Batman Rises

finally saw dark knight rises
i really enjoyed it (no surprise, well deserving of the 94+% rotten tomatoes rating)

i think it's a perfect companion to the novel i finished reading earlier, no mans land
with many of the same elements:
batman is out of commission for a while, giving up
gotham city is condemed
the city is a mess and controlled by criminals who are let loose from the prison
a small group of cops are still fighting for the city on their own
batman symbols on the buildings (as a symbol of hope)

but the film is different and much worse is many other ways.
it should really be called batman: no hope
since he really loses everything and gotham is destroyed
instead of an earthquake as in the novel, it is bane kidnapping the city with a nuclear bomb and sealing it off with explosives
batman is almost always one step ahead in the book, and almost always ten steps behind in the movie
batman/bruce's own money and machinery is used against the city
bane is actually quite civil in the book, only playing his small role, he is far from the worst
batman has a lot more help in the book, those who can almost match him (nightwing, robin, batgirl), while the film does have catwoman and not-yet-robin?

Trek Catchup

i really like the bbc sherlock and i've been catching up with the few episodes there are (like s02e02).

when i heard about the new star trek into darkness possibly featuring the star (cumberbatch) as khan.

so of course today i caught up on my khan-ness.
i watched the original star trek season 1 space seed episode (on hulu, remastered).
and then watched star trek 2 wrath of khan.

then i also heard he could be playing gary mitchell instead,
so i checked out that episode on hulu as well.
between the two i'd vote for this.
it seems to make more sense, with a few scenes matching: the blond on the bridge, gary in the cell.
gary is definitely more dangerous, since he seems almost invincible and can reshape matter on his own (more than khan with genesis)

interesting is the similarities in the characters khan and gary.
both augmented humans in some way.
and both could say they can do "everything" better than kirk.

whether he ends up playing khan or gary or neither, the movie looks great from the trailer.

Batman Animated Beginning, Reading

Just watched batman year one on netflix
awesome beginning stories for batman and gordon
it's really about batman, gordon, and gotham all meeting each other for the first time
and kicking each other's ass until they find their place
well done, i liked the graphics
only downside is how abruptly it ends, making you want more
it stops just short of actually seeing gordon and batman working together

continuing my earlier reading post and somewhat related...

Earlier this week I finished the batman novel, it was good
At first, i thought it was strange to read a book about batman but read nothing about him for the first 1/4 of the book, but it was part of the story
i liked the characters and there were plenty, the story actually feels like a collection of related stories (most likely because it is based on the series of comics)
i thought it was strange to bring in lex luthor but he works as a counter balance to bruce wayne in terms of power/resources (especially in gotham),
also lex is most likely explained through the comics (which included superman)
while reading, i was always waiting for the big bad moments to come, expecting the worst
and i knew there would be a sucker punch at the end,
and there it was right down to the wire in the last few pages

Also in reading,
I started and finished the second volume star wars comic in the series

i'm not a fan of the changing artists and having to adjust to characters new appearance
But after i did, i still enjoyed the story
now waiting for the next 2 to arrive

Zombie Cinema and Gaming

I saw Warm Bodies at the theater yesterday
sounds like an aweful or cheesy story from the title and even from the description as a zombie love story
it's apparently based on a novel of the same name which sounds very similar in its summary to the film
but i was pleasantly surprised, i really ended up enjoying it
especially the internal monologue at the beginning
it was really funny, i would totally watch it again
the big baddies (bonies) in the movie look a lot like immolators from zombie master, fast blackened skeletal zombies except not on fire

In related news, zombie gaming over the weekend
mostly zombie multiplayers with headset on steam: left4dead, zombie master, killing floor
zm is still awesome for being a dated game with few servers and players, and maps focused little on zombies and more on random challenges and traps
i was surprised to realize i actually like killing floor now. i disliked it initially from being tough and dying, which still happens on single player, but multi is fun,
even with team killers, and mods killing team killers, even accidental (hey don't walk right in front of my spray haha).

Goodbye Fringe

Well I just finished watching the finale of Fringe.
They were right, it was emotional and had me choking/tearing up at the end.
I'm really going to miss it.
I think it'd be great to have a movie. Even if it didn't include the same characters or was only about the red side or the observers. There are so many possibilities.
But of course it wouldn't be the same without Peter, Olivia, Walter and Astrid. I can hope.

Horror Spin

Saw Cabin in the Woods finally.
It was better than expected.
I really liked the plot.
Definitely a different take on horror.
Almost as a way to explain every horror film ever made, as this larger goal.
Very cool to see the cube-like underground facility filled with monsters.
Watching the film did make me wonder who I was rooting for.
So I especially liked the ending which could have gone either way.

Even the credits were great with nine inch nails 'last'.

New Reading

Picked up some new reading from the library
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, volume 1 comic
and
Batman No Man's Land, the novel

I flew through the star wars comic
planning to read as many more as i can get my hands on
Now digging into the batman novel

Spoilers, Audiobook

Plenty of TV spoilers going around for me lately,
and are apparently hard to avoid (from facebook and word of mouth).

I'm behind on both the Walking Dead and Fringe, so it was bound to happen, especially with big events (ie characters dying) which can't be kept secret.
For Fringe, since I did get caught up a little, I have to say I was still shocked to see it.

I started to watch season 3 of the Walking Dead season 3, but stopped after the first episode.
It's good, action packed, I like where the story is (at the prison),
but I realized I wanted to read the Governor books before seeing him on the show.

Currently I'm listening to the audiobook for Rise of the Governor, picked up from the library on 9 cds.
I'm also planning to read/listen to Road to Woodbury next.

Battlestar Returns

Glad to see the return of Battlestar, even as a web series.
I watch most of my content online, so it actually works out well.
Just watched the first episode of Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome on Machinima youtube.
I had to check it out after seeing the trailer.
Feels like going back to basics for me, with the cylon war, viper pilots, and CG space fights.
Adama was one of my favorites (because of Olmos) and its focused on him, joining the Battlestar ship for the first time.
Except for a few production quirks as others mentioned (distracting lens flares), I enjoyed it.

Space Adventures!

I just finished another Isaac Asimov book The Currents of Space,
Story of a man trying to remember who he is and the great danger he came to warn the planet about.
Another great space mystery, whodunit, with many characters playing detective.
Great visuals of a layered society with literal upper and lower classes, rich lavish city above in bright lights and peasants below in the shadows.

The follows up my previous read of Pebble in the Sky.
A man travels through time into the future, is subject to an experiment that gives him special mental powers, must adjust to a futuristic radioactive earth, must avoid being put to death for being too old, and also race the clock to save the galaxy!
Humanity has spread out across millions of planets and forgotten its origin, Earth, a poor isolated backwater planet with its population not even regarded as human anymore.

Both fun scifi stories from the library, I sure appreciate free reading.