All Hail The King

“Iron Man 3,” with the reveal that the character that everyone thought was the Mandarin was actually Trevor Slattery (supposedly an actor of some repute in British theater circles) was a pretty bold move. Some fans rolled with it, while others were a bit peeved.  Myself, I thought it was a particularly ballsy move on […]

The Falcon Quandary

That title sounds like a Robert Ludlum novel.  “The Falcon Quandary.” Marvel Studios, I think, has run into a minor speed bump.  Since they have no right to use characters that are referred to as mutants–because of a licensing deal with Twentieth Century Fox, made when the company was flirting with bankruptcy–there are no super-powered […]

Why is Quicksilver’s Costume So Bad?

When Bryan Singer premiered “X-Men,” his movie based upon Marvel’s team of mutant superheroes, in 2000, there was a lot of controversy over the costumes. Instead of following the comics verbatim, they were made of leather (which was more than a little bit inspired by “The Matrix,” which came out a year earlier). It was […]

‘Ride Along’ Trailer

As a director, I get the feeling that Tim Story doesn’t get the credit that he deserves. The two Fantastic Four films were workable (he’s done other films, like “Barbershop” and “Taxi,” but I am more concerned with his fantastical fare.  The reason why I will get to momentarily). In fact, that’s their greatest problem: […]

‘Amazing Spider-Man 2’ Trailer

The trailer for Marc Webb’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” just popped up, and it feels – and sounds – like a Michael Bay Transformers film.  So many cars flying about, so many explosions! This must be what happens when a director being given too much money is combined with rebooting a property too soon:  You […]

Ant-Man Comic-Con Test Footage (Redux)

As far as I was aware, the only footage of Edgar Wright’s “Ant-Man” were either storyboards, one of which I have included below, crude FX tests (which I have not) or pirated footage that also looked pretty bad. Imagine my surprise to learn that Machinima posted a really comprehensive view of the trailer already (perhaps […]

‘Thor: The Dark World’ Review

Before seeing Alan Taylor’s follow-up to “Thor,” “Thor: The Dark World,” I happened to read a few reviews.  Some were particularly insulting and mean-spirited, while others seemed not to have seen the first film, which is OK; but don’t complain about understanding the origin of Thor and the rest of the Asgardians when you can’t motivate […]

The Marvel Televised Universe Is Born!

Marvel Studios has done it again.  With movies they were the first to create a united universe of characters that began with Iron Man, and continued with “The Incredible Hulk,” “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Thor,” culminating with the blockbuster, “The Avengers.” Now they’re bringing the same approach of a unified universe to Netflix, […]