Spring is upon most of us (who aren’t lucky to already live in a perpetually warm climate…me, bitter?  Never).  With the warmer temperatures, the flowers and trees in bloom and all of those sweet little birds singing such pretty tunes, you’re probably thinking of spending more time outdoors, right?  Well, don’t!  Head to your local box office and check out these two movies that’ll be premiering or adding theaters this week.  Hey, good weather’s overrated – exceptional entertainment is not.

So what’s coming up, you might be asking yourself right about now?  Let’s talk about a movie I desperately want to see.  ‘Dylan Dog: Dead of Night’ is coming to a theater near you this Friday.  If you’re like me and have been living under a rock all this time, you might’ve never known about the rich history of this film.  Come, sit – let me share its past with you.

Did you know that Dylan Dog was originally a comic book?  Most Americans don’t, so please don’t beat yourself up if you fall into this category.  But yes, his debut was in comic books.  It was originally written by an Italian man named Tiziano Sclavi and the first issue was published in October 1986.  The main character himself was named after poet Dylan Thomas, and while he was created in Italy Dylan Dog calls London his home.  In the comics he’s a penniless nightmare investigator who wears the same outfit day after day and refuses to use a storm coat or umbrella in inclement weather.  He’s also a bit of a man-whore, sleeping with a new woman in almost every issue. 

The comics have quite a cult following in Europe.  Dark Horse Comics has published the English version, Ludens has published it in Croatia, and Veseli Četvrtak in Serbia to name a few.

Now, let’s move onto the film.  ‘Dylan Dog: Dead of Night’ is a new horror/comedy film based on one of the world’s most popular comics (60 million copies worldwide). Brandon Routh (yummy!) stars as Dylan Dog, world famous private investigator specializing in affairs of the undead. His PI business card reads “No Pulse? No Problem.” Armed with an edgy wit and carrying an arsenal of silver and wood-tipped bullets, Dylan must track down a dangerous artifact before a war ensues between his werewolf, vampire and zombie clients living undercover in the monster infested backstreets of New Orleans.

Some fans are upset that the film’s taking place in New Orleans instead of London, but hopefully they’ll find that not much has changed with their much loved paranormal investigator.

Onto the next film called ‘Atlas Shrugged.’  Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling) runs Taggart Transcontinental, the largest remaining railroad company in America, with intelligence, courage and integrity, despite the systematic disappearance of her best and most competent workers. She is drawn to industrialist Henry Rearden (Grant Bowler), one of the few men whose genius and commitment to his own ideas match her own. Rearden’s super-strength metal alloy, Rearden Metal, holds the promise that innovation can overcome the slide into anarchy. Using the untested Rearden Metal, they rebuild the critical Taggart rail line in Colorado and pave the way for oil titan Ellis Wyatt (Graham Beckel) to feed the flame of a new American Renaissance.

Hope rises again, when Dagny and Rearden discover the design of a revolutionary motor based on static electricity – in an abandoned engine factory – more proof to the sinister theory that the “men of the mind” (thinkers, industrialists, scientists, artists, and other innovators) are “on strike” and vanishing from society.  Based on the Ayn Rand 1957 novel.

There you have it!  Go see one of these two movies and let us know what you thought of it.