Kyle’s latest video has NES flair; 24-Hour Comics Day pushes artists to their limits; Brad Meltzer’s Decoded to start season 2; and it’s the largest release week of comics in more than a decade in this week’s Planet 46 Comics Podcast.

VIDEO-GAME MUSIC VIDEO!

Kyle Roberts, owner of the Oklahoma City-based film company Reckless Abandonment Pictures, directed a music video for Norman-based band ‘The Nghiems’.

The video, ‘Dum Dum Dah Dah’, features a fictional arcade game where the band members serve as the main characters.  The video is a mix of live shots at OKC-based New World Comics and stop motion animation, and will debut online Saturday, Oct. 1.

“Almost everyone remembers the magic of playing a ‘Mario’ type game where they had a journey through levels defeating bad guys to save the princess, we wanted to bring back that nostalgia in this project,” said Roberts.

24 HOUR COMICS DAY IS SATURDAY

The eighth annual 24-Hour Comics Day is Saturday, and the comic book specialty retailer group ComicsPRO is again organizing the event.

24-Hour Comics Day is an annual challenge for cartoonists to produce a 24-page comic book written, drawn and completed in 24 consecutive hours. Comic book artists, whether professional or amateur, young or old, are invited to check out a local venue or try the challenge on their own.

ComicsPRO’s Executive Director Amanda Emmert said the all-volunteer project is free to participants.  More info at www.24hourcomicsday.com.

BRAD MELTZER’S DECODED GETS SECOND SEASON

Brad Meltzer, who wrote the comic-book series “Identity Crisis” and “Green Arrow,” is also a best-selling novelist and, TV star.  The second season of his TV show “Brad Meltzer’s Decoded,” which looks at the hidden secrets behind codes and mysteries, starts season 2 next week, and for the first time, the team will be heading overseas, as well. The show airs on HISTORY.

Review file: Superman #1, Aquaman #1, Flash #1, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #2, All-Star Western #1, I, Vampire #1, New Avengers #16.1
Comics read in 2011: 1,460.  Still to go: 551

The beautiful art of “Batwoman” was a highlight of the third week of DC Comics’ The New 52, which also featured new launches for “Batman and Robin” and “Green Lantern.”

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
Bruce Wayne and his son Damian Wayne are Batman and Robin, working together for the first time.  But Damian thinks his father isn’t giving him enough credit.  Bruce, meanwhile, tries to move on from his past.  A good first issue that sets up a new mystery and a new dynamic.   It’s written by Peter Tomasi with art by Patrick Gleason and Mick Gray.   We also discussed it on this week’s podcast.

BATWOMAN #1
The rather fantastic “Detective Comics” run starring Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, is followed up with a rather fine first issue by J.H. Williams and W. Haden Blackman.  Greg Rucka, who wrote those “Detective” issues, isn’t around for this relaunch, but Williams appears to be hewing pretty closely to what worked in that run.   Batwoman has a new protege, and is on the hunt for a kidnapper.  She’s also started a relationship with Detective Maggie Sawyer (formerly of the “Superman” books).    While this isn’t a complete fresh start, it should be easy enough to follow for new fans, and the art is simply gorgeous.

DEATHSTROKE #1
The master assassin Deathstroke is reintroduced by writer Kyle Higgins and artists Joe Bennett and Art Thibert.   If you’re going to have a Deathstroke series, my tastes run more toward Steve Erwin, but this does what it sets out to do, which is reintroduce Deathstroke as a villainous, mercenary tough guy.   It’s a little bit one-note, but that could be intentional, as DC introduces this character to new readers.

DEMON KNIGHTS #1
Paul Cornell writes of the Demon Etrigan and those who assist him, including Madame Xanadu.  Set during medieval times, the roster of characters includes Vandal Savage and Shining Knight.  Diogenes Neves provides the art for what could be this week’s sleeper hit.   Not a lot of plot so far – Mordru appears to be up to something bad – but it’s a rollicking adventure that’s a different flavor than most mainstream comics.

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #1
This oddball X-Files-esque title brings back theGrant Morrison/Doug Mahnke version of Frankenstein, written by Jeff Lemire, who just wrote Frankenstein’s “Flashpoint” mini.   Frankenstein’s Monster is an agent of the Super Human Advanced Defense Executive, as are the Creature Commandos.  They go in when things get weird.   In this issue, monsters have taken over a small town, and Frankenstein and the Commandos must go rescue Frankenstein’s bride and figure out how the monsters got there.  The highlight of the book is the strange world of S.H.A.D.E., including Frankenstein’s boss, Father Time.  Silver Age Atom fans will be glad to discover Ray Palmer making an appearance.  Alberto Ponticelli provides the art.   This book is goofy but fun, and is worth picking up if you can find a copy.

GREEN LANTERN #1
Geoff Johns had the difficult job of making a Green Lantern #1 that would be accessible to someone who was brand-new to the series, and be satisfying to someone who had followed the entire run.  I think he basically nailed it.  With Sinestro rejoining the Green Lantern Corps and Hal Jordan somewhat rudderless on Earth, it’s a new status quo that is easily understandable.   The well-written and well-drawn first issue should keep Green Lantern among DC’s most successful comics.  We also discussed it on this week’s podcast.

GRIFTER #1
Cole Cash is, well, a grifter who gets caught in an alien con, basically.    Nathan Edmondson is a talented writer, so this could all come together.   But for the first issue, those who liked the WildC.A.T.s backstory that previously informed Grifter will be faced with a mostly blank slate, whereas those who have no prior knowledge might not get enough to sink their teeth into.  CAFU is the artist.

LEGION LOST #1
Fabian Nicieza and Pete Woods (both of whom I generally like) create a somewhat jumbled first issue featuring the futuristic Legion characters lost in modern times.

MISTER TERRIFIC #1
Without the JSA in this New 52 world, Michael Holt is a superhero on his own.   Written by Eric Wallace with art by Gianluca Gugliotta and Wayne Faucher, “Mister Terrific” #1 doesn’t do a whole lot to grab the reader or indicate why this character is one we should be following.    The dialogue is kind of clunky and the story didn’t really grab me.  The cover was nice, and Power Girl fans may want to note a supporting character who bears some resemblance to the former superheroine.

RED LANTERNS #1
Peter Milligan and Ed Benes are the creative team for “Red Lanterns” #1, which follows the events of “War of the Green Lanterns.”  Atrocitus seeks a new goal for his corps, which is wavering after Atrocitus was denied his revenge against Krona.   I’m not sure I want to follow a book with this much blood-vomit on a regular basis, though Milligan’s a good writer, so it could be worth keeping an eye on.

RESURRECTION MAN #1
This might have been my personal favorite of this week’s #1s, partially at least because of fondness for the old series. Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have written a lot of good comics, and Fernando Dagnino is a solid choice on the art.   Mitch Shelley is back.  Each time he dies and returns, he has a new superpower.  There’s a mysterious organization that may be angels that appear to have it out for Mitch and his tendency not to die.  Great dialogue and word imagery from Abnett and Lanning.   Fans also get a new look at the Body Doubles, villains from the original run.

SUICIDE SQUAD #1
This is getting mixed reviews, I think because of the now-thin Amanda Waller and the somewhat weird/slutty new costume of Harley Quinn, but it worked as a first issue for me.  It sets up the core premise and examines the characters.   It’s written by Adam Glass with art by Federico Dallocchio and others.

SUPERBOY #1
Scott Lobdell writes and R.B. Silva draws a really dense issue that appears to be a new origin for the Boy of Steel.  Honestly, for something like this I’d probably rather be a new reader coming in, because I have no idea how this fits in with the Reign of the Supermen or anything else, or if it even does.  It’s OK for what it is, but I wasn’t able to clear the decks enough of what I knew going in for it to totally work for me.

- Matt Price
Comics read in 2011: 1,438. Still to go: 573.

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” will likely be seen as a return to form for the franchise, though Michael Bay’s robot-battling epic does still go on too long and has some serious problems with making sense. But there are some great technical moments interspersed, and there is some fun to be had along the way.

Bay is a fine technician, and the 3-D in this film seems less like a money grab and more like an actual piece of the filmmaking. If all 3-D was like this, it would be worth the extra couple of bucks. “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” for the third time, features the conflict between two factions of an alien race of robots, the Transformers, based on the action figure line from Hasbro.

The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), believe in working with humanity after leaving their home planet of Cybertron; the Decepticons, led by Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving), wish to conquer Earth and destroy the Autobots.

The film starts well. There’s a scene set during the war on Cybertron, as a ship with a secret weapon tries to escape but is shot down, eventually crash-landing on Earth’s moon. There’s an unbelievable yet entertaining introduction as the U.S. and Russian space programs of the 1960s are shown to be a race to secretly explore this moon artifact.

In the present, the Autobots have become a semi-deputized arm of the U.S. government, helping root out corruption as robots in disguise. The Decepticons are largely in disarray, licking their wounds and preparing for a return.

Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), our hero, has graduated from college and found a new girlfriend, Carly (Victoria’s Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), but despite saving the world twice, he can’t seem to land a job. (Sam’s ability to land ridiculously beautiful women is discussed in a funny scene with Sam and his parents, played by Kevin Dunn and Julie White, a pair the film could have used more.)

When Sam learns of a plot in which the Decepticons are manipulating humans, he’s thrown back into the mix, working with Lt. Colonel William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and the Autobots, despite some protests that he’s just a “messenger.” The Autobots rediscover their previous leader, Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) and attempt to unravel the latest Decepticon plot, which, true to their name, features layers and layers of deception.

The film cooks along pretty well until we’re reintroduced to John Turturro’s former agent Simmons, at which point the human acting becomes even more cartoonlike than the robots.

A parade of talented performers cascade through the film, including Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Patrick Dempsey and Ken Jeong, although it’s frequently not certain what they are doing there.

The third act goes on way too long, and seems to be computer-generated disaster imagery for its own sake. The spectacle becomes numbing at a certain point, and may induce motion sickness.

Fans at the screening cheered at the right moments, so this may be a win for the target audience. Despite the clarity of the 3-D filmmaking, both the plot and moral message (if any) have too much fuzziness to make this a complete success.

— Matthew Price
From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman

MOVIE REVIEW

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

 

PG-13
2:34
2 stars

 

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, John Malkovich, Patrick Dempsey

(Intense prolonged sequences of sci-fi action violence, mayhem and destruction, and for language, some sexuality and innuendo)

L-r, Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake star in Columbia Pictures' comedy "Bad Teacher."

It’s not going to win any awards for inspiring students, but the R-rated comedy “Bad Teacher” manages to provoke a few guffaws in its examination of one woman behaving badly.

Cameron Diaz plays Elizabeth Halsey, a middle-school teacher who can’t wait to leave the schoolbooks behind and marry her wealthy beau. But when her engagement falls apart, she’s back in the classroom again, planning to expend as little effort as possible teaching, but instead finding a new sugar daddy.

Halsey’s desire to marry rich and leave the world of teaching behind drives “Bad Teacher.” Her idea is that breast enhancement surgery will help her win the man of her dreams or, at least, the man with the pocketbook of her dreams. Across-the-hall teaching neighbor Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch) is driven and motivated — and maybe a bit unbalanced, as well.

When a new substitute teacher/heir to a watch fortune joins the school, Elizabeth and Amy find themselves in competition. Scott (Justin Timberlake) seems to be falling for Amy, but Elizabeth is sure it’s just her chest that he’s falling for.

She ups her plan to get enhancement surgery, finding funds wherever she can. When she finds out she can get a large bonus if her students do well on the state test, suddenly her desire to impart knowledge to her charges increases tremendously.

Gym teacher Russell Gettis (Jason Segel) has feelings of his own for Elizabeth, but fears she’s going down a self-destructive path in her pursuit of Scott. Phyllis Smith (“The Office”) plays a supporting role as Lynn, a teacher who enjoys Elizabeth’s rebellion, but isn’t quite prepared to risk her own.

All of the principals have a facility with comedy, and “Bad Teacher” lets them rip loose with it. Elizabeth’s semidestructive path as a woman who just doesn’t care about anything outside her goal provides plenty of laughs as she breaks taboos and slips around authority. Punch, as the manic, straight-arrow Squirrel, is an excellent nemesis to Diaz’s bend-the-rules Elizabeth.

Segel is laconically charming, while Timberlake is snootily hilarious.

If, at points, there seems to be a message sneaking through — such as perhaps test scores aren’t the best way to measure a teacher, or that those who have charge of our children are underappreciated and underpaid — it’s subtle enough that most will be able to laugh right through it. “Bad Teacher,” like Elizabeth Halsey, isn’t going to go out of its way to make sure you get the lesson.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Emily Browning as Babydoll in "Sucker Punch."

With scenes in a dragon’s castle, an alternate World War I with steampunk zombies and anime-inspired battles, director Zack Snyder’s “Sucker Punch” takes viewers down the rabbit hole with its heroine, Babydoll (Emily Browning), as she retreats into her mind to escape her life in an insane asylum.

In the screenplay by Snyder and Steve Shibuya, an accident ultimately caused by Babydoll’s abusive stepfather has landed her in the asylum, with no family or outside help she can call on. Her stepfather has bribed an orderly (Oscar Isaac) to put her in line for a lobotomy.

Fearing the loss of herself, she begins to plan her escape with other inmates: Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung). Carla Gugino plays Dr. Vera Gorski, who sympathizes with her charges but isn’t able to stop their systemic abuse.

Babydoll retreats into her mind to deal with her situation, which provides the movie’s visual panache. She sees her fellow inmates and herself as prisoners in a high-class brothel, performing for the management and their guests. And when she dances, she moves her mind to a third level, a level where she and her allies are warriors on a quest to gain the items needed for their escape.

It’s this third level where the most action-packed scenes take place. Snyder has created worlds filled with allegorical vistas as Babydoll struggles for freedom. Fantastic in scope and brilliant in design, “Sucker Punch” showcases Snyder’s cutting-edge visual style. With instruction from the Wise Man (Scott Glenn), the women turn into action heroes, battling orcs, zombies, dragons, robots and more. The strength of “Sucker Punch” is in these sequences, with amazing music and brilliant visuals. It’s four fantasy shorts in one, embedded within a tragic but hopeful arc with multiple layers of meaning.

- Matt Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Listed on wimgo Movies under Action

In this film publicity image released by Universal Pictures, Paul the alien, voiced by Seth Rogen, left, and Simon Pegg are shown in a scene from the film, "Paul." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star as British geeks visiting America in the sci-fi comedy “Paul.” Starting at Comic-Con International in San Diego, the pair plan a cross-country trip in an RV, hitting the highlights of alien encounter sites such as Area 51 and Roswell, N.M.

Graeme (Pegg) is an aspiring artist working with Clive (Frost), who’s fallen off the map after his first book. The pair’s revelry at Comic-Con marks the high point of the film, as they celebrate the subculture.

Once they are on their way across the U.S., though, the film slows down. Along the way these two sci-fi fans run across the real thing: Paul, a bigheaded grayish green alien. Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) crash-landed on earth 60 years ago, but now he’s on the run from the government, which has decided to dissect him.

The film becomes a semi-interminable chase scene, as government agents (including Jason Bateman and Tulsa’s Bill Hader) attempt to catch up to the RV.

Along the way, Graeme, Clive and Paul meet Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig), a sheltered fundamentalist whose father is stifling her dreams of seeing the world.

When she sees Paul, the boys are forced to bring her along, adding her father to the growing group of those chasing the crew.

The CGI work on Paul is pretty sophisticated, but Rogen never really manages to make him a fully developed character. And Pegg and Frost, as talented as they are, feel as if they are coasting on their relationships from past films. Graeme and Clive’s story never gets fully explored, as director Greg Mottola keeps the pedal to the floor, perhaps hoping that keeping the characters moving will keep viewers from seeing the cracks.

Everybody involved with the film has done better, and most likely will again. There are spots of humor, but the film’s characters seem more suited to a short comedy sketch than a feature film.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Listed on wimgo Movies under Adventure

The 12-issue comic-book series “All-Star Superman” by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely was one of the most critically acclaimed comic books of the recent past. The love letter to the Silver Age version of Superman highlights what was great about the Man of Steel while updating it for a modern audience. Clearly, screenwriter Dwayne McDuffie — who passed away last month — had his work cut out for him in adapting it to a 75-minute animated film.

However, McDuffie — known for his work on shows including “Justice League Unlimited” and “Static Shock,” as well as numerous comic-book credits — mostly succeeds.

Superman’s final days on Earth are explored as Lex Luthor has unleashed an ingenious plan to finally put an end to the Man of Steel. Luthor sabotages a spacecraft’s scientific mission to the sun. When Superman rescues the craft, he is oversaturated with radiation, accelerating his cell degeneration beyond even his super-metabolism’s ability to repair.

Fearing he won’t be able to cheat death this time, Superman comes clean with Lois Lane (voiced by Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”) and confronts Luthor (voiced by Anthony LaPaglia) for a final time.

James Denton (“Desperate Housewives”) voices Superman and Clark Kent. While he has a soft, Midwestern charm, he doesn’t own the character the way previous animated Supermen, including George Newbern and Tim Daly, have.

It is pretty cool to hear the Daily Planet’s Perry White voiced by Ed Asner, though. While some could criticize the film for being too episodic, I think the film works as a salutation to a hero and is one of the best DC Entertainment direct-to-DVD releases thus far.

“All-Star Superman” is executive produced by Bruce Timm and directed by Sam Liu (“Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths”).

— Matthew Price

“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson, is one of the most fantastic cinematic achievements of the new century. Taking J.R.R. Tolkien’s source material of “The Lord of the Rings” novels, Jackson created an award-winning trilogy that redefined epics.

The theatrical cut of the three films come to Blu-ray this week, and they do look good; Mordor hasn’t been this scary since the theatrical release. In “The Fellowship of the Ring,” Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), a young Hobbit, inherits a powerful ring, which he must try to destroy, with a group of allies, the fellowship of the ring. In “The Two Towers,” the fellowship is divided. Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson) must defend Rohan, as Gollum leads Frodo and Sam (Sean Astin) to Mordor to destroy the ring. And in “Return of the King,” Aragorn and his allies fight in the spectacular battle of Minas Tirith, in an attempt to allow Frodo to fulfill his quest.

While these films are all fantastic, and look great in high-definition, most will want to pass on buying this version. The discs feature the theatrical editions only. With the space available on a Blu-ray, it would have been preferable to include both editions. Also, the bonus features are also the same bonus features that are already out on DVD. At a retail price of around $100, fans deserve more. This is the best way to watch the theatrical editions for now, but it’s not the best edition it could have been.

- Matthew Price

The New Mutants team up again, and Spider-Man works around the clock in this week’s comics. Kyle Roberts and Matt Price discuss those highlights, plus two comics about running: Final Crisis Aftermath Run and Flash Rebirth 2.

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.

When a time-traveler seeking revenge causes the death of George Kirk, James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine) grows up a fatherless rebel in Iowa.

Meanwhile, on the logic-driven planet of Vulcan, Spock (Zachary Quinto) is a teased, ostracized, half-human, half-Vulcan.

After being challenged by Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood), Kirk ends up in Starfleet, where his roguish ways put him in conflict with the by-the-book Spock. But when the galaxy’s in danger – by a foe that seems very familiar to Kirk – it will take the two working together to end to the threat.

Pine is a great Kirk, especially considering the shadow of William Shatner. Pine suggests cockiness and confidence without ever resorting to imitation. Quinto does well as Spock, but he doesn’t own his role as easily as Pine. Perhaps that’s because fans are reminded of “classic” Spock by Leonard Nimoy, appearing as an older Spock. He is perfectly at ease in the role, as he should be.

The familiar characters from the 1960s have been recast for this modern take. Karl Urban is spot-on perfect as “Bones” McCoy, a crotchety medic who becomes fast friends with Kirk. Zoe Saldana is a competent and in-your-face Uhura, who’s hiding a surprising relationship. John Cho takes the role of Sulu, bringing humor and toughness to the helmsman. Anton Yelchin plays the brainy youngster Chekov. And Simon Pegg is hilarious as the brilliant but overlooked Scotty.

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman bring in classic “Trek” lines and references in a way that won’t confuse new fans, but will be appreciated by those that recognize them.

Eric Bana’s Nero is a man who wants revenge for what happened to his planet and is willing to cross time to do it. This savage villain is not one of “Trek’s” best, but he fills the role for now.

“Star Trek” as message movie gets lost a bit, this time out – perhaps it’s about finding your friends, or your place. But there seems to be less in the way of metaphor than previous “Trek” outings.

That said, giving “Trek” a clean relaunch that prepares the property to find a new group of fans is success in itself.

– Matt Price

MOVIE REVIEW

“Star Trek”

PG-13 — 2:06 — 3 ½ stars

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg.

(Sci-fi action and violence and brief sexual content)

The beginnings of Wolverine are explored in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” a tight, just-under-two-hours action thriller.

It takes pieces from the graphic novels “Wolverine Origin” and “Weapon X,” but the heart of the film is the Wolverine-Sabretooth relationship.

Hugh Jackman returns as Wolverine, who starts the film as a sickly young boy named James Howlett.   A family dispute leaves him fatherless and homeless, and his only companion is another youngster, the violent and dangerous Victor Creed.  James’ life through the ages as a hard-bitten fighter and warrior, with Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber), aka Sabretooth at his side, is shown as the film opens.  Eventually, Victor’s sadistic and violent proclivities get the pair in trouble. However, their unusual talents are of special interest to Col. William Stryker (Danny Huston), who recruits them for a special mutant task force.

This black ops task force doesn’t always have the best interests of the innocent in mind, and James eventually tires of the killing, leaving Victor alone for perhaps the first time ever. James retires to Canada, where he’s known as Logan and works as a lumberjack. He’s seemingly at peace for the first time. But his past can’t leave him alone. It haunts his dreams — and eventually it returns in his waking life, as well.

When it appears someone is hunting down his old task force comrades, Logan agrees to have a possibly fatal procedure performed, melding the unbreakable metal adamantium to his bones and claws.  But, he discovers, not all is as it seems, and his enemies may not be who he thought they were.

The final quarter of the film, where Wolverine seeks to put and end to an mutant experimentation project, drags a little and doesn’t entirely make sense.  But until then, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is a sleek superhero action film.  The cool Cajun mutant Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) seems a likely spinoff star, as does Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson, a member of the black ops squad.

- Matt Price

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

Set in an alternate 1985 on the brink of nuclear war, “Watchmen” is a mature and complex adaptation that could be considered too close to its source material.

The film is based on possibly the most acclaimed graphic novel of all time, “Watchmen,” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The series was first released in 12 issues in 1986-1987. You won’t see Moore’s name anywhere in the credits, though, as he’s forsworn all film adaptations of his work.

At its simplest, “Watchmen” is a superhero murder mystery. When superhero-turned-government agent The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is murdered, his former colleague Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) goes into action. Rorschach suspects someone is targeting the now-outlawed masked vigilantes for extinction.

Rorschach warns former colleague Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), the only superhero who has superpowers. Caught in a scientific accident, Jon Osterman transformed into the bright blue Dr. Manhattan, a superbeing who can manipulate material and see into his own future.

His connection to humanity is Laurie Juspeczyk (Malin Akerman), the second Silk Spectre. Her mother, Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino), had been at the heart of the first group of costumed crimefighters in the 1940s.

Both Rorschach and Laurie have a connection to Dan Dreiberg (Patrick Wilson), the second hero to call himself Nite Owl. After meeting with Rorschach, Dreiberg warns Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), the world’s smartest man, of the assumed conspiracy to kill the former “Watchmen.”

Ozymandias, aka Adrian Veidt, had retired prior to the passage of the Keene Act, which outlawed masked superheroes. Veidt parlayed his fame and intelligence into a multibillion-dollar enterprise with a focus on alternate forms of energy.

As more heroes are targeted, Rorschach continues his investigation. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Soviet Union draw even closer to nuclear war.

“Watchmen” investigates the motives behind those who would put on a mask to fight the world’s evils, and asks “Who Watches the Watchmen?” in its examination of who controls those who claim to protect the innocent.

While director Zack Snyder amps up the blood, sex and violence beyond what was present in the graphic novel, and while there is no way to capture all the layers of same, he has managed to create an intriguing adaptation of a work long considered unfilmable. The costume design, sets and visuals are rich and dense; the performances of Haley and Wilson stand out.

There are flaws, and the movie will be a lot to take in for those unfamiliar with the source material. But Snyder deserves credit for taking on a massive, complex project and trying to capture its essence.

- Matthew Price

MOVIE REVIEW

“Watchmen”

R -2:41 – 3 stars

Starring: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson.

(Strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language)

It’s a week of anniversaries! Darkness celebrates 75 issues, Thor celebrates 600, Batman attends a funeral, and Sabretooth has a violent way of saying “Happy Birthday” in this week’s comics, as discussed by Matt Price and Kyle Roberts.

Kevin James stars as the titular “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” a PG-rated comedy from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production company.

James plays an overweight, hypoglycemic “security officer” who takes his self-imposed oath to protect the mall very seriously. He’s a single father who lives with his mother and daughter, and has failed the state trooper entrance exam eight times. Naturally, the hottest woman in the mall finds him attractive.

Amy (Jayma Mays, “Ugly Betty”) sells hair extensions, and notices Paul when he crashes his Segway into a minivan.

She invites him out with a group of mall employees, where he accidentally gets drunk and makes a fool of himself.

The film looks as if it will be a boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl-back romantic comedy. But on Black Friday, the mall is taken over by a gang of robbers. “Mall Cop” then moves into full-on “Die Hard” parody.

The group of robbers, going by Santa’s reindeer code-names, skateboard and parkour and bicycle through the mall. They plan to appropriate the day’s credit card payments. They clear the mall (except for some hostages, including Amy). But they don’t realize Paul Blart is still in the mall.

Steve Carr, the director of “Daddy Day Care,” isn’t able to give the action scenes the sense of excitement and suspense they need. And the editing is at times confusing. Furthermore, the screenplay (co-written by James) also doesn’t make much sense. Trying to figure everybody’s motives and reasoning once the secrets are revealed is largely impossible. But the film does limit the number of times it goes for a cheap laugh, which is appreciated.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

MOVIE REVIEW

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

PG, 1:27, 2 stars

Starring: Kevin James, Jayma Mays, Keir O’Donnell, Bobby Cannavale.

(Some violence, mild crude and suggestive humor, and language)

In the new “Get Smart,” Max is an analyst with the spy organization CONTROL. While he’s dedicated to his job, he dreams of being a field agent. Previously too heavy to qualify, he’s trained and gotten himself into shape. But the Chief (Alan Arkin) needs Max where he is. So, he’s stuck behind a desk until an attack from KAOS reveals all of CONTROL’s agents. Only Max and Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), safe because of recent surgery to change her looks, are available to thwart KAOS’s plans for world domination.

Carell on paper seems to be the perfect actor to revive Maxwell Smart, but his character was changed for the movie. Rather than a pompous fool who succeeds nearly by accident, this Maxwell Smart has trained and worked for his opportunities. This makes Agent 99, who doesn’t like Max for much of the film, come off as snobbish rather than competent.

There are a few laughs to be had in “Get Smart,” but it tries harder to be an action film than an action-comedy. Extras on the DVD include a “vomit reel,” if that’s likely to appeal to you.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Kyle Roberts and Matt Price discuss the conclusion to Mark Millar’s “Marvel 1985,” the prelude to “Blackest Night,” “Rage of the Red Lanterns,” and the next part of “Original Sin,” “Wolverine: Origins” No. 29.

“Jamilti and Other Stories” collects seven short stories by Rutu Modan, the writer-artist of “Exit Wounds,” one of the best graphic novels of 2007. Six of the seven works in “Jamilti” predate “Exit Wounds,” but Motan shows here, again, why she’s one of the premiere voices of Israeli comics.

The strongest is “Bygone,” the one black-and-white story in the collection, in which the family ties among three sisters in a themed hotel in Israel are explored.   The middle sister discovers her family’s deep secret after falling for a hotel guest.  But all seven are very good in varying degrees, with stories focusing on a plastic surgeon that keeps remaking his lost love, to a divorced mother who believes she can heal with electricity flowing through her hands.  The lead story, “Jamilti,” is a story of wedding dresses and suicide bombers.

Modan has an art style reminiscent of Herge, though parts of “Jamilti” are intentionally cruder.

Alternately funny, sad, and strange, this collection of works by Modan is absolutely worth a look to see one of comics’ most original voices.

-  Matthew Price

Oklahoma author and friend-to-Nerdage Mel Odom writes a review of Greg Rucka’s “Checkmate: A King’s Game” over at Blogcritics.

An excerpt:

(Rucka’s) stories don’t just revolve around missions and the agents that go on them. The stories also delineate what goes on back at mission control, all the mistrust, the jockeying for control, the desire of some of the key players to keep certain ops or assets to themselves. I found myself getting just as involved in the bickering, secrets, and political maneuvering within the Checkmate organization as I did with the actions of the agents in the field.

More in the link.

– Matt Price

A version of this article ran in Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

The second season of Tim Kring’s “Heroes” faces a bit of a sophomore slump.
Whereas the first season focused on ordinary people with extraordinary abilities, the second season takes advantage of the roots of these powers and delves into the sins of the main characters’ parents.

As the season begins, time-traveling Hiro (Masi Oka) has transported to feudal Japan, where he decides to stay to help his childhood hero Takezo Kensei become the
legendary samurai he’s supposed to become.

The Bennets have relocated to California, where Claire (Hayden Panettiere) is supposed to lay low. Her adoptive father, Noah (Jack Coleman) is working with Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) to take down the Company, the mysterious organization experimenting
on individuals with super-powers.
Peter, who was responsible for saving New York City from an atomic explosion at the end of the first season, awakens in Ireland with amnesia.
New characters Maya and her brother Alejandro unknowingly find themselves helping a “Heroes” foe back to prominence as they make a pilgrimage from South America to find
Mohinder to learn more about their powers.
While the disparate threads of the season eventually come together, it’s obvious that the show was hindered by the writers’ strike, causing the Shanti virus storyline to come to a
quick resolution. The season wrapped with only 11 episodes.
The core ideas, cast and writers behind “Heroes” are still sound, so a stronger Season 3 seems very likely.
To find out what might have been, check out the special features on
the DVD set.
The show’s writers elaborate on their plans for the second half of the season, most of which were never filmed.

– Matt Price

From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

The nine-episode strike-shortened first season of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” kicks in a year after the events of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” Sarah Connor (Lena Headley, “300”) and her son John (Thomas Dekker, “Heroes”) have been hiding out, but decide it’s time to move on. They are aided by a new Terminator, played by Summer Glau.

Glau first came to prominence in the television show “Firefly,” created by Joss Whedon, playing the unbalanced psychic River, who stowed away on the spaceship Serenity. She’s excellent in her role, except in the pilot, which has a few issues. The new Terminators are supposed to better be able to mimic human emotions — Cameron (Glau) does that at first, when John doesn’t realize she is a Terminator. After she’s revealed, however, she has a much more “robotic” performance.

Still, as the series goes on, Glau’s the highlight of the show, and should be a breakout star. Headley doesn’t have the toned, steely presence of Linda Hamilton, but she does have her moments. Brian Austin Green (“Beverly Hills, 90210”) shows up about halfway through the season as John Connor’s uncle, and immediately sparks up the series.

If the series fits in with “Terminator 3,” I’m not sure how, exactly. Still, time travel allows for some leeway in events, doesn’t it?

Extras include commentaries, cast auditions, storyboard animatics, featurettes, and a director’s cut of the episode “The Demon Hand.”

– Matthew Price

From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

Following in the footsteps of “Smallville,” Batman-related characters got a youth-oriented WB television series in “Birds of Prey.” Following the Tim Burton Batman films, to a degree, the film is set in “New Gotham,” in the future. Batman and Catwoman have had a daughter — The Huntress (Ashley Scott, “Jericho”). Batman himself has disappeared after a final showdown with the Joker — and the Joker, after escaping, shot and paralyzed Batgirl (Dina Meyer, “Starship Troopers”). Her paralysis didn’t stop her crusade — only how she accomplishes it. She now fights crime as Oracle, a cyber-sleuth who trains superheroes for the future, including Huntress.

Joining Huntress and Oracle is Dinah (Rachel Skarsten). Her telepathic powers keyed in on Huntress when Catwoman was killed, and on Oracle when she was shot. Thus, she believes these women are the key to her destiny.

“Birds of Prey” debuted strongly, but ratings slipped. Comic fans thought the series deviated too much from the comic book on which it was based. The show did alter the origins, but it didn’t ignore the comics; it just melded several different versions into one show. In retrospect, the show was better than it gets credit for, but not as good as it could have been. Meyer is consistently good, and it’s too bad fans didn’t get to see more of her as Batgirl or Oracle.

The original pilot, with Sherilyn Fenn (“Twin Peaks”) as Joker sidekick Harley Quinn is included. Fenn was replaced with Mia Sara (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”).

Also included are three seasons of the flash-animated “Gotham Girls,” which come to about an hour of programming.

– Matthew Price

From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

THE NEXT LEVEL

In the future, humanity has made a mess of earth. Wall-E — a Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class droid — is one of the robots created to clean up the mess, so that humans can perhaps someday return. “Wall-E” is the star of the latest Pixar film, and he comes to portable gaming in this PlayStation Portable game. Gamers take on the role of Wall-E in the game. As the game begins, it’s early in Wall-E’s career, as a series of tests measure the quality of Wall-E’s work. As the game continues, it moves more into the storyline shown in the film. Farther along in the game, the gamer can take the role of EVE, a new robot for whom Wall-E develops affection.

The game has multiple levels, each with different problems to solve. Gameplay types include puzzles, mazes, races, shooting and smashing. In several levels, crates must be smashed to get energy charges to move to the next level of the game.

Wall-E can use his “box form” to smash crates. Other times, Wall-E needs to create junk cubes by compacting trash. These cubes can be used to open doorways or move levers. Wall-E also has a laser that can be used to destroy obstacles. Minigames are also included, which add to the replay value.

The graphics are good, as Wall-E’s movement and the level designs are both artistically rendered. The music is straight from the feature film.

The worst aspect of the game is the control, as the small analog stick on the PSP doesn’t always perfectly respond to what the gamer wants to do.

The game is rated E, for everyone.

Ron Perlman as Hellboy in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” 

“Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” brings back the cigar-chomping, wisecracking paranormal agent with the indestructible hand and big red body from the first “Hellboy.” Ron Perlman reprises his role as the most powerful agent of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, nicknamed “Red.” He and girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair), a pyrokinetic, are having off-and-on problems, largely based around Red’s loutishness: He leaves her toothbrush in the cat food, for one.

Elfin Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), angered by the humans’ constant encroachment on the elfin world, breaks a pact long-forgotten by the humans. The humans and the elves ended a long-ago war by agreeing to a truce — the elves would stay in the forests and the humans to the cities. But, as Nuada declares, the parking lots and shopping malls have driven the elves from their homes. He will reawaken the Golden Army, a clockwork grouping of 14,400 soldiers, built by a goblin for the elf king to answer the aggression of humanity in the first war. Nuada reclaims part of the crown needed to rule the Golden Army from an auction house — slaughtering the bidders in the process, with demented “tooth fairies” — so called because of their desire to feed on bones and teeth.

Hellboy and his BPRD crew, now led by the ectoplasmic German Johann Krauss (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) seek the Troll Market for clues to who unleashed the tooth fairies.

Fish-man Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) encounters Nuala (Anna Walton), Nuada’s twin sister, who wishes to keep her brother from awakening the Golden Army.

Multiple conflicts and showdowns follow, including the final meeting with the Golden Army. But before that, director Guillermo del Toro craftfully sets up a possible sequel: With Hellboy on the verge of death, Liz must decide whether she believes in Red, or what his destiny was foretold to be. Those who have read Mike Mignola’s comic books have an idea what’s coming, but it would still be spectacular to see filtered through del Toro’s vision.

The entire film is a visual marvel; the Troll Market recalls the “Star Wars” cantina scene with monsters rather than aliens. The film is similar in many ways to the original, but improved across the board.

“Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” is an over-the-top B movie, but near-perfectly so.

Matthew Price

MOVIE REVIEW

HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY

PG-13 1:50 3 ½ stars

Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Luke Goss

(for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and some language)

Writer-director Roland Emmerich (“Stargate,” “Independence Day”) is known for big, dumb spectacle. “10,000 B.C.” isn’t his biggest, but it might be his dumbest.

D’Leh (Steven Strait) is a young hunter whose father abandoned the tribe, causing D’Leh to be ostracized by his peers.

The bland young hunter, however, gains the love of Evolet (the spectacular but poorly-coiffed Camilla Belle).

When Evolet and most of the tribe are kidnapped by slave traders, D’Leh leads a small group on a rescue mission.

En route, D’Leh joins forces with other civilizations that have been decimated by the slavers.

The slavers are called “four-legged demons” because of their use of domesticated horses, which wouldn’t happen for 6,000 years. But that’s not the most irritating part of the movie.

D’Leh encounters saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths and giant birds in his quest to save his loved ones. Unfortunately, none of these things kill him.

He reaches the slavers, who are using their various captives and the woolly mammoths to build pyramids, which are about 7,000 years early. On top of the historical inaccuracies, “10,000 B.C.” consistently fails to engage the audience.

“10,000 B.C.” resembles “Apocalypto” meets “300,” but it’s duller than either of those movies.

— Matthew Price

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

“Wanted,” directed by Timur Bekmambetov of the “Night Watch” films, is a visually arresting, over-the-top, paean to violence. Based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar and JG Jones, the film takes a different slant than does the source material — but manages to improve on it.

Wesley Gibson (James MacAvoy) is a down-on-his luck loser in a dead-end job. He knows his girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend, but he can’t motivate himself to do anything about it. Wesley is sleepwalking through his life, until he meets the Fox (Angelina Jolie).

She tells Wesley that his father, whom he never knew, was one of the world’s greatest assassins. And another of those assassins is after Wesley.

This begins the slam-bang action portion of “Wanted,” as Wesley finds himself introduced to the Fraternity, a group of assassins who call themselves weavers of fate.

Led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman), these weavers follow mysterious assassination directives, aimed at making the world a better place. “Kill one, save a thousand,” explains the Fox.

The storyline has twists and turns and double-crosses, but the visuals are what makes “Wanted.” Bekmambetov channels Tarantino by way of John Woo, but adds dozens of his own touches. The only off-note is the dialogue.

Some is lifted directly from the comics, but other scenes are just f-bombs dropped on anyone who might be nearby.

Still, this is what an adrenaline-filled action movie should be — a darkly comic vision whose flaws are obscured by the film’s unyielding pace.

Matthew Price

MOVIE REVIEW

“Wanted”

R 1:48 3 stars

Starring: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie

(For strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality.)

The third season of “The Incredible Hulk,” starring Bill Bixby as David Banner, has fewer two-part episodes than previous seasons, but still manages some solid episodes.

While the season’s fifth episode, “My Favorite Magician,” has some flaws, it’s got several interesting ideas working for it. It co-stars Ray Walston, Bixby’s co-star on “My Favorite Martian,” and it features Banner becoming a magician’s assistant, likely referencing Bixby’s 1973 series “The Magician.”

The highlight of the third season is “Homecoming,” in which Banner returns to his hometown for the first time since the accident that transformed him, in times of stress and anger, into the Incredible Hulk (portrayed by Lou Ferrigno).

The episode “The Psychic” features Brenda Benet, Bixby’s first wife, as a psychic who discovers the connection between Banner and The Hulk.

While the third season lacked the dynamic two-parters of seasons two and four, it holds up as part of one of the best television adaptations of a comic-book hero.

— Matthew Price