Review Type Things

Looks like the Madbomb TPB will have to wait until tomorrow, but here's the skinny on a few fliks I've watched recently:

Revengers Tragedy

Directed by the talented Alex Cox (he wrote the screenplay for Fear & Loathing, and wrote and directed Sid & Nancy), this flik is based on a 17th century play, written by Thomas Middleton, and is a dark comedy about a character on a revenge trip. The director and/or screenwriter went the Romeo + Juliet route, updating the setting, but not the dialogue, which makes it a bit hard to follow at times. I found turning on the subtitles actually helps, seeing as how their accents make it difficult for a Yank like me to understand them. Fortunately it's filmed so brilliantly that when you don't understand the words you can still follow the story. That may sound a bit "dumb" to a few folks, but I think it's a testament to the director's ability to tell a story without dialogue. The cast is great, heded up by the wonderful Eddie Izzard and Christopher Eccleston (28 Days Later...), and the supporting players do a terrific job. All in all a truly great film, recommended to anyone who's a theatre fan, or to anyone looking for something intelligent. Just keep in mind it is a dark comedy, so it's racy.

Aliens

Still haven't made my through the entire set of special features, but the commetrak proved worth a listen, just for the cast members that pop up. Cameron's comments about Alien 3 miffed me a bit, seeing as how he wasn't exactly true to the first Alien film himself. Still, the DVD is loaded with more stuff than you ever needed to know, and it's probably the best sequel of all time.

Other ramblings...

Picked up the Marvel Legends Cable action figure this week, and was pleasently surprised by how articulated it is. Haven't been able track down the Deadpool, and given how much it seems to be in demand, I doubt I will. Stupid secondary market.

Also, I'm addicted to Mario Tennis on the N64. I'm afraid this might lead to an addiction to tennis overall. I'll have to watch myself.

Oh, and Dorian had some interesting things to say about the current "buy back my childhood" 80's trend that's going on. For his words check out PostModernBarney, to the right.

Now, I do want to address a few things, seeing as how I fall into that category, mostly because I don't really fit anywhere else. I do think there's quite a few valid points made, and overall I see the frustration, and if I worked where he does I would probably loose more customers than I could ever gain.

While I love most everything cartoon and toy based from my childhood, I'm fairly certain I can appreciate them for what they were, not what I made them up to be in my mind. I also loved the A-Team and Dukes of Hazzard, but I have no qualms about pointing out their stupidity. I do think he's wrong about Star Wars, but like most things it's a personal call. Just because you don't like something doesn't make it the dumbest thing in the world. Yes it's a kids film, and yes it's not the most intelligent film ever made, but there has to be something that makes it worth watching, otherwise it never would've made the amount of money it has. I refuse to believe that there was that big of a sci-fi fanbase when the movie hit.

Like most blockbusters it just appeals to a wide audience looking for entertainment for entertainments sake. The "prequels" have justproven how horrible a writer Lucas is to begin with, and that the man couldn't direct his way out of a paper bag. He's alot like Claremont, they've taken something the didn't really even create and somehow turned into the biggest pile of dogshit you can imagine. Still, the original films have entertainment value, and that's why people like them.

Some people just take it entirely too far, something I think I could be guilty of.

Back to the subject, I think he's right, it would be annoying as hell to listen to people talk about being true to the original when it comes to crap that was never even true to itself to begin with. I can watch any series of 80's toons and point out flaws left and right, but when I do watch them I choose not to, because that prettymuch ruins the entertainment.

Maybe it's just me, and it doesn't take alot to keep me entertained. Hell, I'm a DVD junkie with over 800 of 'em, you think all of them are A+ films? Hell no. One of my favorite films of all-time is the original TMNT movie. Why? It entertains me. It's that simple. Adventures of Ford Fairlane? It bombed, and rightfully so, but I love it. The trick is to appreciate things for what they really are, if it's crap, it's crap, you don't have to like it, but don't insult me for choosing to be entertained.

Not that I was being insulted. Dorian's got some valid points, like I said, some people just take things a bit too far, and unfortuantely he's in the wrong business to avoid that. So, if you're in his shop, do him a favor, save the Darth Maul vs. Darth Vader argument for outside the store, and don't ask him what his favorite Transformer was.

Oh, and according to Cobra Commander's biography he wanted to take over the world because he was a disgruntled used car slaseman who was tired of the system. Something like that. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

I always wondered what the other half was.

-L