It’s usually difficult to buy comic book issues every month. Most likely, I’ll wait till the issues are collected and buy the trade paperback. It’s easier for me to see how the story arc comes full circle. But often, the best comics are the ones I buy in single issues and still get the trade paperback as well. Here is my list of the best trade paperbacks to come out of 2012. READ MORE
I’ve been reading comics since I can remember. I recall running around my house as a little boy with a towel tied loosely around my neck, pretending to be The Dark Knight, Superman, or Thor. Suffice it to say that comic books have always been an extremely important part of my life. However, this was the first year I was able to work as a critic for BD, and what a magnificent year it has been. Having to read comics and consider which ones belong on a “Best of the Year” list was quite intimidating at first, there are so many I love, so many that truly take the medium to a new plateau.
I had my list narrowed down to about fifteen titles, but when push came to shove, what it really came down to was, which books do I always have on the top of my pile week after week? Which books am I just bursting at the seams to read? Any of the books in the top 5 could have landed the spot as number 1, proving that it has been a groundbreaking year in the comics industry.
As Lonmonster said below, we’ve been told a million times not to judge a book by its cover. Well, I disagree too; how else are you supposed to be introduced to books with mainly illustrations? The cover art of a print novel doesn’t always matter, because what’s inside is all writing; you’re not directed through the story by images. The cover art of a comic, however, is essentially its central image. The first impression, if you will. The cover is what first draws you in, and it all depends on who you are and what you like. It’s up to the inside to entice you to stay awhile, but that’s another article entirely. Compiled below are some of the most badass covers of 2011.
Whether they were gory, classic, funny, eccentric, or all of the above, there have been some great comics released this year. All of the titles presented above did have cool covers, but in the end, the comics inside are what won our hearts. Don’t judge a book by its cover – judge the cover and the book.
2011 was a great year for comics. While this year saw many great titles get optioned for television or movies, it was also one of the strongest years in recent memory for strong storytelling and compelling books. Read on for the skinny…
We’ve all heard the cliché a thousand times, “you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover”, but the fact of the matter is that, with comics sometimes you can do just that. The cover is the first thing that catches your eye on the shelf when you’re browsing through the shop, and when you see one that blows you away, it seems worth it just for the fantastic art. Covers are becoming increasingly important in the comics medium, so why not look back at the best this year had to offer. Below you will find a list of our top 25 comic covers of 2011. The Number 1 cover of the year shouldn’t come as any surprise. And, stay tuned for our Best of 2011 Staff Picks later this week!Read on for the skinny…
It is with great honour and pleasure that I announce the first annual Ghastly Awards for outstanding achievements in the horror comics industry. The Ghastly Awards have been created as a means for horror comic creators to nominate their peers for industry wide recognition. The organizing team of judges is currently seeking nominations for the various categories. Though this is only the year of inception, we could not be more excited to bring this to both the fans and the creators. Check out the official press release, more details on nominations, and links after the jump. Read on for the skinny…
If I hadn’t been checking out the various film festivals over the past year, I doubt I would have been able to assemble a top 10 list. This year was such a crap-fest that making my list of the 10 worst films of the year was a breeze. It was too easy. In fact, I had to leave a dozen or so films off the list. Feelings will be hurt, but you know what, get over it. Grow some thick skin. Make a better movie in 2011.
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I’ve been pretty fortunate over the years as I’ve been able to attend many film festivals, and see a hefty amount of flicks before they receive distribution. If we’re to continue to be the #1 source for horror, we need to stay ahead of the curve. While the best & worst lists of Bloody Disgusting contributors mainly focus on films already released in theaters/DVD/Blu-ray/VOD, my list carries quite a few titles you’ve yet to see. Keeping constant to my previous lists, inside you’ll find my top 10 films that I saw in a theater this year. Based on my picks, I can’t pretend that I’m not concerned about the state of our genre. With the exception of Overture Films, the studios came up extremely short this year. Sigh.
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There really is no more effective form of movie advertising than the trailer, and putting a good one together probably isn’t as easy as it looks. In a mere two minutes the studio must boil down the film’s basic premise and provide audiences with enough visual and aural flash to compel them to cough up their hard-earned money to see it. With the barrage of movie trailers we see every year very few manage to get it quite right, but those that do are often more compelling than the movies themselves. To commemorate the year in film advertising, B-D’s Chris Eggertsen has sifted through the trailers released in 2010 to put together his list of the ten best – the truly memorable horror spots that made us sit up and take notice.
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It was a rough year finding good horror films in theaters. The last two years seemed to have some great gems. Not to mention a lot of theaters pulled some great horror movies out way to early (but I won’t go into that whole shenanigans right now). I had to look elsewhere for decent horror and stumbled upon a few I think will be soon to be classics. So read below and check out my top list of 2010.
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It is SO much easier to write bad things for films than good things, that’s for damn sure. These films below have stuck out in my head all year as the horror films I wish I had an rusty, jagged, needled filled scrub brush covered in acid to wash the horrid viewings away with. Check ‘em out!
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While many would say that this year was ‘slow’ for the horror genre, I would have to firmly disagree. Last year when I was compiling my list of films for my ‘Best Of 2009′, I was having trouble even remembering half the movies I had seen that year. Of course, the top 5 were cemented, but by the time I got past the sixth film on that list things began to get a bit hazy. That was the direct opposite this year as I had to leave out several films that could have easily made the list last year. But alas, there are only 10 spots, and so for all of you gorehounds, big and small, young and old…I give you my look back at the years best films in the horror genre. Read on for the skinny!
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If there is anything that I enjoy as much as a great horror film it is an entertainingly bad one. There is something charming, and often times engaging about a B-Horror film that is so outlandishly bad that it is, well, good. But unfortunately for the following 5 films on this list they were so mind numbingly, gut wrenchingly, and unapologetically bad that they couldn’t even achieve that status. You can paint a turd gold, but in the end it’s still a turd, and you can try and sell your movie with overly produced money shots in a series of halfhearted trailers, annoyingly intricate viral campaigns, or stuff it full of respectable industry icons…but ya ain’t fooling anybody. Your movie sucks. And I call B.S. Read on for the skinny…
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Out of all the lists I’ve done for the site, this year’s best-of compilation was easily the most difficult to write. When I first starting thinking about this way back in August, I was hard pressed to come up with five films that I liked, let alone ones that were strictly horror. But by the time we crossed over into December and all was said and done, my tally sheet was much harder to sort through but for a different reason: I had to narrow a list of twenty-two films down to ten, with an extra three as honorable mentions. Even after I had run them through my normal list of criteria of what I think makes a film great, my count-down order changed numerous times, and only one question helped me determine the iteration you’re looking at now: if I had the option to march right back into the theatre after watching any of these to see it again, which ones would I watch first? Immediately, the fight between a killer tire and ballerina had a winner, and my decision as to whether or not a powerful film was worth including if it made me depressed for days afterwards became clear.
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Writing this year’s worst-of list was a lot easier than its counterpart; as pure luck would have it, I was only brought to a boiling rage by eight horror films this year! My lowest recommendations of 2010 fail for a variety of reasons, ranging from a clear lack of vision and funds (my biggest pet peeve) to worst use of music ever to shameless capitalization of a name brand. One entry is so bat shit ridiculous and unintelligible that it gave me one of the biggest laughs I had this year, which makes me wonder whether or not we’ll all see it as a big joke in another five or ten years (wait, my future self just informed me that’ll never happen, but it was fun to think about for all of two seconds).
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Not every film released to direct-to-disc can be a winner. This list contains five such disc only releases from 2010. I attempted to not pick on the little guys (too much) and instead took a look at some of the larger disc release disappointments of the year. Luckily or unluckily depending on your outlook, it wasn’t hard to come up with a list of failures. Check `em out below. While this list is only DVD releases I would feel guilty if I didn’t at least mention widely released Legion in this intro. So I will. Legion. You suck.
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Since I watch an ungodly amount of horror (around 275 films viewed and reviewed so far in 2010), the bulk of which is DVD/Blu-rays, I opted to put together a list of the best films that had disc releases this year. What that means is you won’t see any films on this list that had a wide release (The Crazies, NOES) or didn’t have a disc release at all (Hatchet II), but you will see several films that had releases in other countries, appeared in festivals or limited engagements AND had a 2010 U.S. disc release.
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My ‘Worst of the Year’ list gets harder to put together each year, if only because I try to actively avoid shit I know I probably won’t like. I’ve skipped the last five Saw sequels, refused to subject myself to either of Rob Zombie’s Halloween bastardizations, and I’ve never seen a Twilight movie. What’s the point? I figure life is so short, and there are so many decent horror movies out there, why waste 90 precious minutes on a guaranteed bust like Paranormal Activity 2? But even when employing a heavy-duty entertainment filter, some shit will invariably seep through the cracks. There’s no way that I can possibly ‘unsee’ the following five films from 2010-like lingering memories of the Vietnam War, their cinematic ineptitude will forever take up space in my subconscious-but perhaps my pain and anguish can serve as a warning for any fatally curious horror fans out there.
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I relish my role as a DVD critic for B-D, especially as a guy who has grown estranged from the once-relished movie theater experience. I deeply respect Mr. D for braving a tweener-packed Twilight screening in order to secure an early review, but these days I’d rather review a movie from the sanctity of my own sofa in a completely empty house. It’s the only way to truly immerse myself in a film. And I know that I’m not alone. There are others out there, silent rebels that have angrily disavowed movie theaters and their obnoxious distractions. And this list of the best horror DVDs of 2010 is dedicated to you, my fellow theater-hating couch potatoes. (Once again, this is a list of DVDs, not theatrical releases. So please try to refrain from giving me shit in the comments for neglecting Let Me In, Buried, or other movies that won’t receive a DVD release until 2011.)
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The worst list was much easier for me to make than my ‘best’ list – barely a week went by without me being massively disappointed with something. Overall, it seems the main problem is filmmakers being more in love with their technology than their stories. All of these movies (OK, SOME of them) are well made, but all the bells and whistles can’t make up for a shit script. There’s just way too much mediocrity out there as of late, and looking over this list and next year’s schedule, I fear a 90s style wasteland may be fast approaching. Try harder, studios and filmmakers.
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Last year, I had about 20 movies that I would feel comfortable placing in my top 10. This year, I struggled to even FIND 10. While I obviously like all of my choices, it’s pretty damning of the year’s genre output that I had fairly major issues with most of the movies on my “best” list, with only the top 3 really being movies that I was thinking “best of the year!” when I saw them. Ideally they would all be A-movies, but some of these barely register as Bs. The worst list was much easier – barely a week went by without me being massively disappointed with something. And 2011 doesn’t look to be too much better; if I had included films I saw at festivals (i.e. unreleased as of yet), my list wouldn’t really change much. There’s just way too much mediocrity out there as of late, and looking over this list and next year’s schedule, I fear a 90s style wasteland may be fast approaching. Try harder, studios and filmmakers.
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The task of selling a film is probably much, much harder than any of us realize, which is why posters meant to stir up excitement for upcoming releases are often so badly calculated. 2010 has been no exception, with a large number of god-awful (or just plain boring) one-sheets cluttering up the lobbies of multiplexes all across the country. Here’s B-D’s list of the worst offenders from the past year.
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A film’s poster (also known as a one-sheet) is often the first impression we get of a movie, making it an incredibly important tool in building advance buzz. The job of these posters is two-fold: a) to catch our attention and get us interested in learning more about the film in question; and b) to give us at least a basic sense of what the film is about. While multiplexes are littered with generic one-sheets that might as well have been spit out by a computer, there are always a select few that manage to get it right, and like years past B-D has compiled a list of the best from the past year. Whether the films turned out to be worthy of the artistry that went into marketing them is another question entirely, which just goes to show that sometimes even the worst movies are backed by a savvy marketing team, whose job it to sell the product – no matter how sub-par (or downright awful) that product may be.
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