Blog Archives
Man of Steel
Man of Steel 2013
More than any other movie this summer, the one I’ve been looking forward to the most was Man of Steel, and at least right now just getting home from the theater, it did not disappoint. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but my hopes were high coming off of all the glorious trailers and the incredible cast. Even though it was treading on yet another origin story, I was willing to go with it. With Zack Snyder behind the helm, I was hoping for some visually amazing battles, and with Christopher Nolan overseeing the story, I was hoping for some real character depth. In my opinion, I got both. There may be some problems that come into my head after the fact, but at the moment I just had an amazing time at the movie theater, this review will likely have some spoilers so if you haven’t seen the movie. Go see it! Then come back and read my thoughts on it.
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Follow Friday: Isaacs Picture Conclusions
Follow Friday: The IPC
Welcome to another edition of Follow Friday, where each time I feature and interview a fellow blogger and follow their suggestion to another blog to feature next time. I prefer this over a blogroll because it gives each blog their own time to shine, plus I personally rarely click on blogrolls so why would I expect you to? Not only that, but I get the chance to check out some great blogs I might not have found otherwise found, talk to some great people, and share the conversation with you. Of course, if you would rather see something like a blogroll, I have collected all of my previous Follow Friday sites in list form which you can find right at the top of the page. Last time I was directed by Chris from Film Hipster to check out Isaacs Picture Conclusions aka the IPC.
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5 Obstructions #1: Batman & Robin
Obstruction #1: Write a good review of a bad movie
When I saw this blogathon I immediately thought it was a great idea, in fact, I even had the idea for the first “obstruction” a while back. For full details, check out the overview post over at Nostra’s My Film Views. But basically the idea is five writing challenges inspired by a movie that challenged the filmmaker to make the same movie five different times, each time with a different challenge, or obstruction. For the first obstruction, I figured I could easily find a bad movie that I’ve seen recently and I decided to make that challenge into a “sell out” review. That is to say I am writing this review as if I had been paid by the filmmakers to give it a good review, and I figured the best place to use that marketing double-speak is for the film Batman and Robin. Enjoy.
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Superhero Shorts: Judge Minty
Superhero Shorts: Judge Minty
Welcome to another edition of Superhero Shorts, where each time I feature a different short film based around superheroes and have a brief chat with the creators. This time I’m talking with Steven Sterlacchini and his live action film based on the Judge Dredd universe, only focusing on one of the other Judge’s, Judge Minty. As usual, you can watch it right below or you can visit the official Judge Minty website.
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FTMN Spotlight – The Saga of Superman Infographic
I got an e-mail yesterday introducing me to a great little infographic by Roslyn Willson about Superman and she thought my readers would enjoy it, and so do I. It’s a real nice piece and I hope you enjoy it, you can view it below or check out the original
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Is “Direct-to-DVD” a Dirty Word?
Are Movies With Theatrical Releases “Better”?
I follow a lot of movie sites, and most of them have a focus on theatrical releases as well as back catalog favorites. But there is an entirely different market out there consisting of movies that skip the theatrical release and go straight to home video through services like Amazon and Redbox. When talking about these home video releases, many people think of things like Asylum films and their low budget mockbusters made to capitalize on the projected success of many of the Hollywood summer blockbusters. But there are plenty of other categories of “direct-to-blu” videos that aren’t so cut and dry. There are a great many DC and Marvel animated films that have come out in the past several years, and while the run time and budget speak to a home video release, the acting and story are often just as strong as any theatrically released animated movie.
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Superman Doomsday
Superman Doomsday 2007
This was advertised as the first animated Superman movie rated PG-13 and was really the start of the DC Animation boom that’s continued to this day. Before this, most of the movies released were drawn from the various animated series like Batman, Batman Beyond, and The Adventures of Superman. This one was based on one of the most popular comic books of all time, the Death of Superman, though there were many significant changes to the story. I was actually vaguely familiar with the Death of Superman story because one of my friends bought into the whole craze at the time so I read through the first issue shortly after it first came out. When this movie came out, I had heard that there was a brief cameo by Kevin Smith which referred to the giant mechanical spider he was asked to include during his work on the Superman Lives script. In the end, it turned out pretty well, though I do think it is one of the weaker animated projects, likely due to the fact that it was one of the earlier ones.
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Justice League: Doom
Justice League: Doom 2012
I figured it was time for me to take another trip into the animated DC Universe, this time it’s Justice League: Doom. It still surprises me how many of these things are out there and how many I still have yet to see. This movie is centered around a plot to destroy the entire Justice League using stolen plans initially created by Batman but altered by the Legion of Doom. Of course, this isn’t the LoD from the old Superfriends cartoon, though their base does emerge from a body of water during it’s initial reveal. The members of the LoD are very different, but I’ll get to that in a little bit. The action is up to the usual par, including the level of peril. The first thing I noticed with this movie was also that it included the voicework of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Tim Daly as Superman who really solidified their roles as those two during the 90’s animated series and various other works in the interim.
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Filmwhys #2: Sunset Blvd. & The Rocketeer
I’m back with another episode of Filmwhys, aka the why haven’t you seen this film podcast. In this episode, Aurora from Once Upon A Screen asks me why haven’t I seen Sunset Boulevard, a 1950 classic directed by the great Billy Wilder. And in return, I asked her why she hasn’t seen the classic-feeling superhero movie The Rocketeer. What did we think of the movies? You’ll just have to listen to find out.
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Why do Superhero Movies Appeal to You?
Why do Superhero Movies Appeal to You?
There’s a lot to like when it comes to superhero movies, there’s action, drama, there can be comedy, horror, suspense, fantasy, any number of genres. But when it comes right down to it, can you specifically narrow down what it is about these larger than life figures that creates that appeal that makes you keep watching them year after year? And if there’s something about them that you don’t like, what do you think that is? Even when it comes to a movie that’s not universally loved, like the recent Iron Man 3, it can pull in some major money. Several of the biggest box office draws in the past ten years have been superhero movies. Is it the escapism? The wish fulfillment of a hero that is able to save at least a part of the world from problems bigger than the ones we face in real life? Is it merely the spectacle of watching two or more beings with amazing powers have a larger than life fight on the big screen? Or could part of it be the personal commitment to that it takes to make the sacrifices that every superhero has to make at one point or another and wonder if you could ever find the same strength within yourself? Along those same lines, is it about seeing a role model, something that you could aspire to be in your wildest dreams, if you happened to be a billionaire or got hit with the right combination of radioactivity that didn’t just give you cancer? Let’s hear what you have to say. Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 