Chris Braak's Blog, page 43
January 20, 2011
The Many Villains of The Cape
I don't think I'm ever going to stop talking about The Cape. I don't know if this should make NBC optimistic for the show's future — I also don't think I'm going to buy anything advertised on The Cape — but there it is. Anyway. NBC is soliciting fan's to send in ideas for villains [...]
January 19, 2011
The Ludicrously Silly Charm of 'The Cape'
With its third episode, The Cape has pretty well established the kind of show it is going to be, so grousing about its relative quality seems to be a waste of time. It is going to be at times silly, at times corny, usually a bit stupid, and most of the time not exactly sensical. [...]
January 17, 2011
Electronic Short Story Adventure Action!
Using the power of TECHNOLOGY!, I have made a new short story collection available, electronically, ON THE INTERNET. All you need is PayPal, or access to PayPal, a willingness to read PDF files, and eighty-three cents! That's right, just EIGHTY-THREE CENTS! Troubled by the fact that my many fans — the ones who purchased the [...]
January 14, 2011
Again with 'The Cape'
Were you having fun spotting all the different parts of the pilot that were cribbed from other TV shows and movies? Comics Should Be Good's Greg Hatcher was. I wanted to draw attention to this bit, though, since it really does seem to be the central flaw in "The Cape": Homage is something creators do [...]
January 13, 2011
Sexy Doctors! Jungles!
You know it's a slow TV month when I see a show that's easily described as "Sexy Doctors in the Jungle" and I think, "Well…I do have an hour to kill." That is how I ended up watching "Off the Map," a show whose noncommittal shrug of a title I forgot three times while watching. [...]
January 11, 2011
Surprising No One: 'The Last Airbender' is Terrible
I waited until I'd finished watching the first season of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" through Netflix streaming – no easy feat, as my girlfriend issued a rare "Do not watch without me" proclamation and she works nights a lot – before taking in The Last Airbender. 7% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. King of the [...]
January 10, 2011
The Cape…Ohhhh, The Cape
The Cape is a new show on NBC. It is about a policeman who is framed for murder by the head of OCP and then is given a super-powered cape by the head of a traveling circus of crime and, because he learned a special kind of cape-fu while he was in the special forces, [...]
January 7, 2011
'Winter's Bone': The Year's Best Western Noir Fairytale
About midway through critical favorite and likely Oscar non-winner Winter's Bone, I realized what I liked most about it: Philip Marlowe was Red Riding Hood. It is mildly insulting to boil down a movie that you think is legitimately Great as "It's like [recognizable movie/genre representation] meets [incongruous movie/genre representation]!" Everyone involved worked too hard [...]
Friday Do-Goodery: Vote For The ACPPA Community Art Center
As a supporter of local community arts efforts – and they don't get much more local than the area that spawned this particular brain trust – Threat Quality Press is passing along this request from the nonprofit ACPPA Community Art Center in Norristown, PA. Your vote can get them some much-needed assistance. From the center's [...]
January 5, 2011
On Advertising Campaigns
Remember my plan for the Nike Invincible? A new shoe that I designed that was the most awesome thing ever? Well, I just have to say that I'm still baffled that no one has thought of my Grant Imahara/Kari Byron ad campaign idea. It doesn't have to be shoes, you could do it for anything. [...]
