Blog Archives
Cheap Trick’s ‘We’re All Allright’ Proves They Are Exactly That
Although they may have money, fame, and hordes of adoring fans, it must be tough to be an iconic rock and roll band. Every time they release a new batch of material, they run the risk of sounding either too much like their previous selves, or not enough. Worse still is being confronted with the dreaded “return to form” cliché.
For a band like Cheap Trick, it’s even dicier. To which “form” should they return? The sardonic hard rock of their debut? The bubblegum power pop of “Dream Police”? The AOR of “The Flame”? After over four decades in the biz, they’ve covered a lot of ground, so deciding which direction to take presents an ongoing quandary that I don’t envy.
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Now Streaming On Shudder: Nicolas Roeg’s ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’
David Bowie starred in quite a few movies during his career, including Labyrinth, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, and Absolute Beginners. Perhaps none is more metatextual, however, than Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 film The Man Who Fell To Earth.
An “Anne Of Green Gables” Superfan Watches The Latest Adaptation
I’ve been obsessed with Anne of Green Gables since I was a kid, and I’m always a bit nervous when new adaptations appear. I never want to see anything that ruins my Anne, so as I sat down to watch the PBS Holiday special, I crossed my fingers, and did my best to keep an open mind.
Creations of Chaos: When Marnie Was There
An orphan, a mystery, and a secret friendship: in this edition of Creations of Chaos, I reconnect with the types of stories I obsessed over as a child, as I discuss Studio Ghibli’s When Marnie Was There.
Review: “Suicide Squad” Is All Guts, No Glory, And That’s OK
You don’t have to go very far to get an opinion on the new Suicide Squad film. Chances are, you hit the Internet and the first thing that comes up are the negative reviews. And there are a lot of them.
It’s a shame, really. All of us comic book and pop culture fans wanted the film to be great, didn’t we? We wanted to be thrilled at the idea of a group of hardened criminals, forced to work together for a greater good. We wanted to see the new twists and turns of the DC Expanded Universe (DCEU) as its film empire gets firmly rooted, takes shape, ushers us all forward. Hell, we wanted to see Jared Leto’s crazy-looking Joker!
The truth is the film is certainly flawed in its story. You just can’t hide that fact. But the film is not as bad as the many reviews have been saying, thank goodness.
Suicide Squad is not pretty, but it’s definitely got some guts – and a lot of heart – in it.
From High Upon The Pulpit Comes “Absolute Preacher Vol. 1” On The Wednesday Run
“Oh shit. I have to buy a third copy.”
Those were the words uttered by an anonymous friend (and unnamed contributor to this site) after a recent enjoyable Saturday morning breakfast consisting of fried eggs, bacon, hash browns, buttered toast, multiple cups of black coffee and chit chat and laughs about swear words, school graduation tickets for parents of tweens, Alan Moore’s penchant for perversity, an incredible Euro run by Wales, and, most importantly to this particular paragraph and the dialogue listed directly above it, today’s release of the “Absolute” version of Preacher.
You see, there are Preacher fans out there. Hardcore Preacher fans.
It’s one of the quintessential Vertigo Comics series from when Vertigo Comics was relevant. It’s held up there with high esteem right beside Sandman, early Hellblazer and Doom Patrol.
The series changed the way people thought about how stories were told in comics, for God’s sake. And I don’t use the word “God” glibly. I mean literally.
Today sees the release of Absolute Preacher Vol. #1. And if you don’t know much about it, you need to find out.
BBP’s Running Reviews Of: BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
You couldn’t have missed it.
Last weekend, the latest large-popcorn, comic book superhero, cinematic-universe-builder blockbuster, dropped into movie theatres everywhere.
And much like the citizens of fictional Metropolis, none of us could escape the heavy-handed and all-encompassing fallout from both advertising and on-line word of mouth. A strange thing happened after you bought your theatre tickets in advance.
Last week the online crowd roared loader than Doomsday. People hated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Loathed it, in fact.
But was it all that bad?
Over the course of the day, Biff Bam Pop! writers will give their high level take on the film. Check back regularly, as more contributions are added to this post of reviews that are sure to run the gamut of praise and abhorrence.
Let’s not waste another bat-second. Our heroic thoughts on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice are but a super-jump away!
Review: DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE (Part 2)
With all the action surrounding the holiday season, you can forgive me for not actually reading last week’s release of Dark Knight III: The Master Race #2 until last night. Yes, I was anxious to read it. I loved the first issue – our review of which you can find here. I just wasn’t able to get to it sooner. Chalk it up to life’s obligations.
Which is a fitting obligation, I suppose, as that is also Batman’s pre-eminent responsibility: fighting crime. Until his bitter end.
Which, we’re told in last month’s issue, already happened.
Bruce Wayne is dead. Carrie Kelly is now wearing the cowl and cape. Superman and Wonder Woman have a super-powered (and willful) teenage daughter. And there’s a rising threat.
Follow me after the jump for a brief review of Dark Knight III: The Master Race #2 and to discover some answer to last month’s oft-asked questions!
Review: DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE (Part 1)
Let’s start with the most important question this week: was it any good?
If you didn’t already know – and really, we all already knew – Dark Knight III: The Master Race #1 was released yesterday, the first issue of an eight-part series from DC Comics starring their most marketable character, Batman. It was, of course, our pick of the week yesterday.
For good or for bad, acclaimed comic book creator Frank Miller was commissioned to return to The Dark Knight Returns character and the story line that helped define a whole generation (or two) of comic book publishing nearly thirty years ago: grim, gritty, realism, that was an abject departure from the majority of 1960’s and 1970’s comic book storytelling that featured heroic science fiction and flights of fantasy by colourful costumed characters.
There is much riding on the new series including the reputation of the creators involved, the glowing legacy of the original series, and the under-scrutiny leadership of the publishing company that green-lit the project.
So, was it worthwhile? Was the first issue any good?
The answer to that question is yes. Yes, it was. And in many ways, it was very good. Here’s why:
The new Vacation delivers the laughs
This last summer saw the release of Vacation, the sequel cum reboot of the beloved National Lampoon’s Vacation series that starred Chevy Chase and Beverley D’Angelo. I don’t say I was a huge fan of the franchise growing up – I was actually more of a Fletch fan rather than a Vacation one. While I thought the trailers for this Vacation looked very, very funny, I just didn’t make it out to the movies to see this one. However, when a copy arrived in my mail last week, I had my chance to catch up.
The verdict: Vacation is indeed very, very funny.
