apocalypse | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Stake Land

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Darren

Stake Land is a B-movie. It’s pure schlock, with a hefty amount of cheese thrown in on top. That might sound like a criticism, but it’s more of a fact. The movie itself is well-made, a little bit sharp, not so insecure as to take itself overly seriously, and delivers something akin to an old-school creature feature with a hint of the social conscience one expects from horror. It’s not amazing, but it’s a solid addition to the slew of post-apocalyptic movies we’ve seen of late, with a refreshing awareness of its pulp roots.

He knows what's at stake...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: apocalypse, creatures, horror, monsters, stake land, stakeland, vampire, vampires | Leave a comment »

X-Men: Messiah War (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Darren

This is the eleventh in a series of comic book reviews that will look at the direction of Marvel’s shared universe (particularly their “Avengers” franchise) over the past five or so years, as they’ve been attempting to position the property at the heart of their fictional universe. With The Avengers planned for a cinematic release in 2012, I thought I’d bring myself up to speed by taking a look at Marvel’s tangled web of continuity.

Messiah Complex is billed as the “second instalment” of the X-Men “Messiah Trilogy”, following on from Messiah Complex and leading into Second Coming. The arc essentially follows Hope, the first mutant baby born in the wake of the infamous House of M crossover and the quest by various factions to exploit her – will she be a salvation of Marvel’s erstwhile bunch of mutants, or their ultimate damnation? Messiah War essential combines the two on-going X-Men books launched in the wake of Messiah Complex, with Cable following Hope and the time-travelling X-Man as they flee those who wish the child harm and X-Force following Wolverine’s bunch of “black-ops” “darker and edgier” X-Men strike force. Of course, the only way it could get more nineties was if you threw in Deadpool, Apocalypse and Stryfe… oh, wait. They did.

Has the bar been raised?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: apocalypse, arts, bishop, cable, Christopher Yost, Comics, Craig Kyle, crossovers, Duane Swiercynski, hope, marvel, marvel comics, Mutants, nineties, Rob Liefeld, stan lee, stryfe, the times and life of lucas bishop, x-force, x-force/cable: messiah war, x-men, X-Men: Messiah Complex, x-men: messiah war, x-overs | Leave a comment »

Robert Kirkman’s Run on Ultimate X-Men – Vol. 7-9 (Hardcover)

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Darren

Ultimate X-Men is a tough title to get a read on. The fact that the run has been broken down into blocks by all manner of superstar writers means that there’s really no consistent underlying principle feeding through the eight-year life of the title. On the other hand, the fact that none of these big name writers like Mark Millar or Brian Michael Bendis could create a book living up to the series’ potential indicates that maybe there wasn’t a writer who could steward the book through its entire life cycle. Ultimate Spider-Man serves in many ways as a fulfillment of the promise of the Ultimate line, it’s almost a single, decade-long story of growth and development, the very evolution of a world of superheroes. Ultimate X-Men is very much the opposite, the constantly bending backwards over itself, jolting, starting and reversing as it seems unable to decide where exactly it’s going at any given moment. Robert Kirkman’s run is perhaps the best examples of the series’ strengths and ultimately (ha!) its weaknesses.

Somebody's been watching Terminator a bit too often...

Note: Some of Aron Coleitte’s work is covered in the Hardcover Volume 9 (with the rest of his short run spilling over into the Ultimatum Hardcover). If I can bring myself to pick up Ultimatum, I will run a review of his rather short tenure on the title. This review is only concerned with Kirkman’s run – up until the end of the Apocalypse arc.

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: 1990s, apocalypse, bishop, cable, comic books, date night, magical, marvel, marvel comics, pheonix?, retrospective, review, robert kirkman, sentinels, the magician, ultimate apocalypse, ultimate marvel, ultimate universe, ultimate x-men, x-men | Leave a comment »

It’s The End of The World As We Know It – And I Feel Fine

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Darren

So last week we had the box office dominance of Zombieland, a post-apocalyptic comedy. Over the weekend we had the simultaneous broadcast across US network television of five minutes of Emmerich’s newest disaster flick 2012. We also may have the first post-apocalyptic Oscar-nominee in The Road this year. And that’s just in the last three months of the year. Looking back over the last decade alone there have been a million-and-one end-of-the-world thrillers, chillers, comedies and dramas. That’s a lot of apocalypse for a relatively small planet. So, what gives? is there a greater reason for the zeitgeist’s fascination with the end of the world?

Darth Vader offers an example of what the end of the world might just look like...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2012, apocalypse, doomsday, dr. strangelove, film, film genres, i am legend, Movies, post-apocalyptic, teotwawki, the day after tomorrow, the end of the world, the road, waterworld, zombie apocalypse, zombieland, zombies | 1 Comment »

Non-Review Review: I Am Legend

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Darren

I Am Legend was always going to be a tough film to adapt, so it’s a surprise that it works as well as it does for as long as it does. Anchored in a fantastic lead performance, the film manages to be a very subtle, thoughtful and occasionally insightful action movie for the first two-thirds of its runtime. The ending falls down a bit, but it’s an enjoyable journey getting there.