New comics 11/16

Spent the weekend visiting family in Chicago, so I'm a little late on this, and I'm just going to stick to the first issues I picked up this week.

All-Star Superman #1 (Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely, DC)
Actually, I didn't even buy this one, but I was pleased to see it come in the mail from DC publicity. I'm always back and forth on Morrison's writing, but I like almost everything Quitely does, and even though I have no interest in Superman, I was curious to see what they'd do with it. This has gotten rave reviews elsewhere, but I found it pretty unimpressive. Sure, Quitely's art is as pretty as ever, and Morrison inserts some weird sci-fi ideas into the story, but ultimately, it's still just a Superman story, and doesn't tell me anything new or different about Superman that I couldn't have read in a million other stories. I've never been all that keen on the big, iconic superheroes, and if people like Morrison and Quitely can't convince me to be, then I probably never will.

Black Harvest #1 (Josh Howard, Devil's Due)
I picked this up on a whim because it looked sort of cool and I've read all sorts of good things about Howard's last series, Dead@17. And indeed, it was sort of cool. It's hard to tell yet how it will turn out overall, since this issue is a lot of set-up and mysterious unexplained goings-on, but so far it's got a nice creepy atmosphere, some interesting characters and attractive, angular art by Howard that reminds me of Michael Avon Oeming. It's not clear to me from this issue how long the series is, but I assume it's a mini of three or four issues, and I'll probably end up picking up the rest.

The Thing #1 (Dan Slott/Andrea DiVito, Marvel)
This is the kind of thing I never would have bought if not for the involvement of Dan Slott, who's done wonderful things with neglected corners of the Marvel universe in his She-Hulk and GLA series. I was still hesitant, though, since the Thing is not exactly part of a neglected corner of the Marvel universe, and I never had much interest in him or the Fantastic Four. I picked this issue up anyway to give Slott the benefit of the doubt, and it was perfectly okay but I doubt I'll read more. Neither as funny as GLA nor as weird and meta as She-Hulk, this is basically a straightforward superhero book that could have been from 10 years ago or 20 years ago with very little difference. That's not necessarily bad if that's what you're looking for, or if you're a big fan of the Thing, but I don't fit the target audience. I've always found DiVito's art to be hopelessly generic, and that impression continues. It tells the story well enough, but it doesn't stand out at all, which pretty much describes this entire issue.

Movies opening this week

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, dir. Mike Newell)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
Although I preferred the last movie to this one, the Potter franchise remains both durable and entertaining, and it looks like it might be able to remain so through the end of the series. It worries me a little that after the daring and original Alfonso Cuaron, they handed things over to Newell, who's sort of a generic journeyman (although he does a fine job), and the next movie is being directed by David Yates, who's only got British TV experience. It seems like the best way to ensure quality is to continue employing directors with vision and style who can still maintain the tone of the franchise. I guess I'll have to wait before passing judgment. (Also, is it just me or is the scene between Harry and Moaning Myrtle in the bathtub disturbingly and sort of perversely sexual?) Wide release

Walk the Line (Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, dir. James Mangold)
This is definitely this year's version of Ray - a competent and unadventurous biopic elevated by a great performance (or, in the case of this movie, two). Phoenix is very good as Johnny Cash, although Witherspoon is even better as June Carter, and it wouldn't surprise me if she got the predicted Oscar for this role. The movie, however, is paint-by-numbers stuff, connecting the dots from major event to major event, never showing the characters taking a breather and just acting like normal people. It also makes Cash look like sort of a dick, treating his first wife with dismissive contempt mostly because she doesn't fawn over his musical career, even though she's just trying to be a good mother. Although the movie is framed as a love story between Johnny and June, I wasn't honestly that keen on seeing them together, since it just made me feel bad for Johnny's first wife. Apparently one of Cash's daughters was upset because she thought the movie made her mother look bad, but to me it made the mother look like a sensible person and Cash look like an unhinged drug addict. Which, you know, he pretty much was. Wide release

Weekend viewing

Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005)
Given all the lavish praise this movie's gotten, I sort of expected a relative disappointment, and with my expectations lowered a bit, they ended up being met. This is a very well-crafted and well-acted film that tells its story in a straightforward and unpretentious manner, but it's often so dry that I can definitely understand the criticism that Clooney might have been better off making a documentary. Much of the most compelling footage in the film is the historical archive of McCarthy himself, and it seems almost a cheat to get to see the real McCarthy but not the real Murrow. That said, David Strathairn gives Murrow a wonderful quiet dignity, and Clooney does make something of an effort to expand beyond the dry history lesson with a subplot about married co-workers that illuminates some of the values of the time. I also liked his subtle undermining of Murrow and co.'s authority with the inclusion of the cigarette ad that lauds Murrow's viewers for their intelligence while convincing them to smoke more. Murrow may have been admirable, but he clearly wasn't infallible, and I like that Clooney isn't afraid of that fact.

Overnight (Tony Montana & Mark Brian Smith, 2003)
This documentary about self-destructing Boondock Saints director Troy Duffy is a seriously depressing look at the movie business. Duffy is clearly an asshole and an egomaniac, and this movie, made by two former friends and business associates of his, is designed to make him look bad (which, admittedly, doesn't appear to be that hard). But I found myself coming away with a surprising degree of sympathy for Duffy, who, although clearly his own worst enemy, was in some sense screwed over by the Hollywood machine. A lot of attention is paid to his volatile temper and his tendency to alienate people, but the movie glosses over what attracted Harvey Weinstein to him in the first place, and doesn't bother to explain why Miramax would lavish such money and attention on him and then pull it all away; it couldn't have all been his personality, since that was clearly one of his selling points at first. This isn't necessarily a fault of the filmmakers, who had unlimited access to Duffy but none to Weinstein; it's just an interesting comment on how capricious the film business can be. If Duffy behaved in exactly the same way but became a huge success, everyone would be forgiving him rather than making scathing documentaries about how he's such an asshole. And, really, Boondock has a huge cult following now, despite being, well, not very good. The movie notes that Duffy doesn't get to share in any of the DVD profits, which, whatever you think of him as a person, definitely seems unfair.

Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976)
I originally meant to watch this to prepare for the boxing film series I moderated last month, but obviously I didn't have the time (not that it much mattered after only five people showed up to the series anyway). I was sort of sick of boxing movies after that, so this has been sitting on my TV for a few weeks. Watching it, I did appreciate that it wasn't quite the same arc as the boxing movies I saw for the film series, and generally didn't focus on the corruptness of the sport. It was rather more about the dreams of the lead character, and in that sense it did follow the typical formula. It's another one of those movies with scenes and lines so famous and overplayed that it's hard to appreciate them fresh, but even so I was underwhelmed. It does its job, and Stallone captures the mook with a heart of gold, but it didn't exactly move me to cheer.

New comics 11/9

The Book of Lost Souls #2 (J. Michael Straczynski/Colleen Doran, Marvel/Icon)
I wasn't sure what to expect after reading the first issue, but it seemed like there was an interesting enough premise to stick around for. This issue, however, is awful, and I doubt I'll bother to pick up the next one. Doran's art is still beautifully detailed and expressive, but the story is heavy-handed and wildly overwritten, with the kind of tired battered woman cliches that would be appropriate for a Lifetime TV movie. The fantasy aspects of the story only serve to make it more obvious and insipid. If this is where Straczynski's going with this book, I won't be following him.

Cable & Deadpool #22 (Fabian Nicieza/Patrick Zircher, Marvel)
In the third part of this arc, the plot finally starts to make some sense, but it's still not particularly compelling, especially since I don't know the supposedly obvious (or so the next issue blurb claims) identity of the villain. In the meantime, all the usual compliments apply, but I'm looking forward to a new storyline to recapture my interest in the plot.

DMZ #1 (Brian Wood/Riccardo Burchielli, DC/Vertigo)
I thought Wood's Couscous Express was vastly overrated, but I liked the concept of this series (a near future in which a U.S. civil war has transformed Manhattan into a no man's land) enough to give it a try. And...it's okay. It's pretty much all set up, so it'll take another issue to see where things start to go. I still think the concept has promise, but Wood's writing remains sort of awkward, and the political allegory stuff is not all that interesting yet.

New Warriors #5 (Zeb Wells/Skottie Young, Marvel)
It's odd that this wraps up the two-part story only for there to be one issue left in the series. This really is paced much more like an old-school ongoing than a mini-series, and it might read strangely in the inevitable trade. This issue even ends with a little twist that would serve perfectly as a building subplot, but I don't think it'll be touched on before the series ends. Once again, a very fun read that I'd love to see continue beyond six issues.

The Pulse #12 (Brian Michael Bendis/Michael Gaydos, Marvel)
After last issue's excellent return to form, this is a little disappointing. The half with Jessica's baby being born feels like a subplot from New Avengers, but Ben Urich's investigation into the D-Man mystery is still exactly the kind of thing that Bendis used to do so well in Alias. I'll be glad when the baby's born and we don't have to see the Avengers in every issue; I really wish this book stood on its own more, again like Alias used to do.

Y the Last Man #39 (Brian K. Vaughan/Pia Guerra & Goran Sudzuka, DC/Vertigo)
Double crosses! Cliffhangers! And an interesting solution to the problem of Yorick being exposed in the press. Once again, Vaughan uses his shock endings as jumping off points to take the book into unexpected territory and never backs down from the drastic changes he makes on the last pages of most issues. This doesn't really feel like the conclusion to a story arc, but other than that it's another fabulous issue. Sudzuka steps in and pencils half the issue for Guerra, but their styles are so similar (and both inked by Jose Marzan Jr.) that I couldn't even tell the difference.

TV update: New shows

Everybody Hates Chris (UPN)
After giving this one the highest rating of any new show in my TV column for Las Vegas Weekly, I stopped watching it after three episodes. Why? Well, for starters, I'm watching two other shows in the same time slot (Alias and Survivor) that I don't plan to give up, and since I'm often out in the evenings at movie screenings, I can only record so many things at once. On top of that, while I found the pilot (upon which I based my four-star review) very funny and warm, the subsequent episodes were less funny and sort of cliched. That said, it's certainly a pleasant show to watch, and when Alias goes on its eight-week hiatus, I may go back and give this show another shot.

Invasion (ABC)
I pegged this as the best new drama of the season back when it premiered, and even though other reviews have been mixed and a lot of viewers find the show too slow, I stand by that assessment. Part of the reason is that this season's new shows just haven't been as good as last season's new shows, but I do think this is an interesting drama with a lot of layers that some people don't really give it credit for. Yes, the plot progression is sometimes maddeningly slow (this week's episode didn't even feature a single supernatural happening), but I think that Shaun Cassidy and the rest of the writers have established a tone and pace that works for the story they're trying to tell. The show's characters are finding things out at a rate just as slow as the viewers are, and it's often as frustrating for them as it is for us. This is a show about a possibly dangerous unknown piercing the veil of normalcy surrounding a small town, and I think it does a very good job of playing on the fears of anything foreign coming in and taking over our wholesome American life (just like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, from which the show takes its name and much of its inspiration). But more than just the political allegory, I think this show does a fascinating job of using the supernatural to explore the idea of the crumbling family, the way that things like divorce can make us think that our parents or children or ex-spouses are such different people now that they've actually become aliens. I think at its heart this is a show about a man trying to keep his family together, not just in the face of divorce or re-marriage or premarital sex, but in the face of actual aliens. And that's what keeps me watching every week.

Kitchen Confidential (Fox)
It looks like this is on its way out after only airing three episodes, and I'm a little disappointed, but not heartbroken. It's a good show with funny moments, a solid cast and interesting characters, but it's definitely not spectacular, at least not in the few episodes that made it to air. It has a polished sort of urban sophistication that reminds me of Darren Star's last failed dramedy, Miss Match, which was also likable but not quite compelling enough to pull in a dedicated audience. If the show indeed comes back in December as Fox claims, I'll keep watching, and I think if it's given the chance to hit its stride, it could be a very good comedy.

My Name is Earl (NBC)
This right here is the best new show of the season. It's probably the one show I look forward to the most each week, and the one that's the most consistently entertaining. It might even be my favorite show on TV right now, possibly edged out only by Veronica Mars. It's amazing that it takes a gimmicky premise (each week Earl tackles one item on his list of wrongs he's committed in his life that he wants to rectify), a good amount of sentimentality and characters who could easily be white trash stereotypes and turns it all into one of the smartest, funniest and most enjoyable shows on TV. Jason Lee is perfect as Earl, and the rest of the cast is excellent as well, especially Jaime Pressly (Jaime Pressly!) as Earl's vindictive ex-wife. Although the characters are dim and uncouth, the show never condescends to them, and it manages to throw in its life lessons without seeming sappy or heavy-handed. It's the kind of show that just makes you feel happy after watching it, which sounds silly but is totally true.

Prison Break (Fox)
This was probably the most hyped new show of the season, and while it's been very successful in the ratings, it hasn't necessarily delivered on the promise of its ingenious premise. Even the pilot didn't impress me as much as I'd hoped, with dialogue and characterization straight out of any B-level action movie. It's held my interest in fits and starts, most notably during the two-episode prison riot, but at this point things have gotten so formulaic (in each episode, they encounter a new obstacle that might prevent them from breaking out, overcome it and move on) that I'm getting bored. The conspiracy plot outside the prison was never anything more than a second-rate 24 knockoff, and given that the actual break is set to occur in a few episodes (after which the show goes on hiatus, possibly all the way until May), it seems like a good time to jump off this bandwagon.

Sex, Love & Secrets (UPN)
I think I was the only critic in America who liked this show, which got cancelled after four episodes (the last of which I unfortunately missed). Sure, it was cheesy and poorly acted and kind of stupid, but it was also campy and sexy and even unpredictable at times, making it lots of fun to watch. Since I'm not watching The O.C. or Desperate Housewives anymore, I need something to give me my nighttime soap fix, and this was looking like a good candidate. Too bad that in addition to being the only critic who liked it, I may have also been the only person who watched it.

Movies opening this week

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Joy Bryant, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, dir. Jim Sheridan)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
I actually sort of expected to like this, since Ebert & Roeper gave it a good review (not always a good indicator, but what they said sounded appealing), Sheridan is talented and the similar 8 Mile turned out to be pretty good (although somewhat overrated, I think). I was hoping this would at least be as good as 8 Mile, and possibly be better as a drama, given Sheridan's involvement. Sadly, those hopes were ill-founded, as this is a predictable and familiar gangster movie that doesn't say anything new about street life or about music, and Fiddy is a terrible actor. Oh well. It'll make a gajillion dollars anyway, as long as all the moviegoers don't get shot. Wide release

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, dir. Shane Black)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
This movie has likely secured a place on my year-end best-of list, even though it's not remotely serious or particularly thought provoking (unless those thoughts are about trying to catch obscure in-jokes). It's probably the most fun I've had at a movie this year, and it's incredibly well-crafted, and I think those are virtues that are often overlooked when people decide what the "best" movies are. This is pretty much pure entertainment, but it's got great writing and wonderful performances and it keeps your interest for its entire running time. As far as I'm concerned, that makes for a great movie. Opened limited Oct. 21; wide release this week

Zathura (Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, dir. Jon Favreau)
I didn't exactly think this would be a masterpiece, but previews and early reviews led me to believe that it would be fun and light and entertaining. Favreau definitely showed he could make a good kids movie that appeals to adults with Elf. But this was much worse than I was expecting, with only a handful of amusing moments. Most of it was heavy-handed and poorly paced, and rather than engendering suspense it just made me feel impatient. The worst part was that the two main characters, brothers aged six and ten, were incredibly unlikable to the point where I wanted to smack them around a bit. They learn lessons and all, because it's a family film, but even by the end I still sort of thought they were assholes. Wide release

Weekend viewing

Time to catch up on recent releases that passed me by.

Nine Lives (Rodrigo Garcia, 2005)
This is yet another one of those movies with a number of interlocking stories woven into one big tapestry. Actually, it's a little more formally rigorous than some of its ilk, with Garcia (who's the son of novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez) telling nine stories of women's lives, each shot in a single uninterrupted take. In a way, it's like nine short films strung together, although some characters from some segments pop up in other segments. Certain aspects of the film work well - the single-take premise, which seems gimmicky at first, actually goes a long way toward putting the viewer right in the moment with the characters and creating a sense of overwhelming vitality, something that's important to Garcia's emotionally charged stories. These are all little character dramas, so the acting is important, and Robin Wright Penn and Amy Brenneman do especially outstanding work. But too many of the other players come off as wooden and stagy, and that hurts the film's verisimilitude. Likewise, the connections feel forced and unnecessary, especially when at least half of the scenes have no relation to any other scene. And the final story, with Glenn Close and Dakota Fanning having a picnic in a cemetery, is just awful. Overall, this isn't quite a successful film, although the scene with Wright Penn as a seemingly settled wife and mother-to-be who unexpectedly encounters an old lover in the grocery store is beautiful and heartbreaking, and would have made for an outstanding short on its own.

Shopgirl (Anand Tucker, 2005)
If you're interested in a wry, Steve Martin-written film about romantic travails in Los Angeles, you'd be well-advised to check out the underrated 1991 film L.A. Story, which is both funnier and more lively than this rather dour and restrained movie. I think that L.A. Story, Bowfinger and this film could form a sort of unofficial Steve Martin Los Angeles trilogy, giving you a glimpse into the way he's mythologized the city as the embodiment of romantic and creative longing. In L.A. Story, a freeway billboard guides Martin's wacky weatherman to love and fulfillment, while in Bowfinger a group of movie industry hangers-on achieve their artistic dreams via a set of improbable circumstances. Here, a shopgirl from Vermont finds both love and artistic success, and comes of age thanks to the romantic attention of an older man. In each film, L.A. is as much a character as any of the human figures; in Shopgirl, it's very nearly more interesting than the people. The story here is set up almost as a fable, and at times it works in its sort of dreamlike way. More often, though, it just meanders, and never seems to quite know what its point is. Claire Danes is wonderful in the title role, and it's a shame she doesn't get more and better parts. Given the reviews for this film, it's not about to be a stepping stone to greater things for her.

Where the Truth Lies (Atom Egoyan, 2005)
I loved Egoyan's 1997 movie The Sweet Hereafter, one of the most beautifully depressing movies I've ever seen. I really ought to go back and see some of his earlier movies, since what I've seen of his since then has been disappointing. This isn't as bad as his last film, the didactic and stilted Ararat, but it's still very uneven, thanks mostly to an unfortunately awkward performance by Alison Lohman, whom I usually think is wonderful. She was outstanding in Matchstick Men and White Oleander, so it's a shame to see her so lost in her role as driven journalist who'll do anything to get at the story of a murder cover-up that led to the dissolution of a famous comedy team. Some of the thick noir in this film works well, and there are some very steamy but tasteful sex scenes. On the whole, though, it misses the mark a little, which is too bad since it seemed to have so much potential.

New comics 11/2

Desolation Jones #4 (Warren Ellis/J.H. Williams III, DC/Wildstorm)
I am totally lost on the overall mystery going on here, but this is another entertaining issue that's easy enough to follow on its own. Jose Villarubia adds a lot to the story with his gray/red color scheme that breaks to great effect toward the end of the issue. I sort of wish this opening arc weren't six issues long, because that combined with the bimonthly shipping schedule means the book is taking a whole year just for one story. Plus the longer it goes on the more confused I get. At the same time, I'm finding it perfectly entertaining, and the trade will probably read really well.

House of M #8 (Brian Michael Bendis/Oilvier Coipel, Marvel)
Mostly I'm just glad it's over, but I have to admit that this issue gave me a sliver of hope that Marvel will do something interesting with the reduction of mutants idea. It doesn't seem like they're just going to sweep it under the rug and put it in the background to make things like they were 30 years ago. Of course, only one major X-Man has lost powers as of this issue, and Iceman isn't even that interesting anyway. Besides, given all the weird mutations they've done with him in recent years, losing his powers is sort of a logical step for the character anyway. The one revelation that I actually didn't see coming and think has the most potential for growth is Wolverine's recovery of all his memories, which seems like a step forward for the character rather than a step back like the "no more mutants" bit. I still think this was a ridiculously long and padded story to get to a foregone conclusion, but at this point I don't absolutely hate it, so that's an improvement over the first few issues, at least.

Powers #14 (Brian Michael Bendis/Michael Avon Oeming, Marvel/Icon)
I'm still wondering what the stand-up comedy rants have to do with the main story, but this issue does something that Bendis, with his mostly arc-based writing, doesn't normally do: It brings a long-running subplot to head while also advancing the main story. Add to that the weird rants, and there's a lot going on in this issue, but Bendis balances it well enough that you're left at the end wondering what's going to happen to Deena, how the arc's mystery will resolve, and who those people in the comedy club are. If everything comes together next time, that'll be a very impressive feat.

Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer #1 (Grant Morrison/Yanick Paquette, DC)
DC has been sending out seemingly random first issues of these series to their publicity list. Some I've gotten, some I haven't. This one is pretty good, and if it were the first issue of an ongoing I'd definitely be picking it up again. Since it's part of the epic Seven Soldiers story, I'll probably wait to read it in trade with the rest of the pieces. Still, I like Morrison's take on superhero celebrity, and his portrayal of someone who's desperate to be validated and will do anything to become a superhero himself. Paquette's art is a little uneven, but I like his design for the main character, even if it is a little heavy on the cheesecake (that is, after all, sort of the point).

Fame!

Well, sort of. Check out an article on the Backstage website about my experience participating in the 48 Hour Film Project, written by local theater critic (and occasional film critic) Anthony Del Valle. Tony's a smart critic and, most importantly, always supportive of my work. Clearly he's got good taste.

I'm also set to sit down this coming Friday with Michael Addis and Jamie Kennedy himself to discuss the role of the critic and the function of negative reviews, for their documentary called Heckler. I've been assured it's not a prank.

And the producer of Adler Online, the Canadian radio show on which I appear each Friday, recently said I was her favorite film critic of all time. If only Roger Ebert would return my phone calls about replacing that Roeper guy.

Movies opening this week

Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Clifton Collins Jr., Catherine Keener, dir. Bennett Miller)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
I'm always disappointed when I'm really looking forward to a movie and I really admire the people involved and find the concept really interesting, and then the movie isn't as good as I'd hoped. Especially if I also do a very nice interview with the star. This is a fine film, with a good performance by Hoffman, but it relies far too much on the quality of that performance to tell the story. The other characters essentially sit around and react to what Capote does, and only Collins ever gets a chance to do much more than that. Still, it's not a bad movie, just not quite as good as reviews would have you believe, and not as good as I was expecting. Opened limited Sep. 30; in Las Vegas this week

Jarhead (Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx, dir. Sam Mendes)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
This is another disappointment, although I was more prepared for it to be so, and it's not as admirable or interesting as Capote. I think Mendes is trying so hard to be classy and elegant that he's made a film that's actually very timid. A lot of critics seem to think that the film's problem is not taking a political stand, but I don't think that's necessarily the case - the problem is that it doesn't take any kind of stand at all, even emotional or thematic. It's a movie that doesn't mean anything or care about anything, and that's tough to invest yourself in. Wide release

MirrorMask (Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Gina McKee, dir. Dave McKean)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
This has been getting a lot of mediocre and negative reviews, and I think some people are being too harsh on it. I'm not just saying that because of the comic book connection; I really think it's a good film, if sort of predictable, and it looks amazing. It's worth going to see in a theater, too, to appreciate McKean's surreal visuals in all their overwhelming glory. Story-wise, it could lose 10 or 15 minutes, but it's still very entertaining. Opened limited Sep. 30; in Las Vegas this week

Weekend viewing

Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
My Sissy Spacek mini-festival continues with Malick's debut film, featuring Spacek as a naive South Dakota teenager who hooks up with an older man and follows him on a killing spree. It's based on a true story, and has to be the most strangely unsentimental portrait of a serial killer I've ever seen. Martin Sheen is great as Spacek's boyfriend, who must be a psychopath thanks to all the murders he commits, but otherwise comes off as a very friendly guy and incredibly devoted boyfriend. This is the opposite of a film like Natural Born Killers, with its showy, distracting style, cynical killers and glorification of violence. Malick shoots the northern plains of the U.S. in a stark, simple (but affecting) style, and keeps everything incredibly low-key, even as the bodies mount. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this film while watching it, but the more I think about it, the more I find it interesting.

New comics 10/26

The Book of Lost Souls #1 (J. Michael Straczynski/Colleen Doran, Marvel/Icon)
I've been sort of hit and miss on Straczynski's work in the past; I really enjoyed the Midnight Nation series he did with Gary Frank for Top Cow (in no small part because I love Frank's art) and I liked the first few issues of Supreme Power, although I thought it was sort of slow and stopped picking it up (I'll probably read it in trade at some point). But his recent Icon one-shot Dream Police was awful, and I've never had any interest in his mainstream Marvel work. This is a new creator-owned ongoing series, with some very similar themes to Midnight Nation, and lovely artwork by the versatile Doran. Like Straczynski's other work, it's very slow, so it's hard to get a sense from this issue what the series is even really about. However, it's got the same forces of good and evil battling for the soul of a brooding protagonist that Midnight Nation had, and a wisecracking cat to boot, so I'll stick around for a little while and see if things pick up.

Jack Cross #3 (Warren Ellis/Gary Erskine, DC)
After three issues, I definitely think this is the weakest of the new creator-owned series that Ellis has launched recently. Especially in light of how excellent Fell is, this just comes off as sort of uninspired. I also remain baffled at Ellis's decision to forego sound effects in an action book. This issue has a lengthy fight scene that just plays very stiffly without any accompanying "bam"s or "pow"s, which people often think of as silly but generally effectively convey kinetic movement in a static medium. I'll keep reading, because the protagonist could be interesting, and the twist at the end of this issue sets up an intriguing conflict that explores his dual nature, but I'm not all that excited about it.

Loveless #1 (Brian Azzarello/Marcelo Frusin, DC/Vertigo)
I only read this in a black and white preview from DC, and I'm glad I didn't spend the money to buy the actual comic. I don't think I've read any of Azzarello's stuff before, but 100 Bullets always seemed like something I might like. This, however, isn't all that great. It was really hard to follow (I had to read it twice to get a rudimentary sense of the plot) and seemed constructed out of a bunch of Western genre cliches, and the main character was distasteful and unlikable. The reveal at the end was sort of interesting, but not enough to make me want to read another issue.

Revelations #3 (Paul Jenkins/Humberto Ramos, Dark Horse)
Not much new to say: Still find this an intriguing mystery, still find Ramos's art annoying. I've gotten good at not paying attention to the fact that all the characters look like children with growth hormone problems, but there is also some confusing storytelling in one sequence in this issue. Even so, the writing remains interesting, and this is probably the best thing I've read from Jenkins since the original Sentry mini-series.

Silent Dragon #4 (Andy Diggle/Leinil Yu, DC/Wildstorm)
Once again, a fun and exciting issue with great Yu art, and some very inventive character designs. The plot is turning into your standard revenge thriller, but Diggle throws in enough clever sci-fi elements and snappy dialogue to make it seem new. And every panel of Yu's art only reminds me of how disappointed I am that he's off to Marvel to draw Hulk and Wolverine, about which I do have some thoughts coming soon, I swear.

Young Avengers #8 (Allan Heinberg/Andrea DiVito, Marvel)
Christopher Priest fans who read The Crew (all two of us) will be happy to see that Heinberg picks up on continuity elements from that series in this issue. Like Runaways, this book takes advantage of its characters not being established icons to really mess with the status quo regularly, and it adds greatly to the sense of excitement and unpredictability of reading it. I am always excited to see what Heinberg will do next, and that's the most appealing thing about serialized storytelling (something that gets lost in the pacing-for-the-trade world). Once again, DiVito's art is fine but sort of generic (sometimes his figures even look a little like Rob Liefeld's work), and I'll be pleased to see Jim Cheung return next issue.

Also out this week: Noble Causes #14, but my local store never got #13 for some reason, so I'm waiting for that to show up before reading them both.

Movies opening this week

Saw II (Donnie Wahlberg, Dina Meyer, Tobin Bell, Franky G, dir. Darren Lynn Bousman)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
I have a feeling we are going to be stuck with this franchise for a while. I guess it could be worse - this could be The Butterfly Effect 2. Oh, wait. Wide release

Separate Lies (Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Rupert Everett, dir. Julian Fellowes)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
It's always annoying when a movie works really well until the end just goes off the rails. In this case, the last 15 minutes or so don't ruin the movie, but they detract from the overall tightness of the plot and the theme, and I came out feeling a little disappointed, rather than unreservedly impressed. But this is still a solid drama with very good performances, and the very end sets things back on the right track. Opened limited Sep. 16; in Las Vegas this week

The Weather Man (Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Hope Davis, dir. Gore Verbinski)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
The more I reflect on this one, the more I like it. I might even bump the rating up to four stars if I wrote the review right now. Yes, it's sort of slick and Hollywood-y, but it doesn't shy away from being dark and pessimistic, and I think it, in its own quiet way, it says something substantial about accepting who you are, even if your life is completely mediocre. This is a movie about learning to settle, and why that's actually not a bad thing, and I think it's a very interesting position to advocate. Worth seeing; don't let the negative reviews dissuade you. Wide release

Weekend viewing

Coal Miner's Daughter (Michael Apted, 1980)
To give you an idea of the lag time between when I put a movie in my Netflix queue and when I finally get around to watching it, I added this to the queue after watching Robert Altman's 3 Women back in December and deciding that I really needed to watch more movies with the great Sissy Spacek. My Spacek mini-festival gets underway with this Oscar-winning performance in a pretty standard biopic about country singer Loretta Lynn. Standard doesn't mean bad, though, and like a lot of biopics, this succeeds thanks to the strong performances, both from Spacek and from Tommy Lee Jones as Lynn's husband. It does seem at times to be a little rosy, only briefly getting into any sort of real trouble in Lynn's life toward the end before backing off and then showing her happy and smiling at the close of the movie. It's actually sort of refreshing to see a movie about someone who, on the whole, had a good life, and the lack of extreme tragedy doesn't make the film less watchable or entertaining. Spacek is, of course, fantastic, and her singing is pretty damn good, too.

The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
My brother, who is quite the film buff himself and possibly more well-versed than I am in older films, brought this over for us to watch. I have to admit, I had only seen two silent films prior to this one: Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Abel Gance's Napoleon, which I may or may not have walked out of somewhere around hour three (that I don't remember is a sign of how closely I paid attention). Thankfully, this was not four hours long, and it was fairly riveting, especially the unearthly lead performance by Maria Falconetti. Shot almost entirely in close-ups, this is an intense and sort of creepy movie, with a very disconcerting feel thanks to the almost complete lack of master shots. I found it interesting how closely the plot paralleled passion plays (my knowledge of which comes almost exclusively from seeing The Passion of the Christ), and the way in which Dreyer is clearly comparing Joan to Christ, in whose name she was tortured and ultimately murdered. Fairly heady stuff for 1928.

New comics 10/19

Astro City: The Dark Age #4 (Kurt Busiek/Brent Anderson, DC/Wildstorm)
The first book of Busiek's four-part epic wraps up, and it really does tell a complete story, which is nice. This could be a completely self-contained mini-series and it would be a satisfying read, with a clever ending and some interesting takes on the relationship between heroes and those they save. At the same time, it clearly whets your appetite for more, and promises the full story to be a sprawling and definitive take on the dark underbelly of superheroes.

Runaways #9 (Brian K. Vaughan/Adrian Alphona, Marvel)
Vaughan connects the characters to the wider Marvel universe with guest stars Cloak and Dagger and the New Avengers, picks up on continuity from the previous volume and explores the characters' relationships further. That's pretty impressive for one issue. While I still think that the exit of Karolina was hasty, Vaughan doesn't forget about it, and with it simmering in the background I'm sure it'll become important again soon. As with Excelsior, Vaughan takes underused characters (in this case Cloak and Dagger) and makes them interesting and exciting, making this the perfect series to explore the little-seen corners of the Marvel universe.

She-Hulk Vol. 2 #1 (Dan Slott/Juan Bobillo, Marvel)
I had been planning to buy the second collection of the first volume of this series, but never got around to it. Still, this was perfectly easy to follow, thanks in part to that lost comic book tradition, the footnote. Slott does a good job of bringing new (or new-ish, like me) readers up to speed, and once again puts on a really fun balance of characterization and continuity. He utilizes not only events in the last volume of She-Hulk, but also recent developments in New Avengers and some characters from Young Avengers, to make for a book firmly steeped in the Marvel universe. It's also perfectly accessible and continues exploring the absurdity of superhuman law in a light and entertaining way. The only thing that annoyed me was Slott's meta-commentary on comics and trade paperbacks, which seemed out of place and sort of petty. Otherwise, a solid start to a new and hopefully more successful outing. Now I'll have to finally pick up that second trade.

The Surrogates #2 (Robert Venditti/Brett Weldele, Top Shelf)
This is shaping up to be a really interesting series, with an old-fashioned murder mystery woven into the sci-fi high concept. I like both elements. Venditti has created a rich futuristic world with a lot of potential for conflict, and he's set up interesting relationships among the characters. Weldele's sketchy line art, which reminds me a lot of Ben Templesmith, adds to the surreal nature of the story. Good stuff.

Movies opening this week

Chaos (Kevin Gage, Maya Barovich, Chantal Degroat, dir. David DeFalco)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
This is only playing a total of four times over the next two weeks in Vegas, but I thought it was interesting to note, and I did not only a review but also an interview with the director. This is a terrible movie, but it's really no worse than dozens of other straight-to-video horror movies that come out every month. What impresses me about this film is the way that the marketing campaign has so effectively built it up to be far more than it is, with their spin about "education," their well-designed website and, most notably, the feud between the filmmakers and Roger Ebert, who gave the film a savage review, and then responded point-by-point to the filmmakers' open letter disagreeing with his review. All the subsequent attention (including, hey, my interview) has come about as a result of that exchange. A columnist in Canada's Globe and Mail takes the Chaos filmmakers to task without even having seen the movie, the sure sign that the marketing has eclipsed the product. Which, of course, is best, since the product is completely worthless.

Hellbent (Dylan Fergus, Bryan Kirkwood, Hank Harris, dir. Paul Etheredge-Ouzts)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
A very different horror movie from Chaos, but also pretty firmly in the straight-to-video-quality camp. Other than its "Wow! Gay people! In a horror movie!" angle, this is a predictable and perfectly competent slasher movie with passable acting, some okay scares and an anemic storyline. It's nice to see that gay people are becoming so accepted in movies that not every film about homosexuality has to be a Big Statement, but that still makes this more of a historical curiosity than a movie worth seeing. Opened limited Sep. 16; in Las Vegas this week

North Country (Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Frances McDormand, dir. Niki Caro)
My review in Las Vegas Weekly
Good old Oscar bait. This is a sturdy but predictable Hollywood melodrama that takes on social injustice in a typically award-winning fashion. It doesn't come off as overly cynical, though, and even if it's a bit manipulative, I still think it's well-constucted and genuine, and it's full of good performances. You probably have to be receptive to a little sentimentality, but if you appreciate inspirational true stories, this does exactly what you want it to. Wide release

A couple of cool projects

These are endeavors that I really admire and would love to undertake myself but, sadly, probably would never have enough time for.

Over at the Slant Magazine blog, Ed Gonzalez is running through his top ten films from every year essentially since the beginning of cinema, jumping around for variety (the most recent entry is 1948). The fact that not only has he seen ten movies from each year, but has also seen enough to rank them with conviction (and include a few honorable mentions) is extraordinary to me. I believe he's only a couple of years older than I am, too, which means I have a daunting amount of catching up to do (something that I've known ever since starting to work as a movie critic). To his credit, Gonzalez is also listing "blind spots" from each year (notable films that he hasn't seen), allowing me to grant that he's still human and not some robotic movie-watching machine.

And then there's this blog, pointed out by the Blogger home page, in which a film buff and aspiring filmmaker watches one movie a day for three months. He's come up with an excellent balance of classics, obscure cult movies and new releases, and his reviews are detailed, well-written and well-observed. I've aspired over the last few summers, in the TV off-season, to watching a movie a day, and it's never quite worked out. With all the movies I see to review, I'm watching 3-5 movies a week anyway, but they are all new releases and many are, shall we say, less than notable. I keep filling my Netflix queue with interesting movies that I want to see, but the queue just gets longer and my time gets shorter, and I suppose I'll be on my deathbed with a long list of movies I never got around to watching. Isn't that a pleasant thought?

In other news, there were four people at my first screening for the Vegas Valley Book Festival tonight, and god bless all of them.