Comic Book Jobs: Teaching Comic Book Movies

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies,

Can you teach? Can you teach in Canada, ey?

And more importantly, can you teach Canadians about “The Comic Book Film”?

It’s no great secret that the comic book film has permeated popular culture over the years. It’s so ubiquitous, in fact, that even tweedy, slow-to-change universities have noticed it.

It’s even spread to Canada, to the campus of the University of Manitoba.

They’re looking for a “Sessional Instructor” for their Film Studies program (Summer Session).

You’ll be teaching three classes: The Art of Film, Film History and Film Genres: The Comic Book Film. Each class is 2.5 hours long and the session runs from May 2 - June 21, 2011.

Are there a lot of requirements? It’s a teaching position, Professor Sherlock, so do the math. There are a lot of requirements and a lot of hoops to jump through.

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Doug Wright’s Nipper Vs. Amazon

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Independent,

I've been reading that Nipper, the first collection of Doug Wright's cartoons, is out from Drawn & Quarterly and already getting some nice notice.

Nipper's a "mischievous little kid" who appeared in newspapers across the country in the mid 20th century." D&Q's Nipper 1963-64 is the first of what the publisher plans as a long-running series of books collecting Wright's classic.

There's a preview of it (pdf) at the D&Q website that offers a nice taste of Wright.

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Read More | Calgary Herald

Tim Burton’s Seaweed: Euthora Timburtoni

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies,

Tim Burton has directed a ton of quirkily wonderful movies – from Beetlejuice and Batman to Edward Scissorhands and Alice In Wonderland. He’s won all kinds of awards and accolades and made Johnny Depp a star. But you know what he has that no other celebrity has so far? His own seaweed!

That’s right. There’s a new brand of Tim Burton seaweed, courtesy of Bridgette Clarkston, a University of New Brunswick researcher, up in Canada.

Clarkston, so obviously the smartest girl in school this year, discovered the previously unidentified species through DNA samples and named it Euthora timburtoni, citing the director Tim Burton as someone who inspires her. The underwater weed can currently be found in the water off British Columbia.

I think there’s still time to get her on a panel for San Diego and I think this could be the start of a whole new Hollywood trend. How about the James Cameron‘s 3-D krill? Michael Bay’s nudibranch? Dennis Dugan’s Clownfish? Someone should get their agent on the phone right now!

[Artwork: a cool Edward Scissorhands drawing by Tim Burton]

Read More | Euthora Timburtoni

Kick-Ass? No, Kick Back With Defendor!

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: DVD, Movies,

“Look out termites, it’s squishing time!”

Yeah, so there’s a super-hero movie out now. No, it’s not Kick-Ass with all its blood spurting, foul mouthiness. It’s Defendor, starring Woody Harrelson. Here’s the pitch, according to Wikipedia: “Arthur Poppington is a regular but delusional man who believes that he is a superhero named Defendor. He combs the city streets at night in search of his arch enemy, Captain Industry, befriending a young prostitute in his quest.”

So Woody puts on a costume to be a super-hero, even though he has no super powers. Sound vaguely familiar? But that’s about the only similarity to Kick-Ass. Poppington is more than a little unhinged thanks to a troubled childhood and a mangled conversation with his grandfather who says that “Captains of Industry” (aka drug dealers) killed his mom. It’s a phrase he mistakes for a villain named Captain Industry.

Reviewer Katherine Monk has nothing but praise for Harrelson’s performance. She says, “Using humor without ever compromising the round edge of his character, Harrelson finds the soft heart of our hero, and makes us care about him as he stands before us in each scene.”

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Read More | Defendor Trailer