Posts tagged batman

Fully Booked, my favorite bookstore chain in the country, celebrated the annual Free Comic Book Day today by giving away (surprise, surprise) free comic books. More important, though, for this impulsive buyer of books, comic or otherwise, Fully Booked also put their stock of graphic novels on sale. As was the case last year, I didn’t get to score free comics this year; the store I ran to this afternoon had run out of copies to give away hours before I showed up. But as was also the case last year, I nabbed a kick-ass graphic novel at 20% off this year. Last year I got Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s groundbreaking magnum opus, Watchmen. This year I bought Frank Miller’s masterful Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. KA-POW!

Fully Booked, my favorite bookstore chain in the country, celebrated the annual Free Comic Book Day today by giving away (surprise, surprise) free comic books. More important, though, for this impulsive buyer of books, comic or otherwise, Fully Booked also put their stock of graphic novels on sale.

As was the case last year, I didn’t get to score free comics this year; the store I ran to this afternoon had run out of copies to give away hours before I showed up. But as was also the case last year, I nabbed a kick-ass graphic novel at 20% off this year. Last year I got Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s groundbreaking magnum opus, Watchmen. This year I bought Frank Miller’s masterful Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

KA-POW!

The Prestige is a film set in Victorian era London, where performing magicians enjoy a certain prestige that matches that of the sex symbols of our time. But that prestige is not where the film took its title. The eponymous “prestige” is the Prestige: the third part of every magic trick. As stated in the movie’s theatrical trailer, “Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called “The Pledge”; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The Turn”; The magician makes his ordinary something do something extraordinary. Now if you’re looking for the secret… you won’t find it, that’s why there’s a third act called, “The Prestige”; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you’ve never seen before.” You’d think this is just a popcorn movie where the magicians do their magic and the audience, the ones in the movie and the ones that are not, are left dumbfounded and wondering how the tricks could have possibly been done, and something goes wrong along the way just to give rise to a conflict to be resolved in the end. But, as the National Geographic Channel would advise, think again. In fact, that’s exactly what a discriminating viewer would do for the minutes and hours and days to come after watching the movie. Think and think again. The film really is as cerebral as it is movie-magical. With Memento and Batman Begins mastermind Christopher Nolan at the helm and with extraordinary performances from Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine and the inimitable David Bowie, the film itself makes for a great magic trick to behold, with its heart-pounding climax making for a powerful prestige. Watch closely.

The Prestige is a film set in Victorian era London, where performing magicians enjoy a certain prestige that matches that of the sex symbols of our time. But that prestige is not where the film took its title. The eponymous “prestige” is the Prestige: the third part of every magic trick.

As stated in the movie’s theatrical trailer, “Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called “The Pledge”; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The Turn”; The magician makes his ordinary something do something extraordinary. Now if you’re looking for the secret… you won’t find it, that’s why there’s a third act called, “The Prestige”; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you’ve never seen before.”

You’d think this is just a popcorn movie where the magicians do their magic and the audience, the ones in the movie and the ones that are not, are left dumbfounded and wondering how the tricks could have possibly been done, and something goes wrong along the way just to give rise to a conflict to be resolved in the end. But, as the National Geographic Channel would advise, think again. In fact, that’s exactly what a discriminating viewer would do for the minutes and hours and days to come after watching the movie. Think and think again. The film really is as cerebral as it is movie-magical.

With Memento and Batman Begins mastermind Christopher Nolan at the helm and with extraordinary performances from Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine and the inimitable David Bowie, the film itself makes for a great magic trick to behold, with its heart-pounding climax making for a powerful prestige.

Watch closely.

I was at Fully Booked yesterday to take advantage of the markdown on practically all items on display, including the generally prohibitively priced graphic novels. God does exist. Facing the considerably wide selection of graphic novels, ranging from the immensely popular to the somewhat obscure, I honestly had no idea which one to buy and to award the distinction of being the second ever graphic novel to be included in my rapidly growing pseudo-library to. So I turned to my trusty old friend Twitter and tweeted a question to the expert. Yep, that guy who looks like he just consumed a slew of pharmaceuticals is none other than @komikero himself, the man from San Pablo, famed comic book artist and writer Gerry Alanguilan. Always a sucker for a good Batman story, I initially opted for either Batman: Year One or The Dark Knight Returns. Both of them though, I was informed, had just been sold out. Great. Then I saw what appeared to be the last remaining copy of V for Vendetta, which was highly recommended by @komikero. Stoked, I reached for my wallet to see if I was adequately equipped with cash. I wasn’t. Note to self: Books first, food later. And for Chrissakes recharge your credit card. As it was almost nine and I had to be in time for the last LRT trip, I went like lighting to the nearest ATM. “Hello,” said the ATM, “I’m an ATM, I operate 24 hours and I am temporarily unable to dispense cash.” Wow, just my luck. I’m going back for it in a bit and it better still be there. Or a new set of potent expletives will be invented.

I was at Fully Booked yesterday to take advantage of the markdown on practically all items on display, including the generally prohibitively priced graphic novels. God does exist. Facing the considerably wide selection of graphic novels, ranging from the immensely popular to the somewhat obscure, I honestly had no idea which one to buy and to award the distinction of being the second ever graphic novel to be included in my rapidly growing pseudo-library to. So I turned to my trusty old friend Twitter and tweeted a question to the expert. Yep, that guy who looks like he just consumed a slew of pharmaceuticals is none other than @komikero himself, the man from San Pablo, famed comic book artist and writer Gerry Alanguilan.

Always a sucker for a good Batman story, I initially opted for either Batman: Year One or The Dark Knight Returns. Both of them though, I was informed, had just been sold out. Great. Then I saw what appeared to be the last remaining copy of V for Vendetta, which was highly recommended by @komikero. Stoked, I reached for my wallet to see if I was adequately equipped with cash. I wasn’t. Note to self: Books first, food later. And for Chrissakes recharge your credit card. As it was almost nine and I had to be in time for the last LRT trip, I went like lighting to the nearest ATM. “Hello,” said the ATM, “I’m an ATM, I operate 24 hours and I am temporarily unable to dispense cash.” Wow, just my luck.

I’m going back for it in a bit and it better still be there. Or a new set of potent expletives will be invented.