Archive by Author

The Influencing Machine

7 May

20130507-114902.jpgNPR host Brooke Gladstone presents an engaging history of journalism, discussing both how it has been a force for good and how it has been perverted (through politics and other means). I found myself getting a little bored with the history lessons but I was quite engaged by the ethical discussions and by Gladstone’s speculations about the future of reportage in a world where man and machine become increasingly intertwined.

The Influencing Machine works reasonably well as an instructional comic, with artist Josh Neufeld providing capable (albeit sometimes repetitive) illustration. I enjoyed the book overall, as a person who is interested in the news and media and has even done a little writing for newspapers but does not have the temperament for actual in-the-trenches reporting. I can also see it being useful for young people who are thinking about going into journalism and who want to get a feel for what the field is like.

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Iron Man Three (**1/2)

5 May

Robert Downey Jr. returns as adorable bad boy Tony Stark in the third, presumably final solo film about Marvel Comics’ Iron Man. The first film kicked off the current run of (mostly) enjoyable Marvel movies, after some letdowns in the form of X3, Spider-Man 3, the Fantastic Four and so on. The first Iron Man film proved that with the right cast and script and attitude, the public will embrace a character they don’t necessarily know as well as, say, Superman. The second Iron Man film proved that Downey was not enough.

The third is not as fresh and invigorating as the first – how could it be, really? – but it is a definite improvement over the second. Nor is it anywhere near as exciting as the Avengers film, which it references regularly, so if you are one of the few people on the planet who missed it, you might want to check it out first.

Some minor spoilers may follow, so be warned:

I had mixed feelings about this film by the end. There are some very fun moments, especially during the action set pieces, and Downey is on his game throughout. I also enjoyed how the plot is, in a way, a poke in the eye to The Dark Knight Rises, with Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin seeming at first to be an analogue for Bane’s weirdly-accented terrorist. The true villain is Guy Pearce as the chief of AIM (who are, disappointingly, not wearing yellow hazmat suits); he has developed a bioweapon called Extremis that allows people to become undetectable living bombs, detonating themselves at key moments.

When one of the bombs hurts a friend, the American public is eager for Tony Stark to strike back at the terrorists, and he obliges by challenging the Mandarin on camera. The Mandarin replies by sending some of his people to destroy Tony’s Malibu home, leading to a long middle sequence of rebuilding and investigating.

It is that middle where the film loses its way a bit. Tony befriends a young boy outside of Nashville, shares some ham-handed insights on absent fathers and standing up for yourself, and learns to cope with the post-traumatic stress that has dogged him since The Avengers. Meanwhile, I was checking my watch, and I don’t wear a watch.

On the bright side, the finish of Iron Man Three (and I’m not being cute by spelling it out that way; that’s how it is spelled in the titles) is stronger than the finish of Iron Man 1 or 2, both of which were clunky and confused. The conceit of Tony being able to control his suits remotely, and depend on Jarvis for situational awareness and quick changes, is used to good effect. I enjoyed seeing a swarm of different suits designed for different jobs.

But, on a less bright side, when the credits rolled and turned into a kind of victory lap for the series, I realized that the ensuing montage of clips was more engaging and energetic than most of the previous two hours. So, while Iron Man Three is certainly not the letdown that other third instalments have been from Marvel, it is something of a limp to the finish.

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Save The Date (***)

21 Apr

Lizzy Caplan and Alison Brie star as screwed-up sisters in this sort-of-romantic sort-of-comedy. After Sarah (Caplan) refuses an embarrassing public marriage proposal from her musician boyfriend Kevin (Geoffrey Arend), her rebound with incredibly nice guy Johnathan (Mark Webber) throws a wrench into the wedding plans being made by Beth (Brie) and Kevin’s bandmate and best friend Andrew (Martin Starr). Caplan is a cartoonist whose artwork is a dead ringer for that of Jeffrey Brown, who has a writing credit on the film that he shares with the screenwriter and director, Michael Mohan.

For a first feature, Mohan and his cast do a good job of creating a film about relationships that could have slipped into a maudlin twentysomethings-with-problems formula. Caplan and Webber are particularly solid as a couple of people with wounds from past relationships that are trying to figure out how to be together. As much as I love Alison Brie, she sometimes seemed inconsistent as Beth compared to her more famous roles. Martin Starr is a solid supporting player as always. The script is smart, with the exception of the very end, which is a bit of a confusing cop-out.

I found myself a bit distracted by the world the characters live in, which is like a west coast version of Friends; despite the occasional complaints about having lousy jobs, everyone seems to be pretty comfortable, lives in a nice apartment, can afford to dress well and eat out and so on. Even Kevin and Andrew’s goofy band and Sarah’s comics can draw large crowds at shows. All of which is fine to an extent, but if a film is going to depict serious relationship issues as this one does, it should avoid half-hearted subplots like the separation of the sisters’ parents and perhaps work harder to couch the leads in a universe that aligns with the potential outcomes of the plot.

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Evil Dead [2013] **

20 Apr

Mia (Jane Levy, Suburgatory) is a troubled teen who wants to kick her narcotics habit, but she has failed before and her friends fear that she will again. They enlist the help of her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez), who has been absent for a while but is determined to help his sister, even if it means locking her in a creepy old cabin belonging to their family somewhere in the Michigan woods.

Unfortunately for Mia, the cabin has become the site of some dark ritual, unleashing a demon that wants to consume innocent souls when it isn’t cutting or torturing bodies. It possesses her first, walking her into their midst to say “you’re all going to die tonight.” Spoilers follow, so read at your own risk.

This version of Evil Dead is of course a remake of the low-budget classic by Sam Raimi, starring Bruce Campbell, both of whom are executive producers on this version written and directed by newcomer Fede Alvarez. For a first feature, Alvarez does a good job under difficult circumstances, remaking a cult favourite that influenced a generation of filmmakers. In this respect he is far more successful than the directors of the remakes of films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Prom Night, Last House on the Left, Halloween… you name it.

The usual pattern for these remakes is to dress up the spare, low-budget original with more viscera, updated visual effects, and CW stars hoping to jump-start a film career. They fail, ultimately, because even a faithful adaptation has nothing new to offer either the jaded horror veteran or the novice; the movies just kind of lay there, trading on the fame of their predecessors but restricted by the same. Alvarez is sure to include all the little touches that the die-hards would expect, from Raimi’s old Plymouth to a tree rape to a scene with a chainsaw. I only minded these moments when it seemed like he was going through contortions to do so, which mostly happens in the finale. It is a gory film to be sure, but not gratuitously so, and perhaps not even as much as the original.

Unfortunately, it also just kind of lays there, and part of the reason for it this time is the lack of one element that was always going to be difficult to replace: Bruce Campbell as Ash. Campbell’s charisma, one-liners, and Three Stooges shtick made the original films as goofy as they were scary. That is what made those films work. Without that not so secret ingredient, this new attempt is not much different from any other dead-teenager movie; certainly no more enjoyable than, say, the remake of My Bloody Valentine.

There are fresh horror films out there, to be sure. Fans of the original Evil Dead films would almost certainly love both Cabin Fever films, as well other films by directors like Eli Roth or Ti West. Unfortunately, for all of its careful surface tribute, this update is just another addition to the pile of conservative corporate horror films, while the original was a groundbreaking poke in the eye of the Hollywood system. It has little energy, less joy, and no soul.

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Stoker (***)

15 Apr

Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre) stars as India, a girl who loses her beloved father (Dermot Mulroney) in a car accident on her 18th birthday. Her mother (Nicole Kidman) is comforted by the sudden arrival of uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), who has never visited before. Charlie is charistmatic and a little creepy, much like India herself. Both of them are able to hear sounds from much further away than other people, and see things from very far away as well.

The exact nature of India and Charlie’s apparent superhumanity is not really the point of the film; it is an eerie coming of age story masterfully told by director Chan-Wook Park (Oldboy) and screenwriter Wentworth Miller (Prison Break). We are constantly shown small moments of discovery which are revisited from a slightly (usually more sinister) angle later in the film, from the seemingly innocuous tradition of India’s new shoes for her birthday to the truth about uncle Charlie’s travels in Europe.

Stoker is a splendid, sumptuous, sometimes perverse film; it is the anti-Twilight. Catch it in theatres if you get a chance.

Spring, Sprung

14 Apr

Tsk, I haven’t posted for about a couple of months. Bad blogger, me. Sometimes I like to take a bit of a break. There hasn’t been much to report anyway; at least, not much for public consumption. I’m still working, still drawing comics when I’m not working, commuting from Saint John to Kingston (where I am now), and so on. I feel like I am slowly coming out of the usual winter funk, thanks to getting more creative stuff done, starting up with running again, making some new friends. The only thing I would like to do more of is maybe catch up on some video gaming and reading. Oh, and meditating. I’ve been really slack about that. I’ll figure it out.

On the bright side, I have been able to get a better handle on finances, partly due to a new app I’ve been using called You Need a Budget (YNAB). I still need to do some training to take full advantage of it but I liked it well enough during the trial period to pay for a full license.

Still enjoying the Apple TV and Hulu Plus; most recent favourite is Kroll Show starring Nick Kroll. Netflix has also added a pile of great cartoons, including Adventure Time, Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated, Justice League Unlimited, Venture Brothers, etc. It makes for a pretty hip Saturday morning.

I was sorry to hear about the passing of Roger Ebert recently. Discovering his and Gene Siskel’s show on PBS in my early teens led me to think about films more deeply than I had up until then. He regretted the entrenchment of the superficial, “thumbs up” review systems that publicists were so happy to put on posters; it was in his print reviews that I was pointed to other critics like Pauline Kael and encouraged to start thinking more critically myself. In more recent years, his blog often featured well-considered and unashamedly liberal examinations on issues pertaining to life in America. I’ll miss him.

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The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon

19 Feb

I’ve developed a fairly decent sense of restraint in my old age. Despite my ardent love of comics I will wait until a series is collected in trade paperback, or until I can find it at the library, or obtain it from my galley service. It’s not often that I glance through a book and immediately buy it because I must own it; but this is one of those books.

I had heard good things about it, of course, which is why I picked it up from the shelf in the first place. I knew that it had something to do with Buddhism, and that it had won lots of awards last year; but I hadn’t really properly seen it. And so last night, when I should have been working on my own comics, I devoured this one instead, and am better for it.

The Nao of Brown is the story of a young woman called Nao Brown; she is half-Japanese, half-British, and lives in London with a friend who is a nurse. Nao is a graphic designer in a bit of a downswing, recently dumped by her boyfriend and sacked from the job he had gotten her. She runs into an old friend from school who offers her a job in a geeky toy store that specializes in the kind of Japanese, anime-themed merchandise that Nao loves and knows about.

Nao has a Buddhist meditation practice and other strategies to help her combat her obsessive-compulsive disorder, which causes her to imagine violent things happening to others, especially those who are smaller than her (eg., children). Perhaps that is why she falls in love with Gregory, a burly appliance repairman who knows about Buddhism and Latin; but Gregory has issues of his own.

The Nao of Brown is not a perfect book, but it is so well-realized, from script to art to design. Like Blankets, Essex County, or Fun Home, it is an accomplished auteur piece that I would readily recommend to new readers or veterans alike.

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Comics by Sam Alden

15 Feb

Sam Alden is the real deal. I first noticed his work sometime last year, when a link to his comic Eighth Grade made the rounds. Unfortunately I don’t keep up with Tumblr as much as I should, so it was only recently that I caught up on the wealth of material he has online, including standouts like The Farmer’s Dilemma, which made its print debut at this year’s Angouleme festival.

Alden has a good command of brush and ink illustration and a fine colour sense, but what strikes me about his work is how he combines these traditional tools with the fluidity of an infinite canvas. He seems to be fascinated with the forms of the natural world and man’s (or at least his own) relationship with them. I admire his technical skill as well as his willingness to explore his emotions.

For a guy in his early 20s, Alden has built an impressive body of work with the aesthetic and approach of a fine artist who happens to make comics. I hope we get to keep him for a while.

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The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt

14 Feb

Vancouver-born Patrick DeWitt’s award-winning second novel is the tale of Eli and Charlie Sisters, a pair of bad men at the twilight of the old west who have enough of a reputation to strike fear in the hearts of their targets, but not quite enough to prevent them from having to deal with a lot of trouble. The Sisters brothers are traveling from Oregon to San Francisco on behalf of their employer, a regional crime boss that Eli has come to despise. He worries that Charlie’s ambition is driving a wedge between them, and that the life of a hired gun is slowly robbing them both of their humanity.

The story is told from Eli’s viewpoint, with the exception of a couple of intermissions about a creepy young girl they meet during their travels. The construction of the novel is ingenious, starting with the road trip wherein the brothers meet a variety of characters and endure some dangerous and strange situations. The road trip section gives us the information we need about the brothers to understand the latter third of the book, when they arrive in San Francisco and locate their quarry, who has decided to join a scientist with a remarkable new invention.

I’ve always loved Westerns; not so much the formula oaters by Zane Grey or Louis L’Amour, but certainly the more imaginative and literary tales by Richard Matheson or Elmore Leonard. The Sisters Brothers fits on that shelf very neatly; Eli Sisters is not the handsomest or sharpest man, but he has a good heart and it is fascinating to follow his thoughts on family, justice, and the possibly unattainable wish to change one’s life. As I read the novel, the characters and situations were sometimes so fantastic that it felt like I was reading an as-yet-unfilmed screenplay by the Coen brothers. I rather hope that I was.

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Side Effects (***)

13 Feb

Emily, a woman with a history of mental illness (Rooney Mara) nervously welcomes her husband (Channing Tatum) home after his release from prison. Her anxiety about their future grows until she impulsively drives her car into the wall of a parking garage. The hospital assigns a young psychologist called Banks (Jude Law) to assess her fitness for release. He agrees to let her go home after she claims that she just had a bad moment, that she has had therapy before and is willing to do it again. She becomes his patient and reports that her former therapist (Catherine Zeta-Jones) had successfully treated her with antidepressant medications.

The usual meds don’t seem to be working and the young couple are willing to try something new, so Banks gives her a prescription called Ablixa that seems to work, albeit with side effects, one of which is sleepwalking. Suddenly Emily does something terrible, and all eyes turn to Banks: was his prescription correct? Did he have an improper relationship with Emily or other patients? He loses consulting work and his colleagues, and it seems that he will be collateral damage of Emily’s illness; until an offhand remark from a stranger pulls him up short and leads him to wonder whether things are in fact as they seem.

“It’s the culture,” shrugs Tatum after a colleague apologizes for not being more supportive after his indictment on insider trading. That remark is implicit throughout the movie, as we see a Hitchcock-style plot unspool along contemporary lines, examining the American cultural touchstones of mental illness, antidepressants, white collar crime and more. In many ways director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns have crafted a modern version of the French classic Diabolique.

I hear that Soderbergh has announced that this will be his last feature film, which would be quite a shame. I was initially turned off by his indie debut, Sex, Lies and Videotape; but over the years I have come to enjoy and respect his work, especially The Limey, Traffic, and Solaris; Haywire, his take on Jason Bourne-style films, was my favourite movie of 2012 (I haven’t seen his other 2012 film, Magic Mike, yet). Soderbergh shows a masterful command of all the elements of filmmaking, and while Side Effects is not his best picture, it is very good and likely the best thing you could see at the theatre right now.

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