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MoCCA presents ‘Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood’ this Thursday

  • News
  • March 25, 2009

"The Art of Watchmen" co-curator, comics historian Peter Sanderson, will lead a screening and discussion of the two new short films Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood at MoCCA. Sanderson will discuss the role of the two books within the Watchmen graphic novel from DC Comics.

Executive produced by Zack Snyder, the Director of Watchmen and 300, comes two tales from the celebrated graphic novel that do not appear in the extraordinary Watchmen Theatrical Feature. Tales of the Black Freighter (featuring the voice of 300’s Gerard Butler) brings to strikingly animated life the graphic novels richly layered story-within-a-story, a daring pirate saga whose turbulent events may mirror those in the Watchmen’s world. Stars from the Watchmen movie team in the amazing live-action/CGI Under the Hood, based on Nite Owl’s powerful first-hand account of how the hooded adventurers came into existence.

Peter Sanderson is a comics historian and critic who has taught "Comics as Literature" at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. He regularly writes about graphic novels for "Publishers Weekly’s" online "Comics Week and has authored and co-authored numerous books, most recently Marvel Chronicle for DK Publishing. He also co-curated "Stan Lee: A Retrospective" at MoCCA in 2007 and was Marvel Comics first (and only) archivist. He will be teaching a course in comics and film at New York University’s SCPS this summer. Sanderson did his undergraduate and graduate work in English literature at Columbia University, and lives in New York City.

The event will be at MoCCA, Thursday, March 26th, 7pm. Admission is $5, free for MoCCA members.

‘Spider-Man’ fireman does whatever a spider can

  • News
  • March 25, 2009

From the BBC, the story of the day week:

An unusual disguise has helped a Bangkok fireman rescue an eight-year-old boy who had climbed on to a third-floor window ledge, Thai police say.

The firefighter dressed up as the comic book superhero Spider-Man in order to coax the boy, who is autistic, from his dangerous perch.

Police said teachers had alerted the fire station after the boy began crying and climbed out of a classroom window.

It was reportedly his first day at the special needs school.

Efforts by the teachers to persuade the pupil to come back inside had failed.

But a remark by his mother about his passion for comic superheroes prompted fireman Somchai Yoosabai to rush back to the station, where he kept a Spider-Man costume in his locker.

The sight of Mr Somchai dressed as Spider-Man and holding a glass of juice for him, brought a big smile to the boy’s face, and he promptly threw himself into the arms of his "superhero", police said.

Mr Somchai normally uses the costume to liven up fire drills in schools.

Review: ‘The Odd Couple’ on DVD

You know the music. You know the set-up and you’ve seen it played out in countless variations.  Still, there is nothing like the original.  Paramount’s Centennial Collection continues today with two more classic releases, including Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple.

Based on his box office smash play (which in turn was inspired by his brother’s life), Neil Simon took the story of two mismatched divorced men trying to live together and made a sad state of affairs hilarious.

On Broadway, the inimitable Walter Matthau was matched with Art Carney, fresh from his run with Jackie Gleason, but for the film, Paramount exec Robert Evans went for Jack Lemmon, who played previously with Matthau in [[[The Fortune Cookie]]]. On screen, the two had chemistry in spaces and it was necessary to make this work.  One is a sports writer slob, the other a high-strung metrosexual (long before the word existed) news writer. When Lemmon’s Felix Unger is tossed out of his house, he makes several attempts at suicide before turning up at Oscar Madison’s pigpen apartment during the weekly poker game with the guys.  Madison takes pity on Unger and invites him in.

Over the course of three weeks, Unger spruces up the apartment, saves Madison a ton of money (so he can finally catch up on his alimony), and quickly drives his best friend nuts. And when they try a double date dinner with the Pigeon sisters, you see just how hurt Unger is, something Madison never seems to note until then. It just takes him longer to understand what to do.

The movie has a supporting cast of poker buddies filled out with the late John Fielder and Herb Edelman among the quarter. They show how the circle of friends are shades of Oscar and Felix and why they put up with—and support–one another.

The set pieces are brilliant, with terrific comic timing that remains funny even today. On the other hand, the 1968 movie is based on a 1965 play and completely is self-contained so you have no sense of the changes going through Manhattan and American society. As a result, it has a somewhat dated feel regardless of the fine direction by Gene Saks.

As with the first six releases in the set, the second disc comes with an assortment of original production commentary. Unlike the 1950s offerings, this one feels very thin with several short pieces interviewing the surviving production crew and cast, starting with Saks. Simon is nowhere to be seen.  Matthau and Lemmon’s sons talk about their fathers and what it was like growing up with them.  The shorts celebrate the brilliance of Simon and his script but it still incomplete.  Even though Brad Garrett is on screen talking about his part in the most recent revival, everything in between is ignored.  Not a word about how the concept gave birth to the first great sitcom of the 1970s, with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall taking these great roles and running with them for six seasons. Nothing about subsequent revivals of the play, nothing to show how it has endured.

Also missing were features that linked this disc to the overall centennial celebration which is a disappointment.

Still, the movie makes you laugh out loud and it’s nice to have a pristine edition for repeated viewing.

Twilight’s Catherine Hardwicke: ‘If I Stay’, a ‘Maximum Ride’?

  • News
  • March 24, 2009

Mending their relationship, Twilight production company Summit Entertainment and director Catherine Hardwicke are coming together again for the new fantasy/drama movie If I Stay, according to Variety.  The movie is based on author Gayle Forman’s young adult novel If I Stay, which will be published this spring by Dutton children’s Books.

Additionally, via ICv2, Hardwicke is in discussions with Columbia Pictures to develop and direct a movie adaptation of James Patterson young-adult book series Maximum Ride. Ex-Marvel honcho Avi Arad is producing the adaptation of Patterson’s tale of six teens who have been genetically altered so that they can fly. On the one hand, both the text versions and Yen Press’ Maximum Ride graphic novels have done very well. On the other hand, Arad’s first film after leaving Marvel– was Bratz.

ComicMix Quick Picks – March 24, 2009

  • News
  • March 24, 2009

Man, we are so behind… busy busy busy here. Some items from the past few days to tide you over:

  • The "comics on handhelds" panel at SXSW, covered by ComicMix contributor Chris Ullrich for one of the thirteen other blogs he writes for.
  • And speaking of ComicMix contributors past and present, Rick Marshall made it up to the Webcomics Weekend and covered it heavily.
  • Quote of the day, from John Rogers:
    There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.
  • Take the above with a grain of salt– Rogers drinks. Heavily. Quotes On Comics. This will probably save Dirk Deppey five minutes a day or so when he does ¡Journalista!
  • Papercutz is going to publish Geronimo Stilton graphic novels beginning in August.  The first graphic novel titles under the deal are The Discovery of America and The Secret of the Sphinx.  Scholastic Inc publishes the Geronimo Stilton book series in the US.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

Review: The Rabbi’s Cat

  • Uncategorized
  • March 24, 2009

In my misspent youth I took French lessons and am able to get through Paris without causing International Incidents. My reading skills in French are better than my ability to speak it, and that’s okay: I like to think you get into less trouble with an open book than an open mouth. Little Did I Know.

So I’ve got this friend, brilliant fellow-writer Nalo Hopkinson, and one day she asked me if I could read French. Why yes; yes, I can, I replied. And I was thereupon treated to that rare phenomenon, the ability to hear via e-mail someone rubbing their hands together in fiendish glee and chortling “Mwahaha!” Soon after that, the mail brought to my innocent hands a French graphic novel called [[[Le Chat Du Rabin]]], aka The Rabbi’s Cat. It was written by marvelously prolific French writer-artist Joan Sfar, and let’s get one thing out of the way now, FWIW: Joan is a man. It happens.

The Rabbi’s Cat is set in 1930s French North Africa. I’m being typically lazy as I write this, which is why I’m fudging on exactly where in French North Africa. Morocco, I think. (Mmmmm, fudge!) The protagonist is—see if you can guess. . .YES! Right in one!—the rabbi’s cat. He looks to be related to the Sphinx breed and he dwells with the rabbi and the rabbi’s beautiful daughter.

There is also a parrot. It is a very loud and talkative parrot. It is an obnoxious parrot. It is a highly inconvenient parrot and so, cat’s being cats, soon it is an EX-parrot! (Oh, how I’ve wanted to say that!)

And under the enchanting rules of Sfar’s fiction, in a miraculous moment, because he has eaten a talking parrot, the rabbi’s cat can now talk!

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2009 Hugo Nominations — including the first Hugo Awards for graphic novels

  • News
  • March 23, 2009

First the New York Times makes a graphic novel bestseller list… now the Hugos are getting int the act.

The nominees have been announced for the 2009 Hugo Awards, recognizing the best in science fiction and fantasy writing– and, for the first time, an award will be given out in the newly created Best Graphic Story (or graphic novel) category. ComicMix’s Andrew Pepoy, creator of The Adventures of Simone and Ajax, was nominated for his work in Fables: War and Pieces along with Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy, Lee Loughridge, and Todd Klein. No strangers to comics themselves, Neil Gaiman was nominated for Best Novel for The Graveyard Book, and Cory Doctorow was nominated for Little Brother; while comics properties The Dark Knight, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Iron Man were nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form.

The Hugo Awards celebrate the best in the field of science fiction and fantasy.  Hugos are presented each year at the World Science Fiction Convention, a.k.a. WorldCon, by the World Science Fiction Society, and are voted on by attendees of this year’s WorldCon in Montreal, Anticipation. The Hugos awarded at Anticipation will be for works released in 2008.

More information is on the official Hugo Award web site. If you’d like to vote on them, here’s how.

Nominations

Best Graphic Story
(212 Ballots / Bulletins)

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The Point – March 23rd, 2009

BATTLESTAR may be over, but the online reviews rage on and the ratings are big. Meanwhile, we talk more with the writer, director and star of SUPER CAPERS while STAR TREK gets hit with an old school lawsuit and THE SIMS invade…ONE TREE HILL?

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Review: ‘Quantum of Solace’ on DVD

Having grown up on James Bond movies, I have been conditioned to expect certain lines, images and sounds. As a result, I was curious to see what would survive when the franchise was rebooted with Casino Royale. They played with the martini line but maintained the title theme and gave us a fresh start (although I still think Daniel Craig is too old for Bond at this stage in his career).

The movie was pretty terrific although I noted at the time that the pacing was odd and the entire final third felt like a separate film. So, going into Quantum of Solace, which is released on DVD tomorrow., I wanted to see what they would do next especially since this is the first film that was a direct sequel.

The events from [[[Casino]]] provide Bond’s motivations and colors everything he does in this film. Here’s the first problem with the new film: it does a piss poor job of reminding you what happened in the previous installment. When Mathis is reintroduced, I had forgotten who he was and what his involvement with Bond and Vesper were. Similarly, when Bond says M was wrong about Vesper, I have no recollection what she said in the previous film.

While Bond films are known for their action sequences, this one felt by rote. We had fist fights, a car chase, a boat chase and a plane chase. Ho hum. They were uninvolving thanks to what I call “in your face” editing so things flash by so quickly, you have no real sense of what’s going on. You get impressions based on the glimpses you have in your field of vision. Storytelling is tossed out the window for style but leaves you either confused or frustrated.

The movie is praised for being a taut two hours but I would have dearly enjoyed ten more minutes if characters actually spoke to one another as characters not plot exposition and surface characterization. Also, the movie utterly ignores time. You have no idea how much time has passed from the first scene to the last. We have no idea how Bond changes his clothes so often, when he sleeps, eats and so on. After having no access to money or passports, we next see him in a boat heading to see Mathis. How?

It wasn’t all disappointing.

(more…)

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