Official Website For Clay N. Ferno, Clay S. Fernald, Boston MA, USA
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Justice League Vs. the Fatal Five, DC Animation’s 34th feature film, shines a spotlight on The Fatal Five (comprised of Tharok, Emerald Empress, Validus, Mano and the Persuader), traditionally utilized as villains of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Read MoreAugust 9, 2017 by Clay N. Ferno
The DC Super Hero Girls are back in LEGO form for this latest animated feature, LEGO DC Super Hero Girls: Brain Drain. Starring Wonder Woman (Grey Griffin), Supergirl (Anais Fairweather) and Batgirl (Ashlyn Nicole Selich), the students of Super Hero High face an unknown threat and try to solve the mystery of the High School’s amnesia from being brainwashed.
Don’t expect The LEGO Movie twist on these familiar characters, quite the opposite, this movie, while bricked up, sits nicely in the Super Hero High storyline and current loose and fun take on the DC Universe established in 2015 with the DC Super Hero Girls brand since 2015.
Holy Cash Cow, Batman! Batman ’66 the Comic, The Toys, The Franchise…and now the Movie!
Which came first, Robin? The revisit or the reboot? What peril faces The Caped Crusader and The Boy Wonder fifty years after the debut of the Batman television series? Of course, reuniting the original cast would be impossible, but somehow Adam West, Burt Ward and Catwoman Julie Newmar are able to return to the booths to voice their famous characters.
These cherished after-school versions of The Not-So-Dark-Knight (West) in satin gloves and his ward (Ward) are revisited in Warner Animation’s Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders.
I’m on record in these very pages of being a huge DC Animation fan, with only a few misses over these past few years. My favorite stories are when they take risks. This one, was risky for a number of reasons but truly I think they pulled it off once again.
The girls are back, or should I say, have arrived in DC Animation Studio’s latest all ages movie DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year. New versions of Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Bumblebee and even Big Barda star in this fun action adventure for everyone.
The class members of Super Hero High is gunning for the trophy of Hero of the Year, as principal Amanda Waller puts the girls in charge of finding out what is wrong with the school’s amethyst crystal.
Don’t worry, you’ll get to see Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld make an appearance because the main villain for this story is the creepy angular forehead of Dark Opal and a female version of Eclipso!
[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]
Ashleigh Ball is a voice over actress and singer for Canadian indie pop band Hey Ocean! who played at my nightclub in Cambridge, MA last year. Another performer to grace the same stage last year was the twenty-one year-old Silva Hound, an Atlanta, GA DJ that spins Brony remixes on a tour with Brony musicians as Musiquestria.
A Brony Tale tells the story of Ashleigh going to her first BronyCon as the voice of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, main characters on the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic animated TV show.
This is the second documentary about the Brony subculture to cross my desk, and the second to make me visit the show again as we see fandom’s most picked on rise above the negativity outside and embrace community inside.
[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]
My first for legendary Boston journalist Jim SullivanInk.com!
I received three texts from my girlfriend telling me that “Awesome,” the Tegan and Sara song from The LEGO Movie has been stuck in her head all day: “Everything Is Awesome!!!” And I streamed the song a few times today (Sara Quin told Billboard:“Whether you think it’s funny or annoying, there’s no denying that it’s a ridiculously hooky thing,”
So we went to the movie. The LEGO Movie itself is awesome, bricking together generations of builders, movie stars and imagination for a truly all ages movie to be enjoyed by all.
The prologue features god-like Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman, perhaps reviving his holy Evan Almighty role) facing down an evil and maniacal President Business/Lord Business (the always funny Will Ferrell). They speak of the prophecy, where one MasterBuilder will one day stop the evil tyrant from making permanent changes to the world of LEGO with his many tentacled Kragle gun.
Next we cut to everyman, our faithful builder Emmet Brickowkski (Chris Pratt, star of Parks and Recreation and the upcoming Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy). Emmet heads to work, where he follows President Builder’s instructions for his city of Bricksburg, singing (literally) all day, the theme song, “Everything Is Awesome!!!” before running into our strong female lead Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks). Wyldstyle’s snooping around triggers the alarms and our next big star is on the hunt for them, Badcop/Goodcop (Liam Neeson). Using the swivel head to switch from evil to nice is the typical LEGO touch, as soon as you start thinking of the bricks as people, the writers put in a clever reference to the toy parts that makes you giggle.
[READ MORE AT JIMSULLIVANINK.COM]
Superman: Unbound is the latest DC Universe Animated Original Movie based on an Action Comics arc written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Gary Frank. Though not bogged down by New 52 continuity or pre-Flashpoint Superman Family architecture, the movie does a fair job at retelling the story of the five part Superman: Braniac in 75 minutes. Rumors are that this could be the last DCAU movie set in the old timelines, so continuity buffs and those wishing to celebrate Superman’s 75th birthday this year should give this a chance if you have not already. Since the story references Silver and Golden Age Superman subjects like the Bottled City Of Kandor and Collector of Worlds, this is both a movie for new fans anticipating Man of Steel and those with the House of El’s shield tattooed on their arms. Speaking of which, Supergirl is in for the action too.
Our story opens with Lois being abducted by some bad dudes in all black swat outfits from The Daily Planet. Perhaps a nod to our favorite Superman joke, Lois is in a pink outfit (and later has a pink phone and a pink laptop). She’s amazingly calm, because in this version, Lois and Clark are boyfriend and girlfriend. He has a way of saving her from these things.
It turns out that she’s not going to be rescued by big blue because he is dealing with an earthquake elsewhere. High over Metropolis, Miss Lane is in the back of a helicopter, almost helpless if not for her wit.
Heeding the call for action Supergirl uses her powers to defeat the bad guys until Kal shows up.
Cousin Kal reprimands her for using excessive force. This serves the story as an opportunity to introduce the villain of the movie, Braniac. Though not a direct sequel to Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, one can see this as the introduction of the character of Kara-El, cousin to Kal-El Superman.
Lois and Supergirl - Superman Unbound
Both movies rely on Supergirl’s motivations to drive the main story, in fact my girlfriend pointed out to me that the first film should really have been called Superman/Supergirl Apocalypse, as Batman and Wonder Woman were secondary characters.
Even with the amazing Andrea Romano as voice director there are still old fashioned gender issues in mainstream media.
Back on Krypton, before the explosion and Kal being sent to the Kent Farm, older cousin Kara witnessed a ship helmed by Braniac invade the capital of Kandor and slaughter many innocents. As the collector of worlds, Braniac bottled the city after shrinking it and he put this among his collection. Kara’s parents survived the blast and live in the bottle. Kara now can’t stand bullies, so she feels justified using so much force.
[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]