5 Underrated Crossover Movies You Need to See

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August 2, 2017

Every other week, another shared universe throws its metaphorical hat in the ring. Sure, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe are both in full swing, but studios have interconnected franchises lined up for the Universal Monsters, King Kong and Godzilla and the Transformers. Heck, even James Bond himself is rumored to be at the center of a shared universe. Thanks to Marvel Studios, there’s a real opportunity to capitalize on crossover movies. But, of course, this concept is nothing new. While films like The Avengers, Wreck-It Ralph and Who Framed Roger Rabbit have long been lauded for the ways in which they merge characters from different worlds, a number of others have slipped through the cracks. Here are a few underrated crossover movies you need to see.

Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

The real cinephiles out there may already be familiar with this classic comedy, which featured appearances by several cast members from the classic Universal Monsters franchise (you know, the one the studio’s Dark Universe is attempting to recreate). However, younger moviegoers might be due for a proper introduction. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, after all, were considered one of the most popular comedy teams for a reason back in the day, and this film stands as perhaps their greatest big-screen effort.

The Monster Squad (1987)

Talk about a monster mash. This Goonies-esque film harkens back to those same Universal Monsters we just mentioned (Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, etc.) and offers a then-modern take on them. For an entire generation, The Monster Squad — notably written by Shane Black (Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys) — is a nostalgic favorite and rightfully so. The tale of a group of teens who single-handedly aim to thwart Dracula’s (standout Duncan Regehr) plans for world domination is a blast to watch, especially around Halloween.

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

Upon its release, this long-awaited confrontation between Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) and Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger) was roundly criticized for its lack of actual scares. But director Ronny Yu’s franchise mashup isn’t so much looking to amp up the terror as it is attempting to merge two very distinct mythologies. Sure, Freddy vs. Jason spends too much time on expendable teens, but the fact that the two unkillable combatants finally share the screen and the ways in which the film intermingles their backstories has helped it endure despite its flaws. Plus, it’s the final time Englund has donned the glove to date.

Turtles Forever (2009)

The only television film on our list, this one really only works for those who already have a soft spot for the heroes on a half shell. Luckily, Turtles Forever doesn’t discriminate between the characters’ various incarnations, incorporating the classic 1980s version — reuniting the main voice cast decades later — with the 2003 edition to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary. Even the darker turtles from the comics get their time in the spotlight. For longtime fans of the TMNT, Turtles Forever is simply a dream come true, and though it doesn’t fit the traditional definition of a “crossover,” we had to include it.

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

Haven’t heard of this Dreamworks Animation release? We’re not surprised. Despite a voice cast that includes Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, Jude Law and Hugh Jackman (as the Easter bunny, no less!), the film was drowned out by Twilight, James Bond and Steven Spielberg at the box office. Nevertheless, this tale is well worth tracking down, as it imagines mythical figures like Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman as protectors of the innocence of childhood. While its message may be a bit cheesy, Rise of the Guardians deserves more credit for its slick visuals and bold, imaginative storytelling.

Did your favorite underrated crossover film make our list? Share your thoughts below.

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Jessica Chastain Confirms Villainous Role In X-Men: Dark Phoenix

By

Parish Hodges

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August 2, 2017

After all the rumors, it’s finally confirmed that Jessica Chastain will portray a villain in the upcoming X-Men movie. The star shared the exciting news on Instagram while posing in a picture with co-star James McAvoy.

Dark Phoenix is 10 years after the events of X-Men: Apocalypse. Reprising their roles are Sohpie Turner, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Alexandra Shipp, Tye Sheridan and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

The film revolves around Turner’s character Jean grey/Dark Phoenix as she loses control of her powers and forces the X-Men to fight her.

Chastain hasn’t said what role she’ll be playing, but multiple sources have reported it’s main villain, Princess-Majestrix Lilandra Neramani. Who is Empress Lilandra you ask?

Lilandra is a member of the royal Shi’ar empire. Her main goal is to imprison and execute Dark Phoenix which causes conflict with the X-Men. CinemaBlend reminds us in the comics the characters of Lilandra and Professor X are very close, having been in love and even married at one time. This may be why Chastain says she expects to make McAvoy cry. If the two are going to have a personal relationship on screen and Lilandra is also the film’s chief villain, then Professor Xavier certainly will be conflicted in the film, which could make it a very emotional experience for him.

Simon Kinberg who is producer and screenwriter for the X-Men franchise will make his directing debut on X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

Shooting will take place in Montreal. ‘Dark Phoenix’ will hit theaters on November 2, 2018

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Comic Show: Zack Kaplan Expands Our Mind, Elsewhere Conflicts, Mech Cadet Yu Soars

By

Matthew Sardo

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August 2, 2017

Welcome to the seventh episode of the Comic Show by Monkeys Fighting Robots! Anthony and Matt have a lot to discuss with you today: Enter our NEW GODS contest, Zack Kaplan takes SciFi to the next level, Elsewhere #1 conflicts, and Mech Cadet Yu #1 soars.

Buckle up, True Believers! Episode 7 of the COMIC SHOW by Monkeys Fighting Robots is here.

Episode Breakdown:

04:46 – Elsewhere #1
Anthony – 4 Monkeys
Matt – 3.75 Robots

17:58 – Mech Cadet Yu #1
Anthony – 4.6 Monkeys
Matt – 4.5 Robots

37:53 – Zack Kaplan Interview

Thank you for listening!

Do you want to be our FAN of the week? All you have to do is comment on this podcast to be eligible.

Do you have a question that you would like answered during the show? Email your questions to matt@popaxiom.com.

About the Comic Show Podcast:
A comic journalist in the twilight of his career still grasping for his first Eisner runs into a young buck that mildly reminds him of his youth. Their warped enthusiasm for the comic book industry unites them to spread the good word to the inter-web. Realistically, we are two nerds that love comic books and want to entertain you with quality recommendations, creator interviews, and reports from your favorite publisher. For diehard fans and comic newbs; all are welcome to the Comics Show on Monkeys Fighting Robots! Hosts, Matthew Sardo and Anthony Composto.

Reviews are greatly appreciated – How to Rate and Review a Podcast in iTunes

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Vin Diesel is Bringing a ‘Miami Vice’ Reboot to TV

By

Larry Taylor - Managing Editor

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August 2, 2017

Vin Diesel is a megastar, whether you like it or not (I enjoy the big lug’s work). Now, the Fast and Furious stalwart is turning his attention to television, where he will executive produce a new Miami Vice reboot for NBC.

This is… interesting news. There’s no word whether or not Diesel will star in this reboot as well, but he would make as good a Ricardo Tubbs as anyone. Per the Hollywood Reporter article:

Diesel will reteam with ‘Fast and the Furious’ Chris Morgan and exec produce the revival, which is in development at the network that originally aired the Don Johnson starrer.

Reboots aren’t going away on television or in movies anytime soon, so that’s not a battle worth fighting. And Miami Vice, hey, why not see what a 2018-19 version of the adventures of Crockett and Tubbs looks like? Michael Mann’s show is long in the rearview mirror.

This also feels like a great time to remind everyone that Miami Vice was the best film of Michael Mann’s 2000s filmography.

The fact this new Miami Vice will be on the same network, NBC, as the original, is a blessing and a curse. They know the territory, but they have those tricky network TV regulations to deal with. It’s doubtful this will be a hardcore, gritty reimagining. Think Hawaii Five-O.

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‘East Of West’ #34, Mao Vs Chamberlain

By

Brandon J. Griffin

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The sci-fi masterpiece by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta reaches thirty-four issues this week. East Of West continues to be a prime example of how important longevity is for a creative team.

***SPOILERS LIE AHEAD***

Chamberlain and Mao continue playing their deadly game, trying to assassinate one another. The stakes rising higher with each attempt. Issue thirty-four deals almost exclusively with these two.

After a failed attempt on her life, Mao strikes back and finds a similar result. This leads to a devastating loss for the House of Mao, she must now regroup completely and turn her new “children” into military force.

The path these two have been on has come to a crucial point. The poisonous exchange between the two of them as they taunt one another is fantastic. There’s an underlying hate on both sides, any time they interact is majorly satisfying in both art and dialogue.

No other sci-fi comic has a deeper landscape than East Of West. With Hickman writing, there’s no shortage of detail. The deeper you get into this world, the more it comes to life. It may be thick and heavy at first, but it pays off in a major way.

A gigantic world, divided into numerous factions, and lead by a huge cast of major characters. Hickman juggles time and development so masterfully, and on a more ambitious scale than anyone else.

The other side of a book this grand in scale is that sometimes an issue can narrow its focus to just one or two characters. This issue is great for someone like myself who adores both Lady Mao and Archibald Chamberlain.

As the plot thickens and with inevitable war on the horizon, every move every character makes has massive consequence. Devoted readers of the series will feel a heavy tension with this issue and all to follow.

Each transition from scene to scene is seamless. In a mostly gray world composed of more darkness than light, every moment of color is striking. The tension and anger that our cast feels is portrayed flawlessly through the artwork.

It’s no easy task to populate and flesh out a world as dense and ambitious as East Of West. The longer this brilliant series goes on, the more prestigious it becomes.

This is one of the best examples of how important it is to keep a creative team together. East Of West feels more personal with readers and the relationship with the book achieves a much deeper connection.

There is no one true protagonist, readers find their own faction to root for as the world approaches the apocalypse. It’s an element that isn’t featured in comic books very often. The actions of each character mean more when the reader is invested into each of them for different reasons.

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6 Reasons To Read Marvel’s The Defenders

By

Nick Enquist

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August 2, 2017

The Defenders is just over two weeks away, and the hype is real ladies and gentlemen. It’s so cool to see Marvel and Netflix’s experiment about to come into full fruition. So far the reviews seem promising, but two weeks still seems like a ways off. However, Marvel made the very smart decision of publishing a Defenders comic series before the Netflix show was released. It’s a pretty damn awesome comic, and here are six reasons why you should be reading it.

1A Strong Sense of Community

In the third issue of The Defenders something (I won’t say what, because of spoilers) happens, and after that there’s a good four pages that are explaining the plot and history of Luke Cage and Diamondback. But what’s interesting is that the comic chooses to explain this story through multiple characters who live in New York. This expands the usual superhero storyline to create a strong sense of community that makes it feel like everything happening in this storyline effects everybody. To the people of New York, superheroes like Luke Cage are just like them. These heroes with magnificent powers and ridiculous lives are just apart of the community. And it feels like Marvel comics have been focusing so much on events and the large scale that they forget that some of their best stories came from a smaller scope.

There’s a descriptor for both Marvel and DC that I’m not really a fan of: Marvel is full of humans trying to be gods, DC is full of gods trying to be humans. I find this to be very misleading, and a little inaccurate at times. But, I bring it up, because I feel that Marvel at its best isn’t about humans trying to be gods. It’s about humans who have been given an ability (sometimes at random and sometimes they’re destined), and they choose to use those abilities to help as many people they can. Not because they feel they have to, because that’s what superheroes do, but because they feel like that’s what good human beings do.

The Defenders comic understands that. Marvel built its institution off that philosophy. And hopefully the Netflix series will understand that too. Give the series a read. I think it’s the Marvel book you’ve been waiting for.

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Somehow, Damien Chazelle’s Thriller Script Being Directed by ‘Other Point Break’ Director

By

Larry Taylor - Managing Editor

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August 2, 2017

Academy Award winning director Damien Chazelle has written the screenplay for a thriller, The Claim. Only Chazelle won’t be directing; he has handed directing duties over to Point Break director…

…not Kathryn Bigelow. The OTHER Point Break director.

His name is Ericson Core, and a couple of years ago Core committed one of the most unforgivable sins in modern cinema. He remade Bigelow’s classic. This foul should have been enough to exile him from Hollywood for the foreseeable future but, alas, here he is with an Oscar winner’s screenplay in hand.

The Claim, according to the report in Variety, “centers on a single father with a criminal background who must uncover the whereabouts of his kidnapped daughter while fighting the mysterious claims of another couple who insist that the child is theirs.” It sounds pretty interesting, I bet it would be great if Chazelle was behind the camera. Or Kathryn Bigelow, for that matter. Anyone, really, except the dude who directed That Remake That Will No Longer Be Named.

There is no release date set for The Claim; keep your eyes peeled so you know when and where to avoid it.

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Angelina Jolie’s Controversial ‘First They Killed My Father’ Gets A Trailer

By

Matthew Sardo

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August 2, 2017

Wednesday morning Netflix released the trailer for Angelina Jolie’s controversial film ‘First They Killed My Father.’

This is how Jolie cast the young actors in the film. You decide if she crossed a line or not:

To cast the children in the film, Jolie looked at orphanages, circuses, and slum schools, specifically seeking children who had experienced hardship. In order to find their lead, to play young Loung Ung, the casting directors set up a game, rather disturbing in its realism: they put money on the table and asked the child to think of something she needed the money for, and then to snatch it away. The director would pretend to catch the child, and the child would have to come up with a lie. “Srey Moch [the girl ultimately chosen for the part] was the only child that stared at the money for a very, very long time,” Jolie says. “When she was forced to give it back, she became overwhelmed with emotion. All these different things came flooding back.” Jolie then tears up. “When she was asked later what the money was for, she said her grandfather had died, and they didn’t have enough money for a nice funeral.” (source: Vanity Fair)

‘First They Killed My Father’ is the adaptation of Cambodian author and human rights activist Loung Ung’s gripping memoir of surviving the deadly Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1978. The story is told through her eyes, from the age of five, when the Khmer Rouge came to power, to nine years old. The film depicts the indomitable spirit and devotion of Loung and her family as they struggle to stay together during the Khmer Rouge years.

The film is directed by Jolie, with Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire) serving as director of photography, Jolie and Loung Ung worked on the script.

‘First They Killed My Father’ gets a theatrical and Netflix release on September 15.

Will you see this film? Comment below.

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The Team Reluctantly Unites In New Poster For ‘The Defenders’

By

Aric Sweeny

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August 2, 2017

A new poster for The Defenders has arrived, and our heroes don’t look too happy.

“Marvel’s The Defenders” follows Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. A quartet of singular heroes with one common goal – to save New York City. This is the story of four solitary figures, burdened with their own personal challenges, who realize they just might be stronger when teamed together.

The show stars Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Finn Jones as Iron Fist, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, and Charlie Cox as Daredevil; the villain, Alexandra, is portrayed by legendary actress Sigourney Weaver.

Are you looking forward to The Defenders? Comment below, let us know. The show’s first season hits Netflix on August 18.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_6J9BqgonU

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Not Screening ‘The Emoji Movie’ Is The Start Of A Terrible Trend

By

Dewey Singleton - Film Critic

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August 2, 2017

Sony’s decision to forgo screening The Emoji Movie in about 98% of markets is the start of a disturbing trend. Film companies are starting to shy away from allowing critics opportunities to pre-screen material before it is released to the public. While some might feel that this is long overdue, others see it as disturbing a process that has been in place for centuries.

For centuries, artists have been creating works of art (whether visually or through the spoken word) and have been subject to criticism from the general public. Do you think Michelangelo’s David was received warmly by all of the public as a whole? Were the first plays ever performed at The Globe considered masterpieces? Society has been judging art for centuries.

However, we now live in this era of Rotten Tomatoes, and this perception has been created that critics are the enemy. Up until DC’s release of Wonder Woman, the common excuse that most fan boys would throw towards critics was we were all on Disney’s payroll. Never mind the quality of Suicide Squad and or Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, it’s obvious that critics have a deep seeded hatred for anything that comes out the DC Cinematic Universe (give me a break!).

The reason why studios won’t screen these movies is not for your benefit, or because critics are these big bad people, it’s because they are hoping to trick the public. Major studios realize what type of product they have well before films are screened. These films are combed over frame by frame as the studios plan their marketing strategies for each release. Why else would critics be allowed to see War For The Planet Of The Apes a month before the general public did? Was it because they thought we were special? No, they knew the film was a hit and wanted the word to get out.

Some might make the argument that critics infringe upon an artist’s vision. Criticism doesn’t impede anyone from fully realizing their vision; it’s merely a dialogue about the person’s work. Remember, for every person who is not a fan of Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice there is someone who enjoyed the movie.

So let’s stop accusing people unjustly and place the blame where it needs to be. Critics have never been the enemy, it’s the studios who have decided it’s more important to make a few bucks rather than make something worth while. How many more reboots, rehashing of old ideas, or crap ideas need to become movies for everyone to finally realize that? Start holding these studios to a higher standard and then maybe they won’t be so pensive about allowing people to see their work before it’s released.

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