• friday - mmu cyber bowling club ice breaking. foods + games + cake + brownies! (:
• saturday - zura's sister's wedding. a purple day! then went to alamanda to watch hellboy! (:
• sunday - mmu cyber watersport ice breaking at sg congkak. bbq + games + mandi sungai bess2! (:

it was fun though. will update later with pictures and a whole description for each day haha. penat nk mpus mari2 tido.

I've found that I actually prefer watching a movie at home. I've put enough time and money into my home theater (however probably less than I would have spent buying high-priced tickets for the same number of movies) that now my home feels closer to honoring the films I watch than most local movie theaters. And though I sometimes show a trailer or two, no one in my home is assaulted by slide-shows, dozens of trailers for films I would never want to see (and that have a bad tendency to give away entire plots to those I would), or numerous fast-paced commercials that may actually induce PTSD on unsuspecting audience members. Yes, a man's home may indeed be his castle. And a man's home theater may indeed be his movie palace. 

I mourn the loss of the movie-going experience of my youth. And like any old fart, I complain about it and wax poetic as I reminisce about the great days of yesteryear. But God help me, even the FILMS were better back then. 

If I do venture out to see a movie, it's either at the Arclight in Hollywood or the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. That's it. The Writers Guild is free of the youthful banter of disinterested delinquents (though the occasional mumbling of an elderly writer with hearing loss can distract from time to time). There are no trailers, no slide-shows and NO commercials. Just the movie. Good or bad. And people watch it. Applaud it. Talk about it. AFTER the film. It's unfortunate that there's no stadium seating as it's one of the few additions to the new theaters that I actually like. But the pros far outweigh the cons and so I go. 

And the Arclight prides itself in presenting a movie in a respectable atmosphere free of disrespectful interruptions or incompetent projectionists. There's no curtain, but there's also no slide-show and no commercials so, again, the pros outweigh the cons. The price is a bit steep, but all movies are these days so what's an extra buck or two more to guarantee an above-average experience?

And to think, I actually sat down to write about two films I recently saw in theaters. The first was THE WACKNESS. I knew nothing of the film beyond that it starred Ben Kingsley, an actor whose work I greatly enjoy and admire. This small film is one of those that creeps under your skin and before you realize it, you're emotions are hooked. Kingsley's performance is seemingly quite large, but he walks that fine line between humor and pathos and manages to turn in what is quite a moving human portrait. The same should be said for Famke Janssen who plays Kingsley's distant wife. It's an amazing piece of acting that translates a world of emotion and history in a relatively small amount of screen time. 

And Josh Peck won me over with his mouth-breathing charm and bittersweet journey into first love. Unless you're dead, this is certain to strike a familiar chord and disrupt a couple of swept-under-the-carpet memories. And Olivia Thirlby (of recent JUNO fame) embodies the beauty and danger of first love perfectly (for this guy, anyway). 

The other film I saw was HELLBOY II: ELECTRIC BUGALOO. Er... I mean, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY. I wanted to like this film. I enjoyed the first installment and think Ron Perlman is just perfect casting. Really inspired and charismatic. And Guillermo Del Toro's direction creates an interesting and visually stunning world, but in the end there's too little character and simply too much "stuff" going on. Simply put, the effects--though extremely well done--take center stage away from the performances and story and bog the film down until there's very little memorable about the whole experience. Except maybe Perlman, who manages to poke his head slightly above all the effects just long enough to not be entirely forgotten. But just barely. That said, there is a wonderful animated "story" in the beginning of the film that I thought was just great.

Though HELLBOY II felt like more style than substance to me, I did nonetheless walk away sensing that when Del Toro directs THE HOBBIT movies, if he sticks to the scripts written by Jackson, Walsh and Boyens, his visual style may be the perfect match. That is, if he doesn't get too excited by all the toys at his disposal. 

And I already know that I'll be venturing out to a movie theater to see those 2 films as they do hold the potential for spectacle and excitement I remember from the films of my youth. However, I'll be choosing which theater to see them in VERY carefully.

In the first film Abe couldn't breathe without his assistance neck collar, but in this one he has the option of hanging out, gills abreast in the open without a fear of suffocation. In the first film, the collar circulated water past the gills, in this one it seemed like an afterthought.

i'm a bit ocd I know, but still he seems like an optional fish. Just the idea of optional fish....

seems like Aqauaman's brother that never made it through hero school. "Behold, I am optional fish! I can't turn into a dolphin, dolphins are mammals asshole. But I can do a guppy, or a flounder."

Optional fish, we sing your praises.

All Hail Optional Fish, King of the Hellboy Universe

and what was with the moment where the movie turned into a musical?

Strangeness, but really, loved the movie overall.

On a side note to self:

And the chapter shall be called: on the facifulness of long distance loves and their ensuing hillarities which are hereafter mentioned after this aforementioning preface, and the happiness of good friendships, which as everyone knows are like dragon tears, they turn into jelly beans

No bones about it, it's a comic book movie. The fact that they nonchalantly mention that Hitler died in 1949 (vice the 1945 we all believe) proves just that. You pretty much have to leave your suspension-of-disbelief jacket in the cloakroom when walking into this film, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

My wife thought it was entertaining, but that a lot of it was just unreal. I do feel that the romantic subplot between Hellboy and Liz didn't jive correctly for me. In such an unbelievable film, that's the one thing that really felt fake. Hellboy came off as a whiny love-scorn teenager, which although dangerous in its own right, fell more into the Cyclops school of boo-hoo-ville.

Either way, it wasn't a waste of time (even four years after its release) and I'm glad that we can jump right into the second film if we happen to catch it on a whim.

Wow, did it suck.  On so many levels. 

If you never saw the first movie but like goofy beat-em-ups, you might enjoy this one.  Indeed, with the continuity issues, this probably should have been the first movie.

If you liked the first movie or the comic, you should hate this one.   Unless you like crappy movies, too. 

Let me start with the comic. 

Hellboy was one of the first comics to which I introduced Amy, way back in 2002 or so.  In those days, it was great.  Then Mignola got widely popular and Hellboy became a cottage industry.  Mignola started expanding the storylines and titles, moved Hellboy from centerstage, and farmed out art duties to other people.  Thus began the Great Suck.  Hellboy stories became rare and the BPRD became the main title.  The writing started to go downhill, and the art started to go to Guy Davis. 

I've liked Guy Davis in some things.  BPRD is not one of them. 

At this point, I read Mignola's various collaborations with Duncan Fegredo, Joshua Dysart, Jason Shawn Alexander, or Paul Azaceta, which are usually worthwhile.  And his stuff with Richard Corben is great.  But most of his stuff is done with Guy Davis, and so most of his stuff is crap.  I've also read a couple of the novelizations, which are mediocre at best. 

Christopher Golden's "The Lost Army" was far less than mediocre.  I would venture to describe it as shit on burnt toast.  (One example:  I don't see guys in TANKS being overly threatened by zombies with spears.  Don't even bother with the guns.  Fire up the engines, put the transmission in drive, and your biggest problem becomes zombie pancakes.)  So I was not terribly thrilled to see that the second Hellboy movie would be based on Christopher Golden's "The Golden Army". 

Still, Guillermo del Toro was directing.  He'd done the first Hellboy movie, with I liked.  A few unnecessary liberties had been taken with the source material (Abe was psychic, Liz and Hellboy were romantically linked, Kroenen was a Nazi ninja), but otherwise it was a fun movie that kept to the spirit of the material.  I'd also loved "Pan's Labyrinth", del Toro's movie set in the countryside of fascist Spain.  So I was looking forward to Hellboy II. 

Watching "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" was like watching a good friend who gets drunk at a party and tries to tell a funny story but screws up the details.  The acting was clumsy, the key characters were inconsistent from the previous movies, the plot twists were thuddingly obvious, the writing was contrived and wooden, and continuity was a laugh.  The story felt like it was written by a complete stranger, who'd only scanned a summary of the first one. 

Ahem.  *SPOILERS*

The biggest, most obvious problem was the enemy's fatal (so to speak) flaw:  the twins' connection.  Which was a pretty big, obvious flaw.  Prince Nuada and Princess Nuala are twins with some kind of mystical link, so that each can sense the other's presence and knowledge.  Very early on, Nuada fights their father's royal guards and cuts them down pretty easily.  So easily, in fact, that Nuada doesn't take a single wound from the guards' big black swords.  One guard DOES manage to punch him in the face, however.  Nuada wins the fight with only bloody nose.  Cut to Princess Nuala, and . . . wow, she has a bloody nose too! 

At that point, I leaned over to Amy and said, "He'll be on the verge of victory, and  Nuala will kill herself to stop him."  Turns out that I was wrong.  Prince Nuada is defeated by Hellboy in a big mano-a-mano duel.  And THEN Nuala kills herself to stop him.  Huh?  Wow, what a pathetically stupid turn of events.

Actually, let me go over some of the characters, then return to the Corsican Brothers' plot contrivance of the mystically connected twins. 

Manning. 

In the first movie, Manning was the BPRD staffer who handled cover-ups and went on tv to explain that the BPRD didn't exist.  He was a bit blustery and was resentful and fearful of Hellboy, but he did have a backbone and some skills at what he did.  Towards the end of the movie, Manning steps up and puts himself in danger, confronting Kroenen, so that Hellboy has a chance to recover.  Manning saved Hellboy's life, then Hellboy saved Manning's life.  In the momentary pause afterwards, they bond over a cigar and clearly they've buried hatchets. 

In the second, Manning is a whiney and rather snivelling suck-up who desperately seeks approval.  He barks orders that he knows will be ignored, he tries to bribe Hellboy into staying undercover, he sucks up to Kraus, and he's largely indifferent to the team.  Instead of handling high-level denials, he's the guy on the rainy street, stammering in front of reporters about how the FBI is looking into a gas leak upstairs and how nothing weird is going on, etc.  He's a pathetic loser and, by the end of the movie, everyone openly holds him in contempt.

Abe Sapien. 

Abe mostly comes out okay.  His look is different, which is an unnecessary and distracting change.  He's also a bit of a schoolboy, hoping to impress Johann and mooning after Princess Nuala.  He still has the psychic powers, but only so he can do the Vulcan mindmeld with Nuala.  In the first movie, he does psychometry to see what happened at a crime scene, but he doesn't do that here . . . of course, if he HAD done it here, he could've saved the lives of four BPRD agents.  And that's one of the key problems with del Toro's movie:  everyone has these great powers that are NOT USED when they could be useful.

Liz Sherman.

Liz mostly comes out okay too.  No real changes from the first one, but she spends all her time in this one moping around.    She's really not very interesting here.  And she has a haircut that doesn't suit her.

Johann Kraus.

Johann looks like one of the spacesuits from "Alien" and talks like a German vaudeville performer.  His ectoplasmic abilities are way over what the original character could do in the comics, to the point of taking over inanimate machinery.  Here, he's Mr. I'm In Charge, barking orders and apparently being a senior operative with command authority.  Huh?  Hellboy is the adopted son of the man who FOUNDED the BPRD, and it's hard to see someone as being a senior operative to him.  Only the other hand, Johann the ONLY one who makes timely and effective use of his abilities, so I guess I shouldn't complain.  But I will anyway. 

Myers.

Agent Myers was the human element of the first movie, an FBI agent newly assigned to the BPRD.  He served to show how weird the paranormal operatives were in appearance, but then humanized them through extended interation.  In the second movie, Myers is . . . completely absent.  Apparently he was reassigned to Antarctica.  So much for the whole 'humanizing' thing.  Here, the paranormal operatives are mostly humanized by whining a lot. 

Hellboy.

In the first movie, Hellboy is gruff and brusque, but he has a good heart.  He has a bit of a temper, but he is not driven by anger.  He is hostile to Manning because Manning is hostile to him, but clearly never held a grudge against him.  He's a bit of a slob, but he's not indifferent to his surroundings or associates.  He is extraordinarily durable, taking tremendous amounts of physical trauma with mostly a pained grunt. 

In the second movie, Hellboy is an asshole.  He's touchy, jealous, angry, violent, and self-absorbed.  He goes out of his way to antagonize and humiliate Manning.  He barely notices when BPRD agents are being torn to pieces around him.  He had Myers transferred to Antarctica, which could only be an issue of jealousy.  He resents Johann because Johann gets respect.  He deliberately seeks publicity, then is surprised that some people react with fear.  He resorts to violence because it simply doesn't occur to him that he has other options.  His knowledge of the occult seems oddly curtailed, so that he's always the least informed person in the room.  And his physical durability is inconsistent; in one shot he easily recovers from being knocked thirty feet by a punch, but in another shot he's stunned by a swinging locker door.   

Prince Nuada is your stock villain.  Princess Nuala is a little more interesting, but she's rushed headlong into an infatuation with Abe.  Then Nuada kidnaps her, at which point she's abruptly reduced to hostage and ceases to be interesting. 

Okay, that's our cast of characters.  Then there's the plot, which involved gaining control of three pieces which form a crown, which grants the wearer control of 4,900 faerie war automata.  Nuada wants to get the crown and destroy mankind.  Along the way, he taunts Hellboy about how Humanity doesn't appreciate him, and how Hellboy should join with Nuada because they have more in common. 

Indeed, at one point, Hellboy is fighting a massive plant elemental and has to consider that if he kill it, he will have killed the last of its kind.  Cue guilt and angst.  Except that while Hellboy may kill the elemental, it's NUADA who is responsible for its death.  It's Nuada who sends it into battle against Hellboy, and therefore it's Nuada who bears responsibility for the consequences.  If Nuada were concerned about the last elemental's death, he wouldn't have sent it into a deadly battle.  Additionally, if Hellboy doesn't stop Nuada, then Nuada will wipe out ALL of Humanity.  Hellboy may not be human, but he's not Faerie either, so it makes more sense for him to throw in his lot with his friends and adopted family. 

As an aside, why does no one bring up Prof. Bruttenholm?  Hellboy was raised by the Professor.  Why does no one mention that Nuada would wipe out all that Prof. Bruttenholm ever worked for?  Oh, because that would be obvious and would keep Hellboy from being a mopey jerk.  We certainly shouldn't let a little thing like character or continuity get in the way of the story. 

Then there's Liz.  She's apparently gained a much better control over her power since the first movie.  On the other hand, she now has not much sense in using them.  See, the Golden Army is a bunch of Faerie robots.  You can beat them up and tear them apart, but they just rebuild themselves, with even the smallest components dragging themselves across the floor to rejoin back into an asskicking whole.  Of course, these robots are made of metal . . . gee, if only they had some source of intense heat, or some kind of powerful fire . . . hmm . . . if only they had someone in the group who was, maybe, pyrokinetic or something  . . . y'know, so they could MELT the robots and their components, so the robot components couldn't reform themselves . . . darn.  Oh, wait, what about Liz?  Guess she's too busy being mopey.

The BPRD is generally pretty incompetent.  Their agents carry guns.  Nothing else, really.  No other equipment.  Guns are never effective against their enemies, yet that's all they carry.  How about some tear gas?  Wouldv'e been useful against all those bitey little guys from the auction.  And they know they'll be running into a metal army, so how about thermite grenades?  Or even a FUCKING WELDING TORCH?!?

It's a baaaaad sign when everyone has to be incompetent and stupid for the movie to work. 

And then there's the Nuada-Nuala twin connection.  Hellboy has a one-on-one fight with Nuada in the BPRD headquarters but is constantly constrained by concern for Nuala.  He can't kill Nuada without killing Nuala too, so Nuada kicks his ass while he's trying to figure it out.  My solution:  one of the BPRD agents kneecaps Nuala.  You can't shoot Nuada without violating the rules of the fight with Hellboy, but Nuala is a bystander and thereby a valid target . . . and as a side effect, Nuada won't be able to fight effectively because he'll have just lost a knee.    

Just a tad rough perhaps, but Nuala gets to live.  She knows what's at stake and would surely be willing to sacrifice one leg in order to stop her brother from wiping out all Humanity.  After all, that's why she kills herself at the end, stabbing herself in the heart.  Oh, wait, she could have just stabbed herself in the leg, crippling her brother rather than killing him. 

Of course, she doesn't do any of this until AFTER Nuada is defeated.  Hellboy has just knocked the crap out of him and taken the crown.  He's walking away, and Nuada tries to jump him from behind.  Then Nuala stabs herself, killing them both.  Huh?  It's not like it's a surprise attack, since Hellboy would more or less be expecting it.  It's not like Nuada would suddenly have beaten Hellboy now.  So what's the point?  Well, maybe it's because Nuada had said that he wouldn't stop, that he coudn't stop . . . but then she could just lose a leg or hand so he'd be crippled as a fighter. 

More to the point, her death lets Abe be tragic, resolving his subplot. 

Everyone has to be incompetent and stupid for the movie to work. 

What frustrates me most is that the screenplay was written by del Toro and Mignola.  You'd think they'd at least be familiar with the source material.  Apparently not. 

Oh, and Ron Perlman sucked too.

Hey, ScriptGirl! Nice rack.

In fact, this post actually came about after watching one of the OTHER summer block busters: Hellboy II.

I enjoyed the movie... A LOT.

With recent super hero movies immersing themselves in a  "Darker Tone", Hellboy came out and showed everyone how superhero movies should be made.While these "darker" movies show how mature a medium the graphic novel can be, they forget that at the end of the day, we're often talking about men/women/big green things prancing about in their underwear.

And that, in itself is a whole bag of fun.

Women prancing about in their underwear, I mean.

While Hellboy has its fair share of plot points and subplots involving unrequited love, family hatred, death and maiming of parents/work mates. It does not result in the characters moping and looking anguished while  hanging upside down on bridges, hanging out in inpoverished South American Towns, or just plain hanging.

Nope, for Hellboy, these "issues" are resolved over beer, cigars and an unhealthy dose of Barry Manilow.

Sounds good to me already.

I'm a recently converted fan of Guillermo del Toro. Pan's Labyrinth was a huge revelation for me. Some of the best stories I've read/watch/seen/heard tread the fine line between darkness and light. They're about light being found when all hope seems to be gone; or even better yet, they're stories that slowly peel and crawl and chew away facades of seemingly bright and cheery scenarios to reveal the filthy, rotting and decomposing surface below.

It's hard to find this balance. To have a story that is heavy on its rhetorics and yet, doesn't really preach to its audience.

And finally, to round it all up, Hellboy boasts some of the most devilishly (hur hur) beautiful creature designs this side of Mirrormask. Mike Mignola was a genius at incorporating mythology and folklore into the tales of Hellboy and del Toro managed to put his own twist to Mignola's creatures and bring them alive on screen.

Just check out the scene where Hellboy battles the plant elemental whatchumightcallit. While it is not one of those Waichoskily complicated, well cheorographed "Fight sequence" per se, but the fight and its aftermath has got to be one of the most whimsical (in a good way) piece of cinema that I've ever seen.

Great stuff.

]]> http://kingdavid.wordpress.com/?p=322 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:11:45 +0000 King David http://kingdavid.wordpress.com/?p=322 [/caption]

With the recent commotion of the latest block busters Hellboy 2, I took the opportunity to watch a screening of Hellboy 1 on TV; its free of course.  The movie came from a supernatural action adventure comics series of the same name. The plot is about a demon, raised from infancy after being conjured by and rescued from the Nazis, grows up to become a defender against the forces of darkness. Born in hell and brought to Earth as an infant to perpetrate evil, Hellboy was rescued from sinister forces by the a benevolent Dr. Broom, who raised him to be a super hero. Gosh, you cannot be more creative than that!

While it maybe just entertainment, and no one will take it seriously but the abstract concept of hell as portrait could not be further from the truth. So how much do we really know about the real hell as depicted in the Bible. Quite a tabooed and a turn-off subject, especially after bad experiences with "hardcore evangelistic" methods employed to wishfully scare  and terrorizes people into the kingdom of God. While I am strongly in favour of spread the gospel of Jesus Christ with and through His love only, we cannot be ignorant and naive about the truth of the other side of heaven; that is the lake of fire or commonly known as hell.

In Luke 16, Jesus told His disciple about The Rich Man and Lazarus. When Jesus said this, note that both the man mentioned are Jews, in Jesus' time, to say that Jews will go to Hades as a judgment, after death is counter-cultural because they believe as God's chosen people, all of them will go to heaven and be with God and Abraham; all without the need of Jesus the Messiah and His work. In the dialogue, however, we see the hopelessness, misery, torment and agony of the rich man. The key words in the passage: in agony in this fire, speaks of a definite place of judgement. There is an slightly alternative view to this and proved to be an interesting read, see here and here.

"If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name."  Revelation 14:9-11   Hell is a place of conscience torment. It is definitely not a place of neutral or non-existence. It is irrevocable and eternal. And there is no second chance.

Know that our God is NOT a sadist who enjoys having the furnace of fire for the amusement of it or a toy to abuses His creation. Our God is righteous and holy, who painstakingly and lovingly provided a way for people to come to Him. Even those who have not heard about Christ will be accountable because God through His eternal power and divine nature is revealed in creation. Romans 1:20  God will actively seek those that are seeking Him. He is looking forward to reveal to those who are searching. Therefore, God has made all possible avenue to open Himself to anyone, He is no mystery, He is no shadowy figure impossible to chase. And He is not a God that sit in an ivory tower high up in heaven and throwing lightning down at anyone for pleasure. Nor is He a cold, impassive and emotionless face. 

He is a God that descend from heaven to earth as a man, and live among us. He ate, laughed and cried with us, He is a God that came to show us His love, He is a God that came to wash our feet; and wash us white as snow. He is a God we don't deserve. Hell was never intended for man. However, it is deserving for God's Wrath Against Sinful Humanity. There is always a choice to make: to accept Jesus' love or to reject Him totally. To cut to the chase: There is never an entrapment, everybody has a choice. There is no excuse.

Hell  was specially designed for Satan, his false prophet, and his demons. Matthew 25:41  Revelation 20:10   A deserving place for the condemned serpent and his underlings; an ultimate demonstration of God's holiness, power and justice.  For they have rebelled against God and since they cannot harm God, they will sabotage all of God's creation; and at the very crown jewel of God's creation: us! We are their prime target because we are made in God's image and theo only ones Satan can laid his hands on. Remember when you were robbed of your loved ones, inflicted with pain and sufferings, cheated of your inheritances, deceived of your freedom, cowed into fear, accused of your worthlessness and wrong-doings, tricked into self-destruction and slavery; Know that our God will restore now all you have lost; and when the time comes, all these will be demanded back for you by our King!

Justice will be served by our God! That's what the hell is for!

I went to go see Hancock while in Tennessee on July 5th.  It wasn't exactly what I was expecting and while it wasn't a super awesome blockbuster it was enjoyable.  With that being said if I knew then what I know now I'm petty sure I would have waited for it to come out on video.  Another great idea for a movie where they rely more on the special effects than the story itself.  BUT, still good, just not as good as I was hoping for.  Not disappointed, just not thoroughly pleased.  They left it wide open for a sequel, but I'm not sure if they will.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.  If they do decide to make a Hancock 2 I'll be waiting for it to come out on DVD. ;)

I got to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army while at home in Arizona on opening day, July 11th.  I wasn't the biggest fan of the first Hellboy movie, but I liked it.  I found it to be theater worthy, but just barely.  Well guess what folks... it turns out that Hellboy II is even better than the first.  This is such an amazing trend as of late (sequels being better than the originals).  Hellboy still hasn't attained the comic book movie quality of a Marvel (Hulk, Spider-Man, X-Men...) movie, but it seems to be gaining momentum.  Hellboy II was also left wide open for another installment, and I see no reason for them not to do this one.  I'll be standing in line of opening day for Hellboy III when the time comes. :mrgreen:

Sorry guys, no rage reviews this time around.  Two good movies, but only one good enough for the price of admission, and that's only if such movies are your cup of tea.  If you're thinking of going to see one of them, I suggest Hellboy II be the one. ;)

First, of course, is our Halo Panel: Halo Wars and the Halo Universe.  This panel includes some of the biggest names from the Halo World: Joseph Staten (Bungie Team), Eric Nylund (author), Tobias Buckell (author), Graeme Devine and  Frank O'Connor (Halo Universe Writers), and Jon Goff and Corrinne Robinson (MacFarlane Toys).  Did we also mention the fantastic prizes that will be there.  Now, I can't tell you what they will be, but I can tell you there are some from both the Halo Team and MacFarlane Toys and they're amazing.

Then, there is our fantastic little booth.   We'll be holding two gaming tournaments: Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Brothers Brawl. The prizes include copies of the games and we're also giving away 2 Wiis.  Yes, count 'em...2.  Free.  Nintendo Wiis.

Meet some of the Prima Team (myself included.  I know fans...don't crowd the booth...I'll be there everyday...for you ~_^).  Living, breathing, gaming!  And what's our favorite thing to do?  Give away:

SWAG.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Swag, and do we have a ton of it.  From posters (Halo 3 pictured above, Pokemon, Hellboy, etc) to Limited Edition Lithographs (Metal Gear Solid 4) to hint books, guides and more!  We'll also be giving away about 1500 free eGuides--first come first serve!  We will be giving a lot away, so remember to visit us often.

So come visit us in the Random House section by the Hall B entrance.  Play some games, get some swag.  See you there!

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, I was expecting greatness, especially because I was a marginal fan of the first film. Hellboy 2 wasn't bad and it wasn't great. I'd say it had more potential to be great than it did to be bad, but fell short.

There is a strange level of attempted comedy, most of it actually succeeded. The attempts at dramatic romance were painful. An example of this would be a horrible fight/lovers' tiff, which left me thinking "why the hell am I watching this?" Then, shortly after, Hellboy and Abraham are drunk and singing their woes - that was funny.

I think the previous juxtaposition of scenes serves as a pretty accurate metaphor for the film: the good was always followed by the bad and then followed by the good.

At moments I would be thinking film was awful and then I would think it was great - it's a roller coaster of despair and enjoyment.

The one thing this film really has going for it was that it set-up, very well, sequels and I mean that in the best way possible.

B-

NOTE: I am not a Hellboy graphic novel reader, so I was looking at this film solely as a film.

and then... I saw The Dark Knight and I felt like I had been baptized anew in a fire fueled by angel hair. It is honestly one of the best films I have EVER seen. Only twice in my life have I left an entertainment event with the feeling I left Batman with last night.

A great movie.  Give it a watch.

4 out of 5 GT (GT = Good Times)

Jag har ju ondgjort mig en del den senaste tiden över Mike Mignola. Därför är det kul att Dark Horse presenterar en rolig Hellboy-nyhet. Mike kommer själv både skriva och illustrera ett nytt Hellboy-äventyr. Det rör sig visserligen bara om en one-shot, men ändå — riktigt roligt! In the Chapel of Moloch släpps i slutet av oktober och kommer vara 32 sidor långt. Läs mer på darkhorse.com.

As many of you know I had to attend a funeral in Houston this weekend. These events are always difficult but I also had to deal with a huge number of highly fanatical and evangelistic relatives telling me what a heathen I am for several days. The last thing I need when trying to mourn a loss is to  face person after person trying to convert me.

"You need to move back to Houston with your ‘real familly', find the lord in your heart and marry yourself a good christian woman." I heard this refrain over and over again in numerous variations. Thankfully I had my iPhone on and was happily listening to Disturbed as they blasted out one brutal track after another while I smiled and nodded at my well meaning, but highly annoying, kin.

So it was with great relief that I ran, not walked, to the theatre upon my return to civilization. My purpose, to indulge worship at the altar of Guiellrmo Del Toro's masterful bit of sacrilege, Hellboy II : The Golden Army.

As a huge fan of Mike Mignola's ground breaking comic series, I also loved the first film. I am also a big fan of Del Toro both as an artist and as a seemingly cool geeky guy who loves his work and his source material. If you have never listened to an unrated directors commentary by him, you are missing something. The commentary track on Blade II was honestly better than the movie itself. With all this in mind it is not a surprise that I really loved Hellboy II.

I think this was, simply put, the perfect summer movie. The action was fun, the characters enjoyable and cool and the visual styling was yet another masterpiece of Del Torro's artistic vision. Watching this I am even more exited than before to see what he will do with the iconic imagery of The Hobbit.

Ron Perlman once again defines the role with his personality and I always enjoy watching him as Hellboy. His relationship with Liz Sherman, (Selma Blair) is on the rocks and she is hiding a big secret from him. This provides a light and minor subplot used for comic relief throughout the film. Many of the jokes fall flat, but there were several laugh out loud moments for me, and the rest of the audience, that made that portion of the film pay off.

Another comedic addition was the brilliant voice work by Seth Macfarlane of Family Guy fame in the role of Dr Krauss. The character is just odd enough to fit perfectly into the Hellboy franchise and Macfarlane's performance is masterful.

Perhaps the best performance in the film, however, is delivered by Luke Goss as Prince Nuada, the films villain. Nuada is the heir to the elven throne and seeks to reclaim an ancient artifact that will awaken the invincible golden army to destroy mankind. Goss manages to give us a villain who is motivated by only the best interests of his people and who has legitimate hatred for humanity and their greed and destruction of the natural world. We find ourselves quickly able to understand and empathize with him even as we cheer for Hellboy and the rest of the Bureau of Paranormal Defense and Research to stop his nefarious plans.

In the end Hellboy II is a fun romp through a beautifully visualized fantasy world. The movie gives us another chance to enjoy a group of characters many have come to love and leaves us eager for another trip into their world

Put Simply, Hellboy II is fun, what else more do you need for a summer movie.

As Always I have included links to two reviews from that mainstream press that agree, and disagree with my take.

Peter Hartlaub of the San Fransico Chronicle Says:

 The talented fantasy filmmaker and heir to the Lord of the Rings throne gets the tone right throughout Hellboy 2, and the hip retro charm alone is enough to merit recommendation. FULL REVIEW

Liam Lacy of the Globe and Mail writes:

Hellboy, a sensitive devil with a tough exterior, is an inspired creation but limited as a dramatic protagonist. When you start with a demon hero, you can't settle for making his adversary a less complex demon. FULL REVIEW

This movie isnt bad, but it isnt good either...infact its like the movie barely exists at all, you never feel excited but at the same time you never really feel bored. The movie had some amazing visuals, possibly the greatest costume/make-up crew of all time, some pretty cool fights...but at the same time it had a very weak plot, just awful cinematography/editing, just painful dialogue, and a very boring romance. In the end the aspects of the movie really balanced out to make the movie just...there... not really memorable in anyway.

The movie's best features and it's worst comes from it's origins, the comic Hellboy. The comic's character designs are almost followed down to the very last detail, and the designs from the comic are brilliant on page and brilliant on the screen...and while im on about the movie's costumes you can clearly see Guillermo del Toro's signature look and feel on the minor characters...if anything go see this movie for the brilliant costumes. However the comic was never really strong in the dialogue department, "the part of my brain thats still working" must have been used at the very least 20 times in the first hellboy story arch while this conversation appeared in the movie: "your going to pay for what you did back there!" *hellboy taking out his gun*"do you take checks?". I mean what the fuck? that doesnt even fucking mean sense, it doesnt seem macho or cool, it doesnt belong in the film.

The movie left alot of questions unanswered and did some things that just pissed me off. For one thing they got rid of Abe Sapien(a fish-like alien)'s breathing apparatus half way through the movie., they just completely forget about it and they never answer how the hell he survived for that long without being able to breath properly. There is a scene where hellboy is hit from both sided by locker doors...on both sides...if youve ever witnessed a locker room all the lockers in one row go the same direction, why the hell is BPRD doing things differently? is it really vital to paranormal research?. The elf prince kills the king potentially throwing the elf community into great turmoil but once the king is dead the other elves are never even mentioned again. Hellboy is made out to be a complete moron in the film(even though he could apparently run diagnostic tests on his brain in the first book). The murderous tooth fairys are described a going for the teeth first even though they completely tear off the skin of one guy before going for his teeth. Liz is pregnant which kept the thought of liz and hellboy doing it throughout the movie(i have seen things no one should have to face). When people first see hellboy out in public they comeup with hellboy right on the spot instead of the rational thing of saying "HOLY FUCKING SHIT A GODDAMN DEMON!"but nooope, they say "hey hellboy"...what are the odds theyd guess his fucking name on try 1. The elf prince hates humans but when confronting his father, who was speaking elfish, he spoke english, way to honor your own language you ass! The elf prince steals a piece of the special crown at an auction but they never said how the auction house got a hold of it in the first place.
In the end the only real reason to watch hellboy is for the costumes and effects...but most people only read hellboy for the art anyways

On another note WTF is up with death race? that has to be the worst movie idea in all of history. Seriously the makers of that film should feel ashamed

What does this mean for the actor? Well, look for more genre projects and for indie filmmakers to try to satiate what is obviously a large desire for these type of films. Unfortunately, the special effects nature of these type of films make it hard for the indie filmmaker to compete. But, new and lower priced technologies are making it easier and more affordable for the average person to make a genre picture.

For more information, visit Newsarama -- they've got a terrific article that details the specific performance of this summer's films.

Some people might say that Guillermo del Toro chose Ron Perlman to play Hellboy based on them having worked together on Blade II. Others might say that Perlman was cast because of his extensive voice work in other comic book-inspired projects. What I say is that Perlman was destined to be Hellboy from the moment his galactic melon began taking shape in the early 1950s.

The trailer begins by showing how Hellboy was discovered by the US Army during WWII. The miniature, prepubescent CGI Hellboy's noggin is actually quite small and round, with only the demon's strong jaw line hinting at the colossal visage destined to emerge years later. When Perlman's giant head finally appears, he's threatening a monster thrice his size, in his signature sarcastic tone, while getting ready to light up a stogy. In a film full of intricate, highly-stylized creatures, it must have been nice for the makeup artists and costume designers to throw some red paint on Perlman's big face, glue a couple dixie cups to his forehead, hand him a trench coat and send him on his way.

The rest of the trailer basically sets up the plot, detailing how an evil prince has returned from exile to wage war on human kind with the help of a horde of ghastly nonhumans and an immense clockwork army. Barely a second goes by without one of del Toro's crazy, Pan's Labyrinth-esque creatures getting up in Hellboy's face, usually followed by Hellboy spitting out some dry wit before smashing his point home with his stone fist. My favorite part of the trailer is when Hellboy is being chased by a huge octopus-like creature as he leaps from car roof to car roof with a baby cradled in his arms. Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens on July 11, 2008. Check out the trailer at Zuguide.com.

When the mythical world engages their campaign to take over the Earth, the U.S. government reaches out to the only department staffed to handle the potential catastrophe: The Bureau for Paranormal Research, who once again turns to the demon hero Hellboy (Perelman) and his teammates to stop a merciless dictator from carrying out his plan.

It’s the summer of the superhero and this week we’ll be taking a look at the men in tights (figure of speech – Ron Perlman, please don’t show up in tights).

We’ll be talking Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and The Dark Knight (both still in theatres) as well as The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man.

Dig out that superhero cape your mom made you and tune in Sunday at 2:00PM on 107.3 CFMH.

From the convention circuit to the Halloween party, we have the costumes you need to be the famed demon. For the littlest Hellboy fans, we have a deluxe child costume that comes complete with a vinyl jacket (with attached false shirt), an EVA Right Hand of Doom, a vinyl headpiece, and a makeup kit to ensure you look as authentic as possible.

Need something a bit bigger? Try our standard and full sized adult costumes. Each comes with an EVA molded Right Hand of Doom, a vinyl headpiece, a vinyl jacked with attached false shirt authentically styled to make you look just like Ron Perlman’s portrayal of the character in the film, and a make up kit for those finishing touches no adult costume should ever be without.

Show off your love for the world’s toughest demon-hero in your Hellboy costume this year. Order today to ensure on-time delivery for your next event.

The plot, which centers on an Elf Prince that wants to wage war on Man, could easily have become convoluted in the hands of a lesser director. There's lots of back story dealing with various characters and creatures that are introduced in to the Hellboy mythology, but del Toro is able to pull it all together. You'd get confused if you stopped paying attention, but the screen is filled with such cool imagery, you'll have a hard time looking away.

One of the best things about the movie is the main character himself. Ron Perlman could have played Hellboy as a brooding, anti-hero type. Instead we get a hero that, in spite of it all, is actually quite happy in his own red skin. He's just an easy going everyman (everydemon?) content to save the world and enjoy a cold beer. As demons go, he's one likable Devil. Hellboy's ultimate fate, which may include destroying the world, is touched upon but we don't see Big Red dwelling on it too much.

I'm really happy for Doug Jones. Jones' ridiculously thin body has gotten him cast as all sorts of weird creatures, but rarely has he been able to give any of them voice. Jones was cast as the Aquatic Abe Sapien in the original, but David Hyde Pierce was brought in to re-dub Abe's lines. I'm sure some studio exec felt the casting of Frasier's brother was paramount to the film's success. Anyway, Jones rightfully gets a chance to have his voice heard this time around and does a fine job. All the performances are good in fact. I did get a little tired of Liz Sherman (played by Selma Blair) whining about being a freak. The 7 ft Demon and the dude that looks like the Creature from the Black Lagoon aren't complaining, why should you?

The main criticism I have of the film is the relationship between Abe and Princess Nuala. It felt forced and causes Abe to make a really bone head decision that's totally out character for him. I know it's meant to convey the illogical way people act when their in love (especially for the first time), but I just never bought it.

Small criticisms aside, as epic movies based on cult comics go, Hell Boy II was a good one. It's actually gotten me interested in reading Mike Mignola's Hellboy comics, which is the ultimate praise for a theatrical Adaptation. I seem to remember hearing del Torro is getting ready to adapt another book to the screen, something about Hobbits I think...

Director: Guillermo Del Toro

Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Seth MacFarlane, Jeffrey Tambor

The summer of 2004 was the summer of Spiderman 2, arguably one of the best comic book movies ever made. In April of the same year, Guillermo Del Toro, now of Pan's Labyrinth fame, directed a film that was overlooked and currently stands out as one of the most underrated and underappreciated of the comic book films, Hellboy. This was released right in the middle of the slew of subpar comic book films that followed after the tremendous success of the first Spidey installment. With the likes of the Hulk, the crappy one directed by Ang Lee, the A-T-R-O-C-I-U-S Catwoman with Halle Berry, and the awful Fantastic Four (which is the one movie that figured out a way to make Jessica Alba look bad), Hellboy was like a gem lost in a truck filled with fertilizer. It may have made plenty of money, but it's definitely a film that's overlooked when the comic book movie conversations arise. 

Now, it's 2008 and Del Toro is back with a sequel to the surprisingly charming first edition. Hellboy II: The Golden Army is chalk-full of wonderful visuals that are comparable to the likes of Pan's Labyrinth. In fact, it almost seems like Del Toro took all of the creatures he had left over from his Oscar winning film, and stuffed them into this one. In the first film the story was a little bit more solid and clearly told than in the sequel, as it sent the basic message that no matter where someone comes from, it's the choices the person makes that defines them, a lot like one of the messages in the terrific Batman Begins (which is a film we'll get into later after this weekend is through). The story in Hellboy II centers more around the wasteful and greedy tendencies of the human race, which seems to be a popular subject this summer.

While Hellboy II is getting a recommendation, I must point out that many of the strengths of this film do turn into weaknesses at some point. The visuals are great, but there may be too much. The charming comedy of the first one is back, but to a much higher degree. At times the comedy is great but this installment will go overboard and at those same times my laughter was slowly turned into cringing because of the film taking a joke a little bit too far. (Note: I have no idea if this paragraph is coherent, so if it isn't just skip it and I'm going to clarify in this upcoming paragraph). 

What I'm trying to say is that while a most of the film is well-done and entertaining, much of it becomes over-the-top and the film thinks it's better than it really is. I'm afraid for this franchise because I know it had a lot of potential but it may be moving towards the same fate of the Spiderman franchise and the Batman franchise (not the Christopher Nolan directed Batman films but the terrible Val Kilmer and George Clooney versions); being overloaded with too many villains and too many story lines.

I still say that this is definitely a film worth going to this summer. 

Rating From Kevin: 3 out of 5