Oh, mercy.
Film. Comics. Sci-Fi. Superheroes. Pulp. Noir. History. Superman. 20th Century Archaeology.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Happy 70th Birthday to Mr. Harrison Ford
Happy B-Day to my imaginary friend from at least three movie franchises, Mr. Harrison Ford. On Friday the 13th he turned 70.
Far be it from us at The Signal Watch to ignore the birthday of the Greatest Living American.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Movie Watch 2012: Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
"Well," as Jamie said as we pulled away from the theater, "That was most definitely a Wes Anderson movie."
I have a hard time criticizing directors or musicians for continuing to employ some of their trademarks in their work. Anderson's barely-there dialog direction, the same four or five shots he uses over and over in a rhythmic pattern (usually punctuated with a particularly lovely and well framed surprising shot: think the kid in the pool in Rushmore).
Nor can you hold the fact that none of his narratives ever really see closure against him. His are not movies that end with a wedding (well, maybe Royal Tenenbaums) but suggest that this is a particularly important juncture in the lives of many people: now let us observe.
If any of Anderson's affectations irritate you, you've been put on notice by his prior work, and this film is not for you.* This is most definitely not the movie where he changes things up and goes for a Dogma 95 verite style. If you're familiar with his work and somehow still keep paying to see it, then this may be a movie for you. I'm fond of Anderson's aesthetic, which may have overwhelmed The Life Aquatic and, to a degree, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, but I appreciate that he's got his own thing going on.
In some ways, much as I wanted to grab 15-year-old me and take him to see Rushmore, I would have loved to have had 12 year old me in tow for this one. It definitely understands the inevitability of a Lord of the Flies scenario when dealing with boys of that age, of how confusing and useless adults can seem (and how they have their own messes) and even the passion you might have applied to reading X-Men comics or scouting skills that you might also turn to a girl who actually pays you heed at that awful stage in life. Imagine were love requited at that age...
The cast is better than I'd heard by word of mouth, and Tilda Swinton was typically amazing even in her small part. But Jason Schwartzman's small role, no doubt written specifically for him, is pure gold. The herd of child actors, especially the two leads, are pretty great. And the moment of decision for the Khaki Scouts in their treehouse was the sort of monumental scene for kids that felt true, even in its ludicrousness.
In short, I enjoyed it. No real surprises, even down to <spoiler> the needless death of a pet </spoiler>. But it was a lovely film, and a nice bit of counter-programming to all the sci-fi and superhero stuff of the past year. This I say with tickets bough to see Dark Knight Rises next Saturday.
*seriously, if I hear any of you tell me you didn't like anything since Royal Tenenbaums but you still went to see this and you're complaining? What are you doing? Also, the people who trapped us so they could watch the credits? Stop it. You're not impressing anyone seeing who 3rd Best Boy was on the movie. I assure you he'd already left the theater before his name rolled.
I have a hard time criticizing directors or musicians for continuing to employ some of their trademarks in their work. Anderson's barely-there dialog direction, the same four or five shots he uses over and over in a rhythmic pattern (usually punctuated with a particularly lovely and well framed surprising shot: think the kid in the pool in Rushmore).
Nor can you hold the fact that none of his narratives ever really see closure against him. His are not movies that end with a wedding (well, maybe Royal Tenenbaums) but suggest that this is a particularly important juncture in the lives of many people: now let us observe.
If any of Anderson's affectations irritate you, you've been put on notice by his prior work, and this film is not for you.* This is most definitely not the movie where he changes things up and goes for a Dogma 95 verite style. If you're familiar with his work and somehow still keep paying to see it, then this may be a movie for you. I'm fond of Anderson's aesthetic, which may have overwhelmed The Life Aquatic and, to a degree, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, but I appreciate that he's got his own thing going on.
In some ways, much as I wanted to grab 15-year-old me and take him to see Rushmore, I would have loved to have had 12 year old me in tow for this one. It definitely understands the inevitability of a Lord of the Flies scenario when dealing with boys of that age, of how confusing and useless adults can seem (and how they have their own messes) and even the passion you might have applied to reading X-Men comics or scouting skills that you might also turn to a girl who actually pays you heed at that awful stage in life. Imagine were love requited at that age...
The cast is better than I'd heard by word of mouth, and Tilda Swinton was typically amazing even in her small part. But Jason Schwartzman's small role, no doubt written specifically for him, is pure gold. The herd of child actors, especially the two leads, are pretty great. And the moment of decision for the Khaki Scouts in their treehouse was the sort of monumental scene for kids that felt true, even in its ludicrousness.
In short, I enjoyed it. No real surprises, even down to <spoiler> the needless death of a pet </spoiler>. But it was a lovely film, and a nice bit of counter-programming to all the sci-fi and superhero stuff of the past year. This I say with tickets bough to see Dark Knight Rises next Saturday.
*seriously, if I hear any of you tell me you didn't like anything since Royal Tenenbaums but you still went to see this and you're complaining? What are you doing? Also, the people who trapped us so they could watch the credits? Stop it. You're not impressing anyone seeing who 3rd Best Boy was on the movie. I assure you he'd already left the theater before his name rolled.
Book Watch: SuperGods by Grant Morrison
In some ways, I feel like I could send the dozen or so regular readers of this site a copy of SuperGods by Grant Morrison and call it a day with The Signal Watch.
The basic breakdown of the book is equal parts comic book history and Grant Morrison's personal journey and how it associated with comics, eventually becoming his career, which, he reports, is fairly lucrative. If you read your fair share of comics history and Grant Morrison interviews (and I do), then there's not a whole lot new in the pages, but what Morrison manages to do is what he does so often in the comics he writes: takes an existing idea and takes it on a new journey with a new thesis statement.
The bits of bio about Morrison are what's been reported in comics press: working class Scottish upbringing, hippie anti-nuke parents, punk-era-living under Thatcher, bands, a really vocal attachment to his cats (man, I hear you), early comics he's still talking about, etc... And if you've read your David Hajdu, Lee Daniels and Gerard Jones, the comics history stuff is mostly known. However, it's interesting to hear about it through Morrison's filter, what grabbed him as a kid, what grabbed him as a young man, and as a guy at the tipping front end of Generation X (I consider myself the last, dying gasp of the X'ers before Y came along assuming the internet was a foregone conclusion), how we looks at Miller and Moore's books in relation to the industry. And, of course, he gets to talk a bit about the guys he works with who have been making comics history for the past two decades and more.
The basic breakdown of the book is equal parts comic book history and Grant Morrison's personal journey and how it associated with comics, eventually becoming his career, which, he reports, is fairly lucrative. If you read your fair share of comics history and Grant Morrison interviews (and I do), then there's not a whole lot new in the pages, but what Morrison manages to do is what he does so often in the comics he writes: takes an existing idea and takes it on a new journey with a new thesis statement.
The bits of bio about Morrison are what's been reported in comics press: working class Scottish upbringing, hippie anti-nuke parents, punk-era-living under Thatcher, bands, a really vocal attachment to his cats (man, I hear you), early comics he's still talking about, etc... And if you've read your David Hajdu, Lee Daniels and Gerard Jones, the comics history stuff is mostly known. However, it's interesting to hear about it through Morrison's filter, what grabbed him as a kid, what grabbed him as a young man, and as a guy at the tipping front end of Generation X (I consider myself the last, dying gasp of the X'ers before Y came along assuming the internet was a foregone conclusion), how we looks at Miller and Moore's books in relation to the industry. And, of course, he gets to talk a bit about the guys he works with who have been making comics history for the past two decades and more.
Austin, I am Returned
Well, that was most certainly a trip to Ohio and back.
Flew back this evening, fortunately experienced no delays, no shenanigans, etc... I am really tired, I ate terribly today, and as always happens when I'm sort of watching Comic-Con news just tic by, I'm a little irritated that I've never gone. But then I remember how I do in crowds and meeting new people and... yeah.
Work today was interesting. Got to do a little cheerleading, shoe on podium banging, and do a lot of listening. And Columbus is a lovely town. We recommend.
Flew back this evening, fortunately experienced no delays, no shenanigans, etc... I am really tired, I ate terribly today, and as always happens when I'm sort of watching Comic-Con news just tic by, I'm a little irritated that I've never gone. But then I remember how I do in crowds and meeting new people and... yeah.
Work today was interesting. Got to do a little cheerleading, shoe on podium banging, and do a lot of listening. And Columbus is a lovely town. We recommend.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Columbus (Ohio) Day, Comic-Con Stuff and a few words on Music
Columbus, Ohio
So here I sit in a Springhill Suites in Columbus, Ohio. I've seen only two slivers of the town. The route I came in on and then the route I took to a nearby comics shoppe, something I like to do when I'm a-travelling. I have to give a thumbs-up to Laughing Ogre Comics, not just for the great name of the shop (it sounds like they really want to open a pub where people can play RPG's with no fear of wedgies), but to their shop itself, which was professional, friendly, well-stocked and well laid out. If in Columbus, we recommend.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Movie Watch 2012 - Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians
A recent episode of NPR radio documentary program This American Life featured bits of the story from the 2011 movie in telling its own version of the story of a gang of card counting Christians, Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians. It's currently streaming on Netflix, so you can check it out for yourselves.
The doc follows a group of young people, mostly under 30 I'd guess, who are a wide variety of youth ministers, parishioners, pastors of small congregations and then just friends and hangers-on who follow a few leaders in the group into the wacky world of card counting in order to try to beat the house at casinos all over the country. They form a small business which actually raises investment capital from folks they know and within the group, and then redistributes the winnings back out among the investors, the management and the gamblers.
The doc follows a group of young people, mostly under 30 I'd guess, who are a wide variety of youth ministers, parishioners, pastors of small congregations and then just friends and hangers-on who follow a few leaders in the group into the wacky world of card counting in order to try to beat the house at casinos all over the country. They form a small business which actually raises investment capital from folks they know and within the group, and then redistributes the winnings back out among the investors, the management and the gamblers.
"Masks" coming from Chris Roberson and some up and comer named Alex Ross
Oh my gosh, you guys.
Coming soon from Dynamite Entertainment!
Pretty much everything I wanted DC's pulp books to be that they just totally and completely were not. If you haven't been watching Dynamite lately, you're missing out on some pretty decent stuff, by the way.
My Grandfather, Marvin Ross, Passes
My grandfather passed on Tuesday morning at the age of 93.
As my dad's parents had divorced when he was a kid, Marvin was my father's step father, and so while there's no blood relation, there's no question he was my grandfather if all the usual granddad criteria apply.
The family loves the above photo of a young Marvin Ross, partially because his service in the 82nd Airborne during World War II is household legend. Africa. Italy. France. All this for a farm kid from Kansas who worked in FDR's NYA farms to make ends meet. With the end of World War II, he returned stateside, earned his degree and eventually worked for Eastern Airlines where he helped roll out the first computer systems for the company.
In many ways, his life often read to me as a Rosetta Stone for 20th Century America.
It can't go without saying that he was heavily involved with his local Legion post, serving as President, and active in the activities of the American Legion.
He and my grandmother visited often, hosted us in Florida (in Miami and then in Ocala), and my folks made certain we were as close as could be despite the geographic distance.
The more I learned of his days in the military and then his career in technology, the more questions I had, and he was always willing to share a story or two about dealing with punchcards or taking fire in a house in Italy.
In recent years, after the passing of my grandmother, he'd lived first in Houston near my folks, and more recently in Las Vegas with his son, Frank. The last few years was hard of hearing, but no less sharp when he was chatting (and you were two feet away and shouting).
I spoke with Frank and he reported that my grandfather spent the Fourth with his family, reportedly just his usual self.
He'll be deeply missed by us all.
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