a nee

A eS RR RTE Ee I

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—y Es

 

Angela Espinoza

Batman: Under the Red Hood is an
adaption of the 2005-2006 storyline,
“Batman: Under the Hood”, which
controversially brought back the once
supposedly dead Jason Todd, AKA
Robin number two. Comic books
kill off, resurrect, and re-imagine
characters all the time, but it was
Jason in particular that threw fans off.
Why? The story goes that in 1988, a
phone-in poll was conducted to let
the fans decide if they wanted Jason
to live or die by the next issue: being
the bastards we are, slightly more than
half the voters wanted Jason’s head.
In Red Hood, the film makes
use of its PG-13 rating instantly,
opening with Jason’s gruesome
death: being beaten with a crowbar
by the Joker, and subsequently blown
up. Fast forward five years into the
present, the latest person under the
Red Hood mantle appears, going to
extreme lengths to take control of
Gotham’s drug trade. Batman (Bruce
Greenwood) takes prime interest in
this latest caper, but finds himself in
disbelief when all signs point it to
being Jason Todd (Jensen Ackles).
Meanwhile, crumbling crime lord
Black Mask (Wade Williams) seeks
the destruction of this new possible
vigilante, going as far as to break The
Joker John DiMaggio) out of Arkham
Asylum.

“Under the Red Hood” is bat-tastically awesome

F

The animation is beautiful; the
characters are crisp and the acrobatic
fight scenes are unbelievably clean,
and the shadows are reminiscent of
Mask of the Phantasm (1993) and
Gotham Knight (2008). However,
the CGI used for moving vehicles is
embarrassingly painful, reminding
us that these pictures are straight-to-
DVD. We’re all a little crestfallen
when Kevin Conroy or Mark Hamill
isn’t on the bill, but Greenwood is
nevertheless excellent. DiMaggio, who
plays Bender on Futurama, put me off
with his baritone Joker, but evens it
out with a surprisingly effective laugh.

Red Hood.-uses far more swears
than I’ve heard in any other DC
animated production, but nothing
extreme. When you hear the rage or
disgust in a character’s voice however,
considering their situations, the use of
“damn” is incredibly disappointing.
The fight scenes, while stunning and
deliciously violent, lack serious blood;
how the hell do you manage to slit
someone’s throat and not draw any
blood? Besides all that, the writing is
impressive (the movie is written by
Judd Winick, the same outstanding
writer that penned the comic series),
and if you love dark comedy, you’ll
adore this Joker.

All in all, Batman: Under the Red
Hood is one of the best DC animated
movies I’ve ever seen, more than
worthy of owning.

DOOOUdt

 

Lenn RP ats

Series of the living dead
AMC adapts Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore’s “The Walking.

Dead” for mini-series

By Angela Espinoza

elevision network AMC has
| gained increasing recognition
within the last few years.

Intended to be a movie-hosting
channel since 1984, the mid-90s
brought with it the goal of creating
original programming. Between
1996 and 2001, two attempts had
been made to produce a profitable
series, but it wasn’t until 2007 that
AMC shook audiences everywhere
with the premier of American 1960s
drama Man Men (in its fourth season
as of July 25). Receiving outstanding
critical acclaim, AMC repeated its
success in 2008 with Breaking Bad,
about an ex-chemistry teacher who
takes to crime after being diagnosed
with terminal cancer. Now if slick,
amoral businessmen and law-
breaking anti-heroes don’t do it for
you, perhaps this upcoming series
will.

Announced in August 2009,
AMC has decided to adapt The
Walking Dead for a six-episode first
season. The Walking Dead (2003-
present) is an on-going comic book
series about protagonist Rick Grimes,
his family, and a group of struggling
survivors living amongst the zombie
apocalypse.

Not much has been said of the
series’ production, other then its
being shot on 16mm film, which

should give the gruesome show a
nice exploitation movie feel. A trailer
spliced together with scenes from the
pilot episode was screened on July
23 at the San Diego Comic-Con. So
far it’s kept hopes high in that it may
share the success of Mad Men and
Breaking Bad, considering the show
has been created by Frank Darabont
(Dir. The Shawshank Redemption
(1994)), who also directed the pilot
episode.

With teenage dramas about
so-called “vampires” flooding the
airwaves these days, a serious take
on the underground popularity of a
zombie apocalypse is something I
personally have been itching to see
for a while now. The comic book
series, which has drawn comparisons
to 28 Days Later (2002), shows a
bleak outlook of the life one must
face, not only in attempting to
survive the next day, but to see your
lover and child survive as well. That
is, as opposed to picking out what
you'll be wearing to prom with your
blood-sucking date.

The Walking Dead has built
up enough hype at this point that
it should become a fan favorite of
those dedicated to zombie culture.
The series is set to premier sometime
in October, during AMC’s annual
Halloween-themed month-long
programming.

 

Dear faithful readers of the Other Press;

     

_ Jay Schreiber

arts editor

s time goes on, the natural
As: of the world happen
and so it comes to pass that
I must resign as arts editor of the
OP. I trust my successors with the
confidence that they will uphold the
true but objectionable view that good
art can convey, I know I’ve enjoyed
my time doing it.

So I leave you with these parting
words: Look for meaning and good
in everything. Try not to immediately
shut down something because of its
initial appearance, instead, ask why?

Don’t believe anybody’s opinion,
it’s a perfectly good waste of the one
you have. The purpose of art (and
more specifically the artist) is to

see the world differently from what
society considers “normal”, trying to
understand art taking that approach
makes much more sense.

Support art always! Listen to all
styles of music, watch all kinds of
films, experience all sorts of theatre,
and read whatever you please but
don’t discredit any of the following,
make up your mind about art; you are

itled int of view!
Thank you,

Jay