Sin is a full-time job

m_agda @ 2007-10-20T01:58:00

2007-10-20T00:37:01Z

Sorry for falling off the map without giving any notice, folks. That was rude, I apologize. It's just that the new school semester has really been hitting me hard. Doing two majors at the same time is a pain in the ass, I tell you. I'm honestly starting to wonder if it's worth the bother. I've got fourteen classes! All ranging from thirty to sixty hours a semester. It's insane. And the fact that I suddenly have to deliver an outline of my future thesis by the middle of November is no help at all. I'm in no way ready to write a thesis yet. It's still two years away. All I have is a general subject so far. It's terryfying.

Anyway, the school has been basically draining the lifeforce out of me lately and I really didn't feel up to the challenge when it came to the Internet. Well, frankly, I still don't but sometimes you just have to suck it up and move on. So I'm updating. A bit, at least.

Naturally I didn't let college mess up my comics schedule, because, thesis or no thesis, there are priorities after all.

Real quick, though, because I really do have to read on cointegration and error correction models tonight. There's no running away from that.

'Uncanny X-Men 491' - the Morlock storyline ended with a whimper rather than a bang, but since the main villain was just Masque, suffering from delusions of grandeur and basically being insane, it was actually quite fitting that X-Men, after getting over the surprise factor, just shot down his wonky plans without much ceremony and barely any effort. The whole story definitely held together on the logic level but it dragged at least an issue too long. The conclusion: X-Men really don't seem to be Brubaker's cup of tea. He writes passable X-Men stories, but it's no 'Captain America' or 'Daredevil'. That makes me a bit wary since it's Brubaker who's helming the oneshot that kicks off 'Messiah Complex' in two weeks. I really need 'Messiah Complex' to work out. It just cannot go wrong. Please, Brubaker, just remember that you are, in fact, a great writer - there's hard evidence to support that - and give me a kick-ass story.

'X-Factor 24' - David might have overplayed his hand a bit by giving the Isolationist every mutant power in existence (because, with such resources at your disposal, if you still lose, that makes you look like twat, extenuating factors or not) but it's still a cool design. Also, the bit with Layla and Nicole the Randomizing Generator robo-girl was the work of pure genius. That and the part with the Terrigan shards pulling Rictor out of a tight spot without him even knowing so and then just falling off, presumably having used off their batteries or something. A nice move. The ending was a it too rushed, I think there should have been a least two panels more to sorta cool things down but, I suppose, you just can't have everything.

'Endangered Species' - this whole thing is more about setting the mood and showing the gravity of the situation than about telling an actual story and, let's give the credit where credit's due, it is going about these two things quite competently. It is also borderline boring, which is less thrilling. In chapters 14 and 15, Spiral shows up for no reason at all and disappears two pages later, Beast goes to visit the Sorcerer Supreme and gets shot down yet one more time, is given the glorious chance to see his failure in every possible alternate dimension, and then goes home feeling pretty miserable. Poor bugger.

As for the non-X-Men stuff: 'Miss Marvel 20' is definitely less that entertaining but gets plus points for Puppet Master having a contingency bomb set up, because he's a villain and the chances of some superhero team showing up to beat him up are, like, 97%; 'Heroes For Hire' is definitely entertaining enough if perhaps going a bit too far into the Gross territory with Humbug's storyline, and has Paladin being awesome, which is always a treat; 'New Avengers 35' actually doesn't feature any Avengers since they are all waiting for the 'Mighty Avengers' Ultron arc to finally get to the end, but it gives us quite an intriguing look at the Hood and his band of merry thugs, and also proves beyond any doubt that Tigra lost all the favor among the Marvel people (seriously, between 'Miss Marvel' and that? poor, poor Tigra); in 'New Warriors 5' almost half the team is still identity-free and, thusly, devoid of any personality (well, Tatoo gets named, but she died last issue so that doesn't really count) and we see some more Tony Stark doing his Hapless Moron impression, but the rest is quite alright; 'World War Hulk Frontline' is more or less ok, too, and features a hilarious Sally Floyd extra strip; 'Captain America 31' works hard to get Bucky under the mind-control yet again, which I'm not sure is such a good idea, but Brubaker will probably make it work; 'Marvel Comics Presents 2' shows quite clearly that resurrecting the title was a good move by being a thoroughly entertaining book; 'Mighty Avengers 5' plows on with the Ultron storyline and annoys me with the thought bubbles. 'New Excalibur 24' I haven't read on account of it being a Claremont book and featuring not even one character I could be even vaguely interested in, but it kills off Iceman (the alternate reality one, true, but it's still a crime) so I'm angry at it anyway.

Now, tv. I'm not offering any reviews, because, God, no time. I'm still watching, though. Perhaps not as avidly as I used to but still with considerable enthusiasm. The tv frenzy of yesteryear has definitely worn off and my tv-watching habits went into a slower gear but, at least with some shows, I'm keeping up quite smoothly. 'Stargate Atlantis' is as glee-inducing as ever, even if it is now tainted by the presence of Samantha Carter, who was surprisingly acceptable in the first two episodes but went right back to being irritating just an episode later (the episode had a nice Ronon story, lots of kung-fu and a guest appearance of Marc Dacascos so I, thankfully, had plenty of distractions). 'Supernatural' boys are as pretty as ever and the season is shaping up alright so far - not super-thrilling but just fine (ETA: ok, I just watched 'Bad Day at Black Rock' and that definitely was super-thrilling, which means that you really shouldn't be too hasty with your judgment). 'Grey's Anatomy' continues to exploit its lighter, less melodramatic side with pretty good results, and Izzie and Lexie being annoying is compensated by Mark, Chief Webber and Bailey being awesome. I still miss the Ducklings in 'House M.D.' but I'm willing to accept that the new ones aren't so bad either (with the exception of the Olivia Wilde one, who I simply find annoying) and, while the Chase scenes are fewer that I'd like, they are possibly the best ever. I'm a bit behind with 'Heroes', 'Friday Night Lights', 'Dexter' and 'Brothers & Sisters', having watched just one episode of each and I still haven't got to the new 'Numb3rs' season, but I'm planning to change that reasonably soon, preferably before the episodes really start piling up. I dropped 'Shark' (which lost by being boring) but I'm picking up 'Pushing Daisies' (which won by being cute), so the balance is intact.

There's really no telling when I'll be back again. With the school being the way it is, I simply have no energy for regular updates nowadays (or 'semi-regular' since I've never actually been a regular updater, let's not kid ourselves). I'm not announcing a hiatus here, I probably will show up here and there, with either actual posts or just comments. I just don't know when. Sorry. Just bear with me. Please.

ETA: Ok, I am actually announcing a hiatus. Sorry. You are all great people and believe me when I say this: it's not you, it's all me. The disorganized, lazy, undependable me. I'm really REALLY sorry.
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m_agda @ 2007-09-29T01:15:00

2007-09-28T23:20:40Z

That's the one I've waited the most impatiently this month. And... well, it's not exactly what I expected.

X-Men 203 'Blinded by the Light, part 4'

Let's start with the good things. Iceman and Cannonball get a major spotlight this month, since they happen to be the only X-Men capable of fighting back at the moment. Iceman is my most precious baby, you write him the right way and give him lots of panels, you are automatically in my good graces. Which is the main reason why Carey, while demoted from his god status I granted him just a month ago, still enjoys a very high ranking on my personal list. Well, that and the fact that he's generally good. Anyway, Bobby handles himself quite admirably here. He acts competently, uses his powers inventively, takes down half the Marauders and gets in a dig at Mystique ('You're not scheming. Working to a plan. You're just rabid' - a nice one, Drake). Also, he's barefoot through the entire issue and that's just cute. On the whole, he makes me very happy this month.

Other happy, not Iceman-related, moments include Colossus flipping through emergency Beast holograms with a remote, White Queen's 'Shall I give you an inspirational speech about how hardship builds character?' and Cannonball's 'No thanks, just play some muzak in the background', Emma refusing to drool on her chin even in crisis situations, Sunfire not liking Mystique, Mystique not liking Gambit, the old Marauders not liking the new ones and basically them all not being a big happy family at all, and Blindfold talking nutty some more, which never stops being entertaining. Oh, and the sound effects. The sound effects were fantastic this month. SKRUNT, FRVASSH, FLAAAMMMM and my favorite: REKKA REKKA. That one still cracks me up.

So, Carey definitely wins on Iceman and little moments but he, sadly, loses at the main plot. It pains me to say that, especially that the story was shaping up exceptionally well up to this point.

Firstly, we were promised answers. We get no answers. Twenty two pages fly past and we know exactly as much as we did in last issue. Granted, there is an epilogue scheduled for next month so this story might yet get tied up together properly but that still leaves the fact that this issue accomplishes nothing. Other than making Cannonball possibly brain-dead, but that's nothing to brag about.

Secondly, this issue makes Sinister look like a twat. I hate incompetent villains. Unless they are insane/delusional/dumb by nature because then it's not only ok but also enjoyable. Sinister is a certified genius and a cold-blooded bastard. He's not allowed to act witless.

Ok, perhaps he doesn't do anything drastically stupid here but he certainly doesn't shine either. I don't even mind that he showed up completely out of the blue and knocked out Iceman and Cannonball in a way that he really wasn't supposed to, given his powers profile (I've decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was just using that telepathy of his in a interestingly offensive manner there). My main grumble is that he showed up personally to do the dirty work and, in the end, he got nothing done. The diaries were easily within his reach but they got stupidly destroyed. Which was also, incidentally, the most messy panel sequence that I've ever seen. Panel 1: Cannonball lying on the ground, Gambit standing over him, Scalphunter telling Gambit to shove aside because it's his kill and Mystigue standing good three meters away with the diaries at her feet. Panel 2: Sam looking up at Remy with a non-defined expression. Panel 3: Remy looking down at Sam with a non-defined expression. Panel 4: Gambit throwing his cards at Cannonball, Cannonball apparently performing a vertical take-off to reveal the diaries that are now suddenly right beneath him. Panel 5: lots of pink light and FLAAAMMMM. Next page: the diaries are now in tatters. Ramos did a shitty job there.

Ok, back to the point. It would have made so much more sense if Sam just destroyed them himself before anyone else could reach for them. This whole stunt was probably supposed to convey that Gambit is not a bad guy and has his own agenda but it was so clumsy that, when Sinister accepts Gambit's flimsy excuse that he was thrown off his aim and it was not his fault, it makes Sinister look like a moron. And if Gambit actually is a bad guy after all and it was an honest mistake on his part, then he's a staggeringly inept villain. Neither option works.

Thirdly, if the Marauders come up against Iceman and Cannonball again and are all surprised that they are still alive I swear I'm gonna scream. They left Mystique to 'take care of them'. That she spared Iceman because a) she's still on X-Men's side and/or b) she's fond of him is even beside the point. How do you 'take care' of Iceman with a gun? The man can explode and put himself back together with barely any effort, how can a bullet possibly kill him? Yes, she shot off his arm and he hasn't made himself a new one yet but that's probably because he's still reeling from Sinister's whammy. I really don't think that a shot in the head would have been much more effective. I like the conversation between the two of them, it's good they got to have a private tete-a-tete after all that went down three issues ago, but the circumstances around it just don't hold up.

I don't actually think Sinister wants the X-Men dead. He wants them out of his way and he surely wouldn't hesitate to kill them if he didn't have any other choice, but, with so few mutants left, he'd probably view it as a waste of valuable resources. And I'm pretty sure at least some of them figure in his grand plan. I'm willing to make all this assumptions because I still have a lot of goodwill left for this title and this storyline. A few more issues like that, though, even that's gonna run dry. Fix it, Carey. Make the villain smart again and you might yet get your God button back. And, again, thanks for Iceman.

In 'Endangered Species' segment Beast is - surprise surprise - still not even an inch closer to the answer. Instead, he and Dark Beast have a catfight. In which Beast is Morally Superior and Dark Beast is, naturally, Morally Repugnant. And then Lucinda Guthrie shoots the monkey one with a shotgun. Which is kind of awesome. And then Beast has a quiet nervous breakdown and decides he's had enough and is finished. There are still four parts left so I have a hard time believing it.

'X-Men First Class' is, unsurprisingly, adorable again. Bobby and Hank go on a road trip. It's really as simple as that. They visit weird places, go to a casino, eat boiled peanuts, camp, gossip on their friends' love lives, help a few people run from a hurricane and bond. Not even one villain in sight. I love it. And Julia Bax' art looks remarkably similar to that of Roger Cruz so there is no jarring shift here. I still prefer Cruz but I think I actually like Bax' Hank better. And she drew this little picture of Scott with a Yay!face, which is too perfect for words:

'Cable & Deadpool' takes us into WWII to meet Captain America and his teenage sidekick, Bucky ('Seriously, who gives a teenage kid a machine gun and says, "Go get them"?' - word, Bob). It's good issue. Bob acts twitchy, Deadpool, amazingly, manages to hold a serious conversation with Captain America and Bucky the bloodthirsty, foul-mouthed psycho sidekick is thoroughly entertaining ('He's a lot feistier that the history books said'). However, as much as I like Bob the Agent of Hydra, I miss Deadpool doing the recap page. And narrating of course, but I'm pretty sure Bob's square thought boxes stint was just a one-off. He whines quite amusingly, though: 'We walk for miles. Captain America and Wade never get tired. Apparently, Bucky refuses to. I'm very tired and my feet hurt. I watched 'Band of Brothers' and this feels nothing like that.' Hee.

The murder investigation plotline in 'Iron Man' man is definitely starting to heat up and I'm positively intrigued now. Points on great character design with Gadget and how nicely it ties with the Mandarin plot. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like this 'talking to the dead' thing but so far I'm still willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Oh, and Roberto de la Torre's art is as breathtaking as ever.

'Avengers The Initiative' continues to be great fun. I like the twist in the end. I like how the on-going threads with MVP not being quite dead, Hardball kinda working for evil people get handled. I like Gauntlet's family and big bunny, little bunny. I like neurotic Gyrich and his 'I frickin' hate that woman. You run a full background check. See if she's paid all her taxes'. I like 'the clue in the locker' move. I actually like everything here. Even Steve Uy's art. Even though his Tigra and Sally Floyd are obviously wrong. And his black people should be blacker. Otherwise, it's just dandy.

'The Order' is visibly a book with an certain formula that will probably get annoying if they keep it up for too long but, for now, it works perfectly. And Matt Fraction made himself the most interestingly fucked-up team in the whole Marvel Universe (ok, other than 'Thunderbolts' but they are all psychos so it's easier for them). The best issue yet, hands down.

'Immortal Iron Fist' is practically a kung fu movie in a comic version. A good kung fu movie in a comic version. A good kung-fu movie in a beautifully drawn comic version, even. In other words, I'm quite delighted. And Danny's duel with Fat Cobra is easily wins The Best Fight of the Month Award. Oh, and there is this great Heroes for Hire cameo (I'm less delighted with the annual, partly because it has Howard Chaykin and I hate Howard Chaykin and his square jaws, partly because it makes a great deal of how Danny going to see this historian dude is crucial for his immediate survival and how he needs some answers right freaking now because otherwise the world is doomed and then he doesn't even ask any questions. Where is the logic in that? Also, I'm really not that fond of flashbacks.

As for the tv eps that I managed to catch already, 'Shark' was, as usual, pretty bland (and I don't like the new guy since the Young, Brash and Angry Hotshot thing doesn't really work for me here and, also, Sam Page was prettier), 'Grey's Anatomy' was more or less alright (on the one hand it got back that light and quirky vibe it was famous for, on the other, I don't like that Lexie girl, they are mistreating Callie and Alex had bad hair) and 'House' was so great I almost didn't miss Chase at all (it has the Janitor the Emergency Duckling, House and Wilson biggest power play ever and, to boot, a genuinely interesting medical case with a surprise ending, what more could you possibly want? oh, right, Chase). Now I'm gonna get my hands on 'Bionic Woman'. It has Starbuck, it can't be bad.

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m_agda @ 2007-09-23T00:03:00

2007-09-23T00:52:19Z

My favorite cartoon is back! Well, one of the reasons it's my favorite is because I don't watch any other one but I'm still ridiculously happy about it. I missed you, 'Avatar'.

New X-Men 42 'Children of X-Men, part 1'

After months and months of non-stop carnage, death and misery, Yost & Kyle wisely decided that the kids need a breather. And it's possible that someone finally pointed out to them that the parts they are really good at are dialog and little character scenes, instead of, say, writing a five-issue-long battle with demons. The result is that we get an issue that has 22 pages full of dialog and little character scenes (ok, there were also 4 pages with a new Big Bad Villain on them, but let's not be finicky). In other words, it's the most delightful installment since, well, ever.

It packs lots and lots of humor in, it gives a bit of spotlight to practically every member of its gigantic cast, it recognizes what's happening in the other corners of the Marvel playground and, most of all, it makes sense. It's freaking fantastic.

Now's the part where I am to report all the glee moment, but, since there are about 75 of them, I'm going to heroically try to limit myself to the Top Ten:
- Megan apparently not having a shut-up button and Pixie: 'Doctor Strange said he'd teach me more, but I have to be eighteen. And that I have to take a vow of silence,' Beast: 'We are hoping he'll take you early, though.'
- The grown-ups finally realizing that, with the kids having just gone through months and months of non-stop carnage, death and misery, they might be a bit remiss in their guardian duties
- Santo making it his personal mission to make Victor a hardcore Lizard-Man, recruiting Laura to the project as the surgical specialist.
- Elixir totally spacing out on his newly-discovered super-super-powers.
- Beast and Colossus waiting for Santo to show up for the lava-form research, Colossus' 'Are you sure he can tell time?', Beast's 'Not entirely' and, naturally, Victor gleefully offering a helping hand in the smashing-Rockslide-in-the-name-of-science bit.
- Julian blowing his room up because he apparently can't use his tk on 'anything smaller that a refrigerator' and then perving a bit on the Cuckoos (Mercury: 'Do you know how old the Cuckoos are?' Hellion: 'Old enough,' Me: 'Brilliant')
- Nori trying to find out what actually happened to David in Limbo, everyone giving her sketchy details until Laura the surgical specialist recounts the whole gory deal.
- Megan fighting Wolverine with unicorns.
- The whole 'Who's the youngest mutie on the planet and therefore most likely to die a very gruesome death very very soon' project - not only a very neat idea on its own but plays into the imminent 'Messiah Complex'.
- Laura 'Hands off my man, bitch' reaction when Nori, for reasons known only to her, pounces on Julian.

The next issue probably won't be as much fun, since, presumably, they are going to deal with the new Big Bad Villain there (who's actually an old villain, just brought into spotlight) but if it's even half as fun as this one, I'll still be ecstatic.

Even 'Endangered Species, part whatever' was ok. Mainly because something of significance actually happened for a change, meaning Dark Beast possibly killing a Guthrie. Besides, I like the Guthries, I like the very idea of the Guthries so I'm always happy when Mrs G. and her innumerable children make an appearance. Mike Perkins' art was less than stellar, but at least there was some drama.

Also, 'Captain America' continues to be utterly engrossing despite the fact, apart from Iron Man in the supporting role, it holds no characters that I actively like and a few that I actually actively dislike. The first 'Marvel Comics Presents' proves to be a mixed bag with the nice starts to the Hellcat (Stuart Immonen, yay!), Omega Flight (part 1 of 12, though? isn't it an overkill?) and the seems-random-so-far-but-I'm-quite-positive-it-really-isn't crime storylines on the one hand and a rubbish Spider-Man piece about his billion counterparts from other dimensions on the other (which, I guess, leaves the Thing story in the no man's land part of the scale for being ok but too sappy). 'World War Hulk' mostly annoyed me, especially that it's four issues in and only now we see one of the Illummnati try to explain to Hulk that they did not, in fact, kill his wife and kid. 'World War Hulk Frontline' keeps on the trend of being actually better than the real thing it's supposed to accesorize. I hope Sentry throws Hulk into the sun next month, even though I do realize it's extremely unlikely. I also hope 'Secret Invasion' will be good enough to let me forget about all those failed giant crossover events Marvel has been dishing out left and right over the recent years. Even though I do realize it's extremely unlikely.

So that you don't think that my media life consists solely of cartoons and comics - because that would be sad - I assure you that I watch proper movies too. I would love to add that I also read proper books but that would be a lie. So I won't.

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m_agda @ 2007-09-15T23:50:00

2007-09-15T23:34:18Z

The new tv season is dangerously close and, as usual, I'm downright scared. I'm nowhere near ready for that. Except 'Stargate Atlantis'. I'm always ready for 'Stargate Altantis'.

On to my main point, this week's comics pull:

New Avengers 34 'Trust, part 3'

It's nice to see the two main Avengers titles finally intertwining a bit. Bendis is writing them both, after all, he has no excuse for avoiding inter-title references. The funny thing is that NA is already stepping into the symbiote storyline, while MA is still laboring with Ultron arch and won't be done until late October. That's what you get for not shipping comics on schedule. So far I find it amusing rather than annoying, but I wouldn't bet on it staying that way.

It's quite a delicious issue. Wolverine stumbles into an entertaining scuffle with the (Red) Hood, where the (Red) Hood actually acts smart, shoots Logan's dick off and flees the scene (well, and turns into a demon, but I'm gonna skip that because I have no idea what that is about). Logan, naturally, takes it all with his usual panache and helps himself to the beer (btw, Bendis and Whedon are definitely the best of the dozen people currently writing Wolverine). Doctor Strange is finally acting in a relatable manner, has an actual relationship with an actual woman, has an interesting chat with Iron Fist about the nature of their powers and how they suck, does something useful with his magic for a change and is probably a Skrull. We get to see Hawkeye in the shower, which is always fine be me. Luke Cage is still in a paranoid shut-down mode until Jessica Jones comes and reams him out, and we finally get to know what is the name of Baby Cage. We are shown the true spiritual nature of everyone (except Doctor Strange, who is probably a Skrull) and it mostly makes sense. And we also get a non-Skrully storyline ahead, which is good because the three last issues were fun but the Avengers can sit on their asses and talk about not trusting anyone for only so long before it gets repetitive.

One piece of dialog that just begs to be quoted:
Danny Rand: 'That's really nice, guys'.
Jessica Jones: 'You're her (Baby Cage's) family. You know that, right? Unless you are really a Skrull, then you can go @##$ yourself.
Luke Cage: And you got matchin' booties.

Leinil Yu's art continues to be gorgeous. Well, the pointy breasts are still scary, but the rest is fantastic.

X-Factor 23 'Isolationist, part 3'

Last issue was so insanely awesome that that this one had to be a letdown. It's still a solid one but the spark from the last month seemed kinda dimmer.

I'm not really sure what to think about Huber. He has a clear goal here and I always appreciate it in a villain. On the other hand, his way to get there seems terribly contrived. It does make sense, it's just over-sophisticated, which, granted, is almost traditional for a comic-book villain but I still hope Peter David will straighten it out somehow next issue.

Also, while I greatly enjoyed Quicksilver's lunatic act (and I'm glad Layla is ok, since I adore that kid), I'm not quite buying that he saved Layla only so he could kill her later himself. Sure, he's crazy now, that gets him allowances, but it was still a terribly moronic move. He wants her dead, he should have let her die. Only, of course, then Layla would be dead and I wouldn't be happy about that at all. Oh, you get my point.

That was me grumbling a bit, time for the glee part. It's 'X-Factor', of course, there is a glee part. And, as usual, the devil is in the details. Cyclops is still in a snit that Madrox stood up to him about Quicksilver during Civil War, Madrox is still in a snit that Cyclops lied to him about the Decimation and Beast plays the amused/annoyed peacemaker. Quicksilver can't take out Layla because he's still at a loss how to deal with the Normal People Speed. Rictor turns out to be the one least susceptible to Huber's mind tricks, which is a neat little piece of foreshadowing. The Hate Kiddies, the most patient mercenaries in the world and 'Are you related to Han Solo?', which is comedic gold. Monet yanks out the elevator, which is just freaking cool. Layla, as usual, turns out to be the villain's biggest foil, mostly be simply existing. Huber takes out the bewildered Madrox, Rahne and Guido in, like, three seconds flat, throwing them all out through the hole in the wall (love!) and sending them to Antarctica through a portal that they run into themselves, which plays very well to my Competent Villain kink. Really, lots of good stuff here.

Now, about the art, that certainly wasn't Raimondi at his best. It's mostly ok, but he really misses the mark with some of the faces, his Beast is meh and Rahne is suddenly twice as big as Madrox in the last panel. The fact that her pants miraculously disappeared between one page and the next is also no help at all.

And, lastly, 'Endangered Species'. This one they really should have skipped. Marvel time-travel never made one shred of sense and this chapter certainly doesn't change that. It's good to know that Beast is thorough enough (and desperate enough) to follow every, no matter how unlikely, lead, but couldn't they just have mentioned it in one panel instead of making us wade through eight pages? At least we are one week closer to the end.

X-Men: Emperor Vulcan, part 1

I can't I'm impressed much. Though, frankly, I didn't really expect to be since:
a) I don't give a shit what happens gods-know-how-many light years from Earth,
b) Havoc annoys me, I don't like Polaris, Marvel Girl I generally have nothing against but she supposedly has a bit of the Phoenix Force in her and I hate the Phoenix with a passion of a thousand suns, and Korvus I simply cannot take seriously because his ginormous sword is too ridiculous, so, on the whole, I'm not happy with any member of the team roster,
c) the Shi'ar Empire has never made sense to me, it still isn't even one bit credible as a functioning society and, frankly, the New Evil Alien Race blowing it to tiny pieces would probably get a cheer from me, because then I would never ever have to be see their ugly headdresses.

In shorter words, it wasn't meant for me to like this book. Thus, I don't. It had a few small good moments (like Lorna and Rachel bonding over their boys frustrations or Vulcan throwing a tantrum that his people - a shocker - don't like him much), but, mostly, I just don't care. I might still read the next part (I'm such a sucker for X-Men that I'm actually contemplating reading 'New Excalibur'), I might not. It depends on how bored I will be.

Heroes For Hire continue their Hulk adventure, are fairly entertaining and, as usually, wonderfully drawn by Clay Mann. The back-up Scorpion strip is nice too, though, sadly, John Bosco is no Clay Mann, and it contains this lovely exchange - Paladin: 'I trust my Academy Award is in the mail, Agent Sareva', Agent Sareva: 'No, but I've just arranged to have your payment wired to that Cayman Islands account number you gave us. Which, I presume, is what you'd prefer anyway.' Ok, that probably counts as an un-cut spoiler. Please, don't beat me up.

Also, I've caught up with 'Thor', which turns out to be a solid comic. The main premise
with Thor rebuilding Asgard is certainly fascinating. I'm not completely happy with this particular issue because Iron Man suddenly turns up and acts stupid. And I really don't like my Iron Man to act stupid. The rest is ok, though. As for the art, I like Oliver Coipel, but he draws an ugly Thor. I wish Donald Blake was back, he was prettier.

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m_agda @ 2007-09-11T15:52:00

2007-09-11T15:08:19Z

About the imminent 'Messiah Complex' crossover:

"One of Axel Alonso's main goals when he came in as Group Editor was a simplification of the books in the X-Line. And I think people will be really pleased when they see what happens out of 'MC.' It's a clearer, simpler X-Universe. But that happens when you kill most of your characters."

Ok, making the X-Universe more focused and cohesive is a great idea, I'm all for that (though, wasn't 'House of M' and Decimation *shudder* based on the same goal? just saying) but I'm actually getting scared here. Of course I knew it was coming, but it's only now, when the discussions about the ever-growing body-count cannot be ignored any longer, that it's starting to feel real. I know the X-books will go on, at least most of them, but, with my luck, it's gonna my favorites who will hit the dirt. You kill Iceman, you ****ers, there will be violence. Also, I will mope for seven months.

Obviously, 'Uncanny X-Men' will keep on because, really, any other option is unthinkable. It's the only X-title that has run continuously since the very beginning (yes, with the name change, let's not split hairs), so it has to stay. Warren Ellis is taking over 'Astonishing', so that's another sure one. And it looks like there's going be a new incarnation of 'X-Force'(link), with Wolverine, his kinda kid sister X-23, Warpath and Wolfsbane on the roster, which, I guess, is a sign they really mean business this time. Oh, and a new Cable title, which I'm less enthusiastic about because, let's face it, without Deadpool hanging around, Cable is a bore. As for the rest, we can only hope.

Books may be cancelled and certain characters are headed for long dirt naps, but that doesn't mean any writers will be ending their association with the X-Office.
That's, at least, a comforting piece of information. Letting Peter David and Mike Carey go would be a crime.

Oh, and the 'Iron Man' trailer looks spiffy so far. Ok, so they went a bit over the top with all the flying at the end but there's still the joyous fact that Robert Downey Jr. seems to be playing Robert Downey Jr. (the role you surely remember from 'Zodiac', or 'Wonder Boys', or 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang') and that has always been my favorite in his repertoire. Really, I love Robert Downey Jr.

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m_agda @ 2007-09-08T23:50:00

2007-09-08T23:34:54Z

'Girl in the Fireplace' won the tv Hugo and that makes me annoyed. Seriously, I hated that one. I even would be happier if that SG-1 episode won and there really is no love lost between me and that show.

Well, at least the other results were more sensible. Not even one matches my preferred choices, which I find shockingly unsurprising, but they are good stuff, too.

Now, comics:

Uncanny X-Men 490 'The Extremists, part 4'

Quite frankly, I'm getting a bit bored here. The plot is well-constructed and coherent. Solid. Just not particularly engrossing. And certainly too slow. It might be Brubaker's thing ('Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire', people) or he just has to fill pages before the crossover hits.

At least it's good his book and Carey's are somewhat coordinated, both revolving currently around precogs, so that they can be tied together later in the Messiah Complex. Nice.

The Querty woman and her Book is a well-presented idea (a bonus point for an interestingly life-ruining mutation) and going the religious/prophetic/cultish angle is always a smart move because, if you are skillful enough (and Brubaker certainly seems skillful enough), you can justify the most outlandish character behavior this way without losing much credibility. Now, Brubaker's boys and girls so far act in a fairly logical manner and I hope he keeps this up, but he now has a handy Option B to fall back on. He thinks ahead, I like that in a man.

The X-Men are visibly out of their element in this story, with the Morlocks having tremendous advantage over them here. Which makes sense, because it is their territory after all and having the team just sweep in, throw a few random punches and miraculously save the day would be seriously unrealistic. Typical for comics, but unrealistic. And extremely annoying. This way, Morlocks are shown as competent, if slightly unhinged, adversaries, without making the X-Men look stupid (just unlucky and playing against the odds), and I certainly appreciate it.

Still, I expect significantly more action next month. And, as a side note, I still hate Larocca.

The 'Endangered Species' installment is a bit more lively than usual and I like the idea with the mutant gene disappearing completely even from the MGH samples. And Bishop's appearance is very welcome. I missed that guy.

Incredible Hulk 110 'Warbound, part 5'

It's a Hulk-centered book and I hate Hulk. Some inquiring minds might ask then, why am I actually reading it. An excellent question. I wonder about that myself. I do have two reasons, the first one being that it's a tie-in to the Current Big Event and the second that Angel somehow got himself a place on the roster as - apparently - The Whiny Voice Of Reason, which amuses me to no end, but I admit that they are weak and sorely insufficient. Perhaps I just enjoy feeling self-induced rage. Must be that. Anyway, my point is, everything I write here is probably going to be horribly biased.

Ok, I don't really hate Hulk. I don't care about Hulk enough to hate Hulk. I just dislike him and I think he's too much bother. Frankly, I hope, after the whole World War Hulk mess is over, they fire him into space the second time so that he's out of my hair again. The one that I have genuine hatred for is Amadeus Cho. The mere sight of the little snot gives me blind rage (which, btw, is kind of an accomplishment since it's really a rare occurrence when I have so much raw emotion invested in a comic-book character). The fact the he yaps here constantly, practically in every panel, is no help at all.

And what is that crap with Hulk never killing anyone? That little theory with him unconsciously calculating his actions with Bruce Banner's genius brain to minimize the casualties is a neat one, that I admit, but saying that no one ever died under the mega-tons of debris Hulk has produced over the years is stretching it extremely far. No way that's gonna fly.

The only tolerable part of the book for me is the support team, as random as it is. Angel, Hercules and Namora basically just stand around doing nothing at all, but they are somewhat entertaining. For the life of me I can't remember how Scorpion ended up in this book so I was pretty surprised to see her here but I like her, too. She can stay. It's pretty worrying that I can't remember, though. I did read the previous issue, honest. Oh well, it proves quite clearly in how high regard I hold this title, if I can't even be bothered to remember what actually happens in it.

New Warriors 4 'Defiant, part 4'

It looks like at least half the cast here is made of ex-X-Men (hee) and, since X-Men are my babies, the books gets an extended review.

'New Warriors' seems to run in sort of counter-balance to 'Avengers Initiative', but so far it comes across somewhat lacking in comparison.

Firstly, we are already in issue 4, and I still don't know who half of these people are. Before this issue I had no idea that the beskirted guy is Chamber and the begauntleted chick is Angel Salvatore. Well, it might have been mentioned somewhere earlier, I read the previous issues a bit carelessly, but I still think it should have been handled better. And it still leaves half of the team identity-free.

Secondly, the book really doesn't make nearly enough of the fact that they are ex-mutants. Now, for clarification, I think it's a great idea, using ex-mutants, still eager to fight and to make a difference or, perhaps, just desperate to feel special again after their own powers were ripped away from them. It's great material that really should be featured more heavily here, especially since it concerns five characters. Or possibly more.

While I'm on the subject of ex-mutants, I'm not exactly happy with Beak and Angel Salvatore being here. Barnell might have an idealistic spirit in him for such shenanigans but Angel certainly does not. She always struck me not only as a very practical girl, but also one not terribly fond of being a mutant. Besides, aren't they supposed to have a dozen children? What happened to that? One-sentence mention four issues ago is not enough.

Thirdly, it's not really clear what the purpose of this group is. Yeah, they don't like the Registration Act and they want to do their super-heroing without the government meddling in. But what do they actually want to accomplish? Some more focus on that would be great.

On the whole, it's not a bad book, just not particularly interesting at the moment. We are four issues in and it has yet to convince me to actually care.

One little thing. I'm really glad they didn't go the Evil Bad No-Good Iron Man route there. That really wouldn't have worked for me at all. I like Iron Man.

Ok, another little thing, I just cannot keep quiet about it any longer. That Wondra business is a deliberate joke, right? It just has to be. There is no way I can take equipping Jubilee with DD boobs and calling her Wondra seriously.

In other news, 'Ms. Marvel' is in the middle of the most entertaining storyline since, well, ever, though that's mostly due to her new support staff being rather fun (yay, Machine Man! yay, more screen-time for Agent Sum!) as Ms. Marvel herself is as bland as always. Also, in 'Iron Man - Enter the Mandarin' mini, Iron Man battles the Mandarin. It's still the first issue, so he doesn't get very far with that but he does it with acceptable, though not terribly high, level of entertainment. Joe Casey I remember from his stint with the X-Men, which went more or less ok (apart from the X-Corp storyline, which did not go well at all) and brought me Stacy the Prostitute, one of my favorite X-Men ever. Eric Canete I never heard of before but I like him already. His Iron Man looks a bit, uhm, funky there but he draws a mean Mandarin.

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m_agda @ 2007-08-31T18:03:00

2007-08-31T18:14:55Z

The Hugo Awards are announced tomorrow and, since I actually did manage to read all the nominated short forms this year, I'm able to make informed private choices.

The Best Novella category is particularly strong here. I'm choosing Robert Charles Wilson's 'Julian: A Christmas Story', mostly because of Wilson's delightful writing style he employed there, earnest, genial and very engaging, the ultimate example of what I call Campfire Storytelling Style, but Robert Reed's 'A Billion Eves' came very close in the competition. Reed's story had much more gravitas and stirred much deeper emotions but, let's be frank, it's relatively easy to elicit emotional response in the reader when you write about a world created around religious fanaticism (ok, doing it as masterfully and subtly as Reed is not 'relatively easy', but still). Wilson creates a less extreme world, but just as fascinating. Anyway, both novellas are definitely worthy contenders.

Paul Melko's 'The Walls of the Universe' actually had a good shot at the top prize with its deliciously ingenious take on the alternative universes theory but it blew it when its main character, after behaving with admirable common sense for half a story, suddenly started acting in an unprecedentedly illogical manner (I do get it that the poor lad just breaks down under all the stress he's just been through, but it just isn't presented as an organic plot development). He regains his cool soon enough, but the stain on the story remains. It gets the third place, then. William Shunn's 'Inclination' is a perfectly ok novella, but pretty forgettable. Michael Swanwick's 'Lord Weary's Empire', however, is mostly a mess and I have no idea whatsoever how it got on the shortlist. I suspect mind control.

Novelettes and short stories were all pretty good, but none impressed me as much as some of the novellas. That makes it pretty hard to pick favorites. I think I'll go with Michael F. Flynn's novelette 'Dawn, and Sunset, and the Colours of the Earth' for interestingly presenting what effect supernatural occurrences could have on the neighborhood, and Robert Reed's short story 'Eight Episodes' for an intriguing idea of a maybe-alien tv show. I probably won't be all that annoyed though, if someone else swipes the prize there.

Wish I could pick the Best Novel, too, but they are regretfully, and justifiably, NOT available on the web for free and they will probably appear in Poland in about three years (if that). Science Fiction literature market here is quite dreadful, albeit, I admit, slightly improving with every year. In other words, sometimes living in central Europe can be harsh, people.

The Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form category (meaning: the movie one) was well within my grasp, but, thanks to my apparent galloping Youth Dementia, I forgot that I was supposed to watch 'A Scanner Darkly' and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to rectify that particular omission in the course of the next 24 hours, so no vote on that. And it makes my immensely irritated. I hate it when there is no one else to dump the blame on. It clashes with my worldview. I'm almost certain that I would have still named 'Children of Men' the winner (with a close runner-up being 'El laberinto del fauno'), but rules are rules.

I had no trouble with The Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form category, though (meaning: the tv one), having watched all the nominated episodes months before they were even considered for nomination. I'm pretty ticked that 'Girl in the Fireplace' made in, it being a DW episode I thoroughly hated (I admit that the Clockwork People were cool, though) but I've long known that it mysteriously generated a lot of warm response in the fandom, so I'm not all that surprised. Only slightly bitter. And it it actually wins, oh, there will be rage.

As for my chosen candidate, I was torn between 'Downloaded' and 'Army of Ghosts'/'Doomsday'. Even though 'Doomsday' was the only tv episode that almost managed to bring me to tears and that is no mean feat, I think, in the end, the honor goes to BSG, simply because I loved 'Downloaded' beyond any measure.

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m_agda @ 2007-08-26T01:20:00

2007-08-26T00:59:11Z

Better late that ever, right? And I don't think there was any need to rush with the review anyway. We'll probably see another issue around November.

Astonishing X-Men 22 'Unstoppable, part 4'

So the Danger Room Lady has a no-killing feature after all? It's a good development. It always annoys me when a villain is presented as a super-super-powerful über-being and, for no apparent reason, all s/he is actually capable of is roughing the heroes up a bit. Here we get a clear and credible explanation. Good work.

The Danger Room Lady still is a pretty flat character (which is actually quite fitting, her being a personality-free robot, after all) but at least the Breakworld Evil Overlord (who probably has a name but I'm too lazy to check) finally got some spark here. And I love him complaining about Agent Brand patronizing him because his society operates by rules that humans see as barbaric (especially that, from Brand's diatribe later she's sees herself, and with good reasons, as the alien-enlightened one of the group). Because that's exactly what humans do in practically all the pop culture alien contacts. Our way is clearly the best, but we are not only smarter than you, we are also gracious and magnaninous so we will help to elevate from your backwards traditions toward our gloriously civilized level, even if you don't want, to because we just know better and you are too simple a nation to understand (which, now that I think about it, basically summarizes all the intricacies of 'Stargate SG-1' but that's a rant for some another time). I've always found it baffling how many people utterly fail to see that 'civilized' is a completely relative term.

Ok, change of the subject. I'm very glad to see Cyclops actually showing that he is the tactician here. I've always thought that's the most fascinating aspect of him and it's really regrettable how rarely that shows in comics. Yes, he is always very clearly indicated to be the leader, but that's not the same thing, isn't it?

And I assume he's gonna somehow survive this story-arc despite the fact that, at the moment he's floating in space without any sort of life-support. He's solar powers are gonna kick in, right? Because, simply, Scott Summers cannot die. Scott Summers is a rock, a keystone. He's so crucial to the Marvel Universe that I honestly cannot imagine it going on without him. I don't even think Iceman's death would upset me that much, and, as is probably already obvious to all the interested parties from my many many ravings on the subject, he's by far my favorite. If they killed HIM off I wouldn't be as much devastated as with Cyclops' death (which should, under no circumstances, be interpreted that you are allowed to kill Iceman, you hear me, Marvel people? I'm on to you). Cyclops lives. There is just no other viable option.

Now, the artwork. John Cassaday is an incredibly talented artist. He goes for realistic without the end result turning out to look like something computer-generated. He and Greg Land might actually be the only ones in the comic-book industry who can really manage that. And it has to be said that Cassaday has the upper hand in that duo. 'Nuff said, he's the king. And he draws the best Beast I've ever seen.

The Worth-Mentioning Rest:
- the Emma/Scott dynamic, especially near the end, with Scott for a change being the cold and determined one, and Emma helpless and at a loss how she should approach him. Very nicely done.
- the idea of Lockheed as a government agent is simply excellent. It works perfectly while all the time teetering teasingly on the edge of outrageous absurdity. I adore it.
- I don't think there ever was a writer who could capture Emma's dry sarcasm as effortlessly as Whedon. 'You're so unpleasant even I'm impressed. Do you visit orphanages to explain there's no Santa?' - frankly, some other lines were better but don't work that well outside the context, and this one makes a neat sample, too.
- Cyclops's new-found hobo style. I'm sorry, it just amuses me to no end.
- Wolverine: 'I don't know. The kid and I have been seeing this place at ground level...', Armor: 'Still not calling me Armor...', Wolverine: '... I kinda like the version where Pete blows it up.' The whole sequence is just delightful, and has a flawlessly fitting accompanying panel.
- the 'that's no moon' bit. So simple and so effective. Whedon really is a master of homage.

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m_agda @ 2007-08-24T01:11:00

2007-08-23T23:52:36Z

I've always thought that the Frankenstein Mix project is a nifty idea. So, as a sign of support I've decided to, well, actually participate.

1. A song for shredding paperwork. Marilyn Manson 'Lunchbox'
Because I think the song nicely captures the spirit of gleeful destruction.

2. A song to howl along with. Kaiser Chiefs 'The Angry Mob'
Because Kaiser Chiefs win and it has wicked lyrics.

3. A song for frustrated ambition. Franz Ferdinand 'The Fallen'
Because sometimes you just don't fit and society is too big for you to fight against.

4. A song that speaks to your fears. Johnny Cash 'God's Gonna Cut You Down'
Because, in the end, all we are really afraid of is failure.

5. A song you wouldn't throw out of bed, if it came to that. Lenny Kravitz 'Are You Gonna Go My Way'
Because it would probably be lots and lots of dirty fun.

6. A song for the days when you're Don Quixote. Michael Bublé 'Feeling Good'
Because being Don Quixote is about feeling that everything is possible and at the grasp of your hand, if you only try (which might actually not be true, because I haven't read Cervantes and the only thing I know about Don Quixote are the freaking windmills).

7. A song for will-they-won't-they. Suede 'Attitude'
Because I felt like an edgier version of pre-romance tactics.

8. A song for a surfeit of love. Garbage '#1 Crush'
Because I think 'surfeit of love' is when you cross the line between love and unhealthy obsession.

9. A song for a slow drive through the desert. The Hollies 'Searchin''
Because these tunes are simply perfect for driving, though I won't actually be driving, since I don't as a rule, and will be chilling in the passenger seat instead.

10. A song like chamomile tea. The White Stripes 'We're Going To Be Friends'
Frankly, I hate chamomile tea, but I decided to play anyway. So, calming and relaxing, right? Ok.
Because that song never fails to make me stop whatever I'm doing and just smile.

11. A song you wish you had (or could have) listened to as a 15-year-old. White Rabbits 'Kid On My Shoulders'
Because I simply think it's good. No hidden meaning, just that. I was an extremely practical and angst-free teenager, the whole 'music that plays to my pain' emo crap that teenagers frequently suffer from eluded me completely. Music is just music.

12. A song you keep wanting to delete from your hard drive, but can't. The Blood Brothers 'Piano Song'
Because, even though I'm pretty positive that it's more bangly noise than actual music, I just-- I just can't. It sorta snags at you, I have no idea how.

13. A song that sets you giggling (at least in theory). Arctic Monkeys 'Love Machine'
Because it's Arctic Monkeys doing a cover of Girls Aloud. Come on, that's hilarious.

14. A song you listened to this morning. Wolf Parade 'You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son'
Because I really really wanted to include this one too and I played it this morning so that it fits.

Have fun with that.

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m_agda @ 2007-08-23T02:31:00

2007-08-23T00:32:44Z

A bunch of comic-book reviews. One from the last week's batch:

New X-Men 41 'The Quest For Magic'

Ok, I'm going to complain now. It was pretty weak. 'New X-Men' has its moments, there are plenty little details here that I love, but the bigger scope fails quite dramatically.

Belasco spent four issues yelling variations of 'Where is Illyana Rasputin?' (and torturing people, let's not forget the torturing, he's big on torturing) and Illyana Rasputin finally comes. Or whoever she is, because that's not exactly clear. Then Pixie puts a dagger (a soul dagger? somehow connected to the blood stones? I'm not all that well-versed in that part of Marvel mythology, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't hold together at all) into Belasco's back and everybody goes home. The home that is magicly not-destroyed. Thank God for small mercies.

And there was this completely ridiculous bit when Darkchild goes crazy and soul-hungry on Pixie but baffled Colossus calls her 'Snowflake' which upsets her so much that she sends everyone back to Earth. All that within two pages. What the hell was that? I do realize that it was the end of the arc and there wasn't much place left so they had to rush, but that was because they had, like, fifty pages of fighting before. No sense whatsoever.

Also, the Dr Strange and Spider-Man cameo and the whole business with Belasco bringing Earth to Limbo was an entirely unnecessary attempt at dialing the drama up and adding fake gravitas. I do not approve.

Alright, let's get to the good bits, before my mood is totally down. Skottie Young is an endlessly entertaining penciller and I really love the coloring. And Yost & Kyle, while stumbling at the plot part of their assignment, have a real knack at writing cool lines. Examples? Santo: 'This is your big plan? Evil Illyana turns Pixie into Dark Pixie, teaches her a magic freaking spell and then we go fight the devil. You should replace Cyclops. Right now.' Or, Belasco: 'Kill them all!' Legion of Extremely Bored-Looking Hell Beasts Who Stood Silently Around For Two Full Issues Watching Belasco's Crazy Act: 'Finally'. Oh, and Anole got a place on the team. Which means more Anole. Which is good.

The next two issue, before the 'Messiah Complex' kicks in, are supposed to be lighter and carnage-free. I'll believe it when I see it.

And some from this week:

X-Men 202 'Blinded by the Light, part 3'

Hah, the plot thickens. Sinister is eliminating psychics, precogs and any knowledge of the future. Interesting. And the Destiny diaries finally finally resurface. Thank you, Carey.

The issue has plenty of good stuff. Terrific stuff. Well-written, credible, logical, slick, thank you, Carey. Gracefully handled little piece of retcon/exposition when Cannonball recounts Marauders' previous movements. Exodus' team using their powers smartly and freezing the whole mansion in slow-time instead of wasting resources for an unnecessary fight (well, there is a fight later, I admit, but it's for believable reasons, the villains have a tremendous advantage and it fits with Exodus generally being an arrogant pompous prick with aspirations for godhood - which is exactly how an entertaining Exodus should be written). Cannonball getting understandably upset with Cable's apparent demise and Iceman being the voice of calm reason. Sam showing his hardcore side when interrogating Sunfire, because his Kentucky boy-scout routine died a fiery death in X-Force years ago, only none of the pre-Carey X-Men writers noticed it (thank you, Carey). Bobby completely obliterating Shiro's fire powers because he's an omega mutant, only none of the pre-Carey X-Men writers noticed it (I love you, Carey). Beware, A Good Line Alert: Sunfire: 'You blu-- you bluff very badly, Guthrie,' Cannonball: 'That's why Ah never bother.' Exodus trapping Shadowcat in a wall - a creative usage of mutant powers, I approve. The diaries turning out to be blank, a well designed non-continuity-breaking twist, I approve. Prodigy using his allegedly extremely-intelligent brain and coming up with something actually sensible (and thus giving more reason to his continued presence in the X-Universe that we've seen in three latest story-arcs in New X-Men combined). Blindfold avoiding getting caught by Exodus by semi-killing herself (one could question why she didn't tell some person of authority of the impending attack if she knew it would happen, but I'm willing to exercise the benefit of doubt here and maintain that a) she only discovered it twenty seconds earlier and had to improvise, b) she knew it would destroy the Cosmic Balance of Universe, and/or c) her brain works in weird way). Beware, A Good Line Alert: Shadowcat: 'David, I love you!', Prodigy: 'Uh, thanks, Ms. Pryde, but-- you sure Mr. Rasputin's okay with this?' Colossus: 'Of course. I will hug you next.' On the whole, the issue is gold. Thank you, Carey.

Ramos is steadily growing on me. He's still a tad too cartoony, but I'm really beginning to see the charm in it. I heard he's gonna jump to New X-Men now. I can certainly live with that. And his Pixie finally doesn't look like an 8 year old girl, which makes sense since she's supposed to be at least 15. Actually, it would have been quite neat if her mutation involved looking perpetually child-like - yes, I know they already used that idea in one of the X-Factor issues, but it was a nice trick then and it's still a nice trick now - but, as it was never mentioned for two years, the opportunity is long lost. At least she genuinely looks like a teenager now. A busty teenager, too, but, hey, that's Ramos.

I wonder if Carey is going to play up the tensions between Gambit and Mystique. They have history, what with her trying to seduce him so that Rouge breaks up with him and what not. Truthfully, I wouldn't mind at all if Carey decided to swipe it all under the carpet, since it was from Milligan's run and not referencing Milligan might help me with trying to convince myself that he doesn't actually exist, not to mention that he ever was in Marvel's employ, but it's Carey's choice. I'm ok with it either way, I pretty much in love with him now. Carey is da man.

X-Men First Class 3 'Island X, part 2'

'X-Men First Class' continues being the most charming comic-book on the market. A gorgeously drawn book, running light, no-angst adventure stories and not ashamed in the slightest that its main characters are teenage superpowered dorks. I love it.

The highlights this month: Decrees from the Republic of Bobbyland ('4. When we run out of sandwiches and chocolate, we'll eat Hank first. Then Warren. We'll draw straws after that.' - oh, come on, I know you laughed, no point denying that); Bobby throwing a fit that they don't have any chocolate, because Hank packed granola bars instead (I sympathize); the Bald Gremlins Attack panic and Bobby sleeping right through it (and Warren's 'Oh, will you look at this punk!'); the smily X-Men baiting fake!Professor into revealing that he is, in fact, fake ('It's our old pal, Chuck', 'Chuckster!'); aaaand, last but not least, the 'Giant Head Fight!' and the X-Men cheering gleefully from the sidelines. Well, there was also an extra strip with Marvel Girl and Scarlet Witch, pretty cute, though kinda bland, and I never say 'no' to bonus pages.

And, because it just has to be mentioned, no one draws appalled/panicked/horrified faces more entertainingly that Cruz. And Professor's eyebrows get me every time. They are just brilliant.

Cable & Deadpool 44 'Head Games'

An average issue. They are pushing it way too far with Cyclops, whose being there makes even less sense than it did last month, if it's actually possible, and the funny is at the low-tide, mainly because Deadpool spends most of the issue decapitated, but the rest is more or less ok. Not terribly lively, but ok. It has one or two memorable moves like Weasel and Deadpool's high-five after Weasel teleported the Hydra to Guantanamo and Wolverine doing the growly version of ;(. And the 'Hail Hydra!' thing never stops being amusing.

And I love how holes in continuity can be easily explained with Deadpoool being a moron. Weasel was left in Pakistan five issues ago and nobody mentioned him since? No problem.
Deadpool: 'He's not an agent of Hydra-- he got stranded here when I hit this place a couple months ago!'
Wolverine: 'An' you just left him here?'
Deadpool: 'Well, I got Bob...'

That's it for today, children. Tune in soon, there will be more.

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m_agda @ 2007-08-21T23:56:00

2007-08-22T01:03:06Z

Tomorrow four new X-Men issues come out and I'm so excited about it it's almost obscene. And very very sad. I decided to distract myself with movies, then. Well, truthfully, these are the movies that I saw two weeks ago, but, since writing movie reviews has been like pulling teeth lately, it took me some time to get down to them.

Quentin Tarantino's 'Death Proof'

I don't really have much to say about this movie. It was just - and very rarely this phrase ever fitted so perfectly - totally awesome. So perhaps it doesn't carry any deep messages. It doen't move you to tears. It doesn't have a tremendous impact on your worldview. But I virtually can't remember the last time I had this much fun in the cinema and that trumps everything else.

And the first segment isn't perhaps as wildly entertaining as the second, but it works very nicely for the overall thrills gradation so it really is quite alright. And now I want to see 'Planet Terror' so very very much. Like, right now. Curse the bizarre release schedules.

Len Wiseman's 'Die Hard 4'

'Die Hard' had the single most unappealing trailer I've seen this year. It starts out quite intriguingly, mostly because it's hard to tell what movie that actually is but then there's the bored-looking Bruce Willis and the uninspired one-liners and a string of never-ending explosions and this deal with Bruce Willis taking out a chopper with a car which is just wrong. And I only say 'wrong' because I can't think of a stronger word.

These two minutes were so bad that I certainly had no intention whatsoever of sitting though the whole two hours. In fact, I can hardly remember when I was so negatively predisposed towards an action movie. I even avoided every mention of it in the media (and if I didn't I would have probably given in much earlier because I'm a sucker for good reviews). If I hadn't been told specifically that the movie is, against all reason, loads of fun I'd have just ignored it until it quietly slipped off the cinema rosters. I'm really really glad it hadn't come to that. And thanks, roguem.

'Die Hard 4' (I am not calling it 'Live Free or Die Hard' because that title is just stupid) seriously is loads of fun. And John McClane, to my endless surprise, is a perfectly believable character. He is really nothing that special, not extraordinarily smart, no show-off fighting skills. He is no superhero. He is just doggedly persistent and has an indomitable will to go on. Which is exactly what makes him so great. I'm so glad it wasn't lost over the years.

Justin Long makes for one of the most delightful sidekicks I've ever seen. Timothy Olyphant has quite unfortunate make-up and overacts a bit but his character has really well presented background and motives and you really don't get that very often in a villain. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is, unexpectedly, not annoying, even though her character is very obviously a Tough Girl, which usually is bound to antagonize me (now that I think about it, it might have been because 'Death Proof' was still freshly in my mind, and it was freaking awesome, and she was in it, and, well, it's sorta like, quoting Pratchett, 'gilt by association'). Kevin Smith didn't leave much of an impression but he was onscreen for about seven minutes so that's ok. And practically all I remember of Maggie Q is that she's one hot pistol but that's ok too. However, I totally loved the French parkour guy, even though I'm not entirely sure if he actually had any lines.

Alright, time to grumble. They really went over the top with the freeway scenes. No, not even Bruce Willis is allowed to win against a fighter plane. That's just not acceptable. And the lack of injury realism went too far. If you don't want to have your character out of the game because he was shot in the kneecap, just don't shoot him in the kneecap. It really is that simple, Len Wiseman. But I admit you get points for having one of the primary characters mention he's asthmatic and not throwing an 'I can't breathe and I have no medication' scene. That's practically a first in the action genre.

Oh, and just for the record, Bruce Willis shooting a car into a helicopter looks just as ridiculous in the movie as it did in the trailer. The rest is pretty much just cool, though.

David Fincher's 'Zodiac'

Great performances, smart script, everything holds together very nicely. However, the movie falters at an obstacle that really couldn't imaginably be avoided. It's a thriller about a serial killer who, as is widely known, has never been caught. Meaning that you call only dial up the tension - and the thrills - so far.

Fincher does a good job here. He cleverly pulls away from the actual chase and focuses on the pursuers and how their life crumbles under the weight of the Zodiac obsession (especially nice work with the Jake Gyllenhaal character, a kind, earnest man who can't keep together any of his marriages). Fincher doesn't quite dodge the bullet, though. I'm fairly certain it's was impossible anyway. He builds up the atmosphere very skillfully, but there's just no climax to follow into. As a result you leave the cinema, very acutely aware that you've just seen a very good motion picture but you are still this tiny bit disappointed. An admirable effort, Fincher, honestly. It wasn't your fault.

By the way, I caught all these movies when I was still in Wrocław because when the film festival came to an end and I still had two prepaid days left at the hostel and my friend was not coming over as was previously arranged because she very untimely broke her leg and I just refused to go clubbing in a strange city alone, after a day full of obligatory sight-seeing and shop-traipsing when I asked myself 'How shall I amuse myself in the evenings?' there wasn't even a moment's hesitation before 'oooooh, more movies' popped up. Which I suppose puts the final tally at 47 full-lengths and 74 shorts. All that in thirteen days, mind you.

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m_agda @ 2007-08-11T16:24:00

2007-08-11T16:08:44Z

Marvel X-Land appears to be doing really well this year, but with X-Factor it really struck gold. The series was, hands down, the best thing to come out of the whole 'House of M' circus, and, two years later, it's still going remarkably strong. I'm practically in love with it.

X-Factor 22 'The Isolationist, part 2'

A fantastic issue. It's like A+. Great lines, great twists. And so much happens. I admit that I was a bit worried that part 1 seemed a bit slow, but part 2 more than makes up for it. I'm positively awed. Peter David is a god.

The Endangered Species plan? Love. Nicole actively working for the Isolationist fellow? Love. (They'll have to clearly explain at some point how they managed to get Monet to bring her from France instead of leaving her there with local authorities. A subtle mental suggestion, or whatever, I don't care. I just don't buy it that they could have predicted her behavior so perfectly.) Nicole braining Layla with a stone and dumping her in a river? Love. Solo and Clay (the one from the Madrox miniseries, I presume?) working as the Hate Kiddies' protection? Love. These two are truly classy thugs, I very much approve. Monet and Syrin being held in a teeny tiny wooden shack in the middle of a wasteland? Love. Rictor apparently getting all hot and bothered about Rahne's wilder and clawier side? Love. And were that Quicksilver's magic crystals along his spine? Hmm, perhaps not Love yet, if only because I'm not even sure if I interpreted it right, but it definitely has Love potential.

Oh oh oh, and the lines (incidentally, all of them the courtesy of Monet St Croix):
'Well, what do you think?' 'Charming. The Fray should record a cover version.'
or 'What the hell is wrong with you?' 'Mmmmm?' 'You are more injury-prone than anybody I've ever met.'
or 'All my suits have light-refractive capabilities' 'Yeah, well, all my suits have designer labels. So bite me.'

I really hope Paolo Raimondi stays on this book for a long long time yet. I like his pictures more and more with every new issue.

Now, the 'Endangered Species' strip. Much better than part 6, I think. My gloomy attitude towards this project might have been a tad premature. Beast is still kinda wobbly here, but that Dark Beast guy definitely seems like fun. He gets the best lines, too. DB: 'Tell me about the Greys. Jean and Nate', B: 'They are both dead', DB: 'Well, yes. But with that family I've found it's best to get frequent updates. Exactly how dead, at this moment of time?' Cold, but spot-on.

I realized that I really shouldn't complain about 'New X-Men' as much as I do. I just got through all the pre-Decimation issues (my Modus Operandi with my every new comic series is to read a few most recent story-archs and then gradually work my way backwards) and they were really pretty bad. Verging on dreadful, even. And so vanilla, that it was downright sickening. I don't even want to think about some of the art, because Paco Medina? That went right against my gag reflex. Anyway, Kyle & Yost, you might have made some missteps, true, but the two of you were a bloody salvation to this title.

Now, that I've got through all the New Mutants/X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, X-Men First Class and X-Factor past issues and reached reasonably far into the Uncanny and Adjectiveless X-Men history, I think it's high time I got my teeth into 'Cable and Deadpool'. Judging from the four latest issues, the book looks like loads of fun.

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m_agda @ 2007-08-10T15:12:00

2007-08-10T19:08:00Z

For some unfathomable reason, writing comic book reviews seems much easier that writing movie reviews, so here we are:

X-Men 201 'Blinded by the Light, part 2'

Not as good as #200, but still going strong. A decent middle issue, I think. Besides, it's back to the 24-page format, so it stands to reason that there's less packed into it that was in the super special anniversary edition last month.

Iceman and Cannonball get a lot of screentime this time and that's always a plus in my book. Give them some more, Carey. They play off each other perfectly. I love them together.

Another thing I love is that the theory of Mystique-delivered power-sucking crabs got validated. The whole concept is just wonderful. The downside is that it might scare poor Iceman off sex forever. The upside, though, is: 'I can't remember when I've enjoyed an ambush more'.

Oh, and the trick with Iceman exercising the good old suicidal bravery and jumps off the flying plane to jump-start his ice powers in the rush to Cannonball's side (to save his boyfriend, so sweet) must be mentioned. It was neat.

Another plus point goes for involving the X-Men Jugend - I'm all for the teams mingling together - but there's also a minus point for gratuitous mansion destruction. Seriously, how much damage can this building take. Just rebuild it next time with adamantium, vibranium or other made-up super-duper-durable substance and be done with it. Oh, there's also half a minus point for Emma's uppity 'I know all and you are all naught more than childish puppets just there for my never-ending entertainment' shtick, that I've actually more or less accepted as a part of her character, but which still irritates me now and then.

I'm pretty intrigued about the whole target list thing. The actual Sinister's agenda too, naturally. However, with the latter I'll probably have to wait for the final issue or even - the pessimistic option - the next story-arch, and with the former I hope for a more immediate gratification. Like, the next issue.

And I really really hope it all makes sense in the end. I know I've already expressed it quite clearly last time, but it bears repeating. Mike Carey taking over the book was like a breeze of fresh air for the franchise and I've got a lot of faith invested in him. I seriously want him to do well. At least I can be sure that, no matter what, he'll fare better than Peter Milligan, but, frankly, it would be quite hard to turn up worse than Peter Milligan tragic X-Men run (honestly, for what you did to Iceman, Milligan, you are on my shit list forever) so I hope Carey holds himself to some higher standard. Please, Carey, so far everything is going fine, I beg you, don't screw it up.

X-Men First Class 2 'Island X, part 2'

The book continues to be utterly adorable. And I don't just mean the art. Jean and Scott playing battleships. Hank advertising the many advantages of kilts. Bobby worrying about mixing colors in the laundry. X-Men dropping everything and rushing to battle at (fake!)Professor's simple 'X-Men! World in danger! Get to the other hemisphere! Chop-Chop!'. The Bobbyland. Bobby's first instinct in the face of danger being running fast and screaming loudly ('Bobby, don't you have a power, or is my memory going?'). Warren getting fed up with the whole situation and their need-to-know status and throwing a hissy fit. (fake!)Professor responding immediately and griping that the team isn't moving fast enough when The Safety of the Whole World Hangs In Balance. Really, it's all freaking cute. I love this book.

New X-Men 40 'The Quest For Magic, part 4'

The plot moves forward another inch. The kids overpowered Ilyana (go, Anole! - really, I think the lizard kid is my favorite one), Helion and Surge managed to find themselves a ride to the Limbo and X-23 is not dead anymore (a shocker, I know) and-- well, that's it. Ok, so perhaps, I'm exaggerating a bit, some things do actually happen there and, really, there's only so much you can fit into 24 pages, but I'm just quite annoyed that it's already part 4 and, while we got a lot of cool details on the way, the bigger picture practically hasn't changed at all from part 2.

I like this book. Skottie Young's art continues to be inspired, the kids are quickly growing on me (except for Surge, she keeps on getting on my nerves), the supporting cast is finally getting more limelight (go, Anole!), but, since we have to wait a whole month for every issue, I would really like to find that said issue actually makes a step forward. The story arch is hitting the finish line next month, and it really looks like they are things are going to be quite rushed there with so little time left. Yost, you seriously should have paced yourself better.

Cable & Deadpool 43 'With Friends Like These'

The book is fun. Sure the plot hook with Cyclops showing up out of the blue and, for no discernible reason, asking Deadpool to do damage control when Wolverine goes on a 'claw-about' in Hydra headquarters doesn't make a snidge of sense but, hey, it generates buckets of amusement later (not the least one being Deadpool giving Cyclops grief for not being a more attentive daddy) so I'm not going to complain too much.

Deadpool, Bob the Hydra and Weasel with his pet Penetrator make for the most entertaining trio in recent Marvel history. I really hope the apparent Wolverine-inflicted Deadpool decapitation won't put a cramp in this dynamic.

The sample lovelies from the issue: 'I've been keeping up with my blog, but mostly it's just like a diary. After I got kidnapped-- uhm, liberated - Hydra shut down my url link to their server. I can't even e-mail my cousin.' 'An international butt party.' 'Can't hear Bob above the din. I think he's encouraging me to press on. He is brave. Note to self: din is a cool word.' And my favorite: 'But it is Deadpool - he is, like, our fourth or fifth biggest threat. Or sixth.'

Uncanny X-Men 489 'The Extremists, part 3'

I'm not exactly sure why everyone, and especially Xavier, is actually looking for Magneto but I'm willing to give Brubaker a benefit of doubt here. At least the search gives Xavier a chance to exercise his any-means-necessary side, that is my absolute favorite.

I like the interaction between Warpath, Hepzibah and Caliban, the Fantastic Four guest appearances play out quite nicely (and thankfully are left at cameos - I really don't think the full crossover would have worked here), the Morlocks so far are a believable bunch, with credible motives, Storm does annoy me a bit but not as much as I expected (good job, there, Brubaker) and love the twist with Skids turning out to be a O*N*E agent. A good issue.

I'm certainly happy that the whole M-Day thing is finally addressed properly. So far the 'Uncanny' book has skirted around the issue completely. It's high time for some reaction.

As for the 'Endangered Species' strip (part 6, I believe?), I'm afraid I'm actually starting to lose interest in it, especially that the whole Beast/Dark Beast confrontation didn't strike me as particularly convincing and mostly established that Beast is kind of a whiner. I will keep reading it, that's sure, but the perspective of 11 more issues seems a bit disheartening.

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m_agda @ 2007-08-08T23:17:00

2007-08-09T01:20:03Z

So I'm back. Well, frankly, I got back last Thursday but first there was this whole 'oooh, regular sleep and food!' excitement and me meeting with various people and subtly bragging about the glorious time I had in Wrocław and they didn't. you know the drill. And then my PC croaked up on me. On a Saturday, no less, meaning it was full five days before I got it back. It was supposed to be four days but apparently people at the computer store are cretins. All in all, very irritating.

After almost two weeks of no-computer Wrocław time, with yet another five no-computer days (and no cool movies to distract me with) I was going seriously stir-crazy. I was so bored that I actually read that 'Harry Potter 7' that my sister in some strange wave of sibling love sent me from London. It was so nice of her when she said that she ordered me one that I didn't have the heart to tell her that I stopped reading the series at book five. Some commentary about HP might crop up later but if I forget (or if I'm too lazy) to actually do that, let me just tell you now that it was ok. I'm not too happy about some plot developments but basically Rowling managed to dig herself out quite cleanly.

Anyway, here's my slightly belated film festival report. 44 full-length movies (which I boldly interpret as a 50-plus-minutes category) and 74 shorts. No actual reviews because, knowing my usual speed, I'd probably be still writing them in October. Just basic categorizing, then:

The Special 'I Think I've Just Had A Minor Revelation' Movie Experience Award
Wim Vandekeybus' 'Blush' (imdb)

The movies my love for which goes strong and proud and sees no boundaries
Anton Corbijn's 'Control' (imdb)
Cristian Mungiu's '4 luni, 3 saptamini si 2 zile' ('4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days', imdb)
Clara van Gool's 'Enter Achilles' (imdb)
Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi's 'Persepolis' (imdb)
Mat Whitecross & Michael Winterbottom's 'The Road to Guantanamo' (imdb)
Corneliu Porumboiu's 'A fost sau n-a fost?' ('12:08 East of Bucharest', imdb)
Hal Hartley's 'Trust' (imdb)
Joon-ho Bong's 'Gwoemul' ('The Host', imdb)
Antonin Svoboda's 'Immer nie am Meer' ('Forever Never Anywhere', imdb)
Chan-wook Park's 'Saibogujiman kwenchana' ('I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK', imdb)
Wim Vandekeybus' 'Here-After'
Sue Brooks' 'Japanese Story' (imdb)
Lars von Trier's 'Direktøren for det hele' ('The Boss of It All', imdb)
Cate Shortland's 'Somersault' (imdb)
Jesper Ganslandt's 'Farväl Falkenberg' ('Falkenberg Farewell', imdb)
Inés de Oliveira Cézar's 'Extranjera' ('Foreigner', imdb)

Movies I took an immediate liking to, which is no surprise whatsoever, because they they were really quite neat:
Pavel Lungin's 'Остров' ('The Island', imdb)
Julien Temple's 'Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten'(imdb)
Federico Fellini's 'Amarcord' (imdb)
Guy Maddin's 'Brand Upon the Brain!' (imdb)
Guy Maddin's 'Careful' (imdb)
Sam Garbarski's 'Irina Palm' (imdb)
Pernille Rose Grønkjær's 'The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun' (imdb)
Philip Gröning's 'Die große Stille' ('Into Great Silence', imdb)
Paul Andrew Williams's 'London to Brighton' (imdb)
Joachim Lafosse's 'Nue propriété' ('Private Property', imdb)
Paul Cox' 'Innocence' (imdb)
Rolf de Heer's 'Alexandra's Project' (imdb)
Carlos Reygadas' 'Luz silenciosa' ('Silent Light', imdb)
Jonathan Teplitzky's 'Better Than Sex' (imdb)
Doug Biro & Jon Fine's 'Herbie Hancock: Possibilities' (imdb)
Shinya Tsukamoto's 'Akumu Tantei' ('Nightmare Detective', imdb)
Ana Kokkinos' 'The Book of Revelation' (imdb)
Naomi Kawase's 'Mogari no mori' ('The Mourning Forest', imdb)

Movies that were more or less ok (for varied reasons) but, had I somehow missed them in my movie-watching career, I certainly wouldn't have been torn apart with great despair:
Vishal Bharadwaj's 'Omkara' (imdb)
Hsiao-hsien Hou's 'Le voyage du ballon rouge' ('Flight of the Red Balloon', imdb)
Aleksandar Manic's 'Knjiga rekorda Shutke' ('The Shutka Book of Records', imdb)
Hal Hartley's 'The Girl from Monday' (imdb)
André Téchiné's 'Les témoins' ('The Witnesses', imdb)
Peter Liechti 'Hardcore Chambermusic'

Movies that, despite surprisingly appealing reviews, are really best left alone, preferably in some very very distant place:
Johnny To's 'Fong juk' ('Exiled', imdb)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's 'Iklimler' ('Climates', imdb)

The Special 'no-- please, the pain-- just stop, I'll do whatever' Category:
Béla Tarr's 'The Man from London' (imdb)

The final tally: 41 movies in the 'plus' brackets, just three in the 'minus' ones. In other words: boy, it really looks like I have good movie taste. I think I did even better that last year. Fortunately, the complete lack of a definite timetable didn't bite me in the ass as I feared it could. Even with planning my watching schedule just one day ahead for every movie day, it turned out pretty nicely. True, with more thorough preparation, I'd have probably mamnaged to steer clear of 'The Man From London', the slowest movie I've ever had the misfortune to see (not the good-slow type, just slow-slow), but with 51 movie screening to fit into your schedule at least one rotten egg is practically unavoidable. It's a simple law of real-life statistics.

I got more than my fair share of the bad ones with the shorts. It comes directly from the principal Short Movie Problem: short movies tend to travel in packs. For all the logical time-managing reasons, short movies are put into batches, some assembled with great care, some not. That means that, almost invariably, you have to trudge trough a sea of mediocrity to get to the truly good ones. It's an expected part of the experience, albeit not particularly joyous. The result this year is that from 74 shorts (ranging from two-and-a-half to 42 minutes) I managed to cram into my timetable, at least a half of it was rubbish. So I'll just mention those really really worth mentioning:
Rafał Skalski's '52 procent' ('The 52 Percent', imdb)
Andrzej Barański's 'Warzywniak 360' ('Countdown')
Lloyd Newson's 'The Cost of Living' (imdb)
Hans Beenhakker's 'Shake Off'
Alicja Pahl's 'Rysy' ('Features')
Valérie Pirson's 'Pistache' (imdb)
Aurélie Fréchinos & Victor-Emmanuel Moulin's 'Clik clak' (imdb)
Jan Thüring's 'Das Floß' ('The Raft', imdb)
Alvise Renzini's 'Grande Anarca' ('Great Anarch')
Tim Kluth's 'Kater' ('Tomcat')
Chloé Miller's 'Poteline' (imdb)
Annick Vroom's 'Höhenluft' ('Mountain Air', imdb)
Guilherme Marcondes' 'Tyger' ('Tiger', imdb)
Julian Józef Antonisz' 'Fobia' ('The Phobia')
Julian Józef Antonisz' 'Jak działa jamniczek' ('How Does A Sausage-Dog Work')
Julian Józef Antonisz' '... Te wspaniałe bąbelki t tych pulsujących limfocytach' ('... The Marvellous Bubbles in the Throbbing Lymphocytes')

On the whole, the festival was a blast. Most of the movies were great fun, Wrocław is just as beautiful a city as I remembered it and the weather was quite ok. Yes, this year is I lived a fair bit from the city center which meant a lot of extra legwork and, me being a lazy creature who complains promptly whenever a prospect of physical effort arises, I'd normally see it as quite a bother. However, when you put good movies at the destination point, my internal need for wailing and whining usually dries up pretty quickly. If it's actually good movies in great quantities at the destination point, then I'm even moderately eager for a morning walk. So there. Happy happy happy.

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m_agda @ 2007-07-18T23:55:00

2007-07-18T23:26:21Z

So tomorrow I'm off to Wrocław to partake in a ten-days-long film orgy otherwise known as Era New Horizons International Film Festival. I don't even have a schedule put together this year which might bite me in the ass yet, but it's not like I won't have plenty of time between screenings to figure out my next moves so it'll probably sort itself out. God, I hope.

Anyway, I'm going be incommunicado for a bit more than two weeks (first the festival, then Wrocław sightseeing, then Poznań sightseeing and, then, well, probably a lot of exhausted sleeping). Hmm, not that I've all that hyper-active lately with my lj-life. It might even be hard to tell the difference. Just saying that, for a change, it will not be the case of 'Magda not posting anything because she's too lazy to do so', but of 'Magda not posting anything because she's busy living the Life of Adventure and Excitement'. Oh, I love those.

In order to get myself into the movie-watching spirit I caught some of the movies offered by the Czech Month at the local cinema. Well, when I say 'some' I actually mean 'two'. Namely Sasa Gedeon's 'Návrat idiota' (aka The Idiot Returns) and Petr Koliha's 'Vychova divek v Cechách' (aka 'Bringing Up Girls in Bohemia'). Czech cinema really has a unique feel to it. It's perpetually hanging between sadness and amiable grotesque. 'Návrat idiota' is definitely drifting towards the former, with its distinct lirical ambience, 'Vychova divek v Cechách' hovers more or less in the middle. These are not great pictures, certainly not the best Czech cinema has on offer, but they are alright. And they manage something only few movies are able to accomplish. They are getting better as they go along. Now, that really doesn't happen often.

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m_agda @ 2007-07-13T01:53:00

2007-07-13T00:00:45Z

I've been spending way too much time on comics lately than is seemly, so let's at least make something constructive out of it. Reviews, then:

X-Men 200, 'Blinded by the Light, part 1'

That was fun. Seriously fun. I love the idea of Mystique and Lady Mastermind defecting to the other side and Omega Sentinel being dragged with them agaist her will (and the downloading move was very neat, btw). I like that the Marauders' ambush was actually sensibly executed. Mystique let them in, Lady Mastermind masked their presence, they took out the most crucial/dangerous target first to level the ground (Sentinel knocked out Emma Frost before she could warn anyone, and it seems that Mystique gave Iceman some sort of power-dampening crabs which, again makes sense because he's the one only who can potentially neutralize all the bad guys in one go).

Well, we don't know what their agenda is yet so there's still a chance that it turns out to be lame which would naturally ruin everything but so far it's all good. Don't screw up, Carey. I really like you, you are doing a great job with this book but it only takes one big mistake, don't forget that. I have faith in you, though. And if you'll manage to pull off Gambit whom Milligan recently fucked up beyond any recognition, I'll be in awe forever.

As for Iceman sleeping with Mystique, I don't mind at all. I like that she played the 'I'm so lonely, nobody loves me' card so, a sa result, it was kind of a pity fuck from Iceman's perspective. And, let's face it, if you take words 'Iceman', 'Mystique' and 'pity fuck' and put them together, everyone would expect the deal to go the other way. Here however it makes perfect sense because Mystique was most probably trying to get close to him to eliminate his ice powers (or, a less likely option, she knew that it was her last day among the X-Men and thought 'what the hell, it's the last chance, I want some') and Iceman was faced with that very hot lady who apparently had hots for him and needed cheering up so of course he went with it. And they've been circling around each other for about ten issues now so it's been actually heavily foreshadowed.

The only thing that actually pissed me off in this book was that the Cable sequence wasn't coordinated with 'Cable & Deadpool 42' which was specifically meant to show the same scene from a different perspective. It is very similar, I'll grant you that, but that's not really enough, is it? Come on, how hard can it be to make a few plot points match? Seriously?

Ok, let's talk the art now. I really wish Bachalo was doing the whole issue here. I adore his wacky pictures. Ramos' are wacky too but not even half as charming. And Bachalo draws a much better Iceman which is always a huge plus in my book (though I have to admit that at least Ramos gives him proper pants instead of those frigging spandex speedos - what were you thinking, Bachalo?). Now, it's not that Ramos is actually a bad penciller. He's squarely in the ok camp. I just wish for more.

I wonder how far they'll go with the deaths. Cable supposedly blew himself up to itty bitty pieces, but I won't believe he's relly gone until I see the body (or the itty bitty pieces). For now, I suppose he'll just disappear for a bit. Rogue got shot in the chest but between her own absorbing powers, the virus thing, the eight billion minds business and wolverine being around, anything can happen. Anyway, I think she's too important a character to go down just like that.

And Iceman got shot, too. If you kill him, Carey, we are so done.

Uncanny X-Men 488, 'The Extremists, part 2'

Crap. Larroca is back. I hate Larroca. I can live with his general panels and with his backgrounds but his close-ups are sometimes downright off-putting (that was positively the ugliest Valerie Cooper I've ever seen). Good thing Ed Brubaker continues to deliver on his end of the deal, so it's still a solid issue.

I like the set-up. The dialog lines are believable, even bordering on witty at times, the plot flows fluently so far (if not terribly fast) and the story seems un-forced. The X-Men, as in Storm (on a loan from Fantastic Four), Warpath and Hepzibah the ex-Starjammer, go investigate the Morlock tunnels after Caliban shows up on their front lawn all fangled up and Professor takes Nightcrawler on a trek to find Magneto before anyone else does. Makes sense so far. And it looks like the tensions between the X-Men and O*N*E are finally getting their deserved limelight here too. The whole story-arch certainly appears to have a lot of potential. But why does it have to be Larroca? I hate Larroca.

Quote of the issue: Professor X: 'We do it the old-fashioned way', Nightcrawler: 'And what is the old-fashioned way', Professor X: 'I secretly probe the minds of everyone in the general vicinity'. I just love Professor's on-and-off relationship he has with ethics.

The 'Endangered Species' backstrips are promising so far, but the overall quality of the series will depend greatly upon the idea at the very end of Beast's journey. All we got so far is a pretty slow build-up and nothing else and I suspect that's going to continue this way for quite some time yet (though, hopefully, not for ALL 17 installments), so everything will hinge on whether the gimmick at the end, the big solution, actually works out.

X-Men First Class 1, 'The Job Shadow'

I'm so glad it returns as on ongoing series. It's possibly the most charming comic book currently available. And finally an angst-free X-Men title. All the others are mired in it so it's really a very welcome change of pace.

And Roger Cruz' art is simply beautiful. And, I don't know, the word 'fresh' just springs to mind. Ok, I admit that Iceman's bizarre hair bothers me a tad, but Cruz more than makes up for it with the way he draws Angel, who's finally FINALLY pretty. Not-pretty Angels piss me off because the man's otherworldly beauty is supposed to be his main distinctive quality (well, that and the 20-feet wingspan) and pencillers have this irritating tendency of making him look like Dolph Lundren on a very bad day.

The plot is, as usual, simple and straightforward. Jean isn't doing all that great (and I like this idea of young, fumbling Jean Grey a lot), Professor decides that she needs some female influence and he gets Sue Storm to role-model a bit, Sue Storm takes Jean away for a Fantastic Four mission, the boys are desolate that she left them, mope around a bit and then go to get her back, X-Men and Fantastic Four pool their resources together and the Monster of the Day goes down, everyone is absurdly happy and the teams go their separate ways. Oh, and they hug a lot. A very simple story, nothing unexpected but done with so much charm that it works very well. And the pictures are really really pretty.

New X-Men 39, 'The Quest For Magic, part 3'

I love this Skottie Young guy. His art is fantastic. Actually, between him, Bachalo and Cruz, I really can't decide who's my favorite. If only they kicked out Salvador Larroca, I'd have a perfect set.

Ok, I have one grumble. I have some reservations with how Young draws Prodigy, mostly because it makes him look about twelve. Other that that, though, I'm downright delighted.

I think 'New X-Men' score the most impressive body count from all the X-titles. Probably going through the 'everybody gets to die at least once' special offer or something. They should probably reconsider that approach soon, because the thing is definitely getting out of control. I love me some gore and carnage but, really, tone it down already. It's getting ridiculous. At least this time the deaths and maiming probably aren't going to stick, especially since Elixir is seemingly in some sort of a healing-frenzy at the moment and the most afflicted one at the moment happens to be X-23. Still, they really should give those kids a break.

The funny thing is that, basically, nothing actually happens in this issue. That is, there are 24 pages full of non-stop fighting but the plot barely moves forward a meager inch. Which, in fact, I realized just now, because it's really easy to get sidetracked by all the gleeful carnage and confuse if for actual story. I hope we'll get more actual plot points in the next issue because it main be fun on short distances but I can see it getting old very soon.

And I really hope we'll get a decent explanation as to what the hell happened with the freaking X-Men that are supposed to be guarding all those kids and how yet another supervillain managed to snatch them away and maul them unnoticed.

.

m_agda @ 2007-07-11T21:50:00

2007-07-11T23:42:56Z

I just got my braces set which means that my teeth hurt so much that I'm seriously starting to contemplate knocking myself unconscious. Which would be a pretty extreme move so best left as a fall-back plan rather than the main course of action. For now, I'm just going to think happy thoughts, I'll see that that works.

Oh, a happy thought. I met roguem on Sunday. Like, in person. Still feels a bit surreal. An amazing girl, she is. Funny, clever and pretty. You practically don't get any better. Seriously, roguem, you rock. Hard, plain and simple.

Oh, movies. Another happy thought.

Allen Coulter's 'Hollywoodland'

A decent picture. No fireworks but it's ok. It clocks 126 minutes, meaning that it is at least 6 minutes too long, but, while it isn't the most scintillating movie production of the year, it's never actually boring either.

It's basically two separate stories, one of a famous tv actor (Ben Affleck), the other of a down-on-his-luck detective investigating his death (Adrien Brody). Both have very nice performances to carry them through (my only complain here is Robin Tunney's pretty jarring Southern accent), but the connection between them is sometimes nothing more than a very thin thread, which goes against the very point of the movie. And, even though I have nothing against open endings in general, this one doesn't feel entirely right.

On the whole, a good movie, but not overwhelmingly so. Worth watching for acting and cinematography alone, if not much else.

Giuseppe Tornatore's 'Nuovo cinema Paradiso'

Now, this one is a true gem. The most enchanting movie I've seen in a long long time. About the pure love for cinema, the sense of wonder only cinema can create, about the joy it can bring and the way it can brighten up people's lives. It tells about the time already gone, when cinema was this place of magic and awe and amazement and happiness, unmatched by any other.

We don't appreciate cinema like that anymore. Which perhaps isn't surprising given the fact that it's been around for over a century, has become common entertainment a long time ago and got majorly downgraded with the emergence of television. Not surprising but still sad. Because the wonder and the magic are still there, we just don't see them anymore. It's good there the movies like this one to make us remember.

I have nothing else to say. Words fail me. It's simply a masterpiece.

And a book. These happy thoughts just keep on coming.

'The Algebraist' by Iain M. Banks

I read this one a while ago, but I've never got around to actually reviewing it. Which is a shame because it seems that the more time passes the more critical I am it. A month ago, the review would her certainly been more praising and perhaps that's what the book actually deserves.

'The Algebraist' is a good book, written tightly and with obvious skill. And I certainly like Banks's style. Now, that man really knows how to form nice sentences.

There are two main problems here. Problem One, it seems that Banks routinely has trouble with writing satisfying endings. Well, that 'routinely' is a pretty bold move on my part since I've only read two of his books, but it's still some pattern. I admit that 'The Algebraist' turned out better on that front that 'Look To Windward', where the tension was building deliciously up and up and up and then went pzzzz and the book just ended. That was annoying. Yes, 'The Algebraist' fares a bit better, but mostly because the stakes really aren't that high there so there are less expectations. Problem Two, the evil guy is much too evil. He just had to go down, there was no other option. No suspense. Actually, now that I think about it, there was precious little suspense about anything in this book. I stopped caring about whether Fassin will find this famous Dweller List or not - which was the main plot point, btw - around the middle of the book and it didn't actually stopped me from enjoying the rest. It really is this nicely written. And I admit the whole trick with the Dweller List at the end was clever. Probably scientifically impossible, but very imaginative.

What the book surely wins at, is the most entertaining alien race that I've ever met in science fiction. The Dwellers, impossibly old creatures who, with lifespans of millions of years really have drastically different set of life priorities that humans. They pursue wars as exciting hobbies, deem clothes more important than government, hunt their own young and aren't particularly phased about practically anything. Except perhaps regattas. And they are the most dangerous race to ever exist. Just lovely.

'The Algerbaist' left me in a bit of a fix. I'm not really sure what to think about it. It's, I don't know, very good, just not really engaging? I enjoyed it quite a lot, but I didn't care much for the characters? Does that even make sense? Quite a conundrum. Better check for yourselves.

And for a nice finish, my dear volleyball boys won again. And it's the final round, just six teams left, people, so that's, like, extra good. Especially that the Brazilians got finally slayed by Bulgarians so we are the only undefeated team left. Go, we.

Well, happy thoughts or not, my teeth still hurt. Time to try this unconscious thing, I think.

m_agda @ 2007-06-27T10:28:00

2007-06-27T10:20:58Z

I basically spent the last three days reading X-Men comics. Which wasn't supposed to happen. The result is that I have an exam in about four hours and I haven't even started on the studying. Well, better late than never, right?

But first:

Steven Soderbergh's 'Ocean's Thirteen'

That was fun. Lots and lots and lots of fun. Very clever, wildly entertaining and utterly cool, but without actually being too cool for its own good like the regrettable part two. Ok, so the line was dangerously close a few times, but mostly they managed to steer clear.

The gleeful details? Danny and Rusty exercising heavily their trademark psychic mind-meld. Virgil and Turk causing a riot at a dice factory in Mexico. Turk clearly being the firm supporter of 'one, two, three, many' counting method (Virgil: 'I'm making you taller. Don't you want to be taller? You're a midget in 34 states', Turk: 'Yeah, well... what about the other 34?' Virgil: *stares*, Turk: '24. 22.'). The Chinese guy posing for a big fish with Linus as his oily assistant. Oh, and babbling happily in Mandarin, Cantonese or possibly even gibberish and everyone understanding him just fine. Linus going all method acting. Basher bringing Reuben back with letters of love. Ellen Barkin being one damn hot lady and the first really enjoyable female presence in the whole series so far (take that Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones). Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones not being there at all. The team having to ask Terry Benedic for help and him visibly eager to be part of the cool kids' club (George Clooney: 'Are you ready?', Andy Garcia: 'I was born ready', George Clooney: *eyeroll*, me: chokes on laughing too hard*). The Oprah moments. And many many more.

What I didn't like was how they duped Andy Garcia and Vincent Cassell again. I like Andy Garcia and Vincent Cassell. And I'm pretty sure the whole con plan was way over-sophisticated and completely non-applicable in real world, but otherwise it was pretty much just awesome, so it's not like I cared that much. On the whole, a decidedly fun ride.

Tim Story's 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer'

That was not fun at all. In fact it was very painful 90 minutes of Not Fun. Damn, the comics adaptations are not allowed to be boring. There should be a law or something.

I'm not even all that peeved that the plot didn't make sense. Like, if the Silver Surfer had actual means to destroy the Evil Cloud Guy and has been miserable with this whole Destroyer of Worlds thing for years - centuries? - why did he oppose him only now? Because Jessica Alba is pretty? And shouldn't six days of vigorous Earth destruction have very grave impact on the life of the whole planet? Serious climatic changes are not undone just like that. And shouldn't the Evil Cloud Guy-- ok, as I was saying, the plot absurdities don't matter much. Comics adaptations have their rights, one of them being that they don't have to make logical sense story-wise.

What I actually am peeved about is that the movie was not amusing at all and, if comics adaptation have any requirements, minimum five minutes of at least passable funniness is certainly one of them. Come on, even 'Spider-Man 3' did that and that movie was crap. I doubt 'Fantastic Four 2' even managed to clock in two minutes (and all that thanks to Chris Evans, who was the only one who didn't come off completely lifeless). Oh, and the first powers switcheroo scene with Human Torch and Invisible Woman was funny, but that still way under the expected quota.

Practically the only thing working in FF2 favor (other than Chris Evans being awesome enough to break through mediocre script) is CGI effects. The Silver Surfer looked veritably spectacular at times and the Silver Surfer/Human Torch chase through New York was downright exhilarating. On the other hand, the Fantastic Man again looked somewhat not right, but I still think he's totally unsuitable for live-actors productions and they at least made good effort with him. I appreciate that.

All in all, the first 'Fantastic Four' from two years ago was nothing special either, but at least it had some charm to it. This one is just flat. Don't bother with the movie. Watch the trailer, all the good bits are already there.

Ronny Yu's 'Huo Yuan Jia'

The more Jet Li movies I watch, the more I'm sure that the man isn't actually human. It's like he has his own low gravity bubble and an inbuilt fast forward feature. And I'm quite certain that's not standard human male equipment.

Anyway, let's leave the alien awesomeness of Jet Li aside. What the movie actually pleasantly surprised me with was a truly engaging story. Including, mind you, the bits with no perfectly choreographed violence at all. I'm normally a very shallow martial arts movies fan - perfectly choreographed violence is my sole and only requirement, the rest is totally optional (which explains why I enjoyed 'Tom yum goong' so much, even though it basically consisted of pretty Thai boxing and Tony Jaa yelling that he wants his elephant back). Here however I was pulled into the actual drama. The story is nothing new. It's a journey of a man who is forced to leave arrogance behind and who slowly learns humility and finds out that it's a source of far greater strength. Nothing new, but told with enchanting earnestness and very nicely acted.

Yes, there was also a lot of perfectly choreographed violence and it is always a great joy to see Jet Li defy the law of common physics, but it's certainly not all that this movie has to offer. Definitely worth your time.

Also, 'Rescue Me' is finally back. So far I only watched one episode (because then I started reading the damn comics and couldn't stop) but since there are only twelve episodes ahead, it's probably better to pace myself anyway. Now, shortly, I still hate Janet with unbridled passion (come on, even her own baby hates her), I'm very very glad that Tommy is still more or less a stupid asshole, I looks like Sheila is going to be loads of fun this season, I miss Johnny, I started to like Maggie in earnest (yes, it was the porn that finally won me over), Kenny's affair with an ex-nun will most probably end badly but so far it's all good, Sean is still my favorite and the firefighter lady seems to be ok, even though she's no Diane Farr.

The Polish volleyball team continues to glide through the World League with delightful ease. Ten wins, no losses, which puts us on a par with Brazil (who, I'm pretty sure, are robots). Still two games before the final phase, but since the Bulgarians proved this weekend to be less of a threat than I feared, I'm relatively calm about the whole affair. Go, us.

.

m_agda @ 2007-06-10T11:19:00

2007-06-10T11:26:57Z

So I got up at 9 am this morning, which makes by far the earliest Sunday morning for me in three years, just to watch Poland battle China volleyball-wise. I make a generous gesture to show my support and loyalty and those cheeky buggers have the gall to lose two first sets. Yes, they did win in the end - barely, I might add - but that's not the point. I have a veritably gruesome week ahead of me (two exams, three tests, plus one paper and one giant project to turn in). I don't need this kind of stress.

Now, I need to cool down. Reviewing movies is as good a way as any other.

Nicholas Hytner's 'The History Boys'

I've always respected history a lot. The knowledge about the past can exceptionally enrich our lives and it's so vast a territory that it's possibly the most daunting academic subject from them all. And I've always greatly admired the people who are able to move through this gargantuan academic field with genuine ease. I never could, not even close - despite, oh wow, nine years of obligatory history classes - mostly because I'm a lazy ass and the perspective that I have to dig my way through a mountain of information to even start thinking about being conversant on the subject left me somehow disheartened. So I just learned enough to glide my way around the edges, which, naturally, seemed like a perfectly good idea at the time. Well, a lot of things do when you're a teenager. It's funny how they don't anymore when you're a bit older.

Anyway, the characters in 'The History Boys' approach the subject not only much more seriously that my younger self did, but also with real passion. That, combined with the ardent love for poetry (another thing that I managed to evade through my many many years of education), created some truly exquisite dialogs. So exquisite, in fact, that they miss 'believable' by a long shot but they are surely a delight to listen to. It's pretty much like the characters themselves. The titular boys are so smart, so charming, so witty and so unpretentious that they lose all vestiges of credibility about ten minutes into the movie. Well, but they are also so smart, so charming, so witty and so unpretentious that they are great fun anyway.

'The History Boys' shows my dream school life. Engaging, ingenious teachers, great friends you have an almost telepathic rapport with and, what's perhaps most important and most rare, an authentic passion for knowledge. A combination, I'm pretty sure, only attainable in fiction. Ok, I am a bit bitter, but not to the point that seeing it all onscreen doesn't make me smile. 'The History Boys' certainly make me smile.

Ok, seriously, it's great that they won, especially that it's the 6th win in a row. And it wasn't even an important game, it would have been ok if they lost, they can afford to lose. I just wasn't mentally prepared for all that frantic drama. It's freaking Sunday.

.

m_agda @ 2007-06-02T22:39:00

2007-06-03T01:00:24Z

Kraków is celebrating its 750th anniversary (and it really is quite thrilling to live in a city that has been officially a city since 1257). Said celebration is actually a ten-day-long culture fest but right now the city is celebrating with fireworks. And they are nothing short of opulent. Huh, I believe that's the first time I've ever used the word 'opulent' in my life. Well, the occasion is most fitting.

The beauty of the whole situation is that I didn't even have to trudge all the way to the actual event and stand there uncomfortably among a throng of people on this quite chilly night to watch all that pretty flashiness. My flat being situated the way it is, all I had to do was open a window and let myself be awed.

The downside was that the fireworks were obviously incorporated in some bigger spectacle which, from a mile away, meant: OOOOH, FIREWORKS! five minutes of nothing OOOOOH, FIREWORKS! two minutes of nothing FIREWORKS! SO PRETTY! four minutes of nothing. And so on for nearly an hour. And every other time when the nothing stretched for more than three minutes, you thought that that was it and wandered off, only to run back a moment later when all the noise began again. Oh, well, on the plus side, I managed to brush my teeth and do plenty other little useful stuff, during all these breaks, once I figured out the general schedule.

Gore Verbinski's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World's End'

That was fun. A lot of fun. Much much more fun than I expected from a movie franchise that's already on its third installment ('Spider-Man 3' and 'X-men 3' had me pretty disillusioned).

Jack Sparrow is crazier - e.g. more entertaining - than ever. Orlando Bloom is hotter than ever (shame he has no good lines, though). Geoffrey Rush is the general delight. There is spectacular sword-fighting, rope-flying and cannon-firing aplenty. And the humor lost nothing of its edge.

A few details that I loved loved loved:
- the opening sequence, with the gallows, the boy, the coin and the song - wonderfully disconcerting.
- the whole design of the Yun-Fat Chow's character - the clothes, the scars, the bald skull - lovely. The character was dreadfully overplayed but he definitely looked the coolest.
- Davy Jones' locker and the upside-down switcheroo they did to get back to the real world.
- the "nine pieces of whatever we happen to have in our pockets at the time".
- Papa Sparrow. Mama Sparrow, too.
- the three-on-three stand-off on that ridiculous tiny island before the battle. And Davy Jones in a bucket. And the sort-of hostage exchange.
- Lord Cutler Beckett who was one of the classiest villains I've ever known. And 'The enemy has opted for oblivion. Prepare the fleet.' was possibly THE quote of the whole movie. And I adore Tom Hollander.
- Will the captain of the Flying Dutchman - a wicked development.

The convoluted plot with everyone doublecrossing everyone was a bit of an overkill, but, hey, at least no one can accuse the scriptwriters of being lazy. And motivational speeches about freedom I could certainly do without. And Jack Davenport, after his awesome turn as Scruffy Norrington in the previous part, got majorly shafted here, first when they forced him to be boring and then when they just flat-out offed him. Other that that, though, 'At the World's End' was pretty much just great.

'House M.D. 3x24 - 'Human Error'

That was definitely the best 'House' finale as of yet. I'm gonna get horribly annoyed with it if it turns out Chase is not in fact coming back next season, but so far it's all good. Quite an interesting case (come on, the woman didn't have a pulse and still talked, that WAS cool), House acts in a irrational yet fascinating way, Wilson gets all huffed up in impotent annoyance that never fails to be entertaining and Chase has great scenes and is extremely pretty all the time.

I really hope the show doesn't actually do the unthinkable and replace half of its cast. That would certainly be a brave and novel thing to do, and I commend the very principle, but I just cannot accept the fact that 'House M.D.' could, in any way, be better without Chase. Chase is a must. So, I suppose, is Cameron, since she actually caved in and gave into Chase's charm (who can blame her, really?) so now they are probably a package deal. I guess I could live without Foreman as he showed quite clearly what a self-righteous prick he is, but I admit I would miss him, too. So I demand all of them back.

The Five Best Finale Scenes:
- Chase and House talking about Foreman and how he doesn't really wants to leave and just needs an incentive like Cameron did in season 1, only he's not as easy as her, and Cameron's put-out 'I'm in the room'.
- Everyone asking why the hell did House fire Chase (a very good question) and getting no answer, and House asking everyone what's on the PET scan (a very good question, too) and getting no answer. So he picks up the phone calls the unfortunately fires Chase and asks him. And of course Chase politely calls him back with the results. And stays fired anyhow.
- Chase eating sandwiches in a random bar, looking quite serene - ok, not that the scene wasn't good on its own but it mainly goes here for the Chase Cuteness Factor.
- The Cuban Woman magically coming back to life and House looking helplessly up with the 'You kidding me?' expression.
- House and the Cuban Guy chilling in a hospital room, smoking cigars and generally feeling just dandy.

Now I eagerly await season 4 and sincerely hope that it's gonna be the first ever without any tedious multi-episode story-arch. Seriously, 'House' people, it's not like there ever been one you did well. Learn form your mistakes and stick to repetitive patient-of-the-week stuff. It will make everyone happier. Yourselves included, believe me. And bring me back Chase.

The Volleyball World League is now in full swing and we are doing very well so far. Which was only to be expected, naturally, us being silver medalists from 2006 World Championships and a fourth team in the world according to the FIVB ranking. I'm still proud, though. The start wasn't without a hitch, since we nearly lost our second game with China (come on, China?) and pulled though only in the fifth set - I fortunately didn't watched that because the Polsat channel miraculously stopped working properly that very evening and I switched to TV4 where the Russians were just beating the poor Serbians into the ground, so I was spared the frustration. Later it turned out that the wind swung the receiver on the balcony the wrong way but it took us two full days to notice that.

And the Polish team are not only good. They are pretty, too. Check out this eye candy, my personal favorite:

The team has also recently acquired a lad who kinda looks like a scruffy Chris Evans, only thinner, 7 foot tall (seriously, 2.11 meters? that's tall) and my age, and who seems to be a very viable option for my second favorite.

.

m_agda @ 2007-05-19T23:57:00

2007-05-19T22:15:24Z

'House M.D.' 3x23 - 'The Jerk'

Three weeks ago Foreman killed a patient. Two weeks ago, there was a case with two black kids who were just as much boring as they were dying. Meaning, a lot. Fortunately the episode managed to balance itself out with an amusing subplot with House trying futilely to coexist with Wilson's demented dog so it turned out to be more or less ok in the end. Oh, and Foreman tortured a patient for the life-saving purposes and then decided that he wants to quit. A week ago, there was a college karate girl in the process of committing a very complex suicide. And House and Wilson drugged each other. Because they are bestest friends. Yes, it was exactly as awesome as it sounds. And Foreman was still quitting for some nebulous reason. This week, he's still quitting. And I still don't really get why.

Ok, the Foreman Wants Off storyline might not be, uhm, particularly robust when it comes to plot logic, but it generates enough entertainment that I think I actually like it. Someone sabotaging Foreman's job interview and the subsequent crazy domino-like wackiness of everyone accussing everyone was most amusing. Especially good was the part with Wilson's, quite awkwardly lacking in subtlety, attempt to bait Cameron and perplexed Cameron calling him on that right away. Oh, and the part when Chase turns out to be the only non-House person with brain and figures out what's going out. Smart Duckling Chase never fails to give me warm fuzzies.

Other moments of random greatness:
- The first differential with House's choked-up theatrics and 'This could be Foreman's last time mistakenly suggesting adrenal gland tumor'.
- Chase blatantly not giving Foreman a peer recommendation. Which makes sense because the guy rudely told him that he doesn't like him just a week ago.
- Chase finally losing his cool with the bratty patient, telling him to shut up and threating bodily restraints.
- Cameron accusing Chase of petty vindictiveness (quite wrongly, incidentally) and Chase still going through with his usual Thursday professions of love (cause he's not a quitter), even though with notable sullenness and though gritted teeth.
- The Bratty Patient: 'I can walk', House: 'I don't bleed out of my penis' - what is with House and pissing contests with teenagers?
- I like that the kid was just a natural jerk, without any unnecessary medical reasoning.

Now the two things I didn't like at all. One, how come Cuddy offered Foreman a double salary and, most importantly, a diagnostic department of his very own? It's not like the man has ever made a correct diagnosis in the entire run of this show. So how does that work? Two, I'm thoroughly tired of Wilson trying to teach House life lessons by indirect meddling. He wants Foreman gone so that House would finally experience how it feels when someone stands up to him? It's not only annoyingly partonizing, it's profoundly idiotic.

Ok, these two peeves aside, it was a very good episode. My appetite before the finale next week is officially sharpened. And perhaps Foreman will finally stop quitting and just, you know, quit. Or not.

On the side note, Cameron has been getting curiously little screentime lately, hasn't she? Mind you that's not really a complaint. Just an observation.

I'm in the process of watching 'Resident Evil'. I missed the beginning, but I'm pretty sure that's no great loss. My thoughts so far: Milla Jovovich is hot, kicks ass with unique grace and is undoubtedly going to survive, because she's in the sequels; James Purveroy is hot, so far doesn't really do much and he's probably gonna die in the end; Eric Mabius is hot, though in a dorky way, and I'm quite certain he's on the shit list, too; Martin Crewes is hot, again the dorky type, but I feel he's dropping dead any minute now; Michelle Rodriguez is hot but a bit annoying, so by Murphy's law, she might yet survive. The CGI monsters are quite badly made. Oh, and the plot makes precious little sense, but that's only to be expected since the whole thing is based on a freaking video game.

Stefen Fangmeier's 'Eragon'

I watched this movie for three reasons. Because I find Jeremy Irons irresistibly hot (and, my, he's hot here too - the dragon movies might not do much good to Mr Irons' reputation but the dragon movies attire works for him just fine). Because I find Djimon Hounsou irresistibly hot (and, my, he-- isn't really hot here at all - the long hair was a tragically bad idea). And because it's a fantasy movie, meaning that I might have resisted but giving up was only a matter of time.

The movie perpetrates the standard fantasy myth that I've always found both irritating and endlessly amusing: that bad people are ugly and good people are pretty. Except for this Eragon boy who kinda looked like a tool (I'll admit that he had an appealingly deep voice, though).

It's also a kind of movie where people don't actually talk but make speeches set to inspirational music. Or to ominous music if they happen to be the bad (and ugly) ones. It's pretty funny at first but it doesn't take long for it to get old.

And the villain is so terribly unexciting that even my usual fondness for those leaning towards the dark side couldn't do anything. And even if he was a multidimensional character (and I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel because by 'multi' I actually mean more that one) I couldn't take him seriously because, Galbatorix? Honestly, what the fuck kind of a name is that?

Basically the plot here is an retarded midget lovechild of 'Harry Potter' and 'Lord of the Rings'. A simple farmboy - an orphan living with his poor yet kindhearted uncle and a very attractive yet kindhearted cousin - finds a dragon egg and, since he's the Super-Duper Chosen One, gains himself a insta-big dragon pet. The Evil Ugly King (the sadly bland John Malkovich) and His Evil Ugly Wizard (the most ridiculous Robert Carlyle ever) are not happy about that and send Evil Ugly Kinda-Orcs to kill him. The Chosen One is not home so they kill his poor uncle instead (thankfully the very attractive cousin buggered off a few scenes ago, so he's, presumably, still very attractively alive). The Chosen One is not home because he's chatting with his new-found Wise Mentor (the hott Jeremy Irons). When he finally does get home, he sees his uncle's bloodied corpse and is Distraught and Angry for about seven seconds. And then he sets off with his Wise Mentor (the hott Jeremy Irons) to find the Noble Rebels and, in the long run, dethrone the Evil Ugly King and save the world from ruin. During their jaunty journey, the Chosen One picks up sword fighting. And dragon riding. And magic wielding. Well, these Chosen fellows are quite notorious for being super smart. He also stumbles upon a Random Psychic Lady (the ludicrously cast Joss Stone) because it he didn't have a proper doom prophecy in his name, they would probably chuck him out of the Chosen Ones Union (and isn't it sad how the word 'doom' practically doesn't exist apart from fantasy books/movies?). The Evil Ugly Wizard sends a few dozens of Evil Ugly Kinda-Orcs after them but they fail miserably and he is upset. So he figures that it's high time to stop faffing around and get down to business. It is a well-known fact that the Chosen Ones have an inbuilt homing system for Damsels in Distress and since the Evil Ugly Wizard so happens to conveniently have one readily on hand (the apparently elf-like Sienna Guillory) it seems like such shame to let her go to waste. Thus, the Chosen One has to temporarily abandon his holy mission because, hello, a Damsel in Distress. He takes his dragon and flies to the Evil Ugly Wizard's Evil Ugly Abode and promptly walks himself into a trap. Luckily, the Wise Mentor (the hott Jeremy Irons) goes right after him on his turbo-horse and arrives just in time to get himself mortally wounded for the cause. And then they all escape, with a bit of help from the Honorable Outlaw with a Dark Past (the disappointingly boring Gareth Hedlung with over-messy hair), even though the help probably wasn't all that needed because, for some reason, nobody actually tries to stop them in earnest. Only the Wise Mentor doesn't get too far because the last tragic yet motivating loss struck the Chosen One more than half an hour ago now so he has to die. Then the Chosen One finally reached the Noble Rebels (who, incidentally, turned out to be very sumptuously dressed for a struggling tribe). Then the Evil Ugly Wizard and his army of Evil Ugly Kinda-Orcs show up. So there is a battle. And the assorted forces of Evil and Ugly lost. I would really like to say that they lost because the Noble Rebels had superior tactics, but, mostly, it just seems that they lost because they were Evil and Ugly. And then the Evil Ugly King throws a hissy fit and it turns out that he has a dragon of his very own. And I really really hope that the sequel will die somewhere on its way to the cinemas because I will probably feel obliged to watch it. And I really really don't want to.

Sam Raimi's 'Spider-Man 3'

They killed James Franco. And Topher Grace. That's just-- It's not how it's done. I protest.

Well, ok, so perhaps Topher Grace's existence ended in such a conveniently ambiguous manner that if they really didn't have any other homicidal sociopath to fill the villain spot in 'Spiderman 6', they could theoretically bring him back. But, James Franco, they put him IN THE GROUND. No coming back from that. God, I'm angry.

The movie had its share of 'shock and awe' moments but, on the whole, it just didn't work. The Peter/Mary Jane thread didn't hit even one right note and I'm pretty sure those few who hadn't already lost the interest in the whole affair two years ago with 'Spider-Man 1' and even bravely walked through 'Spider-Man 2' without losing the faith, are finally discouraged. The Sandman was one of the most boring villains ever (sorry, Thomas Hayden Church; if it's any consolation, I still think you're awesome). Goblin Junior's vendetta towards Spiderman/Peter made less and less sense the further it got, not that it was all that logical in the beginning (sorry, James Franco; if it's any consolation, I still think you're pretty). There was also a subplot with Venom aka Topher Grace, but I refuse to critisize this one, because I'm madly in love with Topher Grace. I don't care that his name is stupid. To sum it up, the plot was more or less crap.

What worked? The CGI effects that have been getting better and better with every movie. A few quite breathtaking fight sequences. The Peter Goes Bad and Weirdly Sexy phase, all complete with Badass Hair (no less ridiculous than his regular hair, just, you know, different), groovy dance moves, a lot of pelvic thrusting and other cheesy yet appealing fun. Green Goblin Junior, who was waaay classier than the trashy original. Or at least much more aesthetically pleasing. The flying snowboard-y thing that was just so cool that it deserves a separate mention. Topher Grace, because you just can't go wrong with Topher Grace, no matter how bad a role you give him. J.K. Simmons because, thanks to him, there was at least one genuinely interesting character. Bruce Campbell the maître d', because he was just plain amazing.

On the whole, it's a good thing no one really expects comic book adaptations to make sense. Otherwise we would have all watched in awe how the phrase 'grave disappointment' gets thoroughly upgraded. As it stands, it just got a bit refreshed.

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m_agda @ 2007-05-13T04:48:00

2007-05-13T03:12:14Z

It's Sunday, 5 am, and the Juwenalia, the wonderful, beautiful week when the Polish students go, faithful to the decades-long tradition, collectively wild is officially over. Boy, but was it good this year. Which is probably because I went a bit wilder than usual. And, curiously, there wasn't even that much alcohol involved. I guess I'm just naturally high on life. But also note that double vodka with apple juice is very very tasty. And after three of those I'm quite a merry person. A bit tipsy, I admit, but mostly just merry.

We, meaning me and my girlfriends, decided to say goodbye to the Student Jubilation Week with a bang and chose the trustworthy method of getting a bit drunk, going to a club and then dancing so hard and so long that you practically lose all the feeling in your limbs. And they kick you out because it's already dawn and the staff wants to finally go home and get some sleep. Which I actually should be doing right now too.

So, right, sleeping, bye.

m_agda @ 2007-04-29T02:47:00

2007-04-29T00:49:10Z

'House M.D. 3x20 - 'House Training'

Let's see what happened on my precious doctor show since my last review. First there was Dave Matthews and House ordered to cut out half of his brain. And House faked brain cancer, which might have been the single most brilliant storyline on this show ever. Then there was a pregnant woman, on whom Cuddy, desperate for a chance to vent her maternal instincts, immediately started projecting. And it became very very clear that in the Chase/Cameron sex arrangement it's poor little wombat who's gonna get majorly screwed over. And House got to shake hands with an unborn child, which scored the show The Cheesiest Tv Moment of the Month Award. Then House and Cuddy went on a plane trip so they could have UST without any pesky interruptions. Well, House also managed to save some stupid loser's life at the time, all that with the help of fake Ducklings, but that was sorta a side deal. Meanwhile the real Duckings tackled a case all on their own and naturally Chase got the gold star because he's the smartest. I'm so proud of you, Robert. But then Cameron dumped him. No stars for you, you lousy bint. Then there was a six-year-old girl with old woman's diseases. And her eight-year-old brother grabbed Cameron's ass. Which was pretty awesome. And Chase was jealous. Which was pretty pathetic. And the kid bit him. Which takes us back to the awesome. Anyway, the Chase/Cameron melodrama still rolls. Also, House is apparently seriously smitten with Cuddy. And all these four episodes were very good, verging, to various degree, on great. There was also an episode, where Buffy's old cardboard boyfriend is still a soldier and House can't pee, but that wasn't a good one at all and if anyone asks, I'm denying it ever actually happened.

'House Training' was quite great. Firstly, it had a patient who actually dies in the end. Through one of their crazed, rushed treatments, no less. Finally. Secondly, it features heavily House scheming madly how to nip the Wilson/Cuddy relationship in the bud. The Wilson/Cuddy relationship exists solely in House's head, naturally, but, since he can't shut up about it, it might also be forming in Wilson's head too, sort of by osmosis. As for what goes in Cuddy's head, I have no idea. Thirdly, Chase is extra adorable here. First goading Foreman about the tox screen, then greeting Foreman Sr with genuine joy, then sending Foreman to spend some time with his family and quite calmly nagging Cameron about their one-side relationship (ok, I wish he skipped that part, but at least he went through it with disarming charm - only, apparently, Cameron's heart is made of stone and it didn't work). Fourthly, Foreman confirms that, while Chase remains my absolute favorite, he's the coolest Duckling. Always levelheaded, distanced, professional, pragmatic, but never actually dull.

Random glee-moments:
- House spotting that Wilson is chatting with his ex-wife (he probably has a in-built homing device for this kind of thing) and then immediately descending on him with inquiries. And, Wilson: 'She wants me to take Hector', House: '[pause] Pool boy?' Wilson: 'Dog', House: 'No longer interested'.
- House asking Cuddy for a play, getting shot down, discovering that she's going out with Wilson 'as friends' and hounding Wilson for that, while also whining a little bit. Also, House: 'I asked her as a test', Wilson: 'What would you have learned if she'd said yes?' House: 'A lot about bondage'.
- House tricking Wilson's twitchy ex into giving him info about Wilson's romance tactics. Wilson's twitchy ex: 'James Wilson, carefully calibrating his level of protectiveness for your individual needs', House: 'Did you just compare Wilson to a tampon?'. And then getting all worried that Wilson is going win Cuddy with his mad sex skillz.
- Foreman dead set on his admittedly pretty-plausible diagnosis and proposing a House-like radical treatment and House's 'I don't usually put out on my first date, but I've gotta say that is a rad move.'
- Wilson laying out his 'how to tell dying patients that they are actually dying' tactics which was just as great as it it was chilly.
- Foreman actually punching a hole in the wall after his patient died. He naturally broke his fingers in the process, but, dude, he punched a hole in the wall.

Good to know FOX is giving us the 24-episodes deal this year, too. I still think the FOX people are trigger-happy bastards but that was nice of them.

Tony Giglio's 'Chaos'

BIG SPOILERS. Don't proceed, if you haven't seen that one already.

The mystery part of the whole deal was actually surprisingly decent. Sure, it had its share of frustratingly convenient coincidences, but that's inevitable addition to the package. However, the story certainly managed to fool me, and that always makes me look at movies that pulled that off more favorably. I knew about Wesley Snipes being Jason Statham's partner from the very start, but that one was blatantly obvious. However, I didn't expect the Statham to be a bad guy in the slightest. I was so sure it was Henry Czerny behind all of this. My bad. I even genuinely believed he was dead. (Which I admit was pretty silly of me, because a move like that would take much more balls that a standard action flick has at its disposal) Anyway, the whole thing was pretty clever.

Basically, 'Chaos' is one of those movies that get plus points for general concept, but lose most of them for the delivery. The lines are a bit wooden, the characters are a bit wooden, even the actors are a bit wooden. I can't remember if I ever saw Jason Statham as listless as here and Ryan Phillippe definitely isn't doing his acting best either (though he's still undoubtedly pretty). Wesley Snipes has never been particularly famous for lively performances, but he actually is pretty decent here, though, possibly, that's because he's doesn't have enough screentime to screw it up. As for the second row, nothing particularly interesting. My only major observation is that getting older, sadly, isn't working for Nicholas Rea very well. Shame.

Oh, and Aaron Douglas popped up onscreen at some point for about two seconds of screentime and one line. Perhaps it wasn't a groundbreaking performance, but, still, seeing BSG people in non-BSG never fails to warm my heart.

Damn, I really have to cut my nails. They are awfully pretty when this long, but I can't type for shit with them sticking out like that.

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'If you don't go when you want to go, when you do go, you'll find you've gone.'

2007-04-26T01:56:59Z

As for the new batch of tv shows that cropped up lately, none of the newcomers yet managed to blow my socks off. 'The Tudors' win easily in the man-candy department but are somewhat lacking in, well, all other departments. 'Painkiller Jane' is sorta ok, but the main plot arch is pretty ridiculous. 'The Drive', after the one episode I've seen, I found quite watchable and even a bit intriguing, but I've just heard some rumors that this particular show is already a goner. 'The Riches'-- oh, 'The Riches' I haven't got around to just yet. Overall, the midseason new shinies appear to be less exciting that expected. Who knows, though? One of them might actually end up as a permanent addition to my tv dance card. I live on hope.

Jan Jukub Kolski's 'Jasminum'

'Jasminum' is actually only the second post-2000 Polish movie I've ever seen. The seventh one, I think, if you count from 1990 onward (I don't count the obligatory school-trips to the cinema to admire the newest adaptation of the yet another Great Polish Novel from hundreds of years ago, because these particular outings were usually so traumatizing, some of them hurt even now, years and years later). It shouldn't be this way. I really shouldn't be this unforgiving towards the cinema of my own bloody country. Especially that such bias it's starting to be seriously unfair. Modern Polish cinema might not be the pinnacle of the movie world - gods, far from it - but it's not all crap, either. It's true that the era of cinematic masterpieces of yore is long gone - paradoxically, it ended along with the communistic regime - but there are some promising new artists that truly deserve to be given the chance. The potential is there. Or so I'm told, because, as it's been established, I'm prejudiced towards Polish movies and only watch them if presented with no other choice.

I watched my first post-2000 Polish movie the last summer, at a movie festival, when I suddenly felt quite rotten about the fact that I had 51 screenings-to-attend all nicely planned out, but none of them was actually far a movie in Polish. So I decided to heed that little feeble voice coming from my almost atrophied sense of patriotism and actually went to one. 'Kochankowie z Marony', if I remember correctly (of course I do). A pretty ok movie, but reminding me very strongly of the dreadful period of Romanticism that ruled the whole Europe with steel arm in the late 18 century, otherwise known as The One With The Unfortunate Fixation On Tragic Love. Oh, how I hated that part of my Literature education. Anyway, I'll say that this movie was a tad over-emotional, but, really, that is just me being nice. So, in other words, my feelings towards 21 century Polish cinema didn't get any warmer.

'Jasminum' was a part of a movie night marathon and I'm pretty sure I would never ever get around watching it otherwise. Which would be a shame because the movie was quite disarmingly charming. It suffers from the maladie that, to my knowledge, no Polish movie of recent years truly managed to escape, and that is the tendency to drop around chunks of dialog so unwieldy that I doubt it could ever work on paper, not to mention actually said out-loud onscreen. This little drawback aside, 'Jasminum' is genuinely enchanting. It's a captivating tale about miracles and scents and about how they can be one and the same thing sometimes, set in a small-town monastery, where Brother Sweetcherry, Brother Wildcherry and Brother Plum, each smelling mysteriously, yet very distinctly, of their tree namesakes, lead their humble lives, watched over by the ever-kind and ever-levelheaded monastery cook and the somewhat loftily thinking, but endearing abbot. Kolski has a wonderful grasp on magical realism, always keeping it subtle, never pushing too hard. And he totally made me believe that there's still hope for Polish cinema (I mean, I theoretically knew it before, but now that I've actually seen it with my own eyes, it's finally real). However, I really think he shouldn't cast Grażyna Błęcka-Kolska in practically every single picture he makes. I know she's his wife and all, but she's hardly Poland's best actress. Fortunately she shared at least some of her scenes with Janusz Gajos and he's so freaking good that he almost make her good, too, probably by osmosis.

Oskar Roehler's 'Elementarteilchen'

It seems like practically every German movie I see is about extremely fucked-up people. And I don't mean amusingly, benevolently fucked-up here. I mean seriously dysfunctional. Perhaps it's just my luck, perhaps the Germans are just really fond of the subject, but the only recent movie about relatively normal people was 'Das Leben der Anderen'. And that one was about the Stasi.

It's a so-so movie. I respect its audacity, even though some scenes were pushed so far that they actually made me cringe. I certainly liked the general idea of two half-brothers that maintain a close, friendly relationship with each other, despite the fact that they are dramatically different, especially when it comes to their outlook on sex - one doggedly, if not particularly successfully, pursuing it and finally falling in love with a fellow sex-starved swinger (before she becomes quadriplegic and commits suicide, because there just can't be enough drama), the other banishing it from his life completely, committing his whole brilliant scientific career to the cause of actually completely removing sex from the reproduction process. However, I think it all came out somewhat messy. Some parts are genuinely good, some just felt senseless. All in all, not a must-see.

Roger Donaldson's 'The World's Fastest Indian'

A very endearing underdog movie. Following all the standard moves, with the hero getting through every of the numerous obstacles that life keeps throwing his way with disarming charm and grace and finally achieving his great dream. The movie doesn't really offer anything original or new (ok, I give, the fact that the underdog in question is in his seventies was a bit refreshing) but it's still great pleasure to watch. The story might be entirely predictable but, strangely, it doesn't actually matter that much, because the movie is alive with Burt Munro's (whom Anthony Hopkins plays with great relish) guileless enthusiasm, undefeatable joy for life and endearing sincerity. It's a tribute to the man and a very well-done one, too.

There are some faults, naturally. The movie runs too long, with especially the Bonneville scenes dragging a bit. And the lead character is so nice, so lovable, so unpretentious and so earnest that, while always a delight to observe, sometimes he strains the limits of credulity. Still, the movie is a great spirit-lifter, with no big fireworks, but with genuine heart.

The final movie quote quiz score is 7 points to my flist, 8 points to me. Meaning, 8 quotes left unguessed. Which proves that I'm a crappy quote quiz maker, but fear not. I shall improve. Practice makes perfect and, in this case, practice is fun, so I'll probably hit you with another try sometime next week. Or the next next week. Or a bit later. Anyway, in the foreseeable future.

1. - 'I've never heard of half of these guys and the ones I do know are way past their prime.'
- 'Most of these guys never had a prime.' 'Major League'

2. 'What's so great about the truth? Try lying for a change. It's the currency of the world.' 'Closer'

3. 'There are only two times you know you're real - pleasure and pain. The rest is just breathing.' 'Buffalo Soldiers'

4. - 'Battlefield doctors decide who lives and dies. It's called triage.'
- 'Kept calling it murder when I did it.' 'Pitch Black'

5. - 'Why?'
- 'I don't interest myself in "why". I think more in terms of "when". Sometimes "where". Always "how much".' 'Three Days of the Condor'

6. ~~'I liked her so much better when she was an alcoholic crack addict. She gets in one little car wreck and suddenly she's Little Miss Perfect.'~~ 'Ghost World', guessed by strifechaos

7. ~~'Seeing death, really seeing it, making dreaming about it fucking ridiculous'.~~ 'Girl Interrupted', guessed by roguem

8. ~~'You seem somewhat familiar. Have I threatened you before?'~~ 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl', guessed by romine

9. ~~'It would be nice working with proper villains again.'~~ 'Ocean's Eleven', guessed by sockich

10. 'All you had to do was call me and talk to me. I'm understanding. I'd have said no, but you'd have felt honest.' 'Manhattan'

11. ~~'I said NO camels. That's FIVE camels. Can't you count?'~~ 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade', guessed by roguem

12. 'Generally speaking, things have gone about as far as they can possibly go, when things have got about as bad as they can reasonably get.' 'Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead'

13. - 'If you play your cards right, you could have my body.'
- 'Wouldn't you rather leave it to science?' 'Crimes and Misdemeanors'

14. ~~'You want money? What kind of terrorists are you?'~~ 'Die Hard', guessed by roguem

15. - 'Are you trying to look unattractive?'
- 'Yes.'
- 'Well, congratulations. You've succeeded admirably.' 'American Beauty', guessed by twolefts

Ok, I admit, some of them aren't really from all that well-known pictures, so you are excused (though I was a bit surprised that no one sniffed out at least one of the Woody Allen quotes). I got a bit carried away. However, let's make my message clear. If on the list above there are some movies you haven't seen, go and change that sad state of affairs as soon as possible. They are really quite fantastic. And they have terrific lines.

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"Allow me to be frank at the commencement. You will not like me."

2007-04-21T20:32:33Z

Laurence Dunmore's 'The Libertine'
I really don't get movies shot with hand-held camera. Yeah, yeah, they are supposed to be more realistic. Closer to real life. I say bulshit. Cinema is not real life. Cinema has an advantage of showing its little shiny artificial worlds through a medium much more superior than human eye. It can make image look perfect, the way we actually wished it looked like in real life. That's what makes cinema so wonderful and so formidable. Throwing all that away for the sake of misguided realism is just an unimaginable waste. I'm willing to overlook it in 'Friday Night Lights' because that show is un utter delight on only every other front, but with a merely ok movie like 'The Libertine' it irritates the crap out of me.
'The Libertine' really isn't anything that special, though, it has to be said, it has its moments, however few. It certainly gets plus points for tackling a genuinely fascinating subject, because John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester really seems to have been quite something. However, I'm pretty sure he deserved a better biopic. I certainly have issues with this one. It's too pretentious, it tries too hard to be sophisticatedly scandalizing and, I can't believe I'm actually saying this, it really should SHOW more sex instead of just having the characters tediously blather about it all the time. And, above all, it infused the main character - the infamous, extravagant decadent/hedonist/rake - with overbearing sense of tragedy and, dare I say, a crippling load of existentialistic pain, at the same time neglecting horribly the subtlety aspect. Also, while I really respect Johhny Depp and Samantha Motron as very talented actors, I saw practically no chemistry between them.
Ok, and it turned out that all the Depp/Friend boykissing scenes were cut from the final version and that just pissed me off.

Now, a meme, stolen from estel_sparks, because it really looks like fun:
Recommend me...
1. A movie.
2. A book.
3. A musical artist, song or album.
4. A website.
5. An LJ user not on my friends list.
Leave a comment with your answers, then copy the questions and ask them in your own journal.

Ok, now I'm off. The movie night marathon awaits me. I'm pretty wiped out already, so there's a strong possibility I'm gonna drift to the la-la land somewhere around the second movie, but let's not be overly fatalistic.

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