Batman RIP-off

Batman #681 came out today, concluding the much-hyped, overly-cross-overed storyline that ran through all the bat titles and some of "the outsiders".

A few weeks ago I sold the other bat-books related to this series. I feel like DC really shouldn't have marketed all the bat-books as being part of RIP. The main storyline was all in "Batman" and spending money on the others was a waste. (Except for "Outsiders", which I get anyway.)

This whole ride has been pretty convoluted and incoherant for me and in the end I'm still left going "huh?" at a few things. Overall, I have to say that I could have done without this story. Unless something happens in the next issue, I have no reason to think this has been a redefining moment for Batman. And the fact that they are starting a new story arc called "Last Rites" just feels like they're trying to milk an expired cow.

About a year ago it felt like the best time in the world to be a DC fan. But with the lackluster Countdown series, a less than fantastic "Infinite Crisis", Flash sucking over-all, Pa Kent getting killed, JLA focusing on third string heroes... it seems like a pretty mixed bag right now. JSA, Green Lantern, Secret Six and a couple other books remain strong, but I'm hoping things will look better for all of these great characters after Infinite Crisis is over and the new year gets underway.

John Carpenter's: The Thing!

In my opinion, few movies stand the test of time like "John Carpenter's: The Thing". In the modern age of CGI, we see all kinds of terrible and fake-looking creatures. It's pretty clear when the actors are talking to a tennis ball and not an alien.

But before CGI, special effects wizards like Rob Bottin(The Howling, Legend) had to create animated puppets or intricate costumes to bring creatures to life. As a result, when you see the creature, you know the actors are seeing it, too. It's not a bunch of imaginary ones and zeroes. It's right there with the actors, covered in KY jelly to give it that look of slimy persperation you just can't get in CGI. And though there is still a "fakeness" to the effects, it still comes off as more real than many hollywood light shows brought to us by George Lucas.

Combine this with Bottin's wacked out creature designs and a constant sense of claustrophobia and paranoia, and you have a classic movie that is just what the promotional posters say: The ultimate in alien terror.

This is a movie that serves as something of an "initiation" into friendship with Paeter Frandsen. Most, but not all of my friends are subjected to this film the second or third time they hang out with me.

Tonight, I have the unique pleasure of having a friend over that I've known for years, but for some reason never got around to making him sit through this film. I've seen it so many times, that the greatest pleasure I get from it now is showing it to those who have never seen it. So tonight will be alot of fun.

Brace yourself, Jeff! For soon you shall encounter... The Thing!

Vampires that make me gag

In all fairness, I haven't seen "Twilight". I'm not going to see "Twilight". The previews alone remind me of so many things that make me gag.

High schoolers already think their little high school world is so important and beyond understanding. They already think they know what love is and the world just doesn't sympathize with them. Do we really need to taint the concept of a vampire underworld by mixing it with the overly dramatic lives and relationships of teenagers? Must we really watch vampires pass notes to each other in class and blog about how cute they think someone is on Myspace?

I talked to a group of high school girls today who had all seen this movie last night and they were incredibly enthusiastic and bubbly over the experience of watching it. I'm told critical reviews have so far not been as favorable.

If anybody wants to see this movie and tell me what they think (anybody other than a teenage girl.), I'd be interested. Otherwise, I can't wait for them to stop playing commercials for this terrible looking film.

"Seeker" is getting Weaker!

I'm frustrated to report that the new tv series "Legend Of The Seeker" has fallen vastly short of the potential displayed in the first two episodes. The 3rd and 4th episodes went almost entirely away from the source material, presenting one-shot stories that do not advance the over-all plot. They didn't do much to develop character either.

Speaking of character, Richard seems to be way off his game. If memory serves, he never made the kind of foolish choices in the books that he's making in the series. I'm talking specifically about returning to his home town without consulting Zedd.

In general, Richard feels too bright eyed and naive. In the books, Richard is a man's man, not some angsty, self-doubting, wet behind the ears hobbit!

Episode 4 in particular demonstrated some of the most predictable, substanceless writing that television is capable of. Can anyone say they really thought that lady was his mom? As soon as she said she held him the day he was born, I said "mid-wife" and waited an hour for the script to catch up.

If Terry Goodkind is truly involved in the writing chores, I'm sad to say that he should stick to books. If not, the show might benefit from what he has to offer. Either way, something has got to change. These episodes do not reflect the tone or character of "Wizard's First Rule", and I can't blame anyone for not sticking with the show at this point. Unfortunately, I am a huge Goodkind fan and so am hopelessly condemned to watch this show, even if things continue to get worse. Here's hoping I will be spared that torture.

It's Good To Be Behind The Times!

I inherited a particular gene from my dad. My sisters and I call it "The Frandsen Cheap Gene".

Growing up, we were always a few years behind the latest gadgets and technology. We were among the last to get the original Nintendo Entertainment System.

I've carried on the tradition, buying most game system just before or just after they hit their peak. My purchase of an Xbox 360 last summer even felt a little early for me. It still does. Despite the 360 having more turn-based RPGs than any other current gen system, none of them have been satisfying to me. There don't seem to be enough games for this system yet! But since I didn't have the original Xbox, I now have access to a few games that I didn't before through the 360's backwards compatability.

So even though many of you are immersed in gamer bliss with the most cutting edge titles, HD tvs, incredible graphics and surround sound, I'm still completely geeking out over Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, which I have never played before! (I also hear there's a sequel!)

And when I'm in the mood for fantasy, I'm STILL digging on "Neverwinter Nights"! (And yeah, I mean the first one.) Did I mention I'm still looking forward to finishing Diablo 2?

Yeah, I know. I'm out of touch and behind the times. But I'm a geek and hopelessly uncool anyway. So don't bother me with the superficials. These games rock and I'm getting them for less than half price!!

Thanks for making us wait, dad!

Unimpressed with 360 RPG choices

I bought the 360 over the Wii and PS3 because it was demonstrating the brightest and broadest future for RPGs. So far, I'm unimpressed. Don't get me wrong, the Wii and PS3 have even less to offer, but for an RPG fan like myself, I'm still waiting for that great 360 RPG.

Lost Odyssey was pretty good, but a bug with a boss battle late in the game forced me to rely on pure luck or overbalanced "power-leveling" to get past him. I don't have time or patience for either of those, so I gave up on it. (I must not have been THAT invested in the game, huh?)

Fallout 3 is way too much FPS and not enough RPG. I suck at FP shooters, so that one was a "no go" as well.

Lastly, Fable 2. A charming little game that just didn't pull me in at the beginning when it should have. (And for a game that makes a big deal out of having choices, the "glowing trail" that always tells you where to go is an odd device to include.)

So for now, I'm actually playing "Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic". A game for the original Xbox.

I'm hoping that "The Last Remnant" will get great reviews when it releases this month, and provides an RPG experience I can really dive into and enjoy from beginning to end. But I've got my doubts. So far, this generation of consoles seems to be providing the weakest offerings to RPG fans. But then again, I'm not all RPG fans. Anyone else have a thought on RPGs in the current gen of console gaming?

Fallout 3- Not for every RPG fan

Just a quick warning to RPG fans who are thinking of picking up Fallout 3. If you suck at FPS games like I do, this game will be very difficult for you. Even on the easiest setting, with my character points biased toward giving me lots of action points, I still don't have enough to use the turn based combat option near as much as I'd like.

You'll have to do plenty of First Person Shooting in this one, and will need to enjoy that kind of game to have a good time with Fallout 3.

Today, I'm very grateful that I bought it used with a 7-day "no questions asked" return policy. Fable 2, here I come!

House (Movie Review)

Although I've read and enjoyed a few of Frank Peretti's books, I've never read any of Ted Dekker's all the way through and did not read the novel "House" before seeing this movie based on it.

I went into the theater knowing the track record of "Christian" movies, and despite wanting this film to succeed I made every effort to treat it like any other movie of the horror genre (as it was marketed to be) without being too easy or too hard on it.

In short, while this movie had some good points to make, its potential message is overwhelmed by poor film-making.

First, the good. Despite having "Christian" origins, the costumes, make-up and coloring have a dark quality to them that fits the horror genre. The special effects do not attempt to set any records, but serve their purpose well and don't take anything away from the film. Rather, they add to the production value.

Unfortunately, we are already set to move on to the bad. I never became invested in the fate of these characters for a number of reasons. First, the script. Plot points and back story were presented, but the film did not allow these characters to develop. It informed us of who they were but didn't give time to help us feel what the characters were supposed to be feeling. I say "supposed to be feeling" because the acting fell short as well. One example: Although effort was made in the make-up department to make it look as if a female character had been crying (running make-up), the actress did not have the glistening yet bloodshot eyes needed to convince me of her emotional state. Throughout the film I watched a group of actors acting, but did not find myself drawn into their characters.

This film also follows the pattern in Christian fiction to take something successful in the mainstream and repackage it as "Christian" without presenting any new material of substance or creativity. I felt like I'd seen this movie a few times before. It pulls the little long-haired girl and color tinting from "The Ring", the family, sheriff, Leatherface and primary plot hook from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and the trapped environment, character-condemning flashbacks and more color tinting from "Saw".

In fact, I'm willing to bet that the reason for its "R" rating is only because it contained the hallmarks of so many horror films. The MPAA must have thought, "Boy this feels like so many R movies we've seen before. It should probably be given an R for SOME reason." But by today's standards, this movie is really a PG-13. It contained a few creepy images, but nothing worse than "The Ring". The swearing was mild enough to be on evening network tv and very sparse on top of that. And although there were violent moments, the violence was always obscured by sets, props or cutaways. There is virturally no blood in this "horror film". While this makes it more "family friendly", I kinda doubt that's a key selling point for fans of the genre.

It has an interesting Christ metaphor near the end of the film that people may pick up on to various degrees. However, it results in a moment way too similar to the end of the first Matrix movie and feels much too heroic for this genre. The bad guy is "de-clawed" in a way that no villain in this genre should be.

Speaking of metaphors, this film scores higher in Veracity than it does in quality. In addition to a strong Christ/Salvation metaphor, we also see a comment on modern spiritism. At one point in the film an imposter of one of the characters attempts to deceive the others and uses knowledge of private personal information to try and convince them of his identity. Today, mediums may validate their perception of the afterlife by displaying knowledge of personal details conveyed to them by a "ghost" of a deceased friend or relative. This brief "imposter" moment in this film points out that intimate knowledge of our lives may also be possessed by spirits that wish to deceive us, and cannot be used as objective proof that the mediums perception of the afterlife is accurate.

In the end, these metaphors will likely only be appreciated by the few "play it safe" Christians that fool themselves into thinking this movie is good simply because it was developed by Christian thinkers and has no objectionable material in their opinion.

A friend of mine once said that he told someone "The Omega Code" was a terrible movie. This person responded, "Well maybe, but at least it's glorying God." To which my friend replied, "Ma'am, there is nothing glorifying to God in bad art."

Although I can't recommend this movie to fans of the horror genre, I do hope that the "family friendly/bubble-world/play it safe" Christians will give this movie a try. It will give them a "safe" entrance to the genre and will hopefully open their minds to the horror/thriller/sci-fi genres and their potential use to do and say things of value. This movie has little or nothing to offer fans of horror or good films in general. But I hope it may at least open the minds of a few Christians to enjoy other movies in this and other genres like it.

Quality: 6.0

Veracity: 8.0

The Secret Six and Misleading Covers

Three issues in and I'm really enjoying "The Secret Six" by Gail Simone. Her writing is very witty and the dialogue is vivid. As she takes these 2nd and 3rd string DC villains and tells her story, I believe she's giving Geoff Johns a run for his money in the category of "re-inventing and rejuvinating" old characters. Wonderful stuff.

The interior art is also incredible and of such high quality that I have to wonder why the cover art has been so bland and lacking in detail. The covers to this book completely misrepresent the reading experience and as the last two issues have come out on stands, I've had to open them up and remind myself that this book is really good!

Usually, it's the other way around. Awesome cover, sloppy interior, so I'm totally confused. If they are trying to hit a certain stylistic beat with these covers, I'm not quite getting it. And either way, it gives you a completely different feel from the book itself.

Here's hoping they make a change very quickly, or this will be yet another book that I find I love, only to watch it be cancelled for lack of popularity.

Dark Ritual!

Okay, I don't usually do this. I try to keep my work for Spirit Blade Productions separate from this blog, but considering the last time I released a CD was over two years ago, I figure I've GOTTA mention this!

If you've enjoyed this blog but never really checked out the links to Spirit Blade Productions, now is a GREAT time to do it!

You can download the first 40 minutes of this dark sci-fi/fantasy audio drama for free!

This is what I spend most of my days working on, so if you really want to get a peak inside "Paeter's Brain", jump over to www.spiritblade.net and check out the free 40 minute download of "Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual"!

See ya!

Legend Of The Seeker (TV Premiere Review)

Okay, I've gotta start off by saying that this new tv series on the CW (don't hold that against it) is based on my absolute favorite fantasy novel series of all time. In "The Sword Of Truth" series, Terry Goodkind tells a gripping story of Justice, Love, and the pursuit of Truth. My review of this show is undoubtedly colored in ways I'm not aware of, but I will make my best effort to be fair without under or overcompensating for my incredible love of the books.

That said, I believe this (so far) is the best fantasy (sword and sorcery) TV show ever made. That's not saying a whole lot, when right below it are Hercules and Xena. Although both of those fairly light-hearted, even goofy shows share producers in common with Legend Of The Seeker, this new series thankfully reflects the serious tone of the books.

Craig Horner is a decent but unremarkable leading man. In the books, Richard always struck me as being a little older, and was always depicted with a full beard on book covers. So Horner seems a little young to me. Granted, if this series lasts through all of the books, they'll need to start him a little younger so that he doesn't outgrow the part. Horner also seems to lack the confidence that Richard had in the books, although I may be misremembering what he was like when the first book began.

Bridget Regan seems to have solid acting chops and I think will grow into her role even further, providing an excellent portayal of Kahlen. However I think the producer have not tapped the potential of her "Confessor's Touch". In the books, the description of its effect on her victims implies an immediate agony over not yet knowing how to please her until she gives them a command. In these episodes, the touch simply made them dazed servants instead of fanatical slaves as they are in the books.

The casting highlight is Bruce Spence in the role of High Wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander. You may recognize Spence as The Trainman from the Matrix Trilogy. He also played a key "Stranger" in DARK CITY and a tall creepy alien dude in Star Wars Episode 3. I don't think there could have been a better choice for this role. Spence brings a sence of mystery, power and when appropriate, "senile old guy weirdness" to this role. He brings the book to life whenever he appears on screen.

The actress playing Adie looked the part well enough, but her voice didn't match her scary old lady appearance. Too clean and crisp in her dialogue delivery.

The overall tone of the show is dark. The coloring, the costumes, most every aspect lends itself to the tone of the books and I was often very impressed with the style of costumes, particularily the way things seem to hang on Bruce Spence. It is visually less graphic then the gory descriptions of violence in the books, but the action doesn't suffer. Not only does this show have a number of battle sequences in the first two episodes, but they are filmed and edited with a style that fans of "300" will dig. Throughout the combat sequences, we jump in and out of slow motion shots that demonstrate the skill and artistry of each fighter. The action in these episodes was a greater visual feast than I've seen in the theater for awhile.

Unlike the largely invisible magic of Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings movies, magic is very visible and often fun to watch. The boundary looks fantastic, the glowing sword (and lighting strikes to it!) is wonderful. I do have some complaints, though. Zedd's "Wizard's Fire" was standard tv budget FX and didn't capture the intensity with which its heat is described in the books. I'd also recommend the producers use more "creature shop" effects and less CGI, whenever possible. It looks better, it ages better. The Gar was less than impressive, and his artificial nature took away from a great "decapitation" scene.

Other times, the effects were great. I enjoyed seeing Shar deflect the arrow and Zedd's encounter with the spirits in the boundary was appropriately creepy. So even though the effects aren't always what I'd like them to be, at the end of the day it's TV, and I'm amazed at how many effects shots there are per episode and how many look as impressive as they do.

Given that each season of the planned series will cover one book from the series, the producers have brought Terry Goodkind onboard to assist in expanding on the material from his books. A fantastic move, I have to say. It certainly makes me a little more willing to trust this attempt at adapting some great material.

In terms of Veracity, if this show is anything like the books, we'll continue to have some great points to talk about. In episode 2, the "Wizard's First Rule" was introduced. "People will believe a lie if they want it to be true, or if they are afraid that it might be true." Wow. Now THAT is a great conversation starter. Not only that, but we also see the beginnings of themes like "Justice" and its difference from vengeance. Zedd also says at one point that Richard will have to discover the truth for himself, reminding us that we can't force beliefs on anyone, but we are also individually responsible for seeking out truth... or suffering the consequences of neglecting that pursuit.

When compared to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Heroes, I'd say Legend Of The Seeker had the stronger debut this season. And despite a few imperfections, it's an incredible looking and wonderfully executed show that deserves the time of every fan of fantasy, action and adventure.


Quality: 9.0/10
Veracity: 8.5/10