Charlie Chan Collection (Shadows Over Chinatown / Docks of New Orleans / Shanghai Chest / The Golden Eye) (DVD)

ChanCharlie Chan is a great character I’d love to see depicted by an actual Asian man someday and as a brilliant detective surrounded by a world of racists who assume him an ignorant little Oriental man. I’d cast a wonderful Asian actor, and create a very elaborate murder mystery for the resurgence of Charlie Chan. If handed the reins I’d certainly aim for a character that strays from his racist roots, whole hog.

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Iron Man: Rise of Technovore (2013)

Iron-Man-rise-of-TechnovoreMarvel and MadHouse team together to offer fans of Iron Man a really fun and unique animated adventure with Tony Stark and Iron Man. And while it’s short on plot, it more than compensates for that short coming with some dazzling animation, and an excellent sense of pacing that keeps “Rise of Technovore” absolutely engrossing. Though most of the anime efforts from Marvel with Madhouse have the capability of slowing down, “Rise of Technovore” is always moving and always fun.

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Iron Man 3 (2013)

iron-man-3Director Shane Black loves Christmas. Hell, the finale to “Iron Man 3” is a loving tribute to the classic “March of the Wooden Soldiers,” but in the end what makes “Iron Man 3” is not the finer Shane Black touches, but the purely intelligent and utterly volatile commentary on terrorism and the American government that really plants this final entry as the most mature of the “Iron Man” films by far. While “Iron Man” is the most entertaining, “Iron Man 3” has a lot to say about the war on terrorism.

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Marvel's Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

hulk-agents-of-smashDisney and Marvel presents “Hulk and the Agents of Merchandising Possibilities”! Demonstrating the same business model as their rivals at the Cartoon Network, Disney and Marvel’s fusion has guaranteed all the former Marvel shows scrapped in favor of more juvenile and louder action shows. ‘”Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” was taken off in favor of the less complex and more action friendly “Avengers Assemble,” and now Marvel has given Hulk his own vehicle.

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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)

MMPRIt’s kind of sucky that, though “Mighty Morphin” is a solid bit of silly escapism, it’s also a film that promises a lot, but never really amounts to anything, in the end. If you followed “Power Rangers” in the 90’s rabidly like I did, the series was overhauled again after the movie, and everything cool that was in this movie was never featured. Even the cool helmet headlights/scanners. Also, how horrible must it be to live in Angel Grove, eh? Does anyone else suspect this is a hell mouth or is it just me?

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Hey Marvel, How About Another Punisher Movie?

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We’ve reached that time again where we, the Punisher fans of old and new begin wondering what is happening with Frank Castle also known as The Punisher. Last year Marvel Studios bought back their properties including Daredevil and The Punisher and are now basically just sitting on them. And we’re wondering when we’re going to see another bonafide Punisher movie in theaters. Surely making revenge films isn’t that hard an endeavor since every studio has released their own revenge film over the years. But for some reason you’d think making a revenge film about a stone cold avenger with a skull on his black shirt is something that requires rocket science.

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Mortal Kombat (1995)

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After cribbing from the Cronenberg filmmaking handbook in “Event Horizon,” director Paul WS Anderson took the reins of the popular fighting game “Mortal Kombat.” A precursor to his handling of another popular genre game “Resident Evil,” director Anderson handles the adaptation of “Mortal Kombat” much in the way studios enjoy it. He takes a controversial, volatile, and violent video game, and transforms it in to a PG-13 action romp for teenage boys. With “Mortal Kombat” director Anderson almost gets it right. Close but no cigar.

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