Wednesday 20 May 2009

Coraline

Cast
Dakota Fanning
Teri Hatcher
Ian McShane
Dawn French
Jennifer Saunders
Screenwriter
Henry Selick
Director
Henry Selick
Running Time
100 minutes

A young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life - only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents (including Other Mother) try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home - and save her family.m (Focus Features)

Once again I saw this in 2D. Given the amount of high reviews for this I expected a great deal and was very disappointed. The pace is much too slow, seemingly taking forever to get through the set-up but when it does get there the whole thing picks up and ends well. I feel bad giving it this score considering the years of toil involved and the overall design.

Tuesday 19 May 2009

August Comics

Newsarama has the new Marvel and DC solicitations for August.

This is the stuff I'm thinking about in addition to my regular pull list.


BLACKEST NIGHT: SUPERMAN #1
Written by James Robinson
Art and cover by Eddy Barrows & Ruy Jose
Variant cover by Shane Davis & Sandra Hope
Black Lantern Superman has unearthed Pa Kent's grave! But that's only the beginning of the horrifying things he's about to unleash on an unsuspecting Smallville.
Discover the demented evil of BLACKEST NIGHT in this 3-issue miniseries from writer James Robinson (SUPERMAN, STARMAN) and artist Eddy Barrows (TEEN TITANS, ACTION COMICS)!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Eddy Barrows & Ruy Jose), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Shane Davis & Sandra Hope). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale August 19 • 1 of 3 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Green Lantern I'm planning on getting in trades but because it's Superman and Robinson I'll get this now. 


BATGIRL #1
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Lee Garbett & Trevor Scott
Cover by Phil Noto
Variant cover by J.G. Jones
In the wake of “Batman R.I.P.” and BATTLE FOR THE COWL, a new heroine has emerged in Gotham City, and as she begins her nocturnal crusade to take back the night, she will truly learn what it means to wear the mantle of the Bat. But who is this young woman, and why has she donned the cape and cowl?
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Phil Noto), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by J.G. Jones). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale August 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

I got the last Batgirl #1 that appeared a few years ago but never carried on, the writer/artist are unfamiliar to me but I hope for the best.


SUPERMAN’S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN SPECIAL #2
Written by James Robinson
Art by Matt Camp
Cover by Pere PĂ©rez
Jimmy Olsen has put all the pieces together regarding the mysterious Project 7734, and it’s worse than he imagined. With The Man of Steel temporarily out of the picture, though, it’s all up to Superman’s Pal to take action. Thankfully he has the help of Mon-El and Steel’s niece Natasha Irons – but will they be enough to defeat Codename: Assassin?
On sale August 26 • 48 pg, FC, $4.99 US

Superman and Robinson again.


DOOM PATROL #1
Written by Keith Giffen; co-feature written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Art by Matthew Clark; co-feature art by Kevin Maguire
Cover by Matthew Clark
Variant cover by Matthew Clark and Kevin Maguire
Come one, come all! The world's strangest Super Heroes are back, and they brought those robot guys along with 'em! Thrill to the strange adventures of the Doom Patrol, with script by Keith Giffen and art by Matthew Clark! Whether you think you know 'em or you wouldn't know 'em if they bit you on the behind, this Doom Patrol's for you! But that's not all! Read all the way to the back cover for the all-new adventures of those elemental everymen, the Metal Men, featuring the triumphant return of the creative team that brought you JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL! That’s 40 full pages of comic-bookery for just under four American dollars. So why not try some Doom Patrol with a side order of Metal Men today?
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Matthew Clark), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Matthew Clark and Kevin Maguire). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale August 5 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

Generally I'm shying away from the $3.99 comics, even with the co-features but this one I'll try.


THE SPIRIT BOOK TWO TP
Written by Darwyn Cooke, Walter Simonson, Kyle Baker, Gail Simone, Dennis O’Neil and Glen David Gold
Art by Darwyn Cooke, Chris Sprouse, Kyle Baker, Eduardo Risso, Phil Hester, Ty Templeton and others
Cover by Darwyn Cooke
This second volume of new tales collects issues #7-13 of the ongoing series, with stories by some of comics' biggest names!Advance-solicited; on sale September 23 • 176 pg, FC, $19.99 US

The first volume was great so I want this but trades are difficult to fit into my budget.

Saturday 16 May 2009

Why I'll never again buy anything from LG






















I bought a LG KP500 Cookie for my birthday last year and the firmware was buggy. I needed to upgrade it and the only way LG offer of doing this is to physically send them the phone, so I did. They sent it back but kept the battery! I phoned asking for it's return, they apologised and said I'd have it in 1-2 days. A few days later I phoned again and they denied I had sent them the battery giving me an address to complain to. After waiting three weeks I got this letter which at the end gives me the first phone number I called to complain to, to complain to again.

Wednesday 13 May 2009

Star Trek

Cast
Chris Pine
Zachary Quinto
Leonard Nimoy
Anton Yelchin
Zoe Saldana
Karl Urban
John Cho
Eric Bana
Bruce Greenwood
Screenwriters
Roberto Orci
Alex Kurtzman
Director
J J Abrams
Running Time
126m 39s

The greatest adventure of all time begins with Star Trek, the incredible story of a young crew's maiden voyage onboard the most advanced starship ever created: the U.S.S. Enterprise. On a journey filled with action, comedy and cosmic peril, the new recruits must find a way to stop an evil being whose mission of vengeance threatens all of mankind. The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James T. Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before! (Paramount)

I didn't know quite what to expect and overall I enjoyed it. It started off really well and was great but then there was a kind of lull because the story just isn't that complex, basically the bad guy is very angry and wants to kill everyone. It settled down to character scenes and I couldn't help just missing the original actors, of course it's not possible to have them any more and maybe if they make more films I'll get used to these guys and for someone who has never seen the original material the experience would be different but seeing it now it seems like pointless imitation. Why not have a different crew and starship like the spin-off series, expanding the universe and not having to worry about what came before.