To Freely Go Where No Geek Has Gone Before....

A friend blogged about JJ Abram's new Star Trek film, expressing the idea that exploring the original characters with new actors might just work.

Which got me thinking about continuity. This is a case where a prequel might actually work. Don't ask me to name another film where I think this is true. But doing it for Star Trek it frees JJ and makers from the albatross of continuity, which is something I think sci-fi and comics fans worry WAAAAAAAAAY too much about.

Imagined conversation after the screening:

GEEK 1: Was it a good story?

GEEK 2: Yes.

GEEK 1: Was it true to the essence of the characters?

GEEK 2: Yes.

GEEK 1: Was it respectful of the orginal intent or did it extrapolate on ideas of the original? [this is how we non-geeks imagine geeks talk amongst themsleves]

GEEK 2: Yes.

GEEK 1: Did you like it?

GEEK 2: Hell, No! Kirk's outfit was the wrong shade of yellow.

Incognito #2

It's always nice to see something that succesfully reworks tired cliches into something new and exciting. Such is the case with Incognito, the ICON/Marvel comic series from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. It successfully grafts film noir and pulp sensibilities onto a modern superhero comic, and never once does it feel forced, or that the creative team is trying too hard. Reading this gave me the same buzz I got when I was 12 and reading the Bantam Doc Savage paperbacks for the first time, no small feat. Comic-wise, I haven't enjoyed comics this much since my first encounter with Moore and O'Neill's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

If you like superheroes, pulp fiction, film noir; or if you're just a fan of excellent storytelling, pick this one up. You won't be disappointed. Oh, and don't wait for the trade paperback! Like Criminal, Incognito has text articles that will only be in the monthlies. Brubaker has tapped Jess Nevins to write about pulp heroes of the past. Issue #1 had a text piece on The Shadow. I had no idea that the written character and the radio incarnation were two very different characters. Fascinating. Issue #2 has an bit on Doc Savage, with Philips doing a fantastic James Bama-inspired watercolour portrait of the Man of Bronze.

What are you waiting for? Stop reading this and get yourself Icognito ASAP.

[Geek mode off]

That's an "Albert"

Having recently decided to watch all of Hitchcock's films, it didn't take long to bump into a bad one. The Wrong Man. Slow, a plodding performance by Henry Fonda, and none of the thrills that are the hallmark of good Hitchcock films.

I have decided to attribute all the poor Hitchcock films to "Albert Hitchcock", Alfred's less-talented brother.

Can anyone suggest some Alberts I might want to pass on?

(Far) Stranger than Fiction

I had someone recently ask me if the posts about writers responding to my ad looking for a writing partner were real responses, or if I'd written them for a lark.

Yes, they are verbatim replies. From people who seriously consider themselves to be writers.

I'm going to repost the ad soon, as I haven't found a suitable collaborator. I'm sure there will be more insane replies to post here soon. Stay chooned.

Question of the Day

Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Pi, Requiem for a Dream) is set to direct a Robocop reboot.

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1591705/story.jhtml

Why?

Of Time I Won't Get Back and the City

What crack are critics who recommend Of Time and the City, the documentary about Liverpool, England, smoking? It was nothing but shot after shot of mundane things (graffiti, ferries, broken windows, washer-women, women pushing prams, statues), thrown together without pace or rhythm. The narration (by director Terrance Davies, pictured above) did nothing to add to the proceedings. He told the start of a coming out story which went nowhere, there was an odd interlude that had something to do with the Korean War, and lots of trite nonsense about his falling out with the Church. Oh, and a few really clever quotes by Marx and Engels. Deep.

This documentary wasn't about anything as far as I could tell. It wasn't a town's history, it wasn't a personal history, it wasn't a history of social change or postindustrialism, it wasn't a history of the architecture of the place. I am not sure what it was, but I am sure it wasn't very good.

Save your $8.

You're (not) hired!

And yet another response from outside of Toronto to my request for a local writing partner. This one from (drum roll, please...) The Philippines! Here's his stellar script:

#2 Knights

Sir Bruno comes home victorious against the barbarian Horde and was having a good ol' time chatting about the fight.

When the crowd went home only he and the Bartender are left. Both still drinking they are actually childhood friends.

Barkeep: "Come on Bruno, you expect me to believe that You alone defeated that Barbarian tribe with your bare hands? I saw the guy and he looked liked he could rape an Elephant!"

Sir Bruno: "Actually when the duel began he choked from his long beard when he shouted a battlecry, I just run there and shoved whats left of his beard to his mouth and pretended to choke him while yelling to the top of my lungs."

Wha--?! And here's his "resumé" (his word):

Resumé: Im a 26 years old and currently works for the government as a clerk. I watched a lot of movies and animes. My humor is based on what happens around us and sometimes from movies. if you need scripts I got them in my head ^_^.

Fuckin' hell. That's impressive. Maybe I'll hook this lad up with the producers of 24.

To make up for my grumpiness...

I've been posting a fair bit about things I don't like. Well, here's a couple of things I do like. A lot. Have a listen.

Resonance FM:
http://resonancefm.com/

WFMU:
http://www.wfmu.org/

Bad TV: False Tension on 24

I was using my computer to author a DVD the other night, so it was out of commission for an hour and half… what’s a boy to do but turn to that most antiquated of entertainments? Yes, television. I found that Rogers on Demand had the new season of 24 up. I’m not a fan, and watching episodes one and two of the new season made me remember why. Is there a single show on television that relies more on false tension than 24? Rather than real tension that comes out of great writing and acting [1], false tension is the use of hoary cliches to ramp up the drama. And it just doesn’t work.

Examples from the first two hours of this season:

1. Jack is brought into FBI headquarters to help with a case. He says he’s not interested. The FBI agent says it involves someone Jack knows. Cut to computer screen where we see a low-res image of a face slowly enhanced to reveal the person Jack knows. Bullshit. The FBI has had this file for awhile. They know who the person is. Why is their computer set to slowly render the image for Jack? Why not just show Jack the hi-res enhancement right off? False tension in action.

2. Terrorists plug a box the size of a Playstation into a computer and take over all the air traffic controls in the U.S. Okay, maybe that’s possible, suspension of disbelief and all that. So as a warning that they have this technology, they put two planes on a collision course. The planes, shown filled with businessmen and families, zoom towards each other. But, at the last second, the pilot in one plane is instructed by the terrorists to “pull up”, averting the collision. Now you could say this is a subversion of the audiences’ expectation that the planes will crash, or, you could call “Bullshit: false tension!” on this. It felt manipulative to me, so I choose the latter. At least the terrorists in Die Hard 2 made good on their threat by actually crashing a plane.

3. A sniper is trapped in a building surrounded by FBI agents. One of the agents goes into the basement where the sniper has managed to hide. A typical cat-and-mouse walk around supporting columns ensues, ending with the sniper and FBI agent face to face, pointing their guns at each other. “I’m here to get you out,” says the agent. Bullshit. No one with an ounce of sense would plan an extraction this way. So many things could go wrong… the sniper has no idea who the agent is and could have easily shot him before he had a chance to reveal himself as help. One of the hundred other agents could have found the sniper first. Oh, wait. It’s that damned false tension again. And so it goes…

24 is a substandard actioner if ever there was. Characters waiting anxiously for files to download isn’t drama. Text on computer screens that give away plot points (“deleting secret files”) isn’t drama. It’s just… yep, false tension (and bad writing). I won’t be watching hours 3-24. Though, if anyone is willing to take my bet, I’ll put a c-note on Jack saving the world.

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[1] See the first season of The Shield for a perfect example of this, the episode where closeted homosexual police officer Julian confronts an armed suspect while not wearing his standard-issue bullet-proof vest. The suggestion here is that he is so conflicted about being gay that part of him feels he deserves to die. Knowing Julian’s backstory, his taunting of the armed man is incredibly powerful stuff. And the whole season goes on like this, ratcheting up the tension through character moments until you think it can't possibly get any more tense, then ratcheting it up some more.

Yeah, I figured out how to embed vids...

Tell me this ain't catchy. FANTASTIC video editing job, too.