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Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 8, 2009 2:57:38 GMT -5
Because I just don’t write enough! I’ll throw my hat into this ring.
Sock it to Shell-Head
[glow=red,2,300]To Thine Own Self Be True[/glow] We have many reviewers out and about on this board, and as they can attest - we are a breed plagued by an affliction that compels us to compile “Best Of” lists. Listing can be fun but challenging, sometimes you get it all down pat then you look again and wonder, “Do I really like X better than Z, especially with Y slotted there?” – “What about B, shouldn’t it be placed next to A but not as high as C?”
It’s enough to make your puzzler hurt.
And I haven’t even mentioned the peer pressure.
What if I make a silly list and look the fool, what if they revoke my reviewer’s license, what if people jeer, tease, mock and pants me? Yee gads!
It’s not that I’m a complete slave to the will of the masses. I have no problem asserting that I love Ang Lee’s Hulk while only having a lukewarm response to Richard Donner’s Superman. Let the bastiches burn me in effigy, I don’t care. I’ll stand strong because I feel so strongly about this opinion.
But it’s with the grayer areas where I find myself getting weak in the knees.
I had this notion of writing a “Top comic bookie flicks of 2008” article and began with a simple list. The first 3? No problemo. Dark Knight, Iron Man, Wanted. Bada-bing, bada-boom! Easy peasy lemon squeezey, hel-looo Nurse--- er, anyway.
The back end was a breeze as well. Superhero Movie, Speed Racer, Jumper! Yes - Hole in one, nothing but net, bend over Kenny and hike me the ball!
After popping in the Spirit followed by the Incredible Hulk I entered the realm of the loathsome gray.
Hellboy II, Hancock, Punisher
Hellyboy II had the polish and the prestige, but damned if I didn’t enjoy that insane blood bath that was Punisher War Zone.
It is at this point where I get all sweaty, become plagued by inner demons, and the floating head of my teacher haunts my very dreams (No wait, that’s what happened when I cheated on a test).
In truth this is where I ask… can I really rank it (Punisher) above the other 2? I’d normally watch the DVD to make extra sure. But I can’t do this because it hasn’t been released yet and thus far I haven’t been able to get lightning to strike my time traveling DeLorian. It is possible that when I watch it again I’ll gag and say WTF? (Or initials to that effect).
Sometimes movies always keep the same vibe. Sometimes they get stronger (as was the case with Iron Man and the Bat flick), sometimes they become weaker and sometimes birds suddenly appear every time you are near (which is a contradiction, but that’s neither here nor there)
With Hellboy II, repeated showings exposed the cracks and my esteem diminished in size. Hellboy II is a pretty looking film, man there’s a lot I like, yet “Boy Howdie!” there’s a lot I don’t like.
So, Punisher, Hancock, Hellboy? Yes, no…
yes…
Mmmm no?
In truth this is a stupid internal debate. Who really gives a rat’s fuzzy beard? When I’m dead and buried do you think anyone will care. Will Saint Peter greet me at the Pearly gates with a, “Hey dumbass! Punisher, seriously? Are you high?”
Yes this struggle is all sound and fury signifying nothing but can you now see all the empty, insipid, useless tribulations that weigh upon my furrowed brow? Oh the burden of being a geek.
So screw it! I’m a fierce individualist and this is my list of the top comic bookie/super hero-ee flicks of 2008.
1. The Dark Knight 2. Iron Man 3. Wanted 4. Bolt 5. Punisher: War Zone 6. Hancock 7. Hellboy II 8. Incredible Hulk 9. The Spirit 10. Jumper 11. Speed Racer 12. Superhero Movie
Maybe…
Yes…
No?
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Jan 10, 2009 21:49:44 GMT -5
I'm sorry, but while Speed Racer wasn't great no way it deserves to be that low on the totem poll.
You're banned from the board.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 13, 2009 1:11:23 GMT -5
It actually deserves to be lower just for that annoying kid and his damned monkey!
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 13, 2009 1:28:35 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Goodbye dad, it was a beautiful day[/glow] I've tried to just post as usual these past few weeks. I spoke a bit about my father's passing and was thankful for the condolences, but I didn't want to overdo it on this board.
Everyone has gone through this, everyone knows this pain and everyone has something memorable to say about someone special they've lost.
But I wanted to take a small moment and post the eulogy my Nephew gave at the funeral. It was moving and it summed up everything dad was and stood for.
The funeral was very nice. It was a traditional Catholic Mass; many family members participated as cross and candle bearers, reading of prayers etc.
This one was different for me as this was the first funeral I ever helped plan; it was my first as a Pall Bearer. Because of that it held a special significance. The songs I helped picked were chosen for a reason, the passage I chose to have printed in the announcements, each resonated a little deeper.
And standing with my brother at the head of the casket, each of us carrying him... it was a honor to do this. He'd carried us in so many ways it was nice to be able to give him my strength in this moment.
At the cemetery there was a Navy honor guard, they saluted him and handed the flag to my mother. It was a sad but beautiful day. And that would make my father happy, that was one of the things he'd always say if you asked him how life was treating him... "It's a beautiful day"
My nephew’s eulogy...
When the world loses a man like my grandfather, it feels a little emptier, but we must remember that the world’s loss is heavens gain. As I began to think of what to say today, my mind was flooded with a host of many great memories of times shared together with him. I soon began to realize that although we grieve for the loss of a man that meant so much to us all, to truly honor him, we must lighten the heaviness of our hearts and embrace the celebration of a life truly created in God's image.
Today we celebrate the life of a man whose devotion and love for his family and friends is rivaled by no other.
We celebrate the life of a man who could forgive any trespass without hesitation.
We celebrate the life of a man whose wisdom and teachings were valued by many.
We celebrate the life of a man who regarded every moment of life as a precious gift no matter how simple or uneventful it seemed to the rest of us.
We celebrate of man whose unwavering faith could hold strong through even the most dismal of times.
We celebrate the life of a man who would give everything and expect nothing.
We celebrate a man who could see the rainbow in the sky even before the storm was finished.
We celebrate a man who would gladly relieve any burden and carry the heaviest cross just because he loves us.
We do not find men like this often in life. But as we look at our surroundings now, we realize these qualities can be found in the man that grandpa admired the most...Jesus. And just as Christ did for the world, my grandfather walked the Stations of the Cross for all of us as well. Just as with Christ, in death, we celebrate life.
I think that anyone of us here today would give anything to have just a little more time to share with such a great man. But we must find comfort in knowing that the time we did share together with him made us all a little bit stronger. He is someone special to all of us and has touched us all in a unique way. To me, he is the foundation that the family was built on, the loving arms that embraced me every time I saw him, the smile that you couldn't help but follow with one of your own, and the man that taught me to believe in myself. I know that all that is good in myself, comes from his caring hands and guidance. He is the man that I have always looked up to...He is the father that I strive to be.
So as we remember him in our own special ways, let us also remember that he is looking on us now and waiting for us to smile.
Grandpa...I know you can hear me, and although it is hard to say at this moment, I want to honor you the best way I know how...It's a beautiful day Grandpa, I know you're watching from above smiling upon us.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 15, 2009 0:52:44 GMT -5
Excuse me while I piss you off (well some of you)
[glow=red,2,300]Blog #3: Batman vs. Frodo![/glow] I’m not sure where all this “Dark Knight is the greatest movie ever” talk comes from. I’ve never said that myself, I can number several movies that I think are greater. But I do think it is a great movie and I imagine it would rank somewhere in my top 50.
What I find strange in the Dark Knight debates are my LOTR friends who diss the film simply because they can’t get past a guy in a bat costume. They feel it isn’t worthy of a best picture nomination (I disagree) and then become incensed if I turn their own logic and words against them and suggest that their precious Rings movie should never have received an Oscar because it’s just about some short people with hairy feet.
Hey, if your going to dismiss the Dark Knight because there’s a bat suit in it then your going to have to dismiss everything with a fantastic, sci-fi, mythological slant to it.
I guess I feel the same way about the LOTR saga as some people do about the Dark Knight. I feel flaws mar the Rings trilogy. Aside from bothersom Hobbits riding in trees, it’s turgid, bloated - marked by all that damned slow motion and overwrought speeches. Ugh, get over yourself movie.
Yeah I know some folks reading this just popped a blood vessel, but hey, I didn’t say you couldn’t love your movie with a passion. But if your going to sling mud at my God then you’d better be prepared to take a little mud in your God’s eye in kind.
But my friend got all over heated and refused to see my side of it. LOTR was the greatest movie ever in their mind and to suggest otherwise was blasphemy. Ah well, it’s not a big deal really. Dark Knight isn’t perfect but I felt it was pretty damn near. It isn’t the greatest movie ever but I feel it leaves all the Ring movies in the dust. I don’t know if it’s even the greatest movie of 2009, but from what I’ve seen, as of now it ranks among the best on my list. So let’s call a truce, your elves and wizards can keep their Oscar, if you would please not begrudge my bat and clown a shot at theirs.
And after typing that last sentence I came to the realization that this is the silliest damned debate I’ve ever engaged in. Lo the heavens rang with the cries of “Geek war! Geek war! Geek war!”
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Jan 15, 2009 3:55:21 GMT -5
Yep. Silly debate.
And here I was hoping that you would be proposing a cage match between the caped crusader and the ring bearer, each using their own skills and weapons in a battle for supremacy. I believe that particular debate would be even sillier.
As for the movies, I think a lot of this can boil down to the old balancing act of "what makes a good movie" vs. "what makes an enjoyable movie." Arguably, a movie needs to be at least somewhat enjoyable to be good, but also a movie needs to be a little good otherwise it can't be enjoyable.
I wouldn't really call the Road movies by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "good," but I certainly enjoy them a whole lot more than Citizen Kane or The Godfather. Those latter two are masterpieces, but they just can't hold a candle to a couple of buddies in exotic locales getting into comical misadventures.
I also think that this particular silly debate that you've posed overlaps a bit with the discussion about having the right story for your media. Both LotR and Dark Knight are offshoots (remakes, if you will) from other genres. I'll oversimplify it by claiming that they respectively come from Epic Fantasy Novels and Serialized Sequential Art Storytelling.
Batman has the clear advantage here. There have been so many different Batman stories (and some of those stories even have their own multitudes of differing versions) that it's expected that the plot of a Batman movie can be fresh. In a LotR movie, there's not much room for deviation from the story without bringing the original fanbase into a rage (I mean, people were angry that Tom Bombadil got cut. Bombadil! I mean, I love the character, yeah, but there's no way I wanna admit to watching a movie with him in it.) Special effects and acting abilities aside (both movies did a fine job in those respects), this basically comes down to the writing aspect.
Here's where we come to the focal point of the argument, I think. Fans of the Lord of the Rings movie would base their argument on the basic story, because if you boil the movies down a few levels to see simplified versions of the plot structures, LotR would definitely have the more complicated (which to the nerd mind means "better") structure. Fans of Dark Knight would base their argument on the script itself, for while much of what makes LotR shine had to be cut, truncated or altered, Dark Knight was able to tell its story in as precise a fashion as possible (I like how the Writing Excuses team talked about the movie being a basic Three Act formula, but with the first act being capable of standing on its own as a shorter Three Act formula.)
So there you come to the focal point, I believe, where the argument comes down to taste yet again. And, as always, there's no accounting for taste.
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Jan 19, 2009 13:24:18 GMT -5
I guess I feel the same way about the LOTR saga as some people do about the Dark Knight. I feel flaws mar the Rings trilogy. Aside from bothersom Hobbits riding in trees, it’s turgid, bloated - marked by all that damned slow motion and overwrought speeches. Ugh, get over yourself movie. Oddly, I agree to some extent, even though LOTR as a whole is among my favorite films. It's full of problems, from misplaced humor, occasionally clunky action, drastically-altered characters (often for the worse), etc, etc, etc. Yet somehow, despite these flaws, it's one of the all-time great films in my mind, often because of the original story shining through all the problems. When it gets something right, it really gets it right. For a long time, I would get angry when people pointed out the films' flaws, but eventually I learned (hopefully, anyway) to recognize that I could still love the film even with its problems. I think that's where a lot of rabid fans fail, whether they're talking about LOTR, TDK, or any other film; they take criticism of "their" film as criticism of themselves for liking it.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 23, 2009 1:50:25 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Blog #4: Letterheads[/glow] I was trying to find an old Iron Man letterhead when I came across this site… Comicbook Letterhead Museum. People will blog about anything; I once found one on celebrity handbags. It was just filled with pics of entertainers with their purses. I thought this was a cool blog though because it brought back so many fond memories. We don’t have letter pages anymore, it’s all done on the Internet and while immediate feedback is cool, those old letter pages were pretty fun. Here are a few of my favorites from the museum. This is the one that inspired the title of my blog here. It was Iron Man’s original. They used to have such cute names for these things. Later on Marvel changed it to “Printed Circuits” which was more sophisticated but signaled the end of innocence. Comics would get dark and serious and Tony Stark would become an alcoholic, which would later inspire Toyfare parodies about Stark peeing in his armor in a drunken stupor. As if Captain America wasn’t square enough. This title evokes images of white bread Steve Rodgers attempting to connect with the teens. “Hey boys and girls, lets rap. What’s bringing you a downer? What is “groovy” these days, hu kids. Tell your pal Cap because he’s down with the street lingo, can you dig on it man!” Of course if you didn’t feel the need to rap with Cap, you could always level with Daredevil. I feel it’s important to always level with a Daredevil because he might kneecap you with that Billy club of his (after using his radar sense to tell if you’re lying). This one brings to mind images of a school guidance councilor, “Level with me Chip, you did break the window in Mrs. Carleson’s class didn’t you?” This letterhead came from 1976 and it actually looks pretty good. Over at DC, circa 1959, they took a different tactic. Here we see Superman scanning letters for traces of anthrax. He also appears rather uncomfortable as if Lex had placed a kryptonite thumbtack on his chair. Or maybe he’s suffering from Super-roids? Might be why his left hand is knotted in a tighlty clenched fist (the itching, the burning, the Parasite!) Here’s one for the Hulk in the early 60s. I’m starting to wonder if I have a dirty mind. Because this entire thing makes me giggle like a schoolboy, the juxtaposition of the term “green skin”, next to that, uh, sack, which is referred to as a “Grab Bag”. Tee, Hee, Hee. Look I’m not grabbing Hulk’s bag no matter how much Stan Lee asks.
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Post by The Mad Plumber on Jan 24, 2009 14:09:37 GMT -5
Okay, I got to admit you really had me chuckling with those fan mail headers, especially the Hulk one. I mean, just look at the shape of the sack!
As for the Superman one, it actually looks like he's trying to set fire to all of his fan mail and that he's riding Dr. Evil's malfunctioning chair; that would be the joystick in his left hand.
I don't know what to say; I guess it's really hard to come up with good puns.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 25, 2009 13:05:23 GMT -5
that would be the joystick in his left hand. Thank God, I thought it was some kind of sex toy. If Mitchell were here he could photoshop a ball gag in Supes mouth to add to the effect.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 31, 2009 7:17:41 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]#5 Creativity[/glow] I was the quiet one in the family... sometimes I was even called the black sheep. Mom said she never had to worry about me. If the other kids had disappeared and gone quiet she knew they were into something they shouldn't, but me, she'd find me behind the recliner drawing a picture. I liked drawing when I was a kid. Mostly dinosaurs or mini war scenes with helicopters and parachutes in the sky. Friends, family and teachers would be astounded but I couldn't understand the fuss. Couldn't everybody do this? It would be like them getting excited because I had a nose. I used to send submissions to all the comic book publishers back in the day, but soon stopped. Drawing became work and besides that it hurt my hands. My hands ache, the pain is unbelievable and I mostly only scribble here and there these days. It got to where I'd hide the fact that I could even do it because of the pain. People find out you can draw and they always want a picture. Always. They never knew what a hurtin' they were putting on me with their requests. this is the only scribbling i ever scanned and can show. I drew it at work in 2006 with a pen on the back of a report... Music never hurt and even when it was hard work, it was more rewarding. It felt even more natural than drawing. Art was something I did, music was something I lived and breathed. Good thing... not a lot of random requests to write songs from people. Lennon was a big influence because he showed me that music could give you a voice. And being a quiet kid who sat behind a recliner and drew, I didn't used to have much of a voice. My songs reflect so much of what I'm going through. Chart my music and it would read like a diary. That diary can sound pretty tattered - I've written a concept album about what it was like to live with and love a junkie for example. It's a hard album, a difficult one to sit through for me. But I needed to write those songs, dark or not. I wonder what compels people to write stuff like the Basketball Diaries or sing, draw the equivalent? I don't have an easy answer other than it gives a release. Also it gives a certain clarity. Those bleak days...man it was like I was in the grip of madness, I was stuck in this desperate situation and losing my mind in fear, worry... I couldn't save her and watching this once funny, intelligent and talented woman deteriorate and self-destruct before my eyes split me in so many pieces. All I could do was rage and scream and cry out at the top of my lungs. Time and the writing of all those songs helped clear away the madness. It soothed the sorrow until I was no longer a raw nerve on the brink of an explosive breakdown. Maybe that's it maybe it's salvation... we write it and put it out there and feel clean again. Many of my songs are about pain, a few about love and happiness, but much are about being or feeling hurt. Writing (something other than lyrics) on the other hand is pure light and joy and happiness... I know I'm not the best writer, the grammar Police probably want to lock me in jail. A college teacher said I struggled with the technical aspects, but that I excelled on the creative side. I spend most of my time doing website reviews, I use to wonder why. Then I watched the movie "Into the Wild" and at the end the protagonist writes that, "Happiness isn't real unless it's shared" - That really clicked for me. Yeah man, I write because I get so excited over something I'm bursting to share it. It also gives me a little shot at indulging my art side, making banners and the like add to the fun. I put so much time and effort into the appearance of my MST3K site because I wanted it to look good as well as be interesting and informative to read. I did this simple little banner a while ago. I might use in my signature. It's for a top 100 superhero movie list (I still don't quite have 100 flicks). It'll be a part of the Superhero Marathon site when it's ready. The banner isn't a major work but it was fun to make... Funny how little things bug me, there's too much space around Iron Man - I should go back to formula lol. --- So I create to share my happiness. And to try and understand the bad and clear my mind. And to disappear into my own world. And to experience the joy in making something that looks nice. It's fulfilling, edifying, a kick... as a great man once said.... "You know it's fun to have an idea" -- "There, wasn't that fun?" Yes, yes it was.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Feb 21, 2009 4:03:50 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]More Nerdy Comic book movie lists[/glow]
I was fartin’ around at Rotten Tomatoes and I thought it might be fun to take my top 10 superflicks from my website reviews, and see how they ranked. Since this endeavor enchanted my simple mind I went and did my top 30. For kicks I listed and compared, using the average rating (1 to 10) as the defining factor and their less accurate percentage as the tiebreaker.
Note: A lot of direct to DVD releases did not get rated at Tomatoes, so I threw them all out (so no Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman) and Internet films weren’t listed (So no Dr. Horrible as was on my list) and my beloved Cutie Honey wasn't graded. Therefore to fill out the top 30 I branched out into my top 36. Here’s the Rotten Tomatoes ranking, using my top list. My listing is shown in yellow.
The Tomato/MJ rankings 1. The Dark Knight - 8.5 (94%) My Ranking #2 2. The Incredibles - 8.3 (97%) #9 3. Spider-Man 2 - 8.3 (93%) #1 4. Robocop – 7.7 (85%) #10 5. Batman Begins – 7.7 (84%) #3 6. Iron Man – 7.6 (93%) #6 7. Spider-Man – 7.6 (90%) #5 8. X2: X-Men United – 7.4 (74%) #4 9. Superman Returns – 7.1 (77%) #36 10. Krrish – 7.0 (100%) #27 11. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm – 6.9 (87%) #20 12. X-Men – 6.9 (80%) #13 13. Hellboy – 6.7 (80%) #14 14. The Mask - 6.5 (77%) #32 15. Darkman – 6.5 (76%) #14 16. Sky High – 6.5 (72%) #22 17. Tie: Batman ’89 #31 & Hollywoodland – 6.5 (69%) #11 18. Unbreakable – 6.2 (67%) #8 19. Hulk – 6.2 (61%) #7 20. Spider-Man 3 – 6.1 (62%) #25 21. Mystery Men – 5.9 (64%) #18 22. Rocketeer – 5.9 (63%) #19 23. Blade 2 – 5.9 (57%) #17 24. X3: The Last Stand – 5.9 (56%) #26 25. Zebraman – 5.9 (46%) #28 26. Daredevil – 5.2 (44%) #24 27. The Specials – 5.1 (47%) #23 28. The Phantom – 5.1 (43%) #16 29. TMNT – 4.9 (33%) #30 30. Punisher: War Zone – 4.2 (24%) #34
Note: I knew I was in the minority on a few sequels, so I looked them up just to see, unlike me, most rate Hellboy II higher than the first – HB II got a 7.2 (88%), which would have put it behind X2.
Incredible Hulk strangely had the same average rating to Ang Lee’s Hulk – 6.2, though it did receive a higher percentage in a tie breaker (67%) – Nice to know Lee’s Hulk gets some respect out there.
And the one I’ve never ranked high, that everyone loves? Superman The Movie - had an 8.0 (93%), it would have been #4 Behind Spider-Man 2, ahead of Robocop. (It was interesting to see it had 3 rotten reviews. One woman actually echoes my own sentiments about the campy/Lex stuff hurting the picture. Not saying that makes me right, but it’s cool to know I’m not alone in that thought)
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Feb 21, 2009 11:55:02 GMT -5
Hollywoodland was a pretty good film, but is it really a superhero movie? Also, I've never heard of Krrish.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Feb 21, 2009 17:24:21 GMT -5
Hollywoodland? Your right it isn't, but i reviewed it on my site, and my (Still in progress) list is more of a "best of" from the website so it always gets thrown in the mix. 'Confessions of a Superhero' and 'Comic Book: The Movie', straddle the lines too (though not listed here). Krrish is a Bollywood film that runs nearly 3 hrs long and the hero doesn't don his mask until an hour and 45 minutes into it. The first part establishes character and tells a love story/drama with loads of melodrama and humor (and musical numbers). I read a review that stated that most U.S. viewers likely didn't have the mindset & patience to enjoy a superhero movie like that (they are probably right), but I loved it and it has received mostly good notices. Edit: I was visiting the “Superhero Lives” website (looking for more ideas on the Italian films from the 60s) and they list Hollywoodland under ‘cameo’. They also have stuff like Underworld, Tomb Raider and Diabolik – I’m wondering if I should expand my lens as well (But then I’d have to review “V For Vendetta”, and screw that unholy movie!
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Post by Mighty Jack on Feb 23, 2009 5:33:10 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]#7: Super years - Super movies[/glow] More on this theme (It's my "thing" right now and I tend to go on tangents) I remember looking at what 2008 had to offer for the comic book movie fan, and like the villains in many a flick, I was clasping and rubbing my hands and laughing in diabolic joy at the sight of it all. There were a lot of highly anticipated remakes and new entries which might have had me too excited, what could live up to my anticipation? Well not a lot did, in fact a lot of it was… well, good but not OMG AWESOME! Only 2 matched and exceeded the hype. Iron Man and The Dark Knight, both of which entered my top 10. There was also one wonderful surprise. Though I normally don’t read a lot of reviews, I suddenly felt compelled to read EVERTHING about the Punisher War Zone. Maybe I was trying to talk myself out of going. Then a strange thing happened. I sat down and got ready for the worst experience of my life when about mid way through I thought to myself, “Hey, something’s wrong here, I’m actually enjoying this stupid thing.” I don’t know if that will translate to the DVD when I watch it, or if my expectations were so low there was nothing but up from there. But I had a good time and currently have it ranked in the 30s. 2008 wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t the end all and be all nor was it the first great season in the sun. Before Hollywood threw its hat in the ring, Italy produced a lot of low budget but often entertaining productions. These cheesy Italian flicks offered comic book bliss from 67-68 with titles like Danger Diabolik, Fantastic Aargoman, Kriminal and the 3 Fantastic Supermen. This would be the best run until 2004. Ahh 2004… Now that was a great year. At the top is the film that many still regard as the best superhero movie ever, Spider-Man 2. Though the Dark Knight challenges it, SM2 (with the first) still stands as the quintessential example of the Stan Lee era brought to life. Beyond that was Pixar’s incredible “The Incredibles” - an animated force that ranks as my favorite from the company. Apart from those Top 10 entries is one that ranks in the teens, Hellboy. It might not be as splashy as the remake but I prefer its humanity, heart and the horror elements. Far from our shores there were 2 released in Japan in 2004. Live action anime Cutie Honey is a kick (ranked in the 30s) and Zebraman (in the 20s) was full of fun and warmth. Course we couldn’t escape the year without a few stink bombs. The spastic Punisher with Thomas Jane, the amazingly cheesy, awfully directed (by screenwriter David Goyer) Blade Trinity and one of the very worst of the worst…Catwoman! (2008 offered up duds like Superhero Movie! The inconsistent Jumper and the acid trip that was The Spirit – so nobody gets through a year unscathed. Even the Italians gave up “Avenger X” in the 60s) How will 2009 stack up? It’s a bit lighter in the load pan. There are 2 highly anticipated films. First up is the Watchmen – For what it’s worth, Wesley Crusher rated it as the best comic book movie ever in his blog (under his real name Will Wheton) after he saw a sneak. And there’s Wolverine. Both at first blush, offer the best shots at breaking into my top 10 list (but it’s a tough crowd, so I’d be happy with teens or 20s) Aside from the big 2 we’ll also get stuff like Kick-Ass (from the creator of “Wanted”) and Astro Boy (From Imagi studios, who produced TMNT). The first comic book movie of the year, “Push”, has received mixed reviews. I stand on the side of those who liked it. I feel it got the new season off to a solid start. Other than the theatrical releases, Marvel has put out their best DTD (direct to disc) with Hulk Vs. and DC will soon have Wonder Woman on the shelves. 2010 and 11? Might be the new Marvel Age with its string of Avenger based films and the anticipated return of Spider-Man. DC will likely have at least the Green Lantern on the big screen. By 2012 I could be well sick of it all and should be ready to launch my new website, “The Antacid and Anti-Diarrheal Marathon!” (Imodium A-D gets my highest rating, 5 stars!)
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