December's TV Party - Shocking Preview!!! Options

[Gordon_D]

(Well, the title did get your attention...)

Anyway, just a little teaser for the next TV Party - I'm going to focus on my favorite comic/cartoon adaptation released in 2008.

Hint: it's not The Dark Knight....nor is it Iron Man.

And yes, it's been released, so it's not a Christmas movie.

Hmmm.....think about that....and please discuss.....

[G-Man]

I would like to buy a "W" please.

[Gordon_D]

I would like to buy a "W" please.

Nope, no W.....

[ChuckMoore]

Hmmm.... I honestly don't know so I'm free to guess. It wouldn't have the initials "S" and "R" would it?

[Gordon_D]

Hmmm.... I honestly don't know so I'm free to guess. It wouldn't have the initials "S" and "R" would it?

Chuck,

Well, since I've already written about GhoSt Rider.....

Gordon

[Katie Riley]

I just read it and you make a convincing argument.

[Ron Fortier]

I remember seeing this at the theater with maybe 15 other people. Most of them kid, two senior and the rest of us in-betweeners.
The razzle-dazzle never ending cinematography bothered me a lot and there were times I wish they would have stopped it to let us catch
our visual legs. Being off-balance isn't always fun. The main characters acting was so one dimensional, I was yawning every time he was on camera, and the races themselves were so cartoony, how on earth could you feel any real danger for your hero? Don't get me wrong, I
liked many things about the film, including Racer X, by far the most exciting part of the film. And Goodman gave a half way decent performance as Pops. But Susan Sarandon and Ricci were both wasted. You say ask for it for Christmas, quite honestly the only way I'll ever own this mess IS if someone gives it to me. That's how I got BATMAN & ROBIN, the worst comic book movie of all time.
Sorry to be down on SPEED, but it should have been lots better. Especially from the guys who gave us V FOR VENDETTA. And my parting shot, of course Robert Downey Jr. played himself...isn't that who Tony Stark really is?

[Katie Riley]

But Ron,

You have to admit...the link to the Brussel Sprouts was really funny.

I thought so anyway...but hey, that's just me.

[ChuckMoore]

I was determined to never give the film a chance, but I have to admit that Gordon has at least caused me to want to pull up to the table and try a bit of this one.

Gordon, do you think it helps or hurts if you were a massive fan of the original show? I ask as I wasn't. Not because I didn't like the show, but rather I simply never watched it. I was always a bit more of a Johnny Quest guy myself...

[Gordon_D]

The main characters acting was so one dimensional, I was yawning every time he was on camera, and the races themselves were so cartoony, how on earth could you feel any real danger for your hero? Don't get me wrong, I
liked many things about the film, including Racer X, by far the most exciting part of the film. And Goodman gave a half way decent performance as Pops.

First, Ron does have some great points - the only defense I would have of the movie (besides the column) is that it takes its cartoonishness seriously. There were times (especially towards the very end) where I wished they had made some strategic cuts, and maybe made the film a little shorter (it's about 2 hours ten minutes). But maybe the Wachowski's turned up a visuals a little too much...so much that for some (like Ron) it distracted from the story.

Katie - always grateful to make jokes about vegetables.

And Chuck...I don't know if you need to have been a fan of the original show to enjoy this movie. I was a fan when I was a child, but when I watched an episode of Hulu, I wondered what I saw in it. (Perhaps I had outgrown it?) But no, you don't have to be...and quite personally, I prefer Jonny Quest myself (I think it holds up much better in modern times)...

Gordon

[Ron Fortier]

Katie, I totally missed the vegetable joke. Duh. Yes, it is funny. Chuck, although I am giving the movie a thumbs down, I'm in no way saying it was the worst movie of the year. Far from it. And as I stated in my own mini-review here, there were parts that I did like quite a lot. Gordon nails it with the film could have cut maybe 20 minutes (no more) and had a much better pacing. I recall some of the severer film critics complaining that a movie about a racer didn't move fast enough. Ouch. And the visuals are amazing....but too much of them ...well, I don't want to repeat myself here. I do recommend people at least rent it and see for themselves, and in my humble opinion its
way better then the cartoons from which it sprang. Speed Racer was never Jonny Quest.

[Gordon_D]

I do recommend people at least rent it and see for themselves, and in my humble opinion its way better then the cartoons from which it sprang. Speed Racer was never Jonny Quest.

On that point, Mr. Fortier, we are in total agreement!

(And wait until January's column....it's about a series that was just released on DVD, and which demonstrates that before you get things right, you sometimes have to get things horribly wrong)

Gordon

[G-Man]

The new feature that allows readers to check into the archives of every column on the Comic Related site is great....just went back and read several of your past columns.....I've never read anything of yours past Jan 2008 for some reason.

Great stuff. Gordon. I'm a bigger T.V. Party fan than ever now!

I especially liked this one....T.V.Party Wish List from late 2007.

http://www.comicrelated.com/display.php?it...y%20Wish%20List

Also enjoyed the latest column.....I was very excited when Birds of Prey first aired...but only watched it for the first three episodes.

I thought the girl that played Huntress was the best part but unfortunately she couldn't carry the show. Also liked Barbara Gordon but the thng that turned me off the show more than anything else was the way the handled Black Canary.

Not a big fan of how she was handled in the Smallville series either...but she kicked butt in the Justice League animated series!!! Some of my favorite episodes had Black Canary in them.

[Ron Fortier]

Gordon you were so on the money about Birds of Prey TV show. When it started, I was really pulling for it big time. But as the weeks went by, it became so hit and miss, I eventually lost interest. Which was too bad. Obviously the show's cancellation came as no big surprise.
And you aren't the only dude who dreams of Dina Meyer. Oh yeah.

[Gordon_D]

Thanks, Ron & G-Man, for the comments -

I did check out Birds of Prey out of curiosity; I had missed the show its first go round....but after struggling through discs three and four, I was really glad it was over.

In a way, for me it's the flip side of BRISCO COUNTY, JR - I loved Brisco, but couldn't see how it could go into a second season. (It seemed like a great deal of creativity went into the first season, and trying to top that might be a little difficult). With BOP, I thought that there was so much confusion over where the show should go....that it never really went anywhere.

And quite frankly, although I liked the idea of a teen girl being "trained"....why not have an adult Canary playing good sis/bad sis with Huntress while having a "new" character come in? Again, it's one of those "check out the first disc and final episode" deals....but nothing worth owning.

Also, for February's column, I'll be writing about The Prisoner in light of McGoohan's passing....but I think I have kind of a unique take. (Plus, I want to talk about some of the attempts to adapt it to comics).