Hodge and the Podge until morale improves.

1. Still on 50+ hours a week, so if I seem a bit fried sometimes; I'm a bit fried. That and it's perfectly seasonable winter weather out, as in cold as all get out. Or at least it was when I started this! Between all that and the pitch blackness, and the general state of everything, these don't feel like super fun times; yet this silly blog continues, because of course it does.

   

2. A couple weeks ago, Pamela Anderson was in the Criterion Closet, and I guess her picks were pretty legit? I'm not a serious enough film guy to say: I used to watch more artsy, "classic" films for a while; but I think I watched just enough to get the jokes and references I'd see elsewhere. But what hit me on watching that, was, why don't I have a Criterion Closet of my own? A. Because I rent this crummy house and don't have a spare closet or whatever, and B. Do I even own any Criterion discs? True, but putting that aside...(Actually, I have one: early John Woo, Last Hurrah for Chivalry.)

I don't think Criterion is real strong on horror or sci-fi, which is largely why I haven't invested in (m)any: RoboCop would have been one of the few I could've been tempted on, but I think a lot of the special features from that have turned up elsewhere later. Also, a quick web search claims the Criterion Closet has 1500 DVD/Blu-Rays in it; although that probably includes duplicates for people to take. But, out of the 40 most commonly picked movies from the Criterion Closet, I've seen three, maybe four. Would like to pick up some more David Lynch, but I lowball a lot of these, and take used, plain DVD's as needed. (Got Dune a week or two back for like a buck!) Geez, there was actually a sale since I started this post; I did just order Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr. (I haven't seen either in years! I'm pretty sure I saw them both in theater with the same batch of co-workers; drinking before, during, and after the films, trying to piece together what we just saw...) 

Anyway, I would like a set-up like that for my collection. Although, I wonder how I would arrange it? Reckon like most of you, I have a pile of discs that were either cheap as hell, or cheap enough they were worth buying to see; many of which I probably wouldn't watch again. (Or movies that were part of some bizarre deal, like buy this DVD, get a ticket to that movie.) That includes assorted low-end horror movies, but also stuff like Joker. Those would definitely go on the lower, filler shelves...I have a DVD rack full of DC animated movies, but that's about as organized as I get. (There were a couple stragglers on the bottom of that rack; like that Quartermass and the Pit DVD I couldn't find!) As I type this, I might do a little DVD shopping here in a bit: somebody posted a scene from The One, a movie I absolutely love. Jet Li vs. the multiverse, years before the latter was all over the damn place. Since my DVD's are spread across multiple racks...and a boxful somewhere...I dug around to see if I had it, and now I'm annoyed that I don't seem to. When I end up with two copies, this is why! Still, just something I've been gnawing on in my head. Digital and streaming is convenient, and there are a lot of movies I've seen there that I absolutely don't need to own, but you can't have faith in those services that they won't take movies away later. 

3. OK, real talk for a second: most of you have probably noticed, things in America aren't great. And while it sucks, there are things you can do: a simple one, is to contact your senators and your representative. Call them, email them, go down to their offices and boo them. (If they're on the right track, let them know too; but what are the odds of that?) Keep an ear out for protests in your area: if nothing else, it'll make you feel better to see other people that also see things aren't what they should be. That said, be careful out there: I went to one recently, and was safe as houses, because it was almost entirely middle-class and/or senior citizen white people. Depending on where you are, it might be less friendly; which also sucks but do what you can. Every little bit helps, I think, like chipping away at stone.

4. Hey, my Serpent Society got another member!...sort of. I really enjoyed Captain America: Brave New World, although not without quibbles: Giancarlo Esposito is a get, but his Sidewinder is just a gunsel, his "Serpent" is a mere militia, hardly a Society. That feels like a waste, especially since the Cap movies did that already with Batroc, sucking all the character out of him and just leaving an angry French thug. 

 

Still, I had been missing going to the movies, so the other day I went to the Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and Novocaine, and they were both fun. 

5. There is a candy store in the local mall, that I seemingly only visit when some candy I like is discontinued forever. First it was Atomic Fireballs, then those Super Mario Wonder Balls: ugh, we used to be a country that made things. Both of those still might be available, if you really dig and/or pay through the nose; but by and large have gone the way of Crystal Pepsi, or Big Lots. I don't know if anyone reading had the latter in their neck of the woods, and the selection really varied from time to time or by location, but over the years along with a lot of discontinued or semi-expired food I did get a fair number of figures and DVD's from Big Lots: a bunch of the old Masters of the Universe Classics, for instance, or those aforementioned DC animated movies or box sets. I know it's just another faceless, soulless corporate entity, but I don't like seeing something like that go under, because it feels more and more like there's only two stores to buy anything from, and one of them's Amazon. (I still get a few things from there, but I don't love it and could probably get less still.) 

I suspect more of you have an Ollies nearby, or a Five Below; for all your discount crap needs. Lucky!

6. Right this second, I have one of the Marvel Legends Nemesis Build-a-Figure wave: Fabian Cortez. "Yay, my Fabian Cortez figure came in!"...said no one, ever. I don't know why these seem to be a staggered release, instead of opening a box and the whole wave's right there: I'll probably have Marrow and Husk this week, and I've seen the latter and the Ultimate Wolverine at GameStop so far. For some reason...and I feel like you should drink every time I say that...the X-Factor Cyclops is late, like it won't show up until weeks after the others. 

I pre-ordered ROM and Spider-Man '77...in fact, I ordered two of each of them. "One to stay, and one to play," an old boss of mine would say. I have done virtually no serious planning on this, but I do have the half-assed notion of opening a shop in six or seven years. Which is a good excuse to horde--er, I mean, collect duplicates! 

The above picture, of my mini Micronauts collection, includes the new Super7 ReAction Biotron; who I thought I would be a good size to go with the little ones from...um...eBay? They were part of a Hasbro Comicon thing a few years back, which I think included a 3-and-3/4 inch ROM. And the below picture, um, I pretty much bought that Fortnite motorboat for one joke. No regrets!

 

7. Ooh, it might be bike weather next week! I'm hoping my tires are still good, but I'm probably going to be sticking close to home for a bit: I wrecked my foot a little last year, although oddly, now it's the other one that seems to hurt? Getting old blows. Go have fun now while you can! Read more!

Happy Halloween!

Four day weekend! I feel like I've done little all month except sleep and watch horror movies, although I'm momentarily pressed to say if I saw any good ones. Let's think for a moment. 

 The Series is on as I type this, but Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula are on Pluto now. I'm not sure either are very good, but they're distinctive. Udo Keir just gave a seeming 10-minute dying soliloquy...Pluto's Universal Monsters channel has alternated between its regular schedule, relatively recent horror movies, and long marathons of the Munsters. I did like Cry Wolf, in which some private-school brats make up lies about a murderer, that maybe lead to some murders. The Atticus Institute was a 70's-flavored faux-documentary about psychic research, then demonic possession: not a great one, nor well-reviewed, but it hit some marks for me. Oh, and I'd been wanting to see the Lair of the White Worm again, and Pluto delivered there, too! That's another that might not be for everyone, but it's striking, and hey, Peter Capaldi! 

Over on Shudder, I think most horror fans liked In a Violent Nature more than I did; but there's one kill in it that is spectacularly brutal. It felt ponderous to me, though; like a Friday the 13th with a swelled head about itself. Azrael was OK, didn't like MadS, you should have seen Audition already, didn't like Daddy's Head, I liked the WNUF Halloween Special better than the latest V/H/S but both have moments. Oddity is, well, odd, but likable. The Demon Disorder has John Noble, that's always worth a look. I didn't love All You Need is Death, but it was something new, and it set up a great joke on BlueSky's Simpsons Books. (They had a good one for Oddity as well!) Saw Eight Eyes and Hell Hole; okay. Humane wasn't bad...did I watch all of these this month? Well, maybe. #ChadGetsTheAxe feels like I've seen that same movie forty times on Shudder alone, but honestly watching influencers get hacked up is entertaining...(in horror movies, not really!) See also: Mean Spirited. Herd has zombies and rival militias; I'm not sure which annoyed me more. Backcountry suuuuuucked; bad choices, unlikable characters, you may have heard me cheering for a bear to eat a guy. Oh, but Dr. Caligari is a campy cult classic, that visually reminds me of Liquid Television, and I really liked Stopmotion because I thought it maybe had a good message: make a movie (or comic, or whatever!) you would want to see. And the Stone Tape, 70's BBC terror from Nigel Kneale. 

 Somehow, I watched a few more after typing all that! Eli Roth's the Green Inferno really, really liked Cannibal Holocaust, and I don't get the ending: the last survivor lies about the cannibal tribe, to implicate big-business encroaching on them, but why? Somebody's going to think "ooh, friendly natives!" later and they specifically weren't. I only caught part of Christina Ricci's the Gathering, but I saw enough that I would've been annoyed if I sat through the whole thing. I liked teen movie spoof/time-travel puzzler/slasher Detention much more: the horror aspect isn't as strong, but it's good fun, and seemingly had a massive budget for music licensing!  

Woof! I also watched some DVD's! I may or may not have finished the complete Night Gallery set by now. Hmm, maybe not, I was up to season two episode 9 now. I also watched my Hammer horror favorites, Quatermass and the Pit, Frankenstein Created Woman--I love the Peter Cushing Baron, an amoral steamroller for scientific advancement at any cost that usually ends each movie in a massive fiery explosion but is back at work the next installment--Dracula: Prince of Darkness, and the Shaw Brothers crossover Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which is kung fu fun.

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I will think of this, every time I go to the movies, for the rest of my life.

As is so often the case, Milk & Cheese are exactly right: we should've come together as a society when they first tried showing ads before movies and stopped it cold. I've never felt they were to somehow subsidize movie theaters; it's always felt like "yeah, what are you gonna do about it? In fact, have another ad for Ghost Pepper Mountain Dew or some goddamn thing." Also, support the writer's strike!

I don't think I see--or hear--babies at the movies as often anymore; but I've been a few times the last couple weeks. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 was really good; Evil Dead Rise was solid if not as funny as I'd like, and Shazam: Fury of the Gods was cheap-theater okay. Really waiting for Shin Kamen Rider May 31st!

From  1992, Milk & Cheese's Other Number One #1, written and drawn by Evan Dorkin. I just happened to have a copy handy; although I've had the trade forever. So should you!

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Completely unseasonal Hodge and the Podge.

1. I accidentally turned on my local news--in my defense, I thought a game was on--and learned traffic was clogged by people camping out and lining up for crappy chicken sandwiches that you could probably make at home and not support a homophobic chain. I know times are tough, and maybe I shouldn't begrudge people their fun, but...they don't deserve the support, and it's a massive waste of time. I think I may have to go literally anywhere else tomorrow.

2. Of course, I didn't even notice them putting in that restaurant I won't name when I was in that neighborhood at Target the other day; picking up the new Cyborg Spider-Man and Negative Zone Spider-Man! They're both pretty neat, although the Negative (Dog's Eye-View) Spidey is missing a key accessory: while he comes with multiple hands and a negative slice of pizza, he doesn't get the partially unmasked head to eat it! Cyborg gets a webline, but really needed a donut: in the issue where he gets the metallic cast, it's free donuts that convinces Spidey this is a good government agency.

3. I didn't do any Black Friday-type shopping this year; but I didn't really need to, since a lot of stores have spread it out over the course of the month. At Wal-Mart I was able to pick up a pile of movies on the cheap, and we once again see what I'm willing to pay cash money for if I didn't see it in the theatres. Starting with Joker, and...eh. I may be coming down hard on that one since I managed to avoid spoilers until the day I watched it, when some slackjawed incel posted the scene with De Niro as a reply and completely missed the point that the Joker was the bad guy. De Niro as much as calls him a crybaby drama queen, which admittedly seems to be how he's often portrayed nowadays. I liked Birds of Prey better, even though it's so much Harley Quinn's movie that it didn't really need the others. I would've preferred more of just random Gothamites coming after her to settle their grudges: they did not like her! Also, blowing up Axis Chemicals is a big statement, but probably would've poisoned the eastern seaboard...Along with those, I picked up the first season of Doom Patrol and Watchmen, the last couple Spider-Man movies, Doctor Sleep, a season and change of Doctor Who, Bumblebee...and yet, all I seem to watch is reruns of MST3K and Ultraman. Well, sooner or later.

4. I can't believe I hesitated picking up these guys: Boss Fight Studio's Sam and Max! Because they are smaller runs, they're a bit more expensive than a Marvel Legends, but they're nicely done and come with a satisfying amount of extras. Is it weird that they're sold separately? I simply can't see someone buying one and not the other.

5. Alex Ross has done a ton of Timeless variant portrait covers the last couple of months. The only one I intended to buy was the Nightcrawler one, which was on Excalibur #13, in the middle of the X of Swords event, and...man, that was not for me. Betsy, the former Psylocke and current Captain Britain, is jobbed out by the undefeatable...whoever. The other issues of that I've flipped through have been the Apocalypse Show, and no thanks. Still, I did pick up some other Ross covers, which got me the last couple issues of Avengers with Moon Knight and Khonshu vs. the team; a pretty solid Daredevil; and an okay Fantastic Four. That I picked up with the Thing cover; you would've had to buy the same issue four times to get the whole team! Scam. Othen than that, I got the recent Giant-Size X-Men: Tribute to Wein & Cockrum, with a ton of artists redrawing Giant-Size X-Men #1. Hmm, I got the Cockrum cover; I might have to scan that later.

5. Hopefully he's got it by now: I sent the Master of the Mystic Smarts, PTor, a Doctor Strange themed spinner rack! Let's put the template here:

These are usually a lot of fun to put together; this time with a ton of the good doctor's guest-spots.

6. Between COVID and the weather, I'm not sure if I'm going back to Montana this Christmas. That would kind of suck, but it might free my folks up from having to spend the next month up there. Ah, we'll see.

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The Hodge and the Podge and the barely contained rage:

1. Starting with three seconds of enjoying myself, which is about as much as you can hope for these days.

Jada Toys had these little "Nano Hollywood Rides," which are non-transforming and diecast; but roughly in scale with the World's Smallest Transformers. Very roughly, but you'll make do. With a little luck, you could maybe find both at Target right now!

I probably should've put a quarter or something in the picture for scale. The World's Smallest is smaller than the Dollar Store PVC's from earlier this year, and has three points of articulation.

I like wee little Transformers, although it'd be swell if they did more than Optimus and Bumblebee every time. Rarely get super deep down the roster...

There was a little blind-box Masters of the Universe mini-figure at Wal-Mart, and I got Jitsu I think? But I really wanted it for the container, a miniature Castle Greyskull! I thought it would be ballpark close to action figure scale, and I know there are World's Smallest MotU figures out there as well. Which makes me wish I'd picked up the Hot Wheels Wind Raider...which I did!

2. On Twitter, Dustin Davis posted a head's-up that GameStop had their Power Rangers in Space Psycho Blue Ranger on sale for $2.99 early Thursday; so I grabbed that for pickup.

I'm a casual Power Rangers fan, but for the price, yeah!

3. School starts soon for my Youngest, and I think they're doing a couple days in-school, couple days at-home. So you can get good and COVID'd up and then take it home...I don't know if it's a good idea, and he's going to a different school district as well now. I think he had been doing a good job, but thought a lot of the online learning portion thus far had been pointless; although honestly that maybe could apply to the rest of it. Otherwise, locally a lot of stuff is almost what's going to pass for normal right now: wear a mask, wash your hands, keep your distance. I sure as fun wouldn't chance going to a movie, though. It's up in the air as to whether I miss the movies themselves, or proper movie popcorn. I probably wouldn't have paid full price to see Tenet, though.

4. I'd better remember to get a flu shot this year; even if I'm finally tired of hitting Walgreens for figures.

Their website swears one store locally has Moon Knight. They specifically don't. Some folks are already finding the Silver Centurion Iron Man. I honestly don't really need the MK since I have the Mezco One:12, but I'd hate to break my streak.

5. I also mailed my Christmas cards last week! You know, while we still have a post office. I'm originally from Montana, and I have no idea why everyone in the state isn't throwing a goddamn fit: without the USPS, who's going to get letters or packages anywhere in-state? UPS and FedEx use the postal service a lot for the last leg of deliveries there; if they had to carry it the whole way themselves it's going to be a massive increase in price, or a hard 'nah' to delivering everywhere.

Has anyone's mail been slow? I may have had a couple eBay items take a day or two longer; and some items ordered from overseas are taking forever. The latter could be COVID related, I guess.

6. In case it's been unclear here: Black Lives Matter. Trump is a worthless, weak, petty grifter AT BEST, that's about the nicest thing I could say about him; he's also a lying sack of crap. The Republican party is garbage, willing to turn a blind eye to his crimes and covertly encourage racism in order to keep corporate interests happy. The post office is an incredibly important service, voting by mail is fine, and the police absolutely should be defunded. Cops are asked to do a lot of jobs and are almost across the board terrible at all of them: listen to any random true-crime podcast, and I can almost guarantee there's at least an episode about how the police botched the investigation, if not outright ignored it. Cops and cop bootlickers often say if you don't believe in cops, don't call them when you're in trouble; which isn't the threat they think it is, and oh, isn't how doing the job you're paid for works, but okay.

I saw something on Twitter recently--and, kind of wish I could find it for credit--that guns in video games or TV shows? Awesome. Guns in real life? Absolutely unnecessary; they should be as science-fiction as a lightsaber. I'm not quite 100% of that feeling for guns, but I may be 110% that for cops.

If any of that offends your delicate sensibilities, well, there's the door, spaceman. I don't have a lot of readers, but by this point it should be pretty obvious I don't care, I do this for me.

7. Back to our usual brand of nonsense, I did order the Haslabs Marvel Legends Sentinel! Which should show up sometime next year. Fear of missing out twisted my arm on that one; I was afraid I'd have an idea for a joke that needed one if I didn't. Like the Sentinel teabagging Wolverine or something, I don't know. I guess I've got a year to see if anything occurs to me.

8. Partly the way I've set up my stupid house, and partly out of depression/inertia, I have not watched much of anything besides Star Trek reruns for...honestly, decades, but more so lately. Like I don't have the energy to pick something out, start it, pay a bit of attention to it; but Trek can just run like background noise for hours. I did finish watching the few new shows I followed: Stargirl, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Bulletproof. Feels like it might be a hundred years before any scripted TV comes back? That's probably not right; and I could probably cough up for CBS All Access for still more Trek, but not yet.

I did just pick up the John Wick movies on DVD, I hadn't seen any of them. Soon, maybe. And I found a good double fistful of crappy horror movies from the Dollar Store, just in time for Halloween! A couple were Wal-Mart overstock with fancy covers, Child's Play and Killer Clowns from Outer Space. Both of which, I'm now not positive I've ever watched all the way through? Well, I guess I can now.

9. Ooh, right, comics. Well, Humble Bundle has had a bunch lately; there's a Dredd/2000 AD one and a Hasbro/IDW crossover bundle still going as of now. You could get that whole Rom and the Micronauts mini-series for like a buck, with some others! Nothing wrong with that.

I think I mentioned getting a couple of X-Men: Empyre (no cover there on the GCD; even though I like Kyle Hotz somebody else can post the damn thing, Wolverine isn't even in this damn issue) and not liking it much. 31 story pages, a recap page, two-page title card, closing page for the next batch of X-books, for $4.99. The latter four pages always feel like a waste to me. Nightcrawler shows up, briefly, for the last two issues; even if he doesn't have a helluva lot to do: large chunks of the last issue are Dr. Strange being a bit of a dick to set a ticking clock for the rest of the story, and a new character who may or may not ever show up anywhere again. There is one pretty solid bit with Magik that I can't spoil; though I'm still not sure when everyone decided she was the X-girl. I swear she's gotten more page time and covers than, say, Storm or Rogue? (Story by Jonathan Hickman, pencils by Jorge Molina and Lucas Werneck, inks by Adriano Di Benedetto and Werneck.)

Savage Avengers had an Empyre tie-in issue as well; that worked about as well as any of the others I've read: not especially? I think it threw away a perfectly good opening, too: catching a fight in Mexico City, Conan badmouths wrestling as fake, and starts a brawl. That could've maybe carried an issue by itself, but aliens invade, and Venom shows up to help Conan fight them off. Okay. But the premise of Empyre is that the Cotati, the plant aliens, are such a threat to everything the Kree and the Skrulls have put aside millennia of war to team-up against them. And the Cotati are suddenly bad now; this issue they seem pretty enthusiastic about mulching the entire population of Mexico City. That's more than a bit of a reversal, they were always peaceful plant guys before; but honestly it just feels like an excuse to have bad guys the heroes can mow into compost en masse. Not unlike the X-Men issue, there's at least one joke that lands, as Venom tosses Conan a weapon, but...well, the regular Savage Avengers title hasn't really been what I wanted either, so...By the way, I wouldn't expect the writer or editor to have read every Conan appearance, and his continuity is shifting sand anyway; but back in Savage Sword #146 there was an extended storyline with Conan as a gladiator, in largely staged fights! So I felt like Conan might not have been as openly disparaging of wrasslin', but that's super nitpicky and just 'cause I read that Savage Sword again pretty recently.

The last issue of the Question was late as I write this; I need to read the first three again or maybe the lot at once. (And I did!) Other than that, I'd largely checked out on DC: Death Metal, Three Jokers, Bendis's stuff; if I find it for a dollar a pop sometime next year obviously I'll read it, otherwise life goes on. I will say McFarlane seems to be doing an admirable job of getting figures out based on recent-ish books; even if I haven't the slightest bit of interest in them. That and the scale: I think I saw the movie Wonder Woman the other day, but she would tower over most everything else.

10. Man, I wrote all this before the news broke about Chadwick Boseman. He did so much, while fighting cancer. Anything you want to do, make it happen while you can. Even if it's just for you.

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Bought a figure, made a poster...haven't seen the movie yet.

I had to make a Jaeger poster for my ancestral homeland, on the Pacific Rim Jaeger Designer: look, if Kaiju make it from the ocean, to Montana, you may as well just let me pilot a damn robot, I'm the least of your worries. I do like how there were poster options besides ocean or wrecked cityscapes--there's more wrecked buildings on the posters than there are buildings in Montana--and this one has trees and snow, just like home! It is, of course, snowing even now in Big Sky country...Check out Fourth String Jaegers for far more fun lesser giant robots.

I also bought one of NECA's Crimson Typhoon figures, because it's neat, and because it and the other robot--Gipsy Danger?--appear to be sold out now in my neck of the woods. And yet, since I've been running behind all week, I probably won't get to see the actual movie for another two weeks; which makes me feel like I've let down the side and now Pacific Rim won't get a sequel or more figures or a breakfast cereal or anything. Disappointing.

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"The Junkie that Outdid Superman!" Sounds like a Silver Age title, huh?

(Some minor spoilers ahead for Man of Steel, Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man 3...and another movie I don't want to mention yet.)

So I went and saw Man of Steel on Father's Day. I was in a pretty good mood, which may have affected the results, since I pretty much enjoyed it. Oh, there are a couple of moments of Superman=Christ imagery I thought were beyond heavy-handed, and I do remember thinking this was a pretty big body count for a Superman movie, but I still came out feeling positive. Popular opinion, however, seems somewhat split. To put it mildly; and you could just as easily argue what opinion isn't split in America these days, but that's another story. Both Mark Waid and Chris Sims were somewhat less than thrilled with it. There may be something to the idea that this was a Superman movie for people who don't read comics or have a more than passing familiarity with the character; and that the more concrete your idea of Superman, the less you would enjoy this version.

NPR's review of Man of Steel mentions a scene I hadn't thought about at the time: "You can save [them]," Jor-El (Russell Crowe) assures Superman (Henry Cavill) at a key juncture; "you can save them all." Um...Jor-El may have been speaking metaphorically there, since Superman emphatically doesn't save everyone. (And that scene isn't really with Jor-El, but sort of a program/ghost of him, but we won't split any more hairs on that point!)

But a rising body count, much as I feel it's a little out of place in a Superman movie, is almost to be expected in a summer blockbuster today. So far this year I've seen Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, and now Man of Steel; all of which feature the bad guys killing hundreds, if not thousands, before the heroes finally stop them. We don't see all or even most of those deaths onscreen or know most of these faceless victims--it's tough for even a Red Shirt to get a death scene anymore--but the scale and spectacle of the destruction implies a huge death toll (and dramatically raised stakes.) Of course, this isn't a recent development: there were probably four-figure casualties or more in the previous Star Trek, Avengers, or the DC movies Green Lantern or the Dark Knight Rises. It used to be, the hero had to stop the villain, before people died. Now that's the part that doesn't seem realistic enough for a superhero or sci-fi movie anymore; civilian deaths are accepted as a matter of course. Sure, the heroes manage to stop whatever the armageddon du jour is from destroying everything, but not without immense losses.

Which brings up another film I saw recently: the recent remake of The Evil Dead. Like a lot of movies I watch, I had to file it under "Enjoyable, not very good." Fun as all get out while you watch it, if critically you could poke so many holes in it. And that was rather an odd duck of a movie to start with. It's not a straight remake of the Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell classic, and there isn't an Ash character; but there are ever so many callbacks, references, and homages to the earlier films. There's also more horror cliches in the new version: a character dumb enough to read the big evil Necronomicon, characters left alone or unattended for seemingly ever so bad things can happen to them, the characters possessed by the Deadites don't talk as much smack as they used to and more just lurch and jerk about like common infected zombies, and somewhat unnecessary Chekhov's gun weapon placement: it's an Evil Dead film, we know there's gonna be a chainsaw sometime...

There's also a gem of an idea, that's in the wrong place: the five friends are out at the secluded cabin in the woods, so one of them, Mia, can go through heroin withdrawal. At first, it's set up like maybe she's not really seeing the Deadites; they're just a junkie's hallucinations, and maybe Mia is really the killer. That's a great hook...that doesn't belong in this movie at all. We know the title, we know the Necronomicon, we know the story, we know she's not crazy. But here's the thing: after a couple fake-outs, Mia ends up the final girl, up against a final Deadite. And this one's for all the marbles: if she loses, not only will she die and her soul be eaten, but it would probably open a gateway for the Deadites to swarm and destroy earth. Mia digs deep, doing things most people would not be capable of, and saves herself...and humanity, while also in passing seeming to kick the junk quite handily. The Evil Dead is a different genre of movie than Man of Steel, with different rules and values--it's low(er)-budget and filled with buckets of blood--but only five characters die, four of whom we know the names of. Hundreds, if not thousands, that we never see or meet, are killed in the disasters of Man of Steel or Star Trek Into Darkness, among other films. And a junkie, not a superhero or starship captain, managed to stop the bad guys before they killed more.

Of course, that's not a fair comparison, especially since the writers and producers of Evil Dead might have had the Deadites slaughter the entire population of, say, Michigan, if the budget had allowed for it; but it's what occurred to me after seeing both films the same week...



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A surprisingly salient recap, from an unusual place:

Man, I really want to go see the Evil Dead remake. And my girlfriend, well, not so much. Still might go today...

Today's pages recap both Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness (which I saw in the theater it's last week of release...over twenty years ago!) but comes from a somewhat unexpected place: the second issue of IDW's Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness crossover. Wow, 19 covers for 6 issues. What happens the first issue? I'm not a hundred percent sure, but this month Ash is not in a good place, as everyone he sees appears to be a Deadite. Which leads to him accidentally punching his girlfriend, flashing a girl scout troop, and beating up a good number of possibly innocent bystanders. (He sees everyone as Deadites, but it isn't clear if they attack him or anything...) Ash knows someone must have messed with that stupid Necronomicon again, but ends up tased down by the cops.

Meanwhile, the girls of Danger Girl, in various sexy outfits, have the Necronomicon; then see news footage of Ash's booking. They recognize him from the Necronomicon, but wrongly assume he couldn't be the same guy; perhaps a descendant, whom they might have to break out of jail...

I got this issue for under a buck, so I'm not sure where it went from there, but the recap was all right. Danger Girl and the Army of Darkness #2, written by Andy Hartnell, art by Chris Bolson.

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Spoiling a 2011 DVD adapting a 1985 comic that you've read already:

So, I got Green Lantern: Emerald Knights from the pawn shop, probably a month or two ago, and finally watched it the other day. It wasn't bad: I wouldn't drop twenty bucks on it, but for two bucks? Why not?

There's a somewhat expanded adaptation of the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons story "Mogo Doesn't Socialize," although Moore doesn't let his name be listed in the credits. It's not super: there's a somewhat unnecessary prologue with Bolphunga the Unrelenting, then his silly and unhelpful probes that he uses in his search. And in the end, Mogo's Green Lantern logo isn't part of the greenery and topography, but a shiny lantern construct. It even appears that Mogo kills Bolphunga, rather than sending him running home to his mama. Weak.

But it occurred to me, Hal tells this story to Arisia, so maybe that's how he heard it. Or maybe Hal can't tell a joke...

I also watched Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which I got for four bucks on BluRay. Eh...it's okay, yeah. Not my favorite storyline to begin with. Although, Under the Red Hood wasn't necessarily a favorite either, and I liked that DVD. Off the top of my head, as far as DC's direct-to-video features go, I think Crisis on Two Earths has been my favorite; but I should get them all together. At the very least, it'd help me keep track of which ones I have...
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OK, this week's comics. And junk.

This has been a not-especially-wonderful week or so, but I did pick up a few things recently. First up, from the Batman: Power Attack line, Mutant Assault Batman and Dual Destruction Two-Face. Not bad, reasonably priced, great packaging art, slightly goofy. The Two-Face is for me like the above Robin, a bit of a place-holder: he's got the job until someone better comes along. And Battlegrip pretty much sold me on the red Batman with slightly oversized Man-Bat parts, but I love the name "Mutant Assault." Which reminds me...

This week also had a small but OK crop of comics: the aforementioned Uncanny X-Force #29. I think that storyline's got another two, three issues at least, too. There was also Daredevil Annual #1, featuring the ClanDestine, Dr. Strange, and Alan Davis. A quick glance found a couple reviews saying the annual didn't measure up to Mark Waid's current run, but I don't think anyone could say an unkind word about that art. And I've read the ClanDestine before, so I didn't mind seeing them again, either.

Butcher Baker #8 finally came out as well, more than a bit late, but I was more surprised that it was apparently the end of the series. Maybe it was always intended to be (I hate when a series claims to be a limited midway through) but it felt a little sudden. Then, writer Joe Casey and artist Mike Huddleston may have hurt each other's feelings a bit--Casey may have blamed Huddleston a bit for the delay, but Huddleston said he wasn't making enough money and had to do some paying work first. Butcher Baker definitely wasn't a series for everyone, but I was enjoying it and will be sorry to not get more. Oddly, in the backmatter, Casey quotes a line from Blade Runner: "The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long." I misremembered, but I thought this was the response...

...and wondered if Butcher Baker might not feel the same way.

Also picked up a small pile of DVD's...apparently, I won't spend more than three bucks on a DVD lately. I enjoyed the animated All-Star Superman (three bucks at Wal-Mart, if you're lucky) even though I'm not a huge Supes fan. I haven't had a moment to watch DC Superheroes: The Filmation Adventures yet; I think those cartoons are older than even me. The Fantastic Four animated series was from a few years ago, and I remember it as being OK, maybe not amazing. We'll see later. I did watch a Star Trek DVD the other day ("A Taste of Armageddon" and "Space Seed") but if I keep buying the original series on random DVD's, it's going to take me a billion years. But I did find a movie I had just been telling my brother-in-law was "not super-original, or great; but totally watchable." Doomsday:


And then a couple more: Hellboy Junior might not be canon (save for a few panels of HB wondering "What the #### was that?") but it was one of the few Hellboy books I hadn't read. Not for the easily offended, but that just means it's fun. And I picked up that Batman digest for three bucks, but was mildly disappointed since I've read "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" and "The Cry of the Night is Kill!" before.

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No one asked, but about the Dark Knight Rises:

Ooh, spoilers. Obscure points ahead!

Short answer? I really liked it, both by itself but especially as part of a trilogy. But I'm looking forward to more Batman...in a different way.

I don't know how it would be coming in cold, but Nolan's Dark Knight Rises isn't just a great conclusion to his Batman trilogy, the way various plot points and moments come together make it more cohesive than any other movie trilogy I could name. Catwoman and Bane were both great: just about everything that was wrong with them in their other movies, Nolan gets right. (There's another villain briefly in late, that's also great.) While some plot points were a bit telegraphed, there were others that were genuinely surprising to me, even though I went well out of my way to avoid spoilers. Still, a couple of thoughts:

It bothered me that Batman's career was really short: I thought he may have seen a little action after the Dark Knight, but how did he wreck his knee? Running from the cops? Every so often in the comics, Batman and the police force's working relationship goes south, but the motorcycle chase scene really underlined what a pain in the ass it would be to work like that.

The Dent Act seems like something Batman would not be OK with, either. I misheard it and thought it was a thousand mobsters locked up without due process; when I think it was probably "just" without parole; but it was based on a lie, and to me it seems pretty likely that out of that thousand, there has to be someone who doesn't deserve eight years in the joint: I don't think Batman would stand for one innocent person suffering to keep a thousand criminals locked up. Gordon might compromise and choke that one down, but it would hurt.

While it sets up a later point, I didn't like Alfred and Bruce's last conversation. I just can't see either one of them not forgiving the other, for anything; although I figure Alfred had to be taken off the board there.

Weird, it's President Henry Hayes! Guess we know what universe this is the Batman of...

I don't know if this point was made clear, or if I missed it, but the fusion clean-energy project was heavily invested in by Wayne Industries, but was proposed by Miranda Tate. An important distinction, since without that point it really makes Wayne's attempts to improve the world colossal failures across the board. (Let's keep all these weapons safe in our basement...) Did you trust Miranda, at all? I think I knew going in that she wasn't what she seemed, although she did surprise me once or twice.

I didn't have a problem with the character of Blake, but...and big spoiler here: in the end, when Bruce leaves him the cave, did you think, "so what?" Can Blake become a Batman, or another symbol, without that fat Wayne bank backing him up? I suppose there may be some remnants of Tumblers and other gear floating around for him to scavenge--and I was momentarily hoping one of those destroyed Tumblers would spit out a Batpod, too.

But, and keep in mind I really enjoyed all three movies, Nolan's more real-world take on the Batman isn't necessarily the Batman you might have in your head, is it? Personally, my Batman is agile--less Frank Miller, more Marshall Rogers or Alan Davis or Jim Aparo or Norm Breyfogle. Next Batman movie--and we all know it's coming, which I'm fine with--I want a Batman that can move, that isn't armored up to the point that he can't turn his neck. Picture Batman, in the cave, cowl off, training with parallel bars: that shows a level of strength, balance and coordination that I don't think a live-action Batman has brought to play yet.

If I was writing or directing the next Batman--and yeah, no one's asking!--I would keep it away from anything Nolan's done. No origin, everyone knows it. No training montage. Show Bats doing some detective work, for god's sake. Open with a youngish Batman, in his prime, against a super-powered foe or two: someone visually impressive, but not deep enough to build a whole movie around; just to show Batman as someone who has trained and equipped himself to be more than a match for anything. Maybe Blockbuster or Amygdala...


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The Hodge and the Podge:

A small pile of recent stuff, most of which I haven't had a chance to so much as glance at.

First, Hasbro's second wave of the returned Marvel Legends new Captain America, or Bucky-Cap as I call him. I know I've read a fair amount of comics with him, but I feel vague on the details off the top of my head. With Steve Rogers supposedly dead (but actually launched through time or something...) Bucky Barnes took the mantle of Captain America, and did a pretty good job of it even though it was pretty obvious this wasn't supposed to be a permanent change. But the changeback seemed to come right when a lot of readers were really warming to Bucky...

As a figure, Bucky-Cap is pretty good, but the shoulders' forward articulation seemed just a hair short. Maybe? Maybe I just need to play with him some more and see if I warm to him a bit more. We'll see him again before long, so don't worry. I'm a little worried that the recent Steve Rogers figure seems even more huge now--I had my old ML1 Captain America with him, and he's way taller--and that the upcoming USAgent would have to be even bigger to look right, causing more scale creep. Ah, I don't think that'll bug me for too long.

Also recently, picked up some cheap DVD's, that I have yet to even attempt watching. DC's animated Wonder Woman and Batman: Under the Red Hood. The latter on Blu-Ray, only like the third one I've bought since winning a Blu-Ray player like a year and change ago. And a replacement copy of the Simpsons Movie, which my Youngest stole and is not giving back; and a twenty-five cent spare of Bruce Campbell's Man with the Screaming Brain. Yeah, I already have it, but it was a quarter, and I wasn't about to leave it...

Then, some trades, all under four bucks a piece: hardcovers of Incredible Hercules: Love and War and War Machine: Iron Heart; and paperbacks the Zombie: Simon Garth, Hellstorm: Son of Satan--Equinox, Excalibur Classic Cross-Time Caper volume 2 (that one I actually had the issues of). And I got Robert Kirkman's Destroyer a week or two back: it was OK. Good grief, I think I've forgotten a couple, and I know I passed on a Terror, Inc. one that I probably could pick up later.

Well, it's never a bad idea to stock up, I suppose. And I have a long weekend coming up, so maybe I'll get through some of them.
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Good grief. I have 80-Page Thursday posts written for January, I've started links and pictures for the sixth annual year in toys, and I've even got one done for next year's Retro Toy Week; so why isn't Friday's post done?

Because I've been sitting about watching zombie movies is not an acceptable answer...I watched George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead the other day, even though I hated about every character in it fifteen minutes in: while it has it's moments, there is a lot of handling of the idiot ball. That, and the ostensible lead, a National Guard Sargent (formerly a Colonel) who deserts, was previously seen in Diary of the Dead, robbing the students from the prior movie, at gunpoint. That scene is shown as a flashback early in Survival, and made me want to punch him in the face for the next hour and a half. I don't remember Diary of the Dead as being great either, but I did pick up the original Dawn of the Dead at a pawn shop the other week. I want to sit down and watch it, but I get tired of zombie movies ongoing message that zombies are bad, but people will kill you. (The entire Aliens series likewise beats you over the head with that one.) It's probably true, but still.

Really need to sort out that pile of DVD's I haven't watched yet...a running joke with my Oldest is the Incredible Hulk DVD: we saw it at the cheap theatre, but went late, and he managed to fall asleep during the final Hulk/Abomination fight. I bought the DVD new, and we still haven't opened it. I didn't think it was too bad, and watched it a bit back on FX. Might miss Norton in Avengers, even.

For a couple days there, I was exceedingly worried about the #Occupy Wall Street protesters. While it would be nice if they had a clear idea of what they wanted to accomplish (although, the fear is that their concerns would be broken down into easily digestible/ignorable talking points) I think they're doing a good thing. For example, if this country cared enough to punish bankers and financiers that exploit or abuse the system; to the same extent that, say, drug offenders are prosecuted...throw a few Wall Streeters into a federal lockup for their crimes, and I think you'll find their associates hold to the straight-and-narrow a little more firmly.

No, my worry was that it could take a determined 1% type about twenty minutes and maybe, I don't know, a hundred thousand dollars to crush #OWS. Step 1: Get a disguise. Step 2: Gather up three or four garbage bags full of one-dollar bills. It's a one-time expenditure, and what, you want to pay that money as taxes? Step 3: In disguise, take said money to the roof or convenient window, and start dumping it on the crowd of Occupy protesters. Playing Prince's "Trust" at this point is completely optional, but I'd strongly recommend it. Step 4: Get out of there, removing your disguise when you're out of sight. Don't sit around watching the riots you've just started; you can watch them at home, on Fox News, over and over and over. Even if 1% of the crowd goes crazy for the cash, the entire Occupy movement will be lambasted as greedy, violent savages that just want a handout; even though you would get much the same results dumping money at a NFL game or a girl scout meeting. I can't decide if this is an irrational fear...or wishful thinking, 'cause that would be kinda cool.

In other news, it feels like winter is already starting, and I'm already lamenting the lack of exercise I'm about to get for the next couple months; since left to my own devices I'll wrap up in the blankets and try to hibernate. On the upside, my cholesterol should be in the negative numbers by now, since I've eaten box after box of Chocolate Cheerios. How many Spongebob toys did we get for the Youngest? Um...


The promo appears to be over, but if I happen to see a box with Squarepants on it, I'll be compelled to buy it, since out of eight possible figures, we only got five or six. (Luckily, the Youngest doesn't really care about that.) I'm sure somewhere, someone's pulling out their hair about not getting a baseball Spongebob; and I have a spare one on my desk at work.

I did have a spare few minutes to re-read a recent purchase, The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics. For an anthology, it comes in with a pretty solid hit/miss percentage, although I was slightly disappointed since I already had Scott Hampton's adaptation of Robert E. Howard's Pigeons from Hell. It's quite good, though. Well worth picking up, especially if you can find it for $3.49! (Try Hastings.) It's not quite big enough to use to bludgeon a zombie, but it's close.
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Six random line items!

Ah, I haven't done one of these since January! And I'm just as prepared now as I was last time!...yeah.

1. Story problem! The K-Mart by my house is closing next month, and is slooooowly having a clearance sale. Last I checked, there was one variant Negative Man DCUC...and four Cheetahs. The old Cheetah. So, how far can I let the clearance sale go, and still get one? I'm betting I can wait until she's under five bucks, easy. We'll see!

This year, I bought Kyle Rayner and Catman from K-Mart, so I will be sorry to see this location go. Yet another less place to buy figures locally...

2. So far this year, I have not been interested in a single new TV show. I'm looking forward to the new season of Fringe, and that's about it for TV. (OK, except for Fox's animation block, which varies wildly, sometimes episode to episode.) (And I hate Bob's Burgers, and Family Guy has not been solid lately.)

Futurama and Deadliest Warrior just wrapped their seasons, and I know there's only a few episodes of Dr. Who left...for some time. (Man, I got spoiled watching Dr. Who on PBS as a kid, since I swear they were running a ton of episodes daily...) I think Top Gear is in the same boat, where a "new season" is code for "four episodes." Lazy BBC sods...I am looking forward to the new season of The Walking Dead, and wish I had time to watch Breaking Bad from the start.

I'm making it sound like gee, I'm not going to watch any TV, which would be a goddamn lie. I will doubtless watch more and more football as the weather gets worse, and I remembered Idris Elba's Luther will be back next week. Although, that's another BBC one that is probably only like six episodes. There are pros to that, I suppose: less filler in a shorter season, and I'd be more apt to watch something like, say, Revenge if I knew she'd either get revenge or not in six episodes, not six seasons...

3. Finished Ralph Steadman's The Joke's Over this afternoon, so I needed something to read without starting a new novel yet. And, in a recent search, I found I had almost a full 18 issue run of Chris Claremont and Sean Chen's X-Men: the End. Spoiler: how much you are going to enjoy this series is really going to depend on how much you enjoyed Claremont's entire tenure on the X-Men. And not just his first run, and not just Uncanny either. There's stuff from X-Treme X-Men, among other books. (To Claremont's credit, one of the big bads is Cassandra Nova, a Morrison/Quitely creation.) Another spoiler: it's not great.

For example, and we all know I'm a Nightcrawler fan rather than an X-Men fan; in this future Kurt Wagner is a retired X-Man turned action-movie star. Apparently, successfully: we don't see this scene, but it's mentioned Kurt was transported off-world from the set of Letterman. It's an interesting notion, and one I prefer to priest Kurt; but elsewhere in the book, the grown-up Katherine Pryde is running for mayor of Chicago against a rabidly anti-mutant opposition. Maybe that's not too far off, since I suppose any minority group is going to have an easier time breaking into entertainment (but not necessarily an easy time) than into politics; but the anti-mutant sentiment seems just as kneejerk and violent as it always did. That's probably not the oddest thing in that series, but there you go.

4. I've mentioned before that my Youngest son is a big Spongebob Squarepants fan. So, when I saw Spongebob prizes in boxes of Chocolate Cheerios, I started eating those; since he's on a casein/gluten free diet and can't get them himself. Then I got some on sale...and now there's like two unopened boxes on my desk at work, and maybe four more in my kitchen. I'm stocked up for a while. Maybe. I thought about taking a day of just eating those, since I don't think that would be a lot of calories, but would probably be a quick way to get sick of eating them.

Which reminded me of a time, years ago, when I was going to leave town for a week and had about half a gallon of milk left in my fridge. I didn't want to waste it, so I tried drinking it all that evening. Have you heard of the dairy challenge? Well, I hadn't at the time...

5. Transformers 3 and Super 8 are playing at the local cheap theatre this week, and I'm debating checking them out. I'm kind of interested, but aren't they both like two and a half hours? (I'm aware I could look that up, but...eh.) I was really tired when I saw that listing, and had a hard time getting excited for either. We'll see.

6. And I haven't been the comic shop this week, either: the new B.P.R.D. was all I planned on getting. Although, I hear Batman #1 is pretty good and Catwoman #1 is a crime against god and man. Well, maybe. (I was going to put in a link to Bleeding Cool there, but apparently was asleep at the wheel. Find it yourself!) The dynamic of the Batman/Catwoman relationship, if that's the word, has always been an odd one, but lately...hmm.
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Should be working on a post, but...

Busy watching Crank: High Voltage. Why didn't anyone tell me it was awesome? I've had it in a pile of DVD's for months now. And why isn't there a Chev Chelios action figure? Read more!

All sorts of things for Friday!

All after the break, since we're starting with a spoiler from Hellboy: the Storm #3, which you damn well should've bought by now, that I called over two years ago! Really! Maybe.

Seriously, there is no good reason for you to not be reading the Hellboy books now. Well, unless you're a filthy trade-waiter, I guess. Over at the Savage Critic, Tucker Stone reads a ton of comics and says, "(the) Hellboy series (is) back on the track of being the most exciting version of serialized comics that is currently available. (Fantastically enough, it’s only competition was the BPRD.)"

Spoiler coming: in Hellboy: the Storm #3, Hellboy is forced to make a deal with Russia's Baba Yaga:

...which leads to not even the biggest surprise (for me) in that issue. (HB's choice for Excalibur--the legendary sword, not my beloved X-team--just floored me.)

But what's this? From the August 11, 2008 post here:

Oh yeah. Safe to say...that was a blind pig finding an acorn, a lucky shot!

Anyway, what else? Right this second, I'm enjoying a pineapple/blueberry/banana/apple/something smoothie: I just got a blender again, for the first time in quite a while, and the novelty hasn't worn off yet. The Vikings/Saints game is on, but I'm only half-watching it. (In fact, I set my smoothie in front of the TV...) I'm a Cowboys fan, so I probably won't pay a lot of attention until Sunday. And The Onion's NFL Team-by-Team Guide entry for the Cowboys made me laugh, since they are incredibly frustrating to watch, and I like them. (Even though I often wonder if anything in Dallas, from the players to the stadium, really deliver the best return for the money.)

I might have to switch over to AMC, which has been running all the Dirty Harry movies. I was positive I had seen them all, and maybe I have...or maybe I've seen Dirty Harry and the Dead Pool like ten times a piece. There were scenes in Magnum Force that I thought were from another movie, and between the dog and the kids, I missed some crucial moments in that one and the Enforcer. By the way, whoever at AMC that had the bright idea of backing their Dirty Harry promos with Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough"? Genius.

For some reason, driving lately, I've been singing Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees." Except I have to sing it as if my jaw is wired shut. I have no idea why.
I can never decide if this is supposed to be uplifting, but I strongly suspect, no.

I try to avoid driving as much as possible, so I tend to put a CD in and leave it for a month or more at a time. Last month, and it may go back in, was Burning Airline's Mission: Control. Good stuff.


And then toys: I was just at the store getting some vegetable juice...which I hate, by the way. Well, maybe not hate, but I don't love it; it's a vague nod towards a healthier diet. Unfortunately, I don't love the taste, so I had the bright idea of pepping it up a bit with some South American hot sauce my folks got for me, and the burned spots in my internal organs still haven't healed up. Seriously, when I first tried that stuff, my eyes were streaming water, and all I could mumble with my burning tongue was, "Mom, Dad...why?"

Where was I? Ah, toys. The DCUC Wave 12 Spectre was on sale--the glow in the dark version. I'm not made of stone! And while I'm not a mint-on-card collector, the little skulls on the packaging are nice. Spectre's not a character I have any great affection for, but he looks sharp.

I'm trying to avoid three-and-three-quarter inch figures right now, but I saw the new, classic blue Iron Monger the other day; and the new G.I. Joe Dusty looks great. Will I stay strong? Well, maybe for a bit...

That's it for this week! Have a good weekend!
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An extra Thor panel, a Punisher non-sequitor, and more on Evil Dead: Regeneration.

An extra panel from Thor #460. This may have been artist Bruce Zick's first issue, but I don't like that panel.

Topless Robot had a list mentioning this issue as featuring one of the lamest Punisher villains: Lifeforce, although that was more the name of the crossover. (The Hulk Annual in that crossover was pretty good, though.) This was from Punisher Annual #3, written by Mike Baron, art by Neil (Untamed) Hansen; and I have no idea why Dr. Wertham is mentioned there--there wasn't a character by that name seen that issue. Weird.

So, I mentioned playing Evil Dead: Regeneration, and in some areas Ash has a sidekick, Sam: an unkillable, Deadite, midget. There are stages where you can control Sam, and send him into dangerous areas; or Ash can kick Sam into battle. So, there's an area where you need to start a fire, but can't quite get it with the flamethrower, or the grenade launcher...what to do, what to do...I'm a little dismayed that "set Sam on fire, then punt him" occurred to me really quickly. Feel like that says something about me...

And saw Prince of Persia last night at the cheap theatre. Meh. Technically, it looked nice, with a few scenes obviously intended to abuse 3-D; but nowhere was it as lively or swashbuckling as it should've been. And there were several points in that movie that drop exposition exactly like a videogame cut scene: "Oh no! There's obstacles here, here, and here! If only you could get to point a, b, and then c!" I don't know if that was intentional or not.

I was going to see A-Team even later, but we'll see if I make it, since I'm setting this up, then it's a four-day weekend for me! We'll be back early Tuesday, so have fun and be good until then!
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