. Whether it's worth the extra money for you to taste the weird faux-cheesiness of Doritos (something I'm usually only into when beer is involved) is up to you.
Apparently Taco Bell has already sold more of these than there are people in the US, so I guess the matter of whether this was a good idea will settle itself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)