snap judgments

So, I’m back to work; nt full time just yet, but I got a head full of projects and promotions and tons of excitement for getting behind the ol’ register again.  On the whole, it’s been exactly what I’ve needed and the support been just super.

But I love lunch.

Just love it.  Work an eight-hour shift, you get that nice juicy hour break right in the middle of the day to just kick back and relax… with comics.  And food!  All days should have a one hour break of food and comics, but right in the middle of your shift nit’s just a little slice of heaven.  Look through the stacks, try and remember that one comic a customer had been looking fr and look into it yourself, maybe grab a trade that has a tidbit of info from the comic you last read, kick back in the back of the store (if you’re so lucky) and enjoy the recharge of batteries.

Don’t get any food on those issues though, or else you just bought yourself some new books.

I actually started out my blog from my lunch break at work, all those many years ago.  Taking aside the preview books for that week (man, I miss those), writing up a few sentences on them inbetween bites of an egg salad sandwich, those first impressions would later get written up at home.  Reading comics at lunch I think cools the brain down enough to really think about what you’re reading but not enough to make you brilliant.  Brilliant comes latewr, after digestion, lunch and comics just gets you that first taste.

Me, I’m a creature of habit and work at a store conviently located right next to a snazzy litle restaurant.  I have a booth, I have my books and I have a cherry coke to toast the first half of my working day.  I like reading indy stuff while refueling, the shock and strangeness of a new story or art style taken with a stout and familiar meal.    Today, it’s Johnny Hiro on rec from the ISB and the long lean art syle and the quirky tale being told goes well with some steak and cheese.  It’s kind of Seth Fishery and Stuart Immoneny and while I’m not big on the black-and-white ‘autobiography’, putting a giant lizard atacking your New York apartment to get at your girlfriend whose mother used to be a member of what looks like Voltron… yeah.  I could totally read the Hell out of that.

My lunch has gone well.  I am full of tasty food, I’ve just jammed through a few pages of a graphic novel that kept my attention through said tasty foods and now I have a little more ammo when I go back to my shift to recommend a new book to those who might dig it too.

Just all part of the plan.

Personally, I’m horrendously excited about the 300 movie. I know this is not a ‘historical epic’, I know this was based of Frank Miller’s graphic novel which in turns was based off of Gates of Fire which in turn was based off an historical event, so I’m not expecting accuracy, I’m expecting KICK ASS. From everything I’ve seen, there will be some kicking, possibly explosions.

There was little to no room in the panel to sit, so I took a back seat and opened up the laptop to make notes. Zach Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) came out, intro’d a Frank Miller recording of his best John Wayne impression, expounding that ‘Any culture worth a damn has their own Thermopylae’ and proud for being as true to his work as he can. Muy macho, the recording seemed to be set for the screening last night and ended with the killer line of “Here it is, come and get it.”

Next they introduced the actors Gerrard Butler (King Leonidas) and Lena Headey (Queen Gorgo), both admittedly very pretty people. Almost … too pretty, but I’ll get to that in a sec. They played a clip that had it’s mid-point around the stunning splash of the 30O pushing the Persians over the cliff; it was, quite possibly, the most bad ass combat sequence ever filmed. Wow. Everyone read along with the movie.

Then came questions.

Remember how I said they were pretty people? Apparently, Gerrard Butler has a fan club. A BIG FAN CLUB. Almost all of the questions came from them and though the panelists wre genuine and rather charming, I watched as people started to leave after the twentieth “Gerry, you’re so hot!” questioneer. So as much as I would like ot come back with cool info on the making of 300, maybe something about the fight choreography or the filming techniques between 300 and Dawn of the Dead, I can tell you about Gerrard Butler.

He wants to do comedy. He’s very humble. Many women think he’s sexually attractive. One even compared him to Elvis. He adopts a lot of bad habits from the characters he plays. Being the Phantom in the 2004 Phantom of the Opera left him depressed for a time. He’s a fan of 300 presenting a “new male archetype” and believes people should “follow their purpose”. After awhile, he warmed up his adoring fans, since he seemed a little off put by them at first. Questions about what role was more difficult and how he prepared for portraying King Leonidas made things feel a little James Lipton-y, but by the end he was expounding on unity and waxing poetic about 300. “These are the heroes I always wanted to see in a movie,” he said.

Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t take up all of the questions, just the majority. Lena Headey got a couple of side comments (“Wow, you play a strong female, what’s that like?” and “There was a lot of testosterone on the set, what was that like?”) and Zach Snyder fielded a few regarding storyboarding and working from Frank Miller’s artwork and a few production notes.

When asked about the legacy each other will leave, all three panelists seemed a little perplexed.