Superman's Triumphant Return

Wow. It is 2 in the morning, and I am just getting back from the 10 o'clock showing of Superman Returns (in IMAX 3D of course). Is Superman my favorite comic book character? No. Do I think that the original Donner film is the best comic book movie evar? Not even close. Do I consider Bryan Singer to be "teh savior"? No. I hadn't even thought the movie looked too interesting up until a few weeks ago, as the trailers got more in-depth. Was "Superman Returns" a good movie?

Well that's the burning question folks, and maybe our more intellegent readership could possibly already know the answer to that question by reading the title of the post. In one word? Amazing. Superman Returns is the not only the best Superman movie, but the best non-Batman comic book movie to have hit the silver screen. The flaws really are nitpicking, but let me get to those first:

-The movie could have been a tad shorter. It really isn't as overindulgent as say "Return of the King" or even the prequel "Star Wars" trilogy, but even a small 5 minute cut could have made a huge difference.
-His reasoning for leaving really doesn't make sense.
-For making some scenes 3D, they really dropped the ball by not doing the opening credits in such a fashion. The 3D was cool, but it really didn't add too much to the experience. The trailers did more with it.

The good:
-Everyone is great in their part, but Routh and Spacey are standouts. Spacey, before seeing the movie, was my greatest fear, in part because Hackman's Luthor was a joke, and also in part because he reminded me too much of his Dr. Evil portrayal. He shines here, somewhere in between the Hackman and Rosenbaum Luthor.
-First movie in a while that had a love interest a young kid, and a sidekickey guy, and neither annoyed me.
-The jokes in the movie really are funny.
-Bryan Singer obviously has love for the material.
-Even the normally awful James Marsden did well here.

Overall, those fearing a rehash of the first movie, or even fearing that Singer's love for the first movie would overtake this one, need not worry. This is definately a continuation more than homage, and hopefully not the last featuring this cast and director. I can't wait to see it again this weekend. 9/10

Spiderman 3: Back in Black

I don't always feel necessary to post about movie teasers and trailers. "Snakes on a Plane" recently released a trailer that seemed to play off the fact that Sam Jackson is a bad ass and that there are a lot of snakes on a plane. But my no post policy just changed 30 seconds ago.

The Spiderman 3 teaser was released today online, and should be playing in front of your Superman Returns viewings starting tomorrow.

In short, this was simply the best teaser I have ever seen. They showed so much from the actual movie I kind of feel the title of "teaser" doesn't really apply. We see Sandman attacking with his sand powers, we see Eddie Brock looking pretty evil for a character played by Topher Grace, we saw glimpses of a Goblin Glider basically confirming that Harry will indeed take up his father's quest to kill Spiderman, but most importantly we see the black suit and we see Parker struggling with it. For the comic book geeks, there was glimpses of the classic scene in the bell tower where Parker first learns that the alien costume is sensitive to sound. I think the scene at the end of the trailer is also another callback to the comic when Parker awakes hanging upside down not knowing how he got there and being surprised to see that he is in a black costume.

I still kind of wish they went with the black costume from the comics because it always looked pretty bad ass, but the blackened version of the movie red and blues seems to work really well.

Wow...this movie is still a year away and it looks so damn good right now. I have been skeptical from the beginning of getting Venom to work in the movie world, but it sure looks like Raimi has a good handle on Parker's struggle with the symbiote.

TEASER

You'll believe a man can fly: Justin Returns

Well after a long month of beginning training for a new job, getting married, traveling around the east coast to see Pearl Jam, discovering World of Warcraft, getting caught up on my comics, and beginning work on my script for "Manimal," I thought it good to check in. Thanks to the guys for keeping the content stream steady (/end sarcasm).

Here's what you can expect from me this week:
Superman Returns: An Imax Experience: A review up by 4 am Wednesday.
"Manimal" News
Spotting the Weasel?
and the passing of the torch...


Check back shortly...

Programming Reminder: TEAM VENTURE IS A GO

If you haven't seen "The Venture Brothers" season 1, this post may mean very little to you. I highly suggest you go out and buy season 1's excellent DVD and watch it quickly. This show was one of the "second (or third) wave" of Adult Swim original programming that really gave me faith that Aqua Teens wasn't going to be the peak of the Adult Swim lineup.

Quick rundown of the show: Superficially, its a spoof on the old Johnny Quest series with a Super smart dad, a burly bodyguard, and two young kids getting into trouble. But in reality, the dad has serious daddy issues and doesnt actually care about his kids and may or may not be gay, the bodyguard is a borderline psychotic who lives to kill bad guys and sex up womens, and the two venture kids, hank and dean, are two total airheads. The show has no boundaries to its humor. Throughout season 1 VB took shots at sci-fi, comic books, goth chicks, etc. It's one of the funniest shows out there. Watch it.

VENTURE BROTHERS SEASON 2
SUNDAY JUNE 25 2006
CARTOON NETWORK 10:30 PM

Nacho Libre (2006)

This movie has the same director as "Napoleon Dynamite," Jared Hess, that's probably why I was feeling Deja-Vu with the whole tortilla chip motif (tater tots in ND) and the rest of the comic mood of the film.

Overview: Nacho, played by Jack Black, is a part of a monastery in a remote part of Mexico. His duties include making meals for orphans, here is where the tortilla chips come in and making priestly house calls to dying patients. But ever since Nacho was a little kid, he had a dream of becoming a "Luchador" (wrestler) because they always got the "monies" and "fancy ladies." But he knew if he pursued his dream of being a Luchador, he would get kicked out of the monastery. Enter Sister Encarnacion. She is a hot nun who Nacho starts to like. But he finds it more important to adhere to his oath to God and his wrestling dream. We also see his motivation for wrestling change from self-satisfaction to making money for the orphans.

Good: This was a cute, light, eccentric comedy. It really was done in ND style. Surprisingly, Nacho also tackled some serious issues. He is a man of God, his jungle-man sidekick, Esqueleto is a man of science. He questions why Nacho has faith and how he should just follow science. And the rest of the priests in the monastery treat Nacho so badly but Nacho stays true to his faith regardless of how the God-fearing and God-less sides treat him. He finds strength from within and above. This was not at all a religious film but rather, it was a very subtle motif throughout. It was just done really well.

Bad: It was probably 10-15 mins. too long. I could see how some people wouldn't think this was funny. I actually saw at least 7 people leave the theater. But you really gotta like werid films to like this one.

Recommendation: I liked it enough to buy it when it comes out on DVD. So ya, if you like werid mexican priest wrestling films then this is for you.

"The Breakup" (2006)-Strangely Amusing

So I saw "The Breakup" with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. I was expecting some horrible Gigli-esque tragedy. You may ask why I even went, well sometimes I end up watching movies as a social gathering rather than as some huge anticipated event unlike some of the geeks reading this blog...no offense though, because I love you all. Anyways...

Overview: It's pretty self-explanatory. It's about a breakup between Vennifer, (the real-life couple, Jen is trying to have his babies, I am sure you've heard.) God, if I was dating Vince Vaughn, I'd want to kill him too. His acting skills are boring/unneccsarily macho and stoic but it's working for him so whatever. Surprisingly enough, that is much of the problem Aniston's character has with him in the movie.

Good: This was a very strange romantic comedy. It wasn't really romantic at all. I sorta liked that. The plot wasn't neatly wrapped up in the end...there was even a little mystery. And it was pretty realistic...which was again really strange, but refreshing. I liked where the writers took the relationship...not to give too much away but they did a good job of showing how people can leave positive impacts in our lives even if they aren't a part of them anymore.

Bad: I enjoyed it but some of the scences dragged and much of the dialogue was repetitive. It was really awkward seeing Vaughn's character express his feelings because its Vince Vaughn.

Recommedation: It's a good date movie I guess. Sorta. At least rent it someday.

Look at your local T.V. guide!

Fans of the man of steel should be forewarned that the feature length documentary "Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman" will be debuting tonight on A&E and that you should seek your local listings to get a gander. The prominent figures involved with the sculpting of the Superman character in film [Richard Donner, Ilya Salkind, Margot Kidder, Bryan Singer, and of course, Brandon Routh] put in their two cents on the character while exploring his impact on the world and his rich history.

The documentary will be available during the Superman DVD blitz on June 20th to coincide with the new film by whiz-bang director Bryan Singer and contain half an hour of extra footage, though with an all encompassing DVD collection on the way [Spanning 14 discs!] in the Fall one certainly wonders if it's worth it.

Summer TV Viewing: Quick Update

Comedy Central's new local news spoof "Dog Bites Man" starring UCB alum Matt Walsh and star of the cancelled but great EDIT: The show on VH1 was actually called "late world with Zach", Zach Galifianakis premieres this Wednesday at 10:30. I was a little curious as to how this would be more than just Daily Show man on the street bits over and over, but after watching some clips it looks like they are going for more of a "Reno 911" approach. I am hoping this ends up being good. I felt pretty bad that Ian Black's semi-The State reunion "Stella" didn't work out because it was actually quite good at times. Gotta give Comedy Central credit for giving comedians the chance to try different programming though. They still get a high five from me for putting UCB on tv for 2 seasons for what I thought was the most hilarious sketch show ever.

"Dog Bites Man" clips up on Comedy Central's website

The Shield is comin back for more

Linky

In a victory for TV nerds everywhere, and in a quite unexpected move, Shawn Ryan will be bringing the Shield back for a 6th season (yes, beyond the second half of s5 coming next year).

Superman DVDs: Stay away!!

As a friendly reminder and warning, you will be bombarded with what seems like great offers to pick up one or all of the Superman movies on DVD in the next few weeks leading up to the release of Superman Returns. Do not indulge if you haven't already: this December, to coincide with the release of the latest Supes on DVD, all four movies are getting re-released, with part one getting the Ultimate treatment and for the first time outside of the bootleg circuit, part 2 will be released in both the theatrical and Donnor versions. Three and four are at least getting a new transfer. There will be a box with the best editions of all five flicks, so again..save your cash until then. Or buy this, which is what I'll be doing.

Halloween returns

Some excellent news for genre fans, director Rob Zombie of the fantastic Devils Rejects and Howard Stern theme song fame will be writing and directing a Carpenter endorsed reboot of the ever-stagnant Halloween series. Here's to hoping studio interference is kept to a minimum, and THANK YOU for not going the typical remake route with some shitty paint by numbers director. Although I would have rather seen zombie's vision with Friday the 13th's universe, I will take anything I can get.

Summer TV: Adult Swim topping the list

At first, this post was going to rave about Rescue Me fantastic internet preview short as well as the actual gut bustingly hilarious and emotional season premiere. But, I think we all know that Rescue Me has been one of the most consistently great tv shows for the past 2 years...if you didn't know that, now you do.

I was getting a little antsy about summer tv because its a lot of reality tv with the occasional "not good enough for the fall season" type tv show ala Luke Perry's comeback vehicle "Windfall" Then I was made aware that FINALLY after a year of waiting THE VENTURE BROTHERS ARE BACK.

June 25th, Team Venture is a go. Although if you watched last season you know that there are a lot of questions to answer. I would have to say Season 1 (out on DVD now) of the Venture Brothers was probably one of the most consistently entertaining shows that Adult Swim has put on since Aqua Teens. The humor is uproarious, great spoofs of comics and cartoons in general, and its just a really smart well written show. I look forward to an even better Season 2.

EDIT: I forgot to mention one of the other main reasons Adult Swim is the place to be this summer...Robot Chicken. This week's episode was a bit sub-par, but the show has had some wonderful highs so far. I would continue to watch for sure. Season 1 is currently out on DVD.

Now...this weekend for the lucky you may have seen the pilot for a show that I can only PRAY that Adult Swim greenlights; Korgoth of Barbaria. Take equal parts Conan the Barbarian (robert e. howard version), Frank Frazetta's artwork, The Venture Brothers, and kick ass Heavy Metal and you get Korgoth of Barbaria. The show is hyper-violent, full of sexual innuendo, and hilarious as hell. I can really only compare my feelings for this pilot to the way I felt after watching the original Venture Brothers pilot way back in 2003. Everything about this show was on key. It really did not miss a beat. Unfortunately, we may have to wait for a couple months to see future episodes, but I highly encourage you to catch reruns of the show later this week because there is no telling when Adult Swim will show it again.

Finally, the other show that actually will be airing this summer is the 4400. It starts next sunday, June 11th. Now if you watched season 2, you know there are a ton of questions that need to be addressed. I am actually getting pretty excited for it. I kind of forgot how much I liked season 2 over the course of the fall tv season. The 4400 has borrowed heavily from the X-files approach to sci-fi tv, but has managed to make an interesting storyline with actual payoffs something that other show just never had enough of.

I am sure there are other shows out there that I am missing, so let us know what you will be watching this summer.