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I read a really funny review once (can't remember where) which posited Commando as the story of a jilted gay man (Bennett) taking revenge on his ex lover (Aahnult).

Amongst all the convincing evidence, the reviewer pointed out that the film climaxed (pun intended) with Aahnult literaly penetrating Bennett with a massive pipe. The look of sheer ecstacy on Bennett's face as he dies says it all.

Bear that in mind next time you watch it.

at least Prometheus has monsters and allegedly scary bits

Not many monsters and no scary bits whatsoever.

Add to that a cast of paper thin characters acting in inexplicably stupid ways, a plot that makes no sense and makes no attempt to explain itself and things happening for no discernable reason and you have all the ingredients of a stinking turd.

Despite all that, I enjoyed certain aspects, such as the isolated atmosphere, the design, the costumes, Fassbender, the bits that reminded me of Alien, Noomi Rapace and [spoiler]the alien abortion[/spoiler].

Although the only story I found myself actively not wanting to pursue was "Return of the Human" which wasn't really a comic but a series of dated-looking digital paintings with harshly-contrasting text-boxes laid across the top. Looks more like the accompanying web-based story for a 1998 concept album by a space rock band.

And there we see the beauty of the anthology once again 'cos I liked this. Compared to the other stories, we get a big chunk of pulp sci-fi goodness to sink our teeth into.

The style of the art reminded me of a series of 'Amazing Fantasy' covers with a story bolted on, which sounds like a criticism but isn't.

PS - I liked the brief sliver of Shoot For The Moon, especially the 'MOT*!' sound effect for a punch.



*'Mot' is a slang word for lady parts round here.

I think that what we've learned from all this is that, apart from us, everyone is a fucking idiot.

Had a proper read last night and I enjoyed it. The fact that all the stories except one are restricted to three page episodes means that it'll take a while for the story to take shape, but they all have intruiging openings.

All the stories have potential, particularly David Lloyd and David Jackson's noiry, greywashed Valley of Shadows and John McCrea and Phil Hester's 'death planet' sci-fi thriller Progenitor.

Of the others, it's too early to tell where the stories will go, but there seems to be a good mix of styles and genres including Lew Stringer's Combat Colin which is a humour strip in the Whizzer and Chips vein.

Five of the six stories stick to the 3 landscape page format and are 'traditional' comics which would work equally well on paper. Mark Wheatley and JC Vaughn's Return of the Human is different. It's not a 'comic' in the usual sense in that it doesn't use sequential panels. It's a series of beautiful, pulp sci-fi paintings, presented as historical documents or museum exhibitions, while a built in text box fills in the story of a man who fought off an alien invasion.

It's an unusual approach and the only one of the stories which takes advantage of the digital medium. I'd like to see more of this innovation in the future as the format is tailor made for it.

At just over 40p per weekly issue I'd say it's definitely worth a punt and I'm looking forward to next week's already.

Fave scenes?
Urban's delivery of " Well, you got one now!"  Loved that - can't explain why...maybe the sheer Clint-ness of it.

Also: Really liked the scene when Alvarez refused to help D and A. I can't remember exactly 'cos I've only seen the film once, but it  reminded me of a 'High Noon' type scenario - Yes, the bad boys are coming for you and no, I won't help you.  You're F***ed.   

Alvarez was one of the crooked Judges. I think you mean the unnamed medic.

[Judge Dredd]

I remember Judge Dredd strip appeared in the METRO a free paper given out to London and other major cities commuters. But it was dropped for Nemi, a comic strip about a goth teenager.

As far as I know, the Dredd strip in the Metro was only scheduled to appear for 6 months right from the beginning. I wish it would come back though. I fucking hate Nemi. Stupid, Tori Amos liking goth twat.

PJ - for your money, you get a password which lets you read the comic strips and access the extras.

It's only available to view online as far as I can tell from my brief mess about with it. Of the 3 that I've read so far, each story has 3 landscape style pages and will be continued weekly. I found myself just getting into a story just when it ended, which is a good sign I suppose as it means I wanted to read more.

Could do with a few more pages for each story perhaps. You can't complain for £1.75 a month for 72 pages of comics though.

I've subscribed too.

First time I've ever bought an online comic (it'll be the first time I've actually read an online comic in a serious way) but the creators involved seem worth a punt.

£6.99 for a 3 month subscription is good value too. I'll have a read tonight and let people know what I think.

There certainly is something new in the blatant 'to beat monsters we must jump off a building'- this isn't 'i will stay behind and be blown up by the dalek bomb' or 'i'll wrestle the evil alien out of the airlock' or 'i'll get caught in the daleks time-destructor ray and age to death', this was prosaic suicide of the kind that hundreds of people do each year.

I could understand you not liking the way it was handled from a storytelling point of view (I did, but I wouldn't have a problem with anyone condemning the scene on those grounds), but you seem to be suggesting that the method used is in some way 'bad taste' and shouldn't have been in the story for that reason, which I can't agree with.

I doubt, for instance, that you have a problem with Judge Dredd shooting himself in the heart to fool the Sovs during the Apocalypse War storyline which was the exact same kind of risky suicide ploy and also happened in a story aimed at children.

Amy and Rory didn't want to die. They only jumped because they hoped that their deaths would cause a paradox, causing the whole episode to reset itself. It was a calculated risk and the scene played, in my opinion, beautifully.

As usual with Doctor Who, I enjoyed it whilst watching it with the kids and going "Oooh! Look! A massive weeping angel!" and getting into the scares and excitement.

The problems start the minute I apply even the tiniest amount of scrutiny to the plot, at which point it crumbles to messy pieces like a wet cake.

I simply don't understand why the Doctor can't see Amy and Rory again. There's no reason at all why that would have to be the case. Once you've realised that, it sucks all the emotion and power out of the episode.

Also, it occured to me and the lad that Moffat got the idea for the Weeping Angels from playing Mario. Think about it, Weeping Angels = the 'Boo' ghosts.

Watched it again on Saturday and still loved it. Still noticing little details that make me smile.

I love the scene in the beginning where Dredd dismounts and walks towards the crashed van. The deep, bassy sound effect for Dredd's footsteps is brilliant and really makes you think he's as hard as fuck.

Little dialogue touches; during the interrogation scene I love how Dredd says "...and that's got me curious..." when he's going over the situation with Kay. Also, after Anderson has revealed that Peach Trees is the manufacturing base for Slo-Mo, Dredd's response of "Interesting..." is perfect.

So much to love in this film.

EVERYBODY IN THE REST OF THE WORLD; GO AND SEE IT YOU FUCKING IDIOTS. IT'S BRILLIANT.

For 20 years i have been calling RESYK "res-sic", now after tonite Dredd told me i'm epic fail and it's actually "ree-syke" ***Head smashes into desk violently***

But...isn't it obviously short for 'recycle'?

I'm off to see it again tomorrow night for the last time. That'll only be 3 times for me but it's the first time I've seen a film at the cinema more than twice.

I'm going with my brother who used to read 2000 AD back in the 80's. I KNOW it's going to blow him away!

I've got a luvverly bunch of coconuts.