The Ultimate Avengers DVD

Growing up a marvel comics fan, I was interested in seeing The Ultimate Avengers. Not my favorite line of comics, preferring to read the interesting characters in their own series but nevertheless there were some fascinating story lines.

Every ten years or so, the comic book community will re-interpret major characters and plot lines to make him/her/team more relevant, and lets be honest to sometimes get back on track after the myriad writing teams screw stuff up in the continuum. The Ultimate Avengers is a 2D (normal) animation, direct to DVD adaptation of the comic book of the same name doing exactly this re-interpretation of the Avengers comic.

The leader of the Avengers is Captain America, thawed out from his fifty year hibernation in ice after a battle in World War 2. As his team of Avengers is assembled he carries the burden of being a moral man from a different time struggling to understand the world he is in today.

Rounding out the cast is IronMan, Giant/Ant Man, Wasp, Thor, Hulk and Black Widow. The remainder of the story involves each individual grasping that they are now part of a team and how to work within the confines of other egos.

The main plot is a race of aliens that have been living on Earth and subverting the culture. The Avengers are brought together to protect the country while they finish up their defensive mechanisms. A strong sub-plot involves Bruce Banner trying to use Captain Americas Super Soldier serum to control the Hulk. This has terrible consequences.

The animation is solid. Instead of going with waxy computer animation, the director instead uses a hyped up 2D process that resembles what you would see in a comic book. The detail, especially of the Hulk and his bulging muscles is great.

The bonus material is decent with a chapter on how instead of big name talent for the super heroes, the director picked the right voice.

Instead of a talking commentary to follow the movie, pop ups are used to punctuate and explain key points of the character or their past and how the DVD is . I really enjoyed this as it was again a reinforcement of the comic experience.

3.5 year old Mighty Mo really got into Captain America and IronMan. The movie is rated PG-13 for some violent fighting, drinking and perhaps a "Damn" here or there. I think this is a bit over the top. A good movie to watch with your kid.

Children of Men

A neo-apocalyptic adventure starring Clive Owen, as Theo, an anarchist who grows up to be a disillusioned bureaucrat. The year is 2027 and all women on earth are infertile. The youngest person is 18 years old. Very early on the age of each character becomes a clarion call to the survival of the human race and each death a crushing blow to that end.

Taking place in England there are no good guys, nor are there any bad guys in this movie. There is only Theo and a refugee named Kee, the only pregnant woman on earth. Theo through a series of events must get Kee to a boat that will take her and her unborn child to a safe haven. You see the world although still moving at the speed of commerce is slowing dying from the zero population growth. Most country's have collapsed into violence, only England holds on to a sliver of hope. Politically, English society is fractured into the government trying to keep control over a collapsing empire and the disenchanted who cling to hope and fables.

Theo's trek with the young pregnant Kee, through government controlled checkpoints and lost cause political groups, tear's at his heart destroyed by the loss of his own son, wife and consequent abdication to conform to society.

The third act plays out like a bad day as Theo and Kee move from contact to contact while the whole world comes down around them and they try to make to the ship that signifies sanctuary.

The future is expressed as a dreary extension of our current climate. Children of Men is at once a bleak prospect of our future and the hope that clings to the bearing of our children. There is many levels that this movie plays out; government control of life, the hopelessness of all women who are no longer able to conceive. The thought that the only pregnant woman on earth is a bad thing and that the only baby that comes would be a sacrifice stands in stark contrast to the decisions Theo makes at the end of the movie.

I found Children of Men a complex if slow movie, pulled along by the force of Clive Owens silence and facial expressions. He is a wholly complex character in this movie, channeling the like of Bogart and Tracy. Redemptive and sad, a movie that will be discussed and thought of long after the credits roll.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The beginning

There is something about horror movies. Although thank the lord for fast forward. This is the first Leatherface movie, of the four so far, that looks at what makes the Hewitt family what they are.

This installment bring back all the Hewitt family (Leatherface's family) from the movie in 2003 starring Jessica Biel. If you enjoyed all the chain sawing, running through farm country, hanging half dead body's on hooks from the previous movies, you won't be disappointed in this DVD.

This time around Jordana Brewster (Fast and Furious) is the titular female lead who endures all sorts of blood and scare till the third act. But this movie is really about the dysfunctional family that thinks Leatherface is okay and how they have become the cannibalistic masochists they are by the time the actual first movie begins. As far a back story goes, this movie does not disappoint; in fact it is quite well played.

The DVD has a bonus section that gives some in site into the movie but mostly is a showcase for the actors and their thoughts on the script and cast mates. I found some surprising tidbits but otherwise was not impressed.

SPOILER: Unlike convential horror movies, this prequel ends in a way that allow the first movie to unravel naturally. In other words, don't expect any survivors. But it should be this way. Any survivors and the continuity is destroyed for the last twenty odd years of Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies.

Whats playing the week of January 1, 2007

Mighty Mo is still firmly entrenched in Power Rangers. Apparently there are many different teams of Rangers, each in their own series. Mystic Forces seems to be the top choice for now. And while the Red Ranger is the titular leader of each ranger team, Mo is the Green Ranger or the Star Ranger and he is the leader.

It is hard to believe that just 90 days ago my boy was into dinosaurs and now its all Power Rangers, all the time. Thank the Lord for DVR. I do not know how we could get through his medicine treatments without 50% of my system being devoted to Power Ranger Episodes.

Beerfest DVD

Brought to you from the comedy troupe Broken Lizard, Beerfest is the third film written, directed and acted by the entire group (Super Troopers, Club Dread). Its a riotous blend of underground sports and comedy very much like the Jean Claude Van Damme's Bloodsport was to martial arts and action.

The plot follows two brothers who travel to Germany to and are shamed when they find relatives who compete in games mixing athletics, agility and alcohol. Vowing to avenge their family they embark on a one year crusade to become the best beer drinkers in the world. The third act ends with the requisite Beerfest showdown.

What Broken Lizard does so well in all their movies is create likable characters who cut against the grain of what you saw each actor do in the previous film. One trouper, Kevin Heffernan, has gone from a gungo-ho backstabbing cop, to a spiritual masseuse, to a drinking legend in each movie. Perhaps in a sly way to show how much success this group has had in Hollywood; Jurgen Prochnow, Cloris Leachman and Donald Sutherland all have vital roles in the movie. I can always hope they continue to cast Linda Carter (Wonder Woman) in future movies, she had roles in Super Troopers and in BL directed Dukes of Hazard.

What could have been a loose and ultimately over the top movie like much of what National Lampoon does now instead becomes a movie with a fantastical plot but believable storyline. The humor is not done to one up the previous scene rather drive the plot and show how something most all college age students have done can be dreamt big enough to make money at it.

For good or for ill, there is two commentary tracks, separate sets of Broken Lizard actors speaking through the scenes. I would wish that they all did one sitting as I found each one good but wanting more from each.

The deleted and extended scenes are good and answered my question on why we did not see more of the Swedish Bikini drinking team.

Steve Lemme has a forgettable bonus feature regarding how he created his scientist character in Beerfest by visiting a doctor who in real life does the job he has in the movie. To give that away is to big a laugh.

I ultimately liked Beerfest more than Club Dread and less than Super Troopers. Much better than Dukes of Hazard with Johnny Knoxville and Jessica Simpson, which they wrote and directed.