Post by paulpogue on Nov 19, 2008 20:11:05 GMT -8
It’s time once again for Great Moments in Nerdglee – those all-too-rare but utterly awesome moments that make all the crap of being a nerd worth it. No wet-blanketry here; just talk about stuff that made you just want to rewind, re-read or rewatch and say “That’s fucking AWESOME!!!!” My primary focus is on 2008, though really, any modern pop culture works.
DOCTOR WHO, The TARDIS tows the Earth: For all the many, many flaws in “The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End” (and good-god-DAMN, there were a lot of them), this one moment damn near redeems the entire thing. Not necessarily the towing-the-Earth part (although c’mon, that was pretty nifty), but the logical climax of the Gathering of Companions, with six people flying the TARDIS for the first time in the entire series, in a Who moment that’s going to live forever. It’s so freaking awesome that not only do I forgive Freema Agyeman breaking character and grinning at the camera, I ADORE it.
Runner-up: The “Bad Wolf” moment, punctuated by a blaringly over-the-top rendition of the “All the Strange Strange Creatures” theme at the end of “Turn Left,” was so completely mental that it deserves a spot on this list.
SPEED RACER, Driving up a cliff: I have to admit, this was a tough one. The live-action Speed Racer movie was, to me, pretty much two hours of nonstop nerdglee, and I loved every second. But this moment, midway through the film, is the one I can watch over and over again: Speed, driving the Mach 5, gets knocked off a mountain face by his nemesis, Snake Oiler. Careening through the air to certain death, does he panic? Freak out? Even seem a little perturbed? Not if your name is SPEED FRAKKING RACER. No, our hero just activates the spike-grip tires, jump-jacks upside down and backwards to head up again, and speeds up and over and crashing back down onto Snake Oiler while the original theme screams in the background. (Giacchino used bits and pieces of the Speed Racer theme all through the film, but this was one of the few times he just went whole-hog and used it note-for-note.) In a film that was a nearly perfect live-action rendition of a perfect nerd icon, this was the most perfect moment.
THE DARK KNIGHT: I can’t actually peg any one moment of sheer awesomeness, but this movie was pretty much nerdglee all the way through.
WATCHMEN: The trailer. Admit it. NERDGLEE.
COMICS: Alarmingly, I’ve got nothin’. Even Morrison’s Final Crisis is, while entertaining, something of a letdown. Wait, there’s one: THE INCREDIBLE HERC is pretty much nonstop awesomeness, though for sheer nerdglee I have to go with the late-2007 arc which includes Hercules batting missiles out of the air with Ares as the bat, Amadeus Cho rerouting Tony Stark’s poop into his air supply, the Anti-Godzilla Helicarrier, and “You’ll always be fuckin’ Hercules to me.” Who would have thought the writer of “World War Hulk” was also the guy to make comics FUN again?
SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY: Sales drop below 65,000 per issue. Admit it, you did the happy dance too.
Runner-up: Any of the many contradictory interviews where it is made perfectly clear that the writers and editors not only aren't coordinating very well, but they apparently barely even know each other exist.
TELEVISION: Kinda sad that there’s not much to go with here, but that’s what a writer’s strike gets you. I’m hoping Heroes eventually brings us awesomeness on the level of Doctor Who/The Master/Sulu all arguing again, and 30 Rock is destined for nerdy greatness.
Your thoughts?
DOCTOR WHO, The TARDIS tows the Earth: For all the many, many flaws in “The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End” (and good-god-DAMN, there were a lot of them), this one moment damn near redeems the entire thing. Not necessarily the towing-the-Earth part (although c’mon, that was pretty nifty), but the logical climax of the Gathering of Companions, with six people flying the TARDIS for the first time in the entire series, in a Who moment that’s going to live forever. It’s so freaking awesome that not only do I forgive Freema Agyeman breaking character and grinning at the camera, I ADORE it.
Runner-up: The “Bad Wolf” moment, punctuated by a blaringly over-the-top rendition of the “All the Strange Strange Creatures” theme at the end of “Turn Left,” was so completely mental that it deserves a spot on this list.
SPEED RACER, Driving up a cliff: I have to admit, this was a tough one. The live-action Speed Racer movie was, to me, pretty much two hours of nonstop nerdglee, and I loved every second. But this moment, midway through the film, is the one I can watch over and over again: Speed, driving the Mach 5, gets knocked off a mountain face by his nemesis, Snake Oiler. Careening through the air to certain death, does he panic? Freak out? Even seem a little perturbed? Not if your name is SPEED FRAKKING RACER. No, our hero just activates the spike-grip tires, jump-jacks upside down and backwards to head up again, and speeds up and over and crashing back down onto Snake Oiler while the original theme screams in the background. (Giacchino used bits and pieces of the Speed Racer theme all through the film, but this was one of the few times he just went whole-hog and used it note-for-note.) In a film that was a nearly perfect live-action rendition of a perfect nerd icon, this was the most perfect moment.
THE DARK KNIGHT: I can’t actually peg any one moment of sheer awesomeness, but this movie was pretty much nerdglee all the way through.
WATCHMEN: The trailer. Admit it. NERDGLEE.
COMICS: Alarmingly, I’ve got nothin’. Even Morrison’s Final Crisis is, while entertaining, something of a letdown. Wait, there’s one: THE INCREDIBLE HERC is pretty much nonstop awesomeness, though for sheer nerdglee I have to go with the late-2007 arc which includes Hercules batting missiles out of the air with Ares as the bat, Amadeus Cho rerouting Tony Stark’s poop into his air supply, the Anti-Godzilla Helicarrier, and “You’ll always be fuckin’ Hercules to me.” Who would have thought the writer of “World War Hulk” was also the guy to make comics FUN again?
SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY: Sales drop below 65,000 per issue. Admit it, you did the happy dance too.
Runner-up: Any of the many contradictory interviews where it is made perfectly clear that the writers and editors not only aren't coordinating very well, but they apparently barely even know each other exist.
TELEVISION: Kinda sad that there’s not much to go with here, but that’s what a writer’s strike gets you. I’m hoping Heroes eventually brings us awesomeness on the level of Doctor Who/The Master/Sulu all arguing again, and 30 Rock is destined for nerdy greatness.
Your thoughts?
