Central Canada Comic Con

For my birthday, my girlfriend got us weekend passes to the Central Canada Comic Convention held here in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This was her first Comic Con ever, and I was filled with excitement and anticipation. What kind of crazy costumes would we see? Who would be too large to fit into her Harley Quinn outfit? All these questions and more plagued me....

On Saturday, we marched from our apartment to the Convention Centre, and immediately, I saw a Klingon having a cigarette outside the building. Yes, it's going to be that kind of Con, huh?

With our weekend passes, we got a goodie bag filled with a free comic, some temporary tattoos, buttons, and coupons coupons coupons. Lots of 'em. The free comic my g/f got was a Jeph Loeb Red Hulk comic. I advised her to chuck it.

We wondered around and saw the Batmobile, the Ecto 1 that I saw at the last Con, and we got glimpses of Adam West and Julie Newmar (who looks like she's had "some work" done, if you know what I mean).

I met Marv Wolfman and asked him about the scriptwriting process for New Teen Titans. I met Joe Rubenstein and he almost yelled at me for commenting that Starlin draws small faces. He thought I said "weak faces".

When I went up to Rodney Ramos, I asked him why Darick Robertson's pencils on the Boys are so rough whereas his pencils on Transmetropolitan are cleaner. Ramos exclaimed loudly that its his doing and that Robertson hates when Ramos inks over his stuff. Robertson apparently likes the rough style and disapproves of the cleaner lines that Ramos gives. On top of that, for the Fury: Peacemaker miniseries with Ennis, Ramos had to redraw some Robertson figures because he couldn't be bothered with character models or face consistency. Ha!

I picked up the complete run of Tom Strong for 50 dollars even. As well as Sebastian O by Grant Morrison and finally, the last piece of the Ennis puzzle, I got The Punisher: The End, the only issue I didn't have of his. I also grabbed the 2 Disc Special Edition of Spielberg's Munich, an edition that is not available in Canada!

We also picked up some prints by Tommy Castillo who signed them, and my g/f picked up an autographed photo of Steppenwolf for her dad. All in all it was a good haul.

We also saw Klingon belly dancers. It was gross.

Here are some pictures to finish off the tale....

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

Hayao Miyazaki is a legend. From Princess Mononoke to Spirited Away to Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind, the man is an absolute master of his medium. Animation is such a varied and vibrant medium, and Miyazaki makes his mark with style and warmth. My absolute favourite from Studio Ghibli is my first, which was Princess Mononoke, often considered his most environmental or adult film. After that comes the spectacular and heartbreaking Spirited Away. This year, Miyazaki came out of retirement to bring us Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, and I finally got a chance to see it.

Before we go any further, a note on which version I happened to see. Normally, I prefer subtitles with my films of a different language, never dubs, but Miyazaki films often get produced with the finest translations and casts possible. In North America, the odds were that I was going to see a dubbed version. However, I got lucky, and was treated to an original version with official subtitles.

Ponyo is a goldfish who dreams of being a human. After meeting Sosuke, a five year old boy living on a cliff with his mother and mostly absent sailor father, Ponyo desires freedom from her father, Fujimoto, who keeps her in an aquarium at the bottom of the sea. Thanks to a drop of Sosuke's blood, Ponyo is able to temporarily transform into a human. Ponyo and Sosuke fall in love, or at the least the children's version of love, and embark on an adventure through the flooded town in which Sosuke lives, all the while evading Fujimoto and his magic.

It's an extremely simple story and the observant viewer will notice the archetype of Han Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid story. But Miyazaki isn't content to retell a story of a goldfish who wishes to turn into a human. Miyazaki stamps this film with his pet themes of environmentalism, strong heroines, and the oft-beguiling nature of a child. Throw in some gorgeous magic all hand drawn like the rest of the film, and you have an absolute visual treat.

However, this is not Miyazaki's best film to date. While the first half of the film is engaging, the second half sags a bit. In the beginning the humour and wonder of a goldfish turning into a girl propels the film forward, as does the well drawn (figuratively and literally) characters. But once the sea has exploded and flooded the town, and Ponyo and Sosuke travel by boat, the pacing slows down to a crawl.

When the film meanders to its conclusion, it feels rushed. There's a great chase scene that happens, but it only happens for about two minutes. The adult characters stand around and talk, but only some of it is revealing. Mostly the machinations of Fujimoto, the antagonist, remains enigmatic and elusive, almost as if since the main characters are children, and wouldn't understand the adult world, neither should the audience. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is strange.

Those two complaints are not ruining. The film is still utterly beautiful and wondrous, like a child's dream. The animation is beyond reproach, and should (but won't) signal a return to 2D animation. Hopefully Disney's paean to their glory days, The Princess and the Frog, will boost the traditional animation's profile.

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea isn't perfect, but it's extremely close. A little tighter in the pacing, and a bit more exposition, and we'd have a masterpiece on our hands. This is a amazing and wonderful movie for children and adults, and a terrific throwback to when animation wasn't done on computers. I highly recommend this!

Multitrack Fun!

Skywalkin' - A Star Wars Love Ballad

L'ennemi public n°1 - l'instinct de mort

I hadn't heard of Jacques Mesrine, or of this biopic about him, but when I found out what it was all about, I had to see it. L'ennemi public n°1 is a two part French film starring Vincent Cassel as the famed public enemy number one Jacques Mesrine (pronounced may-reen, but more French-like). This was directed by Jean-François Richet who has previously done the average Assault on Precinct 13 remake, and Richet seriously banks good will with even simply the first part of this movie, called L'instinct de mort, named after the book Mesrine wrote while in prison. Let's get into it, shall we?

It's 1959 and Jacques Mesrine has just got back from a tour of duty in Algeria, where he may or may not have ignored the Geneva conventions and killed some prisoners-of-war. He's bored with his stale life and rebukes his parents' offer of a steady job at the factory. Instead, he and his friend Paul start burgling houses and paying up to Guido, the local crime boss. Eventually Mesrine becomes a close employee of Guido. At the same time, Mesrine indulges in his fascination with a prostitute named Sarah. When Sarah is horribly injured by her pimp, which is Mesrine's fault, Mesrine and Guido take the pimp to a country villa, and brutally stab him and bury him alive. Mesrine the soldier is being replaced by Mesrine the anarchist.

He meets his wife, Sophia, in Spain while on vacation, and once back in his native France, they have three beautiful babies. However, men like Mesrine could never settle down. He does a stint in prison, and when he comes back, he vows to go straight for the sake of his children. But he can't. He is Jacques Mesrine and Sophia abandons him.

Mesrine meets Sylvie, who he would eventually call his wife, and they enact a string of armed robberies together. But when a rival gang tries to shoot him in broad daylight along with his daughter, Mesrine takes Sylvie to Montreal, where they end up kidnapping a millionaire and robbing a bunch of banks. So much for laying low. Mesrine is called Public Enemy Number One by the Canadian government. Their time as Bonnie and Clyde come to an end in an impressive Arizona desert car chase. Extradited to Canada, they are sentenced to prison. For Mesrine, the prison is brutal and horrible.

Along with his friend Jean-Paul, they daringly escape, rob two banks in the same day, and return to the prison to help others escape, resulting in a huge bloody shootout that takes out as many guards as it does prisoners.

Once Mesrine and Jean-Paul leave the bloodbath, they swear to each other to live by either freedom or death. Upon which, Mesrine executes the forest ranger who snuck up on them. The first part ends with this amazing moment.

This movie is balls-to-the-wall action, but with style, subtlety and engaging performances. Cassel is a standout in his role as Mesrine. He comes across as bad-ass, but broken, the man ever chasing the high from crime, but never catching it. L'instinct de mort benefits from the spectacular life that Mesrine had which simply screams movie.

Not only does this movie have bad-ass moments like Mesrine punching a glass into a man's mouth while he drinks from it, but it has a kidnapping gone wrong, a desert car chase, two prison escape attempts, and a couple massive shootouts and Mesrine just doing what he does. It's like a couple action movies stuffed into one, but it never feels overlong or poorly paced at a breakneck speed. The film gets a chance to breathe with moments after the crazy incidents, when you get to see him watch TV, or hang out with his buddies.

Richet directs this like a documentary, in the Paul Greengrass-Steven Soderbergh style. It's like we're the crew following Mesrine along, watching him rip shit up. The shaky camerawork can be exhausting for some people, but I've always been a fan of it. Richet includes some fun split-screen sequences, and an amazing colour palette of blues and reds to make what's already good into great.

What astonishes me is that according to the reviews, part one is the lesser of the two parts. They say that the second part, confusingly titled L'ennemi public n° 1 as well, is absolutely perfect and way better than the first. (The reason why the title is confusing is that in France, the movie is called Mesrine: L'instinct de mort and Mesrine: L'ennemi public n° 1. As opposed to outside France, where the movie is called Public Enemy Number One Parts One and Two)

I can't wait to watch the second part, considering that I absolutely loved this film. It was exciting, interesting, dynamic and never boring, so I have high expectations for the conclusion. Check back here in a couple days for my review of the final part of L'ennemi public n° 1!

Greatest Cover Ever

The greatest multitracking song I've seen.

Doctor Who - Series One

They say everybody remembers their first Doctor. You never forget who your first exposure to was, whether it be the First or Tenth Doctor. Mine has the dubious honour of being the Eighth Doctor, of the FOX tv-movie fame. Yuck. I remember not being terribly impressed with Paul McGann or anything about that particular thing. It's not like I know nothing of Doctor Who. I'm familiar with the set-up, and the basic gist of the series. When I heard all the accolades being lavished upon the revival, I took notice and got my hands on the first series.

I approached the revival series with trepidation. I wasn't sure what I was going to get. The only non-Star Trek:TNG show in the sci-fi genre that I've watched more than one episode of was the revival of Battlestar Galactica, which I didn't much care for (but I hear that the show gets better as it goes on... maybe I'll give it another try)

But, Series One of Doctor Who took me by surprise. It was equal parts inclusive of new audience member, and drippping with references to previous continuity. The whole premise of Doctor Who is conducive to attracting new fans, and that's exactly what this show did.

Both the leads are stand out. Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor was a mixture of sorrow, self-deprecating humour, unbearable smugness, and a desire for a happy ending. Meeting Rose, played by Billie Piper, you get the sense that he was lonely til she accompanied him. However, Rose is the real star of this show. The whole thing unravels from her point of view as she's the audience surrogate.

Rose is the more multi-textured character of the series. At the beginning of the show, she selfishly leaves her mother and boyfriend behind on a whim, going into the TARDIS with the Doctor. As the show progresses, and Rose learns more and more of the universe, she also learns more of herself, as she has hurt the ones she loves. Rose comes to realize that her family is important and that a healthy balance must be met between the present day and her adventures with the Doctor.

In those adventures, she and the Doctor encountered all sorts of creatures, in the future (the Face of Boe), in the past (the Gelth), in the present (Slitheen, Autons), and everywhere in between. Everywhere they go, both of them see this phrase "Bad Wolf" repeated over and over. What is the Big Bad Wolf? Who knows?

Along the way, Rose and the Doctor meet Captain Jack Harkness, a time-travelling con-man from the 51st century. Jack might be my favourite character from the show. His mixture of reluctant heroism, his charm and his arrogance make him extremely entertaining. He also represents the first character in Doctor Who history who isn't strictly heterosexual. In the 51st century, it's explained, sexuality is much more fluid. It's an interesting more modern take on the realities of the possible future.

The whole series comes to a head with the last two episodes, in which the Bad Wolf is revealed, the big bad is revealed (not the same, apparently...) and a huge moment in the relationship between the Doctor and Rose happens.

It's almost a shame that Eccleston didn't want to continue with a second series, seeing as how he's fun hilarious and interesting, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. In a heartwrenching scene, the Doctor regenerates, and we're left with David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, and we're left with a cliffhanger.

All in all, I was immensely entertained. There was time travel, strange creatures, exciting action, and carefully plotted character arcs. Add to that the serial style of storytelling, and I'm please. I eagerly await the chance to keep watching with the second series, starring Rose and the Tenth Doctor. I also am looking forward to Torchwood, the spin-off starring Captain Jack Harkness. Excellent series and highly recommended.