W♥M

Doggone-it!

Read more Dog Days of Summer, Dog Day Afternoon, Who Let the Dogs Out? and When Animals Attack.

Read More MGMT This MGMT band needs no introduction, since their formation in 2006, the duo (Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden) has been a favorite among hipsters. …

MGMT
whoismgmt.com

“Bubblegum Dog,” is the second single from MGMT’s album Loss Of Life. The music video accompanying video, directed by Julia Vickerman and co-host Tom Scharpling, finds MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser paying tribute to numerous scenes from classic ‘90s alternative videos.

“We all saw the video for "Bubblegum Dog" as an opportunity to combine the charming, DIY, surreal, cardboard craft aesthetic of shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and The Mighty Boosh with these ultra-serious grunge videos we grew up watching on MTV – all that heavy, brooding angst smashed up against absurd childlike fun,” Vickerman and Scharpling say.

“Ben and Andrew are legitimately funny guys, so we were excited they got to really go for it with their acting, paying homage to the eternally moody mid-90's rock stars they looked up to when they were kids,” they continue. “They were completely game for everything, playing around with different wigs/costumes/personas/facial hair and continually chiming in with new ideas along the way. That was a wonderful feeling, because it let us know they were having a good time. For the climax of the video, they let us shoot gallons of pink slime at their faces, which we appreciated. Ben got quite a bit in his mouth, which was unintentional … but he thought it was funny, so then we were allowed to think it was funny.”

You can watch the video on YouTube.

Loss Of Life will be coming out February 23, 2024, on Mom + Pop Music. The upcoming record is the long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s Little Dark Age.

Read More Reverend and the Makers I love this song, and lately it's been playing nonstop on my iPod since Reverend and the Makers's debut album The State of Things, released September 2007 (I actually don't have their album …

Ed Cosens
twitter.com

Ahead of Blue Monday, Ed Cosens releases “Doghouse,” the follow-up to last October’s release of Black Dog, which came out on World Mental Health Day.

“‘I’m in the Doghouse again… the couch is my only friend.’ This song exists for and because of those moments where you know you’ve messed up, totally put your foot in it, but that unshiftable male pride or sense of misplaced righteousness is only making things worse,” says Cosens. “It’s time for a good dose of damage limitation and to know when to shut up, just bloody apologise and pray for redemption. But you fear the worst. Maybe just maybe you’ll be forgiven… maybe.”

If you don’t know who Cosens is, he is in Sheffield’s Reverend and the Makers and co-wrote the UK top ten single, “Heavyweight Champion of the World”, which we said in Jan 2008, “"Heavyweight Champion of The World" was the first single from them, released last May. I love this song, and lately it's been playing nonstop on my iPod since Reverend and the Makers's debut album The State of Things, released September 2007 (I actually don't have their album because I refuse to pay $31 for an import). ”

Cosens will soon be announcing details of his highly anticipated sophomore album and accompanying tour.

Read More Lost Dog Street Band Husband-wife duo Lost Dog Street Band (guitarist Benjamin Tod and fiddler Ashley Mae) to open. North American Tour dates: Jan 15 - House of Blues - New Orleans, LA Jan 18 - 20th Century - Cincinnati, OH …

Lost Dog Street Band
lostdogstreetband.com

Nashville’s Lost Dog Street Band (band leader Benjamin Tod, fiddler Ashley Mae, upright bassist Jeff Loops, drummer Ben Duvall, and pedal steel player Tebbs Karney) will be heading out on tour in 2024.

Tod is excited about the band lineup, “I am excited to share our new full band on the road. Adding Ben on drums and Tebbs on pedal steel opens me up so much for expression. I’ve had to hold back so much the last few years in hindsight. Being able to really pull back on my guitar playing allows me to focus in on my vocals. It helps when I’m on stage now that I can actually feel the music and get into the music being played.”

The band was last seen in the Minneapolis/St Paul area in Jan 2017 with The Devil Makes Three, “Expect plenty of singalong on this North American tour, which began in September and will end this February 2017. Husband-wife duo Lost Dog Street Band (guitarist Benjamin Tod and fiddler Ashley Mae) to open.”

Catch Lost Dog Street Band On Tour:

April 18 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew’s Hall
April 19 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theatre
April 20 - Pittsburgh, PA - Thunderbird Cafe
April 21 - Columbus, OH - The Bluestone
April 23 - Morgantown, WV - Metropolitan Theatre
April 24 - Rochester, NY - The Essex
April 26 - Portland, ME - State Theatre
April 27 - South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Ballroom
April 29 - Boston, MA - Royale
May 1 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall
May 3 - Philadelphia, PA - Brooklyn Bowl
May 4 - Washington, DC - The Howard
May 5 - Charlottesville, VA - Jefferson Theater
May 8 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm
May 10 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
May 11 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre
May 12 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse

Fat Dog
fatdogfatdogfatdog.com

South London-based Fat Dog have earned themselves “2023’s wildest live band” (NME) on the strength of their live shows.

Domino Records took notice and signed and released their debut single “King of the Slugs” last year.

The band will be heading out on tour in support of All The Same, so go check out the “wildest live band” on tour:

Jan. 18 – Groningen, NL @ Eurosonic Noorderslag 2024
Feb. 15 – Dublin, IE @ Borderline Festival
Feb. 16 – Limerick, IE @ Dolans
Feb. 17 – Galway, IE @ Róisín Dubh
Feb. 24 – Bristol, UK @ Simple Things
March 1 – Paris, FR @ Les Inrocks Festival, Cent Quatre
March 12 – Queens, NY @ Trans-Pecos
March 13 - March 16 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
March 19 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Cid
March 20 – San Francisco, CA @ Popscene
Apr. 18 – London, UK @ Electric Brixton
Apr. 20 – Rotterdam, NL @ Motel Mozaique
Apr. 26 – Bourges, FR @ Le Printemps de Bourges
May. 9 - May. 11 – Wrexham, UK @ Focus Wales
May 31 - Sun. Jun. 2 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifeld Derby
Jul. 6 – Belfort, FR @ Eurockéennes
Jul. 26 - Mon. Jul. 29 – North Yorkshire, UK @ Deer Shed
Aug. 8 - Sun. Aug. 11 - Sicily, IT @ Ypsigrock Festival
Aug. 31 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Psych Fest

Office Dog
OfficeDogBand.com

New Zealand trio Office Dog will be releasing their debut album Spiel on January 26, 2024, via New West Records for the USA market. Flying Nun Records will be releasing the album to the New Zealand and Australia area.

In addition, Spiel will be available across digital platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A very limited to 100 Lime Green Color Vinyl Edition will be available via Rough Trade Records, while an extremely limited to 50 Amber Color Vinyl Edition will be available via Seasick Records. A limited to 1,000 Clear Violet Vinyl Edition will be available at Independent Record Stores worldwide and is available for pre-order.

The trio is led by the critically acclaimed songwriter Kane Strang, which Uncut Magazine described as “most focused and forceful record yet, recalling indie-rock power trios like Built to Spill and Dinosaur Jr.”

Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too!
max.com

Two famous dogs, Scooby-Doo and Krypto teamed up in Warner Bros.’ latest misadventure.

The DVD came out last October, but it recently made its way to streaming on HBO Max.

Synopsis:

When the Justice League goes missing and villains overrun Metropolis, there’s only one team that can solve this mystery: Scooby-Doo and the gang! But wait, there’s a new dog in town – Krypto – Superman’s Superdog with Super Powers. Mystery Inc. will need all the help it can get when phantoms menace the Justice League’s headquarters. And has Lex Luthor finally gone straight? Or is he in cahoots with The Joker and Harley Quinn? The DC Super-Villains may have clashed with Superman before, but now they’re facing something new: a gang of meddling kids!

River Hounds
facebook.com

London’s scene, rock‘n’roll four-piece River Hounds has a new single called “Down On My Knees.” The single will be on the band’s forthcoming album.

Hear the single on the upcoming live shows:

FEB 1 - Pavilion Rd + River Hounds + Peace & Panic + Seeweed
FUEL ROCK CLUB · Cardiff

FEB 2 - River Hounds + Peace & Panic + Pavilion RD + Liars Teeth
Amersham Arms · London

FEB 4 - Peace & Panic + Pavilion Rd + River Hounds + Croissant
The Tin Music and Arts · Coventry

If your band is coming to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please email details to [email protected] with a good lead time. Thank you.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Wanda & Vision and Superman & Lois

Read More Television I did enjoy The Punisher quite a bit, which was a win, considering that I thought Iron Fist and The Defenders were lackluster. Ever since The Punisher appeared on Daredevil, I knew he would spin off in his own series…

WANDAVISION (2021)
disneyplus.com

Disney Plus’ first original Marvel Production, WandaVision, proved to be a hit with fans. With the currently Marvel Comics films being put on pause due to the big COVID virus, moving production to a weekly television program seems to make the most sense. Instead of fans gathering to view a movie in a theater, they can view the story in their isolated homes.

What is really nice about the television program is that you really explore the two Avengers characters: Scarlet Witch (Wanda) and the Vision, learning more about the two… something that you couldn’t do in an all-star cast of a typical Avengers film.

At first, seeing WandaVision as old homage to I Love Lucy, Dick Van Dyke Show, etc., was unique and interesting… but it got old real fast. I felt like those show parodies were just stretching out the series… when all I really wanted was to see the real-world story.

For the most part, WandaVision plays out the story very straight-forward, answering the mystery of why Wanda was living her life as a “television show” and introducing our villain of the show. Unfortunately, all the fan theories were way off base, leading to massive disappointments. Theories that didn’t pan out: WandaVision didn’t introduce mutants in the Marvel Universe (even though they casted the same actor to appear as Quicksilver from the X-Men film), Mephisto didn’t appear (even though he was the co-star of The Vision and Scarlet Witch comic book series), and final boss fight wasn’t anywhere near as cool as fans wanted.

Personally speaking, I felt the ending was underwhelming. Characters were introduced and disappeared in the same episode… characters like Darcy Lewis barely appeared in the finale… Monica Rambeau (the other Captain Marvel) was given powers, but felt out of nowhere (obviously they needed her to have powers for the next Captain Marvel film).

As the first in in “Phase Four” of the MCU, I thought it was pretty good (if you dial down your expectations). I am looking forward to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (which the Scarlet Witch will co-star in), and, of course, the second television show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Read More Comic Books I really hate the title Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I can understand it, it tells us that Batman will be fighting Superman... and somehow it involves the Justice …

SUPERMAN & LOIS (2021)
cwtv.com

It seemed forever and a day when we first heard about the Superman & Lois show (announced in 2019). I think last saw Superman (and Lois) in Supergirl… when he left that Earth and disappeared to another Earth. I’m sorry, I don’t have all my Earths sorted out… I just know that in this Superman & Lois earth, it seems like Arrow or Supergirl doesn’t exist on this Earth (I could be wrong, but based on the episodes we’re given, there aren’t any other superheroes on this Earth).

Based on the pilot and second episode, Superman & Lois seems like a decent show, even though it’s plagued by that CW problem of being poorly written and overdramatic. I sometime don’t fault The CW, they have a limited budget and it is what it is… but somehow, the Superman & Lois show looks like they got a lot of production money. The show looks good and cinematic (unlike their other CW shows).

The setup to the show is that Clark Kent and Lois Lane decided to move their family back to Smallville. Apparently, they also have two teenage boys (I must’ve missed something since I don’t think they had children in Supergirl). One boy is a happy all-American popular football kid, while the other is a moody/gothy depression kid. I know I’m not the market for this teenage-storyline, so I personally do not care about these boys.

I’m also not really that interested in Lois Lane’s storyline… which is trying to investigate Morgan Edge, the owner of The Daily Planet, and how he’s trying to exploit Smallville. I felt like the show didn’t paint Edge as an evil monster, in fact, it looks like he’s trying to bring jobs to Smallville and that Loise Lane is in the wrong.

The storyline that I’m most interested in is the mysterious (black) Lex Luthor from another Earth … hellbent on destroying Superman. You understand his motivation for trying to destroy Superman, but if you think about it, it totally doesn’t make any sense. Sure, that other Superman from Lex Luthor’s earth was evil, but clearly, this is not the same Superman.

Like all CW shows, I am originally interested in the first few episodes… but as the show goes on, I am often disappointed in the show. The CW just does not have a good track record for keeping me interested.

Still, Superman & Lois will hold me over, until Netflix’s Jupiter's Legacy (the new Mark Millar show) debut in mid-2021.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Justice League: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Track Listing    -- Disc 1 -- Everybody Knows by Sigrid The Justice League Theme - Logos Hero's Theme Batman on the Roof Enter Cyborg Wonder Woman Rescue Hippolyta's Arrow The Story of Steppenwolf The Amazon Mother Box Cyborg Meets Diana Aquaman in Atlantis Then There Were Three The Tunnel Fight The World Needs Superman Spark of The Flash Friends and Foes Justice League United Home Bruce and Diana The Final Battle A New Hope Anti - Hero's Theme Come Together by Gary Clark Jr. and Junkie XL Icky Thump by The White Stripes -- Disc: 2 -- The Tunnel Fight (Full Length Bonus Track) The Final Battle (Full Length Bonus Track) Mother Russia (Bonus Track) Read More Comic Books I really hate the title Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I can understand it, it tells us that Batman will be fighting Superman... and somehow it involves the Justice …

It’s “Justice League Day” today (November 18, 2017), and now that the film is out at all major theaters, I hope you all got a chance to see Justice League. We saw it, and it’s pretty straightforward… but a lot of fun.

If you saw the film and love it, you buy the Justice League: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on Digital now via WaterTower Music. The soundtrack was officially released on November 10th, and you can more about it with the press release. For physical lovers, you’ll have to wait until December 8th for the two-CD version, and February 9, 2018 for the double vinyl edition.

What’s important to note about this soundtrack is that it features Oingo Boingo’s Danny Elfman returning to scoring a DC Super Hero film since his exit with Batman Returns in 1992. His scores is often big and sweeping, like his Batman works… but it also had to work with Hans Zimmer’s Wonder Woman Theme and John Williams’ Superman Theme (spoiler alert if you didn’t know Superman was going to make it in the film…) Elfman basically incorporated and re-interpreted those previous themes, stating “I’m using the same thematic material that I used back then. It never actually went away. We’ve got these iconic bits from our past and that’s part of us, that’s part of our heritage. It just was great fun.”

The non-Elfman songs were Gary Clark Jr. and Junkie XL’s version of The Beatles’ ‘Come Together’, The White Stripes’ ‘Icky Thump’ and Norwegian pop singer/ songwriter Sigrid’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Everybody Knows.’ The latter is such a great way to honor the great, late Cohen’s wonderful song. If you’ve never heard ‘Everybody Knows’, check out Pump Up the Volume (1990).

If this is any indication of what’s to come, I’m looking forward to Elfman to score other DC Films, hopefully Justice League 2.

Justice League is out now in 3D and 2D at theaters across America.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

DC Comics' Blu-Ray/Graphic Novel combo packs

Read More Comic Books I really hate the title Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I can understand it, it tells us that Batman will be fighting Superman... and somehow it involves the Justice League. Based on the first trailer of the film, like so many other fans …

Last March 2016 I showed off all of the then-released DC Comics Graphic Novels/Bluray combos and I wrote what a good deal they were (even at the retail price of $25). If the books fell under $20, I will pick them up.

Of course, since March, there are a few releases here and there, and they are often priced at $30 or more. At that price point, I won’t buy them. Most of them seem to be Best Buy exclusives too.

Anyway, earlier today, I randomly spotted Batman: Under the Red Hood Book/Bluray combo for $20, so I picked it up. However, trying to find out more about the book online (on my phone at the store), was impossible.

So I’ve decided to compile a list of books/films in a release order. This way, I know which books I’m missing and when they came out.

Also, while not announced as comic book/film combo, I would guess the forthcoming Teen Titans: The Judas Contract will reprint the Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s classic storyline.

Having said that, DC did not issue a Batman: The Killing Joke graphic novel and film... instead they decided to Bluray-sized reprint of Batman: The Man Who Laughs as a Best Buy Exclusive. This is possibly because Alan Moore refused to let DC use his name in promotion of the animated film. That is evident when you saw the title and only saw Brian Bolland’s name as the creator.

I only own the first 10 books, so I can’t speak for the Best Buy Exclusives, but all of these releases comes with a digital copy of the comic book that you can redeem from Comixology. Also, these are all full-sized, hardcover comic books.

Releases so far:

Cover	Date	Title	Film	Reprints
	12/13/2016	Suicide Squad (Best Buy Exclusive)	Suicide Squad: Extended Version (2016)	Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Kicked in the Teeth (2012)
	07/19/2016	Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Best Buy Exclusive)	Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Director’s Cut (2016)	Batman/Superman: Greatest Battles (2015)
	10/04/2016	Preacher: Season 1 (Best Buy Exclusive)	Preacher: Season 1 (2016)	Preacher: Gone to Texas (1996)
	10/04/2016	Batman: Under the Red Hood	Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)	Batman: Under the Hood (2005–2006)
	03/01/2016	Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Bluray/DVD)	Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Parts 1 & 2 (2012-2013)	Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1987)
	03/01/2016	Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (Blu-ray)	Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015)	Throne of Atlantis (2012–2013)
	03/01/2016	Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (Blu-Ray)	Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)	Superman/Batman (2003)
	08/11/2015	Batman: Gotham Knight (Bluray)	Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)	Batman: Black & White (1996)
	08/11/2015	Batman: Year One Book & DVD Set	Batman: Year One (2011)	Batman: Year One (1987)
	08/11/2015	Justice League: War (Blu-Ray)	Justice League: War (2014)	Justice League: Origin (2011)
	08/11/2015	Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths (Blu-Ray)	Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths (2010)	JLA: Earth 2 (2000)
	08/11/2015	Superman: Doomsday (Graphic Novel/DVD Set)	Superman: Doomsday (2007)	The Death of Superman (1993)
	08/11/2015	Wonder Woman (Graphic Novel/DVD Set)	Wonder Woman (2009)	Wonder Woman: Gods & Mortals (1987)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Batman v Superman: Threat or Menace?

Read More Batman v Superman I really hate the title Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I can understand it, it tells us that Batman will be fighting Superman... and somehow it involves the Justice League. … Wizard World Minneapolis It is pretty much all-Wizard World all weekend! W♥M will be bringing you extensive coverage of the three-day event - plus the traditional kick-off free event at the Mall of America on Thursday. …

Wizard World Minneapolis, the annual convention gathering of comics, and pop culture fun ended on Sunday at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

One of the panels we attended was ‘Batman v Superman: Threat or Menace?’ with Superman’s Dan Jurgens and Spider-Man’s Danny Fingeroth.

Both Jurgens and Fingeroth did not love, but they also did not hate the film. Fingeroth compared the film with the recent Captain America: Civil War, saying that he simply answered ‘Yes’ he loved the Cap film, but with BvS, he would say ‘Yes.. but.’

I didn’t expect either one to trash the film, but Jurgens would later confessed to me that he was surprised to see the backlash to BvS, stating that he only saw massive, positive responses at two film premieres.

When the Q&A was opened, some fans expressed that they felt the film was too ‘dark’ and they had problem bringing their children to ‘enjoy’ the film with the family. They bring up a good point, for a popcorn summer blockbuster film, BvS was not.

I’ve made it publically clear, that while I was a fan of Zack Snyder’s adaptions of Watchmen and 300 ... I really hated his Man of Steel or Sucker Punch films. After watching Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I’m convinced that Snyder really need a good editor (that can say no to him).

I’ll list what didn’t work for me:

Too dark and gritty for a mainstream superhero film. Sure, this could work as an Elseworld film, but not as a flagship DC Comics film.

Misunderstanding of both Superman and Batman. Get the characters right, Superman doesn’t kill and Batman doesn’t brand people or use guns to kill people. I personally didn’t mind the re-imagined Lex Luthor though.

The trailer showed you the entire film, so Wonder Woman or Doomsday appearing in the film did not surprised anyone. The team that put together that trailer should be fired.

Too much, too ambitious, lost its focus. The Lois Lane thing went on too long, why even have her storyline in the film? Introducing the Justice League and Darkseid/Apocalypse in the film were mistakes. They should just concentrate on Superman and Batman, as the title suggested.

While I still believe Suicide Squad can redeem DC Comics/Warner Brothers, but I have little hope for the rest of the upcoming DC films, including Justice League Part One and Justice League Part Two.

The executives at Warner Bros have heard the outcry and complaints about BvS and the Hollywood Reporter said that “Jon Berg and Geoff Johns will co-run the newly created DC Films in an attempt to course-correct Warners' comic book movies...” and also Seth Grahame-Smith was let go on The Flash film.

Dan Jurgens v Danny Fingeroth at Wizard World Minneapolis (08 May 2016)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

DC Comics to Films (and TV) in 2016

Read More Superman I finally got around to watching Jon Schnepp's The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? documentary on what happened to the film "Superman Lives". The doomed film would have been directed by Tim Burton … Batman Friday was the first full day of Wizard World Chicago Comic Con, held at the Donald J. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL, just outside Chicago, and there were plenty of onsite activities to keep busy. … Justice League Interested in getting your hands on the Justice League: Gods & Monsters Soundtrack? The CD will be out August 11, 2015, and is limited to only 1,000 units. It is exclusively available only at La-La Land Records. …

As a former hardcore comic book collector (currently I am still buying some random flimsies and will still buy hardcovers), I am pretty excited about all these comic book super heroes coming to the silver screen and television.

In the past few years, Marvel Comics has been enjoying its success with Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Guardian of the Galaxy, Thor, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV). DC Comics, on the other hand, had nothing but failures, including The Losers, Jonah Hex, Green Lantern, The Dark Knight Rises (the worst of the Nolan films), and the terrible Man of Steel film.

DC's last film was the space-invader Superman film in 2013, and after a three year break, DC is finally getting their act together with some exciting announcements: Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad (with Wonder Woman and Aquaman sometime in 2017).

I'm going to break down these upcoming 2016 titles.

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
batmanvsuperman.dccomics.com

I really hate the title Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I can understand it, it tells us that Batman will be fighting Superman... and somehow it involves the Justice League. Based on the first trailer of the film, like so many other fans, I have come up with the storyline: Lex Luther introduced Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne. They later duke it out. Then they have to team up to fight Doomsday... but is saved by Wonder Woman. I hope there's more to it than that... and since it's directed by Zack Snyder, I'm sure it'll look great.

We already know that Snyder is a big Frank Miller fan, having directed 300, so I'm assuming Snyder will also be paying homage to Miller's work from his The Dark Night Returns 1986 work (featuring an aging Batman fighting Superman). The Dark Night Returns, along with Miller's Batman: Year One, is possibly the most influential Batman story. With some other titles, including Alan Moore's Watchmen (which Snyder also adapted and directed), The Dark Knight help launched the so-called "grim and gritty" era that followed it.

I just hope that these upcoming films won't be so 'dark and gritty', but all evidence (including Man of Steel) kind of point us in that direction.

Read More Comic Books FallCon 2013 just took place on Saturday, October 5th. The turnout to this 25-year-old comic book convention was impressive, despite that FallCon for this year, was the smaller of the two cons (its sibling SpringCon …

SUICIDE SQUAD
suicidesquad.com

I am super-excited for this upcoming Suicide Squad film. Everyone is talking about how great the new Joker looks, but the obvious standout is clearly Harley Quinn, who is the comedy relief of the picture.

If you didn't know or follow the comic book, the current version of the group first appeared is at the end of John Ostrander and John Byrne's Legends cross-over limited series that introduced the (then) new Justice League in 1987. I remember attending a comic book convention and we asked why a vendor was selling Legends #7 for $75 and he told us it was because of Suicide Squad. We couldn't believe it.

Since newer fans may not know who is actually in Suicide Squad, here is a list of characters:

Amanda Waller: Portrayed in the comic book as an overweight and very rude black woman. I didn't follow Checkmate! that closely, but I believe she's also in charge of that division of the government.

Rick Flag: A military officer, team leader of "Task Force X" (aka Suicide Squad). Apparently Tom Hardy was originally cast for this role.

Katana: She's in this film as part of Flag's crew, she's a hero from her days with Batman and the Outsiders.

Deadshot: A Batman villain and assassin, known for his expert marksman. I have often confused him with Deathstroke and Deadpool.

Captain Boomerang: An Australian villain from The Flash comics. He kills people with deadly boomerangs... not really sure why he's all that deadly.

El Diablo: I don't keep up with the current DC's 52, but this villain has pyrotechnic abilities.

Killer Croc: A Batman villain, this half-man, half-crocodile is the strongman of the group.

Harley Quinn: One of the few characters that did not come from comic books. Her origin is from Batman: The Animated Series. She's come a long way from being the Joker's sidekick to a true fan favorite.

Enchantress: A very different look on the character from her comic book appearance (green hat, etc). Based on the trailer, it seems she can control men.

The Joker: He is actually not in the Suicide Squad team, but the trailers seems to show that he has a big role in the film. I'm assuming he's the villain, or at least has a part in the big threat of the film.

Read More Arrow Arrow : Although I watched the first few seasons (mostly for Deathstroke, the Terminator), I have given up on the show for its mediocre melodrama. …

DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW
cwtv.com

With TNT recently decided to pass on Teen Titans the TV show, we're left with only CBS' Supergirl (which debut in November 2015) and this 2016 show called Legends of Tomorrow.

I just saw the Legends pilot episode, and it is pretty good... although I suspect I will eventually stop watching the show, as I have dropped Arrow and The Flash. Legends suffers from all The CW programming: melodramatic acting, "teenish" editing, and boring storyline.

There are big stars in this series, including Prison Breakers Dominic Purcell (Heat Wave) with Wentworth Miller (Captain Cold), and Superman returner Brandon Routh (Atom). The large cast of characters and villains might be problem for new fans, as you need a "who's who" guide to tell you what is going on. Hopefully, with so many characters, the writers won't have a problem writing a compelling story spotlighting and building up these characters.

Who's Who:

Rip Hunter: A time traveler, from Jack Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown. Later in the 90s, he got his own series called Time Masters, however the 1991 series Challengers of the Unknown left out Hunter.

Firestorm: I'm familiar with the original Nuclear Man, featuring a white "jock" and a professor. The new Firestorm swap out the white jock for a black one, but the concept is still the same: youth stupidity and seasoned smarts of a learned professor. Personally speaking, I think Firestorm is visually the coolest superhero.

Atom: Like Marvel's Ant Man, the Atom's new origin has a similar story: he's the inventor of a power-suit capable of shrinking down to the size of an atom.

White Canary: Basically the same character as Black Canary (who often teamed up with Green Arrow). Based on the explanation in the pilot, she was paying tribute to Black Canary (obviously I didn't keep up with the Arrow series).

Hawkman / Hawkgirl: Ask anyone who follow the Hawkman/Hawkgirl timeline, it is a mess. A few years ago, Geoff Johns tried to unify their origin by explaining that they reincarnations of ancient Egypt (which I feel still doesn't explain the Hawkmen of Planet Thanagar). Still this series follow the current Hawkman reincarnation story.

Heat Wave / Captain Cold: The two villains in this heroes-group, both are Flash villains. No one (including the fans) knows why they are part of the group... only perhaps I have jokingly said that they needed a job, and this is a good fit for them.

Vandal Savage: The immortal is the villain of the series. Personally speaking, I don't really understand why he is such a threat. Outside of being immortal, he doesn't really have any other super powers. Even his nemesis (?) Resurrection Man is able to come back to life with the powers that killed him. Savage, on the other hand, is just amassing power and weapons throughout history. I really don't think Savage is all that scary.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

W♥M245: We Can Be Heroes

W♥M245: We Can Be Heroes (66 mins) Read More Star Wars BONUS LEVEL QUESTION: Favorite Sci-Fi movie? Most definitely Star Wars, I was raised on it. That's my childhood, therefore it is dear to me. … Batman Friday was the first full day of Wizard World Chicago Comic Con, held at the Donald J. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL, just outside Chicago, and there were plenty of onsite activities to keep busy. … David Bowie There is no one closely associated with the Holiday Christmas spirit than Bing Crosby.... who could forget his rendition of "White Christmas" or his duet with the The Thin White Duke David Bowie? …

Bonus Episode: Vu and John talks comics and other things.

Films:

It's all about that Star Wars! Star Wars: The Force Awakens at $900 mil worldwide and counting. Disney saying when all is said and done (DVD sales, etc), revenue from the film more than pays for their Lucasfilm purchase.

Der Fan (aka "Trance") 1982 film about a disturbing teenage fan (Simone), obsessed with popstar/actor "R". Cult-classic and great soundtrack by Rheingold (sounds like 80s new wave synth band). Star of the film is Desiree Nosbusch when she was only 17 years old in this picture.

UPDATE: Only found out after the podcast that the reason why this film is relatively rare is because Nosbusch tried to prevent the film from being released. The Blu-Ray/DVD Combo was only available in America on March 2015 via Mondo Macabro. You can purchase a copy at Amazon, it's the best deal in town ($18).

The Big Short is a 2015 American biographical comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Adam McKay, starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt.

Leaked Screeners: One pirate group promising as many as 40 to release online, including Hateful Eight, Joy, and James Bond: Spectre. How much does it impact box office?

Comic Book Television:

Daredevil

Jessica Jones

Comic Book Movies:

Deadpool

Captain America: Civil War

Suicide Squad

Batman v Superman

Song of the Show:

"Heroes" by David Bowie

BONUS: The Walking Dead: Season 6 (part one), The Expanse.

--
W♥M Radio is available on iTunes, please subscribe!

Subscription Options
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe via RSS
Add to Google
Add to Yahoo
____
Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com. Recording of this podcast was made possible by Skype, CallGraph, and Audacity.

W♥M244: 2015 (03 January 2016) Vu, John W♥M243: Reader Meet Author (21 December 2015) Vu, Emily W♥M242: Love Me (11 December 2015) Vu, John W♥M241: Hello (01 December 2015) Vu, John, Langen W♥M240: Ben Sollee and Mother Falcon (31 October 2015) Vu, John W♥M239: June is the new Rocktober (8 July 2015) Vu, John

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?

Read More Comic Books Having said all that, and excuse me if you think I do not understand the digital age (because I will agree with you), but selling a digital collection of Crisis for $19.99 is way, way too much. …

I finally got around to watching Jon Schnepp's The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? documentary on what happened to the film "Superman Lives". The doomed film would have been directed by Tim Burton and starred Nicolas Cage.

The documentary cover the three scripts and treatments, showing some evolution of the story... from Doomsday to Brainiac to a Giant Spider. In addition to seeing all lost pre-production artwork and concept artworks, Schnepp also took the extra step of trying to re-create some scenes from the script with actors. This recreations really made the documentary work for me, as sometime it's boring to just watch creators sit and just talk.

The first part of the documentary examined the first draft(s) by Kevin Smith. Smith's point of view was that it was all producer Jon Peters' fault. According to Smith, Peters had three criteria: (1) no flying, (2) no costumes, and (3) he had to fight a giant spider. Peters, from his view, said that Smith was basically an amateur writer whose script lacked structure and excitement.

Wesley Strick's script was light-hearted, and Burton felt it was not in a direction he wanted and the third script went to Dan Gilroy. Schnepp talked to all three writers, but I felt the real highlight was the costume designer Colleen Atwood. I am assuming she provided much of the amazing footage of the test costume fitting. Also various concept artists were all pretty amazing, from Mobius-esque artist Sylvain Despretz to Derek Thompson to Jim Carson.

With all the concept artworks and pre-production work (including the costume fitting and various sculptures) that went into creating Superman Lives, it was hard to believe that the film was never realized.

Drawing my own conclusion, I felt everyone in the documentary blamed producer Jon Peters. The way he's painted, he just didn't understand Superman or his comic book origins. Although not spoken out loud, all the creators had a slight resentment towards Peters, who is described as "loud" and conflictive.

Ultimately the studio, Warner Brothers, was the blame. They pulled the plug in the final hours (three weeks before filming), because most of the funds were going to Wild Wild West. Some of the ideas for Superman Lives (particularly the Brainiac Spider) was used in the Will Smith film.

Although, as expected, Schnepp did not have access to actor Nicolas Cage, but surprisingly he was granted an interview with Tim Burton. While I felt Burton's commentary was underused in the documentary (and they really overuse Kevin Smith, who, let's be honest, had very little to do with the rest of the film), it was still very impressive that Schnepp got Burton at all!

Personally, I would have love to hear Cage's point of view on the disaster of Superman Lives. Maybe hear him nerd out, since we know Cage love comic books, having taken his name from Luke Cage, owning an impressive comic book collection (including Action Comics #1, before it was stolen), created/wrote the comic book Voodoo Child, and starred as Ghost Rider.

Artwork by Nick Runge

Some off topic: While I think it's clever as The Death of "Superman Lives", I don't like the extra "What Happened?" added to the title. I also really dislike the special edition cover artwork with a ball bursting through a wall with random photos (and that spider!). Sure, it's extra bits and nods to the hardcore fans, but the "regular edition" artwork of Schnepp resurrecting Nicolas Cage is just a better cover artwork. Perhaps they could have also included the regular cover, also by artist Nick Runge, as a reversible option.

The Bluray/DVD had plenty of special features (Director's commentary), deleted scenes, and full interviews with Grant Morrison, Kevin Smith, etc. I have not had a chance to check out all the featurettes, and to be honest, I probably won't ever watch them... However, I really appreciate the work put into making these special features for the fans. The eight hour plus features can be purchased as a bundle for $16.99. The feature is available for purchase now at tdoslwh.com.

The Death of "Superman Lives": Colleen Atwood, Nicolas Cage and Tim Burton

PS During his interview, Jon Peters took a minute to take a phone call and the whole one-sided phone conversation was kept in the documentary. I'm not sure why Schnepp left this in (personally, I would have edited this out), but perhaps it was to show you that Peters was the "Hollywood-type" always talking on the phone and making things happen... UPDATE: According to the commentary, Schnepp wanted to show that Peters was always working. Plus it served as a nice break. I still stand behind that it was totally unnecessary and should have been taken out.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic