Ninja-tek

Return of the Mucker
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Grade: C

What begins as an interesting mix of On the Road and In Cold Blood devolves into a generic western. The threats never seem real and the intensity from the The Mucker are completely lost as this story is peopled with stock characters. Readable, but nothing remarkable in this one.

The Barefoot Contessa

The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Grade: B-

Late-era Bogart (when he always seems to wear a bow tie) and one of his few films in color. Written and directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, and Bogart's character is also a writer/director who looks to Ava Gardner to reignite his career. The movie is good at capturing the slimy side of 1950s Hollywood, corporate megatrolls, paparazzi, and wealthy wife-hunters. Bogart acts as godfather to Gardner amidst the parasites.

I haven't seen a lot of Gardner. She's got a similar lust power to Marilyn Monroe. Sometimes she overacts, but the movie is full of overacting and stereotypes, which sometimes make Mankiewicz's editorial voice a little too loud. The mystery of Ava Gardner's death (foreshadowed by a funeral framing sequence and flashbacks from three different points of view) kept me interested. Ending has a Breadfast at Tiffany's flavor.

Kid Galahad

Kid Galahad (1937)
Grade: B

It's truly amazing how many times Humphrey Bogart got killed onscreen in the late 30s. This marks another entry in his thug era, before studios realized he could also play a sympathetic character (perhaps first apparent in High Sierra). Bette Davis is really good here - her character is more attractive and likable. The whole cast is good, in fact. A tight early effort from the director of Casablanca. Later remade into an Elvis film. And I've now seen all five of the Robinson/Bogart films.

Asterios Polyp

Asterios Polyp
by David Mazzucchelli
Grade: A-

One of my favorite superhero stories (and probably my favorite Batman story) is Batman: Year One, written by Frank Miller and with gorgeous art by David Mazzucchelli and dark, pastel-like colors by Richmond Lewis.

So I was naturally looking forward to a graphic novel completely by Mazzucchelli. Minus Frank MIller (not so gritty) and Richmond Lewis (brighter color schemes) Asterios Polyp looks completely different from that earlier work. Even Mazzucchelli's art looks different - he's got two more decades of experience. He still has beautiful lines, but now it's more like Tintin with brushes of Kyle Baker energy. His techniques are far more varied now and this book almost catalogs the possibilities for opening up the page.

The story itself... well, tough to describe. It's mainly flashbacks in the life of Asterios Polyp, architect instructor, and how his marriage crumbled. I didn't think it was working for me till it neared the end and the fugue-like structure started coming together. It's really a love story and a really unique one. Plus the ending is both sad and funny and unexpected and yet completely plausible in structural terms. Neat book.

The Mucker

The Mucker
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Grade: B

Lovin' the Frank Frazetta cover for The Mucker. Is he wearing bell bottoms in 1914? And check out those unearthly samurai! Compare with the original cover:

Burroughs' crime-boxer-samurai-thrasher doesn't look quite as fierce there.

This is good Burroughs. Starts kind of wobbly with too many characters thrown at the reader, but gets down to gritty cliffhangers ad absurdum by the end, what Burroughs does best. It's crazy unrealistic and at the same time crazy awesome. Not as good as Tarzan or John Carter, but good. In some ways Burroughs is what I aspire to as an artist: cranking out a serum of texture that always seems to deliver.

I only have about 30 books now and was surprised to discover I had The Mucker trilogy (thought I sold 'em with most of my books on ebay last year). So I'll be reading the other two next.

EDIT: Also pleased to see the John Carter movie is coming along and looks to be potentially good (to my surprise). I still insist John Carter could be bigger than Star Wars and Lord of the Rings if handled right.

WOHHH!

Manifesting the Mind

Finished watching this documentary on psychedelics called Manifesting the Mind (torrent here). Kind of a snapshot of a bunch of guys trying to pick up where Terence Mckenna (below) left off, and each failing in their own unique way. Even Terence's brother Dennis is included and he's got a lot of that intelligence, but he's not as witty or eloquent. And guys like Daniel Pinchbeck just come off as d-bags.

I haven't done any illegal drugs in over two years. At this point I most want to try ibogaine, ayahuasca, and mescaline.

MegaTits

GIANT BREASTS SHOCK CHINA

Parents and teachers in China are protesting after a sculpture of a tiny girl with giant breasts was installed in a city park.

The sculpture depicts a 20cm tall girl with breasts that are five metres high and wide, reports News Express.

Passage to Marseille

Passage to Marseille (1944)
Grade: B

Having a flashback within a flashback within a flashback (seriously) might sound a little confusing, but it's actually pretty easy to follow. This is an underrated war/prison/sea voyage movie from Bogart's best era. The whole thing with flashbacks reminds me of Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim, and I think someone else must have been thinking of Conrad when creating the tone of this film.

Immediately following Casablanca, the studio sought to recapture that success by reusing most of the cast and director. Making everyone French (yes, even Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet) is a little ridiculous, and so is the sheer number of toy models used to depict ships, airplanes and cars (!?), giving it a Mr. Rogers goes to War feel. And I'll gladly ignore all that because this movie does so many other things right. It's a perfect fit for Bogart.

Brother Orchid

Brother Orchid (1940)
Grade: C

Robinson and Bogart are some kind of alchemical opposites. They may join forces briefly, but their hatred for each other always boils up. In this one they're racketeers who have a falling out, leading to the gimmick plot of Robinson becoming a friar, only returning to the city to kick the crap out of Bogart. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, who had too much vaudeville exaggeration in him for my taste.

The Silver Pony: A Story in Pictures

The Silver Pony: A Story in Pictures
by Lynd Ward
Grade: B

Lynd Ward made this book over 40 years after Mad Man's Drum, supposedly aimed at children, and definitely more comprehensible than that earlier work. He makes farm animals look like they have a malevolent intelligence in his Twilight Zone Norman Rockwell world. Without words it's haunting, and his sense of pacing is sharp. I'm curious how little kids respond to this book.

The War of Art

The War of Art
by Steven Pressfield
Grade: A

I review about 90% of the movies I see, about 60% of the books I read, and about .00143% of the music I listen to (I rarely have anything to say about music). The books I review are mainly fiction. The books I don't review are usually nonfiction or art books or instructional books (software etc) that I'm inclined to skim through and find what I'm looking for. Or they're nonfiction like The War of Art, in which I don't really feel right "reviewing".

I plowed through this book cover to cover yesterday because it kept calling me back to read some more. If it hadn't been worth it I would have thrown it aside. It's certainly not just for those engaged in "the arts". It's for anyone serious about doing the work they love and not settling for mediocrity. Pressfield has a work ethic on par with Stephen King (see On Writing), and he inspires me to do more and do it better. Great read, highly recommended, even with the pretentious intro by Robert "I-teach-screenwriting-but-my-only-writing-credit-is-some-crappy-Barbie-cartoon" Mckee.

I'd like to get a copy and digest it slowly.

Invisible Stripes

Invisible Stripes (1939)
Grade: C+

A watchable if sometimes melodramatic crime-doesn't-pay picture. George Raft and Bogart are released from prison. Raft tries to turn over a new leaf, while Bogart goes back to gangsterhood, eventually dragging Raft back with him. As usual in his gangster movies, Bogart gets killed.

The woman playing George Raft's mother looks uncomfortably like George Raft. I was hoping she would get killed. She didn't.

(And I just checked imdb and it says she was actually 6 years younger than George Raft, like Laurence Olivier and Eileen Herlie in Hamlet.)

Handout

Before going to San Francisco the other day I had a premonition I'd find money in the city. "How much?" I asked myself. How about... $50, came the reply.

And then when I was in SF walking from Stern Grove to Stonestown I saw two quarters sitting on the pavement waiting for me.

Right number, wrong denomination. Next time I need to ask for fifty million so it won't matter if it's dollars or cents.

Elephant Parts

"Money is the new email." - H.G. Wells

Here are two horrible Mike Nesmith videos I recently remembered from my boyhood:

Bone Prequel: Rose

Bone Prequel: Rose
by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess
Grade: C

Not as interesting as Bone. Lacks the best characters. Lacks humor.

Mad Man's Drum: A Novel in Woodcuts

Mad Man's Drum: A Novel in Woodcuts
by Lynd Ward
Grade: B-

Gorgeous woodcuts in this 1930 graphic novel, and like He Done Her Wrong you can tell it's heavily influenced by silent films. The problem is that without words Lynd Ward bears twice the burden of regular comics to achieve narrative clarity, and too often I found myself flipping back trying to figure out how much time had passed, which character was which, and what was actually happening. In 1930 too many of comics' standard techniques were still being ironed out. Ward is trying to find his footing, and sometimes it just doesn't work. A fascinating effort nonetheless.

Final Crisis

Final Crisis
by Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones etc.
Grade: C+

This book has absolutely nothing to do with the financial crisis (I think).

No, instead it's last year's megaevent from DC. First three issues are pretty enjoyable, and Morrison is always at his best when he starts a story. I'm able to keep up with all the continuity and characters. Then it launches into a Superman story completely different in tone and art from the previous story. It's all downhill from there as Morrison basically tells us he can end it any way he wants nyah, nyah, nyah, and leads into this year's round of DC megaevents and overbloated "crises".

Reminds me why I haven't read any mainstream superhero comics in a long time. Might have finished good if it wasn't so heavily anchored to every other book DC publishes.

Melvin Monster: Volume One

Melvin Monster: Volume One
by John Stanley
Grade: B-

Cashing in on the 1960s family-o'-monsters trend (did you know The Addams Family and The Munsters began airing within a week of each other?), John Stanley created his version with Melvin Monster. First issue seems generic but I warmed to it by the second and it becomes genuinely funny. Basically the characters abuse and try to kill Melvin and regular humans try to put him in a cage. Lots of child abuse.

Very well designed oversized hardcover by Seth, but what's with the interiors? Essentially just xeroxed old comics - fortunately in color, but absolutely no color remastering. I say go all the way and get it polished (like Marvel Masterworks or DC Archives) or put it in trade paperback and lower the price.

Under the Volcano

Under the Volcano (1984)
Grade: B-

A few years ago I read the Malcolm Lowry novel this movie is based on with a book group, and I was the only one among eight people who finished it. I can kind of understand why. If you approach it as a book to plow through and attack head on, you'll probably give up too. It's more of a book you have to let come back to you. Read a few pages and if you get bored, put it down a while. If it seizes you, read as much as you can. Pick it up when you're next to the pool and read a paragraph. Then forget about it a while.

Or best of all, read it when you're drunk. The book, after all, is pure alcohol. I like the book quite a bit, and to a lesser degree, I like this movie. Albert Finney gives a great performance in one of John Huston's last films. I don't think there's a scene in the movie where he doesn't have a drink. It's all beautifully filmed on location in Mexico. There doesn't seem to be much plot till the last scene and you realize where everything is pointing. It's also unexpectedly hilarious a few times, and like the book, probably best viewed drunk.

Travel

Travel
by Yuichi Yokoyama
Grade: C+

I was supposed to "travel" to the DMV today to renew my driver's license. How do you spell fun? D-M-V. I lost my license last month (one of the apartments I looked at didn't give it back to me, and mailed it to my old address in Fountain Valley and it took a month for it to get forwarded back to me). Anyways, I was supposed to go to the DMV today but it's windy and pouring rain so I think I'll pass and procrastinate.

This book is speechless (and almost story-less). Three guys get on a train and move from car to car eyeballing other passengers and looking out windows as they roll through various 70s pop Japan museum settings, countryside, sundry weather. Not much happens. This annoyed me at first. Eventually I gave in and started admiring the panel transitions and tempo created by the train's movement and absorbing the images as quickly as I could. I'd probably appreciate it more if I'd been high.

There was an introduction and author notes but I skipped these to keep the book silent.

Bone: One Volume Edition

Bone: One Volume Edition
by Jeff Smith
Grade: A-

In spite of all the awards it won, it's easy to rip on Bone. It's derivative, especially of epic Lord of the Rings and Star Wars type fantasy. It also loses the plot in a couple of story arcs with the clunky mechanical issues that come with really long epics. And the mix of action, dialogue, comedy, and drama isn't always in a satisfying ratio. But when it's good... it's real good, and Smith delivers a comics masterpiece, giving it a fluid animation feel that's begging for the big screen. It will inevitably be made into a movie or series of movies, and they have the potential to be really, really good, or, y'know, mediocre. Who knows. I'll see it when it happens.

I read various issues and trade paperbacks of Bone back in the 90s, but never had access to the whole thing. This volume is over 1300 pages long and collects all of the main story arc (there are a few other spinoffs). It's black and white as originally published, and that's how I wanted to take it in the first time. There are color editions and if I ever reread it I'll go for those. It's something I can reread, as opposed to the Lord of the Rings films, which would be really painful to sit through again.

My only criticism of this edition is that the pages are a little thin and slightly transparent. Not a big problem that I noticed much, and it's still an amazing value for $26 or whatever it goes for. Bone's reached a wide audience and deserves to reach millions more.

And as for merchandising... I would never buy the toys, least of all $40 toys... but have to admit this Kingdok toy is fucking awesome!!!

The 120 Days of Adam
Like Sherlock Holmes, I often dress up as a homeless person to ferret out the secrets of the underworld.

As I approach my 4 month anniversary of not having a job, I have to say that

NOT HAVING A JOB > HAVING A JOB

(For those of you who failed 2nd grade math [retards] remember the crocodile eats the greater one)

Practically four months of sleeping in. I think it really improves your health and outlook on life to get enough sleep. And exercise. And have a good environment. And social connections. And diet. And not have a job.

I've been mainly playing lots of tennis, reading, and watching photoshop cs4 tutorials. You know I've been using Photoshop 7.0 forever? I think it's time to upgrade (i.e. find a pirated edition that won't devour my computer).

I feel my tennis is getting better. I'm still beginner-intermediate, but I have more control of the ball and feel like I enter "the zone" de temps en temps.

I just thought I'd break up all the boring reviews and cut it up. I picked the LJ name "cutup" so I could post anything, and I'll make more with the variety soon. I've just been binging on books - especially comics which I couldn't find much of in Korea - because I'm finally set up in my own place again.

But I don't really fit the critic hat. I'd rather be making my own stuff.

Parker: The Hunter

Parker: The Hunter
Adapted and Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
Grade: C+

Wasn't feeling it. The art isn't always clear and smooth and all the characters are kind of dicks. At least in Sin City you find noble characters under the crime veneer. Maybe this works better as a novel, originally written by Richard Stark (Donald Westlake) in the 60s. The limited color scheme wasn't bad, giving it an art deco feel. I'm willing to give it a second chance when Cooke adapts the next book. This one's a little rough around the edges.

Scanner
I'm looking for a flatbed scanner. Does anyone use an 11x17 or other oversized one? If you're happy with yours or have recommendations please comment.

Low Moon

Low Moon
by Jason
Grade: B+

Five tragicomic tales of subdued fantasy. I don't really have anything to add - I just wish my library had more of his books.

Despair

Despair
by Vladimir Nabokov
Grade: A-

Picking up my Nabokov read-through begun a few years ago. I near the end of the novels originally written in Russian with Despair. It fits neatly into the "perfect crime" school of fiction but goes insanely out of its way to avoid cliche. The slippery narrator Hermann doesn't even reveal the exact nature of the crime till 3/4ths into the thing. He is a self-professed liar and as brilliant and condescending as Humbert Humbert. I suppose I should dislike him but Nabokov's narrators are always so witty and full of superior insight in a world of clods that I have to like them. He (Nabokov/Hermann) does things with metaphor, sentence structure, narrative flow, and character portraits that are quite remarkable in a translation. This could be his best "Russian" novel.

Also! New Nabokov next month as his son finally caves in and releases the incomplete The Original of Laura.

George Sprott: (1894-1975)

George Sprott: (1894-1975)
by Seth
Grade: B-

Bit disappointed with the latest Seth. Always love his design and find his work more emotionally involving than Chris Ware (the other comics design king, who's even more obsessively detail-oriented), but this one is less unified than his other stuff. It's a huge book - two feet wide when open - ambitious, creating a sad portrait of a mediocre TV host, and has some beautiful moments. Each mini-story stands alone, but when you add it up it's less than the sum of its parts. Here's a look inside from someone who liked it more than me.

The Hangover

The Hangover (2009)
Grade: B+

Like Go meets Memento meets Harold & Kumar - especially the latter with its buddy humor, surprise guest star (M.T.), and picaresque misadventures with law enforcement and wild animals. A few plot points you can see coming from a mile off, but who cares? It's funny and held my attention.

How did the chicken get in the hotel room?

Tokyo Joe

Tokyo Joe (1949)
Grade: C

I wanted to like this movie, but it fits more easily into Bogart's 1950s oeuvre, which I don't really like. In this one he goes to postwar Japan and finds his wife has remarried and he has a kid. It starts kind of cool with Bogart doing judo but devolves into a blackmail melodrama that doesn't work because the other actors are mostly douchebags.

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