 MOVIES |  | THE HOT LIST: SEPTEMBER 1 | | A look at the biggest comics, movies, TV and video game releases for this week | | | By Wade Gum | | Posted 9/02/2008 | |  | |  |  Movies
Bangkok Dangerous
Friday, September 5
Rated R
What in the world is a Bangkok Dangerous? Is it a particularly spicy dish at a Thai restaurant? Is it something you can catch if you're a Navy sailor on shore leave? No, it's an awesome Thai crime film that has been remade into a Nicolas Cage movie. Cage plays an assassin with a conscience that begins to question the orders he's been given. That's always the downfall of any good assassin – those pesky morals.
When you think of hardboiled assassins, Nicolas Cage doesn't really come to mind, does he? Then again, he was pretty tough in the remake of "The Wicker Man," dressing up in bear costumes and punching lots of women. He even shadow kicked Leelee Sobieski into a wall. On second thought, Nicolas Cage plays some pretty crazy characters. Maybe he can pull this one off too.
Video Games
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
Monday, September 1
Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation 2, PC
$59.99 - $39.99
When you're a mercenary, all the world is your oyster. When you don't have loyalties to anybody, your services are up to the highest bidder. That's half the fun in this sequel to the hit "Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction." Think of it as a blend of "Battlefield: Bad Company" and "Grand Theft Auto IV." It's a sandbox style game in which you can blow up anything and everything and get paid to do so. Isn't capitalism grand?
The sequel adds an online co-operative mode so you can blow things up with your friends. Also, the sequel has an even fancier graphics engine for fire, making explosions even cooler. New additions also include a grappling hook for hijacking helicopters, the ability to drive boats, and the option to build your own team of skilled mercenaries.
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
Tuesday, September 2
Xbox 360
$39.99
Microsoft's acquisition of Rare hasn't really paid off for them yet. The company was responsible for a slew of hits on the Nintendo 64 like "Goldeneye 007," "Jet Force Gemini," "Banjo Kazooie," and "Conker's Bad Fur Day," but their output on the Xbox and the Xbox 360 hasn't exactly set the world on fire. Apparently many people just don't like getting grabbed by ghoulies.
One of Rare's few successes in this new era was "Viva Pinata." The first game didn't sell all that well, but the people who played it definitely dug it and it even got its own spin-off television show. In this sequel, a gang of ruffians have wiped out Piñata Central's computer records, which threatens to destroy piñata partying as we know it! Are you a bad enough dude to save the party? | |  Comic Books
Marvel Apes #1
Karl Kesel (W); Ramon Bachs (A)
Marvel Comics
Marvel Zombies was fun. Sure, the zombie fad has pretty much hit the skids and is passé now, but it was fun while it lasted. It's hard to believe that brain eating undead creatures could become boring, but that's what happens when you have an onslaught of zombie movies, books and video games. It's time to move on to the new hotness – apes. That's right, apes.
Who doesn't like an ape? They're big, they're strong and they do things that remind us of ourselves, like fling crap, eat lots of food and file taxes. The only thing that's better than a regular ape is an ape dressed up like Captain America. It makes you wonder why we don't get to see more apes in costumes. Probably because they'd thrash the first person who tried to dress them up like Spider-Man. That's just plain unfortunate. At least you can see superhero apes in comic book form.
Secret Six #1
Gail Simone (W); Nicola Scott (A); Doug Hazlewood (A)
DC Comics
The Secret Six were an enthralling group of ex-villains turned, er, not so villainous, that entertained us during “Infinite Crisis.” After that big event, well, we haven't seen much of them. Deadshot had some fun reuniting with the Suicide Squad, but the rest of the group just generally milled about and caught up on all the DVDs they had been meaning to see.
But now they're back! Catman, Deadshot, Scandal, Ragdoll and some new friends! Gail Simone reunites with Birds of Prey penciller Nicola Scott to bring you the latest adventures of this ragtag team of pseudo heroes. What sorts of trouble are they going to get into? Sorry. That's a secret. In fact, everything about this title is supposed to be a secret. Forget everything you just read and just buy it. | |  Invasion
Keith Giffen (W); Bill Mantlo (W); Various (A)
DC Comics
No, it's not a comic book based on that ill fated ABC show from a couple years back. It's a DC miniseries from 1988 that hasn't been collected or reprinted since! Such is the fate of big, universe changing events. Most of them are lost to the ravages of time. For every "Crisis on Infinite Earths" there's an "Our Worlds at War," "Genesis" or "Zero Hour." Once everything is back to normal after the crossover, no one really cares about it anymore. What a shame.
At least fans of Invasion during its original run can enjoy it once more without having to take those faded floppy comics out of their protective mylar bags. The Dominators are a group of ugly looking, yellow aliens that decide to invade Earth and take out the metahumans. The Dominators, true to their namesake, want to dominate the universe. Of course, super powered heroes on Earth are a threat to their domination, so they want to get them out of the way as soon as possible and start breeding their own metahumans. Can Superman and his friends prevail? They're all still here, aren't they? | | | | | |
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