RAMBO! RAMBO!

I'll tell you something; I saw the new Rambo movie last night, and I couldn't be perkier about it. Who would ever have thought that a Rambo flick released in 2008 would be entertaining? I sure as shit wouldn't, but this one made an asshole out of all of us, I guess.
First of all, I could probably give less fucks about the old Rambo trilogy than I would a Knight Rider made for television remake. Come to think of it, that's not a bad idea. Anyway, the point is that I am not a Rambo fan by any stretch of the imagination, but something about this movie really struck a chord in me. It's kind of weird, getting so much pleasure out of something so utterly crappy. It wasn't even an ironic kind of pleasure, either. It really just had some eerie, calm, soothing manner to it.
Which is pretty fucking ridiculous, because it was also the most violent fucking film I have ever seen. I've seen some violent-ass shit, but this one has to take the cake. There were children blowing up and shit, and limbs being severed off left and right. At one point, I just shook my head and started thinking, "Is this some kind of joke? What the fuck is going on here?" The on-screen mayhem and bloodshed had to have set some kind of record.
Anyway, I got in to see it for free, so I am not sure if it's worth paying for. If you've got an hour and a half to kill, there are worse ways to spend your night.

Born Again Borne Again

I've recently been re-reading (for about the third or fourth time) Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli's mid-80's Daredevil run, "Born Again." I was a little hesitant to re-read it, since I had read it so many times in the past. I just really thought it would feel like 'Going through the motions,' and that the comic would have little impact any more.
Boy, was I wrong. I am surprised at how much more I pick up on this go-round. Usually, when people say they "Got more out of it" the second time they read or watch something, or that they "pick up so much more" (kinda like I just did), I just chalk it up to the person being stupid, or unable to grasp the subtleties of a particular work. If you're paying attention and you're halfway bright, you should "get" about 99% of the shit you intake. Most entertainment isn't exactly cryptic these days.
Anyway, Born Again is phenomenal. It's amazing how much Miller was able to 'get away with' in the mainstream comic of the politically charged 1980s. Turning the heroes ex-girlfriend into a heroin addicted, destitute porno star comes immediately to mind. Destroying Matt Murdock's life, and not even featuring Daredevil himself for several issues is another big 'coup.'
Miller really was at the top of his game. Within a few years, he had completed his insanely wonderful initial run on Daredevil, both the Dark Knight and Batman: Year One, and this endcap to the DD series. Too bad most of his output these days is utter crap.

The Gayrriors

Man, I just tried to watch the early 80's flick "The Warriors," about rival gangs in New York City. I am left with one question: What the Hell were they thinking? This movie sucked ass. Sucked TOTAL ass, actually. I'll have to double-check on that, though.
Anyway, if you've never seen it, imagine the suckiest thing you've ever witnessed. Now imagine that with a group of asshole mimes with crowbars. Or baseball players dressed up like Kiss. Get the idea of how sucky this is sucking?
I suppose I can only point the finger at myself, actually. Can society be to blame for my own shortcoming? I knowingly and willingly ordered that movie from Netflix. In a sense, though not a legally binding one, I did welcome it into my home, under thefalse guise of friendship. Putting such a strong stamp upon a rented DVD might be seen as extreme, but realize I am in no position to cast judgment towards anyone.
Anyway, don't rent the Warriors. Go read Moby Dick instead. I ordered that movie from Netflix, too!

Moby Dick Rules!

For some strange reason, someone gave me a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble as a present on the anniversary of Christ the Savior's birth. I guess they just had a hard time moving on. Anyway, I wasn't going to decline it, so I went out to the book store to buy up some shit.
First of all, Barnes and Noble pretty much sucks ass. We don't have one around here, so I went to the one near Philadelphia since I was driving by one day. I had a hard time finding anything to buy in that shithole, so I finally decided on Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I wonder if the expression "Moby Dick" was funny when that book first came out in 1851. It's sure funny now.
As for the book itself, that Ishmael is a real pisser. The dude is a total loser who goes out to sea when he hits rock bottom, and had to settle for the shittiest inn in New Bedford. There is a fucking hilarious exchange between Ishmael and the landlord, who wants Ish to share a bed with some strange man named "The Harpooner."
Ishmael understandably is concerned at this, but he goes nuts, neurotically fixating on the inevitable meeting. Finally the Harpooner arrives, but only after a few chapters of obsessive behavior that would have a first year psychiatry student tossing out his pipe.
I can't wait to finish this fucking book. I'm almost a hundred pages deep, and the sad fucker hasn't even hit the water yet. I can only imagine how crazy this shit is going to get.
Moby Dick Rules!

What's Been Going On

Here is what I have been doing lately, in the realm of all that is nerdness. Most of my entertainment time has been devoted to re-reading John Milton's "Paradise Lost." It's a great book, and I am enjoying it even more the second time around. I want to finally finish reading "Paradise Regained," too. I started that one a long, long time ago and never finished it. It kind of sucks, though, because someone told me He dies at the end.
I saw a few decent flicks lately, too. No Country for Old Men was pretty cool, though it kind of crapped out at the end. To tell the truth, I wasn't paying 100% attention by that point, so I missed most of what Johnny Lee Oswald Copman (whatever the fuck his name is) said at the very end. I heard it must have been pretty cool, though.
I got an old Clash bootleg, demos from the "Combat Rock" album. It contains Mick Jones' original mixes, which got rejected. They are pretty cool, and have more of a Sandinista! vibe to them, but they're really not too, too different from the album version. A lot of people hate on Combat Rock, but I always liked it. Still, it's the shittiest Clash album ever (Cut the Crap does not count).

Steve Roper is the Fucking Man

While shifting around a few books on my shelf the other day, I stumbled upon these little gems that I had read about a year ago or so. They're Blackthorne Publishing's 1980's reprintings of some mid-40's Steve Roper and Wahoo strips. At first they were a little off-putting, but after a few pages I really started to get the vibe, and it was non-stop enjoyment from that point on.
Saunders and Woggon, the creators, had a really great style going. The art is reminiscent of both Dick Tracy and, quite anachronistically, Charles Burns. There are thick, solid blacks flowing between curved lines; not necessarily the angular, jutting corners of Gould's work from the same era.
As for the story, it's pretty silly, really. As I said, I read these about a year or so ago, so I really don't remember them too well. There were some twists and turns, and the overall mood was more akin to Smilin' Jack than Terry and the Pirates. If I'm not mistaken, there might even have been a 'evil twin/lookalike' story; one which plagued comic strips from the Golden Era.

Best of 2007: Comic

This is a tough one. I read a lot of comics. My gut is going with Peter Bagge's Apocalypse Nerd, and I think I need to stick with that. With this title, Pete took the angst, social-phobia and darkness that permeated Hate, and shoved it into a post-apocalyptic setting. The results were fantastic.
I can't remember exactly which issues came out in 2007, but I know for certain the final two did, at least. What a fucked issue that number five was... some really twisted shit went down. I don't want to ruin it for you, but basically Apocalypse Nerd was a pretty straightforward look at what life would really be like after a nuclear war. I don't mean in a scientifically-accurate type of way; this is pretty much about the mental breakdown of all of the characters when martial law kicks in after North Korea bombs the Pacific Northwest.
This six issue series is probably already out in trade paperback, but if not, try and track down the issues. It might be tough to do; I never see them around (but then again I don't hit up too many shops that would carry them in the first place).
Runnerup: Runoff. The final collection came out this year. Man, this was a great series. Towards the end it got a little too 'Hollywoody,' but I guess the recent news that it's going to be made into a movie by the guy that did Hellboy will do that to you. Still, it had some fantastic moments.