'ellboy

I've just finished watching Hellboy 2: the Golden Army. For a superhero movie about a horned half-demon from Hell, it's surprisingly light and funny. It's fantastic.

Guillermo Del Toro's love for the comic and characters really shines through for this one once more. If there's anyone who's able to find that wafer-thin middleground between the rabid "you didn't do it like how it's in my head" fanboys who take the fun out of it and the regular moviegoer, it's Mr. Devil's Backbone himself.

The sequel moves with a much quicker pace than the original. That's not a bad thing; at the end of a long day it's nice not to get bogged down by too much death and carnage. And melodrama. But this is a great film and a fun summer movie.

If I had to complain about anything though, it'd be the relationship between the titular character and his pyrokinetic girlfriend, Liz. Mike Mignola, the creator of the comic has never, ever, EVER delved into Hellboy's romantic, tender side- something that I am 100 percent happy with. Hellboy is a cool, kick-ass character who fights monsters for a living. Who would want to expose the seldom-seen lonely asset of that?

Well I guess it'd be Del Toro. He seems to revel in it; pairing the goat-legged Beast of the Apocolypse with a mortal, fireball-flinging woman and using their relationship to make light of common relationship problems while at it. In the film, those are funny. There's a part where Hellboy becomes flustered and remarks "she's angry about something, but you can't ask her what it is because you're supposed to know!" Good stuff. Something both sexes wonder about. Probably.

But as we learn early on in the film MILD SPOILER ALERT:
Liz is actually pregnant. What? Yeah, it's true. So... when the third film rolls around... what? General disgust and outrageous bigotry from Hellboy's public; that's a given. But I can see diapers and Hellboy looking pained as he's dealing with a little devil just looming on the horizon. The Golden Army was terrific Mr. Del Toro, and so was the Devil's Backbone. And Pan's Labyrinth. And Kronos. The film industry needs more people lile you but... Liz getting pregnant? I don't know. Maybe you've got something cooking away in that little bearded head of yours! Who knows! Not me!

Hellboy is my favourite comic characters of all time. The graphic novels are dark and beautiful and the movies are tremendous fun. I recommend this movie. And the books. It's a fun medium.

Anyway... on to The Dark Knight.

Everything's gotten better since I made that CD.

I've recently made an all-purpose music CD in Harbin, mostly used for classes here and in my flat. There's nothing on it but classical music- some real killer tunes like the 1812 Overture and the 9th by ol' Ludwig Van, along with a Sarah Brightman song thrown in just because the Chinese are really keen on Celine Dion. I never understood why everyone in the West hated her so much until the Course Consultants would play her 24/7. Jeeziz!

On top of that, when ever people see you listening to classical music they automatically assume you've got good taste. It's great! For me though, that music is what it is- actual music. Everybody likes it; it's beautiful. I've never met someone who's snubbed classical music. That's why I chose classical music for the CD; so no one (in particular the students) would complain.