So, What's Been Keeping Me Busy?

Well, work for one.

Plus, there was part one (and coming soon, part two) of my Batman Loose Staples column, which I hope you've all read by now. If not, hop on over to Comic Book Galaxy and check it out. While you're there please take a gander at Shawn Hokes latest Size Matters and Rob Vollmar's International Geographic, both very excellent.

I finished off the very excellent Freeks and Geeks DVD set. I rented them from Netflix, which turned out to be a mistake. I got distracted with other things and ended up taking two months to watch the whole damn series. But, it was good, I just which I'd bought it instead.

Right now i'm watching Keen Eddie. Three episodes in and I'm hookd. I'm not sure why I have cable anymore. Oh yeah, Boomerang, Adult Swim, NFL Network.

I now have a complete collection of the Marvel Legends Galactus Series. I'm gonna ope them and put the big guy together. (UPDATE: I did, and he kicks all kinds of ass!)

I have seen a few movies lately. Ocean's Twelve was the most recent. If you managed to avoid seeing this, please, keep avoiding it. It's complete crap. Might be the worst film I've seen all year. I caught Bugsy on cable a few days ago, not sure how I've managed to not see it in all the years its been out. It surprised me how much I enjoyed it, things definitely didn't turn out like I thought they would, even with it being a true story and all. I also re-watched Ladykillers a few days ago. Certainly not the Coens finest work, and Hollywood really doesn't need more remakes, but it's still a damn funny film.

Toon Disney's airings of The Tick have been must-see-TV lately. I really had forgotten how hilarious that show was. Seeing it daily is just about the best thing in the world.

Those Mixed Bag 2 CDs are in a constant state of rotation on my car stereo. I've enjoyed all the ones I've listened to, but there's no outstanding favorite so far, but, Mrs. Lefty Brown's is creeping up the list.

Has anyone else seen the electric bicycle commercials? What the hell is the point in that?

Oh, yeah, before I forget, new Permanent Damage!

Keith Richards is gonna show up in one of the Pirates sequels. Cool.

That's all I got.

-L

Stupid Blogger

I hope the new format isn't too ho-hum for everyone. Until Blogger fixes its problem, I'm stuck with it.

I lieu of The List, I'll direct you to two fine DVD sources :

Augie's Various and Sundry. I'm currently addicted to his site, and I'll be adding it to my own sidebar soon, probably tomorrow.

Also, Cinescapes DVD Column is a good read, it highlights some of the more obscure releases.

Like Augie, I often look ahead to see what DVDs are coming, and I must reiterate his "dry DVD weeks" remark. My wallet appreciates it though, as I spend ENTIRLY too much money buying them, and currently have over 30 movies I've yet to even see, some of them I've owned for almost a year.

I recently saw the King Kong trailer (early yesterday, when I was plugging in various things into Cinescape to see what popped up, it's nifty...), and....am I the ONLY person unimpressed with this? Did the world really need another Kong? After the last two were horrific, why do it again (Jurrassic Park 2 was Kong, no ifs ands or buts about it)? I was with Jackson until the ape showed up, then he lost me. Oh well.

Hope everyone's still checking the Galaxy for new updates! Both my recent column and my Ice Haven review are up. Do me a favor and click on over to the main site, so ADD can get a good headcount of the visitors, then follow the links from there! (Pssst: Check out Ian's take on Sleeper as well, damn good stuff)

Speaking of Ian, happy friggin birthday man! 22? You're just a baby!

This is currently my computer background. It rocks (the first pic, not all of them, but they all rock.)

Tom and Cory are a year old in the blogthingie, so is Ian! I agree with Tom, it's a pain to try and post daily, and the last two weeks of my non-posting have been mostly enjoyable. But, next week I'll be fully back on the horse, i think.

Yet even more proof that God loves me (and yet feels the need to torture me with endless delays...). But, the fact that we get the Superman serial as well as COMMENTARIES!!!!! makes it sooooo worth it.

My pleasure Shane.

There's a reason Dave gets mentioned in some big ass magazine and I don't. Why? Because he's the funniest son of a bitch on the planet, that's why. Even his picture is hilarious. If I'm ever in Washington, the party is on.

Finally, Mick returns. I was beginning to think he died. Batman Begins wasn't that long was it?

That's about it. I had the best idea I've ever had today. Too bad I'm a lazy ass, otherwise it would be uber-cool.

See, the ASS part comes in when I don't tell you what it was.

-L

This is Chris Brown's Fault

Somehow he has infected my blog with his nasty little blog virus. so,
until Blogger tell me how to fix it, I'm gonna blame him.
It makes me feel better. Join in if you'd like!

Also, no updates until I can fix it. That is all.

-L

Week Links

You might all be wondering where the hell I've been. In short: working. My next Loose Staples turned out to be so big I've split it into two columns (at ADD's suggestion, otherwise you'd all be reading a seven page essay on Batman in film and comics...). I also wrote three reviews: Bone Vol. 1, Ice Haven, and Superf*ckers. All three were terrific (the books, not my reviews) and I'll post links as soon as they go up, I might even have a bit more to say about Ice Haven.

If you haven't been keeping your eye on CBG, now's as good a time as any to go see the latest content. Alan really has assembled an excellent stable of online talent, further proving the Internet's need for the Comic Book Galaxy.

Congrats to G.B. on the baby. It will be fun watching him go insane.

Ummm...okaaaaaay. Couldhe be anymore cryptic? If you can't use what you have, sell the damn things off! Marvel seems to now be the corporate equivilent of a fanboy: It passes off the dribble it writes for entertainment and hordes the most useless things in the world.

Johnny Bacardi is a giiiiiiiirl. Nah. J.B., I used to read Bobsey Twin books, at least Nancy Drew was an original.

Hey, look, Permanent Damage!

I agree with this guy. No Nightcrawler might mena no money from me.

COVERS!!!!

Comicscape

So...that's it. Eventually i'll have something interesting to say, so keep your eyes open!

-L

The 5 AM List

Bewitched - The Complete First Season (Black and White)

Is anyone planning on seeing this movie. I dig Will Ferrell and all, but it just doesn't look that interesting, add to that I didn't care for the show much at all, and well, I doubt I'll be seeing it.Ever. This is also available colorized. You can probably thank Ted Turner for that.

Coach Carter (Widescreen Edition)

My Dad met the guy that inspired this movie. That and fifteen bucks will get me the DVD. So...yeah, I won't be seeing it anytime soon.

Cursed (Unrated Version)

Really, does anyone go in saying...hmmm...maybe I should get the rated version, that "unrated" sounds just too damned graphic for me. It's also out on UMD for the PSP, which I can understand, but really, why the hell do we need two versions? Of this especially.

Degrassi The Next Generation - Season 2

Some people say it's not as good as the original series. I disagree. I think that android is really funny, much better than the guy with the pointy ears. The ship doesn't look like it's hanging from fishing line, and when they teleport it's really cool. Plus, I think the bald captain can whoop that toupee-wearing over-acting other guy any day of the week.

Oh, wait, wrong show.

Hostage

I really wanted to see this.

The Jacket

And this too dammit!

Loch Ness

This has Ted Danson in it. I'm blown away. But, the only way I'd buy it is if Cliff and Norm were with him, hell throw in Woody and Frasier too! and at the end the Loch Ness Monster turned out to be Vera. That would be fantastic.

Miss Congeniality 2 - Armed and Fabulous (Widescreen Edition)

This movie is being released in like nine different packages. Not different editions, just different ways of packaging it (two-packs, widescreen/fullscreen, with soundtrack, etc, etc.). What the hell?

Oz - The Complete Fifth Season

See, they missed the boat on this show. If it had been a prison set in the land of Oz, that would have been amazing. Can't you just see the Lollipop Guild inciting a prison riot? I'm telling you, they should pay me to write this shit.

Showdown

AKA Lookin' Italian, further proof that TV stardom does not become movie stardom.

Tabitha - The Entire Series

There was a follow-up to Bewitched? you've got to be freaking kidding me!

Real content coming up later, I swear!

-L

R.I.P.

Actor Lane Smith died this past week. Geek-folk may remember him from Lois & Clark, he played Perry White, but i'll always remember him as Jim Trotter, the opposing attourney in My Cousin Vinny. It's one of my favorite comedies, and smith all-but overshadowed his co-stars. His brief appearence in Showtime's excellent Out of Order was his last on-screen film credit.

The Great Curve has also posted that Jeph Loeb's son, Sam, has lost his battle with cancer. He was 17.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of both in their time of grief.

-L

All Kinds of Interesting Crap

I am now the proud owner of a new video card, and have signed up for City of Heroes. I created a character, but it said I lost my connection to the server and my character got erased. Pissed me off, but oh well, it works. So, anyone out there already playing, hope to see you around the city...if I can actually make it there.

I also have Boomerang and The NFL Network now. I was tempted to skip work today and flip back and forth between these two all afternoon. But I didn't. Both are all kinds of cool, I got to see several Falcons game highlights today, as well as The Hair Bear Bunch and part of Hong Kong Phooey, so, yeah, I'm hooked for life.

Big props to Chris H of The Great Curve and CBG fame for helping with my router troubles. He didn't actually fix them, but he led me down the right path, so thanks Chris, you rock.

In other news, Shane memed me. So, here goes...

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why? (Assume you also get baseline superhero enhancements like moderately increased strength, endurance and agility.)

Call it too much That 70s Show on DVD lately, but i'd wanna go all Red Foreman on people and make them wear their asses for hats. BAM! You're wearing your ass for a hat. That would just be killer. The Ass Hatter! Man, if only I could do that in CoH.

Which, if any, 'existing' superhero(es) do you fancy, and why?

Your Mom. She's really super.

Which, if any, 'existing' superhero(es) do you hate?

Your Dad, because, well, he keeps coming home early. Can you send me my clothes back?

What would your superhero name be? (No prefab porn-name formulas here, you have to make up the name you think you’d be proud to mask under.)

Didn't I answer this? I guess the Ass Hatter is psuedo-porn...how about Wide Brim? I'd have this big ass hat.

For extra credit: Is there an ‘existing’ superhero with whom you identify/whom you would like to be?

I identify with no one...but if i had to chose who to be, Deadpool no doubt, he's witty, he gets to kill people, and Wade wilson is the coolest name ever. Which is why he stole it. But not the football player. That guy sucks. I'd kill him first.

Pass it on. Three people please, and why they’re the wind beneath your wings.

How about you, you, and you. Because you're Mom's are totally hot. MILFS to the MAX.

You like that, right? You don't know if you've been memed til you click the link, and if it's not you, bam, new content for you to read!

And that's what you get for meming me, don't let it happen again!

Finally, this is for Alan (no, not that Alan, but they do have the same damn initials, what the hell are the odd on that?), the Doom Live journal. And here's a few more you might like: Hulk, Sue Storm, Namor, Ultron, and Zombie Tom, the funniest dead thing on the planet.

Enjoy.

-L

The Really Big Post

There's a lot of things I'm going to cover here. Fair warning.

First, some links:

New Permanent Damage is up. God bless Steven Grant.

The New Comic Book Galaxy is still rolling out the goodies, today it's a Scott Pilgrimm review from ADD, Ojo reviewed by Ian Brill, a Sleeper review from Bryan and Jog looks at Jenny Finn. Yesterday we had the triumphant return of Breakdowns (man it felt good seeing that again, you can still catch the old series at MPS, link to the right), as well as two more reviews, F-Stop and Foul Play (by Ian Brill and buddy JB, respectively). Don't forget the contest!

Gord-o is a GEEEK. But I love him anyway.

It would be a Marvel comic that eats itself and creates a black hole, wouldn't it?

Werewolf vs. Shark. That rocks on so many levels.

Dave can't stop swearing. That fucker.

Lastly, big props to Cinescape's Brian Thomas for sending me Dragnet '67 for FREE. That's right, I WON something. It's no AiT collection, but it made me feel good. He's giving away some stuff this week too, but I'm a dick and i'm not going to link you to it, because if you enter, I might not win! So, if you want it, you have to find it. I suck, I know. While you're there check out Comicscape this week, it's got an interview with Robert Vendetti.

Oh, and in case you missed it, I HAVE A FREAKING COLUMN AT COMIC BOOK GALAXY!!

And I'd like to take a moment to talk a bit about it.

It rules.

There you go.

Now, here's my track listing, including commentary, for Lefty's Mixed Bag 2.

Songs I Know by Heart-The Ded Mix Vol. 2

Dynamite Hack-Anyway

I love the raw emotion of this, too bad these guys fell off the earth.

Dashboard Confessional-Screaming Infidelities

Another break up song, more raw emotion. It's a different kind of angry, it's desperate and very heart-on-your-sleeve. I loved this album too, but their follow up not so much.

Everclear-Now That It’s Over

A band I love and another break up song (there's a few on this disc, in fact, all these songs remind me of some relationship or another in my past). The disc, Songs From an American Movie Vol. 1, is high on my top albums of all time. Art tapped into an emotional well spring with this disc and while this is not my favorite track, it's up there.

Finger Eleven-One Thing

In hindsight I regret adding this. I like it, but the band does nothing for me and it tires out on repeated listenings. Add to that the fact that it reminds me of a really depressing moment in my life, and well, I just can't listen to it over and over. Maybe everyone else won't think so.

Eve 6- Superhero Girl

Another fav band. This song is killer. It actually doesn't remind me of any relationship, but a time in my life when things generally worked out for me all the time.

New Radicals-Someday We’ll Know

Hey, it's not a break up song! This is a love's lost tune by another band I liked that disappeared.

Gary Allan-Songs about Rain

Cheesy country, normally I'd hate this stuff, but for some reason I just like it. Another love lost song.

Sheryl Crow-C’mon C’mon

Man, I love Sheryl Crow. Alt-country at its finest here.

Phantom Planet-Always on My Mind

A repeat performer! Hope everyone liked them enough to give this a chance, it reminds me of some of those old tunes about girl watching, among other things.

Blue Flannel-I Can’t Stand Losing You

This is actually a local band that got a bit of wider notoriety. It's kind of cheesy, but I still enjoy it occasionally.

Everclear-Everything to Everyone

This song reminds me of soooo many people I know. Did i mention I like Everclear? A lot?

John Oszajca-Long Drive Home

Another repeater offender. This is so different from the last song it's hard to believe it's the same guy. Eventually everyone will have this whole disc, I just can't resist putting this guy on everything I make. This song is very me.

Edwin McCain & Darius Rucker-Solitude

There was a period of about a year, maybe a year and a half, where I didn't see my brother. While nothing in this song happened to us (well, not exactly) it still reminds me of that time apart. Very regretful little ballad. I don't like this live version as much, but it's the only one I have.

The Black Crowes-She Talks to Angels

It's about every girl you ever thought you loved.

The Monkees-Stepping Stone

Not my fav monkees tune, but it fits with the disc, and I do love it. So upbeat to be so down beat.

Kid Rock-Lonely Road of Faith

Everyone will hate this song, it's over produced and loses what it has going for it in the middle. But, screw it, I like it and it reminds me of someone I knew very briefly.

Willie Nelson-Recollection Phoenix

This is off the same disc that my last Nelson tune was, it's my favorite song on the disc, I love the clip-clop of the horses in the background.

Tom Petty & the Heart Breakers-Walls

This song makes me smile.

??????-?????

My special bonus song. It's beautiful, and a surprise, enjoy.

So, yeah, that's it for today.

-L

The List with no fancy title

Casino (Widescreen 10th Anniversary Edition)

Never seen it. This seems to be the year of Scorsese.

Dark Victory (Restored and Remastered Edition)

With a commentrak ta boot. This is one of those "classics" I've never seen, but i'll have to check this out.

A Dirty Shame (NC-17 Theatrical Version)

Not to be confused with the well-below mediocre "A Low Down Dirty Shame" with one of the Wayans offspring, this is John Waters recent sex-addict comedy. Big surprise it didn't play in my neck of the friggin' woods.

The Eagles - Farewell 1 Tour - Live From Melbourne

As Cher finally says goodbye for the last time, a new set of divas steps up to take her place. YAWN. I love the Eagles, but this is just retarded.

Gatchaman Vol 1 / Gatchaman Vol 2

Also available in a boxed set with a bonus disc, with cover work by Alex ross. i already have mine, yippeee!

Hitch (Widescreen Edition)

If this had been the story of, say, a trailer hitch, i'd likely have given it a spin, but another ho-hum romantic comedy? Big pass.

The King of Queens - The Complete Fourth Season

Oh, what great timing, double your Kevin James this week folks!

Little House on the Prairie - The Complete Season 8

This show makes me think about Scrooged, damn Bill Murray is funny.

Man-Thing

If they'd have titled it "Giant-Sized Man-Thing" people might have picked it up.

Northern Exposure - The Complete Third Season

:::hums theme song::: Man I loved this show. Ed rocks.

Reno 911 - The Complete Second Season (Uncensored)

I can't get into this at all.

Saved By the Bell - The New Class Season 3

Ummm...HELL NO.

Tilt - Season One

Heard good things, I'll add it to my queue on Netflix.

Walker Texas Ranger - The Final Season

The eyes of the ranger are upon you. Be afraid, be very afraid.

-L

A New Post You Say? Why, That's Brilliant!

Apologies for the lack of content, but my internet provider decided to take a dump on itself and I got s-c-r-e-w-e-d in the process. We've found a new provider that'll also bring Boomerang and the NFL Network to my cable box, a definite plus. The switch will happen Thursday, hopefully. The plan had been to go to Bell South, but they said, and I quote "The earliest we can activate service is the first week of August."

August? Good Lord, that's INSANE.

So, anyway, I'm getting the NFL Network. That's the best news EVER.

Well, except for this: The New Comic Book Galaxy

Here's something to tempt you-

"These guys had read books I'd never heard of, loaned me tapes of movies I'd never seen before and could tell me all about the straight line in art-styles traced back through John Byrne and Neal Adams to the halcyon days of Hal Foster and the photo-realists of the 1930s newspaper strips."

"At the same time, we live in a personality driven world, so it's a real boon to emphasize yourself in order to get your message across. So you do things, well, like this interview. I hope in the end that I'm bringing people to the world of comics through me rather than bringing them to me through the world of comics."

"I've got one copy of everything we've published since we've been a concern for one Galaxy reader. It's nearly a hundred comics and graphic novels. I'll throw in some t-shirts and patches and art and posters and whatever I have lying around. One big honkin' mess of cool stuff for one CBG reader."

"Please remove all the comics that smell like cat pee. Or dog pee. Or ferret pee. Or any kind of pee. I don't believe "pee" is allowed in any of the generally-accepted comic book condition grades. I don't care if it's Action Comics #1, autographed by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt...no cat pee comics!"

"In short, as a Galaxy reader I felt pushed into seeking out books that I enjoyed rather than just washing my hands of the comic book industry. Now, as a reviewer I can only hope that my thoughts and infrequent insights help shape the industry into what it should be: shelves full of diversity, not just one single genre. I can think of no other art form that voluntarily limits itself the way that comics do, and for the life of me I can't figure out why."

"In the most basic form, we can say that Will Eisner's opinions on comics held more weight than, say, Alan Doane's. Alan Doane's opinion holds more weight than Spawnblood69 at Newsarama, who's been reading comics for three years, ever since he realized his awesome toys had comics about them. And even ol' Spawnblood69 (God bless him) knows what he's talking about a bit more than my old Mexican neighbor who's never read a comic in his life."

"When a mini-comic clicks with you, there’s a connection between the reader and the artist that is hard to find in the slick mass-produced comics that crowd the stands of your local shop. In minis, there’s a personal feeling you get from a comic that is produced on someone’s kitchen table or living room floor. When you gaze at a screen-printed cover, you can tell how much love and care the artist put into their comic."

"Mix Ellis’ depraved imagination with one of the medium’s top artists, in this case Promethea artist J.H. Williams III, and let them run wild, free of the editorial meddling that restrains many of the corporate controlled characters, and the results should speak for themselves."

I'm not going to tell you who said what, because you really should be following the links to find out.

Take a deep breath. Smell that? That's the smell of the greatest thing to happen to the internet since Al Gore created it. And since that last part isn't true, well, that would make it the best thing ever, wouldn't it? Yes, yes it would.

-L

BIFF! BAM! POW!! Comics!

I did that specifically to irritate, I'm an ass. Now, here's some comics stuff/reviews:

First, ADD has a new blog entry up discussing the changes looming at the Galaxy, my favorite part:

Here we are on Friday morning. Most of the new, regular columns arefinished and ready, as are a major interview and an introduction byone of the biggest names in the industry (not coincidentally one ofCBG's biggest supporters over its lifetime). A lot is left unfinished,though, and I will be working as hard as I can to finish everything upand have everything as close to perfect as we can for Monday. I'm not the only one, either – nearly two dozen people are now committed to Comic Book Galaxy, and many of them are hard at work right nowcreating new and interesting – and entertaining content for you to read next week, and the week after, and hopefully all the weeks to come after that, forever and ever, amen. Please do join us on Monday.

If by "hard at work" he means "eating a sandwich and watching That 70s Show" then that sentence sooooo describes me.

Seriously, why is the comics community as a whole so negative? I've been with the Galaxy since November of last year, and this is the first time Alan has implemented any changes, but even before that, I don't recall any really giant sweeping changes. Like he says, it's a volunteer site, so often times people stroll in and out and there hasn't been much in the way of fluidity over the years, but the site has made a return from the dead, writers do come and go, but there's NEVER been anything like this. Besides, this is the internet folks, if you don't come in and clean house or implement new policies, attract new readers and talent and update the look of your site with some regularity, well, you're going to be left in the dust for sure. So, all you naysayers, just shut up, sit back, have a Coke and a smile, because Monday morning is going to blow your fucking mind.

Now, here's some reviews:

Tales of the TMNT #11

This issue is an odd one, a stand-alone tie-in. A trio of people are brainwashed by a mysetrious group and sent to kill Splinter. A battle ensues in which Splinter goes all Yoda on them, only unlike the green one, the rat plays for keeps. This book continues to be one of my favorites. Thought it's not always high-quality, it rarely fails to at least entertain. I like these occasional arc that will tie into other things throughout the TMNT universe. The only downfall? Occasionally I get lost as my knowledge of the TMNT past is limited to these current books.

X-Force: Shatterstar #4

I'm sure I'm the only person reading this. Really wasn't bad, the end was kind of hokey, and i have to wonder at the decision to just leave a character, even one like Spiral, in an alternate dimesion, but she'll find a way back I'm sure. Overall though? Another pointeless Marvel mini.

Y, the Last Man #34

I'm really diggin fill-in artist Goran Sudzuka's pencils. Vaughan is blowing me away month after month with interesting plot developments every issue. It's hard to believe that this book is almost three years old and it's still exciting. I love the moral dilemma's, reopening world trade via the opium industry is a brilliant example. Plus, with only one man left on Earth, is it perfectly okay for the women to fall into this? Opium obviously takes them away from their worries, even if they knew about Yorick there's no guarentee that he could even reproduce, and if he could, is what killed the men still living among the women? So the human race may very well be doomed but is a "wait and see" stance a better option? Comics at their finest.

The Crusades: Urban Decree

This is a blast from the recent past. I got it out of a 50-cent bin and enjoyed the hell out of it. I'll definitely be tracking down the series. It's the story of a knight come to modern days to stop evil. But not super-powered evil, just regular old evil. Rapists, murderers, thieves, etc, etc. Written by Steven T Seagle and drawn by Kelly jones, it's a fascinating look at urban life with a few good twists thrown in as well as a mystery or two. Can't wait to see more.

Machine Man & Bastion Annual '98

And I thought todays X-books were horrid. This is crap on top of crap. A tie in to that oh-so-important Bastion thing, Machine Man barely appears in this (other than to be a bad guy, which doesn't work), it's mostly Cable and Bastion duking it out one way or another, but the dialogue and captions are ENTIRELY exposition. This recaps the whole dam Prime sentinal thing, tying it in with other X-related Sentinal sagas. DUMB with a giant-ass D. I bought this cuz I'm a Cable fan and it's a book I mysteriously didn;t buy when it came out, but I want my 50-cents back dammit.

-L

Link Blogging

I'm finishing up a few things here and there, so here's some links to keep you busy.

Pa Kent may be exiting Smallville, and not because the actor wants to leave. Schneider has urged fans to speak out against this. It may indeed be the worst idea ever, he's one of the shows two saving graces, and I believe it would mark the end of the series surely. Rumors say that this may tie in to the upcoming Supes movie. Hey, Brian Singer, thanks a lot.

Dawn of the Dead re-cut by fan. What kills me is the responses to this "Why doesn't he just make his own movie? Why would anyone want to re-cut a movie that was fine to begin with? Two tickets for Star Wars- Special Edition please." Idiots.

Comicscape is in on the "Brett Ratner will kill the franchise" idea.

Two Sisters looks interesting, I'll have to pick it up on my next Top Shelf order, provided I have the funds. Bravo to Kurt for bringing something other than mainstream reviews to Cinescape.

T.J. Hooker to DVD soon. Dear God in Heaven kill me now.

We3 the movie? I'm on the fence. At least they've chose one of Morrison's more straightforward narratives to adapt. Gotta love the idiotic Cinescape reader coments. Yes, Morrison is going to make money on something he created, he MUST be a sellout. The best thing about adapting books and comics to screen? If it sucks, there's still the source material.

New Permanent Damage. Sweet.

That does it, i'll be back later with some actual comic stuff.

-L

Quick Note

I finally added Spatula Forum to my sidebar, sorry Nik!! Everyone go say hi!

EDIT: Bite my ass HTML, I finally fixed the comments!!!!!!! (there's a space between them and the posts now, God that annoyed me) With no help at that. I rule.

-L

Finally, the Mixed Bag 1 Finale

NMH Mix1 from Shane at Near Mint Heroes

Liked: Jet- Move On, Spoon- Stay Don't Go, OK Go-Get Over It (they sound like Cracker to me, not sure why, best song on the disc by far), Cake-End of the Movie (reminded me of my Dad), International Noise Conspiracy-Smash It Up, Mooney Suzuki-Everything's Gone Wrong (I've heard this somewhere before...), Rock and Roll Soldiers-Funny Little Feeling (these guys kick ass), Enter the Haggis-Another Round (so not what I thought it would be), G Love and Special Sauce-Gimme Some Lovin (I've heard this before, in fact, I have the album somewhere, G Love rules).

Okay stuff: Death Cab fo Cutie-New Year (good opening, just didn't love it as much as I probably should have after that intro), New Pornographers-The Body Says No, Ryan Adams-1974, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-In Like the Rose (love the intro though), The Sea and Cake-Soft and Sleep, My Morning Jacket-Sooner, Iron and Wine-Such Great Heights, Whiskeytown-Jacksonville Skyline.

Disliked: Absolutely nothing. Wow. Good job Shane.

Ringwood Ragemix from Ken at Ringwood

Liked: Garbage-Metal Heart, Monster Magnet-Unbroken (I used to listen to these guys, just one album tho, not sure which), Eagles of Death Metal-Speaking in Tongues (not exactly death metal, catchy though), Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds-The Curse of Millhaven, Too Much Joy-Theme Song.

Okay Stuff: Queen of the Stone Age: Burn the Witch, Desert Sessions-I Wanna Make It Wit Chu, Supergrass-Brecon Beacons, Rev. Horton Heat-Baby I'm Drunk (I generally have mixed emotions about the Rev.), Elastica-How He Wrote Elastica Man, Gorillaz-New Genious(Brother).

Disliked: ...And you Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead-Will You Smile Again? (started out great, lost interest about two minutes in), Tomahawk-Harelip, Bill hick-Rush Limbaugh (at least a minute too long, and interrupts the flow), Burden Brothers-Beautiful (abbreviated cuz I'm lazy).

Mix23 from MercuryX23

Liked: Jamie Cullum-Twentysomething, Giant Sand-King of the Road, William Shatner-Common People, Spiritualized-Do It All Over Again.

Okay stuff: Grant-Lee Phillips-See America, Mercury Rev-Opus 40, Devotchka-Queen of the Surface Streets, The Flaming Lips-Lightning Strikes the Postman, Radiohead-A Wolf at the Door, Grandaddy-El Caminos in the West, The Olivia Tremor Control-Hideaway, Nuetral Milk Honey-Ghost.

Disliked: Cafe Tacuba-Eres, Aloha-They See Rocks, Built to Spill-Carry the Zero, The Arcade Fire-Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), Elliott Smith-Distorted Reality (abbreviated, apologies), Home-Chicago.

Roxy's World

Liked: Liam Lynch-United States of Whatever, Cake-Sheep Go To Heaven, PJ Olssen-Whistle Song (I know this tune from the starburst commercial, nice to have it), Sneaker Pimp-Six Undrground, Cornershop-Brimful of Asha (N. Cook remix, and I've loved this song for the longest time, nice to have it), Falling For the First Time-Barnaked Ladies, Carbon Leaf-On Any Given Day, Ewan McGregor/Jose Feliciano/Jacek Kormen-El Tango de Roxanne (Moulin Rouge Sndtrk), David Carter-Southern Cross

Okay Stuff: Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes-Don't Leave Me This Way, (?)Girl Named Michelle(?), Lix Phair-Polyester Bride, Mercury Rev-Spiders, Southern Culture on the Skids-Camel Walk, Morrissey-Suedehead

Disliked: Misfits-Patient Boy, Sweet Beauty Break (couldn't understand it), Nick Drake-Pink Moon

I think that does it for round one folks. I hope I didn't get all "Lefty" on anyone and FORGET THEM!!!!

I kid because I love.

-L

Finally, Good News

Paramount has pulled the plug on Watchmen. The movie is being shopped around to other studios, here's hoping NO ONE buys it.

I meant to link to this and like an idiot I forgot, so, go look at ADD's latest blog entry, and just keep asking yourself "What the hell is the New Comic Book Galaxy?" and all will be revealed shortly. And it kicks more ass than anything ever.

Mike Penny linked me to these photos of Dakuwaka Productions in Wizard World Philly. Looks like they had a great time, I just hope they sold some books! Those booths can't be cheap. For those not in the know, Mike and Dakuwaka are responsible for the indy hero book Helios, a damn fine read, you can follow my links on the right to the reviews I've done, and the book can be ordered from many a website, no link of which I have handy, apologies. But, that's why someone invented Google, right?

Lefty forgot about me. I'm really feeling the love.

I must have this book. Igor Kordey, I love you.

That is all for now. And no, I didn't forget about those CD reviews.

-L

Just the list Ma'am

Lots of stuff hitting shelves this week, and i'm still feeling under the weather, plus the Shield is on, so no commentary, though I may add some later if the mood strikes me. Honestly, the only things interesting me this week are Rock & Rule, Stripes (New Footage!!!), and maybe the Spidey disc. I had planned on buying Adventure of superman, but it got pulled dammit. Hopefully the problems will be worked out, because Lois & Clark is no substitute for it.

Be Cool (Widescreen Edition)

Beyond the Sea

The Dead Zone - The Complete Third Season

Dragnet 1967 - Season 1

Father of the Bride (15th Anniversary Edition)

Father of the Pride - The Complete Series

Frasier - The Complete Fifth Season

Home Improvement - The Complete Second Season

Lois & Clark - The New Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Season

MacGyver - The Complete Second Season

The Machinist

Quincy, M.E. - Seasons 1 & 2

Renegade (aka Blueberry)

Rescue Me - The Complete First Season

Rock & Rule (2-Disc Collector's Edition)

Sanford & Son - The Complete Sixth Season

Seed Of Chucky (Widescreen Edition)

The Sopranos - The Complete Fifth Season

Spider-Man - The Venom Saga (Animated Series)

Star Trek - Insurrection (Special Collector's Edition)

Stripes (Extended Cut)

Swimming With Sharks (Special Edition)

The Twilight Zone - The Complete Series

Wanted Dead or Alive - Season One

Wonder Woman - The Complete Third Season

-L

Still a bit sick

And all this junk just makes it worse.

Cinescape is reporting that Brett Rattner is now on board X3.

What the hell man? The guy built his career of interracial buddy comedy films, then somehow managed to get attached to Red Dragon (which wasn't that goood, and was a remake at that), and then he did After the Sunset. None of those are well made movies (well, I haven't seen Sunset, but a box office hit it wasn't), so I do not see X-Men getting any more success at the box office.

How to you go from "Let's hire a young filmmaker with a unique voice!" to "Hey, let's get that guy who's done nothing but ape other people's styles and remake the movies we've seen a zillion times before!"

My letter to Fox: You're a bunch of certified morons, and if you pull it off, it will indeed be a miracle.

I'd be surprised if some of the cast didn't begin bailing. Pretty soon it'll be a buddy movie starring Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. The wacky misadventures of a Jewish Nazi and a bald paraplegic. Sounds like a winner to me. Throw in a Forrest Gump moment with Halle Berry trying to seduce the man with no legs and it's just peachy.

In other X-news, Dorian has made me thankful I no longer read those damned mutant books by linking to Marvel's plans for the line. I think I threw up in my mouth a little.

I was watching the 90's X-toon on Disney the other day, the episode where Graydon Creed finds out about his family, which got me thinking, that would've made for a good All in the Family/Family Guy-like television show.

Victor Creed-father, assassin

Raven Darkholme-Mother, seductress, all around bitch

Nightcrawler- circus freak, son of a demon father who comes to pick him up on the weekends

Rogue- adopted rebellious daughter who can never decide if she's a good guy or a bad guy, pisses parents off by datin' a dirty cajun

Baby Graydon- continually plots to murder the rest of the family, repeatedly fails

Either that's brilliant sitcom material, or I'm on way too much medication.

-L

Ded's "Movies That Need More Love" Part 4

The article that inspired it.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

I was wrong, the grand total will be twenty-five, not thirty, here's the last four!

Welcome to Colinwood

Written and directed by Joe and Anthony Russo (all you fans of Arrested Development take note, these two guys directed some of the first season's best episodes!!), and produced by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh, this is the story of five men trying to open a safe. It may not sound like much, and is probably familiar to anyone who's seen the recent Ladykillers by the Coens or Woody Allen's much older Small Time Crooks. While it's no Ladykillers, it's tons better than Small Time Crooks (Allen loses the film about halfway through by swithcing its focus, Hitchcock he is not). Watching these five guys, played brilliantly by William H. Macy, Isaih Washington, Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter (one of his last films sadly) and Lois Guzman, bumble their way through what should be a relatively simple crime is a complete joy. And Clooney's vrief appearence as Jerzy is hysterical. The Russo brothers polished their skills here and there are traces of what they would bring to Arrested to be found. It's well worth a rent, or a buy, if you can find it. "Well he had a tough life... his mother was a whore."

Thursday

This has the distinction of being the very first movie I saw Thomas Jane in. The fact that he carries it so well both proves his skill as an actor and Skip Woods abilities as both a writer and a director (he also wrote the atrocious Swordfish, but nothing since). Jane plays reformed criminal Casey (no one in this film has a last name), who's now married and living in the suburbs of Houston when his old life begins to catch up to him. His former best friend Nick shows up on his doorsted and inadvertantly brings nothing but trouble with him. Casey must make his way through Jamaican drug-smuggling pizza delivery men, a woman that ties him up, a man that wants to cut him apart, a precinct full of crooked cops, a man from the adoption agency, and the wrath of his wife, if he wants to see Friday. It's a beautifully violent film that surely got Jane the part of Frank Castle, but this movie is leaps and bounds over his Punisher film. It's a shame that Woods seems to have fallen off the radar, maybe then we could get this on DVD for a good price (it's out of print and the DVD will run you anywhere from $100-$200, it can be found on VHS a lot cheaper however) "There's a .45 in the fridge, and you grab a FUCKING frying pan!"

Dancer, Texas Pop. 81

Tim McCanlies has worked on Smallville and The Iron Giant, but Dancer, Texas was his first film as a director(he also wrote it as well). He's gone on since to write and direct the very underrated Secondhand Lions. This is the story of four friends graduating from high school with plans to fulfill their childhood pact and move to L.A., taking the town's population down to 77. As the entire town tries to convince the boys to stay, each one is torn between their family, their dreams and their promise. It's an emotional journey, complete with enough comedy to break up the melodrama. Good, good film, and should be a must watch for anyone that grew up in a small town.

Sue Ann: I don't know how the two of you live in this trailer at an angle like this.
Squirrel: He was drunk when he parked it. Never got around to leveling it.
Sue Ann: Well, I guess y'all haven't been here long.
Squirrel: Twelve years.
Sue Ann: Oh.

Zero Effect

Written and directed by Jake Kasdan (Freaks & Geeks, Undeclared, Orange County), this film stars Bill Pullman as an eccentric detective (this film paved the way for Monk, if you like that show, you will LOVE this movie) who is hired by a man that's being blackmailed to find out the truth behind the scheme. The story is okay, but what really drives the movie are Bill Pullman's perfect performance as the nuerotic Daryl Zero and Ben Stiller's turn as straightman to Pullman as Steve Arlo, Zero's only real connection to the world outside his apartment. Kasdan wrote a pilot for a TV adaption with Alan Cumming, but it never made it on the air, but Monk is a very close resemblence to this film. I've loved all of Kasdan's work, but he hasn't come around since Orange County, here's hoping he drops back into Hollywood very soon. This film is a great example of what the man is capable of delivering, sort of an off the wall Sherlock & Watson. "Now, a few words on looking for things. When you go looking for something specific, your chances of finding it are very bad. Because of all the things in the world, you're only looking for one of them. When you go looking for anything at all, your chances of finding it are very good. Because of all the things in the world, you're sure to find some of them."

So, there you have it, 25 films I think need more love. If anyone else out there has a list of movie like this, I'd love to see it, I'm always up for discovering new movies! And if you track any of these down based on my recommendation, I'd love to know what you thought about them!

-L

Nothing original today...

I'm much too exhausted to get to any content today, so instead, i come to bring you some links.

As always, Steven Grant's Permanent Damage is a must read for the week.

You can read what people have said about my mix CD here, here, and here.

The Tick returns to TV, much thanks to JB for pointing this out. Excuse me while I do a happy dance!

Marc Sumerak noticed my review of his Power Pack #1-2 here on the blog and kindly linked to it, which led to this blogs best month ever hit-wise. In turn, I direct you to his site, Sumerak.com, particularly the message board, where Sumerak actively discusses his work with his fans. If you've picked up any of his books, drop him a line and tell him what you thought.

Laura needs your money, go donate what you can, i'm hoping I can scrape up $15 by the deadline to enter to win some cool swag.

Zombies like brains? Who knew? Well, the Dog for one.

The End Is Here. One day Mike will come home, and everything will seem normal, until he goes to polis his pins (no, not that, get your mind out of the gutter!), then he will discover that two of them are missing. If only I could afford that plane ticket to Cali. Still no taker on those X-Force #1's huh? Damn you all.

A naked woman and soap. What's better than that? Nothing, that's what.

Stupid villian of the day.

Okay, I'm beat, and I still have to go to work today. Have a great weekend kiddies. I hope to finish off my movie list Saturday, and finish the Mixed Bag reviews by Monday. No promises though!

-L

Ded's "Movies The Need More Love"

Here's the article that inspired it.

Part 1

Part 2

The list should top out at around 30 I think. Here's a few more.

100 Girls

This is probably the only film on the list no one will have ever heard of. The story revolves around a college kid who has a one night stand in an elevator with a girl whos face he never saw. Through the course of the film he attempts to track the girl down by staking out the women's dorm. It's got a sitcom-y format, tries hard to be like Animal house with its juvenile antics, but for some reason, I like it. The cast is full of relative unknowns (Jamie King will be one a few people will recognize, as well as current Grey's Anatomy hottie Katherine Heigl, playing a lesbian no less), amd their acting is far from Oscar calibur, not sure why I love it so much, but I do. "It must have been the cloak of darkness concealing my usual romantic retardation, because that night, I was smart. I was funny. I was invincible."

Oscar

Stallone is no comedian, but if you've ever seen any interviews with the man, he can be funny. In this film he doesn't play comedian though, he plays the straighman to the antics of everyone else that stumbles in and out of his life. Based on a French film by the same name, and directed by John Landis, a damn good director that has taken a misstep or two throughout his career. It's got an all-star cast (Peter Reigart, Tim Curry, Chazz Palmintari, Don Ameche, Kurtwood Smith, Marisa Tomei, Harry Shearer, and a brief cameo by Kirk Douglas, to name a few.), a great script, and good comedic timing. It watches like a play instead of a movie. I think it gets a bad rap because of Stallone's image as an action figure and no one willing to give him a chance at playing it straight. It's a good movie, smart and funny, that deserves a lot more credit than it gets. "I got it! You daughter's not your daughter, and the cash that used to be the jewels is now your underwear!"

Poolhall Junkies

Mars Callahan wrote, directed and stars in this brilliant movie about a poolhall hustler trying to get out from under the man who brought him into the game and go legit. It's the first film I ever saw Alison Eastwood in (damn what a hottie). Callahan has a great grasp on the game, being an ex-professional player himself, his skills as a director are excellent for a first timer, and his dialogue is crisp, hip, and rarely stumbles. Surrounding himself with a great cast doesn't hurt either. Chazz Palmintari, Chris Walken, with bit parts by Rod Steiger, Lex Luthor himself, Michael Rosenbaum and Rick Schroeder. Plus, it's a sports movie, and we all know how I am with those. "I'm not sure I wanna be hanging out with a guy who noticed a crease in my pants. "

Return to Me

I love Bonnie Hunt. I want to marry her. Not because she's hot (she is, if you don't think so, well, you're wrong), but damn is she smart. add funny, and well, she's damn near perfect. She could have easily written this for herself, but she didn't, she turned it over to Fox Mulder and Minnie Driver. The story is farfetched for sure, a man loses his wife and her heart is transplanted into another woman, who incidentally falls for the same man. Once you get past the over-the-top premise, it's a wonderful, heartbreaking story, that's both funny and dramatic. Hunt recruits some great names for the movies bit players, Robert Loggia and Carrol O'Conner play so well off eachother it's a shame that the two haven't done more together (and, sadly, can't now), a TV show with those two would've been a winner and John Belushi's turn as Hunts husband surely landed him his gig on According to Jim (a show I like, so, bah!), David Alan Grier also turns in a good performance as Duchovny's best friend. It was O'Conner's last film, as well as Dick Cusak's (John and Joan's father). It's a great movie, one of a handful of romantic-comedy/drama films that I really enjoy, and definitely deserves more love. "Grace has Bob's dead wife's heart!"

Saved!

This film sums up everything I feel about religion perfectly. This is a damn good film, and that's all I can say about it. If you grew up in a Christian home, you must see this movie. So, here's a bunch of quotes.

" I know this is wrong, but do you ever wonder if she just made the whole thing up? I mean, it's a pretty good one. It's not like anyone can ever use virgin birth as an excuse again."

"No, Roland... I crashed my van into Jesus! okay? I have a pimple the size of Jupiter! No, I am NOT ok! This is not how I wanted to remember my Prom. This is not how I wanted to remember my life."

"So everything that doesn't fit into some stupid idea of what you think God wants you just try to hide or fix or get rid of? It's just all too much to live up to. No one fits in one hundred percent of the time ? Not even you."

"Us Christian girls have got to learn to protect ourselves. I mean, sure Jesus could restore my mental and spiritual virginity, especially if I lost it to some rapist, but who wants that? I'm saving myself for marriage, and I'll use force if necessary."

Starship Troopers

It's been almost ten years since this movie hit the screen. I remember seeing it the weekend it came out, me and a small group of friends. It works on so many levels, I'm blown away that it doesn't get more props. Verhoeven is a damn fine filmmaker who takes himself too seriously sometimes (AHEM, Showgirls), and this will eventually be seen as this generations Full Metal Jacket. Current situations in America so accuratley reflect what goes on in this film, it's both eerie and horrifying. Plus, I love Dina Meyer. "Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst."

-L

The Lefties Turn to Shine

I'm unsure of the plural of Lefty...so, I just winged it.

His

Chris begins and ends his disc with tracks from Los Super Seven (Cupido & Ojito Traidores respectively), I found them somewhat enjoyable, but mostly forgettable. The highlights are Green Day's Letterbomb, Dancing Queen by ABBA, Jesus Was an Only Son by the Boss, While My Guitar Gently Weeps by the Beatles, Joe Jackson's Is She Really Going With Him?, Bad N Ruin by Faces (I'm as surprised as anyone), Stray Paper by Tift Merritt, Gonna Move by Paul Pena, I Fell in Love by Susan Tedeschi. The rest of the disc (Pressure Drop by Toots & the Maytals, Samba Pa Ti by Santanna, Little Toy Brain by Gov't Mule, The Trooper by Iron Maiden, The Spark That Bled by Flaming Lips, Sugaree by Jerry Garcia, and Blue Sky by The Allman Bros.) struck me as so-so, nothing I really disliked, but nothing that made me want to seek out some further work either. For Chris' thoughts on his picks you can go here.

Hers

All apologies to Chris, but I liked his wife's disc much better. The highlights? Peaceful, Easy Feeling by the Eagles, Soul Singing by The Black Crowes (a native Georgia band!! Woohoo!), I've Seen All Good People by Yes, Every Time We Say Goodbye by alisson Krauss, Ghost Riders in the Sky by Johnny Cash, Walk Tall by John (nobody call him Cougar!) Mellancamp, Times Like These by Jack Johnson, Lucy in the Sky by the Beatles, Steal My Sunshine by Len. But, I did dislike a few songs on the disc, namely Power of Love/Love Power by Luther Vandross and Tell Her About It by Billy Joel. normally I like both of those cats, I've just heard those songs enough to last me a lifetime. Didn't much care for Gov't Mule's Wandering Child either, that intro just seemed to last forever, and Got What He Wanted by String Cheese Incident just didn't get my goat. The rest ( Heavy Things by Phish, Rendevouz With the Blues by Greg allman, If Wishes Were Horses by Claire Lynch and Soulshine by the allman Bros.) were listenable for me. I enjoyed Soulshine more than I thought I would. You can read Mrs. Lefty's thoughts on her stuff here.

More later!

-L

Son of Jor-El, Kneel Before Zod

You must all now bow before my buying prowess. I procured Seven Samurai on DVD today for a mere $15. It is an original print, not a copy, and it's the Criterion disc, not some knock-off. Kneel before my smooth-ass powers of negotiation. It's okay to be jealous, I'll forgive you.

-L

Ded's "Movie's That Need More Love"

I'm taking a look at my DVD collection and picking out a few gems that I believe deserve more attention.

And here's the article that inspired it.

Read part one here

Galaxy Quest

A good friend, and former boss, conincidentally named Alan (Hi Alan!), used to refer to this as the best Star Trek film ever made. I still stand by that. Tim allen does Shatner almost as good as Shatner, and I love seeing Sigourney Weaver in a comedic/sexy role like this. Alan Rickman is phenomenal as Dane, the actor who wants so badly to be taken seriously, yet is constantly sucked into the realm of nerd-fests. Tony Shaloub and Sam Rockwell tag along as well, and almost outshine the three stars. It's a great, fun flik that proves that there's more to sci-fi than the more "popular" stuff that comes down the tube. And that us geeks need not take ourselves and our "culture" so damn seriously. "I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm just 'Crewman Number Six.' I'm expendable. I'm the guy in the episode who dies to prove how serious the situation is. I've gotta get outta here. "

Girlfight

Michelle Rodriguez has chops, serious chops. She hasn't been in enough films that challenger her, but Girlfight does. She's amazing. The movie manages to avoid most of the pitfalls that "sports" films fall into. The acting is great, the dialogue is great, the directing is great. Movies like Million Dollar Baby get national attention and acclaim, and while this doesn't tackle the bigger issues that film does, it does present a strong female character making independant choices, for good or bad. I'm a sucker for sports films, but this is one of those rare ones that really achieves something, and isn't just out to capitalize on guys like me who get overly emotional about sports. "Maybe life is just war period"

Glory Daze

Ben Afflek can rarely perform well outside a Kevin Smith flik, and even then he seems to have problems, but he's surrounded on this film by a very excellent cast, including Sam Rockwell and French Stewart before he became "the weird guy" from 3rd Rock. This is another "coming-of-age" style story, but deals with the 20-something, almost out of college crowd. It's not the greatest of movies, but it's got some good, deep moments, and is very character driven. "Let's rage at the dying of the light a little bit."

Gremlins 2

I think everyone expected to see Gremlins, instead they got this ultimate goofed up version of a movie that never deserved to be taken so damn seriously to begin with. Joe Dante's intent was to spoof the original and to go as wild as possible, and he succeeds. Other than a few scene-stealing co-stars (John Glover comes immediately to mind, doing a damn good Ted Turner, as do Gedde Wantanabe and Christopher Lee), the Gremlins are the stas of this movie, and they're at their mischievous, terrorizing best, and God help me, I still get a gick out of Gizmo doing his Rambo routine. "Tonight, on the Clamp Cable Classic Movie Channel, don't miss Casablanca, now in full color with a happier ending. "

Holes

Someday the world will know that brilliance that is Shia LaBeouf. Right now he's still stuck in that awckward Disney/Drama tug of war that a lot of kid actors go through, but I for one think he was excellent in Constantine, and his brief role in I,Robot was pretty good, but it was here and in The Battle of Shaker Heights that I really took a major liking to him. This film is yet another teen-coming-of-age flik, but the plot has so many well designed twists and turns that it works pretty good as a psuedo-mystery/drama. Bringing jon voight, Tim Blake Nelson and Sigourney Weaver in as the brains behind this youth prison camp adds a lot to the credibility of the film and the script. Louis sachar adapted it from his own novel, which ensures that it captures the spirit of the book without compromising too much. Shia's performance is damn good though, and he really drives the film, you really feel for the kid and the bad luck that he is inadvertantly thrown his way. Not an Oscar calibur film, but it's fun, entertaining and smart, something a lot of kids movies lack these days. "Once upon a time there was a magical place where it never rained, the end"

Igby Goes Down

Kierin Culkin again shows off his skills, this time as a kid with a wealthy upbringing who just can't get a handle on his place in the world, or how to interact with the people he's meeting, he's too smart for his own good, and he knows it. Add to that his bastard of a brother, his mother, who believes money is the solution to all of life's problems, a comatose father, and an godfather who believes in tipping everyone just because he can, and Igby's world is a trainwreck of emotional problems that we can't help but watch develop. It's a moving story, and even manages to make the audience connect with this group of people who are so removed from humanity that they feel almost alien. " She's a dancer who doesn't dance. He's a painter who doesn't paint. It's like the Boho version of the Island of Misfit Toys. "

The Iron Giant

Brad Bird's adaptation of Ted Hughes book is one of the most honest, touching, heart-felt animated films ever brought to life. After his success with The Incredibles everyone should now be familiar with Bird's genius filmmaking skills, as well as his fantastic writing (He also wrote a gem of a movie called *Batteries Not Included, very much a precursor to this film, if you haven't seen it, seek it out!!!), but this is a movie that still largely falls by the wayside on the animation highway. I only hope that in years to come mainstream audiences will realize what critics and animation junkies have discovered, this is one of the best films of all time. "What am I talking about? I'm talking about your goddamn security, Hogarth! While you're snoozing in your widdle jammies, up in Washington we're wide awake! Why? Because everyone wants what we have! Everyone! You think this metal man is fun, but who built it? The Russians? The Chinese? Martians? Canadians? I don't care! All I know is we didn't build it, and that's reason enough to assume the worst and blow it to kingdom come! Now, you are going to tell me where it is so we can destroy it before it destroys us!"

Lilo & Stitch

This one actually gets a lot of love, but it's hands down one of my favorite movies ever, so I think it deserves more. It's akin to The Iron Giant, a thing from outer space befriends a young child, but where Hoggarth and the Giant's story captures so much of what people don't want to think about (fear, paranoia, death, the meaning of existence), Lilo & Stitch focus' on those things we all want in our lives (such as love, family, friendship, loyalty), and very successfully I might add. A creature made for destruction learns to change his fate and actually begins to love this little girl who's caring for him. It's one of the best damn things disney has ever produced, and proof positive that cel animation isn't dead, just that there's very few people out there capable of handling it properly. "Oh good! My dog found the chainsaw!"

Little Big League

This is what's routinely known as killing two birds with one stone. It's both a sports film and a kid-learns-life-lessons flik, satisfying two of my film loves in one movie. It's a fairly goofy premise (alright, extremely goofy), a kid inherits the Minnesota Twins when his grandfather dies, and decides to be the team manager. As he's thrust into this adult world he begins to become more corrupted by the things he thinks he wants; money, fame, respect, and neglects the things adults realize they took for granted as children; friends, family, goofing off, school, general kid stuff. It's a great family film, provided you like baseball, and can get past the premise, which seems infinitely less dumb once you just acceot the film. It's heart-warming, well acted, and an all around fun movie. "Kids today are amazing. I played winter ball down in Venezuala, they had kids half his age, every one of them speaking Spanish. That's a hard language. "

The Mexican

This is tops in my underrated films list. It's the perfect love story, one of the few romantic films i can stomach, and probably Pitts best performance. Most of his roles fall in the "too crazy to be real" category or the "too pretty to be real" category, but somehow he manages to pull off the hapless romantic, Jerry, who's going through hell to get his life back and prove to his girlfriend that he loves her. While the film's circumstances are outrageously hilarious, Jerry's intent is always clear, even though he's met with nothing but resistence, his love is true, and he;s certain it will prevail. The film looks beautiful, it's well acted and written, and Hackman's cameo is just brilliant. "A lot of people are under the impression that you get to choose who you love."

-L

Unlimited Suckage

Wow, an actual post about comics. I'm sure you're all shocked.

I'm a sucker for anthology type books, mainstream ones at least. I like getting a full story, and getting a few full stories at once, well, that just makes my day. Unless they suck, and boy did one of these suck.

X-Men Unlimited #45 $2.50

Okay, I only paid a quarter, and it wasn't worth that, but it's weird seeing $2.50 on a Marvel comic. Had I checked the writing credit, I most assuredly wouldn't have bought this, but I didn't, I just saw the cover art of Phil Noto (oh, Phil, where are you now?!?!) and said "I must buy it". Unfortunately, Chuck Austen wrote the story inside, but it was penciled by the talented Pop Mahn (who I remember hating in his early days on X-Force, but he's really matured into a good artist). Okay, so maybe I'm being too harsh of Chuck, because frankly the story isn't awful, it's just redundant and pretty boring, complete with lame "save the day at the last minute" plot twist.. Marvel has known for quite sometime that it's only selling books to the handful of loyal fans and not really attracting much of a new audience, especially in the X-franchise, so why in the hell do we have another "Death of the Guardian" story? Haven't the fanboys (myself included) seen Jimmy Hudson die enough times to never have to see it again. Why is it that everyone who tackles Alpha Flight insists on retelling John Byrne's stories?

So, a guy that wants to be with Hudson's wife tries to off him, but Shaman tells the winds to "keep him alive until he can be rescued". What the hell? Even in a world of suspended disbelief, that makes almost no sense. So, Flight rescues Hudson, then they have to rescue his wife and unborn child. The only way to save them? Hudson must sacrifice his life to make sure this jealous idiot dies while the others escape. Twice in one damn story? Jeeeeez-us. And he still doesn't die! He stumbles out of the wreckege as his wife goes into labor and gives birth.

COME ON!

Unoriginal, uninspired, tired, cliched, and none of the characters feel like themselves, especially Sasquatch. Austen has written worse, but he's written better as well. If you see this, avoid it like the damn plague. Not even worht the quarter I spent.

X-Men Unlimited #47 $2.50

Another quarter issue, this one has two tales. The first a Wolverine/Psylocke story written by Adam Warren, drawn by Rick Mays. It's a flashback tale of Wolverine remembering Psylocke (I can only assume this was around the time of her death). Betsy and Logan go to a bar and have a few drinks and she tells a story of one of her covert ops missions (ummm...what?) where she ran into a guy that never died, no matter how hard she beat the crap out of him. It's not bad, but wraps up too quickly to be as poignant as it tries to be. Warren has Logan's speech down well enough for it too feel right for the character, I can't comment on his Betsy, I've never read much of that character. Mays art works well enough, though there's occasionally too much going on in the panel. All in all not bad, but now that Marvel's "dead is dead" policy is out the window, it's going to be pointless when they bring her back.

The second story, a short Cyclops tale by John Layman and Dan Norton (writer and artist respectively), is better, but not by much. Cyclops falls into the hands of a doctor who has been employed to "harvest" his eyes, so that some other guy can use them. I've never bought into that whole "harvesting mutant organs" idea, and only Morrison ever made it feel not goofy, in the hands of anyone else it just seemed idiotic. But, this story wants to be funny, and it succeeds well enough. As the good doctor explains what's going on, Cyclops manages to convince him that it's a very bad idea to do this, explaining what his fellow teammates will probably do to both the doc and his employer when they find out what has happened. My only complaint is that when we see the world through Cyclops eyes, everything should be red, not normal, but it's a minor, fanboy complaint, and the story doesn't really suffer because of it. The end gave me a bit of a smile, as did Cyclops' derscriptions of what his team would do once they found out. It's a good throw-away short story that focus' on a character that often gets dumped on by writers.

-L

Chud dammit

I had intended to post on a recent Chud article, and still am in a second, but this caught my eye first. X3 is now again without a director.

Well, shit.

A few months ago they posted a list of "100 Movies That Deserve More Love". I urge everyone to check it out and seek out any film that seems interesting to you. After a friend showed me the list it inspired me to check out my DVD collection and see what movies I own that I think deserve more attention. I may repeat a few titles, but hopefully not many. Like them, I'm going to keep it mostly "from my lifetime". This will be an ongoing thing this week, as well as finishing off my mixed bag stuff and a few other posts as well. So, here are the first five!

1. The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

No, not a good movie by any means of the word, but it's a fun movie. It's full of one-liners that beat the pants off those found in Ahhhhnold's or Stallone's films. Where else can you see Morris Day actually act, Vince Neil die on stage, Robert Englund play a baddie other than Freddie, and Wayne Newton play a sleazy yet lovable bad guy? "Clint Eastwood? I fucked him! Oh!"

2. Backbeat

Sure, Fab Four fans probably know it backwards and forwards (or at least they damn well should), but the rest of the world likely has never heard of it. Stephen Dorff's Stu Sutcliffe is one of the most realized performances I've ever seen, and the casting of Ian Hart and Gary Bakewell as Lennon and McCartney is just inspired. Well written, well acted, there's no reason this film shouldn't have been up for an Oscar, and damn well won. The closing scene STILL brings tears to my eyes. "We're gonna be big Stu, we're gonna be too big for Liverpool, we're gonna be too big for Hamburg, we're gonna be too big for our own bloody good."

3. Beautiful Girls

One of two Ted Demme films that will show up on this list (as well as CHUD's). Demme died of an accidental (huh?) cocaine induced heart attack, his swan song in film being the brilliant Blow starring Johnny Depp. Beautiful Girls is the story of a piano player who comes back home for his high school reunion and discovers what life is all about. This movie has shaped my outlook on life more than any other film besides Shawshank Redemption. It's, well, beautiful, and watching it now, knowing that Demme was just beginning to break into the mainstream, it just breaks my heart. "If I'm not mistaken, you've come back here to the house of loneliness and tears, to Daddy Downer and Brother Bummer, to come to some sort of decision about life, a life decision if you will."

4. Critters

King of the late night stupid 80s horror fliks, at least when I was a kid it was. I've seen it dozens and dozens of times, and as dumb as it is, I love it. They're like gremlins, only a hell of a lot nastier, plus they can somehow congeal into a big ass critter ball. What's not to love? Critter 1: "They've got weapons." Critter 2: "So What?" [Critter 2 is shot off the porch] Critter 1: "Fuck!"

5. The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

I love coming of age films, even somewhat predictable ones. The fact that this one features a few kids getting in trouble for creating an obscene comic book just makes it more endearing to me. Kierin Culkin gives a magnificent performance, and has proven he's definitely the talented one of that family. Jodie Foster is excellent as the hateful Sister Assumpta, and as far fetched as the end is, it still tugs on the heart strings. "Hey it's the altar boys. Here to get altered?"

-L