Hello dear readers, for those of you that have been keeping up to date on current events you know that it is, in fact, 2011. Therefore 2010 is behind us.
But many great things happened in the world of Comics in 2010... and they can't go unnoticed. So I decided that I would give out the award for "Best...." in a few categories related to the funny books that I love so much.
Without further ado... the 1st annual Brookies.
BEST WRITER: This Brookie designates the writer who crafted the best stories and was... the best writer. And the nominees are...
+ Mark Millar (Kick Ass 2, Nemesis, Superior, Ultimate Avengers, and others)
+ Jason Aaron (PunisherMAX, Scalped, Wolverine: Weapon X, Wolverine)
+ Garth Ennis (The Boys and Others)
+ Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead, Astounding Wolfman, Haunt, and others)
+ Geoff Johns (Blackest Night, Brightest Day, Green Lantern, The Flash, and others)
And the winner is..... Robert Kirkman.
It seems only right that Kirkman wins this award. Even though Millar and Aaron had stellar years, Kirkman continues to write compelling stories with heavy focus on characters which I love.
BEST ARTIST: Writing is only half the creative process, this category rewards the visual half of Comic production.
+Steve McNiven (Nemesis)
+Steve Dillon (PunisherMAX, Ultimate Avengers 3)
+Francis Manupal (The Flash)
+Jason Howards (The Astounding Wolfman)
+Ryan Ottley (Invincible)
And the winner is... Steve McNiven.
Nemesis was fantastic in no small part to the beautiful and chaotic art of McNiven who helped give violent life to Millar's story about a real world super villain.
BEST LIMITED SERIES (Non Crossover): Not every series starts with the intention of a long run, this category praises the best limited series, as a rule they had to start in 2010, even if they haven't finished yet.
+Nemesis: The story of a super villain and the cop trying to stop him.
+Nancy in Hell: A girl fights her way through and out of hell, encountering zombies, beasts, and making out with Lucifer himself.
+Neonomicon: A modern update of Lovecraftian mythology, told by Alan Moore... the god-king of comics.
+Hit-Monkey: The "year one" tale of Marvel's monkey man slayer.
+Ultimate Avengers 3: A black ops team doing The Ultimate Universes dirty work, although there are three only one is nominated here.
And the winner is... Nemesis.
This should be no surprise to any readers of my CBW posts simply because I have given all the Nemesis issues above 9's. The story was compelling, the dialogue unrelenting, and the art fantastic... but it's Millar and McNiven so all that stuff was obvious.
BEST NEW SERIES: A category to praise any series that had an issue #1 released this year.
+Secret Avengers: A black ops team that consists of Marvel's bad asses doing dirty work.
+MorningGlories: A boarding school teaches 6 new students all kinds of new reasons to hate school.
+Wolverine: A revival of one of Marvel's most famous characters, kicking off with said character fighting his way out of hell.
+Namor: The First Mutant: An exciting return for Namor to his own title.
And the Winner is..... MorningGlories.
A truly fantastic start. MorningGlories weaves intrigue, romance, and teenage angst better than most of today's teen based fiction, even though it's not targeted at that demographic.
BEST COMPANY: A Category praising the company that provided the best stories in 2010
+DC
+Marvel
+Image
+Dark Horse
+IDW
+Dynamite
And the Winner is..... Marvel.
While Brightest Day was a let down, Marvel's Shadowland as well as memorable individual titles led to a very fine year from the House of Ideas, here's hoping they can continue to wow me in 2011.
BEST SERIES (On Going)
+ Captain America
+ Invincible
+ The Walking Dead
+ The Boys
+ Scalped
And the Winner is..... Scalped.
Scalped has been consistently one of the best series on the racks and the recently concluded "Unwanted" arc cemented this as not only my favorite series at the moment, but the best series to keep going strong from 2009 to 2010 and into 2011.
Well there's what Dr. Brooklyn is telling you to like when it comes to comics in 2010. Stay tuned with me through out 2011 and I'll keep you up to speed on what's worth liking and what's worth passing.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Gang Tapes: A Review
When most people think of the found footage genre the immediate thought is to things like Blair Witch Project (1999) or Cloverfield (2008), as well as some other science fiction and monster movies that have tried to emulate those movies style, yet there are other movies that have done the foot footage dance without the acclaim of the avaunt garde Blair Witch Project or the mystery leading up to the viral marketing fueled Cloverfield, one of these is Gang Tapes (2001) a movie which follows a gang in Los Angeles after one of the young bloods aquires a camera and begins to document what he and his friends have to go through from drive bys to Kris's first time.
This film isn't for everyone. The main reason for this is the fact that in a lot of ways this isn't a standard movie, there is no established story arc where the story is revealed a course is set out and an end will be achieved, instead this is the definition of a "Slice of Life movie" where scenes are merely vignettes that run as long as Kris left the film rolling.
Gang Tapes isn't anything new, really, the gangster "coming of rage" (as the back of the DVD case quips) story has been around in film since the 1930s (See Little Caesar (1931) for a prime early example), but the way the film handles it is the main saving grace of a weak movie. Instead of seeing the gangsters as tragic antiheroes who are like modern cowboys we see crime as it is: beatings, cooking up some crack rocks, grand theft auto, and more are shown with brutal intensity that is helped by the fact that all but one of the leads are played by former gang members, adding a level of verisimilitude that is lacking in most gangster fare.
Though a film is not made into a good film with realism alone. The script is painfully realistic making use of the N word and the F word more often then using the word "and." Furthermore, there's no shortage of slang making Gang Tapes seem like a foreign language film to those who don't know anything about LA slang... like me for example.
The next major flaw is the acting, which is both good and bad. Yes, by casting gang members you get an added intensity that actors can't bring... yet by not casting actors you get the clunky reading of lines and horrible handling of extended dialogue that gangsters don't know how to do. I'm not saying acting is the hardest thing to do, but there is a certain level of skill that was distinctly lacking in this movie. The worst failing of this movie though is how the leads are treated like throwaway characters. Kris, Lonzo, and Cyril are the only characters that I can remember the names of... and those three have their names said a bunch of times including a monologue in which Cyril explains how he got his "gang name."
Gang Tapes sets out with a lot of ambition and a very unique premise, yet, the finished product requires a heavy dose of polish and maybe a little less ambition. There are definitely worse movies, but there are scores of better ones dealing with similar subject matter.
Dr. Brooklyn says: AT LEAST WATCH this movie (6.75/10)
This film isn't for everyone. The main reason for this is the fact that in a lot of ways this isn't a standard movie, there is no established story arc where the story is revealed a course is set out and an end will be achieved, instead this is the definition of a "Slice of Life movie" where scenes are merely vignettes that run as long as Kris left the film rolling.
Gang Tapes isn't anything new, really, the gangster "coming of rage" (as the back of the DVD case quips) story has been around in film since the 1930s (See Little Caesar (1931) for a prime early example), but the way the film handles it is the main saving grace of a weak movie. Instead of seeing the gangsters as tragic antiheroes who are like modern cowboys we see crime as it is: beatings, cooking up some crack rocks, grand theft auto, and more are shown with brutal intensity that is helped by the fact that all but one of the leads are played by former gang members, adding a level of verisimilitude that is lacking in most gangster fare.
Though a film is not made into a good film with realism alone. The script is painfully realistic making use of the N word and the F word more often then using the word "and." Furthermore, there's no shortage of slang making Gang Tapes seem like a foreign language film to those who don't know anything about LA slang... like me for example.
The next major flaw is the acting, which is both good and bad. Yes, by casting gang members you get an added intensity that actors can't bring... yet by not casting actors you get the clunky reading of lines and horrible handling of extended dialogue that gangsters don't know how to do. I'm not saying acting is the hardest thing to do, but there is a certain level of skill that was distinctly lacking in this movie. The worst failing of this movie though is how the leads are treated like throwaway characters. Kris, Lonzo, and Cyril are the only characters that I can remember the names of... and those three have their names said a bunch of times including a monologue in which Cyril explains how he got his "gang name."
Gang Tapes sets out with a lot of ambition and a very unique premise, yet, the finished product requires a heavy dose of polish and maybe a little less ambition. There are definitely worse movies, but there are scores of better ones dealing with similar subject matter.
Dr. Brooklyn says: AT LEAST WATCH this movie (6.75/10)
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