the m0vie blog

Playhouse Presents: Nixon’s The One (Review)

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Darren

I can’t help but feel just a little bit disappointed by Nixon’s the One. Sky Arts have been producing a series of television plays as part of Playhouse Presents bringing together a wealth of talent including Emma Thompson, Richard E. Grant, Tom Jones, David Tennant, John Hurt, Stellan Skarsgård, Stephen Fry and Olivia Williams among others. Nixon’s the One, the third in the series of ten plays, caught my eye because it was a re-enactment of various exerts from Nixon’s infamous White House tapes, brought to life by a talented cast. While the approach is fascinating and Harry Shearer makes a convincing Nixon beneath far too much make-up, the play is simply too short to capture any real portrait of America’s most controversial President. It drops some interesting insights, but doesn’t have enough room to expand or develop them beyond what we already knew of Nixon.

Just dossier-ing around…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Billy Graham, Harry Shearer, Henry Kissinger, hollywood, nixon, oliver stone, Oval Office, playhouse presents, Richard E. Grant, richard nixon, Ronald Reagan, Sky Arts, Stephen Fry, United State, Washington, watergate tapes | Leave a comment »

Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont Omnibus, Vol. 1 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Darren

With our month looking at Avengers comics officially over, we thought it might be fun to dig into that other iconic Marvel property, the X-Men. Join us for a month of X-Men related reviews and discussion.

Chris Claremont wrote Uncanny X-Men for seventeen years, which is really quite a run in mainstream American comics, especially for a writer who didn’t create the property that he was working on. Over the course of a defining run that lasted almost two decades, the creator shaped the franchise from the forgotten stepchild of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby – cancelled and reduced to reprints – into Marvel’s biggest and most successful comic book franchise. While the book hadn’t quite made it to the top of the sales charts by the end of this omnibus collection, it was well on its way – and you can see Claremont gradually moulding the team into the iconic collection of mutants that we’d see across a myriad of mediums.

Marvel had a smash hit on their hands…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: chris claremont, comic book review, jack kirby, joss whedon, marvel comics, marvel omnibus, review, stan lee, uncanny x-men, uncanny x-men omnibus, United States, x-men | 4 Comments »

Acts of Vengeance: Uncanny X-Men – Wolverine, Jubilee & Psylocke vs. The Mandarin (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Darren

In celebration of the release of The Avengers, this weekend we’re taking a look at the massive 1989-90 crossover “Acts of Vengeance”, which pitted various villains against some unlikely heroes. I’ll be looking at some of the most fun match-ups. This arc is collected in the companion omnibus.

I know that a lot of people would argue that Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men sort of lost the plot a bit after Inferno, when he first sent the team to live in the Outback and then sent them through the Siege Perilous, essentially disintegrating the iconic superhero team and scattering its members to the wind with little idea of who or what they are. I, for the record, actually quite liked that period of Uncanny X-Men history, if only because it was so breathtakingly ambitious and completely unlike anything I ever expected in a superhero team book.

Detractors would, not unreasonably, suggest that there was a very good reason that Claremont’s approach was completely distinct from anything ever tried in a superhero team book. However, most of those who decry that era of Uncanny X-Men will concede that there were some highlights to be found. The Acts of Vengeance tie-ins, featuring the wonderful artwork of Jim Lee, are among the more widely-praised of Claremont’s work in this era, and I find it quite tough to disagree.

Big Trouble in Big China…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Act of Vengeance, Acts of Vengeance, Avenger, Avengers:Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Beijing, captain america, chris claremont, Claremont, fu manchu, Hong Kong, jim lee, John Byrne, john romita, joss whedon, Lord, Marc Silvestri, uncanny x-men, Vengeance, wolverine | 2 Comments »

Acts of Vengeance: Fantastic Four vs. Congress (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Darren

The more I read of Acts of Vengeance and its related crossovers, the more I think that the collections work best as a slice of Marvel, capturing a couple of issues from a vast array of creative teams working on a huge number of titles, to give a sampling of Marvel’s output at the time. Walt Simonson’s Fantastic Four is very highly regarded by quite a few fans of the comic book series. While it arguably hasn’t become as popular as John Byrne’s Fantastic Four or even Mark Waid’s Fantastic Four, I have to admit that I’m delighted to be able to sample three issues collected in a nice oversized hardcover. Simonson seems to gently (or not-so-gently) mock the premise of the event itself, but his three issue story arc here is fascinating and decades ahead of its time.

No, Ben, we ain’t…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Act of Vengeance, Acts of Vengeance, Avenger, Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes, doctor doom, fantastic four, games, Government, joss whedon, Louise Simonson, mark millar, marvel, MarvelUniverse, Personal computer, Role-playing game, Roleplaying, SHRA, Spartacus: Vengeance, superhero registration act, Supreme Court, United States, walt simonson | 2 Comments »

Acts of Vengeance: X-Factor – Apocalypse vs. Loki (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Darren

It is very clear, reading some of the issues connected to John Byrne’s Acts of Vengeance, that some writers weren’t entirely on board with the crossover. After all, it was a giant line-wide event that existed purely to pit heroes against villains who traditionally faced other heroes – there was no more rhyme or reason than that. In many cases, that meant derailing whatever was happening in the book at the time, or even reversing or setting back characterisation. Magneto, in particular, found himself reverted back to little more than a villain. While a lot of books were implicitly critical of the event, Louise Simonson’s X-Factor seems particularly bothered by the intrusion, to the point that the only real tie-in to Acts of Vengeance sees the big villain Apocalypse effectively booting Loki out of his book.

I’m not sure Loki’s enthusiasm will crossover quite well…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Acts of Vengeance, apocalypse, Avenger, Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes, Avengers:Earth's Mightiest Heroes, captain america, chris claremont, doctor doom, Earth, ed brubaker, iron man, John Byrne, joss whedon, loki, Louise Simonson, magneto, Red Skull, x-factor | 3 Comments »

Acts of Vengeance: Daredevil vs. Ultron (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Darren

I’ll confess that I haven’t read all of Ann Nocenti’s Daredevil run. I’ve just read the issues contained in various crossover collections like Inferno, Mutant Massacre or even Fall of the Mutants. While any run on Daredevil is going to rest in the shadow of Frank Miller’s character-defining work, I find it interesting that Nocenti managed to so effectively tie the book back into the heart of the Marvel Universe. Miller defined the book as a noir adventure, and the tendency has been to follow that approach. While Nocenti writes the same Matt Murdock that Miller defined, she cleverly tends to put him in a different context, producing rather interesting and engaging results. Nocenti’s Daredevil is very much a superhero book, even though it follows Miller’s characterisation, and that gives it a unique flavour.

Stickin’ it to the man…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: 20th Century Fox, Act of Vengeance, Acts of Vengeance, Ann Nocenti, Avenger, born again, daredevil, David Slade, doctor doom, frank miller, john romita, joss whedon, kingpin, marvel universe, Nocenti, ultron | 7 Comments »

Acts of Vengeance: The Punisher vs. Doctor Doom (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Darren

I tend to like my Punisher stories with a hint of the ridiculous about them. I seem to be the only person who thought that Garth Ennis did his best work on the character as part of Marvel Knights rather than Punisher MAX, because I tend to think the character works best as a sort of an absurd straight man in mainstream comics. He is, after all, a character who uses superhero iconography (a giant skull on his chest, no matter how stripped-down the iteration) while being a guy with a gun who likes to kill criminals. I’ve always felt that the character required a suspension of disbelief that that only really worked if he was played just slightly ridiculous. Of course, that’s my opinion, and I seem to be in the minority on this, but it probably explains why I found Mike Baron’s tie-in to Acts of Vengeance – pitting the Punisher against Doctor Doom – to be so much damn fun.

Closing in to seal his doom…

Note: The always wonderful Chris Simms took a more indepth look at this unlikely crossover on Comics Alliance, perfectly capturing the wonderful insanity of it all.

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Act of Vengeance, Acts of Vengeance, arts, Bob Haney, Collecting, Comics, Creators, doctor doom, fantastic four, Frank, Frank Castle, Garth Ennis, Jonathan Hickman, joss whedon, marvel comics, marvel knights, marvel universe, Mike Baron, punisher, Retailers | 2 Comments »

Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Darren

As The Avengers is getting its U.S. theatrical release this weekend, I thought I’d celebrate by taking a look at a gigantic crossover. I’ll be reviewing individual tie-ins over the weekend, so check back!

Truth be told, I would have been quite disappointed if I made it all the way to the end of the month without taking a look at one of those token “big, dumb” crossovers featuring Marvel’s iconic characters. Truth be told, Acts of Vengeance just looked kinda fun. Although it spread to Marvel’s whole line, it was directed by writer and artist John Byrne, who was behind Avengers and West Coast Avengers at the time, so I’m totally counting it as an Avengers crossover. It’s one of those incredibly silly concepts that could only ever work in the context of superhero comic books. Basically, tired of being soundly defeated by their heroes, a bunch of supervillains decide to band together and exchange partners. Hilarity ensues as the line struggles to maintain editorial consistency.

Shattered heroes…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Act of Vengeance, Avenger, avengers, Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes, Avengers:Earth's Mightiest Heroes, doctor doom, iron man, John Byrne, joss whedon, loki, marvel, Marvel Comic, marvel comics, punisher, Red Skull, spider man, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Vengeance, walt simonson, West Coast Avengers | 4 Comments »

Secret War (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Darren

April (and a little bit of May) are “Avengers month” at the m0vie blog. In anticipation of Joss Whedon’s superhero epic, we’ll have a variety of articles and reviews published looking at various aspects of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” Yesterday and today we’re taking a look at the two Brian Michael Bendis events that kick-started the writer’s work on the franchise.

In many ways, Secret War feels like a companion piece to DC’s Identity Crisis crossover. Both miniseries essentially deconstructed the relatively simplistic nature of those superhero universes – daring to question what might happen if you approached these plot devices with a bit more cynicism. Bendis’ Secret War miniseries not only sets up the status quo and suggests the themes he would develop over the course of his New Avengers run, it also darkens the entire tone of the shared Marvel Universe. You can almost plot a straight line between Secret War and Siege, considering it one gigantic and messy saga adopting a cynical approach to the mechanics of this fictional world.

The war at home…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Avenger, avengers, bendis, brian michael bendis, iron fist, Jessica Jones, joss whedon, Killer Shrike, luke cage, Marvel Comic, marvel comics, marvel universe, new avengers, nick fury, spider man, stan lee | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Half Moon Street

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Darren

I do feel a little pang of sorrow that Half Moon Street opens with the “RKO” branding. RKO was the studio that gave us Citizen Kane and King Kong, so it’s just a bit disheartening to see the studio branding a half-hearted thriller that seems to exist only to show as much of Sigourney Weaver naked as humanly possible. Don’t get me wrong, of course, I’m not a prude. I have no problem with the notion of an “erotic thriller”, were it well handled. However, Half Moon Street is just a disjointed poorly-conceived mess featuring two leads who seem to give up on the movie about half-way through. It’s not as if there isn’t fertile ground for a gripping espionage thriller here, it’s more that the script by Edward Behr and Bob Swaim is so lifeless (and Bob Swaim’s direction so lethargic) that there’s absolutely no reason to care at all about anything that unfolds throughout the series of insanely massive coincidences that drive the plot.