You Can't Stop Crap!

In a recent interview with Stan Lee, when he was asked about current projects, the Disney superhero films came up, as well as some other stuff that's made the round in the news. (I'm sure you've heard about the Disney deal - I didn't realize the films had names: Tigress, Blaze, and Nick Ratchet - they sound like winners.)

What I didn't know about was the animated TV series he had planned with Paris Hilton. Or maybe I heard it and blocked it out.

He made Pamela Anderson into a supehero stripper. I cringe to think what he could do with Miss Hilton.

Marvel Animated

Want to catch some cartoons from Marvel you may have missed? You may get a chance to.

The Spider-Man, the New Animated Series CGI toon (starring Neil Patrick Harris) that was on MTV a few years is coming to the internet and cable. Apparently, Kabillion.com will begin hosting episodes on May 1, but you'll also be able to catch these On Demand with various cable companies, like Comcast and Bresnan Cable. This seemed pretty enjoyable, though I only caught one or two eps. And who doesn't love Neil Patrick Harris?

And if you were like me, and missed most of the episodes of Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Heroes because your cable guide never matched what they were actually airing on Cartoon Network, Marvelkids.com has those episodes for you. (Though at the time I didn't think it was good enough for me to try to hunt down the shows I missed.) Soon, Marvelkids.com will also have episodes of X-Men: Evolution.


Thanks to Comics2Film.

I Can't Believe This is Real

And I can't believe it's all the way across the country.



Yes, Too Much Coffee Man has his own opera. This is the sequel. How did I not know about the original?

And what category do I put this in?

Newest Comic Book Movie Adaptation

The Onion never ceases to deliver. Check out this news clip about the upcoming Iron Man adaptation. Lets hope the film is as good as the trailer.


Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film

Superhero Movie (2008) mini review

superhero movie not based on a comic
[6/10]

In Superhero Movie, Drake Bell is an awkward high school student who is on a field trip to a genetics lab and gets bitten by a genetically altered dragonfly. From then on, he develops amazing dragonfly powers, such as the ability to breakdance on a wall, and constantly crash and burn when talking to the girl of his dreams.

As you might guess, Superhero Movie is more a spoof of the Spider-Man films than anything else. There's a little bit of the X-Men films thrown in, as well as a Batman Begins scene, and a Pam Anderson Fantastic Four cameo. But mostly, it attempts to parody the Spider-Man formula. There's some superhero parody, but what's the point, when other films like The Incredibles and Sky High have done it so well?

But I actually enjoyed myself. I went in with expectations LOW, and Superhero Movie was much, much funnier than I expected. Of course, after watching the wretched Date Movie a while back, I was expecting the worst superhero film I'd ever seen (and I've seen some bad ones). The fact that it far over-reached my expectation was not too great a feat. There were several laugh out loud scenes, but they were accompanied by several scenes that were intended to be funny and just fell flat. Some of the humor was actually good enough to remind me of the first Airplane! film - but it just wasn't consistent.

See it if you like Airplane!-type humor. Superhero Movie isn't nearly as good, but there should be enough in it to keep you entertained.


Don't see it you didn't think Airplane! was a classic.

Premiers and Releases

I guess I haven't been paying much attention to the news wire...a ton of stuff has been happening. Now I've finally caught up and updated some dates and links to the right.

Batman: Gotham Knight is finally available by pre-order from Amazon.com.

The two short-lived series - WB's Birds of Prey (which I enjoyed) and TNT's Witchblade (which I never actually caught) - are both coming to DVD.

(Huh - apparently, July is a big month for comic adaptations - all three of these DVDs are out that month.)

Punisher: War Zone has been pushed back a few months.

And finally, everyone seems to be all excited about XIII coming to NBC. I realize NBC officially announced it on their winter line-up, but still - I think I heard about this a while back.

March 2008 Previews Pop Culture Crossover

Comics coming in May - highlights of movies, stories, and other odds and ends adapted to comics in the March Previews. More stuff from classic artists (Harryhausen and Frazetta), some new and interesting stuff, and some comics related to some awesome movies (including great sequels this year).

Movies

• Igor Movie Prequel #1 (series or mini, IDW )
  Prequel (obviously) to the animated film Igor due out in October. Star-filled cast, including Steve Buscemi, John Cusack, and John Cleese.
• Indiana Jones Adventures, Vol. 1 (pocket book, Dark Horse)
  Indiana Jones story written for kids (according to Previews).
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull #1 and 2 (2-part mini, Dark Horse)
  Adaptation of the upcoming film. With all these awesome sequels, I need to have an 80s movies weekend and rent Raiders of the Lost Ark, and...
• Lost Boys: Reign of the Frogs #1 (4-part mini, Wildstorm)
  Rather than an adaptation, this fills the gap between the original The Lost Boys and the upcoming The Lost Boys: The Tribe.
• The Man with No Name #1 (new series, Dynamite Entertainment)
  Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name immortalized in comic form. I still need to see these films...
• Ray Harryhausen Presents 20 Million Miles More (Graphic Novel, Bluewater Productions)
  Sequel to the 1957 film, 20 Million Miles To Earth.
• Tron Vol. 1: The Ghost in the Machine (TPB, Amaze Ink / Slave Labor Graphics)
  Sequel to the original film, taking place in the present day; collects the 6-issue series.

Books/Stories

• Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son #1 (5-part mini, Dabel Brothers)
  Book One in Koontz's trilogy. Adapted by Chuck Dixon.
• Hercules #1 (5-part mini, Radical Comics)
  The Greek myth revisited.
• In Odd We Trust (graphic novel, Del Rey)
  Prequel to Koontz's Koontz's Odd novels.
• The Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft (TPB, Transfuzion Publishing)
  Collection of the full-length adaptations originally published by Malibu.

Other

• Bionicle Volume 1 (TPB, Papercutz)
  Based on the toys - collects comics that were available to fan club members.
• Frank Frazetta's Swamp Demon (one-shot, Image)
  Another comic based on a Frazetta painting.

Anything else you're getting? Did I miss anything good?

Comic Book: The Movie (2004) mini review

about comics
[7/10]

Don Swann (Mark Hamill) is a comic book fan along for the ride as Hollywood takes control of his childhood hero, the patriotic Golden Age superhero, Commander Courage, and turns him into gun-toting terrorist-fighting anti-hero Codename: Courage. Well, technically, they take the grim and gritty revamp of the hero (written by Peter David), and adapt the film from this modern version of the hero (along with his sidekick who is morphed from a teenage nephew into a sexy superheroine). Swann attempts to derail the movie's production and turn it back to the original Golden Age hero.

As director and producer, Mark Hamill puts together a mostly-improv'd film with the help of several voice actors, comic creators, and other personalities. The film pokes fun at the current state of comics, including the penchant for remaking comic heroes into something more seemingly palatable for modern movie audiences.

It was genius on Hamill's part to show real people talking about the rich history of not only this fictional character, but also his creator, Jack Whitney. Names you'll recognize include Peter David, Paul Dini, Mark Evanier, Bruce Timm, Bruce Campbell, Stan Lee, Matt Groenig, Lloyd Kaufman, and Kevin Smith (talking about the Giant Spider™ yet again). And that's only the tip of the cameo iceberg. It takes place at the San Diego Comic Con, so it even attempts to be a documentary of sorts of what it's like to enjoy the chaos of the con - though, I've never been, so I don't know if it succeeds in that.

There's a lot of voice talent here, as Hamill relies on his peer group to provide a lot of the characters. I can't begin to list all their credits here, so I'll just include what they're probably most famous for, along with a few superhero parts. Tom Kenny and Jill Talley (married in real life) play Swann's friend, Derek Sprang and his wife Jill. (Kenny is famous for Spongebob Squarepants, but is also the Mayor and the Narrator on PowerPuff Girls, The Penguin on The Batman; Talley has had parts in Stripperella and The Batman). They both actually had small parts in Sky High, playing the couple the end of the film admiring their new house - my daughter was watching that on the Disney Channel the other night, and I thought I recognized them from this film. [Side note: What's this about a Plastic Man cartoon pilot on Cartoon Network in 2006 starring the couple??]

Billy West plays a long lost relative of Courage creator Whitney (he's Fry on Futurama and has had many other parts, including Captain Righteous on The Powerpuff Girls). Of course, Jess Harnell plays the cameraman (he is Wakko Warner, Sewer Urchin from The Tick, and even did voices in Kim Possible and Underdog). The Hollywood stereotypes are played by Roger Rose (many parts on Batman: The Animated Series; Four-Legged Man from The Tick) and Lori Alan (Invisible Woman from the 90's Fantastic Four series, but probably more known as Diane Simmons on Family Guy). Finally, Daran Norris plays the actor who suits up for Commander Courage, and Codename: Courage (he is J. Jonah Jameson on the new Spider-Man cartoon).

The movie's enjoyable, but there are drawbacks. Jess Harnell is fun, but overacts a bit; the improv starts to come apart about 2/3 of the way through the film; and I'm not sure what the whole Hugh Hefner scene was about, except to fit another cameo in.

Finally, I really liked this blurb in the credits:

Above all, we're thankful to the comic books themselves. So to all the artists and writers, both famous and faceless, we dedicate this film.

See it if you're a comic book or superhero fan, or a fan of indie film.

Don't see it if you're not a fan of any of those 3 things. And e-mail me letting me know why you read this blog - I'm just curious.