In my review of "The Beast with a Billion Backs", the Futurama movie before this one, I mentioned that I hope the next one is leaps and bounds above it as I was quite disappointed with that attempt. Well, luckily, the team smoked this one out of the park!
The humour is laugh outloud, which as most fans will know, isn't often the case with Futurama. The series often depends on hidden commentary that makes you go "Hey, that's totally true!" as opposed to making you spew milk out your nose. The laughs in "Bender's Game" come from slick dialogue with lines carrying over eachother with witty throwaways, worthy of Robert Downey Jr.
The first hour is almost purely standard fare until the fantasy genre kicks in, in a very poorly explained plot collision. Any fans of Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of the Rings will get a kick out of the fantasy aspect of the story with simple references to the LOTR collapsing staircases and changes "Orks" to "Morks" (raging zombie Robin William's that won't stop mumbling).
There is good use of all the standard characters but Zap and Kif fans can steer clear as they do not appear in this film (aside from a photo of Zap). Little Nibbler gets the star treatment as much of the basic plotline revolves around his dark matter poo. Just like in the previous movie, Bender spends most of the time off in his own sub-plot, which is much funnier than the one in "...Billion Backs" and Professor Zoidberg gets treated like the worthless slob he is. "Mom" is the main villain and it's always nice for long-time fans to learn new sidenotes on the decades long on-again-off-again romance between her and Professor Farnsworth. So much happens in a Futurama story I'm not going to ramble on about this scene or that scene but merely suggest this one's worth owning to watch every few months.
After months (or was it mere weeks?) of waiting, Iron Man has arrived on DVD! Next month we get The Incredible Hulk! Then we have a long, long wait until 2010 for the next feature films from Marvel, which will be the following:
'Iron Man 2' (May 7, 2010), 'Thor' (July 16, 2010), 'The First Avenger: Captain America' (May 6, 2011), and 'The Avengers' (July 15, 2011). As well as 'Iron Man 3' already being confirmed through a distribution agreement between Marvel and Paramount, but no release date.
Who knew Iron Man, of all characters, would be Marvel's new flagship? I'm very excited for the new films to be worked on and love that the seeds were planted in these first two films. There is foreshadowing all over the place: Captain America's sheild is visable in Tony's lab; the Avengers Initiative is set up in both Iron Man & Incredible Hulk; a report of Captain America being found frozen is on a newspaper's front page in Incredible Hulk.
Not to mention the in-jokes and nod to the comics: "Jarvis" is actually the Avengers' human butler, not a wise, helpful computer program; the X-Men's team jet, The Blackbird is visible in Iron Man's visor when referencing a recent project's ability to withstand flight distance; believe it or not, apparently Thor himself is the cause of that lightening that pisses off the Hulk when he and Betty are in the caves; James Rhodes will clearly be War Machine in the next Iron Man film after his '...next time' line in part 1...and a whole lot of other references I'm too tired to think of.
Until 2010, I luckily have the comics to keep my fix going until the movies bring these great characters and stories to the (cheap-ass) masses. If you were to pick up any ol' Marvel comic today, you might be a little confused, so here's what's going on right now with these characters:
The Secret Invasion is currently in full swing, Skrulls (shape-shifting aliens who hate humans and especially Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four) have been hiding among us for months and possibly years in a plan to take over Earth, disguised as regular humans and a large number of heroes.
...Iron Man is the current director of S.H.I.E.L.D., making him Earth's top cop and the 'face' of the Registration Act (recently passed making it illegal to use superpowers without being registered). It's possible the Act was passed due to hysteria caused by the Skrull invasion, and arguing heroes (pro-registration and anti-registration) are currently working together to save the planet from the invaders.
...Incredible Hulk has just returned to Earth after being jettisoned into space for the safety of the planet (by the self-appointed "Illuminati" - Iron Man, Professor X, Blackbolt, Sub-Mariner, Dr. Strange and Reed Richards). In space, he crash landed on a distant, inhabited planet and basically pulled a "Gladiator", becoming king of it's people. After a year of that, he returned to Earth with an army and tried to kill everybody, until it was all worked out with hugs.
...Thor has brought Asgard and it's warriors to Oklahoma. It sounds funny, and it is (especially when he gets mail) but damn if it doesn't work as he tries to re-connect with the people of 'Midgard' (aka Earth). Oh, and Loki's a woman now, for some reason.
...Captain America, recently killed, has been replaced with his long-ago sidekick Bucky. Everyone and their dog cringed at the idea but it's one of the best books on the shelves. Steve Rogers is most likely to return before the movie comes out but until then, the book is such a great spy-thriller story, I think Ed Brubaker can do whatever the hell he wants and I'll just keep on buying it each month.
...The Avengers are knee-deep in Skrulls right now, it turns out the "New Avengers", "Mighty Avengers" and "Avengers Initiative" books were all launched a few years ago specifically to foreshadow this invasion. Luckily, nobody saw it coming and the books were all good to begin with, giving us a mystery worthy of "Lost".
With the films heading in the right direction as a cohesive universe, could a slew of tv series be in the future? Hell yeah.
We went and saw "Weird Al" last year at the River Rock so when I heard he was coming back so soon, I was kind of like "Awesome! Let's get tickets!". And so we did!
I've been an avid fan of Al since I was about 14 years old or so and my friend Scott and I often interrupted the cafeteria in high school with our two-man rendition of the latest polka melody (mix & match of various rock songs, double-timed). If you're going to sing in the car, it may as well be a "Weird Al" song because you're going to belt it and he has such a wide vocal range, it's a fun, constant challenge going through an entire album!
Al's best songs have always been his self-written tunes, though he's obviously famous for his parodies. My personal favourite? Frank's 2000" TV (which anyone who rode in my parent's van in high school can confirm).
His biggest hit to date, surprisingly, is his most recent: White & Nerdy, which just went platinum! Seeing this incredibly fast-paced song performed live is indeed something to behold.
Speaking of performing live, I've see Al live three times now and he's the only performer/band that I've actually enjoyed seeing. No other singer has ever sounded like they do on the album as Al does, this is a huge selling feature for me and I'd go see this show again tomorrow night if I could.
One more night, August 23rd at the Red Robinson theatre!
Test 1 - If you can watch this entire video and not smile, you're an asshole. Test 2 - If you get tired of this video and don't watch to the end, you're an asshole. Test 3 - If you recognize the video and just muttered "Bah, I've already seen that", thinking seeing it once is enough, you're an asshole.
I highly recommend watching the Hi-Def version on his website directly: www.wherethehellismatt.com under "Dancing 2008" right on the main page.
This film is a worldwide phenomenon that I watch at least once a month and it always makes me smile.
First we get the first steps toward microbe and potential illness protection with the affectionately nicknamed Tri-Corder ala "Star Trek" fame, and now it's time to consider the possibilities of inter-stellar travel and invisibility!
I couldn't possibly write the article any more gooder than they do here at Universe Today so I'll just send you there to check it out.
Pretty neat stuff, though most likely decades in waiting.
The opinionated and the ignorant are assuming Burt Ward or Chris O'Donnell are going to be asked to reprise the role of Dick Grayson/Robin in the new Batman movies and have the realistic series be suddenly camped up. An informed opinion would see the reality and trust the new film-makers to add the central character in a mature and realistic fashion.
Jeph Loeb (who I've met in person, yay me!) correctly defends the boy wonder. Loeb's books "Dark Victory" and "The Long Halloween" were inspirations for the new Batman movie series and Dick Grayson is a central, necessary character.
Anyone insisting there is no need for a Robin/Richard Grayson character clearly doesn't, or has never, read the source material. Batman is a central character to a grand storyline that he set into motion and ignoring his impact on the world, including Grayson's origin, is being ignorant. Robin is as essential as Commissioner Gordon or Alfred. He is the lifeline that keeps Bruce from falling into an abyss of darkness and if the movies keep going the way they are, he'll be more needed than ever.
I'm not saying he has to show up in this movie series at all, but getting all up in arms about speculation and writing off the very idea of Robin is ridiculously stupid. Even Batman: The Animated Series introduced the character in a believable way. I get very angry at the outrageous opinions of people who never read the comics but insist they're opinion is an educated one. Robin is Batman's better half and should never be brushed off because of one horrible 60's tv show's version of him.
There's nothing completely outlandish about The Dark Knight (TDK), which is a little frightening. Easily the best thriller of the year, it's a morality play for the new century with the backdrop of a superhero film.
We still get Batman beating the crap out of bad guys and jumping off of rooftops (Batman isn't Batman if he doesn't do either of those) and we get his insane arch-enemy The Joker being as crafty as he is in the comics. This movie is the second best nod to comic book storytelling this year (Iron Man being the first) in which we get to see how fun and thrilling their stories can be while drawing completely different stories from the same genre. Batman Begins was almost there but origin stories are origin stories.
Is a comic book movie that doesn't feel like a comic book movie still a comic book movie? It is now, thank the gods. It would be insulting to file this movie under a 'comic book movie' due only to the stereotype that horrible films like Daredevil and the early Batman failures have set up in people's minds for "those types of movies". These new movies should wipe those thoughts from the general public's mind soon enough. Iron Man, Batman Begins and Spider-Man 2 showed us these heroes can still be relevant today and are, in fact, more needed than ever. I look extrememly forward to next year's "Watchmen" (to which we get the trailer before TDK) which should be the best thriller of NEXT year. Not once during this movie do you think "Well this is just silly", it's just too damn fun and interesting, not to mention the constant distraction of your brain asking yourself "What would YOU do in this situation, smart guy"?
Dark Knight isn't as action-packed as some reviews might make you believe (one review I read said 'constant action from start to finish', and there wasn't) but there is plenty enough of it during the 2.5 hour story. There's just so much else going on that you don't need it, nor miss it. The plotline is almost that of Die Hard: With a Vengeance, with everyone on their toes wondering what the next problem is going to be. Though unlike Die Hard, there is no secondary distraction here, The Joker simply wants to watch the city squirm. But then the story changes, then it changes again until you have no idea who's going to do what.
Batman/Bruce Wayne is portrayed more human in this film than I think I've ever seen Batman handled (and I've been reading comics for 15 years). Though he never questions his mission, he questions the methods through which he may have to go by to get the job done.
Harvey Dent is The White Knight of Gotham, giving Bruce hope that Batman may no longer be necessary with such a good man as district attorney. Harvey is truly likeable and is a Batman of the real world in the truest sense of Bruce's definition. He can do legally (and in broad daylight, no less) what Batman can't.
This movie features The Joker how he should be done, completely unpredictable but always with an underlying motive while seemingly having no idea he's doing any of it. He's insane but gets more done in a day than anyone.
Minor characters are well used in this film, Lucious Fox and Alfred Pennyworth are always a treat but we see a wide range of people in the Gotham Police Department as well (yet another possible nod to "Gotham Central", an award winning comic series surrounding the Gotham Police Force working in a city with Batman making them look bad). Everyone has a role to play and as the story unfolds, it's amazing how everything goes like clockwork in this intricate tale. There are definitely a few moments where it could have used an extra pause to let the emotion of the scene sink in but there was always something else to get to.
The Dark Knight is the best thriller of the year as much as Iron Man is the best Action/Adventure of the year. I wouldn't be surprised to see The Dark Knight reign supreme at next year's Oscars as one of the nominees for Best Picture. It's a brilliantly told story that speaks to our core motivations as human beings performed by great actors who wear white face paint and a bat costume as if they were jeans and t-shirts.
