On Halloween, I usually watch a Dracula movie or two. Sometimes I’ve watched the classic Universal Dracula or one of its sequels. Last year, I watched the first Hammer Dracula film, Horror of Dracula, with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. In the run-up to Halloween, I couldn’t decide which one I’d put in the DVDContinue reading “Batman Vs. Dracula”
Category Archives: Film
The Little Prince
Last year Mark Osborne, the director of Kung Fu Panda, released an animated adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novella, The Little Prince. The film had been picked up for distribution in the United States by Paramount for earlier in the year. I had seen Paramount’s trailer for the film, and I was captivated by it.Continue reading “The Little Prince”
The Meaning of Superman
With Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice out next month, The Atlantic takes a look at Superman’s history and asks whether or not DC Comics and Warner Bros. understand how and why the character works. It’s not a spoiler to say that the article’s conclusion is that sometimes they do, but that mostly they don’t.Continue reading “The Meaning of Superman”
The Peanuts Movie
Last night after work I went to see The Peanuts Movie, the new CGI animated film based on Charles Schulz’s characters. I had tracked this movie pretty carefully over the last year and a half, from the first trailer to the second, and last month I even read the kids novelization. The Peanuts Movie isContinue reading “The Peanuts Movie”
Horror of Dracula
For Halloween, I gave out maybe two dozen comic books. It was chilly and it was boring, and once trick or treating was over I went inside and put Horror of Dracula (the American title of the first Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing Dracula movie) in the DVD player. (As an aside, I wish there were aContinue reading “Horror of Dracula”
Camelot, ‘Tis a Silly Place
For five years, give or take, Funko has been making a series of collectible vinyl figures called POP! The figures are based on comic books, television series, movies, comic strips, video games, even bands. There have been Beatles figures and Batman figures, Doctor Who figures and Star Wars figures, Frozen figures and Sesame Street figures.Continue reading “Camelot, ‘Tis a Silly Place”
Thoughts on Ian McKellen’s Mr. Holmes
Last night after work I went to see Mr. Holmes, starring Sir Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes. I mentioned before this was the movie I most wanted to see this summer. Back in March I read the book on which the film is based — Mitch Cullin’s A Slight Trick of the Mind — andContinue reading “Thoughts on Ian McKellen’s Mr. Holmes”
Things I’ve Been Watching: The Oranges
There’s a reason why a movie is on the DVD rack at Big Lots for three dollars. There’s a high probability that it’s not very good. The movie in question was The Oranges, a 2011 film starring Hugh Laurie, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, and Leighton Meester. Laurie and his wife (Catherine Keener) live across theContinue reading “Things I’ve Been Watching: The Oranges”
The Man from UNCLE Trailer
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., though I have seen the George Lazenby sequence, in which he plays James Bond, from The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. Nonetheless, the trailer for the new Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) adaptation of the 1960s television series dropped last night.Continue reading “The Man from UNCLE Trailer”
Spider-Man’s Cinematic Future: Some Thoughts
Last night, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures surprised the geek world by announcing that they had struck a deal to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in other words, the universe of the Iron Man, Captain America, and Avengers films. Some potentially unnecessary backstory follows; those who know it can skip this paragraph. WhileContinue reading “Spider-Man’s Cinematic Future: Some Thoughts”