I don’t know about you, but when I think about movies based on comic books or graphic novels, I quickly think of those ending in the word “Man” or “Men” be it Super, Bat, Spider, Iron, X, or Watch.

The comic book movie is a genre mostly associated with the last 35 years, starting in 1978 with the release of Superman with Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, and Gene Hackman. This was really the first-time a comic book property got the proper big-screen treatment, with a well-known director (Richard Donner, coming off 1976’s The Omen) and big stars. The film would not, however, open the floodgates to other comic book properties except for its own sequels (which got continually worse with each entry).

In 1989, the next massive comic book adaptation would come: Tim Burton’s Batman, starring Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, and Kim Basinger… and a funky soundtrack from Prince. For those who weren’t born or were too young, Batman was unquestionably one of the most anticipated movies of all time upon its release. The marketing team behind the film in particular did an amazing job with its promotion. There were kids getting the Batman signal shaved into the backs of their head, for goodness sake. Batman would spawn three sequels, like Superman. And they also got pretty bad (culminating with the embarrassing Batman and Robin in 1997).

It really wasn’t until 2000 with the release of Bryan Singer’s X-Men that the studios realized that there were a LOT of comic book properties that could made into films. One could make the argument that 1998’s Blade really started the trend.

Either way, in the last twelve years, we’ve seen a ton of comic book movies. Most of them were successful: the X-Men series, the Spiderman series, Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, Iron Man and its sequel, The Avengers, Thor, Captain America, and Hellboy and its sequel. Some were met with mixed results: Watchmen, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, the Fantastic Four movies, and Hulk and The Incredible Hulk all performed pretty well at the box office, but were met with mixed critical and audience reaction. And there was the occasional bomb: Green Hornet with Ryan Reynolds. From a box office standpoint, if you look at the Top 50 Movie Openings of All Time, nearly a fourth (12) are based on comic books or graphic novels.

The movies mentioned above are all examples of ones that may immediately spring to mind if I say “comic book movie”. But if you take a closer look, there are several movies based on either comic books or graphic novels that you might not know were. Here’s some examples:

2002’s Road to Perdition, with Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, and Daniel Craig, is based on a graphic novel.

So is 2001’s From Hell, starring Johnny Depp which focuses on the hunt for Jack the Ripper.

How about 2008’s Wanted with Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy? It is too.

I certainly wouldn’t have known David Cronenberg’s top-notch thriller A History of Violence comes from a graphic novel.

And here’s two Bruce Willis flicks based on comic book/graphic novel properties: 2009’s Surrogates and 2010’s Red.

Going back quite a bit further, 1985’s guilty pleasure comedy Weird Science comes from the pages of a comic book.

So does the notoriously bad 1986 film Howard the Duck.

Others include 2007’s hit 300, the successful Men in Black films, Jean Claudde Van Damme’s 1994 action flick Timecop, and last year’s Cowboys and Aliens. 

It’s clear to see the influence of comic books and graphic novels on film has been much more than heroes in capes, even though that’s what we think of first.

This will likely be shortest post ever… for those of you who read this blog and haven’t liked its Facebook page, here is the link. Thanks!

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Nowadays, video stores are obsolete. This is kind of a sad fact for me. My high school job was working at Blockbuster Video. I grew up in video stores, too and used to thoroughly enjoy browsing through the aisles and finding a couple movies I’d forgotten about and picking it up.

Those days are gone. Netflix has essentially replaced the browsing through the aisles and now you can do it from the comfort of your couch. I basically classify movies in the following ways now:

1) Must-See in the theater. Examples – Skyfall, Lincoln, Django Unchained.

2) Wait for DVD/Blu-Ray Release. If I happen to miss a certain film in the theater, there are some that I know I’ll probably purchase for the DVD collection. I missed the Sherlock Holmes sequel at the multiplex, but knew I’d purchase it when it came out, which I did. Still haven’t watched it yet but will soon. If I hadn’t seen Argo in the theater, I probably would’ve gotten it for the collection immediately based on reviews alone.

3) The “Wait for HBO or Showtime Movie”. Then, there’s a number of features that I’m not interested enough in to buy or see in the theater. Essentially, a movie I don’t want to pay for. Fairly often, I’ll see a trailer for something and remark to a friend, “That’s a wait for HBO.” 

Here’s a perfect example of a “Wait for HBO” movie from this week: Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo, starring Matt Damon. Here’s my well-thought out plot description: it’s about a family that buys a zoo. When it was released last December, it received mixed reviews and performed just OK at the box office. Frankly, there was nothing about it that would’ve caused me to rush out to AMC Lennox or Arena Grand (my theaters of choice) or drop 18 bucks for the DVD. That said, I’ve loved some Crowe movies (particularly Almost Famous). And I was happy to see that it had made its cable debut. I watched it Wednesday night. Result? Well, it’s a “Wait for HBO movie”. It had its moments and was a pleasant enough diversion. If I’m giving out rating, it’s probably a **1/2 flick. Worth seeing, but nothing special. It won’t be joining the Crowe-directed Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky on the DVD collection shelf. 

J. Edgar is another recent example. That movie went from “must-see in the theater” to “wait for HBO” based on mixed reviews. A side note: dramas are more likely to have that happen. Big spectacle action or sci-fi movies are usually ones I want to see on a big screen. J. Edgar actually exceeded my middling expectations. DiCaprio was fantastic and I really liked it. 

I have Contraband, starring Mark Wahlberg, sitting in the DVR list. It also got mixed reviews and there was absolutely nothing about it that shouted “theater movie”. I’ll watch it some night when nothing else is on and I suspect it’ll be a pleasant enough diversion too.

Skyfall on the other hand shouts “theater movie” on every level and I’m off to see that this weekend! Stay tuned.

OK, not really.

However, this blog post will be focused on my own checkered and brief history with the generally bad idea of reading the book before seeing the movie. We all know how that typically turns out. Not well.

The truth is, I believe that because I’m such a movie lover, I tend to read books visually. I’m already casting whatever actors I think fit the characters in my head. So when the book is made into a movie, unless it adheres to own visual imaginings while I was reading the book, I’ll probably be disappointed.

Entertainment Weekly recently released this list: 26 Disappointing Movie Adaptations

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20483133_20577348,00.html

I don’t think I’ve read one of the books listed here with the exception of the Dr. Seuss entries. As for the films, I am actually a big fan of Clint Eastwood’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. If I’d read the book? Who knows?

It’s amazing to think of the list of famous movie series and great films that are based on books:

The Godfather. Psycho. The Harry Potter series. James Bond. Jaws. Jurassic Park. The Shawshank Redemption. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The Twilight series. The Lord of the Rings series. The Wizard of Oz. The Hunger Games. The Exorcist. Carrie. The Shining. Gone with the Wind. A Clockwork Orange. Blade Runner. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The Hunt for Red October. Die Hard. The Jason Bourne series. The Silence of the Lambs. No Country for Old Men. Planet of the Apes. Forrest Gump. Carlito’s Way. GoodFellas. All the President’s Men. Get Shorty. American Psycho. Fight Club. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. First Blood. Mystic River. Interview with the Vampire. 

Pretty good list, eh?

Often, when authors hit their peak, we see the floodgates open with adaptations of their work. Two examples:

from 1982-1987 – there were ELEVEN films based on Stephen King works: Creepshow, Cujo, The Dead Zone, Christine, Children of the Corn, Firestarter, Cat’s Eye, Silver Bullet, Maximum Overdrive, Stand by Me, The Running Man.

from 1993-1998 – seven John Grisham adaptations (pretty much covering his entire works  up to that point): The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Gingerbread Man.

The Firm and Michael Crichton’s novel Rising Sun were both made into films in the summer of 1993. I happened to read both of them. While I thought The Firm was a decent movie and still do, I was somewhat disappointed due to some of its deviations from the novel. I recall being profoundly more disappointed in Rising Sun, which starred Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes as police officers who latest investigation leads them to underground Asian crime syndicates. It was not until years later that I began to appreciate the movie more. Why? Simple – I was comparing it to the book.

From that point on, I’ve been very reluctant to read a book that I know will be made into a movie. As I explained in my very first blog post (way back in the early to mid-part of October 2012), I like to walk into a movie fresh nowadays. The most recent example for me of having read the book is Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island, which Martin Scorsese adapted and Leonardo DiCaprio starred in.

Strangely enough, when I read the book, I knew DiCaprio was playing the lead so I pictured him the whole time. I also tried to imagine what a brilliant filmmaker like Scorsese would do with the material I was reading.

And, for the most part, I was not disappointed in the movie at all. In fact, I think Shutter Island is a lot of fun because it’s Scorsese doing a Hitchcock movie (similar to what he did in 1991’s Cape Fear).

In closing, I guess I’m too much of a movie lover to allow the book to water down my viewing experience. I read quite a big of non-fiction still (lots of political stuff), but try to steer clear of popular books that will inevitably get the big-screen treatment.

For anyone reading this, I’m curious: ever read a book, saw the movie, and felt the film was better? What’s the most disappointing novel-to-screen adaptation you’ve seen? What’s the best? Ever thought the casting of a role was completely the opposite of your book reading experience? Ever saw a movie and then decided to read the book it’s based on? Fire away.

 

Yes, I’ve been around politics a bit in my lifetime, as anyone who knows me personally is aware of. So it’s natural that I’m interested in movies about politics. I’ve always paid attention to the history of the American Presidency and films featuring fictional U.S. Presidents are, of course, of huge interest to me.

One of the most famous is The American President, directed by Rob Reiner from 1995. It’s no secret that Reiner is a liberal person, so the movie reflects those tendencies.

A quick disclaimer: I decided immediately that this blog will not be political at all in nature. I get enough of that in my “real” life and my blog about “reel” life will not focus on it (clever, huh???). So my comments here are not meant to reflect one side or the other, but just to make a rather humorous and I think undeniable observation.

The American President shows the fictional term of Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas). He’s a first-term President who’s a widower and the movie mostly centers on the controversy that comes with him finding his first girlfriend since his wife’s passing. The film is penned by Aaron Sorkin, a brilliant screenwriter who has brought us “The West Wing” and The Social Network, among others.

The film in many ways is a Capra-esque tale. It reflects what its makers believe politics should be and not necessarily what they are. Reiner and Sorkin are clearly reflecting the U.S. President that they would want to see in real life.

So, in the movie’s climax, the character of President Shepherd goes off-script in a news conference, as his team have strongly encouraged. The point of his news conference: his Administration is going to focus on getting all the guns out of homes. The music swells. His team is emotional. The President is back!

He’s also running for reelection and the movie leads us to believe that his inspiring speech has just sealed that reelection. Ahh – only in the movies! Anyone who follows politics, even a little, will tell you that President Shepherd’s stance on this issue would totally and completely assure one of the biggest electoral defeats in the history of American politics.

I do not make this statement as a political one. It’s just simple reality. The American President is a fine picture that I’ve seen several times. But anyone with a political brain in their head knows that the real ending of that movie would be Shepherd’s opponent, Richard Dreyfuss’s character, being inaugurated.

Apparently, if you want people to like your movie trailer nowadays, the secret is to put a Jay-Z or Kanye West song in it. Or a Jay-Z/Kanye collaboration.

I first noticed when Kanye’s “Jesus Walks” played in the Jarhead trailer:

Then Kanye’s song “Power” played in the trailer for The Social Network:

and Limitless:

I guess they needed Jay-Z to get in on the Bradley Cooper movie trailer action, too – so here is Jay-Z track “Reminder” in the Hangover II teaser.

The makers of Safe House must have figured two is better than one, so their trailer features the collaboration “No Church in the Wild”.

Not to be out done, the makers of next year’s Great Gatsby liked that particular song too.

Jay-Z’s solo work got some attention. His “Beware of the Boys” is featured in The Dictator trailer:

And “Oh My God” is played in next year’s Gangster Squad trailer:

And his song “Brooklyn Go Hard” is featured in next year’s Jackie Robinson biopic 42:

That’s NINE movies in the last few years. I’m a big fan of both artists and must admit that I thought the trailer for Safe House was so good (in no small part because of the music) that it was a big letdown when I actually saw it.

Movie studios research the hell out of what works in trailers and I guess Jay and Kanye test through the roof. So don’t be surprised if “Big Pimpin” is blaring through the Hunger Games sequel teaser in a few months.

UPDATED:

This post was written in October 2012 and we’ve got, yes, a couple more Kanye-centric trailer. There’s his track “Runaway” featured in The Hangover Part III trailer:

And – possibly the best yet – the Yeezus track “Black Skinhead” from Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street:

I’ll update more as they come…

An incredibly talented aspiring musician from the Midwest must deal with his dysfunctional family, an exciting yet slightly dangerous new love interest, and battle his competitors in the local music scene in order to break out and make it big.

That is the plot to 1984’s Purple Rain starring Prince.

It is also the plot to 2002’s 8 Mile starring Eminem.

Both of these films represent a career pinnacle for those artists. In 1984, Prince had released the soundtrack to Purple Rain, his fifth album. His previous album, 1999, gave him his first taste of major commercial success with the title track and Little Red Corvette. 

The movie and soundtrack brought him to the next level. Six of the nine songs on the album were hits: the title track, When Doves Cry, Take Me With U, The Beautiful Ones, Let’s Go Crazy, and I Would Die 4U. The film was a blockbuster and exposed Prince to a completely new audience.

In 2002, Eminem had released two hugely successful albums. That summer, he released his third, The Eminem Show, another hip hop classic. In November came 8 Mile, the film and soundtrack. The movie grossed $50 million dollars in its first weekend, blowing away industry expectations. 

Just like the song “Purple Rain” is considered by many to be Prince’s signature song, the anthem of 8 Mile “Lose Yourself” is considered to be Eminem’s signature tune.

What impresses me most about 8 Mile is that it probably would have been a hit simply by cashing in on Eminem’s enormous popularity at the time. The studio and Eminem aimed higher than that, however. It’s directed by Curtis Hanson, who had already made critical hits like L.A. Confidential and Wonder Boys. There is more talent behind the camera for 8 Mile than Purple Rain and it shows. Still, if you watch Eminem’s movie, it’s fair to call it “The Hip Hop Purple Rain” due to their many plot similarities.

Both movies represent the work of two of music’s greatest, most influential, and important artists of the last half century. Neither has gone on to do much in the film industry — Prince starred in and directed 1986’s Under the Cherry Moon and 1990’s Graffiti Bridge, which paled in comparison to his inaugural film. Eminem has played himself in Funny People and the TV show “Entourage”.

It’s their music that will put them in the pantheon of the greatest artists. However, both films are an integral part of their considerable legacies. It’s been ten years since 8 Mile has been released and today marks Eminem’s 40th birthday. His work and Prince’s work has and will continue to stand the test of time.

This is the DVD/Blu-Ray shelf that my roommate and I have featured in our palatial island estate. Six full shelves of movie after movie. It’s usually the first item that new guests notice when they visit us.

Any serious movie buff wants to have a kick-ass film collection and ours is pretty decent. Funny thing is, there’s always more that you want (that new Blu-Ray James Bond collection that just came out!?!?!) Whoever buys that for me is welcome to have my copies of From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace that I already have.

Alfred Hitchcock is my all-time favorite director, but right now I only have Strangers on Train, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho. Still need at least a half dozen more (Rebecca, Shadow of a Doubt, and Dial M for Murder especially).

Still, we’ve got a lot – covered from About Schmidt to Zombieland. At this point, there’s six shelves. One is for odds and ends, like TV series, concerts, some Disney movies, etc…

One is all comedy. And there’s lots of dramas, action, sci-fi, drama, a row to two of westerns and classics and horror. It’s organized in only the way true movie nerds could do it — NOT alphabetical (don’t be ridiculous). Mostly by genre — westerns here, horror here, 80s comedy here, crime movies set in the past here, crime movies set in L.A. here, crime movies set in Boston here (I’m not kidding). Some organized by director, some by actor (Will Ferrell flicks together, for instance).

So, the question I get a lot from visitors is: Do you ever actually watch them? Of course. But, there’s about 75 of them I’ve never seen (I think we’re getting close to around 700 movies). Most of the unseen ones belong to my roommate and I purposely haven’t watched certain movies yet because I know someday I’ll be bored and say, “Hey, I finally wanna watch the Sherlock Holmes sequel or Robert Redford’s 1975 conspiracy thriller Three Days of the Condor.” A lot of times, I’ll just watch the extra features. I love making-ofs and gag reels and commentaries. Sometimes I just put a couple scenes on for background noise. And I also LOVE when visitors come over, are looking over the collection, and say they haven’t seen something that I love. Time to watch it! (or let them borrow it, which involves heavy legal paperwork and making them leave something valuable behind).

A final note about The Shelf: I’ve now had Blu-Ray for about three years. Is it better? Absolutely. Truth be told, though, I still buy regular DVDs too. For one thing, not QUITE everything is available on Blu Ray (though we’re getting there). New releases are pretty much always purchased on Blu Ray now. If I’m getting an action or sci-fi spectacle movie, it’s gonna be Blu Ray. Still, I could really care less whether The Campaign is purchased on Blu Ray or regular DVD. Or a drama like Gone Baby Gone or Capote. If I’m getting an old 70s action flick, I don’t really care. Blu-Rays are for your visually spectacular movies. However, at this point, the new release Blu-Rays are only a couple bucks more, so why not? 

Coming tomorrow: a look at movies likely to be nominated for Academy Awards this year.

Here’s a primer for all you folks on movies coming out during the remainder of 2012 that I have an interest in and want to see, with brief descriptions.

This weekend saw the release of three movies that I’d like to see: first and foremost, Ben Affleck’s Argo, which is garnering considerable Oscar buzz. The horror flick Sinister with Ethan Hawke and crime comedy Seven Psychopaths both received very postive reviews as well.

October 19 sees the release of Paranormal Activity 4. I’ve been a fan of the first three to varying degrees and early reviews for this one are positive so far. Also, we see the limited release of The Sessions, starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, and Willam H. Macy. That one is receiving Oscar buzz for the performances.

On October 26, Cloud Atlas, from the makers of The Matrix trilogy is out. If you’ve seen the trailer, it looks trippy and has a great cast including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, and Hugh Grant.

November 2nd brings us Flight, starring Denzel Washington. It is director Robert Zemeckis’s first live-action film since Cast Away in 2000. This is the director that’s brought us Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Forrest Gump. Washington’s performance is already getting awards buzz. Also that weekend is Disney’s Wreck-It-Ralph, which looks like a lot of fun.

On November 9th: Skyfall. ‘Nuff said, except the trade reviews are out today and I noticed The Hollywood Reporter already said it’s one of the best Bond films of all time. Cannot wait.

November 16th: Lincoln. Daniel-Day Lewis. Spielberg. Cannot. Wait.

November 21st: two movies getting considerable Oscar talk. Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, based on the bestselling book and David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, also based on a bestseller. Playbook has screened at various festivals and the performances of Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert DeNiro are said to be magnificent.

In limited release on November 23rd is Hitchcock, which is about the making of 1960’s classic Psycho. Anthony Hopkins plays the greatest filmmaker of all time. This movie was pushed up from 2013 so it would qualify for awards consideration (usually a good sign). November 30th brings us the crime thriller Killing Them Softly, with Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini. December 7th: Hyde Park on Hudson, which got mixed reviews on the festival circuit, but with Bill Murray playing President Franklin D. Roosevelt, I gotta see it.

December 14th brings the eagerly awaited The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which reunites director Peter Jackson with the written work of Tolkien. Worked out pretty well for those Lord of the Rings movies.

Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow directs Zero Dark Thirty, out December 19th about the manhunt to kill Osama Bin Laden. This one could be great.

December 21st: Judd Apatow’s latest comedy This Is 40, with Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprising their roles from Knocked Up; Tom Cruise’s latest action thriller Jack Reacher; and The Impossible, set during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which has received very positive early buzz.

My Christmas present this year: a new movie from Quentin Tarantino! Django Unchained with Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, and all kinds of other awesome actors. I’ve yet to see a QT film that I didn’t LOVE, so this is at the top of my list, along with Skyfall and Lincoln.

December 25th also brings a massive Oscar contender: Les Miserables, with Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Russell Crowe from Oscar-winning King’s Speech director Tom Hooper.

As you may heard, last week marked the 50th birthday of Mr. James Bond in the world of movies. I will have a detailed post about my Bond thoughts when I see Skyfall, the 23rd 007 film in November. In the mean time, here is an awesome video from IGN commemorating Mr. Bond’s milestone.