Mark's Box - December 2009

I haven't posted anything in awhile, so I'm going to do some quick posts to update what has been in my boxes the past few months.  Also trying out this Amazon Associates thing which will hopefully make oit easier for me to do these posts. Finding decent pictures and reviews can sometimes be a pain. Maybe Amazon can help. So, without further ado....

Criminal by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips - I've been wanting to get caught up on Ed Brubaker's older stuff and this crime series is supposed to be excellent. I've got quite the stack of Brubaker sitting unread on my shelf. Incognito, Sleeper, Criminal. I really need to find some time to dig into this stuff.










The Summit of the Gods by Yumemakura Baku & Jiro Taniguchi - I have basically decided to buy any book that Ponent Mon releases. Especially if Jiro Taniguchi is involved. I'm not particularly interested in the subject matter of this series, but I have yet to be disappointed by a Ponent Mon book. Someone there really knows what they are doing.









The Misadventures of Jane by JHG Freeman & Norman Pett - I am obsessed with all things British, so I couldn't pass up the chance to find out more. Jane was a World War II-era pinup and comic strip character that was very popular with soldiers. Possibly because she always seemed to end up missing some clothing. This was an entertaining read, but not brilliant. A nice peak into the past.

Mark's Box - November 2009

Quite a nice box again this month. A couple items from this box went right to the top of my stack and I've already read them. I haven't touched any of the featured items from last month yet. They are too huge to throw in my backpack for work, but I'll be trying to get them read soon.

Titles from this month that I have mentioned before: Freakangels vol 3, Whiteout vol 2, Runaways vol 9 & 10, Echo vol 3, 20th Century Boys vol 5, Sword vol 3. Lots of excellence there. And now the top three for the month...

Strangers In Paradise Omnibus by Terry Moore - This will surely be one of the top books of whatever year I read it. It is so huge. This is a limited edition, so if you want one you should go order it right now. If you like comics at all, this is for you. This comic has it all. I have read the first 2/5ths of this and I can't wait to sit and read the whole thing through. I think the only place to get this now is at Terry Moore's website.

A Distant Neighborhood, Volume 1 by Jiro Taniguchi - I have been anxiously awaiting this book for over a year. Jiro Taniguchi is one of my favorite manga creators. I heard about this book from the publisher at Comic-Con 2008 and it is finally here. This story is so right up my alley. A 48-year-old takes the wrong train and finds himself mysteriously transported back in time. He is 14-years-old but retains all the knowledge of how his life turned out. Check it out on Amazon.

Fell by Warren Ellis & Ben Templesmith - A few years back, I used to go to the comic book store every wednesday and buy individual issues of comics. I don't do that anymore. Now I buy the trade paperback collections because they are easier to read and store and are often cheaper. This is one of my favorite comics from those issues days, but I only read the first couple issues before I stopped going each week. So, I am really looking forward to more of this awesome book. Check it out on Amazon.

Pile Of Shame - Vampire Update

Weekend is over and I cleared something from my pile of shame! Yay me. I completed one play of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Too many words in that title, but what an amazing game! It is a pc game from 2004 that really should be talked about as one of the best RPGs ever. I wasn't expecting a long, engrossing, awesome game when I fired it up. I did the little 'answer these questions to select your character type' thing and jumped right in. Totally enjoyed almost every minute of it.

Why isn't this talked about as one of the best games? Well, it was super-buggy and then then the company went out of business. So, the internet did something right for a change. Over the years they have patched the game to make it super-playable. Thank you internet! I bought the game on sale for $5 from Direct2Drive and then patched the game with the latest fan patch from Tessmage.com. Ignore all the digital porn on that site and just download the VTMB patches. Took a bit of time to get all the patches installed and working, but it was totally worth the effort.

I played thru once and there are four other endings possible, so I will definitely be back. If a certain game containing dragons wasn't being released in two hours and forty-seven minutes, I would be playing VTMB right now.

Holy Shits! I just found a totally different mod that will make future playthroughs super excellent. The Companion mod will allow you to recruit and control other characters. Have them fight for you, hang out in your haven, etc. I definitely am glad I played it solo on the first game, but this should make future plays interesting in a whole new way.

Pile Of Shame - Video Game Edition UPDATE

A quick update to my pile of shame. It has not shrunk. It has grown. Two months since I announced my grand plans and they have not happened yet. Shocking. I did spend a bit of time playing some random games as noted previously. I spent the majority of my gaming time playing Football Manager 2009 and World of Warcraft. In the few hours I didn't spend in those games, I was buying other games. Damn you internet and your sales. I did play some Pirates and Railroads, so those aren't really shame games. But I haven't touched Hitman, Hitman 2, Hitman 3, Drakensang or Vampire: The Masquerade at all.

This weekend I will endeavor to clear something from my pile of shame. My World Of Warcraft account is not active. Dragon Age comes out tuesday. So, I have three days to do something about my pile before Dragon Age arrives and consumes all my free time.

My September of Computer Gaming

I am typically a console gamer. These days almost exclusively on the xbox360. This year, I have started to devote some more of gaming time to playing games on the computer. I use a Mac, so gaming isn't that easy. Back in January I installed Windows Vista on a separate partition, so that i could join the rest of the world and play some PC games. It has been a pretty good year. September was particularly eventful, so I've decided to make a little list of the games I played last month.

Football Manager 2009 - Every other year or so, I become completely addicted to this game. I love it so much, but I really have to keep it out of sight or it would take over and not let me play any other games. So I played this and nothing else for about three weeks this year. Then I put it away and will probably return to it again in January.

Desktop Tower Defense - My first tower defense game. It is supposedly one of the better ones. I enjoyed it for thirty minutes or so. I will return periodically, but not something I want to play every day.

Tropico 3 Demo - I played a shit-ton of Tropico back in the day. There is a new version coming out next month that looks like a return to the excellence of the original Tropico. the demo was great. I will definitely be buying this game at some point.

Majesty 2 Demo - I am not a fan of RTSs (real-time strategy), so I was quite skeptical that would like this game which is sort of an RTS. It came highly recommended, so I gave it a shot. In this game you don't actually control any units, which is why I was interested. You build buildings which allow you to build different types of units, but once created the units just cruise around and do their own thing. You can lure them to certain areas. Place an exploration bounty on an area and some unit will want to cruise out there to collect the gold. Declare that you want the wolves cleared out of an area and will pay 500 gold and some hero will wander over to kill the wolves. A nifty idea. The first scenario in the demo was quite fun and short. The second was way to fucking hard. I can't see myself paying $40 for this, but if it goes on sale I will think about giving it a further look.

Prison Tycoon 4 Demo - I have never really played a Tycoon game and this one sounded like it could be fun. It was also on sale for $5, but instead of just buying it I checked out the demo. There was no real tutorial, so I spent about 45 minutes trying to figure out how the game worked. I never really got the hang of it and it didn't seem like it would be as fun as I had hoped. So, I didn't buy it.

Diablo 2 - I've never played Diablo and I keep hearing about its awesomeness, so it was time to try it out. My wife had a copy sitting around, so I installed it and jumped right in. Two hours of clicking the mouse button later, I quit the game. I didn't really have that much fun. If I had played Diablo back in the day I probably would have enjoyed it, but it isn't the type of gaming experience I am looking for right now.

Sid Meier's Pirates - Another update to a game I played a lot as a teenager. Pirates was awesome and this version is awesome too. It was on sale for $5 and I bought it and I love it.

Sid Meier's Railroads - I've never played the computer game version of Railroad Tycoon, so I dropped $5 on this to give it a try. I played it pretty obsessively for about three days and had a super great time. I will definitely be putting more hours into this.

Drakensang: The Dark Eye - An 80-hour, single-player RPG that has been getting solid reviews. I figured I would pick this up eventually. Then it went on sale for $5 and I bought it. Haven't tried it out yet, but it looks like it will be a good time.

World Of Warcraft - It looked like that would be the end of my computer gaming for September, but my son activated his World Of Warcraft account again recently. He was complaining about not having enough gold to get his flying training, so I activated my account to send him some gold. And since my account was now active for the first time in a year, I decided to check in on my characters. And now I've been back playing WOW for a couple weeks. It has been fun getting back in. My son and I spent the vast majority of last weekend cruising around together and we had a blast. I know I am not back in WOW for good, but I will give it a month and have some fun before Dragon Age comes out next month...

Mark's Box - October 2009

Holy crap. This was my biggest box ever. Chock full of awesome. I haven't been reading comics the last couple weeks because I've been reading some non-graphic novels. But this box is making me wish I wasn't in the middle of two books right now. I need to start reading these things as soon as possible.

But first, a quick update on last month's featured titles. Pax Romana = Awesome. Essex County = Still unread. Unknown Soldier = Mildly intriguing, but not for me.

This month's titles that did not make the top three or have been previously mentioned: Pluto Vol 5, Black Jack Vol 6, Black Jack Vol 7, Marvel 1602 (by Neil Gaiman), Marvel Masterworks Avengers Vol 2, Ythaq Vol 2, and more...

Anyone who can spot the connection between this month's featured titles and posts a comment is entered in a contest to win my copy of Unknown Soldier trade paperback volume one.

V For Vendetta by Alan Moore & David Lloyd - A little known early work from an up-and coming talent. Well, maybe not. Alan Moore. Heard of him? He wrote a little book called Watchmen that got a bit of press recently. This is probably his second most 'famous' book and I've never read it. That will change soon. Really looking forward to this one. Amazon link

Promethea by Alan Moore, JH Williams III, & Mick Gray - To kind of quote the wikipedia article: 'Promethea explored Moore's ideas about consciousness, mysticism, magic, écriture féminine and the Kabbalah.' I am not even sure what all those words mean, but it sounds highfalutin and possibly awesome. If anyone can make that awesome, I trust Alan Moore to do it. Amazon link

Tom Strong by Alan Moore & Chris Sprouse - It's got a gorilla, so it must be good. Tom Strong is a tribute to the old-timey pulp comics from Alan Moore. Tom Strong is a 'science-hero' who lives forever or something like that. Should be a groovy read. Amazon link

Mark's Box - September 2009

October's box should be here very soon and I still haven't told you about September's box. The reason? Football Manager. I have been seriously addicted to this game. So, that is why I am getting this post up so late.

Update on August's box: Echo by Terry Moore - I have read the first two trades and I really like what I have seen so far. A great foundation that hints at awesome stuff to come. Prince Valiant by Harold Foster - I was secretly hoping this book would be boring, so that I didn't have to buy all the rest of them. (Un) fortunately, it was far from boring. It was quite fun and I am looking forward to reading and buying the next twenty-something volumes.

On first glance, this month's box wasn't quite as awesome as last month's, but still plenty of great stuff. I've mentioned these titles before: The Walking Dead Vol 10, 20th Century Boys Vol 4, The Sword Vol 2, & Ikigami Vol 2. And now on to the new featured items.

Pax Romana by Jonathan Hickman - If you were to design the perfect comic book for me, this book would meet eight of the ten things I love most about comics. I don't really know what those ten things are, but I do know the two things it lacks. What is not lacking is truly amazing story and art. In the near future, scientists working for the Catholic Church develop time travel. So, they decide to send some people back to Constantinian era Rome in order to help the Church and humanity develop a bit differently. Hilarity ensues. Actually, no hilarity, but plenty of awesomeness. The one thing this book really needs is more pages, more volumes, more, more, more. Amazon link.

Collected Essex County by Jeff Lemire - I don't know much about the story in this book, but I have heard from 742 sources that Jeff Lemire's Essex County trilogy is amazing. So, when they announced this one volume collection, I figured I should get it. Haven't read it yet. Amazon link.

Unknown Soldier by Joshua Dysart & Alberto Ponticelli - I am not sure about this book. I am halfway through reading it, but it hasn't grabbed me yet. The setting is what caught my interest. It takes place in Uganda and concerns the Lord's Resistance Army, night commuters and child soldiers. I am not sure about the execution of the story though. I will finish it today and hopefully have something better to say then. Amazon link.

Pile Of Shame - Video Game Edition

I became aware of the term 'Pile of Shame' through the excellent Gamers With Jobs podcast/website/forums. I do believe the term originated elsewhere, perhaps over at 1up as some have suggested. In my definition, the pile of shame refers to the stack of media I have spent money on, but haven't consumed yet. In these tough economic times, I am going to endeavor to shrink my piles of shame. It makes sense to go back and play games I have already spent money on before spending money on new games. This is partly motivated by a lack of games coming out that really interest me. The only game scheduled for this year that I am dying to play is Dragon Age Origins. My plan is to make that my only video game purchase for myself for the rest of the year. At the same time, I am going to attempt to keep playing the games I already own. So, let's take a look at what games I own, haven't finished, and might possibly play. If you see one of your favorites here, be sure to mention it and I will maybe move it to the top of the stack.

Xbox 360

Fallout 3 Downloadable Content (I have played about 100 hours of Fallout 3, but haven't touched any of the FOUR expansions.)

Fable II (I played quite a bit, but I was mildly disappointed in the game. I need to play it some more.)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (i have put tons of hours in, but still haven't finished the expansion)

Overlord (half finished)

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts And Bolts (10% finished)

Enchanted Arms (never played)

Just Cause (60% finished)

The Orange Box: Portal (never played)

The Orange Box: Half Life (barely started)

Viva Pinata (not played nearly enough)

Xbox Live Arcade

Peggle

Magic The Gathering

Xbox

Armed and Dangerous

Beyond Good and Evil

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (60% finished)

Oddworld Munch's Oddysee

Oddworld Strangers Wrath

Panzer Dragoon Orta

Shenmue II

XIII (50% finished)

Playstation 2

The Bard's Tale (10% finished)

Bully (50% finshed)

Final Fantasy X

The Getaway

God Of War

Ico

Jak II

Jak 3

Katamari Damacy

Kingdom Hearts II

Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil

Shadow Of The Colossus

Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves

Suikoden IV

Viewtiful Joe 2

Playstation

Final Fantasy I

Final Fantasy II

Final Fantasy IX

The Legend of Dragoon

Oddworld Abe's Exoddus

Oddworld Abe's Oddysee

The X-Files

Gamecube

iNinja

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (50% finished)

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

Tales Of Symphonia (60% finished)

Viewtiful Joe

Gameboy

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney

Metal Gear Solid

PC

Mount & Blade

King's Bounty: The Legend

Far Cry

World Of Goo

Dark Messiah Might & Magic

Tomb Raider: Anniversary

Mark's Box - August 2009

Has it really been a month since I have posted anything? I have had lots of posts in mind, but I've been too lazy to sit and post them. Or perhaps I was too engrossed in other things...

An update on last month's box: Ythaq was pretty interesting. The story took a bit of time to hook me, but I was drawn into it by the end. The art is quite wonderful. I look forward to more. Low Moon by Jason was quite excellent too. Jason ended up winning another Eisner this year and Low Moon will probably be nominated next year. He really is one of the best in the business right now. I haven't gotten around to Sleeper yet.

This month's box may be one of the best boxes I have ever gotten. There is so much good stuff in it, I really don't know where to start. I don't feature items on here that I have listed in the past, but I will list the stuff I got this week that I can't wait to read. Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, Northlanders Vol 2, Pluto Vol 4, and Red Sonja Vol 6. I really should start reading them all right now. Aside from all that awesomeness there are some new books that look quite cool. Here is the top three:

Echo by Terry Moore - I have no idea what this book is about. Terry Moore wrote Strangers In Paradise for years and I have loved the first few books of that series. He has also done some writing for Marvel that I will be picking up soon. I had a brief chat with him at Comic-Con and he was very nice considering the stuff I was babbling wasn't making much sense. Check this book out on Amazon here.

The Nobody by Jeff Lemire - Jeff Lemire is one of the most celebrated indie comic creators of the last few years. His Essex County trilogy has won tons of awards. I haven't read it, but it should be showing up in a box sometime soon. This story takes the classic character the Invisible Man and drops him into a modern town. Sounds quite cool. Check it out on Amazon here.

Prince Valiant, Vol. 1: 1937-1938 by Hal Foster - Super old school comic strips from the newspapers. This book is huge. I don't think it will fit on my shelves. I love reading comics from way back when and this one looks awesome. The strip lasted for something like 35 years. I am looking forward to an epic tale. Check out a cool review of it here. And it is on Amazon here.

Mark's Box - July 2009

Low Moon by Jason - Quite a hefty box this month. It was tough picking my three favorites. Up first we have the new book from Jason. He won the Eisner award in 2007 and 2008 for Best US Edition of International Material (Non-Japan) and is nominated again this year. Low Moon will probably be nominated next year. So, you know the industry types love him and so do I. This will be the next book I start reading. Check it out on Amazon here.Sleeper, Season One by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips - I read a couple issues of Sleeper, Season Two awhile back and it was quite excellent. So, I decided to wait until all the trades were released to get the whole story. This story spins off from Point Blank and then moves to Sleeper, Season Two which should be here soon. I can't wait to dig in to the whole thing. Amazon has it here.
Ythaq: The Forsaken World by Christophe Arleston & Adrien Floch - Marvel has struck a deal with a French comic company called Soleil. Marvel is bringing several of Soleil's titles to the US and Ythaq is the second I have picked up. The art looks amazing and I am really looking forward to reading this science fiction epic. Check it out at Amazon here.

Mark's Box - June 2009

Not a bad box this month. Further volumes of Pluto and 20th Century Boys are eagerly anticipated additions to my stack. I shall be reading them shortly. I also finally got my Obama bobblehead that I ordered back in January. And now on to the three new books I am most looking forward to reading.

Ikigami has a pretty cool concept. The Japanese government decides to kill one young adult every day. The lucky person chosen is given notification 24 hours before they are to die. Sounds entirely realistic. I can't wait to see if it is as good as it sounds. Check out a review here.

Sexy spy undergoing some kind of breakdown? Sounds cool to me. Pherone has some great artwork. I hope the story stands up to the coolness of the art. Check out the CBR preview here.

I really cannot remember why I ordered Johnny Hiro. The blurb sounds cool. Maybe it was recommended by one of the two comics podcasts I listen to (Comic Geek Speak or Collected Comics Library). It was nominated for four Eisners, so it should be worth a read. Check it out at Amazon here.

Harry Potter Film Festival

My wife is in the Bahamas for a few days, so I was alone today. What wild and crazy thing did I decide to do with my saturday? A Harry Potter film festival of course!

I will start out by saying that I always hate the movies when I first see them. I spend the entire viewing cataloging everything that is different from the books. Then I spend hours, days, weeks complaining about how the movies are shit. Let's see if they have grown on me after repeated viewings.

Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone (2001) - A relatively enjoyable introduction to the world of Harry Potter. This film is a pleasant viewing experience. The differences from the book are significantly less important to the story than we will see in later films.

The Good: The majority of the cast is spot on to how I pictured them in in my mind. Mr. Ollivander is particularly good in a small role.

The Bad: Professor Quirrell didn't work for me.

Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets (2002) - Another relatively pleasant viewing experience. Chris Columbus really does a fine job at making the first two films good family entertainment. The series would get 'edgy' starting with the next movie. The first two films also feature Richard Harris as Dumbledore. I appreciate Harris' portrayal more after seeing Gambon in the next three movies, but Harris still isn't perfect in the role.

The Good: Kenneth Branagh is quite good as Lockhart.

The Bad: I find Dobby to be mildly annoying in the movies. They really should have made a bigger deal out of how much everyone at the school thought Harry was the Heir of Slytherin. "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin. Seriously evil wizard coming through." The chat with Dumbledore at the end of the movie is way too short. I was very sad not to see Harry receive his valentine from Ginny.

Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004) - Probably my favorite film of the series so far. New director Alfonso Cuarón really took things in a new direction and I enjoy most of it. I am not saying it is a perfect adaptation, but the bad things in this one are the least objectionable to me.

The Good: David Thewlis is quite good as Lupin. The trio gets more emotional development than they did in the first couple films. Stan Shunpike is awesome.

The Bad: Harry performing magic outside of school. Draco Malfoy hasn't been developed as a true rival to Harry. Snape also doesn't seem to be getting the screen time I would like to see.

The Really Bad: Michael Gambon was given the role of Dumbledore.

Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire (2005) - This one still hasn't grown on me yet. It is bad. I understand the book is huge, but I really disagree with the choices they made on what to keep. In addition, I really hate they way the presented much of the stuff they did keep. Maybe another five viewings and I will like it. Maybe.

The Good: The progression of the Ron/Hermione relationship.

The Bad: I really, really hate the way the Barty Crouch Jr. stuff was handled; both the story changes and the actor who played him. The Death Eater attack at the Quidditch World Cup is a total joke. Why is the Goblet of Fire so huge? Gambon is completely awful as Dumbledore. Why is the pensieve so huge? The first task is portrayed in a really awful way. The Weird Sisters. Moaning Myrtle trying to see Harry's dick through their whole conversation. Neville saying, "I killed Harry Potter." The Grindylow attack on Harry. The lack of obstacles in the maze aside from the bushes. Ralph Fiennes is okay as Voldemort, but I am not too happy with the way the films portray him. Once again, Harry and Dumbledore need to chat more at the end. Brendan Gleeson is pretty awful as Moody. The way Sirius talks to Harry in the fireplace is all wrong.

Things I Really Miss: Dudley eating the Ton-Tongue Toffee. S.P.E.W. Harry learning to fight the Imperius Curse. Priori Incantatem is not explained at all. Dumbledore's disagreement with Fudge at the end of the book really should be in. It sets up the coming battles.

Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix (2007) - When I first saw this film, I nearly walked out during the opening scene. Today was my second viewing and it was still completely awful. JK Rowling has said this is the "best one yet." I respectfully disagree.

The Good: Luna Lovegood.

The Bad: Harry takes his wand out to threaten Dudley with all Dudley's friends standing there. International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, anyone ever heard of it? Soon after there is a broomstick flight that goes right down the Thames. Right next to a touristy boat. Hello?! Secrecy! Harry's frustration at being deprived of information all summer was really under-developed. Harry should have been much angrier when he finally arrived at Grimmauld place. The smear campaign against Harry needed to be explained a lot more. Mrs. Figg. I don't like the decor in the Ministry. Harry's battle of wills with Umbridge is not developed enough. Harry's dreams. Gambon again. The Weasley Twins disrupting exams. Grawp. Umbridge breaking into the Room of Requirement. The battles at the Ministry. Harry hearing the prophecy at the Ministry. Harry handing the prophecy to Lucius! Probably the shortest Harry/Dumbledore chat ever.

The Things I Really Miss: Harry hiding in the bushes trying to hear the news. The cavalcade of owls delivering letters after the dementor attack. The muggle dueling after the quidditch match. All the rooms in the Department of Mysteries. Weasley is our king. Snape's Worst Memory. Ron and Hermione becoming prefects! The Quibbler.

As you can see, it is easier to write more when the movies suck. Hopefully I won't have much negative to say about the three remaining movies. We shall see.

Mark's Box - May 2009

Holy rising hemlines, Batman! My box was chock full of excellence this month. I could list something like eight titles and they would all be great. The top three were still pretty easy to select. I have a sneaking suspicion that you may see some of these titles on my year-end best of list.

Greg Rucka has joined the small list of writers who are instant buys for me. He hasn't disappointed me yet. I read volume one of Queen & Country a while ago and it blew me away. I turned right around and ordered the next two volumes which showed up today. After I finish the book I'm currently reading, this is the next one I will start. Check out Oni's Queen & Country page here.

Warren Ellis is another writer that hasn't disappointed me yet. I got three Warren Ellis books today. He really writes a lot of stuff. My favorite series of his so far is Freak Angels. Volume two just showed up and I will be reading it right after I finish Queen & Country. Freak Angels is a free webcomic, but I have never read it online. Check it out here.

Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers, Volume 1 finally in trade paperback. This is the old school Avengers from the 1960s written by Stan Lee. Last month I got the first X-Men volume, so I am happy to see my Masterworks collection growing. Check out Marvel's Avengers page here.

Pruning the DVD Collection

I've got a reasonably large dvd collection. Probably larger than most people. I own somewhere around 500 dvds. Unfortunately, most of them have been gathering dust. I decided to severely limit my new dvd purchases about a year ago. I have still picked up a couple, but the collection has not grown significantly in the past twelve months. Now it is time to prune.

I have been using Netflix and Netflix instant more and more in the past year and I am sure other streaming or downladable movie solutions will find their way into my house. So, why do I need these racks of dvds gathering dust? I don't. There are some dvds I won't part with. I went through my collection last night and looked most of them up on the SecondSpin.com database to see what they would give me for them. I found 100 titles that I feel reasonably okay about getting rid of. I am far too lazy to list them all individually on ebay, so I prefer to send one box off and get some cash in return. I have used SecondSpin in the past when I sold off all my cds.

So, 100 titles down and my dvd collection is still too big. I can't wait until the time comes when I can pay $1 to watch any movie streamed or something like that. Chances are I will still hold on to some dvds, but the fewer the better.

If  you'd like to see what I have left, my library is online here. Change the 'shelf' to dvds.

Zach16 is worth a look

Check out Zach16.com. It is a pretty good web show so far. Episodes are about three minutes long and worth watching.

Adopt A Character for 2009 Update

I adopted Red Sonja this year and just finished up the first three books in my Red Sonja education. Red Sonja headlined her own book for 22 issues at Marvel in the 70s. These are collected in three volumes. These volumes have gotten pretty terrible reviews on Amazon. Apparently, the digital coloring that was done for the collection was not well received by long-time Sonja fans. I have never seen the originals and I can't imagine I will be tracking them down. Maybe if another version with better art comes out I will buy them again because the stories are wonderful.

These issues were released between 1975 and 1979. I didn't notice the artwork being that horrible while reading the books. Don't let the art complaints keep you from picking these books up. Who knows if there will be another release and tracking the issues down would be a pain. If you are at all interested in Red Sonja, you should read these books. Four out of five stars. Volume 1 - Volume 2 - Volume 3

The Best & Worst Of Last Week - Musical/Music-Related Movie Edition

I was on vacation last week and I spent most of it sitting in this chair. I wasn't feeling great, so I played a shit-ton of Everquest 2 and watched movie after movie via Netflix Instant. Sixteen movies and ten episodes of Dragnet to be somewhat exact. There happened to be six musicals/music-related movies on the list of movies I watched, so I figured I would put together one of my best/worst blog posts.

1. Crossroads (1986) - I haven't seen this movie in a long time and I forgot how excellent it is. I'd always remembered it as a solid film, but this viewing pushed it into five-star status. Aside from the excellent music, there is a fantastic story and terrific acting from everyone involved. A classic movie.

2. Duets (2000) - I am sure many people passed on this movie simply because of the karaoke subject matter. They made a mistake. Duets is a wonderful film with humor, passion, depth, and much more. Oh yeah, and there is also some fun karaoke. Plus, it has got Pig Vomit in it. I can't think of a movie Pig Vomit has made that wasn't worth watching.

3. Enchanted (2007) - My first exposure to this movie was seeing the songs performed on the Oscars broadcast. They seemed pretty drab, but I assumed I would see the movie someday. I am glad that I did. I enjoyed just about every minute and laughed out loud several times. The songs really work amazingly well in the movie. A really fun movie. The second best non-Pixar movie Disney released in the 2000s. Do you know what the best one was?

4. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) - A well-earned Best Actress Oscar for Sissy Spacek. Spacek does an amazing job acting and singing. Tommy Lee Jones is great too. I have seen this three times now and I am sure I will see it again. A great story. Even if you don't like Country music, you should give this a try.

5. Music Of The Heart (1999) - I can't really remember this movie being released in the theaters. One of Meryl Streep's fifty-four Oscar nominations and she is quite good. The story may be familiar, but this movie is elevated into four star territory by some excellent music.

Most Surprising - Colma: The Musical (2006) - I typically put a worst item sixth on the list, so I dialed up Colma because there was a good chance it would be awful. The Netflix Instant description does this movie no favors. It said something about it being set in a town outside San Francisco with more dead people that living. It could have been really bad or really good. I turned out to be somewhat wonderful. This is about the most low-budget musical around. It makes Once look like Moulin Rouge. But that is part of the charm. These are real people living a real life and they just happen to break into song once in awhile. The songs aren't amazing and the singing isn't brilliant, but that just adds to the wonderfulness.  Definitely not for everyone, but give it a half hour and you might get hooked like I did.

Mark's Box - April 2009

My box was quite full today. But first a quick update on last month's box...

I have read two of the three items I featured last month. Pluto was amazing. It is a wonderful noirish detective story with robots. Definitely worth hunting down. 20th Century Boys started off pretty slowly and I wasn't sure I was going to like it. By the end of volume one, I was loving it. I can't wait for the second volumes of both.

Oh, look! Pluto volume 2 showed up today! I won't be featuring further volumes of things I have already mentioned, but I can't wait to read more Pluto. I also got two further volumes of Black Jack (which is high on my favorite comics of all-time list already) and three Red Sonja books. Now on to the featured titles.

I have been wanting to invest in the Marvel Masterworks books for some time, but I didn't want to shell out the bucks for the sweet hardcovers. I knew once I bought one, I would need to own them all. Thankfully, Marvel has decided to start releasing them in paperback editions. I can afford to buy them all in this format. Marvel Masterworks The X-Men, Volume 1 just arrived. It collects the first ten issues from the 60s written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby. Excellent stuff that I have read before, but not in color. Read Marvel's description of the book here.

The blurb for American Jesus sounded really cool. A twelve-year-old boy suddenly discovers he is the returned Jesus Christ. I find out now that a movie is in the works. Should be an interesting read. Check out CBR's story here.

Air: Letters From Lost Countries completes my featured titles this month. The synopsis sounded good, but Neil Gaiman's stamp of approval on the cover is what sold me on this. A stewardess is in love with a mysterious passenger. Her journey to find him leads to various shenanigans. Check out a review of it here.

Mark's Box - March 2009

Quite a small box this month. Only three titles to add to my stack, but they all have high potential for awesome. I did get four mangas delivered this week through Paperbackswap. I get a lot of high quality stuff from there. This week it was three volumes of Golgo 13 and one of Trigun. Looking forward to it all.

Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 1 - Naoki Urasawa is one of the most respected manga writers these days. In this title, he re-imagines the Astro Boy world into something new and different. I am really looking forward to this. Check out this review.

20th Century Boys, Volume 1 - Another Naoki Urasawa title. He also wrote Monster, which I have not read yet. I don't know much about any of these titles this week, but they look really cool. Check out this review.

The Roberts - The tag line is 'One retirement home, two serial killers.'  That sounds like the perfect recipe for fun! Check out this review.

The Best & Worst of 2008 - Video Games Edition

I believe this will be the last of my Best & Worst lists for 2008. The vast majority of my video gaming in 2009 was done on the Xbox360, so all the titles here are for that system. So far there hasn't been any must-play games for me on the other two consoles, so I haven't felt the need to buy them. Someday maybe. For now, I am quite happy with gaming on the 360.

1. Fallout 3 (2008) - My favorite game of the year by far. My favorite game ever. I spent hours and hours playing Morrowind and Oblivion, so I was really anticipating Bethesda's next game. I scheduled the day off work. I picked it up at midnight and played it for 24 hours straight before going to bed. I kept playing and playing and it never got boring. There is so much to see and do. And then there is VATS which never gets old.

2. BioShock (2007) - This is my kind of FPS. I don't like shooters where you run around and constantly kill wave after wave of enemy. I like to take my time and explore. I like a compelling story. BioShock is all about the story. My feeble FPS skillz were adequate to get me through this wonderful game.

3. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 (2008) - I can still remember ten-year-old me sitting on the living room floor playing Asteroids on my 2600 for hours and hours. Not much has changed in twenty-seven years. Well, i guess the games have changed a bit. And I tend to sit on the couch now instead of the floor. 

4. N+ (2008) - Another retro-looking game that does everything right. This game is hard, but so much fun that it doesn't matter. There is an achievement you unlock when you die 1000 times. Never has failure been so much fun.

5. Overlord (2007) - I really need to finish this game. Having a horde of minions to do your bidding is great fun. In addition to the great fighting and puzzle solving, the game is hilarious. An underrated gem.

Worst. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008) - I finished this game, but it was so frustrating to get through. Very, very annoying gameplay. The story was fine, the force powers were mostly fun, but overall it was a mess. Finished it and I hope I never have to play it again. I think the only Star Wars games that have been worth playing are the two Knights of the Old Republic games.

If I Picked The Oscars...

The Academy Awards kick off in a few hours, so I thought I would post my winners now. That way the winners can celebrate early since I am sure they are anxious to hear my thoughts. I haven't seen all the movies, so some of these awards are based on me watching the trailers. Here are the categories that I have some opinion about.

• Best Actor in a Leading Role - Sean Penn in Milk
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
• Best Actress in a Leading Role - Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler
• Best Directing - Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Documentary Feature - Man On Wire
• Best Song - "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Original Screenplay - In Bruges

UPDATE: Six of the nine I was rooting for went home with the actual awards. I missed on both female acting awards and original screenplay. I am quite happy Kate Winslet finally picked up her Oscar. I do wish that In Bruges or Happy-Go-Lucky would have won the screenplay award. They are both wonderful smaller films that should be seen by more people.

UPDATE 4/18/09: So, I finally got around to seeing 'Milk' last night and I was underwhelmed. It was a decent movie, but I didn't find it that compelling. I still haven't seen three of the other Best Actor films, so I don't know which performance should have won.

The Best & Worst of 2008 - Movies Edition

Here is another of my best and worst lists. As usual, there are items that came out before 2008 on the list, but I did make some effort to include only movies that are relatively new. The vast majority of my movie watching is done at home. I only saw three movies in the theater in 2008, so I tend to be catching up on older movies more often than seeing the current hot movies.

1. Millennium Actress (2001) - Before watching this, I had a list of my top ten favorite movies. Now I have a top eleven list. I don't know what to remove, but Millennium Actress is now one of my favorite movies. A documentary filmmaker is investigating the life of a famous actress. Her life's story is told through flashback and reality blurs with her cinematic history. All of Satoshi Kon's films are wonderful, but this is my favorite.

2. In Bruges (2008) - Martin McDonagh's first full-length film is excellent. Two hitmen hide out in Bruges, Belgium after a job. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are the hitmen who deal with their time in Bruges in very different ways. Bonus points for excellent use of a dwarf! I hope it wins the Oscar for Best Screenplay tomorrow night.

3. The Dark Knight/Iron Man (2008) - I still haven't decided which of these I like better, so I'll put them both at number three. Iron Man is more fun and Robert Downey, Jr. is perfect as Tony Stark. The Dark Knight is chock full of excellent performances and dark comic goodness. 

4. Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer (2006) - Patrick Süskind wrote the novel, one of my favorites. I was ready to hate the movie if it strayed too far from the book. I was pleasantly surprised to find the movie just as wonderfully twisted and fascinating as the book. It appears that no one in America went to see this movie in the theaters. It made $2 million in the U.S.A., but $135 million worldwide. Take a tip from the world and rent this movie.

5. This Is England (2006) - I am instantly interested in any film set in England. Unfortunately, they aren't all this good. Shaun is a troubled 12-year-old who stumbles his way into a gang of skinheads. Hilarious hijinks ensue. According to the picture, they are all about peace.

The worst movie I saw for the first time in 2008 was a Steven Seagal abomination called Flight of Fury, but the most disappointing was Leatherheads (2008). George Clooney is one of my favorite big-time-Hollywood actors. I typically love screwball comedies. I figured this would at least be a fun watch and it had a possibility of being great. But it wasn't. The parts just didn't gel into a fun movie for me.