Dredd

If you are like most people, you probably groaned and laughed a bit when you first saw the teaser for the (now released) Dredd 3D movie. As if they were remaking the atrocious Stallone film, you may think to yourself. Has Hollywood run out of ideas, you ask? Unlike most people though, I got excited. I'm not sure if it's because I have a genuine interest in "remakes" or that I actually enjoyed Judge Dredd back in the day and I would revisit the film a couple of years ago to confirm that it's still decent and worth a watch. I believe it's moreso the fact that I enjoy the character and mythos has to contribute to a modern day sci-fi action movie: a post-apocalyptic world where only one city exists, where crime is completely out of hand and the justice system has allowed Judge-class officers to act as judge, jury and executioner. All that being said, I've never read one of the comics, but I have a general sense of the series, the character of Judge Dredd and the tone, to a degree that I see how a proper movie could be good, if not great.

So like most people, you may still be bitter on the Stallone driven feature from 1995. Certainly, Hollywood was. So what we end up with is a non-Hollywood, independent film made by people who are passionate about the character and the lore, who want to make a great film. This is the type of thing that gets me excited for a remake. And you can't really call this a remake either, as in no way does it follow the same plot of the movie before. No, this movie is like a snapshot of the comic book. It picks up on just another day for Dredd - in this story he is training a rookie (who happens to have somewhat psychic abilities) on her first day, and things just go to hell. You always get the sense though that this sort of insanity happens on a day to day basis for judges like Dredd and for the people of Mega City One. He keeps his cool, uses his own training and just deals with the situation. The absurdity of the city, of the violence, of the over the top villains and thugs is lost on the inhabitants of the movie. As a watcher of this, you are shocked, almost amused at the ultra-violence dispatched upon criminals. There are no pretenses here and I love the film for that. I will only comment lightly on the plot: it's simple, effective and practically non-existent. The beauty of the movie is that the plot doesn't need to be anything more than what it is, which I believe is like a snapshot of a day in the life of Judge Dredd.

In an era where action movies are watered down for maximum box office dollars, it's nice to see a film that is not afraid to be what it is. Judge Dredd is a Hard R, for incredible amounts of gory violence, drug abuse and whatnot. It's practically refreshing to see something like this in the theatres, and it's another reminder that Dredd is an independent film, devoid of Hollywood influence. After the credits roll (and we did stay to see if anything was there: there is not) I feel a general angst against Hollywood. It's denied me great films through it's denial of genuine talent and passion for projects that could be great. The 1995 Judge Dredd ruined things for any type of franchise, although in a twist of irony it allowed this film to happen: apparently the rights to Dredd were going for cheap - nobody would touch it - and it was snapped up by those talented people who were passionate about the film. But the poor box office it has done means it will never likely see the sequel it deserves (somebody, even in independent films, has to turn a buck). Which is a real shame because there is a lot of potential here. There was no origin for Dredd presented here, and no real representation of the mythos of the world in the comics (I'm sure there were many bits lost on me, but would be picked up by fans of the series). But after reading numerous posts from fans, there are a lot of stories worth telling.

So I highly recommend going to see this film. Put the memory of the original film aside, and you will be pleasantly surprised. The effects are quite good, the action is enthralling and there is a perfect mix of humour thrown in. I've said it before and I'll always say it again: this movie is focused and engaging.

Piranha 3DD

My friend was home already when I arrived - a rare occurrence with his new job - and I could see the grin on his face from outside. We were going through some movies the night before and stumbled upon the new Piranha movie, and knew then that it was available for viewing. Immediately I supposed that his mind was going through how he was going to see this movie. Two years previous he brought his wife to the theatre for the first one (in 3D) and she was horrified. Not by the "horror" aspect of it, I'm sure, but more of the extreme gratuitous shots of naked women and the shameless level of tongue-in-cheek vulgarity present throughout the running time. But mainly the women: it was pretty ridiculous. So there was no chance of him being able to see the second one when she was around (they watch everything together).

It was as if the stars aligned though, not twenty four hours later. His wife was staying with her mother, and he was not obligated to be with her. My other friend's girlfriend was also away, out of town, leaving the house void of women. He knew this, and anticipated it throughout the day. The first thing he asks is: do we watch it now, or later (that evening)? Regardless of when, it happened and yes, it was incredibly terrible (yet incredibly funny).

I wrote about the predecessor a while back, and the way I read it is in a fairly negative tone. I mean, it is a bad movie, but I did watch again with Nathan a few weeks after the first time and must say, enjoyed it more. Perhaps this happens because it has my full, undivided attention. When you're watching a movie with a friend, that is what you are doing. You are not watching the movie and browsing your phone at the same time. You are not watching and making dinner in another room. Together, you can laugh about the shenanigans onscreen; it's social, and the movie is better for it. It also helps that the original was firmly tongue-in-cheek, the sequel has even less shame and is may be trying to be something it's not, which is to say it's trying to be like the original but falls flat on its face.

So it's quite terrible (in a way) that Piranha 3D looks like a cinematic masterpiece complete with acting, plot, suspense and humour compared to Piranha 3DD, which lacks all of the above. The effects are worse, the thrills are cheap (and predictable) and the movie in general lacks any kind of coherency. You wouldn't think it needs to, but apparently Piranha 3D set the bar (relatively) high for a sequel. All that being said, the movie provided some good, cheap laughs, a sense of disbelief and satisfaction that we could go on with our lives.

IMDB Ratings

Just wanted to bring to your attention a new link on the upper right side of the page (underneath Home). It's "IMDB Movie Ratings" and will take you to my ratings list on - you guessed it - IMDB.

I've neglected creating an account there for years, for no good reason. But a few months ago I registered and started adding movies to my watchlist (something I will make public and add soon as well). You may recall that I was trying to keep track of all the movies I've seen, with varying levels of success. The problem with the old manual system I was using (a spreadsheet) was that it was indeed, manual. I would forget to do it, I would neglect it often and I just lost interest. Enter the IMDB app on the iPhone and updating that list is incredibly simple. I realized this after noticing that I check out the trivia and IMDB page for every movie I see shortly after seeing it: one more click and it's there.

So you will see my ratings, and it's nice format: searchable, sortable and full of data. There are not many right now, but I will add them as I see movies: I'm not too keen on going back to rate the thousands of movies I've seen over the past thirty years, but I may get bored.

Also, don't read too much into the numerical ratings. I've stayed away from them on The Chronicles and will continue to do so. If you want the scoop read my take on it, because a 7/10 for one movie could be entirely different than a 7/10 for another. Enjoy!

Fan Expo 2012

A fear washed over me. My forehead broke into a cold sweat. I checked blind spots repeatedly, made verbalization that made no sense that would confuse linguists. Indeed, I had made a left turn into a streetcar lane, which quickly became elevated. The street below felt like miles. Partially, I was in awe: I was driving where no man had gone before, where only streetcars had traversed before. Then reality hit as I checked my rear view mirror and saw a car directly behind me. Probably another tourist, who had followed me onto this railed path of madness. I wasn't entirely sure what to do, although there were very few options. The car following took the lead and leaped off the track onto the civilian road below. The only option had presented itself. I yelled for Cale to hold on, that this was going to happen and it played out just as expected. We hit the road below, bottoming out the car and hearing awful noises from below. But we were safe now. I can only imagine what the locals were thinking, and the only thing to do now was to drive past the shame.

Cale has done a good job of writing up the car incident, as well as the day we attended Fan Expo in 2011. He's right - although he throws in some fiction (I'll leave the what up to you to decide) - that I was flustered throughout the day. Something was off, but I couldn't quite pin what it was. Perhaps it was the crowds. 2012's Fan Expo this past weekend was no different. You have to fight your way through aisles of people to get anywhere; if you stand still for any period of time you were going to be knocked about and lost. And perhaps it was the mass consumerism that was taking place. In years gone by the crowds were less and the items more unique. Now, in today's market, you can find anything online and cheaper than anywhere on the show floor. All the colourful and unique merchandise fails to impress as its mass-produced and high availability reminds me of being in a supersized warehouse store of geek items that flashed the horror of going to Wal-Mart during the weekend across my face. The smell of many of the patrons certainly doesn't help the nauseating experience.

The show is changing; Cale and I have been going for quite a while now and quite frankly, it's becoming a big deal. They didn't used to have a lot of support from major companies, but now it's not uncommon to see a massive, official, DC Comics footprint and media extravaganzas for movies, television shows and video games. At this year's Expo, there was a gigantic Halo 4 area and major representation from Ubisoft. We saw the Wii U in play (and was floored by how big that controller was). The artist alley has shrunk, as has the celebrity signing area. All your favourite vendors are there peddling their goods, and even that becomes tired. Year after year they bring the same things, and the discounts do not run nearly as deep. Indeed, most can only offer "US cover price" which is not a deal at all. I can imagine the cost for them to be there is increasing, and less people would be buying as they spend more time at celebrity Q&A sessions, movie premieres and costume parties. Physically, space wise, the Fan Expo needs more. That could help the experience of browsing the floor that much better, I think.

Last year I bought a few comics (the Knightfall series) and practically had to force myself to make it happen. 2011 was the year that Fan Expo broke me, but 2012 I was better prepared. Actually I wasn't, in some respect. I wanted to go in with a list of comics to get - because there are still deals for comics - but just couldn't get around to it. I wanted to work towards a collection (for instance Amazing Spider-Man #300 to #400) but just didn't prepare myself beforehand. Having the list in the cloud on my Google Drive didn't help as we could barely get a cell signal - too many in a small area, I suppose. So it's my own fault, really. But this year I was mentally prepared for that, although the crowds still wore me down very quickly. I wanted more comic book vendors, but instead we got bombarded with large, corporate driven displays. I imagine "the" Comic-Con is very similar to this, where major things are being announced for Hollywood, and the day of the individual comic book draws near.

So I bought one thing: V for Vendetta (collected trade paperback of course) for less than anywhere I've seen before. I got excited, and am excited to read it, as it's been on "the list" for quite some time. But that's it, and I'm completely satisfied. Next year, perhaps, I will be better prepared and be able to pick up some comics to flesh out my collection. I'm sure you're thinking that I'm insane, as I've pretty much been slamming this event and just doing an about-face now to say I enjoyed it, but it's true. Last year I was caught off guard and was flustered, but this year I enjoyed taking in the madness. There was lots to see and experience, and the event has transcended the actual Expo itself. It's about the time before and after, the drive, the conversation and the time spent with a good friend. Where once it was just a day trip, it has turned into a weekend event (Cale and I no longer live in the same city).

This is annual pilgrimage that I've always been after; the tradition was not forced, it just happened. And I look forward to it every time.