New York Comic Con

Finished browsing through the news avalanche from the NYCC on Newsarama, CBR, etc. and adaptations into movies and games were the most interesting stories. Marvel and DC are all about the big events right now, but more teases aren't really changing reading plans for me personally. Secret Invasion and Batman: RIP are reads (for now), Trinity will get a look for the Bagley art, and Final Crisis is a pass unless word of mouth changes my mind (dropped the last Crisis pretty early on).

The last couple events that I followed start to finish were rough. Civil War was worth it for the McNiven art covering for an okay story. Then I and plenty others were burned by Spider-Man: One More Day with nice pencils by Quesada but the story itself acting as a good jumping off point. Since then Amazing Spider-Man has become a title I check for the occasional penciller of interest, but the stories don't grab me.

The most interesting developments in the last few days were the announcement of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows for every gaming system (but c'mon, you want it for a current gen system) along with movie news. I missed the last movie game, but Ultimate Spider-Man is still one of my favorite comic games. The WoS trailer was pretty wild with Spider-Man looking to be in the middle of a big Marvel universe event instead of the solo tale these kinds of games are usually set in.

On the movie front are a bunch of descriptions of new trailers and/or scenes that aren't online yet for The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and The Dark Knight. Not that I mind being unable to view them yet, since anymore I'm simply ready to see the movies and avoid being spoiled. The summer blockbuster season has already lined up around half a dozen films I want to see or am at least considering. Can't wait!

Leatherheads

This film turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Going in, it seemed as though George Clooney was simply seeking out a project with a return to the feel of his work in the hilarious O Brother, Where Art Thou? Actors Stephen Root and Wayne Duvall even rejoin him with small roles, but Leatherheads ends up standing on its own as something unusual. It never reaches the level of O Brother (probably my favorite all time comedy), while still managing to be more than a pale imitator. I didn't bust out laughing constantly, but Leatherheads is a fun watch with fine performances carrying the film along. Being a football fan (as I am) helps slightly to add to the enjoyment, however Clooney, John Krasinski, Renee Zellweger and excellent support from the small roles are what make this one work.

Clooney did a fine job capturing the 1920's romantic comedy charm with that era's pro football being the focus of the setting, but there are also scenes set in a newspaper office, a speakeasy, etc. The convenient thing about those old leather helmets is that we also get great looks at everyone's faces without that pesky face mask. Period films may not be for everyone, although how someone won't watch one once in a while amazes me.

Leatherheads isn't bogged down as strictly being for sports film fans or for romantic comedy goers. The latter genre is usually not on my radar but worked well here with the three leads playing off each other nicely. Even as a football fan, plenty of sports movies turn me off by being predictable and/or overly sentimental. Leatherheads avoids that by focusing on the fun characters and romantic comedy take instead of doing the cliche "coach handing down life lessons" story.