Surrogates

I enjoyed Surrogates, the science-fiction thriller starring Bruce Willis, more than I expected, and I’m glad I saw it. I even enjoyed it more than the graphic novel it was based on. That’s because I was always more involved in the cultural and societal changes than the murder mystery. It was easier to see how the world was different (and yet similar) on the screen instead of on the page. Although I appreciated the ways they changed the plot in […]

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Whiteout (The Movie)

I went to see Whiteout last weekend with a couple of friends, and obviously, I didn’t feel the need to rush out my opinions on it. That’s because most everyone is in agreement: it’s not a very good movie. Estimates suggest an opening weekend gross of around $5 million, less than the horror film Sorority Row, which was made for about a third of Whiteout‘s $35 million production cost. That’s considered a disappointment, and word of mouth hasn’t been good. […]

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Watchmen: Director’s Cut

I was happy I went into this “blind”, not having seen the movie in theaters. At the time Watchmen came out, I was kind of tired of hearing about it, so now I could approach it with fewer preconceptions. Plus, since the director’s cut is now about three hours long, I appreciated being able to pause it as needed. An extra 25 minutes have been added into this version, promoted as “more Rorschach and a scene of Hollis Mason’s death”. […]

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Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1942

Review by KC Carlson First of all, the title is confusing and possibly in error. Although called Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1942, the Fleischers were only involved with the first nine of the 17 Superman cartoons collected here on two discs. The remaining eight were produced by the company set up by Paramount after they forced the Fleischers out of their own studio in 1942. That company was called Famous Studios and included many of the same artists and animators that […]

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Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter / Under the Hood

These two special features collected on DVD are due in stores March 24. Tales of the Black Freighter 26 minutes. Rated R for “violent and grisly images”. (That’s fun to say.) Those images consist of various body parts floating around the ocean, and bodies exploding from decay, and the protagonist building a raft of bodies. Anyone who’s read the graphic novel or seen the movie won’t be terribly shocked by all this, I fear. (And if you haven’t, why would […]

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Punisher: War Zone Flops

As reported by Tom McLean, Punisher: War Zone is considered a failure. It had the worst opening ever for a Marvel-related movie, at $4 million over the weekend. I feel no glee at this. It wasn’t my kind of movie, but for those who like testosterone-soaked bullet-fests, it seemed watchable. I think McLean has it right, that it’s a matter of timing. December films are expected to be blockbuster crowd-pleasers, family films, or prestige pics; this is none of the […]

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Spirit Promotion Continues

Thanksgiving weekend is the traditional opening of the blockbuster Christmas movie season, which means not only new films but new trailers and more promotion. The Spirit, for example, which opens on Christmas Day, has released a new poster, shown here, as well as a couple of videos. There’s a mashup video combining elements of the trailers from The Spirit, Punisher: War Zone (due December 5), and Transporter 3 (out on Wednesday). Pretty cool, with neat music. You’ll probably want to […]

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Hellboy

Since Hellboy 2: The Golden Army comes out on DVD next week, it’s time for me to watch the first movie, Hellboy, for the first time. Overall, I liked it, but I don’t have much to say about it. It’s very true to the comic book in its visuals, perhaps just as much as Sin City, although in a much more subtle way. Like the comic book, the point is what you see, not so much the story, which is […]

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