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THE FLICK: The comic-book generation has grown up to rule the box-office, commanding enough clout to get even the most minor Marvel / DC / Dark Horse character his or her very own franchise. And yet, when the Fantastic Four, one of the tentpole supergroups from the ‘60s, finally got its own movie (not counting the unreleased Roger Corman version) that very same audience bitched and moaned their way through the whole thing. Their chief complaint? It was too juvenile, too jokey, too kid-friendly. Does anyone else see the irony here? The comic-book generation has grown up, and they expect their heroes to grow up with them. Batman, Superman, even the usually fun-loving Spiderman were all saddled with some major emotional baggage when they finally hit the screen. With Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, director Tim Story sticks to his guns by producing a light-hearted story (well, as light-hearted as worldwide destruction can be) featuring spandex clad-characters who celebrate their...

THE SHOW: Gathering some of the most prominent names in modern horror cinema under the Showtime label and giving them 12 hour-long episodes of unrated freedom not only sounds too good to be true, it sounds like a producer’s worst nightmare to even try and pull off. But props to perpetual horror hanger-on Mick Garris for getting the job done, at least from a logistical perspective. Creatively, that’s another story. Even factoring in the outrageous expectations, Masters of Horror: S1 was a mixed bag of treats, delivering Bit ‘O Honeys when one was promised full-size candy bars. While Don Coscarelli’s Incident On and Off a Mountain Road was a promising start to the season, subsequent episodes were either interesting concepts that squandered their full potential or quite simply DOA. So who’s to blame? And why was the show successful enough with fans to earn a second season (and possible third)? Because horror fans are a loyal bunch, and the idea being witness to the resurrection of John Ca...

THE FLICK: Director Roland Emmerich is the sort of guy who “supersizes” every movie he makes. And as part of a healthy cinematic diet, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, his films have been the most consistently satisfying popcorn fare of the past decade; even the bastardization of Godzilla delivered a lot of bang for the buck. So it’s only fitting that he finally tackled the “disaster” genre, a category Irwin Allen made famous for scenes of elaborate destruction and painful overacting. But on The Day After Tomorrow, Roland Emmerich tops the master with help from updated technology and some hilarious political posturing. Dennis Quaid stars as a well-meaning scientist, passionate about his predictions of global change due to the melting of the polar icecaps. However, even he couldn’t foresee the rapid pace of said change, resulting in an all-encompassing weather system that unleashes tornadoes on Los Angeles and tsunamis in New York while the rest of the world is liter...

THE SHOW: Gathering some of the most prominent names in modern horror cinema under the Showtime label and giving them 12 hour-long episodes of unrated freedom not only sounds too good to be true, it sounds like a producer’s worst nightmare to even try and pull off. But props to perpetual horror hanger-on Mick Garris for getting the job done, at least from a logistical perspective. Creatively, that’s another story. Even factoring in the outrageous expectations, Masters of Horror: S1 was a mixed bag of treats, delivering Bit ‘O Honeys when one was promised full-size candy bars. While Don Coscarelli’s Incident On and Off a Mountain Road was a promising start to the season, subsequent episodes were either interesting concepts that squandered their full potential or quite simply DOA. So who’s to blame? And why was the show successful enough with fans to earn a second season (and possible third)? Because horror fans are a loyal bunch, and the idea being witness to the resurrection of John Ca...

THE FLICK: At the end of Dawn of the Dead the world had pretty much gone to hell. So it’s entirely appropriate that the sequel feels like a sort of purgatory, both for the characters trapped within the film’s sprawling underground bunker and for the audience suffering along with them. Like Coppola’s Godfather Part Two, it was obvious Romero had made his masterpiece in 1978 and any subsequent follow-ups would only suffer by comparison. But the zombies were resurrected again to hasten mankind’s demise, aided by our own petty bickering and selfish concerns. Although the production was plagued with the usual budget constraints and creative compromises inherent in any Romero production, there are some brilliant moments in the script. Harvesting zombies for scientific experiments and attempts to “domesticate” the pus-filled hordes – represented by Dr. Loomis’ slack-jawed star pupil “Bub” – are luridly fascinating. And the dysfunctional social and political dynamic that festers within the bun...