Tag Archives: adaptations

Thoroughly Animated: A DC Animated Movies Retrospective-Part 2


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Alright, we are pretty much up to the years where I started legitimately watching and buying these films regularly. Boy, were these fun films, I loved most of them and even the ones I didn’t totally love, I still really liked. It was also around this time that DC started attaching animated short films to their DVD and Blu Ray releases. These were called DC Showcase, they ranged from really small relatively unknown characters like The Spectre to very well known characters like Catwoman. These shorts normally last for ten minutes and it is a really cool way to see an animated version of characters who otherwise would not have a shot at their own animated feature.  DC Showcase also came out with a short film called Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam.  This was significantly longer than the previous showcase shorts, with a running time of 25 minutes. The other things that appeared on this Blu Ray were the previous short films from the other movies, making at least the length of a normal release. The Superman/Shazam short is one of the best, it is essentially the origin story for the character Shazam and I think they pulled it off wonderfully. I did not know much about the character until I had seen this, and it made me a fan of the character. On some DVDs and Blu Rays they also put out two to four episodes of Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated Series or Justice League. The episode will normally parallel what is in the movie, or at least have a similar character in there. Continue reading

From the Pages (but NOT) to the Screen: The Top Ten Comics to Never See a Film or TV Adaptation-Guest article by StiffMag’s Dave Harlequin!


Ever since I’ve been able to read, I’ve always loved comic books.  They say you never forget your first time, and while I don’t know how true that is overall (I can’t remember my first slice of pizza, my first cup of coffee, or even the name of my first grade teacher,) I know I will never forget the first time I picked up a copy of Marvel’s “Uncanny X-Men.”  It was the winter of 1989, and I was just reading through the small rack of comics at my local grocery store while my mother was shopping.  I ended up sitting in the aisle finding myself mesmerized by the awesome tales of adventure from everyone’s favorite mutant heroes, and couldn’t wait to buy as many books as my meager allowance at the time could provide me. I was 8 years old, and I was officially hooked.  Not long after that, I saw my first ever comic-book-movie, Tim Burton’s “Batman” on a VHS tape that my dad rented at our local video store. I was given a big box of Dad’s old comics upon discovering my love for superheroes, which included plenty of offerings from The Dark Knight, so I was already familiar with the source material… but this was a movie about comics!  Once again, I was hooked.

Ever since that day, I’ve went out of my way to watch every comic book movie and TV show I could, all-the-while building what I’d like to consider a very respectable (and perhaps a bit obsessive) comic collection.  Now, over 20 years later, I’ve seen pretty much every comic or comic-related film and TV show you could imagine, from live-action, to animated, to even motion-comics and documentaries about comic books.  Some were great, some were not so great, but all of them were based on comic books, so I had to see them!  Hollywood found a real market with superhero films and comic-adaptations, and it seems over the past decade or so, they’ve been grabbing up every comic property they could get their hands on… much to the delight (and times disgust) of comic lovers everywhere.  With all of that said, though, what puzzles me the most is just how many truly great comics out there were never adapted for the screen… be that the silver screen or the small screen.

So without further ado, here is my Top Ten list of the best comic books/graphic novels to never see any sort of film or TV adaptation. Enjoy!

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Tasty Television: Hannibal Ceuf Webisodes


Ok, so lets just address the elephant in the room right off shall we? You see, this week’s episode was supposed to air, but unfortunately, due to sensitive subject matter in the episode, it was pulled. The episode was about a character played by Molly Shannon who was brain washing children into killing other children. Due to the recent school shootings here in America, it would probably be in bad taste to air the episode. Whether I believe this was a good move or not is irrelevant; the most important thing to remember is that this happened and we may need a little time to get past it. Continue reading

Tasty Television: Hannibal 1×03 Potage *Spoilers*


I think we are looking at a really great series here. This week’s episode of Hannibal was amazing. It opens with a flashback of the Minnesota Shrike and his daughter, Abigail Hobbs, hunting in the woods. He tells her they must use every part of the deer they kill in order to honor it. Then we get flashes of a dead human girl and she finally wakes up from her coma.  And with that, everyone wants to talk to her. This includes the ever nosy Freddie Lounds. Continue reading

Tasty Television: Hannibal 1×02 Amuse-Bouche


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“Killing must feel good to God, too. And are we not created in his image?” A chilling quote from Hannibal Lecter in episode two of the series Hannibal.  The episode picks up where the last one left off. Will is still experiencing nightmares from his murder of the serial killer Garrett Jacob Hobbs. Jack Crawford sends him to get evaluated by Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Meanwhile a new case has popped up in Minnesota. A man has been burying victims alive in order to grow his own mushroom farm, as well as perform a disturbing thought experiment. Continue reading

Tasty Television: A Review of Hannibal 1×01 Apéritif


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Hannibal Lecter is one of America’s most iconic fictional serial killers. Created by author Thomas Harris in the 1981 novel Red Dragon, he blew up. This lead to two sequel novels, a prequel, and five films featuring the character. The book Red Dragon has been adapted twice for the big screen, the first time with the box office bomb Manhunter in 1986 a film featuring Brian Cox as the famous cannibal, then again in the 2002 film Red Dragon featuring Anthony Hopkins.  Now, in 2013 we have a third adaptation of the book with Bryan Fullers new show: Hannibal. Continue reading

Call Me Joe: A G.I. Joe Retaliation Review


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Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been a huge G.I. Joe fan. I loved the toys and the cartoon and the animated movie. My favorite incarnation, however, has to be the 2009 animated serial G.I. Joe Resolute. It was adult, serious, and had probably the best interpretation of Cobra Commander I have ever seen. That same year, a live action movie came out, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. I was super excited to see all of my favorite characters on screen, especially Cobra Commander.

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Things That Happened – The Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter: What It Means For Us


If you were on the internet at all yesterday, you might have heard that Rob Thomas finally decided to try to make the Veronica Mars film. The show, beloved by many (including staff members here), has been off the air for almost six years. In fact, we’re about to hit its sixth year mark in May. With that in mind, let’s talk about how the Veronica Mars movie is going to actually happen, and what that means for fans and creators alike.

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Claim Yourself-A Beautiful Creatures Review


Imagine living in a small town, where nothing ever changes and outsiders are judged (wow, sounds like my hometown). Now imagine someone new moves to town, and that person changes your entire life. This ain’t your everyday paranormal romance, kids. This is Gatlin County, South Carolina. This is Beautiful Creatures.

Dat cast

Dat cast

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Don’t Eat the Fucking Candy: A Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters Review


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I fear I might be one of those lost souls who actually enjoyed Terry Gilliam’s 2005 The Brothers Grimm film. That is the first film that I actually remember that kickstarted doing darker twists and turns on classic fairytales. And, really, fairytales should live in the dark, no matter how much we love Disney.

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