Category — Comics

Neil Patrick Harris (”Doogie Howser”) was never a favorite of mine, but since Josh Whedon, the guy behind “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” was behind his new web-only show, I thought I’d have a look at the popular-among-geeks “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”. The hype notwithstanding, the interesting thing about Whedon’s mini-series (just three episodes so far) is that it is entirely a web phenomenon.

The offbeat story of a bumbling super-villain and his rivalry over a cutie with pompous super-hero, Captain Hammer, played by Nathan Fillion, DHSAB is most notable as Whedon’s attempt to end run the corporate television system. One hopes it points toward the day when creative content will compete in an online marketplace where the stuff people embrace will make money—eliminating risk-averse intermediaries. Digital media may be a game-changer. This blog production could easily be done on a jvc camcorder. It makes me think, who needs a full dress television production company anymore?

Billed as a “comic opera,” it isn’t really quite funny enough and hardly resembles an opera (maybe a rock opera if you stretch it). The Who did the opera thing better though. And Doctor Who is a funnier and more intriguing doctor than Dr. Horrible.

Assault allegations be damned, The Dark Knight continues to clean up at the box office with another 75 million to add to its total!

I don’t know what it is about the movie, but I can’t get enough of it. I listened to Kevin Smith and /Film ramble on and on about it during the filmcast last week for over an hour! And I loved every second of it. They go into great detail about the Tim Burton’s films, Nolan’s films, and how it all relates (or doesn’t) to the original comics. Yeah, it’s mostly fan boy blather, but it never hurts to get Kevin Smith in on the action.

As a requisite Batman and Christian Bale fan, I have plans to see this film again, which is probably why this movie is doing so well. Heath Ledger’s death may be boosting sales, but once you sit down, you forget all about that. He simply is the Joker, this insane anarchist who gives Batman a sufficient run for his money.

Source: Pajiba box office roundup (7/28/08)

The trailer for Watchmen hit the interwebs this week. You can find it on Trailer Addict.

I dunno, Zach Snyder has been a little hit or miss with me. I loved Dawn of the Dead, but hated 300. I love that he brought tension to DotD without making it a gorefest. But with 300, it was meandering and ultimately pointless. The slo-mo effect was cool at first, but it grew old on me very fast.

Nevertheless, I’m a quite intrigued by this trailer (altho, wasn’t the body exploding motif kinda repetitve?), since I am not familiar with the Watchmen graphic novel. This movie has been in production for over a year, so I’m thinking it’s all gonna be down to the effects. And since I’m sure they’re using something a bit more high tech than a sony hd camcorder, I’m sure the long wait is justified. And at least, Snyder has been releasing some nice tidbits on his video journals.

Watchmen arrives in theaters on March 6, 2009.

(source: /film)

My dvd pick for this week is Batman: Gotham Knight, the animated movie that connects the dots between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. It’s sorta like what they did with the Animatrix, where different anime directors collaborate. David Goyer, one of the TDK screenwriters, also worked with various writers.

There is a no frills single disc and a 2-disc version, which contains extras about “Batman: The Animated Series”. I’m a big fan of the cartoon, so I’m definitely gonna go for the special edition.

Not like we need more hype, but I really do think these anime setup movies are a really cool idea. I know there are graphic novels and comics that I can look to for extra info. But I’m lazy and prefer to have everything summed up in a nice cartoon movie bow.

See a preview of the Batman:Gothic Knight here.

Lexi Alexander (director of Green Street Hooligans) is finally back on the scene with Punisher: War Zone. Maybe the director will bring an interesting feminine edge to all those violent action scenes.

Trailer Check:

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