STAN LEE and JACK KIRBY Return to Marvel With SIEGE!

I just received this in my inbox from an anonymous source. It's origins remain unknown.

Apparently, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby took a whack at the Siege storyline back in the sixties.

'Nuff said!

Happy New Year!

Cool Crap Five Year In Review

2008 was a rough year.

A lot of personal trials and tribulations hit me that year, but 2009 was pretty damn good to yours truly.

We got a nice house. We got a nice dog. My home business did better this year than last year and looks like it’ll do even better in 2010. I’ve got a lot to be thankful for, and while things like dealing with a mortgage and trying to drum up even more business to pay the bills (everything costs more now, doesn’t it?) will present exciting, scary new challenges, I’m pretty optimistic for the year to come.

And as a geek, 2009 was pretty sweet.

What were the cool things in 2009?


Well, there were certainly more than five. Fortunately, for the purposes of this column, all I need to present are a personal five things that made the geek facets of my life so sweet this year.

Some of this may be old news, but it’s a year in review.

So without further ado...

Movies
Star Trek
I was very worried that this might suck. I mean, come on... an odd-numbered movie, and ST: Nemesis was such a dud. But then again... it’s the handiwork of JJ Abrams, the guy who’s been jerking me around with Lost--so could it be bad?

Turns out my fears were for naught. A lot of great movies came out in 2009, but if I had to pick the most relevant for geeks--it would be the Star Trek movie reboot.

My biggest concern, I think, was that Abrams would somehow disenfranchise over 40 years of Trek canon and fandom. The Star Trek franchise is one of those few examples of a universe in which the fans really did have an effect on how the universe developed. Was that all going out the window? Were those millions of pages of Trek fiction and fan memorabilia be destined for the dust bin?

Nah. The alternate timeline thing kept all the wonderful Trek lore intact, while opening up exciting new roads for future lore. Brilliant work.

As for the movie itself, the casting was excellent. The overall look of the new Star Trek universe is sleek and bright--modern without looking too contrived. Even the shaky camera and lens flares works.

Well done, guys.

Now keep it up. You’re got our attention now.


Comics
Girl Genius

This was the year I really embraced Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio. I’d been a longtime Foglio fan, but had yet to invest in reading through the archive of Girl Genius comics at GirlGenius.com. I rue (rue!) having waited so long.

I’ve seen a lot of steampunk stories over the years, but nothing comes close to this series as far as capturing the more fun aspects of the genre. The writing and art are outstanding, with brilliant, vibrant use of color. The characters are engaging and the plot, while convoluted, is extremely well thought out and managed. There are laughs. Lots of laughs.

And a lot of edge-of-the-seat action.

Science!

Really, if you’ve not checked this out (and I know I’ve mentioned this comic before, so you have no real excuse now), you must run to your computer and visit the Girl Genius website. You can read them all for free, then go and order the dead-tree editions.

You won’t be sorry.

Science!

Books
Douglas Coupland
Regular readers are going to be familiar with this name. One of the first books I reviewed here was Coupland’s J-Pod about five tech loonies at a software company. I followed that up with reviews of The Gum Thief, Eleanor Rigby, Microserfs, and All Families Are Psychotic. As far as single authors go, I’ve read more by Coupland this year than anyone else.

Why do I find his work so fascinating?

I’m usually a science fiction kind of guy, but I also get into modern literature--often with a post-mostern bent, and Coupland really is a master of that style. There is a certain transgressiveness about many of the plots, and the characters speak to you directly. I know at first glance this sounds like it could be annoying, but that’s the trick. Coupland makes it work. You enjoy the style rather than be distracted or annoyed with it.

From the guy who first coined the term “Generation X”, his writing speaks to me on a personal level, and I think you folks out there in the same age and economic bracket as myself will also identify with Coupland’s worlds and characters.

What have you go to lose?

(Bonus: Visit this site for some modern handicrafts by Coupland.)


Food
Double Chocolate Brownie mix by Ghirardelli
As a guy who likes to cook, I’ve made some fun dishes this past year. My apple cobbler recipe and clamcake recipe are hits with friends and relatives. I tried a special version of chicken marsala recently that came out quite excellent. But in the area of easy-to-make comfort foods...where last year it was Trader Joe’s cornbread mix, this year it seems to be the Double Chocolate Brownie mix from Ghirardelli. It’s easy to make... 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, one egg, and mix. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Best brownies ever. Loaded with chocolate chips, and rich brownie-cake. They taste like something you might have made from scratch. I won’t tell if you try to pass them off as such.

And if you’re cooking for someone with a dairy allergy, no problem. It’s dairy-free.

Don’t disdain those handy boxed mixed on the supermarket shelves. Some are quite good, and comfort food should also be comfortable to make.

Try this brownie mix. Cheap, and available in most major supermarkets.


Television
The Venture Bros.
There were a lot of shows I’ve watched this year--some old and some new--which got my attention: Dexter, Dinner For Five, Lost, The Henry Rollins Show, etc., but the one show that I anticipated the return of most was the current season of The Venture Bros. and I was not disappointed. The stories moved more forward than they did in season three which seemed to focus a lot on the past. There have been some changes to the Venture-verse with Sgt. Hatred’s new role in the Venture family, and Brock Sampson’s time in S.P.H.I.N.X....but what changes more yet to come? Only half the season was broadcast in 2009. The rest of the new episodes won’t rear their heads until summer.

Still, Venture Bros remains one of my all-time favorite shows, and even eight new episodes this year are still cause for celebration. Great artwork. Superb voice acting. This is Adult Swim’s greatest triumph.


And that’s my Cool Crap Five Faves of 2009. May you all have a happy New Year. 2010 shows a lot of promise. If we survived the economic and social turmoils of the Bush era, and the reverberations of this past year, we should be all set to weather storms to come and emerge stronger and richer for it all.

So say we all.

For information on how to get your book, comic, movie, whatever reviewed on Falling Off the Shelf, or to send hate mail, feel free to contact me at john (at) johnteehan (dot) com.

GEEK SCREENING ROOM presents POPEYE

Sometimes all of the right elements are thrown together and it still doesn't really work.

That's a bit of the case with the film, Popeye.

Yet, despite the fact that it's not a great film, it is a charming one and an interesting one and definitely worth watching.

And, it's a musical.

After several years in development hell, Popeye was eventually made based on a screenplay by Jules Feiffer, with music by Harry Nilsson, produced by Robert Evans and directed by Robert Altman.

Robin Williams, then starring on Mork and Mindy, made Popeye his feature debut and despite the talent involved, the film didn't have the necessary budget to execute the vision of the film.


Although, there is a rumor that Altman's original three hour cut of the film exists, that version remains lost.

Hopefully, we'll see a director's cut of this largely ignored film sometime in the future.

And I ainsk foolin'!

Produced by Robert Evans
Music by Harry Nilsson
Written by Jules Feiffer
Story by Robert Altman
Based on the comic strip by E.C. Segar
Directed by Robert Altman
Starring Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall,
Ray Walston, Linda Hunt, Paul L. Smith,
Donald Moffat, Richard Lubertini, Paul Dooley

Thirteen Things I Loved About 2009

I had originally intended to do a top 1o list in a variety of subjects, but realized that there's no way that it could be accurate as there are plenty of movies and tv shows that I haven't seen yet, books and comics that I haven't read, music I haven't listened to and the like.

Instead, I've decided to list (in no particular order), thirteen things that made my year a bit better. Keep in mind these things are all accessible to you (so you won't find contributors, readers, family, friends or my dog, Harry, on the list)


Have a happy and healthy 2010, folks! We turn a year old on January 5th and if you've enjoyed the site so far, you haven't seen anything yet.


1. The Musical Number in (500) Days of Summer



I'm a big fan of the random musical number and this is one of the many reasons why I loved this film.

2. Justin Timberlake/James Franco hosting Saturday Night Live




Neither one of these guys makes me think "funny as hell", but they both are.

3. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's Batman and Robin

My favorite creative team in comics takes on my favorite character. Bruce Wayne, R.I.P?

Batman lives...

4. Star Trek



The movie isn't perfect, but it was the best time that I had at the movies all year. I've seen the film several times and I've yet to get tired of it in any capacity.

5. Zombieland


Another phenomenally fun time at the movies with the best cameo of the year.

6. Thursday Nights on NBC with The Office, 30 Rock and Community



The show is so different from the original British series that it's a disservice to compare them. It makes me laugh pretty damned regularly, and the wedding episode might be one of the best hours of television this year.



Best ensemble on television.



My favorite new show of the season....this and Modern Family.

7. Watchmen



Zack Snyder filmed the un-filmable and it was well done. Do I think that they should have made it into a film at this point? No. Do I think a better adaptation could be made? No.

8. The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics edited by Art Spiegelman and FranCoise Mouly



Perhaps my favorite book in recent memory, The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics is reminiscent of the amazing comic anthologies that I grew up with. Chock full of amazing work by some of the most gifted cartoonists of all time including Will Eisner, Jack Cole, John Stanley, Sheldon Mayer, C.C. Beck, Dick Briefer, Milt Gross, Basil Wolverton, Harvey Kurtzman, Carl Barks and Walt Kelly, this 350 plus page tome concentrates on the period of the 1930's through the 1960's. This book is a bold reminder of the magic that comics can dazzle us with and I'm hoping a second volume is on it's way.

10. LOST



With it's final season premiering in several weeks, LOST is a television series that will be studied for years to come. Parallel realities, non-linear time shifts, literary metaphors, philosophy plus a smoke monster make this show unlike anything else on tv.

11. Batman: The Brave and The Bold




This awesome series is reminiscent of my beloved Adam West show and this particular episode played amazing homage to that series.

12. Chuck



Perhaps the most entertaining hour of my week.

13. Beatles Remastered

It's gettin' better all the time.



Pure auditory bliss.

Honorable mentions (or more stuff I loved):
Fringe, The Legion on Smallville, Jersey Shore, Modern Family, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke, Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory, The Secret Saturdays, The Hangover, District 9, Adventureland, Up, Drag Me to Hell, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Taken, Eastbound and Down, Fringe, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Party Down, Inglorious Basterds, Dexter, Wednesday Comics, Irredeemable by Mark Waid and Peter Krause, The Muppet Show comics by Roger Langridge, "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas (I'm lame), Ed Brubaker comics, Matt Fraction's Invincible Iron Man, The Big Bang Theory, 24, Two and a Half Men, and last, but surely not least all the other wonderful ephemera that makes geekdom so wonderful.

HANNA BARBERA PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

I'm always happy to see these guys working for a cause.

2009 Is Fading Fast

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.

~Benjamin Franklin

A new decade is fast approaching and there is something new in the air here in Los Angeles.

I am happy to report that I hear nothing but people ready to close the book on the 2000's and move into a new paradigm for the 2010's.


It is reminiscent of that feeling you get when you are driving back to LA after a long weekend in Vegas and you can see The Strip's flashing lights fading behind you. Bush, terrorism alerts, global economic meltdowns, swine flu, and the return of parachute pants have exhausted us into oblivion.

Isn't it time for us all to go home, take a shower and get on with our lives?


Yes, we are all broke, can barely breathe from all the smoke, hung over and tired. But I am happy to report that I can see 2009 in my rear view mirror.

However, this year was very personally productive for me and I am eager to see those inner transformations reflected externally back at me in this new year. Both in my personal life and in my work. I feel ready to work hard to make that happen. Sometimes being an actor can feel like waiting for the stars to align, but this year I have decided to put them in order myself. Drum roll please!

Emma's First Quarter New Year Resolutions

1. Film the web series Beach House.
2. Get my new reel made.
3. Get enrolled in a screenwriting class.
4. Get back in an inspiring acting class.
5. Learn how to use Final Cut Pro.

I like to do my resolutions in quarters to keep my focus clear.

I do both personal and professional lists, but I like to do my personal list on New Year's Eve. I have planted all the seeds necessary to achieve these five and their completion will lead to my second quarter resolutions. I will write out the second, third, and fourth quarter professional lists throughout this week. I take a lot of time with these things and put a lot of thought into it. This year, with the passing of many artists that were so influential to me, it feels particularly important. The management of time is really managing what will add up to a life at the end. And I really want my life to add up to what I was able to create.

Thank you to Stefan, fellow contributors, and to the readers for adding a lot of inspiration and support to my life in 2009. I feel very grateful and privileged to have been a part in the creation of Forces of Geek with you all. It is a very special place.

Now lets all toast this year away joyfully and usher in a new one full of beautiful promise. Especially those promises we make to ourselves.

GEEK SCREENING ROOM presents MANHUNTER

A former FBI Agent enlisted to assist in hunting a killer called The Tooth Fairy, who's attacks appear random, so he seeks guidance from the serial killer who almost succeeded in murdering him.

Sound familiar? A bit like that Edward Norton film, Red Dragon. The prequel to Silence of the Lambs with Anthony Hopkins, right?

Yes and no.

This film, Manhunter, actually came out before Lambs, in 1986 and stars Brian Cox as Hannibal Lektor (Not Lecter) and William Petersen as FBI Profiler Will Graham. Written and directed by Michael Mann while he executive produced the hit television series, Miami Vice, Manhunter is very much an Eighties film in look and tone, but far more interesting and entertaining than it's remake.

Written and Directed by Michael Man
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, Richard A. Roth
Based on the novel by Thomas Harris
Starring William Petersen, Kim Greist, Brian Cox,
Joan Allen, Dennis Farina, Tom Noonan

The End is Nigh

“ I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school. They don't teach you how to love somebody. They don't teach you how to be famous. They don't teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don't teach you how to walk away from someone you don't love any longer. They don't teach you how to know what's going on in someone else's mind. They don't teach you what to say to someone who's dying. They don't teach you anything worth knowing."

– Neil Gaiman.

In about three days, 2009 will be over.


It was an important year in many ways, especially in the United States where 2009 was as pivotal and tumultuous as any that followed 1969. In those thirty years, many of our problems are the same. The column that follows is less a list than an open discussion. It's less a criticism than an opportunity for analysis, and ultimately improvement.


The Center for Disease Control reports 1969 as the year that AIDS/HIV virus first traveled to the United States via Haiti. By the time you read this over 26 million people will have died from AIDS since it was first discovered.

In 1969 The Smithsonian held a six week retrospective on the paintings of Winslow Homer. It was the first exhibition in the most prominent government funded art institute dedicated to an African American. In 2009, an African American was worn in as president.

In 1969 an X-Rated film won the Best Picture Oscar. In 2009, a dead man won an Oscar.

In 1969, Richard Millhouse Nixon ascends the throne of the US presidency with a promise of "peace with honor," and the very first US troops are withdrawn from Southeast Asia. Nixon will resign in disgrace five years later, and the Vietnam War will end officially the following year. In 2009, a president elected on the platform of ending a war in Iraq increases the troops deployed in Afghanistan by 30,000 and receives a Nobel Peace Prize. No end to war is in sight.

In 1969, the first man Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon and the King of Rock N Roll, Elvis Presley records "Suspicious Minds" kick-starting his long awaited comeback. In 2009, moonwalking King of Pop, Michael Jackson, dies mere days before staging his worldwide comeback tour, eliciting great suspicion about the circumstances of his lifestyle, health and death.

All in all, to quote the final song on what is in my opinion the greatest rock album of all time, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

Now on to my year-end list of sorts:

Movie of the year:
Up. Runner up: that critically acclaimed George Clooney movie. No, not Up in the Air. Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Both animated, I know, but really, aren't all movies these days primarily animated (whether by computer manipulation or predominantly special-effected scenes)? If your eyes didn't water during the fifteen minute opening montage of Up, I'm pretty sure that you have no soul whatsoever.

Album of the Year:
Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack. Karen O. and the Kids recorded more than the soundtrack to a film. It seems they recorded the soundtrack to my generation's nostalgia and every subsequent generation's expectations.

Musical performer of the year:
Lady Gaga. Performance art with a real pop edge. I'll be amazed if she isn't listed as having "The Best Year Ever" on VH1.

Comic Book of the Year:
Thor by J. Michael Straczynski and others. It's sad that his run has come to an end. It was incredibly well-illustrated, and the best work in superhero fiction for quite a long time, possibly because most of the action was of a more mythological nature. And for the record, I was not a big Babylon 5 fan, so kudos, JMS!

TV Show of the Year:
I don't watch Gossip Girl very often, but when I do it's easy to see why it's the most downloaded show on itunes. But only one show I watched this year made me cry, and it was Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew. That this is a reality show is somewhat a source of embarrassment. Maybe that speaks to how weak most of the drama shows on the tube where this year, but for once, the problems of a bunch of c-list celebrities seemed to be genuine and actually worthy of empathy.

DVD of the Year:
The Severin Films three disc DVD set of Inglorious Bastards. Long awaited and well worth it, this was one of the few discs that I actually purchased this year. Come check out the inspiration for QT's grammatically challenged (and dementedly inspired) psuedo-remake.

Video Game of the Year:
Rock Band Beatles edition. First person shooter games have their charm, but I prefer to go Helter Skelter with John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Book of the Year:
Columbine by Dave Cullen. Ten years in the making, this a journalist's investigation into what drove the killers, and what effect their actions had on the town. It's compelling, heartbreaking and scary because the root problems that contributed to this tragedy still exist in almost every city in America.

Pop Phenom of the Year:
Twitter... says the guy that doesn't tweet.

To paraphrase Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday, I guess my hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Thanks for reading me, and see you next year!

IN DEFENSE OFElectric Dreams

Film historians will have you believe MTV's influence at the box-office starts with Michael Mann or Tony Scott, when in fact there's a definitive (not to mention, unusual) little movie about a love-struck computer that often gets forgotten when we think about early 80s cinema...









The tagline for Electric Dreams (MGM, 1984) promised a love story of a boy, a girl and a computer. We're not talking J-Date, Match or even cybersex. It would be years before personal computing and love/lust aspirations went together like rama lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong. A flop upon release, yet years ahead of its time, it imagines the personal computer as a user-friendly devise, plug-and-play ready to fit the needs of its owner. Sort of like a Mac, but speaking as an owner of a Mac in 1984, the computer in this movie is a bit more grounded in science fiction than reality.

But this is a fantasy. A romantic-comedy fantasy to be specific, with enough charm to suspend your disbelief that pouring champagne on an over-heating circuit board will transform your computer into an artificially intelligent pal with the voice of Bud Court. Things only get wackier from here, as Edgar (the computer) befriends the beautiful girl-next-door Madeline via music. She plays cello, it plays synths, and together they play a mean dueling Minuet No.4 in G Major by Bach. This is the instant that the movie hooks you. Shot like a music video, with soaring, fluid camera work, expertly edited to the sound and beautifully lit, it's a sequence that I put up there with the greatest movie moments.

Supervised by electric music pioneer Giorgio Moroder, the entire soundtrack of the movie is a time-stamp of greatness on early 80s synth pop and British New Wave. Amazingly, only one song from the film made it to the charts at the time, while other 80s marriages of music to film, from Footloose to St. Elmo's Fire had much more success. Nevertheless, there's a confidence and flow to the soundtrack of Electric Dreams. The music tells the story and the story supports the music. It's a coexistence that works mainly due to director Steve Barron, who quickly shot to music-video fame for his memorable visuals for Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, a-ha's Take on Me and Dire Straits' Money for Nothing. Under Barron's direction, Electric Dreams never pauses to be anything less than an extended music video with dialogue. And this is years before we were Trapped in the Closet with R. Kelly, I should add.

I had the pleasure to work with Barron on a couple projects and over drinks one night, I couldn't resist disclosing my love for his first full-length movie. I told him it's one of my favorites, and definitely a major influence that made me want to study film in college. He told me that he hadn't ever heard that from anyone, and that other than it being a cult classic in Japan, people rarely mention the movie to him. I think I scared him when I produced my VHS copy from 1985 for him to sign, but he obliged with the awesome signature of "We'll always be together in Electric Dreams, Best Steve." I mean, how freakin' cool is that?!

Unfortunately, the movie's not available in the US on DVD at the time of this post. You can pretty easily find VHS copies, although the transfer of the movie's pretty bad. I recommend the recently released (and remastered) DVD from the UK, which you can pick up for under $20 on Amazon.co.uk.

Vintage trailer here...

INCEPTION Trailer Creates More Questions Than Answers

Let me begin by saying that I trust Christopher Nolan.

Between his Batman films, to Memento to one of my favorites, The Prestige, Nolan continues to create intelligent blockbusters that guarantee strong performances and reactions. (That being said, I am not a fan of his film, Insomnia, but I do think it's well crafted).

Now comes Inception, Nolan's upcoming written-directed-produced project which features some solid actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger and Michael Caine.

What makes this trailer even more intriguing is that after watching it, I don't get much sense regarding what the hell it is. According to Wikipedia, (Inception) is "a contemporary science fiction action thriller set within the architecture of the mind."

Whatever the hell that means.

Mr. Nolan, I continue to be a fan. See you July, 16th.

GEEK NEWS DU JOUR IS TAKING A BREAK

Geek News Du Jour will be back on January 4th, and since the entire net seems to be on vacation, there doesn't seem that there's much to report.

Happy New Year.

Geek Bloggers Wanted! Send Samples HERE

You Know What Spider-Man Doesn't Do Enough Of? SWING DANCING!

Happy Birthday, STAN "THE MAN" LEE

Say what you will about the man, but the comic book industry might not be here today if it wasn't for him.

Today, he celebrates his 87th birthday, and Stan Lee might very well be the living legend of popular culture.

In addition to being the figurehead of Marvel Comics, Stan (never "Mr. Lee", that's too impersonal), is the creator or co-creator of such characters as Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Iron Man, The Hulk, The X-Men, Thor, Dr. Strange, Daredevil, Nick Fury, and The Silver Surfer.

Stan's greatest accomplishment might be in connecting with the reader like no other writer; by speaking directly to them; his True Believers.

Stan, have a happy and healthy birthday and New Year.

Excelsior!

Watch a fantastic two hour plus interview with Stan after the jump!

Best and Worst Movies: 2009

2009 has been a hell of year for movies, with major creators and talent delivering some the best, and worst movies of their careers. And of course, with Avatar and Sherlock Holmes both breaking attendance records, 2009 is going out with a bang.

My list of the best and worse will only concentrate on movies I’ve seen. Sandra Bullock’s All About Steve might well be the worst movie of the year, but I didn’t see it, so it won’t make my list.


So the worst ten movies of the year, in no particular order, are:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Angels and Demons, Terminator Salvation, Land of the Lost, Dead Snow, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Gamer, Law Abiding Citizen, The Pink Panther 2

Of these films, only Dead Snow doesn’t really deserve to be on the list.

A fun, if derivative, Nazi zombie film, the only reason it didn’t make the top ten is because (spoiler) the Nazi zombies win! If ever a movie called out for its villains to lose and lose big, it’s the Nazi zombie flick. Boo!

Paul Blart: Mall Cop and The Pink Panther 2 were my own fault: I should have known better.

Angels and Demons, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Terminator Salvation and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were all sequels to franchises that had either seen better days (Terminator and X-Men) or sucked to begin with. (The Da Vinci Code and Transformers) Two films starring Gerard Butler made my list, (Gamer and Law Abiding Citizen) which I’m going to assume is not his fault until he does more shitty movies. That leaves Land of the Lost, which in spite all my better instincts I really thought was going to be better.

Okay, enough of that, on to the best. In order:

10. Zombieland

9. Watchmen

8. Fantastic Mr. Fox

7. Where the Wild Things Are

6. Observe and Report

5. Sherlock Holmes

4. Star Trek

3. Avatar

2. Inglourious Basterds

1. District 9

Zombieland took the spot previously reserved for Sam Raimi with Drag Me to Hell. Whereas Raimi returned to form and delivered an excellent movie, I expected no less from him, and frankly, I expected a lot more (Like Evil Dead IV already.) Zombieland took the tired zombie apocalypse formula and found new life through parody. As movie genre cycles go, this marks the beginning of the end for zombie films. Parody gives rise to one or two more excellent serious takes (in response to the parodies) a lot more, less successful parodies, and ultimately the absorption of the genre into the mainstream. (Think westerns)

Watchmen was great. I’ll quibble until doomsday that the retooled ending makes no real sense, but Rorschack, the Comedian and Dr. Manhattan were perfectly cast. After watching it a few times I even warmed up to the guy playing Ozymandius.

For animation I chose The Fantastic Mr. Fox because it eschewed polish and beauty for wit and verve. It was primal filmmaking, akin to Wladyslaw Starewicz. Notable by their absence is Up, Coraline and Ponyo. Each of these movies is a far superior animated film to Fantastic Mr. Fox, yet none of them was as startlingly original. As great as they were, they offered little in the way of novelty. I also enjoyed Astro Boy, an overlooked gem.

Similar to Fantastic Mr. Fox in many ways was Where the Wild Things Are, and I think part of the reason I related to them so well is because each took great pains to get away from that smooth, seamless computer animated filmmaking that has taken “special” out of special effects. I say this aware of the irony, given the top four films on my list. But Where the Wild Things Are, like The Fantastic Mr. Fox, also gave primacy to characterization and storytelling, tapping deep psychology for their memes. It made both movies something more than fantastic entertainment, they took on the fantasy, dreamlike aspects of ancient tales, strong, stark and incomplete.

Observe and Report isn’t going to make too many top ten lists, which is fine, because most people don’t want to be viscerally challenged by a film. They want their characters to be dependable and their storytellers to be honest. Seth Rogan’s character was literally off his meds crazy, and the movie, told mostly from his point of view, was skewed by director Jody Hill in such a way that I can’t help but wonder if what we saw on screen was really what happened, or if at some point we completely jumped the rails into rent-a-cop fantasy land. That this film and Paul Blart: Mall Cop both entered similar territory but came away so radically different is a testament to the resilience of the Mall Security genre.

Those who know me will be startled to see Star Trek appearing at number 4 on my list, but my top three were spectacular, and Star Trek was merely superb. Hell, I expect Star Trek to be great, to make a lesser Star Trek film is an insult to everything I hold dear.

Avatar simultaneously showed me nothing new (it’s merely a retooling of John Carter, Warlord of Mars after all) and showed it to me in a whole new way. The storytelling was assured and the special effects and the 3D were breathtaking. If you have to watch the same old story, you might as well see it delivered in the most amazing way possible.

Sherlock Holmes was a great adventure film. The scenes showing us, in slow motion, how Sherlock Holmes’ mind worked were really interesting. The chemistry between Holmes and Watson was spot on. Purists might groan but steampunk Victorian London needs its greatest hero placed squarely where he belongs. I look forward to the next installment, it should be Dark Knight level big in both scope and acclaim.

On any given day Inglourious Basterds will be my favorite movie of the year instead of District 9, but today it’s number 2 because let’s face it, District 9 was unbelievably good. I expect Tarantino to deliver the goods, and Inglourious Basterds delivered the ultimate WWII fantasy film that seemed to come together and fly apart so furiously yet under such assured control that I can only commend Tarantino on his virtuosity. He truly is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

But District 9 was a revelation. How often do we see a movie in which a character gains his humanity only as it is stripped away from him? Neill Blomkamp made a very human movie about aliens and spaceships. Sharito Copley gave a performance that would have earned an Academy Awards nomination for a Matt Damon or a Paul Giamatti. He should be nominated, but Christoph Waltz should win for Inglourious Basterds.

There were a number of other, excellent films this year. I would be remiss in not mentioning Crank 2: High Voltage. Really. The film is awesome. The Coen Bros. A Serious Man might have made my list almost any other year. The Hangover was funny enough, but not as funny as the hype would have us believe. Meanwhile, Year One, so cruelly lambasted and ignored, wasn’t nearly as bad as you’ve heard. I really love Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, and if this were a top 20 list it would have made it easily. Shout outs to Bruno, Ninja Assassin, Bronson, Monsters vs. Aliens, 9, Nine, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, The Lovely Bones, the best martial arts flick Ong Bak 2 and The Girlfriend Experience.

A SMALL POT OF GOLD AT THE END OF THE CRACKED RAINBOW

Thankfully, here at The Mystery Box H.Q. I am kissing goodbye to what has been a roller coaster of a year.

One that has been filled with the lowest of lows, albeit also with some very beautiful happiness.

In retrospect, this seems to be a transitionally positive and better year than last year, which downright sucked dirty motor oil and exhaust fumes.


Without reporting the downers or becoming mired in too much negativity, since I get enough of that through reading Twitter and Facebook updates from the cranky or through my own venting outbursts, I am going to run down a list of a few of the standout things that have really helped make this year more fun than not, more up than down...

Listed may also be some things that I will be doing future column pieces on, so for now I won't fully elaborate on everything in long detail and unfortunately, I am probably going to forget quite a few that I would love to add, but I will try my best to spill out a selection of The Mystery Box 2009 for your reading pleasure...



BUS TRIP TO MITSUWA MARKETPLACE:

Emily and I had so much fun traveling to the New Jersey location of this venerable institution of delectable shopping and eating of Japanese goodies. We went as members of the Rhode Island Japan Society Language and Culture Center. Bus trips are my favorite fun way to experience anywhere. You can relax, read or listen to music, not have to drive yourself, and partake in making new friends along with drinking sake on the bus (should you so desire). Mitsuwa is a world onto itself with incredible food and plenty of day trip wonderment. Thanks to Miki, our hostess, for helping us to have so much fun!

THE WHO SELL OUT - DELUXE EDITION:

I first bought and listened to this gem for my above bus trip. Not only is The Who Sell Out one of the greatest and most fully enjoyable albums by The Who, this pre Tommy concept album is among my all time fave albums by any band from the '60s. Not only does the concept revolve around one of my loves, the illegal U.K. Pirate Radio ships, it encapsulates mod culture, pop art, radio broadcasting commercialism, punk rock destruction and maximum melodic pop and rock music like few other records have ever been able to. The Who's harmonies would never be as much a part of the band's music after this album. This deluxe version really does full justice to this classic. A special note here for the Richard Curtis film Pirate Radio, which while a film that was not historically perfect and more of a director's fantasy about the era, was also atop my best films of the year list because it dealt with this subject matter and was so much fun.


THE HANGOVER/I LOVE YOU, MAN/BRUNO/WHIP IT:

Comedy films were really hitting some highs in 2009. In a year when a much needed laugh was really much needed, I found these films all delivered.

Somehow it turned out that the best of the best was The Hangover, which turned out to not only be one of the funniest films I have seen since Borat, there was also a heartwarming buddy picture with a happy ending among the sordid laughs.

Sasha Baron Cohen's Bruno was not as much a box office or viewer fave as his previous film was, but I loved it and laughed aplenty. Adding to that Cohen's usual skewering non p.c. satire and thought-out uncomfortableness, and you have another one I will be repeat viewing.

I Love You, Man is a romantic comedy that is brilliantly sweet, goofy, honest and well played.

Who knew that I would now seek out films that had an actor from my much disliked How I Met Your Mother in them??

Whip It officially declares Drew Barrymore to be a director of substance. It deals with a sub culture that is so freakin' cool and bad azz, and I am also reminded of my top sports comedy films such as Kansas City Bomber and Slapshot. Rollerderby lives on thankfully and how great is it using a DEVO song title as your great, and appropriate, film name but not cheaply using the song in your film soundtrack? Drew is BOSS!


SIR RICHARD BISHOP, THE FREAK OF ARABY:

Sir Richard Bishop is one of the GREAT guitarists in this world. Whether as a member of his sadly now ended trio of musical provocateurs, The Sun City Girls, as solo performer or with this group, he is truly one for the ages. Bishop has often flew under all radar (it seems, by choice) and surreptitiously maintained a prolific solo career that meanwhile encompasses the best of the interesting, and not sanitized, world music influences, he is still as often a musical provocateur as his infamous group had always been. With this release, The Freak Of Araby, Bishop pays tribute to Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorshid (1945-1991) "The King of Arab Guitar." A fantastically sinewy album that showcases such superb playing and a imaginative melding of influence such as Ennio Morricone spaghetti western soundtracks and surf music mania to core foundation.

The album is so good and with wide appeal to all that it could get get Bishop the over the top success that he is probably not really looking for, or at least would be embarrassed to achieve. I caught his Freak Of Araby Ensemble Tour at The Middle East Club in Cambridge this past summer, and it was so magnificent one wondered why it was in the small upstairs room, and why NPR wasn't touting Bishop as highly as say they do a David Byrne. I suppose such a nice and darkly honest guy as Sir Richard Bishop is, doesn't suffer fools or play the safe card that getting his music into the world Music section of Borders would entail.


SPECTRUM - LIVE AT THE MIDDLE EAST, CAMBRIDGE MA:

Yet another show that was worthy of a huge theater with a sell out crowd but happened in the tiny confines of the upstairs room at the great Middle East Club and restaurant in Cambridge. I am always torn between being so happy to have witnessed a band performance that is so outstanding in such a small room, yet I do feel somewhat badly that there are so many less worthy acts who easily sell out amphitheaters. Strange how wonderful art can work that way.

Spectrum is the current band led by one, Mr. Sonic Boom who previously took drugs to make music to take drugs to as a member of the renown duo Spacemen 3. How so much space rocking psychedelic op art greatness (and a light show to match) could fill this smallish sized venue is a testament to an artist giving his all for his fans.

I am still seeing groovy spots from this one, and I love it.

WRITING FOR FORCES OF GEEK:

A very big heartfelt thanks to Mr. Blitz and this fine site for having me aboard for FOG!'s inaugural year. Not only have I been given the chance to resurrect The Mystery Box in a new format and with a new direction, but the constant stretching of my writing brain and typing fingers have been of much benefit during some of the sad and lazy times that I have gone though this past year. I am gratefully happy to be here and really look forward to the surprises ahead...

ALL THE OTHER STUFF:

Godzilla and Ultraman; Echo and The Bunneymen in a small club; The Edward Weston exhibit at The M.F.A. in Boston followed by an exhibit of his son Brett's work at the Currier Museum in Manchester N.H. ElVez backed up by Los Straitjackets for his annual Christmas pageant; The Raveonettes twice! in one year and watching the entire run of The Brady Bunch on dvd every night: There were so many wonderful restaurants, museum exhibits, live performances, DVDs and music releases that could easily merit inclusion here, but I suppose it is time to wind this year down so that I can look forward to a new year and a new decade.

A special thanks to Emily for always being there with ideas and helpful input, Audrey Hepcat for the big purrs, and a big thank you to you, dear readers and friends for giving me some of your time.

We will open the book.
Its pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.
~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

The Time Capsule

From Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, 1986.

GEEK NEWS DU JOUR 12/25

GEEK NEWS

• Happy 41st Wedding Anniversary to my parents. Without them, I wouldn't be reporting anything.

• Microsoft should license this video immediately and send this kid a boatload of games. Remember pure and absolute joy?

COMICS/BOOKS

• Jonathan Hickman's first two issues of his excellent Fantastic Four run are online.
• CBR names the Top 100 Comic Book Storylines
• Best animation books of the year.

TELEVISION

• Good grief, it's Dave

MOVIES

• Hollywood Reporter's Roger Friedman's Favorite Cinema of the Decade
• The decade of paranoia in film
• The Most Overlooked Movies of the Decade
• IMDB names top 25 films of the decade
• The Avatar that almost was
• Most disappointing films of the decade

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

• The 370 passwords that you can't use on Twitter

MUSIC

• Venture Bros. Holiday music!
• Best music of the millennium so far according to Wired

GEEK SCREENING ROOM presents FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!

Russ Meyer is an a legendary name in independent cinema, making almost two dozen films as director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer. He is renowned for his fascination with fantastically endowed women, and his 1965 film, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is considered to be among his best efforts.

With his trademark sex, violence and campy dialogue, this film stands apart from most of his other exploitation catalog by not containing any explicit nudity.

An influence to directors John Waters, John Landis, Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton, Meyer was never a household name, but rather a very specific acquired taste.

Just the way he liked it.

Produced and Directed by Russ Meyer
Written by Russ Meyer and Jack Moran
Starring Tura Satana, Haji, Lori Williams,
Susan Bernard

Stop Talking About Doing It and Just Do It...

Well, this is it - for a while, at least.

After a year and twenty-four of these perfectly-formed nuggets of nonsense, I am wandering off for a while. I have a new feature comedy script to write for a Big British Production Company (if you are a Septic, read this as ‘a small production company’) and have just secured part funding on PINK, my slasher, and need to track down an able producer. Couple this real, actual, work with another treatment which needs to be turned into a script by the early summer and them’s my reasons for taking a step back from this place. Sorry, and stuff.

I admit to being slightly confused by Forces of Geek. I have, over the year, been offensive and belligerent, helpful and friendly, useful and of functional use, and yet... and yet I have never really been sure if anyone was really out there. I did get some vented Midwestern spleen from a halfwit who didn’t like an allusion to ‘enthusiastic masturbation’ and have had the occasional query about some of the screenwriting advice I have made up, dished out and pretended is actual, real-life gospel truth. But I was expecting more, to be honest. I assumed that my anti-teaching teaching would at best elicit some blind fury and at worst might prod some simpleton into questioning my flawed logic – I hoped for someone to kick against the prick, and it never really happened.


Have I added anything meaningful to your lives?

Well, I took the view that with literally hundreds of books out there which purport to teach people to write scripts (sorry – I mean; ‘WRITE SCRIPTS THAT SELL!!’) I would not add to that pile of mostly useless information and instead have concentrated on trying to fill in the bits around the edges, which the books don’t tend to cover. These columns - sometimes irrelevant, always irreverent – have hopefully been of passing interest and I am now wondering what messages might I leave you with which might in some small way make a difference to your screenwriting efforts?

Over the past year we have looked at structure, character, enthusiastic masturbation, context, truth, avoiding stereotypes, taking notes, story beats and general structure and getting useful, beneficial, feedback. I think I have covered pretty much all of the basics (in the sense that I haven’t really covered any of the basics, but touched on some of the bits around the edges of the basics) and so I shall leave you with six general notes which might help in some kind of a vague, ethereal manner. Equally, of course, they might not. Still – it gets us all through to the end of the column with the minimum of fuss and that has to be a good thing.

1. Ignore almost everything you have been told, by everyone who tells you it – and that certainly includes me. There are ‘rules’ which have to be followed if your script is going to get read by the people that matter and so that structural stuff is an important step in getting the thing sold, but don’t overdo it. The big, fat, books which promise to tell you about the writer’s journey or give you the six steps to revelation or the doorstop-sized tomes which cover every aspect of scriptwriting – they are useless to the process. If you want to know the basics – and the basics are really all you will really need to know – then pick up ‘Save the Cat’ by Blake Snyder and/or ‘The Screenwriter’s Bible’ by David Trottier. These are the only two books you will need – one covering off structure and the other content requirements.
2. Don’t write what you know. I dedicated a whole column to this back in the day and it is very important – write the story you want to tell, not the one you have lived. No-one is interested in you and your boring life except your mother – you’re just a writer.
3. Make your characters interesting; fully formed people with a story and a journey of their own. If you write them well, your audience will recognise them. If a reader, or a producer, sees themselves or someone they know in your work, then your script will be golden. (Even if it will need four rewrites before it gets to the actual money.)
4. Don’t assume that every note you get is correct. Producers are no smarter than writers and they will make mistakes as well, so if they advise you to make changes only make them if they won’t screw things up. If they will screw things up, fight like a tiger and make sure you win - because otherwise, what’s the point?
5. Get a good agent and then do most of the work yourself. Agents are vital and good ones are as rare as rocking horse shit, so if you get one, treat them right; work hard and follow their advice to the letter. But they won’t sweat your stuff as hard as you will, so keep on sending out the scripts, looking for opportunities and chasing – all the while copying the agent into your correspondence. Nearly every writing job I got has been as a direct result of my own initiative – my agent has played a part, of course, but I am one of a number of their clients and I won’t always be front of mind, whereas in my universe I am the only one that matters.
6. And finally, have a voice - the only thing that makes you different from all the rubbish writers is you. You are unique and wonderful and different and that distinction needs to shine from your work. I have written comedy, horror, slasher and drama features and although they couldn’t be more different, they are all identifiable as mine. When you write, you are giving a bit of yourself to the page – when I get negative notes on a project, it is as if one of my children is being criticised. You need to feel it, because you are saying it. (And yes, I know that sounds trite – but it is still true.)

And that’s it. I sign off (for the while, at least) with those six bullets which might help but which might not. Like everything else I have written here over the past year, this column is vague, imprecise and unfocused – which is, I think, the point. It is creative writing, after all – not physics or science. There is no right and there is no wrong, so me telling you what to do would be nonsensical - there is only you, on the page, talking through others and telling a story from your mind. It couldn’t be harder and it couldn’t be easier – it is just life, written down.

So, goodbye and good luck. Listen to what I have told you, forget it and do the best you can. Just tell the stories as well as you can and hope for the best...