the m0vie blog

Possible Villains for the Zack Snyder Superman Reboot…

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Darren

March is Superman month here at the m0vie blog, what with the release of the animated adaptation of Grant Morrison’s superb All-Star Superman. We’ll be reviewing a Superman-related book/story arc every Wednesday this month, so check on back – and we might have a surprise or two along the way.

This being a month dedicated to Superman and all, I thought I’d put together a “rogues gallery” of Superman foes that Snyder might possibly consider using for the upcoming Superman reboot. After all, Luthor and Zod are the only Superman foes to really get a shot at a big-screen adaptation so far, so there’s a whole range of choices out there. Superman might not have as deep a selection of foes as Batman or Spider-Man, but he’s not exactly short on major threats, either.

A viable threat to the Man of Steel?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bizarro, brainiac, clark kent, Comics, darkseid, dc universe, doomsday, films, fourth world, general sam lane, general zod, joker, lex luthor, Lexluthor, parasite, sam lane, superman, superman reboot, the parasite, the toyman, toyman, zack snyder | 9 Comments »

Lex Luthor: Man of Steel (Review)

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Darren

Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo worked together on Joker, the rather wonderful reinvention of the Clown Prince of Crime which happened to almost perfectly synch up with the release of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. However, the pair had worked together before on a very similar story – an attempt to offer a more in-depth look at another iconic comic book villain. Lex Luthor: Man of Steel was originally released as a six-issue miniseries, but it has now been released as a graphic novel branded only Luthor, in an attempt to cash in on the success of the pair’s stand-alone Batman novel. In the form of a lovely hardcover with the covers relegated to the extras at the end, it actually makes quite a compelling read.

He needs to Luth-less to win this...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, brian azzarello, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, comic book review, comic book reviews, comic books, dc comics, graphic novel review, joker, lee bermejo, lex luthor, lex luthor: man of steel, Lexluthor, luthor, review, superman | Leave a comment »

We’re an Irish Blog Awards Finalist!

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Darren

We made the final of the Irish Blog Awards in the Best Pop Culture category. It’s an honour to be nominated again, and we’ll see you all for the final in Belfast next Saturday.

It’s an honour to make the final alongside such Irish blogging institutions as:

A huge congratulations to those who made the final list, and commiserations to those who didn’t.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Europa Hotel, irish blog awards, popular culture | 17 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Armageddon

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Darren

At least Michael Bay’s Armageddon is honest with you from the opening moments. A deep and thoughtful voice provides an explanation of how a single hunk of space rock managed to wipe out the dinosaurs, complete with an illustration of that important moment. Now, as a viewer, you are confronted with two options. Your choice will define whether you enjoy the movie, or whether it ends up causing you serious physical pain. Your options are: (a.) sit back and enjoy the fact that Bay opened his movie with a pseudo-science lecture which had the decency to include an explosion with the force of “ten thousand nuclear bombs”; (b.) wonder why, if this scene is set millions of years ago, the continents are all in exactly the same places they are today.

We'll always have Paris... Oh, wait...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: armageddon, armageddon (film), billy bob thornton, bruce willis, films, Harry Stamper, Iwo Jima, Jason Isaacs, michael bay, Movies, NASA, space, Udo Kier, United States | 4 Comments »

Iron Man 3: Tony Stark to Face Real World Baddies…

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Darren

You know what? I was sad to hear that Jon Favreau wasn’t coming back to direct Iron Man 3, especially after Marvel so thoroughly mucked with his vision of Iron Man 2 – turning the second act into an extended infomercial for The Avengers. However, I was kinda glad to see Shane Black come on board, if only because his last collaboration with Robert Downey Jr. (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) was pure gold. Anyway, Black – as a screenwriter – will be writing the new Iron Man film, and he’s promising a Tom Clancy plot and “real world villains.” So what exactly does that mean?

The other "Man of Steel" (well, gold-titanium alloy)...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: avengers, Christopher Nolan, iron man, iron man 2, iron man 3, james bond, jon favreau, kiss kiss bang bang, marvel, marvel comics, matt fraction, Movie, robert downey jr, Shane Black, superheroes, supervillains, tom clancy, tony stark | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Short Cuts

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Darren

Short Cuts is perhaps “the” big defining ensemble drama. Even those who haven’t seen it are familiar with Robert Altman’s epic three-hour twenty-two-character crisscrossing drama about life modern Los Angeles. It’s bold, ambitious and challenging. Personally, I prefer Altman’s skewering the studio system in The Player, there’s no denying that this big drama has its charms.

Altman casts a long shadow...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Bruce Davison, ensemble, ensemble drama, facebook, film, Jack Lemmon, Lily Tomlin, los angeles, Movie, non-review review, Player, Raymond Carver, review, robert altman, short cuts, short cuts (film), stories, tim robbins | 4 Comments »

Leo the Lion: Melissa Leo’s Self-Funded Oscar Campaign…

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Darren

Melissa Leo took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar last Sunday night and I was quite happy about the decision, to be honest. She was great in The Fighter and – although I personally would have though Hailee Steinfeld from True Grit would have made a more deserving winner – it wasn’t a bad result. In the lead-up to her win, Leo garnered a fair amount of publicity from the fact that she took out her own “For Your Consideration” advertisements, most of it, to be honest, quite derisive. But you know what? I’m okay with that. After all, who else was going to do it for her?

Perhaps not the most Consider-ed move...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, christian bale, colin firth, For Your Consideration, Hailee Steinfeld, Halle Berry, Harvey Weinstein, helen mirren, Melissa Leo, Oscars, pimping, Saving Private Ryan | 6 Comments »

Superman Returns & The Question of Consent…

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Darren

March is Superman month here at the m0vie blog, what with the release of the animated adaptation of Grant Morrison’s superb All-Star Superman. We’ll be reviewing a Superman-related book/story arc every Wednesday this month, so check on back – and we might have a surprise or two along the way. I figured that, today, I’d take a look at Superman-related movies.

As I was watched Superman Returns again for the first time in what seemed like years, a question occurred to me. It wasn’t exactly one that the plot addressed, but it was probably one of those idle little thoughts which is best reserved for the late hours, as one enjoys a pre-bed snack, or fodder for a wandering mind on a long bus journey. The title of this post kinda gives the game away, but read on for more.

A super night...

Note: This article contains fairly basic spoilers for Superman Returns, but I think you probably already know what I’m going to talk about.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: clark kent, Fortress of Solitude, grant morrison, Larry Niven, lex luthor, lois lane, Man of Steel Woman of Kleenex, marlon brando, pregnant, richard donner, superman, superman 2, Superman 5: The Broken Condom, superman ii, superman ii: the richard donner cut, superman returns, Superman V: The Broken Condom | 6 Comments »

Kevin Smith’s Superman Lives! Script

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Darren

But Superman was one that I was kind of intrigued by, because of my love for comic books and because I read the script they were working from at that time and hated it. Batman is about angst; Superman is about hope. That was the thing that bothered me about Greg Poirier’s draft: they were trying to give Superman angst. They had Clark Kent going to a psychiatrist at one point. Superman’s angst is not that he doesn’t want to be Superman. If he has any, it’s that he can’t do it all; he can’t do enough and save everyone. It’s not enough to make him want to quit being Superman; it’s enough to make the guy stay up at night so he’s out doing shit constantly.

– Kevin Smith on the script he was handed

I figured, with all this talk about Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, I might as well take a look at some of the other productions that have brought the Man of Steel to the big screen in recent years. Superman never had quite the box office traction of Batman, and so never really went through that many big-screen iterations – while there’s a notable change in aesthetic between the Batman films of Burton, Schumacher and Nolan, Superman’s movies have been fairly consistent. I took a look at Superman Returns earlier today, but I thought I might take a look at Kevin Smith’s unproduced script for an earlier iteration of that particular film, Superman Lives!

Now, before you read my thoughts on the script, you should really watch the below clip, where Kevin Smith talks about writing Superman, and the various difficulties and demands that he faced.

Note: You can check out the script yourself, here.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, clark kent, Jon Peters, kevin smith, lex luthor, review, script, script review, sean penn, superman, superman lives, superman reborn, Warner Brothers, zack snyder | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Superman Returns

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Darren

You know, Quentin Tarantino once boasted that he had a 20-page review of Superman Returns that the director had been drafting for some years now. This review is going to be long, but it’s – hopefully – not going to be that long. The film has divided fans, movie-goers and film critics since its initial release, killed an attempt to relaunch the “Superman” brand name in the new millennium, made a shedload of money (although not as much as Warner Brothers would have liked). It’s a movie that deserves a large amount of discussion and debate, and it sure has generated it. I’m not a staunch supporter of the film, but I don’t hate it, either. Superman as a character has endured far greater humiliation. Still, it’s a bit of a disappointing continuation to the on-going Superman mythology.