a quick bit on sucker punch

I know Sucker Punch hasn't been getting the best reviews, but i loved it. Zach Snyder does not get enough credit as a director. a lot has been written about the first wave of post-vcr film makers (think Quentin Tarrantino and PT Anderson), but i think Zach is the first post video game director. Sucker Punch is a visually mind blowing and something right out of an Xbox game. His whole aesthetic seems to be shaped by video games with good graphics. and he managed to create a world where ass kicking women, zombies, dragons, and machine guns all fit together. All that was missing was a vampire. I wanted to be entertained and boy was i ever. feminism filtered through the vision of geeks everywhere. bring it on.

some of my favorite stories of all time.

This list is not the most intellectual or artsy. But I'll say this much, it's honest.




Preacher

One man's quest,quite literally, for God. Preacher leaves no taboo unbroken, no emotion untouched. Armed with a strong sense of right and wrong and the Word of God




Watchmen

A murder mystery wrapped in Cold War paranoia, Watchmen almost single handily forced super hero fiction to grow up. I read this for the first time when I was 11. It had a profound effect on me. It's one of the few books I reread every few years. Every time I do I pick up something I missed before.



The Stand

I have a soft spot for apocalyptic fiction and The Stand is the grand daddy of them all. One of the best good vs evil tales ever told.




Magnolia

Every time I read a book, put on a record or watch a film I am hoping for the same reaction I had when I saw Magnolia for the first time. I was euphoric. And the beauty of it is that I don't know why. It touched me and I can't say exactly how. Sometimes you just have to go with it. This is still my favorite film.



Reservoir Dogs

I remember seeing this for the first time with my friend Sarah during finals week the first semester of college. We watched it and automatically we rewound it and watched it again. Fuck studying. I can still hear the squeal of delight she gave when Mr. Blond gets his. I've been a QT fanatic ever since.




It

I read this when I was about the same age as the main characters and so much about the town of Derry was similar to the town I grew up in Ohio. Never have a devoured a novel so voraciously. To get me to stop reading it you'd have to literally rip the book form my hands.




Aliens

The one movie where I have lost count of how many times I have seen it. I can almost recite the whole movie verbatim from memory even today. "somebody wake up Hicks"




Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Never in the history of television has character development handled so well as on Buffy. Who cares if they were fighting cheesy looking demons. you CARED about these characters.




Bloom County

I miss this comic strip so much. Sure Berkeley Breathed has done other strips and well received children's books, but Bloom County will always be his masterpiece. One of the best satires of the 80's

lady in the darkness

truth be told this novel is typical airport bookstore fare. the kind of book turned into a by numbers mid-budget Hollywood thriller starring an a-list actor or actress sleepwalking through the main role. that doesn't mean, however that this is not worth reading. for me, richard north patterson's prose does accurately capture the diaspora of a standard steel belt city and their hopes and dreams, worries and passions. having grown up in the steel belt i appreciated pattersons' ability to relate to blue collar America. in a small way it hit home and that is exactly what art is supposed to do.

spider woman: agent of s.w.o.r.d

spider woman agent of s.w.o.r.d i easily one of the best endings of a big crossover event i have ever read (secret invasion). redemption, exotic locales, action. this graphic novel has everything a good action movie should have and is exactly why a lot of comics these days are more fun than going to the cinema. a return of the creative team that made daredevil a smash (brian bendis and alex maleev) - a perfect mesh of story and art.

Razorjack

What i like best about this graphic novel is how effortlessly it harkens back to the glory days of 2000 ad comics. It has that hyperactivity, over the top violence and fantasical storytelling that Judge Dredd was known for. Creator John Higgins has an obvious love for the medium which translates as vivid enthusiasm that takes the reader along for the ride whether they want to go or not. Just hold on and enjoy the ride. If this was a film it would be in eye popping 3d with metal soundtrack. if that's your thing then this is your book.

nirvana live at reading

Nirvana - Live at Reading

Nirvana's gig at 1992's Reading Festival is legendary. Seeing this full setlist DVD is seeing a band at their creative peak and the height of the first leg of their career. Watching Kurt Cobain's antics on stage as well as the ferocity of Dave and Krist's playing it is obvious the band was still having FUN. The success was there, but the pressure hadn't reached a fever pitch. Even though at the time of this concert Kurt and Courtney were under assault by the media, he manages to have a good time. It feels very much of an us (the band and their fans) vs the world than the world vs Kurt Cobain. And that makes all the difference. What makes this dvd so electrifying is that this is the man before he was dragged kicking and screaming to become the Voice Of A Generation. It exemplifies all the right reasons why the world fell in love with the band to begin with. Watch and feel nostalgic for what could have been.