Review "The Avengers: Age of Ultron"

Holy cow! I'm actually blogging! In fact, I may blog several times this month as there are at least two other movies coming out and another currently playing on my Must See list and I am determined to see at least two. But that's another post.

So today marked several significant things for your Uncle P.  It was the first movie I've seen in a theater since Christmas; it was the first 'Tentpole' movie of the season; it was the next Marvel movie in an increasingly interconnected series unlike anything that's ever been attempted before and (most importantly) it was the first time that J and I went to the movies together. I love that while J doesn't quite share my enthusiasm for movies, he likes that I have that enthusiasm. The last movie he'd seen in a theater was a Harry Potter movie and he had never seen a 3D movie (poor, sheltered thing - LOL - I love you, Honey!) so it was more than just out first movie together for him, too (yes, we're saving our ticket stubs - we're mushy that way!).

Sorry... You want to know what I thought of the movie. Or, at least I hope you do. Any way...

When we last saw The Avengers as a team, they were eating schwarma after defeating Loki and the alien invaders, much to the chagrin of first-glimpsed villain, Thanos. The Avengers now operate as an independent team under the direction of Steve "Captain America" Rogers (Chris Evans) and we join them in the midst of an assault on a HYRDA compound in Eastern Europe to recover Loki's scepter. Once recovered, Tony "Iron Man" Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) asks to study the sceptor for 3 days before Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns it to Asgaard. When Stark's computer, Jarvis (Paul Bettany) studies the staff, it discovers the gem inside (one of the 'Infinity Stones' which have featured in several of the films) houses an artificial intelligence. Seeing this as an opportunity to create a sentry for humanity, Stark and and Bruce "Hulk" Banner (Mark Ruffalo) attempt to interface Jarvis and the AI to create what is intended to be a world-wide guardian named Ultron* (James Spader). Of course, as in any good Frankenstein story, a monster arises, instead.

Thankfully, Age of Ultron manages to just barely avoid the Marvel plot formulas that were becoming a little too familiar and this time around we get to learn more about the humans inside the Superheros, particularly Clint "Hawkeye" Barton (Jeremy Renner) and a seemingly impossible romance for Banner and Natasha "Black Widow" Romanov (Scarlett Johansson). There is plenty of the usual Marvel action and banter, with lots of tension-relieving jokes and one-liners in between the grand-scale destruction and over-the-top action sequences (a very funny scene about them all trying to lift Mjölnir turns into an important plot point later on). We are also introduced (I won't say how or when) to the character Vision (Bettany) and a pair of 'enhanced' twins (Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver** and Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch). Add appearances from Marvel regulars Idris Elba; Hayley Atwell; Don Cheadle; Cobie Smulders; Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson and you have a very entertaining movie, indeed. But I must give a special nod to Spader's voice performance, which is dead-on. I knew but had forgotten that Spader was cast, and both J and I were going crazy trying to figure out whose voice it was, because his smarmy inflections and turns of phrase were so very familiar. When the credits rolled we both said "D'oh!"

Yes, we both very much enjoyed the movie, though I thought the 3D was completely unnecessary. It honestly did nothing to enhance the movie and at the end of the 141 minute run-time, my eyes were very tired and J had a headache (he said, "I don't ever need to see another 3D movie, Honey"). Truth be told, I liked the first Avengers movie much better. Writer/Director Joss Whedon obviously has a vision for the franchise and I expect the next film in the series (Infinity Wars) will be the Empire Strikes Back of the series.  *** 1/2 (Three and a Half Stars). 

The Avengers: Age of Ultron is rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence and destruction, and for some suggestive comments." 

*In the original comics, Ultron was invented by Hank Pym, the original "Ant-Man." One of the trailers we saw before the movie was for Marvel's next 'Phase Two' movie Ant-Man starring Paul Rudd ("Oh, Paul!") and Michael Douglas as... Hank Pym!

**We previously saw a very different version of Quicksilver as played by Evan Peters in X-Men: Days of Future Past, apparently the result of multiple studios owning various rights to the character, though Taylor-Johnson's version remains truer to the comics.

Well, this was fun. I'm pretty sure you'll hear from me again this month!

More, anon.
Prospero

Review: "Guardians of the Galaxy"

It what will undoubtedly be the weekend's #1 movie (and possibly the summer's - even the 2:30 2D matinee I saw was packed), Chris Pratt becomes a bona-fide movie star;  Bradley Cooper's and Vin Diesel's voices get the most laughs and Marvel has yet another critical and popular hit franchise on it's hands. Is it the 'Best Marvel Movie Yet!'? You can decide for yourself. I'm not going there.

Pratt is Peter Quill, an Earthling abducted by space pirates in 1988, after the death of his mother. In the slightly heavy-handed and deliberately complicated plot, an unlikely band of heroes is brought together to fight against an evil force that wants to destroy the planet (sound familiar?). This time the weapon is powerful stone forged during the Big Bang and the villain, Ronan the Accuser (my beloved Pie Maker, Lee Pace) has some unclear grudge against the prosperous and peaceful people ruled by a severe-looking Glen Close in some wigs that would make Effie Trinket giggle. 

Wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista is actually hilarious as a voile-skinned Drax, an out-for-revenge literalist who doesn't understand jokes or irony.  Zoe Saldana (who is fast becoming a Sci-Fi regular) isn't given much of a character to play, though I hope she'll get the chance to develop one in the inevitable sequels. A bulked-up Pace, hidden under weird makeup and an even-weirder headdress, hams it up as the bad guy like Pacino on steroids. And the few lines Close has, are barked out like she just wanted to pick up her check and to go home. But this is Pratt's movie all the way and his goofy charm and egotistical swagger as "Star Lord" are reminiscent of so many great Sci-Fi movie heroes - almost like a hot guy playing Peter Griffin playing Han Solo in the "Family Guy" Star Wars parodies.

Director James Gunn (Slither - one of my faves!) keeps the action moving while managing to keep the many homages and nods from becoming cliches. There are lots of great 70's tunes and 80's references (the 'outlaw' John Stamos, for one) and plenty of cool Sci-Fi gadgets and space ships. "The Walking Dead" alum Michael Rooker; Djimon Hounsou; John C. Reilly; and Benicio Del Toro (looking particularly silly) are also on hand with voice cameos from Nathan Fillion and Rob Zombie.

All in all, Guardians of the Galaxy is fun and faced-paced and loud and bright and so very, very colorful. My eyes were exhausted in 2D. I can't imagine it in 3. In all honestly, it is visually stunning and Gunn's palette works beautifully for a comic book movie with no actual super-heroes. Well, except maybe for Groot.* And while hardly perfect, it is undoubtedly the most fun I've had at the movies all year. **** (Four Out of Four Stars). Guardians of the Galaxy is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language." Make sure you stay for the after-credits Easter Egg, which is hilarious and had to be explained to every teenager attending with their parents. It was hilarious hearing them all. Oh - and Stan Lee's cameo is particularly hilarious.

*If someone doesn't market a desk-top Dancing Groot toy, I will be very unhappy. Because I must have one.

More, anon.
Prospero

2014 - The Year in Sci-Fi Movies

Well, at least the year in Sci-Fi movies which have piqued my interest, anyway. There are plenty of tentpole movies coming up that have me pitching a cinematic tent, starting in no particular order with director Gareth Edwards (Monsters) reboot of Godzilla starring "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston; Aaron Kickass Taylor-Johnson and the not-a-twin Elizabeth Olsen. 

Disaster maven Roland Emmerich failed miserably with his over-inflated 1998 attempt to reboot the Toho Studios franchise which started the Kaiju genre. Edwards' Monsters was quite good, though it was more of a character-study set inside a Sci-Fi story. The newly released trailer looks amazing. I didn't get to see del Toro's Kaiju movie Pacific Rim. I won't be missing Godzilla:

Andy and Lana Wachowski, who gave us The Matrix and 2012's wildly underrated Cloud Atlas, are back this year with Jupiter Ascending, a seemingly Jungian tale of a seemingly ordinary young woman who discovers she is the key to the fate of the entire Universe. Mila Kunis (Ted; "Family Guy") and a pointy-eared Channing Tatum (Magic Mike) star.

Christopher Nolan's (more on him in a moment) cinematographer Wally Pfister makes his directing debut with Transcendence, about a terminally ill A.I. scientist whose consciousness is uploaded to a mainframe and sets about to destroy life as we know it. Johnny Depp (thankfully not in a Burton or Verbinski film) stars alongside Kate Mara and Nolan favs Morgan Freeman and Cillian Murphy.

Marvel has four major films coming out this year, further cementing their dominance in the Superhero genre. Of course, Uncle P has never been a fan of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, so I will be skipping that movie. But I have every intention of seeing X-Men: Days of Future Past; Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the weirdest of the "Avengers"-related movies. Guardians of  the Galaxy.

Then there's the sequel to the Planets of the Apes franchise, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The creator of Gollum and the most recent incarnation of King Kong, Andy Sirkus reprises his CGMC role as the sentient chimpanzee Caesar. Gary Oldman; Keri Russell; Judi Greer and Kody Smit-McPhee (Let Me In) co-star.

Then there's the "Found Footage" movie, Earth to Echo, about a group of boys who discover an alien in a very Spielbergian film from first-time feature director Dave Green:

Last, though hardly least, is Christopher Nolan's belated semi-annual birthday gift to me, Interstellar. Shrouded, as all of Nolan's movies are in secrecy, Featuring a huge cast of major stars, including Matthew McConhaughy; Anne Hathaway; Jessica Chastain; Michael Caine; John Lithgow; Ellen Burstyn and Matt Damon, Interstellar is about a space crew using a wormhole top traverse the galaxy.

As the Brits might say, I am chuffed for the upcoming movie year!  How about you?

More, anon.
Prospero

Holy Mjolnir

Chris Hemsworth

While I found Kenneth Branaugh's Thor to be a messy and rather silly entry in the Avengers films, Australian hottie Chris Hemsworth proved to be a rather perfect Thor and I actually enjoyed his performance in Marvel's The Avengers.

This November, Thor and Hemsworth are back in Thor: The Dark World. Directed by "Game of Thrones" director Alan Taylor, the movie re-unites Hemsworth with human love interest Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) in a story about a dark entity which threatens both Earth and Asgard (Thor's home world). 

Combining Norse mythology with modern Superhero comics, Marvel's comics place Thor in the body of disabled med student Donald Blake, who discovers his godhood almost by accident. The movies ignore this part of the origin story, much to the dismay of loyal Marvel fanboys. Personally, I'm more of a DC guy and really don't care about Thor's origin story, But a hot Aussie in as little clothing as possible? I'm there!

Here (via) is the trailer for Thor: The Dark World:

I know Marvel has several gay Supes in their stable. Too bad Thor isn't one of them. And too bad we have yet to see one in any of their films.

More, anon
Prospero

The Gayest Superhero You'll See This Week

Personally, I have never attended (and don't really hope to do so) a kiki. Made popular by the Scissor Sisters' single Let's Have a Kiki (link may contain NSFW content), a kiki is a small, impromptu party with close friends, or something. There may be catwalk modelling involved. Or Ecstasy. Something.

So, in case I haven't mentioned it before, part of my not-so-secret geekery includes Super Heroes. I'm a DC kid (though Spider-Man was fun). I think it had to do with the characters' secret identities. In public, I'm an upstanding, everyday citizen (except for the billionaire part, of course). Behind a mask, I get to wear tights and a cape and express who I really am. Gee -- I wonder why gay kids identify with Super Heroes? 

As a child, I was Batman for Halloween 3 years in a row. I used to tie a towel around my neck and ride by "Batcycle" (really a Schwinn "Pea-Picker" with a banana seat; wide handle bars and a sissy-bar for a passenger) down the street, singing "Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah..." And no, I am hardly ashamed to admit this. Many of you know you did something similar. 

There's certainly nothing new about the homoerotic connotations in the relationship between Bruce Wayne/Batman and Dick Grayson/Robin. They sleep in the same bed, for eff's sake! And there's tons of fan art imagining much more going on between the hero and his sidekick.

Of course, comedian Jonny McGovern has his own ideas about Batman; his voice and what he's like when drinks too much (language NSFW):

There are rumors that Warner/DC's announced 2015 Justice League film is in trouble. The latest script is supposed to be a disaster and not a single actor has been signed. Personally, I think we'll need a Wonder Woman movie and a Flash movie, first. And a Green Lantern sequel that isn't a mess of ideas without anything to really tie them all together. And really, why hasn't there been a Wonder Woman movie, already? Sheesh! 

More, anon.
Prospero

The Geekiest Gay Love You'll See This Week (Possibly NSFW Edition)

XXX-Men

Really? Another blog post from a movie geek about gay comics? Please... But let this play out. You know I have my own take on things. And this post is actually more for myself a few other fanboy friends. You all know who you are, Stephen; Aaron; Tom; Murph; Chino, Bill M. If you don't get it or can't identify, don't feel bad. I still love that you check in every now and then. So let's talk about comics, shall we?

The comics I read as a kid were Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella from Warren Publications. I know you are hardly surprised by this. The great thing about Warren was, they got around the infamous Comics Code by calling their comics "magazines" and publishing them in an 8"x11" format. The children of the original Tales from the Crypt, the Warren horror comics were dark and weird and silly and often had gorgeous covers from artists like Frank Frazetta. My friends and I would by them from Bob's Bookstore at 5 Points. Bob sold new and used books and comics. He also sold illegal half-cover comics, 10 for $1.00. My personal love of superheroes comes more from TV and movies than from the comics. I didn't discover most of their comic-book personae until I'd seen some other medium's version. And while their is plenty to love about the Marvel Universe, I will always prefer DC Characters. I may have mentioned a few times how many times I was Batman for Halloween (not to mention just playing in the yard with a big bath sheet tied around my neck). And don't even talk to me about tearing up at certain points during the good Superman movies. Yes, I really loved just about every Marvel movie in the past few years (Thor being the exception), but the DC characters are more... pained, I guess. Yes, even Superman - Kal-El is an alien, after all. The LGBT community as a whole may identify more with Marvel's X-Men (and I certainly do, to some extent), but DC's tortured souls speak to me differently. Anyway...

Bill M. is also a DC guy. Bill's love of Superman is equal to mine of Batman. Bill and I met this past spring and quickly found out we love many of the same things and have been posting all kinds of Superhero nonsense on each other's Facebook timelines. Many of our friends have caught on and also post similar things to both of us. Today, sweet Stephen in Portland posted a picture of some hand-painted Christmas ornaments with the logos of several superheroes. Well and good, until my friend Aaron asked "What is Cap(tain America) doing with all those DC characters?" I looked at thepicture again. Yup. Batman; Superman; Flash, Green Lantern (all DC) and Captain America (Marvel). "I didn't make them," I replied, "but the thought of Cap and Bats is pretty hot."

Aaron then linked to the cover for a DC/Marvel crossover with Batman and Captain America joining forces. "No Rule 34" he said. So of course, Uncle P, being the dirty old bear that I am, went looking for Rule 34. And man, is there lots of it!

I'm not sure if that's Brandon or Tom (maybe Tom's head on Brandon's body?) in that composite on the left but it's definitely the work of a gay geek with some mad Photoshop skills and a dirty mind. I personally don't see this particular pairing as very probably in a gay cross-over story. Most of the fan-made gay superhero stuff online is in the form of paintings and drawings (and plenty of 'shopping), usually deliberately done in the style of an established comics artist. Here are a few I found:

Why Does Superman Look So Surprised?

Gay Emo Superboy

Who the Hell Are These Guys?

Of course this fascination with turning established characters gay is hardly new:

Highly Illogical

Oh, Mr. Frodo!

Malfoy Has a Magic Wand

Still a Better Love Story Than Twilight 

It's obvious that the fans want what the fans want. Give us some more hot gay boys, Hollywood! We've grown up since Brokeback Mountain. Of course it could all explode in our faces. Fan fiction also gave us "Fifty Shades of Gray" {violent shudder of revulsion}. I have lots more to say about this subject, but that's for another post.

I will say that 20 years ago, I wouldn't have written a piece like this (indeed, many of the pieces I've written). LGBT acceptance has grown beyond what I ever thought I'd see in my lifetime, and the comics were at the forefront of inclusion, long before many people even noticed. Both Marvel and DC have LGBT characters driving major story lines. Even the wholesome Archie Comics introduced Kevin Keller, an out and proud Military Officer, who married his African American partner Clay Walker this past January. Progress is slow, until it happens all at once. We're getting there.

Of course, there's nothing wrong in finding the humor in all it:

More, anon.
Prospero

Wait... They STILL Have Comic-Con?

ComicCon 2012's TV Panel Line-up

Five; three; maybe even two years ago, San Diego Comic-Con International was the entertainment event for geeks, nerds, fanboys and assorted hopeful writers, illustrators and filmmakers in an orgy of pop-culture, film, comics, cosplay and of course, merchandising. Events like this always remind me of The Merchandisers in the underrated European version of Chess. Yes, there are lots of cool and fun things for sale there, but do you really need to pay $375 for a Darth Vader telephone or $460 for a bust of Freddy Kruger? If you do, please see a doctor immediately, as you obviously have "more money than brains," as my mother is wont to say.

Of course, the big fascination for me are the cosplayers who sometimes spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars building elaborate costumes to wear to such events. Given the time and money these people spend, I know I could build just about any costume you could want, but who the hell has the time and money? Who are these people and how do they afford to build this stuff?

Yeah, pal. It's not fair.

But it seems Comic-Con may be losing its luster. Oh, it will still be packed with thousands of geeks, nerds, fanboys, etc. this year. There will still be cosplayers, vendors and celebrities. And while I wouldn't turn down a free trip and all-access pass, I don't think I ever really need to attend. I've mentioned many times my one fan convention in NYC in the 80's. I can only imagine they've gotten intensely weirder since then. And while I would like to be able to sit in on the panels for "The Walking Dead;" Oz, the Great and Powerful; The Hobbit; Pacific Rim and a few others, the one thing I really would like to have done is The Walking Dead Escape at Petco Park, where one can opt to be either a Survivor or a Spectator in "A ballpark infested with zombies where you will climb, crawl, hide and slide your way to safety."

Damn! There are still 3 1/2 months to wait!

Comic-Con International 2012 officially opens tomorrow. San Diego is a beautiful city with nearly perfect weather, year-round. The few days I've spent there were all memorable, for one thing or another. My "stay-cation" from the Day Job starts at 4:45 this Friday, though I wouldn't complain if some rich hottie picked me up at 4:46 and whisked me off in his private jet (not-to-mention VIP access to all events) and we spent the weekend geeking out, among other things (wink-wink, nudge-nudge).

More, anon.
Prospero

The Gayest Comics You'll See This Week

A lot has been made lately about gay comic book characters. Marvel Comics recently portrayed a gay wedding between the Canadian X-Man Northstar and his human partner Kyle, while DC Comics announced that the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott came out as gay in the 'Earth Two' series, in which all previous incarnations of the DC Universe are apparently moot.

Being practically ancient, Uncle P really doesn't get the Superhero comics of the modern world. There have been so many reboots and re-writes, I am actually confused by who is whom. And truth be told (and as I've mentioned before), I'm a DC guy. I just love Superman; Batman; Aquaman; Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. They are the superheroes I grew up with (Spider-Man notwithstanding) and the superheroes I still love (yes, even Bryan Singer's Superman Returns).

And of course, it doesn't matter to me which comic characters are gay or straight. I'm just glad that the industry has embraced its LGBTQ readers and included characters with whom we can relate. And while Marvel may have revealed Northstar's sexuality over 20 years ago (with little opposition at the time), it's nice to see them giving his marriage to Kyle some serious coverage. The X-Men series has always had gay undertones anyway, especially in the movies based on them.

70's Gay Clone Superman

 The hate group known as "One Million Moms" (which should probably be called 'Forty-Thousand Uptight, Teabagger Morons') has come out in opposition to the inclusion of LGBT characters in comics. Meanwhile, not one of them has come out against the extreme violence in comics like The Punisher, where brutal decapitations are commonplace. Heaven forfend that the writers should portray honest and heartfelt love between two men, but it's OK to have a straight hero rip the beating heart out of his enemy. Am I the only one to sense a serious disconnect here? I must think not.

Anyway, comic artist Dale Lazarov just published his own (very NSFW) tome, "Comics Made Me Gay," in which he explains how comic book Superheroes helped to shape his personal ideals of what and who is sexy in the pen-and-ink world of pulp fiction. Trust me, I totally identify with everything he has to say, Comic book heroes embody everything gay men have taught one another about what is hot. Muscles; strength; empathy; attractive young wards and ideals about justice and fairness are the cornerstones of every Superhero comic since Superman made his first appearance in Detective Action Comics in 1938. These heroes, often closeted to protect their true identities from an non-understanding public, have provided inspiration for generations of LGBTQ youth for more than seven decades. It seems so empowering that they are finally coming out of their closets to inspire a new generation of young people to be proud of who they are.

lately, I find myself so amazed at how far the LGBTQ community continues to make ourselves known among mainstream media and I can finally envision a day when that inclusion is no longer an exception.

Keep on fighting the good fight, folks.And know that it's okay to drool over Brendan Routh:

More, anon.
Prospero

Is Anyone Really Excited About This?

The trailer for Steven Spielberg's motion-capture version of the Belgian comic Tintin is out, and while I must admit that Peter Jackson's WETA studios seems to have overcome the creepy dead-eyes issue that has plagued Robert Zemeckis' motion-capture movies, I just can't seem to work up any enthusiasm for this movie.

As a kid, I knew Tintin existed because we had to read it in French class, but I couldn't really get into the series. I think I was put off my his weird pointy hair. Tintin was a young reporter, going off on adventures only Belgian kids (and Spielberg) could truly appreciate.

Tintin was joined by his fox terrier, Milou (Snowy) and a series of weird companions like Captain Haddock (sounds fishy to me)*; the hearing-impaired Professor Tournesol ("Sunflower" in French, but "Calculus" in the American versions) and opera singer Bianca Castafiore. 

The first teaser trailer has hit the web, and it looks as though Spielberg may very well have the tone that creator Herge' intended, while infusing a bit of Indiana Jones style adventure, something missing from the rather talky comics I remember reading as a young teen.  Take a look (via) and tell me what you think:

Interesting? Only time will tell.

More, anon.
Prospero

*I make no apologies for that terrible joke, BTW...

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

Playing Superman only once may well be the best thing that ever happened to gorgeous Brandon Routh. Routh basically owes his career to MTV, where he starred as Wade in their scripted soap opera "Undressed." He went on to small parts on "The Gilmore Girls" and "Will and Grace" before landing the lead in director Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, a movie which, while I like it more than most people, is admittedly low on action and long on overwrought emotional baggage. 

I understand the critical and audience reaction to the movie (for my money, Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth were horribly miscast) but I think there's still plenty to like about Singer's film: Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent; Frank Langella as Perry White; Parker Posey as Kitty Kowalsky and Kal Penn as one of Lex Luthor's henchmen. And that's not to mention Routh as Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman. For Singer and all of the later Baby Boomers, Christopher Reeves was Superman. For two really good and two truly awful films, Reeves embodied The Man of Steel more than any other actor before him, including the ironically named George Reeve, who played Supe on TV and then died under mysterious circumstances -- but that's a post unto itself and I'm not going there right now. But, I digress. Not only was Routh  as close to Reeves as Singer was going to get, the handsome young actor went full steam ahead and channeled Reeves most admirably. Whatever faults Superman Returns may have, Routh is most certainly not one of them.

Since then, Routh's most visible film appearance was in Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno as gay porn star Bobby Long (OMG! That name is just so funny! Hahaha... NOT!). He also has a recurring role as CIA Agent Daniel Shaw on NBC's Spy-Fi* hit "Chuck." 

Further distancing himself from the DC franchise and hoping to create a one of his own, Routh is about to appear on U.S. screens in the film adaption of one of Europe's most popular graphic novels, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. Routh plays a noirish detective charged with keeping the balance between good and evil among the supernatural creatures prowling New Orleans. Taye Diggs, Sam Huntington and the always amazing Peter Storemare co-star in what may well be the most interesting Superhero movie of the year:

D has already said this is a film we must see together and I whole-heartedly agree. I also happen to think Routh has a very promising career as an actor and fully expect him to be an A-lister within the next few years. He may very well be pretty, but I think he's also quite a talented and wide-ranged performer. Personally, I can't wait to see does next.

You may or may not know (or even care), but Uncle P is heading south in a few days to bask in the Florida sun and spend time with my sister. Preparations for my trip, combined with some minor JTMF complications have kept me from posting as regularly as usual. I'll be back later tonight (well, tomorrow for me) with a more serious topic.

More, anon.
Prospero

*I hereby and forever lay claim to the term "Spy-Fi" (unless some other geek before me has already done so) and ask that you credit me when ever you use it. Arrogant, ain't I? Hey -- gotta leave something behind...

Nerdgasm: Superma'am, Batma'am, Elvira and The Hulk Walk Into a Bar

It's Fan Convention season and it kicks off with ComiCon's younger, gayer brother, the Bay Area's WonderCon. If you've ever spent time in the San Francisco area (or probably even if you haven't), you know it's the kind of place where folks let their their freak flags fly high and proud. Now imagine those folks are also comic book, anime and movie fans. I know I've talked about the one Fan-vention I attended in NYC with my sister in the 80's. Such events were still in their fledgling stages back then, basing their formats on the Star Trek conventions that really started the whole thing in the 1970's. This was specifically a Horror convention and while we both really enjoyed ourselves (honestly one of the best days I ever spent with my sister -- and believe me when I tell you that she and I have had many awesome days together), we made sure we stayed close to one another at all times, because there were some damned scary people in that crowd.

Such events have evolved into Events over the years and while there are always a few really scary folks, most fans are just there to have a good time. And there ain't nothin' wrong with that. Here (via) are some very amusing crowd shots from WonderCon 2011, which closed yesterday:

I think I like the gender-bending Supergals just slightly less than the half-naked Superguys (of which there weren't nearly enough for Uncle P's liking...). Still, it looked like everyone was having a good time and that's what really important when you spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to look like a fictional character for three days... I really want to go to one of these, again. I just hope I'd be able to leave my snark at home.

My review of Insidious, next.

More, anon.

Prospero

The Gayest Things You'll See This Week

I think Katy Perry is okay. Not fabulous. Not amazing, Just okay. I am certainly sick to death of "California Gurls," a song which seems to be everywhere, all the time. Not that its a bad song... just enough, already. 

And while "I Kissed a Girl" was sort of a gay anthem for a while, once there were 8 billion versions of "I Kissed a Boy" on YouTube, I immediately lost interest.

There are tons of parodies of Katy's songs. I even saw one of "California Gurls" done by the models at Dirty Tony (a gay porn site) partially shot during a pride parade (may be NSFW, depending on where you work):

I hope their 'acting' is better than their dancing...

And of course, there's that parody done with the creepy old guy, which I will never subject you to again.

Now, for the first time, comes a gay parody version of one of her songs which I have seen before seeing the original video (via):

And while there has yet to be an official video for "Peacock," you can hear it here. So what it is that makes Perry's songs so ripe for parody? Bubblegum pop has always been the subject of parody, I suppose, and while Perry's lyrics are certainly more suggestive than some, the songs may have well have been performed by The Archies or Josie and the Pussycats.

And now that I've mentioned The Archies, I have to give a thumbs up to Archie Comics for introducing a gay character in the next issue of "Veronica." Blue-eyed, blond hunk Kevin Keller is Veronica's new love interest. But to her consternation, he shows no interest in the brunette sex kitten. To the writers' credit, the teens in Riverdale are totally unaffected by Kevin's revelations and take his sexuality in stride. Of course it seems utterly bizarre to your Uncle P that teenage characters in a comic book display more social sophistication and emotional maturity than many real people...

More, anon.

Prospero

A Sad Win

My friend Sean at Just a Jeep Guy has been posting some of his favorite comics, lately. Not too long ago, he was contacted by John Forgetta, the author of The Meaning of Lila, thanking him for helping to promote the strip.

More recently, he was contacted by John Lustig, author of Last Kiss. Lustig is a fine artist whose work you'd recognize immediately and whose single-panel strip often contains some very funny LGBT material and jokes. Lustig wanted to let Sean know about a contest he was running, in which the winner would get a chance to write with a rather well-known Sci-Fi author. What Sean didn't realize, was that the well-known Sci-Fi author was the notoriously homophobic Mormon, Orson Scott Card. Or, more precisely, he was unaware of Card's stance on LGBT rights. Card is an outspoken opponent of LGBT rights and a member of NOM, one of the many groups that helped pass California's Prop 8 last year (and whose infamous "Gathering Storm" commercials vilified the LGBT community with out-and-out lies about what same-sex marriage would do to children, families and even churches).

Of course, yours truly had to open my big mouth (or rather, type away on my keyboard) and express my concern that Sean would promote such a contest to his primarily gay readership. In response, Sean took down the post and researched Card's activities. Today, Sean posted this. And while I am sad that he felt he had to remove a post and possibly end correspondence with one of his favorite cartoonists, I am proud and pleased that he not only will no longer post Lustig's work, but sent him an email detailing precisely why.

My hat is off to you, Sean. I'm so sorry that things didn't work out the way you had hoped, and even sorrier that one of your favorite cartoonists disappointed you so, but as I said in my comments, "Thanks and keep fighting the good fight!" Today, you became one of my heroes.

More, very anon.
Prospero

Private Post

This post is not really private. How can it be? There is no such thing as privacy in the blogosphere (indeed, even in cyberspace, itself). Google has all of our personal information and Microsoft owns our souls.

Every now and then I come across something which pertains to not only myself, but to one or two specific individuals among my circle of friends and acquaintances. The video embedded below is a prime example.

My dear, insane and brilliant and oh-so-very-gay fellow blogger Stephen Rader is a massive comic book geek. And when I find weird, outrageous or just effed-up Superhero stuff, I usually send it to him without always sharing with the rest of you. And my dear D, in addition to being as big a movie geek as I am and a brilliant young actor, is oh-so-very-Italian. How appropriate then, is it to dedicate this particular post and video to the two of them? Ladies and germs (via) comes Italian Spiderman:

I have no idea if this is a real trailer or a spoof. If it's the latter, then it is brilliant. If it's the former... then Uwe Boll and Paul W.S. Anderson are cinematic geniuses. My personal Spidey Sense says: "Be afraid. be very afraid."

More, anon.
Prospero

Superman or Super Dick?

I guess I've been on a bit of a superhero kick, of late. But I posted this (via) on my Facebook page the other day:

My friend Jonathan then promptly suggested I visit superdickery.com, a very funny site that makes fun of superhero comics and mostly goes on to prove just what a dick Superman can be. Here's an example from the site:

Then there's that joke about the country rube visiting the big city for the first time. He goes to a bar at the top of a tall building where he meets a man who tells him that the building is so high that the wind's updraft prevents anyone from falling out of it. To prove it, the man jumps out the window and is almost immediately blown back in. The rube takes him up on the challenge, only to plunge to his death. The bartender then turns to the man and says "Man, you are a nasty drunk, Superman."

And not that these prove anything at all about my theory, there are these two bizarrely funny clips from Funny or Die (language NSFW) featuring an apparently gay Superman:

Superman: Skyscraper Raper - watch more funny videos

Superman Episode 2: Phonebooth Trouble - watch more funny videos

By the way, for some reason, Funny or Die's embed codes don't always work. If you see two black boxes above, just click teh link below each one to see the video. Sorry about that.

And finally, with my apologies to my dear D, here is "Superman Retires":

So, is Superman really a dick? Did I prove anything here? Not in the least. I just wanted to post something I thought was funny. Besides, everyone who knows me knows how much I really love Superman. Even (maybe even especially) in his most recent incarnation:

As always, more, anon.

Prospero

Review: "Watchmen"

When I was a child, I really wasn't into comic books. My exposure to superheroes came from TV and the movies, and I was a Batman fan. I was Batman three years in a row for Halloween and could often be found with a blue towel tied around my neck, yelling "Ka-Pow!" and "Ker-runch!" as I beat up imaginary bad guys. I also watched "The Super Friends" and "The Amazing Spider-Man" animated shows on Saturday mornings. When I was in High School, Richard Donner directed an amazing film: Superman: The Movie, and I fell in love with a superhero all over again. In college, I met some serious comics fans, who introduced me to the finer points of the print versions of the characters I'd loved for so long. And then along came Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons' amazing graphic novel Watchmen and I never looked at comic book superheroes in the same way. It's been more than 20 years since I read Watchmen and I debated whether or not to re-read the book in anticipation of the movie. I'm glad I didn't, because it may have influenced my opinion too much.

All that having been said, director Zach Snyder and his team have created one hell of a terrific movie. Set in an alternative 1985 where Nixon is still president and superheroes have been outlawed, Watchmen is really an anti-superhero film. Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) hides his face in mask of constantly changing inkblots; Night Owl II (Patrick Wilson) wears vision enhancing goggles and flies around in a owl-shaped ship; Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) is the "smartest man in the world;" Silk Spectre II (Malin Ackerman) is a sexy ass-kicker in a super-tight spandex get-up and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is just a dick. The only member of the Watchmen who actually has super powers is Dr. Manhattan, a physicist who was accidentally exposed to an experiment in 1959 and became a whole new kind of quantum being. When Comedian is murdered, the team must track down his killer before they are next, all while Ozymandias and Dr. Manhattan are trying to avert a nuclear war between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. The plot is really far more complicated than those few sentences can cover, but for those unfamiliar with the graphic novel, it's a good starting point.

Snyder (Dawn of the Dead; 300) employs his trademark stop/slow-mo/start style here most effectively. It's perfect for comic book adaptation and his eye for detail is amazing. Snyder faithfully re-creates Gibbons' panels to a tee (you can see some comparisons here) The screenplay by David Hayter and Alex Tse is fairly reverential to the source, making some minor (and one major) changes necessary when adapting material for the screen, but the changes serve the story well and remove a rather silly element from the original ending altogether (only the true fanboys will notice). There are plenty of real people represented (Richard Nixon, Lee Iacocca, David Bowie, Fidel Castro and Andy Warhol among them) and while the cold-war theme that was so relevant when the book was written is no longer an issue, the threat of global destruction at the hands of madmen is still on many folks' minds today.

Most of the performances are right on the money. The gorgeous Patrick Wilson (Angels in America; Little Children) brings just the right amount of uncertainty and angst to the role of Night Owl, while Morgan's Comedian is probably the least likable but most fully-developed character he's ever played. Billy Crudup (so amazing in Stage Beauty) is all but swallowed up in CGI, but still does a terrific job as Dr. Manhattan, a character who exists in multiple dimensions and times at once. Ackerman (27 Dresses) is rather stiff as Silk Spectre II, but I suspect she was cast for her physical attributes, more than her acting skills. The biggest surprise comes from Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach. Probably best-remembered for the 1976 Little League comedy The Bad News Bears, Haley has made a comeback of late. Nominated for an Oscar in 2006 for his role as a child molester in Little Children, he practically steals the movie as the gravel-voiced Rorschach, a man so tortured by the murder of a child that he becomes a remorseless vigilante, killing bad guys at the drop of a hat. It was also nice to see Matt "Max Headroom" Frewer in a minor role as the aging super-villain, Moloch.

Violent, gory, sexy and set in a grimy New York City which no longer exists, Watchmen is most definitely not for children (or even many adults, for that matter), but it sets a new standard for film visuals and touches on the duality of of the superhero psyche in a way in which even Christopher Nolan's brilliant Batman movies didn't. Watchmen may not be the best superhero movie ever made, but it certainly ranks in the top five. Maybe now I'll go back and read the original again. Mr. Moore may hate Hollywood and all it stands for (he had his name removed from the film), but Watchmen just reminds me of just how much I love movies. **** (Four out of Four Stars)

P.S. - You most definitely do NOT have to read the graphic novel or be a comics fanboy (or even male, for that matter) to enjoy this film. My friend Kathy, who accompanied me and had no prior knowledge of the source material, loved it, too.