Blog Archives
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.
Read the rest of this entry
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.
Read the rest of this entry
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.
Read the rest of this entry
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.
Read the rest of this entry
Graphic Horror: Whiteout
Whiteout 2009
Kicking off this month in Graphic Horror is a film that I hadn’t really heard about before making my superhero and comic book movie list. It came out in 2009 and starred Kate Beckinsale playing a US Marshall in Antarctica. The movie isn’t so much a horror movie, but it’s definitely a thriller. There’s a murder plot, paranoia, and lots and lots of snow. The mystery unfolds in a generally satisfying, but ultimately predictable way, and the film stretches the incredulity of life in Antarctica on the verge of winter. It’s not anywhere near a bad movie, but it’s definitely a forgettable one which makes me realize that it’s not that surprising that I had never heard of it before now.
Read the rest of this entry
Filmwhys Extra #24 Constantine Season 1
Filmwhys Extra #24 discussing the first season of NBC’s Constantine with web author Stefan Gagne from StefanGagne.com. We talk a little bit about the comic book origins, the Keanu Reeves movie, and the possibility for a season 2. Also, a quick note that the Filmwhys archives have been updated with all of the older episodes through #40, and split up into multiple pages as well so you don’t have to scroll through 40+ poster images to find the episode you’re looking for. The Extra episodes will be updated probably next weekend.
Read the rest of this entry
Visiting War Machine vs. War Horse & Mark Millar Adaptations
Things have been a little bit slower than usual around here, mostly due to my work at Channel: Superhero, but I’m still watching quite a few movies and I luckily got the chance to appear on a great podcast called War Machine vs. War Horse which covers a new release and also takes a look at two older films that share some common theme from the new movie and they decide which one of the two older films handles that theme better. For my appearance, we discussed three different Mark Millar comic book adaptations: the new release Kingsman: The Secret Service, and the two earlier films Kick-Ass and Wanted. We also get sidetracked discussing the Roger Corman Bond films, yes I said Corman. It was a lot of fun, both revisiting the movies as well as discussing them. Make sure you give it a listen by clicking right here! or on their logo below.
Read the rest of this entry
Abar: The First Black Superman
Abar: The First Black Superman 1977
The first year of running this site, I wanted to do something for Black History Month and so I covered all of the Black superhero movies that I could find, and there weren’t very many. After running this site for a couple more years, I have gotten a large enough list that there are a couple more obscure Black superhero movies that I can still cover. Unfortunately I hit a snag when I couldn’t find a ready copy of Up, Up, and Away, a Disney Channel original movie. But I was able to find one for this film, Abar: The First Black Superman. I didn’t know a whole lot about this film aside from the fact that it was a low budget, blaxploitation flick that had very little with the traditional Superman. It was a lot more preachy than I expected, and the superpowered elements of the story don’t show up until the last thirty minutes. But those thirty minutes made the movie worth it through its complete incredulity.
Read the rest of this entry
Filmwhys Extra #23 Podcasting on Podcasts
Filmwhys Extra #23 where my guests are Diamond Dave from The Cool Story Show and Dan Lizette from The Podcast Digest and one thing they both have in common besides being podcasters is that they review podcasts. So we spend this episode discussing podcasts, podcast reviews, things we look for in shows, things we don’t like, and just podcasts in general.
Read the rest of this entry
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Kingsman: The Secret Service
When I think about the latest superhero film from writer/director Matthew Vaughn, one thing that comes to mind in an odd sort of way is predictability. And the reason why I say that it comes to mind in an odd sort of way is not that the film follows an extremely stereotypical plot. Instead, it sets itself apart from several of the traditional spy movie tropes by pointing them out, and as soon as it does that it somehow becomes predictable in which ways it will then follow the spy movie trope as well as which ways it will subvert them. But what Matthew Vaughn is able to do is to craft a film that is still enjoyable regardless of whether or not you can tell what’s coming next. After Stardust, Kick-Ass, and X-Men: First Class, there are a lot of things that Vaughn knows how to do right, and they all seem to come together in Kingsman along wrapped in a James Bond style super spy wrapper.
Read the rest of this entry
Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 