Gareth S. Young - - 1000 Trillion Suns

A quick, spoiler-free #WonderWoman review... I went to see this movie fearing the worst. DC have not had the best track record of late and there seemed to be seventy years of expectation resting on Gal Gadot's shoulders. Turns out, my fears were misplaced. DC have finally found a better balance in tone for one of their movies, and, in Gal Gadot, they have an excellent Wonder Woman. Director Patty Jenkins has made no secret of the fact she's a fan of 1978's Superman, and there are a couple of visual nods to the classic Christopher Reeve movie. However, the spirit of Superman is most obvious in the chemistry between Diana and Steve Trevor, something that's been sadly lacking from the other DCEU movies. And most notably absent from the newer Superman movies. Gadot owns the role and gives us much of what DC/WarnerBros missed the mark on with their "grim dark" superhero universe so far: optimism, charm, kindness, and humor - despite the wartime setting. ...

...Black Bolt. The Inhuman Royal Family If you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you might have heard last year's movie release announcements and wondered about the movie called "Inhumans." If you've been watching the TV show Agents of Shield, you will have a better idea who this strange group of superhumans are. Black Bolt Black Bolt, or Blackagar Boltagon to give him his full name, is the King of the Inhumans. Originally appearing in early issues of Fantastic Four, Black Bolt is a man of few words, or, to be more precise, no words. Black Bolt's power is in his voice and so powerful that even a whisper can cause destruction. So the stoic leader of the Inhumans must communicate through hand signals or via a spokesperson. Black Bolt and Medusa Black Bolt's wife, Medusa, often acts as spokesperson for the King which actually gives both characters a very deep and more interesting connection. Medusa is a powerful leader in h...

One of the lucky ones Superheroes used to be better-known for their four-color shenanigans in comic books than their hi-definition antics down at your local IMAX theater. In fact, comic books almost faded into obscurity as comic book shops closed, print runs declined and the only people who cared about them were a generation of fans hanging onto their childhoods. I don't deny I am one of those people. I am one of the lucky ones, born at just the right time to see comics change from kids entertainment to mature, grown-up storytelling. The Golden Age Yours for a paltry $3.2 million... The first appearance of Superman (1938) is regarded by collectors as the beginning of The Golden Age of comics. Batman (1939), Captain America (1941) & Wonder Woman (1941) were also born during this period. The recent  $3.2 million sale of the "holy grail" copy of Action Comics #1  shows that interest in these characters is still through the roof, although most people know the...

Every summer, the movie studios release what they call "tentpole" movies. Normally, these are big-budget, effects-driven franchise movies, designed to prop up the studios and make them their profits for the year. I call them programmed franchises because they're not acquired with one movie in mind. The philosophy from the start is to produce at least a trilogy. So much money is invested in these movies that failure can cripple a studio. Trivia Blast!! - New Line Cinema had to merge with its parent company Warner Bros after the (relative) failure of  The Golden Compass:   Budget: $180M  Box Office: $70M ( The Golden Compass  was intended to follow the trilogy of His Dark Materials books by Phillip Pullman) Jaws   Stephen Spielberg is sometimes credited with creating the first summer "Blockbuster" movie with  Jaws .  Jaws  was the first movie to be distributed with a "wide release," meaning that it opene...

I've already talked about the Ten Worst comic book casting decisions, so now it's time for the best, and a couple of them might surprise you. I took to twitter and asked my tweeps who they thought was well cast in comic book adaptations. Of course the answers were rich and varied (and often involved Chris Hemsworth's muscles), but there was a clear winner. And I think I agree. Wait until you see the size of my Hammer! Uh, not him... So, without further ado, here's the ones I thought Hollywood got right: Ten Best Okay, I know, technically I'm Superalien... 1 - Christopher Reeve (Superman - Superman) The 70's produced some of Hollywood's most enduring icons and every one of them was up for the role of Superman. Guys like Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Warren Beatty, Nick Nolte and Ryan O'Neal were all considered for the role. Marlon Brando, in what amounted to an extended cameo, also had casting approval and vetoed Sylvester Stallone...

So... ...earlier this week, Warner Bros. announced that Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman in the new Batman/Superman movie. Of course, this sent the internet into a frenzy and a lot of the talk was about how terrible this choice was. Now, I should clarify, I'm a fan of Affleck. I think he's a talented director, he's intelligent and he's not as bad an actor as some people contend. Sure, he had his problems with gambling, drinking and JLo, and it's entirely possible one or all of those things lead to him choosing some very bad movies to appear in. The name "Gigli" was tossed around as if that was all the evidence, one could ever need, that Affleck was the worst possible choice. I'm not going to sit and argue that Gigli is a good movie, but people tend to forget that Christopher Walken and Al Pacino opted to appear in it too. Yes, that's Oscar Winner Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter) and Oscar Winner Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman). The truth is, so...