1823 - Watchmen (Director's Visual Commentary)

I got the bluray of this for xmas this year and on it is a pretty insane, in-depth visual commentary thing.  Some people panned this film - I loved it.  I thought that Zack Snyder did a pretty kick-ass job of adapting something that's so personal and epic to so many people.  I think he got the heart of it right and that's the main thing.  I prefer his ending to the ending in the comic as it's far more integrated into the actual story itself.  Sorry for you purists - but the squid was kind of stupid - let's be honest.
If you want the kind of experience that really rips a movie into pieces and shows you behind the curtain, this is exactly the kind of thing you'll love.  Although it made me want to revisit the film on it's own - which I'll try to do sooner rather than later. 

Promethea - Vol 5

And so it ends.  This final book of the series is easily it's best (no difficult task, sadly).  I really liked how this book jumped ahead and dealt with the inevitable, and what that all meant.  Don't get me wrong, I dig a lot of the ideas that Moore has going on in these books, I just find it a bit disappointing that he has to make it so overtly "THIS IS MY PHILOSOPHY ON ALL THIS SHIT" without being able to blend it into the story.  It just feels a bit pat (and I'm being very kind by saying 'a bit'.) 
So that's about it - I'm not going to go into heavy detail - there are some people who are just going to love the hell out of this book.  I am not one of those people, sadly.  If you are a fan of Moore and have no issue with overly-long-pseudo-intellectual ramblings - this will be right up your alley.
Promethea (Book 5)

Promethea - Vol 4

So this volume, for it's majority, carried on the same tangent that it went on in the previous volume.  I have to say, perhaps Moore didn't know at the time that he was only going to do 32 issues of this book (5 trades), but he spent nearly 40% of his over-all story on a sideplot with his main character walking through the afterlife, pretentiously musing on life, art, magic, etc... all very 'voice-of-the-author' kind of stuff.  Any time we got a quick flash of Stacia as the temporary Promethea I was delighted - a storyline!  Huzzah!  I honestly think I might have preferred if the court case that ends this volume would have had a different outcome.
Now, that being said, the second half of this book, once all the afterlife rubbish was over, was back up to my usual Moore standards.  And where they've left off I'm actually kind of excited for the next, and final, volume.  We might just get ourselves a full story arc here ladies and gentleman!  I plan on getting through it tomorrow.

Promethea - Vol 3

I wish I could say that I was enjoying this series.  I love the premise, and I love a lot about it, but goddamn if Moore doesn't take his sweet time with this.  The majority of it just makes it seem like the whole thing is just his excuse to talk about his personal feelings on magic and religion and the world while just at a snail's pace telling a story.  There are only two left in the series, and they are quick enough reads, so I'll finish this off in the hopes that he uses the last two books to tell some form of a story.  Here's hoping.  If you're a die-hard Moore fan you might dig this - I can't really give it any kind of a recommend though - I'm struggling with it.
Promethea vol. 3

Promethea - Vol 2

Okay, so this is the second volume of the series and as such I think I'm going to get pretty specific with my thoughts, so fair warning - SPOILERS AHEAD.

Alan Moore is kind of considered the master of the comic medium, but I'm just not sure that I buy that.  I like him, I like the work he's done, but I don't think he's setting the world on fire.  I think that what he is is a great ideas man.  He really comes at things sideways and finds ways to relate stories to ourselves - and in that, yes, he's masterful - but I find that he often forgoes story just to go on these long tangents about magic and the world, religion, politics.  And not to be an ass, but to be a master of this medium I would think that you'd need to merge the two in a stronger way.  It could be that, like a lot of artists, Moore is at a point in his career where he writes his own ticket - he does whatever he wants and no one is going to tell him that he's wrong (I don't think) and so in that bubble, the work suffers to some extent.  This is just my humble opinion, and I could be completely wrong.

So the second volume - there was some fun stuff here, but it just felt like they got through the big conflict of everyone coming after Sophie far too quickly.  And while I like that what makes Sophie's Promethea unique is the way she approaches problems, I also felt like the idea of her being able to resurrect other Prometheas to help her in battle was a little bit of a last minute cheat.  Also stylistically this was a weird volume - the vast majority of one issue use photos in place of the drawings, and it felt really cheesy and cheap - like the covers of bad smut novels.  There are only three more books in the series, and they're all sitting on my desk, so I will finish the series up for sure, but right now it's not grabbing me by the throat as I would have liked.  Maybe it'll pick up for me.
Promethea (Book 2)

Promethea - Vol 1

I've had this sitting on my shelf for a few weeks now so I finally picked it up.  Alan Moore is doing this interesting thing where he's essentially writing the entire line of all comic series for America's Best Comics.  Insane.
I wasn't sure I was going to be into this at first.  It seems like every comic label these days has a story about the power of imagination, but being that Alan Moore is a master of the art form it's always interesting to see his take on it - and it's good.  And it really feels like there's a lot more story to come and we're only getting started (I have four more in my current stack). 
The story follows a young girl as she comes across the legendary Promethea, a powerful being that has taken form from humans over time and now it's time to take over a young college student.  The most interesting thing to me is when it touches on the idea of destroying the world as we know it, and weather or not that's a good thing.
If you like Moore and you like sci-fi, this would probably be a good read for you.
Promethea (Book 1)

P.E.I.: Day Nine

So above is the photo of the Summer House where we're currently staying, associated with Blue Crest Cottages.  The owner, Thelma, was awesome and gave it to us at the same price as the cottage as it wasn't booked and she thought it would be a better place for a family with a  small guy.  Can't argue that - the extra room is amazing.  It's easily as large as our place in Toronto (minus a basement), and it's kind of cool to have a yard where Ephraim can run around in.

Today was nice and tame, a nice way to celebrate mine and Emily's fourth anniversary as a married couple.  We had planned for rain, but the forecast changed (it does that here…) and apparently we're in for nothing but lovely weather for the next few days!  Huzzah!!!  So our back-up rain plan is put on hold until further notice.  We decided to spend the day in Charlottetown and poke around, so we took our sweet-ass time getting ready and headed out.  We got lunch at what is probably the only Thai place in Ch'town, possible the entire island.  Very different style from any I've had, but it was tasty - Ephraim sucked it up with glee as well.  After that I wanted to check out a comic book store, The Comic Hunter.  I've only been reading comics for the last few years, and it was when we were in P.E.I. last that I stopped into this store and bought a copy of Watchmen, and with it came an insert advertising other titles, Fables, Y: The Last Man, etc…. and the rest is history.  So I owe this store a great deal of gratitude for throwing me into an amazing storytelling medium.

While on Queen Street we hit Cows to try to knock off a few more flavours.  I don't think we're going to bother trying to do the whole list.  In fact, I think I've had my fill of Cows ice cream.  Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with it, but I'm kind of over it.  The ice cream itself is tasty, as it should be when it's got a ridiculously high butterfat percentage.  But my main issue is that the flavours are kind of lazy.  Of their 34 flavours I'd say that at least 80-90% of them are simply the vanilla base with a variation of the same dozen or so ingredients thrown in.  I like flavoured ice cream, not sugary inserts.  When we were at Shipwrights they served us ice cream from the local dairy ADL, and it was damn tasty stuff, so I think the next time we need a fix, that's where we'll go.  Nothing personal Cows, but that's just the way it is.

We stopped off at a playground and then a farmers market and bought Ephraim's weight in fruit, then returned home for a nice simple supper.  Tomorrow is Canada Day so we're heading back to Ch'town, the birthplace of confederation!  Should be cool.  And also, as you'll note in the photo below, our dear Ephraim has finally made a friend here on The Island...

Top 10: book two

Just like the first book this one took me a little while to warm up to - the story took a little while to get going - but Moore's craft as a storyteller shined through and I was in good hands again - the way that he weaved it together with the previous storyline was pretty masterful in the way that it all continued to go a little deeper.  What's really interesting about this series is how these giant events just come out of nowhere and throw the characters for a loop - there is little to no build-up, but to be fair, that's life. 
This book became even more of an ensemble and I liked the little glimpses that we got into each of the characters lives, their insecurities.  The little arc for Caesar is kind of beautifully heartbreaking.
This book ended with a little caption that read "end of season one" however outside of a few spin-off series I don't think that this series ever went on - which is a shame. 
For those that like good, smart, fun comic writing - this is something that you'll dig.  The characters are all well drawn (both literally and spiritually), and there is a sense of fun amongst it all that is infectious.  Enjoy! 
Top 10 (Book Two of the Innovative New Series)

Top 10: book one

I was given this to read by my new comic friend.  I had no idea it even existed, and while I've read a decent amount of Alan Moore's work, I'm by no means an expert on his work - I daresay that I think this is probably his most accessible work that I've read.  I'll admit that it takes a little to get into - but that's mostly because it's a big complicated world and it just takes a little while to familiarize yourself - but once you do it's just fantastic.
The set-up is pretty awesome - after World War II when superheroes started to become a little more known the gov't designed a world just for them.  So fast forward to today where there's a plant inhabited entirely by super-humans, and other creatures with powers - and this series in particular follows their police force around.  There is so much fun to be had with this world - and Moore does a good job of mashing in the mundane - stuff like a couple in the background talking on the phone to their realtor about someone coming in to see their secret cave, etc... lots of little goodies like that happening in the background.  The series itself has a pretty small life, just two trade paperbacks and a few spin-offs - so as long as my comic buddy has them I'll give them a read - otherwise I may just try to pick them up myself. 
At a time where it seems like a lot of people are doing "commentary" on superheroes Moore manages to keep it fresh and exciting and well, well worth reading.
Top Ten (Book 1)

25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom

I picked this book up sometime last year for research for something, which I wrote without reading it, and now (of course) I'm kicking myself in the ass, realizing how a lot of the info in here would have been extremely helpful.  Alas... that's what rewrites are for.
For those familiar with the works of Alan Moore - known most for his work in comics - his masterpiece being Watchmen - but this particular title fits closer to his Lost Girls trilogy (of which I really need to re-read).  The entire book is a brief history on sexual repression and what it does to people, and society at large.  Here's a sample:

Just to recap, then: Sexually progressive cultures gave us mathematics, literature, philosophy, civilization, and the rest, while sexually restrictive cultures gave us the Dark Ages and the Holocaust.  Not that I'm trying to load my argument, of course.

That's just a little teaser.  It's a very quick read and it's full of wonderful artwork as well.  The older I get the more I found sexuality intrigues me - moreso what it does to people and society and so a book like this is right up my alley.  Moore isn't aiming to solve any problems - he's just hoping to add weight to the conversation - or perhaps get more conversations going.  While spending the weekend with my in-laws, my father-in-law found this book lying around and read it from cover to cover - not able to abandon it for more than a few moments at a time.  It feels weird to say that this is a very important book, but it is.  It's part of a conversation that most people avoid and for no good reason.  Give it a shot.  If nothing else it'll give you something interesting to discuss at your next dinner party.  And for extra bonus points - read it in public transit and leave the art-pages wide open and see how many people steal glances.
25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom

Does Geek Culture Have To Die? (a response to Patton Oswalt)

Over the holidays Patton Oswalt, a comedian and writer (some of you may be more familiar with him from his role on The United States of Tara or as the lead in Pixar's Ratatouille), had an article posted on wired.com (click here to read it). For the purposes of this blog I'll summarize:

Oswalt grew up in the heyday of geekdom - back in the time where if you wanted to be a geek you had to work for it. You had to go out and search for the thing you were interested in. You had to track it down. Order it. Wait for it. Trade it amongst fellow admirers. Within a group of friends it was likely that everyone had their specialties - one was probably into Asian cinema, another comics, and another was into music - and they would help educate the others to some degree. It was a community where the currency was information and you had to trade for it. But now we live in a time where anyone can gain the same kind of knowledge over the course of a weekend, they can "master" a genre, or bittorrent a director's entire filmography or a band's discography. In addition to that he believes that nothing new of substance is being created and it's just recycled geekdom that's now become trendy, "Fast-forward to now: Boba Fett’s helmet emblazoned on sleeveless T-shirts worn by gym douches hefting dumbbells. The Glee kids performing the songs from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. ... Our below-the-topsoil passions have been rudely dug up and displayed in the noonday sun. The Lord of the Rings used to be ours and only ours simply because of the sheer goddamn thickness of the books. Twenty years later, the entire cast and crew would be trooping onstage at the Oscars to collect their statuettes, and replicas of the One Ring would be sold as bling."
He believes that we're on the brink of something he calls Etewaf: Everything That Ever Was—Available Forever. And he believes that the dangers of that are that this weakens the foundation of geekery, it makes them weak: "Etewaf doesn’t produce a new generation of artists—just an army of sated consumers. Why create anything new when there’s a mountain of freshly excavated pop culture to recut, repurpose, and manipulate on your iMovie?"
Oswalt's solution? Burn it to the ground. Make pop culture so bad that people are turned off it completely and it can begin anew. We can rebuild, and hopefully learn our lessons.

And now, my response:

I'm a geek. Like Oswalt I spent a lot of my youth tracking down stuff that I was into. And I'm from a small town, so it's not like I could just take the subway to one of several comic shops or video stores. My town had one video store. No comic shops. I had to rely on my cousins to give me their hand-me-downs in that respect. As a kid I think I watched every film in that video store over and over and over again, and so I became a walking dictionary of eighties and nineties flicks. And then, THANK GOD, the internet came about and I finally had a way to find out about other films that I might like. I could research. I could ORDER them! This was far before the time of downloading films. Hell, you'd be lucky if you could download a song in less than an hour (here we are living in a time where we're pissed off if we have to wait longer than thirty seconds). Now, as an adult, anyone who has visited the basement of my house where I keep my office knows that I haven't changed a whole lot. My walls are shelves, on top of which are 'toys' from my youth. On the shelves are hundreds of VHS, DVDs, and now a few Blurays are trickling in. There is also an ever growing collection of trade paperbacks, and the walls are filled with film posters. So I get why Oswalt has his back up and is concerned. His people are my people.
Amongst my friends I've had discussions similar to this one - how the world is over-saturated with content. Growing up I had a No Fear poster in my bedroom that said "Precious few are born with it, and even fewer know what to do with it." And I liked that a lot. And I still think of that quote when I see people running around making feature length films on their home cameras, editing them in their basements just because they can. And I'm not saying that it's a bad thing - some really amazing stuff comes out of that. Those are the precious few who know what to do with it. But in an age where everyone can be a filmmaker - should everyone? I don't think that there is an answer to that question outside of a case-by-case discussion. Hell, some people may even say that I'm not qualified to be a filmmaker.
Having things readily available does make it a lot easier to be a geek - and of course it makes it people lazy when something is handed to them and they don't have to do the legwork themselves. However the upside is that people have access to content that they normally wouldn't have, being from a small town I would have loved to have access to the information that someone in my position could now. And isn't that the point? To get people to watch, to read, to experience? Quality and content not withstanding - if people want to watch crappy mash-ups, remakes, reboots, etc... isn't that their right? These things aren't getting made because people don't like them - hell nothing unpopular gets made on this scale. But it doesn't fit with Oswalt's barometer of taste and so that's a problem for him. He's an established actor and writer and so he can write this kind of thing from a place of privilege. If I'm honest it feels more like someone who longs for the days of his youth, in uncomplicated times where the biggest problem you had was trying to find the latest installment of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run. And now it feels like he's the guy screaming at kids to get off of his lawn. Like the teenager who now hates something for the sole reason that it became popular. The thing is - if you don't like something, you don't have to watch it. You can turn your TV off, go to a different website, avoid YouTube altogether. Vote with your dollars and with your time and energy. No one is creating content for the sole purpose of pissing you off (there are, of course, exceptions to this - I'm looking at YOU Michael Haneke)

I don't buy single issues of comics - I wait and buy the trade paperbacks 'cause they take up less room. I've stopped buying as many movies as I used to and now sit back and enjoy Netflix (I LOVE my Netflix) because it gives me access to movies and TV series that I've either forgotten about or had been meaning to see, but life getting in the way has made me forgot. It's even made me revisit some stuff I probably wouldn't have.
Here is the real problem with what's going on, and because Patton is established it's not an issue for him, but it is for the generation of filmmakers and storytellers coming up. As mentioned above, we live in a time where everyone can pretty much get everything they want to consume whenever they want it, and if they really want to, for free. How is that going to work in the long run? What would happen to all farmers if suddenly everyone started growing their own food? To phone companies if everyone suddenly became telepathic? This is how, in the long run, industries crumble. This is what worries me about the future of pop culture, not that people are cramming data into their heads, but that the data might not be there to cram. It's probably a silly concern. There will always be a storyteller and an audience as long as people are around to talk and to listen. I know that. But I also know that, as a filmmaker who has his first feature in the stages of being released into the world, I want as many people as possible to be able to see it. And I don't care if they're a bit lazy about it.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Volume 2

Wow. What an intense and bizarre follow-up to the first book. What's lovely about this series is just how literate it is, and how many references are all over the place. At one point, in one tiny corner of the frame you can see what appears to be Peter Rabbit being eaten by wolves. Never drawn attention to. It's just there. He exists in this world because he exists in England around this time of publication. Really brilliant.
But other than that, after establishing a really interesting 'team' in the first volume, they have no problem whatsoever ripping it apart and forever damaging it. This was never going to be a tight crime fighting unit. I suppose I never should have thought of it this way. To say that some of the directions that they go into are surprising is an understatement.
This is a book for any one who is well read and likes a fun adventure. You can't beat it, really for that.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Volume 1

I was late to come to this book, and I've never seen the (apparently awful) film version. So outside of already knowing (kind-of) whom the team was made up of, I was a bit of a virgin on this one. I have to say, it took me a little while to get into it because I was wired for Bendis' Powers books, but once I got into the rhythm of it it was quite a bit of fun. Outside of doing the mash-up of characters from other stories (something I almost always enjoy) it was just a clever little story and a nice introduction to this world and these characters. The story and action is a bit popcorn-lite in a sense, but it's background, characters, and ideas are quite sophisticated. I look forwarding to digging into the other volumes.