Vampires Can Be Cool

With the "reboot" of the whole DCUniverse this month, this week brought the redoing of I, Vampire. A lame concept from the '80s that looked to be a lame concept now. But then I actually read it and I have to admit that I was wrong.
Andrew Stanton is a vampire. His ex is the Queen of the Damned, Mary. Mary thinks it's high time they take their rightful place at the top of the totem and that means exposing themselves (snicker) and taking out the heroes of the DCU by creating an army of vampires. It's up to Andrew to stop her and her new horde.
I admit to being skeptical and I admit to being wrong. While the actual writing was the weak point, it still did it's job well. However, the premise and the amazing art are what won me over. Look at this dude's art. His name is Andrea Sorrentino. First off, it looks a lot like Jae Lee and that's not a bad thing. Second, it may be some of the most fitting art for this book. Dark and gritty is how a vampire should look.
So here's to DC. In a world filled with dumb, ridiculous, Twi-Tard vampires, you have given me a reason to keep my hope and I thank you for it.

Can You Feel the Love?

I went with the parentals to Lion King 3D tonight and I had forgotten how great that movie is. I still put Aladdin on top as best but what a great movie. And the 3D was pretty good. This may be the best Shakespear has been in a very long time.

I'd Buy His Album

A guy at work told me about this dude. Kinda makes me want to watch The X-Factor. Kinda. Either way, I would buy this dude's album.

Clif-Notes: Killer Elite

I stopped into the newest Statham flick this afternoon and I came out with mixed emotions over it.
For those that have missed it, Elite is the true story (they claim) of an ex-SAS (Jason Statham) who is brought back into the game after his mentor (Robert De Niro) is taken captive. To get him back, he must kill three men for an Arab (don't quote me on this one, not sure his nationality) who wants his honor restored before he dies. Along the way, another ex-SAS (Clive Owen) wants to know what's going on and wages a little war against Statham and his men trying to find out.
Here's the good: This movie turned out to be a much bigger cat & mouse game than I thought it would be. It had the typical action and fighting you would expect from a Statham film (the first encounter between he and Owen was pretty damned awesome, if I do say so myself) but the amount of "thrill" put in it surprised me a little and not in a bad way. Plus, come on. It's Statham, Owen and De Niro. All three are pretty badass no matter what movie they are doing.
Here's the bad: It was almost trying a bit too hard to be a cat & mouse game. It felt drawn out at points when it wanted to makes things "smarter" and it didn't always come across with that result. At some point, I remember thinking "when are they finally gonna figure something out and fight?" and that's never a fun thought to have in a movie.
Overall, I liked it. It was pretty awesome and badass even though it felt long at times. If you can see it in the theater, do it but I say you can also wait until dvd if you can't.

Controversy?

Comics fans abroad are pretty pissed off about a certain page in the new Catwoman that began this week. What image? This one.
Catwoman and Batman "having sex". For some reason this is a big problem for a lot of readers. They see it as demeaning towards women and regressing the character of Selina Kyle to no more than a whore or a hussy. Apparently they had forgotten about the three previous pages that had Catwoman being the seducer and aggressor.
And let's not forget that this is a character that has always used her sex appeal as a means to get her way, that she runs around stealing (along with many other "immoral" acts to boot), carries a whip as her primary weapon and wears a leather jumpsuit that is four sizes to small.
And what part of this new start to Catwoman are people not caring about? This one.
Where she beats the loving hell out of a dude. But as always, put all the language and violence you want as long as you don't allow any skin in a sexual nature to be seen.
Selina Kyle is a strong, confident character who has always paved her own path. She has always owned her body and her sexual prowess and has actually slept with Batman/Bruce Wayne many time. This is nothing new to the character. People just don't like that a male writer is the one doing it.
Get over it. It's a fake character and you have no life. Trust me. We can smell our own.

NB of the Week

Wonder Woman #1 - The Visitation
So far, of all the "New 52" books, this one may have to go to the top. It may be the only book thus far that I have finished reading and didn't want to wait for the next issue to come out.
The issue begins with a all black figure (with glowing eyes and mouth) talking to three ladies atop his penthouse suit, talking about his father being a "king". He then proceeds to shove said ladies off the roof. It then jumps to a barn in Virgina, as a lady clothed only in what looks like peacock feathers, cuts the heads off two horses. Out of those bodies and wounds, starts to emerge bloody hands and heads... This leads to a blue man in a house telling a lady her and her child have to leave before it's too late. This lady (named Zola) has no idea who this blue man is nor what child he speaks of. Before ya know it, two Centaurs burst through the door (I presume they are what was formed from the decapitated horses). Blue man gets nailed by an arrow, handing a key to Zola. After taking it, she is transported to a loft in London where she finds a sleeping Wonder Woman, who of course comes to he rescue after hearing her story. They both take the key and it somehow takes them back to the farm. After fighting the Centaurs and chasing them off, we get answers. Turns out the blue guy is Hermes, come to save the lady and her unborn child. Which happens to be the child of Zeus. Cut back to mystery Black figure and he is now talking to the three ladies as they float in the air, seeming to be vessels for the Fates, telling him of what has transpired. The three ladies burn up and die. End issue one.
... What the hell? This was a kind of a weird story but I loved every page of it. It appears that Diana is not an ambassador to the US and that the Gods are kinda dicks. I like it. Writer Brian Azzarello is definitely on his game with this one and I am very excited to see what else he brings. DC may have hit a home run with this one. At least for now. Let's not forget how many times it's been messed up in the past...

NBs of the Week

That's right. Multiple. This week was a pretty damn good week and I had some hard time trying to narrow it down so I choose a few. I'll try not to ramble about each one (yes, I know how I get at times) but it was a good week so bare with me.

New Avengers #16 - Fear Itself
With all the crazy stuff going on with Fear Itself, everyone was expecting the Avengers' tie-ins to be the biggest of all the tie-ins and it hasn't shown more than here as Daredevil joins the team. When the shit hits the fan, you do what you gotta do to save people. So after taking out hordes of Nazi robot fighter thingies (the technical term), DD runs to Avenger's Mansion as it's being hit, in time to save Luke and Jessica's baby. Cage definitely says it best:
"He is driven by demons deeper than anything anyone you know has ever been driven by. And I'm telling you, in this business, all of us are demon-driven. And even on that level he still defines himself by his drive and dedication. People gonna ask: is Daredevil Avengers material? In my opinion, and I don't mean to be all corny, but to me the question is: Are the Avengers Daredevil material?"

Ultimate Spider-Man #1
If I haven't said it before, I freely admit to having my doubts about getting a new Spider-Man. I know that Bendis is still with it, but it felt a little like killing Peter was only done to make way for more ethnicity.
And so far, I am completely wrong. I may have a shotty memory at times, but this issue didn't even bring up his skin color at all.
Turns out, that Osborn tried to recreate the success of Spider-Man a long time ago before he went publicly crazy. As one of his labs was robbed (by Deadpool?), one spider got loose and climbed into the bag of money and goods. Later, after the goods wound up in his uncle's hands, young Miles Morales was bitten by the spider. And so on and so forth. (and he even has a new power already, being able to turn "invisible" and blend into his surroundings)
The best thing I can say about this issue is that it made me feel like I was reading the first Ultimate Spider-Man, for the first time, all over again. I honestly was very surprised to have liked it this much. It's a great start and I feel sorry for all those that were unwilling to give a new Spidey a chance. You missed out on a great issue.

Uncanny X-Force #15 - The Dark Angel Saga: Chapter 5
Points to made made from this issue:
1) Psylock is still a badass.
2) The life seed can do some pretty scary things to the world.
3) When Deadpool gets real anxious, "Lil' Wade pulls up to hide inside Big Wade."
4) The new Deathlok is scary badass and can easily kill a Horseman
5) Archangel wants Psylock to be his new Horseman of Death.
6) You're still not buying this book. Why the hell aren't you buying this book?!

Clif-Notes: Warrior

I admit to being a little biased going into this movie. I love me some Tom Hardy and I love me some MMA, so the two of them together almost spelled success for me from the start.
Ex-Marine Tommy (Tom Hardy) comes home after 14 years and enlists his now-sober father (Nick Nolte/the man responsible for his leaving in the first place) to help train for SPARTA, the biggest Mixed Martial Arts tournament in history. Brendan (Joel Edgerton) is a physics teacher with a wife, two kids, and a mortgage that threatens to take his house away in 90 days. After being suspended without pay, he must take up the old job of fighting to help keep his family afloat and somehow finds his way into SPARTA. Tommy and Brendan are brothers that have not spoken since the day Tommy and their mother ran from their father and the drunken, abusive life he was forcing them to live. Now they are on a collision course that lets them fight out their pain inside an octagon.
I hope I'm not stepping out of line here but I think this may be the best movie that I have seen this year. Amazing fights. Amazing acting. And, most surprising to me, amazing heart. Tom Hardy is brilliant as always as the hurt-filled Tommy. The movie's very first scene has Nick Nolte (and welcome back, good sir. Where has this acting been hiding all these years?) coming home to find Tommy sitting at his doorstep, drunk. From the start, you get how dark and bleak Tommy's outlook on life is and Hardy conveyed that perfectly. Feeling lost and alone for all these years, Tommy doesn't hold back his feelings as he continually reminds Nolte about the drinking and the physical abuse he put them through. He's an angry man with a lot of pain looking to put a good hurting on whomever steps in front of him.
Nick Nolte was great as the father just looking to move forward. He's ashamed of what he has done and been but he doesn't know how to say sorry for doing it. You can tell he takes all the guilt of everything onto his shoulders and doesn't know how to keep standing now. He thinks Tommy coming back is the first door to that recovery but all he finds are two sons who are unwilling to forgive and trust the man that let them down all those years ago.
And Joel Edgerton is the breakout for me. This guy has been in King Arthur (fun but pretty stupid) and Star Wars (and we all know how amazing the acting is in those movies) and that's all I know of him and I want that to change. Brendan is the one who got saved. He stayed behind because he fell in love and he's worked hard to get a life he is finally happy with (you know, except for the financial troubles). Edgerton had the task of balancing a character that wants nothing more than to provide for his now-family while trying to heal his then-family and, like everyone else, he nails it.
And to top everything off, the fighting was amazing. Hardy and Edgerton both looked like they trained massively hard to be in fighting condition. There's always that movie that kinda just skips on the authenticity of things like fighting in order to focus on the story and it shows that this wasn't one of them. The fighting is as much a character as Brendan and Tommy. It's the glue that is trying to be used to bring this family back together and they put a lot of effort into it.
I really can't say enough, great things about this movie. I wanted to watch it again as soon as it was over. Amazing movie and I absolutely say you should run to the theaters to see it.

NB of the Week

Action Comics #1 - Superman Versus the City of Tomorrow
Last week started off the "The New 52" with Justice League and while I felt that issue was way too much set-up for my liking, this issue really started off the new universe with a bang.
(And in case you aren't following it, DC is relaunching everything new, some things staying pretty close to the last run, most things changing and taking new approaches. Biggest change is that super-heroes have only been around for about five years and that was mostly started by Batman forming the League. Justice League and Action Comics are the only two that take place in the past.)
Very first page we are given a new Superman (one that has been said to be more Kryptonian than human because both Ma and Pa Kent died when he was a child). As Supes flies onto a nice balcony with men in suits, his first words spoken are,
"Rats. Rats with money. and rats with guns. I'm your worst nightmare."
As police race to the room, they arrive to find Supes holding a man over his head while he stands in the balcony's railing.
"I'll put him down.. Just as soon as he makes a full confession. To someone who still believes the law works the same for the rich and poor alike. Because that ain't Superman."
Through some intimidation and force, he ends up getting his confession and taking off. We then see that General Lane and Lex Luthor are scheming to get this Superman under control. They begin staging "accidents" to draw him out and try to trap him. The last one being an atempt to blow a train up. A train that Clark's good friend Jimmy Olsen and his work pal Lois Lane are on, following a scoop. We get the definition of his "more powerful than a speeding locomotive" attribute as Supes come swooping in, in front of the train, trying to stop it with all his might (interesting fact, Luthor makes reference to Superman becoming more powerful and getting new powers as things move along). Anyway, After pinning Supes to a wall, exhausted and passed out now, Luthor leaves us with great, final words.
"The Brown Tree Snake, introduced to the US territory of Guam right after World War Two, caused dozens of indigenous birds and reptile species to become extinct. The Cane Toad, sent to Australia as a pest control agent, decimated local biodiversity. Non-native strains will destroy entire ecologies, given the opportunity. Our planet is playing host to a powerful and parasitic alien organism masquerading -- somewhat ineptly, I have to say -- as a human being. We have to stop it but ordinary bullets don't work. We've tried mortar shells and even they barely slow it down. But I aim the world's biggest bullet at it's head with the help of a very disgruntled businessman...
You wanted Superman, General Lane. Dead or alive. Behold. I give you Superman."
I fully admit to being a little biased over this one because of how much I like it's writer Grant Morrison, but good story is good story and this was good story. From jump street, we get that this is a different Superman, coming off as more Batman than Superman at times and I'm ok with that. This is before the new suit and the Justice League so a lot of authority figures don't trust or like Superman's methods but that's awesome. He still fights for the rights of all people and protects the innocent so what's the real differences? A few, madder faces. A little more anger towards the corrupt.
Who cares?
Morrison is off to a great start to what I'm hoping will continue to be a great book and I'm very excited to see what comes.
(and on another, interesting note, Flashpoint ended with a mysterious figure telling Wally that their world had been split into three long ago and it needed to become one again. I presume she meant the Wildstorm, Vertigo and DC universes. Turns out, she has been in the background of every book so far. Not sure who she is or what her plans are, but I like that DC is trying to make things tie together somehow. Only time will tell exactly how, though)

Clif-Notes: Colombiana

After her parents are killed, young Cataleya grows up training to be the perfect killer, looking to avenge her family's murder.
Here are the facts behind this movie:
1) Written by the men behind the movies Taken, Transporter, Leon the Professional and Fifth Element, to name a few.
2) Zoe Saldana is smokin' hot
And there ya go. Everything you need to know about this movie right there. I haven't read the nicest things about this movie from people online and they are all 100% wrong. I loved this movie from start to finish. Luc Besson has some of the best stories out there and when he is involved, it's gold. You flow along with the story as though you were in it. The action is smart and real and totally badass. And having a hot chick doing said badass is always a great thing. Zoe Saldana should stop everything she's working on and just kick ass on a regular basis. She is great as the action heroine.I really can't say anything bad about this movie. Story may have not been the most "sophisticated" and the action romps never really get the great reviews but this movie is one of the better movies I have seen this year. It's Taken, but with a hot, female lead.
Watch this movie. You shan't be disappointed. Unless you didn't like any of the movies mentioned earlier. Then you may be disappointed.

I Approve

More photos have bee "released" from the new Man of Steal movie and even though most everyone on the internet claims to know best and hates this suit, I actually really like it. Good combo of the new DCnU suit and the original.
I Approve.