July Movies

July 7th. Pirates of The Carribean 2. Im really surprised they are putting this out one week after Superman. It won't keep Mr. Depp and company from being no 1 at the box office but July is kinda empty for blockbusters and they probably would have been better served waiting at least one week. OH well, early reviews for this are all positive so here's hoping this rocks, and we get to do all over again next summer with no 3!


Also on July 7th in limited areas, may make it to your town this month A Scanner Darkly. another Philip K Dick adaptation (blade Runner, Minority Report, Paycheck) this time by the wonderful Richard Linkater(dazed and confused, Waking Life, Before Sunset) using his animation over live actors technology he devolped in Waking Life. Very interested to see how confusing this film will be. And Robert DOwney Jr, and Woody Harrelson playing drug adicts. Wow, will they even have to act?


July 21st, Lady In the Water, I have a feeling Shylaman needs a hit with this movie or he may face serious cutbacks in his budget. I think he may get it here. Giamatii is one of the bet actors working today and this is a rather lackluster summer for 'big' movies. Should be a winner.



Opening the same weekend is Clerks 2. While it won't bring in the droves, there is definetly an audience for this film, I just wonder how many of us have grown to old to still find humor in Kevin Smith jokes. I'm hoping it doesn't bore me to tears, because I really like the way Smith does business in Hollywood, just wish he would move his films out of this self serving world he created.



July 28th Miami Vice. So this is a bad idea for a remake right? right? Well not entirely. Michael Mann has not made a movie in the past ten years that can be considered bad. Collaterall, Last of the Mohicans, the Insider, HEAT!!!. So yeah, I can see this being better than any of us could imagine Miami Vice should be. It be a shame if Mann messed up such a beautiful resume.


other news. the Transformers teaser is out on the web. I think the children of the 80's know what they are doing next July at this time.

Superman Returns Flies!

O.k. First I don't really like Superman in the comics. He's too one dimensional. No Batman by any means. I have a feeling if you are a Superman comic fan you may feel cheated by this movie as it does mess with the real storylines. For me who only has a small fondness for supes on film and in animation this movie was just what I needed. It looks gorgeous and Bryan Singer has created another one of his disticnt films just as he did with X-men. The only difference is he borrows so much from the Richard Donner Superman, right down to the 70's font at the opening credits. I couldn't help but wish I was a kid watching this movie. It has that magical quality about it that will make kids excited make kids run home and draw superman, and where the PG-13 rating came from, I have no clue. It's not overly violent, there is no language to my recollection. One thing that I did notice and this must be so they can make money overseas (which is very important to Hollywood) was the line truth justice and the american way, has been changed to truth justice and all that stuff. HUH? that's kinda weird sounding, but it makes sense considering half the world doesn't want an AMERICAN hero. But I have a feeling they won't mind a Superman. I sure didn't.

civil wars, moon knights, and brave new worlds.

Big week again. my wallet cant take much more of this.
Loveless # 8. Vertigo Probably my least favorite issue of Loveless so far, but considering this book may be my favorite title right now that doesn't mean this is a bad comic. It's still very good, just doesn't feel like it added anything to the series. It looks to be a one issue storyline anyway so hopefully we will get a multiparter next week. B-

New Avengers # 21 Marvel Civil War Tie in. Bendis is doing solo stories on the Avengers which tie in to Civil War. This issue is Captain America who is basically pissy that he is a fugitive now. It may seem odd to some but CA is figthing for the idea of America not the government that we now have controlled by corporations. O.k. Solid B

Civil War Frontline # 2 of 10 Marvel. Like the multi stories in this book, Some are better than others. Iron Man may end up being really hated by the end of all this. A

Brave New World DC 80 pages $1 try samples of six new titles spinning out of the one year later thing at DC. Highlights are Martian Manhunter, and surprising the OMAC story. I'll pass on the creeper and the atom stories when they hit trades later this year. Being I'm not a big DC fan, this book is nice for a taste of the universe until I can read the stories for free at work.

Moon KNight # 3 Marvel. the wheels are all set. this is ready to explode. issue 4 needs to bring the s^%t. Taskmaster! A+

Headed out to see Superman Returns in thirty minutes. Will I believe a man can fly? I'll let you know tommorow.

Lucky Creature Attacks available for preorder!

NEW! Our wonderful comic is leaving the printers at the end of the week and will be in our grubby hands next week! Preorders are up for only $7 (this includes shipping) whereas if you buy it in the store it will cost you 7.95 and you also have to find it in the store. This book has something for everyone so step on up and be the first cool kid on the block to have one order it HERE!

our new kitty.

so this may be our new kitty. o.k. i admit it this is most likely our new kitty. If araby doesnt kill it the first chance she gets. the little boy was ' rescued' by jess from the gutter the other day and has been living in our hallway until he gets the vets clearance to move into araby's domain. he's cute, and small, and just a little too hyper for my tastes. He has no name. more as the drama and ruffled fur unfolds.

gnarls barkley review.

The new album St Elseweher by gnarls barkley aka danger mouse who brought me the much loved danger doom cd with mf doom, has come back with this strange mix of marvin gaye and rand b from the fifties all with that nice recording sound danger mouse made famous with his animated project gorillaz. Truly an innovator where innovation is needed, and with a cover of Violent Femmes gone daddy gone to boot. Get it. dance it, hum it.

me and you and everyone we know.

This wonderful little film written, directed and starring Miranda July, really got me. Its very sporadic, and funny, and just a very nice feeling about it. Loved the interaction between July's lunatic artist and John Hawkes(deadwood) mopey crazy recently seprated soon to be boyfriend person. The film to me hits at all the right points of indy cinema. It's short enough to keep you interested, it has nice different music, and it tries things a little bit odd. The best part to me was that this movie feels like growing up, it feels like it for adults, and it makes me remember being a kid as well. I'm headed over to IMDB right now to see what else Miranda July has done.

comics

Wow got hit hard with superhero bug today,
lets start with Nova Annhilation # 3 0f 4. great space opera that only fails to really do anything sci-fi. but it looks good, and nova isn't a complete goofball in the series. And even Quasar is o.k. so as a miniseries it's very good. Not sure this will ever warrant more than that though.

New AVengers 20 O.k. Deodata whose artwork I've been bashing this whole run turns in his best performance and now i feel let down by Mr. Bendis writing. Can we just leave Magneto dead for a week? Please? God. I'm so sick of him as a villian. I'm so tempted to drop this book, so tempted but there are little lines between Wolverine and Spidey that keep grabbing at my 2.99. sucker. Worst book i picked this week though, and that's a shame.

and the best book i got this week. Drumroll it's Astonishing X-Men 15. Wowsers. Bring it on. Love it! and Yes mr. Whedon do a S.W.O.R.D. series next. don't leave the Marvel U. it's freaking wonderful. Bring it on Kitty, Bring it ON!
hey look at my previous post, go see Whedon's Serenity. Buy this comic, try to write dialouge any better. I'm in Love with the man's sentence structure. SHiny!

Cant Stop The Serenity.

I will get Comic reviews up later but the good news for all you browncoats is that if you live in one of 40 cities this weekend Serenity will be playing on the big screen again to benefit Equality Now charity. To find out where it's playing in your city go here If you've never seen this movie, it deserves to be seen on the big screen and have you ever seen a movie be rereleased for a weekend of charity screenings like this? It's really pretty awesome. Go watch the movie!

day 3

chicago day 3. we were pretty worn out. all this vacation has taken its toll. time to go back to work. we wandered around for most of the day, enjoying the city and ate dinner in naperville before turning in early to go sleep. oh vacation., Im all out of days now. guess that means i have to go to work.

chicago day 2.

So we got up early and headed out for the Sears Tower. The views are pretty impressive. Even with the fog you can see all of Chicago and many of the suburbs. Pretty neat stuff. Did the manigficent mile thing and ate at an awesome Asian resturaunt Wow Bao. Bao is a bun filled with whatever you like, and their only 1.29 each. Even Vegetarian options are available. The picture is of the Cloud in the wonderful Millenium Park. it's awesome how the whole city is reflecting behind me. Went to Navy Pier which is nice but a tourist trap. We went through a glass haunted house that was only worth it with the coupon we had, but it had cool bubbles that left colors on your clothes. Spent the evening at the Arts Institute which has one of the largest collections Ive ever seen and Edward Hoppers Diner painting. And then we had CHicago pizza to finish off the night. It was good but hurt my stomach. Yummy.

Chicago day one!

So we stayed in Naperville for the cheaper hotels and the train ( I hate driving in big cities when walking works much better)
and we got there in time for the 330 train, which got canceled. So we explored naperville which is pretty cool. it's like a college downtown, except for families instead of college kids. Pretty nice place. We got into chicago at 500 and headed for the red line which we took to wicker park area. Wicker Park is where all the cool punk clubs are and its home to tons of little boutiques and resturants. We hit Reckless Records which is a pretty great record store and Quimbys, the best bookstore Ive ever seen for alternative comics, and zines. Pretty neato place, although at the time all i was looking for was Civil War 2, but the place doesnt carry superhero books. oh well I guess they are readily available elsewhere. By the time we headed back we caught the 1030 train which got us into naperville at 1130, hit the hotel and were asleep pretty quickly. fun fun fun.

back from chicago.

So we just got back from chicago. awesome trip. will write more later tired now. i did buy the gnarls barkley album while i was there found the fifth season of next generation for 30$ and picked up a bunch of back issue comics at quimby's. I'll write more later, but heres a quick one sentence review for this weeks comics three days late.

civil war # 2 . yeah. this is what a summer event should be. wow.

superf****ers # 3 James Kolchacka has this book growing on me. The 'heroes' are all retarded and all stereotypes. grotessa is the best female comic hero ever. ha!

headed out

We're leaving tommorow morning for a trip to the windy city, so dont waste your bandwith coming here until at least Saturday evening. Were staying in Naperville and taking the train into the city each day. Any suggestions on must do Chicago excursions? Have a great week!

Scored Jessica's Ds Lite at 7:45 this morning at Wally World. Guy said it was the last one they had. Havent really heard of anyone not being able to find one, so I guess this launch wasn't as crazy as the Japanese launch. It's funny I remember almost two years ago when the Ds launched I had Jessica drive me to gamestop in Memphis and we played around with the pictochat function. I think we were both nonplussed with the system and its 199 price tag was too steep for me to even consider it. After I got my Phat last fall, I think we both have come to love the little handheld, and it's amazing games. I was intrigued by the PSP originally but now it looks like a shiny rock, with no real software, while the DS, is the machine to play the games gamers want to play. Funny what a difference two years and the house that mario built returning to its former glory make.

Comic Book I-Con review

We just got back from Comic Book I-Con in Des Moines, Iowa and it is a nice well lit, smaller sized one day comic book con, which is a nice alternative to the larger Wizard World. The con is basically a dealers room, with a small gaming area to the side and a room set aside for panels and video's. We watched the Star Wars fan film reign of the fallen which was very good for a fan film, and had pretty decent acting. Also sat through a Q and A with Steve Gonsales of the Sci-Fi channel's Ghost Hunters show, and he offered something for fans of the paranomal. I once again spent more on admission ( a very nice $5) than i did on merchandise( $3 for a bishop and cable minimate set), so I guess I just enjoy the experience more now than the hunt for the bargain comics. Oh well. Jessica bought some mini comics and made some connections for her Zine Vending Machine she is running on the U of I campus. Good small size con for the two hour drive. And probably just the right size for a Iowa Comic-Con.

CIVIL WAR FRONTLINE #1

SO, THIS is Marvel's add on book to it's major Civil War storyline. The main thing of it is the view of the 'war' from the ground. It follows Ben Urich who works for the uber-conservative Daily Bugle, and Sally Floyd who works for a liberal publication Alternative. So they try to hit with both viewpoints and it works pretty well. This won't be where the action is in this crossover but it will play a important part I believe in the overall story. Regardless of all the no's Marvel has said about this series and it's current implications, this book is about Iraq, terror, and civil liberites.Just housed in the guise of a superhero story. If your buying the Civil War books already this book has what you need. And a back up story featuring Speedball arrested by SHIELD as well. good stuff.

two creatures at iowa city arts fest

you wish you were as sexy as us. ha!

dvd's

just got through watching the constant gardner. very good movie. Got a week of overnight shifts at work starting tommorow, so im going to try and stay up all night tonight so i can get in that routine. it's going to be interesting. got a few thoughts on some new projects brewing in my head, but got to get the current ones complete first. Comic is on it's way, and we are about 1/3 through completing hisworldherworld # 6. wowsers.

june movie preview

O.k. this week the Break Up comes out with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughan. Vaughan may drive them in after his Wedding Crashers did so well last year, but does anyone really have this one checked off on their lists?

June 9th is Pixar time. With Cars. PIxar releases a movie, the disney execs blow a sigh of relief, their gonna make money. sadly for me this is the first Pixar film i have no interest in. It's about cars? racing? yuck, bring out the nascar people. I'll pass.




June 16th. Napoleon Dynamites director Jared Hess, gets some money to work with and Jack Black as a mexican luchador. Actually as a priest who dreams of being a Luchador. Got to be the comedy of the summer.

June 23rd. Adam Sandler in Click. Has potential but does anyone really care what the waterboy is doing these days?


June 30th. This movie has no competition. None what so ever. Bryan Singer, Superman, Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. No comepetition.




My pick for the movie that may get missed this June but has a chance to be a sleeper hit, is June 9th's Prairie Home Companion. Most people have at least heard of the radio show this is based on and it has Woody Harrelson's return to film (along with this summers A Scanner Darkly), and you may have something that drives sales. Slowly but steady wins the race right?

Battlestar Galactica # 0.

BattleStar Galactica # 0 Dynamite Entertainment 25 cents.
Every once in a while a sci-fi show comes long that does things a little bit different, feels fresh and makes you want more, like Lost. Well Battlestar on the Sci-fi channel is one of these shows. I'm without cable so I'm waiting for the rest of season 2 to come out on dvd with baited breath. When it lands I will most likely watch the entire season in a matter of days.
Thankfully this comic series is going to take place between three episodes I've alreay seen which is nice because it adds an element to the storytelling when it's in continuity with the show, and they are episodes every one has access to on DVD.
Overall for an intro issue it does a nice job of laying out the big players on the series, and sets up a climax that is a little comic booky and probably wouldnt work on the show itself. But that's o.k. For cableless people like me, any bit of extra war with the cylons we can get is a very good thing. Got a quarter to spare? Go give it a try, you may find a new world to explore.