Because Its Always a Good Time for Caroline!

It might be time to watch AT THE EARTHS CORE again. 

Comic Book Subscriptions!

The first comic book to which I ever bought a subscription was Marvel’s The Avengers. My one year of home delivery of this precious commodity ran from issue 188 through 199 and I still regard those issues with real joy whenever I spot a cover or a reference to the tales told therein. I also remember being disappointed at having to buy the double sized issue 200 off the rack and lamenting that I hadn’t continued my subscription. At this late date I can’t remember why I chose The Avengers as the one comic to have guaranteed access to, but I guess it was because of the team aspect of the book. You were sure to have at least five cool superheroes per month with Captain America or Thor being a good bet each time.

The reason I bring this up is that I now have at my advanced age subscribed to a comic book again. As a matter of fact I have subscribed to two! A few months ago I took advantage of the deal of a $15 price to pick up a year of the Geoff Jones scripted Aquaman book and just last week I plunked down the same price for 12 issues of Batman: The Dark Knight. Both of these are books I’ve enjoyed for the past year or so and this is a great way to have them painlessly drop into my ‘to read’ pile. Of course, these comics are part of the current, controversial revamping of DC Comics entire line of superhero books so many fans would wonder why I am bothering with them at all. A number of older fans hate the ‘New 52’ approach to these beloved characters and to a degree I can understand their anger. The classic tales of Batman, Superman, etc. are such a big part of what makes these characters important to a lot of people and to have those stories discarded could be considered an insult. But I can’t feel that way. I’m thrilled to have a new version of these old tales and having good, creative folks come in and tackle these icons is refreshing to my eyes. Anyone that can turn Aquaman into a badass again is doing the right thing and the only way to make the current series any better would be to magically have Jim Aparo do the artwork as he did in the 1970’s.

That’s not to say that DC has done a good job across the board. In fact I think that, from the books I’ve read, they might have more misses than hits in this massive recreation project! Their Hawkman book was completely awful – incoherent, sloppy and just a total waste of time. Likewise, the new Teen Titans run started out with some strength and potential but degenerated quickly into a confusing mess of cross-over madness and pointless plot complications that left whole issues feeling like a waste of time and money. The entire first year of the new Firestorm comic was a disaster of stupid plots and poorly defined direction with too many creators trying to control the book. It improved greatly in the second year with Dan Jurgens’ take over of the title but by then too many readers had written the revamped Nuclear Man off to keep the book afloat.

It’s never going to be easy to recreate the origins of characters this well known, but in too many cases DC seems to have broken things that didn’t need to be fixed and, in Firestorm’s case, fixed things too late to matter. With Aquaman and most of the Batman titles I have been happy to see a level of quality that makes fifteen bucks for a year’s run seem like a pretty good gamble. We’ll see.

Video: Ten Worst batman Villains?

These are pretty bad but I can think of some that I like even less.

Avengers covers!

Is it wrong to already be wishing to see the next Avengers film? I haven't even seen the Thor movie yet!

What I Watched in October

Caught only one new horror film in the theaters this October but it was very good. James Wan continues to show that he is a master of the creepy supernatural tale with INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 2. I really enjoyed the first film and do not have the problem so many have voiced about the later third of the story. I found the trip into 'The Further' quite compelling and the nasty ending very wrenching.

The sequel picks up right after the terrible events of the original so I'll tread lightly in  my remarks. Suffice to say that this is a logically plotted and smart sequel that folds itself brilliantly into the narrative of the first film. At least once we are shown events from a different angle which gives depth and complications to the story we know and urgency to this new addition too. Again, the performances are very strong and Wan's ability to keep his audience on edge is a wonder to behold. He really can play the viewer like a musical intrument and it is a joy to watch him find new ways to creep under my skin. I also love that we get more background and information about the secondary ghost chasing characters and I think the direction the ending of Chapter 2 takes is fantastic. I actually would like to see another sequel in this series.

I also got to see GRAVITY, the latest from Alfonso Curon and it was a phenomenal experience. I refuse to pop for the 3D ticket price any longer but I'm happy to say that this film plays just fine in 2D, thank you very much. Sandra Bullock is very good as the out-of-her-depth astronaut forced to deal with a catastrophic disaster in Earth orbit but its the amazing visual spectacle and adrenalin rush of excitement that drives the simple story. I was impressed repeatedly by how the script keeps things moving and pushed you into trying to think of ways that Bullock's character might save herself before time runs out.

Of course, as a movie geek I was thrilled by the small, sly nods to classic science fiction films as well with my favorite being the nice BARBARELLA moment. GRAVITY is a smart, effective thrill ride and it also has the distinction of knowing that it doesn't need to be any longer than about 90 minutes - that is a big plus in this day of bloated running times. And Curon can keep making those incredibly long single shot scenes as long as he wants too, for my money. I thought his use of that technique in the superior CHILDREN OF MEN was mind bending but his seamless sequences here show he has many more emotional tricks up his sleeve.

TRAUMA (1978)- 6 (Leon Klimovsky thriller -proto-slasher)

GRAVE ENCOUNTERS 2 (2012)- 7 (well realized sequel)

SPACEFLIGHT IC-1 (1965)- 4 (cheap libertarian SF)

ROOM 237 (2012)- 8 (incredible documentary about Kubrick's THE SHINING)

EL VAMPIRO (1957)- 8 (wonderful Mexican horror tale)

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 (2013)- 7 (well done follow up)

CARRIE (1976)- 8 (rewatch)

NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (1986)- 8 (rewatch)

RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD (1973)- 8 (rewatch)

DEEP RED (1975)- 9 (rewatch)

CITY OF THE LVING DEAD (1980)- 7 (rewatch)

THE HAND (1981)- 6

CANDYMAN (1992)- 8 (rewatch)

THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942)- 7 (rewatch)

BODY SNATCHERS (1993)- 8 (rewatch)

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (2012)- 8

MOONTIDE (1942)- 8 (excellent noir)

GRAVITY (2013)- 8

THE MUMMY (1932)- 8 (rewatch)

HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1983)- 8 (rewatch)

TOWER OF EVIL (1972)- 6 (rewatch)

SLEEPAWAY CAMP II: UNHAPPY CAMPERS (1988)- 3 (terrible but in a very fun way

SLUGS (1988)- 3 (rewatch) (so bad its good!)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Ghost Stories for Young People

Wish I had found this in October! Here is a 1962 album of several Ghost tales introduced by Hitchcock and read by expert voice actor John Allen. This is from a bit before my time but I seem to remember something very like this being in a childhood friend's record collection in my 1970's youth. None of these sounded familiar to me so I bet there were other such LPs out there and now I think I'll have to find some of them for next Halloween season. Enjoy!

Because Shatner Taught Me How to Fight