The Way They Use To...

I'm only thirty two but the way things have accelerated this past decade I feel much older at times. One thing that bugs the shit out me are modern movies. I have a very tough time actually liking most of them. It's astonishing how much shit is out there to watch. It's all quick cuts and garbled visuals that have replaced good choreography and storytelling. It's amazing to see how many films try to use style over skill. There's just too many hack fucks out there trying to be more than what they can be. (I'm looking at you Paul Anderson and Uwe Boll.) I miss the long takes and the ability to distinguish action shoots.

Horror in particular is my poison of choice and I've grown weary of the shit that gets peddled in it's name. It's fucking depressing the amount of PG-13 ghost story drivel that has come out in the last five years. I'm sick to death of the Japanese ghost remakes. The sad part to all this is that the good shit can't make any money or just gets dicked around by the studios. Drag Me To Hell wasn't even a blimp on the summer movie radar despite the fact it was Sam Rami revisiting his Evil Dead roots. Horror geeks have been bitching online for years about how he needed to stop doing the Spider-Man movies and do a horror flick. Then when he does and no one goes to see it. Instead I guess their saving their money for Saw 5.

Then there was Midnight Meat Train which was the U.S. directorial debut of Ryûhei Kitamura. He directed some truly excellent Japanese flick such as Versus, Azumi, Alive and a few others. Here we had a movie based on one of Clive Barkers short stories from the Books of Blood and a very innovative director ready to assault mainstream audiences with a brutally awesome horror film. Instead of getting a shot it gets shit canned and released in a handful of theaters and premieres on some obscure goddamn horror channel online only find it's way to DVD. Lionsgate are fucking morons.

This all leads me to believe I will never have to go to a theater again to see a great horror movie. Eventually they won't be made for mainstream audiences anymore. Horror just doesn't make the money that it probably does with direct to DVD releases. It's obvious people won't go out to watch anything unless it's a goddamn remake of something they're familiar with. God forbid they try to explore the field and little and see what else is out there.

I watched a little low budget horror flick this weekend that sparked this rant. It was called Laid To Rest. Like most good horror movies it received little recognition and was a straight DVD release. It was just a slasher movie that was very well done and had nice old school effects (no CGI). Me and the wife sat and watched it glued to all 90 minutes of it. It wasn't some ground breaking, genre turning, life altering experience but it was a fucking good horror flick like they use to make. The villain was cool looking the kills were well done and the story had just enough to keep me from nodding off. I loved knowing that I could still experience this kind of film. I'd compare the film to Halloween in most respects. It's basically a group of people trying to survive against a relentless killer wearing a chrome skull on his face.

If you like a memorable villain and plenty of gore then check it out. I watched this after setting through The Haunting in Connecticut with my wife the night before. It really drove home the idea about the contrasts between good and total shit. Needless to say Haunting in Connecticut is total shit. Laid to Rest deserve a audience much more than that film.

That's all the bitching I can muster for the time being.

Enjoy the Life!

The Return of Something Great

This has been a long time coming but worth every second.

One More Thing...

If anyone reads the previous post don't misconstrue my intent. I actually like the idea of people and I don't honestly think I'm the only low tolerance bastard out here when it comes to dealing with them. I just look around and see things as being very cold and lifeless. Kinda like those last three goddamn Star Wars movies. It's just a bunch of people going through the motions of living and not realize what the fuck is really happening. It's fake and without meaning and we've learned to accept it. I just wish there was more to us as a race instead of greed, self indigence and personal gain.

I guess that's why I do my comic and art. It's my own way of breaking through that concept and connecting blindly to others and hoping they find something they enjoy. It's sad I can't mange this in everyday life but then what the fuck would I have to bitch on the Internet.

Now...I'm done.

Moron Rules and Other Various Rantings

Feel the need to vent. No one reads these things anymore anyway so it's all good. I consider myself a thinking person. Not a smart person mind you but just someone who considers things. Here lately I've realized that it's almost a handicap to be this way. People seem to take better to the simple person. The moron if you will. I've met, worked and associated with my far share of them and I'm always amazed at how easily people accept the morons. I'm sure they seem cute and naive but goddamn if I just don't understand. Call me crazy but I'm always more impressed with someone that actually has something to say. Not just drone on and on about the stupidest shit imaginable. Sorry, if one of your friends or loved ones may be a moron and I just insulted them. I apologize but I can't help myself. The world of man confuses me with it's norms. People love these simple creatures and I can't fathom it. I guess it's a control issue or something. People always love to be the ones to "show em' how it's done". They feel sorry for the little morons and mask this as compassion and respect.

Something else that's been eating at me is the fact that I'm seemingly alone in my way of thinking. Sure the wife gets it, she understands me but everyone else says I'm too caught up in it and need to chill. To that I say "Fuck that!". It that kind of empathic bullshit mentality that got me to this very spot. Love thy neighbor? Fuck thy neighbor! Because there's no reason not to. People aren't friendly to each other anymore, they simple interact to get a better reading of their environment. It's all about the face and what it says but the real shits going down in the brain. We don't give a fuck about each other until the minute our lives are truly affected. And then it's all about getting our shit back in order. But then hell, maybe it's just me. Maybe I've given it all too much thought and really do need to chill.

I have a few friends and all of them were made in high school or college. Beyond that I've not met anyone I can say is my friend. I have acquaintances. People I speak to from time to time but no one I really give a shit about. That's also not to say that I haven't made the effort. I just don't have it in me anymore to connect with people I guess. I've spent way too much time trying to understand the concept of honesty and reliability for it work for me now. All I've learned is that people don't really like people. They interact until it isn't necessary anymore. In the end it's hard to fault them for it. We're told to care and be responsible but with the pressure of everyday life who has fucking time for humanity. Really!!

I'm done

Monster Zero Ate My Soul!

I have no patience at all. I burn out so fast on anything I start to do its pathetic. It's this fact that makes my Monster Zero comic such a personal accomplishment. With thirty pages under my belt I'm strutting with a confidence I've rarely had throughout my days as a artistic type. There's a relentless drive for this comic inside me that I've never experienced before. I know this is hardly an interesting observation and its completely self serving but I don't care. Sometimes it feels good to let the ego loose a bit. Besides, its not like I've experienced some massive success. I'm still just a guy who draws a web comic. I'm a dime a dozen really and that's cool. I have very few readers as far as I can tell. It just feels good to have finally created something I believe in without question.

There I'm finished with the ego stroking.

Now I'll talk about the hard stuff regarding my comic venture. It's truly a pain in the ass trying to market something with a next to nothing budget. The Internet is a relentless thing and everyone is pushing to be heard out here. I've been trying nonstop to pimp Monster Zero to as many sites as I can find. The whole online comic web scene is tough though. For one I'm drawing a comic book not a comic strip so the dynamic is different. People like their instant gratification and it's hard to give that to them when it takes ten or so pages to finish a scene. I can't self publish so the nets my only outlet. I intend to keep searching for a combination of ways to get the word out. If only I were a manga artist.

One last thing I'd also like to talk about is the notion of deserving an audience. It's easy for me to have confidence in my comic but that doesn't make it good on any level. The same can be said of anything though. Any work of art or fiction is someones passion. It may have appeal and it may not. That's left for the masses to judge. I'm just out here looking to be judged. I want the opportunity to see if the ideas in my head about entertainment are the same as others. And if they are then I'd like to provide that entertainment to them. I've thought long and hard about why I do this stuff. I came to the conclusion that its for the right reasons. I want to be an entertainer in this medium just like everyone else out there trying their hand at it. I have certain things I'd like to express within this art form. At the end of the day it just makes sense to me to try. It's what my heart tells me.

I've Been Watching the Watchmen.

So for my first blog I wanted to talk about something that's been bothering me for almost the past ten years. Basically I've reached a point where nothing generates enthusiasm for me anymore when it comes to entertainment. I lack even the most basic interest in most things. Part of this stems from originality. It's like every concept has been done and we're just waiting to see how someone else tells the same story. It's boring and I honestly thought I would never get tired of reading and watching stuff. Hell, even The Dark Knight is a film that I will only set through maybe five or six more times in my life. I used to devour this stuff now I can barely hold my eyes open till the end. It's just strange to me.

Every now and again though I find something that pulls me out of that rut. This week it was Watchmen. I've read the book three times in my life and I've always regarded it as a piece of absolute brilliance. Alan Moore is a god among men in my opinion. So when it came time to watch the movie I removed all speculation and went into it a blank slate. Cause even if it sucked that doesn't change a damn thing in the book itself.

First off it didn't suck. Secondly I think I may have witnessed something that finally transcended the superhero genre on film. I've never been very critical of comic book movies for the simple reason that their existence is enough for me. As a kid I came from a time that couldn't produce a good comic movie to save it's life. There were a few exceptions but ultimately not very many. With Watchmen I sat in awe the entire film absorbing what being thrown onto the screen. It was completely unapologetic in regards to what it was. It designed a world that had existed only on pages before and gave it life. The actors didn't seem to falter on any level to me. They each had their dilemma and intent mapped out for them and behaved according to the writings of the book. It was breathtaking to see something so complex get translated so literally. Needless to say I was pulled out of my rut and thrown so high I've yet to come down.

Zach Snyder is a director that I had respect for even before this film. His Dawn of the Dead remake was stylish fun and 300 was an incredible love letter to Frank Miller's original book. I think with Watchman through he show his chops. This guy is a ballsy visionary for sure. He made the first big budget fan boy wet dream come true. Watchman is an achievement for superhero films for the simple reason that it refused to compromise. It wasn't scaled back, rather it went as far as you could take it in terms of content and visuals. I realize you could argue that Sin City did this first. Sin City isn't a superhero world though. It stylized crime noir. Watchmen is a superhero epic that brims over with high concepts and intrigue specifically tailored to the superhero genre. It's heady stuff and not the kind of product Hollywood does very often. Watchmen may be the first art house superhero flick.

I know this is a lot of ass kissing and comic babbling but I can't help it. The movie just kicked my ass so hard that it's impossible for me not to babble! For anyone on the fence about seeing it. I highly suggest it if you like movies with ideas rather than your standard Hollywood fair. The story here is pretty simple the world it takes place is not. Watchmen moves at a snails pace when you really look at it. It spends most of it's time creating things. Telling smaller stories of the individual characters rather than a overall plot. If you like that sort of thing, and I do, it may be the coolest visual experience you may have ever had up to this point.

Watchmen brought me back from the mundane. I feel like I've seen something for the first time. Rather than just seeing a variation. Go check it out! I'm done.