Marvel’s flagship film franchise landed its second installment this weekend, assembling the Avengers to take on Ultron. Secrets were revealed! Tears were shed! Scenery was chewed! Spoilers for sure after the break: welcome to the Chat Cave. Continue reading
Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy is the first movie in the series to turn the franchise focus toward the Cosmic end of the Marvel Universe. As pretty big Guardians fans ourselves, we just had to talk about the movie. Probable spoilers after the break: welcome to the Chat Cave.
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Editor’s Note: Sorry this is coming out so late, gang!
Following only five years after the conclusion of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, the first Amazing Spider-Man struggled to justify its own existence. Amazing Spider-Man 2 suffers from a different proximity effect garnering early comparisons to the similarly overstuffed and tonally inconsistent Spider-Man 3. Are those comparisons fair? You can bet we have thoughts on that. Welcome to the Chat Cave.
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Marvel continues to grow its movie universe with its second installment of our favorite super soldier in Captain America: Winter Soldier. Naturally, we all want to talk about it. Probable spoilers after the break: welcome to the Chat Cave.
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Last week, Marvel Studios announced that it would be producing four original, live-action series for Netflix — Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist — and a Defenders mini-series that would theoretically tie them all together. Marvel Studios proved they were capable of conquering the well-established medium of feature-length films, and Agents of S.H.IE.L.D. is already a monster hit for ABC, can they accomplish the same in the untested waters of the Netflix Originals market? What’s in it for them? What’s in it for us? Hell, do you even have room in your heart to love FIVE NEW SERIES? Welcome to the Chat Cave.
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Thor 2 came out this weekend. Both commercially and critically, it did well enough. Does anyone have any strong feelings about this movie? Oh, hey, we might. Welcome to the Chat Cave.
Patrick: You guys, Thor is fine. The movie doesn’t try to make any serious statements about heroes or families or gods or whatever. It’s a fun, funny action flick — one that demands to be evaluated on those terms. And like most lighthearted action flicks, the success or failure of it is going to hinge on the relationship between the action and the comedy. The Dark World went kinda heavy on the comedy, and it’s strange to me how there are basically three discrete vehicles for humor in this movie: Thor, Loki, and Kat Dennings. Continue reading
On the opening night of the NYCC, Janeane Garofalo posited “discerning taste” as the defining characteristic of nerddom, but is that all? Events at cons range in focus from comics to videogames to film and TV, but fine art connoisseurs and jazz aficionados — in spite of having inarguably discerning tastes — aren’t catered to at all. So what is it that makes certain types of art nerdy? Is it the content? The medium? The fans? Welcome to the Chat Cave.
Drew: Ugh. I’ve often bristled at the “nerd” label — not because I think it means anything bad, but because I don’t really think it means much of anything. What could a word that can be applied both to someone who enjoys God of War and to someone who enjoys My Little Pony possibly be describing? It’s situation-specific ad absurdum. Still, it’s hard to deny some kind of innate sense of what is nerdy: Futurama? You bet. Matlock? Not so much. Continue reading
Last week, Haden Blackman announced that he and J.H. Williams III will be leaving Batwoman after issue 26, citing editorial interference. Williams has been instrumental in creating the unique, haunting look of the series, and together with Blackman, has crafted a smart, thoughtful, intimate story unlike anything else in in the New 52 — so what gives? Welcome to the Chat Cave.
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Between the commercial success of a near-constant stream of Marvel Studios Avengers movies and the critical success of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, there are impossible expectations for Man of Steel. Expectations like reigniting the public’s love for Superman; expectations like launching a blockbuster film franchise; expectations like being any good in its own right. Zach Snyder’s Superman slug-fest has a lot to accomplish. Does it achieve any of that? Welcome to the Chat Cave.
Drew: Like many comics fans, I was incredibly excited by the teaser trailer for this movie. In spite of the trailer’s own prominent reminder that Zach Snyder directed both Watchmen and 300, it felt like this movie got Superman. Indeed, the trailer trades in Snyder’s standard embarrassing music cues and slow-motion punches for meditative statements about Superman’s power as a symbol. Between story credits by Dark Knight Trilogy scribe David S. Goyer and director Christopher Nolan, I dared hope that Man of Steel might be to Superman what The Dark Knight films were to Batman: an operatic drama that understands the defining nature of the hero.
DC has staked their claim on the month of September. Two years ago saw the relaunch of the entire publishing line, and last year saw special “zero” issues for every series. This year, DC is releasing 52 issues featuring villains, old and new, from the DC Universe. There’s no one-for-one correspondence to existing series, and DC hasn’t been the most forthcoming with information about what exactly they’re putting out. There’s a lot to sort through here and no easy answers for what’s going to be worth our time and money. Welcome to the Chat Cave.
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Retcon Punch 