I have Daredevil hardcover goodness. It is so very pretty, so very very pretty. Good day overall for comics. When I pick up my stash I have a kinda sad geeky ritual. I divide them up into two piles. Very straight forward really, one is stuff I must read now and the other is stuff to get around to reading. Well, today for the first time in a while, the must read pile was the larger one. Not one, but TWO War Stories from Garth Ennis & co, J for Jenny being notably excellent. Nothing else really outstanding, well actually the 6th issue of Micah Wright’s Stormwatch: Team Achilles was quite a good arc ending and I’m going to stick onboard in singles. Although a new artist would be so welcome. It was good to see another issue of Rising Stars, while I think the series has lost a little direction I am now intrigued again and looking forward to the ending.

Actually Ellis’s Avatar work is pretty good too and I have to admit to enjoying it more than his DC stuff. MEK issue two was certainly an improvement on issue one, but Scars and Strange Killings: The Body Orchard are I’d say more fun books but that is not the word.

A couple of trades in aswell, decided to stick with New X-Men in softcover so picked up the third one, read the first two again and then moved onto that. Hmm it seemed kinda week and disjointed. I can see why sales have been dropping on it. The other is something which is going to require a bit of effort and definitely some rereading of the first book, Alan Moore’s Promethea book two. Still have to read The Furies might leave it till tomorrow.

And so no, I have not gone out tonight. I read reading till around 9 and running maintenance on my pc. A 4gb harddrive took close to 5 hours to defrag. Guess I really should do that more often.

Oh yes.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Where to start? Well, the start was not bad at all. hearing the voices echoing around the mountain and then diving inside was excellent. It really got me involved in the movie from the start. Now for just some of the main highlights

– The first real moment of warmth in the movie I think was only there had you read the books. When Éomer insults Gimli and Legolas quickly draws on him despite being surrounded by a couple of dozen men, it was a great scene. It is such a shame that their growing friendship does not get more time in the movie. Later on when they are fighting at Helm’s Deep and keeping score is another nod to the real warmth we should be seeing. This can also be seen with Aragon and Legolas in particular when Aragon arrives at Helm’s Deep and when Gimli and Aragon hold the bridge. Really great work from the actors.

– While yes it was funny in particular the “Don’t tell the Elf”, I really didn’t like Gimli being used as the comic relief, it fitted with the movie I guess, but not with the book.

– Ditto with Faramir. In context of the movie, the changes work and he has some really good scenes, putting the life of Smeagol into Frodo’s hands was a really great scene and I’m hoping to see more (and a better side) of Faramir in The Return of the King

– Legolas, ok the jump onto the horse was excellent (I know, I’m a geek) and there were some fantastic action sequences with him, but did we really need (regardless of how good it might have looked) a fucking skateboarding Elf?

– Smeagol. After seeing the movie, and the movie rams this home so much more than the book, I cannot call him Gollum again. I know lots has been made of him being an entirely CGI character (with major props to Andy Serkis for voice and movement) but wow. It’s not technically perfect I guess but it doesn’t need to be. The character breaks your heart, the fucking CGI character breaks your heart. There isn’t anything else to it. Look into his eyes, listen to him talk, watch him argue with himself. It is truly amazing work. He really makes the film. A lot of people tend to forget that LOTR is a tragedy, Smeagol’s tragedy

– The Ents. Certainly well done if noticeably weak in a couple of places, but they felt superfluous. There wasn’t a need for them, it felt like an after thought. However they did add to the story and have to cause an event and they did that well. It is worth noting that Treebeard looked spectacular.

– In a movie that has such a superb cast, it could be argued that Brad Dourif as Wormtounge was the best cast. Absolutely wonderful work from him. He is appearing in London next year at the Sci-fi expo and while I’ve been a fan for a while, I think this has completely sealed it and I shall have to attend.

– Helm’s Deep. I don’t think I can say anything to justify this. I was on the edge of my seat unable to take my eyes away from the screen. Totally stunning. I would say the highlight of the movie, but it is just beaten by the performance of Smeagol. The arrival of the Elves was a great scene and the loosing of the first arrow while a little hooky was excellent. The fact that we saw kids being given swords and armour and being prepared to go and fight made it a little more than a movie. They were all going to die. I am sure I was not alone in wanting to cheer as Aragon and Theoden lead a charge out the main gates of Helm’s Deep to certain death.

– “Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east!” Well he certainly delivered on that.

I shall be seeing this again, in a week or so. More thoughts then.