Archive for the ‘Comic Book’ Category
Sunday, March 8, 2009
“Justice is coming to all of us. No matter what we do.”
We saw Watchmen last night and it was every bit as good as we’d hoped. I started reading the graphic novel, but didn’t get that far, so I can’t give much of a comparison [I'll update when I do get through it if anyone cares...]. For what I did read, the movie followed it pretty closely. Now I’m excited to read the rest to see what they left out and how they actually ended it in the book since I read they went with an alternate ending to cut the runtime down. It’s rumoured that the special edition DVD will be closer to 4 hours long.
Watchmen is about an alternate 1985 where Nixon is still President, it’s the height of the Cold War, and costumed super-heroes are a thing of the past. When one of them, The Comedian [Jeffrey Dean Morgan] is murdered, fellow costumed vigilante, Rorschach [Jackie Earle Haley], is set on finding out why – and whether the rest of their retired fraternity has anything to worry about. It’s Rorschach’s investigation that leads to a much larger plan. Good or bad, you decide.
What I loved about this movie were the characters, as well as the parallels to what we’re going through right now with the economy and things heating up with Iran and possibly our old foe, Russia. The darkness of the story actually felt close to home, and my husband and I walked out in deep thought. We both enjoyed it, but it prompted a lot of discussion about what’s going on with us now, both as a nation and globally.
My favorite character by far was Rorschack, played perfectly by Jackie Earle Haley, with his ever-changing, ink-blot ‘face’, his uncompromising way of life and his brutal efficiency. It took some getting used to Dr. Manhattan [played by Billy Crudup... Warning - he does walk around nude most of the movie so if you're squeemish about radioactive blue full-frontal male nudity, you might think twice about seeing it... I got used to it fairly quickly... kind of like taking life-drawing class. You giggle for a sec and then get down to business and forget you're looking at a nude person... I didn't feel like it took away from anything... it made sense in the context of the movie. I don't get what the problem is with nudity in this country anyway... but that's another discussion]. ;)
Watchmen is a great story with plenty of stylized visuals, ala Zack Snyder, the man who directed 300, and plenty of fight scenes, action and effects. The characters were well played with a great ensemble cast, and so was the period – the early to mid 80s – between hair, makeup and costumes [superhero and otherwise...]. Everything was over the top back then, and this WAS a graphic novel, and it felt it – in a good way. It’s LONG… so go prepared if you’re seeing it in the theater, clocking in at almost 3 hours. It kept my attention the whole time so it didn’t feel Lord of the Rings III long or anything. lol
4 out of 5
Add’l Info: Released: Mar 6, 2009 • Runtime: 163 mins • Rated R for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language • Photo credit: © Warner Bros. Pictures via allmoviephotos.com
Posted in Action, Comic Book, Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller | Tagged Billy Crudup, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Laura Mennell, Malin Akerman, Matt Frewer, Matthew Goode, Patrick Wilson, Stephanie Belding, Stephen McHattie, Zack Snyder | Leave a Comment »
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
We saw the trailer for this one back in December… X-Men Origins: Wolverine is as the title states – a look into the origin of our beloved hairy mutant with the killer claws. From the trailer, it looks to deliver everything we expect out of a comic book based origins/action flick: drama, pain, metamorphosis, revenge and a new reason for being, along with kickass action and effects, no doubt. lol…
Due out May 1st, it looks to kick off the summer blockbuster season with a bang! Can’t wait to see it. Starring along with Hugh Jackman are a bevy of great actors like Liev Schreiber as Sabertooth, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Dominic Monaghan as Beak, Lynn Collins as Silver Fox, Taylor Kitsch as Gambit and Kevin Durand as The Blob, just to name a few… Directed by Gavin Hood who won critical acclaim for directing Rendition…
Check out the trailer here if you haven’t already seen it: Marvel.com
If you don’t blink you’ll see a young Storm, and I’ve read there’s a young Cyclops as well, although I didn’t see him [or didn't recognize him] in the trailer…
Add’l Info: Release Date: May 1, 2009 • Runtime & Rating: TBD • Photo Credit: Still taken from official movie trailer ™ and © Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved,
Posted in Action, Comic Book, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller | Tagged Dominic Monaghan, Gavin Hood, Hugh Jackman, Kevin Durand, Liev Schreiber, Lynn Collins, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch | Leave a Comment »
Sunday, July 20, 2008
When we saw The Dark Knight on Friday there were three new trailers that caught my attention: Watchmen, The Day The Earth Stood Still, and Terminator Salvation. Here’s the scoop on these three flicks…
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Watchmen
Based on what the trailer says is the ‘most celebrated graphic novel of all time’ by Alan Moore, Watchmen is the story of an alternate 1985 in America where the cold war with the Russians is at it’s height and the age of costumed superheroes is over. It’s now against the law to play dressup and save the world… until one day when one of them is murdered. It’s up to former vigilante, Rorschach, and the retired superheroes to figure out why. Directed by Zach Snyder, the man behind the movie 300, Watchmen looks gritty and surreal and just as visually stunning. I can’t wait to see it. Cynical superheroes rock. ;) Check out the trailer here: Watchmen Trailers and visit the official site here: Watchmen Official Site
Update 7-30-08: I am so obsessed with the Smashing Pumpkins song they used for the Watchmen trailer [The Beginning is the End is the Beginning], to the point where I’ve been listening to it looped for DAYS [I'm weird like that]. Turns out, it was originally written for Batman and Robin back in ‘97. We happen to own that soundtrack, but at the time it didn’t do anything for me. I think with the visuals and pacing of the Watchmen trailer it hooked me this time around, and because of it, I can’t wait for this movie to come out.
Add’l Info: Release Date: Mar 6, 2009 • Runtime & Rating TBD • Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. [still from HD movie trailer]
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The Day The Earth Stood Still
This one is obviously a remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic – which I don’t remember seeing. Which is to say I may have very well seen it when I was much younger but if I only saw it once and it was more than 5 years ago, I probably don’t remember it. lol… anyway… the updated version starts Keanu Reeves as Klaatu, an alien visitor who brings along his giant robot to our beloved planet. But are they friends or foes? Also stars Jennifer Connelly, John Cleese, Kathy Bates, and Jaden Smith. From the preview I’m excited to see it. Check out the trailer here: The Day The Earth Stood Still Official Site
Add’l Info: Release Date: Dec 12, 2008 • Runtime and Rating: TBD • Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox [still taken from movie trailer]
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Terminator Salvation
I’m a huge Terminator fan – I love the concept, love the creepy, evil robots, the drama and horror of it, etc., so I’m very excited to see what they’ve come up with for this latest Terminator installment. If Batman Begins is any indication, this movie is going to be incredible as Christian Bale is quickly turning into the ‘resurrector of tired franchises.’ From the trailer it looks like he and director McG have injected some much-needed edgy realism and credibility back into Terminator. We’ve been watching the TV show and it, too, has gone in that direction – more serious, great plot lines, cool effects and very dark in look and feel. This one takes place in the future, after ‘judgement day’ when John Connor is all grown up and is struggling to keep Skynet and the robots from wiping out humanity completely. Is he really the hero his mother’s been bragging about for the last 20 years? Or just a regular guy in a crappy situation trying to stay alive? We’ll have to watch it to find out. Check out the trailer here: Terminator Salvation Offical Site
Add’l Info: Release Date: May 22, 2009 • Runtime & Rating: TBD • Photo courtesty of Warner Bros. [Still taken from HD trailer - it's an image that is flashed so quickly you almost can't see it. When I found it and enhanced it, I got giddy... I love evil robots...]
Posted in Action, Adventure, Comic Book, Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Preview Only, Science Fiction, Thriller | Tagged Billy Crudup, Cathy Bates, Christian Bale, John Cleese, Keanu Reeves, McG, Sam Worthington, Scott Derrickson, Zach Snyder | Leave a Comment »
Saturday, July 19, 2008
“Why So Serious?”
For anyone living in a box lately, The Dark Knight takes place about a year after Batman Begins. This time around, Batman [Christian Bale] teams up with Lieutenant Gordon [Gary Oldman] and Gotham’s new District Attorney, Harvey Dent [Aaron Eckhart] – the guy many people believe – including Bruce Wayne – to be Gotham’s white knight in his fearless attack on crime, rounding up mob bosses and cleaning up the streets. Things are going smoothly until a psychotic bank robber, soon known to a terrified Gotham as ‘The Joker’ [Heath Ledger] gets the upper hand and unleashes a new kind of chaos and terrorism on the city. The question is – why? According to Dent, “you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.”
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Posted in Action, Comic Book, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller | Tagged Aaron Eckhart, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Nester Carbonell | Leave a Comment »
Saturday, June 14, 2008
“Get Ready To Unleash The Beast.”
I have to admit – I did NOT want to see this movie. I hated the last one, and I’m not a big fan of Ed Norton [although I do think he's a great actor], but my hubby wanted to see it and he was treating, so why not? Even while watching it, I was being hypercritical, bad-mouthing it in my mind [don't worry, I'm not a movie psycho that babbles the whole time at full volume]. But then I realized halfway through, that I’d stopped bad mouthing it and started to enjoy it a little. And towards the end, I was loving it. I won’t spoil anything, but all it took were 2 words and I was giggling like a little kid. It was much better than expected [which I suppose isn't too hard when there are no expectations to begin with...]…
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Posted in Action, Comic Book, Fantasy, Science Fiction | Tagged Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Louis Leterrier, Tim Roth, William Hurt | Leave a Comment »
Sunday, June 1, 2008
“Hell wants him. Heaven won’t take him. Earth needs him.”
We’ve seen Constantine so many times, I’ve lost count. It’s not often a movie comes along like this one. Just so cool and creepy and fun. I have to preface this by saying that I wasn’t a Keanu Reeves fan until the Matrix movies, and after seeing him on Leno, watching him in an interview. Seeing him talking outside of ‘acting’, I realized that what I took for his lack of acting, was just his… accent…? Or just the way he talks in general. It’s different from other actors and once I figured that out, it didn’t bother me anymore. I also read about some tragic stuff he’s been through and I guess I related to him more because of it. You can see it in his eyes… [but I digress... again...]
So, Constantine. It’s brilliant. It’s based on the DC/Vertigo comic book character in HellBlazer. A man born with the ability to see the ‘half breeds’ that walk among us from both heaven and hell. He’s a tragic character because this ability drove him to take his own life when he was a teenager. He was revived after being dead for 2 minutes, but they felt like a lifetime… in hell. So he’s spent his life since then trying to get back into God’s good graces…
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Posted in Comic Book, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural, Thriller | Tagged Djimon Hounsou, Francis Lawrence, Gavin Rosedale, Keanu Reeves, Max Baker, Peter Stormare, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Rachael Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton | Leave a Comment »
Thursday, May 29, 2008
“Suit Up.”
As far as comic book heroes go, Iron Man is at the top of our list… because he’s F-ing COOL. Robert Downey was perfectly cast as the egotistic, brilliant Tony Stark. The visual effects of this flick were just stunning. We’re already excited for a sequel after this movie did all the set-up for the character. The story was well written and the pace was decent. I would have liked to have seen more of the final product, but as an ‘origins’ movie, it did a great job. I’m not the biggest fan of Gwyneth Paltrow, but she was believable as Pepper Potts. Seeing Jeff Bridges as a bad guy was fun, although the man is not meant to be bald. He has an enormous cranium. It took some getting used to.
We’re going to need to see this one again before it leaves theaters. It was an excellent start to the summer blockbuster season of ‘08. It would be a sin to miss it on the big screen if you’re a fan of action. If you do go, make sure to stay through the credits for a bonus scene. And there’s a great ‘easter egg’ in one of the later workshop scenes for die-hard comic book fans. We missed it the first time around, but got the skinny from a friend who’s cousin was one of the lead animators on this movie.
We give this one a 4 1/2 out of 5. Go see it!
Car buffs will enjoy seeing the Audi R8 featured in this movie. One of our favorite cars at the moment. =)
~ HELENA
Add’l Info: Released: May 2, 2008 • Runtime: 126 minutes • Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and brief suggestive content
Posted in Action, Adventure, Comic Book, Drama, Science Fiction, Thriller | Tagged Audi R8, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Jon Favreau, Marvel, Robert Downey Jr, Terrence Howard | 1 Comment »
