I just viewed Justice League: The New Frontier (***.5/****) tonight, the second in what looks to be an ongoing series of Direct-to-DVD movies from DC Comics (the next will be a collection of Batman short-stories entitled Gotham Knight). While I wasn’t a big fan of the first title, Superman Doomsday, this one not only gets it right, but tells a pretty great story as well. This direct adaptation of the recent classic DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke isn’t perfect, but it’s just right for fans. If you don’t know who Batman is or can’t get over the fact that superpowers exist, you’re gonna be in trouble. The film focuses mostly on Green Lantern (Hal Jordan version), with Martian Manhunter and the Flash getting sizable roles as well. In fact, the film oftentimes seems to be a Green Lantern origin story (Martian Manhunter is also supplied with an origin). The more well known characters like Batman and Superman have much smaller roles, supporting the new guys and lesser knowns. My favorite thing about the movie? The 1950′s time period is left intact from the original comic (which was published in 2004). Set right between The Golden Age of comics and The Silver Age, The New Frontier takes place in the midst of the space race and McCarthyism. If I’m going to watch Justice League, I prefer it to be retro.

The voice acting is strong, but the main one I’d like to talk about is Jeremy Sisto (Law and Order) as Batman. No Kevin Conroy? No Conroy indeed. And yes, the first time you hear him speak it does through you for a loop. Undoubtedly this is a bigger problem for fanboys like myself who’ve been listening to Conroy exclusively for over 15 years now. And Conroy isn’t done, he returns as the Caped Crusader in this summer’s TDK tie-in Gotham Knight. But Sisto does a good job. The voice fits and I’d like to see him return to the character in a future project. Perhaps more animated Justice League movies will be on the way, giving us another chance to hear his take on the character. While I’ll never turn down Conroy, perhaps there is room for another voice actor.

The costumes are wonderfully retro and the Martian Manhunter’s story is probably my favorite of the film, aside from the few scenes we get with Batman of course. Thankfully, the two characters manage to overlap a bit. Overall, this is how the Justice League should be done and it even makes me wonder if I ever want to see the JLA in live action. Obviously the current version of the project Warner Bros. is prepping would be a disaster, but I might still like to see a film done in the future. The Justice League is a tough nut to crack. You’ve got to get it just right, or else it all falls apart. Rest assured, The New Frontier got it right. Let’s just hope those live action folks do the same.

My movie viewing slowed in the past month, dropping a full 50% from February.  Despite this, it was a good month averaging 3.2 out of 4 stars, up impressively from 2.4 in February but down from 3.6 in January.   Even with the slower month, I remain well ahead of my movie count from 2007, with 23 new movies having been viewed since the new year began.  I saw no 2008 releases and all but one film was from 2007.  Sunshine and Michael Clayton both lived up to expectations, while Into the Wild disappointed and The King of Kong soared to among my ’07 favorites.  My sole classic was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a fine film that didn’t quite live up to my expectations.  I think I’d like it more on repeat viewing.   Oddly enough, all three of my rewatches were 2007 films.  My only theater experience of the month was a rewatch of the superb No Country for Old Men, a very worthy Best Picture winner.

’70s: 1

’00s: 4

I am continuing with the first season of The X-Files and began Barack Obama’s memoir, Dreams from my Father.  I also watched the first, and so far only, season of the HBO series Flight of the Concords.  It is probably worth its own blog entry.  A terrific musical comedy, it came out of nowhere for me.  You can blame some of my movie-less nights on the new Nintendo Wii system I finally got my hands on.  After, literally, months and months of searching the Wii was found.  I am currently playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  Thanks to school, things are moving slowly on that front.

Rewatches:  The Darjeeling Limited, No Country for Old Men, Michael Clayton