Pleadings Watch Party

Hey, Leaguers!

I've recently obtained an official copy of the movie "Pleadings" written by the League's own JimD and Alistair. So, I'm thinking "Austin Area Pleadings Watch Party".

I've seen the movie, and it is hilarious.



Actually, it's really, really not. But why not watch the movie together? I'll make popcorn.

I can't do it any time in the next two weeks (we're in San Francisco, and then I got a thing the next week), so let's look at August 1.

E-mail me or comment if you're interested in attending.

Here's a whole bunch more about Pleadings at Facebook.

In the News

Superman and Batman arrested in New York.

The best thing about this whole Bush surveillance deal? You choose!
(a) we'll never really know what happened
(b) someone thought this @#$% was a good idea
(c) now that someone went ahead and put this thing together, its not going to go away
(d) you just know that absolutely nobody is going to actually have to go to jail over all this
(e) someone is going to tell me that I shouldn't be concerned about this sort of thing

We thought we were going to be witness to some bad stuff at Barton Springs yesterday, but all ended well.
Jamie discusses here.
Here's the news report.

And the Dems demonstrate, once again, why they appear to be completely ineffective at government when they should be able to push just about anything through. A claim I'm finding, once again, difficult to dispute. I predict 2010 will be a repeat of '94 (popular prez, congressional dems decide to sabotage everything that got the guy voted into office. I might need to put on my Docs and start wearing flannel plaid).

While Fox News demonstrates, once again, that there are some uncomfortable undercurrents to the messaging and standpoints of their mouthpieces.

Dick's Classic Garage in San Marcos

There's a new car museum in San Marcos very close to Jamie's folks' house.

It's a surprisingly good museum which just opened yesterday.


Me in front of the elusive Tucker. One of 51 made. One of 48 in existence. This one has never really been driven. Something like .04 miles on the dial. It's tough to gauge the value on such a thing, but it's an extremely rare car.

Yes, that's a poster from the movie. There was also a TV showing the movie or clips from the movie.



Jamie and her dad with a 57' Chevy. American classic.



I completely forgot which car this was. But Jamie improves every shot she's in.



Back when cars had style... a beautifully restored Duesenberg. Steampunk was apparently a bit real in the 1920's.

Austinites will be glad to know the place is only about a 25 minute drive from our door, so do your math from there.

io9 article on Superman

I really didn't want to click the link on this story at io9 (Sigmund had also sent me the link. Thanks, Sig! And happy belated b-day!).

But I'll tell you why I liked the article.

A) This person seems to have actually read the Superman comics and have a working knowledge of Superman's history, which many writers seem to find surprisingly irrelevant when discussing The Man of Steel.

B) The author recognizes that as a fictional character with a lengthy history, Superman is not completely doomed to actually be whatever the latest incarnation appeared to be in feature films, on TV, etc...

C) He actually calls out these stewards of the property, more or less, on a lack of vision. (I'd go so far as to suggest that to live the life of a movie studio chairman, you're probably also so far from knowing what an honest to goodness decent person looks like anymore, the idea of Superman would seem quaint, alien and freakish.)

D) He points out how Batman worked with the culture at key particular points that may or may not have had much to do with the character himself (I'd argue that we didn't really see anything resembling what/ who I consider to be Batman on film until "Batman Begins", and that Nolan sealed it up with "Dark Knight". Also, Batpods are awesome.).

E) The author understands that there's a difference between a bad idea and bad execution. Superman III and IV (and these days its hip to say Superman returns was awful, but I'll still go to the mat for that movie compared to 75% of Marvel's output) were terrible movies who slipped into camp when the largely straight reading of Superman I was what made it a classic.


I love the character of Batman, so I find it ridonkulous that folks feel like they have to take up sides, like they're picking a sports franchise to back. There's room for all the big guns.

I haven't addressed the legal issues between the Siegels and Warner Bros., because, frankly, I don't understand much of any of it, and I'm sort of cheering for both sides to win. I'd love to see the Siegel and Shuster estates receive their due, but find a way to negotiate with WB, who truly have done an amazing job of keeping a pulp character alive in a completely unequaled way for 70+ years. (How many kids do you see wearing Doc Savage, Buck Rogers or The Shadow t-shirts on college campuses?).

The Adventure Begins...

twenty seconds before the guitar twanging started up and Randy had a whole mess of trouble on his tail

I have no idea what is happening here, but when JimD sends you a pic of the General Lee and Randy with a glint of danger in his eye, well... adventure is afoot, Leaguers.


it all started innocently enough with this young lady who is NOT Mrs. RHPT.


Do not worry. The guiding spirit of Willie is there to lead them through.

Green Lantern Movie

It sounds like the Green Lantern movie is sort of moving ahead.

Randy and I had exchanged some e-mails today as rumors were abounding that Justin Timberlake had screen-tested for the Green Lantern movie. Massacremike discusses here.

WB has not gone with the Mother Lover.

Instead, they've decided to go with Mr. Johannson himself, Ryan Reynolds. Marrying Scarlett Johannson, getting a role in Wolverine that could spin out into a franchise (Deadpool. FYI.), and now getting the role of Hal Jordan? 2009 is working out well for this dude.

Here's the article at Variety, which sort of makes it official. (Thanks for the article, Randy!)

Is Ryan Reynold's my first choice? No. Is he much better than what could have happened? Absolutely.

I do think an early-career Hal Jordan should NOT be an everyman. After all, he's a test pilot, is selected by the Guardians because of his willpower, is one of the few Lanterns to challenge the Guardians, and is generally considered to be a bit pushy and a loose cannon, by GL standards. And I think Reynolds can do that.

Now, the question is: Who will they cast as Sinestro, Abin Sur and others? And how many characters will be entirely CG? How do you portray Tomar-Re? (Please do not let them make Kilowog some moron in a rubber suit, a la Chiklis as the The Thing).

The script is supposed to be by a couple of TV and comic writers. if you've watched Elias Stone or have been reading Spider-Man lately, you've probably read Guggenheim's work.

Anyhow, its a wait and see game now, as per whether or not this thing will be any good. I'm not holding my breath.

Rollerderby flick, Wednesday Comics, Vaycay, Facebook Fans, Dance Show, Wolfman

Rollerderby on the Silver Screen

So League-Pal, Shauna C., has a movie scheduled to arrive in October. Shauna wrote the original novel "Derby Girl", and the screenplay for 'Whip It!". The cast on the movie is sort of amazing, with folks like Ellen Page and Marcia Gay Harden signed on.

I should also point out that my current favorite of the SNL cast, Kristen Wiig, plays a major role as Maggie Mayhem. Maggie Mayhem was, not coincidentally, Shauna's nom-de-derby when she wore her quad-skates. Alas, I think Shauna was pregnant when the movie was being shot, so don't expect to see her on skates in a cameo.


Story in USA Today.

Here's an article/ images at slashfilm about the feature.

I sincerely hope The Alamo has the foresight to team up with TXRD to make an event out of the film's Austin debut.

It all makes me miss AZRD's Surly Girlies.

Wednesday Comics

I was looking forward to DC's newest venture, Wednesday Comics, for quite some time. Not only did the comic not disappoint, but it surpassed my elevated expectations.

Generally I shudder at the idea of the art winding up as the focus of a comics from American superhero comics, as this tends to lead to temporary fan-favorite artists relating tedious stories while pouring their all into work that simply doesn't deserve it (see Image comics circa 1994 - ignoring The Maxx, which was actually sort of interesting).



Wednesday Comics managed to avoid becoming an exercise in artistic overindulgence. I'll attribute the success to a limited scope and story, told one page per week over 12 weeks, which tends to make one use the economy of haiku. Some pages were written and drawn by the same person, most were not. By and large, the writers were wise in their limited use of narration and dialog, and got out of the way so that art, page layout, etc... could tell the tale.

The format, by the way, is a full newspaper-sized page, printed on newsprint, suggesting that the comic in an oddly temporary thing. In a writer-driven environment that the superhero market has become, its great to see the craft of the comic page take over and be celebrated for itself. While I deeply enjoy the gestalt of something like Rucka/ Williams III on Detective, and would love to see Williams III get a chance to play in such a massive environment (I have the Promethea posters, but Jamie has not allocated space for them), there's something unique about this project that people will be discussing for a while.

There's an oversized "Little Nemo" book I've always wanted that collects Winsor McCay's sprawling, page wide cartooning, which was quite the deal about 80 years ago. That sort of cartooning has become a lost artform. Here's a sample at Google books.

As much as I love my pamphlet comics, its always fun when something new/old comes along/returns to shake things up.

If You're Going to San Francisco

you may just run into Jamie and myself, July 15-19. We're going out to visit The Doug and K. and get into an exciting car chase. So expect The League to go dark for a few days next week.

Also, if you have suggestion for activities (not just places to eat), let me know.

They tell me I am not allowed to saddle a sea lion and ride it around the bay. I say they just lack imagination and the right hat.

To prepare, I sort of want to watch Bullit and Vertigo. What's another San Fran/ Berkeley-based movie I should catch? (I just watched Milk, so that's kind of out...)

Be a Fan (at least on Facebook)!

So, I've updated the left menu bar of the site proper to include a Facebook badge that will alert you to some of our "fans" and make it easy to become a "fan" of LoM on Facebook.

If you haven't joined Facebook, well, get with the program. But if you are on Facebook, and haven't become a Facebook Fan, now is the time.

I've set up the Fan Page so you can set up your own discussions, load your own content, etc... You will also receive LoM messages via Facebook, be it a status update or a special Facebook update. You'd also get posts sent straight to facebook, so if you're already in there...

The Hard Sell on this is coming from my desire to secure a unique Facebook user name, which I can't do until I have 100 "fans". So why not go ahead and become a Fan?

So. You Think You Can Dance.

I always wonder what these gameshows would be like if anyone displayed legitimate cynicism. Not Simon Cowell's manufactured jerkiness and disregard for humanity, but sort of suggested that maybe the whole enterprise were a waste of time.

However, the fans of these programs follow them with religious fervor. Even if they can admit that "judge" Mary Murphy is a ridiculous, mindless air raid siren of a human being, they can forgive it in order to see the dancing happen.

It seems so obvious. How did we not put dancing on TV before?

While I'd never watch the show on my own (despite host Cat Deeley, who is a pretty good idea), at least the contestants are on their way to professional status. It's less likely that the votes will have an oddball result based upon things that won't translate well in the actual industry (see: Taylor Kicks and American Idol).

Anyhow, I've been watching this show again, like it or not, and so if you want to talk "So You Think You Can Dance?", I'm your huckleberry.

Wolfman

When the hell is that Benicio Del Toro Wolfman movie coming out? Isn't dumping it into November sort of a bad sign?

I had hopes, but Joe Johnston as director always sounded very iffy.