21 May 2010: Robin Hood movie review

After the Citrix Synergy conference in San Francisco ended, I went to Cartoon Art Museum, which had exhibits on Beetle Bailey, Batman, and the art of Ed Hannigan. I later went to the Metreon shopping mall across from Yerba Buena Gardens for a falafel dinner, the “Hollywood Legends” costume exhibit, and the latest Robin Hood movie. Director Ridley Scott and lead actor Russell Crowe do a better job with the legendary English hero than Kevin Costner’s Prince of Thieves, even if the newer film contains almost as many anachronisms.

Scott conflates events including the Norman Conquest of Britain, King Richard the Lionhearted’s return from the Third Crusade and eventual demise, and his brother John’s reluctance to sign the Magna Carta. Robin Hood also shows tactics used in the battles of Crecy and Agincourt during the Hundred Years’ War, yet it barely mentions the Saxon-Norman tension common to many versions of the legend, certainly since Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe.

As with Prince of Thieves (of which I’m not a big fan), castle defenses in the latest Robin Hood are breached with explosives, accents are intermittent, and the villains are underdeveloped stereotypes. The landing craft of the devious French troops is even a visual allusion to D Day, during which English and U.S. troops invaded the coast of Nazi-occupied France during World War II, not the other way around! In many ways, the battles and father-son drama make this movie more of a sequel to Kingdom of
Heaven than about Robin Hood.

On the other hand, I was glad to see Robin depicted as a yeoman archer, and his supporting cast of brawny Little John, lighthearted Will Scarlet, the bard Alan a Dale, and chubby Friar Tuck was all in place. After some earlier controversy regarding the casting of Maid Marian, I liked Cate Blanchett in the role, which was made more substantial reflecting a modern feminist view of the late addition to Robin Hood‘s tales.

The sheriff of Nottingham, once the same person as the vigilante in an early version of the script, is reduced to a supporting role to the supposedly craven King John. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of wealth redistribution or swashbuckling in this version of Robin Hood.

I did like the cues to England’s Celtic and Roman history no doubt nods to Scott and Crowe’s successful collaboration in the equally ahistorical but atmospheric Gladiator. Like stories of King Arthur, the outlaw who robs from the rich to give to the poor around Nottinghamshire and Sherwood Forest has proven to be inspirational, reflective of the present, and resilient for centuries.

My favorite versions of Robin Hood are the classic 1930s Errol Flynn movie, the 1975 British television series, the 1980s neoPagan-flavored Robin of Sherwood, and the Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman film released in the shadow of the Costner debacle. Yes, there’s also the Disney cartoon, Sean Connery in Robin and Marian,
Mel Brook’s Men in Tights, and the recent BBC series, but I find myself going back to the Howard Pyle book (including one edition illustrated by Green Arrow artist Mike Grell).

I’d give the latest Robin Hood movie, which was rated PG-13 for violence, a 7 out of
10, a B-, or three stars.

Coming soon: San Francisco sightseeing and genre television updates!

20 May 2010: California conference

Although Janice and I haven’t traveled for work in a while, we’re making up for it this spring and summer! Janice’s technical communications conference in Dallas a few weeks ago went well. On Tuesday, 11 May 2010, I took a JetBlue flight from Boston’s Logan Airport to San Francisco for the Citrix Synergy conference. On the way, I rewatched the Richie/Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, which was decent. I stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Downtown near the Moscone Convention Center.

My first impressions of the city by the bay were positive. The business district reminded me of those in New York or Boston, with varied architecture, good urban energy, and a diverse population. I grabbed lunch at a Del Taco, which is similar to Taco Bell, then registered and attended the welcome reception. All of my meals for the next few days would be provided through the show.

Since this was my first time attending this conference as an associate site editor, I had a lot to learn. I went to the keynote addresses, breakout sessions, panel discussions, and laboratory demonstrations of virtualization technology with about 4,700 attendees (more than in past years).

I found the crowded sessions and vendor hall informative, but I didn’t get to interview as many users and prospective columnists as I had hoped. Fortunately, reporters Jo M. and Bridget B. and blogger Brian M. more than made up for it, and I visited TT’s offices near my hotel. I also enjoyed meeting peers at the press dinner at Ducca on Wednesday, May 12, including foreign correspondents Tony S. from England, Jolein de R. from the Netherlands, and Valery M. from France, as well as fellow New Englanders Carryl R. and Shelly F.

I didn’t get to see much of the host city in the first few days because of conference sessions, but I did talk with executives from Citrix and Intel. For the final night party on Thursday, May 13, we were bussed out to Treasure Island, which had an impressive view of San Francisco’s skyline. Comedian and “closet nerd” Sinbad was the headliner and was pretty funny. An open bar, live band, and several dining options made for a festive night in the large pavilion tent, making up for the fact that I knew relatively few people there.

Coming soon: Robin Hood review, sightseeing, and more!

10 May 2010: Iron Man 2 review

On Friday, 7 May 2010, Janice and I met Ken G. and his colleague Bill B. to screen Iron Man 2 at the IMAX theater at Jordan’s Furniture in Natick, Massachusetts. We liked the superhero sequel, which had much of the action and witty dialogue of its predecessor and continued building to an eventual Avengers movie.

Disney/Marvel's Iron Man 2 — Man of Iron

Robert Downey Jr. brought the same charisma and internal conflict to Tony Stark/Iron Man that he had to the first movie and to Guy Ritchie’s recent Sherlock
Holmes. Gwyneth Paltrow returned as his “gal Friday” Pepper Potts, and Jon Favreau (who plays chauffeur Happy Hogan) juggled the development of multiple characters better than many sequel directors.

They were joined by newcomers including Scarlett Johansson as Natalia Romanov and Don Cheadle (replacing Terence Howard) as Lt.Col. James Rhodes/War Machine, plus Samuel L. Jackson returning as Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. As usual, Stan “the Man” Lee had a brief cameo. I had worried that an enlarged cast and multiple villains would bog down the plot, but Favreau managed to keep the story moving, and the script had a lot of humor to balance the pyrotechnics.

Mickey Rourke played Ivan Vanko, a composite of the comic book villains Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo, Viggo Mortensen’s tough guy in Eastern Promises, and his own comebacks in The Wrestler and Sin City. While Vanko is a mix of brains and brawn, Sam Rockwell’s military industrialist Justin Hammer (channeling Gary Oldman’s Zorg in The Fifth Element) tries to match Stark’s ego. I also just watched Rockwell in the more quiet science fiction film Moon, which harkened back to 2001: A Space
Odyssey and Outland.

Without giving away any “spoilers,” the plot of Iron Man 2 follows closely after the origin story. Billionaire industrialist Tony Stark has revealed his identity as the armored vigilante, increasing his fame and ego but also endangering everything he has built by drawing out new rivals.

I liked how the movie portrayed next-generation human-computer interfaces, the role (or lack thereof) of security technology and its social implications, and the use of the World’s Fair grounds in Flushing, Queens, near where I once lived.

Iron Man 2‘s cinematography was pretty good, with the excellent costumes again inspired by Adi Granov’s designs. The chase and fight scenes could have been a bit clearer, though. I understand that setting them at night, in water, or at high speeds
makes the transitions between actors and computer-generated images smoother, but on the large IMAX screen, my eyes didn’t always know where to track. Several
critics have also complained about the movie’s pacing, militarism, and snarky
tone.

On the other hand, as a longtime fan of comic book superheroes, I was pleased to see several “Easter eggs,” or clues to the larger Marvel universe. Favreau stayed true to the history and spirit of the source material. Kenneth Branagh’s Thor will be next, in early 2011. Overall, I’d give Iron Man 2, which was rated PG-13 for language and violence, an 8 out of 10, a B+, or three stars.

The strong box office for Iron Man 2 marked the beginning of the summer movie season. Let’s hope that it’s a good one! I’ll probably see Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood or the video game adaptation Prince of Persia: Sands of Time next.

Coming soon: Travel, genre television, games, and comics!

>>2010 movies

-“Daybreakers” (vampires) ***/B

-“The Secret of Kells” (animated) ***/A-

-“How to Train Your Dragon” (fantasy comedy)
***/B+

-“Clash of the Titans” (fantasy remake) ***/B

-“Iron Man 2” (superheroes) ***/B+

6 May 2010: What is “Vortex?”

The “Vortex” space opera has its roots in “The Zarkonian Bomb,” a film script that I wrote with Carlo R., Jon and Bill B., and Ray C. in high school in New York's Westchester County. Looking back to 1982, we were obviously inspired by the novels of Isaac Asimov, Doctor Who, the original Star Wars film trilogy, and the Star Frontiers game. I later wrote “The Adventures of Jason Delmar,” a series of short stories.

In contrast to “hard” science fiction or other subgenres like cyberpunk, space opera features relatively easy interstellar travel and human interaction with aliens, plus themes of exploration, diplomacy and heroism amid warfare, and the importance of friendship. Space opera has its roots in the “planetary romances” of the 19th and early 20th centuries, pulp fiction, and movie serials, but James Cameron's Avatar is a recent (if explicitly derivative) example.

In college in Upstate New York, I created the “Vortex” role-playing rules with my brother Peter and David I.S., influenced by Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Ed., the Star Trek franchise, books by Larry Niven and others, and the cyberpunk/fantasy game Shadowrun. Our system had several species options, five attributes (Prowess, Agility, Intellect, Respect, and Aura), skills and mystical powers, and lots of gear.

The name “Vortex” came from late-night conversations about the nature of time, human history, and perception with Carlo and Dave, touching on the works of Edward Gibbon and Mircea Eliade. Is history linear or cyclical? Are technological and social progress inevitable or transient, and what role does individual choice play? From the perspective of the present, global events seem more crowded at an ever-accelerating pace, hence the vortex (I'm not the only gamer to think of it this way). It can also represent the spiral of the Milky Way Galaxy.

After graduate school, I used the Generic Universal Role-Playing System to run successful campaigns, including GURPS 3rd Ed. Space: “Vortex,” for about a dozen people in Virginia in the 1990s. At that time, we enjoyed the books of three Davids (Brin, Gerrold, and Weber), movies like The Fifth Element, and television shows such as Babylon 5 and Space: Above and Beyond. The universe expanded as the players developed more aliens, and the crew of the P.T.S. “Venture” explored more space.

Earlier in the 1990s, I had used the original “Vortex” system for “Bay City: Visor and the Seer,” which later became the GURPS “Supers: the S.J.I.” superhero campaign (most recently using D20 Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Ed.). In addition, we used my timeline in the “Voyagers II: Adventures in the Dimensional Corps” game I co-ran with Steve M.R., Tim M.B., Jim J.D'B., and other Game Masters.

I ran GURPS “Vortex” briefly by e-mail and for Rob R. and Randy K.M. after moving to the Boston area. We then returned to my long-running “Vanished Lands” fantasy campaign using Dungeons & Dragons Third and Fourth Editions. In 2010, I expect to incorporate some “transhumanist” concepts, “retrofuturist” speculative fiction, and “rules-light” games, looking back and ahead simultaneously.

In future posts, I'll explain more of the “Vortex” setting, character options, and various space opera rules sets. Feel free to post your own questions and ideas to the “Vanished Lands” Yahoo/eGroup, the “Holy Steel” Google group, or my blog at Yahoo, MySpace, EnWorld.org, or Wizards of the Coast!

27 April 2010: Crusaders visit

<!–[CDATA[

After hosting Byron V.O. from St. Louis and running Pathfinder: “Holy Steel” fantasy role-playing sessions the previous weekend, Janice and I hosted Damon F.P. and Steve M. on 24 and 25 April 2010. I’ve been friends with the guys since studying at Archbishop Stepinac High School in New York’s Westchester County back in the early 1980s. While onetime college roommate Frank P.D. was also in New England with his family, we weren’t able to meet him this time.

That Saturday, Janice cooked a tasty barbecue (Sloppy Joe) lunch, then drove Damon, Steve, and me up to Salem, Massachusetts. We had considered going into downtown Boston, but I’m glad we went somewhere different for sightseeing. Janice and I have gone to Salem for the festivities around Halloween, but this was Damon and Steve’s first time. We visited the Salem Witch Museum and the Witch Trial Memorial, strolled through the historic seaport, and explored various shops.

We stopped in at an Army/Navy surplus store, Harrison’s Comics, and a newsstand with more comics and gaming supplies. We reminisced about school, talked about work and family, compared classic rock notes, and had a good dinner at O’Neill’s, an Irish pub. (A few days earlier, I had gone with co-workers to New Mother India on Waltham’s Moody Street.) That evening, Janice and I introduced Steve to Wii Sports Resort while Damon dozed. Janice and Steve did better at the golf and bowling than I did.

On Sunday, we had a pancake and sausage brunch after Janice served her weekly volunteering stint in Dedham, Mass. Steve and Damon then returned to Connecticut and New York, and Janice and I ran some errands at Legacy Place and continued booking our upcoming travel. Our busy weekends will soon continue with Free Comic Book Day and Janice heading to Dallas for a conference!