So I’ve been busy for the past couple of months with my day job, working as a writer and editor for EP Daily, the new, daily version of the long-beloved Electric Playground.Basically, I get to make stories about video games, sci-fi movies and TV, and comics, all of which makes me extremely happy. Here’s a taste of the show, which you can see on G4TechTV…
…and pretty much spent. This was my first time at the San Diego Comic Con, and I have to say it was something of an experience. Over 100,000 people, most of them in costume, hit the San Diego Convention Center every year, and both Hollywood and the comics and games industries show off their latest wares at what has become possibly the most important entertainment event of the year.
I spent most of my time lugging a tripod (I have the bruises on my arms to prove it), coordinating our three crews, and conducting interviews. Amongst the people I got to interview were Dave Gibbons, the artist responsible for the Watchmen, Walking Dead writer Robert Kirkman, the people behind the Spectacular Spider Man cartoon, Dana Snyder (the guy who plays Master Shake on ATHF), the cast of Eureka, and Tori Amos. I also coordinated us interviewing the cast of BSG, which was pretty cool.
Myself and my buddy Rich (cameraman for our unit) only had 20 minutes in the whole con to hit the floor and buy anything for ourselves, but I managed to snag a bunch of graphic novels, a “Con exclusive” Domo-Kun for Mel, another “Con exclusive” (say it with a nerdy sniff in your voice) action figure pack of the 10th and 5th Doctors, and this sweet-ass shirt:
All in all, a fine four days.
Yes, you read that right, my latest article at Mac | Life is all about the Apple products the Dark Knight needs to strap to his belt in order to better fight crime. And speaking of comics-related matters, San Diego Comic Con is a huge, crazy festival of nerdosity the likes I’ve never seen. And I’ve seen a lot of nerdosity in my time. Â
I walked into Dark Knight expecting a decent Batman film, but I walked out amazed. All through the film I was asking myself “is a superhero movie this good? Really?” Let’s start with the best thing about the movie, the late Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker. Ledger’s villain is all menace, venom and insanity, and he owns the role in a way that makes you look at Jack Nicholson’s take on the Joker and wince. That’s not to say Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman don’t all step up to the plate, because there isn’t a bad performance in this movie. And they’re all helped by an amazing script, that takes the usual superhero good vs. evil tropes and turn them on their head. It’s the writing, the acting and the staging that make this movie a masterpiece of the genre and easily the best film of the year. Highly recommended.
Check it out before it gets pulled. I like everything about it except for the Smashing Pumpkins tune and the “300” style dark color correction…but it looks remarkably faithful to the book and thus is deemed geekgasmic.
UPDATE: Here’s the trailer, and for a glorious HD version, head to Quicktime….
The Justice League catapults back to the Victorian Age, in action figure form. What’s not to like? It’s pretty much nerdvana. (courtesy of this post at Boing Boing)
If you’ve ever said “but what the Internet REALLY needs is a site dedicated to the greatest nut-punchings in comic book history,” well, enjoy.