Author Archives: Bubbawheat
June-ing the Cult: The Movie Rat and Zokkomon
Zokkomon 2011
My June-ing the Cult month is winding down as I get to my last two which are also the two most recent films in this line up. Over at the The Movie Rat, Bernardo suggested that I check out Zokkomon, which is only five years old at the moment and was actually distributed by Disney World Cinema. Aside from that, I had no idea what I was getting into other than I assumed there would be at least some musical numbers based on what little I’ve seen out of Bollywood. What I ended up getting was a weird mix of Batman, Harry Potter, with a little Matilda and even the Karate Kid thrown in for good measure. The high point was the colorful characters and the touch of a greater message that was only slightly heavy handed. Very fun film and easily recommended.
Superhero Podcast Review: Super Zero
Welcome back to another edition of my Superhero Podcast Review where I take a closer look at one of the many podcasts that focus on the world of superhero and comic book movies. This is one of the few times that I will feature a podcast that has technically ended its run because I did listen to the majority of the show and since the show does focus mainly on the movies with little to no talk about news, there’s no real deadline on the content’s freshness. But I will say it here, when asking for suggestions & submissions for future podcast reviews in the future, it should be a show that’s still currently being produced. And if you know of one, or if you host one yourself, feel free to contact me by leaving a comment, shouting me on Twitter @Bubbawheat or sending me an e-mail Bubbawheat@msn.com.
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Filmwhys Spotlight: Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Filmwhys Spotlight where Bubbawheat shines a light on an underappreciated superhero film through the eyes of the fans who love it. This time around we are discussing the Edgar Wright theatrical bomb that is now a cult favorite with several of its biggest fans. Joining me are Stefan Gagne, a webnovelist whose work can be found at StefanGagne.com, Amy Taylor, writer and director of the webseries Jess Archer Versus which can be found at their YouTube channel, Debbie Rolf, podcaster who can be heard on her podcast You Haven’t Seen?!, and Nikhat Zahra, blogger and podcaster who can be heard on her podcast Across the Universe, the Chicks with Accents and her currently inactive film blog Being Norma Jean.
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Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman 1974
Continuing my month of the more obscure and cult superhero films I’m taking a look at probably the least well known version of a popular superhero going back to the first TV pilot of the Wonder Woman TV show. Most people are familiar with the popular Lynda Carter show from the 70’s, but before they cast Carter they actually shot, filmed, and aired a very different version of the show with actress Cathy Lee Crosby as Diana Prince. And while I haven’t really seen any full episodes of the Carter version aside from a few clips, this felt very different than what I would imagine the later show went on to be. It had much more of a serious tone to it and felt more like a detective show rather than a superhero show. She barely wore the costume, there were no special effects to show off any super powers to speak of, and there was actually quite a bit of death and danger. It was quite fascinating to look back at this version of the character even though it barely resembled anything I knew about Wonder Woman aside from her name and the name of Steve Trevor.
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Superhero Podcast Review: Cinematic Universe
It’s time yet again for another round of Superhero Podcast Review where I take a closer look at a podcast that focuses on superhero and comic book movies. I’ve gone through most of my regular listens and have a couple more that I’ve listened to before but don’t listen to for every episode which actually has me adjusting my Subscribe/Unsubscribe rating ever so slightly which you can read more about when I get to it. Next week I’ll be back to a podcast that I’ve listened to most of the episodes but is currently on extended hiatus, and after that I’ll be switching to a bi-weekly review schedule. But first, let’s take a look at this week’s podcast.
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June-ing the Cult: Silver Emulsion and 3 Dev Adam
3 Dev Adam aka 3 Giant Men 1973
We’re halfway through this trip across a handful of cult superhero movies thanks to several of my cult blogging friends. Throughout the month of June, I’ve asked several bloggers that I know who often tackle their own fair share of obscure and cult films and asked them to each choose a superhero movie for me to check out and review. Thanks to Will from Silver Emulsion for picking today’s movie, if you go visit his site make sure to check out his thoughts on every Superman movie made, including many foreign knock-offs, including Turkish Superman.
Justice League of America
Justice League of America 1997
While I’ve delved through the entire depths of the Marvel film catalogue including their awful TV movie roots, I have yet to do the same for DC. I have seen nearly all of their films, but there are a handful of early animated movies from the 90’s and a couple TV movies including this one that was initially intended to be the pilot of a new TV series coming hot off the heels of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. But they also took a page out of the popularity of MTV’s the Real World which would have been on season 4 or 5 when this went into production and also would be near the height of the show’s popularity. So this show combines the superheroics with the daily life of the heroes alongside several “confessional” segments where the heroes talk directly to the TV audience. It’s bizarre how this managed to even make it to the pilot movie stage, the costumes and effects were lackluster, the characters were unlikable and barely resembled their comic book counterparts, and overall it feels roughly five years behind even 1997.
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Superhero Shorts: Healing Heroes
It’s once again time for another edition of Superhero Shorts, where I feature a superhero short film and ask a few questions of the filmmaker. Today I’m talking with Christopher Orangeo, creator of the short Healing Heroes which is a bit more of a proof of concept slash mini-pilot in the hopes of turning it into something bigger. As always, you can watch the film below or you can get more information about the film at the Healing Heroes Tumblr page.
The Spirit
The Spirit 1987
To go along with the other cult movies that other bloggers have picked out for me, I thought I’d follow along with some cult films of my own choosing. I have no idea whether or not this really counts as much of a cult film, though I have heard from at least two people who have seen this and thought it was much better than the theatrical Frank Miller version. This was made in the mid-Eighties with Sam J. Jones as the lead, better known as Flash Gordon himself. It also had Nana Visitor as his love interest who I was familiar with as Major Kira on Star Trek: Deep Space 9. But most of all, this pilot movie was extremely 80’s. From the music to the cheap sets to the power suits and cassette walkmen, it was very much steeped in the 80’s and for that reason alone, I had a lot of fun watching this. Most of it is even set up to have much more of a comedy feel than an action/detective vibe. It was as close to Adam West’s Batman with a bit more 80’s sensibilities than you could ever get.
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Superhero Podcast Review: Meanwhile…
Round three of my current project of superhero podcast reviews where I’m taking a closer look at some of the many superhero and comic book movie podcasts out there and seeing how they align with my own tastes. I’m still going with my regular listens though this time it’s a much more recent show having debuted within this past year. I generally listen to a lot of different podcasts, mainly indie movie podcasts, but I’m always looking to grow my subscription list so if you have or know of a superhero-focused podcast, primarily on the movie side of things, give me a shout in the comments or on Twitter so I can make it a future review.
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Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 