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Avengers Trailer (Oh yeah, the Hulk is in there too…)

by Luke Goldstein

The new trailer for The Avengers hit the web today and I must say overall I’m pleased. It captures a nice taste of the dark grit that everyone is shilling for after the success of The Dark Knight, but doesn’t let go of the tongue-in-cheek geek humor from the earlier parts of the Marvel series. Plus, how can you not have a good joke tossed in when Robert Downey Jr. is there?

There was one other nice moment, although completely tossed in at the end as if they forgot it in the original cut, which was finally seeing Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. I’m worried that overall he won’t play a very big part, but we’ll wait and see if that fear plays out.

What do you think of the trailer? Get excited to see the full flick?

Your Chance to Be a Real Superhero!

Mike Meyer, courtesy of Boing Boing

by Luke Goldstein

A few weeks back I came across this article on Boing Boing:

Mentally disabled man robbed of his epic Superman collection

Immediately after reading it, I mentally tried to cleanse myself of the stain from knowing someone out there would actually do such a lowdown, despicable thing. Then, immediately after that, I called my uncle, where I have my comics still stored from before moving to California. I asked him to look through my boxes and pull out the still-in-the-bag copy of Superman #75 (The Death of Superman).

My plan was to find an address, send it to him and write a post about it, hoping to draw a little more attention and get maybe some other Super-donations. Well my plan turns out to be fairly easy because thousands of people beat me to it:

Facebook page / Get Satisfaction page

Also, in amazingly great news, while waiting for my special comic to arrive, the person who stole Mike’s collection has been caught and the original collection has been returned to him.

Now you might think there is really no reason to send anything now that he has his prized possessions back, but I think there is still a statement to be made. First off, it helps to remind people that there is more good in the world than evil. Secondly, Mike has promised that whatever duplicates he receives he will donate himself to a local charity. So, someone somewhere will undoubtedly be appreciating whatever generosity comes their way.

Here is the address in case you still have an urge to send something along:

Mike Meyer c/o Bill Smith
7041 Kingsbury Blvd.
St. Louis, Mo. 63130

Thanks for reading, as always.

Kickstart the Future with Prison Break 2438

Just wait until I draw in the thought bubbles. It’ll blow your mind.

For those of you unacquainted with fundraising and self-publishing your own projects, there are a few amazing websites out there which lend a helping hand in organizing and evangelizing your future piece of awesomeness. Kickstarter is one of those where you can list a project and create donation tiers, teasing out bigger and better prizes for people who donate more and more green to the project. There is a wealth of these needy creative ventures out there and for anyone with a few disposable bucks and a desire to feel like you have truly helped the world become more interesting and imaginative, please dive deep into this site at your absolute soonest. Here, I’ll even point you toward one worthy project right now…

Prison Break 2438

In a bleak futuristic world, in which the United States of America has split into multiple countries, a small band of civil rights revolutionaries must save their leader from the clutches of an evil government.

The manuscript has been written, rewritten and rewritten some more and the authors have now connected with renowned Darkhorse Comics and DC Comics veteran artist Brian Ewing for the soon-to-be-impressive cover artwork.

Lend a hand to help another piece of imagination get out there into the hands of readers everywhere. Who knows, if you donate enough, you could even get yourself free copies of the book, maybe even the original cover art itself! Check it out.

Red: With Age Comes Quality

This is the last time that valet bumps my car.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Action movies, like many genre films, have one big thing going against them – we’ve seen it before. So the first thought when writing an action film is how do you make it something the popcorn-buying crowds nationwide have never laid eyes on? Then, once you realize that all the writers before you have thought the same question, and inevitably come to the same brilliant idea you just did, you have to ask a more specific question like, “What twist can I put on an old tale?” Sometimes the result still reeks of a dozen or more previous cinematic exploits, but every now and again the similarities can be easily forgiven when the finished product is just done so damn well, like the case we have here.

Red stands for “Retired, Extremely Dangerous” and when you work for the CIA and achieve a glorious marking such as that, things don’t tend to go so well for you. Frank Moses was trying to build some semblance of a life after years of working in the shadows as one of the best government agents around, but his name gets dropped on a list and the number of people still breathing on that list is growing increasingly small. Frank only has one choice, bring together the best of his old contacts and find out who marked him, then erase the person or the list — whichever feels right at the moment.

The first murmur I heard from the crowd as I walked through the hallways of the theater was surprise at how funny the movie was, to which I definitely agree. Most films of this ilk show one or two of the great lines in the trailer but the movie as a whole fails to keep up the punchiness of the original teaser. Yet with Red, the creative minds behind it decided not to just try and balance the action and violence with the humor and brevity, they chose a much more dangerous route, to keep laughter throughout by making the violence funny. From the mounted mega-cannon in the parking lot to the rocket launcher inside of a stuffed pig, the gunplay never took over from the just-plain-play. This inter-weaving of moods kept the momentum going from beginning to end and allowed a nearly two-hour film to feel much, much shorter.

Now we can mention one of the main reasons the humor is there, the cast of brilliant, talented, and, um…’well seasoned’ actors. The casting here is incredible and I will just touch on this, since I could write another thousand words on each cast member. Bruce Willis, at the head of the pack, proves once more that he is still the king of solemn action movie leading men. Soft spoken and hard hitting, he has lost almost none of his true grit from Die Hard all the way through Sin City. Red also proves how to use someone like him (being his age) and still allow it to be believable, unlike the last chapter of the Die Hard franchise. Then there’s Morgan Freeman, who often is not the big shooter out front, but the silent, stoic killer behind the big gun. Just like in Seven and Unforgiven, Freeman lends his particular gift for wisdom and depth to each scene, making it more than just a shoot ‘em up flick. Next, what can be said about John Malkovich other than very few people play crazy better. Just getting to see him charge down a street with numerous explosives strapped to his chest, screaming like a madman, should be enough to get you into those comfy theater seats. Rounding out the senior staff, saving the best for last, the one most people are talking about when they mention this film is Helen Mirren. A paragon of grace, beauty and skill, nothing could prepare an audience for how amazing it is to see her firing off hundreds of rounds from a fully-automatic death dealing cannon. She somehow manages to handle high powered weaponry in this film the same way she handled her crown in The Queen, with the utmost class. Not to be left behind, Brian Cox, Mary Louise Parker and Karl Urban all hold their own around this top-billed cast and their decades of talent.

Bonus Movie Geek reference: I’m not 100% on this, but I swear the swamp shack set for John Malkovich was the villain’s hideout in the John Cena masterpiece, The Marine. Anyone who could verify that would be greatly appreciated.

The End of the Page Recommendation: Red is one of the most surprisingly enjoyable movies for almost every type of audience member. Comedy, action, even a couple love story angles, all mix together in a magically light-hearted way.

Kick-Ass: Non-Stop Costumed Insanity

Say hello to my little friends, Laverne and Shirley.

Rating: 7 out of 10

It was only a matter of time until we reached this inevitable moment where the comic book stories started to move away from the radiation-powered heroes and villains  to the non-mutant kids that actually read them. Every kid who turned those colorful paneled pages had those moments where they gazed out the window and dreamed of a world where they could fly, burn holes through walls using only their eyes and actually help the good people in the world (or maybe just rob banks, depending on the kid). In the end it was all about wanting to be more than they were – something extraordinary. For some, gaining that elusive feeling meant putting their heads down and burying themselves in study, research and grunt work until they were recognized as experts in their chosen field. Others put on flashy tights. Tomato, tomahto.

Kick-Ass is a comic-book adaptation about a young boy who decides to make the transition from normal teenage wallflower into costumed vigilante justice. Ignoring the lack of any real powers or drive for vengeance, he plows forward only to find himself embroiled in a real-life crime ring, landing himself in the crosshairs of real criminals with real guns who really kill people. There is help though, from a costumed father/daughter pair who mentors him in what it really means to be a superhero.

[A quick disclaimer: I didn't read the original comic series, so this is a commentary on only the movie itself and not how well or not well the adaptation was made. If it was a wonderfully truthful adaptation, that's great, but that only really helps those people in the audience who have actually read it.]

While it starts out with a very Kevin Smith-style conversation, this movie quickly ascends into a level of ridiculousness that separates it solidly from the pack. It’s grows into something more akin to Unbreakable remade by high school kids, but I mean that in a positive way. The viewpoint throughout the film is not looking down or lording over these characters, but it looks from within, through the childlike eyes of what it would really feel like to try and become a superhero and transform yourself into the savior instead of the saved. It’s an old archetypal story — with a lot more spandex and pleather.

The lead character, Dave ‘aka Kick-Ass’ (played by Aaron Johnson), is the moral center of the story and he’s the audience’s window into this world. While his role is integral to the story, as a character he suffers a bit from being the launching pad for the more extreme and entertaining people. Quickly enough we are introduced to ‘Hit Girl’, played with unwavering intensity by Chloe Moretz, and her comically imbalanced dad, otherwise known as ‘Big Daddy’, played beautifully by the constantly working icon, Nicolas Cage. This dynamic duo are the comic book within the comic book, the fantasy within the reality of Dave’s world. Due to the level of violence and brutality these two characters generate throughout their screen time, it was fundamentally necessary to pick people who could play the ridiculous nature of their actions without allowing the characters themselves to seem or feel ridiculous. Cage was a godsend in this respect and there are few people better than him at accomplishing this kind of task. Cage may have become a joke to some, but I think they underplay this man’s range. Go back and watch Leaving Las Vegas, then immediately pop in Raising Arizona. He is supremely talented on both ends of the spectrum. While he might not be getting those prime roles lately, I think that has more to do with the fact he is working non-stop and those roles don’t come along as often versus proof of his decline in skill. Moretz, on the other hand, may be a relative newcomer by some standards, but in her six years of stealing scenes she’s already racked up a ton of voice-over credits and now seems quite poised to take over as the resident precocious, overly-intelligent little sister/neighbor/friend/what-have-you.

As for the man with the plan, Matthew Vaughn only has three directorial credits under his belt so far (Layer Cake, Stardust and this new addition), but all have been incredibly successful in their own right. He continues to do a beautiful job of creating the world of the story, both in front of the camera and behind it (he co-wrote the screenplays for Kick-Ass and Stardust). Yet, so far I think his best overall effort has been Layer Cake, the one script he didn’t touch (it was written for the screen by J.J. Connolly, the author of the original book). The only thing I believe this proves is the original author can be better with the cutting knife on their own story than someone else.

The End of the Page Recommendation: Kick-Ass doesn’t disappoint in the ass kicking department, but it borders on repetition by the closing credits. For comic book fans, it’s required viewing, just to relive the fantasies you know you had at that age. Oh, on a personal side note, National Treasure is popcorn genius! Viva la Cage!

Wolverine: Cuts Just Underneath The Bar

C’mon, who wants to try and take the Oscar host gig away from me? I dare ya.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Bring on the over-buttered popcorn, the obscenely large sodas and the amazingly radiated hot dogs…the blockbuster season is upon us! Every summer the world rushes into the theaters daring the movie studios to try their best to blow us out of our seats. CGI masterminds and real life stuntmen pull out all the stops in a yearly effort to make us drop our jaws once more at something we believed we would never see. Amazement and imagination collide inside a brilliant torrent of big-budget action flicks for the next five months and most studios bank their entire year on these “tentpole” films. The money made or lost on these cinematic feats can determine whether a studio will even be in business the following summer. With all that pressure, being the first one out of the gate is a big deal and this year that incredible honor is bestowed upon a familiar face, Wolverine.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells of the beginning of one of the most standout characters in the Marvel universe. It follows him from his start as a sickly child though his transformation into one of the world’s most deadly and indestructible killers. It also brings to light his mysterious past in Canada and what made him the missing piece to a terrible and destructive puzzle. Backgrounds and motivations are brought out of the shadows as we delve deeper into the lifeline of this wild and mostly untamed anti-hero.

There was a small rebellion right away when this idea got announced for a Wolverine origin film and the reasoning was some people felt we had already gone down that road in X2. While that is partially true, the secret of this script is it actually tells us more new information on the birth of other characters, letting Wolverine be the lynch pin to bring it all together. Beyond our cigar-smoking hero, we also get the origin story of Sabertooth and Deadpool, which in the end might prove to be the single best thing to come out of this film. Ryan Reynolds, who played Wade (aka Deadpool), has already signed on for a spin-off film surrounding the future of his wise cracking assassin. From the second he was announced as the casting choice fanboys around the world breathed a sigh of relief because they knew they had hit the jackpot. Deadpool is an insanely skilled weapon who never stops talking and cracking jokes, even during the most complicated missions, and that smart-ass nature makes Reynolds that absolute perfect choice for the role. Plus, we had seen him bulk up and take on the comic world before in Blade: Trinity and although the movie itself wasn’t anything to jump and shout about, Reynolds brought some much needed humor to the screen.

Getting back on track with this film, while the storyline of Wolverine might not feel incredibly necessary, the fans can’t seem to get enough of Hugh Jackman playing this iconic comic book role. This film is the fourth time we get to witness him wear the scowl of Wolverine and according to various Hollywood trades it won’t be the last. Making me and scores of other comic book geeks happy, the word has come down that the next Wolverine film will center around his time in Japan, which is a much more interesting storyline than this one.

Following the trend of causing your comic-loving audience to geek out for the sheer joy of it, Wolverine flooded the screen with numerous other characters, which sometimes can be a detriment, like in the original Batman franchise, but Marvel seems to have a slightly better hold on how to approach multi-character films. The most anticipated in this category was certainly Gambit, played by Taylor Kitsch from the TV show Friday Night Lights. I appreciated the physicalization of Gambit and the expression of his powers, but they toned down two of the best parts of who Gambit is, the Cajun accent and his overbearing romantic nature. Admittedly there was no female character for him to draw a bead on, but they could have dropped in at least one line or moment of him making a super-cheesy move on a girl in a bar and watching her melt under his skills. In the comics one of the most memorable things about Gambit is his determined romantic assault on Rogue, which in the X-Men film universe would have to take some clever restructuring since by the end of X-Men: The Last Stand Rogue has given up her powers completely so she can have a real relationship with Bobby Drake (aka Iceman). There were some rumblings about a possible Gambit spin-off as well, but I think his showing in this film wasn’t strong enough to warrant the money and resources, especially not when the Deadpool film is already greenlit and the Magneto script has also already been written (supposedly).

To the other names and faces popping up throughout this film, there was not too much else to get excited about. Will.I.Am, from the music group Black Eyed Peas, did a fine job as the teleporting cowboy, John Wraith, but nothing extraordinary. Dominic Monaghan, who is undoubtedly more connected to Hollywood history than anyone in this film due to his roles in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the TV phenom Lost, played the cool and quiet telekinetic Bolt, but he also felt slightly underused and just there to fill out a head count of comic book archetypes. Without going through the rest name by name, I will leave you with the person I thought was the worst represented, The Blob. No disrespect to the acting talents of Kevin Durand, but the physicalization of The Blob when he reached his massive and imposing size just ended up looking silly on camera. This brought one of inherent and most dangerous problems of the recent trend in adapting comic books for the big screen, some of the characters just don’t translate well in a realistic fashion. Sometimes you have to find creative ways to get them up there in a different physical form while still holding onto the core meaning and nature of the character, not that I know a way to do that in the case of Blob, but the fact remains, he ended up reminding me of Chet from Weird Science when he got turned into a big pile of crap.

Recommendation: Having a three movie lead-in for this character built up a huge following, which is great for box office potential, yet it also built up huge expectations, which this film did not completely meet. It has some really good scenes, but it fails to keep the pace up throughout.