Tagged: review

Review: The Incredibles #1

My daughter and I recently sat down together to read BOOM! Kids’ new [[[Incredibles]]] comic. The concept behind these books, as we reported here back in July, was to present new stories set in the world of the film. My daughter was immediately excited to see characters she recognized on the cover (the first four collectible covers were done by Michael Avon Oeming with colors by Nick Filardi, and the fifth, limited edition cover was done by Mike Mignola). I figured that she would love the story no matter what happened since she already loves the film. It’s interesting what children notice that adults may not pick up on.

Since my daughter is a beginning reader, I read her everything, including the credits.  The credits page has a little introduction to each of the characters. My daughter and I both picked up on the fact that the ten-year-old boy, Dash, is listed in the credits above his older sister Violet. I considered this and figured that ten-year-old boys must be the target demographic for this comic. My little girl was highly displeased that a little brother would receive a higher billing than his big sister, and we had to delay reading the story for a few minutes while she vented about how little brothers are always stealing the limelight.

Then we began to read the story.  We begin with an evil robot villain from the 24th century named Futurion. I found it clever and artistic that all of Futurion’s speech bubbles looked like little computer readouts, with ones and zeroes replacing “i” and “o”. My daughter, however, found this to be highly confusing. Granted, she has only recently learned to read, but she was quite frustrated by the fact that letters had been replaced with numbers and felt that someone had made a mistake. I told her that it was kind of like a joke since zeroes and ones look similar to the letters. She said “This isn’t a very funny joke”.

Once I convinced my daughter that we didn’t need to send the writers to see her teacher about the difference between a zero and an “o”, we continued with the story. A large portion of this story, which was written by BOOM! EIC Mark Waid, takes place at the home of the Parr family (the secret identities of the Incredibles). Most specifically, there is a serious discussion between the parents while the children are in another room, and then some neighbors come over for a visit.

(more…)

Review: ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ on DVD

slumdog-1254985Pop culture is influenced by so many different factors and timing determines what will catch on and endure while other things, quality be damned, wither and die.  A perfect example is the Award-Winning darling of 2008, Slumdog Millionaire.

Based on the 2005 novel by Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup, it was optioned for film by British production companies Celador Films and Film4 Productions who hired Simon Beaufoy to adapt it. By the time director Danny Boyle read the script and accepted the assignment, it was 2006. The budget was set at $15 million, meaning the producers needed a partner – enter Warner Independent which gambled $5 million for the right. Shooting began in November 2007 and it spent much of 2008 being screened at festivals starting with Telluride and the Toronto International.  But, a Warner Bros. exec saw the finished product and felt that once you added in prints and marketing, it was not likely to recoup its costs.

A different exec at 20th Century-Fox saw it but saw something different and bought the film from Warners and scheduled it for late in the year. By the time it opened on November 12, the economy tanked and people were in a mixed state of financial panic and political euphoria.  People wanted something to latch on to, something to make them forget the scary real world, at least for two hours.

[[[Slumdog Millionaire]]] was the perfect antidote for what was ailing our psyche. As a result, it has earned, through this past weekend, worldwide revenues of $268,103,477 making it hugely profitable and turning the stars Dev Patel and Freida Pinto into celebrities. Pretty heady stuff.

The movie, coming out on DVD Tuesday, is incredibly moving, exciting, funny, poignant and very predictable. While it was the Feel Good Movie of the Year and therefore swayed voters into giving it many prizes, it is not the greatest film of the year.  In addition to the enjoyable story, it also shined a documentary-style eye on India’s slum life and we watched in gaping fascination. This was not Bollywood or some idealized view of life, but the actual way the majority of the people lived in the heavily populated country. This, more than the story, may be one reason it was so well-received around the world.

(more…)

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.

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)

(more…)

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…)

Review: ‘Tales of the Black Freighter’

One of the key differences between watching [[[Watchmen]]] and reading the complete book is the rich variety of extras in print.  In addition to the story, there was the secondary story, [[[Tales of the Black Freighter]]], in addition to newspaper clippings and excerpts from Hollis Mason’s [[[Under the Hood]]]. Initially, these extras were never considered but were instead added after DC’s management wisely decided the maxiseries should appear without advertising. Freed, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons filled the pages with rich context, inviting readers further into their imagined universe and making for a more fulfilling reading experience.

Watching Tales of the Black Freighter, available to buy or download on Tuesday, you feel like you’re getting supplemental material divorced from the main story as opposed to being fully integrated with the Zack Snyder-directed feature film.  One supposes we must all wait for the director’s cut where at least the Pirate tale will be once more edited in with the main story.

The animated version of the pirate comic book looks nothing like Gibbons’ art (or for that matter, the one page Joe Orlando contributed) but more generic.  Having said that, it uses Gerard Butler’s narration to great effect along with a muted color palette.  The actual animation is fine as is the music but it’s the haunting story of one man’s survival from the wreck of the [[[Black Freighter]]] (a named plucked from Berthold Brecht) and how this experience has changed him. In many ways, it’s Moore’s contribution to an issue of House of Mystery, but it also shows the kind of escapist literature read by the denizens of a world where Dr. Manhattan exists.  The animation runs about 26 minutes and does a nice job overall. You hear Nina Simone’s version of “[[[Pirate Jenny]]]”, also on the soundtrack disc, over the final credits, further tying the pirate to Brecht.

Also on the disc is a mockumentary that delves into how prime time would have featured Under the Hood’s release in 1975 with a retrospective look fro 1985.  Many of the Minutemen appear on camera in one way or another, from faux newsreel footage to on camera interviews, and this fleshes out the Watchmen’s world quite well.  The interviews, the probing questions, and television advertising of the era (along with some for Veidt-produced products) make for a nifty 38 minutes.

Will your appreciation for Snyder’s film change by watching this? Probably not, but it does help immerse you further into this world and you can appreciate the effort, be entertained, and find more context for the world.

“Story within a Story” is a nice look at these supplemental features as former DC president Jenette Kahn, current DC President & Publisher Paul Levitz, Senior VP Richard Bruning, and initial [[[Watchmen]]] editor Len Wein all talk about the evolution of the backup material and how it became integral to the story. Some of the cast and crew also discuss the movie’s fidelity to the source material and how much fun it was to make.

The disc comes with trailers for the Watchmen, its video game, [[[Terminator: Salvation]]], and the [[[Green Lantern]]] featurette also found on the [[[Wonder Woman]]] disc.  You can either get this now or hope it is all included in some mega set down the road.

Review: ‘Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology’ on Blu-ray

The current era of the super-hero movie can trace its roots to 1989 and the release of Tim Burton’s [[[Batman]]].  For the first time since Richard Donner’s [[[Superman]]], the comic book heroes were taken seriously and adapted for the screen with love and care.  In between, there was failure after failure as no one in Hollywood seemed to understand the source material.

Even Michael Uslan, who did understand, spent 1980 through 1988 trying to mount the film with little success. The stars seemed to finally align as Frank Miller’s [[[Dark Knight]]] in 1986 showed people what could be done with the character and suddenly Warner Bros. was interested. They tapped Burton, coming off the success of [[[Beetlejuice]]], a director with exactly the right sensibilities to take the Dark Knight and present him in a way that made you forget Adam West’s interpretation (at least for a little while).

You’re reminded of what a masterful job he did by rewatching Batman on a new crisp transfer as part of the Blu-ray box set Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997, on sale today. Gotham City is a dark, scary place, and its populace needs Batman, a vigilante protector. The architectural look, from designer Anton Furst, coupled with the moody lighting and off-kilter sensibilities of its director made Batman something to marvel at. He got fans to get over their complaints that Michael Keaton was the wrong choice to portray Bruce Wayne.  Instead, Keaton was a conflicted everyman who had some serious issues driving him to don the costume and endure the withering barbs from Alfred (Michael Gough). Jack Nicholson’s Joker nearly stole the movie but was a terrific foil for the hero.  The movie’s far from perfect with story holes and logic gaps (one bullet can take down the Batwing?).

Burton and Keaton came back for [[[Batman Returns]]] which unfortunately offered us no new insights into the hero but did give us refreshed looks at both Catwoman and Penguin. Selina Kyle’s story arc is the strongest in the film and Michelle Pfeiffer gives a strong but sympathetic performance.  Danny DeDevito made for a creepy, grotesque Penguin but his arc was taken from a 1967 plot and felt it.  The uneven storylines never meshed well and the movie felt divided.

(more…)

Review: ‘Watchmen’

After years of eager anticipation, the fan community was given a film version of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ classic [[[Watchmen]]] story. DC President & Publisher has noted that after 20 years of attempts to mount this project, the sophistication of special effects and the growth of acceptance among the general audience for the super-heroic fare have come together.  After several years of successful comic book adaptations, the mass audience is now ready for a movie that essentially deconstructs the genre.  They have a better understanding of the unique vocabulary and storytelling needs of the super-hero story to appreciate what Watchmen attempts to do.

Zack Snyder, having proven adept at translating a graphic novel to the screen with [[[300]]], was perhaps the best possible choice to handle this project.  He also recognized the film had to resemble the graphic novel as opposed to various changes suggested by Paramount Pictures and later Warner Bros.

Having said that, the adaptation largely works but is far from perfect.  He has so faithfully replicated the dense look and feel of the movie that repeated viewers will be required and that’ll be something to look forward to.  On the other hand, his fidelity is so complete that it robs the film of its flow every now and then. One such example is Silk Spectre landing on a burning rooftop and pausing, perfectly capturing Gibbon’s panel but stopping the story when she should be in motion.

Snyder has stripped the film down to its core story: who murdered the Comedian and why?  In some ways, that makes it a lesser film for being a simple murder mystery and by evaluating how much screen time each Watchman receives also somewhat telegraphs the murderer’s identity. Gone all many of the touches that made the comic so rich a reading experience, from the [[[Tales of the Black Freighter]]] to the excerpts from Hollis Mason’s [[[Under the Hood]]].  These are necessary trims when considering you’re adapting 400 pages of story for a film. At 2:40 it certainly sounds long but was so riveting that it didn’t feel like it dragged but any longer, to add these touches, may prove problematic. We’ll see when the complete director’s cut is released in the future.

Other trims make sense such as downplaying the first generation of heroes and the man-on-the-street moments that added color to the comic book. Some threads such as the relationship between Rorschach and his prison psychiatrist are trimmed and are missed and the introduction of the New Frontiersmen late in the film robs the film of some of the moral issues at play.

The film is expertly cast from the celebrity impersonators to the main characters since none are that well-known you stop and recall their other parts.  Instead, you see them as the Watchmen.  Dramatically, Rorschach might be the toughest part since so much of it is done under the mask but Jackie Earle Haley is wonderful and imbues the figure with a sense of calm that belies his total dedication to protecting good from evil.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan clearly loved playing the Comedian.  And in watching the film, I came to realize that as immoral as the Comedian is, how despicable his acts are, in every case, he was the only one speaking the unvarnished truth, painful as it is to hear. You can somewhat understand what sort of attraction there is between him and the first Silk Spectre.

On the other hand, Malin Akerman’s second Spectre required more emotional shading in the performance.  As my daughter put it, “she’s a hot mess” and you don’t necessarily feel why she falls for Nite Owl. You certainly can see why Patrick Wilson’s Owl is attracted to her, though.  While nebbishy in appearance, he’s not the overweight figure poignantly depicted in the book. Their scenes together work well enough and their fight in the prison to free Rorschach may be the best action sequence in the entire film and one of the top super-hero fight sequences of all. They calmly walk through the prison, exploding into action when threatened, but do so with purpose. Nothing is wasted.

The biggest quibble people will have is with the changed ending.  How the world is to be denied Armageddon is altered, not the why.  My bigger issue has to do with the more dramatic change to Silk Spectre and Nite Owl. There resolution is a departure from the book and not necessarily a better one.

As an adaptation, it’s entertaining and exceptionally well done.  As a movie, it should satisfy the mass audience since it has a beginning, middle and an end.  There’s action, violence, sex, romance, moral ambivalence and some kickass music.  There’s no question you should see this whether you know the source material or not.

Review: ‘Wonder Woman’ DVD

wonder-woman-dvd1-9359032The DC Universe series of animated features got off to a rocky start with the [[[Superman vs. Doomsday]]] offering but has gotten steadily better.  [[[New Frontier]]] was pretty amazing and now they offer up [[[Wonder Woman]]], which may be the closest we get to a feature about the Amazon Princess for quite some time.

And I’m pretty okay with that, given how good this direct-to-DVD offering is.  It’s not perfect, but it’s entertaining and a great introduction to the character. If you’ve been following the interviews we’ve been posting here at ComicMix, you know that it comes from the usual suspects behind the animated DCU along with a very strong voice cast.

The movie posits that Wonder Woman exists in a world of her own and there are no references to the greater DCU, allowing you to dwell on the mythological background that spawned the character.  Created by William Moulton Marston, his grasp of the Greek mythology he predicated the character on was shaky at best and frankly, it wasn’t until the George Perez-driven version of 1987 before anyone explored the Greek gods and their role in the Amazons’ world.

(more…)

Marvel ends open submissions policy

  • News
  • February 27, 2009

We received the following statement from Marvel:

Due to an unprecedented number of unsolicited art and writing submissions, Marvel has altered its open submissions policy effective immediately.  Marvel has remained the only major publisher to continue accepting open submissions, however that practice has been halted as we review our strategies for accepting future submissions.
 
Marvel has a proven track record of attracting new and emerging talent and does not plan on ending those efforts in any way.
 
"If you look at our track record over the last 18 months, I think you’ll find the names of more new writers and artists in Marvel books than ever before.  Maybe more than at any other major comic book publisher, as a matter of fact," says Marvel Talent Liaison C.B. Cebulski. "We pride ourselves on finding new voices and artistic styles to help us shape the Marvel Universe in original and exciting ways. And while the hunt for new artistic resources to help us ever expand the Marvel mythos will continue, we’ll just be going about it in different ways. We’ve examined all our past practices concerning talent recruitment and it quickly became clear that more ‘reactive’ methods such as open submissions were the least effective ways to open the Marvel door for up-and-comers. So instead we’ll be continuing with the more ‘proactive’ methods of artist and writer discovery that we’ve found so successful of late, including some soon-to-be-announced new outlets."
 
While the open submissions policy has ceased, Marvel will continue its active recruitment of artists through its Talent Management department.  Artists are also encouraged to bring portfolios for review to the major conventions at which Marvel will have a presence this year.
 
Talent Coordinator for Marvel, Chris Allo adds, "In regards to finding new artists, we in the Talent Management department will still continue to look at online websites such as Deviant Art, Comic Art Community, as well as comic art blogs, and other related sites.  Online comics are rapidly becoming a source for scouting as well.  And, of course, we will still go to the comic book stores on Wednesdays and see what new artists are out there working for other companies and on independent books."                        
 
With the successful discovery and publishing of writers in the fields of comics as well as TV, film and literature, Marvel will continue to search out new voices in all published fields, as we have for the past number of years.
 
As new media and means of publishing comics on the web as well as small and independent press, we encourage all new creators to continue honing their craft by using all of the tools available during this time.  Marvel will be announcing a new submissions policy in the near future.

Let the speculation begin. Is this because Marvel’s been laying off people one at a time, and one of the folks let go was the guy who went through the slush pile of submissions? Is the market full up right now, and Marvel has enough talent to produce the limited number of books they’ll be doing? Have they finally figured out a way to clone Bendis?

And with this door closing, how many other people are just going to migrate to the web and start there, and not need Marvel at all? Don’t forget, Marvel Digital’s chief exec doesn’t think YouTube is a real entertainment channel… despite what Nielsen says.

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks