Tagged: fan

Review: Futurama – The Beast with a Billion Backs

Review: Futurama – The Beast with a Billion Backs

Coming up behind their first direct-to-DVD film, “[[[Bender’s Big Score]]],” Futurama’s next title certainly fills the void that series junkies need but can’t get from running their season DVDs bare. And while “[[[Beast with a Billion Backs]]]” is certainly not as deep or emotional as “Bender’s Big Score,” there is definitely enough to keep you entertained for 90 minutes.

The premise of the “movie” (which is technically four interwoven episodes) begins up with a tear in the sky, seemingly to another universe. When panic ensues and the world’s two smartest minds battle it out to figure out who gets to explore it first, our hapless hero, Fry, jumps in the hole and stumbles across something Earth-shattering. There are several other subplots that all come together in the end a la [[[Seinfeld]]], but the main focal point is this interdimensional “beast.”

Each of these films seems to have a central theme, and if the theme of “Big Score” was time travel and friendship, the theme here must be love and jealousy. Even stated by Bender in the film: “You can’t have complete love without complete jealousy,” which may be poetic, but is still hilarious. The structure follows that of a cheesy romantic comedy, while still mocking itself by having the “romance” occur between the titular beast and every being in existence. (It’s your typical “beast meets everybody, they fall in love, everybody feels betrayed, they break up, then try to fix the relationship” story… but with robot pirates.)

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Free Download of ‘The Middleman’ Pilot Episode

Free Download of ‘The Middleman’ Pilot Episode

  • News
  • June 12, 2008

For those of you who are iTunes-enabled, the first episode of the new ABC Family series The Middleman, based on a comic book series by former Lost writer and producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, is currently available as a free download. The series premieres this Monday, June 16, at 8 PM on ABC. 

The episode will only be available for a limited time, so make it a point to snag it as soon as you have a chance.

For those who aren’t familiar with The Middleman, the series chronicles the adventures of a secret agency whose slogan is "Fighting evil so that you don’t have to." The Viper Comics series was filled with well-scripted humor, crazy science-fiction gadgetry, over-the-top action and a never-ending supply of creepy-crawly tentacled things for the heroes to battle. After picking up a copy of the first volume a few years ago (there have been a total of three volumes published thus far), I became a big fan of the series — so the news that a television adaptation was in the works was a nice surprise indeed.

Grillo-Marxuach initially conceived the story of The Middleman as a television project, but Paul Dini convinced him to kick it off as a comic. The pilot episode of the series was written by Grillo-Marxuach, who also serves as executive producer of the series.

 

(via beaucoupkevin)

Review: ‘The Incredible Hulk’

Review: ‘The Incredible Hulk’

Going into this film, you will need to play a bit of a trick on your brain. You need to completely forget everything you experienced in Ang Lee’s 2003 version of the film, while still comparing this film to its predecessor.

You’re going to want to compare this film to Marvel’s previous blockbuster, Iron Man, but you shouldn’t do that — this is a whole new beast (pun intended) and needs to be treated as such.

That said, this film certainly delivers for the franchise, with the only major problem being the anticlimactic fight scene at the end, but we’ll get to that.

Starting off, the abbreviated back-story of this film is given to us in the form of the opening titles. Changing from the books: there is no Rick Jones and no Gamma Bomb, but instead a quiet gamma test on our Dr. Bruce Banner that goes horribly wrong, causing him to “hulk-out” and destroy the facility while also injuring his assistant/girlfriend Betty Ross. He goes on the run from the government, and we come into the story a few years later in Brazil, where Banner has now gone five months without “incident.” The first 15 minutes of the film keep the audience well entertained without the need of the Jade Giant, with some great character development and a fair amount of humor.

On the critical side of things, the biggest change from the first film was easily the look of the hulk and computer-generated imaging throughout the film. This was a drastic change from 2003’s “Shrek on Steroids” look. We’re given plenty of shots of the hulk in plain daylight and in action, and the look is next to flawless. If you are not a fan of CGI to begin with, you have to understand that you are going to see a movie about a gigantic green monster here, and no one is throwing Lou Ferrigno in green makeup this time around.

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Happy Birthday: Insect Queen

Happy Birthday: Insect Queen

Lana Lang was one of teenaged Clark Kent’s closest friends, and Superboy’s biggest fan—he was romantically interested in her as well, and she was sometimes referred to as “Superboy’s girlfriend.”

Lana was a normal human girl with no powers of her own—until one May 16th when she rescued an insectoid alien from a fallen tree. The grateful alien gave Lana a biogenetic ring that allowed her to gain the power and partial form of any insect or arachnid, though she could only duplicate a particular form once a day.

The newly empowered Lana decided to try her hand at superheroism and donned a costume to become Insect Queen.

Lana eventually became a reserve member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, but got tired of her double life and began using her ring more sparingly.

Review: ‘Speed Racer’ – Emile Hirsch Gets Behind the Wheel

Review: ‘Speed Racer’ – Emile Hirsch Gets Behind the Wheel

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.

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ComicMix Radio: Hot Girl In The Comic Shop!

ComicMix Radio: Hot Girl In The Comic Shop!

That got your attention, didn’t it? Then come on in and meet Belkis, co-host of The Comic Book Novice radio show and a fresh fan with an interesting perspective on the industry, plus:

— Marvel collects X-Force and reprints another Hulk

— DC has a spot on the new KidsWB

— Galaxy Quest finally makes it to comics

— The Top 10 hottest sellers for March

Just before you press the button, make plans to join us Saturday for our special coast-to-coast coverage of Free Comic Book day. But even before that, be sure to shop the FCBD Retailer near you!

 

 
And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via iTunes - ComicMix or RSS!
Podcast Feud: iFanboy Vs CAGcast?

Podcast Feud: iFanboy Vs CAGcast?

  • News
  • April 25, 2008

It’s happened to all of us at some point. As a comic book fan you attend a convention with hopes of making a personal connection with a creator or personality you admire. Then reality shatters your expectations when you find that he or she’s, well… sort of a jerk.

Wombat, the co-host of the popular Cheap Ass Gamer podcast (aka CAGcast), is a well-known comic book fan and has gone off-topic on his show many times to talk about comics. It’s no surprise that the New York CIty native was planning to attend the New York Comic Con. In past episodes of the show, he’s mentioned that he enjoyed the iFanboy video podcast. So what happens when he spotted them on the convention floor?

According to Wombat, after introducing himself to the iFanboy crew, they promptly gave him the cold shoulder. CheapyD, the other CAGcast co-host, made the segment into a wickedly funny Internet video.

 

 

At the end, Wombat reports that Josh from iFanboy apologized and no hard feelings are held on either side.

Wombat, ComicMix Radio promises to never slight you — because now we’ve seen what happens!

 

 

‘Incredible Hulk’ to Speak – ‘Captain America’ Film Hinted?

‘Incredible Hulk’ to Speak – ‘Captain America’ Film Hinted?

  • News
  • April 19, 2008

The panel for The Incredible Hulk movie at New York Comic Con had a few big surprises for fans. If you don’t want any minor spoilers, get away from this post right now.

Still with us? Sweet.

A not-quite-finished version of the full length trailer was shown (the completed version will appear before Iron Man). The new trailer had some added scenes showing the Hulk and his enemy the Abomination (referred to only by his real name of "Emil Blonsky" in the film) fighting in New York City and smashing helicopters in the process. It also included a quick clip of a military official referring to Blonsky as a subject of a General Ross’s "bio-force project" who winds up going out of control.

During the panel, a couple of clips were shown with actor Tim Roth as Emil Blonksy. One clip showed him receiving an injection of a blue-colored serum which was supposed to prepare him to take on the Hulk in physical combat.

The second clip involved Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, being cornered by the military. Seeing his beloved Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) in danger, Banner transforms into the Hulk and begins fighting off the soldiers. On the order of General Ross (William Hurt), Blonksy then shows up and challenges the Hulk.

Apparently as a result of the serum he’s been injected with, he is now able to operate with enhanced agility and speed. While not exactly superhuman, his newfound physical prowess reminded me of Captain America in action as he dodged and weaved between the Hulk’s physical attacks while letting loose with guns and rockets. This was a phenomenal action scene and the direction made it feel very personal and in-your-face.

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Happy Birthday: Keith R.A. DeCandido

Happy Birthday: Keith R.A. DeCandido

  • News
  • April 18, 2008

Born in New York’s the Bronx in 1969, Keith R.A. DeCandido was a science-fiction fan from the very start—his parents were fans of the original Star Trek, as well as classic SF/Fantasy novelists like Heinlein, Le Guin, and Tolkien.

DeCandido attended Fordham University and edited the college newspaper, and after graduating he worked for several New York publishing houses.

In 1990, he and John Drew created the public-access SF TV show The Chronic Rift, which DeCandido also co-hosted. In the late ’90s, DeCandido worked for Byron Preiss, editing anthologies and novels, and began writing stories for Preiss as well.

DeCandido’s first novel, Spider-Man: Venom’s Wrath (written with Jose R. Nieto) was published in 1998. In 1999 DeCandido got the opportunity to write for the Star Trek franchise, authoring the four-issue comic book miniseries Star Trek: The Next Generation: Perchance to Dream. Since then he has written over a dozen Star Trek novels and over a dozen novels for other licenses.

 

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