(91) If Joss Whedon has, indeed, already earned his many fanboys and fangirls then he’s done it twice-over again with The Avengers, Marvel’s big budget mash-up. Navigating as much ground while still delivering fan service is a tough act to pull and the few scenes that trip up fluidity even in small ways act to highlight how limber this gorilla of a movie really is. It’s no exaggeration to say that The Avengers bears every single element that one looks for in a comic-book picture, and does so with a confident grin.
I’d like to share a little secret with you: Joss Whedon’s Avengers opens wide in theaters this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!! If the eleven exclamation marks aren’t enough to clue you in, I’m very excited – in fact, I’ve already purchased my tickets. In celebration, I am reviving the recently diseased (did you catch that?) “Spotlight” series and honoring one of Joss’ earlier screen works.
(61)Red Sonja doesn’t excuse the ongoing absence of Conan the Conqueror and neither is it the equal of Barbarian or Destroyer. While Brigitte Nielsen (Sonja) is the picture’s newcomer, Sandahl Bergman’s delivery of dialogue is so weak that one might imagine she’s the one being introduced here. In the end, sexy cat-fights should suffice to quell all but the deepest criticisms.
You were all to be the recipients of a truly devastating April Fool’s prank: “I regret to announce — this is The End. I am going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell,” my Lord of the Rings quotation would have read, in reference to this comic current being the final “Small Screens” strip. That, however, is not true and my plans for debauchery ended just as soon as I decided to drink a Marley’s Mellow while enjoying X-Files. That stuff will put you down faster than a Thanksgiving turkey.
(89) I haven’t read “The Hunger Games.” After seeing the adaptation, it’s next on my list. Hunger Games is one of those blockbusters that you cheer for; one that makes you proud of the public for shelling out to see it and also of the studios for shelling out to make it. Gary Ross was the right man for the “chair” and an exemplary job was done by the casting department. First Class made many take notice of Jennifer Lawrence, Games will make her hard to ignore for the rest.
(78) If the words “Dario Argento” aren’t enough to get you interested, perhaps following with “forgotten masterpiece” will be. Any number of horror buffs are surely out there, at this very moment, using that phrase to describe Phenomena and the good news is that they’re not entirely off base. It’s hardly the equal of Suspiria or Profondo Rosso but it’s better than anything Argento has made recently and its stars, Connelly and Pleasance, play well off of one another.
(54) Readers of Small Screens will know that this review has been long delayed for personal reasons. Love the character or not, this is a terrible movie. In fact, some of the only ways to further the displeasure of watching Spawn is to read the comic or watch the vastly superior animated-series in close proximity.
(87)I Love You Phillip Morris is the single greatest gay Romantic Comedy I have ever seen! When it comes to homosexually-themed romcoms, I’ve only ever seen the one… Don’t let that stop you from watching it if you are any sort of Jim Carrey fan. This role requires a blend of comedic panache and dramatic talent that few could have nailed as Carrey did. I Love You Phillip Morris is a real showcase of his abilities and some of his raunchiest work since Me, Myself, and Irene.
(76) Normally, exclaiming that you “didn’t hate” a movie would hardly be an endorsement. Some situations, however, do not fit the mold. I loathe remakes and also hold an enormous amount respect for John Carpenter’s own reimagining of The Thing. Admitting that I didn’t despise this prequel/remake-of-sorts is actually a compliment. It’s not all that scary, and the monster designs do start to get tired, but Heijningen’s Thing can’t be charged with diminishing what’s come before it.
(82) I can’t claim Vampire Hunter D as the anime film that made me fall in love with the medium – that honor unquestionably goes to Akira – but it did fall into the seminal early years of my anime exploration and has since been a personal favorite. What awkward dialogue detracts from the feature, style and imagery more than make up for; the eclectic meeting of the ancient and the futuristic, a key motif of the picture, resonates magnificently through its surreal color palette.
Those of you who don’t know should and now will: The Hobbit will be coming to theaters in 3D. If that doesn’t seem extraordinary, it’s because that fact alone isn’t what’s exciting about the pair of prequels Wingnut is now preparing.
For weeks I’ve been boring my friends and relatives with tech details on the upcoming titles from Peter Jackson and company. My own knowledge of the groundbreaking gear they’ll be using comes largely from the video embedded above. The short of it, for the visually impaired and curmudgeons who loathe video diaries, is that Jackson will not be post-converting the pictures but instead shooting the picture entirely in 3D using pairs of cutting edge, super high-def cameras, capturing twice as many images per second as conventional movies for an ultra-smooth finish. Sound good? That’s because it should.
(52) Alan Moore no longer allows his name to be placed in films based upon his comic book stories. After LXG and Swamp Thing, who can blame him? Bad psychics, inferior special effects, and worse camerawork beg the question how someone with an art department background could have helmed this bland, insulting adaptation.
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