Heavy metal band Anvil, which played at Rocklahoma this year, has undergone something of a revival since appearing in “Anvil: The Story of Anvil,” a film that presents the hard-rocking group as a real-life Spinal Tap. Director Rob Reiner’s parody film “This Is Spinal Tap,” about a heavy metal band, is brought to mind several times in “Anvil.” Coincidentally, Anvil’s drummer is named Robb Reiner.

Robb Reiner and high school pal Steve “Lips” Kudlow formed Anvil in the late 1970s and by the early 1980s seemed on the cusp of stardom. The band’s 1982 release “Metal on Metal” influenced bands including Anthrax and Metallica. But Anvil never reached the top of the charts. The film, by Sacha Gervasi, explores the now 50-something founders of Anvil as they still struggle to find fame as rock stars.

Gervasi follows the band on a comedy-of-errors European tour and chronicles the band’s efforts to get a new album together. The passion and humanity shown by Kudlow and Reiner as they struggle to keep this enterprise together makes “Anvil” one of the best rock documentaries of all time.

It’s funny in places but also heartbreaking as it reminds viewers about the tenacity and sacrifices required to go for one’s dreams.

— Matthew Price

J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the “Star Trek” franchise comes to DVD and Blu-ray today. If you’ve missed what was one of 2009’s best films, now’s a great time to get caught up on it.

As I wrote in my review of the film:

Director J.J. Abrams reinvents “Star Trek” in his new film that’s a reboot of the classic sci-fi series. For hardcore Trekkies, it doesn’t negate what’s gone before, but for the newbies – which make up most of the potential viewing audience – this “Star Trek” is brand new.

Feel free to click through for my full review.  I look forward to checking out the DVD for extra features in the near future. Special features on the DVD set include a digital copy of the film, deleted scenes, audio commentary and making-of documentaries.

- Matt Price

Felicia Day is probably best-known from her roles in the Joss Whedon projects “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” or the “Dollhouse” episode “Epitaph One.” But Day is equally as impressive as a writer, director and producer of the online show “The Guild,” the first two seasons of which are now available on DVD.

“The Guild” is a fictional Web series based on Day’s experiences with online role-playing games and features the interactions of a group of gamers.

Day plays Codex, the online alter ego of Cyd Sherman, in “The Guild.” She and her online friends spend much of their time in a “World of Warcraft”-like game in which they are the Knights of Good — but real life isn’t so simple.

As the series begins, Zaboo, one of the Guild’s most powerful members, has gone missing. But then Zaboo (Sandeep Parikh) shows up on Codex’s doorstep, having misread her winking emoticons as a real relationship. Other Guild members: Clara (Robin Thorsen), who retreats into the game to escape her day-to-day life, to the probable detriment of her kids. Tinkerballa (Amy Okuda), a woman who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants, in game or out. Vork, the by-the-book Guild leader, played by Jeff Lewis. And Bladezz (Vincent Caso), the high-school-aged bad boy of the Guild, who talks a good game from his mom’s basement.

Day is both endearing and authentic as Codex, dumped by her therapist and boyfriend, finding meaning only through her online interactions. Over the course of “The Guild,” however, she’s drawn into more and more real-world interactions based on her game affiliations.

The DVD contains seasons one and two of “The Guild,” consisting of 10 episodes each. There are also multiple audio commentaries as well as script files, bloopers and cast and crew interviews.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

The direct-to-DVD “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan” promises to explore the “Battlestar Galactica” series from the Cylon point of view. While it’s interesting in places, ultimately it’s not likely to bring anyone new to the franchise.

In “Battlestar Galactica,” the 50,000 human survivors of an attempted genocide search space for their mythical home planet, Earth. They are pursued by Cylons, the mechanical life forms who attempted to wipe out humanity.

Edward James Olmos, who played Admiral Adama in “Battlestar,” directed “The Plan,” which merges existing footage from the series with new footage, primarily exploring the motivation of Cylon Number One (Dean Stockwell). Two versions of Number One, aka John Cavil, have very different experiences after the attack on the humans, leading them to different conclusions on the effectiveness of their plan.

If you’re hoping for vast revelations about the Cylon plan, you’ll likely be disappointed. There’s not much in the way of insight beyond what viewers got in “Battlestar Galactica” proper, and one character intimates that the plan is, in fact, not a plan.

The destruction of Caprica is shown here in much greater detail than in the original series.

Ultimately, “The Plan” requires too much foreknowledge to be a good entry point yet uses too much recycled material to be of interest to all but serious “Battlestar” watchers.

It’s good but not great, and the four seasons of “Battlestar Galactica” set the bar high.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

The 1988 “Superman” animated series was the first version of the character to come to television since comic-book writer/artist John Byrne’s noted revamp of the character in the 1986 “Man of Steel” miniseries. In the new “Superman” comic-book line, Byrne and writer Marv Wolfman introduced the idea of Lex Luthor as a corrupt industrialist instead of mad scientist. That characterization is followed up here, as Wolfman was the animated series’ head story editor.

Even though the Christopher Reeve film series was over by the time this series aired, after the dismal failure of 1987’s “Superman IV,” the 1988 animated series still paid homage to those films. Luthor’s assistant, Jessica Morganberry, is a version of the film’s Miss Tessmacher, and Luthor, though an industrialist, speaks in a manner consistent with Gene Hackman’s Luthor from the films. Furthermore, the theme song for the Ruby-Spears “Superman” uses a bit of the famous John Williams “Superman” score. The series calls back to Superman’s past in another way, too: The opening narration was the same as the 1950s “Adventures of Superman” television show.

Superman/Clark Kent was voiced by Tulsa-born Beau Weaver, who later voiced Mr. Fantastic in the 1990s “Fantastic Four” animated series.

Each episode of “Superman” featured an 18-minute Superman adventure followed by a 4-minute segment called “Superman’s Family Album,” which touched on his days as a youngster in Smallville.

While “Superman,” produced by Ruby-Spears, only lasted one season, it provided an intermediate step between the silliness of the “Super Friends” of the 1970s and the more modern take of the 1990s series.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

The direct-to-DVD “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan” comes to DVD and Blu-ray today, exploring the events of the series from the Cylons’ point-of-view.

It’s also a little racier than the cable series, as there are no particular restrictions on the direct-to-DVD release. (It’s still no racier than an R-rated film, however.)

Tying into the film’s release, UGO is offering fans a chance to win “Dinner with the Admiral.”  The winner will receive a trip for two to Los Angeles for dinner with Edward James Olmos.

At the site’s Battlestar Contest, fans can fill  out a “Viper Pilot Application” form consisting of 10 questions.  According to a news release, entries will be judged on the following criteria: 1) Knowledge of Battlestar Galactica TV series as displayed in the answers; 2) Creativity in formulation of answers; and 3) Clarity of thought in presentation of answers.

- Matt Price

Director Stephan Elliott (“The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”) adapts the early Noel Coward play “Easy Virtue” into a motion picture starring Jessica Biel, Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Biel stars as Larita, a breezy American race car driver who marries into an upper-crust British family in the 1920s. Mrs. Whittaker (Thomas) is opposed to the marriage, having intended her son John (Ben Barnes) to marry Sara Hurst (Charlotte Riley), whose father owns the neighboring farm. Mr. Whittaker (Firth) responds well to Larita, but he’s barely present in his own life — he’s never recovered from his days in the first World War.

Biel is pretty far from her “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remake days. If casting Biel seems out of place with British mainstays Firth (“Bridget Jones’ Diary”) and Thomas (“Gosford Park”), it only highlights, in a meta-textual way, Larita’s fish-out-of-water presence with the Whittakers.

Differing from the stage play, “Easy Virtue” has moments of physical comedy. It shuttles between comedy and drama but doesn’t completely coalesce as either. Elliott’s decision to insert modern music doesn’t work very well. But it’s charming enough, especially for fans of Coward’s witty repartee:

“Is it true you’ve had as many lovers as they say?” Mrs. Whittaker asks Larita.

“Of course it’s not true, Mrs. Whittaker,” Larita responds. “Hardly any of them actually loved me.”

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

New characters arrive in the second volume of “Primeval,” which contains the third season of the U.K. production. (The first two seasons are available in “Primeval Vol. 1.”)

Joining the Anomaly Research Centre this season are Egyptologist Sarah Page (Laila Rouass) and security leader Becker (Ben Mansfield). “Primeval” features Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) and his team of scientists who investigate time anomalies that allow gates to the past and future to open, and often-dangerous people and creatures to come through. The dinosaurs that often appear are dynamically portrayed; credit that to series’ co-creator is Tim Haines (“Walking With the Dinosaurs”).

Cutter’s team is attempting to track and close the anomalies. Until it can, the team must stop the dinosaurs and other creatures from running wild throughout England.

Cutter began investigating the anomalies in a search for his wife, Helen (Juliet Aubrey). But Helen is working at cross purposes with Nick, as she believes his actions will lead to an apocalyptic future they’ve both seen. Helen’s determination to save the planet — but perhaps not humanity — puts Cutter’s team at risk.

Police officer Danny Quinn (Jason Flemyng) encounters the team at a thought-haunted house where his brother was killed. Quinn becomes a catalyst as the 10-episode season progresses.

The team faces threats from the government and Helen, but there is time for romance between fresh-faced Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts) and spirited Abby (Hannah Spearritt).

Extras include an interview with Douglas Henshall that recaps the first two seasons, and a featurette on creature creation.

— Matthew Price

“Battlestar Galactica” stars Tricia Helfer and Grace Park tell Maxim that the upcoming “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan,” coming to DVD on Oct. 27, will be a little sexier than previous BSG.  From Maxim:

Tricia Helfer: There will certainly be a lot more explicit action on the DVD. And I refuse to have a body double, so you will see a little bit of skin from me as the Six character. There’s also a new character you’ll see in some very intense sex scenes.

Grace Park: Yeah, there’s going to be a T & A version. Though maybe I should say T, C & A, because it’s not just girls this time…

More pictures after the cut.

The Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader team up in this direct-to-DVD animated film based on the comic books by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. Loeb has plenty of screenwriting experience, as the writer of “Teen Wolf” and “Commando,” and his story translates relatively easily to film. The screenplay was adapted by Stan Berkowitz, who also adapted Darwyn Cooke’s “Justice League: The New Frontier” into an animated movie.

McGuinness’s blocky, muscular style is recreated in the style of the movie, which is heavy on action but lighter on character development.

The movie reunites Tim Daly, who voiced Superman on “Superman: The Animated Series,” with Kevin Conroy, voice of Batman in “Batman: The Animated Series.” The two hadn’t worked together since 1998’s “World’s Finest” animated movie. (George Newbern took over the role of Superman for the “Justice League” animated series.)

The United States, in the throes of wars and recession, turns to an exonerated Lex Luthor, who is elected U.S. president. Luthor fixes the immediate problems but also insists all superheroes work solely for him. When a giant Kryptonite meteor threatens Earth, Superman and Batman — now “public enemies” in Luthor’s regime — are forced to come up with their own plan to save the planet.

The first half of the movie zips along, but the ending isn’t as strong.

It’s great to hear Daly and Conroy working together on their signature characters, but the film doesn’t exceed the past decade of animation with Superman and Batman.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Tennant’s time-traveling Doctor finds himself in 1851 on Christmas Eve. It’s there he encounters someone else calling himself “The Doctor.” The Doctor is a Time Lord who regenerates into different appearances periodically, often when injured. So, he presumes this man, who acts very similarly to The Doctor himself, must be the “Next Doctor.” But the Next Doctor, played by David Morrissey, has gaps in his memory, and he claims not to recognize The Doctor.

Still, there are Cybermen afoot in 1851 London, and it’s up to the Doctors to put a stop to their plot while they try to figure out what’s caused the Next Doctor’s memory problems. The Next Doctor has been investigating strange murders, which he believes the Cybermen have committed. The Cybermen are a race of cyborgs that have often come in conflict with The Doctor. Here, they’re attempting to cause the rise of a Cyber King, with the aid of Miss Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan), a woman who rails against Victorian-era mores.

The show crackles along during the first half, as the mystery of the Next Doctor is explored. Once the mystery is solved, the final conflict with the Cybermen is anticlimactic. Overall, it’s fun but nonessential.

No behind-the-scenes extras on this disc, but there is the hourlong “Doctor Who at the Proms,” featuring the music of “Doctor Who” at Albert Hall, with appearances from the show’s stars.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Whether “Spectacular Spider-Man” returns for a third season is up in the air, after a recent report from IGN.com that Sony had returned the “Spider-Man” live-action rights to Marvel. It’s not known if Disney, which recently bought Marvel, will continue to produce the show, which airs on Disney XD. But fans can check out an entire season of probably the best modern animated take on Spider-Man in “Spectacular Spider-Man Season 1.”

“The Spectacular Spider-Man” animated series is based on the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man and is set during his junior year of high school. Supervising producer Greg Weisman (“Gargoyles”) takes the essence of the original “Spider-Man” tales by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and updates them for the modern era.

Josh Keaton voices Peter Parker and his alter ego, Spider-Man. He brings a healthy dose of fun to the character. This 13-episode set delights in the wisecracking, fun-loving Spider-Man that made the character so popular for so many years. The look is stylized, perhaps anime-influenced, but works well in the context of the show.

“Spectacular” Season 1 introduces modern takes on classic villains, including the Lizard and the Rhino, as well as Spider-Man’s supporting cast: his friend Gwen Stacy, his guardian Aunt May and his rival Flash Thompson. The show provides plenty of action but also shows Peter learning from life lessons, making it an entertaining program for younger and longtime Spidey fans.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Given that the first of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” films in this four-disc collection came out in 1990, it’s feasible to see how some would wonder about the 25th Anniversary notation on this release. But this year it’s the 25th anniversary of the Turtles themselves – they first appeared in comic books in 1984.

The set contains all four theatrically released “Turtles” films in one complete set. The set comes with a sheet of temporary tattoos and four cloth ninja masks, to re-enact your own TMNT battles. Unfortunately, there are no additional commentaries or special features beyond what was available on previous releases of the films.

The original “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” film is an origin piece featuring leader Leonardo, brainy Donatello, goofy Michaelangelo (it was corrected to “Michelangelo” later) and rebellious Raphael. The pizza loving crew returned the next year in “Secret of the Ooze,” featuring Vanilla Ice and the “Ninja Rap.” The Turtles have aged better than Vanilla, though. Paige Turco replaces Judith Hoag as Turtle ally April O’Neill. Turco returns for 1993’s “Turtles in Time,” which features the Turtles going to feudal Japan. The three live-action films have diminishing returns; how much you enjoy them will be colored by nostalgia, though the first one works pretty well.

The final film in the set is 2007’s “TMNT” computer-generated film, directed by Kevin Munroe. It’s slightly darker tone should work well for fans of the original comics, but it isn’t too dark to be enjoyed by kids, either.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Young Clark Kent moved closer to his eventual fate as Superman in the eighth season of “Smallville.” Clark Kent (Tom Welling) becomes a regular reporter for “The Daily Planet” and begins to have feelings for Lois Lane (Erica Durance).

The eighth season of “Smallville” was the first without show creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, or Clark’s former girlfriend Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk). The show also had to replace Michael Rosenbaum, who had played Lex Luthor on the show since its inception. While the shadow of Lex still looms large over Smallville, two new players held their own as villains of the piece.

The new head of Luthorcorp is Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), a marine biologist turned hard-hitting executive with ties to Green Arrow’s secret ID, Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley).

Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer) is an EMT who develops a crush on Clark’s best friend, Chloe (Alison Mack). Chloe, however, is engaged to Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore). But the reasons that Bloome is drawn to Chloe may be something more sinister than a simple romantic spark, as Bloome’s character darkens as the season progresses.

The season starts strong and has a great run through episode 11, “Legion,” written by Geoff Johns, who has written some of the best “Superman” comic books of the past decade.

The midseason arc with the return of Lana Lang slows down the Lois-Clark romance and puts a hiccup into the season-long momentum. Some of it is regained in “Eternal,” as Tess figures out Bloome’s secret, but the season doesn’t finish quite as strongly as it began.

- Matthew Price

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and friends are back in “Super Friends: The Lost Episodes,” a group of episodes produced by Hanna-Barbera when the “Super Friends” show was temporarily canceled by ABC in the early 1980s. Most of the episodes weren’t aired in the U.S. until a decade later.

What’s lost is not always treasured. The 7-minute episodes that make up “The Lost Episodes” feature some of the wackiest, most out-there Super Friends storylines. Superman alters his own timeline in a pretty unexplainable – and actually cruel – way in “The Krypton Syndrome.” While that’s the most egregious of the episodes, many of them are odd or downright silly.

Earth is nearly taken over by alien toys in “Invasion of the Space Dolls,” and the Titanic is raised, and then turned into a sea monster, in “Terror on the Titanic.” Bizarro captures the Super Friends inside a 1980s-style video game world in “Video Victims.”

Still, the episodes can be nostalgic fun, if you can ignore occasional lapses of superhero judgment. The set contains all 24 of the 7-minute episodes. The special features are downloadable issues of the “Super Friends” comic. One comic, perhaps ironically, features Wendy and Marvin, the teen sidekicks who were brushed away to make room for the Wonder Twins Zan and Jayna. The Wendy and Marvin “Super Friends” episodes have yet to be released on DVD.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Billie Piper (”Doctor Who”) reprises her role as London call girl Belle in the eight-episode Season 2 of “Secret Diary of a Call Girl.” Belle, aka Hannah in her nonworking life, finds herself falling for someone.

Hannah can’t bring herself to tell her new boyfriend what she does for a living, which makes for awkward excuses and uncomfortable conversations with her friend, Ben (Iddo Goldberg), who knows her secret.

Callum Blue, cast as Zod on “Smallville” for the upcoming Season 9, plays Alex, the unwitting boyfriend. Alex, a doctor who’s recently moved to London, meets Belle when she mistakes him for a client.

In season 2, Belle also becomes a mentor of sorts to Bambi (Ashley Madekwe), who wants to become an escort. Bambi’s inexperience leads her into plenty of scrapes, from which Belle must bail her out.

Piper is charming as Belle, who has the kind of smile that allows her to get exactly what she wants. While Belle probably should be criticized for her duplicitous nature and her tendency to use her friends, her charm lets her get away with it – and it may get by viewers, too.

Based on the real-life experiences of a London escort, “Secret Diary” is sexy but feels sanitized. Belle’s character makes her job appear better than the alternatives; she can’t function in an office job. So, it’s hard to argue that “Secret Diary” isn’t, on some level, glamorizing the profession.

- Matthew Price

According to TV Shows on DVD, the 1988 Ruby-Spears Superman cartoon will come to DVD this November. In addition to the Superman adventure show, this series contained mini-segments called “Superman’s Family Album,” about growing up in Smallville.

The release will contain 13 episodes on two discs, and a special feature about the rise of LexCorp, the 1980s corporate housing of Lex Luthor, who, prior to the 1980s, had been more mad scientist than corporate raider.

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — The Warner Bros. animated film Green Lantern First Flight debuted for around 4,000 excited fans in Ballroom 20 at Comic-Con International.

Producer Bruce Timm introduced the film, and led viewers in a recitation of the Green Lantern oath.  Tricia Helfer, who voices Boodika, provided a taped introduction.

Christopher Meloni voices Hal Jordan, who goes on his first Green Lantern Corps mission in “First Flight.”

The film has a “Training Day” vibe, as Jordan is trained by the stern Green Lantern Sinestro, who, as comics fans will know, harbors a secret.

There are definite changes from the comic-book continuity, and some plot holes have to be willfully ignored.  But it’s nice to see characters like Kilowog, Ch’p and of course Hal Jordan come to animated life.

- Matt Price

“Planet of the Dead,” one of David Tennant’s final episodes as the Doctor, comes to DVD. Some won’t like the price – it’s one episode for a suggested $15 retail. But on its own merits, “Planet of the Dead” makes for a fine episode, though not a classic.

Michelle Ryan (the recent “Bionic Woman”) plays Lady Christina de Souza, a jewel thief who gets caught up with the Doctor when the bus on which they’re traveling goes through a rift in space.

They are catapulted across galaxies to a barren planet, where the Doctor, Christina and the other bus passengers must find a way back to Earth without destroying themselves. But the desert planet may not be as barren of life as it seems.

At this point, Tennant plays the wisecracking, always-prepared Doctor with ease. The Doctor is the last Time Lord, a human-looking alien who saves the day in times of crisis and frequently travels through time and space in the TARDIS, a ship that resembles a 1950s police call box. He’s stuck without the TARDIS on the planet of the dead, however, and must come up with another way back.

The desert adventures of, and charisma between, the Doctor and Christina will be enough to keep fans entertained, as will the Doctor’s interactions with a secret military unit back on Earth.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead

There’s soon to be a new Doctor in the house, but fans can celebrate one of the final adventures of David Tennant’s Doctor Who with “Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead.”

The first of four Doctor Who upcoming DVD specials featuring Tennant as the 10th Doctor will be released July 28. “Doctor Who” features a 900-year-old human-looking alien who can travel through time and space, righting wrongs and saving the innocent.

Julie Gardner

Julie Gardner, who executive-produced “Doctor Who” until earlier this year, talked about the final days of the current Doctor, and the 2005 revamp that put the long-running British sci-fi program back on the map.

“‘Planet of the Dead’ is the last big adventure romp,” Gardner said. “It’s a great chase and a great kind of survivor story.”

In “Planet of the Dead,” the Doctor is on a bus that travels through a rip in space that deposits the bus and its passengers on a faraway, dangerous planet. He’s teamed with a jewel thief, played by Michelle Ryan, to figure out a way to safely return the bus through the rift.

Gardner says she thinks “Doctor Who” caught on in the U.K. again in 2005 as people were hungry for family drama.

“We were able to reach a family audience. A lot of research said the family is disjointed and people aren’t watching together – ‘Doctor Who’ in the U.K. proves that not to be the case,” Gardner said. “It’s got to be intelligent and witty and fun and engaging, and not always easy.”

Gardner has now passed the torch on “Doctor Who,” much as the Doctor himself is about to do. (The next Doctor will be played by Matt Smith, 26. Gardner works in Los Angeles at BBC America. She thinks change is key for “Doctor Who’s” appeal.

“It’s a show that, written into its very DNA, is regeneration,” she said. “I think it needs new vision every four, five, six years. Because as a show that has such a robust format, you could look at ‘Doctor Who’ and say this could still be on air in 20, 25 years. But I think in order to do that, it needs to be given the space to reinvent itself.”

By Matthew Price
From Tuesday’s The Oklahoman

Five more episodes of the “Wolverine and the X-Men” cartoon series come to DVD with “Deadly Enemies.” Logan still is attempting to re-form the X-Men after an attack left Professor Xavier in a coma.

Fortunately for Wolverine, Xavier now can communicate with him from the future. Xavier’s future gives Wolverine hints to events he must stop with his X-Men crew.

In “Overflow,” the Shadow King takes over the mind of Storm, and the X-Men must prevent the destruction of Africa by the powerful mutant. Cajun mutant Gambit makes his first appearance in “Thieves’ Gambit,” in which he’s hired by an anti-mutant group to steal a power-inhibiting device. And the blue, elfin mutant Nightcrawler comes to the forefront in the swashbuckling episode “X-Calibre,” which pays tribute to comic-book writer Warren Ellis’ take on the character. Bruce Banner and his alter ego guest-star in “Wolverine vs. The Hulk.” Finally, the team must work together to stop a dangerous, exploding mutant in “Time Bomb,” an episode that again brings the X-Men into conflict with the Brotherhood of Mutants.

“Wolverine and the X-Men” pays homage to classic X-Men tales like “Days of Future Past” while making a cartoon modern audiences also can enjoy.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Bill Corbett

After spending a few years portraying the wisecracking robot Crow on “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” Bill Corbett wasn’t ready give up movie-mocking. He was, however, ready to stop being a puppet.

“We don’t play characters and we don’t have puppets,” Corbett said of his current project, Rifftrax. “I think we’re just getting a little too old for that, frankly. We’ll leave that to the younger crowd.”

Rifftrax consists of “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ alums Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Corbett, and has included “guest riffers” like Weird Al Yankovic and Neil Patrick Harris. Those who saw “MST3K” will know the basic idea of “Rifftrax” – watch movies, and provide humorous commentary. Until recently, Rifftrax – found at www.rifftrax.com – had primarily been created as MP3s, which users then downloaded and played in sync with their own copy of the DVD. But starting this week, 10 Rifftrax DVDs hit stores, providing commentary on films including “Night of the Living Dead,” “House on Haunted Hill,” and “Plan 9 from Outer Space.”

“I enjoyed doing ‘Night of the Living Dead,’ which I had never seen before,” Corbett said. The 1968 film by George Romero was one of the first to explore a post-apocalyptic zombie infestation.

“Now that we’re a couple of decades later, and we know the zombie movie traditions and the culture of zombie-ism, it was fun to see how it all started and how kind of slow it was rolling out,” Corbett said. “Zombies are fun to make fun of if you get right down to it,” he said.

In addition to low-budget movies like “Plan 9,” Rifftrax offers up commentary on recent hits – and even classics, including “Jaws” and “Casablanca,” via the Rifftrax.com Web site.

“It’s certainly easier to make fun of a movie that’s substandard or just silly on the face of it,” Corbett said. “The other thing’s a trickier business.”

In the case of the better movies, riffing becomes a slightly different art form.

“You’re not really taking pot shots at the movie itself, as trying to impose a funny situation on what’s going on,” Corbett said.

Rifftrax even performs live from time to time, including last year in San Diego during the week of Comic-Con: International. Corbett said the live shows are heavily scripted.

“I can’t imagine a human being witty enough to do that for an hour and a half to two hours, but the trick is to make it seem kind of spontaneous,” he said. Still, the comedians aren’t above occasionally slipping in a new joke.

“We do feel free to mix it up a little bit and blurt something out, and that’s always fun,” Corbett said. “It’s a risk, because sometimes you’re not as funny as you think you are.”

By Matthew Price
From Monday’s The Oklahoman

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 7″

Season 7 of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” featuring the heroic, anthropomorphic turtles who battle evil with their ninja skills, is being released in four parts, or “slices.” There are 27 episodes in the season.

Paying homage to the Turtles’ fondness for pizza, the season is broken down into the Leonardo slice (part 1), the Michelangelo slice (part 2), the Donatello slice (part 3) and the Raphael slice (part 4). Each slice contains a small action figure of the selected turtle.

Season 7 is the last of “Turtles” cartoons with the original intro. Starting with Season 8, perhaps inspired by “Batman: The Animated Series,” the Turtles became more action-oriented. There are hints of that here, as in the 14th episode, “Night of the Dark Turtle,” in which Donatello becomes a caped avenger.

The first 13 episodes on these DVDs feature the Turtles visiting different locations in Europe. In the episode “Ring of Fire,” Turtle foes Krang and Shredder make some meta-commentary, as Shredder states he doesn’t need to see the map to Lisbon, Portugal.

“It’s not for you; this is the educational portion of the show,” Krang replies.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer bring back their Jonny Quest parody “The Venture Brothers” for a third season, now on DVD. And while the show still has many laugh-out-loud moments, the increasingly “uncensored” nature of the show may make some uncomfortable.

“The Venture Brothers” of the title are Hank and Dean Venture, boy adventurers who fail at nearly everything, but are often bailed out by their superstrong bodyguard, Brock Sampson (Patrick Warburton). Dr. Thaddeus Venture, the brothers’ father, is a scientist and former boy genius who struggles with feelings of inadequacy, as he’s never become the hero his father was. This season’s focus is on Dr. Venture’s arch-villain, the Monarch, and his girlfriend, the manly voiced Dr. Girlfriend.

While the first two seasons of “The Venture Brothers” had moments of adult innuendo, the third season goes for full-frontal, with a lot more strong language and non-blurred-out animated nudity.

There are also fewer extras, which makes the DVD set feel less authoritative, though there are commentaries on the episodes. The packaging of the set remains top-notch, as the DVD menus have been made to resemble early 1980s video games. The season, presented on this DVD in 16:9 ratio, maintains its funny moments, but falls somewhat short of the quality of the first two seasons.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2

THE NEXT LEVEL

While both “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” have now updated the visual effects of their original incarnations, don’t expect the same from “Terminator.”

Van Ling, the producer of the new Blu-ray “Skynet Edition” of “Terminator 2,” said it’s exciting to create new ways of presenting information, but creating new effects or adding characters could be a slippery slope.

Van Ling

“There is a theory that says that artforms should evolve but artworks should not because they represent a moment in time and have meaning as such,” Ling said in an interview with The Oklahoman. “Creative works are not like refrigerators that you can just replace with a newer model every few years.”

Movies and television are our cultural memories, and just because we can change them with digital technology doesn’t mean we should, Ling said.

“It’s one thing to make revisions and treat it as an alternate version of the original work; it’s another thing entirely to replace that original work with the ‘new and improved’ version as if the original never existed,” he said. “It’s very Orwellian – or Terminatoresque – in the idea that you go back and change the past to have control over the present and the future.”

That doesn’t mean there aren’t new ways to present films. On the T2 Skynet Edition, the Blu-ray allows viewers to call up storyboards, script or production information and video segments while the movie is playing.

“Interestingly, some of the things we’ve done for the new T2 Skynet Edition are things that I had wanted to do with T2 even as far back as the early ’90s with CD-ROM format but never got a chance to try,” Ling said. “And now we can do it with much better picture and sound quality.”

More from The Oklahoman interview with Van Ling available here.

By Matthew Price
From Tuesday’s The Oklahoman

With Terminator Salvation hitting theaters this week, it’s a good time to look back at previous “Terminator” films.  Van Ling, producer of the Terminator 2 Skynet Edition Blu-ray talked to The Oklahoman about The Terminator, the Blu-ray, and the challenges of creating this edition.

Ling was James Cameron’s researcher and creative/technical liaison on “The Abyss.”  Ling was also involved with the design and creation of the visual effects on films such as “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” while serving as Head of Production for Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment, so it’s particularly appropriate that he revisited that film as the producer of the Blu-ray.

For more from the interview with Van Ling, see next Tuesday’s LIFE section of The Oklahoman, where he discusses the ethics of using modern visual effects to change classic films of the past.

Matt Price: You’ve been associated with the Terminator previously – what’s the most exciting about your involvement with the new Blu-ray?

Van Ling

Van Ling: For me, it’s the opportunity to explore the capabilities of the new format and creating new ways of presenting information. Blu-ray as a format has some very interesting things it can do in terms of interactivity and what you can link to the film and how you can access it.  Interestingly, some of the things we’ve done for the new T2 Skynet Edition are things that I had wanted to do with T2 even as far back as the early 90s with CD-ROM format but never got a chance to try …like presenting the film in a way where you can call up the storyboards or the script or production information and video segments while the movie is playing.  And now we can do it with much better picture and sound quality.

MP:  What kind of archival materials did you have access to in deciding what would be included on the Blu-ray Terminator 2 disc?

VL: We’ve had a wealth of production information that was interesting to fans and film students alike that we’ve amassed over the past 16 years for laserdisc and DVD, and it was a challenge to figure out how we

Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2

might be able to organize that material for a new audience on Blu-ray.  Since I had been intimately involved in the creation of nearly all of that archival material, I had a pretty good idea of what we had and what we could do …the challenge was the timeframe and resources we had.  There were so many text files and storyboards and still photo galleries and film elements and video material ranging from VHS tapes to Digital Betacams that we had to sort through.

MP: Also, given your experience with the film — why have the Terminator characters and films been so enduring?

VL: Jim Cameron’s original Terminator mythology is this dynamic intersection of the dark side of technology and the power and resourcefulness of individuals as the hope of humanity.  In this age of ever “smarter” and ubiquitous technology -even our refrigerators are computer-controlled-we are living in this networked world where technology can be so scary, controlling and dehumanizing, yet we still believe that humanity is the key…the key to humanizing our technology so that it can work for us, rather than against us.  That idea appeals and resonates with a lot of people.

MP: What are the key elements to producing a great DVD or Blu-ray?

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2

VL: To me, it’s about creating something that can benefit from being interactive with the film in some way, to be tied in to the main feature presentation even as you can access other things, be they on the disc itself or through BD-Live.  It really needs to tie back to the film, so you have a context in which you’re learning stuff…be it about how the film was made or the creative process of the story or the real-world research that informs the filmmaker’s vision.  If you have that and can organize it well, it can be a revelation and be much more than a lot of marketing featurettes tagged to a movie.  For me with T2, it was kind of about creating a “film school on a disc”.

MP:  What were some of the challenges in producing the new edition of the Terminator 2 Blu-ray?

VL: We had a short amount of time (maybe three months) to put it all together in order to get it out in time for the release of Terminator: Salvation, which was the logical time to release the new T2 Blu-ray.  We had a very finite set of resources and a collaboration between Lionsgate, the film’s domestic licensee, and

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2

Studio Canal, who owns the film and controls all of the international territories for distribution; this meant a lot of back and forth and timezone lags that we normally would not have had.  And we had sixteen years’ worth of special features that we needed to cull through and figure out how best to present that material using the capabilities of Blu-ray.  For me, that meant building picture-in-picture segments, audio slideshows, trivia data, graphics, menus, and a ridiculous number of intricate timecode lists to tie it all together to the film.  The programming and authoring were a very complex challenge, so hats off to the folks at Blink Digital Studios in California and at Sofatronic in Germany for doing an amazing job.

The X-Men have returned to television screens with “Wolverine and the X-Men,” the first three episodes of which are presented on DVD with the “Heroes Return Trilogy.”

In “Wolverine and the X-Men,” a catastrophe has struck the X-Men, destroying Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The X-Men have disbanded, and mutants face persecution and imprisonment.

Wolverine (voiced by Steve Blum) begins to track down his former teammates, including Beast, Cyclops, and Rogue.

While Wolverine hasn’t taken a leadership role often in “X-Men,” circumstances dictate that he’s the only choice to lead this team. Supervising producer Craig Kyle points out in the commentary that the show’s creators intentionally switched the typical roles of Cyclops and Wolverine, that of leader and loner.

Some fans have complained that, at only 68 minutes, the DVD doesn’t provide enough value for its $14.98 retail price. While a full-season release would be preferable, there are multiple commentaries on each episode, and it allowed Lionsgate to have a “Wolverine” property available as the “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” theatrical film is released.

- Matthew Price

Comic-book writer-artist Frank Miller, in his first time as a solo film director, adapts “The Spirit.”

“The Spirit” began as a comic-book newspaper insert written and drawn by Will Eisner in the 1940s. It had humor and charm, and moved the medium of graphic fiction forward, despite its flaws.

“The Spirit” motion picture, however, drowns under the weight of its flaws, despite a few interesting visuals from Miller. Miller wrote and drew “300,” “Sin City” and “The Dark Knight Returns” and was the co-director of the “Sin City” film with Robert Rodriguez.

Miller has accomplished more than most in his lifetime and is one of the most revered graphic novelists alive. Unfortunately, his “Spirit” is a mess.

It stars Gabriel Macht as the hero, who faces off against his arch-foe, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), with immortality on the line.

The Spirit is attracted to nearly every woman in the film – but then, who wouldn’t be, with a roster including Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Sarah Paulson and Jaime King.

The movie is a hardboiled mix of cliche and nonsense that never quite comes together or successfully captures the spirit of the original comics.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

A high point of early animation comes to DVD with “Max Fleischer’s Superman: 1941-1942.” These 17 war-era cartoons originally released by Paramount get an official release from Warner Bros.

Since the cartoons themselves are in the public domain, cheap reproductions of them have been available for years. These remastered editions, however, are much higher quality. Hardcore Superman fans may already own these remastered editions, as they were split between the special editions of “Superman: The Movie” and “Superman II” in 2006.

The DVD is marked “not for children – for adult collectors,” which likely has to do with the racial stereotypes that were commonplace in 1941 and 1942 but are glaring now.

Extras include “The Man, the Myth,” which talks about superhero archetypes in mythology, and “First Flight,” which examines animation and the rotoscoping technique used in the “Superman” cartoons. Bruce Timm talks about these cartoons’ influence on “Batman: The Animated Series” in “First Flight.” The Fleischer “Superman” cartoons are even more fluid, however. The facial expressions, detailed backgrounds and smooth movements are still among the best in 2-D animation.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

I’m watching “Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1942,” the official release of the war-era “Superman” cartoons that were a giant leap forward in animation. You can get a sense of what the official releases look like in the YouTube embeds above from Warner Bros.
I’ll have a full review in The Oklahoman at some point, but my early thoughts while watching these episodes are, these are really nice editions of the cartoons. I believe they are the same remastered editions from the Superman I and II special editions from 2006, so if you have those, this might be a repeat purchase, save for the extras. But these are really nice, and all together in one place.
It’s also worth noting that the DVD is marked “not for children – for adult collectors,” which I assume has to do with the racial stereotypes that were commonplace in 1941 and 1942 but are glaring now.
Bruce Timm talks about these cartoons’ influence on “Batman: The Animated Series” in a special feature, but even if he didn’t, it would likely be obvious to anyone who watched both cartoons. The Fleischer “Superman” cartoons are even more fluid, however.
While these cartoons have been available in public-domain collections in the past, this is the best edition of them — far superior to the random markdown bin versions, and even somewhat better than the two classier versions — the “Ultimate Collection” and the “Diamond Anniversary Edition.”

- Matt Price