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Review: Walking Dead Issue 70 – Old Rick vs New Rick

It’s been what?  Five years now since Rick was smacked on the head with a shovel while prowling outside his own home.

Did you ever get the idea that Rick died right there an then and the rest of “The Walking Dead” has been some kind of melodramatic Hell? A Purgatory for Rick who woke up after the world had ended but didn’t move on with his family.

I’m beginning to think that if it isn’t; perhaps now it’s time to just end the thing.

All of the twists have been turned; kids have been eaten.  Babies blown to bits by shotguns; rapists roam freely.

If Robert Kirkman hasn’t been describing Hell, he’s bound to be close.

The Walking Dead 70 drops the remaining survivors in what appears to be a safe town; and I say that with all the foreboding we should just expect now.  There is no safe town for Rick and crew, right?  The series can’t possibly just become a day-to-day about surviving comfortably… right?

If this panel doesn’t set off your “Oh shit that kid is getting beat at home alarm” then you haven’t been reading this comic.  Yeah, and uh, that is rick now.  He must be hungry all the time now.

Nothing plot wise goes down in this issue; however as there hasn’t been a real plot since the end of the Governor plot-line why should that matter?  I think I continue to read this comic just to find out what happens in the end.  Please, Rob, End this soon.

Review: The Dark Knight was Rubbish when compared to District 9

If Sharlton Copley is not up for an Oscar for best actor this year I will be very disappointed.  Eric Bana deserved on for his jocular killer in Chopper, Russel Crowe deserved on for his steeley eyed racist in Romper Stomper and Edward Norton deserved on for his Nazi-sympathizing lead in American History X.

As “Wickers” (that’s how I heard it – it’s Wikus)  Sharlton plays the kind of casual racist who seldom gets to be front and center; a man so craven and cowardly that his old bold act is to proclaim that he loves his wife and that he thinks she is an angel.  He casually refers to the Aliens as “The Prawn” in much the same way a southern preacher might put forth “The Negro” circa 1844.  Wickers is weak, obsequious and in love with the limited authority being the boss’ son in law gives him.  He doesn’t appear to seek the lime-light, save for the appreciation of his superiors and as a career bureaucrat he would put Hermes Conrad to shame, going so far as to point out the contraband around him even as he is being helped by the very people he casually dismisses as lower than him.

It is this performance, a real, vivid and at times sympathetic performance around which District 9 is drawn.  The sweaty, craven center of an amazing film tootsie-pop.  He cows to criminals and is easily frightened by the (typical) bald headed psychopath [security officer] who [we learn later] is in it for the killing.    The effects are great, the Aliens alive and interesting and the action sequences are legitimate action sequences, especially the very first bit of surprise action, which I will endeavour not to spoil.

There are two scenes that shine, the first is when Wikus is alone and dealing with his lot in life, the desperation, the need to hide his troubles from his friends and family; the second is the “twist” moment when Wikus is faced with the hard realities of his life and his place in the world.  The entire theatre held their collective breath and my wife was stricken by it, the performance was that powerful, his pleading, his praying his wishes for it to be taken from him.  Breathtakingly real and authentic.

I would hazard to rate this the greatest movie of 2009; greater than any single movie that has arrived this year.   Please, do not pass on a chance to visit a theater and see this movie

Review: Walking Dead 64: Finally! Something to Smile about

Dale has a big Surprise
Dale has a big Surprise

After about what 10 issues of “Let’s Shit on the main cast some more” we get an issue where Rick is neither a giant blubbering douche or leading his son into mortal danger.  While it opens with Dale getting served as a nice leg-o-retiree but at least it’s amusing;  see, Dale is laughing!  It’s not all bad being kidnapped by cannibals during a zombie apocalypse, clearly there’s some kind of upside.

The Cannibals would be a nice change of pace if it wasn’t for the roving rapists from a few issues back. The Man’s inhumanity towards man plotline was pretty much settled during the climax of the fourth year with Rick losing his entire family and 75% of the main cast dying.  Adding more “Oh, here’s some more people who gave up on humanity after the big die off” is just ridiculous, it might be more realistic (in comic logic) but it’s not really.  People tend to bunch up in adversity and while some fall to criminality and lawlessness, the majority try to get by and survive, a cannibal community doesn’t exactly have survival in mind, does it?

Oh well, overlooking this clunker of a plot point (seriously, it just sets up more people for murder by Rick and Son and doesn’t really make them any more heroic, just bloody handed) besides all that we don’t get to hear from the magic phone in this issue (so no insight into Rick’s mental state either).  There is a bit of action too, but it’s more of the “RUN AWAY” kind:

Run Away!
Run Away!

I won’t spoil it, since it sets up the first really badass moment we’ve seen in a while.

So thank-you Mr. Kirkman for making Issue 64 interesting, maybe the thought of a TV Series won’t seem so bad in light of an equally uplifting issue 65

Transformers was easy, at least GiJoe would be a challenge

I strongly disliked the Michael Bay “Transformers” movie.  So much so that I didn’t crack the DVD my Mother in Law got me for Xmas.   It’s sitting up on my Random Crap shelf with some tea lights and Mr. Skull.  I hated the way the source material was just “character names, object labels and places” then the rest was just drek.  G.i. Joe:Rise of Cobra may not be the Museum Quality reproduction of the source material that say “Sin City” was; but it’s no Wing Commander (AND I LIKED WING COMMANDER).

They do in fact toss out “Yo, Joe!” on occasion, there is some fist pumping when “good things” happen for the “good guys”.  The Joes are pretty much and inoffensive, well-armed and proactive UN NATO strike team (mostly staffed and led by Americans).  It loses the “American Hero” aspect but gains some credibility, in a “near future” world, post Iraq and Afghanistan, would NATO allow the Americans to concentrate and recruit the best and most quirky soldiers from their ranks?  Probably not, but from a secret base in a Torture friendly nation, sure!

I’m going to try and dance around the movie a bit; as I want to encourage at least one other G.i. Joe fan to see it before the week is out.  I’ll break it down like this; if you liked the Original Mummy and don’t mind a bunch of clunking dialog (“you said that knowing is half the battle”) then this movie is for you.  There’s a couple of really great fight scenes, a great car chase and the “accelerator suits” give some of the best acrobatic run and gun sequences in the movie (they made it awesome, haters)

The concept of how Cobra is coming to “rise” is fairly believable; having the backing of the worlds largest arms manufacturer.  No prizes for guessing his identity.  I walked into the movie knowing who would turn out to be Cobra Commander; but I have to admit that the movie threw me a rope-a-dope on the big reveal, the only early Cobra character left out of this movie was “Major Bludd” who I guess we’ll see in a later movie if this weekend goes well.

I’m struggling with how to portray this movie as a “good” movie without giving away the plot.  Everything that was set up by the general consensus as “this too will suck” really didn’t suck.  It was charming.  The plot is just a way to get from fight A to chase B and on to explosion C.  There are thudding lines like “you and what army?  My ARMY” cue giant vehicle and surrounding allies.   It’s hokey and obvious and that is why it is a positive thing.

This is a movie based upon an unabashed boys toy that was simply a series of flashy space-age weapons with ever-more outrageous features.  This movie accurately captures that idea, super weapons and overpowered soldiers slamming into each other for goals that are outrageous; but not overtly national in their scope.

I strongly recommend this movie; if only for the spectacle and I promise no urine or genital jokes at all.

Wot I Think of ‘Harry

Wot I Think of Harry

Number one Son.  Number one! Not Really, the post isn’t linked only my blog itself, too bad.

I really don’t have the Google Juice for anything beyond the most trenchant of topics (*cough* Drinking Games *cough*) but while I’ve been testing out Piwik as an open-source replacement for google analytics (that we can more tightly control and use for free internally) I’ve been amused by what search terms constantly show up (horsecock being number one for AGES)

So; thank-you to everyone who saw “Harry Potter is a Dick” on my blog and clicked on it, knowing that indeed Harry IS a dick and why do we keep paying for Harry Potter stuff anyway?  Oh yeah, because it is entertaining.

Wot I Think of ‘Harry

Wot I Think of Harry

Number one Son.  Number one! Not Really, the post isn’t linked only my blog itself, too bad.

I really don’t have the Google Juice for anything beyond the most trenchant of topics (*cough* Drinking Games *cough*) but while I’ve been testing out Piwik as an open-source replacement for google analytics (that we can more tightly control and use for free internally) I’ve been amused by what search terms constantly show up (horsecock being number one for AGES)

So; thank-you to everyone who saw “Harry Potter is a Dick” on my blog and clicked on it, knowing that indeed Harry IS a dick and why do we keep paying for Harry Potter stuff anyway?  Oh yeah, because it is entertaining.

Wot I Think of ‘Harry

Wot I Think of Harry

Number one Son.  Number one! Not Really, the post isn’t linked only my blog itself, too bad.

I really don’t have the Google Juice for anything beyond the most trenchant of topics (*cough* Drinking Games *cough*) but while I’ve been testing out Piwik as an open-source replacement for google analytics (that we can more tightly control and use for free internally) I’ve been amused by what search terms constantly show up (horsecock being number one for AGES)

So; thank-you to everyone who saw “Harry Potter is a Dick” on my blog and clicked on it, knowing that indeed Harry IS a dick and why do we keep paying for Harry Potter stuff anyway?  Oh yeah, because it is entertaining.

How I knew that in the end "Star Trek" wasn't a Nerd Flick

Somehow, all the familiar characters of the old show get themselves instantly put in charge of the bridge of the flagship of the Federation fleet. This does not compute.

–PZ Meyers

After reading an early review that expounded upon the majesty that was an utterly silent space battle I screwed my Nerd Protection Gear into place and went into the theatre expecting to be bored to death by the time the Chief Engineer explained that one could not simply go into Hyperspace and that the Kenetic and Inertial Dampners hadn’t been properly calibrated for such a level of accelleration…

I nodded off while I wrote that.

So it wasn’t that.  Not at all.  Which is great.  I would have been really disappointed in an Action Movie that didn’t make Nerds complain and whine about it’s level of authenticity.  It amazes me that when were are talking about a movie that takes place on space craft that move faster than light and shoot lasers we have to care about how realistic the plot is.  Really?

The only complaint I thought of as the movie got into gear was that they missed the timing on the car going over the cliff, how did they even miss it?  It’s a digitial edit, just just adjust the scene to match it or swap the whole jump into slow motion, take your pick.

I have no complaints about the casting as a whole save for the constant Lip Pursing that Spock was doing; seriously, was that a Zoolander impression?  All through the damn movie too.  It paid off when it became clear that he was just getting ready to eat Uhura’s head whole.

I’m not kidding.

Whole.

One Bite

He’s out of his Vulcan Mind.