A bit all over the place, which might mean I’m coming down with whatever illness is beating my girlfriend’s immune system at the moment. Still, might be fun, eh?

First all, don’t mention St Patrick’s Day. I’m half Irish and I get annoyed by the way the festival has been usurped for commercial purpose, and even by the harmless Google’s shamrocked front page. At least the BBC provide you with facts. What was once a break from the harshness of Lent for Irish Catholics and a religious feast day, has now become something similar to a corporate identity, so I try to ignore it. But, in a world where you can buy Happy Halloween cards, I think I’m in the minority.

In other news, Joss Whedon will be handling Wonder Woman [EDIT: link no longer available] (ooer, missus, sounds a bit rude, etc.), which could be very interesting indeed. And Empire lets us know that Matthew Vaughan is still in talks about X-Men 3 [EDIT: link no longer available], so no official confirmation yet. Newsarama informs us that Marvel will be increasing prices of their cheapest comics; in other news, water is wet.

I’ve seen some other films recently and didn’t feel up to full reviews but did feel the urge to waffle on about them here. I saw Million Dollar Baby and couldn’t understand why it won best film and the acting Oscars. I have never had formal film studies training, so it’s possible I’m missing a lot, but I thought it was a good film with some nice directing but nothing more. Certainly, I couldn’t see what was so special about Hilary Swank to get her second statue and, although I certainly don’t begrudge the wonderful Morgan Freeman his Oscar, I thought there was nothing here to say he deserved it for this film, so it could be just the delay factor (for example, see Al Pacino getting his for Scent of a Woman instead of The Godfather, or Paul Newman for The Colour Of Money, instead of any of the other seven films he was nominated for before). I could, of course, still be dealing with my issues from Marty not winning …

For some reason, I saw John Carpenter’s Ghost of Mars. I can’t remember why I thought this was a good idea but I’m getting old, and my brain plays tricks on me. Let’s see; some criminals and cops team up in an enclosed location to deal with a bunch of motive-less psychos who are trying to kill them. That sounds familiar. Oh yes, his own Assault on Precinct 13, which was a remake of Rio Bravo, which is appropriate given the Western tinge to this version, but with some sci-fi and ghost hues to it. If you like watching Ice Cube biting on his lower lip when he thinks he’s acting tough, then this may be the film for you. But perhaps I was burned after watching Escape from LA or Vampires or any other Carpenter film he’s done recently. And keep that man away from a synthesiser, for crying out loud!

I also finally got round to seeing Anchorman, which was funny but not as funny as I’d been led to believe. There are some very funny lines in it that make me smirk remembering them (‘they called it “San Diego”, which in German means “whale’s vagina”‘ or ‘I don’t know what we’re yelling about! or ‘It’s so hot … milk was a bad choice.’ or ‘The Human Torch was denied a bank loan.’) but I thought the film didn’t hold together as well as a film as, say, Dodgeball. I think Will Ferrell has to watch out for being too Will Ferrell-ish at times, where he seems to give off the vibe ‘look at me, I’m being really funny now’. Could be just me, and I like Will Ferrell, even if he did make Old School, which I found deplorably bad. The reason for my not thinking that it works completely as a film was clicked into place by the ‘Making of …’ on the DVD, which informed me that the director and co-writer was Adam McKay, who was head writer on Saturday Night Llive, and how he was throwing in adlibs to the actors, even when they were improvising, explaining why it has the feel of an extended SNL skit. Still, some good comedy stuff going on, with Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate and Steve Carell doing some lovely work, and it leaves you with a goofy grin on your face after it’s finished, so you can’t hold a grudge against it.

Well, that’s enough film stuff for now, I guess. I think I’ll have a peek at the DC Comics Solicitations next, even if I’m joining the party late. You stay classy, blogosphere.