Triangle
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Christopher Smith
Starring Melissa George, Michael Doorman, Liam Hemsworth, Henry Nixon, Rachael Carpani
First Look Pictures
Released date: March 2, 2010

In 2004 Creep, a British horror movie in which Franke Potente gets chased through the tunnels of the London Underground, showcased the talents of newbie writer/director Christopher Smith. He followed that up a couple of years later with Severance where a group of work colleagues go out to the country for a weekend trip of team-building — and death. Severance showed that Smith was on a roll; it was scarier, gorier and sleeker than its predecessor. Its biggest surprise however was that it was funny and Smith juggled the jokes and scares very well. Here was a new, young English director making exciting horror movies. So I have to say I was a little surprised when Smith mapped a slightly new course into the thriller genre for his third feature.

Triangle is the story of a group of friends on a sailing trip off the coast of Florida. All seems well as they set off into the ocean, the harbour reducing to a speck before they are surrounded by nothing but blue water. But no sooner do they get the main sail up the wind suddenly drops to zero and a huge storm cloud quickly heads towards them. On the boat’s radio, Greg (Michael Doorman) receives a shocking distress call but the electrical storm wipes out the radio signal and a huge wave capsizes the boat [...]

Choker #1
Written by Ben McCool
Art by Ben Templesmith
Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Released date: February 24, 2010

If you’ve been longing for the return of Warren Ellis’ Fell this is probably the closest thing that will fill that hole until the long fabled tenth issue comes out. This is of course largely due to artist Ben Templesmith, who puts his always moody style to work here. Of course, saying that Chocker is similar to Fell does it a disservice. Outside of the visual style, the story is very different.

Johnny Jackson is your typical down on his luck private eye, until he is given the chance to rejoin the police force by capturing an escaped criminal he helped put in jail. The first issue is largely concerned with setting up the futuristic world and the main character, and it does that very well. I didn’t know much about the series coming into this issue, but enjoyed what was here, and I hope there will be more story in the next issue. New writer Ben McCool has a good handle on how to introduce the characters and even though there’s a lot of things to introduce — the futuristic setting, the background of the main character, and even an odd twist ending to the issue — I never felt confused by what was going on [...]

The Anchor
Vol. 1: The Five Furies
Written by Phil Hester
Art by Brian Churilla
BOOM! Studios
Release date: February 10, 2010

The Anchor is an interesting tale about a being who is the wall between Hell and Earth. While his soul battles demons in Hell, he also battles evil beings on Earth. Very little can hurt him, but whatever damage is done to him in Hell will manifest itself on his earthly body. He has very few memories of the past, dresses and speaks in an outdated manner, and has the anchor-shaped cross of Saint Clement on his belt. The first trade, The Five Furies, introduces the Anchor, his supporting cast, and his unusual mission.

Anchor first appears in Reykjavik, Iceland, after a giant monster has attacked the town. His purple skin, large frame, and constantly appearing wounds make him a bit of an enigma. He quickly befriends a nurse named Hofi Eriksdotter and she winds up accompanying him on his mission to defeat the Five Furies, a group of monsters spread around the globe that cause massive amounts of destruction and death. Along the way, the Anchor slowly gains his memories back, learning the truth about himself and his origins [...]

Hollywood has produced countless war films over the decades. From some of the earliest of wars shown in movies like Braveheart and Kingdom of Heaven, to more modern wars depicted in movies like Platoon, Black Hawk Down, Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, and Saving Private Ryan. These movies have shown us the chaos of war, the dangers of even the simplest tasks, and the immense amount of damage that can be done to a soldier, both mentally and physically.

Severe Clear is not one of these movies. It is very, very real.

The documentary features First Lieutenant Mike Scotti, who, after volunteering to extend his service, finds himself with 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, which is one of the first groups sent into Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Their mission is to get to Baghdad to stop Saddam Hussein, and to find out whether he has weapons of mass destruction or not. Scotti decides to fully document this important mission first-hand using his brand new video camera (after losing 3 others to various mishaps). [...]

Clash Of The Titans (1981)
Blu-ray Book Edition
Directed by Desmond Davis
Starring Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith, Neil McCarthy
Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Release date: March 2, 2010

Perseus (Harry Hamlin), the half-human mortal son of the god Zeus (Laurence Olivier), lives a contented, sheltered life on the island of Seriphos, as his father watches over him from Mount Olympus. While his father shows favoritism towards him from on high, we learn right away that the god of thunder has no tolerance for wicked deeds when he severely punishes Calibos (Neil McCarthy), son of the goddess Thetis (Maggie Smith). He transforms the handsome Calibos, who’s betrothed to the Princess Andromeda (Judi Bowker) of the city of Joppa, into a hideous creature condemned to live in the swamps and marshes.

Angered by the fate of her son, Thetis vows that if her son can’t have Andromeda, then no man can, thereby putting a curse on the city and any suitor that comes to court the princess. To spite Zeus, she also transports Perseus out of his safe haven and into the city of Joppa where he’ll get a major dose of reality and face mortal danger.

While Perseus is confused upon arrival in a new strange place, his adventurous spirit prompts him to go explore the city of Joppa. With the help of some powerful gifts from the gods, as well as guided wisdom from an old playwright Ammon (Burgess Meredith), Perseus sets out to win the hand of Andromeda and break Thetis’s curse over the city [...]

Witchblade #134 & #135
Almost Human: Parts 1 & 2 (of 3)
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Stjepan Sejic
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow
Price: $2.99; Release date: March 03, 2010 [#135]

I came to Witchblade armed with nothing but Wikipedia and an open mind, and as such, I concede that great chunks of the story probably went over my head. But long-running series like this one can’t do well unless new readers can come in a hundred issues in and still find something to appreciate. While I didn’t find the experience unpleasant, there wasn’t much that compelled me to explore further, either.

A quick summary for the other noobs out there: Witchblade centers around Sara Pezzini, an NYPD detective and the current wielder of said Witchblade, a powerful supernatural weapon that can shift its shape to protect and aid the user. These two issues in particular, #134 and #135, are the first two books of a three-part arc about Sara tracking down the green-haired cyborg assassin called Aphrodite IV, who works for the shadowy, uncreatively named organization Cyberdata [...]

The Ghost Writer
Directed by Roman Polanski
Starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Kim Cattrall
PG-13
Release date: February 19, 2010

“I’ve been having this nightmare. A real swinger of a nightmare, too.”
— Major Bennett Marco from The Manchurian Candidate

“Have you ever heard the expression “Let sleeping dogs lie”? Sometimes you’re better off not knowing.”
– Jake Gittes from Chinatown

“Sorry, I’ve just got one question: Whose map is Britain using when it completely ignores the United Nations and decides to invade Iraq? Or do you think it’s more diplomatic to bend the will of a superpower and politely take part in Vietnam the Sequel?”
–Tessa Quayle from The Constant Gardner

The Ghost Writer: Prisoner Of Convictions

The consequences of our transgressions are the stains that cannot be cleansed away. The past is the vessel that we cherish and regret with equal measure. Art can be the ultimate catharsis when dealing with the past or attempting to get through the present depending on what one’s situation is. Imagine what life would be like if we could write are our memoirs with the aid of a ghost writer who believes everything we say. Unfortunately, what would happen if the ghost writer goes to check all the information you provide? Your life would take on different meaning — more honesty might expose you to disgrace or more ridicule.

The gray skies of Martha’s Vineyard that permeate throughout Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer serve as an indicator of the slippery slope between black and white. Under those foreboding skies, the past and the present are jostling for the right tone to ensure the future of one man’s legacy. The Ghost of the film’s title, superbly played by Ewan McGregor, is never named [...]

Cyberforce: Hunter-Killer #5
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Kenneth Rocafort
Top Cow
Release date: March 10, 2010

I was never much of a fan of CyberForce during the late nineties. I found that most of the comics put out in that era looked the same and the characters tended to run together. So naturally I was surprised to read CyberForce/Hunter-Killer #5 and find it so much fun.

CyberForce/Hunter-Killer follows Cyberforce, the underground cybernetic resistance force fighting against the world-dominating CyberData Corporation, and their partnership with Hunter-Killer, an elite force commissioned to hunt down and destroy the rogue Ultra-Sapiens created in the 1940s by mad scientist Morningstar. Cyberdata has produced a modern mobile phone system called JETT that activates the latent abilities in Ultra-Sapiens in order to take the government contract for hunting with their S.H.O.C. troops. In the end, team member Network and Damper are forced to sacrifice themselves in order to shut down the spread of the Ultra-Sapien activation [...]

It’s all just part of life as we know it: people enter into relationships, and every single day, many of those relationships hit a wall causing said people to go their separate ways. But what do you do when you realize that the bond you share with another is wearing thin and that it might be time to break up, but neither of you can bare the thought of being apart completely?

Breaking Upwards tells the story of a real-life couple named Daryl (Daryl Wein) and Zoe (Zoe Lister-Jones) who are living in New York. When they enter into the 4-year range of their relationship, they begin to realize certain cracks that simply just can’t be repaired. Another realization that they come to, is that they also can’t be apart from each other long enough to quit their relationship cold turkey, so they need to come up with a plan to make their breakup happen.

The plan? Slowly-but-surely wean themselves away from each other by taking “days off,” doing things much more independently, and even opening up themselves to romantic and sexual situations with others. [...]

Kill Audio #6
(Issue 6 of 6)
Created by Claudio Sanchez
Written By Claudio Sanchez & Chondra Echert
Art, Letters, & Cover A: Sheldon Vella
Cover B: Chuck BB
BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99; Release date: March 10, 2010

Kill Audio, an invincible man lost in his world of Sight and Sound finally finds purpose and destiny as protector of all music. But what does this destiny mean? What must he do to keep all genres and sub genres in line? All of the things come to light in Kill Audio #6.

What more can be said about the fantastic world that Sheldon Vella brings to life with his art? I have read nothing but praise for his outlandish groundbreaking style that he first developed in the Zuda series Supertron. While incorporating an amount of crass imagery and an over-the-top style, Mr. Sheldon’s work is nothing less than stunning. That being said, it doesn’t take away from Sanchez and Echert’s writing in the least. In fact, Sheldon’s art brings their story to a living and breathing entity that immerses you into their world.

But don’t let the art fool you, the writing is stellar, as well. Over the past 5 issues, the story definitely has its highs and lows, but Sanchez and Echert really do a fantastic job of wrapping up the series in a fitting way that in no way feels unnatural to the rest of the story [...]

First Wave #1
Written by Brian Azzerello
Art by Rags Morales
Covers by J.G. Jones; Variant by Neal Adams
DC Comics
Price: $3.99; 40 pages
Released date: March 3, 2010

If you read the Doc Savage/Batman special from a few months ago, then you got a sneak peek of what the First Wave miniseries is like (but not much more, that special was pretty slim on story).

The goal of this miniseries is to combine various pulp heroes such as the aforementioned Doc Savage and Batman, as well as The Spirit and the Blackhawks. There are a lot of different characters in First Wave #1, and unfortunately the only one I have much familiarity with, Batman, was not in this issue. That means the whole issue focuses on who Doc Savage and The Spirit are, and that’s where this issue fails. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I don’t know much about Doc Savage, and unfortunately, I don’t know much more after this issue, and I don’t really care to. I generally enjoy the writing of Brian Azzarello, or at least I enjoyed his writing on 100 Bullets, but there’s just not much to write home about this one. The dialog is fine, if uninspired, but the biggest problem is that I have no connection to these characters and this issue does nothing to foster a connection with them. If you don’t know the characters already, you won’t know them any better after this issue [...]

Open Graves
DVD
Directed by Álvaro de Armiñán
Starring Eliza Dushku, Mike Vogel, Ethan Raines, Gary Piquer
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release date: February 23, 2010

After a storm washes off a beach party, a group of friends retreat indoors to play a board game with a mysterious past. Those brave enough to play just might be putting their lives at risk; those who lose definitely are. Roll the dice.

Erica (Eliza Dushku) is trying to ‘find herself’ by surfing and living in a cool lighthouse in Spain where she meets glamour photographer Tomas (Ethan Raines) and ‘bum’ Jason (Mike Vogel). Much to Jason’s delight, Erica comes to the party and she joins them to play Mamba. The party soon takes a tragic turn when one of their friends is killed on his way to town and the circumstances of his death sound just like the game promised. Erica and Mike must find a way to stop the game’s curse and keep it from the clutches of Detective Izar.

Open Graves was written by the father/son team of Bruce A. Taylor and Roderick Taylor, whose most recent screen work was the Jodie Foster-starring The Brave One, directed by the excellent Neil Jordan. First-time director Álvaro de Armiñán has set and filmed much of the movie on location in Spain having picked some gorgeous locations, lots of old decrepit buildings, and in that respect it looks like a European horror movie which added to the overall eerie feel [...]

The Crazies
Directed by Breck Eisner
Starring Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker, Joe Anderson
Rated R
Release date: February 26, 2010

A military plane carrying a biological weapon crashes near an Iowa farm town, the people start becoming infected due to the effects of the weapon, the military gets involved and everyone has to run for their lives. If this sounds like a movie you have seen before, and not just because it is a remake of the 1973 film by George A. Romero, you are probably right. But I doubt it’s ever been as much fun.

Speaking of, let’s get something out in the open before we even get started. I know The Crazies isn’t movie about zombies in the truest sense, but purists be damned, it really is a zombie movie. It is not a faceless killer running amok; these are your friends and people you know infected by something unknown causing them to act… we’ll say “out of sorts.” I’ve always liked that level of emotion built into the zombie (and zombie-like) movie. If it were a typical horror movie there would be definitive bad guys. They threaten you, you kill them, end of story. No love lost. When the zombie apocalypse finally happens, the infected could very well be your wife, your friends, or your children. The survival aspect is compounded by potentially having to kill someone you know to stop them from killing you, eating your brains, lighting you on fire, chewing your face off doing you harm [...]

Green Hornet #1
Written by Kevin Smith
Breakdowns by Phil Hester
Pencils by Jonathan Lau
Dynamite
Price: $3.99; Released March 3, 2010

Lone Ranger, Zorro, Buck Rodgers, and now we get Green Hornet. Comics featuring old pulp heroes are the new zombie comics, so it’s no surprise we are now getting a resurrection of the character, especially with a movie coming out eventually. Some might remember that Kevin Smith was set to direct the film version at one point, and since he also likes to dabble in comic writing, it makes sense for him to write this series. He does a good job with Green Hornet #1. If you’re like me, you might be aware of the Green Hornet, but only so far as to know that he drives a car, and Bruce Lee was his sidekick on the TV show. If that’s all you know about the character, Smith succeeds in explaining the basics of the character.

We see the Green Hornet and his sidekick Kato as they take down the last of the mob and yakuza gangs that are operating in his city, and Green Hornet announces to his wife that he’s going to retire. We then skip ahead to the future, where we meet the Hornet’s son, who I have to assume will be the star of the series. By the end of the issue, I understood the character and what his deal is, and was interested enough to consider picking up the next issue. It did feel very similar to the first issue of the Zorro reboot, and I hope the origin story that we’ll be seeing over the next few months moves quickly [...]

NOLA #4
Issue 4 of 4
Created/Story by Chris Gorak
Script/Writer: Pierluigi Cothran
Art by Damian Couceiro
Covers: Erik Jones (A); Chris Brunner (B)
BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99; Release Date: March 3, 2010

Raised only by her mother, Nola Thomas led a confused lifestyle prior to the devastating events of Hurricane Katrina laid waste to her home city of New Orleans, Louisiana. After being nearly murdered by her boyfriend, a powerful married man, Nola wakes up after the hurricane to discover that half of her body has been burned, and that she has been left for dead, alone, in a New Orleans hospital. Nola goes home to find out that her mother has passed away.

Nola takes this opportunity of a post-apocalyptic setting of lawlessness and rage to take out all of her transgressions on the people responsible for all the wrong that has been done to her.

Issue #4 concludes this mini-series and gives us all the answers to every question that was presented in NOLA. We find out who murdered her father, and all the details of the elaborate cover up [...]

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep #9
Written by Philip K. Dick
Art by Tony Parker
Covers: Moritat, Scott Keating
BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99; Release date: March 3, 2010

Full disclosure, I love Philip K. Dick. I have almost every novel and short story he’s ever published including Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. While Androids is not my favourite book, it is the most well-known Dick novel, so it came as little surprise when I learned that BOOM! Studios was adapting it into comic book form.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep #9 picks up one of the most fascinating sections of the novel: the bounty hunter Deckard has been cornered by suspected android Luba Loft, who accuses him of being a sexual deviant. Instead of simply executing him right then and there, she calls in another police officer, Crams, who claims that he has never heard of a bounty hunter in the San Francisco police department named Deckard, nor has he ever heard of his superior, Harry Bryant. In fact, when Deckard tries to contact Bryant, the connection is cut off before Crams has a chance to speak with him. After finding the body of a “retired” android in Deckard’s car, he is arrested and shuffled into the back of Crams patrol car. Deckard soon realizes that he has been duped by the androids, and he is now at their mercy [...]

Dead Snow
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Tommy Wirkola
Starring Stig Frode Henriksen, Vegar Hoel, Bjorn Sundquist
MPI Home Video
Release date: February 23, 2010

A group of medical students take an Easter vacation to a cabin in the woods near the small Norwegian village of Oksfjord. Because of the heavy snow their only way to get there — and back — is a single snowmobile or a 45-minute walk. And no, there is no phone reception up here. Happily, they play in the snow; having snowball fights and sledging down the hills. In the cabin they drink beer, play twister, and enjoy themselves. But they are not alone. During World War 2, German soldiers terrorised Oksfjord subjecting its people to three years of barbarity as they looted any valuables they could find. Having finally had enough, the villagers rallied together and hounded the soldiers out of their homes and into the mountains. Something evil is stalking the students — zombie Nazis.

Let me get this out of the way early: I loved this movie. I thought it was a great genre piece made by an obvious horror movie nut and brought a fresh angle to an already gorged genre. Like the child vampires in Let The Right One In it seems the snow in Scandinavia has forced a genuinely fresh take on another of my favourite horror creations and Dead Snow, directed and co-written by Tommy Wirkola, steps into those bloody-footprints with gory glee [...]

Alice in Wonderland 3D
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter
Rated PG
Release date: March 5, 2010

Tim Burton has spent the bulk of his career adding films to his resume that should have made us all rejoice in the idea of seeing his version of Alice in Wonderland. His imaginative style had the potential to lend itself to a classic version of the Lewis Carroll books. Technology and animation has caught up to Carroll’s imagination which should have provided an open canvas to bring the cherished story to life. Even in the able hands of someone who should be able to pull it off, it turns out that isn’t such a good thing.

Somewhere in the last few years filmmakers have become clouded with this notion that 3D is some kind of art form and it seems like every other movie is being converted to 3D, even ones that have no business being in the discussion. For the life of me I cannot figure out why they have yet to realize it is just a gimmick. There is no doubt Avatar changed our perception of what is possible but everybody else is light years behind the curve and until they figure it out, 3D will remain a joke that brings nothing to the table. Just because the glasses are a little cooler than they were 20 years ago doesn’t mean we should all hop back on the bandwagon. It went away before for a reason and it was brought back without really fixing the problem [...]

The Neverending Story
Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Starring Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Moses Gunn, Thomas Hill
Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Release date: March 2, 2010

The Neverending Story was one of the movies that was constantly playing in the background of my childhood. I was 2-years-old when it was released in 1984 and I had no idea I would be referencing it way off into the year 2000 and beyond. Something about the film has always been magical to me and appealed to my inner child ever since my initial viewing.

Based on the German novel of the same name by Michael Ende, the film was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and centers around a boy named Bastian (Barret Oliver) from our world and a boy named Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) from the fantasy world of Fantasia. Bastian is a troubled young boy who is reeling from the recent loss of his mother. He’s not like the other kids who are more likely to frequent the local video arcade than the library. Bastian is a bookworm who often uses literature to escape his real life sorrows. One day while being accosted by bullies on his way to school, he hides in a bookstore, where he finds Mr. Koreander (Thomas Hill), a grumpy bookseller. Bastian is curious about one of the books he sees, but Mr. Koreander warns him it’s “not safe.” Unafraid, Bastian steals the book and races towards school where he proceeds to hide in the school’s attic and begins his journey into “The Neverending Story.” [...]

Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie
Paperback
By Mark Millar, Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman
Art by John Romita Jr.
Titan Books
Release date: February 23, 2010

F*ck Crime! Kick-Ass.

I’ve been a Kick-Ass fan since before the first issue of the comic hit stands way back in February of 2008. The first viral marketing campaign for the comic was brilliant and it had me excited for the book even before it debuted. The dream team of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. didn’t hurt either. The awesomeness of the comic lead to a movie deal and the rest (we will soon see) is going to be history. Whether the movie catches on with mainstream audiences is yet to be seen, but it sure looks like it was a fun film to make.

Those fine fellows over at Titan Books sent us a copy of Kick-Ass Creating the Comic, Making the Movie and I couldn’t be more thrilled. At first glance you might dismiss the book as being little more than a lame movie-tie in whose sole purpose is to pilfer your wallets, but you’d be sorely mistaken. The book is so much more than that. It does a nice job of satisfying fans of all sorts. The comic fans will enjoy the insights from creators Millar and Romita and the film crowd will be salivating over on-set photos and film stills [...]