Cape and Cowl One: Superman!

With the proliferation of the superhero movie, it is a good idea to remember our roots and see how the various media outlets have portrayed our favorite heroes and villains, that is the purpose of the Cape and Cowl series! Supes has gotten the absolute most screen time (far more than Batman, Spider-Man, Hulk, etc.). Still, with the thousands of comic book adventures, feature films, television shows and stage productions there are only a handful of people that have donned the tights and represented truth, justice and the American way in the media.

I know I say this all the time, but it is an incredible honor to be able to work in Superman’s world. Being part of that small handful of artists that populate Metropolis, Smallville and Krypton is something I will cherish for the rest of my days. How will we stack up against the following roll call of the world’s biggest Boy Scout? Join us at The Blog of Steel and watch the journey unfold. Until then… this looks like a job for, well, for me.

Movie Review: Rage (2014)

Directed by Paco Cabezas

Movie Review by Greg Goodsell

“This whole mess stinks,” weary Irish Mafia hit man Danny (Michael McGrady) sighs at one point. You're telling me. It was with deep dread that this DVD was submitted to ye humble reviewer, Nicolas Cage's distorted mug prominently featured on the cover. Sure, Cage previously turned in some good performances in halfway decent movies before such as Raising Arizona and Vampire's Kiss, but those days are long past. Cage last starred in the Christian rapture film Left Behind (2014), itself a remake of a 14-year-old film in the role Kirk Cameron played in! Let that sink in for a moment.

Yes, Cage's acting career has long gone down the porcelain convenience by this point, but just before he signed on to Left Behind he found time to star in the violent actioner Rage, released sans rating by the MPAA. Cage stars as Paul Maguire, a successful businessman with a highly shady past in the Irish mob. Fixing to host his lovely daughter Caitlin's Sweet Sixteen party at his former colleagues' dive bar (Max Ryan and McGrady), these plans are put on ice when after she's abducted in a break-in burglary and kidnapping at home with two male friends. After she turns up dead with a gunshot wound to the head, Cage vows vengeance on those responsible. Rallying his buddies, Cage begins the methodical thinning out of the local Russian Mafia. His friend the police commissioner (Danny Glover from the Lethal Weapon series – not looking so good these days) advises him to let justice take its course. There are some good car chase scenes and a shock, surprise ending – due to some shoddy detective work on the part of the police in this film! If anything, Cage's character was justified in taking the law into his own hands.

Movie Review: Guns, Girls and Gambling (2011)

Mickey Mouse roll call...er, should I say, Tarantino casting call, sound off now: Now, let's have a look-see...we have The Rancher...The Cowboy...The Chief...The Indian...John Smith (...sheesh...now, we're just getting ironic)...The Sexy, Gun-Toting, Black-Lycra-Clad Tall-Drink-o-Water, Blonde Assassin (...uh, getting interesting)...The Girl Next Door...Two, Black-Suited Indian Hitmen (...amongst other Indians...uh, excuse me...'Native Americans'...even though, there IS a nasty canasta fellow here, who's actually FROM India...go figure)...The Thieving Prostitute (...naturally)...and a cartel of bad Elvis impersonators, covering a whole spectrum of ethnicity. Toss in a rare & ancient Indian warrior mask, throw all this into one of those informercialled Magic Bullet mini-mix-masters, press 'frappe', and wha' da' ya' got?? 

This amusingly quaint, cleverly deceptive and rather funny little all-star Quentin Tarantino knock-off from 2011, with the grocery-shelf generic title of "Guns, Girls and Gambling"...
 

Atleast, at first glance, that is what most viewers here, may well resign them with...that this is yet another low-grade Tarantino knock-off (...eh, understandable here, as the film opens, trying to be 'eclectically cool', by once again...as some films have done, in the past...playing the 'Elvis' card); however, as the events that transpire here, further unfold...twists and turns, deftly wrapped around a simple, mistaken-identity-driven story of 'what the heck...everyone's trying to kill me, for something that I didn't do'...the clear intent here, was to give the ol' Tarantino style, a sly, clever and humorous 'wink, wink', without actually crossing the line, over into outright parody...

Movie Review: Drive Angry 3D (2011)

Blood, boobs and brutal violence—the three key ingredients to your typical Hollywood “guy flick”—and in the case of Drive Angry 3D, one hell of an action-packed thrill ride. Todd farmer and Patrick Lussier have come together to create one of the best 3D-enhanced movies since the explosion of the latest triple-dimensional trend in cinema. 

Buy Drive Angry on DVD or Blu-ray

Every year, moviegoers are force-fed an unnecessary dose of that extra dimension. Sure it’s cool to be looking down the larger-than-life barrel of a shotgun, or have the debris from a massive explosion come flying within centimeters of your face, but in some movies it just isn’t necessary. Lussier did it right, utilizing the 3D element to amplify every mindlessly awesome visual aspect of the film.