rundowns

i've been consuming a lot the past couple weeks. a quick rundown:

the host --
not quite as good as i'd been led to believe, but still a lot of great moments (i never really know if foreign movies are good or not; often i feel like subtle things are either lost in translation, or that the narrative just plays out differently in its native culture). some scenes went on way too long (all the shit when the family's in the hospital seems like they're trying to figure out how the movie's supposed to go while filming), but the basic stuff the movie was made of -- the fucked up family, the love despite it all, the awesome fucking monster -- was great. well worth supporting, and if a decent director gets a shot at the american remake it should be awesome.

godland: another sunny delight TPB --
if i knew how to type that o-with-a-line-through-it thing i would, but i can't. this makes me feel like a failure, as a teacher and as a man. sigh. regardless, i've managed to get both the godland trades used for super cheap and i have to say that although i like them, i don't think i like them enough to pay full-price. the art, as anyone reading this would know, is good-ish jack kirby styled (although i could do without some of the cartoonier aspects of scioli's stuff), and is the selling point for a lot of folks. but for my money the dialog is where it's at: joe casey's writing reads like it was ridiculously fun to write, which is my favorite thing in writing. the ideas don't let up, and although the main character's kind of a pussy (i know he's learning as he goes, but he never actually does anything right), the characterization isn't too shabby either. i deem this a good read for when i come home drunk and want to stare at something before i fall asleep/good hangover reading material.

starman: sins of the father/starman: night and day TPB:
this comic's amazing because: a) its run started in '94, a dark time for comics in general due to the overarching theory that spandex and FUCKING retarded superheroes drooling and fighting made for good comics, and b) it ran for something like, what, 80 issues? that's fucking awesome, especially for a comic whose main character actively avoided costumes and only was a superhero after being kind of forced into it. even then he only did it part-time, when he wasn't running his vintage store.
my review of starman is this: a superhero comic written by neil gaiman that wasn't actually written by neil gaiman. i deem it: something to read when i have time to sit and actually digest it and enjoy it (a.k.a. a rarity). although the trent reznor vibe of the main character is kind of freaky -- he is a very, very good summation of mid-90's dude (the tattoos, the haircut, the vintage clothes thing, the boots; i keep looking for the front 242 record in his collection) and it makes me feel like i'm in high school again, which isn't really the best possible result of reading a comic.

battles, mirrored:
fact: ian williams, the insanely good, weight-carrying guitar player from don caballero's american don days, and the kinda-superstar of battles, makes me so jealous of his melodic and rhythmic sense that it makes my balls hurt. fact: battles' last couple records, B ep and ep C, were both totally underwhelming, with a couple tiny exceptions, especially considering the other band members included john stanier from helmet on drums, tyondai braxton on weird avant garde jazz blips and bleep noises, and some other dude doing everything else. fact: it should have been an amazing group, but it wasn't. fact: the new battles record is fucking amazing. BALLS-HURTING amazing.
x-factor #17 --
peter david rules, but for some reason i've not been able to reread this issue. i think i'm getting too old to buy comics as they come out; all i can think of when i pick up an issue of 52 is how much i'd rather read it in the trade all at once. i'm a dick that way. i have faith that this x-factor arc will pay off, but waiting is not my strong suit.