It was the early aught's and I was big into my first DVD/movie phase. I had been doing whatever I could to see movies, I had driven to Toronto to see a screening of Memento that people had been raving about on AICN. I was determined to finally watch Citizen Kane and get over my black and white movie bias, largely formed watching crappy old westerns and pretty funny Marx Brothers movies on Sundays with my dad.
I had read about Kane and knew a great deal about what happens but I had never watched the movie. That was going to change.
New Years Eve 2001 or 2002 (pretty sure it was 2002) I stayed home over midnight to watch Citizen Kane. My friend Charlene and her friend showed up to say hello on their way to a party around 10:30pm or so and when they were gone I turned off/put away all the clocks and turned on the movie. It was the first time since I had become an adult that I ignored the hullabaloo of "midnight" and all the associated bullshit that we surround it with. It was a supremely wonderful way to start the year.
After the movie was over I joined my friends (Carol, Micheal, Lynne, Valerio, and so many more I can't even remember) at this crack ass club above the Giant Tiger in the market in downtown Ottawa and had a blast of a time.
The next few years were some of the best in my life and I sincerely believe it's due to the fact that I first made a decision to do something completely different and outside of the regular expectations. I kept doing things a little differently those few years, likely motivated by a fear of turning 30.
I adore Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and the more I think about it, the more I realize that I think it’s a perfect movie. Every choice that movie made from casting, to animation, to especially the storytelling, it may be my favorite superhero movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a gorgeous movie that I would watch once a day if I had the time.
The Dark Knight Returns, hands down, my favourite superhero story. Nothing else matched the impact, though plenty came close, a lot of it also written Frank Miller.
I’m really pissed off by the United States, and by how much global entertainment is decided by what’s happening there. I don’t blame anyone for being cautious about going to the cinemas, and it borders on criminal to open them when the pandemic is clearly not under control, but your experience is not my experience, while the US faces great risks, other parts of the planet have had a better response, and yet we’re punished by having our release dates pushed back too. It’s annoying and frustrating, especially when it was avoidable.
Sorry. It’s stupid to complain about that kind of thing in light of the real human cost this pandemic has wrought, but as much as I appreciate your writing, it’s coming from an a place and experience that is not mine and that US-centric thing always grates a little. But what can you do? You can only write about what’s happening outside your door, not somewhere the other side of the world. Peace.
As someone who was just furloughed again in the States because of theatrical business, I feel for the rest of the world having to be punished for our country's stupidity when it comes to releases being pushed back, not just because it's impacting my job, but because it doesn't feel like the major studios are adapting as well as they need to to the circumstances around the world in general.
I know how you feel, it sucks living in a state that actually took the pandemic seriously and took proper measures and we end up having to suffer because neighboring states didn't take it seriously and put very few protective measures into play.
That being said I do think studios like WB are majorly overreacting here, it's funny they didn't consider that Tenet didn't do as well as expected domestically not because of the pandemic(or at least not only because of it) but rather because it's just not a very good movie, it did better overseas in places like China because they've been as overexposed to Nolan as we are(since most of his films aren't blockbusters they never got released over there, so Chinese audiences only really know Nolan for the Dark Knight trilogy and Inception) I think people finally got tired of his cold emotionless approach to storytelling, i'm with Moviebob in thinking that Nolan's films are just Michael Bay movies with fancy suits(and far less interesting IMO). I think No Time To Die could've performed very well if it had kept it's original release date this year, people will pay to see a big franchise movie in theaters and i'm sure WW84 will do well this Christmas.
I think WB are kidding themselves with Dune, it's a very niche property that's only going to appeal to a certain audience and it was never going to make a lot of money even in the most ideal of circumstances.
WB also made these kinds of baseless assumptions in regards to 2-D Animation, as after Quest for Camelot, they assumed it was because 2D animation was dead and never considered that it was because their movie sucked. That led to them barely promoting Iron Giant and it really suffered as a result.
It's aged a bit over the years, but I'll always have a soft spot for X2. Something gelled at the moment that opening Nightcrawler attack on the White House began where my brain just went "Wow, this is actually a comic book on my screen right now."
I still think of SUPERMAN (1978) as my favorite. Part of that is memory/nostalgia, being the right age at the right time, but I revisit the film at least once a year, and it’s amazing how well it holds up. It’s the one superhero film I can put on in front of my kids and know that they could get something out of it.
Speaking of superheroes, I just want to add a comment on Justice League. I like Justice League. I’m not going to try change anyone’s mind on it if they don’t like it, I don’t feel strongly enough about it, but as a comicbook movie, it feels to me like the MOST COMICBOOK MOVIE, and that’s why I like it. It’s insane, it feels like it’s got crazy ideas that I’ve only seen in superhero comics before, so I dug it.
I have to comment on the Fincher connection. It is revelations like this that will keep me reading forever, Drew. I am so intrigued to hear more and thrilled that you have such creative outlets.
The global situation is so horrific at this stage that we need film and your views more than ever. Please keep em coming.
It's difficult to choose a top superhero comic. How do you weigh an entire run against a stellar issue (or even scene)? I'd probably go with Superman: Secret Identity by Stuart Immonen and Kurt Busiek. I think a strength is that it's self-contained and plays with the iconography of the most recognizable superhero. Busiek's story is at the apex of what he does best ... nostalgic, with a fresh spin, earnest, and uncynical.
For my favorite superhero story, normally i'd say something Batman related, but if Watchmen is allowed then i'll throw in Garth Ennis's run on Punisher, both the one on Marvel Knights and the one on MAX. After turning Frank Castle into a joke by making him an avenging angel, it fell on Ennis to revitalize the character and boy did he ever, he disavowed the previous story and forged a great new one with tons of memorable villains and some truly horrifying stories. Slavers in MAX is the single darkest story i've ever read period and I don't blame people who hate it, it's meant to horrify and shock you and boy does it do that, but not in an immature way like much of Mark Millar's work does(Needless to say the Kick Ass and Wanted comics aren't nearly as good as the films, though I will admit to having a soft spot for The Unfunnies because of how batshit insane it is). It's a story that you'll never forget and i'd put it right up there with Watchmen as much as Moore would hate that(speaking of which while I respect the guy's work and i'm looking forward to his new show, it is getting very tiresome hearing his asinine ranting about how "duh Superheroes are only for kids!", honestly he doesn't sound all that different from Bill Maher. Man I thought The Simpsons was exaggerating how much of a grouch he was, if anything they were underplaying it. Also I liked the Watchmen movie, there I said it, come at me Moore fanboys).
I so badly want animated adaptation of those MAX stories, after being blown away by the Spawn animated series(Which is my all time favorite animation period) i'm drooling at the thought of someone doing that for the Punisher. I was bummed when the Netflix series got cancelled(Which is my favorite live-action show of all time)but i'm excited to see what they come up with next.
The Denny O’Neil run on The Question is undoubtedly the comic book of my late adolescence; smart and thoughtful and weird in ways that I hadn’t seen before. And the James Robinson Starman from the late 90s is the comic book that saw me into functioning adulthood. A wonderful run with terrific art by Tony Harris and then Peter Snjejberg (probably misspelled.)
I was at the Beyond Fest screening of Freaky and was very curious to see how the Twitter reactions would be. I wasn’t surprised to see some “reviews” posted before the credits started to roll and while I enjoyed the movie - I found myself a little distrusting of “hype” now that I was actually at a premiere for the first time. Very interested in Spontaneous now.
Not sure if I'd call him my "favorite" super hero, exactly (kisses, Matt Murdock,) but the most impactful super hero story I've ever read is Alan Moore's initial Marvelman/Miracleman run. I was maybe twenty when I first managed to get my hands on copies of the U.S. Eclipse reprints, and even in the wake of reading and absorbing all the other stellar Modern Age work of that period during the late 80s & early 90s, Miracleman absolutely flattened me. It fundamentally changed the way I thought about super heroes in a way that his later (and arguably more nuanced) work on Watchmen did not. Staggering work.
Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 3" is my favorite superhero story of all-time. As a film, it's really messy with Venom and all, but the narrative they set forth for Parker has always been sharp and works well. When the movie came out, I was is in a period of emotional strain and trying to get myself to a healthier place emotionally. Peter's arc in that film has always resonated with me because I felt a kinship to it. Scott Derrickson's "Doctor Strange" landed for the same reason, but it should more of the rebuilding process.
My mother was actually on campus at Kent State on May 4. She was going between classes, I think, and she saw the demonstration going on, and just sensed there was going to be trouble. She got in her car, and went home to her parent's house, so they didn't have to worry about her. The next time she was allowed on campus was for her graduation.
Well your basically talking to me. I never read comic books as a kid, but loved the Popeye cartoons and was a huge Robin Williams fan. I adore The movie Popeye, and went into it as pretty much a blank slate. Still one of my favorite R,W, performances and Shelly Duvall was beyond perfection.
I've been going through old comic books in preparation for moving to a new apartment, and was reminded of some great stories. My favorite run was Ultimate Spiderman by Brian Michael Bendis, it just hit me at the exact right time of adolescence and I connected with a lot of Peter's story in those books, especially the early years. I really recommend it as a great modern version of a classic superhero story, with none of the subversive elements that are so popular in f.ex. Mark Millar's writing (which I also enjoy a lot by the way, but earnestness has its place!).
I'm really looking forward to Mank.
It was the early aught's and I was big into my first DVD/movie phase. I had been doing whatever I could to see movies, I had driven to Toronto to see a screening of Memento that people had been raving about on AICN. I was determined to finally watch Citizen Kane and get over my black and white movie bias, largely formed watching crappy old westerns and pretty funny Marx Brothers movies on Sundays with my dad.
I had read about Kane and knew a great deal about what happens but I had never watched the movie. That was going to change.
New Years Eve 2001 or 2002 (pretty sure it was 2002) I stayed home over midnight to watch Citizen Kane. My friend Charlene and her friend showed up to say hello on their way to a party around 10:30pm or so and when they were gone I turned off/put away all the clocks and turned on the movie. It was the first time since I had become an adult that I ignored the hullabaloo of "midnight" and all the associated bullshit that we surround it with. It was a supremely wonderful way to start the year.
After the movie was over I joined my friends (Carol, Micheal, Lynne, Valerio, and so many more I can't even remember) at this crack ass club above the Giant Tiger in the market in downtown Ottawa and had a blast of a time.
The next few years were some of the best in my life and I sincerely believe it's due to the fact that I first made a decision to do something completely different and outside of the regular expectations. I kept doing things a little differently those few years, likely motivated by a fear of turning 30.
There's a lesson in there. I just know it.
I adore Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and the more I think about it, the more I realize that I think it’s a perfect movie. Every choice that movie made from casting, to animation, to especially the storytelling, it may be my favorite superhero movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a gorgeous movie that I would watch once a day if I had the time.
The Dark Knight Returns, hands down, my favourite superhero story. Nothing else matched the impact, though plenty came close, a lot of it also written Frank Miller.
I’m really pissed off by the United States, and by how much global entertainment is decided by what’s happening there. I don’t blame anyone for being cautious about going to the cinemas, and it borders on criminal to open them when the pandemic is clearly not under control, but your experience is not my experience, while the US faces great risks, other parts of the planet have had a better response, and yet we’re punished by having our release dates pushed back too. It’s annoying and frustrating, especially when it was avoidable.
Sorry. It’s stupid to complain about that kind of thing in light of the real human cost this pandemic has wrought, but as much as I appreciate your writing, it’s coming from an a place and experience that is not mine and that US-centric thing always grates a little. But what can you do? You can only write about what’s happening outside your door, not somewhere the other side of the world. Peace.
As someone who was just furloughed again in the States because of theatrical business, I feel for the rest of the world having to be punished for our country's stupidity when it comes to releases being pushed back, not just because it's impacting my job, but because it doesn't feel like the major studios are adapting as well as they need to to the circumstances around the world in general.
I know how you feel, it sucks living in a state that actually took the pandemic seriously and took proper measures and we end up having to suffer because neighboring states didn't take it seriously and put very few protective measures into play.
That being said I do think studios like WB are majorly overreacting here, it's funny they didn't consider that Tenet didn't do as well as expected domestically not because of the pandemic(or at least not only because of it) but rather because it's just not a very good movie, it did better overseas in places like China because they've been as overexposed to Nolan as we are(since most of his films aren't blockbusters they never got released over there, so Chinese audiences only really know Nolan for the Dark Knight trilogy and Inception) I think people finally got tired of his cold emotionless approach to storytelling, i'm with Moviebob in thinking that Nolan's films are just Michael Bay movies with fancy suits(and far less interesting IMO). I think No Time To Die could've performed very well if it had kept it's original release date this year, people will pay to see a big franchise movie in theaters and i'm sure WW84 will do well this Christmas.
I think WB are kidding themselves with Dune, it's a very niche property that's only going to appeal to a certain audience and it was never going to make a lot of money even in the most ideal of circumstances.
WB also made these kinds of baseless assumptions in regards to 2-D Animation, as after Quest for Camelot, they assumed it was because 2D animation was dead and never considered that it was because their movie sucked. That led to them barely promoting Iron Giant and it really suffered as a result.
It's aged a bit over the years, but I'll always have a soft spot for X2. Something gelled at the moment that opening Nightcrawler attack on the White House began where my brain just went "Wow, this is actually a comic book on my screen right now."
I still think of SUPERMAN (1978) as my favorite. Part of that is memory/nostalgia, being the right age at the right time, but I revisit the film at least once a year, and it’s amazing how well it holds up. It’s the one superhero film I can put on in front of my kids and know that they could get something out of it.
Speaking of superheroes, I just want to add a comment on Justice League. I like Justice League. I’m not going to try change anyone’s mind on it if they don’t like it, I don’t feel strongly enough about it, but as a comicbook movie, it feels to me like the MOST COMICBOOK MOVIE, and that’s why I like it. It’s insane, it feels like it’s got crazy ideas that I’ve only seen in superhero comics before, so I dug it.
I have to comment on the Fincher connection. It is revelations like this that will keep me reading forever, Drew. I am so intrigued to hear more and thrilled that you have such creative outlets.
The global situation is so horrific at this stage that we need film and your views more than ever. Please keep em coming.
It's difficult to choose a top superhero comic. How do you weigh an entire run against a stellar issue (or even scene)? I'd probably go with Superman: Secret Identity by Stuart Immonen and Kurt Busiek. I think a strength is that it's self-contained and plays with the iconography of the most recognizable superhero. Busiek's story is at the apex of what he does best ... nostalgic, with a fresh spin, earnest, and uncynical.
For my favorite superhero story, normally i'd say something Batman related, but if Watchmen is allowed then i'll throw in Garth Ennis's run on Punisher, both the one on Marvel Knights and the one on MAX. After turning Frank Castle into a joke by making him an avenging angel, it fell on Ennis to revitalize the character and boy did he ever, he disavowed the previous story and forged a great new one with tons of memorable villains and some truly horrifying stories. Slavers in MAX is the single darkest story i've ever read period and I don't blame people who hate it, it's meant to horrify and shock you and boy does it do that, but not in an immature way like much of Mark Millar's work does(Needless to say the Kick Ass and Wanted comics aren't nearly as good as the films, though I will admit to having a soft spot for The Unfunnies because of how batshit insane it is). It's a story that you'll never forget and i'd put it right up there with Watchmen as much as Moore would hate that(speaking of which while I respect the guy's work and i'm looking forward to his new show, it is getting very tiresome hearing his asinine ranting about how "duh Superheroes are only for kids!", honestly he doesn't sound all that different from Bill Maher. Man I thought The Simpsons was exaggerating how much of a grouch he was, if anything they were underplaying it. Also I liked the Watchmen movie, there I said it, come at me Moore fanboys).
I so badly want animated adaptation of those MAX stories, after being blown away by the Spawn animated series(Which is my all time favorite animation period) i'm drooling at the thought of someone doing that for the Punisher. I was bummed when the Netflix series got cancelled(Which is my favorite live-action show of all time)but i'm excited to see what they come up with next.
Punisher MAX is a nice choice. Such a powerful series.
The Denny O’Neil run on The Question is undoubtedly the comic book of my late adolescence; smart and thoughtful and weird in ways that I hadn’t seen before. And the James Robinson Starman from the late 90s is the comic book that saw me into functioning adulthood. A wonderful run with terrific art by Tony Harris and then Peter Snjejberg (probably misspelled.)
I was at the Beyond Fest screening of Freaky and was very curious to see how the Twitter reactions would be. I wasn’t surprised to see some “reviews” posted before the credits started to roll and while I enjoyed the movie - I found myself a little distrusting of “hype” now that I was actually at a premiere for the first time. Very interested in Spontaneous now.
Not sure if I'd call him my "favorite" super hero, exactly (kisses, Matt Murdock,) but the most impactful super hero story I've ever read is Alan Moore's initial Marvelman/Miracleman run. I was maybe twenty when I first managed to get my hands on copies of the U.S. Eclipse reprints, and even in the wake of reading and absorbing all the other stellar Modern Age work of that period during the late 80s & early 90s, Miracleman absolutely flattened me. It fundamentally changed the way I thought about super heroes in a way that his later (and arguably more nuanced) work on Watchmen did not. Staggering work.
Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 3" is my favorite superhero story of all-time. As a film, it's really messy with Venom and all, but the narrative they set forth for Parker has always been sharp and works well. When the movie came out, I was is in a period of emotional strain and trying to get myself to a healthier place emotionally. Peter's arc in that film has always resonated with me because I felt a kinship to it. Scott Derrickson's "Doctor Strange" landed for the same reason, but it should more of the rebuilding process.
My mother was actually on campus at Kent State on May 4. She was going between classes, I think, and she saw the demonstration going on, and just sensed there was going to be trouble. She got in her car, and went home to her parent's house, so they didn't have to worry about her. The next time she was allowed on campus was for her graduation.
I've got an off-the-newsletter-topic question for anyone.
But you have to be a fan of the Popeye movie. The Robin Williams one.
Do you think it's possible for someone whose never seen the E.C.Segar comic strips or cartoons to enjoy the live action movie?
Just curious. :)
Well your basically talking to me. I never read comic books as a kid, but loved the Popeye cartoons and was a huge Robin Williams fan. I adore The movie Popeye, and went into it as pretty much a blank slate. Still one of my favorite R,W, performances and Shelly Duvall was beyond perfection.
I've been going through old comic books in preparation for moving to a new apartment, and was reminded of some great stories. My favorite run was Ultimate Spiderman by Brian Michael Bendis, it just hit me at the exact right time of adolescence and I connected with a lot of Peter's story in those books, especially the early years. I really recommend it as a great modern version of a classic superhero story, with none of the subversive elements that are so popular in f.ex. Mark Millar's writing (which I also enjoy a lot by the way, but earnestness has its place!).
Well, now I'm hyped for Mank.