Tagged: movie

Derrick Ferguson Ducks The Mighty Shield of CAPTAIN AMERICA

  • News
  • August 2, 2011

2011
Marvel Studios/Paramount Pictures
Directed by Joe Johnston
Produced by Kevin Feige
Screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Based on “Captain America” created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Before we get into the review, please indulge me for a minute…hit it:

I had hopes that when Jon Favreau snuck in the 1960’s Iron Man theme song, they’d find a way to do it in other movies based on Marvel superheroes.  Such was not the case.  “Star-Spangled Man” was okay, but it can’t beat this song.  Maybe in the sequel.  And I have no doubt that there will be a sequel as CAPTAIN AMERICA is in my head, fighting “Iron Man” and “Thor” as the best Marvel superhero movie made to date.  Joe Johnston doesn’t get a single thing wrong in this movie which is actually two movies in one: it’s not only a superhero movie but it’s a World War II movie as well and never to the two elements clash with each other. 
4F Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) tries time and time again to enlist in the U.S. Army as he desperately wants to do his part and fight the Nazis.  But his list of physical aliments prevents that until chance puts him in the path of Professor Erskine (Stanley Tucci).  The professor left Germany to willingly work for the United States on his greatest experiment: The Super Soldier Serum which can transform a man into the perfect human.  Erskine wants to try his serum on Steve as he is impressed with the man’s heart and compassion.
Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) the head of the Super Soldier Project isn’t so sure this scrawny specimen is the right man.  But Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) of the Strategic Scientific Reserve agrees with Erskine and the experiment goes ahead.  Steve is endowed with enhanced strength, reflexes, heightened senses and a metabolism that heals him at a faster rate than normal.  Tragedy dims the success of the project and as a result Steve is regulated to being used a mere publicity tool to sell war bonds, going on USO tours as ‘Captain America’ dressed in a gaudy red, white and blue costume.
But over in Europe, the war isn’t waiting for Steve.  Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) is the head of HYDRA, a separate organization within the Nazi party dedicated to developing advanced weaponry for its own purposes.  Schmidt is also known as The Red Skull, due to an unfortunate side effect of Erskine’s Super Soldier Serum which he took himself.  Along with his chief scientist Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) The Red Skull has his own plan of world domination that doesn’t involve Hitler.
Things really kick into high gear when Steve, fed up with being treated as a joke, goes on a one-man rescue mission behind enemies lines to rescue his best friend James Buchanan ‘Bucky’ Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and over four hundred prisoners of war, including a bunch of fightin’ fools known as The Howling Commandos (Neil McDonough, Derek Luke, Kenneth Choi, Bruno Ricci and J.J. Field).
Captain America, now a front line soldier with Bucky and The Howling Commandos backing him up as well as a new protective uniform and shield developed by genius inventor/industrialist/futurist Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) is regarded as a genuine real American hero.  His battles are rapidly becoming the stuff of legend.  But it’s a legend that may be cut short when he finally confronts The Red Skull…
There are so many things that CAPTAIN AMERICA gets right I could easily take about an hour listing them.  Elements of the origin are moved around but the spirit of the character is intact.  Chris Evans finds exactly the right note for Steve Rogers/Captain America and never strays from it.  Just like when he played Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in the two “Fantastic Four” movies, I get the impression that he took the time to read the comics.
The only problem I have with Tommy Lee Jones is that his character wasn’t named “Happy Sam” Sawyer since to me that’s who he’s playing.  Neil McDonough is absolutely scary in how much he looks like “Dum Dum” Dugan.  And he sounds exactly like I always heard Dugan’s voice in my head while reading those “Sgt. Fury” comic books.  The changes in the relationship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes is one I thought made that relationship even stronger.  I really liked how Tony Stark’s dad got in on a lot of the action and we get to see a lot of where Tony gets his swagger from.  Hugo Weaving and Toby Jones make for an effective pair of bad guys and Hayley Atwell steals every scene she’s in as Peggy Carter, a woman definitely ahead of her time.
But the star behind the scenes is Joe Johnston who I’ve been telling you folks for years now is a genius.  Hopefully the success of CAPTAIN AMERICA will cause people to finally acknowledge “The Rocketeer” as the masterpiece it is.  And “Jurassic Park III” and “The Wolfman” ain’t bad either.
So should you see CAPTAIN AMERICA?  Are you kidding me?  What are you waiting for?  

Derrick Ferguson Rides With COWBOYS & ALIENS

  • News
  • August 2, 2011

2011
Universal Pictures
Directed by Jon Favreau
Produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg
Screenplay by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby
Story by Steve Oedekerk
Based on the graphic novel “Cowboys & Aliens” created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, written by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley with pencils by Luciana Lima
I’ll tell you right up front so if you don’t want to be bothered reading the rest of the review, you don’t have to.  I enjoyed COWBOYS & ALIENS a lot.  It’s a very well made movie with performances I enjoyed and an entertaining premise.  However, I have to say this: the parts of the movie with the cowboys are so entertaining that when I got to the parts of the movie with the aliens, I was wishing I was back with the cowboys.
A man with no memory (Daniel Craig) waked up in the desert with no idea of how he got there.  He does have a picture of a beautiful woman and a strange metal bracelet on his arm he can’t remove.  The man makes his way to the boom town of Absolution which has gone bust.  The town is so bust it depends on the cattle baron Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford).  Which means suffering the drunken tantrums of his son Percy (Paul Dano)
The man runs afoul of Percy, attracting the attention of Sheriff John Taggert (Keith Carradine) who identifies the man as Jake Lonergan, notorious outlaw.  Taggert intends to ship Lonergan off to federal prison along with Percy when Dolarhyde shows up.  His intentions are simple: he wants his son back and he wants Lonergan as well.  Seems as if Lonergan has been helping himself to Dolarhyde’s gold.  Dolarhyde means to shoot up the town if his wishes aren’t met.  But he’s beaten to the punch by alien spacecraft that not only blow the town to splinters but kidnap a sizeable number of citizens.
Dolarhyde aims to go after the varmints who took his son and he needs Lonergan because the bracelet on his wrist turns out to be an extraordinarily powerful weapon.  The town doctor/bartender Doc (Sam Rockwell) wants to get his wife back.  Also going along is the grandson of the sheriff (Noah Ringer) Nat Colorado (Adam Beach) Dolarhyde’s right hand man and the town preacher (Clancy Brown) Rounding out this crew is the mysterious Ella (Olivia Wilde) who packs a mean shootin’ iron of her own and knows way more about the aliens than anybody else.
The road to the alien camp is one that made me wish that Jon Favreau was doing a straight-up western.  If Daniel Craig keeps making westerns I don’t give two hoots if he never makes another James Bond movie again.  Both he and Olivia Wilde look right at home in the genre.  And this is the best performance Harrison Ford has given since I dunno when.  In fact, I don’t think there was a performance in this movie I didn’t enjoy.
And Jon Favreau knows that even in an action movie you need moments where an audience can catch their breath and maybe get to know the characters a little bit better.  He’s good enough to do that and he’s also good enough to know how to rev the action back up to 11 after a slowdown.  My respect for him as a director continues to grow with every movie he makes.
So should you see COWBOYS & ALIENS?  I say yes.  It’s got truth in advertising as if has Cowboys and it has Aliens.  It’s not going to become known as a classic of the genre but it’s good, solid entertainment with a cast that knows what they’re doing and a director working at the top of his game.  Enjoy.

Dylan Dog

I first encountered the legend of Dylan Dog back when I was trying to cover foreign comics while at Comics Scene and then wrote about the film adaptation a while back over at Famous Monster of Filmland. A PI in the world of things that go bump in the night sounded like a lot of fun. That the Italian comic has been running for decades also spoke to its creative spark and the genius of Tiziano Sclavi. Then I saw that this was going to Brandon Routh’s third film based on a comic book and figured he was 1 for 2 so far (entertaining in Scott Pilgrim, not served well by Superman Return’s lousy script) and might improve his average. He had certainly improved as an actor, as witnessed by Fear Itself and his recurring role on Chuck.

The trailers certainly made the movie look lighthearted and wonky, much like the comic source material so there was reason to be encouraged. The movie then opened and closed so fast there was little time to determine what went wrong (and if anything went right). 20th Century Home Entertainment pulled out all the stops (including a fun, interactive Facebook page) to promote the DVD, which arrived last week, making you think maybe this was some sort of overlook gem that just needed better marketing.

Nope. The film is still a creative misfire that pays the barest lip-service to the comics and carved its own niche of awfulness. Set in a supernatural New Orleans, the film features Routh as Dylan Dog, a former PI specializing in monsters but now just down on his luck. He’s lured back in to the world of vampires, werewolves, and zombies by those who wish to keep their existence low key so angry mobs don’t show up on a weekly basis. He’s hired by Elizabeth (Anita Briem), who saw a werewolf murder her father and steal the movie’s McGuffin, the Heart of Belial. Yes, rather than your typical investigation, Dylan immediately gets dragged back into the monster realm in time to prevent the end of the world. (more…)

The Comic To Movie Trifecta: “Cowboys And Aliens”, “Smurfs”, “Captain America” Take Top 3

The Comic To Movie Trifecta: “Cowboys And Aliens”, “Smurfs”, “Captain America” Take Top 3

  • News
  • August 1, 2011
The Smurfs

Image via Wikipedia

For the first time in movie history, the top three highest grossing films in a weekend are all adapted from comics.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Little blue Smurfs and not-so-little green men from space are in a photo finish for the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office.

Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford’s sci-fi Western “Cowboys & Aliens” and the family adventure “The Smurfs” both opened with $36.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That leaves Sony’s “Smurfs” and Universal’s “Cowboys & Aliens” tied for the top spot. Figuring out the No. 1 movie will have to wait until final numbers are counted Monday.

The previous weekend’s top movie, “Captain America: The First Avenger,” slipped to No. 3 with $24.9 million and raised its domestic total to $116.8 million.

Now of course, the question– is this a trend that will last? Or is this the high water mark?

Also: ComicsBeat has a great take on what this means for Platinum Studios, complete with business accounts for those of us who like this sort of thing.

Related articles

Sam Raimi Begins his Journey to Oz

  • News
  • July 26, 2011

Pontiac, MI., July 25, 2011—Walt Disney Pictures’ fantastical adventure Oz The Great and Powerful,  directed by Sam Raimi, went in front of the cameras at the brand-new Raleigh Studios in Pontiac, Michigan, on Monday, July 25, 2011, boasting a stellar cast that includes Academy Award® nominee James Franco (127 Hours) as the young wizard, Golden Globe® nominee Mila Kunis (Black Swan) as the witch Theodora, Academy Award® winner Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) as Kunis’ sister Evanora and two-time Oscar®-nominated actress Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine) as Glinda, the Good Witch.

The cast also includes Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominee Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State), who will play Franco’s circus assistant as well as lend his vocal talents to one of the CGI creatures in the story — Finley, the winged monkey who accompanies the magician on his journey to Oz; and 12-year-old actress Joey King (Ramona and Beezus), who will voice another CGI character in the story, China Girl, who also joins the future Wizard on his excursion through Oz. (more…)

Captain America

Joe Johnston knows how to direct adventure films but watching his growth as a director has been a pleasure. His first offering, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids was a visual effects feast, thanks to his training at Industrial Light & Magic. He followed up in 1991 with his first comic book adaptation, Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer and while the movie is far better than the critical reaction or box office would indicate, it still lacked that certain spark of delight for a summer blockbuster. Over the intervening years, Joe has continued to direct films that has shown steady growth as he has more subtly integrated effects with characterization with the family friendly Jumanji and the heart-warming October Sky. It was all good training as he took on what has become his highest profile project yet, Captain America: The First Avenger.

Clearly, he has learned his lessons as the critics – both mainstream and geek alike – have raved over the film while the $65 million it earned over the weekend proves he delivered a film people wanted to see. There were many obstacles challenging Johnston so that he managed to overcome them with aplomb is quite impressive. First of all, he had to turn a brief origin story from Captain America Comics #1 into a story that was plausible for modern day audiences. He had to fill it with winks and nods to the comics continuity that has been built around that Joe Simon & Jack Kirby tale of a man being turned into a super-solider. Then there was all the spadework that was required to prime audiences for the next installment in the Marvel Film Universe, next summer’s The Avengers.

Joining me for the Saturday matinee were two neighbors who only knew the character by name so while I sat there geeking out like the rest of you over the little touches, they were thoroughly satisfied with the story from beginning to end. (I had to spend dinner annotating it for them which was a fun test of memory.) (more…)

Review: “Limitless”

What would you do if you could fully tap your brain’s capabilities? Every generation or so, the question is pondered, thanks to the latest breakthroughs or studies in neuroscience. It makes for an interesting discussion and sometimes, brilliant works such as Flowers for Algernon (the great book by Daniel Keyes, and Charly the movie with Cliff Robertson). The most recent addition to this sub-genre of fiction is The Dark Fields, a novel by Alan Glynn, which became the basis for the movie [[[Limitless]]], which was released on DVD this week by Twentieth-Century Fox Home Entertainment.

If you were Eddie Morra, you apparently turn into something unlike yourself. We meet him teetering atop a high-rise as people bang on his security door to enter his apartment fortress. Flashing back, we learn what happened to turn a slacker into a genius. Leslie Dixon’s screenplay, which makes huge changes from the novel, shows us a sad sack, but a sad sack with a novel contract, unable to write. After months of not writing and living like a slob, he meets his book editor girlfriend Lindy only to be dumped.

A chance meeting with the brother of his ex-wife introduces him to the experimental drug NZT-48 which clarifies his thinking, making him hyper-aware of the world around him and focuses his mind, allowing him to accomplish more in a day than he has in six months. We see him write the overdue first chapters and actually hand printed pages to his stunned editor (mostly because editors so rarely see printed anything until the final book, but I digress).

The brother-in-law winds up dead and Eddie locates and steals the remaining supply of the drug and begins using them with increasing regularity to take his newfound powers of concentration and improve his life. He masters the piano, learns multiple languages, can see trends and capitalize on them– and here’s where both book and movie begin to veer off course. Rather than tap the creative energies that led to Eddie’s career, he somehow switches gears to become a day trader to get rich and then moves into the financial world. Meantime, his drug dependency grows and weird things begin to happen to him. (more…)

Why 3-D For HARRY POTTER?

After netting nearly 300 million dollars worldwide in ticket sales, no one can question the motives behind making the final HARRY POTTER film in 3-D. We talk to the men who guided the movie to the top and the screenwriter who helped bring J.,K. Rowling’s stories to life. Plus we are set fore ComicCon 2011 – are you? No worries, we’ve got your FREE PASS right here.

Check out The Point Radio for constant pop culture updates – and please check us out on Facebook right here & toss us a “like”.

Saying Farewell To HARRY POTTER

 It could be called one of the biggest movie franchises if all time, and this weekend HARRY POTTER comes to an end. We sit down with Emma Watson and Rubert Grint on their feelings about closing this chapter in their careers. Plus more with Zak Penn on the Bad Guys challenging his ALPHAS. And Marvel Comics really wants you to open up a comic store!

Check out The Point Radio for constant pop culture updates – and please check us out on Facebook right here & toss us a “like”.

Sucker Punch Adds Feature

suckerpunch-300x168-2849647With the video of release of Sucker Punch last week, the debate over director Zack Snyder’s vision and treatment of women has been renewed across the boards. Frankly, we were disappointed by the empty characterizations mixed with pretty visuals. Still, it has its fans so let us cluye you in to a new feature on the movie’s website.

Close your eyes. Open your mind. Engage in a spectacular fantasy adventure. Create your own Sucker Punch custom videos by combining clips, audio, effects and transitions. Then save your creations to the Gallery and share with friends!

 

Preferred Messaging:


Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks