Author: Robert Greenberger

Summit Entertainment has gotten tremendous publicity for its successful release of Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer’s novel.  The studio may prove they are not just a one-trick pony when they release Push on February 6, 2009.  The movie has been garnering good buzz since it was previewed at Comic-Con International followed by a well-received trailer in October. A prequel, setting up the world of Push has been published by WildStorm, with script by Entertainment Weekly’s Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman with art by Bruno Redondo and covers by Mario Alberti. The third of six issues will be in store December 24.

Written by David Bourla (Larceny), the film has been directed by  Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin). The cast includes Chris Evans (Fantastic Four), Dakota Fanning (The Secret Life of Bees), Camilla Belle (When a Stranger Calls) and Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond).

Push involves psychic espionage with agents trained to do different things including:

Movers – Can simply move objects.
Pushers – Can push thoughts into the minds of other people making them believe they’re real.
Watchers – Can see into the future.
Bleeders – Emit a high pitch noise that can disable or even kill people.
Sniffers – Can see a history of anything they smell.
Shifters – Can change the shape of objects around them for a short time.
Wipers – Can wipe the memory of those around them.
Shadows – Can clock themselves in a shadow, almost as if they’re invisible.
Stichers – Can heal others. (more…)

Marvel has provided us with preview pages to Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ latest crime caper, Incognito.

The publisher describes the new series as a “twisted mash up of noir and super-heroics will leave your jaw on the floor! What if you were an ex-super villain hiding out in Witness Protection… but all you could think about were the days when the rules didn’t apply to you?  Could you stand the toil of an average life after years of leaving destruction in your wake? And what if you couldn’t stand it?  What would you do then?”

“Incognito is about a bad guy forced to pretend to be good, forced to take pills that make him feel normal, and to live in the world of the people who were like ants to him before,” Brubaker told Wired. “And while it begins very antihero, the arc of our main character is something very different. It’s about identity and morality on a few levels, as well as this twisted noir super-villain explodo fantasy. I described it earlier as a dark exploration into the nature of good. I think it explores some things about heroes and villains that we’ve never seen before in comics.”

Brubaker, who also writes the acclaimed Captain America and Daredevil, noted that it’s the portrayal of the villain that can make or break a story.  “I think it’s always about finding the right angle into any character. Incognito began with me wanting to try something I hadn’t seen — the story of a bad man who begins doing good things, but for the wrong reason — and to see how that would affect his life and his view of himself. A huge super-villain revenge story unfolded around that, and this character began growing in my mind, and telling me who he was and why he was in Witness Protection. I think as long as you have a strong central character, that’s really the most important thing.”

Incognito #1 will be in stores January 2 rated for mature readers.  The book will contain no advertising and retail for $3.50
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Alfred Molina voices Ares, God of War, on the Warner Premiere feature Wonder Woman.  It’s not his first turn as a villain having made a memorable Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2.

Wonder Woman, the fourth direct-to-DVD feature set in the DC Universe, is set for distribution on DVD and Blu-ray March 3, 2009 by Warner Home Video.

When the four-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee isn’t starring in one of his many critically acclaimed films – like Chocolat, Frida, Prick Up Your Ears, Magnolia, Boogie Nights and The Da Vinci Code. Molina was honored with the 2005 Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Visual Effects Film.

The two-time Tony Award-nominated actor has previously voiced King Gustav for the two-part "Maid of Honor" episode of the Justice League animated series.

Warner Premiere provided us with the following interview:

Question:  Alfred Molina voicing Are, the God of War.  That’s a nice title.

Alfred Molina  Yeah. I’m thinking of changing my name professionally to Ares, the God of War.  I think I might just do that.

Question: What is your favorite part of voice acting?

AM:  This is all about imagination. It’s like our director Andrea (Romano) likes to say, "Thank you for coming to play." And that’s really what voice acting is. It’s play acting at its most childlike, it’s most free. There are no restrictions of costume or scenery or a set. It’s about what’s in your head, and that’s the fun part.

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Imagine being two lost Welsh men on holiday wandering into a town and selected to become sacrifices to the local lesbian vampires in order to keep the town’s women safe.

That’s the premise behind Lesbian Vampire Killers, a comedy from director Phil Claydon (Alone) working from a script by Paul Hupfield and Stewart Williams (Balls of Steel). James Corden and Matthew Horne (the stars of the BBC series Gavin and Stacey) topline as the would-be victims.

The project has been kicking around for some time, at one point being considered for Hammer Films before it was picked up by Momentum Films.  At the Cannes Film Festival in May, Claydon described the film as a comedy horror in the style of an old Hammer classic and told BBC News, “It will have you laughing and screaming in the auditorium.”

Associate Producer Rob Lewis told Fangoria, “I can’t quite believe that what started out as a drunken pub dare is going to be an actual film, with proper actors and everything. Thanks to Momentum, it’s going to be a decently budgeted slice of Brit comedy/horror—with one hell of a ‘come-on’ title.”

The film will open in the UK on March 20 and we will have to patiently wait our turn.