March 24, 2019 Johanna Comic Book Films One comment

Shazam!

Thanks to a special Fandango offer, KC and I got to see Shazam! last night. It’s a fun movie, thanks largely to the outstanding performance of Zachary Levi as the 15-year-old pretending to be an adult superhero. He does an amazing job capturing the combination of adolescent swagger and uncertainty. (Asher Angel plays Billy Batson as the teen version.) But it’s also a very boy-focused film, with the characters of the various mothers and sisters inconsistent or not well-developed. I […]

March 16, 2019 Johanna Television Reviews 3 comments

Krypton: The Complete First Season

I was happy to get a review copy of Krypton: The Complete First Season, because I’m always curious, with so many superhero/comic-related TV shows out there these days, to see what a show is doing differently to set itself apart. Unfortunately, Krypton is full of things that seem familiar and feel as though you’ve seen all this before. There’s a young, generically attractive hero (Seg-El, Superman’s grandfather, played by Cameron Cuffe), rebelling against a harsh, merciless ruling culture. As a […]

March 8, 2019 Johanna Movie Reviews 7 comments

Captain Marvel: More Boring Than Expected

I went to see the newest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie release, Captain Marvel, this morning. While there was a lot about the movie I intellectually appreciated — such as its focus on female friendship — emotionally, I was left cold. And quite often, bored, waiting to get to the next set piece. Typical of current blockbusters, there’s too much focus on action scenes that can be hard to follow, since they’re set in dark spaces. I’m rarely interested in Marvel’s […]

March 2, 2019 Johanna TV News Leave a comment

Resident Alien Pilot Going to TV Series

Word came out last summer that Resident Alien, the comic book series by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse, was getting a pilot at Syfy. Now publisher Dark Horse has announced the comedic drama has made it to series. Alan Tudyk will play the alien, Harry, who, after taking on the identity of a small-town Colorado doctor, slowly begins to wrestle with the moral dilemma of his secret mission on Earth — ultimately asking the question, “Are human beings worth saving?” […]

February 25, 2019 Johanna TV News One comment

Are IDW’s Money Problems Delaying Wynonna Earp’s Next Season?

Wynonna Earp was supposed to start shooting season 4 this month, but production has been delayed, with no specific date set. Syfy renewed it at last summer’s San Diego Comic-Con, but speculation at Vulture has it that Money problems at IDW seem to be the cause of the production delay. According to a public filing posted in late December, the company has had to take out some hefty loans, and the filing cites a “need for a cash infusion.” Plus, […]

January 14, 2019 Johanna TV News Leave a comment

Boys TV Show May Be Better Than the Comic

Once upon a time, it would have been unthinkable to me not to prefer the “original” version of a comic adaptation. But now, after we’ve gotten some highly entertaining Marvel movies that streamline too many years of continuity into more approachable stories, and a cartoon version of Batman that’s more fun than anything in the comics, I’m rethinking that approach. I suspect that’s going to be particularly true of the upcoming Amazon TV version of The Boys. The comic, by […]

December 21, 2018 Johanna Movie Reviews One comment

Aquaman

I saw Aquaman last night, and as expected, it was big dumb action fun. The best thing about the movie, I thought, was the immersive visuals of the seascapes, from immense glowing underwater cities to abandoned gathering places with giant decaying statues. That’s why I was glad I saw it in the theater, even if it is too long (2 1/2 hours, almost) and could have been more tightly edited. Putting in both Ocean Master (Orm, Arthur’s half-brother, played by […]

December 19, 2018 Johanna TV News One comment

Krypton First Season Announced for Home Video

Since I cut cable, I keep forgetting that there’s another comic place show beyond Gotham and Riverdale. Krypton airs on SyFy and is set two generations before the Superman story we know, following the adventures of Superman’s grandfather, Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe), who is faced with a life and death conflict — save his home planet or let it be destroyed in order to restore the fate of his future grandson. With Krypton’s leadership in disarray and the House of El […]

« 1 2 3 4 … 108 »