Too Much Monkey Business

The teaser trailer for the Peter (Lord of the Rings) Jackson remake of King Kong is here.

In theatres this December.

First "V For Vendetta" Movie Poster

From the Muppet Balcony

Remember The Muppet Show? Remember those two cranky old guys in the balcony, Statler and Waldorf? Well, they're back and now they're reviewing movies. Currently, they are checking out Bewitched.

They seem to lost a little of their bite, but are astill good for a chuckle.

For more modern-day Muppet fun, click here.

Get Ready for NEXT Summer's Big Superhero Movie!

Director Bryan Singer continues to post to his video journal on the making of Superman Returns (I'm guessing we'll see a lot of this on the eventual DVD).

The latest entry (the 17th!)was posted this week, and man is it cool. You'll see just how much the look of themovie is based on the first two Superman films, based on photos, footage and concept art for the movie.

Concept art for Superman Returns

"Amazing Screw-On Head" Animated Pilot Moving Ahead

Hollywood trade pub Variety has just announced the Paul Giamatti (American Splendor, Sideways) has signed on to voice the title character in an animated adaptation of Mike (Hellboy) Mignola's "The Amazing Screw-On Head," as a pilot for the Sci-Fi Channel.

"Screw-On Head" is a one-shot published a few years ago by Dark Horse Comics that is one of the funniest, most imaginative comics I have ever read. I'm not alone either. The book won an Eisner award (top award in comics industry) for Best Humor Publication in 2003.

One of the best non-super-hero comics ever created

Who is the Amazing Screw-On Head? According to Comics Continuum, he is "a Civil War-era secret agent at the service of president Abraham Lincoln and an unsung hero who never made it into the history books. His special power is the ability to screw his head onto a variety of different bodies."

I met Mike Mignola at Wizard Philly this month, where he signed my copy of the book, and mentioned this pilot to me. He also said that this is his single favorite work of his and that he will never do a follow-up to it because he doesn't want to mess with how good it is.

Other voices featured in the pilot are David Hyde Pierce (who voiced Abe Sapien in the movie version of Mignola's Hellboy) as Emperor Zombie, Molly Shannon as Patience the Vampire and Patton Oswalt as Mr. Groin.

The pilot is expected to be finished by early next year. No word yet on when -- or if -- it will air, or if it will become a series.

Stella!

On Tuesday, June 28th, Comedy Central premieres a new show, Stella, starring David Wain, Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black, three of the cast members from MTV's 90s sketch comedy series The State, a very funny sketch comedy show that is STILL not available on DVD.

Comedy Central has posted the entire first episode online, which you can see here.

I've watched it, and it's got a similar sensibility to The State. It's not a sketch show though, but rather a full-length scripted story. It's been compared to the Marx Brothers. It reminds me of The Monkees, without the music.

The show is the next step in the evolution of the comedy troupe, also known as Stella. According to the bio on Comedy Central's site:

The Black/Showalter/Wain co-venture began in 1997 as a weekly nightclub comedy show that quickly became New York's premier showcase for alternative and mainstream comedy. Running for seven years at Fez in New York's Greenwich Village, the trio hosted such regular guests as Janeane Garofalo, Ben Stiller, David Cross and the Upright Citizens Brigade. The show has been praised by Time Out, The New Yorker and Entertainment Weekly.

In addition to their stage show, Stella has created a number of short films, which can be seen here.

The show premieres at 10:30 after Reno 911! , another show featuring former cast members of the State.

Timed with the upcoming premiere of Stella, the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly has an article on the cast members of The State. A copy of the article is here. It's pretty interesting.

Convention Highlight: Comics Legend Carmine Infantino

One of the personal highlights of the WizardWorld convention for me (since I didn’t get picked to see Batman Begins two weeks early on an IMAX screen) was seeing legendary comics creator Carmine Infantino. Though I met him once before, when I bought his book – The Amazing World of Carmine Infantino -- at a WizardWorld convention two years ago, I loved hearing the man spin his tales of his entry into comics in the late Golden Age, his role in the birth and development of the silver Age, and his accomplishments as president and publisher of DC Comics in the 1970s.

His panel was at 11 am on Sunday, the last day of the convention. Accompanying him was J. David Spurlock, the co-author of his book, who helps prod his memories for the better anecdotes. He didn’t have a formal presentation, but immediately asked for questions to get him started on anecdotes, many (though not all) of which are recounted in the book. Though the audience was small, it was respectful and he received a applause several times throughout the presentation, which also contained numerous plugs for his book by both men.

He is currently involved in a legal action against DC Comics for his part in the creation of the Silver Age Flash and Batgirl (which he created specifically for the 60s Batman TV show after the success of Catwoman created a demand for more female characters in tight costumes). He couldn’t talk about the legal action, but he did talk about the characters themselves.

Here are some of his anecdotes (though this is a lot, it’s not all of the stories he told in a session that lasted just under an hour. For another report on the panel, click here):

• Some of his most famous covers are the result of the challenges he and editor Julius Schwartz threw at each other. Infantino would draw a cover and Schwartz would come up with the story to go with it. One time, Infantino thought he finally had Schwartz beat when he drew a cover with both the Golden Age and Silver Age Flashes running to save a man. Schwartz rose to challenge and created the concept of Earth-2, the birth of the multiverse.
• Jack Kirby was one of his inspirations and an early employer. He took a pay cut to work for Kirby, just so he could learn from him. It was Infantino who later lured Kirby to DC, where he created the Fourth World universe and characters (including Darkseid, one of the DCU’s enduring villains). Kirby also created Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth, after Infantino suggested a Planet of the Apes-type setting for a series.
• Bill Finger was the real genius behind Batman, after Bob Kane created the character, but he never got any credit, and died poor. He also spoke fondly of other creators he worked with, and who worked for him, including John Broome, Denny O’Neil, Nick Cardy, Jim Steranko, Arnold Drake, Alex Toth, and Joe Kubert. He is a fan of the art of Bill Sienkiwicz and Steve Rude.
• Infantino was asked to draw Batman to save it from cancellation, and helped usher in the “new look”. Sales picked up dramatically. It was one of Infantino’s covers that attracted the attention of TV producer William Dozier who was inspired to develop the Batman TV show, which further catapulted comic book sales for Batman.
• Not only did Infantino create the Barbara Gordon Batgirl in response to the request for more female characters, but he also created Poison Ivy during that time. He pointed out that he received no credit or payment for her use in the movie Batman & Robin (unlike Chuck Dixon, who received payment for the use of Bane, one of his creations, in the same movie. Of course, creator-participation agreements have changed quite a bit since the Silver Age).
• After Mario Puzo turned in his first draft of the Superman movie, it was so un-Superman-like, that Infantino, Puzo and the film producers locked themselves away for a long weekend and came up with the story that became the first two Superman movies.
• He was also a creative consultant on the Superfriends cartoon series.
• When asked if he was aware of the Birds of Prey comic series, which features Barbara Gordon in her current incarnation of Oracle, and Black canary, a character he co-created in the Golden Age, Infantino remarked that was once on the set of the short-lived TV series of that name and met the young actresses who played the characters. He said they very gracious and asked him about the roots of the characters they played. He said he wished he was a lot younger at the time.
• Infantino discovered Neal Adams, later to become famous for Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow. When he ran DC, Infantino designed every comic book cover. Including the ones that Adams drew, which Adams didn’t like. When Stan Lee hired Adams at Marvel and wasn’t happy with the covers, Lee called Infantino and asked him why Neal’s covers weren’t as good as his DC covers. “Because I designed them,” was Infantino’s reply. Adams soon returned to DC, balking less at Infantino’s influence.
• While most of his career was at DC Comics, he did spend a little time at Marvel, where he drew the first several issues of the Star Wars comic (written by Archie Goodwin, who Infantino thought was brilliant). Though Lucas was known as very controlling about the way his characters were handled, Infantino was never asked to change anything. He later found out that nobody asked him to make changes out of respect, but in fact his inker, Terry Austin, was requested to make all of the changes. Infantino hated working on the book, particularly disliking drawing the ships and robots.
• When he returned to the Flash in the early 80s to help improve sales and save it from cancellation, he did not enjoy the work. By that time, he was just a pencil for hire and had no editorial input, so it held no appeal. It should be noted that the series lasted about 50 issues longer than it would have otherwise.
• He has a nephew in animation (He said he worked at the Cartoon Network but also said he works on SpongeBob Squarepants, a Nickelodeon show). He advised his nephew not to get into comics, since it was a shrinking business.
• Another nephew is front-man in a band called Jim’s Big Ego, which has a song called “The Ballad of Barry Allen” on an album that has a cover drawn by Infantino.
• When asked about his opinion of comics today, he said he doesn’t really read them, but isn’t a fan of what he does see. While admitting that he is not the target audience, he commented on a recent DC storyline (Identity Crisis). “Raping and killing the Elongated Man’s wife? That’s not comics!” Note that Infantino co-created the Elongated Man and his wife, Sue Dibny.
  

A fantastic presentation. I highly recommend his book , not only for the great artwork, but also for his personal anecdotes like the ones above and many more. If he’s appearing at a convention, make a point of seeing him. If you’re a fan of comics and comics history, you’ll be glad you did.

Convention Cameos

Do these kids realize there's an Imperial stormtrooper behind them?

Remember those kids? See what happens when you don't pay attention when there's a stromtrooper around...

Anybody got a lightsaber?

Marc Singer -- Many remember him from Beastmaster, but to me he's the guy from V.

Lou Ferrigno -- We took this pic when he wasn't looking because we didn't want to make him angry.

Wizardworld Philly is Here!

Finally, the weekend I've been waiting for -- WizardWorld Philadelphia -- the largest comics/pop culture convention on the East Coast. I'll be going all three days -- today with my brother and the rest of the weekend solo, so I should have lots to write about after this weekend. I'm even hoping to get some pictures to post, but we'll see.

Hulk will be there. Will you?

Stay tuned.

Episode III Easter Eggs

Just to make sure fans see the lastest Star Wars installment as often as possible, the producers put in lots of "Easter Eggs," cameos, inside jokes and bits of continuity, to reward faithful fans and repeat viewers.

One of the most well-known cameos is George Lucas, who appears in the opera house scene, alongwoth lots of other people involved in the making of the film.

Another cool cameo is the Millenium Falcon -- Han Solo's ship from the original trilogy. It's tough to spot, but it shows up after the end of the Palpatine rescue sequence as they arrive on Coruscant. See it in the bottom of the photo here.

Check out pics and more information here:

Episode III Easter Eggs

The Golden Age of Radio Online!

Now THIS is what the internet is for!

Dozens of old-time radio shows -- comedies, dramas, superhero, sci-fi, westerns, you name it. You'll find it here.

And now for the obligatory show sample:

Abbott & Costello episode featuring "Who's on First?"

Very funny wordplay with a baseball theme. Love the cigarette commercials.

"Who's On First" is toward the end of the 30-minute broadcast. I recommend listening to thewhole thing, but if you just want to hear the classic routine (which never gets old), click here.

See 10 Minutes of Batman Begins

Remember the 10 minutes of Batman Begins footage shown during the season finale of Smallville?

You can watch it here.

Batman Almost Begins

With the Star Wars saga now behind us (I've already seen it three times!), it's time to concentrate on the OTHER most anticipated summer release -- Batman Begins.

The season finale of Smallville included 10 minutes of footage from the June 15th-opening flick, just enough to prove that this time, they got it right.

Newsweek thinks so too. They've seen the movie and write about it here. It's not really a review, more of a mainstream affirmation that we can look forward to the Batman movie we've been wanting to see.

Speaking of seeing, check this out:

55 pictures from Batman Begins

Conan O'Brien on "The Future of Television"

In a recent issue of Newsweek, late night TV talk show host Conan O'Brien theorizes on what he can expect to happen with televison based on recent developments. Funny stuff.

"The Future of Television" by Conan O'Brien

Let Darth Vader Read Your Mind!

This is awesome!

http://sithsense.com/flash.htm

Episode III: The Movie Saga Ends on a High Note

The stakes were high with Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith after the fairly disappointing Episodes I and II. This one HAD to be better. We get to see Anakin become Darth Vader. We get to see the mythic lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan, and we see the stage set for the greatest movie trilogy of all time (sorry Lord of the Rings fans, but they were books first, and Godfather III just brings that whole saga down).

Well, congratulations, George Lucas, you redeemed yourself -- big time! Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back. Sure, it suffered from most of the same weaknesses as Episodes I and II – specifically, hokey writing and wooden acting, but this time, action spoke much louder than words. Except for Natalie Portman, who despite just receiving an Oscar nomination (for Closer), comes off really poorly here. Her dialogue is so horrible, her scenes so heavy-handed, and the poor girl has nothing to do but look radiantly pregnant and pine away for her dark little Annie. After the way she kicked butt in Episode II, the character and the actress both deserved a better send-off.

But enough of the negative. From this point let’s focus on what was good about the movie. And boy is there a lot of positive – right from the beginning. I thought I would no longer be impressed seeing space battles by now. After all, they’re just more special effects. But I was wrong. The opening space battle, led by Obi Wan and Anakin, was epic – in detail, scale, and kicking tail! Hundreds of ships (prototypes of X-Wing and TIE fighters!) battling while mechanical gremlins tore ships apart one at a time, spectacular crash landings – with our heroes leaping out of their cockpits, light sabers blazing, taking down enemy troops. Just unbelievable. Picking up where the animated Clone Wars left off, Anakin and Obi Wan set about their rescue of the Republic’s influential Chancellor Palpatine, but not without resistance from Christopher Lee’s Count Dooku, who in Episode II chopped off Anakin’s hand in their first showdown. This latest faceoff is the first of many light saber duels, each more intense and impressive than the last, all building to an incredible climax that you know is coming, which only makes you anticipate it all the more. And the scene that’s been talked about for almost 30 years is every bit as phenomenal as you could ever picture it to be.

Hayden Christensen no longer pouts, he glares, growing into the role, as you watch Anakin’s ideals, goals and dreams get twisted away by dark manipulation taking advantage of his ego and savior complex.

Ewan McGregor becomes Sir Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi in this movie, as one of two actors who transcend the melodramatic script and direction. The other, of course is Ian McDiarmid, as Palpatine, whose role has grown exponentially with each prequel. Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu gets to kick butt, as does Yoda. Chewbacca is introduced to the saga here as well, as is the entire Wookie planet. And, most importantly, we hear the heavy breathing and the voice of James Earl Jones that are signatures of Darth Vader. Then, there’s R2D2, the mobile Swiss army knife - wow! That little droid rocks, especially in the opening scenes. His fantastic feats are only diminished by the fact that you can’t help but wonder what happened to all those great capabilities in his later years.

That’s the first question that hits you as you try to put the prequel trilogy together with the original trilogy. In this, the last chance to tie the two tales together, a lot of questions do get answered, but a lot more do not, and many new ones arise. But you shouldn’t think about that too hard – if we complain about the inconsistencies too much, Lucas might go back and tinker with the original trilogy even more. The movie ends exactly as it should – setting up the characters, settings and situations for the opening scenes of Episode IV: A New Hope.

Thanks George. The Force is strong in this one.