Canon Pimping!

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

Hello, bar!

The pup who is in the canon about to be pimped does not have back room access, alas. If he did, and if he were writing this post, he'd probably tell you to avoid this movie because it does not show him or his lower jaw in a good light; but those of us who've seen the movie know it was done for the lulz. The movie I'm talking about is Hot Fuzz, and it's out on DVD today in the United States. This canon is where in-bar pups Nicholas Angel (uksupercop), Danny Butterman (badboybutterman), and Simon Skinner (slasherofprices) come from.

(Unfortunately, according to this Washington Post review and certain canonmates of mine, both fuzzy and royal[e], the UK DVD that came out previously is +++++ more awesome than the US, but very few of us 'mericans can do anything about that without fucking up our DVD players forevah.)

Now I know Hot Fuzz has a little bit of a following over the 'nets, so I may be preaching to the choir. But for those who haven't seen it yet? See this movie. Like any film, there's no guarantee that you will like it or fall head over heels in love with it, but if you've a mind for recommendations, let me tell ya: this is an awesomely funny film. I love a spoof made by people who know film. That's exactly what Hot Fuzz is. It has a greatly executed story and knows all too well the cliches of the action and mystery genres--but, as the filmmakers insist, it doesn't look down on the genres. Hot Fuzz pays tribute to the genres just as much as it mocks them, so much so that it works as a genuine action mystery and as a spoof. It doesn't make you feel dumb for liking the genre, or for seeing the spoof, especially if you're somewhat of a film buff and understand when the film is referencing and midly ribbing another--unless it's a Baz Luhrmann film, then there's nothing mild about the ribbing at all. The performances are all spot-on and wonderful, and since I'm a bit of a film score geek I have to say that the score was, too. Every musical cliche you didn't know you knew about action films is in this score, and it's amazing.

(We will ignore that this film is scored by David Arnold of Bond series fame, and why this hurts my head.)

So, if you have the time, and you have the space on your Netflix queue, check this out. I think it'll be worth your time.

---

Now youse guys, what's so wonderful about your canon?

Comments

[weeper-of-blood.livejournal.com]

Srsly, watch this film.

And wuts so great about my canon? It has Le Chiffre in it, yo. That's the best thing. No one watches CR for that Bond bloke anyways.

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

LIES

[kali921.livejournal.com]

Le Chiffre stole the film out from under Daniel Craig, man. Best thing about that film, period! I always gravitate to Chiff's posts in bar, too. <3

[supaahiro]

Heroes -- this show has fun superhero antics, and Hiro Nakamura who is darling (and cuter then Peter Petrelli).

Avatar: The Last Airbender -- finally moving forward with Season 3 in September, we are finally going to see Aang attain his destiny, or die trying. Brilliant storytelling for a kid's show, gorgeous animation, kung fu, and mysticism. Also, emo princes with scars are awesome.

A Song of Ice and Fire - though it's scary brutal, it's a damn fine read! Sure, GRRM's taking his sweet time giving us our next book, but... hey, reading the massively thick political fantasy will keep ouy busy while he finishes the next one... and then we'll be waiting for the NEXT one... X(

Dragonlance - Raistlin Majere is awesome; he is the dark angsty mage of all dark angsty mages. Often imitated but never duplicated, Dragonlance redefined pulpy rpg fantasy in a big way. Classic!



I think that's enough for now. :D

[moriendi.livejournal.com]

Heroes.

It's extraordinary person love.

[morelikeasponge.livejournal.com]

(and cuter then Peter Petrelli)

It's true. :(

[watchmakers_son]

Also?

We have both Sulu and Spock now.

*will not be getting over that particular Comic-Con announcement anytime soon >:D*

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

Must echo the Heroes love. It's got a great cast who love working together, have fun, and it shows on screen. Superheroes grounded in reality. And it's one of the few shows that appreciates geek love. (Guest stars, soon to be guest directors, Heroes 360, DVD, comic books, action figures and more)

[wakeupnew]

Okay, so I have a couple of canons that really need no pimping (hello, M*A*S*H and Lord of the Rings, I am looking at you). But there are two of mine that are both especially obscure and especially dear to my heart.

The Star Wars: X-Wing: Rogue Squadron comics are chock-full of action, banter, and pilots. The quality of the art varies from issue to issue, as does the sense-making of the scripts, but it's lots of explosions, snark, and ass-kicking -- in short, good clean fun. Some of the issues, too, really have some fantastically fun character and world design, and a couple pack a serious emotional punch.

I wish that I had the words to explain how good The Red Star is. I really do. This is why I turn to someone else's (an especially eloquent reviewer on Amazon.com). " 'The Red Star' has all of the elements of the great myths, of Homer and the Icelandic sagas and the Kyrgyz Manas: undying love, epic wars, principles of honor, freedom, betrayal and sacrifice, immortal beings manipulating human affairs." It also has some of the most beautiful art I've seen in print, an amazing mythos with a way of balancing magic and structure, and is set in a world that is essentially based on the collapsing Soviet Union. Most importantly (to me, anyway) are the characters, and how human and real they feel. The Red Star makes me cry every time, man. Every time.

If you're interested in reading either canon (and in apping from either canon, holy crap yes), we should have words!

[rushin-doll.livejournal.com]

Oh The Red Star, I love it so much. As has been said, it's very, very pretty (http://www.mitrevski.net/redstar/). In fact, almost (literally, no hyperbole here) everyone I've ever shown it to has pronounced it some variation of "amazing", "beautiful", or "stunning".

And then, after you read it a couple of times, you start to realize that not only is it visually attractive, but the characters are human and the prose is sometimes heart-rending.

Lexie mentioned that the characters are "human" and feel "real" and... They do. There's just not a better way to explain it, I don't think. You read the comic and you come away thinking of it as something more than a story (as the best stories do). You look at the characters and you see some sliver of yourself. It's... well, Lexie said this too, but even though I've been reading this series repeatedly for two years, there are still a couple of places where I cry every time.

You should read it, I can help,
Ana

[ana-pascal.livejournal.com]

Stranger than Fiction: Fourth wall? What fourth wall? Add mathematical quirks, jaded authors, and sweetness. Mix well. Bake at 375 F.

American Psycho: Post-modern fiction from one of the literary Brat Pack. Ridiculous and frightening.

Kiss Me, Judas(and the rest of the triology): Neo-noir anti-heroes and the organ-harvesting women that they fall for.

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

Stranger Than Fiction: Mmmm, metafiction.

[hungbyathread.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned, this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=I0uVGCYRP4I) clip is everything that is wonderful and brilliant and perfect about this show.

Watch this. And all the rest of the clips.

I can't put the greatness of my canon into words, but I think it starts with being based in Shakespeare and ends in being based in the reality of the people who act in it and write it.

Oh, and Geoffrey. Geoffrey is...

*has no words*

[weeper-of-blood.livejournal.com]

I.. really wanna watch this show. Have been wanting to for so long now. Damn you Paul Gross and your awesomeness! *shakes fist*

[http://users.livejournal.com/_jack_oneill/]

There are approximately 47489759034574 reasons you should watch the first eight seasons of Stargate SG-1, but at the top of the list is JACK O'NEILL.

Sure, everyone else is awesome too, but Jack is -- well. Jack's special.

Jack: "I think what the Captain's asking is, 'What do we do now?'"
Bra'tac: "Now we die."
Jack: "Well, that's a bad plan."

... you should also watch for this episode (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_%28Stargate_SG-1%29).

[rebel-jaffa.livejournal.com]

Cati, why are we pimping a canon from which we NEVER PLAY?

I think we must remedy this. Now.

Jack O'Neill: "So what's your impression of Alar?"
Teal'c: "That he is concealing something."
Jack O'Neill: "Like what?"
Teal'c: "I am unsure - he is concealing it."

[hero_farmboy]

Smallville, well, what can I say? Everyone probably already has their own opinion of it and all I can say to endorse it is that I haven't latched onto a TV show like I have with this in a really long time. The fact that Tom Welling and Allison Mack are hot is just a bonus. Really.

I leave you with footage of Clark's first - and only (so far) - flight, one of the many cool sequences in the series that drew me in as a new viewer a mere seven months ago.

[berryberryraz.livejournal.com]

I second this pimping, even though I have no SV pups at the moment. And not just because Tom and Allison are each hotter than a lake of burning magma. Really.

[will_scarlett]

My canon is odd and huge so I will just pimp my favorites, if you don't know the Robin Hood story, read Paul Creswick's Adventures of Robin Hood, watch the Disney movie and also the BBC series though it is pretty crack.

Also I pimp other people's canons since they rock a lot. Go read The Dresden Files if you haven't, watch Slings and Arrows for it is utter love.

[berryberryraz.livejournal.com]

Matilda needs no pimpin'. It's Roald fucking Dahl, people, and besides I feel weird talking about kids' books from this journal.

As for It's Always Time (http://oblimo.pbwiki.com) (NOT REMOTELY WORKSAFE PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT CLICK THAT LINK IN FRONT OF CHILDREN, BOSSES, NUNS, OR PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE JELLY), well, all I can say is that I love it to death and so should anyone who's willing to take a chance on a work of fiction that parodies Internet porn by writing about graphic, kinky sex between personifications of 4chan imgboards and women made of Jell-O. Oh, and did I mention it references practically every good myth known to mankind? Did you know that Sappho was really just into lime? That /u/ is a very bad witch? Well, now you do. But you won't know how or why unless you read IAT.

My canon, let me show you it.

[kali921.livejournal.com]

If you don't like She-Hulk canon, you have no soul.

Let's see, we have:

1. Super smart lawyer who also happens to be an exceedingly goodhearted hot green chick, without any of the whiny emo fits, angst, or Weak Sister Syndrome so prevalent in the comics medium.

2. More and better smashing of the Fourth Wall than has ever been attempted before or since. More meta than you ever thought meta was possible!

3. A comic where her editor enters the story and appears as a character.

4. Naked jumproping.

5. Lots of smashing!

6. Cracky cast, cracky team ups, super cracky villains, and a heroine that is joyous, well adjusted, asskicking, and happy. How often can you say that about the heroine of any fictional work?

7. Dr. Bong.

8. A heroine that has never, to my knowledge, been intentionally catty or bitchy to another female peer. This is one of the first reasons I fell in love with She-Hulk - she was never prey to the Catfight Fever that so many other female characters were. She's like the antithesis to Emma Frost.

As far as Hawkgirl goes?

The Hawks rock. When was the last time you saw archaeologists and museum curators strap on some alien psychoreactive metal, pick up truncheons, and DECAPITATE PEOPLE?

The Hawks? Have it all. Incredibly passionate love affair that has lasted for over five thousand years, cracky Egyptian backstory, characters that have lived through every single era of recorded history, archaeology, anthropology, manhawks, extraterrestial wars, cool costumes, WINGS, ferociously aggressive fighting styles, but really?

It's the love affair between Hawkman and Hawkgirl. It's such a lovely and enduring passion, such abject romanticism coupled with such technicolor stories and fiercely resolute characters. Brilliant, brilliant stuff.

Re: My canon, let me show you it.

[ana-pascal.livejournal.com]

I really need to pick-up the She-Hulk.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

SLiTHER is the scariest horror movie you will ever see in your life!

Okay, not really but there is much with the gorey fun and it is that rare gem known by some as the Horror-comedy. It too is a spoof/homage to its genre, horror, and made by someone who knows them well. James Gunn, the writer of the Dawn of the Dead remake (and yes Scooby-Doo, don't judge!) writes this awesome flick and it is also his first directing gig.

It stars the wonderful Nathan Fillion who is just awesome-sauce. There are brain slugs, zombies, dead critter eating, explodey peoples and a renegade squid. What's not to love?

You must watch this film and the extras on the DVD. There is great set tour done by Fillion who is hillarious and also insight into his mantra for the film, "I'm Bill Pardy." Also, you can learn to make fake blood and there is commentary by Fillion and Gunn!

It's gross, it's funny and believe it or not there is a really sweet love story in it as well.

[walksbyherself]

First: MIIIIIDGE, YOUR ICON IS LOOKING AT ME!!!

Second: I've only got one real canon to pimp and that is The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian. It's a collection of short stories centering on the Vietnam War. I found it via Amazon-link-hopping one night and picked it up at the bookstore soon after. Best decision I ever made, as one of the stories--"The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"--gave me my first head voice and inspired me to app here in the first place.

While all the stories are amazing and eminently re-readable, I'm going to extra!pimp "Sweetheart," since it's the one I know the best. Once upon a time, some army guys were seated around a campfire swapping weird war stories (that's approximately how it opens, anyway; my copy is a few hundred miles away right now). Anyway, one of the guys--a medic named Rat Kiley (who if anyone apped, I'd have their internet babies)--starts talking about something that happened at his last post.

At an isolated aid station near the river called the Song Tra Bong, there really wasn't much in the way of a war going on, except for the odd influx of wounded now and then. They said the place had all the comforts of home except for women, and one wise-ass medic named Mark Fossie figured out how you could bring a girl out to the middle of a war zone. The girl in question was his childhood sweetheart, Mary Anne Bell. Mary Anne spent six weeks in camp, gradually learning more about triage and the war, especially once she started going out on ambush with the local unit of Green Berets. When Mark objected and tried to send her home, she vanished into the jungle with the Greenies.

I love this story because it paints an amazing picture of the effects of war on a person's psyche. Slowly but surely, we see the war crawl into Mary Anne and make a home, until she goes from the leggy girl next door to a girl making necklaces of dried VietCong tongues strung on wire. In all of his stories, Tim O'Brian paints amazing portraits of a wide variety of characters. He tells you stories that you can believe in. You should check them out.


My only other canon pimp is Macbeth, and if you haven't read Macbeth by now then you are clearly a degenerate and a whore. Thank you.

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

HI KAT

[sdelmonte]

Ummmm.

I play Gibbs. And Kirk. But do I really need to pimp the Pirates of the Caribbean films? Or Star Trek? I love both. I think everyone should love both. But odds are that you saw the PotC films, and know as much as I do. And that by now, you are either a Trekkie or will never be one.

Which leaves Knox's canon. The first Batman film (1989). The love for that film was never great, even though it was a huge hit. But it remains one of my favorite films. Yes, it lacks a certain amount of coherence, compared with Batman Begins. And there is a shortage of actual Batman in the movie, despite the title. It looks great, though. Tim Burton and the late Anton Furst created a stunning and stark Gothic city for Batman and the Joker to duel in. It's the kind of place that suits a Batman. Michael Keaton is a strange choice for Batman/Bruce Wayne, but he is interestingly likeable, eccentric and dark. Michael Gough is a perfect Alfred. And Nicholson...well, he's Jack. Never was my first choice for the Joker, but he makes the part his own. And I love the Elfman soundtrack.

If you like Burton, you need to see this. If you like super-heroes, you should see this.

[stubborn-annie.livejournal.com]

Dog Soldiers (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0280609/).

I originally rented this movie based on the recommendation of a Web site called Dante's Inferno and All-Night Video Store (http://www.badmovieplanet.com/inferno/). I know that doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence, but I've found that if you put aside 'good' and look for 'entertaining', you get exposed to a whole lot more in the world of cinema than you otherwise might've. Dante spoke highly of the movie's entertainment value, but more importantly, he indicated that it was a werewolf movie that did not rely heavily upon people being stupid (http://www.badmovieplanet.com/inferno/archives/dogsol.html).

And he was right. Dog Soldiers is more of a movie about a bunch of soldiers who happen to go up against an enemy where they absolutely, positively cannot win than it is a standard werewolf movie; it's all about the guys, really, good and bad alike. They act like real people under hellacious circumstances- and I do mean hellacious. It's seriously gory, with deaths by impalement and fangy decapitation turning up on-screen, not to mention the bit with the disembowelment. But I've enjoyed it every time I've watched it, and I've watched it a lot.

Side note: every single military person I have ever seen review this movie has spoken highly of it. They do criticise the tactics used, but for the most part they approve of how the soldiers are depicted and say that their reactions, expectations, behavior, etc. are good- and that's whether they're US Army (like Dante) or British Army (http://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Dog_Soldiers).

[jezrana.livejournal.com]

Because more people need to read these books just on principle, and also because damn it, I want canonmates!

You should all read the Temeraire (http://www.temeraire.org/) series. If you're unfamiliar with the Temeraire series, it's a fantasy history set in a world that's really very much like our own, and just happens to have dragons, which are being employed in combat by both sides in the Napoleonic wars.

And if "it's the Napoloeonic wars, only with dragons in" doesn't get you (what? it got me), there are other reasons to read:

--because Naomi Novik is just an awesome writer, and is winning the awards to prove it (http://www.temeraire.org/?pagetype=news)

--because of the bond between Laurence and Temeraire, the main captain and his dragon, or, depending on who you ask, the main dragon and his captain

--because of Temeraire himself, who is just wonderful and a joy to read about and we need one in the bar *coughhint*

--because Laurence is a badass dork, which is an awesome combination, and so far his badass hasn't come out much in my playing him, so you'll have to go to canon for it

--because Peter Jackson has the movie rights, and eventually he's going to make these books into awesome, awesome movies and you can be one of the cool kids who was into them before the before the movies

--because Peter Jackson, Stephen King, Anne McCaffery, and Terry Brooks, among others, think you should read them (http://www.temeraire.org/index.cgi?pagetype=reviews)

--because if you start now you can finish the first three books by the time the fourth one comes out this fall [/less than subtle pimp]

[minkhollow]

*Dad and I rented Night at the Museum while Mom was out of town a few weeks ago, since she was going 'oh, it'll be dumb' and he and I can handle ridiculous movies better than she can. This is ridiculous, yes - I wouldn't expect anything less of a Ben Stiller film - but it's very much the good kind of ridiculous. I think the history fun helps it get there, as do the characters (whether we're discussing the humans or the museum exhibits).

*I watched Sneakers for the... well, sort of first and sort of second time because of Whistler turning up in the bar. (My parents tried to have me watch it before, but I didn't pay attention. I should really know by now they're usually right about these things. XD) It's... okay, sort of spy movie with a bunch of quirky characters, a couple of nice plot twists, and a very human bad guy? How can you lose?

*The Enchanted Forest Chronicles are very much in the young-adult section of the reading world - I first read them when I was ten. But that's okay - it means you can get through one or two of the four books in about a day, even if you didn't read one of the Harry Potter epics in five hours! And they're totally worth it. You start out with a Fractured Fairy Tale - princess is fed of with being proper, and runs off and volunteers to cook and clean for a dragon rather than marry the dimwit prince her parents want to set her up with - and it just gets better from there. There are smart heroines (plural!).
Also the wizards melt. XD

[wizard_dresden]

Harry insists that Jim Butcher be pimped first (no, not "The Dresden Files", which are immensely enjoyable, just Jim. *shrug*) because he is made of awesome and so are his books.


My other canons -

The Prestige - both the novel by Christopher Priest and the movie starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. The book is fantastic, though it may take 2 read-throughs to get everything. (2nd time, I read through it backwards ;) ). The movie is both enough LIKE the book and DIFFERENT from the book to work beautifully. Hooray for interesting characters, brilliant writers and great actors!

Er - how much MORE pimping does Buffy need?

That'd be all, then. ;)

[thiskindalove.livejournal.com]

Pee ess, I know I'm not a player here any longer, but dude. I do love Hot Fuzz, so feel free to let people know that they can download it from my website? :D It's sitting there, doin' nowt!

Hot Fuzz! (http://spilled-inc.net/movingpictures/WarmFluff.avi)

*coughs and flees back into lurkerdom*

HAY GUYZ YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT FROM HER WEBSITE

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

DOWNLOAD IT FROM HER WEBSITE, YOU CAN.