Recently the Spider-Men miniseries (written by Brian Michael Bendis and pencilled by Sara Pichelli) from Marvel came to a close. The story featured a team-up of the current Ultimate universe Spider-Man (Miles Morales) and the regular series Spider-Man (Peter Parker).
While fighting Mysterio, Peter Parker is thrown into the alternate dimension that is the Marvel Ultimate universe. In the Ultimate reality Peter Parker was killed by the Green Goblin while still a teenager. 13 year old Miles Morales winds up with similar spider powers and assumes the mantle of Spider-Man. The story of Spider-Men revolves around Parker trying to get back home and experiencing the alternate reality where he is dead and everybody knows his name. The comics are beautifully illustrated and the story is often funny. It turns out many of the characters are just interested in what their alternate universe selves are like. I give the five issue series a 7.5/10
This five issue comic series was published under the Marvel Max imprint (basically the R rated Marvel) in 2009. The story was written by Robert Kirkman (Astounding Wolf-Man, Invincible and The Walking Dead) and illustrated by Cory Walker (Invincible) and features an elderly Keene Marlow as The Destroyer.
The character of The Destroyer first appeared in the 1940's and this newer Marvel Max version picks up as though the original series never ended making Keene almost 100 years old. In the comic Marlow finds out from a doctor that his heart is bad and he doesn't have much longer to live. Destroyer sets out to kill all of his remaining enemies so that his wife and family can be safe when he is gone.
The comic is well written (as usual for Kirkman) and the art is clean and violent. I would recommend this to anybody who may have missed in back in 2009. I give The Destroyer a 9/10. I wish it were a continuing series.
About a week after it's release on September 21'st I got to see Dredd 3D. Being a huge fan of the 2000AD comic series I had high hopes for the film and I wasn't let down. The movie is simple and to the point just like Dredd himself. There are copious amounts of brutal violence for the gore hounds and plenty of inside visual references for the comic fans (like the Fatties).
I've already written about Dredd and the movie Here and Here so I won't repeat myself. If you're looking for a fun movie to see and don't mind a little bit of brutality, Dredd 3D is a great choice. I give the movie a 8/10.
If they ever do a sequel I hope we get to see the Dark Judges or Chopper!
I recently got my European version of Danko Jones' 7th and newest album, Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue. I had to order one from over seas because it doesn't come out till October 9th in Canada and I didn't want to wait that long.
I don't think Danko Jones has made a bad album yet, and this one just continues his streak of being awesome. There are 14 tracks (including the bonus track "In Your Arms") and after only a few times listening through the album they are all quite strong. Some stand out tracks for me include Terrified, Get up, Legs, Just A Beautiful Day, I Don't Care, You Wear Me Down, Type Of Girl, Always Away, Conceited, Don't Do This, The Masochist, I Believed in God and In Your Arms (Oh damn I guess that's all of them!).
I give the album a 9.5/10. I'd give him twenty more points if they would put the song Mountain on one of their albums!
Buy the new album and check them out when they come by on tour. You won't be disappointed. Upcoming tour dates can be found HERE. I also read that Danko Jones has recently been added as a columnist for The Huffington Post if his podcast and radio show aren't enough Danko to get you through the day.
I was out looking to pick up some beer when I saw the Seasonal Sampler (I'm assuming the summer season) from Mill St. sitting on the shelf at the LCBO. I was familiar with all the beer in the six pack except for the Walker's Blueberry Wheat and the Ambre De La Chaudiere. Two new beers? I had to buy it.
The Seasonal Sampler six pack was made up of Tankhouse Ale, Stock Ale, Original Organic Lager, Lemon Tea Beer and the previously mentioned Blueberry Wheat and Ambre De La Chaudiere. For the sake of brevity I'll just review the two new beers.
Walker's Blueberry Wheat was decidedly un-blueberry flavoured. I had to really use my imagination to taste any blueberries. Other than the misleading name the 5% beer was light to medium bodied with a dry finish. I give this wheaty beer a 6.5/10
The Mill St. Ambre De La Chaudiere is a fairly potent beer at 7%. The medium carbonated Biere De Garde was somewhat hazy and had a nice medium body. It had a malty, bready favour with some fruit taste at the end. I enjoyed the beer quite a bit and it's unfortunate that it is no longer available from the brewery. I give the beer a 8/10
I was in the LCBO the other day looking for some new beer to try and I wound up buying a six pack of First Draft Lager which I will review in the future and a single 500ml can of Yanjing beer.
The can proudly proclaims that it is the "No.1 Beer From China". I don't know how true that statement is but I can't think of any other Chinese beers off the top of my head so it might as well read "Only Beer From China".
The beer was clean, crisp and refreshing. It was easy to drink and I think it would make a great choice to bring along to a party. You'd probably be the only person there with a six pack of Yanjing so there would be no confusion in the fridge. While obviously not the best beer in the world (I'm still looking for that one), it is quite drinkable and I give it a 8/10.
This album was released in 1990 by British goth rock band Sisters of Mercy. Apparently the album was designed as an attack against the policies of the George H W Bush administration. I personally never thought of it that way, but rather as just a collection of awesome songs. However, I was ten when the album came out so Bush wasn't exactly on my mind. The album has just 8 tracks but they are all winners. I used to absolutely love the song Doctor Jeep and I probably wore that section out on the tape. Currently my favourites from the album are Vision Thing and More. This album gets a 10/10 from me and should be a part of everybody's music collection.
I got my Warmoth Telecaster in a direct trade for my Ibanez PGM30. The PGM30 is the only guitar I have ever regretted getting rid of. It was light, well balanced, and played like a dream plus it was the signature model of one of my favorite guitarists,Paul Gilbert.
Luckily, The Warmoth that I received in the trade is just as awesome as the Ibanez and way more unique! Along with the guitar I also received the original invoice from Warmoth so I know that it was ordered on February 28th, 2005 and invoiced on July 13th, 2005. The guitar has a one piece black/red/yellow AAA quilted burst top on a hollow, extra light swamp ash body with rear routing, a contoured heel and no F hole. What makes the guitar so unique for a Telecaster shape is the original Floyd Rose bridge, the single EMG 81 bridge pickup and the custom extended 24 fret Birdseye maple fretboard on a Birdseye maple neck. Some other nice features are the Gotoh SG38 tuners and the SS fretwire. The guitar originally came with a Seymour Duncan '59 zebra Trembucker in the bridge but I prefer the EMG 81 that is currently installed (I still have the Trembucker in my parts bin).
The guitar is actually quite versatile and can easily go from snarling distortion to clean tones by simply backing off the volume knob. I have the guitar tuned half a step down and it can hold a tuning very reliably and rarely needs adjustments. Because the guitar is so damn pretty, sounds amazing and is awesome to play I give it a 10/10. The build quality from Warmoth is also stunning so if anybody is wondering about their quality I would not hesitate for a second. 10/10 for Warmoth too!
This amazing Stoner Metal album from Down was released by Elektra in 1995. The band is made up of Phil Anselmo (Pantera), Pepper Keenan (Corrosion Of Conformity), Kirk Windstein, Todd Strange (both from Crowbar) and Jimmy Bower (Eyehategod).
NOLA, which is an abbreviation for New Orleans (N.O) and Louisiana (LA), is the first album released by Down and my favourite release by them. The 13 tracks contain some of the best Stoner Metal/Rock songs ever recorded including Lifer, Eyes Of The South, Losing All, Stone The Crow and Bury Me In Smoke. You can check out the full album in the Youtube link below.
I remember learning to play the entire record on my guitar by repeating it over and over on my stereo. It was one of my favourite albums when it first came out and it remains just as awesome to this day. We can look forward to some new Down tracks soon because they are set to release the first of 4 new EPs (titled Down IV Part I - The Purple EP) on September 18th 2012!!! I give NOLA a solid 10/10!
Last week I decided to do a complete reading of the Vertigo series Y: The Last Man. Published in 60 issues from September 2002 to March 2008, Y is the story of a global instantaneous plague that kills all mammals with a Y chromosome (males) except for Yorick Brown and his capuchin monkey Ampersand.
After the sudden death of all men, society and infrastructure are in shambles. Yorick, along with Ampersand, the mysterious agent 355 and brilliant geneticist doctor Allison Mann must embark on an epic journey around the world to try and discover the cause and possible cure for the deadly plague, why Yorkick and his monkey managed to survive, and to find Yorick's fiancee Beth who was in Australia at the time of the disaster. All of this while being chased by an anti-male cult know as The Daughters Of The Amazon, the Israeli army, the Setauket ring, the Australian Navy, and a Japanese ninja named Toyota.
This series is truly exceptional. The characters are well developed and the art is clean and expressive. Y: The Last Man shows how different people cope with the disappearance of males from the planet and the possible extinction of the human race. There is a great mix of action, comedy, romance and tragedy.
A film has apparently been in development limbo for some time but unless it's at least a trilogy I believe that it can't do the comics justice. I think that Y: The Last Man would be much better suited as a television series just like The Walking Dead has been successfully adapted on AMC.
Even if you're not into the comic book or graphic novel medium I think that Y: The Last Man is good enough that I would recommend it to everybody. I give the complete series of 60 issues a 10/10.
If you don't want to track down all 60 comic issues the series is also currently available as ten trade paperbacks or as five deluxe editions.
I recently found this fan film for the comic series. The acting is pretty poor but it may be the only live action Last Man we get for a while.
Originally published in 1996 and 1997, Batman: The Long Halloween, is a 13 part limited series written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale. The story takes place early in Batman's career (Harvey Dent has not yet become Two-Face) and features a great noir style murder mystery featuring the Holiday killer.
While Batman, Gordon and Dent try to solve the enigmatic Holiday killings we are also treated to scenes from Gotham's two biggest competing mob families and Bruce Wayne's life. Each of the 13 books takes place on a different holiday and features a different villain from batman's rogues gallery. We get to see appearances from Catwoman, Solomon Grundy, Joker, Mad Hatter, Calendar Man, Penguin, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and Two-Face.
Jeph Loeb's story is tight and engrossing and Tim Sales art is original and cinematic, making great use of black and white, colour and shadows. I would not hesitate to suggest this series to any comic fan and give it a 9/10.
Last night I watched Lucas Brunelle's film Line Of Sight. The documentary (directed and edited by Benny Zenga) shows a first person view of underground bike messenger street racing in cities such as New York, London, and Tokyo. The film also visits the bottom of the ocean, the streets of Mexico City, the jungles of Guatemala, and the Great Wall Of China.
The video is often exhilarating and entertaining at the same time with tons of traffic and pedestrian dodging footage. However, I can't help but see these riders as a danger on the road. They ride the wrong way down one way streets, cut off cars, blow through busy red light intersections and break pretty much every rule of the road that exists. At one point Brunelle is being interviewed and he explains that he feels safe riding the way he does around New York. He believes that if you stay where you are he'll take care of everything else. However, no matter how good you are, you can never predict the actions of pedestrians, drivers or other riders.
Within the first minute of the film a rider smashes the side view mirror of a car and almost gets doored. In another scene Lucas himself rides directly into a pedestrian who is trying to get away from the rush of oncoming cyclists. And in yet another scene a rider is hit by a car driven by an elderly woman. On one hand Brunelle is trying to tell us that this type of reckless riding is no danger to the public, yet he shows us footage of property damage, and collisions with pedestrians and cars.
For me Line Of Sight is at its best when we get to see the scenes in Guatemala and in China. The footage is beautiful and there is a short action scene filmed in Guatemala that while showing irresponsible riding is staged so there is no danger to the public. As for the music I enjoyed the soundtrack which featured bands such as Van Halen, Guns N Roses, Motorhead, M.I.A, White Zombie, Neurosis, Lightning Bolt and Holy Fuck. If this were a choreographed action film I would give the movie a 9/10 for the stunt riding but since this is a documentary and the riding is simply dangerous I give Line Of Sight a 3/10.
This morning I met with some friends for brunch at The Drake Hotel. Brunch starts at 9:00AM and we lined up at about 10:00. The place was almost full but we got a table on the inside of the diner.
The menu is short but everything sounds good. One of my friends and I ordered the Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles (herb waffle, maple syrup, creme fraiche, fried chicken and Niagara cherry jam) and my other friend ordered the Drake Breakfast (3 eggs, Perth bacon and Cumbrae's sausage, home fries and marble rye toast).
As we waited for our food we could see plates being delivered to the other tables and everything looked delicious. The Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles were great. I was expecting the chicken to be on the bone but instead I received 3 moist, breaded and crispy fried chicken breast strips. The waffle was absolutely huge and took up most of the plate. A reasonable amount of maple syrup (not too much or too little) covered the entire dish and it was all topped with the Niagara cherry jam and creme fraiche.
After eating the dish I was completely stuffed so I didn't feel like any desert but that was fine because the meal was both savoury and sweet so I got my sugar for the morning. My friend and I were very happy with our chicken and waffles and my other friend said that he also enjoyed his Drake Breakfast. I would totally go back to The Drake Hotel for brunch again. Next time I might consider ordering the Eggs Caleb (2 poached eggs, smoked salmon, arugula, toasted english muffin, hollandaise sauce and home fries) but the Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles were so good it would be hard not to order them again. After we left the hotel we noticed that Julianne Moore was waiting in the brunch lineup. Not only do you get a delicious meal at The Drake Hotel but you may also see a celebrity! I give brunch at The Drake Hotel a 9/10.
DC's Earth One series takes place in an alternate reality where the heroes are just starting out. The characters have no continuity with the regular DC universe so it's easy for new readers to jump into the story. The first Earth One comic released was Superman: Earth One in 2010 and now DC has just released Batman: Earth One in July of 2012.
This graphic novel written by Geoff Johns is a retelling of the classic batman origin story with some original character development and design. The book offers gritty new takes on an unprepared Batman, a reluctant Alfred, a downtrodden James Gordon, a famous Harvey Bullock and a successful Penguin.
The thing that really grabbed me about the graphic novel was the art. Artist Gary Frank did a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life. The world displays a gritty realism and the characters' faces express graphic pain, fear and anger.
While the art is great and the story is well written it is still a slightly updated version of the same Batman origin that has been endlessly reprinted. Batman: Earth One was a good read but because it still produces a sense of deja-vu I give it a 7/10.
This past weekend on July 7th I attended the Skull Fist, Diemonds, Fatality, Call Of The Wild and Old James show at the Hard Luck Bar. 5 Awesome bands for 10 bucks! It would take me forever to review the whole concert so I'll just point out my highlights from the night.
- I got to hang out with a friend I haven't seen in a while.
- Old James played a Skynyrd cover and as they put it, "we play some fucking good BBQ music."
- Call Of The Wild were sloppy at first but had it together by about the third song. They played a very competent cover of Street Lethal by Racer X! Bitchin'!
- The female lead from Diemonds has a good dirty rock voice and they have the enthusiasm of a band playing to a sold out arena.
- Fatality play some good old school thrash and the lead singer's banter between songs is funny enough that he could do stand up comedy. I was laughing my ass off with his jokes about long hair.
- Skull Fist is consistently awesome. Their showmanship and musicianship are as tight as you can get!
I give the whole night a 9/10. I would have given it a 10 but I'm getting old and it was a looooong night.
My next trip to The Hard Luck Bar will most likely be on July 21'st, 2012 to see Barn Burner and Skeletonwitch. It's sure to be an awesome show so if you're in Toronto go support the bands!
On Wednesday July 11th, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival presented a summer screening and the Canadian premier of the horror film V/H/S. The movie was a sellout and it received a great reception from the audience. As of right now there is no Canadian theatrical release planned but it is scheduled for a limited release in the USA on October 5th, 2012, and on VOD in late August.
The movie is made up completely from found footage, which after the Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity 1, 2 & 3, Cloverfield, Super 8, The Zombie Diaries, [REC] 1 & 2, Diary Of The Dead, Quarantine, The Last Exorcism, Apollo 18, The Troll Hunter, Chronicle and Project X some people may be getting tired of. However, unlike some of the previously mentioned films, the found footage concept is integral to the story of this movie.
The concept of the film (without revealing any spoilers) revolves around a bunch of scummy hipster d-bags who are hired to steal a VHS tape from an old man's house. While in the house the group finds a bunch of tapes and plays several of them to find the one they were sent to steal. Each tape played is a separate film from a different director who was instructed to make a short (roughly 20 minute) horror movie using the found film genre. During the course of the anthology there are 5 tapes played in addition to the wraparound story that features the home invasion.
The film works well because unlike many horror films where you sit around for an hour and a half waiting for something scary to happen for 3 minutes, the various directors of the V/H/S anthology only have about 20 minutes each to create their story and deliver the horror resulting in a nice fast pace. Some of the stories are better than others but they are all very good. I won't describe the short films for fear of spoiling some of the movie. The features have a nice mix of horror and some genuinely funny moments to break up the tension.
I'm not convinced that the film is one that needs to be seen in a theatre as I believe it would be just as effective on the small screen. However, if you are a horror fan I would definitely suggest seeing this movie in some form. I give V/H/S a 9/10
Every year NXNE invades Toronto's bars and clubs with all types of live music. This year the music festival took place from June 11-17 and featured over 700 bands. I was lucky enough to get a pair of all-week wristbands from a friend so I attended several of the festival shows.
On the Thursday night I started with CALiPH at Crawford on College St. for some rap. The show was supposed to start at 9:00 but the sound system was still being set up so it wound up beginning about 20 minutes late. The music was good but I felt like I was the only audience member who wasn't related to or personal friends with the performer so that was a bit awkward. I give CALiPH a 6/10.
The next show was at The El Mocambo on Spadina for The Army Girls. Army Girls are a two piece (guitar and drums) punk/soul band from Toronto. I can't say I was feeling the music so I used the time to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen in a couple of years. Army Girls get a 4/10.
After the El Mocambo I headed over to The Garrison on Dundas for Grass Widow and The Black Belles. I had been told Grass Widow was an edgy band but what I heard was standard pop/punk/garage rock from an all female band. They played competently and sang in harmonies but once again this band was not my cup of tea. I suppose I should have done more research into the bands that were playing but with over 700 to choose from the options can be daunting. I give them a 5.75/10
The Black Belles completely filled The Garrison up. The place was packed and hot. This goth girl garage band was signed to Jack White's record label (Third Man Records) and they actually sound a lot like a female white stripes. The band dressed in black dresses, black sun hats and with black lipstick and eyeliner. They looked to be boiling under the lights but they put on a good show and people seemed to be enjoying it. I give them a 7.5/10
Afterwards I made my way towards the Wrong Bar on Queen to see Purity Ring but when I passed by there was a massive line-up outside so I decided to call it a night and head home for some sleep instead.
On Friday I spent the entire night at Wrong Bar. The band list for the night was DZ Deathrays, Bass Drum Of Death, METZ, The Men, and The Deathset. I got to the venue at 9:00 and ran into the same friend I met on Thursday night.
DZ Deathrays was the first and my personal favorite band of the night. They are a Drum/guitar duo who play some heavy rock similar to Death From Above. The vocals were good, the music was good, the energy was good and the audience was having fun. I give DZ Deathrays a 8.5/10. I'd go see them again.
Bass Drum Of Death came on next at 10:00. This band was similar to DZ Deathrays but with an extra member and a bit more punk. They were also good with their fuzzed out vocals and guitar and I'd give them a 8/10.
METZ played at 11:00. They are an experimental/noise/post-punk band from Toronto. This band was also ok. The bar was full and hot but I had a good spot near the side. Lots of energy but guitars that sound out of tune don't excite me (guess I don't get the experiment) so they get a 7/10.
The Men went on stage for Midnight. The Men actually played the previous night at The Garrison right after The Black Belles but I missed it because I wanted to try and check out Purity Ring. To me they sounded like more of METZ so they also get a 7/10 however, the audience started crowd surfing so the band's rating goes all the way up to 7.5/10!
At 1:00 The Deathset began to play but I was tired so I went home after the first song. Guess I'm getting old. Like the Pursuit Of Happiness said:
"Speaking of hearing, I can't take too much loud music
I mean I like to play it, but I sure don't like the racket
Noise, but I can't hear anything
Just guitars screaming, screaming, screaming
Some guy screaming in a leather jacket
Wooah!"
On Saturday night I decided to take it easy and spend the night with some punk music at The Great Hall. The lineup for the night was Take Drugs, The Mahones, Teenage Head and The Nils.
Take Drugs are a new punk band from Toronto but they were tight and played some straight forward punk. I enjoyed their set and the singer was entertaining. I give them a 7.5/10
At 11:00 The Mahones took to The Great Hall's stage. The Kingston band has been playing Irish punk music since they formed for St.Patty's day in 1990. They have released 10 albums and were one of the first Irish punk bands around. They were great live. The songs were good and fun, the audience was having a blast and the band looked to be having one too. I would definitely check these guys out again and I give them a 9/10.
At Midnight I got to see Teenage Head! Teenage Head formed in 1975 in Hamilton , Ontario and were one of Canada's most famous punk bands during the early 80's. Many people consider Teenage Head to be the Canadian equivalent to The Ramones and after seeing them live I would not disagree. The band played many songs off of their breakthrough 1980 album Frantic City including Infected, Disgusteen and Let's Shake. This show was my favorite from this year's NXNE and I give them a 10/10.
I had originally planned to see Nadja at The Garrison on Sunday night but I ate too much at a Father's Day lunch and was burnt out from 4 nights in a row of concerts (including the non NXNE Blood Ceremony show on Wednesday night) so I skipped the show and relaxed instead.
