Transformers TV Spots

Check out these amazing new tv spots for the Transformers movie; care of the good folks at IGN. Very very sweet :) Can't wait until July...






Wow.

TVOTR - the dissonant symphony

So, while I meant to write about this yesterday I've been feeling pretty sick with a cold lately and I just didn't feel like it until now. On Wednesday Devon and I went to an absolutely amazing show at the Fillmore. TV on the Radio. I know I've mentioned how much I like them before here, and I really really want to encourage everyone to go check them out. They've got a really new and unique sound that really blew me away the first time I heard them. If there's anything to gripe about in their studio recordings though it would be that firstly the sound is too clean for what it could be and secondly that a number of their best songs aren't fast enough. Seriously though I'm not at all knocking them; just go to their Myspace page and check out Staring at the Sun and Wolf Like Me. They're pretty amazing songs as they are. And after this concert I have to just say WOW once again.

I was totally blown away with how solid these guys are. Their presence is amazing. The sounds all all over each other, chords overlapping, and straining against each other. Its like this amazing and beautiful harmony of sometimes really conflicting sounds. And the vocals have this great dissonance, where things are just off kilter enough to keep everything fresh and unexpected. They also really infused their live performance with a ton of energy. The songs I had thought were slow before we're amped up, and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.

Check out this great live performance I found of them, from May of last year at the Showbox in Seattle, very good stuff.

Mario and Sonic together at last

No, not in a gay way.

Nintendo's iconic little plumber Super Mario and Sega's blue speed demon Sonic the Hedgehog are FINALLY teaming up in a game: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Being developed by Sega under the supervision of gaming legend and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto I'm expecting real greatness.

The game is being set for release by Xmas for the Wii and the DS. Frankly I couldn't be more excited. Secondary characters have been revealed as Luigi, Yoshi, Knuckles, and Tails. Ever since the days of the ever so awesome Track & Field for the NES I've enjoyed my way through Olympic themed video games. And now that I will finally be able to rest easy in the clear and final knowledge of who would win at a pole vault competition Mario or Sonic I think my life is complete.

Thank you Nintendo. Thank you Sega.

And of course thank you Bernard for the heads up on this...

Star Wars Stamps

Well, I totally called it didn't I?

The United States Postal Service and the Star Wars people have teamed up and will be releasing some 30th anniversary commemorative stamps. In an elaborate ceremony presented outside Grumman's Chinese theater today The US Director of Stamp Services David Foiler will reveal the stamps accompanied by R2 D2, Darth Vader, and a regiment of Stormtroopers....

Not that this isn't like super exciting news or anything... but come on, stamps?! Can't we do better than that? I think they should have every mail carrier dress as a Stormtrooper for like a month or two. That would be totally sweet. Maybe repaint the mail trucks to look like X-Wings or something. This is just a bit boring. And that's not to say I won't be buying them, Oh I definitely will, but I think I was hoping it'd be more exciting.

So if you head over to www.uspsjedimaster.com now you'll see a bunch of stuff there now. For only the second time in history (the first being I believe with the fat/old vs thin/young Elvis) the USPS is allowing you to vote for the best Star Wars themed stamp. Although the Vader stamp is tempting I think I'm going to have to go with this sweet looking Millennium Falcon stamp for my vote. Maybe tomorrow I'll vote for Vader, or Yoda. Anyhow, go check it out if you're interested. Not sure I understand exactly what they're doing though... Are we only getting a single stamp? or are we voting for the best just for the hell of it? I'm sure all will be clear in time. Also it looks like they're bringing out some new SW themed express mail parcels soon; so I suppose that is more than just stamps. Oh and it looks like you can even enter a sweepstakes to win a trip to this years Star Wars Celebration IV at the end of May in LA. I guess that's pretty cool.

What do you guys think? Was this too much hype? Or am I just a tool for blogging twice about Star Wars stamps... some days I'm just not sure.

Optimus / Megatron one sheets

Hot on the heels of the news a few days ago that Hugo Weaving will be voicing the menage known as Megatron, the marketing team for the Transformers movie has kicked into high gear by not only launching a MySpace page where you can become friends of either the Autobots, or the Decepticons, but also by releasing these two phenomenal one sheets. Check out AICN for huge versions of these pics. Aren't they just completely awesome... wow.

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28 Weeks Later trailer

It seems like only a few days ago that I was talking about the cool retro propaganda style poster for the zombie filled sequel 28 Weeks Later. And now for your viewing pleasure here is the pretty sweet trailer for that movie. If you go to the official apple trailer page you can see this in HD, but in the words of Demetri Martin, "if there's one thing I like more than watching movies, it's watching them smaller and blurrier!" Enjoy...

Concept is everything

There's a new show on VH1 called Acceptable TV that just premiered last Friday, and the concept of the show is really pretty novel.

Basically its a sketch comedy show, only instead of strictly random comedy sketches, the cast make a series of mini tv shows, each about 5 minutes long. On every 30 minute episode there will be five of these cast created tv shows, and then a sixth one that is sent in by the audience / online fan community. Anyhow, after watching these five cast created mini tv shows, what exec producer Jack Black and the other creators of Acceptable TV want you to do is go online, or text, a vote for your favorite two mini shows. and then the two most popular shows will have another episode created. The remaining three shows will be replaced with all new mini tv shows the next week and the process begins again. Does that make sense?

So really it's a sketch popularity contest. The sketches that get the most votes will have their stories continued in another installment, and the ones that don't will disappear. Also one of the five sketches each week will be an animated sketch. And at least so far I think the sketches have been generally pretty funny, kinda quirky, and enjoyable. I bet it's going to be tough on these guys though, considering they will have to literally make two new sketches out of nothing in just a few short days. I'm impressed with the concept though. At least its original. Hopefully we'll get a few good laughs out of it.

Check out this, my favorite, sketch from the first episode, and go over to http://acceptable.tv to see the rest.

Librarians are hiding something

at least I think so...

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Day Watch trailer

While I wasn't blogging at the time when I saw the very fun Russian dark fantasy film Night Watch (Nochnoy Dozor), I did talk about it a long time ago on my podcast (On Hold...ep003). I really enjoyed the film quite a lot for what it was, and now that I see the sequel is finally hitting the Western shores I'm even more happy. Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor) is the second part of the four part series based on some extremely popular fantasy books. I know many of you won't have seen Night Watch but, just look at this new trailer for the sequel and tell me you aren't intrigued. Sure the effects aren't Hollywood blockbuster quality, but I can look past that to an extent, especially since the story is pretty engaging. Click for the nice Apple trailer page with all sorts of formats for your viewing pleasure, or just check it out here...



Note that this is the English language trailer. When I saw Night Watch it was only screeing in Russian with subtitles. I'm not sure which version we'll get stateside this time around. Hopefully both so people can decide for themselves. If you do get a chance though I'd really strongly recommend the subtitled version. Because at least on Night Watch the subtitles are by far the most inventive and entertaining complementary art I've ever seen in the form. Really they have to be seen to believed.

R2 D2 mailbox found

I actually found one! As you should all know by now, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, Lucas has teamed up with the usps, yes United States Postal Service to decorate select mailboxes around the country like beloved astromech R2 D2. I'm very excited that I actually found one. If I had more room, and it wasn't a felony, I would definitely steal one of them. As you can see from the picture the mailbox has a website emblazoned onto the side of it. Now what you may ask is actually waiting for you at www.uspsjedimaster.com? Well it turns out; a mystery....

After a cute little video where we see how R2 is really just a glorified mailbox, we are left with the rather cryptic message that "on March 28th two powerful forces will unite" and then a text box where you can enter your email addy and they can send you all the info on the day of the big reveal. Yes, I've entered my mail now, but what oh what could it be??? I presume the two powerful forces are the usps and Lucas, but what have they got up their sleeve? My guess, commemorative stamps. But really are some new stamps worth all this trouble?!

What do you think?

the real Stardust trailer

In an attempt to appease the internet and media gods I really recommend you check out the OFFICIAL Stardust trailer, now for your viewing pleasure on Yahoo Movies! in glorious HD. Actually the trailer is really much better, and quite different, than the other (Russian one) that I mentioned before. Also did anyone else go to the Stardust website and notice the lovely incidental site music? It's very simple but I like it a bunch. I'd like to hear the full score of this film at some point.

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80s slang poll

I just signed up for an account with Pollhost... why? because I have burning questions that only you can answer...

Which 80s word should come back?
	Radical (Rad)
	Moded
	Psyche
	Wicked
	Gnarly
	Bogus
	Rightous
	Boss
	Heavy
	Excellente
Free polls from Pollhost.com

My vote goes to RAD...

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revealing Stardust

So this morning I came to work to see that my friend Bernard had pointed me towards the semi-leaked trailer for a the upcoming fantasy film Stardust. Written by uber-popular comic book god Neil Gaiman, and directed by L4yer Cake helmer Matthew Vaughn, it's the story of a young man's quest to capture a fallen star/girl and take her safely across a fantastic and dangerous world beset with monsters, witches and other spooky stuff trying to capture the girl for their own nefarious devices. And why would this young hero attempt such a feat? why for true love of course.

Sure it sounds a bit sappy, but man the film looks cool. And what a stellar cast! Charlie Cox, Claire Daines, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert DeNiro, Sienna Miller, Peter O'Toole, Rupert Everett, and Ricky Gervais. Thats some very solid talent.

Check out the trailer here. Its a bit rough still, and has Russian subtitles on it, but I'm sure an official one will come out very soon. Especially since the official Stardust site launched just today. The movie will come out later this year, on August 10th.

What's got me personally very excited about the film though is the reported fan reaction to test screenings! Apparently audiences have, on the whole, been completely blown away with what they've seen prompting the studio to push the release to this summer. They seem to be betting on Stardust being a blockbuster, and I certainly hope it is. I really like the look of the trailer, and want a film like this to finally live up to my hopes for it. We'll have to keep our eyes peeled for more.

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28 Weeks Later poster

Check out this great poster for the upcoming film 28 Weeks Later


I don't know if you saw the film 28 Days Later, with Callian Murphy, and Christopher Eccleston, but I personally loved it. Not that I'm normally a huge zombie fan, but I really enjoyed that one. Even if you have seen it I really recommend you go check out the dvd. On the special features of it there are a number of alternate endings to the film, but there is also one very different take on the movie that departs at about the midway point. The special feature shows us the storyboards of this radically different film while I can't remember... it's either director Danny Boyle or writer Alex Garland, read the script as it was in that draft. Very very interesting stuff.

So while 28 Weeks Later is not directed by Boyle, it still looks pretty interesting. As far as I can tell, it's a pretty loose sequel, that centers around the zombie plague virus being set off once again in London. I love the propaganda style poster. And the film stars Robert Carlyle, who is pretty great all around. It's set for release on May 11th, and the trailer should premiere this Friday with The Hills have Eyes 2. It's also notably being release as one of the first films under the FOX Atomic banner. Check out some interesting articles on the film and some recently screened footage here and here. I'll definitely be hoping for the best on this one.

aaaarrrgh

so frustrating!

Ok people. Word to the wise. When installing the new update to iTunes remember to unplug you ipod from your computer. I just lost all of my videos. And my podcasts got transferred onto a playlist called podcast. Thank god I've still got the songs. Thank god it wasn't wiped.

But man, what a bummer...

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A Pirates Life For Me...

Even though a part of me wants to hate these films for being Disney cheesyness, man I really just can't help but love em. In case you missed it here's the very fun new trailer for the third and presumably final installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, subtitled At World's End... very cool.

Track 50

a friend pointed me towards this great little web application today called Track 50.

Simply put, it's a website that will keep track of any band you like and then send you emails when that band is having a concert in your area. It's simple and seems to work well. I know that awhile ago I mentioned the pretty cool iTunes plugin called iConcertCal which does much the same thing only based on whatever you've got in your iTunes library. But for someone like me it didn't actually work that well in a practical sense. I have my music scattered and separated between 3 different computers as well as some being just stuck on my ipod so while I think in principal its great; it didn't end up helping me too much.

This Track 50 is very straightforward though. I definitely think you should check it out. Although, I'm not sure if its set up for all over the country yet, they do have listings for shows in most major cities. Oh and they've even got this handy little flash badge to paste onto your blog

While I can't go to every show and already have stuff planned for many of the dates, already Track 50 has reminded me to get tickets to Arcade Fire, which I did, and I'm about to get some for JET. Very cool, eh?

TMNT review

So I got to see a slightly advanced screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this weekend. And here's my review of it for you, care of my Flixter page. Enjoy.

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A really excellent if straightforward story, TMNT builds on the already well established world of the turtles. Thankfully we don't have to sit through another boring origin tale. Instead we jump right into the franchise, and story already in progress. This movie works well because it's a character piece, and although it might be a bit light on the action when compared to even its Saturday morning equivalent, the relationships are treated with a maturity that surprised and impressed me. I found myself honestly interested in the personal conflicts between Raphael and Leonardo, the group dynamic of a broken team, and the b-storyline of April and Casey's rocky relationship. I'm not sure kids will really dig this movie as much as someone slightly older though. There are action scenes that literally take place just off camera, or just before we arrive at the scene. And while it often might be more interesting as a character study to directly see the effects of the action its also frustrating to me, and I would presume doubly so for kids, to 'just miss out' on a number of potentially cool fight scenes. That said there are a few absolutely stellar fights in the movie, notably one amazing sequence on a rooftop in the rain. There are also a few moments in the film where the texturing of the CG is jaw-droppingly good; and the fluidity of movement throughout is really top notch. Finally, the voice work is absolutely impeccable; I worry what they'll do without Mako for the next film. And that's really what it comes down to, this film was such a tease in so many ways. if the goal is to make the audience want to see more, then it definitely succeeds. Sure it was entertaining, and a great character piece, but the kid in me wants more action, I want more adventure, I want to see more shell-kicking turtles made with this much quality and care. I hope this film succeeds with the kids, because I think it definitely will with the slightly older crowd, but if the kids can go for it then we might just be lucky enough to see more of the ninja turtles in the near future and that would make me very happy.

3.5/5

slow down indy...

it's me isn't it? I know it is... I've been getting ahead of myself again.

Mere hours after posting about Cate Blanchett in the new Indy film, my friend Tara pointed me to this story over at EW.com on their Popwatch Blog. Shia LaBeouf has been out at ShoWest in Las Vegas this past week doing press for Disturbia, Transformers, and Surf's Up. Apparently after being questioned on the whole Indiana Jones casting news, he claims that it's all just a big rumor. That there's nothing to it at all. What??? Is this just clever deflection? Is it for real?

I do actually hope its real, 'cause I like LaBeouf and I think he'd be a well cast as Indiana Jones Jr. Unfortunately, we won't really know anything solid until we hear it from the studio. I hate waiting, but trust me, I'll be watching myself so I don't make any more pre-announcements like that again. This is exactly why I said I shouldn't be talking about this film ... stupid Variety...

ok everyone, go have a good afternoon. lates.

even more Indy casting!

The lovely and extremely talented Cate Blanchett has just signed on to join the cast of Indiana Jones 4! Now I know I said I wasn't going to get overly excited about this film, but with the recent casting of Shia LaBeouf as Indy's son, it looks like this film might really for real be getting made now! Holy cow!

Ok, so really there isn't too much to say about this news other than we all know and love Cate. She has a classic look that is elegant and I think will works well in any period setting. Just look at how great she was in The Aviator. Anyhow, we don't know who she is playing or what she is doing in the new Indiana Jones film. Really we don't even know what the basic plotline is. All we know is that it's coming from the uber-talented David Koepp, of Spider-Man, Jurassic, Park, Mission Impossible, etc etc etc fame. and that exec producer George Lucas has said it will be a "character piece" with "very interesting mysteries" and "the best one yet". Thanks George... thanks for nothing.

ahh... ok sorry sorry. I think I'm starting to let myself get too excited. IF this film gets made I will be very happy, for now, let's just watch and wait...

Happy National Potato Chip Day!!!

I bet you've been waiting for this all year, and today's the big day, so let's get ready to party! Today is you're favorite holiday and mine: National Potato Chip Day!!!

Ok, just kidding, I didn't realize it was a holiday either. Seems like it was probably made up by the snack food industry. But still... besides being very tasty potato chips have a rich and interesting history, and do really deserve their own day. At least more than any other snack food. I mean really, national pretzel day?! that would be totally ridiculous!

These days if I eat chips I like the Lays Mesquite BBQ best. After that I'd probably go for Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream. Although in the past I used to really like Ruffles Sour Cream and Bacon (sadly absent from the stores in San Fran), and All Dressed (which I don't think they even make in the states). Back when I was a kid, I used to love the Hostess company the best. Back in the day, the Canadian arm of Hostess was pretty aggressive in the chip market (I believe) as a response to competitors like the ever original Humpty Dumpty. So that said, I don't know if it was the stores I went to, or that they used my area of Toronto as a test market but they had some pretty weird and wonderful flavors over the years. I wish I'd kept the packages just to prove to people that I've actually tasted some of these oddball flavors: cucumber, fries and gravy, cheeseburger, pepperoni pizza, baked potato, probably 10 different kinds of BBQ chicken... just great stuff. Sure, some of them tasted god awful, but as a kid I really loved the excitement of finding a new flavor of chip. Of course, most of them didn't last, and some I only ever saw the one time I bought them, but what a great experience. And every now and then one of the freak flavors like All Dressed would somehow make it into mainstream. If you've got the munchies nothing else will do.

My most missed Canadian chip flavors here should be obvious to any canuck south of the border: Ketchup, and Dill Pickle...

These days it seems like the chip companies are a bit more reserved. Especially in the States. Oh sure we've got The Works now (baked potato with sour cream, chives, bacon), and San Francisco is enough of an international city that I've seen things like White Cheddar, and Curry flavored Pringles; but generally I feel like the age of crazy experimentation is gone. That's too bad if you ask me.

Anyhow, have a great National Chip Day, and why not let me know in the comments section what your favorite flavor of chip is....

Call me Snake...

Hot on the heels of an amazing $70 million opening weekend for 300, Gerard Butler, raging Scotsman and King Leonidas himself has now been linked to the role of Snake Plissken in a remake of John Carpenter's classic film "Escape From New York". According to Variety. Ken Nolan of Black Hawk Down fame is writing the script, and a bidding war has already erupted between rival studios for the rights to the picture.

If you haven't seen the original with Kurt Russell, you're really missing out. EFNY is my third favorite Kurt Russell film, right after The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China. It has action, adventure, snappy one liners, a very cool antihero who knows how to kick all sorts of ass, and its got just that perfect flavor of cheap early 80s sci-fi that makes you love it. It's a real guys movie; one of the best.

So the obvious question remains, does this really need to be remade? I don't know... Generally I'm not really in favor of remakes, but I think I could maybe see a newer, bigger budget Escape From New York being kinda cool. Gerard Butler is definitely good casting for the role, even though Russell is fantastic as Plissken. At least post 300 we know that Butler can kick ass. And despite some cheesy charm (and Bruce Campbell), the actual official sequel, Escape From LA, really didn't live up to the promise of the original. Maybe a remake is the way to go.

I just wonder, how does Gerard Butler look with an eyepatch?

a quick 300 review

Taken from my Flixter page. Please visit to check out my other reviews. I tend to jot down a paragraph, for every movie I see these days. Enjoy...

300
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The argument has been made that 300 is more dedicated to style over substance, and I can't say I wholly disagree with this. That's not to say it's a bad movie by any means, but 300 has such amazing and startling visuals I was hoping for more story to back it up. 300 has little more than a premise, a simple framework of a story, and little to no progression. It is predictable and small, there is zero development in character or motivation. But all that said, I can't help but love this film for what it is. The violence is extremely graphic, and the highly surrealized and muted brown world around the Spartan soldiers is so visually stimulating that I was really in mesmerized awe throughout the film. What holds this film back though, is the lack of story. While a film like Sin City is easily as violent as 300 I felt more connected with that film due to the backing of a solid story. If I was more invested in the characters of 300 I might've cared more about their fates. Overall though, this is a great fun and bloody film. And worth seeing on a big screen if you can.

4/5

Silver Surfer poster

Oddly, some of the pics from my last Fantastic Four post have gone missing... hmm... I wonder what happened to them. Well, it doesn't really matter, I've got a new picture here for you today. This is care of AICN, but I know I saw it online at least a week or so ago. Oh well, enjoy it. Cool poster. Click for a bigger view :)

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three times the casting

Three little bits of casting news.

Firstly and most importantly Shia LaBeouf has officially been cast as Indiana Jones' son in the new Indy movie. I know I said I wasn't going to talk about this film until it went into production because I didn't want to jinx it, but wow. It looks like maybe this film is actually really going to get made for real! As for LaBeouf, I actually like him. He's a kid who was brought up in the Disney system, and if I think has some genuine comic timing. I think he is pretty well cast as Spike in the Transformers film, and I'm interested to see him in something a bit more serious. Also, wasn't he just voted the actor of tomorrow???

The lovely Maggie Gyllenhaal has been cast in the role of psychiatrist Rachel Dawes, previously played by Katie Holmes, in The Dark Knight. I knew that Katie had dropped out last year, but I hadn't payed too much attention to it, one: because I figured they were just going to introduce a new female lead a la every other Batman film, and two: I hate Katie Holmes. So really I didn't realize that she had left a big continuing role in a huge movie, I more or less just assumed she was asked to leave. Considering Maggie has been cast as the same character though, I wonder if this is something that Katie will be kicking herself over for a long time. I liked Batman Begins, and with Heath Ledger as the Joker, and Aaron Eckhart playing Two Face I think this could be a really great sequel.

Finally, while its not exactly casting news, Jeff Bridges' role in the upcoming Iron Man movie has been revealed. He will play Obidiah Stane, a wealthy businessman and professional rival to Tony Stark. In the comics he briefly took over Stark's company after some shady business dealing, but after a lot of complicated things happened, Tony got it back. Stane went on to become the villain known as Iron Monger and that's really that. I'd be surprised if they've gone for a second villain in the Iron Man flick; as they're already confirmed to be going with the Mandarin storyline, but I could definitely see Favreau planting the seeds. Setting up characters for a sequel, much like Sam Raimi did with Dr Connors/Lizard in Spider-Man. Only time will tell though. Regardless if we get to see any real Iron Monger action or not, this is still a cool development.

300 Trailer and a bonus!

So check out this hardcore trailer for 300. Its just fantastically badass. While I know this can't be as gory as Sin City, this R-rated trailer definitely has me wondering if it might come close. I'm planning on seeing this film on Saturday, so I should be able to let you know what I think of it next week. But seriously just watch this vid.



Damn, that's cool. But why you may wonder exactly is this video like 6 minutes long, when the trailer is only two minutes thirty seconds. Well director Zach Snyder has hidden a little bonus in the filler at the end. It's a single frame of footage visible apparently at the 1:52 mark. The image in question is a test frame from Snyder's next project the MUCH anticipated Watchmen film. I'm keeping my fingers crossed this actually gets made. Its been a really long haul to bring it to the screen, and I had all my hopes up last year when Paul Greengrass was on it, so now I'm just holding back until production actually begins. But wow man. I mean WOW.


Click on the pic for a bigger view. This is a picture, coming from Harry over at Ain't it Cool News, is of the protagonist in Watchman, Rorshach. He is the last active member of a former group of one time superheroes. One of his old partners has now been killed, and he has decided to uncover why. He is the detective, he is the everyman; and the story follows his race to find out who is committed and continues to commit the ongoing crimes against 'masks'.

If you don't read comics you might not know. But Watchmen is considered by many people, including me, to be the best comic of all time. It is the only comic to ever win a Hugo award, was the first great superhero deconstruction story, popularized the graphic novel format, has been taught at university level classes, and has influenced American culture, comics, and film since its publication in the mid 80s. It is an amazing, layered and intricate story that grips you from beginning to end.

Man, now I really want to read it again. Seriously, alongside Maus, and Give me Liberty this book has changed the way I read. I'll tell you, I've got a friend who I've been lending comics to for almost a year now, trying to slowly expose him to the right ones, and its only just now that I think he might be ready to ready and appreciate Watchmen. maybe. It is a book that says SO much and is so important to me, and a ton of other people out there, that I know we all want to see it done justice on the big screen... that is if it can really even be made into a film.

The picture is awesome, the picture is WOW, not because it literally shows anything that spectacular, but in that it represents the farthest development anyone has come towards making this movie a reality.

I know Alan Moore hates the movie adaptations of his work, and in most cases rightly so, but for the rest of us geeks. This is some great news, and a very cool little bonus.

death of a hero

I'm surprised but not overly upset to hear about the death of Captain America (wiki). I've only ever read a smattering of his comics, although I am very interested in check out The Winter Soldier story from a year or two ago. But generally speaking I'm familiar with the character like most of the rest of you probably are. He is a pop culture icon. He was the first real hero for Marvel, and an obvious answer to DC's Superman. Especially as a Canadian, I was never super into Captain America's perceived politics. I say perceived, because from what I can tell Captain America truthfully has not ever been a real reflection of the national politics of America, but more of the people. Oh sure he fought Nazis and probably hated the Communists like everyone, but from the samplings I've read, most of which are fairly recent, Captain America stands for what's really best about the country: it's people, and it's ideals. I know in the Ultimate line of books, which I love, Captain America has even talked openly about not agreeing with many of the governments policies. This is the Captain America that I enjoy, the Captain America I respect. But am I representative? Not really...

In this article C.A. series writer Ed Brubaker touches on the current dichotomy of character when he said that "hard-core left-wing fans want Cap to be standing out on and giving speeches on the streetcorner against the Bush administration, and all the really right-wing [fans] all want him to be over in the streets of Baghdad, punching out Saddam." If Captain America stands for, or can be considered a metaphor for, the people; then by his nature he, and the series must be in a very conflicted state. Maybe killing Cap for the time being is the only way to avoid alienating part of the fan base. Or maybe they wanted to make a comment about the state of the world, and America's role in it. Cause it definitely is a powerful message to have this symbol killed. But I'm not sure it actually helps anything. What do we learn from Captain America's death? And who's going to pick up the pieces?

I'd like to see Marvel continue the Captain America series, for a while at least. Show the fallout of this event, show what happens. I suspect they will, assuming they follow the path set out by The Death of Superman storyline. And while I think it might be really interesting if they let this series lie for a time. I expect them to bring it, and Captain America back into action soon enough. Consequence is a funny thing in comics. Heroes deal with it so often, but we as readers all know that lasting change almost never comes. Heck, I'm currently reading The Life and Death of Captain Marvel, one of their greatest characters ever, whose poignant death from cancer heralded the origin of the modern graphic novel. But as of Civil War, even he couldn't be left in peace. With Marvel finally cutting through the legal red tape, and looking to gear up for a Captain America movie, and sporting an Avengers movie in their designs can we really expect the hero not to return?

I encourage Marvel to really let Captain America rest, allow this to resonate through their comics, and in the community. His death now is of course significant, but not by much if we aren't faced with the consequences. But leaving him dead; now that would be brave, and that message might have some true meaning.

The blog and SMod...

I spent a bit of time today cleaning up the sidebar of this very site. I got rid of a bunch of links. Added a couple of new ones. Hope thats ok Laura. And, took off/relabeled a bunch of the tags on the posts. I wish I could have that stupid long label list only show label with like say 5 or more mentions. As it is I'm going to try to be a bit more conservative with my tags. Anyhow, all this means to you, is that if you're subscribe to the Feed here, you might see a few screwups. Not to worry, though everything is well under control and will be abck on track starting now.

In other news I've recently discovered a new favorite podcast, hosted by non other than the infamous Kevin Smith. Yes, that kevin smith... It's called the SModcast, and there are only 4 episodes up so far. If you've never heard Kevin tell a story you are really in for a treat, he is abso-fuckin hilarious. Check it out. Available on their website, or just search in iTunes. So check 'em all out, oh and it's definitely NSFW..

NBCs Spider-Man 3 exclusive

Here are some pics that I captured off of the 7 exclusive minutes of Spider-Man 3 footage currently, for a limited time of 72 hours, showing on NBC.com. Its pretty great stuff... These ones are all from the really sweet fight scene between Peter and Harry as the new Green Goblin.

These next ones are from the quick, maybe 30 second, trailer that is attached to the end of thee exclusive scenes... I'm really loving the designs

That's all for now, you guys should definitely go watch this footage for yourself. That fight scene is amazing!

NBC does some good

Did you watch Heroes tonight? I hope you did because it was pretty sweet. There was action, and a good follow through on almost all of the storylines. Not as emotional as last week's episode but it leads into a great set up for the final 'pod' of episodes in a few weeks. I'm pretty happy with where we're at, although I do think I will make a point of watching this episode again to make sure I understood everything that happened. Oh and maybe even with the cast commentary over at NBC online.

During the episode they also showed a new trailer for Spider-Man 3. It was pretty sweet and very Harry as the new Green Goblin centric. The other big news is that for apparently the next 72 hours only over at NBC.com you can check out 7 full additional minutes from Spidey 3 in HD no less! I'm downloading it as I type this, so I haven't seen it yet, but I expect greatness.

As for The Black Donnellys, well despite what critics said before the first episode I really am liking the show. I thought that maybe there was some moments of weirdness this episode like with Tommy getting down to his tidy whities to hammer away at the corpse, was it just me or was he a little overly buffed out? And also I don't really understand why Jenny can't be with Tommy, or for that matter whats really the deal with Joey ice cream? On the other hand, I loved the fact that Tommy and Jenny actually get together, even if she thinks she can't be with him. I loved seeing Kate Mulgrew back on tv, and am I crazy or was that Peter Weller as Irish mob boss Huey's phycho brother with the axe?! If it wasn't it was someone who sure looked like him... I also loved pretty much all of the interactions between Kevin and Tommy. It was a really solid episode, and apparently you can watch it, and the next episode over at NBC.com. It's not up as I type this, but check in tomorrow morning. Oh and if you want more, here's a link to the official Black Donnellys blog.

Good job tonight NBC, and nice work on the web stuff. I was heartily entertained and remain impressed.

Wondercon and more...

This weekend I hit up San Francisco's big comic con, called Wondercon. I was only there for a day with my friends Jan and Cecile, but it was a fun time. I didn't have much cash or anything so I didn't want to stick around too long. It's a growing convention that really is attracting some big names and interesting panels but I just knew that if I let myself get sucked into it I would end up dedicating the entire weekend to it. Instead I just rolled in for a quick few hours, browsed a bit, only picked up 3 new graphic novels, all of which were half off, and then headed out. Check out some of these pics though. The Batman suit is totally sweet, but man that guy must've been hot. I mean it actually looks like it's real rubber. ugh! Anyhow, check this

I had originally had plans to stick around for the panels on 300, Resident Evil: Extinction, and of course Spider-Man 3, but in the end I decided that I'd rather come home and spend some more time with Erica this weekend. Someone over at Ain't It Cool News sent in a lengthy and fairly interesting report on the goings on of said panels. Although, there really wasn't any earth shattering new information. And even with the big Spider-Man stuff, all they got was new trailer, that's actually airing officially with Heroes this Monday night, so not too much of a big preview there. Wondercon may be a fun convention, but its still nothing to rival San Diego. For which I incidentally already have my ticket, booked to :)

A few filmy bits of news that I might as well throw in here for you. Lena Heady who will be playing the titular protagonist in The Sarah Connor Chronicles on FOX next Fall was speaking with Sci FI Wire about the role, and mentioned some info that I hadn't heard yet. Apparently the super-smokingly hot Summer Glau from Firefly will be playing a Terminator. In the story, which takes place between T2 and T3, we'll see two terminators return from the future, one good one and one evil. No word who will be the good one but my guess is Summer Glau, whose character will be called Cameron in honor of James. Maybe a little robotic love interest for John... I could see that happening. Oh and apparently this news is technically coming out of an interview done at Wondercon... who knew.

Here's some cool new art for Spider-Man 3... see it more and even bigger over at Comingsoon.net. Opens May 4th, and I'm getting pretty excited :)



Lets see, what else, well Danny Boyle's film Sunshine which I talked about here before is being delayed until December. Hopefully that isn't as bad a sign as the Dark Horizons guys think it is...

There's recently been some speculation as to what Galactus will eventually look like in the new Fantastic Four film. I admit it, I am guilty of it too, but really, I'm just excited. Well Tim Story announced on his MySpace blog today that we shouldn't believe the hype. Galactus is being worked on right now, and the designs have not been locked yet.

Did I mention that last week sometime Warner Bros hired some writers to pen a Justice League screenplay? Well they did, and since it's something that I personally don't see actually happening anytime soon, I'm going to not talk about it until it becomes more real...

Early next year Kids WB will begin airing another new Spider-Man cartoon series! This is good good news. In this one Spidey will be a mere 16 years old, and facing the daily traumas of high school, alongside his superherodom. Anyone out there reading Ultimate Spider-Man? If this is as good as that then count me definitely in. Spidey is always cool, but Bendis has made him great again.

And finally back to AICN for some Star Wars news. At an event recently Lucas spoke about the new Clone Wars cartoon series, and the upcoming live action Star Wars series. I'm very excited by both, even thought the live action series won't be here until, if I remember right, 2010. One comment he made kinda pisses me off. In that he said the first Clone Wars series was like "a test", and that this new one is the real deal. Seriously man, I mean I know the guy is George Lucas, but I think most people agree that what Genndy Tartakovsky did on that show was create a world that was more involved than any of the prequels. So stop being a little bitch about it man. Lucas already pushed Genndy out of the way, and launched Lucasarts Singapore, specifically for the purpose of creating this new show. He's guaranteed to make ALL the money this time around, but show a little respect.... geez. Frankly I know most people, if they even care, won't realize that there's even a difference between the two series. Anyhow, that's my mini rant. Check those AICN comments though, there's a few more juicy tidbits.

Oh, if you're interested check out this cute trailer for a good looking new romantic comedy starring Adam Brody, who we all know and love as Seth from the OC. It's called In The Land of Women.

That's it for me, I'm wrapping up. Gotta sleep now. Last week was chock full of my Annual Performance Review, so now that I'm done with that I hope to be able to get back to a more regular update. Hope all's well with you kids. Stay kool, k. Peace.

Julia does Stand Up

Ok, so a friend of mine from back in the day when I was doing film work in Vancouver Julia, has recently started doing stand up. And because she's just about the ballsiest person I know she actually has posted her very first official attempt on stage at an improve night in LA over on YouTube.

There's some good stuff in here, especially nearer to the end. But more than that, I'm just so impressed that she would have the guts to do it at all. I know that I would probably never be brave enough for this. So really, great work. Check it out.