Messages

Veering off the Rocketeer subject (although I have this vague recollection that Dave Stevens did a regular-style book for Comico prior to any graphic novel ... Wikipedia appears to back me up on this).

Just watched X-Men 3 ... a fairly unfaithful adaptation, but easily my favourite of the three, I think. It may be that I actually went to the cinema for the first two, and thus my expectations were higher, but I thought that this one had easily the most coherent plot and was really rather a lot of fun.

BTW ... it may just be my (admittedly atrocious) memory, but didn't someone mention a post-credits scene? If there was one, it was missing from the NTL on-demand version.

Cheers!

Jim

"No mention yet of A History of Violence? Not having read the comic, I wont comment except to say I loved the film."

To be fair, I did specifically say superhero adaptations at the top of this thread, which would exclude HoV.

I have read the comic, which is excellent. We recently bought the DVD (surprise - the missus is a Viggo fan), but haven't yet watched it. I have this feeling that it's a film you need to be in the mood to watch.

That said, whilst I've never been one to actively seek out Cronenberg movies, I've never actually been disappointed by one his films. I'll freely concede that I may just have been lucky on this score![1]

Cheers

Jim

[1] See also: David Lynch.

"Have you seen extras when Sir Ian says that he had to explain to Peter Jackson that he was not in fact really a wizard but an actor, Brilliant."

I was more amused by the story about Jackson trying to give direction to Christopher Lee for Saruman's death scene.

Lee, who saw active duty during WWII, politely enquired whether Jackson had ever actually heard the sound a man makes when stabbed in the back ...

Cheers!

Jim

"Remember it`s what acting is all about dear boy."

I'm assuming that's a reference to the legendary (and probably apocraphyl) story about Marathon Man.

Dustin Hoffman is alleged to have asked Lawrence Olivier how he got into the mind of a Nazi war criminal without using the Method Acting technique of actually experiencing something of what the character has been through, to which Olivier is supposed to have replied:

"Have you tried acting, dear boy?"

Cheers!

Jim

"Plus, Australia is quite close to Asia, and if you take the u,t,r,a, and l out of Australia, it spells Asia."

And the left-over letters spell 'ultra' ... By George, I think you may be on to something here!

Cheers

Jim

"And no votes yet for Sin City? How refreshing."

I thought Sin City was visually stunning and in many places looked exactly a Frank Miller comic.

Unfortunately, I found the characters unengaging, and the violence bordering on the nauseating.

So ... a lot like a Frank Miller comic in that respect, too.

Guess we'll have to call it a success.

Cheers!

Jim

"Best super-hero movie for me? The Incredibles! Captured everything that the super-hero genre should have had."

No argument from me. Best superhero movie ever, but not an adaptation ...

Cheers!

Jim

"I've never been able to get past the fact that the whole plot is a blatant rip-off of The Wraith"

I've only seen that once, many years ago, and very drunk.

However, my vague recollection of it was as a fairly direct rip-off of High Plains Drifter, only with a car ...

Cheers!

Jim

"The Crow adaptation is *miles* better than the actual comic, which is fucking mince."

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Wils!

Actually, I have some vague recollection of flicking through an issue of the comic many years ago and putting it back on the shelf because it looked like it had been drawn by a thirteen-year-old.

Cheers!

Jim

"My favorite comic book movie would be The Crow, never read the comic but I love the movie, who knows it might be a shit adaptation. "

Abso-fuckin'-lutely. I'd forgotten that The Crow was a comic adaptation, probably because I've not read the original either.

Thinking about it, I need to watch that film again.

"This'll cause arguements but I also think that V was a damn good adaptation"

I'm on record as a defender of V, although more as brave effort, than actually as a good adaptation of the comic.

Cheers!

Jim

"I thought Rocketeer was a quality adaptation"

Now ... I forgot about The Rocketeer. That is a fine adaptation. Kudos to you for bringing  that to the table!

On the tangentially related subject -- I have to say that 'Sky Captain and the blahblah-diddly-didly-blah-blah'  felt more like a comic book than most supposedly comic-book related movies.

If you've not seen it, then please do ...

Cheers

Jim

I've just finished watching 'Batman Begins' on DVD, and my (gin-addled) brain has turned to the subject of quality comic book adaptations, especially with all the talk of the Dredd movie on here at the moment.

So ... I've been trying to think of movie versions of superhero comics that I actually thought were OK ...

For me, probably the daddy of them all is Superman II - it's got proper supervillains in it.

I'll admit to not being a fan of Superman, per se, but the film (particularly considering its age) climaxes with real comic-book stuff. It's got people being punched right through sky-scrapers, bits being ripped off buildings and chucked at each other ... it actually has that superhero vibe to it.

After that, frankly, there was a really big gap. I can't think of an 'event' superhero movie after that until Burton's Batman [1]. I think we should move swiftly on from the sequels.

I liked the first Blade film, but I have to admit to no knowledge of the comics, and so can't compare to the source material.

Raimi's Spider-Man films are, to me, an odd thing. Intellectually, I can see how they might work for fans of the character, but I've never liked Spider-Man, so they leave me cold.

The X-Men movies (although I've yet to see 'Last Stand) seem to work on every level except having a decent plot.

Hellboy rocks, though.

I actually quite liked Daredevil, but I can't work out how someone could take the concept of 'sexy ninja bitch' and produce a movie as dull as Elektra.

I can't stand the Fantastic Four, so someone will have to pay me to sit through it. Sorry.

Which brings me back to Batman Begins. I can see why people didn't like it, but I think it's as good an adaptation of a comic book character as we're likely to see any time soon.

Now, I'll have to admit that if you weren't a comic book (or Batman) fan around the Miller golden period of Dark Knight/Year One, then the homages won't resonate for you in the same way ...

But, I think it's probably the best damn superhero adaptation to date.

Tangent: the best damn superhero movie, period, is The Incredibles, in my book, but that's a different argument.

Cheers!

Jim

[1] Which, as I've said before, I would have absolutely no problem with, had they not gone for the lazy screen-writer's cliche of having Jack Napier be the killer of Bruce Wayne's parents. With that one plot 'twist' they demonstrated their total lack of understanding of what makes Bruce Wayne Batman.

"Carr just tells good old-fashioned one-liners."

Old fashioned in the sense of "not funny"?

Add to that a generous dash of Carr's trademark Essence of Smug Cunt, and I think you might be getting close to the source of my dislike for the tosspot.

Cheers!

Jim

[CUNT]

Forgive my use of Anglo-Saxon vernacular, but ...
Jimmy Carrr = CUNT

Proof. QED.

It's maths, ergo itt must be true. Hawking says so.

Cheers!

Jim

[MY EYESSS!]

"Dredd Bust ya say..."

Ye Gods! My eyes! MY EYESSS!

Cheers

Jim