Archie's Sunday Finest

ARCHIE’S SUNDAY FINEST: CLASSIC NEWSPAPER STRIPS FROM THE 1940s and 1950s by Bob Montana (IDW)
This large format hardcover honors an era when Sunday comics were a weekly event, as well as the gorgeous brushwork of Archie’s first (and defining) cartoonist. The evolution of mid-century teenage culture is in evidence in these oft-hilarious strips (featuring a very va-va-voomy Betty and Veronica!).

Hitchcock

HITCHCOCK
Anthony Hopkins slips into Lecterese a few times in this semi-apocryphal look at the relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and his wife / partner Alma Reville (a too-charming Helen Mirren) during the making of PSYCHO. As an acolyte of the director, I’d have preferred more filmmaking stories and less soap opera.

Key & Peele Season 2

KEY & PEELE Season 2
While the MADtv alums’ studio audience bridge segments can feel a bit forced, Keegan-Michael Key & Jordan Peele’s sketches are some of the funniest, best acted and most beautifully executed since the days of MR. SHOW. Hilarious, intelligent proof that race-based humor doesn’t have to be defensive or divisive.

Parker: the Score

RICHARD STARK’S PARKER: THE SCORE by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
A small town heist goes horribly wrong in Cooke’s third PARKER adaptation, another gorgeous slice of retro noir, told in a masterful mix of words, line, lettering and color. The meticulous design sense of these books only adds esthetic gravitas to one of the best graphic novel series going.

Skyfall

SKYFALL
007 comes almost full circle by the end of this third, mostly satisfying reboot entrant. An overlong, non-Bondian third act and some unforgivable main title kerning snafus only slightly tarnish this half-centennial celebration. Sorry, Sean, Daniel Craig now owns that Walther PPK in more ways than one.

Tunes: A Comic Book History of Rock and Roll

TUNES: A COMIC BOOK HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL Edited by Vincent Brunner (Universe)
Comics about music are usually clunkers, but this French collection does justice to its 30 subjects, (including Elvis, Jimi, the Clash, AC/DC and the Pixies). Band anecdotes mix with impressionistic lyric interpretations and subjective fan stories, most lovingly and beautifully rendered (just ignore the clunky, tired CHEAP THRILLS cover pastiche).

Bar Rescue Season 2

BAR RESCUE
Lumbering, abrasive “bar expert” John Taffer steamrolls through failing drinking establishments, changing names and themes, firing workers and adding “flair” in an effort to fulfill the show’s title. As a bartender (whom Taffer would probably axe), I find his techniques and ideas hit-or-miss, but the show itself is addictive.

Louie Season 3

LOUIE Season 3
What was once an agonizingly funny show has become simply agonizing. If you love pathos and melancholia, it’s an incredibly successful, well-executed television program (and remains worth watching for its rare auteur status). But with entire episodes that lack one single laugh, one thing LOUIE ain’t… is a comedy.

Breaking Bad Season 5, Part 1

BREAKING BAD Season 5, Part 1
BREAKING BAD is no longer fun, it’s now… excruciating. But that’s what makes it so great. Has any lead character in TV traversed such a radical arc from pathetic protagonist to chillingly sociopathic villain as Walter White? While some cling to hopes of redemption, I’ve no illusions… merely wild anticipation.

J. Edgar

J. EDGAR
Is this a biopic? Historical fiction? An episode of FACE OFF? Whatever it is, it fails on almost every level, with the never-convincing Leo DiCaprio shuffling through this overly sentimental and maudlin soap opera disguised as… whatever. Did Clint Eastwood really direct this thing? I’m at a loss. Truly.

The Hangover Part II

THE HANGOVER PART II
The first one was Meh, so my expectations were low. But I wasn’t expecting a movie that seems as if it they just re-wrote the first screenplay as a MAD LIB, replacing certain locations, setups and characters with substitute nouns. A few good laughs cannot make up for lazy repetitiveness.

The Art of Joe Kubert

THE ART OF JOE KUBERT Edited by Bill Schelly (Fantagraphics Books)
From the early 1940s right up until his death this week, Joe Kubert evolved into one of the legends of the art form, a truly inspirational innovator. This career overview is a serviceable primer, but the predominance of mere reprints leaves me wanting more sketches, photos and unpublished art.

The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist

THE ART OF DANIEL CLOWES: MODERN CARTOONIST Edited by Alvin Buenaventura (Abrams Comic Art)
The problem with most cartoonist monographs is that they’re lazy; substandard printing and perfunctory image selection are sadly the norm. This beautifully curated career overview—including Clowes’ illustration, design and film work—is an anomaly, a serious (if sometimes overly pretentious) look at one of alternative comics’ greatest artists.

The Dark Knight Rises

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking Batman trilogy comes to an epic conclusion, with a complex, but not overstuffed story, vivid characterization, superb acting and dizzyingly great visuals. Inspiring, emotional and thrilling, it’s an anomaly in the genre: a superhero story with an ending, and a damn satisfying one at that.

(for much more, see here)

The Dark Knight Rises Original Soundtrack

Hans Zimmer, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Watertower Music)
Zimmer’s first Bat-score without collaborator James Newton Howard expands the previous soundtracks’ nearly subversive lack of heroic themes in favor of almost subliminal musical soundscapes that plumb the characters’ psyches and the impact of their surroundings. It’s haunting brilliance, evoking resignation, malevolence, resilience and ultimately triumph. No na-na-na-na-na-na-na-nas required.

The Newsroom

THE NEWSROOM
The news and politics stuff is engaging (although the preaching gets tiresome), and Sam Waterston is fantastic. But why are the interpersonal relationships (most of the female roles are insulting) so high school juvenile? Some lazy music supervision (Coldplay? Really?) only adds to the cloying melodrama. A resounding Meh.

The Amazing Spider-Man

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
A few tweaks to the origin, vastly improved effects and a much more charming romantic lead can’t make up for the fact that this serviceable reboot still feels too soon. The Lizard is a bit over-the-top, and again, how the hell did Peter Parker make that ridiculous suit?!?!

Waiter Rant

WAITER RANT by The Waiter aka Steve Dublanica (Harper Perennial)
Blogger Dublanica lays bare the peccadilloes of a high-end bistro, slinging tales of horrid behavior on both sides of the menu, from rude, entitled bad tippers to vindictive, slothful servers. More sympathetic than cynical, it’s still a must-read for anyone who’s ever complained about their table at a restaurant.

Midnight in Paris

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
An oft-precious, but ultimately charming tale of a frustrated American writer vacationing in Paris who time travels to the 1920s and hobnobs with cultural glitterati (including Picasso, Hemingway and the Fitzgeralds) is a rare gem from the modern Woody Allen. A remarkable deconstruction of nostalgia from cinema’s most legendary nostalgic.

Prometheus

PROMETHEUS
Ridley Scott’s quasi-prequel to the classic ALIEN is lovely to look at, but ultimately falls under the weight of overacting, frequent plot holes, wearying contrivances and waaaay too many huge, unanswered questions. It smells of laziness and studio-dictated compromise (fear of offending religious groups, maybe?). A major summer letdown.

Batman: Death by Design

BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN by Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor (DC Comics)
Batmaniac Kidd’s Bat-scripting debut is a loving ode to art deco design and architecture as well as the Golden Age Dark Knight. Dave Taylor’s pencils are perfectly lush and evocative, but the un-inked artwork begs for a crisp finish suitable to its detailed subject matter.

Fringe, Season 4

FRINGE Season 4
The Fringe universes become even more muddled in a season that’s often confusing and/or frustrating to even the hardcore. Still, the ensemble cast remains one of TV’s best, and I’m curious to see what happens in the next, presumably final year of a rich sci-fi tapestry.

Creepy presents Bernie Wrightson

CREEPY PRESENTS BERNIE WRIGHTSON (Dark Horse)
This lavish, beautifully printed collection of everything the Bronze-era master of the macabre did for CREEPY and EERIE deserves a spot on the shelf of every horror comics fan of the 1970s—or any era, for that matter. Poe, Lovecraft, monsters and goopy zombies never looked better.

Remember Me

REMEMBER ME
A brooding (what else) Robert Pattinson evokes every tortured dreamboat cliché in the book in an overwrought, predictable slab of juvenile melodrama that goes from forgetttable to despicable when a vile exploitation of 9/11 pops up at the end for no reason other than an ironic twist.

The Book of Drugs

THE BOOK OF DRUGS by Mike Doughty (da Capo Press)
Does the world really need another Junkie Rocker Memoir? Well, yes, when it’s as engaging, poetic and non-proselytizing as ex-Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty’s, which simultaneously peels the shiny wrapper off the rock star mystique, laying bare the story of his own addictions and a band that never really was.

Tuba Skinny: Garbage Man

Tuba Skinny, GARBAGE MAN
Tuba Skinny’s third album continues their reign as the most entertaining, rollicking slice of Dixieland-era blues and jazz in darn near a century. Erika Lewis’ commanding vocals anchor the effortlessly authentic brass and strings, while Robin Rapuzzi’s fun, but restrained washboard ices the cake. No ironic posturing here, just love.

The Tree of Life

THE TREE OF LIFE
The most amazing thing about Terence Malick’s ode to laundry flapping in the breeze is how it’s a pretentious examination of the meaning of life that ultimately feels like nothing more than a very expensive perfume commercial. A tangle of muddled messages and meandering visuals lead to a gaping yawn.

(for more, see here)

The Pitch

THE PITCH

Watching fictional ad men in the 1960s is one thing; diving into the self-deluded narcissism of real-life modern-day advertising people who fancy themselves postmodern arteests in a dog-eat-dog business setting? I’d rather shove 6-inch spikes into my eyes.  

Mad Men Season 5

MAD MEN Season 5
It’s 1966, and the times are... you know... as Don struggles to stay relevant, Peggy fights back, Roger mellows out, Sally grows up and Pete’s just lost. While some claim it’s a dull season, I’m riveted, as these characters are forced to adjust to this era’s social and cultural upheaval.

Davey and the Trainwreck, Last Stop Hoboken

Davey and the Trainwreck, LAST STOP HOBOKEN
Jersey-fresh folk / roots rocker Dave Calamoneri has been perfecting these righteous anthems for nigh a decade, all in preparation for this first “official” release, seven foot-stompin’ calls to action backed by his Trainwreck stalwarts in the studio (and live on an incendiary version of “the Wolf”). Furious, hopeful fun!

The Avengers

THE AVENGERS
The Nerdiverse bends a collective knee to praise Joss Whedon for this richly rewarding superhero epic; an action-packed spectacle firmly rooted in character, with genuine drama and more than a little humor (all assembled around Robert Downey Jr.’s unifying super-glue of a performance). THE AVENGERS is damn near perfect.

Alcatraz

ALCATRAZ
“Omigod, I thought you died 50 years ago!!”
“No, I just vanished and reappeared yesterday.”
“How come you haven’t aged at all?”
“Y’know, I’m not sure.”
“Oh, okay. So how ya been?” 

In a nutshell, this is why the promising, but frustrating ALCATRAZ was canceled.

Screaming Females: Ugly

Screaming Females, UGLY (Don Giovanni Records)
New Brunswick’s pride continues to build its reputation as one of the most exciting bands of its time. No mere pastiche of punk past, the Albini-produced UGLY artfully twists Marissa Paternoster’s infectious squawks into the band’s meaty riffs. It’s a huge record befitting a fully-realized rock band. Do not miss.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
The inherent silliness of Transformers is darkened to a disturbingly serious tone at points in Michael Bay’s 3D assault on the senses. And yet Chicago’s destruction adds a weight to the cosmic threat that’s missing from most genre films. Awful music and Averyesque acting aside, I kinda liked it. Sorry.

Drawing Power

DRAWING POWER: A COMPENDIUM OF CARTOON ADVERTISING, 1800s-1940s edited by Rick Marschall & Warren Bernard (Fantagraphics / Marschall Books)
While I normally prefer actual scans of printed comics to digitally-cleaned artwork, this otherwise beautiful and informative tome suffers from some eye-strainingly tiny reproductions of yellowed newsprint. It’s fascinating to see cartoon kids hawk cigarettes and imagine a time when cartoonists themselves were celebrity pitchmen. I was born too late.

The Sincerest Form of Parody

THE SINCEREST FORM OF PARODY: THE BEST 1950s MAD-INSPIRED SATIRICAL COMICS edited by John Benson (Fantagraphics Books)
It speaks volumes that the story behind MAD’s many imitators is more entertaining than the strained parodies themselves. While some of the art is nice, most of these stories merely ape Kurtzman & Elder’s style without coming anywhere near their level of comic genius. Still, it’s an amusing historical sampler.

Game Change

GAME CHANGE
GAME CHANGE blames the 2008 GOP campaign fiasco more on the desperate strategists than McCain / Palin. Julianne Moore is (painfully) pitch-perfect. Ignore the conservative critics, this is as fair as a story about an opportunistic, self-deluded, right wing idiot can be. But that’s my bias talking, not the film’s.

Marvel Firsts: the 1970s vol. 1

MARVEL FIRSTS: THE 1970s vol. 1
This jam-packed collection of mostly obscure first appearances eschews the usual lack of historical perspective in comic book trade paperbacks, offering comprehensive cover reproductions and factual annotations. Even the re-coloring remains faithful to the original comics, avoiding contemporary computer gradients and color. A worthy heir to the ORIGINS series legacy.

The Artist

THE ARTIST
Oscar® remains predictably supercilious, anointing a predictable, unnecessarily cloying romance a masterpiece simply because of its non-traditional milieu and style. Bérénice Bejo takes Peppy to interminable literalness and the VERTIGO music is jarringly out of place. Jean Dujardin’s timeless charm is the indisputable high point of this just okay film.

The Hidden

THE HIDDEN by Richard Sala (Fantagraphics Books)
A zombie / Frankenstein amalgamation that incorporates the battle between the haves and have nots, Sala’s dystopian storybook is another hypnotic, beautifully rendered grim fairy tale from this singular artist. A few excessively expository pages dam the flow a bit, however, and the conclusion feels frustratingly truncated. But it’s gorgeous.

Comic Book Men

COMIC BOOK MEN
A self-satisfied Kevin Smith barely presides over a reality show set in his NJ comic book store, focusing instead on his put-upon manager and a cadre of alternately pitiable and painfully unlikable cronies. Staged drama (Jason Mewes messes shit up!) adds to the malaise, making for a miserable viewing experience.

Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm

NAUGHTY AND NICE: THE GOOD GIRL ART OF BRUCE TIMM (Flesk Publications)
Melding Elvgren, Toth, McGinnis, DeCarlo and Frazetta (among others), Timm’s pin-ups are the stuff of a fanboy’s dreams, laid bare in this gorgeous showcase of the animator / cartoonist’s mastery of line, shape and color. A few subjects may veer uncomfortably towards Lolitaesque, but Big Barda never looked better.

Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness

JERRY LEWIS: METHOD TO THE MADNESS
This isn’t so much a documentary as it is a serenade, alternating between gushing praise from Hollywood A-listers and histrionic recollections from Lewis himself. Film and performance clips range from hysterical to, uh, not, and any controversies are ignored. Fun for the choir, but this ain’t gonna convert any nonbelievers.

I'm Still Here

I’M STILL HERE
Joaquin Phoenix’ mockumentary about abandoning acting for a hip-hop career is ostensibly a statement about faux-reality TV, but it just comes across as smug self-indulgence from a spoiled douchebag. Especially with the hoax revealed, I’M STILL HERE is just a pointless and unentertaining vanity project with delusions of grandeur.

Archie: A Celebration of America's Favorite Teenagers

ARCHIE: A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE TEENAGERS by Craig Yoe (Yoe Books! / IDW)
Yoe’s affection for Archie is evident in this historical tome full of rare art and photos, but condensing the text would’ve allowed for deeper excavation. Collectibles and adaptations get short shrifted along with the breadth of titles (the semi-serious ARCHIE AT RIVERDALE HIGH isn’t even mentioned), leaving me wanting more.

House of Lies

HOUSE OF LIES
One of the (many) reasons I despised SEX AND THE CITY was there wasn’t one redeeming character for whom to root… such is the case in this odious comedy about a narcissistic team of scheming management consultants. Especially in this economy, soulless capitalist raiders do not make for endearing leads.

Alex Toth: Setting the Standard

SETTING THE STANDARD: COMICS BY ALEX TOTH 1952-1954 Edited by Greg Sadowski (Fantagraphics Books)
This comprehensive collection of Toth’s work for Standard Comics in the 1950s alternates between sententious war stories, sexist romance tales, rote horror and sci-fi schlock, but the master cartoonist made it all look so good! Not Toth’s best work, but great to have all in color under one cover.

Sucker Punch

SUCKER PUNCH
Zack Snyder’s adolescent male fantasy video game pastiche might be less interminable if its many slow motion scenes were sped up, shortening the movie’s length to probably 45 minutes. As it is, it’s a horribly acted, tiresome, puerile embarrassment for everyone on both sides of the screen.

Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture

JACK DAVIS: DRAWING AMERICAN POP CULTURE (Fantagraphics Books)
Despite some fuzzy reproductions, this handsome overview of legendary cartoonist / illustrator Jack Davis’ work is a nice (if frustratingly un-annotated) primer. Still, it barely scratches the surface of a half-century career that spans comics, advertising, LP, book and magazine illustration and movie poster design. Davis deserves a comprehensive anthology.

Cover Story: The DC Comics Art of Brian Bolland

COVER STORY: THE DC COMICS ART OF BRIAN BOLLAND (DC Comics)
Bolland’s bold, intricately detailed artwork perfectly suits the iconographic nature of comic book covers, as this collection of diverse work for DC and Vertigo vividly depicts. Amusingly annotated by the artist, the book features preliminary sketches and traces his roller-coaster relationship with (sometimes overdone) Photoshop coloring and effects.