Spring cleaning 2011

For the past few weekends, Janice and I have been busy with spring cleaning. We started going through our books, videos, and appliances partly because our annual lease-renewal letter was late, and we feared that we might have to scramble to move. Although Janice’s commute by train is long, we didn’t relish the idea of looking for another affordable, spacious, and conveniently located apartment closer to Boston on relatively short notice.

Fortunately, we were able to renew our duplex‘s lease for another year in Needham, Mass., despite some nagging problems such overflowing gutters, needed repainting, and poor insulation. At least we finally have hot water! We then shifted our attention to cleaning for an upcoming visit by my brother.

So far, we’ve recycled or donated our desktop computer and an obsolete printer, old bicycles, a vacuum cleaner, VHS tapes, and numerous books and DVD cases. I’ve also been selling some of my role-playing games, including much of my Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 and Fourth Edition collections. I’ve been running Pathfinder and FATE 3e Starblazer Adventures anyway, and am even considering the rules-light FATE 3e Legends of Anglerre for my “Vanished Lands” fantasy campaign.

Of course, nature abhors a vacuum, so I have to restrain myself when visiting comic and game shops. I’ve also been trading HeroClix miniatures with people in the local groups, so I have a lot of cataloging to do. Even after thinning out our shelves and the much-heralded advent of gaming PDFs and e-readers, I’m still attached to bookcases full of science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, science, history, and classic literature.

If I had to move, I’d want space equivalent to the full basement that I’ve used for hosting sessions and storing boxes of comics and magazines. Janice isn’t a pack rat like me, balancing my obsessive-compulsiveness with asceticism. We still have to deal with our CRT television and bulky entertainment unit, a computer desk, and other odds and ends. My department at work is also shifting cubicles.

The belated arrival of spring weather has allowed us to clear up the yard and try restaurants such as Jake & Joe’s, a new sports bar in Norwood, and Crazy Dough’s, a pizzeria in Harvard Square’s Garage. I also had a home-cooked Chinese dinner with Thomas K.Y. and Kai Yin last week, and we watched the Sita Sings the Blues, a fun combination of Hindu mythology, 1920s music, Flash animation, and modern feminism.

Coming soon: More about retro-clone games, comics and genre TV reassessment, movies, and houseguests!

Wonder Woman!

New WW togs — New and classic TV Wonder Women

Warner Brothers recently released a photograph of Adrianne Palicki in costume as the lead character in the upcoming television revival of Wonder Woman. Predictably, message boards were full of nerd rage at the changes to the superheroine’s look, but I agree with original actress Lynda Carter, who said that viewers should give the new show a chance.

Palicki’s costume is similar to the redesign found in current DC Comics issues, which I’ve been reading. Jim Lee and JMS’s alterations were also controversial when unveiled, but they may be only temporary. I think that leggings are more modern than a bikini bottom, and I’m surprised that the TV version doesn’t have shoulder straps rather than a probably uncomfortable corset.

The blue and red color scheme is mostly unchanged, although I would have gone with a darker blue for the pants and red or black for the boots. The bullet-deflecting bracelets, tiara, stars and eagle motif, and Lasso of Truth are still present.

Fox News wags promptly declared the Princess of Themiscyra‘s new togs as “unpatriotic,” but that’s an overreaction. If Dick Grayson can wear Batman’s cape and cowl alongside Bruce Wayne or Bucky Barnes can fill in for Steve Rogers in a modified Captain America uniform, why can’t Wonder Woman tweak her wardrobe after 70 years?

I’m more concerned with the writing and direction of the new TV show. Ally McBeal‘s David E. Kelly and the leaked script excerpts and auditions haven’t inspired confidence, and NBC’s track record isn’t much better. I didn’t mind camp in the 1960s Batman or 1970s Wonder Woman, and not every metahuman series should be an angst fest like the X-Men or Spider-Man, but a balance of tones, villains, and action would be nice.

To be fair, the network has at least tried to launch superhero shows, such as Heroes and The Cape, but weak writing and weaker ratings did them in (ABC’s No Ordinary Family might be next). For each surprise hit like Smallville, there have been short-lived shows like The Flash, M.A.N.T.I.S., and Birds of Prey.

As I’ve noted before, DC Comics has been more successful than Marvel lately with adaptations from print to animation. Despite their cinematic blockbusters, neither has been lucky with live-action TV. Let’s hope that Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk not only bring back fond memories from 30+ years ago, but also earn a new generation of fans!

Catching up — Megamind

This past weekend, I met fellow blogger Thomas K.Y. and role-player Josh C. at Thomas’ condominium in Lexington, Massachusetts. We watched Megamind on DVD. I liked the superhero movie more than I expected.

Although it’s part of a recent glut of computer-animated comedies focusing on villains turned heroes — including the Shrek franchise, Igor, and Despicable Me — Megamind respectfully spoofs comic book conventions and has a sharp script. The film has numerous allusions to its inspiration but still feels fresh, reminding me of one of my favorite Pixar works, The Incredibles.

Megamind also features a strong cast, including Will Ferrell as the self-absorbed titular alien, Brad Pitt as Superman knockoff Metro Man, and Tina Fey as intrepid reporter Roxanne. The supporting cast also has fun, with David Cross as fishy sidekick Minion, Ben Stiller as museum curator/alter ego Bernard, and Jonah Hill as protégé gone wrong Hal Stewart/Titan. I wasn’t distracted by the celebrity voices, but it helped that I watched the film long after any promotional hype.

Unlike the “uncanny valley” of Robert Zemeckis’ animation, the cartoony yet realistic style of Megamind and movies like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, How to Train Your Dragon and Legend of the Guardians: the Owls of Ga’Hoole doesn’t bother me. Megamind‘s action scenes were well-choreographed, and we’ve come a long way from the original Tron or ReBoot (whose complete series is finally available on DVD).

I’d give Megamind, which is rated PG for language and violence, a solid B+, 8 out of 10, or three stars. Although I’m still a fan of “traditional,” 2-D animation, I do enjoy the best of the new wave, even if I haven’t yet seen Toy Story 3 or Tangled. I hope to screen the anthropomorphic animals in Western comedy Rango this coming weekend.

After lunch at Watch City Brewing Co. on Waltham’s Moody Street, Thomas, Josh, and I watched Alien vs. Ninja, which is just as silly a “B” movie as the title suggests. Janice and I also ate at regular haunts Comella’s, Acapulco’s, and Wild Willy’s this past weekend.

All-Star Superman review

Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly's Superman — All-Star Superman

Just over a week ago, Janice and I watched All-Star Superman, the latest in DC Comics/Warner Brothers’ direct-to-DVD animation line. It’s based on a well-received story by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly, who respectively also wrote and illustrated runs of the X-Men, Justice League, Doom Patrol, and Batman.

The cartoon adaptation is fairly faithful to the source material, including its concise retelling of Superman’s origin and allusions to the character’s science fiction adventures of the 1950s and 1960s. While I’ve found some of Morrison’s writing to be too densely self-referential, the 12-issue All-Star Superman is much more successful as a timeless tale of our would-be savior than Frank Miller’s over-the-top and incomplete All-Star Batman.

The animation captures some of Quietly’s style, especially in farmboy/reporter Clark Kent’s slouch or Lex Luthor’s egotistical posturing. The action scenes are well-choreographed, and like in Young Justice, the urban landscape of Metropolis is ironically more realistic than its current Marvel animated counterparts.

As usual, Andrea Romano has assembled a strong voice cast, including James Denton as Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman, Christina Hendricks as Lois Lane, and Ed Asner in the role he was born to play, Daily Planet editor Perry White. Anthony LaPaglia doesn’t have the menacing gravel of Clancy Brown, but he’s a decent Lex Luthor.

I’d give All-Star Superman three stars, a B+, or an 8 out of 10. It’s rated PG for some violence. I like Justice League: the New Frontier, Batman: Gotham Knight, and the Green Arrow short that was packaged with Superman/Batman: Apocalypse more.

I’m also looking forward to Green Lantern: Emerald Knights and Batman: Year One. Miller’s oft-praised Dark Knight Returns would be better as an animated feature than a live-action movie, even though his vision of Gotterdammerung has influenced many Batman depictions in the past 25 years.

Coming soon: Belated Megamind review and Rango!

Holiday update 2007

: Holiday 2007

As I prepare to move my blog from MySpace and Yahoo, here’ s a look back at one of my first posts (note that some of the links may be broken):

Friends, I hope that your holidays have been happy thus far. Instead of sending out the usual annual update letter, I hope that people are reading this blog.

The week before Christmas was busy, even though Janice and I had finished most of our gift shopping. Working on two issues simultaneously to get most of this week off kept CW‘s copy desk humming. On Saturday, 22 December 2007, we went to the local dump and post office, and I got my car inspected (which went more quickly and was cheaper than the previous week’s repairs).

We also had a Chinese-American buffet lunch at the Hunan New Taste, stopped by the Walpole Mall and the Big Y supermarket, and picked up my subscription at the New England Comics in Norwood, Massachusetts.

On Sunday, we stayed in because of the latest snowfall and caught up on television. What are your favorite holiday specials? Mine include classics such as A Charlie Brown Christmas, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and various versions of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Janice’s include A Garfield Christmas, Bill ‘n’ Opus: A Wish for Wings That Work, and Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas.

Of course, numerous Rankin-Bass cartoons and stop-motion specials have marked the holiday for generations, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and The Year Without a Santa Claus. More recently, we have A Muppet Family Christmas and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Robbie the Reindeer, and Shrek the Halls.

I also had a quip-filled City of Heroes (CoH) virtual session with David I.S. and company, and Janice baked in preparation for seeing her folks. We plan to have a relatively quiet New Year’s Eve, since we’ll both be working that day.

We drove to Upstate New York on Monday, Dec. 24, first to Janice’s parents’ home. Like my parents, Marvin and Linda M. live atop a hill on five acres in the country. Unlike my family, they have numerous pets and a steep, icy driveway. Janice’s middle sister Shelly was already there with her husband Melvin W. and children Rebecca, Laura, and David.

I checked out photographs of friends on teenager Becky’s Clie handheld device, played chess with tween Laura, and played pool with 9-year-old David and his father. Shelly told us about her missionary work in inner-city Utica, and after a tasty lasagne dinner, we drove down to Janice’s youngest sister’s home, where we were staying.

We joined Melinda and Gary L. and their children Amanda and Joshua for Christmas Eve. I helped keep the kids occupied while the other adults finished wrapping a pile of presents. Amanda demonstrated her recent violin lessons, and I talked with 6-year-old Josh about various superheroes. Their cat Chocolate kept us company as we slept.

On Christmas morning, unwrapping continued, as the Manwillers and Wrights reconvened at the Lewis home, which has the most open space. Among other things, we got DVDs and an electric snow shovel. We had a ham luncheon, followed by Laura and 8-year-old Amanda playing with animal toys and David and Joshua playing with action figures and videogames. Becky is old enough to participate in most adult conversations.

Thanks to Gary’s PlayStation 2 and Xbox, I played an off-road racing videogame with Melvin, as well as Justice League Heroes with Josh. Although I don’t have the money or time to add console systems to my crowded tabletop (pen-and-paper, dice-and-pizza) role-playing, teleconferencing, and CoH PC gaming schedule, it was nice to try them out once in a while. Josh also demonstrated Spider-Man and Star Wars Lego II for us. (Lego Batman and Indiana Jones games are coming!)

I telephoned my family in Virginia, but I still missed being with my parents, brother Peter, sister-in-law Kelly, and nieces Ava and Lili. I hope to see them sometime in spring of 2008. But first, we’ll be at Dexter V.H.’s latest wedding in New York City in just over a week!

We returned to the Boston area on Wednesday afternoon after taking out the Lewises and Janice’s mother to lunch at Applebee’s. On Thursday, I caught up on e-mail and prepared for various games, including last night’s D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands: Holy Steel” teleconferencing team and tomorrow’s D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains” holiday makeup fantasy session. I’ve got to work today.

Of course, no year’s end blog post would be complete without a set of “best of” lists. IGN.com has a pretty good rundown of movies, genre television, and comics, but here’s my abbreviated version for 2007:

–Favorite movies: Children of Men, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Ratatouille

–Favorite SFTV shows: Avatar: the Last Airbender, Doctor Who, and Pushing Daisies (Fellow blogger Ken G. has also noted the untimely demise of the underrated time-travel drama Journeyman, but at least Pushing Daisies and Reaper got picked up.)

–Favorite comic books: Captain America, Detective Comics, and The Spirit

–Favorite musical singles (and videos): “Gone Gone Gone” (Robert Plant and Alison Kraus), “Rehab” (Amy Winehouse), “Umbrella” (Rihanna)

–Favorite RPG releases: D20 Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Ed.: Ultimate Power, A Practical Guide to Monsters (Dungeons & Dragons 3.5/4e), D20 Star Wars: Saga Edition

What were your faves? I look forward to blogging about such entertainment and more in the coming year, and may it bring good health and prosperity for all!