Filmwhys Extra #15 Batman Quadrilogy
Episode 15 of the Why Haven’t You Seen This Film Podcast show between the shows, an extra episode where we are talking about the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher Batman films. With my are guests Jason Soto from Your Face!, The Vern from Vern’s Video Vortex, and Will Kouf from Silver Emulsion.
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TV Nights: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #2.1
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 Week 1
Episode: Shadows
Original Airdate: 9-23-14
While I had a somewhat disappointing reaction to Gotham, I was very excited for the return of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and it did not disappoint. There was a lot of shaking things up at the end of the first season and it wasted no time in getting right to the heart of the action while still tossing in a few hints at a bigger picture. And on top of everything else, it took what happened into directions that I didn’t exactly expect it to, and opened with a taste of what’s to come with the other Marvel TV series showing up later on, Agent Carter. I’m glad that I stuck with this show from the very beginning, and I have high hopes for where it’s going to end up throughout the rest of this season. As usual, I won’t be shying away from spoilers so be warned if you haven’t watched the episode before reading this.
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TV Nights: Gotham #1
TV Nights: Gotham
Episode: Pilot
Original Airdate: 9-22-14
It’s time to start the biggest superhero and comic book TV seasons in many years if not ever and Gotham is the first one out of the gate, though I’m probably one of the last ones out of the gate to get a post written about it. Based on the trailer, and what the show was going for I had high hopes for this show. I thought it could be an interesting take on the superhero trend, something along the lines of how Lois and Clark focused more on the relationship between the two rather than the superhero aspect. This show is supposedly going to take a closer look at the Gotham PD side of the equation rather than the supervillain side of things. And since this takes place when Bruce Wayne is still a boy and there is no such thing as Batman there should also be no such thing as supervillains yet. Instead, they are all still merely criminals before crossing the line once the door has been opened for the overly theatrical. Though it wouldn’t surprise me if they delve into some early theatrics later in the season, especially if they start struggling in the ratings department. Overall, I initially liked what I saw, but as I started reading other people’s negative reactions, I started to see more of the holes in the show and am actually a little glad that I have waited so long before writing this.
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Filmwhys #37 When Harry Met Sally… and Batman Begins
Welcome back to another episode of Filmwhys starting off my first event here on the show. For the next five weeks I’ll be taking a look at plenty of Batman, and what better place to start then at the beginning. At least the beginning of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy. My guest is Jess from French Toast Sunday who asks me why I haven’t seen the classic romantic comedy for people who don’t necessarily like romantic comedies When Harry Met Sally… and in return I ask her why she hasn’t seen the beginning of Christopher Nolan’s epic Dark Knight Trilogy, Batman Begins.
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Superhero Shorts: Super Zero
It seems like it’s been a little while since my last installment of Superhero Shorts, where I take a look at a superhero themed short film and ask a few questions of the creator. But I’ve got a couple for you here in the near future starting off with Super Zero here today from writer/director Mitch Cohen where he takes the zombie apocalypse and throws in a schlubby gamer geek with a knack for gadgets and brain cancer who ends up being a Bad-Ass Zombie slaying superhero. As usual, you can watch the short below, or you can visit Mitch’s YouTube channel.
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Sin City
Sin City 2005
After hearing the reviews for the disappointing sequel Sin City: A Dame To Kill For I had decided to wait to revisit the original movie until after seeing it for myself. I thought that doing it this way around would remind myself of how good it could have been rather than setting myself up for disappointment. And in that respect it worked exactly the way I hoped it would. There are still a handful of issues that I noticed in the sequel that were also present in the original, but for the most part, the original still holds up almost 10 years later while the sequel is the one that feels dated. I don’t specifically remember seeing this when it was originally in theaters. I was a fan of Robert Rodgriguez from Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn but knew nothing about the Sin City books. But I liked it enough to get the three disc DVD edition that has a version where you can see the four stories individually and extended. It also came with a mini reprint of the comics used in the movie so you can see how visually similar they ended up being. There’s just something about this movie that can be felt, the actors are better, the cinematography is better, there’s just a more intense feeling that everyone involved knew they were doing something different. This was an experiment in filmmaking, the digital cameras were fresh. Rodgriguez was able to change up his style of directing, letting the cameras roll continuously and let the takes flow naturally. There was just an unspoken buzz in the air that can still be felt, something that was absent in A Dame to Kill For.
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Filmwhys #36 Goldfinger and The Iron Giant
Apologies for the brief lack of posts here this week, things have been rather busy at home and I while I was able to watch several movies for a couple podcasts and a review, I haven’t been able to sit down for long periods of time to do the important parts: writing and editing. But here is Episode 36 of the Why Haven’t You Seen This Film Podcast where my guest is Chris Ramey from AfterCredits who asks me why I haven’t seen Goldfinger, one of the most iconic classic James Bond films starring Sean Connery. And in return, I ask him why he hasn’t seen the Iron Giant, Brad Bird’s modern classic and underappreciated gem of an animated film made before he went on to do the Incredibles for Pixar.
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Santo vs. Las Mujeres Vampiro
Santo vs. Las Mujeres Vampiro aka Samson vs. the Vampire Women 1962
It’s probably not too surprising that I occasionally bite off a little bit more than I can chew. And/or I am a very absent minded person and will easily forget things if I get distract- Squirrel! A few weeks ago, I agreed to take part in a blogathon hosted by Movies Silently called Accidentally Hilarious where bloggers would take a look at classic bad films that are so bad they are hilarious even though they were never intended to be comedies. There wasn’t a lot for me to choose from, and many of those early superhero films are hard to find, or are Batman which is an intentional comedy and also is just one year after the cutoff date of 1965. So I chose this film which is part of a long line of Santo films. This one is probably the most famous of them as it’s one of the only ones that got an English language dub and was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Santo is a Luchador superhero who may or may not actually have superhuman strength, but does occasionally battle supernatural forces of evil. I’m not sure if I’ll go back and check out other Santo movies, especially after watching this one. And while I did watch the English dub of this movie where he is constantly referred to as Samson, I will be referring to him as his original Spanish name, Santo.
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Filmwhys Extra #14 Interview with Garrett Gilchrist
Episode 14 of Filmwhys Extra where my guest is Garrett Gilchrist from Orange Cow Productions, The Thief Archive on YouTube, and many other places. We talk about his She-Hulk fan film that he worked on back in 2007 but mostly talk about Richard Williams’ grand, unfinished animated film the Thief and the Cobbler which has a fascinating history behind it and Garrett’s involvement in restoring the film to as close as Williams’ vision as possible.
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The Iron Giant
The Iron Giant 1999
I don’t remember the first time I found out about the Iron Giant. I know it wasn’t in theaters, I wasn’t one of those lucky few that caught it during its brief and relatively unsuccessful theatrical run. I don’t remember if I went back to it after watching Brad Bird’s later feature the Incredibles or if I just happened across it on TV or a random video rental trip. I always thought it was an interesting look that called up the retro 50’s style and the film itself is actually set during that time as well. It was also a movie that I didn’t initially consider as a superhero movie, but when I did my final poll for the 100 Essential Superhero Movies I included it and it nabbed the second spot, which is likely more a testament to the quality of the movie than to its place as a superhero movie. There are definitely superhero elements; this is an origin story of sorts, the Iron Giant himself has more than enough super powers, and at the end of the day he uses Superman himself as inspiration to save an entire town. I will do my best for this to not just be a gush fest, but it will be tough as this is one of my favorite movies and it’s a shame that it has taken me this long to get around to reviewing it here.
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Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 