2008-05-14

Lond Ho Respite

J.C. Hunter reached down and pulled up on his skull-covered socks and continued to stare at the disorganized pile of jewel cases, and loose Compact Discs that sat, stacked haphazardly on the gritty, hardwood floor in front of the five-disc player. It drove him crazy that his friends seemed to have no sense of order when it came to things like this.

Hunter thought about the flat he was sharing with Bill back at The London House Apartments. There one would never find a book, a CD, or Betamax video that wasn’t in alphabetical order on the shelves, well Hunter’s shelves anyway. Bill tended to keep his stuff in no particular order, but at least the CDs were in their cases where they belonged.

The more Hunter thought about the “Lond Ho” flat the happier he was. As far as he was concerned he had three things to be happy about. Number one, Living downtown, “were the fucking action is” as he was fond of saying. Two was working for the Cosmodemonic Security Company, a job that although it did suck, it only did so when he was there. And third was the fact that he made just enough money to eat, and get pished with his buddies three times a week, which in his opinion was “just about right.”

What was there to be sad about? The truth was Hunter couldn’t think of anything, and in a way he kind of missed the comfort in being sad, because as he reasoned it, when you are at rock bottom, wallowing in your own pit of depression and self loathing the only way to go was up.

Hunter shut his eyes for a moment and listened to the Pixies kissing mermaids and riding the el NiƱo. Just as he was about to stand and pour himself another drink, his buddy Paco reached over and yanked a CD from the middle of the pile, sending the rest tumbling to the hardwood floor, skittering and rolling.

“Man, be careful. You don’t want to scratch your discs.” Hunter said as he headed towards the fridge.


Paco just shrugged and slurred drunkenly, “Ah whaddareyagonnado?”

2008-05-02

Prepare To Be Reviewed

IRON MAN
Directed by Jon Favreau

Last year @ San Diego Comic-Con the first teaser for this flick hit and immediately every Fan-Boy, and Fan-Grrl in North America got that “special feeling” down below. I was just kind of “meh” about the whole thing. I had never read any of the comics (still haven’t actually, as I had no desire to color my expectations before seeing the flick), but I knew the jist of the story was drunken, genius, spoiled brat builds suit and fights crime.

Fast forward to April 30th 2K8. A year of hype has, I have to say, gotten my ass excited about this flick, and with Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark (could that casting be any more perfect? I think not!), and Jon Favreau directing need I say more? So when a buddy of mine from the Calgary Sun called me at 3:30pm on Wednesday and said he had an extra pass for the premiere that night I was all “hells yeah!”

What can I say about this flick other than BELIEVE THE HYPE. Iron Man is a different kind of comic book flick, and by different I mean in a good way. The action, which is freaking second to none by the way takes a back seat to the character development, the mood, and the atmosphere, but let us not forget the humor. This flick is hilarious when it should be, and somber when it needs to be, and this is good because without the funny elements it could have ended up as another X3: The Last Stand, and we all know how much that flick sucked ass.

The 2 hour and 6 minute running time just blows by with no extraneous scenes. This is not just a good “comic book flick,” it is a great film period, end of. My only disappointment comes not from the film itself, but with the theater. After waiting patiently to the end of the closing credits with breathless anticipation of Samuel L. Jackson’s cameo as Nick Fury of SHIELD, the projectionist cut the flick prematurely leaving me all WTF????!!


Ah, well guess I’ll just have to wait until it comes out on BluRay to enjoy that last scene. For being a great flick that far exceeded my expectations, Iron Man gets a Four out of Five. Go see it kids; it rocks all kinds of roll.

Reviews From The Chesterfield

Ghost in the Shell Directed by Rupert Sanders Based on the manga by Shirow Masamune In the near future, the cyberneticly enhan...