LIKED
– Bloody Confused! by Chuck Culpepper is a great little piece of sportswriting – a journey alongside Culpepper during his time in England as he lives there for a few years and, being a sports fan generally, settles in and picks a football team to cheer for (in his case, Portsmouth), and in the process discovers why he likes sports. It’s engaging and intelligent and is readable both for the fan (for whom it will illuminate many of the reasons non-soccer fans have trouble understanding or appreciating the game, and how to get past those issues), and the nonfan (for whom it will illuminate both the joy of being a fan generally and the joy of being a soccer fan particularly).
– Punisher #6 is actually the execution of a pretty good idea: namely, bringing back everybody Scourge ever killed from the dead, and siccing them on somebody. That it is the Hood siccing them on the Punisher just makes it even better, because the motivations all make sense (the Hood wants a no-cost plan to kill or at least inconvenience the Punisher, the villains want to not go back to being dead once the spell runs out, and the Punisher wants what he always wants). All this, plus the return of Death Adder (probably one of the coolest minor Marvel villains ever), and hopefully the promise of getting, however briefly, into the mind of Turner D. Century.
– Caught up (finally) on the back end of Friday Night Lights‘ third season, and oh man does this show ever get bad? Other than last season’s “Tyra and Landry kill a guy” plot (which was dealt with in a mature enough fashion that its sensationalism was forgiveable), this show just doesn’t make missteps, not ever. Plus this is the first season where they’ve actually had enough stability to set up the fourth season, with a brilliant hook (forcing Coach to take over the just-reopened decrepit poor high school’s football team and letting the uber-successful Dillon Panthers now be the nemesis rather than the scrappy underdog). With the show’s cast set to change drastically next season (only Matt and Julie of the kids set to stick around, and one hopes that Matt Saracen will finally for once in his damn life catch a fucking break and pull a Smash by the fourth episode or something) the show needed exactly this sort of tactic to remain the powerhouse that it is.
DIDN’T LIKE
– Dance of the Dead turns out to be a real disappointment, a movie that can’t decide if it’s a zombie comedy movie or a zombie parody movie and by extension mostly fails at both. It’s not funny. It’s not clever. It’s not even internally consistent. (This is a movie that seemingly can’t decide between “slow zombies” and “fast zombies,” instead going with the truly retarded decision of “both.”) Large chunks of it are really stupid. Large chunks of it are really predictable. Practically none of it is entertaining. And the obvious societal commentary that could be done with zombies plus prom is almost completely ignored. I know this was a low-budget movie, but you don’t need a high budget to make a good zombie movie – that’s one of the plusses of the genre, for crissake.
– You know, I’ve often said that Padma Lakshmi, the host of Top Chef, is a wooden self-important she-jackal. And this is true. But Kelly Choi, host of Top Chef Masters, makes Padma Lakshmi look like Julia fucking Child.
– Maksim instead of Kupono? Really, Nigel? (And you know this comes down to Nigel.) Are you trying to utterly invalidate the entire concept of dancing for your life? Because when Kupono A) dances like shit in his competitive dance and then B) pulls out a crappy, distracted solo, while Max A) dances well in his competitive dance and then B) nails his solo, your preferences become obvious. Yes, Max looks like a Russian mobster, but that’s not his fault. He is Russian, after all. (And now, lay odds on the new Kupono/Kayla pairing to get a contemporary routine next week so Kayla, obviously one of Nigel’s favorites, can make top ten.) Also, Ashley danced better than Kaitlyn did and similarly should not have gone, but they were both chaff anyway so it’s more forgivable.
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So totally agree with your take on the SYTYCD results. But I loved the Mia group number.
FNL does make mistakes beyond the kill-a-guy-dump-a-body-PS-my-dad’s-the-sheriff plot, mainly that after Smash’s exit (an AMAZING arc to be sure), the show got seriously whitewashed. But even then, I think/hope that the show, especially w/ the finale, was setting up for the Dillon/East Dillon, white privilege/minority struggle showdown.
Oh Turner D. Century and your flying tandem bike…you are a man outside of time.
For books about being a sports fan I really have to recommend Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch, which is all about growing up, Arsenal FC and why something as trivial as supporting a football team can be so important.
Weren’t half the people Scourge killed already back from the dead?
Also, someone please explain the appeal of the Hood to me. So far I gather it is apparently “He had the idea to amass dozens of supervillains!” which is not particularly groundbreaking. I dunno, every time I see him in Norman Osborn’s cabal, I just imagine what it’d be like if the inner circle from Acts of Vengeance had included Arcade.
The Hood was a fantastic character when he was a petty crook just trying to get by. Granted that was because BKV is a great writer and the MAX line offered the freedom to take a closer look at the super villain lifestyle.
Then Bendis dusted off the cobwebs and turned him into something unrecognizable. Suddenly we’re supposed to buy the guy as a scary criminal mastermind when he was getting smacked around by the Constrictor the last time we saw him.
Still, I gotta admit that the Punisher plot is a good idea. I’m totally for anything that means we might get the Ringer back (even if it means we might get stuck with the Human Fly)
Huh. I may have to eat my words: that sounds like it might very well be a good Punisher story.
Jim,
Yeah, I mean all the thunderbolts that the new scourge killed have been fully restored to life and as for the ones from the Club with No Name, I know the Basilisk returned from the dead as a bad-ass Morbius villain from the old Midnight Sons schtick.
My only question is will we see Turner’s old weapon, the ray gun that could melt wood?
I just want to say that Rick Remender’s Punisher is head and shoulders above Fraction’s War Journal run, which ran out of steam when he started that Jigsaw arc. I’m also feeling the love for Turner D. Century.
Ah, Turner D. Century, Master of the GILFS.
Though it saddens me to notice that someone named “The Gamecock” escaped being killed by Scourge. There is no justice.
And imagine the attack of the Fly and his Maggotmen! Like CHUDS! Snatching people off subway platforms….
FNL didn’t just set up the fourth season, they also set up the fifth season. Season Four can be about bringing East Dillon to respectability, and can end with a heartbreaking loss to Dillon in the finale. Then Season Five can end the series with another playoff run.
I’m just happy because back in the day, the Fly was actually a pretty badass villain. Like, he put the smack down on Spidey once or twice (and not in the usual, “he seems to be winning but Spidey puts on a surge of strength and pulls it out” sort of way. Nope, he beat Spidey fair and square.)
Oh, and a big old “Hell yes!” to the SYTYCD section.
I never really “got” the Human Fly. Creating a Scorpion-Man to fight a Spider-Man makes a certain amount of sense. Creating a Fly-Man to fight a Spider-Man just seems like setting yourself up for failure.
I did think the 360 degree vision thing was a cool power but Chance has that PLUS the whole compulsive gambler angle to play with so the Fly never really felt necessary
i’m very happy about the punisher storyline. i actually bought that issue of cap #319 back in jr. high after reading a marvel universe book of the dead and realizing that a ton of people died in the issue. i remember thinking it was gonna be worth mucho dinero.