Category: Comics-Graphic Novels

Screening Room: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2’

On By chrisbarsantiIn Comics-Graphic Novels, Film - NewLeave a comment

The summer movie season is already started, thanks to The Fate of the Furious. But now it gets going in style, with the sequel to James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy hitting theaters next Friday.

My review is at Film Journal International:

The anticipation couldn’t be higher for Gunn’s sequel, a movie that depends on being nimble on its feet. Those expectations are met, and then some, in a bigger, bolder outing that locks the audience in from a credits sequence in which Baby Groot (a computer-modulated Vin Diesel) boogies ever so cutely to ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” while barely avoiding being squished by the multi-tentacled monster fighting the Guardians in the background. The choice of starting a summer blockbuster by focusing on the teeny dancing sentient tree instead of the monster battle with jet packs and lasers taking place mostly off-screen might seem odd to some. But, as is said later on in, Baby Groot is just “too adorable to kill”…

Here’s a trailer:

Screening Room: ‘The Lego Batman Movie’

On By chrisbarsantiIn Comics-Graphic Novels, Film - NewLeave a comment

legobatmanmovie-posterartSo, now that Christopher Nolan has left Batman in the Affleck’s hands, we’re left with no new movies about the Caped Crusader. Oh wait, they would never let a franchise like that lie moribund for more than a year.

So, The Lego Batman Movie is finally upon us. My review is at PopMatters:

A sugar high of self-conscious product placement and satirical mock-epic, The LEGO Batman Movie strip mines Batman’s mythology for all its comic potential. Voiced by Will Arnett (reprising his role in The LEGO Movie), this Batman is part Christian Bale’s Dark Knight and part reality-show star, a showboater who loves saving the day but won’t let anybody steal his light or get close to him. Yes, there is a lesson here. But after three Christopher Nolan efforts and lord knows how many Zack Snyder bores, Batman could use a little therapy that doesn’t involve punching people…

Here’s the trailer:

Quote of the Day: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Edition

On By chrisbarsantiIn Books, Comics-Graphic Novels, Omnium Gatherum, politicsLeave a comment

march-johnlewisThis is what Evan McMullin (yes, a Republican) had to say about the president-elect’s attacks on Rep. John Lewis:

On this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, let it be clear that John Lewis is an American patriot. Trump’s attacks on him further confirm it.

Now, go and buy yourself the March trilogy of graphic historical novels that Lewis co-wrote.

If you can find a copy, that is.