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Monday 24 September 2012

BOOGA & TANK GIRL TRIBUTE.....

A tribute to surly the greatest boy kangaroo, girl couple every.....

Tuesday 18 September 2012

The Ballad of G.I. Joe by the Dreadnoughts Ripper & Torch

This has better costumes and a better cast that that terrible movie did.YO JOE.....shine on you crazy diamonds.

'The Complete History Of The Justice League' Documentary(2009)

I've never been a huge fan of the Justice League because as a group they're just too powerful and that always makes any bad guy they come up against almost immediately redundant. but this is a great documentary and it's always good to see some of the big names in super hero comics talking about their art. And even in a documentary about DC's biggest heroes Stan Lee still manages to make an appearance....

How to make the 'new' Robocop suit....

Take the Bat suit mix it with the underrated (although in no way better than the animated series or the comics) live action Tick costume and...............
It's only just started filming but with only a teaser trailer, a leaked script and images of the new (?) Robo could it be, could this be it, could this be the unimaginative creative void that finally puts an end to the current trend for awful and unnecessary, nostalgia tripping remakes....hang on...what's that noise...sounds like...like the bottom end of a barrel being scraped out....sorry my mistake it's just the Manimal movie nobody was waiting for....................parp.

Friday 14 September 2012

Is Dredd the best big screen comic strip adaptation...

Saw Dredd this morning and loved it, without doubt (for me at least) one of the best comic book adaptation ever with an excellent cast doing justice (i thank you) to each of their characters.With a fifth of the budget ($45,000,000 according to IMDB)of the Avengers ($220,000,000) Dark Knight Rises ($250,000,000) and the disappointing Amazing Spider-Man ($230,000,000) the makers got the story spot on, nice and simple no epic 'saving the city' grandstanding which has been the schtick for the higher profile Marvel/DC efforts as Dredd says at the end it was 'just a drug bust'. My only complaint is that I'd prefer to have seen it in 2D and a little 'Verhoeven' style social commentary/humor would have been a nice touch but that could have led to unfair RoboCop comparisons when it could be argued Robo is just a rip off of or at least heavily influenced by the long running 2000ad strip.
With the reviews it's receiving along with a healthy box office a sequel should be on the cards with surly a more fitting budget and from what other people have been saying the preferred choice for villain would be Judge Death but personally I'd like to see Dredd go up against the Angel Gang (the one thing the Stallone dud unknowingly got right) keeping the story line in the 'a day in the life' mold (if it turns into a trilogy then have the 3rd be the Dredd saves the world super natural Dark Judge extravaganza ideally based on the 'Necropolis' story line). This flick proves that with the right people in charge less is defiantly more a rule that should become law for all future comic book movies.

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Monday 3 September 2012

TOP 5: Movies that SHOULD be Remade....

I hate remakes. This is of course a bit of a broad statement to make when I count flicks like the Thing and the Magnificent 7 among some of my all time favorites and indeed the remake has been a staple of Hollywood's output since day one but over the last decade the Hollywood remake culture has reach a point where they are nothing short of creative voids, embarrassing all involved with them (including the viewers) but what of those movies that missed the mark first time around and would genuinely benefit from being remade (like Dredd, which I am muy entusiasmado about seeing.)

5. CONSTANTINE (2005):
Bad comic book adaptations are 10 a penny but Constantine (based on the comic book Hellblazer) is probably more guilty than most of wasting the potential of its source material. A remake with a storyline faithful to the books, David Fincher directing and Ryan Gosling in the lead role (but no fake English accent) and we're talking big screen super natural gold...


4.PLAN 9 from OUTER SPACE (1959):
I am very reluctant to suggest this because Plan 9 is perfect in it's awful brilliance but the story of aliens resurrecting the dead has some great possibilities perhaps as an animated feature in the mold of Mega Mind and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.


3. NIGHTBREED (1990):
Based on the Clive Barker's book Cabal, Nightbreed promised much but because of poor directing (it was directed by Barker) and even worse editing the end result was an immensely enjoyable but deeply flawed mess. A new Cabal Cut is being shown at this years FrightFest with restored footage but a del Toro directed remake would be almost too perfect......


2. WAR of the WORLDS (1953):
This was of course already remade in 2005 which as enjoyable as it was always seemed like a missed opportunity if only Spielberg had set it in England during the 1800's as it is in the book and replaced Tom Cruise with Michael Fassbender the result would have been far more worthy....


1. RED STATE (2011):
For a director who's best known for his comedies Kevin Smith steps up and makes a thriller that delivers on suspense with moments of genuine1970's style low-fi horror but it's biggest problem is it's lack of budget which really shows in the later scenes (no spoilers). A remake (by the same cast and crew) with the budget to do the idea justice would easily blow more well funded horror franchises out the water especially with the inclusion of the original 'Book of Revelations' ending....


....but remember kids every time Hollywood green lights a remake the 'New' gets its wings clipped.

HOLY WARDROBE MALFUNCTION WONDER WOMAN...Dressing down the New 52

An illustration I did for an article I wrote for The Big Glasgow Comic Page about costumes and 'realism' in superhero comics which went a little something like this................


I’m almost certain that in 2010 the head honchos of DC comics gathered together in a place not unlike Dr. Strangelove’s war room, huddled around a large dimly lit oval table, stared intensely at the documents in front of them outlining the ailing sales figures for monthly comic books, then with fists clenched the shadowy figure at the head of the table leaned forward and laid out the companies number one priority, ‘Get rid of Superman’s trunks’ and so was born the New (?) 52.

I’m sure there was more to it, there’s no way the entire DC universe would be dismantled for something so ridiculous, surly not, although they did let the much derided Rob Leifeild work on not one but 4 of the New (?) 52, so anything is possible.

And so it happened and the Man of Steel was striped of his infamous red underwear and in a double whammy of comic ‘realism’ his red and blue costume was replaced with red and blue body armor, and when the fan-boys giddy with excitement at this bold stroke of realism held over their disposable incomes DC had achieved what it had failed time and time again to do in the past Superman was finally DARK…and…GRITTY. (Just in time for his dark and gritty return to the big screen but again I’m sure this is just a coincidence)

At a time when the contradictory trend for ‘realism’ in superhero comics trundles into its 3rd decade (if you take Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns as it’s starting point) the short hand for this tiresome obsession remains simply to give characters a change of wardrobe, out goes the simple spandex body stocking and in comes bulky overly designed Kevlar.

During the 90’s almost every iconic superhero at one time or another was given the armored treatment Spider-Man, Batman (Azbats), Captain America, Daredevil to name a few, all where thankfully short lived but when Image Comics established itself as comics third super power, armored superheroes where almost company policy.
Shoulder pads, shin guards, knuckle dusters and multi pouched utility belts (thank you Mr. Liefeild) all became necessary adornments in the ultra violent ‘realism’ these crime fighters inhabited because it’s important everyone who fights crime no matter what their super powers, be armored suited and bovver booted for the occasion, well almost everyone.

Obviously the fan-boys want for gritty 'realistic superheroes'(?) doesn’t stretch to the many lady crime fighters where life saving bullet proof vests and protective padding are sacrificed in the name of tits and ass. There are of course exceptions, Batgirl and Bat-Woman are suitably covered up and even Powergirl has been given a costume that covers her trade mark basket ball cleavage (I’m sure this will be ‘fixed’ sooner rather than later) but when it comes to the icons the old rules still apply.

The Justice League, in classic style was re-launched with a line up that included all of DC’s big names: Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman, all armored up and ready to fight the good fight. The bionically enhanced Cyborg now looks more half man half transformer and of course even the indestructible Superman is now redundantly armored but when it comes to Wonder Woman it seems hot pants, go-go boots and an ill fitting corset is all a girl needs to fight the forces of evil. And in the promotional images for the forth coming Justice League of America it seems all that’s needed to up date Catwoman’s already perfect duds is to unzip it just enough to show a little more…realism.