Category: Movies
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Stop making Batman v Superman about Marvel versus DC
If there’s a thing in comics fandom I hate right now it’s this adversarial tone a lot of the chatter takes on nowadays. Â A spirited debate is fun, no doubt, but this isn’t that, it’s just angry people shouting at each other. Â It’s there in sports now, video games, even politics. Â There are certain groups…
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Movie Review – Kung Fu Panda 3
I previously held up Kung Fu Panda 2Â as an example of how a sequel should be done. Â I don’t think Kung Fu Panda 3 reaches those same heights but it’s still a fun ride. Kung Fu Panda 3Â picks up not long after 2 – Po is living his ideal life as the Dragon Warrior. Â He…
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Should I Read It? Secret Wars (1984)
I know what you are thinking – didn’t we just leave this party? Â And the answer to that is…complicated. Â I am talking about the original Secret Wars from 1984-1985 today, one of the very first big crossover events at the big publishers. Â It debuted 32 years ago, though you can’t tell from the May date…
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How to Fix the Fantastic Four
I finally broke down and watched last year’s Fantastic Four debacle. Â It’s terrible, joyless and soulless in a way no movie with “Fantastic” in the title should be, let alone anything with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the DNA. Â You can’t blame the actors here – we know every one of them can act.…
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Lightning Movie Reviews – Ant-Man, Ultron, Minions
I have some catching up to do, so you get some quick thoughts on some recent flicks. Avengers: Age of Ultron – The first movie was so successful, so it would’ve been difficult to meet expectations here. Ultron definitely was a half-step down but still had some great action and humor. Ultron himself could’ve used…
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Inside Out and When Marnie Was There
I’m late posting this, but I saw both Inside Out and When Marnie Was There with the kids, and boy was THAT an emotional wringer. Â But in the best way. Seeing them both that close together makes for an interesting comparison – both movies focus on a girl dealing with the emotions of adolescence. Riley…
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Movie Review – Tomorrowland
We saw Tomorrowland, and quite enjoyed it. Â It felt to me like a throwback to the 80s kid adventure movies, with a modern budget. Â It isn’t perfect, but the visuals and the solid kid actors make it worthwhile. The story centers around two people – Frank Walker, seen both as a 12 year old inventor…
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Movie Review – The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
I FINALLY got to see a show at the North Park, and I was thrilled that it was this one, Studio Ghibli’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.  Isao Takahata’s latest is a beautiful and heart-rending re-telling of the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.  One day, a bamboo cutter sees a glowing stalk of bamboo in…
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The Hobbit Movies – Thank God THAT’S Over
I was never your biggest Tolkien fan – I had read the Lord of the Rings once as a kid, but the movies got me back in.  There seemed to be a genuine desire to stay true to the source material, and most of the changes made you could at least make a case for it…
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Movie Review – Big Hero 6
Took the kids to see this at an advanced screening, and had a blast. Â It is technically a Marvel movie, though the book is not exactly well-known. Â Consider this in the vein of How to Train Your Dragon, in that a lot of the same parts are there, but plenty was changed to work better…
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Movie Review – Guardians of the Galaxy
I saw an early screening of Guardians of the Galaxy Thursday night, and let me tell you, I had a blast! Â I may have only read the actual Guardians comic that was the biggest influence on this after the movie was announced, but I’ve quickly fallen in love with these a-holes. Â Of course, I did…
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Movie Review – X-Men: Days of Future Past
The X-Men movie franchise has had it’s ups and downs. Â The first two movies were very good despite the myriad changes and tweaks to the characters, while X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine were on the rough side. Â First Class was good, but went a long way towards making the continuity issues worse (How much…