Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope

Wow! It's been a while since I wrote a review? I was referencing one my movie review templates and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol was the last one? In any case, I had been super busy transitioning to a new job along with a few other things in my personal life. I apologize for not being able to find time to update GroggyBot. A lot has been happening for me. Going to conventions and watching movies has been part of that. Oh, also the NBA Playoffs are on! This year I'm rooting for the Boston Celtics. If they'll get eliminated, which they won't but, if they do, I'm going with the Oklahoma Thunder! Oh right, movie review... here goes... Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope is a documentary on the convention scene directed by Morgan Spurlock. You might not recognize his name but most likely you'd recognize his work. He's the guy who directed Super Size Me. That's the movie with the guy (Morgan Spurlock) eating nothing but fast food for 30 days from one of the well known burger places; the one with the giant yellow arches. He also directed Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden and a very interesting TV show called 30 Days. 30 Days is similar to Super Size Me but, instead of Spurlock being the "test" subject, it features different people whom are willing to live outside their comfort zone for 30 days; to walk in other people's shoes. I highly recommend checking the show out. As for Morgan Spurlock's latest documentary, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope... I went to a special screening at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA where the director himself made an appearance. Morgan Spurlock gave us a brief introduction before the start of the movie and he stayed after for a Q&A session. In the introduction Spurlock gave us an interesting story about Comic-Con Episode IV's conception. Stan Lee (of Marvel Comics) is in the same movie agency as Spurlock. On a fateful day in 2010, Morgoan Spurlock met Stan Lee through their agents. During the impromptu meeting Stan the Man said to Spurlock, "we should do a movie." Spurlock told Stan Lee that he's trying to film a Comic-Con movie. Shortly after their meeting they both met with Joss Whedon and that was when Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope started to take shape. The idea was to get separate camera crews to follow the different type of convention goers at the 2011 San Deigo Comic-Con. Auditions were held and the final cut of the documentary features: The Comic Book Vendor: the owner of Mile High Comics, Chuck Rozanski trying to sell a rare Marvel comic, Red Raven #1 The Toy Collector: Camping out in line long before the convention opens its doors in order to get the Con Exclusive Galactus Figure The Attendees: a couple who are seemingly attending San Diego Comic-Con but, the boy friend of this couple plans to propose to his girl friend at Kevin Smith's panel. The Cosplayers: Holly Conrad and her team of cosplayers signing up for the Con's Masquerade and hoping to win first prize. While in the contest, they have a chance to be noticed by effects team and costume departments in the movie and gaming industries. The Aspiring Artists: Skip Harvey and Eric Hanson treats the Con as a job fair. Showing off their portfolios to different comic book companies, hoping they can land a job as professional artists. The documentary does a great job jumping from one story arc to the next eventually culminating with resolutions. Inter-cut between the stories are talking heads made up of convention goers and guests such as artists and celebrities. Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, Seth Green, Eli Roth, Joss Whedon, Paul Dini and Grant Morrison were some of the more well known people who showed up as the talking heads in Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope. There were a few who got cut out because of time constraints; like Felicia Day and Nathan Fillion. What I like most about Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope is that it doesn't poke fun at the convention scene or the people who attend. In documentaries such as this, they tend to point out certain people as the "freaks" of society. Spectacles to ridicule and to be laughed at. Sure there are stereotypes at Comic Book Conventions or, at any conventions for that matter. It could be a Car Show, a Garden Show, a Work "Forum" (come on we all know it's a convention), even at Sporting Events. Yes, ESPECIALLY Sporting Events! Why is the "fat drunken guy who painted his body and face in his favorite team's color" different form the "fat comic book geek dressed up as Wolverine?" Why are the fanatics at Sporting Events more accepted? There are always the stereotypes and the super fanatics everywhere you go. We tend to forget about the passion, the devotion and love for the subject and just laugh at what we don't understand. Morgan Spurlock did a great job with this understanding in Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope and my hope as a fan is that the documentary is able to convey the fun side of conventions and that it's more than just a barrel of geeky fish for people like "Men's Fitness Magazine" to shoot down with their derogatory gun. I highly recommend Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope. Not just to people who are into comic books but to everyone. The documentary follows real life people whom we can all relate to and this makes it easy to follow without any inside comic book knowledge. It also impressively explains the different aspects of comic book fandom in under 90 minutes. Again, highly recommended! I'm not sure if the theaters are still showing Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope. It was released in theaters on April 6, 2012. There is no video release date yet. But there will be a DVD full of extras. That was one of the Q&A questions and Morgan Spurlock confirmed it! Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope Official Trailer #1 movieclipsTRAILERS RATING: 5/5

New York Comic Con 2011

Hotspot It was hot, smelly, claustrophobic, and exhausting. It was the New York Comic Con. Combined with the Anime Festival under one roof at the Javits Center, the Comc Con resulted in a record breaking attendance of 105,00 people. Literally a sea of people packed from wall to wall. Sounds intimidating? It was. It also had all the qualities I listed above but, what drew all those people to this place? The answer is one tiny word, FUN! The one thing that can supersede anything. When I was younger, I played basketball in 90 degree weather with 90 percent humidity for hours and not notice the heat because, it was FUN! There also was the time when I went skiing in subzero temperature, during hail conditions, when the snow was frozen and slippery. All that didn't matter because of the FUN! Such a small word for such an awesome vehicle for perseverance. The New York Comic Con was definitely an awesome experience. For the entire weekend of October 14th-16th I was overwhelmed by the convention. It was electrifying. I was thinking, if the Matrix needed energy, this would be the place to harness an unlimited supply. I had never experienced anything like it. Waves and waves of people flowing towards their fandom. There was something there for everyone. The vendors had a variety of interesting collectibles to offer. From food to toys to books to clothes, movies, posters, etc... The next neighborhood over from the Vendors Area was the Artist Alley where the artists were hard at work on fan commissioned sketches. It was nice to see a few familiar faces in there. Sarah Richard, Yuko Ota, J. Scott Campbell, and Adam Hughes were among the many talents in the Alley. In order to escape the hordes of people, I'd had to wait in line to get into the panels. Sometimes I was in queue for more than hr. They were worth the wait though. This year's big draw was the Walking Dead and the upcoming Avengers movie. During The Avengers Panel, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth showed up to talk about the movie. Mark Hammill (Luke Skywalker) was also a guest for 2 separate panels. One dedicated to the Jedi Knight himself and the other was a promotion for the "New Gen" comic book (and soon to be movie). Mark Hamill was available for autographs as well. In order to get his autograph, I waited in line at the Autographing Area near the Hasbro Pavillion where the costume contest and some of the performances were held. Then there was the Anime Festival area. To get there, I banked a right at the giant balloon of Finn and Jake from Adventure Time to go up to the upper level of the Javits Center. A large number of Anime cosplayers were gathered there. I can't do the convention justice in this article. It's tough for me to put in words of being under one roof with thousands of creative cosplayers, hundreds of events, the many geek gods and goddesses promoting our favorite shows, movies, videogames and comics... and most importantly, to share a spot with a hundred thousand people whom are passionate about the same things I am. All those years of being made fun of for liking the things I like was washed away by this gigantic ocean of (my fellow) geeks. I belong! Even after a week I am still shocked and awed. I'm definitely going again next year and I recommend everyone to go, even at least for a day. It's a once in a life time experience to be in this ginormous assemblage of enthusiasm. There's a lot more after the "JUMP!"

Captain America: The First Avenger

During April of 2010, Marvel Comics launched a crossover event called Heroic Age. This was suppose to emphasize the Marvel Heroes being... "heroes." It was a result of the grey areas the Marvel characters tread upon during the Siege and Civil War crossover events (and most of the 90's Marvel books in my opinion). Comic book fans criticized the Heroic Age event's timing because it coincided with DC Comics' Brightest Day crossover event. I was in the same boat as these fans... until... I watched Captain America: The First Avenger. Captain America: The First Avenger carries the spirit of the Heroic Age not just for Marvel Comics but with anything to do with the moniker "hero" (Green Lantern film makers should take note). Before Captain America was the star-spangled WWII hero, he was a puny kid from Brooklyn, NY named Steve Rogers. Small in stature but not in heart. He stood firmly for his beliefs. A CGi shrunken downed Chris Evans (isn't as bad as it sounds) plays the runty idealistic Steve Rogers who kept on being rejected from enlisting in the US Armed Forces. He was determined to join the fight against the Axis Power and kept on trying. He even traveled miles to different cities hoping a recruitment office would accept his application. This tenacity caught the attention of Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who was waiting for the right candidate to test his Super Soldier Serum on. With the help of Dr. Erskine, Steve Rogers was enlisted into Colonel Chester Phillips' (Tommy Lee Jones) special unit which confused the Colonel as to why a sickly runt was assigned to him. Dr. Erskine proved his point to the Colonel by throwing a grenade into the middle of the training unit. Everyone scattered for cover except for Steve Rogers, who jumped on top of the grenade to protect his fellow soldiers. The message of the movie was clear, Steve Rogers is Captain America even before the Super Soldier Serum. The serum was just a catalyst to help his physique catch up to his indomitable spirit. Heroes doing Heroic things (Green Lantern take note)! Marvel Studios successfully transferred the Heroic Age on screen. Under Joe Johnston's direction (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Jurassic Park III, Hidalgo) and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely screenplay (both wrote three of the Narnia movies) Captain America: The First Avenger felt like an episode of Band of Brothers at times but, with some exaggerated comic book elements. During the montage of Captain America's tour in Europe, I thought he was going to run into Captain Winters and Easy Company (I watched too much Band of Brothers). Speaking of HBO's World War II series, Captain America's tour around the U.S. selling war bonds reminded me of John Basilone in The Pacific. The creative team was definitely conscious about the tone of war movies set in that era. They also dabbed a bit of steampunk to Captain America: The First Avenger for a surrealistic feel. Most of the impossible tech was reserved for the villain of the movie, the Red Skull. The diabolical Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith of The Matrix) took on the role of the insane Nazi. Hugo Weaving was able to balance his acting between over the top villainy and straight vileness with success. I hope he'll show up in The Avengers. Another thing I appreciated about Captain America: The First Avenger was that Chris Evans as Captain America kept his mask on. Whenever I walk into a super hero movie, I'd make it a game to count how many times the hero will take his mask off. The ironic thing about Captain America keeping his mask on is that, he doesn't have a secret identity so, he doesn't need a mask to hide his face. Still, the mask was kept on throughout the whole movie when he was in costume. Maybe it was taken off once... just maybe... but... with the other super hero movies, the heroes who needed to protect their identity kept on taken their masks off (or have them conveniently ripped off). Captain America: The First Avenger is definitely recommended. Marvel Studios has done a great job with their recent movies. This will be another buy for me when it comes out on blu-ray on October 25th. I hope the blu-ray has the full The Avengers trailer at the end like it did at the theater. Go Heroic Age! Captain America: The First Avenger Trailer RATING: 3/5 (a bit of interesting trivia: Captain America: The First Avenger made more money with its foreign release vs domestically)

X-Men: First Class

This is another late movie review... or, it could be an early review. It depends on which date you are looking at. X-Men: First Class came out in theaters on June 3, 2011 but, it's coming out on disk on September 9, 2011. I am definitely looking forward to the disk release. X-Men: First Class is my favorite comic book movie of the summer. Under Matthew Vaughn's (Snatch, Stardust, Kick-Ass) direction and a screenplay by 5 writers (including Bryan Singer) we are introduced to Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) before they became rivals and formed the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In X-Men: First Class Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr finds each other and together they establish the School for Gifted Youngsters in Westchester County, NY in order to protect children whom are affected by gene mutation from being feared, ousted and even hunted by ignorance. During the first act of the movie, James McAvoy (always Mr. Tumnus and Leto Atreides to me) as the young Charles Xavier plays this role in a deviously fun way as he has full control of his abilities (actor and character). As the movie progresses, Charles Xavier's demeanor changes as his protected life disappears while he gets introduced to a more serious and dangerous world when he becomes friends with Michael Fassenbender's Erik Lehnsherr. Michael Fassenbender shares the same amount of screen time as James MacAvoy but, Fassenbender steals the show with his on screen presence (worthy of Ian McKellen's performance as Magneto). Michael Fassenbender does an amazing job. The first couple minutes of the movie felt like a James Bond movie with Michael Fassenbender being Bond when Erik Lehnsherr hunted the Nazis who were responsible for his torment and his parents' death. X-Men: First Class has the best performances of all the X-Men movies. Jennifer Lawrence surprised me as the young Raven Darkholme (Mystique). Where did this girl come from? She was nominated for best actress in Winter's Bone? Hmm... Unfortunately, it also had the worst performance. January Jones' portrayal of Emma Frost was horribly forgettable. Surprisingly I don't remember much of the "alluring" Emma Frost (January Jones) even though she was in lingerie for most of the movie. In the subject of allure, I do remember how pretty Raven Darkhomle (Jennifer Lawrence) was in a 60's style skirt. Sometimes it's not about how much skin is shown, it's about the presentation. X-Men: First Class is no exception to veering off from the source material. One of the most glaring non-cannon changes was the addition of Havok in this timeline. Havok being Cyclops' younger brother doesn't seem right at all being one of the first members of the X-Men. Also, instead of the original members from the comics (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast and Angel) we get: Mystique, Beast, Banshee, Darwin, Havok and Angel. Beast being the same Beast as Hank McCoy but, Angel this time around is borrowed from Grant Morrison's run of New X-Men, Angel Salvadore. Even the uniforms were a rendition of Frank Quitely's design from New X-Men. I understand why some viewers are displeased with these changes. I can forgive the change in the founding members but, I don't like the change with the Summers Brothers (Havok and Cyclops). Even so, it didn't deteriorate my enjoyment of the movie. The screenplay was well put together coinciding the Cuban Missile Crises in the theme of fear, ignorance and human rights (mutant rights). With the fictional parallels you get Charles Xavier preaching education and peace while, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon giving a wicked performance) spreads fear and ignorance. Then you get Erik Lehnsherr stuck in the middle standing on that fine line between virtuous and villainous, wanting to do good but, not sure which method to choose. This being a prequel we know which method he goes with. Another thing I appreciate about X-Men: First Class was the fact that being a prequel, it didn't go from point A to point B mechanically and called it a day as if it's some sort of history lesson (ahem... Episodes 1-3). It could have easily done that ("he got angry and became Magneto, the end!"). The movie showed us a journey of emotions that these characters dealt with before they became who they are. I'm not even sure if any of the comic books went into this much detail with Professor X's and Magneto's past. Most importantly, the display of the mutant powers and the action in X-Men: First Class are extremely fun to watch. Not to mention a ton of eye candy! I walked into the movie wanting to see a lot of Rose Byrne but found myself liking Jennifer Lawrence, Zoe Kravitz and.. ok, I got to admit, January Jones is still pretty hot despite the cardboard performance (from a guy's perspective). If the men of the movie is your preference, please leave a comment and balance this post out. X-Men: First Class hints as being in the same continuity of the previous X-Men movies with some surprising... "hints." I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't watched the movie yet. In the X-Men movie series, X-Men: First Class is my favorite (followed by X-Men: United (X2). Being a fan of the X-Men comics, I'm very happy that we get 3 very well put together movies which is quite a feat since these movies were not produced by Marvel (like Iron Man and Thor). The creative freedom at 20th Century Fox is not as broad. In any case, I highly recommend X-Men: First Class. Forgive the artistic licenses (it took some effort from me) and at least rent it when it comes out on disk. I am buying the Blu-Ray. X-Men: First Class-Trailer RATING: 4/5

Thor

Thor, Marvel's Mighty God of Thunder finally hits the big screen. I should say it finally hitted the big screen on May 6, 2011. Again, I'm a bit late on the reviews but, if you haven't already seen Thor, I recommend checking it out when it comes out on disk. A lot of people compares it to the first Iron Man movie since Thor seems to be the 2nd watchable Marvel produced movie (not wanting to acknowledge Iron Man 2). Thor is not just watchable. It is also fun, aesthetically pleasing and at points deep. I was worried at first that Thor will be another Iron Man knock off when watching the trailers. There were one-liners in the trailers that made Thor seem more like a smart ass than the arrogant Norse God. Also, after reading about how the Asgardians were treated as aliens really worried me. Especially after how Iron Man 2 was rushed out to be so formulaic and boring. I guess under Kenneth Branagh's direction, J. Michael Straczynski's and Mark Protoevich's screenplay things worked out. The material was kept as close to Marvel's cannon as much as possible. In fact, the way the Asgaridians were handled reminded me of Jack Kirby's take on the Norse Gods and even DC's New Gods. The way the Asgardians traveled in this movie using the Bifrost reminded me of the Boom Tubes that the New Gods used. It looked really cool. There were a few awe inspiring scenes in Thor. The one that sticks out the most for me is when Thor and his small army rides across the Rainbow Bridge in Asgard on his way to fight the Frost Giants. Asgard was a very good looking set. I'm not sure how much of it was CGi. Thor was a super arrogant ass in the beginning of the movie to the point where it almost got him and his friends killed. It is because of this Odin (Anthony Hopkins) strips him of Mjolnir and kicks him out of Asgard and down to earth powerless. While in the background, with Thor out of the way, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) plots to become the Ruler of Asgard. On earth, powerless but still having some supernatural arrogance and strength, Thor bumps into a crew of scientists searching for Extra Terrestrials. At first they think that Thor is an alien but the movie shifted towards the Norse legends more, which made me happy. Honestly, I think the scientists can be replaced by any actor and the movie would not suffer. Two of them has some star power being Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgard. The third scientist or rather assistant is played by Kat Dennings. With that said, portraying Thor, Chris Hemsworth does a great job being the asshole Asgardian who learns the ways of humility. He was almost overshadowed by Tom Hiddleston's Loki. Living under Thor's boastful shadow and personal tragedy, Tom Hiddleston's Loki is tormented with choosing between what benefits him and doing the right thing. Of course, he wouldn't be the villain of the movie if we agreed with him. Thor is very entertaining movie which follows some formula. The love interest and the hero losing his powers for example but both of the these things were handled well. I guess a love interest is a way for an immortal to grow an attachment to a lesser realm. I said earlier that Natalie Portman is replaceable but, her presence is definitely more than welcome and she's a fine actor (same goes for a certain prequel trilogy). Chris Hemsworth charismatic performance made up for the low key action of a depowered hero. Also, even without Mjolnir, Thor didn't just moped around the whole time, he still had his fighting abilities, strength and heroism. The lead up to Thor getting Mjolnir back was pretty rewarding. Be sure to stay during the credits for a hint of more Loki and Stellan Skarsgard in the upcoming Avengers movie. Check out Thor. There are some artistic liberties towards the Mighty Marvel Hero but in my opinion they are not glaring travesties. This is definitely the best Thor rendition Thor-Trailer RATING: 3/5