Superman/Shazam!: The Return Of Black Adam

2010
Directed By Joaquim Dos Santos

SYNOPSIS
An anthology of shorts featuring DC super heroes including a Superman/Captain Marvel team-up, The Spectre, Green Arrow, and Jonah Hex.

MY THOUGHTS


I went in to this expecting a full-length Superman/Captain Marvel match-up (as depicted on the cover) so I was surprised when their story ended after about 25 minutes in... but pleased with the three other stories that followed.

Captain Marvel is a sorely underused character. He was the most popular super hero during the 1940s.  DC Comics sued Fawcett Comics, claiming the character was a rip-off of Superman, and won.... which sent Captain Marvel into DC's ownership and obscurity. The company tried unsuccessfully to revive him several times through the years. The story essentially is his origin and how he acquired the power of Shazam! Superman is added in for good measure and they battle Black Adam.

The Spectre was next. I never read a Spectre comic before and didn't know much about the supernatural character, so thankfully, it presented another origin story. The short was able to capture an early 70s low-budget action/horror film vibe with music and the animation which replicated a natural lighting look.

Third up featured Justice League mainstay Green Arrow The story is essentially one long and thrilling action sequence at an airport.

Lastly, we visit the old west with Jonah Hex. Here, he appears as intended (unlike the live-action bomb from last year.) The story is simple, stylish, and action-poacked just like the tales from the comic.

As a whole, the stories stand apart from each other visually and content-wise and perfectly matched the anthology comic style the filmmakers were going for. It was nice seeing some of the more b-level characters of the DC Universe get a chance to shine.

DC has put out yet another outstanding direct-to-disc animated adventure(s).

Still Bill

2009
Directed By Damani Baker, Alex Vlack


SYNOPSIS

The documentary profiles singer-songwriter Bill Withers, who after several hits in the late 1960s and 70s walked away from the music business in the 80s to focus on his family.

MY THOUGHTS

I knew the songs well, but didn't know about the man who made them.

Still Bill quickly uses clips of his 4 most famous songs (Ain't No Sunshine, Lean On Me, Use Me, Just The Two Of Us) to establish his talent and gets them out of the way so we know we'll focus more on the present-day Bill (and some lesser-known music.)

Bill Withers was a late-bloomer, first recording in his early 30s, so his success didn't go to his head like it would with a much younger guy... though he was never comfortable with fame. He comes across as an unassuming, humble man that you would never assume to be so talented.

Still Bill follows Withers around and films his daily interactions with his wife and 2 grown kids, along with sit-down interviews. Withers also meets with Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley for a genial conversation... and we follow Bill as he heads back to West Virginia for a high school reunion, which coincidentally takes place on his 70th birthday.
Though he doesn't play professionally anymore, Bill still writes and records music for his own pleasure and we do get a taste of that as well.

The film doesn't contain any "Behind The Music"-style tragedies/drug problems/arrests. Withers has kept his life clean, so there's not much tension or conflict. You could say that hurts the film, but it just shows how different Withers was from his peers.

The film clocks in at less than 80 minutes which is short, but it covers the man so well it feels thorough. You really feel you know and understand him by film's end.

Blu-Ray Review: The Wild Bunch

1969
Directed By Sam Peckinpah

Warner Brothers delivers another superior catalog title and the notoriously violent western has never looked better at home.

The disc features the 1994 director's cut of the film.
Despite the blu-ray's budget price, it doesn't skimp on extras.
It features commentary by 4 Peckinpah biographers and documentarians that shed light on the making of the film and the filmmaker.
In addition the disc includes 3 documentaries. Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade looks at the director and focuses mainly on the westerns he made during his too-brief career and his self-destructive behavior.
The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage provides insight into the film's production with behind the scenes film and photos.
Plus, there's a 20 minute excerpt of A Simple Adventure Story:Sam Peckinpah, Mexico and the Wild Bunch that revisits many of the film's iconic locations like the opening robbery and climactic battle and we see what they look like today.
Though the 3 documentaries cover much of the same ground they never seem to repeat each other, so you could sit and watch all three back to back without getting bored.
Trailers for The Wild Bunch and several other Peckinpah films are also along for the ride.
As for the film, the colors are dynamic during the day scenes even with the grainy film stock used to convey the gritty atmosphere. At night the film is excessively grainy, but that's the way it was shot. The film was remastered with 5.1 audio.

If you've never seen this epic western, this disc is the best way to view Sam Peckinpah's masterpiece.

The Transatlantic Tunnel

1935 - England
Directed By Maurice Elvey



SYNOPSIS
A group of scientists led by Mack (Richard Dix) proposes an undersea tunnel to connect Britain and the United States. His dedication to his work causes him to miss his young son's birthday angering his wife (Madge Evans.) She has an affair with Mack's business partner Robbie (Leslie Banks) leading to a divorce. After several years of work, Mack's son is grown and working in the mine when a major disaster strikes.

MY THOUGHTS

While watching The Transatlantic Tunnel, I couldn't help but think of some of the more serious-minded sci-fi films of the 1950's like Destination: Moon or It: The Terror From Beyond Space. Those films featured bland but driven scientists working toward accomplishing a great mission in space.  This is the same setup, but  underground.

The acting is bland, but that could be due to the script. Like the later 50's sci-fi fare, Tunnel doesn't give any dimension to its characters. Each character seemingly only has one motivation throughout the film. Mack's only focus is on completing the tunnel. His son only wants to make his dad proud, the wife wants love and attention, etc.

The script (based on a book) also lacks depth or subtlety and feels like a rush-job. It clearly sets up the tunnel as a dangerous place... so when Mack's son joins up to work there, even a kid watching their first movie would not be surprised at what happens next. Mack is written so one-dimensionally, the film never gives him time to grieve. The relationship between Mack and his wife is also handled without much subtlety or even tension.

Tunnel's greatest feat is its vision of the future. It takes place in the near future (near to 1935) and has far-out gadgets like videophones, television, and massive drills. I'm sure the British filmmakers could hear the war drums pounding in Europe and knew a tunnel connecting them with America would be very topical concept to address.

The set designs of the tunnel are outstanding. They resemble some of the more imaginative underground sets from the original Star Trek series, but look far more realistic in black and white than Trek's (often silly) Technicolor palate.

This is the sort of film that Hollywood SHOULD remake. It's a great concept that is poorly executed here.