Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
We may have seen the last of Matt Hughes as far as MMA fighting goes. Still there are other options that would keep him active in the sport. Hughes would make an excellent commentator. He has already written one well-received book.
But if Matt Hughes decides to retire totally from the limelight, how will he be remembered? I think Dave Doyle sums it up perfectly HERE.
5] (Tie) The Terror by Dan Simmons is a novelization of the true doomed 1840s Franklin expedition to find a Northwest passage. History tells us there were no survivors and the men died from exposure, starvation and worse. Simmons’ story combines all of the interesting historical details and adds a new menace, a creature which feeds on men. The Terror was a national best seller. Stephen King listed it as one of his favorite books of the year. Who am I to argue with Stephen King?
5] (tie) No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. You know how much I loved the book and movie. If you haven’t read it [or seen it], you should.
4] Duane Swiercznski jumped to my “must read” list with his very hip, very cool novel The Wheelman. Since then I’ve also read his Secret Dead Men and The Blonde. All of which get a thumbs up and The Blonde comes in at #4 on this year’s best of list.
3] No Dominion by Charlie Huston. C’mon, it’s Joe Pitt — and Charlie Huston. Enough said.
1] L.A. Rex by Will Beall. Beall is a real LA cop and LA Rex is his first novel. I hope that there are more to come because this tale of cops, gangbangers, drug dealers and the gritty life of those in South Central pulled me in and wouldn’t let go. LA Rex is currently a bargain book purchase if you click HERE. You can get the hard cover for less than the price of a paperback… but supplies are limited.
UFC 79 Results:
Rich Clementi vs Melvin Guillard. I took Clementi because I felt that Guillard would crack under the pressure of a Clementi attack. Sure enough, with just seconds left in the first round, Guillard tapped.
Lyoto Machida vs Rameau Sokoudjou. I didn’t know much about either but jumped on the Machida bandwagon upon seeing his record. Machida dominated and won via arm triangle in round two.
Eddie Sanchez vs Soa Palelei. Again, I didn’t know much about the fighters, but since I was up 2-0 and my brother wanted Palelei, I went with Sanchez who won in less than spectacular fashion via a 3rd round stoppage.
Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva was a tough call. I figured one of these warriors would knock out the other — the question was who would come out on top? One of the pre-fight segments showed the two facing off after the weigh-in. Silva suddenly jumped forward at Liddell… and… Liddell… did… not… flinch. That was enough for me — I went with Liddell. Both fighters were in great shape and during the fight each rocked the other. Liddell won rounds one and three for sure and possibly even the second — at least on my scorecard. [Yeah, I was surprised it went the distance]. The judges felt the same with two giving it to Liddell 30-27 and one giving it to Liddell 29-28. A good showing by both fighters insures more to come from each.
Georges St. Pierre vs Matt Hughes pitted two of my favorite fighters against each other. Another tough decision but in the end I went with St. Pierre. I made the right choice as he dominated Hughes, winning via verbal tapout in the second round.
A great night of fights was made even better by me going 5 – 0 in my selections. Now on to 2008!
Presented without comment… Can’t Tase This.
Tomorrow night UFC 79 is on tap. Although there will be several fights, only two matter. Liddell vs Silva and Hughes vs St.-Pierre.
How can ya not go with Liddell? Maybe because he’s lost his last two fights? I’m not sure who will win that one, but I’d bet a bunch that it doesn’t go the distance.
Hughes vs St.-Pierre is the rubbermatch since each fighter has a victory over the other. I’m leaning towards St.-Pierre, but probably won’t make a final decision until right before the fight.
So, any ZONErs inclined to make some predictions sooner?
The new Zorro comic that Matt Wagner is heading up is coming along nicely. Francesco Francavilla has come on board as the artist. Francesco is an excellent choice due to his artistic talents coupled with his love of the character. Check out Matt Wagner’s character designs for Zorro as well as his thoughts on the project by clicking HERE.
No, I’m not trying to be politically correct with the title of this post. It’s just that I do love the magic of holidays… all holidays. Okay, maybe not Arbor Day, but all of the rest of the biggies. Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s, Halloween… you get the idea.
Holidays are magical. Think about it — name ANY major holiday and right away you get a sense of time and place and a feeling of what the holiday means. Holidays have the power to bring families together, to end feuds, stop wars [if only for a short period of time], and even get you the day off from work.
When I think about holidays, I think about family. Of course we get together for the major ones… Christmas, Thanksgiving… New Years Eve. There’s always laughter and shared memories [and usually a few new memories created]. When my sons were younger we’d have their cousins over for fireworks on the fourth of July and New Years Eve. They’ve all outgrown that now. Funny, but I haven’t.
When my sons were much younger you didn’t have to look very hard to see the magic in their eyes when they’d see Santa around town leading up to the big night. Sometimes they’d say it was the real Santa and other times they’d know it was just one of his helpers. They knew because of the “magic” they felt in the presence of the true St. Nick.
I still feel that magic when I’m with my family. I hope that you feel it too as you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus or Tuesday.
Seems America is on the de-clutter bandwagon. Everyone is trying to clean and organize. Who wants a cluttered work space or a messy house? Not me. So I’ve been watching Clean House. I read how Jeff Parker took care of his CD clutter. I saw how Big John Beatty took a cue from Hydro74 to clean and organize his office. And now I’ve got the bug and I’ve got it bad. Ain’t no easy cure. I know I’m going to have to get down and dirty… and purge, re-think and re-organize.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to follow Parker’s lead and get rid of the CD jewel cases and go with binders. I’m even considering doing something like this for storage of my dvd collection. But then I thought, I’ll bet some of the ZONErs have unique dvd storage ideas. If you do, please send them my way. [And don’t worry about cluttering up my in-box.]
What do you say to two days in a row of Hellboy posts that include the new trailer? Simple, just say, “Thanks.”
[And thanks to ZONEr regular, Joey for the tip!]
IGN.com has scored three very cool photos from Hellboy II: The Golden Army. This is one of them.
I’m a huge Batman fan. And while I don’t like every comic or movie version ever made of The Dark Knight, when creators get him right there’s hardly any character better. I haven’t seen a Batman movie yet that really nails it, but this one may come closest.
“No Country for Old Men” brought to the screen by co-writers and co-directors Joel and Ethan Cohen is being talked up for all kinds of awards. After seeing it today, I’d say it’s going to win a bunch. Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy and boasting a flawless cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Woody Harrelson and Kelly MacDonald, this could be THE film to beat come award season.The Bad: Anton Chigurh. Nothing else comes close to being “The Bad.”
The Ugly: Doctoring your own gunshot wound; and when you hear “there’s a bone sticking out of your arm.”
If you haven’t yet, you should read the book and then see the movie. That way, come Oscars you’ll be ahead of the curve.
I saw “I am Legend” at the first showing today in a packed theater. After seeing the CGI “vampires” [although they are never called that in the movie] in this trailer, I must admit I went in with a bit of trepidation. But, because the Richard Matheson novel is so strong, and because the previous two movies [The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man] based on the same novel worked on their own levels, I felt that Will Smith and crew could pull off a worthy addition to the “I am Legend” legacy. So did he? Let’s take a look:
The Good: The concept; Will Smith as Robert Neville, Sam; how the virus is created; taking the time needed to show Neville’s isolation; Neville going in to save Sam; stumbling on the standing/sleeping “vampires”; snaring a vampire / being snared; Sam saving Neville; how the final scene tied into the title.
The Bad: Most complaints that I’ve read about the movie are gripes about the shift once the woman and her son arrive. While it’s true that the feel of the movie changes, I think that it works because we now see just how much Neville has lost touch with reality. Pretty bold move if you ask me. Some of the CGI effects.
The Ugly: The vampires.
All-in-all I really enjoyed the movie much more than I thought I would going in. It not only will find a place in my dvd library, but adds nicely to the “I am Legend” legacy.
