Double

Here's some more from last night's TV. Rumours of a new trailer.

superherohype

It looks like Keanu and Shia are going to be on TRL in the States today.

MTV link

Oh no. I feel a bit sick now. I wasn't paying attention to the bottom half of that thread.

Pros:

Well...the lead actor (obviously).

The other actors seem to be good.

From the pictures and teaser trailer I've seen so far I like the look of it.

I've found this site and started reading comic books for the first time in my life and I'm really getting into the trades.

I've been to my first Comic Con on the strength of this film and the books, and enjoyed it.

On balance the reviews so far seem to agree that the CGI isn't too over the top and some characters are left fairly natural, ie without horns and suchlike, which I like the sound of.

Cons:

Chaz and whatever it is that happens to him.

Holy shotgun sounds dodgy. I just hope it looks better than it sounds, thats all.

Bucket of water/footspa/whatever it is. I hope it gets explained properly in the fims because it sounds odd to me. I found an old picture on this thread (it's old - everyone's probably already seen it) and it looks like a saucepan of water here.

People who defend the film (nothing wrong with that) without knowing anything about the books and therefore not having a clue where the other point of view is coming from (makes the argument tiresome and pointless, even for me as someone who is looking forward to the film).

EDIT: Oh yes, nearly forgot. If its PG 13 that means there won't be NEARLY as much sex and violence as there ought to be.

Yes, I was thinking of Original Sins when I said that. I still like that one a lot. Reminds me of being a student, the pubs around the Angel, Islington, and starting work in the city just after the big bang in the late 80s when if you didn't have a porsche or the prospects of one very soon you were considered a failure by the other yuppies. Until everyone got made redundant in the early 90s after the recession hit.

There is a larger version of the poster and a description of a trailer on this thread:

comingsoon.net thread

[Re the ebay link Nettie linked to: If you click on the purple writing in the box near the top of the page with the light bulb in it, you get to the posters.]

I've just finished Rake at the Gates of Hell. It's very good. I'm actually feeling quite shaken by it. I remember the Broadwater Farm riot in London a few years ago. Broadwater Farm is in Tottenham in North London which is next to Wood Green. My other half was working in Wood Green at the time and he saw the policemen sitting in the street around the police station on the morning after the riot, and he told me how exhausted and shocked they all looked. This is relevant to my family because my father-in-law was in the police then, stationed in the area next to Wood Green. He wasn't directly involved in the riot but he knew plenty who were. He still goes to the memorial service every year for the policeman who had his head cut off with a machete during the riot.

What I like about these books is that they remind me of things I saw going on in London during the late 80s. I might keep on reading. I think I'm hooked now.

The Chaz-centric scene in question does seem to be terribly ill-advised and sounds like the kind of thing that'd have an audience guffawing amongst themselves - can't you just picture the cheese-tastic special effects involved ?  Do you think he'll wear his flatcap for that bit ?

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No no no no no. I want the film to do well but this sounds like a huge mistake. I hope someone sees sense and gets rid of it, assuming there's still time before things become set in stone.

It's no good trying to wriggle out of trouble like that, Rogan.

Here's what I thought of Damnations Flame. I thought some of the imagery was a bit heavy-handed for my taste, but I did like the stories. Some things I liked:

- Working out what the guy in the park's blanket was made of

- "See you, squire"

- The quiet story with Kit

- The story told by Chas, even though I was really irritated that we didn't find out what deal John actually did to get out of his predicament, although I suppose it had to be that way since the story was from Chas's point of view and of course John won't tell. The funny thing about this story was that I didn't like the drawings for this one, yet that one image where he sets up the candles for the girl in the cupboard to get out was just great, I thought - the stand-out image of the book for me, because it was such a quiet, sensitive moment.

Anyway. I started reading Rake at the Gates of Hell last night. Just the first few pages. Excellent! I'm saving the rest of it for tonight.

I love it but yeah, a look at one large enough that we could read the tagline would be nice.

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I've been looking at the MTV site and squinting at the picture from all angles (I wish I had a magnifying glass) and I think, although I'm not 100% sure, that it says:

Hell wants him

Heaven won't take him

Earth needs him

Oh dear. I found a link to those reviews from another site and started reading before I realised quite how spoilery it was going to be. Then once I started I couldn't stop.

I admire your restraint for not saying anything, guys.

There's another review here

test screening review moviehole.net

(I had a quick look around to see whether anyone else has already posted this and couldn't see anything, so apologies if it has already been mentioned)

The picture on page 102 of Damnation's Flame made me smile...

"See you, squire!"

I don't have a clue what you lot are talking about most of the time, but I just wanted to say that my copy of Damnation's Flame arrived today in the post. Everyone else in the house has now gone to bed, so now that I have some time to myself I'm going to settle down and start reading this now.

I found this at Thesaurus.com under "hard sell"

Entry: persuasion

Function: noun

Definition: influencing

Synonyms: alignment, alluring, art-twist, blandishment, brainwash, brainwashing, cajolery, cogency, con, conversion, enticement, exhortation, force, goose, hard sell, hook, inducement, inveiglement, juice, persuasiveness, potency, power, promote, pull, seduction, sell, snow job, soft soap, squeeze, sweet talk, wheedling, winning over, working over

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.5)

Copyright © 2004 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved

Any use?

Hey - I can read the title of this thread!! (John Constantine - Hellblazer). Four years of struggling through Russian classes at school were not entirely wasted then. Congratulations Rogan.

how did you like the one with John's dead ancestor?

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Do you mean Harry from 'Fear and Loathing'? I liked that one a lot. I think my favourites are the stories where John knows what to do and does it before I realise what it is he has to do. (Did any of that last bit make sense? It sounded right in my head).

Heh, yes, that's the one. I managed most of the story OK, its the trick at the end with the pencils that really made me feel queasy.

Still liking it then Double?

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Yes. For instance I liked the way that I couldn't at first see what the story in 'Finest Hour' had to do with what was happening to John, but once I worked out the connection I got that 'Oh, so that's what it is' feeling that I like when I read something that makes me think a bit.

I'm not sure if I can cope with many more stories involving sharp objects being stuck into orifices where they don't belong, though. I read a horror story once which involved a Bishop's crook and that gave me nightmares for weeks.

I read 'Tainted Love' last night. I'm glad I'm reading these in order and that I read 'Original Sins' first. I want to keep going at least up to 'Rake at the Gates of Hell' and see how I feel about carrying on after that.

Well done for finding issue 27. I hope I it's as good as I hyped it to be.

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Yes, I like it very much. The pictures are very finely drawn and I felt very subdued and thoughtful at the end.

The funny thing is that I started reading Fear and Loathing afterwards and completely ruined my thoughtful mood because I was soon feeling extremely sick!!

I had a really good day on Saturday. I got there at about 12.30 and had a good look around and bought a few issues, then I met Tim and he inspired me to go on a quest for issue 27, and I found it. So I feel pretty chuffed now.

Now I'm wondering if I can get to Bristol.

Thanks, sorry but I've got family stuff later on in the afternoon. My work is a couple of tube stops away from Russell Square and I'm going in early on Saturday (about 7am), working till about 12, then I'll go along for a couple of hours. I have to be somewhere else by 4. Maybe I'll bump into you.

I ordered a ticket from the main site last week and it turned up in the post yesterday. I'm going to wander along on Saturday lunchtime and see what's going on. Should be interesting, I've never been to one of these before.