November - 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters, #335: Ozymandias

Joe Pace

Nov 30, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters, #335: Ozymandias

Watchmen likely deserves its praise as perhaps the finest graphic novel the medium has produced. It's layered and compelling without being overwrought, gritty without overly indulgent voyeuristic violence, and thought-provoking without treacly proselytizing. The art is servicable, the writing razor-sharp, and the characters so well-drawn that they consume the pages they adorn. These are three-dimensional human (or at least mostly human) souls, super-powered but flawed, and no

Favorite Fictional Characters, #334: Cardinal Ignatius Glick

Joe Pace

Nov 29, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #334: Cardinal Ignatius Glick

Kevin Smith's comedic treatise on Catholicism tends to be divisive. Some love it, some hate it, and some are - appropriately enough - agnostic. There's a lot going on in this movie, some of which is fantastic. I particularly enjoy Chris Rock's second-class apostle, Salma Hayeck's sultry muse, and Alan Rickman's Voice of God (who else?). Damon and Affleck are even early enough in their stardom to retain some humility and appeal. Some of the material, from Lee's demon to the ho

Favorite Fictional Characters, #333: Orpheus

Joe Pace

Nov 28, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #333: Orpheus

There are a lot of heroic humans and demigods in Greek mythology. The vast majority are tough guys, warrior kings in mold of Perseus and Theseus, Hercules and Achilles. Even Odysseus, renowned for his brains, is still a rugged customer and holds his own at the walls of Troy. Unusual among this company then is Orpheus, a softer son of Greece, a poet, a musician, a singer. So masterful was he at these pursuits that beasts of the field would lie down to hear him, and even rocks

Favorite Fictional Characters, #332: Jack Skellington

Joe Pace

Nov 27, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #332: Jack Skellington

Last night I watched The Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time. Hard to believe, I know, but in the 23 years since it was released, I'd simply never gotten around to it, and so it was a completely new experience for me and my kids (and Sarah - somehow neither of us had ever seen the thing). I knew it was a Tim Burton work, and as such would be creative, novel, strange, a tad macabre, and yet with a sort of sweet ache at the center. And yeah, it was that in spades. The

Favorite Fictional Characters, #331: Commandant Eric Lassard

Joe Pace

Nov 26, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #331: Commandant Eric Lassard

The Police Academy phenomenon is fascinating to me. The first movie had a novel premise, interesting characters, and was worth some laughs. Not great, not awful. and yet it spawned six sequels, each less funny and more inexpertly crafted than the previous entry. Film studio leadership is like that drunk guy whose girlfriend breaks up with him, who then proceeds to call his old girlfriends in a vain search for some past shred of affection. It's cowardly and idiotic and cheapen

Favorite Fictional Characters, #330: Jan Brady

Joe Pace

Nov 25, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #330: Jan Brady

With the passing of Florence Henderson, this seems like an appropriate day to profile my favorite Brady: Jan. Sure, Marcia was supposed to be little miss perfect, the glossy hair-brushing sex kitten of the teenage suburban set, with her miniskirts and knee socks, but I was never moved. Maybe I was too young when I watched the show, closer to Jan's age, and Marcia was simply too unattainable, but I also thought the eldest Brady daughter was stuck-up and dismissively cruel to h

Favorite Fictional Characters, #329: Kermit the Frog

Joe Pace

Nov 24, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #329: Kermit the Frog

I spent a lot of time thinking this morning about what character I could choose to profile who could represent how thankful I am to have such a broad array of wonderful friends and family in my life. A character who could capture how grateful I am and how certain I am that whatever storm clouds might gather today, a better tomorrow is coming for all of us if we keep believing and striving and taking care of each other. Odd as it may seem, I kept coming back to Kermit the Frog

Favorite Fictional Characters, #328: Austin Powers

Joe Pace

Nov 23, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #328: Austin Powers

Yeah, baby. Yeah! The Austin Powers movies were essentially one joke. Fortunately, it was a pretty good joke, a vein of comedic ore deep enough that Mike Myers was able to mine it for more laughs than a reasonable person could expect. The glory of the first film was that it was so different, so unusual, so bizarrely hilarious. It was satire and slapstick and lowbrow and most importantly, funny. Austin Powers was the groovier, less lethal, more quintessentially British bastard

Favorite Fictional Characters, #327: Skeletor

Joe Pace

Nov 22, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #327: Skeletor

As much as I loved the classic Transformers cartoon and toy line, nothing screamed early-1980s merchandising-animation tie-in more than Masters of the Universe. If girls can trace their body image issues to Barbie dolls, pity the pudgy young boys of 1982, handed these ludicrously 'roided-out action figures. The muscles had muscles on these guys, and they weren't shy about it in the least. He-Man was all decked out for a gay pride parade in his slim bandolier, fur speedo, and

Favorite Fictional Characters, #326: Alfred Ludlow

Joe Pace

Nov 21, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #326: Alfred Ludlow

I have mixed feelings about Legends of the Fall. It's a visually and musically sumptuous film (Horner's score is a go-to for writing sessions), and the actors are firing on all cylinders. Hopkins' TR-esque Colonel Ludlow is charismatic and scene-swallowing. Elliot from ET is fresh-faced, naive cannon-fodder. And of course Brad Pitt is visceral and animalistic, raw brooding masculinity. My favorite Ludlow, though, is eldest brother Alfred. Cautious, responsible, mature, Alfred

Favorite Fictional Characters, #325: Robinson Crusoe

Joe Pace

Nov 20, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #325: Robinson Crusoe

Not a long profile today, as my mind is elsewhere. But recently I've found myself pondering the fundamental dichotomy of the human animal. We're social by nature, craving the company of the tribe, and yet there's something in each of us that also wants at times to block it all out, to seek solitude and to know ourselves absent the maddening crowd. I think that's why stories like Defoe's narrative of the marooned mariner resonate with us. (Or Gilligan's Island, or Tom Hanks' C

Favorite Fictional Characters, #324: Ma Hon Keung

Joe Pace

Nov 19, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #324: Ma Hon Keung

Unlike many, many of my friends, I've never been a martial arts aficionado. Kung Fu movies, Bruce Lee, ninjas, MMA, it's all fine, but has never really appealed me. I admire the artistry and athleticism and toughness, but it's just not my bag. Except for Rumble in the Bronx. Jackie Chan had been making movies in Hong Kong for years, but didn't break through in the American pop culture mainstream until 1995, when the release of Rumble in the Bronx showcased his unique combinat

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