2 Movies and A Book: 25/50 Continues On...

From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell (9/25 Books)

Considering how much I love Watchmen and V For Vendetta (but lets be honest, I really like V For Vendetta very much but consider Watchmen an all-time classic, that's right, classic-not a controversial opinion, I know.) It's odd that it has taken me so long to get to From Hell, considering it's reputation. I actually liked the Hughes Brothers version of From Hell with Johnny Depp which transformed the work into much more of a whodunnit then Alan Moore does here, but after finally reading the book, I don't think I like the movie quite as much as I thought I did. Simply put, this was, well, mindblowingly amazing (?) Which sounds like hyperbole and there is probably better and more poetic ways to put it but that's the best I can do right now. The book is a theory of the origin of Jack the Ripper, tying in an illegitimate marriage in the royal family and a hushed up bastard child. And tying in the Freemasons, who have their own motives in regards to the royal family. The cops who are investigating the murders have their own issues with dealing with the suspects at hand, and the prostitutes who are getting slowly picked off are also followed in detail. Then from there Moore delves into history and....the universe, and even manages to pull together nearly every famous figure of the time in one way or the other. At the same time it is also a treatise, or theory, on how the Jack The Ripper killings, in a way, ushered in the horrors of the twentieth century. (Adolph Hitler was born around the time of the killings, and yes, that's also in there) There are theories on time and space here (and architecture) ....it doesn't make too much sense me trying to explain it, but it is mindboggling. Also mindboggling, is Alan Moore's two appendices, the first of which you can find a break down of the research that went into EACH PAGE, and it is truly crazy how much research went into this thing. The second appendix is even more impressive, as it is a another mini comic and it is charts the evolution of all the Ripper theories and "Ripperologists" that have come out of the woodwork and how they have changed and grown to a point where as Moore puts it, all the research becomes basically half truths, rumors, lies, without anything concrete. To put it bluntly the whole thing is on another level. And it shows, as Moore usually does, that the graphic novel, and comics in general, can be just as artistic as any other form/medium. (Also, as Pat O'D points out, Victorian London seems like an absolutely miserable place be)

I loved it. Not in that “OMG that was awesome way”, but in that “oh god – this is really good. REALLY good. This is an Important Book.” Even as a historical study – and it has been painstakingly researched – it will take your breath away.

The Cabin In The Woods (2012) (24/50 Movies)

This is going to be weird because I don't have the talent to give this movie a proper review without giving anything away about it and this is a movie that demands you go into it as cold as possible because this one of the few times where I can say this movie takes you to a place you absolutely do not expect and totally mean it. The premise is amazing, the writing is good where they give you just enough information but keep you clamoring for more, and it is one of the few times I can say you really do not know where the filmmakers are gonna lead. Plus, with all of this, it is SO much fun. At least I thought so, it's fun and funny, again in a way you wouldn't expect but absolutely helps out. It's sort of like Scream, only in that it will definitely make you think of horror movies in a different way when you watch them. Drew Goddard the director and co writer was also a writer on Lost and it makes me wonder if he tried to pitch this premise as how Lost should ultimately end but got shut down. He might have been onto something. And, this is sacrilege to some, but I didn't think too much of Joss Whedon before, I wasn't a Buffy fan and I has skipped everything else, but before this I was worried about what he would do with The Avengers but now that I've seen this I am even more excited for that. 

And I found this poster for it which is awesome

Lockout (2012) (25/50 movies) 

Hahahahahaha Tina and I went to see this on my birthday. I was dragged into the movie theater by two things from the trailer: 1) written by Luc Besson and 2) It's about a SPACE PRISON BREAK. I will admit this: I am easy and I was sold. And I mean it was an entertaining enough 2 hours or so, but this is definitely destined to become one of those movies that you keep running into on a weekend afternoon on TBS or TNT. It's basically an Escape From New York riff where a space prison(!) filled with prisoners in stasis, where the prisoners get awakened and take over and take the visiting president's daughter hostage. Guy Pearce plays Snow, the wise-cracking convict/special agent who gets sent in to save the President's daughter, but also to meet up with his former partner in crime so he can clear his name. It's a fun enough trifle if you ever happen to run across it. The President's daughter is played by Maggie Grace, who I thought I recognized. I eventually figured out where I knew her from: she played Boone's stepsister, Shannon, on Lost. Two movies, two Lost connections. Nice.

Hey! And this also marks the halfway point for me as far as movies go. Also nice!

-Kevin