the machine

So I want to get The Watchmen, but the TPB will contain all twelve issues or whatever in one book right? My girlfriend was going to get me it as a late birthday gift, but I stopped her from buying twelve separate issues since that seems like way too much money.

So I want the TPB right? I am somewhat new to this.

Where on earth was she going to buy 12 individual issues of Watchmen? A quick e-bay search reveals some store selling it for $200 American, roughly ten times the cost of a tpb.

"Hallo! My name is Inigo Montoya! You kill my father. Prepare to die."

Since someone brought this back, here's a few that haven't been mentioned:

The Baby crying stops a battle in Children of Men

The ending to the 6th Sense

Memento- Lenny's "does the world still have meaning when I close my eyes?" monologue and accompanying visuals- his wife being alive and his "I did it" tattoo over his heart.

The final duel from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly- way more epic than some of the stuff mentioned here.

Lawrence rescues Ali from a sandstorm, Lawrence of Arabia. Incredible.

The end of Throne of Blood where the MacBeth character is turned on and is hit by dozens of arrows while he goes absolutely nuts.

The musical number from the Big Lebowski.

Ed Wood is right up there with Edward Scissorhands as Burton's best project. I love how fully he convinces the audience to root for a guy that thinks it's a minor detail to cut from day to night during a scene, or that it's an okay take when a guy hits the doorframe and shakes the set because that sort of thing would really happen to the character all the time. Martin Landau won an oscar for his portrayal of the bitter, proud and obviously troubled Bela Lugosi.

For me, what makes the movie work so well is Wood's constant enthusiasm which seems to prevent him from having that bit of self-reflection that might make him realize how bad a movie he's making. Wood's childish love of movies may be an invention, but it makes the character extremely compelling.

Edit: I can't wait for a Dead Man review. It's definitely a love it or hate it kind of movie.

Guy Pearce. Julianne Moore. DiCaprio. Hilary Swank. Natalie Portman. Johnny Depp. Nicholson. Robin Williams (Hook was a comedy). Tim Robbins.

It's incredible. It's maybe Ross' best artwork, and Busiek is like an encyclopedia when it comes to continuity. Something like Marvels would be impossible to set in the present day, since editors no longer feel the need to explain what order what story comes in or how Wolverine can possibly be everywhere at once.

If you like Marvels, you should check out Astro City, Busiek's creator-owned series. It's about a city that's had superheroes for about a hundred years, but since there aren't market forces keeping characters de-aged (and re-singled), it results in some really interesting stories. There's a lot of character driven, "what's it like to live surrounded by superheroes" type stuff that reminded me of Marvels.

I really wish Busiek wasn't working for a company I don't care about writing for a character I don't care about.

Also, reading silver Age Avengers stories tells me you guys shouldn't even be talking about Zemo in your little time warp club. The original was dead just before the cooky quartet, and the second one doesn't show up until the 80's.

Speaking of, I just read an old trade of Avengers: Under Siege, and it was outstanding. Zemo rounds up just about every villain he can find: Fixer, Screaming Mimi, Moonstone, Goliath (looking familiar yet?), the girl Yellowjacket, Grey Gargoyle, the Absorbing Man and Titania, the entire Wrecking Crew, Tiger Shark, Whirlwind, and Mr. Hyde, takes over Avengers Mansion, and then destroys Captain America's keepsakes before letting Hyde just about beat Jarvis to death. It's not as impressive now, but at the time it had to be a huge deal. What I especially like about it is that even when the Avengers are down to Wasp and Scott Lang, they don't give up and eventually take back the mansion in a pretty sweet extended fight.

It makes me really ants-y for someone other than Bendis to write an Avengers book.

He got the Penguin name from being picked on as a kid for being a short fat kid with a long nose. He's also one of the only Batman villains around that isn't insane. I can't see the character as he appears in the comics be anything other than a cameo; you could have somebody run the Iceberg Lounge that is short and fat and a criminal middle-man, but building a film around it? I don't see it.

6.5 out of 10? Gilbert Grape's amazing! It deserves to be at least a full point better than Freddy's Dead, which didn't even turn out to be the final nightmare. I haven't seen it in awhile, but I remember it was about dealing with too much responsibility as a teenager. Between his obscenely fat mother and his retarded brother, he had to pretty much sacrifice his own life, and he ends up learning how stupid that is.

So I watched Memento, here's a couple thoughts. For one, I want to make sure I got the jist of the movie right, I was good until the end when things got whacky, and my DVD player gets shit after it's been running for a while and stutters and pauses and shit, it's fucking horrible, so here's what I gathered:

Spoiler: Click here to view

So really, the whole movie he was being set up. Killing Teddy was a mistake as he was really a friend in some respect. He had already killed the real murderer before, and Teddy was using him to give him somethign to live for and benefit off him, correct? Also, the thing with his wife (great little cameo from CSI girl Jorja Fox, or role what have you), what the fuck with the insulin? So his story about Sammy Jankis was his story? Was there a Sammy Perkis and a whole insulin situation? I'm confused because he tells the story as part of his life before the brain disorder, so why would he have it confused with his own life if he can recall everything before the night of the attack? That's really what got me. It was that scene where he just kills that guy and Teddy shows up revealing all this I got a bit confused, so do I got it right?

Other then my slight confusion though, fan-fucking-tastic movie. I love movies such as this, thinkers, mysteries, etc.. I knew it'd be good because Chris Nolan is a great director and writer, but I was thoroughly impressed. It was a thriller, it was smart, well directed, genius and even funny when it needed to be. I loved such parts as (Pearce) "It can't be mine, I'm assuming they don't let guys like me carry these around...(walks off)" (Teddy)"I fucking hope not..." Or when he finds out who he think John G is and he just looks at the picture, "I found you, you're fucking dead now" Great movie overall, and great showing by Pearce.

I'm convinced now too more then ever that Pearce should be given the role of the Riddler (if there is one) and if they're smart and wait to reprise the Joker in a fourth installment, that job should be left to Depp. I think he could handle giving some honor to Heath's role rather then making a better off Riddler. I think Pearce could do that just fine. Plus it will stay somewhat in the mindset of using lesser known actors to shine on a big stage and awe us all. Plus I think Depp overall would be better suited to play the Joker.

That was my thoughts, now I'm gonna go watch Almost Famous and take another crack at Memento once I find a DVD player that isn't total shit.

If you were here quick enough you'd know why I edited.

I missed this earlier, but as a huge Memento fan, I thought I'd comment.

Maybe it's because everything he's ever done for Marvel has been total shit, and I've always been a marvel zombie, but Loeb is probably the most over-rated writer not named Grant Morrison. He can tell "iconic" stories decently enough, but anything he's done in the past ten years has looked more outdated than Chris Claremont and John Byrne, which is really saying something.

The Long Halloween is the best damn comic I've ever read. It's BRILLIANT.

I'm halfway through The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and I'm enjoying it a lot. Just finished Marvel Civil War: X-Men, and I was distinctly underwhelmed. I enjoyed the standalone Civil War book, but the X-Men one was just....... meh. I wanted to collect the set (for no other reason than I'm a completist, and the set'll look good on my shelf), but I'm having second thoughts now, unless Spider-Man and Iron Man can redeem the series.

If you like LXG, definitely check out Moore's Top Ten. It's a gritty cop drama in a city full of superheroes. It's hilarious, full of memorable characters, and has some amazing art.

Edit: but don't worry about the prequels, sequels, and character spin-offs, as most aren't done by Moore, and tend to be pretty bland.

An R-Rating on a comedy almost always means lazy vulgarity in place of intelligent writing.

I really hope you're limiting yourself to the parody and slapstick genre here, as any list of all-time great comedies is going to have a bunch that are R rated. If a comedy isn't pushing the limits of tastes and decency, it's often some lame-ass "date" movie.

This week I picked up She-Hulk, Avengers, the Initiative, and Nova, among other things, and I have to say, this whole Invasion is making for some fun reading. I think the set up has been mediocre and I won't touch the Avengers titles until they're done filling in narrative gaps, but when it's just good guys fighting bad guys, absent any heavy-handed philosophical bullshit, it's great fun.

It's a real shame that Nova is considered a sci-fi comic, because it has consistently been better than about 95% of comics Marvel puts out, but is only doing okay in terms of sales.

Disaster Movie comes from the same people that directed Date Movie, Epic Movie, and Meet the Spartans. They were also some of the writers for the Scary Movie series, which started out as a Wayans project, before the second two were directed by David Zucker (from Airplane and the Naked Gun).

Since Epic Movie, Date Movie, and Meet the Spartans are the worst things ever to be put on film- plotless, sub-Mad TV humor that you pay to watch- they make stuff like Not Another Teen Movie look like Shakespeare.

Since others have mentioned PBS, if I happen across Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, I find that I am physically incapable of changing the channel.

And the only thing I remember about Thomas the Tank engine is that George Carlin was there for some reason.

Freakazoid was awesome and should of got a 2nd season !

Freakazoid did have a second season...

A lot of the stuff I still remember fondly have already been mentioned- Animaniacs, Freakazoid, Batman TAS, and pretty much all of that warner bros. stuff from when they were going all out with studio orchestras and humor for people that weren't idiots. Batman Beyond was pretty much the last WB show I watched, and I loved that one, too.

Also, Disney's late 90's animated stuff like Recess and Fillmore were great shows. I also liked the Weekenders and House of Mouse. I can't stand watching sit-coms that look like they should've been on TGIF 15 years ago, though. I also liked Disney's early 90's cartoon lineup, especially Darkwing Duck and Ducktales. I'm not sure where it fits into everything, but I also loved Gargoyles.

I also liked Cartoon Network's early stuff, especially Powerpuff Girls.

Something I thought about recently is that people younger than me, that grew up in an era where there was enough original cartoons that they didn't always show old, classic stuff. I mean, I grew up in the late 80's and early 90's and I remember watching Looney Tunes, Woody Woodpecker, Scooby Doo, Disney cartoons that actually featured characters like Donald Duck and Goofy and Micky Mouse. Even the shit like Popeye or the creepy acid trip stuff like Betty Boop and early Disney is going to be completely unknown outside of college courses in communications departments. I think that's a real shame, as not only are people missing some great cartoons, there's huge amounts of references to classic Looney Tunes stuff that today's children won't get. Plus, those cartoons are still funny.

American History X is the first movie I came across in the top 50 that had no business being there. Although I second the motion that Return of the King had no place at the very top of the list.

It's "emo" to be depressed when you accidentally murder the woman you're in love with? Wow. Under what circumstance is it socially acceptable for a man to show some emotion?

Maybe if a dog bit your testicles or someone drove a nail through some extremity. Maybe.

I don't think it re-invents the wheel, but unentertaining?

The whole thing is predicated on a few things: first, Dr. Horrible wants the girl, but he thinks he wants to be a great supervillain. So you're right, he's a lousy villain. Second, Dr. Horrible is given characteristics that's supposed to help the audience associate with Horrible; this creates a pretty obvious nerd/jock dynamic where Dr. Horrible is just getting picked on ("Captain Hammer separated my shoulder. AGAIN.") by a bullying 'hero' who is really superficial and idiotic. Finally, the story is told through a wealth of cliches because a) it's a musical, and b) it's a parody of the classic "too shy to talk to her" genre, only with freeze rays and singing and such.

And come on, no good jokes? How about "these are not 'the hammer,'" or "dude, you are not. My nemesis." Or how about Captain Hammer's speech to the homeless?

Oh, and the point of Moist was worldbuilding. He's there so we can see that the society in 'Dr. Horrible' has a bunch of supervillains of varying degrees. Beyond having amusingly useless powers, he delivers the letter from Bad Horse, and casually mentions about three other villains with names like "Bait and Switch" and whoever it was that said some president was coming from Iowa so that we know that Dr. Horrible isn't an isolated nutjob, but a low level villain (he's friends with a guy who makes things damp) who wants to be a big, important villain. At least, that's what he thinks he wants.

NPH's "Brand New Day" song has been in my head all freaking day.

The ending is a mixed bag, but I love the goofy evil league of evil and the revelation concerning Bad Horse. It's a good thing Dr. Horrible doesn't have to be his mare! (insert NPH sexuality joke here)

Oh man I love Rorschach! This movie could be complete and utter dogshit, but if they have even 50% of the completely nuts, over-the-top shit Rorschach does on a regular basis, this movie will be outstanding.

"What do you see?"

"Dog. Dog with head split in half."

"And, uh, what do you think split the dog's head. In half?"

"I did."

I've seen worse lists, but anyone who lists American History X as a favorite movie is either someone I don't want to talk to (for one reason or another) or was just mesmerized by Edward Norton's sexiness. It's a great performance, but the film is a mess that the director lost control of, and has some of the most contrived, after-school special moments around. God, that basketball scene? Such shit.

Where's the love for Memento or Chinatown? The Big Lebowski and Fargo and the rest of the Coen's amazing body of work?

Here's just a few of my favorites:

Spacey at his best

Sometimes there's a man...

You said it man...

The best movie of '06

Not this door!

PS- to the guy that loved Hostel- Eli Roth directed it, QT only produced it.

1. Pulp Fiction vs One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

-Not a QT fan, even if this is his best

2. Psycho vs 12 Angry Men

-close call, as both are all-time classics

3. Godfather vs Silence Of The Lambs

-not a close call

4. Raiders Of The Lost Ark vs Citizen Kane

-Kane's just too good and too important

5. Empire Strikes Back vs City Of God

-I wish I could vote for neither of these films, because they don't belong here. I want to write in Chinatown or Easy Rider

6. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly vs Seven Samurai

-Kurosawa gets all the originality points, but you've got to love GBU

7. Shawshank Redemption vs Fight Club

-neither of these movies are as good as people seem to believe. Shawshank is boringly shot and relies too much on the story, while Fight Club's story just loses its own structure after the first hour or so.

8. Godfather II vs Schindler's List

- this one's a close call

OH PLEASE!!

Booker T has always spoke in that dialect. It's not like he's every been entirely eloquent with his speech. He's always had that "From The Streets" dialect. It hasn't changed here. And where do you get that he's playing a heel side kick? He's simply helping Angle get one over on Edge. They're not "together"....sometimes I think people don't even read half the stuff going on here.

This one confuses me, what is so risque about Booker's gimmick thus far? He's been paired with Angle, and they play off of each other's personalities, and his dialogue hasn't been filled with profanity...