Modern horror is in a weird rut right now. It seems like it’s stuck in a bizarre middle place between being eternally popular with teens, and simultaneously bashed and ignored by the masses as trash. Sadly they’re really not always wrong to do so, because a lot of horror films are total s**t. It’s easy to write a quick story about zombies or radioactive mutants, film it on a cheap digital camera and label it a “found footage” movie these days and watch it rake in the dough. That’s why I vastly prefer the work that’s been coming out from Jason Wan lately. He’s the guy who started big with Saw, which everyone loved and then watched turn into the royal crapfest of sequels that it inevitably became. But he went on to make some excellent movies, coming to a head with his masterpiece from two years ago, Insidious. A movie that if you haven’t seen, I highly recommend going to go see because it’s the first film in years that’s creeped me out to the point where I didn’t want to be home alone for a while. With the turnaround of praise from that we go Sinister, I movie I only found disappointing due to my own heightened expectations from its AMAZING trailer, but still worthy a view on its own.
All posts by Adam Popovich
Update on ‘Evil Dead’ Remake, News on ‘Evil Dead 2’ Remake?
The verdict is in from SXSW, and all of you horror nerds can breathe a sigh of relief, because the remake of The Evil Dead is damned awesome, as reviewed by THR. They’re kinda spoiler heavy with their review but it’s pretty glowing and a good indication that every whiny little jerk who thought this was “raping” the franchise is a pedantic little baby who refuses to embrace change. While I won’t quote the THR review due to said spoilers, I can say it certainly does spell out the major touchstones of the film, showing that it’s very faithful to the original. While I know it’s a bit silly to go on saying that a remake of a cult classic could be “spoiled” by a review, the case is still so with the THR review, so be warned if you do check it out you’ll know plot details. Suffice to say the plot details are pretty much the same from the original, but the details and whatnot are there and could ruin some of the experience for fans looking to be surprised by what’s new or the same, or newbies who aren’t familiar with the classic Evil Dead experience.
Continue reading Update on ‘Evil Dead’ Remake, News on ‘Evil Dead 2’ Remake?
Comic Rack! Superman News, Infinite Wolverine, & Astro City Returns!
Welcome to Comic Rack! My pick of the top five comic news stories in no particular order…
Marvel’s Infinite Comics Launches New Weekly Wolverine Title!
Digital comics are weird. On one hand, they’re obviously the future of the medium, and I don’t mind them per se, but I’ve always preferred the idea of trades being released digitally, rather than individual issues. The bang per buck of a digital trade makes a lot more sense to me than a single issue for $2 or whatever the price may be. I can appreciate the attempt to give digital comics some added value over the printed page, specifically by utilizing the medium of a digital format in creative ways. That doesn’t mean I like it, exactly, and in my opinion I find it a bit redundant. It’s why I never liked “motion comics” or anything, because to me the beauty and simplicity of comics was the utilization of static images to convey motion and a sense of movement in every scene. It’s one of those things that sounds a bit fluffy when you describe it, but it’s a legitimate complaint, I believe. It’s yet to be seen if Infinite Comics will prove to otherwise be successful, but for not it’s an interesting idea, and this Wolverine comic will probably prove if Infinite Comics has legs or not.
Find out more here.
Chris Sprouse Leaves Adventures Of Superman!
A lot has been said about Orson Scott Card and his planned Superman story. The thing about it is, I truly can’t get behind reading the work of a man that vile and terrible. He’s pretty (obviously) famous for his vitriolic and terrible political opinions, and while at heart I think that shouldn’t affect the work itself, it definitely does. I’ve had a couple of discussions about separating the art from the artist and have generally come to the resolution that it’s amicable to do so, but ultimately impossible. A great piece of art can and will be tainted by the real life nature of the person who created it. It’s the focal point in some cases, as with serial killers and their art that is occasionally sold or displayed in museums. Did I just compare Orson Scott Card indirectly with the likes of John Wayne Gacy? Yes, but you know, F the both of them. A brilliant character who stands for acceptance, love and hope like Superman doesn’t need to be written by a hateful bigot like Card anyway, so good on Sprouse for deciding to leave the story. Obviously he can’t full on come out and admit exactly why, but c’mon, we all know why. A side of me is curious as to what Card’s story would have been though. Curious, but glad it didn’t happen.
Find out more here.
Scott Snyder and Jim Lee Unchain Superman
In other, much better Superman news, there’s the wonderful announcement that Scott Snyder and Jim Lee are taking over Superman soon with Superman Unchained, a new book coming out just in time to coincide with Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel. Aside from there obviously being a terrifying conspiracy between all those named Snyder working on Superman projects, this sounds and seems pretty damn amazing. For those who haven’t or aren’t reading Scott Snyder’s work on Batman right now, he’s absolutely killing it. Just balls out, hands down killing it every damn month. Normally I’d be pretty worried by a book with just the mere idea and title of a book called Superman Unchained‘, because let’s be honest, that’s kind of a lame title. But the Snyder’s (Scott and Zack, respectively) seem to understand that you can inject some of that tried and true Gritty Edge™ the kids love these days and still keep the Superman character intact. Hopefully they will, anyway. I have more faith in Scott Snyder because he’s a pretty brilliant writer, and the idea of trying new things with the character is an interesting mission statement for the book. I’m looking forward to reading it in line for Man Of Steel come April.
Find out more here.
Astro City Returns!
I’m not terribly familiar with Astro City, I am pretty familiar with Kurt Busiek’s myriad DC works. He’s written a ton of great story arcs in the past and is one of those names that I see on books all the time. He’s not a super notable stand out for me, but I do know the name and know he means quality. It’s not like you’d jump into a book of his and find yourself reading something awful. That being said, perhaps it’s my own ignorance of Astro City that’s kept Busiek from joining the list of names that I immediately gravitate towards every time I approach the wall at my local comic shop. Here’s the description of the book, via [ComicsAlliance]:
[quote]Astro City began as a sort of anthology series in 1995 and followed the superheroes, supervillains and everyday citizens who lived in the eponymous city. Critically-acclaimed, and the recipient of a number of Eisner and Harvey-awards, the series has been on an indefinite hiatus since May of 2010.
The new series will be available in June, but you can find the original series collected at your local comic shop or public library.[/quote]
It certainly sounds interesting, and is yet another title to put on my increasingly longer list of books to read, when I have the time and money.
Marvel’s New Teasers Showcase New Savage Wolverine Creators!
New teasers from Marvel are no surprise, and lately have been hitting pretty much every other day. These new ones are unique in the fact that they are both promoting a new book with very minimal taglines that are very vague… which actually makes them not unique at all and well in line with the rest of Marvel’s teasers.
So the teasers obviously showcase both Wolverine and Spider-Man, along with the creative team of Zeb Wells and Joe Maduiera. It just so happens that this story, which had been previously teased as a Wolverine/Spidey/Elektra mini-series, will now follow Frank Cho’s arc over in The Savage Wolverine, which is apparently aiming to be a team-up book like Avenging Spider-Man. Wells and mad previously worked together on the opening arc of Avenging, and I am looking forward to this new arc for Savage. Seeing Joe Mad draw Wolverine always takes me back to the 90s X-Men stories like Onslaught that I remember so fondly, and I am definitely interested in this new story. – S. Fraser
Find out more here.
That’s all for this week’s edition! We’ll see you next time at the Comic Rack!
New ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Teaser Teases You Even More!
Here’s the problem with teasers. I hate writing about them. Not in a whiny “Oh, I don’t wanna write this” way (although I am a whiny little b**ch about things like that), but because by their very nature I don’t like them. I mean who really, actually likes being teased? I mean, I know I don’t. I know some ladies who claim they do, but that’s not the kind of thing I’m into. When it comes to my sci-fi entertainment I want it big, hard, fast and now. I want you to give me aural and ocular pleasure, and I want my needs sated, right this moment. Don’t wiggle your little teasing sci-fi movie member around my entertainment erogenous zone and make me beg, just stick that thing in so we can both come together in science fiction ecstasy! [Ed. Note: I feel like I should have censored something… Oh well.]
Aside from providing the most disgusting metaphorical description of why I hate teasers, I also hate teasers because they seemingly never end. Is it too much to just be kept in the dark until the thing comes out? I know there are a lot of nerds out there who love this sort of thing, but man, I am so not one of them. I love Star Trek to bits but waiting for this sequel is killing me. That’s the worst thing about JJ Abrams is he loves to make his fans just beg for his sci-fi wang, all bedazzled and shining with lens flare. Well, here’s some more of that proverbial sci-fi c*ck teasing for all of us Trekkies, with yet another teaser aimed to make us all cream our pants once again.
It’s more or less a mishmash of what we’ve seen before, but every little split second of new scenes is another thing to obsess over, speculate about, compare to previous Star Trek canon and spread to all of our friends on the internet. I personally can’t wait to see if Captain (Admiral?) Pike ends up as Mr. Box man like he was in the Original Series.
But the whole thing is a just a ploy, a way to keep us waiting patiently so as to build up a huge opening for the movie when it releases. It’s basic movie marketing, I know, but I suppose this strategy is for non-Trekkies, because apparently they’re the folks who need to be convinced to go see this movie. The rest of us are dying and can’t wait to see it already. CURSE YOU ABRAMS, WHY MUST YOU BE SO CRAZY SEXY CRUEL!
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Casts Gary Oldman!
If you had to ask me about my most anticipated ape related movie of the year, the answer by far would be Dawn Of The Planet of the Apes. My follow-up would be how many ape related films are they releasing this year, and if you had a list of titles I’d probably shut up and stand there bewildered. The thing about these Apes movies is, damn are they intriguing. Something about the combination of weird talking apes, time travel, social commentary and horrific dystopian ape societies really seems to resonate with audiences at large. Why shouldn’t it? What’s not there to love? To make it better, the cast for Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, is a growing list of names that is spelling out another great Apes film in the long line of Non-Tim Burton related Apes films. Recently cast [Via THR] is beloved character actor Gary Oldman, who all should know by now as Commissioner Gordon from the Nolan Batman trilogy.
Continue reading Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Casts Gary Oldman!
Preview of IT CAME!
If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I love old, campy B-Movies. If there’s another thing you should know about me, it’s that I particularly enjoy making fun of them. It’s the reason shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000 appealed so much to me, and the reason I can and do enjoy 90% of Hollywood’s releases these days. Zing!
Anyhow, the other thing I love is a good indie comic with a fun concept, it’s something I’ll always read any day over the infinite milieu of any X-Man or League of Justice member, or lately even any Avenger. Sure superheroes are fine and dandy, but there’s nothing quite like a well done, perfectly simple and entertaining comic miniseries. Enter Titan comics, who have managed to combine two of my favorite things into one with their upcoming book, IT CAME! Which is a title for a book so wonderful and subtlety suggestive a retailer could stock it on shelves entirely unaware of the hidden double entendre of its meaning. Or perhaps I just have a filthy mind. Regardless, the press release for it sounds great, as follows:
[quote] “Titan Comics is pleased to announce the launch of the brand-new creator-owned series, IT CAME! – a four-issue, 1950s B-movie style mini-series by Dan Boultwood.
Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will love this hilarious romp, a knowing throwback to the heyday of low-budget Sci-Fi cinema! Trundling through the 1950s British countryside, unthinkingly misogynistic space scientist, Dr. Boy Brett and the suitably chaperoned Doris Night pop into a quaint village pub for a cheese ploughman’s… But waiting for them outside is a most unwelcome visitor: Grurk, an indestructible, rampaging robot from outer space, on a mission to harvest the British Blitz spirit for energy!
Pursuing Grurk in their Morris Minor, will Boy and Doris be able to save the British from a life without stiff upper lippedness, or will Her Majesty’s Kingdom be forever resigned to an eternity down in the mouth?
Creator Dan Boultwood says, “IT CAME! can be summed up by calling it a 1950s comedy B-Movie pastiche from a studio that never was. Which, coincidentally, is also how I sum up my everyday life, but with less giant space robots. Only a little less, mind you.”
“We’re incredibly excited to welcome Dan into the Titan Comics fold,” says, editor, Mark McKenzie-Ray. “IT CAME! is a wonderfully witty and fabulously fanciful tribute to the greatest 1950s B-movies, with all the charm and relish of a freshly brewed cuppa. Dan’s artwork is absolutely gorgeous and so different from anything out there right now. IT CAME! represents everything our new imprint is all about.”
Dan Boultwood was a long-time collaborator with award-winning writer, Tony Lee, having worked together on the Eagle award-nominated, Hope Falls, The Baker Street Irregulars and Prince of Baghdad for weekly British children’s anthology comic, The DFC. Now, Dan Boultwood makes the leap from critically acclaimed illustrator to all-round creator in this splendidly spiffing comic series.
Quaff that hair, knot that tie and keep your notions of gender equality dialled back sixty years – for the sake of the planet!
IT CAME! #1 will hit comic stores on Aug 7, 2013. ” [/quote]
For those who have seen it, the book looks like a sister companion piece to 2001’s The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra, which was a modern movie made with the similar B-Movie pastiche as this book. If you haven’t seen The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra, I highly implore you to seek it out and watch it, as it’s probably one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. With that, this book appears like it’ll be in exactly the same vein, and easily looks exactly like the kind of movie they’d riff on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I’m looking forward to reading the first issue come April.
Grizzly Bomb 