Freak Comics

Benderspink has optioned the rights to The Gray Area (a graphic novel from Image comics). This means that they have the option to produce it as a motion picture.

The Gray Area is a supernatural thriller that follows Rudy Chance into the afterlife following his execution at the hands of the drug cartel he sought to double-cross. A brutal, corrupt copy an womanizer, Chance expects to wind up in Hell. Instead, he finds himself in the Gray Area, where he is given extraordinary powers and forced to combat evil as part of a kind of afterlife “police force” in order to gain a shot at redemption. Benderspink is viewing the property as a potential franchise.

Benderspink has produced The Ring, American Pie and Red Eye to name but a few. They also have a weird name that makes me think of a pink Bender from Futurama.

After posting about the crappy Spider Man fan film earlier today, I decided to find a good Batman fan film. Much to my surprise, I succeeded. Batman: New Times is a computer animated film created by one of the classes from Dave School (they teach computer animation for TV, film and games).

The film features the voices of Adam West, Dick Van Dyke, and Courtney Thorne-Smith. I’m still not sure if this is just a joke, but it seems legitimate.

The animation was done with computer generated Lego characters. It was actually fun to watch.

The Los Angeles Comic Bok and Science Fiction Convention is set to kick off August 14, 2005. It’s a one day event complete with fan films.

SPIDER-MAN, THE HULK, DAREDEVIL, and many other favorite Superheroes are featured in this special presentation with over an hour of fan made films. Some of the short films being shown are DAVID SARRIO’S THE GAMMA PROJECT and DAREDEVIL films, and BRUCE CARDOZO’S SPIDER-MAN VERSUS KRAVEN THE HUNTER.-comicbooksscifi.com

You might not be able to make it to L.A. for the convention, but you can head on over to ifilm.com to see one of the worst Spiderman fan films made (possibly the worst).

When Norman Osborn returns unexpectedly from the mental rehabilitation clinic, his sinister alter ego threatens to resurface as well.

This sends Peter Parker’s “spider-sense” into overdrive as he races to keep Osborn at ease before his anxiety propels him into Spider-man’s deadliest foe: The Green Goblin

The film is call The Green Goblin’s Last Stand (pictured above) and it runs for 50 minutes… 50 minutes of pure pain. The acting is a nightmare, the costumes are hilarious, and the camera work is almost entirely freehand on a consumer level 90’s video camera. I skipped to the end of the film to see the fight between Spidey and the Green Goblin. If you can’t finish the film, at least watch this. The actor / director Dan Poole (Spiderman) goes insane on Jimi Kinstle (Green Goblin) and starts screaming at him in a fast-paced, high-pitched girly voice. Good stuff!

Apparently everyone in the world knew about this movie except for me. Superman Returns will be hitting theaters Jun 30th, 2006 and will star Brandon Routh as Superman, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.

Following a mysterious absence of several years, the Man of Steel comes back to Earth in the epic action-adventure Superman Returns, a soaring new chapter in the saga of one of the world’s most beloved superheroes. While an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all, Superman faces the heartbreaking realization that the woman he loves, Lois Lane, has moved on with her life. Or has she? Superman’s bittersweet return challenges him to bridge the distance between them while finding a place in a society that has learned to survive without him. In an attempt to protect the world he loves from cataclysmic destruction, Superman embarks on an epic journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space. - imdb.com

I’ve never been a big Superman fan, and comic book movies tend to disappoint me, but I’m going out on a limb with this one and saying it actually looks really cool.

You can find out more information at superman-v.com and bluetights.net, which also has some really cool making of videos.

Last night I finally got around to seeing the Fantastic Four. It was a waste of time and money.

I’ll admit right off the bat that I’ve never been a big fan of the Fantastic Four comics. It’s not that I have anything against them, I just never got in to them the same as I did Spiderman and X-Men. However I did not approach this movie with a bias or prejudiced attitude. I wanted to give it a chance, but it failed me miserably. It clobbered my expectations in a very very bad way.

I am rarely bored in a movie theater. In fact I love going to see the latest blockbuster. This however was not one of those occasions. I was so bored that I nearly fell asleep.

Too much talk, not enough action

I’m a big fan of slow paced movies (such as Eraserhead and Signs) however I’m not a fan of slow paced movies that are based off of fast paced comic books. Spending nearly two hours of watching people adjust to super bowers is BORING! The fight scene at the end with Dr. Doom seemed to last for about ten minutes at the most.

Ioan Gruffudd

This is the guy who plays Reed Richards AKA Mr. Fantastic. Bad choice! Besides the fact that he looks too young and had minimal white in his side burns, he’s a horrible actor!

Ioan Gruffudd / Jessica Alba love affair

Reed Richards and Sue Storm look good together in the comics. Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd look ridiculous. Seeing Ioan Gruffudd kiss Jessica Alba is like seeing Bob Saget kiss, well, Jessica Alba! It would never happen. Not by any stretch of the imagination (ok enough with the bad puns).

The Thing

The makeup job / computer generated animation or whatever on the Thing had it’s moments, but for the most part it looked like a guy in a foam rubber costume.

Mr. Fantastic’s abilities

Was this a low budget film? Could they not afford CGI? Mr. Fantastic’s stretchy arms look like they were hand drawn by a South Park animator.

Jessica Alba

No complaints… except that she looks like she’s 21 and is trying to hook up with Ioan Gruffudd. Gross!

The following is not a complaint about the movie, but a recount of my experience:

My wife was out of town so I decided to catch the late show with a friend of mine. We went to a 9:30pm showing, and when we walked in to the theater at 9:15, it was empty. That’s a bad sign. I tried to talk him in to returning the tickets, buying a pint of whiskey and going back to my house to watch some cartoons instead, but he insisted on staying.

After five minutes or so the theater started filling up… with about ten more people. Those people included one old man with, I’m guessing, his grandson and his grandson’s friend, both of whom were around six years old. Out of the entire empty huge theater, where would this small group decide to sit? In front of me, of course.

I hate people who talk loudly during a movie. I also hate little kids. So when little kids talk during a movie I hate them twice. These particular little kids talked a whole lot. Why didn’t I just move? Because the guy I was with didn’t want to. Why didn’t I say something to the old guy? Because he was old and wouldn’t have heard me.

As the movie progressed and got more and more boring, the kids starting standing up to watch it. Then they starting pulling the seats of the chairs next to them down and slamming them back up. Then they starting slamming themselves in to the backs of their chairs and subsequently in to my knees. That was the last straw. I kick the back of the nearest one’s chair pretty hard. The old guy jumped and started yelling at them. I successfully scared the crap out of the kids and got them in trouble. Mission accomplished.

However my victory was a small one, as moments later a baby in the back of the theater started crying. Who takes a baby to a late movie? Who takes 2 six year olds to a late movie? What creepy old man isn’t sleeping by 6pm? We should have just left and bought the pint of whiskey.