Judge, Jury, and All Around Fucking Awesome

by Scott Speegle

       

       Judge Dredd. Oh boy. The anomaly that keeps getting movie adaptions despite being a character seemingly so unfit for the Hollywood movie treatment. I've really dug Judge Dredd for awhile and while I've only recently dived back into the character, I definitely have a soft spot for the deadpan lawman. Going into this new movie reboot I've had feelings of both excitement and fear. I've been really excited to see how the serious take on the serious character plays out but also I've had nagging fears that this installment will be the final indicator that American audiences overall are just plain apathetic to Dredd on the whole.


Hit the jump to read whether my fears are founded or if the movie kicks mega ass. (Spoiler alert: it kicks mega ass)

The Amazing Scott's Amazing Review of The... Not Terrible Spider-Man

by Scott Speegle

         I'm feeling pretty awesome these days. I'm drawing a lot, writing a lot, and the other day I revisited Chris Hardwick's book The Nerdist Way. In that book one of the sections that resonated most with me was the notion that, as human beings, our emotional responses to pretty much everything we encounter usually follow pretty predictable patterns based on our previous responses. In other words we feel the way we feel about things favorably if we feel favorable about things frequently and vice versa for negative feelings. 

Since my review of The Dark Knight Rises (which you can read in full here) I've been trying to make a concerted effort to 'see the good in things' as it were. The thing is, it's been working. The reason I'm choosing to precede my review with this anecdote is because it might have some degree of affect on the review itself, either way here's a picture of Spider-Man in swishy pants.

This has nothing to do with the review, I just think it's funny.

-hit the jump to read the full review! Note: This review contains spoilers and is written on the assumption that the reader has seen the film and is familiar with the characters involved.- 

The Dark Knight Rises... then Returns.

by Scott Speegle

Batman. The consensus over here is that we like him. A lot. The thing is though that these days just about everybody and their mother likes Batman. The nerds don't own him anymore. We lost whatever battle it was that decided he belonged to everyone and now we have to live with the fallout. This isn't all bad however in that, just like everything else, with greater exposure to a wider variety of creative people, properties like comic characters should see changes that increase their depth and add to what makes them interesting.
This has largely been the case with Batman thus far. What the promotional image above strongly implies and communicates are a wide variety of very serious promises with far reaching implications. As arguably one of the most anticipated films ever, The Dark Knight Rises has a lot of challenges in dealing with its choice of executing these promises or side stepping them entirely.

-hit the jump to read the full review. SPOILERS ABOUND. Also as a note: this review is written on the assumption that the reader has seen the film and is familiar with the characters involved.-

Geddy's Thoughts on The Avengers' Post-Credits Sequence

Hey everybody, NWC's Geddy Cahoon here! Rather than do a THIRD straight-up review of The Avengers, which I will say was pretty fucking good as far as comic book movies go, I figured I would share my thoughts on what was, for me, and probably a lot of comic fans, the film's high point: The post-credits sequence. I want to talk about some of the pros and cons, and what the appearance of a certain character could mean for the future of comic book movies.


Hit the jump to hear Geddy's thoughts on the post-credits sequence of Marvel's cinematic achievement, The Avengers! SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY ABOUND, DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM!

My Two Cents on Marvel's $200.3 million (and counting) Cash Draw

by Scott Speegle

      Let me preface this review by saying that I love comics. Comics are the first thing  that I actually decided to love entirely of my own volition. So any of the points of contention (and there'll probably be a few that will put bunches in panties) that I offer towards Marvel's huge summer outing The Avengers, come from a place of deep love for the medium. I'll also be working on the assumption that you are at least vaguely familiar with the characters and themes in this review. If not, there's the door.

    Ok, now the film opens with a painful cliche and its first ten minutes are a pretty rocky start. Right out of the gate Avengers has a massive problem: It needs to set itself up, and that takes time, a lot of time as it turns out. "But Scott, all of the previous Marvel blockbusters have been leading up to this epic and exciting culmination of super awesomeness." Some of you are probably saying from whatever delusional realm you reside in. In reality every "piece" that has been primed to fit into the puzzle that is Avengers actually exists within it's own separate bubble, all bookended by Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury doing a bit of fan service in post credit sequences. Iron Man is really the only character that feels organically integrated into the established continuity of the Avengers film, this is largely due to the fact that the aforementioned Nick Fury has spent the most time with Mr. Stark. Everyone else is kind of just thrown into the mix and the awkwardness of that is visible throughout.
     So Avengers has that problem, tricking you into watching the prelude to the prelude while making you think you've just opened the puzzle box and have all the pieces laid out before you, waiting to be dare I say it.... assembled.

Hit the jump to read on.

THE AVENGERS Movie Review

by Alex Hajna

Making an Avengers movie is, no doubt, a tough gig. Nothing like it has ever been attempted in the history of Hollywood: gathering characters from five different movies, and putting them all together in one film. Many questioned the practicality of such a project, and rightfully so. How can you properly develop each character, give them each their rightful time to shine, and not make any of them seem like the chief advocate of the film? Well, my friends... Joss Whedon made it work. And he made it work well.

NWC Movie Review - John Carter

By Geddy Cahoon

A Facebook status update I posted shortly after seeing the big (Read: Monstrous) budget film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' highly influential Sci-Fi serial novels amounted to: I wasn't a fan. Scott's response was short, and to the point: "Then read the fucking book." And really, I think that's all I can say to anyone who viewed this movie, or is considering it. Burroughs' tone setting "Barsoom" pulp novels, upon which John Carter is based, are undoubtedly better than Disney's first Box Office Flop of 2012.

Hit the jump to read my complete review of box office bomb and future film buff punchline, John Carter.

Note: This is the first movie review I've ever done. Bear with me if it's awful. Or, compliment my abilities if it's amazing!