Movie Review: The Losers

I finally got around to watching Sylvain White's adaptation of the comic book The Losers.  I thought the trailer looked good, but it hit right before the A-Team and at the time I wasn't sure I was ready to accept the knock-off version of that.  And most of the reviewers I respect had a hard time with it. But as a Netflix rental, I was ready to take the plunge.

For the most part it was a pretty fun movie.  The movie moves along at a really brisk pace.  You know the characters right from the onset, although further character development takes a serious backseat to the brisk plot and paper thin plot.  And I guess like any 'fun' movie, it completely unravels in the third act - when things are actually supposed to add up and/or be resolved.

One of the things I didn't like about the movie was the 'villain'.  Jason Patric spends most of his screentime chewing the scenery, and even for a movie that is over the top - he is even more so.  It makes a somewhat ludicrous plot completely unbelievable and sucks you right out of the movie.

I also think that White was a bit too free-wheeling with the hyper-stylized techniques he applied to the film and its editing.  It was like he was doing his best Tony Scott and it just didn't work for me sometimes.  His use of slo-mo and jump cuts, for the most part, was unnecessary and only seemed like he was covering up deficiencies in the film with tricks.

Oh yeah, Zoe Saldana is very hot.  Although unbelievable as someone with her extensive military-esque training and CIA-like master of disguises (especially when you find out who she really is).

Fancy Yourself a Writer or Journalist?

Then you should enter the Harbor Moon Art Print Contest.

We’re putting together extra content for the digital edition of the book (we’ve got some cool stuff cooking)… and one of the things I wanted to do is have an article from a local paper (it plays a role in the book).

If you haven’t read the book yet, what I would do is send you the headline, the details of the story and you would write a newspaper article which would appear in our extra content. It is actually better if you don’t fully know what you’re writing, as the article would only see things on the surface – but the readers of Harbor Moon would know the real reason for things.

If your article is chosen for our extra features, you will receive an 11” X 17” art print from the book (signed by myself – if you want). You will also receive credit for your work.

Email me at ryan@harbor-moon.com and get involved!

Harbor Moon on Wikipedia and Good Reads

Just wanted to let everyone know that the greatest werewolf graphic novel to not officially come out yet has been added to Wikipedia. In case you don't know, it was financed, edited and written by myself (and Dikran Ornekian). Polish artist Pawel Sambor is the artist, with some additional artwork by Nikodem Cabala. Karol Wisniewski is the man behind the curtain who helped make it all happen.

I also wanted to share Good Reads with everyone, a website that is sort of like Facebook for readers (in fact, it works in conjunction with Facebook if you want it to). It catalogs what you are reading, want to read, have read, etc... You can even keep in touch with actual authors (such as myself) and participate in give-aways. Currently, after getting 1000 entries into the initial Harbor Moon give-away I'm holding another that ends on December 15. So... go - sign-up and participate. Get active about your reading before you become a TV zombie. I was turned onto the site by someone extremely special to me (who maybe thinks she isn't that special but she'd be very, very wrong - if they didn't think they were so tough they'd see that they are living their life and making choices based on fear rather than hope and trust, but I digress). Now I share it with you.

Movie Review: Social Network, The

This is going to be real short, as this is a near perfect film.  I will focus on what is wrong with the movie:

Rashida Jones.  Sorkin and Fincher are obviously extremely intelligent individuals, why on earth was this character in the film, let alone giving her this ridiculous end scene?  Did they need to put a little bow on it? No, absolutely not.  She's a decent actress (and very, very good looking), but her role here comes off clunky and obtrusive - because she has nothing to work with.  Her two scenes should have been excised from this movie... 

Still - best movie of the year so far.  Did not let down in any capacity.  Fincher has already been writing his place in history, and this only solidifies that position.

Go For Broke

If you want to achieve greatness, you have to be willing to sacrifice everything. You need to be wiling to go broke, literally, figuratively and mentally.  You need sharpened focus and a heightened ability to compartmentalize your life.

I believe I have that in me.  And I think the only thing that holds me back is my desire to be great at too many things.

Sometimes at odds with this is my desire to be a good human being. Or even be a happy human being.  It is a daily battle for me as I struggle with bi-polar disorder, but I think I am winning and I actually believe it allows me to forge the path I walk through this world. I bend, I do not brake. I am a rock others break themselves against. Everything I do is focused around where I'm heading and unfortunately anyone unwilling to take that journey gets left behind. Some really great travelers... But it is not for me to decide.  Everyone has to make their own choices in life and it is up to them to decide which path they take.

Why Comics?

It is, in my mind, the only medium where you can truly create whatever you want. You aren't bound by the limitations of your budget or reality. I know special effects exist today that enable filmmakers to create things like never before, but a budget is always attached. And a film has to pass through so many gatekeepers before it's made. Comics allow anyone with a pad and pen to create and share their vision. When writing or reading prose, things get lost in translation. Everyone has their own vision of what they are reading, but with comics, you can directly influence their vision and create 'your' world. The only limitation, if you yourself are not the artist, is communication with the artist.

And Then the Cold Sets In...

Have I mentioned that I do not like the cold?  Like is a pretty tame word.  Hate.  Loathe.  Despise. 

It's been really nice in NY, but the weather is finally starting to turn.  Around November 1 of every year the cold sets in.  You might get a sunny and 50 something day here and there, but for the most part it sucks.  This lasts until the thaw begins in March.

This cold brings nothing good.  Layers of clothing.  Dirty slush.  A mental buckling down, bracing yourself for what God is about to give you.  All of it a grim reminder that summer and sunshine is fleeting... 

The one good thing about a change of seasons is that it gives you the mental ability to wipe a slate clean.  To change direction and chart a new course in your life, or segment of your life.  I've been on a pretty eratic course since I dropped out of school (and later went back and then to grad school) over a decade ago.  My course changing paths all the time, constantly evolving as a person.  I love this aspect of myself.  It shapes who I am.  I am predictably unpredictable.  To lose this process of self-discovery, or discovery in general must be so utterly... devastating.  Since I was young I knew I was not destined for this type of life.  To be sedentary, to exist in one place - one time. It is so infinitely boring.  And nothing scares me more, besides going bald, than being bored.