The Many Foes of Spider-Man - The Spot

I spy with my little eye - a dalmation. No wait! I spot The Spot.

As a scientist working for the Kingpin, Dr. Jonathan Ohnn was assigned to reproduce the radiation levels of the superhero Cloak to find a way to artificially mimic his powers. While working late one night, he succeeded, creating a solid black circular portal. In doing so, however, the drain on the city's power became so great, a blackout washed over the city, causing the portal to shimmer and destabilize. Fearful of losing a once in a lifetime opportunity, Ohnn stepped into it; the shock of the transition caused him to pass out.

He awoke floating weightlessly in a dimension which he initially assumed was Cloak's dark dimension. He soon realized however that the power shortage caused the portal to send him to a different dimension, a place of half darkness and half light. A seemingly infinite number of portals surrounded him in this place. Making swimming motions, he managed to find the original portal that brought him there and slipped back through it.

When Ohnn emerged back into his lab, his body had undergone a radical transformation. The portals from the other dimension had adhered to his skin, covering him with black spots from head to toe. Realizing the spots were portable space warps, he started to think he might be able to use them to defeat anyone in battle. When Spider-Man and the Black Cat arrived to confront the Kingpin, he appeared before them and announced himself as the Spot. Spider-Man collapsed on the roof, laughing at the name. The Spot ended up winning that first confrontation and warned the heroes to leave the Kingpin alone. He later lost a second battle against Spider-Man because he was tricked into throwing too many of his spots as weapons and not keeping enough to defend himself with.

Later, the Spot formed a short-lived team with Gibbon, Grizzly, and Kangaroo II called the Spider-Man Revenge Squad, which was better known as the Legion of Losers. This team fell apart when Spider-Man carted the Spot and the Kangaroo to jail for bank robbery.

Villain Profiles:

the Beetle
Black Cat
Boomerang
Calypso
Carnage
the Chameleon
Demogoblin
Doctor Octopus
Doppelganger
Electro
the Green Goblin
Hammerhead
Hobgoblin
Hydro-Man
J. Jonah Jameson
Jack O' Lantern
Jackal
Kangaroo
the Kingpin
Kraven the Hunter
the Lizard
Man-Wolf
Morbius
Morlun
Mysterio
Puma
Rhino
Sandman
Scorpion
Shocker
Silvermane
The Sinister Six
Spider Slayers
The Spot

Spider-Man 3 debuts in 34 days!

Meet the Robinsons Has Arrived

Ah, remember when Disney animated releases were big events and required viewing? Those days are gone. I am sure I will see this film eventually, but it just looks so bizarre. Chicken Little was better than I expected, though still not great. Maybe this one will be a surprise. The big head little arms T-Rex joke is funny, but the break dancing he does later is horrible. So, if anyone sees this movie, make sure to post your thoughts here.

Chicken Little

Radar Blips - Contact

The Year: 1997

The Players: A Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future) film staring Jodie Foster, Mathew McConaughey, and Bill Clinton.

The Take: $101 Million

Who Gets Contacted?: The Earth folk, through a cleverly layered alien message sent in prime number pulses including schematics for a device that does something.

Why you should see it: This film should make you think. It poses questions about God, man's progress, faith, and in a non pretentious way. Even with a degree in electrical engineering, I found the description of the message to be quite complicated and interesting. Its nice when a movie is not dumbed down.

Contact

Ultimate Teaser Trailer

Ranking #4 on my Most Anticipated Films of 2007 was The Bourne Ultimatum. Well, the 1st trailer has arrived. The shaky cam is back - with a vengeance. As good as it was to see Casino Royale with a Bournified Bond, I am looking forward to this third installment in the Bourne series.

The Bourne Supremacy (Widescreen Edition)





The Bourne Identity (Widescreen Extended Edition)





Casino Royale (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

It Ain't Easy Bein' Green

Presto! Deathly Hallows Cover Revealed

Hope you like orange.

Pre-order it now for July 21st delivery!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)

New Transformers Posters Face Off

Their War, Our World. They both look pretty ticked off.

The Transformers - The Movie (20th Anniversary Special Edition)

Ink Blots LVII - Hellboy: Blood and Iron

After all, Blood is thicker than Water making Hellboy: Blood and Iron a stretch of a fit for Water Themed Month.

Just a couple months back, I reviewed Hellboy: Sword of Storms giving the adventure into Japanese folklore a B. This time, Hellboy trades rubbernecked forest monsters, and bouncing heads for vampires, werewolves, and a minotaur... not a bad trade. And with a the title "Blood and Iron" you probably expect some blood. Don't worry, there is no shortage.

This time, Abe, Liz and Broom are back, in a story that centers around the vampire Erzsebet Ondrushko, who likes to take baths in human blood. Although killed in 1939, efforts are being made to revive her. Not only that, but the goddess Hecate (to whom Erzsebet had sold her soul prior to death) is on the scene .

There is a ton of action in this film, and though I am not that familiar with Hellboy aside from his movies, I am enjoying his adventures. I do not really understand how Hellboy can carry a franchise (the third animated film is underway, and another live action film will hit next year) while characters like the Flash, Green Lantern, and Daredevil struggle to stay in the limelight. Still, I look forward to the next outing which promises to introduce Lobster Johnson, a popular character from the comics whom I know nothing about.

The animation here is passable, not really feature film quality, but the film delivers the PG-13 rating that the Marvel DTVs also share but wuss out of. With some swears, a dark story, and lots of gore, Hellboy: Blood and Iron improves over the last effort earning a B+.

Hellboy: Blood and Iron





Hellboy - Sword of Storms





Hellboy (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The Golden Compass - First Look Trailer

For those of you unfamiliar with the book series His Dark Materials, you may want to pick it up. Anyhow, here is a first look with rough effects for the Golden Compass, complete with armor wearing polar bear.

Turtles Power into 1st

Cowabunga!

Donatello and Co were able to take first place at the box office this weekend with $25.5 million. While its true that they beat out the 300, let us not forget that the 300 has already been out 3 weeks. What is impressive is that TMNT came out on top of a weekend loaded with 6 new releases.

So how does TMNT stack up to previous releases? 17 years ago, the original Turtles hit during the heyday of turtledom with a $25.4 million opening and went on to earn $135 million. The sequel (co starring the Ice man Vanilla Ice) came in 1991 and opened with $20 million on the road to $79 million. 1993 brought part 3 - Turtles in Time which opened with just $12 million totaling only $42 million.

Given that nowadays films are more front loaded, TMNT looks to peter out around $75 to $85 million. Still, budgeted at a modest $34 million, there is a good chance there will be more turtles coming - and hopefully the return of Shredder.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Movie

Ghost Rider - "I feel like my skull's on fire" Edition DVD

Poster j in jest offered this title as an inevitable double dip edition of Ghost Rider. Well j, I don't know about the title, but the double dip is coming.

According to DVDActive.com June 12th will bring 2 versions of the DVD. I can't emphasize enough how refreshing it is that these will be simultaneously released.

The film will be available to own from the 12th June as a single-disc, or a two-disc extended edition with around 17 minutes of additional footage. The discs have yet to be officially announced so details are still sketchy - although we understand that 3 audio commentaries, and a 60 minute "Spirit of Vengeance: The Making of Ghost Rider" documentary will be included on the two-disc version.

Ghost Rider Ultimate 12" Ghostrider & Cycle



Batman Begins (Widescreen Edition)






Fantastic Four DVD




Invincible Iron Man