Howard the Duck (1986) - Film Capsule

Heroes: Howard

Villains: Dark Overlords

Diabolical Scheme: A Dark Overlord wants to use the same space laser that brought Howard to Earth from a parallel dimension to bring his Overlord friends to Earth.

Coolest Moment(s): I guess since the worst elements are what makes this a camp classic, the "coolest moments" are endless duck puns (ala "I know Quack-Fu") and of course duck boobs.

Worst Moment: I mean, the DVD case claims "fun for the whole family." That really doesn't imply duck boobs.

Opening Weekend: $5,070,136

Total Domestic Box Office: 16,295,774

Adjusted Domestic Total: around $32,092,000

Review in 50 Words or Less: The premise isn't the only thing wrong with this movie, though it is a big problem. Having a duck face off with a demon after trying to seduce Marty McFly's mom is bizarre, but working in zany Quack-Fu showdowns with street thugs, then clubbers, then truckers was just tiresome.

Super Spoof

As much as I hate giving publicity to The Family Guy, the lampooned Super friends title sequence cant go without a mention. Compare the original with the "hilarious" frame by frame reimagining. You know, that's the thing about Family Guy, simply referencing something old, does not equal funny. There is nothing clever here. Though I guess it does get you plenty of free advertising. Oh, and they didn't even mention the Wonder Twins, the most obvious thing to spoof...

Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (2006) - Film Capsule

Heroes: The Teen Titans

Villains: Brushogun... or someone else?

Diabolical Schemes: Brushogun is releasing colorful monsters in Tokyo causing tension between the Titans and the Tokyo Troopers who insist they don't need any help.

Coolest Moment(s): Cyborg binging on all you can eat octopus

Review in 50 Words or Less: Now this is an example of a wasted opportunity. Rather than building on established threats from the series, this movie introduced a new and fairly lame villain. There are decent amounts of humor, but events in this movie have no effect on the broad tale of the Teen Titans.

The Phantom Returns

The first look at SyFy's Phantom reboot is online. Sadly, it looks about on par for SyFy productions. I think its still aiming for a 2010 debut.

Evolution of the Batman (and Robin) - Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder

Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder also called The Adventures of Batman was originally created as half of the Batman / Superman Hour. Each half hour of Batman consisted of two stories, 1 short 6 1/2 minute segment, and 1 13 minute story consisting of two segments.

In all 34 sets of half hour entertainment were produced. In 1969, the Batman episodes split from the Superman/Boy episodes and were aired alone. The show was originally ordered as an animated incarnation of the popular 60's series and began airing in 1968.

Along with Batman, Robin, and Batgirl also appeared, all appearing fairly similarly to their live-action counterparts.

The big four baddies (Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman) also appeared though their appearances were not as close to those on the live action series.

Other villains Mr. Freeze, the Scarecorw, and Simon the Pieman also dropped in during the series brief run.

Up Next: Batman Meets Scooby Doo

Batman Serial * Batman and Robin Serial * Batman '66 TV * Batman '66 Movie * Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder