1991 - Back to the Future

What can I saw about this film that hasn't already been said?  Like Groundhog Day it's just a great example of high concept done super well.  I can't wait to show this film to my kids when they're older - I assume it'll hold up - and it'll be funny to see how dated it is with them.  I'd write a lot more about this film, but I'm just doing this as a short break from stuffing packages.  If you've never see this, and you're a film lover at all, you should be ashamed!

1939 - Thor: The Dark World

I have to be deadly honest here.  This is the first of the Marvel films that I've been 'meh' on.  And it was especially disappointing because the first Thor was so goddamn good, and I expected very little from it (maybe why I liked it so much).  In some ways I think that they just attempted to do too much, be too big.  We don't need every single Marvel film to be about saving the entire world - do the stakes really need to be THAT high every single time?  The more sci-fi the films get the less interesting they are.  And I'm not down on sci-fi films, I think the problem is that they found a way to really ground the early films in this series, but now that all the fantasy elements are in place it just muddles it a bit.  I liked that Iron Man had to deal with that to some extent though.  I don't know, I guess, for me, I just think they can do so much more with simplicity and don't give themselves enough credit for that.  It's the small moments in these kinds of films that really speak volumes - and this one had no small moments.  Shame, really.  It was nice to have Portman integrated into the plot in a much stronger way though.  I should end with saying that I didn't hate the film - I just didn't really enjoy it all that much, and it's one that I likely won't find myself revisiting.

1890 - Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone

I've been looking for a reason to revisit these, and having children is a pretty good one.  We watched this because I wanted to take a crack at reading the first book to my four year old, and while he's pretty good about books with a lot of pictures, because there's a lot of fantasy elements to this he had a hard time visualizing what was there, so I decided to give him a look-see at the film world.
They're sooooo little here.  It's kind of adorable - and what a different tone this film is by the time to we get to the end-game.  One day I would love to do a marathon of all eight films - I think that's something that will have to happen when the kids are teenagers for sure.
This film still stands up, and its fantastic how much foreshadowing is going on, even here, despite how little the filmmakers knew about where the story was going.  There's even subtle moments between Ron and Hermoine.  Charming to say the least.
If you've never dived into these, and you like fantasy even a little, give it a go.  If nothing else than for the pop cultural value.

1883 - Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part II

I don't know why I felt compelled to watch this - mostly 'cause I wanted something fun on in the background while I got some work done.  It's a tough film, this one, really just being the second half of something else.  Voldemort is kind of a weak villain here.  You don't really get a sense of his "plan" - what's he going to do if he wins?  What does that mean?  Is he going to take over the world?  You don't really get a strong sense of it.  Is he just going to be pure evil and try to make everyone else likewise?  That's my bigger issue with this series, mostly the films, is that we don't get a strong sense of the stakes outside of the typical good Vs. evil and life Vs. death.  

That being said the film is a lot of fun, the performances are solid, and it's a grand send-off for the series.  I'm really looking forward to exploring this world with my kids when they're old enough.

1825 - The Great and Powerful Oz

I'm an Oz nerd.  Return to Oz was one of my favourite films as a kid - probably my favourite since I went down to the video store every week to rent it to the point where they finally just gave me the well-worn VHS.  The first of a, now large, film collection. 
So here we have a prequel of sorts - I'm pretty big on what Gregory Maguire did with the Oz story, so I'm going into this accepting something that's more align to Baum's canon.  It's the story of how the Wizard got to Oz.  First off, I was entertained the whole way through - I figured out where some stuff was going to go pretty quickly, but I also enjoyed the ride.  That being said, it felt a little like they were trying to be just a tinge too clever.  First, the world looks glorious, but I don't need a dozen spanning shots of CGI - I get it - Oz is magical.  Also it just felt like a few too many winks to the audience in terms of how many connections they made to the 1939 film, etc… it didn't feel like a film that could stand on it's own and become it's own classic.  It felt like it was trying to pay homage a little too much and came off as a bit of a a fan-film because of it.  I'd be interested to see if they continue with this as a series of films, but if I'm completely honest - I'm still looking forward to a film adaptation of Wicked.  If you like Oz stuff, it's a must see - especially in the theatres - there's some scary stuff for kids, so be wary of that.

Cinderella, Vol 2 - Fables Are Forever

I read this last week and haven't had time to jot down my thoughts.  What I like a lot about this is what I miss about the Fables series in general.  It's got a real sense of fun and mixing with characters - the characters in Fables currently just don't feel like they're all that connected to the original material all that much anymore, and I miss it a touch.  But here we've got a James Bond-esque story with Cinderella as our super-spy, and it's so much fun.  This story juxtaposes the past and present showing her going toe-to-toe with one of her greatest foes and I won't ruin who that is for you here. 
The story plays with a bit of a twist near the end, which is tremendous fun, but I question if the logic of it stands up at all.  If you're into Fables you'll want to check out this series, it reminds you what you loved about the world in the first place.

Fables #17: Inherit the Wind

It probably speaks to how long it took me to getting around to picking this up as to where my enthusiasm with this series is.  This was easily one of my favourite comic series for quite a while, and if I'm honest, I stick around because I've invested so much time in it already.  So there's that.  This volume didn't help that so much in that it was a big hallway towards what's hopefully to come - and I get that books have to do that - but when there's such a huge wait between instalments, I just need a little more to hang my hat on to keep me going.  The storyline with the cubs was fine enough, but the only real thing that got me excited in the entire issue was Rose Red's Christmas story and what appears to be Boy Blue telling her to get her shit in gear and figure out a way to revive him from the dead.  Sweet lord I've been looking forward to that for… geez… five or six volumes now…
So if you're a huge Fables nerd, you'll want to get this just because - but do NOT start here - it'll just confuse you. 

Fables #16: Super Team

I'll be honest, I hate the title for this volume - I get why they use it, but it just feels odd for the Fables universe to go here in the superhero parallel - mostly because it opens up a bit of a hornet's nest to me... because how Fables works is that the characters are from works of fiction that runs the gamut and the globe - anything and everything is up for grabs so long as it's a created character, really... so technically Superheroes are Fables as well in a way... am I right?  I don't think that Fables are subject only to fairy tale characters... although I guess it's pointless to hang onto this... I digress...
So this volume finds our friends getting ready to take down Mr. Dark for once and all, and Pinocchio takes a page out of superhero comics to assemble the perfect team to do so.  There's some fun to be had in it, but it doesn't really amount to anything and it's really just a way of filling time until the (anti-climatic) show-down.  Being that this is the sixteenth book of a series I think I'll have to throw down the SPOILER WARNING and talk more in depth about the volume below...

First off, I quite liked this volume.  I liked the story between Bigby and his father and the set-up to what's to come down the pipe, however I feel a bit cheated... if the North Wind could have come in and defeated Mr. Dark so easily at any time, why did it take this long?  It feels like for all the set-up and devastation that it was a really easy fix.  Although who knows... maybe that story isn't quite over... after all the (now smoking hot) Mrs. Spratt is still kicking around and maybe she's got something up her sleeve.  I'm still enjoying these books but I can't help but feel like we're getting to a point where they're not going to have anywhere interesting to go... I hope that Willingham has some new core-conflict up his sleeve to propel us into the next big arc(s), but it's feeling like it's going to start retreading.  Gepetto is going to try and start another uprising, etc... Right now the series is quite good, but I want it to be great again... Here's hoping...

The Book of Lost Things

I bought this book years ago, the cover drew me in and I think I skimmed the first chapter, and so I picked it up on a complete whim, and now that I'm on my mission to read all the books I've accumulated over the years, I've finally got to it!
So I should start by saying that it's pretty damn rare that a book gets me emotional at all, it's even rarer that it makes me cry, and not only did this book do that - but it did it on page six, on the subway.  Congrats John Connolly, that was no easy feat.
It doesn't hurt that the opening pages are discussing a teenage boy going through the process of watching his mother die to disease, which is a story I know all too well myself, but still the way that it's written is just pure beauty.  I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the author has a similar background in how he just nailed the honest emotions and thoughts of it.  It's truly amazing. 
On the surface this is the story of an angry teenager who ends up in a fantasy world and needs to find his way home, but underneath it's a book about a child becoming a man, and dealing with life and death and the feelings that come with it.  It is a powerful damn book, but it's also wonderfully entertaining.  The fantasy world is a hodge-podge of all the fairy tale characters that we know and love, but re-imagined in a way that so fits with the tone and style of this book.  It's not really a children's story at all, it's barely a teenager's story, although they would enjoy it.  It's a rare treasure and a treat and I highly recommend it.  The paperback version also comes with over a hundred pages of appendices explaining the research he did, and the back story to the fairy tales he used - pretty interesting stuff. 
If you love fantasy, you'll love this, and if you hate fantasy but love great coming of age stories, I don't think the fantasy stuff will bother you one bit.  It's a great read.

A Lion Among Men: Volume Three in the Wicked Years

I'm a big nerd when it comes to taking known stories and playing with them.  I loved both the musical Wicked as well as the book that it was based on.  The way the story worked within the confines of the original was clever and intelligent.  Based on his other books this seemed to be Maguire's thing to do these twisted fairy tales.  I think I read somewhere that he never originally intended to create an Oz series himself, but that Wicked was the only book he thought he'd write.  Now there's a forth (which I plan to read soon), but it doesn't come as a shock that he never planned for this series...
Here's the thing... I don't think Maguire is as good of a writer as he is an idea's man.  He's got some really clever and smart stuff going on, but with the exception of a few portions of this book I found myself really just wanting him to get to the point.  The man goes on a lot of tangents, and some of then interesting, but some of them just feel like page filler.  The only really gripping parts of this book are when he's dealing with characters that have come before - the Lion's story itself, while good and heartbreaking in spots, just feels a bit 'meh' as a whole.  I think the character and how he's built him is interesting but the way it's told just has such little energy. 
If you loved the first two books in the series (I only liked the second) then you're probably going to (or already have) read this.  If you're not sure, I suggest starting with Wicked and going from there.  This is by no means essential reading, but you might like it anyway.  Not exactly a high recommend, but a moderate one.

1616 - True Blood: season four

This is an interesting show in that it doesn't act like any other hour-long cable drama.  It actually feels a bit more like a soap-opera - and I say that in the best possible way.  What this show does better than most, if not all, is their cliff-hangers.  This season actually had a few episodes that left on lovely notes instead of the usual cliff-hangers, which is oddly just as unsettling. 
So this is going to be able the entire season, so expect SPOILERS AHEAD.  If you want a general recommendation then here goes: it's a really good show - and if you're into vampires, werewolves and numerous other types of mythic creatures then you're probably going to love it. 
Okay - now into the meat of it.

This was a really really strong season for True Blood.  It felt a tad meandering early on, but everything came together quite well.  Even characters like Tara (who, honestly, always felt like she could have disappeared and not made any real difference) seemed to serve some purpose this time around.  It appears that each season brings aboard a new creature to deal with, this time around it's the witches, and to some degree the Fae - although that plotline disappeared very quickly, and just barely stuck it's head out here and there.  I assume that it's going to be something sprinkled along for a bit and then will probably feature heavily in the future - perhaps even in the final season (whenever that will be).
Something that True Blood does quite often is leave storylines, Jason and the Panther-Clan seemed to be pretty interesting, but then as soon as the will-he-turn question was answered it was dropped.  Again, perhaps we'll see them all again later (although I much prefer Jason's relationship with Jessica steaming up - let's be honest, what was sexier than her Little Red Riding costume in the finale?).  One thing I was particularly tickled to see was Reverend Steve from the Fellowship of the Sun returning (and as a vampire, no less).  Although as much jeopardy as it seemed that Jason was in, the dude was outside his house and the only way to harm Jason would be if Jason decided to invite him in.  So Jason's pretty safe.  Like usual True Blood wrapped up the central conflict of this season rather early in the episode and spent the rest of the time setting up next season's arcs - like the one I just mentioned.  One of the really fun ones was seeing that Russell had freed himself from his concrete grave (when they didn't give him the 'True Death' it seemed pretty clear that he would be returning at some point).  Tara could be dead - could be alive - I could care less.  And everyone else is in a pretty pickle as well.  This was easily one of the better seasons of the show (who didn't love Eric's amnesia?  delightful! - and it was the first season the Bill became truly interesting), and I really look forward to season five. 

1573 - Thor

This was a film that I was only half thinking of going to see, so when a friend suggested that we see it I didn't put up too much of a fight.  Besides, this is the kind of film that you really want to see on a big screen (Bridesmaids, the film I wanted to check out, arguably, works just as well on a small screen).
So for those who don't know Marvel has been doing a pretty cool job of laying the ground work for a series of films all leading up to The Avengers, and this film is no exception.  It has a simply stunning cast.  (I had no idea that was Idris Elba until the end credits!  Nor that it was Colm Feore under all that Frost Giant make-up!)  Chris Hemsworth is really excellent here.  I find myself falling a little out of love with Kat Dennings these days, and far more in love with Natalie Portman. 
The best thing about this film is that it's a fun ride - and it's got a wicked sense of humor.  It spends the first act taking the character seriously inside of his world, and then throws it all on his head when he gets to ours.  I won't ruin any of the comic greatness - you'll just have to check it out yourself.
Hiring Kenneth Branagh to direct this film was an inspired and interesting choice.  As a man who knows his classic theatre, with the Norse Gods involved I have to say that I'm sure he found the themes and storyline compelling, but knew how to weave them and not take the film itself too seriously.  Lots of great stakes and character turns - great fun for the entire family.
So for a guy who didn't really care about seeing this film at all, I'm walking out with a decent recommend.  And it's under two hours, which is impressive since most companies think that epic and long belong in films like this just for the sake of it.  I could go on about it's many virtues, but I'm tired.  Ready for bed.  So if you haven't already, and are the least bit interested - give it a shot while it's still in theatres.

1560 - Where the Wild Things Are

This has been sitting on my shelf for some time now and after reading it to my son tonight as part of his bed time I realized that it was damn time that I gave it a whirl. 
First off, it's hard not to fall for this film.  The choice made to go live-action with the creatures in costumes is an inspired one.  The combination of that with CGI faces is pretty flawless.  The expression matched with the voice work is pretty amazing stuff and I found myself loving every single character.
As a parent I can't wait to show this to my son.  First, I think that there are some good lessons here about what it's like to be part of a group and a family, what's expecting of you, etc... really strong message.  What I also loved that there was an actual sense of danger with all the zaniness that the wild things were up to - you bought into the idea that Max could get injured amongst his new friends.
If you haven't seen this yet and you remember the book, give it a whirl.  The book is pretty simple and this expands it really nicely and gives a really amazing arc that I think kids can identify with.
Solid work once again from the lovely and talented Spike Jonze!
Where the Wild Things Are 

Neverwhere

I was given this to read back in the summer by a good friend of mine and it's been sitting on my desk ever since. I don't know why it took me so long to get around to it, but I sucked it up and had a hard time putting it down. I imagine that the next time I'm in a book store I'll be picking it up. Neil Gaiman is a master-storyteller. He takes the heroes journey and does absolutely marvelous things with it in this story of a regular man who discovers that London is actually separated into two places, the London Above that he's always known, and the London Below that is more mysterious and magical than this buttoned down Londoner is comfortable with.
You absolutely fall in love with the hero, Richard, as he makes his way around this world, trying to help the pixie girl, Door (adorable in her own right).
It's a fantasy book, but it's so much more than that. I know that a lot of people are turned off by the idea of fantasy, but I have to say that it shouldn't be the case with this book. The characters and themes are so damn compelling. It all feels very real, despite how ridiculous it all seems. And the book itself almost feels like a love letter to London, and how it uses the city as a character and not just a backdrop is something quite spectacular.
It's hard enough to get me to read a book, but I might even re-read this before long. I see that there is a graphic novel version - so I'm curious how that has been handled. I noticed that Netflix has the British mini-series that was made of it - I clicked on it to see what it was like, and as expected, it was kind of horrible. I might give it another shot though.
As a filmmaker whenever I read something I'm hoping that it'll inspire me in my own writing, or perhaps be a project for me down the line. I can't imagine I'd be in position enough to do something of Gaiman's, but if I was ever to make a big film, this is the kind I'd want. It's smart, fun, but it's full of real human emotion. It's a lovely piece of writing. Thank you for sharing your talent with the world, Mr. Gaiman, I'm not sure what we can do to repay you.
So needless to say, buy this book. Now.

Fables #14: Witches

As an be seen above the artists that do the cover work on Fables are just fantastic. I'm sure by now there is a collection of the covers out there and I might pick it up one day if the series ever comes to an end and I can have the whole set. It would make an awesome coffee table book.

So here we are at book fourteen of Fables. For those who don't know about the series it takes the idea that all of the fairy tale characters from all of time are real (and more or less immortal, which has a lot to do with the way we remember and continue to tell stories about them) and they existed in a place called the Homelands. Someone called The Adversary (whose identity I won't reveal here) created an Empire and so many of the Fables fled and decided to take refuge here on Earth (or in The Mundy, as they call it - us humans being Mundane compared to them). Now, to bring you up to speed, the Fables slowly but surely struck back against the Empire and the Adversary, casualties on both sides occurred, and the Fables were successful in defeating the Empire. And so, wouldn't you think that it would be happily ever after following that? If that was the case, the series wouldn't even exist in the first place :) What followed that huge story arc was the decision to show, what happens when an Empire falls, and what does the fall out mean? Two volumes ago we were introduced to Mr. Dark, the pure embodiment of all evil, and he's decided to take down the Fables, and he's doing a pretty damn good job of it so far. The last volume of the series was a bit frustrating in that it put a big pause on this storyline just at a time when we wanted it to keep moving. And then comes along this new volume and, well, the frustration continues to some degree. I realize that there has to be a lead-up to a great battle, and I wasn't expecting the Mr. Dark storyline to be resolved in this volume, but it just felt like they didn't really get anywhere with it. Baby steps, really. It's all entertaining and great, don't get me wrong, but it's not Fables at it's best. There is a nice side-story at the end involving Flycatcher that's really quite lovely, he finally seems to be getting over the grief of his wife with another Fable whom I'm had a crush on since she was first introduced.

So not a bad book by any means, but I want more to be happening at this point. It's taking it's time, and perhaps for good reason. The next volume, I believe, is called Rose Red, so I look forward to getting her back in the main storyline... and I wonder if it being about her means that a certain boy in blue might finally make his return...

(*** as a post script, I started reviewing comics late in this blog, so at some point I'll circle back and write up my thoughts on the previous volumes of this series)

Kill Shakespeare

I love lit-comics. Fables is one of my all time favorites and I pan it off on others as much as possible. In general I quite enjoy the idea of playing with established worlds and characters - we've seen it a lot these days, it's almost a genre unto itself. And here we have it being done to Shakespeare. It's a brilliant idea, the kind that most people are probably scratching their head and saying "Why didn't I think of that?"

As a rule I don't think it's fair to compare things when reviewing them, however in the case of this comic they've specifically written on the back:

What Fables does for fairy tales, Kill Shakespeare does with the greatest writer of all time.

This isn't a quote from a review, this is what the creators and/or publishers themselves are saying about the book - and therefore, in my opinion, it's completely fair game to compare. Fables succeeds in a large way because of it's scope. It encompasses ALL fairy tales in all cultures, and it does so under the guise that the stories that we've all grown up hearing are just versions of their stories - therefore Willingham (the creator of Fables) gives himself proper license to do, more or less, whatever he damn well pleases. He follows a set of rules and it makes sense. This is just the beginning of where this book fails. Seemingly we're in an alternate universe where all of Shakespeare's plays take place. Awesome! I can SO buy into that. The book starts off at the ending of Hamlet. Sweet - I'm in. Instead of Hamlet going back to Denmark he's sidetracked and grabbed by Richard III, okay... I'm with you. But then... we continue... and we start to be surrounded by other characters from other works... Juliet is among them... but she's not a teenager which means... what exactly? She's alive? WTF?! And now, I'm officialy confused, lost, and... out. What's the logic of the world? What are the rules? Where are we in these stories? This is just the beginnings of the problem with this book.

The writers claim to have done their research, what that consists of, I don't know. Shakespeare is known to be boring as a cliche, and they don't seem to do a lot to help that. I've seen and read enough Shakespeare to know that he's a funny guy, he's entertaining, and then man knows how to spin a story. I've seen productions of Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet that are downright hysterical, but this is played dry as bones. And the writing in this is pretty bland and obvious. Iago appears on the villains side, and then is later seen switching to the good guys side, and then the big twist on the final page is... he's double crossing the good guys! What a surprise given that he's Iago! Come on! Do something original, make it Othello that's playing the sides this time. Maybe the next volume will show that Iago isn't actually double crossing, but it doesn't matter 'cause I can't imagine I'll continue on with this series.

When Darwyn Cooke spends the majority of his introduction writing about how difficult it is to create comics, as opposed to how exciting and interesting the story we're about to read is, you know that you're in trouble. I'm sorry, but I just can't recommend this.

1466 - Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: part one

It's a pretty impressive thing to have a series this big that's not only good, but that keeps getting bigger, richer, and more intense with each installment. And to be able to retain the entire cast (save some necessary recasting due to a lack of real Deathy Hallows) throughout the entire series. Not only that but to grab three nine-year-olds and be lucky enough that they all turn out to be damn fine actors in their own rights. I know not everyone believes this, and a lot more people are coming around to them, but I've always enjoyed and defended them, in particular Emma Watson whom people have said particularily nasty things about. I've always adored her and I do still here.

I wasn't surprised that they split the final book into two films - and maybe it was a bit of a way for Warner Bros to milk the series for a few more dollars, but I'm more surprised that they didn't split these stories up more. I always thought that they'd work better on the small screen, to give the chance to flesh out a lot of the little things that we just don't have time for in a compressed period of time. That being said I think that they did a really impressive job of making this part of the final story stand on it's own. It doesn't have a super strong climax but it ends at a really great moment. Shit is about to get REAL.

Without ruining anything, this film is full of moments that are chilling, as well as really quite lovely. Harry and Hermoine share a nice little affectionate moment right at a time that they both need it most, and it's the kind of scene that never would have existed had the film not been split into two. There's also a similar beat where we get to see all of Ron's inner-worst fears on display. It's really well done and affective.

Yates has really done an admirable job of making the last sections of this over-all story continue to ramp up and intensify. I love how the real world gets more and more integrated here. As much as there is going on here, it's still the calm before the storm. I expect the storm to be nothing short of magnificent given what's come before.

Leading up the final film I plan to revisit the series one film at a time, so be sure to look out for that if you're at all interested.

I don't need to tell you to go see this film, either you will or you won't. But if you haven't already been accustomed to this series, don't start here, they don't even bother to dumb it down for you and make it stand on it's own. You're right smack dab in the shit, and that's what makes it pretty damn awesome.

1353 - Pushing Daisies: season one

I love Anna Friel. I don't care to hide it. I could probably make this whole post about how much I love her and her character on this show. You just want to hug her and squeeze her - especially since her love interest can't. And what lovely, lonely things they do with that premise. A tragic love story where the lovers can never touch. Alas.
This show is unlike any on television. The production design alone sets it in a completely different zone. The clothes, hair, colors, sets, I could go on and on. And bizarrely enough the show is almost a procedural in it's plotting. Or at least a procedural with an arc and character development.
This show only got one more season, and I can't wait to see where they take it and what they do with the series. Poor Brian Fuller. I'm still waiting to see the Dead Like Me film he made to wrap up that series. Maybe we'll get a similar treatment for this. As long as Anna Friel is in it - sign me up. If you haven't seen this series yet, you don't know what you're missing. It's clever, sweet, funny, charming, the list goes on and on. My only complaint is that sometimes the CGI looks a bit cheap. Can't win 'em up.