Take A Letter Jamison......The Trudeau Blog

I'm Moving

2006-04-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

Given the scarce amount of time I have doesn't allow me too much flexibility online, check out http://www.myspace.com/bjtdad for all new posts.

Thanks.

MicroChunking

2006-03-20T18:51:00.000-08:00

The first thing you might ask is, "What is microchunking?"

If you'd like the answer, check out YouTube.com. There you will see video clips put together by people from all over the world and then put into this page and sent about in viral videos to millions of people who have just discovered high speed internet (myself included). The videos range from bizarre amateur versions of your favorite movie scenes, to sketches done by 16 year olds, to bits that are psychotic America's Funniest Home Video clips.

This is microchunking. It's going to change the world.

I'm not kidding.

Years ago, George Lucas said that digital technology was going to "democratize" film-making. The high cost of film was a barrier not present in things like book publishing, so you had to be connected somehow to get in the door. Digital technology puts the ability to make professional level films in the hands of more people.

I always felt he was right and he wasn't even thinking about the internet at the time. Now you can make videos and get them distributed to millions all over the world. Do you know what the best part is? The distribution is practically done for you.

Rupert Murdoch thinks this is the television of the future. It may be hard to see right now, given the quality of most of the videos, but anyone who's seen Lazy Sunday from Saturday Night Live online realizes that this doesn't have to be the case.

Why am I talking about this? Because I swear to God I'm going to own a piece of it. Call it the new Flying Turtles. Call it Dan screwing around again with some friends. Call it whatever you'd like, but Andy Konik just sent me a list of digital equipment at our disposal and I smiled real big. Now I just have to line up someone to do the site and we're off to the races.

I'll let you know when the first bits are together. See you then!

Defending Daniel Craig

2006-03-09T20:16:00.000-08:00

I've been reading lately about all the negative reaction to the new James Bond, Daniel Craig. For those of you that don't know the actor, he's been in such movies as Layer Cake and Munich.

When it was announced he was the new James Bond, the first complaint is that he's blond. To that I simply say that Sean Connery was bald for his last three Bond films, so a little hair work is nothing new.

As time's gone on, so has the momentum of negative press. When you read most of it, you realize that it's written by people who have no clue what they're talking about.

First off, the man can act and if you think he can't give an aura of cool, watch Layer Cake sometime. The movie's not perfect, but I went away seeing what the folks at Eon Productions (the studio behind the "official" Bond movies) were thinking.

Secondly, there has been no Bond in history perceived as perfect for the role before they started, except maybe Pierce Brosnan. Most people consider Sean Connery un-toppable in the part, but not even Ian Fleming (Bond's creator) thought he was a good idea.

People are complaining that when it came time to drive the Aston Martin, Craig didn't even know how to drive a stick shift. They've somehow equated this to him being a bad fit for the part. After all, what real man doesn't know how to drive a stick shift?

Well, me and most every other guy I know.

I've got news for these folks. You know the high speed chases in the other Bond movies? Or the ski chases? Or the skydiving stunts? They have these people called stuntmen who do all these things and it's not actually required for the actors to do them. I know this shatters your deepest fantasies.

Sean Connery had never worn a tux before he played the role. He had no sense of personal style and had to have it all taught to him to play the role. Roger Moore couldn't even run for God's sakes. I do mean that. You never see extended sequences of him running because he can't do it well.

Some of the complainers have also said the studio is somehow cheating us by not casting a known actor like Hugh Jackman. Let me see, you're mad they cast someone who doesn't already have box office mojo? You know who else didn't? Every single Bond before him! Sean Connery was a minor character actor. Roger Moore had an English TV show, but never a starring role in a major film. George Lazenby was, well, George Lazenby. Timothy Dalton was an accomplished stage actor whose only internationally distributed film before Bond was Flash Gordon. Pierce Brosnan had been Remington Steele, though the show ended YEARS before he actually got the chance to play OO7.

I guess what infuriates me about these complainers is they could taint what promises to be a good movie. Casino Royale is shooting right now. It's the first Bond movie in a long time actually based on an Ian Fleming book. They're bringing it back down to Earth again (think The Bourne Identity instead of Die Another Day). I'd hate to have it all ruined by bad buzz created by dweebs who don't really know their Bond. Take it from a dweeb who does.

For those of you with high speed, check this out.

http://www.nbc.com/Video/videos/snl_1439_natalieraps.shtml

Also, check out my new page at

http://www.myspace.com/bjtdad

A Letter to Frank Miller

2006-03-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr. Miller,

I first started reading comic books in late 1984. I believe Green Lantern was the first comic I collected. Little did I know that I was picking up the hobby just before it was about to enter a glory period like it had never seen before.

For the past several years, superhero comics had begun their next big step forward, the first since the Marvel Revolution of the Sixties. Your work on Daredevil and Alan Moore's work on various titles were introducing a new level of sophistication to the genre.

In 1986, it all came to a head. After the conclusion of Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC Comics had a clean slate to reintroduce and restart their books for a new audience. Your two great Batman books came out that year, The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One.

It is impossible to overstate how much you blew my young mind. Those books, and others that followed in the year ahead, moved my literacy level up several notches and introduced me to ideas and themes I hadn't read yet in anything intended for my age group. This was mostly because the books I'm talking about weren't really intended for my age group. I remember seeing naked people in Watchmen and hoping my mom would never think to thumb through it herself.

I will always be a great admirer of yours because of those books, along with many that followed, including: Sin City, Give Me Liberty, and others.

Because of this, my ever undying admiration of you, I'm asking you to please stop a moment and take a look at your recent work. Especially the work you've done featuring your favorite character, Batman.

I read The Dark Knight Strikes Again and defended it through the first issue, when people went through shock because of how different it looked than your predecessor. I stuck with you through the second issue. Then came the third and I could defend you no longer. Batman so over the top I expect froth to be coming out of his mouth. Batman grinning in triumph as Lex Luthor's brains are smashed out of his skull. Batman supposedly fighting for the freedom of the little guy, then turning around and supporting the idea of Superman running the show. Oh, I guess it was okay for us to have a dictator, he just needed to be a nice one.

And let's talk about Superman. First, he's a pawn of the government in The Dark Knight Returns. Sure, it's a betrayal of the character's origins (though it's a betrayal that everyone else seems to base their opinion of the character on), but it worked in the story and you've even voiced regret that he was marginalized that way.

So, when you have a chance to put him into your next opus, you give him a reason why he was a government pawn and it's a convincing one. By the end of the story, however, he's decided that he's not really one of us and that the Earth is really his. Again, you swap one dictator for another.

The real problem, though, is what you've done to the character you helped define for the modern age. I'm, of course, talking about Batman. So, in The Dark Knight Strikes Again he's become a sadist. He's also so over the top and unreasonable that he really isn't much of a hero anymore. Even that couldn't prepare me for All Star Batman and Robin.

All Star Batman and Robin has gotten a lot of press. To comic book fans, it was engineered as the perfect Batman book. You are writing it and Jim Lee's drawing it. Even I was floored at the prospect. It's too bad that the book is horrible.

I can't blame this on Jim Lee. His art still works. I blame it on your script. The first issue is half filled with womens' asses hanging out of panties. This happens all the time in comics by the way, but only to this extent typically in bad ones. Then in issue two, you have Batman cooking police, corrupt or not, with the Batmobile's flamethrower. The worst part, though, is the way he treats Robin. I get what you were going for with this, but when Dick Grayson acts scared and Batman backhands him (Dick's parents were killed about 30 minutes before this in front of him), you are officially not on this character's side anymore.

But the worst of it was the line. The line that is just starting to live in infamy. Dick asks Batman who he is and Batman yells at him, "What are you, retarded? I'm the goddam Batman!"

Since when did Marv from Sin City put on a costume and start driving around Gotham?

You are, or were, better than this. I can't tell you what to create or what your takes on characters should be but as of now, I'm out. Your current is selling on the strength of what it used to be, not what it is. I have faith that in the future, you'll produce something new that stuns me again (in a good way). I'm not banking on Batman: Holy Terror to do it.

Regards,

Dan Trudeau

The New Digital World

2006-02-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

For those of you even still checking this blog, I'm back. The reason for my long absence is mostly technical and involves an eight year old computer that we've just replaced. On top of that, I'm now high speed on the internet. To get everyone up to date.

The Family
All still doing well, though Ben and Beth are currently fighting a cold bug. I myself spent half of last weekend with a stomache "issue" that had me curled up in the fetal position. Aside from the yuks, we're all okay as Beth plows through another school year, I continue to hunt down new engineers, and Ben learns new innapropriate things to say because his Dad forgets how good of a listener he is.

The Writing
Almost Evil is making the rounds. I currently have a synopsis submitted to The Purple Rose and have put it out of my mind until they respond. Andy's working on financing for the script I wrote. As for my comic book work, Paragon was delayed a bit with some artist issues, but we've lined up a new guy to work on it. He goes by Mr. Halpin. You may know him as Rich, my friend and Urban Mystics collaborator. Due to the delay, though, it's publishing has been put behind the publisher's other three books.

The Watching
I had always heard that Thunderbolt was one of the worst Jackie Chan movies. I now know this for myself. Avoid it like the plague. If you can get your hands on a copy of Project A 2, however, enjoy some old-school Jackie Chan action. I am catching up still on the movie front otherwise, and will write about it more when I see some new stuff that impresses me.

The Reading
Just reread Black Boy by Richard Wright for the first time since high school. It's still one of the greatest books I've ever read. On the other side of the spectrum, I have to admit I've been swept up in DC Comics' Infinite Crisis mishmash. I'm not so excited about the series itself, but the books coming out of it look outstanding from a creative point of view.

A shout out to Mr. Jeremy Brown of Flying Turtle fame. Last week his first book by Scholastic came out. He's writing a late-elementary age series called Crime Files, which are 4 minute mysteries written CSI style. Best of luck to him on that!

Come back soon!

The Future of Radio

2006-02-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

I've never written about radio on this blog before. It's because radio had become such a mind-numbingly boring landscape of homogeneous music, wacky morning personalities, "shocking" hosts, and right wing idiots that it had long passed out of my thoughts.

That all changed this Christmas when I bought Sirius for Beth. I bought it for her because my wife is a Howard Stern fan and because they're a client of mine (they develop all of their technology in Farmington Hills, MI). Having taken some time to check it out, I'm dang impressed by the whole thing.

First off, while I have zero interest in what most of the talk stations are playing, at least they're not being watched over by an inconsistent, politically motivated regulatory body. By the way, that means the FCC.

It's the music stations that have really impressed me. I can't believe there's a service with a whole station devoted to 80s progressive/alternative rock. A whole station! And while there's still some rap music I love with all of my heart, you'll never hear it on WJLB, but Sirius has it. Ever wonder what happened to the good old days when we had alternative rock stations that played actual alternative rock. Turns out they still exist. They're just beamed from space.

Once satellite can get past the money it costs to get the technology in the first place (I was thankful for the discount I got as their partner), there'll be no stopping this.

By the way, there's been debate on the floors of Congress recently about whether the FCC's reach should expand to cable and satellite radio. This, of course, is being spurred on by broadcast companies that don't like you having an alternative. The fact that this is even being debated shows that there are too many congressmen and senators that are either in the pockets of these companies or are "moralists" who know so little about the Constitution that they'll never understand why the FCC wasn't given that right up front.

Big Weekend in the Big City

2006-02-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

Folks who know me know I don't have a huge interest in football. As a result, you'll rarely find me paying attention to the Super Bowl. Anyone who knows me also know I have an unshakable faith in the city of Detroit. For this reason, this Super Bowl meant something to me.

Yes the city has its problems, but if I heard one more joke comparing it to Baghdad, I was going to have to smack someone around.

With this in mind, I headed downtown this Saturday to see if Detroit really had a shot of shaking this image. I knew it could. For one thing, there is no major city in the United States that is half as bad as everyone thinks Detroit is. That makes it easy to surpass expectations. Beyond that, a lot of good work has gone into downtown in the last few years that had it in good enough shape to where they could "fill in the holes."

It turns out that this was the correct way to view it, because downtown looked great, the people running the whole thing were incredibly helpful, and everyone from out of town seemed to be having a great time.

I feel this way despite the miserable time I had myself. Cold + rain + 2 year old = no fun. I think Beth and I could've gotten along well on our own, but lugging Ben through capacity crowds while mother nature turned her worst on us left me tired with aching arms 2 hours into the trip.

I'm glad I got down there, though. I hope we can grab some momentum from this not just to turn downtown around, but the city as a whole.

The Art of Action

2006-02-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

I was watching The Legend of Zorro the other night and about half way through it really sunk in that despite it being close to The Mask of Zorro on the surface, it was still an incredibly mediocre movie.

In our culture, we tend to think of action movies as being a lower art form. Real artists make dramas. I, of course, take exception to this notion. If there wasn't a real art in making a great action movie, if it's so much easier, than there'd be a lot more good ones.

The real great action movies, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Adventures of Robin Hood, or The Road Warrior, are all movies that came out as wonderful as they did because the people making them took it just as seriously and gave them just as much thought and energy as Francis Ford Coppola put into The Godfather.

Are the storylines more simplistic? Yes. Do the plots often have holes in them? Sure. These questions really miss the point, though. You don't hold action movies to the same standards as dramas just like you don't hold them to the same standards as comedies. Each of these different genres create different emotions in the audience. Great action movies create a real sense of almost physical excitement. That emotion is just as hard to conjure and just as valid as any other. The success of a movie in a genre depends on it's ability to do this.

To create this sense of excitement, you need characters convincing and relatable enough for you to identify with them, a level of surprise either from the plot or mechanics of the scenes, and the technical aptitude of a director to make the impossible seem convincing. Only when you have all of these going do you truly create a great movie.

Sure, some action movies you just watch for the action, but I don't consider those great all around movies. Mr. Nice Guy has some of my favorite fight scenes ever filmed, but the rest of the movie is useless. Jackie Chan does create great art in those individual scenes, but he did not create a great movie. (For the record, the Jackie Chan movie that gets that honor is Drunken Master 2.)

So this takes us back to The Legend of Zorro. Surprise from the mechanics of the scenes? Check. Technical aptitude of the director? Check. Characters convincing and relatable enough? Not quite. It's the key differentiator between it and the original and it makes all the difference in the world.

My Favorite Ladies

2006-01-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

I was watching The Aviator last night, marveling over Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn when it struck me how screwed most actresses are in motion pictures now. In Ms. Hepburn's time, many actresses were given vehicles to build up a career of great performances. Now, it seems, most actresses have to go on a treasure hunt for great roles, unless you want to play second fiddle to Ben Stiller in a romantic comedy. Sure, good roles come up, but most roles written for women in movies just aren't worth doing, for any other reason than to keep working. I think Julia Roberts is the one exception.

With this in mind, I thought I'd share thoughts on some of my favorite actresses.

Cate Blanchett: I might as well start here since I've already mentioned her. I've loved seeing her in movies since Elizabeth. She was so good in that movie that she would've made this list had she not starred in anything ever again.

Kate Winslet: I first saw her in Heavenly Creatures and thought she was great. I've waited a long time, but she's finally getting the types of roles I've always wanted to see her in.

Christina Ricci: Never have I liked an actress so much who has produced so few films I like. The Opposite of Sex is still her highlight and she should have more by now. I think with the right role she could really rush the scene again.

Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch: Look, they're the girls from Ghost World and I'll always love them both for this reason. That said, Ms. Johansson's career seems to have more steam lately. That's a shame, because Thora was so good as Enid.

I just realized that what I just wrote about does it for actresses who are real standouts for me now. I think, again, this has a lot to do with there not being a ton of great roles out there, which gives less and less opportunities to really show what you can do. Am I missing some ladies?

Post note: Two more actresses to mention. If Natalie Portman can keep things going, she can have a great career. I always liked her but so far only really loved her in Garden State. And on another note, Gwenyth Paltrow runs away with the most overrated award. Not bad, but not as good as everyone seems to think.

Return of the Dan

2006-01-18T19:28:00.000-08:00

I'm back after a couple week hiatus! From this point on, the blog will have a new post at least every week.

For my return blog, I'm going to venture a bit outside my usual territory (movies, comics, books, etc). I never wanted this to be a political blog, and it still isn't, but there's something I wanted to comment about.

Over the course of the 20th Century, the United States went from a world contender to the ultimate superpower. I believe this has a lot to do with something that was embedded early in our culture. I'm talking about optimism.

Now, a lot of people equate optimism with being naive. An optimistic person looks at a bad situation and says "That's terrible and there's got to be a way to fix it." A naive person says "There's nothing wrong" or "What's wrong is simple and we can fix it quick." A world of difference lay between the two.

There's a lot being written about what's wrong with our country right now. We're not as competitive as we used to be. Our war on terror is shutting us off from the rest of the world. We could go on about all of this.

I think we've lost our optimism. Maybe not totally. It's probably hiding out right now, but we're certainly not using it. When people talk about what they don't like about America right now, they don't follow it up with what they can do to change it. It's just, "This sucks and that's the way it is."

This is perhaps felt the strongest in our economy. Folks in the economic and financial worlds will tell you that this country has been on a good upswing for a couple of years now. I talk to people all over this country and no one seems to excited about this. It's as if the upswing is happening behind the scenes somehow, and the average person doesn't feel its effects. All anyone is talking about right now is that the Chinese and Indians are taking our jobs away.

Of course, this last statement isn't followed up by the way we're going to change the way we're doing things to compete. At best, many folks talk about solutions that people other than themselves should be implementing. The sense of "We can beat this and I can be a part of it" is vanishing.

This does not bode well for us. Our optimism fueled the dreams that built this country. I could blame this on a lack of leadership, but hell, we're the ones that vote them into office and it's on us to ask more of them. As it is, we argue over the lastest pat sound bites they offer, without demanding more content. Again, we're not optimistic enough to envision a better situation and then follow up on it.

I'm not sure how to slap us out of this funk. I also don't know if this is just a historical cycle I'm living through for the first time. All I know is that I'm tired of it. I've decided that this year I'm going to do what I can to be fueled by my optimism. Anyone else want to come along?

The Black List

2006-01-04T17:46:00.000-08:00

As you've probably figured out, I'm a pop cultural sponge. I love it. There is a downside, however. For every fantastic film, person, book, comic, or song we're introduced to, we're handed at least three of the same that we wish would just go away. I begin the New Year with the people of American pop culture I've just had enough with.

MADONNA
Okay, she doesn't drive me nuts. I understand why people like her, but I don't share the enthusiasm. It's not that I think she's a tramp or morally bankrupt or anything like that. I just don't care. I don't care that she's adapting well to motherhood. I don't care that she's redefined herself for the 16th time in 8 years. I don't care that she's made another "shocking" video. I just don't care and I somehow keep being told I should. I love that this year people are talking about her return to dance music. She left it?

BRITNEY, CHRISTINA, JESSICA, N-SYNCH, JUSTIN, ETC
It's over. Go away. I don't care who you're marrying, divorcing, or that you're pregnant. No one buys your albums anymore. You've now gone into the netherworld of being famous for being famous. Please leave and give me a break before coming back "reinvented" in another ten years.

Note to Jessica Simpson: You're famous for being stupid. That's it. Sure you're attractive and can hit a note, but none of that mattered until you started asking if the tuna you were eating was made from chickens.

PARIS HILTON
I'm so pissed off that I even know who she is. She's been on my list for years now. At least the poeple mentioned above did something to get famous.

LINSAY LOHAN
You used to be so damn cute. You looked like you were going to be a stunningly attractive young woman. What in the hell have you done to yourself over the last 12 months? Weren't you supposed to be an actress or something? Please save yourself before you turn into Paris Hilton without the money.

SCIENTOLOGISTS
Seriously, you're a pyramid scheme. That's all. There's nothing else I can say here that South Park didn't say for me.

Well, that's a quick list. If I took the time to think about it, I could probably write a book. For now, I'll take this as a clearing of the venom out of my system so I can move on and have a good 2006. Just keep Jessica Simpson away.

The Year Ender

2005-12-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

The end of 2006 is upon us and since most magazines around this time do their best and worst list, I thought I might do the same. The only difference is that I'm trying to keep it upbeat for the end of 2005, so my list is only the best.

BEST TIME IN A MOVIE THEATER
Though seeing Anakin become Darth Vader was something I've waited almost my whole life for, no movie kept me excited through the whole running time like Batman Begins. It brought me back to when I was ten and just discovered Frank Miller's take on the character. Batman seemed so cool and exciting and this movie really recaptured that for me.

BEST READ
This was a year of good books for me. On the non-fiction side, The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman is one of the best, most important books I've ever read in my life. On the fiction side, while The Hot Kid was one of the great Elmore Leonard novels and The Dark Tower finished a story I started when I was twelve, Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley stands out for me. I would give a close second, though, to Empire Falls by Richard Russo, which I took in at the very beginning of the year.

FAVORITE COMIC BOOK MOMENT
While I was stunned by the killing of Blue Beetle, I'd have to say the end of Infinite Crisis #1 is my favorite moment in comics this year. Crisis on Infinite Earths was the first comic book series that introduced me to the breadth of what superhero comics had to offer and I've been waiting for years for the Superman of Earth 2 to return. To have it happen in this kind of dramatic fashion made me smile for a day.

FAVORITE OVERALL COMIC
Ice Haven by Daniel Clowes has stuck with me in a way that's beyond explanation.

FAVORITE ALBUM
Well, I got Green Day's American Idiot this year, though it was released in 2004. I believe it is one of the truly great rock albums of all time (I could write a whole entry about how it's not a punk album). For something really released this year, Get Behind Me Satan by the White Stripes has to be there, if only for having the track "The Denial Twist" on it.

BEST LAUGH I'VE HAD ALL YEAR
This happened just a couple of weeks ago when I had Rich Halpin, Andy Konik, and Eddie over to hang out. The content of what was said to make me laugh so hard I couldn't breath is something I won't repeat here.

BEST TIME I'VE HAD ALL YEAR
My 30th birthday. I spent Friday, Sept. 15th cruising around the neighborhoods of Detroit. I browsed John King Books. Checked out what was happening in Corktown and Mexicantown. Ate a coney dog where it was created. After that, I wove up through the Detroit area, hitting multiple comic book stores. I spent that night just hanging out with my two favorite people, Beth and Ben. The next night, many of the greatest people I've every known came by to hang out. More than I could ever ask for.

BEST MOMENT OF THE YEAR
Ben really developed the ability to clearly communicate over the course of this year. Around when he was starting to string sentences together for the first time, I was putting him to bed. On my way out of the room, he said "Dada". I turned and asked "What?". He then said, very clearly, "I love you very much." No moment could top that. The only thing that came close was when he stopped me another night and instead of saying that, just said "You crazy."

Anyone have any year ending moments, events, or anything else they'd like to share? Keep it positive.

A Life in Pictures

2005-12-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

After almost two weeks, I've returned. My next blog was supposed to be About Those Comics 3, but I'll save that for next post.

Anyway, I was at lunch with some clients today when one of them, a Johnny Cash fan, told me that he was disappointed with Walk the Line. I haven't seen the movie yet, but it led to a discussion about biopic movies. The last one with some acclaim was, of course, Ray.

Now, I enjoyed Ray, but I think I had some of the same feelings he did about Walk the Line. He said the movie didn't really dive into any unexplored territory and he felt like he just got a quick summary of his life. It was well made and very well acted, but lacked emotional punch.

We came to an agreement that most biopic movies make us feel that way. It's hard to create one that doesn't just feel like a Cliffs Notes of a person's life. I believe one of the reasons for this is that biopic films tend to be occupied with covering the facts of someone's lives. Books do this to, but usually delve much deeper into the undercurrents beneath those events in a way that's hard to do in film.

Now, film can do this, it's just a more difficult task. I think the best example of a hard-hitting, emotionally effective biopic is Malcolm X. Yes it covered the facts of Malcolm's life, but it had an emotional and thematic undercurrent I find missing from other movies in this category. A Beautiful Mind may also fit into this category.

Anyone think I'm wrong about this?

About Those Comics Part 2: Marvel

2005-12-06T19:47:00.000-08:00

Today we delve into the second part of the comic book starter list. Tonight, we'll be covering Marvel. After decades of awful, straight to video movies and mediocre television adaptations, Marvel has hit the big time with Blade, X-Men, Spiderman, Punisher, and Fantastic Four movies. The quality may not have been up there with all of these (notice I didn't mention Daredevil), but they've given Marvel their biggest inroads to popular culture since Spiderman first debuted.

Lucky for them, the quality of their books is far superior now to what it was ten years ago. So without further ado, here's the list by character.

SPIDER-MAN
I think a modern reader would appreciate the first few Ultimate Spider-man collections the best. With words by Brian Michael Bendis and art by Mark Bagley, this book is a successful restart of the Spider-man story for the modern day, just like the movie. Of course, if you want classic Spidey, check out the Stan Lee and John Romita run for the cream of the crop. Sure Ditko co-created the character, but Romita takes it up another notch. This run is available through inexpensive collections, such as The Essential Spider-man.

X-MEN
I have to admit, I'm not the one to ask on this, having never been a big fan. I know The Dark Phoenix Saga by Chris Claremont and John Byrne is a favorite and the Grant Morrison written books are popular, but can't speak from personal experience. Anyone with input, feel free to comment.

DAREDEVIL
Anyone who knows me or has read this blog for a while knows that Daredevil is my all-time most hated comic book adaptation (not Ben Affleck's fault by the way). If you want to know what made the character popular enough to be slaughtered in an adaptation, check out Daredevil: The Man Without Fear by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr. or Born Again by Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli (sp?). These are such great storylines that you might just forget the fight on the playground.

FANTASTIC FOUR
Though I'm not a huge F4 fan, their classic stuff really stands out. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's original run defined Marvel Comics (again collected in Essential Fantastic 4 trades). After that, see if you can dig up any of John Byrne's run. Also, I don't know how much of Mark Waid's run is available in trade paperback form, but snap one up if you find it.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
God, I love this character. Again, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby did wonders with the character in the sixties (Essential collection). A little closer to now, Mark Waid and Ron Garney's Operation Rebirth is a great time. Oh, and as soon as Ed Brubaker's current run is collected, I strongly suggest grabbing it.

THE AVENGERS
This is Marvel's equivalent to the Justice League. I hate to sound like a broken record, but Lee and Kirby's original run is fun to this day (Essential collection). The Kree Skrull War is a classic of the late Silver Age and Kurt Busiek and George Perez's run brought a lot of the fun back into the book. The true great, modern Avengers story, though, is The Ultimates. This is Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's modern, militaristic look at the Avengers. It's also, in my opinion, the greatest Marvel book of the last ten years.

Anything else?

So, About Those Comics

2005-12-04T19:06:00.000-08:00

At the end of my last post, I mentioned how comics are more exciting than movies right now. I think about half the people who read this are comic book readers to begin with and it could be fun to help intro the rest into reading them.

See, there are a ton of fantastic books out there and a ton of pure crap as well. It's the same in any medium. I'll try to do this by category. I've tried to stick with graphic novels, as you can get whole stories in one shot. Plus, most can be picked up in Barnes and Noble or Borders.

IF YOU WANT SOME BASIC, GOOD SUPERHERO STUFF
So, you've seen the latest big-budget superhero movie, really enjoyed it, and think you'd like to give the source material a try? Here's a breakdown by character.

SUPERMAN
Try reading Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid and Lenny Yu. It's the most recent retelling of his origin story. For the mid-eighties version, check out Superman: The Man of Steel by John Byrne. This is the version of the character closest to my heart. Following the continuity of Byrne's Superman is Superman: For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. It's a great, melancholy read.

BATMAN
Okay, so you saw Batman Begins and want to see what inspired it? Start with Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli. Not only is it the definitive Batman book, but the movie drew a lot from it, especially it's depiction of Jim Gordon. After you're done with the beginning of Batman's career, skip to the end with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns also by Miller. It's often called the greatest Batman story ever. Also very influential on the movie was Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale (again). It's a continuation of Year One and a great murder mystery. Now Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee may not be the greatest Batman story ever, but it's a great introduction and features almost all of Batman's villains in their current incarnations. I would also suggest any reprints of Batman stories by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams from the seventies. Not only did they create Ra's Al Ghul, but wrote some of the best Batman stuff ever.

WONDER WOMAN
Well, here's a problem. There has been some great Wonder Woman stuff over the years, but not much of it available in graphic novels right now. I would say to check out George Perez's work on her if you can find it, or anything recent written by Greg Rucka.

JUSTICE LEAGUE
Of the much lauded Morrison run on JLA, I think JLA: Rock of Ages is the storyline that holds up the best. It covers a lot of ground, plus has some truly classic moments in it. There are also several collections of Mark Waid's run on the book, and they're all worth getting.

OTHER
For true, classic superhero storytelling, nothing beats JSA. It's the original golden age DC characters from the forties and they're next generation. Just start with Book 1 and keep reading. A good intro to this is JSA: The Golden Age by James Robinson and Paul Ryan. It's a fantastic take on heroes at the end of their age. Of course, immediately after the Golden Age was The Silver Age, and no book captures it like The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke.

Of course, no list of superhero graphic novels would be complete without Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Some would argue it's the greatest graphic novel of all time and I don't feel up for agruing with them.

That's the DC list. I'll come back tomorrow night for Marvel and then non-superhero stuff.

Is there anything anyone would add?

Silver Screen Blahs

2005-11-25T18:19:00.000-08:00

Is it me or have movies been really dull the last few years?

There are exceptions to this, of course. There's no time in film history that's devoid of good movies, but good really isn't the point here.

A while ago, I was reading an article in Entertainment Weekly that was a conversation between Owen and Lisa, their two film critics. They don't often agree on things, but they were united in one area. They both felt the current slump in movie revenues couldn't be blamed on film quality, because they both felt this year yielded an impressive list of high quality movies. It must be some other factor, like DVDs or commercials before the movies.

What they both failed to grasp is that an environment of good movies doesn't equal an environment of exciting movies. Movies like Pulp Fiction. It was a great movie, but the reason it lit a fire in the film world was because it was a damn exciting movie to go out and see. You weren't going to wait until video to see it. I saw it four times in the theaters as a matter of fact. And the excitement it created bled over into other films around it.

What Pulp Fiction did was take the creative energies and inventions of the independent film market and threw them into the mainstream. So, it became a movie event, not just a great movie.

There are no other comparisons in the market right now. Most people liked Revenge of the Sith (I'm not opening this for debate again), but we've been seeing new Star Wars movies for several years now and the buzz is gone. Batman Begins was good, but Spiderman was the movie that made comic adaptations all the rage again.

Unless Hollywood can inject excitement back into the market, people will continue to wait for DVD. With all that's going on in my life right now, this sadly includes me. You want me to go to the movies again, sacrificing a night with my son? You have to deliver something other than just good.

QUICK NOTE: Read comic books. They're ten times as exciting as movies right now.

High vs. Low Art

2005-11-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

Since the middle ages, a line, fuzzy as it may be, has existed in our culture between high and low art. High art is the realm of films such as Citizen Kane, books like The Great Gatzby, and music such as Mozart. Then there's low art. This includes films such as Dumb and Dumber, books such as Thunderball, and music such as anything that happens to be popular at the time.

I've been a guy my whole life who moves between the two and today I'm calling shenanigans on the whole thing.

The feeling of joy I get when Jeff Daniels smacks Lauren Holly at point blank range with a snowball in Dumb and Dumber is just as valid as my sadness as Charles Foster Kane loses his touch with humanity over the course of his lifetime.

The line between high and low art is a false one. The only line that exists is between what works and what doesn't. Of course, that's a subjective one as well.

I've never found Jerry Lewis funny. Not even as a child. That's not because his comedy is juvenile or low. It's just obvious, pandering, and plain bad. On the other hand, the movie Airplane is juvenile, but absolutely hysterical. The distinction isn't that one is highbrow and one isn't.

I fought this battle a lot in college, often with English professors. I remember one in particular told me that a Batman story could never be real art. He really liked my papers and thoughts on what he thought was worthy literature and I think my love of things he considered juvenile was baffling to him. I could never really explain it to him because the line between high and low art was too solid in his mind.

Fantasy, comedy, and horror create emotions and experiences just as important as what we get out of realistic drama. I refuse to apologize for loving them all equally.

Quick Note:
I just finished Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley. Fantastic read. So far, there is no such thing as a bad Easy Rawlins novel.

Miss Me?

2005-11-12T19:24:00.000-08:00

It's been a while and I have missed doing this. I haven't been back because of a combination of things, one of those spending much of last week in Toledo on business.

Anyway, while in Toledo, I came across the Maumee Theater, which was a $3 movie house showing films right before they hit video. They were playing War of the Worlds Tuesday night, so I decided I'd take the opportunity to see it.

This is not a review of War of the Worlds, but it set my mind to something I wrestled with for a little while. I'm of the opinion that though this movie was a hit, Tom Cruise's recent public behavior kept many from going to see it. Up until recently, the man had been good on keeping the fact that he was in a high-profile cult off of most people's minds. The fact that he was now throwing this into our faces, plus the whole Katie Holmes thing, had moved one of the most well-liked movie stars of all time into a bad new category: The Hollywood Weirdo.

Many people now don't like him, which isn't great for his career. I ran into the same dilemma years ago when one of my cinematic heroes, Woody Allen, ran off with his almost stepdaughter. The man clearly had issues and I realized I didn't have much respect for him as a person, but did that make a difference to my view of his movies?

It was around then I decided I couldn't base my opinions of films based on whether I liked the people who made them or not. If I did, I'd never see a movie starring Sean Penn again and man, has he made some great movies. I know many people can't or don't want to do this, though. They see supporting a film made by someone they despise as supporting that person's bad decisions or behavior.

I can see this point. After all, I have no respect whatsoever for Scientology and Tom Cruise having continued success gives them a long-term public stage to "spread the word."

The problem is, there's a long list of great movies made by people I don't like. I think Russell Crowe is a jackass (hitting hotel staff with phones and shrugging it off), but he puts good work up there. John Travolta is another Scientologist, but Pulp Fiction and Get Shorty are near to my heart.

So, I'm sticking by my original assertion. I will judge movies for what they are instead of who is in them, with exceptions. I make an exception for that guy who directed Powder. A convicted child molester makes a movie about a pale, bald child that everyone in the movie keeps stroking. I can't handle that.

Anyone feel different?

The City Neurotic

2005-11-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

Vanity Fair has an interview with Woody Allen in their upcoming issue and reading excerpts from it really took me back. Though I don't really know what I think of him (or Mia Farrow) as a person, there's no denying that his movies had a big impact on my life.

Before discovering Woody, I was primarily a Marx Brothers guy. Ever since I saw Animal Crackers, I wanted to perform comedy. They crystallized that as a goal in my life. After seeing Bananas and then several of Woody's early comedies, I started to shift to wanting to create and direct the material, not perform it so much. And when I graduated to his later movies, it woke me up to what you can really accomplish in film.

To say that Woody has been an influence on my writing would be a huge understatement. My play, Almost Evil, is very much inspired by the small handful of plays he wrote, the best being Don't Drink the Water. My screenplay is much inspired by his movies like Hannah and Her Sisters. My comics are...well, not inspired by him so much.

He's not my only influence in these things, but they might not exist without him.

For my money, his best early comedies are Bananas and Love & Death. I don't know that the others have aged well. Annie Hall is one of the true greats and the best movies from the middle part of his career (Annie Hall through Husbands and Wives) are that, Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters, Zelig, and Another Woman. The best of his latter career are Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, and Sweet and Lowdown.

Now the last few years haven't been great. His career has always had some patches in it (side effect of turning out a film every year), but I was really starting to believe he was working his way into irrelevance. Small Time Crooks (though the first half was great), Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Hollywood Ending, and Anything Else have been mediocre to dreadful. I was beginning to think he had nothing else to say.

Now I hear his next film, Match Point, is great. It's a thriller set in London. Maybe he just needed to get out of Manhattan. At the very least, it's nice to actually look forward to seeing one of his movies again.

QUICK NOTE
I saw Layer Cake over last weekend and liked it. I had put off renting it, but finally broke down and did it because I needed to see Daniel Craig in action. You see, he's the next James Bond. After watching him in this movie, I have to go against what many are saying and put it out there that I don't think they could've made a better choice.

What Cute Animal Are You Most Like

2005-10-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

I am a lamb!
Beth

You Are A: Lamb!

Peaceful and gentle, lambs have been used in religious imagery for millennia. Lambs are baby sheep, an animal tended by shephards since the dawn of history. As a lamb, you tend to stay together in a flock and graze on grassy land. Lambs don't mind being led and tend not to go off on their own.

You were almost a: Duckling or a Groundhog
You are least like a: Duck or a Monkey What Cute Animal Are You?

Great Stuff

2005-10-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

Let me tell ya, some great stuff is out these days and I thought I'd talk about some of it.

First up, I rented Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior last week, not expecting much. I mean, the RZA told me I should watch it, but you never know. I popped it in the DVD player, thinking I'd watch half an hour and then go to bed. Half an hour in, I decided there was no way I was stopping it. It ain't The Godfather, but it's been a long time since I've seen such exquisite butt-kicking. Tony Jaa lacks Jackie Chan's likability or Bruce Lee's magnetism, but he still puts on a hell of a show. He used no wires or special effects in this movie, including a complicated fight done in one shot, but you'd swear he did. Great stuff, but for kung fu lovers only.

I also just finished reading The Kite Runner. It's a book that's been gaining in popularity lately and my boss Pam leant it to me. It was one of the greatest books I've ever read. In one sense, it's about the history of Afghanis in the last thirty years. In another, it's the story of a boy coward who grows into a man who must get past his fear. For many nights, I had to force myself to put it down and go to sleep. Fantastic stuff.

On TV, we have several shows that I have to watch every week. The first is My Name Is Earl, which is as funny as I had been praying it would be. The second is The Office, which I love, but am never sure who to refer it to. And as I mentioned, I'm now hooked on Lost. Lastly on the TV front, Smallville seems to have found its feet again. I think they're wise this season in transfering it to mostly a toned down superhero adventure show.

On the comic book front, I just attended the Motor City Comic Con and ran into Paul Sizer, as he's always there. He's got a new book out called Moped Army. He's a great guy with a good imagination, so check it out if you can.

THE GREAT ONES
Okay, I'm throwing down the gauntlet. A short time ago, I listed the greatest superhero adaptations ever. I named Spiderman 2 as my favorite. I must now revise that list. After seeing it again on DVD and much contemplation, I now declare Batman Begins as my favorite adaptation ever. It has its weak points, but so does Spiderman 2 after a few viewings. In the end, though, if you have a great Spiderman movie and a great Batman movie, I'm going to go with Mr. Wayne.

King Eddie

2005-10-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

If you look back at the eighties, I don't think there was a bigger movie star than Eddie Murphy (maybe Tom Cruise). I remember, as a kid, thinking he was the funniest person on the Earth. When I first watched Saturday Night Live, it was when he was on it (C-I-L-L my landlord).

I hadn't thought much of Eddie in recent years, as his latest movies didn't give me a reason to. A couple of weeks ago, though, I bought a boxed set that included 48 Hours, Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop. I think these three movies and Coming to America mark the highlight of his career, when he was king of the box office.

I watched all three over a couple of days and I have to say that they've held up really well. The astounding thing about him is how effortless he makes it all look. Jim Carrey pours effort into making you laugh. Ben Stiller too. Not Eddie. Just watch how he moves through Beverly Hills Cop. It's a true gift to make an audience laugh without showing them the work in doing it.

At some point, Eddie's performing lost that appearance. Even in later funny movies, like Bowfinger, he's working overtime to make you laugh. In that movie, he was successful, but it lacks the grace of his earlier work.

I've written in this blog before about how a comedy career is almost impossible to sustain. People often refer to it as losing your edge. In Eddie Murphy's case, he lost his ease. I'm a firm believer, though, that comedic performers should be judged by their peak period and few ever peaked half as high as he did.

My Dark Confession

2005-10-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, tonight I'm using this blog as my own personal confessional. I come not to confess of the dark sins I've committed, but of my sins of musical past. This isn't music I've made, but music I had bought.

I think everyone has a phase in their lives, usually early teens/middle school/early high school, when they were into music they are utterly ashamed of now. Instead of keeping this my deep, dark secret, I'm confessing the bad album purchases of my past so I can move on with my life.

Most people my age went through a hair metal phase, though I prefer the term Jeremy Sterling created: butt metal. Though I did own one Motley Crue CD (Dr. Feelgood) and a Poison album (okay, two Poison albums, but who's counting?), I didn't have a huge butt metal phase. No my friends, I went through a bad R&B phase.

I'm not sure where it started. I guess I was young enough for Bobby Brown to make an impression on me early on. The point is, by the time I was well into this phase, I could buy the CD single for a song as stupid as "The Kissing Game" without batting an eye.

Bell Biv Devoe were my favorites and though "Do Me!" is a song bordering on retarded, I guess I'm not so ashamed of them. I could've ended it there, but no, I had to buy an Another Bad Creation CD. Another Bad Creation!!!!!!!! 8 year old BBD imitators and I not only bought it, I saw them live. Sure, they were the opening act for another group, but I wasn't upset to see them.

Another gem was Ralph Tresvant. Many are wondering who Ralph Tresvant is. Let me clear the mystery. He was the lead singer for New Edition. The opening song on the CD was called "Rated R", where Ralph tried to show how tough he is. I guess he really blew it when he made the next song on the album "Sensitivity". I can't believe that I bought this and was ever allowed to have sex with a woman (though Ralph seemed to pride himself on his ability to woo the ladies).

This continued for a little while before I was introduced to Public Enemy. Public Enemy put a bullet in the head of my R&B phase. By the time it was done, though, I had a stack of CD's I'd never listen to again and a history of live concerts that included groups like Color Me Badd (it hurts to even admit that).

To anyone reading this who likes some of the people I'm ripping on, I'm sure they have their merits, but years of trying to forget I listened to this music has wiped out my ability to see them. There is one group that I still remember fondly, though, which is Tony Tone Toni (not sure if the Tony's are in the right order). When I look back on their music, for some reason I don't feel so bad.

Anyone else have the guts to confess?

By the way, I didn't tread this path alone. I distinctly remember Cliff Burgett and Joe Dornoff at multiple shows with me. I also believe Mr. Andy Konik was at the Another Bad Creation concert. How they deal with this shame is their own affair.

US
I've decided to alternate my GREAT ONES endings with highlights of friends of mine. I call this section US, because Rich Halpin once suggested it as a name of a sitcom based on our lives.

It's appropriate to start this by highlighting Mr. Clifton Fraley-Burgett. The onetime Mr. Burgett. Outside my family, no one else has been in my life longer. No one else shared the good and the bad (outside my wife) in my life as much as Cliff has. Though we're no longer connected at the hip, I still think of him like a brother. I was very happy to make him the best man at my wedding.

In a lot of ways, Cliff's grown up a lot. In more ways, he hasn't. A couple years ago we went to see a play of Andy's and the moment the lights went down, Cliff asked me (quite loudly) to "stop touching me there or my wife will find out." I'm sure most everyone heard it, as he intended. I think he'll always be this way and I thank God for it.

To the shock of many, Cliff is now a teacher. He teaches High School history. He married his high school sweetheart, Jayne, and they have two kids together out in Kalamazoo. You couldn't ask for a better friend.

Reviews and Such

2005-09-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

After taking up a couple of weeks musing on my son and I getting older, I thought it was about time to get down to the stuff I had been writing about before. I wanted to write reviews tonight, but wasn't sure what to do them on. Then I remembered the stack of stuff I had gotten for my birthday from folks. What better way to say thank you than by telling them how much I enjoyed what they gave me? I really did enjoy them all by the way, further convincing myself that my friends have impeccable taste.

TRINITY - This is a graphic novel I got from Jim Pelak about Superman and Batman's first meeting with Wonder Woman. Matt Wagner wrote and drew it and it was a heck of a good time to read. It's a work that illustrates that these characters are at their best when you break them down to their basics. It's funny, I haven't read much of the stuff Wagner's really known for, but I've thoroughly enjoyed everything I've read that he's worked on.

EX MACHINA - Tom Flammer got me the first collection of this comic book series. I had bought the first issue before and really liked it, but it was coming out around the time Ben was born and my collecting was suffering because of it. I'm really happy Tom got this for me, because the series is just as good as the first issue promised. It's the story of a former superhero who is now the mayor of New York. It's the type of story and storytelling that comics do best.

THE AVENGERS: THE KREE SKRULL WAR - This gem was from Rich Halpin. It's good old-fashioned Marvel Comics storytelling at its best, with some of their prime artists working on it. Of course, Stan and Jack created the bedrock all of Marvel was built on, but folks like Roy Thomas did a great job picking up where they left off.

SCRUBS (1st Season) - Thank you to Mr. Andy Konik for re-introducing me to a series I always enjoyed, but haven't been back to in a while. It's not only really funny, but I find myself more and more involved with the characters' emotional lives. That sounded really wimpy, but it's true. Dr. Cox may be one of my favorite TV characters of all time.

On top of these, I bought Cinammon Kiss by Walter Mosely thanks to a gift certificate from the Tenniswoods. Haven't read it yet, but I'm sure it will be great.

On a final note, I watched the season premier of Smallville last night. It's a great start to the season, but so was the beginning of last season. It took 75% of the season last year for them to catch their stride again, so I hope they can keep on track consistently this time around.

THE GREAT ONES
Okay, you all did it to me. After resisting to drink the Kool Aid, I finally started catching up on LOST. You know what really burns me up? Everyone was right. It's one of my favorite shows I've ever watched. Within a week, I became one of those guys bragging that they saw the company logo on the shark's fin. It's sad, but I'm in too deep now and there's no going back.

My Two Year Old Boy

2005-09-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

The last time I wrote here, I was musing on being 30. In the interim, Ben turned two last Thursday, followed by a party on Saturday. That's fitting since yesterday was the anniversary of when we first saw him.

Nothing could have prepared me for how being a father feels. There are all kinds of unexpected feelings that branch out of it. For example, since Ben's been born, I'm really sensitive about things like starvation in Africa or a hurrican in New Orleans. I can't hear about children dying without thinking of Ben, so I can get emotional when hearing about things like this happening.

Also, no one can prepare you for how deeply you can love someone else. My feelings for Beth already had me in a place I had never been before, but to have someone who looks up to you like this and depends on you for everything is beyond what can be put into words.

Given that my last sentence was about not being able to put things into words, I think it's best to leave it with a thought. Every day my son gets more interesting, more entertaining, and more lovable than the day before. I can't even imagine how I'll feel when he's 18.

THE GREAT ONES
In the world of comic books, I don't know that anyone else has accomplished what Dave Sim did with Cerebus. It was a 300 issue comic book series that, unlike most comic series, tells a story of a complete life. The character in this case is a talking Aardvark, but you've got to read it to appreciate it.

The Last Ten Years

2005-09-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

It's almost 1am right now on September 16, 2005. I'm now thirty years old. The last minutes of my twenties passed without much fanfare. I hadn't even noticed midnight had passed, as I was busy cleaning in the basement.

When I think about who I was at twenty versus who I am right now, I sometimes feel like I'm looking back at another person. I was still in college, still pretty egocentric (I pray I'm less of that now), and I had very big dreams for myself.

My life right now isn't what I thought it was going to be, and I'm actually pretty fine with that. When I think about what plans I had for myself, I don't think I'd be very happy right now had I followed them. As it is, I now have a great family, a good job, and I haven't given up on all of the dreams I laid out for myself. So many others I met have.

I should also mention that many of my friends I had at that time are still my friends now. I don't see them as much anymore, but I don't love them any less. I was also early in my relationship with Beth at that point. Thank God I did the right thing there.

I'm curious how the man I envision myself being at forty will stack up to the real thing. I think I'll take my time to find out. Thirty came fast enough as it is.

THE GREAT ONES
I'm hearkening back to my college days on this one. I discovered Woody Allen around that time, which crystallized my desire to create comedy instead of just act in it. Also, he opened up avenues in storytelling I hadn't considered beyond comedy. Out of all of his movies, these days I really single out Crimes and Misdemeanors as his biggest accomplishment. Full of laughs and drama, with an ending that disturbed me a bit then and resonates a little stronger with me now that I'm older and I think I understand it better.

A Quick Note...

2005-09-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

Just popping in tonight for a quick note on something. I'm new to the blog thing, and not the most sophisticated user of the technology. I'm not sure what I can do to stop folks from creating responses to my posts that go something like this:

"What an awesome blog! Check out a new place to buy plungers and spatulas at cost at www.imwastingyourtime.com ."

At this time, I'll have to be happy just telling all of you blog spammers that you are not welcome here. If you have honestly read my blog over and like it, then want to direct me to yours, that's fantastic. For the rest of you, and you know who you are, I hope your life is an endless hell of telemarketers, mailing fliers, and spam. Hey, you've put together a really creative way to reach all six people that read this. I defecate on the grave of your beloved childhood pet. Get off my blog!

That is all.

Heroes in Plastic

2005-09-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Out of all the things I collect, the thing that seems to most mystify folks around my parents' age is my action figure collection. I have a whole lot of them. There are folks who may have more (Jim Pelak is giving me a run for my money), but I am very happy to walk into Danland (my basement, for those who don't know) and look at all my favorite characters captured in plastic.

No, I don't play with them. I have shelves and entertainment centers full of them, though. I collect superhero figures, movie characters, and whatever else catches my eye.

By far, my favorite action figure series is DC Direct. I love DC Comics characters and their figures look like they've stepped out of the pages. The only drawback is their price, which has left me with some considerable holes in my collection.

Star Wars is probably the series I have the most of. Their priced for Kmart shelves, so getting one isn't the same investment as DC Direct (though it's getting there).

A complete set of figures from a series is what most collectors are after and the closest thing I have to that is Justice League (Unlimited). They're based on the Cartoon Network show and in the next couple of months I should be able to chase down the latest releases I haven't gotten yet.

Is it a little sad for a grown man to be going through toy aisles hunting these things down? Maybe, but I stopped caring about that a long time ago. I enjoy the heck out of having them and make no apologies for it.

THE GREAT ONES
I love a good swashbuckler and in the seventies Richard Lester directed an adaptation of The Three Musketeers starring Michael York, Raquel Welch, Oliver Reed, Christopher Lee, Charlton Heston, and many others that destroys any other attempted adaptations of the book. The film was split into two movies, The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, but they're really one film. One of the things I really like about them is the action scenes. They're made to look like real fights, so they aren't as fast as what you see in an Errol Flynn movie, but they're very intense. It actually looks like they're trying to kill each other. All around, it's great stuff. Anchor Bay put out a two disc set of it a few years back that's great (like most of their DVDs).

The Problem of Comedy

2005-09-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

I was watching Grosse Pointe Blank the other day when something occurred to me. There I was, watching Dan Akroyd turn in a pretty funny performance, wondering why he hasn't had more of these. Though he's done a huge number of movies, only a couple have been anything other than dreadful. For the record, they're Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers, Grosse Pointe Blank, and, uh, am I forgetting anything here?

What this really drives home for me is how difficult it is to sustain a career in comedy. The greatest comedians in the history of film all eventually hit a point where they started putting out mediocre material. This includes such immortals as Buster Keaton and The Marx Brothers.

It's not like they lose their timing. Especially in the case of former vaudevillians, joke timing and the rhythm of a gag never leave you. I think it all comes down to energy.

To be funny is a lot of work. Probably much more than being dramatic. After a certain point, you just can't keep it up anymore. The material slips or you lose your ability to spot the right material (see Eddie Murphy) and your work becomes mediocre.

The only option is branching out. Steve Martin started writing. Bill Murray and Jim Carrey started doing brainier, more dramatic work. In the case of Groucho Marx, you retire and come back years later funny again in a new venue.

Maybe that's it. Maybe the biggest reason your work loses energy is that you settle into an act, character, or type of movie and milk it for far too long. Maybe the only answer is changing your venue.

So let this be a warning to Will Ferrell. You only have so much time before your thing gets old and you find yourself having to start over again.

THE GREAT ONES
Since we're talking about comedians branching out, I thought I'd talk about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Jim Carrey turns in a perfect, understated performance. Kate Winslet makes you fall in love with her. The direction is spot on and Kaufman's script is, in my opinion, his best yet.

Katrina

2005-09-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

I didn't feel like I could return to talking about comic books and movies without talking about what everyone's been talking about for the last week, which is the hurricane down south.

Ever since Ben came along, I've found myself more sensitive to these things. Not that I didn't care in the past. It's just that now that I have a family of my own, I can't hear about families dying and babies dehydrating without immediately thinking of myself in their shoes. And the horror in my mind can't be anything close to the real thing.

Over the next few years there'll be talk, like there always is, about who is at fault for this. I accept that this needs to be discussed, but for just once, could we see solutions come out of it? I mean, 9/11 has already been so politicized that many real efforts in the war on terror are effectively neutered. The price for that happening is always people's lives. If you follow the tracks on this, the Army Corps of Engineers has been screaming for 30 years that the levees were not enough as their funding to update them kept getting slashed, no matter who was in office.

Anyway, Beth's school is having a Red Cross fundraiser we'll be taking part in. I can't help but to feel it's a drop in the bucket. I felt the same way in giving money for the recent famine in Africa. I'm just not sure what other action I can take on it right now and no one's really given me any other ideas.

If, by random chance, anyone reads this who lives in the areas devastated, the thoughts and prayers of the Trudeau family are with you.

Bigger Than Fiction

2005-08-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid that tonight I'm going to be a little scholarly in my geek out.

I have a passion for mythology. I have my whole life and Greek mythology was the passion of my youth. Or so I thought. You see, what I love the most is modern American mythology. What would I define as modern mythology?

According to Joseph Campbell, myths are like a culture's shared dream. They encompass stories and characters that represent our ideals and realities as a society.

Tonight, I'm writing about one kind of myth specifically, which is fictional hero characters. In traditional, classic mythology, their characters were attached to stories with definite beginning, middles, and ends. Of course, the telling of the stories varied, but the major details remained the same.

In American culture, our hero characters aren't so tied to a complete story. That's why I split them into hero character myths and story myths. Story myths are the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars. They follow an arc and come to an end. They also don't just have one major figure, but several.

I've always been interested in our hero character myths. These are characters created for one medium or another, with very spelled out origins, but their stories were serialized or presented in some way that kept them from ever ending. It's like they're constantly on the "Road of Trials" section of the Hero's Journey. Some are given "ending" stories, but they're treated as "What Ifs", not definitive story elements (like The Dark Knight Returns).

One thing many hold in common is that they eventually become separate entities from their creators, sometimes to the chagrin of these creators. For example, Superman didn't stop publishing the day Siegel and Shuster stopped working on it.

The major American Hero Character Myths are:

Superman - Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Important works: Siegel and Shuster's original run, Superman: The Movie, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow.

Batman - Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger (take that DC legal dept!). Important Work: Kane and Finger original run, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Batman TAS, Batman Begins

Spiderman (most recent addition) - Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Important works: Lee and Ditko original run, Lee and Romita run, Ultimate Spiderman, Spiderman & Spiderman 2 (films).

James Bond - Created by Ian Fleming. Important works: Original novels by Fleming (particularly Casino Royale and SPECTRE trilogy) and Eon Productions' films

Tarzan (though his star is fading) - Created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Important works: Original novels by Burroughs and first few films starring Johnny Weismueller (sp?).

Sherlock Holmes (English, but still a big deal here) - Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Important works: Original novels and stories, film series starring Basil Rathbone.

Is there a character other people would add to the list?

Miss Me?

2005-08-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, now that we've all had some time to laugh at how much Dan looks like the pedophile actor, I have returned.

Just wanted to get up and going tonight with a synopsis of the Trudeau family and where my projects are currently at.

We're looking at houses right now. We've decided we wanted to get a place that we felt was really our own, so we're going to be on the market in the near future. The biggest challenge is getting this old house ready to go to market. We have generations of crap in every nook and cranny.

Ben continues to stun us with what he's able to say and how huge he's getting. If you haven't seen him in a while, you're going to be shocked when you do. His biggest recent accomplishment? Actually gaining a little air when trying to jump.

For my projects:

Screenplay - Doing a second draft of my screenplay for Mr. Konik, who was very happy with the first. The good thing is, the drafts are primarily dialogue brush-ups as the structure of it is solid. The only thing that's missing is a good title.

Paragon - I've just been brought on by Sundragon Comics to write this superhero book. I'm working on the second draft based on notes from my editor. We've lined up an artist and I'll let you know when we know a publishing date.

Almost Evil - Now that things in my life are settling a bit, I'm going to be putting new effort into making something happen with this. We'll see what happens.

That's about it right now as far as stuff I'm currently working on. Lots of stuff on the backburner. Hope everyone is doing okay and expect to hear from me here more often again.

THE GREAT ONES
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - I love the Chronicles of Narnia and this is my favorite one. It still involves some of the original characters from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, plus it's a quest, which is always fun. As an adult, I still get excited when they reach the end of the world (Narnia that is).

UGGGHH..ROONEY...PARDON MY FRENCH, BUT YOUR AN A**HOLE!!!

2005-08-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

Let us know if you see a likeness...

What Is Your Harry Potter Personality??

2005-08-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

I am Albus Dumbledore!!

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

Take the quiz and find out who you are!
Beth

The Most Horrible Thing

2005-08-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Two posts tonight, as I felt I needed to get my geek on but couldn't go any farther without putting my thoughts out on something that happened to someone Beth and I both care about.

As you all know, Beth and I went through the whole adoption experience almost two years ago. The thing that makes you most worried in the process is in that first stretch of time, the birth mother may change her mind. You've already bonded with the baby, let him/her enter your heart as your child, only to have someone's indecision snatch it all away.

Luckily, this didn't happen to us. The birth mother held to her convictions. Her time passed, parental rights were terminated, and we got the child of our dreams.

Now let me tell you about someone. Back in my freshman year of college, I met Emily. Right away I knew she'd be one of the best friends I ever had. The funny thing is, just about everyone feels that way about her. She's got the best heart on the planet and both Beth and I love her very much. Several years ago, she married Sean and they've been happy together since.

One bump in the road has been that they couldn't have children. They've now gone through the process of adoption and a short time ago finally brought a baby home. All the things mentioned above happened, they bonded with the little girl, let her enter their heart, and had someone's indecision snatch it all away.

Less than a week after bringing the baby home, the birth mother changed her mind and they had to say goodbye to the baby they were already calling daughter. Naturally, this destroyed them.

I love Emily and Sean very much. They don't deserve the heartache they've gotten. I'm sure they'll have a family of their own, but in the meantime, say a little prayer that they never have to go through this again. They're beautiful people and someday soon they'll make wonderful parents.

Beth and I love them. I can't say that enough.

Mr. Mann

2005-08-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

It's long been my opinion that Michael Mann has been given a lot of undue credit by the critics. His movies typically have no sense of pace. They leave you with the feeling that he's so in love with every scene that he's afraid to cut any of them out to make the movie work.

Manhunter stinks. There, I said it. After hearing people drone on for years about what a great movie it is, I feel the need to break out and call foul. Not only is the whole thing over the top, characters in the movie do things because, I guess, they look cool but make no sense. Case in point, the serial killer has the girl cornered at the end of the film. Michael Peterson can run in and save her and what he does is jump through a window in slow motion, which screws him up and allows the killer to overtake him. I think the glass breaking was supposed to look cool, but, as I said, it makes no sense.

Last of the Mohicans: Okay, but the pacing problem again.
Heat: Standard cop movie with a couple of good scenes. Again, too long with no sense of pace.
Ali: Didn't see it. Had had it with the director by this point.

So you can understand that I approached Collateral with much trepidation. I'm glad I did approach it, as it was well acted, well directed, and came in under two hours. Oh yeah, and the pacing was just fine.

That's one, Mr. Mann. We'll see what happens next.

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

2005-08-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, I still live and blog! I've been absent for a little while due to my free time gonig to writing projects, but I'm all caught up now. I'm working on a new comic book series for Sundragon Comics called Paragon. I'll give you more details as we go on. (I love how I write this as if thousands of people are reading it.)

Anyway, what I wanted to talk about tonight is one of my all time favorite bands: REM. They were one of the top groups on the alternative/college rock scene in the eighties and became one of the top groups period in the nineties. Their albums often appeared on magazine's lists of all time favorites.

Flash forward to now. After three mediocre albums, they're never mentioned as one of the great bands and maybe only "Automatic For the People" lands on anyone's top 100 list. Not even "Murmur" is talked about, and it was always the favorite of the "we liked them before they were popular" crowd.

Ironically, this all seems to stem back to the drummer leaving. Who could've imagined it? It's like the Marx Brothers falling apart because Zeppo decided to move on. Now that I think about it, that did kind of happen too.

Has REM shot itself in the foot for all time, or as time goes on will they work their way back into people's affections, if not into the top 40?

My take is that they are one of the all time great bands and I hope they either make their way back to greatness or decide to call it a day. If they continue to put out albums people can easily dismiss, they increase the odds of people writing them off for the long term.

THE GREAT ONES
Tonight's great one takes us back to the land of novels and it's a little different. Tonight I want to honor the following books by Elmore Leonard: Killshot, Get Shorty, The Hot Kid, Out of Sight, Pronto, Riding the Rap, Stick, and Cuba Libre. I was trying to pick one of these for tonight, but couldn't settle on one. In a career of great novels, these are his best (my humble opinion of course).

TOP TEN 70'S SITCOMS

2005-07-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

some

Temporary lay offs....Easy credit rip offs....AINT WE LUCKY WE GOT EM?!

COME WALK ON THE BEAT...walk on the beat!

Just Say No"...

HAVE A GOOD ONE...BETH

Edit-Me

It's Clobbering Time

2005-07-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

No, it's not a review of the Fantastic 4 movie. I really don't plan on seeing it until it's on video. I've been mulling a list in my head, you know how I love those, of the top superhero movies of all time and I think I may finally have the results. You may not agree, you may think I'm smoking crack, but here it goes.

Note: To make this different, I'm including superhero movies not adapted from comic books as well.

1. Spider-Man 2
And still the champion! After thinking it through for weeks, this is still my top comic book movie. The story is great, the action clear and fun, and it's a movie that knows what it's really about.

2. Superman
Yes, Mr. Reeves' portrayal of the Man of Steel keeps this one in the top. You never doubt that you're seeing Superman, not some guy dressed up as him. What's keeping it from #1? The whole turning the Earth backwards finale.

3. Batman Begins
Another great adaptation that owes a lot to really understanding what's at the core of the character. My only knit pick about it as time's gone on is that Christopher Nolan is suffering from a habit plaguing action directors these days. He doesn't back the camera up during fights so I can see what's actually happening. Other than that, it's borderline perfect.

4. Spider-Man
Great movie with, again, its heart in the right place. The only flaw is the Green Goblin, though I'm not sure how you could make him any better off the comic book page.

5. Robocop
A satire and action movie wrapped together. How often do you get that?

6. X2
I know a lot of people place this at the top, but I'm just not a huge X-Men fan. I really enjoyed the movie, probably more than anything else with an X on it, though.

7. Darkman
Mr. Raimi appears on the list again. He's the only guy who can make a movie that thrives on its absurdities.

8. Blade 2
I like that this movie sets up a great premise and just runs with it to the end. Ten times better than the movie that came before or after.

9. Hellboy
Again, good fun, though missing a lot of the mood of the source material. I'm interested in seeing what they can do with a sequel.

10. Superman 2/Batman
And it's a tie for tenth! Couldn't decide between the two of these. They both have things I love and things I hate. Things I love: Again, Mr. Reeve's performance and the whole look of Gotham City. Things I hate: The forced silliness and that Batman looks a bit like a dork who can't move his neck.

And don't get me started on worst. Okay, fine. Daredevil. I hate it. Happy now?

The Great Ones
Since we're on superheroes, I'll mention Miracleman by Alan Moore and various artists. Even more than Watchmen, it turns superheroes on their ear in dramatic fashion. I don't think I could breathe through the third collection. Sadly, it's out of print due to legal disputes that never seem to end.

I still blog here, too

2005-07-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hey, It's Beth.

I know it's been a while, but Dan seems to have more interesting things to say than I do.

However, for those of you who care to know...Ben went pee pee in the potty this weekend. :)

He is very young to be doing this already, so naturally we think he's a genius.

Just thought I would give you an update on the little man.

Edit-Me

Cities of Wind and Motors

2005-07-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

In the past week, I've delved into the downtowns of two cities I love, Detroit and Chicago. Chicago was a walking tour and Detroit was primarily by car (though I've certainly walked it more than Chicago in the past).

I don't think people in Chicago realize that when people in Detroit dream about what they want their city to be, they typically have Chicago in mind. It struck me while touring both that this couldn't be. Not that Detroit can't get cleaned up and have a vibrant downtown. That can happen to the best of everyone's hopes and Detroit will still not function on the same scale as Chicago. That hits you like a slap in the face when you visit.

The question is, where did Chicago go right where Detroit went wrong? This goes to the heart of a question I've been asking for years with no satisfactory answer. I've always believed that race and racism were at the core of Detroit's woes, but it's not like it's the only city that experienced this. Cities all over the country had "White Flights", but why did it stick here? How did they keep there core cities alive and vibrant where the Motor City turned into a ghost town that still hasn't fully recovered?

I just finished reading the book, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. In it, he explores Chicago's creation of the World's Fair of 1893 and how it turned Chicago from the huge backwater city into a cosmopolitan location. As I was reading this at least a piece of the answer came to me.

Chicago was able to make this happen because of the immense level of civic pride the community felt. Chicagoans were proud to live in the city and were willing to sacrifice for its greater glory. To people in Detroit, it was where they lived and once it wasn't what they wanted it to be, they left. Maybe a leader could've come in and gotten us pointed in the right direction, but that certainly didn't happen.

People in and around Detroit just aren't all that into being from this area. Many seem a little ashamed of it. When I talked to people who left, there isn't any longing in their voice for the city that once was, maybe just a little nostalgia. What this has left us with is a disfunctional urban area hollow at the middle and suffering the effects of almost 50 years of neglect. Archer was able to whip up some enthusiasm, which Kwame has drained out of the area again (several major retailers are waiting to see if he'll still be mayor before deciding to try out downtown or not).

Until some level of pride is injected back into the people of this area, the city will continue to only make baby steps. Sure, it's better than it was, but there are countries that were bombed to pieces that recovered faster. The difference is that the level of pride they felt for their land didn't allow the current situation to stand.

I love Detroit. It was the most important city of the 20th Century and it deserves a second shot at greatness.

THE GREAT ONES
Since we're on Detroit, my Great One for the night is Whiskey River, by Loren D. Estleman. The book really brings to life Detroit in the 1920s and let's face it, I'm a sucker for that era.

Funny Ha Ha, Not Hee Hee

2005-07-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

As most people who know me have figured out, comedy is a passion of mine, so I thought I'd use this blog to share some of the funniest scenes, in my opinion, in the history of film. I'd like to know what ones pop to mind for other folks as well.

And now, on with the Opera
The finale of A Night at the Opera is a great scene in a movie full of them. To turn the Marx Brothers loose on an opera was a stroke of genius. In particular, I've always loved the "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" moment.

Is that your ugly little troll?
Not many have seen the movie Freaked and it's a shame. The scene on the airplane at the beginning is one of those sequences that made me laugh until it hurt the first time I saw it.

Buster on the motorcycle
For pure laughs and technical genius, it's hard to beat Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. The first time I saw it, I was particularly taken with the scene where Buster's riding the handlebars of a motorcycle when the driver is knocked off of it. Not knowing, Buster continues to ride the bike at top speeds still sitting on them.

There is no parking in the White Zone.
Airplane is arguably the funniest movie every made, and the opening is arguably its best sequence. Any scene that can mention abortion and not be instantly grounded deserves special mention.

Sure I'm Chevalier.
Stuck on a steamliner in Monkey Business, the Marx Brothers try to steal passports and sneak out as Maurice Chevalier. To prove it, they all do imitations of him, even Harpo.

I'll take the Huggies and whatever you've got in the register
Again, Raising Arizona is a movie I find constantly hilarious and the scene of the botched Huggies robbery is the great centerpiece of it.

The Hygene Play
Love and Death is Woody Allen's best pre-Annie Hall film and for some reason, the performance of the hygene play has become a small legend among my friends. Just ask any of them, "I hope you had a good time" and most will say back, "I did. I had a good time". I guess you have to see it.

THE GREAT ONES
Since we're on comedies, my Great One for the night is Animal Crackers. I can objectively look at the films of the Marx Brothers and say Duck Soup is the greatest, but this one will always be my favorite. It's the movie that inspired me to try to do comedy myself. There are some that will never forgive it for this.

On Vacation

2005-07-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

I'm back. Sort of.

Just a quick note tonight, as I'm burned out. Last week was crazy at work, but it led to this week, which is my vacation. I spent the first three days of it having a great time in Chicago. Many thanks to my cousin Jonathan for letting us stay at his place. Anyway, expect a few blogs from me this week, as I have the time and energy. That includes something I'll be tagging on every one of them now, called The Great Ones. Kind of like Ebert's Great Movies, but covering everything (movies, comics, books, TV, etc). TTFN

The Dark Knight Returns

2005-06-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

Before we get into the meat of this long-delayed post, I'd like to send a big congrats to Dave Klecha. If you regularly read my blog, he's the Dave that pops up from time to time. Anyway, Dave is now the father of Anthony Joseph Klecha, who is a just-born beautiful baby boy. Welcome to the club Dave!

So, I saw the Batman Begins this weekend. I walked out of the theater realizing this was the Batman movie I dreamed about happening when I was 12. I had read Batman Year One by that point and was obsessed with the character. One year later, the Tim Burton movie came out. I was quite excited with it and I remember the sense of relief I felt in knowing that Batman had finally become known to people outside of the comic book world as the Dark Knight.

I recently watched that movie again, and though it still looks great (Anton Furst's Gotham will always be the Gotham in my mind), the movie's lacking something. Something that the new movie gave us in ample doses.

That lacking element was Batman himself. As cool as he seemed at times, you were never emotionally involved in the 1989 film. This movie, by digging into his origins, involves you in his journey.

Also, I have to say hats off to Nolan and Goyer at averting my worst fear for the film. When I saw the length of the cast of characters, I feared the movie would be a mess. The great surprise is that the movie seamlessly works these characters into the story in a way that you never feel like you're just blowing through cameos. Everyone has a function to the story.

And for Batman himself, Furst's Gotham may always be the Gotham in my mind, but Bale's the first actor to make you believe it was really the character on the screen, not a guy dressed up like him.

If you haven't noticed, I really liked it. I'm sure I'll see flaws in it later, but right now I'm enjoying that fact that it made me feel 12 again.

The Wonderful World of Prose

2005-06-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so my blog hasn't really addressed much on my opinions on books. I remain, to this day, an avid reader and I was just going through my book collection, so I thought I'd share my top 10 works of fiction. By the way, if you ask me in a year, the list would probably be different. Also, since I really can't compare Killshot to Catch 22, the numbers are arbitrary.

10. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
This book is so influential on my own work that it can't be overstated. It's ability to wrap logic around illogic is genius.

9. Killshot/Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard
I can't really pick between my two favorite books by the master, Elmore Leonard, so I've got them both on as one entry. There has never been crime fiction written better.

8. The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. Howard
Yes, it's pulp trash, but I love pulp trash. Besides, I couldn't have a list here without acknowledging Two-Gun Bob.

7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I've heard people say this book is overrated. Obviously, I disagree.

6. Whiskey River by Loren D. Estleman
It's not only a great read, but turned on my love of Detroit history.

5. Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner
I'm glad I read this in college, as I had the ability to concentrate on it. It's a tough read, but the most intense complete novel I've ever read.

4. Black Betty by Walter Mosley
The great things about Easy Rawlins is that his stories go far beyond just being mysteries, and this is my favorite of all of them.

3. Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
Fantastic work about my favorite period of American history. It's very ambitious in its scope and really hits the nail on the head.

2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
A new classic about one of my favorite subjects: The Golden Age of Comics. Even managed to win the Pulitzer Prize.

1. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Chandler is probably my favorite writer ever. He's had thousands of imitators, but no one got it quite right.

Honorable mentions: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass, A Confederacy of Dunces, Empire Falls, Casino Royale, Dr. No, Thunderball, The Long Goodbye, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, As I Lay Dying, Of Mice and Men, and if I keep this going I'll be here all night.

Hated them: Atlas Shrugged, The DaVinci Code, The Scarlet Letter

What are some favorites of other folks out there?

Once Upon A Time in China

2005-06-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Anyone out there a fan of kung fu movies? I ask because it's a genre I've been dipping in and out of for the last couple of years. In honor of my recent viewing of Drunken Master 2, here's my favorite five kung fu movies of all time.

1. Drunken Master 2
This is Jackie Chan at his best. It was released over here under the title Legend of the Drunken Master. Not only does it move better than Jackie's recent films, the fights are spectacular, even for him. The first time I saw this, I was buzzing by the time the movie was done, along with everyone else I was watching it with.

2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
It's the only movie I've seen successfully marry the art house with kung fu films. It's beautiful and the action choreography has a grace to it I've never seen duplicated. Unlike other films following its tradition, like House of Flying Daggers, there is not computer imaging, just traditional wire stunts. Let's also hear it for great fights starring primarily women.

3. Once Upon a Time in China 2
Out of the Once Upon... series, it's my favorite and I really can't say why. I get surprisingly emotionally engaged in this movie. On top of great set pieces, the backdrop of eastern and western cultures clashing in late 19th Century Canton makes this resonate a bit more than others I've seen.

4. Fist of Legend
There's not much to say to this one. The story isn't wonderful. It's a remake of a Bruce Lee move (The Chinese Connection). So what does it have going for it? Jet Li beating the bejeezus out of lots of people. It's the only movie where I've seen someone thrown by their scrotum.

5. Enter the Dragon
Bruce Lee was charismatic as hell and that makes up for the terrible direction in this movie.

So those are my five favorites. I've still got a lot of movies to see and this list would make true enthusiasts throw up, as I'm sure they could think of 20 others they think should be on the list. I should also point out that they're my five favorites, not the five best. The difference is that it's not objective, just my favorties so far.

I should also note that I haven't included Jackie Chan's modern action movies that feature kung fu, as I feel the kung fu is just one element of these movies. I would classify them broader as action movies. And yes, Drunken Master 2 is still the best of them.

Definitive Runs

2005-05-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

One thing you'll hear from comic book fans sometimes is a discussion of definitive runs on a book or character. What that means is a creative run on a book by a writer/artist or team that defined a character.

For example, Superman comics have been published monthly since 1938. A whole lot of people have worked on the book over the years with varying degrees of success. Is there a run on Superman that defined what people think of when they think Superman? A run that everyone who worked on the character since then has to answer to?

It's a murky debate, as people often remember different elements from various runs and put them together in their mind. It's an endlessly debated topic with no clear answer. If there have to be nominees, though, below are mine for the biggest characters.

Superman: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster from about 1941-1948ish. These are the years that the original can't fly/kills people/bully for our side character transformed into the one we know now. It's even the era where his costume settled into the one we know now and hasn't changed since in any significant way.

Batman: Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli's Batman Year One. Even more than The Dark Knight Returns, this classic from 1986 created the Batman everyone now recognizes as the real thing. This permeated into the original film, which made it the Batman everyone outside of comics now recognizes as well.

Spider-Man: Stan Lee and John Romita. I'd seriously get some people mad by naming Romita over Ditko, but the book was truly elevated when he took over art chores. The team delivered the classic 1960s Spider-Man stories everyone refers back to now, even the movies.

Wonder Woman: No one. My apologies to George Perez, who probably created the most consistent and pure version of the character, but I still feel no one has 100% nailed the character yet (not a sex joke).

Smaller characters are easier to pin a definitive run on sometimes, but not always. For example, Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams were the definitive Green Arrow team. They took a bad Batman nock off and turned him into the character we all know today. Any version of the character that strays too far from what they evolved him into is considered not right.

Anyone have other definitive runs they can think of?

Revenge of the George

2005-05-20T21:33:00.000-07:00

I know everyone's been waiting with baited breath. I may have seen it, but what did Dan think of Episode III? Well, maybe not with baited breath. And maybe you weren't really waiting.

Anyway, I'm happy to say that I enjoyed the hell out of the movie, and if he has anything to say about it, Mike Bird be damned!

We could pick it apart all day if we wanted to. I can only say that unlike the last two, I didn't find myself making excuses for it as it went along. I'd rank it up with the originals as far as pure enjoyment goes. Where it falls exactly I'll wait for time to sort out.

The scenes of Anakin going bad were suitably intense and I though Ian McDiarmand was excellent as the Palpatine. Let's also hear it for Hayden Christenson breaking out of whiny teenager mode. One scene I found particularly cool was the opening fight with Dooku. The staging of it, the placement of Palpatine, and even the set design were a mirror for the final confrontation in Return of the Jedi. In this one, of course, we see the Jedi in question go down the wrong path.

So, as far as I'm concerned, St. George has redeemed himself and I can feel gratified at finally having seen a completely satisfying Star Wars movie again.

My Comic Con Weekend

2005-05-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

Another weekend, another comic con down. This weekend, I attended the Motor City Comic Con. The main idea was to keep my face out there and maybe along the way sell a couple copies of Urban Mystics. The good news is that I sold far more than I was planning on.

Comic Cons are always surreal to me. The most surreal part of them was denied to me this weekend, though, as the media guests ate in a different suite from the comic people. This meant no strange lunches with crew members of the Enterprise of other old TV stars. I did, however, have a "business of wrestling" discussion with Virgil of WWF and WCW fame.

No, I'm not a wrestling fan, but I've learned that I'm a pop cultural sponge and I put that to good work at the cons. To sell your books, you wind up talking to people about Star Trek, slasher movies, HP Lovecraft, Christianity and its place in modern fiction, and, of course, super heroes. I discussed all these mentioned things with people who wound up forking over money for my work.

On one strange note, I keep running into old friends from high school, and this weekend was no exception. Things were winding down on Saturday when a guy approached the table and said, "Dan Trudeau!". I stared at him for a second, making it obvious I didn't remember him. He said, "It's Tom Flammer!". Tom was a friend who I never saw again after he graduated a year ahead of me. These days, he's running a comic book store in Lansing. You never know who your'e going to run in to.

Me and My Music

2005-05-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I touch on movies and comics a lot in this blog, but I haven't spoken much about music. A big reason is that until recently, I was very bored with most pop music. I go through cycles like this. Just as I'm now getting into music again, most movies are starting to bore me.

So, I thought I'd share the music that I've been enjoying lately, both new and old. I'd like to know what other folks are getting into right now as well.

Green Day - You know, I had given up on these guys. Dookie is an album connected to many fond memories for me, but the albums following sounded like a band in search of its soul. It found it on American Idiot and one of the greatest albums I've ever heard was produced.

Ben Folds - Whether it's him solo or with Ben Folds Five, I do truly love his music. His new album just came out and I'm dying to pick it up.

The White Stripes - It's pared down, real rock and roll. That's it and I love them for it.

Eric B and Rakim - I recently got a copy of their classic rap album Paid in Full. I had forgotten just how cool these guys were/are.

They Might Be Giants - I think August Clark and I are the only two left following these guys. Their last album was a return to the full band sound and I welcomed it.

Fountains of Wayne - If you haven't listened to Welcome Insterstate Managers, you should really give it a try. Even if the song Stacey's Mom annoyed you, because there's so much more here.

Marvin Gaye - I finally picked up a copy of What's Going On. Thank god I did.

The Beatles - I can't make a list without including them.

On the other end of things, I think REM needs to find its direction again before releasing another album. Who would've ever thought losing a drummer would cut them off at the knees like this? Then again, the Marx Brothers were never the same after Zeppo left.

So what's everyone else listening to?

Unrelated side note: You know Ben's my son when you say, "Show me Vader" and he makes heavy breathing noises.

Catching Up

2005-04-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

I had a conversation with my sister in law today that reminded me that people may come to this blog to find out what's going on with the Trudeau family only to hear my rant about my favorite superheroes. Now Kerri didn't say this to me exactly, but it did dawn on me while I was talking to her. So, here's the status on the Trudeau family:

Dan - Doing pretty decent. Had a down April at work, but it followed three outstanding months that leave us still in a good spot. I believe we're still on track for a record year. I'm almost to the end of the screenplay I've been working on and I'm spending most of my free time enjoying family life.

Beth - Beth is into the last months of her first year teaching 1st Grade. There were fresh challenges with a new grade level, but as I expected, she's handled them beautifully. I can say that she does miss seeing her friend Brenda around the school, though we're happy it's because someone finally made her the Principal she was meant to be.

Ben - Like! Dodo! Hug! This would be Ben telling you that he recently met his favorite TV star, Dora the Explorer, at Big Boy and gave her a hug. He's a tough one to keep up with, but the older he gets, the more fun he is as well. Recent new things he's learned include crossing his arms when you request a Run DMC impression or jumping in a hamper and yelling "Gooks". So you know, he's not trying to slur Asians. That means he wants to play Dukes of Hazard, which consists of his dad sliding him around in tight turns while yelling, "Floor it Bo! Roscoe's on your tail!"

So that's some recent goings on. I hope all is well with everyone else out there!

PS If anyone can suggest a new release movie on video that you really loved, please do. I've been incredibly underwhelmed by just about everything I've seen lately.

The Paris of the Midwest

2005-04-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd use a post talking about one of my favorite subjects: The city of Detroit.

I love Detroit. Yeah, you heard me right. I really discovered the city when Beth was in the hospital around seven years ago (I can't believe it's been that long). She was at Henry Ford Hospital and I was renting a room in what was basically the residents' dorm facility for $7 a night. When I wasn't in the room with Beth, I was wandering, trying not to worry about the near future. I ate at every downtown restaraunt and walked around downtown, getting acquainted with a city that I, like many in the outer burbs, had never really taken the time to know.

At the same time, I was reading the book Stress, by Loren D. Estleman, which is about Detroit in its lowest point, the seventies.

What I love about Detroit is that it's a microcosm of everything that was great and terrible in the Twentieth Century. It's really the city that gave birth to the modern world.

Of course, Detroit had problems as it approached the end of the century it helped define. One of our, and let's face it, every culture's greatest sins brought Detroit to the low point it's known for these days: racism.

Now, the city is trying to pull itself out of the rubble. The fact that it's had some success is actually remarkable, especially given everything working against it. Unfortunately, it's not a well rounded recovery. Though it seems they're transforming downtown into a nice entertainment mecca (we'll really see this over the next ten years) and some neighborhoods, like Corktown, are recovering, it's still no place people with families want to move to. Crime and bad schools hang over the city like a cloud.

The people of the Detroit area deserve better. This entire area will never fulfill its potential when the core of our community is empty. The city is at a tipping point now, with the ability to go either way.

Interesting point: Many don't know this, but Detroit is home to the second largest theater district in the country, behind New York.

Two Gun Bob

2005-04-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

As many people can attest, I read a pretty wide variety of things but every once in a while, a particular writer or character will catch my attention and I'll become borderline obsessed for a period of time. I've gone through it with Elmore Leonard and James Bond. Now, I'm going through it with Robert E. Howard and Conan.

Howard was a pulp writer from Cross Plains, TX. He created a multitude of characters including Kull, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, and countless others. Conan, by far, is the most popular of his creations.

Howard's true passion was historical fiction and to write his Conan stories, he created a fictional age in history, called the Hyborian Age, which took place between the sinking of Atlantis and the rise of the Sons of Aryas. If you look at a map of the Hyborian kingdoms, they fit nicely over a modern map of Europe. Conan is from Cimmeria, or Scotland/Ireland. Most people know Conan from the Arnold Schwarzenneger (spelling?) movies or the Marvel comics. While faithful to the spirit of Howard and a fun flick, Conan the Barbarian is not based on any actual Howard stories and gives him a childhood history non-existent in the stories.

As he was a pulp writer, most Conan tales are short stories. There is only one Conan novel, Hour of the Dragon. Del Rey is currently publishing all the Howard stories as they originally appeared, in the order of publication. The first collection, The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, publishes around ten of the first stories along with various unpublished drafts, notes, and some essays about Howard's life. It contains some of the best Conan stories, but the tales in the second half of the book tend to be very formulaic, as Howard was churning them out quickly to make some money.

The second book, The Bloody Crown of Conan, is far more satisfying. It contains two of the longer tales, plus the novel. I just finished it and had the time of my life reading it.

Howard is the innovator most responsible for the Sword and Sorcery genre and without him, it's doubtful we would've had books such as The Lord of the Rings. I've gotten endless joy rediscovering these stories.

If only Howard could've gotten the same thing out of them. In the mid-30s, upon hearing that his mother's illness was terminal, Howard took his own life. In the reading on him I've done, I think he was one of those brilliant folks who couldn't figure out how to function in the world. His mind was always on other ages and worlds. This one was never enough to make him happy. An interesting thing is his own awareness of this about himself. In the first Conan story, The Phoenix and the Sword, Howard writes that poets have problems with reality, as they are constantly musing on perfect worlds that never really existed.

So the next time you're enjoying a drink, raise a glass to Two Gun Bob, who left us with entire worlds for our enjoyment, though they were not enough in the end for him.

Last note: The Conan comic book series from Dark Horse, being published right now, is perhaps the best Conan material outside of the original stories, which it uses. Also, if you do find yourself reading the original stories, don't read The Vale of the Lost Women unless you're a dedicated completist. Not only are its racial ideas outdated (to say the least) it's an awful piece written soley to be sold. The fact that it was published and not The Frost Giant's Daughter is a sad statement.

Who Is Your Star Wars Twin??????

2005-04-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

Want to find out what member of the Empire or Rebel Alliance would most likely be your twin???

Check out this website to find out!

www.outofservice.com/starwars

Here is my profile...

http://www.outofservice.com/starwars/results/?o=41&c=83&e=9&a=63&n=55

Have fun! (And let us know who your twin is!)

Beth

Works in Progress

2005-04-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

People often ask me about what creative ventures I'm working on, so I thought I'd give a synopsis of the status of what I've got going on right now.

Screenplay: I'm working on a screenplay Andy Konik would like to produce. As of right now, it doesn't have a title and I'm about 3/4 through it. It's among the most challenging things I've attempted as it's a fairly simple story of two guys in a small town who wind up vying for the same woman. The tough part is keeping the drama at a point where it doesn't turn into a soap opera or high-school level conflict.

Almost Evil: I've spoken of this one on the blog. Since I last wrote about it, Mr. Joe Dornoff has gotten the ball rolling on it in New York. He's looked into cost of production and has it in the hands of people who could make it a reality. A big thanks to Joe and keep your fingers crossed something happens.

Boyman: A bit of a delay on this comic series as Rich is working on a paying gig right now. The script is written and he's chipping away at the art.

On top of those, I've got a short film script written called After the Beep. I really like it, but I'm not sure what to do with it right now.

Comic Book Report (Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you collect Batman and didn't read the last issue)
I've really been enjoying the Winnick and Nguyen run on Batman, but with one page, they now have an issue, maybe two, to keep me as a reader. If they have truly resurrected Jason Todd, I'm not sure what they could do to rescue the book for me. It makes so little sense and is right out of a mid-afternoon soap opera. Comic books are full of deaths where you can come up with some pseudo-scientific way to bring the person back ("He was vaporized, but my atomic resorter has re-constructed his body."). That's not possible here because the kid was beaten with a crow bar and blown up!!!!!!!!

Men in Tights

2005-04-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

Well, we're back from the Windy City. We had a great time and we returned just in time for me to catch the worst flu since my childhood. Yipee! Thankfully, I'm all recovered now.

Anyway, I just finished reading Countdown to Infinite Crisis, published by DC Comics. At the very end of this story, I character I've loved for almost twenty years, who goes back to my earliest comic collecting days, was brutally killed. This left me stunned.

I mean that as a good thing. While it's painful to see a character so near and dear to me die, in this case it's great storytelling. That leads me to a point.

There has never been a better time to be reading mainstream superhero comics. I say this taking into consideration the Marvel boom of the 60s and the holy year of 1986 (Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Man of Steel, Born Again, etc). The only time that even competes in the early golden age, where the great American myth of superheroes was born.

In none of those times did we have such a wide range of quality, from so many creators, and across all companies. There are great books pushing the genre (The Authority, The Ultimates) and traditional books that are a ton of fun to read (JSA, Detective Comics).

Credit must go to both the people leading the Big Two and the talent they've brought on. So, to Brian Michael Bendis, Geoff Johns, Bryan Hitch, Mark Millar, Rags Morales, Mark Waid, Judd Winick, Dave Lapham, Dan Didio, Joe Quesada, Cary Nord, and many others, I congratulate you on creating what could be the best superhero material ever.

If only more people were reading them...

Men in Tights

2005-04-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

Well, we've returned from a fun trip to the Windy City. Had a great time and I got back just in time to catch the worst flu since my childhood. I'll spare everyone the details.

Anyway, I just finished reading Countdown to Infinite Crisis, the new book by DC Comics leading up to their big summer event. I also just read the latest issue of New Avengers and the first collection of The New Frontier by Darwyne Cooke. They all left me with one strong feeling:

There's never been a better time to be reading superhero comics.

That's right, I'll even challenge the mid-60s Marvel boom and the holy year of 1986 (Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Born Again, etc). Those periods bore fantastic works that forever changed American mythology. But those periods didn't have the large number of high-quality work created by such a diverse group of fantastic talents as the folks doing it now. The genre is being pushed in great new directions (The Ultimates) and at the same time, the quality of the "old fashioned" superhero books is also great (JSA).

I just finished a book in which one of my all-time favorite characters is killed and I found myself stunned. This is a feeling mainstream books used to only be able to deliver to me once in a while. Now, I feel it all the time.

So, to Brian Michael Bendis, Geoff Johns, Bryan Hitch, Mark Waid, Mark Millar, Rags Morales, David Finch, Cary Nord, Dave Lapham, Darwyne Cook, Jim Lee, and all the others out there turning out the great stuff; keep up the good work and I'll keep reading!

Off to the Windy City

2005-03-26T20:07:00.000-08:00

This is my last post before we head off to Chicago for a couple days. I spent tonight cleaning out the geek mecca that is Danland.

Watched both the new DVD of the first season of Star Wars: Clone Wars this week, along with season 2, which ran this week on Cartoon Network. It would be great if Lucas could outsource some of the real movies to the guys that did these shows. They're fantastic.

I think I'm approaching Episode III of the Star Wars series with some of the same trepidation and hope that everyone else is. There isn't much left I like about Episode I. I did enjoy Episode II, but it had it's shortcomings. There's a real opportunity in Episode III to save the whole affair.

Anyway, Happy Easter to all those that celebrate. Even if you don't, I hope it gives you a good excuse for at least an extra day off.

Funny Books

2005-03-23T18:51:00.000-08:00

It's nice to be back again. This week has been a long one. Both Ben and Beth have had the flu. I'm happy to say Beth's back to normal and Ben only has a nagging cough left. Unfortunately, that cough makes it very hard for him to fall asleep.

Most of my posts here have been about movies, but anyone who knows me knows that comic books are held by me in equal esteem. I read a lot of books, but there are always a few I absolutely love, so I thought I'd make some space to talk about them.

Green Lantern: Rebirth
I should hate this series. I've always been an advocate of the idea that DC should stick to their guns with Hal Jordan and let him die. The problem has been that they've never developed Kyle Rayner (the new GL) to the point they should've. This leaves the door open for Hal's return. The thing that saves this book and makes it so entertaining is Geoff Johns. I don't think there's a better writer of mainstream comics out there right now.

Daredevil
I'll tell you, this book gets about the widest range of responses right now. I've heard everything from "they all just stand around and talk" to "the art turns me off". For me, it all works. It's the best the book's been since Frank Miller wrote Born Again (best Daredevil story ever).

Planetary
This is a killer book about a team that explores the hidden history of the 20th Century. Warren Ellis is at his best in this book and there is no better artist walking the planet right now than John Cassady.

JSA
Again, Geoff Johns keeps me entertained every month.

The Ultimates
21st Century take on the Avengers. This is a superhero book that refuses to let the issues at hand be simple.

Age of Bronze
I'm catching up on this one right now. It's Eric Shanower's retelling of the Trojan War. It's everything you wished Troy could've been.

There are others I'm sure that I'll think of as soon as I'm off. These are the ones at the tip of my mind right now. I'll also mention this is the first time in history more than one Marvel book would've shown up on this list for me. I may not like Joe Quesada's public personna, but he's doing something right.

Any of the other comic readers that visit have books they'd recommend right now?

The Play's the Thing

2005-03-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

Last night the St. Clair Theater Guilde was kind enough to do a Reader's Theater of my play Almost Evil. Much thanks to Tom Kephart for setting it up and for everyone who came to read. It went very well with people laughing where I hoped they would and in a few spots I wasn't expecting.

Almost Evil is right now I think the best thing I've written, but it's the one thing I'm not sure what to do with. How does one get a play produced? How does one get it seen by people who can get it produced? I know everything about submitting for short stories, screenplays, and comics, but this is the first play I've ever completed. I think an agent would help, but I'm not sure how to go about that either.

I'll be exploring this over the coming weeks and if anyone has any ideas, feel free to post them. In the meantime...

I saw Ray this week and I think the ultimate compliment I could pay it was I felt like I was watching Ray Charles' life, not people putting on a show about it. Most of this credit goes to Mr. Foxx, who got a well-deserved Oscar for the part. I've heard comments that this really didn't rise above the trappings of a standard biopic flick, but I think it was a little better than that. It's no Malcolm X, but what is?

Diamonds in the Rough

2005-03-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, now that we're all done debating American Beauty, I thought I'd flip the discussion over. There are movies out there that aren't so well known or thought of that I love. It's not so much that they're despised, but people never list them when they're thinking of great movies, and I happen to think they're great.

An example of this is Devil in a Blue Dress. I haven't really heard people tear into this movie, but I never hear anyone talk about how great it is. I happen to love it. When I first saw it, I hadn't read any Walter Mosley books yet and since this I devour them as they come out. Denzel Washington is the perfect Easy Rawlins, Don Cheadle is fantastic as Mouse, and the movie captures the era perfectly.

Another movie I dearly love is Empire of the Sun. Had Spielberg not directed it, it would probably be totally forgotten by now and that would be a shame. It's not a perfect movie, but he hits some highs in this film that are telling of where he was headed with movies like Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. I think the movie's Achilles heel might be its length, but I can forgive it of that. The moment where Jamie is watching the American planes bombing the Japanese air base and he catches the pilot's moment for a split second, just long enough for the pilot to wave at him, is one of the truly great moments in movies.

Anyone else have examples they want to share?

I HAVE RETURNED

2005-03-08T19:53:00.000-08:00

Hello again everyone!

Due to internet connection problems and being sick, I haven't been on here much lately, though that will be changing. Let's get back into things.

Once in a while a film, book, or comic comes along that the whole world goes ga-ga for and it leaves me perplexed. Not that I don't understand the contents, but I don't understand what the heck everyone loves about it. I'm talking about the Legion of the Overrated (did I spell that correctly?).

There are some movies, like Forrest Gump, that it seemed everyone thought was brilliant, but I just enjoyed. Didn't love it. Didn't hate it. What I'm really talking about here are pieces of work that people fawn over and I despise.

The best example for me is American Beauty. The more time goes by, the more I loathe this film. It's directly very beautifully and acted very well. If I ever meet the screenwriter on the street it just might lead to my arrest. I like a movie with a message. I don't like a movie that wields its message like a club and beats me over the head with it for an entire film. It's all there: the depressed teenage daughter, the young artist no one understands, the dad living a life of empitness, the mother that's a materialistic ambition junkie, the military dad who just doesn't understand his sensitive son, and I could go on. By taking these stereotypical characters and taking it just a step further, this movie seemed to fool everyone into thinking it was groundbreaking.

The fact is, once you understand what each character represents, the movie is predictable and annoying. This is mostly because the characters serve the movie's message and as a result they often don't act like human beings.

"Hey, there's my girlfriend's dad laying on the table with his brains blown out. A real human being would be horrified by this, but because I'm a sensitive artist who can see the beauty of a bag blowing in the wind, I'm going to smile because I can understand the meaning of this before me."

A real person would notice that they're standing in brains. Having characters act like real people instead of walking, talking symbols of greater ideas is one of the most difficult things to pull off in writing. So I guess it's the laziness of this movie that really drives me nuts in the end.

Anyone have a movie, book, comic, or maybe even an album they'd add to the Legion?

Old Teachers Need To Know When To Hang It Up

2005-02-28T16:02:00.000-08:00

Just a small rant for the evening.

I sometimes hate working in a profession where some of the "professionals" have lost sight of what their purpose of employment was in the first place.

I have recently found myself in a leadership position at school (not by choice I might add...it sort of fell into my lap through a series of unfortunate events..) Anyway, I have recently been trying to gather volunteers for some night activities at school to celebrate "March Is Reading Month".

Long story short...I'm not getting many volunteers who would give up two hours on a Friday night to entertain and read with kids. It is so frustrating to me that so many of my colleagues have lost their enthusiasm to be "good" teachers. I am seeing an increasing number of teachers who just want to make it through the day and go home never to set sights on another child until the following day. I find myself constantly asking myself "Who are we here for anyway?"

Oh well, I don't think things will change anytime soon, but that doesn't mean I can't bitch about it a little bit, right??

Thanks for listening..or should I say reading?

Beth

Weekend Update

2005-02-18T18:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Weekend everyone! I think I earned some rest this weekend, as work is going absolutely crazy. This is a good thing, by the way, as I'm busy setting up interviews and getting out offers. We're having a pretty successful year so far and I can only hope it keeps going this way.

Ben continues to astound us with what he can pick up in a single day. He's picking up words left and right and I'm happy to say he's got a great sense of humor. It's nothing I can really relate in text, but it's great watching him try to get us to crack up. You can definitely tell he's my boy, from him being able to identify Batman, no matter who the artist is, to him making lightsaber noises while swinging a stick around. I'll relish this until he's old enough to be embarrassed by me.

MOVIE REVIEWS

Shaun of the Dead
This is one of the few movies I've laughed out loud at lately. I love a movie that throws regular shlobs into incredible situations. With the revival of the zombie movie in recent years, I loved seeing this kind of take. My only disappointment is at the very end the movie just becomes a standard zombie flick.

The Manchurian Candidate
My love of the original kept me from seeing this for a while. My final verdict is that it is an entertaining remake, with enough new ideas to keep it interesting. In the end, though, evil corporations just don't hold a candle to Chinese Communists in the bad guy department. Kudos to Denzel Washington for playing his character as a paranoid coming apart at the seams, even as he discovers that he's right.

Shaken, Not Stirred

2005-02-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to write this post for a while. As a true blue James Bond fan, I've read all kinds of takes on Eon's Bond series. The opinions are varied and there seems to be no real consensus on a) what makes a good Bond movie and b) which are the best Bond films. I mean, Goldfinger is a perennial favorite, but you get beyond that and the debate really begins. So, here's my list of the 20 Eon Bond films in my order of preference, with reasons on some of them.

1. Goldfinger
- I'd like to be different, but this is the best mix of danger, humor, and mystery out of all the Bond movies. It's the one the rest of them aspire to.
2. From Russia, With Love
3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
- A controversial choice this high up. That said, George Lazenby isn't the best, but everything else is great. Had Connery been Bond in it, it would probably be #1.
4. Tomorrow Never Dies
- Another odd choice for some people, but in my opinion, it's the best of the modern Bonds and Brosnan is the only other Bond who gives Connery a serious run for his money.
5. Dr. No
- This movie is far from perfect, but what can you expect out of the first entry?
6. Thunderball
7. For Your Eyes Only
- Other than the terrible opening.
8. Octopussy
9. The Living Daylights
- This one only ranks this high for fans of Fleming's original novels.
10. Die Another Day
- The first half of the movie would rank it in the top 5. The second half would rank it in the bottom 5. I'm splitting the difference.
11. The World is Not Enough
12. Goldeneye
13. The Spy Who Loved Me
- I know lots of people rank this as one of the best, but for me, it just hasn't held up over time.
14. Diamonds Are Forever
15. You Only Live Twice
16. License to Kill
17. Live and Let Die
18. A View to a Kill
19. The Man with the Golden Gun
20. Moonraker
- Anyone who knows me knows that it's dangerous to mention this film in my presence. Just the concept alone (James Bond in space) is enough to make me vomit.

An interesting thing to note is that while Goldfinger is my favorite movie, it's one of my least favorite of the original novels. It's amazing what a good screenwriter can do.

The Collecting Bug

2005-02-04T18:41:00.000-08:00

My entire life, I've been a collector. If I like someting, I have to own it. As a result, I have a large collection of books, movies, comics, posters, and toys. You should see my basement.

The worst part is, one collection leads to another. For example, I really like Robert E Howard's Conan stories. I've bought the books and that led to buying the comic book series, the movie, and wouldn't you know it, McFarlane Toys just created a new line of action figures based on the stories. I'm going to wind up owning all of these things.

On one hand, people may see it as a waste of money. At the same time, I love my collections. I bought my first comic book in 1984 at the Dry Dock in Marine City. It was a Green Lantern. John Stewart was Green Lantern at the time and he was fighting Eclipso. It was written by Len Wein with art by Dave Gibbons (their last issue on the book). I read it a hundred times. I still have it, along with the thousands of comics that followed. Going back through them is like making my way back to the kid I was when I started it.

Anyone else afflicted by this bug? If so, what's your particular variety?

Fisticuffs

2005-01-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

Another night, another movie post (I'll write about something else eventually, I promise). I'm not sure how many out there truly enjoy a well put together fight scene, but it's something I love. I thought tonight I'd simply lay down a list of my five favorite fight sequences, with justification, and see what ones other folks enjoy. The rules are that these are not gunfights or swordfights, but "old school" fight sequences where the weapons don't get any more advanced than staffs.

5. "Class Showdown" - Fist of Legend
In this cool remake of The Chinese Connection, Jet Li walks into a Karate dojo and wails on the entire class. The kicker moment is when someone tries to sneak up on Mr. Li, and Jet reaches back, grabs the mans family jewels, and throws him by them. Yow!

4. "Tunnel Fight" - Enter the Dragon
See Bruce Lee get rushed by about 30 people. See Bruce Lee go through them like a lawnmower. Using a full array of weapons, he kung fus the bejeezus out of a bunch of thugs who can't even land a punch on him. There's one unlucky guy who Bruce whacks about 7 times with two short staffs. Also, look for Jackie Chan. He's the guy who Bruce is holding in a headlock right before the camera zooms up on him and he breaks his neck (pleasant stuff).

One of my favorite things about this is at no point do any of these goons say, "Hey, he beat the snot out of 28 guys in front of me. Maybe I should just walk away."

3. "Girl on Girl Showdown" - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Zhang Zhi in a showdown with Michelle Yeoh. Zhang Zhi fights with the Green Destiny, the most powerful sword in the land. Michelle Yeoh fights with whatever else she can get her hands on. Great stuff.

2. "Fight on the Orient Express" - From Russia, With Love
OO7 vs. Red Grant in a small train compartment. This fight has a level of brutality to it that hasn't been seen before or since in a James Bond movie. There's little space to move in, leaving the combatents no room for fancy maneuvers. They punch, claw, kick, and stomp each other until Mr. Connery is finally able to put down Robert Shaw, the greatest of the Bond henchmen.

1. The last 20 minutes of Drunken Master 2 (or Legend of the Drunken Master)
Jackie Chan fights his way through a factory to bring the men who are stealing his country's culture to justice. First up, he takes out a strongman with a chain. Then, he fights four foes at once, all of them swinging iron bars at him, and finally he has the battle of battles with the main baddie, played by Jackie's own bodyguard. My heart was pumping a million miles an hour by the end of it. It's simply the best on screen display of Jackie Chan's talents and stuntwork.

You'll note most of these are Hong Kong films. What can I say, no one puts a better fight together. Anyone have their favorites?

Dan's Movie Review

2005-01-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

I just learned an important lesson about blogging. Don't ever hit the back button on your browser. I had a long list of reviews of movies I've watched recently wiped out in a second. Here's the quick take:

KING ARTHUR
Mediocre movie. I'm an Arthur geek (my 37th classification of geek) and I'm one of the people who really should've enjoyed it. Clive Owen was a perfect Arthur and I wish he had been used in a better movie. Also, after seeing Return of the King, all ancient battle sequences just seem underwhelming. Also, I never want to see another movie where the army uses the clever idea of setting the field on fire again. The knights think the smoke is an advantage because the Saxons can't see them. Guess what; you can't see them either!!!

Quick note: This claims to be a true story of the facts behind the Arthur myth. It's a nice marketing ploy, but, for starters, it's set 100-150 years too early. If there was a historical Arthur, he lived during the chaos that followed Rome leaving Britain. He was probably a war chief known for turning back a Saxon invasion (they got that right). If he was a Roman who existed during the occupation, there would've been better records of him. The inspiration for this is a Briton the Romans called Riothamus, who some believe is the historical Arthur.
I realize this quick note is longer than the review.

DAWN OF THE DEAD
Better than King Arthur. Better than the original. That's right. I said better than the original. No heavy handed message weighing it down and I wasn't able to keep my ironic distance from it. I even had a Dawn of the Dead dream that night. It's not a perfect movie and I don't know that I'll watch it again, but a freaky ride none the less.

I also re-watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Spiderman 2 recently. ESOFSM is one of my all time favorite movies and S2 is simply the greatest superhero movie ever made. It kills me to say that, given my love of the original Superman, but there it is.

Anyone see anything that they liked and/or hated recently?

Musings on Mr. Eisner and such

2005-01-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. I'm doing a post today I promised myself I'd do a week ago, but better late than never. On January 3rd, Will Eisner died at age 87. For those of you not familiar with his work, he's the creator of The Spirit and perhaps one of the greatest comic book artists of all time. If you want to see retrospectives of his works, there are a lot of sites you can check out. For me, I just wanted to share my brief memories of him.

I met Will Eisner at the Chicago ComicCon (pre-Wizard World) in the mid 90s. Now when I say met, I mean I stood in line for him and got him to sign some of his work for me and Rich gave him a picture he drew that was a take on a Norman Rockwell painting, but with The Spirit as the main image. Anyway, I can't tell you how excited I was to meet him and how incredibly nice he was as I blathered on with words that he had probably heard many times that weekend alone. Later that day, I attended a "Remembering Jerry Siegel" roundtable with Eisner, Julius Schwartz, and Mort Wessigner. Out of those three, only Mort is still with us. I can't tell you how lucky I was to sit in as two of my heroes paid tribute to another great who had just passed away.

Several years later, after I had rediscovered my love of writing comics, I was forwarded his email address from a friend. At the time, things were still tight and I had to stay up late to get any writing done. I wrote Mr. Eisner an email about how much he's not only entertained me, but taught and inspired me. I shared with him that I was burning the midnight oil to make my own comic book dreams come true.

One day later, I got this,

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your very generous comment on my work.>In all candor, approval is the fuel that keeps all creative people going.WILL

Yes, it's incredibly short, but I was probably one of many to email him that day. Heck, I can't keep up with my own.

In closing, everyone is talking about the works of Will Eisner. In my incredibly short interactions with him, I knew him to be a very giving man when it came to those who loved what he had done. At the very least, I had the opportunity to tell him how much I thought of him. One of the other legends at the roundtable I mentioned, Julius Schwartz, passed away as I was looking for a way to contact him and tell him the very same thing. So, I'm very thankful.

Rest in peace Mr. Eisner.

The Last Day of Vacation....and I Get Sick!

2005-01-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

This stinks. I have to go back to work tomorrow and this morning I wake up with a head cold.

I really hope it doesn't get any worse. There is nothing more miserable than a sick elementary school teacher.

It has been a relaxing two weeks off, though. I really needed it. I feel professionally refreshed. I'm hoping the second half of the year in first grade is better than the first. Not that the first was necessarily bad, but it could have been better.

Well, here's to hoping that I can wake up and face the day tomorrow!

Beth

Goodbye '04

2004-12-29T17:22:00.000-08:00

Truth be told, I'm not sorry to see the year going bye. It was a great year in that Ben was around the whole time and we had a great time being a family, but it's been a roller coaster in every other way.

Because of this, I'm not really doing any retrospective of the last year except to say a few things.

One, I'm very happy Dave made it back from Iraq in one piece.

Two, Beth is teaching full time, which made life a little easier here.

Three, despite the industry shrinking about 50%, I'm still happily employed in recruiting (just promoted as it turns out).

I'm very grateful for all the people we know that helped make any downtime a little easier.

In one last note, for those of you that know Andy Konik, wish him luck as he's been called back for an audition on an independent film.

20 minutes of peace

2004-12-29T06:41:00.000-08:00

Hey all...Just a breather between chasing Ben and more chasing Ben. He just went down for a morning catnap. Just enough time to actually try to clean some stuff around here. Ben has recently become relentless in trying to get into ANYTHING and EVERYTHING he is not supposed to...with a demonish grin on his face while he does it.

He is exhausting...but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Oh well...back to housework.

Oh and Earl....I'll try to figure out whatever it is I am supposed to do to get our blogs hooked together.

Once Again...The Last Guy To Do Anything Cool

2004-12-28T14:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's it. Not only is this my first blog ever, it's the first time I have ever written anything on a blog.

My reluctance to have a blog is a result of the part of me that still refuses to get a cell phone. But when Beth let me know today that we have a blog, I figured, why the heck not.

I have no idea what I am going to write on this in the future, but anyone who knows me will know the subjects anything I write will revolve around.

Two points to anyone who knows what the title of the blog refers to......

Oh My God How Trendy Are We????

2004-12-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

Hello all! It is Beth. I have actually started a blog for Dan and I. Please feel free to post and rant and do whatever the heck else you're supposed to do on a Blog. We would love to hear from you.

Take A Letter Jamison......The Trudeau Blog

I'm Moving

MicroChunking

Defending Daniel Craig

http://www.nbc.com/Video/videos/snl_1439_natalieraps.shtml

http://www.myspace.com/bjtdad

A Letter to Frank Miller

The New Digital World

The Future of Radio

Big Weekend in the Big City

The Art of Action

My Favorite Ladies

Return of the Dan

The Black List

The Year Ender

A Life in Pictures

About Those Comics Part 2: Marvel

So, About Those Comics

Silver Screen Blahs

High vs. Low Art

Miss Me?

The City Neurotic

What Cute Animal Are You Most Like

Great Stuff

King Eddie

My Dark Confession

Reviews and Such

My Two Year Old Boy

The Last Ten Years

A Quick Note...

Heroes in Plastic

The Problem of Comedy

Katrina

Bigger Than Fiction

Miss Me?

UGGGHH..ROONEY...PARDON MY FRENCH, BUT YOUR AN A**HOLE!!!

What Is Your Harry Potter Personality??

The Most Horrible Thing

Mr. Mann

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

TOP TEN 70'S SITCOMS

It's Clobbering Time

I still blog here, too

Cities of Wind and Motors

Funny Ha Ha, Not Hee Hee

On Vacation

The Dark Knight Returns

The Wonderful World of Prose

Once Upon A Time in China

Definitive Runs

Revenge of the George

My Comic Con Weekend

Me and My Music

Catching Up

The Paris of the Midwest

Two Gun Bob

Who Is Your Star Wars Twin??????

Links

Works in Progress

Men in Tights

Men in Tights

Off to the Windy City

Funny Books

The Play's the Thing

Diamonds in the Rough

I HAVE RETURNED

Old Teachers Need To Know When To Hang It Up

Links

Weekend Update

Shaken, Not Stirred

The Collecting Bug

Fisticuffs

Dan's Movie Review

Musings on Mr. Eisner and such

The Last Day of Vacation....and I Get Sick!

Goodbye '04

20 minutes of peace

Once Again...The Last Guy To Do Anything Cool

Oh My God How Trendy Are We????