Push (2009) - Film Capsule

Heroes: A bunch of ordinary people with extraordinary abilities.

Villains: Agents of "The Division"

Diabolical Scheme: The Division wants to enhance the abilities of the gifted to make super soldiers.

Coolest Moment(s): When the screaming "bleeders" made swimming fish explode in their tanks within a Hong Kong market.

Worst Moment: The parts I didn't understand. There were lots of them. And the part with the drunk kid.

Comic Book Logic: How come keeping plans hidden within envelopes keeps watchers from seeing the future.

Opening Weekend: $10,079,109

Total Domestic Box Office: $31,811,527

Review in 50 Words or Less: The look of the film and named types of psychics (i.e. pushers, watchers, sniffs, bleeders) establish a fresh take on a stale X-Men / Heroes premise of real-world superheroes. But although the film looked good, I (no one's dummy) had an awfully hard time following the story or lack thereof.

The Justice League: A Super Friendly Tour (Part 13)

Justice League

In 2001, the Justice League reassembled. The animated series consisted of 52 mostly multi-part episodes giving the series an epic feel absent in previous "Friends" iterations. This time, the team had a 7 member core composed of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern John Stewart, The Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl.

The series opened with a three-parter presenting the team's formation to battle alien invaders. Actually, the series also ended with a three-parter where the League also fended off alien invaders- though this time the invaders were from the Hawk World forcing long time Leaguer Hawkgirl to choose a side. I guess the League did spend a lot of time fighting aliens.


In between invasions, episodes featured guest heroes including Aquaman, Etrigan the Demon, Metamorpho, The Green Lantern Corps, and Dr. Fate who joined the League to fend off such threats as Darkseid, AMAZO, Dr Destiny, Gorilla Grodd, Solomon Grundy, Mongul, Morgaine le Faye, Felix Faust, and villainous teams including the Royal Flush Gang, the Justice Lords, the Injustice Gang, and the Secret Society. Oh, and they fought some other aliens too.



This incarnation of the League also starred in a crossover on the Static Shock series titled A League of Their Own, where they helped to defeat Brainiac. Static would return the favor by guest starring in the next Justice League series.

The show aired until 2004 when it was decided that 7 members just wasn't enough, and the League roster should be "Unlimited."

Availability: On DVD

Up Next: Justice League Unlimited

The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure * Super Friends * The All New Super Friends Hour * Challenge of the Super Friends * Legends of the Superheroes * The World's Greatest Super Friends * Super Friends (Shorts) * Super Friends (Lost Episodes) * Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show * The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians * Justice League of America (TV Pilot) * Justice League Unlimited on Batman Beyond * Justice League

Marvel Babies Hero Up

This show could either be kinda fun or a train wreck. It basically looks like the Marvel Babies duking it out. I will probably check it out next month on Cartoon Network, but I am not too optimistic. Then again Batman: The Brave and the Bold turned out pretty good. And at least this has a jam packed line-up (sans Spider-Man). That could be fun.

This is how the show has been described:

When the greatest heroes on the planet unite to face the world's greatest villains, you get the biggest, most family-friendly Super Hero team-up in TV history… The Super Hero Squad Show. It's no small job protecting Super Hero City from the wild, weird (& even wacky) villainy of Villainville's infamous baddies… but Iron Man, Wolverine, the Hulk, the Silver Surfer, Thor and the Falcon are always up for the job.

Shouting "Hero Up!" as they rush into battle, the Squad must keep Dr. Doom's minions from gathering pieces of the Infinity Sword. Otherwise, Doom will use the Sword to rule the universe! Luckily, the City is filled with Marvel super-hero guest-stars to help out in a pinch. These brave heroes totally deliver the action – but with plenty of humor on the side.

And here is the sneak peek, sorry for the abysmal quality:

Iron Manime and Wolveranime

Marvel is making a couple of anime series, reimagining characters for Japanese audiences. Iron Man and Wolverine are the first two series and here are some early looks. Sounds interesting, but after my disappointing reaction to Batmanime last year, I am cautiously optimistic.

FE Man



WOLVIE

Planet Hulk Trailer Smash

UPDATE: Thor: Tales of Asgard has been delayed until 2011 to milk coincide with the live action film. So Marvel has dropped their animated releases to just 1 per year. It was pretty obvious that something was up, I guess this explains it. Once again I say, "Make Mine DC."

Although there is supposedly a Thor Direct to Video movie coming out in September, Comic Con instead favored us with a look at next February's Planet Hulk animated feature - which will place the character in 5 of Marvel's 8 animated features thus far. Can you say overexposure? Although I must say his last outing in Hulk VS was probably my favorite of their crop. I am just a little confused. I mean, I get that DC puts Batman and Superman out there a lot. But I just don't think Thor (also appearing in 5 of 8 movies) or Hulk has the same appeal. And where is Spider-Man in all of this? He hasn't been in a single movie and Wolverine (Marvels other golden boy) has only been in one! Anyways, sorry for the rant, but I think Marvel's line is fizzling out.

Perhaps adapting Planet Hulk from the popular comic book story line, might be just what the franchise needs. Its the tired and formulaic origin stories of Iron Man, Doc Strange, and most likely Thor, that have sapped my excitement for theses Marvel movies. The movies seem more like long pilot episodes of nonexistent series than stand alone features., and just when things get going, the credits roll. Who knows, Planet Hulk may be good, but I can say I am anticipating Green Lantern and Superman Batman: Public Enemies both about 100 times more. I think I can wait until its in the $4.99 bargain bin (a month or two after release) before picking up Planet Hulk.