Monday Comic Book Review - Powers

At the minute I seem to have a thing for the comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis. I have just finished “Avengers: Dissemble” (review soonish) which made me realise he was one of three people to create my favourite line of Marvel comics, the “ultimate universe”. Plus most of the big titles I have coming through “The Ultimate Graphic Novel Collection” are written by him. It was a little bit of a surprise when I realised that “Powers”, a series I discovered through my favourite app Comixology, was also written by Bendis and that it is one of the best ideas I have read for a while. The only other time I have come across a story like this was the marvel story “Marvels”, a tale that follows the life of a photographer who lived through some of the greatest stories in the history of Marvel. “Powers” follows homicide detective Christian Walker and his newly appointed partner, Deena Pilgrim, as they solve crimes involving people with super powers.

The first story arc, “Who Killed Retro Girl?” follows the detectives coming together for the first time and the two of them trying to solve the mystery of Retro Girl’s death. From the word go the story is very welcoming and quick paced, but the panels are not minimal making each page full of great visuals. Not like some comics, “Powers” packs so much into the page allowing in some ways a lot more to happen. The art work by Michael Avon Oeming is very stunning on every page. The blocky and colourful images are so bold and stand up on the page making it very memorable; it is exciting to see action scenes and even just a conversation between 2 characters becomes even more potent through the images.

The story itself was not just entertaining but sometimes I did not want it to end or couldn’t see an ending coming, even though I had only one issue left to read. Both the main characters play off each other well and even though the way they meet and are asked to work together is very stereotypical it worked so well and felt pretty fresh. Added subplots as in the little girl Christian is told to look after and the fact that Christian is linked to the Superheroes in some way, create great depth to an already interesting main plot structure.

Overall I loved this comic and was glad to grab the first 2 (second still to read) story arcs cheap through Comixology, a website I would tell any new comic book fan to check out!!    

Wednesday Film Review - The Toxic Avenger

So for my first Wednesday Bad Film Review I decided to start with a real classic. This film is one that I remember best from my childhood, not that I saw this film as a kid but I owned an annual of the Cartoon series that came from it. I talk of “The Toxic Avenger” a film created by the B movie studio Troma and the film which they use as their studio logo! To be honest I had not even seen the film till a couple of days ago and you know what, that was a real shame. Yes, it is a god awful but that is its charm. The only real problem with the film is the acting but again that is half of the joy, it creates most of the comedy and that is what makes it so watchable. The hammed up, cheesy characters make you want to know what they will do next, and breaking the characters up and giving them all an average time on screen allows none of them to become too annoying.

I loved what I took as comments on society, like comparing the police to Nazi Germany and hinting that psycho paths are Christians!! The homemade effort was also something that worked for the film and built on the character of the piece, my favorite part being the Mushy Pea nuclear waste, with other close competitors including the breathing dead dog and the montage of building the house in the swarm. 

The special effects, I loved!! Maybe because it reminds me of the fun we have on “I am Tim” with the slow cost effects, but like “Tim” they still looked pretty impressive, like the head crushing weights and the transformation from Melvin to the Toxic Avenger.

True it made no sense why the policeman’s hands caught fire when touching Melvin, why the Toxic Avenger’s voice changed so much and the fact that at the end no one questioned if the Major was evil or not! Apart from that the story was reasonably solid and never became boring. I look forward to checking out the sequels and over Troma Films!

Acting 4/5

Cheesiness 4/5

Overall 4/5 

Comic Book Monday - Captain America - The New Deal Review

When I started University, I did not really have an interest for the world of comic books. Yes I was a fan of comic book films, but I had never really explored the original source material. It was not till I met people at Uni and in my places of work that I started to read all types of comics. At the beginning of this year Marvel released a fortnightly graphic novel collection that features 60 of the comic book giants best work. As soon as I saw this I was interested and thought it was a great way to read a lot of the Marvel Universe. I have not been mistaken so far, as I have read some great tales, but have also struggled with some boring and uninteresting yarns. As a new comer to this world I thought I would share my thoughts on some of these books for other new comers and anyone who is interested in the colourful worlds of comics. I have decided to start with "The New Deal" a story involving Captain America. 

Captain America is a soldier, a war hero and an icon of justice for America. So it makes total sense that you 
would create a story arc around September 11^th, but of course you would not have the Cap (big mates) breaking through the cave ceiling of Bin Laden’s hideout and beat the living crap out of him that is too obvious! But what happens in “The New Deal” is just a little lame, it is too picture heavy and there is not enough dialogue, and to be honest by the time I made it to the last chapter and the reveal of the big bad, I was bored and did not really care, so much I had already forgotten most the story and what the point was (and it was a quick read)!

The opening was good, seeing the Cap stand amongst the rubble of the fallen towers and trying to help find the people trapped is what you would expected from an American Icon. To then turn around to Nick Fury and tell him that being part of the rescue at ground zero is more important than the mission he is being told to leave New York for, makes you realise how much his home country means to him. It sums up the character in a nutshell and makes him a very powerful image for the United States. It’s a shame then that the rest of the book falls flat, giving none of the other characters any depth at all! Nick Fury just seems a bit of a bastard and like I said before I find it hard to recap on anyone else as they were so forgettable.

So to sum it up there are much better Captain America comics, like the "Winter Soldier", and maybe they should have just had the Cap find Bin Laden and beat the crap out of him, it would have been so much more entertaining!! 

New Look, New Title, More Blogs

Welcome to the new look of Fan of Bad Movies! 

While I still watch films that most people would not second glance at, I do a lot of other things too, and I have decided to widen the things I write on here. I have re-named the blog “Life of a Fan of Bad Movies” which will now focus on lots of different things including weekly reviews of Films, Graphic Novels and thoughts. So check back tomorrow for the first Graphic Novel post.

My 2011!

As Christmas is nearly upon us and then a week after that we will be in the New Year I thought I would do a quick blog on my year of 2011.

This year has been a great one, the best in years. After a dodgy start the year really picked up with loads of filming, festivals, travelling and has ended in both me and Mel back in my home village of Cold Norton. We have had some pretty good blockbuster movies (Captain America, Super 8, Rise of the Planet of the Apes), a few average (Thor, Pirates 4) and some pure rubbish (Transformers 3). I have played my way through Lego Potter and Pirates, wasted my money on DJ Hero and become addicted to Arkham City, which has started off a new obsession for Batman Graphic Novels. I have seen some brilliant bands including Muse, Pulp, Eminem, The Offspring and Noah and the Whale. Had another very exciting set of filming take place for “I am Tim” which ended in a very pretty and gory looking series 2 on youtube. I hopefully have spent my last year in shared housing which I was sad to leave as I enjoyed the company of the people I lived with, and I was very proud of Steve and Jonny on filming their first feature film on very little budget, which I can not wait to the finished article next year sometime. Most of all this year Mel and me decided to take a 7 week break and have a little trek around Europe, which saw us taking in some amazing sights and opened my eyes up to art, music, architecture and just so many cultures, but most importantly how much I love the woman who convinced me to do this trip and how I want to spend the rest of my life with her experiencing whatever the future holds! Come on 2012 you got a lot to do to out do 2011!

The Things You Find

While sorting out the word documents on my Laptop I found this list that I made over 2 years ago for some Facebook thing and I thought I would re-share it with you guys. Enjoy!

1: I have a 2.1 in Film and Television production

2: Even tho I'm 22 I love toys and collectables that i do not need.

3: My claim to fame is that a sweaty jade goodie pushed past me at V festival

4: I once got so into a TV show that I thought I was part of it, and that was only a year ago

5: I have a fear of dolls and Ballons

6: Milkshake is a weakness to me, I love milkshake

7: I want to own a VW Camper Van, but i do not want to learn to drive

8: I'm not afraid to admit that im a geek

9: Until at least 10 years of age I was scared of the following movies: Ghostbusters 1 and 2 and Who Framed Roger Rabbit

10: When I draw the characters and images all look like demons and devils and I normally write the words

"Death" and "Darkness" above them

11: My Dad would never let me have a games console, so my close friends came together to get me a PS2 for my 18th birthday

12: I have had this thing (corn, maybe?) on my foot for the last 5 years but i want to see how long it will take to go away on its own!

13: At least once a day I disappear into my own little world in my head

14: A couple of days ago I had my first proper nightmare in about 10 years, it included a grudge looking child flying at me

from under a sofa

15: I love BLT, and I'm really starting to miss the B part!

16: Whan I was 7-8 my sister convinced me that I wanted to be a model when i grow up

17: When I got my video camera when i was 15 me and the village lot, filmed blowing up slugs and our own version of jackass, which

also included a lot of bangers

18: If I ever win an oscar or bafta, I have promised to thank, My mum and dad, my nan, Judy Kennedy and Mel

19: I know a very important fact of life, in America Burger King is much better then here

20: My dad gave Brois Johnson his left over toilet roll!

21: If I had a super power I would have control over the 4 elements

22: When I was 11 I told my best friend a secert that a girl told me and he told everyone, I felt so bad I went round her house and gave

her flowers

23: I once sat in the emergency room for 4 hours cose I put my arm through a window, and had to watch "I'm Alan Partridge", now I hate it

24: I fired a gun in a real low life american shooting range and it was one of, maybe the most, scariest thing I have ever done

25: It has nearly killed me thinging of 25 facts!!

When Bad Films Turn Out Good

One of the best feelings in the world is to watch a film that you truly think is going to be pretty god awful, and it turns out to be a real treat. I talk of “Orphan”, a horror/thriller about a family who adopt a 9 year old girl who turns out to really creepy. The orphan of the film is the true start. The actress, too lazy to research name, was very impressive creating a realistic Russia accent and a character who was love able but totally creepy at the very same time. The Plot was maybe a little predictable, but the story continued to be gripping and all the actors put in a well rounded effort.

Two other films that surprised and did not totally suck of late, were my green themed rents. The first being “Green Lantern” which managed very well not to be too cheesy by taking it’s self seriously, a lot more then the naff Fantastic 4 films!

The other one, also a superhero movie, “The Green Hornet” was not great but again out did what I thought it was going to be like. It was funny, which is something that Seth Rogan (a comedian) has missed out on of late!

So other all watch bad rated films because sometimes your be surprised what you find!!