Trace

Still shaking off the effects of last night's celebration (a good friend's birthday).

Got introduced to a new shooter, something my buddies call a "Tang shot."

It's a shot of Absolut Mandarin dropped in a glass of Red Bull. Very tasty if you like sweet.

I tend to do that with everything; comics, books, music, etc.

How 'bout you?

This was not photoshopped, nor intentional, but it brought a smile to my face:

Exactly.

But the technical innovation won a lot of critics and audiences over. The sfx are interesting, sort of a 40's comic book come to life. But that doesn't make up for the lack of, well, everything else.

I actually found myself bored with it only minutes in, and struggled to finish it.

Is this a joke? 

Bryan Singer is still on Superman, and Brett Ratner has indeed taken over the X-Men franchise.  All this was revealed quite some time ago.

 

I'm glad someone else has trepidations about Ratner doing X-Men.  I can't stand him either.  His best film is Red Dragon, and it doesn't even come close to Michael Mann's Manhunter.

 

 

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Why would it be a joke?

 

And yeah, I only just found out. Must've missed the news somehow.

 

Brett Ratner is a talentless by-the-numbers hack. The only reason Red Dragon is a decent film is because a) he had Michael Mann's film as a blueprint and b) he had a tremendous cast. As a director, he is uninspired and mediocre at best.

 

It looks like I need to check out the X Men trailer now. Back in a few minutes.

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I thought you were making a joke because the news was so old. Plus, it seemed like you were sarcastically implying that Singer gave Superman over to Ratner as he did with X-Men. Just needed clarification, that's all.

We're actually on the exact same page.

My thoughts are identical to your last few posts. Might be a first for me on this forum.... :D

I've always felt that the Spidey comics were a little... immature, that is, they're aimed at younger readers than say, the X-Men or Batman.

Apparently, they've gotten rather racy and crazy over the last couple of years with carnivorous spiders, Aunt May donning a Spider-Suit, miscarriages, etc.

The original trailer was better, less of a "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" teaser. I'd suggest checking that one out and keeping an eye out for the Fastball Special toward the end.

It wasn't his fault though, it was aborted early. He ended up jamming several storylines into a few issues. The whole Shadow King/Professor X thing, Apocalypse, even Maddie were all rushed to be included/finished before the title was cancelled and Havok sent back to the 616.

The first few issues were great, and as I said, the main thing about it that I liked was that he actually evolved Havok. But all that was reversed by Austen and Milligan and once again he was relegated to Cyclops's shadow. ZZZzzzZzzzZZZzz.

Believe me, I'm not saying Mutant X is without it's flaws, I'm just saying I enjoyed it mostly for what it did (at the time) for Havok.

In an aside, I seem to have gotten a reputation as a ripper-of-new-ones these days, hehehe. I used to be one of the more benign members of this board a year ago. Things *have* changed

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Mark must be infectious.

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Nah, I think its just that the more argumentative/aggressive regulars have either left or are posting less. So I seem like more of a nutter.

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Really? Then this place must have been out of control before.... sheesh!

It was delightfully weird. :D

Nope, it's not white supremacist, at all.

I live right outside Flint, Michigan. Very poor, working class town with racial segregation still very prevalent. You get a lot of attitudes like this in towns like Flint, Michigan. It's an economic situation.

Usually, knowing my political beliefs, they say "I'm not racist, ok man? I have black friends at work, and I think black people deserve all the rights I've got." I truly believe that in their heads they aren't racist in the idea of blacks are inferior and deserve less, it's a matter of "I might lose my job tomorrow! I don't know how I'm going to find another job! I need to blame someone for my feelings and insecurities, hey, racial minorities are an easy target!"

America is not as enlightened as you seem to believe.

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That's very depressing.

My family comes from just outside of Flint as well. Part of my family still lives in MI, specifically in Milford. So, I've encountered a lot of the people you're talking about. I suppose I could be swayed to your side, but again, I hold out hope that deep down, when push comes to shove, these people would be more open-minded.

I find that people, of all types, fear what they don't know or understand. So when whites talk negatively about blacks it's due to their own insecurities, fears, and ignorance. But as soon as they befriend someone of another race, their views change. A specific example of this that I've encountered is in Milford where a gay couple live amongst the Bible-thumpers but are accepted by everyone who know them because of who they are as people rather than who they are in terms of sexual orientation.

I prefer to stay positive, otherwise I think I'd collapse under the depressing negativity....

Anyway, women rule! From an unabashed woman-lover: Enjoy your day, ladies!

In an aside, I seem to have gotten a reputation as a ripper-of-new-ones these days, hehehe. I used to be one of the more benign members of this board a year ago. Things *have* changed

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Mark must be infectious.

Should i buy Van Helsing, X2 and Sky captain?

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No, yes, no. But that's just my opinion.

Van Helsing is worth seeing once, but not repeatedly. I actually thought the animated mini-movie was better.

X2 is good, better than the first.

Sky Captain I felt was vastly overrated. There are some interesting special effects, but outside of that I felt the story, plot, pacing, acting, and well just about everything outside of the sfx sucked donkey balls.

I believe most of the team has already been selected. Most of our hopes (I'm not Dutch, but I have found myself rooting for the Clockwork Orange for some time now) lie with van Nistelrooij. At least van der Sar is still around and playing exceptionally well.

Here's the squad.

Oh, and Spider-Man is fairly different from Peter Parker. Granted, this is a rehash of the Clark Kent/Superman dichotomy, but it's more genuine. Kal-El pretends to be a meek reporter; Parker actually is one. Plus, he's funny, something Superman rarely is.

I just heard that Bryan Singer has relinquished control of this project to Brett "The Hack" Rattner and I am absolutely devastated. Another reason for me to hate the Superman movie.

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Is this a joke?

Bryan Singer is still on Superman, and Brett Ratner has indeed taken over the X-Men franchise. All this was revealed quite some time ago.

I'm glad someone else has trepidations about Ratner doing X-Men. I can't stand him either. His best film is Red Dragon, and it doesn't even come close to Michael Mann's Manhunter.

It's just like when Story was handed FF. What a mismatch! And the cluster-fuck feeling of the previews is worrisome, but I'm hoping the script, acting, special effects, and my nostalgic love for the characters overcome Ratner's shortcomings as a director.

Well, since you know we agree on just about everything you just said, I'll try and explain why Spider-Man is appealing (or at least, was appealing) to me, but someone who actually enjoys the character could probably do a better job.

But here's why I liked him: He's not uber-powerful. He gained his powers and the understanding of what they mean at great cost (his Uncle Ben's life). He's not rich (like say Batman or Professor X). Despite being a genius he's actually very relatable as a normal guy. The fact that he's smart and ostracized for it (at least in the beginning) resonates with us dorks and misanthropes. His powers are fairly unique, certainly at the time of his creation they were very original. He's had cool costumes, and his default costume is a classic. His villains are fun, if impotent. As to his current popularity from the comics, I have no idea. I grew out of Spider-Man many many years ago. But I can see the appeal, especially when compared with other popular heroes like Superman who seem so unrelatable.

You're better off buying "The Invisibles" in Trades.

 

I'd also keep away from "1602" until you've read a lot more Neil Gaiman. I can forgive Neil for "1602" because I know how damn good a writer he actually is. If one of your earliest tastes of Gaiman is "1602" you might mistakenly believe that's the best he's capable of.

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Right, but I'm recommending it to a person who's read mostly Marvel titles, particularly X-Men stuff. I think it'd be a good "baby step" before he moves on to Sandman or any of Neil's more sophisiticated work.

The Invisibles are great in trades, very well divided. I only mention the single issue option because I found them online at a very cheap price (as little as a $1.00 per issue). But I suppose one can find the trades online cheaply as well.

I tend to keep reading Marvel superhero titles (usually Hulk and Spiderman ones) until they get a bad writer.

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Im sorry can i take this moment to again say FUCK YOU HOWARD MACKIE!!!!

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I liked his Mutant X title until it was unceremoniously cancelled. He made Havok a cool character for once (too bad Austen and Milligan negated that).

I think you may have Man Thing'd baby Jesus....

True, there are only a couple of good teams worth following from Holland, and they're usually included in the UEFA Champions League......

I miss the Dutch national team of a couple World Cups ago.... Kluivert, Cocu, Bergkamp, etc. When they lost to Brazil in that semifinal on PK I nearly cried. What a fucking brilliant team that was.

I really dig the Champions League, it's far easier for a Yank like me to follow and get into. The coverage of the major leagues from around the world is spotty at best and I still can't figure out which is more prestigious for English football fans:

Winning the Premier League

Winning the FA Cup

Winning the UEFA Champions League.

If I knew the answer to that question, and if there was a channel in America that followed all the Premier League action, I would gladly stay abreast of all things Premier.

But UEFA CL shall suffice until I get my World Cup fix.

Damn, Silent Hill looks sweet!

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Really? I'm not so sure...... Especially with that Aussie from Lost doing what she always does: scream her head off.

My bad.

Watched Arsenal vs. Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League last night. One of the best nil-nil games I've ever seen. Even my beloved Bergkamp saw some action.

And Hleb is the f'n business.