Category: movies

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comics movies top 10 writing

Top Ten Superhero Films Part 1

Let’s count down.

10. The Shadow (1994)
I like that The Shadow isn’t a victim of a horrible accident or scientific experiment gone wrong. I don’t quite understand where his powers come from and the film doesn’t really explain properly, which is all to the good – leaves some ambiguity. Is he some reincarnated warrior, or an immortal? Why does he change from handsome Lamont into ugly-mug Shadow? But the psychic aspect is really intriguing. The 30s-art-deco thing is done perfectly here, not overstated but consistently elegant. Alec Baldwin when he was still very hot, is deliciously inaccessible to the feisty blond sidekick who wants to get her paws on him. This movie is under-rated as far as I’m concerned. A certain amount of cheesiness is called for in superhero movies.

9. Batman Returns (1992)
Utterly classic! For Batman fans, this has it all – the scenes of Arkham Asylum – the lunatic, disfigured baddie (Penguin), the introduction of the sublime Catwoman (Michell Pfeiffer giving Julie Newmark a run for her money), and Batman before he became, as he is wont to do, a self-parody.

What is about The Bat that makes him eventually descend into bad self-parody? The new incarnation of Batman was allegedly influenced by Frank Miller, great reinventor of Brucie as a tough, angsty crusader. But by the third movie all that was forgotten and we were lurching back into Adam West territory. So now, with Batman Begins, we’re back with the Miller-esque Batman. Let’s hope it sticks. But 1992 was still a heyday for long-time Bruce Wayne fans like me.

8. Batman Begins
Comic books films grow up! said the critics. hey! Who said we wanted them to? This explores not just the origins of Batman and his early years, allegedly based on Frank Miller’s Batman Year One (and presumably Year Two, not written by Miller, but which introduces Ras Al Guhl to the early-Batman lore). Quasi serious and quite violent action movie. Brilliantly explores the psychological dimension of Bruce Wayne’s incarnation as the Batman, in a similar way to the best Batman comics.

7. X-Men (2000)
Now I’ll confess to never having read X-Men comics. I don’t like multi-protagonist comic books; there I’ve said it. With the exception of the brilliant Watchmen. This is my beef with Marvel. If one hero is good then two is better, seems to be the prevailing thinking. I always worry when I pick up a Daredevil that shows MM battling a few demons with the help of Spidey et al. Oh, boo, demons v the Marvel crowd, I go. So I don’t read JLA or XMen or Fantastic Four.

I prefer my superheroes to fly solo and preferably to be in big trouble, suffering. (Which is why Miller’s Daredevil is my favourite stretch of comic books stories ever)

This meant that I didn’t expect the movie of X-Men to be so damn great! Who knew?! It’s awesome. If I had time I’d go back and read the comics. But I don’t. And now I’m probably too old to properly enjoy them.

Part of the movie’s brilliance are the performances of Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman, amongst others. But the writing and effects are also terrific.

6. Superman (1978)
People forget how amazing this was. It was fabulous! Christopher Reeve made it look simple to be goofy Clark Kent and Superman too, but it was a genius performance. And Marlon Brando as Jor-El, the whole Krypton thing, Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor. This is where great superhero movies all began.

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movies raves

A Guilt-Free Pastime

Watching an Almodovar movie late last night, I dimly remember hearing a terrific line before sleep overwhelmed me. It was something like “A real Chanel? Babe, how am I going to justify spending money on a real Chanel with all the suffering that there is in the world.”

It’s a hilarious line, intentionally so. But I know people who actually think like that – for real. Well, one person at least (and she’s Spanish too). imagine living your entire life with that kind of anxiety. Obviously, you can’t GO to the movies. That would mean spending a shocking amount of money for something that you’ve already paid for, if you own a TV.

Which is why I’ve decided to spend the afternoon giving some serious thought to the Top Ten Superhero Films. As a pastime, it’s almost guilt-free – I don’t even have to hunt for a carbon-offsetting website onto which to download my guilt. If I decide I want to watch one of these movies, I can download one or walk to the local video rental place. Somehow I’ll have to live with the guilt of the electricity that I use to play the DVD, or the computer I’m using to write this blog.

I mean, it’s not even solar-powered. Just shocking.

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comics movies

Spidey 3 – Best Comic Book Movie Ever?

Spiderman 3 starts with such sunshine and happiness in the eyes of young Peter Parker that you just know things are going to get real, real bad.

But what a movie! It has romance, massive action including Green Goblin (2) on his board, two laugh-out-loud-for-ages-funny comedy scenes, pathos; heck, it’s got it all!

In the tradition of Marvel superhero comics, the climactic scenes feature a titanic battle between the improbably-abled, unfortunate victims of scientific-experiments-gone-horribly wrong. In this case, that would be Green Goblin (2), Spidey, Venom and Sandman (not Neil Gaiman’s…the Marvel one).

Those clashes-of-titans can be a a bore to read for the ‘mature’ comic book reader, but heck, they look good onscreen. What makes it much, much better here is that, true to the recent vogue in some comic books – since the early days of Frank Miller and Alan Moore – the superheroes are motivated solely by human tragedies and personal demons. The whole story is constructed on the relationships between the characters.

And no sign of a Pinky-and-the-Brain plot, whatsoever.

(Pinky: ” Gee Brain, what do you want to do tonight?”
The Brain: “The same thing we do every night, Pinky – Try to take over the world!”)

PS. I’ve just remembered Superman 2. (Old-skool Superman, the one when Supe gives up his superpowers so that he can ahem! Lois Lane). Is Spidey 3 better…? Hmm, tough call.

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movies nostalgia raves

Bridge to Terabithia – I cried AGAIN!

If you are reading this blog post when ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ is still playing in the cinema, and you haven’t seen it, may I make a suggestion?

Move AWAY from the computer. Get your purse/jacket/wallet and head out to see it. Right now.

This is the best children’s movie I’ve seen for years and not only made me cry but is beautifully adapted for the screen, and captures perfectly what it is like to be a child who lives in a make-believe world. It wasn’t just the storyline that made me cry, it was being reminded so sharply of what it feels like, as a child, to lead a younger sibling into a magical world you’ve created just for them.

Ah, but you’re writing children’s books now, you may say. You’ll be doing that for your readers.

It isn’t the same. Writing is hard, technical work. But as a kid I once led my baby brother into an old, overgrown and walled orchard at sunset and convinced him that the apples were enchanted, that we had to cross the orchard without looking back ONCE. I swear…as we crept across, my brother trembling with excitement, in the corner of my eye I saw those trees move.

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movies nostalgia raves writing

The Painted Veil – I cried!

I love Deborah Ross’s movie reviews in The Spectator. The poor woman mostly seems doomed to have to see films that disappoint, and when she says to stay away I usually do. Conversely, when she gives something a really big huzzah…hey, I’m there.

So I had to dash out to see “The Painted Veil”, which made our Deborah weep, apparently. I was one of the only people aged under 50 in the cinema, so I could tell right away that it was a Serious Proper Film for Grown-Ups and not like the usual eye-candy I usually go to see. (Art cinema, moi?)

Actually it wasn’t very arty at all, which explains the multiplex distribution. Instead it was a good-old-fashioned emotional drama told really well, with no fancy footwork. I loved the screenplay, which ticked all the boxes I can remember reading in Robert McKee’s ‘Story’ as well as a pretty strong Hero’s Journey for the Naomi Watts character, Kitty. I read somewhere that in the Extreme Love Story genre the lovers actually fall into the roles of Protagonist and Antagonist. I can’t remember seeing this technique better and more subtly executed than in this film. You can keep your histrionics and your ‘Frankly-my-dear-I-don’t-give-a-damn’s; what could be more touching than two people accepting each other’s minor failings as human beings, learning who they really are and falling deeply in love?

I thought I’d get away without crying…until they played that song À la claire fontaine. Nostalgia overwhelmed me; I remembered singing that song at school in French class.

I was warned once about the soppiness of middle-age by my father. He used to stream tears at sad movies and Italian opera. As a teenager I’d watch him, all crisply dry-eyed and make some cutting remark. “Wait until you’re in your forties,” he’d say, “and there’s nothing more beautiful than crying at Italian opera.”