ComicMix

Review: 'Saga of the Swamp Thing Book Two'

Robert Greenberger — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:53:00 EST

Saga of the Swamp Thing Book Two
By Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Totleben
DC Comics, 224 pages, $24.99

DC’s hardcover collections of Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing continues with the release of the second volume next Wednesday. The nicest thing about these releases is that it prompts us to go back and reread the stories to conjure up memories of what it was like the first time we encountered these tales.

By the time these eight stories saw print in 1984 and 1985, the buzz had grown deafening and clearly this was the most talked about series and set of creators at the time. What Alan did was bring fresh thinking to American comic book concepts and played with the readers’ expectations for mainstream storytelling and horror.

Moore’s gift for words crowded the pages with allusions and imagery previously unseen and when we could look at the artwork, it was stunning. Stephen Bissette and John Totleben were ideally suited for the material and they were given free rein by both Moore and their editor, Karen Berger. The critical success encouraged the creators to take more risks and the company wisely backed them, letting Saga of the Swamp Thing be the first series to hit newsstands each month without the Comics Code. Instead, the covers proclaimed the series to be “Sophisticated Suspense”, a gesture to warn potentially offended readers.

Having reimagined Swamp Thing’s origins and exploring the dynamics between the shambling creature and the humans Abigail Arcane and Matt Cable, the stage was set for the return of an old foe. Anton Arcane, Abby’s uncle, was back and the slow realization that he had possessed Matt and therefore committed a form of incest with her was shocking, cold and chilling because we hadn’t conceived of anything so horrible. The trilogy that kicks off the volume is creepy and holds up.

The coda to the tale first saw print in an annual, allowing extra pages and giving Moore a chance to play with the other occult players in the DC Universe: Etrigan, the Spectre, Phantom Stranger and Deadman. All felt fresh and part of some other reality as Swamp Thing traveled to Hell to rescue Abby.

The artists, while incredibly talented, were not speed demons and 22 pages a month was a tough pace for them. The annual, therefore, meant they needed fill-in help. Chapter 2 of the Arcane trilogy was inked by Alfredo Alcala and Chapter 3 was pencilled by Rick Veitch, but at no time is the quality suffering. But they needed a break and Shawn McManus, who already drew the opening story in this wonderful collection, is back for the acclaimed “Pog”. Moore’s tribute to Walt Kelly’s Pogo is a challenging read and still packs an emotional wallop.

The book ends with the award-winning “Rites of Spring” wherein Abby confesses her love to the creature and he offers her a piece of himself as communion, letting her see the world the way he does. It’s touching and once more gives us a new look at the characters while advancing the storylines.

On a personal note, there are two pages that cutaway to the events being watched by the enigmatic Monitor and his aide Lyla. At the time, all of DC’s titles were featuring these teasers setting up Crisis on Infinite Earths. Alan and Karen could have argued against it or thumbed their noses the demand the way Mike Barr did in Outsiders. Instead, Alan complied without complaint and actually made the appearances work, maintaining the eerie feel of the moment. I was always grateful he was willing to play along and rereading them here, does in no way take away from the stories’ impact.

Review: 'Logan's Run' on Blu-ray

Robert Greenberger — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:34:00 EST

What a difference a year makes. In 1976, MGM released a film based on William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson’s 1967 novel Logan’s Run. Generally lambasted by the press, it may have been a nadir in science fiction films putting studios off the genre until the following May, when 20th Century Fox looked forward with Star Wars.

Warner Home Video has just released Logan’s Run on Blu-ray and it finally gave me a chance to see the movie, something that somehow eluded me back in High School. It has most certainly not aged well and I can see why Roger Ebert called it a "vast, silly extravaganza", which changed the novel in some ways for the better but failed to visually interest us in the society.

In the film, directed by Michael Anderson, the biggest change was in the location of society: domed and hermetically sealed as compared with the book’s newly formed surface cities. The book also has people voluntarily ending their lives at age 21 which probably meant the culture could not be sustained because no sooner did people learn a trade, they had to die. Instead, the film changed the age to 30 at a time when people still spouted “Never trust anyone over 30” (while forgetting the second half: “Or under, either”).

The hedonistic society is said to be devoted to pleasure until the glowing crystal in palm denoted your time to enter an arena and become the night’s entertainment. Everyone else gathers in a stadium to watch you and others born on that date, float upwards towards an energy field that kills them. There’s a rumor that selected people can be “renewed” so people come back night after night to see if someone will be lucky enough.

Those who eschew this lifestyle, those who question the unseen authority that governs the domed world, are known as runners who flee in search of a place known only as Sanctuary. Law enforcement officers, known as Sandmen, are charged with stopping the runners, usually by killing them. And the film follows one such Sandman, Logan 5 (Michael York), as the Artificial Intelligence in charge asks him to go undercover as a runner and find Sanctuary.

Fortunately, he’s found a potential runner to follow in Jessica 6 (Jenny Agutter), whom he met only a night or two earlier. Her very questioning society got Logan to thinking so when the opportunity presented itself; he joined her in the escape. What complicates the assignment and spoils the film is Logan not confiding in his best friend, fellow Sandman Francis 7 (Richard Jordan), so Francis chases them, thinking he’s doing the right thing.

Along the way, our heroes are told by a recording to keep following the trail down but at one point they wind up on a platform taking them up. As a result, the movie starts going off the rails when no one ever questions what was “down there”. When they reach the surface, they find an ice cave (prompting them to strip down and wrap themselves in convenient bearskins) and a berserk robot, Box, who has decided freezing runners for eventual consumption made sense.

Escaping Box leads Logan and Jessica to a surface world they never knew existed and there they find the Old Man (Peter Ustinov), who shows them that aging isn’t all that bad. Unfortunately, setting this sequence in a vine-covered Washington, D.C. adds an unnecessary layer of subtext at a time when the country was already question the Federal Government.

Anderson, who did a far better job with George Orwell’s 1984, and screenwriter David Zelag Goodman completely failed to present a comprehensible society or characterization beyond two-dimensional surface traits for the three stars. York and Agutter are easy to watch but have little emotional range in this whereas Jordan’s pop-eyed style seems to come from some other film. Ustinov’s character is about the only one you care about.

A year later, the nature of science fiction film was turned on its head George Lucas’ Star Wars arrived, washing out the distaste left by this mess. Interestingly, Anderson’s earlier film, The Dam Busters, has been credited as inspiration for the Death Star battle at the end of Lucas’ film.

The Blu-ray edition looks like a basic transfer without digital enhancements or attempt to clean it up. The extras contain commentary from the DVD edition and a featurette produced back in the 1970s. There’s little to recommend adding this your growing Blu-ray library.

Review: 'Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection' on Blu-ray

Robert Greenberger — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:46:00 EST

You have to admire Kevin Smith. Growing up in New Jersey, he found himself a circle of likeminded friends who took his scripts and performed them in a sort of comedy revue that wowed audiences in Red Bank. Inspired, he went on to Vancouver and film school where he met his producing muse, Scott Mosier. Back home, they scraped together $27,500, recruited Smith’s friends and shot the semi-autobiographical Clerks. The black and white film, mostly a series of vignettes tied together by the two leads, wowed audiences and became a cult hit.

From there, Smith got hired by Universal to make a second film, the $5 million Mallrats but Smith and the studio system clashed and the result was a critical and commercial dud. Still, Smith used many of his friends and made new ones, casting with a keen eye towards nascent (and cheap) talent. He also found a girlfriend, Joey Lauren Adams, and as we learn, a confluence of events led Smith to shoot Chasing Amy as his third film and second hit. Mallrats is now considered the multi-million dollar screen test.

Smith is good to his friends and apparently is a good director for actors, most of whom have stayed loyal despite going on to greater fame and fortune. He went on to direct the wonderful Dogma (which he wrote as his Clerks follow-up) which scared the beejeezus out of Miramax so they sold it off to Lionsgate and missed the cash. Instead, Smith gathered everyone once more for 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, in some ways a farewell to the first chapter of his career.

We can watch the evolution of the director and some of his cast with the Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection, out today from Buena Vista Home Entertainment which includes the Blu-ray debut of Clerks and Chasing Amy, plus Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The three movies are individually packaged inside a cardboard box. Having never seen the bookend films, it’s interesting to watch how much surer a hand Smith has by the third film. Clerks is raw and very unpolished with genuinely horrible performances from the supporting cast. The writing is all over the place and you wonder how the clerks in question, Dante and Randal, maintain a friendship given what a screw-up the latter is. Still, Smith works in some harsh truths that give the movie its heart and soul. It’s truly the first close-up look at the slacker culture that exposes their wasted potential and lack of ambition.

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Review: 'Gone with the Wind' 70th Anniversary DVD

Robert Greenberger — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:57:00 EST

Since Gone With The Wind’s release in 1939, David O. Selznick’s adaptation has become one of the most hailed and loved feature films of all time. Adjusted for inflation, it remains today the number one box office champion with a total gross of $1,450,680,400. It deservedly won 10 Academy Awards and continues to be included in Top 10 lists with many catch phrases entering the public lexicon followed plus a score that is instantly recognizable.

On Tuesday, in time for your holiday shopping needs, Warner Home Video is releasing the 70th Anniversary edition of the film in a variety of formats. What was provided to ComicMix was the standard two-disc “plain vanilla” edition. We can tell you that it looks and sounds great and we suspect looks even more spectacular in its Blu-ray format.

Is there anything left to say about this beloved film? I had heard of it growing up but until HBO first broadcast it for the first time, I had no clue what the fuss was about. I still recall a bunch of us gathering at Beth Zemsky’s house to watch this spectacular without interruption and we were all caught up in different ways. For me, I enjoyed the sweep and spectacle, some of the performances and the nostalgic look back at a bygone era. The girls loved the romance.

In rewatching the film now, I find zero chemistry between Trevor Howard and Vivien Leigh, still befuddled over why she loved him. I also find it confusing to see how both Ashley and Melanie were so blind, in their own way, towards Scarlett’s spoiled rich girl ways. Only Rhett saw her for what she was and loved her for it. Rhett Butler is also the only one to see the South as an unsustainable culture and apparently the only man in the whole of the Confederacy to understand they couldn’t compete with northern factories. As a result, his decision to enlist towards the middle therefore makes no sense.

Honestly, the best character arc is Scarlett’s and there’s little more stirring than her return to Tara, seeing what had become of the lifestyle she understood and then declaring, set against a beautiful backdrop, she would never go hungry again. As the music swells and the intermission sign appears, you could have sent everyone home and they would have been thrilled. Instead, we get the second half which is far too melodramatic leading up to the immortal final scene.

Selznick spared no expense and the film is sumptuous, well cast and filled with enough extras to give it the sense of scale required for the needed emotional impact. From a technical standpoint, there’s not a single false note and the movie holds up during repeated viewings. SO, the bottom line comes down to the Margaret Mitchell novel and the characters adapted to the screen. If this is your sort of story then you can’t miss seeing the film. As for owning the new edition, that’s a subjective call. The new digital master seems superior to the last version but it’s the extras that will decide it for you.

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Captain Action and The Phantom to finally meet

Robert Greenberger — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:23:00 EST

We missed posting something about this the other day but it’s still cool enough for us to talk about. The revival of Captain Action now means he can begin meeting the super-heroes his action figure incarnation transformed into. This begin in March with Moonstone’s release of Phantom Action, a crossover between King Feature’s classic comic strip hero, and Captain Action.

According to the official release, the Ghost Who Walks is captured and his wife Diana pleads with Captain Action to help. “It turns out the young Captain Action has had a crush on Diana since his teenage years, so that makes for an interesting dynamic”, said series writer Mike Bullock. The two-issue mini-series is pencilled by Reno and will offer a variety of covers by artists Art Thibert, Mark Sparacio and Michael T. Gilbert.

The Phantom was one of the original set of heroes the figure could become when introduced in the 1960s. When Playing Mantis had the license in the 1990s, they included Lee Falk’s jungle hero as one of the revival figures. Currently, Cast-A-Way has announced plans to release an 8” Mego-sized Captain Action as the Phantom figure complete with long slide Colt .45s, as well as the Phantom's signature rings.

“My dad has always been a big Phantom fan. As a boy, he just loved the Witman 1944 Phantom book and the weekly Sunday strip. I know I was reading too much into it, but as a child I felt there was some sort of father-son legacy when I dressed my original Captain Action as the Phantom”, said Captain Action Enterprises’ Retropreneur, Ed Catto.

“The Phantom set was one I always wished I had for my Captain Action, so it’s fitting we’re able to bring the characters back together again,” said Joe Ahearn of Captain Action Enterprises, LLC. “Recently, Cast-A-Way toys created new Mego-sized Captain Action and Phantom figures. We might soon have some additional announcements about these toys as well.”

Captain Action was revived in comics last year and has been met with mixed reaction, prompting Catto and Ahearn to consider some form of revamp in the coming year. They’ve already introduced a Lady Action to interact with the hero, who is currently portrayed as the son of the original.

'The Dark Tower': J.J. Abrams out, new novel coming

Robert Greenberger — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:20:00 EST

J.J, Abrams has left The Dark Tower according to comments made on MTV. During an interview, the producer said,” You’ll be hard-pressed to find a huger fan of The Dark Tower than me, but that's probably the reason that I shouldn't be the one to adapt it. After working six years on Lost, the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I'm such a massive Stephen King fan that I'm terrified of screwing it up. I'd do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they're so incredible. But not by me."

King, now on the road in support of the well-received Under the Dome, has said he wishes to write one more book set between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla. Over at his message board, the moderator posted, “Stephen has given me permission to pass along that he has an idea for a new Dark Tower book, the working title of which will be The Wind Through the Keyhole. He has not yet started this book and anticipates that it will be a minimum of eight months before he is able to begin writing it.”

The author continues to oversee the adaptations of The Dark Tower cycle at Marvel Comics and will be writing an original vampire tale for Vertigo in 2010.

Ray Bradbury's Return to Television

Robert Greenberger — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:18:00 EST

The Award-winning author Ray Bradbury will be returning to television with the announcement yesterday of The Bradbury Chronicles, which will be a six hour miniseries based on his works. White Oak Films announced the deal although no network has picked up the project for broadcast.

White Oak's John Philip Dayton will executive produce with Merrill Capps, Todd Klick, Cory Travalena and Dale Olson doing the actual production chores. Bradbury will be an executive producer with input over stories selected and overseeing the adaptations themselves. Dayton previously partnered with Bradbury on Showtime’s The Ray Bradbury Theater, which ran from 1985-1992.

The author, now 89, remains largely confined to his home given declining health, but continues to write with Summer Morning, Summer Night his most recent work, due out in paperback next June.

'Red' Adds McMahon, Borgnine to Cast

Robert Greenberger — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:07:00 EST

The adaptation of Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner’s Red miniseries has moved ahead and added Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck, Fantastic Four), Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox, and the great Ernest Borgnine, who will play the keeper of the CIA’s darkest secrets. The film, scheduled for November 19, 2010 release, already stars Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John C. Reilly and Mary Louise Parker.

Summit Entertainment, flush with Twilight cash, is producing this film based on the 2003 WildStorm miniseries about a former black-ops CIA agent whose a quiet, retired life is shattered when a high-tech assassin shows up at his home. Willis is the spy with McMahon portraying the Vice President who heads up a shadow conspiracy. The 92-year-old Borgnine will play the man who knows the dirty secrets and Dreyfuss is a wealthy industrialist who benefitted from Government contracts. Cox is a former Cold War-era spy with an axe to grind against Willis.

Jon and Erich Hoeber wrote the script for director Robert Schwentke (Flightplan) and shooting should commence early in 2010.

Moorcock to fly the TARDIS

Robert Greenberger — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:03:00 EST

Acclaimed novelist Michael Moorcock posted the following statement on his message board yesterday:

"Looks like it's official. I'll be doing a new Dr. Who novel (not a tie-in) for appearance, I understand, by next Christmas. Still have to have talks etc. with producers and publishers but we should be signing shortly. Should be fun."

By “not a tie-in” we presume he means he will pen an original novel featuring one of the Doctors. We find this very exciting news.

While there have been novelizations of television story arcs for decades, the first original novel dates back to just 1986. Led by the prolific Terrence Dicks, who has written adaptations and original prose, the line has seen many top-notch authors write adventures including a number well-regarded series of anthologies.

Fox Cancels 'Dollhouse'

Robert Greenberger — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:27:00 EST

The mixed reviews and poor ratings have led Fox to formally cancel Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse.

The second season show, starring and co-produced by Eliza Dushku, is currently on a planned hiatus, keeping it from the harsh glare of the November Sweeps ratings period.

The announced plan has the final episodes broadcast on these dates: two episodes each will air December 4, 11 and 18, from 8 pm to 10 p.m. The last three episodes will air on January 8, 15 and 22 at 9 p.m.

Whedon has been given sufficient notice so the final episodes will wrap up the existing storylines. Summer Glau was recently added to the cast and will play a pivotal role with her knowledge of someone’s past life.

A second season DVD set is expected but no date has been announced.

This marks the second failed series Whedon has produced for Fox, after Firefly. He has yet to issue a formal statement but no doubt it will be heartfelt and entertaining. Meantime, Whedon is also prepping to direct at least one episode of the network’s hit series Glee.

Review: 'Up' on Blu-ray

Robert Greenberger — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 14:36:00 EST

Pixar’s command of digital animation has captivated an entire generation of viewers and with Up , its tenth film, it has actually taken some interesting chances. First, they focused on a senior citizen, the very demographic totally abandoned by Hollywood despite the longevity now being enjoyed by many.

It also decided to take storytelling chances by stretching how many absurdities we can accept in a single film. Previously, we were asked to accept one major concept per film: toys that can talk, a world powered by children’s screams, and so on. Here, we’re being asked to accept an awful lot and frankly, sitting through the film, I think it asked for too much.

Up arrives on DVD tomorrow and comes in Walt Disney Home Video’s controversial multi-package format. The Blu-ray edition contains four discs: the film and extras, a second disc of extras, the film and some extras on standard DVD and a disc with a digital copy. On the one hand, it’s nice to have this package because eventually we’ll all be using Blu-ray so we avoid buying the movie twice. On the other, it’s pricey for people not willing to make the leap for years to come.

The film’s best sequence is the opening ten minutes known as “Married Life”, which details the meeting and evolving relationship between Carl and Ellie. It’s incredibly poignant and moving, aided tremendously by Michael Giacchino’s score. From there, we meet 78-year old, arthritic Carl, every bit the curmudgeon he appears. Wonderfully voiced by Ed Asner, he’s done with life and just wants the world to leave him alone. Sadly, the world wants to move ahead and is busily construction mammoth commercial buildings around his home.

Finally forced to move to an assisted living facility, Carl decides to escape to Paradise Falls, the one place he and Ellie wanted to visit and never found the time and/or money. Here’s where we’re asked for the big leap of faith: overnight, be fills 10,000 balloons with helium, rigs steering gear, and in the morning, launches his home into the air for the trip to South America.

OK, let’s accept that. Let’s also add in the Russell, the young Asian Wilderness Explorer trapped on the porch when the house broke free of its foundation. Their odd couple relationship will form the spine of film and that’s fine. Now, the house miraculously makes it to Paradise Falls and there’s when things go off the rails. First, we have a pack of dogs each equipped with a collar that translates their growls to human speech, allowing communication. A wondrous piece of technology that would make its inventor world famous and fabulously wealthy. Instead, the inventor, 90 year old Charles Muntz, remains in self-imposed exile, seeking the rare bird whose capture will repair his reputation, spoiled decades earlier when scientists questioned the validity of the bones he brought back from one of his celebrated expeditions.

Once Carl and Russell meet Muntz, the film no longer feels like a Pixar classic, but instead a pale imitator as your credulity is stretched beyond belief time and again. The climax, a battle between geriatrics, is impossible to accept given the athleticism each displays despite their previously established infirmities. Fortunately, the final scenes come back to familiar Pixar territory and ends on a satisfying note. As a result, Up the movie is a mixed bag and far from its best work.

The extras on the discs, though, show the level of attention that went into each and every aspect of the film from studying the way seniors moved to house architecture. There are several mini-documentaries adding up to over 40 minutes of nifty behind the scenes information. Best of the eight may well be the piece on Giacchino and the scoring for the movie. There’s also the film in Cine-Explore track as the directors, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, discuss the making of the film, complete with designs, sculptures and other visual details popping up on screen. The main disc also offers up two shorts: Dug’s Special Mission and Partly Cloudy. Another short bit is a look at various ways Muntz’s story came to an end.

The second disc, in addition to the documentaries, offers up a nice piece on the development of “Married Life” and them shows a storyboarded alternative approach, equally effective. Finally, there’s the Global Guardian Badge Game, an interactive trivia game that earns you badges of increasing complexity. It uses the BD Live feature which is nice for those so inclined.

A somewhat good, somewhat flawed film is well packaged and offers up much for families and film enthusiasts to enjoy.

Review: 'Monsters, Inc.' on Blu-ray

Robert Greenberger — Sun, 8 Nov 2009 14:13:00 EST

Pixar burst onto the scene with Toy Story and proved that they were the successor to Walt Disney Studios by providing heart-warming, funny family-friendly animation, using pixels instead of paintbrushes. They followed up with A Bug’s Life, which was another success, and they came right back with Toy Story 2 which was an expected smash. The question was back then, how long could they sustain the hits and the level of quality. A lot was riding on their fourth release, Monsters, Inc. , since it was to be their third original creation and a gauge of their long-term viability.

Well, we all know what happened. It and every subsequent film has been one hit after enough, proving Pixar was not only the real deal, but a successful font of new ideas. Disney clear had no choice but to advance their partnership by owning the company, which reinvigorated their own franchise characters.

Monsters, Inc. is being released on Blu-ray this Tuesday clearly intended for holiday shopping, and comes in an assortment of flavors. The 4-disc set, sent for review, has the following elements: the film and extras on Blu-ray, a Blu-ray disc of even more extras, the movie on standard DVD and a digital copy. That’s a really impressive deal, if you own a Blu-ray player.

The fabulous movie looks and sounds even better on Blu-ray, the digital creations just as inventive and fun as always. The 91 minute story remains amusing with a lovable set of characters and full realized world of monsters, which required energy derived from children’s’ screams. Boo, the little girl accidentally in their world, could be a sickly-sweet character but instead looks and acts like a real 2-year-old, charming and frustrating all the way. The voice cast, headed by John Goodman and Billy Crystal, is top-notch and well picked for their parts.

But you know all that.

The movie disc comes with the previous DVD bonus material. The shorts For the Birds and Mike’s New Car; but new is a lengthy Filmmakers’ Round Table where four of the geniuses behind the movie, talk through their challenges and favorite parts. There’s also a preview of the Monstropolis exhibit at Tokyo Disneyland, the closest most of us will ever get to see the impressive looking ride.

The second Blu-ray has a few hours’ more fun starting with the interactive game, Roz’s 100-Door Challenge. By answering questions based on the film, it determines which job you are suited for. Don’t like the job, you try again. There’s a nice tour of Pixar’s compound, dubbed the Fun Factory. Clearly, the imagery emphasizes the creative, goofy, and downright fun involved in the making any one film. On the other hand, the hard work and long hours brining the story and characters to life, is sadly underplayed. Everything on this disc is geared to demonstrating how Pixar works related to Monsters, Inc. It’s a rich assortment of features for the fan.

The movie endures, a classic for families for generations to come and there’s no better way to preserve this than having this rich package of video material.

Review: 'Justice League the Complete Series'

Robert Greenberger — Sat, 7 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST

For those who only knew the Justice League of America as the Super Friends must have been in for a rude awakening when they sat to watch the Justice League animated series with their kids. From 2001 through 2006, the Cartoon Network offered up what has since gone on to be recognized as the greatest comics adaptation of all time.

Super-heroes moving from the printed page to animated film have had a checkered path from Filmation’s 1966 Superman through Ruby-Spears’ 1988 effort with the Man of Steel. In between, there were some highlights such as 1968’s Spider-Man and some really low moments including the 1977 Batman show. The problem is that super-heroes need conflict in which to use their powers and abilities. With every passing year, parents fretted over the amount of violence their children were expose to, coupled with concerns over the kids imitating the exploits in real life and causing themselves harm.

Any super-hero in the 1970s and early 1980s found that they could no longer duke it out with villains and their powers were used instead to stop natural disasters or rescue the proverbial kitten stuck in a tree. Some shows rose above the restrictions and proved entertaining but largely they were weak and short-lived.

That all changed thanks to Tim Burton. His 1989 Batman feature film reminded audiences what was good about comic books and their heroes. It forced everyone to re-examine comic book adaptations and prompted Warner Bros. to try a new Batman animated series. In the hands of producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, they rewrote the rule book and produced an amazing series.

That in turn gave us Superman so it was logical to follow with the Justice League. Along with James Tucker, Dan Riba, Dwayne McDuffie and others, the JLA never looked better. Now, all 91 episodes are collected for the first time in a two volume tin boxed set and it’s a joy to behold.

Warner Home Video essentially took the season sets and repackaged them for Justice League: The Complete Series , so the discs are broken down by season and disc number while the accompanying booklets count the discs from 1-14, so you have to carefully count discs to find a favorite episode. One nice aspect is that all the original extras are therefore included so there’s a rich amount of material to sift through. Unique to this set, on sale Tuesday, is a 15th disc containing “Unlimited Reserve: Exploring the Depths of the DC Universe”, a 16 minute chat with the producers discussing the joys of adapting the comics for a new generation of fans.

The nicest thing about the show, as either Justice League or Justice League Unlimited, is the fidelity it paid to the source material. Yes, they altered a great many things, but nothing felt gratuitously done. The heroes and villains looked and acted appropriately plus the comic book conventions of sub-plots and continuity carried over nicely. There was a strong emphasis on characterization, for all the players. As a result, many JLAers had nice arcs, notably Wonder Woman who went from rookie hero to a true Amazon Princess. Hawkgirl’s seeming betrayal and subsequent redemption played well, too.

There far more hits than misses and no doubt everyone has a favorite story or arc. The eight-episode arc of the League versus Cadmus holds up very well and shows many sides to the issue of, ahem, “Who Watches the Watchmen?” During this, the Question quickly becomes a major player and wonderfully used. Similarly, the League’s rejection of the Huntress or Captain Marvel’s resignation show that not everyone is cut out to be a hero or a team player. All the characters have distinct personalities, which was most welcome.

The show is crammed full of super-heroes drawn from throughout the entire DC Universe from Spy Smasher to Aztek. Just about everyone is superbly voiced from the familiar Kevin Conroy as Batman to Jeffrey Coombs as The Question. Guest voices are also welcome, with some sly winks from the producers such as Jodi Benson’s Aquagirl or The Wonder Years’ Fred Savage and Jason Hervey as Hawk and Dove.

This is most definitely worth owning or finding under your Christmas tree this season.

Review: 'Two Girls and a Guy' on Blu-ray

Robert Greenberger — Fri, 6 Nov 2009 16:07:00 EST

When an actor or director suddenly breaks out and gets hot, studios scour their vaults to see if there’s a way they can capitalize on this heat. Last year, Robert Downey, Jr. went from a troubled, gifted actor to a Super Star thanks to his performance in Iron Man. This week, 20th Century-Fox hopes to catch a break with the Blu-ray release of Downey’s 1998 film Two Girls and a Guy.

Written and direct by James Toback, the film is virtually a real time three-person stage play on a film. In his self-congratulatory 20 minute conversation on the Extras, Toback talks about how he came to write the film, by beginning to imagine a setting. In this case, that’s the spacious loft apartment which became the set his performances would use. After that, he populated the apartment with his players.

We open with Natasha Gregson Wagner’s Lou and Heather Graham’s Carla standing outside the apartment building waiting for their boyfriend to return from trip Very quickly, they determine that the boyfriend in question is the same man, Blake. Once Lou breaks a window to access the apartment, they bond while laying in wait.

Blake arrives and immediately calls his mother, then Carla, then Lou, placing them in the exact order of his affections although that doesn’t become obvious until later as his lies comes to haunt him. The audience gets to see him in has natural state before the women reveal their presence one at a time, catching him in his 10 month-long web of lies.

Carla and Lou are very attractive women in vastly different ways, with Carla soft, brainy, and traditional while Lou is edgier, street smart, and sharp tongued. What’s interesting to Toback was exploring how the same words could seduce such different women. In fact, he finds great humor in this, despite none of that mirth making it onto the screen.

The 1:25 length of the film should allow all three to shine and strut their stuff, but despite the histrionics, the film feels cold and uninvolving. At no point does Toback allow Downey’s Blake to show us any redeeming qualities to demonstrate why they fall for him. As a struggling actor, Blake should not be able to afford such nice digs or afford two women but that’s never addressed.

Instead, the characters reveal their true selves while dunning Blake for obfuscating the truth while he continually denied doing anything wrong. The truth is the overall theme of the film as is the importance of honesty. All too often, though the film’s momentum is interrupted with Blake’s obsessing over his mother, which shows where his heart truly lies.

Toback not too subtly shows his hand by decorating the apartment with a framed one-sheet for the classic French film Jules et Jim. Late in the story, Lou brings up a threesome relationship which excites Blake but seems to disinterest Carla. In fact, by this point, both women are drunk and begin to reveal their true feelings culminating with Carla taking Blake to his room for sex while Lou sits outside the door, listening.

The sex scene earned the film an NC-17 rating and Toback’s appeals were rejected so he made edits. Interestingly, both versions are on the Blu-ray disc and they are both steamy and erotically charged without any nudity.

The original DVD commentary is provided and between that and the Toback interview, we learn how much was improvised despite the writer claiming the script wrote itself in a mere four days. As a result, one longs to see deleted or alternate scenes to see how the cast found their characters but alas, none are provided.

As the credits roll, one hoped for a more satisfying ending. I was unmoved by this potentially fascinating set-up despite some solid performances.

Review: 'Zorro' The Complete First and Second Seasons

Robert Greenberger — Thu, 5 Nov 2009 14:46:00 EST

Walt Disney had a gift, an ability to take someone else’s property and recraft it for a modern audience. Just about every time he touched a fairy tale or legend, he struck paydirt. Look what he did with Grimm’s fairy tales or A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. Largely overlooked these days is the incredibly popular 1950s television series based on Johnston McCulley’s pulp hero, Zorro.

The black and white series, starring Guy Williams, ran a mere two seasons but spawned over 500 licensed merchandise items in addition to enjoying a long syndicated run in the 1960s and again after the birth of the Disney Channel. Back in the ‘50s, the season ran 39 weeks and a half-hour show actually had 25 minutes of story so there was plenty of material to recycle.

Fortunately, Walt Disney Home Entertainment noted the enduring appeal of the character and has this week released the complete run in two attractively packaged volumes. Both volumes are available in numbered limited edition tins that come complete with certificate of authenticity, label pin, black and white still of Zorro, and a booklet detailing the contents.

Leonard Maltin, who grew up watching the series when it originally ran on ABC from October 10, 1957 through June 2, 1959, provides introductions to seasons one and two, providing some context and information that nicely sets the stage. The seasons nicely fit into five discs and both volumes contain a sixth disc with bonus material.

McCulley’s somewhat clunky prose style was full of ideas: that of a masked avenger rising to protect the citizens of the small town of Los Angeles in the early part of the 19th century. Taking a cue from the precedent set by Baroness Emmuska Orczy’s Scarlet Pimpernel, introduced a decade before in 1903. Don Diego de la Vega decided he needed to play the fop so no one would suspect he was the black-cloaked fox known as Zorro.

The stories fired the imagination and were quickly adapted to screen, first in the silent films and then in the movie serials before it enjoyed feature film status. Along the way, McCulley actually incorporated some of the changes made for film into his prose. In 1952, Disney tried to acquire the rights and it took him until 1957 before it was a done deal. In September 1957, on his Walt Disney Presents, Uncle Walt told stories to his Mousekteers on his fourth anniversary show and it was used to introduce Williams as Zorro, leading people to watch the show which debuted weeks later.

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