Big week for us here at Graphic Content this week, as we have two (TWO!) media appearances to talk about. First, E and I made another appearance on Edmonton’s best comics podcast, Podcast! The Comics, the official party organ of Comics! The Blog. They’ve partnered with us again, this time to present 2001′s Josie and the Pussycats on November 20th! While James’ definition of a Christmas movie is a bit restrictive, in my opinion, we had a pretty good chat all around. Check it out!
Secondly, two weeks ago, we were interviewed by the campus newspaper of our alma mater, The Gateway! We had a great time talking to Ramneek Tung about the concept behind the series, and there might be a few Easter eggs about future screenings in there too… Check it out right here.
The lovely fellows down at the Jay n’ J podcast, whom I talked to last about the recent John Carter film, had me on this week to talk Avengers. It was actually a pretty momentous occasion, as they somehow convinced Brandon Schatz and Jay Bardyla, from Wizard’s Comics and Happy Harbor Comics, to come on with me, as we hunkered down for some pretty intense nerding out over the film. In retrospect, I might have been a little more critical of the film than I should have been, but after 5 feature-length trailers for the thing, I was probably expecting a little different than what I got.
Leading up to our presentation of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World this Valentine’s Day at Metro Cinema at the Garneau, Lady E and I were guests on a local comics podcast. It’s the audio spinoff of Comics! The Blog, which would then obviously have to be named Podcast! The Comics. We talked about how the Graphic Content project came about, movies, comics and more! Check it out!
Hey everyone, I’m sorry that I haven’t been posting very much here, but things have been crazy this month. Between Graphic Content screening The Rocketeer, interviewing Atomic Robo creators Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener, being interviewed on podcasts (more on that coming soon…), trying to catch up on movies I missed last year, the absolutely frigid temperatures we had here a couple of weeks ago, end of the month comics ordering, and everything else, I have not had much time to devote to reading my way through the Time 100 Best Novels list.
Well that’s coming to an end. I’m about halfway through a book that it took a long time for me to find, Elizabeth Bowen’s The Death of the Heart, so I should have a review up for that one in the next week or so.
I’m also thinking of shaking up the format of my reviews. I’d like to let you guys know what I knew about each author and book going in, rather than adopting the occasionally stuffy “editorial” writing style I’ve been known to drop into by reflex. I don’t care if you guys find out about the massive gaps in literary knowledge with which I somehow graduated with degree in English Literature. I’m renewing my commitment to making the highbrow stuff I’ve been trained to process palatable to the modern audience, which of course means comparing them to Pokemon, or Voltron, or the pinnacle of modern-day bildungsroman, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It’s not like this blog is called “This Literary Life”, so I’m going on record here as renewing my commitment to geekery, general nerdishment, and the pursuit of frost trolls.
I’d like to do more with my film section, as well as more with comics. I’ve written an article for a much more reputable site than mine on the subject of comics that are soon to be gone, which I’ll link to as it comes out, and I’d like to do more like that. I’ve also really wanted to take a look back at film noir ideas I had back in school, and with a noir film festival happening here next month, that might be a great opportunity for me to do so.
I guess I’m trying to say sorry to you, the readers, who have undoubtedly been sitting at home, refreshing a browser window or watching an RSS feed intently, waiting for me to come back strong. I’m saying today that yes, it’ll happen, and yes, together we will be more powerful than you ever imagined. So come dream with me, won’t you?
First off, here’s the entire list of films watched this year.
1. Attack the Block
2. Drive
3. The Adventures of Tintin
4. Hugo
5. Rango
6. Submarine
7. Troll Hunter
8. 13 Assassins
9. The Muppets
10. X-Men: First Class
11. Captain America: The First Avenger
12. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
13. Hanna
14. Hobo with a Shotgun
15. Midnight in Paris
16. Real Steel
17. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
18. Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
19. Le Havre
20. Rubber
21. Thor
22. Moneyball
23. Super 8
24. Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil
25. Resurrect Dead
26. Paul
27. Marwencol
28. Blank City
29. Bridesmaids
30. Source Code
31. Margin Call
32. Red State
33. 30 Minutes or Less
34. Burke and Hare
35. The Adjustment Bureau
36. Your Highness
37. Sucker Punch
38. The Mechanic
39. I Am Number Four
40. Cowboys & Aliens
41. Green Lantern
- Movie attendance by myself was up around 10% higher than it was last year. Also, I’d say that I enjoyed more of the movies I watched this time around! Part of this was due to the fact that I didn’t go to every free screening I got offered. There were a few that looked like absolute stinkers.
- My favorite movie moment this year obviously came from hosting a film series at Metro Cinema at the Garneau Theatre. Honestly, nothing much can compare to the feeling you get when hundreds of people come in to see a movie that you’re all passionate about. No matter what film we’ve screened so far, there’s always been one person in the city who’s been dying to see it on the big screen again, or for the first time. My city’s not huge, and the repertory theatres in town usually stick to the arthousey-type stuff, so to see genre cinema kind of get its due has been a real treat. Thank you so much to the staff and board of the Metro, and a big thank you to Lady E., who’s crazy idea this whole enterprise was to begin with.
- Other great movie moments this year: seeing David Lynch’s Wild at Heart for the first time; seeing The Passion of Joan of Arc with live musical accompaniment by Smokey! during the Metro’s opening gala weekend; the Saturday Morning Cartoon and Cereal parties, again at Metro; seeing the awesome weirdness that is El Topo during Metro Bizarro; going on the Jay n’ J podcast to promote Graphic Content and talk about The Muppets;
- A movie I saw this year that really affected me but was very difficult to place on a list was Gaspar Noe’s Enter the Void. I’ve talked about this film here before, but it really was something else. Seeing that film in a theatre was almost essential to the whole experience, as I don’t know if I would have made it through the thing at home. Challenging, a visual spectacle, many adjectives can be applied to the movie, but it is at its heart an intensely human experience. And now, because I like them so much, here’s the opening credits to Enter the Void again.
- Things I wish I’d seen this year and still hope to seek out:
A Dangerous Method (opened this week here, yay!)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Carnage
Headhunters (hopefully before it gets remade)
A Boy and His Samurai
The Grey
I Saw The Devil
The Guard
Colombiana
In Time
The Artist
Hopefully 2012 is as rich a film-going year to me as 2011 was!
So in honour of our presentation of V For Vendetta tonight, the Lady E. and myself were guest hosts on the Jay n’ J show, a local film podcast! We talked about the project, but mostly about our feelings on the new Muppets movie, which was pretty good in my opinion. Check it out!
Just a quick note here to mention mine and Lady E’s new project: Graphic Content. It’s a film series designed to broach the void between people’s knowledge of geeky film with their knowledge of the source material. We’re putting it on at the lovely Garneau Theatre, new home of the Metro Cinema.
The first movie we’re going to be showing is the 1966 classic Batman: The Movie, starring Adam West and Burt Ward. I’m really looking forward to this event, I’m even going on stage to introduce the film and then hopefully talking to lots of people afterwards about comics. Check out the G.C. website for more information if you live in Edmonton, it should be a great night!
