WonderCon! Workout

Even though I'm technically on a convention vacation or con-cation? Con-a-cation? And would be walking miles upon miles a day, you still have to keep up with the working out to fight off deliciously poor choices like Jameson and Ginger Beer at noon, a croissant and Belgian Waffle for breakfast, nachos, chicken strips, a club sammich and clam chowda for lunch, on and on. The J.W. Marriott Downtown at L.A. Live has you covered though with a spacious pool and fitness center. On Friday morning I went for a nice 7:00 AM swam doing laps back and forth alternating with high knees, backwards running and a little water karate for resistance. It's extremely peaceful in the morning as the sun rose and the later for pool party scene played tranquil techno tunes.

Today I hit the shared with the Ritz Carlton Fitness Center where there's ample weights, machines and cardio equipment to get the ol' morning pump on. And after seeing Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck in Batman V Superman, you had to keep up the superhero requirement of slamming weights. Tackling the whole body I completed:

1) Dumbbell Swing 2) Chins 3) Dips 4) Leg Press 5) Incline Push Up 6) Incline DB Curl 7) DB Lying Triceps Extension 8) Seated Leg Curl 9) DB Lateral Raise

9 exercises for 3 rounds had me pumped and I finished off with 30 reps of Rope Pushdowns then Rope Hammer Curls, Forearms, 5 sets of Calf Raises on the Leg Press Machine and neck. After that it was a mile on the Elliptical done in intervals and some stretching. I've always been a chins advocate and not saying I started a trend but 3 dudes who were already lifting and not doing any chins started to after I was into my circuit. Just saying... I briefly chatted with another con-goer about my Big Trouble In Little China tee and his Wolverine tattoo, gotta love con folk. Feeling good, now it's time to find a Downtown joint for breakfast before heading to the show and Hollywood for Silent Rage!

WonderCon! Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

To really kick off the Comic-Con spirit of the weekend, we took in DC Comics cinematic slugfest BatmanVSuperman: Dawn of Justice at L.A. Live's 4DX theater. If you'll recall, 4DX is a 3D projection with seats that move, vibrate, punch you in the back, spit air at you with wind and water effects to give you a more immersive experience. BatSupes has been fighting bad press since it was announced as it just seemed like a less thought out cash grab of Marvel's connected cinematic universe. Warner Brothers is guilty of only seeing films as franchises and products but hey, you're getting a $250 million adaptation with two of the most popular superheroes in the world with A-list stars and resources. So let's just remember we've come a long way. Affleck's casting as Batman was a surprise, I like the guy but saw someone like Josh Brolin in the role since he's physical and a little crazy in real life, like Christian Bale and Michael Keaton which the character needs. Early fan reaction was positive while reviews have been eviscerating. I went in with low expectations, anticipating a wall to wall action fest with bad CGI and lofty self serious drama.

I enjoyed the film, it wasn't an overwhelming action or video game looking spectacle. The action was actually surprising subdued and the CGI looks a lot better on the big screen than in the commercials. Ben Affleck is solid as Bruce Wayne and Batman, disconnected, calculating and brooding while poor Henry Cavill's Superman/Clark Kent isn't given nearly as much to do and does most of his acting through his furrowed eyebrow. Going in, I was on #TeamAlfred as you just knew Jeremy Irons would bring some class to the proceedings which he delivered on. Gal Gadot was excellent as Wonder Woman and a highlight of the film. Amy Adams is her usual spunky self while Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor got a little Joker for me. Both leading men get to show off all that time in the gym as well. Being a 3D film, director Zach Snyder really missed some opportunities to take advantage of the format. With so much driving, flying, sliding and crashing, a few POV shots would have been awesome. The final battles are excellent as Batman takes on Superman then they team up with Wonder Woman to fight the giant Doomsday. I found it funny they made a point to announce the city streets were mostly empty after many a complaint have been leveled at tentpoles like Man of Steel and The Avengers for their wanton destruction of populated cities. I appreciated the more intimate fight scene with just a few figures instead of having them battle an endless army of faceless Storm Troopers.

I'm not chomping at the bit to see the film again but I dug it and would experience it on the big screen again before it goes out of theaters. 4DX wise the wind machine element was way overused and you felt a little beat up during fight scenes with the jostling and back pokes. But it does put you into the movie more and as soon as you think it's going slowly, boom! Bats fly out and your seat jerks you back to attention. But poor Superman, he's never really been done well in a film as his character is just too bland and a supporting character in his own sequel. He's supposed to be invulnerable yet he's brought to his knees by both Lex and Batman. While Bats' suit is practically indestructible as he's thrown through walls, shot in the head and stabbed but keeps on kicking. Ah well, bring on more Batfleck, we all knew he was the more interesting character.

Batman Prep: The Dark Knight Returns Animated

After much internet smack talk and fanboy outrage, Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice is nearly here. Hoping to rake in some of that connected universe moolah Marvel is sitting on, Justice introduces Ben Affleck as an older, semi-retired Batman who battles then teams up with Superman and Wonder Woman against alien bruiser Doomsday and Lex Luthor. While Affleck seems like a cool guy, my vote for a post Christian Bale Batman still goes to Josh Brolin. The film looks polished and serious and hopefully director Zach Snyder can tell a story as strong as the visuals. To prep, we randomly watched some Batman animated movies as DC continues to excel on the small screen. Starting off with 2012's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1, based on Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's seminal mini-series from 1986 that finds Gotham City Batman-less for a decade, being overrun by a vicious gang dubbed Mutants and sees a 55 year old Bruce Wayne coming out of retirement to mete out some bloody justice. In this alternate universe tale, a young woman named Carrie Kelley becomes the new Robin and you get Joker, Harvey Dent, Superman and Ronald Reagan in the mix.

The animated films follow the still yoked Bruce Wayne as he tries to help rehabilitate Two-Face Harvey Dent to no avail and becoming increasingly bothered by the state that Gotham is in. Commissioner Jim Gordon is on the verge of retirement and the Mutants are killing innocents left and right. Donning the cowl and cape, Wayne once again hits the streets in these action packed 70 some minute chapters. The action and fights are really well done with hand to hand combat scenes packing more punch, pain and cringe worthy moments than most live action stuff. It was reminiscent of the fantastic animated scrpas from Street Fighter: The Animated Movie but not quite as good. Robocop's Peter Weller voices Wayne and Batman with his usual gusto even if there's no differentiation between the two characters. After Batman defeats the Mutants' leader via well placed cuts above the eye and broken limbs, the gang disperses and become The Sons of Batman, using their violent tactics on criminals instead of innocents.

Batman's resumed war on crime results in the resurrection of his greatest foe, The Joker, who's been catatonic since the dark knight retired. Ending up on a talk show to try and make amends, Joker kills everyone with poison gas and slashes animated Conan O'Brien's throat with a shattered coffee mug. Brutal stuff you're just not used to seeing in a cartoon. All of this catches the attention of the president who enlists Superman to take care of the job. This leads up to a showdown between the two former friends where Bats uses a metal suit, smarts, technology and a synthetic krypotnite arrow shot by Oliver Queen to take the big boy scout down. Seemingly dying of a heart attack, Bruce Wayne's identity and exploits as Batman are revealed to the public, Wayne Manner burns down, trusted confidant and butler Alfred dies of a stroke and the family fortune disappears. But beneath the family abode, down in the caverns and Bat-Cave, a still alive Wayne has amassed an army that includes Robin, Queen and the former Mutants that he will train to fight and take back the city.


While current animation is computer driving and makes for some slick visuals, the animated films do a good job of distilling the look and feel of the comics with solid design and great action. Including making every male in good shape while all the women, like Lana Lang and Selina Kyle, into fat old hags. Maybe Miller doesn't like women? As a 90's kid you expect Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill to be present as Batman and the Joker but Peter Weller and Michael Emerson fill in just fine and bring their own pastiche to the roles. With reported budgets of $3.5 million each yet still delivering entertaining, enjoyable and violent adaptations, let's see what Snyder and company do with a couple hundred million bucks.

Fall Flicks: Gone Girl

Following his directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo, early Fall Flicks seem to be Ben Affleck's new sweet spot with the massive opening of Gone Girl.  Taking in an estimated $38 million clams, the $60 million-ish crime thriller has been liked by critics more than the audiences who gave it a B Cinemascore.  The opening sets a record for director David Fincher whose credits include Alien 3, Seven, Fight Club, The Game, The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  Based on a best selling novel by Gillian Flynn, Girl continues the redemption of the probably a cool guy in real life Affleck who struggled with professional and personal woes 10 years ago.  I personally enjoyed Daredevil, Paycheck and parts of Gigli but that whole J. Lo thing was kinda weird...  Gone Girl is the tale of Nick Dunne (Affleck) and his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike, The World's End, Jack Reacher).  On the day of their anniversary, Amy goes missing from their small town outside St. Louis, Missouri.  Nick quickly calls the cops but as revelations are brought to the table and the media begins to take sides, the seemingly innocent husband becomes the top suspect.  We see the beginnings of the relationship told through diary narrated flashbacks via Amy that become more and more dark in tone leading us to wonder if Nick actually had something to do with Amy's disappearance or maybe even killed her.

What follows is a well crafted, acted, funny and at times fucked up tale of what it means to be married in the modern age.  Affleck does an excellent job as the loafing schlub of a husband and as the increasingly irritated, maybe he did it, not so nice guy husband.  Pike's wide eyes and blank face are put to good use as the sweet yet commanding Amy whose marriage isn't what she expected or is willing to accept.  Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit are the local cops with one looking for the truth and the other believing Nick killed his wife.  Tyler Perry shows up as a high dollar lawyer and Neil Patrick Harris plays Amy's mysterious ex.  Both the writer/director and former television star do solid jobs.  Music video siren Emily Ratajkowski shows up in a small role and reminds us why she's famous in the first place.

Like all of Fincher's films, Gone Girl exists in it's own world.  It's not as dark or seedy as Seven, Fight Club or The Game and in fact, I think that's part of the reason I didn't all out enjoy the flick.  It's satisfying as a film but not very fulfilling as an experience?  It just seems like Fincher light.  The Social Network somehow made a movie about Facebook riveting and scenes of programming a website exciting.  Girl With the Dragon Tattoo had one of the best trailers of all time but delivered a pretty unmemorable flick that I haven't thought of since leaving the theater.  Gone Girl continues that slide as we're out in middle America suburbia with some very familiar beats (media skews info, Missourians are hicks, Nick isn't the guy we thought, etc).  Sure there's twists, turns, reveals, bloodshed and WTF moments but to me it just felt like a Lifetime movie of the week only executed really, really well.  Maybe that's how Flynn's novel plays out and Fincher purposely turns the early flashbacks of Nick and Amy's courtship into saccharine, perfect moments out of a middle school romance novel but the whole movie feels like some kind of big joke almost or an experiment of what happens when A-List talent tackles a movie of the week concept.

With Fincher's big budget adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea cannon balled due to budget concerns, here's hoping he goes back to something more interesting like Seven, Fight Club or The Game.  And Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms, yo!

(Not) Love Actually: Daredevil VS The Punisher

Captain America:  The Winter Soldier is cleaning up at the box office while The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has already started raking in the bucks internationally.  DC just announced a Justice League movie to follow 2015's Batman VS Superman and allegedly have an additional 9 comic book adaptations in the works.  Marvel head honcho Joe Quesada dropped a few tidbits about the Daredevil series coming to Netflix, promising a "street-noir" style on the ground level of the Marvel cinematic and television universe.

During WonderCon weekend, in a bit of coincidental scheduling, 2003's big screen adaptation of Daredevil was playing on one channel while 2004's The Punisher was playing on another.  Both Marvel heroes are harder edged and more violent than The Avengers or Spider-Man and their films reflected (or attempted to) that moody, visceral and kinetic vibe.  10 years ago, the superhero movie was just starting it's transformation.  The Batman series had stalled with 1997's 4th chapter in a haze of bright colors, too many characters and kid/toy friendly camp.  1998's Blade gave Marvel a shot in the arm but that character was hardly a comic book icon.  2000's X-Men really set things off as Fox gave the production a decent budget and summer slot which in turn gave them a franchise that is still going strong 14 years and 7 movies later.  2002's Spider-Man showed audiences and critics that a "funny book" movie about a teenager granted wondrous powers who swings around New York in red and blue tights could be equal parts heart wrenching and adrenaline pumping on it's way to a $800 million dollar gross in theaters alone.

In 2003, Fox's long gestating Daredevil hit the screens, opening up # 1 on President's Day weekend to poor reviews and uneven audience reaction.  A Director's Cut would prove to be slightly better received but all you need to do is look at the negative reaction to Ben Affleck being cast as Batman to see how many viewers thought it spelled doom.  Written and directed by Grumpy Old Men's Mark Steven Johnson, Daredevil plays out as a pretty faithful adaptation of the comic books on the surface.  Teen Matt Murdock is blinded by radioactive waste and gains heightened senses and "radar vision" then takes to the streets to deliver rough fist, feet and makeshift nunchuk/bo staff justice when it eludes the courts he works in by day as a lawyer.  Throw in future wife Jennifer Garner as ass kicking assassin Elektra, Colin Farrel as over the top henchman Bullseye and the massive Michael Clarke Duncan as crime lord The Kingpin and you get one of the most eclectic yet capable casts of the young Marvel movie age.

The movie does suffer from some clunky writing and acting by Affleck and Garner and has some really bad, even for it's time, CGI f/x.  Mostly of Daredevil leaping and flipping inhuman lengths and heights.  The flick looks pretty slick but feels a bit hollow with it's nods to the comics, brooding violence, bleak yet shiny cinematography and crammed in heavy metal soundtrack.  Taking in $178 million worldwide on an estimated $80 million dollar budget, Daredevil couldn't be considered a flop as a handsome 2-disk special edition DVD sold well enough to warrant a Director's Cut release but a sequel was never publicly discussed and Affleck soon moved into a career funk.  Subsequent releases Gigli focused too much on his personal life while Paycheck became a middle of the road, throwaway title that led helmer John Woo to pack up and go back to China.

Marvel's next attempt at an adult comic book feature came in the form of Artisan turned Lionsgate's 2004 release The Punisher, which holds the distinction of being their first R rated venture.  Directed and co-written by Die Hard: With a Vengeance and Armageddon's Jonathan Hensleigh, The Punisher opened up # 2 in April of 2004 to blah reviews and lackluster audience interest.  Our hero is Frank Castle, an undercover CIA agent on the verge of retirement.  When the son of powerful mob boss Howard Saint is killed during an operation, Castle's entire family is wiped out and he is left for dead.  Surviving, Castle comes back to haunt Saint as the bringer of punishment and basically kills a whole lotta people while blowing up drugs, money and fending off hitmen.  Solid actor and future king of weirdcool Thomas Jane made a smooth million bucks for the role and underwent a hardcore training regimen that included lifting weights, hand to hand combat, gun and edged weapons training with former Navy SEALs.  John Travolta shows up as Saint while familiar faces Will Patton, Roy Scheider, Rebecca Romijn, Kevin Nash, Ben Foster and Laura Harring round out the cast.

Hensleigh attempts to harken back to the good ol' days of Clint Eastwood and Don Siegel's 70's vibe with real stunts, little CGI and a slowed down pace.  The results are successful in parts as the action is brief yet brutal and crisp, there's variety to the violence and set pieces while dark humor is sprinkled throughout.  Other sections are overbearing, melodramatic and downright cheesy as the dialog scenes are handled with a heavy hand and the big, beautiful orchestral score seems to be playing over the wrong movie.  Changing the locale from New York to Florida didn't help matters and TJ spends most of the film shirtless to show off all his hard work a la Hugh Jackman in the later Wolverine movies.  For some reason Lionsgate and Marvel decided to play chicken with Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Part 2 and came up short as KB took in a healthy $25 million on it's way to a $152 million worldwide total while The Punisher only managed $13 million on it's way to a disappointing $54 million global tally on a reported $28 million dollar budget but would sell huge on home video thus spurring serious chatter for a sequel.

Thomas Jane would never realize his leading man potential as 2007's The Mist would misfire over Thanksgiving weekend and leads in low budget, DTV fare soon followed before appearing on HBO's Hung for 3 seasons.  Wanting to make a gritty, Walter Hill directed, 70's style follow up, Jane walked away from the sequel which was released as the cartoonishly over the top, not sure if it's passable or horrible, Punisher: War Zone which garnered a pitiful $10 million worldwide in 2008.  Jane would return to the role in unofficial short film sequel Dirty Laundry, co-starring Ron Perlman that has grabbed nearly 5 million viewers.  As they've battled in the comics for decades, let's hope The Punisher manages to pop up in the new Daredevil series where they can be handled with a little more care and support in this comic book movie driven era.

Snow Screen: Jack Ryan Saturday

A few weeks ago, I took in the reboot of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series, Shadow Recruit.  It was a serviceable enough action/political/spy thriller in this post Bourne and Bond age with a modern setting and straightforward story.  Chris Pine as the young Ryan is believable as an educated college student who joins the Marines following the 9/11 attacks, gets injured, rehabs and ends up working for the C.I.A. as a financial analyst.  Kenneth Branagh pulls double duty, showing up as the quiet yet menacing Russian villain looking to destabilize the U.S. economy while ably directing the bits of action interspersed with Ryan's budding romance with future wife Cathy (Keira Knightly), his induction into the world of covert ops with mentor Harper (Kevin Costner) and making the transition from analyst to field operative. 

Shadow Recruit is the 5th film based on prolific military/tech fiction author Tom Clancy's work but the first not to be based on one of his novels.  Friends and fellow viewers that evening were disappointed in the latest chapter; feeling the story was too simplistic and suffered from the sometimes awkward scenes between Pine and Knightly.  Looks like Pine will join past Jack Ryans Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck in the "one and done" club but their entries were much more well received than his.  Recruit hasn't kicked up much business at the box office and failed to appeal to younger audiences.

Thanks to Netflix, today became Jack Ryan Saturday as I plopped down for some The Hunt For Red October action, a movie I own on VHS but never actually got around to watching.  In John McTiernan's entry, Ryan is played by Alec Baldwin as a sauve looking yet nervous analyst and author whose knowledge is called upon regarding a near legendary Soviet Union submarine Captain, Marko Ramius (Sean Connery aka Ramirez from Highlander!), who might be defecting or on the verge of starting a nuclear war.  Whereas Shadow showed Ryan's history as a Marine, the past is only given a line of dialog in October to chilling effect.  Baldwin's Ryan is far from an action hero and comes off as a bit of a bumbler who is thrown into the situation due to his knowledge of the subject and is deemed expendable enough to go forth and find out if he's correct. 

October has some real thrills and tense moments throughout which is no small feat considering it's about a bunch of guys talking in submarines and offices during The Cold War.  A stellar cast includes Courtney B. Vance, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, Richard Jordon and Sam Neil who give the Soviets and the Americans depth and personality.

Two years later, Paramount released Patriot Games based on Clancy's novel that finds Jack Ryan in England for a lecture and stopping an IRA assassination attempt.  After killing one of the assailants, Ryan goes up against a faction headed by the revenge seeking brother of the man he killed.  This time around though, Harrison Ford steps into the role.  In a bit of shady behind the scenes Hollywood dealing, it's said that Paramount owed Ford a lot of money for a movie that fell apart and offered him the sequel to Red October as a way to resolve some of the debt while placing a well known, bankable movie star into an established role currently held by talented but less recognizable actor Alec Baldwin.  When Baldwin heard all of this second hand, he refused to play ball with the back stabbing studio and went off to do a play instead.

In Games, Ryan is the main attraction as October cast the spotlight on Connery's defecting ship commander.  Since Ford is a few years older than Baldwin, the character is now a retired C.I.A. analyst turned professor.  Given Ford's pedigree as Han Solo and Indiana Jones, his turn as Ryan is more physical  than Baldwin's but is still not an action hero in the vein of cinema contemporaries like John McClane or Martin Riggs.  There's some simple rough and tumble goings on but at the end of the day, it's his brains and time behind a desk doing research that nets him the juicy leads.  While not as compelling as October, Patriot is a fine example of a for adults thriller that deals with current events and the nuts and bolts of clandestine government operations while keeping a foot in reality with the simple paradigm of how does one keep their family safe once exposed to a public threat.

It's a shame that Shadow Recruit didn't find an audience as it's always good to try and give movie goers a bit of excitement peppered with geopolitics, current events and good ol' American spy stuff.  For now, looks like Jack Ryan will take another hiatus and we'll have to settle for super soldiers on the run and depressed secret agents blowing shit up.

The Way We Weren't: Josh Brolin as Batman

During Warner Brothers' panel at this years San Diego Comic Con, it was announced that the sequel to Man of Steel would feature fellow DC hero and big screen icon Batman.  With Christian Bale firmly retired as the Caped Crusader, the rumor mill worked overtime speculating who might fill the cowl and boots opposite Henry Cavill.  WB and MoS director Zack Snyder had already mentioned wanting an older, gruffer Batman who would be influenced by Frank Miller's work on The Dark Knight Returns.  Following a most likely exaggerated rumor that Bale was being offered $50 million for 20 minutes worth of screen time came a short list of names that included Ryan Gosling (too young), Joe Manganiello (too bland) and Josh Brolin.

Brolin, whose profile has risen in recent years thanks to solid supporting roles in Grindhouse:  Planet Terror, No Country For Old Men, American Gangster, Wall Street 2 and Men In Black 3 but faltered as a leading man in W. and WB's own comic adaptation Jonah Hex as well as the star studded Gangster Squad.  Brolin would have been an excellent choice for a grittier Batman, he has the ability to clean up and be charming as well as get dirty and demented.  His onscreen physicality is convincing and his troubled off screen run ins with the law and alcohol suggest some deep rooted chaotic tendencies.  His work in the upcoming remake of Oldboy by Spike Lee looks equal parts physical, dramatic and plain badass but his poor track record as a box office draw was probably his undoing in the Batman race.  Unless he wasn't interested, there's always that.

Today it was announced that Ben Affleck would be donning the cape.  On one hand it makes total sense as Affleck is a great actor, has portrayed physical types and is in the good graces of Warner Brothers as his films The Town and Argo have brought big box office and Oscar gold.  But is he a good choice?  Is he an inspired choice?  Not particularly.  In fact, he is the uninspired and quite frankly, boring, choice.  I understand he's done well for WB but casting Affleck brings no excitement to the film.  Comic fans will probably make endless comparisons to his portrayal of another masked superhero from comic lore, Daredevil, the less than well received adaptation of rival Marvel's blind lawyer by day, ninja vigilante by night.  I actually liked the flick in it's original and Director's Cut form but Affleck didn't embody the role in an unforgettable way like Bale did for Batman or Robert Downey Jr has for Iron Man.  Well, nobody's embodied a role as well as RDJ...

I dunno, Michael Keaton was a totally unexpected choice for Batman and WB received something like 50,000 protest letters but he was great in the role; odd, dark and captivating.  Val Kilmer seemed like a decent choice, handsome, a solid actor and physical.  George Clooney seems like an Affleck choice; in with the studio thanks to his work on hit TV show ER and a hot name at the time.  Bale was an obvious choice from an acting and physicality standpoint, he has depth, darkness and that sociopath charm but was far from a household name at the time.  That foresight seems to be missing here.  I went in to Man of Steel with low expectations and found it quite enjoyable.  Hopefully the same thing happens for the sequel.

P.S.  Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms.

Here's a great episode of Dinner For Five featuring an all Daredevil table: