| Die Scheider Die! |
[Jul. 25th, 2008|09:43 am] |
Warren Ellis on musicals ...
I only watched the end of it, because, as much as I love Joss, I hate musicals. Musical comedy makes my balls itch, frankly. And no-one wants that. It’s one of the things Joss and I will never agree on (like, you know, my being his youngling. Which I am not. At all). I think Gilbert & Sullivan are a cultural curiosity at best and I like ALL THAT JAZZ because Roy Scheider dies at the end. Joss believes that Gilbert & Sullivan are culturally relevant (and presumably still washes his clothes in a stream and goes on ether frolics) and is friendly with Stephen Sondheim. |
|
|
| Dark Knight |
[Jul. 19th, 2008|09:34 pm] |
Yes, "The Dark Knight" is as good as the hype. In fact, it's better than the hype. Hype after all tends to be empty and superficial, two things 'The Dark Knight' is anything but. This is a serious and driven Batman story, far more rooted in crime drama than the usual suspension of disbelief. It manages to continually paint its protagonists into corners and make them make hard decisions. And it doesn't cop out. Sometimes they have tricks up their sleeves, sometimes they don't. This is not a movie about stopping bank robberies, this is a movie about one crazed individual taking it upon himself to challenge the value system of an entire society, on both the largest and smallest possible scales. Why? Because he can.
Much is being said of Heath Ledger's Joker. There's Oscar buzz even. It's hard to argue the point. What makes Ledger's Joker work is the restraint he's willing to show by not succumbing to the character's potentially inherent quirks. They're around but they're not the totality of the character. He's grounded, and this Joker is not playing for kicks and giggles. He's out to do a lot of damage to as many people as he can. And he knows what he's doing. His traps turn on themselves and are never what they initially appear. He calls himself an agent of chaos but actions are anything but chaotic. They show the cold calculation of a brilliant mind.
"The Dark Knight" is thematically similar to Alan Moore's classic Batman story, "The Killing Joke," which has The Joker go after Jim Gordon and his family to try and drive them as crazy as he is, to show the world that anyone can go crazy if enough of their buttons are pushed. "Dark Knight" is this theme on a far grander scale. Joker goes after Batman, Gordon, new DA Harvey Dent and the entirety of the Gotham populace collectively and individually. It's a complex and convoluted series of traps and threats, each more daring than the last and each one makes the victims look into themselves and decide what price they're willing to pay to do the right thing.
Bruce Wayne and Batman may have the steely resolve necessary to resist The Joker's mindgames but it's the toll it takes on Eckhart's Dent that twists the movie on its axis. I don't think it's a huge spoiler to state that Dent ends up being Batman villain Two Face but the birth of the character here is a gradual and increasingly violent affair. It deepens the concept, tweaking the specific story of Harvey's disfiguration, making it far less cut and dry and far more tragic without simplying wringing the melodrama. It begs the question of whether or not Dent, and by tangent we ourselves, can believe too much in the most pure and noble of ambitions.
None of this should suggest that Christian Bale is simply along for the ride. His Bruce Wayne remains the most enyojable Wayne there is, gleefully hamming it up for the masses to keep his identity secret. His Batman is all business and if there's one minor gripe to make about the movie, it's Bale's gravelly Batman voice is sometimes hard to understand. And, honestly, that's about the only gripe I can think of.
"The Dark Knight" doesn't 'raise the bar for super hero movies' because it isn't especially a super hero movie to begin with, assuming we're going to believe that such a monster exists. But this is no light, technicolor action romp, this is a tough, relentless crime drama that never stops pushing us and its characters more and more deeply into physical and spiritual harm's way.
And even at the end, we aren't entirely sure who won what. Maybe that's the punchline the main villain was going for the whole time. |
|
|
| Dr. Horrible Part II |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|11:01 pm] |
The second part of Dr. Horror is funnier than the first, even if it does bogart a bit from the musical version of 'Little Shop.'
-----
Today it was 92 degrees -- perfect weather to blow a tire! I'm still sweating. |
|
|
| Dr. Horrible |
[Jul. 16th, 2008|10:33 pm] |
I watched the first part of Joss Whedon's web mini-musical, 'Dr. Horrible,' which is a cutesy super villain story, in three parts, the first of which is online now. It's cute, really nothing more than that. To its advantage it has Neil Patrick Harris as the star, a lovestruck two-bit villain named Dr. Horrible, who wants to a) be a super bad guy and b) talk to the girl at the laundromat. The songs are charming in an 'Avenue Q' sort of simplistic way and Whedon knows word play if nothing else. I'm sure fanboys will declare Whedon a musical genius like they did after the 'Once More, With Feeling' episode of 'Buffy.' It was entertaining watch people gasp in awe that Whedon understood how to write songs that contrain character and (sort of) advance plot. That made him a musical theater genius, in case you didn't know.
Dr. Horrible is a standard Whedon underachiever with big ideas and self-awareness pouring out of his mouth non-stop. It almost feels like a spoof of Warren Ellis's world-changing anti-heroes.
I liked it, I'll watch the next two parts. And then I'll probably forget about it. |
|
|
| All-Stars |
[Jul. 15th, 2008|11:28 pm] |
I've said before that baseball has the only All Star game that works -- the nature of the game is still individual enough that when the All Stars play, it's a different and special game. It's still one pitcher vs. one hitter, the ball's hit to one fielder, that sort of thing. It works. It doesn't really work in any other sport where each player's place, while still clearly defined, doesn't always read so clearly in an All Star setting. I mean, most people can't tell what it means when an All Pro left tackle lines up against an all pro defensive end. The basketball all star game turns into a joke as everyone just starts showing off their scoring skills.
Nice to see the two Indians on the team, represent well. Cliff Lee pitched two shut-out innings, Grady Sizemore got a hit, a stolen base and scored a tying run.
I'm certainly no Yankees fan but Rivera pitching the end of the 9th is so the right thing to do in Yankee stadium.
Anyway, this game is fun! |
|
|
| Been a week |
[Jul. 14th, 2008|09:29 pm] |
|
Not a lot going on, working on some things. Will update when they become full thoughts. |
|
|
| I'm Grumpy |
[Jul. 6th, 2008|08:43 pm] |
Here's what I hate today:
1. Comic book fans playing arm-chair editor and saying how they'd bring the hammer down on late artists and massive crossovers if they were in charge. You'll never be in charge, so stop worrying about it. Oh, and PS, no one at the Big Two cares what you think. About anything. So buy 'Secret Invasion' and shut your pie holes.
2. People who think the remake of the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' is better than the original. If you don't how inane that statement is, you aren't worth the time it would take for me to explain it again. And stop listening to Limp Bizkit. You know you do. Dick.
3. Anyone who has anything positive to say about 'The Last Five Years.' I'm working on my thesis paper entitled 'If You Relate To The Characters In The Last Five Years You Will Die Alone You Self-Absorbed, Two-Dimensional, Whiny Prick' but in order to finish it I'll have to listen to that wretched excuse for a 'musical' again and, frankly, I'd rather NOT.
4. Knowing that I have to go to work tomorrow and hear seven Daughtry songs in eight hours like I do every other freakin' day.
5. The Indians being in the position where they need to trade Sabathia since they're DOA for the rest of the year, rather than being in the position where they're looking for one more bat to guarantee another run toward the pennant. Fucking Milwaukee's making a run for the NL pennant. The Indians are reduced to trading to help the fucking Brewers go for the title? The BREWERS? |
|
|
| Fuck Coldplay. David Lee Roth Rules. |
[Jul. 6th, 2008|04:36 pm] |
Have I mentioned how much I miss rock stars? We don't have rock stars these days. We have nerdy guys singing songs about their basements and their own flaccid sex lives. It's really quite dreadful and sad. Rock stars were the best, man. Big, loud, brazen, but most importantly ludicrously over-confident. Rock and roll needs to be over-confident, otherwise it might as well be easy listening. Let's be honest, the David Lee Roth's and Steven Tyler's of the world would never have gotten laid if they weren't rock and rollers but their music was written very much by guys who knew this and who pushed along with panache knowing their music was quite clearly going to get them laid. Their music was bigger than life and so were they.
And that's what makes rock and roll great.
Fuck Coldplay. They're forgotten the moment we aren't being besieged on TV spots for whatever their newest crappy song is that their weeny singer goes around telling us is decidedly profound musically brilliant. Meanwhile people of every age know all the words to 'Panama' and always will. Because 'Panama' rules and Coldplay sucks. |
|
|
| |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|09:16 am] |
Dear People
Just because you're one of the 'good' singers in your local church choir, does not mean you are actually a good singer. Therefore, there's no reason to assume I have any desire to hear you sing along with songs on the radio, particularly songs I like.
Your pal
John Popa
PS - You suck. |
|
|
| Michael Turner |
[Jun. 28th, 2008|06:55 pm] |
Comic book artist Michael Turner passed away yesterday after a long and well publicized battle with a form of bone cancer. He was 37. I was never a huge fan of his work but a lot of people were. Whenever I saw him at cons he was bright and having a good time and talked to all his fans for as long as they bent his ear. And I know there were times he was there feeling anything but 100%.
RIP, Michael. |
|
|
| Comic Book Survey |
[Jun. 25th, 2008|08:05 pm] |
Found this on Byrne's board but it originated elsewhere ...
1. Other comics fans would be shocked to learn that I have never read what comic or series?
'Sandman.'
2. The topic in comics (character/title/creator) I know most about is what?
X-Men from the relaunch until about issue 300.
3. The series/creator/character I've always been curious about but never knew where to start would be?
Howard Chaykin
4. The best comics ever made are from what year/time period?
The 80's. Surely nostalgia creeping in but Marvel especially was on fire then.
5. I've always wanted to see what creator work on which character?
Epting on Batman, Grummett on Spider-Man ... I could probably do this for days.
6. The character that has lots of potential but has never been used properly is who?
Jesse Chambers, The Inhumans.
7. The worst thing that ever happened in comics was what?
Big crossovers that dominate the entire line.
8. The reason I love comics is....?
The imagination and the collaboration between words and art.
9. I would be more likely to buy a comic with great art/poor writing or poor art/great writing?
Art's easier to react to so I'd probably side with great art.
10. The best casting in a comic book movie was what actor as what character?
Jennifer Connelly in 'The Rocketeer.' |
|
|
| Heroes Name Dropping |
[Jun. 24th, 2008|08:40 pm] |
I'll try and speed through my comic pro run-ins at Heroes. Heroes is a great con because there's a lot of the same faces (both fans and pros alike) and most people tend to remember faces from one year to the next, which is nice, you know.
I got to talk to Steve Epting, who my friend Shane and I have been giggly fanboys about since his days on 'Avengers.' We've met Steve a half dozen times over the years and have gotten quite a few sketches from him and he's always been really down to earth and easy to talk to. Well, he's a bit more famous now as his run on 'Captain America' made him into the A-list artist he always should have been so his line at the show was around the block, literally. I did get a chance to talk to him as he was leaving and while he didn't recognize me on sight, once I said my name he knew me and we had a nice chat about the good old days, when me and Shane could spend half the con day sitting on his table, talking about comics.
I spent a lot of time in Barry Kitson's line. Barry does cover-quality sketches for FREE. You just have to be willing to wait in line. In the case of this show, those of us that got in line on Friday were still waiting on Sunday. And some of us still didn't get a sketch. No biggie. Barry's a class act and the people in the line are always fun and interesting and there's always a lot of good times going through sketch books and talking about original art.
As I mentioned before, I spent a lot of time talking with Jeremy Haun about horror movies. One thing I said is that most artists who are into horror have a really sloppy aesthetic to their art but Jeremy has a really tight line, one that's landed him some work on slick titles like Iron Man. He does have some horror stuff coming out that's got a little more splatter to it, which I'm looking forward to.
And, Mark Waid declared me a genius, just because I gave him a story idea that he said he was going to call Geoff Johns to talk about and that he'd give me credit for. (I'm sure he means anecdotally, I'm not expecting Dan Didio to give me a call so he can get me a contract. But I'll totally say I've written for DC if the idea sees print.) It was cool because a) it was obvious Mark had never thought of it and b) that he was genuinely rolling it over in his head and getting excited as he was talking to me about it.
All the guys I got sketches from were great as ever, particularly Brian Hurtt and Chris Samnee, who we'd met plenty of times before and who we camped a good deal of the weekend around, chatting, oogling artwork and what not. Cliff Chiang was also his usual friendly self.
Heroes Con is always fun. If you like comic conventions, you should go.
And if you're there on Thursday, go to Loopy's and get the chicken dumplings. They're heaven. |
|
|
| Heroes Con |
[Jun. 23rd, 2008|01:58 pm] |
Obviously, if you're not a big comic book/comic book art fans, not a lot of this will mean anything to you.
Still, loads of images behind the cut, all work-friendly. I'll probably put up some actual photos later. These are all digital pictures, not scans, so if there's darkness/shading problems, it's just because I don't know how to light pictures.
( Heroes Con art )
It was also great to meet ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) incogvito in person for the first time.
And I'll post pictures later and tell the big story -- the story about how Mark Waid declared me a genius for a story idea I threw out to him that he now plans to steal. |
|
|
| Home |
[Jun. 22nd, 2008|11:58 pm] |
Back safe and sound.
Sketch scans and anecdotes probably tomorrow. |
|
|
| Off to see The Wizard |
[Jun. 18th, 2008|10:48 am] |
I'm off to Charlotte first thing in the morning so I'll be offline pretty much until Monday (unless I really have an urge to check my email at 2 am when I get home Sunday night.)
As usual I'll return with sketch scans galore (hopefully!) and some pictures from the trip. Particularly of me in my unshaven awfulness :)
Behave kids.
Oh, here's a digital picture of the Liberty Belle commission Matt Haley did for me. It arrived today -- just in time for me to take it to Charlotte!
 |
|
|
| The Tony's |
[Jun. 15th, 2008|09:50 pm] |
Oh, the Tony Awards of 2008 -- random thoughts.
I liked the 'Cry Baby' number for the most part.
I liked the first part of the 'Passing Strange' song but not the rockier part where it was just Stew rapping with the crowd.
Hell, I even liked the 'South Pacific' montage.
Before anyone thinks I'm getting soft, the 'Grease!' bit was, well, worse than I imagined. And I guess I'll never understand why a mush-mouthed singer like Patti LuPone gets such acclaim. It really did just feel like her bellowing for four minutes.
The girl from 'Little Mermaid' looks nice but, I don't know, she doesn't look quite right. I hate to say not young enough but that's what I keep going back to. Too weathered, maybe.
What downer did Gabriel Byrne and Mary Louise Parker take before walking onto the stage? Because, really, they didn't have to be catatonic.
Whoopi's OK, the material's typically not good. At least Kristin Chenoweth made her bad in-joke work. Granted, it took an arm pit fart.
The 'In the Heights' composer rapping his acceptance was ... cute. At least the show itself seems equally ... cute. By 'cute' I mean 'really fucking annoying.' The second part of the performance was better but it was just chanting, really. And that's not hard to write or rhyme. It just isn't.
Seriously why are 50 people coming onstage to accept the Best Play Tony? They want to save time? Cut everyone and their mother coming onstage for the Best Play and Musical awards. If they want to be on TV, tell them to commit a crime.
As a song I like 'Move On' from 'Sunday.' I think it's a cop-out of a conclusion to the show, really, but that's a discussion for another day. Or not because I really get bored trying to talk about 'Sunday in the Park With George,' mainly because it's fans rarely listen when you talk to them about it. And these two aren't really impressing me. At all. The woman's better. The guy looks like the guy that plays Pinhead unmasked in the 'Hellraiser' movies. But if you need to have your mouth THAT far open to hit a high note, you probably shouldn't be hitting that high note. And your technique sucks.
Kind of a weird choice from 'Xanadu,' just because it's not that funny. Granted, not much from the show would work out of context but, still, you'd think they'd give Kerry more to do, instead of Cheyenne (no offense to him.) Tony Roberts's part is funny and it's good that they got Testa and Hoffman out there. Really, even though it probably woudln't have given Jackson anything to do, they should have done 'I'm Alive.'
You know, I didn't see Cheyenne when I saw the show. Nor did I see the original guy. I saw the OTHER guy :) (Who's name is Curtis Holbrook, thanks to westernactor for the unintentional refresher.)
Kerry Butler can do no wrong. Yes, I'm biased and no, I don't care.
Seriously, was the new cast of 'Rent' SUPPOSED to be bad? It looked like a high school production. No Jesse L. Martin was noticeable, mainly because he was the only one that actually worked in the movie.
Stop screaming, Patti.
'In the Heights.'
Blah.
You know, the show seemed to move better this year than recent past.
Or maybe I'm in a better mood. |
|
|
| Shaving Cream |
[Jun. 14th, 2008|01:19 pm] |
As is tradition, I don't shave during my trip to Charlotte. It's not a tradition built on anything but laziness, still, I never shave at a con. I mean, really, there aren't a lot of people I'm dying to impress with my cleanly shaven face running around. The fact that my friends and I shower daily makes us elite enough at the con.
We don't leave until Thursday but after shaving this morning I'm done until I have to go to work the Wednesday after.
Some people look dashing when they haven't shaved, I basically look like a vagrant.
I'll post pics so all can see my scraggly awfulness. |
|
|
| Yes! |
[Jun. 12th, 2008|11:45 am] |
Like most people, I have a list of 'things I want to do before I die.'
As of today I can cross 'get pink eye' off that list! |
|
|
| Comics |
[Jun. 11th, 2008|10:46 pm] |
I guess the big news in comics is that Chuck Dixon announced he's no longer working for DC Comics 'in any capacity.' As he'd just gone back to writing 'Robin' as well as 'Batman and the Outsiders,' it's a bit surprising. No one's said anything but it does feel like a sudden dismissal and not one he's especially happy about.
My feelings on Dixon are generally all over the map, both creatively and personally, but I will say, it did seem like people were happy with his work on 'Robin' and it's not like there's anyone out there with a better name value that would sell the book. Part of me wonders DC is trying to move Sean McKeever to the title as he's under an exclusive contract with the company and his tenures on 'Birds of Prey' and 'Titans' have ended pretty unceremoniously (actually, he may still be on 'Titans,' but most people agree that book is garbage.) McKeever's known for writing teen-based stories though and, like I said, the company may need to justify his contract. Again, this is TOTALLY a guess on my part, I have no inside information nor have I heard anything. It's just a hunch.
I've often criticized Chuck (to his person) for not really trying to establish himself with a solid creator-owned identity the way the British writers do. I do believe if he had more of his own work that he was working on and didn't have to take any backwash titles that DC throws his way he'd be in a better position. Yes, creator owned is always a risk but as much as he talks about how the big companies aren't giving the audience what they really want, you'd think he'd make a better effort at proving it to them. Yes, selling creator owned titles is a ton of work, look at how much online presence Warren Ellis has to maintain, but it does allow him the opportunity to get strong numbers on his creator-owned books, even when they're coming from less-popular publishers. Comics is always a tough buck. |
|
|
| Tuesday Night |
[Jun. 10th, 2008|08:02 pm] |
Well, my birthday came and went. It was nice but I didn't have a POPAPALOOZA bash this year. Which is probably good, given that last year ended with a lot of vomit. Namely mine. Plus, I was working tech on 'Peter Pan' and had to go to Columbus so I really didn't have a big desire to be suffering. And I haven't drank since last year's bash so it's not like my tolerance would be high.
Still, thanks to everyone who emailed/texted/facebooked/myspaced me messages. It's always nice to be remembered, even when you don't spend the entire year previous reminding people :)
-----
One more weekend of 'Pan' tech. Thank god. I think it's good that I do tech once every ten years or so to remind me of why I hate working tech. Really the show itself is fine but there's so much pre-work and prep that I get tired of being there two ro three hours before the show even starts.
-----
Heroes Con is next weekend. It's always the highlight of the year for my friends and I but this year I think everyone's extra excited to get down there and do the big show. Looks like four of us are hitting the road and meeting our two friends from Orlando. Should be a great crew and a great time! |
|
|
