Thursday, May 31, 2007
Astro City
Yes, I read comic books. Step off... I play sports. I just picked up the trades of an excellent book by Kurt Busiek... Astro City. Essentially, it involves a fictional city with a ton of superheroes doing superheroic works. But, the book does not take a generic superhero approach, nor does it do any deconstruction a la The Watchmen. What Busiek does is go behind the scenes with his characters. I thought this was what would pull me in, but, in fact, I enjoy reading about superheroes that don't have long, convoluted, 50 year histories. It is quite an enjoyable read.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Clutch
Yes. A band I listened to prior to and after debates in high school. Step off... I also played football. Anyway, they have a couple newer albums that are quite enjoyable. A mix of industrial metal and blues/country. Wondrous.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Comic Books on TV
So I read my friend Joe's review of Spiderman 3 and realized something - comic books don't translate to movies. However, they WILL translate to TV. See, for example Heroes. And basically, BSG, The Wire, and Star Trek are essentially comic books on TV. And you have Smallville... which is not a comic book, but rather a teen show. So, here's how I see a way Marvel and DC can make loads of loot (or, perhaps, more appropriately, one of the smaller comic publishers).
Marvel sells The Avengers franchise to HBO to do a 12-episode series. Twelve one-hour episodes on the beginning of The Avengers. Maybe Episode One is two hours. You have Captain America recruiting the various heroes that he wants (and throw in a couple government guys). You have Iron Man, Ant Man, and The Wasp definitely. Hell, maybe make it like the Ultimates... throw in Thor, maybe the Hulk. There are your characters. Get them into some action against a rogue nation or something in the first episode. There's your First Issue, platinum covered. For issues two through twelve - trot out any number of baddies, make up your own, who cares? Develop interpersonal relationships amongst the group, throw in some humor and politics. End the first season on a cliffhanger (The Hulk goes nuts, for example).
There's your TV show. Twelve-thirteen hours = twelve comic books. Instead of throwing in as much as possible in a two and a half hour movie. And guess what? It's on HBO... it will be well-acted and well-written. You'll have great special effects. And you can throw in the violence associated with having an unrated show on HBO.
Anyway, in the infinity to one chance that someone who runs a comic book company reads this, take the idea and run with it. I don't want credit, I just want to see it happen.
Marvel sells The Avengers franchise to HBO to do a 12-episode series. Twelve one-hour episodes on the beginning of The Avengers. Maybe Episode One is two hours. You have Captain America recruiting the various heroes that he wants (and throw in a couple government guys). You have Iron Man, Ant Man, and The Wasp definitely. Hell, maybe make it like the Ultimates... throw in Thor, maybe the Hulk. There are your characters. Get them into some action against a rogue nation or something in the first episode. There's your First Issue, platinum covered. For issues two through twelve - trot out any number of baddies, make up your own, who cares? Develop interpersonal relationships amongst the group, throw in some humor and politics. End the first season on a cliffhanger (The Hulk goes nuts, for example).
There's your TV show. Twelve-thirteen hours = twelve comic books. Instead of throwing in as much as possible in a two and a half hour movie. And guess what? It's on HBO... it will be well-acted and well-written. You'll have great special effects. And you can throw in the violence associated with having an unrated show on HBO.
Anyway, in the infinity to one chance that someone who runs a comic book company reads this, take the idea and run with it. I don't want credit, I just want to see it happen.
Nick Reviews #3 - The Wire, Season One
Yeah buddy. The best show on television... ahead of even BSG. What is there not to like about this show? How about that it is too short? Even for an entire season. It also wrapped up fairly quickly, which I did not appreciate.
A little history about how I got into this show - my roommate in law school was obsessed with getting HBO, presumably for Sopranos. But then he started watching the second season of The Wire and said, "Dude (he said dude all the time), you have to watch this show." The third season was fantastic, so I said, "hey, the first two must be great as well." So, I watched the first season. Finished two days ago.
Story/Plot - The overarching plot of The Wire is that a pain-in-the-ass cop, McNulty (AKA McNutty) starts this whole vendetta against a group of drug dealers after one of the dealer's relatives gets off after a witness lies in court. So, McNulty goes to a judge, who raises hell, and this motley crew of cops goes after the drug dealers. Law and Order right? Nope. Turn your attention to the drug dealers, a well-run, brutal group of West Baltimorians (?) who have their own problems apart from the cops - including internecine struggles and a stick-up boy named Omar. The cops go after the dealers, the dealers go after their own, and no one wins at the end. Fantastic. And here's the best part, and why I love HBO shows - it's intelligent. They don't dumb ANYTHING down for anyone. You'd better catch up quick, or your lost. I love that. Americans, by and large, are intelligent, despite what you may hear otherwise, and I like when shows acknowledge that.
Acting - Good acting all around. I believed everyone's portrayal (except for McNulty's accent... I believe the actor who plays him is English/Scottish/Australian because some accent comes out). The best actors play the drug dealers. Both Barksdales (D'Angelo playing his best Michael Corleone in GF one) and Stringer Bell (Michael Corleone in GF two, probably... maybe Sonny if he lived longer) are fantastically portrayed. The cops from the top on down are compelling characters on their own.
Lasting Appeal - I can't watch the episodes more than once... maybe a couple years from now. But, I will say, there can be umpteen sequels on this show. There are always going to be drug dealers and the cops will always come after them.
I'm starting Season Two as soon as Netflix (royalty please... for my two readers) sends me my new DVD (Monday maybe?).
A little history about how I got into this show - my roommate in law school was obsessed with getting HBO, presumably for Sopranos. But then he started watching the second season of The Wire and said, "Dude (he said dude all the time), you have to watch this show." The third season was fantastic, so I said, "hey, the first two must be great as well." So, I watched the first season. Finished two days ago.
Story/Plot - The overarching plot of The Wire is that a pain-in-the-ass cop, McNulty (AKA McNutty) starts this whole vendetta against a group of drug dealers after one of the dealer's relatives gets off after a witness lies in court. So, McNulty goes to a judge, who raises hell, and this motley crew of cops goes after the drug dealers. Law and Order right? Nope. Turn your attention to the drug dealers, a well-run, brutal group of West Baltimorians (?) who have their own problems apart from the cops - including internecine struggles and a stick-up boy named Omar. The cops go after the dealers, the dealers go after their own, and no one wins at the end. Fantastic. And here's the best part, and why I love HBO shows - it's intelligent. They don't dumb ANYTHING down for anyone. You'd better catch up quick, or your lost. I love that. Americans, by and large, are intelligent, despite what you may hear otherwise, and I like when shows acknowledge that.
Acting - Good acting all around. I believed everyone's portrayal (except for McNulty's accent... I believe the actor who plays him is English/Scottish/Australian because some accent comes out). The best actors play the drug dealers. Both Barksdales (D'Angelo playing his best Michael Corleone in GF one) and Stringer Bell (Michael Corleone in GF two, probably... maybe Sonny if he lived longer) are fantastically portrayed. The cops from the top on down are compelling characters on their own.
Lasting Appeal - I can't watch the episodes more than once... maybe a couple years from now. But, I will say, there can be umpteen sequels on this show. There are always going to be drug dealers and the cops will always come after them.
I'm starting Season Two as soon as Netflix (royalty please... for my two readers) sends me my new DVD (Monday maybe?).
Nick Reviews #2 - Battlestar Galactica Season Two
I'll put it this way - I didn't watch the last two episodes yet, before moving on to another show. It was that bad. BUT (and that's a big but), there was some great stuff as well. It's still one of the best shows I've ever seen on television and there was one episode that was the best since "Water" from the first season. I'll do the bad first:
(1) There were more episodes that did nothing to advance the story than there were episodes that advanced the story. This is a huge problem with a lot of these overarching dramas (like, say, Lost... I don't watch that show anymore). Most of these (like "Scar") were well done and would have been standout episodes on any other show, but the BSG people need to bring their A-game every time out. Even the episodes where the BSG meets the new ship... I didn't really like those as much as I thought when the first cliffhanger hit.
(2) Starbuck. I mentioned in my last review that I really disliked her character. I still really dislike her character. Even more than I did from the first season. She alternates between whiny and aggressive and I just can't take it when she's the focal point of each episode. I'm not sure why she's such a popular character (I heard a rumor that she's the one that finds Earth).
(3) Deaths and Non-Deaths. There were a couple deaths that did not make sense from a story standpoint. One of these deaths, I think, was particularly stupid. I won't mention who dies, but, suffice it to say, it involved a love triangle (square?) that really took my by surprise (and not in a good way). I know there are deaths in shows like this, and I welcome them. But, when you start killing off characters, you need to watch yourself. In 24, for example, they killed off three of my favorite characters in one season and now I'm left with zero favorites. That makes me not want to watch the show. There are also two non-deaths... and I think one of those two should have been killed off. The two guys I'm talking about are basically the same character... no harm in killing one of them.
The Good Stuff:
(1) Cylons - The Cylon-only episode was my second favorite episode after "Water". It was fantastic. I won't ruin it, except to say that this is why the show is better than a show like Star Trek - there are overarching themes.
(2) Darkness - There are a lot of dark moments in these episodes. Again, part of the thematic "sets us apart from everyone else" thing this show has going on for it.
(3) Politics - Another thing that this show has going for it - it's not just point, shoot, cry, have sex. There are things other than war with the Cylons going on.
Okay, so maybe I was too harsh at first. I'll be sure to watch those last two episodes as soon as possible.
(1) There were more episodes that did nothing to advance the story than there were episodes that advanced the story. This is a huge problem with a lot of these overarching dramas (like, say, Lost... I don't watch that show anymore). Most of these (like "Scar") were well done and would have been standout episodes on any other show, but the BSG people need to bring their A-game every time out. Even the episodes where the BSG meets the new ship... I didn't really like those as much as I thought when the first cliffhanger hit.
(2) Starbuck. I mentioned in my last review that I really disliked her character. I still really dislike her character. Even more than I did from the first season. She alternates between whiny and aggressive and I just can't take it when she's the focal point of each episode. I'm not sure why she's such a popular character (I heard a rumor that she's the one that finds Earth).
(3) Deaths and Non-Deaths. There were a couple deaths that did not make sense from a story standpoint. One of these deaths, I think, was particularly stupid. I won't mention who dies, but, suffice it to say, it involved a love triangle (square?) that really took my by surprise (and not in a good way). I know there are deaths in shows like this, and I welcome them. But, when you start killing off characters, you need to watch yourself. In 24, for example, they killed off three of my favorite characters in one season and now I'm left with zero favorites. That makes me not want to watch the show. There are also two non-deaths... and I think one of those two should have been killed off. The two guys I'm talking about are basically the same character... no harm in killing one of them.
The Good Stuff:
(1) Cylons - The Cylon-only episode was my second favorite episode after "Water". It was fantastic. I won't ruin it, except to say that this is why the show is better than a show like Star Trek - there are overarching themes.
(2) Darkness - There are a lot of dark moments in these episodes. Again, part of the thematic "sets us apart from everyone else" thing this show has going on for it.
(3) Politics - Another thing that this show has going for it - it's not just point, shoot, cry, have sex. There are things other than war with the Cylons going on.
Okay, so maybe I was too harsh at first. I'll be sure to watch those last two episodes as soon as possible.
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