Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Dirty Trader Index!



Comic Book Mini-Series & Runs
Angel and the Ape (2001)
The Demon #40-45 & Annual #2 (1993-94)
Martian Manhunter: American Secrets #1-3 (1992)
Nocturne (1991)

Graphic Novels and Collected Editions
28 Days Later: London Calling (2010)
The Abandoned (March, 2006)
Air (Vol. 1): Letters from Lost Countries (2009)
The Amazing Spider-Man: Hooky (1986)
Batman and the Outsiders: The Chrysalis TPB (2008)
Bedlam Vol. 1 (2013)
The Big Kahn (2009)
Brit, Vol.1: Old Soldier (2007)
Bullet Points (2007)
Chronicles of Wormwood TPB (2007)
Chronicles of Wormwood Volume 2: The Last Battle (2011)
Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists (2008)
Danger Club: Death (2012)
Daredevil: Hell to Pay, Vol. 2 TPB ("Without Fear," 2008)



"David Chelsea In Love" by David Chelsea (2003)
David Lapham's Young Liars 1: Daydream Believer (2008)
Deathmatch Volume One (2013)
Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Volume 1 (2008)
Empowered Volume 1 (March, 2007)
Empowered Volume 2 (September, 2007)
Empowered Volume 3 (March, 2008)
Empowered Volume 4 (2008)
Empowered Volume 5 (2009)
Empowered Volume 6 (2010)
Existence 2.0/3.0 (2010)
Fantastic Comics #24 (2008)
The New Fantastic Four (2008)
Ferals Collected Volume One (2012)
Ferals Volume 2 (2013)
Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! (2010)
Fire: The Definitive Collection (2001)
G-Man: Learning To Fly (2009)
Garth Ennis Chronicles of Wormwood TPB (2007)
The Girl Who Owned a City: The Graphic Novel (2012)
Green Lantern Corps: Recharge (2006)
Hack/Slash: Death By Sequel (2007)
Hack/Slash: First Cut (2005)
Hack/Slash: My First Maniac (2011)



Heathentown (2009)
Iron Man: Hypervelocity (2007)
Irredeemable Volume 1 (July 2009)
JLA: Salvation Run (2008)
JLA: Welcome To The Working Week (2003)
JLA/Avengers: The Collector's Edition tabloid hardcover (2004)
John Byrne's Next Men Book One (1996)
Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare (1996)
Justice League of America / The Avengers (1983)
Lord Havok and the Extremists (2008)
Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft (2008)
Luke Cage Noir (2010)
Lulu & Mitzy: Best Laid Plans (2008)
Marvel Graphic Novel #22: The Amazing Spider-Man: Hooky (1986)
Mister X: Condemned (2009)
Morning Glories Volume One (2011)
My Monkey's Name is Jennifer (2003)
New Crusaders, Book One: Rise of the Heroes (2013)
newuniversal: Everything Went White (2007)
The Next Issue Project: Fantastic Comics #24 (2008)
Next Men Book One (1996)
Nightwing: Freefall (2008)
Nightwing: The Lost Year (2008)
Nightwing: Love and War (2007)



Noble Causes Vol. I: In Sickness And In Health (2003)
Outlaw Nation (2006)
Pantheon: Welcome To The Machine (2007/8)
Pride of Baghdad (2007)
Project Superpowers Chapter One (2008)
Punisher: Return To Big Nothing (1989)
Ruins (1995/2009)
Salvation Run (2008)
SEX Book One: The Summer of Hard (2013)
Skullkickers, Vol. 1: 1000 Opas and a Dead Body (2011)
Spawn: The Armageddon Collection Part 1 (2006)
Spawn: The Armageddon Collection Part 2 (2007)
Stormwatch: Force of Nature (1999)
Suicide Squad: From The Ashes (2008)
Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows (2001)
Unknown Soldier: Haunted House (2009)
The Victories Volume 1: Touched (2013)



The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone By (2004)
The Walking Dead Volume 8: Made To Suffer (2008)
The Walking Dead Volume 9: Here We Remain (2009)
The Walking Dead Volume 10: What We Become (2009)
The Walking Dead Volume 12: Life Among Them (2010)
The Walking Dead Volume 13: Too Far Gone (2010)
The Walking Dead Volume 14: No Way Out (2011)
The Walking Dead Volume 15: We Find Ourselves (2011)
The Walking Dead Volume 16: A Larger World (2012)
The Walking Dead Volume 17: Something To Fear (2012)
The Walking Dead Volume 18: What Comes After (2013)
The Walking Dead Volume 19: March To War (2013)
"Welcome To The Zone" by David Chelsea (1995)
Witchblade Volume 1 Trade Paperback (2008)
Wolverine: First Class -- The Rookie (2008)
Wonder Woman: Diana Prince Volume 1 (2008)
Wonder Woman: Who is Wonder Woman? (2008)
The World's Greatest Super-Heroes (2005)
X Omnibus Volume 1 (2008)
X-Men Forever Vol.1: Picking Up Where We Left Off (2009)
David Lapham's Young Liars 1: Daydream Believer (2008)

Proper Books:

Current as of 5/14/14

Friday, August 15, 2008

Sexual Harassment @ ComiCon

A number of websites are reposting a blog by John at Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun!, called "A serious note." I could do the same, but the link is right there, and I have an opinion to express.

I'm a longtime comic nerd, but I only ever got to ComiCon once, on someone else's dime, in (I think) 2001. While I was there, I ran into two women with whom I have a "sexual history." The first was Erin Gray, who in an episode of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" was responsible for my childhood sexual awakening. The other was Alley Baggett, promoting her "Alley Cat" comic, and a source of masturbation of more recent vintage. The thing is, I didn't approach either of these women. I could have bullshit Gray by telling her what a "Buck Rogers" fan I was, but I honestly hadn't seen that show since I was prepubescent, and doubt it would hold up today. I gave her and Baggett a brief look, thought they were pretty ladies, and moved on. I have enough sense and courtesy to know that there are some conversations neither they nor I want to have.

The same was true of female participants, both professional and amateur, in a variety of costumes and states of dress. I certainly gave the occasional sideways glance at a table, got an eyeful of exposed butts on the escalator, and if you're running around in a transparent top, I figure I can look as I pass you by. There's a time limit on that sort of thing... typically 5-10 seconds, before you officially become a creep. I'd rather not be a creep, so I abide.

I think most geeks are the same way. Most of us have our lapses or awkward encounters, but if you spend your life reading about heroic figures in idealized circumstances, that's bound to rub off on you. It's difficult for thinking individuals to step outside the bounds of decency, and Lord knows nerds are prone to putting their brain pans into gear.

Another thing-- back in those days I was a bit of a message board troll. I rarely said anything I didn't mean, but hyperbole can be great fun. At the time, I routinely ranted about how awful John Ostrander's writing on the Martian Manhunter comic was, often to Johnny O. himself. Well, Ostrander was going to ComiCon that year, and I think someone, perhaps Ostrander himself, suggested we should meet. I absolutely refused. Yes, I was a fan of some of his earlier work, especially Grimjack, but when "Martian Manhunter" inevitably came up I would be prepared to let him have it. To what end? To sour both his and my con experience? Hell, he could very well have taken a swing at me, but with our difference in age I figure I could take him. So then we're both tossed on our assess, or better yet, I'm in jail out of state. Not gonna happen.

Now I'm hearing there were multiple assaults this year committed by and against convention-goers. The hell?

The great thing about the internet is that it serves the role of confessional and safety valve. You can go off on a blog, get it out of your system, and move on with your life. I may have spent the last couple days calling Wonder Woman a cunt, but she's a fictional character, and I only meant Robert Kanigher's take on her in one comic book. No one's hurt by that. I also do some reviews of other people's work here, and sometimes I can be rough. This being the internet and amongst vigorous readers, I hope creative types can tell the difference between genuine animosity and a piss take. Also, I'd never use the word "cunt" around Robert Kanigher, because I'm pretty sure at any age he could kick my ass. I'm not certain he won't rise from the dead and donkey punch me at the keyboard as soon as he can drag his rotting carcass to Texas. It would have been wise for me to have never dicked with Bob Kanigher in any way.

My point is, proper nerds like me have attended ComiCon for its entire life, and for the most part, what problems arose have been more sad and pathetic than anything. Sure, deals have been broken, and people have been fucked over metaphorically, but nothing truly heinous.

So here we are in our second consecutive year of sexual misconduct at ComiCon, and I have to wonder, is this about us? Are we, the comic geeks of the world, responsible for this breakdown in civility? I sincerely hope not. Over the last decade, ComiCon has become less about comics and more of a consumer spectacle. Hollywood, the video game industry, and other big shots have been steadily changing the nature of the convention. Perhaps it's just a matter of increased size and more bodies meaning an expanded unsavory element, but damn it, I think more highly of comic book people than that. Maybe it's just xenophobia, or resentment over "the" comic convention being increasingly compromised, but I feel like it's the "others" bringing this shit into the con. The guys who can't get enough kicks vicariously through fantasy, who have to run in a pack abusing women who could previously enjoy the relative safety of a geek environment.

Any other time of year, wandering the streets of San Diego at night in a "Slave Leia" outfit would have people saying you were "asking for it" if something terrible came your way. During ComiCon, even on the streets, it's just a second Halloween. You expect to see Klingons at McDonalds. It's assumed, and since all us geeks were out in force, there was a sense of community protection.

Regardless of who the guilty parties turn out to me, I'm proud of John for standing up for these women, and putting the spotlight on a major concern that clearly needs more attention. Nothing would be more revolting than to see our ComiCon become another trade show where women are conditioned to accept harassment as part of their job, and perhaps worse fates await them after. We should be better than that, and I hope more people will be willing to step up and see to the safety and welfare of people drawn together to enjoy an art form, not to abuse one another.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Wonder Woman #175 (1968, Part 2)




Last time, we began counting the many ways in which writer/editor Robert Kanigher ruined Wonder Woman for a generation, using one of his last rancid scripts as an example. His most constant offences here were #1 (Constant cheesy exclamations like "Suffering Sappho") & 5 (villains motivated by lust for Wonder Woman, rather than world domination or some such.) We left the Amazing Amazon, tied by her own lasso and compelled to kiss Mr. Gargoyle. Steve Trevor was furious, as he was dragged underwater by a shark...

14: "Steve-- I don't want to go on without you!" Superman once turned back time itself to save Lois from certain death, crying and screaming the whole time, and he still thinks you're a simpering little titty-baby for that line.

15: Wonder Woman leapt into the water to save Steve, jerking the lasso out of Mr. Gargoyle's grip. That's all it took. Your arms and legs were free the whole time, and you're fast enough to deflect bullets, but you let Mr. Gargoyle own you. Gwen Stacy's corpse could have broken loose if left near enough to the edge of the pool.

Two more violations of Kanigher Defect #1. Steve's bitchass bonked his head, so it's all up to Wonder Woman, who must fight past sharks. "I'll either get through the ring of death together with Steve-- or I'll die down here with him! But-- I'll never leave him!" Nice speech you just spoke under water, you silly cunt.

Back up where there's air to breathe and for sound to travel properly through, Steve's still muttering his hatred for Wonder Woman while unconscious. Cue Kanigher Defect #1 again. Worse, he's taken to just using "Suffering Sappho," and it's no wonder she is, knowing a Princess of the Amazons could be back home right now, munching tangy, billowy carpet.

Mr. Gargoyle and his men again threaten Steve, and Wonder Woman again, finally, steps up to stomp their asses-- except inexplicably for Mr. Gargoyle's. He instead gets to shake his fist at the invisible robot plane as it takes off, declaring, "What the gargoyle wants-- the gargoyle gets! I'll never rest until you're in my arms again! Your love for pretty boy is hopeless! He hates you!"

So far, the whole damned story's been one long violation of rule #5, so I didn't mention each occurrence. Just let it be said Mr. Gargoyle apparently wasn't worth imprisoning, and was never heard from again. Oh, and there goes rule #1 again.

"Because by Aphrodite's Law, no man may set foot on Paradise Island-- I'll take Steve to my own private island-- and heal him with the Amazon Healing Ray! Pray Hera-- the Purple Healing Rays will cure Steve! Both of his injury-- and his hatred of me!"

16: "I can't help myself... for kissing the lips... which are uttering their hatred of me... " Way to encourage the future battered wives of America to suffer stoically.

17: "I'll die if Steve doesn't feel the same about me..." Where were the parents who would eventually sue Judas Priest when this shit was coming out?

Wonder Woman left Steve's side as the rays did their work, only to find him in a duplicate Wonder Woman's arms upon her return.

18: "Yes! I was watching your sorry affair with Steve from my parallel world and fell in love with him! That's why I travelled here! To claim him for my own!" Are you fucking kidding me? This is page 16! There are 6 1/2 pages left, and Kanigher's pulling this shit out of his ass?!?!

19: "You're the only Wonder Woman I want! I'm through with the other one!" This is why, twenty years after George Perez blackballed Steve Trevor in his reboot, no one has bothered to bring him back. Steve Trevor was pulling this kind of crap for a good quarter-century-plus!

20: "Like an unwanted kitten, I followed my parallel twin and Steve outside... past the identical robot plane which had carried her here..." Peter Parker, on his worst day, was never this pathetic. Emo Spider-Man scoffs at you.

21: "Finding the scene unbearable, I flipped my magic lasso at my evil twin..." Now, aside from claiming Steve friggin' Trevor for her own, what is the basis for this Wonder Woman being evil? That she stands up for herself, goes after what she wants, wraps Steve around her finger, and is generally not a wretched caricature of a woman? Or at least a less demeaning wretched caricature?

Our Wonder Woman tries to lasso the "evil" one and compel her to return to her home dimension, but it doesn't work. "I'll go when I'm good and ready! And I'll take Steve with me! You'll come with me, won't you handsome?" Oh yeah, clearly a "bad girl." This is why, in all my years selling comics, I sold Wonder Woman comics to (I'm guessing) less than five women total. Contrast that against Catwoman, plus the Chaos! and X-book heroines, where women made up as much as 25% of the readership at my shops.

"I was unaware that my mother, the queen, and her court of Amazons had come over to visit me..." So of course Hippolyte declares the only thing to do is, "Compete with your parallel twin for Steve! The loser-- to give him up! Forever!" For once, I'm with Hippolyte. I figure it's win-win for her, as a Diana loss gets Steve out of the way for good, and a win means she gets credit for supplying her daughter with some kind of spine. Even in accepting the proposition and a trip to the "evil" dimension, Diana's all, "I-I-I'm compelled to agree..." Woman up, for the love of Goddesses!

22: Just flying in her plane across the dimensional threshold, "How lonely it is-- without Steve! Hera help me win him back!"

23: The competition begins, but with both women identical, there's no initial advantage for either. The the effects of the alternate dimension get to Diana, who de-ages to a pre-pubescent. Because I assume that's the only way Kanigher could resolve the paradox with making our Wonder... Woman... look... bad? Like the whole rest of the story? Or maybe it's just cheap, bullshit plotting?

Three more examples of violation #1, on one page!

24: The other-dimension Amazons scoff at our Wonder Woman-- no really. The girl can't even keep her top on. Too stupid to quit, our Wonder Woman continues the contest "For Steve," and continues to be mercilessly powned by "evil" Wonder Woman.

"I fought to keep bitter tears from springing to my eyes, as..."
"Now I'm going to get Steve! Even if I hadn't won the contest-- he would choose me-- when he sees what a little square you've become!"

25: "Great Hera! This parallel world has had the same effect on Steve-- as it had on me! He's been changed to about my age!" So after one moronic plot complication after another-- after one assault on Wonder Woman's character after another-- her final "victory" comes by default?

26: Steve tells "evil" Wonder Woman, "I don't want you-- you're too old for me!" Ah, Steve, you are a prick of magnificent proportion.

As the pair fly back home in the invisible plane, Wonder Woman and Steve re-age and make-up. Diane tells Steve "You're exactly as you were!" And yet, Wonder Woman doesn't mash his testicles to paste.

27: The coup de grĂ¢ce, the final half-page is of an idealized Robert Kanigher, sitting at his typewriter with his pipe. Over three panels, he says, "What's that reader? You say Wonder Woman lost? That it's the first time she ever lost a contest? You're right! But-- did she lose? Wasn't the prize-- Steve? And who finally wound up with the prize? Well?" And yet, Wonder Woman readers didn't mash his testicles to paste.

Praise Hestia, ol' Bob Kanigher only wrote and edited one more issue of this dreck before being replaced. It just so happens the Statement of Ownership was in this issue, with the total paid circulation on average being 175,000 copies. Kanigher had recently lost acclaimed artist Ross Andru, and begun a series of "new" stories set during World War II. The circulation of the issue nearest to the filing date was 155,600 copies, a loss of nearly 20,000.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Wonder Woman #175 (March-April 1968)



I've always liked Wondor Woman, but I wasn't a devoted fan until the 90's. I was a Post-Crisis dude, biased against any material no longer considered "cannon" at the time. Still, when the opportunity to try some Silver Age tales of the Amazing Amazon came up, I figured I ought to at least give them a chance. With the "Diana Prince" stories, I felt the bet paid off. With the earlier Robert Kanigher scripted issues, my blood just boiled.

Case in point, the New Wonder Woman, in a book-length startler, "Wonder Woman's Evil Twin!" The story began after the always redundant 60's splash page with three silent panels of Wonder Woman making out with Steve Trevor in the moonlight. Pretty awesome, right? Except the real Wonder Woman was looking on from the bushes, crying her eyes out. "Suffering Sappho! This is a terrible nightmare! Seeing my sweetheart Steve look as if he's on a runaway rollercoaster-- from just one kiss from my evil twin!"

My first problem with Kanigher Wonder Woman: Every other thought or dialogue balloon starts with a silly exclamation, like "Great Hera" on the splash and "Shades of Pluto" in the very next panel, brimming with exposition.

Flash back to Lt. Diana Prince in her office at military intelligence, when Steve came strolling in, announcing he wouldn't leave until his sweetheart appeared. "Shades of Pluto [again]! If I don't manage to change into Wonder Woman-- Steve might begin to suspect that Diana Prince and Wonder Woman are the same girl!" Or perhaps that she's fighting a super-villain? But wait, that's problems #2 & 3:

2: A "Wonder Woman" should not be overwhelmed by anxiety at every turn.
3: That anxiety shouldn't come from being a needy little bitch.

Lt. Prince looks out the window and claims Wonder Woman is waiting for Steve in his jeep. She then quickly changes into costume and guides her controlled landing through air currents (she couldn't actually fly back then.) "Great Hera! There's Steve-- already downstairs!" In a panic, Wonder Woman lands in her seat with a thud, arms flailing, soon to have a "black and blue" bottom.

4: Superman stories have revolved around the Man of Steel calmly, skillfully covering his secret identity against the cunning of intrepid reporter Lois Lane. The Wimp Wonder performs a pratfall and frets over a neanderthal like Steve Trevor stumbling onto her secret. Maybe she should ask her namesake, the goddess Diana, for a little goddamned dignity?

"Grrrr-- you look delicious enough to eat!"
"Uh-uh! No snacks between meals!"
Steve pecks Wondy's cheek.
"There goes my diet!"
"You just have no control-- that's all!"

I haven't had anything bad to say about artists Irv Novick and Mike Esposito so far, because let's face it, they were some of the best men DC had. These guys were great at drawing dynamic action with a romantic, feminine quality. However, on a panel where Steve and Diana are driving his jeep, they blew the perspective all to hell and made them look like toys before a big luxury car trailing them. Inside is Mr. Gargoyle, a disfigured freak in a Bat-Boy mask who utilizes his wealth and hired muscle in hopes of forcing Wonder Woman to love him.

5: Superman's foes want to conquer the Earth. Flash's foes want to rob banks. Wonder Woman foes want to feed her freckled pecker. There's a greater problem with scale in the script than that jeep slip-up.

Steve and Wonder Woman are gassed and run off the road. "Thunderbolts of Jove... masked men from the other car... evidently sent by the figure inside... this is a devilish scheme--! Hera help me to keep Steve from harm at the hands of these villains!"

6: Shouldn't Wonder Woman just plain be pissed at these guys? I'm not saying Steve the "innocent" bystander shouldn't be a concern, but sole motivation?

"As I struggle to my feet..."

7: Did I mention the story is being narrated by Wonder Woman through caption boxes? I mean besides all the expository thoughts and dialogue, Wonder Woman's already gotten through this adventure and is recounting it to me like I'm her fucking girlfriend.

"Furiously, the enraged gunmen sent a rain of bullets against me, but..."

8: So not only is there no suspense, this all having taken place in the past, but she's able to play "Bullets and Bracelets" while she can barely stand? I'm not saying Wonder Woman is a liar, but maybe some dramatic license is being taken?

9: Wonder Woman is content to deflect gunfire when directed at her, but once the thugs try to take a shot at Steve, that's when she finally decides to beat them up.

10: Wonder Woman has just spent several pages wrangling with three middle-aged dudes with pistols. Batman scoffs at you.

11: Mr. Gargoyle managed to knock Wonder Woman out with a blow from his cane. As far as I know, this guy has no super-powers or special weapons. He's just an ugly dude with a cane. Robin the Boy Decoy scoffs at you.

11.5: One of the best Superman ads ever is in this issue, followed by an ad featuring one of the best Supergirl covers ever. It's a mock game board covering the Maid of Might's career to date. Now there's a super-heroine. She doesn't scoff at Wonder Woman, but only because she's better than that.

Mr. Gargoyle wraps Wonder Woman's magic lasso around her waist, and compels her to kiss him. "I might as well have been kissed by an iceberg." Um-- dude, that mask isn't your actual face, so how could you tell?

12: Wonder Woman kissed Mr. Gargoyle badly, because "my heart fought the power of the lasso... it couldn't compel me to forget my feelings for Steve Trevor!" If Mr. Gargoyle had put that lasso on Hal Jordan, Green Lantern damned well wouldn't have allowed himself to be kissed at all. The entire Corps scoffs at you, except Guy Gardner, who figures he can get that lasso away from Mr. Gargoyle and really get some use out of it. Guy Gardner merely leers at you.

"Merciful Minerva! Steve on a rock in that pool-- with sharks circling him." Repeat problems with Kanigher #s 1 (Cheesy exclamations) & 5 (villains motivated by lust.) "Swear you'll give him up and love me-- and I'll save his life!" Steve exclaims "Don't listen to him, angel! I'd rather wind up shark bait-- than lose your love! I'll be thinking of you with my last breath!" See, Mr. Gargoyle couldn't make Steve Trevor kiss him either, and Steve's a bigger dillhole dumbass that Hal Jordan! Worse, Diana then kisses Mr. Gargoyle up right, prompting a typically dense Steve to proclaim, "So that's all you think of my love for you, Wonder Woman! You've destroyed it by kissing that gargoyle! I'll never forgive you! Never!" Even as a shark drags him under, he's still screaming, "Wonder Woman, hear me! I won't forgive you till my dying day! I--"

13: Steve Trevor has more conviction than Wonder Woman, even if he's too stupid to realize he's just sworn to forgive her in the next few minutes, God willing. Jimmy Olsen forgets Lois and thinks maybe he's got a shot with you. Jimmy Olsen once fucked a gorilla, but he's looking past Giganta at you, Wonder Woman. For reals.

Repeat problem with Kanigher #1, and continue tomorrow...

Monday, August 11, 2008

A Frank Review of "Hacked To Pieces" and "Evil Dead Trap"

I caught the documentary Hacked To Pieces: The Rise and Fall of Slasher Movies the other day. Don't do that. It's lame. Find an old VHS of "Terror in the Aisles," which is more broad and doesn't try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Slasher movies have always been about erotic sadism, which helps to explain their modern successor, the "torture porn" of "Hostel" and "Captivity." Basically, the repressive 80's allowed misanthropes to vent their sexual frustration through the rapes and murders on celluloid. Those same cretins and their internet enabled progeny now just allow Hollywood to make up for the lack of production values in, say, a ZFX/Shockwave production. I'm not saying I'm above it (I did just reference an obscure BDSM house,) but if a documentary on the subject is required, it'll need more meat on its bones than this. Anyhow, the doc did remind me of an often mentioned but never seen by moi classic of the genre. I really must get around to "Sleepaway Camp," which looks pretty damned disturbing, and had some of the more interesting discussion surrounding it.

Final Kill Spoilt. Grisly.


J-Horror was below most everyone's radar back in 1988, but because the Japanese "Shiryo no wana" took advantage of the notorious title of a pair of Sam Raimi films, it hovered in my orbit for years. Like "Sleepaway Camp," I put off "Evil Dead Trap" way too long, and I hope the wait pays off as well next time.

"Trap" is a pretty great slasher movie in a largely undistinguished genre for the first reel. Within moments you see a "snuff film" involving injury to the eye that deals shame to Fulci, and will quickly inform whether it's in your interests to continue watching. The tape's viewer is the host of a late night show devoted to oddities, and she pressures her producer to allow her to investigate the matter. The slim cast is introduced, but they're all "types," and the formality is dispatched quickly.

So is much of the cast within the first hour, really paying off for gore fans. The dialogue fades off during the violent portions, which makes them far more effective than their American counterparts. The characters are reduced to animals, whining, screaming, and inciting a primal sympathy in the audience. When not being stalked and tortured, the kills are mercilessly efficient. This is neither party, nor disco, nor fooling around.

Well, that isn't entirely true. The music is almost straight out of Romero's "Day of the Dead," which always earns massive good will with me, even when played ad infinitum. Some of the lighting does evoke a rave, and I expect the "Evil Dead" in the title came from some goofy "camera as disembodied force" cloning. Also, we're down to the final girl at a remarkable clip, at which point the movie plods and is bogged down by the set up for a "twist" visible from miles out. You'd be best served just switching off the disc, but I suppose fast-forwarding to the out-of-the-box nuttiness that closes things out may be worth your while.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

A Frank Review of "Pineapple Express" (2008)

The Short Version? Dopers on the run from cops, crooks, and '80s film influences.
What Is It? Action-comedy
Who Is In It? The Knocked-Up guy, Harry Osborn, Kenny Powers, Lucas Buck, Gloria Clemente, Darryl Philbin, Eddie Finnerty
Should I See It? Yes

NSFW Language


Sorry this review is running late, but I had another I'd planned to run, and had to type this one up from scratch. It isn't so much that "Pineapple Express" demanded a review out of me, but I'm so rarely timely with these things that I'd hate to sit on an opening weekend option. It also isn't that I didn't enjoy "Pineapple Express," as I had great fun. It's more on the "Superbad" end of the comedy spectrum, but replacing sweet youthful naivete with burnout bonding and teenage hijinks with an Americanized Guy Ritchie film. I mean the good ones, before he met Madonna.

The thing about "Pineapple Express" is that it looks like a stoner comedy, and it reads very much like anything else Seth Rogen's written, but people lose body parts in this bitch. You think it'll be a goof until the first guy gets his brains splattered against a window, and it still is, but you also get some pretty impressive stunt work, car crash, and so on. I'm not sure I've ever seen a movie so purely a comedy and an action movie at once, with neither compromised for the sake of the other. You'll laugh while being simultaneously impressed by how thoroughly believable it looked when that guys head smashed through a sink. Usually, you would at least have to delve into dark comedy when someone's foot is blown off, but the tone is so consistently light that I'd expect only the most squeamish audience members to bat an eye. It truly is Tex Avery with a body count.

Seth Rogen handled the fights scenes quite well, and I'm now really looking forward to his getting into shape for "The Green Hornet." There will not be a second James Franco is on screen that you will be reminded of Harry Osborne, James Dean, or any other tortured role the guy seemed stuck with for life. Danny McBride steals every scene he's in, which is no small feat, and has me anticipating "Tropic Thunder" all the more. I'm always happy to see Gary Cole in anything, and Rosie Perez actually proved an agreeable asset for once.

For me though, the best thing about "Pineapple Express" is that it takes nothing for granted, and overlooks no one. Every character in the movie is, if not a real person, still willing to jarringly break type to remind you this isn't just another generic action comedy. When you're watching, say, "Ms. Congeniality," you know the function and motivation of every character automatically. They're not even types, but icons, like the figures that mark bathroom doors. Here, yes Ed Beagley Jr. and Nora Dunn will be playing a pair of stiff parents, but Ed's going to talk just like you would in his situation, and you should hope you'd be as handy with a shotgun. If you decide to kick out a windshield, things may not play like the movies. Characters will decide on one course of action, take a minute, and reconsider-- just like in real life. It shouldn't be unexpected, but movies have trained us so well, it makes you aware of your Pavlovian inclinations. Also, humor and horror thrive on the element of surprise, and those twists serve this film well in the former concern.

"Pineapple Express" is by no means the second coming, and to be honest, I preferred both "Knocked-Up" and "Superbad." The difference is that I respect "Pineapple Express" more for the hurdles it leaps, and for actors who really go above and beyond in roles that could have been treated as a cakewalk. This movie earns every laugh and a punch in the shoulder for moxie besides.

Note: The song from the trailer is "Paper Planes" by M.I.A.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Ask Men.com's Top 99 Women 2007 Edition 100-50

49) Maria Sharapova: I'm getting "Dinosaurs" flashbacks. "Not the Anna! Not the Anna!"

48) Nelly Furtado: Mommy hips work well for her. Shame she decided to trade in respectable hip-hop/folkie status to be a "Promiscuous Girl," but I suppose she can pul, that off, as well. At least she's not a Pussycat Doll.

47) Lucy Liu: Yes! I'd written her off when she didn't return to her rank in the 90's, but I guess I'm not the only one her found just too adorable in "Lucky Number Slevin" to pass up. Maybe now she'll stop taking every "Dragon Lady" role that comes down the pike.

46) Melissa Theuriau: Wow, an attractive, young foreign news anchor. I'm not familiar, but she doesn't seem to be a bim. Maybe there's hope for the hot Indian girl from World News Now next year.

45) Eva Mendes: Pulling this far ahead of Rosario Dawson reminds me that most men are stupid heads and gay faggots. Here's Rosario, this gorgeous, volumptuous, down to earth, singular, womanly woman-- and these closet cases go with this plastic stick fake-tanned Barbie Internationale. Queer as folk. Way gross.

44) Josie Maran: Her biggest role remains as the not-quite-nude vampire harpy from "Van Helsing," in which she was upstaged by Kate Beckinsale's pants. I have nothing more to add.

43) Rachel Bilson: The only actual "hot one" on the O.C., as show I've never watched for more than five minutes. Seems like she's trying to be a modern Diane Keaton, first pretending to settle for Seth Cohen, then choking down vomit while make-believe kissing Zach Braff. Oh yeah, I could rip apart a top 99 guys list, too. That's what Seth Cohen gets from dumping Lane Kim on "Gilmore Girls." Look what she ended up marrying because of him. Poor Lane!

42) Sofia Vergara: She was in a National Lampoon movie filmed after 1985. That's all I've got to say about that.

41) Caterina Murino: The thing that really sets AskMen apart from the Maxims and FHMs is that they cast their eye internationally for women of dubious talent with nothing to offer but their toned body and youth. That and fashion sense are all that really seperates the frat boys from the James Bonds.

40) Aishwarya Rai: Isn't she supposed to be the hottest and most famous actress in all of Bollywood? I was prepared to lambast this column for ethnic insensitivity, but then I started looking at the pictures. Since when do Indians look like Mexican soap opera actresses? Who take their make-up tips from whoever drew those "abs" on Mariah Carey's gut?

39) Katherine Heigle: I know intellectually that's she's an attractive woman and a solid actress, but something misfires in my brain and reads her as "man." I acknowledge this as a wholly personal problem on my part, so let's move on. Wait, let me remember how dreamy the brunette was on "Roswell" again. Okay, now we can move on.

38) Molly Sims: Another one of those names that pop up on these lists that mean nothing to me. Maybe I need to start buying the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and "be a guy." No, I think not.

37) Elsa Benitez: Model? Check. Sports Illustrated? Check. Disinterest on my part? Check.

36) Penelope Cruz: My disputed second favorite Latina of all time! I know some of you out there think she's a dog. Literally, one of those little pug dogs. Well screw you guys! I'd hump her leg. How do you like that image? Nice, huh? Just so this isn't entirely about me discussing things that horrify you, let me also point out Cruz's delectable accent, her beautiful smile, and her nose. I have a thing for noses. Now you know.

35) Christina Aguilera: You're tearing me apart! On the one hand, there's the infamous "clown whore make-up," the nipple rings, the whole drr-ty phase, and come to think of it, the days of bleach blonde "I'm latina--yo quiro taco bell--see!" On the other hand, she took up the vocal gymnastics torch when Whitney Houston faltered, she's got good taste in songs and collaborators, plus the 40's retro thing is working at almost as well for her as Gwen. I would ask that she go back to some shade of brunette, and that her new husband hide the tan-in-a-can from her, however.

34) Gong Li: Still gorgeous, and I won't even make a lewd T.Rex/Power Station reference.

33) Kelly Brook: A model, best known for the actors she's slept with. Did I already mention that Rosario Dawson didn't break the top 60, and that they should Ask Men if they're gay, first?

32) Salma Hayek: Is forty years old. Is still lovelier than you, me, and most of this list put together. My favorite Latin import, who also seems to be a genuine person. I've said it many times before, but it's worth repeating-- I'd sever a digit for just one night.

31) Roselyn Sanchez: Outranked Salma last year as well, but by a five point margin. I'd say you queer homos were wising up, but both ladies dropped out of the top thirty this year. Can't wait to see the jailbait bimbos who replaced them in the next installment...


30) Evangeline Lilly: She's on "Lost." I stopped watching television over four years ago, so that doesn't mean anything to me beyond "you suckers fell for another endless J.J. Abrams serial?" On the other hand, she isn't ugly, and her name sounds like it came straight from a 70's grindhouse flick like "I Spit On Your Grave."

29) Emmanueelle Chriqui: I don't know her from Eve, but she's pretty and her bio isn't horrendous. Plus, she's Canadian. They're so polite.

28) Christine Dolce: Oh good, I was starting to wonder if this was going to become the "nice" blog of the series. I think they airbrushed the tattoo "Lot Lizard" from underneath her undeniably fake breasts. The article keeps referring to her fashion line as "sexy goth." For my money, nothing quite says "sexy" like wearing your make-up like an Anthony Siddaris heroine, and nothing is quite so "goth" as a bottle blonde. Entering the world of haute couture with an assumed name so obvious must be where her air of "class" comes from. Emphasis on "ass," and I assure you, that is to be taken entirely in the figurative sense. She is a white model, after all.

27) Petra Nemcova: A model who's boyfriend was killed in a tsunami that broke a bad percentage of her body. I'm so not touching this one.

26) Tyra Banks: I'm one of those bad men who, despite knowing that she's probably one of the worst human beings on earth, still has the hots for Naomi Campbell. This puts me in an awkward position when discussing her former nemesis, Tyra Banks. I lost interest in Tyra sometime after she became famous for her Victoria's Secret modeling and before she started badgering similiarly-named porn stars via talk show and going all Tom Cruise over bejeweled Vasoline. However, there's been a lot of heated discussion in the press over her surprising weight gain and general Oprah-fication. Let me just say, as a gesture of respect and an affermation of her continued desirability, I'd still "do" her.

25) Brooke Burke: She's okay. I'm not interested in her, and she seems fake to me, but she doesn't bother me, either.

24) Charlize Theron: Ever known someone who's officially attractive, whom you have respect for and can see as being aesthetically pleasing, but there's nothing going on below the waist? Charlize Theron. She's very much like Nicole Kidman, including the veritable stink of celebrity ambition, but I just don't feel it. You go ahead though. I commend you on your attraction. I'd also like to say, to date, I've found her accents very authentic. She's an outstanding actress at times. In fact, she semingly morphs without prosthetics. Sometimes she outriccis Ricci with her grey alien brow and Mark Ryden eyes, and it frightens me sometimes deep in my heart and guts.

23) Eva Green: Oh, yes. Beautiful ugly. In some pictures, she looks like one of the most stunning and sexually mature females on the planet. In others, she's a goofy looking woman-child with odd hound dog eyes, bad hair, an overly toothy smile and freckles everywhere. Unlike Mischa Barton however, the effect is more endearing than objectionable. Also, Mischa Barton has never looked stunning or sexual. Anyway, Green just missed my "meet" list of head shots based on pure desirability, but missed because despite her overwhelming squeezability I'd only really seen "The Dreamers," an otherwise lousy movie. The only other film I've seen is "Casino Royale," which should win a technical Oscar just for managing to mop up the juice from the lusty appeal she's constantly dripping so as not to overwhelm the movie with her pheremones. They must have shot in digital, because she's so sultry as to ruin film stock within a twenty foot radius. Yet, she's humanized by, quite often, looking freakishly maniacal, like a Batman villain from a lost Tim Burton sequal. Version 2.0, I suppose.

22) Natalie Portman: There's a scene in "Leon" where an eleven year old Portman tries to talk Jean Reno into busting her cherry. I will never recover from that trauma. I have to abstain from accepting "desirable" as an applicable term in the case, even if it was 13 years ago.

21) Jessica Simpson: With each passing day, she comes that much closer to being my anti-ideal for womanhood. Now that Anna Nicole Smith is no longer with us, a sucessor must arise to claim her crown.

20) Rihanna: Isn't "Unfaithful" the song where the tone deaf vocalist drones "I don't want to be...a murderer?" Except in the case of butchering songcraft, she means, as that hit was preceeded by a repurposing of Soft Cell's hallowed "Tainted Love" for the Beyonce Lite of "S.O.S. (Rescue Me.) She's possessed of the glamour of youth, which will fade like her career.

19) Keeley Hazell: She's a Page 3 girl who works on her abs and has a slight tan. The British get it up easier than we do, it seems.

18) Monica Belluci: is 43 years old, looks her age, and is still hot enough that I expect Jesus had a wood under his robe even after the crucifixtion. You'd think with the blood loss from the scourging, but nope, still hard. Who would Jesus do? Monica Belluci.

17) Eva Longoria: Freed from the brainwashing of network television, I can plainly see that this "woman" escaped from the same lab on the Island of Dr. Moreau that conceived the Olsen clo-- "twins." Without airbrushing, she looks like an exotic pet bred to sit on the lap of a celebutante.

16) Kate Beckinsale: I've seen her in a few movies now, and my feeling is she is a nexus of Bizarro charm. You remember Bizarro, the Superman villain from a world where bad was good and up was down? Right, so Kate, to me, makes people with her vicinity less charming. I loved Hugh Jackman in "The Fountain," he was great as Wolverine, but Van Helsing? An asshat. John Cuzack, one of my favorite actors, rendered completely impotent anti-charm in "Serendipity." Piven managed to escape thanks to a lack of scenes with Kate. We should all be so lucky. She makes me long for an Elizabeth Hurley career revival, or even Keeley Hazell.

15) Rachel McAdams: Which perhaps makes her the anti-Beckinsale. Technically, I think the only movie I've seen McAdams in was "Mean Girls," but I've wanted to see, like, all of them. Even "The Notebook." Especially "The Notebook." What the hell? Dating McAdams must be like hooking up with Mystique from the X-Men movies. I've confused her with Milla Jovovich, Jennifer Garner, Amanda Peet, but was like wait-- Amanda Peet isn't hot. Oh, that's because Rachel McAdams is morphing again. Appropriately, one of the pictures of her on the site resembles Rebecca Romijn.

14) Gisele Bundchen: I liked her in "The Beach." That was her, right? Like, seven years ago? In Leo's follow-up to "Titanic." Tilda Swinton looked good in that. Wherev was I? Oh yeah, number thirteen...

13) Heidi Klum: She breeded with Seal. That's got to be worth some serious karma. Never did anything for me, though.

12) Marisa Miller: She's in the top 20 most desirable women, and I have not a clue who she is or why she's ranked ahead of ladies who cold smoke her ass. In the bad way. Not like I'd like to smoke the asses of some of those ones I liked before. I meant like a gangster would smoke you cold. Like bust a cap. Shoot you, basically, although I reckon that's pretty harsh imagery for a beauty contest. I guess I'm just upset because I'm not looking at Eva Green or Monical Belluci right now. I should just click the "next" button. Yeah.

11) Halle Berry: I won't rest until the Acadamy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with the full support of Price-Waterhouse, repossess her Oscar as fraudulent. Bitch can't act. Her Oscar diminishes black people everywhere. Take her Oscar, hop into a time machine, and present it to Angela Bassett for "What's Love Got To Do With It?" Take her Oscar, polish it up, and hand it to Forrest Whittaker this year for "Last King of Scotland." Take her Oscar, and club Will Smith and/or Eddie Murphy with it until he stops being so goddamned smug and starts actually acting/being funny again. Does James Earl Jones have an Oscar? Take hers. She isn't sexy either, so stop trying to convince me otherwise.

10) Elisha Cuthbert: is somewhat sexy, kinda sorta, but that's about it. And it was worth the ten-spot. All those years; all that work; Monica Belluci is staring at her from 8 paces back. Did you people not see "Malena?" She was so hot, they literally beat her to a bearable degree of attractiveness. If you beat Elisha Cuthbert so savagely, she'd just look like Charlize Theron in "Monster." And she still wouldn't bare her breasts, so get over that pipe dream. They don't even look that great clothed, y'know?

9) Angelina Jolie: I'm trying to decide if I'm over it. I wasn't into her during the Black No. 1 & eyeliner days. I kind of dug her in the middle, Billy Bob Thorton, tattooed, crazy inbred chick with a vial of blood days. Now, she's a husband thief serial adoptionist, and I'm not feeling it. If those ads for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" weren't so appealing, I'd think she'd ascended to Audrey Hepburn levels of chaste sainthood. She's maybe six months older than me, but she feels older.

8) Maria Menounos: Nothing says "authenticity" quite like a former Entertainment Tonight correspondent turned "actor."

7) Shakira: Earlier this week, I discussed in a Video of the Day my oversight of this performer in earlier years. I feel ashamed, as I've had "The One" stuck in my head all week. Also, there's that one picture where she's bending over in the tight, tight pants with the zipper up the back that makes me do naughty things. Ahem, she's a gifted songwriter who melds disparate musical types seemlessly, including Tejano, Middle Eastern influences, and New Wave. Good enough to make me listen to Spanish language music unironically. She didn't even make the list last year. Ask Men where they left their brains.

6) Alessandra Ambrosio: I just don't by this, because real men don't follow the careers of models. They enhance their bedpost stats by sleeping with them whenever possible, but the names themselves are unimportant. It's all about nudging another guy when she's visible, and muttering "I hit it" with a wink. Maybe that double click/suck sound out the side of your mouth, for added effect.

5) Jessica Biel: She's got an excellently toned body and a worldly smile and a career not to be envied, in the long haul.

4) Adriana Lima: What I said about Alessandra Ambrosio-- more a guideline than a rule. You'll sleep with Lima if you can, and you will remember her name. Probably. If you say "Allie Lema," it'll be close enough. Or "the really tan one with the great cans." She should try her hand at acting, so admitting that wouldn't deflate my defense of this blog series so entirely. Back when Milla only had a few acting credits under her belt, she put out an alternative Russian folk album. Lima should try that, but probably not in Russian.

3) Jessica Alba: Remains a guilty pleasure, I'm afraid. She's still not much of an actress, and I don't relate well to her personality, but everything else from the Adriana Lima description holds true. Oink oink.

2) Scarlett Johansson: After many years, tons of magazine covers and even Woody Allen films-- who is Scarlett Johansson to me? The other chick from "Ghost World." The plain looking one with a unpleasantly throaty voice and oversized breasts. Why doesn't Thora Birch have her career? I'd have enjoyed "The Island" a lot better if Thora Birch was in it, and I'd have gotten around to "Match Point" by now. You guys do know that Scarlett can't act her way out of Tom Hanks' nut sack, right?

1) Beyonce: "Crazy In Love" and "Naughty Girl" were such outstanding singles that, when somebody put the whole album on the sound system at my bookstore gig, I was psyched. An hour later, I was ready to fall asleep on my feet. Cashiers were complaining of the same. The entire album after those frontloaded singles is one generic R&B ballad after another. It was like the least impressive Prince b-side strung out over 50 minutes. Also, did I mention she's not Rosario Dawson or Salma Hayek yet?

...nurghophiles...

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