Author Archives: Bubbawheat
Is “Direct-to-DVD” a Dirty Word?
Are Movies With Theatrical Releases “Better”?
I follow a lot of movie sites, and most of them have a focus on theatrical releases as well as back catalog favorites. But there is an entirely different market out there consisting of movies that skip the theatrical release and go straight to home video through services like Amazon and Redbox. When talking about these home video releases, many people think of things like Asylum films and their low budget mockbusters made to capitalize on the projected success of many of the Hollywood summer blockbusters. But there are plenty of other categories of “direct-to-blu” videos that aren’t so cut and dry. There are a great many DC and Marvel animated films that have come out in the past several years, and while the run time and budget speak to a home video release, the acting and story are often just as strong as any theatrically released animated movie.
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Superman Doomsday
Superman Doomsday 2007
This was advertised as the first animated Superman movie rated PG-13 and was really the start of the DC Animation boom that’s continued to this day. Before this, most of the movies released were drawn from the various animated series like Batman, Batman Beyond, and The Adventures of Superman. This one was based on one of the most popular comic books of all time, the Death of Superman, though there were many significant changes to the story. I was actually vaguely familiar with the Death of Superman story because one of my friends bought into the whole craze at the time so I read through the first issue shortly after it first came out. When this movie came out, I had heard that there was a brief cameo by Kevin Smith which referred to the giant mechanical spider he was asked to include during his work on the Superman Lives script. In the end, it turned out pretty well, though I do think it is one of the weaker animated projects, likely due to the fact that it was one of the earlier ones.
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Superhero Shorts: Iron Man in 60 Seconds
Superhero Shorts: 8-Bit Cinema: Iron Man in 60 Seconds
Welcome to another edition of Superhero Shorts, where each time I feature a different short film based around superheroes and have a brief chat with the creators. This time I’m talking with Norwood Cheek and David Dutton who have pared down the first Iron Man movie into a brief 60 seconds. Not only that, but they have also turned it into an 8-bit style animation. As usual, you can watch it below, or you can watch it on Cinefix’s YouTube Channel. You can also view some of David’s other works at Dutton Films.
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Man of Steel Countdown #3: Smallville’s ‘Craving’ episode with Amy Adams
Check out my thoughts on Smallville, specifically an episode from the first season with Amy Adams who will be Lois Lane, over at Ruth’s site Flixchatter where I’m contributing to her man of Steel Countdown. Two weeks away people!
In less than fourteen days, the wait would be over. The Man of Steel countdown has officially begun last week with Superman & Me and Superman: The Movie in 1978,The Year.
Today we’ve got Bubbawheat from Flights, Tights and Movie Nights‘ review of a Smallville episode starring miss Lois Lane herself, Amy Adams.
When I was asked to be a part of this Superman countdown, I quickly agreed but I wasn’t quite sure at first what I would do for it. I didn’t just want to do a review of a Superman movie, especially since I’ve already reviewed almost every Superman movie out there and I didn’t just want to rehash one of my old reviews.
But she also mentioned that I could do something involving one of the Superman TV series and it hit me. There is a connection between the new Man of Steel movie and…
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Justice League: Doom
Justice League: Doom 2012
I figured it was time for me to take another trip into the animated DC Universe, this time it’s Justice League: Doom. It still surprises me how many of these things are out there and how many I still have yet to see. This movie is centered around a plot to destroy the entire Justice League using stolen plans initially created by Batman but altered by the Legion of Doom. Of course, this isn’t the LoD from the old Superfriends cartoon, though their base does emerge from a body of water during it’s initial reveal. The members of the LoD are very different, but I’ll get to that in a little bit. The action is up to the usual par, including the level of peril. The first thing I noticed with this movie was also that it included the voicework of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Tim Daly as Superman who really solidified their roles as those two during the 90’s animated series and various other works in the interim.
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Filmwhys #2: Sunset Blvd. & The Rocketeer
I’m back with another episode of Filmwhys, aka the why haven’t you seen this film podcast. In this episode, Aurora from Once Upon A Screen asks me why haven’t I seen Sunset Boulevard, a 1950 classic directed by the great Billy Wilder. And in return, I asked her why she hasn’t seen the classic-feeling superhero movie The Rocketeer. What did we think of the movies? You’ll just have to listen to find out.
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Why do Superhero Movies Appeal to You?
Why do Superhero Movies Appeal to You?
There’s a lot to like when it comes to superhero movies, there’s action, drama, there can be comedy, horror, suspense, fantasy, any number of genres. But when it comes right down to it, can you specifically narrow down what it is about these larger than life figures that creates that appeal that makes you keep watching them year after year? And if there’s something about them that you don’t like, what do you think that is? Even when it comes to a movie that’s not universally loved, like the recent Iron Man 3, it can pull in some major money. Several of the biggest box office draws in the past ten years have been superhero movies. Is it the escapism? The wish fulfillment of a hero that is able to save at least a part of the world from problems bigger than the ones we face in real life? Is it merely the spectacle of watching two or more beings with amazing powers have a larger than life fight on the big screen? Or could part of it be the personal commitment to that it takes to make the sacrifices that every superhero has to make at one point or another and wonder if you could ever find the same strength within yourself? Along those same lines, is it about seeing a role model, something that you could aspire to be in your wildest dreams, if you happened to be a billionaire or got hit with the right combination of radioactivity that didn’t just give you cancer? Let’s hear what you have to say. Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Condorman
Condorman 1981
With a name like Condorman, you’d think it would be a no brainer for a superhero movie, and yet this movie actually turned out much more like a spy movie slash comedy. You may ask why I’m keeping this on my main list and not tagging it with my “almost super” category, at least if you’re someone who follows this site on a regular basis. I decided to let it stay for a few reasons. One is that it has a strong foundation in comic books, the “spy” in question is actually a comic book writer and artist, and second is that his spy persona feels much closer to a comic book superhero than a James Bond or Inspector Clouseau spy. But that’s all really beside the point, it’s another movie that I had never heard of, an 80’s movie that’s been all but forgotten even though it was technically a Disney movie, or at least a Disney production with a little animation thrown in for the opening credits. It’s a fun little attempt at being a Pink Panther movie with a lot more gadgets and costumes thrown in. I had a lot of fun while watching it, even though at times it went a little too far on the goofy side of comedy. And on top of the goofball comedy, there was actually quite a bit of excitement with some fun car chases, boat chases, and explosions.
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Scooby-Doo Mask of the Blue Falcon
I will easily admit to being a Scooby-Doo fan when I was younger. I watched many episodes of the Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo as well as A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, alongside the older episodes. They were goofy, silly, campy, and fun, but I enjoyed them. I also watched plenty of other Hanna Barbera properties back when Cartoon Network was new and filled most of its programming slots with classic cartoons and only a handful of fresh ones. Among them was of course Blue Falcon and Dynomutt either in their own show or one of the many Hanna-Barbera mashups like the Laff-a-Lympics. Scooby-Doo has never really seemed to completely go away, there’s always some new TV show or an endless stream of straight-to-home-video movies like this one. But many of the newest episodes and movies have had a lot sharper sense of humor while still retaining some of the goofiness and campiness the classic fans love. This one is no exception, there’s a lot of smart humor alongside the typical slapstick antics of Mystery Inc. It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve seen an episode or movie about Scooby-Doo, probably not since the live action movie, but I really enjoyed this movie, especially because of all the little background references and such.
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What ifs! You could make a sequel to any movie?
What if you had the power to greenlight and fun any sequel to any movie in the world, what would it be? Of course, since this site focuses on superhero related movie I’d love to also hear the answer to which Superhero movie you’d like to see a sequel of. There seems to be a lot of talk lately about the possibility of a Dredd sequel. Even though it received quite a bit of acclaim from fans, it got mixed reviews from critics and only had a less than stellar box office performance. Now there’s a few different possibilities on why a movie might need a sequel. If it’s based on other ongoing work, like most superhero movies are based on comics, then since the comic has continued on then there is still plenty more material to draw from. Even if it’s a stand alone movie, if it’s a good one, then people often wonder what would happen if those characters were revisited. Even in the case of a less than perfect movie, if there’s some element that worked in the original that could be expanded upon at the same time as the weaknesses could be removed. And such is the case for my personal choice for a movie that I would love to see a sequel to. I’ve always had a soft spot for the 2004 Punisher movie with Thomas Jane. Even though I’ve rewatched it last year and it didn’t quite hold up for me in the long run, it was mainly the silliness with the neighbors and the forced love interest that threw me off. I still enjoyed John Travolta as the over the top Howard Saint, and Thomas Jane was a fantastic Punisher, even moreso when he made his own short last year. So let’s hear it, what sequels would you love to see get made?
Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 