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Post by mr. excellent on Jul 12, 2015 14:56:17 GMT -5
Do it, Arkham Knight is a blast on PS4. For the life of me I suck at gliding, but fighting and driving the Batmobile are a lot of fun.
Also, I was pretty bummed to not be able to nab an XMEN Apocalypse poster at the Fox booth. Also sort of disappointed that I didn't make myself camp out like last year. You get so close, but after doing it a couple times, it just takes so much will power. Just didn't have it in me. I did get volumes 4-8 of Ultimate Fantasting Four, Black Panther Civil War, and volumes 7 and 8 of Matt Fraction's Iron Man books. All in all, a worthy haul.
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Post by mr. excellent on Jul 13, 2015 15:55:38 GMT -5
I read Black Panther Civil War last night. Holy crap, is it good. As is the case with most of these big events that get kicked off in the summer, some books are written better than others. I remember reading a Cable and Deadpool book that kind of felt like an after thought. The Spider-man book had its moments (Spidey changing sides), but I could smell Quesada's ploy to retcon the Parker marriage from a mile away. Much of it just felt unnecessary to me. Black Panther though, holy s###. It feels like a book that was allowed (for the most part) to explore some ideas to the fullest. There was discussion of race, politics, marriage, etc. Some of it was a little on the nose, but that's Brian Michael Bendis for you. He can still spin a good yarn. I definitely felt that his writing for this story took a more mature tone than what he has done in his Ultimate Spider-man books. I guess that comes with the subject matter, but I really haven't read anything like this from Bendis since Powers. Though I know the movie will put its own spin on the Civil War Story, I actually feel that T'Challa is a better fit as the middle man than Spider-man in this story after reading this. Anyone else read this back when? Shoot, it has almost been 10 years since this story came out.
I still haven't created any new threads for Ultimate Fantastic Four, but now that I've splurged a bit (see post directly above) I'll have a lot more to talk about in the coming days. Thread for that coming soon for those who may one day be interested in that.
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Post by BackinBlack on Jul 23, 2015 20:04:06 GMT -5
Wish me luck guys. Today I sent my submission proposal for my comic series to Dark Horse. Now begins the long wait for a response if any.
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Post by mr. excellent on Jul 24, 2015 15:29:51 GMT -5
Cool! I'd definitely support the book if it got picked up.
Anyone planning on watching that new Justice League: Gods and Monsters animated film?
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Post by BackinBlack on Jul 24, 2015 19:38:25 GMT -5
I'm also going to submit it to Top Cow's Talent Hunt starting in September.It may be awhile before it's published if it gets picked up, but just remember the title "Subject 8". I did watch Gods and Monsters online since it's out digitally before physically. I didn't really have that much interest in it until the 3 six minute Chronicles shorts came out (seriously recommend watching those if you haven't), and it made me want to see the movie. It's definitely a unique and darker take on the DCU and I really enjoyed it.
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Post by mr. excellent on Jul 31, 2015 3:40:40 GMT -5
I'm gushing over Gods and Monsters right now. Just saw it and then followed up with the shorts. Bomb really got me man, not gonna lie. It amazes me that this movie isn't getting the red carpet treatment simply because it's not the traditional take on the characters. That shouldn't amaze me, but it does. This movies was bananas though.
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Post by mr. excellent on Aug 9, 2015 4:08:28 GMT -5
Thinking about Josh Trank biting the hand that fed him, I found myself watching Andrew Garfield Spider-man related stuff on Youtube and this popped up.
I think they're all brilliant in the sketch, including Chris Martin. That stupid Happy Days looking grin on Andrew's face, their comfort level with kissing wrong so many creative ways, Chris Martin's Thor wig, haha. Oh man... Why Sony, WHY?!? Does anyone really buy that Andrew was sacked over the whole not showing up to dinner incident? It's just bizarre. I know that you don't bite the hand that feeds you in Hollywood, I know. If he was truly fired though it was a ridiculous overreaction that in retrospect was a horribly misguided attempt by Sony to show control at a time when they had lost all control.* Compared to Trank's alleged behavior, or Mickey Rourke's continued shit talking, this was small potatoes. In fact, I'm convinced of it now. Sony didn't fire him because of anything he did wrong (all commentary considered). Rather, they (Sony) were drowning. Splashing around, making matters worse because they had no idea what the f*** they were doing. At least we can look forward to having Spidey in the MCU. We'll see how that turns out.
*Horrible run on sentence, I know.
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Post by Webber3000 on Aug 15, 2015 12:37:05 GMT -5
Excellent, your run on sentences are unacceptable. I think I will have to ban you if you keep doing that.
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Post by mr. excellent on Aug 15, 2015 15:14:14 GMT -5
Yessir. On the topic of Garfield though, I think that if Marvel had been cool with keeping Garfield, Sony would've kept him. Marvel wanted to start fresh, so that's what Sony did. Garfield being a "better" company man wouldn't have changed that. A bit of good news: Cop Car is now available for digital download. I'll be checking that out tomorrow hopefully.
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Post by mr. excellent on Aug 16, 2015 2:22:07 GMT -5
Double post time. So I saw Cop Car, and I'd rather not give it a rating. After watching it, I have no idea why Marvel Studios and Sony chose this guy. He must've had one hell of a pitch, because this movie wasn't proof of him being able to do a Spider-man movie. Honestly, the idea of two boys stealing a police car has maybe 30 minutes worth of potential, yet the film was stretched to 90 minutes. This lead to it feeling long, even though it was quite short. This seems like a case of Marvel and Sony wanting a "yes man".
Of this guy's directorial style... I dunno guys. He tends to focus on things for much longer than is necessary. I will grant that he may be an actor's director. The kids in this movie were very authentic, and the rest of the adults were on point too. I suppose the character work has always been the most important aspect to me, but if TASM 1 and 2 proved anything, it's that you need more than great character work. Good thing Marvel's got his back.
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Post by Webber3000 on Aug 16, 2015 15:31:01 GMT -5
Although I agree that characterization is really important, and probably even more so for Spidey, I really hope the movie will focus on themes. That's what made Spider-Man 2 great, and the Amazing Spider-Man 2 shine in some way. Spider-Man stories are some of if not the best coming-of-age tales I have read/watched in my life, and there is no shortage of them... So I don't know if what you're saying is good news.
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Post by mr. excellent on Aug 23, 2015 14:01:38 GMT -5
I had a thought on the themes of TASM, the other day, and what could've made the film better. Was going to post it, but decided against it. Basically, I was thinking what if Sony waited until 2012 to shoot Spider-man so that it came out in 2014. Same actors, but the early years of college. Garfield and Stone's chemistry was so real, I don't think their relationship needed an origin. Even if the movie coming out in 2014 meant they may not have ever gotten together in real life, chemistry is chemistry me thinks. So you have Dane DeHaan in TASM first rather than its sequel. Harry still has a hereditary illness, and Norman is already "gone". So we see Peter focus on trying to learn more about the story behind his parents while Harry searches in the same places to uncover the key to his cure. With that set up, you tell a story about how they're on parallel journeys, but on completely different ends of the spectrum. Now there's a story that doesn't require a super villain. They're both fighting Oscorp muscle, and eventually each other.
In other news, Straight Outta Compton is still straight up killin it. Universal is owning the box office this year: Fast and Furious 7, Pitch Perfect 2, Jurassic World, Minions*, now Compton. I'm sure a missed a few but dang. Good for them.
*Did you know this thing is $11 million shy of a billion at the B.O.?
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Post by Webber3000 on Aug 25, 2015 12:42:46 GMT -5
Yeah, that's the thing most superhero films do wrong these days: shoehorning a flat villain in.
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Post by mr. excellent on Sept 5, 2015 13:43:36 GMT -5
I thought it'd be a good time to submit some commentary on the following three unrelated things:
1) Mad Max has been named the best film of the year by the International Federation of Film Critics.
2) As more and more gets released about the shifts in house at Marvel, is anyone else beginning to wonder how much is true vs. how much of it is Disney just being political?
3) Apparently there's a post apocalyptic movie that just came out called Zachariah. It has Chris Pine, Margot Robbie, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and is supposed to be pretty good. I'm kind of shocked because those are all some really hot actors at this point, and I've never heard of the film or seen the trailers.
On the first, I thought that was something because people were calling Mad Max the film of the year to beat when it came out. With 98% on rotten tomatoes and my own baffled reaction to the movie, I thought it could be a possibility. Now the movie is set for rerelease for a victory lap of sorts. There's no way Warner Bros isn't going to push for a best picture nod this year.
With regard to the second, let's just put the charges out there. According to various sources, Perlmutter is said to be at the root of Fox and Marvel's relationship becoming distant (we're going way back with that one). He's also said to have a large part in Edgar Wright departing the Ant Man project, as well as being blamed for RDJ almost being fired from Civil War. Hell, he's even being blamed for Marvel not marketing any toys for young girls, like a Black Widow action figure. Now, it's being said that Disney considers Avengers 2 to be a failure, which Feige used as leverage to get out from under Perlmutter's thumb. My question is, how did Feige "pin" Avengers 2 on Perlmutter? That shit was all Joss Whedon. They didn't even tell him no when it came to his insanely huge climax. I know Whedon was bitter at the end of it all, but it wasn't because they stopped him from making his movie. AOU had his DNA all over it. So to me, it sounds like Disney, and maybe Feige too, are being political in some respects. I do buy that Perlmutter is a tight wad (feeding hungry journalists doritos, subway, and cheap bottled water at important press junkets) and nearly derailed Marvel's Civil War plans, but was it really his fault that Edgar Wright left? Marvel did have a brain trust in the form of Joe Quesada, Brian Michael Bendis, Alan Fine, and Dan Buckley. It is said that their input was pedestrian and notoriously late (ask Alan Taylor for confirmation on that). That could've been their fault, unless their involvement was also relegated by Perlmutter. Just saying, could all of this shit really have been Perlmutter's fault, or is Disney just trying to make their decision seem like a God sent?
Finally, on topic 3 for those still reading, anyone seen it?
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Post by BackinBlack on Sept 5, 2015 16:37:36 GMT -5
Part of me wonders if this could lead to Fox and Marvel making amends, but I won't hold my breath.
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