Tagged: movie

The Fragile Nature of ‘Geek Cred’

  • News
  • June 24, 2008

Beware the power of words, folks. Over at Cinematical, the movie news site’s resident "geek beat" contributor Elisabeth Rappe has taken a comment I left on one of her recent posts and turned it into a full-blown column, titled "The Touchiness of Geek Cred."

In the column, Rappe discusses the Survivor-esque mentality of geekery and the first time she realized that niche-culture gatherings like comic and science-fiction conventions weren’t the friendly grounds she expected them to be. The ever-present drive to cull the herd and create a higher place on the social ladder is in full effect just as much inside the niche cultures as outside, she observes.

For geeks of the feminine persuasion, the environment is even more cut-throat, according to Rappe:

As a female, I find I have to prove myself even more. The first time I went to ComicCon, I fell into a casual conversation with a guy about the comic book movie spin-offs. I mentioned that I really wanted to see the eventual Wolverine, and he sneered: "You just want to see it because you’re a girl, and Hugh Jackman is hot!"

"Hey," I replied tartly. "Wolverine is the best at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice."

"You know the catchphrase. I take that back."

Well, thanks. This is something a geeky girl runs up against often, and it is useless to fight it. Men can see Catwoman for Halle Berry, girls cannot see 300 for Gerard Butler. Frankly, I do it too. One woman I was friends with joined my online movie community solely to talk about Butler. She was horrified when the fanboys called her on it. But I too was aghast. "You can’t just go in and talk about hot guys – you have to talk about Frank Miller first! You have to prove yourself a geek!"

Head over to Cinematical for the rest of the column.

Rappe’s observations reminded me of a recent post here on ComicMix, in which I mentioned that I have yet to read any of the Harry Potter books and narrowly escaped a nasty tar-and-feathering by readers.

Marvel Gets Smart, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • June 24, 2008

As I begin to type this, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, there are only 211 days left before someone else lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, near the Potomac. I tell you this, not because it has anything to do with what follows, but to perhaps lend a note of cheer to your hour.

Now then:

I didn’t stay through all of the Iron Man flick’s end credits, but I should have because my friend Ken Pisani told me that Samuel L. Jackson has a brief scene in which, in the persona of Nick Fury, he reveals to Robert Downey’s Tony Stark that he represents an organization called, in acronym-crazed Sixties fashion, S.H.I.E.L.D. Dissected, that meant Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law Enforcement Division when the organization first appeared in 1965. It was later changed to stand for Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, which was probably more au courant, but is no less a mouthful.

It is a nifty coincidence, but no more than a coincidence, that S.H.I.E.L.D. makes a big screen appearance at about the time as another espionage-themed entertainment with roots in the spy-mad decade of peace and love, Get Smart, gets into the malls.

It is not a coincidence that the current tv promos for another popcorn movie, The Incredible Hulk, tells us that Marvel has done it again, thus making a solid connection between theaters and comic shops. So, we don’t go to the multiplex to see a superhero movie, we go to see a Marvel superhero movie. This is called “branding” and it means, as I understand it, the identification of a group of products as a single, collective entity. You, fashionista that you are, don’t buy a suit, you buy a Brooks Brothers suit because the Brooks Brothers label guarantees a certain level of quality and a certain approach to the creation of clothing. (And aren’t you a bit young to be dressing so conservatively?)

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Original Hulk Concept Art, Character Designer Interviewed

  • News
  • June 22, 2008

The Incredible Hulk is still smashing away in theaters, but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep playing the "What If?" game with the Green Goliath’s latest big-screen rampage.

Over at XSI Base, Incredible Hulk character designer Aaron Sims discusses some of the creative decisions made while conceiving the look of the latest Hulk — as well as his nemesis, Abomination. Here, Sims addresses the difference between Abomination of the comics world and his big-screen counterpart:

The Abomination went many different directions. Some at the beginning were closer to the comic, but everyone felt it didn’t make sense to what happening in the movie. They wanting it to look like it was growing from within and the bones and muscle would break through the skin.

While it’s a fun read, the real treat in this article is the gallery of early designs for both characters, including the frightening Hulk seen here:

Head over to XSI Base for more design images and the rest of the interview.

 

(via Cinematical)

 

Leaked ‘Iron Man’ Photo Now Subject of Lawsuit

  • News
  • June 20, 2008

When movie site IESB.net posted one of the first images of the Iron Man suit last May, to say that the leaked photo from the set of Iron Man created a bit of a buzz might be the understatement of the year.

It didn’t take long, however, for the studios involved with the film to direct their full legal attention to the movie news site, forcing it to shut down for a period of time and generating an entirely different kind of buzz.

Well, it seems like the legal tussle over the photo will have yet another chapter, as attentive members of the Iron Man audience might have noticed a familiar image on the front page of a newspaper Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is reading in a scene near the end of the film. Photographer Ronnie Adams, who shot the initial "leaked" Iron Man photo that started all of the hub-bub, is now alledging that the movie studios used his infamous photo in a "pivotal scene" during Iron Man, and is asking for unspecified monetary damages.

Adams filed a lawsuit regarding the photo last week against Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment, and also asked that the photo be removed from any future DVDs or videogames related to Iron Man.

Full-size versions of the original, "leaked" image and the offending Iron Man scene (according to Adams’ lawsuit) are posted after the jump for comparison.

(via pdnonline) (more…)

Review: Futurama – The Beast with a Billion Backs

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Coming up behind their first direct-to-DVD film, “[[[Bender’s Big Score]]],” Futurama’s next title certainly fills the void that series junkies need but can’t get from running their season DVDs bare. And while “[[[Beast with a Billion Backs]]]” is certainly not as deep or emotional as “Bender’s Big Score,” there is definitely enough to keep you entertained for 90 minutes.

The premise of the “movie” (which is technically four interwoven episodes) begins up with a tear in the sky, seemingly to another universe. When panic ensues and the world’s two smartest minds battle it out to figure out who gets to explore it first, our hapless hero, Fry, jumps in the hole and stumbles across something Earth-shattering. There are several other subplots that all come together in the end a la [[[Seinfeld]]], but the main focal point is this interdimensional “beast.”

Each of these films seems to have a central theme, and if the theme of “Big Score” was time travel and friendship, the theme here must be love and jealousy. Even stated by Bender in the film: “You can’t have complete love without complete jealousy,” which may be poetic, but is still hilarious. The structure follows that of a cheesy romantic comedy, while still mocking itself by having the “romance” occur between the titular beast and every being in existence. (It’s your typical “beast meets everybody, they fall in love, everybody feels betrayed, they break up, then try to fix the relationship” story… but with robot pirates.)

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ComicMix Radio: The Hulk’s Kid Goes Hollywood!

So you were pleasantly surprised at The Incredible Hulk, and you still can’t shake that ending to Battlestar: Galactica. There is nothing better to do than plunge on with this week’s latest batch of new comics and DVDs, plus: 

 
• Skarr Son Of Hulk gets a movie tie-in
• Robotech gets a screen writer
• Bottle o’ wine for ol’ Green Skin
 
So was that really Earth? Wait!  Don’t dwell on that…  just Press the Button!

 

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-2888416 or RSS!

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Warren Ellis Now A Hollywood Red

  • News
  • June 14, 2008

20998_4_003-4146914Our step-brothers over at Cinematical report Warren Ellis’ Red has been optioned by Summit Entertainment. It will be written, or at least first-drafted, by Whiteout‘s Erich and John Hoeber.

It seems DC Comics owner Warner Bros. (well, DC is a division of Warner Bros, which is a division of Time Warner, which ate the cow that ate the dog that ate the cat) has permitted Ellis to join Max Allan Collins’ Road To Perdition (you know; the one with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman) as a DC Comics-published movie handled by another outfit. They seem to focus on capes.

Reports about the faithfulness of the adaptation differ; we’ll see when the movie is cast, re-written, filmed and edited. But every non-cape comics adaptation is a victory, ergo kudos to Ellis.

 

Alone Together In the Dark, by John Ostrander

  • News
  • June 12, 2008

lab06popcorn-posters-6676198I remember the first time I saw the film Casablanca. It was at the 400 Theater in Chicago, just up Sheridan Road from Loyola University where I attended college. It was on the bill with Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam, an obvious but terrific double feature. I went stag but was lucky to get in at all; the small theater was packed.

I had missed or ignored Casablanca up until this point. I’m not sure why; I liked old serials a lot. The movie had certainly played on TV enough. I’d seen bits here and there or seen send-ups of it; callow youth that I was, I thought it wasn’t for me. Part of it was my own perverseness; my immediate reaction, on being told by everyone else that I must see this or I must hear that or I must read such and such is to say, “No, I don’t.” I get stupid stubborn about such things some times. Being told I would love the film I, of course, refused to see it. Finally, my curiosity overcame my perverseness and I sneaked off to view it without anyone else.

As I said, I went stag but I soon discovered I wasn’t alone. I was part of an audience, folks who mostly knew and loved the film. At the end of the singing of La Marseillaise, they cheered. When Captain Renault said, “Round up the usual suspects,” they cheered again. They laughed out loud at the funny lines (the movie is incredibly witty and they had actors who knew timing) and listened with rapt attention to Bogart’s speech at the end. Their delight and enthusiasm was catching on its own. And then there was the film itself.

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Sex In The City, by Michael Davis

No less than eight women and two gay men, all friends of mine, have asked me whether or not I was going to see the Sex And The City movie. I’m lucky (or unlucky depending on your point of view) to be able to see Hollywood films before their release. I have seen Sex And The City. Before you go on, I must tell you that I am going to reveal important plot elements as well as the surprise ending.

The plot of the films is this: four friends, Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, are now all over forty and dealing with life at middle age. Carrie and Mr. Big are planning their wedding. Mr. Big finally tells Carrie what he does for a living and how he got his nickname.

The scene played out like this:

Carrie: Now that we are going to be married, don’t you think I should know your real name and what you do for a living?

Mr. Big: Yes, Carrie, but you better sit down.

Carrie sits down. She has a look of fear and anticipation on her face.

Mr.Big: I love you, Carrie. No matter what happens between us please know I love you.

A tear starts to roll down Carrie’s cheek.

Carrie: You… you’re scaring me Big.

Mr.Big: I’m sorry baby. Look, there is no other way to say this so I’m just going to say it.

Carrie is now shaking and the tears are flowing freely. She begins to sob. (more…)

Indiana Jones and the Secret to Adventure, by John Ostrander

Spoiler warning: Spoilers. Why did it have to be spoilers?! I hate spoilers. Hate ‘em! Unfortunately, I can’t talk about what I want to talk about regarding the latest Indiana Jones flick unless I spill some beams. So I’m warning you upfront. The spoilers won’t appear until after the break and I’ll give you a final warning before I go into them. If you want to just skip the column this week, I’ll understand… this week. Don’t make a habit of it. I know where I live.

Wait. That didn’t come off right.

Okay, I’ve gotten out the fedora and went off to see the new Indiana Jones flick, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. As much as I’m a Star Wars fan (and I’d better be – I’ve been writing Star Wars for about eight years now and you can see what I’m doing in Star Wars: Legacy and, yes, that’s a plug), I’m a bigger goon for Dr. Jones. Even before Raiders of the Lost Ark came out, I was a fan because George Lucas talked in interviews about how his new movie originated in his and Steven Spielberg’s love for the old Saturday Matinee Serials. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I loved ‘em, too. Still do.

Saturday Matinee Serials are also known as “chapter plays” and originally were shown in movie theaters on Saturdays as a way of getting the kids to come back, week after week. They would last 12 to 15 chapters and each one would end with a cliffhanger for the hero or heroine with no way out. Of course, when the next chapter appeared, they showed you the segment that they hadn’t previously shown you which allowed said hero/heroine to escape just in the nick of time. The serials date back from the dawn of cinema to the early 50s when they fell prey to the confangled new invention that was to blight/enrich all out lives, television.

And it was there that I discovered the Saturday Serial. The old serials were re-packaged for Saturday Morning TV kid’s fare and, like the old matinees, were part of a package. It was here that I discovered these often cheesy pleasures. I remember Tim Tyler’s Luck – a 1937 Universal jungle adventure adapted from the comic strip of the same name. The strip petered out only in 1996. I also remember Don Winslow of the navy, also based on a comic strip of the time. In fact, it’s amazing how many of the comic strips and books of the time were adapted into serials – Dick Tracy, Superman, Batman, the Shadow (yeah, he had a comics strip), Spy Smasher, and an excellent version of Captain Marvel, among others.
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