Comic / Pillow

Quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen. A Spider-Man comic book and pillow all in one. Saw it at Sam's. I really wanted to get it for myse- er, uh, for Max.
But I didn't think it warrented spending $20.

A Darkened Movie Theater

Here am at the Monaco in Huntsville (by myself in the theater) about to see Push. Why? Well because it's not in Florence, of course. I'll let you know if it's any good.

Aw, crud...it looks like I might not have the theater all to myself. Oh, well. The trailers are about to start.

Special

Caught an interesting movie last night - Special.  It stars Michael Rapaport (one of those guys you may not know by name, but you'd recognize him if you saw him) as Les, who begins to participate in a drug study, and find the drug begins to give him superpowers.  It's a pretty amazing film, if you like independent movies.  If you've got kids my age, you'd also recognize Josh, from Drake and Josh, though it's not a kid's film (it's got quite a bit of language). 

Here's my review if you're interested.

What's Up with The Dark Knight?

Just saw the list of IMAX theaters that The Dark Knight got re-released to today. Is the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center on it?

Nope!

What's up with that?!?

Hmmmm...is it worth it to drive all the way to Nashville to see it on the IMAX? I'm still kicking myself for not going to V for Vendetta.

Anyone up for a road trip?

Eddie Murphy as the Riddler?

I don't know...didn't we learn our lesson with Jim Carey? Well, if anyone can pull it off, Christopher Nolan can.

I love to visit the doctor's office

Receptionist DO NOT know how long the wait is. Also DO NOT know grammar. Either that, or Receptionist talk in first person like Tarzan. Or Bizarro. Hmmm...maybe that means receptionist really DO know how long wait is.

Sorry; I'm just sitting here in the doctor's office, head in a fog, rambling.

Jim am not sick. Jim LIKE doctor's office. Jim like to feel yucky at Christmastime.

If you have no idea who Bizarro is, sorry about that. Of course, you should if you've seen Seinfeld.

And here I am...

...visiting the comic book store in Springfield.

Thanks to simpsonizeme.com.

Long, Crazy Weekend

Friday, July 13
Got back from Seattle - missed the family. Krista says something in or under the house smells bad. She's been through the whole house, cleaning every corner, especially in the kitchen and can't find anything. Something's rotten in the state of Manchester.

Saturday, July 14
Dragged all the crap left by previous owners out from the crawlspace under the house. Had to crawl what seemed like 20 feet in to find an 18-inch, half-melted, maggot-infested 'possum skeleton. When I showed Julianna, she told her Mommy it was a baby dragon. Actually, it does look kind of look like a baby dragon.

Sunday, July 15
Krista fell in the bathtub (happy birthday!) I think she's OK, but she's still feeling it. We left early for Chattanooga. The 3-hour trip seemed like it took 7. Krista and I never were quick travelers, but when you throw a 5-year-old and a 4-month-old in the mix, things take forever.
Sunday evening and most everything was closed, we headed over to the mall and were deciding where to go for a birthday dinner when we had a visit from God. Read more about that in my next post. We ended up at P.F. Chang's - Krista's favorite. Our server was great, and the cook even came out to share a hot sauce creation he had been working on for four days. Great food as usual.

Monday, July 16
Panera Bread, hazelnut coffee, asiago cheese bagels with cream cheese...mmm...breakfast. Checked out downtown Chattanooga and the RiverWalk. Loved Blue Skies - visit this little gift shop if you ever go to Chattanooga. Saw the carousel and let Julianna play in the fountain. Headed to Sticky Fingers for dinner. Not bad, but should have gone to Mellow Mushroom.

Tuesday, July 17
Another 3-turned 7-hour drive. Before we left, we had a late breakfast at the City Cafe Diner. The host could have been John Waters's twin. A little later, someone entered who could have been in a John Waters film - 50-something, fairly large, spilling out of her top, black eye make-up and a bowl cut. Hmmm...
Went to Candyland , a bit non-plussed (it looks way better in these pictures), then headed home, stopping by Unclaimed Baggage on the way. Picked up the original version of Vanilla Sky on DVD (a Spanish film - Abre los ojos). Skipped out on the $100 comic book statue. Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

How can we pass up the Batman sunglasses?

Merry Christmas to Me

If anyone out there is still trying to find me the perfect Christmas present, here's something I found on eBay that you can get me:

Superman III Evil Superman Costume

*sigh*

I think I better have a talk with Krista about what kind of talks she's been having with our four-year-old, Julianna.

With that, I'll leave you with a quote that I overheard tonight as we were decorating the tree.

Quote of the Day

Mommy, is Wonder Woman a hoochie mama? Look how she's dressed.

-Julianna

Batgirl

Since it's Halloween, I have to post this picture of my beautiful daughter and what she decided to be for Halloween. Honest - I didn't do anything to influence it. It just shows you how sweet and sensitive kids can be.

And that's her pose - I didn't tell her to stand like that. She looks so serious! She's growing up way too fast...

It's Good To Be Home

Been gone to the East Coast, and I'm finally back. It's good to be home with my wife and daughter. I was happy that I got to eat blue crabs while I was away (they were amazing at The Dancing Crab), but that only made being gone a little easier.

Although my daughter can be severely independent in wanting things her own way, I'm Sometimes awed by the fact that she can be so sensitive to other people. She wants to be Batgirl for Halloween. The thing that's odd about that is she's into Princesses and Dora and The Wizard of Oz and Kim Possible. I'm the one that's into Batman. If she chose for herself she'd probably be Ariel, or Kim, or Dorothy.

A number of weeks ago, I brought her back a necklace from California . Even though she loves jewelry, I think it's a bit heavy and "scratchy" so she hasn't worn it. We were talking about it the other day, and I was asking her about it. Well, in the discussion, I think she could tell I was disappointed she hadn't been wearing it, so, she decided to wear it that afternoon. She's four, but sensitive to other people's feelings.

Plus, Have I mentioned she's smart? I bought this shirt off eBay last week because, coincidentally, her soccer team this season is The Flash. She knew what it was when I asked her (she already knows her superheroes - that's even more important than the alphabet, isn't it?!) and she knew I bought it because of her team. Sometimes I don't know why I've been blessed in the ways that I have been.

Who wants reality TV?

I finally get reality shows. After years of making fun of Survivor, American Idol, and the many, many others, I think I finally get a glimpse of the popularity. I just completed a mini-marathon of the first three episodes of Who Wants To Be a Superhero? and I can see now how easy it is to get caught up in the game. Who's going to win? Who's getting eliminated next? Though on this show, it's more like being voted out of the secret headquarters.

But Stan Lee put an interesting spin on this. Testing things like courage, honesty, compassion, self-sacrifice; indicating that it's what's on the inside that makes a superhero. The winner (or rather their superhero) gets their own comic book and Sci Fi channel movie. Pretty tempting, in my opinion, even compared to that million-dollar Survivor prize. If you're into reality shows, or into comic books or superheroes, check it out; the show is pretty interesting. It's got a few more weeks and appears on Thursday nights on Sci Fi (9/8 C).

Batman, Soaps, and Hair

I thought it was pretty cool that The Batman won a couple of Daytime Emmys last Saturday (April 22) - Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing and Outstanding Special Class Animated Program.

But then I saw that they actually have an award for Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling, and I was a bit less impressed...

V for Vendetta Commentary

Short commentary.

V for Vendetta is an excellent film. I know Alan Moore (the writer of the original comic) hates it based on the script, but I think the film is extremely well-made. However, this isn't about how good I thought it was...if you even care about that, you can read my mini-review. Here, I just want to note a few of my thoughts after watching it.

In the film, the main character is trying to release Great Britain from the hold of a tryannical chancellor. It made me better appreciate our Constitution and the freedoms that we have, because whether the president is Bill Clinton or George W., we are still allowed to speak our minds regarding how we feel about him.

I guess I could be wrong, by I don't think Will Ferrell's ever been kidnapped and beaten by agents of the government for mocking the president.

Of course, if you're a female entertainer who airs your griefs on foreign soil, you might get hate mail and death threats from his supporters, but at least they're not from the government.

I realize it’s a fictional story, but regardless of what you think about the film itself, or the main character's actions, I'm not sure how you could watch this film and not come away with a greater appreciation of the freedoms that we have.

V for Vendetta

It's late, so I just want to note that I just got back from the movie.

It was a fascinating experience.

I can't wait to see it on IMAX.

That's all I have to say about that. I'm going to bed.

Opening weekend

I'm going to see V for Vendetta tonight - nothing like seeing a comic book film on opening weekend! I'm looking forward to see if it's bad as Alan Moore thinks.

Quote of the Day
They were written to be impossible to reproduce in terms of cinema. And so, why not leave them simply as a comic in the way that they were intended to be? And if you are going to make them into films, please try to make them into better ones than the ones that I have been cursed with thus far.
-Alan Moore on the comics and graphic novels he's written (From Hell, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V for Vendetta)

Mirrormask and Comic Book Movie Stuff

I saw Mirrormask last night - truly an amazing film. Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean at their best. Another film I'm kicking myself for not seeing at the theater. Gaiman weaves an exotic tapestry of a story and Mckean applies it to canvas. [Did I mix too many forms of art there?] Dark and bright all at the same time, it's the kind of film that leaves you awestruck. Rent it or buy it or something...just see it.

Here are a couple of interesting articles intertwining Mirrormask and Comic Book Movies:

'$1m a minute to film? No problem' by Neil Gaiman

Best quote from the article:

Comics are one step in the digestive process of Hollywood eating itself.
-Alan Moore

It’s not always who draws wins by Dominic Wells

Best quote from the article:

Basically, it’s the work of two thwarted and impotent liberals who want to say how annoyed they are with their President, but want to do so in a safe way — by setting it in a fantasy Great Britain.
-(again) Alan Moore, describing the film V for Vendetta - the Wachowski-adapted version of the Moore graphic novel of the same name

Ultraviolet, Comic Book Movie

Pure, pure comic book, indeed.

That quote from writer/director Kurt Wimmer proved more prophetic than statement of fact.

I saw Ultraviolet this weekend, and I'm glad I did - it was well worth the watch. I won't spoil all the comic connections here (check out my review for a more in-depth discussion), but the film has an intense comic book feel. And it appears that all the internet references to the obscure European comic was a sly marketing ploy akin to what Mark Hamill did with Comic Book: The Movie, albeit with a little more cash behind it.

The movie started extremely strong, but kind of languished in the middle. It ended stronger, but if it could have maintained it's intensity, it could have been an excellent film, rather than just a good film.

I remember thinking something similar at the end of Wimmer's Equilibrium where the climactic end lost something...I think his movies would have more success, if he could maintain what he does right with some consistency throughout a film.

I have to get in one more comic book connection (external to the film): Milla Jovovich has a quote in an article I saw over at ComingSoon.net, comparing her protagonist in Resident Evil (Alice) with Violet in this film:

I think Violet is very much like some mythological character I had in my head, where Alice is a bit more of a modern character in my head. Violet was kind of all my dreams of being a ninja my whole life, like coming true in this moment. There was a bit more of that comic book edge so it was a bit brighter.