Random Tabs (Hellweek '08 Interlude)
There will be more of a progress report on my Hellweek later today. I did get up at 4 am this morning to knock some more words out, so I can assure you, there was progress. But I thought I'd post some a bunch of different things I haven't covered yet that I've been meaning to. All of which have to do with fandom, including ComicCon, Hellboy II, X-Files: I Want To Believe, and U2. And, yes, this is officially WAY TOO LONG.
First, I'm not going to ComicCon this year. I'd planned on it earlier, but I got very annoyed when the days were all selling out, and the schedule hadn't been posted. I didn't want to pay that much for a question mark and a tank of gas, so I decided to put it off next year. Sounds like there's loads of cool stuff this time around, though.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army Review
I am a HUGE Hellboy fan. Mike Mignola's comic for me is one of those unique pieces of fiction that has a tone all of it's own. Is it horror? Is it fantasy? Is it comedy? Yes, yes, and yes, and I love him for it (also for the way he draws, or used to draw it). I also dig Guillermo Del Toro's work quite a bit, especially his smaller budget stuff.
I thought the first movie was fun. It wasn't the comic I loved, but it was a nice nod to it. I was stoked the whole Nazi thing was at the beginning, and that Ron Perlman seemed so able to capture the spirit of Hellboy. I didn't mind the romance that was non-existent in the comic, or the studio-mandated Agent Myers. I was just happy to see something resembling a Hellboy movie on the screen. That said, it obviously didn't meet my high hopes for what it could've been. It looked shinier, more like the X-Men movies, than what Hellboy looked like in my mind (more blurred around the edges, and a bit murky).
When I heard Del Toro was making a new movie, I was shocked and excited. He was coming off Pan's Labyrinth, and he had a studio really backing him and trusting him this time, not telling him to add characters they thought the audience would be able to relate to. When my father-in-law suggested taking me to it, I was stoked. I was pretty sure this new Hellboy movie was going to be completely different than the first.
The truth is, it's not. I like it's quite a bit better than the first one to an extent. It's certainly more dazzling, and you can tell Del Toro's blinders were removed (witness Troll Market). There's tons of eye candy, and no, I'm not talking about Selma Blair. The costumes, sets, make-up, monsters, etc. are all AMAZING. At times, I was pretty sure I was seeing London Below from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, somehow transposed in a Hellboy movie (oooo, fanfic!) and it made me almost wish Del Toro was directing Neverwhere next (but I'll take the Hobbit 1 & 2, and then preferarbly Hellboy III).
The humor and character chemistry is easily better in this movie. Hellboy and Abe Sapien have a hilarious drinking, sing-along scene. And there's a great scene between BPRD's newest agent Johann Krauss (who is quite literally a gas bag) and Hellboy facing each other down. (Please, God, if they make Hellboy III, give us Lobster Johnson, preferably as played by Bruce Campbell).
Also, the bad guy in this movie is a rogue elf prince, who is actually played pretty well, and is somewhat more sympathetic than the villain's from the last movie. However, there aren't any evil Nazi magicians, which is kind of a downer.
Despite the pretty fun characters and characterization, the plot is less than spectacular.
But for all the good stuff, it feels very much like the first one did. I'm not sure if it's the afforementioned shiny-hue that permeates the movie, but it just wasn't as much of a reinvention of the filed down horns as reviews and other people's opinions had left me to believe, declaring this was a movie where comic books had it's coming of age. Like I said, for me, it wasn't.
There was something missing for me, however, something similar that was missing for me in the first film that I can't quite place my finger on. Still, it is beautifully directed and loads of fun and is worth checking out.
X-Files: I Want To Believe
Speaking of movies, The X-Files: I Want to Believe is coming out this weekend and I'm terrified by the poor word of mouth thus far. Really, I WANT to believe, and I want to see another X-Files movie after this one (which I'll hopefully see in the theaters this weekend. But wow, even with the first guy being an idiot and saying the X-Files was always camp, the reviews, they scare me.
U2 is Going For Some Kind of Record(s)
I'm a bit weirded out by U2 releasing a slew of their albums, albeit digitally remastered. Earlier this year, they rereleased the Joshua Tree. This week, they hit with a triple threat of rereleases of their earliest stuff: Boy, October, and War. I suppose the somewhat saving grace of it is that buyers get a ton of B-sides with each album. I think for the most part, the B-sides are what I'll be buying. I just don't feel like dropping nearly $80 on albums I already own.
That said, this week U2 also released a concert album "Live in Paris" that they did in 1987. U2 fans who have felt let down ever since the Joshua Tree need to get on this. Joshua Tree isn't my favorite album, but it's a great one, and this live album has some old favorites on it with a new spin. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" cuts into Bob Marley's "Exodus" toward the end, there's an almost 10 minute version of "With Or Without You," and the Doors' "Break On Through" busts open "The Electric Co," just to name a few. It's also fun to hear Bono talking from yesteryear. He was different back then, then again, he was the same. Worth checking out, for sure.
And I'm officially getting bouncy about the new album. Damn them.