Geek Mecca

Well, I know I haven't posted in a really long time. Here's why in just one word: Dragon*Con.

I've been preparing my costumes, to be shown here shortly. The con has highjacked my life so this nerd-fest is going to highjack my blog. It covers all of the geekiest aspects of our pop culture, so it can be connected to the blog. From this point on I'll be posting "in character" as Jimmie Olsen, mild-mannered photographer for a great metropolitan newspaper.

Day 1:
Despite hotel shenanigans we are safely ensconced in our hotel room with our D*Con passes in hand. I got a few candid shots of con goers and a bit of the "Zombie Walk." Tomorrow will be more successful, I hope. Atlanta is a sight different from Metropolis, that's for sure. Here's a sampling of the shots from tonight.

Waiting for the light

Just a couple of adventurers

Even zombies like technology.

If Bruce Wayne were real, I'd marry him.

The Dark Knight Rises has had a rough start. Everyone knows about the shooting that occurred in Colorado by now. I'm not really here to talk about that kind of thing. Honestly, it's beyond my scope. I just don't have the ability to put words to this kind of tragedy. So, as in my other entries, I will focus on the movie with a light and airy tone. I'll now take this moment to say:

WARNING WARNING SPOILER ALERT

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE, DO NOT READ THIS POST (unless you're okay with spoilers)

Now you may feel free to insert "squees" at random intervals during this post. It'll help you know what it was like to be the guy sitting next to me in the movie theater. I may have ruined his experience, but I had a blast. I'm the only one who matters in this equation anyway. I was, I must admit, a bit reticent about viewing this movie. Don't stop reading, but I found the second Dark Knight film to be a bit disappointing. I'm predicting gasps of horror. Let me defend myself. Heath Ledger diserved the Oscar. It is a beautiful film to watch. That was the worst interpretation of the Joker ever. Here is where I make another confession, for those who don't already know: I'm a huge comic geek. I've been subscribing to Wonder Woman since I was twelve, my first comic was an old issue of Aquaman when I was seven or eight, and I've been in love with Bruce Wayne/Batman since I was about four. Ever since Batman: the Animated Series the Dark Knight has held top rank among my favorite superheroes.



Who wouldn't love this?


It's no wonder why I loved Batman Begins so much. Christopher Nolan brought Batman and one of his greatest villains into a world that could be ours. It was wildly appealing to the comic geek side of my nature. The Dark Knight appealed to the film geek in ways that the first installment didn't, but left the comic geek floundering.

For me, Mark Hamill's Joker will always be the best portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime. Heath Ledger's Joker made you laugh because you couldn't think of a better way to deal with the violence he could do with a pencil. Mark Hamill's Joker could make you laugh because he was funny. I find this characteristic essential to the Joker's character, and it was missing in The Dark Knight. The final film in this trilogy made up for it with a vengeance.

They're comparing Romney to this!? He's just not awesome enough.

As if Christopher Nolan could read my mind, he and his writers took elements from three of the best and most important Batman story arcs and shoved them into a mindblowingly beautiful film. For those who are wondering (even if you aren't I'm going to tell you), those story arcs are Knightfall, No Man's Land, and Batman R.I.P. Nolan seemlessly combined all three right down to the "death" of Bruce Wayne. Then he added Talia al-Ghul just for shits and giggles. Oh man, this movie was good.

I know this is wrong on many levels, but when Tom Hardy as Bane broke Batman's back, I squeed. Everyone else in the theater did a kind of audible wince, but I was geeking out so hard that I was bouncing in my seat with glee. I may be completely messed up, but I SO CALLED IT. I was pleasantly (too mild a word) surprised when they closed Gotham from the outside world. Everytime Officer Blake marked a street corner with a Batsymbol, I almost convulsed in joy.

Then Nolan did what the writers at DC didn't have the courage to do. He retired Bruce Wayne. He passed that iconic cowl to someone else (Dick Grayson should have been Batman damn it!). In the end it doesn't matter who wears the cape and cowl. It's the symbol, the idea of Batman that matters most. This was the best possible way for Nolan to end his tenure with the Bat. Even though he isn't continuing, here's to hoping that someone picks up the baton.

I'll leave you these words from DC's Final Crisis:

"We'll all miss him. And pray for a resurrection." - Superman

Thanks Mr. Nolan, it's been fun.

Direction, it's been a long time coming.

I've finally figured out that this will be a movie blog. Pathetic that it took me that much time to figure that out given the name I chose for it, but there you have it. Here's the method for this blog: I watch a movie, and then I blog about it. It doesn't matter if it's new, old, or if I've already seen it a kajillion times.

***SPOILER ALERT***SPOILER ALERT***SPOILER ALERT***SPOILER ALERT***

The spoiler alert is a precaution. I don't like to get too specific when I write like this about movies, but I don't want to ruin the experience for anyone. The first movie under this new method will be The Avengers, which blew my mind with its awesomeness. On a completely shallow level, it was full of all sorts of eye candy that I was in a perpetual state of "squee" over for the entire film. Thank you casting directors of previous Marvel films. Really, thank you, especially for that almost completely nude Mark Ruffalo scene.

On a less shallow note, Joss Whedon did an amazing job. Minimal objectification of Scarlett Johansson and major respect for her acting and her character. The "recovery" scene between her and Jeremy Renner was so well acted. The subtext was just lovely. I will say that Joss Whedon is amazing when he directs women. I've never seen a work of his that approaches women with anything less than respect. He shows that women can be powerful and sexy whilst remaining covered. I salute you Mr. Whedon. Johansson was also completely badass in the fight scenes and showed that she can beat anybody (except the Hulk) up.

As a comic book fan I really appreciated Whedon's treatment of such classic characters. I'll admit to a bit of ignorance about Marvel comics. I've always loved DC just a little bit more, and I haven't read a mainstream Marvel comic in a long time. This movie makes me want to start reading them again. You don't have to know a lot about Marvel or even comic books to know that when you adapt beloved characters to the big screen that someone is going to get upset. Whedon knows comics, he's read them and written them. He was a perfect choice as writer and director of this film. Disney could not have chosen anyone better.

The casting for this was amazing (for other reasons than eye candy). Marvel/Disney was playing a risky game by giving all these people (w/ the obvious exceptions) their own movies before this film. They had to be able to work on those well, with a different cast of characters, and be able to work together on this one. I'm glad that Mark Ruffalo was cast as Bruce Banner/the Hulk. He and Robert Downey, Jr. had amazing chemistry. The rest of the cast wasn't shabby on that score either.

The only problem I had with this movie was the death of Agent Coulson. I have a love/hate relationship with Joss Whedon's ability to play my heartstrings like Steve Martin plays the banjo. I love that he makes us love characters like Wash, Shepherd, and Penny. I hate that he kills them and makes me cry like a little baby.

I give this movie a "re-watchable to the max" score and leave you with this: "That's my secret, Cap, I'm always angry."