Stormy weather
It ain't Houston without a few hurricanes
Houston’s no stranger to storms. It seems like every few months, we’re hit with some new display of aggression from Mother Nature. Whether it’s an ice storm, a heat storm, or a good old-fashioned wind and lightning variety storm, Houston’s got your bad weather needs covered. On July 8, Houston was hit with its latest storm - Beryl, a Category 1 hurricane that came in the early hours of Monday morning and left most of the city without power.
I was fortunate enough not to lose power after Beryl. Most of my friends and family were not so lucky. It’s been days since the storm dissipated, and the sky is sunny and the clouds sparse, but most of Houston’s residents remain without power or internet services. It’s always weird to be in suspended animation after a big storm hits Houston and watch as the rest of the world moves on at normal speed. You’re sitting there waiting for stores to reopen and ice or gas to be available again and people are freaking out online about whether or not MIAMI VICE is a bad movie.
This current Beryl-born dissonance is nothing compared to the weeks after Harvey or Ike, but it’s still weird. Life goes on for the rest of the country, but for Houston residents, we feel like we’re treading water and waiting for the world to resemble something a little bit like the one we had on Sunday.
A few random movie thoughts:
GIRLFIGHT: What a movie! You can immediately tell Michelle Rodriguez is a star as soon as she steps on screen, but writer/director Karyn Kusama also announces her talent in such a spectacular, jaw-dropping way. The movie feels like such an effortlessly personal story, but the question becomes, whose story? Kusama was inspired to write the film after training at a boxing gym, but the film also feels like such a pitch-perfect representation of Latinx culture in the early ‘00s. This - that a movie can be both a personal statement from the writer/director and the cast - is a sign of great collaboration. GIRLFIGHT has been hard to watch for years but Criterion recently released a new Blu-ray. I hope people rediscover the hell out of this movie.
Adil & Bilall directed the hell out of BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE. From absolutely stunning camera work to vibrant performances from the cast, BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE has an unstoppable energy that helps ensure the movie never feels like anything less than a speeding bullet. The cherry on top of the film’s already saliva-inducing sundae? The climactic action scene involves a giant alligator as a wild card. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a studio action film that looked this good and was this fun to watch. I can’t wait to see what Adil & Bilall do next.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN is a perfect film, full stop. Few movies so perfectly capture the unknowable grandness of mythology and oral legendmaking. The vast production design, the breathtaking score, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s slack-jawed “Crom!” at every new sight he encounters - it’s all absolutely perfect. I love how Schwarzenegger is basically a Hyborian Forest Gump, wandering through life openly tickled by witches, ghosts, and opportunities to punch camels. Conan is all about the journey, man - especially when the journey involves killing snake-worshipping meatheads.
I LOST MY BODY: A hands-down, beautifully animated movie about a sentient appendage trying to make its way back to the unlucky SOB who suffered a power tool-related accident. Dreamlike, wistful, and containing a scene in which a disembodied hand battles sewer rats. What more do you want? I saw this French animated film at Fantastic Fest in 2019, but I hadn’t watched the English-language dub starring Dev Patel and Alia Shawkat, which Netflix produced after acquiring the film. It’s still a great movie and I wish more people were talking about it on a regular basis.
I spent my hurricane morning reading Nico Rodriguez’s WEST, NOT SOUTH. This super cool graphic novel features gorgeous handpainted art and a hard-boiled Texas-sized tale of anthropomorphic critters engaged in murder, beer can philosophy, and self-destruction. Nico wrote and illustrated the comic, hand-painting each page and panel. The result is incredible. Read it!
John O’Connor’s THE SECRET HISTORY OF BIGFOOT is a well-researched, well-thought-out exploration into why so many people believe in Sasquatch and his regional man-ape chums. The book delves deep into the link between religion, conspiracy theories, and the THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR. There are a lot of books about Bigfoot sightings, but not many books about why there are Bigfoot sightings. Check out this book!
Last year, I appeared on Creepy and Geeky Podcast talking about the movies SILVER BULLET and CURSED. The podcast just reuploaded the show as a rerun. Give it a listen below.
Last week, I appeared on NPR’s Houston Matters radio show with host Craig Cohen and fellow guest Rice University professor Charles Dove. You can hear us discuss the latest in movie megaplex meanderings here.
I've been working on WHERE WOLF 2 with Debora Lancianese and Jack Morelli for a long time—since before the first book was even published as a webcomic. I probably won't be done this year like I hoped, but as of this weekend, I am finally two-thirds finished with my next comic book. For the record, this represents 219 completed pages, which in and of itself is more than the size of a complete graphic novel for a sane creator who realizes they don't have to make a 300-page phone book every time they try to make a comic.
Remember, you can request a copy of WHERE WOLF from your local library or buy a personal copy directly from the publisher, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Brazos Bookstore in Houston, Ghoulish Books in San Antonio, or Whose Books in Dallas. If you've read WHERE WOLF, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon, Goodreads, The StoryGraph, or wherever you discover new books.
I’m supposed to be hosting BODY DOUBLE tonight and BONE TOMAHAWK on Friday night, but the Alamo Drafthouse still does not have power, and I’m not 100 percent sure these screenings are happening. If they do happen, I’ll be there, and you can buy tickets at drafthouse.com.