Another perspective on the return of Jason Todd

50 Greatest Comedies

Premiere magazine has published a list of what they are calling the 50 greatest comedies of all time. I can confirm seeing 37 of them, some more deserving to be on this list than others. In fact, I just saw one of them for the first time this weekend -- The Big Lebowski.

Sadly missing -- Tootsie.

Check out the list, which is presented as a slide show in chronological order. How many of these have you seen?

Warner Bros. confirms Heath Ledger as Joker in Batman sequel

In a press release scheduled for Tuesday, Warner Bros. will officially announce that Heath Ledger will be the Joker in the sequel to Batman Begins, which will be called The Dark Knight. Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman, as does the supporting cast from the first movie, including Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), Michael Caine (Alfred), Gary Oldman (Gordon) and Katie Holmes (Rachel).

Director Christopher Nolan and writer David Goyer, who has already written 80 pages of the sequel's script, are also returning.

Oasis to release greatest hits album

From Spin:

Oasis have announced the upcoming release of the compilation album, Stop the Clocks, which will cull No. 1 singles and B-sides from the band's catalog. Set for a Nov. 21 release date, the set will feature singles like "Wonderwall" and "Supersonic," B-sides like "Acquiesce" and "Half the World Away," and more recent releases like "The Importance of Being Idle." The band, who hand-picked their favorite tracks for the album, will release Stop the Clocks during what their label calls "a well earned sabbatical prior to starting work on new material." The final track list for the compilation has not been released.

REM: The IRS Years Anthology

Due out September 12, a few versions of this will be available -- a single disc or 2 disc with DVD, which includes more rarities. Check this out for more info and track listings.

Great Beatles Moments

Somne nice observations, competle with audio samples to illustrate the points:

Part 1

Part 2

Here's a sample:

The Opening 12 Seconds from "She Loves You." Beginning with a quick bass drum roll, it then leads into what may be the most ebullient couplet ever recorded, with the "yeah! yeah! yeah!" part just summing up the release of a thousand stomachs full of butterflies. Then, the yeah yeah yeahs give way to Ringo's cymbal crash, which, when it settles, exposes the first verse. Perfection.

Mark Millar want to revamp the DCU

Comics writer Mark Millar, mastermind behind Marvel's current Civil War series that has taken over its's universe, has made no secret of his true love of the DCU. But due to some behind-the-scenes problems with the publisher and subequent exclusivity with Marvel, he hasn't written anything for DC (or any of its imprints) in years. But that doesn't stop him from thinking about it. Consider this July 19th post from him on his messageboard MillarWorld:

Just back from my hols and had some mad notions. I woke up two nights ago and thought of something as big and as simple as Civil War for the DCU and spent two hours during the night writing it all down. I'm obviously not going into details, but this is so bloody simple, screws with nobody, could be explained to a 4 year old and would ramp up DC's sales as much my little Civil War book is working for Marvel. It would spin off into me doing Superman with Hitchy and JLA with McNiven and I worked out a cracking line-up of creator pals for all the other books this would influence. I said I was only doing a Marvel crossover if they let me rethink the whole MU and rejig a lot of books that needed a face-lift (some huge characters selling nothing for 5 years now). Similarly, I'd only do this if DC let me go the whole hog and, although I have a very good relationship with DC again, I'm under exclusive for almost 2 more years. But these notes have been filed and this thing, if anything, will work BETTER a couple of years down the line. It's incredibly exciting. I already had about 70 issues of Superman loosely worked out and a first eighteen months on JLA, but it all came together perfectly for me over the holidays. The end of the decade just got very exciting.

Let's hope he gets his chance. His few forays into the DCU -- JLA, Superman Adventures and the Superman Eleworlds' Red Son -- have been fantastic, and definitely show a love of the characters.