tonight i met kev @Crown Village to catch an opening weekend viewing of AVP, with a free ticket no less. ok, so the ticket wasn't technically free since i had to pay a total of $14 for the Predator SE DVD set to get the freebie screening. with the price for admission being 9 bucks i figured i got a fairly decent deal out of it since i would've paid to see AVP anyways, hype or otherwise.

as far as AVP goes, well, let's just say that somewhere in that mess there was a story worth telling. sadly, it was so poorly executed you end up scratching your head wondering why they bothered at all. i know for a fact that had they turned that plot over to me i would've developed a much more compelling and tighter flick. that ain't bragging b/c i know a few others that could've done the same.

was it better than the much ballyhooed Freddy vs. Jason über-match a year ago? hmm, yeah, it was. but not by much. IMO, i think the Aliens and Predators have much stronger "cool" cachet than that of those dusty old also-rans. and while AVP tried to highlight the cool factor of such fabulous sci-fi monsters in the movie match-up every fanboy has been wetdreaming about for last decade, it failed on so many counts registering barely a beat above flatline. Director Paul Anderson is competent in his own right having delivered some okay big screen features but i think these legendary heavy hitters would have been better handled by a Bryan Singer type who knows how to get the most out of his fantasy characters and give the fans what they want.

i'm already spending more time dissecting this film than it deserves but i guess it's b/c i really expected so much more and left w/so much less. i wanted to leave the theater thinking about how cool the Aliens and Predators were battling each other to the death; instead all i can dwell on are the flaws (way too many to single out any one of them). i'm hoping the eventual R-rated director's cut DVD will be a marked improvement but that's asking a lot from a seriously marred movie. ~sigh~

oh yeah today was the last day of Wizard World Chicago! i planned a late start and limited budget to finish off the trio of tiring days. i went solo intent on scoring final day deals and looking forward to a lot less fangeeks in attendance. arriving sometime after noon i paved my way to countless bins of 50%-off trade paperbacks swinging deals whenever i could. roughly 3 hours later i didn't have a dollar on my person, which was the plan so i left relatively pleased leaving nothing on the table... er, wallet.

today's acquisitions:
Catwoman: The Dark End of the Street trade paperback -- $3.00
Emily the Strange (exclusive) figure -- $12.00
Fudoh (Takashi Miike) dvd -- $12.00
GOZU (Takashi Miike) dvd -- $8.00
Microman Spy Magician M141 Henry figure -- $4.00
Microman Spy Magician M142 Hudson figure -- $5.00
Microman Spy Magician M143 Holmes figure -- $5.00
Planetary/Batman "night on earth" graphic novel -- $2.00
Preacher Book 3 "proud americans" trade paperback -- $7.00
Preacher Book 4 "ancient history" trade paperback -- $7.50
Preacher Book 5 "dixie fried" trade paperback -- $7.50
Preacher Book 6 "war in the sun" trade paperback -- $7.50
Stormwatch "change or die" trade paperback -- $7.00
Stormwatch "force of nature" trade paperback -- $7.00
Ultimate X-men vol 2 "return to weapon x" trade paperback -- $7.00
Y The Last Man Book 1 "unmanned" trade paperback -- $6.50

overall i'd say that WWC 2004 was the most disappointing WWC i've been to yet. And i've attended them all except one since Wizard bought out ComiCon in 1998. Seems like every year there are fewer exhibitors and worthy attractions. this year the dealer space was increased and so was artist alley. as pAT exclaimed, it was essentially like a huge toy/comic flea market, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it's really the "Con" aspect that's sorely lacking. my own conjecturing tells me that this is just a reflection of the comics industry. rather sad.

it seems that SDCC has gone Hollywood to drive its appeal whereas Wizard is trying to make due w/the waning number of exhibitors willing to buy booth space to showcase their wares. Only a handful of major comic book companies were represented this go-round and i use the term "major" loosely as Devils Due is hardly a major. Marvel was practically non-existent and Mattel had the largest exhibitor space if that's any indication.

and sadly there was not much in the way of cosplay this year except for the usual array of Star Wars 501st Legionnaires. hrmph. sure, 3 days of WWC was exhausting yet still managed to elicit a few moments of child-like glee; however, it's just not the same WW that it once was. i'm planning on going to San Diego next year. 'nuff said.