Scorcese to direct Rolling Stones documentary

Here's a trailer to Shine a Light, a documentary about the Rolling Stones, directed by Martin Scorcese, due in theatres on April 4, 2008

Jack White as Elvis in "Walk Hard"

You wouldn't Like Him when He's Angry

If there was any doubt that the new Incredible Hulk movie, due June 13 and starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt, was goingto be taking more cures from the 70s TV show than the 2003 movie, look no further than this photo of norton as Bruce Banner in a remarkkably familiar looking machine. here's how Universal describes the non-sequel The Incredible Hulk:

"The Incredible Hulk" kicks off an all-new, explosive and action-packed epic of one of the most popular superheroes of all time. In this new beginning, scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) desperately hunts for a cure to the gamma radiation that poisoned his cells and unleashes the unbridled force of rage within him: The Hulk. Living in the shadows--cut off from a life he knew and the woman he loves, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler)--Banner struggles to avoid the obsessive pursuit of his nemesis, General Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt), and the military machinery that seeks to capture him and brutally exploit his power. As all three grapple with the secrets that led to The Hulk's creation, they are confronted with a monstrous new adversary known as The Abomination (Tim Roth), whose destructive strength exceeds even The Hulk's own. And on June 13, 2008, one scientist must make an agonizing final choice: accept a peaceful life as Bruce Banner or find heroism in the creature he holds inside--"The Incredible Hulk."

Here's hoping it's better than the Ang Lee-directed travesty.

Spider-Marriage No More

I haven't been reading mainstream Spidey comics for awhile now. In fact, I stopped reading right around the time writer J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) started taking the book too far into the supernatural (Dr. Strange should not be a regular in a Spidey book). After several years of revitializing the title, JMS this week wrapped up his 6+ year run on Amazing Spider-Man with an editorially driven story called "One More Day" that ended with a twist that fans knew was coming, but were outraged nonetheless -- in a deal wth the Marvel version of the devil, Mephisto, Peter and his wife of 20 years (real time -in the 1987 Spidey annual on the left) erased their marriage in order to save the life of old, dying Aunt May. And apparently that's exactly what happened -- some yet-to-be pinpointed moment in the past was changed so that Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson never got married. It apparently has also undone the recent public unmasking of Spider-Man from the recently completed Civil War storyline and took awy the organic web-shooters he had recntly developed to keep him more in line with his movie counterpart. Not to mention probably every other Spidey story JMS wrote. And Civil War, and tons of other stories from the last 20 years, including some non-Spidey title ones.

Why? Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada (who also drew the 4-part storyline) has been complaining for a long time now how bad an idea the marriage was -- that the appeal of Spidey as a character was in his being single and struggling in his personal life, not married to a former super-model/actress. So he got his wish, and while there are many who may agree that the marriage was not a good idea, virtually nobody is happy with the way Marvel chose to end it, including apparently JMS himself, who wanted to have his name removed from the last two parts of the story.

With the conclusion of this story. Marvel will be launching "Brand New Day" in the three-times-a-month Amazing Spider-Man, now the only mainstream Spidey title (as opposed to the Ultimate and Marvel Adventures versions, where it should be noted, he has never been married), which will explore the new status quo with new crators who promise to bring a sense of old school fun back to Spider-Man. How successful this "reboot" turns out to be is still to be determined, but regardless of this new status quo, how they got there is what has fans up in arms -- Spidey made a deal with the devil?! Save his old, decrepit aunt who already said she was ready to die by undoing his marriage?! This is an incredibly stupid idea that puts DC's continuinty-punch (don't ask) storytelling to shame.

Does that mean I'll never buy a Spider-Man or Marvel comic again? Of course not. I'm just joining the throngs of angry readers who recognize that this was a bad story idea that betrays the core concept of the character as a quick easy, deus ex machina fix to restore that core concept of the character.

Lazy storytelling, and another justification for my not buying monthly (or weekly, or thrice-monthly) comics anymore. Boo Marvel! Boo Quesada!

R.I.P. Ike Turner, the First Rock 'n' Roller

Ike Turner died last week, his musical accomplishments overshadowed by his spousal abuse of Tina Turner. on the event of his passing, let's remember Ike for his contribution to what is considered the first rock 'n' roll record, "Rocket 88", from 1951.

From Newsweek:

Among those eulogizing Turner, who died Dec. 13 at age 76, were music producer Phil Spector and rock 'n' roll pioneer Little Richard, who described his friend as "one of the greatest musicians I have ever met in my life." Richard said that Turner's breakthrough rock 'n' roll hit, "Rocket 88," "shook my soul." "I took that same introduction and made `Good Golly, Miss Molly,'" he said. "I took that same thing and made a huge hit."

Rest in peace, Ike, and thanks for helping to create rock 'n' roll.

Hellboy 2 trailer

Here's the trailer for Hellboy II The Golden Army, due in theaters on July 11, 2008.

The Dark Knight Trailer

In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the latest trailer for The Dark Knight, the Batman Begins sequel opening in July 2008. The trailer features Heath Ledger's Joker prominently. No Nicholson impressions here. Getting psyched....

New trailer for Justice League: The New Frontier

Cloverfield preview

Holy crap!

Farewell Evel Knievel, a real life action figure

On Friday, November 30, 2007, the world lost a real life action figure: Evel Knievel.

As a kid, I loved the stunt cycle with the revving sound to launch him. I remember the Snake River Canyon jump, but for me it was all bout that cycle toy.

Speed Racer trailer online

See the trailer for Speed Racer , directed by Matrix trilogy's Wachowski Brothers.

Ahhhhh!!!!!!!! Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley

Marvel launches new online comics initiative

Today, Marvel Comics announced an expansive online comics initiative, designed to reach new fans by making an archive of more than 2,500 Marvel Comics available for viewing online for a nominal fee. Available comics range from the first appearances of Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Iron Man to more recent endeavors, including the Ultimate universe and Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.

This initiative, called Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, provides readers access to its growing online archive in a high-resolution format on computer screens for $59.88 a year, or at a monthly rate of $9.99. The comics, which can only be read online, are not downloadable.

From Marvel's press release:

The easy-to-navigate Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited site presents each digital comic in the highest-resolution ever available and offers innovative viewing options, user-friendly search and recommendation features, and personalized reading list tools. Accessible by both PC and MAC users directly through Marvel.com/digitalcomics as well as via the www.marvel.com homepage, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited will have subscription rates as low as $4.99/month -- making it affordable to new readers and longtime fans.

So they don't cannibalize sales from comic shops, new comics will not be available online until six months after their release dates.

For more information, and for 250 free sampler issues, go to http://marvel.com/digitalcomics/hq/

New Iron Man trailer

Iron Man international teaser trailer

New TV Season Viewer Casualty #3: "Reaper"

The TV season started with a lot of promising new shows, but as my viewing schedule (and DVR) continued to get crowded, something had to give. Shows that got the boot shortly after their pilots were Chuck and Pushing Daisies.

I watched and mildly enjoyed the pilots of each, but about halfway through the second episodes of each, I realized I wasn't enjoying them, and just stiopped. Pushing Daisies has been called the best new show of the season, but I found it pretentious and annoying, neither funny nor charming, nor really that engaging. How long can you watch a couple not be able to touch each other at all? Plus be fake British.

Chuck had an interesting pilot, but seemed too similar, and not as engaging as Reaper -- Slacker guy has a secret, a really important mission that only a select few know about. But I thought the pilot of Reaper showed more promise. Plus, it had Ray (Twin Peaks) Wise. And I really like Ray Wise. Kevin Smith directed the pilot and the show seemed to fall into his sweet spot.

But the show became formulaic -- like early Smallville, it featured the "Freak of the Week", while the protagonist sought to learn ,ore about his calling. another similarity is its most annoying feature -- just like it was on Smallville -- unrequited love hindered by not letting the girl in on the big secret. but Smallville had one thing going for it for me -- it's about SUPERMAN. Reaper is about some guy.

Smith remains involved as an executive producer, but he is missed as a driector here. And besides for my Ray Wise fix, I can watch the Twin Peaks Gold box set I recently bought and just wrote about.

Apparently, I am not the only one who feels the potential of Reaper's pilot has not been lived up to, as an article in the SF Gate also notes:

Reaper has never equaled the excellence of its pilot, and, in many cases, the show has been its own worst enemy as it flailed to get the mix of thrills and laughs just right. ... Only recently - and only once - has this series veered off formula (an episode started in the heat of capturing a lost soul, which normally comes in the last 15 minutes). Reaper may be a thriller (though it's almost never scary) and it may be a comedy (that could be sharpened as well), but, ultimately, it's a procedural.

So, I'm done with Reaper, at least for now. Careful Bionic Woman and Back to You -- you're both on the bubble too. The only new show I'm consistently enjoying is Journeyman. I also enjoyed the recently conlcuded, and recently confirmed to be renewed for two more seasons, Damages on FX.

First look at Young Spock

Here is Zachary Quinto (Heroes' villinaous Sylar) as young Spock in J.J. Abrams upcoming Star Trek movie reboot. More photos can be seen at this link.

For rumored spoilers about the plot of the new Trek movie, click here. Fans will be happy to learn that the new movie refers back to an episode of the original series, and that it depicts a previously discussed historical event in young Kirk's life.

Beatles Remastered "Help!" hits this week

Apparently it didn't come out last week like it was supposed to, but the remastred Help! hits DVD this week. Director Richard Lester notes the direction they decided on for the new film - and why:

"We didn't want to repeat A Hard Day's Night. The next logical step would have been to show them in their real lives. But by that point their real lives were X-rated, or what would have been considered X-rated at that time. So the only thing left was to have them become the passive recipients of an outside threat."

The merits of the story can be debated, but the quality of the music of the film cannot. With the enhanced audio of this release, Help is indeed on the way.

Animated Star Wars: Clone Wars Trailer

Here's the trailer to the announced, yet not scheduled Star Wars: The Clone Wars CGI animated series.

Diane, I’m Holding in My Hand a Small Box of Chocolate Bunnies

This week, I bought Twin Peaks - The Definitive Gold Box Edition, the DVD collection that includes the entire 1990-91 David Lynch series, including all 29 episodes, the pilot and the international movie version of the pilot, as well as several special features.

Simply stated, this is one of the best DVD purchases I have ever made. I don’t often feel the need to buy TV series on DVD, but this is one of the few exceptions that justified the price. I loved Twin Peaks when it first aired in 1990, stuck with it when it went off track for several episodes and lamented when its brilliant series finale would have no follow-up. It’s influence on TV can still be felt today on shows like Lost and Heroes.

The complete series has been previously released on VHS, and recently the first and second seasons have been released on DVD, but this is the first set to include both versions of the pilot and the new extras that make this set worth buying.

Having just purchased it, I haven’t had a chance to watch all 10 discs yet, but what I have seen so far is reason enough to highly recommend this set. I watched all of Disc 1, which is both versions of the pilot. The DVD gives you the option of watching either version, or just watching the alternate ending of the international version, since ¾ths of the movie is the same. Much of the footage of the international version ending shows up in episode 2 of the series.

I also watched Disc 10, which is where most of the special features can be found. First up is "A Slice of Lynch," a recent conversation with Lynch and Kyle MacLachlan (FBI special Agent Dale Cooper), Madchen Amick (Shelly Johnson) and production associate John Wentworth. This is the only extra that includes Lynch, and its very enjoyable, and well worth watching, as they discuss their own personal memories and demonstrate their ongoing affection for the show and each other. And may I add, Madchen Amick, more than 15 years later, is still hot.

Other features discuss the pilot, the first season, the music of the show and the second season. together nearly two hours of behind-scenes fascinating info about the show. Mark Frost tells most of the tale, aided by writers, directors and cast members (Sheryl Lee, who played Laura Palmer and cousin Maddie, also still hot). The music section is highlighted by distinctive composer Angelo Badalamenti, discussing how he created he music of the series while he plays it on camera. He shares an awesome anecdote about Paul McCartney that basically captures the coolness of it all. Singer Julee Cruise talks about working with Lynch and Badalamenti. A video for her song, "Falling" from the show is included among the extras as well.

While all of the documentaries are worth watching, particularly fascinating is the section on Season 2, where the show lost its way. Pressured by ABC to solve the mystery of "who killed Laura Palmer" early on, the show floundered for several episodes as creators Lynch and Frost focused on other projects and outside writers and directors took the show in directions that focused on weirdness for weirdness sake vs., superior storytelling with a Lynchian touch. Schedule shuffling and Gulf War pre-emptions also affected the show’s ratings, dooming the show that had once been the highlight of the ABC schedule. Lynch and Frost returned to get the series back on track for the final episodes of the season, but the damage had been done. Despite a compelling Season 2 cliffhanger finale, there would be no third season, and Twin Peaks ended, precious potential wasted.

As a fan, I also admit Season 2 went horribly wrong, starting off by solving the murder of Laura Palmer (the behind scenes take on this revelation is fascinating to watch, particularly regarding the actor involved). Lynch and Frost knew from the beginning who the murderer was, but none of the cast did – and they even shot alternate scenes with suspects to keep them guessing. The Windom Earl arc that concluded the series was at least as compelling as the Laura Palmer mystery, but by then it was too late. Too much extraneous silliness had derailed the series, trying the patience of even the most die-hard fan (myself included).

After watching just about all of the special features of Disc 10 (don’t miss the Saturday Night Live sketches with Kyle MacLachlan – hilariously spot on), I began watching the series itself, anxious to revisit the series after watching all of the discussions about it. In addition to the pilot, I have seen the first 2 episodes, and am a fan all over again. What stands out for me this time around is how Michael Ontkean as Sheriff Harry S. Truman anchors the series. He is us, fascinated, supportive and confused by Agent Cooper, as he takes the weirdness that this murder has brought to his town completely in stride. In the second episode, he tells Cooper that he may have to take up medicine because he feels like Dr. Watson. A perfect comparison, even as he sells himself short. Cooper could never get through this mystery on his own. Truman is his anchor, and together they navigate the mysteries they uncover, finding just as many questions as they do answers. Re-focus on Truman as the main character and the show is fascinating in a completely different way.

A great collection for a great show. Do yourself a favor and re-acquaint yourself with the series and the story behind its rise and fall.

Trapped in the Vast Wasteland

So, when I restarted this blog over the summer, I thought I was reinvigorated enough to start posting regularly, but it’s now been over a month since I posted last. Why is that?

Simple. The new TV season. Not only have I been watching most of the same shows I watched last year, I have added several new ones – on both broadcast and cable. I have become such a slave to my remote that I find little time to post any more. Plus, I have also gotten a bit of a life going now, so that helps too. But, that’s not for the blog…..

But the good news is, once I do get back to posting regularly (hopefully, this week), I will have a lot of TV to write about. And movies. And books. So stay tuned.

I am actually looking forward to the writer’s strike, so I can get a bit of a breather. More reality TV means I will be watching less TV. More movies, more books, and hopefully more writing.

George Lucas Talks Star Wars TV

In a two-part interview with TV Guide, Star Wars creator George Lucas talked about a documentary about San Francisco filmmakers, making the next Indiana Jones without Sean Connery. And in part 2 of the interview, the future of Star Wars on telvision.

Lucas is currently working on two series, 100 episodes each. The first is the animated Clone Wars, which like the previous animated series of the same name, takes place between Episodes II and III of the saga. The second is a live-action series that takes place in an era not yet explored outside of books, comics and games -- between Episodes III and IV. Here's Lucas:

Clone Wars has got all the characters in it — Yoda and Anakin and Obi Wan and the Emperor and all that — so it's basically the movie. The live-action [series] is not the movie. It's the Star Wars universe, but it's characters from the saga who were [previously] minor, and it follows their stories. It's set between [movie episodes] III and IV, when the Empire has taken over. It's like Episode IV in that the Emperor and Darth Vader are heard about — people talk about them — but you never see them because it doesn't take place where they actually are. There are storm troopers and all that, but there are no Jedis.

Neither series has an air date, or a channel to show them yet, for that matter. But Lucas isn't concerned. it's Star Wars. They will find a home.

You're Really Super, Supergirl

Here's Laura Vandervoort, who plays Kara, aka Supergirl, debuting on this week's Smallville season premiere. She's also the cover girl for this month's Stuff magazine, where this image came from.

In a related story, Lois Lane is still looking pretty good too. Erica Durance is on the cover of Maxim.

Now that is just super.

Fall Season preview: “Heroes” Worship

Thanks to Comcast On Demand and the iPod, I have had the opportunity to catch a few new Fall dramas prior to their network television debut, and of the ones I have seen so far, all NBC shows, they all have one thing in common – they owe their existence to the success of NBC’s Heroes last season.

The pilot episodes I have watched are Chuck, Bionic Woman and Journeyman. Chuck and Journeyman will bookend Heroes on Monday night, for a 3-hour block of sci-fi/geek drama. Of the three, I liked Journeyman the best. Here’s a rundown of the show’s premises and my thoughts on each:

Chuck is about a geek who works a the Nerd Herd (i.e. Best Buy’s Geek Squad) who has downloaded all of the world’s intelligence secrets directly to his brain courtesy of a former college friend, revealed to be a spy. As the holder of all these secrets – which are basically a series of seemingly unconnected visual cues, Chuck is able to connect the dots and foretell major threats before they happen. Needless to say, Chuck becomes a hot commodity. Assigned to protect him – and his secrets – is a hot government agent.

The show has an appealing cast, and premise that isn’t too bad but it seems to be trying a little too hard. The obvious inspiration here is Hiro and Ando from Heroes, two guys immersed in pop culture. The predicting future events angle is not too far removed from Isaac, the painter. The show has potential, but only if the cast remains appealing, and they get away from nerd cliches. It works as an 8:00 lead-in to Heroes.

Journeyman follows Heroes at 10. Also, like Hiro, this involves a time-traveler tasked with changing the past to make a better future. But the premise reminds me more of Quantum Leap, without the inhabiting other people’s bodies part. I liked this show. In the pilot, he discovers what us happening to him and his seeming purpose, and struggles between this "mission" and making changes to his own life. There are a few clues in the pilot to indicate that there is a reason he was chosen for this, but it’s mostly still a mystery.

Unlike most time-travel stories, he doesn’t go into the past and arrive back right after he left – he is gone for days at a time, and disappears suddenly, which can be a problem when he is driving at the time. He has to explain his absences to his family and his job, which obviously, is not easy. The show deals with that unfortunate side effect, as well. I think there is some potential here, its too early to tell if this will be a save a different person every week show,, and whether that will grow old or not, but so far, I’m intrigued.

Finally Bionic Woman, a show about a young woman with super powers, premieres Wednesday at 9. A remake of the Six Million Dollar Man spin-off with 70s, this show has very little in common with its predecessor, other than the name of the lead character, Jamie Sommers, and the fact that her mangled body is replaced by bionics, specifically her legs, and arm, her ear and her eye (the last an addition the original didn’t have, but one that they obviously plan to make much use out of , based on the pilot. Almost killed in a car accident, her secret scientist boyfriend makes her the latest cyborg prototype for a covert operation. Her predecessor has escaped and for some reason is on a vendetta. No slow motion running or cheesy 70s sound effects (too bad), its really too early tell how this will be. Of the three pilots, I enjoyed this one the least, but I’ll give it a few more episode before I decide.

I think Journeyman has the best chance of survival this season. Chuck tries too hard to be clever and Bionic Woman tries too hard to be edgy.

Either way, it’s a good time to be a geek. At least til November sweeps.

Star Trek: The Next Generation -- Complete Series on DVD

Hey, it's only $440. Make it so!

History of the laugh track

Here's an interesting piece -- the history of the laugh track, complete with video examples of how it has evolved over the years.

Many popular sitcoms today -- The Office, Scrubs, My Name is Earl -- don't use a laugh track. I've been watching Cheers and Coach reruns lately, both of which used a laugh track, and for those shows I'm used to it, but I didn't realize how much I had gotten used to NOT having one on urrent shows until I watched Back to You, a new Fox sitcom, starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. It used a laugh track, and it was very jarring to me, and kind of strange. It's disturbingly effective though.

Check ot the piece and the video slide show on Slate.com. Very interesting.

Toon in this weekend

A reminder. This Saturday morning, the season premeires of The Batman and Legion of Superheroes, starting an hour later at 11 am ET.

And Sunday at 9 pm is Star Wars-themed episode of Family Guy.

Just an excuse to run that cool pic at top.

Superman/Doomsday review

Superman/Doomsday is the movie that Superman Returns should have been -- a movie that ignores all that went before and gives a completely fresh take, one complete with not one, but two, incredible Superman fight scenes -- yes he punches the bad guy! It’s violent, it’s funny, its dramatic, it’s romantic – exactly what every REAL superhero movie should have, something seen in live action recently only with X2, Batman Begins and the first two Spider-Man movies. This is the best feature-length Superman movie since Christopher Reeve first donned the cape in 1978.

Superman/Doomsday, the first of DC’s new animated direct-to-video projects based on actual comics’ storylines, hits stores this week, and man was I ready for it. I recently re-read the trilogy of trade paperbacks on which this was based, not that I needed a new re-read to familiarize myself with the biggest Superman story since his debut in 1938, but I wanted to get myself psyched for this animated adaptation. I was not disappointed in the re-read, and in fact like some parts of it even more. And I was certainly not disappointed in the new animated version.

There have been complaints about this movie, most before anyone had even seen it, so let’s get those out of the way. The complaints have been the following 1) it doesn’t follow the original comics’ storyline; 2) it doesn’t have the voice cast of the recent Superman/Justice League (Unlimited) animated series, and 3) what’s with the lines on Superman’s face. My responses are as follows: 1) so what? 2) it shouldn’t; and 3) who cares?

Seriously, there’s no way to get everything in from the original storyline and do you really want everything? I know what it really boils down to -- why didn’t it have the 4 pretender Supermen that appeared in Superman’s absence. While that would have been cool to see, it’s just too much for an animated feature, and I think their solution paid sufficient homage to that part of the original storyline, while not directly following it. There are plenty of other aspects of that story – Luthor’s appearance/status, the role of the JLA and Supergirl, that were a significant part of the comic story, but really had no place in this stand-alone movie.

The voice cast was different because this is a different version in a different world, one we haven’t seen before, one in which Superman is the only hero (hence no JLA); every character (except Superman and Doomsday) look completely different than how they were previously portrayed, and had different voices. It makes sense for this version. That leads to the complaint about the lines in Superman's face. Except for those pronounced cheekbones, Superman did look pretty much the way he did in the previous animated series, making the one addition to the look stand out more. If they had used a different model, that particular feature would not have stood out so much. A minor quibble for a Superman who’s supposed to have been around for awhile in this version. But Luthor, Lois, Perry, Jimmy and Ma Kent all looked and sounded different than their previous animated incarnations, as they should have.

Now the movie itself. No spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen it. It’s divided into three acts, just like the comics: Superman vs. Doomsday, world without a Superman; and Superman returns (is that a spoiler, I don’t think so, did you expect him to STAY dead?!) As I mentioned earlier, the first and third acts have tremendous fight scenes. Superman cutting loose like you’ve never seen before in any animated or live-action version. And boy, does the man like his heat vision. it’s rated PG-13, so there are a few things that might seem out of place in a Superman cartoon – bloody violence, implied sex, drinking and mild swearing, not to mention actual death. But, it’s handled well, nothing a kid wouldn’t see in any PG or PG-13 live-action movie.

There’s a different take on Luthor here, one that makes him more reptilian than we’ve seen previously, and the classic Lois/Superman/Clark triangle is handled extremely well here, in a way that doesn’t insult the intelligence of an investigative reporter confronted with a pair of glasses.

I started off this review by saying it ignores everything that happened previously, but that’s not completely true. There are a few visual touches that honor previous versions, like the robot from the 1940s Fleischer cartoons, the Brainiac head from the Superman animated series, as well as other little touches that evoke the movies, Smallville and the comics on which the story is based.

The movie’s not perfect, but if you want to see Superman cut loose, a truly evil Luthor and a mature look at the Superman/Lois relationship, you will like this. No fanboy nitpicking allowed.

The DVD includes a couple of cool special features worth mentioning – a 40+ minute documentary on the original storyline interviewing most of the original creators and a 10+ minute feature on the next DC animated DVD project, Justice League; The New Frontier, which includes more than what was previously seen online. There’s also a feature-length commentary, but I haven’t gotten to that yet. Both the comics documentary and The New Frontier featurette are very enjoyable and worth watching at least once, if you are at all interested in those things, which of course I am. As much as I enjoyed Superman/Doomsday, I am looking forward to The New Frontier even more.

I loved it. My complaints are so minor, they’re not even worth mentioning. I need to watch it again. Highly recommended!

Justice League Movie Official; Director named

As expected, George Miller, who most recently directed the very successful animated Happy Feet for Warner Bros., has been named as the director of the long-rumored, now official Justice League of America movie. The studio is aiming to release the movie in the summer of 2009, which would put the production ahead of the next Superman movie.

Neither Batman Begins star Christian Bale or Superman Returns star Brandon Routh are expected to reprise their roles in the movie, though their characters are featured in the script. Other heroes expected for the movie are Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman and Green Lantern.

According to Variety:

Batman and Superman are active properties for the studio, though the next installment in the Superman franchise has taken a backseat to Justice League in part because Warners is so keen on the Justice League script by Kieran and Michele Mulroney.....This project could give the studio a launching pad for future Wonder Woman and the Flash pics. The studio has been developing bigscreen adaptations of both DC properties.

In a follow-up post, IESB.net, the site that first reported the rumor that Smallville's Tom Welling was in line to play Superman in the JLA movie, has now confirmed that Welling will NOT be the team's Man of Steel, and it's possbile that Routh will suit up for the movie after all. The site is now also reporting that Ryan Gosling heads the short list of actors for Batman. Bale and his director Christopher Nolan have made it clear that they are not happy about the JLA movie plans.

The Bat-sequel, The Dark Knight, is scheduled for summer 2008; Justice League of America, the following summer. The next Superman movie? Up, up, in the air!

Iron Man Trailer

Extremely cool -- the first offical trailer for Iron Man, which opens on May 2, 2008

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The official name of the 4th Indiana Jones movie has been revealed: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The movie opens May22, 2008.

Trailer for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is a spoof of musician bio-pic movies such as Walk the Line and Ray. starring John C. Reilly (who does his own singing) and featuring Paul Rudd as John Lennon, Jack Black as Paul McCartney and Jack White as Elvis Presley, the film was written by movie comedy superstar Judd Apatow.

The movie opens Dec. 21. See the trailer here.

Remastered Beatles' "Help!" due in October

From Billboard:

The Beatles' second film, 1965's Help!, will be released in a
double-DVD edition Oct. 30 via Apple Corps Ltd and EMI Music. The movie was released on DVD in 1997 and again in 2000, but has been off the market ever since due to rights issues.

The first disc of "Help!" boasts a digitally restored version of the film plus a new 5.1 audio soundtrack, with songs like "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away," "Ticket To Ride," "The Night Before," "Another Girl" and "You're Going To Lose That Girl." Disc two offers a 30-minute documentary about the making of the movie, a missing scene, a featurette on the restoration process, interviews with cast and crew, three theatrical trailers and vintage radio advertisements.

See the Beatles perform "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" from the film here.

Family Guy Spoofs Star Wars

First, Robot Chicken did it in a special half-hour episode; now Family Guy is doing its own spoof/tribute of Star Wars in the first episode of the new season, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 23. Called "Blue Harvest" (which was the production title of Return of the Jedi so people wouldn't know what was being filmed), here's how Fox describes the episode:

"When the power goes out in the Griffin home, Peter decides to educate his family and pass along the greatest story ever told...the story of Star Wars! After Princess Leia (Lois) comes under siege by Darth Vader (Stewie) and his evil Storm Troopers, C-3PO (Quagmire) and R2-D2 (Cleveland) escape to find the only person who can help the Rebel Alliance. On their quest thorough the desert planet of Tatooine, C-3PO and R-2D2 find extra help in Obi-Wan Kenobi (Creepy Guy), Luke Skywalker (Chris), Han Solo (Peter) and Chewbacca (Brian) and head back to battle the Death Star in an epic intergalactic fight to the death."

"Smallville" Season 7 teaser

Smallville Season 7 begins on Sept. 27 with an episode called "Bizarro". Read a description of the episode here

Wall-crawling just like Spidey!

Scientists have a deveoped a suit the can help humans make like Peter parker and stick to walls.

One scientist, quoted in Science Daily notes:

With the idea for the adhesion now in place, there are a number of other mechanics that need addressing before the Spiderman suit can become a reality. Size-effects on the adhesion strength require further research. Moreover, man's muscles, for example, are different to those of a gecko. We would suffer great muscle fatigue if we tried to stick to a wall for many hours. However now that we are this step closer, it may not be long before we are seeing people climbing up the Empire State Building with nothing but sticky shoes and gloves to support them."

Isn't science wonderful?

Trailer for Stephen King's "The Mist"

From Frank Darabont, the writer and director of Stephen King's The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, comes The Mist, based on King's story that originally appeared in the short story collection Skeleton Crew in 1985. Opening Novmeber 21, the horror movie stars Thomas (The Punisher) Jane.

Jerry Seinfeld returns with "Bee Movie"

Jerry Seinfeld FINALLY does a real post-Seinfeld project - an animated film called Bee Movie, which opens on November 2.

Check out the succession of trailers at the official movie site, and look for LOTS of Seinfeld appearances on NBC this fall.

Superman guest stars on the 5th season premiere of "The Batman"

This season on The Batman, the Dark Knight joins the Justice League, and in the season premiere, he meets Superman for the first time (as seen in the video above). Superman is voiced by George Newbern, who provided the voice on the Justice League cartoons, with Lois Lane again voiced by Dana Delany. All season long, Batman will be teaming up with the various members of the JLA, so look for the season to be more like "The Brave and the Bold," the Silver Age Batman team-up title. Also confirmed so far are Green (Hal Jordan) Lantern, The Flash (Barry Allen), Green Arrow, with more to come.

The 5th season of The Batman premieres on Saturday, September 22 on the Kids WB! on the CW.

Justice League: The New Frontier

As I wrote earlier, Superman/Doomsday, out Sept. 18 is the first in the new DVD line of DC animated movies. The second, due in spring 2008, is Justice League: The New Frontier, based on writer artist Darwyn Cooke's homage to the dawn of the Silver Age of comics in the late 1950s, The New Frontier. The comic is about the beginning of a new age of heroes that leads ot the formation of the Justice League of America.

Here's the preview of the film that was shown during the premiere of Superman/Doomsday at the San Diego Comic-Con.

$240 worth of pudding

Aww, yeah....

Doomsday is coming

On Tuesday, September 18, the first of DC's new series of animated movie DVDs hits stores, Superman/Doomsday (see trailer at this link), based on the best-selling Death and Return of Superman storylines.

It debuted to great response at its San Diego Comic-Con premiere. Read an early review here.

And so, you don't forget when it comes out, check this out:

“Justice League” movie talk heating up

It’s been rumored for months now, but in the past few weeks, the stories about a Justice League of America (JLA) movie -- very few of them confirmed -- have been coming in fast and furious, mostly from genre movie news site IESB.net. The only thing that appears to be certain about movie is that neither Christian (Batman) Bale nor Brandon (Superman) Routh will appear in the film, though the characters they play will.

One of the hottest rumors is that Superman will be played by none other than young Clark Kent himself – Tom Welling from Smallville. The TV show’s producers, however, deny this is happening due to his Smallville contract for this season (and next?).

The movie is reportedly being fast-tracked for a 2009 release, which means it will likely debut before the next Superman movie, thought not before The Dark Knight, scheduled for next summer. According to the LA Times (registration required):

... even a roster of superheroes may not have enough special powers to repel the nastiest villain on Hollywood's horizon: an impending labor dispute that could devastate the local economy. JLA is but one of many projects caught in an industrywide scramble to assemble films that can be completed before a potential talent strike shuts down film production next summer... Warner Bros., which declined to comment, needs to hire a JLA director immediately to guide any further rewrites and attract actors. As it is, numerous directors have been passing on the project, although Happy Feet's George Miller may end up in the chair.

The plan is for the movie to serve as a launching pad to individual hero films, such as Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, all of which have been in various stages of development at some point. This plan is similar the X-Men movie franchise, which is now spinning off Wolverine and Magneto into their own films. The movie will likely feature as villains the OMACs and Max Lord, in a twist of the storyline that preceded last year’s Infinite Crisis.

Like everything about this movie, nothing is confirmed. For more rumors of storylines, characters and casting, check these stories from IESB.net.

Top 100 Action Figures

ToyFare magazine, a spin off of the comics-focused Wizard, has posted a list of the top 100 action figures of the last 10 years. It's a good thing they didn't have these when I was a kid -- Cioci & Unk would have gone broke trying to meet my ever-growing list!

Thought Balloons of an Aging Fanboy

Whew, has it really been 6 months since I last posted? Well, a lot's happened since February (and even more during the 3 months before that), but I'm going to give this another shot, and thought this was a good time to come back to it.

I've backed off on comics a bit, and am no longer buying monthly (or weekly) issues, deciding instead to wait for key trade paperbacks, without worrying about the ongoing continuity of the DC Universe. I've been disillusioned by the current direction, and its pointless to complain and not do anything about it, so now I'm saving a little bit of money, and hopefully putting some of that time back into regular reading.

That said, the summer comics convention season just ended and there's a lot to link to, though surprisingly little of it had to do with comics. So, I'll try to get the best of that stuff up in the next few days.

Also, the new TV season is starting up soon, with a lot to comment on this fall, both new and returning shows. This summer, there's a been a lot of great new shows on basic cable, and I've been checking them out to. I should comment on them as well.

Thanks to my DVR, I've been catching a lot of great movies and documentaries, new and old, and of course you'll want to hear what I think about them.

The animation DVDs never stop -- I've bought a few over the past 6 months, with a few more on the way.

I can't believe how little reading I do these days -- no thanks to the iPod and DVR, but I'd like to pick that up again, and share some thoughts there as well.

Speaking of the iPod, I've been listening to all kinds of great music, new and old, blues, rock, jazz, and a little bit of everything else. Music criticism is not a strong point of mine, but I'll try to get better with the music appreciation at least.

Wow, that's quite a To Do list, or maybe its a mission statement, but either way, there;s no shortage of topics, now that I've re-connected to the blog and even took advantage of some of the new features that have been added, and will keep doing so.

So, hopefully, there will be a reason to check this out again, for like the three of you that were -- and maybe a few more can join this time.

Check back soon -- and comment often.

My New Favorite Group

Toy Fair Fun

SpiDog? Plug your iPod into this speaker system, just in time for Spider-Man 3.

New animated DC Universe expands next season

Both The Batman and Legion of Superheroes have been renewed for new seasons. The best news about these renewals are the revealed plans for next season, which has both show reaching further into their comics roots with its characters and situations.

The Batman, which will introduce the Martian Manhunter at the end of the season (with a rumored Flash cameo), will expand to include Superman, The Flash and Aquaman next year, its fifth season.

As for Legion, according to Warner Bros. Animation, next season they will face "a daunting new villain - a destroyer of galaxies from the rich annals of DC Comics." This is assumed to be Darkseid, who appeared in a classic Legion tale in 70s, called "The Great Darkness Saga". Also, it appears that "Superboy" will actually be older in the second season, so calling him "Superman" will make more sense beyond legal reasons. Also the team will meet a "new ally from across the space-time continuum." I have no idea who this is, but it sounds like it will be another well-known character.

I'm enjoying the latest season of The Batman, with the addition of Robin, and a less anime-like animation style. Sounds like it's only getting better. As for Legion, I have only a passing interest in this show, as I was never a fan of that particular team, but if they are going to be drawing in other characters I'm more likely to be familiar with, not to mention an actual "Superman," then I think my interest in this show will only grow. We shall see.

It Shall Be Mine!

Good Day for Mignola fans

Today, two animated projects based on the work of comics writer/artist Mike Mignola hit DVD:

• Hellboy: Sword of Storms, which first aired on Cartoon Network and features some of the voice cast from the Hellboy movie. A follow-up is in the works;

• The Amazing Screw-On Head, which first aired on Sci-Fi.

Mignola talks about e feels abotut the animated versions of his comics creations here.

A Night at the Flash Museum?

Some potentially bad news for fans of superhero movies, especially DC comics fans. Last week, David Goyer has announced on his MySpace page that he is no longer attached as writer/director of the Flash movie, citing that Warner Brothers wanted to go in a different direction.

And boy, was he right! This week, Warner Brothers announced that Shawn Levy has been named as the new director for the Fastest Man Alive’s big screen debut. Levy directed the much critically reviled, yet high box office grossing Night at the Museum. He also directed the Pink Panther remake that featured Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau, as well as the Cheaper by Dozen remake and its sequel.

A spokesman for the studio indicated that while the movie will not be a comedy, it will be much lighter in tone than Batman Begins and Superman Returns, and may still incorporate elements of Goyer’s script, which reportedly featured both Barry Allen and Wally West.

Goyer, who also was told that his Blade TV series (spun from the film trilogy he wrote) would not be renewed. However, he still has his happy face on, because he also noted that he does other projects lined up ("one of them takes place in the DC Universe") that he will be announcing soon.

While its true that the Flash should not be treated with same solemnity as Batman (as seen in the failed Flash TV series of 1990, which did just that), Levy's critical track record does not give one high hopes for a movie that comics fans will embrace.

In related news, Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon has announced that he is no longer attached as writer/director the Wonder Woman movie. After turning in his script, Warner Bros. decided they wanted to do a different take.

In more related news, Joel Schumacher, who single-handedly destroyed the Batman movie franchise for a decade, wants to direct a movie based on Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Yikes!