DC COMICS “THE NEW 52”

BATMAN….ISSUE 5….”FACE THE COURT”

WRITER: SCOTT SNYDER

ARTIST/PENCILS: GREG CAPULLO

INKS: JONATHAN GLAPION

Mexicus Prime: Holy Shit! This is one of the most enjoyable comics I’ve read in a long time. I’m not going to spoil anything on my half of this review (or try not to) just so the reader can hopefully come away like I did, dumbfounded. First off, I’d like to say that I heard an incredible amount of buzz from this issue. The reason for picking this particular issue up was to see if it lived up to this expectation everyone’s been singing about in the comic community. The “comic choir” was right. “Face the Court” was an amazing issue from beginning to end.

Greg Capullo, issue after issue has been knocking this series out of the park! This could be the best and most creative panels in the series thus far. The panel layout is one of the main treats in this issue as well as top notch ink work from Jonathan Glapion. I have many favorite panels in issue 5 that I took some time to just sit and absorb how disturbingly awesome they were. One of them was when Bruce’s parents show up in the issue pages 20 & 21 and hug him (you should probably assume a twist here). Finally was the climax from the great build of the issue (just before Robin demands they get a new bat signal) where our mentally unstable hero is “confronted”. HOLY SHIT!!!

The story for this issue was psychotic, intriguing, and very mysterious. Right from the jump, it reads like you are watching a movie (very well-paced & balanced reveals). As the story progresses you get entangled into the scene and before you know it, you’re reading a book that you could’ve sworn the pages were stapled together wrong. I would like to point a small one but an idea to think about throughout the read. SPOILER: Pay close attention to the color when BATMAN is trying to “get to the dark” and when the scene comes to an end the color from which an OWL is present. I challenge you to read this issue for that reason alone a few times to really sink yourself into the psychotic-ness of the issue. Black is calming in its secluded nature. White is more revealing – stops deer in the tracks sort of speak. White also can be very disorienting like when you walk out of a movie theater during a bright day. Take these ideas and re-read the issue if you didn’t feel that you got your money’s worth. I’m sure you’ll be very happy you took the extra read to enjoy this book again.

Vagatron: I had a luxury with this issue that Mexicus Prime didn’t, I have been reading this series from the beginning and over the past few months, Batman has steadily made it to the top of my favorite DC re- launches. The Court of the Owls storyline is turning out to be what I believe will be called a classic in my book. The art of Greg Capullo is very reminiscent of Miller’s Dark Knight. In this issue Batman has been missing for eight days and no one knows what has happened to him. The first three pages of the book set this part up; the rest of the book is the story of Batman’s decent into insanity! He has been trapped in a labyrinth beneath the city. No food, only water. Drugged we are led to presume.

The storytelling is top notch, but the biggest attraction of this book is the amazing ‘gimmick’ that is used to help us feel a bit of Batman’s growing insanity. 13 pages into the book the pages shift making the reader have to turn the book clockwise to continue reading. Six more pages in I was forced to turn it clockwise, yet again. For the next few pages (with the exception of the ads) I was reading the book upside-down. The last page I read is a splash page with an image so jarring that when I turn to the next and final page I am a bit disoriented due to the fact that, in order to read it, I have to turn the book back to its original upright position.

I love this title, and I particularly love this issue. I think the overall storytelling will remain solid in the issues to come, but I sincerely doubt Snyder and Capullo can top the overall awesomeness of this issue. After Mr. Morrison had seemingly destroyed my love of the character, these guys are bringing me back to Batman and to DC comics in a big way!

Well, this exists.

I’m actually pretty excited to see this. I’ve heard nothing but great things about the book, though the tone of the movie borders on ridiculous. I mean, I know the whole conceit is ridiculous, but this just seems a little bit beyond the pale.

I’ll be there to see it opening day, though.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing it one way or the other.

Though I do think that Johnny Cash track is played out for the movies. Let’s move onto something else, shall we?

I’ve never made any secret about my devotion to Shakespeare in Love. I think it quite rightly won the Academy Award for Best Picture, beating out Saving Private and Life as Beautiful. The only film I would have been okay with beating it would have been Terrence Malick’s beautiful Thin Red Line.

But because it came out of nowhere and beat out a popular favorite in Saving Private Ryan, people seem to discount it for some reason.

You shouldn’t. You should check it out once more.

Everything about this film is a 10. The script is a finely tuned swiss watch, carefully taking you from scene to scene, increasing the stakes with every moment and offering a wonderful and heartbreaking and romantic story. For Shakespeare geeks, the way it weaves in nods to Shakespeares work (particularly Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night) is a master stroke. The acting is second to none. This, not Iron Man, is the film that made me fall in love with Gwyneth Paltrow. Joseph Fiennes (little brother to Ralph) is absolutely brilliant as young Will Shakespeare, and the supporting performers (including Tom Wilkinson, Geoffrey Rush, Judi Dench, and Ben Affleck, among others) are stunningly perfect… The music is wonderful, the cinematography brings you to the place. Above all, it’s funny and warm.

It’s a cinema geek’s dream.

With the release of the new Blu-ray clocking in at less than $10, I’m hoping that some of you will revisit this film and give it another chance. Let go of all the baggage from it beating Saving Private Ryan. And it looks and sounds fantastic in this format.

If you’re a cinema geek, I really think you’ll find a lot to love in revisiting this film. It easily rates on my top 10 list (not counting the 10 movies that comprise the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises). It’s a movie I revisit often and will continue to do so. It’s timeless, getting better with age and repeated viewings.

And while you’re revisiting it, you simply HAVE to (re)watch George Lucas in Love. It marries the creation of Star Wars to the plot of Shakespeare in Love. It’s one of the best fan films out there.

I’ll be honest. I’m not sure what it is people do or don’t expect out of this show. After every episode this season I hear about half of the people collectively on the Internet scream and moan that not enough happened in a given episode, that there weren’t enough zombies, that the characters were acting in frustrating ways, or that no one died.

The other half praises the show for being fantastic.

There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground.

I would have thought the mid-season finale had laid to rest any uncertainty about the abilities of the showrunners. The final moment of the mid-season finale was built to with such delicate, dramatic care that even thinking about it gets me a little teary eyed. Thinking about what the aftermath of Shane’s actions and the fate of the girl would be has turned my stomach in knots over the winter. Every time I think about it, I want to shake my fist in the air and shout “Kirkman!” as I’m wont to do while I’m ingesting stories he’s written or had a hand in.

This episode delivered on the goods as far as I’m concerned.

I’m watching this because of the characters, not for zombies, or gore, or death. I want to see these people grope in the dark for answers to their survival and try to survive in the long term. Thanks to Shane’s actions there are very definite stress fractures in the group. Because of the heightened tension of the situation, cooler heads simply aren’t prevailing. Laurie in particular seems to have simply lost it, taking actions that don’t make sense out of a maternal helplessness.

Carl seems to have the most level head of all the characters. This is his world. This is the world his generation is inheriting.

And the scene in the bar?

Worth every minute of this episode. First, the final philosophical debate between Rick and Hershel was well-played and well-acted. Then, when the newcomers arrive, it has all the feeling of a Tarantino film. It reminded me of the bar scene in Inglorious Basterds and had the same uneasy rise of tension, making it one of the best scenes of television I’ve witnessed.

Did “a lot happen” in this episode? Maybe not in the traditional sense, but the dynamic of the group is changing, and the circumstances are ever evolving, providing nuance to a show that could easily beat us over the head with a zombie every twenty seconds.

I’m on the record as admiring their restraint and this episode worked very well for me.

For those interested in next week’s episode, be sure to join us at Brewvies Cinema Pub every Sunday night to watch it on the big screen! Arrive early. Full details here.

I’m a box office nerd and I love seeing how much movies make or don’t. In this day and age, opening weekends are the most important numbers you’ll need to show whether or not your film is a success.

The Phantom Menace was going to be a test.

Angry fanboys in many circles were convinced that since they were boycotting it it would do poorly in the theatre.

More level headed fans like myself relished the thought of taking our kids to see it for the first time on the big screen and were rewarded with a great time and the single best post-conversion 3D we’ve ever seen.

But how well did it do?

Well, the weekend estimates are in and it’s being guessed that The Phantom Menace in 3D pulled in $23 million dollars.

Sure, it came in fourth at the box office, but for a rerelease of a movie that everyone and their cousin has seen and was allegedly despised by all, that’s a pretty incredible number. And I don’t see it dropping off much any time soon with all the good press the conversion has been getting. And I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed, but with the softened expectations and people enjoying the film for what it was instead of what it wasn’t, the reviews that have been coming in from sensible critics have been unanimously more good than bad. (Check out this balanced EW piece, for instance.)

You should check out my full review of the 3D here.

I’ll update this post with the actual numbers, but as it stands, $23 million is impressive… Most impressive.

“Crisis on Naboo” is the final part of this current arc of The Clone Wars, whereby Cad Bane and Count Dooku have meticulously plotted to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine on Naboo. The early episodes of the arc had Obi-wan infiltrating the organization in disguise as a bounty hunter.

This episode has Dooku springing his trap, Obi-wan trying to foil it, and Anakin getting left in the dark in the middle.

It had all the vibe of a classic heist film, reminding me of movies like Ronin or Ocean’s 11. At least as far as the Bounty Hunters are concerned. I loved the plan, I love the way it was executed. It made a couple of things in “The Box” make more sense (particularly the video game training aspects of it) and that was actually a good thing. The episode also kept up the recurring dilemma of Obi-wan selling out his ideals, watching Bane and others kill innocents and having to watch, not interceding for fear of blowing his cover.

Sure, this episode was action packed and had a great plot, but this episode wasn’t about any of those things. This episode was about Palpatine driving a wedge between Anakin and the Jedi, Obi-wan included. This episode was about Palpatine playing a game of chess from both sides and smiling devilishly when pieces began to fall. In the third act of the episode, when Anakin tells Obi-wan that if he’s in the dark, what else is it they don’t know? They could all be in the dark about everything.

He’s really hit on something and I’m not even sure he realizes how completely right he is.

Anakin is slowly drifting to the Chancellor as his emotional guide, even more than ever, making his final descent in Revenge of the Sith make more sense than ever.

My only complaint about “Crisis on Naboo”? It didn’t really look or feel like Naboo. Maybe I’m just being nitpicky because I walked out of a theatre screening of Phantom Menace in 3D and had the look of Naboo fresh in my brain. When the Jedi land on Naboo, it looks more like a town out of an old western than the lush old Italian Naboo. I guess it’s fine on one level, since that’s the vibe they seemed to be aiming for in the episode, but it just didn’t look like Naboo, not in the lighting or the color palate. Maybe there’s a reason for it and I just missed it.

I absolutely loved where this episode ended, though, with the climactic fight between Dooku and Anakin. It was very well done. I never tire of watching Dooku fight, his style is so elegant and fun to watch.

I wouldn’t hesitate to say this was the best episode of the four. I really liked it except for that one, minor, nit-picky complaint.

Other than that, I’m completely on board with this episode as being one of the best of the season.

Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive look at Darth Maul from The Clone Wars.

Of course the preview still doesn’t reveal his legs in any meaningful fashion, so that’s still a secret yet to be revealed. Reading about him in Darth Plagueis and watching him again in The Phantom Menace 3D has made me more excited for this Darth Maul arc of the show than I’ve ever been. March really can’t come soon enough.

As far as the clip itself, you’ll have to go over there to watch it.

And is it just me or does it sound like the audio is ripped right out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, right down to Moleram’s laugh?

This four part arc begins in March.

I attended a packed midnight screening of The Phantom Menace last night. The Alpine Garrison of the 501st was out in force, my friends Jeff and Jimmy from The Big Movie Mouth-Off were on hand to officiate a costume contest, and I oversaw a trivia challenge. (The answer to the winning question was “Jaxxon.”)

It was a great event and a great night.

I was surprised to see as many little kids there as I did. Not because I thought little kids wouldn’t want to see it, but because even I left my kids home thinking it would be a waste of money to let them sleep through the movie. Hell, I was pretty confident I was going to fall asleep through it myself.

But it just goes to show that The Phantom Menace is still going strong.

As far as the actual movie is concerned, if you’re not already a fan of The Phantom Menace, there isn’t much about this release that’s going to change your mind. Unless you drop all your preconceptions and angst about what it wasn’t and just go in expecting to enjoy what it was, this release isn’t going to offer anything new for you.

For those of us who are fans and have been since day one, this is a great opportunity to see it on the big screen. I was wary of the 3D, but the conversion on these films was good. There was never a moment where I thought it was too overwhelming or too underwhelming, it seemed appropriate for the film.

Would I still rather just see it in 2D? Yes.

But I’m glad I’ve been able to see it in 3D. It really is like watching the movie for the first time again with a whole new layer added to it. It surprised me how much the shape of the sets and the set design really popped. The biggest winner in this conversion is Gavin Bocquet and his production design. The conversion made the sets and props almost seem tangible. If nothing else, they put on display the workmanship and creativity that went into them in a way that we’d never seen before.

This is certainly worth your time at least once. I’m going back (with the kids) to see it this evening and I couldn’t be more excited. They’ve never seen this film on the big screen and I can’t wait to see their reaction to it. My daughter has been begging for a couple of weeks to watch the Blu-ray of The Phantom Menace and I’ve staved her off, telling her we’d just wait for the big screen and now that the day is here, she can’t contain herself.

I’m doubly excited to see it again with with a refreshed head, not ready to fall asleep. And I’ll probably see it a few more times for good measure. It’s so hard to pass up a Star Wars movie on the big screen.

It is worth noting that it seems that in the 3D conversion process, they did significantly brighten the image of the film so that with the glasses on you’re not missing much of the original color or luminosity at all. That’s always a very frustrating thing when you’re watching a 3D film and I feel like Lucasfilm compensated for it beautifully.

The Phantom Menace 3D hits theatres today. If you like Star Wars, you’ll probably be there to see it. If you’re in the Salt Lake area, you might just see me there, too.

Over at the DC blog today Smallville Season 11 was announced. I’m not quite sure how this is going to work but I’ll give the first installment a try. As the Smallville TV series wrapped up, Clark finally ended the decade long costume tease and became Superman. I know there is a history of continuing movies and television in comic books but this just feels like ANOTHER Superman family title. The show ran its course and came to an ending that pleased many vocal internet fans.

I must ask the questions everyone always asks: Will this bring in new readers and will the people that watched the show hear about this new incarnation? The new readers have unfortunately been minimal as far as we know with most comics but with a few well-placed ads in Entertainment Weekly this might take off like the hugely successful Buffy series did for Darkhorse Comics a few years back.

The decision to release this digitally before print just solidifies DC’s commitment to the digital medium. Having former Smallville show writer Bryan Q. Miller on the project along with 11 other creators including Gary Frank can’t hurt. You’ll be able to read the first chapter April 13, 2012, with new digital chapters released weekly after that via COMIXOLOGY.

This episode is the one I’ve been waiting for this entire arc–well, at least since they resolved the miscommunication with Anakin so quickly.

This seems like a bad guys version of the Dirty Dozen with a dash of the Departed and I’m completely okay with that. (Would that be like a reverse Manchurian Candidate?)

Seriously… It’s very much like those things. Trust me.

From the press release:

The conspiracy against the Chancellor is set. The playing pieces are on the board. Now, Count Dooku makes his move… In the next all-new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, an extremely popular four-episode arc comes to its shocking finale. Obi-Wan is still deep undercover as the assassin Rako Hardeen, and he’s part of Cad Bane’s bounty hunter team tasked to kidnap the Supreme Chancellor. Guarding the Chancellor are the Jedi Knights, including Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan must stop Dooku’s plot, but is it already too late to stop the devious plans of the Sith? Find out in “Crisis on Naboo,” a new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, airing at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, February 10th on Cartoon Network.