I *LIKE* the new Wonder Woman costume

Ok, I'll admit that, dispite my four comic book related tattoos, I'm a pretty casual fan of comic books. Especially mainstream titles. Especially mainstream DC titles. I'm just not a fan. Batman and Superman do nothing for me. Not a fan of the books, not a fan of the movies.

That said, it was recently annouced that DC was changing up Wonder Woman's look. Fair enough. She always did look kind of silly fighting crime in her underwear.

At the left is the new design, and I really like it. Will it get me to read the comic? Probably not. Will it get me to take the character a little more seriously? Possibly.

It would seem, however, that liking the new look puts me pretty firmly in the minority. However, umong nerds and geeks, liking change USUALLY gets you put in the minority. It didn't matter what DC did with the character, the fanboys (and girls) were likely to bitch and moan. So, kudos to DC for taking a chance, and, in my opinion, making the character look more respectible.

Gwangi says AROOOG!

 

Gwangi says Aroog when he's breaking down your door!

 

Gwangi says Aroog when he's spotted by cowboys!

Aroog must have a lot of different meaning.

This is so totally exciting...but only to me...

You may or may not know this, but I love The Valley of Gwangi. I think it's just a terrific movie. Well, I've been looking for the comic book adaptation of it for a while. Just casually. It's not an obsession or anything, but, when I'm in the kind of place where I might find old comic books...I take a look.

Well, that includes a certain online auction/marketplace thing...and, I found it! Not just that, but I found it at a price that I was willing to pay for it! I'm really excited and can't wait to have it in my hands! It's so exciting! I can barely contain myself*!


*I can totally contain myself. I mean, it's just a comic book.

Some lessons can't be taught. They must be lived to be understood.

I'm in a hotel room in Mt Pleasant, MI. It's a classy hotel, not one of those hotels with the hourly rates. You know, for the power naps. That's what they're for, right? I mean, I know in Japan they have hotels like that for the businessmen. And they're really classy joints. I figure hours are just more run down because we had the idea so long ago.

Back in the day, before I was in the hotel, I watched a movie. This movie was something of a sequel. Or a spin off. Or yet another comic book movie. That movie was Elektra.

Elektra picks up the story of Elektra, oddly enough, after her death at the hands of Bullseye in Daredevil. Elektra is alive again, but not a zombie. She was brought back by a mystic blind man played by Chancellor Velorum. She has not, however, come back as the champion of justice that her friend Matt Murdock is. No, she's an assassin. Someone who kills other people for money. Lots and lots of money. And she's good at it. Really good. Like creepy good.

But, this is more of a hooker with a heart of gold story...except Elektra isn't a hooker. She's a well trained killer. And when she's sent to kill a guy and his daughter, she heps protect them instead.

See, the kid is some sort of...I don't know. She's special. Not short bus special. Not special the way your mom lies to you and tells you you're special. No, she's special as in the child fighting prodigy kind of way. She's "the treasure." Which is nothing like "the prize." No immortals are fighting over her while decapitating each other. No, these are ninjas. And demons apparently. Demon ninjas...the worst kind.

You know, the realtor didn't say anything about red leather clad ninja when I bought the house.

Elektra has to then fight the weirdos who are trying to kill the kid. And that's the movie. I'm really kind of hoping they make a sequel to this. And a sequel to Daredevil. They could team up again...and call it Daredevil 2: Elektra Boogaloo.

Elektra, especially compared to to Daredevil, is a pretty good movie. It was much more serious than Daredevil, which worked. The story was slightly incoherent, it was in desperate need of a bit more exposition. A little more backstory. It always just felt like you should KNOW who these people are and what their purpose is.

The action was good. There was some pretty sweet fights. And Jennifer Garner certainly looked good. The bad ninja demons, again, could have been explained a bit better. I'm not saying that they all needed their own spinoffs and backstories, but maybe give them a slight origin or something, rather than just put them in and say "here they are." Maybe, too, a bit more on what "the treasure" is, and what it means to be it.

It was a good movie though. Definitely worth a watch. 7 warrior beads from Indonesia that centuries ago, you had to be the best fighter in your village to earn but YOU bought on eBay out of 10.

Go tell the Spartans, passerby, that here, by Spartan law, we lie

I actually went to the theater to see a movie! I know, I say that every time I do this, don't I? It's getting repetitive, isn't it? Shit. Well, I don't know how else to start this off. I guess I'm sort of a one trick pony in that regard. You know what? Fuck it. I just won't say anything.

Nothing.

Not one word.

...

...

Okay! You win! I'll tell you about it. I went to see Zack Snyder's adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel 300. It's the story of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, when 300 Spartan soldiers faced off against the might of King Xerxes's Persian army. An army that numbered close to one million.

The story itself is told from the perspective of a Spartan soldier, his name was not Faramir, it was just the same actor. His Spartan name was Dilios which sounds like a white guy trying to speak in some sort of misappropriated urban slang. Dilios was at the battle. He saw everything first hand. And it is through his remaining eye that everything is explained.

Spartans are trained for battle from birth. It's what they do. They are not blacksmiths. They are not farmers. They do not sell slurpees at the 7-11. They fight. Everything in their culture is about the glory of battle. They are led by King Leonidas. It was Leonidas who toldthe emissary of Xerces that the Spartans would not sumbit to the Persians. It was Leonidas who killed the emissary instead of letting him inform Xerxes.

Leonidas was bound by law to visit an Oracle to seek favor in battle, and when it was not given, it was Leonidas who decided to take 300 men and fight the Persians anyways, in violation of Spartan law. He claims that the 300 men are his personal bodyguards and he's just going out for a walk. And boy do the politicians look stupid when they realize what's really going on...and that's when Balki shows up with a plan...wait, no. That was a rerun of Perfect Strangers. Sorry about that. I got confused. Man, wasn't that show hilarious though! Don't be ridiculous! Ha! Classic, man. Classic.

The Spartans head for the Hot Gates. A narrow pass where numbers won't matter. A place where 300 men could stand up to an army a million soldiers strong. They set up camp and soon begin it's defense.

They fight. It's a brutal and violent battle, even by brutal and violent battle standards. It makes Braveheart look like a Merchant Ivory movie. Actually, that should have been the tagline for the movie. Can you see that on the posters?

Hey! Where are you guys going?

The Spartans manage to defeat the first wave of fighting, and then the second. It's at this point that Xerxes meets with Leonidas to salute his valor and offer him various rewards for his surrender. Xerxes offers him rule of all of Greece, power, money, a brand new convertible and whatever is behind door number 3, all he has to do is kneel.

Dammit! This is SO going in my livejournal!

I think it goes without saying that Leonidas won't kneel. As a result, Xerxes sends in his special forces, The Immortals. The Spartans want to know if it's true, or just a clever nickname. Well, thanks to the gates...The Immortals don't fare any better.

Look at me! I'm tough! Grr!

The battles continue until the inevitable final showdown between the Spartans and Xerxes. One last battle with the odds completely against the Spartans. Surround by the Persian armies on all sides and no help coming.

300 is, from a technical standpoint, a pretty amazing thing. Shot almost entirely on blue screen, it feels like a comic book jumping off of the page. Snyder makes great use of varying the speed of motion during the battles to really complete the effect. Everything comes to a standstill on screen just for a split second to frame it in your mind.

Admittedly, 300 is not 100% historically accurate. It's a movie. It's not supposed to be 100% historically accurate. It's supposed to be more entertaining than real history. It's Frank Miller's version of history. More than that, it's Dilios' version. The story is told from his perspective. He's retelling it. He's trying to embolden the allied Greek troops before the Battle or Plataea.

The only thing I'm left wondering is shuld I buy this when the DVD comes out? I mean, I know I'd like to check out an making of type stuff, and commentaries of course, but is it something that I'll really want to watch again. I mean, we just finished a week of my favorite movies. Does this compare? Not really. It was enjoyable and pretty engrossing, but it's kind of like, okay, I've seen it, now what? 7 and a half canopies of arrows raining down on you out of 10.

The Devil in the Details

Let me get two things out of the way here real quick. 1) I'm not horribly familiar with the story of Daredevil. I mean, I know he's blind and the super senses shit, but I never really was into the Daredevil comics. I think my brother had some at one point and was kind of into it, but that's a pretty vague memory.

2) I will watch almost anything with Ben Affleck in it. Seriously. (I'm a fan, what can I say? I mean, I'm not like one of those super obsessed people or anything...but I dig him as an actor. It's something Kevin Smith and I have in common. Not totally, I mean, Smith and Affleck are friends. Ben and I have never met. If someday we do though, I'll bet we totally become BFF. Totally.) Did I ever mention that I really dug Pearl Harbor. Yep. Loved it. Armageddon. Oh yeah. Mallrats? A given. So, I mean, watching Daredevil is sort of a no brainer. I'm honestly surprised it took me this long to see it.

Affleck and Me: Totally BFF

That out of the way, now to quote Captain Tenneal...Get it on!

It starts with Daredevil on the brink of death and his life flashing before his eyes. His father was a boxer, and he was a kid that got picked on. Then, on one fateful day, he learned that his dad was a hired thug. So he ran. He ran like he was auditioning for a Flock of Seagulls video. He ran right into a...warehouse...of toxic waste. In barrels. Lots of barrels. Oddly, I used to walk home from school on occasion...there was no toxic waste anywhere near the place. Especially not on the shortcuts. But, young Matt is in New York, and I guess things are different there.

The chemicals blinded the poor kid and it made his daddy cry. The shared a tender moment and committed themselves to improving themselves. The kid learns he has crazy sensitive senses and dad learns he has some integrity. The integrity gets him killed though.

Matt Murdock could have gone either way at this point. Good or evil. Out for justice, or insane of the bat shit variety. He went and became a lawyer...again, coulda gone either way on this one. He, however, has dedicated himself to protecting the innocent and making sure justice is served. He meets a girl named Elektra, who at first is anything but interested, but very quickly falls in love with him after a fight in the park. (While the fight seemed...odd, I have to say it was kind of fun. Very playful in a way. Like the one in the second Matrix, but with fewer Smiths. He was later as the dude running the morgue)

Stuff happens and Elektra's dad is killed. Elektra, who wasn't exactly paying attention in class, thinks Daredevil did it. Meanwhile, Kingpin is all geeked that Bullseye managed to implicate DD in the murder. Bullseye kills Elektra, then, may or may not have been killed by Daredevil in an epic battle inside a church involving candles, pipe organs, and stained glass. Daredevil then faces off against Kingpin. Naturally, Daredevil wins. But he's not the bad guy.

I'm going to be honest. This was NOT a good movie. The story barely made sense. There were plot holes Hannibal could lead his army through, elephants and all. The acting was so so in parts, and that was at best. I wasn't crazy about Colin Farrell. More that I didn't like the character. Farrell was fine I guess. The flick had a lot of problems.

That said, I dug it. I mean, it was no Fantastic Four, but it was a hell of a lot better than Xmen 3. The fights with Bullseye were sweet. I liked some of the Murdock/Elektra stuff. I thought it was well done. Garner was good in the role. Clarke as Kingpin was a good choice, too, I think. Kevin Smith, Stan Lee and Frank Miller all had great little cameos. I kind of want to see the director's cut now. And I really want to see Elektra.

Let's give Daredevil 7 shards of glass flying through the air that you've managed to dodge now that the ringing has stopped from the pipe organ out of 10, even though as a movie itself probably only deserves 5 of those out of ten.