- Park Chan-wook's Thirst is a fascinating film for a variety of reasons, chief among which is its unabashed willingness to laugh at itself. Or possibly because of the fact that it isn't aware it is being laughed at; the tone is confused to say the least. What starts as a religious melodrama descends into farce no more or less ridiculous than Twilight. If the intention is to parody and/or satirise the conventions of vampire stories, then the film is an unqualified success. If, however, the director was playing things straight, then Thirst is a spectacular failure. Either way, it is certainly worth watching.

- Another thing I did yesterday: plough through Avengers Disassembled, having had the sudden urge to reread it. Hyperbolic statement warning: these comics probably did as much damage to the industry as the shift of power from writer to artist in the early 1990s. They convinced both Marvel and DC that the way forward was blockbuster event after blockbuster event, with the need to a grandiose line-wide storyline every summer trumping any artistic considerations. Avengers Disassembled is successful on some counts, but much of it is dreadful. After a decent part one, the remainder is defined by any number of interminable conversation scenes. It's like Brian Michael Bendis thought to himself "wow, that first chapter was action-packed! Better slow the pace down from hereon in." And so things grind to a halt. Part three is particularly poor, from Hawkeye's oft-mocked death to the damp squib of a cliffhanger, although the biggest failure is the way Brian Michael Bendis simply tells the reader the Scarlet Witch is the villain, rather than revealing it. Masterful storytelling it is not.

- On a related note, over at Onward, Manchester I've posted My Life in Comicbooks, charting my appreciation of the artform from its origins to the modern day. It includes cartoons, pilgrimage, and murder!