Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

People have been telling me for years that I needed to read the Scott Pilgrim comics by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I've been somewhat resistant, not being a huge fan of the manga style art, but finally relented and ordered the first volume. I'm so glad I did!

First things first, even though I was resistant to the art style at firstit eventually started to grow on me. It might not be my favorite art in the world, but it has its moments.

But what really made the book great for me is the writing. The characters are well developed, interesting and deep. All of whichare conveyed in just short little snippets of dialogue. You can see Scott's insecurities, and how he relates to everyone around him in just a few pages. It's just amazing.

Add to all of that the amazing sense of humor, and just general weirdness of the book, and I'm completely in love. So much so that I've already got the second volume on the way.

Q & A (aka Slumdog Millionaire the novel)

Q& A by Vikas Swarup (since retitled to Slumdog Millionaire in the United States) is an interesting not just for its story (which is pretty fantastic), but also as a source material for adaptation.

The book tells the story of Ram Mohammad Thomas, an orphaned young man who raises himself in, and out, of the slums in some of India's biggest cities (Mumbai, Delhi and Agra) before he goes on a quiz show trying to win the largest prize in game show history, one billion rupees, only to be accused of cheating. It uses the structure of the show to illuminate important events from his life, as they taught him the answers to the questions he's asked on the show. Everything from his early years being raised by a Christian priest, to meetin his best friend Salim, and finding the love of his life, Nita comes into play. It's a beautiful, magical, not entirely realistic story. I quite enjoyed it.

I also found the differences between the book, and the film adaptation to be quite interesting. Writer Simon Beaufoy made some major changes to the characters, structure and narrative of the book when he wrote the screenplay (there's a fascinating q&a on the subject on the Creative Screenwriting podcast- one of my favorite podcasts).

In the film, the main character becomes Jamal, a Muslim, and Salim becomes his brother. Nita becomes Latika, and the two meet much earlier on, whereas in the novel Thomas doesn't meet Nita until they are in their late teens (and she's working as a prostitute at the time, which a whole other thing), amongst many other changes.

We still see the structure of the answers to the questions coming out of the contestant's life experiences, but with one major change. Instead of the chronological jumble of the book, the film tells everything in order. It's very convenient, and one of the major complaints that I've heard about the film version. So if that was a problem for you, read the book!

I found Q & A to be a fun, interesting read that would highly recommend to anyone. Even if you've already seen the film the book will be like a whole new story, they share only a few story points. Go out an dpick up this book, it's very commonly available now.

The Sea of Monsters

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series of books by Rick Riordan has really grabbed my attention two books in. It isn't doing anything groundbreaking in the genre of young adult fantasy, but I really enjoy the characters and the setting. The incorporation of the Greek pantheon and myths into the modern world just makes it even better. Probably because I've always been something of a sucker for mythology.

The second book in the series, The Sea of Monstersreally throws our heroes into the thick of the brewing showdown between the Olympian gods and Kronos, king of the titans. Percy is just ending his school year with his new friend Tyson when monsters attack the school and throw them, and Percy's friend Annabeth into a quest for the golden fleece. They have to face old enemies, and new, team up with a fierce rival and call upon all their skills as budding heroes to survive the quest.

The Sea of Monstersreally builds the world of the books. We get to see some of the classic monsters, hear about the birth of monsters like the cyclopes and finally see pieces moving into place towards a final confrontation. It's great to see the characters start to grow up a little, be a little more sure of their abilities, and have to make some big choices.

That's what everything is leading up to. The half-blood demi gods will all have to make a choice. Will they take the anger and frustration they feel towards their often absentee parents, join Luke and wage war on Olympus? Or will they follow Percy's example and try to turn that anger into something productive, try to repair the relationships they already have and save Olympus from annihilation? It's an interesting moral quandary, and one that's perfect for a young adult audience that's trying to cope with their feelings toward their own parents and trying to find their place in the world.

If you still aren't reading this series, I'd highly recommend it. The books are a quick read and a lot of fun.

Watchmen (film)

Watchmen

Watchmenis not a perfect film, but I enjoyed it. Coming from the perspective of someone who's a big fan of Alan Moore's original comic series, I found it to be a fairly faithful adaptation that captured a lot of what I like about the series, if not quite everything.

The first thing we see as we enter the world of Watchmenis the murder of the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) by an unknown assailant. If you didn't already know that the film was directed by Zach Snyder then you would after this sequence. It has all his trademark slow motion and showy visuals. Which, in this case, is not a bad thing. The credit sequence after the Comedian's death is probably my favorite part of the entire film. It recounts the story of how the world of the film was created, from the first costumed heroes, through the minutemen, the Kennedy assassination, American victory in Vietnam, the election of Richard Nixon to five (yes five!) terms in the White House and the passage of the Keane act banning masked heroes. It's visually spectacular, energetic and extremely creative. I was completely wowed by it.

By the time Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) starts his investigation into the Comedian's death, and formulates his theory of someone killing masked heroes, I was completely into the world, and ready to go. All the characters are in place as Rorschach makes the rounds, warning them about the killer. Dan Dreiberg aka Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson) is serving out his retirement as a quiet man, often visiting his friend and Nite Owl predecessor Hollis Mason (Stephen McHattie). Adrian Veidt aka Ozmandius (Matthew Goode) the smartest man in the world, and one of its wealthiest is unconcerned with the killing, too busy working on his alternate energy plans. Dr Manhattan (Billy Crudup) and girlfriend Laurie Jupiter aka Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) are ensconced at a military research facility together, their relationship slowly falling apart as he loses touch with humanity. No one really takes Rorschach's warning seriously, leaving him to investigate the growing plot on his own. Eventually they'll all be drawn in as the world moves closer to nuclear war between the United States and the USSR.

Some of the sequences in the film are breathtaking, showing the amazing depth of story in the source material. The opening sequence, and the ones that follow, delving into the backstories of the major characters are very different from one another, but feel part of a larger whole. Rorschach's back story is horrifically dark and violent, Dr Manhattan's (accompanied by the music of Philip Glass, a brilliant choice) is mesmerizing, cold and distant from the human experience, while the Comedian is dark, demented and twisted. These stories have the perfect tone, tell the stories of their characters brilliantly, and really inform on the main storyline.

Where I began to have some issue was in the Nite Owl/Silk Spectre portion of the story. There were times when it just became so over the top and campy (a little with Ozmandias too) that it completely took me out of the world of the film. I'm thinking particularly of a scene where they are together in the owl ship after rescuing people from the fire. It was all just a little much. As was the Richard Nixon nose. Wow did it look terrible.

These little problems are part of the larger problem of the tone in general. I was fully prepared for a somewhat cerebral, talky, superhero film, but I'm not sure that most people will be. There are wild shifts in tone and pacing from intense action to camp to disturbing darkness to intellectual and philosophical musings that will, along with the 163 minute running time, will make it very difficult for mainstream audiences. I know that if I hadn't already read the book, I would not have enjoyed the film as much. I have to think that if people go into Watchmen expecting a straight up action film (which is pretty much how it's being sold) they will be disappointed. This is not Iron-man or even The Dark Knight, it's an entirely different kind of film.

I still think that it's well worth seeing. There are some kick ass action sequences, like the Comedian's death, Rorschach's fight with the police and the prison breakout, great story elements and interesting ideas here. Jackie Earl Haley's performance as Rorschach is amazing, he carries long sections of the film almost completely on his own. The moments where he isn't wearing a mask really let you see the depth of character work he's doing. I don't think there's any way he'll get his second Oscar nomination for this part (he got the first for Little Children), but I think he should probably still be in the conversation.

Grade: B+ (which is the average of an A- for the fans of the comic, and a B for general audiences).

DMZ: Blood in the Game

I know that Aubrie thinks that I only read post-apocalyptic fiction, so I'm going to give her another review of it. I just picked up the 6th DMZ trade paperback "Blood in the Game."DMZhas consistently been one of my favorite comic series, dealing with life in a near future Manhattan that's become a demilitarized zone (or DMZ) during America's second civil war. It isn't about the big political figures, or decision makers in the war, it's about the people on the ground, who just live there. In "Blood in the Game" democracy comes to the DMZ.

After the annoucement that elections will be held in Manhattan, our hero, reporter Matty Roth, finds himself working with Parco Delgado, a sort of Che Guevara/Hugo Chavez left-wing revolutionary from uptown. Delgado is not affiliated with any of the major parties in the conflict (either the USA, the Free States, Treadwell or local gangs), instead he's founded his own movement, Delgado Nation. He's bound and determined to be elected to the office of provisional governor of Manhattan, to give a voice to the voiceless residents of the city, even if it costs him his own life.

"Blood in the Game" uses the imagery of elections in other places, like Afghanistan or Iraq, right down to the colored finger tip, to show what things would really be like during an election in the DMZ, that is, dangerous, unpredictable and exciting. I love the idea of introducing the Delgado character. He's complex, interesting and an almost complete unknown. We see his public face, that of the revolutionary, the spokesman for the downtrodden, but don't know what he'll be like once he's actually in power. Let's just say that revolutionaries don't have the greatest record in recent years with actually creating effective governments. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes from here, and cant' wait for the next volume to come out.