Madhouse is also adapting Blade. The X-Men series debuts on April 1st on Animax, but for us, G4 is planning on picking up the series. Here’s a still of Storm:

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork

10. “Deliver uuuussssssss!!” “Finish it! FINISH IT!” “From eeeeeevil!” (Aunt May and Green Goblin, Spider-Man)

This scene occurred when Green Goblin burst through the wall of Aunt May’s room and interrupted her prayer. This dialogue is despised by many but I am giving it the benefit of 10th place since Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films wear their campiness on their sleeve. Yes, it is cheesy and Rosemary Harris’ delivery is over-the-top. You will definitely roll your eyes when you watch this scene. At the same time, it is kind of likable in a hammy way – a quality we have come to expect and enjoy from Raimi.

Skip to 0:10

9. “Susan, let’s not fight.” “No, LET’S!” (Sue Storm to Dr. Doom, Fantastic Four)

Nice comeback, Invisible Woman, you really stuck it to him. This line had all the creativity of a third-grader. “You’re stupid!” “No, you are!” I have hated this line since I first heard it in the trailer. I have always held it against Jessica Alba, though it is not really her fault. After all, how do you make that line sound cool?

Skip to 1:30

8. “Can you read my mind?” poem (Lois Lane, Superman)

Just when I thought Superman could not get any lamer, his love interest delivered this rhyming inner monologue while flying over Metropolis with the Man of Steel. It comes across like an awkward musical number, as Lois rambles on in her own head about feeling like a school girl. “If you need to be loved, here I am. Read my mind.” It is beyond corny and the scene would have been just as impactful if not more without the spoken-word poetry. Actually, the same applies to Margot Kidder in general, but that is a different topic for a different list.

Click here for the clip!

7. “Nice coat.” (Batman, Batman Begins)

After apprehending Carmine Falcone, Batman utters this corny line at a bum to whom Bruce Wayne gave his coat earlier in the film. This is the kind of cheesy humor that ran rampant in this David Goyer-penned script. After the campy Adam West series and the laughable Joel Schumacher movies, the world needed a dark, heavy Batman film. Begins was almost that film, but it was held back by cheesy lines like this one. Batman is not Spider-Man or Deadpool – he does not make freaking quips. Fortunately, The Dark Knight made up for this nonsense.

Skip to 0:10

6. “I gotta get me one of those!” (Lt. Gordon, Batman Begins)

Here is another example of that cheesy, inappropriate humor in Begins. Lt. Gordon says this after witnessing Batman crush a squad car in the tumbler. This film is guilty of turning the great Jim Gordon into an insignificant buffoon. In Gary Oldman’s defense, he delivers the line with as much class as possible, but the character was relegated to spouting hollow exclamations and taking command of the Batmobile for comedic effect. Gordon is a cornerstone of Batman history and deserved to be treated as more than just comic relief. Once again, thank goodness The Dark Knight did it right (lesson learned: Jonathan Nolan > David Goyer).

Click here for the clip!

5. “So come on, bub, for old times’ sake, huh?” “Did you just call me BLOB?!” (Frederick J. Dukes to Logan, X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

Has anyone in history ever mistaken the word ‘bub’ for ‘blob’? Let alone when it is coming from a character who says ‘bub’ almost hourly? This line from Dukes (aka The Blob) is so stupid and is clearly a cheap segue into having him and Wolverine fight. In a film full of awful dialogue, it takes a lot to be the absolute worst line. So to whoever wrote this drivel – way to go, bub.

Skip to 1:13

4. “The night your father died, I cleaned his wound. The blade that pierced his body came from his glider. I know you’re trying to defend your fathers’ honor, but there is no question that he died by his own hand.” (Bernard, Spider-Man 3)

Let’s get it out of the way right now – John Paxton is a terrible actor. I can only assume he got a part in this franchise as a favor to his son Bill Paxton (a personal friend of Sam Raimi). In addition to his wooden delivery, this monologue is so awful because it ends years-worth of resentment and vengeance from Harry Osborne, like a convenient deus ex machina. Why wouldn’t Bernard share that piece of information two movies ago?? Furthermore, how does he know what killed Norman based on a wound? Does he moonlight as a medical examiner? Hopefully he is not a detective, too, since finding somebody killed by their own possession does not automatically rule out homicide. “This gun is registered to the victim, therefore he killed himself. Case closed!” I pretty much hate everything about this scene.

I couldn’t find the entire clip but this is better anyway:

3. Every line spoken in Batman & Robin

Where do I even begin with this movie? Every word out of Mr. Freeze’s mouth is some horrendous pun. My favorite awful ones are “Let’s kick some ice!” and “What killed the dinosaurs? The ICE AGE!” Then there are winning exchanges such as:

Robin: “I want to make sure you’re serious about turning over a new leaf. I need a sign.”

Poison Ivy: “How about ‘Slippery When Wet’?”

It is bad enough when the bad guys have terrible dialogue, but at least it comes naturally with supervillainy. However, there is no excuse for the awful shit that comes out of the heroes’ mouths. Batman is a complex, brooding character who watched his freaking parents get murdered. He does not deliver terrible puns and carry a Bat credit card. There is a good reason George Clooney apologized for this movie.

2. “Do you know what happens to a toad when it’s struck by lightning? (Storm electrocutes Toad) …the same thing that happens to everything else!” (Storm, X-Men)

This is probably the most unanimously loathed line on this list. What many people don’t know is that it was written by Joss Whedon of “Buffy” and “Firefly” fame. Furthermore, of Whedons entire X-Men draft, this was one of the few lines that were kept in the film. It is a lame joke, made worse by Halle Berry’s awful delivery. Told in a better way, it might have worked as an anti-climactic joke – you know, like “What did the cow say to the gay priest?” “Moo.” Whether that was Whedon’s intention or not is unclear, but regardless, the line failed epically.

Skip to 2:00

1. “Don’t you know who I am? I’m the Juggernaut, bitch!” (Cain Marko, X-Men: Last Stand)

This line earns the #1 spot for breaking the fourth wall, and even worse, referencing a fleeting internet meme to do so. I admit it, I laughed at that stupid YouTube cartoon as much as the next person, but it had no place in this film. What’s next? Captain America telling Red Skull to “leave Britney alone”? Or Thor urging you to “hide yo’ kids, hide yo’ wife”? It’s ridiculous. Even outside referencing the meme, just adding “bitch” to a sentence does not make it funny, despite what 80% of comedy screenwriters think these days.

The Series:

It wasn’t too long ago, the internet was buzzing with a wonderful announcement, that at long last (and after countless on-line petitions) that the beloved Fox animated series of X-Men from the early 1990′s was to be released in production order on DVD. It was a long battle over who owned the rights, but now that’s all distant memories now, as Buena Vista has finally, with Volume 5, released all 76 episodes. Volume 5 doesn’t represent the best this show had to offer, and many episodes suffer due to the change in animation studios, but there’s still plenty to love here.

Most of these final 13 episodes (on two discs) are one-off stories, as due to the switch in production studios for the animation, caused the final four-episode arc (“Beyond Good and Evil” from Volume 4) to be not the final arc to end the show on. Needless to say, if you made it this far, you’ll enjoy most of these episodes, with the concluding “Graduation Day”, that ended the show in September 1997. The episodes that shine are “Old Soldiers”, a wonderful one-off Weapon X story that involves WWII, Red Skull, and Captain America. The aforementioned “Graduation Day” excels too because of the story’s emotional impact of an injured Professor Xavier, seeking help from those Shi’ar aliens, while saying goodbye to his students. Not only that, but Magneto seemingly leads the X-Men now, an interesting arc to be explored but never was. Too bad.

“The Descent” is fun, if only to see more of Mr. Sinister as his origin is finally explained. “Bloodlines” features Nightcrawler again, as he discover who his mother is. He was never used that much, but his brief appearances are great. Sadly, because they had the room on the discs, the X-Men crossovers from the Spider-Man: Animated Series from 1995 and 1997 aren’t included.

The things that somewhat hurt this set of episodes is the animation, that kind of goes for a manga look. It’s not terribly bad, something that would hurt over the show, but compared to the great season two and three, it’s a little sore spot. Also, due to some production issues, some episodes are out of order. No Mutant Is an Island and Longshot, for example, were originally part of season three; however, due to animation problems they were held back for two years. Stuff like Jean Grey’s resurrection after the four-episode arc in “The Dark Phoenix Saga” (from Volume 3) was not properly explained.

These aren’t deal killers, as this is one of the finer superhero animated shows around, at least for Marvel. Even weaker episodes like “Jubilee’s Fairy Tale Theatre” or “Storm Front” are still watchable. But the show continued the stellar voice work, notably from Cal Dodd (Wolverine). “I was unaware of the popularity of the show, until my wife did some research. People are saying I’m the voice of Wolverine!” Cal told me once in a phone interview. Yes, Cal, you are Wolverine and that’s something not even Hugh Jackman can fully acknowledge. It’s been a long time coming, but finally, fans can now own all 76 episodes on five volumes on DVD, and that, to me, is x-ordianry.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: They look and sound good, not great. No noticeable remastering was done, although outside of a few issues, the 1:33.1 frame looks pretty good. Same with the audio; nothing new, but nothing bad here.

No Extras are here, outside of a few non-related trailers for other Buena Vista releases. Fear not, dear readers, we have some amazing interviews with the creators, writers, and cast here, here, here, and here. Enjoy!

Conclusion: Every Marvel, X-Men, or superhero fan worth their salt should buy these up right now. While the lack of extras is disappointing, with the “Play All” feature, you’ll be too busy notice. Shtink!

The Show: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

The Show:

The world is once more crazy for Iron Man thanks to the newest film in the franchise Iron Man 2, but I’ll be darned if many remember this lesser known animated property from 1994-1996 on a revived Marvel Action Hour, along with the Fantastic Four. After the success of Fox’s X-Men and Spider-Man animated series, Iron Man came about, but to a more disjointed affair. Still, Iron Man was solid as steel if you’re a Marvel comic fan.

Buena Vista nicely offers us the entire two season run here on three discs, making for an interesting stab at nostalgia. Surely, I assume, most fans of animation and superhero animation came across this show once or twice. The show, as seen now, is a product of its time, and also is a dodgy effort, mixing plenty of good, bad, and camp. It’s a tale of two seasons. Season One writer, Ron Friedman styled many of his episodes after his work in G.I. Joe and Transformers from the 1980s, as each of these are “single-episode open-and-shut-cases”. As a child born in the 1980s, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was the animated show too watch, and oddly, this show’s first season feels like that. Story are self-contained, villains are introduced and defeated. Animation is large and somewhat generic looking. After the successes of X-Men and Spider-Man, it seems odd not to model Iron Man after those.

It’s not all bad, as stories breeze on by, other Marvel characters appear like plenty of the West Coast Avengers, like War Machine, Hawkeye, Spider-Woman, Nick Fury, Hulk, and most of Iron Man’s villains appear like Mandarin, Justin Hammer, Whiplash (named here Backlash), Fing Fang  Foom, and others. Still, the episodes suffer from the old-fashion cut-and-paste routines (see “Wedding Of Iron Man!” or “Rejoice! I Am Ultimo Thy Deliverer”). Plot points are coincidentally connected and villains are easily defeated. Good versus evil, people, has never been so lop-sided.

Luckily, a huge tonal shift in the quality of the show happened in Season Two. New writer in Tom Tataranowicz, new theme music, and a new animation studio, that gratefully changed the outdated look and feel of the show. The stories got vastly better. More development in Tony Stark from an idealist to a weary, compromised hero, which is a huge change from his goodie-goodie-two shoe persona from Season One. Now this is more like the X-Men animated show.  The episodes now are adapting stories from the comics, like “The Armor Wars” which is a great two-parter. A Hulk crossover kick tail too, in “Hulkbuster” with the Leader making a villainous appearance. If anything of a negative, this season features some CG, much like Spider-Man‘s animated series did at the time, and now is pretty dated.

While not a gem lost in time, the Iron Man animated series is pretty decent. The first season might be rough for non-children of the 1980s with its simple stories, “good guys always win” attitudes, and animation style. It’s a little relic, with some nostalgia for charm. But season two really shines, even if it’s a short season. Lots to like in a lot of areas, too bad it didn’t continue on.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Buena Vista gives us a decent looking and sounding set. Each epsiode is in full frame like originally broadcasting in, but little issues. The sound is better on season two due to the fact that this was a rare animated show to be issued in THX sound. All in all, it’s a good job by BVHE.

No Extras sadly.

Conclusion: An interesting tail of two seasons, but in all, a cool retro animated show that’s at least worth a look until The Avengers or Iron Man 3 comes. Far better than his new show, Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

The Show: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

“Fox has moved Bryan Singer from the directors chair to producer for the upcoming X-Men:First Class. They are doing this because they want to move ahead with the project right away. Singer will not be available to direct because he will be busy with Jack the Giant Killer.”

“It seems the studio liked Jamie Moss’ script for X-Men:First Class so much that they want the movie to be the first of a trilogy. They would also like to have it out soon, possibly by 2011.”

I always hear people giving Twentieth Century Fox hate for being greedy. I always try to defend them, but it gets difficult when you hear this kind of news. Its completely understandable from a business stand point, and as an X-Men film it’s sure to bring in money. However, it appears that Fox wants to rush the film to get a quick buck once more. As long as Singer is attached to the project in same, then I’m happy.

The big question now is, who will direct now?

It makes sense though that Singer would not be able to stay on board at least for this production, mainly because of previous commitments to two other projects that are both in pre-production at the moment. Those two are Jack the Giant Killer and the feature length version of Battlestar Galactica. Although Singer more than likely is out in regards to directing X-Men: First Class, this reporter would not entirely cancel him out on X-Men 4, especially after Donner in the LA Times piece kept on bugging him here and there about taking it on.

There must be some clarity when it comes to the term “withering” in regards to the Twentieth Century Fox comic book movie franchise. Granted, as each X-Men film has been released, it gradually has been taking in more box office revenue, but the critics and particularly the fans are not satisfied with their favorite homo superiors. That’s why a majority of us are content, or slightly worried, with the re-appearance of Singer.

The LA Times was able to get the opportunity to sit down not only with Bryan Singer but with producer Lauren Shuler Donner, who’s been acting out that role on every single X-Men feature. We get a little more information on the plot that we should expect from X-Men: First Class and then some.:

Singer says the film will find its axis in the relationship between Professor X and Magneto and the point where their friendship soured. It will also detail the beginning of the school for mutants and have younger incarnations of some characters with new actors in roles of Cyclops, Jean Grey, the Beast, etc.

The premise has compelling elements to it, Singer said. “Just doing younger mutants is not enough. The story needs to be more than that. I love the relationship between Magneto and Xavier, these two men who have diametrically opposite points of view but still manage to be friends — to a point. They are the ultimate frenemies.

Shuler Donner also has pitched Singer on doing a fourth installment of the previously established “X-Men” franchise and Jackman had that lunch with Singer to coax him into a project as well, which may or may not be a “Wolverine” film, which Jackman has said will be set in Japan and released in 2011. “I wish I could be four people,” the director said with a moan. “I could make everybody happy.”

Singer turned to Shuler Donner and said of “X-Men 4″: “Hold that one off for just a little, I’m fixated on the other one right now.” She nodded and answered, “I will, I will … I’m holding it open with high hopes. It’s totally different [from 'First Class'] and it will be so interesting for you.”

One problem that could contribute to X-Men: First Class sitting on the back burner a tad longer is his directorial attachment to Jack the Giant Killer and the Battlestar Galactica movie. With the way that Singer goes on about X-Men though, it’s highly possible he will stay on no matter what so he can bring a “rebirth” to the franchise.

What will end up happening to the Marvel properties if Kirby estates ends up winning their cases with termination of copyright is that they could go up against the studios or anybody else that owns any of these particular characters and make their own films of the same characters at the same time. That would mean you could have two different versions of the same Marvel character prancing around on the big screen at once for all you know, you want to talk about confusion.

Kirby had his hand in quite a few characters in the Marvel universe, so here’s hoping that something can be settled and that it won’t turn into a crazy comic book movie battle in local cinemas.

In the video titled ‘Hugh Jackman Backstage,’ Jackman first says that he’s going to shoot the Shawn Levy-directed Real Steel this summer, followed by this: “Wolverine’s going to be back. He’s going to Japan. We shoot that probably in a year, year-and-a-half, something like that.”

Bryan Singer is currently knee deep in development with Street Kings scribe Jamie Moss, putting together the script for the impending prequel called X-Men: First Class. X-Men Origins: Magneto is pushed back at the moment, set to possibly (if it even gets any help past development at all) to come out in 2013.

Now the real question is how exactly will they approach it. Since this is basically another origins story for the Twentieth Century Fox and Marvel movie franchise, Singer could possibly wipe the slate clean with what happened after he departed from the series. After the negotiations, creative differences, and all sorts of different reasons why Singer ended up jumping away from the third film. He ends up going to direct the flop Superman Returns, but since he is back on board it must be water under the bridge for him and Fox.

Do you think that Bryan Singer should take full advantage of this prequel to completely re-vamp the franchise after the train wreck it’s become from X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine?

“The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon,” he revealed. “Then they’ll be budgeted, and then they’ll be cast. And they’ll be going when they’ve always said they would be, which is next spring – March or April. Guillermo even told me at one point, ‘We’re going to film for 383 days.’ He’s got that artistic autism! Jackson’s the same; they’re very, very, very alike. They also very different, but they’ve so much in common. They both can’t stand Hollywood and have wonderful imaginations, and they’re both obsessed with gore and fantasy. Both of them laugh a great deal. Guillermo’s one of the most brilliant men I’ve ever met. His English vocabulary is way superior to mine!”

Then, when asked about “X-Men Origins: Magneto”…

“There’s meant to be a Magneto script floating around, but I’ve not read it, so I suspect it wouldn’t involve me,” he said. “I think it would be about the younger Magneto, and the most I could hope for would be to top and tail that. They can’t have someone whose face is as lined as mine any longer!”

Ian McKellen has a long list of films that he’s acted in, including the likes of all three “Lord of the Rings” films, the “X-Men” trilogy and has performed in numerous stage plays. If you want to read the rest of the article, just click here.

“I’m still looking to possibly returning to the ‘X-Men’ franchise. I’ve been talking to Fox about it…I love Hugh Jackman. I love the cast.”

Singer said he enjoyed making science fiction and fantasy movies because they allowed him to discuss serious issues through entertainment. He said the “X-Men” series, which follows a group of mutants with superpowers who struggle to fit in with humans, is about tolerance and social structures.

He said he likes to “trick audiences into thinking they’re seeing fireworks, but they’re learning about themselves and listening to what I have to say.”

“The excitement about working in science fiction and fantasy is — the stories, if they are good, are about the human condition,” Singer said.

The Twentieth Century Fox and Marvel Studios franchise has become a powerhouse ever since the first X-Men film in 2000. Once the film became a hit, it sprouted out almost an entire decade’s worth of a comic book adaptation movement which burst at the seams with Spider-Man, released in 2002. After the first X-Men film’s success a second one (X2) quickly emerged under the strong and continuing vision of Bryan Singer. With negotiation battles ensuing between him and Fox, he jumped ship to direct Superman Returns while the studio help Brett Ratner took over X-Men: The Last Stand. This past summer the spinoff film X-Men Origins: Wolverine came out into theaters with the possibility of there being a sequel on said film.

Currently X-Men Origins: Magneto is still on the development back burner while X-Men: First Class is being penned by Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl). With the overall negative reception of the third X-Men film, many fans including myself hope that with Bryan Singer’s return so will be the revival of a better taken care of Dark Phoenix saga.

Welcome back to Killer Film’s New Release Tuesday for September 15^th! It’s a jam packed week, just remember if you’re ordering from Amazon, click the cover art to get there!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Any hope of the franchise seeking redemption after The Last Stand was squandered here with this film, that was horribly plotted and features some highly questionable “origins” of the various characters. Also on Blu-ray. Jon says: Avoid Donny says: Rent

X-Men: The Animated Series Volumes 3 and 4

Fear not, my fellow mutants, for we have these great releases from the classic 1990s Fox series. It’s funny to think just a while ago, we never would have thought to see these in season sets, and now we are one volume away from owning them all. Still no extras, but we got you covered here at Killer Film. Click on these links (part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4) for a special look back at the series with the writers, producers, and the voice cast! Jon says: Buy Donny says: Buy

Grace

A few weeks ago, it was a Best Buy exclusive, now it is released everywhere. The film is not for everyone, or the faint of heart, but it’s a great American horror film. The DVD contains the original short film, as the Blu does not-oddly. You can check out my review here, or Serena’s review here, and don’t forget about her interview with director Paul Solet here. Also on Blu-ray. Jon says: Buy Donny says: Buy

An American Werewolf in London – Full Moon Edition

The reason for this re-release, is a brand new 90 minute documentary on the film. Also on Blu-ray. Jon says: Buy Donny says: Buy

Hero

This so-called special edition, is slim on extras sadly, while the film is a near classic already, it would been nice for something more extensive. Also on Blu-ray. Jon says: Buy Donny says: Rent

Friday the 13^th Part VII: The New Blood (Deluxe Edition)

Paramount rounds out the re-releasing of the Jason sage with this one, also known as Jason versus Carrie. Sadly, no Blu-ray. Jon says: Rent Donny says: Buy

Friday the 13^th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (Deluxe Edition)

I don’t care, this is my guilty pleasure film. Love it. Now, Paramount has completed re-releasing all of the Friday films. Jon says: Rent Donny says: Buy

Phantasm II

Finally avaible for the first time on DVD in Region 1! No extras, boo! Jon says: Rent Donny says: Buy

New to TV

CSI: Season 7 (also on Blu-ray)

Fear Itself: Season 1

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 4

Crash: Season 1 (also on Blu-ray)

New to Blu

Army of Darkness: Screwhead Edition

Child’s Play

Iron Monkey

Misery

Zatoichi

The Legend of the Drunken Master

Wrong Turn

Wrong Turn 2: Dead End

Van Helsing

Deep Impact

Hannibal Lecter Anthology

Whoa! Huh? A lot of horror and Blu-ray, how’s your wallet looking? Keep it here for reviews of these discs and more, to see if they are worth buying, only on Killer Film!