Nerdy Top Tens: #FF [Hashtag Follow Friday]

Hello, everyone and welcome to a special crossover edition with my twitter.  For those of you who are on twitter, you know that today – as this time every week – is Follow Friday.

Those of you who are not on twitter are likely asking, “What the hell is that?”  Good question.  Follow Friday is the tradition of tweeting one or more twitter feeds that you recommend for your follower to follow. 

Now, I usually try to post one or two #FFs a week… Ok, stop we should back up and establish some nomenclature. 

            Basic Twitter Glossary

Tweet – a short 140 character or less “microblog” entry.  Similar to a “status update” on Facebook.  For contextual aid, this definition is 160 characters long.

# Hashtag – the subject or subjects of a tweet.  It is a word(s) that are “tagged” to make it easier for someone interested in them to search for them or cross-reference them with other tweets.  Ex: if this had been a tweet, I might have ended it with #TwitterGlossary

There are lots more terms you need to know but for the sake of brevity you can check out this article for some of the more important ones: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/2011/03/twitter-term-definitions/

            And now back to what we were actually talking about!

As I was saying, I usually try to post one or two #FFs every Friday – though I have missed a lot of Fridays.  But this week instead of posting a traditional #FF tweet, I’m preempting our regular programming here on Nerd Is the New Cool and posting a longer Nerdy Top Ten length #FF

Rather than a Countdown or Countup, I am doing them in no particular order. 

Nerdy Top Tens and @NerdIsNewCool Present

The Top Ten Twitter @s to Follow

Vsauce (@tweetsauce) This is your typical Stuff Is Neat/Science Show twitter feed.  Michael, the main man of the Vsauce empire, is also the host of the Vsauce channel over on youtube, where he gives quirky little science/philosophy lessons to views every week.  The @tweetsauce feed is more of the same, but in under 140 characters.  Plus, he does corny math/science jokes.  So there’s that, too.  Also, if you’ve read my blog “Top Ten Nerd Crushes” (warning banned in over 200 countries), then you know I’ve got something of a guy crush on Vsauce/Michael.  It’s the voice, it’s just so soothing.

Typical @tweetsauce tweets: “mammals come in almost every color…EXCEPT GREEN” and “If I help an astrologer divide the area of large salt-water bodies by r-squared does that make me a Pi-seas?”

Danica McKellar (@danicamckellar) Sorta kinda similar to Vsauce – but more math than science and with slightly better credentials…what’s your Erdos-Bacon Number, Michael? – but with a lot of ex-child star turned well rounded adult (#MythicalCreature?) type “my life” stuff.  Danica describes her tweeter as “Acting, Math, Yoga & Mommyhood! … and occasional random thoughts from deep inside my brain” plus on Thursdays she plays the #Palindrome game.  And oh look, I managed to make it all the way through without accidentally calling her “Winnie” once.

Typical @danicamckellar tweet: “Clue: Possible headline if Marilyn Monroe encountered some rodents. (3 wds) #NameThatPalindrome”

Nathan Fillion (@NathanFillion) Big fancy TV star really just a nerdy fanboy type.  Be he in your mind as Castle or Captain Mal or Captain Hammer or Green Lantern (suck it, Reynolds), Nathan Fillion is a fanboy’s fanboy.  Hilariously funny in his self-deprecatingly cocky “I’m-all-that” way, his feed is full of humorous quips and one-liners, usually in response to something someone tweeted @ him.

Typical @NathanFillion tweets: “Nerd HQ Haiku  So very geeked out. / How do I sleep after that? / A Game of Doctor Thrones Who.  Nailed it.” and “Must…focus on…tweeting. Too…excited… for …Comic Con.”   

Wil Wheaton (@wilw) Some odd collection of famous person/beer/nerd/crazy person tweets with a significant amount of “That’s What My Dog Said” to round it out.  You might recognize Wil from Eureka or Big Bang Theory or any one of his many things…but let’s face it, you either think he’s Wesley Crusher or Gordie Lachance. 

Typical @wilw tweets: “Me: You’re too big for the cat bed. Marlowe: IF I FITS I SITS. Me: But you don’t fits. Marlowe: IMAPUPPEH!” and “According to my email, I won a lot of foreign lotteries while I was at comicon.”

Anne Wheaton (@AnneWheaton) Wil Wheaton’s wife.  Because she’s better than him in every way.  Suck it, Wheaton.  Also, and more importantly #vandaleyes. 

Typical @AnneWheaton tweet:

 

I may have enhanced the beauty of the wall light decor in the convention center w/some #VandalEyes pic.twitter.com/t7UVYytqSq
— Anne Wheaton (@AnneWheaton) July 20, 2013

Joss Whedon (@josswhedon) Some guy, you’ve probably never heard of.  I think he describes himself best “Ladies man, man’s man, man about town… Java man, Isle of Man, Mandroid, Man Who Would Be King Ralph, girly man.” His twitter is mostly random WTF!? type stuff.  Wait…you do know who Joss Whedon is right? 

Typical @josswhedon tweets: “A fun thing to do on twitter is stop” and “ALWAYS QUSTION AUTHORITY! ‘Authority, may I use the restroom? No? Okay. Sorry.’”

Katrina Hill (@ActionChick) One of my all-time favorite tweeps.  Probably the most important reason she’s on this list is because of her infrequent #twittertip tweets. 

Typical @ActionChick tweets: “#twittertip #1: INTERACT! Also #1 Don’t be a tool unto others” and “*checks ammo, eyes the shadows*)

Drea (@ArkhamAsylumDoc) A real world psychologist, she made her bones studying the psychology of cosplay and fandom.  Also, she’s Batgirl’s shrink…no really. 

Typical @ArkhamAsylumDoc tweets: “I asked my dad if he saw Man of Steel.  He said yes we talked about it.  Halfway into the convo I realize he’s talking about Iron Man 3” and “I’d like to keep procrastinating by watching Beastmaster 2.  Apparently he travels to a future world called Los Angeles.”

Adrianne Curry (@AdrianneCurry) Ok, we all have that one person on twitter we usually don’t like to admit we follow.  I am very proud that Adrianne Curry is mine.  I’ll admit I follow her for the hot – yet often nerdy – twitpics and weird retweets as much as anything.  Warning: feed is sometimes risqué if not NSFW.

Typical @AdrianneCurry tweets:

Me and @AliciaMarieBODY with the hottest guy in the world pic.twitter.com/hP71lDe23F
— Adrianne Curry (@AdrianneCurry) July 20, 2013

And

Let us dance! #sdcc pic.twitter.com/33yBtHgNHu
— Adrianne Curry (@AdrianneCurry) July 20, 2013

Allison Scagliotti (@allisonscag) because #allisonscag4cassie that’s why!  That’s not the only reason why (love ya, Scags) but really, that’s enough. 

That’s my Ten, but now I wanna know your #FF pics.  Leave a comment below or @ me on twitter: @nerdisnewcool.

Also, some housekeeping.  There will be no new Five Dollar Bin today – you got this, don’t be greedy – nor will there be a new Nerdy Top Tens on Sunday.  I will be back on my regular posting schedule of Wednesday, Friday, Sunday – but really just whenever I feel like it – next week, so see you then.  I may even get around to a This Nerds Life on Monday but no promises there. 

Until next time,

Nerd Is the New Cool, signing off.  

New Comic Day (Late): Rocketeer/Spirit

Howdy folks and welcome to the second edition of New Comic Day! That’s right, number 2.  And we are already a day late on the delivery schedule!  Go, Team NitNC!  Actually, if you swung by last week, then you know we are actually 8 days late, since we didn’t even have an edition last week.  That’s right, your old buddy Nerd Is the New Cool is on top of his game this month (year? Decade? Century? Oh, bother!).

Anyway, here in Nerdland, we had a killer storm – well a storm anyway – Tuesday night that kept me up, as well as the wife and our pride and joy the Nerd-Hound.  Mostly it was Nerd-Hound being up that cause the issues, we was scared and clingy and insisted on attention.  Regardless, I overslept on Wednesday and was playing catchup all day.  So, no trip to my Friendly Neighborhood Comic Shop for me.  But I made it today and here we go!!!

This Week’s Star Comic:

The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction 1

That’s right.  You read it correctly.  The Rocketeer!  The Spirit! Together in one blockbuster issue.  This is so awesome...

Such a letdown. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s good.  Bordering on decent even.  But it has all the elements of better than good – not the least of which is two of the greatest comic book characters of all time.  Beyond that, it’s written by Mark Waid, one of my favorite writers. 

So what went wrong?  Everything.  Paul Smith’s art is passable but it lacks both the crisp style of Dave Stevens and the pulp grit of Will Eisner.  It is very good art, very standard, very average.  I’ve seen worse.  But is “I’ve seen worse” enough? 

Even Waid’s writing is lackluster.  Again, I’ve read worse – in fact, I’ve read worse by Waid (I’m looking at you, Superman: Birthright) – but as a whole, Waid should be a shoe in for better than this, expecially considering this isn’t his first foray into the world of Rocketeer. 

Again I ask, is “I’ve seen worse” enough? Eisner is the legend.  Both in writing and in art.  They named an award after the man.  And Stevens is right behind him as an artist.  Literally.  When I comes to comic art it goes down like this:  Kirby, Ross, Ditko (shut up, Dad!), Steranko, Wrightson, Eisner, Stevens, Sale, Kane (shut up, Dad! – look at that same joke twice in the same sentence, I’m losing my edge already). 

As for the story itself, it is standard summer crossover fair.  Two heroes meet for the first time, naturally have a misunderstanding and fight.  The fight itself is awesome, but I won’t spoil it for you by describing it.  Needless to say, had Eisner or Stevens been sitting at the easel for this one, the fight alone would have been enough to win the book over for me, but Smith’s work left something to be desired and the fight had a less profound impact on me that someone else’s might have.   But please Hollywood, make an adaptation of this comic so I can see that scene in live action 3D! 

Aside from the issues discussed above, the comic was fun and enjoyable.  The classic characters are all here, Bettie Page…er, I mean the Rocketeer’s girlfriend Betty, The Octopus (or rather his hand), Commissioner Dolan and Ellen, Peevy…even Ebony draws and behind the scenes mention.  As I said, the fight between the heroes is classic (a bit cliché but this is a “summer blockbuster crossover” after all).  Ellen and Betty are both at their stereotypically ‘40s dame best. 

Had I had no prior knowledge of the characters, the book would have rated higher, had I bought it which would have been less likely.  As it stands:

3.5/5 stars.  Excellent jumping on point. 

Unrated but nothing too inappropriate so probably around T for Teen. 

            Other Noteworthy Titles This Week

Hunger 1 (Marvel)

Superman Unchained: The Director’s Cut 1 (DC)

Popeye Classics 12 (IDW)

Army of Darkness Hack/Slash 1 (Dynamite/Image)

Warlord of Mars 27 (Dynamite)

Until next time, Nerd Is the New Cool, signing off…

My Gaming Nerd Bucket List

OK, for starters bucket list was so an exaggeration, I probably just said that to get your attention.  I don’t plan on dying any time soon and I want this list checked off in the near future.  But what is this list you ask?

Simple, it’s a collection of the Tabletop Games that I want to spend some time playing – either playing games I’ve never played or doing something more with games I have, I’ll go into more detail about that in the individual entrees. 

So what are the games?  Well, I’m glad you asked. 

1.      Dungeons and Dragons – The premium Fantasy role-playing game (RPG).  It’s the RPG that other RPG’s dream about one day being.  I’ve played a little, both running through 1 player choose-your-own-adventure type games and DMing (that’s Dungeon Master-ing, for the unfamiliar – *waves* “hi mom”) a few short games with friends.  Now what I want to do is run a long campaign in the Points of Light/Nentir Vale setting or play in a campaign in a different setting – probably Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk – or do both.

2.      GURPS – Short for Generic Universe Role-Playing System is an RPG with no setting, it can be used to play medieval fantasy, science fiction, horror, adventure, crime, western, or whatever setting/genre the players choose, including time travel settings to bring the various options together.  I have never played GURPS but I’d kinda like to give it a try, either as player or as Game Master (GM). 

3.      Call of Cthulhu – There is a lot of ground covered by GURPS, including the ability to create player characters (PCs) and nonplayer characters (NPCs) that are compatible with the Cthulhu Mythos.  Thus eliminating the need for this Gaming System, yet it is still on here.  Why?  Because I still want to play it.  I am sure, after I play it a few times – and play GURPS a few times – unless I decide I really like this system much better than GURPS, I will start playing Weird Horror Campaigns using the GURPS system with this as a resource.  But I still want to try this first. 

4.      Cthulhu Live – A Live Action RPG or LARP, Cthulhu Live is sorta kinda not really but maybe like Call of Cthulhu.  It is set in the Lovecraft/Cthulhu mythos, often but not always in the Lovecraft 20s/30s era.  But rather than the pen and paper or miniature RPGs like CoC, DnD, and GURPS, Cthulhu Live is acted out.  Players dress the part go to locations and act out their characters rather than talking them out.  Using one of my local colleges or universities as a backdrop for Miskatonic University would be one interesting way to act out a scenario, but others could be found as well. 

5.      Fiasco – Ok, one last RPG.  Fiasco is sort of a pen and paper RPG.  No campaigns, just a quick story that takes about the same amount of time to play as a movie takes to watch.  In terms of content, they compare this game to Coen Brothers’ movies.  A game all about “powerful ambition and poor impulse control,” Fiasco is a GM-less RPG set at the “intersection of greed, fear, and lust.”  Basically, it’s bad things happen to bad people, everybody loses, and most everybody dies.  Not only do I want to play this, I want to write my own Playsets for it.  

6.      Munchkin – A card game that is similar to and making fun of RPGs – especially D&D –  made by the same folks who also make GURPS – D&D’s most important rival system.  In Munchkin, you play cards that give you races and classes, items, special abilities, etc. and fight monsters looking for treasure, in Munchkin it’s all about winning.  There are a number of spinoffs to Munchkin – I have the original game and spinoff Star Munchkin, which spends a lot of time mocking sci-fi franchises such as Star Wars and Star Trek (among others) and the RPGs based on them.  My wife and I both love Munchkin, and I would like to play a massive Epic Munchkin blender game with lots of sets and expansions mixed together.  (Note: Epic Munchkin is played to level 20 instead of level 10, and blender is when two or more versions are mixed together).  

7.      Catan – I love Catan.  My wife is “meh” about it and my parents aren’t big fans either – though they have only got to play it once and we weren’t able to play to a conclusion due to time constraints, so I may be able to recover them. I have the basic Settlers of Catan, the 5-6 Player expansion to Settlers, and Traders and Barbarians.  I want to get Seafarers, Cities and Knights, and the corresponding 5-6 Player expansions I need. Once I have everything I wanna play a couple of big games with several of the variants and scenarios mixed together, playing to 20 victory points instead of 10.  It would take potentially a long time to finish, but I like games that take a long time – unlike my wife, who will cringe when she reads this part.  

8.      Invasion from Outer Space – The Martian Game – I love Last Night on Earth – my wife doesn’t love it as much as me, but she likes it so we’re cool there.  But what does this have to do with Invasion from Outer Space?  I’m glad you asked.  The Three-Sided Game: Earth Overrun!  That’s right, if you own both Last Night on Earth – The Zombie Game and Invasion from Outer Space – The Martian Game, you can combine them and play a Humans vs. Martians vs. Zombies game.  The official instructions say you should play with either the IFOS Circus/Carnival pieces or the LNOE Small Town pieces but I say boo.  Place them together, forming a larger playing area, with two Human players (one playing the IFOS heroes, the other playing the LNOE heroes), one Martian player and one Zombie player.  Additional players could take up sides as is deemed most fair.  

9.      Power Grid – ok, this one isn’t so much for me as it is for my father.  He doesn’t know much about it, but he found it on Amazon and thought it looked interesting.  So I want to get a copy and play with him, mostly to get him to shut up about it.  

10.  Tabletop – yeah I know pipe dream.  But I want to be on Tabletop.   If anyone from Geek and Sundry is reading this, I would love to be on to play any of the above games or any other game you need players for. 

So there you have it, the ten games I’d most like to spend some time with in the near future.  What games do you like to play?  Leave a comment below or hit me up on twitter @nerdisnewcool. 

Also, a good resource for games is www.boardgamegeek.com.  Also, be sure to check out Tabletop starring Wil Wheaton Thursdays on youtube for game play videos. 

Until next time,

Nerd is the New Cool, signing off

Reader Copies: Welcome and Justice League 1

Welcome, Nerds and Nerdettes, to the first installment of Reader Copies.  In this series, we will be looking back at old comics that can be picked up in back issue usually for someplace between 50 cents and 10 dollars – and it better be a damn good comic if I drop 10 dollars for it!  I will, of course, lean toward Super-Hero comics but other genre may crop up from time to time. 

A “reader copy” by the way is a copy of a comic that is in less than perfect (Mint) shape, driving down its price, but is still in a readable shape – no missing pages/panels, cover usually still attached. 

Justice League 1 (1987)

4/5 Stars          Excellent Jumping On Point              

Justice League was the first renumbering of the long running DC Comics series Justice League of America.  Way back in the Silver Age of Comics, the JLA was comprised of the top DC characters – Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc.  – but over the years the ranks began to fill with less and less important heroes – Firestorm, Vibe, and Gypsy to name a few.  Then came the Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot that shut down the history of the DC Universe and let other younger heroes step up – if by younger heroes you mean guys like Captain Marvel and Blue Beetle who had been around almost as long as Superman and Batman. 

Anyway, a couple months after Crisis ended, DC published Legends, which set the tone for the comics of the 80s and 90s.  Heroes were no longer trusted by the masses, they were gruffer and more violent as a hole.  The fun was officially out of comics… for the most part.  There were titles that resisted the darkening of the comic world, and among them was Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis’s run on the Justice League (sometimes called Max’s League or more often Justice League International).

Though this issue isn’t the JL at its greatest, all the key elements are there. Humorous, wisecracking heroes, as flawed and incompetent as they are heroic.  One or two A-listers playing second string to a group of B- and C-listers who steal the spotlight when it isn’t outright given to them.  Several of the classic members are already present: Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle, Guy Gardner, Oberon.  But most are still issues away. 

Maxwell Lord is at his manipulative devilish here as the backer of the issues villains – a role that will be played well throughout the Giffen and DeMatteis run, but completely miss used later by other authors in the 21^st Century. 

Green Lantern Guy Gardner is the show stopper here – as he often will be in future issues – as the arrogant would be leader of the team.  His interactions with Batman are especially amusing (though they don’t reach their true greatness until issue 5 and the infamous “One Punch” scene). 

The terrorist villains are boring and forgettable – appearing on only about 8 of the issues 25 pages.  They are functional, serving the purpose of establishing Maxwell Lord’s ruthlessness, but the Justice League – even *this* Justice League – deserves better from a premier antagonist, especially in the wake of Legends Darkseid centric storyline. 

Overall, Justice League 1 is a good read, though it can be disappointing, especially if you have already read later issues of the run.  Disappointment aside, I remain very fond of this title and this issue, while not its best, is still leagues above many later Justice League series.  

Sick Day

There is no new New Comic Day today.  We will be back again next week.  In the meantime, be sure to come back Friday the Reader Copies and follow us on twitter @nerdisnewcool for quickies, links, and This Nerd's Life Dailies.  

This Nerd's Life vs. Nerdy Top Tens

So, I have three Nerdy Top Tens at various stages of completeness setting on my flashdrive all refusing to right themselves.  The more completed one - entries 1-8 completed but no 9 and 10 - I decided against doing at this time as I've spend far to much time on board games (and card games and dice games) on the blog already.  The second - which suffers the same board game stigma of the first - is comprised of a list of 10 but has no fluff text yet.  The third and final Top Ten, which focuses on comics - which I haven't abused anywhere near as much as that other subject above - is little more than a concept and some likely entries at this point.

And as much as I would rather do a Top Ten today - especially in the wake of not doing one last week - I feel today is going to be another This Nerd's Life.  Unfortunately, I had a pretty run of the mill boring week. I went by the comic shop on Wednesday and bought the first issue of the new Astro City series (see my review below).  I worked on a short story I hope to get published soon.  It's called "The Flush" and concerns a fellow with a unique view of his own story, an unimportant field of daisies, and a toilet with an extra handle.  I'll keep y'all informed about any developments concerning that or any other story I get published.

That's about all the excitement for the week, the rest was the usual daily grind.  This weekend, I did get the chance to pull some boxes out of my parents storage shed and find some of my old junk - including my action figures (Star Wars, TMNT, Dick Tracy, Star Trek, Aliens vs. Predator, etc.), as well as some other cool stuff.  But that is a large part of what put me behind on getting a Top Ten ready for today - true I write them on Sunday, but I usually have at least something ready before hand (I'm trying to get a stockpile ready for weeks I'm under the weather or busy but haven't yet).

But what do you, dear reader, prefer?  How do you like my various blog titles?  Do you prefer Nerdy Top Tens or would you rather I do more This Nerd's Life entries?  How about my other newer series: New Comic Day, The Five Dollar Bin, and the upcoming Reader Copies?

Reply in the comments below or hit me up on twitter @nerdisnewcool.

Until next time, Nerd is the New Cool signing off

The Five Dollar Bin: Welcome and Monsters

Welcome, Nerds and Nerdettes, to The Five Dollar Bin, to get us started I thought maybe I should explain what it is exactly that I am planning to do with this segment. 

Have you ever been to Wal-Mart or someplace like that?  If you haven’t then let me explain, somewhere in the store is a wire bin – it’s usually near the electronics department – and in this bin are a whole bunch of DVDs just thrown in together, no organization of any kind, and they are all $5 – unless some idiot decided he didn’t want the DVD he’d already been carrying around for half an hour and instead of putting it up he just tossed it into the bin despite it being $24.99 and now you’re all excited cause you want this film SO bad and you take it up to the register and they ring it up and suddenly they’re saying you owe almost thirty buck when all you bought was a $5 movie and a bottle of water and that just isn’t right, dammit!… Where was I!?

The point is the bin is a place to find cheap movies, some are bad quality transfers, or bad quality movies, or both, and some are older new movies – 6 months or a year – that the store bought too many copies of. 

The Five Dollar Bin is going to focus on the first kind of movie, crappy old movies and forgotten classics.  Now I’m not going to be going around checking actual five dollar bins before I review a movie – frankly if a movie is selling for 15 bucks I’m still likely to talk about it on here – I’m going more for that type of movie.  Don’t expect any Oscar winners.  I’m going to focus on a few key genres (Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy), though anything is possible. 

I’ll also be doing some tips on how to decide between different releases of the same movies – especially when it comes to public domain films two different DVDs of the same movie can result in two completely different viewing experiences. 

Some of the movies I have on slate for upcoming reviews include: Demonic Toys, Evil Bong, Mr. Wong, Detective, Warriors of the Wasteland, and The Guy With Secret Kung Fu!  But I also have some Alfred Hitchcock and John Wayne films in store so you never know what you’re going to get. 

Now for our first film review:

Monsters

I debated long and hard with myself over what film to start us off with and my desk is evidence of this fact.  Setting on it right now as I type these words is not only this film, but also A Gun, A Car, A Blonde an odd pseudo-noir film made in the late ninties and box sets of the Hellraiser, Puppet Master, and Prophecy franchises.  Additionally, I spend most of yesterday watching Malibu Shark Attack and Sharktopus.  In the end, I had to go with this one Monsters – it fits right in with my previous Nerdy Top Ten post as the epitomous monsters are in fact giant monsters (kaiju), but also because my dad hates it. 

Monsters is a 2010 British sci-fi/horror film written and directed by Gareth Edwards. It was Edwards first feature film.  He currently filming the 2014 American reboot of Godzilla.

Since I mentioned them already, let us take a second to talk about the two aforementioned Shark films.  They are both high on premise, but low on plot.  You know pretty much everything you need to know about the films if you know the title.  Take your grain of salt, read the title, and skip ahead to chapter five or six on the DVD, go on.  Lost? Confused? Didn’t think so. 

If you accept the promise of the title on these films and their ilk, you don’t really need to know anything else to jump on at most any point in the film.  Now I know what you’re thinking, and no I’m not saying that makes these bad movies. I’m saying that they are fun, munch on popcorn flicks that take no thought.  They’re about hot chicks getting killed by monsters that land someplace between Scary and Silly.  They belong on your DVD shelf in between your Roger Corman’s (whose name appears in the credits of Sharktopus btw) and your Ed Woods. 

That’s not the kind of monster movie Monsters is.  This film is high concept, high plot.  Just as the titles of the other films tell you all you need to know about the monster, this one’s tells you nothing, it could have been named Love Purple Banana 7 Excelsior and you would have known no less about the film’s premise or plot.  Calling it Giant Monsters or Alien Monsters (Maybe) or Monsters Invade Mexico would have give you more on the premise (and don’t worry there weren’t any spoilers in that – all that info is conveniently give to you in the first few seconds of the film thanks to on screen text – as the film begins In medias res a few years after the monsters first arrived), but it still doesn’t tell you anything about the plot. 

Warning: SPOILERS below!!!

The plot concerns two Americans in southern Mexico, who have to travel across dangerous territory to the American border and safety.  Along the way, a “they come from opposite worlds” romantic tension forms between them.

I won’t go into too many details and spoil the movie completely but you get the drift.

SPOILERS END

Now, if you take a close look at the plot description above you’ll see I didn’t mention monsters.  At all.  Not even once. 

As is true of all great movies of this kind, there is the plot (what is happening to the characters) and there is the premise (what’s happening to the world around the characters).  Now in some movies, the plot and the premise are closely related – the premise of Jaws is a shark attacking a small coastal town, the plot is three guys on a boat hunting the shark – while in others, such as this film the plot and the premise are almost unrelated.  Sure there are monsters running around endangering our stars, but it could have been a war or terrorists or criminals or different monsters.  So, in this film the plot and the premise both exist and while the premise is the cool monster stuff, the plot is what drives the film – unlike Sharktopus and Malibu Shark Attack where the plot is so unimportant to the film it would function just the same without it. 

And before you say something along the lines of “well if the plot of Monsters is unrelated to the monsters, doesn’t that make it a bad film?” remember this: Dawn of the Dead’s plot has nothing to do with Zombies, Casablanca has nothing to do with World War II or Espionage or Crime.   The latter is a love story – a love triangle to be exact – while the former is about some people holed up in a mall trying to survive a disaster.  True, the disaster in Dawn is the Zombie apocalypse but it could have been war or terrorists or criminals or giant monsters in Mexico.  Does that make these movies bad movies? 

Monsters can be slow moving in places, but it has its share of action, and does manage to fit a complete and mostly compelling story arc into its 94 minutes.  It is, however, more of a thinking horror movie, it doesn’t beat its deeper meaning over your head – I can’t remember if I’ve seen it twice or thrice but it wasn’t until this most recent viewing that I got the inner meaning (wall on the border between Mexico and the US and it took me at least two viewing to get it was about “aliens!” Sheesh! Unless it’s about disease, or the environment maybe.  Hmm…of well. No one answer I guess). The monsters could have had a lot more screen time, but the film went for quality over quantity giving the monsters more impact when they do appear. 

A sequel Monsters: Dark Continent with new writer, director, and cast is currently filming.

Let’s see…

Rated R for Language, Some Sexuality, and Mild Horror Violence (no gore).  

4/5 Stars

Fun Fact: Lead actress Whitney Able was hired because she was lead actor Scoot McNairy’s then real life girl-friend (they are now married) and the director wanted to make sure this leads had strong chemistry. 

New Comic Day: Astro City Vol. 3

Welcome to the first exciting installment of New Comic Day a new series here on the Nerd Is the New Cool blog.  For now, we are only going to be publishing this series irregularly – but always on Wednesday – until we can get it fully up and running. 

To start, I’d like to send out special thank my good friend comic book writer and novelist R.A. Jones – as well as everyone at my local comic shop Starbase 21 in Tulsa, OK – and my father.  Without their assistance this blog series may not have come about. 

This Weeks Star Comic: Astro City

I struggled with whether or not to do this in New Comic Day or in Reader’s Copy – mostly because I’m going to focus on last month’s issue rather than today’s issue. 

Issue one: 4/5 stars      Excellent jumping on point.                Rated T for Teen

While last month’s issue has a big number 1 on the cover and this month’s a number 2, Astro City is actually a fairly old title now (we’re not talking Batman or Captain America old – or even Spider-Man old – but it’s been around a little while).  The first issue of Volume 1 came out in 1995 and then to now there have been 60ish more issue over two ongoing titles, one mini- and one maxi-series, and sundry one-shots and stories in other publications.  It has had its high points (Volume 2 ½, and 4-9 collected together as Confession in TPB form) and its low points (I’m looking at you The Dark Age), but overall it has been a very good and loving look at the world of comics – some people refer to it as what it’s like to be a normal person in a super-world, other say it’s what about being a super-hero in the normal world – I try to stay away from that argument. 

All 60ish issues of the series have been written by the same writer (series creator Kurt Busiek), drawn by the same artist (Brent Anderson), and featured covers by the same painter (Alex Ross) and the lot remain in top form here.  Ross’s covers to both issue 1 and 2 are beautiful, though I preferred the variant cover featuring new character Telseth to the standard Honor Guard cover for issue 1 (Honor Guard btw is the Astro Cityverse’s premiere super-hero team – Busiek hates it when you compare Astro City characters to other company’s properties but – think of them as the Justice League/Avengers types.  Telseth, meanwhile, seems to have a bit of a Celestrial thing going on and long time comic readers will definitely notice he has some major Kirbyesque design elements). 

Other new characters to be introduced include The Broken Man and the very annoying American Chibi, but most of the regular Astro City cast at least cameos.  That another warning for new readers Astro City has a large cast of rotating characters and as the series takes place in real time it has nearly 20 years of in-title continuity piled on top of them.  It can be a lot to take in, but Busiek is very good at keeping new readers from being bogged down by too much continuity baggage.  Long time fans will enjoy the references – say to one unnamed character’s (he’s the Confessor) lack of “the protections his predecessor” had – but while new readers may not get them, they tend to take the form of local color and don’t distract from the story. 

I haven’t read today’s issue yet, but look forward to it and greatly enjoyed issue 1.  The back issues or TPBs are not required prerequisites, but would greatly add to new reader’s enjoyment of the rich mythology Busiek has created. 

            Other Noteworthy Titles This Week

DC Comics: Justice League 22 (Start of the Trinity War crossover)

IDW: Judge Dredd Classics 1 (Reprints)

Dynamite Entertainment: Dark Nights 1 (Green Hornet/Shadow crossover)

This Nerd's Life: Independence Day Weekend

Nerd Is New Cool here,

Those of you who regularly follow my blog will already have seen that we didn't have our premiere of the new Reader Copies this last Friday, nor our we going to be posting an installment of Nerdy Top Ten today, both are due to the busy schedule my wife and I had over the long holiday weekend.

We were babysitting my sister-in-law's Aussie Shepard mix, which we hauled along with our 2 lb. Chihuahua to my parent's house Wednesday.

I spent most of Thursday morning slaving over a hot grill to produce some awesome fall of the bone ribs, which got finished about 3 hours early so they were nice and cold and no longer fall of the bone by the time we ate - nor were they very popular and we still had a ton left over after dinner - I have now eaten them for at least four meals.

Thursday evening we had games with my parents and cousin Lizard: Mexican Train Dominoes, Smart Ass, Dixit, Buzz Word, and Pandemic: On The Brink (Bio-Terrorist Challenge).

We were going to come back Thursday night with plenty of time for me to do my back issue review for Friday, but one of my mom's cousins was in town and the extended family was doing a dinner Friday, so we ended up staying an extra night.

We ended up not getting in until late on Friday and I said forget it.   I figured Reader Copies could wait until next time rather than having a rushed first issue.

So yesterday we spend all day at my sister-in-law's running a yard sale which totally bombed.

On the bright side, after the yard sale was over, we hit up another yard sale and I picked up a couple of books including a Signet Classics edition of The Jungle Books from the sixties and a 1966 edition of Snoopy and the Red Baron.

Today involved a couple hours of housework, some time in the pool, and my wife and I lounging around watching the 2010 British Sci-Fi/Horror film Monsters (expect an appearance in an upcoming issue of The Five Dollar Bin) and the first two episodes of the 1943 serial Batman.

Anyway, back to the regular schedule next week.  In the meantime, stay nerdy my friends.

My American fans can let me know what they did for the Fourth in the comments below or on twitter @nerdisnewcool.  My non-US fan are as always welcome to join the conversation as well.

Nerd Is the New Cool signing off.

Also, congrats to Chad and Angie on the hundredth episode of Screen Team Sunday.  Love your work guys.  Watch the vid below, and get them a like and subscribe on their YouTube channel.