MONDOmagazine

Written by Denise Liu

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Vol.1:
Pterror over Paris & The Eiffel Tower Demon
Jacques Tardi (w+a), Fantagraphics, 2010 English translation.

Originally published as Adele et la Bete, and Le Demon de la Tour (1976, Sud-Orient).

Read if you like: mystery, adventure epics, dinosaurs, French fiction, anti-heroes, comparing the book to the movie, carriages careening off bridges.

It’s said that you can’t judge a book by its cover. I guess we all need to be reminded that ugly people also have worth, feelings, a soul yadda yadda, but the relation just doesn’t stick for me. As an ugly person, I am offended that anyone would even presume that I have a soul. Quit looking for my redeeming qualities!

Sincerely now, the quality of a book’s cover design is absolutely crucial to piquing my interest while I’m browsing for the next read. Is anyone else here a sucker for Chip Kidd’s work? He had nothing to do with this book but, it seems that from the other reviews I’ve read, one look at this cover might tip you off as to whether or not you’ll like the Adele Blanc-Sec stories. It’s an 18th-century French woman with a pistol taking on a charging pterodactyl, for crying out loud — either you’re already appreciating the parody of adventure comics, or you’re going home… or back to the uggies’ corner (totally not judging). Read the rest of this entry »

Do you really need the flashlight?

Angels & Demons
Directed by Ron Howard
Columbia Pictures, 2009

By Brian Last

Tom Hanks and his mullet team up with director Ron Howard for a follow up adventure to the highly successful Da Vinci Code. When a physicist is murdered and a very dangerous item is stolen, clues are left that point to the secret society of the Illuminati.

Langdon (Hanks) is called in and leads the Vatican police on a search to uncover a terrorist plot. The pope has recently passed away and the search to select his successor is ongoing, but the four cardinals who are in the running are abducted. Langdon has to crack the mystery of who revived the Illuminati, who is behind the murder, and try to save the abducted preferitti — all before the stroke of midnight.

Adapting a book into a movie is a difficult process that inevitably involves omitting some background details beloved by fans. The Da Vinci Code film was criticized for not being true to the book and for omitting too many important details. From what I have heard and from what fans of the book have told me, Angels and Demons was adapted similarly. While I can’t compare this film to the book, it was cohesive and entertaining, but it could have been much more.

For one thing, the character of Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) was unnecessary. I know why she was there, but she didn’t offer much to solve the mystery, and when she came to serve, her expertise with the weapon was moot. I did like Ewan McGregor as the Carmalengo, but his role was too small when he should have been a main character. Stellan Skarsgard was especially strong as Commander Richter, a character whose jaded attitude towards Langdon played out interestingly. Richter‘s allegiances were never clear, adding intrigue to the character and the story.

George: We watch people reading. Jerry: We watch people READING?

Tom Hanks was solid as Robert Langdon. Langdon is a man who knows the history of everything, but ask him about his own personal beliefs and he stares at you blankly. He is a man who is clearly conflicted and Tom Hanks played it very well. There weren’t a lot of instances where Hanks had to go over the top; he really kept it quite low key. Langdon is a highly rational man, so he had to keep his head on straight, but — with the destruction of the entire Vatican at stake — Hanks could’ve played the role with a greater sense of urgency. Still, there is a reason Hanks is paid the big bucks — he has the presence required to carry a film this size.

Angels & Demons had decent action scenes but in terms of the mystery, each set-up felt contrived and convenient. At first I was really drawn in, and the potential was enormous, but as it continued, it dragged its feet and grew repetitive. They story would have required a few more curves to really keep me glued. The main climax felt a little anti-climactic; my reaction was, “that was it?” Then it lagged while coming up to the bigger ending. While it did bring up great points about science vs. religion, I really wanted more Illuminati, as that is the back bone of the movie.

All in all, Angels & Demons was exceptionally average, and I had much higher expectations going into it than were met. It was entertaining, but with more character development and more background on the Illuminati, it could have been a film of real quality.

By Sam Linton

LOLcats. Laugh out loud funny, yes? LOLcats are pictures of ordinary housecats with ridiculous captions written in pidgin English, to great humourous effect. To most, they are a simple diversion from the banality of everyday living. But those few of us who know have another name for these sorrowful creatures: “the fallen.” For you see, these “laugh-out-loud cats” were not always figures of ridicule and amusement. In ages past, cats were believed to be amongst the most sagacious of beasts. What brought about their current decline in stature? The answer is to be found here, in yet another installment of…

Myths of the Internet!

Cats. In ancient Egypt, cats were revered as a goddesses. Other cultures also held a special place for felines: in Europe, they were known as witches’ familiars, companions in knowledge that humankind simply was not meant to know. And cats are significant in some Asian cultures as well.

Cats have long fascinated people with their apparent mythic insights into the unknowable. Now they talk in baby voices and ask for “cheezburgers.” How did this happen? And, more importantly, how will future generations recognize this, the moment when cats were robbed of their mythic qualities? That’s where we come in. Those of us belonging to the present must preserve the past for the inhabitants of the future.

Once the Internet inevitably ceases to be, be this through nuclear holocaust, rapture of God, or Avian flu (my money’s on the bird flu), we will have to rely on the tradition of oral storytelling. Thus, as you read this story, try to imagine yourself somewhere other than in front of a radiating computer screen. Imagine the tale as it would be related by a tribal elder or village storyteller, recounting legends of long ago by the light of a dying fire in the twilight of civilization. And now we can begin…

As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. At the dawning of the Age of the Internet, this saying proved to be disastrously prophetic. For ages, the cat was known for its mysteriousness, lending to the fabled animal an air of superiority, wisdom, and aristocracy. However, it was the characteristic of curiosity that inevitably led to the downfall of the cat.

Cats were intrigued by the Internet. It seemed to promise global access to information, and the cats’ curiosity was piqued. However, by nature cats are also secretive, and therefore they mistrusted the Internet’s vast gaze. If the cats were able to use the net to sate their curiosity about the world, would not the reverse be true?

But Internet was a crafty foe, and he knew the cats’ one true weakness: vanity. To the cats he proposed that they give themselves over to the Internet’s domain and learn all that they ever needed to know to satisfy their curiosity. In turn they would be presented on the Internet such that the entire globe might bask in their elegant magnificence. To this, the cats readily agreed. After all, cats had been revered in Egyptian and (sort of) revered in European circles since time immemorial. What could be better than an entire globe of worshippers? However, crafty Internet neglected to mention one important detail: total access. By consigning themselves to Internet’s domain, the cats had agreed to abide by Internet’s rules. In so doing, the cats had sealed their own doom, for in the domain of the Internet, everything one does, however embarrassing, foolish, or demeaning, is not only preserved, but popularized (see also: The Legends of the Lightsabre Kid, Leave Britney Alone Guy and Obama Girl). Suddenly, everything that the cats did to sate their curiosity, from sleeping on computer monitors (will this feel comfortable?) to becoming trapped in couch cushions (what’s under here?), was preserved and broadcast for all to see. How can one maintain an aura of mystery under such conditions? Simply put, one cannot. And thus the ancient and noble race of cats were denigrated to the level of the LOLcat, robbed of their intrigue and made into objects of fun by the clever machinations of Internet, king of all tricksters.

The lesson of the LOLcats bears much to think upon and is certainly worth preserving for the future. The twin dangers of curiosity and vanity will no doubt plague our descendants in the robot-ravaged battlegrounds of the future. Will our children’s children succumb to the silver-tongued entreaties of cyborgs? Will they trust every aspect of their lives to increasingly intelligent machines and feel secure in their inherent “mastery” until the day that Skynet kicks in and decides humanity is obsolete? Will the children of the feral bands of future-survivalists allow their own curiosity to overcome them and wander from the safety of their units, only to be consumed by waves of irradiated bird-flu zombies? Not if they heed the lessons of the LOLcats and temper their vanity and curiosity with the instincts of self-preservation. With any luck, the mythologizing of LOLcats could spare the denizens of the future a great deal of harm and heartache.

So remember, please, for the sake of the future, to print these articles off. Hand them down to your children, your children’s children, and your children’s children’s children, that the lessons of our times will not be lost.