As any long term reader of this 'ere blog would know ( pauses for hysterical laughter at the thought of such impossible creatures ) my all-time favourite comic book is the Lee & Kirby Fantastic Four. I used to do a semi-regular feature here called FF Fridays, and the release of Marvel Studios' latest movie trailer prompted me to dust this off.
The previous cinematic adaptations of Marvel's First Family have been a very mixed bag. The Tim Story-directed films from the early 2000s were fun but deeply flawed, while the 2015 reboot was irredeemably bad. ( We won't mention the unreleased Roger Corman production from the '90s. )
Regardless of the merits or otherwise of the previous FF films, none of them captured the unique feeling of the original source material: the superhero soap combined with cosmic melodrama, and an often goofy humour. The FF were always tied to their era - the heady days of JFK and the Space Race - and I always thought any movie adaptation should be set in the 1960s. This trailer gives us a glimpse into a retro-futurist world which seems to be exactly that and is very promising, from the brief glimpses of the characters, to the Silver Age aesthetic, to the shadow of the Big G looming over Manhattan.
For the first time in a very long while I'm quietly excited for a superhero movie. ( And, to be fair, James Gunn's upcoming Superman film looks promising too. ) Maybe we're heading for a renaissance of the superhero film? Stranger things have happened.
The 13th Doctor will be revealed tonight! As much as I'm sad to see Peter Capaldi leave ( would one more year have hurt, Pete, huh? ) I'm excited for the new Doctor. Let's just hope Wimbledon doesn't over-run by too much :-)
Exciting, intelligent thrillers coming out of Hollywood? Pinch me, I must be dreaming.
Of course, if the best thing about these movies turns out to be the trailers, I'll change my name, start wearing dark glasses and a fedora, move to a fleapit hotel, and resume blogging by scrawling on the walls in some indeterminate fluid or other.....
Yet another trailer for Series Five/Thirty-One/Fnarg ( blame Steven Moffatt! ) of Doctor Who. This one is courtesy of MacMachiavelli at the ever-wonderful Planet Gallifrey and is seven flavours of awesome. On toast.
I really am getting ridiculously excited about this new series. Two weeks to go - breathe deeply, relax etc. etc. Keep telling yourself "It's only a TV show."
Yeah, right.....
Oh, yeah, this trailer is from BBC America. Enjoy.
