Articles by matt-raub
Sat May 10, 2008 — by Matt Raub
Review: 'Speed Racer' - Emile Hirsch Gets Behind the Wheel
Is it a warning flag or checkered flag for the popular anime's big-screen adaptation?
So here we are, a mere two weeks into the Blockbuster Season and the veil of bedazzlement has already been lifted. If you are a fan of the original Speed Racer franchise, animated films, or even decent films in general, you will more than likely be disappointed with the film that should've been more accurately named Speed Raver. From start to finish, this film is very much like what an 8-year-old would do if he were given a crate of Pixie Stix and free run of a CGI studio, with no knowledge whatsoever about pesky details like story structure, character development or any shred of realism.
For those not in the loop, the story of Speed Racer surrounds not just the titular character (played by possibly one of the better actors of his generation, Emile Hirsch), but his über-supportive family. Pops and Mom Racer, played by John Goodman and Susan Sarandon, respectively. Balancing out the cast was Speed’s girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), his obnoxious and extraneous little brother and pet chimp, and by far the MVP of the film, in Matthew Fox as Racer X.
The plot, or at least what one can gather about it after two hours in the theater, takes place in a world where car racing is king and the car-building Racer family takes aim at the allegedly fixed world of professional racing with their prodigal son, Speed. The plot is almost beaten into our heads for the first hour, with cartoonish performances and poorly rendered backdrops aiding along the way.
Continue reading Review: 'Speed Racer' - Emile Hirsch Gets Behind the Wheel ›
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Matt Raub
Update: 'Iron Man 2' Likely Thanks to Box Office Reports
It's official: Iron Man is a pretty popular film...
Following up on the previous story that Iron Man placed 14th in the "highest grossing opening day," reports are now coming in that Marvel Studios' first production brought in an estimated $104 million since Thursday here in the states and an estimated $96 million overseas.
This ranks Iron Man as the 10th highest grossing film on opening weekend, and easily the highest-grossing film for 2008 thus far. The film also produced the fourth highest-grossing opening weekend ever for a superhero movie.
This will no doubt provide the go-ahead for the proposed sequel, getting Robert Downey Jr. back into the suit in around five months for an expected May 2010 release.
We'll be tracking the box office numbers for all of the big comics-related films this summer, so check back here at ComicMix for more to come!
Sun May 4, 2008 — by Matt Raub
Box Office Report For 'Iron Man' Could Mean Sequel
Will we see 'Iron Man 2'? Survey says... quite possibly.
It was an auspicious start for the Metal Marvel Hero, as Iron Man grossed an estimated $5.5 million at around 2,500 theaters during its Thursday night previews and made an estimated $32.5 million at 4,105 theaters on Friday, making it the 14th highest-grossing opening day on record. (You can read the ComicMix reviews of the film here and here.)
The Friday gross was comparable to X2: X-Men United, which debuted May 2 five years ago, bringing in $31.2.
Paramount big-wig Brad Grey went on record last week by saying that as long as the flick does "as well as expected", the studio wants to get a sequel in theaters for the same May weekend in 2010 -- and with numbers like these, that could be more realistic than we imagined.
While this is actually a Marvel Studios-produced film, with Paramount distributing, it's no surprise after these numbers that they will be rushing to get Downey Jr. back in the red-and-gold ASAP. Director Jon Favreau has already stated that he planned a loose structure for three movies, with the Mandarin presumably making an appearance somewhere down the line.
Keep your eye on ComicMix for more updates on how the first big blockbuster of the summer does in the box office!
Fri May 2, 2008 — by Matt Raub
Robert Downey Jr. and the 'Iron Man' Review
Does Marvel Studios have what it takes to bring comics to the big screen?
First off, right out of the bullpen, I want to warn readers that this review of Iron Man, the first self-financed feature film from Marvel Studios, WILL HAVE SPOILERS. Normally, I try to keep any stories involving a new release free of them, but as you will read, this film is just chock full of little “fanboy delights” which enhance the experience and are an important part of the overall product.
With that said, this film should be labeled “FFBF”, meaning “For Fanboys, By Fanboys” because director Jon Favreau seems to know what the comic fans wanted to see. One gets the impression that if he were sitting in the seats, he’d want the same thing from this comics-famous tale of a millionaire, arms-manufacturing playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who decides to craft a supersuit and fight evil. Over the course of the film, anyone familiar with the character and the greater Marvel Universe will likely enjoy the references (sometimes subtle, but not always) to things ranging from War Machine to the Mandarin... even to S.H.I.E.L.D.
So make sure to pay attention, and most importantly, stay in the theater until after the credits!
Continue reading Robert Downey Jr. and the 'Iron Man' Review ›
Wed Apr 23, 2008 — by Matt Raub
ComicMix TV at NYCC: 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' Interviews
It's a Q&A with the BRPD... Wild!
Big Red and the whole Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense crew are back this summer, and the cast and crew of Hellboy II: The Golden Army made a trip to the Big Apple for this year's New York Comic Con. We chatted up actors Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Doug Jones (Abe Sapien) and Selma Blair (Liz Sherman), as well as Hellboy II director Guillermo del Toro about the loves, lessons and lives of monsters in this special ComicMix TV report from the show.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army hits theaters on July 11, 2008.
Sun Apr 20, 2008 — by Matt Raub
ComicMix TV at NYCC: The Fanboys... They Are Among Us
Is your neighbor a fanboy? How do you know?
It's Sunday at New York Comic Con, and we're starting to get a little punchy around the ComicMix HQ. Case in point: This short video we put together yesterday...
Sat Apr 19, 2008 — by Matt Raub
ComicMix TV: Milo Ventigmiglia on 'Heroes' and 'Rest'
The Daily Fix: The 'Heroes' star chats up his new project with Devil's Due Publishing
Here's our first feature straight from the floor yesterday: An exclusive ComicMix interview with Heroes star Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli).
The actor-turned-writer talks about this season on the hit series and his new Devil's Due book Rest.
Enjoy!
Fri Apr 18, 2008 — by Matt Raub
ComicMix TV: Neal Adams on Batman at NYCC
New York Minute #2 - It's all things Batman in our chat with Neal Adams...
Comics legend Neal Adams was on hand at New York Comic Con today to talk Batman with the ComicMix TV crew. Our intrepid man on the scene talks him up about his upcoming secret Batman project, as well as all things Dark Knight...
Fri Apr 18, 2008 — by Matt Raub
ComicMix TV: New York Minute #1 - Captain Action is Back!
We're on the spot with the men of 'Action'
This weekend, beloved 1960s hero Captain Action makes a triumphant return to the comics scene courtesy of Moonstone Books and a big debut at this year's New York Comic Con. Manhattan comics mainstay Jim Hanley's Universe recently hosted the Captain Action creative team of Fabian Nicieza, Mark Sparacio and Ruben Procopio for a pre-convention signing and celebration of all things Captain Action.
ComicMix was on the scene with this report:
For more on Captain Action, read our ComicMix interview with writer Fabian Nicieza.
Sun Mar 30, 2008 — by Matt Raub
ComicMix Review: 'Superhero Movie'
Getting the facts straight and the laughs quick with 'Superhero Movie'
[Editor's Note: While ComicMix columnist Michael H. Price devoted a recent column to reviewing the superhero parody film Superhero Movie, regular ComicMix film reviewer Matt Raub braved hordes of pre-teen Drake & Josh fans this weekend to provide some addiitonal insight on the film. With ticket prices as they are these days, we figured ComicMix readers would appreciate the extra review before they parted with their money. -RM]
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To begin with, this movie isn’t terrible. But before we get into that, a brief history lesson:
Scary Movie is a horror-spoof franchise that began in 2000 and was helmed by six writers that included the Wayans brothers and their team from previous projects. Also included were writers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. This team’s only previous credit was the 1996 spy spoof Spy Hard, starring Leslie Nielson. As a whole, this was the creative team responsible for the first two Scary Movie films, but they opted out of a third film, and the franchise continued with Airplane and Naked Gun creator David Zucker at the helm. Zucker brought along Pat Proft, who he had previously worked with, and a new guy named Craig Mazin, who worked on a quirky superhero comedy from 2000 called The Specials.
Still with me here? Good, because we’re almost to the point, I promise. Upon leaving the franchise after Scary Movie 2, two of the six writers decided they weren’t quite done with the “spoofing genres” game and went on to write and direct Date Movie. (The original trailer for Date Movie even tagged the film as “from two of the six writers of Scary Movie.”) They also went on to do Epic Movie and, finally, winter’s kick-in-the-face: Meet the Spartans. At this point, if you’re not bleeding from the ears, you may be asking yourself, “Why did I need to know any of this?” Well, because those hating on this film based purely on its existence need to know that Superhero Movie was not the brainchild of any of the people attached to the three terrible spin-off-genre-spoofing-machines, be they Date, Epic, or Spartan. Instead, it is that of Craig Mazin, who created 2000’s superhero comedy The Specials, starring Thomas Hayden Church and Rob Lowe (pick it up on DVD, it’s pretty good).
Wed Mar 5, 2008 — by Matt Raub
ComicMix TV: 'Dark Tower' Midnight Release
ComicMix tracks down Peter David and Jae Lee for 'The Long Road Home'
ComicMix TV is back once again with another episode!
This time we're in the heart of Manhattan at Midtown Comics for the midnight release of Marvel Comics' Dark Tower 2: The Long Road Home. Not only do we have video from the event, but we also have exclusive interviews with Dark Tower: The Long Road Home creators Peter David and Jae Lee.
SPOILER ALERT: For those of you who haven't read the first Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger Born, there are spoilery pieces of plot contained in the interview. So, consider yourself warned!
Enjoy!
Tue Mar 4, 2008 — by Matt Raub
Film Review: Vantage Point
Eight perspectives, one opinion
Not many trailers made in the past 10 years misrepresent the film they are promoting. Sadly, Vantage Point breaks that rule. By allowing me the room to figure out the entire movie through footage oversaturation, I didn’t have a huge urge to run to the theaters, hence the late review. But alas, seven days after the film’s release, I was able to go into the theater without a hint of outside ruination, no real mention of the big twists, nor who was evil and why. So to keep the film pure, and leave any future audience members unscathed, I’ll try to keep the dignity of the film intact and not give much away in the review.
With that in mind: This movie wasn’t very good. Albeit the concept isn’t exactly original (See Rashomon), the filmmakers here had a perfect opportunity to bring something as innovative and provocative as Rashomon to Hollywood and thus, to a Hollywood audience. Instead, the concept was left half-assed and basically unfinished, leaving holes in continuity that you could drive a Mack Truck through and backstory for only one character, reduced to a single line of exposition.
For those of you not entirely familiar with the concept of the movie, Vantage Point was adevrtised as featuring eight different perspectives (in truth, it's only five) of the assassination of the President of the United States. Each gives a little more insight to the overall story, while leaving you at the edge of your seat each and every time you see a part of the story. At the end of the film, you’ll feel fairly manipulated, but that won’t compare to the complete lack of compassion you have for any of the characters.
Mon Feb 25, 2008 — by Matt Raub
ComicMix TV: Toy Fair '08 - 30 Days of Night, Halo and Marvel Sub Casts
Episode #001: Toy Fair, Part 1
In this first full episode of ComicMix TV, we peek at some of the comics-related products on display at this year's Toy Fair International event, including toys based on the 30 Days of Night film, Halo figures designed by Todd McFarlane and a line of cartoon-cool Marvel characters.
Missing all of the Toy Fair fun already? You can always look back through our archive of Toy Fair 2008 coverage and experience it all over again.
And remember, you can always get more audio and video coverage of your favorite comics news by subscribing to ComicMix Radio podcasts via 
or RSS!
Fri Feb 15, 2008 — by Matt Raub
Early Review: 'Justice League: New Frontier'
An advance look at the hot D2DVD
Like many of you out there, a bad taste was left in my mouth coming off of Superman: Doomsday, so of course I was wary of DC’s next direct-to-DVD flick. I wasn’t a huge fan of the graphic novels (Isn’t that what we call thick comic books these days?), but I am certainly a fan of the Justice League and its animated counterpart.
Continue reading Early Review: 'Justice League: New Frontier' ›
Sun Feb 3, 2008 — by Matt Raub
War on Scientology?
YouTube sees all!
Anybody who knows their ear from their elbow when it comes to the world and how ridiculous some of us can be knows how creepy the world of Scientology can be. Those who are unaware of this wacky world and missed the episode of South Park that explained it all, it’s a religion based on the writings of famed science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard and is practiced in nearly 5,000 churches by some of the most powerful people in the world in over 100 countries.
