Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange 2007
I find it interesting to see where my mood takes me. Several months ago I thought I would have watched almost all of the animated Marvel and/or DC movies by now and yet I’m still less than halfway through. This has been sitting in my binder after picking it up from a clearance bin since then and I’m only now getting around to watching it. And it’s a shame, because without realizing it, it’s got so much stuff in it that I enjoy. Doctor Strange has never really piqued my interest, maybe because of the too-obvious name, maybe because I was expecting some combination of stage magic and real monsters, who knows. I wasn’t familiar with Doctor Strange at all, but I was looking for something short and stand alone to watch while I was sick, and I ended up watching this one twice I enjoyed it so much. Once by myself, and once with my wife, who also really enjoyed it. It has one of the best origin stories I’ve seen in quite a while, and I loved all the Asian influences in it. It’s got some great characters, great action, and some great storytelling. A great feature from Marvel animation.
Almost Super: Krull
Almost Super: Krull 1983
Nostalgiathon 2012
As you may have seen in my previous post, I just recently watched Krull for our latest As You Watch podcast. We decide the movie for each episode based on a short list of movies from the four of us, and Krull was picked from my list. I’ve enjoyed this movie since I was young, finding and watching every fantasy based movie I could find, so I thought this movie would also be a perfect fit with the Nostalgiathon hosted by Cinema Schminema and Andy Watches Movies, because while I still enjoy the movie, it turns out that practically no one else does. Including all four of my co-hosts for the episode. The pacing may be sluggish, the characters may be weak, the story may be derivative, but I still love this movie.
As You Watch: Krull
As You Watch: Krull
This week’s episode was chosen from my list of movies, as you can tell when you listen because I was the only one who liked the movie at all. In the end you can tell that I am just defeated by all the rest of the haters. We also are joined by Kristen from Journeys in Classic Film. And you can find our latest episode, and all our episodes on our new podcast site: AsYouWatch.Wordpress.com where you can leave a comment. And hopefully tomorrow you can hear my mostly positive review of Krull without a bunch of naysayers getting in the way :). Until next time, this has been Bubbawheat for Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights.
Almost Super: Wreck-it Ralph
Wreck-It Ralph 2012
So once again this year I made the trek to my local movie theater. More than superheroes, I’ve always been a big fan of animation, and on top of that, I’ve grown up with video games. Starting with a trusty Commodore 64 playing Jumpman, Circus, Snoopy, and other games before moving up to a Coleco Vision. I eventually moved up through the Sega Master System, NES, SNES, Playstation, PS2, and DS before moving onto the PC MMO City of Heroes, heck I even work in an arcade. I recognized many of the video games referenced, especially some of the classic arcade cabinets, as well as the games that inspired the original games featured in this movie. While Fix it Felix Jr. is an original game, it has its roots in Donkey Kong, Crazy Climber, and a touch of Rampage. Sugar Rush which is a candy version of Mario Kart/Nicktoons Racing, and Hero’s Duty is essentially every modern rail shooter ever. This movie was pretty much made for me to like it and I was in from the very opening.
Superhero Shorts: Arkham Rising
Superhero Shorts: Arkham Rising
Welcome to another edition of Superhero Shorts where I take a look at a superhero themed fan-film and talk a little bit with its creators. This time I was clued into a new Batman short film by the director himself, Tito Guillen. It’s called Arkham Rising and it fills in what Christopher Nolan left out when it comes to some of the inmates within Arkham Asylum. You can watch it at ArkhamRising.com or right below.
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Superman II: The Donner Cut 1980/2006
Ever since I had heard about this movie, I was quite curious about it. More so after I actually watched the theatrical cut of Superman II way back when I started this site. For those not in the know, I’ll do a brief re-cap. Richard Donner originally was shooting Superman & the sequel concurrently, and had shot about 80%+ of the film before they had to stop production. For various reasons, when they restarted production Richard Donner didn’t return and was replaced with Richard Lester who re-shot much of the film with a different tone in mind, as well as a smaller budget. While both films follow essentially the same plot, this is a very different film, and well over half the movie is new or alternate footage. The overall tone is much more serious and the humor that is still there is less campy. I personally enjoyed the Donner cut much more than the Lester cut, at least up to a certain point.
As You Watch: The City of Lost Children
Here’s the latest episode of our movie podcast, complete with its own site so it’s easy to know where to post feedback and comments. We watch the interesting City of Lost Children and talk about our top 3 performances by Bond actors while they’re not playing James Bond. Check it out!
Superhero Shorts: One on One
Superhero Shorts: One on One: A Superman Story
Welcome to the latest edition of Superhero Shorts where I take a look at a different superhero themed short film and get the creator of the film to answer a few interview questions. This week I’m talking with Jake Thomas, the man behind a more unique superhero short film called One on One. Instead of focusing on the superhero everyone knows and loves, he instead makes it a more real world story with the superhero reporter with the glasses. You can check out the short film below, or you can visit his YouTube channel which also has some other fun superhero shorts.
As You Watch #10: Halloween Tournament
I’ve been away for a little while and there were a couple episodes of the podcast that I missed. Be sure to check out our Podomatic page to listen to this week’s episode and our earlier episodes without me there. I would have posted here except I didn’t have much free time, and I also didn’t have any other content to go alongside it. There have been many great guests so if you haven’t already, be sure to check them out. And that brings me to our latest episode which is a bit of an experiment. We forego our typical current release/top 3/movie of the week format and have a horror tournament with our guest Jason Soto of Invasion of the B Movies. Find out which horror movies rise to the top out of several different categories of horror, and for those regular listeners, I actually turn out to be more versed in horror than I thought I was. It was a fun episode and we get back to normal next week. Until next time, this has been Bubbawheat for Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights. Check back in a couple days for a new Superhero Shorts with an interesting new Superman short film.
Batman Returns
Batman Returns 1992
This is a movie that like Batman, I hadn’t seen in years and years. But whether it was because I had gotten acclimated to Tim Burton’s style by watching Batman shortly before it, or because it was just a closer fit to my own personal tastes, but I enjoyed Batman Returns a whole lot more than Batman. I think one of the biggest complaints about the movie is that it felt more like “Penguin and Catwoman” rather than “Batman”. And while I agree with the idea, I disagree that it is a complaint. I said in my review of Batman that the rogues gallery is more interesting that Batman himself and that holds just as true here. This movie also plays on the Batman/Catwoman romance in a great way. As much as I enjoyed Anne Hathaway in the Dark Knight Rises, I thought Pfeiffer and Keaton had much better chemistry.
Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 