It's hard not to read The Healer's War with an eye to the current military crisis the United States finds itself in. The comparisons to Vietnam have been hot and heavy throughout the Iraq War, mostly with the administration denying the similarities for fear of having to live with the same results. The Healer's War is a tough, personal, partially fictional account of a nurse serving in Vietnam and discovering the joys and horrors of a foreign land that is being destroyed for idealistic reasons. The writer, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, talks in the afterword aout her own experiences in Vietnam and what she was trying to accomplish with her novel.
Kitty McCulley is a lot like any of the other volunteers who went to Vietnam, seduced by the beauty of the country when it is not being destroyed by warring factions and too young to have any firm sense of who she is as she serves heroically in an evac hospital. She is not exactly innocent as we meet her, having been in Da Nang long enough to see how the game is played, both in the hospital she works in and in the relationships that surround her. But she is devoted to her patients, both American and Vietnamese, and thus appears to be innocent in that light. The difference is that she generally knows the results of her standing up for her patients, but doesn't really care as she is doing the right thing for her patients. Fortunately, for the first half of the novel, it really doesn't matter as her superiors share that same incentive. Often, she andher coworkers end up defending the Vietnamese in their orthopedics ward from the anger and hate that the war has riled up in the American soldiers. Kitty's analysis, though, allows the reader to see that while some of the soldiers are born sadistic, their training and situation has made the rest a mix of very human characters in situations that would try the strongest people.
So, why is this a speculative fiction novel? As Kitty treats her patients, she meets a Vietnamese holy man named Xe who eventually gives her an amulet that allows her to see and manipulate the auras of the people around her. Suddenly, Kitty can heal magically, her only limitation being when she runs out of enough of her own energy that she is giving to the ill. But she is also able to form chains of power, allowing the energy from individuals to flow through her to her patients.
However, the book is really not about the magic. In fact, I believe the book to be an example of magical realism, where magic works and folks generally accept it, but the magic is not central to the telling of the story. The story really is about the Vietnamese people and the impossible position they were put in during the war. Scarborough treats both Americans and Vietnamese with candor and compassion; people are just people, with weaknesses and strengths that are exploited by their circumstances adn the other people around them. This analysis is enhanced by Kitty's amulet as she can see the turmoil mixed in the auras of the people around her.
Eventually Kitty finds herself lost in the Vietnamese jungle with a child amputee victim, for whom she was once again trying to do the right thing. Until this moment, her views of the events of the war have been those of a bystander, only dealing with the casulaties of a distant battle that rarely impinges upon her daily life. Suddenly, she is in the midst of the war, fighting to use her skills and newfound abilities, to save her allies and herself. Just who the enemy is varies from battle to battle, and she comes to recognize that the cliche is true--war is chaos.
The magic Kitty carries remains in the background and is, honestly, a plot device to keep her alive in circumstances where she should be immediately killed. This allows her to tour the war from both sides, putting a face on the excessive cost of a war fought for ideals. The cost for her continues once she is rescued and returns to the United States. As has become convention, nobody understands her and she is broken by the events of the war. However, Scarborough's deft handling of Kitty's characterization lifts this portion of the novel beyond merely trope. Kitty suffers, but she survives and rises above the obstacles that face her at home, without the aid of the magic she carries.
There are going to be similar stories after Iraq, describing the heartache and horror that was the war there. I just hope that they will be told with the compassionate honesty that lifts The Healer's War beyond just another "war is hell" novel.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Once
I admit it; I have a fondness for musicals. I own a copy of Kiss Me Kate and thoroughly enjoy Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. My beloved Mrs. Speculator, on the other hand...not so much. I completely understand her arguments. Sometimes it is horribly unnatural for people to burst into song about the events unfolding around them (which is why the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is so wonderfully ingenious), but I tend to just see this as a given in the storytelling that you have to accept. If you don't accept it, then no matter how beautiful the music or profound the lyrics, the movie just isn't going to work for you on its own terms.
Enter Once. Suddenly everything you know about musicals is turned on its ear, as a small little movie sets about breaking all the conventions and succeeding wildly on its terms and those of the musical-loving audeince.
Glen Hansard, lead singer for the Frames, plays a vacuum cleaner repair guy in Dublin who spends his free time making small change as a street musician. One night, the character played by Marketa Irglova, listens to his music and engages in conversation about who the song was written for. She is attractive and he is lonely, if a little unusual in her lifestyle, and it turns out she needs her vacuum cleaner repaired. So she returns to him the next day, and he discovers that she is a talented musician in her own right. She likes his music, he likes her playing, and they begin performing together, because she believes he is good enough to earn a record contract and she is going to help do it.
Unlike the movie musical convention, each song appears organically as the two work on their music and eventually get a back-up band as well. Songs are heard as they rehearse, as they write and as they record. The songs remain part of the story nonetheless, revealing hints of the emotions of the characters, which is a good thing since the actors have no training at all, but are in fact real musicians.
Nevertheless, a real chemistry grows up between the two main characters (known only as Guy and Girl), both of whom have been hurt by the people they love and use the music they create to fill the void they both feel. However, after an aborted attempt at seduction on the part of the guy, there is no overt romance between them; their circumstances will not allow it. But it is clear that they do care immensely for one another and could have a relationship beyond the devoted friendship they share, but they skirt that line throughout the movie. And another movie musical convention goes by the wayside--the two protagonists do not end up together but instead end up in the places they are meant to be. No "boy meets girl, boy loses girls, boy gets girl" tropes here. I found myself flinching throughout the course of the movie as I felt as if the movie was going to veer off the course it had set for itself--something dangerous was going to happen to Girl and Guy was going to have to come to her rescue, throwing them into each others' arms. It never does.
Of course, the music. The movie would be such a minor little thing were not the music astonishing in its power and emotion. The two leads voice their pain and confusion in pared-back, mostly acoustic songs that are heart-wrenching. I will be buying the soundtrack, and perhaps their other album they have put together, and then I'll start looking at buying albums from Hansard's band. Trust my taste or not, women in the audience were weeping at the performances, and not because they were bad. The music makes the movie, and the movie is fresh, original, and quite quite lovely.
Here's the trick. I've been waiting for this movie for about three months. It's a small indie film that is going only to art-house theatres, so you may have to search for it. But do search. Find this movie. If there's any justice in the world, it's going to be up for nominations when awards come around.
[edit -- the day after this posting, I was doing research on the music of Hansard and Irglova, and found the official Once web site, http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/. The soundtrack runs continually in the background, all the songs, on repeat. It's a good way to hear this outstanding music.]
Enter Once. Suddenly everything you know about musicals is turned on its ear, as a small little movie sets about breaking all the conventions and succeeding wildly on its terms and those of the musical-loving audeince.
Glen Hansard, lead singer for the Frames, plays a vacuum cleaner repair guy in Dublin who spends his free time making small change as a street musician. One night, the character played by Marketa Irglova, listens to his music and engages in conversation about who the song was written for. She is attractive and he is lonely, if a little unusual in her lifestyle, and it turns out she needs her vacuum cleaner repaired. So she returns to him the next day, and he discovers that she is a talented musician in her own right. She likes his music, he likes her playing, and they begin performing together, because she believes he is good enough to earn a record contract and she is going to help do it.
Unlike the movie musical convention, each song appears organically as the two work on their music and eventually get a back-up band as well. Songs are heard as they rehearse, as they write and as they record. The songs remain part of the story nonetheless, revealing hints of the emotions of the characters, which is a good thing since the actors have no training at all, but are in fact real musicians.
Nevertheless, a real chemistry grows up between the two main characters (known only as Guy and Girl), both of whom have been hurt by the people they love and use the music they create to fill the void they both feel. However, after an aborted attempt at seduction on the part of the guy, there is no overt romance between them; their circumstances will not allow it. But it is clear that they do care immensely for one another and could have a relationship beyond the devoted friendship they share, but they skirt that line throughout the movie. And another movie musical convention goes by the wayside--the two protagonists do not end up together but instead end up in the places they are meant to be. No "boy meets girl, boy loses girls, boy gets girl" tropes here. I found myself flinching throughout the course of the movie as I felt as if the movie was going to veer off the course it had set for itself--something dangerous was going to happen to Girl and Guy was going to have to come to her rescue, throwing them into each others' arms. It never does.
Of course, the music. The movie would be such a minor little thing were not the music astonishing in its power and emotion. The two leads voice their pain and confusion in pared-back, mostly acoustic songs that are heart-wrenching. I will be buying the soundtrack, and perhaps their other album they have put together, and then I'll start looking at buying albums from Hansard's band. Trust my taste or not, women in the audience were weeping at the performances, and not because they were bad. The music makes the movie, and the movie is fresh, original, and quite quite lovely.
Here's the trick. I've been waiting for this movie for about three months. It's a small indie film that is going only to art-house theatres, so you may have to search for it. But do search. Find this movie. If there's any justice in the world, it's going to be up for nominations when awards come around.
[edit -- the day after this posting, I was doing research on the music of Hansard and Irglova, and found the official Once web site, http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/. The soundtrack runs continually in the background, all the songs, on repeat. It's a good way to hear this outstanding music.]
Friday, July 20, 2007
Comic musings for 18 July
A little note of warning--next week, Mrs. Speculator and I will be in San Diego at Comic-Con, so no blogging. We'll see if we can update a Web site somewhere with pictures when we get back. This means the following week will be something like a double-shot of reviewing even though this week's going to be a little big also. What can I say? Stuff happens this time around.
After complaining about Thor a little bit ago, a friend who is a J. Michael Straczynski fan and was appalled at the depth of my loathing for the book decided to try to show me the error of my JMS-hating ways. He loaned me the entire run of the 2004/2005 miniseries Strange to try to sell me on the skillz of JMS. Quick review--the art by Brandon Peterson was very hit or miss, and it was a shame that so much of the panels were taken up by expositional word balloons. The new origin of Dr. Strange had nothing very new or exciting in it; perhaps JMS was constrained by not warping continuity too much but he also didn't change very much that I am aware of. No risks taken, daring narrative techniques attempted. Fairly pedestrian stuff. I'm told by people who know that much of JMS's independent stuff is fabulous, but they generally agree with me on my review of Thor: nothing happens.
On to this week's books:
Spoilers ho!
All-Flash 1 - The return of Wally West as the Flash has promise as it feels like the old issues, but that could be as much about Flash-meister Mark Waid being back at the helm as it is about WAlly donning the costume. There really are just four scenes in the book; the first is the shortest, preparing the reader of Wally's return as he is welcomed back to Earth by the Justice League and Justice Society. The second is the scene immediately after Bart's death as the Rogues realize what they have done and the consequences of it. I guess it is the nature of a comic villain not to realize those consequences before they do stupid and/or bad things. But they do know now that they have become, momentarily, the most wanted men on Earth.
The third scene is Wally catching up with Inertia and the conflict that ensues, within Wally himself, over what should be Inertia's punishment. For the first time, Wally wants to kill and has the ability and opportunity to do it. The resolution of the that conflict is, in some ways, the beginning of the best tribute to Bart yet. Finally, Wally and Iris decompress and talk about the nature of knowing the future and what a good person Bart was. This conversation truly is the proper eulogy for Bart and is handled gently and with respect by Waid. We also get to see a glimpse of some future stories, including a most unusual costume coming out of the Flash ring.
There is, however, one glaring point in the story that feels just like a total mischaracterization of Wally. When Iris asks, Wally reveals how he has punished Inertia--by sucking away all of his speed so that it "takes a hundred years to blink" but his mind works at its niormal speed and then leaving him as a statue in the Flash museum to stare at the statue of Impulse. On the one hand, this is a fitting and ironic vengeance...but that's where the problem lies. As angry and sad as Wally was, he had decided he was a hero and would not kill Inertia. So instead, he inflicts about the most torture imaginable out of revenge, which is decidedly not the action of a hero. And decidedly not something the Wally we know would ever do. It truly is the one sour writing note in the summation of one series and its bridge to the next. I'm a little puzzled by the decision to have seven artists since it made some of the scenes rather jarring, but it's livable.
Points though to Waid for not dragging the guilt of Wally thing for too long. Iris resolves Wally's remorse simply and honestly; it doesn't feel forced and it is perfectly within the previous characterization of all the people involved. Kudos, sir.
Hmm...Suicide Squad captures all the members of the Rogues? Think that might be a lead-in to another story?
Justice League of America 11 - This issue is a fascinating bit of story-telling involving the two least powered members of the Justice League trapped in a building collapsing into a river. Brad Meltzer's writing explores the personalities of the characters in ways that just another super-powered fight would not allow. And Gene Ha stepped into the art chores for this issue, delivering some stunning work both in the actual art and in the framing technique, using expanses of black space around the panels to show both the unknown that surrounds the heroes' situation and just how much danger they are in as the building slowly collapses in around them.
I set this book down after I finished it and smiled since it may be the strongest book out of the new Justice League run. And then I thought about it and realized that Meltzer may have made a serious gaffe in physics. When Vixen tries to escape through the hole she makes, she finds that as she swims, she can see no light and she figures they are so far underneath the river that the light fails. When she tells this to Roy, he eventually figures out by water pooling on the ceiling above him that the building is actually upside down and Vixen had been swimming down rather than up.
Okay. First of all, gravity would have pulled them in a downward direction, like it did the water that Roy noticed. Unless they were virtually pinned by the collapsing building, I don't believe there would be any way for them to not know they were upside-down. Also, when Vixen swims, she would have felt the pressure increase as she swam down and should have realized something was wrong. And, as she swam back to the building, she should have indeed been able to see it growing gradually lighter as she swam *up*.
But I give Meltzer marks for the ingenuity to find a way to push the characters in ways that reveal their inner workings. And Ha's art is as great as it always is. This is a fine stand-alone issue if we just set aside our rational minds for a few moments.
Checkmate 16 - The story jumps between two viewpoints, one involving the growth of the personal relationship between Sasha and Mr. Terrific and the other regarding the story recently concluded in the crossover with the Outsiders. We also get some scenes as Tora is reunited with her best friend, Fire, and Rucka writes the heck out of their relationship (in a good way). For those folks not familiar with the compassionate and charming personality of Tora, it is all brought back in the few pages where Bea admits her guilt of her deeds. Tora refuses to rise to the bait and just loves her friend. It is a wonderful scene that, while probably not ultimately resolved, resonates with the characters we once knew.
The evolution of the affair between Sasha and Mr. Terrific is also developed well, with both parties having reason to not want what develops but falling slowly and happily into it. It's a solid piece of writing that develops these relatively unknown characters nicely. The dual revelations at the end of the issue are a little annoying. As if there wasn't enough friction within Checkmate, introducing a new character--partially responsible for Sasha's torture earlier--just seems like overkill. And of course, someone is taking pictures of Sasha and Mr. Terrific getting some down time together. And that it is Mirror, given thetrouble Amanda Waller is about to fall into, is not much of a surprise, especially given what happens in All-Flash. It'll be interesting to see how it is played out, but I would not be at all surprised to see the new Outsiders summoned to help ease tensions.
Birds of Prey 108 - Gail Simone's farewell issue. We get to see the resolution for the battle for control of the Birds, and Barbara remembers two important things. First, she is never as trapped in her wheel char as she thinks she might be. Second, and perhaps most important, she has friends. Lots of them. And they only have to be asked in order to pitch in. Artist Nicola Scott does a fine job of showing them pitching in, in a strategically organized four-page spread. The final conversation between the Birds is a strong one and calls out so very well what Simone has added to them, the sense of family. And there is a resolution as well for Misfit that opens up some new doors. Well done, Ms. Simone! And thank you for the lovely work.
Action 852 - Just a small complaint here. Overall a decent story, but a few art problems with ridiculously angled faces. The complaint--the issue says that the story is continued over in Countdown 41. And it isn't. I'm growing more and more concerned about DC's ability to keep their titles synchronized as they blow the universe more and more apart. I suspect that there was intended to be a clear connection between the issues, but it got lost as changes affected Countdown. I hope this remains an anomaly rather then the beginning of the trend.
Notes
Some Marvel props. First, hat's off to Mark Bagley and his phenomenal run on Ultimate Spiderman. It is somewhat painful to see him leaving the title. I dare say he has joined the group of artists renowned for both their tenure and good works on on a title--Kirby and Fantastic Four, Swan and Action, and now Bagley and Ultimate Spiderman. I realize that can be read as ridiculously hyperbolic, but I firmly believe it.
Second, if you aren't reading World War Hulk, you should be. I don't think Hulk has been written this well since Peter David was doing it, and as difficult as it may be to say this, Greg Pak's run could surpass David's. It's all mixed up with the ongoing deconstruction of the Marvel universe, and none would have expected Hulk to be such a brilliant protagonist, but this is some really fine story-telling. Hulk's consecutive confrontations in issue 2--with Jennifer Walters, Rick Jones, and then, of all people, Sue Storm--were just masterfully handled. I have a very very bad feeling Marvel is going to wuss out on the ending, giving us some sort of deus ex machina, such as one of the Warguard being responsible for blowing up the ship, but until that happens, I'm mighty pleased with the story. It's no Decimation....
After complaining about Thor a little bit ago, a friend who is a J. Michael Straczynski fan and was appalled at the depth of my loathing for the book decided to try to show me the error of my JMS-hating ways. He loaned me the entire run of the 2004/2005 miniseries Strange to try to sell me on the skillz of JMS. Quick review--the art by Brandon Peterson was very hit or miss, and it was a shame that so much of the panels were taken up by expositional word balloons. The new origin of Dr. Strange had nothing very new or exciting in it; perhaps JMS was constrained by not warping continuity too much but he also didn't change very much that I am aware of. No risks taken, daring narrative techniques attempted. Fairly pedestrian stuff. I'm told by people who know that much of JMS's independent stuff is fabulous, but they generally agree with me on my review of Thor: nothing happens.
On to this week's books:
Spoilers ho!
All-Flash 1 - The return of Wally West as the Flash has promise as it feels like the old issues, but that could be as much about Flash-meister Mark Waid being back at the helm as it is about WAlly donning the costume. There really are just four scenes in the book; the first is the shortest, preparing the reader of Wally's return as he is welcomed back to Earth by the Justice League and Justice Society. The second is the scene immediately after Bart's death as the Rogues realize what they have done and the consequences of it. I guess it is the nature of a comic villain not to realize those consequences before they do stupid and/or bad things. But they do know now that they have become, momentarily, the most wanted men on Earth.
The third scene is Wally catching up with Inertia and the conflict that ensues, within Wally himself, over what should be Inertia's punishment. For the first time, Wally wants to kill and has the ability and opportunity to do it. The resolution of the that conflict is, in some ways, the beginning of the best tribute to Bart yet. Finally, Wally and Iris decompress and talk about the nature of knowing the future and what a good person Bart was. This conversation truly is the proper eulogy for Bart and is handled gently and with respect by Waid. We also get to see a glimpse of some future stories, including a most unusual costume coming out of the Flash ring.
There is, however, one glaring point in the story that feels just like a total mischaracterization of Wally. When Iris asks, Wally reveals how he has punished Inertia--by sucking away all of his speed so that it "takes a hundred years to blink" but his mind works at its niormal speed and then leaving him as a statue in the Flash museum to stare at the statue of Impulse. On the one hand, this is a fitting and ironic vengeance...but that's where the problem lies. As angry and sad as Wally was, he had decided he was a hero and would not kill Inertia. So instead, he inflicts about the most torture imaginable out of revenge, which is decidedly not the action of a hero. And decidedly not something the Wally we know would ever do. It truly is the one sour writing note in the summation of one series and its bridge to the next. I'm a little puzzled by the decision to have seven artists since it made some of the scenes rather jarring, but it's livable.
Points though to Waid for not dragging the guilt of Wally thing for too long. Iris resolves Wally's remorse simply and honestly; it doesn't feel forced and it is perfectly within the previous characterization of all the people involved. Kudos, sir.
Hmm...Suicide Squad captures all the members of the Rogues? Think that might be a lead-in to another story?
Justice League of America 11 - This issue is a fascinating bit of story-telling involving the two least powered members of the Justice League trapped in a building collapsing into a river. Brad Meltzer's writing explores the personalities of the characters in ways that just another super-powered fight would not allow. And Gene Ha stepped into the art chores for this issue, delivering some stunning work both in the actual art and in the framing technique, using expanses of black space around the panels to show both the unknown that surrounds the heroes' situation and just how much danger they are in as the building slowly collapses in around them.
I set this book down after I finished it and smiled since it may be the strongest book out of the new Justice League run. And then I thought about it and realized that Meltzer may have made a serious gaffe in physics. When Vixen tries to escape through the hole she makes, she finds that as she swims, she can see no light and she figures they are so far underneath the river that the light fails. When she tells this to Roy, he eventually figures out by water pooling on the ceiling above him that the building is actually upside down and Vixen had been swimming down rather than up.
Okay. First of all, gravity would have pulled them in a downward direction, like it did the water that Roy noticed. Unless they were virtually pinned by the collapsing building, I don't believe there would be any way for them to not know they were upside-down. Also, when Vixen swims, she would have felt the pressure increase as she swam down and should have realized something was wrong. And, as she swam back to the building, she should have indeed been able to see it growing gradually lighter as she swam *up*.
But I give Meltzer marks for the ingenuity to find a way to push the characters in ways that reveal their inner workings. And Ha's art is as great as it always is. This is a fine stand-alone issue if we just set aside our rational minds for a few moments.
Checkmate 16 - The story jumps between two viewpoints, one involving the growth of the personal relationship between Sasha and Mr. Terrific and the other regarding the story recently concluded in the crossover with the Outsiders. We also get some scenes as Tora is reunited with her best friend, Fire, and Rucka writes the heck out of their relationship (in a good way). For those folks not familiar with the compassionate and charming personality of Tora, it is all brought back in the few pages where Bea admits her guilt of her deeds. Tora refuses to rise to the bait and just loves her friend. It is a wonderful scene that, while probably not ultimately resolved, resonates with the characters we once knew.
The evolution of the affair between Sasha and Mr. Terrific is also developed well, with both parties having reason to not want what develops but falling slowly and happily into it. It's a solid piece of writing that develops these relatively unknown characters nicely. The dual revelations at the end of the issue are a little annoying. As if there wasn't enough friction within Checkmate, introducing a new character--partially responsible for Sasha's torture earlier--just seems like overkill. And of course, someone is taking pictures of Sasha and Mr. Terrific getting some down time together. And that it is Mirror, given thetrouble Amanda Waller is about to fall into, is not much of a surprise, especially given what happens in All-Flash. It'll be interesting to see how it is played out, but I would not be at all surprised to see the new Outsiders summoned to help ease tensions.
Birds of Prey 108 - Gail Simone's farewell issue. We get to see the resolution for the battle for control of the Birds, and Barbara remembers two important things. First, she is never as trapped in her wheel char as she thinks she might be. Second, and perhaps most important, she has friends. Lots of them. And they only have to be asked in order to pitch in. Artist Nicola Scott does a fine job of showing them pitching in, in a strategically organized four-page spread. The final conversation between the Birds is a strong one and calls out so very well what Simone has added to them, the sense of family. And there is a resolution as well for Misfit that opens up some new doors. Well done, Ms. Simone! And thank you for the lovely work.
Action 852 - Just a small complaint here. Overall a decent story, but a few art problems with ridiculously angled faces. The complaint--the issue says that the story is continued over in Countdown 41. And it isn't. I'm growing more and more concerned about DC's ability to keep their titles synchronized as they blow the universe more and more apart. I suspect that there was intended to be a clear connection between the issues, but it got lost as changes affected Countdown. I hope this remains an anomaly rather then the beginning of the trend.
Notes
Some Marvel props. First, hat's off to Mark Bagley and his phenomenal run on Ultimate Spiderman. It is somewhat painful to see him leaving the title. I dare say he has joined the group of artists renowned for both their tenure and good works on on a title--Kirby and Fantastic Four, Swan and Action, and now Bagley and Ultimate Spiderman. I realize that can be read as ridiculously hyperbolic, but I firmly believe it.
Second, if you aren't reading World War Hulk, you should be. I don't think Hulk has been written this well since Peter David was doing it, and as difficult as it may be to say this, Greg Pak's run could surpass David's. It's all mixed up with the ongoing deconstruction of the Marvel universe, and none would have expected Hulk to be such a brilliant protagonist, but this is some really fine story-telling. Hulk's consecutive confrontations in issue 2--with Jennifer Walters, Rick Jones, and then, of all people, Sue Storm--were just masterfully handled. I have a very very bad feeling Marvel is going to wuss out on the ending, giving us some sort of deus ex machina, such as one of the Warguard being responsible for blowing up the ship, but until that happens, I'm mighty pleased with the story. It's no Decimation....
Monday, July 16, 2007
Comic musings for 11 July
A mixed bag this week--it's sort of like everyone is holding their breaths for San Diego. But that's just silly, isn't it? As best I can tell, Mrs. Speculator and I are the only ones holding our breaths, and it can't be any worse than the fiasco that was the trip to London.
As an aside, the October solicitations for DC came out this afternoon, and I am really excited by the potential of the stories being described. There's a ton of stuff, all tying into Countdown, and it appears my theory that DC is trying to overwhelm the reader with storyline on top of storyline, mimicking the chaos that pervades the DC Universe at the moment is going to be dead on. I just hope they do a better job of carrying off the stories than they have in the past few months.
On to the last week's books--
Spoilers ho!
Justice Society of America 7 - An actual one-and-done from Geoff Johns as the new hero Citizen Steel is introduced. One of the more interesting aspects of this otherwise fairly typical introduction of the unwilling hero is the depth of character given to Power Girl in her new role a the leader of the JSA. She's historically been portrayed as a "hit first and ask questions later" kind of hero, but in this issue, she actually is thoughtful and sensitive to the physical and emotional pain of Nathan, the new hero. Johns has said that the JSA is meant to be a sort of training ground for younger DC heroes, but it seems he has created a fairly disfunctional team here--alongside the novice Wildcat and Cyclone, a mutilated Damage, and a clinically insane Starman, he has added a Citizen Steel that cannot control his strength or his weight, causing all sorts of collateral damage. In fact, this may be the largest team in the DC Universe, including the Legion of Super-heroes, such that a lot of characters are getting short shrift (and we all know that Johns is more than happy to leave a storyline open for all eternity). Despite all that, this is a fine little piece of writing, satisfactorily introducing the new character and his motivation. And as I say, Power Girl is handled quite nicely, in opposition to her recent appearance in Supergirl. If the solicitations are any indication, things are about to get really nuts with the JSA, and this issue or the next appear to be good jumping-on points.
Another interesting passage in this issue is Superman's visit with Starman in the lunchroom of the asylum. Between their common enjoyment of sloppy joes and the enigmatic dialogue with the displaced Starman, this passage is something to behold in its intimacy, privacy and lunacy. Sadly, it's also the best writing Johns has done of Superman...and it appears in a title in which he is not a regular character.
Gen13 10 - A couple of confessions here: I've said it before--I'm a big fan of Gail Simone. And I've never read Gen13 before Simone started writing it...she's the only reason I'm reading it. And now that the Gen13 team has arrived in Tranquility, the title town in the other Wildstorm title for Simone, things are just a-popping. It being a book about teenagers, there's all sort of angst, but despite the angst involving super-powered folks, Simone continues to nail the right level for teenagers suddenly without a family or home. As much pain as these kids have suffered, this could become a depressingly maudlin book, but again and again the Gen13 team recognize their strength lay within each other no matter their personal tribulations.
And since they are teenagers, there is also the hair-trigger feuds with other teenagers. Fortunately, the teenagers in Tranquility are also super-powered, so there is no death and dismemberment to worry about. Along the way, we get to see the team members come up with their "code names" and we getthe backstory for Burnout, a firecaster who idolizes Bob Marley. And when a native Tranquilitian shows interest in him, the leader of the local team (the Liberty Snots) takes offense and tries repeatedly to start a fight. When it finally starts, the Snots and Gen13 face off in the type of fight that Simone has shown in Birds of Prey with conversations between individual combatants continuing to reveal character and offering moments of comedy. You just have to ignore, as we do for all comics, that no one talks that much in a fight. Sooner or later, Simone is going to bust that trope as well.
This is another solid issue, but I wish the pace would pick up justa little..things are happening back at the lab, but it is taking quite a while for them to reach the kids. Maybe the wait will pay off eventually; I just want it to be soon.
Green Lantern 21 - Part 2 of "The Sinestro Corps War," and Hal finds out who he is up against--the new Parallax. Unfortunately this issue is a lot of set-up for future issues, but there are still some moments to speak of. One of them is the obvious distrust some of the Green Lanterns show Hal. I find this to be refreshing--Batman was not insane to be unsure of the reborn Hal Jordan. I suppose ultimately Hal will prove himself against what turns aout to have been his worst foe, and the Lanterns will believe in him again.
Another interesting point is Hal's reluctance to take on the mantle of leader in a strike force to Qward. Hal correctly points out that the history of the Lanterns taking on such taks is not very good. Unfortuately, this shines a light on the untrustworthy nature of the Guardians, which really is just getting beaten into the ground. I'm not sure which is worse, their being enigmatically powerful and whimsical or their being enigmatically suspicious. The way they are written begs forthem to be obliterated again, and I wish they showed more individuality than just Ganthet. they can't all be such idgits.
Finally, we find out what it is Hal fears the most...and it makes no sense at all. Parallax tortures Hal with the memories of his father's death until it is revealed that Hal's deep dark secret is that he is afraid his father died in fear. I can't even begin to understand why that would effect Hal in any way and how it can be used as a wedge to overcome him and the Guardians. If his father had died in pain or died doing something unheroic, it might make sense, but this just doesn't. It also highlights the dangerous edge that Johns is skirting with this new immunity to fear that the Lanters are supposed to have now: fear is a good thing, a natural response to danger that heightens the senses and responses. I hope that, eventually, Johns deals with the fact that Lanterns are effectively crippled without fear.
A quick note
If Amazons attacking and the Flash dying weren't enough, if the imminent collapse of all 52 universes wasn't enugh a spectacle, over in Shadowpact, Doctor Gotham has set off a Krakatoa-level volcano in downtown Chicago. It sucks to live in the DC Universe right now, and I really hope that, since the volcano was summoned magically, when Shadowpact defeats the bad Doctor, the effects of the volcano can be magically fixed as well. Someone needs to redo a map of the DC Earth, making sure that we note where all the disasters have happened. Cheshire blew up a nuclear bomb, Black Adam destroyed a country, Sydney is gone...and now Chicago.
As an aside, the October solicitations for DC came out this afternoon, and I am really excited by the potential of the stories being described. There's a ton of stuff, all tying into Countdown, and it appears my theory that DC is trying to overwhelm the reader with storyline on top of storyline, mimicking the chaos that pervades the DC Universe at the moment is going to be dead on. I just hope they do a better job of carrying off the stories than they have in the past few months.
On to the last week's books--
Spoilers ho!
Justice Society of America 7 - An actual one-and-done from Geoff Johns as the new hero Citizen Steel is introduced. One of the more interesting aspects of this otherwise fairly typical introduction of the unwilling hero is the depth of character given to Power Girl in her new role a the leader of the JSA. She's historically been portrayed as a "hit first and ask questions later" kind of hero, but in this issue, she actually is thoughtful and sensitive to the physical and emotional pain of Nathan, the new hero. Johns has said that the JSA is meant to be a sort of training ground for younger DC heroes, but it seems he has created a fairly disfunctional team here--alongside the novice Wildcat and Cyclone, a mutilated Damage, and a clinically insane Starman, he has added a Citizen Steel that cannot control his strength or his weight, causing all sorts of collateral damage. In fact, this may be the largest team in the DC Universe, including the Legion of Super-heroes, such that a lot of characters are getting short shrift (and we all know that Johns is more than happy to leave a storyline open for all eternity). Despite all that, this is a fine little piece of writing, satisfactorily introducing the new character and his motivation. And as I say, Power Girl is handled quite nicely, in opposition to her recent appearance in Supergirl. If the solicitations are any indication, things are about to get really nuts with the JSA, and this issue or the next appear to be good jumping-on points.
Another interesting passage in this issue is Superman's visit with Starman in the lunchroom of the asylum. Between their common enjoyment of sloppy joes and the enigmatic dialogue with the displaced Starman, this passage is something to behold in its intimacy, privacy and lunacy. Sadly, it's also the best writing Johns has done of Superman...and it appears in a title in which he is not a regular character.
Gen13 10 - A couple of confessions here: I've said it before--I'm a big fan of Gail Simone. And I've never read Gen13 before Simone started writing it...she's the only reason I'm reading it. And now that the Gen13 team has arrived in Tranquility, the title town in the other Wildstorm title for Simone, things are just a-popping. It being a book about teenagers, there's all sort of angst, but despite the angst involving super-powered folks, Simone continues to nail the right level for teenagers suddenly without a family or home. As much pain as these kids have suffered, this could become a depressingly maudlin book, but again and again the Gen13 team recognize their strength lay within each other no matter their personal tribulations.
And since they are teenagers, there is also the hair-trigger feuds with other teenagers. Fortunately, the teenagers in Tranquility are also super-powered, so there is no death and dismemberment to worry about. Along the way, we get to see the team members come up with their "code names" and we getthe backstory for Burnout, a firecaster who idolizes Bob Marley. And when a native Tranquilitian shows interest in him, the leader of the local team (the Liberty Snots) takes offense and tries repeatedly to start a fight. When it finally starts, the Snots and Gen13 face off in the type of fight that Simone has shown in Birds of Prey with conversations between individual combatants continuing to reveal character and offering moments of comedy. You just have to ignore, as we do for all comics, that no one talks that much in a fight. Sooner or later, Simone is going to bust that trope as well.
This is another solid issue, but I wish the pace would pick up justa little..things are happening back at the lab, but it is taking quite a while for them to reach the kids. Maybe the wait will pay off eventually; I just want it to be soon.
Green Lantern 21 - Part 2 of "The Sinestro Corps War," and Hal finds out who he is up against--the new Parallax. Unfortunately this issue is a lot of set-up for future issues, but there are still some moments to speak of. One of them is the obvious distrust some of the Green Lanterns show Hal. I find this to be refreshing--Batman was not insane to be unsure of the reborn Hal Jordan. I suppose ultimately Hal will prove himself against what turns aout to have been his worst foe, and the Lanterns will believe in him again.
Another interesting point is Hal's reluctance to take on the mantle of leader in a strike force to Qward. Hal correctly points out that the history of the Lanterns taking on such taks is not very good. Unfortuately, this shines a light on the untrustworthy nature of the Guardians, which really is just getting beaten into the ground. I'm not sure which is worse, their being enigmatically powerful and whimsical or their being enigmatically suspicious. The way they are written begs forthem to be obliterated again, and I wish they showed more individuality than just Ganthet. they can't all be such idgits.
Finally, we find out what it is Hal fears the most...and it makes no sense at all. Parallax tortures Hal with the memories of his father's death until it is revealed that Hal's deep dark secret is that he is afraid his father died in fear. I can't even begin to understand why that would effect Hal in any way and how it can be used as a wedge to overcome him and the Guardians. If his father had died in pain or died doing something unheroic, it might make sense, but this just doesn't. It also highlights the dangerous edge that Johns is skirting with this new immunity to fear that the Lanters are supposed to have now: fear is a good thing, a natural response to danger that heightens the senses and responses. I hope that, eventually, Johns deals with the fact that Lanterns are effectively crippled without fear.
A quick note
If Amazons attacking and the Flash dying weren't enough, if the imminent collapse of all 52 universes wasn't enugh a spectacle, over in Shadowpact, Doctor Gotham has set off a Krakatoa-level volcano in downtown Chicago. It sucks to live in the DC Universe right now, and I really hope that, since the volcano was summoned magically, when Shadowpact defeats the bad Doctor, the effects of the volcano can be magically fixed as well. Someone needs to redo a map of the DC Earth, making sure that we note where all the disasters have happened. Cheshire blew up a nuclear bomb, Black Adam destroyed a country, Sydney is gone...and now Chicago.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Transformers
Not so much “more than meets the eye.” It’s pretty much exactly what it looks like.
It’s a special effects extravaganza, bearing in mind that most of the effects are CGI. It’s also a rollicking good time once you get past the expositional monologue about the “allspark” (I don’t even know how to spell it!) that explains why Earth is both being invaded and being defended by living machines able to take the form of non-living machines that they can examine. It’s also a slice of American life comedy during the first half, as we watch young Sam Witwicky (played with nonstop mouth by Shia LeBoeuf) handle the crises of male pubescence--dealing with girls who won’t pay you the time of day, facing down the members of the cool clique, and dealing with a father who tries to be cool with his son rather than parental. Sam is lucky though, in that said father has also promised him a car for good grades, which leads to the last of Sam’s troubles…accidentally buying a Transformer come to Earth to save us from the evil Megatron.
The Transformers is mostly sophomoric hijinks until the human race discovers just how much danger it really is in. For its first half, the movie teases with ironic humor, as the audience somewhat knows what is about to be revealed, while the characters have no idea. Sam’s newly bought dilapidated Camaro tries to hook him up with teenaged hottie Mikaela by playing carefully selected songs and breaking down in the middle of nowhere with Mikaela as a passenger. The Camaro takes offense when Sam calls it a pile of junk and throws him out, only to return in its brand new form…the well paid for product placement for the 2007 or 2008 Camaro.
But interspersed with these antics is the more serious attack on an American base in Qatar by one of the evil Transformers, called Decepticons. Flying in to the base disguised an American combat helicopter, once it lands it goes on the attack, decimating the forces on the base as it also attempts to download military intelligence from the base’s servers. The servers are shut down before the Decepticon can get the information it needs, but it still ends up killing everyone on the base except for a single squad who begin a hike across the Qatari desert to alert the American authorities. Meanwhile, without any information on the attack, the Department of Defense can only believe that they have been attacked by a new form of weaponry by a terrestrial army and begin building up American forces in preparation of a retaliatory attack.
Switching back and forth between the two stories is an effective way to build the tension in the movie, especially when the irony is moved to the characters, as Sam and Mikaela are introduced to the good Transformers, the Autobots, and now know more about the coming invasion that the government. And the introduction to the Autobots is glorious, especially when Optimus Prime speaks as a character (rather than a narrator) for the first time. It’s an unfortunate side-effect of the movie industry that more product placement takes place in the forms that the Autobots choose (especially the Pontiac Solstice), but it passes relatively quickly and painlessly. When the Autobots travel en masse to Sam’s home in order to pick up an important artifact (which ultimately is a macguffin—it’s value has been seriously limited by events since its creation), the humor of vehicles that magically appear in the backyard and begin walking about and hiding as Sam’s parents look out the windows is a high point of the movie. Never have the Transformers looked less heroic and yet added so much to their charm.
Misunderstanding with the government follows, since they have no idea that there are two groups of aliens and one of them is concerned for human welfare. John Turturro plays an over-the-top director of a super-secret task force that deals with the repercussions of the Decepticons’ first visit to Earth in a role designed to highlight the stereotypical short-sightedness of government officials. Pity poor Jon Voight who ultimately ends up stuck in a chamber with a Decepticaon on the warpath and the beyond-zany acting of Turturro and Anthony Anderson. Fortunately, this too passes quickly.
At last the movie explodes into what everyone thought it would be, a knock-out, drag-down battle royale between the Decepticons and Autobots with humans striving valiantly to defend themselves against forces they can barely comprehend. I have to add here that one of the signatures of movies directed by Michael Bay comes most heavily into play here—no matter how cheesy the movie, whomever he has writing his scores is brilliant at building up the emotions and swelling to overtures of heroic magnificence at exactly the right moments. Megatron is satisfactorily evil and Optimus is glowingly heroic as they fight for the future of two races, and it’s important that the puny human forces help to seal the victory for the Autobots.
There are just three things I would pick at for the movie. The first I have mentioned--the ubiquitous product placement (just how much did Mountain Dew pay for the rights to this anyway?). Mostly it goes by quickly, but there is so much of it that it does distract a little bit…which I suppose is its purpose. Second, sometimes when the Transformers speak, because they are made to sound a little mechanical, it can be difficult to understand what they are saying. And finally, when the Transformers fight hand-to-hand, it is often impossible to see any details beyond mechanized mayhem. I don’t expect that the movie would have fight scenes choreographed by kung fu masters, but it would just be nice to actually see what the robots are doing to each other in some sort of detail. But these are minor quibbles and really do not take away too much from the adrenalin that drives the movie.
So Michael Bay does what he does so well. He has created a monumental special effects epic that could be taken as simply campy but which also offers entertainment on many levels. There is laughter and explosions and, of course, the open ending that implies there could be a sequel if they wanted. Most simply, Transformers really is a load of fun, and the nearly perfect summer movie.
It’s a special effects extravaganza, bearing in mind that most of the effects are CGI. It’s also a rollicking good time once you get past the expositional monologue about the “allspark” (I don’t even know how to spell it!) that explains why Earth is both being invaded and being defended by living machines able to take the form of non-living machines that they can examine. It’s also a slice of American life comedy during the first half, as we watch young Sam Witwicky (played with nonstop mouth by Shia LeBoeuf) handle the crises of male pubescence--dealing with girls who won’t pay you the time of day, facing down the members of the cool clique, and dealing with a father who tries to be cool with his son rather than parental. Sam is lucky though, in that said father has also promised him a car for good grades, which leads to the last of Sam’s troubles…accidentally buying a Transformer come to Earth to save us from the evil Megatron.
The Transformers is mostly sophomoric hijinks until the human race discovers just how much danger it really is in. For its first half, the movie teases with ironic humor, as the audience somewhat knows what is about to be revealed, while the characters have no idea. Sam’s newly bought dilapidated Camaro tries to hook him up with teenaged hottie Mikaela by playing carefully selected songs and breaking down in the middle of nowhere with Mikaela as a passenger. The Camaro takes offense when Sam calls it a pile of junk and throws him out, only to return in its brand new form…the well paid for product placement for the 2007 or 2008 Camaro.
But interspersed with these antics is the more serious attack on an American base in Qatar by one of the evil Transformers, called Decepticons. Flying in to the base disguised an American combat helicopter, once it lands it goes on the attack, decimating the forces on the base as it also attempts to download military intelligence from the base’s servers. The servers are shut down before the Decepticon can get the information it needs, but it still ends up killing everyone on the base except for a single squad who begin a hike across the Qatari desert to alert the American authorities. Meanwhile, without any information on the attack, the Department of Defense can only believe that they have been attacked by a new form of weaponry by a terrestrial army and begin building up American forces in preparation of a retaliatory attack.
Switching back and forth between the two stories is an effective way to build the tension in the movie, especially when the irony is moved to the characters, as Sam and Mikaela are introduced to the good Transformers, the Autobots, and now know more about the coming invasion that the government. And the introduction to the Autobots is glorious, especially when Optimus Prime speaks as a character (rather than a narrator) for the first time. It’s an unfortunate side-effect of the movie industry that more product placement takes place in the forms that the Autobots choose (especially the Pontiac Solstice), but it passes relatively quickly and painlessly. When the Autobots travel en masse to Sam’s home in order to pick up an important artifact (which ultimately is a macguffin—it’s value has been seriously limited by events since its creation), the humor of vehicles that magically appear in the backyard and begin walking about and hiding as Sam’s parents look out the windows is a high point of the movie. Never have the Transformers looked less heroic and yet added so much to their charm.
Misunderstanding with the government follows, since they have no idea that there are two groups of aliens and one of them is concerned for human welfare. John Turturro plays an over-the-top director of a super-secret task force that deals with the repercussions of the Decepticons’ first visit to Earth in a role designed to highlight the stereotypical short-sightedness of government officials. Pity poor Jon Voight who ultimately ends up stuck in a chamber with a Decepticaon on the warpath and the beyond-zany acting of Turturro and Anthony Anderson. Fortunately, this too passes quickly.
At last the movie explodes into what everyone thought it would be, a knock-out, drag-down battle royale between the Decepticons and Autobots with humans striving valiantly to defend themselves against forces they can barely comprehend. I have to add here that one of the signatures of movies directed by Michael Bay comes most heavily into play here—no matter how cheesy the movie, whomever he has writing his scores is brilliant at building up the emotions and swelling to overtures of heroic magnificence at exactly the right moments. Megatron is satisfactorily evil and Optimus is glowingly heroic as they fight for the future of two races, and it’s important that the puny human forces help to seal the victory for the Autobots.
There are just three things I would pick at for the movie. The first I have mentioned--the ubiquitous product placement (just how much did Mountain Dew pay for the rights to this anyway?). Mostly it goes by quickly, but there is so much of it that it does distract a little bit…which I suppose is its purpose. Second, sometimes when the Transformers speak, because they are made to sound a little mechanical, it can be difficult to understand what they are saying. And finally, when the Transformers fight hand-to-hand, it is often impossible to see any details beyond mechanized mayhem. I don’t expect that the movie would have fight scenes choreographed by kung fu masters, but it would just be nice to actually see what the robots are doing to each other in some sort of detail. But these are minor quibbles and really do not take away too much from the adrenalin that drives the movie.
So Michael Bay does what he does so well. He has created a monumental special effects epic that could be taken as simply campy but which also offers entertainment on many levels. There is laughter and explosions and, of course, the open ending that implies there could be a sequel if they wanted. Most simply, Transformers really is a load of fun, and the nearly perfect summer movie.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Comic musings for 5 July
A lot of comics arrived last week, but nothing really stood out to me, while a lot of naggy little things made me a little peevish. So rather than write long tirades, which seems to me mostly what I am writing of late, I'm going to provide just a few comments on a few issues.
Spoilers ho!
Thor 1 - Thor was not on my pull-list, but the employees who have known me for years put it in my bag because they figured I would really like it. Honestly, I don't know why. The writing is pure decompression by J. Michael Straczynski. Thor and Donald Blake have a conversation in some place called the void, the place where dead things or perhaps dead ideas go when they die. So there are panels where there are no words, or maybe three or four words, when a topic of their conversation needs illustration. And it is a silly conversation with a predictable conclusion: Thor thinks perhaps he is tired of fighting and Blake responds that such is not the way of a hero. So Thor fights to escape that which would hold them in the void, aand they escape. To Oklahoma. And Coipel's art is a mixed bag. Thor's head continually looks squashed and he has no bridge to his nose. I'm not sure I like the new armored look at all. About the only thing that's going to interest me about Thor is his response to the Hero Registration Act and Cap's death. I do suppose that the interminable pages of dialogue prove that Thor is not a Skrull.
Y the Last Man 57 - This was the highlight of the week. After nearly five years of searching for her, Yorick finds Beth and there is sweet sweet love. But in the post-coital bliss, the couple begins to talk, and Yorick pushes Beth to tell him the important thing that was interrrupted in their last phone call, nd I have to believe that not a single reader in the world knew what was coming. Before they were interrupted by the cataclysm and the last man on Earth began searching the world for his fiancee, she was going to break up with him. And now, when she is declaring her love for him again, Yorick can't believe it's not because he is the last male on the planet and walks out on her. To pull perhaps the lone underpinning of the entire story out like that is a radical and brilliant move, especially with only three issues reamining in the series. All along, we have only ever had Yorick's point of view, so writer Brian K. Vaughan just reminded us that Yorick's perspective isn't necessarily the correct one. Bravo!
Supergirl 19 - Where to start? I guess with the cover, an image of Supergirl standing victorious over a bloody Superman, with the caption "The Death of Superman Again!". This book has to just be the absolute nadir of DC sales, because Superman only appears in the final panel, and when Clark Kent does appear in the last few panels, he seems perfectly happy. I went back to the DC Web site to find the blurb for this week's issue: "Superstar writer Joe Kelly concludes his SUPERGIRL run with a grueling fight between Supergirl and Superman! Is the only way to save the universe to kill the Man of Steel? " Remember a few weeks ago when I said that I didn't really mind lying in the solicitations in the cause of a good story? It really yanks me when they lie for no reason at all. The entire issue is about Supergirl going back and reconciling her abominable behavior (which I would argue is the result of abominable writing) with all the people she has offended, such as the Teen Titans, especially Cassie, and Power Girl. The last person she visits is Clark and they make up their differences. And each visit is drawn by a different artist, sort of like one of those special issues where major events take place...only nothing important happens here, unless you count Supergirl adding a headband to her wardrobe. I'd like to think this was Joe Kelly's way of apologizing to the readers for the past two year's worth of crap, but I don't know if he could think at that deep a level. About the only thing that could happen that would keep this on my pull-list has happened. The writer is gone, flaming out in the worst way imaginable. Given her recent treatment in the pages of Amazons Attack, I think DC should just stop writing about Supergirl until there is some sort of editorial fiat about who this character is and how she is supposed to act. And all of this doesn't even mention the baffling and eventually useless appearance of Pariah for the first time in the latest crisis. Bah. Just bah.
Countdown 43 - The funeral for Bart Allen. Two glaring problems, perhaps among many. First, where the heck is Wally? This is unconscionably poor characterization to have the entire DC universe convene for this tragic occasion and Wally not even be there. Second, Bart left behind a recording to be played at his death, and it appears it comes from his days as a member of Young Justice. Suddenly we are confronted with the childish immature Bart, when we (and the funeral's audience) are supposed to be remembering him for his noble sacrifice and his life. It appears that about the only good thing they can say about him is that he loved life and then the wise-cracking Bart, in video form, shows up to prove it. Except that there was very little that was noble about it. At least the cameo by Harley Quinn was well-written and unexpected, even if it doesn't fit in with her recent continuity in Birds of Prey.
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis 53 - Maybe writer Tad Williams is having trouble writing because he knew the series was drawing to its end. Or maybe he still hasn't mastered the form. But in what should have been a climactic issue, with the first showdown with Black Manta coming to a conclusion, it's all a bit of a let-down. Whole panels filled by a word balloon as characters practice exposition to describ what the heck is going on. Black Manta drawn like and acting like he really is the latest incarnation of the Joker. And predictably, the recently diseased Orin's body has gone and done something weird, changed entirely to water. I thik there are only three issues left to this, and it's sad that what had been so promising a turn when Williams took over has become what it has. I hope that we get an explanation or, better yet, an attempt to put things to right, but Ifear it's not going to come, further putting Aquaman into comic book limbo for the foreseeable future. At least the book had the second best moment in comics this week, when King Shark figures out the way to shut Black Manta up...by biting off his face. Literally.
Detective 834 - I've been raving about this book for a while now and this month's issue delivers a relatively pleasing close to the latest appearance by the real Joker. Except for one staggeringly poorly written moment. As Joker has released his Joker gas into a crowd of fans of the dead stage magician Loxias, Zatanna turns that audienec into vampire bats that turn on Joker and begin to feed on him. On the one hand, that's a very Spectre moment and particularly distasteful. I wonder what the repercussions of that would be when she turned them back into humans--little bits of Joker flesh remaining in the tummy? Do the audience remember what shedid to them? Which leads to the bigger problem for this action: Batman is supposedly still angry at Zatanna for wiping his mind, and she tries tro win back his confidence by turning an audience of unpowered spectators into bats?! I realize that Bruce is trying to be calmer and more friendly after his year-long sojourn, but he accepts her actions without a word and they ultimately make up. However, for me, it calls Zatanna's mindset further into question, and I would be seriously leery of calling for her aid in the future.
Action 851 - The "Last Son" saga goes on, and it turns out that escaping from the Phantom Zone is not nearly as difficult as everyone makes it out to be. And it turns out that Mon-El is more of a hero than anyone had accounted for, sacrificing himself so that Superman can escape. Given the tragic turn of his eventual release from the Phantom Zone in Legion of Super-heroes, it's safe to say Mon-El has become the Hamlet of the DC Universe. And it turns out that General Zod is an abusive parent also, as well as willing to throw out innuendo about his plans for Lois as he tries to figure out why Superman is so enamored of her. Fortunately, this train-wreck of storyline is nearly over, since it will be concluded in an Actions Annual which I don't believe has even been solicited yet. Kurt Busiek will be taking over for a little while starting with the next issue.
I can't go on. There were similar bizarre plot turns in Outsiders and All Star Superman but I have no wit about them and I'm tired of appearing bitter. Here's hoping that next week makes everything all better.
Spoilers ho!
Thor 1 - Thor was not on my pull-list, but the employees who have known me for years put it in my bag because they figured I would really like it. Honestly, I don't know why. The writing is pure decompression by J. Michael Straczynski. Thor and Donald Blake have a conversation in some place called the void, the place where dead things or perhaps dead ideas go when they die. So there are panels where there are no words, or maybe three or four words, when a topic of their conversation needs illustration. And it is a silly conversation with a predictable conclusion: Thor thinks perhaps he is tired of fighting and Blake responds that such is not the way of a hero. So Thor fights to escape that which would hold them in the void, aand they escape. To Oklahoma. And Coipel's art is a mixed bag. Thor's head continually looks squashed and he has no bridge to his nose. I'm not sure I like the new armored look at all. About the only thing that's going to interest me about Thor is his response to the Hero Registration Act and Cap's death. I do suppose that the interminable pages of dialogue prove that Thor is not a Skrull.
Y the Last Man 57 - This was the highlight of the week. After nearly five years of searching for her, Yorick finds Beth and there is sweet sweet love. But in the post-coital bliss, the couple begins to talk, and Yorick pushes Beth to tell him the important thing that was interrrupted in their last phone call, nd I have to believe that not a single reader in the world knew what was coming. Before they were interrupted by the cataclysm and the last man on Earth began searching the world for his fiancee, she was going to break up with him. And now, when she is declaring her love for him again, Yorick can't believe it's not because he is the last male on the planet and walks out on her. To pull perhaps the lone underpinning of the entire story out like that is a radical and brilliant move, especially with only three issues reamining in the series. All along, we have only ever had Yorick's point of view, so writer Brian K. Vaughan just reminded us that Yorick's perspective isn't necessarily the correct one. Bravo!
Supergirl 19 - Where to start? I guess with the cover, an image of Supergirl standing victorious over a bloody Superman, with the caption "The Death of Superman Again!". This book has to just be the absolute nadir of DC sales, because Superman only appears in the final panel, and when Clark Kent does appear in the last few panels, he seems perfectly happy. I went back to the DC Web site to find the blurb for this week's issue: "Superstar writer Joe Kelly concludes his SUPERGIRL run with a grueling fight between Supergirl and Superman! Is the only way to save the universe to kill the Man of Steel? " Remember a few weeks ago when I said that I didn't really mind lying in the solicitations in the cause of a good story? It really yanks me when they lie for no reason at all. The entire issue is about Supergirl going back and reconciling her abominable behavior (which I would argue is the result of abominable writing) with all the people she has offended, such as the Teen Titans, especially Cassie, and Power Girl. The last person she visits is Clark and they make up their differences. And each visit is drawn by a different artist, sort of like one of those special issues where major events take place...only nothing important happens here, unless you count Supergirl adding a headband to her wardrobe. I'd like to think this was Joe Kelly's way of apologizing to the readers for the past two year's worth of crap, but I don't know if he could think at that deep a level. About the only thing that could happen that would keep this on my pull-list has happened. The writer is gone, flaming out in the worst way imaginable. Given her recent treatment in the pages of Amazons Attack, I think DC should just stop writing about Supergirl until there is some sort of editorial fiat about who this character is and how she is supposed to act. And all of this doesn't even mention the baffling and eventually useless appearance of Pariah for the first time in the latest crisis. Bah. Just bah.
Countdown 43 - The funeral for Bart Allen. Two glaring problems, perhaps among many. First, where the heck is Wally? This is unconscionably poor characterization to have the entire DC universe convene for this tragic occasion and Wally not even be there. Second, Bart left behind a recording to be played at his death, and it appears it comes from his days as a member of Young Justice. Suddenly we are confronted with the childish immature Bart, when we (and the funeral's audience) are supposed to be remembering him for his noble sacrifice and his life. It appears that about the only good thing they can say about him is that he loved life and then the wise-cracking Bart, in video form, shows up to prove it. Except that there was very little that was noble about it. At least the cameo by Harley Quinn was well-written and unexpected, even if it doesn't fit in with her recent continuity in Birds of Prey.
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis 53 - Maybe writer Tad Williams is having trouble writing because he knew the series was drawing to its end. Or maybe he still hasn't mastered the form. But in what should have been a climactic issue, with the first showdown with Black Manta coming to a conclusion, it's all a bit of a let-down. Whole panels filled by a word balloon as characters practice exposition to describ what the heck is going on. Black Manta drawn like and acting like he really is the latest incarnation of the Joker. And predictably, the recently diseased Orin's body has gone and done something weird, changed entirely to water. I thik there are only three issues left to this, and it's sad that what had been so promising a turn when Williams took over has become what it has. I hope that we get an explanation or, better yet, an attempt to put things to right, but Ifear it's not going to come, further putting Aquaman into comic book limbo for the foreseeable future. At least the book had the second best moment in comics this week, when King Shark figures out the way to shut Black Manta up...by biting off his face. Literally.
Detective 834 - I've been raving about this book for a while now and this month's issue delivers a relatively pleasing close to the latest appearance by the real Joker. Except for one staggeringly poorly written moment. As Joker has released his Joker gas into a crowd of fans of the dead stage magician Loxias, Zatanna turns that audienec into vampire bats that turn on Joker and begin to feed on him. On the one hand, that's a very Spectre moment and particularly distasteful. I wonder what the repercussions of that would be when she turned them back into humans--little bits of Joker flesh remaining in the tummy? Do the audience remember what shedid to them? Which leads to the bigger problem for this action: Batman is supposedly still angry at Zatanna for wiping his mind, and she tries tro win back his confidence by turning an audience of unpowered spectators into bats?! I realize that Bruce is trying to be calmer and more friendly after his year-long sojourn, but he accepts her actions without a word and they ultimately make up. However, for me, it calls Zatanna's mindset further into question, and I would be seriously leery of calling for her aid in the future.
Action 851 - The "Last Son" saga goes on, and it turns out that escaping from the Phantom Zone is not nearly as difficult as everyone makes it out to be. And it turns out that Mon-El is more of a hero than anyone had accounted for, sacrificing himself so that Superman can escape. Given the tragic turn of his eventual release from the Phantom Zone in Legion of Super-heroes, it's safe to say Mon-El has become the Hamlet of the DC Universe. And it turns out that General Zod is an abusive parent also, as well as willing to throw out innuendo about his plans for Lois as he tries to figure out why Superman is so enamored of her. Fortunately, this train-wreck of storyline is nearly over, since it will be concluded in an Actions Annual which I don't believe has even been solicited yet. Kurt Busiek will be taking over for a little while starting with the next issue.
I can't go on. There were similar bizarre plot turns in Outsiders and All Star Superman but I have no wit about them and I'm tired of appearing bitter. Here's hoping that next week makes everything all better.
Friday, July 6, 2007
The Falling Woman
See how much characterization you get when your characters actually have backgrounds that get revealed in the course of the story you tell? It helps that the two main characters in Pat Murphy’s The Falling Woman are flawed, making them that much more interesting. Mother and daughter, they also share the interesting ability to see shadows of the past, figures moving about in the modern world, partaking in the activities of their earlier life. For example, as they move about Los Angeles, they see Indian woman living their pre-Columbian lives in the midst of the busy streets.
For Elizabeth, in some ways, this talent is a god-send. She has made a career as a popular archeologist, specializing in Mayan digs and describing the lives of the people she studies with gripping stories of their everyday existence. Of course, her advantage is that she can see those lives taking place. Diane was young when Elizabeth divorced her father and has rarely seen her since. And now that the father who forbade Diane to get in touch with her mother has died, her grief and curiosity drive her to find her mother. She does at the fairly obscure site of Dzibilchaltun and the welcome is anything but heart-warming.
Elizabeth remains conflicted about her life prior to becoming an architect. Her husband was stifling, so much so that Elizabeth attempted suicide. Her flashbacks indicate that she loved her daughter dearly, but only had the strength to escape herself. Their reunion is also complicated by one of the shadows that Elizabeth sees around the dig, who unfortunately can see her as well. This ghost is a priestess of the Mayan goddess of the sea prior to the invasion of the Olmecs, and she warns Elizabeth that the cycle is turning, and that Elizabeth and Diane have the power to shape what the next age will be like. Sadly Diane can see the priestess as well, but the mother and daughter never discuss what they see, and so they never know the danger they accidentally place each other in.
Admittedly, the first two-thirds of the novel involve a lot of set-up. Explanations of the Mayan calendar are crucial to the events that follow, and the rest of the time is spent examining the work that archeologists do and both Elizabeth and Diane flashing back to memories of their earlier life. Murphy uses a fairly standard technique of alternating the chapters between mother and daughter, but she intersperses notes from a future book from Elizabeth about her findings at Dzibilchaltun between the chapters. Nonetheless, this is not boring fare; the characters are interesting, exactly because of their weaknesses, and Murphy clearly spent a good deal of time researching not only Mayan life but rural modern Mexican life as well. And of course, deftly woven into their chapters is the hint that something truly sinister approaches and that sacrifices must be made.
And when that something finally does arrive, the reader aches at the miscommunication between mother and daughter, founded by years apart and their individual fears that their bizarre talent is a symptom of insanity. Suddenly old roles seem to assert themselves, mother orders daughter away in an attempt to protect her, and daughter reads that as trying to get rid of her again. At the same time mother also has no idea what her daughter wants from her, primarily because she can never find the strength to ask. And when innocent people begin to be caught in the conflict between past and present, it is almost too much to bear.
The Falling Woman is really a very small book, more about our inability to communicate with one another than any sort of fantastic themes. The ending feels a little rushed and even a little predictable, so it is just a bit unsatisfying. But it was pleasing to see the development of real characters and setting them against a fantastic predicament. The test they face forces inner reserves of strength that neither knew they had, eliminating some of the certainty of the close of the novel. is really a very small book, more about our inability to communicate with one another than any sort of fantastic themes. The ending feels a little rushed and even a little predictable, so it is just a bit unsatisfying. But it was pleasing to see the development of real characters and setting them against a fantastic predicament. The test they face forces inner reserves of strength that neither knew they had, eliminating some of the certainty of the close of the novel.
For Elizabeth, in some ways, this talent is a god-send. She has made a career as a popular archeologist, specializing in Mayan digs and describing the lives of the people she studies with gripping stories of their everyday existence. Of course, her advantage is that she can see those lives taking place. Diane was young when Elizabeth divorced her father and has rarely seen her since. And now that the father who forbade Diane to get in touch with her mother has died, her grief and curiosity drive her to find her mother. She does at the fairly obscure site of Dzibilchaltun and the welcome is anything but heart-warming.
Elizabeth remains conflicted about her life prior to becoming an architect. Her husband was stifling, so much so that Elizabeth attempted suicide. Her flashbacks indicate that she loved her daughter dearly, but only had the strength to escape herself. Their reunion is also complicated by one of the shadows that Elizabeth sees around the dig, who unfortunately can see her as well. This ghost is a priestess of the Mayan goddess of the sea prior to the invasion of the Olmecs, and she warns Elizabeth that the cycle is turning, and that Elizabeth and Diane have the power to shape what the next age will be like. Sadly Diane can see the priestess as well, but the mother and daughter never discuss what they see, and so they never know the danger they accidentally place each other in.
Admittedly, the first two-thirds of the novel involve a lot of set-up. Explanations of the Mayan calendar are crucial to the events that follow, and the rest of the time is spent examining the work that archeologists do and both Elizabeth and Diane flashing back to memories of their earlier life. Murphy uses a fairly standard technique of alternating the chapters between mother and daughter, but she intersperses notes from a future book from Elizabeth about her findings at Dzibilchaltun between the chapters. Nonetheless, this is not boring fare; the characters are interesting, exactly because of their weaknesses, and Murphy clearly spent a good deal of time researching not only Mayan life but rural modern Mexican life as well. And of course, deftly woven into their chapters is the hint that something truly sinister approaches and that sacrifices must be made.
And when that something finally does arrive, the reader aches at the miscommunication between mother and daughter, founded by years apart and their individual fears that their bizarre talent is a symptom of insanity. Suddenly old roles seem to assert themselves, mother orders daughter away in an attempt to protect her, and daughter reads that as trying to get rid of her again. At the same time mother also has no idea what her daughter wants from her, primarily because she can never find the strength to ask. And when innocent people begin to be caught in the conflict between past and present, it is almost too much to bear.
The Falling Woman is really a very small book, more about our inability to communicate with one another than any sort of fantastic themes. The ending feels a little rushed and even a little predictable, so it is just a bit unsatisfying. But it was pleasing to see the development of real characters and setting them against a fantastic predicament. The test they face forces inner reserves of strength that neither knew they had, eliminating some of the certainty of the close of the novel. is really a very small book, more about our inability to communicate with one another than any sort of fantastic themes. The ending feels a little rushed and even a little predictable, so it is just a bit unsatisfying. But it was pleasing to see the development of real characters and setting them against a fantastic predicament. The test they face forces inner reserves of strength that neither knew they had, eliminating some of the certainty of the close of the novel.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Ratatouille
One of my favorite animated movies of all time is The Iron Giant, which beautifully captures the time period in which it is set while telling a timeless story of friendship. This was my first formal introduction to director Brad Bird, who had cut his animation teeth by helping to create The Simpsons half-hour show from the shorts that originally appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show. He also directed the ridiculously funny episode of Amazing Stories called “The Family Dog.” I had seen “The Family Dog” a number of times and appreciate it a great deal, but it was only recently that I realized that Bird was associated it.
You can probably imagine how thrilled I was with The Incredibles, another Brad Bird animated film. Once again, it seamlessly meshes into the time period into which it is set while telling a delightful story about superheroes(!) that remains true its genre roots. Throw in some family-friendly morality lessons and state-of-the-art CGI animation and the result is a film that is likely to remain a benchmark for animated movies for a long time to come.
So expectations were huge when Mrs. Speculator and I walked into the theatre to see the latest Brad Bird animation, Ratatouille. Early previews of the film looked a little discouraging…a rat who wants to be a French chef? Clearly the animation would be spectacular, but what kind of story can be told about a rodent with delusions of culinary greatness? Early reviews came back very positive, so we girded up for a Fourth of July matinee.
And wow, does Ratatouille deliver on its potential. Remy has a discerning palate, so discerning that he recognizes that he and his family eat garbage and he wants something better. As he tries to pilfer food from a cottage kitchen, he discovers the TV show of the great five-star French chef, Auguste Gusteau, whose motto (and title of his best-selling cookbook) is “anyone can cook.” But making instead of taking is not the way of rats, so he is emotionally separated from his rat family, who just do not understand him. When that separation becomes physical, Remy finds himself inside the kitchen of Gusteau’s signature restaurant.
What follows is a story with many issues—responsibility to family, responsibility to those to whom you have given your word, and the definition of friendship—set against the animated beauty of Paris and the high-stakes world of haute cuisine. Remy teams up with Alfredo Linguini, a garbage boy at the restaurant to begin creating dishes that delight customers while infuriating the restaurant’s caretaker chef and the critic who delighted in bringing Gusteau down.
The humor in Ratatouille lies in many different levels, from farcical slapstick that you would expect around a kitchen to more adult thoughtful humor. And therein lies the rub, if there is any for this movie—I don’t think it’s a great movie for young kids. A lot of the film is development you would expect in “adult fare” rather than non-stop action and humor. Some of the children in the theatre were bored by some longer stretches of talking in order to set up future actions. I can understand that, given the short attention span of kids from four to six or seven. But those same children were giddy when the action ramped up, so the movie can work on that level. As for the adults in the audience, well…it satisfies on just about every level.
The characters have the completeness we’ve come to expect from Pixar movies, and especially Brad Bird movies. When Colette introduces all the kitchen-workers to Linguini, small nuggets of their background are revealed that you’ll want to be explored much further. Remy and Linguini are especially well-rounded out, and the few moments of exposition that Colette is given reveal some depths to the character that small children may not appreciate so much.
And the animation is just amazing. On the one hand, it’s a compliment to Pixar when you can say that you don’t notice the animation—the story is so engrossing that you don’t notice how hair moves or light plays on surfaces. But on the other, Pixar is unafraid to pull out the stops to make you notice either. At the simplest level, of course there are differences between a dry rat and a wet rat. We’ve come to expect that Pixar will handle that deftly. But the beautiful backgrounds of Paris are literally breathtaking and the action scenes are masterpieces. Whether it’s Remy awash in a flooded storm drain or escaping capture in the kitchen, it’s all perfectly gorgeous.
And the Pixar guys also know their roots. There are moments that throw back to the classic Warner Brothers’ Merry Melodies cartoons. If I mention a herd (what is the gollective term for rats anyway?) of rats scurrying through the kitchen, the first response might be disgust. But if you hearken back to the old cartoons where packs of animals performed human tasks with delightful coordination and ingenuity, that’s what you get here. And the few scenes of a rat-sized and rat-styled restaurant are wonderfully handled as well.
I’m torn regarding whether this is the best Pixar picture ever, but because I can include it in the same breath with Toy Story and the rest, you should know that this is a fine fine movie indeed. Anyone may be able to cook, but not just anyone can make such high-quality animated fun.
You can probably imagine how thrilled I was with The Incredibles, another Brad Bird animated film. Once again, it seamlessly meshes into the time period into which it is set while telling a delightful story about superheroes(!) that remains true its genre roots. Throw in some family-friendly morality lessons and state-of-the-art CGI animation and the result is a film that is likely to remain a benchmark for animated movies for a long time to come.
So expectations were huge when Mrs. Speculator and I walked into the theatre to see the latest Brad Bird animation, Ratatouille. Early previews of the film looked a little discouraging…a rat who wants to be a French chef? Clearly the animation would be spectacular, but what kind of story can be told about a rodent with delusions of culinary greatness? Early reviews came back very positive, so we girded up for a Fourth of July matinee.
And wow, does Ratatouille deliver on its potential. Remy has a discerning palate, so discerning that he recognizes that he and his family eat garbage and he wants something better. As he tries to pilfer food from a cottage kitchen, he discovers the TV show of the great five-star French chef, Auguste Gusteau, whose motto (and title of his best-selling cookbook) is “anyone can cook.” But making instead of taking is not the way of rats, so he is emotionally separated from his rat family, who just do not understand him. When that separation becomes physical, Remy finds himself inside the kitchen of Gusteau’s signature restaurant.
What follows is a story with many issues—responsibility to family, responsibility to those to whom you have given your word, and the definition of friendship—set against the animated beauty of Paris and the high-stakes world of haute cuisine. Remy teams up with Alfredo Linguini, a garbage boy at the restaurant to begin creating dishes that delight customers while infuriating the restaurant’s caretaker chef and the critic who delighted in bringing Gusteau down.
The humor in Ratatouille lies in many different levels, from farcical slapstick that you would expect around a kitchen to more adult thoughtful humor. And therein lies the rub, if there is any for this movie—I don’t think it’s a great movie for young kids. A lot of the film is development you would expect in “adult fare” rather than non-stop action and humor. Some of the children in the theatre were bored by some longer stretches of talking in order to set up future actions. I can understand that, given the short attention span of kids from four to six or seven. But those same children were giddy when the action ramped up, so the movie can work on that level. As for the adults in the audience, well…it satisfies on just about every level.
The characters have the completeness we’ve come to expect from Pixar movies, and especially Brad Bird movies. When Colette introduces all the kitchen-workers to Linguini, small nuggets of their background are revealed that you’ll want to be explored much further. Remy and Linguini are especially well-rounded out, and the few moments of exposition that Colette is given reveal some depths to the character that small children may not appreciate so much.
And the animation is just amazing. On the one hand, it’s a compliment to Pixar when you can say that you don’t notice the animation—the story is so engrossing that you don’t notice how hair moves or light plays on surfaces. But on the other, Pixar is unafraid to pull out the stops to make you notice either. At the simplest level, of course there are differences between a dry rat and a wet rat. We’ve come to expect that Pixar will handle that deftly. But the beautiful backgrounds of Paris are literally breathtaking and the action scenes are masterpieces. Whether it’s Remy awash in a flooded storm drain or escaping capture in the kitchen, it’s all perfectly gorgeous.
And the Pixar guys also know their roots. There are moments that throw back to the classic Warner Brothers’ Merry Melodies cartoons. If I mention a herd (what is the gollective term for rats anyway?) of rats scurrying through the kitchen, the first response might be disgust. But if you hearken back to the old cartoons where packs of animals performed human tasks with delightful coordination and ingenuity, that’s what you get here. And the few scenes of a rat-sized and rat-styled restaurant are wonderfully handled as well.
I’m torn regarding whether this is the best Pixar picture ever, but because I can include it in the same breath with Toy Story and the rest, you should know that this is a fine fine movie indeed. Anyone may be able to cook, but not just anyone can make such high-quality animated fun.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Slaughterhouse-Five
This is a book I read for my book group, so I am only going to be concentrating on a single aspect of it.
Or otherwise trying to keep this a relatively short review, so that I don't spoil the conversation with my book group.
Yeah, I didn't like the book. Really. I tried hard. You know, Vonnegut is a modern master and all that, so he deserved the effort. But it didn't work. Oddly enough, I liked the movie a good bit.
Concentrating on the style, I found it to be both comforting and annoying. Vonnegut's prose is conversational, much like greeting an old friend and letting him tell you a story. But that old friend is a doddering old man, whose attempts at jokes are either lame or just go right past me. Generally, I am a fan of the short, direct style of writing. I love Hemingway. But for some reason, when Vonnegut does it, it stirs nothing within me.
However, I will admit the writing style does a nice job of imitating the focus of the story, Billy Pilgrim. Billy is a simple man, not given to very deep thought and just smart enough to get by in social situations. I'd like to think he is something of a good man also, but we only know about the events of his life, all of which he is an actor in but without ever showing any free will. He rides the current of the situation and does nothing to change the events that surround him. Often he is a disinterested observer of the people around him who do have personalities, but he barely interacts with them.
Vonnegut's minimalist style makes the reader think he knows Billy, but it's also clear that Vonnegut has firm control of the narration, so it isn't Billy about whom we learn very much, it is the Vonnegut-as-narrator personality. That narrator does have an opinion and he gives it often, but Billy rarely if ever does. So the story moves from incident to incident, using the "unstuck in time" motif to barely keep the story unified.
So, while it's not a chore to read, Slaughterhouse-Five didn't have for me any emotional impact or moments of drama. The reader too is adrift in the unsteady imagination/memory of Billy Pilgrim. And to what end? I honestly don't know.
Or otherwise trying to keep this a relatively short review, so that I don't spoil the conversation with my book group.
Yeah, I didn't like the book. Really. I tried hard. You know, Vonnegut is a modern master and all that, so he deserved the effort. But it didn't work. Oddly enough, I liked the movie a good bit.
Concentrating on the style, I found it to be both comforting and annoying. Vonnegut's prose is conversational, much like greeting an old friend and letting him tell you a story. But that old friend is a doddering old man, whose attempts at jokes are either lame or just go right past me. Generally, I am a fan of the short, direct style of writing. I love Hemingway. But for some reason, when Vonnegut does it, it stirs nothing within me.
However, I will admit the writing style does a nice job of imitating the focus of the story, Billy Pilgrim. Billy is a simple man, not given to very deep thought and just smart enough to get by in social situations. I'd like to think he is something of a good man also, but we only know about the events of his life, all of which he is an actor in but without ever showing any free will. He rides the current of the situation and does nothing to change the events that surround him. Often he is a disinterested observer of the people around him who do have personalities, but he barely interacts with them.
Vonnegut's minimalist style makes the reader think he knows Billy, but it's also clear that Vonnegut has firm control of the narration, so it isn't Billy about whom we learn very much, it is the Vonnegut-as-narrator personality. That narrator does have an opinion and he gives it often, but Billy rarely if ever does. So the story moves from incident to incident, using the "unstuck in time" motif to barely keep the story unified.
So, while it's not a chore to read, Slaughterhouse-Five didn't have for me any emotional impact or moments of drama. The reader too is adrift in the unsteady imagination/memory of Billy Pilgrim. And to what end? I honestly don't know.
Live Free or Die Hard
When the makers of Live Free or Die Hard describe this latest movie in the Die Hard franchise as harkening back to the first movie, they aren’t far wrong. Some of the same archetypes are shared between the two movies—the geeky henchman who acts as a mirror to the terrible calm and intelligence of the antagonist, the touchstone non-Caucasian good guy that John McClane keeps in touch with to learn the details he is not present to witness, the nerdy but ultimately brave sidekick who throws some of the most important punches, the female family member who begins the movie hating McClane but relies on him to the point of retaking his name by its end. While the series of films doesn’t work on breaking new ground so much as building on the brilliance of the first movie and making winking allusions to it, Live Free or Die Hard does do some things new in the series that still make it an entertaining diversion.
For instance, Maggie Q plays Mai, the beautiful girlfriend and co-conspirator for Timothy Olyphant’s antagonist, Thomas Gabriel. There hasn’t been a strong female role (has there really been much of any female role?) in the series of movies beyond Bonnie Bedelia’s cut as McClane’s put-upon wife. Mai is a beautiful hacker and martial arts expert that McClane must get through before reaching the boss. She is a menacing presence in the opening half of the movie, and when she finally takes action, she is a force to be reckoned with. McClane’s interaction with her highlights his role as the everyman hero—she can out-think him and she can out-fight him—and McClane only survives because of his sheer American stubbornness.
Because that’s what it’s all about, right? John McClane is the American hero everyone dreams themselves to be or wishes would do something about all the grief in the world. No one is too smart not to be singed by his witty comebacks. And worse, when the comebacks stop, it means he’s going after the villain with a fine right hook and blazing six-gun. The original movie’s allusions to the Western heroes was not just a gimmick, it was the archetype that characters like McClane and Eastwood’s Harry Callahan are founded on and expand in our contemporary world. Is there any wonder that McClane’s first nemesis was a German terrorist and his latest is an American government official who decides to use terror to make his point?
I’m torn about describing Justin Long’s sidekick character, Matthew Farrell, as a new archetype for the series or not. Die Hard with a Vengeance had Samuel L. Jackson in the angry partner role, but Long’s Farrell is angry and scared, something we never saw out of Jackson. Jackson was an equal partner to McClane and more adequately filled the role of the partner from a buddy film than the sidekick who learns what it means to be a hero. Long plays vulnerable and smart very well, as should be clear from all of his roles to date, and I’m sure the young girls would just love to eat him up.
However, despite “deconstructing” the movie (as one of my friends would call it), what’s really important about a Die Hard movie are how cool McClane is and how big the special effects are. Bruce Willis puts on his John McClane character like a favorite suit; he remains world-weary but determined to do the right thing, pretty much no matter the cost. He’s a decent man caught in extreme circumstances, making him instantly accessible and likable. He is who he is, and his stoic will-do demeanor rallies all the good guys to his cause at the end.
And the special effects? Well, things blowed up good. Of course, this is the third sequel and things begin to get a little cartoony. But there are still terrific logic-bending physics-breaking sequences galore, and since the movie is rated PG-13, we get the special comic benefit of everyone walking away from the flying cars, falling helicopters, stunt big rigs, and exploding F-35s.
Of special note is Kevin Smith’s cameo appearance as the uberhacker Freddie. As you might expect, Smith chews the scenery in his lair (disguised as his mother’s basement) and adds a comic touch to the proceedings. He plays his part well and gets out of the way, which is what bit characters are supposed to do.
All in all, Live Free or Die Hard is a fun movie, worth seeing if only at the matinee.
For instance, Maggie Q plays Mai, the beautiful girlfriend and co-conspirator for Timothy Olyphant’s antagonist, Thomas Gabriel. There hasn’t been a strong female role (has there really been much of any female role?) in the series of movies beyond Bonnie Bedelia’s cut as McClane’s put-upon wife. Mai is a beautiful hacker and martial arts expert that McClane must get through before reaching the boss. She is a menacing presence in the opening half of the movie, and when she finally takes action, she is a force to be reckoned with. McClane’s interaction with her highlights his role as the everyman hero—she can out-think him and she can out-fight him—and McClane only survives because of his sheer American stubbornness.
Because that’s what it’s all about, right? John McClane is the American hero everyone dreams themselves to be or wishes would do something about all the grief in the world. No one is too smart not to be singed by his witty comebacks. And worse, when the comebacks stop, it means he’s going after the villain with a fine right hook and blazing six-gun. The original movie’s allusions to the Western heroes was not just a gimmick, it was the archetype that characters like McClane and Eastwood’s Harry Callahan are founded on and expand in our contemporary world. Is there any wonder that McClane’s first nemesis was a German terrorist and his latest is an American government official who decides to use terror to make his point?
I’m torn about describing Justin Long’s sidekick character, Matthew Farrell, as a new archetype for the series or not. Die Hard with a Vengeance had Samuel L. Jackson in the angry partner role, but Long’s Farrell is angry and scared, something we never saw out of Jackson. Jackson was an equal partner to McClane and more adequately filled the role of the partner from a buddy film than the sidekick who learns what it means to be a hero. Long plays vulnerable and smart very well, as should be clear from all of his roles to date, and I’m sure the young girls would just love to eat him up.
However, despite “deconstructing” the movie (as one of my friends would call it), what’s really important about a Die Hard movie are how cool McClane is and how big the special effects are. Bruce Willis puts on his John McClane character like a favorite suit; he remains world-weary but determined to do the right thing, pretty much no matter the cost. He’s a decent man caught in extreme circumstances, making him instantly accessible and likable. He is who he is, and his stoic will-do demeanor rallies all the good guys to his cause at the end.
And the special effects? Well, things blowed up good. Of course, this is the third sequel and things begin to get a little cartoony. But there are still terrific logic-bending physics-breaking sequences galore, and since the movie is rated PG-13, we get the special comic benefit of everyone walking away from the flying cars, falling helicopters, stunt big rigs, and exploding F-35s.
Of special note is Kevin Smith’s cameo appearance as the uberhacker Freddie. As you might expect, Smith chews the scenery in his lair (disguised as his mother’s basement) and adds a comic touch to the proceedings. He plays his part well and gets out of the way, which is what bit characters are supposed to do.
All in all, Live Free or Die Hard is a fun movie, worth seeing if only at the matinee.
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