V for Vendetta

a brief movie review:
(***spoilers, duh***)


"Remember, remember the 5th of November, the Gun-Powder Treason and Plot.
I know of no reason, the Gun-Powder Treason, should ever be forgot."

The film is good, but not great, and quite frankly, not V for Vendetta the book at all. It takes some of the main moments from the books and gets there differently, almost like a cliffs notes/cover version. FATE is not existent, the back story of why people were in Larkhill and what they were doing is elaborated upon, most of the subplots have been excised, and the end, while similar in spirit and sentiment, is in some ways VERY different.

What was good: Hugo Weaving, Hugo Weaving, Hugo Weaving. Wow, the man just IS V. The torture scenes with Evey were note-perfect. John Hurt as the Chancellor was suitably full of fire and brimstone and fascism. The movie had its heart in the right place.

What wasn't so good: Natalie Portman's accent. Sorry, baby, I still love you, though. The pacing was slightly... "disjointed", I think is the right word. Some of the changes made seemed arbitrary and clumsy in comparison to the book. Switching the blowing up of Parliament from the beginning to the end might provide a nice climax image, but still seems odd to me. Can't quite figure why. AND the major complaint I have and maybe this is in the book and I just haven't been able to pick up on it, but I recall the "love" between V and Evey being strictly PLATONIC. I don't remember any romantic sentiments from the book, I always have taken it more as a familial type love. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seemed so odd in the movie.

Anyway, overall, a good popcorn picture, with some ideas behind it, which these days is unusual in and of itself. I'd say 3.5 out of 5 stars.

"A revolution without dancing is one hardly worth having at all."

Dear Grant Morrison:

I love you and all, and find your work both intelligent and thought provoking. I've kept up with the storylines and ideas in everything I've read of yours up to this point, including The Invisibles, the Filth, Doom Patrol, and even Seaguy. And thus far Seven Soldiers is amazing...

but what the FUCK is going on in Mister Miracle #4?

signed,
Nicholas Danger.

EDITED at 1:26 AM 3/10

Its ok, I think I get it now, after pondering it a long while and thinking about some of your other works (and reading some other interpretations of it by other comic bloggers). Still, this is the first book of yours which I finished and said"...the fuck was that?"

Three quick hits.

Three short opinions:

1. Crash was boring and undeserving of Best Picture. That is all I have to say about the Oscars.

2. PIERRE, S.D. - Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation Monday that would ban most abortions in South Dakota, a law he acknowledged would be tied up in court for years while the state challenges the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The bill would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless the procedure was necessary to save the woman's life. It would make no exception for cases of rape or incest. Planned Parenthood, which operates the state's only abortion clinic, in Sioux Falls, immediately pledged to challenge the measure. The challenge could either be in court or by petition signatures to refer the measure to a statewide ballot in which voters would be asked to repeal the abortion ban. "We fully intend to challenge this law," said Kate Looby, state director of Planned Parenthood. "It's just a question of how."

   Good luck with that. Roe v Wade is getting chipped away bit by bit, starting now. I'm moving to Canada at my earliest convenience, because once one freedom goes down, the rest fall that much easier...

3. Writer's Block does not exist. The only thing that blocks you from writing is yourself. I might expound upon this in the future (jeez, how many times have I said THAT in this blog?). But as it stands, if you feel like you don't have anything to write about, or can't think of anything to write, WRITE ANYWAY. Because it's when you stop writing, that you truly ARE blocked. Writing can only be accomplished by actually doing it. I've been writing constantly the past week; not all of it has been blog-(or even public-) worthy, but I've been doing it, so as not to let my hands become "cold", so to speak. JUST WRITE. The rest will take care of itself.
   

you are a constellation.

I realized tonight that I am horrible at keeping friends.

I make friends easily, as I'm an affable fellow who enjoys the company of intelligent people with worthwhile opinions, as well as those whom play music instruments, since I am rather proficient in three myself (guitar, bass, and my voice). But I have the damnedest time in keeping these relationships together, as I have the tendency to retreat into my own world, or get distracted by problems, or get torn between two different groups, and find that I am inadvertantly ignoring some and flat out pissing off others.

This is not intentional.

So, if anyone is reading this, and wonder why I didn't call, or didn't IM, or have had a hard time getting me to do something, its not because I don't want to. It's mostly because I don't want to upset anyone, so rather than shun one to the benefit of the other, I retreat from all.

I'm hoping my soon-to-be-purchased (in the next day or so) automobile helps alleviate this.

More on this eventually.
But probably not, because I'll be distracted by a shiny object and forget.

Don't let anyone tell you no.

I hate March.

Nothing good has ever happened to me in March. Additionally, an inordinately large amount of BAD things have happened to me in March. (One positive thing: one of my sisters was born in March; though on the same day, Reagan was shot and DIDN'T DIE.)

So forgive me for a smidge of pessimism, but nothing good comes of this month or anything associated with it. In fact, I wish St Patrick's Day wasn't in March, because then I wouldn't have to leave the house for any reason...

ANYWAY.

NextWave #2 came out today. It makes me warm and fuzzy inside. Yes, Warren Ellis is your new personal lord and savior; bring him cigarettes, booze, and whores.

My mind is too frazzled with the thoughts of impending doom from the coming month to concentrate on much of anything, so I'll write something more when I'm not feeling so apocalyptic.

I leave you with a random picture of Scarlett Johansson's breasts:

You're welcome.