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Movie/Comic Book Recs, 11/01/09
Sunday, November 1st, 2009 07:15 pmIn Comics:
Powers: Roleplay & Little Deaths (Volumes 2/3), Brian Michael Bendis, words & Michael Oeming, pictures: The stories continue to unfold compactly and nicely in the Powers universe. These next two installments feel a lot like Law & Order meets Smallville, with a dash of 1984 to heighten the tension. I really like the way that Bendis and Oeming employ different modes of storytelling, especially in the forms these stories take; an interview in Powers/People magazine, for example, or a coloring book for kids ("A friend developing Powers? Dial 911!"), or the transcript of a trial with courtroom illustrations. Deena Pilgrim continues to rock the world, although I would really like to see her be the main character. Art-wise, I love Oeming's stark coloring choices and dynamic layout, but I'm curious how the story would read if the art were rendered more photo-realistically. Still, definitely looking forward to the next books.
In Movies:
The Invention of Lying: In some ways, the world this movie presents the viewer with is the most depressing world-view ever seen. No one lies; as the opening narration explains, "it's just not in their nature." What this means is that there's no fiction, no stories (other than history) and people who aren't the most beautiful are treated like (and called) losers no matter what other good qualities they may have. OTOH, this makes for hilarious commercials like, "We hope you continue to buy Coke. It's just brown-sugar water and we really haven't changed anything. Oh wait, we put a polar bear on the can. That's cute, that's for kids. Kids like bears, right? Anyway, my name is Bob and I work for Coke. Please continue to buy Coke. Oh, that's too sweet." (And the rebuttal on a bus ad: "Pepsi: For when you don't have Coke.") Movies aren't movies; they're lectures about history read by people with dramatic-sounding voices. This universe bears some serious (but depressing) exploration, and unfortunately, that exploration is cut short by the romantic comedy portion of the narrative, wherein Ricky Gervais (playing the only man who can lie) falls in love with Jennifer Garner (playing a puffy-lipped, shallow beauty). This is actually a pretty sweet romance, since Gervais' character is a fundamentally decent guy who strives to show his lady-love that maybe (just maybe) judging people solely on their appearances leads to unhappiness for all involved. Still, I wish we could have seen more of this crazy universe where everyone was brutally honest all the time. For a world with this problem, people seemed very peaceable and resigned. I honestly thought there would be more fist-fights going on in the background.
Powers: Roleplay & Little Deaths (Volumes 2/3), Brian Michael Bendis, words & Michael Oeming, pictures: The stories continue to unfold compactly and nicely in the Powers universe. These next two installments feel a lot like Law & Order meets Smallville, with a dash of 1984 to heighten the tension. I really like the way that Bendis and Oeming employ different modes of storytelling, especially in the forms these stories take; an interview in Powers/People magazine, for example, or a coloring book for kids ("A friend developing Powers? Dial 911!"), or the transcript of a trial with courtroom illustrations. Deena Pilgrim continues to rock the world, although I would really like to see her be the main character. Art-wise, I love Oeming's stark coloring choices and dynamic layout, but I'm curious how the story would read if the art were rendered more photo-realistically. Still, definitely looking forward to the next books.
In Movies:
The Invention of Lying: In some ways, the world this movie presents the viewer with is the most depressing world-view ever seen. No one lies; as the opening narration explains, "it's just not in their nature." What this means is that there's no fiction, no stories (other than history) and people who aren't the most beautiful are treated like (and called) losers no matter what other good qualities they may have. OTOH, this makes for hilarious commercials like, "We hope you continue to buy Coke. It's just brown-sugar water and we really haven't changed anything. Oh wait, we put a polar bear on the can. That's cute, that's for kids. Kids like bears, right? Anyway, my name is Bob and I work for Coke. Please continue to buy Coke. Oh, that's too sweet." (And the rebuttal on a bus ad: "Pepsi: For when you don't have Coke.") Movies aren't movies; they're lectures about history read by people with dramatic-sounding voices. This universe bears some serious (but depressing) exploration, and unfortunately, that exploration is cut short by the romantic comedy portion of the narrative, wherein Ricky Gervais (playing the only man who can lie) falls in love with Jennifer Garner (playing a puffy-lipped, shallow beauty). This is actually a pretty sweet romance, since Gervais' character is a fundamentally decent guy who strives to show his lady-love that maybe (just maybe) judging people solely on their appearances leads to unhappiness for all involved. Still, I wish we could have seen more of this crazy universe where everyone was brutally honest all the time. For a world with this problem, people seemed very peaceable and resigned. I honestly thought there would be more fist-fights going on in the background.
