Comic book movies

[The NZA]

Cant find one, didnt really look tho...help yourself to find one tho, and all you photoshop kids now have a challenge.

PS let this thread die.

[Reverend Jax]

PS let this thread die.

Well, let's just say it's in suspended animation until something actually happens, like when the DD movie comes out or something.

[Silent Bob]

Or we could just change it to comic book movie discussion...which, by the way, I just found some interesting information for. Apparently the great director Wolfgang Peterson (yes, Das Boot, Outbreak, and Air Force One Wolfgang Peterson) has agreed to direct a movie called Batman Vs. Superman. Yes, that's right, Bats and Supes in the same movie. And not just in the same movie, but AGAINST each other. The script is by Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en), is supposed to be incredibly character driven, and apparently involves an act of violence so jarring to our heroes that it pushes both of them to their extreme (Supes to his boy-scout honor, Bats to his self-destructive vengeance) until they've grown so far apart they literally have to duke it out. As a fan boy, I hafta say "cooooooool". The two hero parts are supposed to be cast in the next few weeks. The director is quoted as saying that he's actually looking for "great actors" not action stars. There's also supposed to be "three great parts for women" (Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, Catwoman...maybe?) This movie, along with Aronofsky's Batman:Year One, and McG's Superman (there's also a Catwoman movie scheduled with Ashley Judd, sometime) means that 2004 could be DC's summer.

[Silent Bob]

As for Daredevil...uh...no actual new news, yet, except a few interviews that say that the story is mostly taken from Frank Miller and some Kevin Smith elements. Good choices. And apparently it will feature DD's "radar vision" power. (Sigh) not a good choice. I hated that power. Was so cheesy. But anyway... It's also been confirmed that the director, Johnson, is filming a more violent R-rated cut for the dvd.

 

The studio also has such faith in the film that, yes, a Daredevil 2 is already being planned, and even a Daredevil 3, not to mention an entire Elektra movie spin-off.

[JunkerSeed]

Supposedly matt damon is all but officially cast to play some sort of starring role.  No mention as to whether he'll play a superhero, but peterson wants him in there somehow.  Seems cool as far as I can see, Peterson is good with action and knows how to put some thought into it.

[The NZA]

Some interestin shit there....good point, im changin this thread to "comic book movies" to be all-inclusive (since relevance is so important round these parts   )

Wait...Elekatra flick? Man, i hope we dont butcher comic flicks like in the 80's overdoing it.

[Reverend Jax]

Whoa! Sensory overload! Ok, first of all, I am assuming that Warner is doign Batman Year One, the new Superman, and the Bats vs Supes movies, since DC signed a deal with WB years ago that can probably only be renegociated in 2375. If this is the case, I think they should make some effort to cas tthe same actors and actresses to play the same roles in the most crossover as in the solo projects. So not justt eh same actor for Bruce/Bats and Clark/Supes, but same actress for Lane, Wonder Woman, etc. Also I figure Barbara Gordon might be one of those major female character you were talking about, Bob. All that said, I am worried about a project of that scale and magnitude. I mean sure, they have a great writer and great director lined up, but that is just about the most ambitious project concept I've ever heard of. I mean, first of all, there's the fact that Superman is the strongest living thing on Earth (capable, according to Superman IV, if that's any kind of accurate source material, of moving the moon out of it's orbit) and Batman is just human (mind you pretty fucking strong for a human and one of the smartest ones there is, but human nonetheless). Setting up a physical brawl between the two sets up problems and has insane amounts of difficulties even just in theory, let alone in practice. But even with that aside, there's the incredible expectations. I mean this thing would probably have high expectations attacted to in that Star Wars Episode 1, The Fellowship Of The Ring and Spider-Man put together! Like I said before, it's fucking ambitious!

 

Moving on, I'm not sure that the studio should have so much faith in Daredevil to line-up two sequels and a spin-off. I mean, I can see that with Spider-Man, but Daredevil doesn't have NEARLY the same name recognition as Spider-Man. Spidey is up there with Batman and Superman, even more name recognition that X-Men. Daredevil is like with Silver Surfer and Teh Green Lantern. My mom has sure never heard of those, but she's heard of Spidey. I have some confidence that Daredevil will be good, but not necesarily a movie that deserves 2 sequels and a spin-off before it's finished shooting! And I loev the idea of putting Damon in DD. Damon and Affleck, that's genius! Why hasn't anyone else thought of that?!?!

[JunkerSeed]

I'd almost be worried if they needed the same actors portraying everybody in batman vs supes and all of that.  It seems uneccesary.  If somebody signed up to be batman, it doesn't mean he wants to do ten movies as the same character.  I would rather have standalone movies that have little to do with one another so that they are unrestricted as to what they can do.  People know the characters well enough, and they understand that they'll be played by different actors.  The biggest challenge will be a non-christopher reeve superman, but peopel will have to warm up to that no matter what.  I have no doubt that the wolfgang peterson bat vs supes will be extremely different from aranofsky's batman year one in almost every way shape and form, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  They shouldn't have to water their stories down for each other and they shouldn't have to compromise with casting even.  I have no problem with the batman/superman mismatch, it's been done before, and well.

 

 As for the DD sequel thing, I think the whole comic book sthing is fucking getting out of hand.  I agree, spidey can have some sequels, X-men could try at one, but I think too many people are jumping on the bandwagon.  Before they've even written the movie, they're convinced that they can't tell a decent story in one movie and they sign up for a trilogy.  This is gonna lead to a few summers of nothing but superhero (notice, not even really "comic book," but specifically super hero comic book) movies coming out, and lots of them are gonna suck because deals have been made before any writing whatsoever has started.  I have high  hopes for la few of these (hulk and year one mainly) but I hear about almost a dozen of these fuckin things being made and I smell people cashing in.

[Reverend Jax]

You make some damn good points on the casting issue. I am worried about the Bats vs Supes movie though. If Wonder Woman is also in the cast (hey bod, was WW your own speculation or is that confirmed) that sounds like alot of characters to balance. Might as well be a JL movie. And you're right about teh cashing in on the movie series thing. I mean, it's one thing when Star Wars Epi1 thru Epi3 are planned ahead of time, and the LOTR trilogy is all filmed together, but this is getting ridiculous. I figure that studio saw the success the the new SW trilogy and the LOTR trilogy being planned ahead and wanted their own (or in some cases, just wanted more) series. This could be the start of something very bad in hollywood. VERY BAD!

 

PS Batman & Robin recieve the pretigious Worst Movie of All Time in this month's Maxim. They had a 100 Worst Moives of All Time list and B&R took the number one spot. Naturally there were some I disagreed with, but none can disagree with their #1 pick! Not surpiringly, lots of 80s movies starring John Travolta made the cut.

[Silent Bob]

Yeah, I heard that about B&R. A-fuckin'-men.

 

As for casting issues. Year One couldn't have the same actor because Year One is about a much younger Batman. And I'd rather they didn't get the same actor to play Supes in both movies, because McG's Superman will probably be a much different movie from Batman Vs. Superman. Wonder Woman was my own suggestion, I have no idea. They haven't announced anything else yet. I heard a tiny rumor that they were considering Damon for Bats, but thats very very very far from confirmed.

 

I agree the idea's ambitious, but who better to pull it off than a director like that? I think the movie could be great. And as for the logistics of the story - Bats and Supes going at it - there's two things to consider. One, the conflict of the story is based mostly on ideologies, so Batman and Supes will probably not actually just beat the hell out of each other. We all know Batman wouldn't do that anyway. And two, if it did come down to that, according to the comic mythology, Batman does have that kryptonite ring for just such an occasion.

 

Anyway, what's really got me impressed is that they keep saying this script is not like the other superhero movies. It's character-driven, not action driven. And I think Peterson certainly has the chops to pull that material off.

[Silent Bob]

But, there's also some bad news in the comic book movie world. And that involves the planned movie - Constantine. Constantine has been on the table for a while, and I'm sure all of us would love to see it as a movie. But, unfortunately they made some changes. 1. They changed the character from British to American (sunuvabitch). Why? Well, so they can get Nicholas Cage to play him, that's why. It was supposed to start filming this year, but the director quit. And now Cage has dropped out, as well. So who are they opting for to replace him? (Sigh) none other than Ted himself - Keanu Reeves. So much for a good Constantine film...

[The NZA]

Yeah, but Hellblazer was gonna suck anyway.  The great arcs that Ennis did, theyre too long, and we all know they seem to make every comic superhero (tho Constantine's not this, he might get treated as such) as an origin movie, so unless they got Sting himself to play him, i wasnt expectin much.

Of the Vertigo books, i sincerely dont wanna see Preacher or Hellblazer, but if what ive heard of Transmetropolitan (Patrick Stewart as bastard outlaw journlaist Spider Jerusalem, hoo hah!) is true, that might be pretty cool.

JMT - If ya wanna read the only feesable batman/superman fight, much less the greatest Batman tale of all time, check out Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by comic god Frank Miller.  It could work, i just dont see em goin that way...this film'll get the "comic film" treatment: a lil brawl, then the 2 teamup for some odd reason.   ???

 

[JunkerSeed]

Hmm, I just noticed that Road to Perdition is based on a comic by Max Allen Collins and Richard Piers Rayner.  Don't know if it's by the same name, but it's a comic movie as well apparently, I'll check it out this weekend for sure.

[Reverend Jax]

And road to perdition is get pretty good reviews too. See, not all comic to film movies are superhero stroies, it's just that the non-superhero ones aren't promoted as such and hence no one knows about them being comic books! And bob, there are three major female roles in BvS, then I'd geuss, Lois Lane, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle(?) and Senila Kyle(sp?)/Catwoman, not Wonder Woman. And I don't know anything about Transmetropolitan, but that picture doesn't indicate to me that Patrick Stewart it age-appropriate. I think maybe John Malcovich (because a. you want someone who's also a good actor and b. I already think of Stewart as Picard and Xavier, and I don't think of Malcovich as any particular character, other than John Malcovich via Being John Malcovich ).

[The NZA]

Yeah, it gets that a lot, but believe it or not, Jerusalem is actually kinda old at the series' beginnings, despite too much drugs & tattoos makin him look young. Part of the series is bout him bein on his way out the door & wanting to take down the president with him, actually.  Stewart - like Sam Jackson, Nick Cage and others - is a huge fan, whose personal favorite is Transmet, and the writer (Warren Ellis, also responsible for my "Come in Alone" thread over at Xavier's) thought him perfect, i hear Patrick approached him first, but who knows.  Its prolly years off, but seein as how hte series ends in September, itd be cool to see if the flick's well done, and I'd love to see Stewart pull it off, im sure he could.

 

"[i][b]Spider Jerusalem: cheap, but not AS cheap AS your girlfriend."[/b][/i]

[Silent Bob]

Despite getting such iconic roles as Picard and Xavier, I think it's amazing that Patrick Stewart can still get roles that are completely dissimilar (unlike, say...William Shatner, for good reason...most of the Bond actors...and can anyone watch something with Robert Patrick, without thinking of him as T-1000?). That shows what a great actor he is. I think Patrick Stewart can pull off almost any role, and if he actually wants to play Spider, then, damn, give the man the role.

 

As for the female leads in Bats vs. Supes - I don't think Batgirl will be in it. They've specifically stated that there's no Robin, and the script seems to focus on Batman's loner mentality. Placing Batgirl in the story could serve well to play against that, but it could just as easily get in the way. They said the story also features a lot of villains, so, who knows, maybe we'll get to see the first big-screen live-action appearence of Harley (the only other female villain besides her and Catwoman I can think of is Poison Ivy, and I doubt they'd want to remind anyone of Batman & Robin, if they could help it).

[Reverend Jax]

...and can anyone watch something with Robert Patrick, without thinking of him as T-1000?

I thought he was good in his own rite in Spy Kids. Or maybe I'm just bring that up to plug Spy Kids for those who haven't seen it. Who knows. You certainly won't unless you see Spy Kids for yourself.

 

And, not to put down Stewart in any way shape or form, but I think Malcovich is the better actor of the two. You obviously know the character in question here better than I, and would hence know who would be better for the role, but all things being equal, Malcovich is just a notch above Stewart.

 

Anyway, I forgot to mention this when I first say that pic of transmet you posted, but I noticed some time ago that you (IC) had the sunglasses just like that. I didn't know where there were from, but I could always pick you out of crowd when you wore them. So I have just three questions for you. Where did you get them, do they also have Vash the Stampede sunglasses and do you know if the vash specs are reasonable priced?

[The NZA]

Uh...yeah, the Transmet's are cool but hurt your eyes after a bit (think theyre supposed to be props), Mulan ( :kitty: ) got em offa online comic site, i forget which.

Dont know bout the Vash the Stampede ones (tho theyre cool, i agree) but ill look it up for ya.  Im sure if they exist theyre not reasonably priced, tho.

PS Transmet is great Vertigo readin, kids.  Go grab yourselves a trade & help vote in the long-off forthcomin Stewart Vs Malko poll.

[Reverend Jax]

I have seen Vash specs before, so I know they exist. But I've seen thes ecrazy perfect reproduction straight from Japan for like 80 or 100 dollars. I figured that since you had the shades, mayeb you found them cheap, since you're not exactly an Arab Prince with the cash to spend hundreds on comic books sunglasses, especially since, I imagine, your budget is pretty tight with all those comic books, dvds and comic book merchandise you buy. Oh well...

[Reverend Jax]

Well I checked Ebay out and I found a pair of really bad ones:

 

 

But I also found these sweet ones:

 

 

The second are not official, but custom made and look close enough for me. I'm gonna try for em. Wish me luck!

[Silent Bob]

Hey, JMT, plug Spy Kids all you want. It's nice to see that a kids movie can have so much style, and even clever writing. I hope the sequel does the same.

"How long have we been falling?"

"I don't know. My watch doesn't tell time."

[Reverend Jax]

Indeed. Spy Kids was a great movie, but it could be so much more than a good movie. It could be the hint that hollywood execs need to see that "kid's" movie can be made to be entertaining for grown-ups as well. Most kid's movies are painful for adults to sit through. I watched Spy Kids with a 10-year-old and laughed more times than she did, which pissed her off cause she didn't understand why I was laughing so much (lots of subtlies in that movie that go right over little kids heads). If Spy Kids could be the sign these hollywood execs needed to stop them from putting reject directors on kid's movies, and maybe actually putting good director and production teams on these movies, then Spy Kids could be greater for this culture than the movie itself ever was. It would be a really tragedy if this just when right under the hollywood's radar.

[The NZA]

I wanna trust ya'll on this one - tho i didnt think JMT's Pleasentville was so hot, Election was fun - but man, Spy Kids looks like shit, it really does.  I know, i know, judgin books by their covers & alla that, but sell me a lil more on this one, and do it on a thread of its own or somethin if ya could...i gotta be convinced just a lil bit more.

PS good luck with them sunglasses.

[Reverend Jax]

Hmm, I don't recall ever saying anythign too great about Pleasantville (I usually bring it up when talking about Reese Witherspoon). I liked it, but it doesn't get my seal of infinite approval either. Election I do rave about with no end. Glad you liked it, IC. I remember when you told me you hadn't seen it, and you never mentioned that you had afterward, so I'm guessing it didn't make all that big an impact on you (you never posted a big bold all caps "OMIGAWD I JUST SAW ELECTION AND IT WAS THE GREATEST THING OF ALL TIME" type dealie). I don't know what's left to say. You clear don't trust me very much, so go and look at some reviews. I won't point you to any. I have faith that if you go looking for those review yourself, you will find little of anything but praise (I'm sure if you look really hard, you'll find some negativity, but you can find negativity on ANY film). I found a review so cynical he gave American Beauty a 3 stars out of 4 because it didn't have enough character developement (what?), but he gave Spy Kids 3 1/2 stars. It's a movie you can't help liking. I'm not saying you, personnally will love it, but I'm pretty sure you will like it. In most senses it is a spoof, just in case you didn't know. But it's just 90 minutes, you can borrow the DVD from me, so it won't cost you a dime. If you want, you can watch it on the UPT big screen TV with my DVD player while you're on the clock working, so you can even get payed to watch it. It's not a waste of 90 minutes. But hey, find someone who doesn't like and ask they why it sucks. But I'm willing to bet that its take you way longer to find someone who saw it and didn't like it than it take you to watch it.

 

PS I know you said do plug it els ewhere, but I felt silly startign a new thread just to convince you to see a movie everyone else has seen. But this is all I have left to say about the movie. If you end up never seeing it, it's your lose, not mine.

[JunkerSeed]

Shit all this talk about comic book movies has just got my head fuckin' spinning!  At least spy kids kinda looks like a comic book movie...  Come on, you guys know that you're excited about the upcoming namor movie!  And with all the copyright laws prohibiting crossover cameos... why... namor will have the screen all to himself for an hour and a half!  oh, one day we'll look back and say these were the best days of our lives, we will....  

 

I gotta read a bunch of these comics though, transmetropolitan is certainly on my list of stuff to read, I fucking love what I've heard about it, I also haven't touched daredevil, been meaning to since kevin smith wrote him, Ill have those covered before the movie's out.  

 

[]I must warn though, I urge everybody to take heed in these times!  Your dollars can make or break the comic book movie.  No, that doesn't mean you throw your fucking dollar at any movie featuring lots of CG and a guy in tights.  That means if it looks good watch it, if it doesn't don't.  If a bad movie makes money, they will simply make more bad movies.  Especially when it comes to comic books, see the first, and the minute they see your money the second one will be on the way!  You are not supporting a goddamned thing by seeing every comic book movie out there in hopes that they will make more.  That will lead to nothing but shit films, it'll be the 80's all over again.  If it looks bad, curiosity is no reason to throw 6 bucks at it on opening day, wait for word of mouth and reviews just like you would a normal movie.  If it looks good, go for it, I'll be first in line for year one and hulk, but I ain't touching the preacher movie with a ten foot pole the way I hear it's turnin out, especially because I love the book.[/:D]

 

Now Lobo, there's a guy who needs a fuckin movie!