Over 20 years ago I read my first Green Lantern comic and knew immediately that he would forever be my favorite superhero. Since then I've been waiting for Hollywood to take interest in him enough to make a big screen, big budget movie, and at last it has arrived. Because I'm such a huge fan of Green Lantern, writing this review has been a significant challenge. I tried not to go too easy on the film because I love the source material so much. I've tried not to be too hard on it for the ways in which it didn't meet my hopes and expectations. In the end I did the best I can to be objective, but I obviously make no guarantees. ;-) A race of ancient beings called The Guardians have taken it upon themselves to protect and preserve order in the universe. To this end they have divided the universe into 3600 sectors and given a powerful ring to one representative in each sector, inducting them into The Green Lantern Corps. The rings can create from solid energy anyth...

Since this is a big week for Green Lantern (I'm seeing the movie tomorrow morning!) I thought I'd squeeze out an extra post and give a "First Five" review of "Green Lantern: Rise Of The Manhunters" as it plays on the Xbox 360. I reserve my "First Five" reviews for video games. They involve me giving my first five impressions of the first five hours of a game. So they are not complete and thorough reviews, but hopefully they're both timely and helpful. This time around, I actually ended up getting through the entire game, although only on the lowest difficulty and without trying multiplayer. Up front I should say that I almost never play action games because I suck at them. Anything requiring the precise movement or timing of joysticks or buttons is going to kick my butt and leave me frustrated. Especially if death or failure means playing the same section of a game over and over and over again. (Burn in hell, Super Mario Brothers!) ...

What is it about grown men in spandex flying around and shooting lasers that is so fascinating, even thrilling to me? And why is the "Green Lantern" concept so especially exciting? I believe that the concept of superheroes is often an unintended response to the ideas God has placed in our hearts about what we and the world should, and one day will, be like. Comic book heroes sometimes seem to resonate with biblical principles. Justice is highly valued in the Bible and you can almost hear the comic book heroes of today quoting passages as they head out for their nightly patrol: Batman might like the New Living Translation’s rendition of Psalm 101:8. My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked and free the city of the LORD from their grip. Uncle Ben may have just been reading Luke 12:48 before telling Peter Parker that “with great power comes great responsibility.” Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to who...

To coincide with (a.k.a "milk every drop from") the release of the live action Green Lantern movie, the DC animation studios have released another Green Lantern animated movie on DVD and Blu-ray. This time, instead of focusing on Hal Jordan as "Green Lantern: First Flight" did, "Green Lantern: Emerald Knights" tells a handful of stories from the history of the Green Lantern Corps in anthology format. The Corps is about to fight an extremely powerful enemy, and to encourage a rookie, Hal Jordan and some other Green Lanterns tell stories that highlight interesting facets of the Corps' history. When I heard they were going with an anthology format for this release, I had major reservations. I found "Batman: Gotham Knight" to be an odd assortment of different storytelling styles that had no momentum driving it. Although "Emerald Knights" also lacks a strong and consistent build from beginning to end, each story is packed with act...

Let's get this out of the way. Super 8 is a 10 out of 10. I don't know how it could realistically be any better. The "Goonies" for this generation. Go see it. Now for why... In 1979, a pre-teen boy and his friends pass the summer by making movies together on 8mm film. But while passionately shooting their zombie flick, a train derails right in front of them, and it is later learned that something emerged from the wreckage and is now causing dangerous and mysterious happenings in this small town community. There is so much more I'd like to say about the plot, but giving any more detail in a synopsis would risk spoiling the various gems in this story that should really be experienced on a first viewing. The movie could be described as a blend of mystery, drama, suspense and science fiction. It works for the same reason that Battlestar Galactica and the best of Farscape work. It works for the same reason that Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and E.T. ...

When I first heard rumors that an X-Men Prequel was in development (shortly after seeing the disappointing X-Men 3), I figured things would continue to go downhill with the franchise as it desperately tried to milk itself dry with an unneeded story. It wasn't until some of the latest trailers for X-Men: First Class were released that I thought we might have a movie worth paying to see here. Matthew Vaughn directs this flick with less style and creativity than his amazing film, "Kick Ass", but he gets the job done well. The story is a period piece and takes place in the 1960's, with the Cuban Missile Crisis at the core of the plot. Magneto, played by Michael Fassbender, is on a hunt to kill the man who experimented on him and killed his mother when he was just a boy during the Holocaust of World War 2. Along the way he meets Charles Xavier, played by James McAvoy, who is beginning to connect with other Mutants for the first time, assisted by the US government. ...