Open Thread: Oops, missed Monster of the Day, etc.

Updated on January 25, 2012 By Ken Begg 26 Comments

Sorry, folks, B-Fest time here and I’m running around a lot for the next five / six days, so expect even less posting than usual.

Feel free to use this thread to talk about whatever, though.

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  • Flangepart

    Today’s nonsense menu item, Gorgonzola Cheese with a slice of Weasel.

  • Anonymous

    Some randomness that I haven’t been able to get out of my head this week:

    Master Ninja THEEEEEME Song!

  • Beckoning Chasm

    I finally saw the Green Lantern movie the other day.  It didn’t strike me as bad so much as rote, by-the-numbers.  Like they all sat around and said, “Well, he has to quit around the half-way point, because that’s always what happens at some point.”  Ryan Reynolds had pretty much no charisma, but the guy playing Sinestro was really good.  It was too bad that (SPOILER ALERT) they had to shoe-horn his turn to evil in a POST CREDITS shot.  That’s exactly the sort of thing that makes the movie routine.  The second movie should have been all about Sinestro’s turn to evil…that is, if they wanted to make a good movie instead of a slab of product.

  • Rock Baker

    My brother let me borrow a couple of his Japanese TV shows, hoping to make me more of an anime fan it would seem. I’ve been working through one show called Love Hina, which I’m actually enjoying quite a bit. I’m also going through Excel Saga, which I admit is amusing in the extreme, but I don’t know if I’d go back for repeat viewings on it. Having been a child of the 80’s and growing up on Hey Vern, its Ernest!, Excel Saga’s wacky randomness isn’t as alien as it might otherwise be. Love Hina, though, I find myself really, genuinely liking. I hope the last few episodes hold up to the ones I’ve already seen.

  • sandy petersen

    What I hated about Green Lantern was, first, the wasted time while he engaged in tedious and predictable “am I good enough” angst. Since it was obvious he would eventually don the mantle, it was a complete waste of my time. Second, as Beckoning Chasm says, Mr. Reynolds was completely vanilla. Since Green Lantern is, sadly, a somewhat personalityless hero, he badly needed someone to turn up the volume. Hal Arnold isn’t inherently dull, after all. He’s just played that way. 

    The only part I liked was the villainy of Hector Hammond. He had the pizzazz that Reynolds needed. An interesting backstory, aninteresting personality, and a sense of humor 

  • Rock Baker

    I enjoyed the movie when i finally saw it, making me feel sort of isolated from my fellow man. There was stuff that i didn’t like, natch (like the fact that Jordan was your typical 21st century ‘bad-boy’ when the point of the character should be that the ring chose him because he was already a morally perfect figure, etc) but as a whole I found myself enjoying the picture quite a bit.

    And I agree that Sinestro was really good here. I suppose it possible the stinger of him donning the yellow ring could have been a mere tease and the actual script for the sequel would have been more akin to your recommendation, but I doubt we’ll ever find out after the first film bombing so hugely. I’d be game for a sequel, but I don’t foresee it actually getting made.

    Ultimately, I think the lackluster ad campaign did more damage to the film that the movie itself. But I’ll grant there’s room for debate on that point. 

  • Anonymous

    #1 son has been wanting to see Apollo 18 ever since it was released (and only lasted one weekend in the theaters), so two days ago we finally got around to it. I do recall that some critic quipped “in space, nobody can hear you yawn” back then, so I was pleasantly surprised at how mildly entertaining our evening was. I’m kind of over the whole cinema verite thing at this point (I don’t see anything topping [REC] coming down the pike), but I thought it was handled pretty well and really contributed to the sense of isolation throughout.

    Oddly enough, Apollo 18 really got me in the mood to check out Capricorn One again, as there were some pretty similar themes. I’ll have to move that one to the top of the queue. Of course, knowing ahead of time that Telly Sevalas’ tone deaf and thoroughly incongruent performance is coming should lessen the jarring nature of that last act. I might even enjoy it. Who am I kidding?- that’s the whole reason I’m interested…

  • Marsden

    I thought it looked ok, but why couldn’t they just make an ok movie for a lot cheaper and then have a chance for profit/continuation?  Why does it have to be a “blockbuster”?  I think that’s something we touched on with the “whats a movie star” topic, but it could apply here as well.  A nice average hero with a nice ok budget that doesn’t need to be the biggest thing but still turn a profit and people can enjoy it.  I’d love to see an AntMan movie or some of those other guys.  Black Panther could really be cool, but they are not heavy hitters as Hero characters, iow non comics people haven’t heard of them.  I like Ken’s take on a Luke Cage movie, almost like a Shaft type 70s style would be cool and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. 

  • Toby

    I’m a big fan of Love HIna, and I gotta recommend the writer’s follow-up series Mahou Sensei Negima (more the manga than the anime, though). It’s about a 10-year-old wizard in training who is sent to Japan to teach English to a class of 31 14-year-old girls. Hilarity ensues when one of them – who already has a grudge against him for replacing the teacher she has a crush on – witnesses him performing magic.

    What I love about this series is the impressive blend of the harem formula of Love Hina – which was what Ken Akamatsu’s publishers wanted – with the shonen elements than begin to sneak in around the third volume – which is what Akamatsu wanted from the beginning. The end result is probably better than it would have been as a straight harem manga or a straight shonen manga.

    I also recommend the works of Rumiko Takahashi, which are pretty close in tone and content – Ranma 1/2 has been called a martial arts/urban low fantasy/slapstick/sex farce/romance.

  • Anonymous

    That was one thing I liked about the first Iron Man — haven’t seen the second — Tony Stark doesn’t waste time all “am I good enough for this,” he just says “well, I’m flawed as hell, but I’m also a genius and I can make a difference, let’s do this thing.”

  • Rock Baker

    The problem is, you’re being logical. Hollywood hasn’t operated logically since around 1990.

  • Beckoning Chasm

    The same with Captain America.  He had drive and ambition and when he fell short, he just tried harder. 

  • Rock Baker

    I just finished Love Hina. As a rule, I’m not an anime fan, but I loved this series. I want MORE! My brother tells me he thinks there’s a couple of movies and a follow-up series in the cannon. I certainly hope he’s right!

  • The Rev.

    I am back after three fun-filled days in Chicago for my first B-Fest.  I watched a lot of movies (including a couple of Jabootu’s own, and a couple that probably could be), met my 4th B-Master (oddly enough, not the one I’d expected to, who I actually did not find there), and had a wonderful time all around.  I will try to get a write-up to Ken about it as soon as I can, but I have no idea when.  I can already tell it’s going to dwarf my normal Fest pieces.

    I can hear your horrified screams from here.

    Also:  Ken, if you read this, could you please ask Jeff what brand of tequila that was?   I thought it was Reposado, but apparently that’s a type of tequila, not a brand name.  I would like to have that again someday, when I have more money to throw around.

  • GalaxyJane

    Ooh, I second the request about the tequila. And I generally don’t even like tequila.

  • Rock Baker

    I just posted a commission piece I did on Baker’s Log. I only bring this up because it might appeal to certain interests around here. Okay, shameless plug out of the way.

  • Toby

    There are a few OVAs (which I haven’t seen) but not a canonical follow-up series – though Negima does make a vague mention of an Aoyama family, connected with a swordfighting technique.

  • Anonymous

    B-Fest 2012 poster framed and given pride of place beside my personally autographed photo of Count Gore De Vol.

  • I have a headache tonight.  This is one of the few websites I can look at right now.  I wish more websites would adopt the dark background look.

  • Sandy Petersen

    Bitch, please. 1990 is when they released Hook, The Super Mario movie, Batman & Robin, and Anastasia.

    Hollywood hasn’t been operating logically far longer than since 1990.

  • Rock Baker

    My contention being that the very early 1990’s was that last period during which the business showed ANY logic. They’ve been doing stupid things since the 60’s, but the floodgates didn’t really open up until around 1990 or so.

  • Marsden

    I would have took issue with the 1990 date as well, but I didn’t feel it appropriate to bring it up as I basically agreed with your point.  Good thing Sandy pulls no punches.

  • Ericb

    I’ve been seeing commericals for the upcoming Rock flick “Journey 2[: The Destruction of Steve Perry]” and my brain is melting trying to wrap my head around the concept of a CGI slurposaur.  Is’nt that kind of like  the old Soviet joke about building the world’s largest microchip?

  • Ericb

    oops, that shouldn’t have been a “reply”

  • Rock Baker

    1989?

  • Rock Baker

    Actually, I’ll allow up to 1991, the year which gave us THE ROCKETEER. Movies really haven’t been as much fun since.