REVIEWS-REVIEW ARCHIVE 2007

2007

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NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

""...made with such consummate film making skill and grace that even the most Pollyannish of viewers are going to find themselves coming away from it deeply impressed..." (JR)

INTO THE WILD
"...a stunning, deeply troubling film -- a road movie, a heartbreaking character study, a sincere and thoughtful meditation on happiness and truth." (JR)

120107 ROH HOUSE SHOW
"Despite the inclement weather Saturday night and changing the whole event at the last minute...ROH was able to pull a rabbit out of their hat and have it fit their wrestling style." (AS)

WWE NO MERCY
"No Mercy is in the books and the WWE should have to scramble to complete a card more often since this was one of the better ones." (Bo)

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

"It combines intense physical action with sharply honed character drama in delivering a supremely satisfying, thoroughly modern entertainment." (JR)

WWE UNFORGIVEN

"At this point with the suspensions and creative ways of describing/marketing them this could be a very interesting show." (Bo)

BIOSHOCK
"Having so many different locals really helps the game stay fresh and engaging." (MK)

WARHAWK
"Is there a lot to this game? The answer is no. However what is there is an absolute blast to play." (MK)

3:10 TO YUMA
"It combines intense physical action with sharply honed character drama in delivering a supremely satisfying, thoroughly modern entertainment." (JR)

091507 ROH HOUSE SHOW
"ROH are making great strides in becoming a great promotion." (AS)

BOURNE ULTIMATUM

""Who says blockbusters can’t be art?"

JR'S MID-YEAR MOVIE RECAP

"Here's how I see things for the first half of 2007."

the DARKNESS
"...this game was a blast; there are a lot of extras to unlock and accomplishments, or achievements for the 360, to check off." (MK)

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE
"It plays out pretty much like an extended disaster-scenario version of a regular half-hour show."

HAIRSPRAY
"Hairspray arrives as a big, bundle of fun, infectious to the core and accomplishes more often than not what the best musicals are prone to do." (JR)

FALLEN SON-IRON MAN

"A rather touching tale by Jeph Loeb who gives us the story of Cap’s funeral and burial." (MK)

SICKO

"It’s a spectacular look at America and the corruption that rots our very core, swallowing the interests of our leaders and mercilessly disposing of our most needy." (JR)

TICK COMIC CON EXTRAVAGANZA

"The jokes are obvious and the underlying sentiment seems forced." (JR)

071507 HEADS UP
"... he’s even a scarier force now than ever before because he just doesn’t smash, he smashes with a plan." (MK)

070307 HEADS UP
"I like to see a familiar story from another character’s perspective or telling a story about something grand from a normal person’s point of view and that’s what you get here" (MK)

HARRY POTTER & ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
"No other franchise in movie history -- from "James Bond" to "Star Wars" -- has managed to retain its inspiration so well after this many episodes." (JR)

ONCE
"Forget 'Chicago' and 'Dreamgirls' this is the musical of a generation, and it is also the best movie of the year thus far." (JR)

RATATOUILLE
"Assembled with such loving care and ambition, this is easily the most entertaining film of a somewhat disappointing summer..." (JR)

MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN #3
"This is a company that has been in the comic business for some 50 years, but making a decent children’s comic seems to elude them." (JR)

SHAZAM AND THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #4
"Don’t just buy this series for your kids. Buy it for yourself.." (JR)

FANTASTIC FOUR AND POWERPACK #1
"This is tired material that even kids will be bored with" (JR)

WWE GREAT AMERICAN BASH
"With Edge becoming victim to the Smackdown curse I don’t know if anyone wants to win this title." (Bo)

FANTASTIC 4: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER REVIEW-A-PALOOZA

"...screenwriters Don Payne and Mark Frost often pass things like exposition and character development by."" (Bo-**½ stars)

MARVEL ILLUSTRATED: TREASURE ISLAND #1

"...the rating on the cover of this issue states for teens, there is nothing here that will give even the littlest child nightmares." (JR)

WWE VENGEANCE: NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS REVIEW

"The concept of having every belt in the WWE up on the same night seems like a good one and it should boost the buy rate." (Bo)

062007 HEADS UP
"So far so good for Countdown." (MK)

FANTASTIC 4: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER REVIEW-A-PALOOZA
"...badly written, lazily directed, woefully miscast, generally stupid and dull effort in which the superheroes spent more time talking about doing things than actually doing them." (JR-*½ stars)

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3
"...a sunken, moribund wreck of a movie housing no treasures whatever." (JR)

WAITRESS
"...it's a lovely motion picture that succeeds within its own self-contained bubble." (JR)

SHREK THE THIRD
"...a deflated, weakly plotted effort that only intermittently recaptures the jubilant humor of the earlier films." (JR)

TEEN TITANS GO #44
"Put this book in your child’s hands and you may end up having some interesting conversations about it." (JR)

WONDERLAND #4
"I can think of no better way to get a child hooked on comic books than to hand them a copy of Wonderland" (JR)

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #34
"... the artwork uses the animated series as somewhat of a template but then adapts the characters to look somewhat more detailed and richer than their tv versions." (JR)

RING OF HONOR HOUSE SHOW: 062307
"ROH announced that when they come back in September that they would be taping the 3rd pay per view at the show" (AS)

ONE NIGHT STAND REVIEW
"... it wasn’t a bad show but the lack of blood in a card with nothing but extreme rules matches makes the stipulations worthless." (Bo)

COUNTDOWN #50

"Once again DC is looking deeper than the main characters-namely the rouges gallery." (MK)

SPIDERMAN 3 REVIEW-A-PALOOZA

"The film takes three bad stories and tries to fashion a narrative out of them. It can't be done." (JR-**½ stars)

SPIDERMAN FAIRY TALES #1

"This book is like a slice of white bread; untoasted, unbuttered, unjellied. In a word, bland. " (JR)

053107 HEADS UP
"The premise was great but the execution fell way below expectations." (MK)

050907 HEADS UP
"...this issue (Invincible #41) really was a microcosm of the world elegantly crafted by Robert Kirkman, one of my personal favorites." (MK)

28 WEEKS LATER
"... to give in to compassion, to humanity, to love is a death sentence." (JR)

SPIDERMAN 3 REVIEW-A-PALOOZA
"The best parts of the film are the action segments and the weakest are the character bits." (Bo-**½ stars)

BARRONS GRAPHIC CLASSICS JOURNEY TO CENTER EARTH
"The intention with this type of book is to introduce the classics to young readers" (JR)

SHAZAM & MOONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #3
"I seriously question writer/artist Jeff Smith's decision to include so much straightforward political satire in this issue. " (JR)

AMELIA RULES #17

"...one of the best examples of children’s literature I have ever read." (JR)

FCBD
REVIEW-A-PALOOZA

JR, Mike and Bo review the majority of this years FREE COMIC BOOK DAY titles.

the LOOKOUT (***½)

"...this is a lean, to-the-bone, expertly acted small-town noir that takes unusual care to cast the moral compass of its characters in various shades of gray" (JR)

WRESTLEMANIA 23

"There is no way in hell that Trump is getting his head shaved bald so you know Lashley is going to win." (Bo)

042507 HEADS UP
"The series (Fell) has always done the layered story very well." (MK)

041107 HEADS UP
"The series (Fell) has always done the layered story very well." (MK)

DISTURBIA (***)
"Disturbia filters the classic Rear Window plotline through a John Hughes' suburban sensibility, and the resulting thriller works far more often than it doesn't." (JR)

GRINDHOUSE (**½)
"Too often the films fail to separate what made drive-in shockers good-from what made them bad" (JR)

the HOST (***½)
"...expertly staged and edited- the Host plays sort of like Godzilla vs. Little Miss Sunshine." (JR)

LEGION OF SUPERHEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY #1
"This is a flat, uninspired book with generic anime art and a completely lackluster story." (JR)

NANCY DREW VOL.9 SC
"...if your preteen daughter can stop text messaging her friends long enough to crack a page or two of this book, she won’t have a bad time." (JR)

BACKLASH 2007
"Backlash is in the books and aside from one travesty it was a great show." (Bo)

RING OF HONOR HOUSE SHOW 042807
"The new wrestlers they have brought in to help offset some of their losses in the last year are fitting in nicely." (AS)

300 (***):

"300 may not offer masterful storytelling in a conventional sense, but it's hard to beat as a spectacle and that makes it worthwhile viewing." (JR)

SHAZAM AND THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #2

"A book made for any age that has intelligence and tons of heart. I cannot recommend this book highly enough." (JR)

030707 HEADS UP:
"At Captain Dynamo’s funeral, the casket is surrounded by superheroes from other Image books, makes you wonder where he’s been." (MK)

031407 HEADS UP:
Marvel is known for reinventing their universe but this wasn’t even a reinvention, it was just a swap around for no good reason." (MK)

032607 HEADS UP:
"...very enjoyable from the different inner monologues of the characters to the final battle with Venom" (MK)

ZODIAC (***½):
"It is at once a police procedural and an epic look at the ruined lives of the men who hunted the Zodiac killer down until they reached a breaking point." (JR)

WALT DISNEY'S COMICS & STORIES #679
"This is a book that parents can plop into the kids laps and not have to think twice about questionable content." (JR)

DISNEY JR VOL.3 LION KING GN
"..this book is a perfect introduction to reading for any child that loves the film and wants to recapture it in a different way." (JR)

HARDY BOYS VOL.8 BOARD TO DEATH GN
"Silly, sloppily written and instantly forgettable." (JR)

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA:

"...if this film feels a little like Pan’s Labyrinth lite, that’s not necessarily a bad thing." (JR)

HANNIBAL RISING:

"...nothing in it vanquishes the sensation that we're being sold something superfluous -- like a service contract for a carton of eggs." (JR)

SHAZAM AND THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #1:

"I can’t imagine a better way to bring comics into your child’s life than with this book. " (JR)

022107 HEADS UP: Illuminati #1, Star Trek Next Generation Space In-Between #1 and Marvel & Image Round Ups

CHILDREN OF MEN: "While it is still early in what is sure to be a long career, this could possibly turn out to be director Cuarón's masterpiece..." (JR)

LAST KING OF SCOTLAND: "When Whitaker was on screen, I was riveted; when he wasn't, I was waiting to see him again. Whitaker carries the film on his broad shoulders..." (JR)

HELLBOY ANIMATED VOL 1 BLACK WEDDING TP: "...the writing is adequate enough to please the Hellboy fan and also act as a entry point for any young reader, not quite old enough for the regular comic, to get acquainted with this universe." (JR)

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #172: "If your child is a fan, then this is for them. If you’re looking for a book to jump into for something new, give this a pass." (JR)

TEEN TITANS GO #40: "Breezy, fun writing and decent art help to put this book in the kinda' fun category. " (JR)

NO WAY OUT: "Once again Finley was given the task to make someone look good while he teaches him how to wrestle..." (Bo)

SPIDERMAN LOVES MARY JANE #14

"So we have a book aimed at teens that they will not relate to, drawn in a manga style that those fans will dismiss. I would call that a failure in any terms." (JR)

THUNDERBOLTS #110

"This will sell better than Nextwave but actually both are well written and cool books in their own right" (Bo)

BO'S 2006 COMIC YEAR IN REVIEW: "...Warlord shot a few times, buried then shot a few more times just to make sure it was dead." (Bo)

011007 HEADS UP: Thunderbolts #110, Marvel & Image Roundups.

JR'S 2006 MOVIE YEAR IN REVIEW: "I'd rather eat broken glass than see that movie again" (JR)

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA: "...a feat of empathetic cross-cultural connection that Eastwood more or less willed into existence." (JR)

ADVENTURES OF SPAWN: "...a boring, uninspired waste of six bucks." (JR)

BEST OF POKEMON ADVENTURES YELLOW TPB: "This black and white, digest sized book reprints the very best stories of everyone’s favorite little...WHO CARES!" (JR)

MARVEL ADVENTURES THE AVENGERS #9: "If you're looking for a fun, high-concept read (with a plot that you'd never find in, say, New Avengers), this all-ages book isn't a bad choice. " (JR)

WWE RAW NEW YEARS REVOLUTION"...the quality of wrestling was better than I would have expected in a few matches and no one walked away from the show unhappy." (Bo)

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