Comics

Rapid Fire #2

rapid-fire (rap′id fīr′)

adjective

done, delivered, proceeding, or carried on swiftly and sharply

startrek

Summer movie season has started, and right out of the gate we have a front runner for best movie of the summer. Its a really great story, with great characters (with a different twist from the characters we knew before), amazing acting and some special FX that are not only really well done, but they blend into the movie and are used to progress the story, instead of just showing off FX for the sake of showing FX. It reboots the franchise allowing for a fresh start (or an alternate universe, depending on how you choose to see it). If you only see one movie this summer, Star Trek is the one to see.  9 out of 10

terminator_salvation

The first disappointment of the summer came a couple of weeks later with Terminator: Salvation. Its not a bad movie per say, but its not great either. After having digested the movie a bit, I would place it on equal footing with T3. I was expecting more from this movie. More action, more war against the machines, more John Connor. Instead we got introduced to a new character and most of the movie revolved around him. I think that giving McG the reins on this movie was a bad decision. It wasn’t bad, but it could have been so much more, which is what’s the most disappointing. 6.5 out of 10

metallica-logoMetallica are coming back to Ottawa in October for their Death Magnetic tour. We haven’t seen Metallica in our fair city since 2004. Buying tickets for this show was a no-brainer. Didn’t get amazing seats, but they aren’t bad seats either. The show sold out in less than a day which suprised me. Now the countdown begins!

stp Stone Temple Pilots is one of those bands that have been on my ‘must see in concert’ for a while now. When the band broke up in 2003, I thought that I would never see this amazing band live and in person. I had to settle to seeing Velvet Revolver. Here we are now 6 years later, the band is not only back together, not only about to release a new album, but they are also playing Ottawa Blues Fest! There’s no way I was going to miss this concert. Getting first row tickets was almost beyond belief! I finally get to see STP live! I’m so psyched!

pittsburgh_penguinsdetroit_red_wings Who would have guessed that Detroit and Pittsburgh would meet again in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. I certainly didn’t, and was hoping not to see it happen again. Out of all the teams that made the playoffs, these 2 teams, along with the Montreal Canadiens, were the teams I really did not want to see in the finals. Can Detroit repeat another win this year? I think so. I don’t think that Pittsburgh still has what it takes to be Stanley Cup champions. I call Detroit Red Wings in 6, and Sid the Kid Crosby crying in the corner again this year.

old_television TV season is over, and here’s some thoughts on some shows and finales; Lost had a great season finale, sucks that we have to wait 8 months until the next and final season. Smallville’s season finale was probably the worst of the series. It was very meh. Survivor was good, finally a good guy winning the million again. Really sucks that My Name Is Earl got cancelled. Hopefully it will be picked up by another network. Also sucks that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles got cancelled. This show really delved into the characters of the Terminator universe. We got to see what made them tick. It was very much a psychological and cerebral show. It will be missed. Surprisingly, Dollhouse got picked up for next season. Rumours are that Summer Glau (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Firefly) will be joining the show. Fringe’s season finale was also really interesting. Fringe and Dollhouse are easily my 2 favorite new shows. I can’t wait to see where both shows will take us.

canon_eos_t1 After years of wanting to get a DSLR, and having learned most of what I could by using a point and shoot camera,  I finally got my hands on one. The new Canon T1i. This was my treat to myself for quitting smoking (4 months now), and I also had to drop my monthly comic book sub from approx 30 books a month to 5, but it was worth it. I’m absolutely in love with this camera, and I’m driving my wife and family crazy because I bring it everywhere I go.  I can already tell that I’ve improved my photography skills and technique and hope that the learning never stops and the skill keeps on getting better.

wedding-cake-lilac-lilies

Last but not least, today (May 31st) marks the one year anniversary of my and my wife’s wedding. I can’t believe we’ve been married for one year already. The time has gone very quickly. Here’s to many more years of happiness together. I love you sweetie.

Watchmen Worth the Wait!

watchmen_imax_poster

Watchmen. For many years uttering that single title sent shivers down comic readers’s backs. It is considered by many as being one of if not the best comic. I rate it in my top 5, along with Sandman, The Killing Joke, V for Vendetta and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. For years Hollywood and comic book fans alike stated that Watchmen could never be made into a movie. In steps Zack Snyder, the director of another comic based movie (300), takes the Watchmen story and gives us a movie that’s as worthy of praise as the book its based on.

One of the reasons that like 300, Watchmen really works is that it very seldomly deviates from the comic that its based on. Heck, the first 20-30 minutes of the movie is a scene for scene, dialogue for dialogue copy of the first few chapters of the book. This is the closest a movie has come for capturing not only the characters from a comic book, but the story and the atmosphere as well. As far as comic book to celluloid is concerned, Watchmen does it even better than The Dark Knight or 300. As expected, some subplots were removed due to time contraints (IE: Almost all the newspaper booth stuff, and most of the Janey Slater stuff was cut back). The ending itself is mostly different, but it still conveys the same theme, atmosphere, intentions and feelings as the book. I’m not quite sure why Snyder decided to deviate so much from the original story for the ending, but it does not make it bad in any way, shape or form.

[rant]A quick sidenote: If you’re a parent, Watchmen is not Spiderman or X-Men. This movie barely missed getting an NC-17 rating in the US. This is purely an adult movie in theme and execution. In ways its even darker than The Dark Knight. If the adult nature of the story isn’t enough to keep your younglings at home, also know that there’s very graphic violence, a graphic rape scene, nudity and sexual activity, with a tiny bit of swearing tossed in. If you can’t get a babysitter, don’t go see this movie with your brats in tow. I consider myself liberal, and I would still not suggest this movie to anyone under the age of 15-16. [rant off]

I won’t get into the story of Watchmen. If you’re never read it, head on over to Wikipedia and read a very good summary as to Watchmen is all about. Although the way the movie was made, you don’t really need to know anything about Watchmen in order to enjoy it. If you have read this masterpiece, then I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

I give Watchmen a 9 out of 10 9stars

2008 Stanley Cup Finals

Looks like I was way off in my conference finals predictions 🙂 I was extremely surprised to see both my picks go down 3 games to none, mount a brief comeback, but eventually falling to the Red Wings and the Penguins.

So what’s my prediction for the finals? I say Detroit Red Wings in 6. This is an older, more experienced team who has been to the finals not too long ago and won. I don’t believe the Pittsburgh Penguins team is mature enough or experienced enough to come out a winner in these Stanley Cup finals.

Since my predictions were so bad in the last round, don’t take this one to the bank 😛

Rock Band, Iron Man and Two Stoners

The moment I’ve been waiting for the last few months finally arrived this weekend. I finally managed to get my hands on Rock Band for the 360! I haven’t gotten to play much due to other things going on, but so far I absolutely love the game. This game allows me to do something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, which is to play the drums.

Playing drums is a curiosity that I’ve carried with me since my teenage years and I have yet to fulfill that dream. Growing up, my parents wanted nothing to do with bringing in some loud drums into the house. When I moved out, I lived in an apartment for 10 or so years, so having a drumset was out of the picture. Now that I have a house drums may be possible, but not now. So this game allows me to fulfill this dream a little bit.

I’ve also tried the vocal/mic portion of the game and its a real hoot. Trying to vocally hit the right notes can be a little troublesome sometimes, especially if you don’t know the song. Its still lotsa fun. I haven’t tried the guitar/bass yet, as I’ve played plenty of Guitar Hero III and I was busy tasting something new. I’m sure I’ll get around to trying them soon.

I give Rock Star 9 out of 10. 9stars

I managed to catch 2 movies at the theater in the last couple of weeks. It had been a while. I think the last movie I saw in theaters was Walk Hard over the Christmas break. Being an avid comic book reader, I was excited to see this movie. Though I’ve never read the Iron Man comic book, I did read some Avengers. Iron Man also has had tons of ‘cameo’ appearances in other comic books, so I was fully aware of his story.

This movie was pure fun! The story is fun and interesting without being over the top. Unlike previous Marvel movies, both the hero and the villain are ‘mere’ humans, not beings with super powers or mutants. Even though this is pure fantasy, it did bring the story to a more down to earth level. The acting in this flick was very very good, especially Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man. As much as his real life has been one disaster after another, this man can really act.

If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favour and catch this flick. Just make sure you stay until the final credits have scrolled by for a little easter egg (and hopefully a sneak peak of what’s to come next!).

I give Iron Man 9 out of 10. 9stars

Last night my fiancee and I finally managed to go see the second Harold and Kumar movie, Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay. This sequel, like most sequels, wasn’t as funny as the original. Like the original, the story revolves around these 2 stoners on a quest, walking into many situations which deter them from that quest. This time around, Harold and Kumar are trying to make their way to Amsterdam so that Harold can meet up with Maria, the girl we saw him confess his attraction to at the end of the first movie.

A funny situation on the plane derails those plans, as the main characters are labeled as terrorists and sent to Guantanamo Bay prison. They manage to escape and make their way back to the U.S., where they embark on another adventure to clear their names (and make their way to Amsterdam). Along the way Kumar hooks up with the love of his life, which in itself brings its own sub-story.

Though this movie has its funny moments, and you get to know more about the 2 stoners, its not as funny as the first movie. That would be a hard feat to accomplish, as the first movie was an instant classic and a breath of fresh air for comedies. This doesn’t mean the sequel is not funny, but its not as funny. The best bits in the movie revolve around Neil Patrick Harris who returns as himself, but drugged out and heterosexual.

Its still worth catching this flick if you can. Its been out for a while and may be out of distribution in some markets. If thats the case, do yourself a favour and rent this baby when it comes out on DVD.

I give Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay 6 out of 10. 6stars