WILL HYPE MAKE OR BREAK THE DARK KNIGHT?

It’s official.  The Internet doesn’t give a flying shit about the Syrian stalemate, Mitt Romney’s alleged financial misconduct, escalating climate change or the looming Summer Olympics.  Right here, right now, it’s all about Batman.  The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final chapter in Christopher Nolan’s monumental franchise, opens in wide-release at midnight tonight.  Anticipation has reached a frenzied pitch.  Everywhere I click are articles, interviews, reviews, trailers, production stills and memes galore.  I’ll never understand how this particular incarnation of the Caped Crusader managed to capture our popular imagination so completely.  Or, in some unfortunate instances, inspire such vitriolic fanaticism. 

Batman Begins, which launched this newfangled spin on the 70 year-old vigilante icon, was a modest success.  It was dark without being depressing, and inflected with just enough comic-book camp.  But it was the sequel, which preyed upon post-9/11 anxieties, that propelled the series into the pop-culture stratosphere.  I’m one of the film’s few detractors. 

THE ART OF THE CON: SAN DIEGO COMIC CON POST-MORTEM

This past weekend a seething swarm of fanatics descended upon San Diego, the seaside SoCal city discovered by German explorers in 1904 and named for the most intimate part of a female whale’s anatomy.  Geeks from every race, religion, creed and species have been attending Comic-Con International since 1970.  Some make the pilgrimage hoping to meet their favourite comic book artist, others to buy limited edition collectibles.  Many arrive costume-clad, eager to share their unbridled enthusiasm for highly insular corners of pop-culture.  This year though, the vast majority were there so Hollywood hucksters could shotgun the latest blockbusters directly into their nerdy cerebral cortices. 

I’ve been to conventions both large and small, and it can be an overwhelming experience.  The pulsing mass of humanity.  The blatant consumerism.  And, of course, the lines that stretch into infinity.  But San Diego, the great white megalodon of comic conventions, is Geek Mecca.  A place where fandom is magnified to epic proportions.  Thankfully, between the countless entertainment blogs, my fully customizable Twitter feed and G4’s TV coverage, I was able to enjoy this year’s Con from the relative safety and absolute comfort of my own Fortress of Solitude here in Toronto, Canada.

WELCOME TO THE GRINDHOUSE

It’s been half-a-decade since Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez unleashed Grindhouse, their festering love letter to no-budget drive-in B-Movies.  Sitting in that empty theatre on opening weekend, Easter 2007, I never imagined we were perched on the rusty razor’s edge of a new era in Exploitation cinema.  The movie paired Rodriguez’s Planet Terror with Tarantino’s Death Proof.  Sandwiched between the John Carpenter-inspired zombie flick and the country-fried killer car movie was a trio of hilarious fake trailers directed by genre acolytes Edgar Wright, Eli Roth and Rob Zombie.  But this three-hour magnum-opus of oozing viscera, perky tits, big guns and twisted metal unceremoniously bombed at the box-office.  While guys like Ti West (House Of The Devil) and actor-turned-director Michael Biehn (The Terminator, Aliens) have done their best to perpetuate retro-cool in the intervening years, hope is stirring on the horizon.

MOVIEBALL: BASEBALL ON THE BIG SCREEN

Now that both the L.A. Kings and LeBron have been crowned, sports-fans can finally turn their undivided attention to America’s favourite pastime.  The summer may have only just begun, but the regular baseball season is already in full swing.   And while I only follow MLB with a passing interest, cultural osmosis has cultivated in me a profound appreciation for the game itself.  The history of Baseball is the history of the 20^th Century.  Its past is our prologue.  Baseball is mythical.  Anyone who’s made the pilgrimage to Cooperstown, and wandered the halls with hushed reverence, can attest to this inalienable truth.  It’s also cinematic.  I may not love the sport, in its current hyper-corporatized incarnation, but I love baseball on film.

BRUCE LEE'S TAO OF CHOP SOCKY

Let’s be real.  No one watches a Bruce Lee movie for the story.  The plot of The Big Boss (his first major role) and Enter The Dragon (his crowning achievement) are essentially the same, and decidedly threadbare.  Both films pit Lee against shadowy drug cartels.  He preaches fortune-cookie inspired anti-violence, before dispatching the goons in escalating video game-like fashion.  The Big Boss (aka: Fists of Fury) couldn’t be more low-rent.  Enter The Dragon is only superficial sophisticated, filling the frame with anonymous day-players, and flirting with a ham-fisted flashback structure.  Victims of the era in which they were produced, these films should be resounding failures. 

GOTHAM’S MAYOR SIGNS SWEEPING CRIME BILL

Gotham City Mayor, Anthony Garcia

This morning, Gotham City’s Mayor, Anthony Garcia, signed the controversial Dent Act into legislation.  The sweeping bill, which was passed unanimously by the City Assembly, targets organized crime.  Named in honour of Gotham’s deceased District Attorney, Harvey Dent, the act authorizes stiffer sentencing, including a moratorium on parole.  It also closes a loophole that hinders the city’s ability to prosecute individuals who commit crimes that are part of a larger network.  "[Harvey Dent’s] courage in taking on the criminal empires that ruled our streets saved our city.  It would be inappropriate for us not to honor his sacrifice", said the Mayor. 

DMZ: AN EXPLOSIVE LOVE-LETTER HURLED AT NEW YORK CITY

In the future, Manhattan isn’t a maximum security Federal penitentiary, nor is it ruled by costumed street gangs.  Instead, The Big Apple has become a Demilitarized Zone, the neutral no-man’s land in a second American civil war.  That’s the provocative premise of DMZ, Brian Wood’s long-running Vertigo comic-book series.  A rookie reporter named Matty Roth is our hapless tour-guide.  When stranded in this hellacious concrete jungle he has no choice but to navigate a warren of shifting alliances and ulterior motives.  Matty isn’t an iconoclastic gonzo-journalist like Transmetropolitan's Spider Jerusalem.  He’s a confused kid who has bit of more than he can chew, and is forced to man-up or be put down.  Elevated by Riccardo Burchielli's distinctive art-style,  the story investigates Matty's struggles as an embedded journalist in a terrifying what-if scenario, but it also chronicles the war for the soul of an entire city.

VAMPIRE BONES UNEARTHED IN BULGARIA

As zombie fever sweeps across North America, vampire mania is brewing in Eastern Europe.  The LA Times is reporting that the discovery of a 700-year-old skeleton, with its chest punctured by a metal stake, has visitors flocking to the Bulgarian town of Sozopol.  Increased tourism and interest from occult groups has prompted authorities to move the remains to a special display case at the Natural History Museum in the nation’s capital, Sofia. 

COSTLY DELAYS PARALYZE PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Paramount Pictures is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year.  From Titanic to Top Gun, they've shown an uncanny ability to produce Oscar-winners and crowd-pleasers in equal measure.  Vanity Fair’s recent photo shoot, which assembled a diverse roster of Hollywood heavyweights, reminds us of the talent, both on-screen and off, who have contributed to Paramount’s legacy.  But after a century of hit-making, the studio that gave us The Godfather, Indiana Jones and Star Trek, appears to be in serious trouble.

“THE GIRL AND THE FOX” IS A MINI MASTERPIECE

Short films are the red-headed bastard step-children of feature-length motion pictures.  Over the years they’ve been relegated to the realm of experiment and curiosity.  All too often they’re half-hearted exercises produced by eager amateurs just  trying to get a foot in the door.  It’s obvious they’d rather be doing something else entirely.  It’s a rare feat when a short is able to convey a fully realized story, let alone display professional-quality production values.  But The Girl and the Fox, a new animated short from the talented team at Base 14, manages to do both, embracing short form storytelling with quiet confidence and gentle observation.  It’s a sublime marriage of image and idea that evokes the films of Hayao Miyazaki.   Although, director Tyler Kupferer hadn’t seen any of the Japanese master’s work when he began developing the story.

"PROMETHEUS" PROVES RIDLEY SCOTT IS LOST IN SPACE

The name Ridley Scott is synonymous with lowered expectations.  No other filmmaker has achieved more success, or is more respected, despite directing some of the shittiest mainstream movies of the last thirty years.  The past decade in particular, has not been kind to the prolific septuagenarian, who’s fumbled around in every genre except the one that jump-started his career. 

THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE IS NIGH!

Whether you like it or not, zombies are here to stay.  They’ve overwhelmed our pop-culture, lurching (sometimes sprinting) inexorably into our movies, TV shows, comic-books and video games.  AMC’s The Walking Dead, based on Robert Kirkman’s long running Image comic series, is a ratings juggernaut.  A blockbuster adaptation of Max Brooks’ bestselling World War Z , starring Brad Pitt, is set for release next summer.  With a new game in stores and a fifth film on the way, the Resident Evil franchise is alive across multiple platforms, and shows no sign of stumbling.  But a recent string of disturbingly gruesome real-life incidents has some people wondering if an actual Zombie Apocalypse is just on the horizon.

RAY BRADBURY, FROM THE HEART

Ray Bradbury 1922-2012

The blazing globe we orbit, that celestial source of light we call The Sun, has dimmed today.  Here on earth.  There, on Mars.  Across the stars.  Ray Bradbury, the incomparable author has passed away.  He was 91 years young, lived a full life and brought immeasurable joy to millions of readers.  Bradbury is best known for sci-fi classics like Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles and hundreds of short stories.  Although it’s set in a dystopian future, where books are banned and burned, Fahrenheit 451 doesn’t reflect the optimism that colours most of his work.  No other 20^th Century author captured the joy of childhood, the melancholy of adolescence and the wonder of the universe like Bradbury did.

"BEFORE WATCHMEN" IS BEYOND REASON

DC Comics is doing the unthinkable.  This week they’re launching Before Watchmen, a multi-issue prequel to the seminal superhero comic-book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.  It’s comprised of seven separate miniseries and a one-shot epilogue, and will unfold over the next thirty-five weeks.   DC has assembled a formidable team of talent to tackle the project, including writers Darwyn Cooke and J. Michael Straczynski , and superstar artist Adam Hughes.  These guys are among the best in the business, but that doesn’t change the fact that Before Watchmen is ill-conceived and utterly blasphemous.

A CALL TO ACTION: GEEK ZERO CHATS WITH THE CREATOR OF “THE EXPENDABLES 2” FAN-TRAILER.

With The Avengers currently lighting up the global box-office and The Dark Knight Rises poised to invade theatres, you’ve got to wonder were all the action movies aimed at men are?  Forgive me if I’m nonplussed by this decade-long fascination with superheroes.  I prefer my summer entertainment to feature car chases, endless ammunition and testosterone-fueled explosions.  As our Reagan-era icons reach retirement age, action movies have been hijacked by costumed ubermensch and low-rent Euro-thrillers.  Parkour has replaced bulging biceps and body-shrapnel.  A recent New York Times article by Adam Sternbergh chronicles the rise and fall of America’s greatest cultural export, lamenting a bygone era of guts, glory and distilled machismo.

But hope is on the horizon.  The Expendables 2, which drops in August, may be the bullet-riddled reprieve we’ve all been looking for.  Sylvester Stallone’s original film co-starred Jason Statham and a stellar supporting cast, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis in a much-ballyhooed, but all-too-brief cameo. While the sequel re-assembles the same red-blooded roster of forgotten action heroes, it also throws Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck “Fucking” Norris into the fray.

A few weeks ago, a fan-made trailer for The Expendables 2 kicked up a stir across the web.  It was created by Garrison Dean, and presents a refreshingly gung-ho point of view.  Schwarzenegger himself says the insanely jingoistic trailer “is without a doubt the best fan video I've seen.”.  The Governator even goes so far as to suggest it should be the official trailer for the film.  I couldn’t agree more.  I recently traded punches with Garrison Dean, who currently works at an ad agency in Kansas City.  We chatted about his creative sensibilities, his career aspirations, Michael Bay and the sad state of American action movies.

"RANGO" REVEALS THE REAL GORE VERBINSKI

Gore Verbinski is a filmmaker I’ve never given much consideration.  Until I screened Rango, his Oscar-winning animated Western featuring the neurotic vocal styling of Johnny Depp, I regarded him as little more than a high-priced director-for-hire.  Say what you will about his bloated (but successful) Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy, his deft touch was sorely missing from Captain Jack’s most recent adventure.  There’s no doubt Verbinski has the ability to marshal a massive, special-effects laden production.  But what else is he capable of?  Quite a lot, it would seem.  And it’s Rango that snaps his entire filmography into perspective. 

"STAR TREK / DOCTOR WHO" CROSSOVER A CREATIVE BLACK HOLE

Crossovers have been a comic book industry staple for decades.  There’s nothing terribly objectionable about in-house mergers, like Marvel’s Avengers Vs. X-Men, which currently sits atop sales charts.  After all, Captain America and Wolverine exist in the same continuity, and have interacted countless times before.  Even a title as blatantly money-grabbing as Dark Horse’s original Aliens Vs. Predator has some appeal.  There is some gratification to be had from seeing these two formidable extra-terrestrial species throw down in a Darwinian battle of gnashing teeth and slashing blades; although subsequent instalments, including two big-screen flops, have fallen prey to the law of diminishing returns.  These pulpy fusions certainly have a time and a place, but the launch this week of IDW’s Star Trek: TNG / Doctor Who crossover, smacks of pandering fan-fiction.

SUPER VILLAN MOMS TARGET MARVEL AND DC OVER GAY HEROES

Hot off the blistering box-office success of The Avengers, principal photography on Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 began in North Carolina this week.  I wonder of how intolerant Tar Heels feel about the movie now that Marvel Comics has announced they’ll feature a same-sex wedding in next month’s issue of Astonishing X-Men?  

As if an entire state wasn’t enough, now One Million Moms, a conservative Christian group, is launching a campaign to stop Marvel and DC Comics characters from coming out of the closet.  Earlier this week, both publishers made landmark announcements that has these super-villainous matriarchs up in arms.

CAN WILL SMITH REVERSE SHYAMALAN’S SLUMP?

Will Smith is back on the big screen this weekend after a four year hiatus.  Men In Black III is his first film since the mawkish Seven Pounds misfired. But if trite sequels are going to be his stock in trade, he’s going to have a hell of a time maintaining his title as the “World’s Biggest Movie Star”.  The only certainty about Smith's future, based on the projects he has lined up, is more of the same.  In addition to the Men In Black theequel, he has follow-ups to Bad Boys, I, Robot, and Hancock all in various stages of development.  He passed on a remake of the South Korean revenge thriller, Oldboy, with Spielberg at the helm.  Then couldn’t get his act together for Tarantino’s Django Unchained.  Instead, Smith signed on to M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth, which may be the most baffling career move of all.

SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS BEWARE “BEAST OF THE SOUTHERN WILD”

The business of marketing summer tentpoles has gotten out of hand.  After three movies and $2.5 billion in worldwide ticket sales, is a four minute super-trailer for The Amazing Spiderman really going to convince audiences to check out the latest version of old Web-head?  How elaborate does the viral campaign for Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s long-awaited return to the Alien franchise, need to be to ensure box-office supremacy?  Even though they're sure things, this summer’s blockbusters have been over-marketed and over-hyped to the point where my anticipation has been completely extinguished.  I’m not foaming at the mouth see The Dark Knight Rises.  A six-minute prologue was attached to IMAX screenings of Mission: Impossible back in December, so I can wait a little while longer to see exactly how Christopher Nolan plans on bringing Gotham City to its knees.  Again.  But one film, amidst this exhausting advertising blitzkrieg, has managed to pique my interest.

"BLADE RUNNER" AND "SIN CITY" SUFFERING SEQUEL SYNDROME?

This week, the sequel status of two highly influential cult favourites came down the press release pipeline.  Follow-ups to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi neon noir, Blade Runner, and Robert Rodriguez’s hard boiled neo-noir, Sin City, are both moving full steam ahead.  For better -- but usually for worse -- sequels, prequels, spin-offs, remakes and reboots have become Hollywood’s bread-and-butter.  I’m not fundamentally opposed to the idea of franchise building or continuing adventures.  After all, The Godfather: Part II is simultaneously prequel and sequel, and the greatest parenthesis ever committed to film.  But for every new Toy Story there are three Saw films.  For every Punisher or Hulk, there’s another Punisher or Hulk.  

MAGNETO’S HOLOCAUST ORIGIN: INSENSITIVE OR INSPIRED?

Do culturally sensitive historical events like slavery or The Holocaust have a place in superhero comics?  That’s a question I wrestled with while reading Magneto Testament, Greg Pak and Carmine Di Giandomenico’s five-issue Marvel Comics miniseries.  The book details the unspeakable horrors suffered by an adolescent Magneto while imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp.  The notion of Magneto as a Holocaust survivor isn’t new, but it never fails to court controversy.

TIM BURTON IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE. WHO GIVES A RAT'S ASS?

Photo by: Tim Walker, HARPER'S BAZAR

This year sees the release of two films by Tim Burton, a director who’s claim to fame is that he makes middle-of-the-road adaptations, and brands them with kooky black-and-white spirals.  Dark Shadows, his big-screen take on the camp-classic TV show about a vampire and his dysfunctional family, hits theatres this weekend.  It stars his on-screen alter-ego, Johnny Depp, and reunites him with Michelle Pfeiffer for the first time since she slinked her latex-clad way into our collective Bat-fantasies.  In the fall Burton will release a feature length remake of his charming 1984 stop-motion animated short, Frankenweenie.  He’s also producing Timur Bekmambetov’s anachronistic actioner, Abraham Linclon: Vampire Hunter.  It’s a great time to be a Tim Burton fan.  I couldn’t care less.

AN OPEN LETTER TO JOSS WHEDON’S OPEN LETTER

Yesterday, writer/director Joss Whedon posted an open letter to his fans, reacting to The Avengers record smashing opening weekend.  He was gracious and funny, and mentioned Jai Alai (thrice).  Here's my open letter to Mr. Whedon's open letter.

KIMCHI IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD: REVENGE THRILLERS ARE A SOUTH KOREAN DELICACY

Oldboy (2003)

For almost a decade South Korea has produced a steady stream of  revenge thrillers that are stomach churning, but compulsively watchable.  They’re unflinchingly violent, morally ambiguous and border on the exploitative.  But more often than not, the results are Shakespearean in magnitude.

Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy is the sub-genre’s finest example.  It’s one of Quentin Tarantino’s favourite films, and has critical cache to spare.  It won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004, and is being remade by Spike Lee, a director who excels at courting controversy.  Oldboy is just the tip of the icepick.

FILM CRITICS SQUARE OFF OVER "THE DICTATOR"

Late last night two titans of online film criticism grappled in a candid but civil Twitter debate about the eroding ethical state of showbiz journalism.  I’ve been reading both Devin Faraci of Badass Digest and Drew McWeeny of HitFix on a near-daily basis for the better part of a decade.  They’re among the best web critics currently working; always insightful, articulate and passionate.  They are the giant shoulders upon which I stand.

The discussion was sparked when Faraci sent out a tweet to his 10,000+ subscribers, lamenting a growing trend that finds junket critics selling out themselves and their faithful readers.  “So few of your favorite film critics are trustworthy.  What a state of affairs when opinions are for sale. “

Faraci was referencing a Paramount Pictures press conference, held earlier in the day, for Sacha Baron Cohen’s new comedy, The Dictator.  Journalists were inexplicably required to submit questions for approval beforehand.  Cohen proceeded to field the questions in-character, as Gaddafi-composite Admiral General Aladeen, of the fictional Republic of Wadiya.  Faraci's concern was that attending journalists became complicit participants in a shameless PR stunt masquerading as a legitimate press conference.

A carefully considered Professor X vs. Magneto polemic unfolded between Faraci and McWeeny (I’ll let you determine who’s who).  They agreed upon the core ethical dilemma, that truth and honesty are fundamental to their profession, but disagreed on how a responsible journalist should react to offending parties.  Both gentlemen asked tough questions in what emerged as one the most intelligent discourses on journalistic integrity I've read in ages.

The following is a transcript, from May 8^th, 2012, of the Twitter conversation between Faraci and McWeeny.

WHILE "THE AVENGERS" BREAKS BOX-OFFICE RECORDS, COMIC BOOK SALES PALE

The Avengers took North American audiences by force this weekend, grossing over $200 million, and tallying the biggest three-day opening of all time.  It's writer/director Joss Whedon's first ever bona-fide big-screen hit.  Whedon, who honed his talent juggling eclectic ensembles on TV shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, has spent the last decade suffering trigger-happy Fox execs. After they prematurely axed two of his shows (Firefly and Dollhouse), he abandoned network TV altogether, producing the cult favourite web-series, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.  While the success of The Avengers guarantees Whedon will live to story-tell another day, it’s really the comic book medium itself that needs rescuing.