Ill Doctrine is simply the smartest, funniest, most humane voice of hip-hop on the net. Jay Smooth deserves a wide audience.
Monday, January 12, 2009
But... What is "The American Way"?
Bill Willingham, writer of the most excellent Fables and co-writer of the nearly as excellent Jack of Fables, has decided to step away from the "Age of Superhero Decadence." Where "Old fashioned ideals of courage and patriotism, backed by a deep virtue and unshakable code, seem to be... well, old fashioned."
Wanting to emphasize the "hero" in "superhero" is a worthy goal, I think, but I'm always disturbed by the thought that we, whoever "we" is, are right. I think I know what courage and patriotism are, but are they the same for me as they are for Mr. Willingham or anyone who may read this?
Are heroes ever justified in killing? Is one who has a code against killing better than one who doesn't hesitate to blow a hitman's head off?
I look forward to seeing how well Mr. Willingham can stick to this mission statement when he co-writes Justice Society of American later this year. If editorial doesn't like what he and his co-writer do with the characters, will he leave the book or compromise?
(The comments section is interesting, too. Some are well thought out and others are just insane. What does creating multicultural characters have to do with morality? Especially when the character brought up (the new Blue Beetle) is a very heroic character with a moral base.
Or the guy who said, "The only noise you should be hearing out of bastard-child Lois Lane in Superman's presence is 'slurp slurp slurp.'" 'Cause, you know, that's Superman, all the way.
Ain't the internets grand.)
(Via Robot 6)
Wanting to emphasize the "hero" in "superhero" is a worthy goal, I think, but I'm always disturbed by the thought that we, whoever "we" is, are right. I think I know what courage and patriotism are, but are they the same for me as they are for Mr. Willingham or anyone who may read this?
Are heroes ever justified in killing? Is one who has a code against killing better than one who doesn't hesitate to blow a hitman's head off?
I look forward to seeing how well Mr. Willingham can stick to this mission statement when he co-writes Justice Society of American later this year. If editorial doesn't like what he and his co-writer do with the characters, will he leave the book or compromise?
(The comments section is interesting, too. Some are well thought out and others are just insane. What does creating multicultural characters have to do with morality? Especially when the character brought up (the new Blue Beetle) is a very heroic character with a moral base.
Or the guy who said, "The only noise you should be hearing out of bastard-child Lois Lane in Superman's presence is 'slurp slurp slurp.'" 'Cause, you know, that's Superman, all the way.
Ain't the internets grand.)
(Via Robot 6)
Friday, January 9, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
EIN, ZWEI, DIE!
Speaking of new movies, I've got a good one for ya.
Dead Snow.
The Premise?
For eight medical students, Easter vacation begins innocently enough. They pack their cars full of ski equipment and enough beer to fuel their escape from everyday life to the snowy, isolated hills outside of Øksfjord, Norway. Once there, they receive a late-night visit from a shady hiker, who tells them a story about Nazi occupation of the area during World War II. After doing their fair share of raping and pillaging, the dreaded battalion faced a brutal and vengeful uprising by the citizens of the town. The soldiers who managed to survive the onslaught, including their dreaded leader Colonel Herzog, were driven into the hills by the angry mob, where they supposedly froze to death, never to be seen again. But if the horror genre has taught us anything, it’s that the raucous behavior and promiscuity of the younger generation always have a way of bringing evil spirits back to life.
Yup- ZOMBIES. German, fast, smart, NAZI zombies!
Check out the trailer linked above. The cheese looks to be high with this one, but dammit! I may just have to find a way to see it anyway.
(Thanks to Sweetney at MamaPop for finding this. Excellent!)
Dead Snow.
The Premise?
For eight medical students, Easter vacation begins innocently enough. They pack their cars full of ski equipment and enough beer to fuel their escape from everyday life to the snowy, isolated hills outside of Øksfjord, Norway. Once there, they receive a late-night visit from a shady hiker, who tells them a story about Nazi occupation of the area during World War II. After doing their fair share of raping and pillaging, the dreaded battalion faced a brutal and vengeful uprising by the citizens of the town. The soldiers who managed to survive the onslaught, including their dreaded leader Colonel Herzog, were driven into the hills by the angry mob, where they supposedly froze to death, never to be seen again. But if the horror genre has taught us anything, it’s that the raucous behavior and promiscuity of the younger generation always have a way of bringing evil spirits back to life.
Yup- ZOMBIES. German, fast, smart, NAZI zombies!
Check out the trailer linked above. The cheese looks to be high with this one, but dammit! I may just have to find a way to see it anyway.
(Thanks to Sweetney at MamaPop for finding this. Excellent!)
Controversies That Fade
NPR has a list of "Who Cares?" stories from 08.
My thoughts:
The New Yorker cover was certainly the dumbest of non-stories this year. Well, other than Brett Favre.
I remember a lot of arguments about the price of oil during the summer where I was derided as hopelessly naive for saying that since oil was just commodity like any other, a price increase did not mean that that we were on the brink of running out of it.
Hilary's tears were sorta interesting, because it did raise the question of how the press and the voters were going to act toward a female presidential candidate.
Never really cared about Jeremiah Wright. I imagine that I would think that what most Pastors say in church sounds pretty nuts to me. See Johnny Logic's entry from yesterday.
ESPN's crazy over hyping of Brett Favre caused Chad Pennington (the man he replaced) to fall to me way lower in my fantasy draft than he should have. I had a good long laugh when Pennington put up better numbers than Favre, and did his best to help me mock my coworkers.
My thoughts:
The New Yorker cover was certainly the dumbest of non-stories this year. Well, other than Brett Favre.
I remember a lot of arguments about the price of oil during the summer where I was derided as hopelessly naive for saying that since oil was just commodity like any other, a price increase did not mean that that we were on the brink of running out of it.
Hilary's tears were sorta interesting, because it did raise the question of how the press and the voters were going to act toward a female presidential candidate.
Never really cared about Jeremiah Wright. I imagine that I would think that what most Pastors say in church sounds pretty nuts to me. See Johnny Logic's entry from yesterday.
ESPN's crazy over hyping of Brett Favre caused Chad Pennington (the man he replaced) to fall to me way lower in my fantasy draft than he should have. I had a good long laugh when Pennington put up better numbers than Favre, and did his best to help me mock my coworkers.
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