Note: portions of this review originally appeared in March, 2009.

It’s an absolute travesty that The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series has been canceled in favor of an Ultimate spider-Man reboot.

Remember when we, as fans, compared the live action 90’s Batman movies to the Batman animated series, and the movie, Mask of the Phantasm, and found out they were far inferior?  How the movies seemed to scrap the essence of the character, but the animation perfectly captured everything we love about the character and still bring us something we’d never seen before?  It’s hard to do that with a character as old as Batman, and just as hard with a character a little younger, like Spider-Man.  I loved Marvel’s reboot of Spidey in the Ultimate Spider-Man comic when it first started, but I lost interest real quick.  I don’t know what it was missing…but it was just missing something.  To this day, I still haven’t been able to get back into it, even with it’s manga-styled relaunch.

The Spider-Man movies, and I know many will disagree with me, are sorely lacking.  Even though I loved Spider-Man 2, I can’t go on record saying that it’s the perfect Spider-Man movie (mostly due to the casting).  However, what I will say is that, even though Spider-Man has been blessed with some pretty decent animated interpretations over the years, the absolute best is Spectacular Spider-Man. (continue reading…)

In the mood for blood and boobs in glorious, glorious three dimensions?

Looks no further than Piranha 3D!

We finally get some horror this summer (the last horror film released theatrically, I think, was Nightmare on Elm Street back in April/May), at the very end.  I really am tired of seeing “Watch it in DIGITAL 3D” at the end of every trailer nowadays, knowing that most movie companies are converting movies post-production just to get the extra money that helped Avatar become the highest grossing movie of all time.

Piranha was converted to 3D post-production, but I had high hopes that, unlike most 3D movies, Piranha would make the best use of its 3D.  In my opinion, even though the movies weren’t necessarily that great, The Final Destination and My Bloody Valentine were some of the best live-action uses of 3D I’ve seen since 3D became all the rage.  Horror in 3D is just about the only 3D worth paying the extra funds for … but was Piranha worth that extra $3.50 charge? (continue reading…)

I was trying to think of a wicked cool title to give to this article…but I just couldn’t think of one.  Someone put together a pretty cool fake trailer for what an Avengers flick from the 1950’s would look like.  It actually works a lot better if you don’t know where all the footage comes from, but you can still appreciate all the work that went into it!

There are a TON of references in the trailer – you might not catch them all upon first viewing, so here’s the frame-by-frame breakdown to help you out!

Man, I love the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels.  In case you don’t remember, my love for Scott Pilgrim is so strong that I attended a midnight release party for the sixth and final book, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour. The series is funny, heartwarming, and full of awesome action and video game references.

Well, now we get Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, an adaptation of all six books, wrapped up into one epic movie of epic epicness.  That’s right, all six books are jam packed into one movie.  Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright got the job of directing a cast, headed by Michael Cena and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.  Did the movie live up to my love of the books? (continue reading…)

I’ve been a Sylvester Stallone fan my entire life.  Just something about the guy and his rise to fame I find inspiring.  I remember the bad Stallone years, right after Get Carter.  That film flopped and no one liked it (I did), but then it was followed by either limited release movies or straight-to-DVD fare…not good for one of the biggest action stars of all time.

Still, Stallone managed, by revisiting old characters, to revive his career into a place it hasn’t been in years.  Rocky Balboa did well at the box office, and was a damn good movie.  Following that, he did Rambo which again did well in box office and critical reviews.  I’m really happy to see Stallone putting out quality work again, and apparently so are a lot of people.

But as exciting as it may have been to see Rocky and Rambo one more time…the announcement of The Expendables got everyone foaming at the mouth.  Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Robert, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, and cameos by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis?  How could you possibly go wrong?  This would surely be the greatest action movie of all time….right? (continue reading…)

Last Friday night, a buddy of mine and I decided to finally have the horror movie marathon we’ve been talking about for months now…a Freakin’ Fulci Friday Film Fest!  What did Freakin’ Fulci Friday Film Fest entail?

• 3 Lucio Fulci Films – City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, and House by the Cemetary
• Italian beer – in this case, Peroni and Birra Moretti
• Italian food – pizza qualified because we were lazy

With all three elements in place, we prepared ourselves to venture into the oddness of early 80’s Italian horror! (continue reading…)

I really dislike Will Ferrell.  I mean, sure, I like Old School just like every other dude, but I don’t think I’ve outright enjoyed any film since then where he was the lead (or one of the leads).  Maybe it was because I wasn’t too familiar with him when Old School came out, and I soon came to realize that, yes, he’s that damned annoying all the time.

Yet for some odd reason, I thought that The Other Guys would be different.  After all, with a cast that included Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, and The Rock, it couldn’t be that bad….could it? (continue reading…)

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future is a 1987-88 sci-fi/action television series  that ran for 22 episodes in Canadian/American syndication. A toy line was also produced by Mattel, and during each episode there was a segment that included visual and audio material which interacted with the toys.

Christmas of 1987 was ALL ABOUT Captain Power for me.  Captain Power pajamas, action figures, VHS tapes, vehicles…literally, I had just about everything Captain Power that you could get.  I adored the adventures of the Soldiers of the Future, the resistance against Lord Dread and his Bio-Dread Empire.

Shockingly, you can pick up the series on DVD or Blu-Ray (unofficially) at www.captainpower.com.  I decided to give the adventures of Jonathan Power and his team of rebels another shot, remembering them fondly from my youth… (continue reading…)

I remember, after seeing the trailer for Dinner for Schmucks, thinking “Christ on a bike, who the hell would want to see that movie?” before realizing that my buddy sitting next to me was excited about it.  Begrudgingly, I agreed to see it with him, because he’s that movie buddy that will typically go see the films with me that no one else wants to see (except for Nightmare on Elm Street…looks like I’m waiting for the DVD on that one).

Before the film, I made sure to have a good amount to drink – what had I signed myself up for, I thought.  I hate hate HATE Steve Carrell.  I like Paul Rudd, but I find that the guy is starting to get into a bit of a rut, always playing the nice, straight guy in comparison to some kind of wacky other actor.  Not only that, it was directed by Jay Roach, who directed the abysmal Meet the Parents movies.  Not a strong pedigree…. (continue reading…)

It is so unfair that while I was at work today, Twitter was all a-buzz with comments about the new Thor trailer which hit the interwebs overnight.  Of course, everything cool is blocked at the office.  I just got to watch and… Oh.  My.  God.

Od’s Blood, it looks amazing.  Plus, the Destroyer.  I mean, really!  The Destroyer.  Awe.  Some.