October 2006

Unlimited Justice League!  Holy Moley!!

  • Title: Justice League Unlimited – Season Two
  • tv.com: link

justice-league-unlimited-season-one-dvdAfter two seasons on Cartoon Network Justice League was revamped into a series not only about the seven greatest heroes of the DC Universe, but including all the super-heroes who gave their lives to the pursuit of justice.  Fans of any incarnation of the Justice League will find something to enjoy here as the series tries to give a nod to each incarnation.

After the events of Starcrossed, where the league battled the invading Thanagarian army, Hawkgirl is no longer a member of the team, and, now aware of larger threats, the remaining six original members decide to open up the ranks of the Justice League and recruit more heroes.

Gone, for the most part, are the two episode story arcs.  Instead we get individual episodes that pair up original members with some of the new members of the team which include Supergirl, Green Arrow, The Question, Black Canary, The Huntress, Red Tornado, Ray, Rocket Red, Dr. Fate, Captain Atom, the Atom, Atom Smasher, and more.

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Comic Book Shelf

Hey there true believers!  Today the eleventh issue of our Comic Book Shelf edition hits our newsstand.  Want to know what’s getting released today at the old comic shop but too busy, or lazy (not that there’s anything wrong with that), to bother?  Well no sweat Bat-fans as we’ve got the scoop of what comics and graphic novels are hitting the shelves today.

This week’s releases include Planetary, Daredevil, Trials of Shazam!, Astro City: The Dark Age Book 2, New Avengers, Superman/Batman Annual, Ultimate Spider-Man, Seven Soldiers, Deathblow, and more!

If you’re looking for graphic novels you don’t want to miss Black Panther: The Bride, Supergirl and The Legion of Super-Heroes: Strange Visitors from Another Century, Daredevil: The Devil, Inside and Out, Heroes Reborn: The Fantastic Four, Showcase Presents the Phantom Stranger Vol. 1, and more.

For the full list check inside…

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New on DVD

Another Tuesday, another batch of DVDs thrown at the consumer to purchase.  Ah, capitalism.

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Just in time for Halloween, it’s three scary movies!  There’s Monster House for the kids, Slither for the gut-busters out there and, scary enough to make anyone wet themselves, Nacho Libre

Film:

Monster House – You may have read last week’s column when I declared Over the Hedge to be the best animated film of the year.  This was a sloppy statement, because I had completely forgotten Monster House.  Erie, unnatural and with a bit of sophomoric humor (Mountain Dew bottles are used to store . . . similarly colord liquids,) it was a perfect realization of how a The Twilight Zone movie for the whole family would look like.  Another plus of the film is the look – instead of jumping on the bandwagon of making everything look more real in CG movies today, House went for style.  Instead of having every character’s hair blow gently in the breeze, this one just glues the hair down to the head, in a style not unlike claymation.  And best of all, it never ascends PG-rated frights, making House a great way to introduce your kids to scary movies.  Alan enjoyed the ride too, as you can read by kindly clicking here.

Nacho Libre – I love Jack Black.  I loved Napoleon Dynamite.  So, naturally, when I heard that Black and the director of Dynamite, Jared Hess were making a movie together called Nacho Libre, I was very content.  One year later, I was somewhat less content while in a theater watching Nacho.  Why?  Because I never perceived that a Jack Black vehicle could be so mind-shatteringly dull.  As hard as this film tries to be so obscure and silly that it gives the viewer a wave of giggles; Nacho only has one scene that inspires chuckles, every other shot is just of Black and friends being weird.  Aaron didn’t exactly disagree in his short review

Slither – 2006 has been a good year for comedy.  It’s given us Little Miss Sunshine Borat, Strangers With Candy and Little Miss Sunshine – all delivering laughs in high abundance.  But even in such a successful year for humor, Slither has a good shot of being the funniest movie of the bunch.  A send-up of horror a la Shaun of the Dead, Slither takes up the particularly simple (and easily achieved) task of pointing out everything mindless about a horror movie.  Shaun and Slither will find an identical audience, with the only differences between the movies being that the latter is less romance-oriented, and a lot scarier.  Scary enough, with its red and shriveled man-eating slugs, to be the creepiest movie put out in at least the last year.  If justice is alive, then Slither will find an audience on DVD.

Special Edition:

Reservoir Dogs: 15th Anniversary Edition – Hot off the heels of the 10th Anniversary edition comes this third edition of those ear-cutting Dogs to DVD.  Compared with the long line of Special Features from the last edition, 15 doesn’t have much to offer.  It scraps off just about everything from that edition except deleted scenes, while adding a couple of docs and . . . get excited . . . ENGLISH SUBTITLES!  A purchase for the die-hardiest of die-hard fans.

Television:

Batman Beyond: Season Two – Okay, nothing’s ever going to top the Bruce Timm-produced Batman from the 90s.  It’s just not going to happen.  Having said that, Batman Beyond is not a complete waste of time.  One of the first cartoons to embrace a jagged, straight line-oriented look that has come to dominate action cartoons today, Beyond was carefully designed and written to keep it from falling into just being a kids show, with solid plot lines that could appeal to any nine-year-old boy and his dad.

SNL: The Best of Saturday TV Funhouse The Ambiguously Gay Duo?  Ex-Presidents?  As someone who watched and studied Will Ferrell era SNL throughout middle school in the hopes of becoming funnier, the Robert Smigel helmed short cartoons hit close to home.  The crude animation paired with obscurely silly humor worked better than many of the live-action skits on SNL, and with voice actors like Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert what reason don’t you have to check this out?

The Swan – You’re kidding me.  I mean really, you’re kidding me, right FOX?  I still have a hard enough time believing there was ever a show like The Swan, a reality show where they turn the less attractive members of our society into beauty queens, and torture the contestants by not letting them within sight of a mirror while they undergo plastic surgery liposuction and recovery from such procedures, but now you’re putting it on DVD so it can live on forever?  Really?

That’s My Bush! – Before I was allowed to watch South Park, my parents and I would make an occasion of every Wednesday night to watch That’s My Bush!, a live-action show about George W. that mocked the average American Sit-com just as much as the American President, created by the same guys that gave us South Park.  With the annoyingly perfect neighbor, a catch-phrase that ended every episode (“Oh Laura, one of these days, I’m gonna punch you in the face!”)  and even a traditional, couch dominated Sit-com living room set that occupied the White House, Bush somehow managed to be hilarious regardless of your feelings on the namesake of the show.  With only 13 episodes, it left office early but used its time wisely.

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This Week

So what’s out there this week?  Well today we’ll take a look at the films scheduled to be released which include a great deal of limited release and indie films like The Bridge, Climates, Cocaine Cowboys, Conversations with God, Cruel World, Death of a President and Shut Up & Sing. Don’t worry, there are a few you will get to see at tyour local theaters like Catch A Fire and Saw III.

C’mon in and let us get you ready for the week!

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Here’s what’s scheduled to hit theaters this week.  Want to know more?  Just click on the title for film info including a full cast list.  Want a closer look?  Just click on the poster to watch the trailer.

Opening Friday:

Catch A Fire

From a powerful storyteller and director, Phillip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence), Catch A Fire is a heartbreaking and heroic South African journey. Based on a real-life hero, Patrick Chamusso, this political thriller of a normal everyday guy who lives a close edged life during the new Africa under apartheid. He coaches, provides for his wife and two daughters and stays out of the politics; keeps his nose clean until Colonel Nic Vos suspects him of a sabotage against the oil refinery. Wrongly accused and put through brutal torture, not only on himself, but his wife too, Patrick begins to fight back and becomes what they have accused him of. Be prepared for a powerful and heart tugging tale.

Saw III

The puppet-master is back for the third round of cruel, twisted and sadistic crap. What a sick franchise Saw has become, when will it ever stop? I can’t stomach one ounce of this human torture and grotesque displays of bondage and torment, but someone must, cause it’s back again. Same guy abducts another young innocent and puts her through hell to keep another one of the master’s puppets alive as he goes through self mutilation and torture to solve the puzzle. Just in time for Halloween, I sure do miss the less gruesome days of Freddy and Jason.  Director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II) returns with Tobin Bell, a.k.a. Jigsaw.

Opening Friday, in Limited Release:

Cocaine Cowboys

Director, Billy Corben (Raw Deal: A Question of Consent) creates a documentary about the cocaine trade in Miami since the 70’s and how it has turned the glamorous paradise into a homicidal cesspool. Amongst the glamour, partying hot spots and good times of the early 80’s to the destruction of a beautiful place through the cartel, Cocaine Cowboys is a gritty film about real life tragedy.  Alan was lucky enough to see this at this year’s FilmFest KC just weeks ago.  The film opens in limited release on Friday in select cities, but if you aren’t in a city where it will be showing you can always check back with us on Friday and check out Alan’s review.

Conversations with God

Based on the true story of Neale Donald Walsch, a down and out on his luck kind of guy who finds God and millions in his international best seller from it. If I sound like a bit of a pessimist, that’s because I am. If you are a true believer and God answered your needs, do you really sell it to the highest bidder?  Sorry, had to go on a bit of a personal rant. Here is another way to help boost sales of an internationally acclaimed book that has “helped millions worldwide”. Conversations with God gives the audience a play by play of what happens to this down and out man between the point of despair to the answers he received within and finally ending with being a bestselling author.

Cruel World

Indeed it is a very Cruel World, but that isn’t exactly what the film is about. A sore loser from the reality show becomes completely off his rocker and traps the 9 other contestants into his own reality show. One by one, as they are voted off the island (if you will), the coeds are slaughtered. What a twisted and sick thing to throw upon an unexpected audiences, a reality show full of coeds, Edward Furlong and death all wrapped up in a very low budget package.  Also starring are Susan Ward, Sanoe Lake, Laura Ramsey, Aimee Garcia, Nicole Bilderback, Andrew Keegan, and Jaime Pressly.  It opens in limited release on Friday.

Death of a President

From the films site: DEATH OF A PRESIDENT follows the investigation of the fictional assassination of President George W. Bush in October 2007. Combining real archival footage with a credible but fictional story, “Death of a President” presents a fascinating and thought-provoking political thriller. Read further details. I’m going to have to see this film; it’s going to be one hell of a controversy.  Directed by Gabriel Range and co-writtne by Simon Finch; the pair worked together in the past to make The Men Who Broke Britain and The Day Britain Stopped.  The film opens in limited release in select cities on Friday.

The Bridge

The Bridge is a documentary of the most famous jumping off points in life, The Golden Gate Bridge. Shot from two different perspectives and hundreds of hours of film with interviews from suicides friends and families, film makers Eric Steel, Peter McCandless and Sabine Krayenbuhl put together this somber look at human inner sufferings while the rest of the world goes on their daily chores. The film was shot in 2004 capturing the smallest human link between 24 people and their 4 seconds to death.  It’s Rated-R for it’s pull-no-punches subject matter, so not your typical family fare.  The documentary opens in limited release on Friday.

Shut Up and Sing

Rock on Dixie Chicks. Spend a day in their shoes, see what it was like to be the country music’s lead female group to speak their minds against our noble president. Shut Up and Sing is a documentary that follows the Dixie Chicks lives through out the past 3 years of tours, marriage, death threats, family, political attacks and making music after the comment about Bush. I’m glad we are in another country fighting for their rights and freedom of speech (keeping women from being hidden and abused), but all along we are suppose to oppress our true believes and stay under an invisible veil in our own country. What makes all of this wrong is not only the opposition the government took against these 3 young ladies, but what we as a nation did. What ever happened to freedom of speech and having our own beliefs? I must question, would the same exact interrogation had happened to a male who would have spoke the same way? Is it time for us to burn our bras again?

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Pretty in Pink

  • Title: Marie Antoinette
  • IMDb: link

Marie AntoinetteThis is what a film should look like.  Visually, it’s a cinematic treat in the purest meaning; a vacation for your eyes from the copious dull white streets of suburbia, the stacks of rows of white cubicles, the houses with white trim and white refrigerators.  Marie Antoinette is an assault on the visually dull, attacking the viewer with dulled but somehow vibrant colors that are all too often shunned from our modern world.

Marie (Kirsten Dunst) is just your average teenager.  She lives with her parents, loves her dog and has a prolific wardrobe to say the least.  Really, the only thing that sets her apart is that she marries a Prince and eventually becomes the Queen of France; but that’s it really.

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