Category: Books

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt Signs On For Vertigo’s The Sandman!

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Interesting news yesterday as Deadline.com reported that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be staring in and directing Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman for Warner Brothers.  Gordon-Levitt afterwards tweeted that he would just be producing with the possibility for more as the film progressed, but still it confirms that Warner Brothers is moving ahead with one of Vertigo’s (DC’s art house brand) most successful comic books.

The Sandman should be a fun movie.  The comic book was written by the great Neil Gaiman, and he has given his blessing to this film.  The Sandman has some of the craziest art to ever be in a mainline comic book.  This movie will either be awesome or someone’s fever dream, but I am kind of hoping for both.

Considering they are just naming writers and producers at this point, I am guessing we have a ways to go before we will be watching this at our local mega-plex, but it will give you some time to check out the comic book!

P.S. Speaking of awesome Neil Gaiman comic book movies, you need to watch Stardust.  It has a purple case, and it looks like it is for thirteen year old girls, but it is fantastic.

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Re-Watching Batman Beyond!

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I noticed Batman Beyond on Netflix, and I have started watching it again.  The animation is a little rough, but I am impressed with how well the stories have held up.  For a cartoon that was just supposed to be cool so that it would appeal to thirteen year old boys in the 90’s, they did a great job.

Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) is too old to continue to be Batman, but with the help of the young Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle) in a high tech Batsuit they are able to keep the Gotham of the future safe.

Kevin Conroy is voice of Batman.  It is a shame that he and Mark Hamill (the cartoon Joker) have stepped down.  I hope they get to make The Killing Joke for their final carton movie.  They are some of the best voice actors of their generation.  Will Friedle is good too, but Conroy is simply great.

Watching the series now makes me wish that they would have gone ahead with the movie they were planning before Batman Begins.  Don’t get me wrong, I am happy with the Nolan Batman movies, but a Batman Beyond movie would have been awesome.  I hope Warner Brothers dusts that script off and we get to see it.

If you are looking for a good thirty minute show to watch, Batman Begins is one of my favorites.

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Spending Some Time With The DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection!

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The guys and gals over at DC Universe have made a quite a few good animated films, so when I saw Superman and Shazam: The Return of Black Adam on Netflix I decided to give it a watch.  It turns out that it was actually a collection of DC shorts called the DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection.  It was a cool way to see a few characters that don’t get a lot of coverage.

On Netflix there were four shorts: Superman and Shazam: The Return of Black Adam, The Spectre, Jonah Hex, and The Green Arrow.  If you check this out on DVD/Blu-Ray there is also a short Catwoman feature, but since I didn’t see it, I can’t review it.

Superman and Shazam: The Return of Black Adam is the longest of the shorts clocking in at twenty-five minutes.  It features the origin of the new Captain Marvel (different from Marvel’s Captain Marvel, yes it is very confusing) as he enlists Superman’s help to take out Black Adam.

The Spectre is different from most of the DCU stuff because they set it in the 70’s, and it follows The Spectre as he terrorizes the people that killed a movie mogul.  The Spectre unlike most DC Heroes has no problem killing guilty people.

Jonah Hex rides in to town to find a bounty, but it turns out he will have to take out a gang that has been killing rich people and stealing their money.

The Green Arrow is planning a special night with Dinah Lance/Black Canary when Merlyn the Magnificent shows up to kill the Princess of Perdita, so it is time for a Green Arrow versus Black Arrow shoot off.

All of the shorts are well done, and like I said before it is fun to check out some of the lesser DC Heroes.  You almost never hear about The Spectre, and after the awful Jonah Hex movie is great to see him in something good.  It is also nice to see a more true to the comic book Green Arrow over what is presented by the TV show.  Marvel’s Captain Marvel is better, but DC’s is still good, and I was happy to see him.

DCU continues to pump out great animated flicks, and I stand by my assertion that they should be heading up DC/Warner Brothers live action super hero movies because everything that I have watched that they have done has at least been interesting.  But I guess we will see how the new Batman versus Superman movie turns out before I get too judgmental.  Maybe.

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They Finally Cast A Wonder Woman!

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Well it must be very cold someplace hot because they have finally cast Wonder Woman for the Batman vs Superman movie, Gal Gadot!  I have not seen much of what Gal Gadot has been in, but maybe that is good since I will not have any preconceived ideas about her acting abilities unlike the man set to be Batman.  She may not be my choice, but she has got the look, and has been in a few action movies, so I wish her the best.  With the main cast set, I hope this movie gets DC’s comic book cinematic universe rolling!

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The Walking Dead Continues To Improve!

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The Walking Dead has been known for its tense action, and its ability to kill off main characters.  However, it has also been known for some boring filler episodes, and its at times dodgy writing.  This is highlighted by the fact it has had a new show running producer for just about every season, but with Scott Gimple I think they have found a winner!

There were still a couple of filler episodes in this first half of the season, but at least they actually let us learn more about the characters, and the promise of the prison showdown of last season was finally brought to fruition during the mid-season finally.  I am not going to spoil anything, but you should probably stock up on Kleenex if you haven’t seen it yet.

Everything about this season has been better: The drama has been more hard hitting; The action has been more explosive, and the acting has been kicked in to high gear.  It is clear that The Walking Dead no longer just wants to be the most watched show on TV, but it also wants to be the best show on TV.  That is a goal I can get behind.

I am hating AMC’s new split season scheduling because that means I have to wait until February to find out what is going to happen next, but because of the higher quality of the show, it is now worth waiting for.  Well played AMC, well played.