Four Color Freak-Out
If you’ve got some free time and want to hear a three nerds talk about Man of Steel and a week of comics take some time and check out the latest Four Color Freak-Out podcast.
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Coming Soon
- Title: 300: Rise of an Empire
- IMDB: link
With the distaste of Man of Steel still fresh, I offer up to you the first full-length trailer for the extended video game cut-scene 300 sequel 300: Rise of an Empire produced by Zack Snyder. The sequel centers on the Greek general Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) and the Greek naval battle with the Persians under the command of Artemesia (Eva Green) and Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). Jack O’Connell, Andrew Tiernan, Callan Mulvey, Mark Killeen, Andrew Pleavin, and Ashraf Barhom also star. 300: Rise of an Empire opens in theaters August 2nd.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #22
- Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #22
- Comic Vine: link
- Writer: Andrew Chambliss
- Artist: Georges Jeanty
The battle for control of The Deeper Well and the life of Dawn has begun as Buffy and her rag tag band take on the demon defenders determined not to let the Slayer anywhere near the last refuge of magical energy remaining on the planet. In the midst of the battle Buffy will learn of Xander‘s betrayal as one of Buffy’s oldest friends helps Severin and Simone sneak in the well in hopes that the Siphon can gather enough magical energy to reset the past.
As Buffy and her friends fight for Dawn, and after Xander’s betrayal the fate of the world, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #22 also offers a back-up story involving Spike trying to slow Dawn’s dissapearance by reminding Buffy’s little sister of her life (something which becomes hard to do once Spike realizes he’s starting to forget Dawn, too). It comes a little out of the blue, but their conversation reminds fans of the pair’s odd friendship that begin even before Spike got his soul back.
Although the battle for The Deeper Well is only begun, the issue ends with all the cards on the table and the fate of Dawn growing more desperate by the minute. Worth a look.
[Dark Horse, $2.99]
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Not Exactly Super
- Title: Man of Steel
- IMDb: link
With the box office disappointment of last year’s Green Lantern, the end of Christopher Nolan‘s Batman series, and most of the specifics of 2015’s Justice League still to be determined, DC Comics and Warner Bros. have put all their support behind a new Superman franchise helmed by 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder. The result is an often puzzling piece of filmmaking that breaks away from both decades of comic history and the ghost of Richard Donner‘s Superman to create a New 52-ish take on the character (i.e. grittier and largely absent of joy or wonder) that, despite its preponderance of extended action scenes, is one of the most boring super-hero films ever made.
Much like Green Lantern (which is in every measurable way a superior film), Man of Steel decides to redesign its leading man for the silver screen. The muted palette and organic earthy feel of Snyder’s version of Superman’s homeworld of Krypton (where the film’s first 25 minutes takes place) may remind you of Green Lantern‘s version of Oa, but it’s just one of many steps in distancing the character from his rich comic history.
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Before Midnight
- Title: Before Midnight
- IMDB: link
In 1995 Richard Linklater and stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy collaborated on a small independent film which centered around a burgeoning romance between an American man and French woman on the final day of his European vacation before flying home the next morning. Set against the backdrop of Vienna, Before Sunrise is the kind of movie romance, centered on two people meeting and falling love and honestly discussing their feelings, beliefs, and desires, that Hollywood has long since given up trying to make in favor of the type of contrived romantic comedies Katherine Heigl and Kate Hudson are known for. It’s also the beginning of one of the least probable movie franchises ever conceived.
Nine years after making the original film, which ended with Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy) parting ways with plans to reconnect in the near future, Linklater reconnected with his two stars and put out a sequel set in real time as the two star-crossed lovers reconnected for an afternoon on the streets of Paris in Before Sunset before Jesse was scheduled to fly back home that night.
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