THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (André Øvredal, 2023)

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Went into this one more skeptical than it deserved - no doubt because of how much I loved the second episode of the Moffat / Gattis DRACULA that covered the same chapter of the novel - and came out satisfied. Nothing spectacular, but not a bad film by any means: solid performances throughout, some great shippy-atmosphere, and an Orlock-infused Dracula. That being said, all of the above deserved a less pedestrian direction; can only imagine what a more visceral, artistic director would have made of it. Can’t stop thinking that DEMETER would have been a perfect fit for John Carpenter or Ridley Scott (especially given its ALIEN inspiration). (*** / *****)

the pull-list, currently

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... W0RLDTR33 (Tynion IV / Blanco)… BATMAN (Zdarsky / Jimenez)… BIRDS OF PREY (Thompson / Romero)… DAREDEVIL (Ahmed / Kuder)… CAPTAIN AMERICA (JMS / Saiz)… RARE FLAVOURS (V / Andrade)… WONDER WOMAN (King / Sampere)… BATMAN: GARGOYLE OF GOTHAM (Grampá / Lopes)… THE FLASH (Spurrier / Deodato) … USAGI YOJIMBO (Sakai)… THE PENGUIN (King / De La Torre)… FANTASTIC FOUR (North / Gómez)… BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES (Horvath)… DETECTIVE COMICS (V / et al)… ANIMAL POUND (King / Gross)… THE DEVIANT (Tynion IV / Hixson)… LOTUS LAND (Van Poelgeest / Filipe)… PETROL HEAD (Williams / Parr)… BATMAN: OFF-WORLD (Aaron / Mahnke)… BASIC INSTINCT (Freeman / Del Ray)… CRAVE (Llovet)… ALAN SCOTT: THE GREEN LANTERN (Sheridan / Tormey)… BATMAN '89: ECHOES (Hamm / Quinones)… BEYOND REAL (Kaplan / Mascolo / Fejzula)… MASTERPIECE (Bendis / Maleev)… UNDERHEIST (Lapham / Lapham)… VOID RIVALS (Kirkman / De Felici)... TRANSFORMERS (Johnson)... DUKE (Williamson / Reilly)… COBRA COMMANDER (Williamson / Milana)… VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT (MacKay / Cappucio)… PINE & MERRIMAC (Starks / Galán)… ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN (Hickman / Checchetto)… ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER (Hill / Caselli)... ULTIMATE X-MEN (Momoko)... ZORRO: MAN OF THE DEAD (Murphy)… AVENGERS: TWILIGHT (Zdarsky / Acuña)… JAMES BOND 007 (Ennis / Lobosco)… GONE (Jock)... THE ONE HAND (V / Campbell)… THE SIX FINGERS (Watters / Kumar)... THE DISPLACED (Brisson / Casalanguida)… BLUE BOOK 1947 (Tynion IV / Oeming)… IF YOU FIND THIS I'M ALREADY DEAD (Kindt / McDaid)... MAN'S BEST (Picheshote / Lonergan)... BLASFAMOUS (Andolfo)... SPIDER-PUNK ARMS RACE (Ziglar / Mason)... SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MEN (Weisman / Ramos)... NIGHT PEOPLE (Condon / Level)... THE BAT-MAN: FIRST KNIGHT (Jurgens / Perkins)... NAPALM LULLABY (Remender / Bengal) ... LITTLE BLACK BOOK (McComsey / Cunha)... THE GOON: THEM THAT DONT'T STAY DEAD (Powell)... BATMAN: DARK AGE (Russell / The Allreds)... SPIDER-MAN: SHADOW OF THE GREEN GOBLIN (DeMatteis / Maria)... GEIGER (Johns / Frank)... REDCOAT (Johns / Hitch)... ROOK: EXODUS (Johns / Fabok)... AKOGUN: BRUTALIZER OF THE GODS (Ayodele / Akande)... ACTION COMICS (Williamson / Sandoval)... MONSTERS ARE MY BUSINESS (Bunn / Piazzalunga)... UNCANNY VALLEY (Fleecs / Wachter)... SILICON BANDITS (Starr / Talajić)…

Marvel Mini-Books, 1966

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Befitting my endless fascination with outré and small narrative delivery systems, I finally added a set of these wonderful little gumball prizes to The Collection: produced in 1966, the Mini-Books won the Guinness World Record for the smallest books ever made, an honor which I believe they still hold. In the pics below, you can see just how small these little things are. Ordered the recent Abrams facsimile set (featuring Mark Evanier commentary) so I can actually peruse them without worry of them falling apart. Beautiful little examples of comics – and the Marvel Age of comics – history.

David Lynch's "A THINKING ROOM" installation

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via Dezeen ::

Lynch had a clear vision for the space from the beginning, taking an interest in the materials and colours used and even creating a small decorative sculpture that sits at the top of the picture frames that hang on its walls.

"We sent him twelve samples for the walls, with more texture and less texture and many different blue shades," di Benedetto said. "He was happy like a child when he received all of the samples in LA."

On top of the large chair, seven metal rods connect it to the ceiling, where they branch out. Like the often ambiguous images in his films, the design was left unexplained by Lynch.

"The only thing that we know is that these are the connections between something like the soul and the absolute; a flow of energy from your soul," Monda said.

farewell, huey

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And Huey The Truck is off on his journey to Carvana heaven, his factory stereo reinstalled, license plate removed, all traces of both my grandfather and I (save the tool box in the bed and the phone mount, which I had to superglue to the dash; let both be someone else's problem) removed. Strange seeing Vanna, the truck I wanted so much and that I so love, sitting in the driveway without Huey looming over her, though not in a creeper sort of way; while Huey was a good little truck that got both of us through a difficult time, that helped me get all of my grandfather's final wishes realized, this final goodbye to both is long overdue: when it's time, it's time.

TSBMR/0003 :: THE ORIGINAL DICK TRACY, No. 4 (Chester Gould, 1945/1991)

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Each week, I make a blind pull from Siri's (randomized) choice of one of the 32 alphabetically-organized shortboxes that constitute my comics collection, (re-)read it, talk about it, and, on (or about) Wednesday, post whatever emerges; you can subscribe via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast delivery system. This week: "plain boiled turnips!" / RIP cow / smurf ice cream…