Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2007 film)

So Valerian is... okay. I hate to say that, as I hung a lot of hopes on this film, especially since I'm a fan of wild space opera adventures, which is a genre that's always struggled to take off outside of Stars Wars or, more recently, Guardians of the Galaxy. Jupiter Ascending was a painful film to see bomb, even though I fully get why it didn't take off, and I still want someone to adapt Lensmen, dammit, so we need something more to show this genre has viable legs. Unfortunately, Valerian isn't going to change that. I enjoyed watching it, it's funny, exciting, looks beautiful, and does a nice job exploring a James Bond-style globes-spanning espionage thriller in a setting filled with aliens and even tourist-rich alternate dimensions.

[Masters of Carpentry] Halloween: Resurrection

At Masters of Carpentry, Alex and I usher the original Halloween franchise to its close as we digest, discuss, and frequently laugh at the eight entry in the franchise, where Laurie Strode dies of a contractual obligation, metacommentary explorations of reality tv and video games are underdeveloped yet appreciated, and Busta Rhymes delivers flying roundhouse kicks to our feared killer's head. Check it out here.

[Masters of Carpentry] Ghosts of Mars

At Masters of Carpentry, Alex and I are again joined by Kevin O'Shea to discuss the scifi/action/horror mashup which almost marked the end of John Carpenter's feature directorial career. Language is garbled by denchers, balloons erupt in a multitude of explosions, Jason Statham is snubbed out of a lead role, and Ice Cube tells us all to put our damn hands down. Check it out here.

[Greystoked] Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

At Greystoked, Michael and I are joined by comic writer Ron Marz for the 1932 classic Tarzan the Ape Man, the first of twelve films starring Johnny Weissmuller in a role that became a cinematic icon. Check it out here.

[Masters of Carpentry] Silent Predators

At Masters of Carpentry, Evie and I do our best to find things to talk about as we explore the 1999 tv movie Silent Predators, based on a screenplay John Carpenter wrote all the way back in 1976. A small town finds itself invaded by a horde highly-toxic, highly-territorial hybrid snakes, and their only hope is the perpetually confused stare of Harry Hamlin. Check it out here.

[A Random Podcast] Iron Fist

Download MP3

My friend (and Long Box Carpentry co-host) JD and I had many things we wanted to say about the Netflix TV series adaptation of Iron Fist, so we figured, hey, why not record a completely random podcast about it. And debut the episode 2 months after the TV show was released and everyone else has moved on from talking about it. Yay!

Follow JD DeMotte on Twitter, and check out his shows Comics Are Awesome! and From the Pages on YouTube, and his occasional appearances on The Defenders Podcast.

[Greystoked] 1910-1920s Recap

Michael and I look back on the first two decades of Tarzan in cinema, placing it against the backdrop of the original novels, other appearances in pop culture, and other jungle heroes created before and along the way. Check it out here.

[Long Box Carpentry] Halloween, Part 1 - The Chaos! Year

The first of three episodes in which JD and I look at comic book tie-ins for the Halloween films, beginning with the year they spent at a comic company so EXTREME that they have an exclamation point right there in the logo. Join us for the continuing adventures of Tommy Doyle and the Cult of the Thorn as the writer of Halloween 6 keeps trying his damnedest to make Halloween 6 relevant. Check it out here!

[Greystoked] Tarzan the Tiger (1929)

Michael and I are once again joined by David May for a look at this transitional film which, while still largely silent, began adding in sound effects, a synched score, and our very first awkward Tarzan yell! Frank Merrill, the former stunt double of Elmo Lincoln, is back in the pelts for the second and final of his headlining serials, as Tarzan faces a jealous queen, multiple amnesiac blows to the head, a massive rubber crocodile, and the prettiest pouch of pebbles you've ever seen. Check it out here!

GUEST SPOT! Shot/Reverse Shot: Five Came Back

Edwin Davies (who writes magnificent film reviews on A Mighty Fine Blog - seriously, I can't recommend his work highly enough) had me on his film podcast Shot/Reverse Shot to discuss Five Came Back, a new Netflix documentary series where modern legends of the film industry talk about the group from the past who banded together during WWII to make propagandist films which not only drove the public perception of the war, but established new techniques for how documentaries would continue to be made for decades to come. Check it out here!