I just caught up on a show that I Tivoed, so here's my thoughts:
Battlestar Galactica (episode 3.17):
Wow, I didn't see that coming. Now I kind of understand all the romantic complications that have been dragging along for the middle part of this season. I'm interested to see what comes of this as well. Okay, that's enough for the vague reactions, now it's SPOILER time.
So. Kara. Dead? Probably not. I've been reading comic books (of the superhero variety) long enough to suspect she'll be back. But how? I was beginning to think she might be a Cylon (one of the mysteeerious Final Five!) earlier in the episode, but now it seems like a fairly probable, um, possiblity. You've got the crazy visions, and the weird oracle lady (who I suspect is also a Cylon) repeating word-for-word what the other Cylon (Leonus? I forget his name, even though they said it several times this episode) said to her. Although it's interesting to see that her mother was a veteran of the first Cylon war. Maybe the Cylons fixed her up with an adopted Kara baby (which is an interesting concept in itself). So I'm betting the big cliffhanger in the finale will be the reveal that she's a Cylon. Although they'll probably surprise me.
As I mentioned, her death makes me see all the love quadrangle hoo-hah from earlier in the season in a whole new light. Obviously, if they're going to kill her off (or, as I suspect, keep her around but make a major change to her character and status on the show), they should deal with her relationship with Lee. But it would be too easy to get them together just before killing her off. That would make him a widower and really pile on the angst, which we really don't need. So, while it was dragged out for quite a while, I think I understand the reasons for it now. Nicely done, boys.
As for the prophecy/dream stuff, well, that's kind of a crapshoot anyway. Who knows if the writers even know exactly where they're going with this. But, the vision she was seeing was supposed to be a pointer to Earth, right? So what does it mean, and is she supposed to lead them (either humans or Cylons) to Earth somehow? If she's a Cylon, is this some sort of arcanic programming? I say this because it seems the Cylons apparently don't know who the "Final Five" (I hate that term) are, so they wouldn't know what's going on with her. Ah, who knows. I'm just throwing out ideas here, and they might be stupid ideas anyway.
Anyway, good episode. I'm starting to feel hooked, and I probably haven't been into a show this much since I was a big fan of The X-Files. Keep it up, fellas!
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
In which mental tangles get unraveled
Final Psychonauts Update:
So I finally finished the game. It's a pretty awesome game, and lots of fun. But before I talk about the final parts of the game, a few quick criticisms. The controls are a little goofy, especially when you're expected to navigate irregular paths and it's difficult to tell when you might fall into some chasm or something. I guess that ties into the other criticism, which is that the graphics are somewhat muddy. This might be unique to the Playstation 2 version of the game, as the Xbox and Gamecube (as well as the PC, if it's up to date) are a bit more powerful and might have better-defined visuals. These aren't dealbreakers by any means, but there were sections that were frustrating to get through due to these issues.
But enough negativity! Let's talk about the cool stuff! (by the way, SPOILERS for the end of the game in pretty much the rest of this post. And if you want to get caught up on my previous posts about the game, click the "Psychonauts" tag at the bottom of this post.) Since my last update, I was able to scale the tower of the insane asylum, free the kidnapped Psychonauts, and confront the evil mastermind who was planning to take over the world. After an explosive psychic battle, I had to confront him in his new form, a battle tank controlled by his disembodied brain. After defeating the tank, Raz's brain also gets separated from his body, and then the two brains end up intermingled, plunging you into a mental world that is a combination of both characters' psyches. Raz, as I might have mentioned earlier, has run away from his family's circus, so his mind is filled with tents, tightropes, trapezes, and other circus-related paraphernalia. It turns out that the bad guy, Coach Oleander, had some childhood trauma due to his butcher father's slaughter of his pet rabbits. So, his mind is filled with images of meat. Thus, we end up with a circus constructed of meat and filled with grinders that spit out monstrous versions of the Coach's rabbits. It's delightfully surreal. Unfortunately, the only picture I could find of the meat circus is not an especially good representation:
After some platforming sequences in which you have to protect a childhood version of the Coach, you end up fighting a gigantic version of his father the butcher:
Yikes. After defeating him, Raz's own nightmares make an appearance, as a freakish version of his father appears and taunts you into following him through a maze of tightropes, trampolines, and trapezes while flinging flaming juggling clubs at you. As we learned earlier, Raz's father forbade him from using psychic abilities, but Raz ran away to the psychic summer camp. He doesn't understand why his father is mean to him like this, since he suspects his father is also psychic.
Eventually, you make it through the obstacle course (which seems to be plagued by a some sort of ghost or apparition that keeps calling your name), only to get sucked back into the tent where you fought the butcher, where you discover that the two fathers have been conferring. They decide to team up against you, forcing you to fight the butcher again, but now he has flaming knives and you also have to dodge the explosive clubs that Raz's father throws from the sidelines. After defeating the butcher (he falls into a huge meat grinder), the apparition that you saw earlier breaks through into your (and Oleander's) psyche; it's Raz's father! As Raz suspected, he's also a psychic, and he was just trying to protect Raz. He defeats the evil mental version of himself, flinging it into the grinder as well. But then a freakish amalgamation of the two fathers rises from the grinder and renews the attack! Raz's father assures him that since it's his own mind, he's the powerful one here, and lends him all his psychic energy for the battle. So as you fight the combo-father, you assume a giant form of yourself consisting of mental energy. It's very cool. You're easily able to defeat the monster, and then disentangle yourself from Coach's mind. It's the end of the game, but, in a good scene that sets up future sequels that will probably never happen, the agents decide to ask Raz to become a Psychonaut.
It's a great ending to a fun game, and the scenes between Raz and his father are actually rather touching. His father had seemed mean and overbearing from what Raz said earlier in the game, but it turns out he just wants what's best for his son. That's one of the great things about this game: while it's incredibly enjoyable to use and develop your powers, and the script is very funny, the characters are very well drawn, such that you relate to them and come to care about them. That's something at which games can excel, since they place you in direct control of a character. It's good to see a game which uses this aspect so well. I highly recommend it.
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Bonus: Since this is my last Psychonauts post, I figured I would show a couple more cool pictures:
This is the "collective unconscious", from which you can enter any of the minds you previously visited.
And here's Raz blasting a "censor" with his mind. Cool!
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
UPDATED! Link-a-rooni
It's been a while since I did a link post, so here I go:
Kevin Melrose has an interview (accompanied by some nice art examples) with David Hahn over at Comics, Covered. Hahn is the new artist on Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, starting with the next issue. Also, by reading the interview I found out that he has a book called All Nighter coming out under DC's Minx imprint. Cool!
Speaking of Hahn, this might be common knowledge, but I just discovered that he is part of a studio of comics creators in Portland, Oregon called Mercury Studios. Other members include Jeff Parker, Colleen Coover, Terry Dodson, Pete Woods, and Steve Leiber, among others. Here's their blog, which I'll be adding to the sidebar.
Following links from some of the above people's blogs/sites, I came across this nice online comic by Sara Ryan and Ron Chan. Good art!
Today is Will Eisner's birthday, which is advantageous for me (stay tuned next week to see what I mean!). But, aside from that, check out this (naughty) self-portrait he did (via The Comics Reporter)!
CBR has an interesting interview (with preview) with Christopher Long, the writer of Image's upcoming Ward of the State, which is about foster children who are trained to be assassins.
The Beat has a link to a post on C.B. Cebulski's blog, which I wouldn't normally care about, except that he's talking about a one-shot issue he has coming up called Mystic Arcana. It's about Nico Minoru from Runaways and takes place in the gap between volume 1 and volume 2 of the series. I probably won't read it, since I think Cebulski is not a good writer, but the cover (by Marko Djurdjevic) is nice.
Same Hat! Same Hat! has a manga report from the New York Comic Con, with lots of pictures, including the original covers to the Japanese versions of Dragon Head. Cool! (via The Beat).
Also from Same Hat!, Simpsons-style drawings of the casts of Death Note and My Neighbor Totoro!
Rich Johnston's column this week has some pages from a cancelled Kill Bill comic by Adam Warren. Man, that would have been awesome. More details on Warren's DeviantArt page, which also has details of a Matrix comic that never came to be.
I've seen plenty of other links to this, but what the hey: Star Wars reimagined as a steampunk story set in Victorian times (you might have to scroll down the page a little). Cool!
Via Blog@Newsarama: James Jean's artwork had a "cameo" in The Departed!
And, after checking out James Jean's blog, I recommend this look at his process of drawing an ad for AND1. I love seeing step-by-step stuff like this.
Also from Blog@Newsarama: Evan Dorkin posts layouts from a Metal Men project that DC nixed. Is this the story that was going to be drawn by Mike Allred? Man, I wish it hadn't gotten cancelled.
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That's all I could find for the moment. The theme for the post appears to be "cancelled comics". As always with these link posts, I'll update it if I find something else later. Chow!
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UPDATE on 3/7: Vern, my favorite film critic, has reviews of Black Snake Moan and Zodiac. I like how he comments on the obsessive nature of the characters in Zodiac, and how certain events like shocking crimes can inspire that sort of obsession. As for Black Snake Moan, I want to offer a response to a criticism that he had. [SPOILER ahead] He thinks Justin Timberlake doesn't really work in his part because his character is supposed to be dangerous. In my opinion, that's not really true; his character is kind of mild-mannered, and he's been a positive influence in Ricci's character's live through his tender nature rather than by dominating and controlling her. He comes off as dangerous when he has a gun, but not because of his forceful personality, but because he HAS A GUN. But I guess it's just a difference of opinion. [end SPOILER] Also, Vern has a guest column on Nerve.com in which he criticises the Razzie Awards. Funny stuff!
Kevin Melrose has an interview (accompanied by some nice art examples) with David Hahn over at Comics, Covered. Hahn is the new artist on Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, starting with the next issue. Also, by reading the interview I found out that he has a book called All Nighter coming out under DC's Minx imprint. Cool!
Speaking of Hahn, this might be common knowledge, but I just discovered that he is part of a studio of comics creators in Portland, Oregon called Mercury Studios. Other members include Jeff Parker, Colleen Coover, Terry Dodson, Pete Woods, and Steve Leiber, among others. Here's their blog, which I'll be adding to the sidebar.
Following links from some of the above people's blogs/sites, I came across this nice online comic by Sara Ryan and Ron Chan. Good art!
Today is Will Eisner's birthday, which is advantageous for me (stay tuned next week to see what I mean!). But, aside from that, check out this (naughty) self-portrait he did (via The Comics Reporter)!
CBR has an interesting interview (with preview) with Christopher Long, the writer of Image's upcoming Ward of the State, which is about foster children who are trained to be assassins.
The Beat has a link to a post on C.B. Cebulski's blog, which I wouldn't normally care about, except that he's talking about a one-shot issue he has coming up called Mystic Arcana. It's about Nico Minoru from Runaways and takes place in the gap between volume 1 and volume 2 of the series. I probably won't read it, since I think Cebulski is not a good writer, but the cover (by Marko Djurdjevic) is nice.
Same Hat! Same Hat! has a manga report from the New York Comic Con, with lots of pictures, including the original covers to the Japanese versions of Dragon Head. Cool! (via The Beat).
Also from Same Hat!, Simpsons-style drawings of the casts of Death Note and My Neighbor Totoro!
Rich Johnston's column this week has some pages from a cancelled Kill Bill comic by Adam Warren. Man, that would have been awesome. More details on Warren's DeviantArt page, which also has details of a Matrix comic that never came to be.
I've seen plenty of other links to this, but what the hey: Star Wars reimagined as a steampunk story set in Victorian times (you might have to scroll down the page a little). Cool!
Via Blog@Newsarama: James Jean's artwork had a "cameo" in The Departed!
And, after checking out James Jean's blog, I recommend this look at his process of drawing an ad for AND1. I love seeing step-by-step stuff like this.
Also from Blog@Newsarama: Evan Dorkin posts layouts from a Metal Men project that DC nixed. Is this the story that was going to be drawn by Mike Allred? Man, I wish it hadn't gotten cancelled.
-----
That's all I could find for the moment. The theme for the post appears to be "cancelled comics". As always with these link posts, I'll update it if I find something else later. Chow!
-----
UPDATE on 3/7: Vern, my favorite film critic, has reviews of Black Snake Moan and Zodiac. I like how he comments on the obsessive nature of the characters in Zodiac, and how certain events like shocking crimes can inspire that sort of obsession. As for Black Snake Moan, I want to offer a response to a criticism that he had. [SPOILER ahead] He thinks Justin Timberlake doesn't really work in his part because his character is supposed to be dangerous. In my opinion, that's not really true; his character is kind of mild-mannered, and he's been a positive influence in Ricci's character's live through his tender nature rather than by dominating and controlling her. He comes off as dangerous when he has a gun, but not because of his forceful personality, but because he HAS A GUN. But I guess it's just a difference of opinion. [end SPOILER] Also, Vern has a guest column on Nerve.com in which he criticises the Razzie Awards. Funny stuff!
Monday, March 5, 2007
The week in which I might go bankrupt
Holy cow, lots of
New comics this week (Wednesday, 3/7/07):
By the way, thanks again to Chris Butcher for the shipping list. I also stole the image below from him. Hope he doesn't mind.
AUTHORITY #2 2.99
Ah, it's about time this showed up. Hopefully it will start coming out a bit more regularly. I liked the first issue, but I hope it kicks into gear now.
CRIMINAL #5 (MR) 2.99
This one finishes the first story arc of the book. Now, can someone answer me this question: Are the stories in this comic related, or just short stories with a similar theme? Just curious. The last issue was very tense, and ended on a cliffhanger, so I'm excited to read the resolution. I bet it won't be a happy ending.
DAREDEVIL BY FRANK MILLER & KLAUS JANSON OMNIBUS H 99.99
Whoo, I wish I could afford this. I've read Miller's run in the Daredevil Visionaries collections, but it would be cool to have it all in one huge volume like this.
DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN #2 (OF 7) 3.99
I thought the first issue of this was pretty good. Looks like I'm hooked.
DEATH NOTE VOL 10 TP 7.99
Oh, snap! I can't wait to read this! Jones already has a review up, so I'm guessing it's already out in bookstores. I'll have to look for it.
EC ARCHIVES TWO FISTED TALES VOL 1 HC 49.95
Another one I wish I could afford. Although, while I would like to read these, I don't know if I would necessarily want to own them, so I should look for them at the library. I'll make a mental note.
EX MACHINA VOL 5 SMOKE SMOKE TP (MR) 12.99
This was a really good story, so if you haven't read it, check it out. Plus, the trade has an awesome cover.
FANTASTIC FOUR #543 CW 3.99
This is an anniversary issue with some guest artists and such. I can't find information on who exactly will be contributing, but I'll be buying the book just for Paul Pope's Human Torch/Spider-Man story. Check out this colored version of the image I swiped from his blog a while back:
GARTH ENNIS 303 TP 19.99
This was a darn good miniseries. Good Ennis storytelling, with the old soldier/rumination on violence that he does so well. Plus a wish-fulfillment (for some) ending that's fairly shocking. I recommend it.
GHOST RIDER TRAIL OF TEARS #2 (OF 6) 2.99
Well, I bought the first issue of this, and it was kind of interesting. I would like to see an Ennis-written, supernatural western, but it just kind of introduced the main character and threw out some philosophy about the Civil War and racism. I might get this to see if it gets better (not that it was bad, just "meh", and Ghost Rider is a hard sell for me anyway).
IRON MAN HYPERVELOCITY #3 (OF 6) 2.99
Ooh, sweet! This comic has been awesome. I meant to review the last issue but never got around to it, so maybe I'll do a two-issue mega review! Hot-cha-cha-cha! (I was trying to sound Adam Warren-ish there, but I don't think I succeeded).
LIVING AND THE DEAD GN 9.95
The new book by Jason, whom I've heard a lot about but never read any of his stuff. Jog liked it, with the qualification that it's definitely not his best work. Maybe I'll check it out.
MARVEL ZOMBIES ARMY OF DARKNESS #1 2.99
This "Marvel Zombies" series has been so stupid, but apparently it's sold well, so they're going to milk it for all it's worth. The Army of Darkness crossover sounds like another stupidly funny idea, so I'll halfway consider getting it. But probably not.
MIDNIGHTER #5 2.99
Well, I'm not sure if this will finish the first story arc, or who will be doing the art. I've enjoyed the book, and I doubt that will change.
NAT TURNER BOOK 2 REVOLUTION TP 10.00
Well, I've been waiting for this for quite some time. My guess is that it will be good. Just a hunch.
NEWUNIVERSAL #4 2.99
More characters who resemble actors, with supernatural sci-fi worldbuilding. That's my guess, at least. Keep it interesting, Ellis!
SHAZAM THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #2 (OF 4) 5.99
Awesome. The first issue was great, and I bet this one is where the action really picks up. Go Jeff Smith! (By the way, what was the deal with the biggest debate point online being the nature of the Cap/Billy relationship? I'm not exactly a Captain Marvel fan, so I really don't care. But it seemed like every discussion I read was about whether Cap was a grown-up Billy or a separate entity. Weird.)
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Whew, that's a lot of stuff! I have a few TPB's I want to buy, but I'll probably have to wait after this deluge. But hey, no use complaining about buying good comics, right?
New comics this week (Wednesday, 3/7/07):
By the way, thanks again to Chris Butcher for the shipping list. I also stole the image below from him. Hope he doesn't mind.
AUTHORITY #2 2.99
Ah, it's about time this showed up. Hopefully it will start coming out a bit more regularly. I liked the first issue, but I hope it kicks into gear now.
CRIMINAL #5 (MR) 2.99
This one finishes the first story arc of the book. Now, can someone answer me this question: Are the stories in this comic related, or just short stories with a similar theme? Just curious. The last issue was very tense, and ended on a cliffhanger, so I'm excited to read the resolution. I bet it won't be a happy ending.
DAREDEVIL BY FRANK MILLER & KLAUS JANSON OMNIBUS H 99.99
Whoo, I wish I could afford this. I've read Miller's run in the Daredevil Visionaries collections, but it would be cool to have it all in one huge volume like this.
DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN #2 (OF 7) 3.99
I thought the first issue of this was pretty good. Looks like I'm hooked.
DEATH NOTE VOL 10 TP 7.99
Oh, snap! I can't wait to read this! Jones already has a review up, so I'm guessing it's already out in bookstores. I'll have to look for it.
EC ARCHIVES TWO FISTED TALES VOL 1 HC 49.95
Another one I wish I could afford. Although, while I would like to read these, I don't know if I would necessarily want to own them, so I should look for them at the library. I'll make a mental note.
EX MACHINA VOL 5 SMOKE SMOKE TP (MR) 12.99
This was a really good story, so if you haven't read it, check it out. Plus, the trade has an awesome cover.
FANTASTIC FOUR #543 CW 3.99
This is an anniversary issue with some guest artists and such. I can't find information on who exactly will be contributing, but I'll be buying the book just for Paul Pope's Human Torch/Spider-Man story. Check out this colored version of the image I swiped from his blog a while back:
GARTH ENNIS 303 TP 19.99
This was a darn good miniseries. Good Ennis storytelling, with the old soldier/rumination on violence that he does so well. Plus a wish-fulfillment (for some) ending that's fairly shocking. I recommend it.
GHOST RIDER TRAIL OF TEARS #2 (OF 6) 2.99
Well, I bought the first issue of this, and it was kind of interesting. I would like to see an Ennis-written, supernatural western, but it just kind of introduced the main character and threw out some philosophy about the Civil War and racism. I might get this to see if it gets better (not that it was bad, just "meh", and Ghost Rider is a hard sell for me anyway).
IRON MAN HYPERVELOCITY #3 (OF 6) 2.99
Ooh, sweet! This comic has been awesome. I meant to review the last issue but never got around to it, so maybe I'll do a two-issue mega review! Hot-cha-cha-cha! (I was trying to sound Adam Warren-ish there, but I don't think I succeeded).
LIVING AND THE DEAD GN 9.95
The new book by Jason, whom I've heard a lot about but never read any of his stuff. Jog liked it, with the qualification that it's definitely not his best work. Maybe I'll check it out.
MARVEL ZOMBIES ARMY OF DARKNESS #1 2.99
This "Marvel Zombies" series has been so stupid, but apparently it's sold well, so they're going to milk it for all it's worth. The Army of Darkness crossover sounds like another stupidly funny idea, so I'll halfway consider getting it. But probably not.
MIDNIGHTER #5 2.99
Well, I'm not sure if this will finish the first story arc, or who will be doing the art. I've enjoyed the book, and I doubt that will change.
NAT TURNER BOOK 2 REVOLUTION TP 10.00
Well, I've been waiting for this for quite some time. My guess is that it will be good. Just a hunch.
NEWUNIVERSAL #4 2.99
More characters who resemble actors, with supernatural sci-fi worldbuilding. That's my guess, at least. Keep it interesting, Ellis!
SHAZAM THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #2 (OF 4) 5.99
Awesome. The first issue was great, and I bet this one is where the action really picks up. Go Jeff Smith! (By the way, what was the deal with the biggest debate point online being the nature of the Cap/Billy relationship? I'm not exactly a Captain Marvel fan, so I really don't care. But it seemed like every discussion I read was about whether Cap was a grown-up Billy or a separate entity. Weird.)
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Whew, that's a lot of stuff! I have a few TPB's I want to buy, but I'll probably have to wait after this deluge. But hey, no use complaining about buying good comics, right?
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Muuurder! And chains. And dancing.
I saw two movies in the theater yesterday, so here's what I thought:
Black Snake Moan (2007, directed by Craig Brewer):
Samuel L. Jackson is the man. He can cash in and do lame stuff like Snakes on a Plane or The Man, but then he'll come back and do something like this movie and remind us why he is so cool. But I'm getting ahead of myself. In this movie, he plays an aging ex-blues musician who is now a farmer in a small town outside Memphis, Tennessee. His wife recently left him for his brother, and he's pretty pissed. At the same time, Christina Ricci, playing a young woman who lives in the same town, is pretty upset because her boyfriend (Justin Timberlake), a soldier, is being sent away, presumably to Iraq. We find out that she was the town slut, sleeping with pretty much everyone that crossed her path in an attempt to quiet her personal demons. Timberlake has been a stabilizing influence in her life, and she really loves him, but after he leaves she goes on a bender, getting trashed and fucked repeatedly. She ends up getting beat up and seemingly left for dead by a guy, and Jackson finds her passed out on the side of the road near his house. He takes her home, cleans her up, and cares for her. He has his hands full though, as she's feverish and prone to screaming and running out of the house in a daze. So he decides to get a chain, lock it around her waist, and attach the other end to his radiator. Eventually she comes to and demands to be released, but he's decided that she's broken, and he's not going to let her go until she's fixed. This all sounds pretty trashy and exploitative, but the movie slowly turns into a fairly touching relationship drama about the two of them coming to terms with their lives.
It's a good story, but the performances are what really make it sing. Ricci manages to disappear into her role completely, coming off as a bruised, hurting girl who has turned to physical pleasure to quiet her mental pain. And Jackson, well, it's surprising nobody thought to make him a blues musician before this. He sings and plays guitar a few times, and he's absolutely electric. In one song, he even gets to say "motherfucker", Pulp Fiction-style, while giving that scary wide-eyed glare that he does. It's awesome. And my favorite scene in the film is when he's playing the song that gives the movie its title in the middle of a thunderstorm. He's playing this really cool pink electric guitar, and it's blaring out a deep, mournful howl in the midst of overwhelming thunderclaps. I had chills running down my spine. Amazing.
So, this one gets my recommendation. Plus, check out this cool, comic book-inspired poster for the movie:
I'll have to try to get that one to put up on my wall.
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Zodiac (2007, directed by David Fincher):
Wow, this was pretty good, and not really what I was expecting. Most modern serial killer movies are basically horror movies, with creepy villains that keep striking in the middle of the night while ominous music is playing, and the police end up having a faceoff with them in cinematic fashion. This one is different. Being based in fact, it's really more of a crime movie. Sure, we see some of the murders, but they're mostly shot in a matter-of-fact way, and there's no scenes where a girl is in a dark room when a cat jumps out and scares her, so she thinks she okay, but then the bad guy is around the corner, and he chases her and she tries to run away, but he still manages to catch up even though he's just walking purposefully and she's running as fast as she can. One of the murders is even in the middle of the day, when a masked man approaches a couple laying on a blanket by a lake, robs them with a gun, ties them up, and then stabs them a bunch of times.
I didn't really know many of the facts about the Zodiac killer going into this film, so I can't say how well it presented them, but if if failed, it wasn't for lack of trying. Many, many facts about the case are relayed through the police and reporters investigating the case. And it seems to be a case that fascinated the public, as the killer kept sending taunting letters to San Francisco newspapers, with codes that supposedly revealed his name or where he would strike next. It's really a fascinating look at a real-world serial killer investigation; we see the police try their hardest to piece together the clues and find the guy, and since the newspapers were involved, we see the reporters try to do the same, whether in aid or detriment to the cops.
The direction by David Fincher also really well done. He's known for his moody atmospheres in Seven, Fight Club, and Panic Room, but here he keeps it pretty restrained, mostly focusing on the newsroom of the San Fransisco Chronicle or the police headquarters. He also goes easy on the effects (at least as far as I could tell), with only a couple scenes demonstrating his technical wizardry. There was one cool shot that indicated the passage of time by panning up from the base of the TransAmerica building as it is being built in what looks like time-lapse photography. It's pretty cool. Also, (and this might be directed at the screenwriting rather than the direction) I love that characters in the large cast only show up when it's appropriate; homicide detectives Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards don't show up until at least a half hour into the film, when they get assigned to a murder that turns out to be a Zodiac killing. We meet crime reporter Robert Downey, Jr. and political cartoonist Jake Gyllenhaal early on, when the first letter is sent to the newspaper, but later they disappear for whole sections of the movie as the focus shifts to the police. The last section focuses almost entirely on Gyllenhaal, as his character becomes obsessed with the case years after everyone else has seemingly forgotten about it.
The cast is uniformly great as well. Downey is hilarious as always in his fast-talking role, and Gyllenhaal plays it very well, starting out curious about the case due to his interest in puzzles; we see him get more and more obsessed as the film goes on. Ruffalo and Edwards have a very good rapport, and we can see how dedicated they are to their work. Chloe Sevigny plays Gyllenhaal's wife, and she's good in her small role. Brian Cox shows up for a few scenes as a psychologist called in at the killer's request. There's even a small role for Donal Logue, one of my favorite character actors, as a policeman in a different county where one of the murders took place. Everyone does good work, but the real star is the true story, which still remains unsolved to this day. That's pretty risky, since the movie could be dramatic and finger a specific person, but Fincher makes it more ambiguous. We get an idea who the culprit might have been, but nobody really knows for sure. It's quite good, and I really recommend it, especially if you're tired of the usual Hollywood serial killer formula.
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I also watched Pennies From Heaven on the Tivo last night, but I don't want to do a full review of that one. It was great, being the type of musical I love, where the songs are presented as fantasy sequences where characters break into song and everyone around them joins in. Plus, there's lots of really cool dancing, including what I think is the only time Christopher Walken has danced on film. This one also takes the interesting tack of, rather than having the actors (or similarly-voiced singers) sing the songs, they lip-sync along with songs from the 30's, when the story takes place. It's pretty cool. And did I mention the amazing dance scenes? A couple of my favorites were the one where Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters danced in front of the screen of a Fred Astaire movie, following his moves exactly, and Vernel Bagneris (whoever he is) singing the title song among a rain of pennies, which he seems to swim through by standing on one foot and shifting his legs back and forth. Huh, that sounds lame when I type it, but it looks incredible. Anyway, check it out if you like that sort of thing. It's awesome.
Black Snake Moan (2007, directed by Craig Brewer):
Samuel L. Jackson is the man. He can cash in and do lame stuff like Snakes on a Plane or The Man, but then he'll come back and do something like this movie and remind us why he is so cool. But I'm getting ahead of myself. In this movie, he plays an aging ex-blues musician who is now a farmer in a small town outside Memphis, Tennessee. His wife recently left him for his brother, and he's pretty pissed. At the same time, Christina Ricci, playing a young woman who lives in the same town, is pretty upset because her boyfriend (Justin Timberlake), a soldier, is being sent away, presumably to Iraq. We find out that she was the town slut, sleeping with pretty much everyone that crossed her path in an attempt to quiet her personal demons. Timberlake has been a stabilizing influence in her life, and she really loves him, but after he leaves she goes on a bender, getting trashed and fucked repeatedly. She ends up getting beat up and seemingly left for dead by a guy, and Jackson finds her passed out on the side of the road near his house. He takes her home, cleans her up, and cares for her. He has his hands full though, as she's feverish and prone to screaming and running out of the house in a daze. So he decides to get a chain, lock it around her waist, and attach the other end to his radiator. Eventually she comes to and demands to be released, but he's decided that she's broken, and he's not going to let her go until she's fixed. This all sounds pretty trashy and exploitative, but the movie slowly turns into a fairly touching relationship drama about the two of them coming to terms with their lives.
It's a good story, but the performances are what really make it sing. Ricci manages to disappear into her role completely, coming off as a bruised, hurting girl who has turned to physical pleasure to quiet her mental pain. And Jackson, well, it's surprising nobody thought to make him a blues musician before this. He sings and plays guitar a few times, and he's absolutely electric. In one song, he even gets to say "motherfucker", Pulp Fiction-style, while giving that scary wide-eyed glare that he does. It's awesome. And my favorite scene in the film is when he's playing the song that gives the movie its title in the middle of a thunderstorm. He's playing this really cool pink electric guitar, and it's blaring out a deep, mournful howl in the midst of overwhelming thunderclaps. I had chills running down my spine. Amazing.
So, this one gets my recommendation. Plus, check out this cool, comic book-inspired poster for the movie:
I'll have to try to get that one to put up on my wall.
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Zodiac (2007, directed by David Fincher):
Wow, this was pretty good, and not really what I was expecting. Most modern serial killer movies are basically horror movies, with creepy villains that keep striking in the middle of the night while ominous music is playing, and the police end up having a faceoff with them in cinematic fashion. This one is different. Being based in fact, it's really more of a crime movie. Sure, we see some of the murders, but they're mostly shot in a matter-of-fact way, and there's no scenes where a girl is in a dark room when a cat jumps out and scares her, so she thinks she okay, but then the bad guy is around the corner, and he chases her and she tries to run away, but he still manages to catch up even though he's just walking purposefully and she's running as fast as she can. One of the murders is even in the middle of the day, when a masked man approaches a couple laying on a blanket by a lake, robs them with a gun, ties them up, and then stabs them a bunch of times.
I didn't really know many of the facts about the Zodiac killer going into this film, so I can't say how well it presented them, but if if failed, it wasn't for lack of trying. Many, many facts about the case are relayed through the police and reporters investigating the case. And it seems to be a case that fascinated the public, as the killer kept sending taunting letters to San Francisco newspapers, with codes that supposedly revealed his name or where he would strike next. It's really a fascinating look at a real-world serial killer investigation; we see the police try their hardest to piece together the clues and find the guy, and since the newspapers were involved, we see the reporters try to do the same, whether in aid or detriment to the cops.
The direction by David Fincher also really well done. He's known for his moody atmospheres in Seven, Fight Club, and Panic Room, but here he keeps it pretty restrained, mostly focusing on the newsroom of the San Fransisco Chronicle or the police headquarters. He also goes easy on the effects (at least as far as I could tell), with only a couple scenes demonstrating his technical wizardry. There was one cool shot that indicated the passage of time by panning up from the base of the TransAmerica building as it is being built in what looks like time-lapse photography. It's pretty cool. Also, (and this might be directed at the screenwriting rather than the direction) I love that characters in the large cast only show up when it's appropriate; homicide detectives Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards don't show up until at least a half hour into the film, when they get assigned to a murder that turns out to be a Zodiac killing. We meet crime reporter Robert Downey, Jr. and political cartoonist Jake Gyllenhaal early on, when the first letter is sent to the newspaper, but later they disappear for whole sections of the movie as the focus shifts to the police. The last section focuses almost entirely on Gyllenhaal, as his character becomes obsessed with the case years after everyone else has seemingly forgotten about it.
The cast is uniformly great as well. Downey is hilarious as always in his fast-talking role, and Gyllenhaal plays it very well, starting out curious about the case due to his interest in puzzles; we see him get more and more obsessed as the film goes on. Ruffalo and Edwards have a very good rapport, and we can see how dedicated they are to their work. Chloe Sevigny plays Gyllenhaal's wife, and she's good in her small role. Brian Cox shows up for a few scenes as a psychologist called in at the killer's request. There's even a small role for Donal Logue, one of my favorite character actors, as a policeman in a different county where one of the murders took place. Everyone does good work, but the real star is the true story, which still remains unsolved to this day. That's pretty risky, since the movie could be dramatic and finger a specific person, but Fincher makes it more ambiguous. We get an idea who the culprit might have been, but nobody really knows for sure. It's quite good, and I really recommend it, especially if you're tired of the usual Hollywood serial killer formula.
-----
I also watched Pennies From Heaven on the Tivo last night, but I don't want to do a full review of that one. It was great, being the type of musical I love, where the songs are presented as fantasy sequences where characters break into song and everyone around them joins in. Plus, there's lots of really cool dancing, including what I think is the only time Christopher Walken has danced on film. This one also takes the interesting tack of, rather than having the actors (or similarly-voiced singers) sing the songs, they lip-sync along with songs from the 30's, when the story takes place. It's pretty cool. And did I mention the amazing dance scenes? A couple of my favorites were the one where Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters danced in front of the screen of a Fred Astaire movie, following his moves exactly, and Vernel Bagneris (whoever he is) singing the title song among a rain of pennies, which he seems to swim through by standing on one foot and shifting his legs back and forth. Huh, that sounds lame when I type it, but it looks incredible. Anyway, check it out if you like that sort of thing. It's awesome.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Comics not on the web; these are on paper!
Reviews of new comics:
Ashley Wood's D'arain Aventure #1
By Ashley Wood, with T.P. Louise and Chris Ryall
This is an odd comic. I believe it was Jog who compared it with Barry Windsor-Smith: Storyteller, although I've never read that comic, so I can't say if it's apt. This one is a collection of short stories, mostly with a horror bent. Wood provides all the art, including the front and back covers (inside and out), which have fold-out flaps. There are not ads, which is probably the cause of the $4.95 price point. There are also some pinups which are, well, pornographic. But the real meat of the comic is in the stories, which are written by Wood and his collaborators (I'm not sure what the extent of their role is) and lavishly illustrated by Wood. First is "Les Mort", which begins with two kids surveying what seems to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland (although I could be wrong about that) and reminiscing about a magician/escape artist they used to watch on TV. They also dare each other to go into the nearby houses which are rumored to be haunted or cursed. Then we shift to the POV of the aforementioned magician, a circus performer who wears a skull mask and kills himself in each performance, yet somehow manages to survive:
Actually, I think this is meant to be a flashback, since he seems to be wandering the wasteland as well. We see a shot of him saying "Revenge," and then To Be Continued. Huh.
The next story is called "Black Magick", and it's about a quiet suburban neighborhood in which a haunted house appears. I think. It's also To Be Continued, so we'll see.
Finally, we have "Zombies vs. Robots: Which Came First?" It's a prequel to the recent two-issue miniseries that Wood and Ryall did, and it's about some scientists who are testing a transporter, although they do not know what is on the other side. The experiment ends badly, although it's hart to tell exactly what happens, and it's also To Be Continued.
In all the stories, the art is beautiful, full of Wood's incredible style. I like the panel borders in the first story; they're drawn all rough and scratchy rather than clean and defined. It gives the page a dirtier feel, which is appropriate for the wasteland-like setting. The other stories have panels that are more cleanly defined, whether with lines or gaps between "tones". It suits them, as they both take place in ordered locations. I imagine future parts, in which the order will presumably break down, will feature rougher borders. Wow, I can't believe I chose to talk about panel borders when discussing the art. I dunno, that's something that really struck me.
So anyway, I'll definitely be back for future issues. I had never even heard of this project before this week, so I didn't know if it was supposed to be ongoing or what, but I checked IDW's website, and their solicitations for May include issue #4, so it will run at least that long. The inside back cover promises a future story called "World's Best Robots". Sounds cool.
Bonus: Popbot pinup!
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Eternals #7 (of 7)
Written by Neil Gaiman
Art by John Romita, Jr.
Well, this was kind of disappointing. Maybe it will read better when it's collected, but stretched out over seven issues, it seems like not very much happened [Spoilers ahead, by the way]. Last issue ended rather abruptly, with Zuras, leader of the Eternals, telling Tony Stark that they would not participate in the Civil War event on either side, but were above it. We get a sort of resolution to that discussion here, but it's in the middle of the issue as a flashback rather than at the beginning. Weird. So the Eternals are setting up base in the Antarctic, and the Deviants attack. That kind of came out of nowhere. It seemed like there were a couple Deviants messing around in previous issues, but suddenly there's a whole army of thousands ready to wage war on the Eternals. Again, weird. So Makkari manages to convince them not to attack, and then the series ends, seemingly as a setup for a possible ongoing series. There's not a whole lot of conclusion. I guess Makkari is the "envoy" of the golden (formerly black) Celestial, who has decided not to destroy the Earth, and is now just standing in Golden Gate Park, San Fransisco. Druig is still in charge of the country he took over, and seems to have evil plans. Zuras is hanging out doing his thing. Sprite is dead, so I guess that's some sort of conclusion for him. Sersi is hanging out in New York; she has her Eternal powers but no memories. Ikaris and Makkari are on a quest to "wake" all of the other Eternals on Earth. Who knows what Ajak is doing, since he no longer has the distinction of being the guy who can talk to Celestials [End spoilers]. It seems like the series ended and hoped somebody else would continue the story, which is pretty much the exact same thing that happened with Gaiman's other Marvel miniseries, 1602. I like Gaiman, but it seems I should avoid any future Marvel stuff he does, if this is how it's going to turn out. Bummer.
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Dr. Strange: The Oath #5 (of 5)
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Marcos Martin
Now, this is the way to end a miniseries! Wrap up the damn story, but leave it open to continuation. As Greg Burgas at Comics Should Be Good said, you can pretty much see the ending coming from the first issue, but in my opinion, Vaughan makes the journey worth it. Martin's beautiful art doesn't hurt, either.
The Night Nurse is a good addition to Doc's posse, and it's awesome to see he knows the martial arts as well as the dark ones. So please, Marvel, let Vaughan and Martin do this on a monthly basis! I want more of this!
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Runaways #24
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Adrian Alphona
And now we come to the send-off of the week. Well one of them anyway; we've also got Takeshi Miyazawa's last issue of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (mini-review: good as always. The love triangle (rectangle?) is set up plausibly, without making anyone look bad. Great art; I hope David Hahn will be able to replace Miyazawa without looking terrible). But this issue of Runaways is the final one by the comic's creators, Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. They end it very well, setting the story for Joss Whedon to take over (although I hear he will only do six issues. Bummer). It seems I'm not the only one who loves Molly; all the creators express their love of her in the letter page in the back of the book. Plus, she gets some of the best lines of the issue:
So, I'm sad to see the creative team go, but I'm glad the book will live on. They're great additions to the Marvel universe, and I hope they stick around for years to come.
-----
Jack of Fables #8
Written by Bill Willinham and Matthew Sturges
Art by Tony Akins and Andrew Pepoy
I don't really have a lot to say about this book; it's a lot of fun, as always. I will mention that I love the humorous self-centered tone of the narration, which is by Jack himself. You can see an example of it on the cover, with the text saying "Admit it: When you grow up, you wish you could be..." before the title. Inside, he fills most of the captions with self-aggrandization and acknowledgement that he's in a comic book (he even breaks the fourth wall in this issue). It's great fun. Plus, there's a good bit of nerd-baiting, as a character is introduced who is a chubby comics nerd who loves Star Wars, lives with his mom, and plays a lot of Dungeons & Dragons. Way to hit all the stereotypes, guys! I'm sure he'll be back next month, along with the wacky villainess, who seems to be the embodiment of luck (and what better place for her than Vegas?). I can't wait!
-----
I also wanted to show off a couple other things I bought but haven't had the time to read yet:
That's right, the new Love & Rockets digest editions. Actually, they seem kind of big to be called digests, but at $15 each, they're a great deal. I can't wait to read them. And I also picked up Ode to Kirihito, by Osamu Tezuka, which I'm also stoked to read. It's got a really cool cover, with a band around it that obscures half of the picture. So if you slide it to one side or the other, it's like you have two variant covers in one!
-----
Looks like that's it for me for today. Will I be back with more content tomorrow? Who knows!
Ashley Wood's D'arain Aventure #1
By Ashley Wood, with T.P. Louise and Chris Ryall
This is an odd comic. I believe it was Jog who compared it with Barry Windsor-Smith: Storyteller, although I've never read that comic, so I can't say if it's apt. This one is a collection of short stories, mostly with a horror bent. Wood provides all the art, including the front and back covers (inside and out), which have fold-out flaps. There are not ads, which is probably the cause of the $4.95 price point. There are also some pinups which are, well, pornographic. But the real meat of the comic is in the stories, which are written by Wood and his collaborators (I'm not sure what the extent of their role is) and lavishly illustrated by Wood. First is "Les Mort", which begins with two kids surveying what seems to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland (although I could be wrong about that) and reminiscing about a magician/escape artist they used to watch on TV. They also dare each other to go into the nearby houses which are rumored to be haunted or cursed. Then we shift to the POV of the aforementioned magician, a circus performer who wears a skull mask and kills himself in each performance, yet somehow manages to survive:
Actually, I think this is meant to be a flashback, since he seems to be wandering the wasteland as well. We see a shot of him saying "Revenge," and then To Be Continued. Huh.
The next story is called "Black Magick", and it's about a quiet suburban neighborhood in which a haunted house appears. I think. It's also To Be Continued, so we'll see.
Finally, we have "Zombies vs. Robots: Which Came First?" It's a prequel to the recent two-issue miniseries that Wood and Ryall did, and it's about some scientists who are testing a transporter, although they do not know what is on the other side. The experiment ends badly, although it's hart to tell exactly what happens, and it's also To Be Continued.
In all the stories, the art is beautiful, full of Wood's incredible style. I like the panel borders in the first story; they're drawn all rough and scratchy rather than clean and defined. It gives the page a dirtier feel, which is appropriate for the wasteland-like setting. The other stories have panels that are more cleanly defined, whether with lines or gaps between "tones". It suits them, as they both take place in ordered locations. I imagine future parts, in which the order will presumably break down, will feature rougher borders. Wow, I can't believe I chose to talk about panel borders when discussing the art. I dunno, that's something that really struck me.
So anyway, I'll definitely be back for future issues. I had never even heard of this project before this week, so I didn't know if it was supposed to be ongoing or what, but I checked IDW's website, and their solicitations for May include issue #4, so it will run at least that long. The inside back cover promises a future story called "World's Best Robots". Sounds cool.
Bonus: Popbot pinup!
-----
Eternals #7 (of 7)
Written by Neil Gaiman
Art by John Romita, Jr.
Well, this was kind of disappointing. Maybe it will read better when it's collected, but stretched out over seven issues, it seems like not very much happened [Spoilers ahead, by the way]. Last issue ended rather abruptly, with Zuras, leader of the Eternals, telling Tony Stark that they would not participate in the Civil War event on either side, but were above it. We get a sort of resolution to that discussion here, but it's in the middle of the issue as a flashback rather than at the beginning. Weird. So the Eternals are setting up base in the Antarctic, and the Deviants attack. That kind of came out of nowhere. It seemed like there were a couple Deviants messing around in previous issues, but suddenly there's a whole army of thousands ready to wage war on the Eternals. Again, weird. So Makkari manages to convince them not to attack, and then the series ends, seemingly as a setup for a possible ongoing series. There's not a whole lot of conclusion. I guess Makkari is the "envoy" of the golden (formerly black) Celestial, who has decided not to destroy the Earth, and is now just standing in Golden Gate Park, San Fransisco. Druig is still in charge of the country he took over, and seems to have evil plans. Zuras is hanging out doing his thing. Sprite is dead, so I guess that's some sort of conclusion for him. Sersi is hanging out in New York; she has her Eternal powers but no memories. Ikaris and Makkari are on a quest to "wake" all of the other Eternals on Earth. Who knows what Ajak is doing, since he no longer has the distinction of being the guy who can talk to Celestials [End spoilers]. It seems like the series ended and hoped somebody else would continue the story, which is pretty much the exact same thing that happened with Gaiman's other Marvel miniseries, 1602. I like Gaiman, but it seems I should avoid any future Marvel stuff he does, if this is how it's going to turn out. Bummer.
-----
Dr. Strange: The Oath #5 (of 5)
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Marcos Martin
Now, this is the way to end a miniseries! Wrap up the damn story, but leave it open to continuation. As Greg Burgas at Comics Should Be Good said, you can pretty much see the ending coming from the first issue, but in my opinion, Vaughan makes the journey worth it. Martin's beautiful art doesn't hurt, either.
The Night Nurse is a good addition to Doc's posse, and it's awesome to see he knows the martial arts as well as the dark ones. So please, Marvel, let Vaughan and Martin do this on a monthly basis! I want more of this!
-----
Runaways #24
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Adrian Alphona
And now we come to the send-off of the week. Well one of them anyway; we've also got Takeshi Miyazawa's last issue of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (mini-review: good as always. The love triangle (rectangle?) is set up plausibly, without making anyone look bad. Great art; I hope David Hahn will be able to replace Miyazawa without looking terrible). But this issue of Runaways is the final one by the comic's creators, Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. They end it very well, setting the story for Joss Whedon to take over (although I hear he will only do six issues. Bummer). It seems I'm not the only one who loves Molly; all the creators express their love of her in the letter page in the back of the book. Plus, she gets some of the best lines of the issue:
So, I'm sad to see the creative team go, but I'm glad the book will live on. They're great additions to the Marvel universe, and I hope they stick around for years to come.
-----
Jack of Fables #8
Written by Bill Willinham and Matthew Sturges
Art by Tony Akins and Andrew Pepoy
I don't really have a lot to say about this book; it's a lot of fun, as always. I will mention that I love the humorous self-centered tone of the narration, which is by Jack himself. You can see an example of it on the cover, with the text saying "Admit it: When you grow up, you wish you could be..." before the title. Inside, he fills most of the captions with self-aggrandization and acknowledgement that he's in a comic book (he even breaks the fourth wall in this issue). It's great fun. Plus, there's a good bit of nerd-baiting, as a character is introduced who is a chubby comics nerd who loves Star Wars, lives with his mom, and plays a lot of Dungeons & Dragons. Way to hit all the stereotypes, guys! I'm sure he'll be back next month, along with the wacky villainess, who seems to be the embodiment of luck (and what better place for her than Vegas?). I can't wait!
-----
I also wanted to show off a couple other things I bought but haven't had the time to read yet:
That's right, the new Love & Rockets digest editions. Actually, they seem kind of big to be called digests, but at $15 each, they're a great deal. I can't wait to read them. And I also picked up Ode to Kirihito, by Osamu Tezuka, which I'm also stoked to read. It's got a really cool cover, with a band around it that obscures half of the picture. So if you slide it to one side or the other, it's like you have two variant covers in one!
-----
Looks like that's it for me for today. Will I be back with more content tomorrow? Who knows!
Non-post!
Just a quick to note to mention that I'm going to forego my usual Tivo Alert this week. I've got something like eight movies saved on the Tivo right now, and I better not add any more before I get watching these. If anybody really wants me to look over the TV schedule and point out stuff worth watching, let me know, but I gotta take a break and catch up.
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Reviews of new comics tonight, hopefully!
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Reviews of new comics tonight, hopefully!
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Me, I want to invent a steam-driven robot butler
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
My wife bought this book recently after going to a library event at a local bookstore, and it looked so cool I had to read it. Plus, the author was at the event, and her descriptions of his influences and other things he talked about made it sound incredible. But I'll get to that later.
I'm going to call this a comic (Scott McCloud would probably disagree), but it kind of falls into a grey area between books and comics. It's really more of an illustrated children's novel, but many, if not most, of the illustrations do a lot of the storytelling through sequential art. Whole sections of the book will be told mainly through series of images, and what incredible images they are! Selznick's art is beautifully detailed, with lots of heavy cross-hatching (I think that's what it's called) and shading. The characters' faces and limbs are incredibly expressive, and the backgrounds, whether small rooms or views of the exteriors of buildings, are lovingly detailed. It's excellent work.
Selznick was largely inspired by film, especially the silent films of the early twentieth century, and it really shows. The sequential art sections are wonderfully cinematic, with the "camera" sometimes seeming to zoom in over several pages (each picture is a double-page spread) on a specific detail.
(You can click on any image to enlarge it. Sorry if the crease in the middle of each image looks weird; it's a thick book that's kind of difficult to scan).
Other times it will follow characters through a "scene", and it's easy to imagine the action taking place on a big screen.
The plot concerns the young man of the title, a twelve-year-old orphan who is living in the Paris train station and working on maintaining the clocks. The year is 1931. Hugo's father was a clockmaker, and he taught Hugo all about the workings of clocks and clockwork. Before he died, his father discovered an incredibly complex automaton at a museum where he worked. It was a small man at a desk who appeared to write or draw something when wound. It had been forgotten in the museum's attic and fallen into disrepair, but he was trying to fix it before he died. Hugo managed to rescue it from the ruins of the museum after it burned down, and now he's trying to repair it himself, in hopes of making a connection with his father. Having been left on his own after the death of his parents and the disappearance of the uncle who took him in, he lives by stealing food and maintaining the clocks in the station, which was his uncle's job. A monkey wrench is thrown into his plans when he gets caught trying to steal toys (which he hopes to disassemble for parts for the automaton) from a toy shop in the train station, and the old man at the shop takes the notebook Hugo's father had drawn up containing diagrams of the mechanical man. Thus Hugo must form a relationship with the old man (and his adopted goddaughter Isabelle) to try to get his notebook back.
There are quite a few more complications to the plot, but that's enough to give a taste of the book without spoiling anything. Later, movies factor heavily into the plot, especially the movies of Georges Méliès, who was an incredibly influential French filmmaker in film's early years, and he's obviously a big inspiration for Selznick. I've never seen any of his movies, but after reading this book, I want to search some of them out. The effects he was able to pull off using the resources he had are absolutely amazing. One of the most famous images from early film is from his A Trip To the Moon, in which a rocket gets stuck in the eye of the man in the moon. This image also is very important in the book, as it's an image Hugo's father described to him when sharing his love of movies.
If you've read my blog for long, you probably can tell I'm something of a film buff as well as a comics fan, so this book is right up my alley. The prose sections are pretty simply written, as they are meant for children, but they're very effective in companion with the pictures to draw the reader into the story and get them involved. It's really an incredible book, and I can't recommend it highly enough for anyone who's interested in comics, children's literature, or film.
by Brian Selznick
My wife bought this book recently after going to a library event at a local bookstore, and it looked so cool I had to read it. Plus, the author was at the event, and her descriptions of his influences and other things he talked about made it sound incredible. But I'll get to that later.
I'm going to call this a comic (Scott McCloud would probably disagree), but it kind of falls into a grey area between books and comics. It's really more of an illustrated children's novel, but many, if not most, of the illustrations do a lot of the storytelling through sequential art. Whole sections of the book will be told mainly through series of images, and what incredible images they are! Selznick's art is beautifully detailed, with lots of heavy cross-hatching (I think that's what it's called) and shading. The characters' faces and limbs are incredibly expressive, and the backgrounds, whether small rooms or views of the exteriors of buildings, are lovingly detailed. It's excellent work.
Selznick was largely inspired by film, especially the silent films of the early twentieth century, and it really shows. The sequential art sections are wonderfully cinematic, with the "camera" sometimes seeming to zoom in over several pages (each picture is a double-page spread) on a specific detail.
(You can click on any image to enlarge it. Sorry if the crease in the middle of each image looks weird; it's a thick book that's kind of difficult to scan).
Other times it will follow characters through a "scene", and it's easy to imagine the action taking place on a big screen.
The plot concerns the young man of the title, a twelve-year-old orphan who is living in the Paris train station and working on maintaining the clocks. The year is 1931. Hugo's father was a clockmaker, and he taught Hugo all about the workings of clocks and clockwork. Before he died, his father discovered an incredibly complex automaton at a museum where he worked. It was a small man at a desk who appeared to write or draw something when wound. It had been forgotten in the museum's attic and fallen into disrepair, but he was trying to fix it before he died. Hugo managed to rescue it from the ruins of the museum after it burned down, and now he's trying to repair it himself, in hopes of making a connection with his father. Having been left on his own after the death of his parents and the disappearance of the uncle who took him in, he lives by stealing food and maintaining the clocks in the station, which was his uncle's job. A monkey wrench is thrown into his plans when he gets caught trying to steal toys (which he hopes to disassemble for parts for the automaton) from a toy shop in the train station, and the old man at the shop takes the notebook Hugo's father had drawn up containing diagrams of the mechanical man. Thus Hugo must form a relationship with the old man (and his adopted goddaughter Isabelle) to try to get his notebook back.
There are quite a few more complications to the plot, but that's enough to give a taste of the book without spoiling anything. Later, movies factor heavily into the plot, especially the movies of Georges Méliès, who was an incredibly influential French filmmaker in film's early years, and he's obviously a big inspiration for Selznick. I've never seen any of his movies, but after reading this book, I want to search some of them out. The effects he was able to pull off using the resources he had are absolutely amazing. One of the most famous images from early film is from his A Trip To the Moon, in which a rocket gets stuck in the eye of the man in the moon. This image also is very important in the book, as it's an image Hugo's father described to him when sharing his love of movies.
If you've read my blog for long, you probably can tell I'm something of a film buff as well as a comics fan, so this book is right up my alley. The prose sections are pretty simply written, as they are meant for children, but they're very effective in companion with the pictures to draw the reader into the story and get them involved. It's really an incredible book, and I can't recommend it highly enough for anyone who's interested in comics, children's literature, or film.
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