If you’re a Watchmen fan of Alan Moore and you haven’t branched out too far beyond that, then you probably haven’t walked into a comic shop except with your boyfriend or, perhaps, to buy Watchmen as a gift for someone else, so ‘2000 A.D.’ is undoubtedly going to sound like a mystery to you, unless I describe it as Heavy Metal written by Brits, and then you’ll nod all noddy-like. That’s insulting because 2000 AD has a much deeper sense of universe and richer cache of ongoing characters than HM, but for all intents and purposes that description works. And it works to suggest: if you’re a casual Moore fan, this book will seem silly.
Monthly Archives: February 2012
Pop Skull •• [two out of five]
Pop Skull tells you what it’s going to be like from the start: a warning that the images might cause epilepsy, and then the warning sort of blinks off the screen all trance like. …Pop Skull had some good reviews going for it and when the voiceover starts, it’s apparent that the style… well, matches. It’s not that this couldn’t have been done completely differently and better, but it’d be a different film then, one the creator didn’t intend. And though I’m surprised at the amount of praise this movie received (because it is boring), I do at least feel that this was a purposeful creation and not just an attempt to make something cool. That counts for something…
YellowBrickRoad ••• [three out of five]
YellowBrickRoad proposes that, in the 40’s, all the inhabitants of a small town just took off on a path into the mountains and disappeared. The records of the incident have been classified for whatever reason, and JUST NOW at the start of the movie, they’ve become available, and are claimed by a small crew hoping to follow the path and write a book on what they find.
…Can you reason out what may or may not be going on? Sure. But the film doesn’t ask you do that until the end, which makes me feel like no one really knew where they were taking the film until the end…
August Underground series • [one out of five]
Okay, let’s get this over with.
…
There are tons of arguments here about whether or not all film has merit, and that’s some of what Vogel spoke to in the S&Man interview. That’s too broad of a topic to address here. I offer … my logic in arriving at my feelings regarding the movies, that I can understand the need for the niche, but that shitty movies are still shitty movies.
Some old Netflix reviews
Migrating Netflix reviews:
Different Ugliness, Different Madness________♦♦♦[three out of five]
The DC / Humanoids line is hit or miss, but given infinite resources I would buy everything they publish. The presentation is prime and the foreign flair to the writing and art are just a little different from what you normally find on the comic rack.
“Different Ugliness, Different Madness” is a perfect capsule of the hit or miss mix, offering up a unique tone and clean/sloppy art style without the too-cool-for-school feeling I get from publishers like Drawn & Quarterly. The pacing is cinematic – close up on a face, scene change, camera pulls out – but we end up with what feels like a short story. It’s a really compelling glimpse at a moment in time, but the initial setup makes it seem like there’s something more emotional in store that never comes to the fore…
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark___________________••[two out of five]
I understand this is a kid’s movie. I get that. But director Guillermo del Toro (I mean, *ahem* Troy Nixey) has flirted with the themes in “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” enough that I was expecting something more affecting than what zips by on the screen for 90 minutes. Alas, del Toro’s production stamp is all over the movie, but poor sound mixing and undercut tension makes this a disappointing view, better as a made-for-TV movie as was the original on which it was based…
TRESPASS________________________________•[one out of five]
Hey, there’s the ol’ Schumacher I know, making subpar movies! Well holy oats, he’s brought along Nicky Cage, doin’ his crazy dance! And here’s… well… Nicole Kidman? Really? Look, I’m not a fan or anything, I’m just surprised to see her here. But anyhow, plow forth we shall with this review.
‘Trespass’ is a pretty predictable lil’ tidbit about a rich family that has their home invaded by some angry people with guns…
I FIND YOUR CYNICISM PALATABLE
SUCKER PUNCH_________________________••••[four out of five]
The kids loved Dawn of the Dead, and were equally enthused about 300. Watchmen predictably split comic fans, but most people seemed to at least agree that it was an immense undertaking that was more successful than not. But before we talk about Sucker Punch, let’s mention the jewel of the Snyder collection: Legend of the Guardians. … My love for that film meant that Snyder had me: I would gladly give myself over to his slo-mo extended love scenes.
Thus: when the trailers for Sucker Punch started making the rounds, my heart was a’flutter and I felt that here was ol’ Zacky unleashed. No more comic scripts to live up to, and some proven dollars under his belt to go banana nuts on visuals. And I know many people were in the same boat as me. AND YET: these motherfuckers jumped overboard. Why? …
Ratfist (book review)______________________♦♦♦[three out of five]
Sometimes there are just characters named Ratfist, and that’s enough to write a story. One day, cartoonist Doug TenNapel … decided he wanted to create a webcomic. Maybe he got the idea from his buddy Ethan Nicolle, who works on Axe Cop, or maybe he just wanted to try something new, which seems just as likely.
So you have a guy named Ratfist, who dresses up like a rat and fights crime. He has a pet rat. He’s maybe ditching the hero gig to get married, except for one last job. Unfortunately, on this last job he runs afoul of a bad trip that… turns him into an actual rat, oh my…
vaguely-offensive 