Assault Girls (2009)

Assault Girls was lame. I was expecting a live action anime full of stylized action and cool visuals. Instead I got a weakly made art film involving cheap CGI and almost no plot. Do not rent. 3/10.

Serenity (2005)

Watched Serenity for the second time. Last I saw it was... 7 years ago (?) when it came out on DVD. Liked it better this time around, maybe cause I was more invested having watched part of the series now. I always liked Wash and Jayne, probably because Tudyk and Baldwin are two of my favorite character actors. But I appreciated Mal much more this time around knowing more of his backstory. I still hold that Nathan Fillion is too likable a person to convincingly play the tough as nails take no shit captain he did through most of the series without coming off like an irredeemably dislikable character. He just doesn't have it in him to convincingly be that kind of character. But I think he and Whedon found the right balance in Serenity to pull off the gruff captain with the heart of gold. And Chiwetel Ejiofor is awesome as always. Quite enjoyable outing this time around. 7/10.

One thing though. What is Joss Whedon's fetish with killer-tough bad girls all about? Buffy, River, Echo, Akima, it's like I can hear his eyes rolling into the back of his head writing these chicks. lol.

More DC Comics Animated One-offs

All-Star Superman (2011) starts with Superman trapped into being poisoned by Lex Luthor. His final days involve super-battles with a number of super-foes, finally revealing himself to Lois, and Luthor gaining Superman's powers for a day. Good animation and quality voice work in this one. The relationship with Lois was fleshed out nicely, but I really liked the scenes between Luthor and Clark Kent where Lex discusses his antagonism with Sups. 8/10.

Superman/Doomsday (2007) was just OK nothing more. I remember getting the graphic novel of this story back in the 90's when it first came out, and newspapers were running articles titled "The Death Of Superman". It ended up being a weak comic writing wise, and this movie is even weaker. Choppy, relatively cheap looking animation, with the storyline thinned out to the point of being melodramatic and anti-climactic. 5/10.

Justice League: The New Frontier (2008). This was a pretty fascinating concept. Basically a Watchmen like origin story of the League set at the height of the Cold War circa 1960, with an H.P. Lovecraftian enemy bringing the heroes and the world together. Neat animation style with character designs following the golden age comics' look and feel. Unfortunately it included the jingoism of the era. Not to mention a horribly miscast Jeremy Sisto as a gravelly Batman. All in all a pretty neat concept, but not done as well as it could have been. 6/10.

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths (2010) has the Justice League going to a parallel dimension to battle evil versions of themselves alongside a good Lex Luthor. It felt kind of long, but the battles were above average. Some nice character touches on Bats and J'onn J'onnz, with the latter even getting his Martian freak-on with the parallel president's daughter. Having the parallel superbeings "Crime Syindicate" being modeled after and talking like the New York mob was a nice touch too. However, the voice casting was abhorrent. William Baldwin as a wispy voiced Batman? Mark Harmon as a stiff throated, slightly nasally Superman? Ugh! Good thing there were quality fights where not much talking was done. Plus the whole parallel Superwoman trying to make Bats her boy-toy thing was pretty cute. I liked it as a whole, but would've rated it higher with better voice work. 7/10.

The Devil's Rock (2011)

Watched The Devil's Rock on Netflix. A New Zealand horror film set in WWII on one of the channel islands off the coast of France. It takes place on the eve of D-Day and involves a Kiwi SAS officer, a Nazi SS occult officer and a succubus from hell. Very well done for a low budget horror film. Wonderfully atmospheric and occult accurate. Well acted with good make up effects by WETA. I really enjoyed it all around. 8/10.

R.I.P. Roger Ebert (1942 - 1913)

At The Movies With Siskel & Ebert, and later Ebert & Roeper, fanned my fire for the medium of cinema as a youth. Later his solo writings did the same. His output of quality literate film reviews is stunning in its number. I imagine he was able to do this because he was so passionate about film that the words simply flowed like butter. The man was a humorous and brilliant critic, well versed in film and a cadre of other subjects. And he was a person generous of heart. Without any restraint or falsehood, I can say the man was a real american treasure. God bless Roger Ebert.

"Roger Ebert dies at 70 after battle with cancer" - Chicago Sun-Times

The Elephant Man (1980)

This morning I watched David Lynch's The Elephant Man for only the second time in my life. I clearly remember watching it when I was 8 or 9, and it was such a powerful experience that the emotions it evoked have staid with me all these years. It is perhaps the saddest movie ever made, yet vividly illustrates the beauty of human compassion. I think that schools should show children this Academy Award nominated film. Every human being should see it. 10/10.

The Ice Storm (1997)

The Ice Storm is one of those films like American Beauty that's so deep and nuanced on so many levels that you feel swamped by all the meaning and hidden truths and you're sure you'll never be able to decipher it all... but you're wiser for the experience. 8/10.

DC Comics Animated One-offs

Last week I watched five of Warner Brothers Animation Studio's releases of DC Comics based stand-alone films, that is, storylines independant of any WB/DC television series.

Batman: Under The Red Hood (2010), based on the Batman comics storyline of the same name, was about as good as any live action movie. Well animated with a killer script, with top notch voice acting to boot. I remember when Batman: The Animated Series changed the game of cartoons. Nice to see the franchise still hasn't lost it's touch. 9/10.

Justice League: Doom (2012) was enjoyable as well. Batman is one wary dude. Also, Batman is correct. When Superman says "Maybe I can move the Earth's orbit out of the path of the flare." The right reply is "Even if I had a week I couldn't explain all the reasons that wouldn't work." 7/10.

Superman Batman: Apocalypse (2010). I ended up quite liking this in spite of Kara Zor-El's annoying affect in the first half. Character introduction and development, cartoon babes, Batman being a cold badass. Plus, it had some of the best animated fight choreography I've seen in an American release. 7/10.

Superman vs. The Elite (2012). Was worth watching for the sole purpose of witnessing Superman's defense of why he never kills anyone. His illustrative example at the climax of the movie is well worth beholding. As a friend of mine said, "It... it's somethin'!" 6/10.

Batman: Year One (2011). The animated version of Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name was top notch. Briskly paced, fabulously voice-acted, and an animation style that remained true to the source. However, as an aside, I kept comparing it to the Nolan films, to which there's really no equal. In my opinion Nolan took the best parts from all of the Batman storylines and added his own genius touches and ideas to make The Dark Knight trilogy the ultimate Batman story. Regardless, as a stand alone or in that context, I happily give Batman: Year One 8/10.

Summer Blockbuster Season 2013

I basically go to the theaters to see movies that are big, action/effects filled and exciting. Movies that would loose alot of their punch viewed on my home theater as opposed to The Warren Theater's cutting edge equipment. I figure regular dramas and comedies are more acting and dialogue oriented as opposed to the visual/audio feast that is a big budget action/adventure flick. I can pretty much enjoy dramas and indie fare on DVD or Blu-ray just fine. That being said, each year I make a list of movies I plan on seeing during the Summer Blockbuster season. Here's this years list:

  4/5  JURASSIC PARK IMAX 3D
4/12  OBLIVION
  5/3  IRON MAN
5/17  STAR TREK 12
5/24  FAST & FURIOUS 6
  6/7  AFTER EARTH
6/14  MAN OF STEEL
6/21  WORLD WAR Z
6/28  WHITE HOUSE DOWN
  7/5  THE LONE RANGER
7/26  THE WOLVERINE
  8/2  300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE
  8/9  ELYSIUM
8/16  KICK ASS 2
8/23  THE WORLD'S END
  9/6  RIDDICK
9/13  MACHETE KILLS
9/20  RUSH
10/4  SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR