After seeing Ironman and the Incredible Hulk this summer, I was inspired to look into a few origins of comic book movies.  That research evolved into a Marvel vs. DC debate with myself.  Being a fan of comic book movies, and comic books themselves, I decided to develop the debate into a review of sorts and share my findings and opinons with others.  Ironically, there was a short commentary on NPR this morning about this very subject.  If you are interested, I would suggest you check it out. 

There have been Marvel/DC debates for years among comic books fans.  That discussion has now carried over into the film world.  Over the past few years, some of the most successful movies have been adaptations from the pages of Marvel and DC.  Ironman, a Marvel adaptation and also the highest grossing movie in 2008 thus far, has already made over $500 million worldwide. 

Since 1951, approximately 44 adaptations have been released in theaters and with the super-hero trend in recent years, there are more to come.  I have compiled a list of the movies in development based off of information from Wikipedia.  I was able to confirm some of the data by cross-referencing with IMDB (Internet Movie Database), however, it is impossible to tell how accurate any of this information is.

Marvel

DC

This summer has already seen the release of two Marvel films (Ironman and The Incredible Hulk) and DC’s first flick of the year, The Dark Knight, is sure to be a success.  In addition to the ‘main’ comic rivals, there are a few films registering in the box office that are based off of the stories from other publishers.  Hellboy 2: The Golden Army is based off a character from the pages of Dark Horse and Wanted, starring Angeline Jolie, is loosely based on a series written by Mark Millar. 

The debate between Marvel and DC will sadly not be settled by the films the comics produce.  Each company has their own strengths and weaknesses as far as the films go, however, Marvel, in my opinion, comes out on top.  They have many more marketable heroes and their stories seem to reach more people.  That being said, my personal favorite is actually the DC hero, Batman.  He isn’t a ‘super’ hero.  He is simply a bad-ass detective trying to make things right while battling his own internal demons. 

If you are interested in boning up on your comic book movies, here are a few films you might want to catch.

• Superman (1978) - the original directed by Richard Donner, and in my opinion, still the best version of this good-hearted alien.
• Supergirl (1984) - not a ‘good’ movie by any means, but kind of fun to watch because it’s so bad.
• Batman (1989) - I like this version because of Jack’s Joker, but also because it’s directed by Tim Burton.  It’s a must see for all of the Batman fans.
• Batman Begins (2005) - Christian Bale’s Batman is the best.  I can’t imagine how we ever did it without him.
• Howard the Duck (1986) - Horrible movie, but where else can you see an alien duck walk hand-in-hand with Lea Thompson and her 80s hair?
• X-Men (2000) - This film exceeded all my hopes.  I would also suggest the sequels for the die-hard fans who can overlook some of the lesser qualities of those films.
• Spiderman (2002) - Wow.  If you haven’t seen this, where have you been?  It’s on TNT every other weekend.

Besides the upcoming release of The Dark Knight, I am looking forward to the set-up that Marvel is doing for the Avengers and hopefully, the DC release of the Justice League.  Also being a fan of Wolverine, I am interested in the X-men Origins movie.  Most of all, I just hope this trend of quality films continues to be produced from these companies.

It’s hard to go wrong with Pixar. Since the release of Toy Story in 1995, they really haven’t had a miss at the box office. With this most recent release, Pixar is going strong and within the next four years, they are set to release five major motion pictures including Toy Story 3 and Cars 2.

WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth-Class) tells the story of a small robot who is left on Earth after all the humans are evacuated off the planet. The evacuation takes place due to a planet-wide overflow of garbage. While WALL-E is cleaning up the place, he finds pieces of human life that interest him and finds himself lonely in the process. Spending his days making cubes of garbage, WALL-E’s only companion is a small cockroach until an unexpected spacecraft lands revealing EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), a robot sent by the corporation, Axiom, to search for any form of life on Earth. The two eventually become friends and WALL-E follows EVE into space when Axiom recovers her from Earth.

WALL-E is a fun, adventurous, cute movie. I would even venture to suggest, WALL-E is Pixar’s cutest character to date. He has the greatest personality and I couldn’t help but be reminded of Johnny 5 from Short Circuit. When creating WALL-E, the animators used inspiration from a pair of binoculars and Luxo, Jr., Pixar’s logo lamp. Besides the lovable characters in the film, the picture itself is breathtaking. Pixar continues to push the envelope in the animation world and somehow makes each film look better then the one before.

One of the things I like the most about Pixar films is the inside jokes. Somehow, the Pizza Planet delivery truck makes an appearance in every other film, John Ratzenburger always voices a character, and ‘A113’ is used in some fashion as a nod to a classroom at CalArts where many of the animators went to school. This time the inside gag is directed at Apple fans. I won’t say specifically what the joke is, however, I will say that when it happened, and happened repeatedly, I nearly fell out of my seat. Unfortunately, I think I was the only person in the theater who got it.

I’m rating WALL-E with a 4.5. It’s good enough to see in the theater and purchase for personal collections, but I won’t be watching it like I do Finding Nemo.

Not being very familiar with the television series, I went into Get Smart expecting a fun, entertaining, action movie. I was not disappointed. I will admit that I expected a little more from the script, however, the performances were excellent. I don’t think that this film could have been cast any better.

The main character, Maxwell Smart, is played by Steve Carell of The Office. His leading lady, Agent 99, is played by Anne Hathaway. I think that I was most impressed with her performance. Until now, I’m only familiar with her being a princess in Disney movies. She has really grown up since The Princess Diaries was released in 2001. She is the ideal pairing for Steve Carell. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson rounds out the cast as Agent 23.

As I previously stated, I was slightly disappointed with the script. The basic story wasn’t all bad, just not quite what I was expecting and a little too predictable. Get Smart tells the story of how Maxwell Smart becomes a member of the secret government agency referred to as Control. Control’s main job is to rid the world of evil-doers, specifically to thwart the plans of their nemesis, KAOS. Throughout the course of the movie, Smart gets into a series of mishaps caused primarily, by his own clumsiness. Despite his awkwardness, he is actually a decent spy.

Although this film is primarily billed as a comedy, it also stands its ground as a pretty decent action flick. The action scenes were well choreographed and not over done.

As I have eluded to in other reviews, I feel that movie trailers these days give too much of the plot away. They tend to leave nothing to be desired. I felt that way about The Incredible Hulk and after seeing Get Smart, I think that they could have left a few parts out of the trailer to make the film more special. Some of the best parts of the film are unfortunetly included in the trailer.

I would give Get Smart a 3 out of 5. I think it’s an entertaining movie and some parts could be better appreciated in the theater, but it may not be worth the price of a movie admission. Unless you’re a die-hard fan of the television series, my advice is to wait until it’s available for rental.

After the 2003 release of The Hulk, starring Eric Bana, I was somewhat put off by the Hulk’s story. Needless to say, I was skeptical of what Transporter 2 director, Louis Leterrier, would have in store for the audiences of The Incredible Hulk. I was pleasantly surprised.

The film opens with a montage of the Hulk’s back story. This seems to be a trend with newer movies with character heavy history and I like it. It’s a good refresher course for the masses and it helps the action start quicker rather then spending 30-45 minutes explaining character origin. The Incredible Hulk follows the basic outline of Bruce Banner being a loner and constantly running from the advances of the government. This film delves a little deeper into Banner attempting to cure his condition and coming to grips with who he is. There are some tremendous battle scenes, which depict the Hulk as the tough guy he is and some scenes that are actually a bit frightening. Over all, the story is plausible and dialogue is not overly cheesy.

Going into the film, casting was merely one element I was concerned about. Edward Norton stars in the film as Bruce Banner, our tragic hero, with Liv Tyler as his leading lady, Betty Ross. I am a huge fan of Norton’s work, but just wasn’t sure if he was right for the role of Banner. I am also a fan of Tyler’s work. She seems to mold herself into her roles and does a wonderful job executing her parts. I was mostly concerned about the story not being able to carry the film, not the actors’ abilities. Luckily, the story held together and the pair had some great on-screen chemistry, pulling off their roles almost flawlessly. Tim Roth, Emil Blonsky, did a great job being a power-hungry villain, as did William Hurt playing the role of General Thaddeus Ross.

My biggest criticism of the film is the trailer. It left no surprises for the movie. The longer two-minute long trailer shows the villain, the hero and parts of their epic battle. this is an unfortunate trend with movie trailers. A job of a trailer, especially a teaser-trailer, is to entice the audience into wanting to see it. The Incredible Hulk’s trailer shows the entire story. After seeing it, why would anyone feel the need to spend $8 to see the film? Well, I will tell you that spending the money on the ticket is worth it especially for Marvel fans. It’s basically another character set-up for The Avengers, scheduled to be released in 2011 (I’ll write more about that later).

I will give The Incredible Hulk a rating of 4.5. I think it is definitely worth seeing in the theater, but some less than hard core fans could wait to see it in the cheap theater.

Indiana Jones fans beware. I will admit that I went to this movie with somewhat high expectations because I am a fan of the franchise. To me, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull totally missed the mark. I was hoping for a fun old-fashioned action/adventure and what I was given was a washed-up version of the original.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is set in 1957, almost 20 full years after Last Crusade took place and at the peak of the cold war. Due to the time period, the obvious villains in the plot are members of the Soviet Union led by a woman played by Cate Blanchett. After evading his Russian captures, Indy is approached by Mutt Williams, played by Shia LeBeouf, who is hoping to track down an old friend and his mother. This is, of course, the device that leads Indy into his whirlwind journey into the jungle in order to save the world.

Even though this film was a disappointment to me, I do think a lot of things were done right. The casting felt right, the dialogue wasn’t overly cheesy, and the acting was actually not that bad. I also enjoyed the fact that the story revolved around events during the time in which the movie was set. That being said, I had two big problems with the film.

First, the villain didn’t seem threatening enough. The other issue I had centers around the ‘artifact’ they are attempting to find. It just felt as though the story was rushed and that they tried to do too much with it. I think the film would have worked much better had the filmmakers simplified it.

In my opinion, Raiders of the Lost Ark remains the best film of the series. Last Crusade follows in second place in my book because to me, it has the same feel as Raiders. Last place is a toss up for me between Temple of Doom, due to its disconnect from Raiders and Last Crusade, and Crystal Skull because of its utter lack of soul.

I would give Crystal Skull a rating of 3. It’s not worth the money to see it in the theater, but I would recommend it as a rental to any fans of the franchise.

It’s been a few months since I’ve written about my favorite piece of Evansville architecture, but the Courier & Press published a story this morning about the return of the summer movie series that takes place outside of the old theater.

Friday evening at 8PM, the Fourth Friday Film Classics series kicks off for another season with a showing of All About Eve, the 1950’s film starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter and Marilyn Monroe. The movie won’t be shown inside the theater as renovations are still pending that will bring the building up to modern standards. Alhambra Theater Inc, the nonprofit organization in charge of renovations, is still awaiting the $200,000 in federal grants that will go towards the restoration.

If you want to know a bit more about the history of the theater, there’s also going to be a talk this evening by Andy Jeffries, a recent USI graduate who researched the theater’s history. Jeffries will discuss the original history of the building as well as several of the failed renovation attempts starting at 7PM at the Willard Library. If you’re interested in one of Evansville’s neatest landmarks, check it out.

photo courtesy of SUPERBANANABOMB

I was planning on writing an Iron Man/ Speed Racer double-review, but seeing as it has been almost two weeks since its release, I find it necessary to reveal my thoughts about Iron Man.

As I have mentioned in the past, I am a comic book fan. Not fanatic. Fan. That being said, I am not as familiar with the Iron Man mythology as I am say, Spider-man. Without very little knowledge of Iron Man, I was leery that I would miss some important back story if the film did a lousy job of describing this comic book hero. There are some comic movies that skip important details that reveal a lot about a character just to get to the action. Luckily, that was not the case with Iron Man. Yes, there are decent action scenes, but for the most part, the movie is about the story of Iron Man, not the action of Iron Man.

I was also completely impressed with the quality of acting in this film. Robert Downey, Jr. was meant to play Tony Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Stark’s assistant, Pepper Potts. I never would have pictured her as a super-assistant, but she is. Iron Man is directed by veteran actor, Jon Favreau.

Normally, I would give a synopsis, but I figure that the people who will go to see either already know Iron Man’s story or want to find out about Iron Man on their own. So, in the interest of not spoiling it, there will be no synopsis this time. I will, however, give a warning. Stay through the credits. There is an epilogue, and it’s one of the best one’s I’ve ever seen.

As eluded to in my Summer Movie Preview, I am introducing a rating system with the summer releases. It is a five-point system with one being the lowest. The intention is to give you an idea of whether or not it is worth spending the $8 it costs to see the movie in the theater or if you shouldn’t ever see it, even if it’s free.

5 - Must see in the movie theater.
4 - Good enough to see in the cheap theater.
3 - Wait for rental.
2 - Watch on network/cable television.
1 - Never see this film.

Based on this rating scale, I would suggest that Iron Man rates at a 5. Not because it is a perfect film, but because it is worth seeing in a good movie theater.

The summer movie season is upon us. I thought I would take a short break from my regular reviews to give you a look at what’s coming up within the next couple of months.

Iron Man
Iron Man is a film adaptation of a Marvel comic book hero. The man behind the mask, Tony Stark, is played by Robert Downey, Jr. This is your classic good against evil fight and in the tradition of other comic book heroes, I expect that there will also be internal struggle within the heart of the main character. Directed by veteran actor, Jon Favreau (director, Elf), the highly anticipated, Iron Man is scheduled to release May 2.

Speed Racer
GO SPEED RACER!! I think I am looking forward to this one due to the novelty of it, but it might surprise everyone and actually be a good movie. Speed Racer is an adaptation from a Japanese animated series. The film is written and directed by the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix Trilogy). I just hope they don’t try to make this one a trilogy. Speed Racer begins May 9.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Disney productions takes us into the next book of the The Chronicles of Narnia series. Prince Caspian takes the Pevensie siblings back to Narnia where hundreds of years have passed since their last visit. The cast from the first film returns with the addition of Ben Barnes (Stardust) in the role of Caspian. Prince Caspian is set to begin on May 16.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
This is a sequel 19 years in the making. The last Indiana Jones movie was released in 1989 when I was nine years old. I can’t remember a time when Indiana Jones wasn’t a household name. Even if this movie doesn’t meet my expectations, I will still enjoy the ride. Harrison Ford is in the title role with Steven Spielberg directing him. Shia LeBeouf (Transformers) joins the cast and Karen Allen returns as Marion Ravenwood when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is released on May 23.

Sex and the City
They’re back! Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha are still taking New York by storm four years after HBO called it quits for the series. Not much is known about this plot, but with all the Sex and the City fans out there, I predict it will be big during the weekend of May 30th.

The Happening
We’ve Sensed It. We’ve Seen The Signs. Now… It’s Happening. That tagline was way too good not to include. The Happening is M. Night Shymalan’s newest creation. This time he’s dragged Mark Wahlberg into his world. It’s about a large-scale natural disaster that people have to run from. That’s all we know going into it. What will the ‘twist’ be this time? I suppose we’ll find out June 13th.

The Incredible Hulk
Oh, Bruce Banner. You’ve been gone from the silver screen for so long. Oh wait, it’s only been five years. Seriously, this has to be some kind of record. Hulk was released in 2003 by director Ang Lee starring Eric Bana. This time Edward Norton is taking on the Hulk and pulling double duty as a co-screenwriter with Zal Penn (X-Men) and Transporter director, Louis Leterrier at the helm. I like the Incredible Hulk. I like Ed Norton. I just hope that it does well enough that the movie studios don’t remake it in another five years. The Incredible Hulk is also set to release on June 13th.

Get Smart
I’m familiar with the television series Get Smart, but I’m by no means any kind of fan of the series. I do, however, love Steve Carell. He is reprising the role of Maxwell Smart in this film adaptation of the TV show. By Carell’s side is Anne Hathaway portraying Agent 99 and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as Agent 23. Not knowing much about the franchise, I’m compelled to see this film based on the talent of the cast alone. Get Smart is starting June 20th.

WALL-E
Disney/Pixar’s latest creation WALL-E is set to take center stage on June 27th. It’s about a cute robot in the year 2700. The trailer is beautiful and it’s a Pixar film. That’s enough for me. Some of the voices will be played by John Ratzenberger, Sigourney Weaver, Kathy Najimy, and Fred Willard.

The month of the July is the month of sequels. The biggest releases in July include, Hellboy II, X-files 2, and The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins. There will be more on those later along with a preview of the fall movie releases, which includes Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince.

In addition to the seasonal movie previews, I am also going to introduce a rating scale to my reviews. The scale is one through five (five being the highest) and is based off of whether or not it’s worth seeing in the the theater. Stay tuned…it’s going to be a big summer!

What do you do when you have your heart broken? Do you eat a pint of Ben and Jerry’s? Do you cry on your best friend’s shoulder? Do you slip into a depressive coma for a couple of weeks? In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the remedy Peter uses is a trip to Hawaii.

Peter, played by Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother), is a musician/composer who is dumped by his girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), a television actress. After the break-up, Peter decides to take a trip to Hawaii to hopefully forget about Sarah and begin moving on with his life. Unfortunately, Sarah is staying at the same resort with her new boyfriend, Aldous Snow. The two continuously bump into each other making for some very awkward moments.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the same brand of raunchy humor as Knocked Up and The Forty Year Old Virgin. If you did not enjoy either of those films, chances are you won’t like this one either. I would, however, recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good laugh and is not easily shocked. Forgetting Sarah Marshall gives you the same type of awkward moments, as The Office and the characters are easily relatable because of their authenticity.

I enjoy this new genre of romantic comedy because it gives actors a chance to shine in something other then dramatic roles. These films made popular by producer, Judd Apatow, are shedding a lot of light onto some new talent. Peter Segel, who has been in several of Apatow’s films, has a starring role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall not only as an actor, but also as the writer. The additional cast members include Mila Kunis (That 70’s Show), Paul Rudd (Knocked Up), and Jonah Hill (Superbad).

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. The MPAA have given Forgetting Sarah Marshall a rating of R for sexual content, language and some graphic nudity. I give it a rating of 3.5/5 because it is an entertaining movie, but doesn’t necessarily need to be seen in the theater.

In Shutter, a pair of newlyweds, Ben (Joshua Jackson) and Jane (Rachel Taylor) move to Tokyo, Japan shortly after their wedding. Ben has taken a photography job with a large company where one of his friends works. Throughout the film, Ben and Jane start experiencing strange phenomena, which Jane believes to be tied a car accident shortly after they arrived in Japan. The events Ben and Jane experience lead them to investigate the life of a girl who appeared in the middle of the road causing the car accident.

Shutter is a remake of a Thai film made in 2004 by the same name. And while it certainly isn’t the best horror movie I’ve ever seen, it does qualify as decent. I felt pretty uneasy throughout the movie once the action got rolling. I even jumped a couple of times. One of the creepiest elements of the movie was ‘the girl’. She was reminiscent of the girl from The Ring. However, she had a lot more screen time then The Ring’s girl.

I was actually intrigued by the plot device used for the ‘horror’ element. Ben and Jane begin to see streaks in their pictures that they pass over at first as ruined film. When Ben’s assistant sees them, she refers to them as ‘Spirit Pictures’. The explanation in the movie discusses how an intense emotion can tie a spirit to a person and can sometimes appear to them when picture are developed. After the completion of the film, I was interested in this concept enough that I did a quick search online. I did discover that this is a real idea and not just something thought up by the movie’s writers. Most spirit photos are either faked or can be explained scientifically, but to me, it’s still intriguing.

I’d recommend this movie to any horror fans. I think it will be most appreciated by those who are fans of the genre. Others may just see it as a waste of time. It is a little on the gruesome side, showing some violence and blood, but it’s pretty tame. One more fun fact of this movie. Fans of The Office, Heroes and Nip/Tuck will see cameo appearances by some regular cast members of those shows. Not too surprising. What else did they have to do during the strike?