IN APPRECIATION OF... SOME GREAT (BUT OFTEN OVERLOOKED) TV CHARACTERS

For my In Appreciation of... column this month (yes, I'm trying to do them monthly-ish now) I thought I'd have a bit of fun. Rather than focussing on one particular (usually) film related thing, I'd instead turn by spray-like focus to the world of TV and some of the great characters that reside therein.

First, and perhaps most importantly, this will not be a complete list. I hesitate to even call this a list - the world of the film blog is already infested with far too many of them - but perhaps think of this more as a spotlight. And feel free to add some of your favourite (but overlooked) TV characters in the comments; there's no reason we can't start a conversation rather than it just be me typing away into the cyber-aether.

Woah. Ok. Back on topic: as we are all aware the realm of television has been experiencing a golden age lately. From The Sopranos (quite rightly seen as the godfather of this age) and The West Wing to The Wire and Mad Men these are the new homes of great characters as writers, actors and directors are given the space to allow the characters to grow and breathe in new and exciting ways.

So to reiterate, this won't be a complete spotlight. There are any number of great shows I just haven't had the chance/time to really dedicate my time to (Treme, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire etc). These are also all characters and shows from a recent years and there are any number of reasons for this: that aforementioned Golden Age, these shows being topmost in my recollection and hopefully these can serve as introductions to new favourite characters you just haven't met yet, but can easily catch up on. There's really only been one rule of thumb for me when I was compiling this: that the character is legitimately great but has been overshadowed by, not necessarily stronger, but more fan-friendly/stand-out characters.

One last quick note: I deliberately haven't included any characters from The Simpsons or The Wire. Over their 20+ seasons The Simpsons have mined every single character, minor character and background character for all they're worth. Whereas The Wire has nothing but great characters. To pick just one from that cast would be an exercise in futility.

Let's kick it off:

How can you not love this?

Britta Perry from Community

Community is a flat-out great TV show and makes for hilarious comedy. And one of the reasons it works? The characters. This study group of community college no-hopers are some of the strongest, believable characters on any TV show. And one of the best is Gillian Jacobs' Britta Perry.

In a TV show filled with great characters (Troy & Abed, Dean Pelton, Magnitude (Pop pop!) and more) Britta is one who is often overlooked. Which is a shame, as she is a truly great character. While I, and I'm sure many geeky others, identify more with the characters of Troy & Abed or laugh at the Dean and his outrageous outfits, it is Britta and, more importantly her evolution, that I really find fascinating and hilarious. Britta started out as the annoying, slightly shrill party-pooper of the group but she has become more... real. She's still the party-pooper, but not because she wants to spoil the fun, but because she's just so uncool. And here's the great thing: she thinks she's actually really cool and together. But she's awkward and not nearly as cool as she thinks she is and kind of knows.

She's a strong female character in a pop culture starved of them. And it's not because she has it all together, is boringly sensible and has all the answers but because she doesn't. Also, she dresses up as a squirrel, a T-rex and can't pronounce "bagel".

Helo from Battlestar Galactica

The rebooted and refitted Battlestar Galactica was another show packed to the gunships with great characters. Within one show you have a gruff but lovable commander, his booze-soaked and cranky XO, the uptight and proper son of the commander, the bolshy civilian president and one of the all-time greatest female characters in the form of Katee Sackhoff's Kara "Starbuck" Thrace. And amidst all that, it's not much of a surprise that Tahmoh Penikett's Karl "Helo" Agathon got lost in the shuffle, despite his impressive height.

But Helo was an equally great and fascinating character and, even more importantly, he was the conscience of the show. He was, in many ways, the most selfless and most heroic character. When the world was, literally, ending he gave up his seat on the last flight out (to Dr. Gauis Baltar, the most quixotic weasel to ever grace TV screens), fell in love with and had a child with a Cylon and, thanks in no small part to that love, stopped Adama and Roslin from committing genocide on the Cylon race.

When no-one else wanted the job, Helo took over administration of the refugee camp on Galactica and strenuously defended their rights. He served as the XO when Tigh had crawled too far into his bottle. He believed in Starbuck's visions/feelings enough to accompany her in the search for Earth. Helo was steadfast, loyal and never compromised his own sense of what was morally right. That in itself should set him apart, as BSG was a show full of characters making painfully compromised decisions in order to simply survive.

Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation

It's taken me awhile to get on board with Parks & Rec. My initial reaction was predicated on the faux-documentary style of the show, which I have become bored of now. But, once I got past that foolish assumption, I found a show about a great bunch of characters, all lead by a wonderful, passionate woman who loved her job.

Most people, quite rightfully so, love Nick Offerman's Ron Swanson. He is, after all, a mustachiod man's man happiest when he's having a breakfast of meat, bacon and meat. But the hero (and main character) of the show, the beating heat of the Parks Department, is Leslie Knope. She is a character at a complete 180 to Ricky Gervais' awkward and often hateful David Brent. Leslie loves her job, she truly believes in the Parks Department and despite her occasional exasperation with some employees, loves everyone working there. She is relentlessly cheerful and dedicated and somehow despite all of the hours long meetings, dawn brainstorming sessions and unpaid concert set-ups she organises, she has the respect and loyalty of her staff and boss.

When others give in or can't be bothered, Leslie happily steps up and fills folder upon folder with ideas and sketches. She looks for the good in people and situations and only wants to do right by the good people of Pawnee and give them the best Parks Department they've ever had. For all of us wage slaves hating our jobs, or people struggling to make a living out of what we love to do, Leslie Knope is nothing short of an inspiration.

Dean Winchester from Supernatural

Supernatural is a show I've only recently got into (having just finished Season 2) but I'm pretty much a fan already. About two brothers who are also Hunters; that is they criss-cross the States in search of monsters, legends and spirits. It's like a cross between Buffy and The X-Files but is still very much its own thing. The anchor of the show is the often contentious but always close relationship between the two brothers: Sam and Dean Winchester.

While Sam is the ever-questioning younger brother, with the vague hacking/IT skills and the (cut short) Ivy League college career, Dean is a simple man at heart. He loves his car, heavy rock, horror movies and girls. He has little knowledge of the modern world (MySpace and such) and likes it that way. He's not afraid to speak his mind or defend his family.

And that's the defining characteristic of Dean right there: he's the ultimate big brother. Where he probably gets noticed more for his dry wit and id-based hilarity, it his desire to protect Sam at all costs that defines him. He has a secretly low opinion of himself, seeing himself as utterly expendable in the efforts to protect his little brother (who he enjoys teasing mercilessly). While the moments of "Dean-ness" capture your attention, it is those unguarded moments that occasionally make themselves known that truly get to you. A character more complex than first glance would guess at, Dean Winchester is a big reason I'm now such a fan of Supernatural. 

Zoe from Firefly

Now, this is a character from a show I almost excluded from consideration, purely down to the fact that, again, every character is a strong one. But when I thought about it more, there a few characters that stand-out and hog all the conversation: Nathan Fillion's gruff but lovable Captain Mal, Adam Baldwin's man of pure id Jayne Cobb and Jewel Staite's sweet and sexual Kaylee. Which is fair enough; they're all great notable characters. But there's one character on the crew of Serenity that does a lot of heavy lifting in the background, and so deserving to be on this list: Gina Torres' Zoe.

Zoe is the Amazonian warrior-mother figure of the good ship Serenity; fiercely protective of those in the crew, quick to direct violence on those who would do mischief to them. She's the dutiful soldier, taking orders without question from the Captain but who is really the one holding him/it all together. And just because she follows orders and keeps a cool countenance, doesn't mean she's an unfeeling robot who blindly follows.

She's a woman who hides a dry and witty sense of humour; the moments when you see Zoe laughing are when you know it's really funny. She'll give sass to the Captain and enjoys a joke with the crew. And c'mon; of course she's not a humourless warbot: she's married to Wash! The pilot who wears Hawaiian shirts (despite there likely being no Hawaii anymore) and plays with plastic dinosaurs. Zoe is a woman of hidden depths and who is cool and fierce in equal measure. She's the last lady you want to double-cross but the first you'll turn to when your back is against the wall.


So, that's some characters from me. Again, not complete or absolute by any means but merely a smattering of characters worthy of more attention than they generally receive. Who would you have on here? 

IN APPRECIATION OF... THE WORLD CINEMA SHOWCASE

The centre-piece event of every year for me is the New Zealand International Film Festival. It's two weeks of film-gorging as I get my face in front of as many new and interesting films as I can. I volunteer as an usher each year, I watch up to 5 movies a day and, lately, I've been blogging my daily experiences. It's an intense fortnight and one I absolutely relish.

There is, however, a smaller film festival that runs for two weeks around Easter (in Wellington). It's only at the one theatre, the Paramount, instead of the larger festival's six, and plays an interesting grab-bag of films; some returning from the previous year's Film Festival, others entirely new and unheard of. This is the World Cinema Showcase and I love it.

I almost feel like the Showcase doesn't get enough love. Certainly not from the casual Film Festival crowd - those people who only go to films at the Film Festival dahling; it's somehow seen as "lesser" or some such bullcrap. But true film-lovers know, the Showcase is where it's at. 

The Showcase, as you may expect, is a more low-key affair. There's no allocated seating and it is strictly on a first-come, first-served basis. Of course, when there's a popular film playing, such as I'm Not Here not long after Heath Ledger's death, it can be a bit of a madhouse. But the vibe, generally speaking, is genial and easy-going.

The Showcase is also a brilliant opportunity to catch a number of films that may not make it into the larger Film Festival for one reason or another (timing, the sheer size of the Festival) and have a question mark over their theatrical release. Last year alone I was able to catch the documentaries Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Restrepo, Bill Cunningham New York and the excellent Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. I was also able to finally see the questionably questionable "documentary" Catfish. The Showcase in 2010 finally brought the much-talked about and eventual Oscar winner, The Hurt Locker to New Zealand audiences. That year also brought us the phenomenal Bronson from Nicolas Wending Refn, with Tom Hardy breaking out in the central role.The list of fantastic films I've seen at the Showcase could just keep on going: Princess Mononoke (my first Miyazaki film), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Buster Keaton's hilarious classic The General, JCVD and more. 

Yeah, the Film Festival is the centre-piece film event of the year but I believe the Showcase is an equally valid entry in the calendar. It arrives at that sweet spot in the year, just when all the serious-minded awards type films are petering out but before the popcorn blockbusters are in full swing.

It's perfectly placed and perfectly sized. It serves to cleanse the palate and whet the appetite. The Showcase programme is out this Thursday and I can't wait to start flipping through it and sorting out my Easter viewing.

IN APPRECIATION OF... GOING TO THE MOVIES

The interior of the El Capitan theatre in LA

A couple of things prompted me to compose this entry in my In Appreciation of... series. There is the constant state of flux the cinema distribution and exhibition industry seems to find itself in at the moment. There is the constant improvement of home entertainment options. There is the increasing presence of digital projection in cinemas and the decreasing presence of 35mm presentations. There is the screening of Hugo I attended, which is a beautiful re-awakening of the love of cinema. Recently there was an article by the Film Crit Hulk on what he loves about cinema, which was followed up by a similar article from Quint at Ain't it Cool News. And there are the numerous films that, every year, I am desperate to see on general release here in NZ but that instead head straight to DVD.

To me, absolutely nothing beats seeing a movie in a cinema. I have never downloaded a movie in my life. Not only because of the moral issues I have with it (and I do), but because I would rather see a film how it was meant to be seen: on a big screen, with an audience.

There is something almost indefinable and special about watching a movie in the cinema, with an appreciative audience. It is akin to experiencing a live concert rather than listening to a CD at home or attending a game or match instead of watching it at home on TV. There is something about experiencing an event - cinema, concert, game - with a crowd that makes it electric. These types of experiences go right to the core of something inside all of us; inside every person. The connection that seems to pass through a crowd, all sharing in something together; experiencing the same highs and lows. It can only be replicated to a smaller degree at home.

Yes, I love films. But I also love cinemas. Where possible, I avoid the multiplexes and this post is not focussed on them. No, they give the bare minimum of the experience with, often as not, barely competent staff, hollow & impersonal architecture and lousy texting & talking patrons. This is, of course, a gross over generalisation but one that I have found to be true time and again.

Ceiling detail from the Roxy Cinema

However, we are lucky enough in Wellington, to have a number of fantastic "boutique", "art-house" or "independent" cinemas. Each of them offer something different and altogether something more. Whether it be the largely art-house and independent fare at the Paramount (Wellington's oldest cinema); the big, beautiful screen and the newly refurbished downstairs bar area at the Embassy; the mind-blowing love and attention to detail poured into the Roxy Cinema in Miramar, which looks like a cinema you would find it Fritz Lang's Metropolis; or the welcoming cafes and atmospheres at Island Bay's Empire Cinema, Brooklyn's Penthouse Cinema or Petone's Lighthouse Cinema. These are all wonderful places to wrap yourself in the darkness and fall into the worlds on screen.

A night out at the movies used to be more of an event; it was something people got dressed up for, queued for and made an evening of. This sense of occasion has somewhat abandoned the movies, with the rise of the multiplexes and their blockbuster fare, not to mention the increased ticket prices and overall costs involved with having a night out. But I still love it - even if it is just to watch various things explode while munching down over-salted popcorn with a crowd of hyper-sugared-up teens.

All of this is a rather over-long way of saying, in this age of downloading (whether legal or illegal) and better home-entertainments systems & options I remain resolutely in love with a night-out at the movies. I love watching small, intimate films in a cinema as much as I love watching action-packed explosion-fests; the cinema screen is not just a way to watch explosions in the highest definition possible. You never laugh harder, scream higher or cheer louder than when you experience a film with a packed cinema audience, all of you responding to what's on the screen.

The vast, vast majority of my movie watching related memories are ensconced within the cinema. I'll happily watch 35mm prints that are showing their age and crisp new digital projections that ring clear as a bell. I can only sincerely hope these picture palaces are still around for me to share with any future generations. 

IN APPRECIATION OF... ROBOCOP

"Come quietly or there will be... trouble."

I love RoboCop. No, that's not quite right. I unashamedly and unreservedly fuckin' love everything about the film RoboCop. I love the violence, the humour, Peter Weller, the 80's futurism, its subversiveness, RoboCop's MASSIVE gun, Miguel Ferrer, ED-209, ED-209 squealing, exploding Emil, Kurtwood Smith, Paul Verhoeven's balls, RoboCOP POV, "I'd buy that for a dollar!" and just damned everything.

The first time I ever watched Paul Verhoeven's muscular vision of a dystopian future, RoboCop, was on VHS, recorded off the telly. It was a, somewhat random, double-feature with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and those two films were my introduction to cinematic violence. While I was perhaps too young for RoboCop (the memory of my exact age has become dimmed with increasing age) I thrilled to it. The violence, while not disturbing me as much as the heart extraction in Temple of Doom, was certainly extreme. And I was far too young and immature to fully grasp the larger themes that Verhoeven was interested in. But something of them trickled through; something of the twisted humour, the rather anti-authoritarian and anti-corporate stance.

In the years since I have become a fan of Paul Verhoeven. The man has had his fair share of Hollywood stinkers - Hollow Man, Showgirls - but his standout films - Total Recall, Starship Troopers, Black Book - have been works of demented, uncompromising genius. 1987's RoboCop was the director's first major Hollywood work and is typical of his style and carries many of his cinematic quirks and obsessions; a propensity for gruesome violence, distrustful of corporate/government institutions and greed, science-fiction and a frank openness to sex and sexuality. Don't forget, this is a man who grew up in the Netherlands during the time of Nazi occupation and was surrounded by destruction and death for some of his most formative years.

But he melds, combines, synthesis these ideas and themes with a thrilling cinematic action-film. It has been stated that Verhoeven saw the character of RoboCop as a Christ-like figure; the shotgun blasts to officer Murphy's hands and arms representing the stigmata, while the shot to the head represents the Crown of Thorns. Murphy is then, of course, reborn. I love that a Verhoeven vision of Christ is a cyborg law enforcer carrying a massive Beretta in his leg. Or, more specifically, Verhoeven's vision of an American Christ - when words and turning the other cheek fails... BLAM! BLAM! BOOM!

Let's not forget that RoboCop is not solely a creation of Paul Verhoeven. In point of fact he initially rejected the script by Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner. Neither of them have written anything particularly decent since (Neumeier also wrote Verhoeven's hilarious and splattery Starship Troopers) but with RoboCop they managed to capture something of the zeitgeist.

In fact, I very much doubt if a film like RoboCop as it currently exists would be able to be made in today's Hollywood system. Past the surface details of the explosions and production design, RoboCop is a film brimming with ideas, subtext and thematic explorations. It's the kind of intelligent, yet still thrilling popcorn-entertainment, science-fiction that Hollywood doesn't really do anymore. That ground seems to be covered by lower budget films like Primer, District 9 and Monsters. 2010's Inception probably came the closest to a big-budget but still intelligent science-fiction film in recent years. But compare Nolan's dry, well-constructed intelligence and entertainment to Verhoeven's gory, funny, pop-infused, slyly subversive ride. To me, there's no contest. I know which film I'd prefer to watch over and over again.

From RoboCop, there have been any number of other works spinning out from the original film; a couple of sequels, a TV series, cartoons, video-games and  comic-books. He's faced off against Aliens, the Terminator and probably Rocky Balbooa. I'm quite happy to say I've not seen, read or played any of these. RoboCop remains, to me, a singular experience. Even if RoboCop 3 promised a RoboCop with a jetpack. The design of RoboCop, for all the arguments and near-fisticuffs that went into it, is iconic. The man behind the creation of that suit, the Rick Baker trained Rob Bottin, and Verhoeven by all reports clashed constantly, at one point almost coming to blows. Of course, none of that really matters; the proof of their work is up there on screen: RoboCop. A character so iconic, there was a movement to erect a statue to him in Detroit and who, bestride a unicorn with a very strong back, became a popular internet meme in 2008.

There is, as there always is, talk of a remake floating around. It's talk that has been in the ether for a number of years now. At one point it looked increasingly likely that Darren Arronofsky was going to be the one to bring it on home. And he would have been one of the few directors I actually would have trusted to do something interesting with the material. Like him or not, Aronofsky always has something to say in his films. However, he walked and it seemed as if RoboCop 2.0 would either fall by the wayside or be picked up by some hacky hack with nothing interesting to say like McG, Scott Derrickson or Len Wiseman. Instead, the current man attached is Brazilian director Jose Padilha. After seeing his Elite Squad II: The Enemy Within I'm a little happier about the remake. Elite Squad II was a solidly entertaining genre film, with a lot to say and an effective way of saying it. Could RoboCop be Padilha's RoboCop? Padilha has stated his film will explore more of what it means to be a man turned into a machine; Padilha is aiming for something more philosophical and less political it seems.

Approaching RoboCop as an overtly political film and statement is an interesting exercise and the comparisons to Neumeier and Verhoeven's Starship Troopers are readily apparent. Both men are on the political left; both liberals, yet both of these films can be seen as fascist and right-leaning. I instead see them as poking fun at these sorts of ideas, approaching them in a tongue-and-cheek manner. It's a delicate balancing act and Neumeier and Verhoeven just manage it. The use of fake news broadcasts, commercials (the 6000 SUX and Nuke 'Em boardgame) serve to set-up the wider world in amongst some truly absurd humour. Essentially, they're setting up an incorporated, fascist world and undercutting it at the same time.

But let's not forget: RoboCop is fun. A hell of a lot of fun in fact. When I watch it nowadays, I'm more aware of the ideas and themes going on in the film - RoboCop as a Christ-like figure or as a man struggling to regain his humanity; the send up of the "greed is good" mentality; the film even serves as a template for the modern superhero origin story. But there's a part of me that will always be that boy thrilling to the imperfect, B-movie, iconic, violent, funny, low-brow and deliriously glorious RoboCop. I hope to experience it on the big screen one day.

Part man. Part machine. All cop. Yer damn right.

Further watching:

RoboKid - the cutest little cyborg-crimefighter around. With a signed photo from RoboCop himself, Peter Weller.

Total Recall - Verhoeven's adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short-story We Can Remeber it For You Wholesale starring Arnie, Sharon Stone and a chick with three tits. Another insane & pulpy sci-fi ride with some larger questions lurking just below the surface. "Get your ass to Mars!"

Starship Troopers - the first Verhoeven film I saw in a cinema and one that is hilarious, explosive and fantastically bone-headed at times. Casper van Dien and Denise Richards are no great thespians but Neil Patrick Harris and Michael Ironside are a lot fun. "D'you wanna live forever?!"

Black Book - Verhoeven's first film back in his native Netherlands since his move to Hollywood. An epic, moving and just downright stunning film about one Jewish woman's attempts to survive during the Nazi occupation.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension - the Peter Weller starring cult classic that really is quite mad. Description doesn't really quite do it justice. "I've been ionized, but I'm okay now."

Elite Squad and Elite Squad II: The Enemy Within - RoboCop remake director Jose Padilha's first two feature films; excellent action films with a political message of their own. 

In Appreciation of... THE X-MEN

Just before I head off to see Matthew Vaughn's 60's set X-Men: First Class for myself, I thought I would take the time to write a (long overdue) new entry in my In Appreciation of... posts/columns. As you can see from the title, this is an Appreciation of Marvel's Merry Mutants: the X-Men.

The X-Men began life in that great comic-book idea boom of the 60’s; the Silver Age. There was a reason Marvel was called the House of Ideas, and the two biggest idea men at the company were Stan “The Man” Lee and Jack “King” Kirby. The idea behind the X-Men was one of their less inspired origin stories though: Stan Lee could not think of a new and exciting way for this group to gain their powers, so he decided to just make them born with them. But out of that simple idea came shadings of discrimination and struggle all within the context of the social upheaval in the 60’s. It's no accident that comparisons are often made between Professor Xavier/Martin Luther King and Magneto/Malcolm X. The original team was made up of five teenage mutants: the stoic and reserved Cyclops, the brilliant and ebulliant Beast, the class clown Iceman, the high flying playboy Angel and the gifted and lovely Marvel Girl. Their ranks have changed dramatically in the decades since, with new mutants joining, leaving, dying, turning evil, being reborn, returning from the future etc.

The X-Men are, in all likelihood, my favourite bunch of comic-book characters. Some people go for the dark grittiness of Batman, while others prefer the everyman quality of Spider-Man (when I started reading comics, Spider-Man was in a weird, dark place. This was the time of the Clone Saga). The X-Men are a pop culture link to my past; the pubescent me with gross hair down to my shoulders, my parents going through a difficult time, me trying to fit in and impress (re: talk) to girls and then trying to pretend like I didn’t care. Where I grew up there were two comic-book shops and one trading card store. It was a small teenage haven on the main street: comic-book shop, movie theatre, video-game arcade. They’re all gone now; the centre of town shifted. I spent a lot of time after school, just hanging out at the comic-book shop talking to the comic book guy (actually a pretty cool guy; about as far away from CBG on The Simpsons as you could get). I don’t know what it was about comics, and the X-Men in particular, that drew me in but I was hooked. I was an addict and the X-Men were my crack.

I think I was first introduced to the X-Men by my friend Rajeev and his issues of the "Fatal Attractions" storyline - where the X-Men went to shut down Magneto for good and Wolverine ended up having the adamantium (the special comic-book metal that coats his bones) yanked out of him. Or it could've been via the totally wicked 90's cartoon:

Memories become blurred but that cartoon show was awesome, with its multiple episode story arcs that managed to draw on decades of X-stories. Not even Batman: The Animated Series managed to do that. From there I picked up the comics, got hooked and somehow found myself jumping almost directly into one of the biggest X-crossovers Marvel have had: The Age of Apocalypse. Professor Xavier’s son, the schizophrenic telekinetic mutant known as Legion, travelled back in time to kill the X-Men’s long-time adversary Magneto. Instead, he accidently killed his daddy and founder of the X-Men. Being a comic-book, this didn’t lead to some sort of looping time paradox that destroyed the entire universe (well…) but instead created a dystopian universe where the X-Men’s ancient enemy Apocalypse ruled. It was great, crazy, heady stuff and I lapped it up. It was the X-Men, but more hardcore: a lone band of rebels (who still managed to find spandex for their costumes somehow) up against a despotic ruler whose doctrine was simply “survival of the fittest”. It was grim, but as a 13-14 year old it was also so fucking cool (that paragraph was a lot of fun to write. Time travelling psychotic sons creating dystopian timelines! Woo! Comic-books!).

This was also the mid to late 90’s where, in the comic-book world, the artist and gimmicky cover was king. I started reading after Jim Lee et al had taken off to form Image, but just as Joe Madureira was starting his run. Madureira was instrumental in bringing the anime/manga look into the mainstream of American pop-culture. His stuff was freakin’ cool and crazy and over the top and full of motion. It’s a shame his post-X career has gone nowhere.

But going back and re-reading these comics now I cannot help but see the poor, obvious and expositional writing. But at the time, I was well into them. In fact, I got into the Children of the Atom in a big way in various formats:

• Uncanny X-Men and X-Men comic books

• X-Men cartoon show

• Children of the Atom video-game

• X-Men (and Marvel) collecting cards

• X-Men toys

I shudder to think at the amount of money I spent on “collectable” trading cards and various action figures. I read the comics all the way through the Onslaught storyline (Professor Xavier goes evil, turns on X-Men, sends Marvel heroes to alternate universe) and beyond. I followed the X-Men through time, dimensions, struggle, outer space, betrayal and more. Then, well, my interest started falling off. I stopped buying all the extraneous crap (ok, I was still buying some of the action figures). I stopped buying and reading the comics. I gave ‘em up; they just got too… well, silly (and given what had gone before... silly was very silly). 

Then there was Bryan Singer’s X-Men. Holy shit. An X-Men movie (and a good two years before Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man brought the comic-book movie into the mainstream). And this was a time before I had discovered movie websites (hell, before a lot of them even existed), so each teased image, each clip was devoured by me and my friends. We talked (argued) amongst ourselves about the costume changes, whether Magneto was going to look silly in his helmet… Yeah, a regular group of geeks. This was no cheapie piece of crap flick either: this had Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as the two mutant leaders, Professor X and Magneto respectively. It's not a great game-changing movie by any shakes, but it's still some damned good mutant fun and of course led into one of the best superhero movies yet: X-Men 2. Singer built on the world and characters and though one of my favourite X-Men (Cyclops) got short shrift I would still hold it up as an exemplar of a superhero team movie. I remember seeing it at a midnight screening with a large group of friends when I was at University. It was exactly the type of movie you wanted to watch with a collection of fellow geeks, with the shared level of excitement being palpable. The less said about X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine the better.

So I was still enjoying catching up with the X-Men, but I certainly wasn't doing it on any sort of regular basis; I'd stopped buying the monthly issues of X-Men and Uncanny X-Men. I'd kicked the habit and moved on. Oh, sure, I bought a comic-book every now and then and even had a flick through the latest X-Men comic at the local shop (Cyclops merged with Apocalypse?! Xavier dead?! Xavier alive?! Xavier walking?!) but I was free and clear. The only comic I was regularly buying was the brilliant Ex Machina.

Then Firefly ruined it all. 

Firefly introduced me to the particular genius of Joss Whedon and if not for that ill-fated one season space western, I might never have picked up a flatmate's trade paperback of Astonishing X-Men. It was... *sigh*... it was really fuckin' good.

I was like a junkie getting his first sniff of crack in years. I ended up buying all four of the trade paperback's collecting Whedon (and artist John Cassady)'s run on Astonishing X-Men. It was a great run, with Whedon's finely tuned ear for dialogue, comedy and character beats featuring strongly and Cassady's artwork being some of the best I've seen, bar none. But it wasn't just Astonishing X-Men; I bought up a fistful of the Ultimate X-Men trades and started buying the single issues monthly (Ultimate X-Men was part of Marvel's Ultimate imprint - relaunching Marvel characters free of the continuity baggage and contemporising them and their origins). The X-Men were, if anything, even more "hardcore" now than when I first started reading them. And then the Ultimate universe imploded in on itself. The quality of the writing and storylines quickly dropped off. Marvel seemed more interested in "Ultimising" new characters than telling new and interesting stories. I dropped the title.

The X-Men were my gateway to the larger Marvel Universe and from there, to the larger insane silliness of comic-book lore. Within the context of the Marvel Universe, the X-Men are the perpetual underdog; they don’t have the fame of the Fantastic Four, nor the adoration accorded to the Avengers. They protect a world that hates and fears them; that's their modus operandi. And one of the things I think I love most is that there is still so much more that could be explored in the X-Men stories, there's still so many stories to tell and themes to explore. Grant Morrison had an interesting run a few years back and the main continuity books right now are actually pretty damned good (being written by Matt Fraction now I think). I pick them up every now and then at the comic-book store and flick through them, just to see what's happening with this collection of the uncanniest of heroes. But they're going for $10 a pop here in NZ, so I can't really afford to buy them. But maybe, just maybe, I'll buy a trade or two.

So, to writers and artists like (deep breath) Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Len Wein, Dave Cockrum, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Jim Lee, Joe Madureira, John Romita Jr., Ed Brubaker, Chris Bachalo, Adam & Andy Kubert, Warren Ellis, Carlos Pacheco, Joss Whedon, John Cassady... cheers.

Shine on you crazy diamonds. Shine on.

In Appreciation of... GHOSTBUSTERS

The other night I was privileged enough (along with 700-odd others) to see Ghostbusters back on the big screen, some 26 years afer it was first released.Ghostbusters is one of those films, one of those formative films that every film-lover has. For a lot of people of my generation it’s Star Wars. And, sure, Star Wars was a big influence on me, but it wasn’t formative. No those formative films, for me, are: RoboCop, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (both on one awesome VHS taped off the TV!), The Transformers Movie, The Blues Brothers, Monty Python’s Life of Brian and Ghostbusters.

When I first saw Ghostbusters (no doubt on TV), I couldn’t have been older than 6 or 7; I remember it being the first film to really scare me (and there is some truly frightening stuff going on). I even hid behind the couch during the Dana levitation scene! To this day, it is the only time I’ve done this and I really couldn’t tell you why it scared me so much. Just something about the whole sleeping “…four feet above her covers!” really freaked me out. This, of course, didn’t stop me running around school with my jersey tucked in my backpack with one arm hanging out as my No. 8 wire version of the proton pack.

Of course, at the age I was, I had no idea how damned hilarious Ghostbusters was. I didn’t know Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis were comedians, and Saturday Night Live alumni at that. Heck, I didn’t even know who they (or SNL) were. I knew there was humour in it (one of the greatest lines of all time: “Yes, it’s true. This man has no dick.”) but, with all the special effects and spookiness going on, the comedy totally missed me. Of course, I now realise it’s one of the greatest comedies of all time; not only is it a great supernatural blockbuster, it’s downright hilarious. One-liners are let fly with such regularity they trip over one another and just become part of the conversational dynamic.

And that dynamic, that wonderful relationship between the three leads, is what really drives the film. Harold Ramis’ Egon Spengler could almost be a Mad Scientist run amok, collecting “…spores moulds and fungus” and creating backpacks powered by unlicensed nuclear generators. But he’s held in check by the wide-eyed Ray Stantz, running around the old Fire Dept. building with his childlike enthusiasm, asking “Does this pole still work?” And Bill Murray is the wise-cracking parapsychologist, at once having a ball and also having a quiet snicker at the whole idea; he doesn’t act like a scientist but is instead “more like a game show host”. And sure, Murray does snaffle up all the best lines, and becomes the team’s de facto leader (he even comes out of the Stay Puft explosion relatively unscathed) but it never feels like they’re not all working as a team. Each of them has a part to play; even the (at first glance) perfunctory Winston Zeddemore – he’s the blue collar regular working stiff brought on to help the overworked ‘busters and he provides a brief average Joe glimpse on the proceedings.

And then of course there is the support – Sigourney Weaver as the haunted, and then possessed, Dana Barrett; Rick Moranis as the wonderfully nerdy accountant Louis Tully and the brilliantly dickheaded Walter Peck, played by veteran dickhead William Atherton (see Die Hard). The film wouldn’t be the same without any of them – it’s jarring to think of John Candy in the role of Louis Tully (the original actor cast, but he departed as his ideas – his Tully had a German accent and two dogs – weren’t being listened to. Thank goodness).

What really impresses with Ghostbusters is that it is absolutely fun science-fiction. More so even than Star Wars which, with its wise wizards, cocky fighters and noble knights carries itself far more seriously and po-faced. I love science-fiction, and I love sci-fi that explores ideas about who we are, where we're going and what it may look like when we get there. But there can't really be said to be a whole heck of a lot of fun sci-fi. Whereas, with Ghostbusters being run by comedians, they seem to be having a lot more fun with the whole conceit. And despite that fun, those laughs that so many little moments bring, it doesn’t shy away from the dark and scary. I’ve already mentioned the levitating Dana, but then there are also the demon arms in the sofa and the demon dogs (occasionally looking a little hokey in the stop-motion, but the puppets still look amazing) with their hellishly glowing eyes. Which is fantastic and totally works. It’s all a bit of a scare and a laugh, innit?

I, for one, hope the constantly talked about Ghostbusters 3 never happens. Ghostbusters 2 wasn’t all that great and just take a look at other belated sequels to 80’s classics: Blues Brothers 2000 and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. If it ain’t broke, don’t do a sequel 20-odd years down the track.

Ghostbusters is funny, smart, fantastical and a little scary. It has a top-notch cast working for a great script, and the more than occasional ad-lib. Ivan Reitman’s direction is spot on, balancing everything so the whole is more than the sum of its parts. It’s one of my all-time desert island favourite films and was a huge influence on me; not only in my taste in cinema and pop culture but in how I see the world. Watching the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man lumbering through downtown Manhattan is one of the greatest scenes in movies, and it was an absolute joy to see it on the big screen. Sure, some of the special effects don’t seem so special now (although a lot of the low-tech stuff is the stuff that works best. See the opening scene in the library) and the print we watched wasn’t in the best of nick. But absolutely none of that distracted from having a helluva blast at the cinema. Especially when there was 700 of us answering the question, “Who ya gonna call?”

“GHOSTBUSTERS!”


What else have they done?

Bill Murray (Venkman): a slew of things from Groundhog Day, Ed Wood, Hamlet, Garfield, Lost in Translation and a slew of films with Wes Anderson. Also, a lot of golfing.

Dan Ackroyd (Stantz, co-writer): Blues Brothers, Coneheads, My Girl, Grosse Point Blank. He also apparantly wrote some episodes of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon show and (I didn't even know this existed): The Blus Brothers Animated Series. Reserve Commander for the Police Dept. in Harahan, Louisiana and noted Spiritualist and UFOlogist.

Harold Ramis (Spengler, co-writer): writer on Groundhog Day, Analyze This and (sadly) Year One.

Sigourney Weaver (Dana Barrett): Aliens, Gorillas in the Mist, Galaxy Quest, The Ice Storm, Avatar. Basically, one of the biggest female stars of her generation.

Rick Moranis (Louis Tully): Honey I Shrunk the Kids (and sequels), Parenthood, The Flintstones and Spaceballs. Retired from acting in 1997 to raise his kids after the death of his wife in 1991.

Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore): Congo, Mr. Magoo, Miss Congeniality and a bunch of TV.

Ivan Reitman (director): Twins, Dave, Junior, My Super Ex-Girlfriend and Jason Reitman.

In appreciation of... COMMANDO

With the (somewhat) recent announcement of a Commando remake, I thought I would open my blog and one of its regular columns, with an appreciation of that classic 80’s action film, Commando. And when I say classic, I don’t necessarily mean its any good. Let’s face it; Commando is a B-movie at best, arriving at the beginning of the 80’s action film cycle. So, why does it endure? How is it, 25 years since its release I’m writing about it now? Well, I hope you will indulge me as I write about one my favourite gloriously bad movies.

Mark L. Lester’s film starts with the scary shaving dude from Predator (Bill Duke) killing a bunch of regular seeming schmoes and Vernon Wells. So far, so typical action film. But then, then, we’re introduced to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s John Matrix. And how are we introduced to this true blue American ex-Marine? Why, with extreme close-ups on his massive, sweating biceps (invoking Leni Riefenstahl’s Nazi propaganda films apparently) as he carries a fucking tree on his shoulders through the woods to his secluded, palatial cabin. Seems while the rest of Matrix’s unit got real jobs, a house in the suburbs and a beer belly, he’s stayed in ridiculous good shape. By carting the forest around on his back. And then, holy shit there’s someone sneaking up behind him!! Watch out Matrix! But don’t worry! It’s just his daughter; Jenny. They proceed to have a super fun montage together, eating ice-cream, laughing, fishing, feeding a deer, martial arts training. Y’know, your everyday idyllic life-style stuff. See, this is important for later, ‘cos this sets up the perfect life that is put in jeopardy by the bad guys. Do you get it? Their life is perfect and they have no problems. Once we’ve got through the set-up and credits, shit hits the fan. And we’re only 11 minutes in. Bam! That’s how you do it. That is a tight set-up. So, there’s a day-time assault by the bad guys and they make off with Jenny. Now we have ourselves a plot!

Matrix is given one choice, and one choice only to get his daughter back: kill some South American president so the bad guy can take over, or some-such. He’s put on a plane (telling Sully he’ll kill him last. Oh Matrix, you big liar) and sent on his way. See, if he’s going to save Jenny he has to do it before the plane lands on the other side and the bad guys discover he scarpered; a ticking clock! Now the tension is really piling on for Matrix, but that doesn’t stop him from casually murdering his escort, covering him with a blanket and asking for him to not be disturbed as he’s “dead tired”.

Ah yes, the one liners. They’re a hallmark of action films, notably in the 80’s and especially Arnie films. The Austrian oak shines here, in what helped to set the template for his future action career. This is after all, only just after Conan (not so much of the one-liners there. Conan defining happiness doesn’t count) and The Terminator (silent, nigh-unstoppable emotionless robot killing machine). Not many other actors could get away with the “brutal murder then cheesy one liner” combo like Schwarzenegger. Willis is possibly the only one who came close, but of course his delivery was markedly different, and the lines weren’t anywhere near as cheesy. This, of course, reached some sort of nadir for Schwarzenegger with the truly awful Batman & Robin (“You’ll never take me to the cooler” “Ice to see you”).

Partly for this, it’s hard to imagine anyone but Arnie filling Matrix’s massive shoes, even though original screenwriter Jeph Loeb had Gene Simmons and then Nick Nolte in mind. But this was in a vastly different draft: the Middle East was involved, and the retired Colonel was an out of shape Mossad agent. For some reason, I can’t really picture Arnie as a Jewish special forces agent... And that leads us nicely into the remake.

Somehow I don’t think any remake would retain the same... daftness as is present in Commando. First, we have to buy into Schwarzenegger being some sort of all-American super commando type. Despite his massive build (making sneaking around pretty damned difficult) and, oh yeah! His thick Austrian accent. Then we have to buy his name – John Matrix! Hmm. Interesting that Joel Silver was a producer on this. But somehow, through some sort of bizarre Arnie magic... we go along with it. We have no problem believing this man-mountain “eats Green Berets for breakfast”. Or that he could assault an island base and murder everyone single-handedly. What is it? What magic is cast over this film that we buy into it all? A number of factors, I think. Arnie is definitely one of them. A tight script; the action kicks in and pretty much keeps going until the steam pipe through a certain mesh-shirt wearing villain. The fact that it’s so very over-the-top (from the acting, through to the action to the music) and I’m not quite sure if it’s all done with a nod and a wink, or if it’s all straight faced; it walks that line, that balance.

Which just makes the idea of a remake so mind-bogglingly stupid. Sure, you get a little bit of name recognition with Commando but there is no modern day Arnie. The man, for better or worse, is one-of-a-kind. There is absolutely no way to do this film justice in today’s filmmaking climate. There’s no-one clamouring for a new Commando film, surely? A sequel was mooted at one point, but when Arnie wasn’t interested it was reworked and turned into Die Hard. And that’s fine. Commando works fine by itself. I fear the remake is yet one more example of Hollywood cannibalising itself, rather than try and come up with anything resembling an original film. And hey, that’s fine sometimes. But, Commando? Really?! Was there a story there that was clamouring to be told? Is Commando that much of a known quantity nowadays?

No. We will always have Arnie’s John Matrix. With his oiled muscles, his little mullet, his love for his daughter Jenny. His brutal nonchalance. For his one man assault on an island fortress. For the low production values. For the over-the-top nature of the entire thing. For Bennet’s gut and chain-link vest. And for that massive pipe hurled through him. Everyone, say it with me now: Let off some steam, Bennet.

What Else Have They Got Up To?

Arnold Schwarzenegger: do you really need me to write anything here?

Alyssa Milano (Jenny): Who’s The Boss?, Embrace of the Vampire, Double Dragon, Charmed, My Name is Earl

Vernon Wells (Bennet): Fortress, Innerspace, Jumper, Ultimate Spider-Man videogame.

David Patrick Kelly (Sully): Twin Peaks, The Crow, Flags of Our Fathers

Mark L. Lester (director) – nothing much worth writing about.

Steven E. de Souza (screenwriter): The Running Man, Die Hard, Street Fighter, Judge Dredd, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

Joel Silver (producer): a veritable tonne of films, including Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, The Matrix, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, V for Vendetta, RocknRolla, The Losers...