(no subject)
Oh Rescue Me.
"I got a girl. She's in a wheelchair, but she has the sweetest ass."
"How can you tell?"
"Sometimes I stand her up."
AND
*spritz*
"Hey!"
"¥ou had a little like, baby thing on you. *waves hand in front of nose* And anyway it's Curious, by Britney Spears."
"Yeah, well. Mystery's over. She's a whore."
A couple of episodes are available on Showcase's site. I don't exactly know how to write a plug for this show, because I think that by now most interested parties are already watching. And (though I understand it not!) some of those (weird) non-watchers must have been put off by the violence, nudity and course language. (Weirdos).
So - Dennis Leary, people. Dennis Leary as a post-9/11 traumatized, alcoholic firefighter. Everything about this show is quintessential Leary, from the blisteringly vicious humor to the constant, roiling emotional violence that underlies everything, and often literally, physically explodes onto the screen. The most recent episode tackled euthanasia, man-dating, gay marriage, father-daughter feuding and suicide. While the storylines can reach almost absurdist heights, the show retains a such a high degree of emotional realism that it continues to be bitingly relevant.
And just come the fuck on - people! Dennis Fucking Leary.
Love.
***
Speaking of love - is it wrong to want to marry a teaser trailer of a superhero movie? Because I more than kind of want to. I've been excited about the upcoming Iron Man movie since it's been announced but the state of comic book movies being what it is (oh Sam Raimi - why!?!), my excitement was tempered by uh, about a metric tonne of doubt.
Since seeing the footage from Comic Con (since removed from YouTube) and this new teaser, my cautiously optimistic excitement has morphed into holyshitIthinkIwetmyself-fangirl!excitement. Much to my embarrassment. But this movie is going to be FUN, which is more than can be said for Spiderman 3, Superman Returns, X3 or *choke* Ghost Rider. It's going to be fun because Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr understand the character and the story they're telling. Because they're interested in telling an emotionally and politically relevant story, one that appeals to kids (because there's freakin wicked flying robots and shit) and grownups (because there's freakin wicked flying robots and shit, amongst other things).
Watch the trailer - RDJ nails it. It's not a Tony Stark to end all Tony Starks but it's a damn good interpretation of my favourite alcoholic, womanizing, arms dealing genius, and one that has the potential to be very successful with audiences right now. It's funny, it's topical and it's damn pretty.
Marvel made the right choice, starting out with Iron Man as their first picture. The potential for big big office and serious reputation building in terms of production values and ability to attract talent is there, along with the obvious, and important franchise possibilities. Iron Man is nowhwere near as recognizable a character as Spiderman or the X-Men, but we're not talking Hell Boy. And the concept requires such a minimal suspension of disbelief that it's downright accessible. Engineering genius dude builds some awesome armor and eventually, after some soul searching, uses it to fight evil. Done. The science fiction elements also make it an easy sell, and the fact that it's basically a story about a guy and the best (flying) car (with energy weapons) ever, makes it less embarrassing for non-fen to appreciate.
And importantly, Tony Stark is such a complete guy's guy. He's the kind of guy that other guys have man-crushes on, and also the kind of guy they desperately hope will never, ever meet their girlfriends. He's the kind of guy that sells tickets.
***
So I finally picked up Iron Man #21. I was spoiled for it, because spoilers are so utterly ubiquitous these days, but it was still a solid read. I particularly liked this image:
This is a ghostly Captain American that visits Tony in a dream. He has an almost circuit-like webbing of veins across his face and his neck is marred by a never-healed wound. The right side of his face is in shadow and the left is a muddy grey. One shining, glassy blue eye stares at Tony.
Context: Tony's working on deciphering some script, trying to figure out it's significance. Cap shows up in his dream, they fight. Cap subdues Tony, then pushes back his mask and asks him to listen. He gives Tony the answer.
I like that dream Cap seems to represent all of Tony's conflicted feelings toward Cap - hostility, anger, guilt, respect, regret, admiration and love. I like that we get a sense of how important he continues to be to Tony, and how Tony continues to rely on the idea of him. I also like that De Le Torre and the Knaufs are unafraid of the potential for a homoerotic reading of that sequence. ;-)
The rest of the book continues to explore the question of "Who's behind the machine?" as one character puts it. Who's behind the terrorist organization? Who's behind the political machine that put Tony into SHIELD and the SHRA into action? Who's behind the armor? There's a nice Ghost in the Shell quality to this very thoughtful issue.
Anyway, this wants to turn into a post about identity and technology, but I want to go to bed, so I'm calling this post.
Expired. Natural causes. 2:19 AM. God rest ye.
"I got a girl. She's in a wheelchair, but she has the sweetest ass."
"How can you tell?"
"Sometimes I stand her up."
AND
*spritz*
"Hey!"
"¥ou had a little like, baby thing on you. *waves hand in front of nose* And anyway it's Curious, by Britney Spears."
"Yeah, well. Mystery's over. She's a whore."
A couple of episodes are available on Showcase's site. I don't exactly know how to write a plug for this show, because I think that by now most interested parties are already watching. And (though I understand it not!) some of those (weird) non-watchers must have been put off by the violence, nudity and course language. (Weirdos).
So - Dennis Leary, people. Dennis Leary as a post-9/11 traumatized, alcoholic firefighter. Everything about this show is quintessential Leary, from the blisteringly vicious humor to the constant, roiling emotional violence that underlies everything, and often literally, physically explodes onto the screen. The most recent episode tackled euthanasia, man-dating, gay marriage, father-daughter feuding and suicide. While the storylines can reach almost absurdist heights, the show retains a such a high degree of emotional realism that it continues to be bitingly relevant.
And just come the fuck on - people! Dennis Fucking Leary.
Love.
***
Speaking of love - is it wrong to want to marry a teaser trailer of a superhero movie? Because I more than kind of want to. I've been excited about the upcoming Iron Man movie since it's been announced but the state of comic book movies being what it is (oh Sam Raimi - why!?!), my excitement was tempered by uh, about a metric tonne of doubt.
Since seeing the footage from Comic Con (since removed from YouTube) and this new teaser, my cautiously optimistic excitement has morphed into holyshitIthinkIwetmyself-fangirl!excitement. Much to my embarrassment. But this movie is going to be FUN, which is more than can be said for Spiderman 3, Superman Returns, X3 or *choke* Ghost Rider. It's going to be fun because Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr understand the character and the story they're telling. Because they're interested in telling an emotionally and politically relevant story, one that appeals to kids (because there's freakin wicked flying robots and shit) and grownups (because there's freakin wicked flying robots and shit, amongst other things).
Watch the trailer - RDJ nails it. It's not a Tony Stark to end all Tony Starks but it's a damn good interpretation of my favourite alcoholic, womanizing, arms dealing genius, and one that has the potential to be very successful with audiences right now. It's funny, it's topical and it's damn pretty.
Marvel made the right choice, starting out with Iron Man as their first picture. The potential for big big office and serious reputation building in terms of production values and ability to attract talent is there, along with the obvious, and important franchise possibilities. Iron Man is nowhwere near as recognizable a character as Spiderman or the X-Men, but we're not talking Hell Boy. And the concept requires such a minimal suspension of disbelief that it's downright accessible. Engineering genius dude builds some awesome armor and eventually, after some soul searching, uses it to fight evil. Done. The science fiction elements also make it an easy sell, and the fact that it's basically a story about a guy and the best (flying) car (with energy weapons) ever, makes it less embarrassing for non-fen to appreciate.
And importantly, Tony Stark is such a complete guy's guy. He's the kind of guy that other guys have man-crushes on, and also the kind of guy they desperately hope will never, ever meet their girlfriends. He's the kind of guy that sells tickets.
***
So I finally picked up Iron Man #21. I was spoiled for it, because spoilers are so utterly ubiquitous these days, but it was still a solid read. I particularly liked this image:
This is a ghostly Captain American that visits Tony in a dream. He has an almost circuit-like webbing of veins across his face and his neck is marred by a never-healed wound. The right side of his face is in shadow and the left is a muddy grey. One shining, glassy blue eye stares at Tony.
Context: Tony's working on deciphering some script, trying to figure out it's significance. Cap shows up in his dream, they fight. Cap subdues Tony, then pushes back his mask and asks him to listen. He gives Tony the answer.
I like that dream Cap seems to represent all of Tony's conflicted feelings toward Cap - hostility, anger, guilt, respect, regret, admiration and love. I like that we get a sense of how important he continues to be to Tony, and how Tony continues to rely on the idea of him. I also like that De Le Torre and the Knaufs are unafraid of the potential for a homoerotic reading of that sequence. ;-)
The rest of the book continues to explore the question of "Who's behind the machine?" as one character puts it. Who's behind the terrorist organization? Who's behind the political machine that put Tony into SHIELD and the SHRA into action? Who's behind the armor? There's a nice Ghost in the Shell quality to this very thoughtful issue.
Anyway, this wants to turn into a post about identity and technology, but I want to go to bed, so I'm calling this post.
Expired. Natural causes. 2:19 AM. God rest ye.