Superman: Red Son

September 12, 2012 By 3 Comments

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What it is: It’s everyone’s favorite, (if you’re boring), super hero, Superman! Sent from space as a babe to us to fight for truth, justice, and long breadlines. Mark Millar writes this 180-spin on the man of steel as the common man’s crusader. Landing 12 hours behind the schedule of his original storyline causes him to crash on a farm in the Ukraine. No more apple pie and baseball for our beloved hero as he grows up to become the savior of the collective, the red hammer and sickle blazing across his chest.

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Why I dig it: It’s a highly creative story and one of my latest favored graphic stories. Mark Millar, of Kick-Ass fame, was truly struck by genius with this premise and translated the idea seamlessly to print with wonderful imagination while at the same time remaining very loyal to the original mythos of the Superman universe, (minus the whole communism thing, but you picked up on that, right?). The story features a very real Superman who is still very recognizable and relatable even when doused in red. He is still a hero through and through, only wanting to help people, Soviets and Americans alike. And since he’s faster that a Soviet court hearing, more powerful then vodka, and able to leap the Kremlin in a single bound, he is perfectly capable of doing so. The author also keeps it interesting by not repackaging the “capitalism=good, communism=bad” mantra that we in the 21st century find particularly tiresome, but instead focuses on the people within these institutions and how they themselves effect the systems of society. In addition to all of this we are treated to a wide cast of characters from the DC Universe who have gotten their very own reimagining, fitting nicely into the storyline. Possibly the biggest show-stealer is the Batman who is now an anarchist terrorist after his parents are gunned down by KGB. He bombs multiple buildings in one night and dodges KGB in the streets and alleys, sets up elaborate traps, ironically acting out very close to the Joker or even Bane in the Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight, the scourge of Superman and his new collective state.

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We are even given a showdown between this Batman and red Superman, something all of us DC junkies have been clamoring for, and it goes down deliciously as Batman nearly even defeats Superman. The rest of the cast is just about as interesting; Green Lantern as a retired airman gifted with alien powers, Bizarro as a genetic clone of Superman constructed by the American government as a counter measure to the Soviet’s Superman weapon, (General Turgidson would approve), Brainiac is still a crazed alien robot but is reprogrammed to aid Superman after his defeat. The most shocking of these reimagings however, is that of Lex Luther as he has hair, hair for Christ’s sake!

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He is also married to Louis Lane, now Louis Luther. Luther is an American scientist repeatedly hired by his government to destroy Superman and takes to the task with much devotion after Superman defeats him in a game of chess. He eventually becomes president of the United States, further pitting him at odds with the man of steel, who himself is now General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Yes, it’s all quite exciting and fun until someone loses their humanity but I would, in a move unprecedented here at Power Cords, offer some critique of this piece of entertainment. What I will say is that plot points and conflicts are very brief and at times the story feel rushed. A fight between Superman and Bizarro not lasting much longer than a few panels. This left me wanting more, unsatisfied at some points. Much of what occurs within the plot goes unsaid as well, making the reader have to fill in the gaps based off of what the characters say. Now I’m all for audience involvement but some plot points could have been flushed out and would have added greatly to the graphic novel. At a mere 68 pages, it is certainly not a strain on one’s reading abilities. Therefore I believe the author could have taken more time and pages to really give us a tale worthy of fandom.
I know, now there’s all these negative waves coming out of your computer screen but I could not risk my integrity as man who’s website you’ve just StumbleUponed and had to give you the full story. Ultimately the piece comes together to give us a good read and I suggest you take it.

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The Children of Men

September 1, 2012 By 5 Comments


We are late to the party with this review of a truly under appreciated sci-fi that we regret not formally placing on our original release of Power Cord’s Top 10 Sci-fi flixs ever. Graeme Dyehouse now hopes to rectify this with his latest article.

What it is: The year is 2027 and there has not been a single human child born on planet Earth since 2009. If that sentence alone did not send shivers down your spine then you have not thought long enough about the implications of such a scenario because I refuse to accept that I may be that much of an ineffectual writer. Alfonso Cuarón brought P. D. James’ book of the same name to the silver screen back in 2006 and it has stood as a fantastic film in its own right but may also be one of the greatest of the science-fiction genre. We begin with Theo Feron, a immigration official with the British government, the last functional government remaining since other countries have fallen into chaos as global infertility slowly unravels civilized society. Refugees flood the country, causing the government to institute Draconian immigration laws to keep the rest of the world out of England. In response, a radical group of these refugees have taken to fight said government IRA style: bombing cafés, underground smuggling, and general terrorism.

The scene is one of utter hopelessness and chaos and then Theo is kiddnapped by these refugees who demand he acquire passports for a teenage girl from Africa on their behalf. Why are terrorists helping out a teenage girl? That would be because she is pregnant.


Why I dig it: The true essence of any work of science-fiction is simply the question, “what if..?”, which is then suppose to divorce the piece of any semblance to our own reality where we currently exist. Usually putting the story in a future in which technology has completely warped human existence beyond immediate recognition does this. Through this lens is when a good science-fiction filters out much of everything else we understand, leaving us with pure human emotion, rationale, and feeling. This phenomenon is precisely what occurs in Children of Men. Sure the big movie trope is a quiet every day man suddenly has to be a big hero and save the day, but the vehicle in which it is carried is so fascinating and yet so simple, you can finally see a great story in action.

As mentioned, the film starts us off with a pretty gloomy introduction, and continues to do so. Right from the get-go we are more or less resigned to the idea that things are hopeless. Personally I feel that this film has its place in the tragedy genre as well. However the characters are what truly keep things light, they have a weary hope about them that keeps you rooting for them up until the tragic end. Certainly the end is by no means ideal but if I could interject my personal feelings once more; too many happy endings make too many optimists. The theme of hope runs continuously through the film, making the realities around the characters a stark contrast and therefore much more dramatic. But you enjoy it; it’s very subtle. Michael Caine has a particularly delightful role as an ex-journalist who now grows marijuana in his hideaway home in the forest outside of town.

To perservere in the face of all odds is most certainly an inspirational facet of our species and this film displays this most fantastically, earning its place as one of my favorite science-fiction films

Filed Under: Movies/Television, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Guest Blog: Breaking Bad Review

August 9, 2012 By 3 Comments

Graeme is back again for a late to the party review of the AMC hit, Breaking Bad. Not only does he review the show but discusses just exactly how Bryan Cranston’s character Walter White breaks bad. 

While a little late to the party I’m sure, Power Cords has allowed me to take a stab at television’s most watched, Breaking Bad and I am honored as it is, along with many others on the planet, possibly my most favored of shows. Yes, there will be a recap of the first episode of the new season but my hope is that our readership will appreciate the in-depth analysis and review of this most-watched series. This unique insight is what we at Power Cords like to bring to our audience.

What it is: Walter White is a mild-mannered high school physics teacher and is played by Bryan Cranston. White is portrayed much akin to Cranston’s former role as Hal from Malcolm in the Middle with less bumbling idiot and more cancer. Yes, Walter White gets cancer and is under crippling debt with his wife, Skyler White, due with a second child soon and his son afflicted with cerebral palsy. What’s a man in his position to do? Make crystal meth of course. We learn Walter is in fact quite a capable scientist, developing Nobel Prize winning work in his former years and after a time, falling from grace. Now stuck with his circumstances, he uses his knowledge of chemistry to manufacture the purest methamphetamine the world has ever seen. He does so with the help of a former student-turned-drug dealer Jesse Pinkman, and the two have hilarious misadventures whilst cooking crystal meth.

Why I dig it: Except there is nothing hilarious about it. Breaking Bad is dark and twisted and Bryan Cranston does a phenomenal portrayal of the character, Walter White. With several awards for his performance it is easy to claim so and I believe Bryan Cranston is possibly the best actor you’ll find on T.V. today. That alone should get you hooked but luckily for the addict in all of us the show has so much more to offer.

As the title may suggest, Breaking Bad can be boiled down to what exactly constitutes ‘bad’. Any freshman who’s had a philosophy class will go Nietzschean on you and dole out slogans on what an abstract concept the word ‘bad’ is but with Breaking Bad you can observe this happening in real time. Walter is inherently a good person, regardless of how you believe a human becomes good; we meet him as a nice, downtrodden old man with a big heart and even bigger love for his family. Walter has been given a raw deal in life, and again, however you believe a person comes to have these circumstances effect their lives, they stand as burdens on a man who wants nothing but good for his family. This introduction of the character lends our hearts to pity him, with the cancer diagnosis really tugging at our heartstrings. Then we watch him transform. The transformation is gradual, and along the way he does many terrible things; murder, drug trafficking, etc. but the beginning of the series shows us that he does these things for his families well being. This calls into question what it is to be ‘bad’; is it a man’s intentions, actions, or thoughts that make him ‘bad’? The answer is convoluted and the unfolding of the series beautifully illustrates this moral question.

What we see in the first few seasons is Walter breaking into the drug business. As I am sure most of us could easily guess, the drug business is not at all a nice one. So here we have our good man, Walter White, getting mixed in with the wretched, horrible world of drug trafficking. We see Walter become involved with a series of evil people too caught up in the business. They are violent, sociopathic, and lend themselves to arrogance. Much of the terrible things Walter does within the series is purely reactionary, a detail I feel most miss out on. [SPOILER ALERT] Walter kills Krazy-8 because 8 threatens to kill him and his family. All the dealers and suppliers Walter encounters fall to Walter after threatening him and his family [END OF SPOILERS].

Walter has one mission: make as much money as he can with what time he has left but a myriad of obstacles get in his way. These are mostly people trying to screw him over, murder him, steal, etc. and he will not tolerate it. Hell, the whole reason Walter enters the drug business is a reaction to his life’s circumstances. Perhaps it can be argued that outer forces drive people to become ‘bad’, as it is clearly the case of Walter White. Make no mistake, Walter breaks bad, real bad. Terrorism, arson, pre-meditated murder, all these things Walter commits in the name of his business and what we can see now, with the beginning of the fifth season, is that Walter is no longer the good man we were introduced to. Slowly up until now we’ve seen flashes of a cold, calculating man but now he is nothing but, hollowed out by the atrocities he has committed, jaded by the destruction he has wrought. It was his intention to never kill or hurt or anything otherwise but he has seen what happens to people, what extremes people force him to that has caused him to become remorseless.

Inherently what Walter has done is unforgivable. The manufacture of drugs is something no sane person would condone and yet we love to watch. Much the same occurs when we watch Dexter, as our protagonist carves his way through humanity and yet we can’t help but adore them. Ultimately this is what attracts us to the show, and has catapulted its themes and message into our conscience.

Filed Under: Movies/Television, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Guest Blog: The Newsroom Review

July 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

Mr. Graeme Dyehouse

Sunday, June 5, 2012 was the premier of the fourth episode of HBO’s The Newsroom and we’ve been hearing a lot about it, ironically, from the news media itself. What I’ve come across is a lot of negativity towards the show. Everything from the general premise, the plot devices, and the writing; all held in contempt by reviewers and media persons alike. A television series about the news, in critique of the news media, can certainly be expected to catch a certain amount of flak from aforementioned news media. I am not surprised but I do still believe that we must draw attention to what we can constructively learn from the series, that it does indeed have merit, and that that merit is based on the message the series broadcasts to its viewers.

What it is: Jeff Daniels stars as Will McAvoy, the anchor of a fictional cable news show. The series begins with Mackenzie MacHale starts as the new executive producer on Will’s network, and institutes a new way of doing news with facts, straight, to the point.                    

John Gallagher Jr., Alison Phil, and Dev Patel join them as supporting staff in the newsroom. Dev Patel making a mind-bending 180 from his former role on Skins. Olivia Munn also appears as Sloan Sabbith, a co-anchor and she is much more enticing playing office politics in dress suits than she ever was pretending to really like videogames.

 

 Together this crew of newsmen and women work to undo what their industry has become; a bloated, ineffective entertainment outlet and it makes for good T.V.

Why I dig it: I wanted to point to a particular review I read in which the author, Michael Wolff, wrote in the role of fact-checker, pointing out the various flaws within the story line of the show’s first episode, which centered around the break in the BP oil spill story. Would I be naïve to question the purpose of an assessment of the truthfulness of a historical fiction piece? I missed the point. The purpose of The Newsroom is to make a statement; to draw attention to the cracks within modern journalism and doing so through our very own world events. The creators of a dramatic television show are allowed some creative license and it should not be the cause of detraction from the show’s following. The Newsroom walks a line between its message and its medium. Nit-picking the facts of the show does not make these issues go away, but if your in Mr. Wolff’s camp here are some facts for you: modern news media is lousy with salacious reporting. It is by and large ineffectual, sensationalist, and generally fails to properly inform the public, (I am specifically thinking of the media’s coverage of politicians and their antics rather than their philosophies). The show brings these issues into focus and will continue to do so as the season progresses.

 

Next I challenge Mark Lashley, who writes for that rag we’ve all been duped into calling news, The Huffington Post. Mr. Lashley agrees that the show isn’t that bad, which I should point out. His issue lies with the beginning of the first episode, in which the main character unleashes a diatribe upon college students for assuming America is the greatest country in the world and it makes Mr. Lashley uncomfortable. Here it is in its entirety for your reading pleasure, but I highly recommend watching it at some point, (the performances are spot –on and smart).

“And with a straight face you’re going to tell students that America is so star spangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world that have freedom? Canada has freedom. Japan has freedom. The UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, BELGIUM has freedom.

So, 207 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

And you, sorority girl, just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day there’s some things you should know. One of them is there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, Number 4 in labor force and Number 4 in exports, we lead the world in only three categories: Number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies.

Now none of this is the fault of a 20 year old college student, but you none the less are without a doubt a member of the worst period generation ever, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Yosemite?

It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chests. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men, we aspired to intelligence, we didn’t belittle it, it didn’t make us feel inferior.

We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election and we didn’t scare so easy. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed, by great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. Enough?” 

He describes the monologue as “suspiciously statistic” as if numbers can lie. The reality is that the figures given by Jeff Daniel’s character are correct, and they speak volumes to where America is.

With statistics like that, how can you argue that we are not? What is it? We’ve been the greatest country for so long and we are having a hard time admitting it to ourselves that we may, in fact, not be anymore. The damning monologue should be seen as a wake up call, it should slap you into focus, it should invoke a visceral reaction, and it should make you think. If it does none of those things for you, if you feel insulted, cheated, or outraged you may need to stop and think critically; try arguing with your TV. Like it or not, America is a broken thing that is in dire need of fixing. What the show does is highlight this phenomenon taking place right here, right now. That is why I wanted to bring the show to everyone’s attention. It’s wonderfully done and has a truly powerful message for us. It’s a how that makes us think which is ultimately the real purpose of the entertainment we consume; to transmit thoughts, ideas, and concepts. The Newsroom has something great to offer us and I’d hate for you to miss out on it.

Graeme likes telling you what you like and more of his ramblings can be read on Twitter: @Mad_God

Filed Under: Movies/Television, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,
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