10 Best Comic Book Films. (Part 2)

I've finally gotten to part 2 of this post and thankfully you guy's will be able to see my top 5 comic book films.

04. Sin City (Unrated Editions)

For the trailer see my previous post. 

The reason this differs from the original is simply because it feels almost like seeing a different movie. I loved that this hews closer to the graphic novel and feels almost as though you're watch Frank Miller's comics come to life. I loved Brittany Murphy in these stories and I adored the small aesthetic steps Rodriguez used to add his own flavor into an already established and loved graphic novel series, sadly he hasn't done anything good since.

03. X-2: X-Men United

From the intro, to the character growth, to the acting, directing and the script I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Where the first one seemed to lack and come off a little pretentious this one makes up with an amazing story, and even more amazing special effects. This movie is brilliant and beautiful, Bryan Singer really outdid himself with this film, the subdued performances from the leads was the very definition of ensemble acting, everyone complimented one another's style and gravitas. Far superior to the original and even more thought provoking, seeing Singer use "Mutants" as a symbol for the persecutions of many minorities (homosexuality, black, hispanic, Jewish, etc.) was both smart and well played. This is one of the best sequels to a film I've ever seen, in fact the only other sequel that lives up to and exceeds it's predecessor is...

02. Batman Returns

This is the pinnacle of what a Batman film should be, and not just a Batman film but also a sequel. This film, this masterpiece is not without it's flaws, but it almost makes Batman a secondary character. You're forced into the psyches of two mentally unstable people, Oswald Cobblepot and Selena Kyle, played impeccably by Michelle Pfiffer and Danny Devito. Whereas the first film was the Bruce Wayne/Batman introduction film you're left with a villain that is more comical than menacing, more caricature than character. Breathing new life into their characters Pfiffer and Devito became their characters and to this day I have no way of seeing how these characters can ever be recreated. Take notes Ms. Hathaway, you have a huge burden not to suck as Selena Kyle in Nolan's next Batman film.

01. A History of Violence

 Oh where do I even start with this film. This is a pure masterpiece, to me this is every bit as good as it's original source. The subtleties in the directing, the total believability in the actors and the complicated and complex story makes this one of the best adaptations to date. Watching this film was pure bliss and left me with this sense of wonder, not knowing that this was a graphic novel beforehand only made it that much better. It stands on it's own and also as a companion to it's source.

What's with America and Violence?

Why do we as American's glorify violence? We slow down on freeways to look at accidents and watch the  evening news just to count the fatalities and if we even read news papers anymore we'd collect the clippings and set up scrap books and portfolios all depicting death. I recently had the opportunity to watch the lastest in the Saw film series (Saw VII or Saw 3D, whichever you choose to call it) and I realized that that movie was almost 2 hours of horrific death and death. Did I enjoy it? No I didn't enjoy one minute of it, it was just one grotesque brutality after another. Where have our American sensibilities gone? Once upon a time we we shocked and outraged by deaths and murders and now we collect them like stamps and trading cards.

Sidenote

First off before I get down to my postings, I would like to point out that I have a few to post, I'm finally going to get down to part 2 of a post I previously started, I'm going to write one on how I feel the current state of music has devolved into pure garbage, and another on America's obsession with violence, in a  general perspective. Please bare with me as I have been procrastinating with my blog but I am back and plan to have at least 28 posts done by the end of this month.

Well here goes nothing...

Progress...

The Decemberists Have Stolen My Soul.

After finally listening to the new Decemberists album The King is Dead I can consider myself more that just a casual fan. They're making music that is so gut-wrenchingly pure and honest I just want to die, never have I head Americana, blue grass and pseudo-blues mixed so brilliantly and yet so endearingly. The beauty of their brand of music is that is conventionally unconventional, that after the opening track you can't help but continue to listen to the album in it's entirety. The flow of the album is akin to listening to what's in the heart of the band, it has all the sensibilities of pop music without the the cliches of pop music, the beauty of bluegrass without the pretentiousness, and the soul of Americana albeit more accessibly. Never have i been sonically raped by bluegrass and loved it, the lull of the guitars, the screech of the harmonica, and the gently lullaby-like singing of Colin Meloy. The beauty in their intricate simplicity is almost enough for me to proclaim this the best album that's been released in the last few months, and possibly the best (so far) of 2011.

The End of 2010; New Beginnings Abound

2010 was a year of quietly embracing the consequences of my actions. I was forced to live in the conditions I had laid out for myself many of which began in the year 2009. I plan to start 2011 in a completely different mind set. I've made many mistakes this year and I've put my life on hold for such trivial things as love only to have it thrown back in my face. Was I wrong to do so? Maybe, but it was a mistake that I have to live with. 

Cooking: My New Passion

A dilemma, indeed

When did gay America become so gay? That's a question I've been constantly asking myself these past few months. I remember turning on the news a few weeks back and seeing that Vince Vaughn was in some sort of trouble for saying "electric cars are gay" in a trailer for his upcoming movie,The Dilemma, the sheer hilarity in this and the audacity of anyone who became offended by this is almost pathetic and on every level sad, first off he's being lampooned by a man who's so far in the closet he's already starting to fall into Narnia. Anderson Cooper is not a champion of Gay America, champions of Gay America are not in the closet, they are out and they are proud. If Mr. Cooper cared so much about Gay America then I think it's about time for him to admit what people have been saying about him for years now, that he is gay. The sheer audacity in someone like, someone who is deeply "closeted" to attack free and artistic creativity is horrid, the idea that you can come out and criticize another person's work is downright disgusting, ladies and gentleman we are no longer in the dark ages. Coming from me, a person who has used the word gay as an adjective, on more than on occasion, it might be hard for you to listen objectively to what I'm saying, but you should, and you should do so attentively and open minded. The truth is that I don't think that many people in Gay America found it that unsettling or offensive, in fact the gay people I've talked to about it found that it wasn't even a big deal.

Contemplations of Life and Death

Today I'm sitting here, feeling the terrible wind again my skin and I'm contemplating death. Do we not know the truth about death? I for one believe that death is not the end. We have this cycle of life that we go through. There is no kingdom which awaits us after we have succumbed to death, there is only death. When we die it's only a way for our body to tell us the energy we have stored has become to much for the old vessel and that it needs to be free to explore again. Every thing that we do in life is just a product of what our energy tells us to do. People got it wrong when they started calling the light inside us spirits, in actuality it is just energy. Our aura is just a product of that energy. Almost everything we do is to replenish our energy, eat, sleep, exercise, play etc.

The Truth

To me the worst thing in the world is a lie. I'm sure there are worst things than a lie, but to me the act of telling a lie is unforgivable. A lie is the opposite of a great story because it builds and builds into an unsatisfying end. It never pays off, or at least the payoff is unexpected. Someone once told me that you can always tell a lie because of how outrageous a story sounds. I'm here to tell you first hand that that's true. How you can tell a person is a liar is by their mysterious and changing behaviors. I mean in all honesty mystery is not sexy, it is not attractive. Ok, sure you can argue that mystery is somewhat sexy, but it's a trap. Ladies let me tell you, guys hide behind mystery so you don't expect them of lying. It's easier for us to say that we're just mysterious and not that we're lying.