Blog Archives
Crimson
Crimson 2013
I’m always on the lookout for superhero and comic book movies, especially some of the more obscure ones. But it still came as a surprise when I was looking through the DVD section of my library in a relatively small suburb of Chicago when I happened to see a DVD that caught my eye for this film. It surprised me even more when I looked it up on IMDB and saw that it only had 13 user ratings which made me wonder how it ended up in this library in the first place. But less surprisingly was that it was an ultra low budget film along the lines of something like Captain Battle or the Amazing Bulk, only with surprisingly lower production values, acting, or much of anything else.
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Antboy 3
Antboy 3 2016
Continuing on in my catching up of the last few 2016 films that have slipped past me is the latest in the Danish superhero Antboy franchise. I thought the first Antboy was ok, the second one was a lot of fun, so I was excited to finally get the chance to watch the third and supposedly final entry in this series. Not to mention that all three are currently available to stream on Netflix in the US. Since they are still marketed as kids movies, they are dubbed in English, but do yourself a favor and if you’re watching it because you’re a fan of superhero movies, do yourself a favor and watch it in the original Danish audio. Typically I tend to watch dubs over subs, but that’s usually due to one of two reasons: either it’s a cheesy film to begin with and the bad-to-mediocre dubs add to the camp factor, or it’s a newer animated feature and the dub is done in a highly professional manner that’s a similar quality to the original performances. This one falls between the two, what little I listened to of the dub is very mediocre in quality so it really detracts from the overall film. That said, I did think that this was a fitting end to the trilogy and quite possibly the best of the bunch.
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Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange 2016
It’s already come to the last theatrical superhero movie of 2016, there’s still a couple others that I have to get around to, but that will come later. This film is sparked by a seemingly small amount of controversy by most people, and yet it’s just as an important topic to talk about. I will be discussing the controversy, but I will also be looking at the film separate from the lateral diversity in the form of whitewashing. It’s also yet another origin story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while there are plenty of differences to separate it from the rest of the MCU, there are still several of the same typical Marvel notes that we’ve seen across the last dozen or so movies. This is the third time Doctor Strange has graced this site in a solo movie, and almost all of my knowledge of this character comes from those two previous movies. And as always is the case on this site, there may be spoilers so be warned.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows 2016
Now that October and Halloween is over it’s time for me to catch up with the last few superhero and comic book movies of 2016, although I don’t think it’ll be possible for me to catch Max Steel now that it’s already pretty much out of theaters and won’t likely be available on home video until early next year. But that’s all besides the point of the film I’m actually discussing today. I did watch the first (technically fifth) one when it came out in theaters and while most people really disliked the film, I thought it was ok. It wasn’t the best thing ever, but I had fun with it. And when the trailers came out for the sequel, I had high hopes. There were plenty of references to the 80’s cartoon which I was familiar with and it brought in Arrow’s Stephen Amell as Casey Jones. But for whatever reason, I ended up skipping it in theaters, and have put it off once it hit home video until now. Without getting too deep into it just yet, I did enjoy it more than the first, but it still had some issues with some annoying tropes and character traits.
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Graphic Horror: Priest
Priest 2011
Happy Halloween everyone! Just when I thought I had finished my list of horror movies based on comics, I look through my stack of DVDs that I bought for this site and haven’t gotten around to yet and see this bluray that I bought on clearance for $2 a while back. About the only things I knew about it beforehand was that it was some type of vampire movie, and it was pretty terrible. I can very easily see why people don’t like this film. It’s very muddled and copies a lot of inspirations from other, much better films. It also seems to try and push its own religion even though it simultaneously condemns some of its practices. It’s an odd mix of a post-apocalyptic western with Zack Snyder-esque martial arts sequences, and while it is very far from being a good movie, I certainly wasn’t hate-watching it either.
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Graphic Horror: Faust: Love of the Damned
Faust: Love of the Damned 2000
And with just a few days left before Halloween, I finished my goal of watching the last horror movie on my list of films based on comics. This was a bit of an odd one, I even tried watching it about a year ago but only made it about a half hour in before I got sidetracked with other things and just never got back to it until now. It’s a low budget horror movie that has elements of exploitation cinema with just a touch of a superhero plot mixed in. It’s incredibly bizarre with a guy who sells his soul to a demon, a lot of sex, a bit of torture, plenty of gore, and a demon summoning ritual slash orgy at the end. There’s even a bit of a love story mixed in, but it’s so bizarre and convoluted that it’s difficult to put into words.
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Graphic Horror: 13: Game of Death
13: Game of Death 2008
Halloween is getting near and I’m down to my last couple horror movies based on comics. And as I feel like I’ve done several times on this site, I’ve gone backwards in my viewing. I initially watched this story as told by the American remake 13 Sins before coming back around and watching the original Thai version that was made a few years earlier. I knew there were several changes between the two versions but the original still had quite a bit of the same impact with the combination of suspense, comedy, and the occasional moment of gore. And as is often the case when available, I watched this film with the English dub rather than the subtitled version.
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Graphic Horror: Trailer Park of Terror
Trailer Park of Terror 2008
I’m hopefully going to be finishing off my entire list of horror movies based on comic books this month. After this one, there are only two left that I know of. There’s quite possibly more out there, but I haven’t found them yet. This is one that I only recently realized was based on a comic book. It’s inspired by the Tales From the Crypt comics with a trailer park theme filled with stereotypes, at least the movie is. The movie itself has quite a bit of gore, plenty of character tropes, and a lot of sex that’s rarely sexy. There were moments throughout the film where it tried to be artistic, it tried to be funny, but it just never really worked for me.
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Graphic Horror: 13 Sins
13 Sins 2014
I feel like I’ve been slacking off a little bit in the horror department this year, but I did manage to get this film in. It’s a bit of an oddity as it’s a remake of a Thai film called 13 Beloved or 13: Game of Death which itself is based on a short comic called 13th Quiz Show from a series called My Mania. It’s interesting that from what I can tell, any reference to the origins of the story isn’t present in the marketing or special features of this film. It’s ultimately a cross between a reality show, a little bit of Saw, and a little Falling Down. There are some interesting ideas presented along with a bit of a distracting conspiracy theory element and a couple half-hearted twists. But overall, the film was an interesting psychological thriller with a bit of gore for good measure, and not only that but a surprising amount of dark comedy spread throughout.
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Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders 2016
I was disappointed during the last theatrical event for one of these DC animated features because I had car trouble and wasn’t able to go. Even though I wasn’t quite as excited for this film as I was for Killing Joke I figured it would still be a fun time at the theater and I was right. I don’t really have a whole lot of experience with ’66 Batman aside from the one movie, but even with only having that little bit of background I could tell the amount of care that went into this animated feature. There were plenty of references to the rogue’s gallery from the show and it captured the feel of the original show while still tossing in plenty of jokes geared towards someone who is familiar with Batman lore at large, seemingly poking fun at the darker, more modern version of Batman while celebrating the joy and camp of the earlier days.
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Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 