Boulder

1. The Omen (original)

2. The Thing (John Carpenter)

3. The Exorcist

Sorry to hear this. If nothing else, I would at least think Swayze inspired a lot of people with the positive attitude he kept in the face of his illness. R.I.P.

Bold prediction: by the time his run is over, Jonathan Hickman will be one of the five best Fantastic Four writers of all time.

Presuming, of course, that the Fantastic Four aren't replaced by Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy.

So, has anyone been reading the fairly new Punisher comic written by Rick Remender? The first two issues were't up to much, but the series has improved at a rapid rate and is one of my current favourite on-going titles. I'm still a little unsold on the Punisher/Henry relationship and dynamic, but I believe that is going to be explored in more detail. The writing is good, the action is better and Remender has done well in getting some of the newly revived super-villians "over" for lack of a much better term.

I picked up the first arc, but dropped it after that because I wasn't really into it (though I seemed to be in the minority with that opinion). There's a Dark Reign Punisher special Remender is writing which I'll be picking up (since JRJR is drawing it), so if that hooks me, maybe I'll give it another shot.

That and the scene where Homer is in group therapy and he cannot grasp why the guy with Agoraphobia couldn't leave the house, especially where he sums it up at the end with "Pfft, baby." which leaves the guy with a brilliant look of shock and disbelief on his face.

That's another one of the funniest exchanges in the history of the show.

I think King Of The Hill really went on to be what a definitive "animated sitcom" should be. Mike Judge really knew how to write comedy, whether it be the over the top in your face style of Beavis and Butthead or what was more subtle style of KOTH. Jokes that could be punchlined simply by Hank facepalming rather then an over the top sight gag

King of the Hill is my all-time, bar none, favorite show. I don't expect that the humor appeals to everybody, but if you're a fan, it's incredible. It's hard to explain- this may not make sense, but it's like the jokes that go unsaid are sometimes even funnier than the jokes that are expressed.

EDIT: Plus, I think King of the Hill has even more "misty eyed" moments than the early Simpsons.

Not to belabor the point, but I've been thinking about how deeply situational the humor was in the earlier episodes, and it's incredible by today's standards. In "Bart the Genius," the eventual denouement and resolution comes with Bart admitting his sham to Homer and getting chased through the house. Bart (naked) runs past Lisa and Marge, with Homer chasing after him. Without even turning her head, Lisa just goes "Mom... I think Bart's dumb again." It's not that the line itself was fantastic or anything, it was just executed so perfectly in combination with the preceding 22 minutes.

^ I re-watched "Lisa on Ice" recently, and almost cried during the final scene. I will willingly admit to this for the purpose of uncovering what went wrong with "The Simpsons".

Some of those older episodes had such great moments in terms of reminding viewers "hey, they're a family, they love each other." One of my favorites is from "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" where at the very end, as the Simpsons solemnly drive back to Springfield, Bart just goes "Y'know, Dad, I thought your car was pretty cool." Homer replies, "Thanks, boy. I was waiting for someone to say that."

EDIT: And on a separate, but related note, that episode was filled with hilarious jokes. One of my favorites.

Good article, apart from the Futurama bashing. I never realized there was one particular person so largely responsible for that brand of joke, so it's interesting to find out. There's more to it than just the jokes themselves, though. When the show started, the main thing it had going for it was how honest it was. It was an incredibly witty, but not too-greatly-skewed satire of American life. The characters (supporting and major) represented archetypes closely associated with suburbia- Homer, the average boor, Marge, the harried housewife, Lisa, the unnoticed genius, Bart, the hellraising brat, and Maggie, the ".3" of the 2.3 children. The show adhered to the characterization, stayed honest, and with good writing, humor rose organically.

They've been showing a lot of the earlier episodes (Seasons 3-4) on TV over here lately, and they never fail to blow me away. Just yesterday was the Mr. Plow episode, and when Homer considers buying the plow, he fantasizes about using it to move protesters at the White House at the behest of George Bush (Sr.). One of the protesters is carrying a sign that says "Give me money to do nothing." That's it, just a little, almost throw-away joke that gets across so much about Homer's beliefs and intelligence. It stays true to the character, and even if it paints a picture with which we don't personally agree, it doesn't make Homer any less lovable.

Looks awesome. Coen brothers movies are the only "kind" of film I go into already knowing I'm going to love.

Who hates Superman?

Lex Luthor, Braniac and Hank Henshaw to name just three.

What?

Well, at least they all have damn good reasons.

Who hates Superman? What's wrong with you?

Whoops, my bad. Thought this was a thread about They Live. I'll leave now.

Can somebody tell me, how many issues are there in Ed Brubakers run of Cap America pre-#600? I've been collecting in trade but want to try get into reading it in issues but am totally confused when it comes to volumes and have no idea how far behind I am.

#1-#50, plus the Winter Soldier: Winter Kills one shot and the Captain America 65th Anniversary Special one shot.

I need some recommendations. Firstly, does anybody know of any old, old, OLD school Superman stories (think 1950s or thereabouts) that really show life on Krypton, or in Kandor, anything like that? Also, any particularly good Vandal Savage stories (from any time period)?

Wooooo.

That wasn't me saying "wooooo," by the way. It was air escaping from my folds of fat.

Wooooo.

Has anyone here read the limited series Books of Doom? I stumbled across it earlier today and it has been an enjoyable exploration of Victor Von Doom and his genesis. It isn't a re-imagining so much as it's an examination of Doom's rise and corruption that fills in a lot of blanks in his origin. I am surprised that it slipped under my radar for so long.

Yeah, after enjoying Cap and Daredevil, when I found out there was a Brubaker Doom mini I needed to have it. It didn't disappoint, it's definitely Doom done right, which isn't something that always happens these days.

As a big Golden Girls fan, I was sad to hear this. From all accounts it sounds like she had a long and full life, at least.

RIP.

Yea, last year IGN made a fake trailer for a Zelda movie for april fools day. Was a quality trailer thoughq

Fuck, really? I've had this idea for years, but forgot to do it every April 1st.

Reported in Variety hitting stands today, we can confirm that Paramount Pictures is indeed in the earliest stages of development for a film based on the hit video game series "The Legend of Zelda." The story of the games revolves around a young peasant, Link, who becomes a knight to rescue the titular Princess Zelda from the evil Ganondorf, Prince of Thieves. Despite studios' lack of success in producing profitable video game adaptations, Paramount remains convinced that taking a "Lord of the Rings" style approach to this franchise will generate a revenue stream worthy of the venture. An executive with the company, who asked to remain anonymous, was quoted as saying "It's been a few years since we've seen a truly successful big, sprawling epic. I think that the time is right for another fantasy adventure, and what better place to start than with one of the most famous and beloved video game franchises of all time?"

Indeed, "The Legend of Zelda" is worthy of such high praise; the series has sparked over a dozen games which have sold over 52 millions copies worldwide. In a poll conducted by Video Gamers' Network, the heroic Link was found to be the third-most recognizable video game character of all time, trailing only Pac-Man and Super Mario. Though the series was launched in 1986, the most recent major release, Twilight Princess, took home a slew of awards in 2006 and was one more reason the Nintendo Wii system was so highly coveted.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this story is the casting news. Variety reports that Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly have verbally agreed to play Link and Zelda, respectively, with Jeremy Irons in negotiation for the role of Ganon/Ganondorf. Though no director is attached yet, filming is hoped to begin this fall.

-movienewstouse.com

My knee jerk reaction is to be unimpressed, but the more I think about it, the more I want to like it. I love the series, and A Link to the Past is possibly my all-time favorite game. I'm skeptical, but if they're really going all out, who knows?

I was stunned to hear this, as I didn't even know he was sick. I only watched Angel for the first couple of seasons, but he was clearly one of the most enjoyable things about the show (and said Pylea episodes were fantastic). RIP.

War Machine has been good. Nothing spectacular, but a fun war comic with a Sci-Fi twist. I haven't read the issue that came out yesterday, though. As far as Spider-Man, anyone who hasn't been reading ought to pick up the Joe Kelly Hammerhead 2 parter from last year (I want to say October), as those were incredible. If you don't enjoy that story, then Spidey might just not be your cup of tea at this point.

New Avengers/Spider-Man spoiler:

Spoiler: Click here to view

So they do they whole retcon, only for Spidey to unmask to the other Avengers again? It's not like I don't like him being with the others like a REAL member of the team, but c'mon! Still, the exchange between him, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage was pretty funny.

Spoiler: Click here to view

I didn't mind that he unmasked to them. What bothered me is that nobody remembered that they used to know who he was. According to Marvel, people remember the unmasking but they don't know who was behind the mask. Given that, would a more logical question than "who are you?" be "why the hell don't we know who you are anymore?"

Spoiler: Click here to view

I guess they not only don't remember who he was, they don't even remember they knew. Now, I have to ask, I haven't been reading Spider-Man since the whole BND crap, but I know he already interacted with the Thunderbolts, which by proxy makes him interact with Norman Osborn, or at least I'd think that. What was their stance there? Did they make any acknowledgment that Osborn used to know who he was? Heck, or Venom? What's the deal there? Could anyone explain?

I'll ditch the spoiler tags since this one was last summer, but yeah, they addressed all that. Norman didn't remember who Spider-Man was, and Peter (in costume) even made a point of teasing him about how he knew all of Osborn's secrets, but it wasn't vice versa anymore. Of course, Norman knew long before the Civil War unmasking, so who knows what "officially" happened to that. Venom (and the symbiote) didn't know Peter's identity, but kept tracking down Eddie Brock and getting into it with him. There was also a part in that storyline (New Ways to Die), where Peter thinks his identity might be in jeopardy, then when he realizes it isn't, thinks something like "the work WE did is still in effect." As yet there's been no explanation regarding that.

New Avengers/Spider-Man spoiler:

Spoiler: Click here to view

So they do they whole retcon, only for Spidey to unmask to the other Avengers again? It's not like I don't like him being with the others like a REAL member of the team, but c'mon! Still, the exchange between him, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage was pretty funny.

Hey, to those who saw the movie, is Bubastis in there? Just wondering.

I liked this one a lot, actually. Bender's Big Score is still my favorite, but this is a fairly close second. I didn't care for Beast with a Billion Backs or Bender's Game (the former ignored and damaged the Fry/Leela relationship and as for the latter, I've never seen nor cared about LOTR), but I suppose they deserve second viewings.