Blog Archives
Bloodshot
Bloodshot 2020
It’s been quite a year, right? But I’m not here to talk about that, instead let’s try to get right back into catching up with the handful of releases that actually made it out into the wild. This was actually the last theatrical release before things went to hell but I didn’t quite get around to seeing it back then. And based on the reviews it got, I wasn’t that enthusiastic to catch up with it. Even borrowed it from the library a couple times. But I finally checked it out once again, watched it, and you know what? I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the best example of a comic book/super powered character movie. It suffers quite a bit from a first time director who came from a visual effects background, an early-but-significant twist that was spoiled in the trailers, and extremely forgettable dialogue coming from one-dimensional characters. Despite all of this, I’m a sucker for an interesting concept and that’s the best thing this movie has going for it. It won’t be enough for a lot of people, but it was just enough for me.
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The Other Side of Adaptation: Labyrinth Coronation vol 3
The other day I finally got around to finishing the three volume TPB of Labyrinth Coronation, the graphic novel continuation of the story begun by the 80’s movie Labyrinth. This is a prequel with a framing device that keeps it fully connected to the events of the original movie. The third volume wraps things up a little too neatly, but continues the story in a way that nicely mirrors the original movie. And as this is the final volume, there will be spoilers so be warned. As a whole, it’s definitely something that I enjoyed enough to want to finish the story, rather than having the feeling that I needed to finish the story for completion sake. I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as I did the manga style sequel, but it was a nice diversion.
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Superhero Podcast Review: The Bright Side Chat Podcast
It’s been a little big longer than I had planned, but it’s time once again for another superhero podcast review. Once again, I did a random search to find today’s podcast. The title seemed promising, and it feels like it’s been a while since I covered a podcast that had less than 100 episodes on them. As with my previous podcast reviews, I go over the basics of the podcast and ultimately come up with a final review, whether I decide to: Subscribe, Unsubscribe, or check out Selected Episodes. As is usually the case with these reviews, my final verdict is very subjective and personal to my own tastes though the rest of the review tries to be more objective. If you know of or host a podcast that you would like to be reviewed here, feel free to leave a comment and let me know about it.
FTMN Book Club – March
FTMN Book Club – 30 Days of Night
Typically, I’ve tried to make March into a Graphic Horror month where I take a look at horror movies based on comics. But except for one last one that I had missed, possibly more, I’ve covered them all already. So instead, I thought it would be a good idea to make the book of the month be a horror comic. 30 Days of Night was suggested and I thought that would be a perfect way to start things off after February’s odd novel/comic hybrid. And as a bonus, if you are signed up for Hoopla Digital, the comics are free to lend.
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Graphic Horror: The Curse of Sleeping Beauty
It’s already that time of year again. October means that it’s time for horror movies, and while I also try to fit some horror movies in March, I don’t have any other horror plans around so I figured I’d finish off the rest of my Graphic Horror list over at Letterboxd which I realized has hit 31 movies, one for every day. There are also a couple of new films that have come out this year and I’ll be starting with those before doubling back on some of the ones that I’ve missed until now. But I’m kicking things off with a movie that I actually watched a few weeks ago because my wife picked a random movie out on Netflix. I was looking it up online afterward and realized that it was based on a comic book which meant that I had to watch it again since I was only barely paying attention the first time around. As you might be able to guess, I wasn’t a very big fan of this movie the first time around, and while I did find a little bit more to appreciate the second time around it still has plenty of problems. And as this is a new movie I will mention that like always, I will be talking about this movie in full.
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Graphic Horror Guest Post: Revival
When I put the call out for this blogathon, I was hoping for both people looking at horror movies that could become graphic novels as well as horror comics that could make the transition into becoming a movie. And Vic over at Vic’s Movie Den answered the call. But of course, since it’s Vic’s Movie Den and not Vic’s Comic Book Den, I offered to post his look at the horror comic “Revival”. So without further ado, I shall leave the rest of this post to Vic!
Hellboy
Hellboy 2004
Before watching this movie, I went through and did a full count of how many movies I’ve actually reviewed so far this year. My original goal was 100 superhero movies, and by my current count I’m up to 95. Plus, I’ve reviewed 7 “Almost Super” movies. So that means I’ve got five more movies to watch and review over the next few weeks to hit my goal. I’d like to pick something good for #100, I’ll likely put a poll up tomorrow. But for #96-99 I’ll be watching all the movies in the Hellboy franchise, both live action and both animated. I’ve enjoyed these movies ever since I first watched them, Ron Perlman was and still is the perfect casting choice for the big red guy. There’s so much in this movie to enjoy, from the practical effects to the amazing designs on everything, to Hellboy’s attitude, this movie is one of my favorites and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to watch it. In fact, the poster I’m using to headline this post was actually one of my first movie posters, and hung on my wall for years. Such a great looking poster.
Superhero Shorts: Death of Spider-Man
Death of Spider-Man Motion Comic
Welcome to this week’s 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 Andrew Bates and Drew Lawson who came up with their own motion comic for Ultimate Spider-Man #158-160 written by Brian Bendis where Peter Parker dies. It’s very high quality both in terms of the animation as well as the voice work, it’s on par if not better than the few professional motion comics I’ve seen before. It’s a bit longer than many of the shorts I feature here with a runtime of just over 20 minutes, but it’s worth the watch.
DC Showcase Short Films
DC Showcase
I absolutely love animation, so when I saw a blogathon about animated short films over at Pussy Goes Grrr I knew I wanted to participate. And I didn’t want to just use an installment of my Superhero Shorts for it. So instead I decided to search out all the recent DC Showcase short films that have been packaged with various DC movies. There have been five of them so far, but as the blogathon limits it to a total hour of animation, I eliminated the longest one. Read below for my short reviews for Catwoman, The Spectre, Jonah Hex, and Green Arrow.
Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 