A new, original series from celebrated creator Frank Cho (Totally Awesome Hulk, Savage Wolverine)! Full of fast-paced action, Skybourne is James Bond with fantasy elements thrown in and is unlike anything Frank Cho has ever done before. The legend of King Arthur is alive and well in modern day. Only one man, Skybourne, can stop the evil Merlin from destroying the world.
Writing
Frank Cho really brought his A game to the table with this book. The story truly has a spy story feel to it while at the same time tapping into a lot of mythology and intense action.
After the quick introduction about Lazarus and how he fathered the Skybourne children, the issue picks up with intense superhuman action. Actually, first it gives us a bit of a mystery by revealing a character who jumps out of a plane but seems to survive the landing without a parachute. Obviously this is one of the Skybourne children; the reason for his decision to jump hasn’t been revealed, but it’s definitely helping to add to the mystery behind the issue. If you love spy stories like Burn Notice this book is perfect for you.
Artwork
The art is the real outstanding aspect of this book. The violence employed in the first issue is intense and drawn with an insane level of detail behind it. Frank put all of his heart into the art and is proving just how much he wanted to tell this story.
Conclusion
The series is a great miniseries which fans need to check out. Way to go Frank – your new work is incredible and proves you are truly a creator who needs to be watched. Coming from the superhero series to this kind of book really shows his immense talents as both a writer and an artist.
Just when it was thought the episode which focused on Koichi and Yukako packed alot into its running time this episode comes along. This is another one which goes into the credits and again it’s in an effort to not only wrap up the story but give it a conclusion no one saw coming. As long as you don’t read the manga of course.
Picking up where the last one left off, Koichi finds himself coming face to face with Kira, who isn’t at all happy about the fact he has to come in person to settle things. Again, he talks about how everything is an inconvenience to him and he just wants to live his life without the hassles of those around him. Also he wants to kill people and keep a ladies hand like a wife. This guy was already demented but this episode as he gives the heroes a once over helps to prove just how troubled he is.
The battle between Kira and the rest of the team is the best part of the episode. The damage Kira is able to inflict on them and vice versa will leave people gasping in shock over what he does. We often forget with Josuke’s ability to heal people, many individuals can get injured in ways not previously thought possible. Unfortunately there are some things even he can’t fix.
This episode leaves you with a feeling of intensity, like riding a rollercoaster. It helps to remind us all why we love the Jojo series so much. Hopefully the rest of the episodes of the season will be at this caliber or at least have this level of intensity because its hard to go back to comedy after what just happened.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Sully is a film that’s bogged down by a narrative rife with gratuitous “Hollywood” storytelling. This movie (starring Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, and directed by Clint Eastwood) attempts to retell the circumstances surrounding the “Miracle on the Hudson.” Had Eastwood executed a more patient approach to telling the story surrounding the most important 208 seconds in Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s career as a pilot, this film could have exceeded all expectations. However, this movie was doomed from the onset as the extraneous portions of the narrative choked the life out of a remarkable human drama and left us with a lifeless 93 minutes to trudge through.
What’s confounding about Sully is the actual events on that fateful day in January are so mindblowing that any rational person would guess that it was the product of a team of screenwriters. Who would have predicted that an American Airlines domestic flight would lose both of their engines and manage to land safely in the Hudson River with no fatalities? Why was it necessary to deviate from the part of the story that matters? Instead, screenwriter Todd Komarnicki pens a narrative that keeps our focus predominately on a fictitious antagonistic aviation board and how Sullenberger (Hanks) and Skiles (Eckhart) have to deal with the pressure that comes with this type of inquiry.
Now, it is entirely understandable why Komarnicki would create this type turmoil for these men. Eastwood has always thrived as a director when his main characters are enduring some sort of turbulence. In American Sniper, Chris Kyle was such a compelling subject to explore because of the psychological trauma he experienced fighting in the Middle East. Gran Torino grabbed audiences because of Eastwood’s hardened war veteran character who is coming to grips with an evolving world. Each of these characters was shaped by actual events that happened in their lives. Why then wouldn’t Komarnicki and Eastwood follow suit with Sully? What’s more dramatic than cheating death and landing an airliner in the most unbelievable manner possible? That sort of event would not only shape Sullenberger and Skiles for the rest of their lives but everyone associated with them as well. Instead, we are force-fed scene after scene of them dealing with this concocted aviation board that appears more interested in blaming Sully rather than praising him. This type of artificial drama would choke the life out of any film.
What would have improved the quality of this film is a full commitment toward telling the story of what happened before, during, and slightly after “The Miracle On The Hudson.” We did get glimpses of that during the film. Some of my favorite moments were the scenes shot in the air traffic control room. To see the looks of joy on their faces when they found that the flight had landed safely in the water was magnificent. Seeing Sullenberger (Hanks) dealing with PTSD after the crash was an authentic moment that was startling to witness. However, these moments were few and far between. In spite of everything, Hanks, Eckhart, and Linney still, deliver predictably good performances. One can’t help but wonder what their performances would have been had the source material been properly crafted.
A couple of unexpected highlights for me were the cinematography and the score. The shots inside the plane were impressive and framed in such a way that made the audience feel a tinge of claustrophobia as the throng of people tried to evacuate the aircraft. My favorite shot was the one of Sullenberger (Hanks) sloshing through the plane frantically looking for any other passengers just as the rescue boats begin loading people on board. We could see pieces of the seats floating by with the camera tilted just slightly; it gave that impression that the aircraft is sinking slightly into the icy river below.
The score complemented the tone of this film. Eastwood composed a number that is a mixture of somber notes with a slight homage to Charlie Parker. It’s perfectly paired with the narrative and will receive award consideration down the road.
Overall, while Sully certainly has its issues, the film isn’t horrible. I get that it’s far from a ringing endorsement, but this one is more of a rental down the road than must see. Remember, it’s only September, and we have plenty of great movies just around the corner.
Ever watch an episode of a series and ask yourself why you didn’t enjoy it more? This is the case with the latest episode of Berserk. Despite the fact it features Guts fighting against Mozgus and gives some pretty impressive bits of combat you don’t find yourself cheering the swordsman onto victory. Instead, you find yourself sympathizing more with the Skull Knight or the Egg of the World. One laments about how this outcome was inevitable and the other talks about how he just wants a good seat to watch the ending come to pass. It’s almost like the two of them are acting as the voice piece of the majority of the audience. The watchers have either already figured out how this arc will end and are wondering why it’s taking so long to wrap up or they just want a good seat to watch it all finish. Either way, no one is as happy as they really thought they would be with this series.
The episode isn’t without a few high moments. Mozgus’ demonic armored angel form really is impressive. Puck does the solar flare attack from Dragonball Z to save the group. Vice Commander Azan shows why he was one of the best characters who didn’t get nearly enough screentime this season. And in a very heartwarming moment, Guts is able to hug Casca. He really will go through anything to protect her.
This episode is lackluster at a moment it really shouldn’t be. Fans should be on top of the hill and ready to shake their fists with anger the next season of this show isn’t on the fall schedule. Instead everyone is just sitting around and waiting for the season to come to an end. This shouldn’t be how a series which was so anticipated like Berserk goes out. It should be on the level of the last fight of The Return of the King but it’s not even close.
There are so many remakes out lately, and most are worth complaining about. There is no rationale behind the remake of Point Break, or to remake Total Recall and remove Mars from the plot. The newest addition to the list is this summer’s Ben-Hur. However, there have been amazingly well-done remakes. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and Mad Max Fury Road are quality films, and were critically successful.
This calls to mind three films that could use an amazing remake. Not, that the originals are bad, but we have the technology, we can rebuild them.
The Creature From The Black Lagoon
The Creature From the Black Lagoon is one of the best sci-fi films and monster movies of the 1950s. It is, however, unmistakably a film from the 50s. It has bad special effects and a damsel-in-distress plotline. An update faithful to the scientifically minded mythos of the original, but with modern effects and writing, would attract plenty of people. With the popularity of shows like Animal Planet’s River Monsters and its knockoffs, as well as the Sharknado series, a good marine horror movie would be timely.
The Running Man
The Hunger Games novels did a wonderful job of indicting desensitization and glorification of violence in the media, but the films did not. That shortcoming leaves room for a movie to take up the issue. The obvious candidate for that film would be a remake of 1987’s The Running Man. Schwarzenegger is a singular commodity, and It would be impossible to recreate the feel of the original Schwarzenegger film. Chris Hemsworth is the only actor today that has the potential to pull-off 80’s Arnold. With that said, the right director and cast could create a successfully and compelling film.
The Birds
There is a resurgence of monster movies lately, but the focus has been on a single creature. The Birds remains original in its use of many smaller “monsters,” but, like The Creature From The Black Lagoon, it’s outdated and stylistically old-fashioned. A remake, particularly one more faithful to the original short story, would be fun to see. The concept is still scary.
Each of these, of course, could be remade poorly, but each also has the potential to be amazing if done well.
What films do you think need a remake? Leave your comments below.
After the first two episodes of season 3 premiere of ‘The Strain,’ I asked myself, “Why do I watch this?” Superficially, there are plenty of reasons: I like Kevin Durand; I like horror; I’ve been watching for two seasons; I’m attached to the characters. But what makes ‘The Strain’ work for me is the mythology. The background mythos has been an integral piece of the story since our first flashback to Abraham during WW2, and it’s continued. I’ve picked three elements of the mythology that are the most interesting and unique pieces of ‘Strain’ lore we’ve seen to date.
Three: Nazi/Vampire collusion was NOT widespread.
There are countless stories of Nazis involved with supernatural evil. It’s become quite a tired trope, where some mad scientist wishes to create some super weapon using something evil. With The Strain, however, has been successfully subverted. It’s safe to say there was never any institutional connection between Nazis and vampires; it’s implied that The Master sought out Eichorst and not the other way around. The Master wanted to recruit him personally, for who he was. That twist on the trope puts the story on a person-to-person level and make the Vampire-Nazi element more believable.
Two: Vampires as a source of Medicine
Traditionally vampire blood is bad and drinking vampire blood is at times how you turn into one. Penny Dreadful goes so far as making Van Helsing a blood disease specialist. ‘The Strain’ makes worms in the blood the cause of transformation and instead uses processed worm blood (“The White”) as a wonder medicine. Setrakian and Palmer are both being kept alive and functioning by infusions of “The White”. It’s a fitting re-imagining of tradition with symbolic power for both characters. Setrakian lives for revenge and Palmer is living through his pact with The Master.
One: Science Explains Folklore
‘The Strain’ has been aiming for a sci-fi take on vampires since the very first episode when we were introduced to CDC doctors as primary characters. The series has continued with the science of vampires, and the random throwaway lines from Eph on why silver and sunlight are useful weapons against vampires because they work on viruses tie mythology and science up neatly. Setrakian sees everything as mythology and Eph sees everything as science. We will continue to see the tension and agreements between the science and mythology.
The weather is changing, and beer drinkers everywhere are foregoing their usual summer beers for hardier brews. No exception to that rule, I picked up Railway City Brewing Co.’s Black Coal Stout this week. Stouts, like most beers, are still great on summer days but some are a bit too thick for the really hot ones. So, I prefer the stick-to-your-bones quality of stouts on cool days. Today hasn’t exactly been cool, but the humidity is starting to pass, and I look forward to sweating less in the coming week. But enough about the weather and my overactive sweat glands, I thought this was a beer review!
Railway City Brewing Company – The Brewery
Since my last review of a Railway City Brewing Company beer, their website has been updated. Before, it primarily offered information about their hometown, St. Thomas. Now, though, Railway City Brewing’s website highlights some of their brewing practices on the homepage. Along with some technical information about their 20-hectoliter system, their homepage ensures visitors that they brew handcrafted beers locally without the use of artificial ingredients or preservatives. I picked up a couple of 473 mL tall cans at my local LCBO.
Railway City Brewing Company: Black Coal Stout – First Sip
Black Coal Stout pours a dark, dark brown. I poured this foamy brew in two stages. If I hadn’t, it would’ve overflowed my pint glass. I smell coffee, and chocolate as I take my first sip. This stout tastes just like it smells. Its bittersweet dark chocolate taste fades a bit, but it definitely lingers, providing a relatively static flavour from start to finish. As I predicted, this is a thick stout. With its high level of carbonation, this brew provides a fizzier mouthfeel than other stouts that tend to be more watery.
Railway City Brewing Company: Black Coal Stout – Last Sip
Widgets take up room in the can that could be used for beer!
I don’t really like drinking coffee, but I love stouts and porters. Black Coal Stout has a strong bitter flavour while still retaining some sweet malty notes. I especially like the hints of dark chocolate, but because of its heaviness this isn’t a beer I’d want to have more than a couple of in one sitting. With 6% ABV, though, you probably shouldn’t have too many anyway. This is a great beer to start the night off if you’re planning on having a few, or if you’re only planning on having one or two.
I’m sure you know better, but please enjoy this beer from a glass. No, there’s no widget inside. But, if you drink Black Coal Stout from the can you’ll miss half of the experience of drinking it.
With his next movie, The Magnificent Seven heading into theatres, Chris Pratt sat down with The Toronto Sun and talked all things Guardians of the Galaxy. It seems not all sequels fall under the weight of the predecessors, as Pratt claims Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol.2 will be the biggest spectacle movie of all time.
“I can say Guardians 2 is going to be out May 5. It’s finished and it’s going to be terrific. I’m already so proud of it. We worked really hard on it and it’s a joy to be part of. It’s a fabulous script. I think it’s going to be, I’m not using hyperbole, here I think it’s going to be the biggest spectacle movie of all time.”
“I’m fortunate. I’m fortunate in so many ways. I couldn’t count the ways, even if I tried. To be part of Guardians of the Galaxy,” he continued, “is to be part of a franchise that really is so totally different. It’s new and exciting and unlike anything people had seen before. There are a lot of superheroes out there, but I think we do something a little different. The genesis of these characters was in the Marvel Universe but we do something a little different, more cosmic, with Guardians of the Galaxy.”
That’s big praise, even from the movies star, but will James Gunn’s movie deliver? Marvel recently struck gold with Captain America: Civil War, but from what Pratt is saying the next outer space adventure might be the best yet.
Guardian’s of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is set for release on May 5th, 2017. Will it be Marvel’s best movie yet? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
It’s not often an actor gets the opportunity to take on a cinematic universe, but for Ezra Miller, one just wasn’t enough. Miller has the responsibility of playing Barry Allen aka. The Flash in the growing DC Extended Universe, starting with Justice League (2017) but has also signed on for J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World as Credence Barebone in Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.
It can’t be easy to balance two growing universes, but Miller sounds more than excited by the challenge. In an interview which recently popped up on Pottermore, the young actor discussed how the two roles ended up in his care and how he fought for Fantastic Beasts.
So I’d heard about the part, and remember that to me – someone who got into Harry Potter so young, as a fan – I thought this was a universe that had been closed to me forever. I thought we’d had everything we’d ever get from that world, I thought it was over. I spent years devastated that I wasn’t in that world, that I wasn’t in those movies. I would say, “I can do British, I promise!”
And then, to hear that J.K. Rowling had expanded that universe. That there was more and that there was this character… I almost couldn’t believe it.
At that stage I’d already signed up to become [DC Comics character] The Flash and there were serious scheduling issues. For a while it looked like I wouldn’t be able to do this movie.
So I’m thinking about the part, I’m dreaming about it, I want it and I know deep down that I will do anything for it. So I start emailing Warner Bros. and I say, “Look at Humphrey Bogart!”
Casablanca (1943) was his eleventh film with the studio that decade. We don’t do that anymore, we don’t develop relationships between actors and studios. There’s no loyalty like that anymore. I say in these emails that I want that with you. I want Credence and I want The Flash.
While we’re yet to see any footage of Miller in Fantastic Beasts, he is already proving himself as a great cinematic version of The Flash. After appearing for a second in Batman v Superman, and slightly longer in Suicide Squad, it looks like the DCEU Flash is in safe hands. As for the Wizarding World, Potter fans don’t be worried. Miller has proved in each of his roles that he has the talent and variation to offer a great character.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in theaters on November 18 with Justice League coming next year.
After the critical thrashing “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” received earlier this year, many fans and critics alike have been curious about how the backlash has affected the people intimately involved with bringing the DC Extended Universe to life and how it has affected the morale on set of the forthcoming Justice League. Lois Lane actress Amy Adams talked at length about the now famous backlash and how it affected the production on the ‘Justice League’ also from director, Zack Snyder. In the interview with Variety’s Kris Tapley she confirms that while morale remains unabashed on set, she was sad to see director Zack Snyder take the kind of critical beating he did back in March.
When Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice was released in March, critics and fans were split in the middle and to this day, has avid detractors and defenders online who keep the discussion and debate on the film alive in the online film community with one editorial or another published each day in regards to the film. Most people praised Ben Affleck’s new iteration of Batman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman while deriding Zack Snyder and everything else about the film.
“I just felt for Zack,” Adams says. “Zack’s like the nicest person ever, and to see him kind of talked about like that was really hard for me, because he’s really such a respectful director.”
Also adding that “I would love for people to see how special he is“.
Zack Snyder as a director seems to be a hit among his actors as earlier this week, JK Simons also shared some praise for the filmmaker. It remains to be seen how critics and the general audience at large will respond to his forthcoming ‘Justice League’.
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
