Category: Reviews

Reminder: ‘Iron Man: Armored Adventures’ cartoon premieres 7 PM tonight on Nicktoons

Reminder: ‘Iron Man: Armored Adventures’ cartoon premieres 7 PM tonight on Nicktoons

First Look: Iron Man: Armored Adventures Animated Series

“[[[Iron Man:Armored Adventures]]]” returns Shellhead, and the first two of 26 animatedepisodes will begin airing on Nicktoons tonight at 7 PM.

Here’s a brief description of this high tech new action adventure series:

Tony Stark, heir to a billion-dollar corporation, lives a life of luxury,free to pursue his chief interests — seeing extreme thrills, solving scientific mysteries, and creating mind-boggling inventions.

But everything goes horribly wrong when a tragic accident robs Tony of his father and nearly costs him his own life. Now dependent on his ownamazing technology for survival and dedicated to battling corruption,Tony must reconcile the pressure of teenage life with the duties of asuper hero.

Inside his remarkable invention, Tony Stark is geared for high-speed flight,high-tech battles and high-octane adventure! He is IRON MAN!

And here’s a preview:

Review: Three dispatches from the Philippines

Review: Three dispatches from the Philippines

These three books don’t represent the comics community of the Philippines: I know almost nothing about that community and I’m sure of that. Extrapolating from these three stories – from the three comics stories I happen to have – is futile and silly and I’m going to try not to do it. Drawing any conclusions about the larger Philippine comics market would be like reading [[[Iron Fist]]],[[[ Scott Pilgrim]]], and [[[Fun Home]]] and from them alone creating a unified theory of North American comics.

So all I really want to say up front is this: these may be some of the best Philippine comics. But I seriously doubt that they’re all of the best. There’s probably even some projects even better than these. It’s a big world out there. (I also want to thank Charles Tan, who sent me a big box of Philippine comics and SF late last year, and without whom I wouldn’t have heard of any of these books.)

Elmer (issues #1-4)
By Gerry Alanguilan
Komikero Publishing; May and Oct 2006, Nov 2007, Nov 2008; 50 Philippine pesos ea.

There’s something about the comics form that attracts really unlikely premises – flying men, teenagers who want to do their homework, retellings of operas without music, and whatever[[[Alice in Sunderland]]] is. [[[Elmer]]] is another in that proud and odd lineage: it’s a serious contemporary story set in a world where chickens suddenly became intelligent in 1979.

Yes, chickens. The protagonist is a young chicken named Jake, who comes back from his dead-end life in Manila to the rural farm where he grew up, because his father, Elmer, has had a stroke and isn’t expected to last long. He rejoins his sister May (a nurse) and brother Francis (a movie star) there, and stays there after his father’s death. Except for the chicken thing, the plot set-up is very like an indy movie, some Philippine [[[Garden State]]]. (more…)

Review: I Saw You… edited by Julia Wertz

Review: I Saw You… edited by Julia Wertz

I Saw You…: Comics Inspired by Real-Life Missed Connections
Edited by Julia Wertz
Random House/Three Rivers Press; February 2009; $12.95

Everyone’s looking for something: money, fame, recognition, wonder, love. For most of those things, you’re on your own. But, for the last one, there’s always the personal ads. Blatantly advertising for love can feel very needy and desperate, though – but what if the love is already there (or, at least, you hope it is) and just needs to be coaxed out? That’s the place for the missed connection – I saw you, you winked at me, the subway doors closed, and so on and on. A missed connection, if you’re inclined to think that way, if someone you should have really met and clicked with, but didn’t, quite, because of external circumstances.

Julia Wertz, the cartoonist of the webcomic [[[The Fart Party]]], is one of many people obsessed with missed connections, either checking incessantly to see if someone “missed” them, or just amazed at what some people think a “connection” is. She found herself checking Craigslist several times a day, and then decided to make a minicomic out of missed connection ads. She got many more submissions than she’d expected, and that minicomic anthology eventually blossomed into this book – a collection of comics by nearly a hundred contributors, all illustrating actual missed connections ad, imagining their own missed connections, or just inspired by the idea.

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Review: The Arcade of Cruelty

Arcade of Cruelty
By Joseph Patrick Larkin
Also-Ran, 2008, $18

Joseph Patrick Larkin is a self-obsessed, creepy, sexist shut-in with voyeuristic tendencies. And those are his good points.

I only know this because I’ve just read his self-published book [[[The Arcade of Cruelty]]] – but, let me back up immediately, because “self-published” will give you a certain image, and this book doesn’t fit that at all. It’s immaculately well-designed, looking for all the world like the catalog of some very, very unlikely traveling museum exhibit. It has a real ISBN, the unlikely and wildly inaccurate category of “Queer Studies/Occult” on the back, and a little log on the front proclaiming it the new selection of “Joseph’s Book Club” (with a circular logo that looks not at all unlike that of a different book club, one run by a TV host hose name begins with O). In the middle of all that, on the otherwise classy cover, is that serviceable drawing by Larkin of a zombie tearing out someone’s (his?) throat.

Larkin’s art is all at about that level: he’s not a great artist by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s reasonably good at crude depictions of appalling things – and, besides, the writing is carrying most of the weight here, anyway.

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Review: ‘Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1942’

Review: ‘Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1942’

From 1941 through 1942, Max and Dave Fleischer rewrote the rules for animation and people have been trying to match those results ever since.  When no one had previously tried adventure in animated form, the Fleischers took their lessons from [[[Popeye]]] and applied them to [[[Superman]]] with astounding results.

The seventeen shorts, released by Paramount Pictures, were the closet anyone would come to bringing Superman to a live action feature film until Richard Donner achieved that goal in 1977 (and people have been trying to match that goal ever since).

Warner Home Video has previously included the cartoons as part of their mammoth tin can set of Superman features but now there’s a two-disc set, Max Fleischer’s Superman: 1941-1942 , which was released this week. Technically, one wishes they cleaned the prints a bit better before transfer but these are better than most of the public domain dubs that have been circulating since the 1980s.

The fluid action and rousing Sammy Timberg music remain indelibly etched in my mind from first experiencing these in the 1970s.  The plots are very simple, given the standards of the day, so there’s a threat, Lois gets in trouble, and Clark becomes Superman to save the day. Repeat seventeen times.  Given their short running time, there was no attempt at anything more than the most surface of characterization and the comics offered little in the way of recurring villains at the time (yes, including Lex Luthor). What they could have borrowed from the radio series, along with voice actor Bud Collyer, was kryptonite but chose not to do so.

Interestingly, there’s a warning on the box reading that the DVD set “is intended for the Adult Collector and Is Not Suitable for Children”. Hogwash. This is over-reacting to the mindset that children are fragile and the sight of Superman battling a dinosaur or a gang of robots would ruin their psyche.  If anything, this is a perfect vehicle for introducing smart heroic adventures to children as they seek outlets for such fare.

The extras are culled from elsewhere but are worth watching if they’re new to you. First, there’s The Man, The Myth, Superman which does a nice job surveying heroes prior to the Man of Steel’s arrival in [[[Action Comics #1]]]. Second is First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series which clearly establishes how the brothers went from Koko the Clown to Superman and easily surpassed other animation studios. Trailers for other animated offerings and the [[[Green Lantern]]] featurette round out the set.

Bottom line: if you do not own these in any other manner, buy this set. If you already have all seventeen episodes, there’s little reason to buy them again.

Review: Three by Jeffrey Brown

Review: Three by Jeffrey Brown

Jeffrey Brown appeared in the comics world a few years back, with his painfully confessional (and almost as painfully crudely drawn) graphic novels [[[Clumsy]]] and [[[Unlikely]]]. He’s expanded beyond autobiography since then, mostly into odd but straight-faced takes on geeky topics, such as [[[Incredible Change-Bots]]]. He had three new books in 2008 – well, at least three new books; it’s entirely possible that I missed something – a big autobiographical book and two smaller, weirder books in a new, very loose, series. So I thought I might as well look at them all together, before he publishes another four or five books.

Little Things
By Jeffrey Brown
Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, April 2008, $14.00

This one is subtitled “[[[A Memoir in Slices]]],” and, yes, it’s yet another in the tsunami of memoir-comics from major not-usually-comics publishers. (I guess they’re all hoping for another [[[Persepolis]]] or [[[Maus]]], and not looking to far from the apple tree, either.) Brown has a two-page comics introduction, in which he explains the book to someone on the phone – which comes down to “Anyway, they’re a bunch of autobiographical short stories and they’re funny sometimes.”

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Review: ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ DVD

Review: ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ DVD

The Day The Earth Stood Still was unique for a science fiction film when the original was released in 1951. It played everything with a documentary feel and treated the science fiction concepts as real and nothing to be mocked. It was understated and earnest and earned its place in the list of great science fiction films.

While a little preachy, at least Klaatu had the chance to address the greatest scientific minds and issue his warning that mankind had to deal with their nuclear arsenals and avoid self-annihilation or it would be done for them.

In the remake, out today on DVD, Klaatu never gets to make the address. This is one of the most glaring failings in the film which starts off well and then falls apart in the final third.  The nuclear issue was turned to an ecological one, which is perfectly valid, but after that, characterization is avoided in favor of a plodding story.

Keanu Reeves is fine as the unearthly visitor and his lack of chemistry with Jennifer Connelly is appropriate. Jaden Smith, as her step-son, swings between cute and petulant, perfectly appropriate for his age but, whereas the first film focused on the world through the boy’s eyes and gave Klaatu a reason for hope; the relationship depicted here is thin.  At no point, does Klaatu get to see the world for himself, relying entirely on a brief conversation with one of his kind who has been on Earth the past seven decades.

The internal logic for the way Klaatu’s alien powers works seems entirely lacking while the nanites that comprise Gort make far more sense. The stylishly updated Gort works far better than Klaatu or his energy globe of a vessel.

The supporting cast is filled with fine actor who are given little or nothing to do and their wasted talent is a shame. John Cleese and Jon Hamm have more to do than Kathy Bates and all three deserved more screen time.

The scant special features include three brief deleted scenes that add nothing to the experience. There’s a featurette on how the “reimaging” happened along with a focus on the special effects going into Gort.  The final two, [[[Watching The Skies:  In Search Of Extraterrestrial Life]]], and [[[The Day The Earth Was “Green”]]] are pleasant viewing experiences but are nothing extraordinary. There’s also a still gallery and production photos.

The DVD is available in a variety of formats starting with the two-disc special edition that includes the original film. The three disc version has a digital copy (which is almost de rigueur for big budget releases these days). The Blu-ray edition, not reviewed, also has the original film and two extra features.

Review: Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son

Review: Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, Volume One
Adaptation by Chuck Dixon; Illustrated by Brett Booth
Dell Rey, February 2009, $22.95

There comes a time in every best-selling writer’s life when he realizes that he’d like to make money even faster than he can write books. OK, maybe that realization comes to all of us – but the best-selling writer can actually do something about it. At that point, assuming that scruples aren’t a problem – and how on earth did he become a best-selling writer and keep his scruples, anyway? – the options are two: let someone else write a book under your name, or license something you’ve already written to another medium, and let Joe Hired-Hand do the heavy lifting in that format.

Or, if you’re Dean Koontz, you could do both.

Some years ago, he got Kevin J. Anderson to co-write a novel called [[[Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son]]], and then a couple of sequels. (There was also a TV deal at the time, though, sadly, it eventually fell through.) And now long-time comics writer Chuck Dixon has adapted that novel, which was at least half-written by Anderson in the first place, into a comics series…which, of course, still has “Dean Koontz” as the largest thing on the cover.

(I’m beginning to think that popular writers’ names have a nearly homeopathic power – no matter how much they’re diluted, the audience will keep clamoring for more.)

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Review: ‘The Tudors’ Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD

Review: ‘The Tudors’ Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD

Henry VIII was a rock star in his day. Anne Boleyn was the fashion plate. Their doings were covered as the pop culture of their day (after all, there wasn’t much else to do). The doings of the Royal Family captivated the English people as much then as it fascinates today. It’s little surprise then that given the politics, power plays, sex, and war that The Tudors had not come to television before Showtime debuted their interpretation in 2007.

With the third season poised to begin on April 5, it’s high time we looked at the first seasons, both now available on DVD from Paramount Home Video.

Today, most people know two things about Henry VIII: he was fat and he had six wives as he sought an heir. A few more would know he formed the Church of England in a major schism with the Pope so he could divorce his first wife and marry the more attractive Anne.

The series pens with Henry when he was young, virile and active. He was a sportsman, a musician, and well-read.  He was also rather randy since, after all, rank hath its privileges. He married Catherine out of obligation not love, although she loved him and remained faithful despite the horrible things done to her in his quest for marital freedom. Season one showed his displeasure with the situation and his growing infatuation with Anne, who wisely didn’t put out until they were married.

Season two followed Anne’s inability to produce a male heir, losing Henry’s attention as his eyes found Jane Seymour. His break from the Church finally occurred and he was left to build his own series of churches.

It’s all fascinating stuff, unless, of course, you know anything about the era then discover the 20 episodes aired to date are rife with anachronisms and inaccuracies. Writer/Creator Michael Hirst defends his choices as saying he was hired to produce entertainment not a documentary and that buys him a fair amount of latitude.

The liberties, though, compress events and change things around. For whatever reason, having seen one Pope in the first season, they bring his successor on stage for the second season, much as Henry seems to go through wives. To make the show work at all, a lot of time compression happens so Henry marries Anne when he’s in his thirties soon after the meet, not nearly a decade later. Perhaps the biggest change, but one that works dramatically was the death of Thomas Cardinal Wolsey.

The historic inaccuracies are lengthy but the show is slick and polished with a large cast that requires paying attention. From sets to performances, you rarely want to take your eyes off the screen.

The performances make the show riveting, starting with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the volatile, restless Henry. Maria Doyle Kennedy suffers wonderful as poor Catherine while Natalie Dormer is captivating as Anne. Where Catherine was older and less attractive, Anne was colorful, younger and went after what she wanted, which was not only the King’s bed but the power that came with the crown.

Every story needs villains and in his own sly way, Sam Neill steals the first season as Cardinal Wolsey. Additionally, there are the scheming nobles, notably Anne’s father Thomas Boleyn, The Earl of Wiltshire, played by Nick Dunning with cunning.  Interestingly, fathers back then thought nothing of encouraging their daughters to sleep with men if it furthered their family’s fortunes (which was entirely the plot to [[[The Other Boleyn Girl]]], which failed to ignite the screen).

Palace intrigue plays out in each episode as everyone vies to better their situation with the exception of Thomas More (Jeremy Northam) who puts his faith and his word above politics and then suffers for it. And even though Pope Paul III had nothing to do with the events depicted, he’s a welcome anachronism since it gives us the wit of Peter O’Toole, seen all too briefly in the second season.

The two box sets come with their brief extras.  Several episodes have perfunctory commentary and the extras feel rushed.  The first season offers you a look at the production and costume design, the latter of which is well worth watching. You also get a brief glimpse of the contemporary locations where the story was set. On the second season set you have a stronger Tower of London featurette and a weak look at the modern day folk who can trace their lineage to Henry and his legitimate and illegitimate offspring. Both discs are stuffed with sample episodes for Showtime’s other series, an almost desperate cry of “Please watch me” and frankly, several are worth watching but the discs would have benefitted from the very documentary material the show never tried to be.

Before the third season kicks off, you can check out which Tudor you are with a quiz at the show’s website. Me, I qualified as an actor, presuming I was still alive at the advanced age of 50.

Review: ‘To Catch a Thief’ DVD

Review: ‘To Catch a Thief’ DVD

Paramount Pictures ends its tour of the 1950s, for now anyway, with the Centennial Collection edition of Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief. Considered a minor work for the director, it actually holds up exceptionally well through the years and the restored print for the DVD, out now, is marvelous. Being the only Hitchcock film that Paramount still has rights to, this is a welcome part of the celebration.

Hitchcock’s 1955 film, based on David Dodge’s 1952 novel, stars Cary Grant and Grace Kelly and was filmed in location in Europe. This was the first of his films shot in Paramount’s VistaVision, a process similar to Cinemascope and used to compete against television for audiences. Despite the arduous process to shoot, he went on to use it five times but the first proved challenging, not that you can tell in the finished product.

John Robie (Grant) is a retired thief known as The Cat but he leaves his French vineyard when a copycat begins a series of crimes that convinces the police he’s back in action. Posing an American businessman, he begins seeking the most valuable jewels in France to outguess his imitator and along the way romances Francie Stevens (Kelly), daughter of a society woman who owns one of the gems on his list. 

The glimpse into French society in fun and the movie moves along with solid pacing and some nice action sequences, notably the first car chase.  Grant and Kelly, in her last film for the director, sparkle on screen together and Hitch does his adept visual innuendo, this time fireworks going off during some serious kissing.

Shot on location makes the film look far different than typical studio fare, aided by Edith Head’s keen eye for costuming the stars, especially Kelly who soon went on to become a princess. The cinematography by Robert Burks deservedly won the Academy Award that year.

Technically, the cleaned print transfer makes this the best edition yet released for home video, with 2.0 Dolby sound lending an assist.
 
The film comes with brand new commentary from Dr. Drew Casper, Hitchcock Prof. of American Film at USC who provides insights into the production. The second disc comes with the usual assortment of special features. The 2007 edition’s extras are included so you’d be buying this mostly for the restored film itself. There’s also the 23-minute [[[A Night with the Hitchcock’s]]], the USC popular class devoted to the director and his works. The surviving family usually comes to chat at least once per semester and the November 2008 visit was recorded for inclusion. Then there’s Unacceptable Under the Code: Film Censorship in America, the 12-minute featurette looking at the state of film censorship during the 1950s, considered one of the most repressive decades in America (see the Comics Code). This focuses on how Hitch worked around the restrictions with glee.

The [[[Behind the Gates]]] featurette is a six minute look at Grant and Kelly as opposed to the physical production of a film. And Edith Head: The Paramount Years makes a return appearance from an earlier part of the collection.

From the 2007 edition are Writing and Casting [[[To Catch a Thief]]] is a nine minute featurette; The Making of To Catch a Thief (17-minutes); Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch a Thief: An Appreciation (seven minutes).

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