Friday, August 12, 2011

Weekend Plans of the Nerd Kind (August 12th -- 14th)

WRITING: The new job has well and truly kicked my ass, and writing has been the last thing on my mind this summer. The timing sucks, since both my collaborators currently have the time to get the layouts ready for each project. I don't know if it's the heat or the increased workload, but my creativity all but dries up each summer. The change of seasons into autumn always energizes me, and I need to be three issues ahead of these guys before the holidays rear their ugly head.

We're probably releasing the comedy script for free online, with a page a day for the first 22 days of each month. If this works, there probably won't be an issue every month, but we're going to make sure each story arc runs back to back.

More updates to come. I should be meeting with each artist in the next week or two, and we'll see where we're at with each project.

TV and MOVIES: Definitely back on an indie/foreign film kick. Watched Ulee's Gold and Spring Forward this week on Netflix's streaming service. Dug the hell out of both -- especially Spring Forward. I don't like talking about movies I discover on Netflix too much, because it's such a joy to discover movies -- good movies -- these days.

Anyway, give Spring Forward a chance. It's a beautiful movie, with two of the most realized characters I've ever seen in a movie. There are a few on the nose moments in the script, but it's a great story and Ned Beatty and Liev Schreiber deliver incredible performances.

Getting towards the end of the second season of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The quality of the episodes is still surprisingly uneven, especially so late into the show's run (the final episodes have already aired in the UK), but when it all comes together, this show is pretty damn amazing. The writing and animation is well above average -- and the quality of the voice acting may even exceed that of Batman: The Animated Series.

Much to my surprise, The Brave and the Bold treats death as something, you know, permanent. That's a rarity in any superhero franchise, in any medium. And the fact that it's happening on this show and not in mainstream comics is simply bizarre. Several heroes have died this season, and the show often stresses that they're not coming back. I can't tell you how welcome and refreshing this is.

GAMES: Addicted to Fight Night Champion on my newly acquired iPhone (my first cell phone). The graphics are solid, about in line with a PSP title, and the touch controls are as solid as EA's last two boxing titles on the current consoles. It has the same depth and quality of a solid DS or PSP game, and it costs a fraction of price. I think that qualifies as "snazzy."

BOOKS: Not too much. I've got the main Marvel Civil War collection checked out form work. I'll probably knock that out this weekend.

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Have a good weekend, guys.