By no means was this a great movie. At the same time, I don't think it deserves to be labeled as the atrocity that many in the geekdom claim it is.

This movie was the first directorial effort by the Wachowski brothers in 5 years after their epic saga with The Matrix. During the last few years as the movie was being developed, it left many in the geek world confused as why the brothers were doing this film. The whole production and post-production was shrouded in secrecy, further mystifying the creation they would unleash on the mass public. When it finally arrived, it didn't arrive with a boom... it was more of a whimper... and it quietly went away with its tail between its legs.

This movie was visual eye candy at its very best. The only way I can describe its style is this: imagine eating a large pack of Crayola Crayons, then vomitting, and filming everything that came out. Stick a few colourful Lego Men in the mess, and you have Speed Racer. That said, Speed Racer does offer something a little different.

Hollywood adaptations of TV shows/cartoons to movies seem to have an approach of taking the original material and adapting it to the present time, so that it is more real and in our world. The Wachowski brothers seemed to have a different approach in making Speed Racer. The movie in its entirety was basically a cartoon that was rendered with fully human characters and sceneries. Everything about the movie looked, felt, and sounded like a cartoon would. It had the complete atmosphere of a cartoon except that it was real, if that makes any sense.

There were two things I really enjoyed in this movie. The first was the score pieced together by Michael Giacchino. Giacchino is no stranger to the geek world having worked on such geek-works as Lost, MI3, a few Brad Bird films, and a few video game scores. What helped the movie capture the feel of a 70s-80s cartoon was the music that accompanied all the action and zaniness; it seemed plucked right out of a Hanna-Barbara cartoon from days old. The second thing I enjoyed had everything to do with Chim Chim. This little simian was just a delight to watch; be it sneaking around jets to find candy or flinging monkey-poop at villains. The relationship he had with Speed's younger brother Spritle helped give the movie a lot of heart.

The performances all around were pretty good. Emile Hirsch again proves that he's a gifted young actor. It is strange to see him going from such a visceral film as Into the Wild to such an over-the-top film. He delivers a grounded performance which is what the movie needed amidst all the wackiness.

One of the main problems was the length of the movie. At 135 minutes, it was a lot of visual diarrhea to take in, and in the end it felt exhausting. I think it would have been more enjoyable as a quick 90 minute action adventure.

I don't blame this movie or its distributors for flopping this summer. This was an extremely tough sell. It's hard to say who this movie was aimed at. I don't think kids these days are familiar enough with Speed Racer and the older geeks that grew up watching it would probably lean more for Iron Man instead. It could have benefitted with a mid-March or Christmas release. Amongst all the high profile releases in May, Speed Racer just seemed lost in the shuffle.

Like I said, on the whole, it wasn't a great movie, but it wasn't a steaming pile of guano either. That's about it for now. Later geeks.


Categories: bombs , movies , speed racer , summer blockbusters

Y: The Last Man came to an end earlier this year with issue #60, concluding after a near 6 year run. The series was scribed by Brian K. Vaughan who is renowned for various comic series (notably Runaways, Ex Machina, Y:TLM) as well as writing for a handful of episodes on the TV megahit, Lost.

YTLM follows the adventures of Yorick Brown, a struggling magician who one day after a mysterious global incident, is left as the only male (human or animal) alive on the planet. He is joined by his trustful helper monkey, Ampersand, a scientist, Dr. Mann, and a government agent, only known as 355. He and his friends travel around the world searching for answers as to why this incident had occured, and why he is the only man left alive. Yorick and his gang are also joined by a slew of cast and characters, some that help and others that hurt him along the way.

Having read the complete series now, I found that the first half of the series was edge of your seat and gripping. The series then dragged a bit until the last 10 or so issues where it picked back up, but never to full steam like it had started with. The ending issues seemed rushed and forced, rather than fleshing it out and giving it breathing room to build. This ultimately hurt the story's mysterious denouement, however, in hindsight, it brings hope to their version of earth.

The series was captivating and original (at least for a comic book series). During reading it made me think, what would I do if I were thrusted into such a situation? A few of the obvious things come to mind. I'm sure if you are a male, you're thinking the same things that I'm thinking. Such "situations" are repeatedly presented to Yorick, but thankfully for our hero (for a lack of a better word), he is noble in his intentions and almost never falls victim to his carnal desires. That said, he is still a coward in a lot of ways, which benefitted the reader. It made it easier for fellow geeks to connect to the things he does and the decisions he makes.

Since the series inception, there has been talks of making this series into a movie. More recently, D.J. Caruso (Disturbia, Eagle Eye) has been attached at the helm with a Fall 2008 shooting date. I hope that the movie is successful and that they make this a franchise if only to flesh out all the stories and characters rather than forcing everything into one story arc.

If you enjoy suspenceful and witty writing and want a break from superhero tales, then I suggest you check out YTLM. Until next time. Later geeks.

Categories: brian k. vaughan , comics , vertigo comics , y the last man

Shit fuckin' ruled. You've probably seen it already.

Categories: action , batman , movies , summer blockbusters , superheroes

Guillermo Del Toro is a fucking genius. This is soooo the movie I wanted Pan's Labyrinth to be. I'm quite sure that if Pan's expanded on its fantasy universe with all its creatures and dwellings, we would get what was presented in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.

Although I liked the first movie (liked, not loved), I had problems with it. The pacing seemed to slow the movie down especially in the large middle section. As well, the character I found the most fascinating, Abe Sapien, was hardly in the movie. It was fun, but hardly the rollercoaster action ride that this was.

It seems that Del Toro has fined his craft with Pan's Labyrinth, and fixed the issues I had in HB1 with this movie. This movie was filled with non-stop action; the pace never slowed down. That said, there were mmoents where you were allowed to catch your breath before getting on the next rollercoaster.

The CG work was fantastic, and all the battles were superb (Earth God and Final Boss in particular). All the new characters, both main and side characters, were rich in design and pure candy to the eyes. The Tooth Fairies for example, were so tiny, yet so evil, YET so cute all at the same time. The attention he gives to the detailing is purely geekgasmic.

My favourite character in this movie was Johann Krauss, who I can only describe as a gas-thing trapped in a glass-domed suit. I didn't know until the movie finished, but Seth McFarlane of Family Guy fame, did the outstanding voiceover work. It was just a joy to see this guy in action, even when doing mundane things. I marked out huge when Krauss took control in the final boss battle. I can't give details away, but he owned shit.

Abe Sapien's role in the movie has been drastically expanded much to the joy of HB fans. In fact, I found his story with Princess Nuala much more captivating than that of Hellboy and Liz Sherman. It is tragic, but it is gripping.

Jeffrey Tambor is awesome yet again as Hellboy's boss. He gives great comedic relief in the movie. Sometimes it seems like he's playing George Bluth Sr. (of Arrested Development) but just placed in the Hellboy universe. He is a great man.

With all these characters newly introduced or expanded, you'd think that it would take attention away from our titular character. Fear not, it does not. This is still very much a story of Hellboy and his adventures around the world, only now, our vision of how he lives and the lives of those that surround him are further developed. His relationship (and the complications therein) with the "human" girl, Liz Sherman, is explored more here.

What can I say... If you are a comicbook geek or just an action movie buff, then go see this movie. If you didn't enjoy the first one all that much, that's okay... this movie is epic compared to the small scope we saw in the first one. Until next time. Later geeks.

Categories: hellboy , movies , summer blockbusters

A smelly arena full of 2,000 sweating wrestling fans. The seats were filled and the fog machine was running... ROH made its live event debut in Toronto, Ontario. The event was held at Ted Reeves Arena... just 2 major intersections away from my house (a 10 minute walk, I was truly blessed).

If you're a fan of pure wrestling action, and none of that bad storytelling bullshit which is frequent to WWE and TNA wrestling, then you must watch ROH. It's raw, aggressive, and sometimes bloody battles at its very best. Their style of wrestling is a lot stiffer than what you would expect to see on national TV.

Here's a rundown of the results (winners in bold):

Chris Hero with Larry Sweeney vs. Ruckus
This match was an excellent opener. More of a quick action and high flying short match. It was a great way to get the crowd started. Larry Sweeney and the Sweet and Sour Inc. were at ringside and were great at drawing heat.

Delirious vs. Kenny Omega
This was another fun match with lots of comedy. You can always count on Delirious to deliver high-spot action mixed with some comedy. Kenny Omega got a nice pop because of his Canadian status.

Sara Del Rey with Larry Sweeney vs. Jennifer Blake
A women's match. Nothing really spectacular. It got ridiculous at one point when Jennifer got Sara in the corner and nailed her with a series of weak looking knife-edge chops. Sara can be clearly seen laughing.

FIP World Heavyweight Champion Erick Stevens vs. Go Shiozaki with Larry Sweeney
This battle ended up in a no contest after it exceeded its 15 minute time limit. Crowd was extremely hot for this match. Erick Stevens looked a lot smaller in person than in the videos I've seen of him. With 30 seconds to go, Erick propped Shiozaki up onto the top turnbuckle for a superplex. However, by the time he executed the move, time was up and the match was over. The crowd booed the referee and we all chanted for "5 more minutes!". Larry Sweeney, Mr. Heat Generator, came out and said that we didn't deserve another 5 minutes. He continued to insult the crowd and out came Chris Hero. Hero and Shiozaki double teamed Stevens when LANCE STORM ran into the ring to save him. Lance had the biggest pop for the night. It was then time for an intermission.

Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Match of the night! There was great storytelling in this match. Danielson and Castagnoli were basically toe to toe throughout the whole match, but ended with the American Dragon with a slight edge over the swiss sensation. This was my favouriate match of the night. The only problem I had was that this weekend Claudio was facing McGuinness for the world title. It didn't make him look like a terribly strong contender given that he jobbed the night before the PPV.

Roderick Strong vs. Naomichi Marufuji
Nice back and forth match. Although Strong was supposed to be a face, the crowd was clearly an anti-Roderick crowd. It started off a bit slow, took a while for the crowd to get into the match after the intermission break. The match ended with Marufuji nailing the Sliced Bread #2 on strong. It was awesome to see this move performed live.

Nigel McGuinness defends vs. Kevin Steen
If this match were 10 minutes shorter than it was, this could have been the match of the night. That said, it was quite the epic battle. McGuinness was a heat machine. He worked the crowd so well. I'm surprised this man is not signed to one of the big brands. There were chants of "fuck him up Steen, fuck him up!". Chants of "holy shit!". Chants of "Fuck you Nigel!". The crowd was riled up. The last 10 minutes consisted of a billion near-falls and a billion of would-be finishes. It took the heat off of the real finish when it finally happened. Both men worked really stiff and played to the crowd a lot though. What was particularly interesting was how we as Canadians associate the sharpshooter as a Canadian move. I mean, when Steen at first attempted the move, the crowd went ballistic. Later on when he finally nailed it, the roof came off the house. McGuinness was a very smart man to draw heat by using it on Steen later on. He was booed so heavy and hard. Thanks to the legend that is Bret Hart, this move is so over in Canada.

Austin Aries & Jay Briscoe vs. ROH World Tag Team Champions Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black
This match was a no-DQ stipulations match. For those who are unaware, Jay Briscoe is fucking nuts. Put him in a no-DQ match and hell will break loose. When I saw this match on the card a month ago, I knew it was going to be chaos. Little did I know how much chaos it would be. They were fighting all over the crowds, blood was everywhere, chairs were flying... this was mayhem! At one point Jay suplexed Nerco Butcher (who madea run-in earlier) into the seat right in front of me. It scared me a bit because I thought I was going to be in his line of fire. Mark Briscoe made his return and the crowd popped huge. He disappeared somewhere during the match. This was certainly an exciting way to end the night.

Categories: roh , wrestling

I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Goshen, Indiana, and its surrounding areas two weekends ago. It was a trip planned by the Community Cell Group at my church and I was invited to join them despite my non-membership. It was a good time of fellowship, of meeting new friends, and learning more about the Amish and Mennonite history.

The Cell Group knew a fellow named Jeremy who from time to time would attend the cell group meetings in Toronto. He suggested to the group to visit Goshen (his home town) and over a short while, this trip came into fruition. Jeremy would serve as our personal tourguide over the weekend.

We stayed at this place called Das Dutchman Essenhaus Inn (see here). At $104 per night, I was expecting it to be something akin to a Super 8 Motel or some reasonable facsimile. To my surprise, it was quite the opposite. It was a Mennonite operated facility which includes the afforementioned inn, a bevy of shops, a mini-golf course, a large buffet restaurant, a bakery, amongst other things. The suites that we stayed in were unique in that all the furniture was all handmade and the design of each room was customized to give off its own distinct feel. No two rooms were alike, which added to its uniqueness.

We toured Goshen College, which is a Mennonite College for about 1,000 students. We were impressed with the $25 million newly built music facility which featured state-of-
We also did a tour of the RV Hall of Fame as Goshen is the RV manufacturing capitol of America. On paper, it sounded boring, but it was more interesting than expected. We got the chance to climb in and explore million dollar RVs, view RVs from every decade, and even see RVs owned by famous people (including Mae West, hubba, hubba).

We learned the history of the Anabaptists, Mennonites, and Amish through meetings with various historians working at Goshen College as well as a visit to the Menno-Hof, a Mennonite cultural museum.

The church (Maple City Chapel) we visited on Sunday was also unique. The building itself used to be a Wal-Mart. However, I guess Wal-Mart deemed it too small, so they bought the land across the street and built one of those massive new Wal-Marts that does groceries and all that junk. So their old building was sold off and turned into an entertainment facility; mainly being a roller-rink and a 10-screen cinema. After that business closed down, Maple City took over the building. The roller-rink was turned into the main stage area and 9 of the 10 cinemas were stripped of their seating and turned into fellowship rooms and offices. They left one of the cinemas I guess so that they could show their own movies time to time. The Sunday service was upbeat and relevant. The demographic of the church seemed skewed towards young families; there were not many elderly people. The atmosphere of the church was extremely friendly, everyone welcomed us with opened arms.

After service we had lunch at this place called the Lux Cafe. It was awesome. The food was great in quality and abundance (with a low price tag). Bonus points were awarded because the waitresses were very attractive. Keep in mind this was a Mennonite town ie. predominantly German ie. tall and blonde.

What stood out the most for me during this trip was the hospitality and friendliness offered by our Mennonite brethren. Their hospitality was second to none. My favourite thing however was their world famous broaster chicken. As a big fan of KFC, I've got to say that this was better. Christ almighty, it was awesome. There are a few restaurants that offer all-you-can-eat broaster chicken, and I highly recommend you try it if you are in that area.

You can see all the pictures here.

Categories: amish , christianity , Indiana , mennonites , travelling

I'm behind in blog posting. I'll have an update on my adventures in Elkhart County, Indiana, a review for Hellboy 2, and ramblings on my trip to New York City. Well, I'm still in the Big Apple as I'm typing this. Later geeks.

Categories: donkey , life stuff , other

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Categories: life stuff , other

Today is a bit more serious than the usual geekery nonsense. I realize that this can be a sensitive subject, but understand that it's just my opinion, and you may not necessarily share it.

On Thursday evening, I led the discussion at our church's Young Careers cell group. The basis of our discussion was on Ephesians 5:21-33; in short, it dealt with the need for wives to submit to their husbands with respect, and for husbands to love their wives. In this passage, Paul compares the relationship between the husband and wife to Jesus and the church; specifically, Jesus' headship to the church, and comparatively, the husband's headship to the wife.

I brought up a scenario of a marriage where the wife takes on a more dominant role to the husband's more passive role. My question to the group was "is this right?" from a biblical standpoint. Should the man in the house take a backseat to the woman's leadership? It came down to two perspectives.

The first view was that just so long as the husband was okay and in agreeance with his role as well as her role, then it was fine. As long as they were both comfortable with what they were doing, then fine.

The second view was a bit more unpopular, although shared by a few including myself. Clearly, God has placed the husband with headship over his wife. It is God's commandment to lead his wife and to love her, while it is her duty to respect the husband.

My problem with the first view is that while, yes, I agree in today's society that this has been a more prominent scenario compared to decades ago, I don't think it's correct from a biblical standpoint. To society, it is okay and may even be considered great, but how can we as followers of Christ allow our societal values to trump our biblical ones.

Furthermore, with Christ's headship over the church established, and the husband's over the wife stated, wouldn't a passive husband be directly disobeying God's commandment? And if he is disobeying His commandment, then is he not sinning? I mean, in comparison, how would the church be if Christ were just a passive figure? Jesus led the church with wisdom and authority. He didn't take a backseat to the church. He spoke, they listened.

This not only has a negative affect in the marriage between the two partners, but as well to the children if they have any. Fathers are important role models to their children so it is essential to watch the way you carry yourselves out everyday. Are these the traits we want to pass off to our future generations?

In his book I Am America And So Can You, Stephen Colbert (a great man in his own right) writes,albeit with a sarcastic flair:

"The father has to be a provider, a teacher, a role model, but most importantly, a distant authority figure who can never be pleased. Otherwise, how will children ever understand the concept of God?"

To end off, all I can do is encourage you geeks out there who are fathers. Play an active role. Man up. Love your wife, love your children. That is all. Later geeks.

Categories: christianity , husbands , life stuff , religion , wives

On the evening of July 5th, I had the opportunity to see Kris Roe (of The Ataris fame) play an acoustic show at The Kathedral in downtown Toronto. It was something that felt very special because a) it was an acoustic performance, b) it's been 6 years since I've last seen him perform, and c) he was basically my highschool hero. His music was quite an inspiration and spirit lifter for me when I was in highschool and part of university (1999-2003).

The show opened up with 4 local bands: Dead End Girl, The Knockouts, Future's Past, and Outspoken. None of them really stood out and at least for this particular night, it was clear that the crowd was here to see Kris Roe pick up the acoustic guitar and jam the night away.


His set was filled with just about every fan favourite song. To top it all off, the last 4 songs were performed with Outspoken for a full rock out experience. I was surprised that they did "Boys of Summer" as I've heard that he loathed it for what its done to the band. But I suppose these days after all the personal trauma he's been through, that he's a bit more forgiving, opened, and welcoming to the fact that many of their fans discovered them through this single.

His setlist included (approximate order):
-Losing Streak
-1*15*96
-Unopened Letter to the World
-I Won't Spend Another Night Alone
-Your Boyfriend Sucks
-Fast Times at Dropout High
-My Hotel Year
-I.O.U. One Galaxy
-So Long Astoria
-The Hero Dies in This One
-The Last Song I Will Ever Write About a Girl
-Broken Promise Ring
-Summerwing Was Always Our Song

And four bonus full-band songs:
-In This Diary
-random cover song
-Boys of Summer
-San Dimas Highschool Football Rules



I had the opportunity to talk to him for about 5 minutes during one of the support acts and he seemed to be in a pretty terrific mood. He was excited to be in Canada for this tour. I asked him how he felt about spending July 4th in Canada to which he said he doesn't care, "I ain' that patriotic". He also told me about the new album they've been working on. This fall they're recording a bunch of demos (some which are completed), and he hopes that the new album will be out early next year.

I'm glad he's doing these low-key acoustic shows just to get in touch with his hardcore fanbase, away from the glitz and glamour of those stadium stage shows of the past. I hope all the best for the guy and that all the personal shit that happens in life doesn't detract him from making music.

If you want to see more pictures of the show, you can find them here.

Categories: concerts , life stuff , music , nostalgia , the ataris

This past Monday on Raw, CM Punk, the ROH alum, cashed in his money-in-the-bank briefcase to capture the World Heavyweight Championship belt.

It was a move that shocked both casual fans and smart marks (smarks) of the wrestling community.

Was it a good move? Is he just another 'transition' champion? We will see the next few weeks as this unfolds.

But here's what we do know. CM Punk, since his win at Wrestlemania 24 for the money-in-the-bank briefcase has been rendered the most impotent winner of the MIIB since its inception. He's done jobs left and right for wrestlers who have no right going over (at least on him). Apparently backstage in the lockerroom and on the road, CM Punk is a bit of a dick. He rubs people the wrong way. Apparently. So if you're going to punish a guy by making him job all the time, fine. By why put the MIIB on him? The MIIB is supposed to elevate a superstar to the upper echelon. A clear path must be paved if the fans are to truly believe that he is a great champion. What they did instead was create a joke.

Before this Monday occured, the smarks came up with two possibilities. The first was that CM Punk would be the first MIIB winner who cashed in and lost. Tragic. The second was that CM Punk would be turning heel after frustrations of so many losses and then be elevated as a top heel. Well, neither of those occured.

After Punk won the belt on Monday, John Cena and Rey Jr. both cut promos on the show trying to establish him as a worthy champion... except it's counterproductive if you keep calling the champ a kid. Building him as a worthy person for the championship should have occured right after the MIIB match, not after he's won the title. The only thing reigning is his impotence as a champion.

Here is the last thing we know. This past Monday's Raw drew a 3.5 in the ratings, making it the highest rating since Triple H became champion. What that hopefully tells us is that the audience is sick of seeing the same guys on top. We want to see new stars and new battles, not the same old geeks on top for 10 years.

I may sound a bit negative on Punk, but I'm not. I'm a fan of his. I want him to be a great champion. I am negative on WWE's creative choices in handling his career path. The ratings alone should indicate to WWE to keep him on top, regardless of as a face or heel.

Us geeks shall continue watching closely to see what they decide to do with Punk.

Categories: wrestling , wwe

This doesn't require a long review. See this movie. It is great.

There is so much charm and heart filled in this 100 minute feature that it can hardly contain itself.

Before seeing this movie, I read a few glowing reviews claiming that this was the best Pixar feature to date. I mean I knew it would be at least a decent feature, I don't think Pixar understands how to make a bad movie, but those were weighty statements given that Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles were amongst its successful repetoire. Having seen the movie now, I agree with those critics. As a geek, I should be marking for The Incredibles, which I did love, but Wall-E just had a ton of more heart, if not the same amount of charm and sophistication.

If you've seen the trailers, you know the main plot: lonely robot works on Earth, one day meets a new sleek pretty robot, love at first sight occurs, lonely robot travels across the galaxy to reconnect with sleek pretty robot.

The plot is simple making it universal and accessible to people of all ages, sizes, and flavours. What made it especially unique was the way it tugged at the heart strings all without the use of dialogue. Wall-E and Eve (the afforementioned sleek pretty robot) hardly communicate with words, but rather with just their eyes and maybe a hum from their motors. Yet we are made to really care for these characters. Adding to the charm of the movie was also the wide array of side characters that Wall-E meets and befriends; mainly three humans and a bunch of "outcast" robots. One gets the impression that these so-called "outcasts" weren't really "outcasts" at all, but moreso, curious and adventurous much like their hero, Wall-E.

I've read one interesting review (here) that mentions of a parallel in its plot to Christ, which is an interesting claim. It didn't occur to me when I was watching it, but now that I think about it more, it seems quite plausible.

Anyhow, I can't recommend this movie enough. This is easily my favourite movie of this year so far. Go see this with loved ones, family, and/or close friends; this is a movie-going experience to share.

Categories: animation , movies , summer blockbusters , wall-e