Year: 2008 | ComicMix

Review: ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’

Reviews
November 5, 2008

Since his debut in [[[Batman: The Animated Series]]], Warner Animation has seen to it Batman gets freshened every now and then. Animators swoop in, streamline the look and adjust the stories as time and tastes change. The most recent Batman series was perhaps the worst as it veered further and further away from its comic book source material so we suddenly had a Rastafarian Joker who knew martial arts. That incarnation has been mercifully retired and in its place we have [[[Batman: The Brave and the Bold]]].

As the title suggests, this is a Batman team-up show and owes much to the title where Batman co-starred with other characters for over 125 issues. The designs puff up the Caped Crusader so he looks as if Carmine Infantino or Mike Sekowsky was doing the model sheets.

Fortunately, the resemblance to the 1960s more or less ends there as the storytelling is quick and adventurous. This is a well-adjusted Batman who recognizes his place in the super-hero firmament. For example, in the debut episode, which airs on the Cartoon Network this coming Friday night, he specifically asks Blue Beetle along on a mission to check him out.

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Joss Whedon Talks Some More About ‘Dollhouse’

News
November 5, 2008

In an interview with Viceland, Joss Whedon talked about women (of course) and some more thoughts on what went into creating Dollhouse, which will debut this January on Fox.

On the issue of reality versus fiction, Whedon said, “That’s the whole point of the setting, is [Eliza Dushku’s] sense of self and her assertion of herself and getting past what people—even me—expect of her… People have already accepted that she can be something else, so she’s already gotten past Faith a little bit. She has been sort of pigeonholed, though.

“I don’t think we’re trapped in the Matrix, or trapped in the way that the Matrix actually means, where this isn’t really happening. But I do think that our idea of what life really means and what we are is different than what we’ve become. And how much of us is made up of what’s expected of us, how much of us is made up of our actual free will, is a lot to pin on people, especially in this country.”

Whedon went on to riff about the mind, admitting “it’s what interests me. I get less and less subtle. It’s the thing I want to talk about: What are we? Why? And why aren’t we better? In what ways are we being held accountable for things we’re actually OK about, and in what ways are we being let off for things we really should be dealing with? Because we deal with repurposing sex and what people want from each other we see right upfront the scariest parts of us, and some of the nicer parts as well. What those are are not necessarily what you’d expect. And of course, you know, other people might disagree but we have a saying here on the show: There’s no judging in the Dollhouse.”

Of course, no interview with the writer would be complete without returning to his immortal slayer, Buffy Summers. In response to a question about the character between the final episode of the television series and the Dark Horse comic book continuation, nicknamed season eight, he admitted, “Well, the first thing you do at the beginning of any season is make everything bad so that you can have something to fight against. You take whatever resolution you had and say, Well, what were the consequences of that? Besides that, I was dealing with the fact that I had created a future where none of the things she had apparently accomplished had actually happened—I wrote them before I wrote her doing them, and that was a mistake. So trying to reconcile the two led to the tone of season eight. It is a little intense but it hopefully has a goofy side to it.”

ABC May Become ‘King of the Hill’

News
November 5, 2008

ABC could become King of the Hill, if they decide to pick up the show which Fox just said would be canceled after the current season. While they already have The Goode Family coming as an animated midseason replacement, also created by Mike Judge, they may choose to add the series according to The Hollywood Reporter.

A Fox TV spokesman would only confirm "another network is interested" in the show. ABC declined to comment but adding a second show to round out the hour makes programming sense given the success Fox has had with such pairings.

The biggest issue is that there’s a nine month gestation period for new King episodes which means new shows couldn’t hit any channel until fall 2009. The gamble for ABC would be to pick up King and hope Goode finds an audience. The Alphabet Network may hedge their bets and just orders scripts then wait and see how Goode performs.

Behind the Scenes Look at ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’

News
November 5, 2008

The buzz is growing for the sequel to Madagascar with early reviews saying it may well be better than the first film. Our friends at Parramount provided the following Behind the Scenes clip to give you a taste of the action.

‘Three Stooges’ Moves from Warners to MGM

News
November 5, 2008

The Three Stooges has gained new life with MGM becoming the new parent to the Peter and Bobby Farrelly project. The brothers had spent five years trying to develop the film at Warner Bros. but now they have a new lease on life and will give their script a polish then turn it over to Michael Cerrone to direct.

Peter Farrelly credited Mary Parent, MGM’s Worldwide Motion Picture Group chairman with having the enthusiasm to go out and grab the moribund film from Warners plus secure rights to the Stooges from C3. She sees the $45 million production as targeted as a PG or PG-13 project complete with the trademark slapstick the trio is known for. The movie will actually be three 20-25 minute segments loosely tied together to recreate the feel of the shorts the act made from the 1930s through the 1950s.

"It’s not a biopic. It takes place in present day, and they look, dress and sound exactly like the Stooges," Peter told Variety. "When the economy started turning, we felt like the world could use a Stooges slapfest. Bobby and I haven’t done a real physical comedy in a while, and it’s the most exciting thing we could think of now, to have people go to the movie, see some great slapstick fun family humor."

A nationwide talent hunt, compared with the search for American Idol, will begin as the producers and director seek three comedians who can work well together and do the physical humor required to earn the Stooges name. A similar hunt will be conducted to find humorous short films to run with their feature.

"We know this is extremely difficult to pull off; we realize some Stooges fans will be upset no matter what we do," Farrelly said. "We love the Stooges and honor their memory, and we don’t want them to disappear. We hope that next Thanksgiving, dads will introduce their kids to the Stooges and create a new generation of knuckleheads."

MGM has already picked out November 20, 2009 to release the film. The studio may rethink that since Variety notes the competition that day is already thick with Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and the animated Planet 51.

4 Countries Unite for ‘Defying Gravity’

Uncategorized
November 5, 2008

ron-livingston-3072908 Defying Gravity will be a new 13-episode series being coproduced by Fox TV Studios, Canada’s CTV, Germany’s ProSieben and the BBC, which will star Ron Livingston (The Time Traveler’s Wife). Created by James Parriott (Grey’s Anatomy) and Michael Edelstein (Desperate Housewives), The Hollywood Reporter says the series is “set in the near future and revolves around eight astronauts from five countries who take on a mysterious six-year mission through the solar system.”

The cast currently includes Livingston and German actress Florentine Lahme with the first episode, to be directed by David Straiton, scheduled to shoot in Vancouver beginning January 19.

Edelstein the idea for the series came to him when he watched the BBC docu-drama Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets on Discovery Channel in late 2006. "I was blown away by it," Edelstein told the trade. He acquired the rights to it from British producer Impossible Pictures (Primeval) and reteamed with Parriott, having previously worked together on ABC’s Threat Matrix.

Parriott is a self-described sci-fi geek whose credits include the original Bionic Woman and The Incredible Hulk. He said of the new series, "Throw in a little bit of Grey’s and Lost and you have a pretty good international TV show."

New Site Promises Fresh Look at Graphic Novels

News
November 5, 2008

GraphicNovelReporter.com is coming later this month and intends to be “a fresh, in-depth look at these books and their creators. It’s a website designed for those who love the many genres within the format — and those who are curious as to what the excitement of these titles is all about.”

John Hogan, former editor of Pages magazine, will head up this new initiative, a part of The Book Report Network. His efforts will be cross-platformed as appropriate material is scheduled to be posted simultaneously on Teenreads.com and Kidsreads.com.

According to a press release, “The website will include reviews and interviews as well as news, opinions, blogs, bestseller and ‘Best Of’ lists, and Books Into Movies and Books Into Movies on DVD features, all written with the voice and tone that have become the signature of The Book Report Network and its flagship website, Bookreporter.com.”

"We have been following the phenomenal growth in this market for the past year and are excited and energized by the opportunity to showcase these titles and creators to our readers," Carol Fitzgerald, President of The Book Report Network said in the release. "We have been impressed by the market’s double digit growth — and the commitment from librarians and educators who are embracing graphic novels in record numbers, as well as interest from booksellers. The site will deliver content that attracts and engages those already devoted to the format as well as those who are new to this exciting medium."