Football Friday

Just a few quick statements and links to stories I'm following during the NFL's neverending season of rumors and news.

 

Regardless of how the team plays this year, I'm confident that the Jets picked the right head coach from the options they had. I'll take Rex Ryan over some guy trying to do a Bill Belicheck impersonation without nearly the same resume.

 

Brett Favre lied to the Jets about retiring for good. No, I don't mean he changed his mind. I mean he was already working with the Vikings to become their new quarterback while he was still officially on the Jets roster. Tampering charges should be filed and might lead to the Jets getting a pick from the Vikings.

 

Michael Vick...sigh...the only player who has seen their off-season coverage rival and sometimes dwarf Favre's. Looks like he has so few potential suitors in the NFL that he might need to go play in the UFL for a season before making it back to the bigs.

 

ESPN has the player ratings for Madden 10. This link is for the top-rated by position, but searching the site can get you your whole favorite team's stats. I still lament the NFL lettin EA have an exclusive. The ESPN 2K NFL was a superior game.

 

There are so many other little things going on that I'm, also, following. As you can tell, I pretty much just go to the ESPN NFL Nation blogs for my updates. They have someone covering every division in the NFL daily, even during the off-season.

So, I Thought I'd Pass, But Then...

DC Comics announced a Red Tornado mini-series. Put me even more in the "because no one demanded it" crowd than most people have been on Magog.

 

I bought the Red Tornado mini-series back in the 80s, largely because he was a Super Powers action figure (if I recall correctly). I remember it looking real nice, but boring me to tears. Which is basically the way I've felt about every other sustained appearance by Red Tornado since.

 

No way I'd buy this one.

 

Then I saw that JG Jones has designed at least one of the new "android family" characters being introduced and, well, I'm probably buying it. Even if it looks like JG used MS Paint to add the cracks to Red Volcano.

 

Complaints About Comic Book Adaptations

Seeing some of the reaction to the Whiplash/Rourke pic elsewhere (not you, LangerLord), it has become clear to me that I'm more forgiving of a few changes made here and there than a large chunk of the comic book fan population. And that chunk? Clearly has lost touch with reality.

 

They can't understand why Hollywood can't leave things the way they were in the comic book. Why amalgamate villain A and villain B into one character? Couldn't they just spend more time making villain A a compelling character on their own rather than mushing it with villain B? Why couldn't they keep the costume?

 

Why combine two characters? Because it's quicker and easier, usually, in the cases where it's done. Movies don't always have enough time to completely build up a character the same way they were in the books. If merging two characters makes for a more appealing product for the masses, they're going to do it.

 

Little shortcuts like that have been used for decades with prose novels. Somehow, a majority of readers have been able to come to terms with it in that area.

 

Is it really a crime against comics if Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo are mixed together in this movie? Are you kidding me? In Spike Lee's X, at least three REAL PEOPLE were amalgamated into one character in the film. REAL LIFE, PEOPLE! Fictional characters deserve better? Give me a break.

 

As for costumes...have you really tried to picture what some of those costumes would actually look like on film? None of Whiplash's costumes would be a good thing to see on the big screen.

 

With everything else Favreau and company have gotten right with Iron Man (read: all the more important elements), you'd think the fanboy sharks wouldn't be circling in the water like this...

Iron Man 2: Mickey Rourke As Whiplash

Found on USA Today.

Speaking Of Hilarious

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Forgive me if you don't like Olbermann, but the repeated slow-mo of the Brett Michaels Exit Stage Epic Fail is the best version I could find.

You Got Served

Extra Value Combo Alpha by Lysol Jones
(hat tip to @cyborgturkey)

Summer Movies Thus Far

Lately, I haven't been able to get to preview screenings due to my schedule being filled at night these days. That doesn't mean I have failed to see the newest movies...just that I haven't felt the urge to blog about them right away since they'd only go up after they debut now. I have some time, so I thought I'd give my opinion on what I've seen.

X-Men: Origins: Wolverine

Stepping away from it as a comic fan, it wasn't a half-bad summer-popcorn-action flick. There are several things that have been changed from comic continuity, but you have to go in expecting that these days. Not because it NEEDS to be changed, but because Hollywood ALWAYS feels compelled to make changes. The movie has moments of comic relief and quite a bit of action. I was personally happy that they included Wolverine's being nearly immortal (as in he's been stuck in his 30s since at least WWI or WWII, from the looks of it). What we saw of Deadpool towards the end of the movie was a bastardization of the existing character, but 1) it's a summer-popcorn-action flick, not the latest issue of a Marvel comic and b) there are questions as to whether that's actually Deadpool. It's by no means a perfect movie, but it isn't the steaming pile that so many myopic comic readers have accused it of being.

Star Trek

Hands down, the best summer action movie at this point in the release schedule. The characters pull you right into the story and the action keeps you from breaking your attention away. I understand that there are a number of old school Trek fans that are livid about the reboot, despite the fact that it is treated as an alternate history. If you follow science regarding the possibilities of time travel, the most dominant theory is that any change in the past creates a fork in the river of time. The two branches go forward: one being history as we knew it and the other being the left turn we forced it to take. So the new can co-exist with the old.

Yikes, for wanting to really just address the quality of the movies, I sure am dealing with fanboy complaints too much.

UP

What a beautiful movie. I don't get the people that say this succeeds where WALL-E failed, because a) I saw no failure in that flick and 2) there's no reason to tear one down to praise the other. If you watch this movie and don't feel your eyes well up a time or two, you have no heart. It's a love story and not just of the romantic kind. See the movie and you'll get what I mean.

Land of the Lost

I wasn't some great fan of the TV show. I caught a few episodes as a kid and didn't find myself moved to change the channel away from it. So I went into this flick with far fewer expectations and demands than someone who spent many Saturdays glued to the set watching it. For what it's worth, I enjoyed the flick on a purely "Will Ferrell and Danny McBride riffing" level. It worked on East Bound & Down and it entertains here. While not being worthy of box office blockbuster numbers, it isn't a waste of the price of admission, either.

The Hangover

Hilarious. Deserving of the R rating and it's very successful weekend. Bradley "That Guy From Wedding Crashers" Cooper leads the cast, but Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis (I spelled that without looking it up) match him at every step. The cringe humor involving Zach's character really helped bring the funny. A few of the bigger laughs are actually in a credit sequence that the cast frames at the end of the flick. I'm going to give some thought to catching this a second time.

Angels & Demons

I wasn't a huge fan of DaVinci Code, but decided to give this a shot anyway. Less Audrey Tautou makes a film less good. In many ways, the plot was better and you felt more tension in their race to decode all of the clues, but it wound up being predictable at the same time. Ron Howard is a much better director than Dan Brown is a writer, it would appear...because it is clear his touches are what made either of the films enjoyable.

Terminator Salvation

While I felt the flick disappointed, dragging on in parts and found lacking in the tried & true chase formula of previous installments, I didn't feel any regret for spending my money on a ticket. It was enjoyable, despite not living up to expectations. I became a little more frustrated with it when I found that Christian Bale diva'd his way into screwing up the flick, though. But still...it's a good, not great, film that continues the Terminator mythos. It succeeds when the Terminator hybrid is on screen and flounders when he is not.

Night at the Museum II

I felt this suffered from being more of the same we encountered in the first flick. Whereas the original had the benefit of being a fresh idea, this one didn't really seem to get past being a retread. There's only so many big man jokes Owen Wilson can make about Ben Stiller before you hope he dies gasping for air under a mountain of sand. This is where it clearly embraces being a family film: kids can watch the same schtick over and over and over without necessarily getting bored.

Still hoping to get out to see Drag Me To Hell soon. I'll probably see the latest Potter, but there's nothing left this summer that I can really say I'm looking forward to.

How about you?

DC Comics: Blackest Night In August

I've been slacking on the blog, lately. I can't really blame it on work getting in the way, because I've done more blogging with a much more hectic schedule. Regardless, I'm planning on making this a daily thing again starting now.

With that out of the way, I'm...at work. Waiting for the project to get under way, I figured I'd compose an entry via e-mail. Stupid internet filters keeping me from Blogger. Images will follow the text entry and be corrected to go with each proper entry later this evening.

In August, DC is dominated by Blackest Night. This brings no complaints from me, as I've been looking forward to it for a long time. As we're discussing solicitations, you don't want to read further if you want to remain completely unspoiled. Nothing outside of what is in the solicitations will be stated.

Blackest Night: Superman #1

The Shane Davis cover is a striking image and a bit unexpected for me. Jonathan Kent isn't THIS Superman's dad, so I wouldn't necessarily expect that would be a target of his. The interiors are going to be by Eddy Barrows, which isn't everyone's favorite choice, but I think he'll exceed expectations. For all the grief I've given James Robinson for his writing since returning, I've been converted to a believer again. The World of Krypton stuff is reading very nicely. I'll give him a mulligan on that Atlas arc from this point on and try not to bring it up again.

Blackest Night: Titans #1

While I'm not thrilled with the proliferation of tie-in mini-series for this event, JT Krul has supposedly been consulting Geoff Johns on this (meaning it may avoid being a completely unnecessary riff) and has shown a lot of enthusiasm in his interviews. I would have to say I'm more concerned about Ed Benes on the book. His habit of posing characters for excessive T&A shots can be very distracting. I'm hoping he'll avoid doing that with a Black Lantern Terra.

Blackest Night: Batman #1

This mini screams of cash-in more than the other two, despite it being Peter Tomasi handling the scripts. I've been very impressed by his past work and he's obviously deep into the Blackest Night plans, having handled the run-up on the Green Lantern Corps series. But Deadman, "cries of the dead rising" and Black Lantern Flying Graysons, while possibly making for a good story, don't seem like they'll handle an intregal plot point for the event or move it forward in any noticeable way. I've yet to encounter any Adrian Saef artwork that I'm aware of, so that's a completely unknown quantity. I'd like to assume that putting him on a Blackest Night AND Batman book means he's a great talent...but I've been burned by that sort of thinking before. I'll still pick this up on the strength of Tomasi's previous work.

Blackest Night #2

Yeah...vague solicitation. Almost no point in having one: it has nothing to sell the issue in it and, honestly, doesn't need to anyway. At this time, retailers are aware this is going to be something big and their existing customers have already communicated in some way what their level of interest is in the book. The only thing that would necessitate a solicitation would be to express that some Spider-Man unmasking or Captain America catching a bullet with his chest level stuff is going to happen. Maybe if this was Marvel, it would have just read "Nuff Said!" and been done with it.

Green Lantern #45

While the idea of seeing the non-green factions go at each other (rather than this being driven completely by the Guardians' gang) piques my interest, zombie Sinestro Corps cannon fodder doesn't. I'm not complaining, because we've certainly known that not every Black Lantern was going to be a marquee character. Just saying it does nothing to amp my excitement to see the issue. Then again, with Geoff Johns & Doug Mahnke on it...I didn't really need to be amped further. The John Stewart/Katma Tui bit is worth looking forward to, assuming they can give it the space it needs to be effective.

Green Lantern Corps #39

In what may seem contradictory, I am excited by the idea of Green Lanterns being revived in Black to go at their former colleagues. The reason is this: we know and care about many of the living Lanterns and even a few of the dead ones. There's not nearly as much emotional weight to a fallen Sinestro Corps member fighting against a live one, since we don't know them or their relationships nearly as well. I know some of them have been given personalities as Mongul was establishing his control of the group, but that's still far from where we stand with the GLC and its diseased members. I think Tomasi and Gleason tend to do "all hell breaking loose" pretty well, on top of that.

I Miss The Old Days

Used to be that you might find out about some new release way before most people, because Amazon had it posted up in advance by months.

Now?

Is the Midnight Nation Oversized Hardcover collection new?

Has Walking Dead Vol. 10 already been announced?

People knew about the Black Lightning Year One collection having a street date already, right?

The softcover version of All Star Superman Vol 2 being released isn't exactly news.

Everyone knew that a Legion of Three Worlds hardcover would follow not long after the mini completed.

Only the schiesty seller trying to get a sucker to buy Powers Vol 13 for $999.99 doesn't seem to know it will be shipping at the end of the year. Sadly, this seems to prevent people from pre-ordering.

I miss the old days.