News – Page 145

First Trailer for Batman Versus Robin

Press Releases
January 30, 2015

Batman vs. Robin, based on the Grant Morrison storylein from DC Entertainment’s Batman comics is the next direct-to-video animated release, scheduled to arrive April 14, 2015.

BURBANK, CA (January 20, 2015) – The world is turned upside down when one of the world’s greatest super heroes – Batman – finds himself under attack by his own son in the newest DC Universe Original Movie – Batman vs. Robin. This all-new original film arrives April 14, 2015 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Blu-Ray™ Deluxe Edition, Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD. The brand-new product offering, Blu-ray™ Deluxe Edition, will include the Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack, along with a Batman figurine in a gift set.

Batman vs. Robin will be available on Blu-ray^TM Deluxe Edition for $29.96, Blu-ray^TM Combo Pack for $24.98 SRP and on DVD for $19.98 SRP. The Blu-ray^TM Combo Pack includes a digital version of the movie on Digital HD with UltraViolet.* Fans can also own Batman vs. Robin in Digital HD on April 14 via purchase from digital retailers.

The shadows of Gotham City are no place for a child but Damian Wayne is no ordinary child. Now bearing the mantle of Robin, he blazes a headstrong and sometimes reckless trail alongside his father, Batman. While investigating a crime scene, Robin encounters a mysterious figure, Talon, who leads him on a life-altering course through the depths of Gotham’s secret society, known as The Court of Owls. It’s a dangerous journey that will force Batman and Robin to face their most dangerous adversary, each other! Based on the #1 best-selling graphic novel, Batman: The Court of Owls, this action-packed caper is one that fans won’t want to miss!

“Batman vs. Robin has all the elements of a memorable film – powerful villains, treacherous plot twists and tensions amongst allies,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Vice President, Family & Animation Marketing. “Showcasing a fantastic voice cast, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is proud to release Batman vs. Robin as the next DC Universe Original Movie.”

Television stars Jason O’Mara (Terra Nova, USA Network’s upcoming Complications) and Stuart Allan (Son of Batman) reprise their roles as the voices of Batman/Bruce Wayne and Robin/Damian, respectively. Adding to the celebrity-laden voice cast is Jeremy Sisto (Law & Order, Suburgatory) as Talon, singer/songwriter/comedian Al Yankovic as The Dollmaker, David McCallum (NCIS) as Alfred, Grey Griffin (Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends) as Samantha, Sean Maher (Serenity) as Nightwing, and Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) as Thomas Wayne.

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, the film is directed by Jay Oliva (Batman: Assault on Arkham) from a script by award-winning comic writer J.M. DeMatteis. James Tucker (Justice League: Throne of Atlantis) is supervising producer.

BLU-RAY AND DVD BONUS CONTENT

Batman vs. Robin Blu-ray^TM and Blu-ray^TM Deluxe Edition contain the following special features:

Gotham’s City Secret: The Mythic Court of Owls – The Court of Owls is the secret society that directly connects the past of Gotham to the current city. Are they silent guardians that are the noble benefactors or are they the malevolent force that manipulates a city toward their grand design?
Talons of the Owl – If the Owls are the masterminds, their instruments of destruction are their assassins. Appropriately called The Talons, these warriors are designed to carry out the will of the Owls.
Batman Vs. Robin Audio Commentary
A Sneak Peak at Justice League: Gods & Monsters – An advance look at the next DC Universe Original Movie with the creators and cast.
Bonus cartoons from the DC Comics Vault

Batman vs. Robin DVD contains the following special features:

A Sneak Peak at Justice League: Gods & Monsters – An advance look at the next DC Universe Original Movie with the creators.

DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION ELEMENTS

Batman vs. Robin will be available for streaming and download to watch anywhere in high definition and standard definition on their favorite devices from select digital retailers including Amazon, CinemaNow, Flixster, iTunes, PlayStation, Target Ticket, Vudu, Xbox and others. Starting April 14, Batman vs. Robin will also be available digitally on Video On Demand services from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles.

Skip the Super Bowl, Watch The Terminator Genisys Teaser

Press Releases
January 30, 2015

As has become habit, some of the most eagerly-awaited media ad spots, debuting on Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast, are being released a wee bit early.

The reboot of the Terminator franchise is among the films being advertised but you can watch the ad now.

PARAMOUNT PICTURES and SKYDANCE PRODUCTIONS Present

“TERMINATOR GENISYS”

Executive Producers Bill Carraro, Laeta Kalogridis, Patrick Lussier, Megan Ellison, Robert Cort

Produced By David Ellison, p.g.a. Dana Goldberg, p.g.a.

Written By Laeta Kalogridis & Patrick Lussier

Directed By Alan Taylor

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J. K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi, Matthew Smith, Courtney B. Vance and Byung-Hun Lee

Synopsis: When John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future, an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Sgt. Reese finds himself in a new and unfamiliar version of the past, where he is faced with unlikely allies, including the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger), dangerous new enemies, and an unexpected new mission: To reset the future…

Graphix’s 10th Anniversary Celebrates with new art, new artists

Press Releases
January 29, 2015

NEW YORK, NY—January 29, 2015—Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, will celebrate the 10^th anniversary of its groundbreaking Graphix imprint in 2015, with a yearlong celebration to include collectible giveaways, special events, and new publishing. Graphix is dedicated to publishing engaging, age-appropriate graphic novels for children and teens. Supported by librarians, teachers, and most important, kids, Graphix titles have become bestsellers around the globe and continue to receive awards and critical acclaim including multiple Eisner Award wins and nominations, a Stonewall Book Award, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor, an Edgar Allan Poe nomination, and 14 New York Times bestsellers to date.

In celebration, twelve Graphix artists have each created original art in honor of the 10^th anniversary of Graphix: James Burks, Nathan Fox, Jimmy Gownley, Matthew Holm, Kazu Kibuishi, Mike Maihack, Dave Roman, Greg Ruth, Jeff Smith, Raina Telgemeier, Doug TenNapel, and Craig Thompson. Prints by these illustrators will be distributed at events and online throughout 2015, including: ALA Midwinter (Chicago, IL), Emerald City Comic Con (Seattle, WA), Texas Library Association (Austin, TX), BookExpo (New York City, NY), ALA Annual (San Francisco, CA), Comic-Con International (San Diego, California), Long Beach Comic Expo (Long Beach, CA), Salt Lake Comic Con (Salt Lake City, UT), and New York Comic Con (New York City, NY).

“I am so proud of what Graphix has accomplished since its founding in 2005. Working with such incredible talent and to have such an exciting line-up of events and giveaways throughout the year is an exceptional way to mark this anniversary and honor the mission of Graphix to publish creator-driven works and get terrific graphic novels into the hands of children,” said David Saylor, Vice President Creative Director, Trade Publishing, and founder and Editorial Director of Graphix.

The Graphix imprint launched in 2005 with the color edition of BONE #1: Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith, the first book in the award-winning and bestselling graphic novel series, which now has more than 6.9 million copies in print. On February 24, 2015, Scholastic will publish BONE #1: Out from Boneville, Tribute Edition. This full-color special edition will contain a brand-new illustrated poem from creator Jeff Smith plus original BONE tribute art from sixteen additional top artists in the form of mini-comics and full-page artwork.

Coming in fall 2015, Graphix is proud to bring three more award-winning and bestselling graphic novel creators to the list. Acclaimed graphic novelist Craig Thompson (Blankets, Habibi)—recipient of four Harvey Awards, three Eisner Awards, and two Ignatz Awards—will publish Space Dumplins (August 25, 2015; ages 8-12), his first graphic novel for young readers. Space Dumplins is also Thompson’s first full-color graphic novel, colored by eight-time Eisner Award winning colorist Dave Stewart. In addition, beloved brother-sister team Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Babymouse, Squish) have written and illustrated a semi-autobiographical full-color graphic novel, Sunny Side Up (August 25, 2015; ages 8-12). A three-time Newbery Honor recipient for her prose novels, Jennifer collaborates with Matthew who creates the illustrations.

Looking toward the future, Graphix Editorial Director David Saylor and Senior Editor Cassandra Pelham have acquired exciting new projects by some of Graphix’s bestselling and award-winning talent, including Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), Mike Maihack (Cleopatra in Space), and Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Drama, Sisters). Graphix will publish two more installments in the New York Times bestselling Amulet series, plus an untitled graphic novel to come by Kazu Kibuishi; books 3 and 4 in Mike Maihack’s Cleopatra in Space series; and a nonfiction family story (similar to Smile and Sisters), a collection of short stories, and a fictional graphic novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Raina Telgemeier.

The Point Radio: Long Live THE NERDS

Podcasts
January 23, 2015

The new season of KING OF THE NERDS is here from TBS, which gave us the chance to catch up with show creator and host, Curtis Armstrong who talks about the challenges in getting “good nerds” and how the whole idea came from a film that was a bit less than a movie blockbuster. Plus this weekend, Ben Barnes portrays Sam Adams in the three night mini series SONS OF LIBERTY and tells us what surprising facts he learned from the script.

On Monday, we head backstage to the set of USA Network’s SUITS with series star, Patrick Adams. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

ComicMix Six: Top Six Movies of 2014

Box Office Democracy / News / Reviews
January 22, 2015

With the 2014 cinematic year in the books it’s time to do the time-honored tradition of the film reviewer, making a list of the top movies of the year. It makes us feel important and it’s an easy ay to fill space during the dreadful early January period for movies. Here are my top six movies of 2014. I’ll be back in just a little bit with the six worst movies.

6. [[[Godzilla]]] – I wasn’t big on Godzilla when it came out, I though that it cheated me out of many of the giant monster fight that they owed me when I paid $15 for a ticket. But when I was gathering my list of top movies of the year I remembered the movie quite fondly. It’s suspenseful and, honestly, has plenty of action. It doesn’t reach the frenetic peaks that Pacific Rim did but then again Pacific Rim did not make my top 10 list last year. With more Bryan Cranston, this might have been my favorite movie of the year.

It was 75 Years Ago The Shadow hit the Comic Racks

News
January 21, 2015

Seventy-five years ago, The Shadow and Doc Savage made their four-color debut on January 21st, 1940 in SHADOW COMICS #1, which also featured the first comic book appearances of Nick Carter, Bill Barnes, Frank Merriwell, Iron Munro and a variety of other popular Street & Smith pulp characters.

With the possible exception of WALT DISNEY’S COMICS & STORIES, it is unlikely that any other comic magazine ever debuted with as many pre-proven famous characters. The Shadow had already starred in nearly 200 pulp novels and several films, while his weekly radio show had the highest audience ratings in daytime radio. Iron Munro was based on John W. Campbell’s novel THE MIGHTIEST MACHINE, one of the inspirations for Jerry Siegel’s SUPERMAN, and featured the exploits of a human born and raised under Jupiter’s high gravity who arrived on Earth to discover that his denser molecular structure gave him invulnerability, super strength and the ability to leap huge distances. Doc Savage’s monthly pulp magazine was reputed to have the highest per-issue circulation of any hero pulp, while Nick Carter and Frank Merriwell had been American icons going back to the Dime Novel era of the previous century. SHADOW #1 also featured adventures of CRIME BUSTERS’ distaff detective Carrie Cashin, the Air Trails Boys and famous Street & Smith dime novel properties including Diamond Dick and Horatio Alger’s Bob Burton and Mark the Match Boy.

In creating the earliest comic book superheroes, Superman’s Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Batman’s Bob Kane and Bill Finger, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and Will Eisner took inspiration from the supermen of their own youth: legendary pulp heroes like The Shadow, Doc Savage, Zorro and The Whisperer. Bill Finger even acknowledged that his “first script was a take-off on a Shadow story” and that “I patterned my style of writing after The Shadow.” Bob Kane agreed, saying: “I suppose both The Shadow’s cloaked costume and double-identity role, as well as the extraordinary acrobatics of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., did more to my subconscious to create the character and personality of Batman than any other factors.”

Though Street & Smith had pioneered the hero magazine genre with its SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE pulps, the nation’s largest publisher of pulp fiction magazines was slow to move into the rapidly expanding comics market, initially rejecting comics because it avoided publishing material that couldn’t be printed on its own Manhattan in-house presses.

In 1937, Shadow wordsmith Walter B. Gibson had attempted to interest Street & Smith in a Shadow comic book after noticing that the new comic strip reprint magazines were successfully competing for newsstand space with THE SHADOW MAGAZINE. When promotions manager William de Grouchy pointed out that the most popular newspaper strips had already been bought up by rival publishers, Gibson countered, “Why not get up some and sell them to syndicates and get the rights to use them in comic books? And we should begin with The Shadow.” Unfortunately, the executive initially rejected Gibson’s suggestion which could have resulted in The Shadow and other Street & Smith characters debuting in comics ahead of Superman and Batman (whose first appearance in DETECTIVE COMICS #27 was an unauthorized adaptation of “Partners of Peril,” a 1936 Shadow pulp novel).

Despite this delay, SHADOW COMICS was still one of the first comic books to bear the name of its lead character, closely following on the heels of AMAZING MAN COMICS, FLASH COMICS and BLUE BEETLE COMICS, and preceded the first issue of BATMAN by several months. However, despite its title, SHADOW COMICS was actually an anthology comic featuring a wide range of characters, and had originally been planned as ASTOUNDING COMICS and advertised as STREET & SMITH COMICS, before being retitled SHADOW COMICS in the eleventh hour to tie in with the release of Columbia’s THE SHADOW movie serial.

SHADOW COMICS sold an average of 425,000 copies per issue in 1941 and continued for 101 issues, with its final issue appearing in 1949. The Doc Savage and Bill Barnes four-color features introduced in its first issue were soon promoted to headline their own comic anthologies, with DOC SAVAGE #1 debuting in April 1940 and BILL BARNES later that same year. Supersnipe (“the boy with the most comic books in America”) also debuted in SHADOW COMICS before moving on to its own successful comic book series.

Fifteen years after the Golden Age series ended, THE SHADOW was revived first by Archie’s Radio Comics imprint, and was later published by DC Comics, Dark Horse and Dynamite, and also appeared in a Marvel Comics graphic novel by Denny O’Neil and Michael Kaluta. The original Shadow and Doc Savage pulp novels are also currently being reissued by Sanctum Books trade paperback imprint.

Box Office Democracy: Blackhat

Box Office Democracy / News / Reviews
January 20, 2015

Blackhat has a germ of a good movie buried in it; I was very interested to see how a director like Michael Mann would make a movie where most of the action happens in a virtual world. Hacking is perhaps the least visually interesting thing there is you’re probably doing something very similar to it right now while reading this article. Early in the film there are signs that Mann plans to tackle this dilemma there are sweeping, focused, shots of the inside of computers that switch to shots of code moving through virtual space. Unfortunately, it seems that Blackhat completely lost its collective nerve in this regard as after the first act the movie basically refuses to return to any kind of hacker stuff and just becomes a bad action movie.

The clichés in Blackhat are so brazen that I had to stop and consider that it might be some kind of brilliant subversion of the form, it isn’t. Viola Davis plays an FBI agent who cares more about stopping criminals than following the rules because her husband died on 9/11. Chris Hemsworth talks about being in prison and sounds like a professional wrestler doing a bad interview segment. Characters die but usually only after they have a moment of catharsis with another character. These Are things that have been tired and overdone longer than I’ve been alive and I can’t understand why anyone thinks it can fly anymore.

I always hate being this person but the movie is so spectacularly implausible that it destroys my suspension of disbelief. The movie opens with a nuclear reactor exploding and our heroes are walking around inside of it within a handful of days and perhaps this isn’t common knowledge but nuclear meltdowns make places completely inhabitable for centuries. They follow that up almost immediately by having a hack push the price for soybeans up by 250% and that’s almost equally impossible. There are so many ways to make money if you’re a crazy genius hacker and I wish they had picked one that wasn’t completely impossible. Furthermore, I don’t think you can have a private army roving through and shooting up Hong Kong murdering police whenever you want without having some kind of response from the Chinese government. These are immersion destroyers.

This isn’t directly related to the quality of the movie per se but I spent a lot of time focused on the aesthetics of Chris Hemsworth in Blackhat. He’s so much less bulky than he is when he’s playing Thor and I can’t decide if I think this is his natural size and he bulks up for Marvel films or if this kind of dramatic change in physique is just par for the course if you’re in the Chris Hemsworth position in Hollywood these days. He spends an incredible amount of time wearing button down shirts with the buttons open to the navel which is a look I’ve never seen in real life and can’t imagine a context where it makes sense outside of a beach. It felt like objectifying of Chris Hemsworth in a way that I’m quite surprised to see in a movie seemingly exclusively aimed at men. I don’t know how many women you can get to a rather violent movie advertised as a dry cyber crime film just by having a bunch of strong PG-13 male nudity. It’s another curious choice in a movie that can’t stop making head scratching decisions long enough to string together anything remotely coherent.

The Point Radio: John McGinley – No Doctor Cox No More

Podcasts
January 20, 2015

You loved John McGinley in SCRUBS and now he’s part of the TBS comedy, GROUND FLOOR. John talks about his fairytale start in movies and why his GROUND FLOOR character couldn’t be more different that Doctor Cox on SCRUBS. Then, THE BLACKLIST is back for the second part of their sophomore season, and it kicks off with a choice time slot right after NBC’s broadcast of The Super Bowl. Star Megan Boone and EPs Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath tell us why this is a great place to jump into the series.

On Friday, we celebrate the return of KING OF THE NERDS on TBS. They’ve really upped the game this year, and we’ll tell you what’s coming up. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

The Point Radio: Reality Smackdown On WRESTLING WITH DEATH

Podcasts
January 16, 2015

We introduce you to The Latham Family. By day they run a successful mortuary business and by night they enter the squared circle of Mid South Championship Wrestling. This fascinating contrast is part of the new WGN AMERICA series, WRESTLING WITH DEATH and there are some great stories to tell here. Plus, HELIX returns tonight to SyFy with new secrets, new threats and a unique new way to tell the story. Stars Neil Napier and Billy Campbell explain it all.

On Monday, we welcome John C. McGinley who talks about the road from SCRUBS to GROUND FLOOR, plus Megan Boone from THE BLACKLIST previews the big episode that will air after the Super Bowl. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

Charlie Hebdo – A King-Sized Tribute

News
January 14, 2015

Yesterday we presented R. Crumb’s tribute to the murdered Charlie Hebdo staff. Today, we further illuminate this horrific tragedy by presenting a number of tributes by King Features Syndicate comic strip artists.

I should note that on its website King Features also offers numerous contributions from their editorial cartoonists. Unlike the strip artists who must turn their work in six weeks to two months prior to publication, editorial cartoonists see their work in print the next day.

As for Charlie Hebdo, their first post-assault issue was published today and released in France, as well as certain select other cities including Quebec, London and New York. Their print run was 3,000,000, up from their average circulation of 40,000 copies. They sold out in minutes, and that was after some newsdealers limited purchases to one copy each. Charlie Hebdo has since gone back to press.

First, we introduced this page with the work of Dustin creator Jeff Parker. Below, Snuffy Smith artist John Rose: