March Marvel Madness: THE WOLVERINE

Greetings, True Believers! Welcome to March Marvel Madness! Every day this month, I'll be looking back on a theatrically-released movie based on the characters of Marvel Comics. It's all to commemorate the April 4th release of the next Marvel film adventure, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Today, honor is (almost) restored with...

Hugh Jackman returns as Logan, once a member of a team of valiant mutants called The X-Men. Now, he's a  hermit living out in the woods, haunted by the memories of sacrificing the woman he loved (Famke Janssen). His exile is cut short when he's brought to Tokyo to say goodbye to a dying man who Logan saved when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. It's not long before Wolverine is caught up in a tangled web of family, politics, and the Yakuza. Add to that, the immortal mutant suddenly loses his ability to heal, making him vulnerable for the first time.

A great character like Logan deserved a lot better than what he got in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While that movie played out as a cold highlights reel, this one is an actual story worth caring about. Largely inspired by the 1982 limited series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, The Wolverine delves deep into the soul of the title character. Logan is a failed warrior looking for an easy way out, and he's forced into action in order to really look at himself. Only then will he be able to not just accept who he is, but embrace it. It's definitely a smaller, more intimate scale X-Men movie, but it is no less thrilling. The Wolverine still has its share of action, with chases, Japanese swordplay, a really wild fight on top of a bullet train, and the obligatory climactic superhero showdown. In addition, it's one of the more exquisite X-Men pictures to look at.

This is the kind of Wolverine solo film 20th Century Fox should have been shooting for in the first place. Instead of simply relying on the character alone to sell tickets, The Wolverine takes him places emotionally to give the audience someone to root for. My main concern with it at this moment, however, is how it ties with the X-Men films past and future. If X-Men: First Class is suppose to disavow the events of The Last Stand and the first solo flick, The Wolverine doesn't seem to want to honor that. Continuity-wise, as of this writing, the X-Men movie universe is really fucked up.

The Wolverine
4 out of 5 Cap shields

March Marvel Madness: IRON MAN 3

Greetings, True Believers! Welcome to March Marvel Madness! Every day this month, I'll be looking back on a theatrically-released movie based on the characters of Marvel Comics. It's all to commemorate the April 4th release of the next Marvel film adventure, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Today, Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicks off with a bang!

Robert Downey Jr. returns for his fourth go-around as Tony Stark. In this film, the brilliant inventor/superhero is having a hard time adjusting to life after the events that took place at the end of The Avengers. Suffering from insomnia and anxiety attacks, Tony recklessly challenges a terrorist called The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) who claims responsibility for an attack that put his friend, Happy (Jon Favreau), in a coma. After that challenge is answered by blowing up the house and all the Iron Man armors, Tony is stranded with a broken Iron Man suit. It's up to his own sense of self to get back to where he needs to be. And he better do it fast, because a crazed scientist (Guy Pearce) has created a dangerous weapon called Extremis, he maybe on The Mandarin's payroll, and he's after Pepper (Gwenyth Paltrow).

Seriously, how many third entries in superhero- or any genre- film series have sucked? Just look at what we have seen with this little venture: Blade: Trinity, X-Men: The Last Stand, Spider-Man 3. All dismal failures. Number 3s being just as good as their predecessors are an impossibility. Or so we thought. With some wildly inspired ideas, Iron Man 3 is a freaking miracle.

The Iron Man series succeeds by never letting go of its core, yet never content to stand still. New director Shane Black brings in an 80s buddy-cop action film sensibility to the series that keeps it new, fun, and smart. At the same time, it frees up the franchise to utilize comic book elements in exciting ways reminiscent of the first film. In addition, Iron Man 3 offers more exciting set pieces, including one of the greatest rescue scenes ever created.

Walking out after Iron Man 3 was a strange feeling. A good kind of strange, mind you. I'm used to coming out of a threequel either letdown or pissed off. I emerged from this movie wide-eyed, because Marvel made a breakthrough in cinema. It kept a franchise energized long enough to make a quality third installment. Can we have more like this, please? Thanks.

Iron Man 3
5 out of 5 Cap shields

Wishlist of Weird, Part One

Remember in Smallville, the intrepid Smallville high school reporters had the "Wall of Weird"? I decided to come up with a "Wishlist of Weird". The idea sprang after listening to one of my favorite horror podcasts, Killer POV, and some recent articles, realizing there are plenty of way-out-there movies I have yet to see. Some of which are highly regarded, some are just plain bonkers. All of them a lot of folks seem to know. So, in order to keep track them, the best way for me was to list them. Here's what I came up with:

El Topo (1970)

Hit the ground running. This is one I've known for a handful of years, but didn't get around to it. With the documentary, Jodorowsky's Dune, coming out, it seems appropriate to finally get on it. The same goes for...

The Holy Mountain (1973)

I have no idea what this film is about, and I would like to keep it that way before I see it. Sometimes, not knowing what you're in for results in the best experiences.

An American Hippie in Israel (1972)

The trailer Grindhouse Releasing put together for this has become one of my all-time favorite previews. I watched it repeatedly for a couple of years before Grindhouse eventually put the film out on Blu-Ray. I own this movie. It's one of my very few blind buys. I just haven't popped it in yet.

The Visitor (1979)

An Italian production that rips off every popular American film at the time and mashes them together. And it stars John Huston, Sam Peckinpah, Shelley Winters, Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, and Lance Henriksen?! I understand this film is out-of-control- and so was the director.

Liquid Sky (1982)

I first heard about this as a kid thumbing through those Columbia House VHS catalogs. It had a bold disclaimer at the end of its listing warning of its content. Okay, automatically intrigued. I have seen snippets of this at a friend's Halloween party a dozen years ago, but I still haven't sat myself down to experience it.

The Forbidden Zone (1980)

Considering I'm such a big Oingo Boingo fan, it shames me to say I haven't seen this.

Society (1989)

A Brian Yuzna production, the more I hear it mentioned, the more I want to see it. Too bad the Anchor Bay DVD has been long out of print, much like...

Possession (1981)

I'm a big Sam Neill fan, so this has been on my must-see list for awhile. Other than the title and the poster, I try to know little as possible about this film, even as Elric Kane mentions it in almost every episode of Killer P.O.V.

Torso (1973)

Torso! A pyschosexual killer! Yeah, I love the trailer for this, too. I just hope the movie lives up to it.

Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)

Witchcraft, devil worshippers and lots of nudity. Okay, sign me up. I heard it's awkwardly put-together, but I don't care; I'm a sucker for movies revolving around Satanism. That goes back to the Satanic Panic of the mid-1980s, when news stories or episodes of Geraldo about Satanism used to freak me out. The film is not available in any format in the US, so I will have to throw down around $50 for a all-region Blu-Ray from the UK just to even see it.

March Marvel Madness: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

Greetings, True Believers! Welcome to March Marvel Madness! Every day this month, I'll be looking back on a theatrically-released movie based on the characters of Marvel Comics. It's all to commemorate the April 4th release of the next Marvel film adventure, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

27 movies down, 4 more to go. Hard to believe I made it this far. Let's keep swingin' with...

A mere five years after his last big-screen appearance, the Spider-Man film franchise gets a reboot with The Amazing Spider-Man. In this version, Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker, a brilliant high school scientist raised by his uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and aunt May (Sally Field). Wanting to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of his parents, Peter seeks out a genetics scientist, Curt Conners (Rhys Ifans), who once worked with his father and now is at OsCorp, researching reptile DNA. While sneaking around the labs of the OsCorp building, he is bitten by a radioactive spider, which gives him super-strength, super-agility, and the ability to climb walls. After his uncle is murdered, Peter creates a persona to use his powers to find the man who committed the crime. This creates a little unwanted attention from the cops, especially Captain George Stacy (played by Denis Leary), who just happens to be the father of Pete's new girlfriend, Gwen (Emma Stone). Meanwhile, Dr. Conners's self-experimentation results in him mutating into a giant, ferocious lizard bend on turning the population of New York into reptiles. It's up to the fledgling vigilante to set aside his personal quest to be a hero for the people.

The Amazing Spider-Man really is a damn good movie. It's a sweet fable about growing up, with great performances by its ensemble cast, stunning visual effects, an excellent score by James Horner, and a lot of credence to the comic book. Probably more so than the Sam Raimi pictures. I really love this movie. It just took me a couple of years to be okay with that.

Honestly, I was totally on board with the idea of rebooting the Spidey series. For totally personal reasons. Spider-Man 3 was such a huge, huge blemish on the Raimi trilogy, I kept away from the films altogether for a while. It also didn't help that each film was saddled with less than positive memories of those moments in time. Spidey is one of my very favorite superheroes, and it was difficult for me to separate the Raimi films from those points in my life. I was ready for a fresh start.

Okay, so I got what I wanted, right? I guess so. I liked The Amazing Spider-Man when it played in theaters, but I also didn't love it. It was not connecting with me the way the first Raimi film did. There were aspects I really liked, such as the wise-cracking Spidey, Martin Sheen and Sally Field, the score, the action scenes, Denis Leary. However, it didn't seem to be much fun. It felt all-too familiar. The conflicted emotions would haunt me every time I thought about the movie.

I had not seen the film in over a year. I figured, for the purposes of this project, I'd give it another go. It turns out, there is nothing wrong with The Amazing Spider-Man.  There's no reason why there can't be another telling of the Spider-Man saga on the big screen. Sure, it did come along a little too soon. And, the aesthetic is very much dated next to The Avengers, which came out that same summer. Getting away from the studio's reasons for making the picture and from the initial release, I was able to let go and see the film with a whole new perspective. While it could use some more lightheartedness, watching The Amazing Spider-Man now warmed my heart and put a smile on my face. What I needed, in the end, was a little more time for me to fully embrace the fresh start.

The Amazing Spider-Man
4 out of 5 Cap shields 

March Marvel Madness: THE AVENGERS

Greetings, True Believers! Welcome to March Marvel Madness! Every day this month, I'll be looking back on a theatrically-released movie based on the characters of Marvel Comics. It's all to commemorate the April 4th release of the next Marvel film adventure, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Comic book movie history. 'nuff said.

Marvel Studios brings its heroes together for one epic adventure in The Avengers. Directed and co-written by Joss Whedon (Serenity, TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer), the film stars: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rodgers/Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo (replacing Edward Norton) as Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, Jeremy Renner (who debuted in Thor) as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Sam Jackson as Nick Fury, and Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson. They are all brought together to take on Loki (a returning Tom Hiddleston), Thor's exiled brother, who has come to Earth with an alien army to make it a kingdom of his own.

What else can possibly be said about Marvel's The Avengers that hasn't been already? Two years after its release, it remains extremely popular. It's the third highest grossing film of all time. It has a 92% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The only way to fill out this post is to make it personal.

This is more than a superhero movie for me. Yes, I have been dreaming of seeing a crossover comic book movie since I was in junior high, when I really started getting into superhero comics. Honestly, I always figured it would be Superman and Batman that would be the first two to cross paths on film. Alas, Warner Bros. didn't understand what they had in order to be the forerunner. Now, they're the ones trying to catch up. And they seem to be doing a good job trying, don't you think? Anyways, I digress. I figured I didn't have too much to worry about with The Avengers. The film was following up five Marvel Studios productions that were all pretty damn good. Plus, they had Joss Whedon at the helm. I was sure it was going to be great. I had no idea it was going to be that great!

It did more than just satisfy a personal need to see a superhero team-up movie. Went above and beyond being the most Marvel Marvel movie ever made. The feeling I get every time I watch The Avengers is the same feeling I got when I was four years old when I saw the original Star Wars for the first time. On a drive-in screen, no less. Try to picture that for yourself, and you will understand what it's like for me watching The Avengers.

Marvel's The Avengers
5 out of 5 Cap shields

March Marvel Madness: GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE

Greetings, True Believers! Welcome to March Marvel Madness! Every day this month, I'll be looking back on a theatrically-released movie based on the characters of Marvel Comics. It's all to commemorate the April 4th release of the next Marvel film adventure, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

No brains necessary, because today we get to take a look at...

Nicholas Cage is back as Johnny Blaze, the motorcycle stuntman who is also host to the Ghost Rider, a fiery entity who hunts down evil. Blaze is hiding out somewhere in Eastern Europe, trying to keep his demon spirit contained. However, a drunken french monk (played by Idris Elba) seeks out Johnny and strikes a deal with him: If he can rescue this boy and bring him to his brethren, they can relieve Blaze of his curse. It's not that simple, however (Is it ever?). Blaze has to protect the boy from another demon, Blackout (Johnny Whitworth), who's been sent to deliver the kid to his father... the devil (Ciaran Hinds).

Now, I'm not one to complain, but I usually don't like my bat-shit this boring. When you hire the Crank guys (Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor) to do something like a Nicholas Cage Ghost Rider movie, I expect complete insanity. Unfortunately, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance- the second (and probably last) movie under the Marvel Knights banner- suffers from only temporary insanity, because it's strictly on a visual level. Other than that, the movie is about as uninteresting as the douchebags I work for. The story is totally unoriginal and the digital cameras suck out any other life the film might have had.

I knew this movie wasn't going to be good, but it is still a major missed opportunity. Because of the PG-13 rating, the film doesn't go far enough to be a bonafide schlock classic. Neveldine and Taylor like to have their dicks in their hands whenever they make a movie, but I was hoping with Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance they would have more to show for it.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
1 out of 5 Cap shields

March Marvel Madness: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

Greetings, True Believers! Welcome to March Marvel Madness! Every day this month, I'll be looking back on a theatrically-released movie based on the characters of Marvel Comics. It's all to commemorate the April 4th release of the next Marvel film adventure, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Today, we're looking at...

Fuck yeah!

Captain America: The First Avenger is the fifth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor. Set during World War II, this film stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, a scrawny kid from Brooklyn, NY who wants nothing more than to serve his country. Alas, he is rejected time and time again, leaving him to watch his best friend, James "Bucky" Barnes (Sebastian Stan), go off to war without him. Attempting to cheat his way into getting drafted, Steve ends up being chosen by a scientist (Stanley Tucci) to partake in an experiment which turns the weakling Rogers into the ultimate soldier. However, instead of being sent into battle, Steve is reduced to touring the U.S. as a propaganda cartoon known as Captain America. While on a disastrous USO tour on the front lines, Rogers takes it upon himself to prove his worth to the troops by rescuing his buddy Bucky and his Howlin' Commandos from the Nazi's own super-soldier, The Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). With the help of a British agent (Hayley Atwell) and inventor Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), Steve transforms his cartoon alter-ego into a fighting symbol of freedom.

Captain America: The First Avenger is Marvel Studios' own Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's an old-fashioned, rip-roaring, pulpy adventure inspired by movie serials from the 30s and 40s. It's got everything: good guys, bad guys, dames, chases, fistfights, etc. And it's not all played for goofs, like in 1999's The Mummy. Marvel certainly chose the right guy in director Joe Johnston to genuinely bring that sensibility to the silver screen. Johnston's no stranger to this kind of entertainment, from working with visual effects on Raiders to directing Disney's 1991 film, The Rocketeer. And Chris Evans- no stranger to Marvel characters- perfectly embodies Cap's heroic spirit. While a few visual effects turned out a little ineffective, there are those such as the ones used to transform Evans into the thinly, meek pre-Cap Steve that are just mind-blowing.

Released in the summer of 2011, this was the Captain America film I had hoped to see when I saw a teaser trailer for a Cap movie back in 1990. Twenty years and a few Indiana Jones wannabes later, Captain America: The First Avenger proved to be worth the wait.

Captain America: The First Avenger

4 1/2 out of 5 Cap Shields