But I know that's not why you come here, so I'll get right into some of the typical topics.
DVDs:
You know nothing really stands out from the movies I watched this summer. I look at the list of DVDs that I've rented from Netflix and while many were fine and good, and I liked and enjoyed them, very few stand out as cream of the crop.
I'll just get to a couple:
Taken - this was a very fun action thriller, and is just straight up Liam Neeson being a bad-ass in a gritty realistic world, it's basically what 24 the movie would be like. It's more based on a personal vendetta than a govt agency chasing terrorists, but it's still an intense, quick, little action movie. 3.5/5
Rambo: First Blood - Before this summer I had never seen a Rambo film outside of the recently released sequel, so I decided to go back and watch the first film. Man, it's a pretty intense character study of John Rambo, the psychology of war, and a social commentary on the veterans of war and the way the government and society treat them and others with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It's smarter than I thought it would be, but also not too smart to the point where it's not entertaining. 4/5
The Visitor - Don't really know what to say about this one, but it was a surprise hit with me and my family. It's a smaller film that's more personal, it gets so personal that the characters act real and ultimately the film makes you really care. On the larger picture it's about illegal immigrants and their interaction with society, on the smaller picture, it's about a professor who's lost any fulfillment in his life and finds it in his interaction with these "visitors." It's a really great film that I think everyone should check out. 4.5/5
Gran Torino - Everybody probably already knows about this film. I love Clint Eastwood's twilight years as a director, he's directed such great films in the past decade or so, and this one is another hit. It's probably my favorite one of the bunch (a lot of the shine of Million Dollar Baby rubbed off last time I watched it). 4.5/5
As for the Films/Movies that I saw in the theater well it wasn't a particularly great summer...
X-men Origins: Wolverine was a huge let down, The newest Potter film was a letdown (but really the series as a whole hasn't been that great outside of the magical Prisoner of Azkaban film), T4 was better than T3 but still added nothing to the story, and overall I just wasn't enthused with any of the big blockbusters this summer. I skipped out on Transformers (which I heard was a disaster) and G.I. Joe (another toy franchise from the 80's getting the blockbuster treatment that I don't care about).
The movies that stuck out came under the radar and again, were ones that didn't have the huge budget but made up for that with charm, and creativity.
District 9 - I really enjoy sci-fi done right, this was done right. It's a fun sci-fi movie that puts a spin on the treatment and fear of aliens. I really enjoyed it, although critics are right, the tonal shifts throughout the move makes it seem like the move isn't sure of what it wants to be (it shifts from a documentary style which disappears, to a straight film about the plight of these aliens, to an action movie) but I hardly noticed it while watching it because the overall plot about the main character's psychological transformation sticks with you throughout. The aliens are actually really well done, and they make you care about the aliens as if they were people. The whole movie really clicked with me. Also the action sequences looked better here than many of the higher budgeted films of the summer. 4/5
Zombieland - Another lower-budget film that just really clicked. It's absolutely hilarious film and was a darn good time. Some may say this is a US version of Shaun of the Dead, in a way it is, it's an American parody of the Zombie movie, but it doesn't retread ground that Shaun of the Dead covered. I liked Zombieland better overall, it was just much funner, but then again I watched Shaun of the Dead at home by myself, which tends to take the kick out of a lot of comedy movies. 4/5
TV Series (mostly via DVD)
I didn't watch much TV this summer/fall, but I did watch some. Of course most of it was on DVD as I usually despise appointment television. The only show that I've watched during actual airings lately has been:
The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights - it's only a few episodes in (I think, 5 or so) but it's been an enjoyable show, mind you this is the 10th season (I think) and the last time I watched a full season was the first season, and I probably watched an episode or two of season 2 and 3, generally the show has been off the radar. I've enjoyed this season thus far, although the fights have been really lackluster thus far. Obviously Kimbo makes for good tv, Quinton makes for good tv, and the interactions between the Quinton and Rashad makes for good tv. Overall though, Rashad looks like he could sweep, his coaching is better, he's got Greg Jackson's camp behind him, he's got knowledge of the Ultimate Fighter experience since he actually was on the show one season, and overall he looks like he's got more well-rounded fighters. I also can't see any of Quinton's fighters taking the season. Nelson looks to be the favorite, but I'm going with an outside pick of Justin Wren or Brendan Schaub.
Outside of that not much on the TV front -
I finished much of X-men Evolution, including the entire third season, but with 4 episodes left in the 4th and final season, I kind of just lost interest, I'll finish it off eventually especially because season 3 was actually pretty damn good and season 2 wasn't half bad. But most of Season 4 has been stand-alone episodes that haven't really done much for me.
I started a little known series called Battlestar Galactica, they have most of the seasons available via the local library so that's where I've been getting them. Many of my friends have been telling me to give it a shot so I've been giving it a shot lately. The miniseries that acts as a pilot of the first season didn't really blow me away. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either, the first 4 episodes played much better with me, I can see the religious symbolism and other social themes clearer, the plots are more engaging, the pacing is better as they only have to fill 45 minutes instead of almost 3 hours. It just started coming together. I'm still not blown away by it yet, but I'll definitely keep watching.
Also I just recently started watching Smallville from the beginning. I'll have my thoughts up on the first two episodes in a bit as I'll be keeping a running diary of that series. Overall, it hasn't blown me away but it's a fun little series that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Wrestling:
I really enjoyed the feud over the summer between Punk and Hardy. It was an excellent feud that helped raise Punks star-power and made him a threat and one of the top heels in the WWE and the top heel on Smackdown. It's been the most enjoyable thing about the WWE summer. Also their TLC match was pretty awesome.
The second most enjoyable is Jericho/Big Show's tag title reign. The tag titles have been booked so excellently and if WWE plays their cards right they could virtually make new stars with the first defeat of Jericho/Big Show. Jericho is always excellent and Big Show is doing great in his role as a big bully tag champion. Also their tag match against Mysterio/Batista was the best tag match we've seen in a long while and so much fun.
Speaking of Tag teams, the DX feud with Legacy that's been running most of the summer has also really helped build DiBiase and Rhodes as actual threats and future superstars. The matches were good but not great, and DX didn't bury them as they tend to do with tag-teams. Legacy had moments where they actually looked quite strong in the feud, and the story they told in the HIAC match they had last month was innovative and smart.
Morrison's IC title match with Mysterio from Smackdown was really a MOTYC and should be seen by everyone.
Ever since Taker came back I've been absolutely disappointed in the Smackdown World Title picture and the booking of the Title itself. They booked themselves into a corner and cut Punk out from under the knees on his heel title reign, Punk is still fantastic in the role, but it's obvious age is catching up with Taker as he can't perform nearly as well and it shows. His best match with Punk was at Hell in a Cell and even that was underwhelming.
Orton and Cena round one billion. I'm so sick of these two wrestling each other. In all honesty, I'm pretty sick of Orton, I really liked his character as a ruthless animal, but the way he wrestles is just down-right lethargic. It's not entertaining in the slightest. Admittedly they had a fun match at Summerslam with the story of Orton torturing Cena and a basically dead Cena never giving up before making his comeback and finishing it quick. But it's still way below the standard for the World Title and main events. Now mind you I haven't quite finished Braggin Rights, but I have no faith going in that they can keep it entertaining for a full hour. Hopefully it really is the final match these two have.
And just so you have it, here's an updated listing of the TOP PPV matches of the year.
Top WWE PPV Matches of 09:
- HBK vs. Undertaker (Mania 25) - **** ½
- Jericho vs. Rey (The Bash 09) - **** ¼
- Raw Elimination Chamber (No Way Out 09) - **** ¼
- CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (Summerslam) - ****
- Jeff Hardy vs. Edge (Extreme Rules) - ****
- Mysterio vs. Jericho (Judgment Day 09) - *** ¾
- Mysterio/Batista vs. Jericho/Big Show (HIAC 09) - *** ¾
- Edge vs. Cena (Backlash 09) - *** ¾
- CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (Night of Champions 09) - *** ¾
- Mysterio vs. Jericho (Extreme Rules) - *** ½
- Smackdown Elimination Chamber (No Way Out 09) - *** ½
- MITB (Mania 25) - *** ½
- CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (The Bash 09) - *** ¼
14. Christian vs. Jack Swagger (Backlash) - *** ¼
- Dolph Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio (Summerslam) - *** ¼
- DX vs. Legacy Breaking Point (HIAC) - *** ¼
- DX vs. Legacy Breaking Point (Breaking Point) - *** ¼
- DX vs. Legacy (Summerslam) - *** ¼
Comics
Finally my foray into comics this summer...well I've read a lot, it's the only thing keeping me sane.
So some of the stuff I've gotten into:
Batman - read Hush which I didn't like, Nine Lives, Thrillkiller, and Gothic which I did like.
54 vols. 1-4 - I don't know much about the DC Universe and this was my entrance into the larger world, some of the characters jived with me, others didn't. It's a good book and an interesting experiment but I was often lost and confused about what was going on. Still it's pretty entertaining and makes me realize the kind of comic work that I like (noir or political thrillers) and the stuff I typically don't like (sci-fi epics and aliens). 7.5/10
JLA vol. 1, Earth-2 - I heard a lot of praise for Morrison's JLA, frankly I didn't care too much for it. I thought there were some great ideas in both books and Earth-2 is better paced, written, and plotted, but his first arc was just lackluster and didn't do much for me outside of unexplored ideas and directions. Also, there's very little character development which I'm typically a fan of. I might give vol. 2 a try, but it's possible that I don't like large-scale superhero books (JLA, JLI, the Avengers) and prefer those that stay in their corner (X-factor, Thunderbolts by Ellis). vol. 1 - 6/10, Earth -2 - 7.5/10
Starman vol. 1-4 - Again a book that comes with a lot of praise, so I decide to check it out from the library which owns the first 7 volumes. It's actually really good and outside of some ham-fisted speeches, and static dialogue, it's got a great mood and presence to the whole book. I don't remember which volume is which but there are some bumps in the road along the way, the Hell and Back arc isn't that great, and there are some stories in volume 4 that are just long and boring, but overall it's a great read. The stories being told, the main character's journey to become a full-fledged superhero, the theme of unbreakable connection to a villain and destiny, the clashing of both past and present, the love letter to the past, it all makes up for shoddy narration, stilted dialogue, and a few other bumps in the road. The library has vols. 5-7 available, so I may just read up to vol. 7 before dropping the book. I'm not hooked, but if it really draws me in on the next 3 volumes, than I'll have to be on the lookout for the last three volumes.
Finally: I reread Bendis' run on Daredevil and read Brubaker's run (which is not as good as Bendis but still quite good). I may do a long through column about my love for Daredevil involving these two runs along with Miller's run, and the other stories I've read, so I'll hold back until another re-read and until all this stuff gets a bit more dated. Anyways, Daredevil is one of...if not my absolute FAVORITE marvel character of all time and if you haven't read it, you should Miller's famous run and his two other arcs (Born Again and The Man Without Fear), Smith's Run: Guardian Devil, Bendis 10 TPB run, Daredevil Yellow, Daredevil: Redemption, and Daredevil by Brubaker. It's all great with Bendis' run being my favorite of the bunch.
Also read Walking Dead vols. 9-10, be on the look out for my thoughts about these in the near future, in all honesty, you may not like what you read.
WHEW! That's all for now folks.
As a recap here's what's coming up:
Smallville Running Diary.
Walking Dead vols. 9-10.
X-factor visionaries vols. 1-4 by Peter David, to set up next years read of the new X-factor series.
And another Morrison book WE3, can he finally win me over?
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