Movie Talk - Direct-to-DVD Batman

Son of Batman: It’s the only place where you’ll see a 11-year old get shot at, stabbed, tied, and have questionable role models.

Well, the Month of Batman is here, so I might as well start out with some movies. The movies I’ll be looking at today are the direct-to-DVD movies that Warner Bros. have been putting out since about 2007. I’ve already looked at the Justice League and Superman movies, so it’s time for the Dark Knight. I first saw Batman: Gotham Knight when it was released on DVD. I actually saw Batman: Under the Red Hood online since Redbox actually didn’t have this movie. Batman: Year One was one of the first movies I watched on Netflix. Finally, I rented Son of Batman a couple of weeks ago to see if the Internet buzz was right.

I’ve recently watched the first three to re-jog my memory. As you can tell, The Dark Knight Returns two-parter is not included here. I’m actually saving that and the actual miniseries for later on. So, get some coffee because it’s going to be an all-nighter!!

Music Retrospective - Michael Jackson: Dangerous

Well, it’s another day and another album from that guy named Michael Jackson. Today’s album is one that should be approached with caution because it is “dangerous.” Yes, I know that pun was a little lame. Anyway, Dangerous was released towards the end of 1991. It incorporated a lot of music styles just like his previous albums. It was also was fully produced by Jackson meaning he didn’t collaborate with Quincy Jones on this one. 10 singles were released from the album. It only received four Grammy nominations in 1993. He also wrote the majority of the songs on here as well.

I’ve had bits and pieces of this album for years but I never owned the complete thing. My sister even got the album before I did. Since I’ve really never heard the whole thing, I bought it last year. I just didn’t see the urgency in getting it until then. I don’t have much else to say, so let me see if this album is truly hazardous or just causes sunburn.

Dangerous

Random Thoughts #32 - Some Randomness

'Sup guys. It's been a minute since I've posted anything. June has kind of been a busy month. Work's fine and women are women. Yeah, there ain't much going on there. So, here are a couple of random thoughts.

Death in the family

I don't want to get too personal on here, but I will for this. My grandfather passed away at the beginning of the month. He died at the age of 77. He hadn't been doing too well and it was finally time for him to go home. He was a good man. He helped raise 13 children, was married for 56 years, and did a lot of things to help his community. I'm gonna miss him, but I know that I'll see him again one day. 

Movies

I think it's time to move over to somewhat lighter subject. I've been able to see three of the however-or-so movies I listed off back in April. Here are the three I seen so far:

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier - This movie was pretty good. It's definitely on par with The Avengers and is probably one of Marvel's best movies. The acting was really good and I liked the inclusion of  Black Widow, SHIELD, the Falcon, and a certain villainous organization known as Hydra. The Winter Soldier himself was pretty awesome. The action scenes were epic. Most of all, the fight scenes were awesome and probably has better fight scenes than any of the Nolan Batman films. Yeah, I said it.While those movies had a lot of good elements to them, the fight scenes were not that good. Anyway, CA: TWS was really good.
• Godzilla - This was another good one. I can definitely say that it felt like a Godzilla movie. The effects were great and the G-Man himself was pretty awesome on-screen. Unfortunately, it did feel like we saw more of the other monsters (MUTO) than we did Godzilla. Also, some of the human characters were a little bland. The only ones I was interested in were Cranston's character, Dr. Serizawa, and Ford Brody (that guy from Kick-A$$). Other than those gripes, I liked the movie. It's not the best Godzilla movie but it is one of the better ones to come out.
• X-Men: Days of Future Past - This movie exceeded expectations for me. It felt like a nice meshing of everything in the franchise. I also liked that it was kind of a soft reboot. While the story could get a little confusing, I really liked it. The acting was top-notch. While there were changes made from the source material, the movie still stuck to the basics of the Claremont/Byrne two-parter. I kind of do wish that the future sequences were a bit longer and that there were a couple of more X-Men in the past  but those are minor nitpicks. Here's hoping that X-Men: Apocalypse can keep the momentum going.

Batman Month

Yes, I'm still going to do it in July. Even before June, I just knew that I wouldn't want to do it in June. Don't worry because he's coming. I have a lot of stuff I want to do, so stay tuned.

Yes, there is an episode of Brave and the Bold that has Scooby Doo, Batman, and Weird Al. Yeah... 

Well, I'm out of things to say.Be praying for my family during this time. Peace and God Bless. 

Star Trek/Star Wars: The Conclusion or Something Like That

Well, this month has been pretty fun. It was cool to finally get some Star Wars love on the blog. It was also cool to finally talk about TNG and other Trek-related stuff.  So, now that I’ve gotten to the end of this month, you know it’s time for a free-for-all battle between the franchises! Can Spock defeat the coldness of Darth Vader? Can Harry Kim overcome the blandness of Anakin Skywalker? Will Khan kick Palpatine’s keister? Will Uhura and Leia strut their stuff on The Universe’s Next Top Model? Will Bashir be able to fare well against the robo-medic? Well, I have no freaking clue. Besides, who really wants to see that?

Found this on Deviantart. Not bad at all. It was created by GeekTruth64.

Instead of saying which is better, I just want talk about why I like both franchises.Oh yeah, I've kind of done that already... hmm...

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - Star Trek: The Next Generation #9

Since I did a comic for that other franchise, I might as well do one for this too. Star Trek comics have been done by a lot of publishers over the years. Publishers like DC, Marvel, Wildstorm, Malibu and IDW have put out a lot of stuff. Unlike the Trek novels, I really haven’t gotten into the comics. I just wasn’t interested. That sort of changed when I started listening to Two True Freaks’ Star Trek Monthly Monday segment. The guys have talked about some of the comics that came out at the time TNG was on. I found this issue and the series’ next issue in the 50 cent bin.

Michael Jan Friedman is the writer. Friedman has done a lot of stuff involving Star Trek. He’s written some Trek novels and was on this series for the long haul. He’s also written other things for Marvel and DC that aren’t related to Star Trek. Pablo Marcos provides the pencils and inks. I haven’t heard of him but I’ve seen that he’s done a lot of stuff over the years. He’s done artwork books like Conan the Barbarian, Batman, The Zombie, and the Avengers. So, let me see how they will save Doctor Crusher.

Star Trek: The Next Generation #9

Writer: Michael Jan Friedman

Pencils and inks: Pablo Marcos

Colors: Bob Pinaha