Hiatus

I'm finally going back to work (on a brief post project and then "Trading Spouses"), so alienhero will be on hiatus until November. As I'm sure this will be a crushing disappointment to my three readers, I will try to post something every now and then.

Take care!

Coming Soon... The Death of the Movie Theatre?

Film Threat reprinted a recent L.A. Times article about fading interest in movie theatres. Even the kids don't like going anymore...

http://www.filmthreat.com/blog/?p=470

(Scroll down a bit to read the L.A. Times article.)

Who Wants to be a Superhero?

Is anyone else watching this? I certainly hope so. Who Wants to be a Superhero? (SciFi, Thursday 9pm) is one of the most ridiculous yet compelling things I’ve ever seen. The participants walk the line between self-parody and complete earnestness, while the show itself can’t decide between high camp and true competition. The result is nearly a disaster but somehow very entertaining. The challenges are actually pretty well thought out, and each one really does test an element of the would-be hero’s character. I was particularly impressed with the dogs in the second episode -- a frightening and intense experience. (Go Monkey Woman!) Stan Lee’s eliminations seem somewhat arbitrary at times, but it’s still fun to watch the godfather in action. I still don’t understand while I’m so compelled to rally behind a bunch of fools in silly costumes, but I can’t turn away. The show shouldn’t work, but it does.

Comic-Con 2006: Pics

At long last, I have finally posted my Comic-Con pics.

Click here to view (page may take a minute to load).

Quick Reviews

In theatres:

My Super Ex-Girlfriend – I don’t know why people are so quick to bash this movie. I really enjoyed it. It absolutely delivers what it promises. While it’s not a direct parody of superhero movies or comic books, it crosses their conventions with the romantic comedy formula to great success. It even sweetens the deal with some nice action and impressive special effects. Luke Wilson and Uma Thurman show solid comedic chops, well-supported by Rainn Wilson and Anna Faris. Yes, it’s corny. Yes, it’s goofy. Yes, it’s not exactly cool. But what did you expect?

Clerks II – It’s Clerks, part two. And it really is. It carries over all the anecdotal and reference-heavy jokes, goofball characters and down-to-earth charm from the first installment. It also has the same uneven pacing and lack of story, but you probably won’t even notice. My roommate calls it “a return to form for Kevin Smith.” It’s damn funny.

On DVD:

MirrorMask – An impressive oddity worth checking out, MirrorMask offers extremely impressive visuals but very little story. Most of the film follows our teenage heroine on her metaphorical journey through her inner dream world. Since we know it’s all a dream, there’s very little tension or real conflict. The rules of the dream also seem to change as needed, so the plot feels loose and contrived. However, it’s amazing to look at. At times, the creatures and virtual sets are jaw dropping. Bringing an illustrator’s touch, director Dave McKean shows the promise of a true visionary. I just wish Neil Gaiman’s script were more compelling.

Star Wars Auditions

After joking with friends about this SNL sketch last night, I had to track it down. If you've never seen Kevin Spacey as Christopher Walken auditioning for the part of Han Solo, it's not to be missed.

Enjoy it online here.

Comic-Con 2006: Lessons

A few words of advice from my experience this year:

Pre-register online – Duh. I learned this one the hard way. Comic-Con is no longer just a place where collectors swap old titles and illustrators shop their portfolios, it’s a trade show for the entire entertainment industry. As such, it draws a major crowd. Per the Comic-Con official site, they had to stop letting people in on Saturday around 12:30pm. The Sand Diego Convention Center was actually full! Of nerds!

Wear comfortable shoes – I know this should be obvious, but I mention this as an important public service announcement. I made the mistake of wearing an old pair of sneakers, and I suffered for it. Comfortable shoes aren’t just for lesbians anymore.

Bring snacks and beverages – Comic-Con food sucks, and it’s overpriced. A can of soda costs three bucks, just to give you an idea. Add to that the fact that you’ll have to waste time standing in line to get it. You’ll probably get stuck behind some guy talking about the length of the “queue” in a lame Python voice, and then you’ll be jailed for his murder. No fun.

Bags get heavy – Use discretion loading up on the free crap, and take only what you really need. Most of it’s junk you’re just going to throw out later, and it’s just dead weight -- like your soul.

Don’t carry too much cash – Unless you’ve saved up special for the event, you may want to limit yourself to a fixed daily budget. Comic-Con is designed to separate you from your ducats, and it’s really easy to start buying up everything you see. Do you really need that 9.9 CGC grade GROO variant cover? Will your girlfriend still talk to you if you wear that Squidbillies track jacket? Or do you really need that girlfriend?

Photos coming soon…

Comic-Con 2006: In Brief

Due to poor planning and ridiculous crowds, we weren’t able to get into Comic-Con on Saturday. We didn’t think to pre-register online, a mammoth mistake. When Rick, Sally and I arrived at the San Diego Convention Center at noon, it took us 15 minutes to walk to the end of the line -- just to walk! After waiting awhile in the 100 degree heat and barely moving forward, we decided to try again on Sunday.

Of course, this was an incredible disappointment, but we made the best of it. After lunch, we decided to relax by the pool. One woman soon started blaring the Black Eyed Peas from her iPod speaker system. No one seemed to mind too much, but soon the unedited version of “Let’s Get Retarded” began to play. Around the same time, we discovered AHEAD (Association on Higher Education and Disability) was hosting seminars all weekend at the hotel. Awsome.

We explored San Diego’s Old Town area that night. It’s this great concentration of old Spanish mission architecture, Mexican restaurants and drunk tourists. I really dug this place called The Alamo, a divey walk-up Mexican place with a full bar and a huge patio. O’Hungry’s seemed awesome just because it was called O’Hungry’s. Despite our simmering rage from the day’s disappointments, we had a very cool night overall.

I pre-registered us online the next morning, and Rick and I finally got into Comic-Con. And wow, it was huge and completely overwhelming! The hall hosted everything from gargantuan movie displays to humble artist tables and all the nerds in between. The crowds weren’t too bad for the first half of the day, and we covered a lot of ground fairly quickly. Booth babes and costumed geeks roamed the aisles. Everyone had something to sell, and good swag was hard to come by. I didn’t spend much, surprisingly. I was more focused on keeping my head from exploding due to sensory overload. Highlights included meeting Brian Posehn and Matt Fraction, both there signing for Image.

More details still to come…

South Park Rick

Per my buddy Rick, there's a better South Park character creator thingy here. Here is Rick's self-portrait:

He's a happy and well-adjusted person. Really.

A Scanner Darkly

I saw A Scanner Darkly today, and I'm still not sure what to make of it. It's an interesting film, definitely, and it delivers a respectable amount of strange weirdness. I like that. I like Keanu Reeves in it; he's a solid center, and the role suits his vague cluelessness. I like Robert Downey's paranoid nutjob. I like Woody Harrelson's wasteoid. I like Rory Cochrane's even more wasted wasteoid. And I like seeing Winona Ryder again. I like the rotoscoping cartoony look much more than I expected to; it works well for the triptastic subject matter, and it's even occasionally beautiful. I like a lot of the very artful and bizarre dialogue. I like that it's even funny sometimes. I like a lot about this film.

However, it really takes it's time. At 100 minutes, it feels really long. There's not so much of a plot as there are thematic elements that are being addressed, and the film is in no real hurry to do so. Tension underlies most of the scenes, but it doesn't really build much. While the sanity of Bob Arctor (Reeves) seems to be the biggest thing at stake, watching him unravel isn't enough to advance the story. I don't know enough about him to compel me, and what I know doesn't make me care much. It's the same with the other characters. Not that I need to love them, but they seem much more like representations than actual people. Yes, these may be stylistic choices, but they don't help to hold my interest.

As much as I appreciate what this film wants to be, I don't think it really succeeds. Was Richard Linklater really the right choice to adapt and direct this Philip K. Dick novel? With a more driving script and a more focused director, it might have been spectacular. As is, A Scanner Darkly meanders us to nowhere.