Some thoughts on genre

Every so often, someone complains that comic books are dominated by superheroes instead of, say, a comic book about cops or doctors. Because God knows there aren't enough stories about cops or doctors out there. What Garth Ennis they fail to realize is that the medium is uniquely suited to comics. The bright, distinctive costumes easily set the characters apart and the pictures are able to depict any action the creator wishes without straining a budget. By contrast, look at TV shows that try to depict the same thing. Both Heroes and Smallville didn't take long to start sucking out loud.

And while we're all tired of cops, doctors, and lawyers, procedurals and sitcoms are uniquely suited to the medium of television. Meanwhile, it occurs to me that horror is uniquely unsuited to TV, since the viewer knows that the entire cast is usually going to show up for the next episode alive and well, and most horror relies on the worry that the cast will die. Sure, Buffy and Supernatural (maybe even Doctor Who) are exceptions, but they're more adventure shows anyway. The question isn't "will our guys survive?" as "will our guys triumph?"

So, what genre is uniquely suited to movies?

A really belated True Blood recap

( Spoilers. )

Movie review: Salt

So I snuck out of Inception after the Michael Caine scene and into Salt (that's what you get for hiring SIR MICHAEL CAINE and giving him five minutes of screentime. Still, I wanted to support smart cinema over The Bourne Identity: Tits Edition). And I don't regret any facet of the operation. It's worth a look, because Angelina Jolie beating people up, but probably not in theaters.

( It also has, by far, the most ridiculous plot of any movie this year. And remember, a Twilight movie came out this year. )

Maybe they should call it "Fast X Furious"

So in the next Fast And The Furious movie, they've cast the Rock as the cop who's on Vin Diesel's ass/in his grille. I guess that was the only way they could replace the testosterone lost by killing off Michelle Rodriguez.