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.