Aw, shoot. Seems I'm running out of time this year to comment on all the stuff I've seen, so I'll just hammer down and finish my list off, real quick-like...
Pirates of the Caribbean:The Black Pearl- Well, it started out as a ride at Disneyland, didn't it? No reason to ruin the ride for anyone, is there? What, you were expecting some subtext about Imperialism in the 19th century? Worth a rental, certainly...
Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris - Boy, how the mighty have fallen. A writer who started out from the gate as among the top thriller novelists squanders his considerable skills on a run of the mill revenge thriller. Well, to be fair, cases of Chateau Y'queam don't exactly buy themselves, these days...
Click-Why Adam Sandler's overworked architect doesn't just hit the "pause" button on his literally-universal remote, get all his work done, hit "play", and spend more time with his family, is beyond me. (Besides the fact that otherwise there'd be no movie, that is...)
Cars-Everything I said earlier about "Howl's Moving Castle" by Studio Ghibli goes double for what I think about this movie. The live-action version, "Talladega Nights: The Legend of Bobby Ray" had a few chuckles...
Buddha by Osamu Tezuka-Now that it's out in cheaper paperback format, I have no excuse to not get volumes 3 to six. When you meet Carl Barks on the road, kill him.
Guitar Hero 2-or as I call it, "Kansas-Carry On My Wayward Son-simulator"; I kinda stopped trying to beat the other songs after this one. Actually, my brother got me the full guitar-and-game-disc set for Christmas, which means, since I also have 'Guitar Hero I', that I can now do GUITAR DUELS!! Hot Diggity!
Loco Roco for the PSP- Using the L and R tabs on the top of the PSP, you move a cute, singing yellow blob around a simple world. If your friends catch you playing this, they WILL call you a huge fag. They can fuck off, however, as this game is fun. And you know, the songs are kinda catchy...
The Ultimate Calvin And Hobbes Collection- An X-mas present from my sister. So now I am obliged to name my first kid after her. (She has a unisex name, so that shouldn't be a concern...) Three fat volumes in a wood case gives me all the C+H there is. What in the name of God could I possibly have to complain about in a collection like this? Well, you know me...
I would've liked to see a process of Waterson's technique, say from penciled roughs to full-sized watercolors, but given the reluctant tone of his foreword in the first volume, I suspect it was painful enough for him putting this together in the first place. Bitch, bitch, bitch, you say. Towards the end of the strip's run, the thirty-something Waterson started sounding like an elderly journeyman, sadly shaking his head at today's fallen level of standards. His protracted fight with the marketing people at the syndicate wore out his enthusiasm for the strip enough but at least when it ended, it was on his terms. I don't think we're ever going to see anything on this level of care and craftsmanship on today's funny pages. (Patrick McDonnell's MUTTS comes within the ballpark) but given the renaissance in 'art' comics, never say never...
Grand Theft Auto-Vice City Stories for the PSP-If the GTA franchise is a big fat German Chocolate cake with double chocolate filling, this is the leftover batter in the bowl.
Markosa Publishing presents: Done2Death by Andrew Foley and Fiona Staples-It's kind of a good thing this comic that drives a Hot Topic wooden stake through the 'Goth' subculture is small-time; If Andy and Fee were more high-profile, they'd be facing a Salman-Rushdie style jihad by every black-clad, pale, flabby, HIM-listening geek in North America...
World War Z: the zombie wars, by Max Brooks(son of Mel)-George Romero meets Studs Terkel.
Willams-Sonoma: The food of New Orleans (a cookbook)- Fuck you, I ain't no queer; I just like Southern cookin', is all...
Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie- Eeyeah, it's pornography, but I didn't beat off to it, in case you were wondering. (You weren't, were you?)
Downfall- German film depicting Hitler's final days. Now even Germans agree: Hitler was a jerk. Whether Mossolini did in fact, bite his 'weenie' so it did not 'work', is not a matter of public record.
El Topo by Jodrowsky-Yeah, 'shrooms are cool. I don't feel compelled to shoot a movie after eatin' them, though.
Aaaand I'm done. See you next year!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment