Archives for May, 2009
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Dustin Nguyen (The Veil), Alex Konat & Mark McKenna (Harvey Bullock), Jamie McKelvie (Leslie Thompkins), Chris Cross (Stephanie Brown) and Guillem March (Vicki Vale)
The Story
Despite the title, this one-shot issue doesn’t really deal with the question of if Batman is alive or not, aside from a line at the end and someone actually reading an issue of the fictional Gotham Gazette with the headline “Batman Alive?”
Instead, we have a series of vignettes narrated by the character The Veil, who was introduced in the recent Last Rites arc of Batman. The story moves from side characters of the Bat books, following them through their day in a world without Batman. The first tale is of GCPD’s very own Detective Harvey Bullock, who just so happens to be investigating crimes from the recent Battle for the Cowl tie-in book Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight (also written by Nicieza). From there, we move to Leslie Thompkins opening up a new clinic after returning from her exile from Gotham. The next story shows Stephanie Brown being Spoiler and stopping some bad guys. The last little short is Vicki Vale covering a ball where sons of the Bat, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, are in attendance. And as the book began, so it ends with The Veil with her narration. …continue reading
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Starring Ben Affleck, Uma Therman
Directed by John Woo
Phillip K. Dick has become Hollywood’s favorite whipping boy. Ever since the classic Blade Runner made so much money his stories have been adapted film left and right with mixed results. The John Woo film Paycheck is based on one of his short stories.
The Movie
Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck) is an engineer in the near future who makes his living reverse engineering and improving products for competing companies. Since what he does is illegal he agrees to have all memory of the work he has done erased from his mind upon its completion. …continue reading
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We cover a lot of ground this week discussing the new Zune HD, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer remake without Whedon, Fox being mad at the Dollverse, and Eddie Murphy!
Watch the series premiere May 31 at 10pm/9c. Twenty miles off the coast of eastern Africa, four modern-day explorers are sailing toward the unknown, the deep interior of Tanzania. They’ll travel over 900 miles through African terrain that is as stunning as it is fraught with danger. Using only a compass and basic maps, they will attempt to recapture the spirit of one of the world’s most remarkable adventures-journalist Henry Morton Stanley’s perilous 1871 journey to find Dr. David Livingstone. Their historic exploration has been captured by one of the premiere storytellers of our time, Mark Burnett. This is not a competition or a game. It’s a real-life adventure. Join other fans on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/History, follow History on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/History_Daily, and visit the official site http://www.history.com/expedition .
Enter To Win an Explorer’s Prize Pack featuring:
- History Channel Laptop Backpack
- Expedition Branded 35mm Disposable Camera & Photo Album
- Trek Kit including Binoculars, Flashlight, Compass, Swiss Army Knife and more
Click Here to Submit Your Name and Mailing Address!!
Contest Ends May 31st!
Directed by Penelope Spheeris
Starring Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe,
Remember Wayne’s World? Starting out as a skit on Saturday Night Live before becoming a feature film in 1992, it seemed like everyone was walking around in the early nineties saying “”asphinctersayswhat?” Paramount Home Video recently released the film on Blu Ray.
The Movie
Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) have a public access show where they discuss important worldly issues like music and which models and actresses are “babalicious”. After the show, they go to see bands, drink and dream of being famous one day. …continue reading
![Band Of Brothers [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Wb5TwvL1L._SL75_.jpg "Band Of Brothers [Blu-ray]")
Created by Alan Ball
Starring Anna Paquin, Nelsan Ellis, Stephen Moyer
OK, so I’ll admit right away that I’m not a huge fan of vampire stories and movies. Interview with a Vampire was dull to me. I just don’t like the whole idea of the romantic villain theme that is at the core of most vampire stories. Now there are exceptions such as 30 Days of Night, both the graphic novels and the film, and my favorite vampire film From Dusk til’ Dawn. When True Blood started I was interested to give it a look but my hopes weren’t high.
The Season
The first episode of True Blood really sort of took me aback because it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I was hoping for a dark violent drama/horror series. It is that but it’s also really campy and heavily laden with humor. I didn’t expect so much humor and I was disappointed. …continue reading
![Super 8 (Single-Disc Blu-ray Edition) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JFt1LlPoL._SL75_.jpg "Super 8 (Single-Disc Blu-ray Edition) [Blu-ray]")
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This week we talk Kevin Smith Comic book projects, Geeks of Doom, licorice from Australia, and gadgets galore!
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Directed by Charles Guard, Thomas Guard
Starring Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, Elizabeth Banks, David Strathairn
Asian horror films had a really brief amount of time where literally every film you watched was cool in some way. That time was really short though. Soon Asian horror films became so watered down and formulaic that those films are just as terrible as most of the PG rated horror films that hit theaters here in the States. Well, if you pay attention you’ll start to notice that most of the subpar PG films hitting theaters here in the States are actually remakes of Asian horror films. The Uninvited is one such remake. The original film, A Tale of Two Sisters, is actually a fantastically creepy and effective. So the question remains: since the source material is good how is the remake?
The Movie
Anna is a young girl returning home from a mental institution to her family. Anna was placed in the institution after the harrowing death of her mother. At home she discovers that her mother’s nurse has moved in to her family home and started a relationship with her father. …continue reading
Directed by Gerardo de Leon
Starring: Eddie Garcia, Amalia Fuentes, Mary Walter, Romeo Vasquez
Cinematic Titanic is: Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, J. Elvis Weinstein, Mary Jo Pehl
Anyone who knows me knows how I loved Mystery Science Theater 3000. The gang is back now as Cinematic Titanic and just as funny as ever. The most recent release Blood of the Vampire was recently released on DVD.
The Movie
The story behind this 1966 film just can’t be believed: a bare bones film made in the Philippines but set in 19th century Mexico and dubbed into English about vampires. Got that? …continue reading
Directed by David Fincher
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Elias Koteas, Tilda Swinton
“The years like great black oxen tread the world, And God the herdsman goads them on behind, And I am broken by their passing feet.”
- William Butler Yeats
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a movie that was tailor made to be released by The Criterion Collection and on Blu Ray.
The Movie
Benjamin Button begins his life in the most unusual way: he is born as a baby sized old man. His parents, shamed of his unusual appearance abandon him on the steps of the home of Queenie and Tizzy (Taraji P Henson and Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), two people whose hearts are full of love, even if their pockets are nearly empty of money.
It is soon revealed that Benjamin is aging in reverse. Queenie and Tizzy do the best they can with the situation and raise Benjamin to be proud no matter his unusual looks.
Benjamin meets Daisy, a seven year old girl and they bond instantly and seem destined to be soul mates. As Daisy grows older, she is played by Cate Blanchett. The two meet in the “middle” for a short time, age wise, and a passionate love blossoms fully. …continue reading
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Directed By: John Ford
Starring: Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Vera Miles
An interesting, almost peculiar movie, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is one of John Ford’s masterpieces, and a movie, after a several viewings, I can’t stop thinking about.
The Movie
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance starts out with a train pulling into the station at Shinbone, a growing western town around the turn of the century. A man and a woman are escorted off the train by the conductor and met by an old friend. A reporter noticing the deference the conductor showed the couple asks if they are worth a few lines in the Shinbone Star, the local paper. The conductor chastises the reporter “that’s Senator Stoddard and his wife, you could fill your newspaper with them.” The reporter rushes off after Senator Stoddard, Jimmy Stewart, and his wife Hallie, Vera Miles. When he catches up with the Senator the reporter begs for an interview and the Senator acquiesces suggesting their old friend Link, Andy Devine, take Hallie on a ride around town, remarking that a lot has changed. …continue reading
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The planets align and both hosts of our XBOX television series Con trek appear on this week’s episode! Alan is here every week but this time we welcome Brittney and our publicist Julie to join the shenanigans. We cover the fringe season finale, IMAX rippoffs, the death of Duke Nukem, and Daredevil!
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Directed By: Howard Hawks
Starring: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan
Another must have in Paramount’s Centennial Collection; this time Paramount drags Howard Hawks penultimate film from the archives for our enjoyment.
The Movie
After a montage of western art used as the backdrop for the opening credits we are greeted with the image of a solitary figure holding a lever action rifle in his hands walking tall down a western street. There’s a badge on his breast and he’s heard there’s a gunslinger in town so he’s going to set some things straight. …continue reading
Written by: Matt Fraction
Art by: Salvador Larroca
Matt Fraction is a writer that just sort of snuck up on me. I first noticed him back when the Iron Man film came out because he was starting with Invincible Iron Man. His job was obviously to create a series that fans of the film could jump right into. He did do that with the first story arc but as the series progressed it has worked its way into main continuity without getting bogged down or convoluted. Invincible Iron Man is in fact the best of the Dark Reign tie in books. Also, if you aren’t reading Dark Reign it doesn’t affect your enjoyment of this series. That’s the brilliance that is Matt Fraction. …continue reading
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Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Elijah Wood
Sin City on Blu Ray…you know this is going to be good. Dimension Films recently released the film on DVD and I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like.
The Movie
Just in case you somehow are unfamiliar with this juggernaut of a film and the comic book series written by Frank Miller that the film is based upon, here is a quick synopsis:
Sin City is a collection of four stores set in Basin City.
The Customer is Always Right tells the story of a hitman called The Ladykiller (Josh Hartnett) who tries to carry out his sadistic job with a grain of compassion and style. …continue reading
