…which is in itself a geek reference (John Kovalic, Dork Tower, primo stuff*). At any rate, took the last two days off to read the latest Harry Turtledove and catch the Hellboy movie. Said movie was quite tasty, all in all; the main characters were well matched with their actors, who did generally did good work (Abe Sapiens in particular needed much more screen time), the plot was pretty good and the inevitable continuity violations were probably necessary anyway (I note that there were some significant contradictions ‘twixt comics and movie, but I don’t want to give away the plot). The atmosphere and feel of the flick was accurate, and that makes up for a whole heck of a lot. Plus, there were Nazis, who got smote most thoroughly. Always a plus.
IOW, this one joins X-Men and… Jeebus, Hollywood really screws up superhero flicks, huh? Well, Batman wasn’t bad, if you squint and see it as a Tim Burton flick rather than as a superhero flick… anyway, this movie not only didn’t suck; it’s actually good. Given Hollywood, that’s bloody amazing. Could it possibly be that the suits decided to not loom over the weirdo SF/Fantasy directors alone for once?
Moe
*I’ve been lately feeling the call of my Inner Geek, actually: I rather ruthlessly suppressed it to help get this blog off of the ground. Apparently, however, my past is catching up to me (Hi, Beth! Swear to God and St. Michael that I’ll be coming back soon!)…
I thought they turned the climax of the “Right Hand of Doom” climax into an anticlimax by dumbing down the “true name” routine. I hate to say The Book Was Better, but for that part it was. Loved Pearlman, though.
“I hate to say The Book Was Better, but for that part it was.”
Yeah, I can see where you’re going with that; I’m hoping that the deleted scenes will help out, though. LotR is going to cast some very long shadows, methinks. 🙂
“Loved Pearlman, though.”
Agreed. Both Doug Jones (body) and David Hyde-Pierce (voice) did nicely with Abe, too.
“Could it possibly be that the suits decided to not loom over the weirdo SF/Fantasy directors alone for once?”
Obviously not.
“Perlman,” by the way, guys. The film has gotten great reviews from everyone I’ve read so far, by the way, including NY Times, WashPo and Ebert.
I very much liked Burton’s first Batman and thought his second okay; Joel Schumacher, on the other hand, should have his liver gnawed on by fetid weasels.
The first two Christopher Reeves Superman films had their moments, though also elements I hated.
I very much liked the two X-Men films, and really rather enjoyed the Daredevil and Hulk films, much though I’m in a minority there.
But surely you won’t speak ill of Mystery Men, wil ya?
Also, the Flash tv series wasn’t half-bad.
Does Hercules In New York count as a superhero movie?
Only in the Marvel continuity. 😉
While we’re geeking, I’ll just free-associate to say that my favorite element of the Fifties tv Superman series was that in more or less every episode crooks would fire their guns at Superman, and he would put his hands on his hips and grin a grin of superiority while animated bullets would whiz off his mighty, manly, chest.
Then, uniformly, having run out of bullets, the frustrated crooks would angrily throw their guns at Superman!
And what does invulnerable Superman do? In every instance (in my memory, anyway)?
He ducks!
I just loved that. Great Caesar’s Ghost!
So Moe…just checking…we never met in Kunark or Velious, right?
(Crap. Hit “post” too quickly.)
I haven’t been there in a couple of years, but I’m sure I would have remembered you. 🙂
Re:Perlman — I’m always happy to see him get a prominent gig. He had the “Beast” job, but that’s typical stuff for him because he’s not good-looking by H’wood standards. Of course, being cast as pre-historic in “Quest for Fire” probably didn’t help.
I didn’t think Spiderman was too bad either, though I’m not well-versed in the comic…
I knew I was forgetting things; yes, I quite liked the Spiderman movie, as well. Not wonderful, but more than adequate, and quite good, I think.
If anyone is interested in mo’ Hellboy, or an introduction to the character and what you’ll be seeing on the big screen, there is a medley of comics at:
http://darkhorse.com/zones/hellboy/downloads.php (scroll down to e-comics)
http://playboy.com/darkhorse/hellboy/index.html
(becareful, those are hosted at playboy.com of all places!)
http://www.hellboy.com/z-old-design/hbcomicsonline.html
Some of those links repeat each other, but some have stories others don’t have, so I put ’em all out. Enjoy.
Hmm. . yes. . the comic-to-film hearse.
Still the best in my book is Conan.
“Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, and why we died. All that matters is that today, two stood against many. Valor pleases you, so grant me this one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, the HELL with you!”
Blade was pretty good. Who doesn’t love Kris Kristofferson?
Moe, since you’re geeking out. Have you had a look at Casshern?
(Link via penny arcade)
Er, Conan didn’t come from a comic book. Conan came from Robert E. Howard’s stories in Weird Tales, starting in December, 1932.
They were, about fifty years later, after endless other Conan stories written by many others, such as L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, adapted into comic books, sure. (My memory said Roy Thomas was first, but I’m not going to bother to look it up.)
But, you know, so was Treasure Island and the Bible, and we don’t say that “The Passion of the Christ” is another comics-to-film.
Marv Wolfman’s Blade on the other hand, sure.
And what does invulnerable Superman do? In every instance (in my memory, anyway)?
He ducks!
I don’t think the Nerf Gun had been invented yet, so that’s a fair response. But only if you consider that Reeves only played Superman on TV.
My memory is a bit different, I seem to recall the television Superman (George Reeves) grabbing the empty guns from the crooks and bending them in his hands. But I do remember also the scenes where they would throw their guns (don’t remember him ducking though).
“My memory is a bit different, I seem to recall the television Superman (George Reeves) grabbing the empty guns from the crooks and bending them in his hands.”
Okay, you’re right, he did that occasionally, too.
“But I do remember also the scenes where they would throw their guns (don’t remember him ducking though).”
I don’t have any on tape, nor do I currently have cable, but I remember it very clearly in at least some episodes, but — I love the web — see here.