Conan The Barbarian

King Conan: The Wolves Beyond the Border #2 is a resurrection of the rule bending, genre crafting Robert E. Howard pulps, but with a modern sense of humor and quicker pacing.

Conan/Red Sonja #1 Written by Gail Simone and Jim Zub Art by Dan Panosian Colors by Dave Stewart Published by Dark Horse Comics Near the beginning of Conan/Red Sonja #1, there is an evocative image of a lion and panther battling in the arena for the pleasure of the prince of Koth. However, the panther and lion end up devouring their handlers instead …

Conan and the People of the Black Circle #1 Written by Fred Van Lente Art by Ariel Olivetti Published by Dark Horse Comics Conan the Barbarian (or any of his other suffixes) is one of those literary characters that is surprisingly underappreciated despite popping up in quite a few forms of media. Besides the original …

Jeremiah Johnson Directed by Sydney Pollack Written by Edward Anhalt and John Milius 1972, The Western, at its creative and commercial peak – the late 1960s-early 1970s – proved itself an astoundingly pliable genre. It could be molded to deal with topical subject matter like racism (Skin Game, 1971), feminism (The Ballad of Josie, 1967), …

Conan the Barbarian Directed by Marcus Nispel 2011, USA, 113 minutes This review is a (qualified) defence of Conan the Barbarian. Because it’s a good movie? Please. Conan isn’t a good movie any more than McDonald’s is a purveyor of fine food, or talk radio is a champion of intelligent thought. Here’s the thing, though: …

Hollywood needs a hit Actually, Hollywood needs a bunch of hits. Actually, Hollywood needs a bunch of big, fat, through-the-roof hits. And with the summer – and the year – half over, the time to come up with them is running out. The movie business finished 2010 with the second highest domestic box office on record:  $10.2 …

Apparently several major studios including Warner Bros. spent 7 years trying to get this project off the ground, with development attempts made by Larry and Andy Wachowski, John Milius, Robert Rodriguez, Boaz Yakin and even Brett Ratner. Finally in June 2009 it was revealed Marcus Nispel would take the reins as director to the film …

The big-budget (usually summer) blockbuster is the financial cornerstone of the American motion picture industry, and has been for much of the last 35 years or so.  In all its forms – action/adventure, suspense, Western, war story, horror, science fiction, fantasy, et al – the big budget thriller’s earning power is unmatched by any other …

A true action hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger is also the ultimate source of classically terrible and amazing films. Forget G.I. Joe, Schwarzenegger is the real American hero proving that in America  it’s  as easy to have a lucrative film career without talent or experience as it is to be a senator of a major state without …