The following is a letter I wrote to Mr. Timothy Callahan. Of Comic Book Resources.
The links to his original review, and article that addresses said review can be found here:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21809
And the original review of X-factor 44:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=1116
"
To: Timothy Callahan
This is a response to your review of your X-Factor Review. While I appreciate your attempt to either defend yourself/your review or possibly just clarify your sentiments, however I had just a few small problems with it.
I am a type of reader who reads a month worth of books at a time due to a sub-service that I use; this leads me to look at reviews scores for the books that I know I'm getting, and read the review for the ones that I might not necessarily read otherwise. I find it important to get multiple perspectives on a given book so that I'm not simply receiving a single critics opinion but instead am getting a wider range of reviews. So rather than read just what IGN has to say, I also visit CBR and several other blogs whose writers have demonstrated good, well-written, and accurate reviews.
There are elements to your review style that are particularly off-tasting. that is to say that is always sounds like you are trying to be pretentious about your witting. Now it's possible you actually are pretentious in which case I'm sorry you can't see the insulting and condescending nature of it and worse that you fail to see that by phrasing your opinions in that manner that you are turning some potential audience members away. Part of this also comes from your overuse of [sic] to the point where it loses its value of being an indicator of the author, not the transcribers, error and instead sounds like your trying to point out that all of your quotes(or near all of them) have typos in them and that also comes across as rude. But that is simply where I come from.
You also go on to propose that you yourself are objective and can make an objective statement about the quality of book that is produced. This is of course complete and totally nonsense much akin to the idea that someone can be unbiased because what a single person experiences is going to be different than another and thus the way they approach anything is different to the point where even if both parties use the same method and standards, the varying degrees of such a standard(which, yes, defeats the purpose of a standard) that a given person approaches it with are going to vary. Now it's very likely your reading this going SHUT UP KID, I KNOW THIS. Maybe less angrily, but the idea is likely there I hope. I simply wanted to remind you of the concept briefly.
What I truly don't understand is how you can say that the art is good and that the witting is okay and still believe that it is on par with a story whose witting and art are horrible(read:Ultimatum).
Moreso, I found your almost personal attacks on David's sentiments to be in bad taste and imply that you could do better than David. Now I have no reason to believe otherwise on this, but based on the review I read and this article I find this hard to believe. You do a similar attack on another reviewer who wrote a positive review for the same thing. If being objective means you can attack other writters for writting a review, which while can be based on objectivity is more likely to be based on opinion because different opinions do exist.
So no, I don't think you have "the worst taste in comics ever" or any nonsense like that. I simply believe that the way you convey your opinions and your opinions that your opinions are fact or fact based, and not opinions based on facts, leads to a less successful reviewer and will make sure to check who writes the review before I read it and choose to not read your reviews.
Ultimately, what I said here has no barring on you. It won't affect you because what I've said isn't going to change your opinion. Its just me stating an opinion reviewing your opinion that is a review of your own review which is in turn your opinion.
Have a nice day.
"
Why did I choose to post this? Because I felt the need to demonstrate an opinion and also a review of a review. I'll try and post a review online tommarow(or rather later today) that will give you a better idea of how I'm going to be writing comic reviews from now on.
ps: THIS IS AN OPINION.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Transformers 2...
A review in a sentence. Racist piece of crap, but the explosions are cool.
....Second sentence, Jetfire kicks ass.
Alright so I should probally explain and quallify those statements.
The first thing I should warn is that This, plus Up, plus Gran Torino resulted in my new found theorm that old people are once again(?) cool. Jetfire gets almost all of the good lines and despite bein' a horrible stereotype, complete with cane and beard(yeah somehow the robot has a beard) he's most certainly the coolest character in the film.
Why it's racist you ask? Skid and mudflap. youtube some footage. Any line of dialogue is horrible and sterotyping in addition to that one of them has a gold tooth. there is a character in this meat shop(owned by the Sector seven agent from the first film and his mother) and the worker is black, 40s-50s and has horrible buck teeth, that are clearly fake, and a line about him working for new teeth. Shia's latino roomate from college spends most of the movie just screaming like a woman. This is one of the few movies where nearly every supporting character of a non-white ethnicity is supposed to be comic relief and worse isn't even that funny.
I'm not going to even talk much about the plot, not that theres much to be spoiled, but because it is so incoherent and illogical that after nearly every plot point, they expect you to basicly forget about it because if you think too much about it it ceases to make sense. Example. there is a pretender transformer, a transformer that pretends to be a person(aka a transformenator), but they never explain it. I had to look it up to figure it out because the movie either assumes you know what it is or that your not going to remember it.
The movie has two halves and stops to figure out where they have to go for the second half. This is after a fairly impresive threeway fight with optimus, starscream, and megatron so I assume they expect you to still be on the high from the fight when in reality you feel as if the moment is just lost.
Theres also way too much crude humor.
the good is limited to: Devestator(a transformer made of 5 transformers) who looks awesome but is on screen so little that it doesn't make it beter. Optimus in the last fight. Not going to spoil things but its pretty awesome. The aforementioned fight in the woods. Megatron and Starscream hanging out for the entire movie. and Jetfire.
So I give the movie a 2.1 out of 10 overal.
That said, if you have to see it, rent it when it comes out. I'll likely buy it on blu-ray just so I can watch those awesome fight scenes(If michael bay does one thing good, it's explosions, Honestly I much rather him be a director on action sequences than a number of other directors but everything else he's bad at). I can't blame Bay for some of the mistakes(those go to the writters) but I can blame him on alot of it, so Fuck you Michael Bay. Fuck you.
Transformers ROFLcopter
....Second sentence, Jetfire kicks ass.
Alright so I should probally explain and quallify those statements.
The first thing I should warn is that This, plus Up, plus Gran Torino resulted in my new found theorm that old people are once again(?) cool. Jetfire gets almost all of the good lines and despite bein' a horrible stereotype, complete with cane and beard(yeah somehow the robot has a beard) he's most certainly the coolest character in the film.
Why it's racist you ask? Skid and mudflap. youtube some footage. Any line of dialogue is horrible and sterotyping in addition to that one of them has a gold tooth. there is a character in this meat shop(owned by the Sector seven agent from the first film and his mother) and the worker is black, 40s-50s and has horrible buck teeth, that are clearly fake, and a line about him working for new teeth. Shia's latino roomate from college spends most of the movie just screaming like a woman. This is one of the few movies where nearly every supporting character of a non-white ethnicity is supposed to be comic relief and worse isn't even that funny.
I'm not going to even talk much about the plot, not that theres much to be spoiled, but because it is so incoherent and illogical that after nearly every plot point, they expect you to basicly forget about it because if you think too much about it it ceases to make sense. Example. there is a pretender transformer, a transformer that pretends to be a person(aka a transformenator), but they never explain it. I had to look it up to figure it out because the movie either assumes you know what it is or that your not going to remember it.
The movie has two halves and stops to figure out where they have to go for the second half. This is after a fairly impresive threeway fight with optimus, starscream, and megatron so I assume they expect you to still be on the high from the fight when in reality you feel as if the moment is just lost.
Theres also way too much crude humor.
the good is limited to: Devestator(a transformer made of 5 transformers) who looks awesome but is on screen so little that it doesn't make it beter. Optimus in the last fight. Not going to spoil things but its pretty awesome. The aforementioned fight in the woods. Megatron and Starscream hanging out for the entire movie. and Jetfire.
So I give the movie a 2.1 out of 10 overal.
That said, if you have to see it, rent it when it comes out. I'll likely buy it on blu-ray just so I can watch those awesome fight scenes(If michael bay does one thing good, it's explosions, Honestly I much rather him be a director on action sequences than a number of other directors but everything else he's bad at). I can't blame Bay for some of the mistakes(those go to the writters) but I can blame him on alot of it, so Fuck you Michael Bay. Fuck you.
Transformers ROFLcopter
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Uhhh, My bad
So It's summer now. I'm bored.
I may have failed in the past, and am likely to fail at this again, but damn it I'm going to try.
So one thing I am for sure doing is converting every months worth of Twitter posts into a blog. Yes pointless, no it won't take away from my other writings(assuming any are done) and then there was a third idea but I forgot it.
Few notes, if you notice typos, as in non usage errors( such as your, you're, or There, Their, they're) then likely it means I've typed it up in IE8 beta, rather than Firefox as I typically do.
Soon I'll add my list of top 100 films and Directors, and will likely make it a weekly(possibly daily if I feel ambition overcome me) Go through one by one explaining my choices. I'll likely start at the top of the list. number one, and work my way down as the higher numbered movies are more likely to shift to spot than the lower ones. I'll be working my way through some films this summer and thusly will be doing some work on the list and then will give an updated list at the end of the summer.
Again, I might be aiming for more than I can chew, but with no permanent job a bunch of free time this was the best I could do.
So I guarantee a review of something tomorrow. Don't know what, might be a napkin but damn it I'm going to do it!
I may have failed in the past, and am likely to fail at this again, but damn it I'm going to try.
So one thing I am for sure doing is converting every months worth of Twitter posts into a blog. Yes pointless, no it won't take away from my other writings(assuming any are done) and then there was a third idea but I forgot it.
Few notes, if you notice typos, as in non usage errors( such as your, you're, or There, Their, they're) then likely it means I've typed it up in IE8 beta, rather than Firefox as I typically do.
Soon I'll add my list of top 100 films and Directors, and will likely make it a weekly(possibly daily if I feel ambition overcome me) Go through one by one explaining my choices. I'll likely start at the top of the list. number one, and work my way down as the higher numbered movies are more likely to shift to spot than the lower ones. I'll be working my way through some films this summer and thusly will be doing some work on the list and then will give an updated list at the end of the summer.
Again, I might be aiming for more than I can chew, but with no permanent job a bunch of free time this was the best I could do.
So I guarantee a review of something tomorrow. Don't know what, might be a napkin but damn it I'm going to do it!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Let's try this one more Time
Okay Okay.
I may have failed to actually maintain this blog thus far. So Let us try this again.
The original conceit of this blog may have been bigger than my briches(and really, schedule) would allow, and as such Something new shall be born. At it's heart this will be a text review site for geek interests and a few random things I find interesting. Specifically, in the next two weeks I shall be preparing and posting reviews of the recent episodes of Dollhouse, and Battlestar Galactica; Watchmen (the graphic novel); Watchmen (Zack Snyder's Theatrical cut); Let the Right one in; Fallout 3(Assuming I have the time to complete the game this week); Tsubasa Chronicles vol. 12/13; xxxHOLIC vol. 4; select comics from the last month at my discretion(likely the top two or three and bottom two or three of my pull list).
As a caveat this will(for the time being) serve as a review site, and a blog, meaning that I will be putting up reviews but periodically putting information such as convention reviews or writing projects(that I'm allowed to disclose) that I am at work on.
So a few updates. First I must talk about my current writing project which is I am working on which is a labor of love. I say that because even if I finish it, even if it's beautiful and perfect(Ha!) then there is still a very real chance that it will forever sit never to be touched, produced, or even thought of outside of my head and the brief time you the reader remember it. That is because I have a strong desire to write an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. I am in the process of my fifth read of the book(on my way to and from Seattle to see Betrayal, which'll have a review later this weekend). It isn't necessarily the best book available, however most of my favorites usually aren't. Instead I tend to favor things I enjoy more. They aren't necessarily better, but they are in my heart. For example my top ten film list is this:
1. Serenity
2. The Dark Knight/Batman Begins
3. Garden State
4. Southland Tales
5. Donnie Darko
6. Rocky
7. Cool Hand Luke
8. Godfather
9. Sin City
10. The Fall
Now likely you've seen(and statistically based on box office you have seen at least one) more than one film on this list. But it's also possible you've never even heard of Southland Tales, The Fall, and possibly Serenity depending on your love for Science Fiction/Westerns. Younger generations may not know Cool hand luke. But there are films on here for every type of person, and I highly suggest having to see all of them.
But as I have fallen into a tangent about films I should explain my film background. I am currently a student working to become a writer for television. I do whatever courses I can to write, and a write Decently. I formerly worked at a blockbuster where over my two year tenure I managed to see nearly 3-4 films a week(as a benefit you are allowed 5 rentals a week). As such I saw somewhere near 400 films. That doesn't include the fact that for a year I saw at least one movie a week in theaters, or rewatching those films on dvd. So you can see within that time period alone I've seen over 450 films. Then add in the fact that I had seen some 400 films prior to that time in my life(first 18 years), And since have seen around 15 new films. I don't get to see films as often as I used to because since attending a university at the age of 20(I was at a community college for two years getting a Associates degree) I have become a full time student. I am going to try to change that. The plan is to see at least a film a week in some capacity. Be it DVD/TV/THEATER/Blu/Cheating whatever. I will find a way to see four films a month. Bringing the Annual total up to 48 which actually means I will be shy of 4 movies for the entire year.
When I first started this blog, Obama became elected president. Now he's been sworn in. So here's how it is. I'm going to start writing. Hopefully at least once a week so that by mid-april when I begin my campaign to distribute this link across the internet, you random reader who found this blog will go wow, this is entertaining and will hopefully share it as well.
Internet fads I'm currently into include
SpoonyMan. google him and check out the spoony experiment. his effort is fantastic.
Yugioh abridged via Little Kuriboh. His work is superb and I draw some inspiration from him(I've written a short play inspired by his interpertation of Mako Tsunami, aka THE freaky fish guy).
PHB PSA's: as a DnD geek I find these videos fantastic and suggest you support Creative Juices 7.
Red Vs Blue: Oh, Rooster Teeth, look how you've grown. Your stories have grown to be both cerebral and funny.
So this is the new first entry. Here is hoping that by the time next week rolls around, there really will be new entries and that this time I can keep myself to doing this blog.
-Max
I may have failed to actually maintain this blog thus far. So Let us try this again.
The original conceit of this blog may have been bigger than my briches(and really, schedule) would allow, and as such Something new shall be born. At it's heart this will be a text review site for geek interests and a few random things I find interesting. Specifically, in the next two weeks I shall be preparing and posting reviews of the recent episodes of Dollhouse, and Battlestar Galactica; Watchmen (the graphic novel); Watchmen (Zack Snyder's Theatrical cut); Let the Right one in; Fallout 3(Assuming I have the time to complete the game this week); Tsubasa Chronicles vol. 12/13; xxxHOLIC vol. 4; select comics from the last month at my discretion(likely the top two or three and bottom two or three of my pull list).
As a caveat this will(for the time being) serve as a review site, and a blog, meaning that I will be putting up reviews but periodically putting information such as convention reviews or writing projects(that I'm allowed to disclose) that I am at work on.
So a few updates. First I must talk about my current writing project which is I am working on which is a labor of love. I say that because even if I finish it, even if it's beautiful and perfect(Ha!) then there is still a very real chance that it will forever sit never to be touched, produced, or even thought of outside of my head and the brief time you the reader remember it. That is because I have a strong desire to write an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. I am in the process of my fifth read of the book(on my way to and from Seattle to see Betrayal, which'll have a review later this weekend). It isn't necessarily the best book available, however most of my favorites usually aren't. Instead I tend to favor things I enjoy more. They aren't necessarily better, but they are in my heart. For example my top ten film list is this:
1. Serenity
2. The Dark Knight/Batman Begins
3. Garden State
4. Southland Tales
5. Donnie Darko
6. Rocky
7. Cool Hand Luke
8. Godfather
9. Sin City
10. The Fall
Now likely you've seen(and statistically based on box office you have seen at least one) more than one film on this list. But it's also possible you've never even heard of Southland Tales, The Fall, and possibly Serenity depending on your love for Science Fiction/Westerns. Younger generations may not know Cool hand luke. But there are films on here for every type of person, and I highly suggest having to see all of them.
But as I have fallen into a tangent about films I should explain my film background. I am currently a student working to become a writer for television. I do whatever courses I can to write, and a write Decently. I formerly worked at a blockbuster where over my two year tenure I managed to see nearly 3-4 films a week(as a benefit you are allowed 5 rentals a week). As such I saw somewhere near 400 films. That doesn't include the fact that for a year I saw at least one movie a week in theaters, or rewatching those films on dvd. So you can see within that time period alone I've seen over 450 films. Then add in the fact that I had seen some 400 films prior to that time in my life(first 18 years), And since have seen around 15 new films. I don't get to see films as often as I used to because since attending a university at the age of 20(I was at a community college for two years getting a Associates degree) I have become a full time student. I am going to try to change that. The plan is to see at least a film a week in some capacity. Be it DVD/TV/THEATER/Blu/Cheating whatever. I will find a way to see four films a month. Bringing the Annual total up to 48 which actually means I will be shy of 4 movies for the entire year.
When I first started this blog, Obama became elected president. Now he's been sworn in. So here's how it is. I'm going to start writing. Hopefully at least once a week so that by mid-april when I begin my campaign to distribute this link across the internet, you random reader who found this blog will go wow, this is entertaining and will hopefully share it as well.
Internet fads I'm currently into include
SpoonyMan. google him and check out the spoony experiment. his effort is fantastic.
Yugioh abridged via Little Kuriboh. His work is superb and I draw some inspiration from him(I've written a short play inspired by his interpertation of Mako Tsunami, aka THE freaky fish guy).
PHB PSA's: as a DnD geek I find these videos fantastic and suggest you support Creative Juices 7.
Red Vs Blue: Oh, Rooster Teeth, look how you've grown. Your stories have grown to be both cerebral and funny.
So this is the new first entry. Here is hoping that by the time next week rolls around, there really will be new entries and that this time I can keep myself to doing this blog.
-Max
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Rebirth of a Nation/ Dark Reign part duex
Bellow are the links to two blog entries I did when it looked like this blog was being shut down, Rather than let that page fall to the way side, I'm letting it serve as a reminder that nothing lasts and sometimes it takes more work than it should to keep the dream alive. Oh and an additional topic to the subject of this blog shell be my weekly DnD game that resumes in January. In a blog entry later this week I will surmise what happened in our first three sessions. And as the weeks go you will see our adventure take shape and form into the story of wonders. Just sans the dialogue of my playerrs because they argue a fucking ton. okay, here are the links to those former entries.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Birth of a New Nation
I Believe in Review
Friday, December 12, 2008
Birth of a New Nation
I Believe in Review
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
What did i tell you?
I called this thing and hour ten minutes prior. based solitary on the Ohio factor. I will say that i had been beat by TheYoungTurks but i still called it.
that's enough about that. Though I should say, I can hear entirely my entire campus. SCREAMING OBAMA. This makes me proud to be an American.
For the first part, I offer my television reviews for Monday Night.
How I met your Mother
The episode was the last with Stella. "Happily ever after".
It did it's how I met your mother thing and properly closed out the story of Stella in a round a bout way that still felt satisfying and true to the story. While the dream sequence/story of what Ted was going to do was interesting and well filmed but rightfully had a sense to it that that story would not have been the proper conclusion to the story that had come about. The actual ending, the acceptance of what had happened was the right thing felt both real and true to what had come before and finally come to journey's end. The single best moments came from, as usual, Barney with his lines of "This is Awkward." and "To the stairwell" served as the biggest laughs from those in this room. This episode as comedy fell not as high as we come to expect from How I Met Your Mother. There were many chuckle moments, but only 2-4 absolute laugh out loud moments. In addition, Barney felt as if he had taken a step backwards from the small progress he had been making and in reality most of all of the changes that had been in place at the beginning at the start of the season have now been resolved and are no longer in place. That said , I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and give it a 7.8/10
On Two and half men we were given a FANtastic episode. In what has been a widely redundant series, they offered an episode that was both funny and that took some steps that the series should have years ago. It all honestly, The plot was recycled and a lot of what happened should have been plot lines that needed to happen years ago. Worse off, this is the first of a two part episode that will likely end at that episode and maybe get a chuckle at one or two junctures but otherwise likely will not have any millage. Overall, this was a good standalone episode, but that doesn't stop the series from not accomplishing anything that it should, such as an ongoing plot. 6/10.
And may I say, Obama's speech was great, as was McCain's concession.
Random comic review for today is of : Final Crisis Number 3
again SPOILERS.
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: J. G. Jones
Cover: Supergirl
In what may be the best issue of Final Crisis in my memory(I have yet to read part four so I can't be certain on that front, however, I have loved this issue tremendously.
Now for this issue I'm going to review each segment and then give a final score of the story as a whole.
(pages based on art, not adds so as to line up with inevitable trade)
The first segment is The death of the new god starring Renee.(pages 1-4)
Oh how I love this segment. 3 pages. 31 panels. Every panel breathtaking and story telling. Every line of Dialogue is spot on and I think it really works well to be on top of this book and FC:Revelations(My fave tie in, fyi) I honestly suggest looking at each page panel by panel because the story just flows that well. (witting 9/Art 10)
segment two is the fallen Monitor (Pages 5)
This bit falls flat. I hope in the greater context of the story that it pays off, but with the jump to the future I feel that we are going to be missing a great deal of story. and really, Panel six on this page just throws me off. the art isn;t as good as some of the other pages, I don't get a feel of really any of the characters. story 4/10, art 4/10
The return of Jay the Flash(Pages 6-9)
Now here is an excellent set of pages that truly tells the rest of the story of what happened at the end of issue two. Each panel, each line serves a purpose. You don't need too much background on The Flash, other than knowing that he runs fast enough to travel in time and that there were at least three Flashes. Otherwise I can show this segment to someone not familiar with the story and it still makes sense. Now that's some solid writing. Jones rendition of the three flashes is subtitle enough that it works, and we get his awesome looking Orion. This segment is what they should look like. 10/10 and 9/10 on art.
Libras offer(pages 10-11)
Ah, the Legion of Doom. Such an Amusing segment that features the return of Lex Luthor as a proper character. We also get to see what Libra has been working on for all this time. But other than that there is nothing spectacular about the pages. Lex looks a little too much Xaivier. And so all in all, not impressed. 7/10 7/10
Clark Kent Saves the multiverse( Pages 12-13)
Ew. The worst written pages. I hate this segment. Yes it answers the question of where will superman be, but it basically says, go read SuperMan beyond and otherwise wait for issue 6's ending where superman will miraculously return(I bet). lame. 4/10 6/10
Article X(14-15)
A short segment spotlighting Wonderwoman, the golden age Green Lantern(whom i think is from another universe, not sure though.) We watch the should have been told by Geoff Johns Green Lantern story unfold. And we are introduced to an old story point that emphasizes Grant Morrison knows his history. 7/10 and 7/10
Call to arms( 16-18)
My fave pages. Honestly, If i could, I would want to guy the print for the page featuring Supergirl and Black Cannary. Sooo Awesome. Okay fan boy moment over. Overall this segment progresses the story, is funny(Why does Supergirls cat pee in her laundry basket?) and the best portrayal of Supergirl. My biggest gripe is it is old look on Oliver Queen and not the more parental Queen that Judd Winnick has Developed over the years. and the page of all the heroes gathered was Fantastic and great portrayals(other than Billy). Any ways is it any wonder what I score this? 10/10 and 9.999/10
a Miracle(19-21)
Consistent art But seriously, why should we care? 5/10 and 7/10
Wonder Woman Vs Mary Marvel(22-27)
This is clearly important. We learn that becoming evil makes you hot in some areas and weird shaved head in others. Okay. Got it. Lesson Learned. Mary proves her self to be a formidable foe who knows she can't win a fight, but isn't trying to. She does what she plans and spreads evil as need be. 8/10 and 10/10.
Pull the plug(28)
Meh. Thats about all I can say about this page. 5/10 5/10
Run;Kill (29-30)
Two pages say so much. It tells such a potent story point that I'm sure will be expanded upon in the next page, and finally sets up the meat of the story. and wow, what an impressive final page spread. not even a double spread. Morrison knows when to use it, and he uses it well. bravo. 10/10 and 10/10
The cover: Fan-fucking-tastic. I don't think any artist has ever made Supergirl look so sultry and homely at the same time before. Gorgeous. 10/10
The story overall: At last the plot speeds up as we finally get to the meat of the teases thus far, Evil wins. With a two exceptions(Mr. Miracle and The monitor) This could have been issue one as far as I'm concerned. Now as a lover of long complex building stories, I love Final crisis as a whole, but those first two issues didn't quite live up to what they wanted to be. 9.4/10.
The art as a whole is great. I think that If i had a say, I'd have JG do every book like this. Too bad he won't be able to finish FC. 8.89/10
That's a lot of sections eh? 11 segments, with 22 scores plus a 23rd and 24th on overall art and story and a score on the cover gives us 25 scores to put into the calculator:76.9 percent. Fuck that. 9.1 overall.
So in two days, what did we learn? That calculations tell you jack shit. Things work better as a whole. I hope this example proved that to those of you who tried telling me to do a more mathematical segmentation.
Random suggestion of the day? Drink Revolution Mountain Dew.
that's enough about that. Though I should say, I can hear entirely my entire campus. SCREAMING OBAMA. This makes me proud to be an American.
For the first part, I offer my television reviews for Monday Night.
How I met your Mother
The episode was the last with Stella. "Happily ever after".
It did it's how I met your mother thing and properly closed out the story of Stella in a round a bout way that still felt satisfying and true to the story. While the dream sequence/story of what Ted was going to do was interesting and well filmed but rightfully had a sense to it that that story would not have been the proper conclusion to the story that had come about. The actual ending, the acceptance of what had happened was the right thing felt both real and true to what had come before and finally come to journey's end. The single best moments came from, as usual, Barney with his lines of "This is Awkward." and "To the stairwell" served as the biggest laughs from those in this room. This episode as comedy fell not as high as we come to expect from How I Met Your Mother. There were many chuckle moments, but only 2-4 absolute laugh out loud moments. In addition, Barney felt as if he had taken a step backwards from the small progress he had been making and in reality most of all of the changes that had been in place at the beginning at the start of the season have now been resolved and are no longer in place. That said , I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and give it a 7.8/10
On Two and half men we were given a FANtastic episode. In what has been a widely redundant series, they offered an episode that was both funny and that took some steps that the series should have years ago. It all honestly, The plot was recycled and a lot of what happened should have been plot lines that needed to happen years ago. Worse off, this is the first of a two part episode that will likely end at that episode and maybe get a chuckle at one or two junctures but otherwise likely will not have any millage. Overall, this was a good standalone episode, but that doesn't stop the series from not accomplishing anything that it should, such as an ongoing plot. 6/10.
And may I say, Obama's speech was great, as was McCain's concession.
Random comic review for today is of : Final Crisis Number 3
again SPOILERS.
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: J. G. Jones
Cover: Supergirl
In what may be the best issue of Final Crisis in my memory(I have yet to read part four so I can't be certain on that front, however, I have loved this issue tremendously.
Now for this issue I'm going to review each segment and then give a final score of the story as a whole.
(pages based on art, not adds so as to line up with inevitable trade)
The first segment is The death of the new god starring Renee.(pages 1-4)
Oh how I love this segment. 3 pages. 31 panels. Every panel breathtaking and story telling. Every line of Dialogue is spot on and I think it really works well to be on top of this book and FC:Revelations(My fave tie in, fyi) I honestly suggest looking at each page panel by panel because the story just flows that well. (witting 9/Art 10)
segment two is the fallen Monitor (Pages 5)
This bit falls flat. I hope in the greater context of the story that it pays off, but with the jump to the future I feel that we are going to be missing a great deal of story. and really, Panel six on this page just throws me off. the art isn;t as good as some of the other pages, I don't get a feel of really any of the characters. story 4/10, art 4/10
The return of Jay the Flash(Pages 6-9)
Now here is an excellent set of pages that truly tells the rest of the story of what happened at the end of issue two. Each panel, each line serves a purpose. You don't need too much background on The Flash, other than knowing that he runs fast enough to travel in time and that there were at least three Flashes. Otherwise I can show this segment to someone not familiar with the story and it still makes sense. Now that's some solid writing. Jones rendition of the three flashes is subtitle enough that it works, and we get his awesome looking Orion. This segment is what they should look like. 10/10 and 9/10 on art.
Libras offer(pages 10-11)
Ah, the Legion of Doom. Such an Amusing segment that features the return of Lex Luthor as a proper character. We also get to see what Libra has been working on for all this time. But other than that there is nothing spectacular about the pages. Lex looks a little too much Xaivier. And so all in all, not impressed. 7/10 7/10
Clark Kent Saves the multiverse( Pages 12-13)
Ew. The worst written pages. I hate this segment. Yes it answers the question of where will superman be, but it basically says, go read SuperMan beyond and otherwise wait for issue 6's ending where superman will miraculously return(I bet). lame. 4/10 6/10
Article X(14-15)
A short segment spotlighting Wonderwoman, the golden age Green Lantern(whom i think is from another universe, not sure though.) We watch the should have been told by Geoff Johns Green Lantern story unfold. And we are introduced to an old story point that emphasizes Grant Morrison knows his history. 7/10 and 7/10
Call to arms( 16-18)
My fave pages. Honestly, If i could, I would want to guy the print for the page featuring Supergirl and Black Cannary. Sooo Awesome. Okay fan boy moment over. Overall this segment progresses the story, is funny(Why does Supergirls cat pee in her laundry basket?) and the best portrayal of Supergirl. My biggest gripe is it is old look on Oliver Queen and not the more parental Queen that Judd Winnick has Developed over the years. and the page of all the heroes gathered was Fantastic and great portrayals(other than Billy). Any ways is it any wonder what I score this? 10/10 and 9.999/10
a Miracle(19-21)
Consistent art But seriously, why should we care? 5/10 and 7/10
Wonder Woman Vs Mary Marvel(22-27)
This is clearly important. We learn that becoming evil makes you hot in some areas and weird shaved head in others. Okay. Got it. Lesson Learned. Mary proves her self to be a formidable foe who knows she can't win a fight, but isn't trying to. She does what she plans and spreads evil as need be. 8/10 and 10/10.
Pull the plug(28)
Meh. Thats about all I can say about this page. 5/10 5/10
Run;Kill (29-30)
Two pages say so much. It tells such a potent story point that I'm sure will be expanded upon in the next page, and finally sets up the meat of the story. and wow, what an impressive final page spread. not even a double spread. Morrison knows when to use it, and he uses it well. bravo. 10/10 and 10/10
The cover: Fan-fucking-tastic. I don't think any artist has ever made Supergirl look so sultry and homely at the same time before. Gorgeous. 10/10
The story overall: At last the plot speeds up as we finally get to the meat of the teases thus far, Evil wins. With a two exceptions(Mr. Miracle and The monitor) This could have been issue one as far as I'm concerned. Now as a lover of long complex building stories, I love Final crisis as a whole, but those first two issues didn't quite live up to what they wanted to be. 9.4/10.
The art as a whole is great. I think that If i had a say, I'd have JG do every book like this. Too bad he won't be able to finish FC. 8.89/10
That's a lot of sections eh? 11 segments, with 22 scores plus a 23rd and 24th on overall art and story and a score on the cover gives us 25 scores to put into the calculator:76.9 percent. Fuck that. 9.1 overall.
So in two days, what did we learn? That calculations tell you jack shit. Things work better as a whole. I hope this example proved that to those of you who tried telling me to do a more mathematical segmentation.
Random suggestion of the day? Drink Revolution Mountain Dew.
Calling it at 6:49
With Ohio being called, I call this race in favor of Obama.
Later tonight I'll throw up today's and yesterdays reviews
Later tonight I'll throw up today's and yesterdays reviews
Monday, November 3, 2008
Origin Story
Ordinarily, this will not be a political blog. If only for the fact that I just don't like to ramble on about how I'm Uber liberal and Democratic. However, today is a day that I feel I need to put word out.
Vote.
Simply put, If you can vote; if your registered; Vote.
This is a year for record turn out. No question. Now I'm going to have some people accuse me of being a hypocrite for not voting this year, and I need to point out I sent my paper work in on the last day before the cutoff point. Unfortunately, the post office failed to post mark it correctly and instead my work was marked as the day after. In other words, I was systematically denied my rights for this year. That is the flaw in our system. It is so easy to be denied your rights, to have your basic facilities taken away from you; So don't let them. Use your rights. I'm using one of mine right now, the freedom to speak. The freedom to act. The will to act. They may not be necessarily written in the bill of rights but you sure as hell have them, so use them. It's like having unlimited resources and deciding nah, I'm just going to use these few ones that I can't use for much else, and leave those other ones in the corner. If you don't use your rights, you won't appreciate them; and if you don't appreciate them, your not going to miss them when they're gone, not going to fight for them; and ultimately the state of our nation will be left to the rich and powerful.
I sit here, a twenty something in college, demanding that we appreciate what we have or risk losing everything we stand together for. Don't let another patriot act happen. Don't allow our Basic human(not just American) rights fade away because we are afraid. Because it is then that the terrorists win.
But you should remember that one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. They are willing to die for what they believe in, the least you can do is go out and exercise a right that you have been granted by your ancestors who died for what they believed in. FREEDOM.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that my political rant has ended(you'll see at least two more of those in the coming days/weeks in the wake of the election) I am going to move over and do what I've brought this blog to do...Review.
Now typically I will do a once/twice a month review of my monthly pull of Comic Books. Today I'm going to instead choose some random books out of a random box and review them.
For those interested, this blog will follow the following books(at this time) and likely this list will change.
DC:
Batman
Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps., Rage of the Red Lanterns, Legion of Three Worlds
Green Arrow/Black Canary
Action Comics,Superman,Supergirl, New Krypton Specials
All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder
Batman: Cacophony
Final Crisis
Final Crisis Revelations
Spirit
Marvel:
Captain America
Captain America White
Dark Reign
New Avengers,Mighty Avengers
Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, War of Kings,X-men King Breaker
Secret Invasion
Spider-man Loves Mary Jane
Ultimate: Fantastic four, X-men, Spider-man, Annuals, Ultimatum, Avengers
Secret Warriors
Dark Avengers
X-factor
Dark Horse, IDW, and Other Publishers:
Umbrella Academy
Angel:After the Fall
Buffy:Season 8
Spike After the Fall
In addition, I'll also be reviewing Trade paperbacks and Hardcovers when it makes me fancy to pick them up.
And today's random comic review is....
I will be diving into spoilers, but will be fiddling with font colors to perfect an inviso font so that it can be highlighted for revelation of spoilers.
Angel After the Fall number 11, CVR B. Story by Whedon and Lynch. Written by Lynch. Art by Runge. Cover by Alex Garner.
I want to begin by saying this is one of my absolutely favorite covers this series has provided.
My only problem is that in the cover Angel is very distinctly in vamp face, when it has already been established that Angel had shanshued(which is confirmed in issue twelve) which takes away the magical realism of the cover. But otherwise, it's really pretty.
So what about the stuff inside? Pretty solid. It picks up from where we left our Heroes last week, er month, with Angel and the gang raining on Vamp Gunn's parade. We get alot of the trademark Witty Banter that we've come to love from Angel. Especialy a bit about the Dragon(Cordielia) burning some vamps to a crisp and Angel subsequently proving that even without his vampireness he's still a badass. A large chunk of this episode(I mean issue) is devoted to back story. Filling in the gaps of who and what Gunn has been up to and it all culminates in a parade that can otherwise only be described as Bad Ass complete with a harpooning. And no the fish doesn't die in This Issue. Gunn then gets the happy revelation that Angel isn't all that they thought he was. And lastly we get the lamest cliffhanger ever. If only for the fact that it is a cliffhanger that as an audience, we have no idea what the frak is going on. based solely on the image I'd say someone is about to become lightning. Literally. Of course the next issue reveals something completely different which makes the ending unfortunate. 7.8/10
The art? It's good. Not great, but good. The great thing is that we can at least almost always be certain who a character is based solely on the art. Yay knowing things! The bad is that the crispy vamps early in the story(which this is equally a gripe about the witting) look, well like they should have died. I could have sworn fire kills vampires. But I could be mixing up my lores, which is easy to do. The problem with the art is that the faces, unless its a close up like the one of Wesley on page 6 at the bottom, or Gunn on the top of 13, the faces always look off. It's mainly the eyes which inconsistently have pupils or no pupils. Otherwise the action looks as good as the series ever has. Well, two other gripes. The vampire dusting on page 17 looks lame, and the blood often looks like they are spitting out motor oil. It's not like this is just a T book at marvel. This is IDW. I've seen them put out Hot looking Blood before(cough30daysofnightcough) and did i mention faces? the last two pages(especially the second to last pages bottom two panels) the faces get less and less distinguished like he didn't finish. They obviously spent more time focusing on Gwen's boobs than they did her EYES. she has no EYES. so alas, despite liking a lot of panels, i have to score it 5/10
IDW previews page
I know, I shouldn't review the previews page but I just want to thank IDW for what they do. They take all of the ads from the center of the pages(that would normally slow progress and pace, and just distract you in general) and instead places them all in the back. And a lot of the work they do is put ads for their other, usually genre related books. That's awesome. and for that, I salute you IDW.
So final score? well I gave the cover a 9.9/10 because even my minor gripe can't stop it from being one of( if not THE) coolest covers they have ever produced. The Writing got a 7/10. and the Art Got a 5/10. My calculator sells this as being a 7.3 out of ten total. I say, it's an 8.
So there you go. The first comic review of this Blog.
Now I'm going to do Television too. Later tonight I will give my thoughts on tonight's stuff airs. I haven't decided what I'm watching as my standard watches(Chuck/Heroes) Aren't on tonight.
Typicaly Monday's series that I will cover(Most of which will be long after they air so this will only give you a reference point should you miss the episode or if your interested in what someone else thinks) are going to be the majority of my weekly reviews.
My total TV reviews right now will be:
Chuck/Heroes
How I met Your Mother
One Tree Hill/Gossip Girl
Pushing Daisies
Supernatural/Smallville
Dexter
Check in later for a review of tonight's TV that I choose to watch.
I will also Review Manga and Anime but those will be on a case by case basis of what I happen to read/watch.
In addition I will also be reviewing games once I'm back to my typical set up.
I'll focus mainly on PS3/Wii with some retro gaming included too and even some free/cheap ass games.
Today I offer a Free/Cheap Ass Game called Chronotron.
Chronotron puts you in the control of a robot who has a time machine(that looks exactly like a T.A.R.D.I.S.) and you have to solve puzzles via time travel. So you push down a switch, wait 3 seconds, go back in the ship. Then you and your past self are there, and your past self will do exactly what you just did. And you can use it's cause effects to get to your next goal or trigger. It gets complicated when you reach a point(level 5 of 25 I believe) where you can cause a paradox and are forced to restart a level because you did something to prevent a past self from doing what they are supposed to do(get back in the ship). If you accidentally get crushed you cause a deus ex machina and have to restart as well. A solid puzzler that will keep you busy for at least a few hours. And it's free. A great game, I give it a 8.5 out of ten.
Starting in January I'll be reviewing Blu-ray dvds and I'll also be reviewing an assortment of movies whenever I can.
Remember, I'm a geek and a reviewer, but I also have a Life and School, and GASP friends. I might not get to some stuff. Don't fret. If it's really important to you, ask me to do it. I'm cool like that.
Random Suggestion of the day: Go see the Rocky Horror Picture Show whenever possible with a live audience. Particularly the more who've seen it the better. Once you see it once, you'll be hooked for a long ass time.
Your WWU geek Emperor, TM
Vote.
Simply put, If you can vote; if your registered; Vote.
This is a year for record turn out. No question. Now I'm going to have some people accuse me of being a hypocrite for not voting this year, and I need to point out I sent my paper work in on the last day before the cutoff point. Unfortunately, the post office failed to post mark it correctly and instead my work was marked as the day after. In other words, I was systematically denied my rights for this year. That is the flaw in our system. It is so easy to be denied your rights, to have your basic facilities taken away from you; So don't let them. Use your rights. I'm using one of mine right now, the freedom to speak. The freedom to act. The will to act. They may not be necessarily written in the bill of rights but you sure as hell have them, so use them. It's like having unlimited resources and deciding nah, I'm just going to use these few ones that I can't use for much else, and leave those other ones in the corner. If you don't use your rights, you won't appreciate them; and if you don't appreciate them, your not going to miss them when they're gone, not going to fight for them; and ultimately the state of our nation will be left to the rich and powerful.
I sit here, a twenty something in college, demanding that we appreciate what we have or risk losing everything we stand together for. Don't let another patriot act happen. Don't allow our Basic human(not just American) rights fade away because we are afraid. Because it is then that the terrorists win.
But you should remember that one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. They are willing to die for what they believe in, the least you can do is go out and exercise a right that you have been granted by your ancestors who died for what they believed in. FREEDOM.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that my political rant has ended(you'll see at least two more of those in the coming days/weeks in the wake of the election) I am going to move over and do what I've brought this blog to do...Review.
Now typically I will do a once/twice a month review of my monthly pull of Comic Books. Today I'm going to instead choose some random books out of a random box and review them.
For those interested, this blog will follow the following books(at this time) and likely this list will change.
DC:
Batman
Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps., Rage of the Red Lanterns, Legion of Three Worlds
Green Arrow/Black Canary
Action Comics,Superman,Supergirl, New Krypton Specials
All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder
Batman: Cacophony
Final Crisis
Final Crisis Revelations
Spirit
Marvel:
Captain America
Captain America White
Dark Reign
New Avengers,Mighty Avengers
Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, War of Kings,X-men King Breaker
Secret Invasion
Spider-man Loves Mary Jane
Ultimate: Fantastic four, X-men, Spider-man, Annuals, Ultimatum, Avengers
Secret Warriors
Dark Avengers
X-factor
Dark Horse, IDW, and Other Publishers:
Umbrella Academy
Angel:After the Fall
Buffy:Season 8
Spike After the Fall
In addition, I'll also be reviewing Trade paperbacks and Hardcovers when it makes me fancy to pick them up.
And today's random comic review is....
I will be diving into spoilers, but will be fiddling with font colors to perfect an inviso font so that it can be highlighted for revelation of spoilers.
Angel After the Fall number 11, CVR B. Story by Whedon and Lynch. Written by Lynch. Art by Runge. Cover by Alex Garner.
I want to begin by saying this is one of my absolutely favorite covers this series has provided.
My only problem is that in the cover Angel is very distinctly in vamp face, when it has already been established that Angel had shanshued(which is confirmed in issue twelve) which takes away the magical realism of the cover. But otherwise, it's really pretty.
So what about the stuff inside? Pretty solid. It picks up from where we left our Heroes last week, er month, with Angel and the gang raining on Vamp Gunn's parade. We get alot of the trademark Witty Banter that we've come to love from Angel. Especialy a bit about the Dragon(Cordielia) burning some vamps to a crisp and Angel subsequently proving that even without his vampireness he's still a badass. A large chunk of this episode(I mean issue) is devoted to back story. Filling in the gaps of who and what Gunn has been up to and it all culminates in a parade that can otherwise only be described as Bad Ass complete with a harpooning. And no the fish doesn't die in This Issue. Gunn then gets the happy revelation that Angel isn't all that they thought he was. And lastly we get the lamest cliffhanger ever. If only for the fact that it is a cliffhanger that as an audience, we have no idea what the frak is going on. based solely on the image I'd say someone is about to become lightning. Literally. Of course the next issue reveals something completely different which makes the ending unfortunate. 7.8/10
The art? It's good. Not great, but good. The great thing is that we can at least almost always be certain who a character is based solely on the art. Yay knowing things! The bad is that the crispy vamps early in the story(which this is equally a gripe about the witting) look, well like they should have died. I could have sworn fire kills vampires. But I could be mixing up my lores, which is easy to do. The problem with the art is that the faces, unless its a close up like the one of Wesley on page 6 at the bottom, or Gunn on the top of 13, the faces always look off. It's mainly the eyes which inconsistently have pupils or no pupils. Otherwise the action looks as good as the series ever has. Well, two other gripes. The vampire dusting on page 17 looks lame, and the blood often looks like they are spitting out motor oil. It's not like this is just a T book at marvel. This is IDW. I've seen them put out Hot looking Blood before(cough30daysofnightcough) and did i mention faces? the last two pages(especially the second to last pages bottom two panels) the faces get less and less distinguished like he didn't finish. They obviously spent more time focusing on Gwen's boobs than they did her EYES. she has no EYES. so alas, despite liking a lot of panels, i have to score it 5/10
IDW previews page
I know, I shouldn't review the previews page but I just want to thank IDW for what they do. They take all of the ads from the center of the pages(that would normally slow progress and pace, and just distract you in general) and instead places them all in the back. And a lot of the work they do is put ads for their other, usually genre related books. That's awesome. and for that, I salute you IDW.
So final score? well I gave the cover a 9.9/10 because even my minor gripe can't stop it from being one of( if not THE) coolest covers they have ever produced. The Writing got a 7/10. and the Art Got a 5/10. My calculator sells this as being a 7.3 out of ten total. I say, it's an 8.
So there you go. The first comic review of this Blog.
Now I'm going to do Television too. Later tonight I will give my thoughts on tonight's stuff airs. I haven't decided what I'm watching as my standard watches(Chuck/Heroes) Aren't on tonight.
Typicaly Monday's series that I will cover(Most of which will be long after they air so this will only give you a reference point should you miss the episode or if your interested in what someone else thinks) are going to be the majority of my weekly reviews.
My total TV reviews right now will be:
Chuck/Heroes
How I met Your Mother
One Tree Hill/Gossip Girl
Pushing Daisies
Supernatural/Smallville
Dexter
Check in later for a review of tonight's TV that I choose to watch.
I will also Review Manga and Anime but those will be on a case by case basis of what I happen to read/watch.
In addition I will also be reviewing games once I'm back to my typical set up.
I'll focus mainly on PS3/Wii with some retro gaming included too and even some free/cheap ass games.
Today I offer a Free/Cheap Ass Game called Chronotron.
Chronotron puts you in the control of a robot who has a time machine(that looks exactly like a T.A.R.D.I.S.) and you have to solve puzzles via time travel. So you push down a switch, wait 3 seconds, go back in the ship. Then you and your past self are there, and your past self will do exactly what you just did. And you can use it's cause effects to get to your next goal or trigger. It gets complicated when you reach a point(level 5 of 25 I believe) where you can cause a paradox and are forced to restart a level because you did something to prevent a past self from doing what they are supposed to do(get back in the ship). If you accidentally get crushed you cause a deus ex machina and have to restart as well. A solid puzzler that will keep you busy for at least a few hours. And it's free. A great game, I give it a 8.5 out of ten.
Starting in January I'll be reviewing Blu-ray dvds and I'll also be reviewing an assortment of movies whenever I can.
Remember, I'm a geek and a reviewer, but I also have a Life and School, and GASP friends. I might not get to some stuff. Don't fret. If it's really important to you, ask me to do it. I'm cool like that.
Random Suggestion of the day: Go see the Rocky Horror Picture Show whenever possible with a live audience. Particularly the more who've seen it the better. Once you see it once, you'll be hooked for a long ass time.
Your WWU geek Emperor, TM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)