Michael*
720 replies · 7690 views
LOL! Thanks AllMusic Guide*
. 'Obvious, hook-laden punky'
Oh, thoughh I still haven't seen Gotham it is getting a lot of acclaim here. Agent Carter on the other hand is
for me. I was glad to see the actress from the first Captain America movie since I loved them both in that. The only thing that bothered me slightly was a female friend saw a scene where she was in disguise and some cleavage was showing and she was like, 'I see why you like it.' My response was that I was offended because I don't recall ever noticing them before and I would have to be paid to watch Baywatch beyond the theme song, thank you very much :persuazn: ! Could it be that a man can like a female character by the same merit as a man, you sexist, capitalist dog of a woman! Woa, random vent there
.
I can only suppress the frustrated, failed NME reviewer in me for so long at a time. 
Unfortunately I've yet to see 'Agent Carter' (still no sign of it being picked up by a UK broadcaster - and they wonder why people use torrents so much ), but I've read almost all good things so far. I hear the quality isn't far removed from the best of Marvel's output and that there's a great sense of fun, which seems to have become their defining characteristic in recent years. Hayley Atwell is going to be returning as Peggy, not only for 'Age of Ultron' but for 'Ant-Man' too, which should be great. Hopefully I'm not too out of touch with the continuity by then. 
It would seem 'Gotham' has become a bit of a mixed bag in recent weeks. Early on, they were guilty of going slightly overboard, squeezing as many characters into the setting as possible and burning through the story at a pace that they were probably never going to be able to maintain, although I still think the good stuff is good enough to make the weaker points forgivable. As much enjoyment as people are getting from the Cobblepot and Nygma story arcs (which I personally find pretty hit and miss), my favourite character up to now is Harvey Bullock, with Fish Mooney a close second. I'm far from being the biggest Jada Pinkett-Smith fan, but she plays it so over the top that she's hard to dislike. I could easily see Mooney being accepted into the comic book mythos in the near future, a la Harley Quinn.
Weirdly, I was just talking about this with someone who had a relative over in Massachusetts - I'm told that the top whack temperature-wise there is something like minus 10 at the moment. He said something else that I wasn't sure if he was having me on about (I might actually ask Pinky about this too), that if the weather is bad during the week but better at the weekend, then the kids have to go to school on Saturdays?
Obviously, if it's true, they have my deepest sympathies.
No such thing as 'bad' weather though of course, only the wrong clothes.
Ah yes, Massachusetts and the whole northeast for that matter, still suffering from some nasty cold and snow storms It's been one record year for them and for use the complete opposite side of the spectrum with above average temps and very little rain fall, AGAIN! Luckily they are forecasting the next 3 months as having above average precipitations levels 
And as far as the school year goes. All I know is that any days that are missed due to weather events need to be made up during the summer in many cases. So that means a shorter summer break from what I know thus far. I think weekends are off limits though
Hmm, I beg to differ on that line sir and so would Pinky I think
Ah yes, Massachusetts and the whole northeast for that matter, still suffering from some nasty cold and snow storms
Hmm, I beg to differ on that line sir and so would Pinky I think
It seems like they've been trying to find ways to shorten the kids' summer holidays for years over here. I'm sure if they could use the weather as an excuse to do it, they would. :persuazn:
Although we don't really seem to get much in the way of a climate any more, we just have random weather. Keeps you on your toes though, choosing what to wear from day to day is a bit like a guessing game.
Just so you'd know, It's scalding hot in India, it's around 37 Degrees centigrade.
(I accidentally stumbled upon this thread.)
It seems like they've been trying to find ways to shorten the kids' summer holidays for years over here. I'm sure if they could use the weather as an excuse to do it, they would. :persuazn:
Although we don't really seem to get much in the way of a climate any more, we just have random weather. Keeps you on your toes though, choosing what to wear from day to day is a bit like a guessing game.
I guess this means many more kids will be calling in sick during summer 
At least you have weather. We are on year 4 of dry, dry, and more dry weather NASA estimates that California reservoirs have about 1 year of water left in them And all u see all over SoCal are green lawns and the fact they're ornamental grasses is quite laughable since we have crops drying up at the moment. Our water priorities are perfect eh?
I see it's that time of the year again sir So what shall it be? 33 strippers, 33 beers, 33 grams of ur choice of narcotics or lastly, 33 of your favorite snackage items? 
As you ponder about the consequences of each of the choices above, happy birthday sir and I wish you another great year ahead 
Happy birthday dude! 
Will you look at you, young whippersnapper! Damn kids! 
Much appreciated guys!
It’s nice to be young, healthy and full of energy. I think so, anyway - the old memory's a little dodgy these days.
Happy Birthday Michael!!!
Happy (late) birthday, Michael!!
Thanks muchly!
Found out on the day that I share my birthday with Paul Rudd. Needless to say, his got most of the publicity. :persuazn:
^ I love Paul Rudd Maybe we need to get you a new agent and publicist?
Some of my favorite super 'hero' comics:
Punisher (Garth Ennis' series is what interested me in the character, and no one has topped him since) The whole thing is online now 1-75 are the best. Forewarned: the series is disturbing.
http://viewcomic.com/the-punisher-max-v1-013/
Luthor Strode series ( What stands out about the trilogy is the 'spunk', novel situations, and the fluid artwork)
http://viewcomic.com/legacy-of-luther-strode-001-2015-2/
Birthright is quite creative and well done:
http://viewcomic.com/birthright-006-2015/
"Hexed" is chic and quite feminist. All the women look are drawn like fashion models..
http://viewcomic.com/hexed-009-2015/
Artesia is clearly made by a passionate artist. I admire the research done to flesh out this world:
http://viewcomic.com/?s=Artesia
^ I love Paul Rudd
Maybe we need to get you a new agent and publicist?
You read for the part of Ant-Man, you feel good about it, then they go and cast some other guy. 
© Richard Dreyfuss
Some of my favorite super 'hero' comics:
I particularly like the look of the Birthright one. It appears to draw from all manner of different fantasy stories, while the transition from procedural drama to the more fantastical vibe is laid out well. I've added it to my seemingly never-ending 'to read' list.
From what I've heard, Garth Ennis is a pretty polarising writer for a lot of comic book fans, but I enjoy the way he fleshes out his supporting cast. It's obvious too that he really gets a kick out of dreaming up adversaries for Castle. 
Yep, Birthright looks interesting, and could even translate into a film.
I actually don't even read these "Graphic Novels" initially (I feel wrong for calling them this...it is such an obvious buzzword. But calling them comics seems too general ). I like the art, and just looking at every page. I only read them when all the issues are released, as I don't like reading something half way and waiting until next year for the ending.
This is a collection the "friendly, less scary & mass market" version of the Punisher that I was talking about. It starts at #1 but it looks like the concept is given up half-way.:
http://viewcomic.com/the-punisher-v9-018-2015/
Interesting that you say that about Garth. Garth Ennis is a smart fellow who puts study into his material. He has the ability to find the titillating, although I can't think of anything he did that I think is extremely good. I saw his Fury and Punisher stories. They are decent but completely not-"super-heroy". He likes to take the character and put them into a pseudo-historical and realism setting, comic-book style. That may be why die-hard fans of the superhero serials may find this to be heresy- he simply just uses the character to fit his mold. Brian Azzarello 's 100 bullets is quite good and reminds me of Punisher Max.
Also, Fight Club 2 by the author of the book has come out. The anti-hero of the story actually moves on and becomes a married man....I was quite surprised to see this as the movie was such a cult hit but it took the author so long to respond to his first story.
What's on your reading list? I am currently finishing up my reads on the Soviet winter counteroffensive 1942-1943. It's been a blast.
Also:
I found this and it appears to be the inspiration for "Dark Knight Rises" Bane. Nolan should have stuck closer to this version, but with vital modifications, of course...I was hoping TDKR started as an origin story for Bane:
I checked out some E3 stuff over the weekend. Some interesting stuff. I had pretty much felt that gaming industry was stuck in a rut but the new promotional efforts are showing some promise:
The bethesda softworks stuff looked well done. Fallout 4 looks the most interesting and derives from Fallout 3. The modern version of Doom- the classic shooter- is retro and is different at the same time; also now relies on speed and close action for survival. Deus Ex has excellent graphics and looks like a significant upgrade from Human revolution.
Most certainly these modern games have had a significant leap forward in terms of graphics and action dynamics with some improvement in gameplay. 
Looks promising for the future.
The most impressive vids from E3 IMHO:
Not sure if you're the one around here I asked the last time, but where do you come in on the whole Christiano vs. Messi debate in terms of individual talent? Well, aside from one using one foot most of the time that is . Also, is there a list somewhere of the members who currently make gifs? I don't know whether they still do the request thread or not anyway.
Interesting that you say that about Garth. Garth Ennis is a smart fellow who puts study into his material. He has the ability to find the titillating, although I can't think of anything he did that I think is extremely good. I saw his Fury and Punisher stories. They are decent but completely not-"super-heroy". He likes to take the character and put them into a pseudo-historical and realism setting, comic-book style. That may be why die-hard fans of the superhero serials may find this to be heresy- he simply just uses the character to fit his mold. Brian Azzarello 's 100 bullets is quite good and reminds me of Punisher Max.
Of the stuff I've come across so far, I would say 'Preacher' is probably Ennis's best work. 'Hellblazer' is pretty good too. On balance, I wouldn't consider all of his Punisher stuff to be essential, but I suppose that would be a fairly tall order anyway, given that it was run of more than 100 issues focusing mostly on just the one guy. He seems to have a knack of giving Castle a level of depth that's three dimensional and realistic in the best way possible, while reigning himself in just enough to stay true to his base-level roots. I must confess though, I'm not that familiar with Azzarello beyond his 'Joker' story, which was a very complex and fresh take on the character.
By the way, did you hear that Castle is going to make an appearance in the 'Daredevil' TV show next year? Funny thing is, I would never have pictured Jon Bernthal in the role, but now I can't think of anyone more perfect for it. If he's well-received, I suspect this could act like a 'backdoor pilot' of sorts, to his own Netflix series. 
What's on your reading list? I am currently finishing up my reads on the Soviet winter counteroffensive 1942-1943. It's been a blast.
Also:
I found this and it appears to be the inspiration for "Dark Knight Rises" Bane. Nolan should have stuck closer to this version, but with vital modifications, of course...I was hoping TDKR started as an origin story for Bane:
I've fallen out the habit a bit recently, if I'm honest, so I don't have anything on the go at the moment. How about you?
Thanks for that, a lot of the stories out there don't really depict Bane as being much more than a savage brute, which is a shame because the best ones involving him always demonstrate a combination of physical and mental threat to Batman. This one certainly falls into the latter category.