[Movies] Watching the Watchmen Videos

With the Watchmen movie just around the corner, there are some great featurettes on the web that have started to break down the various characters in the movie.

Enjoy!


Watchmen Exclusive Featurette: Dr. Manhattan & Silk Spectre


Watchmen Exclusive Featurette: Nite Owl II & Rorschach

[Finances] Investing Money in Plain English

I swear, the folks at the Common Craft show are just brilliant. Given enough time, I bet they could re-explain some of the most difficult concepts in the world in "plain English" for the betterment of society in general.

They're continuing their series of financially-related videos this week with the next logical step after discussing savings and loans - investing. Don't expect to be able to beat the stock market after watching this video, it's just a basic overview of how things work in terms of risk versus potential benefits. Then again, if you've never tried your hand at investing, then this is a great overview to better understand what you're potentially getting into.


Investing Money in Plain English

[ImprovEverywhere] High Five Escalator

We haven't been hearing as much from the crazy folks behind ImprovEverywhere apart from their annual No-Pants Subway ride a few weeks ago, so it was refreshing to see a new original video from them today.

This time around the "stunt" didn't involve a large number of volunteers, elaborate timing or grand spectacles. Instead it boils down to how people react to an unusual situation in an everyday setting. This consisted of a guy named Rob standing by the escalators of a subway station and offering to high five anyone passing by. There's a certain degree of trust implicit with such an activity and it's nice to know that despite how cautious we are as a species, we're still able to appreciate such circumstances and extend our hand in camaraderie and friendship.

Pretty cool.

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High Five Escalator

[Comics] The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft

Ever since I started The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything, I've been fortunate enough to get contacted by a variety of folks over the years. This has lead to strong relationships with sites like the Viral Video Chart and with other interesting offers to test out new sites, software and services.

Most recently I was lucky enough to get contacted by the folks behind this upcoming comic book (via Image Comics) to do a review prior to its April 8 official release date, probably because of my recent review of Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things, where I mentioned my love for Lovecraft tales. Let's face it - Lovecraft is a landmark writer in the annals of horror story writing and he helped us all consider that sometimes even the very letters on a page can be horrific and magical in their nature.


The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft

The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft tries to explore the life of H.P. Lovecraft in a very alternative manner - by presenting the alternative reality where his stories are not just works of fiction but very real dangers just lurking beneath the surface. Much like the characters of his own stories, Lovecraft becomes exposed to an ancient text that somehow corrupts him and turns his dreams and nightmares into reality while he sleeps. Given the nature of the creatures that haunt his thoughts and make their way into his stories, you can imagine the dark visions in his imagination and the potential damage they can do on the world.

I have to admit that I'm a sucker for explorations of what we would normally tag as the familiar such as well-known characters from popular stories or re-imaginations of fact or history such as what this comic book mini-series is trying to do. To marry Lovecraft as character with the very tales he is most famous for is probably so classic an idea that one can't help but wonder why it hasn't been executed well before. Maybe there's just too much pressure around handling something as "big" as Lovecraft.

The first issue starts out a tad slow, which does make one think of how Lovecraft's tales would also unfold initially. There's a lot of build-up that needs to get done in order to better acquaint the readers with H.P. Lovecraft himself and not just his work, which makes sense for any story's protagonist. He's a rather quite and withdrawn man as depicted in his unrequited love for a girl named Sylvia and his struggle to come up with new stories despite a nasty case of writer's block. Given this, there wasn't much action in this first issue except towards the very end, which makes me think a lot about the cliffhanger nature of most current TV shows.

The art is done in a style that feels unfinished or unpolished, which works well given the nature of the story. We're talking about going back to the 1920's, which was in some ways a simpler time compared to today, and yet a prime ground for monsters and ghouls to take hold. It also seems to match the overall tone of the story itself, keeping the reader in a general sense of gloom or anxiety in the same way so many horror films avoid the more vibrant aspects of the color spectrum.

There's bound to be a whole lot more happening beyond the first issue, so don't get too excited yet. It does act as a setup piece, after all, especially since it needs to acquaint new readers who many not be as exposed to the Lovecraft brand of writing beyond hearing of the name as associated with the horror genre. However overall the story does sound very promising and if the first issue is any clear indicator, it looks like they've put in a lot of work to have the books feel like Lovecraft's own tales of horror, which is laudable indeed.

The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft #1 hits stands on April 8, 2009 via Image Comics. Be sure to keep a look out for this interesting and certain weird comic series!

[Movies] Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Every now and then, there come those films that just click with geek audiences around the world despite not having full support of the big movie studios along with full marketing budgets. Thus there are all these amazing, brilliant sort of sleeper hits that gain popularity by word-of-mouth more than anything else. The internet has certainly help support the growth of such films given web forums, blog posts and even sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Flixster.

Despite hearing about the buzz around this movie for some time, it took me quite a while (read: years) before I finally got a copy of this film. Don't ask me why this happened, since I can only offer meager explanations and probably no worthwhile excuses.

Let's just be happy in the fact that I finally fulfilled my geek obligations and watched this movie. Naturally, I loved it.

Shaun of the Dead is a comedic zombie film, for lack of a better term. It seems to sum things up nicely, right? Funny British actors plus zombies equals comedic zombie film (since zombie movies deserve their own sub-genre apart from other horror movies).

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

At the core of the story is, of course, Shaun (Simon Pegg), a man whose life seems to be going straight down the toilet. He's a clerk for a local appliance store and he lost his girlfriend due to his own forgetfulness and carelessness. He's slightly estranged from his mother and the man she married and his best friend is pretty much a bum who eats up their resources at home. Things get even better when a strange epidemic seems to be spreading across the UK, which is ultimately revealed to be some sort of a zombie strain that turns the infected into the living dead. Oh what fun. So Shaun gathers those closest to him and tries to find a way to survive the zombie uprising as best as he can given his limited skills, what you might call his abilities and most of all what limited luck fate has given him.

What really makes this movie work is just the brilliance of the writing behind it, the kind of witty, tongue-in-cheek humor that makes any fan of British comedy laugh out loud even when watching the film alone. Thus additional pieces like the brilliant straight-man acting brought to the screen by Simon Pegg just further enhanced the film and made it the cult classic that it is today.

It's in this movie that I really understand how well the tandem between Pegg and Nick Frost really works. They pull-off the whole buddy-buddy vibe amazingly well, and I think this film showcases this best (even more than how it was done in Hot Fuzz). Sure, his character does get pretty annoying, but that's precisely how he was written as a character. Annoying yes, but oddly endearing in other ways as well.

If you like smart comedies and have a general appreciation for zombie movies, then you should enjoy this film as well. It doesn't take a hardcore geek to see the value in this type of movie and I'm sure there's a little something for everyone.

[Movies] Save Me (2007)

Queer as Folk revolutionized gay entertainment and brought the LGBT culture well into the forefront of public attention. Whether you're a fan of the UK or the US versions of the series, the show remains landmark in the memories of queers around the world. In turn, many of the actors who got involved in the series remain to be public figures to varying degrees, at least within the LGBT community.

I picked up a copy of this film because of the involvement of Robert Gant in the US version of QaF a few years ago. For those who remember, he played Ben, the love interest of Michael (Hal Sparks) during the tail-end of the series. Man, just writing about the show makes me want to schedule a repeat viewing, hehe.

Apart from that, the movie did get featured at the Sundance Film Festival, so I it seemed a worthy venture at the time.

Save Me is an interesting look at the world of those Christian gay "conversion" camps. Sorry, didn't mean to make it sound like a concentration camp, haha. Anyway, central to the story is Mark (Chad Allen), a wild gay man very heavily into drugs and sex, who is forced to go to this Christian ministry in an attempt to "cure" him of his ills. There he meets Scott (Gant) and the two eventually develop a bond of friendship that becomes a lot more.

Now typically such locations are presented in a rather harsh life - one of the strongest representations that come to mind were the Mormon-run versions of such places as depicted in Latter Days. The filmmakers tried to take a more neutral stance of a sort by presenting the ministry more as a well-intentioned group just operating within their own religious precepts with the residents being a bit more unruly, at least in the beginning.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I'm not too fond of Chad as an actor, or it may be more because of how annoying his character was. It may be more because of how his character was written given how quickly he started to embrace the teachings of the ministry instead of being the rebellious and skeptical queer who had been forced into the camp. That bit never really made all that much sense to me.

The movie didn't really need a strong plot to carry it along. To some extent, it just tried to present how the day-to-day activities of the camp would go and in that sense it kept things fairly progressive. The only thing that really pushed the "plot" along was of course the budding romance between Mark and Scott and with the minister's wife acting as a foil their relationship.

On the whole, the movie was a lot lighter than expected given the "heaviness" of the story. It had its slightly tense, religiously-influenced moments for sure but that didn't become the overall carrying tone. At its core was just the story of two guys meeting under unusual circumstances and getting to know one another and ultimately falling in love, for lack of a better term. You'll understand my hesitation to call it outright love once you see it.

Like many LGBT films, it has more than its fair share of deus ex machina moments in terms of plot development, but then beggars can't be choosers in this environment, I suppose. It's certainly worth taking the time to watch, especially if you're looking for another good quality pink film to add to your collection.

[Movies] The Keene Act & YOU

It seems that the upcoming Watchmen movie is really getting the viral marketing touch, which makes sense given viral marketing works best on comic book geeks like myself, I suppose.

First they released a video documentary about Dr. Manhattan in the style of the kind of old films you had to watch on school projectors. Now they've released another video, this time focusing on the supposed Keene Act, that limited superhuman actvities in the Watchmen mythos.

I'm still generally excited about this movie when it comes out later this year, although the whole legal squabble between Fox and Warner Brothers has been rather annoying and it certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Oh well.


#12 - The Keene Act & YOU (1977)

[Movies] Dog Tags (2008)

My recent efforts to find new LGBT movies of interest seems to have been generally successful as of late, and thus the recent reviews. There's a certain degree of fulfillment in finding movies like these that aren't as common and are terribly unlikely to be shown locally given the highly conservative and Catholic nature of this country (or at least its government).

Let's face it, the Philippines is a place that will only possibly accept LGBT themes if (1) the film as tagged as an "independent" film or (2) the roles of LGBT characters are limited to that of comic relief.

This particular film turned out to be rather serious and pretty interesting in the long run, which gives me continued faith in the future of LGBT film.

Dog Tags is yet another LGBT film released by TLA Releasing, the same people who brought us movies like Luster and Another Gay Movie. Pretty diverse examples, I know, but that's what they do, it seems. They also helped release The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, locally known as Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros. Snaps for TLA!

The movie follows the life of the sexually ambiguous Nate (Paul Preiss) who agrees to join the marines in order to support his girlfriend. On leave from basic training, he encounters Andy (Bart Fletcher), a young gay man with Hollywood aspirations and the two eventually bond after Nate discovers his girlfriend had been cheating on him while he was away. What follows is the development of an interesting bond of friendship between the two as Nate continues his search for his father, while exploring his sexuality at the same time.

I have to admit that even as I compose this entry, I'm not entirely sure if I captured the crux of the film in that brief synopsis. It's definitely one of the more complicated LGBT films that I've seen and initially I wasn't too impressed by it. Over time as I've had a chance to think things over a bit more, new insights have come to me and I can understand that the filmmakers were trying to present a multidimensional story with more facets that what initially appears at first viewing.

The lead, Paul Preiss, was quite the surprise as an actor, and I'm not just saying that because he pulls of the lean and muscular marine look very well, hehe. He brings a certain intensity to the film even during moments or sequences that probably could have been better directed or better written and I wouldn't mind seeing him in more films. Well, there's that and he looks rather good shirtless with just a pair of dog tags hanging off his chest, hehe.

I can also see that this won't necessarily be a film meant for everyone and many people may find parts of the film long and dragging while others will feel that it may be deeply introspective and revolutionary somehow. Such is the nature of such independent films at times and thus the diverse range of reactions that are bound to come along.

At the end of things, all I can say is that you need to have a generally open mind when you sit down to watch this movie, try to enjoy it for what it is and from there we'll know whether or not this film was truly worth its mettle. If not, the enjoy Preiss if you're into lankier guys like that, hehe.

[Viral Video Chart] Christian Bale Remix

Oh the viral web keeps us all amused.

I can't help but repost this since (1) I like Christian Bale, albeit preferably shirtless, (2) I respect the power of viral video, (3) I'm queer enough to admit I like dance music with a decent back beat and (4) it was just too witty a use of a celebrity profanity rant for me not to!


#1 - Bale Out - RevoLucian's Christian Bale Remix!

[Movies] Die, Mommie, Die! (2003)

Image via Wikipedia

Given how difficult they are to acquire, I made it a point early on in my independent internet life to try and download as many LGBT films as I could. I rely a lot on word of mouth to help sort the good movies from the, well, not so good. Sure, I'm not actually paying for the price of these movies and thus I'm not really supporting the industry. I feel a slight pang of guilt about that, but then I try to make up for by by spreading the good word about films of merit.

This particular film was one of the trickier ones to truly appreciate. You have to understand that I try to evaluate films based on their genre and what seems to be the intention of the director in terms of creating it. Comedic films posing as dramas are definitely hard to define even on the best of days, but I suppose it makes the whole experience more fun.

Die, Mommie, Die! is a film based on a stage play by the same name. Written and starring Charles Busch (in drag no less), the movie is precisely what I was talking about earlier - a comedy all dressed up to be like a dramatic piece with everyone playing the role of the proverbial "straight man", pardon the pun, hehe.

At the core of the story is the once-famous lounge singer Angela Arden (Busch), who is struggling to revive her career. At the same time she's juggling her infamously well-endowed gigolo Tony Parker (Jason Priestly), her constipated movie mogul husband Sol Sussman (Philip Baker Hall), her rebellious daddy's girl Edith (Natasha Lyonne) and her gay son Lance (Stark Sands). Completing the dysfuntional family is their ever-nosy maid Bootsie (Frances Conroy of Six Feet Under fame).

The story really starts to move along when Agnes finally snaps and kills her husband Sol with an arsenic-laden suppository (yes, I'm serious) and somehow gets away with everyone thinking it was just a heart attack. From here the story twists and turns as Agnes tries to hide her secret, her children try to reveal the truth and Tony seems to have his own agenda on the side while sleeping with anything that moves - male or female.

The movie is campy, to say the least - you should have gathered as much based on that rather lengthy synopsis alone. Busch is really playing the role of the woman and not a drag queen and Priestly does really well as a Hollywood has-been who has to seduce people to make a living. It's not going to feel like your stereotypical comedy, especially compared to the shallow slapstick films that have grown so popular as of late and it does take a fair bit of open-mindedness for you to appreciate things fully.

The movie is just built for the gay man who fell in love with the 50's and 60's heroines like Bette Davis and watch such old films looking for choice lines. The movie is overflowing with slightly cheesy but terribly fun quotes here and there that make this film cannon fodder for any gay man wanting to sound bitchy in a classy way.

You're probably either going to absolutely love this movie or you're going to hate it - it's really one of those kinds of films. Still, the camp was done in good taste and I for one enjoyed it. Perhaps you will, too.