Movie Review: Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao
Plot: Christine Brown (Lohman) is a loan officer with a pretty well-together life. She's got a very supporting psychology teacher boyfriend (Long), and she's bucking for a bank manager position. However, when a little old gypsy woman (Raver) comes into her bank for a third loan extension, she has to make the decision to help this woman or impress her boss and turn her down. She does the later, and after being attacked by the woman in her car is cursed. In three days time, a demon is going to come to take her soul to hell! Now, Chirstine must figure out a way to appease the demon and save her soul.

[MILD SPOILERS AHEAD]

This flick is "deliciously cult," and a return for Sam back to his Evil Dead days. While Lohman is easily the weakest link in terms of acting in this flick, it's still fun to watch her getting tossed around a room by an invisible creature from beyond. The movie is very traditional in its frightening moments. It follows the traditional formula of big build up (both cinematically and musically), and then drops down to lull you into a false sense of security. Then BAM! Something frightening happens, and you jump. You jump high!

Sam gets away with a lot in this flick for maintaining that PG-13 rating, but most of the violence is gross or silly (like the squirting bloody nose that sprays blood all over her boss). The images are certainly frightening and disturbing, and so long as you don't think about the ridiculous plot (first off, gypsys don't own property by definition, and also why would this woman curse someone else for not helping her out of a situation that she put herself in twice before?). There are even a few fun call-backs to the Evil Dead movies, like the talking goat head (ie: the deer head from the cabin in Evil Dead 1 and 2), and you can totally see the strings holding a possessed character up towards the end of the movie. But the cheese is part of the charm, and it's the kind of movie that you'll enjoy watching again at home with your friends on Halloween while drinking your spiked punch.

Fans of the Raimi movies will notice a lack of Bruce Campbell in this one, which is fine. Raimi has replaced him in this instance with Lohman, who he graciously flings around rooms and beats the crap out of. She even has a few good one liners and hero moments.

I had a few issues with the movie:

1) The main character's motivation for going to a fortune teller in the first place is never properly established. We never see her with a good luck charm or doing anything superstitious, so it felt a little left field to me when it happened.

2) The ending is all kinds of predictable. Sure it takes a few twists here and there, but everyone in the theater knew what was going to happen. It was just a matter of when it would happen. Sure, it's still fun and exciting when it happens, but it was a little disappointing to see it coming from a mile away.

All in all, it's the kind of movie that's fun to see in theaters with that special someone who can jump with you at the scary moments, and chuckle with you after. Or that you can rent and watch with your friends on Halloween with a cold drink in hand. Don't expect a Hollywood masterpiece - that's not what this movie is about. It's not psychological or intellectual (in fact, thinking about it will probably make the movie less enjoyable), but it is a fun cult movie. So cult, in fact, that they used the classic Universal logo from back in the 80s.

See it. It's a fun flick.

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I've been so bogged down with other projects and adjusting to this new schedule (you know, actually working again) that I've started to fall behind a bit on my @$$hole! web comics. Thankfully, Amanda was sympathetic to my plight and kind enough to submit a guest strip explaining the true reason behind my recent tardiness.

This weekend I plan to work extra hard to get some more buffer pages going, but these other projects have been a little time consuming, but tons of fun and possibly very fruitful towards jump-starting my actual career in professional comic writing. I don't want to jinx anything, but wish me luck with them. It would be absolutely awesome if these projects - even one of them - were to fall into place for me.

If you're in the Chicago area this weekend and feel like hanging out, I'll no doubt be stopping by the May Festival in Lincoln Square (since it's only 3-4 blocks from me) for some live music, carnival games, and good food. I won't be staying too long if I plan to meet my goals that I just posted above, but perhaps some photo-gathering for web comic content can be had at the same time. A productive outing, if you will. ;)

Have a great weekend, and see ya next week!

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Sorry for the lack of update last week and this week (because this update kind of sucks). I've been busy in the social department (last week was Josh Elder's birthday, which we spent at Gameworks, and this week I went to a pre-screening of "Drag Me to Hell," which I'll be reviewing on the main site later).

This picture was taken by the great writer (and my great friend) Russell Lissau (The Batman Strikes, Hope: New Orleans). For Memorial Day, Russell invited myself and my brother over for a BBQ dinner with his beautiful wife and hilarious daughter. However, the weather didn't want to cooperate so instead of drinking cold ones (Russell and my brother drink beer, which I've never acquired a taste for - so I had a fuzzy navel instead) on the porch, we drank cold ones in the basement playing Backyard Baseball '10 on the Wii. Tons of fun, especially when you're getting your ass handed to you by a 7 year old who throws a mean fastball!

I'm working on a few hush-hush projects at the moment that I hope will turn into something big, but more on that later.

Also, if you don't visit the Drunk Duck forums very often, there's an interview of me on there for my two books: The Temple of a Thousand Tears and @$$hole!. The interviewer and I tried to make it pretty funny, so hopefully it's an informative and entertaining read.

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Feria has pissed Sophia off, reminding her about her mission: to avenge the innocents lost at the bombing of the cathedral. It seems like answers are coming, but the now hand-less Feria keeps dodging the question...ever the tricky one, those Tojins.

Figured it out yet? Next week, you will know what the Hikari are, what the plan is, and who done it, and (kind of) why.

More twists and turns before this drama unfolds completely. Check back next week, gang.

Friday was the first day of the convention. Russell and I got up and were greeted to a fantastic breakfast (I'd even call it a "break-FEAST") in the green room of eggs, bacon, sausage, and fresh fruit. Many of the celebrities were in there before their panels, including Shinichi Watanabe, Chiaki Takahashi, and Steve Yun. Russell and I went for the con floor to set up the booth, and eventually were greeted by Josh Elder (running a bit late because of the train).



I continuously walked around between booths on Friday - Josh and Russell, Steve Horton, and Erica Reis - just chatting them up and hanging out. The first panel that I had was with Josh for his ComicFeast engine. I won't give out the details, but I was asked to come in and field any technical questions about the digital medium and marketing. However, Josh did a fantastic job on his own and didn't require my assistance.

Lunch was comped, so we all had sandwiches - I shared half of mine with Erica, knowing that she would probably have overlooked something as important as lunch while packing for the day. She was very grateful. I then had to run off to a panel that was hosted by Josh, Steve, and myself about making comics and manga. Josh opened with a 3-panel story about a father and son throwing a football. Then we fielded questions. Topics ranged from elevator pitches to story themes and distribution. There was even one of those obnoxious questions that started with, "I have a story idea, but don't know what to do with it." Josh was a little more long winded in his explanation than I would have been, which would've consisted of "just tell the story." If you're an artist, find a writer to write it. If you're a writer, then just write the thing. Don't make it bigger than it has to be, just get it out.

The panel went well, and we had a little while to hang out on the con floor before our next panel about writing. We were running 2 minutes behind schedule because the room moved, and upon entering the panel was already under way by two other people. The room was absolutely packed, and the two people didn't stop to introduce us. Josh cut out before even entering the room, sensing trouble. After about 3-5 minutes of listening to the panel people talk, giving out terrible advice and never once stopping to introduce us or let us speak, we just up and left.

We had time to hang out on the con floor before it closed and we grabbed a quick dinner. During dinner, I was able to approach two very awesome people, Matt and Ian from Machall Productions. Their panel that night was on making webcomics, and I wanted to be included - but didn't want to be a jerk and just show up. I had dinner with them and asked if it would be okay if I sat in on their panel, which they were fine with. I then asked what they wanted to talk about. "We usually just field questions," they said. Wanting to avoid questions about story inspirations and creative ideas, I suggested a panel discussion about the differences between our respective comics and how we go about making them. They also invited one of the guys from SNAFU as well as Scott from VGCats. Josh, Russell, Steve, and Erica were on an East vs. West panel, which I was only able to catch the first 20 minutes of before my panel started. Although a few of the panelists showed up a little late, we were courteous enough to introduce them and their properties, and included them in the conversation (the five of us had to share two microphones). Scott even brought leftover pizza for the panelists, which was awesome. I owe you a guest strip for that, sir!

We allowed for 20 minutes of questions, and easily could've gone for another 2 hours! People were very interested to know more about how we make our respective webcomics, the differences between long-form storytelling and gag strips, and the benefits of having a buffer (something that I highly encourage, but in practice never seem to be able to maintain myself).

After the panel got out, a few people approached me for sketches and signatures. Which was interesting to me, a very new experience. I hadn't even brought any product to sell, but people were still interested to know more about my work. I ended up heading to the green room for some much desired free booze and food, and spent the night in good company.



Saturday started fairly early, with another continental breakfast and a trip to the con floor before it opened to help set up the booths. I went out to the con floor and actually spent time walking around, checking out the booths and touring artists alley. I found the guys who were at the writing panel that we walked out of, and tried to not start a fight. I wasn't impressed by their artwork at all, but decided to pick up one of their books and try to talk to the guys. "I'm slightly familiar with your stuff, since we were on a panel yesterday." "Were we?" they asked, and then preceded ignore me. I threw the book back on their table and walked away disgusted. I won't mention who they were, in the event that they're ever accidentally allowed to be on a panel again - and I just so happen to be on it. Fate would work that way. But it's become a little inside joke for myself, Steve, and Russell.

During my tour around the con floor I found a very awesome creator from New York named Misako Rocks!. Phil Moy and I chatted for a bit, and then I made it back over to artists alley to hang out with Paul Sizer. His wife wasn't at the con, and it was his first time attending an anime convention, but he had already sold out of his latest book. I don't know why he hadn't attended ACEN before, since he has manga inspired artwork. And his latest book, BPM, is absolutely excellent.

I spent a good chunk of the day hanging out with Erica at her booth. Met her friend Sarah who was dressed as a belly dancer, and her neighbors were awesome (they sell plush rice balls).



At the end of the day we attended Josh and Russell's panel on The Batman Strikes, and then went off to the green room for a quick bite before heading off to the Mail Order Ninja reading. Josh and I had done this with his girlfriend Katie at the NYCC, and it was an absolute blast. This time it was Josh, Russell, myself, and two women that I had not met before. And once again, it was a ton of fun for not only the actors in it, but also for the audience. Josh was worried that Saturday night was not a great day / time to resonate with the audience, but everyone seemed to dig it. Someone even records the thing - but the lights were dim, so the video didn't come out so well. If I get a link to it, I'll be sure to post it.

The night ended as they all do, in the green room drinking heavily and having a righteously good time.

Sunday was a more mellow day, starting at an early morning panel that Josh held on the use of comics in schools and libraries. We split ways and went to breakfast, where I hung out with a bunch of the translators for the foreign guests. They were a pretty cool and energetic bunch, most of which were experiencing their first convention. I went and cleaned out the hotel room, and took my stuff to the con floor where I hung out with Erica until they closed everything down.

ACEN was, again, an absolutely excellent show. As always, it's the people that made it awesome, and being a guest of the convention was sweet. The people working the con were very gracious and helpful, and I will totally be attending again next year as a guest - possibly with some product and a few panels of my own.

My Site and Drunk Duck

I've always wanted to come back to the "movie guy," and I've pictured several of them for different genres of flicks (you can see a few of them at this table). I've been coming up with ideas for sub-genre characters to support this as well. I have some fun ideas not fully fleshed out yet for this cast for future strips, but that's a ways off.

I have like 18 million ideas for stories for this comic right now, and it feels like very little to no time to do them. I had a great one for a photo comic, but no one to take pictures of me for it. I have one prepping for Friday that pokes fun at the Wolverine movie (hope it's not too dated by then).

The fact of the matter is, I messed up. I haven't drawn in almost 3 months (does it show?), and I had to throw this page together in a matter of hours to get it up on time. I've been a bit busy with life at the new job in the new city, and trying to slip back into a manageable routine (which has yet to happen).

I'm working on it. Please bear with me. In the meantime, I apologize for this horrific page update. A better one will go up Friday, and I hope to have the weekend to get my buffer going so I can work on the Nude Beach storyline (which I keep talking about, and keep not working on).

Enough excuses, I say. Get to it, bald man!

I was invited to an advanced screening of the new Terminator movie, and actually had a good time. Check out the review below!


Movie Review: Terminator 4: Salvation (2009)
Director: McG
Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood, Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, Jadagrace, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Michael Ironside
Plot: A prequel movie to the time-traveling franchise, with a unique twist on the tried and true formula established in the previous movies. This flick is entertaining and fun, despite it's PG-13 disadvantage (I say this only because it's based on an R-rated franchise).

Present day, Marcus Wright (Worthington) is an inmate on death row who agrees to sign away his organs to science upon his death (don't ask me why they'd still be good after receiving the lethal injection, though), and he awakes in the year 2018 during the war with the machines. Enter John Conner (Bale), a resistance fighter in the war against Skynet and considered by some to be a prophet because of his mother's insight on Judgment Day. John discovers that a hit has been put out on himself, as well as Kyle Reese (Yelchin), who will grow up to be sent back in time by John to protect his mother and father him. But that's all known if you've watched the first flick....

Marcus ends up finding Kyle and protecting him as best as he can until the machines finally catch up to the kid, and John finds Marcus and figures out that there's something not quite right with him. He's a machine! Together, they must break into Skynet and free the young Kyle in order to preserve the past (and therefore the future).

###

In the previous movies, someone has been sent from the future to protect John or his mother in the past. This movie puts a nice little twist on that by having someone from the past protecting someone in the future - so that they can grow up and go to the past and set events in motion. This person doesn't even know that he's a machine (hope I didn't spoil it for anyone, but the trailers give it away), and despite being on death row at the beginning of the flick, he turns out to be an okay guy.

The movie has no swearing and very little blood or gore, despite the high level of action - but shooting and explosions are okay in PG-13. They have some almost-gory scenes, but they just seem to remove the blood. There's a good mix of practical as well as digital effects in the movie, which I appreciated. The late Stan Winston created the Terminator look and movement back with the first movie, and I'm glad that they tried to keep true to it in this one. In fact, the movie is dedicated to his memory.

McG does some interesting things with the camera, combining a lot of CG effects to do what should be one long tracking shot that would be impossible to shoot with practical effects. For example, there's a scene in the movie where John gets into a helicopter and in a single camera shot, pilots it into the air, gets hit by an EMP, and then crashes to the ground.

The plot is a little sloppy at times, lacking direction and starting to lag between action sequences. However, there are some fun shout-outs to the fans with the classic one-liners and history from the previous flicks (Listen for the Guns N Roses song when John steals a motorcycle. You'll smile.). I found myself overlooking the pacing issues that the movie has for the simple fact that it's a fun modernization of an 80s action movie - with some very intense action and some great sci-fi moments.

The stand out for me was the cast in this movie, some of which do great and some of which fall flat on their face. I was surprised to see b-movie icon Michael Ironside in this movie, and Helena Bonham Carter played a very flat role despite her character's condition. Worthington and Bale steal the show, with a great performance from Yelchin (I hadn't heard of this kid before the new Star Trek movie, and now he's in the other big sci-fi flick of the summer!?!), and Moon Bloodgood being her usual kick ass self. Honestly, I'd like to see more of her character in future flicks (and I've heard rumors of a spin-off series).

Overall, Terminator 4 is an entertaining action flick with some fun moments. I like to say that it's Jedi good...but not Empire good.

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ACEN was, in a word, AWESOME. I have finally finished blogging about the epic weekend on my website (as well as reviewing X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek). This previous weekend saw me going home to Ann Arbor to celebrate Mother's Day in post. Since I was at the convention during the actual Mother's Day, and my brother was visiting his girlfriend, we decided to push it back and celebrate a week late. At least this way, the entire family was together.

Sophia, not being in the greatest of shape to begin with, is certainly getting her ass handed to her by the very fast Feria. But there's some teasing going on at the larger picture being woven before you. Any takers as to what's happening here, who / what the Hikari are, and how it all plays into the previous prequel series?

My Site and Drunk Duck

ACEN (or Anime Central) is one of the first big cons that I ever
attended, and where I met my good friends Josh and Russell. I've met
quite a few other awesome professionals from this convention, many of
which are apparently local to the Chicago area. Here's hoping that
we'll be doing more hanging out.



I.R.T. is the security team that they have at the convention center,
and one of the employees was kind enough to pose with me for pictures
while another snapped us in action. Thanks gang, if you're reading
this. You're awesome!



Be sure to check out my blog
about the weekend. As for me, I'm off to Ann Arbor for the weekend to
spend time with my mother (to make up for Mother's Day...I'm a bad
son). :P

There's something to be said about smaller conventions (and I say "smaller" only when compared to SDCC, NYCC, and Wizard World Chicago, because ACEN is the largest mid-west anime convention), because the groups of people that you meet are awesome, passionate, and eager to hang out. It's a very personable experience. And with that personable and intimate experience, you're able to make some of the best friends of your life.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. My ACEN experience began over 6 months ago in an attempt to contact them about guest status at the convention. Having been published both on the web (and very recently in print), my industry friends Russell and Josh had encouraged me to apply. And I never heard back. I didn't know if the convention people hadn't received my e-mail, if I had the wrong address, or if this was a passive-aggressive way of saying, "Yeah right. Get lost buddy!"


The week before ACEN, I was invited to a BBQ being hosted by some of my friends, who were friends with the people running the con. Isn't networking great? While there, I explained the situation while dying t-shirts for the con volunteers, and they were very sympathetic and agreed to help me out. As a thank you, I was sure to leave them my bottle of whiskey - and also in exchange for the fantastic food that they had prepared, including beer soaked brats and BBQ chicken. It was a veritable feast for only a handful of people, but it was fantastic!

My friend Adam took pictures while we were at the BBQ, and Ive posted a few of them to my MySpace and Facebook accounts. He's quite the pro with a camera, and if he had a URL that I was aware of I would totally post to it. As it stands, you'll have to stare at this scintillating image of the chicken.



After going through a very hectic week at the office, I was finally gearing up towards attending the convention. Having recently moved to Chicago, I had the benefit of not having to drive 4-5 hours to get to the place, but did have to figure out the public transportation route (not difficult). I had been talking to Josh Elder (Batman Strikes, Mail Order Ninja) and Russell Lissau (Batman Strikes, Hope: New Orleans) all week about the convention, since we were all hanging out together. I had actually met both of these writing professionals at this convention a few years back (Russell last year, and Josh the previous year) and we've become very good friends. Russell and I hadn't seen each other since Wizard World Chicago 2008, but Josh and I had the chance to hang out at NYCC back in February. It had been so long, it was great to see Russell again and get to catch up.

Thursday night, I arrived at the con for the industry guests and was treated to free pizza and booze in the Green Room, where I met Russell's friend Steve Horton. Steve and Russell met on a forum that I frequent, and he's literally written the book about making webcomics and manga. Since the convention didn't start until the next day, the people who put the convention on whisked us away to the movie theater across the street for an advance VIP screening of Star Trek.

The Movico 18, a stylish and all-digital multiplex that has a VIP viewing room that we were privy to as guests of the convention. We sat not in chairs, but on velvet couches and received free popcorn. There was also booze available, but we had plenty of that for free waiting for us back in the Green Room. The experience was superb, everything you would want out of a theater-going experience. Perfect sound, digital quality visuals, and no annoying crowds that mistake the theater for their living room. I sat near Robert Axelrod (Lord Zedd from the Power Rangers), so it was an absolute geek-out moment for me. The movie was great to boot (which I've reviewed in a previous post on here, so I won't go into details again).

After the flick, Russell, Steve, and myself went back to the hotel to get our drink on and network with some of the other early-bird creators that had shown for the con. I spoke with the programs chair about participating in some panels, since I wasn't "officially" a guest, and she was absolutely fine with it. After several hours of socializing and hanging out, it was time for bed. Friday was the opening day of con, and we would all have a lot of stuff to do: Steve and Russell needing to sell books and all of us attending panels.

My Site and Drunk Duck

ACEN 2009 was absolutely awesome, but before the con even started I was
invited to a BBQ with some of the people who put the con on. We did
some tie-dyed t-shirts and had beer-battered brats and chicken. It was
a feast! And the people were pretty awesome, too!

The funny part is that (and this was cut off in the final panel) Elena is holding the tip of a bratworst. I was going to try to make a phallic joke out of it, but the shirt was such a better punchline.



I'll be posting a blog about the convention on my website before the end of the week. Right now, I have a review up for X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek. Check them out!

Movie Review: Star Trek (2009)
Director: JJ Abrams
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin
Plot: A reboot of the Star Trek franchise containing everything the average movie-goer loves: lots of action and explosions, and none of the techno-babble. This movie is very accessible to the average person, but as a Trek fan it feels very dumbed-down. Like Star Trek lite: same great Star Trek taste, with only half of the smarts and wit.

When time-traveling Romulans (Bana) come back to the original Star Trek series universe to seek revenge for events that won't happen for another 129 years, it forever alters the cast of characters that Trek fans have known, but introduces and modernizes Trek for anyone else who had never watched before. Because of the Romulans entering our universe, the Kirk family has become broken and James T Kirk (Pine) is forced to grow up with a man who he knows isn't his real father. This causes him to be a very rebelious kid who steals cars and gets into bar fights, and really has no ambition in life - yet is a very smart and quick thinker.

Enter Spock (Quinto), a half-human half-Vulcan who has to purge himself of emotions to fit in with the other Vulcan children, but has difficulty letting go of any anger when his mother is the subject of the taunting. Eventually, both Kirk and Spock end up at Star Fleet Academy to begin their training as the next generation of men and women who boldly go where noone has gone before.

However, the Romulans are still out there and begin an assault on Vulcan (the planet), completely destroying it in the process. Captain Pine (Greenwood) of the Enterprise is taken prisoner, and it's up to Kirk and crew to overcome their differences and save the universe from a similar fate.



[MILD SPOILERS AHEAD]

The reboot of the franchise puts our familiar characters in a more modern world (both visually and socially). The destruction of Vulcan being similar to September 11th in the United States, a tragic event that pulls people together and hightens tensions. This also makes the franchise more accessible to casual consumers of sci-fi, people who enjoyed the aliens and lasers, but were turned off by the techno-babble and science of it all. Just so you know, the most techno-babble that we get in this movie is the term "red matter" and it makes black holes. Plot established: moving on to the next aciton piece.

And there are a lot of action pieces in this movie. As much of a scrapper as Kirk is, I was a little disappointed that he wasn't a better fighter. They also say that he has a head on his shoulders, but he's certainly less of a strategist in this film and more of a "let's go do it!" kind of guy. It works for him against this villain, but it certainly reinforces that Picard is the better Star Fleet captain. :P

Some of the twists and surprises were a fun intorduction in this series. I won't spoil what they are, but they were a welcome addition to me. I'm curious to see how they'll develop over the course of future films with this cast. There are also some fun fan shout-outs in the flick, like finally getting to see Kirk beat the Kobayashi Maru (which, let me tell you, doesn't do down the way that I anticipated, but it certainly wasn't bad).

There's been a lot of comments about the lighting flares, and while they are abundant in the film I don't think that they're out of place. It does seem to be like a shout out to Joss Whedon doing Serenity and Firefly (especially since there were also scenes that take place in space where there is no sound, but anyone who's taken middle school science knows that space is a vacuum and that there's no sound in space, so it's not like Firefly owns the exclusive rights to displaying space in that way). Perhaps I need to watch the movie again, but I thought thatt he lighting flares only took place in space - which would make sense, since the sunlight isn't being filtered through atmosphere. Just the glass.

In conclusion, Star Trek is a fun and refreshing take on a classic franchise, and what it lacks in smarts it makes up for with explosions. It's much more accessible to the average movie goer or the casual consumer of sci-fi, but there's enough elements there for the Trek fans to enjoy as well. Certainly worth seeing in theaters, and definitely worth owning on DVD.

Movie Review: X-Men Origins Wolverine (2009)
Director: Gavin Hood
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Will.I.Am, Lynn Collins, Kevin Durand, Dominic Monaghan, Ryan Reynolds
Plot: The origin story of Wolverine (Jackman), filling in the gaps - or more appropriately, making you question what was said before - that the first three X-Men movies put into your head is a fun rollercoaster ride of an action story that, when you actually stop to think about what you're seeing, doesn't make a ton of sense and seems incredibly sloppy.

Logan / Wolverine and Victor Creed / Sabertooth (Schreiber) are brothers that, because of their healing abilities, are practically immortal and have been fighting for the US since they left their parents after Logan murdered their biological father. The difference in their growing up is that Logan grew a conscious, while Victor just got more blood thirsty. Upon being recruited into a special program for mutant black ops (in the comics called "Weapon X"), Logan loses his cool and decides that he doesn't want to kill anymore. The movie claims that this sends Victor over the edge, but never quite gets into how or why.

Logan then goes on to live a life in Canada as a lumberjack, and is in a happy relationship with Kayla Silverfox (Collins). However, when Creed finally tracks Logan down and kills Silverfox, the revenge plot finally kicks in and all of the reasons for Logan volunteering to be fused with adamantium and chosing the name Wolverine come to light. The movie becomes a visual feast of explosions, poorly rendered CGI, and awesome over-the-top action pieces after that.


Let me start by saying that Wolverine is a very fun and enjoyable popcorn movie. I had a lot of fun watching the movie, enjoyed it, and will probably buy it on DVD. However, after the credits started to roll, my friends and I got into nick-picky nerd mode and we realized that the plot was very sloppy and contradictory to previous X-Men films (not even touching on the comic book continuity), and was written by someone with the capacity to tell a story along the lines of a 7 year old.

[MILD SPOILERS AHEAD]

Like any action flick, your plot is just an excuse to get your main character from one fight scene to the next, and Wolverine does that pretty well here. But the poorly construction elements of the plot tend to get fumbled and it becomes a lose excuse to throw in as many Marvel characters as they can possibly justify. Like Gambit, who is by far the weakest character in the entire flick and doesn't even have a Cajun accent in the film, who is really there to fight Logan, allow Victor to get away, and then fly Wolverine from point A to point B for the next big action sequence. His super-human ability to twirl a staff like a helicopter was also rather retarded.

The fact that Silverfox (a Native American) and Emma Frost (an English chick with no accent in the movie) were sisters was also a big oversight on the writer's part. During an online discussion that I had with a friend we both pointed this fact out, and I tried to play devil's advocate and say, "Well, perhaps they're half-sisters?" My other friend, a published comic professional, went on to reply, "Perhaps they're NOT sisters."

Cyclops is in the film briefly, and has aparently developed heat vision. In the previous films (and comics) it's been established that he fires a concussive blast from his eyes. Remember the roof of the train station in the first film when Toad knocks his visor off? The roof blew out into the sky, and nothing caught on fire. In this movie, that's not the case. Scott's glasses are knocked off and he slices a school with heat beams that catch the walls and ceilings on fire. Did it look cool? Sure. Did it make sense? Absolutely not.

The ending (which I won't spoil for you here) was a very b-rated sci-fi inspired element that felt very left field to me. When it's first introduced in the beginning of the movie, it doesn't make any sense...and it just feels lame and cheap when they finally explain what it's there for. Like movie going audiences suspenion of disbelief wouldn't accept something closer to the source material. Again, if you haven't read the comics and seen the movie, then you probably don't have any idea what I'm talking about - but trust me, it's the cheater's way out. I felt a little cheated.

Overall, X-Men Origins Wolverine is a fun action piece with a sloppy story, poorly rendered CGI effects, and some contradictory elements that don't distract from the fun factor. It's worth seeing in theaters, but if you get your nerd-think going you're going to notice that there are a lot of missing pieces to this story. However, a sequel has already been green-lit, and I'm excited to see what they can do with it.

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So Sophia's plan: crash the Icarus Wing into the side of the tower. Thankfully, somehow, she got the right floor.

Fight scene time, and perhaps some answers along the way. And meanwhile, Kidjo still has Selphi in his clutches....

ACEN was a blast, and exhausting. I'll be posting blog entries and pictures up on my website, and I'm sure there will be some stuff on my MySpace and Facebook as well. If you haven't found me on there yet, feel free to add me.

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I've had this idea in my head for a while now, so no: it's not inspired by the swine flu. But anyone who knows me knows that I'm a pretty clean guy, and like to keep my hands sanitized. In truth, I won't even touch anything in public with my right hand if I can help it. This way I know that my right hand is always clean. Or as clean as it can be.

Strange, I know.

I'm at ACEN right now, and there's going to be a lot of stuff to cover. Check out my website for blogs, pictures, and a review of the Star Trek movie next week when I have all of that stuff compiled. Assuming my camera doesn't crap out on me like it did during NYCC this year, I should be able to do a photo comic arc about the convention.

The nude beach story is still being worked on...seriously, I'm not just trying to tease you with it. ;)

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My friend Carl did this guest strip for me, knowing that my hiatus was hard on everyone who loved this comic - myself included. I can't stand not updating, but sometimes you just can't help it. I had gone for almost 2 years straight without missing a beat, and then had to take those 3 weeks off. It did help, but only a little. ;)

This weekend I'm off to ACEN, hanging out with my good friends Josh Elder and Russell Lissau. Russell tells me that Jason Howard (The Astonishing Wolfman) will be coming to see Star Trek with us, so it's going to be a big geeky time! I can't wait for the weekend.

Check back Friday for another episode of @$$hole!

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It occurred to me while texting this page that the narrative would've been much stronger if one of the characters - namely, Sophia - had narrated it herself. However, it would defeat the purpose of the old man narrator (who will have a big role in future stories).



Anyway, Sophia is awake and on her way to get answers from Feria the Tojin, but time is working against her. How long before Kidjo figures out that she's not headed there immediately...?



This weekend I'm off to ACEN, hanging out with my good friends Josh Elder and Russell Lissau. Russell tells me that Jason Howard (The Astonishing Wolfman) will be coming to see Star Trek with us, so it's going to be a big geeky time! I can't wait for the weekend.



Check in next week for more Temple, gang!

My Site and Drunk Duck



Send a private quack!
I had no joke, so go to what you know: hookers.

I'm sure there are non-drag hookers somewhere around here, but they're no where near me. Not that I care about that sort of thing....

:P