That’s So Raven (Just Not So Poe)
I have to admit, the more trailers for John Cusack’s The Raven that come out, and the more awful it looks, the more excited I am to see it. Not only is ol’ Edgar Allan going to be solving murders committed by an insane fan, and not only will the murderer be taunting him like all traditional crazed killers, but this new trailer indicates the (assuredly-less-than-mysterious) maniac will be kidnapping Poe’s gal pal (who will probably not be Poe’s 13-year-old cousin in the movie), and Poe will have to race against time to kill him to save her. It’s hitting every single action-suspense serial killer movie cliche, except it stars noted alcoholic/author Edgar Allen Poe instead of some kind of law enforcement officer who might be mildly competent at such a task. Really, the only way this film could get more sublimely ridiculous is if Poe actually starts dressing as a giant Raven and starts solving crimes that way, and I’m not 100% certain he won’t. Of course, they may be saving that for the sequel.
About The Author
Robert Bricken is one of the original co-founders of the site formerly known as Topless Robot, and its first editor-in-chief, serving from 2008-12. He brought the site to prominence with “nerd news, humor and self-loathing” as its motto, raising it from total internet obscurity to a readership in the millions, with help from his savage “FAQ” movie reviews and Fan Fiction Fridays. Under his tenure Topless Robot was covered by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, ABC News, and others, and his articles have been praised by Roger Ebert, Avengers actor Clark Gregg, comedian and The Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax, and others. He is currently the managing editor of io9.com. Despite decades as both an amateur and professional nerd, he continues to be completely unprepared for either the zombie apocalypse or the robot uprising.