YouTube of the Week: Sweded Edition
I really enjoyed seeing “Be Kind Rewind” a few weeks ago, but I also really enjoy that fans around the world have taken it upon themselves to make sweded movies of their own. Above is the fan-made sweded T2. If you enjoy that, check out the Top 10 Sweded Movies and the Be Kind Rewind YouTube channel.
Anime Batman and Other Hidden Comic Movies
By now, most of you are probably aware of all the big superhero movies coming out this summer. However, there are a few other projects that haven’t gotten quite as much attention that I’m interested in.
Justice League: New Frontier was released recently, and since I was a huge fan of the original comic, I bought it and watched it on the first day. I’d definitely recommend it to Justice League fans in general, and it manages to keep that great retro style the comic was done in. There’s some improvements in the story overall that make the “big bad” not come quite as much out of nowhere as what happens in the comic. However, the whole thing feels rushed, much like the first in the series, Superman: Doomsday. Maybe DC will start giving these direct to DVD features a little longer running time to stretch out.
On the DVD was a trailer for Batman: Gotham Knight, the next direct to DVD feature. This, in a nutshell, is Batman meets Animatrix. In fact, it features a number of creators that worked on various Animatrix segments. Several Batman tales, written by some great comic writers, animated Japanese anime style. What could be better? Oh yes, Kevin Conroy is returning to voice Batman. It officially changed from “check out” to “must buy” for me.
Finally, not a superhero movie per se but one based on comics is the film adaptation of Scott Pilgrim. I recommend this series not just to comic fans, but video game fans (as the characters live in a video game-esque reality, where people really do level up) and fans of twenty-something comedy/dramas. But then, some more information came out recently: Micheal Cera is set to star in the lead role (of whom I’ve been a big fan since Arrested Development) and Edgar Wright of Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz fame is set to direct. Yet another team I can get behind.
So while they may not have the advertising dollars of some of the blockbusters, these are all movies I recommend seeing.
Watchmen Characters Revealed
Today is exactly one year until the movie Watchmen is released, and now they’ve released a group of images of what many of the main characters look like. Head over to the Watchmen site to see all of the glorious full-size shots.
I have to say that I think these are perfect, especially the Comedian (pictured), the Nite Owl, and Rorschach. It’s not just a showcase of how well each actor fits the look of the role, and not even about how good the costumes and props are, but each image is like a poster for the character that showcases a feel and context that I think really just gets it.
I’m very eager to hear more about the production of this movie, and how Snyder will deal with a property in all ways dissimilar to 300. What you can see is that some of the same hands are dealing with this movie, but there are huge thematic differences between the two works that I feel if Watchmen reminds us too much of how 300 felt it won’t work. Not to mention that 300 was good despite the text, while Watchmen thrives on its writing.
I’d love to hear what Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons think of these shots, though Moore might want nothing to do with the whole thing at all and won’t even look at them. I’m curious how a comic very much born out of the 80′s can translate into a movie created very much in the 2000′s. If 300 started a tilt toward a new direction in movies, will the Watchmen movie complete the transition?
(via Ain’t It Cool)
Of Martians and JJ Abrams
One day, a week or two ago, I came across this story about images sent back from the Mars Spirit Rover. What you see to the right is a small version of a panorama taken at a crater on Mars from this mission, and you can see a super high quality version at Nasa’s site (or by clicking on the image to the right).
The thing that is most interesting about this image is when you look in the lower left corner in further detail:
Then you look a little bit closer and see this:
What the shit? Okay seriously it is most likely just a small (or large?) rock formation that happens to look like a happy martian friend strutting along a cliff-line. You can read the FOX News article about this whole thing, or just gawk at that image a little while longer. Seriously, is he strutting or what? That must be the most pimp mars rock / martian in the universe. What adds to the creepiness is that NASA didn’t notice this, not too surprising, but posted it on their website and some enthusiasts happened upon it while checking out the high-res image. [Read the rest of this article]
"TETSUO!" "TITANIC!"
Did not see that one coming…
Leonardo DiCaprio is set to produce a live-action version of anime classic Akira.
Technology may have finally caught up to the point where doing live-action Akira is more feasible than it once was. But how faithful will it be to the original? Who will direct? Will DiCaprio take a role in it? HOW MUCH SHOUTING WILL THERE BE???
These questions will determine if the movie is brought into the new millennium, or if we’ll just get another ridiculous remake.
YouTube of the Week: Yakety Trap Edition
Some Benny Hill jokes… why not? The second one I found via Graham.
Inq. of the Week: Summer Movies '08
Who would have thought that in such a innuendo laden poll that Portable Hole would be the most popular choice? Thankfully the Rod of Splendor and Holy Avenger tied at second place, but I was still very surprised that the ever vigilant Immovable Rod didn’t attract more people.
This week we’re all pretty excited after seeing the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer. It’s really one of the last trailers in a series of what look to be entertaining and hopefully good movies throughout the summer months. We have a few sequels that are shaping up to be better than the originals in Hellboy II, The Dark Knight, and Prince Caspian. Some new faces to the cinema that look promising like Iron Man, Speed Racer, Wanted, and Pixar’s WALL-E.
The movies are scheduled to release on:
Iron Man – 5/2/08
Speed Racer – 5/9/08
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian – 5/16/08
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – 5/22/08
WALL-E – 6/27/08
Wanted – 6/27/08
Hellboy II: The Golden Army – 7/11/08
The Dark Knight – 7/18/08
The question that we’d like to have answered is…
Loading ...Review: "Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight" DVD
When the announcement was first made, I was excited about the prospect of a Dragonlance animated movie. As the voice cast was announced, I was even more excited. Some big names were there- Kiefer as Raistlin!- which made me think they were sparing no expense in making a cherished novel from my teenage years into a quality movie.
When the trailer debuted, my faith wavered a bit. I still decided to reserve judgment until I had seen the final product.
Well, I rented it from Netflix. And I have to say, I’m disappointed.
(For the purposes of the review, I’m assuming some familiarity with the original book. From that, there will be spoilers.) [Read the rest of this article]
