Movies, At Last

It's been over two months since I listed movies, so it is well past time that I caught up on them.

• The AvengersLots of fun. Never thought I'd see a superhero team movie, much less a successful one.
• Doctor Who: Terror of the AutonsCreepy mannequins come to life.
• The MuppetsEnjoyable, but I agree with Teena's assessment that they made a mistake in making the viewpoint character a new Muppet. It took too long to get to the characters we know.
• Iron Man 2Not as good as the first one, but still entertaining.
• Cowboys & AliensGreat cast.
• The Three MusketeersThe recent "clockpunk" version. This movie is completely preposterous, but it is a hell of a lot of fun.
• The Three MusketeersThis is the 1974 movie with Michael York, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Raquel Welch and many others. It was a lot funnier than I expected (and intentionally so, unlike the 2011 version). Some great fight sequences too.
• Doctor Who: The Claws of AxosYet another alien invasion.
• Laughter Is the Best Medicine Comedy show at the Alberta Rose Theatre. Fund-raiser for the Alzheimer's Association. We went mostly because a couple of MST3K alumni were performing. J. Elvis Weinstein was pretty good, but both Teena and I found Frank Conniff's delivery way off (and his material didn't do much for us either). The host, Dave "Gruber" Allen, was great. Before the show, he lip-synced to a few songs and played air guitar. He threw guitar picks to the audience after he "played" them.
  
  One of them landed near us.
• Go WestBuster Keaton was a fantastic comedian.
• The Four Musketeers Not as funny as the first movie, but still star-studded and very good.
• BraveWow. Absolutely fantastic. Up there withThe Incredibles.Loved this movie.
• Doctor Who: Snakedance One of my favorite Peter Davison stories.
• Doctor Who: Vengeance on VarosI haven't seen as many of Colin Baker's stories as I have the other Doctors. This one was unfamiliar.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2We finally got around to watching this. The movies got a lot better as this series progressed. We did feel that the battle for Hogwarts focused too much on the main characters. It would have been nice to have seen more of the other characters fighting.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Edition
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Extended Edition
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Extended Edition Teena and I watched one disc a night for nearly a week, which seems to be the ideal way to watch these movies.
• Doctor Who: The ChaseThe first Doctor flees through space and time from the Daleks.
• The Dark Knight Rises Very impressive. Great finale to Nolan's trilogy. Not a Batman I'm used to, but an interesting interpretation. Will be interested in watching all three movies on consecutive nights when this becomes available on DVD.
• Doctor Who: Ghost LightA rather confusing story. Apparently it got cut a lot during production.

Book catch-up next week.

No Books, Just Movies

Not that I haven't finished any books this week, but I've been putting off movies for over a month.

• Green LanternNot very good. I really do not understand the decision to open with narration over CGI stuff in space. Why not start with Hal Jordan, somebody the audience can relate to (even if he is a jerk)? He's going to have to learn the stuff that is covered in the opening sequence, so why not have the audience learn at the same time?
• RiffTrax: Galaxy Invader. A bad low-budget science fiction movie with a joke-filled commentary track. Lots of fun (the commentary, not the movie, which was pretty dire).
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Castle of Fu Manchu Teena & I watch enough MST3K movies that you know what this is.
• I, ClaudiusObtained through Netflix. This holds up amazingly well. Great stuff.
• Cowboy Bebop: The Movie [Special Edition]I used to watch a fair amount of anime. This was one of the best shows I watched, and the movie matches that quality. Good actors for the English dub, too.
• The Cabin in the WoodsReally enjoyed this. Ultimate statement in slasher movies.
• Captain America: The First AvengerPreposterous as all get out, but loads of fun. This is how you do a super-hero movie.
• Doctor Who: KindaOne of my favorite Peter Davison stories. Will be getting the sequel story, Snakedance in the near future.
• AmelieWonderful movie. Love the soundtrack too.

Breaking 100

100. Princess Knight, pt. 2 by Osamu Tezuka.
     
     I really enjoyed this, although I admit that the gender politics are rather problematic. But they're not too bad considering that this was created in Japan in the 50s. The ending is odd, because several new characters and plot twists show up late enough that their resolution feels rushed. But overall, I liked this story of a princess born with a boy's heart a lot. Tezuka basically invented Shojo manga with this story.
101. Jim Henson's Tale of Sand by Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl, & Ramon K. Perez.
     
     Beautiful artwork on this adaptation of an unmade screenplay Henson & Juhl worked on before the Muppets really took off. This is good, but didn't really grab me. It is very strange, which often is a plus for me, but in this case the strangeness didn't speak to me. (Checked out of the library.)
102. Annotated Sandman, vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, Leslie Klinger, et al.
     
     Not overly impressed with this. The annotations did not offer much in the way of insights into the story. There wasn't anything significant that I didn't already know, and occasionally the annotations about the details of the DC universe were incomplete or just plain wrong. (Library.)
103. Hitman, vol. 5: Tommy's Heroes by Garth Ennis & John McCrea.
     
     Nominally a super-hero comic, this bears little resemblance to most super-hero titles. The title character is, in fact, a hitman, although he only accepts contracts on bad guys. Great stuff, if often overly violent and over the top. And this collection contains Ennis's love-letter to Superman and the dream of America.
104. Northlanders, vol. 6: Thor's Daughter and Other Stories by Brian Wood, Simon Gane, et al.
     
     More viking stories. (Library.)
105. The Stuff of Legend, bk. 3 - A Jester's Tale by Mike Raicht, Brian Smith & Charles Paul Wilson III.
     
     For some reason, this volume didn't hold me as much as previous ones. It might be because I read it in fits & starts rather than straight through. It might be because I expected the story to be further along than it turned out to be. Still enjoyed it and looking forward to the next volume, though.

And now, movies:

• Mystery Science Theater 3000: Last of the Wild HorsesThe latest MST3K set is out!
• The Hunger Games. A really good and faithful job of adapting the book. The often shaky camera work sometimes bothered me, but that may have been exacerbated by the fact that we were sitting in the front row.
• MST3K: Code Name: Diamond HeadPilot for a Quinn Martin TV show that never got picket up.
• MST3K: Code Name: King DinosaurI am so lucky Teena also loves watching bad movies with snarky commentary.
• RiffTrax: Hand-Crafted Artisanal Shorts. There are some deeply weird educational shorts out there.
• RiffTrax: The Crater Lake Monster. An atrocious film from the 70s made bearable by some hilarious jokes.

Not Many Books

85. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
    
    Teena recommended this to me when she read it, but I kept putting it off. Then I realized the movie was coming soon, so I started it. My reading was interrupted by having my appendix removed, but I got back to it and finished it this week. I enjoyed this and am looking forward to seeing the movie soon. (Borrowed from Teena.)
86. Irredeemable, vol. 8 by Mark Waid, Peter Krause, et al.
    
    Still enjoying this series. But I am glad that Waid has a finish-point in mind. This is a story that should definitely come to an end and not drag on forever. (Checked out of the library.)
87. Fear Itself by Matt Fraction & Stuart Immonen.
    
    The latest Marvel cross-over. Okay, as these things go. (Library.)
88. Secret Avengers: Fear Itself by Nick Spencer, Scot Eaton, et al.
    
    Tie-in to the latest Marvel cross-over. (Library.)
89. Sweet Tooth, vol. 4: Endangered Species by Jeff Lemire.
    
    This series just keeps getting better.

And now: several weeks' worth of movies and the like

• Attack the BlockGreat British science fiction movie. The accents are occasionally hard to make out, and the protagonists start out unsympathetic, but it really comes together. I really liked this an heartily recommend it.
• The Venture Bros.: Season OneWatched this while recuperating. The episode that starts with an extensive quote from "Space Oddity" is the one that moved this series into one of my favorites.

And that's it. A medical emergency kind of preempted most of our movie plans.

Early Post

I'm expecting to be busy tomorrow afternoon, so I'm updating on a Saturday.

36. PunisherMax: Frank by Jason Aaron & Steve Dillon. Amazing exploration of the Punisher's past. (Checked out of the library.)
37. Dicebox, bk. 1: Wander by Jenn Manley Lee.
    
    
    
    Heard about this great web-comic at last years Stumptown Comics Fest. It sounded good, so I pre-ordered the first print collection. After several months of delays, the book recently arrived, and I read it. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did, I discovered it was worth the wait. Great story, wonderful characters and some amazing world-building. I have caught up online and now I need to wait for each new page. It's going to be tough. Highly recommended.
38. Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - The Battle of Tull by Robin Furth, Peter David & Michael Lark.
    
    How many volumes are we into this adaptation? Because this is book where we finally get to the beginning of the first book. Marvel has a cash cow that's going to last a good long time. (Borrowed from Teena.)
39. Batman: Through the Looking Glass by Bruce Jones & Sam Kieth.
    
    I love Kieth's art. The story didn't do much for me. (Library.)
40. B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth, vol. 2: Gods and Monsters by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis & Tyler Crook.
    
    Still very good, but getting very depressing. If the good guys don't start winning at least a few battles soon, I may give up on this series.
41. Incorruptible, vol. 5 by Mark Waid & Marcio Takara. (Library.)
42. Chronicles of Wormwood, vol. 2: The Last Battle by Garth Ennis & Oscar Jimenez. Sort of Ennis's version of Good Omens (albeit, not as funny). (Library.)
43. Unwritten, vol. 5: On to Genesis by Mike Carey, Peter Gross & Vince Locke.
    
    This continues to be my favorite comic currently being published. I love what it says about stories and how they affect the world (and vice versa). The best thing Vertigo has published since Sandman.
44. Essential Marvel Team-Up, vol. 1 by various. Nothing great, but certainly entertaining.
45. At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft & I.N.J. Culbard.
    
    I liked this comics adaptation of Lovecraft's novel quite a bit. The art might not be to everybody's taste, with clean, simple lines, but I liked it and think it works very well.

A few movies/DVDs/NetFlix WI items in the past couple of weeks:

• Rumble in the Bronx. I had never seen this before. The story makes about as much sense as any Jackie Chan movie (i.e. not much), but boy are the fights great. The man is just amazing.
• The Day The Universe ChangedJames Burke's documentary series about how the way we think about the universe affects the way we interact with it. This is fantastic. Wonderfully informative and entertaining. This is how history should be taught.
• Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The second Dalek story. There is a sequence where several of the characters flee through an eerily deserted London, trying to avoid Daleks that is just great.
• DalekmaniaDocumentary about the two 1960 Doctor Who theatrical movies. Pretty interesting. The sheer number of Dalek products was amazing.