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LXG 20th Century

I'm sure many of you are already aware of Alan Moore's incredible League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics series.  No, not the movie (which was pretty crappy except for the marvelous appearance of Peta Wilson as Mina Harker, Vampiress).  The comic series.

 

The concept is that Moore smashes up Victorian and Edwardian literary genres and characters into a wacky, somewhat steampunk universe.  It works exceptionally well, with Mina Harker and Alan Quartermain leading Captain Nemo, My. Hyde and the Invisible Man against Professor Moriarty and Fu Manchu.  Other adventures see the bizarre heroes fighting the Martians in a war of the worlds by recruiting Dr. Moreau.  Weird, wonderfully weird.

 

But there's no reason to limit the concept to classic British Lit.  Others have cobbled together (one hesitates to announce these avengers "assembled") line-ups from other eras and transferred the action across the pond.

 

Behold, LXG 1988!

 

Lisa (the science genie from Weird Science), Angus MacGuyver, Doc Brown (super-genius from Back to the Future), BA Baracus (the A-Team's muscle and trained Ranger/Green Beret), and Jack Burton (truck driving adventurer and personally acquainted with weirdness from Big Trouble in Little China).

And check out LXG 1996: Edward Scissorhands (a biological experiement), Sarah Bailey (a young witch with knowledge of The Craft), Tequila Yuen ( a Hard Boiled, detective from Hong Kong with balletic ballistic skills), FBI Agent Dana Scully (fresh from her work on the X-Files), Zach Morris (another youngster with an uncanny ability to stop time, from Saved by the Bell), and the enigmatic Rufus (from Bill and Ted's excellent Adventure).

Even more fun than imagining the adventures of these teams is guessing about how their predecessors, remembered in portraits on the wall behind them, fared on their missions.  I'm desperate to know what kind of conversation Egon Spengler had with Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod as they traveled in KITT.

Avengers Blooper Gif.

Somedays, even the mighty Thunder God is a little bit clumsy.

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Vikings: Ulfhednar

A wonderfully painted miniature of an Ulfhednar, or Wolfshirt, warrior.  These are semi-legendary fighters similar to Berserkers who wore wolfskin rather than bear.

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Cute Firefly Cast

The Cute Serenity Crew will fight for freedom to be cute against the oppression of the dour, grey-clad Alliance Forces.

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The Hammer of Thor!

Mjolnir is Thor's Hammer.  And while many jave tried to duplicate this awesome weapon of myth, few match the stark and terrible simplicity of Baltimore Knife & Sword's version.



Happy Birthday, Arnold Schwarzenneggar!

I'm so sorry, Arnold.  I completely failed to recognize your milestone birthday last week.  You turned 65!

Sixty-Five!!!

As a consolation, I present to everyone the Expendables 2 trailer. 

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It should be surprising, but one of the things most frequently lost in translation about martial arts training is that the whole primary point of the exercise is combat effectiveness.  Yes, combat.  That moment when bad guys want to do horrible things to your all-too-squishy anatomy and you must fight back.

This is not the time for culturally appropriate uniforms, exotic weapons, pre-determined forms, or platitudes about inner peace.  It's also not the time for steel cages, championship belts, starter bells, or ring girls.  Training around those things can help -- in different ways -- but when your life is on the line, it's just about you and your ability to deal out the damage.

It's all too easy to get mesmerized by all the accoutrements of most modern martial arts training.  Every now and then, it pays to take a look at Combatives and see what they're doing.  So over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to post some videos from Kelly McCann, a guy who is all about social engagements at close quarters.  One of my self-defense gurus turned me on to McCann's material and promised me he was the real deal.  My guru passed along the wisdom that the difference between Martial Arts and Combatives is that Martial Arts is what you do with people, but Combatives is what you do to people.  You might think about that while you watch this video, and the rest in my series...

Let the Games Begin! Olympic Judo

Epic video to prepare you for the awesome spectacle that is Olympic Judo!

This year, The US is pinning any hopes for a Judo Gold Medal on Kayla Harrison, a 21-year-old woman who is already a champion on and off the tatami mat.

I wasn't able to download this particular YouTube Video, but it's worth watching to learn about Kayla's personal struggles to reach the top, and to watch her in a relaxed training session that may not be all that different from yours and mine -- except for the intensity that is!

The Cost of Being Batman vs. The Cost of Cleaning Up Dirty Laundry...

On Friday, one of the most anticipated movies of the year -- nay, the decade -- will be released.  We will all finally know how Director Christopher Nolan, and his co-writer and brother Jonathon Nolan, will conclude their epic version of Batman's story.  This is, they promise: The End.

I'm a huge Batman movie geek.  The various incarnations of Batman on film reflect their times.  This was the story of Batman for the Post-9/11 world.  It was a complicated, scary, violent, costly, harrowing story.  But it was cathartic for the audience.

But at it's heart, the story weaved all the familiar elements from the Batman comic books into the mix.  Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy was still the behind the mask; and Batman fought crime with an arsenal of, as a great man once put it, "wonderful toys."

The Gawker blog, io9, posted a summary of one group's calculations about what it would cost to be Batman.  Bottomline?  Well, according to them: $2.8 million.  They also calculate the Wayne fortune at $11.6 billion (yes, that's with a "b").  Which means it ain't cheap to be Batman, but he can afford it.

We could nitpick the cost a bit.  You have to wonder if they figured in the cost of keeping it all secret such as using cut-out companies to buy, manufacture, and ship goods; research and development; hush money for those who must know; routine maintenance; etc.  Being Batman can't possibly be a two or three person operation.  Although I'm sure Wayne goes to certain efforts to keep certain support personnel from knowing what they're really doing. 

But does it really cost that much to clean-up the streets?  I mean, what if you went bargain basement?  Say you had a teeny-tiny budget?  Just what would you get, and how effective would it be?  What if you had a one-person operation?  What if you even had to do your own #Dirtylaundry?

Huh.  That looked like it cost less than $25 a day!  Seems pretty cost effective to me.  Frank even got the locals to pitch in and help.  I have to wonder if the Bodega owner even really charged him for the bottle of Jack.

Marvel Studios: Guardians of the Galaxy

Okay, I've got to admit, I'm a little leery about the marketability of this one...  Marvel Studios announced recently, and then pushed at Comic-Con, they would be making a movie of their Guardians of the Galaxy property.

The what?  Unless you're a major Comic Nerd (and I say that lovingly...) you probably never heard of this team.  That's a potentially brilliant move on Marvel's part.  There's no baggage -- just pure storytelling possibility.  They are banking totally on the brand recognition they've built during what they call "Phase 1" which consisted of Iron Man through The Avengers.  There is no doubt in my mind that people will go see this movie.

But the risk is that the movie is bad.  I mean horribly bad.  It stars a Raccoon for Odin's sake...  But Marvel has made five hits (I'm not counting The Incredible Hulk) that a.) pleased the geeks, and b.) convinced non-fans to put their butts in the seats.  If it is bad, people will probably forgive them.  Especially if Iron Man 3 is satisfying.  (Which is different from saying it's "good" though not necessarily exclusive.)

But I don't think it will be bad.  I think it will be something new that people haven't seen before.  How often do we get that in a movie these days?  New, certainly, but wrapped in the warm familiarity of a Disney/Marvel brand.  Besides, they've made five hits.  Consider the fan buzz about Friday's release of The Dark Knight Rises:

"But what if it's bad?"
"What?  Are you kidding?  This is Christopher Nolan!"
"But it's the third in a trilogy...  What if it's bad?"
"Have you been watching Christopher Nolan's movies?  Name a bad one."
"Ummm..."
"Exactly."
"But what if it's bad?"
"Then I'll be disappointed and wait anxiously for the next Christopher Nolan movie."

I don't think Marvel will make a bad Guardians of the Galaxy movie; this is a calculated move on their part and essential to Phase 2.  (BTW, do you hear geeks grousing too much now about The Incredible Hulk???  No?  Point made: fans get over a miss, especially if the story recovers.)  I think they know what they're doing.

And I remember the Rocket Raccoon mini-series back in the '80's.  It was pretty good and he was a better character than you might think.

Jekyll; a BBC show with Joss Whedon Style

I'm sure I'll get in trouble with the Steven Moffat fans for comparing him to Joss Whedon, but I cut my teeth on Whedon-style, so that's the comparison I'll make.

Jekyll was a six-episode BBC series from 2007.  It was written by Doctor Who scribe, Steven Moffat, and starred James Nesbitt, an actor from Northern Ireland known in the UK for roles in Cold Feet and Murphy's Law.  Nesbitt played Dr. Jackman and his mysterious alterego, Hyde.  The show also featured Michelle Ryan, as a psychiatric nurse hired by Jackman & Hyde to assist them, and Gina Bellman as Claire Jackman, the doctor's wife.

I caught wind of the show while doing someo f my more eccentric online research on werewolves; the Jekyll and Hyde story is often considered a variation on the werewolf theme.  I was intrigued enough to track down a copy of the DVD set at the library and started watching.  Nesbitt is amazing as the title characters.  He wears very light prosthetics and manages the character change mostly through his acting and the acting of the supporting cast.

The plot is a sequel or continuation of the original story.  Dr. Jackman begins to experience episodes in which the Hyde persona emerges.  He realizes this is not a split personality, as the other persona actually exhibits different physical traits.  He then pursues the mystery and discovers a secret history and conspiracy afoot.

The writing is clever and in turns, dramatic, comedic, and scary.  Hence, I compare it to Joss Whedon's best work on Buffy and Angel. If you're into those shows, this is worth tracking down; you won't be disappointed.

Not to mention that Ryan and Bellman are HAWT!  Did I just print that?  Oh, well, too true not to point out.

Short Action Film: Ghost Recon Alpha

This film was made as part of the marketing campaign for the video game, Ghost Recon Alpha.  It shows a US Army Special Forces special reconnaissance team in action in the near future.  The resolution is a little open ended to allow the game action to pick up, but the movie is really pretty good for its length and genesis as part of an ad campaign.

Ironclad!

Medieval siege action starring Paul Giamatti as the evil King, and the ever reliable James Purefoy as a Knight Templar determined to hold the castle.

Warriors: Viking Terror! Part 5

The conclusion to the Warriors seriesViking Episode.

I should post their Samurai episode some time too...