Booklist 2012: Part 15

Well, I put it off and put it off and now I've kind of shot myself in the foot. But I will complete you, Book List 2012! I had too much going on near the end of the year so I wasn't able to properly write reviews/take down quotes, so I'm going to have to switch to a more succinct structure here.


* = reread
GN = graphic novel or comic anthology
CB = children's book

[GN] 163.* 164.* 165. [GN]

RASL

by. Jeff Smith

RASL is a scientist turned interdimensional art thief,  but now his old research lab has sent someone to kill him and steal his research notes.

With an assassin tracking him across dimensions and everyone he cares about in jeopardy, the past he's been trying to run from is catching up and he'll have to face it head on in order to set things right.

Jeff Smith, as you might know, is the outstanding man behind the brilliant comic BONE and for the record: BONE is my favorite graphic novel of all time. RASL represents his next big project and it is pretty brilliant in its own way. The art is gorgeous and the pages are extra big, so you're getting more gorgeous artwork for your buck there. The plot is interesting although not quite as grand as it could have been. There's a lot of extended bits that just talk about Nikola Tesla for pages and pages. But all in all I thoroughly enjoyed the series, and was interested and excited all the way through.

[GN] 166. [GN]

Scott Pilgrim, Vol 1:
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

Hardcover Color Edition

by. Bryan Lee O'Malley

Colored by. Nathan Fairbairn

Scott Pilgrim is a 23 year old with a band, a cool gay roommate, and no job. But when he falls in love with a strange new girl he learns that he'll have to defeat her 7 Evil Exes in order to win her heart.

Comics are the masters at rereleasing material, aren't they? They'll put out a comic, then they'll put out variant covers, then they'll put out trade paperbacks, then they'll put out an omnibus, then they'll put out a special edition exclusive content omnibus. Then they'll start back at square one, but do it all in COLOR this time.

It's ridiculous.

Bone did the whole "It's back and this time it's Colorful" thing and I've never considered buying the color versions. Jeff Smith's black and white art is just too good and the color really didn't seem to add much to the story. So, as you can imagine, when I heard that Brian Lee O'Malley's brilliant comic Scott Pilgrim was being rereleased in hardcover color editions I scoffed. O'Malley also works in black and white, and he's no Jeff Smith, but he's very good. However, I happened to see the book when I was at the comic book shop and took a peek inside.

And damn.

I mean, daaammn!

I bought it right then and there. It is flipping gorgeous.

Best coloring job I've ever seen. No holds barred. The color adds so much richness to the story. I found myself just oggling pages they look so nice. UGH! I want all the color volumes to be out right now!

167.*

Going Postal

by. Terry Pratchett

A conman is given a choice by the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork: become the new Postmaster General of the city's dilapidated and obsolete Post Office or...die.

A personal Discworld favorite of mine. It's got an amazing underdog setup as this rundown post office tries to compete with the cellular-like services of the Clacks system. It's full of Pratchett's amazing wit and satire. The characters are all charming and memorable. And it has a really wonderful romance in it too! The relationship is so unlike the usual kind you see in stories. The characters love each other for their flaws and not for their attributes, and there's something about that that is so much truer to life than the reverse. Plus the story lampoons corporations, and marketing, and even crime with all of Pratchett's outstanding wit.

169.*

Making Money

by. Terry Pratchett

Conman turned Postmaster General Moist Von Lipwig is back and the Patrician's returned with another proposal. Either he can stay and work at the revamped Post Office or he can choose to paint a target on his back once again and take the job as the head of the Ankh-Morpork Bank.

The story isn't quite as epic or as well paced as Going Postal was, but I would say the satire is even better. Moist is such an interesting character and I'm ever-so-pleased that Pratchett took him out for another spin.

170.

Frankenstein

by. Mary Shelley

Every once in a while I will break down and read some pieces of classic literature. I tend to avoid them because more often than not I hate them with a passion. Yet every so often I find one that I really adore, so I can't write them off completely.

Anyways, Frankenstein is a terrible book. I don't care what anyone says, this book is terrible. It's by no means as bad as Jane Eyre, but it isn't good. Which I really don't understand! Similar to Jane Eyre, this book has so much great material to work with and yet it continuously ignores the lot of it. I swear to you that the vast majority of this book is people telling you their life story. There is honestly a part where a brother is telling his sister about how Frankenstein told him about how the monster told him about the life story of some random family of no importance. It's life-story Inception up in this book. You've got a murderer made out of reanimated corpses telling you stories about random dumbass families. You cannot tell me that that's what you were hoping to be reading about.

If that wasn't enough, the characters are all terrible. I hate everyone in this book. They are all powerfully dumb. I mean you've got the monster over here talking about how he learned compassion by watching this family, and he secretly helps them out, and then he goes up to them and says "Hey, guys, I've been secretly stalking you for months now and I love you let's be together" and then they're like "Who the fuck are you! What are you doing in our house! Why are you made of corpses! Jesus Christ someone get the gun!" And that dumb-ass monster is not only surprised by this logical reaction, but then decides "You know what? I used to have a good heart, but not anymore because this family has rejected me for choosing the worst possible way of introducing myself to them, I'm just going to go ahead and start murdering people."

Or how about Frankenstein? He reanimates a man he made out of corpses and the first thing he does after seeing it's alive is go have a nap. An honest-to-God nap. Really? You're not going to lock it up so it doesn't freak out the neighbors? You're not going to try to make contact with it? And he won't shut up about how he needs to kill the thing, but then never seriously tries to kill it. Here, here's how you do it, shoot it! Stab it? Wanna get fancy with it? Well then tell it you've finished making it a bride and when it goes to check, blow him the fuck up! How hard is that? You're a brilliant scientist, I think you can handle making some explosives. So stop whining about how its stronger and faster than you are and use your damn brain.

And if the terrible characters weren't enough the entire logic of everything is warped to fit these idiots. Frankenstein comes back home and finds his little brother has been murdered. Apparently the lad had been walking around by himself while wearing an expensive necklace and they found him dead with the necklace missing. Frankenstein assumes that the monster must have done it because only a monster would be able to kill that sweet child. [I don't have to tell you that that is perhaps, one of the dumbest leaps of logic ever conceived.] It is ridiculous. Oh, but look at that! He was right. It was the monster. Of course it was. Because this stupid monster some how managed to track down his creator's brother, even though when he was first reanimated he couldn't see (let alone talk or reason) and he stumbled out of the house and into the woods and never talked to his creator at all. But yeah, sure, I'm sure he'd be able to track down that child and kill him.

Like Jane Eyre, this book bothers me more than a little because it isn't bad. It's got a lot going for it. The ideas of creator and creation and what one owes the other are fascinating. The idea of bringing dead tissue back to life? Fascinating. The idea of this scientist chasing his creation to the ends of the earth to try and end what he's created? Fascinating. But this book doesn't seem to care about any of those great things and would prefer to tell you the life story of every yahoo who walks by.

[GN] 171. [GN]

The Amazing Screw-on Head

by. Mike Mignolia

A collection of short comic stories from the creator of Hellboy.

I always love Mike Mignolia's work and, as much as I love Hellboy, it's always a lot of fun to see him working on something else.

If you like fairy tales and legends and silliness, then I think you'll get a real kick out of this comic. Personally I love all those things and thus have since bought myself my own copy. There's something I just love about well done collections of short-story comics.

172.

Bunch of Amateurs:
A Search for the American Character

by. Jack Hitt

A look at Amateurism as a form of the American spirit.

I was really interested in the idea this book presented of amateurs as a metaphor for the American spirit, but I was disappointed to learn that it doesn't really work towards proving that thesis. The introduction and the conclusion certainly wax on the concept, however, the majority of the book is composed of extended essays about different types of amateurs with little or no attempt made to tie them into the main ideas of the book as a whole. Certainly the various examples and their respective chapters were kind of fun and interesting, but I just went in expecting something more.

So there you go. If you give it a try just go in expecting to hear some interesting stories about enthusiastic amateurs in unexpected fields and you won't be disappointed. Just don't expect anything more than that.

[GN] 173. [GN]

Batman:

The Long Halloween

by. Jeph Loeb

art by. Tim Sale

Mob members are being murdered in Gotham City and each holiday that passes brings another death with it. Tension among the various mob families are escalating as Batman tries to uncover who is behind it all.

The Long Halloween is one of my favorite Batman stories. Actually, if you've ever seen the movie The Dark Knight then you might find yourself recognizing a number of parts from this story.

A lot of people try to put Batman in the Action genre and I can't help but feel that that's a mistake. The Batman stories that I love most are the ones that focus on Batman as a detective. I mean sure, there are plenty of action scenes, but the heart of the story is one of mystery and investigation. And that's what makes it so gosh-darn good.

[GN] 174. [GN]

WE3

 Deluxe Edition

by. Grant Morrison

art by. Frank Quitely

A group of lab animals are experimented on in an attempt to create cyborg animal soldiers. However, the animals learn that they're are going to be eliminated by their creators they escape and go on the run. Now the military is doing everything it can to bring these heavily armed and dangerous liabilities to a quick end.

I was really excited for this story when I first heard about it. It sounds like an action-packed Homeward Bound or something, doesn't it? But it's not!
The crux of my disappointment lies in the terrible lack of interesting characters. While the animals are given speech and advanced intelligence, they're still much too stupid to have the dialogue necessary to give them any real sort of persona. You can never really empathize with them because they never really become anything more than animals.

So like an animal you can feel bad for it when it's hurt or scared, and you can cheer when it saves someone, but it's still an animal. There's still that animal/person divide that hasn't been transcended. When a real character is hurt you want to be nervous for them, you want to be scared that they won't be able to tell their wife that they love her, or that they'll never be able to see their kid grow up, or any number of things like that. They have motivation, and back stories, and personalities. I mean you don't watch Die Hard and see Bruce Willis getting hurt and go, "Awww...poor baby!" You go, "Oh my God! That's gotta hurt so bad, he really loves his wife." And that's a pretty key difference, because one of those shows investment in the characters and the other is a clear sign of distance.

Not to mention that at the end of the book there was a bunch of production notes and they kept saying how they were going to do all this revolutionary stuff with the comic's art form. But really all they did was use a lot of panels within panels as a way of trying to show the otherness and the senses of the animals or something. It really didn't add anything to the graphic flow of the story.

But speaking of revolutionary comic formatting...

[GN] 175. [GN]

Batwoman:

Hydrology

written by. J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman

art by. J.H. Williams III, Amy Reeder, & Richard Friend
colors by. Dave Stewart
letters by. Todd Klein

I've never been a very big fan of the extended Bat-family solo stories. But I had heard a lot of great things about this title and decided to request it from the library and see what the hubbub was about.

Long story short: I now have my own copy.

The story itself is pretty decent, but whatever, let's talk about the artwork instead! What really makes this title worth checking out is the artwork. It does all sorts of interesting things. Really, really interesting nonstandard format choices that are kind of brilliant. Lots of long flowing panels and interweave with one another. Lots of imagery that moves across the entire 2-page spread. Not to mention that it features multiple artists and will cut between the styles in such an interesting way. The level of artwork going on in this thing is just so far beyond anything I was expecting from a mainstream superhero story. Really, next time you're in a bookstore or a comic shop then find this one so you can page through it and see what I'm talking about.

 [GN] 176. [GN]

Queen and Country

by. Greg Rucka
art by. Various 

A realistic depiction of a group British spies as they do spy things.

Joey Comeau described the series as being, "...like The Wire, except about British spies instead of policemen." If you're expecting stuff like James Bond you're going to be disappointed. There's a lot more bureaucracy and paper work and all that fun stuff that goes on in real life.

It was okay I guess, but I hated the artwork so much that I couldn't pay full attention to the story. It was probably much better than I give it credit for, but even if it is, I personally didn't think the story was good enough to warrant dealing with the artwork.

 [GN] 177. [GN]

Gladstone's School for World Conquerors

by. Mark Andrew Smith

art by. Armand Villavert

A cartoony comic about a school for super villains? Hey, that could be fun!

But it wasn't.

It was super dumb.

A Smattering of Poems

Once again I've come to deposit some of the poems I've posted on Facebook here in the vault. I've been experimenting with style and form a little bit. Trying new things and all that jazz.

The Cashier's Prayer

Now I clock right in to work,

And pray the Lord to spare the jerks.

But if I lose it before I'm through,

I pray the Lord will at least spare you.

Damp Lullabies

The bath is warm and inviting.

It holds me close and gently whispers

Sloshing lullabies.

Who could resist such comfort and wealth of being?

If I were to leave now

I would leave,

albeit sadly,

With the warmth of sweet memories

As my bedfellows.

But if I were,

Instead,

to give in and fully embrace my situation,

to let my consciousness drift off into the waves.

Then I’ll be forced to bear witness to

The End.

To awaken to a world of dark absence.

To wake up

Cold

and wet

and alone.

Left to stumble out,

Waterlogged and deprived of warmth,

and attempt a proper sleep

while the back of my mind loudly dreads

What it’ll wake up to this time.

So, perhaps,

for once,

I’ll indulge in non-indulgence.

I’m starting to get pruney, anyhow.

Faceplant Romance

You’ve tripped me up.

You’ve knocked me down.

I can’t trust myself when you’re around.

I’m falling for you,

How ‘bout you fall for me?

Who cares if our friends might disagree.

Let’s fall in bed,

Let’s fall in love,

Let’s feel the heat

‘til we get a shove.

Let’s fall apart as we hit the street

And spill our asses onto concrete.

Road rashes and bruises

All our own,

To remind us that we don’t have to be alone.

Two left feet,

May I have this dance?

Let’s two-step to a faceplant romance.

I’ve already fallen

and can’t stop the descent,

But if you join me we can circumvent;

You fall for me and I’ll fall for you,

We’ll orbit each other like Pluto’s moon.

And then in time

when our world’s collide

We’ll just feel relief for leaving nothing untried.

So let’s fall in bed,

Let’s fall in love,

Let’s feel the heat

‘til we get that shove.

Let’s fall apart as we hit the street

And spill our asses onto concrete.

Road rashes and bruises

All our own,

Reminding us that we weren’t always alone.

Movie List 2013: 1 - 5

* = rewatched

1.*

Hot Fuzz

Nicholas Angel is a hotshot cop from the city, but when his tenacity starts to make the department look bad they send him to a small town in order to get him out of their hair. However, things in this quiet hamlet might not be as peaceful as he was led to believe.

Shaun of the Dead : Zombie Movies
Hot Fuzz : Action Movies

Nuff said.

Nicholas Angel.

Don't forget your friends and guns.

...For the greater good.

2.*

Home Alone

During the Christmas holiday season a young boy is accidentally left home alone when his family goes on vacation to Paris. When robbers decide to rob the boy's house, it's up to the boy to defend it.

Remember when Macaulay Culkin was not only a cute little kid, but the cute little kid? Honestly, if you haven't seen Home Alone then you should probably sit down and rethink your life choices. It's not only one of the greatest Christmas movies ever made, it's also one of the greatest slapstick comedies ever made.

My family's gone?

Its my house, I must defend it.

I'm not scared anymore.

3.

Jingle All the Way

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad play terrible fathers who are desperate to get their kids a hot new toy for Christmas.

My roommate is convinced that this is a secretly brilliant movie. It's certainly not a good movie, but I've gotta admit there's something bizarrely terrible about it that is kind of enjoyable. Plus the fact that it takes place in Minnesota adds a whole nother layer [there is honestly a scene where Arnold supposedly pushes his car from downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul, but I don't think they wanted us to notice that.] I don't even know what to tell you. It's a certainly a train wreck, but who doesn't want to gawk at train wrecks from time to time?

Jamie, listen up,

It's not that I don't love you,

I'm just a bad dad. 

4.

Django Unchained

A freed slave teams up with a German bounty hunter in order to rescue his wife from a cruel plantation owner.

Quentin Tarantino directed this movie. That's an important thing to know. I can't remember who, but someone described this movie as being a master's class in violence. Violence as revenge, violence as fun, violence as horror, violence as catharsis, etc. I really wish I could remember who pointed this out, because it's a rather brilliant point. The movie is a perfect balancing act between action and comedy, fantasy and reality, horror and romance. Did I mention the acting is all around superb? Anyways, I loved this movie. I'd say it's my favorite Quentin Tarantino movie. I'd also say it's one of my favorite 2012 movies.

Sure I saw it in 2013, but still. The point stands.

Kill some white people,

Be a badass, save the day.

Now this job I like.

5.

Grosse Point Blank

A depressed hit man attends his high school reunion and tries to win the heart of his high school love while surviving attempts on his life.

I'm not sure how I made it so long without having ever seen this movie. I mean, it's got John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Alan Arkin, Minnie Driver, Hank Azaria, and Dan Aykroyd? That's a cast right there. I don't really know what to say. It had me at "A comedy about John Cusack as a hit man" and it did not disappoint. The whole thing is just a whole lot of fun.

I love your daughter.

And have new respect for life.

Martin Blank: Hit man.

More Poetry

Tailwind

I wish I could control the wind,

for I would calm the seas

And we could go forth boldly,

together: you and me.

I wish that I could help you.

I wish that I could fill your sails.

I wish you didn't have to struggle.

I wish that I could ease your ails.

But though I wish

I know I can't.

I can't control the waves

and I cannot bend the winds.

I cannot change your fate

or save you from chagrin.

But I can sit beside you

and I can hold your hand.

And we can be lost together

as we drift towards unknown lands.

Poetical Shorts

I've been posting a fair number of poems on Facebook recently, so I figured I'd collect some of the shorter ones and post them here for posterity's sake.

Afraid of Everything

I'm afraid of failure

and I also fear of success.

I'm afraid to be too happy,

but I'm afraid to be depressed.

I'm afraid that I'm no good

and I'm afraid that I'm an ass.

I'm afraid of beauty

because I'm afraid that I'm too crass.

I'm afraid of all these things,

and I'm afraid it's true,

that I'm afraid of me

and I'm even more afraid of you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Staff Selection*

Cider! Cider! amber bright,

Set aglow by fridge's light;

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy scrumptious symmetry?

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looping

I'm never going to learn my lesson,

I'm never going to see the end.

I'm just gonna make the same mistakes

again and again

and again

and again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

So

So you're lovely.

So you're smart.

So you smell nice

and make art.

So you're messy.

So you snore.

So you can't cook

and slam the door.

So you're caring

and well-read.

So you're soft

and great in bed.

So you get sad

and never say.

So you're awkward

and lose your way.

So your laugh

and so your voice.

So your eyes

make me rejoice.

So you're perfect.

So you're not.

And so I love you

quite a lot.

*Very clearly parodying William Blake's brilliant poem The Tyger here.

State of the Blog Address (2013)

What? I haven't updated this blog in months? FINE! I'll do a post.

...you're such a nag.



It seems that I must break out of the haze of my life and once again meet with you all for the annual state of the blog address.

I apologize for the prolonged absence. Things have a way of getting out of hand for me, and when they don't I seem to take up the slack and get in my own way.

Looking back on last year's address I can't help but notice that I accomplished 0 of my goals. Not a single one. I mean, I still have yet to finish the Book List for the year. Heck, I still have yet to finish the vastly smaller and easier Movie List.

The end of a year is always a busy time and the holidays always find a way to consume my time. When I wasn't working one of my three jobs, I was trying to deal with the holidays, and when I wasn't doing either of those things I was single-handedly producing a screening of The Iron Giant. And after that...well, after that I just didn't feel like posting anything.

But, regardless, I'm going to try to do better this year!

The key word there is: Try.


Here are some of my goals:

• I will finish up last year's book and movie lists, although I have quite a backlog to go through so I'm going to be doing much shorter and basic reviews without many quotes. Because otherwise it would just take forever.
• I plan on doing many more little things, instead of attempting large things which I inevitably fail to complete and then abandon in a rage. So I'm going to try to do little things that I can actually finish. As such the Facebook page will be the best place to go to for more consistent updates. However, I do plan to post the more polished pieces and finished collections onto the blog.
• I also plan on doing more poems, because poems are one of the few things that I can look back on and not despise utterly.
• I'm going to try to continue my Book List. Although I've been trying to create more and consume less, so it'll probably be a bit smaller than usual.

Other than those there are a ton of bigger things I have in mind, but we'll see how many of those turn out. I'm going to try to get myself back in the habit of making things and then hopefully I'll be able to start scaling up to bigger and better things.

So there you have it.

Let's make some stuff happen this year, people!

Movie List 2012: October

*rewatched

October

100.*

Hocus Pocus

3 dorky kids accidentally bring a family of witches back to life. Now they have to prevent the witches from stealing the life force of the town's children or risk them gaining immortality.

Genre: Halloween


It's extremely hard to explain why I love this movie so much, but I do. In fact I would go as far as saying that it is a perfect movie.

By perfect movie, I'm not saying it's better than Citizen Kane or whatever. I'm saying that it is a perfect testament to its genre. You will not find a better kid-friendly Halloween movie than Hocus Pocus.

Now I know some people out there will chalk up my love of this movie to nostalgia and perhaps they have a point. But I'm pretty sure it goes deeper than that. The movie straddles so many divides. It's this perfect blend of cheesy and heartfelt, of This-is-ridiculous funny and This-is-really-clever funny, of cliche and original, of television special and movie. Its portrayal of the lighthearted side of darkness is everything Halloween is about for kids.

But whatever. I DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF TO YOU!

101.*

The Thing

A shape-changing, infectious life form infiltrates a research station in the Antarctic. The scientists there desperately try to kill it while also trying to figure out if the people around them are really what they appear.

Genre: Horror


John Carpenter's The Thing is my 2nd favorite horror movie of all time. It's brilliant. It has all the elements I love in my horror movies; it's got physical effects, it's got a lot of slow and tense scenes that really milk the anxiety out of you, and it's full of memorable moments. And you know what? It just gives me the heebie jeebies. I mean serial killers, ghosts, demons, whatever; none of them hold a candle to this thing. It's like the embodiment of the phrase "What the f*** is that!?"

Plus Kurt Russell is the star and he is amazing!

PLUS he has the greatest hat in cinematic history. It is a hat of legends.

102.*

Sherlock Holmes

An action-oriented interpretation of Sherlock Holmes in which the consulting detective and Watson try to bring an occult murderer to justice.

Genre: Action/Comedy


My reason for rewatching this one requires some explanation. You see, I saw the pilot to the American  show Elementary which is a remake of the British TV show Sherlock.

And I hated it.

Not only did I hate it, I hated everything about it. And most of all I hated the fact that it was trying SO hard to be Sherlock (which, by the way, is an absolutely brilliant adaptation of Sherlock Holmes). Any unique elements it had were obvious attempts to distance itself far enough from Sherlock so that they don't get sued. And the only thing worse than doing an adaptation of a book without any unique vision or interpretation to offer, is to do an adaptation of an adaptation of a book without having any unique vision or interpretation to offer.

And all this annoyance, made me start thinking about other versions of Sherlock Holmes, which inevitably lead me to Guy Ritchie's version. And as I compared it to Elementary I found myself defending it: despite the fact that I'm not a fan.

And after watching it again, I've gotta say, despite its many, many faults; and its terribly misguided interpretation, Ritchie clearly had a vision of the source material. He may of decided to emphasize a lot of the wrong things, but gosh-darn-it the man had a vision. And because of that the film works. Overall I'm not a fan, but I do respect what its done. And that's the big difference right there.

So yeah. If you try to view it the same way you'd view the source material, you'll find this movie is terrible. They make Sherlock Holmes ridiculous and silly in the name of comedy, and they make him rely on fighting prowess to get himself out of the many ill thought out situations he finds himself in. Which, decidedly, isn't Sherlock Holmes at all. But if you take it for what it is and don't take it too seriously, cut off from the source, then its a pretty fun movie. It's got some really cool actions scenes, the Watson-Holmes dynamic is pretty wonderful, and the whole thing is pretty funny.

103.*

Wimbledon

An aging tennis player is competing in his last tournament before he gives up on professional tennis. But when he meets a young tennis star he's given a reason to give it everything he's got.

Genre: Sports movie that's not really about sports


Wimbledon is one of my most favorite movies. And like a lot of my favorite movies it's hard to describe why. For instance if one were to compare it to Moneyball (another sports movie that's not really about sports) one would find that Moneyball is the vastly better movie. The writing is better, the acting is better, the cinematography is better. And yet none of that matters because I just like Wimbledon more. I relate to it more, it's easier to watch, it stays with me more, and it's a collection of genres which makes it easy to watch in multiple circumstances.

I don't know. Like any movie like this I could go on and on about why I like it, but I don't really see the point. I'm super biased and pretending to review it as if I'm not would just be silly.

104.

Megamind

A supervillain accidentally destroys his nemesis and being without an equal leaves him feeling incomplete. However, when he attempts to create a new nemesis things go horribly wrong and he's forced into the role of hero in order to save the city.

Genre: Goofy animated kids' movie


Oh, my goodness. This is another one of those movies that I kept hearing really good things about. And once again, I've gotta say: HIGHLY OVERRATED.

I mean, really. It isn't bad or anything, but it's not amazing. I'm kind of just barely saying that it's even good here. It's just doofy. I love a lot of Will Ferell movies, but I'll be the first one to say that a ton of them are crap. There's this whole genre based around the formula of Will Ferrell Is A Silly [NOUN]: Will Ferrell is a silly basketball player, Will Ferell is a silly figure skater, Will Ferrell is a silly racecar driver, anchorman, elf, super villain; you see what I'm saying here? Whether or not movies in this subgenre work or not largely depends on two things: if the plot actually has legs of its own or if it's riding completely on his back, and if his costars can give as good as they get.

I guess the plot here has some legs, I mean they're super cliche legs, but still. The main problem is that there is absolutely no one supporting Ferrell out there. I mean sure you've got Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, and Brad Pitt, but they're given such impossibly bland characters that they've got nothing to work with. I mean, normally I love all those people, but in this movie they're all terrible and bland, bland, bland.

Actually...no I take that back. I actually really enjoyed the Will Ferrell/Brad Pitt dynamic, but it's absent from the vast majority of the movie.

If you really love Will Ferrell movies maybe you'll like this one, but I wouldn't go in expecting too much.

105.

Pontypool

The crew of an early morning radio station start to get increasingly strange reports coming in from the surrounding areas. A horrifying infection is sweeping through the town, not through any normal means, but through language.

Genre: Linguistic Zombie Movie


I watched this one because Joey Comeau listed it on his Halloween list of "Some Good Rape-free Horror Movies" list and Joey Comeau has absolutely amazing taste.

I've gotta say this is one of the greatest horror movies I've seen in quite some time.

Admittedly it definitely isn't for everyone, but it certainly has my number. There's all this atmospheric horror, and all these moments where the scary parts aren't the things that are happening on screen, but the things they're conjuring in your mind. Add in the first unique take on zombies since "Hey, what if they were fast?" and you've got me hook-line-and-sinker.

It's atmospheric, it's intriguing, it's got great characters, and it's definitely unique. I don't know what else you could want. Also don't watch the trailer for this movie. The trailer is terrible. I loved this movie, but if I had seen the trailer before I had seen the movie I would have written it off. It's a just plain terrible trailer.

Linguistic Zombie Movie. If you need to hear anything more than that then maybe this one isn't for you.