Author: Robert Greenberger

It used to be, movies surprised us when we took our seats. We didn’t have so many sources for news and trailers a decade or so back. On Tuesdays, Warner Bros screened new films after hours and one night, the DC Comics crew filed in to see an animated feature called The Iron Giant. We didn’t know much about it or Brad Bird, the man behind it.

We were utterly charmed. None of us knew Ted Hughes’ The Iron Man book it was based on but found the 1950s setting perfect, and the old style animation well-done. Best, it had heart and soul and humor and a robot who wants to be Superman. What’s not to love?

Warner moved the release date so late in the process that tie-ins missed the opening and the marketing wasn’t what it should have been. As a result, this modern day classic withered and vanished. Bird, of course, went on to make The Incredibles for Pixar and then direct a Mission: Impossible film so he did pretty well.

The Iron Giant, though, faded from memory. That is until 2014 when Bird and Warner agreed to spruce it up and rerelease it. With fresh cash, they went on to complete scenes that couldn’t be done for budgetary reasons and the revised film came out in 2015. Finally, the original version and Signature Edition of the film have made their Blu-ray debut in a nice edition from Warner Home Entertainment.

Bird and screenwriter Tim McCanlies made this a thoroughly American film, shifting the time to the post-Sputnik period of the Cold War and dealing with America’s paranoia. When something crashes in Rockwell, Maine (get it?) and people think they’ve seen a monster, a jaded government agent, Kent Manley (Christopher McDonald), comes to investigate. The something turns out to be an alien construction, a war machine that is human in shape and has suffered system failures. While he self-repairs, he (Vin Diesel) is learning from Hogarth (Eli Marienthal), the young boy who discovered him. He’s lonely since his single mother Annie (Jennifer Aniston) works too many hours at the local diner and he’s filled with the era’s pop culture – alien invaders and super-heroes.

The lessons Hogarth imparts are subtly contrasted with the single-minded fear of the unknown represented by Manley, who grows increasingly unhinged as events unfold. The only ally Hogarth has is the town beatnik Dean McCoppin (Harry Connick Jr.), who runs the scrap yard and makes art with the junk.

There is gentle humor and some thrills and yes, parts can be predictable but overall, it has a gentle way about it that too few modern animated films possess. It has an old fashioned feel, with pacing that lets events unfurl without rushing or smash cuts to jar the senses.

The high def transfers are sharp and clear, the colors popping as they should. The two films co-exist on a single disc. There are two new scenes added to the original: Dean and Annie have a conversation in the diner and the Iron Giant has flashbacks to his life as a soldier in a mechanized army. Additionally, an ad for Maypo was replaced with what Bird originally wanted, one for Tomorrowland (working for the Mouse helps get you clearances). The lossless DTS-HD MA audio is a fine match and makes for fine viewing.

The majority of the special features from the 2004 DVD have been included here (well worth a look) along with The Giant’s Dream (55:47), which covers Bird’s career and how he wound up making The Iron Giant. It’s important to watch to better understand the filmmaking process along with the dues one must pay before being given a chance at something so personal. The Warner marketing errors are also included in conversation, which is rare honesty.  There’s also a Commentary with Bird, Head of Animation Tony Fucile, Story Department Head Jeff Lynch and Animation Supervisor Steven Markowski, which was previously used on the 2004 “Special Edition” DVD.  New, though, are fresh comments from Bird on the Signature Edition during the new sequences.

Ghosts
By Raina Telgemeier
Scholastic Graphix, 240 pages, $10.99/$24.99

Raina Telgemeier has built a fine career for herself as a graphic novelist, she cut her teeth on adapting four of the Babysitter’s Club novels before creating her own original works, beginning with Smile. Now, with her fourth offering, she is an acclaimed New York Times Best Seller and this work is receiving a 500,000 copy first printing.

The secret to her justified success is that her work is accessible and identifiable. She takes the basic elements of teen life, such as receiving braces or dealing with siblings, and turns them into refreshing stories that can ease discomfort or bring simple entertainment. Her fluid, cartoon-style also make the characters fun and easily identifiable, her worlds recognizable, and her pages flow easily from one to the next, never losing the narrative thread.

This time around, she uses inspiration from the time she lived in Northern California and her fascination with the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration to create an original story about, once more, sisters. The family has relocated up the coast to Bahía de la Luna in the hopes the foggy, cooler climate will help Maya, the younger of the two, breathe easier. Born with cystic fibrosis, she has not had an easy time of it, although her unbridled zest for life, has not slowed her down too much. The story, though, is narrated by older sister Catrina, a teenager who loves her sister and still feels weighed down by her.

The relationship between the siblings forms the core of the novel as both are plunged into this new town and its largely Hispanic populace, which honors their ancestors with shrines and happily anticipates seeing them each Halloween at the Day of the Dead party.  This is a world that accepts the supernatural and people interact with ghosts without fear, something the girls both need to learn. Their guide in this is Carlos, their neighbor and Ghost Tour guide, who is friendly to both but definitely finds a spark in Catrina, something she is slow to recognize or embrace.

While Maya readily accepts the spirits, her body weakens and her struggles impact Cat’s outlook on the town and their spectral residents. Her conflicted nature towards Maya feels real and Telgemeier mines this incredibly well.

Interestingly, she includes sketches from 2008 when she first began thinking about this story. There’s recognizable linework but her work has simplified and evolved since then. Her work is strong, aided by colorist Braden Lamb, resulting in a very satisfying and emotionally uplifting story that should entertain readers of all ages.

Based on the reviews, I knew I wanted to read 11.22.63 but its sheer size was, for some reason daunting. I figured maybe I’d just listen to it as an audiobook but those 30 hours sit waiting for me. Then, Hulu did me the favor of condensing it down to an eight-hour miniseries, which they released on DVD last week. I still will listen to the original, but this will do for now.

The idea of being able to go back in time and alter a key historic moment is always ripe for a good yarn. Heck, my Crazy 8 Press compatriots and I just did a book of alternate histories with Altered States of the Union. One of those moments that has tempted storytellers from Gene Roddenberry to King has been the untimely death of President John F. Kennedy.

Here, the master of the macabre sends an unprepared guy, Jake Epping (James Franco), back to Oct. 21, 1960 (Sept. 9,1958 in the book) and slowly, he realizes he’s the right guy to make a major difference. The local diner run by his friend Al (Chris Cooper) has a secret: there’s a door leading to the past. Sort of like SF Realism as opposed to Magical Realism. Anyway, Al’s been through the door and has been meticulously been figuring out how to stop Lee Harvey Oswald (Daniel Webber) from firing on the presidential motorcade. The problem is that Al is dying from cancer so convinces Jake to finish the plan.

Events conspire to turn the actual deed over to Jake and the miniseries follows his efforts. Complicating his altruistic missions is that time itself doesn’t want to be changed. That’s an interesting obstacle to be overcome.

A more mundane problem is that Jake needs cash to operate with and uses his future knowledge to lay down bets and win via gambling. A tried and true notion but belabored here and eventually, we find this English teacher isn’t as much the Everyman we’re initially led to believe he is. In some ways, Franco is the wrong guy for the part despite his appeal and acting chops.

Other problems include his falling for Sadie (Sarah Gadon), who teaches at the school he will one day be working at. Jake befriends Bill (George McKay), but how much should he know about the future? And there’s the CIA, of course. We toy with the question whether or not Oswald worked alone and the role his mother and wife played in his choices.

The middle chapters meander but the final two make up for it, nicely ratcheting up the tension until the climax and conclusion (not spoiled here). Writer Bridget Carpenter (who tossed in some lovely King Easter eggs) and director Kevin Macdonald do an overall nice job and Hulu gets credit for tackling this as one of the earliest original productions.

The eight-part production, overseen by J.J. Abrams and the Bad Robot team, looks authentic and the overall package is just swell. The DVD transfer is crisp, both looking and sounding strong. The Blu-ray edition contains the exclusive 15 minute featurette “When the Future Fights Back” with the crew talking about the book and mounting the adaptation.

In 1984 (or thereabouts) Alan Moore was asked to write a Batman one-shot for artist Brian Bolland. Between the arrival of the script and the publication of the Prestige Format Batman: The Killing Joke, Moore went on to become the most popular and best-selling comics writer of the decade. One of the reasons was that unlike his peers, he dug deeply into what made the heroes and villains tick and how they related to one another.

As a result of the strong writing and the brilliant artwork, the one-shot went on to become an acclaimed title that has remained in print ever since. Its little surprise, then, that Warner Animation finally turned their attention to adapting it for their direct-to-video line of films. They sparred little expense, bringing in crime writer Brian Azzarello and reuniting the popular Batman: The Animated Series vocal duo of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. Warner even let them adapt without regard to ratings and thus we have the first R-rated animated film from the studio.

I just wish it was good.

The film is really two separate stories, the second of which was the adaptation. Adapting 48 pages means there’s a lot of time left for the usual 77 minute production. Since the inciting incident is the Joker’s shooting of Barbara Gordon (Tara Strong), it made sense to reintroduce viewers to Babs and her Batgirl alter ego. Here, Azzarello displays a rather poor understanding of heroism or women.

As depicted here, Barbara has been Batman’s partner for three years. No mention of a Robin or other players. She clumsily allows an armored car robbery slip through her fingers, but not before she caught the fancy of the one of the criminals, “Paris Franz” (Maury Sterling). He somehow gets under her skin, forces her to make mistakes and earns Batman’s ire until he tells her to stay away. She, of course, can’t. The first problem is that Franz is not at all charismatic or interesting so the attraction makes little sense. More importantly, she’s acting like a rookie not a veteran.

There’s little heroic about her actions, little sympathy established for her character which is vital for what is to come. Worse, Azzarello decides that the one thing she initiates is having sex with Batman, in public, ripping her clothes off to take him right then and there. Not a great message being sent to the female audience.

For some reason, this has been her last case and in the meantime, Batman decides he needs to go pay the joker a visit, saying he’s been thinking about their relationship. It’d be nice if something in the first half of the film actually led us to this moment. And from there, we’re off and running.

As an adaptation it’s fine if uninspired. Why they decided to stick a song and dance number in the middle of James Gordon’s psychological torture is one of those imponderables. Yes, it’s violent, and the sexually abuse the comic alluded to is hinted at here.

But, in the end, it’s cold and not as involving as the source material and that’s a disappointment.

The Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD combo pack is out from Warner Home Entertainment this week and the 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is just fine to watch. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 let’s us enjoy Composers Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion and Lolita Ritmanis effective score.

The Special Features are pretty standard including a handful of contemporary trailers and the usual Sneak Peek at DC Universe’s Next Animated Movie (8:14), which is the eagerly anticipated Justice League Dark.

There are just two featurettes, the first being Madness Set to Music (11:54) where the composers and other talking heads extol the freedom of working on the story. The trio had previously worked on the musical episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold and they have clear affection for the medium.

Mike Carlin, Dan DiDio, and assorted others chime in on Batman: The Killing Joke: The Many Sides of the Joker (17:43), which should have offered up a better chronology since his first appearance in 1940 but uses lovely examples of his appearances throughout the years. Some attention should have been paid to the filmed versions of the Clown Prince of Crime from Cesar Romero to Jack Nicholson and even Jared Leto. Ah well.

Finally, From the DC Comics Vault offers up Batman: The Animated Series: “Christmas with the Joker” (22:26) and The New Batman Adventures: “Old Wounds” (21:11) which are nice to see but feel out of place given the tonality of the main feature.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.

It used to be we worried about the threat of artificial intelligence in movies like Colossus: The Forbin Project or “The Ultimate Computer” episode of Star Trek. Today, though, artificial intelligence is here thanks to Siri and Cortanna and their cousins. We talk to our phones and they answer back and these bots are growing increasingly sophisticated. As a result, what seemed ahead of its time a mere give years ago is looking increasingly prescient.

CBS’ Person of Interest arrived on September 22, 2011 and came with a fine pedigree having been created by Jonathan Nolan with J.J. Abrams on board as Executive Producer. It starred Michael Emerson, hot off Lost, Jim Caviezel, a pre-Empire Taraji P. Henson, and Kevin Chapman. It received near universal acclaim for raising key issues about personal privacy, cyber-terrorism, the invasiveness of the government, and the growing reliance on A.I. to help our everyday lives.

While never a ratings blockbuster, it did nicely for the network and continued to grow and evolve as the Machine, invented by Harold Finch (Emerson) continued to data mine and pop out social security numbers of Americans whose lives might be in danger. Ex-Special Forces agent and lost soul John Reese (Caviezel) was dispatched to investigate and intervene as necessary, often aided first by NYPD detective Jocelyn “Joss” Carter (Henson) and also detective Lionel Fusco (Chapman).

Along the way, the series raised questions each week while weaving a fascinating tapestry about the characters as we watched Fusco overcome the taint of corruption via the Police force’s wicked HR and learned about Reese’s complicated and difficult life. While their assignments sent them here and there, often they were in New York City and we gained insights into the criminal element as well with high school teacher/underworld mob boss Carl Elias (Enrico Colantoni).

Photo: Barbara Nitke/CBS ©2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved

Of course, Finch wasn’t the only one to hack their way around the world, there was the threat from someone known only as Root (Amy Acker) but in time, she and Finch found they had more in common and became allies if not friends.

And the government had their own shadowy operatives and agencies with SIA operative Sameen Shaw (Sarah Shahi) trading blows with Reese on more than one occasion before she too joined forces with the Machine’s team.

Across four taut seasons, the storytelling went from topical and dramatic to character building and was never less than interesting. As the fourth season wound down, we met Samaritan, a machine built by the government to replace the Machine, stolen by Finch before they could use it for questionable purposes. A man named Greer (John Nolan) oversaw the government eventually agreeing to activate it. As it grew in strength, it built a network of operatives and acquired companies in order to protect itself and begin its systematic takeover of America in order to perfect society.

Season four saw the rise of Samaritan and the fall of the Machine as Greer captured Shaw and everyone else had to scatter. Things looked bad for the world and worse for the series as CBS held it off until mid-season, ordering a mere thirteen episodes. When the air date was finally announced for May, it became clear the series was over so the team saw to it everything wrapped up.

Warner Home Entertainment has released Person of Interest the Complete Fifth Season as a three-disc DVD set. In addition to all thirteen episodes, it has the 2015 Comic-Con Panel, Revelations of Person of Interest, with executive producers Nolan, Greg Plageman and Denise Thé  and Emerson talk with critic Eric Goldman about the series; and Finale for the Fans where Goldman and company talk the series’; 100^th episode.

With a shortened season, the stories had to be more focused and the first order of business was restoring the Machine, which had to be condensed and compacted to escape Samaritan. Once that was done, it continued to adjust itself and send the agents out on routine assignments while Root fretted over Shaw’s whereabouts. Shaw, meantime, was subjected to over 7000 virtual reality simulations in an attempt to turn her into a traitor, destined to kill the Machine’s team. Instead, she escaped and struggled to regain her balance between reality and fantasy. And we were surprised to see Elias had survived, harbored by Finch and supportive in the battle against Samaritan, which proved to have no compunctions about killing when most efficacious in solving a dilemma.

Photo: Giovanni Rufino/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. ©2016 WBEI. All rights reserved.

One issue concerned me in Season Four, which was why the Machine was not assembling its own expanded team to ready for the coming battle with Samaritan. The new intelligence seemed to have in inexhaustible supply of killers and henchmen while Finch had just his small cadre. Well, it took until episode 101, or the eleventh of the season, to show that the Machine had been busy. Three former numbers – Joey Durban (James Carpinello), Harper Rose (Annie Ilonzeh), and Logan Pierce (Jimmi Pierce) – had been recruited by the Machine and sent out on missions. Cool, but the Machine never told Finch? It feels false coming in so late and without much discussion.

The season, though, had plenty of debates between Finch and Root and Finch and Greer regarding the ethics of the Machine and Samaritan, the role of A.I. in human society, and the price of freedom. It was chilling when Greer admitted he lost control of Samaritan and there were no official checks or balances in place. Everything fell to the Machine and its creator, Finch, to protect humankind.

By series’ end, there were deep losses but there were also very satisfying conclusions to numerous character arcs. Unlike the dissatisfying wrap ups on Castle and Nashville, the series gets kudos for going out with its head held high and its relevance still important as the show shifts into streaming mode.

If you missed the season or the series, it’s comes well recommended.

I remain astonished that the executives at DC Entertainment and parent company Warner Bros were surprised by the nearly uniform negative reaction to March’s Batman v Superman film. The film violated many of the key elements of good storytelling and showed a distinct dislike for the Man of Steel so the resulting experience felt oppressive, dark, and dislikable. Much of the blame is laid at director Zack Snyder’s feet since he edited the film in such a way as to emphasize the Dark Knight over Superman and never really addressed the questions he wisely raises in this sequel to his Man of Steel.

Out tomorrow is Batman v Superman the Ultimate Edition, a combo pack that has the theatrical cut available on DVD and Blu-ray with a second Blu-ray disc containing the three hour director’s cut.

The longer version earned an R rating for the extensive violence throughout although the thirty extra minutes has surprisingly little extended mayhem. Instead, bits of pieces focusing more on Clark Kent and Lois Lane round out the film and frankly, makes the storyline far more coherent. There is a far more appropriate balance between Superman and Batman threads before they meet.

There are still incredibly lapses in story and character logic and the pacing remains bizarre in places. But, it’s nice to see Amy Adams’ Lois Lane actually investigating an event being blamed on her super-lover. She has two nice scenes with Jena Malone who is unnamed but is credited at the end as playing Jenet Klyburn, the comic universe’s head of S.T.A.R. Labs, a nice nod to the source material.

Clark also does further investigating on his own, wondering how Gotham City’s Batman terrorizes the very people he seems to be protecting. Which leads me to some of my biggest problems with either incarnation of the movie. Batman has been operating for 20 years so why is Clark investigating him now and why is Perry White (Laurence Fishburn) so resistant to such a story?

Then we have the eighteen month gap between films which is never referenced so many of the questions Senator Finch (Holly Hunter) and others ask, are ones that should have been addressed prior to this moment. Also, the vitriol aimed Superman’s way for this African massacre is never balanced in the press by the heroic deeds we see in an all-too-brief montage in the half first of the movie. So, there are good themes that never really get properly aired out.

Even Henry Cavill’s Superman starts discussions with Lois about these issues, broods, frowns, and flies off without really talking about it. There are way too many of these moments and robs Superman of any real character arc. Cavill is incredibly ill-served by this film and probably doesn’t mind being dead until resurrected in one of the forthcoming Justice League movies. He can find better acting roles in the meantime.

Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot deliver the film’s two strongest performances with Jeremy Irons’ Alfred and Hunter right behind them. I really liked how Wonder Woman, a warrior, had a grin as she and Doomsday went at it in the climax.

Ah yes, Doomsday. Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor is either loved or hated by audiences but either way you fall, his motivations are all over the place. So, he can’t bring down the “god” of steel by turning him into a murderer (twice) so he endangers all life on Earth by unleashing the unstoppable monstrosity from Krypton? Is he that immoral? Also, in the end, he reveals he’s aware that something dark is coming, which we know to be Darkseid. “The bell has been rung,” he cries but there’s nothing prior to this revelation setting up it up and, ahem, rings false.

Similarly, the pacing is seriously knocked off-kilter when Batman is visited by the Flash (am I the only one who thinks Ezra Miller and costume just look wrong?) and when Diane Prince stops to watch trailers for future films.

All told, the Ultimate Edition makes for a better film, but it’s still not a terribly good one.

The film’s high definition transfer is sparkling which it needed to be considering the dull color palette and all the busy things happening during the action sequences. The audio is sharp and Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL’s heavy-thudding score does not overwhelm the dialogue or sound effects.

On the theatrical version disc, there are a handful of special features but NO commentary, which could have been interesting to see what their true intentions and feelings were. Instead, we get some electronic press kit pieces and some fresh interviews and perspectives. Like the film itself, they take everything way too seriously and don’t really allow themselves a sense of humor.

Beyond the Suicide Squad trailer, the extended cinematic universe is teased in Uniting the World’s Finest; Gods and Men: A Meeting of Giants, traces the meetings between the Gotham Guardian and Metropolis Marvel through the years, in print and screen;  The Warrior, The Myth, The Wonder – The history of Wonder Woman works to ready audiences for Patty Jenkins’ feature, due out next spring; Accelerating Design: The New Batmobile, which now feels like a regular installment per disc; Superman: Complexity & Truth, which explores the movie’s approach to Superman and how the production team interprets truth, justice, and the American way; Batman: Austerity & Rage, a similar exploration with little new to be said; Wonder Woman: Grace & Power; Batcave: The Legacy of the Lair, an overdue look at the coolest hangout in comics; The Might and the Power of a Punch, a look into the making of the fight scenes; The Empire of Luthor, another required look; and, finally, Save the Bats, as the cast and crew raise awareness for Bat conservation in light of the white nose disease destroying the population (for those interested, check out www.savebats.org.