One of the interesting aspects of this Star Wars and Serenity one shot is that writer Zach Whedon takes the time out not only to tell interesting stories in a little under fifteen pages, but he draws parallels between the Firefly and Star Wars universe that’s tough to ignore. Deep down Han Solo and Malcolm Reynolds are cut from the same cloth. They’re both street smart pirates, they both love what they do, they both can handle themselves in combat, and they both have creaky old ships that they’d rather die in before giving up. In “The Art of the Bad Deal,” Han and Chewie land on a distant planet where they’re having trouble trading with a particular alien species.
Tag Archives: Science Fiction
Chronicle (2012)
If history has taught us anything, it’s that time and time again it all comes back to the same old adage. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely. A bold mix of “The Craft” and “Akira,” director Josh Trank completely embodies such a notion with “Chronicle” a film that demonstrates what occurs when sentient power is put in the hands of three people with major chips on their shoulders and a god complex. “Chronicle” is in essence a superhero movie without a comic book source, but deep down it’s a brilliant examination of what could happen if real amazing power were to belong to average human beings with their own vendettas and selfish goals. No matter how good a person, deep down we all know it would become incredibly disastrous and absolutely and chaotic.
Robots Killed My Grandma! Our Ten Favorite Robots of Pop Culture
Robots are at an all time high in popularity across the world. Not since the eighties has there been such a surge of robotic characters in pop culture, what with the smashing success of Michael Bay’s “Transformers” movies, the battling bots in “Real Steel,” the upcoming “Battleship,” and the enigmatic David in Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated “Prometheus,” robots are as richly tapped in modern pop culture as ever before. In celebration of the newest trend of robots in modern cinema and media, we compiled ten of our favorite robots of pop culture, ranging from film, TV, comics, and literature. Grease up your rivets, and dive in.
Justice League: Doom (2012)
It’s the Justice League’s worst nightmare. After years of battling petty thugs like the Royal Flush Gang, someone finally figured out how to systematically bring down each and every member of Earth’s most powerful super team. And worse, they’ve figured out a way to psychologically destroy them so they’re each rendered completely impotent in battle. Vandal Savage is at his megalomania again and he has a master plan that will completely ruin how the world operates leaving him the supreme ruler. But first he must eliminate the Justice League. Through a series of scenarios and calculated confrontations, Savage manages to succeed in immobilizing each member of the justice league allowing him adamant time to complete his plan. But he doesn’t count on the secret weapon: Cyborg.
The Avengers (2012)
What Joss Whedon has done is quite spectacular. He’s managed to take what could have been a complete clusterfuck of a movie and compacted every single hero and their mythos within two and a half hours, while also being able to introduce new heroes we can root for in the process. “The Avengers” is a true accomplishment of not only studio ambition but comic book cinema, a true masterpiece of the fantasy genre that piles together Marvel’s greatest heroes for a film many comic book fans have dreamed of having for decades. “The Avengers” incidentally is one of the many variations of Akira Kurosawa’s unparalleled masterpiece “Seven Samurai.” In “The Avengers” much like Kurosawa’s masterpiece, a thuggish villain rears his ugly head prepared to take down a land of innocent people for their own selfish purposes. Only when seven mismatched and unique heroes join forces and put aside their egos to defend the land does the villain meet his match. Ultimately while “The Avengers” is in fact an ambitious project that’s been planned from the get go, the film feels very meticulously crafted.
Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace (2011)
Wow. That’s all I can say right now. Wow. “Lego Star Wars” is good. Really good. In fact it’s quite great. It’s funny. It’s witty. It’s clever. And in many ways it’s brilliant. Sure it’s Lego propaganda meant for the kids, but there’s so much humor that will be accessible to Star Wars geeks, that it’s tough not to enjoy this. This is one of the finest examples of “Star Wars” satire that I’ve seen since “Robot Chicken.” Basically, the premise is as simple as it can get. Yoda is on a field trip with a group of Jedi Padawans and on their last stop of the trip, they visit the Galactic Senate to see how the political system works.
Archetype (2012)
These days in an effort to get movies off the ground, indie filmmakers are prone to creating short films that exposit the concept of their feature film for the audience allowing them a chance to expand upon it should they be offered a chance by studios. That’s the basic reasoning for “Archetype.” Made for a little money, “Archetype” is actually quite excellent for such a short film that works as a prologue for the premise of Aaron Sims’ film. What happens when artificial intelligence becomes so intelligent it’s convinced it led a past life? And what happens when the corporation that created the AI finds little ability to convince them otherwise?