Having not read the comic that Kick-Ass is based on, here’s another hell of a trailer. Rawkblog heroes Clark Duke, McLovin and Nicholas Cage star in this joint, which might be a record. Michael Cera cameo?
Sure, Record Store Day is cool, but for my money, there’s no arguing with Free Comic Book Day — which is today! Check out the FCBD Web site to see if your local shop is participating and then go pick up some goodies. Not into comics? Let me recommend some graphic novels: 1) Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, an 11-book post-superhero epic fantasia that touches on dream worlds and Shakespeare alike 2) Essential Spider-Man, Marvel’s reasonably priced collections of the best superhero comic ever (yes) by Stan “The Man” Lee and Steve Ditko 3) Batman: The Long Halloween, an unofficial sequel to Frank Miller’s Year One and a source of inspiration for last year’s film The Dark Knight, and a gorgeously drawn one at that. So get going! Post what you picked up today in the comments.
Above: Watchmen as a Saturday morning cartoon. Amazing. [Via YANP]
I did see Watchmen, and I can tell you this, spoiler-free: It’s a very good movie. Not a great one. While it’s certainly a step or three above 300 as far as the unintentional comedy factor goes, there are some major tonal issues — the cartoonish sheen of the whole film is visually impressive but doesn’t jive well with the story’s themes of gritty realism and impotent, flawed heroes, and a number of the action scenes could’ve used both less gratuitous gore and less gratuitous slo-mo. That said, superhero movie-loving me was pretty impressed throughout, and Zack Synder did about a good as job as possible in squeezing the graphic novel’s 12-part storyline into a relatively smooth, linear film. Flashbacks abound, but they arrive organically and shouldn’t be too hard for non-geeks to follow. Watchmen fans should thoroughly enjoy seeing the book come to life, warts and all, and as for everybody else, well — it may be too complicated for some, though Roger Ebert (who seems to be a newcomer) gave it a shining endorsement. Hold onto yr hats and blue penises, folks. (A final caveat: The ’60s-era protest music would be a powerful, affecting soundtrack if the movie was set, y’know, in the ’60s. Some decade-appropriate Joy Division or Bowie here and there would’ve worked better, but you can’t win ‘em all.)
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Deeper Into Movies is a Yo La Tengo song and, in this case, a film review column. Click below for more.
Mr. Samuel L. Jackson has signed on to reprise his role as awesomest dude ever Nick Fury in Marvel’s Iron Man 2, with the option for eight other potentional films. Brohugs abound! IM2 is due in May 2010. Filming starts in April and we’re still waiting on final casting for Black Widow and Crimson Dynamo thanks to reported scheduling conflicts and financial, ahem, constraints, respectively. Open yr wallet, Mighty Marvel! [Variety]
Mickey Rourke not doing Iron Man 2: Really. Bummer. The current rumor mill says Marvel’s not coughing up enough dough for actors such as Mickey and Samuel L. Jackson — can’t say I’m happy about that. (P.S. I saw Watchmen last night!!11one!1)
Or more precisely, The New Frontiersman, Rorschach’s favorite paper, has a Flickr with sick shots of Dr. Manhattan. Guys, I know it’s cheesy, but I fucking love viral marketing.
Watchmen, which I’m more excited about by the day, will arrive on schedule on March 6 thanks to Warner and Fox making a deal in which Fox gets a lot of money for kinda being dicks. I didn’t realize that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s original graphic novel was the best-selling ever — considering it’s probably the best ever, too (at least as far as superheroes go), high-five, America.
