Entry for May 10, 2009: All good things…

…must come to an end. I'm sorry that it has been a while since I've blogged, but I've been busy since visiting family in Pennsylvania and Virginia around Easter.

On Friday, 1 May 2009, I was laid off after nine and a half years of working as a CW copy editor. I was fortunate to be part of a great team, and I'm proud of what we did in print and online. However, publishing and journalism have been suffering since before the current recession, which has only accelerated changes in reader and advertiser habits.

Unlike the last time I was laid off, after the dot-com bust and terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, I have more experience and contacts, but the global economy is in worse shape than it was then. Still, I've jumped into the job hunt, sending out resumes, looking at online postings, and networking with former colleagues. I've also filed for unemployment compensation and met with an outplacement counselor.

My initial search has focused on editing and writing, but I'll widen my sights as needed into education, marketing, regulatory monitoring, and health care. I don't have the talents to become a musician, programmer, or waiter, but every organization needs to communicate clearly.

Thanks to all of my friends and former co-workers who have already offered encouragement and advice, and if any of you reading this have any leads, don't hesitate to pass them on! I'm also active in online social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and MySpace.

Since Janice's technical writing post is relatively stable at the moment, we have no plans to relocate to New York or Virginia, despite the leads forwarded by some friends. I'd like to spend some time visiting friends and family outside New England, but I have to see how my schedule sorts itself out.

There's no danger of me becoming bored — in addition to continuing to catch up on reading and filing, I intend to do more of the housework, yard work, and cooking now that I'm home before Janice. Even with cutting back on buying gaming and comic books, the local groups have kept me busy, especially as the genre television season winds down and the summer movie season begins. I'll have reviews and more updates within the week!

Entry for April 02, 2009: Monsters vs. Aliens

On Saturday, 28 March 2009, Janice and I went to the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival in Hartford, Connecticut. As we were browsing through the art and food booths, we ran into Janice's folks! After hearing about the craft show from Janice, they had decided to go. It was nice to see them (especially since we might have missed them altogether with our new cell phones turned off).

On Sunday, Janice and I drove up to Thomas K.Y.'s place in Lexington, Massachusetts. From there, we went to lunch at Mifune, an Asian restaurant in Arlington, Mass., followed by a midafternoon matinee of Monsters vs. Aliens.

The computer-animated comedy has many allusions to the science fiction/horror movies of the 1950s, such as The Thing, Godzilla, and Attack of the 50-Foot Woman. Like Meet the Robinsons or The Incredibles, it has a retro sensibility for adults and gentle humor for young audiences. While not as manic as Doctor Strangelove or Mars Attacks, fans of Cold War social commentary will be pleased to hear comedian Stephen Colbert as the dimwitted president.

The rest of the voice cast is good, with Reese Witherspoon as new mutant Gigantica, Kiefer Sutherland as monster handler Gen. W.R. Monger, Seth Rogen as the blobby B.O.B., and Hugh Laurie as The Fly-inspired Dr. Cockroach. Overall, I'd give Monsters vs. Aliens, which is rated PG for crude humor and cartoon violence, a B+.

Of the previews we saw, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs looked mildly amusing, and of course, I plan to screen the cinematic Star Trek reboot. An impressive fan-made trailer for The Hunt for Gollum (related to Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming Hobbit films) can be found online. What movies are you looking forward to?

Coming soon: Comics and gaming reviews!

Entry for March 31, 2009: Wonder Woman!

On Saturday, 21 March 2009, Janice and I picked up my subscription at New England Comics in Norwood, Massachusetts. In addition, we watched the new direct-to-DVD release of Wonder Woman. As with the retro Justice League: New Frontier and anime-style Batman: Gotham Knight, Wonder Woman is intended for an older audience than recent television cartoons based on DC Comics, such as the charmingly campy Batman and the Brave and the Bold.

As one of the oldest and best-known costumed superheroes, Wonder Woman is considered one of the DC Universe‘s “big three,” along with Superman and Batman, but hasn’t been adapted into other media as often. I do remember her role in the Super Friends cartoon and the Lynda Carter television series back in the late 1970s, but even George Perez’s reboot after Crisis on Infinite Earths didn’t help Wonder Woman much in terms of popularity.

Fortunately, the recent Timm/Dini Justice League (now in reruns on Boomerang) helped revive interest in DC’s characters beyond print. While related big-budget movies have stalled — again, with the notable exceptions of Batman and Superman — at least the new video does justice to Princess Diana of Themyscira. On a side note, the actor who might have played Batman in George Miller’s Justice League had a cameo in this week’s episode of supernatural slacker comedy Reaper.

Wonder Woman retells the first superheroine’s mythic origin, from her creation from clay by Queen Hippolyta to her Amazon training to her departure for “man’s world” with U.S. pilot Steve Trevor. Her main opponents are petty Greek gods and the all-to-human vices of dishonesty, sexism, and war. The animation is solid, and the fight scenes earn the PG-13 rating for violence.

Wonder Woman!
Wonder Woman animated movie

The voice talent, picked by DC animation veteran Andrea Romano, is very good: Kerri Russell of Felicity and Waitress is the young princess, Virginia Madsen of Sideways is stern Hippolyta, and Firefly/Serenity and Castle‘s Nathan Fillion is a man in need of rescuing as Steve Trevor. Fans of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Spider-Man 2 will recognize Alfred Molina as the evil Ares, and Sin City‘s Rosario Dawson is the tough Artemis.

The writers, Michael Jelenic and Gail Simone, not only respect William Moulton Marston’s creation but also incorporate elements from more recent comic book storylines, having major battle scenes erupt in modern-day Washington D.C. I’d give Wonder Woman a 9 out of 10, or an A-.

The DVD’s extras include some insights into the production of the movie, episodes from Justice League Unlimited, documentaries about the history of Wonder Woman, and a preview of a promising direct-to-video Green Lantern. The documentaries were a bit repetitive, and I would have liked to see more about the television show’s effect on popular culture and comic book storylines since the Perez run. I do hope that the ambassador of Paradise Island will return to prominence in both print and live-action.

In other animation, I enjoyed the first season finale of Star Wars: the Clone Wars on the Cartoon Network. Speaking of DC heroines, Zatanna, the mistress of magic, made a guest appearance on Smallville last week. Janice and I also started watching our DVDs of the Kirk Alyn Superman serials from the late 1940s/early ’50s. This past weekend, we screened Monsters vs. Aliens, which I’ll review in my next blog post.

Entry for March 25, 2009: BSG and SFTV

How many of you stuck with Battlestar Galactica? Ron Moore's "reimagined" postapocalyptic military space opera ended last Friday after a critically acclaimed run. Although I haven't approved of the revisionist show's dour mood (Who's alcoholic or murderous this week?) and some of the changes from its late-1970s progenitor, the quality of the acting and special effects has earned BSG high ratings for the SciFi Channel.

The final few hours of BSG started out with a spectacular space battle, although some of the tactics and objectives were questionable. The last hour or so (Note: some of the reviews linked to here have "spoilers") featured a character-driven attempt to wrap up storylines, although given the amount of internecine conflict and clinging to old ways for most of the past seasons, the pseudo-mystical explanations of the Cylons' (and writers') plans seemed to me even more forced than the finale of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I don't expect to follow BSG spin-off Caprica, which looks like a melodrama involving cybernetics, not unlike Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles.

As someone who has followed genre news at the former SyFy Portal, now renamed Airlock Alpha, I'm annoyed at the SciFi Channel's attempt to rebrand itself as "SyFy," continuing a move away from its core audience marked by schlock horror telemovies of the week, so-called reality programming, and wrestling. Sure, such shows may draw mainstream viewers, but both genre classics and original programming have been neglected or cut short.

While I embrace my identity as a fanboy, I don't like the outdated stereotyping of uncool geeks or nerds. It remains to be seen whether Sanctuary and Warehouse 13 can match the canceled Farscape and Stargate SG1 for creativity or fanbases. As I've mentioned before, I'm also looking forward to the eventual return of the more heroic Doctor Who and its spin-offs, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and even K-9 and Company!

Coming soon: Wonder Woman, other animation, and comic books!