The GOOD Super Hero Movie with "Green" in the Title

So, I finally got around to watching The Green Hornet and you know what, it is actually really good.  Funny and more badass than it has any right to be, the performances were solid and the movie didn't revolve around whether or not the CGI worked.

For me, the movie was fun and never really took itself too seriously but in the end delivered a solid story that overall didn't seem to be as long as it's nearly two hour length.  Seth Rogan does a great job, Cameron Diaz is very pretty and great, and Jay Chou is amazing as kind of a straight-man for a new age.  And then there is Adama!  And the young John Connor...who has seen much better days.  Oh and Christoph Waltz...come on...he is a great nemesis with his slow-burning, reserved omninous...ness...or something.  He was scary and I liked it.  Anyway, it was fun...the way a summer superhero movie should be...only it came out in January.  If you haven't seen it...put it in your Netflix queue...you will be glad you did.  Till next time...

Why I don't talk about music...

Cause I'm old...

Oh...you want more?  Well, I have a theory.  It seems like to me that they music that you love seems to get stuck somewhere in your 20s and doesn't seem to change all that much.  That's why old people like big band music...it is stuff from when they were young and alive.  For me, I guess it is hard rock, heavy metal, and grunge.  I never really have moved past any of that.  So, I guess that is why I definately won't be talking about music...it just isn't relevant or important or even interesting for that matter.  It's like your grand-dad talking about back in his day when you had to buy new needles for the record player...no one cares!  Anyway, have a great weekend, imaginary readers...

Print is dead! Long live print!

Well, a couple days off, vacationing with the family and I am back imaginary readers! I had some time to reflect and was looking through the most recent Previews.  With all the listings for the new DC reboot there are several were if you spend a little extra money, you can get the print copy and a digital copy for use on the mobile device of your choice.  It got me thinking...is this the beginning of the end finally for printed comic books? 



The beginning of the end?

 Honestly, I doubt it.  Though the technology is there and getting better and better all the time, I really think that the price is still the biggest problem.  Not only are the prices for individual issues just not at the price point in most instances where they need to be, the price of admission isn't there either with most comic-sized e-readers being way too expensive for the average comic reader.  I for one, have nothing other than a computer to read an e-comic on and at the moment, I would rather just read a printed copy.  For now, I would just as soon buy a trade at a discount than pay full price for every issue that that trade would contain.  I am sure that as interest grows that prices will need to come more in line with what people are willing to pay, but I for one have no interest in investing the money it would take so far.  And there is the fact that my trade shelf is pretty awesome!


So much awesome...and it is growing...

So, I guess time will tell if this really is the end of the paper printed word.  Should comic shops be worried?  Not yet, but in honor of the supposed death of the paper printed word, we will close by remembering many of the shops in the area that have gone on before.  Feel free to add ones that I have not, imaginary readers...
Paper Heroes
Red Rock (That guy always seemed soooo high)
Southern Star
Comic Connection (Lexington)
Comic Connection (Richmond)
Castle Comics
All those different shops that Ron Flickinger started and put out of business 'cause he is a dick...
The shop that I use to go to in Nicholasville...can not remember the name of it...
Plan B
Fun 4 Less
Monster Comics (Comics AND Tanning!)
Warlords (Man, I miss Keith)
And all the ones I have forgotten that have gone in and out over the years...

Till next time, imaginary readers...

What's in the Box?!?!

You know...I have been way too negative lately.  I need to talk about something awesome and full of positivity! And if there is one thing in my nerdiness that makes me giddy it is this little number:


Like my package?

What could this be?  Why it is my monthly shipment from Discount Comic Book Service! I love DCBS.  I can get anything I want from Previews and it is shipped with a flat shipping rate no matter how big my order right to my door and cheaper than if I went to my local comic shop...which is great, cause I live in a town with no local comic shop.  The cool thing about it is that I end up being able to buy more trades than I typically could in the course of a month and it has given me the opportunity to broaden my reading of comics into things I would not have normally picked up.  I have been able to try things like Sweet Tooth, Northlanders, The Roberts, Irredeemable, and Locke & Key that I never would have had the money to try before and that is definitely a great thing.  Is it a replacement for a good comic shop? Nope, not by a long shot.  Believe me, if I lived closer to the big city, I would definitely shop at Collectibles Etc...at least for my weekly floppy issues.  Anyway...once a month I get a big box chock full of fun and awesome.  What to know what I got this month?  Thought you would never ask!

The anticipation is killin' me!

They pack it really well...

A month of sweet comic goodness...

Well, we got a Previews with all the DC reboot crap (don't care...seriously), hardcover Dark Tower trade, trade paperbacks of Sweet Tooth, GI Joe: Cobra, Walking Dead, The Sixth Gun, and Proof, and monthly issues of Thunderbolts, Avenger Academy, X-Factor, and Gear of War (yeah...guilty pleasure of mine).  Not a bad haul and plenty to keep me busy over the next month until my next box comes (well this and working through the tome that is the Essential Man-Thing Vol. 1).  Anyway, you might want to give the DCBS site a look-see.  It is great and you can get some really great deals, especially on things your LCS might not carry. Tell 'em Patrick sent ya!  And they will be all like, "who?", but more to it, they will probably just be happy that you stopped by and said hey.  Till next time...

Heard Any Good Leonard Nimoy Jokes Lately?

So, it is my Transformers: Dark of the Moon movie review!  Was it awesome?  Was it amazing? Was it a waste of three hours? Well...none of the above...


Meet me on the dark side of moon, why dontcha?

Overall, it was an ok summer popcorn flick.  Typical Michael Bay movie.  Lots of explosions, a pointless, tacked-on love story, and more than a few gags that are meant to be funny, but end up falling flat.  I didn't love or hate it and it probably should have been the second movie (as my friend Justin pointed out) and not the third.  I don't want to give anything major away, but if you go, you will probably have a good time, just don't think about any of it too hard.  The main thing that stood out to me was Leonard Nimoy.  He was the voice of the powerful Sentinel Prime and lended an air of distinction to the role. 

Illogical...

Bearded robot...really?  At least he had no limp...

It bothered me how referential the movie was the Leonard Nimoy's Spock role with more than a couple references to it.  Bumblebee used a soundbite from The Wrath of Khan (I think), they showed an episode of the Star Trek TV show, and Sentinel Prime even had a take on Spock's "needs of the many..." speech.  It sooo took away from the movie and really cheapened the overall impact of the role because I kept thinking about Nimoy's Spock and not focusing on his as Sentinel Prime.  I mean, it was hard enough not thinking about his role as Galvatron (which really kind of revealed a major plot twist if I had put much thought to it) in the animated Transformers: The Movie. 


Meet the new boss...

Anyway, I guess my favorite part of the movie was something so small and yet so significant to my nerdiness that it made my geeky heart sing.  The appearance of Jesse Heiman in an office scene. 



Jesse Heiman: Superstar!

 I got all giddy and excited like no other part of the movie did.  That may say something about the movie overall.  See ya at the movies, kids!

A Little Ranting About Gamestop...

Video gaming was not that easy around these parts as I was growing up.  Living in the middle of BFE, there really were not a lot of options when it game to arcades or even buying video games for that matter.  I can though fondly remember going to Roses in Richmond and drooling over Sega Master System games and not so fondly remember being scared to look anyone in the eye at the Kentucky Arcade across the street. 

Going to the big city of Richmond was a huge deal for me back in those days and those trips were few and far between.  That said, on the off chance I actually got a new game, once it was yours - it was yours. You could maybe trade with a friend, but like I said - out in BFE - there wasn't a lot of that going on.  Over the years, I grew up (sort of) and moved away from a lot of gaming.  It was just hard to do for me.  I had a game system or two (who DIDN'T have an original Playstation, right?) and though I played some awesome stuff, it really wasn't until my wife bought me an Xbox 360 one Christmas that I didn't really get into gaming that can be considered "proper hardcore". It was quite the jump for me going from Metal Gear Solid all those years ago to Gears of War (which was my first new game).  Loved it and I was hooked again and for the first time, could actually play the games I wanted to play and boy did I.  So, as I approach 80K gamerscore, you can imagine that you rake up a lot of games in the library and anymore it just isn't practical to hang on to all of them.  Me being new to all this went to the one that most people go to...Gamestop.  On the surface it seems like a great concept.  You buy a game, play a game, trade it back to them, and buy another game.  That would be great it you didn't end up getting royally screwed on step three and sometimes even step four there.  I didn't much like paying full price for a game then selling it back for a quarter of the purchase price (if you are lucky and quick with the turn around).  Even their used games, which they push a lot are far from cheap ($5 off is not a good incentive in my mind).  I mean, I guess all that would be fine if you had a clue what you would actually be getting for a game going in, but it is a huge mystery that you never know until you are standing at the counter where you can either grab your games and walk out with nothing new or taking the little bit they offer and still handing over a wad of cash for something new (all the while grumbling under your breath works that I probably shouldn't type here). So...none of this is new to anyone I am sure, so why even rant about it? 

Well, a friend of mine who had been working at Gamestop for a very long time and was the only employee I would waste my time working with (would drive 20 minutes out of my way just to see him, even though I have a Gamestop in my town) was fired this week by the company.  They said his shop was in bad shape and they no longer needed him.   Truth was, he had worked with them a long time and made a lot of money compared to the typical Gamestop employee and has MS.  They wanted rid of him cause he couldn't work the type of schedule that the company often demands and it cost too much to keep him if he couldn't put in all the extra hours they demand.  I hope he sues and makes a mint off them.  I won't be going back.  I am tired of the whole way they treat customers and now, how they treat their employees.  They post huge earnings year after year and they treat everyone like crap.  I am out...done.  Will probably be using Best Buy from now on.  They don't give a lot of money either, but at least you know that going in since you can look up any game online and get a quote.  No more mystery or hidden conditions.  Just something to think about.  Have a great weekend all.

Greg Lantern!

Well, I finally got around to watching Green Lantern.  So on a nice Thursday night, me and some random, middle-aged woman decided to see the movie at the 9:45 showing and it was...a movie.  Now, I am an admitted comic book nerd - I wear it proudly - but I have never really read very much Green Lantern.  Really only some Neal Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow issues when I was going up.  So I am familiar with the main ideas and the concept, but other than that, I really don't know details when it comes to Green Lantern canon.  That said, I pretty much had to go into the movie with an open mind, though I had heard plenty of people weigh in on the subject of the movie. 

Those eyes are so creepy!

Though I won't get too much into the details of the movie, summing up how I feel...well, I didn't like it.  There is some cool CGI and the costumes weren't as annoying as I thought they would be, but overall as a movie, I didn't have that good of a time.  When you are looking at your watching during a 100 minute movie, there is definitely something wrong.  Plot holes you could fly Mogo through and too much whining basically turn a concept that could be really cool, into just an overall boring endevour.  There were some bright spots.  Mark Strong as Sinestro was really cool and he seemed to do a good job with character though his coda during the credits didn't seem to totally make a lot of sense.


Bad Ass!

 Also, I liked Peter Sarsgaard' s Hector Hammond.  Of all the characters in the movie, his personality and motivation were the most explored and understood, really.  You really got the feeling why he was acting the way he was and in the end, it was very unfortunate what they decided to do with his character.  My only gripe is that he looked like the older brother of Rocky from the movie Mask.

Exhibit A



Exhibit B



Anyway, the rest of the movie was a mess.  Parallax was crap...literally.  Looked like smoking, smoldering dookie attacking the city...but more on that in another post.  Blake Lively was pretty but was not right for the part.  Ryan Reynolds was...well...Ryan Reynolds.  Not necessarily a bad thing, just didn't seem to fit with the character.  Overall, just a lot of wasted potential for something that could have been a big money maker for DC and Warner Brothers.  Oh well, they don't need another successful movie franchise, right?  right?  Anyway...see you at the movies, kids!