Z-View: “The Wrestler” is a Winner

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The Pitch: “Rocky” meets Professional Wrestling.

The Overview: Randy “The Ram” Robinson is a washed up professional wrestler hoping for one last shot at the big time, a romance with an aging stripper and a reconciliation with his college-age daughter.

The Good: Mickey Rourke.  Maresia Tomei. Both received well-deserved Oscar nominations.  And let’s not forget writer Robert Siegel and director Darren Aronofsky.  The behind-the-scenes before and after the matches stuff.  The movie feels real.  There is no sugar-coating motivations or easily resolved situations.  Did I mention how good Rourke and Tomei are?

The Bad: The “hardcore” match.  Robinson’s relationship with his daughter.  Getting old.

The Ugly: Did I mention the “hardcore” match?

The Summary: I went in to see “The Wrestler” expecting a lot.  I wasn’t disappointed.  It deserves all the honors it is getting thanks to the efforts of Rourke, Tomei, Siegel and Aronofsky.  I look forward to watching this again when it’s in my collection.

Francavilla’s “Cop Land”

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Francesco Francavilla is an extremely talented artist.  His art blog is a regular stop on my internet travels.  I love Francesco’s moody black and white work and was excited to get a copy of his Chiaroscuro sketchbook.  I was even more excited to learn that Francesco draws a free “quick sketch” in every copy ordered through his site.   As you can see from the scan above, he decided to give me his take on Freddy from “Cop Land.”

Chiaroscuro is 70 pages full of Francesco’s black and white work.  It features everything from quick sketches to more detailed work of characters like Hellboy, Batman, Kong, Marv, and so many others.  It arrives securely packaged [which is a major plus knowing my mail carrier] and the last page contains the quick sketch.   Francesco has another sketchbook available.  Schermoscuro is a classic horror movie guide in artbook form.  Francesco is offering the same deal on it and I plan to take him up on it soon.

Art Plans for 2009

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I love attending Comic Book Conventions. It’s great meeting artists that I admire, and seeing friends that I seldom get to see. Getting sketches for my Stallone collection is an added bonus.

This year doesn’t look to be as promising for me getting to shows. Fewer days at shows will definitely limit my ability to get new art for the collection.

What to do then?

My plan is to purchase more sketches through the mail. Several artists offer free head sketches with the purchase of their sketchbooks. What a great deal!

My buddy, John Beatty, got me thinking about the idea when he ordered Derek Fridofs’ sketchbook. Since it came with a free head sketch, and John doesn’t collect art, he thought of me and asked for a Stallone sketch. [John has done similar things for me many times – and this is another chance to publicly thank him!] Derek came through with a very cool Rambo piece.

I saw that Francesco Francavilla offered the same deal as Derek so I ordered his Chiaroscuro sketchbook with a Cop Land piece. In the mean time I had been checking out Derek Fridofs’ site and really dug his work. I ordered his sketchbook and got his extremely cool take on Jack Carter.

Because these transactions went so smoothly it got me thinking about doing more. The prices were reasonable, the artists were people whose work I admired. The books/art were sent in secure packaging and the time between the orders and getting the pieces was very reasonable.

So I’m on the look out for artists who offer similar deals. I’d like to see if I can work out one a month. Any suggestions?

Mood: Optimism
Listening to: 70’s Music
Reading: Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
Watching: “The Wrestler”
Playing: Internet Spades
Eating: Peanut Butter on a Bagel
Drinking: Skim Milk

Jim Ivey Says, “Slap ‘Em!”

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Although I try to limit political discussion [this blog is supposed to be about fun stuff], I do love talking art [comics, movie posters, paperback covers, etc.].  President Obama had a series of political posters which made such an impact with their design that the style is being copied everywhere.

I decided that it would be cool to create a “Obamicon” using a vintage photo and favorite saying of my buddy Jim Ivey.

Bringing Back a Neanderthal

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According to this article, a leading genome researcher at Harvard says

...a Neanderthal could be brought to life with present technology for about $30 million.

Whoa!  Bring a cave man to life!  At least that’s the imagine that initially ran through my mind.  How cool would that be?

But then I gave it another second to sink in.  We wouldn’t be bringing a cave man back, we’d be artificially creating a life that would then be studied and probed and whose only purpose was scientific research.

Just because we have the ability to do something doesn’t mean we should.  Besides, once the scientists had tired of studying Mr. Neanderthal, what could he do?  Geico commercials?

[Thanks and a raised cave man club to Bill Crider for the link.]

The Apocalypse is Coming!

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I’m a big fan of Victor Gischler’s Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse.  Yesterday at his blog Victor announced:

I’m happy to report that producer Brad Wyman — the dude responsible for some pretty cool films — has optioned my novel Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. Mr. Wyman is eager to make the film version as close to the novel as possible, and I’m thrilled as hell.

Me too, Victor, me too.

Rare Beatles Footage

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Rick, over at his On My Mind blog, posted up a very rare clip which features The Beatles in a live performance taped at a concert in Manchester, England in 1963.  The video showcases two songs as well as some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that happened before the show.  It runs a little less than seven minutes and if you’re a Beatles fan it’s more than worth you time.

Crime Comics Lookin’ Good

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It’s no secret that I love crime novels, movies and comics. Since 100 Bullets [the partial cover to number 99 is pictured above] is getting ready to end it’s 100 issue run, I was glad to read that DC’s Vertigo line is gearing up to produce a series of crime comics.  You can read all about their upcoming titles by clicking here.  Filthy Rich, by Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos sounds the most promising to me.  I like Azzarello’s writing and after checking out Santo’s blog really dig his art.

Things are looking up for crime comic fans.

Kevin Nash Makes An Appearance

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I work as an Assistant Principal at a local high school.  A while back I posted about talking to former World  Lightheavy Weight Champ, Antonio Tarver at one of our basketball games.  Tonight I was working the game as our girls basketball team played for the district title.  Kevin Nash [movie actor and professional wrestler] came to watch.  Nash is friends of the family of one of the players.

What was cool was that many people recognized him, but no one went over for autographs or to talk to him.  Kevin Nash wasn’t there for that and people seemed to realize it.  A group of students did walk by to get a closer look, but even they didn’t bug him.  Too bad that most celebrities aren’t given the same respect when they are trying to enjoy some time away from the limelight.

Unfortunately our girls lost.  The good news is that coming in 2nd place in the district moves us into the regional tournament with a chance to still go to state.  If we make it, maybe Kevin Nash will make a return visit.

Welcome to the 21st Century, Wild Bill

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My buddy, Bill Black, has moved AC Comics into the 21st century!

Everything, and I mean everything that a fan could love about Bill’s diverse product line is available with a click.  Femforce is here.    Giant Women [yes, giant women] are here.  Bill’s dvd line is available [with selected trailers].    If you’re into Golden Age Heroes, then click here.   Western Reprint fans will want to click on this.   You can even click here to read Femforce:Origins.

I can’t wait to see what Wild Bill has planned for the 22nd century!