It’s All Geek To Me — Kicking Back with Kick-Ass
Just before sitting down to write this week’s column I had to make sure to lock up all my samurai swords and throw away the key, lest I should commit a good ol’ case of hara-kiri upon learning that presales of Sex and the City 2 tickets are doing better business than Kick-Ass did on its opening weekend. Add to that the fact that Kick-Ass’ box office also barely beat out How To Train Your Dragon, a film that had been out for three frakkin’ weeks, and you get a sense of what kind of niche market we really are.
To be fair, Dragon was a lot of fun. But really, Sex and the City? Where were all these female movie-goers this weekend? Don’t you know there’s no more potent example of empowerment than an 11 year-old girl in a purple shock wig slicing limbs and cursing like a Mamet character with Tourette’s?
But I digress.
This news only underscores the importance of supporting movies like Kick-Ass in the theater. I believe that within ten years we might see a new delivery model for film involving the internet that would drastically reduce costs by cutting out the middlemen that are Hollywood studios and distributors. But until then, the people with the money to bring Kick-Ass to your local whatever-plex are looking especially hard at what happens on opening weekends. So if we want more quality geek entertainment in the future we have to be there at that crucial time period to vote with our dollars.
Yes, I did see it this weekend, and yes, it rocked. It’s kind of the cinematic equivalent of Michelangelo’s David if it were built out of Jenga pieces. There are so many disparate elements to it that if removed and examined individually would collapse the entire structure. It shouldn’t work. It’s supposed to satirize and subvert superhero movies, but it ultimately becomes one. Kick-Ass himself gets soundly upstaged by the supporting cast. There are some drastic differences from the comic that detract from the pathos we could feel for several of the characters. But none of that matters, because somehow it all comes together spectacularly well.
This weekend also saw the much-hyped return of one of the longest-running characters in the history of television, Doctor Who. Seriously, was there anything glossy that came out in the last two months that didn’t have an ad for this premiere?
I remember seeing the old Tom Baker episodes of Who in syndication on Saturday mornings when I was a kid, and I think the rubbery, low-tech goofiness of it only enhanced its appeal to burgeoning young sci-fi fans like myself. The new iteration started by Russell T. Davies in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor quickly became one of my favorite un-guilty pleasures. Then David Tennant took on the mantle of the last Time Lord and things only got better. Tennant’s run over the next few years became legendary, even earning him the title of “Best Doctor Ever” in a poll of the show’s official fan magazine’s readers (he was the tenth actor to take on the role).
So now, the youngest actor ever to play the part steps up to the plate in the form of the rumpled and decidedly nerdy/cool Matt Smith. I think he nailed it. His comedic timing was spot-on, and he rose to the task of the manically impish time traveler with charisma and aplomb. At the moment, his character is still kind of a shadow of Tennant’s interpretation, but that’s appropriate, given that he’s only just regenerated. I’m sure Smith and new show runner Steven Moffat will develop more distinctive tics as they move forward (or is it backward?). Despite the show’s long history, this season is being tailored for new viewers, so it works well as a great jumping-on point for those who are still curious.
Finally this week, I want to give a shout-out to Yuuji Urushihara, the most recent winner of Japanese game show/athletic competition, Sasuke, known here in the U.S. as Ninja Warrior. Sasuke is basically a grueling four-stage obstacle course that only three contestants have ever completed in its 13-year history. Most Japanese game shows are just too damn weird for my taste, but this one has the appeal of mind-boggling athleticism combined with the schadenfreude of watching idiots fall down into cold muddy water. It’s a big deal in Japan, and it airs here on cable channel G4 a few months after the competitions, which happen 2 or 3 times a year. Check it out the next time it swings around, and if you don’t go “Oh, shit!” at least three times, I will eat my shurikens.
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