James Cameron, eat your heart out

I've been a bit skeptical about 3D movies in the past. The effect didn't work at all well for me in Beowulf not all that long ago, but, granted, the technology's come a long way recently, and all the ridiculous hype did at least manage to make me curious.

So we went to see That Big 3D Movie that the web has been recommending so loudly – that we knew was going to have a fairly stock-standard plot, complete with predictable romance with the outsider-guy who had to prove himself a warrior to get the badass-but-still-conventionally-attractive-girl, and all the big themes about harmony in nature and monstrous beasts which suddenly aren't so scary when you take the time to learn about their world, etc. But it looked like it was going to have the visuals to make up for it, between all the crazy monster design and insane dragon-riding sequences and pretty scenery and all the rest. And you know, the visuals really were excellent, and I liked the characters – even the ones those movies don't usually try to make you like – and the plot was not only much better thought out than I'd expected, it even surprised me a couple of times, right up to the inevitable big final battle at the end. So consider me well and truly sold.

Which is to say that we went to see How To Train Your Dragon last night, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. :3

What, you were expecting something else?

Five Reasons Cable & Deadpool Fans (and everyone else) Should Check Out Joe Kelly's Deadpool Run

Started writing this post sometime last year back when I first finished reading the arc, and have finally found time to finish it off. And now I'm probably going to go back and read the whole thing again~

If you've ever read much of the hype about Deadpool around the web, there's a decent chance that you'll have heard Joe Kelly's run on Deadpool's solo series from the 90's being held up as what is widely considered to be THE definitive take on the character. Even Fabian Nicieza – co-creator of the character – has no shortage of praise for Kelly's work. It's not without good reason; Deadpool's early appearances in titles like X-Force and his first two limited series may have set up the idea behind his character, but Kelly was responsible for taking all that and running with it in some truly inpsired and unlikely directions. It took up to about issue eight for the series to reach the first point that really grabbed me, but after that the great moments just kept coming all the way to the end.

If you're like me, and heard about Deadpool mostly thanks to the promise of HoYay galore in the later Cable & Deadpool series, then you may not have as much interest in reading about his solo adventures. If you know him only through his recent appearances and Wolverine-level overexposure (I have recently seen even people on websites devoted to Deadpool groaning at the thought of him appearing in yet another title), you may well be sick of hearing about him. Honestly, I couldn't blame you for either. But if I can convince you it's still worth checking out his earlier years – long before the days of unusual team-ups and rare Deadpool variant covers – then I present you with, in no particular order, five very good reasons why the first 33 issues of his solo series are well worth checking out.

( 1. Awesome female characters )

( 2. Deadpool gets to have friends )

( 3. Contains Cable & Deadpool issue 0 )

( 4. Oh yeah, they went there )

( 5. The woobieness factor )