Consumption July

July 30th, 2009 Graig

Well, the blog’s not dead yet…
From July 20 - July 31.

COMIC - Teen Titans Spotlight #18 — Jellysubs!

DVD - Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog - Commentary! The Musical - Ginchy! I liked Fillion’s song best.

DVD - Ashes to Ashes S1 Episode 7 & 8 - Woah! Didn’t see that one coming.

DVD - The Newsroom S1 Episode 1 & 2 - Barely heard over the wails of a colicky 2-week old. Forgot all about the power of Sid Adelman’s column.

COMIC - Teen Titans Spolight #10 - Early Erik Larson art kinda crappy, but otherwise the John Ostrander script delving into both Aqualad and Mento’s minds was endearingly 80’s.

COMIC - Hawkworld #31 & 32 - Ostrander’s politicization of this comic, in an almost(!) fair and balanced manner is always surprising, even if much of the characterization and action is kind of cruddy.

MUSIC - Glissandro 70 - plinky, repetitious, and kinda funky.

MUSIC - Dears: No Cities Left - Went from my sell pile back into the collection. Forgot how sweeping they were

MUSIC - Hooverphonic: A New Sterephonic Sound Spectacular - Surprisingly still engaging, but to me so passe, I must pass

COMIC - Teen Titans Spotlight #16 & 17 - Thunder, Lightning and Magenta face off against a STAR Labs psychiatrist and each other. Decent, but left with a “who’s the mastermind” mystery.

COMIC - Teen Titans Spotlight #13 - JMS was writing comics this far back? And a pretty solid and surprising Cyborg vs. Two-Face…seriously, he actually makes it work.

COMIC - Deathklock vs. The Goon one-shot - I’ve not watched enough Metalocalypse, and I’ve been equally negligent in my reading The Goon, and this one-shot, while amusing, isn’t the best of both worlds… or if it is, it’s not going to speed up my catch-up process.

MOVIE - Doctor Strange (Animated DTV) - I’m so sick of origin stories

TV - Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Absolutely loving this show, light and captivating all-ages superheroic goodness.

TV - Doctor Who - Space double feature of Tennent Doctor extra-length episodes, one involving a dimensional warp, a double decker bus, and flying manta rays, the other sending the Doctor to the 1850’s and meeting a man who could possibly be his next incarnation. The latter was fab.

TV - Journey To The End Of The Universe - this Discovery channel documentary, taking actual photos mixed with CGI effects demonstrates the vastness of our solar system, galaxy and universe… it should humble you, make you feel small and insignificant, because you are. Beautiful, but pondering the enormity of the universe makes my brain hurt and my eyes well up.

COMIC - Hawkman #1 - 27 - a big diversion from Hawkworld, involving the idea of “avatars” and the making of Hawkman into a grim’n'gritty ’90’s character. Not as bad as it sounds, with some fairly good work from Bill Messner-Loebs and Steve Leiber, but still, avoids by and large the political bent of Ostrander’s Hawkworld.

COMIC - G.I. Joe #7 - this series is finally picking up, unfortunately regular artist Robert Atkins will return

COMIC - Phonogram: The Singles Club #4 - I laugh because I realize that I’m in the midst of a massive cd collection purge and very few albums featuring female vocalists remain. Heh. Huh?

COMIC - Captain Britain and the M.I.13 #15 - the end, but what a way to go out. This dracula arc = spledido!

MUSIC - Takako Minekawa: Fun 9 / Recubed ep - Fluffy blipped out Japanese laptop music, enjoyable but empty calories.

MUSIC - Various Artists: Random (02) - Remixes of Gary Numan tracks. I got a lot of mileage out of this and it still has some gas left in the tank but I really don’t want to burn it out.

DVD - X-Men 3: X-Men United - holy shit this is a bad movie. For about 20 minutes there’s the promise of something entertaining, then it goes off the bloody rails into mutant randomness without any regard for anything that came before it. Not as bad as Spider-Man 3 but worse than Wolverine: Origins.

DVD - G.I. Joe: Arise, Serpentor Arise - told in five parts, it’s at times utterly baffling, occasionally a little boring, and often sheer madcap hilarity.

DVD - Home Movies: Season 4 (disc 2) - it’s all too easy to forget just how funny this show is… the repartee is brilliant, and I don’t think I’ve seen the episode with Honkey Magoo before.

COMIC - Wednesday Comics #4 - The Streaky the Super-Cat panels were utterly hilarious, worth the price of admission alone. Newfound respect for Amanda Connor.

COMIC - L.E.G.I.O.N. #13, 29 - 69 - Artist Barry Kitson’s first major series, and he wound up co-plotting and even writing much of it, quite adeptly I should add. A few storylines were left dangling when he left to go draw Superman and the series just wasn’t the same after his departure.

COMIC - Detective Comics #855 - I’ve been a JH Williams III fan from the start, but this is just some absolutely insane artwork and still incredible graphic storytelling.

COMIC - The New Teen Titans Annual #2 - 5 - All written by Marv Wolfman, all beyond tedious reading. The Brother Blood origin in particular would be perfect for insomniacs.

MOVIE - G-Force - Harmless, unassuming, forgettable entertainment for kids.

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[...consumed all new #200] Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

July 20th, 2009 Graig

After catching an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s foodie travelogue show No Reservations (”all new #142″), I found myself enjoying his rather prosaic narrative voiceover, riddled with surly good humor as well as an unbridled enthusiasm for new experiences, moreover new food sensations. His candor and cadence enticed me to return viewings of the show and upon learning he was the writer of the somewhat notorious Kitchen Confidential, I knew I wanted to read that book. The fact that I’ve been consuming pretty much nothing but semi-humorous autobiographies in the book department this year made it a perfect fit.

The book hasn’t let me down. Bourdain has an assertive way with words and an assured style that seeps humour, sarcasm, earnestness, affection, and bitterness all at different times. Bourdain recounts his first discovery of food as something more than just sustenance, but a sensory experience and how that led him into the business of working in kitchens, of learning the stations and the attitude needed to survive in an almost militaristic setting, not to mention absorbing the knowledge of flavours and textures and presentation, as well as the business end of things like an eager sponge.

The book is a record of Bourdain’s personal journey in dozens of kitchens throughout New York (and elsewhere from time to time), recounting the people he met, cooks, waiters, owners, patrons along the way that helped him grow as a chef, as a businessman and as an individual. The journey was an arduous one, the shenanigans they got up to with his co-workers, the drugs and alcohol, the highs and the copious lows as he made his way to being not just a chef, but a respected one.

The book doesn’t glorify the chef’s life, nor does it demonize it. Bourdain obviously has great affection for his profession, and yet takes no pains to sugar coat its tortured reality. The restaurant business is high-stakes and volatile, chefs and staff hopping from kitchen to kitchen as the opportunity presents itself, a chef’s loyalty reserved for those who earn it.

Understanding what’s happening in the back room, the scramble you may catch through the order-up window or a swinging door is revealed in it’s full damnable glory, as well as some personal beefs of the business and good practices as a patron (such as when to order the fish and why you shouldn’t eat your steak well done).

I’m an amateur foodie, and I feel embarrassed to even call myself such after reading about Bourdain’s love and adventurousness with food. Even though Bourdain’s prose is riddled with food and kitchen terminology which sometimes are explained and other times left alone, as if you know, this is a book accessible to anyone, not just chefs or foodies. It’s thoroughly engrossing, highly amusing, and on more than one occasion I found myself salivating at his rather loving descriptions of meals he’s prepped or eaten.

Tags: 200

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[...consumed all new #199] Wednesday Comics #2 (of 12)

July 19th, 2009 Graig

Now that we have a second issue we can see where these stories are going:

Batman - Azzarello and Rizzo have drummed up a pulp noir tale complete with murder, attempted murder, the upper class, mystery, and a femme fatale. Rizzo’s layout is superb, really nabbing the newspaper serial feel.

Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth - Ryan Sook’s art is absolutely stunning, a luscious tribute to Jack Kirby’s creation with an unfortunately tedious dime-novel prosaic narrative from Dave Gibbons.

Superman - Last issue, Superman battled an alien creature who shook the hero’s foundation with a simple question. Now Clark visits Gotham and his old pal Bruce looking for answers. John Acrudi’s story seems simple but poignant and Lee Bermejo expertly captures the facial nuances in his lavish, tangible art that the story’s emotional underpinning really needs.

Deadman - “The Dearly Departed Detective Part II”, as Deadman goes on the hunt to take down a serial killer using his unique abilities, he’s warned off by his benefactor. But her warning falls on deaf ears, as Boston Brand winds in a situation beyond his control. Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck’s story started off choppy but has established itself nicely here, with Bullock’s “Animated” art allied with a heavy dose of ink, complimenting the story nicely with some playful panel arrangements.

Green Lantern - After last issues meandering opening as Ferris Aircraft employees gabbed away while bellying up to the bar, I thought perhaps Kurt Busiek didn’t understand how to use this new format to its maximum effect, but this issue’s strip, he seems to be more than aware of his medium and is putting together something very adventurous in construction. Joe Quenones’ New Frontier-inspired art is magnifique.

Metamorpho - It’s Neal Gaiman and Mike Allred, need I say more? Okay, there’s a sub-feature here, “A Message For YOU From The Metamorpho Fans Of America”… blue blazes, that’s a club I want to join.

Teen Titans - The current-ish Teen Titans roster squares off against the new Trident, only to have their butts handed to them and the older Titans coming to their rescue. Robin is embarassed. The story by Eddie Berganza is one of the least enticing in the Wednesday Comics roster, and Sean Galloway’s art, while colored with a pleasant anime style, doesn’t give much in the way of dynamic visuals or layout.

Strange Adventures - Paul Pope delivers the pulpiest of pulpy sci-fi tales as Adam Strange takes on a horde of invading monkeymen, only to have his beloved (and scantily clad) Alanna taken hostage. What a pickle. It’s terrifically entertaining and so visually curious.

Supergirl - It’s a delightfully light and fluffy tale from husband and wife duo of Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor as Supergirl chases Streaky the Super-cat and Krypto the Super-dog throughout Metropolis, wreaking havoc as they go.

Metal Men - Dan Didio writes (!) a retro-70’s set piece for Jose Luis Garcia Lopez and Kevin Knowlan to illustrate, as the Metal Men foil a bank robbery. It may not seem like much, but it just oozes that classic 70’s comic vibe and it’s quite a treat.

Wonder Woman - The murky visuals of Ben Caldwell’s plus the panel-cramped page of the first chapter made this second chapter an unfortunate skip. Caldwell looks to be attempting much bang for the buck with his page, but it’s a chore to read.

Sgt. Rock - The story by Adam Kubert is perfectly okay (Sarge has been caught by the enemy and is undergoing interrogation) but the nine-panel grid layout of the story, not unlike any normal comic book page, reveals an unfortunate lack of invention on legendary creator Joe Kubert’s part. Think outside the box.

The Flash/Iris West - Karl Kerschl and Brendan Fletcher’s double strip page tells one story using two styles. It’s wacky, it’s fun, and Kerschl is obviously having great fun with the format. The story involves an almost sit-com style set-up that involves time travel. Perhaps the best among them.

The Demon/Catwoman - Selena has just escaped from a dinner date with Jason Blood which was a pretense for scoping out his mansion, unaware that as she returns in full catsuit later that night, there are malevolent forces lying in wait for her. Walt Simonson doles out an unexpected team-up while Brian Stelfreeze bangs out a great looking page.

Hawkman - It’s freakin’ Kyle Baker writing and drawing Hawkman. How great is that. Pretty great, in fact, as Hawkman takes on a some hijackers aboard a passenger flight. “Your companions are dead. The rest of you will envy them before I’m done with you.” Hawkman = badass.

I give this an 11.5/15.

Tags: 199

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[...consumed all new #198] Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2 (of 3)

July 19th, 2009 Graig

The previous issue found our Thor-like skeletal-horseface hero making a solemn vow to end the terror and suffering, not to mention the cataclysmic planet-eating, of his purpleness-of-hunger, Galactus, once and for all. His heroically nobel deed aided an entire population off their homeworld and to new terrain, sparing them their bitter fate. But Stardust and the Silver Surfer, Galactus’ heralds, aren’t about to stand idly by and let this feather-helmeted freakshow interfere with their business, which leads to this issue’s showdown between the power cosmic of the Surfer versus Bill’s Stormbreaker hammer, while Stardust tracks the refugees to their new homeland and decrees them to once again be Galactus’ next victims. Writer Kieron Gillen’s first issue was entertaining, but this issue brings a host of devilish twists into play as Beta Ray Bill finds himself taking on a task that he has no hope in achieving, a somewhat twisted take on David and Goliath. Penciler Kano, with Alvaro Lopez on ink and Javier Rodriguez on colors, delivers a good looking book, high on intense, hard-hitting action while nicely establishing alien worlds, technologies and species. The book does cost $3.99, featuring two 22-page stories each issue, with the back-up reprinting Beta Ray Bill’s first appearances from Thor 337 - 339 by Walt Simonson. A good deal if you’ve not already read them a half dozen times.

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[...consumed all new #197] The Brave and the Bold #25

July 19th, 2009 Graig

The Milestone characters’ transition into the DC Universe proper hasn’t exactly been a graceful one. Static’s emerging in the pages of Terror Titans mini-series provided little value to the character and only marginally more to the series, while the Shadow Cabinet’s higher-profile arrival in the pages of Milestone founder Dwayne McDuffie’s Justice League of America run seemed just as coherent as the rest of his run (which was marred by editorial edicts and continuity kerfuffles). But the Milestone characters get their spotlight in DC’s team-up book, The Brave and the Bold, currently in middle of a run of three stand-alone issues. Last issue saw the pairing of Static and Black Lightning, whilst next issue reintroduces Xombi as he meets the Spectre (written by Xombi creator John Rozum, sweet).

This issue find Hardware reluctantly teaming up with the Blue Beetle as they strive to stop an Intergang armaments exchange to The System in Northern Mexico. Hardware has a connection to the buyers from back in Dakota, so he he has a vested interest in ensuring that the transfer doesn’t happen. Beetle, still a bit young, still a bit inexperienced, seems to only be getting in his way, but must prove to the grizzled armored fighter that he can more than hold his own.

Writer Adam Beechen works hard to bring Hardware’s story, now well over a decade since last published, back into the fore, and with middling results. At this stage, most Milestone readers will be hard-pressed to recall where Hardware’s story left off, or really remember the man’s personality, his convictions, and so it’s really tough to say whether Beechen gets it right. His Blue Beetle, on the other hand, is still relatively fresh off cancellation (now appearing as a back-up feature in Booster Gold) and he’s not exactly on-character either, a bit more hip-hop than he usually is.

Roger Robinson and Hilary Barta handle the art chores decently enough, nothing spectacular, but fully serviceable in telling the story. The story itself is of the done-in-one-but-leaving-room-for-more sort, a real 70’s-style team-up story, and it is enjoyable, if far from enthralling. But these days, $3 - $4 a comic, you really do need that little something more.

Tags: 197

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[...consumed all new #196] The Brave and the Bold

July 19th, 2009 Graig

I had yet to see an episode of the new Batman team-up cartoon, The Brave and the Bold, save for a few curious glances on youtube, but I have to say I really, really like what I saw. Finally here’s a younger-audience superhero adventure cartoon that doesn’t isolate an older audience, though some of the grandiose dialogue and cheeky repartee may not sit well with people who like their superheroes dark. TBATB takes Batman and brightens him up, no longer the dark knight, but not quite to Adam West levels either.

Each show starts with a 1 minute bumper team up (this episode was Batman and the Question) with the main episode story containing a different pairing. Here we had a triple threat, with Batman meeting up with a depressed Aquaman and the duo accidentally getting tagged by a Zeta beam and transported to the planet Rann. There they meet it’s Earthly champion, Adam Strange, the sole protector of their otherwise docile and technically advanced civilization. The lizard-like aliens, the Gordanians have invaded and it’s up to the three heros to overthrow the wanna-be rulers.

It’s a rip-snorting fun time, with vibrant, blocky animation that finally breaks from the Bruce Timm mold, and, what I love most, lots of b-list (and lower) superheroes (yay). I watched this with my wife, but think watching it with my step-son would be even more fun.

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[...consumed anew #195] Muppets On-Line

July 19th, 2009 Graig

The Muppets re-do some classical compositions for the web…

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[...consumed all new #194] The Invincible Iron Man

July 19th, 2009 Graig

Marvel has produced a few direct-to-video animated features over the years, featuring some pretty great animation that’s above and beyond what’s normally seen on Saturday morning fare, but not quite up to snuff with a theatrical release. Their target, unlike most cartoons, are for a teen-plus audience, meaning the action is more intense and some of the themes are a bit more mature.

The Invincible Iron Man predated the Jon Favreau directed blockbuster by about 9-months, which is rather unfortunate as the animated feature covers a lot of the familiar ground that the live-action film did, only in a slight variation. The telling and retelling of origin stories is one of the most annoying aspects of translating superheroes to other media, and it shows a decided lack of creativity and inventiveness on the part of the producers of these various productions in doing so.

In the animated feature, Tony Stark squares off against the Mandarin, or rather his demonic henchmen, after Stark Industries helps resurrect a buried temple which unleashes ancient malevolent Chinese forces. There’s subplots involving an anti-Mandarin cult, a love story, and corporate intrigue at Stark Industries, together with the Rhodey/Tony bromance and the tedious Iron Man origin. They pack in a lot, and it looks good, but it feels too familiar, and, if anything, the animation doesn’t take advantage of it’s limitless storytelling and action possibilities, thus the fight sequences are kind of bland.

Unlike DC Comics’ direct-to-video features, Marvel’s productions keep costs down by hiring workhorse voice actors (familiar to most Saturday morning watchers, or viewers of dubbed Anime) instead of celebrity voice talent. One’s not preferable to the other as long as they both work, which they do (in fact, sometimes the “spot the celebrity” can be distracting).

Tags: 194

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[...consumed all new #193] Hotbox

July 19th, 2009 Graig

Canadian sketch comedy has long had two levels: pandering populist crap and the irreverent cutting-edge, only rarely, such as with Rick Mercer, have the twain met. For every Kids in the Hall there’s a Smith & Smith, for Codco an Air Farce. We do have a history of some great, if underexposed sketch comedy - SCTV, Four on the Floor, The Vacant Lot, Radio Free Vestibule, Corky and the Juicepigs - but we also have our weak teas - our Wayne and Shuster, our Comedy Inc., our Bizarre, the latter of which seem to enjoy some unfortunate longevity. So when a new Canadian-bred sketch comedy show pops up, one has to cast a wary eye towards it.

Hotbox is the brainchild of Pat Thornton, a sketch comedy show more in the vein of Tim and Eric than Mad TV, dispensing with the studio audience and going full bore production sketches, with some keen retro-styled animation for the title sequence and acting as bumpers before commercial breaks. The humor is generally irreverent, often oblique, dark, or nonsensical, but, most importantly, nine times out of ten, it’s funny. Thornton enlists a slew of recognizable faces (if you know Canadian comedy at all, at least) for the show, plus animators and puppets. The production values are great… we’ve gotten far away from any “Canadian” aesthetic. Like most Comedy Network shows, Hotbox is watchable on-line

Tags: 193

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[...consumed all new #192] Superjail

July 15th, 2009 Graig

There was a time where I would buy into anything the Adult Swim line of 15 minute programming was doling out. But after four or five years, when Sealab and Aqua Teen’s humour descended to yelling and extreme sudden violence as comedy, my fanaticism started to wane. Plus, GAK moved from New York to Tokyo and my lifeline to Adult Swim was cut off. New shows like Morel Orel, Squidbillies and Metalocalypse were suddenly unknown commodities and I was wary of their quality. But Tom Goes To The Mayor gave way to Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job and Sealab gave way to Frisky Dingo so there was still quality going on. But for every Boondocks there’s The Family Guy (seriously, we have Adult Swim to thank for that… *shudder*), for every Robot Chicken there’s an Assy McGee.

As more Adult Swim shows start cropping up on Teletoon and G4TV, I’m getting to check out what’s been offered, and while Delocated was a bit of a surprise, Superjail is a total bloody mess.

The first barrier to entry with Superjail is it’s artistic style, which is like squigglevision (Dr. Katz) meets early Mike Judge, mixed with Klasky Csupo (Duckman) as if templated by Jeffrey Brown. To be clear, it’s ass ugly, primitive-looking animation, as if it were doodled in the marginalia of a 14-year-old’s history class notes. Hell there might as well be blue lines and three hole paper along the side of the screen because it looks perpetually doodled.

The titular Superjail is where the harshest of harsh criminals go, captured by the sleek Killbot at the beginning of each episode, the title sequence changing with each show (about the only segment of the show I actually like) as Killbot drags them off to the volcanic location. Once inside the mayhem begins, as the deranged, Willy Wonka-esque warden (voiced by David Wain) sets about with his sociological or psychological experiments, often involving his dwarf accountant, his butch head guard, and resident doctor venturing out amidst the population.

If I thought that Aqua Teen and Sealab moved too deeply into violence-as-humour in their later years, but it’s solely Superjail’s stock-in-trade. The bulk of a 15 minute episode will be consumed by senseless mayhem, to the point that it’s borderline surreal… an intense barrage on the senses. I found the first episode I watched unpleasant, but the second episode curious as I tried to understand the nature of the show.

Alas, it’s not for me.

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[...consumed all new #191] The Bicycle Thief

July 12th, 2009 Graig

Probably the most famous film to come out of Italy, The Bicycle Thief is set post-WWII when destitution and desperation were at an all time high. People who were unemployed were desperate for work, pawning their possessions, bed sheets and linens even, just to survive, sending their children out for employ just to bring in something extra. Ricci finally gets a summons to be help put up posters, but he will need a bicycle to transport himself around the city, pasting up the Rita Hayworth portraits he’s been given. Scrounging together with his wife to pull his bicycle out of hock, he’s absolutely elated to start his new job, given a bucket of paste, and a ladder which he precariously balances on his arm while cycling. The film’s title gives away the catalyst for the film’s main story, and director Vittorio De Sica, along with his composer, build the intensity on when and where the bicycle will get stolen. And it is intense, heartbreakingly so. The times, so tragic and tough, Ricci’s desperation so palpable, that the film is nearly unbearable to watch as the man and his son race through Roma in search of the proverbial needle in a haystack. This is realist cinema to the extreme (”neorealist”) , not a trace of Hollywood sanctimony or patronization, there’s no happy ending here. I wasn’t expecting a pre-1950’s film to be this brutally honest, this so thoroughly realistic. I yearned for a feel-good resolution which never came, some sort of miraculous deus ex machina twist to make Ricci’s plight all better. Alas.

I’ve not been exposed to a lot of native Italian culture (only the cross-ocean Canadian and New York) but I see where the cliches and sterotypes get their origins, as well as the mannerisms and attitudes, the sense of family and community. This film is a fascinating time capsule outside of it’s morose story.

Like how watching a film taking place in the hot, dry heat of a desert makes you psychosomatically thirsty, this film will make you feel absolutely grateful to have a job, any job with which to support yourself.

Tags: 191

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[...consumed all new #190] Hertzfeldt

July 11th, 2009 Graig

Just discovered Don Hertzfeldt and… well see for yourself (not safe for kids or the squemish).

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[...consumed all new #189] Web Soup

July 11th, 2009 Graig

From the makers of E!’s The Soup (formerly Talk Soup), G4TV’s Web Soup takes a look at the bounty of videos offered on the net and makes fun of them. Simple really. Host Chris Hardwick is no Hal Sparks, but we’ll see how he fares after a few episodes. I guess the thing about it is, Attack of the Show does much the same things only allowing the sadness that are these videos to speak for themselves.

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[...consumed all new #188] Sebastian O tpb

July 11th, 2009 Graig

Grant Morrison’s blending of Oscar Wilde with the Marquis De Sade into an adventurous anti-hero in an alternate steampunk Victorian England. Full of decadence and excess, the tale is a demented dose of action and whimsy despite the rather disgusting undercurrent to its titular character. In his introduction Morrison reveals an elaborate timeline of the title character’s most notable moments, giving this collection of the 3-issue mini-series from 1993 as sense of being a part of something larger, but also having the negative effect of feeling less significant as a stand-alone story.

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[...consumed all new #187] Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire

July 11th, 2009 Graig

It was Star Trek: The Next Generation that made syndicated TV programming acceptable for more than just game shows and talk shows, bringing it out of you know, traditional afternoon fare. Thanks to the success TNG, we’ve received dozens upon dozens of syndicated genre shows, some SciFi like Stargate, but the more popular ones have a fantasy twinge to them, reaching their apex with Xena and Hercules. Now these live action cartoons are, at best, guilty pleasures, quality control always suspect given the restricted budgets and inherent camp value in the bulk of them, so it’s almost self-satire, making an outright parody unnecessary. So, when I Comedy Central’s Krod Mandoon advertised weeks in advance of its Canadian premiere on City TV, I was ready to dismiss it completely (as I do almost all syndicated genre shows) save for the fact that it co-stars Little Britain’s Matt Lucas, so I thought there had to be some redeeming quality to it.

I was surprised to find myself genuinely laughing at the show, which turns out to be more of a Naked Gun or Mel Brooks-style adventure-comedy than the “____ Movie” or Wayans Brothers form of “parody”. It’s silly as hell and it lampoons a lot of the conventions of the low-budget fantasy show, much as Austin Powers did the spy genre, but it also generates its own humor situationally and through characterization. It’s not memorable comedy but it’s certainly passable entertainment.

Tags: 187

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[...consumed all new #186] Doctor Who

July 8th, 2009 Graig

Since Tennant took over the role, I’ve not actually watched more than two episodes (after watching all if Eccleston’s “first” season). I was surprised to find that Britain’s heir to French and Saunders’ femme comedy crown, Catherine Tate, is/was a regular sidekick. A mega-star in the UK, it’s interesting that she’d take a supporting role, but I imagine its to gain the international exposure that Doctor Who can provide.

The episode was a pretty good one, about the human race’s empire in the 4200 and their wicked enslavement of an entire species bred into servitude. The Doctor and his companion investigate into the enslavement and all too easily free the across the galaxy, naturally (really, this should spawn a war of sort between those who wish them to be free and those not wanting to see any change).

Tags: 186

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[...consumed all new #185] The Big Lebowski - 10th Anniversary Special Edition bonus features

July 8th, 2009 Graig

With a “10 Years Later” featurette with the main stars, what came through most clearly was how much the cast enjoyed making the movie and even more how much they still enjoy the movie. Knowing that the cast would love a sequel but also that the Coen Bros. don’t do sequels is slightly aggravating.

There’s a great feature called “Jeff Bridges Photo Gallery” where Bridges narrates his way through a photo album he made of photos he took during the shooting. It’s an absolute delight, as Bridges revels in the memories, some fresh and some half-forgotten as he flips through the pages, like some read-along kids show on PBS in the 70’s.

There’s also a location map, for any Lebowski pilgrims to find the places (although two of the sites have been torn down and made into schools, including, sadly, the bowling alley) and a mini-documentary on the Lebowski convention and the “Achievers”.

Unfortunately, no commentary (I’d take a triple dip for a cast commentary… I’d even switch to Blu-Ray).

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[...consumed all new #184] The Accidental Spy

July 5th, 2009 Graig

Jackie Chan plays… Jackie Chan? Jesus, I hate redubs of Asian action films. Yet I watched the whole hatchet job on this film when I probably could have been sleeping. The plot of this film is insanely convoluted, made even more so by the butchering of the dialogue to such a degree that I’m almost positive they didn’t even bother translating the dialogue, but rather coming up with a script from just watching the film. Chan’s action sequences are plentiful, and great as usual, but the story and characters are hard to get behind (I think had they made more sense, it wouldn’t have been so bad). I found it funny that I flipped between from Borat (on Showcase) to The Accidental Spy (on CTV) and within a fifteen minute span I saw two nude fight sequences.

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[...consumed all new #183] ShakespeaRe-Told: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

July 5th, 2009 Graig

Of the four ShakespeaRe-Told films, this one is far and away the weakest. It’s script is banal, it’s characters flimsy and annoying, and its pacing is awkard. The play is set in the modern day, at an upscale cottage retreat where Theo and Polly are holding an engagement party for their daughter, Hermia, and her life-long boyfriend James. But Hermia is really in love with Zander who crashes the party and absconds with Hermia, infuriating Theo. Meanwhile Hermia’s best friend Helena has had an ages-long crush on James, but when James discovers this, he pushes her away. Meanwhile, Theo and Polly’s relationship crumbles as he once again refuses to listen to her voice of reason. All fine and good, except all this relationship drama is handled with all the tact and subtlety of [enter teen drama of your choice here]. Throwing a further crap-wrench into the mix is the interference of the trickster Puck, and the King and Queen of the Faerie, Oberon and Titania, as well as a quintet of park workers who are preparing the party’s entertainment. Unlike the other Re-Told’s which bring things into a fully modern setting, the idea of the Faerie aren’t made tangible, and the maguffin of the “love juice” which causes much consternation and confusion for Hermia, Zander, James and Helena is beyond aggravating a plot device.

I think the producers should have went with an Indian-themed adaptation of the play, keeping the arranged marriage in-tact. Still not sure what to do about the Faerie, but given 20 minutes and some Google-based research I’m sure I could come up with something.

This one just seemed lazy. I’m glad it was the last of them I watched, as I probably wouldn’t have approached any of the others had I watched it before them.

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[...consumed all new #182] Delocated

July 3rd, 2009 Graig

Years, and years, and years ago, on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, they introduced a sketch character who was a stand up comic and impressionist but in the witness relocation program. The joke was that he’d come out and perform in a balaclava with his voice modified (as they’d do for deep throats on 60 Minutes) and doing impersonations.

Over 10 years later, that character… or rather the idea of that character, was spun off into his own show as another 15-minute gem in the Adult Swim lineup. In Delocated, “Tom” has agreed to appear in a reality TV show, which, for someone in the witness relocation program, is not an incredibly smart idea. He moves into an apartment in New York, along with his wife and son (both adorning balaclavas) where they quickly leave him, and he just as quickly rebounds and puts himself back on the market. A fateful encounter with demi-celebrity Paul Rudd puts him on notice that the men trying to kill him know where to find him (the assassin played by Eugene Mirman).

It’s a funny concept and an often funny show (even outside of its concept) from the creators of Wonder Showzen, but after one episode I’m not sure how much longevity it has.

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