Superman Returns video game trailer

Co-written by Marv Wolfman! See the trailer here. And an article about the game here.

Dog-Gone Funny!

Last week, I watched a documentary on Turner Classic Movies, called Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story, which highlighted the short subjects that used to run in front of movies from the 20s through the 50s. It was a fantastic film highlighting not only series that are still known today like The Three Stoooges, Our Gang ("Little Rascals"), Laurel and Hardy and more comedians, but many other types of shorts that you don't hear much about today. The documentary is included in a just-released Laurel & Hardy boxed set, and is well worth checking out.

What I want to spotlight now though is something I had never heard of befoe this and found utterly fascinating -- The Dogville Comedies. From a write-up on the documentary:

The Dogville Comedies, which spoofed hit movies of the day using dog actors, was the creation of Jules White and Zion Myers. Piano wire was used to hold the dogs in place and they were fed peanut butter to make the dogs' mouths move. Clips are shown from The Dogway Melody (1930) a parody of Oscar® winner The Broadway Melody (1929) and College Hounds (1930) in which the dogs played football.

Jules White's next project-- The Three Stooges. The clips the documentary showed on this series whet my apetite for more.

So, as always, youtube.com to the rescue . You HAVE to watch this. It's The Dogway Melody.

It is hysterical, and proably cruelty to animals, but it's WAY beyond dressing your dog in costume.

Trailer for Remake of "The Omen"

The remake of The Omen opens on June 6, 2006 (get it?). See the trailer here.

Clerks II Trailer

Featuring the moustache starring in "My Name is Earl".

Clerks II trailer

C for Cookie

Click the link above if the player doesn’t work.. But trust me, you’ll likeit.

Say It Isn't So! Comics Burn-Out?

Am I starting to burn out on comics?

As DC's continuity-altering Infinite Crisis comes to an an end, One Year Later (OYL) already started and 52 beginning in a few weeks, I am coming to a comics buying/obsessing-about crossroads that I haven't been at in a long time.

DC’s July solicitations came out this week. I think its official. I won't be buying regular comics anymore, except for 52 (which is weekly, so I'll still be going to the shop every week -- at least at first) and All Star Superman (bi-monthly). Everything else I buy will be trade paperback (TPB) only. It's been coming for awhile, but DC has made it easy to make a clean break.

Everything that’s coming out that I want is stuff I know will get collected – Morrison and Dini on Batman and Detective, Busiek on Superman and Action. Meltzer on JLA, so I will wait. I may be done with Titans -- the OYL stuff doesn’t seem that interesting. Don’t know what’s going on with Flash yet. JSA is getting cancelled (to be relaunched, but don’t know by who). Still need at least one more Teen Titans trade and 2-3 more JSA. I foresee buying TPBs of Batman, Detective, Superman, Action and JLA for at least a few arcs. Don’t know beyond that.

Of course, this will make it easier to buy more TPBs -- no shortage of those. It’s time to get rid of some though. Time for me to figure out how to sell stuff on eBay. I probably have at least 10 trades I could get rid of and not regret later. Man, do I need the room.

I'm sure I’ll be buying a lot of trades at WizardWorld Philadelphia (June 2-4th) so that will probably hold me for a long while. I’m starting to wonder if the convention will burn me out further. It might finally be time to go for one day only and not the whole weekend.

I'm scaring myself here (well, not really), but something's gotta give.

I'm thinking about refocusing this blog too -- way too superhero-centric. I think it's time to write more about books, music and other pop culture, particulalry things that have nothing to do with superheroes (cartoons, movies, TV, etc.). But we'll see. Like I said, I'm at a crossroads.

Personally, I think it's just that I realized that I can't top "Jan and Dean Meet Batman"

Jan and Dean Meet Batman

Too, too awesome....

Hear them sing Batman. And sing along:

Batman
(Jan Berry/D. Altfield/F. Wieder)

I don't know who he is behind that mask
But we need him, & we need him now

He's known as Bruce Wayne by day, wealthy socialite
(Gotham City, here they come)
But incognito in dress, he fights crime by night
(Gotham City, here they come)
Yeah it's Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder at his side
Hey now, Riddler, Penguin, Joker, better go & hide (over villainous laughter)

We need the Batman (Batman)
We need the Batman (Batman)
Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot
So my disguise must be able
To strike terror into their hearts

Now as the Bat Signal sweeps across the midnight sky
(Gotham City, here they come)
Somewhere in Gotham City it'll find the Batman's eye
(Gotham City, here they come)
There's a crime wave goin' on, but not for very long
'Cause the Batman's gonna teach 'em right from wrong

They call him Batman (Batman)
They call him Batman (Batman)
Did you see that strange car? (No, why?)
It was shaped like a bat

So when you see the Batmobile quickly pass you by
(Gotham City, here they come)
You know they've heard the Batphone & the Commissioner's cry
(Gotham City, here they come)
Yeah that Dynamic Duo's out to prove crime doesn't pay
& from the Batcave our heroes keep evil at bay

We need the Batman (Batman)
We need the Batman (Batman)
I must be a creature of the night
(Spoken):
Black, terrible! Um...um... (sounds of bat's call & flapping wings)
As if in answer a huge bat flies in the open window!
A bat, that's it! It's an omen; I shall become a bat!
Thus is born this weird figure of the dark, this avenger of evil, the Batman!

Bryan Singer's Superman Documentary

Not only is Bryan Singer directing Superman Returns, he has been simultaneously putting together a Superman documentary called Look Up in the Sky, as he tells Sci Fi Wire:

Look Up in the Sky explores Superman's beginnings in comic books and his early presence in movies, ranging from Max Fleischer cartoon shorts (screened before feature films in movie theaters in the 1940s) to 1951's Superman and the Mole-Men, starring George Reeves, which inspired the first Superman TV series. There's also coverage of the Superman movie revival that began in the 1970s, TV's Lois and Clark and Smallville and footage from Superman Returns.

The documentary will debut on DVD on June 20th, right around the time of the movie. Singer is also looking at the possibility of a limited theatrical run and TV airing.

Milk Makes You Super

I Love Lois

Erica Durance, Smallville's Lois Lane

Secret Wars Re-Enactment Society

Too funny....

FF Toon to Debut in the Fall on Cartoon Network

New TV Spots for X3

Last week, new TV ads started popping up on shows like CSI, American Idol and on ESPN. Here they are:

• X3 Spot #1
• X3 Spot #2
• X3 Spot #3

Spider-Man 3 Spoilers?

So far all that's been confirmed about Spider-Man 3 is that he will have a black costume (seen below), one of the villians is Sandman, and Gwen Stacy is set to appear. For more likely spoilers, click here.

Snakes on a Plane!

The official poster of one of ht most highly anticipated movies of the summer, and I don't mean Superman Returns.

Entertainment Weekly is tracking the hype and the news. From the most recent issue comes this choice excerpt:

Amid the hiss-teria, Ellis screened a rough cut for New Line executives. They were pleased, but had one highly unusual request: Add more violence. ''We [originally] asked David to straddle the line between [R and PG-13],'' says New Line marketing head Russell Schwartz. ''But after we saw it, we said, 'More gore!' Then he just let it loose.'' When asked how ''loose'' he got on the five-day shoot in March, Ellis explains that he simply added what every horror fan craves: blood and breasts. According to the director, additional footage now includes a randier scene between two passengers aiming to join the mile-high club and a more graphic death for one particularly unfortunate traveler. ''We had the python wrap around him and the bones breaking,'' says a gleeful Ellis. ''Now you see his eyes and capillaries busting and blood coming out of his nose, ears, and mouth. And then the python just chomps on his head.''

Snakes on a Plane opens on August 18, 2006.

"The Simpsons" Movie Teaser

Coming to theatres in July 2007 -- finally

Hear the new Morrissey album

WizardWorld Spotlight on Blade TV Series

The Blade TV series will debut on Spike on June 28 with a 2-hour pilot movie. Last weekend's WizardWorld LA convention featured a panel on the series, and included an appearance by one of the show's consuilting producers, comics writer Geoff Johns.

For more on the panel, including pictures from the series, click here.

Classic TV on your PC!

Last week, AOL introduced a new site that allows you to watch classic Warner Bros. TV shows for free right on your computer. There's over 2 dozen shows to watch, too many to list here, but here's a list of those that fit the theme of my blogperfectly:

• Beetlejuice (cartoon)
• Freakazoid
• Histeria
• Lois and Clark
• New Adventures of Batman (1977 Saturday morning cartoon featuring the voices of Adam West and Burt Ward, as well as Bat-Mite!)
• Pinky and the Brain
• V (the aliens are our friends!)
• Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter in her spandex glory)

Make sure you have Windows Media player 10, a little patience for the downloads -- and enjoy!

Entertainment Weekly Spotlights DC's "One Year Later"

Ew.com has one paragraph reviews of the first batch of "One Year Later" comics, a frsh start for the infinte Crisis-fatigued. A nice overview with mostly postive reviews.