Posts Tagged ‘wonder woman’

Sugar Water: Test Your Knowledge of Hollywood’s Creative Bankruptcy!

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The summer movie season finally begins to wind down this weekend with the release of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. So what’s next in Hollywood’s blockbuster pipeline? Would you believe a song-and-dance remake of The Bodyguard starring Hugh Jackman and Miley Cyrus? As of July that was the case, but earlier this month a spokesperson for the Wolverine star denied he was involved in the project.

It’s just as well since “Personal Security” sounded like an April Fool’s Day joke in the first place, but these days it can be difficult to tell when Hollywood’s being serious about its various remakes (The Last Dragon, The Secret of NIMH, and even 1985’s Clue, among many others, are currently in development), sequels (a second Bull Durham, a fourth Beverly Hills Cop, a fifth Indiana Jones adventure), and adaptations of everything under the sun. (By the way, I loved that comment you left on the site that one time. In fact, that comment would make a great movie!)

Can you believe everything you read? Well, of course you can, but that doesn’t mean you should. Without consulting any sources, including all your friends who work at Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, take the quiz below and submit your answers to me via e-mail. A winner will be chosen at random and will receive a prize package that includes Hannah Montana: The Movie on Blu-ray, the first season of Peyton Place on DVD, and a free copy of Jack Wagner’s Don’t Give Up Your Day Job, recently reissued on CD by Friday Music. Hey, remember when the General Hospital star made the jump to the big screen in 1984’s Hard to Hold? Or maybe that was somebody else. Oh well, on with the quiz!

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Way Out Wednesday: “Songs and Stories About the Justice League of America”

jla_recordcover(tifton)Here’s another album to go with the Superman and Batman ones I talked about earlier. Although they aren’t credited, these songs are most likely performed by the Merriettes again. This album features the entire Justice League. Unlike the Superman and Batman albums, this actually has songs and stories on it, but since we’re all about the music here, let’s take a listen to the songs.

We’ll start things off with the Justice League’s song. The line-up here is Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Metamorpho, and Plastic Man. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that this particular incarnation of the Justice League never existed. In fact, I don’t think Plastic Man was ever in the League until a few years ago. I really like this song’s swinging organ accompaniment. Listen for the Justice League roll call: Wonder Woman sounds like a guy speaking in falsetto and Batman sounds like an old Jewish man!

The Theme of the Justice League of America

This album also features a song about each of the individual heroes (except for Batman and Superman who, as you know, had their own records). Here’s the song about the Flash. Many of these songs seemed to work from a checklist: give the hero’s true identity, explain his power, and mention something special about him. The first verse is about how fast the Flash is; the second verse covers his real name (Barry Allen), that he works for the police, and that he keeps his Flash costume in a ring on his finger. What else do you need to know?

The Flash

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DVD Review: “Green Lantern: First Flight”

Green Lantern logoThis is the story of how Hal Jordan became the greatest Green Lantern of them all. It’s also about the fall of a once-great man, how heroes are unintentionally made, and the salvation of the universe.

Green Lantern: First Flight (rated PG-13 for its blood and violence) is the latest in DC’s ever-improving line of direct-to-DVD animated films. It doesn’t exactly surpass their previous outstanding release, Wonder Woman, but it does match it in terms of animation, intelligence in its storytelling, allowing its audience to deal with mature themes in a “comic book flick” and pure, overall enjoyment. (more…)

DVD Review: “Wonder Woman”

Wonder Woman (2009, Warner Home Video)
purchase this movie from Amazon: DVD | Blu-ray

I’ve always been wary of many of the direct-to-DVD animated superhero films, from both Marvel and DC. I wasn’t that impressed with Justice League: The New Frontier, nor was I bowled over by Ultimate Avengers. I thought The Next Avengers sucked, and that Batman: Gotham Knight was extremely overrated.

So perhaps it makes sense that it would take the DVD introduction of Wonder Woman–the first and greatest of all female superheroes–to break the mold and deliver one of the best animated adventures ever.

Created by William Moulton Marston in 1941 as the female-empowering answer to Superman and Batman (based on a suggestion from his wife, Elizabeth), Wonder Woman was very nearly an instant smash success, whose powers of flight, near invulnerability, super strength, lasso of truth, powerful wisdom, indestructible bullet deflecting bracelets and bombshell beauty have always stayed nearly unchanging, even though the character herself has undergone various iterations brought on by different writers throughout her publishing history.

The new Wonder Woman direct-to-DVD adventure stays true to her origins in Graeco-Roman mythology, while also borrowing from artist/writer George Perez’ excellent updating of the Amazon’s story in his 1980s run on the title, following DC’s 1985 continuity-revamping epic Crisis On Infinite Earths.

The story begins centuries ago, during a brutal encounter between Amazon forces led by Queen Hippolyta (voice of Virginia Madsen) against Ares (voice of Alfred Molina), the god of war. Hippolyta is enraged that Ares has “forced a child” upon her (the implication is that Ares raped her, much in the way Hercules did in George Perez’ run on the comic), and she’s out for vengeance. Part of that vengeance comes when Hippolyta actually kills the young demi-god, surprising Ares with her will to carry out the act. She then manages to get the upper hand on him and is about to follow suit, until the intervention of Zeus (voice of David McCallum), the king of the gods, who demands Ares be spared. Zeus’ wife Hera (voice of Marg Helgenberger) tempers Hippolyta’s need for payback by setting a pair of power draining bracelets upon Ares, rendering him helpless until and unless those bracelets are removed by another god. By way of atonement for Hippolyta’s misuse by Ares, Hera provides a secluded island for her and the Amazons, where they will remain immortal forever. (more…)