alexsarll: (Default)
Alex ([personal profile] alexsarll) wrote2009-06-23 11:00 am

We have lost what is Random, we have banished the Arbitrary

Finally seen No Country For Old Men and...well, OK, it's not actively awful like most films which win loads of Oscars lately, but I don't quite understand the fuss. But then, The Big Lebowski aside, I never did quite get the Coens - they make films I watch once and enjoy, but then feel no urge ever to revisit. I will concede that, in Anton Chigurh, the film has one mesmerising performance, and that its reluctance to go for one of the standard thriller resolutions is commendable. I'll further admit that their sense of whimsy does a lot to leaven the relentless, slightly monotonous bleakness which put me off Cormac McCarthy when I tried to read another of his - this is as much a film about bad service and dumb questions as heists gone wrong. But at no stage was I either as gripped, or as amused, as I was watching Psychoville. At no stage did I find myself thinking that yes, this is what film-making is about, which I felt plenty during last week's Ghostbusters marathon (and how had I never twigged before that the Warden from Oz = Winston the black Ghostbuster, aka Ernie Hudson?).
Also: while finding that No Country For Old Men link above, I learned that next year will see a Clash of the Titans remake. As much as I hate moaning about remakes - so predictable, so lacking in historical sense, so selective in its examples - I do feel fairly confident that this one deserves to be stopped by rampaging stop-motion monsters.

Michael Moorcock interview in which we learn that he doesn't read SF, and feels something of the same rage towards the steampunk he helped birth as his mate Alan Moore does towards the grim'n'gritty trend in comics. Bless the old curmudgeon. If nothing else it got me to dig out some more of his End of Time stories - possibly my favourite of his work, given they concern near-omnipotent immortals heavily inspired by the 1890s, who live out Earth's twilight in a round of parties and fads. My people, in other words.

I've already bemoaned the cancellation of Captain Britain and MI:13, but the new issue suggests that it's not even going to go out with its standards intact. By which I mean no slur on the writing or the art, but someone in lettering and/or editorial has let through a 'your' for a 'you're', a 'corps' for 'corpse' and a couple of other, lesser infelicities. Poor show. Phonogram, on the other hand, came through with my favourite issue so far of the second series, because after sweet little Penny and normal Marc, now we have an issue devoted to the first series' Emily Aster, a vain, damaged and in many ways quite annoying young woman. ie, just the kind of person who it's great to have around because she keeps you on your toes - and doubly so in fiction where she's can't really cut loose on you. I'm also left intrigued as to whether, for instance, we'll ever find out what that townie girl was doing at an indie night like Never On A Sunday. Although, I do slightly dispute Emily's test for whether a club's indie (is she more likely to hear a record which sold eight copies in 1977 than whatever's Number One now?). The rules are: if the flyer lists bands - whatever those bands are - then it's an indie club. If it lists DJs, it's a dance club. And if it lists drinks promotions, it's a pop club.

[identity profile] stu-n.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 10:28 am (UTC)(link)
Rock clubs list bands too...

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 11:36 am (UTC)(link)
True - it would probably be fairer (given of course that the whole scheme is massively unfair) to list indie alongside metal as a subset of rock, just as hip hop is already lumped in with 'dance'.

[identity profile] chris-damage.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 10:43 am (UTC)(link)
Ta for the Michael Moorcock interview, it's always nice to be reminded that he's as interesting as his books.

I've been getting a lot of good reading off this LJ recently, having tracked down the "Wisdom" mini series last week after your talk of Captain Britain and MI-13. I am however slightly concerned about this trend, in much the same way that one might be if a comparatively new acquaintance had recently inspired them to begin dabbling in crack again after a break of 15 years.

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
You think you've got it bad - people I've got to know these past few years dragged me back into sodding Warhammer 40K! At least most everyone now accepts that comics are an art form, not just for kids &c these days...

Wisdom is glorious, but I think the Captain Britain series is possibly even better - and still pretty Wisdom-heavy.

[identity profile] chris-damage.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 12:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Cool, it was the Captain Britain I was after actually but Wisdom happened to be borrowable. I shall look forwrds to reading that.

I have also recently retrieved about 3500 points worth of Valhallan Ice Guard from my parents house. I bought some new paints too :(

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 03:32 pm (UTC)(link)
The popular theory is that, after spending our (early) twenties being cool, there exists a generation which has now realised, sod it, we ruled the dancefloors and kissed the girls - now we feel no shame in playing toy soldiers again.
(Well, maybe a little shame)
By all accounts the new Guard Codex has made them eminently competitive again, but I've not read it.

[identity profile] puzzled-anwen.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 04:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Rah, soldiers!

[identity profile] exliontamer.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 10:47 am (UTC)(link)
I like that Black Plastic fits neatly into an "indie-dance" category then :)

[identity profile] exliontamer.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 11:04 am (UTC)(link)
You return to the internest just to monosyllabically insult me? Awesome. :D

[identity profile] kenix.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 11:05 am (UTC)(link)
Look, I'm a very busy man. I must pare down my internet time to short insults, or I'd never get any work done!

[identity profile] exliontamer.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, I see - the old insult mileage.

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 11:41 am (UTC)(link)
If this thread gets long enough that I feel it might be threatening progress on issue 4, I will be obliged to lock it and claim that it's 'violating my safe space'.

[identity profile] stephens.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Please don't violate my safe space.

[identity profile] stephens.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Gives a new meaning to the word safecracker. Must incorporate this into the argot.

[identity profile] puzzled-anwen.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Ahahahaha you win the internets!

[identity profile] kenix.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 01:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Issue 4 is all done! I'm on issue 5.

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 03:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Awesome!

[identity profile] bremxjones.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 11:14 am (UTC)(link)
I suspected you'd like this one, for all the reasons you didn't like the last one as much.

KG

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 11:39 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, I really am that predictable. Which I guess is handy in a target market, right?

[identity profile] bremxjones.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 11:42 am (UTC)(link)
People say it's good if you know your target market. In PG's case, we actually know our 90% of our target market personally. Man!

KG

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 11:47 am (UTC)(link)
I am currently trying to pimp you to one friend as her second ever comic (after Buffy - Season Eight). She is now off feeding Bollywood stars to tigers, but she has my Rue Britannia with her and will hopefully find time to read it during breaks.

The Rules

[identity profile] electrodeserter.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 12:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Are those London-only rules? For Bridging The Gap, our little-remembered pre-Emerge shindig, we listed both bands and DJs, and the venue then insisted we added drinks promos to the flyer as well - but this might be a provincial thing.

Re: The Rules

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Nah, lots of clubs here list all three as well - it was just something whimsically and a little cruelly formulated during a discussion years ago about whether certain allegedly pop clubs were in fact indie.

[identity profile] icecoldinalex.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 12:31 pm (UTC)(link)
(and how had I never twigged before that the Warden from Oz = Winston the black Ghostbuster, aka Ernie Hudson?)

Because they all look alike to you, you outrageous racist.

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I recognise all the Wire to Oz (or vice versa) black actors. I reckon it was Ernie's 'tache threw me - and not having seen Ghostbusters since I was a kid.

[identity profile] kenix.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 03:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Plus you're a racist.

[identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com 2009-06-23 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, but I thought that was just because I find discussions of 'privilege' incredibly boring, and the whole 'actually discriminating on grounds of race' requirement had been dropped?