After ten years, Marvel has completed the most ambitious story in cinematic history. Over the course of 22 movies, Marvel has taken some lesser known superheroes and crafted a roughly 50 hour story using six different main characters.
Marvel isn’t the only franchise breaking the traditional celluloid story telling method. Warner Bros. and DC have tried to copy Marvel’s game plan with the Justice League universe. Horror film, The Conjuring has its own interwoven stories and then there’s Kevin Smith’s Viewaskewiverse.
On this edition of Positive Cynicism, @chadsmart and Eric Bennett discuss the different cinematic universes regarding what works, what doesn’t and what they’d like to see in future film franchises.
This episode is born out of my friend Josh urging me to see Justice League. He saw it and, in his words, “dug it.” He said I need to see it right away so we could discuss it.
But there’s a little obstacle in the path to the movies, snack bar, and the silver screen.
My wife and I have a son and little free time. I’ve been to the theater just a handful of times since he was born, and my wife even fewer times. But the genre movies don’t stop being released. So I have an idea that would be great for consumers like me – but pretty horrible for movie theaters. Two words…digital streaming.
So give the show a listen and then utilize the comments section and tell me if you agree with my idea or not. I’m looking forward to your response.
And in this episode, I have a litany of reasons why I’ve been slacking, from reading comics to watching comic book-related entertainment materials, to bringing you more award-ignored podcasts.
So here’s what I’ve missed:
Luke Cage
https://youtu.be/snJ-nRgx8o0
“Sweet Christmas!” Am I right?
X-Men Apocalypse
Or did I miss it? I don’t know!
Justice League: The New Frontier
You may remember me writing about this a few months back (back when I wrote blogs). Well, it’s topical again!
This is what I call a truck episode. Meaning I was in my truck on the way to work when I recorded it.
And like I said in the show, I am excited for my upcoming guests. It’s all about scheduling and such now. But we’ll see how it goes.
I’m facing a great dilemma. I have two versions of Justice League: The New Frontier.
There’s the deluxe version of the trade paperback (it’s deluxe, so it’s the hard cover) and the bluray version. Both are still in their protective plastic. I purchased the book from Twilight Comics, my local brick and mortar in Swansea, IL. I got the bluray from Amazon (Prime…two day free shipping…BOO YAH!)
Anyway, the dilemma is this: Do I read the book first or so I watch the movie?
Here’s the reality of the situation…I love to read, but my schedule recently has not allowed the time to read as much as I’d like. BUT – I do realize that reading the story is usually better than watching it.
Watchmen the book > Watchmen the movie
The DaVinci Code book > The DaVinci Code book
The Green Mile book = The Green Mile movie
Now I say that and acknowledge that I haven’t read some of the most popular works that have been converted to the big or smaller screens, like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and even The Walking Dead.
I have, however, read every Percy Jackson book, and found that particularly The Lightning Thief was superior to the movie version. I’d say the same about Sea of Monsters, but I read that one over an 8-hour period non-stop during a power outage and I don’t remember as much about the book itself.
I have recently purchased the Kindle version of A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones with all the intention of reading that, but first I want to finish reading The Man in the High Castle, which I’m also currently watching on Amazon Streaming Video. But I’ve heard that Game of Thrones is awfully wordy, and I found that to be the case in the prologue. It took a long time to read the prologue whereas it was about three minutes or so of TV time (I’m watching GoT again because it was fun to watch Bran walk and climb stuff in the first episode and a half).
So while I want to take some time and read Justice League: The New Frontier, there’s a very good chance I’ll end up watching the animated feature first.
I have wanted to watch the movie for a long time, but never took the initiative to get after it. Ever since Darwyn Cooke’s recent passing, I’ve made it my personal goal to get out there and read his award-winning story. There it sat on the shelf behind the counter at Twilight. All by itself…no other copies. We met like this several times…me looking at the book from a small distance. Then recently I finally made the purchase and added this classic to my collection.
Now the question stands…read first or watch?
I’m leaning “read.” But again, time may not allow it. So now I’ll likely watch it sometime this weekend.
But anyway – pick it up yourself. Here’s the trailer for your viewing pleasure.
I love that classic look, and Cooke’s style works hand-in-hand with Bruce Timm’s.
Per usual, I took in the new comic book character movie on the early night, saving money and minimizing headache.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
It didn’t disappoint me. Okay, I admit that I stuck around hoping that there would be a post-credit scene. There’s not. I’ve typically gone against the grain in the realm of agreeing with “court of public opinion” ie Internet film critics. Rotten Tomatoes is pretty useless to me. And from Ben Affleck’s own mouth (paraphrasing), they didn’t make the movie for critics. They made it for fans. As a fan, I have zero problem with this.
The Man of Steel had a lot to answer for after Man of Steel.
At the end of the day, if you take nothing else away from this movie, you get a fantastic Wonder Woman, a glimpse at the Justice League (with lighter characters, maybe you’ll see some of that comic relief that you all love in the Marvel movies…#UNDEROOS), and another piece of framework for the very young DC Cinematic Universe.
And you get it all with a little bit of naked (yet tastefully covered) Amy Adams (oops…spoiler alert).
I not-so-briefly describe/review Justice League: Throne of Atlantis. You remember JL: Throne of Atlantis, right? RIGHT?!?
I have to believe that the film took its cues and plot from the New 52 Aquaman story, which is on my to-read list.
Gotham, Arrow, the Flash, and Constantine get some mentions in this episode. Also – and I know I’ve said it before but I’m saying it again – Matt Ryan IS John Constantine and if WB/DC ever makes a Justice League Dark movie, he better play Constantine or WE RIOT!
Also, how about a pre-emptive plug for next week’s guest, Ross Cavins, who will be on the show to discuss Barry VS The Apocalypse, on Kickstarter!
Positive Cynicism EP. 92: Cinematic Universes [ 48:57 | 0.01 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (607)
