Back in May, when Avatar first hit DVD, I was telling people NOT to buy it, because all of my DVD websites were reporting that a super-special edition with all kinds of bonus features would be out in time for Christmas. And...our patience was rewarded.
Avatar: Extended Collector's Edition drops on November 16! This 3-disc special edition will have THREE versions of the film! You get the original theatrical version, the special edition that hit theatres at the end of August (9 minutes lonter than the theatrical version), and a new "extended cut" created for the DVD (16 minutes longer than the theatrical version). In something that I think is kind of silly, they also added in the "family friendly audio track," which is the option to have all the swears bleeped out. There'll also be a feature-length documentary on the making of the film, called Capturing Avatar, and more than 45 minutes of deleted scenes!
And that's just the DVD! If you spring for the Blu-Ray, on top of all that, you also get 17 featurettes, scene deconstructions where you get to see the entire film before the animation and effects were added, the trailers, a whole database explaining everything that the planet Pandora has to offer...and just so much more.
Hmm...it drops on November 16. That's that weird time of year where I don't know whether to buy it for myself, or just heavily hint to family and friends that I want it for Christmas.
And speaking of milestones in computer animation, one of my favourite DVD sites, TVshowsonDVD.com, is reporting that Shout! Factory has just signed a deal with Rainmaker Digital to bring ReBoot: The Complete Series to DVD!
ReBoot, of course, one of those fabulous relics of the 1990s. It was the first computer animated TV show, taking place in a computer as the heroic guardian Bob battled the malicious computer viruses Megabyte and Hexadecimal. Needless to say, because of its place in computer animation history, and the fact that it made lots and lots of subtle pop culture references, it's become a huge cult following. I was a huge fan when it was fresh and new and I was in college.
Shout! Factory is bringing it to DVD, and they did those fabulous boxed sets of G.I. Joe: The Complete Series and The Transformers: The Complete Series. Shout! Factory has already said they hope to do that model again...start off with a massvie, beautiful boxed set of the entire series, and the dole out the individual season sets later.
In case you're wondering who this "Rainmaker Digital" is, that's what Mainframe Animation (the studio that made ReBoot) changed their name to about 5 years ago. They seem to have shifted their focus from animation to special effects, doing some of the effects on Stargate and Smallville.
Still no word on when this'll hit DVD...Shout! Factory has simply said, "Some time in 2011."
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Superman Returns!...again
Yesterday, the news broke that 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder has just gotten the gig to direct the next Superman movie!
Our story thus far: so, while Bryan Singer's Superman Returns didn't exactly tank at the box office, it was a super-mega-global-worldwide hit either. And lukewarm reviews from critics led Warner Brothers to think that they should maybe go in another direction. Meanwhile, across the hall, Christopher Nolan and his crew were kicking ass and taking names with their reboot of Batman. While sitting around, brainstorming ideas for the sequel to The Dark Knight, Batman Begins and Dark Knight co-writer David S. Goyer said, "Well, I'm still not sure what I want to do next with Batman, but here's what I always wanted to do with Superman...." After he heard his idea, Nolan said, "That...was...AWESOME! Let's pitch that idea to the bosses!" They went and pitched it to the bosses, and the bosses said, "That...was...AWESOME! It's the next Superman movie!" So, Christopher Nolan was signed on to the film in a "godfather" role, and Batman Begins and Dark Knight writers David S. Goyer and Jonathon Nolan got to work writing it.
But the big question was who was going to direct it. About a week ago, a short list was being circulated, saying that directors being considered included veteran action director Tony Scott (Top Gun, Crimson Tide), Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In), and, of course, Zack Snyder. And yesterday, Mr. Snyder got the job!
Yesterday, it was also announced that villain will be that evil Kryptonian, General Zod. This, I'm somewhat disappointed in. Thanks to the success of the Christopher Reeve films all those years ago, it seems like the only villains ever considered for a Superman film are Lex Luthor or General Zod. What, no Braniac? No Doomsday? Not even Metallo? Oh, well.
I'm very interested to see the take that the Batman crew has come up with for Superman. Many fear that they'll go the dark and gritty route, because that's worked very well with Batman. But, in the comics, they've tried to take Superman down a grim and gritty route a few times, and it just doesn't work with him.
No word yet on when this Superman reboot hits theatres. Zack Snyder's next film, Sucker Punch, hits theatres in March. Sucker Punch is Snyder's first original film...that is, it's 100% his own creation, not based on a comic book or anything.
Our story thus far: so, while Bryan Singer's Superman Returns didn't exactly tank at the box office, it was a super-mega-global-worldwide hit either. And lukewarm reviews from critics led Warner Brothers to think that they should maybe go in another direction. Meanwhile, across the hall, Christopher Nolan and his crew were kicking ass and taking names with their reboot of Batman. While sitting around, brainstorming ideas for the sequel to The Dark Knight, Batman Begins and Dark Knight co-writer David S. Goyer said, "Well, I'm still not sure what I want to do next with Batman, but here's what I always wanted to do with Superman...." After he heard his idea, Nolan said, "That...was...AWESOME! Let's pitch that idea to the bosses!" They went and pitched it to the bosses, and the bosses said, "That...was...AWESOME! It's the next Superman movie!" So, Christopher Nolan was signed on to the film in a "godfather" role, and Batman Begins and Dark Knight writers David S. Goyer and Jonathon Nolan got to work writing it.
But the big question was who was going to direct it. About a week ago, a short list was being circulated, saying that directors being considered included veteran action director Tony Scott (Top Gun, Crimson Tide), Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In), and, of course, Zack Snyder. And yesterday, Mr. Snyder got the job!
Yesterday, it was also announced that villain will be that evil Kryptonian, General Zod. This, I'm somewhat disappointed in. Thanks to the success of the Christopher Reeve films all those years ago, it seems like the only villains ever considered for a Superman film are Lex Luthor or General Zod. What, no Braniac? No Doomsday? Not even Metallo? Oh, well.
I'm very interested to see the take that the Batman crew has come up with for Superman. Many fear that they'll go the dark and gritty route, because that's worked very well with Batman. But, in the comics, they've tried to take Superman down a grim and gritty route a few times, and it just doesn't work with him.
No word yet on when this Superman reboot hits theatres. Zack Snyder's next film, Sucker Punch, hits theatres in March. Sucker Punch is Snyder's first original film...that is, it's 100% his own creation, not based on a comic book or anything.
Labels:
Movie stuff
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Latest Targ's Up!
Still tweaking with my new format for U62: The Targ, but it seems to be coming along pretty good!
I've pieced together Episode 4.04: The Saddest Little Boy in a Helicopter, in which I share the news of Star Wars in 3D, celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Flintstones, and check out these new Lego board games!
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U62: The Targ
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Latest Targ's Up!
I'm seem to be doing pretty good with this week's episode of U62: The Targ!
This week, I've thrown together Episode 4.03: Falling into Autumn, where I share my excitement on the next DC animated film, share my thoughts on the Katy Perry/Sesame Street controversy, and get giddy on the new season of Hell's Kitchen!
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U62: The Targ
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
TV So Far
Of course, this is a very exciting time in television. It seems like just about every new TV show is premiering this week, and returning shows are having their season premieres, and I've been able to catch a lot of it. So, just wanted to share my thoughts on what I've caught so far.
First up, as part of the kitchy, gimmicky stuff I love so much, had to sit down on Monday night and watch the big CBC special The Queen in 3D. As the legend goes, the only existing footage of the coronoation of Queen Elizabeth II is the grainy, early black and white TV footage. Well, as it turned out, the Queen's coronation was actually filmed in 3D, with the intent of showing it in theatres shortly after her coronation so you could have the experience of actually being there. Well, what actually happened, back in 1953, once it was announced that the Queen's coronation would be televised, the whole of the UK actually experienced a massive boom in TV sales so people could watch it on TV. With darn near everyone having watched the coronation on TV, the 3D footage was filed away in an archive and forgotten....
...Until last year, when some heroic archivists discovered it. So of course, the footage was cleaned up, they shot some new 3D footage of the Queen when she visited Canada earlier this year, and the CBC made a 1-hour documentary about the Queen's previous visits to Canada.
I don't know about this one. First complaint: the 3D didn't look too good on my TV. Seriously. Even with the 3D glasses on, the whole thing looked as 2-dimensional as regular TV. Second complaint: they were advertising how it would be full of rare footage of the Queen's previous visits, such as visiting Expo 67. All that rare footage was crammed into a 2-minute montage in the middle of the show. Third complaint: that 15-minute section about the history of 3D film was out of place.
All in all, a good try, CBC, but it came off as too gimicky.
Next up, it was what surveys said is the most anticipated new TV sereis of the fall season...the remake of the classic cop show, Hawaii Five-0. Part of the appeal to me is the creators of this remake are Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. These two are currently some of the hottest writers in Hollywood, having written the big screen versions of Transformers and the new Star Trek. (They also wrote Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but I still blame director Michael Bay for that one being so bad.)
So, yeah, basic detective show set-up. Steve McGarrett is a dedicated Navy SEAL fighting terrorists around the world. When the terrorists kills his father in an act of retaliation, McGarrett returns home to Honolulu, where he's appointed the head of a new police task force to take down terrorists and all other kinds of dastardly criminals setting up shop in Hawaii. He's quickly joined on his task force by Detective Dan "Dano" Williams, a New Jersey detective who recently moved to Hawaii to be closer to his ex-wife and daughter; Detective Chin Ho Kelly, a childhood friend of McGarrett's who was drummed out of the police force on false charges of bribery; and Detective Kono Kalakaua, a recent police academy grad, and Kelly's hot surfer girl cousin. In addition to creators Orci and Kurzman, it gets geek cred by having Kono played by Grace Park, who played Boomer on the recent Battlestar: Galactica remake.
The pilot was your basic cop show action/drama formula. Nothing really too remarkable. They uncover the plot thread that McGarrett's father -- also a Honolulu detective -- was investigating some massive conspiracy that may have contributed to him getting killed, so that'll be our recurring "mytharc" to be sure. But yeah. Despite the hype, I found it to be a fairly routine action show.
From there, it was on to the season premiere of House. For those just tuning in, the season finale cliffhanger for House, saw longtime characters House and Cuddy finally hooking up after six season of some rather antagonistic flirting. I'm a little wary of this. Seeing characters hook up like this is usually seen as a "shark-jumping" moment for a longrunning TV show, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out this season.
I know that House usually gets a lot of flak for being a farily formulaic show and sticking to its episode formula pretty closely, so I'm always glad to see episodes completely break from its formula. And that's what the season premiere was. A complete break from the formula as House and Cuddy decided to take the day off work, just hang out, indulge in some passionate lovemaking, and just talk about their feelings and figure out if a relationship between the two could work. Some great character stuff.
And the subplot brought some good comic relief, as Cuddy's absence and a few remarks from House result in the hospital almost being shut down, and House's staff frantically working to keep the hospital open. It also generated some mystery, as the season finale saw Thirteen requesting a leave of absence, and staying mum on her reasons why.
The real reson why Thirteen is taking a leave of absence is because the actress who plays Thirteen, Olivia Wilde, needs some to finish up Tron: Legacy and Cowboys and Aliens. She is not leaving the show. In the episodes ahead, Amber Tamblyn, still best remembered as Joan on Joan of Arcadia, will be joining the show as a sharp medical intern that House takes on his team as Thirteen's substitute. Big changes this season!
And that brings us Tuesday, where I caught the season premiere of The Rick Mercer Report. Always solidly funny. And, as always, it'll be fun to watch The Rick Mercer Report devolve throughout the season as Mercer burns through his travel budget. The first few episodes of the season are always in some exotic, far off location, and by the end, he's stuck to places in the Greater Toronto Area.
Last night's season premiere: "Tonight, on The Mercer Report, we're in Shanghai for Expo 2010!"
$5 says this is the season finale: "Tonight, on The Mercer Report, we're in the CBC break room playing foozeball with George Strombolopolis."
And then after Rick Mercer I made the mistake of watching This Hour has 22 Minutes. I'm sorry, but I find This Hour has 22 Minutes to be one of those TV shows that stopped being funny a LONG time ago. I blame Mark Critch. I find Mark Critch so unfunny I want to punch him in the face. I just find him too bitter and cynical. I have this theory about Mark Critch. Critch was just a writer for 22 Minutes back in its glory days of the late-90s/early-00s, when Rick Mercer was on the show. I think Critch and Mercer had some kind of falling out, and Critch is trying to show the world he was the brains behind Mercer. But sadly, Critch just comes across as a bitter jerk trying to do Mercer's act. All I'm really trying to say is Mark Critch sucks.
And that's the new TV season so far. This Wednesday night, we've got the season premiere of Law & Order: SVU, which I still watch even though I think it's starting to get ridiculous and sensational. We've also got the season premiere of Cougar Town, which I actually find pretty funny, and my reality TV show addication, Hell's Kitchen. Stay tuned....
First up, as part of the kitchy, gimmicky stuff I love so much, had to sit down on Monday night and watch the big CBC special The Queen in 3D. As the legend goes, the only existing footage of the coronoation of Queen Elizabeth II is the grainy, early black and white TV footage. Well, as it turned out, the Queen's coronation was actually filmed in 3D, with the intent of showing it in theatres shortly after her coronation so you could have the experience of actually being there. Well, what actually happened, back in 1953, once it was announced that the Queen's coronation would be televised, the whole of the UK actually experienced a massive boom in TV sales so people could watch it on TV. With darn near everyone having watched the coronation on TV, the 3D footage was filed away in an archive and forgotten....
...Until last year, when some heroic archivists discovered it. So of course, the footage was cleaned up, they shot some new 3D footage of the Queen when she visited Canada earlier this year, and the CBC made a 1-hour documentary about the Queen's previous visits to Canada.
I don't know about this one. First complaint: the 3D didn't look too good on my TV. Seriously. Even with the 3D glasses on, the whole thing looked as 2-dimensional as regular TV. Second complaint: they were advertising how it would be full of rare footage of the Queen's previous visits, such as visiting Expo 67. All that rare footage was crammed into a 2-minute montage in the middle of the show. Third complaint: that 15-minute section about the history of 3D film was out of place.
All in all, a good try, CBC, but it came off as too gimicky.
Next up, it was what surveys said is the most anticipated new TV sereis of the fall season...the remake of the classic cop show, Hawaii Five-0. Part of the appeal to me is the creators of this remake are Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. These two are currently some of the hottest writers in Hollywood, having written the big screen versions of Transformers and the new Star Trek. (They also wrote Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but I still blame director Michael Bay for that one being so bad.)
So, yeah, basic detective show set-up. Steve McGarrett is a dedicated Navy SEAL fighting terrorists around the world. When the terrorists kills his father in an act of retaliation, McGarrett returns home to Honolulu, where he's appointed the head of a new police task force to take down terrorists and all other kinds of dastardly criminals setting up shop in Hawaii. He's quickly joined on his task force by Detective Dan "Dano" Williams, a New Jersey detective who recently moved to Hawaii to be closer to his ex-wife and daughter; Detective Chin Ho Kelly, a childhood friend of McGarrett's who was drummed out of the police force on false charges of bribery; and Detective Kono Kalakaua, a recent police academy grad, and Kelly's hot surfer girl cousin. In addition to creators Orci and Kurzman, it gets geek cred by having Kono played by Grace Park, who played Boomer on the recent Battlestar: Galactica remake.
The pilot was your basic cop show action/drama formula. Nothing really too remarkable. They uncover the plot thread that McGarrett's father -- also a Honolulu detective -- was investigating some massive conspiracy that may have contributed to him getting killed, so that'll be our recurring "mytharc" to be sure. But yeah. Despite the hype, I found it to be a fairly routine action show.
From there, it was on to the season premiere of House. For those just tuning in, the season finale cliffhanger for House, saw longtime characters House and Cuddy finally hooking up after six season of some rather antagonistic flirting. I'm a little wary of this. Seeing characters hook up like this is usually seen as a "shark-jumping" moment for a longrunning TV show, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out this season.
I know that House usually gets a lot of flak for being a farily formulaic show and sticking to its episode formula pretty closely, so I'm always glad to see episodes completely break from its formula. And that's what the season premiere was. A complete break from the formula as House and Cuddy decided to take the day off work, just hang out, indulge in some passionate lovemaking, and just talk about their feelings and figure out if a relationship between the two could work. Some great character stuff.
And the subplot brought some good comic relief, as Cuddy's absence and a few remarks from House result in the hospital almost being shut down, and House's staff frantically working to keep the hospital open. It also generated some mystery, as the season finale saw Thirteen requesting a leave of absence, and staying mum on her reasons why.
The real reson why Thirteen is taking a leave of absence is because the actress who plays Thirteen, Olivia Wilde, needs some to finish up Tron: Legacy and Cowboys and Aliens. She is not leaving the show. In the episodes ahead, Amber Tamblyn, still best remembered as Joan on Joan of Arcadia, will be joining the show as a sharp medical intern that House takes on his team as Thirteen's substitute. Big changes this season!
And that brings us Tuesday, where I caught the season premiere of The Rick Mercer Report. Always solidly funny. And, as always, it'll be fun to watch The Rick Mercer Report devolve throughout the season as Mercer burns through his travel budget. The first few episodes of the season are always in some exotic, far off location, and by the end, he's stuck to places in the Greater Toronto Area.
Last night's season premiere: "Tonight, on The Mercer Report, we're in Shanghai for Expo 2010!"
$5 says this is the season finale: "Tonight, on The Mercer Report, we're in the CBC break room playing foozeball with George Strombolopolis."
And then after Rick Mercer I made the mistake of watching This Hour has 22 Minutes. I'm sorry, but I find This Hour has 22 Minutes to be one of those TV shows that stopped being funny a LONG time ago. I blame Mark Critch. I find Mark Critch so unfunny I want to punch him in the face. I just find him too bitter and cynical. I have this theory about Mark Critch. Critch was just a writer for 22 Minutes back in its glory days of the late-90s/early-00s, when Rick Mercer was on the show. I think Critch and Mercer had some kind of falling out, and Critch is trying to show the world he was the brains behind Mercer. But sadly, Critch just comes across as a bitter jerk trying to do Mercer's act. All I'm really trying to say is Mark Critch sucks.
And that's the new TV season so far. This Wednesday night, we've got the season premiere of Law & Order: SVU, which I still watch even though I think it's starting to get ridiculous and sensational. We've also got the season premiere of Cougar Town, which I actually find pretty funny, and my reality TV show addication, Hell's Kitchen. Stay tuned....
Labels:
TV Stuff
Monday, September 20, 2010
The DC animated movie is....
Well, the next DC Comics straight-to-DVD animated film, Superman/Batman: Apocolypse, comes out at the end of the month, and as is the custom, it has now been learned what the next film after that one will be.
And the next in the series is...
All Star Superman!
The multiple-award winning, critically acclaimed chronicle of Superman's final days will be adapted into a 75-minute animated film.
For the celebrity voice cast that's been lined up:
I actually have not read this yet, but I've heard nothing but good things. Even my best friend -- who is NOT a DC guy -- says he loved the hell out of it.
Time to read this! I'm heading over to my library's website to check this out.
And the next in the series is...
The multiple-award winning, critically acclaimed chronicle of Superman's final days will be adapted into a 75-minute animated film.
For the celebrity voice cast that's been lined up:
- James Denton, one of the stars of Desperate Housewives, will be voicing Superman.
- Christina Hendricks, currently starring on Mad Men, will be voicing Lois Lane.
- Anthony LaPaglia, formerly the star of Without a Trace, will be voicing Lex Luthor.
- And acting legend Ed Asner will be voicing Perry White.
I actually have not read this yet, but I've heard nothing but good things. Even my best friend -- who is NOT a DC guy -- says he loved the hell out of it.
Time to read this! I'm heading over to my library's website to check this out.
Labels:
DVD,
Movie stuff
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Latest Targ's Up!
And with this week's episode of U62: The Targ, the challenge begins!
With Episode 4.02: The Daily Grind, it's time to see if this new format I've created can be sustainable. Will I be able to pump out a half-hour of entertainment every week? Will this new blend of my new features, favourite tunes, and my usual ramblings about movies and DVD be success?
Download and let me know how I'm doing!
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U62: The Targ
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Various Animation Ramblings
I can't believe that I didn't notice that my favourite Disney animated film, The Black Cauldron, just got a brand-new, 25th anniversary special edition DVD! And it came out on Tuesday!
Reading the tech specs, it doesn't sound like too much of an improvement over the original "Gold Collection" DVD. It's finally in anamorphic widescreen, and for new bonus features, they added a deleted scene and an interactive game.
Sadly, the deleted scene isn't the most famous deleted scene.
Here's the most famous deleted scene from The Black Cauldron: the evil Horned King unleashed his Army of Cauldron-Born...you know, your basic unstoppable army of the undead. There's this eerie green mist that surrounds them. The Cauldron-Born encounter one of the Horned King's, you know, living warriors. The Cauldron-Born leap on the warrior and
The green mist strips the flesh from the warrior's bones, turning him into one of the Cauldron-Born
Now a Cauldron-Born, the warrior leaps out of the green mist and joins the ranks of the Cauldron-Born.
According to legend, the scene was deleted because Jeffrey Katzenburg just became head of the Disney Studios, and when he saw the scene, he was mortified that such a graphic image was in a Disney animated film. So he ordered it cut.
It does exist. I've seen screen grabs online. It's shocking that such a thing exists, but The Black Cauldron was Disney's infamous attempt to create an animated film for adults.
Actually, there's a similar scene in my favourite DC Comics direct-to-DVD animated film, Wonder Woman. In the film's climax, Ares has gained all the powers of the gods. The Amazons unleash an attack on him. Using his powers, Ares raises from the dead ever Amazon that's ever fallen in battle. So, we have Amazons vs. undead Amazons.
In the battle, one of the undead Amazons slays an Amazon. The Amazon falls to the ground, dead. Her skin shrivels up to the dull, grey skin tone of the undead. Her eyes snap back open, the dead, soulless eyes of the undead, and she starts fighting alongside the undead Amazon that killed her. A very chilling scene.
Have I mentioned that Wonder Woman is my favourite of the DC animated films? It's so good!
Switching gears to Star Wars now, I read an interview the other day that made me laugh.
I'm not a big fan of the Clone Wars cartoon. I saw the movie, and the movie was just so bad, that it killed all desire to see the series. Well, I just read an interview Dave Filoni, the supervising producer on the Clone Wars cartoon, and what I read made me laugh.
The interviewer asked that, now that the series has grown and evolved and is so drastically different from the film, if he could go back and change the film, would he? Filoni said he loved to, and has even asked George Lucas about doing it. Lucas said, "Sorry, dude, the film is done. You have to let it go."
"C'mon man, let me do a special edition!" said Filoni, and George Lucas just gave him an icy glare.
So, there you go. Apparently, George Lucas doesn't like anyone changing Star Wars...unless it's him.
Reading the tech specs, it doesn't sound like too much of an improvement over the original "Gold Collection" DVD. It's finally in anamorphic widescreen, and for new bonus features, they added a deleted scene and an interactive game.
Sadly, the deleted scene isn't the most famous deleted scene.
Here's the most famous deleted scene from The Black Cauldron: the evil Horned King unleashed his Army of Cauldron-Born...you know, your basic unstoppable army of the undead. There's this eerie green mist that surrounds them. The Cauldron-Born encounter one of the Horned King's, you know, living warriors. The Cauldron-Born leap on the warrior and
The green mist strips the flesh from the warrior's bones, turning him into one of the Cauldron-Born
Now a Cauldron-Born, the warrior leaps out of the green mist and joins the ranks of the Cauldron-Born.
According to legend, the scene was deleted because Jeffrey Katzenburg just became head of the Disney Studios, and when he saw the scene, he was mortified that such a graphic image was in a Disney animated film. So he ordered it cut.
It does exist. I've seen screen grabs online. It's shocking that such a thing exists, but The Black Cauldron was Disney's infamous attempt to create an animated film for adults.
Actually, there's a similar scene in my favourite DC Comics direct-to-DVD animated film, Wonder Woman. In the film's climax, Ares has gained all the powers of the gods. The Amazons unleash an attack on him. Using his powers, Ares raises from the dead ever Amazon that's ever fallen in battle. So, we have Amazons vs. undead Amazons.
In the battle, one of the undead Amazons slays an Amazon. The Amazon falls to the ground, dead. Her skin shrivels up to the dull, grey skin tone of the undead. Her eyes snap back open, the dead, soulless eyes of the undead, and she starts fighting alongside the undead Amazon that killed her. A very chilling scene.
Have I mentioned that Wonder Woman is my favourite of the DC animated films? It's so good!
Switching gears to Star Wars now, I read an interview the other day that made me laugh.
I'm not a big fan of the Clone Wars cartoon. I saw the movie, and the movie was just so bad, that it killed all desire to see the series. Well, I just read an interview Dave Filoni, the supervising producer on the Clone Wars cartoon, and what I read made me laugh.
The interviewer asked that, now that the series has grown and evolved and is so drastically different from the film, if he could go back and change the film, would he? Filoni said he loved to, and has even asked George Lucas about doing it. Lucas said, "Sorry, dude, the film is done. You have to let it go."
"C'mon man, let me do a special edition!" said Filoni, and George Lucas just gave him an icy glare.
So, there you go. Apparently, George Lucas doesn't like anyone changing Star Wars...unless it's him.
Labels:
DVD,
Movie stuff,
TV Stuff
Friday, September 17, 2010
New Tangled Trailer
Well, Disney just released the new trailer for the next animated blockbuster, Tangled, and as always, it's leaving people scratching their heads.
A lot of Disney fans think Disney is messing up the marketing on this one. See, last year, Disney gave us The Princess and the Frog, and even though it was beloved by critics and a hit at the box office, it didn't meet Disney's financial expectations. The experts say it's because the marketing for The Princess and the Frog focused too much on the princess and the romance and the fairy tale, and thus, boys found it icky.
So, the knee-jerk reaction was the marketing for Disney's next film, their animated take on Rapunzel. They changed the name to Tangled, and now they're focusing on the prince, his exploits, and trying to make it look more like an action movie...and thus, boys won't find it icky, they'll drag their parents to it, and Disney will make more money.
Anywho, here's the trailer. Mandy Moore voices Rapunzel and Zackary Levi voices the prince, Flynn. It hits theatres November 24.
A lot of Disney fans think Disney is messing up the marketing on this one. See, last year, Disney gave us The Princess and the Frog, and even though it was beloved by critics and a hit at the box office, it didn't meet Disney's financial expectations. The experts say it's because the marketing for The Princess and the Frog focused too much on the princess and the romance and the fairy tale, and thus, boys found it icky.
So, the knee-jerk reaction was the marketing for Disney's next film, their animated take on Rapunzel. They changed the name to Tangled, and now they're focusing on the prince, his exploits, and trying to make it look more like an action movie...and thus, boys won't find it icky, they'll drag their parents to it, and Disney will make more money.
Anywho, here's the trailer. Mandy Moore voices Rapunzel and Zackary Levi voices the prince, Flynn. It hits theatres November 24.
Labels:
The Trailer Park
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Billie Mae Richards
Some tragic news came across my desk that I felt I must share with the world.
Back on Friday, Billie Mae Richards passed away.
Richards was a highly acclaimed Canadian actress and singer. She was, however, best known for her work as a voice actress. She started as a voice actress in the CBC radio drama department, where her specialty was voicing children. Back in the 1960s, when she got her start, the CBC radio drama department was regarded as being the best group of voice actors in North America, and she got to do a lot of cartoon voices. She did many voices on the original 1960s Spider-Man cartoon and Rocket Robin Hood. In the 1980s, she did the voice of several Care Bears characters...most notably Tenderheart Bear in the first two movies, and Brightheart Racoon in the subsequent TV series. In fact, according to the IMDB, her last credited role was reprising the voice of Brightheart Racoon for a direct-to-DVD Care Bears movie about five years ago.
But perhaps her most famous role is the one we hear every Christmas.
That's right, she was the voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Apparently, she could do Rudolph's voice right up until her dying days. When her great-grandkids friends didn't believe that she was Rudolph, she would do the voice, and the kids would be gobsmacked.
She was 88 years old.
Back on Friday, Billie Mae Richards passed away.
Richards was a highly acclaimed Canadian actress and singer. She was, however, best known for her work as a voice actress. She started as a voice actress in the CBC radio drama department, where her specialty was voicing children. Back in the 1960s, when she got her start, the CBC radio drama department was regarded as being the best group of voice actors in North America, and she got to do a lot of cartoon voices. She did many voices on the original 1960s Spider-Man cartoon and Rocket Robin Hood. In the 1980s, she did the voice of several Care Bears characters...most notably Tenderheart Bear in the first two movies, and Brightheart Racoon in the subsequent TV series. In fact, according to the IMDB, her last credited role was reprising the voice of Brightheart Racoon for a direct-to-DVD Care Bears movie about five years ago.
But perhaps her most famous role is the one we hear every Christmas.
That's right, she was the voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Apparently, she could do Rudolph's voice right up until her dying days. When her great-grandkids friends didn't believe that she was Rudolph, she would do the voice, and the kids would be gobsmacked.
She was 88 years old.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
At the Movies Returns!
This news is actually about a week old...I just haven't had a chance to blog about yet.
About a month or so ago, like a lot of movie geeks, I was lamenting the loss of At the Movies, that classic movie review show started by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert all those years ago, and known as Siskel & Ebert during its heyday. After 35 years on the air in one form or another, it was canceled this past August due to declining ratings.
Well, for over a year now, Roger Ebert has been mentioning at his blog that he was seeking other avenues to resurrect the show and bring it back to its roots. Ebert, and many others agree, that in this growing age of digital downloads and pay-per-view and so many ways to get your movies, there still exists the need for some kind of program that tells you if movies are good or not.
And so, last week, Roger Ebert announced the creation of his new TV show, Roger Ebert presents At the Movies. He really is going back to his roots. Just like the very first seasons of the show, it'll be produced by and air on PBS.
The new critics on the show will be Christy Lemure of the Associated Press and Elvis Mitchell of NPR. Regular contributors and occasional guest hosts will be film bloggers Kim Morgan and Omar Moore. Ebert himself will appear in a regular segment called "Roger's Office," in which Ebert will geek out over one of his favourite films...either something new, or an overlooked classic.
In addition to movie reviews, there'll be regular segments classic films, on-demand viewing, and genre films.
The series will also the return of the classic "Two Thumbs Up" rating system made popular by Siskel & Ebert. The whole "Two Thumbs Up" system is actually owned by and a registered trademark of Roger Ebert and the Estate of Gene Siskel. The original At the Movies program stopped using it when Ebert and Disney (the produers of At the Movies) got into royalty dispute. Others say Ebert stopped letting Disney use it when Ebert didn't like the direction of the new show. Either way, Two Thumbs Up is back.
The new show will be premiering on PBS stations all across the USA this January.
Here's Ebert's official announcement from his website.
About a month or so ago, like a lot of movie geeks, I was lamenting the loss of At the Movies, that classic movie review show started by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert all those years ago, and known as Siskel & Ebert during its heyday. After 35 years on the air in one form or another, it was canceled this past August due to declining ratings.
Well, for over a year now, Roger Ebert has been mentioning at his blog that he was seeking other avenues to resurrect the show and bring it back to its roots. Ebert, and many others agree, that in this growing age of digital downloads and pay-per-view and so many ways to get your movies, there still exists the need for some kind of program that tells you if movies are good or not.
And so, last week, Roger Ebert announced the creation of his new TV show, Roger Ebert presents At the Movies. He really is going back to his roots. Just like the very first seasons of the show, it'll be produced by and air on PBS.
The new critics on the show will be Christy Lemure of the Associated Press and Elvis Mitchell of NPR. Regular contributors and occasional guest hosts will be film bloggers Kim Morgan and Omar Moore. Ebert himself will appear in a regular segment called "Roger's Office," in which Ebert will geek out over one of his favourite films...either something new, or an overlooked classic.
In addition to movie reviews, there'll be regular segments classic films, on-demand viewing, and genre films.
The series will also the return of the classic "Two Thumbs Up" rating system made popular by Siskel & Ebert. The whole "Two Thumbs Up" system is actually owned by and a registered trademark of Roger Ebert and the Estate of Gene Siskel. The original At the Movies program stopped using it when Ebert and Disney (the produers of At the Movies) got into royalty dispute. Others say Ebert stopped letting Disney use it when Ebert didn't like the direction of the new show. Either way, Two Thumbs Up is back.
The new show will be premiering on PBS stations all across the USA this January.
Here's Ebert's official announcement from his website.
Labels:
TV Stuff
Sunday, September 12, 2010
The Targ Returns!
And we're back! After taking August off, I have returned with all-new episodes of U62: The Targ!
We kick off series 4 with Episode 4.01: Expanded and Improved. I'm trying quite a few new things this year. I've doubled the length, it's back in stereo, and I've introduced some new regular features.
Have a listen, and let me know what you think of the new format!
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
U62: The Targ on Facebook
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Retro Heroes!
If there's one quirk of the superhero genre I love, it's period superheroes. Two of my guilty pleasures are the Shadow and the Rocketeer, and a lot of that has to do with their late-1930s settings. The Watchmen movie tried hard to be set in the 1980s, but it's 80s-ness never really came through for me.
So it's kind of neat that we have two Marvel Comics movies in production right now that will be set in times past.
First up, Captain America. We've been promised that it's a full-blown, World War II epic, with Cap fighting Nazis and the Red Skull in the European theatre.
And we got our first picture of Captain America in action today! I love these spy photos from the set...we don't get enough of these anymore.
Now that we see these pictures, I can see that it really is influenced by the Ultimate Captain America costume.
Oh, and the spy was quick to point out that this is NOT Chris Evans, who's playing Steve Rogers, but his stunt double.
We have another spy photo from Captain America, too. Here's Cap being pursued by two HYDRA agents.
In case I haven't said it yet, Captain America is being directed by Joe Johnston, who did Jurassic Park 3, October Sky, and...The Rocketeer! His most recent film was that remake of The Wolfman.
It's due to come out next July.
And as I said, that's not the only retro superhero film that Marvel's working on. Also filming right now is the X-Men prequel tale, X-Men: First Class, which details the founding of Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted, and Xaiver's falling out with Magneto.
In order to keep with prequel aspects, the entire thing is set in the 1960s!
The villains in this particular tale are the secret society known as the Hellfire Club, and here's our first look at January Jones as Emma Frost.
Looks like a very 1960s-appropriate costume for Ms. Frost.
Rounding out the cast are James McAvoy plays the young Professor X, Michael Fassbender plays the young Magneto, and Kevin Bacon plays Sebastian Shaw, the leader of the Hellfire Club. Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Kick-Ass) is directing, and Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-Men films, is back on board as a producer.
It's due out next June.
So it's kind of neat that we have two Marvel Comics movies in production right now that will be set in times past.
First up, Captain America. We've been promised that it's a full-blown, World War II epic, with Cap fighting Nazis and the Red Skull in the European theatre.
And we got our first picture of Captain America in action today! I love these spy photos from the set...we don't get enough of these anymore.
Now that we see these pictures, I can see that it really is influenced by the Ultimate Captain America costume.
Oh, and the spy was quick to point out that this is NOT Chris Evans, who's playing Steve Rogers, but his stunt double.
We have another spy photo from Captain America, too. Here's Cap being pursued by two HYDRA agents.
In case I haven't said it yet, Captain America is being directed by Joe Johnston, who did Jurassic Park 3, October Sky, and...The Rocketeer! His most recent film was that remake of The Wolfman.
It's due to come out next July.
And as I said, that's not the only retro superhero film that Marvel's working on. Also filming right now is the X-Men prequel tale, X-Men: First Class, which details the founding of Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted, and Xaiver's falling out with Magneto.
In order to keep with prequel aspects, the entire thing is set in the 1960s!
The villains in this particular tale are the secret society known as the Hellfire Club, and here's our first look at January Jones as Emma Frost.
Looks like a very 1960s-appropriate costume for Ms. Frost.
Rounding out the cast are James McAvoy plays the young Professor X, Michael Fassbender plays the young Magneto, and Kevin Bacon plays Sebastian Shaw, the leader of the Hellfire Club. Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Kick-Ass) is directing, and Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-Men films, is back on board as a producer.
It's due out next June.
Labels:
Movie stuff
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Pretty Pictures of Newt
As you know, I'm a huge fan of Pixar. A few years ago, Pixar announced that they were working on an animated film called Newt. It was to follow the adventures of a blue-toed newt, living alone in a cage in a laboratory, fearing that he is the last one in existence. However, when he hears news that a lone female blue-toed newt is discovered in the wild, he breaks out and heads off to find her in order to save the species. However, when they meet, they take an instant disliking to each other.
Earlier this year, it was learned that Newt had been shut down. No word on why...it's hardly the first animated film to get shut down in pre-production. But still, given how high-profile its announcement was, it was a bit of a surprise.
Anyway, because they know they have such a rabid fanbase, Pixar went ahead and released 30 pieces of concept art from Newt. I'm sharing my favouites with you. Because Pixar is awesome.
And these are beautiful.
Earlier this year, it was learned that Newt had been shut down. No word on why...it's hardly the first animated film to get shut down in pre-production. But still, given how high-profile its announcement was, it was a bit of a surprise.
Anyway, because they know they have such a rabid fanbase, Pixar went ahead and released 30 pieces of concept art from Newt. I'm sharing my favouites with you. Because Pixar is awesome.
And these are beautiful.
Labels:
Movie stuff
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Movie Review -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles Forever
Well, I have a proud tradition at this here blog that I always review the latest straight-to-DVD animated films that I pick up. I picked up one while I was in the city today, so why am I wasting time? Let's get to my review of....
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles Forever
Directed by Roy Burdine and Lloyd Goldfine
Starring the voices of Michael Sinternaklaas, Wayne Grayson, Sam Riegel, Frank Frankson, Veronica Taylor, Scottie Ray, Johny Castro, Tony Salerno, Sebastian Arcelus, and Dan Green.
Backstory: 2009 marked the 25th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. As such, there was lots of celebrating in the comic book world. The makers of the current Ninja Turtles cartoon (henceforth called the "03 cartoon," because that's the year it premiered) came up with a great way to celebrate. They decided to do a crossover with the original Ninja Turtles cartoon (the 87 cartoon). 2009 was also when Nickelodeon bought the Ninja Turtles franchise lock, stock, and barrel, and decided to reboot the franchise with their own 'toon. So, the '03 cartoon's 25th anniversary celebration also served as the final episode of the '03 cartoon. I knew it was going to be released as a direct-to-video film, but it wound up not coming out until a year after it was televised. Oh, well. It's out now!
Plot: The '03 Turtles are stunned when news reports start popping up, of 4 large turtles fighting crime on the streets of New York. When they investigate, they soon come across...the '87 Turtles! Turns out their latest battle with the '87 Shredder and Krang caused the Technodrome's trans-dimensional portal to malfunction, sending them all to the '03 Dimension. The '87 Shredder decides to seize this opportunity, and enlists the '03 Shredder for help. However, this discovery of alternate dimensions and more Turtles does not sit well with the '03 Shredder. The '03 Shredder surmizes that all of their universes branched off from a prime universe..."Turtle Prime." The '03 Shredder figures that the only way to be finally rid of the Turtles is to destroy "Turtle Prime," and thus destroy all of reality. It's up to theses Turtles of two worlds to join forces, defeat the '03 Shredder, and save all of existence!
What I Liked: Man o man, when the '03 Shredder gets his hands on the Technodrome, he turns it into the WMD we were always told it was. He turns the robotic Foot Soldiers into an evil machine army that would make SkyNet proud, and with his hands on mutagen, he promptly creates an unstoppable army of mutant warriors. You know...everything we wished the '87 Shredder would do, back in the day. The scenes on Turtle Prime are also amazing. SPOILER ALERT: Turtle Prime is the world of the original Eastman and Laird comics from 1984, and are rendered completely in black and white. And be sure to hit pause when the '03 Shredder starts skimming through other dimensions. It's Easter egg-irifc, as just about every other known incarnation of the Turtles is represented.
What I Didn't Like: The plot does seem somewhat reminiscient of the DC universe animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. I'm sure there are only so many ways to do multiple-Earths stories in comics, so I'll give them a pass. And I don't remember the '87 Turtles being so...jokey.
Final Verdict: A more than enjoyable outing that Turtles fans will find quite satisfying.
3 Nibs
Bonus Features: Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles Forever
Directed by Roy Burdine and Lloyd Goldfine
Starring the voices of Michael Sinternaklaas, Wayne Grayson, Sam Riegel, Frank Frankson, Veronica Taylor, Scottie Ray, Johny Castro, Tony Salerno, Sebastian Arcelus, and Dan Green.
Backstory: 2009 marked the 25th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. As such, there was lots of celebrating in the comic book world. The makers of the current Ninja Turtles cartoon (henceforth called the "03 cartoon," because that's the year it premiered) came up with a great way to celebrate. They decided to do a crossover with the original Ninja Turtles cartoon (the 87 cartoon). 2009 was also when Nickelodeon bought the Ninja Turtles franchise lock, stock, and barrel, and decided to reboot the franchise with their own 'toon. So, the '03 cartoon's 25th anniversary celebration also served as the final episode of the '03 cartoon. I knew it was going to be released as a direct-to-video film, but it wound up not coming out until a year after it was televised. Oh, well. It's out now!
Plot: The '03 Turtles are stunned when news reports start popping up, of 4 large turtles fighting crime on the streets of New York. When they investigate, they soon come across...the '87 Turtles! Turns out their latest battle with the '87 Shredder and Krang caused the Technodrome's trans-dimensional portal to malfunction, sending them all to the '03 Dimension. The '87 Shredder decides to seize this opportunity, and enlists the '03 Shredder for help. However, this discovery of alternate dimensions and more Turtles does not sit well with the '03 Shredder. The '03 Shredder surmizes that all of their universes branched off from a prime universe..."Turtle Prime." The '03 Shredder figures that the only way to be finally rid of the Turtles is to destroy "Turtle Prime," and thus destroy all of reality. It's up to theses Turtles of two worlds to join forces, defeat the '03 Shredder, and save all of existence!
What I Liked: Man o man, when the '03 Shredder gets his hands on the Technodrome, he turns it into the WMD we were always told it was. He turns the robotic Foot Soldiers into an evil machine army that would make SkyNet proud, and with his hands on mutagen, he promptly creates an unstoppable army of mutant warriors. You know...everything we wished the '87 Shredder would do, back in the day. The scenes on Turtle Prime are also amazing. SPOILER ALERT: Turtle Prime is the world of the original Eastman and Laird comics from 1984, and are rendered completely in black and white. And be sure to hit pause when the '03 Shredder starts skimming through other dimensions. It's Easter egg-irifc, as just about every other known incarnation of the Turtles is represented.
What I Didn't Like: The plot does seem somewhat reminiscient of the DC universe animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. I'm sure there are only so many ways to do multiple-Earths stories in comics, so I'll give them a pass. And I don't remember the '87 Turtles being so...jokey.
Final Verdict: A more than enjoyable outing that Turtles fans will find quite satisfying.
3 Nibs
Bonus Features: Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
Labels:
DVD,
Movie Reviews
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Scott Pilgrim Review
My Scott Pilgrim vs. the World review is online!
Head on over to my movie review site to check it out!
Labels:
Movie Reviews
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Neither Smoke, Nor Rain, Nor Coughing Fits
So, if you watch the news, you know we're in rough states here in Alberta right now. We've got smoke blowing in from the BC forest fires, making our air quality the worst it's been in years. On top of that, there was rain in the forecast for this Saturday. And, on top of that still, I'm feeling quite under the weather right now. Lived in Athabasca for 4.5 years now, and finally got sick enough where I felt I had to see a doctor.
Naturally, with all this going on, I jumped out of bed and said, "I'm going to the city today!"
I had to go to the city. I had a very important reason to go to the city. I had to see Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Because it opened in #5 last week, I knew that my chances to see it in the theatre would be running out fast.
You've probably seen the commercials for it. Scott Pilgrim is a young 20-something in Toronto who plays in a band, and he meets the girl of his dreams, the bewitching and enigmatic Ramona Flowers. But Ramona's got some serious baggage following her around...seven evil exes, and if Scott and Ramona want to live happily ever after, he must defeat all of them in combat! Which is where the film gets its visual flair. All the fights take the form of super hyperactive video games.
This film makes me wish I played more video games in my youth, because it's so full of references to the 8-bit era of video games that most of the jokes were over my head.
Other than that, I enjoyed the hell out of this film. It's all about that period you go through in your early-20s, when you're finally casting off the last vestiges of your youth and learning to be a grown-up. Needless to say, it brought back happy flashbacks to my college days, as I saw elements of people I knew in pretty much every character on screen. It's all about discovering that yes, she has a past, and if you're a man, and if you love her, you'll get the f--k over it and work things out.
This has been a lean summer for films. Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, and now Scott Pilgrim vs. the World are the only films that had me walking out of the theatre 100% satisfied.
Then I stopped in at HMV. There were lots of DVDs in the discount bin that caught my eye, but I was craving new music. A lot of those digitally remastered Beatles albums that made such a big splash a year ago are now starting to pop up in discount bins, so I snatched up Magical Mystery Tour. This one has more of my favourite Beatles tunes on it. I am the Walrus...Penny Lane...All You Need is Love...Strawberry Fields Forever...so why the heck not? Hmmm...it just occurred that I seem to be limiting myself to the Beatles' soundtracks. First A Hard Day's Night, and now Magical Mystery Tour. I guess that means Help! and Yellow Submarine will be next.
And then, that led to one of the more embarrassing moments in my life. Since HMV's discount bin CDs are usually marked "2/$30" and all that, of course I was buying a second album. A grabbed my second choice, and walked up to the counter. The clerk was this attractive young blond. She rang up the Beatles, and then my second album. She looked at the album cover, looked up at me, and said, "Really? You like Selena Gomez?"
At least I was able to hold my head high and answer her truthfully: "I tend to put the Disney Channel on for background noise, and she gets stuck in my head." Heck, the only reason why I ever sat down and watched a whole episode of the Selena Gomez show is because I discovered her TV mom is Hawkgirl.
So yeah. Selena Gomez. It's unremarkable, bubblegum pop, but it gets stuck in your head.
All in all, worth getting out of the house.
Naturally, with all this going on, I jumped out of bed and said, "I'm going to the city today!"
I had to go to the city. I had a very important reason to go to the city. I had to see Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Because it opened in #5 last week, I knew that my chances to see it in the theatre would be running out fast.
You've probably seen the commercials for it. Scott Pilgrim is a young 20-something in Toronto who plays in a band, and he meets the girl of his dreams, the bewitching and enigmatic Ramona Flowers. But Ramona's got some serious baggage following her around...seven evil exes, and if Scott and Ramona want to live happily ever after, he must defeat all of them in combat! Which is where the film gets its visual flair. All the fights take the form of super hyperactive video games.
This film makes me wish I played more video games in my youth, because it's so full of references to the 8-bit era of video games that most of the jokes were over my head.
Other than that, I enjoyed the hell out of this film. It's all about that period you go through in your early-20s, when you're finally casting off the last vestiges of your youth and learning to be a grown-up. Needless to say, it brought back happy flashbacks to my college days, as I saw elements of people I knew in pretty much every character on screen. It's all about discovering that yes, she has a past, and if you're a man, and if you love her, you'll get the f--k over it and work things out.
This has been a lean summer for films. Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, and now Scott Pilgrim vs. the World are the only films that had me walking out of the theatre 100% satisfied.
Then I stopped in at HMV. There were lots of DVDs in the discount bin that caught my eye, but I was craving new music. A lot of those digitally remastered Beatles albums that made such a big splash a year ago are now starting to pop up in discount bins, so I snatched up Magical Mystery Tour. This one has more of my favourite Beatles tunes on it. I am the Walrus...Penny Lane...All You Need is Love...Strawberry Fields Forever...so why the heck not? Hmmm...it just occurred that I seem to be limiting myself to the Beatles' soundtracks. First A Hard Day's Night, and now Magical Mystery Tour. I guess that means Help! and Yellow Submarine will be next.
And then, that led to one of the more embarrassing moments in my life. Since HMV's discount bin CDs are usually marked "2/$30" and all that, of course I was buying a second album. A grabbed my second choice, and walked up to the counter. The clerk was this attractive young blond. She rang up the Beatles, and then my second album. She looked at the album cover, looked up at me, and said, "Really? You like Selena Gomez?"
At least I was able to hold my head high and answer her truthfully: "I tend to put the Disney Channel on for background noise, and she gets stuck in my head." Heck, the only reason why I ever sat down and watched a whole episode of the Selena Gomez show is because I discovered her TV mom is Hawkgirl.
So yeah. Selena Gomez. It's unremarkable, bubblegum pop, but it gets stuck in your head.
All in all, worth getting out of the house.
Labels:
life,
Musings from the Mall
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Sunday Morning at the Movies
While flipping around the channels on this Sunday night, I managed to catch the final episode of At the Movies. The majority of the online film community has been shedding a tear for the end of this 35-year franchise and what it did for film. Let me bring you up to speed.
At the Movies started way back in 1975 when Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert started meeting on Chicago's PBS station to review movies. It was such a hit, that in the early -1980s, it went into syndication, first by Tribune Entertianment, and then by Disney. During this era, it was most commonly known as Siskel and Ebert, and brought the world of movies into people's homes.
But, the past decade was not kind to At the Movies. It all began in 1999, when Gene Siskel passed away. Roger Ebert then had a rotating panel of co-hosts until Y2K, when he settled on his fellow Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper, and it became Ebert and Roeper At the Movies. It was like that until 2006, when Roger Ebert had to step down due to his failing health. So, it was Roeper and rotating co-hosts until 2008, when Disney decided to take the show in "a new direction." That new direction was critics Ben Lyons and Ben Mankewicz. I never caught it during this era, but reviews were not kind. Last year, they were replaced with critics A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips, but it was too little too late.
Watching that final episode, I was a little sadder than I thought I'd be. I have fond memories of Siskel and Ebert. In the early-1990s, my parents were good church-going folk, but I didn't want to go, finding church to be too boring. Being old enough to be left at home on my own, my family would leave me at home on Sunday morning while they went to church. And I stayed at home and watched Siskel and Ebert.
The early 90s was the perfect time to be watching Siskel and Ebert. I mean, growing up in small-town Alberta, where you rented movies from the local gas station and the closest movie theatres were an hour away, where else was a kid going to be exposed to the entire world of movies out there? And with the rise of independent film in the 1990s, Siskel and Ebert was where I was first exposed to Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarintino, Hayao Miyazaki, and many other fantastic filmmakers.
Hell, my first exposure to Clerks was when the special edition laserdisc came out, and Siskel and Ebert showed the original ending to Clerks on the show and debated whether Kevin Smith was right to cut it or not. (Consensus: he was.) My first exposure to Hayao Miyazaki was their review of My Neighbor Totoro. Ebert loved that film so much. That show gave a lot of films exposure that wouldn't have gotten any.
And now, it's done. Great films will still get exposure, though. My favourite film, The Iron Giant, was brought to my attention, not because of a TV show, but because of all the reviews I read online. Great films still have a way of getting out there. Part of the problem, though, is on the Internet, there's just so many voices to weed through. Not like the old days, when it was just two guys talking about films, and you were eavesdropping through the TV.
At the Movies started way back in 1975 when Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert started meeting on Chicago's PBS station to review movies. It was such a hit, that in the early -1980s, it went into syndication, first by Tribune Entertianment, and then by Disney. During this era, it was most commonly known as Siskel and Ebert, and brought the world of movies into people's homes.
But, the past decade was not kind to At the Movies. It all began in 1999, when Gene Siskel passed away. Roger Ebert then had a rotating panel of co-hosts until Y2K, when he settled on his fellow Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper, and it became Ebert and Roeper At the Movies. It was like that until 2006, when Roger Ebert had to step down due to his failing health. So, it was Roeper and rotating co-hosts until 2008, when Disney decided to take the show in "a new direction." That new direction was critics Ben Lyons and Ben Mankewicz. I never caught it during this era, but reviews were not kind. Last year, they were replaced with critics A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips, but it was too little too late.
Watching that final episode, I was a little sadder than I thought I'd be. I have fond memories of Siskel and Ebert. In the early-1990s, my parents were good church-going folk, but I didn't want to go, finding church to be too boring. Being old enough to be left at home on my own, my family would leave me at home on Sunday morning while they went to church. And I stayed at home and watched Siskel and Ebert.
The early 90s was the perfect time to be watching Siskel and Ebert. I mean, growing up in small-town Alberta, where you rented movies from the local gas station and the closest movie theatres were an hour away, where else was a kid going to be exposed to the entire world of movies out there? And with the rise of independent film in the 1990s, Siskel and Ebert was where I was first exposed to Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarintino, Hayao Miyazaki, and many other fantastic filmmakers.
Hell, my first exposure to Clerks was when the special edition laserdisc came out, and Siskel and Ebert showed the original ending to Clerks on the show and debated whether Kevin Smith was right to cut it or not. (Consensus: he was.) My first exposure to Hayao Miyazaki was their review of My Neighbor Totoro. Ebert loved that film so much. That show gave a lot of films exposure that wouldn't have gotten any.
And now, it's done. Great films will still get exposure, though. My favourite film, The Iron Giant, was brought to my attention, not because of a TV show, but because of all the reviews I read online. Great films still have a way of getting out there. Part of the problem, though, is on the Internet, there's just so many voices to weed through. Not like the old days, when it was just two guys talking about films, and you were eavesdropping through the TV.
Labels:
life,
Musings from the Mall,
TV Stuff
Friday, August 13, 2010
Grindhouse Finally on DVD
Good news, all my fellow fans of Quentin Tarintino and Robert Rodriguez!
Grindhouse is finally coming to DVD in its original, complete, theatrical presentation! Actually, it's only coming to Blu-Ray.
Grindhouse: 2-Disc Collector's Edition will contain ALL of the bonus material on the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of Planet Terror and Death Proof, along with some all-new bonus materials. The new stuff:
In a way, I'm kind of disappointed that this is being released on Blu-Ray. I always thought it was a great way to create a purely theatrical experience, without the need for gimmicks like 3D.
It drops on October 5.
Oh, and some other DVD news, regarding Family Guy's forthcoming scene-for-scene spoof of Return of the Jedi.
As I've blogged previously, they seemed to have trouble coming up with a title. Originally, as a slam towards the Ewoks and all the animatronic characters in Return of the Jedi, they were going to call it Episode VI: The Great Muppet Caper, but they ran into copywrite trouble with the Muppet folks. Then they were going to call it We Have a Bad Feeling About This, after the famous line uttered in ever Star Wars film.
Well, the artwork for the DVD cover has been released, and we've discovered that they've decided to name it after Admiral Akbar's most famous line, which has become quite the Internet catchphrase.
That's right, it's called It's a Trap!.
Don't forget, it hits DVD and Blu-Ray on Dec. 21.
Grindhouse is finally coming to DVD in its original, complete, theatrical presentation! Actually, it's only coming to Blu-Ray.
Grindhouse: 2-Disc Collector's Edition will contain ALL of the bonus material on the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of Planet Terror and Death Proof, along with some all-new bonus materials. The new stuff:
- Rodriguez offers up another installment of his "10 Minute Cooking Schools," which has become a popular staple on all his DVDs.
- All of the intermission cards
- ALL of the fake trailers, including Hobo With a Shotgun, which was only shown in select theatres.
- Brand new extended versions of the fake trailers Don't and Werewolf Women of the SS, complete with running commentaries by their respective directors Edgar Wright and Rob Zombie. (It's long been rumored that Zombie shot an hour's worth of footage for his 3-minute Werewolf Women trailer.)
- "Making of" featurettes for the fake trailers Don't, Werewolf Women of the SS, and Thanksgiving.
- The storyboards and fake movie posters for Don't.
In a way, I'm kind of disappointed that this is being released on Blu-Ray. I always thought it was a great way to create a purely theatrical experience, without the need for gimmicks like 3D.
It drops on October 5.
Oh, and some other DVD news, regarding Family Guy's forthcoming scene-for-scene spoof of Return of the Jedi.
As I've blogged previously, they seemed to have trouble coming up with a title. Originally, as a slam towards the Ewoks and all the animatronic characters in Return of the Jedi, they were going to call it Episode VI: The Great Muppet Caper, but they ran into copywrite trouble with the Muppet folks. Then they were going to call it We Have a Bad Feeling About This, after the famous line uttered in ever Star Wars film.
Well, the artwork for the DVD cover has been released, and we've discovered that they've decided to name it after Admiral Akbar's most famous line, which has become quite the Internet catchphrase.
That's right, it's called It's a Trap!.
Don't forget, it hits DVD and Blu-Ray on Dec. 21.
Labels:
DVD
Sunday, August 08, 2010
DC Showcase on DVD
So, because I've been geeking out about the direct-to-DVD DC comics animated movies, you might have also read me geek out about DC Showcase, their series of animated short films focusing on some of DC`s B- and C-list heroes. To recap, we`ve had:
The Spectre - Focusing on the supernatural spirit of vengeance. Released on Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.
Jonah Hex - The legendary gunslinger. Released on the recent Batman: Under the Red Hood.
Green Arrow - The emerald archer takes down his evil counterpart. Will be released on the upcoming Superman/Batman: Apocolypse.
Well, it was just announced that Warner Brothers will be compiling all these animated shorts into their own DVD release, The DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection, coming out on November 9!
But that's not all! In order to tempt you to buy all these shorts again, they're including a new short, Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam. This short will be 22 minutes long -- twice as long as all the other shorts produced to date!
This short features Black Adam, arch-enemy of Captain Marvel, returning from beyond the stars, and it's up to the combined might of Superman and Captain Marvel to take him down!
For the celebrity voices, we've got:
George Newburn as Superman. Of course, Newburn voiced Superman on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Nice to see him back in the role!
Jerry O'Connell as Captain Marvel. O'Connell of course was one of the kids in Stand By Me, and was most recently seen on the police procedural Crossing Jordan. He also voiced Captain Marvel on an episode of Justice League Unlimited.
Arnold Vosloo as Black Adam. Vosloo played Imhotep the Mummy in the Mummy movies, and was most recently seen as Zartan in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
James Garner as the Wizard Shazam. Garner is an acting legend, and if you don`t know who he is, I weep for you.
It`ll be available in a single-disc DVD version and a single-disc Blu-Ray special edition. For bonus materials on the single-disc DVD, you get 4 bonus episodes of Justice League. On the Blu-Ray, you get those 4 episodes of Justice League, and each short has a running commentary by its writer.
The Spectre - Focusing on the supernatural spirit of vengeance. Released on Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.
Jonah Hex - The legendary gunslinger. Released on the recent Batman: Under the Red Hood.
Green Arrow - The emerald archer takes down his evil counterpart. Will be released on the upcoming Superman/Batman: Apocolypse.
Well, it was just announced that Warner Brothers will be compiling all these animated shorts into their own DVD release, The DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection, coming out on November 9!
But that's not all! In order to tempt you to buy all these shorts again, they're including a new short, Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam. This short will be 22 minutes long -- twice as long as all the other shorts produced to date!
This short features Black Adam, arch-enemy of Captain Marvel, returning from beyond the stars, and it's up to the combined might of Superman and Captain Marvel to take him down!
For the celebrity voices, we've got:
George Newburn as Superman. Of course, Newburn voiced Superman on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Nice to see him back in the role!
Jerry O'Connell as Captain Marvel. O'Connell of course was one of the kids in Stand By Me, and was most recently seen on the police procedural Crossing Jordan. He also voiced Captain Marvel on an episode of Justice League Unlimited.
Arnold Vosloo as Black Adam. Vosloo played Imhotep the Mummy in the Mummy movies, and was most recently seen as Zartan in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
James Garner as the Wizard Shazam. Garner is an acting legend, and if you don`t know who he is, I weep for you.
It`ll be available in a single-disc DVD version and a single-disc Blu-Ray special edition. For bonus materials on the single-disc DVD, you get 4 bonus episodes of Justice League. On the Blu-Ray, you get those 4 episodes of Justice League, and each short has a running commentary by its writer.
Labels:
DVD
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Movie Review -- DC Showcase: Jonah Hex
So, with the DC Comics DTV animated films, they've begun this new thing that I really like. The series is called DC Showcase, and it's a series of animated short films focusing on some B- and C-list heroes from the DCU. The latest one is on the DVD for Batman: Under the Red Hood, which I reviewed yesterday, so let's take a look at it.
DC Showcase: Jonah Hex
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos
Starring the voices of Thomas Jane, Linda Hamilton, Jason Marsden, Michael Rooker, and Michelle Trachtenberg.
Backstory: Of course, Jonah Hex was chosen to be the next subject of the DC Showcase films. He's a much-beloved character in the DCU, one of the few Western characters who has stood the test of time...and it ties in with big-screen version of Jonah Hex that hits theatres this summer. What, you didn't see it? Of course you didn't. It sucked and was in theatres for barely two weeks. Does this animated short clear Hex's good name?
Plot: Jonah Hex rides into town, on the trail of an outlaw named Red. Following a lead, he's brought to an unscrupulous prostitute named Madame Lorraine. Will Hex be able to defeat Lorraine, find Red, and collect the bounty?
What I Liked: Again, I am amazed at the big names DC is rounding up to voice these things. We've got the Punisher and Sarah Conner doing voices in a 10-minute short film! Crazy. It's also got a nice sepia-tone look to make it feel more like the old west. It's short, and it's action packed.
What I Didn't Like: Too short!
Final Verdict: I'm really liking this series, guys. Keep it up!
4 Nibs
DC Showcase: Jonah Hex
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos
Starring the voices of Thomas Jane, Linda Hamilton, Jason Marsden, Michael Rooker, and Michelle Trachtenberg.
Backstory: Of course, Jonah Hex was chosen to be the next subject of the DC Showcase films. He's a much-beloved character in the DCU, one of the few Western characters who has stood the test of time...and it ties in with big-screen version of Jonah Hex that hits theatres this summer. What, you didn't see it? Of course you didn't. It sucked and was in theatres for barely two weeks. Does this animated short clear Hex's good name?
Plot: Jonah Hex rides into town, on the trail of an outlaw named Red. Following a lead, he's brought to an unscrupulous prostitute named Madame Lorraine. Will Hex be able to defeat Lorraine, find Red, and collect the bounty?
What I Liked: Again, I am amazed at the big names DC is rounding up to voice these things. We've got the Punisher and Sarah Conner doing voices in a 10-minute short film! Crazy. It's also got a nice sepia-tone look to make it feel more like the old west. It's short, and it's action packed.
What I Didn't Like: Too short!
Final Verdict: I'm really liking this series, guys. Keep it up!
4 Nibs
Labels:
Movie Reviews
Monday, August 02, 2010
Movie Review -- Batman: Under the Red Hood
Does it seem somewhat biased that I review direct-to-video movies in blog entries, and not in big-fancy, coded-in-HTML-from-scratch webpages that I do over at my main site for theatrical films? Just wondering.
Anyway, longtime followers of the blog know I've been a big fan of all the DC Comics DTV animated films that have been coming for a couple of years now. The latest one came out this past week, and I made a special trip into Edmonton just to pick it up. It's time to take a look at....
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Directed by Brandon Vietti
Starring the voices of Bruce Greenwood, Jensen Ackles, John DiMaggio, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Isaacs, Wade Williams, Gary Cole, and Kelly Hu.
Just a little warning, I'm going to get somewhat spoileriffic in this review, but if you've been following the Batman comics for the past five years or so, it's nothing you don't know already.
Backstory: So, a few years back, they ran a storyline in the Batman comics called Under the Hood, which resurrected Jason Todd from the dead. Jason Todd, for those uninitiated, is the Robin that was infamously killed off back in the 1980s. As many a comic book critic said at the time, with the revolving door to the afterworld that exists in comics, it's amazing it took this long to resurrect him. Anyway, the folks in charge of these animated DTV movies thought it would make a good one, so here it is. Fun trivia fact: this is Jason Todd's first appearance in a Batman adaptation!
Plot: Five years after Jason Todd was brutally murdered at the hands of the Joker, a new masked vigilante calling himself the Red Hood makes his appearance known in Gotham City. He's muscling in on the drug lords, taking control of Gotham's underworld, angering Gotham's current drug kingpin, the Black Mask. Of course, this soon catches Batman's attention, and the Black Mask gets desperate enough to go the Joker for help. Batman soon uncovers that the Red Hood is Jason Todd. How is he back from the dead? What is his master plan? And can Batman bring him back from this dark path he's taken?
What I Liked: As always, I love how Warner Brothers is bringing in A-list talent to do the voices. When I first heard that Bruce Greenwood would be voicing Batman (Capt. Pike in the last Star Trek film), I thought, "Dude, that's perfect!" He does have the right gravely growl. Neil Patrick Harris is also very funny as Nightwing. The animation, as always, is perfect. And the mystery really isn't much of a mystery, but it's good enough to keep you guessing.
What I Didn't Like: I have the same problem with this that I had with the last Batman-centred DTV film, Gotham Knight. When it comes to these Batman animated tales, there really is a whole "been there, done that" feeling starting to hang over the entire proceedings. As a friend of mine once commented about Batman, "How many times do we need to see the pearls in slow motion?"
Final Verdict: It's a fairly entertaining Batman yarn, but come on DC. Give us the Flash. Give us another Wonder Woman. Give Batman a break.
3 Nibs
Bonus Features: Ooo, this was my first DC DTV animated film on Blu-Ray! For bonus features, you get a featurette on this history of the first Robin, Dick Grayson, a featurette on the history of the second Robin, Jason Todd, a preview of the next film, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, 4 bonus episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, and the latest in their series of DC Showcase animated shorts, this one focusing on Jonah Hex. I'll review that short...in my next blog entry!
Anyway, longtime followers of the blog know I've been a big fan of all the DC Comics DTV animated films that have been coming for a couple of years now. The latest one came out this past week, and I made a special trip into Edmonton just to pick it up. It's time to take a look at....
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Directed by Brandon Vietti
Starring the voices of Bruce Greenwood, Jensen Ackles, John DiMaggio, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Isaacs, Wade Williams, Gary Cole, and Kelly Hu.
Just a little warning, I'm going to get somewhat spoileriffic in this review, but if you've been following the Batman comics for the past five years or so, it's nothing you don't know already.
Backstory: So, a few years back, they ran a storyline in the Batman comics called Under the Hood, which resurrected Jason Todd from the dead. Jason Todd, for those uninitiated, is the Robin that was infamously killed off back in the 1980s. As many a comic book critic said at the time, with the revolving door to the afterworld that exists in comics, it's amazing it took this long to resurrect him. Anyway, the folks in charge of these animated DTV movies thought it would make a good one, so here it is. Fun trivia fact: this is Jason Todd's first appearance in a Batman adaptation!
Plot: Five years after Jason Todd was brutally murdered at the hands of the Joker, a new masked vigilante calling himself the Red Hood makes his appearance known in Gotham City. He's muscling in on the drug lords, taking control of Gotham's underworld, angering Gotham's current drug kingpin, the Black Mask. Of course, this soon catches Batman's attention, and the Black Mask gets desperate enough to go the Joker for help. Batman soon uncovers that the Red Hood is Jason Todd. How is he back from the dead? What is his master plan? And can Batman bring him back from this dark path he's taken?
What I Liked: As always, I love how Warner Brothers is bringing in A-list talent to do the voices. When I first heard that Bruce Greenwood would be voicing Batman (Capt. Pike in the last Star Trek film), I thought, "Dude, that's perfect!" He does have the right gravely growl. Neil Patrick Harris is also very funny as Nightwing. The animation, as always, is perfect. And the mystery really isn't much of a mystery, but it's good enough to keep you guessing.
What I Didn't Like: I have the same problem with this that I had with the last Batman-centred DTV film, Gotham Knight. When it comes to these Batman animated tales, there really is a whole "been there, done that" feeling starting to hang over the entire proceedings. As a friend of mine once commented about Batman, "How many times do we need to see the pearls in slow motion?"
Final Verdict: It's a fairly entertaining Batman yarn, but come on DC. Give us the Flash. Give us another Wonder Woman. Give Batman a break.
3 Nibs
Bonus Features: Ooo, this was my first DC DTV animated film on Blu-Ray! For bonus features, you get a featurette on this history of the first Robin, Dick Grayson, a featurette on the history of the second Robin, Jason Todd, a preview of the next film, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, 4 bonus episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, and the latest in their series of DC Showcase animated shorts, this one focusing on Jonah Hex. I'll review that short...in my next blog entry!
Labels:
Movie Reviews
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Latest Targ's Up!
It's that time of year again! It's the season finale of U62: The Targ.
Something I started a few years ago that I decided to stick with, and that is every summer, usually the month of August, I take some time off from doing U62: The Targ. This gives me time to collect my thoughts, decided whether I want to take it in a new direction, or just give it up all together.
So, I've got for you Episode 3.40: The End...?, in which I ponder most of what I just outlined above, and give my thoughts on what just may be the next big social networking trend.
Enjoy the show, and I'll see you in September!
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
U62: The Targ on Facebook
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Inception Review and the Latest Social Network
First, the housekeeping. My latest movie review is up! Saw Inception last week, and finally jotted down my review.
Click here to read it.
And now, the latest social networking trend. If the media hype is to believed, the next big social networking trend is Empire Avenue. And by "the media hype," I mean this one story I saw on the news last night. Anyway, I thought I would sign up for it today, because if it truly is going to be the next big thing, I wanted to be sure to nab my "chaosinabox" handle before someone else beat me to it.
What it is is a social networking site based on the stock market. Every time you do something, you earn money. You don't "make friends," you "buy shares" in other people. The more stuff you do online, and more shares people buy in you, the greater your "influence."
I've only been on for a few hours, and I instantly dislike it. The stock market gimmick is a little too complicated. Essentially, what they've done is find a way to track your online activity, and assign a worth to it. This network seems completely geared to advertisers, and showing off how many eyeballs the site attracts through "influence."
Actually, the whole thing reminds me of that recent South Park episode, where Cartman did a whole video podcast on how to get more friends on Facebook and which friends will increase your popularity on Facebook. Playing around on Empire Avenue, I've already seen a few video podcasts like that. "Buy this person to increase your worth!"
I don't know. It's the same reaction I've had to Facebook and Twitter when I first started. I'll play with it for a few months, and if I like it, I'll stick around.
So, I guess I should encourage all of you to buy Chaos in a Box!
Oh, and I have to blog this verification code so my blog entries start adding to my worth:
EAVB_RWQVAKICGK
Click here to read it.
And now, the latest social networking trend. If the media hype is to believed, the next big social networking trend is Empire Avenue. And by "the media hype," I mean this one story I saw on the news last night. Anyway, I thought I would sign up for it today, because if it truly is going to be the next big thing, I wanted to be sure to nab my "chaosinabox" handle before someone else beat me to it.
What it is is a social networking site based on the stock market. Every time you do something, you earn money. You don't "make friends," you "buy shares" in other people. The more stuff you do online, and more shares people buy in you, the greater your "influence."
I've only been on for a few hours, and I instantly dislike it. The stock market gimmick is a little too complicated. Essentially, what they've done is find a way to track your online activity, and assign a worth to it. This network seems completely geared to advertisers, and showing off how many eyeballs the site attracts through "influence."
Actually, the whole thing reminds me of that recent South Park episode, where Cartman did a whole video podcast on how to get more friends on Facebook and which friends will increase your popularity on Facebook. Playing around on Empire Avenue, I've already seen a few video podcasts like that. "Buy this person to increase your worth!"
I don't know. It's the same reaction I've had to Facebook and Twitter when I first started. I'll play with it for a few months, and if I like it, I'll stick around.
So, I guess I should encourage all of you to buy Chaos in a Box!
Oh, and I have to blog this verification code so my blog entries start adding to my worth:
EAVB_RWQVAKICGK
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Smarter Than the Average Bear
Today's pointless remake, a live-action movie version of Yogi Bear.
Why did the world need a live-action Yogi Bear? Why, I ask?
For our voice cast, we've got the legendary Dan Aykroyd as Yogi, pop icon Justin Timberlake as Boo Boo, and "I'm not aware of her work" Christine Taylor as Cindy Bear.
For the live-action cast, we've got the star of my Dad's favourite TV show, Ed, Tom Cavanaugh as Ranger Smith, and, "Sh! Don't tell anyone I have a crush on her" Anna Ferris as a wildlife documentary filmmaker who's come to Jellystone to film Yogi.
The plot apparently has something to do with evil industrialists wanting to close down Jellystone Park, so Yogi, Boo Boo and Ranger Smith band together to save the Park.
Computer animator Eric Brevig is the director. It comes out this Christmas.
Oh, look. A trailer.
Yeah, the character of Yogi was based on Art Carney, but Aykroyd seems to be going more for Rodney Dangerfield. Here's a thought: why didn't Aykroyd do Aykroyd?
Remember when Aykroyd was cool? Yeah, those days are gone.
Why did the world need a live-action Yogi Bear? Why, I ask?
For our voice cast, we've got the legendary Dan Aykroyd as Yogi, pop icon Justin Timberlake as Boo Boo, and "I'm not aware of her work" Christine Taylor as Cindy Bear.
For the live-action cast, we've got the star of my Dad's favourite TV show, Ed, Tom Cavanaugh as Ranger Smith, and, "Sh! Don't tell anyone I have a crush on her" Anna Ferris as a wildlife documentary filmmaker who's come to Jellystone to film Yogi.
The plot apparently has something to do with evil industrialists wanting to close down Jellystone Park, so Yogi, Boo Boo and Ranger Smith band together to save the Park.
Computer animator Eric Brevig is the director. It comes out this Christmas.
Oh, look. A trailer.
Yeah, the character of Yogi was based on Art Carney, but Aykroyd seems to be going more for Rodney Dangerfield. Here's a thought: why didn't Aykroyd do Aykroyd?
Remember when Aykroyd was cool? Yeah, those days are gone.
Labels:
Movie stuff,
The Trailer Park
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Latest Targ's Up!
It's Sunday! That means it's time for a new episode of U62: The Targ!
I'm just a seething bundle of anger this week, and I show it in Episode 3.39: Angry Rant #642. I go off on the current Edmonton Oilers new arena debate, I return to the bane of my 12-year old self, and I really, really hope that Pixar doesn't take a dark turn.
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
U62: The Targ on Facebook
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Thursday, July 22, 2010
NEW TRON LEGACY TRAILER!!!
The only movie I'm excited about this year, and I can't frakkin' WAIT!!
No longer content with just light cycles...is that a light jet at the end? SO AWESOME!!
In other Disney news today, it was announced that Guillermo del Toro, directed of the Hellboy films and the critically acclaimed Pan's Labrynth, will be directed a reboot of The Haunted Mansion, based upon the classic Disneyland ride. Del Toro says that his version will not be a comedy like the first film, and play up more of the horror aspects of the ride. Oh, and it'll be filmed in 3D.
When I told my friends of this they said, "Reboot? First film? Disney already did a Haunted Mansion film?" Yes, they did. 2003. Starring Eddie Murphy. It was a comedy. It flopped, and wasn't loved by the critics.
No longer content with just light cycles...is that a light jet at the end? SO AWESOME!!
In other Disney news today, it was announced that Guillermo del Toro, directed of the Hellboy films and the critically acclaimed Pan's Labrynth, will be directed a reboot of The Haunted Mansion, based upon the classic Disneyland ride. Del Toro says that his version will not be a comedy like the first film, and play up more of the horror aspects of the ride. Oh, and it'll be filmed in 3D.
When I told my friends of this they said, "Reboot? First film? Disney already did a Haunted Mansion film?" Yes, they did. 2003. Starring Eddie Murphy. It was a comedy. It flopped, and wasn't loved by the critics.
Labels:
Movie stuff,
The Trailer Park
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Latest Targ's Up!
Time to hit you with an all-new episode of U62: The Targ!
Whenever I'm unsure as to what to do in an episode, my first instinct is to name it after nonsense words. Hence, Episode 3.38: Snoozle Woozle. I'm spending my money and playing the lotto, I mourn the end of James Bond, and I even tell you my ratings. Yes, I do keep track of who actually listens to this, and I find the numbers startling.
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
U62: The Targ on Facebook
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
More Robot Chicken and Family Guy Star Wars Spoofs
Well, Family Guy and Robot Chicken have announced the latest installments in their series of Star Wars spoofs.
First up, we have Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode III, coming on December 12. Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich say that this one will have more of a linear storyline than their other specials, and that it'll tell the entire Star Wars saga from the villains' point of view.
New celebrity voices include Community star Donald Glover, Family Guy and Cleveland Show writer/voice actor Mike Henry, current teen heartthrob Zak Efron as Anakin Skywalker, and Anthony Daniels returning to the role that made him famous, C-3P0.
Returning celebrity voices include Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks, Breckin Meyer, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane as Emperor Palpatine.
It airs on December 12.
And speaking of Seth MacFarlane and Family Guy, Family Guy's scene-for-scene spoof of Return of the Jedi will be hitting DVD and Blu-Ray on December 21.
For celebrity guest voices in this one, we've got Family Guy regular Adam West, original Star Wars star Carrie Fisher (she's become a regular on the Family Guy cast and they've been trying to get her in one of these Star Wars specials since the first one), Rush Limbaugh will be voicing the Sarlaac, and, apparently, they wind up doing some kind of crossover with Star Trek: The Next Generation and Patrick Stewart and Michael Dorn will be back as Capt. Picard and Worf.
No word on the title of this one. They were going to call it We Have a Bad Feeling About This, but the articles today announcing the special guest voices say that it's "currently untitled." Originally, because of all the animatronic characters that pop up in ROTJ, they wanted to call it Episode VI: The Great Muppet Caper, but they actually got into trouble from the Muppet folks over that. I guess will know the title when they show their 10-minute sneak peak at the San Diego ComicCon in two weeks.
First up, we have Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode III, coming on December 12. Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich say that this one will have more of a linear storyline than their other specials, and that it'll tell the entire Star Wars saga from the villains' point of view.
New celebrity voices include Community star Donald Glover, Family Guy and Cleveland Show writer/voice actor Mike Henry, current teen heartthrob Zak Efron as Anakin Skywalker, and Anthony Daniels returning to the role that made him famous, C-3P0.
Returning celebrity voices include Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks, Breckin Meyer, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane as Emperor Palpatine.
It airs on December 12.
And speaking of Seth MacFarlane and Family Guy, Family Guy's scene-for-scene spoof of Return of the Jedi will be hitting DVD and Blu-Ray on December 21.
For celebrity guest voices in this one, we've got Family Guy regular Adam West, original Star Wars star Carrie Fisher (she's become a regular on the Family Guy cast and they've been trying to get her in one of these Star Wars specials since the first one), Rush Limbaugh will be voicing the Sarlaac, and, apparently, they wind up doing some kind of crossover with Star Trek: The Next Generation and Patrick Stewart and Michael Dorn will be back as Capt. Picard and Worf.
No word on the title of this one. They were going to call it We Have a Bad Feeling About This, but the articles today announcing the special guest voices say that it's "currently untitled." Originally, because of all the animatronic characters that pop up in ROTJ, they wanted to call it Episode VI: The Great Muppet Caper, but they actually got into trouble from the Muppet folks over that. I guess will know the title when they show their 10-minute sneak peak at the San Diego ComicCon in two weeks.
Monday, July 12, 2010
DVD Review -- G.I. Joe: Resolute
Well, I've always enjoyed reviewing the straight-to-DVD movies I pick up right here on my blog. I finally got my hands on one I've been keeping my eyes open for, and I just finished watching it. So, it's time for my thoughts on....
G.I. Joe: Resolute
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos
Starring the voices of Charles Adler, Steve Blum, Grey DeLisle, and Eric Bauza.
Backstory: Last year, Hasbro decided to launch an all-new G.I. Joe cartoon to tie in with the new live-action movies. But, to produce it, they decided to follow the model of the original Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon: episodes would be just 5 minutes long, telling an over-reaching story arc, and the episodes would be shown on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Comic book legend Warren Ellis was hired to write it. It premiered on Adult Swim in the spring of 2009, and was edited together into a DTV movie and released just in time for Christmas last year. Yesterday, I finally found a copy!
Plot: In their most coordinated strike ever, COBRA cripples G.I. Joe HQ, takes command of several instillations all around the world, and destroys Moscow in a show of their might. Cobra Commander issues his ultimatum: turn control of the entire world over to him in 24 hours, or he'll use his new weapon to start wiping countries off the face of the Earth. G.I. Joe has 24 hours to unlock the secrets of COBRA's new WMD, free the instillations that our powering it, and apprehend Cobra Commander...with extreme prejudice.
What I Liked: There is blood. This is real war. Joes are killed, Cobra Vipers are mercilessly gunned down, and Cobra Commander kills all who oppose him. The stakes are high, and it moves along at a rather quick pace.
What I Didn't Like: The character development does take a back seat to the action, so we really don't get to know these new incarnations of the Joes. And with such a small voice cast, there is some overlap in the voices and the characters, which does get a tad annoying.
Final Verdict: A wonderful continuation of the original, 5-part mini-series that launched the original cartoons, if only it being for more grown-up tastes.
3 Nibs
Bonus Features: For DVD bonus features, you get a Q&A with the film's creators, the file cards for the Joes in the film, the teaser episode "Now You Know," and storyboards for the production.
G.I. Joe: Resolute
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos
Starring the voices of Charles Adler, Steve Blum, Grey DeLisle, and Eric Bauza.
Backstory: Last year, Hasbro decided to launch an all-new G.I. Joe cartoon to tie in with the new live-action movies. But, to produce it, they decided to follow the model of the original Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon: episodes would be just 5 minutes long, telling an over-reaching story arc, and the episodes would be shown on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Comic book legend Warren Ellis was hired to write it. It premiered on Adult Swim in the spring of 2009, and was edited together into a DTV movie and released just in time for Christmas last year. Yesterday, I finally found a copy!
Plot: In their most coordinated strike ever, COBRA cripples G.I. Joe HQ, takes command of several instillations all around the world, and destroys Moscow in a show of their might. Cobra Commander issues his ultimatum: turn control of the entire world over to him in 24 hours, or he'll use his new weapon to start wiping countries off the face of the Earth. G.I. Joe has 24 hours to unlock the secrets of COBRA's new WMD, free the instillations that our powering it, and apprehend Cobra Commander...with extreme prejudice.
What I Liked: There is blood. This is real war. Joes are killed, Cobra Vipers are mercilessly gunned down, and Cobra Commander kills all who oppose him. The stakes are high, and it moves along at a rather quick pace.
What I Didn't Like: The character development does take a back seat to the action, so we really don't get to know these new incarnations of the Joes. And with such a small voice cast, there is some overlap in the voices and the characters, which does get a tad annoying.
Final Verdict: A wonderful continuation of the original, 5-part mini-series that launched the original cartoons, if only it being for more grown-up tastes.
3 Nibs
Bonus Features: For DVD bonus features, you get a Q&A with the film's creators, the file cards for the Joes in the film, the teaser episode "Now You Know," and storyboards for the production.
Labels:
Movie Reviews
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Remake Reviews!
Well, recently, I was blogging about my birthday movies. This year, I did my first ever birthday movie double-features. I saw BOTH The Karate Kid and The A-Team!
Click here to read my reviews!
Click here to read my reviews!
Labels:
Movie Reviews
Latest Targ's Up!
And I'm back after a brief break with a brand new episode of U62: The Targ!
Lots of good stuff happened and I have to tell you all about it. And I do, in Episode 3.37: In a Row?. The topics this week are my 33rd birthday, the latest round of Tron Legacy viral marketing, and the 25th anniversary of Back to the Future.
Click here to go download it!
Head here to subscribe in iTunes!
U62: The Targ on Facebook
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Birthday Movies
So, yesterday was my birthday. I have a small tradition. On my birthday, I go see a movie. I just love movies and can't think of a better way to celebrate.
I remember every movie I've seen on my birthday ever since I started doing this. I'm getting old, and my memory is starting to do funny things, so I find it best to sit down and jot down the list when I have a moment of lucidity. So, the list:
1988 - Short Circuit 2
1989 - Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
1990 - Back to the Future Part III
1991 - The Rocketeer
1992 - Batman Returns
1993 - Jurassic Park
1994 - The Flintstones
1995 - 18th Birthday, so I forwent the movie to do the whole "go to the bar for the first time" thing
1996 - Independence Day
1997 - Canceled. Summer job
1998 - Mulan
1999 - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
2000 - Shaft
2001 - Canceled. Family function
2002 - Men in Black II
2003 - Canceled. Illness
2004 - Fahrenheit 9/11
2005 - Herbie: Fully Loaded
2006 - Superman Returns
2007 - Transformers
2008 - WALL-E
2009 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
As for 2010, I'll probably be seeing my birthday movie this weekend. Haven't decided what it'll be yet. There's two classics from my childhood remade for the big screen: The Karate Kid and The A-Team. I'm mildly curious about both. Predators looks somewhat good. I wanted to see The Last Airbender, because I liked the cartoon, but the reviews have been very bad. It'll probably be The A-Team.
I remember every movie I've seen on my birthday ever since I started doing this. I'm getting old, and my memory is starting to do funny things, so I find it best to sit down and jot down the list when I have a moment of lucidity. So, the list:
1988 - Short Circuit 2
1989 - Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
1990 - Back to the Future Part III
1991 - The Rocketeer
1992 - Batman Returns
1993 - Jurassic Park
1994 - The Flintstones
1995 - 18th Birthday, so I forwent the movie to do the whole "go to the bar for the first time" thing
1996 - Independence Day
1997 - Canceled. Summer job
1998 - Mulan
1999 - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
2000 - Shaft
2001 - Canceled. Family function
2002 - Men in Black II
2003 - Canceled. Illness
2004 - Fahrenheit 9/11
2005 - Herbie: Fully Loaded
2006 - Superman Returns
2007 - Transformers
2008 - WALL-E
2009 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
As for 2010, I'll probably be seeing my birthday movie this weekend. Haven't decided what it'll be yet. There's two classics from my childhood remade for the big screen: The Karate Kid and The A-Team. I'm mildly curious about both. Predators looks somewhat good. I wanted to see The Last Airbender, because I liked the cartoon, but the reviews have been very bad. It'll probably be The A-Team.
Labels:
life,
Movie stuff
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Wonder Woman's Makeover
So, there's been lots of hype and hullabaloo the past few days over Wonder Woman's new costume.
You'd think the way people are acting, this is the first time a superhero has donned a new costume. It's one of those things where everyone expects me to have an opinion, but I really don't, so I guess I'll say something anyway.
Again, I don't understand why this became so newsworthy. One of the comic book reviewers at Mania.com was quick to point why this really isn't news. Essentially, when it comes to comics, the status quo is never shaken up for long. Inside a year, they'll probably hit the great galactic reset button and everything will be back to normal. Hell, three years ago, as part of DC's whole "One Year Later" storyline, Wonder Woman lost her powers, donned a new costume, and even a new identity. No major media coverage then. Why now?
What I find funny is that everyone's focused on the new costume that they've hardly mentioned her dramaticialy revamped origin story to go along with it. In her original origin, the Amazons have lived in peace, tranquility, and immortality on the hidden island of Paradise Island. With the ever-expanding world, it was known that their island would soon be discovered, so Wonder Woman was sent out into the world as emissary and ambassador. In her new origin, Paradise Island was wiped out by dark forces when she was 3 years old, and she's been in hiding ever since, raised by the handmaidens of the queen of the Amazons.
Of course, it turns that this destruction of Paradise Island was caused by altering the timeline through time-travel wackiness. So, there you go. The ending has already been written. At the conclusion of this adventure, things will be put back to normal, and the original costume will be back.
Nothing's ever a permanent change in comic books. As the old industry saying goes, "No one stays dead except Uncle Ben."
Now, that being said, I have been enjoying the mainstream exposure Wonder Woman has been getting because of this. She's one of the big 3 of DC Comics, right there alongside Batman and Superman, but she still just isn't quite as well-known as those two. We're still crying for a kick-ass live-action Wonder Woman movie to be made. We're getting close, though. As I've said to many others, you really should seek out that straight-to-DVD Wonder Woman animated movie that came out last year. It's the best of these direct-to-DVD movies that DC has been putting out. Seriously. Just give me a live-action movie version of this and I'd be happy.
Again, I don't understand why this became so newsworthy. One of the comic book reviewers at Mania.com was quick to point why this really isn't news. Essentially, when it comes to comics, the status quo is never shaken up for long. Inside a year, they'll probably hit the great galactic reset button and everything will be back to normal. Hell, three years ago, as part of DC's whole "One Year Later" storyline, Wonder Woman lost her powers, donned a new costume, and even a new identity. No major media coverage then. Why now?
What I find funny is that everyone's focused on the new costume that they've hardly mentioned her dramaticialy revamped origin story to go along with it. In her original origin, the Amazons have lived in peace, tranquility, and immortality on the hidden island of Paradise Island. With the ever-expanding world, it was known that their island would soon be discovered, so Wonder Woman was sent out into the world as emissary and ambassador. In her new origin, Paradise Island was wiped out by dark forces when she was 3 years old, and she's been in hiding ever since, raised by the handmaidens of the queen of the Amazons.
Of course, it turns that this destruction of Paradise Island was caused by altering the timeline through time-travel wackiness. So, there you go. The ending has already been written. At the conclusion of this adventure, things will be put back to normal, and the original costume will be back.
Nothing's ever a permanent change in comic books. As the old industry saying goes, "No one stays dead except Uncle Ben."
Now, that being said, I have been enjoying the mainstream exposure Wonder Woman has been getting because of this. She's one of the big 3 of DC Comics, right there alongside Batman and Superman, but she still just isn't quite as well-known as those two. We're still crying for a kick-ass live-action Wonder Woman movie to be made. We're getting close, though. As I've said to many others, you really should seek out that straight-to-DVD Wonder Woman animated movie that came out last year. It's the best of these direct-to-DVD movies that DC has been putting out. Seriously. Just give me a live-action movie version of this and I'd be happy.
Labels:
Opinions I Should Keep to Myself
Monday, July 05, 2010
More on Superman/Batman: Apocolypse
So, hey, remember last week when I was telling you about the new straight-to-DVD animated movie Superman/Batman: Apocalypse?
Hey, the Internet is magic, how about if I make this text link to the relevant blog entry? Now I don't have to retype everything. Yay, HTML!
So, we've got all kinds of new information on it that I need to pass along.
First up, more of the big celebrity voice cast. Andre Braugher does the voice of our main villain, the New God warlord Darkseid. And Ed Asner reprises his Superman: The Animated Series role of Darkseid's drill sergeant, Granny Goodness.
DC/Warner Brothers have also begun this thing called DC Showcase, where each of these direct-to-DVD movies includes a 10-minute short film highlighting a B-list hero in the DC Universe. On the Superman/Batman: Apocalypse DVD, we'll be treated to a short featuring the adventures of Green Arrow. Written by veteran comic book and animation writer Greg Weisman, we follow the adventures of Oliver Queen as he heads to the airport to pick up his girlfriend, only to have to suit up and do battle with the evil archer Merlyn the Magnificent who's there to assassinate a visiting princess. Neil McDonough does the voice of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, and Malcolm McDowell does the voice of Merlyn.
Anyway, bonus stuff! As has become the trend, it's available in the 3 versions: single-disc, movie-only edition, 2-disc special edition, and Blu-Ray.
On the 2-disc special edition, you get:
Don't forget, the next DTV animated film, Batman: Under the Red Hood, comes out on July 27.
Hey, the Internet is magic, how about if I make this text link to the relevant blog entry? Now I don't have to retype everything. Yay, HTML!
So, we've got all kinds of new information on it that I need to pass along.
First up, more of the big celebrity voice cast. Andre Braugher does the voice of our main villain, the New God warlord Darkseid. And Ed Asner reprises his Superman: The Animated Series role of Darkseid's drill sergeant, Granny Goodness.
DC/Warner Brothers have also begun this thing called DC Showcase, where each of these direct-to-DVD movies includes a 10-minute short film highlighting a B-list hero in the DC Universe. On the Superman/Batman: Apocalypse DVD, we'll be treated to a short featuring the adventures of Green Arrow. Written by veteran comic book and animation writer Greg Weisman, we follow the adventures of Oliver Queen as he heads to the airport to pick up his girlfriend, only to have to suit up and do battle with the evil archer Merlyn the Magnificent who's there to assassinate a visiting princess. Neil McDonough does the voice of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, and Malcolm McDowell does the voice of Merlyn.
Anyway, bonus stuff! As has become the trend, it's available in the 3 versions: single-disc, movie-only edition, 2-disc special edition, and Blu-Ray.
On the 2-disc special edition, you get:
- A sneak peak at the next DTV animated film. (Rumored to be a Green Lantern one, to tie in with next year's live-action movie)
- A featurette on the history of Supergirl in the comics.
- 2 bonus episodes of The New Batman/Superman Adventures
- A featurette on the New Gods, focusing on the villainous Darkseid
- 2 featurettes on the New Gods superheroes Orion and Mr. Miracle
- 2 MORE bonus episodes of The New Batman/Superman Adventures
Don't forget, the next DTV animated film, Batman: Under the Red Hood, comes out on July 27.
Labels:
DVD
Sunday, July 04, 2010
The New Spider-Man Is....
Well, one of the questions that dominated pop culture for the past few months is who will be the new Spider-Man?
Let me bring you up to speed. After months of negotiations, Sony Studios (the movie company that makes the Spider-Man films) and Sam Raimi (director of the first three Spider-Man films) couldn't agree on a direction for Spider-Man 4. So, Sony dismissed Raimi from the film and decided to reboot the franchise. Three films in, and we're starting over at #1.
Mark Webb, who directed last year's hit indie rom-com (500) Days of Summer, was given the nod to direct the reboot. The decision was made to base it on the critically acclaimed, wildly popular reboot Ultimate Spider-Man, and a release date of July 2012 was set.
But we still needed a new Peter Parker.
After auditioning pretty much anyone under 30 in Hollywood, it was announced on Canada Day that they settled on this guy...Andrew Garfield.
Garfield is still rather new to the biz...he was in the film The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnasus and he'll be seen this fall in the biopic on Facebook's creators, The Social Network.
You know, I'm pretty much on board for anything with this reboot, just as long as they don't make us sit through the origin story again. That first film is still fresh in people's minds...we don't need to see that radioactive spider bite again.
Let me bring you up to speed. After months of negotiations, Sony Studios (the movie company that makes the Spider-Man films) and Sam Raimi (director of the first three Spider-Man films) couldn't agree on a direction for Spider-Man 4. So, Sony dismissed Raimi from the film and decided to reboot the franchise. Three films in, and we're starting over at #1.
Mark Webb, who directed last year's hit indie rom-com (500) Days of Summer, was given the nod to direct the reboot. The decision was made to base it on the critically acclaimed, wildly popular reboot Ultimate Spider-Man, and a release date of July 2012 was set.
But we still needed a new Peter Parker.
After auditioning pretty much anyone under 30 in Hollywood, it was announced on Canada Day that they settled on this guy...Andrew Garfield.
Garfield is still rather new to the biz...he was in the film The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnasus and he'll be seen this fall in the biopic on Facebook's creators, The Social Network.
You know, I'm pretty much on board for anything with this reboot, just as long as they don't make us sit through the origin story again. That first film is still fresh in people's minds...we don't need to see that radioactive spider bite again.
Labels:
Movie stuff
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