Sorry, guys: those twelve days of silence were brought to you by the worst case of food poisoning I’ve ever had and my recovery from it. Normal service should resume shortly, I just wanted to drop you all a line appreciating your patience.
I’m currently writing next week’s reviews…which largely means re-tooling the plans for last week’s that I didn’t get to, occupied as I was by Magog larvae. We’ll just pretend that didn’t happen and start next week up fresh and ready. In the meantime, here’s this thing I found that has nothing to do with anything. I just found it an exceptionally well-edited piece of music video work that deserves more study and/or attention. I’m sure, in some wacky parallel dimension where I teach editing classes instead of taking them, some better-paid version of me is already using it as the basis for a six-week course. The most succinct description I can give it? “Tron: Legacy in four minutes and twenty-seven seconds.”
My grandfather, Col. Herbert E. Carter (USAF, Ret.) died Thursday afternoon at the East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika. He was 95. He is survived by his three children, including my mother, and an ever-increasing number of grand- and great-grandchildren, all of whom are slowly but surely making their way down south this week. Including me.
I’ll be waking up at 4 a.m. to catch a flight out on Tuesday for the funeral, and remaining as long as my mother needs. Obviously, this will cause some disruptions around here, as I’ve no idea what, if anything, I’ll be able to produce from the road. So I thank you in advance for your patience and understanding in these times. Any donations to the family may be given to Cecil, as usual.
In this, the thirty-second episode of Traumatic Cinematic, I re-join hosts MuGumbo and Mike (@Greymattersplat) Wickliff to discuss the especially traumatizing, but surprisingly varied, career of Takeshi Miike, director of (among many other things) Audition, Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai and 13 Assassins. As before, we used this as our excuse to discuss many other wonderful things, such as: remakes that don’t suck, the Great Late-90s Wave of Asian Horror that Audition and Miike rode to glory, and the state of modern international cinema in general. All this and more can nestle safely inside your brain, either through the player above or your favorite mobile device, once you’ve downloaded the episode through the link below.
Having had so much fun with the Dark Knight Rises episode, we triumphantly returned to The Traumatic Cinematic Show to discuss the two hours of glorious pain that is The Raid: Redemption (plus whatever else we come up with to distract ourselves). Join the incomparable Lewis “McGumbo” Cougill, the excellent Mike “GreyMatterSplat” Wickliff, and me, Your Humble Narrator, as our ramblings bless your heathen ears. Listen through the player above or download the episode through the link below.
As you’ve probably noticed, they’ll be no Friday review this week so that we here at AYTIWS Central might batten down our hatches for a quick trip up the coast. By the time you read this, I’ll most likely be on the road, headed to Geek Girl Con 2012 in Seattle. I’ll do our best to snap cool pictures, make wry observations, and more-or-less stalk two of my favorite Batman comic book authors, Gail Simone and Greg Ruka, who’re both scheduled to speak on various topics at various times. Wish us Bon Voyage and I’ll see you all Monday, when I plan to post pictures, or Wednesday, when I hope to hit with both barrels as I review of something…super…stay tuned…
Because there’s no such thing as too much Batman, my superhero expertise and I joined the incomparable Jon X of The After Movie Diner to discuss the whole of Chris Nolan’s trilogy, from the Bat’s humble Beginnings to his still-recent Rise.
Want Jon to rope me into more shows? Rate and review The Diner on iTunes, Stitcher and/or Talkshoe. Then pass this on to all your friends. Bob Kane’s ghost and I will love you for it.
In my quest to spread across the internet like a sentient Idea Virus I lent my Batman expertise to The Traumatic Cinematic Show. Join me and its incomparable host, McGumbo, as we discuss 2-Headed Shark Attack, the state of modern film criticism, and some little movie about a rich guy who dresses up like a bat because he misses his mommy and daddy so badly.
Having connived and blackmailed my way into become his “fount of all comic book knowledge and information” I sat down with Jon X of the After Movie Diner to discuss all six of the films that currently compose Earth 199,999 (otherwise known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe). Listen here
or you can visit the After Movie Diner’s website and download this or any of Jon’s other wonderful podcasts to your mobile device of choice on Stitcher, iTunes or Talkshoe. (And while you’re there, you could do worse than give Jon the highest rating possible and – who knows – maybe even a review.)
Those six films are, of course, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avengerand The Avengers, which long-time readers (both of you) watched me suffer through in real time. New readers: now’s your chance to blow some dust off these old reviews and discover all the wonderful ways I’ve contradicted myself over the years. More to come this Friday.
As you’ve probably noticed, they’ll be no Friday review this week so that we here at AYTIWS Central might batten down our hatches for a quick trip up the coast. By the time you read this, I’ll most likely be on the road, headed to 
Because there’s no such thing as too much Batman, my superhero expertise and I joined the incomparable Jon X of 
