Tagged: movie

‘Veronice Mars’ goes to the Movies

  • News
  • September 6, 2008

Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello has been one of the biggest supporters of Veronica Mars, the three season CW semi-hit that always had more buzz than ratings.  It did turn Kristen Bell into a star and helped creator Rob Thomas land additional work such as a revival of his Cupid for ABC.

Ausiello has been covering the growing rumors that a Veronica Mars feature film might happen and now it seems to be closer to a reality.  Producer Joel Silver, also a fan of the show, has gotten Warner Bros. interested in the notion of a movie version.  Thomas would write the feature for Silver and Bell has also indicated she’d happily return as the student turned sleuth.

When Thomas tried a Hail Mary attempt at a fourth season, he posited Veronica would have been recruited to work for the FBI.  For the movie, though, he’d send her to college and deal with a big campus mystery.

We here at ComicMix are also fans and will be keeping an eye on developments.

Which Batman Film Was Most Successful?

  • News
  • August 19, 2008

batclip-1359970Now that The Dark Knight has been displaced from the top of the box office and its ticket sales are finally beginning to slow down, we can finally start looking to see how it did.

Box Office Mojo, a website devoted to movie grosses, compared all modern Batman movies in one handy dandy chart. Be forewarned. There’s enough numbers and stats to make even the Batcomputer’s cursor change into the hourglass icon. Some of the more interesting figures (but keep in mind that The Dark Knight numbers aren’t finalized yet):

Biggest Domestic Gross: The Dark Knight $471,082,150

Biggest Production Budget: The Dark Knight $185 million

Best Second Weekend Retention: Batman -25.7%

Chart Ranking of All Time Movies (Adjusted for Inflation): The Dark Knight at #39

So there you go. Christian Bale beats down Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and George Clooney easily. Though Rhett Butler still kicks Bruce Wayne’s ass as the #1 movie of all time.

Robert Downey Jr: “F*ck DC Comics”

  • News
  • August 19, 2008

iron-man-photo-downey-jr-9492303Sure, we know that actors occasionally lose themselves in the role and start acting like their characters in real life. Robert Downey Jr. may have been concentrating too much on his Tony Stark role from this summer’s Iron Man movie in this interview with Moviehole.com.

What’s got everyone buzzing? Well, here’s an excerpt:

"My whole thing is that that I saw ‘The Dark Knight’. I feel like I’m dumb because I feel like I don’t get how many things that are so smart. It’s like a Ferrari engine of storytelling and script writing and I’m like, ‘That’s not my idea of what I want to see in a movie.’ I loved ‘The Prestige’ but didn’t understand ‘The Dark Knight’. Didn’t get it, still can’t tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character and in the end they need him to be a bad guy. I’m like, ‘I get it. This is so high brow and so f–king smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie.’ You know what? F-ck DC Comics. That’s all I have to say and that’s where I’m really coming from."

Yeah. Don’t be expecting a call to play the Riddler anytime soon, Bob.
 

Review: ‘Flight, Vol. 5’ edited by Kazu Kibuishi

 flight-51-4889565Flight, Volume Five
Edited by Kazu Kibuishi
Villard/Random House, July 2008, $25.00

As always, the stories in the annual [[[Flight]]] volume are gorgeous and fun, created by a group of artists who worked on storyboards and other art for animated movies, and Flight is easily the most visually diverse of the new breed of mass-market comics anthologies.

But I can’t help but think that most of these stories are square watermelons – the products of creators trained and taught to run their imaginations down narrow channels to produce upbeat, kid-friendly stories with defined beats and clear morals. Nearly every story in Flight 5 could be seen as the treatment for a big-budget “family” animated movie, and many of them feel explicitly like the first scene or two of such a movie. Even once these guys – and all but two of them are guys, which some people may find notable – have been given the freedom of Flight, they continue to tell stories in that one, confined mode, like so many victims of Stockholm syndrome unwilling to leave their own prisons.

The stories are each well-told, but, as they pile up one after another, the number of naïf protagonists learning about the world (often under mortal peril) become just more variations on the same theme. There’s the fox-like world-saver of Michael Gagne’s “[[[The Broken Path]]],” the anthropomorphic fox-man of Reagan Lodge’s “[[[The Dragon]]],” the self-consciously ironic Bigdome of Paul Rivoche’s “[[[Flowers for Mama]]],” Dave Roman’s series of folks who could all be “The Chosen One,” the probably-delusional child Princess of Pluto in Svetlana Chmakova’s “On the Importance of Space Travel,” and – the youngest and most obvious lesson-telling of all of these – boy hero of Richard Pose’s “Beisbol 2.”

(more…)

The Iron Man Ultimate DVD Commeth!

  • News
  • August 9, 2008

If you’ve grown tired of watching that bootleg copy of Iron Man that you’ve crammed onto your iPod/iPhone, then you will be happy to know that details of the Iron Man DVD release are now available for you to drool over.

First off, you can get your hands on the movie on DVD and Blu Ray September 30th, and rather than aim for the wallet and release seven versions over a period of two years, Paramount is putting out the two-disc "Ultimate Edition" first. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be a Super Deluxe Buy Me Now Edition with a piece of Robert Downy Jr.’s hair.
 
One of the coolest features announced is that the Blu-ray disc will include an exclusive "Iron Man IQ", which will allow you to create quizzes based on clips from the film and share them with your friends. This probably won’t enhance your movie-watching experience, but will allow you to educate your friends on "how many buttons Tony Stark’s suit has." Here are the rest of the details.
 

Disc 1:
 
– Feature film
– Deleted and Extended Scenes
 
Disc 2:
 
– I Am Iron Man Documentary Series
          o The Journey Begins
          o The Suit that makes the Iron Man
          o The Walk of Destruction
          o Grounded In Reality
          o Beneath the Armor
          o It’s All in the Details
          o A Good Story, Well Told
 
– The Invincible Iron Man
          o Origins
          o Friends & Foes
          o The Definitive Iron Man
          o Demon in a Bottle
          o Extremis and Beyond
          o Ultimate Iron Man
 
– Wired: The Visual Effects of Iron Man
– Robert Downey Jr. Screen Test
– The Actor’s Process (scene rehearsal with cast)
– The Onion “Wildly Popular Iron Man Trailer to be Adapted into Full Length Film”
– Image Galleries

Our Own Private Gotham, by John Ostrander

  • News
  • July 31, 2008

The newest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, is doing a nice bit of smackdown with all kinds of records, as well it should. It’s taking in money hand over fist. There are even whispers that it could wind up outgrossing Titanic, although I don’t think that will happen myself. The film will probably be up for several Oscars next year including, among others, Best Picture and possibly Best Actor for the late Heath Ledger’s incendiary portrayal of the Joker.

I’ve seen it, I loved it, I was stunned by it like everyone else. Best Batman movie ever. Possibly the best superhero movie ever. What really interests me, however, are the reports on the demographics of just who is going to see this film. It’s not just we comic geeks. It’s not just young males looking for adrenaline and excitement and explosions (although the film also has plenty of those). It’s everybody. Young and old, male and female, all colors, all races. That makes me ask a different question.

What is our reaction to this movie telling us about ourselves?

There’s a zeitgeist going on. You see this every once in a while – a film or a book or some music taps into the national psyche and expresses something that we, as a people, are feeling. I think the response to The Dark Knight shows it’s happening again.

Yes, the pre-opening buzz for the film was really positive. Heath Ledger’s death added a morbid curiosity. It had a terrific PR push. Anticipation was high. The response, however, is phenomenal. It’s doing better than the studio even hoped. So, again, I ask what is going on here?

Exploring this is going to involve talking freely about the film. If you haven’t seen the movie, go see it first. Experience it for yourself. This column will still be here when you’re done. In other words, Spoilers Ahead! (more…)

How Matthew Goode Got the ‘Watchmen’ Gig

  • News
  • July 30, 2008

You may have heard of actor Matthew Goode. He was in Matchpoint and The Lookout and has a big new movie coming up called Brideshead Revisited.

Oh, and he plays Adrian Veidt in that little Watchmen flick.

In an interview in the Orlando Sentinel about his role in Brideshead, Goode also shared some interesting background on how he got the Watchmen role:

His nerviest turn to date, in The Lookout, is what he says got him the role that will almost certainly make him world-famous. He is Adrian Veidt, "Ozymandias" in the new film of the acclaimed graphic novel, Watchmen, one of the most anticipated movies of 2009.

"I’m auditioning on my hotel room toilet, in front of a sheet [a video audition], reading two scenes, one of which has me remembering that I’ve killed 15 million people," he says, laughing. Brideshead wouldn’t have prepared him for that. "I got that part because of The Lookout.

"I hadn’t read the [graphic] novel, but I did, and went, ‘Oh my God! This is ridiculous. So complicated. But [W atchmen] is everything you want to play as an actor, all those gray areas, and in a movie millions and millions of people are dying to see."

Who’ll Be the Next ‘Batman’ Villain?

  • News
  • July 28, 2008

It appears the villains of The Dark Knight, the latest installment in the Batman movie franchise, won’t return, as Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent appears to be killed off and Heath Ledger’s untimely death makes it impossible for him to return his version of the Joker.

So, the obvious question becomes "who’s next?"

One blogger at Doomkopf thinks we may have already seen him:

…actor Joshua Harto plays Mr. Reese in “The Dark Knight,” an employee for Wayne Enterprises who comes to the conclusion that Batman is actually Bruce Wayne. Oh, and, it’s not like I’m spoiling anything; everybody and their dog has seen this movie already. He eventually gets targeted by the Joker before he can share his secret, after which he’s summarily pushed out of the movie after Bruce Wayne saves his life and gives him one hell of an evil eye. It’s either a loose end that never got tied up, or it’s a sign that he’ll be back in future movies.

Now, isn’t that kind of like Edward Nigma’s origin? Ex-employee to Wayne Enterprises, grown bitter, and seeking revenge against his former employer? And, ditching the lame “enigma” joke would be a step in the right direction, though another clue presents itself when you think about it for a second. His name in this movie is Mr. Reese. Mysteries. I’d say I might be on to something.

Mr. Reese… Mysteries. Clever.

However, a viral marketing campaign for Dark Knight might indicate the people behind the film were making much-less subtle hints to the Riddler’s whereabouts, as Edward Nashton (an alias of the Riddler) "wrote" a letter to the editor at the Gotham Times Web site.

SDCC: IDW and ‘Ghostbusters’

  • News
  • July 27, 2008

gb1_nickrunge-9814285Going into Comic-Con, we all knew IDW would be talking about their plans with the recently acquired G.I. Joe franchise. But another ’80s reboot came as a little more of a surprise.

In October, the publisher will trot out a four-issue Ghostbusters miniseries, by writer Keith Champagne and artist Dustin Nguyen. Newsarama caught up with Champagne in San Diego, who had an interesting take on the property:

Is Ghostbusters a successful franchise? It’s definitely generated a lot of revenue in different formats so I guess one could consider it successful in a bottom line kind of way, but creatively, I think it’s been hit or miss. Granted, I’m not the target audience for the cartoon stuff so maybe I’m wrong.

I think the greatness of the first movie has more or less born the weight of the entire franchise over the years. None of the other iterations has seemed to come close although I’m hearing that the upcoming video game is really good, basically a third movie in itself. And hey, there’s no shame in shooting for the stars and falling a little short. Let’s face it: guys like Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis and Rick Moranis and Bill Murray firing on all cyclinders, that’s a tough act to follow for us mere mortals.

Also, no Slimer, which is sure to please some and annoy others.

NY Times: Have Superhero Movies Peaked?

  • News
  • July 27, 2008

dark_knight_joker-4797358There’s an interesting question posed by the New York Times film critic A.O. Scott in a new piece regarding superhero movies.

He surveys the Summer of the Superhero and notes the genre’s success, but then wonders if it might have hit a creative high-water mark. In other words, could the conventions of the superhero limit every superhero film, keeping it from exceeding The Dark Knight?

But to paraphrase something the Joker says to Batman, “The Dark Knight” has rules, and they are the conventions that no movie of this kind can escape. The climax must be a fight with the villain, during which the symbiosis of good guy and bad guy, implicit throughout, must be articulated. The end must point forward to a sequel, and an aura of moral consequence must be sustained even as the killings, explosions and chases multiply. The allegorical stakes in a superhero are raised — it’s not just good guys fighting bad guys, but Righteousness against Evil, Order against Chaos — precisely to authorize a more intense level of violence.

… the disappointment comes from the way the picture spells out lofty, serious themes and then … spells them out again. What kind of hero do we need? Where is the line between justice and vengeance? How much autonomy should we sacrifice in the name of security? Is the taking of innocent life ever justified? These are all fascinating, even urgent questions, but stating them, as nearly every character in “The Dark Knight” does, sooner of later, is not the same as exploring them.

As much as I liked The Dark Knight, I agree with Scott on its limitations, owing mostly to the abundance of "speechifying."

But, personally, I disagree with his main point. Watchmen, if it truly ends up following Alan Moore’s vision, would certainly represent a new creative high for the genre.

What Scott reveals in the piece isn’t the great limitation of superheroes, but rather a limitation in his understanding of what a superhero can be.

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