Blog Archives
The Glaring Reality of Women Superhero Movies
While I was beginning to write my latest review for a superhero movie I watched that was recently released on home video, it made me think about Women-led superhero movies and how it’s been so long since anyone has dared to make one, either on home video or in theaters. That movie happens to be the first movie that has been released in the US that’s led by a female superhero since 2009’s DC Animated Wonder Woman. If you’re curious, the movie is Barbie in Princess Power. Yes, it took a Barbie movie to break this streak. By my count there have been 80 superhero movies released in the US between 2010 and April 2015. This is the only one led by a female superhero. If I expand my search just a little, there is at least one other that I am aware of from a couple years ago in Japan called Nuigulumar Z but that’s it. When you look at theatrical features the prospects are even more grim considering the last female-led superhero movie was all the way back in 2005 with Elektra and the next one isn’t due until 2017 with Wonder Woman, that’s twelve years. Think about this: if a girl was born in 1999, she would not have been able to see a superhero movie led by a woman in the theaters until her 18th birthday.
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Batman vs. Robin
Batman vs. Robin 2015
April has unintentionally become animation month here at Flights, Tights and Movie Nights as I take a look at a couple home video releases as well as catch up with the last couple Marvel animated movies I haven’t gotten around to yet. Batman vs. Robin is the latest DC Animation release that was originally touted as their first original story, though it is apparently partly based on the Court of Owls by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo as well as a sequel to last year’s Son of Batman which was a decent, though fairly mediocre effort from the studio. It has a much stronger underlying theme of what being a father and being a son means, though it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Road to Perdition which I had just recently watched. It was still a mighty fine effort with some nice performances, impressive action sequences, and a few twists and turns along the way. And FYI, Batman vs. Robin is currently available via digital download, and will be released on DVD this Tuesday, April 14th, and as a warning I will be delving into the film in its entirety, including any spoilers.
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Graphic Horror: Road to Perdition
Road to Perdition 2002
It’s time to finish off my participation in the Graphic Horror Blogathon with a bang by covering one of only a small handful of actually well received and well known comic book adaptations that I have yet to cover here on this site. And while it isn’t exactly a horror film, Road to Perdition does have enough thriller elements and more than enough striking visuals that I’m glad to share it as part of this project. It’s the story of a mob hitman on the run while simultaneously out for revenge, but more than that it’s about the relationship between a father and son and how they end up connecting with each other though these trying circumstances. Not only that, but this is one of the most acclaimed and star-studded comic book movies out there starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, and an early role from the man who would be James Bond Daniel Craig. It’s an amazing film, and if you haven’t seen it before, definitely seek it out before reading this, as I will be delving into this film in its entirety spoilers and all.
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Filmwhys #50 Psycho and The Spirit
Episode 50 of the Why Haven’t You Seen This Film Podcast where my guest is Ryan McNeil from The Matinee who asks me why I hadn’t seen Alfred Hitchcock’s first horror film and one of his greatest, Psycho. And in return, I ask him why he hadn’t seen a superhero film on the opposite end of the spectrum, one of the worst comic book films out there, Frank Miller’s The Spirit. There’s also an important announcement near the beginning of the episode, so give it a listen.
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Graphic Horror: Dr. Giggles
Dr. Giggles 1992
It’s tough for me to decide which of the two recent films I watched are better: Virus or Dr. Giggles. I think I would give the edge to Virus, only slightly due to some of the innovative special effects. Dr. Giggles is very much just a standard psychopath killer horror movie overloaded with as many doctor puns as they could fit in. The most entertaining part of the film was picking out actors that I recognized from their later work, like Larry Drake who went on to play Durant in Darkman, Holly Marie Combs who played the sister no one remembers from Charmed, Doug E. Doug from Cool Runnings, and Glenn Quinn from Angel. It’s filled with plenty of horror tropes, some weird doctor-like contraptions, and not really much else in the way of plot or scares. It was produced in part by Dark Horse Entertainment and also had a tie-in two part comic book that came out right around the same time as the film.
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Graphic Horror: Virus
Virus 1999
Moving my way down in quality for this year’s Graphic Horror before hitting the planned high point at the end comes this lovely gem that came out the same year as the Matrix but with a wholly different interpretation of special effects. It actually started its life as a movie script, but was considered to be too special effects intensive at the time and so it was first made into a comic book from Dark Horse. John Bruno was cutting his teeth working on special effects under James Cameron before getting this film as a director, and unfortunately it really shows that he was more of a special effects guy than a full director. There are many issues with this film, but the special effects work really is not one of them. While there are a couple name actors with Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Sutherland, they are definitely not bringing their A games. It’s a horror film with a small cast that doesn’t know whether it wants to be a slow burn thriller, a gore fest, or a survival action film, and the blending of these genres do not work very well at all. It has some fun moments here and there, but for the most part, it’s a rather boring slog-fest.
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Black Lightning
Black Lightning 2009
While I’m in the middle of my own blogathon this month, I also wanted to have the chance to take part in another blogathon. Over at Movie Sielently Fritzi is doing a Russia in Classic Film blogathon. And while I’m not covering a classic Russian superhero movie since I’m pretty sure there aren’t any, she has expanded the focus of the blogathon to cover not just classic films about Russia or made in Russia, but also any films from Russia from any era. And lucky for me, there just so happens to be a single Russian superhero movie that combines the stories of Spider-Man, Iron Man, and even a little bit of Knight Rider for good measure to create the origin of Black Lightning. While it does manage to have some fun with itself here and there, it unfortunately ends up being much less than the sum of its parts, picking and choosing some of the most obvious bits from well known superhero origin stories and forcing it into one of the most ridiculous superpowers of having a flying car.
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Filmwhys #49 An American Werewolf in London and Punisher: War Zone
Episode #49 of the Why Haven’t You Seen This Film Podcast where my guest is Dean from The Science Fiction Film Podcast as well as a couple other podcasts who asks me why I haven’t seen An American Werewolf in London, a classic horror film and one of the best werewolf movies ever made filled with still some of the most impressive practical effects which created a new category in the Academy Awards. And in return, I ask him why he hasn’t seen Punisher: War Zone, one of the many attempts at bringing the Punisher to film, one of the only superhero films to be directed by a woman, and filled with ridiculous to the point of being comedic ultra-violence, even though it’s unfortunately not all that great in the end.
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Graphic Horror 2015 Week 1
Here’s a roundup of the Graphic Horror posts from this first week. In case you missed it, this March I’m hosting a blogathon taking a look at horror and thriller films that have been adapted from comics & graphic novels (or should be adapted into a comic book). If you missed last year’s blogathon, you can check it out here. There’s still plenty of time to join in, the blogathon is running all March long. This week we had a few people join in, and I myself took a look at one such film so check out this week’s participants right below.
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Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 