comic book movies Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Less than a year ago it was made known that a new adaptation of the ongoing dystopian action comic Judge Dredd was in the works, which I think is fair to say came as a surprise to most everyone. Not that the comic property became a poisoned well to return to after Dredd's first trip to the big screen, the bulky 1995 critical and commercial flop starring Sylvester Stallone and Rob Schneider in arguably his most annoying role ever. But you gotta admit it takes cojones to willingly associate millions upon millions of dollars with a title that is most often remembered in jest. Yet comic owner Rebellion and the production company DNA Films exhibited no signs of embarrassment in making the announcement last December that they were bringing the lawgiver back.

Now, thanks to the planet's newest and most reliable source of unimpeachable news, Twitter, we know just why those two British studios are comfortable wrestling Dredd's film credibility away from the lampooning panelists of an I Love the '90s VH1 special. Comic artist Mark "Jock" Simpson laid out the good news quite simply in a tweet, "working through script visuals for JUDGE DREDD movie. Alex Garland writes a great script."

Sure, it's just a tweet, but it's still bellied with information. One, it implies the script is not only great but completed. Two, the film is in active pre-production/pre-visualization, which is farther along that most thought.

Read the rest over at SciFi Squad

When Elisabeth Rappe brought us the teaser poster for Punisher: War Zone a couple of weeks back, she correctly supposed that the teaser trailer might be attached to this weekend's Marvel property, The Incredible Hulk.

IGN Movies has the exclusive trailer, and it's all bangs and booms as vengeance-minded Frank Castle - played by Ray Stevenson of 'Rome', in place of Thomas Jane - wreaks more havoc on the criminal and corrupt.

I can't speak for fans of the comic, but I'm really not sure how many of them wanted to see a sequel to the 2004 actioner (which, mind you, barely broke even at the box office), and how many will actually turn out for one sorely lacking in Jane, not to mention the article 'The'. And whether or not it's better left swept under the rug, it's always hard to ignore various signs of a troubled production.

Good, bad, loud or in between, Punisher: War Zone is scheduled to open on December 5. Maybe it's looking to rake in all the fanboy bucks that Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and Hitman managed around last year's holiday season...

Is there a comic book junkie in your life who has burned out on those caped, spandex-clad protectors of justice? Or perhaps more importantly, is there someone in your life who would enjoy a comic book film for Christmas, but you just can't bear the thought of sitting through another atrocity like Daredevil or Elektra with him or her? Don't panic --comics aren't just about super heroes, and the same can be said about comic book movies. For your Christmas shopping convenience, here are seven non-super hero comic book films that I highly recommend:

Tales From the Crypt (1972)
If you're only familiar with the HBO series or its movie spin-offs, this British flick from Hammer Films veteran Freddie Francis represents a very different take on the classic E.C. horror comics from the 1950s. Even though some of the stories adapted for this film were later recycled by HBO, Francis's film largely eschews the tongue-in-cheek approach of the series and the original comics. During a tour of some catacombs, five people wander off and encounter the Crypt Keeper played by Ralph Richardson, who looks nothing like his animatronic counterpart from the series. The Keeper encourages each of the lost travelers to recount a dark, horrific tale about him or herself. Amicus Films, who produced Tales From the Crypt, made many anthology style horror films around this time, but Crypt was the best of the bunch. A sequel called The Vault of Horror followed in 1973.

American Splendor (2003)
This film is based on the autobiographical comics written by the often curmudgeonly Harvey Pekar, a file clerk from Cleveland. The stories in the comics are often not even stories by the strictest definition, but interesting slices of Pekar's life, or his observations on mundane but very real topics. As the film's tagline puts it, "ordinary life is pretty complex stuff." The film succeeds magnificently in doing what I thought to be impossible: translating the comics into a cohesive narrative. Paul Giamatti is amazing as Pekar, with the real Pekar also playing himself in the film outside the film (which will make sense if you see it). The movie was nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.

Have you ever been in a comic book store? If you're a regular reader of my stuff, odds are strong you spend a good bit of time in the local. The rest of you ... you ought to at least stick your head inside of one someday just to experience it. Locals are soaked with all things geek, they are filled with questionable-looking clientele, and usually they smell a bit funny. They are also filled to the breaking point with comic books of nearly limitless variety -- everything from Donald Duck to manga. It is nearly impossible to keep up with everything, so you tend to find people with specific fields of expertise.

Now I consider myself something of an overzealous reader; I follow quite a number of titles on a monthly basis and I keep a general working knowledge of many, many others. I have no idea what Dr. Grave is, other than a comic title I know nothing about which is being turned into a movie by GigaPix studios with a $40-50 million budget. The upside of my situation, however, is I write for a blog with a big reader base. So I need someone who is familiar with Dr. Grave to share with the class and tell us why this is awesome/dreadful news. Ready? Go!

Although the region 1 DVD is only being released in a bland old single disc release (with varying outlets spicing it up with their own special "exclusive" promos), the X-Men: The Last Stand DVDs are simply flying off the shelves. Industry numbers say X-Men has moved 2.6 million units, including significantly higher than usual sales to rental agencies. However, all may not be well in retail sales land: X-Men Film News, a great fansite, is claiming a semi-major error in production. Apparently, an unknown number of the single disc sales shipped with 21 deleted scenes, while the standard disc should have only included 10. The rest, according to an insider tipster, were meant to be held until the special two-disc feature sometime next year. There's no rhyme or reason to the delivery as far as anyone can tell; you just roll the old dice when you pick up a copy and hope you got a winner. X-Men Film News also points out the Fox sales poster may be quietly admitting to the error (if the tipster was correct, they knew about it pretty quickly), as the promo posters claim "Three alternate endings, two menu viewing options, and several deleted scenes." See it for yourself here. (Why did I suddenly have a flashback to Willy Wonka and his golden tickets?)

Were you disappointed with the choice of primary mutants for the X-Men films? Are you dissatisfied by Marvel plots which turn away from the comics you know and love? Did you get angry when Mary Jane got Gwen Stacy's death scene -- and didn't even die? Well friend, have I got a deal for you! For a scant sixty dollars, you can purchase Marvel Ani-Movie, a nifty little gizmo which apparently lets you create your own stop-action short films starring Marvel characters. Presuming you've got the patience to put together a stop action film, Marvel will supply you with a mini-cam, several background scenes, a sound effects generator, and even a few characters in case you don't already own your own Marvel action figures. The little device even comes with an SD port so you can save your films (if you have an SD card, of course) for later. You can also plug in to a nearby TV to share your flicks with the world, or at least with your Marvel action figure friends.

Yes, Marvel is selling you a crappy camera and telling you to make your own movies with it which, really, is something we all did the very first time our parents bought a video camera, right? But now, you've got a tiny little scene stage and fancy sound effects to help you do it. Seriously, God bless any kid (because this thing is actually marketed at children, you know) who has the patience to sit down and create his own stop-action film of any length with his Marvel action figures. Now that is dedication.

A brief overview of the parties involved, before I start telling you what they just did:

• Comic Book Movies is a relatively new company, founded in 2004 by long-time film producer Michael Uslan and his financier, M. John Roberts. The company's major business is to "finance the development and production of motion pictures based on classic American comic books and graphic novels, as well as important Japanese manga properties." Essentially, they are in the geek movie business.
• Ishimori Entertainment, Inc. controls the works of Shotaro Ishimori -- a man who created over 500 manga characters prior to his death in 1998. Their primary objective is to revitalize the works of Ishimori through movies, TV and merchandise.
• ITOCHU Corporation is a "globally integrated corporation and operations which cover a broad spectrum of industries." This means they have a lot of money and some amount of influence.
  

The big news of the day is a partnership between the three, with the express purpose of developing motion picture franchises based on Ishimori's properties. In the deal, ITOCHU became a ten percent partner in CBM. Presumably, ITOCHU will also be aiding in worldwide merchandising should the films become successful.

The major geek-out news from the deal is this could mean (dare we dream?) a modern movie telling of Cyborg 009 or Kamen Rider. Stay tuned to Cinematical for updates as soon as they become available.

I know there is a lot to worry about with the upcoming Ghost Rider flick. And yes, I know the news of it getting bumped back from summer until February is a terrible omen. Nonetheless, hope springs eternal in the heart of this geek, hope which has been largely fueled by the passion of those involved with the project. Nicolas Cage was a comic book collector, and director Mark Steven Johnson grew up a Marvel fan as well. Turning a Marvel film over to folks who really understand Marvel is a great move, and has left me clinging to shreds of hope. It probably won't be popular, but I can still hope it will be good.

Us fans can check up on Johnson's thoughts on the project at his official blog. He's taken in a handful of questions from interested fans and provided some good answers. And you can tell he's a fan from reading his replies ... at one point he launches into a detailed explanation of the origins of the Ghost Rider franchise. Johnson promises payoff for True Believers, as well as the inevitable sequel and video game action should the film meet any success.

A quick fill in for those of you who don't know: 300 is a close adaptation of Frank Miller's (he's the Sin City creator) epic graphic novel of the same name. It tells the story of 300 valiant Spartans who fight a ferocious battle against an insanely larger Persian army. They lose, of course, but they lose in a very impressive and heroic fashion, thus inspiring the rest of Greece to unite against the Persian menace. It's a grand story, and Frank Miller's fanciful retelling is well worth your time.

Director Zack Snyder and the good folks at Warner Bros. had originally announced a March 16, 2007 release date for the film, which has been under production for some time now. Unfortunately, they have now backed down on said date, and 300 has been downgraded to a TBA 2007 release. You can hold out hope for it getting bumped up a week or two, but typically this means the film is movin' on back. Let's hope it is worth the wait.

There have long been rumors about the fate of the Spider-Man movie franchise after the third film. After all, it becomes difficult to keep original actors around after three contracted movies, and Sam Raimi is surely going to be interested in pursuing other projects at some point. When Bryce Dallas Howard was added to the Spider-Man 3 cast as old Spidey girlfriend Gwen Stacy, it fueled speculation that Stacy would to replace MJ (in an odd reversal of comic book stories) due to actress Kirsten Dunst's desire to leave the franchise.

Well you can throw another log or two onto the speculative fires, because series producer and Marvel exec Kevin Feige recently addressed the issue head-on during an MTV interview. His words? "There will be many more Spider-Man films to come." Feige went on to say there were already "stacks" of ideas for the fourth film, and the franchise could live on for fifty films if it had to, because of the wealth of stories from the comics. This is entirely true, although I'm sure we can all think of a few comic book story arcs we'd really like to see them stay away from. The big issue at this point is Tobey Maguire, as there are no guarantees of his return. Marvel may think they can roll the franchise on without him, but it'd be a very dangerous gamble.