Still not in the mood to write reviews, but willing to post another bunch of ratings.
MOVIES
Recent Science Fiction: One-Word Title
Transcendence *** not bad
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Post-Spring Break: Infodump!!!
OK, I admit it.
I've been spending a lot of time doing other things besides posting reviews on this blog. And I'm not posting any reviews right now, either.
What I will do is post a bunch of ratings. I've been not only watching movies, but also reading comic books and watching cartoons (for your benefit). I've also been watching "rockumentaries" of various Sixties pop bands, so maybe I'll post some thoughts on those as well.
Herein, the recently rated:
MOVIES
The Dark Knight Returns, Pt. 1 *** not bad, pretty good
The Dark Knight Returns, Pt. 2 **** good
Primer **** good
10,000 BC *** not bad, actually
The Losers ***** really good
Planet Hulk *** not bad, for planet-and-sandal
COMICS
Lazarus, Book 1 *** not bad
Lazarus, Book 2 **** good
Batman: The Court of Owls **** good
Batman: The City of Owls *** not bad, crossover/event-it is
Batman and Robin: Born to Kill **** good
The Ministry of Space *** not bad
Velvet: Before the Living End ***** really good
East of West, Book 1 *** not bad
East of West, Book 2 *** not bad
CARTOONS
Spider-Man: TNAS - Extreme Threat *** not bad
The Spectacular Spider-Man: Complete First Season **** good
TSSM, Vol. 5 *** not bad
TSSM, Vol. 6 ***** really good
TSSM, Vol. 7 **** good
TSSM, Vol. 8 TBD
ROCKUMENTARIES *** not bad
Herman's Hermits
Gerry & the Pacemakers
Small Faces
Beatles First US Visit
Rolling Stones: All 6 Ed Sullivan Shows
Dave Clark Five: Glad All Over
TAGS TO FOLLOW....
I've been spending a lot of time doing other things besides posting reviews on this blog. And I'm not posting any reviews right now, either.
What I will do is post a bunch of ratings. I've been not only watching movies, but also reading comic books and watching cartoons (for your benefit). I've also been watching "rockumentaries" of various Sixties pop bands, so maybe I'll post some thoughts on those as well.
Herein, the recently rated:
MOVIES
The Dark Knight Returns, Pt. 1 *** not bad, pretty good
The Dark Knight Returns, Pt. 2 **** good
Primer **** good
10,000 BC *** not bad, actually
The Losers ***** really good
Planet Hulk *** not bad, for planet-and-sandal
COMICS
Lazarus, Book 1 *** not bad
Lazarus, Book 2 **** good
Batman: The Court of Owls **** good
Batman: The City of Owls *** not bad, crossover/event-it is
Batman and Robin: Born to Kill **** good
The Ministry of Space *** not bad
Velvet: Before the Living End ***** really good
East of West, Book 1 *** not bad
East of West, Book 2 *** not bad
CARTOONS
Spider-Man: TNAS - Extreme Threat *** not bad
The Spectacular Spider-Man: Complete First Season **** good
TSSM, Vol. 5 *** not bad
TSSM, Vol. 6 ***** really good
TSSM, Vol. 7 **** good
TSSM, Vol. 8 TBD
ROCKUMENTARIES *** not bad
Herman's Hermits
Gerry & the Pacemakers
Small Faces
Beatles First US Visit
Rolling Stones: All 6 Ed Sullivan Shows
Dave Clark Five: Glad All Over
TAGS TO FOLLOW....
Friday, March 6, 2015
The Round-Eye and the Princess, Pt. 2
47 Ronin (2013) 118 mins.
47 Ronin is a beautiful movie. It's lush, lovely, crisp, stylish, well-paced; simply beautiful to look at. It's also well-acted (for the most part), and well-directed (with a caveat or two). It's a good story, well told. The story sticks to the monomythic script for a tale about an outcast and his beloved childhood friend and sweetheart, the unobtainable princess, daughter of his master. From the found-in-the-woods opening to the storming-the-castle ending, and at every point in between, it doesn't veer far from a road well-traveled.
It doesn't need to. The story has weight of its own, and if we've been here before, we can surely enjoy the ride again. This tale isn't weighed down by excess dialogue or unnecessary scenes. It moves along to its conclusion, two simultaneous fights, the dishonored warrior versus the dark lord while the now-so-important outcast battles the dark lord's evil familiar, in a way that doesn't leave the viewer bored, or exhausted, or disinterested.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The only thing that kept me from giving it five stars is the lead actor's delivery, which reminds me that at times I'm still seeing Ted, and this is just another Excellent Adventure.
Four Stars. Good.
 |
| "So why do you want my help?" |
It doesn't need to. The story has weight of its own, and if we've been here before, we can surely enjoy the ride again. This tale isn't weighed down by excess dialogue or unnecessary scenes. It moves along to its conclusion, two simultaneous fights, the dishonored warrior versus the dark lord while the now-so-important outcast battles the dark lord's evil familiar, in a way that doesn't leave the viewer bored, or exhausted, or disinterested.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The only thing that kept me from giving it five stars is the lead actor's delivery, which reminds me that at times I'm still seeing Ted, and this is just another Excellent Adventure.
Four Stars. Good.
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The Round-Eye and the Princess, Pt. 1
The Wolverine (2013) 126 mins.
Let's face it. At this point, Hugh Jackman is the Wolverine. As a kid who bought not only Hulk #180 and #181, but also Uncanny X-Men #94 and Giant-Size X-Men #1 off the spinner rack as a kid, I'm a big fan of the character. I was there for his origin, the month it happened. I was there when he joined the X-Men, as the issues came out. So it was with some trepidation that I watched this movie, hoping one of my favorite characters wouldn't be ruined by a movie which featured him as the lead.
I need not have worried. Like I said, Hugh Jackman is Wolverine. I'm sure it's because we've seen him so many times as Wolverine that we totally buy him as the character, but it's also because he really gets who Logan is, as a man, as a soldier, as a reluctant "hero". He doesn't ruin Wolverine for me. He inhabits the persona in a way we could only have wished for.
As a Wolverine movie, this is a fantastic movie: it relies on some of the best material (chiefly the Frank Miller era), it doesn't recap the origin story yet again, it plays the character the way he was meant to be played, and it's a crisp, stylish, action-filled romp, with lots of superhero fun, yet it's dark, grim and gritty enough to still remain a Wolverine movie.
Of course, every bit, from the crazed loner in the Canadian Rockies to the sinister scientist-villain to the not-so-defenseless princess to the giant robot to the storming-the-castle scene to the endless ninjas to the strange mixture of cutting-edge technology and weird metaphysical mumbo-jumbo has all been done before, but this is about serving up those familiar flavors in a way that still seems fresh, and tasty, and delicious. This film delivers.
Luckily for us, Hugh Jackman is the Wolverine. The kid that bought those comics way back in the Seventies is incredibly happy about that.
Five ninja throwing stars of mutant greatness.
Five Stars. Really Good.
 |
| "I'm the Wolverine." |
I need not have worried. Like I said, Hugh Jackman is Wolverine. I'm sure it's because we've seen him so many times as Wolverine that we totally buy him as the character, but it's also because he really gets who Logan is, as a man, as a soldier, as a reluctant "hero". He doesn't ruin Wolverine for me. He inhabits the persona in a way we could only have wished for.
As a Wolverine movie, this is a fantastic movie: it relies on some of the best material (chiefly the Frank Miller era), it doesn't recap the origin story yet again, it plays the character the way he was meant to be played, and it's a crisp, stylish, action-filled romp, with lots of superhero fun, yet it's dark, grim and gritty enough to still remain a Wolverine movie.
Of course, every bit, from the crazed loner in the Canadian Rockies to the sinister scientist-villain to the not-so-defenseless princess to the giant robot to the storming-the-castle scene to the endless ninjas to the strange mixture of cutting-edge technology and weird metaphysical mumbo-jumbo has all been done before, but this is about serving up those familiar flavors in a way that still seems fresh, and tasty, and delicious. This film delivers.
Luckily for us, Hugh Jackman is the Wolverine. The kid that bought those comics way back in the Seventies is incredibly happy about that.
Five ninja throwing stars of mutant greatness.
Five Stars. Really Good.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Some Spoilage May Have Occurred
Prometheus (2012) 124 mins.
Part rehash of unused bits from Jodorowsky's Dune, part prequel/remake of Alien/s, part Ridley Scott retrospective, part H. R. Giger tribute, Prometheus is as much an homage to science fiction movies (especially those of the late 70s and early 80s) as it is a science fiction movie in its own right.
At times the plot seems to exist chiefly (perhaps only) to serve the visuals, and some of the actions and motivations have an almost comic book-ish/cartoony "Rule of Cool" derivation. Once the action begins in earnest, actions and motivations become more "believable" through the internal logic of the story, which begins to sweep us along in a tide of incidents and events. That is, once the characters and their actions are acceptable to us as unbelievable, their further unbelievable actions are rendered practically believable.
I won't get into the science. It is a movie, after all. The advisability of using your (one and only) starship as your (one and only) lander, mistaking a breathable atmosphere with one which is completely benign, the late foolhardiness of establishing a "quarantine" on a ship with a yawning cargo bay after the first away mission, the silliness of sending a first party to a major structure right after the mission chief has mandated a "No Contact" protocol, the character of a biologist not interested in humanoid corpses but enthralled with a dangerous-looking faceless cave-snake in a room full of black oozing slime... The entire first act is movie science fiction piled upon top of more movie science fiction. But it's a movie! So who cares?
Of course, as a Ridley Scott science fiction movie, it's as much a horror movie as a science fiction movie. As expected, there's body horror aplenty, which I'll leave you to squirm through for yourself. Added to the Phildickian body horror, there's also a nice helping of Lovecraftian creepiness, as well, from the Giger-rich continuing body horror of the environment to the Inscrutable Alien Gods (and their out-of-control bioweapon pet) who'd rather kill us or lay eggs in our brains than talk to us or explain why they made us.
It seems as if the old man in the movie trying to make a deal with a devil of a demigod to restore his lost vigor is our auteur himself, trying to recapture the days when having the name "Ridley Scott" attached to a science fiction movie brought along with it an air of stylish mystery and guaranteed box office. If that's the case, Ridley fares better than the character, because the film is of course stylishly beautiful in its own harsh way, and was boffo box office, to be sure.
There are some really nice touches early on, with homages to Scott's own movies, and such films as 2001 and Jodorowsky's unmade Dune. Some wonderful subversions and inversions of tropes, as well as dozens served up whole. The acting was stellar, considering the plot. I'm not sure if Idris Elba is awesome or putting me on, but either way I liked what he did.
The visual nods to Alien/s start to pile up, and the big fanboy moment of the very final scene weakens (and cheapens) the movie, but it also establishes the tone for us, in case we thought riding off looking for bigger trouble (with a back-stabbing AI for company, on a ship full of living death and the murderous gods who created it) was supposed to be a happy ending for our heroine.
I liked it. As a science fiction movie, it's more movie than science fiction. Cool horror flick.
I'm rating Prometheus as Not Bad. It seems the fire it's stolen may have been its own.
Three Stars: Not Bad.
 |
| "What you're feeling is entirely natural." |
Part rehash of unused bits from Jodorowsky's Dune, part prequel/remake of Alien/s, part Ridley Scott retrospective, part H. R. Giger tribute, Prometheus is as much an homage to science fiction movies (especially those of the late 70s and early 80s) as it is a science fiction movie in its own right.
At times the plot seems to exist chiefly (perhaps only) to serve the visuals, and some of the actions and motivations have an almost comic book-ish/cartoony "Rule of Cool" derivation. Once the action begins in earnest, actions and motivations become more "believable" through the internal logic of the story, which begins to sweep us along in a tide of incidents and events. That is, once the characters and their actions are acceptable to us as unbelievable, their further unbelievable actions are rendered practically believable.
I won't get into the science. It is a movie, after all. The advisability of using your (one and only) starship as your (one and only) lander, mistaking a breathable atmosphere with one which is completely benign, the late foolhardiness of establishing a "quarantine" on a ship with a yawning cargo bay after the first away mission, the silliness of sending a first party to a major structure right after the mission chief has mandated a "No Contact" protocol, the character of a biologist not interested in humanoid corpses but enthralled with a dangerous-looking faceless cave-snake in a room full of black oozing slime... The entire first act is movie science fiction piled upon top of more movie science fiction. But it's a movie! So who cares?
Of course, as a Ridley Scott science fiction movie, it's as much a horror movie as a science fiction movie. As expected, there's body horror aplenty, which I'll leave you to squirm through for yourself. Added to the Phildickian body horror, there's also a nice helping of Lovecraftian creepiness, as well, from the Giger-rich continuing body horror of the environment to the Inscrutable Alien Gods (and their out-of-control bioweapon pet) who'd rather kill us or lay eggs in our brains than talk to us or explain why they made us.
It seems as if the old man in the movie trying to make a deal with a devil of a demigod to restore his lost vigor is our auteur himself, trying to recapture the days when having the name "Ridley Scott" attached to a science fiction movie brought along with it an air of stylish mystery and guaranteed box office. If that's the case, Ridley fares better than the character, because the film is of course stylishly beautiful in its own harsh way, and was boffo box office, to be sure.
There are some really nice touches early on, with homages to Scott's own movies, and such films as 2001 and Jodorowsky's unmade Dune. Some wonderful subversions and inversions of tropes, as well as dozens served up whole. The acting was stellar, considering the plot. I'm not sure if Idris Elba is awesome or putting me on, but either way I liked what he did.
The visual nods to Alien/s start to pile up, and the big fanboy moment of the very final scene weakens (and cheapens) the movie, but it also establishes the tone for us, in case we thought riding off looking for bigger trouble (with a back-stabbing AI for company, on a ship full of living death and the murderous gods who created it) was supposed to be a happy ending for our heroine.
I liked it. As a science fiction movie, it's more movie than science fiction. Cool horror flick.
I'm rating Prometheus as Not Bad. It seems the fire it's stolen may have been its own.
Three Stars: Not Bad.
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Monday, February 16, 2015
Do It! Try!
Jodorowsky's Dune (2013) 90 mins.
Imagine a comic book by Jodorowsky, drawn by Moebius, with designs by Giger and Foss. Imagine a comic strip. A storyboard. A movie. A miniseries. By the guy who wrote, directed and starred in El Topo. Starring his son, the kid from El Topo. With Salvador Dali, Orson Welles and Mick Jagger.
Like Stanislaw Lem's fictional book reviews of books that don't (yet) exist, the legend may be better than the artifact. But it's one hell of a legend. And that's one hell of a comic book. Definitely the kind of thing I'd like to see IDW publish in their Artist's Edition series.
I've written before about the huge legacy of concepts from Dune that can be found in Star Wars; many visual examples are shown here as well. Jodorowsky's take on Dune is interesting. He considers it a work of the kind of stature of the Bible or Shakespeare, an epic or mythological saga or oeuvre to be reinterpreted many times by various auteurs. Certainly it has been, influencing not only Star Wars but Warhammer 40K, as well.
I've included Jodorowsky's Dune in Category One: Seventies Monster Flashback. The film and the project, as well as most (if not all) attempts to adapt the novel, can all be considered as monsters. All have proved to be. The "graphic novel" shown in Jodorowsky's lap in the film and the above photo, would be the monstrous mother of all comic books for me, Heavy Metal-meets-Savage Sword-meets-Prince Valiant-meets-Holy Mountain. The ultimate midnight movie that never got made.
Also, I had a monster of a flashback. I read Frank Herbert's 1973 introduction to the new anthology of his short fiction that just came out, put a Tangerine Dream station on my Pandora, ordered Jodorowsky's The Borgias from the public library (collab with Manara!), and moved Metabarons closer to the top of the "To Read" pile. I'll have to get The Incal and look for a Chris Foss retrospective.
Jodorowsky himself was like a drug. I don't know if I've encountered anybody quite like that since the Seventies. I'd like to have partied with that guy, Leary and Robert Anton Wilson. I may not run out and read Dune right this minute (for the seventh time), but he did inspire me to go work on my own stuff. What Harlan Ellison would call batshit crazy, but in a good way.
To my friends who recommended this: You were so right. See it.
Five Stars: Great, if only for the semi-legendary surrealistic aura.
 |
| "I didn't read Dune." |
Like Stanislaw Lem's fictional book reviews of books that don't (yet) exist, the legend may be better than the artifact. But it's one hell of a legend. And that's one hell of a comic book. Definitely the kind of thing I'd like to see IDW publish in their Artist's Edition series.
I've written before about the huge legacy of concepts from Dune that can be found in Star Wars; many visual examples are shown here as well. Jodorowsky's take on Dune is interesting. He considers it a work of the kind of stature of the Bible or Shakespeare, an epic or mythological saga or oeuvre to be reinterpreted many times by various auteurs. Certainly it has been, influencing not only Star Wars but Warhammer 40K, as well.
I've included Jodorowsky's Dune in Category One: Seventies Monster Flashback. The film and the project, as well as most (if not all) attempts to adapt the novel, can all be considered as monsters. All have proved to be. The "graphic novel" shown in Jodorowsky's lap in the film and the above photo, would be the monstrous mother of all comic books for me, Heavy Metal-meets-Savage Sword-meets-Prince Valiant-meets-Holy Mountain. The ultimate midnight movie that never got made.
Also, I had a monster of a flashback. I read Frank Herbert's 1973 introduction to the new anthology of his short fiction that just came out, put a Tangerine Dream station on my Pandora, ordered Jodorowsky's The Borgias from the public library (collab with Manara!), and moved Metabarons closer to the top of the "To Read" pile. I'll have to get The Incal and look for a Chris Foss retrospective.
Jodorowsky himself was like a drug. I don't know if I've encountered anybody quite like that since the Seventies. I'd like to have partied with that guy, Leary and Robert Anton Wilson. I may not run out and read Dune right this minute (for the seventh time), but he did inspire me to go work on my own stuff. What Harlan Ellison would call batshit crazy, but in a good way.
To my friends who recommended this: You were so right. See it.
Five Stars: Great, if only for the semi-legendary surrealistic aura.
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Seventy-Two Minutes
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015) 72 mins.
Throne of Atlantis is a surprising movie. It covers a lot of ground in its 72 minutes. Old Boomer that I am, some of the "New 52" material leaves me forgetting to forget all that I already know about these characters, and try to see them anew, as if I was ten or twelve all over again. Once I remember to unload that continuity baggage, it makes it easier for me to enjoy their latest material.
Easier, but of course I still have some critiques. The dialogue again has a sort of anime-influenced info-dump feel at times. At times the plot is both epic High Opera and just a little too pat (as is the dialogue). The dialogue tries a bit too hard to my ears to be "edgy" and "hip" and "adult" but I guess that makes it the perfect PG-13 movie, huh? Because what is a PG-13 rating if not an advertisement for ten- to twelve-year-olds?
Based on the time limit and the intended audience (fifty-three-year-old twelve-year-olds) I'll give them a bit of a pass on most of my quibbles. I don't know if anybody really learns anything, but Aquaman undergoes a little character arc. Of course, because of the time restriction (80 minutes is the target), Acts Two A and Two B are combined, but then that's just how these things are done. Welcome to the Upside-Down World, and Hey Look Out! both happen at the same time, closely followed by Dirty Deeds Done with Dastardly Delight, coupled with All Is (Seemingly) Lost.
In the end, it's a bit of a fairy tale, a bit of a coming of age movie, a bit of a buddy film and a bit of a love story. The war story provides the backdrop. The action, once it really gets going, is not only just what you'd expect, it has some slightly interesting takes on the usual tropes. I'm really going to have to start a body count for the dead parents in these movies. They're positively Disney-esque in their commitment to the Monomyth.
I've been a bit remiss on this blog so far in not giving any fractional ratings, but this movie really brings out the schoolboy in me. They succeeded in (almost) making Aquaman cool again. For that alone it gets the passing grade, if nothing else. The language and the ultra-violence seemed to serve the plot and the style in the final analysis, jarring as it seems during the early scenes. These ain't Daddy's DC Comics movies, kids. Not anymore.
Can't give it an F (three stars is kind of a failing grade). Can't give it a B (four stars is too strong of a recommendation). Somewhere between B minus and C plus. Better than Not Bad. Right on the edge of Good. Three-and-three-quarters? Somewhere around a 79.
Three Stars Plus: Better Than Not Bad.
 |
| Almost Lovecraftian in its visual homages to eldritch lore. |
Easier, but of course I still have some critiques. The dialogue again has a sort of anime-influenced info-dump feel at times. At times the plot is both epic High Opera and just a little too pat (as is the dialogue). The dialogue tries a bit too hard to my ears to be "edgy" and "hip" and "adult" but I guess that makes it the perfect PG-13 movie, huh? Because what is a PG-13 rating if not an advertisement for ten- to twelve-year-olds?
Based on the time limit and the intended audience (fifty-three-year-old twelve-year-olds) I'll give them a bit of a pass on most of my quibbles. I don't know if anybody really learns anything, but Aquaman undergoes a little character arc. Of course, because of the time restriction (80 minutes is the target), Acts Two A and Two B are combined, but then that's just how these things are done. Welcome to the Upside-Down World, and Hey Look Out! both happen at the same time, closely followed by Dirty Deeds Done with Dastardly Delight, coupled with All Is (Seemingly) Lost.
In the end, it's a bit of a fairy tale, a bit of a coming of age movie, a bit of a buddy film and a bit of a love story. The war story provides the backdrop. The action, once it really gets going, is not only just what you'd expect, it has some slightly interesting takes on the usual tropes. I'm really going to have to start a body count for the dead parents in these movies. They're positively Disney-esque in their commitment to the Monomyth.
I've been a bit remiss on this blog so far in not giving any fractional ratings, but this movie really brings out the schoolboy in me. They succeeded in (almost) making Aquaman cool again. For that alone it gets the passing grade, if nothing else. The language and the ultra-violence seemed to serve the plot and the style in the final analysis, jarring as it seems during the early scenes. These ain't Daddy's DC Comics movies, kids. Not anymore.
Can't give it an F (three stars is kind of a failing grade). Can't give it a B (four stars is too strong of a recommendation). Somewhere between B minus and C plus. Better than Not Bad. Right on the edge of Good. Three-and-three-quarters? Somewhere around a 79.
Three Stars Plus: Better Than Not Bad.
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