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My co-writer blogs for Amoeba Music! Movie reviews of Dust Devil, Bloodsport, Morgan!, and Herzog's latest!
Gillian Horvat, co-writer of the GILLIAN'S HEART comic with me, recently began to write movie reviews for the 
AMOEBA MUSIC Blog.
What's Amoeba Music? Simply the biggest independent music and DVD retail seller in the nation, and by far the "hippest" (certainly it's the most liked and renowned).
Here's her latest:
WERNER HERZOG'S ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
It’s an uncontestable fact that Werner Herzog is the greatest living director. His latest documentary Encounters at the End of the World may not be as cathartic or controversial as his dramatic features, but it validates Herzog’s ability to personalize every film that he directs with the creation of hypnotic, surreal images, images that despite their otherworldliness symbolize a litany of urgent, undeniable truths. The most famous of these are the 360-ton steamship being pulled over a hill in the Amazon rainforest in Fitzcarraldo, as well as the dancing chicken and interminable ski-lift ride in the finale of Stroszek. People who have seen multiple Herzog films walk away with images they hold personally to them, like amulets; for me it’s Kaspar Hauser standing immobile in the village square clutching a letter that he can’t read. Only a director like Herzog could go to edge of the planet and make a film that is idiosyncratic. READ THE FULL REVIEW
BLOODSPORT
There are some who would say that Bloodsport was the film Ingmar Bergman intended to make when he directed Wild Strawberries. And to be perfectly serious Bloodsport is the better film.
When Frank Dux’s childhood friend and the son of his martial arts mentor is killed in a Kumite, a bloody underground mixed martial arts championship, Dux (Jean-Claude van Damme) goes AWOL from his army post to travel to Hong Kong to compete in the next Kumite and avenge his fallen friend’s honor. Hot on his trail, two military agents (one played by Forest Whitaker) follow him to protect the army’s investment in Dux’s amazing martial arts talents. With the help of a wrestler with a huge forehead (Donald Gibb from Revenge of the Nerds) also competing in the tournament and a plucky and attractive female journalist, Dux enters the brutal Kumite and displays his excellent fighting skills. But can he beat the man-killing, pec-flexing Chong Li or will he end up like his boyhood buddy? READ THE FULL REVIEW
DUST DEVIL: THE FINAL CUT
Dust Devil has suffered from a bad reputation ever since Harvey and somebody Weinstein eviscerated Richard Stanley’s cut of the film from 108 minutes to 87 for its ill-fated theatrical release. Stanley’s previous feature was the cult hit Hardware, which was noted for having made back its micro budget many times over as a video store hit. Why the Weinsteins chose to lop off 20 minutes and remove all the sense from the film is a bit of a mystery. Hopefully, Dust Devil: The Final Cut will redeem the film in the eyes of those who had seen it previously and introduce this gem to a new generation of horror fans.
Set in an arid, remote region of South Africa, Dust Devil follows an enigmatic serial killer (Robert John Burke), half man-half demon who follows the lonely highway, making love to and then killing depressed women. The killer uses ritual magic, attempting through his murders to transcend the earthly plane so he can return to the spiritual world.... READ WHY THIS IS A CULT CLASSIC THAT DESERVES ITS REP!
MORGAN!: A SUITABLE CASE FOR TREATMENT
I volunteer, in an unofficial capacity, that David Warner could play with intelligence and wit any part offered to him. Misogynistic art film buffs will fondly remember his uncredited role in Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs, 80s comedy fans know him best as vampire hunting Professor McCarthy in My Best Friend is a Vampire, and a certain blog writer can’t choose between his best performances, as Evil Genius in Time Bandits and Jack the Ripper in Time after Time. Warner’s rugged, sculpted features and his Royal Shakespeare Company training have made him one of the most versatile and charismatic film actors, on par with other distinctive, powerful talents like Stephen Rea and Harvey Keitel. Warner gives his leading man performance in Morgan! with such ease and virtuosity, it’s incredible that he’s so often been relegated to smaller roles. His is a rather unlikeable character: a juvenile underproductive artist with a complex involving gorillas and Communism, financially supported by his soon to be ex-wife. Vanessa Redgrave does a lot with a thin role as his rich, unappreciated spouse who has transferred her affections to Morgan’s oleaginous art dealer. Already suffering from (or in Morgan’s case thoroughly enjoying) delusions and fantasies, his wife’s ambivalent reaction to his attempts to win her back makes him lose his grasp of reality. READ WHY DAVID WARNER IS A MAN AMONG MEN
First Gillian's Heart Pin-up by Jason Copland (Perhapanauts)
So I ordered JASON COPLAND's convention sketchbook a few weeks back. This is a guy who was just plucked up to illustrate covers and back-up stories in Image's PERHAPANAUTS ongoing. The sketchbook is a beaut, but even better, Jason offered to draw anything I wanted in the book's inner back cover, and I opted for a sketch of none other than GILLIAN and her arch-nemesis MR. RIGHT!!!
Here's the masterpiece:
Thanks for the pin-up, Jason! And everyone: be on the look out for Jason's BRAIDS OF THE GORGON, coming soon!
A complete Waste of Time...NOT!!!
The soon to be super-star artist behind our Nuts and Mr. Right character designs, plus my and Gillian's upcoming 8-page short "The Right that One Can Do" for the HOPE ANTHOLOGY by Ronin Studios and The HERO Initiative, the one and only RICK WORLEY, has his
VERY FIRST COMIC BOOK FOR SALE AT THE APE CON IN SAN FRAN THIS NOVEMBER 1ST-2ND!!!!
Look at this beauty:
This shit is FUNNY. And its sadly too true, too. Weep, chuckle, chortle, pray to god in thanks that you have a better life than Rick's. That's the experience of reading his strips. That's a comPLETE Waste of Time...not. This book will rock.
GO TO RICK WORLEY'S PAGE! --Dave B.
Gillian's Heart - It's Mr. Right!!! Sketch
In preparation of the second "Gillian's Heart" short story - this one to be published in the HERO Initiative and Ronin Studios' HOPE ANTHOLOGY coming in 2009 - our wonderful artist Rick Worley worked up a rough sketch of the character who'll star in this second short, the man who acts as Gillian's nemesis:
The Libertarian Anti-Hero MR. RIGHT!!!
Don'cha love it? In Rick's own words:
"Well, hm. Maybe a bit of explanation. First, I'll start with a disclaimer and say that I know the picture isn't perfect, but it's meant to give the idea. He looks kind of thicker than I'd like, but it's hard to put the muscular Superhero physique underneath a coat like that. I think that when I draw him again I'll be able to find a better balance. The coat is based on different references I found of German World War II soldiers. The goggles are meant to look something like aviator goggles from a similar time frame. This might make a little more sense if I showed you a picture of my idea for Mr. Right's older costume..." [Note from Dave: Mr. Right is planned to have a more spandex-y costume from his true-blue superhero days, before he parted ways with the other heroes who he found compromised by government interests, whereafter he himself became what you see here in the sketch - a militant guerrilla maverick!] "...but I haven't finished one yet, and I want to send you stuff as I do it. More or less.
"My idea for his older costume, in part, is to make it a more traditional superhero costume, but with similar goggles, except that the goggles will be more explicitly based on American WWII combat pilots. His newer costume, by contrast, should have goggles that are rounder and slightly creepy. I'm thinking of having the older costume without the coat, but with a similar collar, possibly a little like one of those older incarnations of Nightwing. The idea, of course, is to have more of an All-American look in the beginning, and then progress to something that draws, I hope subtly, on imagery associated with fascist armies. The earlier costume could have some sort of wing insignia on the chest that would be in reference to both the fact that in his dreams he can fly and, of course, an American bald eagle. The newer costume, though you can't see it in the drawing I'm sending, should have a more subtle, industrial wing insignia on the belt that's similar to what he used to have on his chest, only with sharper angles and a shape that just slightly might recall Nazi symbols.
"I like the idea of the belt on the new outfit having several large, almost cumbersome, pouches, because you talk about all of the gadgets he has come to use. This would be in contrast with an older costume where he has very few gadgets or pouches and relies much more on his hands. I think it would symbolize, too, him becoming weighed down by what he's taking on himself. I kind of like the newer costume being bulkier for these reasons. I think the goggles might turn out to work well for some of your ideas in the script, because I noticed at least one occasion where you mentioned something might be reflected in his eyes, and that would be easier to do with the goggles, and might look good, as well, if I do it right. Anyway, I think that's probably a good start at explaining my thinking on this costume and what I'd like to do with the other version."
So there ya have it, folks - an artist with BRAINS, eh? Yay! Forgive me when I say: our Mr. Right short is going to be one memorable damn story :) --Dave B.
Gillian's Heart - The Comic Doth Cometh
All right! Now the blog is lookin' real purdy with that Oggi template. Since I don't (yet) own any actual good solid image software like Photoshop, I had to watermark an image and put it back into the template to make that sub-heading line of the blog, and that's why THAT'S kinda blurry-lookin', but other than that, I'm pretty happy now. I'll keep adding knick-knacks and paddywhacks to the sidebar, but otherwise we're up and running, babes.
Now onto the main point: the image at the top of this blog is a scene from my first published comic work (coming soon!) called "GILLIAN'S HEART", about a gal who's potentially as powerful as Superman, but only if she's in the throes of the truest of true love! Any faltering, and she gets weak, all the way down to no love = no powers. Two 8-page shorts are coming with a mini-series to follow, plus one other pretty major development I'll announce once it's underway.
Here's a sneak peek at the b&w title page of the first short, drawn by Cal Slayton:
And here's another image of Gillian's supporting sidekick, drawn by the artist of the second short story, Rick Worley:
I'm super excited about all this. Lots more news to come, albeit likely slowly, at least for a while. Soon, though, expect a shitstorm of good comics to hit your internet hometown ;) --Dave B.