Top 25 superhero films, period.

In doing the top MCU and Fox-Marvel flicks, it occurred to me that when I do reviews, I also often try to place a new flick in the top ones of all time, which made it occur to me, I should actually know what those are.

So, here was my criteria for whittling this down, and building it back up.
I broke it down into Disney-Marvel, Fox-Marvel, Sony-Marvel, DC, and off-brand.

Then, I just shaved off the top 5 for each of those.

Disney and Fox I already had.
Nothing pre-MCU outside of Fox and Sony cracked a top 20 for me, so that was easy enough to sweep away.
I bumped up Iron Man a notch, cuz that had to be in there.
That was my only kinda cheat.

DC was easy, I just tossed in the Dark Knight trilogy plus two more, and sacrificed "Dark Knight Rises", in favor of "Watchmen".
Nothing DCEU cracks a top 5 for me yet.
Top 10, different story, but, well...
Maybe "Wonder Woman", will change that.

There are only 5 Spideys minus "Homecoming", and I haven't seen "Homecoming", so I can't rank it yet.
The bottom 2 of the 5 Spideys don't belong in any top 20, so that was easy to sweep away.
Killing those gave me an extra 2 for the off-brand list.

So, having those, I just kept each top 5 (or 3, or 7) in its order, but wove them together.
And here it is.

1. Logan

2. The Dark Knight

3. Captain America: Civil War

4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

5. The Avengers

6. Deadpool

7. X-Men: Days Of Future Past

8. Guardians Of The Galaxy

9. Iron Man

10. Batman Begins

11. Watchmen

12. X-Men: First Class

13. Spider-Man 2

14. The Incredibles

15. Batman Returns

16. Superman The Movie

17. Super

18. X2: X-Men United

19. The Crow

20. The Amazing Spider-Man

21. Spider-Man

22. Robocop

23. Dredd

24. Hellboy

25. The Toxic Avenger


Bada-boom, bada-bing!
Honorable mentions go to "Chronicle", "Swamp Thing", "Big Hero 6", "Defendor", "The Punisher (2003)", "Punisher: War Zone", "Blade", and "Kick-Ass".

Another baseline to make future reviews!
See you next time for "Wonder Woman", and "Spider-Man: Homecoming".


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Prelude to Spider-Man: Homecoming.

All the links building up to this momentous occasion.
It was a long, rough, messy road...

Previously on Spider-Man...

• All of them but Amazing.
• All of them but Amazing again.
• Amazing.
• Amazing 2.
• Amazing 2 again.
• Sony's wacky Spidey-verse plans before the hack.
• Sony's wacky Spidey-verse plans before the hack-2.
• Sony's wacky Spidey-verse plans before the hack-3.
• Prelude to the Sony/Marvel/Spidey deal.
• More prelude to the Sony/Marvel/Spidey deal.
• The Sony/Marvel/Spidey deal happens.
• Spidey #3 casted.
• Disney fixes Spidey in 15 fucking minutes!!!
• Ditto the above!

Also, on the Sony front, "Glass Ceiling", is back as "Silver and Black", and Venom is back with Tom Hardy in the title role.

And on the Marvel front, Spidey will return in Avengers 3 & 4, Homecoming 2, and a mystery cameo in one other pre-Avengers flick, and after that...who knows?

There, now when I do the Homecoming review, I'll just need one link. :-P


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Ranking the Fox-X-Men-verse so far (2017)

Same drill as the MCU list.
Here we go...

1. Logan

Bam, best hands down. Period.
That was easy.
We'll miss you, Hugh.

2. Deadpool

Was the best until "Logan".

3. X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Still the best one with "X-Men", in the title.
The Avengers of X-Men.

4. X-Men: First Class

Was the best until "Future Past".

5. X2: X-Men United

Was the best until "First Class".

6. X-Men: Apocalypse

I've cooled on this a bit, but like I said here, its good parts (Fassbenders acting in the first half, Quicksilver's run) outweigh the minuses. Still just behind the top 5.

7. X-Men

Started it all.
"Blade", opened the door, this stepped through.
Would be just behind X2, but, c'mon, "Apocalypse", has Quicksilver.
Plus, this looks pretty clunky in hindsight, doesn't it?
Still cool to look back on as the prototype.

8. The Wolverine

I said in the review "it's no "Dark Knight Rises", or "Avengers", but it's damned good".
I stick behind that.
Falls apart at the end, but everything up to then was so good.
They almost got there.
Luckily, they got another shot with "Logan", and knocked it out of the park.

9. X3: X-Men: The Last Stand

All right, this one takes a lot of shit, but a lot of it I actually like.
Magneto is always great.
Ditto Charles.
The Sentinels in the danger room retroactively set up "Future Past".
And going back to Magneto, some of my favorite scenes in the whole franchise are in this.
And yeah, it dropped the ball on Dark Phoenix, but wipe away your tiny tears, they're taking a second crack at that too.

10. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

There's no escaping that this is the bottom of the barrel.
But...I still don't hate it.
Yes, they mutilated Deadpool.
Yes, the third act is a ridiculous Tex Avery cartoon.
Yes, youth-ified Charles is uncanny valley.
But the actual origins stuff in the first act is good stuff (until the cartoon claws...).
The humor with Wade Williams before he's Deadpool-ed is on point.
And Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth left such a good impression with fans, they wanted him back for "Logan". And he came this > < close to being in it.
Plus, as with X3, wipe your tears, "Future Past", and "Apocalypse", have erased it anyway.
Bryan Singer fixed it for you.
Now look at that, the list is bookeneded by Wolverines.
Fitting.


There we go, and there's my baseline for ranking the new ones.
See you next time for "Dark Phoenix", "New Mutants", and "Deadpool 2".


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Ghostbusters 101 Issue 3.

Issues 1 & 2 (and other stuff).

And now...

Issue #3.


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Big Summer Movies Part 5. (Part 2)

Part 1 (Guardians 2)

Next up, we have...


Alien Covenant (2017)

Previously with this franchise....

• All of them but Prometheus.
• Prometheus.

From the Prometheus review....

I'm sure hapless knuckleheads will be picked off one by one, and something will be flushed out of something.
And goo, there will be goo.

Yep.

So, this left a lot of unanswered questions, which hopefully will be answered in "Prometheus 2: The Search For Space-Jesus".

Hahaha!! NOPE!!!

Get ready to be as creeped out and tense as in Alien 1.
Then as pumped and amped by action as Alien 2.
Then as betrayed and gloomy as Alien 3.

Is it even worth looking forward to "Alien 7: How The Fuck Does This Mess Get Back Up To The First One?"?
Not for me.
I'm tapping out.
Bye!

Next time, Wonder Woman!!! (That HAS to cheer me back up)


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Lit review #12.

• #7 Catcher In The Rye, A Confederacy Of Dunces.
• #8 Doctor Sleep.
• #9 I Am Legend.
• #10 Ghosts From Our Past
• #11 Tobin's Spirit Guide 

Slash Of The Titans (2017)
(The Road To Freddy vs Jason)

Previously-

• I REDO the Freddys!
• I REDO the Jasons!

I've probably told this story a hundred times on here, but here it is again.
From when the Freddy glove grabbed the Jason mask at the end of "Jason Goes To Hell", to when "Freddy vs Jason", finally actually came out, was 10 fucking years of development hell.

And every year along they way, New Line was like "no, this year it's coming out for sure!!", so I kept falling for it, and getting all keyed up, and it was torture.
Goddamned torture.

So, this book finally reveals what the fucking holdup was, and what was actually going on.

Turns out, there was no one magic thing, there was no one evil/stupid asshole to blame, and New Line was just as frustrated as I was.

It's somewhat covered in "Never Sleep Again", and "Crystal Lake Memories", but with 20 minutes for each movie, they can only really summarize.
Both of those docs in the commentaries come right out and say "there's a whole separate documentary there of the development hell of Freddy/Jason, and all those crazy drafts".

Well, here we finally have it, but in book form.
Book form is better, you really need a deep dive into it, and a film can't do that.

The structure it goes with, is it describes each draft of the script, and interviews the writer of that script, plus a producer or actor, and in that process, the whole story and timeline gets laid out.

It starts with the first attempts Paramount actually tried back when Jason 6 came out (7 was actually a substitute for FvJ), then goes through "Jason Goes To Hell", to the final 2003 FvJ movie, to the "Freddy vs Jason vs Ash", comics, and up to now with everyone reflecting on it, and finishes off with Robert Englund.
Along the way, it even touches on the "Jason vs Leatherface", comics, and an FvJ video game that didn't get made because the flick was stuck in development.

Excellent.
Loved it.
Having this story on my shelf really gives me closure on that chunk of my life.
I'll treasure this thing.

The closest thing you can get to a "Never Sleep Again", Part 2.

If you're a Nightmare or Friday fan, this is a must.
But, even if you're just a general horror, or plain old film fan, this is a good insight into the development and screenwriting process.

This now sits proudly next to "Hollywood Monster (Robert Englund)", and "Wes Craven: The Man And His Nightmares (John Wooley)".

And...I guess that's it.
Until Mark Patton's "Scream, Queen", and Robert Englund's "Nightmares in the Makeup Chair".
See you then!


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Ranking the MCU so far (2017)

Every new review for the latest entry, I say "not as good as this one", or "better than that one".
Well, with 15 down, now's as good a time as any to put them in order as a baseline for future entries.
So, without further ado...

1. Captain America: Civil War

A lot of people have Winter Soldier here, and I don't blame 'em, but for me, this edges it out just a smidge. It's the Spider-Man sprinkles on top that really put it over the top.

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Whether you have this as your number 1 or 2, I said this one edged out Avengers at the time it came out, and I stand by it.

3. The Avengers

Was the best superhero movie ever made for quite awhile.
Still in the top 3, not too shabby.

4. Guardians Of The Galaxy

It's Guardians, nuff said.

5. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

I wish I could mash Vol 1 & 2 into one movie, and that it could occupy 4, but, no, doesn't work that way.

6. Iron Man

Seen it again recently, and it still holds up.
Prototypes of franchises usually don't.
A damn good movie that laid the tracks for everything else.

7. Dr. Strange

Again, wish I could have this in a tie for best standalone with Iron Man and Ant-Man.

8. Ant-Man

Ditto what I just said for Dr. Strange.

9. Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Been seeing this again rerun on Starz, and damn, it's good.
It gets better with re-watching.
But..I LOVE 1-8. Don't LOVE this one. Almost though....

10. Captain America : The First Avenger

Good start to an incredible trilogy, and retroactively the start of the whole universe.
But...again, don't love it.
Some do. Some have it right up in their top 5.
If you do, good for you.

11. Thor: The Dark World

Some people have this one their outright hate list.
It has flaws, but the good parts are really good.
Especially anything with Hiddleston's Loki.
Touching base with Loki in the aftermath of Avengers makes this one worth it.
Too bad Christopher Eccleston is so wasted.
I think that's the big source of bitterness for some fans.
I guess I can see that....
Also, so far, it blends into continuity second least of them all.
Maybe "Ragnarok", will tie it in better.

12. Thor

Same issues with the first Captain America.
Sets up a lot of great lore and characters that play out better later, but I just don't love it

13. The Incredible Hulk

I should have this higher, because I'm such a devoted Hulk-head, but...eh.
They were figuring this whole cinematic universe thing out.
Blends into continuity least of them all.
The re-casting of Ed Norton doesn't help.
Thunderbolt Ross in "Civil War", helps, so it balances out, but still...
The best of the standalone Hulks though.
He's much better in the Avengers flicks.
I'm betting heavily on "Thor: Ragnarok", being the best Hulk appearance ever.

14. Iron Man 3

At the time, I said this was the best of the 3 Iron Man standalones.
Eh...
I didn't have enough of phase 2 to compare it to.
And hey, wait, just noticed...the poster is a total rip of the "Thor: The Dark World", one!
Wait...chronologically...swap that.

15. Iron Man 2

Least good of them all, but still not bad.
IMHO, there isn't a BAD one of the bunch, just less and less good ones.
They're all watchable.
Plus, this one introduces Black Widow and War Machine, and they really pay off as great characters down the line.
Particularly Widow.
And the revelations in Winter Soldier and Civil War really give this one a boost when you go back to watch it.

So, there we go, and there they are.
See you next time for "Spider-Man: Homecoming", and "Thor: Ragnarok".


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