May 2009: Media Consumed

Books Read
* My Space: Baby Blues Scrapbook #24 by Rick Kirkman & Jerry Scott
Star Trek: Prime Directive by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
**Twilight Zone: The Odyssey of Flight 33 by Mark Kneece, et al.
*Brevity 4 by Guy & Rodd
**Star Trek: The Next Generation--The Gorn Crisis by Kevin Anderson, et al.
Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio by Brian Jennings
*If You Weren't a Hedgehog...If I Weren't a Hemophiliac by Andrew Weldon
*Dilbert: Freedom's Just Another Word for People Finding Out You're Useless by Scott Adams
+12 Angry Men by Sherman Sergel

* = denotes a collection of comic strips
** = denotes a graphic novel
+ = denotes a play

My reading for May consisted mostly of comic strips and comic books. What can I say? I read Prime Directive because I had read an article about the screenwriters of the new Star Trek movie and they said they had used the book as "inspiration" for the new movie. I'm not exactly sure how it inspired them because even though Star Trek is a pretty good movie, it's not a very good Star Trek movie, whereas Prime Directive is a pretty good Star Trek book, though not necessarily a novel. If you enjoyed the original Star Trek series, then you'll probably enjoy the book. However, if you know nothing about the original series, then the book will just confuse you.

I picked up The Gorn Crisis because I became fascinated with the idea of having Gorn as major players in the Star Trek universe (seriously--why haven't they?).

I do suggest everyone take a look at Brevity 4. "Brevity" is a great comic-strip. Lots of strips have tried to be the next "Farside". "Brevity" doesn't try to be the next "Farside", but it is similar in spirit, but is completely original. Check it out.

Movies Viewed For the First Time
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Invaders From Mars
Star Trek
My Name Is Bruce
Get Smart's Bruce & Lloyd: Out of Control
Southland Tales
My Bloody Valentine 3-D
My Bloody Valentine (1982)
Terminator: Salvation
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
Fanboys
The Reaping
Up

Wolverine was okay, but was kind of a let down, especially what they did to the character of Deadpool. Invaders From Mars is a classic sci-fi film that inspired parts of Stephen Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Invaders, however, is horribly outdated, e.g. they refer to the aliens as "moo-tants", but still has some great visual images. Star Trek--it's a good movie and everybody seems to love it except for me. Bruce Campbell is the best B-Actor working today. He comes from a similar background as myself I'm not sure what the guy is like in real-life, but I really like what I've seen of him and read about him. My Name Is Bruce is Campbell's latest film that he directed and it was mostly filmed on his own property in Oregon. I watched Out of Control because I think Jayma Mays is gorgeous (she's a redhead-what can I say?).

Avoid Southland Tales. It's a terrible movie. I never liked the director/writer's first film, Donnie Darko. I still don't understand the cult fascination with that movie because it's a terrible movie. Of course, even if you liked Donnie Darko, you'll probably hate Southland Tales. I can't even recommend it for artistic value of any sort

I enjoyed both of the My Bloody Valentine movies. Horror movies can go so wrong, but the filmmakers did a good job of using the conventions of the horror genre to create something original. Terminator: Salvation had a terrible ending which basically destroyed the franchise, hopefully cemented McG's career as a major director. Night at the Museum 2 is worth watching, if for no other reason, just for Amy Adams. That girl isn't just a beautiful (redheaded) woman, but is an incredible actress, too. Fanboys is a film that every Star Wars fan will enjoy and should watch. It didn't do well at the box office and is panned by critics, but I actually liked The Reaping.

And lastly, as for Up: it's the best movie of 2009 so far. Marketed for kids, it's really a movie that adults will enjoy far more.