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Star Wars: Vader Down
Star Wars: Vader Down
Kieron Gillen, Mike Deodato, Jason Aaron, Salvador Larroca, Mark Brooks (art) | 2016 | Comics & Graphic Novels, Film & TV, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
7.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Vader goes from hunter to hunted in this crossover event from Marvel.

Firstly, "crossover" is a bit of a misnomer, since he's already a character in STAR WARS, but the idea was to broad strokes fill in some of the details of what he was doing when he wasn't on camera. Since these series are set between New Hope and Empire, there's a lot more wiggle room. Secondly, crossover events tend to be gimmicky and difficult for comic readers to track since they span multiple titles. Fortunately, there are only two titles here to deal with, so its a bit easier, but it still took some detective work to figure out the individual issues involved.

* VERY MILD SPOILERS (like the kind on a dust jacket) FOLLOW...

Okay, with the rant over, lets get to the good stuff. This book was good. This is really the first time we've seen the fearsome dark lord of the Sith AS a fearsome dark lord of the Sith, and not a broken down mechanical mystery monster who is really just a shadow of his former legendary self. This feels more like Anakin at the height of his powers, just evil. Alone on a planet with an entire battalion of Rebels on his trail, and Imperial agents who want to usurp him close behind, he's not worried, phased or hell even concerned. They're just dead men to him, and he tells them as much. This Vader is BAD-ASS.

Unfortunately, the counter plot to the Vader story is lighter in tone (and normally when those characters show up in the Vader comic I'm exceedingly happy for their brief forays into comedy to lighten up the proceedings), but here they are over used and quite honestly, detract from the bloodbath the Emperor's Fist finds himself in. While a dose of comedy can be welcome, this feels like the authors were trying too hard, and the result comes out as very uneven. Especially when the subject of the humor is Han. Han should be cool and unintentionally funny when things don't go his way, not bungling Mr. Bean style funny because he's inept.

Bottom line, the plot drove me through the rough spots, and I still think this is a great series, I only hope the luster is not starting to tarnish on this one, but that's what this volume feels like...
  
The Circus of Dr Lao
The Circus of Dr Lao
Charles G. Finney | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Somewhat mixed feelings about this book. I became interested due to the film with Tony Randall, which keeps the book's dark humor while adding on a layer of optimism and sentimentality. However, this layer is completely absent from the book. Instead, one feels the palpable cynicism and hatred for humanity and God of a military and newspaper man who obviously witnessed more than his fair share of suffering and inhumanity.

The cynicism does not always feel unwarranted, nor does the bitter but humorous style of much of the book fail to be entertaining. It vacilates between being a sardonic delight and a heavy (and even heavy-handed) piece of short literature that has to be digested in multiple sittings.

The author, himself the grandson and namesake of the great evangelist and abolitionist Charles Finney, if he believes in a God, seems to find Him distant, petty, and hateful. One begins to wonder why the circus seems to provide such fodder for this kind of nihilism (as in Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes and Anton LaVey's biographical details), and perhaps it's because it puts on display those things that we think of as deserving to be hidden where we must face them and despair. The Circus of Dr. Lao puts God through a theodicy trial that Finney doesn't seem to think the Deity survives, but Finney's nihilism is hardly a palatable alternative.

Funny at times, interesting often, and very well-written, the life-as-a-meaningless-freakshow motif still sullies what this book could be. An interesting counterpoint to the film, but on the whole I still much prefer the cinematic rendering.
  
Prom (2011)
Prom (2011)
2011 | Comedy
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
“Prom is like the Olympics of high school; You wait four years, only like three people have a good time, and everyone else leaves with shattered hopes and dreams.” Nova Prescott had it all, class president, popularity and a bright future. What more can a teenage high school girl ask for? Well, how about a perfect prom for starters?

Prom stars Aimee Teergarden (Friday Night Lights) as Nova Prescott and Thomas McDonald (soon to portray young Barnabas Collins in Dark Shadows) as Jesse Richter. Nova is obsessed with planning the perfect prom as a final farewell to high school and a big jump to college. Her dreams are shattered after a fire has ruined all her prom decorations and she is in need of some help to get things back on track. “Walking misdemeanor” Jesse Richter is forced to help Nova fix what was lost and in the end they end up finding love. Prom includes different stories about couples who have problems of their own that all revolve around the most important night of a senior’s life: the prom

Disney’s Prom is another cheesy, lackluster high school film with awkward scenes and awkward actors. This movie is unrealistic and uneventful and may put parents at ease but leave kids wondering why they would pour their heart and soul into one specific yet anti-climactic night that most adults end up forgetting anyways. Although the film lacked humor and good writing, the most promising part is the soundtrack.

The film is too familiar and uses the same old scenarios that have been played out in other films about high school countless times and offers nothing new.