“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” – John Dalberg-Acton. April 5, 1887.
The idea of the superbeing not as an aspirational figure but a cautionary tale is one that predates even the concept of the superhero. Philip Wylie’s 1930 novel about a superhumanly strong and tough man, Gladiator—a key influence on Superman—isn’t one of high adventure and happy endings. Long before they brought the Man of Steel we all know and love to life, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s 1933 “Reign of the Superman” wasn’t about a heroic character at all, but rather a mad scientist whose experiments grant a man telepathic powers who is soon corrupted by his gifts. Hell, we could rewind this thousands of years and see how mythological gods and heroes were far from paragons of virtue themselves.
It’s why even in the most shiningly optimistic superhero tales, there’s always...
The idea of the superbeing not as an aspirational figure but a cautionary tale is one that predates even the concept of the superhero. Philip Wylie’s 1930 novel about a superhumanly strong and tough man, Gladiator—a key influence on Superman—isn’t one of high adventure and happy endings. Long before they brought the Man of Steel we all know and love to life, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s 1933 “Reign of the Superman” wasn’t about a heroic character at all, but rather a mad scientist whose experiments grant a man telepathic powers who is soon corrupted by his gifts. Hell, we could rewind this thousands of years and see how mythological gods and heroes were far from paragons of virtue themselves.
It’s why even in the most shiningly optimistic superhero tales, there’s always...
- 5/9/2022
- by Mike Cecchini
- Den of Geek
George Pal’s second science fiction classic has conceptual imagination and visual wonder to spare, along with a million awkward and dated details. When rogue planets threaten to obliterate the Earth, a super-Ark spaceship is built to spirit forty ‘chosen ones’ to safety. The Ark passengers have the right stuff, but you may be enraged by the rigged process to select who gets to go. Gee-whiz spectacle is the order of the day — how many End Of The World movies actually show terra firma expunged from the Solar System? Barbara Rush and John Hoyt are the acting standouts, but top honors go to Pal’s visual effect artists and designers.
When Worlds Collide
Blu-ray
Viavision / [Imprint] 6 (Australia)
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 83 min. / Street Date August 26, 2020 / available through [Imprint] : $34.95
Starring: Barbara Rush, Richard Derr, Larry Keating, John Hoyt, Judith Ames, James Congden, Stephen Chase, Frank Cady, Hayden Rorke, Kirk Alyn, Casey Rogers, John Ridgely,...
When Worlds Collide
Blu-ray
Viavision / [Imprint] 6 (Australia)
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 83 min. / Street Date August 26, 2020 / available through [Imprint] : $34.95
Starring: Barbara Rush, Richard Derr, Larry Keating, John Hoyt, Judith Ames, James Congden, Stephen Chase, Frank Cady, Hayden Rorke, Kirk Alyn, Casey Rogers, John Ridgely,...
- 9/12/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
George Pal’s second science fiction classic has conceptual imagination and visual wonder to spare, along with a million awkward and dated details. When rogue planets threaten to obliterate the Earth, a super-Ark spaceship is built to spirit forty ‘chosen ones’ to safety. The Ark passengers have the right stuff, but you may be enraged by the rigged process to select who gets to go. Gee-whiz spectacle is the order of the day — how many End Of The World movies actually show terra firma expunged from the Solar System? Barbara Rush and John Hoyt are the acting standouts, but top honors go to Pal’s visual effect artists and designers.
When Worlds Collide
Blu-ray
Viavision / Imprint (Australia)
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 83 min. / Street Date August 26, 2020 / available through [Imprint] : $34.95
Starring: Barbara Rush, Richard Derr, Larry Keating, John Hoyt, Judith Ames, James Congden, Stephen Chase, Frank Cady, Hayden Rorke, Kirk Alyn, Casey Rogers,...
When Worlds Collide
Blu-ray
Viavision / Imprint (Australia)
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 83 min. / Street Date August 26, 2020 / available through [Imprint] : $34.95
Starring: Barbara Rush, Richard Derr, Larry Keating, John Hoyt, Judith Ames, James Congden, Stephen Chase, Frank Cady, Hayden Rorke, Kirk Alyn, Casey Rogers,...
- 9/12/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Given all of the enemies and high-stakes storylines facing the Frasers so far this season on “Outlander,” it was impossible to draw out the return of Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers) any more than the show already has. And so the series skipped ahead to a storyline out of Diana Gabaldon’s next book, “A Breath of Snow and Ashes,” on Sunday night’s “Mercy Shall Follow Me,” when the protagonist family put their whiskey dreams of catching the pirate in motion.
Following Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) run-in with the powder-faced Philip Wylie (Chris Donald) a few episodes back, Wylie had arranged the promised meet-and-greet to secure Bonnet as a “business partner” in Jamie’s whiskey venture. The plan was to get Bonnet inside and then kill him, as Jamie revealed to Roger (Richard Rankin) last week. Except now that Jamie and Roger have finally bonded over Jamie’s near-death experience,...
Following Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) run-in with the powder-faced Philip Wylie (Chris Donald) a few episodes back, Wylie had arranged the promised meet-and-greet to secure Bonnet as a “business partner” in Jamie’s whiskey venture. The plan was to get Bonnet inside and then kill him, as Jamie revealed to Roger (Richard Rankin) last week. Except now that Jamie and Roger have finally bonded over Jamie’s near-death experience,...
- 4/27/2020
- by Amber Dowling
- Indiewire
‘Outlander’ Review: Wedding Preparations and an Old Foe Lay the Groundwork for a Major Confrontation
Who knew that the fifth season of “Outlander” would feature so many weddings? While Jocasta (Maria Doyle Kennedy) and Duncan Innes (Alastair Findlay) didn’t actually tie the knot in “Better to Marry Than to Burn,” their wedding preparations anchored an action-packed episode full of reunions, plans, and well-earned second chances.
The installment kicked off with a flashback to Jocasta tragically losing her daughter, a scene that gave viewers new insight into her current disposition and further explains her choice to settle for Duncan despite her feelings for Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix). When the Regulator leader showed up at the end of the episode to declare his love and ask her to wait, it was a tense scene packed with emotional showcases for two characters that didn’t necessarily get to dig into those moments in the Diana Gabaldon novels. In the end Jocasta’s decision to go ahead and marry...
The installment kicked off with a flashback to Jocasta tragically losing her daughter, a scene that gave viewers new insight into her current disposition and further explains her choice to settle for Duncan despite her feelings for Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix). When the Regulator leader showed up at the end of the episode to declare his love and ask her to wait, it was a tense scene packed with emotional showcases for two characters that didn’t necessarily get to dig into those moments in the Diana Gabaldon novels. In the end Jocasta’s decision to go ahead and marry...
- 3/23/2020
- by Amber Dowling
- Indiewire
Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not yet watched the sixth episode of “Outlander” Season 5, entitled “Better to Marry Than Burn.”
It’s no secret that Maria Doyle Kennedy is a talented actress — but if anyone didn’t know before, they do now after watching “Outlander’s” latest episode, “Better to Marry Than Burn.” The thrust of the action this week was Jocasta’s (Kennedy) wedding to Duncan Innes (Alastair Findlay) at River Run, which meant it was time to talk about “the Frenchman’s gold,” a key plot point from the novel “The Fiery Cross.”
In a flashback, we saw how Jocasta and her husband, Hector Cameron (Christopher Bowen), were on the run after the Jacobite rebellion was ended at the Battle of Culloden. They had in their possession a box of gold sent by King Louis Xv of France to aid in Charles Stuart’s rebellion against the British crown.
It’s no secret that Maria Doyle Kennedy is a talented actress — but if anyone didn’t know before, they do now after watching “Outlander’s” latest episode, “Better to Marry Than Burn.” The thrust of the action this week was Jocasta’s (Kennedy) wedding to Duncan Innes (Alastair Findlay) at River Run, which meant it was time to talk about “the Frenchman’s gold,” a key plot point from the novel “The Fiery Cross.”
In a flashback, we saw how Jocasta and her husband, Hector Cameron (Christopher Bowen), were on the run after the Jacobite rebellion was ended at the Battle of Culloden. They had in their possession a box of gold sent by King Louis Xv of France to aid in Charles Stuart’s rebellion against the British crown.
- 3/23/2020
- by Andrea Reiher
- Variety Film + TV
This Outlander review contains spoilers.
Outlander Season 5, Episode 6
“Better to Marry Than To Burn” marks the halfway point of Outlander Season 5 with an extended episode. Claire and Jamie attend the festivities before Jocasta’s wedding to Duncan Innes at River Run, but their problems with Governor Tryon and Stephen Bonnet follow them. Meanwhile, Roger and Bree have to fight off a plague of cicadas threatening the crops on Frasier’s Ridge.
While this episode scores well with tying together the biggest plot lines this season, it fails miserably when it comes to addressing previous critiques of the use of sexual assault and rape tropes on Outlander.
The episode begins with a dramatic flashback to Jocasta and her first husband Hector Cameron fleeing the Highlands after Culloden. Non-readers likely had questions about her past, so this was a good place for the script to answer questions. Dragoons found the secret stash...
Outlander Season 5, Episode 6
“Better to Marry Than To Burn” marks the halfway point of Outlander Season 5 with an extended episode. Claire and Jamie attend the festivities before Jocasta’s wedding to Duncan Innes at River Run, but their problems with Governor Tryon and Stephen Bonnet follow them. Meanwhile, Roger and Bree have to fight off a plague of cicadas threatening the crops on Frasier’s Ridge.
While this episode scores well with tying together the biggest plot lines this season, it fails miserably when it comes to addressing previous critiques of the use of sexual assault and rape tropes on Outlander.
The episode begins with a dramatic flashback to Jocasta and her first husband Hector Cameron fleeing the Highlands after Culloden. Non-readers likely had questions about her past, so this was a good place for the script to answer questions. Dragoons found the secret stash...
- 3/23/2020
- by Kayti Burt
- Den of Geek
Jim Knipfel Mar 15, 2019
Forbidden Planet is still dazzling and subversive, and an influence on most major space opera science fiction.
Despite the sudden and unexpected explosion in the popularity of science fiction films in the early 1950s, a number of major studios were resistant to the trend, considering the genre to be B-film fodder at best, and at worst childish gutter trash that was beneath them. When it became apparent just how much money could be made with sci-fi, however, most eventually relented. One neat trick that was used to justify taking the dive while preserving a bit of pride and self-respect was to produce lavish, big budget Technicolor adaptations of established sci-fi literary classics. As a result we ended up with George Pal’s versions of War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, and Philip Wylie’s When Worlds Collide. Let Pal toss in his trademark heavy-handed Christian subtext,...
Forbidden Planet is still dazzling and subversive, and an influence on most major space opera science fiction.
Despite the sudden and unexpected explosion in the popularity of science fiction films in the early 1950s, a number of major studios were resistant to the trend, considering the genre to be B-film fodder at best, and at worst childish gutter trash that was beneath them. When it became apparent just how much money could be made with sci-fi, however, most eventually relented. One neat trick that was used to justify taking the dive while preserving a bit of pride and self-respect was to produce lavish, big budget Technicolor adaptations of established sci-fi literary classics. As a result we ended up with George Pal’s versions of War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, and Philip Wylie’s When Worlds Collide. Let Pal toss in his trademark heavy-handed Christian subtext,...
- 3/8/2016
- Den of Geek
Following the success of Fox' "Planet Of The Apes", Warner Bros. has confirmed development of a new feature adapting author H.G. Wells' horror novel, "The Island Of Dr. Moreau", focusing on human/animal hybrids, for Appian Way partners Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran.
Screenplay is by Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy ("Hemlock Grove"). Appian Way will produce with Mad Hatter Entertainment’s Michael Connolly.
Published in 1896, as "an exercise in youthful blasphemy", the original book is narrated by 'Edward Prendick', a shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat who is left on the island home of 'Doctor Moreau', who creates human-like beings from animals via vivisection.The novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature.
At the time of novel's publication in 1896, there was growing discussion in Europe regarding degeneration and animal vivisection. Two years...
Screenplay is by Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy ("Hemlock Grove"). Appian Way will produce with Mad Hatter Entertainment’s Michael Connolly.
Published in 1896, as "an exercise in youthful blasphemy", the original book is narrated by 'Edward Prendick', a shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat who is left on the island home of 'Doctor Moreau', who creates human-like beings from animals via vivisection.The novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature.
At the time of novel's publication in 1896, there was growing discussion in Europe regarding degeneration and animal vivisection. Two years...
- 9/6/2013
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
How many books and DVDs do you have on your Amazon wish list? How often do you remember to look at it? I always forget to check it, but I took a look at it today, and there are 100 items.
No, I am not soliciting here. My birthday isn’t for another six months, Chanukah and Christmas are too far off to think about, and I’m not your mother, so forget about Mother’s Day, which is this Sunday, btw – although there is Alix, whom I always alert to her mom’s new column. Big Hint, Alix!
I do have to delete some of the books and DVDs; I’ve ordered them without looking at my wish list because, well, I forget to check the damn thing, but there’s still a lot there. The oldest item was added on June 11, 2006; it’s Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Complete Third Season (DVD,...
No, I am not soliciting here. My birthday isn’t for another six months, Chanukah and Christmas are too far off to think about, and I’m not your mother, so forget about Mother’s Day, which is this Sunday, btw – although there is Alix, whom I always alert to her mom’s new column. Big Hint, Alix!
I do have to delete some of the books and DVDs; I’ve ordered them without looking at my wish list because, well, I forget to check the damn thing, but there’s still a lot there. The oldest item was added on June 11, 2006; it’s Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Complete Third Season (DVD,...
- 5/6/2013
- by Mindy Newell
- Comicmix.com
Pre-Halloween Horrors! week begins at Trailers from Hell with director John Landis introducing 1932's "Island of Lost Souls," starring Charles Laughton as the gleefully maniacal Dr. Moreau overseeing his House of Pain, and Bela Lugosi as "part man... part beast!" "They're restless tonight," mutters the insane Dr. Moreau about the vengeful natives on whom he's been doing presciently Mengele-like experiments. Philip Wylie was one of the screenwriters who adapted H.G. Wells' anti-vivisectionist screed, which was remade in 1977 and 1996, with uncredited ripoffs in 1959 (Terror is a Man) and 1973 (Twilight People). For a movie banned in many countries for years this has been a very influential film. Musical impressions ensued from bands Oingo Boingo, Devo, Van Halen and Manimals. One of the greatest and darkest of the early '30s horror cycle.
- 10/22/2012
- by Trailers From Hell
- Thompson on Hollywood
For years now Island Of Lost Souls has been DVD’s most glaring omission from the Golden Age of Horror. It won the Rondo Award several times for Film Most in Need of DVD Released or Restoration , but last October, classic horror fans rejoiced when Criterion finally released the film. They were not disappointed and this year, not surprisingly, Island Of Lost Souls won the Rondo for Best Classic DVD.
Island Of Lost Souls (1932), the first adaption of H.G.Well’s 1896 novel The Island of Dr. Moreau was one several shocking horror films from the early 30′s that helped advance the enforcement of the Hays Code, Hollywood’s self-censoring rules deeming “no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it.”. It wasn’t Island Of Lost Souls’s radical scenes of horror (like Freaks) or the deviant sexuality (like the Frederick March version of Dr.
Island Of Lost Souls (1932), the first adaption of H.G.Well’s 1896 novel The Island of Dr. Moreau was one several shocking horror films from the early 30′s that helped advance the enforcement of the Hays Code, Hollywood’s self-censoring rules deeming “no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it.”. It wasn’t Island Of Lost Souls’s radical scenes of horror (like Freaks) or the deviant sexuality (like the Frederick March version of Dr.
- 8/28/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Talk of the cast and crew of The X Files getting together again for a third movie has been lingering since I Want to Believe, which sank without trace in cinemas in 2008 - although it's actually much better when viewed at home with no pretensions of being a summer blockbuster.
David Duchovny spoke about further films back in December 2008 and in September 2011, his co-star Gillian Anderson expressed her hopes for another instalment that stayed closer to the central mythology of the show and its portent of alien invasion.
Producer Frank Spotnitz (pictured above, second from right) has now given his own views, saying he is pushing for 20th Century Fox to greenlight another film.
According to Screen Daily, Spotnitz spoke about the possibilities at the press junket for his new UK spy series Hunted, saying: "There is a very active and relentless fan campaign for a last movie. I do...
David Duchovny spoke about further films back in December 2008 and in September 2011, his co-star Gillian Anderson expressed her hopes for another instalment that stayed closer to the central mythology of the show and its portent of alien invasion.
Producer Frank Spotnitz (pictured above, second from right) has now given his own views, saying he is pushing for 20th Century Fox to greenlight another film.
According to Screen Daily, Spotnitz spoke about the possibilities at the press junket for his new UK spy series Hunted, saying: "There is a very active and relentless fan campaign for a last movie. I do...
- 4/10/2012
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
Reviewed by Amy R. Handler
(February 2011)
Directed by: Brad Anderson
Written by: Anthony Jaswinski
Starring: Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo, Thandie Newton, Jacob Latimore and Taylor Groothuis
Brad Anderson’s “Vanishing on 7th Street” is a chilly little film that slowly creeps under your skin and scares you to death the very moment you begin to think. The director of such thrillers as “Session 9” and “The Machinist,” Anderson is no stranger to speculation — especially when it comes to the disturbed mind, our place in time and whether human beings really can create their own existence and the world(s) they inhabit. Not the post-apocalyptic saga most critics claim, “Vanishing” is an apocalypse-in-the-now, and what’s most frightening is its realism and total possibility.
The plot of “Vanishing” appears simple: A somewhat awkward projectionist sits in his booth at a movie theater and steals seconds between films to munch on an...
(February 2011)
Directed by: Brad Anderson
Written by: Anthony Jaswinski
Starring: Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo, Thandie Newton, Jacob Latimore and Taylor Groothuis
Brad Anderson’s “Vanishing on 7th Street” is a chilly little film that slowly creeps under your skin and scares you to death the very moment you begin to think. The director of such thrillers as “Session 9” and “The Machinist,” Anderson is no stranger to speculation — especially when it comes to the disturbed mind, our place in time and whether human beings really can create their own existence and the world(s) they inhabit. Not the post-apocalyptic saga most critics claim, “Vanishing” is an apocalypse-in-the-now, and what’s most frightening is its realism and total possibility.
The plot of “Vanishing” appears simple: A somewhat awkward projectionist sits in his booth at a movie theater and steals seconds between films to munch on an...
- 2/17/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Amy R. Handler
(February 2011)
Directed by: Brad Anderson
Written by: Anthony Jaswinski
Starring: Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo, Thandie Newton, Jacob Latimore and Taylor Groothuis
Brad Anderson’s “Vanishing on 7th Street” is a chilly little film that slowly creeps under your skin and scares you to death the very moment you begin to think. The director of such thrillers as “Session 9” and “The Machinist,” Anderson is no stranger to speculation — especially when it comes to the disturbed mind, our place in time and whether human beings really can create their own existence and the world(s) they inhabit. Not the post-apocalyptic saga most critics claim, “Vanishing” is an apocalypse-in-the-now, and what’s most frightening is its realism and total possibility.
The plot of “Vanishing” appears simple: A somewhat awkward projectionist sits in his booth at a movie theater and steals seconds between films to munch on an...
(February 2011)
Directed by: Brad Anderson
Written by: Anthony Jaswinski
Starring: Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo, Thandie Newton, Jacob Latimore and Taylor Groothuis
Brad Anderson’s “Vanishing on 7th Street” is a chilly little film that slowly creeps under your skin and scares you to death the very moment you begin to think. The director of such thrillers as “Session 9” and “The Machinist,” Anderson is no stranger to speculation — especially when it comes to the disturbed mind, our place in time and whether human beings really can create their own existence and the world(s) they inhabit. Not the post-apocalyptic saga most critics claim, “Vanishing” is an apocalypse-in-the-now, and what’s most frightening is its realism and total possibility.
The plot of “Vanishing” appears simple: A somewhat awkward projectionist sits in his booth at a movie theater and steals seconds between films to munch on an...
- 2/17/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Island Of Lost Souls (1932), the first adaption of H.G.Well’s 1896 novel ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’, was one several shocking horror films from the early 30’s that helped advance the enforcement of the ‘Hays Code’, Hollywood’s self-censoring rules deeming “no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it”. It wasn’t Island Of Lost Souls’s radical scenes of horror (like Freaks) or the deviant sexuality (like the Frederick March version of Dr. Jekyll And Mr Hyde) that offended but its allegory premise that Man could play God and create Man through surgery by splicing together the flesh of various living animals (….and I’m sure the hints of bestiality didn’t help). Island Of Lost Souls is a movie that hasn’t lost its power to shock and disturb almost 80 years later, but it’s one that is Not available on DVD.
- 4/29/2010
- by Tom
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Gene Barry was a suave leading man in films and television from the 1950s. He was best known for his starring role as Dr. Clayton Forrester in George Pal’s 1953 film adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Several years later he again faced alien invaders in the underrated sci-fi film The 27th Day (1956).
He was born Eugene Klass in New York City on June 14, 1919. He began his career as a singer in nightclubs and variety shows, and was appearing on the Broadway stage in the early 1940s. He made his film debut in the 1952 sci-fi/spy thriller The Atomic City.
Barry was also a familiar face on television from the early 1950s. He starred as the dapper western lawman William Barclay `Bat’ Masterson in the Bat Masterson series from 1958 to 1961. Barry also starred as Captain Amos Burke, the suave Los Angeles Chief of Detectives who would arrive...
He was born Eugene Klass in New York City on June 14, 1919. He began his career as a singer in nightclubs and variety shows, and was appearing on the Broadway stage in the early 1940s. He made his film debut in the 1952 sci-fi/spy thriller The Atomic City.
Barry was also a familiar face on television from the early 1950s. He starred as the dapper western lawman William Barclay `Bat’ Masterson in the Bat Masterson series from 1958 to 1961. Barry also starred as Captain Amos Burke, the suave Los Angeles Chief of Detectives who would arrive...
- 12/19/2009
- by Harris Lentz
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
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