So What If I'm A Fangirl

Comic Con

2008-08-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to update about comic con because it was insane. Too much to do, and so little time to do it in. I went to most of the big television panels, and almost everything Joss Whedon I could get into. It was fantastic. I also go to take a look at the new DCU Online game that they're developing, and holy crap is it awesome. I might even get a PS3 just to play it, but that's years down the line. Basically it's like City of Heroes/Villains mixed with WoW mixed with comic book awesomeness. The NPC's are the major heroes and villains of DC comics, and you get to make your own character with their own type of super powers. As time goes on you develop and can get more powers. You fight big bad's like Lex Luthor and Brainiac and run around Metropolis and Gotham kicking ass. It's pretty much a wet dream for a DC fangirl like me, and I got to run around for fifteen minutes as a speedster. That was fantastic.

The Force Unleashed comes out in a few weeks. My Playstation 2 is busted, as is my X-Box 360, so I'm basically just working on a Wii now which is fine, but it may become more obnoxious when I have no games left to play. Ugh. I don't have the money to replace them, unfortunately.

I saw TDK for the fourth time. It was excellent as always.

Girl Games

2008-08-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's been awhile since I posted, but I'm back to rant about something that drives me f'n crazy.

Girly girl designed games.

Listen, I'll admit I play Cake Mania and like Petz and the Sims and whatever else they like to say is made for girls, and I'm happy to be female. I just would like once and awhile for someone to stop acting like men and women are completely different species. Yes, we're different, but you know what, ALL humans are different from one another. It's not just gender that separates us, but race, age, religion, background, tastes, thoughts, needs, etc. I love gory games. I love shooting the head off some noob with a shotgun at close range, and sneaking around with Snake in MGS. I love Wii sports, DDR, pretty RPG's, and I used to be obsessed with the game Creatures where I got to raise these adorable little monkey things. I have an eclectic taste in things, and I would like to believe that every human being has the right to love more than one kind of genre. So when people are like 'oh let's made a video game about gymnastics or ponies or Hannah Montana because all girls love that' I want to hit them with a fucking truck.

Seriously.

There are girls like that. And news flash, there are BOYS who also like that, although they're not allowed to say so because society would call them gay or weak because of it. The point I'm making is that games do not necessarily have to be for boys or girls, they can be for whoever wants to play them. And yes, I'm sure numbers say that one gender or one age likes a certain thing, and they are constantly trying to get more money by marketing to everyone. I'm all for getting girls to play video games more often, and to believe that it's totally cool to like games and not tom boyish or loserish to love them. Boys are not supposed to like 'sensitive' games, and girls aren't supposed to like 'bloody' games, but you know what, we do. We love to knock the shit out of someone with Sub Zero, and boys occasionally like to make a sweet little Sims family. The gender war will never be over because people and corporations like to encourage it on and on. UGH.

And that's my rant of the night.

Comic Con

2008-07-24T07:54:00.001-07:00

I am heading to Comic Con today and will be there for the weekend. Shall have awesome updates hopefully involving what I see/hear!

The Dark Knight

2008-07-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

There is ... listen, since I saw the movie I have tried to put into words exactly how I felt about it. I do not think I am capable of doing a real review, because if I try to be critical all I end up doing is gushing instead. There is no way I can be unbiased on this subject, because I am a Batman fan ... and this movie was the first thing I've seen which really represented my hero to me. This was Batman, Gotham, the Joker, etc., this movie brought out all the reasons that I love Bruce Wayne and why I think he's the best character in the DC Universe. This is a man that fights darkness and evil on a level that other heroes cannot comprehend. They fight villains on an obviouis level, but what Batman deals with is the corruption and moral ambiguity of every person's soul. Bruce suffers constantly with the fight for his own soul, and walking the edge between the good and the bad has never been more openly terrifying as his every day struggle. It's just ....

The Dark Knight was fantastic. If you have never read a Batman comic, then watch this movie and you will understand. There are decades of history behind Batman, but this will tell you the core of the character and of the world he lives in. He fights in the gutters for the kind of hope that decays and dies with each passing minute. The Gotham Knights are more than just heroes, they represent the best and worst of humanity itself. See, I'm gushing.

The movie is worth seeing -- more than once if you enjoy it. Heath Ledger ... there are no words to say. Yes, he deserves an Oscar. Yes, he stole the movie. Afterwards, I hugged my friend and said "They gave me the Joker I prayed for." This is the character that exists as the anti-thesis to Batman, a creature of chaos where he is a symbol of control, yet they are more alike than different. Just genius on Ledger's part, and honestly, he just lost himself in this role. If they had kept this actor a secret, a la Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects, I never would've guessed it was him.

Aaron Eckhart also stole the show, and this is partly what I was afraid of. The movie isn't just about Batman, it's about the city and the world he lives in, and Harvey Dent is the living metaphor for the tragedy of Gotham City. Eckhart played him gently, sincerely, and perhaps deserves more praise than he is getting. Bale continues to represent my hero with humility, sorrow, and the weight of a world on his back. He does it very well, and again, he too is being overlooked due to the extraordinary performance and hype of Ledger. Still, without everyone in this movie it would've lost a necessary part, so they all deserve praise and recognition.

It's just ... jeez. I'm trying to express it and I can't, so here it is. The Dark Knight is the best comic book movie I've ever seen, and I don't know if anything can ever surpass it. I also don't know if I want anything to ever surpass it so I can always remember how I feel right now and smile.

Go and see it, silly!

The Dark Knight

2008-06-30T06:57:00.001-07:00

The Dark Knight reviews have started coming in, and they're all remarkably positive. You have no idea how exciting this is for me, and I cannot possibly put it into words. Batman is my favorite character of all comics, and possibly I would compare him to some of my literary favorites like Macbeth or Ford Prefect. This movie promises to be dark like nothing else, probably depressing, and that no one wins. I am so excited I might scream.

Hellboy II is also being praised, and I am somewhat happy for that. I have always enjoyed Hellboy, and I really did like the first movie. Having Guillermo del Toro on it ... that man is a bloody genius. I saw him talk at Comic Con in New York. His discussion about CGI was so fascinating and right on that I became a lifelong fan of his. He refused to get lazy about CGI and said that there was nothing more obnoxious than using computer graphics when it is just as easy to make costumes and create something genuine. Love it. He did a fantastic job of that in Pan's Labyrinth, when it used CGI in necessary places but tried to be real in a great deal of others. I respect that.

I saw the Incredible Hulk and was generally amused but not terribly impressed. It was far and above better than the last one, and it was certainly not terrible. Liv Tyler brought down the movie with her dead eyed readings and breathy cluelessness. Ugh. Poor Ed Norton. He did a great job, however, and I did enjoy the film. I wish there would be a bit more reflection on his part ... more introspective commentary I suppose. There is a lot of 'we can't let them get my blood, they'll make more monsters!' He seems tormented, but ... eh. I'm so used to Batman's open dismay and pain that I want to see it more often. I'm a freak.

Wanted came out this week and I look forward to seeing it, but I will not expect Mark Millar's comic. I expect a fun action romp.

I will be doing a 411 for FanLib this week about DC's Crisis on Multiple Earths. And all the other Crisis storylines. It is already driving me crazy, but I will probably be posting a link to it on here since it is so fangirl/geek related.

Until next time, Superman sucks and Batman is a God.

The Spoiler

2008-06-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

Alright, so, Shortpacked the webcomic did a cute little new comic about Batman's recent drama involving Stephanie Brown aka the Spoiler. For those of you who don't know, to quickly sum it up, Stephanie was Robin's girlfriend who Bruce briefly took as a new Robin just to piss Tim off, and then promptly dropped her when Tim wanted to come back. Then she kind of caused a huge dramatic gang war in Gotham and was beaten to a pulp by the Black Mask. She "died" on the table thanks to Leslie, Bruce's surrogate mother figure, thus blackening her good name in the Batman comics.

Upon Stephanie's death, she got a larger fandom than ever before due to the righteous fury of the female readers. Yet again this was a Women in Refrigerators kind of story, where the female is brutally killed in an effort to rile up the male protagonist. Also, Bruce never created a vault in her honor which he did for the other Robin's -- specifically Jason Todd. It was considered ridiculous and hateful and sexist that she was not given the credit of being a Robin and mourned, where Tim grieved longer and more obsessively over his friend Connor than for his girlfriend.

So they brought her back. Apparently Leslie pretended to kill her so she could start over again, mend her wounds, and decide what she wanted out of life. Then she decided she wanted to be a superhero and came back and .....yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn. Listen, I don't like Spoiler. I think she was an average if below average character with little personality. They were constantly trying to set her up with interesting plot points -- Tim won't tell her his name, oh look, his teammates are trying to kill her, unwed teen mother, etc -- but it just never took. Maybe it is because they wrote her horribly, or maybe it is because Stephanie was just a boring character. Whatever the reasons, I didn't care when she died and I didn't care if they never brought her up again.

I could do an entire different rant about bringing dead charactesr back, and I probably will some day when I can do it without foaming at the mouth, but it's endlessly irritating that she's come back due to 'popular demand.' Do I think it was stupid that they used her as just another victim and then ignored her very existence? Yes. Do I think there are other female characters deserving of more time and characterization? Hell yes. Oh whatever. She's back and la di da the world will be a less sexist place because of it. Riiiiight.

Anyway, go to Shortpacked.com for the comic that inspired this eye rolling post. It's funny and true. I actually read the Spoiler and Robin #1. Wasn't as bad as I expected. She's strangely more appealing now, they've infused her with more charm in one comic than she had the entire time before. Well played. We'll see how it goes. Who knows, six months from now I could be like OMG SPOILER IS ACTUALLY A GOOD CHARACTER THAT'S SO AWESOME I'M GLAD SHE IS BACK. Or maybe, like with Jason Todd, I steadily become more and more irritated with her very existence.

DS

2008-06-17T19:30:00.001-07:00

So it's been a few days since I posted last, and that's because I finally got my hands on a Nintendo DS. This is the system I chose in the end, and my Apple flag seems to be flying high these days. I have a blue and black one, and I picked up Sims 2 Pets and Justice League Heroes. Neither are very good games, but I liked them enough to give it a try, and they were easy to learn how to play. The Sims 2 Pets has the classic failing of all Sims games and that means repetition, repetition ... repetition. While the Sims computer game has a wide world to keep your attention at least for a few months, the Pets game can probably only boast a few days. Still, I didn't mind pretending to be a vet for awhile. I'm easily amused like that.

Justice League Heroes I just started up, and I'm already sulking because I know it will be far inferior to the Marvel Unlimited game. DC has had a continued difficulty branching between the comics and other mediums, and this never fails to shock me. I've always been a DC girl at heart, and it is terribly frustrating to see them struggle so often with different geek areas. The game is straight forward and button mashing for the first few levels, and no real story to speak of so far. Sigh.

There are several other games I plan to get though. I want Final Fantasty 3, Mario Kart DS, and possibly the Zelda Phantom game I've heard so much about. The DS system itself pleases me although I heard that the battery charger can get ridiculous after awhile and not last long at all. This has not bothered me yet, so I will concern myself on it later. I hear that Final Fantasy 4 is coming out with 3-D graphics and voice acting. Did you hear that? It's my squeal of delight. When they finally release Final Fantasy 6 with awesome graphics and voice acting ... instant joygasm.

DS or PSP / Technology

2008-06-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

I was faced with a decision between the Nintendo DS or the PSP for my birthday gift this year. This was a serious problem. I sat next to a boy on a plane for six hours who was playing an awesome fighting game on PSP, but once I got a look at the list of PSP games I wasn't overall impressed with the selecton. I was much more fascinated by the various DS options, and it just reminded me why I am slowly becoming a Mac believer. This is not to say that PSP has lost its appeal; in a perfect world I would wish to have both. I have always been a cross-console player. I have a PS2, X-Box 360, and a Wii at the moment. I long for a PS3. Anyway, when it came down to one or the other this time, however, I had to go with the DS. I picked a variety of games on the list, and sent them as options to my family.

The next thing I need is an MP4 converter for my iPod. I do not want to limit myself to just bloody iTune buys! I got an 80 gig iPod for videos, and now I have to figure a way to convert what I already have onto it. No big, I'm sure I can get that done in a few days.

Already I feel like my Macbook is slowly getting old. I can feel computers age. I have not turned on my PC for nearly three months because it is the equivalent of a senior citizen at this point, and it makes noises at me. Will it ever end?

I have enjoyed my second time around Mass Effect. Stay tuned for a conversation about that, and compare it favorably to the game I never got to finish, Lost Odyssey.

Oooo Lost!

2008-05-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

There was just too much to talk about Lost. I did my Starpulse recap which is a little more official, and I intend to do a season review as well, but that's what this blogspot is for. Ranting/gushing/whatever!

So I thought the season finale was fantastic, and possibly my favorite to date. Until now season one really had me, because everything was so new and there was so much insanity going on. I had no idea how far it was going to go. Season two was alright, especially considering the Triangle were captured by the Others and we realized Ben was the leader, but I still didn't see it as punchy as this one. Last season was amazing because of the flash forwards, and although the scenes in between were well written and acted, it still did not hold the intensity of this one.

Two hours of tension and drama. I was on the edge of my seat literally for the entire thing. When the show was on, my eyes were glued and huge, startled by what was going on. I knew some general spoilers about the episode, and it did not matter; I was still startled!

Notable acting: Yunjin Kim's screaming performance. Man did that hurt to watch. Michael Emerson AS ALWAYS bringing his acting to a level no one else can really seem to get to. Henry Ian Cusack. Who doesn't love Desmond?

Notable moments: "Ms Widmore?" (Insert sobbing here!) "So?" "You have to lie about all of it Jack." Sun meeting with Charles Widmore in the future. Christian showing up to Michael (Cooooold). Juliet drinking with a heartbroken look on her face. Charlotte apparently came BACK to the Island. Sawyer being a Big Damn Hero and jumping. Hurley playing chess with Mr. Eko. Sayid being a bad ass on and off the Island. The Others coming to the freaking rescue! WAAAAAAAAAALT!

Meh moments: Big giant frozen wheel. Oooooooookay. Jack. In general. But that's nothing new. Jack and Kate. Any reference to the Triangle That Must Die.

Overall it was the FEEL of this episode that made me so compelled to love it. It was tense, dramatic, tragic, painful, funny at times, and beautiful at times (Pesmond!). I ate up every second of it, and that rarely happens even on this wonderful show. I know that there will be plenty of naysayers who will whine and complain that nothing was answered. There was plenty answered, but you know what, this is LOST. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE WATCHING? Go watch Heroes if you're interested in something cliche and expected that feeds you the answers, okay? Jeez.

Anyway. Loved it. 9 out of 10 for me. I never give anything 10/10. Well maybe the Pesmond moment and Walt's appearance can be the 10/10 moments for me.

Jezebel? Are you serious?

2008-05-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

The red haired bitch currently schtupping Bruce Wayne is named JEZEBEL! WHAT! Ugh. That just sounds like a whore name, and they are trying to make it seem like she is the love of his life. Ugh ugh ugh. Pick up the new Batman if you want to see how Alfred has been lying forever and is an actor, and that Jonathan Wayne might be alive, and Bruce is letting some red haired bitch wander around the batcave and spouting love sonnets at her. Not really on the last but reading their actual dialogue made me gag.

I think I've figured it out. Grant Morrison ... wants me to HATE Batman so I won't care when he retires. That is utter genius. Find a way for me to dislike the comic book that made me love comic books. You're very talented, Mr. Morrison.

I saw a few pages of Final Crisis and ... eh. It kind of seems like a cluster of confusion. I'll be frank with you -- I NEVER really understand these Crisis storylines. I follow them as best as I can and get the general summary idea, but half the time the details are completely lost throughout the muddled ickiness. I love DC. DC is by far my favorite of the two big names, but jeez ... please really MAKE THIS THE FINAL CRISIS! J'onn is dead for those who care. Or don't care. Has he even been doing anything lately?

Catwoman came back last week from that hell planet she was on. She saved Slam because he's a billion years old and still pretends to be a brawler worth his salt. I really wonder how much viagra he had stocked up when they were bed buddies. He asks where Helena is -- that took long enough -- and Selina doesn't know. Because the writers decided the baby storyline really wasn't worth the effort it would take, just like they did in the Black Canary storyline with Sin. They're sooo much safer without super hero parents. It's not like they'll be in a world of death and destruction regardless.

I don't read Marvel anymore or I'm sure I'd have something very snarky to say about them! Screw Quesada! Damn the man, save the Empire!

I am excited to read Fables this week. Vertigo and Dark Horse have been very pleasing lately. Well, they're always pleasant.

Don't let this give you the wrong idea. I'm a fangirl of comics through and through. I love them and learned how to read off of them. I grew up in a comic store. It's not rare for a fan go to through a patch where they hate most of what is being written -- several times if you're a comic fan -- and this is just one of them. It's okay! They'll bring it back! Right?

...riiiiight!

Lost Season Finale

2008-05-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

The season 4 finale is on Thursday, and I am freaking out! I just learn to love this show more and more every episode -- with a few hiccups on Jackface episodes -- and I think this finale will be pretty great. Or it can suck. I guess we'll have to see. Here are a few general questions I have before it starts, though.

1. HOW do the Oceanic 6 get together. Now we saw in the preview that on the helicopter is: Kate, Jack, Hurley, Sayid and Sawyer. I believe Sawyer will somehow be taken off that copter, either by jumping or just not going with them. This means they have to meet up with Sun, who is on the freighter at the moment with Aaron. Why is she the only one on the freighter to be taken? Now the copter is not even how they get safely off the island; the press conference mentioned them finding a raft/boat. Is this the life boat that they've been taking people on and off the Island with? Why are they the ones in it? AHHHH

2. What happens to the people on the freighter? Right now we have Desmond, Michael, Jin and Sun with some red shirts. Daniel has gone back for more red shirts. The freighter is about to explode however ... sooo? What the hell!

3. Is Locke going to move the Island? I'm guessing .... yes.

4. Is Ben totally the awesomest character ever on this show? Absotively.

5. Who is in the @#%#%^$% Coffin?! My money was on Michael for a long time but now I am thinking it will be either Ben or Locke. But why would Locke be off the Island? Did he get off the same way Ben did? agh. I'm sure I'll have many more questions once the finale actually airs.

6. Is Claire dead? I think yes, but they haven't said for sure. Was that the last we'll see of her this season or will she and Poppa Christian show up again?

7. Will Desmond ever get to see his Penny?!

8. What will happen to Keamy and the others? I am going to say now that the Others are going to kick their big military asses. The Others have lived on the Island for who knows how long and have always proven themselves to be incredibly dangerous on their terrain. I cannot imagine that Keamy and his crew ever really could be a threat to the Others. They took Kate and Sayid, so I think they're going to come up to Keamy's crew and annihilate them. ANd Ben will shoot Keamy himself for hurting his little girl. Right on!

9. Why did the Oceanic 6 lie?

10. Who does Sun blame other than her father for Jin? My money is on Saint Jack.

11. Smoke monster explanation? Please? Any time now? Pleeeeeeeease?

Those are just off the top of my head right now, but I'm sure I'll think of more. Season finale! Tomorrow night! AHHHHH!

All I can say is Sawyer better be alive by the beginning of next season or there will be hell to pay!

Indiana Jones 4

2008-05-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

Indiana Jones 4: The Search For More Money! Well it looks like they got what they wanted at the very least, and I say whatever. Hey, people enjoy the Indiana Jones films, and that's what movies are supposed to be about. Entertainment. Not everything has to make you think long and hard.

Yet that is sort of what bothered me about this new movie. One of my favorite things about Indiana Jones was his intelligence. This is a manly man that brawls and kicks butt, but he is also a professor! He teaches, he learns, he studies, and he can spout out more historical jargon than any action hero I've ever seen. It was always fascinating to me. I was attracted to his mind far more than his attitude, although that sort of rough and tumble wry sense of humor was charming as well. I feel that this movie left out a little more of the intellectual depth in favor of special effects and action. I wanted more from the movie than something like National Treasure, you know?

Overall though, it was definitely a ride I don't regret taking. Harrison Ford looks old and that only serves to make me wonder why I'm attracted to a man my grandfather's age. Shia LaBouef or whoever you say/spell his name was alright. I was afraid he'd ruin the movie, but instead he was quite sweet and funny. I have no interest in seeing a movie with him as the sole hero as the new Indiana Jones, mind you, because I think the series should start and end with Harrison Ford alone.

Cate Blanchett was strange as the villainous Russian woman who wanted to be psychic. She looked lovely in a creepy cold way, but that is another thing that's always slowed me down about Indiana Jones. My favorite kinds of villains are those that are nearly as interesting as the hero, if not more so. Take Hannibal Lecter or Benjamin Linus for example: Here are two villains that are evil and do horrible things, and yet you can't take your eyes off them. You don't want them to die; you'd rather see them continue to shock you. Indiana Jones has always been kind of cheesy with the villains, but again, that's a small comment and it's not exactly like the movies try to be THE BEST SERIES EVER OF ALL TIME. It's fun. It's entertaining. Does it need to be more than that? Eh, not really.

There is talk another movie might be in play. If Harrison Ford comes back as Indiana Jones with his lovely new wife Marion, it may be alright. It'll be the Mummy all over again with mommy daddy and son, but that's okay because it will be a romp. Then again, if this turns out to be the last Indiana Jones movie that is just as fine. I give the movie 7.5 out of 10 stars. If you go in wanting to have a good time, you'll find a way to do it. If you go in with a too critical eye, it'll never live up to your expectations.

But seriously, "Mutt" becoming Tarzan with the monkeys? Sigh.

Beginning Post

2008-05-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

Hello out there blog world!

My name is Dee Doyle, and I actually have several online places that I'm from. Starpulse, FanLib, and ComicsOnline are all places I write for, and I have a blog where I just post the freelance work I do: Here.

I am a geek girl who loves video games, comic books, movies and television. I have a great deal of random hobbies including roleplaying, online multiplayer games, Rennie faires, and all sorts of different interests. I love literature and the classics. I have a livejournal, facebook, myspace, and all sorts of space that I put out my articles and opinions because I think the internet is a great place to talk. I joined up with Blogger here because I love everything I've read!

Anyway, this blog will be my general opinions on a lot of different shows, movies, comics, all that sort of thing. None of it will be formal writing and straight out review/opinion. I try to be a little more unbiased and fair in my articles, and I will continue to do so here as well, but I'll be more frank and less polite for sure.

Anyway, here we go!