I HEART the 90's: DITMTLOD Part 2

We're back for another round of: The League loses a small part of his soul.

This will wrap up the Top 10 DITMTLOD of the 1990's. As with the last post, I've included a "special mention" of someone I identify with the 90's, but who can't be confined to the 1990's for whatever reason.

As this list covers The League from age 14-24ish, it is nowhere near definitive, and we may have a follow up list on this.

I hope you continue to enjoy my walk down memory lane with DITMTLOD, 90's Super Post Numero Dos.



6. Sherilyn Fenn as Audrey Horne on Twin Peaks

David Lynch, known mostly for his eccentric films with unusual plots, oddball characters and dreamlike imagery also has excellent taste in the ladies. His 1990 TV series, Twin Peaks, was littered with DITMTLOD, including a pre-creepy Laura Flynn Boyle and Madchen Amick (whose IMDB record reads like a who's who of films and TV shows I've never seen).


Audrey Horne was not very much like the girls at Klein Oak from 1990-1993.

As Audrey Horne, the trouble-making teen-age daughter of millionaire hotelier Benjamin Horne, Sherilyn Fenn gave Agent Dale Cooper a foil within the Great Northern Hotel. She was clearly not a teenager, but I forgave her. As the series progressed, her storylines were a bit hinky as the character seemed to be popular, but too often occurred on the periphery of the main story-arc (she simply wasn't involved with the death of Laura Palmer). Her attempt at romance with Agent Cooper never really seemed terribly believable, but, again... whatever.



Ahhh... that unmistakable mood of Twin Peaks, where you kind of don't know what to make of it, and it might be something horrific, or it might just be something... weird.





7. Laura Dern in Jurassic Park and Wild at Heart

The daughter of character actor Bruce Dern and actress/ pin-up Diane Ladd, Laura Dern popped up in two very different movies in the 1990's, 1990's "Wild at Heart" and 1993's "Jurassic Park".


I actually own this movie, and I'm still not sure what its about.

Wild at Heart may have been director David Lynch working out some of the stuff he couldn't work into TV. It's an absolutely fascinating film, and Dern is even more fun to watch, paired with a Nic Cage who had not yet quite bought into his own hype.

As the girlfriend of Sailor Ripley and daughter of Marietta Fortune, Lula is caught between white hot love/ lust and her overbearing/ insane mother. It's... interesting, but not something I'd recommend for The Karebear and Admiral.

However, as Dr. Ellie Sattler in Jurassic Park, Dern managed to play an action hero with brains and a conscience. Unlike her roles in "Wild at Heart" or "Blue Velvet", Dern played Ellie Sattler as the face of the joy of scientific discovery in Jurassic Park, and, uhm... that scene where she runs as fast as she can to the bunker to turn the power back on? For my dollar, one of the most Spielbergian of Spielbergian moments of mounting tension.


Dern considers throwing children at the dinosaurs as bait.

She would later appear in Jurassic Park III, saving the day for all involved thanks to her ability to use a telephone. I have not seen, I don't think, anything else Dern put to screen. However, her IMDB page says there's a Jurassic Park IV in the offing. And while JP3 was nowhere close to Jurassic Park or even JP2, I'm still likely to go see it. Cause I like a good dinosaur movie. And Laura Dern.




8. Kim Deal, bass & vocals for The Pixies, guitar & vocals for The Breeders

Around 1989, I began listening to The Pixies. I really liked the tune "This Monkey's Gone to Heaven" off Doolittle. The Pixies would follow up with the album Bossanova only a year later. Then Trompe Le Monde in 1991.

Black Francis/ Frank Black would spin off to do his own projects, and bassist Kim Deal would find pop/rock stardom as the frontman for The Breeders. The Breeders were most famous for the songs "Cannonball" and "One Divine Hammer" from the album Last Splash. Despite my curmudgeonly ways, I was a fan of radio-friendly tunes and had the pleasure of seeing The Breeders perform at Lollapalooza in 1994 or so.


Rock music makes Kim Deal happy

Deal's bass playing isn't necessarily the craziest, and her vocals didn't carry the strength of the power-belters of R&B that saturated the airwaves in the 1990's. But her voice was distinct, and the basslines catchy. She was able to translate that talent into catchy tunes for The Breeders and ride the wave of the introduction of "alternative" music to mainstream radio from the gutter of 120 Minutes' Sunday at midnight broadcasting slot.

Plus, she was cute in a punk-rock-girl-next-door sort of manner.


This monkey's gone to heaven

Here's a kick in the crotch: I had tickets to see the Pixies during their reunion tour about four years ago and didn't end up going for one reason or another.

And I am not just saying this: she and Tina Weymouth are probably the two people most responsible for me wanting to pick up the bass.





9. Patricia Arquette as Alabama in "True Romance" and Kathy O'Hara in "Ed Wood"

I've never been someone to actually seek out a movie because it features a particular actor, and thus I've dodged watching much of Ms. Arquette's considerable portfolio of work.


And, uh... yeah.

"True Romance" was a film of the 1990's, and of my 20's, and I have a hard time believing that I'd get a 1/3rd of the enjoyment now from the movie which I got back then. Alabama is a bit of a miracle for Clarence Worley, comic shop manager and trash film enthusiast. In short, he's a stand-in for screen-writer Quentin Tarantino,a nd as such, one must assume Alabama was some fantasy character Tarantino wished would stumble into him at the Grindhouse theater, whisking him away from his video clerk job.

Alabama might not have been written to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but at the time I appreciated the weirdo-toughness of Alabama's character as she sort of bounces through the film like a pinball, managing to come out on top despite some pretty tough moments.


And I think Jamie puts up with a lot...

Arquette would bring that same ease of going-with-the-flow to her role as Kathy O'Hara in "Ed Wood", as the woman who stands by her man despite (perhaps because of) his oddities. Perhaps it was still some of Ms. Alabama Worley I had in the back of my mind, as subsequent viewings of "Ed Wood" don't particularly feature Arquette jumping off the screen.

Arquette was married for a time to Nic Cage, and is now starring in the successful sci-fi drama, "Medium". I haven't really checked it out.



10. Lynne Russell- Headline News

I've taken some flack for this one, but I used to dig the talking head on CNN's Headline News, Lynne Russell. Say what you will, but it got me watching the news on a regular basis. You can have your Katie Couric or whatever, but for my TV-news-viewing-dollar in the 1990's, there was no voice more trusted nor anyone I tolerated more speaking in 30 minute loops than Ms. Russell's evening broadcast.

Russell pre-dated the dawn of the news-bunny, and was an anchor you could actually take seriously, despite the fact that her job seemed to entail sitting at a desk and not freaking out in the third hour of her shift repeating the same headlines. She was occasionally a little snarky with the stories, but also managed to pull off gravitas when the need arose.


Ah, the glory days of cable news...

Russell is also a black belt in a Choi Kwang Do, has a website of questionable design, was a private investigator and I read somewhere that she occasionally performed police work in some capacity. I think she also carries a concealed handgun.

Today's Headline News is, in fact, awful. Once Time Warner got their hands on Turner's news empire, they ransacked the place and replaced the actual news with Glenn Beck, Showbiz Tonight, and (shudder) Nancy Grace. Good luck getting any actual news.

Lynne was not the bubbly air-head CNN began experimenting with in the late-90's (see the abysmal morning show on Headline News), and so was shown the door.

Upon departing the CNN studios, Lynne wrote her memoirs, which were entitled "How to Win Friends, Kick Ass, and Influence People". Ms. Russell, I salute thee.

She's now living in Canada. And I guess involved in a Canadian news service of some sort. Which has got to be a better gig than the embarrassment Headline News has gladly become.

We miss you Lynne.




Special Mention: Siouxsie Sioux



The UK must have been an interesting place in the 1970's. While the US was jamming to Disco Duck, they were coming up with nifty ideas like The Sex Pistols, The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

When Jason saw what i was doing with the Special Mention section of these posts, his first words were "You didn't post about Siouxsie Sioux". Apparently, I am far more transparent than even I realize.

In high school I kept pictures of Siouxsie Sioux on my wall. I really remember The Admiral just staring at a poster from "Israel", starting to ask a question, and then deciding it was best to just drop it.

While Siouxsie's unique look helped get the band some attention, I'm actually a fan of the music. Unfortunately, as time has worn on, when a Siouxsie tune pops up on my iPod, I no longer can tell you exactly which song it is like I once could.

The heyday of the band was probably, really, the 80's as the popularity of the band took off. I, of course, failed to know much about them until a year after Peek-a-Boo had been released. I'd liked the single, but didn't pick up the album (Peepshow)until later.

The band continued to play well into the 1990's. I saw them at the first Lollapalooza in Dallas, but would not catch them on any subsequent tours. I believe they officially broke up around 1996/97, with Siouxsie and husband/ bandmate Budgie moving on to play with their splinter effort, The Creatures. They cited the abysmal conditions of the music industry and their desire to no longer work within that framework. They had not, of course, seen what the music industry would become.

Stylistically, the band dwelled in the land of what my former co-worker liked to call "raincoat rock". Moody, atmospheric, and defined largely by Siouxsie's unmistakable voice, for which the band was probably named. Like so many bands of the time, image was a huge part of the persona, and its tough to really gauge the effect Sioux may have had on many-a-mopey teen with her Egyptian-themed make-up and varying degrees of spikiness to her hair.



Mostly, whether accurate or not, she just seemed a heck of a lot more interesting than anything that was going on in Spring, Texas in 1992.

Siouxsie never got a huge amount of coverage in the American music press, at least while I was reading, and I never really knew a whole heck of a lot about her or the band. I'd hear bits and pieces here and there, but I suppose if I'd known much, it would have ruined the mystery, and that was half the fun.


Siouxsie performs in 2007

Siouxsie released a new album in 2007, a solo effort which I just found out about while doing some Googling. She toured the UK and the West Coast. No Austin dates as far as I can tell. It is a shame that she's not hooked up with the upcoming (June) arrival of The Cure in Austin. That would certainly be a double-bill worth checking out for a walk down high-school memory lane.



That's it for the Top 10

Please feel free to comment, reminisce, reflect, etc...



Plus, you got the bonus coverage by way of Special Mention.

Friends of Melbotis

A huge thank you to all of you who have inquired about Mel's welfare over the past week or so.

Mel's having some trouble with his stitching, so I'm bringing him back to the vet tomorrow, very early. I asked Jamie if I could not see if they could not do a quick patch job at Build-a-Bear at the mall, but she said the vet would probably do a better job.

I want to send special public thanks to a few folks:

• The parents, who have been so supportive
• Jason, who took Lucy off our hands during the days of surgery
• Nicole, who has helped out a lot with Mel over the past week
• Steven and Lauren, who came over this weekend for a quiet night in, to visit with Mel and to wrangle Lucy
• Randy, who generously sent along some delicious looking gourmet dog treats

Mel appreciates it, and we appreciate it.

I do not mean to leave anyone off of the list here. Thanks so much to everyone.

Mel is getting better. Surgery is just tough, especially when you're a dog and have no idea what is going on.

FAIL

From this site, by way of Jamie.

In a way, I feel sort of bad for the Pats and Tom Brady.
Its got to be heartbreaking to come that close and then fall short when the eyes of the world are upon you. Yes, of course, its nice to see the Pats get their comeuppance in such spectacular fashion, but, really, they were a very good team, and nobody can say they didn't work for the successes of the season.

Super Tuesday

Still undecided going into the primaries? How can you make it a SUPER Tuesday?

The League has selected a candidate based on his support of The Man of Steel.



Until McCain, Romney, Paul, Clinton, Huckabee or someone else shows support for the Last Son of Krypton, Obama is our man.

Of course, I can't vote until March, so all the candidates have an opportunity to pick a superhero between now and March.

Who would each of the candidates pick to represent them?

You tell me!

A Post about Mel

You can see a picture of a post-surgery Melbotis at Jason's blog.

DITMTLOD: I Heart the 90's - Part 1

Ahhhhhh... the 1990's. No doubt a time of great change for The League as we went from high school, to college, to, uh... whatever this period is in my life. But as always, The League was there... watching TV and stuff. And while our heart will always belong to Lynda Carter, there are many other Dames in the Media the League Once Dug.

After five years or whatever of maintaining this blog, your erstwhile League occasionally runs out of material. And so when JimD suggested I do a Dames In the Media The League Once Dug 90's Super Post, I thought: Heck, why not?

But who were the DITMTLOD of the League's 1990's? In the very special post, we'll take a look at ladies of the the League's interest in the 90's, both fictional and real. I had planned on doing a top 10, but we'll see how this shakes out.

A few rules I set up: I'm focusing on things that came out in the 90's. If the media came out prior to the 1990's, but I didn't discover it until the 90's, I'm only including one per posting as a "Special Mention".

This is all so much cheaper than therapy.



1. Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully

I'm listing Dr. Dana Scully as those who knew me in the 90's should be well aware of this particular DITMTLOD.

Short, skeptical, a doctor and endlessly patient with her partner, what wasn't to like? Anderson herself interviewed just simply terribly when you would see her on shows like "Late Night", but as long as she had X-files dialog coming out of her mouth, she was smart, lovely, and would stand still for lingering close-ups.

I've never really seen Gillian Anderson in anything but X-Files. Not even the movie where she purportedly runs about topless from her pre-X-Files days. But she was good in the role, and I would probably watch her again if she ever appeared in anything close to the sorts of movies I dig.

Also, she seems to be aging very well if the interweb photos I saw when looking for an image are any indication.



The above photo is a nice image of Agent Scully, but this is the image I had on my wall in college, printed in black and white from my junky Packard Bell printer circa 1995. Because, you know, I was classy.




2. Amanda Pays as Dr. Christina McGee

Amanda Pays first came to The League's attention as News Producer Theora Jones on the program "Max Headroom" back in the 80's. The same cool, confident demeanor she brought to Max Headroom (and a knack for delivering pseudo-sciencey lines) she brought with the same verve to The Flash.

Tina McGee was a biophysicist or some such who explained Barry's powers to him, and thus, to the audience. She also looked really nice in really unflattering circa 1990 clothes. But she looked nice in a lab-coat.


A pre-interweb show that ran for only one season, there's not much on the web in the way of photos from The Flash

Pays remains a mystery to The League as she wound up marrying Corbin Bernsen. Which means Corbin Bernsen has better taste in women than I would have assumed.




3. Michelle Yeoh, Various roles

Whether as a SuperCop, in a Police Story, as part of a Heroic Trio, ensuring that Tomorrow Never Dies or, after the 90's, as either a Crouching Tiger or Hidden Dragon, Michelle Yeoh was always a favorite of The League.

In 1993 or so, JAL and Michael would grab me and get me down to Hogg Auditorium on UT's campus where they would show Jackie Chan movies on the weekends. If you could put up with the rock-hard seating and the bats which would flit around, you could catch a pretty good movie for almost no cost.


The lovely Ms. Yeoh is now going to cripple you

Michelle Yeoh was in the Super Cop movies, and then in Heroic Trio. Later, I would be convinced to go see the 1997 Bond installment "Tomorrow Never Dies", based entirely upon the fact that Yeoh was in the movie. And, of course, 2000's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" finally showcased the actress in a light which I felt finally did her justice for a large American audience.



Since then she's been a favorite in the film "Memoirs of a Geisha". Where she does not get to kick ass in quite the same way.



4. Lady Miss Kier, Deee-Lite

I invite you to remember the first time you saw Lady Miss Kier in her platform shoes, little retro dress, huge eye lashes and funky dance moves. Add in a fun song, a good voice, and imagine that in Spring, Texas circa 1990ish.

I didn't really understand what Deee-Lite was up to, but I did know The League would always pause to watch the video for "Groove is in the Heart", and not just for Bootsy Collins' awesome bass-work.

But, really watch 2:32 - 3:06 again. That is why.



Also, Bootsy is from outer space.


De-Groovy

Lady Miss Kier is still actively performing and spinning records all over the globe. The days of Deee-Lite are now behind us, but Her Eminence keeps grooving on.


5. Marcia Gay Harden as Verna Bernbaum in "Miller's Crossing".



It's difficult to gauge what sort of impact or impression any one movie has on you as a lad, but certainly those who knew me when will recall my fascination with "Miller's Crossing" and Harden's character, Verna, which lasted for years.

Verna is a tough-talking moll, cut from the cloth of some of the tougher characters of cinema of crime movies of the 30's and 40's, and certainly the books of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Verna was the sort of role that you weren't seeing on the screen all that much in 1990 when Miller's Crossing debuted.

I was a huge fan, and continue to believe its a great performance. But the movie probably gave me some funny ideas about how to interact with the ladies.

As always, The League highly recommends Miller's Crossing. One of the greats of the past 25 years of film. Harden is no small contributor to that film's status.


Getting drunk and confronting your lady of interest = a plan that needs revision

I don't keep up with Harden's work. I think the last thing I saw her in was "Space Cowboys", but I never managed to see "Pollock" or, really, much else she's done. I still want to know what the heck she was doing in "Flubber".


Special mention: Claudia Cardinale as Jill in "Once Upon a Time in the West"

Firstly, is "Once Upon a Time in the West" a great Western? Or The Greatest Spaghetti Western?

(I have a pet theory about why the Western died out. 1) John Ford died. 2) After Leone had his run, what was the point?)

Released in 1968, but discovered on video during my "Holy smokes, Sergio Leone kicks ass" phase of film school, "Once Upon a Time in the West" is still one of my favorite Westerns, and one of my favorite movies.

In the tradition of all Sergio Leone movies, Claudia Cardinale is badly looped in "Once Upon a Time in the West". I have no idea if she actually speaks English as I've never had the opportunity to see her in anything else.

Her arrival really kicks the story into gear, and she proceeds to out-tough Charles Bronson. Let me repeat that: SHE OUT-TOUGHS @#$%^ing CHARLES BRONSON, all without ever really using a gun. Also, she out toughs Jason Robards AND an EVIL Henry Fonda.

Top that, Sigourney Weaver.

Probably not the most progressive movie ever made, but a heck of a story and full wall-to-wall with great characters, Cardinale's creation of Jill McBain turns out to be the strongest force in a lawless frontier. Also, her theme by the amazing Ennio Morricone is the sort of sweeping score today's composers could learn from.


Yowza





That's it for the first installment.

I encourage you to mention your own Ladies of Interest (or Dudes of Interest, depending on how you swing). Also, this post came out of an idea from one of your fellow Leaguers, so if you have any bright ideas for The League, shoot them my way.

Awesome ending to a Superbowl

Well, we hadn't really planned to watch, but changed our minds this morning and went out and got some food.

The last quarter of the game was not the best quarter of football I've ever seen, but it was the best ending to a Superbowl I can recall. The seemingly unstoppable Patriots went down, the Giants' Eli Manning was the second Manning in two years to win a Superbowl, and the final drive by the Giants was amazing.

The first three quarters were deadly dull as the two grat defenses wailed on each team's offense, but... heck.. the Giants' season couldn't have been better if it had been written by a Hollywood scripter.

I will now quit saying "Eli's really good, but it's got to be tough having Peyton Manning for a brother."

I do want to call BS on the poll for MVP for Animal Planet's Puppybowl IV. The Golden got too little screen time, and where are the labs?

Oh no

The least fortunate part of politicking has now arrived in Texas.

I just saw my first televised campaign ad of the 2008 presidential race. God bless each and every one of you living in states where you've already slogged through a primary.

The ad was a fairly simple ad for Mike Huckabee (I'm going to nail the "out of business" sign on the IRS. Perhaps you've seen it?)

It was on during the first bit of pre-Superbowl broadcast I flipped to this morning, and I am wondering if the campaigns can actually afford Superbowl time. After all, the campigns aren't selling cheap, watery beer or powerful trucks. How much advertising can they afford?

Anyhooo.... so it begins. And will end in November, I suppose.

Hooray for my DVR and my ability to FFWD thru the commercials.

Super Cool!

My post on Captain America from the other day got picked up by Blog@Newsarama.

You can see it here.

Thanks to Jim for finding the article.

Also, the League was part of something really great this week, partaking in the 10th anniversary retrospective of the film "The Zero Effect". Visit Chronological Snobbery to read a huge amount of information about this little known, but much loved film.

heck, even star of the film Bill Pullman is reading it.


The League made a comment or two about Pullman's performance I now feel were a bit not-right. I am going to post on that later.

Mr. Pullman has a Saturday afternoon basic cable viewing of "Spaceballs" to thank for me realizing what a bizarre and wide variety of stuff he's been in, from Spaceballs to Lost Highway to ID4. And all pulled off with aplomb. Mr. Pullman, I salute you.

Comics You Should Be Reading: Action Comics

The League was reading some of his weekly stash of comics last night, and I was reminded that while one of the primary missions of The League of Melbotis is a forum for my Super-Fandom, I don't always mention the comics.

I stick with the Superman titles through thick and thin, sort of like a Cubs fan might stick with the Cubbies. And just as a Cubs fan might get very excited when they enter the play-offs, so do I get excited when the comics are on an uptic of quality.

Writer Geoff Johns (Green Lantern, JSA, etc...) was once a film-school graduate working as an assistant to Richard Donner, director of Superman: The Movie. It took Johns a while to work his way through the DCU to his current position as writer of GL, Action Comics, and pretty much any other property he wants to get his hands on.

Honestly, when Donner and Johns took over on Action Comics, I was a bit skeptical. Johns' love of Superman was well-known, and I was concerned he would be too concerned about making a wrong move and begin on a forgettable run. But that wasn't the case.


The Up, Up and Away storyline ran through Superman and Action Comics in mid-2006

Johns teamed first with writer Kurt Busiek for the first One Year Later storyline "Up, up and Away", a storyline which re-set the status quo for Superman and the World of Metropolis. After that, Johns and Donner moved into telling the story "Last Son", which would introduce the triumverate of Zod, Ursa and Non to the comics for, really, the first time. (Zod and other Phantom Zone survivors had appeared in the comics during the Bronze Age, from the Weisinger and Schwartz eras of editorialship, but the trio seen in Superman: The Movie and Superman II were somewhat an amalgamation of characters seen in the comics.)

"Last Son" was a fascinating storyline, but... artist Adam Kubert ran late with his issues, winding up with fill-ins during the middle of the storyline, and culminating in the single, 3D issue of Action Comics 851 (which was cool), but the storyline broke precedent and never actually wrapped up. Apparently series artist Adam Kubert, who had been announced as coming onto the comic with huge fanfare, simply wasn't keeping up with his duties. Kubert helps run the Joe Kubert School of Cartooning, and who knows what else was going on in his private life.


A Kubert Action Comics cover

Unfortunately, despite the engaging story, the delays made the comic impossible to recommend, and shook my faith in what Johns was brining to the title. A few fill ins and an unexpected Annual issue later, and the series was back on track with Eric Powell drawn Escape from Bizarroworld.


Powell's work on the JLA of Bizzaroworld

With 52 concluded and Teen Titans no longer on his plate, Johns seems to have found focus on both Green Lantern and Action Comics. Donner is no longer on the writing team, and it may be a case of Johns slipping backward into fanboyishness... But the current storyline "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes".

Superman is asked to return to the future of the 31st Century, re-establishing continuity lost during the Crisis on Infinite Earths and with the Byrne/ Wolfman reboot of the Superman titles with Man of Steel. He learns that an "Earth First" movement has meant that the true story of Superman, now 1000 years in the past, has been co-opted by the movement and changed so that the people of Earth would believe Superman was born on Earth, denying his Kryptonian heritage. They are using this as part of an anti-alien propaganda, which is leading to war between Earth and other planets of the 31st Century.


Gary Frank's art on the cover of Action Comics

It's a good read, despite some gaps in logic that could use some explaining. The action is fast-paced, and while it's certainly rewarding to know a bit about the Legion, it's not a requirement for getting into the story. The threats are understandable and of an appropriately enormous scope for a Legion and Superman story. There's a common complaint in comics that the fanboys are now writing the comics, and that's inherently bad for comics. But in the case of Johns, his understanding of the publishing history of Superman and the Legion helps to make a textured read with a good understanding of character and character motivation.

Add in the pencils of Gary Frank, whose style one might compare to a less cartoonish Steve Dillon (sharing the love and mastery of the facial expression), mixed with detail of far more naturalistic artists, its a great look for the title. Especially as Frank has internalized Christopher Reeve for his version of Superman, and gives the reader a Superman with distinct facial characteristics.

You may still be able to pick up this storyline from the first issue at your local comic shop, or may wish to wait for the inevitable collection. Either way, now's a great time to be jumping into Action Comics.

Super Friends

Kinda sorta funny. Your mileage may vary.

YouTube Friday

Not work safe. It's Sarah Silverman, so what do you expect...?

Mel looks like 10 Miles of Bad Road

Ho boy.

Well, the left half of Mel's face is shaved, as well as the left side of his neck, and some spots around his legs. His face is pretty badly bruised from the surgery, and his eye is sort of blackened, if a dog can get a black eye.

Jamie's got him pretty well tranq'd up, so he's resting, and seems perhaps... too happy when he does wake up. He has to eat tiny little scoops of his dog food which Jamie has turned into meatballs.

I know in a few days he'll be getting back to normal in spirits, but for now he looks a bit like Batman-villain Two Face.

Also, the cone... I have to put the cone on him again. Which I'm not looking forward to. But he should really wear it tonight.

It looks like the surgery went well. Jamie's doing a great job if taking care of Mel.

he just twitched in his sleep and kicked me in the butt.

Anyhow, he's doing okay. He just looks like a dog that just had serious surgery.

Comics You Should Be Reading: Captain America

America, @#$% YEAH!!!

So, you may have heard several months ago: They killed Captain America.

What they did not tell you is that the 24 issues leading up to the Death of Captain America and the subsequent issues following have been absolutely engaging reading.

I thought I'd post on this, thanks to this story which ran today on CNN.com.

Writer Ed Brubaker took over the reigns on the flagship title for the Sentinel of Liberty, relaunching the series with a new #1. I was familiar with Brubaker from his work, mostly, on Gotham Central (perhaps DC's most underrated title of the past six years), and had read a few other comics he'd penned, and had planned to follow him to Marvel. I did pick up issue #1 of Brubaker's run, enjoyed it, and planned to pick up the collections of the series... But somehow I never got around to doing so.

And then I heard they were bringing back Bucky.

Bucky was Captain America's youthful sidekick in the original comics sold during WWII, but he'd never been part of Captain America since Atlas/ Timely became Marvel. It had been explained that Bucky was killed during the final mission in which Cap, himself, fell into the sea to be frozen until found and thawed by the Avengers. Wacky stuff, but, you know... you grow up with an idea and it doesn't sound totally weird.

Anyhow, Bucky's death was canon, and for whatever reason I took exception to the idea that they'd bring back Bucky Barnes. His death was as fundamental to the mythos as the death of Jason Todd had become to the Bat-comics. Well, of course, we know what happened with Jason Todd, and so perhaps having Bucky around didn't seem that crazy.

Brubaker's take on Cap isn't so much superhero as super-soldier. Or, more specifically, super-anti-terrorist operative. World weary, but with a certain optimism and faith in what he's doing, it makes for a good, three dimensional character behind the shield.

The plot is not convoluted in the way so many comics can become, but rather feels novelistic. There's a lot going on that doesn't require punches to the head (although those happen, too), and there's a good story. Good enough that, in the telling, the return of Bucky feels less like a stunt to draw in readers, and more like one of the unfortunate side effects of the world Cap's been a part of since WWII.


The New Cap

I have to thank Nathan Cone for pointing me back towards the series. Part of why I picked up the Omnibus was that Nathan told me he was reading the series and was still very enthusiastic about it.

You may be aware that Cap was killed some time back, but that story is just as fascinating to watch unfold. Unlike the impenetrable and winding plots of the Death of Superman and World without a Superman stories, the post-Steve Rogers world feels organic, and as if the characters are acting from a real sense of loss and grieving (which, in superhero comics, rarely means sitting around crying).


Anyhow, pick up Brubaker's Captain America.

2 bizzeee 2 post

Here's something I swiped from Randy in order to share with the new parents in the League's readership. Denise, pay special attention to "Drying Baby".

Mel Report

Hey Leaguers. I know less about today than Jamie, but it sounds like Mel's surgery went well.

Jamie dropped him off at 7:00, and heard back from the vet about 2:45. It sounds like the surgery went as planned. As of 2:45, Mel was awake and resting.

Jamie called again at 5:30, and he'd already been up, gone wee, and was hopped up on goofballs.

She's going to pick him up tomorrow afternoon (we're not really sure when). She has to get some serious pick up instructions.

Jason has Lucy tonight, and maybe tomorrow night, so Mel can rest when he gets home. Jeff the Cat will simply get punted if he interferes.

I want to thank everyone for the well wishes and prayers (thanks, Ma!). Mel seems to be on the road to recovery.


UPDATE

It seems we were misinformed. We can't pick up Mel today. Which means Lucy has been destroying Jason's house today for no good reason.

I'll leave it to Jamie and the commenst section to fill in more details.

Everyone Wish Mel Well

Mel is going off to have his surgery tomorrow morning. Jamie, being the good person she is, is getting in the car and driving him up to Round Rock at 6:45 in the morning.

I am convinced Mel will come through with flying colors. He has had a few surgeries before before, and he has always done well. There's also an 85% chance this will get rid of the problem altogether. So, you know, I think he's going to be fine.

The poor guy is going to have to wear one of this big, plastic cones for a while. I think he wore one for a short time quite a few years back, but I am anticipating he's going to be really, really unhappy for the duration. On the plus side, he will get to eat soft food for a few weeks, which he's not been able to do before. Hopefully he'll think he's getting a treat every meal for a while.

The worst thing for both Mel and Lucy will be that, because Mel's surgery is in his mouth, we're going to have to hide all the toys for a while. Mel and Lucy both love their toys, and associate them with playing and being good dogs. In fact, whenever you come back from even a run to Taco Cabana, Mel runs around with a toy in his mouth and cries. At night he walks around with a nylon bone in his mouth like a cigar, or one of his vaguely people-shaped toys that he moves from place to place around the downstairs.

Anyway, no toys for the dogs for a few weeks. And while some small aprt of me is looking forward to not having the clutter, I know that the dogs are going to be deeply unhappy without anything to play with.

So everyone wish Mel well. We'll give a report again tomorrow night.

The League ain't afraid of no ghost

You know which show I can't quit watching, but which is some oddly irresponsible television? A&E's new program Paranormal State features a team of college undergraduates who are true believers in the paranormal. Not UFO's, mind you, but they fancy themselves to be ghost hunters, but without any pesky skepticism.

Their goal is, ostensibly, "investigations" into the paranormal, but that's not really what seems to happen. Somehow the show has teamed up the undergrads with several other charlatans of the supernatural, and these folks are brought in to (a) assist in the investigations and (b) enjoy something of the limelight which they seem to be seeking.

The "director" of the Penn State Paranormal club is probably just a shade or two away from the sort of conviction in utter nonsense you really only find in con-men and people building compounds who don't let their flock speak to their families any more (for their own good). He leads the team with the charmless charisma that will one day make for low-level cult leader status as he rambles on about the presence of ghosts and demonic spirits, and plays the expert in mystical matters to not just his band of followers, but the people whose houses he invariably exorcises by the end of each episode. As an undergrad, I'm not sure exactly what his credentials are supposed to be (I've ruled out critical thinking as one of his strong suits), but his followers seem oddly devoted and willing to defer to him in all of the decisions for the group. No doubt, this guy is going to be asking them to sign over their worldly possessions in five years and buy matching purple jumpsuits.

What's really sort of out of whack is that the folks who the group comes to "help", are in fact, in need of real help. Generally these folks seem distraught by whatever it is they believe is living with them in their house. I admit that, in some twisted way, this means that the group of undergrads is helping the people in question. I just am not sure a seance and having some 20-year old kid semi-politely asking the "spirit" to leave is what these folks actually need. But, according to the show, whatever magic they work gets rid of what's ailing the subjects of each episode. Or, you know, the people just really don't want the nerds coming back.

Now, let me qualify this somewhat: I watch Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi all the time. It's the only one of the basic-cable paranormal shows that I think applies basic logic to... uh... ghosts. At least there's some half-assed investigation put into it and not just "psychics" wandering about sensing angry feelings. And I give the show kudos for trying first and foremost to try to explain away the bumps and creaks in the night, and for understanding that sometimes people leap to bizarre conclusions. And sometimes people have really bad pipes and wiring in their homes.

In short, unlike most of these shows, I don't think Jay and Grant, of Ghost Hunters are crazy. Well, I do think spending your evenings running around some stranger's house with a video camera is a bit... odd. But their first inclination is not to believe every hiss in a tape is an attempt by the dead to communicate. But I also don't think they're outright fibbing in order to get exposure and money.

Sadly, I don't really believe in ghosts. But, I would like to make a buck off of other people's paranoid fears. Jason and I have often spoken of what we might charge for capturing and containing one of the departed in true Ghostbusters fashion.

"We're ready to believe you!"

Ryan Goes America

For reasons I cannot explain and upon which I do not wish to elaborate, I can empathize with Charlie in this clip.



Really, Jason and Jamie are, at all times, about ten seconds from hearing me burst out into similar song.

Zero Effect Tenth Anniversary

Join Chronological Snobbery for a 10 Year anniversary investigation of the 90's-era detective movie "The Zero Effect".

Read here.

Zero Effect - 10 Years Later

The League has been asked by the powers that be at Chronological Snobbery to participate in a bit of a movie review round-robin for "The Zero Effect". It seems that the movie, Zero Effect came out ten years ago. I saw it on DVD within a year or so of its release on home video.

Rather than try to remember a movie I hadn't seen in about 9 years, I picked it up from Netflix.

I admit that I wasn't a huge fan of "Zero Effect" when I saw the movie the first time. I definitely got that the movie was a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, with Bill Pullman in the role of Daryl Zero/ Holmes and Ben Stiller in the role of Steve Arlo/ Watson. While working, Daryl Zero has superhuman abilities of deduction and intuition. Off the case, he's a drug-addled lunatic who plays the guitar. Badly. Just as Holmes was supposed to play the violin and partake in a bit of, if memory serves, cocaine, the analog is pretty straightforward. And just as Watson was supposed to declare "by jove! How the deuce did you deduce that, Holmes?", so is Stiller put the position of being both impressed by his employer's abilities, as well as assisting him and representing him to the public.

And while I certainly wouldn't want a "modern day Holmes" movie, I wasn't sure what, exactly, Kasdan was trying to create. Was this Holmes through the eyes of the modern day detective movie? Or was it Holmes through the eyes of the son of a successful Hollywood producer?

The plot/ mystery of the movie is an excuse for the audience to meet Daryl Zero and Steve Arlo, and to challenge the status quo we're to understand they share when the movie begins. Should Steve Arlo give up his working relationship with Zero for the way it interferes with his personal life? Can Zero find love?

What starts off as an amusing premise never really works. The movie isn't funny, and I don't think it's intended to be so. So I'm not really sure what Kasdan was intending. Too much time is spent concerned with the quirky relationship of Zero and Arlo, and the mystery plot isn't necessarily engaging enough on its own to work as a feature film. Perhaps this would be a great pilot leading into a television series. Long story short, its tough to ever know what is supposed to be the A-plot of the movie, and what is intended to the B-Plot. Are we watching a movie about Zero and Arlo or the blackmail case they're supposed to be uncovering? Is this a standard case for them, or is this one particularly unusual?

Part of the problem is that Pullman is only occasionally convincing as an unhinged eccentric genius. Too much of the time, perhaps, he's on the case, and so seems together. Other shows, such as Monk or Psyche feature quirky detectives (Monk, most specifically comes to mind as an example of a detective program which is completely dedicated to the protagonist's psychoses). Prior to that, Columbo and others had been pretty wacky detectives working through convoluted plots. There's nothing here in "Zero Effect" to defy expectations. Instead, not a whole lot seems to happen. Character bits that are revealed skew towards the depressing, but with so little time to get to know Arlo and Zero, its tough to get invested. Pullman has never struck me as an actor of great range, and Zero Effect does nothing to erase that notion.

TV and movies are full of such characters, and drug-addled mood swings may look good on paper, but in a movie where we're given little room to feel sympathy for our leading man to begin with, profanity-laced binges don't really draw you in. Honestly, the idea seems like something lifted out of a completely different movie, as does the intentionally awkward "Zero plays the guitar" scene.

Ben Stiller's portrayal of Steve Arlo is hampered by stilted dialog he delivers mostly through clenched teeth. This would have been a post-"Ben Stiller Show" Stiller, but pre-Super Stardom from "There's Something About Mary" and the schticky groove Stiller would carve out with films like "Meet the Fockers". Honestly, I'd forgotten he was the Watson-archetype in this film, and raised an eyebrow in the first frames when he appeared. He more or less disappears going into the third reel, with one scene which resolves his character arc and a tacked on wedding scene to give our character an out at the end of the film.

Readers may recall that the Sherlock Holmes stories were told from the perspective of Watson in order to give the reader the same surprise the audience might feel upon hearing Holmes spout out an amazing deduction. However, director/ writer Kasdan switched the POV from Arlo to Zero somewhat abruptly early on in the film, taking away the exasperated amazement that Arlo might feel working side by side with an unknowable genius. In many ways, this gives the feeling that the screenplay was cobbled together from various parts of various drafts and that there's never any solid, single point of view to the movie. No doubt this was done to accommodate the scenes with GLoria Sullivan, which, by necessity to the plot, could not include Arlo. Unfortunately, this makes Arlo semi-redundant within the structure of the story.

For someone with so much screentime and who is supposed to win over Daryl Zero, Kim Dickens' Gloria Sullivan is a surprisingly dull character and never feels like the foil she's described to be in the film's final moments (I literally paused and thought to myself... "oh, yeah... I guess she did do all of that..." as Zero re-capped why he admired her so.). Ryan O'Neal is really the only other player, and so in a mystery such as this, there just really isn't much mystery to go around. But he pretty much plays Ryan O'Neal, if you're wondering.

Director/ Writer/ etc... Jake Kasdan would have been about 23 at the time of the film's creation, and that may account for a lot of the problems with the film. Too young, perhaps, to really realize he was recycling material. Mistaking drudging, monotone dialog for moodiness, and Dennis Hopper-channeling mania for Zero as "quirkiness", whatever humor he finds in the inconsistent pill-popping of Zero simply doesn't work.

Perhaps these characters had lived in Kasdan's head too long as a writer, and as a director, he was unable to get the performances out of his seasoned cast. Fresh out of school and with a father like Lawrence Kasdan to call in favors, movies can get made. Perhaps had Kasdan waited a bit before bringing this movie to the screen, the movie would have found its footing.

I'm not familiar with the box office on Zero Effect, but I do not recall the movie doing well at the time of release, and only rented it originally at the suggestion of someone else.

Kasdan's follow up efforts haven't been as serious in tone. He directed the dispiriting, laughless "Orange County" (a movie which seemed as if it was written by the most entitled priviliged kid for other entitled privileged kids.). It is telling, I think, that I left the theater before "Orange County" was over. We had technical problems with the film in the final reel, and rather than wait for the theater to fix them, we demanded a refund and left.

Kasdan also directed this winter's musical/ comedy "Walk Hard", which was funny when relying on the improv talents of the players and otherwise awkward and clunky, and certainly stretched on about twenty minutes too long.

Perhaps Kasdan had originally intended to write a comedy with Zero Effect. Perhaps he even believed that's what he was shooting until he got back his footage. Who knows? The movie begins on a an absurd note, suggesting some dark comedy... and abandons any humorous aspects about twenty minutes in before giving up and plodding to a finish.

My guess is that I am missing something here that has kept the film alive with a certain group of fans. But on a second viewing, there's still not much to pull me in. For a movie that seems to think it has some great characters, they seem derivative. For a movie that ostensibly is about deduction and detecting a mystery, the plot just isn't really engaging enough to really feel like the greatest challenge of the career of Daryl Zero, which it must be, lest why would the movie exist?

As someone participating in a round-robin of "Zero Effect" reviews, I'll be curious to see what others say.

I was going to close the post with something dickish about how the movie had "zero effect" on me. And that's probably still true. But, mostly, I feel the movie is forgettable, and has been largely forgotten. It's never a good sign when you realize upon watching a movie again for the second time that you have no recollection of the plot or characters from the first viewing. It's a worse sign when you are dead-certain mid-viewing that your brain may be erasing the movie from your memory before you've even finished watching it, and that's not going to help when it comes time for the big reveal.

Ways I could spend my government money

Unky George sees that we're falling on hard times. To help us through the hard times and the foreclosure on our homes, he and Aunt Nancy opened their purse and are sending us a check.

You and I could be getting $600 from the government.

How can I spend it?

Can I get a gun?

Three Petsafe Cat Verandas?

Six majestic eagle scuptlures?

An Adventurometer?

20 robots?

here's a list of items for $600

How should the League spend his $600? Assuming he doesn't just pay some bills...

You Should Be Reading: BLUE BEETLE

I was as bummed as the next guy when DC killed off Ted Kord in the event comic "Countdown to Infinite Crisis". And I think, in some ways, DC knew they'd kind of made a mistake. They'd finally put the spotlight on a character who was almost universally loved, but who had a hard time making it as anything but a supporting character. But certainly, the fanbase liked the character and wanted the possibility of having Ted in more stories.

Ted Kord as Blue Beetle was just fun. He was Batman with none of the trauma, cool gadgets and a fun pal in Booster Gold. What wasn't to like?

I'm happy to report that, in spite of the end of a great character in Ted Kord, DC's replacement wasn't just some half-baked replacement so they could put out a new #1 and temporarily lift sales. DC introduced a whole new concept with the creation of Jaime Reyes, a 16 year old living in El Paso who has merged with the Blue Beetle Scarab once owned by the first Beetle, Dan Garrett, and the second, Ted Kord.

I was originally skeptical. Both Marvel and DC had been trying to catch lightning in a bottle again since Spider-Man hit the scene with a constant stream of teen-agers with varying degrees of tragic backgrounds and mopeyness. The formula had never really managed to coalesce again, but that didn't mean teen-book after teen-book hadn't hit the shelves.


Jaime doesn't always handle all of the threats he faces with the calm, cool nerve of an action hero.

Blue Beetle tried something a little different. Jaime wasn't an edgy kid, he was a good kid who lived with his parents and had a fairly standard relationship with his folks. He even told them about his Beetle-powers right off the bat. Further, he had supportive friends, also in on the secret identity, and stayed in El Paso, rather than immediately getting shipped off to some other town that the writers might know better.

Perhaps because Jaime isn't moody or depressing, its a bit easier to believe he's tossed himself headlong into the superhero business with his family's support and a bit of fun rather than because he's suffering from crushing guilt.

Moreover, John Rogers has managed to tell a fairly expansive story without undue decompression, and after providing several pieces along the way, the story of Blue Beetle is finally coming to a head.


Beetle keeps good company. This issue featured Beetle and Superman visiting Austin, for which the artist had no references.

Honestly, if DC is looking for a property they could easily bring to other media, the latest version of Blue Beetle is it. The generational aspect of the character might be fun to explore, but I think audiences would also really respond to not-just-eager-but-uncertain hero Jaime Reyes. Throw in one of the best supporting casts in comics since Clark Kent met Lois Lane, and there's a lot there.

I don't know if DC and writer Keith Giffen knew exactly what they wanted to do for the first few issues, but when the comic was handed over to John Rogers and the armor changed from so weird it was thought to be magic to a sci-fi angle with global consequences, it's been one of the comics I pick up first from my stack every time it comes out.

I should also add that there have been occasional guest-written issues, and those have been fun as well. I think that already the character and his environment are well-enough defined that guest writers can step in and keep up the spirit that Giffen and Rogers have worked to define.

Check it out. Blue Beetle is a good read.

Plus, really, the armor is totally cool.

FLILF?

With first Fred Thompson, and now Dennis Kucinich dropping out of the race for the White House, I am reminded of this Daily Show story.

The Ability to Talk to Animals

I haven't been reading the news

I don't know when this happened, but I kind of quit keeping up with the news the way I used to. Certainly being unemployed and having basic cable, as was my lifestyle last winter, lends itself not just to reading the news a lot more, but you sort of think the news has more to do with you than it really does. Conversely, I think as busy as I usually feel these days, I see a headline and digest it in the time it takes me to read the headline, and never commit to actually reading the article.

Today I was checking the personal e-mail from G-Mail, and on my MyGoogle Page, I have a news ticker or three, and most of the headlines were about Obama and Clinton, or Heath Ledger, and then one said "5 Million Dead as Congo agrees peace deal". 5 million. I mean, I knew that... anyway. Upsetting, but that's not so much the point.

Add in the chaos in Gaza, and the twin stories of the economy slowing and Bush's steps to stimulate the economy, and there's a hell of a lot going on, and I don't really feel looped in. I hear about stuff like Heath Ledger, which is morbidly interesting, but I'm not taking enough advantage of the internets right now to keep up on the stuff that isn't showing up in my news tickers. I know that the tickers sort of funnel celebrity stuff to the top for click-throughs, anyway, but I'm not doing any real news browsing the way I used to, or I should. Most online news sources are free. I've got no excuse.

I'm not saying the dust up between the dem presidential candidates isn't news. It is. But it's also just the narrative of the week for the race for the White House. 5 million people. Mass exodus from Gaza. Just because its not effecting me and my drive to work doesn't mean I should retreat into funnybooks, my iPod and the latest episode of Ghost Hunters.

That's all. Need to read more. Read my subscriptions to Newsweek and Time.

Also, I need to go practice the bass.

Ya'll have a good one.

First Look at Cloverfield Monster

hey, if you're like me and saw Cloverfield, you probably wanted a better look at the Monster. This is, I think, official, and not a fan rendering. Anyway, no big surprises, but it's cool to see it in detail instead of through shaky-cam.

Nothing to post

Well, Heath Ledger died. That's something to post, but I'll be honest. I never saw the knight movie, or the cowboy movie, so... I'm honestly not sure I've ever seen anything the guy ever did. Mostly I keep wondering how much the media is going to ghoulishly dwell on his death during the release of The Dark Knight.

Fred Thompson dropped out of the presidential race. I had no plans to vote for Thompson, really. I wasn't against the guy, but he wasn't even really very high on my list of candidates to research. I recall his time in the Senate during the late-90s, as he was in the paper a lot, but I don't even remember why.

They made announcements of Oscar noms for last year. But I don't care. I do want to see "There Will be Blood". No idea if they'll have the Oscars on, and since I don't watch, anyway, doesn't really bug me. Makes room for more American Gladiators.

Watched the second two episodes of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles last night. I am still hopeful, and I think the show is going to make it into my rotation. But... I am deeply afraid the show will become the adventures of a killer robot as she navigates the hallways of public high school. What's amazing is that I just typed that sentence and didn't get totally excited by the idea. That can't be good.

Apparently Clinton and Obama are dusting it up in the debates. Bleh.

Oh, and the economy is going to hell. Awesome. I am guessing we'll get a little closer to the Thunderdome lifestyle I've often aspired to.

I dunno. I got nothing tonight.

Cloverfield: Man in Suit

On Saturday Jamie, Jason, Julia and me (breaking the chain of alliteration) went to the Alamo-ized Village Cinema to catch "Cloverfield".

SPOILER LADEN REVIEW

Cloverfield is pretty much exactly (EXACTLY) what you think it is from the previews. It takes the concept of the big-budget monster movie and tells it from the pitiable angle of the person on the street, rather than from the angle of the sexy scientists and military folk who usually fill Godzilla movies. In some ways, its very similar to a zombie movie in that we're getting the perspective of the folks simply trying to not get killed, not the folks trying to bring the crisis to an end, which, really, brings us all the way back to the original novel of "War of the Worlds".

But the buzz hasn't been so much about the shake up in narrative, its been about the first-person perspective of the movie. As you probably already know, the movie is supposed to be found footage of a handi-cam which captures the desperate set of circumstances of the seven or eight hours around the attack of the monster, which I just call "Cloverfield" as, very intentionally, the movie never names, nor does it try to explain the monster. From the perspective of the characters, this makes complete sense, and, really, that's the point of the movie. This is a film about "what if you or I were minding our own business and found ourselves the screaming pedestrian in the rampaging monster film?" What I did not want to see was the scene in which our everyman heroes stumble upon a scientist who explains the entire situation. In so many ways, the movie relies upon the confusion of the characters to tell the story.

And, no, I have no idea why the movie was called Cloverfield. The movie never actually says why that was supposed to be the name at any time I saw (even in the opening minute of the movie). I probably missed something, so fill me in if you know.

In a world in which we've all seen endless footage of the WTC falling and modern military strikes on cable, the cinematographer of Cloverfield is the real hero. The scenes are captured well enough for the viewer to see what is going on without being lost in the herky-jerky camera movements, and only occasionally did I stop to think "gee, he was lucky to frame that exactly that way while running away in terror". We now know what it looks like when a huge building collapses, we understand what it looks like when missiles are flying from an armored military vehicle. All of this is brought to the screen in a manner that suggests You Are There.

A lot of folks are going to not necessarily dig the camera work, and that's a matter of both taste and whether or not you got vertigo when you saw Blair Witch.

This, in the end, is what the movie brings that "20 Million Miles to Earth", "King Kong", or any other rampaging monster-in-a-populated-area movie didn't bring. There will be the inevitable comparisons to The Blair Witch Project, and that's okay. But I don't think its fair to assume that a single movie should get the monopoly on first person genre films, especially in an era of YouTube, video cameras on phones and the everyman as creator of media. To say "Blair Witch already did this" is, to me, oversimplifying things a bit.

Some Leaguers are beholden to the whims and needs of the babies they've made and will not be able to go out to the local cinema to take in the spectacle. And I'd say that watching this on your TV will probably still get you into the experience. After all, subconsciously video shooters are thinking TV, not 40' movie screens. While the movie certainly doesn't always stick to the rule, seeing the conventions of the home video play out on your TV rather than at the movies may make for a satisfying experience.

What viewers will probably believe less than a twenty-story monster rampaging through Manhattan is the premise of the plot of the film. This is not, I say again, a movie about folks actually defeating the beastie. I think I, at age 32 or at age 15 would have a hard time buying the premise which to our film's subjects wandering through the firefight. Or that someone would feel safe walking around with a camera in their face through a disaster of cataclysmic proportions.

The leads are fairly typical young Hollywood, what producers assume I want to see when I go to the cinema (but is really intended to appeal to males, 13-25). The movie begins more or less with the beginning of the "found" tape. The first footage occurs before the disaster, capturing two young folks who are trying to decide if they're in love. A camcordery-cut later, Flash forward to the awkwardly scripted good-bye party where one of the leads is off to Japan for work, and a very high-school-like lovers' quarrel. The technique works in the narrative in a way that would have seemed ridiculous as flashbacks in any other movie, and uses the device (both plot and actual handi-cam device with its known technical quirks) to show what would otherwise have to make up for some really inappropriately timed exposition.

In all honesty, I wasn't sure I was supposed to feel deep empathy for the characters, or if that was a product of the usual poor characterization when style takes place over substance. I really didn't care about the B-plot of the movie, and I certainly didn't buy that the characters would have been knuckle-headed enough to walk back towards the danger as they did. Like a lot of zombie movies, I suppose, I was expecting our protagonists to get picked off, and was simply much more invested in the unfolding of action than what was happening to who, and who loved who. I mean... really. There's a 50-ton monster eating people. Who cares about yuppies in love?

I might also mention that the movie has no score or musical cues. You won't miss them, but if you hang around through the credits, you'll find the music over the credits sort of jarring when it does pop up.

Like Blair Witch, its unclear if its a good movie or a novelty, but I'm leaning toward a novelty that will inform future, perhaps better, efforts. It's a good popcorn flick, and it shows promise that perhaps the rampaging monster in an urban setting isn't totally gone from the world of genre movies.

But, as the Alamo pre-show reminded me, I was pretty happy with a classic Man in Suit movie. I'm not sure I really need a $150 million thrown at me to have a good time.

Star Trek Trailer

I have to say I'm quite pleased to hear about the re-launch of the Star Trek franchise with a cast of new players in the roles of the original TV series (now 40 years old).

While nobody will capture my imagination the way Nichelle Nichols in a mini-skirt did when I was but a lad, I think its time to sweep away a lot of the clutter of the multitude of Trek shows and get back to the classic formula of Kirk in his Space Trans-Am, cruising the galaxy with his pals, kicking Klingon ass and picking up alien chicks. Also, exploring. But mostly shooting phasers. And that time Spock's brain was removed? Totally awesome. Plus the salt monster. And the Gorn. And the hippie aliens? And the white Gorilla. And remember when that flying blob of light was in love with Zephram Cochrane? That was weird. Also, I like Tribbles. When are we going to get a movie with Tribbles?

Check out this pic. This is totally the look my dad used to give me when I was a kid and I did something spastic.

Anyhow... its time to get back to brass tacks with Kirk and Co., and Paramount has unleashed JJ Abrams on the franchise, kicking Berman to the curb.

I have high hopes. Here's the first teaser for what shall be my film of choice for next Christmas.

Dog Park

Sunday we loaded up the team and went to the dog park. Lucy, by the way, now knows the dog park when we pull up and starts freaking out.

I also want to apologize for the wardrobe and hair. I, uhmmm... it was cold out, and I confess to neither taking a shower nor combing my hair on Sunday. Plus it was windy. And I'm chubby, so... there you have it.

Here's the pics by Jason

Terminator on TV

So Friday night I watched the pilot of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. (Beware any college-kids reading this.... eventually you, too, will not feel like going out on a cold and rainy Friday, staying in for a meal of tuna melts and apples).

Folks who've known The League for a while will know The League is a big, big fan of the first two Terminator movies (but not so much the third in the series). It falls squarely in with the high-budget sci-fi action flicks that were a huge part of The League's youth.

And, honestly, I kinda liked Terminator 2 more than Terminator. Tracking further back, when I was in middle school and high school I was a pretty-darn big fan of anything Arnie put out. There was a time when the only Arnie movie I hadn't seen was "Kindergarten Cop" (I'd watched a good chunk of "Hercules in New York" on basic cable). T2 had a bigger budget, more explosions, and the kick-ass performance of Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor. Add in what were, at the time, unbelievable new CGI effects.

I was deeply skeptical of anyone taking the place of Linda Hamilton. In Terminator, Cameron had given us the glimpses of the female action hero that was not part of the usual American film scene. We'd get an occasional Princess Leia, but by and large, it was still up to the male lead to save the day. In T1, Hamilton still played the damsel in distress to Michael Biehn's Kyle Reese. In "Aliens", Cameron gave us Sigourney Weaver as the full-blown action heroine who might get some side-kicky type help from Michael Biehn, but who is fine on her own. This all paved the way for T2, in which we got a shotgun-toting, face-punching Linda Hamilton who only grudgingly accepts the help of the new Connor-friendly Terminator. This was all awesome, and I have graphs and charts to prove it.

Less awesome was T3, despite the inclusion of Claire Danes. The only thing to like in T3, really, was the obvious conclusion that SkyNet was not a single system, but a software system which had gone all self-aware and virus-y haywire.

The TV show's pilot (I've not yet watched the second episode) seemed to pick up after T2, rather than acknowledging T3 in any way. And that's okay. SPOILER ALET: Sarah Connor was supposed to be dead of leukemia before the start of T3. Something I never bought, although it provided a reasonable explanation of why they wouldn't bring Hamilton back while propelling John Connor forward as the protagonist in the franchise.

But,as the producers are aware, it's not John Connor who is the star of the Terminator franchise, its Sarah Connor. Terminator is not about the war of the future, its about trying to stop the war from ever happening.

Lena Headey takes the role of Sarah Connor, and, judging from the pilot, she will be able to fill the boots Linda cobbled herself back when I was in high school. Headey's toughness in teh role may not come as a surprise to those wh saw her in 300 as Queen Gorgo, but her role here is a bit more direct.

ChronSnob calls into question the age of Headey, but the show does state, flat out, that Connor is 33, the same age as Headey. However, with a 15 year-old son, I'm not sure how that manages the continuity of the first two movies. Certainly Hamilton was never supposed to be a teenager in T1?

Thomas Dekker's young John Connor never feels like the mouthy, semi-precocious brat that Edward Furlong seemed to portray in T2. Nor does he come off with the Andy Rooney-with-an-edge that Nick Stahl brought to T3. He seems like an overwhlemed kid, understanding of his situation but still trying to avoid his destiny.

The buzz will probably be around Summer Glau, who sci-fi dorks will remember as Rain from Firely and Serenity. Poised as a Lady Robot of Interest for both the fanbase and John Connor, Glau plays Cameron (yeah, they went there), a Terminator sent from the future with a bit more of a plan than "Save John Connor".

Pity Glau, for she is about to become the subject of many-a-nerds' rich make-believe love life.

What will surely drive sci-fi fans and lovers of logic insane is that the show seems precepted on the idea that the future is fluid. I am sure the time travel elements of the show will be handled with varying degress of logic and competence. But its hard to see how the future timeline of a war with robots can be erased unless someone with knowledge of that war is sent back to stop it. Which, of course, means that the eprson from the future would have no knowledge of the war and would have no need to travel back in time.

So you see where I'm going with this.

The actual feel of the pilot was very, very close to the first two movies (I actually kind of thought the third movie felt a bit like a made-for-TV movie), right down to the vividness of Sarah Connor's dream echoing portions of T2. The soundtrack uses elements of the T2 music to good effect, and that certainly helps to draw you back into the Terminator universe as well as a through-line regarding reconnecting with Dyson's family in what appeared to be the same house from T2.

Jamie's concern, and one I share, is that few series are able to come off of a good pilot and sustain the quality. A quick glance at IMDB, as well as some of Glau's dialog suggests that this will not be the Connor's + robot moving from town to town to solve crimes, a la The A-Team, but rather them digging in their heels for a fight. Which seems kind of... like not a good idea when an endless line of killer robots diguised as people is coming for you.

Only future episodes and time will tell.

I am a bit down knowing that Arnie will, most likely, never appear on the show. One would assume he's a bit busy, what with being Governor of California and all. But I think the Sarah Connor character is strong enough to hold her own, especially if given a decent supporting cast. But, still... that's 100% less Arnie than I usually like.

Check out both Jason's review and ChronSnob's mention of Jason's review.

Mel V. Cancer

The day after Christmas, Jamie noticed Mel had a pretty substantial growth in his mouth. As Mel's gotten older, he's grown these weird little lumps under his skin. We got the first few removed over two surgeries (three?). Essentially the growth in his mouth was a similar lump, only in his gums.

They had scraped a similar lump in April and had it sent off for testing. It came back benign, and we didn't really think too much about it any more.

On Friday, the results from Mel's December surgery came back. Our vet called me on my cell about 3:00. After a lot of explanation of words that really didn't mean a whole lot to me, the bottom line was that they'd found cancer cells in the growth. Mel, my pal, has cancer.

As hard as it was to hear, I also knew it was now my responsibility to share the information with Jamie. And so I asked about our options. Mel is not yet 10, and he's still as frisky as he's really ever been, so letting him just be an old dog and try to just keep comfortable until it gets bad isn't an option.

Apparently there's now dog radiation and dog chemo. For people, who understand what's going on, that's the path you go. For dogs who only know you're taking them to get sick over and over every time they get in the car. There's also a dog oncologist in Round Rock (of course), and so we had options, anyway.

I did my bit of steeling myself on the way home. We were headed out to dinner with Steven and Lauren, and while I wanted Jamie to know, I also didn't want to tell her over the phone. So while Jamie was getting dressed and made-up to go out, I had to drop the bomb.

Jamie is, despite outward appearances, the toughest person I know. She's never given up on anyone or anything, and certainly knows that before you shed too many tears about bad medical news, you grit your teeth and start figuring out your options.

What made it easier to share, of course, was seeing Mel when I walked in the door. As usual, he was sitting on the couch, ears pitched forward, tail spinning wildly and happy as a clam.

"You aren't sick."
"Nope."
"Look at you."
"Yup."
"We've got a long way to go before we write you off, pal."
"Thanks!"

And so on the way to dinner we discussed our options, and talked about the fact that Mel was okay right now. So what we have to do, we decided, is just make sure he's a happy boy.

Saturday we took Mel and Lucy to the dog park, where Mel ran around just as happy as ever, playing king of the dog park while keeping that nice safety zone close by, with Lucy playing the little tag-along sister.

He is not sick. He is fine. He can play and chase the ball and goof with other dogs, and when he comes back to check in with you, his eyes are still that same bright brown, his tongue still pink, his ears still perked and eager.

On Monday Jamie went to see the vet and got the name of the Oncologist and Surgeon team. Yesterday Mel went to the oncologist for a CAT scan and to get checked out.

They think they can get it with surgery. He's going in next week for a consultation. He has no idea what's going on, but he's still Mel.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"None."
"They say you're sick. You've got the cancer, pal."
"The heck you say."
"Yeah. On your gum."
"Oh. Yeah. That figures."
"It's not supposed to metastasize. They think they can get it with some surgery."
"Oh."
"So it's gonna get cleared up. But it's going to take some tough days ahead."
"Okay. Jamie will take care of me?"
"You know she will."
"Okay, then."
"We're gonna have you around for a long while yet."
"And then where will I go?"
"A place full of couches and tennis balls, other dogs to play with and an endless sea of Milk Bones."
"Will you be there?"
"I'll catch up sooner or later."

More Real Life Superheroes

Here's an article about the tiny (but growing) subculture of Real Life Superheroes (or Reals, as they seem to call themselves).

I certainly think its a terrible idea to dress up in a costume and try to patrol your city. The article does mention the potential for violence, and certainly The League is a lover, not a fighter. And as good-natured as I think it is to dress up and head down to the homeless shelter to help out, do you need a superhero outfit to do that?

Well, honestly, it sounds like it worked out for the guy in the article when he uses his time to read to kids. But, let's be realistic... you don't need a super suit to help people.

Let me be perfectly clear: I think its a good idea to wear clothes if you want to go out and help the public. Otherwise, you're looking at some jail time. Ask Randy.

I don't honestly know what to make of the Reals. Part of me thinks its really cool, but I'm also aware of the potential for this get really bad, really fast. So in what capacity, if any, is there room for Real costumed do-gooders?