Doctor Strange (Movie Review)

Although I'm not a huge Marvel Comics fan, I am a huge superhero fan, and so it was only a matter of time before I picked up a copy of Marvel's latest animated feature film, "Doctor Strange".

Like it's three predecessors, the animation in this film was fantastic, and the visual design remarkable. After watching this film, I felt a strong desire to play some more "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance" and to swap Doctor Strange into my team. The score was a great compliment and the musical "theme" during the opening credits felt very appropriate, if slightly derivative of Danny Elfman. The voice acting was also very well and done.

The weaker point for this film, in my opinion, is the amount of time spent on the origin of Doctor Strange. The film is essentially just his origin story, and not until the very end do we see a glimpse of the real power that we know Strange has in the comics. So if you're looking for a Doc Strange film where he's really cutting loose and behaving like the "Sorcerer Supreme", you'll want to wait for a sequel and just rent this one. That said, there is still a lot of great magic happening through Strange and the large supporting cast of mystics.

In terms of Veracity, there's not a whole lot in this film that will spark meaningful coffee house conversation, although you might find some opportunity to discuss eastern philosophy or relativism after watching the movie with someone. As Strange is being trained, one of the lessons he must learn implies that reality is directly linked to perception. A very relativistic concept.

In the end, I almost wish I had rented instead of bought, but I was also a little sleepy while I watched it, and was interrupted a few times while viewing. I may have a better appreciation for it after watching it again in a few months. But for now:

Quality: 8.0/10

Veracity: 6.5/10

I Hate Baby Pictures

I've never been a fan of babies. I'm still not. Even the "cutest", most "adorable" or "funny" baby pictures sent to me by family members provoke little more than, "Yep. That sure looks like a baby."


However, you may notice the strange, upside-down baby picture that I posted. This particular baby is our son, Asher. He is our first child and we brought him home from the hospital on Monday night. And, of course, I absolutely love him. Although I still have zero interest in other babies. (I suppose I've got a soft spot for my older sister's kid, but that's blood. You can't do much about that.)


It's no surprise to me that I love my son and still have little tolerance for other people's "crap factories". But I think the reason why is interesting.


Last night, my dad told me that he asked my older sister once why she loved her little boy, but not some other little boy across the room. Her answer was fairly predictable. "Because he's mine."
Dad reminded me of the simple truth this common familial love demonstrates. God loves us not because of anything we've done. He loves us because we are his.


In fact most of the time, a little like my son(although he hasn't fussed much), we cry and complain and demand, thinking only about our own needs, while producing large amounts of crap for other people to deal with. But God still loves us, because he made us, and we're his.


So although I'll maintain a comfy distance from other people's noisy little rats, when I look at mine I'll hopefully be reminded of a powerful truth.


And now... I'm off to bed!


-Paeter Frandsen

Stan Lee's Calls, The Good and The Bad (Spoilers)

Last night Stan Lee displayed both some of his best judgment and some of his worst.
Last year, one of the competitors had a habit of removing parts of his costume for one reason or another. For some reason, Stan doesn't like this. His argument is that Superman or Spider-man would not remove part of their costumes because it's part of who they are. (Keep in mind, Spider-man had JUST revealed his identity to the world on Marvel comics when that episode aired.)
The competitor last year was even penalized once for removing his cape and placing it in a puddle for some women to walk on as he helped them across the street. Bad call, Stan.

Well, Stan did it again. Last night, the Defuser gave a small metal "jack" to an adoring child and said, "if the bad guys are chasing you, throw this behind you and it'll stop the bad guys." Later, he was lectured by Stan for giving away a part of his costume. Again, this seemed like an idiotic reason to penalize someone. Although it wasn't my favorite moment, even Batman in "Batman Begins" gave his night goggles to a kid. And he didn't even give a legitimate reason! At least the Defuser gave the kid the "gadget" so he could protect himself from, "bad guys"!

Despite this lame call, Stan made the right decision, I think, by removing "Whip-Snap" from the game. Near the beginning, I thought she would be a contender for the final prize. She seems to have come from the lowest place in life and really overcome alot to be where she is. In that sense, she is a true, real-life hero. However, one of the qualities looked for in a Superhero for this show is that of being a role-model. With all of the baggage that Whip-Snap is still obviously dealing with, she's certainly on the road to being a wonderful role model... but she isn't there yet. And I was afraid she might win based on sympathy from Stan. I'd love for her to come back to the show and compete again in a few years after dealing some more with the pain of her past, but this was the right time for her to go.

Still, I gotta say I prefer the role of "arm-chair critic" to contestant. I wouldn't last more than one episode on this show. Freakin' snakes and spiders, people... snakes and spiders... in the dark!

The Reliance, #5

The King Of Crime- Part 3

Soon after the team's encounter with a group of villains at the outdoor concert, the police arrived and took The Pied Piper and Deadshot into custody. Road Warrior elects to re-group with the others after going back to the prison to absorb some villainous powers, if possible.

Just moments later, the heroes hear a transmission over the police radios indicating a series of massive tremors coming from the Central City baseball stadium.
Realizing that the stadium might be the answer to the mystery of Central City's "biggest diamond", the Reliance, now consisting only of Candice and Iron Hand, rushes to the scene.

Upon arrival, they discover that the insane stage performer from the future, Abra Kadabra, has ripped the baseball diamond out of the field, along with nearly 50 tons of earth and rock, and is levitating the massive load away from the stadium.
For a moment, they can only look on in horror. They need to stop Kadabra, but if the magician is distracted, or rendered unconscious, the floating island he carries may fall to the ground where it will destroy property and possibly claim lives.

Iron Hand flies to one side of the island, withstanding a momentary assault by multiple Flashes, created by Kadabra. Iron Hand tries to push against the oncoming load, but Kadabra's control is too strong. Candice unleashes a mystic attack on the villain but its effects are resisted.

Redoubling their efforts, Candice inflicts divine fear on the magician, who begins to flee as a result. The Island plummets to the earth, but Iron Hand destroys more than half of it with his armor's energy blast weapon. Meanwhile, Candice has taken hold of Kadabra, and calls out to Iron Hand, who understands her plan. The full might of Iron Hand's armor slams into both Candice and Abra Kadabra, pummeling them into the ground. Although even the half-angel's nearly immortal frame suffers some damage, Abra Kadabra is subdued.

In the aftermath, police and ambulence crews arrive on location to help with clean-up and to look for survivors. With the end of the day approaching, Candice and Iron Hand feel the pressure to find the last criminal before the city is attacked again. However, in their haste to stop the next potential crime, they seemed oblivious to the needs around them as ambulence crews and policemen tirelessly began digging through mounds of dirt, looking for trapped survivors. Only time will reveal if members of the Reliance are able to maintain the stated purpose of their group, or if they will have to re-evaluate and change their stated values.

Gaining what information they thought would be helpful from police on the scene, The Reliance rushes to a local bar that police officers frequent, hoping to find the criminal planning to have "a nice cold drink of Central City's finest". Inside the eskimo themed bar, the heroes mistake a young man interviewing for a position as bar tender, for Captain Cold, but luckily avoid doing any harm. Despite this detour, they learn from the bar's manager that the water supply to the entire city has stopped.

Wasting no time on regret, Candice and Iron Hand race to the Central City reservoir, but find they are already too late. A giant cannon left behind seems to be the catalyst for the entire city's water supply being frozen solid. With no trail to follow and a decisive victory achieved by the enemy, the Reliance is momentarily beaten. But a city-wide broadcast from the mysterious villain behind all of this gives the heroes the clues they need to stop this new criminal underground once and for all.

Warned that the city will be blown off the map if all heroes do not leave before 10pm, the Reliance has no choice but to find the source of the transmission and tackle the problem head-on. The trail finally leads them to the 57th floor of one of the tallest buildings in the city. Although attempting to be stealthful, the heroes give away their presence to the enemy, who surprisingly welcomes them inside the large boardrrom they are conducting a meeting in.

Seven powerful villains stand over a long table. Leading the group is The Thinker, a human-turned artificial intelligence made of pure energy. He invites the heroes to join their society, or die. In a shocking move, Candice implies, for the moment, that she will join, and agrees to bring the heads of Road Warrior and Surge to The Thinker as a test of loyalty. Iron Hand tries to back slowly out of the room, but is unable to leave before all seven villains target him for a devastating attack...

When will it END!!?

After launching our website I kicked off two blogs. A little over a month ago I started the podcast. Now I'm finally going to give attention to my personal MySpace page in ADDITION to starting one for Spirit Blade Productions.
Not to mention getting involved with "ThySpace", and possibly VIRB.com and Facebook!

All this stuff isn't NEAR as fun as the creative part of what I do, and yet I feel COMPELLED to stay up with trends in an effort to have an effective impact on people through Spirit Blade Productions.

I'm even understanding just a wee bit (with emphasis on "wee") of html code, which is frightening.

Anyone have some advice on the what the most effective networking tools on the web are? If I'm missing something, I'd love to add it to my list, and if I'm wasting my time with any of what I've listed, I'd like to get your feedback on that, too! Leave me a comment or record a voice message below! (I may even put it on the podcast!)
Thanks!

"Superbad"(Movie Review)

Today, while my wife watched "Hairspray", I checked out "Superbad". This was a great movie, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.

If you are bothered by vulgar language and subject matter, stay far away. The whole plot of the movie revolves around three high school seniors trying to bring alcohol to a party so they can have sex with the girls they like. Aside from showing the cover of a porn magazine, there isn't any nudity in this film, although one of the characters really enjoys drawing cartoony pictures of male anatomy.

If you're not turned off by what's just been described, then you'll find a movie with realistically awkward portrayals of people that are about to become adults. Although there are some crazy, unrealistic situations in the movie, I felt like it found the heart of its characters and successfully brought them to life.

It was also the first movie I've seen since the Lord Of The Rings trilogy to show a strong, loving, but heterosexual bond between men. In our strongly polarized culture, too often men identify displaying affection to other men with being either a wimp, a woman, or a homosexual/bi-sexual. Considering how damaging that mentality has been to the relationships between fathers and sons, I was surprised and pleased to see the all too rare alternative showcased here.

For "laughs-per-minute" my sides hurt a lot more watching "The Pick Of Destiny"(another comedy dependant on tons of F-bombs and vulgar subject matter), but "Superbad" was still a lot of fun.

Quality: 8.5/10

Veracity: 7.0/10

The REAL villain!

Last night on "Who Wants To Be A Superhero" we were introduced to the true villain of this season's adventures... PRODUCT PLACEMENT!!

That's right, when Dr. Dark robbed the heroes' lair, he stole a check in their vault for 50,000 dollars that "Esurance" wrote for a wildlife preservation charity. Boy, those folks at "Esurance" must be pretty great people to be so generous! Maybe I should give them a try! (Although many TV commercials have a budget of $100,000 and up.)

Yikes. But this must be what we get for using Tivo to skip commercials. Sponsers are getting wise. I remember the first time Sidney Bristow, from the show "Alias" said, in the middle of a chase scene, "Quick! Let's use the F-150", followed by a close up of the Ford logo on the truck's grill as they pursued their prey in the shiny new vehicle.

Yep. We've dug our own hole on this one, so we might as well sit back and watch as disjunct and clumsy product-placement lines find their way more and more into our homes and movie theatres...

Sci-fi Channel's "Flash Gordon" (Review)

I never made it completely through the terrible 1980's "Queen" rocked-out movie, but when I heard that the Sci-fi channel was making a series based on the classic sci-fi character, I waited anxiously for the pilot to air.

Eric Johnson, whom many will recognize from "Smallville", takes on the role of our hero. "Flash" is a noble, self-sacrificing character; A small-town hero thrown into a galaxy-wide conflict. Some nice bits of humanity have been introduced to the character in the pilot that made me pleased to see he was being taken seriously and treated like a real person. Real human drama can be a great ingredient for wild, imaginitve sci-fi.

In the end, however, the pilot proved to be just... okay. Special effects were not up to par with sci-fi's hit, "Battlestar Galactica", and the alien costumes were certainly no match for what was common on "Farscape".

The acting was also stale (the alien princess) and at times annoying (the geeky scientist). Emporer Ming wasn't the least bit imposing or threatening, another bland performance. If they were going for that "B-movie" kind of bad acting, they didn't go far enough. (Although I really don't think that's what they were aiming for.) Eric Johnson played the part of "the guy next door" very well, but the performances surrounding him were not contrasting enough to highlight his very likeable "Flash".

Unless there is a dramatic (pun completely intended) change within the next episode, my hope is that this show will quickly disappear and keep people from once again singing the "Queen" song to me whenever I talk about one of my favorite superheroes(who bears no resemblence to this dud).
6.5/10

The 4400

I've been watching this show since the very beginning. Pretty interesting stuff, although I have to say that this season and last have felt progressively more lost in their direction. Ever since Isabelle's parents left the show, it feels like they haven't been doing things on purpose.

I think for the show to be remembered well, their next season should be their last. Anybody else watching and have thoughts on this one?

Anyone notice that Jordan Collier and The Rocketeer are the same dude?

I Need YOU!

Help me create the Spirit Blade Underground community! Be a part of our podcast!

Here's What I Need:
1. Your answers to our weekly "Coffee House Questions".
2. Tell us how we can make the podcast and blogs better or more interactive!
3. Become an "Underground Correspondent"! Record a review (books, movies, t.v. shows, ANYTHING!) for us and you may just hear it on the next podcast! (Please limit message length to 3 minutes or less.)

Here's How To Do It:
Record a message with your ideas, reviews or other thoughts at: http://paetersbrain.blogspot.com/ (right here!) or http://paeter.libsyn.com/ ! Or e-mail me at paeter@spiritblade.net. Don't forget to include your name so everyone will know how awesome you are! (Names can be withheld upon request.)

"Stan Strikes Again!" AND "Any Ideas?"

Last night's episode of "Who Wants To Be A Superhero" surprised me again. I was convinced that the "mole" in the group was Parthenon. He was staying safely below the radar and we know the least about him as a person. I thought for sure he had been planted by the studio. But when Stan Lee revealed that there was in fact NO mole in the group, my stance completely reverted and now I can't help but think that Parthenon is in the running to win this thing! Especially given his strong show of integrity tonight. I was glad ONE of them realized that what they were doing was wrong! (Hygena thought it was fishy too, I guess, but didn't say anything while they were all sitting around talking about Mr. Mitzfah.)

The double elimination was another surpise, but I'm sure you'll agree that the two eliminated were obvious choices.

I still have issues with some of the criticisms Stan presents to the heroes. I felt like his comment on Hyper-Strike and Whip-Snap about failing to encourage their team-mates was conjured up to have SOMETHING bad to say about two really great heroes. There were probably some behind the scenes "suggestions" from producers going on to make "good television", but it still felt very contrived.

Right now it looks like a tight race (no pun intended) now that the obviously poor choices have been eliminated.

Can't wait to see what happens!

On another note...

I'm trying to find a way to allow people to send me voice messages that I can play on the podcast if I want to. I'd rather not give out my cell phone number and I'm not too interested in investing money into it.

I've come across some free widgets for the other blog (which I publish using Typepad), but the one that looks like it would work (from Evoca) would require me to upgrade to a more expensive service at Typepad. I tried using an Odeo link, but I think something's up with their system. It didn't seem to want to save my recorded message that I sent to myself as a test.

Anyway, I'd LOVE some ideas because I'm hoping to make the podcast and these blogs increasingly more interactive. Can anyone help me?

New Game!

After much thought and careful consideration, I picked up a used copy of "Rogue Galaxy" last night.

I've not played far enough into it to give it a full review, but maybe in a few more weeks I'll put something here and/or on the podcast.

It's basically an action RPG, but in a japanese style. So it's not Champions of Norrath, but it's not as innocent and fun-loving as Kingdom Hearts.

I don't think it will be the best game I've ever played, but it looks like the ride will still be very enjoyable!

"How do you explain the 'zombie soul-sucking' effect?"

I turned on the TV last night, looking for something to watch for a few minutes. A local televangelist program was good for a few laughs while I watched one of their suit and tie soloists over-emote each individual word he sang, but the humor only lasted moments before I became annoyed.

Surfing a little more I turned to the sci-fi channel. A bottomless well of classic films including "Mansquito" and "Frankenfish". The first line I heard on the currently playing movie (called "Mammoth") was, "How do you explain the 'zombie soul-sucking' effect?"

Sigh! I REALLY wish Mystery Science Theatre 3000 was still on the air. The sci-fi channel is giving them waaay too much to work with.

The Reliance, #4

Prologue-
Road Warrior found himself separated from the team, the possible victim of alien abduction. It would appear that the mysterious origins of his powers will be discovered after learning more about his captors. However he couldn't help but feel that he is someone's "experiment", a prototype design for some sinister agenda.


Flashback-
Alex Noir made it to his meeting with Bruce Wayne with plenty of time to spare. The meeting was a great success, and Mr. Wayne couldn't have been more pleased with the work Alex has done. However, the billionaire playboy seemed to be probing Alex with his words as he introduced the topic of "Iron Hand" and the similarities between his armor and the armor Alex is "designing" for WayneTech. Alex can't be sure if Bruce Wayne suspects something, or if he already knows, but he was under the distinct impression that his employer wasn't being altogether straight-forward with him.


The King Of Crime, Part 2
Surge, determined not to let Mirror Master out of his sight, elected to stay at the police station and watch the prisoner.
Candice tried to determine the mystical workings of the Scottsman's equipment, but to no avail.
Realizing the need for assistance on this case, Candice took up Iron Hand on his offer to be brought on should back-up be required.


After some clever word-play and manipulation of packaging labels, Alex managed to secure funds and clearance for a super-sonic WayneTech jet to bring both him and Road Warrior (along with Iron Hand's armor) to Central City.


With little time to spare before a potential criminal act, Alex put his brilliant mind to work in an effort to choose the event most likely to be sabatoged by criminals. Statistically, the outdoor concert seemed a more likely target and so the team headed out to the location, ready for the unknown. Though not as ready as they may have liked.


Forty-five minutes before the concert, the orchestra was warming up, and hundreds of other anxious audience members were claiming their seats. As The Reliance arrived on scene, as if on cue from the conductor, all sound was swallowed in silence and the ground beneath the park began to tremble. With a taunting sneer, the Pied Piper mocked the heroes and used sonically induced hypnotism to turn the crowd into rage-filled zombies, intent on thrashing the heroes.


Before The Reliance had time to strategize against ONE powerful villain, a sniper shot catches Road Warrior square in the chest, instantly rendering him unconscious and at death's door. While Candice attacks with a blast of magic that The Piper shrugs off, Iron Hand speeds his wounded friend out of harm's way until he is healed, though still partially injured, a moment later by Candice.


Iron Hand, after taking a harmless shot to the side of his head, analyzes the area and locates the sniper, the mercenary assassin known as Deadshot. Even a successful shot to Iron Hand's eye-piece proves ineffectual against its brilliant design. In a burst of speed he flies to the trees the villain takes cover in, but misses him as Deadshot nimbly rolls and lands on the ground away from the metallic juggernaut.


Candice unleashes angelic dread, freezing both Piper and Deadshot in their tracks.
Following up with another mystical attack, Candice makes the Pied Piper fall down for the count.


A moment later, a third villain appears from behind the orchestra, covered in flames that he manipulates into whatever useful object he desires.
Once again, Iron Hand's magnificent armor ignores the lethal attack of flames, while Road Warrior snuffs the villain's fire, stealing it for himself.


The weakened villain uses his last reserves of power to fly off at an incredible speed, making him impossible to follow.
Deadshot, however is captured by giant hands of fire produced by the empowered Road Warrior. Although he temporarily shoots his way out of Road Warrior's novice construct, the Warrior follows up with a massive "boot of fire" to Deadshot's escaping backside, sending him flying halfway across the park and leaving him broken and near death.


Candice, recognizing that an "eye for an eye" can be fun but non-conducive to hero work, quickly healed Deadshot into a stable but unconscious state.
The crowd and orchestra are in shock, recovering from an ordeal that they cannot understand.


Meanwhile, the clock is ticking as somwhere an "ice cold drink" will soon be enjoyed, while the city's largest diamond is at risk of theft.

"Mindset" became too "set in his mind".

Another great episode this week on the sci-fi channel's "Who Wants To Be A Superhero".

I wondered where "Mindset" would end up in the grand scheme of the competition. I became a little nervous for him in the pilot episode when he said that he was a "thinking" superhero, since that is a super-power that CAN exist in the real world, and unlike "Parthenon's" magical bracelet powers, "Mindset" would be vulnerable to very real criticism if his power failed to operate during challeneges.

Lucky for him, he never had the chance to betray any weakness in his knoweldge, as it appeared his pride and desire to be right took him out of the show.

In the post show interview he admits that pride is a sin he deals with, but was not ready to admit that his actions on the show were motivated by pride.

Although I can't know his or anyone's heart, as a prideful person myself I can say that he was at least showing a few of the symptoms.

Still, like feedback mentioned in the aftershow interview with Mindset (http://www.scifi.com/), I thought his costume was great.

This episode also showcased one of the very few elements of this reality series that I don't like. "Stan Lee is always right." In the opening credits, Stan Lee is blatantly labeled "the greatest comic book author of all time." Yikes. I'll give him credit as possibly the greatest "creator" of comic book superheroes, but not the best author.

Last season, when someone didn't like the new costume Stan personally designed for them, they lied and said they liked it. But Stan found out the truth and counted it against him, saying that he should have been honest, like a hero of integrity.

However, last night when "Hyper-strike" graciously but honestly said he preferred his old cosyume to the new one, Stan said that he appreciated his honesty, but later on told him that his lack of "flexibility" toward change was a sign of immaturity! So I guess there's just no way to win this one.

That's yet another reason why I would suck on this show. I would have said something stupid like, "Um, I think yer cool and all, but whoever said you were good at designing costumes? Didn't Steve Ditko create all the costumes and do all the art for your comic books in the 60's?"

Yeah... I would have lasted real long on this show...

Pathfinder (Movie Review)

If you need a quick sword (and sorcery) flick fix, go grab the just released DVD, Pathfinder. Otherwise, wait until it plays on the sci-fi channel some night.

Starring Karl Urban, from The Lord of The Rings trilogy, this movie combines Viking Warriors with Native American mysticism, resulting in a concept that's interesting, although not fully executed, in my opinion.

Urban does a decent job, although he doesn't have much to work with. Clancy Brown of "Highlander" fame almost reprises his role as the Kurgan (evil immortal from the first Highlander film), but not enough to make his character very gripping. The battles are interesting enough and the special effects okay, but it could have used a significantly better score and more dynamic filming style to give it the energy it needed.

It's not much longer than 90 minutes, but still feels a little longer than it should be. Don't let anyone tell you this is a bad movie by any stretch. Conan fans should certainly give it a shot. Just don't expect anything captivating or new outside of the interesting blend of cultural mythologies.

7.5/10.0