[IGH] at the Movies: Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War opened on May 6th. After anxiously waiting and trying to free up my schedule, I was finally able to see it this past weekend. I can’t tell you what a relief that was. I’ve been avoiding all mentions of Civil War on my social media. It hasn’t been an easy task. I’m really proud of my friends for not spoiling the movie, because it was worth the wait.

There are a lot of reviews out there that can better dissect what works and doesn’t work, so I’m not going to dwell on that. Instead, I want to talk about some of the things that made an impression on me. 

Obviously, this post will contain spoilers

[IGH] At The Movies: Review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

If you were going to come up with the most ridiculous premise for a big-budget Hollywood film, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with a better one than Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  Although the title sounds like it came from a round of Cards Against Humanity, the story has a surprisingly solid premise and makes for a fun and unique movie experience.

You’ve probably heard of the literary classic Pride & Prejudice. Originally published more than two hundred years ago in 1813, Jane Austen's beloved classic novel tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet as she struggles with the societal expectations put upon her in 19th century England. So how in the world do we go from navigating social customs of differing classes to zombie apocalypse?  It actually all comes back to that fantastic title.

Jason Rekulak, the publisher of Quirk Books, was working on parody ideas by combining classic pop-culture character troupes (Ninjas, Pirates, Zombies) with literary classics whose rights are in public domain. When he stumbled across the idea of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” the idea stuck and he shared it with writer Seth Grahame-Smith. Seth took the original work and created an alternate reality where he could incorporate not only the zombie apocalypse, but a heavy infusion of Asian martial arts and weaponry.

[IGH] At The Movies: Review of Batman: Bad Blood

Taken at the Batman: Bad Blood World Premiere in NYC

By Reboot

This past Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending the world premiere of Batman: Bad Blood with some of the other [IGH]ers. They didn’t allow any food or drink in the theater, which is always a bad start when it comes to a movie viewing, but I still had a good time! The movie itself was fun and definitely had moments that shined. I had a few qualms with it as well.

Real quick before we dive in, here’s are the basics. Bad Blood is the third installment in the DC Batman Animated Movie continuity. It’s an original continuity for these movies that’s outside the DC Batman adaptation like Batman: Year One or Batman: The Dark Knight Parts I and II. These movies started with Batman and Son, followed up by Batman vs Robin. Much of the storyline for all three of these movies so far has borrowed from Grant Morrison and Scott Snyder’s Batman tales. In this installment, without getting all spoilery, Batman is in trouble and needs the help of Nightwing, Robin, Batwoman and Batwing to get through his toughest challenge yet.  For more details, check out the trailer.

[IGH] at the Movies: Godzilla

By BatHobbit

CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS! 

DO NOT READ UNTIL AFTER VIEWING THE MOVIE. THEN COME BACK TO DISCUSS.

You know what was a great Godzilla movie?

Pacific Rim.

You know what wasn't a great Godzilla movie?

Godzilla.

No, I'm not referring to the 1998 film, though that one was pretty awful. I'm talking about the 2014 film that all the ads portray as a "serious take" on the King of Monsters.

If you've seen the trailers and the television ads, you've gotten a sense that the new Godzilla movie is a disaster film, with the titular beast as the force of nature sending the human character scattering to recover. Footage of decimated cities and ravaged tropical landscapes is intercut with Bryan Cranston shouting that it's not a natural disaster and that the public is being lied to. It looks like a pretty gripping epic, but it's not the movie that you'll see if you head to the theater.

[IGH] at the Movies: Son of Batman

Out this week is DC Animation's Son Of Batman.  You can check out a clip and here is the official description:

Batman learns he has a son, Damian – and to further complicate matters, the mother is Talia al Ghul, daughter of one of his most dreaded enemies, Ra’s Al Ghul. When the odds quickly turn against Batman and Damian, Batman must become both father and mentor to the aggressive, agile new Robin. Together they form an uneasy alliance to try and thwart the criminal enterprise of Deathstroke and his army of ninja man-bats before there are international consequences.  

Check below the break to see a sorta spoilery review!

[IGH] At the Movies: The Lego Movie

Last weekend, Wysefyre and I got the chance to see the most anticipated movie of February, The Lego Movie!!  It's out in theaters on February 7th but I was just dying to share my thoughts about why you need to see this movie.

The story follows regular ol' minifig Emmett, who accidentally gets caught up in a prophecy to stop the evil Lord Business in his plot to destroy the universe! Along his journey, he meets a fun cast of new and old characters who help or hurt him in his quest.

NYCC '13: Necessary Evil: Super Villains of DC Comics

On the first day of NYCC, I attended the World Premiere of Necessary Evil: Super Villains of DC Comics. This documentary really looks at the role of the super villain in the telling of a DC story.  You can check out the trailer from SDCC this year.

Ultimately, this documentary looks at the value of the villain in a story. The theory that the villain is more important to the story because without the villain, the hero wouldn't exist. Villains represent the protagonist while heroes represent the antagonist. They also discussed the psychological impact of villains.