Real Life Transformers?

This somewhat old YouTube video features guys who are a little cool and a whole lot of incredibly depressing. The craftsmanship in these costumes are commendable. Yet, every time I see this video, I imagine that immortal saying from the Simpsons’ Comic Book Buy: “Ooooh, I wasted my life.”

Transformers (1986) vs. Transformers (2007)

One will stand, one will fall.

So which Transformers movie is better? Let’s take a look at these two legendary motion pictures. The following is spoileriffic.

Metapost: Thanks

I just wanted to extend a thanks to xerexes of the  comixtalk.com site.  Apparently, the Perry Bible Fellowship review on this site was featured on the “What’s on My Computer Screen Monday Morning” article.  Thanks for the shout-out!  The least I can do is to reciprocate, and hopefully my dozens and dozens of blog readers check out your site.  Thanks!

Also, thanks to all the joshreads.com regulars who stopped by to check out The Shocker post.  I only put that up to try to explain the lewd references everyone in the Comments board was alluding to.  If I ended up corrupting any innocent minds in the process, then I humbly apologize. 🙂

Making sense of Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility

I am no big fan of Ang Lee. I have seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and I have seen bits and pieces of The Hulk. And I can tell you that the man loves his melodrama with a capital M. He loves it so much that he goes way overboard toward self-important, cheesy, and intolerable. I’m talking about scenes like where Ziyi Zhang throws herself off a bridge to dramatically (and unnecessarily) sacrifice herself for her sins. I’m talking about the ultra-confusing scene at the end of The Hulk where the big green guy dispenses of his energy cloud dad by having him absorb all of his built-up angst. To me, both scenes seemed like over-wrought emo fantasies, the once where, rather than really owning up to consequences with nobility and courage, the main character takes the course of action that amounts to wallowing in self-pity.

(Note: I haven’t commented on Brokeback Mountain because I haven’t seen it yet. Partly, this is because of my reservations with Mr. Lee due to his direction in the last two movies. Also, partly because I understand it has a downer of an ending, and that’s not something that makes me want to drag my lazy butt to the video store to check it out.)

However, I will give him mad props for one movie: Sense and Sensibility.

At face value, it doesn’t make sense: the male, Taiwanese-born Ang Lee directing a movie adapted from a novel written by a highly regarded, early-19th Century female English author? You can’t get a more divergent set of perspectives, can you?

Ultimate Blade Runner

Somehow I missed this announcement last week, but this has to be the most exciting thing to come out in years: the original 1982 cut of “Blade Runner” will finally be released! I don’t know about you, but I actually prefer the noirish version with the Harrison Ford voice-overs to the unicorn-fueled Ridley Scott’s Director’s Cut that’s currently the only version available on DVD. (My main problem? The pacings way too glacial.) And I’ve encountered many folk who liked the Director’s Cut, but also want to see the theatrical version. But it looks like Ridley Scott is following in George Lucas’ footsteps and is acknowledging that there’s a market for the movies we fell in love with as they existed in their original form!

It’s coming bundled with a couple of special edition packages. The first is a five-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition that comes in a nifty briefcase-shaped box. The downside (and a relatively huge downside for me): the price. It weighs in at a whopping $55, and that’s with the Amazon.com discount.

I’ll be picking up the relatively cheaper 4-disc Collector’s Edition set, which doesn’t include the Briefcase motif or the fifth disc, something called a “WORKPRINT VERSION” of the film that is yet another version of the movie. (No Deckard narration, unicorns, or happy ending.) Since I wanted to mainly get the Ford narration, I can live without it. And it’s only $25 at Amazon.com! Yeah!

I remember days past when I’d fruitlessly surf the net to look for the original version, or when I’d always check the TV listings to see when “Blade Runner” was on, so this news is an absolute godsend.

The Shocker!

So, this Sunday’s “Spider-Man” strip features of the appearance of the villian known as “The Shocker.”

So who, exactly, is The Shocker? Well, there are two general definitions. Examine this panel of The Punisher War Journal and you can see two Shockers: