The Creator of Arnold Schwarzenegger

Thanks to "Bandit" for the video.

Dr. Horrible, The Dark Knight, and Watchmen Trailer

If you haven't already caught the latest from Joss Whedon, here it is.

Also, The Dark Knight really is an incredible movie and I plan on seeing it again this weekend to further absorb the movie in its entirety. I want to write a comprehensive review of the film, and I may yet do that, but the fact of the matter is that all of the build-up, all of the hype for the film, just doesn't do it justice. This is a great film that just happens to have Batman and The Joker in it. Kudos to everyone who worked on the film, because movies of this quality are increasingly rare these days. Even jaded sociology majors can and should enjoy this one. ;)

Finally, the Watchmen trailer was attached to The Dark Knight, and it looks pretty solid at this stage.

What a good weekend to be a geek!

Update: Another funny addition to the "I'm a Marvel I'm a DC" video series.

Slacker Races June 2008

This past Saturday, Indian Princess, sister of Indian Princess, and myself participated in the Slacker's Half Marathon and 4-mile races in Georgetown, CO. The slacker name is in reference to both races being downhill. The half marathon impressively entails a 2,000-mile descent from the beginning of the race at Loveland Ski Area, to the end of race in downtown Georgetown. The ladies happened to be the ones with the balls and ran the half marathon (approximately 13.1 miles). They were troopers and ran the whole way until they crossed the finish line. However, they did not leave unscathed.

Myself? I was the ultimate slacker and opted for the 4-mile race, which is still more than a 5k, thank you very much. Anywho, I also ran the whole way and managed to finish with a time of 34:28, which I thought was okay. Turns out, I placed first in my age group of 24-29 and at the award/prize ceremony during the post-race festivities, I was honored with a gold medal.

As the consummate humble individual, I made no attempts to call attention to myself, but a handful of people did ask to touch me. K, not quite, but they did ask to touch the medal. In all seriousness though I was surprised at my placing, but also honored to receive an award for my accomplishment. I hope to eventually put the medal and the bib in a frame.

In summation, the entire weekend was a blast! The three of us had a nice meal on Friday night that consisted of portabella-veggie burgers, baked potatoes, and grilled corn on the cob. The race day was especially a great experience, despite having to wake up at 5:00 AM on a Saturday to make it to the shuttles in Georgetown. The post-race festivities included some great food, drinks, and people. Plus, the t-shirts that we got in our packages were pretty sweet! It took us a while to notice the dude that the bear is chasing.

The rest of the pictures from the event can be viewed here. Here's to looking forward to the Firecracker 5k this 4th of July!

Review: The Incredible Hulk

I have stated numerous times that I was in the minority who enjoyed the first Hulk movie. With the exception of "hulk dogs", I found Ang Lee's take on the Hulk to be an intriguing examination of both the duality of the human condition and society's insistence on the suppression of the inner savage beast and the potential negative outcomes of that suppression. 

I never really followed the Hulk character that closely in the comics, as I never found the shallower version of the Jekyll/Hyde motif to be all that interesting. However, I did enjoy how the 2003 film added some meaty psychology to the characters and made an effort to offer more than just green monster action scene after green monster action scene. I found the respective "daddy issues" of Bruce Banner and Betty Ross to be a refreshing introduction that really explained why the characters were drawn to each other. With that said, I completely understand the common criticisms levied at the film. It was indeed a "slow" film, and it deviated from the source material in a multitude of ways. If I'm not mistaken, incredible or not, Hulk isn't able to run at mach 10 or cover many miles in a single jump. Although, I enjoyed the comic panel sequences, those also seemed to rub some people the wrong way. Ultimately, I think the main problem with Hulk was that it simply wasn't what people wanted. It offered a character study when people wanted "hulk smash." Which leads me to this year's film.

If you loathed Ang Lee's Hulk, you are likely going to enjoy The Incredible Hulk. Despite some alarming similarities in plot, the movies are simply different animals. The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, is pure popcorn, summer movie entertainment. That's not to say it is a shallow film by any means, and as someone who geeked out over Transformers last year, I see no problem in enjoying a movie that is clearly not even trying to be anything approaching deep. This movie obviously strove to be the antithesis of the earlier film and when judged on those merits, it succeeded. Throughout the 114 minute runtime of the film, the plot continued to move at a brisk pace. It's not that I was bothered by this, I just got the impression that a fair amount of "character" material was left on the cutting room floor, which is unfortunate, because most of the actors did a good job, they were just given only so much to work with. From what I have heard, Norton wasn't particularly happy with the final cut of the film, so it will be interesting to see if any scenes or alternative cuts appear on DVD in the future.

The effects of the movie were solid in my opinion. One of the criticisms of the CGI in the 2003 film was that the Hulk looked more like an angry Shrek than an unstoppable monster. Not the case here. Although the Hulk is still obviously computer generated, the level of detail in the skin and hair was very impressive. This is particularly apparent in a scene where the audience is actually able to observe Banner change to the Hulk and back again, no cutaways, you get to see the bones and joints popping, skin stretching, and the obvious pain that is involved in the process of "hulking out."

The movie's climax is likely going to be the icing on the cake for Hulk fans who have been craving a no-holds-barred action sequence. Seeing the Hulk go toe-to-toe with a villain that is at or beyond his level is a sight to behold, not to mention that there is something cathartic about cheering for the good guy as he leaves a trail of mayhem and destruction in his wake.

This leads me to why I think the Hulk character is popular with so many people. He represents a very real desire that many of us share, a desire to hulk out and smash things on occasion. Over the centuries, mankind has attempted to "evolve" and become more "civilized". In many ways we have, but when held under the microscope for further scrutiny it is quite clear that despite our attempts, we have yet to tame the beast within. Perhaps we never will? Perhaps that is okay? It is possible that this is why people are drawn to Mr. Green. He is a symbol of the rage inside us all, and a reminder of what can happen if we let it take control.

I give The Incredible Hulk a B-. It's not as good as Iron Man, but it sure as hell is above many other comic books films from the past few years. It won't make you ponder much, but it may show you how enjoyable smashing things can be.

Oh, for those who haven't seen it yet...

Dork Tower Comic

Even though I haven't seen The Incredible Hulk yet, I still enjoyed this comic. Even though I am essentially that fan boy that the comic is poking fun at.