Tag Archive for 'superheroes'

Great, You Took a Comic Book and Adapted it Panel by Panel into a Film. Who Gives a Shit?!

Published
by
nick marino
on August 21, 2008
in Comics and Movies
. 2 Comments

The blogosphere is buzzing about Zack Snyder’s “faithful” adaptation of the Watchmen mini series into a film. When I say mini series, I mean it. Watchmen is, in fact, a collection of single issues as opposed to an original novel-length work. But “The Most Celebrated Comic Book Mini Series of All Time” isn’t as impressive, so I understand why it’s universally referred to as a graphic novel. Watching this movie is supposed to be like the comic moving before your eyes (though they already did that with Warner Premiere’s Motion Comics and it looks like poop).

Truthfully, it all leaves me feeling cold. If the movie is just a direct adaptation of the comic, then who gives a shit? I already read Watchmen. It was great. I don’t need to read it again, let alone sit as a captive audience member for some ungodly length of time in a movie theater. By the way, three fucking hours??! Snyder, are you out of your gourd? I sat thru 2.5 hours of The Dark Poop and I almost screamed in pain after 1.5 hours. If Watchmen is going to be 180 minutes, then split it in half ala Kill Bill so I can go home for a couple months in the middle.

Continue reading ‘Great, You Took a Comic Book and Adapted it Panel by Panel into a Film. Who Gives a Shit?!’

Podcast Episode 043

Published
by
nick marino
on August 19, 2008
in Podcast Episodes
. 0 Comments

Chop Shop, Step Brothers, Will Ferrell’s nutsack, True Romance, over-hyped Judd Apatow movies, Seth Rogen as the new Lil Jon, Alanis Morissette and Dave Coulie, ProTools and the L1 Ultramaximizer, Dave Cockrum (not Cockring), Superpowers: A Novel by David J Schwartz, Final Crisis #2, She-Hulk #30 and #31, GG Studio, Green Arrow / Black Canary #11, Last Defenders #6, Marvel Adventures Hulk #14, Charlie Barlett, and too much more to remember.

 
 AudioShocker #43 [69:47m]: Play Now | Download

Podcast Episode 041

Published
by
nick marino
on July 29, 2008
in Podcast Episodes and Video Games
. 1 Comment

We stick it to Pigtail Girl, Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #1, Avengers: The Initiative #15, Uncanny X-Men #500, Black Panther #38, X-Men Legacy #214, superhero codenames, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, Chromeo, 2D fighting games vs. 3D fighting games, Street Fighter, Winged Migration, voting, celebrity pairings (Rob Schneider and Tom Lennon, Jeremy Piven and Joe Rogan, Tom Arnold and Jim Belushi), Mad Men, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and so much more that we can’t even remember.

 
 AudioShocker #41 [72:40m]: Play Now | Download

Am I the Only Person That Didn’t Like The Dark Knight?

Published
by
nick marino
on July 21, 2008
in Comics and Movies
. 8 Comments

In defense of The Dark Knight, I was predisposed to disliking it. I’ve been salty with Christian Bale ever since he said that Batman Begins wasn’t a just a comic book movie — it was better. Well guess what Bale? I thought it sucked.

Superhero movie franchises have been lucky in that their sequels often eclipse their first outings. And The Dark Knight was better than Batman Begins. But certainly not “biggest opening weekend of all-time” better.

The Batsuit. In ten years, that stiff Batsuit will be almost as laughable as Batnipples on George Clooney.

The Batvoice. “Hey Christian,” Nolan says to the film’s star, “I want you to give me a husky whisper that sounds like you just gargled with whisky and Clorox. And make sure it sounds like @#$%.”

Organized crime in Gotham City. It’s strangely segregated and full of stereotypes. When the Russian, Italian, and black mobsters held a joint meeting with a Chinese corporate criminal, I cringed throughout the whole scene. Most of white characters were stereotyped heavily too — they were all righteous control freaks that went mad with power (from Batman to Harvey Dent to Jim Gordon to even the Joker).

Rachel Dawes. She’s was as stiff as the Batsuit and a total snoozefest.

Excessive runtime. I was ready for The Dark Knight to be over after an hour and a half. To my surprise, I still had AN HOUR TO GO. I would have preferred a “Previously in The Dark Knight…” showing a quick montage of the boring @#$% from the first half of the film, and then BAM! the movie actually starts in as the Joker busts out of jail.

When did Batman stop being fun? Both The Dark Knight and its predecessor are stalwarts of the serious. They struggle to remove any and all camp from the concept of Bruce Wayne and his billionaire’s hobby of crime fighting. C’mon, the guy dresses up like a freakin’ bat! He punches a psychotic clown in the face for fun! Batman is naturally campy. And that’s not a bad thing.

To all the people who produced The Dark Knight and to all those who celebrated its “realistic” qualities while overlooking the fact that the movie was largely devoid of smiles, laughter, and fun:

Why so serious?

Podcast Episode 038

Published
by
nick marino
on July 8, 2008
in Podcast Episodes
. 0 Comments

Arguing about Hancock, Jason Bateman, Gotham Chopra, Love Guru, Darrell Hammond, Kung Fu Panda, Teeth the movie, The Cool Kids, Twitter Feet, Avatar: The Last Airbender returns next week, perky positive girl, Mandy Moore, Weeds, Spider-Man, multidimensional superheroes, Kill All Parents, Vix #1, Secret Invasion and Final Crisis shirts at Hot Topic, scenesters, and more.

 
 AudioShocker #38 [62:12m]: Play Now | Download

The Top 9 Best Live-Action Superhero Movies (Note: You Will Disagree With This)

Published
by
nick marino
on June 20, 2008
in Comics, Movies and The Top 9
. 1 Comment

Here, in painstakingly particular (and genius) order, are the Top 9 Best Live-Action Superhero Movies of all-time:

9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
8. Blade (1998)
7. Batman: The Movie (1966)
6. X2 (2005)
5. Batman Returns (1992)
4. Iron Man (2008)
3. Batman (1989)
2. X-Men (2000)
1. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

I know what you must be thinking. “Nick,” you’re saying to yourself, “You are completely out of your @#$%ing mind.” But go back and reread the list. The effect should sound something like, “Wait… this list is actually quite brilliant.”

So here’s the thing: I KNOW that people out there will disagree with me. If you think there’s a better Top 9 Best Live-Action Superhero Movies, then post your version in the comments.

However, if you don’t post your own version of this Top 9, I will consider my list as unchallenged and therefore the definitive list of Best Live-Action Superhero Movies by default.

Next: The Top 9 Best B-Movies!

Why the Top 9? Because 10 is too many and 9 is a better number. 3 X 3 = Awesome. Now that’s what I call math.

Podcast Episode 034

Published
by
nick marino
on June 3, 2008
in Podcast Episodes and Video Games
. 0 Comments

Speed Racer, Susan Sarandon, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tim Curry, Jennifer Beals, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Holes, Tremors, Roger Dodger, Batman comic books, Andre the Giant, Ron Paul, Street Fighter, Coolio, Jezebel Jet, superhero strength, VitaminWater Formula 50, Fat Joe, Avengers: The Initiative, The Gauntlet, Martin, Ashanti, Ja Rule, Aiwa, Bose, way too much more.

 
 AudioShocker #34 [67:41m]: Play Now | Download

Podcast Episode 022

Published
by
nick marino
on March 11, 2008
in Interviews and Podcast Episodes
. 1 Comment

An interview with Brandon Thomas, writer and co-creator of the comic book series The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury from Archaia Studios Press. We talk about the series debut, clues for future issues, Lee Ferguson pencils, Marc Deering inks, Felix Serrano colors, Matty Ryan letters, Joe Illidge edits, character design, pitching to publishers, New York Comic Con NYCC, Newsarama, comic book fans, superhero demographics, working with Rob Liefeld, Youngblood, getting name dropped by Mark Millar, and way more. P.S. What you hear is not true. We love you, Neal.

 
 AudioShocker #22 [69:35m]: Play Now | Download

Podcast Episode 019

Published
by
nick marino
on February 19, 2008
in Podcast Episodes
. 5 Comments

Flapping our gums about Chromeo, Snoop Dogg, Sushi Kim, Sakura, How Lee, Juno, Balls of Fury, Virgin Comics, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Promethea, X-Men, Wet Moon, Ross Campbell, french fries, Suicide Girls, Vogue food critic, Step Up, Step Up 2 The Streets, Carmike Maxi Saver, The Return of Hanuman, Darieth Chisholm, White Tiger, superheroes, Iron Man, Hardboiled, Charlie Bartlett, Hot Fuzz, and wow there has gotta be more.

 
 AudioShocker #19 [65:53m]: Play Now | Download

Podcast Episode 017

Published
by
nick marino
on January 29, 2008
in Podcast Episodes
. 1 Comment

We talk Hot Topic, Invader Zim, Carnegie Mellon University, CMU Carnival, Iron and Wine, Janet Jackson, Jermaine Dupri, back in the day, Joker, comic book henchmen, mullets, Joss Whedon, purple, Dick Cheney, freestyle motocross, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cloverfield, Serpico, Al Pacino, Danny DiVito, lack of Avatar, New Avengers Annual 2, Mighty Avengers 8, Fantastic Four 553, Avengers The Initiative 9, The Loop, and of course, more.

 
 AudioShocker #17 [51:37m]: Play Now | Download