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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 15, 2016 8:55:12 GMT -5
Years before Sin City or 300 brought their four-color realities to life onscreen, another movie translated its source material into a vividly colored wonderland of urban crime. My selection for today is Warren Beatty’s 1990 tour de force #10. Dick Tracy Beatty doesn’t even try for realism (and why should he?). Set in an anonymous big city at the height of the Great Depression, the film combines brilliant production design, a clever script that carefully straddles the line between exagerration and absurdity, and Oscar-winning makeup to recreate the world of Chester Gould’s impossibly intrepid cop and his gallery of gangland grotesqueries. Beatty’s Tracy and the other good guys play their roles with straightfaced conviction while the villiains, played by Al Pacino, William Forsythe, Dustin Hoffman, and other fine actors, ham it up with complete and often hilarious abandon. It also has Madonna’s sexiest on-camera performance, augmented by a killer Stephen Sondheim score. Dick Tracy is both great fun and a class act. Cei-U! I summon Flattop and Pruneface! |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 15, 2016 9:08:52 GMT -5
#10. Supergirl (2015)
I have a confession to make: I'm generally not a fan of superheroes. I love comic books for their serial nature and the ability to watch characters progress over time in response to extreme situations, but the actual superhero aspect of comics seldom interests me all that much. Thus, while superhero movies and TV shows are becoming more plentiful, and state of the art cg effects allow super-heroics to look more realistic than ever and cost so little that action scenes can be drawn out extensively, it's also killing what I love best about comics: those moments between big action scenes, where reflection occurs and characters grow in response.
As of the first ten episodes of Supergirl (which is how far I've gotten), this is one heck of an uneven show, with some episodes utterly amazing me and others insulting my intelligence entirely, but at its best, Supergirl owns the between-action-scenes moment. When done right, this is not a show about a superhero; it's a show about a young woman struggling with her sense of self and existential alienation while exploring the complex relationships she shares with a number of people around her facing their own unique struggles.
It not only has heart, comedy, and honesty, but it's also one of the most progressive shows I've ever seen. While many shows have powerful women in lead roles, such shows tend to either be targeted primarily at a female audience or tend to throw feminism in the audience's face to the point that it is rigid and unreal. But Supergirl, a show aimed at a wide multi-gender demographic, depicts powerful women sharing powerful and complex relationships with one another, without feeling the need to purposefully parade it in front of the camera and shove it down our throats. There are powerful men and relationships between men and women too, but simply depicting strong, compelling, and highly sympathetic women, regularly as interested in their relationships with one another as with their romantic interests, is something I haven't seen done organically on TV before, and it really really works here. Oftentimes, it feels like nothing new can be done on TV and in movies; it's all a retread of what came before. Except that we haven't had many well-rounded and compelling female protagonists in these mediums exploring complex relationships with one another that aren't forced and artificial. This show truly feels different for that reason, introducing characters and relationships I truly haven't seen on a screen before and care deeply for. It's not just about being politically correct and making a statement about gender equality; it's finding a new and shamefully under-tapped source for compelling character and relationship archetypes that we have denied ourselves until now.
A small example of this: Season 1, episode 5, in which Kara's Thanksgiving has just gone down in flames and, for the first time, she find her cold and demanding boss in a vulnerable and sympathetic position.
This isn't a scene about superheroes and villains. At its best, this show isn't about that either. Instead, it uses super powers and threats to the city and Earth as powerful vehicles for human stories that work.
That plus some truly amazing actors on this show, Calista Flockhart absolutely being the godmother of them all. It's really only the bad guys who usually gum up the show with subpar acting, especially Kara's Kryponian aunt, played by Laura Benanti.
Like I said, it's an uneven show, and the last three episodes I watched were the worst ones yet, but, at its best, this show offers something truly special that far exceeds the comic book source material.
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 15, 2016 9:16:08 GMT -5
Supergirl only barely missed making my list.
Cei-U!
I summon the luminous Melissa Benoist!
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 15, 2016 9:23:30 GMT -5
augmented by a killer Stephen Sondheim score I did not know this! |
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Post by MDG on Dec 15, 2016 9:24:37 GMT -5
Although I became a comics “fan”—the type that’s part of this group 50 years after the fact—through an interest I developed in EC comics when I was about 16, but my first exposure to EC (though I didn’t know it) was when I borrowed the novelization of this movie, which adapted stories from the 60s paperback reprints of ECs. It’s not perfect—moving the tales from 50s America to contemporary (at the time) England, and shooting it like Amicus’ other horror anthology flicks didn’t provide near the “punch” of the original tales, but they were generally faithful adaptations.
(I never got into the HBO series—it felt like they really had to pad things to get a half-hour out of them. And fit in some “adult” content. Though it was a kick one time at Ithacon, running into Johnny Craig and his wife in the hallway and talking to them for a few minutes, then going into our room just as the “’Til Death” episode was starting.)
And the puppet probably reflects the tone of the EC Crypt Keeper more than a shrouded Ralph Richardson.
Hey! The whole thing’s on YouTube!
Just the trailer:
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 15, 2016 9:26:10 GMT -5
I only saw the pilot thanks to Netflix, but I really, really liked the performance of the lead actress; Kara's enthusiasm was catching! Despite the villains and the violence inherent to the genre, it was a fun superhero experience! |
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 15, 2016 9:33:26 GMT -5
On the tenth day of Christmas, Max Fleisher gave to me...
#10 Superman
These 1940s cartoons preserve the innocence of the early superhero genre, and are beautifully rendered. Like the contemporary Popeye cartoons, these shorts are intimately associated with the Christmas season to me. Back when I was a kid, the local TV station would have something called "Meeting Santa Claus" in which Santa would receive kids and ask what they wanted under the tree; the half-hour show would include three such cartoons.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 15, 2016 9:35:43 GMT -5
I only saw the pilot thanks to Netflix, but I really, really liked the performance of the lead actress; Kara's enthusiasm was catching! Despite the villains and the violence inherent to the genre, it was a fun superhero experience! Melissa Benoist is perfect for the role and shows tremendous range but, believe it or not, she's only my third favorite actor on the show after Calissa Flockhart (who I never liked prior to this) as Cat Grant, and David Harewood as Hank Henshaw. Peter Facinelli (who I last saw as the dumb jock in Can't Hardly Wait) also impresses the heck out of as Maxwell Lord. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 15, 2016 10:06:39 GMT -5
Roquefort Raider, beautifully put. I hope you will see later on this week that great minds do indeed think alike. 
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 15, 2016 10:25:57 GMT -5
Roquefort Raider, beautifully put. I hope you will see later on this week that great minds do indeed think alike. Fleischer's Superman would have made my list if someone else hadn't thoroughly borrowed from it to create something even better  |
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Post by DubipR on Dec 15, 2016 10:32:38 GMT -5
#10- AKIRAFirst time seeing the English translated comics of Katsuhiro Otomo's were in ads for Marvel Comics and ads all over the Mile High Comics 2 page spread. I had the question of "What is this?" Never heard of Otomo's name but I knew manga and anime from cartoons and my neighbors that read various series. Sadly I didn't the Epic issues but read my friend's who were brave enough to purchase it. Blew my mind. Otomo's post-apocalyptic look of Tokyo took a radical turn of politics, social isolation, corruption, and power was dynamic. Hardcore in his artwork and amazing in it's scope. I'm happy that I eventually picked up the reprint volumes later.  But it wasn't until 1989, when I saw Akira in a selected theater here in LA, I knew I had to find a VHS copy and watch this over and over. Give to Toho for making Otomo's opus into a cohesive 2 hour action film. The score is kinetic that adds another layer on top of the movie's theme and subject matter. It's so glorious. Still one of the best science fiction films ever produced, it's a must for every comic fan to view. 
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2016 11:15:19 GMT -5
The third day of Christmas brings us....The Doom Patrol...
Part of the slate of DC Nation shorts that ran at the end of episodes of Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice, this serialized Doom Patrol was the bee's knees, perfectly capturing the spirit and feel of classic Silver Age DC. The animation style is perfect for this property as well. I only managed to catch a couple of the episodes on tv, but through the wonders of the internet and youtube, I managed to see them all. The DC Nation shorts varied wildly in quality and style, but the Doom Patrol was the cream of the crop. These were just sheer fun to watch.
-M
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 15, 2016 11:24:00 GMT -5
My third entry is The Phantom. No, not the Billy Zane film, the 1943 movie serial, from Columbia, with Tom Tyler. The film is one of the best of the Columbia serials, with Tyler looking the part of The Ghost Who Walks. It's got a ton of action and intrigue and the acting isn't as stiff as many serials. It's got a hefty does of jungle action, with some decent edits to make you think the actor is imperiled by animals. It plays around with the property a little, such as giving the Phantom a new identity, before taking over the role, after his father has been murdered; but, it maintains the tone and spirit. At 15 chapters, it's long and is best viewed in installments, as intended; but, it's not as repetitive as some of the Republics (and other studios) serials could be.    There are a few problems. It is 1943, so don't expect black actors to be showcased as African characters and the thing was meant for kids; so, it's a bit simplistic. However, it's got plenty of action. It is available on Youtube; but, there is also a dvd, from VCI, which includes commentary (for Chapter 1) from author Max Allan Collins. There was supposed to be a sequel; but, King Features wasn't happy with the script and nixed it. Columbia just slightly retooled it and renamed the character Captain Africa, and recast it with John Hart, who would take over the Lone Ranger role, from Clayton Moore. There was also a tv pilot, in the early 60, which notably features Lon Chaney Jr; but not much else worth talking about. That would mean a long dry spell, broken only by an appearance in Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter, Defenders of the Earth, The Billy Zane film, Phantom 2040, and the Sci-Fi Channel pilot film. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 15, 2016 13:48:12 GMT -5
The Avengers (2012)
I really never thought I'd see the day that we would have a super-team superhero movie that was so completely successful. It's not that there weren't previously good superhero films. It's that if you told me when I was 12 that we'd have this completely Gosh-Wow movie, that is nearly perfectly cast, starring a huge super team and it would look amazing and be a fun, exciting, live-action film, I'd have said you were nuts. Add to that the incredible build-up from Iron Man on through...and it's a great ride.
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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 15, 2016 14:03:14 GMT -5
# 10 Dave and Max Fleischer’s Popeye cartoons (1933-1942)When I was a kid and settled down with a big glass of chocolate milk to watch Captain Jack McCarthy’s half-hour cartoon show on Channel 11, it was always with the knowledge that he’d be showing mostly the “good” Popeye cartoons, the ones that began with the two big wooden doors on a sailing ship slamming into each other and then opening to reveal the credits.  These were the Popeye cartoons we loved as kids, with the slightly sketchy, dangerous Popeye, he of the wiseass remarks emitted under his breath. You couldn’t even see his lips move when he sneaked them out; the one I always think of is his somewhat peeved assessment of Olive Oyl: “Ya skinny-legged scarecrow.” Not funny perhaps on the page in black and white, but spoken in the one-eyed sea-dog’s gruff and mumbly squawk, it was hilarious. Compared to the pallid, soulless, formulaic Paramount cartoons that even Mercer’s brilliant characterization couldn’t save, Fleischer’s were mini-masterpieces, perfect fluid, slapdash, unique combinations of artwork, character, music, setting, and plot, most in glorious black and white, just like the daily funnies, and I loved them. Once in a while you’d get to see one of the longer (20 minutes!) full-color cartoons, like when Popeye met Ali Baba, Sindbad and actually played Aladdin in a movie. Heaven! Popeye absolutely went into overdrive whenever he finally ate his spinach and took it to Bluto and/or an army of roughhousing toughs. Every single one of the “good Popeyes,” it seemed, climaxed with Popeye declaring, “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!” followed by a Pier Six brawl with Popeye kicking @$$ like a one-man wrecking crew, always to the tune of “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” which all of us kids knew only as “Be Kind to Your Web-footed Friends.” Accept no substitutes. Any cartoons with a cleaned-up Popeye in his white sailor suit ain’t no good. If you want the spirit of irreverence and adventure of the Thimble Theatre comic strip by Elzie Segar, you want to latch on to a DVD or two of these little gems. If you can have a glass of chocolate milk while you’re watching, it’s a little bit of heaven.
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