dshramek

June 2, 2014 5:50 pm I've always considered Broken Arrow to be the unofficial sequel to Pump Up the Volume.

August 7, 2013 10:07 am Kronan? Was that a Stone Man from Saturn?

May 17, 2013 10:52 am I kept seeing the movie as a puzzle full of interesting solutions. Even though they wiped the slate clean with the previous movie, it is still the 12th Star Trek movie (13th if you count Galaxy Quest). They have to deal with meeting and subverting expectations at every turn. From the beginning, we have the problem of the Star Trek Money Shot, the reveal of the ship where we see her name and famous registration, tweaked this time by being quick and under water. In nearly all of their solutions to needing to be both familiar and new, I was along for the ride. Khan was inevitable, but they were making Space Seed, not the Wrath of Khan, though its shadow lingers with Dr. Carol Marcus and the infamous radiation bit. I didn't take it seriously because I knew how they were going to get out of it. The solutions to these problems, however, can give the creators a kind of meta-vision and the movie ends up verging on metacommentary every time it does the familiar-yet-different trick. It was a bridge too far in the scene at the core, though, where Spock, who didn't fear death, who experienced but didn't show Pike's final emotions, who stoically weathered the destruction of his entire planet, finally sheds a tear at Kirk's demise. That what wasn't earned, because the tears weren't because of the strength of their relationship, but because of the meta-strength of this relationship for the past 47 years. It was addressing the audience too much, a wink too far. That said, I dug the movie a lot. JJ Abrams is perhaps the best at adventure movies in this era: well-paced, thrilling, emotional, broadly appealing without being stupid.

May 14, 2013 5:52 pm Yeah. It was obviously a faked death. Coulson literally told Fury to do it. I doubt he was down for the ruining of his cards, but by then, he was in surgery/treatment and couldn't complain.

March 5, 2013 12:28 pm Does the Mandarin have a tattoo of Captain America's shield on the back of his neck? (00:45)

January 22, 2013 11:36 am The important thing about this book is that it establishes that Principal Strickland is in the Marvel Universe. Canon!

January 15, 2013 9:53 pm First Psylocke and the X-ladies and now Gamora wearing sensible pants. Did Marvel finally get the memo regarding women superheroes and sensible adventuring gear? Oh, sorry Elektra. Hang in there. You'll get pants, too, I hope.

September 6, 2012 2:26 pm I know those are names of people, but if I saw the blood-splattered words "Hopeless," "Walker," and "Survive" and was asked what comic they'd be, 10/10 responses would be "The Walking Dead." But I know that can't be right.

August 28, 2012 2:34 pm Nothing says "Strong Female Superhero" like a pinup of an underwear model in fetish gear posing like a lingerie ad. Doesn't this just scream "Magic! Mystery! Saving the world!" Marvel Comics would like to say to everyone "You're welcome, ladies!"

August 24, 2012 10:06 am Boy! They really like that song they keep playing a part of. Maybe it's a fine song, but it so tonally wrong for this trailer that I am disposed to disliking both more than perhaps I would if I were to encounter them separately.