Archangel

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Final Crisis Sucks

If this series is any indication of what more "crisis" crossovers would be like, I'm glad we're calling this the "final" one.

After a confusing 7 issue arc, I sat down and read all 7 comics back to back to see if the story made any more sense.

Not really.

This is possibly the most self-indulgent comic book story I have ever read. Morrison juggles a ton of characters that are either obscure (even to a real DC fanatic like me!) or brand new without any explanation or reminder of who they are and where they came from. The only way to make sense of this series would be to get a list of every DC comic book Grant Morrison has ever read amd study them so that we can know what he obviously thinks we should know about all these Z-list characters.

Kalibak is a talking tiger? The Atomic Knights are riding around on giant dalmations? Freaking CAPTAIN CARROT??? With the presence of Geoff Johns, it's become cool recently to take outdated, once goofy character concepts and make them cool again. But guess what? Not everybody can do that well, and not every concept can be made cool.

This story was a mess from beginning to end. Maybe those involved convinced themselves that people would dig it because it's confusing in a "profound, post-modern" kinda way. But y'know what? They should have asked the readers after two or three issues and trusted the people putting down their money for this stuff.

I'll always love Morrison's incredible JLA run, but he is now on my poop list. And Dan Didio (Head Honcho at DC) should have vetoed this crazy smear of nonsense, so he's on the list, too. Countdown, Batman RIP and now Final Crisis. That's three strikes, Danny boy. Time to get a new job.

I will still recommend the mini-series' spinning out of Final Crisis, as they have very little connection to the main story and therefore are not easily tainted by it. Revelations has been very cool, Legion Of Three Worlds as well, and Rogues Revenge was awesome.

And yet, I hearby put DC on notice. Didio either gets a new job or openly apologizes and acknowledges his bad instincts for the last two years. Until that happens, DC crossovers and "big events" will be Trade Paperback purchases only for me. IF I read consistantly good reviews.

And now, I close this time of ranting with words designed to express the utter outrage and frustration I feel, that those closest to me will understand the magnitutde of...

"I wonder what Marvel is up to..."

Seeking Truth in "Legend Of The Seeker"

Two bits of dialogue jumped out at me last night while watching "Legend Of The Seeker". Since the concept of the show and books lends itself to asking "truth oriented" philosophical questions, I came up with a couple for last night's show.

Kahlan: You can't ask me to change my beliefs!

Richard: And you can't ask me to change mine!

In the show, a baby's life hung in the balance during this conversation and the argument hit a stalemate at this point as they both surrendered themselves to this overly sensitive mentality. Why can we not ask each other to change our beliefs? I agree that we can't "demand" that someone change their beliefs. Buit why can we not ask someone, in light of good evidence and solid reasoning, to change their belief on an issue? I mean, I can always say "no", can't I? What's the harm in asking if the request is accompanied by good reasong?

Well, in this episode, good reasoning didn't seem to be a weapon in anyone's arsenal. Richard wasn't acknowledging the potential problems with his opinion and Kahlan seemed to think that tradition was reason enough to hold onto hers. I suppose if we never talk about the REASONS for our beliefs it woulds be counterproductive to ask someone to change their mind, but is there any reason to avoid a discussion like that outside of the obvious difficulty of keeping cool and excercising emotional self-control?

Maybe we've forgotten that emotional self-control is a virtue. I mean, we keep hearing that we should just "follow our hearts" anyway, right? Maybe that means we should follow our emotions. We seem to be living in a time when emotions trump all else. Make no mistake. I'm a very emotional guy. I cry at the end of "The Iron Giant" and "Frequency" and "Big Fish" every time I see them. But emotions can't be the guiding elements when we're trying to determine what's true and what isn't. Emotions are our RESPONSE to reality. Not what TEACHES us reality.

Zedd, in trying to explain why a baby must die, said to Richard, "Evil is in its(the baby's) nature!" Rciahrd responded, saying "Well it's not in mine!"

Really, Richard? There's no evil in your nature? No selfishness? No tendency to serve yourself before others? Ever? Being less than good(the opposite of evil) all the time never comes "naturally" to you?

Wow. I guess you must be perfect. Unless your definition of "evil" only includes, murder, sadism, rape, stealing, hatred.... y'know the "really bad" stuff. Maybe you just have "kinda evil" in your nature.

(Sigh.) I can't believe they gave this guy the Sword of TRUTH...

Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (Movie Review)

As I sat in the theater, preparing to watch this movie, I wasn't sure what to expect. If the trailer was any indicator, this would be the best movie I'd seen in awhile. But trailers have been bad to me recently, so I tried to go in "neutral". I own the first two Underworld movies on DVD and really enjoyed them. What started as a relatively small action film(Underworld) quickly leaped forward in the second installment(Underworld: Evolution) to an explosive vampire/werewolf action flick.

But this movie lacks both Scott Speedman and Kate Beckinsale, the lead performers in the other films. It also has a new director and takes place hundreds of years before "Underworld" begins. I knew that this could go either very right or very wrong.
I'm pleased to say it went very right.

Despite this being director Patrick Tatopoulos' second film, with most of his career focused on special effects work, it's clear he knows how to bring together a good movie with characters you can invest in. It also helps that Michael Sheen (reprising his role as Lucian from "Underworld") and Rhona Mitra deliver performances that, while not record setting, draw you in and make you care. Bill Nighy delivers another great performance as Viktor, and compellingly reminds you of why you love to hate him.

If you've seen the Underworld films, you know where this movie is headed. But when the climax arrives, it is still very intense and involving. There are also a few revelations and sequences not covered in the flashback scenes from "Underworld" that fans will be impacted by. I was afraid the movie would end without sufficient payoff, simply leading into "Underworld", but they manage to have the bad guys "get their due" in a very satisfying way. Although part of a trilogy, the story stands on its own, as do the characters.

The violent action is plentiful and intense. The FX are not groundbreaking, but still look cool. The fight sequences are at times brutal and in a few instances beautiful. The costumes and setting make the movie stand apart from the first two films, given that this is a period peice. If you're a fan of dark medieval fantasy, you will probably really enjoy looking at this world and its people. I would enjoy seeing this director helm a Dungeons and Dragons type of film, as his instincts seem dead-on for the genre.

A few times the camera was too close on the action and it was hard to get a complete sense of what was happening. But I was sitting closer to the screen than usual, and this was only in a few sequences and not a common element.

As for veracity, this film deals with themes of love, betrayal, racism, hatred and slavery. But none of these topics were handled in a way that made me give them a second thought, nor does the movie lend itself to much meaningful conversation. It's mostly just a really cool flick to watch and enjoy.

This film would round out and complete a trilogy nicely, but I'd be interested in seeing another one made. Either another prequel with Selene (Beckinsale) in the lead, or a sequel with Speedman in on the fun, too. I would trust either to this director and creative team.

Well done!

Quality: 9.0/10

Veracity: 6.0/10

http://paetersbrain.blogspot.com

Denning Is Out, Weis Is In

I finally gave up on Troy Denning's "The Verdant Passage". Not because it was bad, it just didn't hold my interest. His writing style was fine, his characters just weren't that fascinating.

Instead, I'm turning my attention back to Margaret Weis' "Dark Disciple" trilogy. I've read the first two and the third recently came out in paperback, so I'm going back to start at the beginning again to refresh my memory as I make my way to the third book.

I think it's a sign of a good author when you can read their books a second time and they are still more gripping than some other books that you're trying for the first.

Weis is far from my favorite author, but she's solid when writing in the "Dragonlance" world. What I'm REALLY waiting for is the Genesis of Shannara trilogy in paperback!

360 Backwards Compatibility?

So far I've played two X-box games on my 360, and both have had little quirks in the sound. Skips or audio glitches. The games are KOTOR and KOTOR 2. Has anyone else run into backwards compatibility issues with their 360?

Funeral For A TV

Today, the flatscreen Samsung TV we've had in our TV room for six years decided it was done. We've been thinking about saving up for a new TV anyway, but this came a little sooner than expected. However, remember that hand me down TV I got from my parents a few months ago? Well it has now migrated downstairs until we have the funds for a new TV, so crisis averted.

As a movie geek, I'm bummed to lose the high def picture and some screen size, but at the end of the day it's just a TV. Shame on me for being a spoiled materialistic American consumer. I can always watch DVDs on my computer for pete's sake. And would it really kill me if I couldn't even do that? Get over it, Paeter! There's more to life.

Still, it does look funny to have a smaller TV in an entertainment center obviously designed for a larger one, with an extension cord coming out of the front to connect it to a different outlet. It sure isn't pretty, but I can still watch "Battlestar" on it!

The Unborn (Movie Review/Rant)

David Goyer (Co-writer of Batman Begins and director of Blade:Trinity) serves as writer and director of this movie about a girl being haunted by an evil spirit.
The trailer for this film is what brought me to the theater. It's a shame that the best parts of this movie were in that trailer.
Based on the previews for this film, I assumed I was heading into something akin to "The Ring". Creepy images covered the trailer from front to back. But when I sat down to watch the film, I soon realized that the majority of this film would have an entirely different feel to it, and was made for a different audience as well.

The lead character, Casey, is played by Odette Yustman. From the moment she first appeared on screen, a small part of me sighed and though, "I don't think this girl was hired for her acting chops." Two underwear and one shower scene later, I was all too familiar with the kind of movie I was looking at. Performances from the supporting cast confirmed my suspicions. I was watching a teen thriller. (Ugh.)
Granted, the lead characters were early college age, but almost every other element smelled of the "yawn and stretch" date-night maneuver. The characters were without substance, conforming to stereo-types. The dialogue took me very quickly out of any potentially creepy mood set by the rest of the film.
I will say that the creature effects were wonderful. The bizarre collection of images (most of which are seen in the trailer) include and old man crawling around ina hospital gown with his head on backwards. A little boy with a very large mouth, who looks like he's been decomposing for awhile, and a dog whering a human mask and another growling dog with his head on upside down. Very unsettling stuff. Although I found them more unsettling outside of the movie's context, when i wasn't aware of the shallow characters and ideas the movie is built on.
One gripe I have revolves around some of the basic doctrine of the film. Although it draws chiefly from Jewish Mysticism, a welcome change from the usual Catholic backdrop of these films, it takes the "all religions are the same" approach near the end, putting the real power not in any god, but in the "belief" of those who may worship him.
The use of a shofar and Psalm 91 in an excorcism near the end of the film is also very odd. The shofar was used as a communication device in battle and as a celebratory announcement for Jewish festivals. It had a few other uses as well, but the way they film it and speak of it in "The Unborn" looks like a strange attempt at giving it mystical powers. And while Psalm 91 is a song reminding is of God's love and protection, its use in the film was also overly mystified, as though it were a magic spell.
The Rabbi, played by a "phoning it in" Gary Oldman, at one point in the film tells Casey that an excorcism doesn't work unless those involved believe in the "power" they are calling on, and that she doesn't really believe. (Casey never denied her unbelief, either.) Then, just before the excorcism, he changes his tune and says that the faith of Casey's mother and grandmother will be what does the trick.
But there really was no clearly defined source of good in this movie. The Rabbi said that he himself was a "man of God, but not a miracle worker", so he gets his episcopal priest buddy to bring some Christianity to the ceremony. Huh? Casey says she doesn't want a Christian excorcism, to which the priest responds by telling her that the evil spirit, if it's real, probably pre-dates religion, and that most excorcisms contain the same basic elements regardless of which religion they come from.
So my question is, if neither the Priest nor Rabbi really believe that what they believe is really real, why are they in their chosen professions and giving other people spiritual advice?
I suppose if you're coming from an agnostic or relativistic viewpoint, where logic doesn't really come into play, you can just roll with this stuff. But I have trouble with it. It certainly isn't that it offends me. I'd just like some consistancy in whatever fictional spirituial world-view is being presented. I mean, if all religions have the same basic "excorcism powers", why didn't they just tell Casey, "Look kiddo. It doesn't matter what you believe. Just make up some religion and a prayer that you can say over and over again. That oughtta get rid of those pesky spirits."
In the end, the film got alot wrong in the philosophy department, but as a result of its failed attempt, it leaves room for discussion about truth.
Okay, so this review turned into something of a rant, but there you have it anyway.

Quality: 7.0
Veracity: 7.5

Legend Of The Seeker (Hope For This Show?)

As I’ve mentioned here before, I’m a HUGE fan of Terry Goodkind’s "Sword Of Truth" series. And to other fans of the books it should come as no surprise that I think the show is a step down in storytelling. They’ve done more than adapt "Wizard’s First Rule" for television. They’ve cut huge chunks out of the original story and replaced them with empty, self-contained episodes that add little or nothing to the main plot.

As of last night, I’m hoping that trend has begun to change. The chapters I was most curious to see on television were featured in this weekend’s episode and I was fairly pleased. I knew they wouldn’t be able to include the graphic brutality and implied sadism of the book’s torture sequence. But they covered the characters fairly well. Richard had more backbone than we’ve seen so far on the show. (Hopefully he’ll continue in this trend and quickly get out of his naïve, inept, "wide-eyed" phase.) The character of Denna was performed well, if not exceptionally so. Much of the mental storytelling couldn’t be translated to the screen, but I was very pleased at the effort they made in that regard and the results were pretty good!

I missed the lingering respect and bizarre "love" that Richard maintains for Denna in the books after her death. But her story may not be done anyway. It’s been awhile since I last read "Wizard’s First Rule", but I don’t remember Denna coming back to life after Richard kills her. So I’ll be interested to see where they are going with this. Will she take the place of another Mord Sith that was supposed to interact with Richard and remain in the story for the rest of the seasons? I’m not sure what’s going on. I’ve mostly given up on hoping they will follow the books with this series. At this point, I’m only hoping they can make a good story out of what they’re doing.

Babylon AD (Uncut DVD Review)

I have nothing for or against Vin Diesel. He usually fills the role of action hero without adding or subtracting from the film. The same was true in Babylon AD.
I missed seeing this movie in theaters and so rented it on DVD this week. For the first 40 minutes it looked like things were going somewhere. Sure, it had some plot points we'd seen before, particularly in "The Fifth Element", but it had enough going for it that I was more than happy to see it through. Too bad the filmakers didn't seem to feel the same way.
This "pre-post-apocalyptic" movie has a few semi-cool action sequences that gave me the feeling we were building up to one or two really fantastic ones. But the coolest special effects shot of the film was the focal point of every trailer for this flick, so it was nothing new when you saw the pseudo "bullet-time" shot at the climax of the film.
I should also say that I use the word "climax" very loosely. After 40 minutes, the action sequences topped out, no longer gaining in intensity, just kinda being there. The movie also spends much of its time building up the mystique of the mysterious female lead, but never really pays off. A few interesting opportunities to talk about faith and/versus religion present themselves but go nowhere. The antagonists in the film are the overdone "evil yet churchy" theocratic organization, borrowing yet again from Catholic subtext and imagery. I'm no Catholic, but can we find different imagery or religious tradition to base this concept on and then come up with antagonists that are a little more 3-dimension than the usual "We want others to be religious and give us money while we are truly selfish and evil?"
After the "climax", I got the impression that this movie was just about to start into a 3rd act. Some things were explained, but not enough to call it a "payoff".
The main character had just undergone some potentially empowering changes. He was ready to fulfill his mission. Then suddenly Vin starts in with a voice-over where he basically says, "So I went through with my mission and had a great adventure and now I'm done". Roll the credits.
Normally I'd have a little more to say in a review like this, but in addition to its other problems, the movie just wasn't that memorable.

Quality: 7.0
Veracity 6.5

The Spirit (Movie Review)

Frank Miller has created some celebrated comic books that have recently been made into very successful films. Sin City and 300 both wowed audiences with their stylized visuals that captured much of the source material in a dynamic and appealing way.

Miller, who co-directed Sin City, decided to make "The Spirit" his feature film debut as both writer and director. But the result is an experience lacking both textual substance and film quality.

I am not a fan of The Spirit, and know very little about the character. So I judged this movie on its own merits. I went into this film not knowing what to expect. The previews looked like a Sin City knock-off and Samuel L. Jackson made me nervous from the get go. He’s either really right for his roles, or really wrong for them.

I knew within 20 minutes of this film that I’d made a terrible mistake in coming to the theater. Seven dollars and two hours that I’ll never get back. Sometimes I’ll go and see a movie I might otherwise skip because of my desire to put a review on the blog or podcast, but this movie made me change my mind about that philosophy.
So what was wrong with it? First, it didn’t seem to know who it was. Violent action, yet cheesy dialogue you’d expect from a family film. Bold statements that may look good in a comic panel, like "Shut up and bleed", just feel contrived and gimmicky in this movie. The performances of all involved were just far enough over the top that I didn’t believe in any of them. Scarlet Johannsen was the only actor that held my interest consistently, coming across more subtle and clever than the rest.

The movie used 1930’s period sets and costumes, but threw cell phones and laptops into the mix as well. In some films, this kind of attempt at "timelessness" work. Here, for me, it didn’t. It was just a distraction. (See "Dark City" for an example of this done well.)

Unlike Sin City and 300, the effects were a distraction from the story and characters, rather than an enhancement of them. And some really awkward looking wire work made the title character look silly as he jumped from one building to the next, or performed other acrobatic feats.

Despite looking for it throughout the film, I just couldn’t find any topics touched on that might lead to meaningful conversation. So this movie gets a low Veracity score as well.

Frank Miller has put out some incredible, groundbreaking stuff. But his ideas don’t always work. (See The Dark Knight Returns, or All Star Batman and Robin) I don’t know if his problem is that he becomes to "aware of himself" or what. But his style is hit or miss with me, and this movie was a big MISS. Better luck next time, Frank.

Quality: 6.0

Veracity: 5.0

Memorial Singing

Today I did what I haven't done in years. I sang at a memorial service. I didn't know the man that passed away, but was hired to sing an Italian aria because he had been a fan of opera.

My degree is in Vocal Peroformance, so I'd spent five years singing German, French and Italian. It was mostly a matter of dusting off a song from my senior recital and working it up again for the service.

Boy, I could really tell that I haven't been doing regular vocal excercises for more than 7 years. A song that had once been fairly easy to sing presented some real challenges today. It was far from my best rendition of the song, but the family seemed very pleased, so I have to assume I'm safe and that they weren't huge fans of opera themselves.

The most enjoyable part of the service was the pastor officiating. He wasn't spouting the empty "wishful-thinking" phrases that I've heard at many other funerals. He was offering hope backed by real truth, while recognizing practical realities about the grieving process.

The service was held at my church and the pastor was a guy I've known for a few years. I may be a little biased, but I've gotta say that it remains my privilege to be involved with people that care about people, and who ultimately put the pursuit of truth before everything else.

Ripping Off The Christmas Band-aid

Our tree is dead, vacation time is nearly over. It's gonna be a pain to try and take down all the Christmas stuff after my regular work schedule starts again. So as much as I'd love to spend this free day playing Neverwinter Nights (the last game I may ever buy!) it's better that I just take down all this Christmas stuff and be done with it.

I can still save the universe in a few hours after I vacuum up the pine needles.