Another glimpse of my room...

Eek... I slowly reveal piece by piece of my room in London. In this shot is the ledge above the fireplace. To put it all into scale, the Robocop is 18 inches tall.

Gah... Photo of the year award...

One of those timeless moments where everything becomes clear... Not sure what I am doing exactly - but it initially appears to be some sort of chicken dance. Although on a second glance I appear to be doing inverted Spider-Man web shooters...

Ye Olde Work Bash...

Work parties in London walk all over those in NZ. Over 1000 people in attendance? You betcha. Playing Sega Rally on freeplay? You would be right.

I've still got the ability to get home at some stupid hour and go to work the next day as well. Only just. I also have my knack of pulling silly faces in photos - as well as being able to display my more gentile side. Which is which in the below photos? I will let you decide.

Wolverine and the X-Men

My first introduction to the X-Men was the 90’s Fox cartoon. I didn’t start reading comics until my honours year at Uni – so many of my first exposures of characters were via film or TV. Admittedly, I was at High School at the time when I first saw the cartoon and it wasn’t until the 3rd season (take that as you will for some one who is nearly 30 and getting very excited about re-watching the Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers), but the cartoon was hardly kiddies material. The characters were edgy, the plots sophisticated e.g. Bobby’s split with Polaris, Archangel’s vengeance on Apocalypse, the persecution of mutants with government intervention and viruses with no apparent cure. All in all a bit more grown up than Mighty Morphin Power Rangers…

The title of the new cartoon is totally cheesy and appropriately named to cash in on the upcoming Wolverine movie, if not to distinguish it from the 90’s Fox cartoon. So much so that Wolverine is cast as the unwilling leader of the X-Men. Yes – you read that right, absurd as it may be, they have gone down ‘Cyclops is an angst ridden and ineffective leader’ road. The central focus of the show is a ‘Days of Future Past’ type plot, although done in a semi-ridiculous method: Xavier wakes from a coma 20 years in the future (he is in a coma in the current timeline) where the world is ravaged by Sentinels and proceeds to contact Wolverine telepathically in the past in a bid to change the future. As half arsed as this sounds – you are never quite sure whether Xavier is living in the future and sending his brainwaves back through time (how gay is that?), or whether the comatose Xavier is just dreaming the future and communicating to Wolverine in the present (which is much more believable). Other recurring plot threads include Wolverine recovering his lost memories (another staple in the series), Scott’s search for a missing Jean, Magneto’s grand plans for world domination, and Rogue’s indecision after having ditching the X-Men for the Brotherhood.

Sauron and the Savage Land haven’t popped up in the first 11 episodes – but they can’t be too far off… The Shadow King has featured though and the results are sleep inducing, particularly after a nice episode set in Canada featuring everyone’s favourite Gamma irradiated scientist. There is also no sign of Apocalypse, the Phoenix saga or even a glimpse of Juggernaut.

The costumes loosely resemble John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men designs, with the occasional Jim Lee design thrown in as well. However, there are some odd ball choices. Beast wears a remarkably silly waistcoat along with his X-bike pants, while Kitty and Wolverine sport ridiculous boot/trouser cuffs. Stupidest design goes to Toad. It has nothing to do with taking Toad down the dufus road that he was in the original comics, it is more the way Toad looks. Toad appears like a cross between an Emo music freak and a street bum with geen skin. Hardly hideous or even goofy looking. Emma Frost is hardly uber sexy, and Kitty and Iceman look like they have hardly hit puberty. That flirting between them is a big no go zone… Ewwww… Storm is my least favourite character – I know it’s not very PC of me to dislike the sole black character, especially when Forge is now a skinny latino kid – but it doesn’t help when this incarnation of Storm looks even less African than Halle Barry.

In conclusion, the show is fun but if my few minor design quibbles were solved – it would be great. However, I still prefer the 90s cartoon for all its faults.

Best guest appearance: Bishop
Most underutilized X-Man: Colossus
Worst facial hair: Avalanche’s goatee beard
Unlikeliest appearance: Squid Boy
Surprisingly effective in combat: Nightcrawler
My biggest want: Deadpool to appear and kick arse
Missed opportunity: Nick Fury could have been styled on David Hasslehoff

My Name is Wade... Err... I mean Bruce...

I finally managed to see “My Name is Bruce” last night after a long wait…

A glorified plot outline for those not familiar with one of the biggest B-movies released this year: Bruce Campbell is abducted from his trailer-park home to fight against Guan Di, a Chinese war deity. Thinking it all a joke, although thinking clearly is not one of his strong suits in this picture, Mr. Campbell discovers that it all is real, much to his shock and dismay. Mayhem ensues.

Bruce playing himself is similar to the way the stars portray themselves in the TV show Extras. Bruce is downright obnoxious at the start of the film but warms up not long before the credits start rolling.

Highlights:
Bruce Campbell - why would anyone else want to see this movie???
Bruce drives around in a beaten up old Mazda 323/Familia – which is the first car I ever owned.
The misspelling of Campbell as Cambell by the country bumpkins. Do you know how many people ask me to spell Campbell for them – or ask does it have a ‘p’ in it?
The ‘den’ set up by the Bruce Campbell fan, and in particular the Brisco costume.
Hooch for the Pooch!
Bruce trying to shoot Guan Di as he is running way – but managing to shoot the retreating country people instead.
The number of decapitations.
The cool song about Guan Di running through the movie.

I love this movie…