Current Mood: Indifferent & Tired

This time, the above average Part 1 offerings. There will be spoilers, so if you don’t want to be spoiled you might as well move on. We’ll start with comics.

First up is the Ultimates Volume 1&2 - The Ultimates is a re-imagining of many Marvel comic favorites…and not so favorites. The Cast includes Nick Fury, Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Hank Pym(Giant Man/Ant Man) his wife The Wasp, and in minor roles, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Black Widow.

The tone is a little grittier than some comics, and some of the super heroes aren’t so super. For example, the Hulk goes on a murderous rampage. The Ultimates are Ultimately forced to execute The Hulk. Dr Hank Pym is a wife beater, even going so far as to send an army of ants after his wife while in her Wasp form. The Thor side story was fun and actually made me like him(wasn’t ever a fan). And the overall story arcs of both volumes were pretty good. I say pick up the graphic novels and give them a read.

Next up, Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Guilty Pleasures - I’ve never read any of the Anita Blake books, hell never heard of them until this comic was released. The story is set in a place where Vampires, werewolves, and all kinds of creepy crawlies exist. Vampires are now “out” among the public. Anita, a necromancer and licensed Vampire Hunter is hired/blackmailed by the Master Vampire of the city to investigate a series of Vampire murders. She does so, and in the process gets into a whole lot of shit. If you’re into Vampires at all, check it out. Not sure if it’s available in Graphic Novel form yet. So you may have to acquire it through other means. Ebay, comic shop, *cough*demonoid.com*cough*

And the last post in part 1 of Above Average Media…an actual book…though it is Star Wars.
Star Wars: Darth Bane - Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn - Not near as good as the first one, but it mostly focused on his apprentice Zannah who I just couldn’t get into at all. It was still a good read and I really enjoyed the ending , but I had high expectations after the first Darth Bane book and Zannah didn’t deliver. So while it’s still above average, it was also disappointing in some respects.

Still left in Above Average Media reviews…
Live Free or Die Hard
Home Movies Season 2
Outlaw Star
Hard Boiled
3:10 to yuma

Current Mood: Chill

And by British, I of course mean reviews. Books, comics, games, and movies…mostly movies. While on my “vacation” I had lots of time for movie watching and did just that, as well as read a few books and comics so over the next few weeks, I will be reviewing said media. Upcoming for review…

Ultimates V1-2
Anita Blake - Vampire Hunter - Guilty Pleasures
Star Wars Darth Bane - Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn
Legacy of the Jedi 01 - Legacy of the Jedi (by Jude Watson)
Jedi Apprentice 01 - The Rising Force (by Dave Wolverton)
Chuck & Larry
Sansho the Bailiff
Live Free or Die Hard
Superbad
Home Movies Season 2
Boondocks Season 2
Outlaw Star
Hard Boiled
Election
Clerks 2
Replacements
3:10 to yuma
The Kingdom
Band of Brothers

I”ll start with the bad and mediocre. The bad being, “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”. I laughed a total of two times during the movie. It was just one long gay joke. The only saving grace…oh I think you know. Jessica Biel’s fine, fine ass. In the immortal words of Adam Sandler in the movie Billy Madison…”Soooo hot, want to touch the heinie.” That might be the best ass in Hollywood.

Want to touch the heinie

On to more bad. Next is the boring, pointless, uninteresting pile of literary feces by the name of “Legacy of the Jedi” (by Jude Watson). It was a 3 part series. After reading the first, I skipped it’s sequels. So bad. Nothing more needs to be said…skip it!

On to mediocre, we have the straight to DVD “Big Stan” starring Rob Schneider. It had everything I like in a comedy. It was crude, politically incorrect, violent, and nonsensical. It also had Bob Sapp, Don Frye, and Randy Couture in it who are all big names in MMA. Also stars Jennifer Morrison(House) and David Carradine. It’s not a movie I’d buy, but worth checking out with some friends.

And one last mediocre. Jedi Apprentice 01 - The Rising Force (by Dave Wolverton). It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good. Hence…mediocre. I’m just gonna copy&paste a review I put up elsewhere…
“Much better(referring to the craptastic “Legacy of the Jedi), but still a bit slow. Gave some pretty good insight into Obi Wan and Qui Gon Jinn’s early relationship and how he came to be Qui-Gon’s Padawan. Nothing terribly interesting.” If you’re bored, it’s raining, the spank bank is empty, the electricity is out, you own the book, and have nothing else to read…give it a shot. But don’t go out of your way to read it.

And that’s it for today. Live long and prosper…or don’t, whatever.

Well after “acquiring” 209 Star Wars novels.  I finished the first one today.  The first one being Darth Bane: Path of Destruction.  Based roughly 1000 years before the events of Episode I.  It’s a look at one of the most powerful and influential Sith Lords in the Star Wars universe, Darth Bane.  He single-handedly destroyed the sith as it was known then and rebuilt it based on the Sith Lords of the past.  Namely Darth Revan and the “Rule of Two.”  The Rule of Two being that there can only be two Sith Lords at any given time.  A master and apprentice.  The book doesn’t cover all of this.  This book basically just covers his origin.  How he went from a lowly miner, to Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith and completely destroyed the Sith as it was known at the time so he could enact his rule of two.  It was a really good read and can’t wait to read the next book in the Star Wars universe.

Current Mood: Surprised

Finally seen Dark Knight and wow.  I had waited cuz I wanted to see it in an Imax theater and due to unfortunate circumstances I wasn’t able to get out to see it until yesterday.  So me, mom, my two cousins and a friend made the 2 hour trip to Olathe to watch it.  And it was so worth it.

Imax is possibly the greatest invention ever.  The screen was massive.  Even better, the screen was gorgeous.  When it had the shots from above the city, it felt like you were above the city.  I imagine anyone with Vertigo would freak the fuck out.  Anyway I love me some Imax

Another piece of awesomeness…The Watchmen trailer.  Color me impressed.  Doctor Manhattan looked great which was my biggest fear…well besides the total anal raping of the incredible story which is still up for debate.  It looks really good.  Gonna have to read it again before the movie comes out.

Now onto the movie.  In the famous words of Joey from Blossom…”Woah”.  It was what I expected and more.  The Joker was incredible, and they will almost certainly catch hell if they try to bring him back.  Heath Ledger owned that role.  He should at least be considered for an Oscar.  And I’m somewhat surprised at how well Harvey Dent/Two Face was done.  Batman has the best villains of any character by far.

Now on the opposite side of things “Batman’s” voice irritated me this movie.  Just about half of what he said in the movie, sounded forced, cheesy or both.  Which bothers me somewhat as I really liked the way it sounded in Batman Begins.  Though I think Bale did a better job in this movie as Bruce than he did in the first one.  All in all, a great movie.  My favorite super-hero movie but Iron Man is close.  I’ll have to watch ‘em both again, see how they hold up.

Great fricken movie.

Also did a little shopping. Got Tre a bunch of clothes for school. Bought a few used, cheap games for him…and me. Including the awesomeness of Shaq Fu…oh yes Shaq fuckin’ Fu! As for me, I bought a few shirts, a nice Jordan jacket, and 3 more hats. A second Kangol, a Chiefs hat, and a Hurley hat. They’re sweet! Thats a total of 14 hats now. All in all, a good loooong day. We left the house at about 9:45AM and got home around 11:00PM. We had a good time though.

Until next time my oh so faithful readers…I’m out.

Current Mood: Happy

…wish it was Sunday, that’s not funnay, I don’t have to runnay…Just another media Monday.

Sorry, the song(”Manic Monday” I think by Bananarama ) has been stuck in my head all morning. Anyway, I don’t have a life to speak of so here’s a recap of shit I’ve watched…

House returned and it’s still all kinds of awesome. I’m liking the dynamic with House, Wilson, and Vindictive Bitch even if it is a bit childish. Also Kumar is starting to grow on me…he’ll always be Kumar but he’s starting to find his way.

Of course The Office is always great and last Thursday was no different. I missed some of it thanks to Mother Nature and frequent cut-ins by the local news weatherman to tell us about said Mother Nature. Stanley was great and Michael actually handling it well in the end really helped this episode. Kind of disappointed they didn’t follow up on Toby from the previous week and his oh so creepy knee rubbing.

Earl is Earl. Consistent but nothing you have to see.

Scrubs is still very funny and I’ll say it again. Scrubs final season yet ER is still going on.

Finished up Neil Gaiman’s Eternals. Good stuff. Looking forward to the upcoming series. Hopefully it’s a continuation of Gaiman’s work. Gonna read Live Wire next.

Went and seen Iron Man yesterday and it is fuckin’ awesome! Robert Downey Jr. played the role great. They sorta touched on Stark’s drinking problem which I’m guessing will play a bigger role in the sequel. As I’m sure War Machine will also make it’s first appearance as alluded to in the film, with Terrence Howard looking at the Iron Man prototype suit and saying…”Maybe next time.” And the teaser in the end credits was sweet. Ultimate Nick Fury!

Good year for for comic nerds, what with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk reboot, Dark Knight Returns, Hellboy 2 and the new Indiana Jones flick all hitting theater’s this summer. Can’t wait. I might go see Prince Caspian this month as well, depending on finances.

That is all…for Media Monday.

Current Mood: Tired

Just some random musings on things I’ve watched, read, and plan to watch, read.

I’ll start with Thursday night on NBC. A nice return of the Office we all know and love. Michael’s odd form of crazy, Creed’s awesome one-liner’s…”Then I’ll have 2, only one more to go.” lol. The sweet relationship between PB&J. Just good stuff last night. My favorite line/moment of the night was Michael’s conversation with Oscar. When he called Oscar, “Oscar Meiner Wiener Lover” and referenced his homosexuality as “your condition” I was rollin’. And of course the end with PB&J was great, and love those little moments in the show.

Earl had one of it’s better shows of recent. Funny and touching. Really, really enjoyed this weeks episode.

Scrubs has yet to be watched, but it’s almost guaranteed funny.

Next up is movie time! First up is Transformers. I was a HUGE Transformers freak as a kid. My favorites being Soundwave, Starscream, and of course Optimus. So initially I was excited as hell when I heard there was a live action version coming out…then I saw the character designs and my excitement was gone. I loved it when Megatron would transform into a gun for one of the Decepticons to fire. Anyway, so I decided to boycott then new movie. I was sick of Hollywood raping my childhood with half-assed uninspired remakes of things I loved as kid. Then I suddenly had a munchkin(Tre’) to entertain and had just bought the HD-DVD add on for my 360. So I broke down and bought Transformers in HD-DVD. I figured it’d at least be pretty and you can’t go wrong with giant fuckin robots beating the shit out of each other. So I watched it, and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t a Transformers movie as I knew it, but it was a fun action movie. Not gonna lie, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Needed a little more robot on robot action, but what can you do.

Also watched Stardust. Originally a book written by one of my favorite writers Neil Gaiman. I had a longer post concerning this movie but something fucked up and I lost it, so in summation, I will be buying this movie in the near future. Great fantasy movie.

I read The Secret Garden for the first time in like 20 years. Great book…for tweens. Next up in the literature department is The Eternals by the aforementioned Neil Gaiman or Live Wire by Jay MacLarty, the third book in the awesome Simon Leonidovic series.

In more pressing matters, is the sudden relationship between anime and Hollywood. We’ve already got Speed Racer coming. And according to Attack of the Show, Steven Spielberg is doing a live action version of Ghost in the Shell, M. Night Shyamalamadingdong is doing Avatar, and in the biggest head scratcher is Leonardo Dicaprio producing and starring in Akira. Fuck you Hollywood! So little creativity, so many greedy suits. I do however have a small interest in a live action Avatar, though finding someone good enough to fill the title role will be a bitch. He’s so damn likeable in the series.

That is all.

Current Mood: Rockin’

I’m a big fan of Vampires/Vampire lore. I am now a big fan of Richard Matheson. I Am Legend is 170 pages of greatness. I love the way he explained the Vampire “disease”. It all made perfect logical sense. Why they were afraid of crosses, garlic, their own reflection, etc. One of the few books I’ve read that has you interested from the very first page to the very end. And the end was fantastic. That final paragraph wrapping everything up perfectly as a new legend is born…

“A coughing chuckle filled his throat. He turned and leaned against the wall while he swallowed the pills. Full circle, he thought while the final lethargy crept into his limbs. Full circle. A new terror born in death, a new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever.
I am legend.”

I now am much LESS interested in the movie just based on what I’ve seen in the previews. Namely anything to do with the dog. I still plan to see it, but I have a feeling I’m gonna hate it.

Current Mood: Bored

In the process of “acquiring” 19 gigs of comics. Be like 3 more days before it’s done. It’s the whole Infinite Crisis saga, precursor, and aftermath. Pretty much DC’s Civil War in how it spans the entire DC universe. Don’t really know too much about it but when I saw I could get it all in one fell swoop…I swooped.

Also finished up Agent X. Pretty good short series. Only 15 issues but all wrapped well in the end, and Deadpool was “revived”. Now onto Cable & Deadpool and Civil War.

Hopefully a few of my favs show up at Comic-Con. Namely Gaiman, Alan Moore, and Mike Mignola…Oh and Frank Miller I guess. Still need to finish all the Sin City books. Only have 2 left. And that’s that. I did nothing today but watch Bionic Woman…still a remarkably average show.

Current Mood: Chill

…and I’m indifferent. Awesome beginning, above average middle, horrible 3rd quarter, and an end that just sort of meanders along into absurdity. If I gather everything right. Deadpool is invincible. Has a healing factor that can regenerate him from just a hand, and Thanos has “gifted” him to everlasting life due to Deaths apparent love for Deadpool. The series “ends”, but it continues in another new(at the time) ongoing series titled Agent X. Which I also have. I’ll probably read it next. It’s only 15 issues. Afterwards I’m not sure. Maybe finish up Sandman. Will say Deadpool is easily in my top 3 comic character’s ever. Hell, he’s in my top 10 for this panel alone…

Funniest panel ever?

Finally finished up Sourcery. Least favorite of the 3 Discworld novels I’ve read thus far but not bad by any means. This is the 3rd in the “Rincewind series” of books, and he’s as inept and effective as ever. As once again the world is threatened and the most inept wizard in any universe ever is smack dab in the middle of it. The “luggage” also returns but seemed an afterthought in this book. Like he didn’t really know what to do with it. Also a few new character’s were introduced. Namely Conina, daughter of the legendary Cohen the Barbarian, and Nijel…the Destroyer…son of Harebut the Provision Merchant, a young man only days into his career as a barbarian hero after reading a book called “Inne Just 7 Dayes I Wille Make You a Barbearian Hero!” “written” by Cohen the Barbarean.

The narrative was a bit long winded at times, but like in the last two Terry Pratchett books, the last 50 or so pages are a hell of a ride. As he concentrates on the story at hand instead of comparing and describing things for pages on end. Worth a read but definitely read “The Color of Magic” & “The Light Fantastic” first.