NEWS ABOUT SUPERFLICKS!

Posted on August 18th, 2010 by ekko

This week, I’m busting out the latest capes and cowl news by category, with this post on movies to be followed by posts on TV and print.  Digg in and enjoy!

- The Green Lantern film is wrapped, and two sequels are already in development for a one-a-year release (2011-13).  Check out the still shot of my favorite GLC member: Kilowog!

- James Cameron is making a deal to simultaneously shoot two Avatar sequels.

- So, uh, why can’t they do this with Spider-Man, or do a two-part Avengers movie?

- Speaking of Marvel Studios, they’ve floated ideas for some post-Avengers movies, including Nick Fury, Iron Fist, Black Panther, Dr. Strange, and a film based on the Grant Morrison/JMS books about The Guardians of the Galaxy.  (Speaking of Black Panther, anyone know why the motion comic was pulled off of iTunes before I could buy it?)  The rumors are that that Iron Fist flick would be based on the Brubaker/Fraction/Aja series (thumbs up!).

- There’s been some more buzz about Robert Rodriguez directing “Deadpool” starring Ryan Reynolds.  Sounds like they’re talking $$ now, which is a good sign.

- Tony “Enemy of the State” Scott will be directing a movie based on Mark Millar’s fair-to-middling “Nemesis” comic (which has only two issues published so far).

- Runaways has begun casting and will begin shooting in January.  It’s being called a “Disney” film, so I guess we’ll see for the first time how the Marvel/Disney merger will affect Marvel film content.

- Director Adam (“lots of crappy Will Ferrell movies”) McKay says the script for the film version of Garth Ennis/Darrick Robertson’s “The Boys” is almost complete and is true to the comic, and says the film will have a hard R rating.  That’s all well and good, but McKay has never done anything worth seeing, so I am skeptical.  Plus: It might be in 3-D.  Which I hate.

Tags: Comic books, Garth Frickin' Ennis, Movies, Superheroes

MAILBAG MUSIC

Posted on June 19th, 2010 by ekko

Sometimes it’s interesting to see how people find my site.  These are the most commonly searched Google terms used to find this corner of the internet yesterday:

Very odd, eh?  Here’s something cooler: My favorite documentarian has released a soundtrack to his latest production, “Floating: the Nathan Gocke Story.” You can get a taste of it, by the band Moonlit Sailor, along with songs by a bunch of other Deep Elem Records artists here, and check out a preview of the documentary here.  It’s about a guy who gets a spinal cord injury while surfing, and tries to surf again.  It premiers on Fuel TV on June 23 at 6:30pm.

And another free one is by Julian Shah.  Get it here.

And finally, Fashawn’s tribute to Nas’ Illmatic.  It’s new words over Ill beats, from a Cali perspective.  As of right now, it’s one of my favorite mixtapes of 2010.

Here’s the direct DL link.

You can say “thank you” now.

Tags: Free Album!, Hip Hop, Mixtape, Movies

THE TOP 10 VIDEO GAME MOVIES

Posted on June 15th, 2010 by ekko

Okay, so I had to go to Prince of Persia with the kids.  Boy was that painful.  As I muscled through the relentless barrage of clichés and predictable plot developments, I thought to myself, “Is this the worst Video Game Movie ever?”  Answer: Probably not.  But are there ever any good ones?  Surprisingly, there are . . . Of course, I’m not including any of the Pokemon movies because, well, it’s Pokemon.

One more thing: There are a few hidden song goodies in here, too.  Just ’cause you’re all so dang special.

Runners up: Movies that weren’t as bad as they should have been:  Doom and Hitman.

10.  Silent Hill (2006).

I don’t have much to say about this first entry.  I can’t say I liked it, but I didn’t hate it, and lots of people I know liked it.  So it gets the number 10 slot.

9.  Street Fighter (1994).

Street Fighter was directed by Steven E. de Souza, a comic book writer who is currently attached to direct the Sgt. Rock movie.  On the one hand, he’s the guy who wrote Die Hard.  On the other, he’s the guy who directed Beverly Hills Cop 3.  From the foundation of such ambiguity came this strangely satisfying film.  It’s also the best Jean Claude Van Damme film ever, and also starred Oscar winner Raul Julia in one of his most screen-eating roles.  Don’t concern yourself with plot or acting, just come for the cheesy violence.

8.  Tommy (1975).

Okay, pinball isn’t a video game, but it is an arcade game.  It’s on the list, but I ranked it low for lack of being an actual video game.  I had to include it, though.  If nothing else, it’s an excuse to post Eric Clapton’s brilliant performance of Eyesight to the Blind . . .

. . . And a cover . . .

See Me, Feel Me Listening to You (Eddie Vedder w/The Who, live 2003)

7.  Hitman (2007).

This post notwithstanding, I’m not much of a gamer.  I think most video games are pretty boring.  So I had no idea that this movie, in which the always compelling Timothy Olyphant plays a dude raised by monks to be the perfect assassin and spends an hour and a half pretty much shooting everything he sees, was based on a series of video games.  If I had known that, I might have avoided the movie.  But I really enjoyed it.  Of course, I like pretty much everything Olyphant does, including his current TV series, Justified.

6.  Wargames (1983).

“It’s still playing the game!”  Not just a good video game movie, a good movie in general, about a game called Global ThermoNuclear War and a little hacker boy played by Matthew Broderick.  Who appears not to have aged a day since he made that movie.  Must be all the lovin’ he gets from Sarah Jessica Parker.  So although the movie is a little dated, he isn’t.

Anyhow, this is one of several films on this list that were not based on video games but were about them.  Think that’s cheating?  Well, you try to do a top 10 list like this and not include crappy movies like Tomb Raider.  This was the only way to make it work.  And everyone knows every list worth a damn has to have at least 10 items.

Play the Game (Queen cover)-Beach House

5.  Mortal Kombat (1995). 

One of two films on this list directed by Paul W.S. Anderson–talk about having a niche specialty–Mortal Kombat starring Christopher Lambert and a group of unknown, young and attractive martial artists was surprisingly good.  Particularly if you went in expecting it to be a steaming pile of crap.  The effects might not be impressive by today’s standards, but the fight scenes still hold up well.  Caution: Do not confuse this film with Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.  You’ll be sorry.

4.  Tron (1982).

I’m too lazy to investigate whether the game or movie came first, but the game was pretty awesome.  This was the quintessential video game movie: It’s all about being in a video game.  The special effects, for its time, were great.  It was the first film to specifically target gamers as an audience, and it actually received some fairly positive reviews.  With Tron: Legacy coming soon, and Jeff Bridges reprising his role from this film, everyone should get a hold of this on DVD and check it out again.  It’s more than a little dated, but it’s a classic.

3.  EXistenZ (1999).

First of all, by way of disclaimer, I have to note that this is a David Cronenberg film.  Now, I love Dave’s work–he’s one of my all-time favorite directors–but I recognize he’s not for everyone.  Particularly because this isn’t a Scanners/History of Violence/Eastern Promises Cronenberg film. It’s a Shivers/Videodrome/Dead Ringers Cronenberg film: One apart from the mainstream, freaky and disturbing as hell. It’s about a fictional virtual reality game that plugs into users’ spines, looks suspiciously like an umbilical cord, and gradually takes over their existences.  The word “isten” means God, which fits the philosophical themes of the film.  It is an exploration of the role of fantasy and faith in our lives.  Like a few other films on this list, this is a movie about a video game, not based on one.  Starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law.

2.  Resident Evil (2002).

First of all, you get to see Milla Jovovich’s bare rib balloons, which is always a good thing.  Second, this is actually a very solid zombie flick and is even occasionally scary.  The sequel was pretty good, too, but the third one was godawful.  The fourth comes out this year, and based on the first two, I’ll probably go see it, but it will probably be a huge let down.  All the films are directed by Paul WS Anderson, also known for directing the remake of Death Race starring Jeremy Statham, another very good, very violent B-movie.

1.  The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007).

If you love to stare at geeks, marvel at mullets, or enjoy a good slice of life documentary, Seth Gordon’s film about the competition between the two best Donkey Kong players in the country is perfect.  It is a truly excellent film and, surprise of surprises, is actually touching.  It should be required viewing for all video game fans, and is far and away the best video game film in history.  Winner of several best documentary awards, including a People’s Choice.

Tags: Classic Rock, Covers, Movies, Video Games

SUPERNEWS: MOVIES AND T.V. EDITION

Posted on May 31st, 2010 by ekko

I decided to bust out my weekly musings on superdoings into print and moving media this week, because there’s just so darn much I wanna talk about!

Please, give me comments if you like these features—I enjoy writing them, but I know that most of my regular readers come here for music . . .

1.  MORGAN SPURLOCK MOVIES. The top story this week has to be that one of the most brilliant documentarians of all time, Morgan Spurlock, is going to turn his lens on the San Diego Comic-Con.  Stan Lee, Joss Whedon and Harry Knowles will executive produce.  They’re also looking for folks to interview and put in the movie.  Here’s the details:

We are looking to cast original, eccentric, funny, touching, and mildly obsessive people that will capture the excitement, enthusiasm, joy, and passion of comic book, anime, sci-fi, and fantasy lovers everywhere.  If this Convention will be the highlight of your year and you have a story to share about your passion, let us know. Join the fellowship, take part in this epic documentary, and write us at ComicConDoc@gmail.com. Include your name, phone number, a picture, and tell us your story.

2.  MARVEL MOVIES. I guess the hype machines are going again.  Rumor has it now that the 2012 film will feature the Skrulls and a hypnotized Hulk.  True Merry Marvel Marchers know that Loki got Hulk to do nasty stuff way, way, WAY back in The Avengers #1, so we’re not totally rewriting history here.  Just mostly.  Rumor also has it that the film will be (ugh) in 3D.  Non-rumor has it that Dominic Cooper is confirmed to play Howard Stark (Tony’s poppa) in the Captain America movie.  I expect he’ll be designing the shield that made a cameo in Iron Man 2.

3.  D.C. MOVIES. Is anyone who saw the preview even close to being interested in seeing Jonah Hex when it comes out in a few weeks?  Looks terrible.  On the other hand, Green Lantern moviepeople are already talking sequel.  If the flick is good, I’ll consider forgiving them for stealing away our chances of getting a Deadpool movie any time soon.

4.  IRON MAN, COWBOYS & ALIENS, AND HOWARD STERN. On Sirius Radio’s “Geek Time” show, Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau said that “Senator Stern” was named after Howard Stern, and offered the radio host a role in Cowboys & Aliens.  (Stern said he wasn’t interested.)  But of all the so-called superhero geeks associated with The Howard Stern Show and with Geek Time, had nobody heard of Roger Stern, the most important and influential Iron Man writer in history?  Seems to me Favreau was clearly kissing Howard’s behind.

5.  SMALLVILLE. Will be cancelled after next season.  It’s about time.  The show is getting old.  Very old.  And they’re still not saying whether he’ll put on the suit.  Or if Lex Luthor will return.  These are the two biggest faults with the series, so if these aren’t fixed, I doubt I’ll stick with it.  I fast-forward through almost every episode these days, anyway.

6.  METRIC—YES, THE BAND. And for my regular music readers, this last item: I’m not a fan of the Scott Pilgrim comic (it’s not bad, it’s just not my thing), but the movie looks great.  As does the soundtrack, which will feature Metric, among other bands.  Remember when Metric used to be one of the hugest things on the blogosphere, along with Rilo Kiley?

Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright (Bob Dylan) (acoustic)-Metric (direct link)

Such Great Heights (Postal Service cover)-Rilo Kiley (direct link)

Tags: Avengers, Covers, Deadpool, Green Lantern, Hulk, Indie rock, Movies, Superheroes

MORE SUPERNEWS!

Posted on May 17th, 2010 by ekko

1.  FIRST THINGS FIRST. Well, I’m as surprised as you that it wasn’t the best of the year so far.  It takes almost an hour to really get going, which is a definite problem.  But it’s still top tier.

2.  SALES FIGURES. Diamond released its April 2010 sales figures, which led me to ask: “Why?”  The top three are Brightest Day tie-ins: BD#0, Flash #1, and Green Lantern.  Now these are okay books, but are they really the best April had to offer?  Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin was in the fourth slot, deservedly, but then we see New Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Thor (Siege tie-in), Green Lantern Corps . . . These are all as mediocre as the top three.  Meanwhile, some books that are really breaking new ground are pretty low in the list: Jonathan Hickman’s S.H.I.E.L.D. is #38, American Vampire is at #72, Walking Dead is at #81 (even with an AMC T.V. series in development), and The Boys is way down at #88.  Other books worth better than their ranking are Daredevil (#42), Wolverine Weapon X (#59), and Brave and the Bold (#89).  It’s a sad comment on what we all buy.  And yet, I’m part of the guilty group because I’m waiting for the trades on most of the titles I’m lamenting about.

3.  POWER PACK. I also want to toss in another plug for the kids-oriented Thor and the Warrior’s Four.  It’s far and away the best Power Pack series ever—the second issue even starts with an extended dialogue based on the song “I Will Survive”!  And #2 has the funniest cover of the year, hands down . . .

4.  MARVEL DOWNSIZING? The rumor is that because sales figures are so bad, Marvel is going to shrink their books down to the “mini-size” that they used on Free Comic Book Day.  Has anyone else heard this?  If they do, I’m out most definitely.  If they do it to the trades, too, I’ll be so pissed I’ll stop reading a ton of the books I currently buy.

5.  X-MEN. If you still care about the Uncanny muties, Fraction killed Nightcrawler and you can read about it in Uncanny X-Men #524.  But don’t say I told you to.  Instead, I’m suggesting that X-Men Forever has (finally!) gotten a sense of direction, with the introduction of Iron Man as the primary villain.  Chris Claremont is definitely one of the best “idea men” in the biz, but his writing is usually too verbose (show, don’t tell Chris!) and clunky (“I’ll teleport behind him and disarm him!”).  Those flaws, combined with unimaginative but perfectly serviceable art and design have kept this book from being all it should be, but it does seem to be picking up speed more.  The ideas of a blind Sabertooth joining the X-Men, an evil Storm and a good baby Storm from the future, dead Wolverine (so he doesn’t dominate every storyline), Kitty with claws, the X-Men as an arm of Nick Fury, and the afore-mentioned bad-Stark, are all good ones,
and could develop into something great.  Claremont needs more editorial guidance.  Either that, or he needs to accept more editorial guidance.  Hard to tell if Marvel is ignoring him here or if he’s ignoring them.  Anyway, the title is ending soon and will relaunch in a mach 2 form.  Seems like a good place to jump in.

6.  MARVEL 3-D MOVIES. In the ugh department: Thor may be converted to 3D in post-production, and Cap and Avengers may be filmed in 3D.  Kill me now, because they just made me not want to see three movies I’ve been waiting years to see . . .

7.  BRIGHTEST DAY #1. Since Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi (the Blackest Night team) have brought us two issues (#0 and #1) of their next D.C. eventipic, you’re probably wondering: Should I be buying these issues, or waiting for the trade.  I’m here to say, you should wait for the trade.  From Blackest Night, we learned that the first half of this story will probably be exposition, which is best read in big chunks.  It’s like the first half of a superhero origin movie: You just want it to get done so you can get to the good parts.  That said, Brightest Day #1 did clear up a bunch of things from Blackest Night that either I was too dumb to understand or that Geoff didn’t tell us clearly the first time.  I am wondering why, now that Aquaman is back, he’s bulletproof.  Did I miss something, or could he always do that?

Tags: Comic books, Filthy Muties, Iron Man, Movies, Superheroes, The Caped Crusader, Thor

LIGHT NEWS THIS WEEK. . .

Posted on May 5th, 2010 by ekko

1.  MOVIES.  I love to report, but there’s not a lot this week.  I can tell you that the Nightmare remake is like eating fine lobster, only the claw meat has been replaced with rice cakes.  Not a scary moment in it. But there a few great movies out now–which will be easy to get into after May 7 (a.k.a. Iron Man Day).  Go see “A Prophet” and “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.”  Good stuff.  Check out my movie page for my ongoing rankings.

2.  GET JASON!  Why is Jason Aaron the only Wolverine writer you need to know about?  Because of the 2008 “Get Mystique” story (in trade); the amazing and incredible run he had on Wolverine: Weapon X; and, soon, his Wolverine-goes-to-hell story arc that will kick off a new Wolverine title (to replace the existing one, which is really about Dark Wolverine).  Nobody has ever (and I mean EVER) made the character as interesting or complex as Mr. Aaron.  And lots of folks have tried.

3.  CAN D.C. RETURN TO GREAT-TOON-NESS?  I’ve often said that D.C.’s animation efforts are far superior to Marvel’s, on the whole, while Marvel’s live-action adaptations tend to leave D.C. in the dust.  Compare, for example, Batman: Brave and the Bold, Justice League (and it’s “Unlimited” version), Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: TAS, and Teen Titans Go! to Wolverine and the X-Men, Spectacular Spider-Man, or every awful Fantastic Four cartoon.  Just about the only toons Marvel got right, other than their DVD releases, in the past 20 years were the first X-Men and X-Men Evolutions.  Well, Marvel’s animation studios are kicking into high gear, as I
reported last week, so, not to be outdone, D.C. has announced that this year they’ll be reviving the 1998 “Young Justice” series.  Yeah, it sucked back then, but maybe they can do it right now?  It’s kind of like a version of Teen Titans, only a little tweaked.  This version of the junior Justice League will have Superboy, Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Artemis and Aqualad.  Now, if they could just bring back that great Superboy and the Legion series from a few years ago . . .

4.  AND SPEAKING OF D.C. MOVING PICTURES . . . Smallville recently introduced T.V. viewers to the DCU version of SHIELD (sort of), called Checkmate, and it’s African American director Amanda Waller.  (She’s also black in the comic—unlike Nick Fury.)  Rumors say that the organization will move from small to big screen, appearing in the Green Lantern movie, which is currently filming.  In other D.C. movie news, there’s more talk about the Ronin adaptation.  The comic was quite stylized, and it’s hard to imagine how they’ll even begin to stay true to Frank Miller’s original mystic, cryptic miniseries.

5.  MARVEL STUDIOS UPDATES.  And speaking of moving pictures, we’re a year away from the release date, but the leaks, rumors and buzz keep coming on next year’s Marvel tentpole.  They’re saying now that Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos will appear.  That’s kind of a no-brainer if they’re showing pre-frozen Cap.  A much more interesting turn of events is the rumor that Joss Whedon will be getting involved as a writer or director of The Avengers.  And did you hear that if they don’t start filming Ghost Rider 2 by November, the rights to the film revert to Marvel Studios?  See, now that would be a good thing.  Marvel Studios has done a good job by most of its characters.  (But where’s the good Punisher movie?  That’s where they’ve fallen down. Big time.)

6.  SIEGE.  My readers know I’m a huge fan of Marvel in general and Brian Michael Bendis specifically, but Siege has been pretty disappointing to me.  I know it’s hard to make an “event” live up to the hype, and even harder to stretch a battle for 3 issues and keep it interesting, but I still expected more.  This is the return of Steve Rogers, but there doesn’t seem to be nearly enough fanfare.  This is Iron Man and Thor teaming up, in costume, against Earth’s evilest, but there isn’t really a feeling of rally.  This is Ronin reclaiming his Hawkeye costume—something he’s been grumbling about for a year—yet there hasn’t been a powerful “punch” moment.  I’m not saying Siege is bad, I’m just saying it’s not good enough.  But having said that, the one-shots have been pretty darn good.  We learned more about Loki and Cap than we have from the Thor and Captain America titles, let alone the main Siege series.  It’s the rare case where the tie-ins tell you more than the main series.  Even Siege: Spider-Man, which didn’t really advance any storylines, was a solid, fun, and funny read.   I’m not saying don’t buy it, I’m just saying, again, that I’m disappointed.

Tags: Cartoons, Comic books, Filthy Muties, Horror, Movies, Superheroes

IT’S THOR BABY

Posted on May 3rd, 2010 by ekko

The first glimpse….

Tags: Movies, Superheroes, Thor

NEVER GETTING TIRED OF BLOGGIN’ ABOUT SUPERHEROES…..

Posted on April 25th, 2010 by ekko

1.  AMAZING!  SUPPORT OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN . . . AND THE BIG O.M.I.T. REVEAL. Finally!  Matt at Multiversity defends Spider-Man: One More Day, something I’ve been doing for a long, long time (and have received more than one negative comment about it).  He says:

Forget the fact that One More Day isn’t really that bad at all (it was written by J Michael Stracynzski, come on people!), but the fallout of One More Day and Brand New Day was absolutely fantastic an absolute boon for Spider-Man and Marvel Comics. . . . Whether you like the story or not is irrelevant at this point. What’s done is done, and I honestly feel that rather than spend forever and a day obsessing about why making a deal with the devil is stupid, it happened.

Exactly!  You can find the whole article here.  And now that enough time has passed, Marvel has announced it’s new O.M.I.T. project–”One Moment In Time.”  Specifically, the moment that Peter and Mary Jane got married, which was erased by “One More Day.”  The story will appear in “Amazing Spider-Man” #637-640.  This is a credit to Marvel’s thrice-monthly plan: They continue to include nearly all relevant Spider-stuff in one book, rather than spread it out across several titles and miniseries.  There were hints that this plan was deteriorating with the launching of Web of Spider-Man and Peter Parker, but both of those titles seem nonessential.  (And pretty bad, frankly.)  In O.M.I.T., Marvel promises to answer all the lingering questions about what Mary Jane knows (and doesn’t know) about the past, and about what she whispered to Spider-Man so long ago . . . This title just keeps getting better!

2.  PACK IS BACK! I love Power Pack, and think they should be the next subject of a Marvel movie.  That said, Marvel’s kid-friendly line of miniseries starring the foursome has been uneven at best.  The ones with Spider-Man and Franklin Richards were great.  The ones with Iron Man and Wolverine, not so much.  The latest installment, “Thor and the Warrior’s Four” looks to be the best of the lot.  Which is ironic, because I’m not a fan of Thor.  But he’s not even in it!  Instead, we find Frog Thor and the Pet Avengers, with a teaser that next issue will bring us Beta Ray Bill.  There’s also a laugh-out-loud second feature starring The Mighty Babysitting Hercules.  If your kids are between 6 and 11 and they don’t like this book, disown them.

3.  MIGHTY MARVEL CARTOONS! At the Chi-town convention, Marvel announced new seasons of “Superhero Squad” and “Iron Man: Armored Adventures,” neither of which matter to me personally, but also mentioned a 2011 series: “Ultimate Spider-Man,” and confirmed that this September’s new series, “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” will feature Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, Hulk, Black Panther as the main lineup, with episodes including guests and baddies like The Red Skull, Ultron (of course), Hawkeye, Loki and Black Widow.  He also indicated that the “Black Panther” cartoon, which was produced by BET cable network, will eventually be shown in the U.S.  Finally, he hinted that “Spectacular Spider-Man” would not return (but that’s a Sony project, not a Marvel Studios one) and said “Wolverine & The X-Men” is kaput.  No great or unexpected losses there.

4.  THE EXPENDABLES. Before Kick Ass, I had to suffer through around eight stupid and boring trailers.  But then came the one with Arnold, Sly, Willis, Lundgren, Rourke, Jet Li, and Jason Statham.  I said, out loud, “Is this for real?”  Apparently, it is.

5.  IT’S A BIRD!  IT’S A PLANE!  IT’S A CONSOLIDATE, SINGLE STORY LINE! James Robinson has commented that his “War of the Superman” will actually replace all the Superman books in May, and the war will actually take only 100 minutes in “real time” to fight.  Kinda makes it like a season of 24, only in a comic.  I applaud Dan “master of chaos and disorganized crossovers” Didio for replacing all the Superbooks with the one story—it’s much likely to get me to read it.  It only took Marvel half a century to figure out that centralizing all the Spidey books was a good idea (see item one, above).  Maybe DC can figure that out, too.  Because it looks like the return of Bruce Wayne is going to be another Morrison-helmed tangled mess weaving through several titles, with no clear indication whether (and which) particular titles are essential to the storyline.

6.  THE FANTASTIC 3. In a desperate attempt to get attention, the F4 will lose a member this fall.  Prediction: It’ll be Thing, who is joining one of the Avengers teams and who has a history of quitting the team anyway.  I’ve heard that under Jonathan Hickman this title has become interesting again, but it’s hard to imagine.  The FF haven’t been worth reading since 1985.

7.  THE FLASH #1. Geoff Johns and the brilliant Frances Manapul were behind last week’s relaunch of a Flash title.  The Flash: Rebirth series was horrendously complicated, so I wasn’t expecting much here.  I read the first issue and I zzzzzzzz.

Tags: Comic books, Movies, News!, Spider-Man, Superheroes

AND SPEAKING OF ….

Posted on April 18th, 2010 by ekko

1.  Cover Me has a post full of Eminem covers.  Totally rad.  Remember when Eminem was cool?

2.  And speaking of rap, the terrific J-Live has a new single out.  The Way That I Rhyme (direct DL).  You need to hear this!

3. And speaking of hearing good music: Don’t Walk Away Renee-Billy Bragg and Badly Drawn Boy (direct DL).

4.  And continuing to speak about music, check out this totally rad video for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” one of the greatest pop songs in history.  Just posting it for no special reason.

5.  And speaking of things to see, I saw Death at a Funeral.  Here’s a few remarkable things about it:

• It is the best Martin Lawrence film since Bad Boys.
• Chris Rock  finally figured out how to not appear like a completely-can’t-act-awkward-bastard: Be in a movie with ML.  It’s like looking skinny by hanging out with people who are fatter than you.
• It would be a lot funnier if the one joke in it wasn’t so completely homophobic.
• The moral is: You can undergo a change in character and a transformation into a better person–and hate gay people less–if you kill a fag.
• What the hell happened to Neil Labute’s standards?
• But despite all of the above, I didn’t hate it.

6.  And speaking of strange things that don’t bother me as much as they should: Just got a new car.  And I was paid a grand by the Federal Government not to trade in my old car.  Now all I need to do is get subsidies to not grow crops, and my slacker apathy dream will be complete.

Tags: Go away, Hip Hop, Movies, Randominity

SUPER(ISH) NEWS . . . MOSTLY ABOUT MOVIES!

Posted on April 11th, 2010 by ekko

1.  BUCKY! It was predictable that any movie telling the origin of Captain America would have to include Bucky.  Well, with Chris “Human Torch” Evans now on board as Cap, they’ve announced Sebastian “Hot Tub Time Machine” Stan as the future Winter Soldier.  Reports say Stan has a five-picture deal, so I guess Marvel is hoping for many future episodes.  As am I.  Seriously, Joe Johnston: Don’t screw this up.  Evans and Sebastian look to be about the same age, and Evans if a pretty lean guy, so the Cap we see on the screen will definitely be a different type of character.  It’s hard to imagine how he’ll be next to Robert Downey, Jr., in the Avengers film—particularly because Downey doesn’t dumb-down his acting for anyone—but I’d be willing to accept Cap as a younger guy (physically) as long as Evans can bring us a man (and idealist) out of time.  The movie begins filming in June with a July 22, 2011 release date.

2.  SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN! If I had to make a list of my favorite directors, I’d have to include Sam Raimi, George Romero, David Fincher, M Night Shamalyan (recent work notwithstanding), Joss Whedon, John Carpenter, probably Spielberg (even though that’s an obvious choice) and, of course, the great Wes Craven.  So I’m doing the Snoopy happy dance over the fact Wes will return to reboot and direct “Scream 4.”  The Scream trilogy is a rare example of a series that for the most part maintained high quality throughout (except maybe for the third one).  And best of all, it will be written by Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original.  I’m not sure there are that many more horror tropes to satirize, and the fact that most recent horror films are just remakes of old ones means that there aren’t any new tropes in the game, either.  Still, I’m hopeful.

3.  A HELLUVA LOT MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE. Okay, I admit that I loved Transformers, and I truly think Shia La Beouf is a very talented actor.  However, to my credit, I wasn’t a fan of Trans2 and I think Megan Fox is a better cardboard standee than an actress.  That said, for “Transformers 3″ Michael Bay has cast John Malkovich and Frances McDormand(!)  The real question isn’t how did he do that (it’s the money, stupid) but why?  They won’t bring new butts into the seats.  He seems to be fishing for critical acclaim (since the first two flicks were not exactly well-received), but is Bay really that pathetic?

4.  THOR NEWS! Director Kenneth Branagh and members of the cast are doing more talking, now that filming has begun on the Marvel Norse epic scheduled for a 2011 release.  They say the movie will take place evenly between Asgard and Midgard (Earth, to you non-Thor fans), but really they’re trying to dispel rumors that cast members are fighting even more than the characters they portray.  The volume of leaks about disgruntled stars (a big one was the report that Odin (Anthony Hopkins) thinks Christopher Helmsworth (Thor) is a lightweight) is definitely troubling.  Except for a few brief shining moments, I’ve always thought of Thor as Marvel’s second-most-laziest character in terms of developing a unique heroic character, largely due to the reliance on Norse mythology.  I’m hopeful that Matt Fraction (who takes over the main title) and Brian Michael Bendis (who will include Thor in the new Avengers title) can rescue the character, but clearly that won’t happen soon enough to inform the film version.  Too bad they didn’t go for the sexy (albeit creepy) female Loki . . .

5.  EVEN MORE THOR NEWS! Incidentally, on May 1 we’ll get our first taste of Marvel’s attempt to rescue Thor from the huge quality drop post-JMS’ run on the title, when free comic book day offers a one-shot “Iron Man and Thor” book written by Fraction and illustrated by John Romita, Jr.  It takes place on the moon(!).  I’ve said here often that JR Jr. is my favorite Marvel artist of all time, but I have to say: His sketches for the new Avengers promos have been less than impressive—but previews of his Thor drawings for the free comic book are awesome.  Anyway, I’m hopeful for the Fraction Thor book because, like JMS and Walt Simonson before him, Fraction has a proven track record of being able to reboot characters with long histories, stay true to past legend, but also make the book completely accessible to new readers.  He did it twice already, with Iron Fist and Iron Man.  Thor will be his first non-ferrous reboot!

6.  LOTS OF AVENGERS. All of the Avengers titles will end at the end of Siege, only to be relaunched as The Avengers, Avengers Academy, and Secret Avengers.  The main team has pretty much been confirmed, and the only real surprise there is that Cap will be Bucky not Steve, but Marvel recently also announced that The Beast is returning to a non-mutant team as a member of The Secret Avengers, alongside War Machine.  The series writer, Ed Brubaker, is of course brilliant at turning second-stringers into A-list characters, and I can’t wait to see artist Mike Deodato—my favorite New Avengers artist—take on War Machine.  I also can’t wait until they haul in Howard the Duck.
7.  R.I.P. I don’t usually do death announcements, but I have to mention the passing of Archie Comics artist Henry Scarpelli on April 4.  Who didn’t love Archie as a kid?

8.  AND SPEAKING OF DEATH . . . Rumor is someone’s gonna die in the last Smallville ep.  Rumor hasn’t been confirmed, but what has been confirmed are appearances by Hawkman, Black Canary, Cyborg, and Stargirl.  This is a show that has really lost me.  I watch to see other D.C. heroes, and when they’re just whining about romance (see the recent “romance in the haunted cabin” episode), I tune out.  It’s too bad.  There’s so much potential for greatness here, but for whatever reason D.C. won’t let them make the show more than just intermittently good.

9.  AND FOR THE GEEKIEST OF THE GEEKS . . . SALES NUMBERS! A lot of my readers come just for the music.  I’ve had more than one person tell me, “Comic books?  I’m a grown man!”  But I dig ‘em.  And this blog is about what I dig.  But even I can say that only a few of you will care at all about this last item: On Thursday, Diamond Comic Distributors released their March sales numbers.  Of course, Marvel dominates the overall market (they saturate it, after all)—40% to D.C.’s 30%–but surprisingly, only one Marvel title made the top 5 (Siege #3).  Here’s the top 10 regular books:

1     BLACKEST NIGHT #8     $3.99     DC
2     SIEGE #3     $3.99     MAR
3     GREEN LANTERN #52     $2.99     DC
4     BATMAN AND ROBIN #10     $2.99     DC
5     GREEN LANTERN CORPS #46     $3.99     DC
6     NEW AVENGERS #63     $3.99     MAR
7     DARK AVENGERS #15     $3.99     MAR
8     ULTIMATE COMICS NEW ULTIMATES #1     $3.99     MAR
9     UNCANNY X-MEN #522     $3.99     MAR
10     AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #623     $2.99     MAR

In the trades category, indie publishers and imprints dominated, with Kick-Ass at #1, and top-10 entries by well-deserved books like Kirkman’s “Haunt,” Ennis’ “The Boys,” and the latest installment of Buffy Season 8.  If you’re not buying (or at least reading) The Boys, you’re truly missing out…

Tags: Captain America, Comic books, Horror, Movies, Superheroes, Thor