The Comic Critic Reviews Oblivion

When my friend John Draper asked me to see the premier showing of Oblivion, I couldn’t resist. I always get excited when I see that a movie is going to have robots in it, or spacesuits, or something that looks like a combination of the two. Normally a premier showing is held at 12:05 a.m., technically the day of the release, but still realistically pulling in that following evening’s audience. I was therefore surprised to see it scheduled at 8:10 p.m. on the day before its official release. I was also startled to see that the theater wasn’t nearly as full as I expected. In fact, there was ample room. While the story told in Oblivion finished with a fairly predictable ending (along some predictable routes), it did not go along the routes that I’d predicted. I was happy to get a few surprises thrown in. I think the reason I can’t go any higher than a seven on the rating is that Oblivion didn’t hold enough surprises for me. It had tension, action, sadness, and pluck. But it didn’t have the awe, guffaws, or big scares that would have thrown it up there with high-ranking, great sci-fi fantasy films. I should mention that while I give the movie a seven, my friend John gives it an eight.

Not to be confused with the Oblivion from 1994, starring George Takei - Oh, My!

The Return of Stickman #1475 & #1476

In case you missed the news story that inspired these two strips, here it is. Just a heads up that next weekend I'm going to be in Portland, Oregon selling my schlock at the Stumptown Comic Fest. I'll be sharing my table with Matt Youngmark of Chooseomatic Books. You will be able to find us at table D03. I'll be sharing the map as soon as it's released.

The Return of Stickman #1474

The unnerving story that inspired today's strip can be found here.

The Comic Critic Reviews The Room

When I go to comic book conventions, I always ask my fans what their favorite films are. A lively discussion follows; we break movies down by genre and pick our favorites. And there is one genre of film that arouses the passions of masochists, the Bad Movie. Trying to define the Bad Movie is an evening’s discussion in itself. But for the purposes of today’s commentary, let’s go with this: a Bad Movie is one that strove to be a good, if not great movie, and failed to such a wretched degree that it’s easily considered to be one. And as this topic came up again and again, a movie title I’d never heard of before also came up. The name of that movie was—you guessed it—The Room. I’ve seen my share of awful films, mostly in my pursuit of seeing as many horror movies in the eighties as was humanly possible, but I’d never seen The Room. This one, having been released in 2006, is a relatively recent blight on cinematic art. I confess that my curiosity got the better of me, and I promised a fan I would watch and review the film. I expected that I might lose two hours of my life to the experience, but I hadn’t prepared for the anguish-inducing, soul-sucking, time-slowing, black-hole-of-waste that makes up The Room. If there is a hell for movie critics, this is what’s playing at every mandatory matinée.

The Return of Stickman #1472 and #1473

I'm very familiar with the biker mentality. I went on a visiting to my brother's friend in the hospital. His motorcycle was sideswiped by somebody shooting out a parking lot. The accident broke several bones along that side of his body, and he lost a few fingers. When we got to his room he told us all about the larger, better motorcycle money he was going to buy the insurance settlement. Before people start sending me email telling me that I got the facts wrong, let me say that... Yes, I know it was not a chainsaw. Yes, I know that an EMT was just a few feet away and the first to respond. and also... This is a cartoon. A poorly drawn cartoon. And while at times it does a better job of reporting the news than Fox, it is still a comic strip that is inspired by the many odd events that happen in the world. Something I hope my copy editor will finally accept. There is no need to fact check this strip. I know what the problem is. You all care too much. Thanks for caring. Keeping those inspiring articles coming.

The Comic Critic Reviews Daft Punk's Electroma

My good friend, who goes by the moniker of Thorax O’Toole, invited me over to his house to view the cinematic experience that is Electroma. I know the French duo Daft Punk were the creators behind the film. I was expecting to hear a lot of the band’s music incorporated into the film. I didn’t get that music, though. There was a soundtrack using a tasteful selection of scene-appropriate music. On the whole, the movie struck me as a very high-end student film project. The story holds strength because it’s about striving to understand identity. What does identity mean to us, to others, to a rock of a planet? There is no dialogue during the film. Each viewer creates their own as these questions are presented to them, with (and I need to emphasize this) plenty of time to think about it.

 I highly suggest watching this with a bunch of friends like I did, preferably with a few film students or folks willing and open-minded enough to watch it to see what the fuss is all about. If you do find the movie torturous, hang in there. Electroma is actually short and will only claim an hour of your time.

The Return of Stickman #1471