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Song of the Day: “I” by Andrew Bird

• Director: Ridley Scott
• Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller/Action
• Year: 1982

My sister was being born when this movie came out! Actually my sister beat out the movie in arrival by about five months but that is neither here or there, I am simply pointing out the fact that this movie is getting old. Oh dang I am so screwed if my sister reads this. But aren’t we all getting old? Facts are facts and age in a movie, particularly a Sci-Fi movie, in my opinion, can often be crippling, because more and more they become reliant on special effects and as technology improved visual effects as well and because increasingly the new generation of MTV children get bored with the old school of watching films. Therefore, it is the signature of a well done movie when one can watch a twenty-something sci-fi film this day in age and still be blown away by it. Empire Strikes Back, anyone?

This is not the first time I watch this film, in fact I can still vividly recall coming back into the house after rolling around in the sand piles of Toño’s construction site with my friends and walking up to my dad who was seated in the family room watching this film. I was hooked from the go (I walked in on the scene where Pris paints her face like a harlequin). I spoke no English at the time, so you can probably imagine me staring at the screen, trying to figure out what was unfolding. So, perhaps after that verbose explanation you can understand why I had to watch the film again and judge it properly. It is unfair to say I liked a film because it looked really cool when I was a seven year old (I saw it a couple of years after it came out).

I watched it, twenty-six years after its release and I can still happily say this movie is flippin’ good!

Based on a novel (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) by Philip K. Dick, Ridley Scott presents us with the story of Rick Deckard a formerly retired Blade Runner, who is called back into action when four replicants sneak back into earth where they are no longer allowed. In a future (2019, but honestly I am saddened to see how far off the mark we are from this version of the future. Where are the flying cars???), where robots have been created to be an equal match, if not better than a human as far as physical traits and intelligence go, it was only a matter of time before the robots became sentient enough to rebel against the slavery that was imposed on them. Blade Runners are officers that are in charge of retiring replicants that make it back to earth. Retiring is a nice way to say executing.

On a purely entertaining level, this movie is solid, with a theme that is constantly moving, intriguing and set in a world that is still visually stunning and which was clearly the influence of many films to come. Yes, the effects are not quite as polished as what you are likely to encounter in recent movies, but they hold up surprisingly well, to the point where it becomes a non-issue, allowing for the audience to sink itself into the film without questioning the how’s and the why’s on the mechanics and design of things.

But the beauty of this film, and surely the novel (which I have sadly not yet read), is in the complexities of the issues it deals with underneath the surface of this techno-punk world. The central question being what is it to be human? These replicants, modeled after ourselves, are like us in just about every way and the newer models (Nexus 6, or something like that) are even more complete in that they have been implanted with memories. Needless to say, the film offers a group of antagonists that are both interesting and easy to relate to. All they want is to live! Trying to get rid of the coding inside them that allows them to have a lifespan of no more than four years. Never is it mentioned that they are looking to take over or displace the humans. Life…a proper life is all they want. All of this set in an dim, neon highlighted littered with garbage and automated advertising. Mixing a sense of Noir along with the futuristic vision of our society, the setting alone is enough to get one involved in the story.

Leading the cast as Rick Deckard is Harrison Ford, who looked really young compared to the latest installment of Indiana Jones (hurl!) which is the last film I saw him in, and there is no question that he carries his role solidly. The supporting cast, which includes Daryl Hanna as the replicant Pris, Rutger Hauer as replicand Roy Batty and William Sanderson who is immediately recognizable as J.F. Sebastian the moment he steps out of his vehicle, is good in their delivery. This, coupled with good directing add up to a very enjoyable Sci-Fi film, that reaches beyond the stereotypical borders of the genre opening a can of philosophical worms that will make for great, late night conversation with your friends.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Notes: Some violence. I do not recall much language but then again I seem to have a filter when it comes to that and swear words do not register with me until my parents are in the room and watching the movie with me…only then I seem to be aware of how potty mouthed many of my movies are. No question on the violence, however, which is mostly what earns this film its R rating along with brief nudity.
Quote: [after Rachael kills Leon]
Deckard: Shakes? Me too. I get ‘em bad. It’s part of the business.
Rachael: I’m not in the business… I *am* the business.

Song of the Day: “We Are Rockstars” - Does It Offend You, Yeah?

• Author: Steven Hall
• Category: Fiction - Experimental

If you were to take the love child from a Alex Garland, David Mitchell and Mark Z. Danielewski threesome, say…”The Beach”, “Number 9 Dream” and “House of Leaves” respectively, then the product of it would probably be “The Raw Shark Texts”. Other, more qualified critics are also comparing him to Paul Auster, Thomas Pynchon and a Japanese author whose name I can not remember and likely would not be able to spell if I could (but whom I will most definitely have to look up), but I do not pretend to know that, because I have only read one Auster book. There is no doubt that for his debut novel Hall has borrowed heavily, in my opinion mostly from Danielewski, and he has taken the elements that he appreciated from other authors and given it his own creative, ambitious twist, to make of this thriller something that is conceptually amazing, albeit abstract and difficult to approach.

If you are a fan of the clear cut story with simple to follow plots and entirely grounded themes, then I will let you know now not to come anywhere close to this book. If you however have enjoyed the work of any of the authors mentioned above or even the work of Italo Calvino (particularly “If On A Winter’s Night A Tarveler…”) then this book is going to take you for a wild ride.

This story will demand a little bit of patience from the reader, not because the story develops slowly (quite the contrary, from the very beginning it gives you a kick in the butt and sends you down a flight of stairs, blindfolded), but because it starts like a very straight forward thriller and then becomes something else entirely. Eric Sanderson wakes up one day not knowing where he is, who he is and why he is there, having only letters sent to him by a past self with a series of instructions to try to help him determine who he is. You see, Eric suffers from a condition that began shortly after a boating accident that claimed the love of his life, which wipes out chunks of his memory, time and time again, each time erasing more and more of his former life. This is Eric Sanderson number 11. And just when it may seem that you have a handle on that, the weirdness comes, shaking things all over and making somewhat of a mess. There is the Ludovician, which threatens Eric with never making it to his 12th ‘rebirth’ from amnesia, there is his run into unspace guided by pixie-ish Scout and then there  is the entire last third of the book which asks you to exercise your pretend bone, one which most of us forget to use after the age of ten.

If that makes absolutely no sense, do not worry, it all does as you read the book and it does in a fashion that is fast paced and engaging. Raw Shark reads like a thriller, but requires a lot of imagination from the reader, to tell a vivid story of a man in the run not from killers, not from concrete evil, but rather conceptual evil which is the product of a mad man’s quest for eternal life. Needless to say, while some of the readers (such as me) will eat this up with a spoon, this will also upset and frustrate the majority. Hall has tackled an inventive story and as mentioned above, ambitous, but he is still not exactly polished. Here and there his characters will falter and a few strings are left untied. For that reason, while I enjoy the work that was written here and would definitely read it again, I do not consider it as good as “Could Atlas” or “House of Leaves” which take the time to close all the small gaps and answer the important questions pertinent to the plot.

Typography plays heavily in this book, the way it did in Danielewski’s ‘House of Leaves’, but unlike the latter, Raw Shark streams together a story that is more approachable and easier to follow, if still entirely nightmarish and strange. With an efficiency of language–saying what needs to be said in six words what most people would say in six sentences–Steven Hall creates a handful of vivid, interesting characters starting with the easily relatable Eric, the gutsy Scout (who in my head would be perfectly cast as Natalie Portman) and the ecclectic Prof. Trey Fidorus, but just as the book seems rugged and broken, so too is the story. There is a way about this writing style that has a burst release quality, which is what reminded me of Alex Garland, clearly a book of the new generation that is used to technology and the way it seems to condense our writing, particularly on the internet. Unlike Garland, however, Hall tends to use word pairings that are at times clevers and at other times brow-furrowing (hehe, notice my own word pairing?), which might annoy another handful of readers. This is not necessarily a jab, at least I do not intend it as such, though some will likely see it in that shadow. I personally enjoyed the stylistic change and the simultaneous brevity of his sentences which collectively manage to make a very vividly detailed picture.

Lastly, it is unavoidable that I address the flood of media hype this book apparently has gotten. Commercially, this book is apparently doing incredibly well and I can only imagine a movie will be soon to follow. Do yourself a favor and try to ignore the numerous quotes commenting on the book. I say this because this book is a good book, fun and though not really ground-breaking it is certainly helping tear open the break already created. However, when one reads so much praise for a book it could end up building false expectations and that could lead to the ‘Da Vinci Code’ effect where you end up expecting a masterpiece and end up with something much less. This is not a masterpiece, but definitely a very fun read worth your time if the genre appeals to you.

Is this an abandoned island book? For me, yes, but I will say that most people will not agree with me here. In the end, if you are up for an experimental, imagination defying read, this one is for you. If you like your books off the Oprah list, then look further down my list of reviewed books, this one is not going to be one of them. And for the record, yes, there are some books (two, actually, to be precise) I have reviewed that as it turns out, did make it to the Oprah Book Club list…yikes.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Notes: Funny how I picked up this book. Having never heard about it before, I walked into B&N just after reading The Watchmen, where one of the detectives is called on the phone and given a tip on one of the characters named Rorschach. Unable to hear properly, the detective answers: Raw Shark? This struck me as curious and when I walked into the book store and saw that on a title, that curiosity grew. I had to touch the book, because I am a freak when it comes to books, if it does not feel good in my hand, the paper, the cover, the size, I will try not to buy it or find another edition that fits me better. It is also the reason why I avoid hard backs like the plague, because they are awkward and wrong and make a harshness out of the pleasure of reading. But anyway, I am going off on a tangent. When I picked up this edition of Raw Shark, the cover felt perfect, the weight of the pages perfect, the quality of the binding is solid. This book was a joy to have in my hands. Really. But most surprising to me was the coincidence which let me to pick it up in the first place. No regrets here.

Song of the Day: “In the Absence of Sun” - Duncan Sheik

• Director: Olivier Assayas
• Genre: Thriller
• Year: 2007

Occasionally I will take a chance on a movie I know nothing about, but whose trailer or look may seem promising. Occasionally, I get burned this way.

It is truly a sad thing, particularly when you go into a movie excited and wanting to like it, wanting to give it a chance. You never know which independent film willl turn out to be sleepers and which ones can be swept under the rug. With Michael Madsen and Asia Argento in this cast, I truly wanted this movie to take off, but it only took the very first scene for me to realize the acting would not be up to par, the second scene for me to realize the directing would not be up to par, the third scene to realize the screenplay was as unfocused as it seemed and by the fourth scene I wanted to break my television.

This movie dubs itself a thriller, which is a complete misnomer, because I was not thrilled the least, save for a couple of T&A parts which did managed to get me to pay attention for almost a full minute. Quite remarkable actually. Now…this is the point where I normally tell you about the plot, except that in this case I am having a real hard time figuring out exactly what the plot was, and that is largely the problem. Asia Argento (daughter, I believe, of Italian horror director Dario Argento) plays a woman torn between her former love and her new love to two dangerous men working on both sides of the law. Suffice it to say that all sorts of backstabbing take place, some which make no sense at all but which add confusion to the film and apparently somebody decided this amounted to intelligent interest.

This movie does not know what it wants to be, an action film, a thriller, an edgy romantic triangle sprinkled with low level S&M or something else altogether, but in the end it fails to be all of those, mostly due to a cast that can not deliver, a director that  has a hard time guiding the movie, and an editor that needed to work on his transitions. In the end, you are left with a very barren film with a cool look and enough T&A to keep your eyes on the screen at random intervals, but truly, this is the sort of film you can watch with the sound down and while surfing the net. They tried, you can tell there are parts where they were trying to put the effort and save this film from itself, unfortunately there were too many things working against it. Like a freak car accident, there is simply just “nothing here to see.”

Rating: 2 out of 5
Notes: Violence, nudity, brief sexuality, language. The movie itself is in English for the most part but there are subtitled parts which are in French and what I am guessing may have been Japanese or Chinese (call me ignorant but I am not good enough to tell the difference and the characters were supposed to be Japanese, but they were in China…so whatever….)

Song of the Day: “Desperate Guys” - The Faint

• Director: Mary Harron
• Genre: Biography/Drama
• Year: 2005

For a film dealing with the Notorious Bettie Page, this film is surprisingly tame, light hearted and comic almost to a flaw. It is not that this film is necessarily bad, but rather that it fails to truly connect the audience with the subject, which is always kept at an arm’s length. Obviously, this is a subject matter that needs to be treated with care, for anybody that is aware of Bettie Page knows that the pin up girl was in the naughty business of modeling and not always for cutesy swimsuit pictures.

On the basics, this film delivers nicely. The story is interesting, giving an very brief overview of Bettie’s childhood, a brush through of her adolescence and focusing for the most part on her rise to fame. The story is told mostly in black and white, with the occasional scene in color, brightly saturated matching the color quality of film at the time. This technique makes for an interesting look which although it does not quite actually match the grainy film footage used between some scenes, it is close enough to bring a convincing nostalgic mood to the film. From her religious, conservative background to her modeling fame and her return to religion, we see Bettie enter a highly questionable, but also lucrative business with the wide eyes, the easy smile and the naiveté of a little girl.

There is a fun, entertaining, almost tongue in cheek attitude to this film that bothers me, because it fails to recognize the subject matter at hand. The film almost seems guided, in the sense that through out the main body of the film one sees the fun shoots, the laughing, the goofy footage of spankings and S&M in a way that is almost reminiscent of grown girls doing nothing more adult than say…a tea party. And yet, on occasion, when a certain pamphlet of photographs is brought up to Bettie to sign or certain footage is shown during the court scene, we see a quite darker side of what transpired, much more realistic and one that fails to amuse quite as much. It is during those small bursts that this film gains its seriousness. But the inability of the director to project this reality throughout left me in the end feeling that she was opening windows and telling me when to look where.

My wife, who watched this with me brought up some interesting insight, which makes for a valid point in the defense of the director’s choice to show the movie in this fashion. Perhaps, we are meant to see the movie through the eyes of Bettie, who throughout is extremely naive and childish in her approach to her shooting sessions. And the bursts that we see in the pamphlets and the court are meant to be seen the way the public sees it.

This is a valid argument, though one that fails to convince me personally. Why then bother to show the key points in Bettie’s childhood that would traumatize any person. I do not with to spoil the film by discussing it in detail, but suffice it to say that there are a pair of incidents that should have given Betty more insight as to the reality of the world, a lesson which according to this movie was not learned. And it is quite possible that Bettie Page was actually this foolish, in which case, I would be fine with it as long as the director did not hold my hand for so long. I think that even in matters such as S&M I am perfectly capable of being able to tell the fun from the serious and do not need it funneled in the fashion that was done here.

That being my chief complaint on the film, the story itself is quite engaging, and as I said, tame enough that makes it approachable even to the person that may not quite be comfortable with this subject. It is actually quite easy to laugh during this movie and label it a bit of naughty fun without coming out of it with a feeling that something terrible just happened.

It also should be noted that the acting was quite impressive, by Gretchen Mol in the lead role and by the supporting cast who make a convincing job portraying the characters of that time. The technical aspects of the film, including the choice of coloration when it happens, the black and white shots and the old school transitions also do a very good job of making this film fit with the times that it deals with.

Bottom line? Expect a fun, naughty film that will deliver entertainment, but will not necessarily a great drama.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Notes: Adult themes, nudity, S&M imagery…do not get me wrong, I say this film is tame in proportion to the subject matter it deals with, there is still a number of provocative scenes, acts and nudity to make some people blush.
Quote: John Willie: Do you mind if I ask you a question, Bettie? What do you think Jesus would think about what you’re doing now?
Bettie Page: Well, Mr. Willie, I’ve thought about this quite a lot and I’m not really sure if I know anymore. I think God has given us some kind of talent and he wants us to use it. That’s why he gives it to us.

Song of the Day: Forget Her - Jeff Buckley

• Author: Alan Moore
• Category: Fiction - Graphic Novel

So it took me this long to finally read what many people claim to arguably be the greatest graphic novel of all time: The Watchmen. That argument has been given to me for a while and perhaps it was the hype itself that made me originally reject it; or maybe it was the fact that stylistically, the artwork itself did not seem to magnetize me; or was it the character concepts with a certain old school je ne sais quoi which simply did not interest me. Even after Todd and I made reports on Turtle Pellets regarding the upcoming movie I did not feel compelled enough to pick this novel up.

It was, in fact, not until Comic-Con just this past month that my interest was piqued. By then I had already seen the trailer that came ahead of The Dark Knight, which had failed to impress me much. However, attending the panel and seeing the extended footage showed me a side to this story I had simply not understood before. The panel itself seemed passionate about the work and though I am very hesitant of Synder at the helm (you need only read my review of 300), I came out of that panel wanting to read this novel and find out more about it.

I finally did and though I am by no means in a position to call it or disregard it as the ‘greatest graphic novel of all time’, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it is the greatest graphic novel I have ever read. That may not mean much; though I am perhaps more familiarized with comics than the average person, my comic knowledge is still relatively limited and my hands have not held that many graphic novels to begin with. Nevertheless, it does not take an avid comic book reader to appreciate a book that contains not only finesse, but also enough smart and heady content to satisfy the most intellectual of readers.

Surely, The Watchmen served as the inspiration for Pixar favorite The Incredibles, though the content has not been watered down for the younger audience. Dealing with heavy morality and ethical questions, the novel basically looks at a world where heroes were forced to retire in the seventies due to legalities, changing public perception and resentment from cops who felt increasingly marginalized and incapable of doing their job. They all seem to have settled in their retirement, some more comfortably than others, when a ‘mask killer’ suddenly emerges, bent on taking out the group of vigilantes, one by one. Racing against time, the former heroes must don their costumes one more time to solve the crime that may save their lives or more importantly, the planet.

After reading the novel, I have to say that my comments on the illustration remain remarkably the same. I am still unimpressed with the old school style and incredibly simple layout, though perhaps, my eyes have been opened to Dave Gibbons’ (illustrator) own spartan efficiency. Even in its barren form, each cell seems to serve its duty with precision, in both composition and content. There may be no gravity defying poses, or humanly impossible contortions from the aged protagonists on the paper, but all the information is drawn out with a purpose which is married most interestingly with the often multi-layered content.

Let it be known, this is not your typical superhero tale. It is a tale of humanity that happens to have hero’s as its central figures, allowing for a much grander scheme which is nonetheless timeless and applicable to just about any person that has ever questioned their actions in relation to good and evil. This is exciting in that it feels refreshing and new. Considering that this graphic novel came out in the eighties, it is a surprising achievement, that it is able to hold out so well against the recent works that continuously try to paint themselves in the same light. At the same time, however, when considering the movie that looms in the horizon, I can only grow in my skepticism and concern. I repeat, this is not your typical superhero tale. Having seen the trailer and the footage, I have to wonder how many people that have not read the novel will go in expecting another Iron Man or Dark Knight. More than an action story, this is a drama, a story about what goes on behind the scenes and the crime fighting itself takes a secondary role to the character and plot development which, as I mentioned earlier, is much more broad than your run of the mill, evil villain trying to destroy the world story.

It is perhaps that I am still elated from my read (I just finished it about half an hour ago), that I fail to find any reasonable flaw with this book. It reads in complex layers and carries a theme of epic proportions and it is populated by a cast of characters that are so well fleshed out and developed, that they are likable beyond their obvious flaws, of which they have many. Careful reading of the novel, and a good eye will show details peppered throughout the story that make it a delightful read, on top of the challenging theme it decided to tackle. My recommendation? Go read it, because if Snyder happens to screw up this movie (which I am praying he will not), you will at least know where he went wrong and be able to hold your knowledge to the movie and say…no, the original work was much, much better.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Notes: There are some adult themes here and very brief nudity. Language is kept in check but, this comic book is really not intended with for your six year old.

Song of the Day: Kissing Families - Silversun Pickups

• Author: David Mitchell
• Category: Fiction

There are books that hook you, grip you and will not let you go until you finish them and this one is one of those, falling in the category of Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas and Atwood’s Oryx & Crake, and though thematically they are different, they all have that engrossing quality to them. Needless to say, I am quickly becoming a David Mitchell fan, who has batted two out of two for me with amazing skill.

Like Cloud Atlas, Number 9 Dream was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, unlike Cloud Atlas, this book is a lot more accessible, with a straight forward storyline that does employ a number of flashbacks and side stories to set itself up, but done in a way that is easy to follow and rather entertaining.

Based in japan, Number 9 Dream tells the story of Eiji Miyake, a young man of twenty with an overactive imagination that is determined to find his father, whom he has never met, in Tokyo. Having suffered enough as far as his family life goes, Eiji is sure that finding his father will be the first step to a better life, or at least a life that he will have an easier time understanding. However, what the young aspiring soccer player and country boy does not know, is that in his search for father, he will be tugged into the ruthless underbelly of Tokyo in a way that will change his life forever, not to mention his point of view in the meaning of family.

Mitchell impresses, with a voice that is clearly in control, characters that are unique, believable and interesting, though they may or may not be likable. Throughout the novel the author does a magnificent job balancing, suspense, thrills, fantasies and humor. If anything, this book ended up reminding me of my experience reading Catche in the Rye, and that is a tremendous compliment.

There is one minor plot point which I found too convenient and given the complexity and the multiple layers that Mitchell operates in, it sticks out like a sore thumb, which is unfortunate because it could have easily been changed to make it less obvious (for those wondering, I am speaking of Suga’s gift). Outside of that, this is a fully entertaining read that keeps you  hooked through the entirety of the read.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Notes: Some violent content here, not exactly a read for the younger crowd.

Song of the day: Green Grass - Tom Waits

• Director: Julian Schnabel
• Genre: Drama/Biography
• Year: 2007

I have used the term visual poetry to describe a film before: The New World. I would like to use the term again, but not in the same fashion. If we were talking music, The New Word would be the symphony and this would be far less orchestrated, simpler, definitely more approachable, but by no means lacking power.

You know that shot that I loved from Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice? The peach colored veil with dancing patches of salmon and gold that is meant to represent Lizzie’s closed eyes, aimed at the sun registering the shadows produced by overhead foliage swimming over her? Well, it seems to me Julian Schnabel liked it as well and decided to dissect it, study it and then run with it.

Tilted shots, indecisive focus, streaks and blurs all culminate to create an unorthodox way of telling a story where part of the time you become, with surreal effect, Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor of Elle magazine and highly acclaimed journalist as he wakes from his coma. His world, becomes our world, his frustrations our own, his sadness and triumphs, become that much more personal.

No intrusive soundtrack here, but the sound of lightly reverberated voices that lock you up, in that diving suit he continues to see himself in, as if a sheet of glass separated him - us- from the world. The effect is frighteningly real and though the story is not entirely told this way and we are given the opportunity to step out for a ‘breather’, so to speaks, this first person tool is utilize with great effectiveness throughout the film.

Make no mistake, the artistic touch is here, in every askew shot and blinding flash of light, from the sideways buildings that threaten to collapse over you after granting you a novel angle to the alienating, symbolic shots of the wheelchair on a barren platform surrounded by the chaotic play of the waves.

The reality of the event, a man who lived success only to have it taken by him when he suffers from a stroke that leaves him almost entirely paralyzed, which leaves him - in his words - with three working parts, his imagination, his memories and his left eye. He communicates through blinks and after forcing himself to pick up where he left off, he goes on to write a memoir which eventually became the basis for this movie.

Humorous at times, highly emotional at others, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a tremendous biographical ride of the sort that leaves you watching the credits quietly, trying to digest the affective load that has been dumped on you and connecting dots together, in an effort to marry what has just been witnessed and the way it applies to one’s individual life. In a word: profound.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Notes: Brief nudity, adult situations and some highly emotional moments. French language with English subtitles. I should also note, Marie-Josee Croze is as charming as ever and Mathieu Amalric continues to impress.
Quote: Jean-Dominique Bauby: A poet once said, “Only a fool laughs when nothing’s funny”

Song of the Day: Duality - The Martial Arts

…is this thing on? It looks like the site has come back, which is a good thing, the bad news is that I am also trying to meet my deadline to get my show up on the air by the start of the month so this means that I may not be able to get you the other chunk of my report on Comic-Con until later…possibly tonight if I find myself with some time. I appreciate your patience on this.

-Fco.

Song of the Day: Run - RZA

So it begins, the Con and as always I am entirely excited about this. Well, perhaps not as much as other times I have come, mostly due to the fact that there are no real impending movies which I am really looking forward to, that are going to have panels. Nevertheless, the Con is the Con and that is always enough to get me excited.

This morning  we got the professional passes and no sooner than I was stuffing my bag of goodies into my backpack, than I was asked if I was Vin Diesel’s younger brother. Really? Cause I shave my head, is that it? I’ve never looked in the mirror and thought of Vin Diesel, but whatever. The exhibit floor has been rearranged, the organization format that I was used to is now different, which makes it a little bit confusing now and I actually have to go back to using the map again, which sucks. However, for a comic-con that is sold out, I was actually surprised to not find it as full as it should have been.

We attended three panels today, the first one being, the one for Red Sonja with Robert Rodrigez (Sin City, dir.), Rose McGowen (Charmed) and Douglas Aarinokoski (Once Upon a Time in Mexico, dir. Second Unit) and surprisingly enough, the panel was actually quite boring. It was really unfortunate that the timing just did not work out for them, by next Comic-Con, the movie will be almost ready for release, which means they probably felt they really had to push things on this one, except that…nothing has been shot, casting has not been done, and really only location has been accomplished. On top of that they were not ready to talk about villains, or plot points, which rendered this entire panel worthless. Robert failed to charm, and Charmed Rose failed as well, but that there does not surprise me. All one really got to see that was worth it on this panel, was a series of promotional pictures of Rose as Red Sonja and I have to admit, wielding that bloody sword, wearing a metal mesh bikini and with her red hair to the wind…those pics were pretty dang awesome.

The second panel we attended was the one for Afro Samurai: Resurection, which surprised me in the amount of people that turned out for this. I honestly did not realize so many people were fans of this anime, but it was good to see their support. The panel was the creator Takashi Okazaki, Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) and The RZA (American Gangster and Wu Tang producer) and this was the sort of panel that one comes to the con for. A Con-exclusive trailer for the new movie, due to premier on Spike in January 2009, was shown to musical cuts by the RZA. They also announced that Lucy Liu has been cast as the voice for the main villain. But the news do not stop there, Takashi Okazaki has announced the manga has been completed and it will span a respectable 300 pages, which will be released in two parts starting this fall. And lastly…the video game, which will be released in conjunction with Afro Samurai: Resurection. Game play was shown and is also available for play at one of the booths on the exhibit floor and honestly looks spectacular. The backgrounds, the controls, the graphics, the comic-book style side panel that warns of actions in other parts of the sets and the graphic violence that remains true to the anime. If you liked Afro Samurai, keep an eye out for this and know that they also confirmed another set of series to come after the movie!

The third panel we attended was the one for Dark Castle, which essentially was filled with mostly crap movies. The first one being The Hills Run Red, a gory, straight to DVD horror that drew so little attention nobody wanted to ask questions and which had the panel leaving the tables as quickly as they came. They announced a new series of comics called “The Ferrymen” which looks somewhat interesting but nothing worth spinning your head over. It was the last two movies they announced that drew a reaction, the first one being Ninja Assassin, starring Rain, who apparently is a pop icon in Korea and who brought fan girls to this panel by the boat load. It was actually pretty amusing to watch. The footage they showed for this film actually looks pretty decent, with good camera work but also graphic violence that will set this appart from the mainstream martial arts movie. What actually brings some credibility to this is the director, James McTeigue, who is more famous for his highly acclaimed V for Vendetta. That, if nothing else, leaves me wanting to see more.

The second interesting movie they brought to the table was Guy Ritchie’s new project RocknRolla with a cast that includes among others Gerard Butler, Ludicris, Jeremy Piven, Thandie Newton, and Tom Wilkinson. That is a rather impressive cast, which would be a good thing if things were not looking so dim for Guy Ritchie. The fact of the matter is that Ritchie is not looking so hot lately. After Lock, Stock and Two Smokin’ Barrels and Snatch, homeboy has not made anything worth mentioning, including the hyped up Revolver. So the question is, will this be his triumphant return to his original state of genius? Or is Ritchie going the way of Shyamalan. This is an important question considering that on top of this Ritchie will be working on the remake of Sherlock Holmes. The footage shown looks promising, but I am done making assumptions with this guy, he needs to prove himself once more as far as I am concerned.

That is my report for the day on the Con, I leave you with three random quotes heard while walking the halls, and clearly this is stuff you would ONLY hear at the Con. Also, I am taking pictures, but I do not have my cable with me (my bad) so the pics will have to be uploaded later. Sorry.

Random Guys on the exhibit floor: In ten minutes we get to find out if we won a man slave.

Random Guy to his buddies on the exhibit floor: This is great, I finally get to tell the guys I humped Pikachu

Conversation between two loud mouthed ijits:
Ijit 1: Lara Croft is better than Indiana Jones
Ijit 2: No way man, Indy is better, its all on the hat.
Ijit 1: No, its all on the hips.

I will keep you updated on any exciting news tomorrow.

-Fco.

Song of the Day: The Love Letter — Blaqk Audio

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Drama
• Year: 2008

Believe the hype! I was hesitant, because more often than not the masses get entirely hyped up about a movie that is simply different and are quick to label it ‘the best ever’, one look at 300 or Transformers is enough to prove my point. How many people do you know that came out of there saying it was the best movie ever only to come out scratching your head? Furthermore, I had my hesitations. Last year, while Turtle Pellets was still running, we announced the cast of this movie and the fact that they had signed Heath Ledger as the Joker. I will be honest and admit to not being thrilled about the idea. I think, looking at Heath’s record, there was nothing to support that he would be able to carry out this role and at the time I was thinking of a Joker much more like Jack Nicholson’s rather than the one presented to us in this movie.

Needless to say, I went into this braced to take things with a grain of salt, but the movie is not meant for you to sit back and be cautious with it. It opens with a brilliant scheme to rob a bank and propells you from there into a roller coaster of action that never exactly lets up. Gone is the origin story, which I love. While I loved Batman Begins, the thing that I did not enjoy quite as much was having to get another origin story. It is interesting, yes, intruiging, yes, but the entire time I just wanted to see Batman. That is one of the beauties of a well done sequel, that you no longer have to worry about setting things up. Christopher Nolan makes the assumption everybody saw the previous movie and he jumps off right where he left off and never lets off the pedal.

This is what comic-book movies should be like, and I know I said that about X-Men 2, Sin City and Iron Man, but Dark Knight has just topped them all and truly moved itself to a higher tier of credibility. Already, I have heard this movie being compared to The Godfather 2, Heat and Seven and be that as it may, I think the bottom line one must take out of this, is that if you are squimish about seeing a comic book based movie, that should not deter you from seeing this masterpiece, which is every bit as good as Nolan’s gem, Memento without the unorthodox storytelling.

All the talk you have heard about Heath Ledger’s Joker being brilliant, is absolutely on the mark. Finally, I am seeing a Joker that is so psychotic, so unscrupulous and so genial, rendered with believability, that at this moment I really do believe he is my favorite movie villain. Oscar worthy or not, the point is that Heath Ledger’s last role, was a true mark of his exceptional gift and it is sad to think that he could have only gone upwards from this. As a result, The Joker is brought to us as a mad genius that is frightening in various levels and who pushes the plot of this movie in so many directions that you never feel like you can fully recover your feet.

Driven by an obsession to unmask The Batman, the joker hatches up plans that fully delve into terrorism, lacking any sort of conscience for his actions, pushing a city that had recently begun to clean up, into desperate measures, where its hero’s and polititians are struggling to get a hold of the situation which is careening out of control into an obscenely orchestrated orgy of violence that pits innocents against themselves.

By now you may have heard the one major complaint: the movie is long. Yes, I will not argue with that, it is a long movie, but in this case that is not a bad thing. There is no part in this film where I felt there was still fat to be trimmed. It is a movie that keeps all the crucial parts and if you are a fan of Batman, are you really going to complain that you are given more content instead of less? There are so many layers to this film that the time it takes to tell the story is quite enough and never feels like it drags. So see it as a blessing and not a curse.

There are a couple of things I did not like, the first one being Batman’s voice while under the mask. I realize what they were trying to do, protecting Bruce Wayne’s identity while under the mask, but frankly, Baele did not have to make it sound like he had a pencil stuck where the sun does not shine. That’s it. That is my one complaint. There is one other thing I could comment on but it is so minor I do not think it is worth bringing it up and risking the spoiler.

So, in short? Go watch this movie and go watch it multiple times and be reminded that Nolan is in fact on of our generation’s greatest.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Notes: So you like bringing your kids to comic book movies, I do it all the time, but believe me when I say this movie is NOT for kids. The moment the Joker makes his pencil disappear you will understand why.
Quote: The Joker: I am an agent of chaos.