Sunday, March 19, 2006

Remember, Remember - the ... 18th of March? V for Vendetta Review, WizardWorld Report, and More!

What up mah nerds?

So another weekend has come and gone, and it's back to work once more. This weekend did offer up a good amount of crazy escapism though, so let's get down to business.

WIZARDWORLD LA 2006:

One year ago, Brian, Diane, Adriana and I ventured down to Longbeach for a day of celebrity panels, movie previews, comics, pop culture, and more, at WizardWorld - where we were able to get in for free thanks to the power of our NBC Page I.D.'s. Can you say Press Passes? So ..

It's ONE YEAR LATER (sorry I'm a huge nerd, I know) ...

... and the original band is back together for one mo' go-round, except this time the big event is in our own back yard, here in LA proper, right by the Staples center at the big convention center nearby. Funny, last year we were all newly-minted NBC Pages. This year, I'm at Universal, Brian's at Nielson, Diane's at Last Comic Standing, and Adriana's in grad school -- craziness. Anyways, after convening at Adriana's USC digs, our party moved to the convention center, where we entered a land of sight and sensory overload, teeming with blaring music, roaming booth babes, and more merchandise for sale than you can shake a stick at. Don't worry, plenty of pictures were taken with the likes of Batman and friends, a fishnet-clad Black Canary, Homer Simpson, and the planet-eating Galactus himself. Good times, good times. Some more highlights:

- A very cool and insightful panel featuring three current writers of LOST - Jeph Loeb, Damon Lindelof, and Javier Grillo-Marxauch. Al three have serious geek-cred, as Loeb is of course a prolific comic writer and Smallville alum, and Damon and Javier are each working on Marvel projects in addition to their regular gigs on Lost. Londelof in particular had some hilarious anecdotes about his experiences in Hollywood and in the writer's room at Lost, and as much as I rag on the show lately it was really cool to hear him explain the vision for the show and the challenges involved in churning it out on a weekly basis. Great panel.

- Gotta love the Spike TV booth that featured appearance by the master of the el-kabong, Jeff Jarrett, and Tough Enough winner Ms. Jackie Gayda.

- Once again we were all entertained by the musings of writer/director/geek KEVIN SMITH. who hosted his own panel, in his usual anything-goes Q and A format. Interesting to hear his thoughts about the new Superman movie, the failed Green Hornet project, and even his opinion of pal Jason Lee's newest hit, NBC's own MY NAME IS EARL. Looking forward to CLERKS II, but I think we'd all like to see Smith challenge himself a bit and move on to something new.

- Saw a ton of sweet artists around the show floor, doing their drawing thang. Josh Middleton, Dustin Nguyen, etc.

- The DC panel was pretty cool as well, though those types of things tend to cater to the ultra-hardcore fanboys only. Still, it's always a thrill to be sitting a few feet away from some of my all time favorite writers like Geoff Johns and Mark Waid, along with bigshots like DC VP Dan Didio, the always prolific Jimmy Palmioti, and rising star penciller Ethan Van Sciver. They definitely got me hyped for the upcoming 52, that's for sure.

- Picked up a bunch of merchandise, including deeply discounted copies of the first three collections of NY Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN, the late 80's / 90's cult hit that I've been meaning to read for years now.

- I may or may not have stuck up conversation while in line for lunch with TV's original Batgirl, Yvonne Craig. Holy randomness, Batman!

- Only disappointment was lack of big movie previews. Last year we got exclusive looks at Batman, Fantastic Four, War of the Worlds, etc. No such luck this year. Nothing new to report on Superman, The Prestige, Clerks II, etc.

- Overall it was a great time. Tiring, but lots of fun. Looking forward to doing it again next year.

So after a long day of nerdiness, it was only appropriate that we cap things off with a viewing of V FOR VENDETTA, the long-awaited adaptation of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's graphic novel. Joined by Dan K, we grabbed some Queez-nos and then braved the rain and cold to make it to a sold out 9 pm showing of V. Yes! This was it baby - but did it live up to hype and expectation?

V FOR VENDETTA REVIEW:

At the LOST writers' panel earlier that day, there was a very interesting discussion concerning why it's so damn hard to translate material from comic books to the big screen. And it's a valid question - there's lots of reasons why the transition is tough, but at least with some concepts like Spiderman or even Sin City, you have a core visual that lends itself to the big screen. Batman and Superman are a bit trickier, but the iconography of the heroes makes audiences able to forgive most of the implausibilities of their origins. The fact is that the comic book fan's expectations don't necessarily jibe with that of a mass audience. And part of that is due to writers like Alan Moore. In the 1980's, writers like Moore and Miller took these concepts that were essentially kids' stories and turned them on their heads. Characters who had been written simply and for all ages were suddenly fair game for mature, challenging, and dark stories that jumped off the page with all the literary flair of the great novels and films. And while comic fans have long come to expect a certain amount of maturity and sophistication from seemingly juvenile premises, the general public is only now beginning to catch up. Only now is the mainstream realizing the potential for dark and sophisticated tales with characters like Batman, The X-Men, etc.

But Alan Moore - this is what he's been doing his whole career. In his work on mainstream comics characters, Moore has created the definitive modern-age tales for the likes of Batman and Superman. Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tommorow takes all the fun, silly concepts of the Silver Age and turns them on their heads, for a story that is both dark and whimsical. Batman: The Killing Joke is a twisted, disturbing look at the insanity of the Joker. Moore took a character with a B-movie name, Swamp Thing, and spent years crafting a darkly literate, philisophical horror epic that is just amazing - and it's a saga that introduced a fan-favorite hard-living British magician by the name of John Constantine. Of course, there's Watchmen - which EVERYONE should read, right now, if you haven't already - it's one of the greatest things ever written, period - pretty much the last word on heroes and power and the myths and legends we create for ourselves. Moore has just done so much A + level work, it's no wonder that he's unanimously considered THE comic writer - the gold standard.

But Moore is so hard to translate to movies. He's worked with a number of artists, so there's not one visual style that is associated with him, ala Frank Miller who has often drawn his own work ala Sin City. And really, it's Moore's way with words that is what defines him. His narratives are beautifully written, multi-tiered, littered with layers of meaning and depth. He is a master of graphic storytelling. Even though he's not an artist, he uses the comic book page like no other - interweaving overlapping images, startling juxtapositions of words with pictures that work on multiple levels. His dialogue is both naturalistic and full of emotion and resonnance. And with all that said - nobdy does the big moment - the shocking revelation, the holy $%&, jaw on the floor moment quite like Moore.

And this brings me to V for Vendetta.

Hollywood has screwed with Alan Moore to no end. They made a Joel Schumacher-worthy adaptation of League of Extraordinary Gentleman. They cast Keanu Reeves of all people to play the quintisential British bastard Constantine, for pete's sake. But here, you know what? They pretty much got it right.

No, I haven't read V for Vendetta. I've been meaning to, but haven't gotten around to it. So I'm sure that there's a lot that has been cut, altered, and generally screwed with in the movie. But as a movie, it works. And it's one of the better sci-fi high concept movies to come out in a LONG while.

Sure, it lacks the complexity of Moore. It lack the intricacy, the literacy, the complexity. This movie was touted as uncompromising, but it clearly is compromising something.

And yet, compared to most Hollywood action movies, it is surprisingly uncompromising. And it makes you think. It makes you listen to the rythm and detail of the dialogue. It makes you read the actors body language for any telling gestures. It presents its politics in shades of grey - not dumbing itself down enough to either be wholly apolitical or to be a clear commentary on current events. No, V for Vendetta avoids being too heavy handed, and that is one of its greatest strengths. You're not quite sure what to think of V, or of his modus operandi. Sure, you get caught up in the whole coolness of the look and the action, but you also question the man's sanity - is he hero or villain? And that is the poignancy of this story - is V a terrorist or freedom fighter? Is Guy Fawlkes? Is Nelson Mandella, George Bush, or Osama Bin Laden? Now therein lies the danger of this movie. It is simple to the point that some 15 year old could watch it and take away the message that governments are evil and that anarchy is cool and that there's no difference between our president and the Taliban. Like other reviews have pointed out, there is a kind of overly simplistic corporate approved Rage Against the Machine vibe to this movie - it is never quite as uncompromising as it wants to be, yet subversive enough so that those looking for a commentary on current politics will find one.

But I could go on and on here, what I really want to get to is that this is Hugo Weaving's movie. Weaving own the part of V and thoroughly kicks seven degrees of ass. His line delivery, his expressiveness as V despite being FULLY HIDDEN under mask and cloak the entire movie - simply AWESOME. This is just great work - Oscar worthy work - and it's Weaving as V that lights up the screen and makes this movie as enjoyable as it is.

Natalie Portman is also excellent as V's reluctant disciple Evy. Portman really lays it on the line here. And you know what? Between her and Weaving- their back and forth, their sharp exchanges - for many moments this does really feel like Alan Moore's work. The wordplay, the sheer Britishness of it all, the bombastic imagery - you've gotta love it and appreciate what the filmmakers and actors are accomplishing.

The rest of the cast is great. John Hurt as the resident Big Brother is awesome, as are the collective members of his slimy inner-circle in his totalitarian regime. And the members of the investigative crew on the hunt for the elusive V are great as well - world weary and beginning to question the delicate thread on which their conception of truth hangs.

The look of the movie is great as well. Dark, bleak, stylized. Sure, its overedited in parts, but you can feel the Wachowski's flaie for extreme stylization at work - with a number of images tha mya not serve much of a narrative purpose, but look damn cool anyways (think V toppling a huge V-shaped pattern of dominoes in his lair). V himself looks awesome. The streets of London look appropriately old-world dystopian, and the chilling government chambers evoke the Obsolete Man episode of the Twilight Zone with the jumbo screens and ominous face of the High Chancellor barking commands like a hopped up Hitler.

What keeps this movie from being a classic? It feels rushed. The relationship between V and Evey is too rushed - she goes back and forth between resenting him and devoting herself to him too quickly and frequently. Simialrly, the Inspector's turn from pawn of his government to rebel truth-seeker is too abrupt - there's never that one big aha! moment that forces him to turn away from everything he believes in. Natalie Portman's final description of V - as a brother, a mother, a father, a friend, etc. - hints at plot points that were never quite extrapolated. We're clearly missing SOMETHING here - and once again, it all comes back to the challenge of condensing the free-flowing and complex work of Moore into a 2 hour movie. Likewise, we know that V is a complex man, but the true extent of this complexity is only hinted at. We know we are meant to wonder if he is hero or villain, bt we are never quite given the reasoning behind both sides of the argument.

Still, this movie is so much more than a typical actioner. It is only frustrating in that it could have been legendary but just misses the mark. But as it is, it is merely extremely good, highly enjoyable, and yes, very thought-provoking for what it is. Amazing acting by Weaving and his supporting players, some great action, a great look, a great new world is created and brought to life here. So far, this is probably my favorite new movie of 2006, and it is just reassuring to see one more comic movie that doesn't suck. Not only does it not suck, but it is a fully realized translation of the dark sensibilities of the 1980's modern comic book. In the last few years we've gotten a take on Batman: Year One, Hellboy, Sin City - the mature takes on comic book fantasy of Miller, Mignola, O'Neal. So after numerous screw-jobs, it's about damn time that Hollywood began to catch up with the legendary sensibilities of the best comic book writer ever, Allan Moore. My grade: A -

MORE NERDINESS:

Quick 2nd batch of DC One Year Later Reviews:

Superman: One Year Later - Like Batman the other week, Superman goes back to basic here with a heavy-hitting writing team of Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek. Solid writing, a lot of intriguing mysteries set up, and spectacular art by Pete Woods, by far doing the best work of his career thus far. My grade: A -

Nightwing: One Year Later - The former Robin, now all grown up, has been burdened with meandering stories, inconsistent art, and a strak of bad luck that was just difficult to stomach in the last few years. Now it's one year later and writer Bruce Jones tries to get Dick Grayson back on track, but he results are mixed. The former Boy Wonder is now a down on his luck ladies man living in NYC? Between this and his Outsiders appearances, what is with the odd characterization of Nightwing lately? Sure, the prospects of a Nightwing vs. Nightwing, Dick Grayson vs. Jason Todd showdown, is intriguing, but this just seeemed ... off. My grade: C

Birds of Prey: One Year Later - On the other hand, Nightwing's former better half, Barbara Gordon, has long been in excellent hands thanks to the sharp, fun, witty writing of Gail Simone. Gail keeps things simple here, though she does shake up the status quo with an odd aliiance between the Birds and their former enemy, Shiva. Good stuff, and Gail brings her usal falir for fun dialogue and great characters to the Birds one year later. My grade: A -

FOX SUNDAY NIGHT QUICK REVIEWS:

Malcolm in the Middle - pretty funny, good stuff with Reese, but too much Lois lately - my grade: B

King of the Hill - excellent episode - Bobby-centric episodes are almost always funny, as are Propane-centered episodes, and this was both ... My Grade: B+

The Simpsons - Wha' happened? This episode was back to being amateurish, inconsistent, and pointless after a few weeks of old-school style goodness. THANK GOD that next week we will have a bonafide present from the comedy gods - A RICKY-GERVAIS PENNED SIMPSONS EPISODE. I cannot wait. Hopefully Ricky can erase the bitter aftertaste of lame wannabe Simpsons eps like tonight's - My grade: C

- Tommorow: 24! Prisonbreak! Gaahh, too .. much ... intensity. Will Tony Almeda live?!?! Or is the power of the soul patch really quelled?

Okay - that is all. I bid you goodnight. So, um, who wants to go put on a Guy Fawlkes mask and like, burn stuff? Remember, remember - the 28th of September! Go libras.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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