Crazy Sexy Geeks – Nichelle Nichols
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Thomas Jane is Hung up on Jonah Hex
If at first you don’t succeed, take the animated role.
Therein lies the lesson of Thomas Jane’s quest to play the role of comic book anti-hero Jonah Hex. The star of HBO’s popular series Hung once lobbied to play the theatrical role of Jonah Hex and, though he fell short in that attempt, Jane has found another path to the character as the disfigured cowboy’s voice in the DC Showcase Original Short, Jonah Hex.
The all-new, animated Jonah Hex appears as a companion piece on the upcoming Special Edition Blu-Ray and 2-Disc Special Edition DVD release of Batman: Under the Red Hood, the latest entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies coming from Warner Home Video on July 27, 2010.
In the short, the tough-as-nails bounty hunter always gets his man – until someone else gets to him first. In this case it’s a murderous madam who wants to steal more than just bounty from Jonah Hex. The animated short Jonah Hex is based on a story from the award-winning comic series, and scripted by renowned author Joe Lansdale. Jane leads a voice cast that includes Linda Hamilton (The Terminator), Michelle Trachtenberg (Mercy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Michael Rooker (Days of Thunder) and Jason Marsden (Spirited Away).
A lover of both comic books and westerns, Jane felt a certain kinship to the character – and the result is clearly evident in his vocal depiction of Hex and the emotional range of the performance. Jane was the ultimate perfectionist throughout the recording process, never settling for good takes when great was attainable. From the original recording session through follow-up ADR, the give-and-take between Jane and the filmmakers – including executive producer Bruce Timm – was quite collaborative in achieving the final presentation.
Jane currently headlines HBO’s Hung, though he’s active in numerous other projects, including films being developed by his own production company, Raw Studios. Coincidentally, Jane founded Raw Studios with Timothy Bradstreet and Steve Niles, the screenwriter of the first DC Showcase short, The Spectre. Jane’s directorial debut, Raw Studios’ Dark Country, continues to play to rave reviews and enthusiastic crowds at conventions and festivals around the world.
No stranger to the fanboy/comics realm, Jane co-wrote his own comic book miniseries, Bad Planet. He played the title character in the 2004 version of The Punisher, starred in Mutant Chronicles, and had roles in both The Crow: City of Angels and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He has drawn widespread acclaim for many of his non-fanboy roles, especially his turn as Mickey Mantle in the HBO film, 61*. His numerous credits run the gamut from Magnolia, Deep Blue Sea and The Thin Red Line to Boogie Nights and Face/Off.
After shooting all morning on the set of Hung, Jane came into the recording studio to put some final touches on his Jonah Hex performance – and to chat about his attraction to anti-heroes, his adoration of comics, and how he came to (literally) rub elbows with Ringo Starr. This is what Thomas Jane says …
QUESTION: This isn’t your first run at the role of Jonah Hex, is it?
THOMAS JANE: I’ve been a fan of the comic and the character and that whole western world. I’m glad to be voicing the role, and I actually wanted to do the live-action film. When they were casting the movie, I had a guy come and do my makeup, we took some photos and sent them off to Akiva Goldman. I know some of those photos have leaked out online. They had a different director at the time, and Josh Brolin had just hit with the Coen brothers movie, so he had pick of the litter. And that spelled outski for me.
Reminder: Order ‘Lone Justice’ Volume 1 at your comic store today! Now with retailer incentives!
Tis the season to order Lone Justice, Volume 1— so do it today when you go to the comics store! Tell them that you want it, and to make sure they order it!
And for retailers: If you order 3 copies of Lone Justice TPB, you’ll get one free copy of Frankenstein Mobster Book 1: Made Man
TPB ($19.99 retail value). Order 6 copies of Lone Justice TPB, and get one free hand-drawn Mark Wheatley sketch.
LONE JUSTICE, VOLUME 1 – Coming in September!
Robert Tinnell, Mark Wheatley (writer) . Mark Wheatley (art & cover)
He’s been the city’s greatest champion, battling tirelessly to keep us safe from harm. But what could spell the end for Lone Justice? What could destroy the hero of the century? In the days of the Great Depression, a man born to wealth and power finds himself fighting injured and disillusioned against evil, authority, and the law. When a man loses everything he discovers what he stands for. A violent, gut-wrenching tale for our time!
Trade paperback, Full Color, 140 pages, $19.99
Printed by IDW Publishing
LONE JUSTICE Volume 1 is solicited in the July PREVIEWS (now available).
The Diamond Item Code is JUL100357.
Live-Action ‘Star Blazers’?
I don’t know details except that this is being done in Japan of course (which means it will be known by the original name of Space Battleship Yamato) but I am impressed by the effort:
See our previous articles:
Space Cruiser Yamato/Star Blazers Returns
Star Blazers Redone Right
Devil’s Due Departs Diamond Distribution
Devil’s Due Publishing has pulled its distribution of comics and graphic novels from Diamond Comic and Diamond Book Distributors, effective today. The publisher will soon be announcing its new book store distribution partners, and will offer product direct to comic book retail outlets, as well as distribution through Haven Comic Distributors.
“For almost over a year Devil’s Due has been in an unwinnable situation wherein Diamond garnishes our revenues to pay back returns and fees it claims are owed from 2008 and 2009, making it impossible for us to keep up with payments to talent, printers, and other expenses while maintaining a stable business,” said Josh Blaylock, president of Devil’s Due, who was forced to wind down the company’s publishing rather than ramp up as it originally planned to do when hit with a rough economy in 2008. “We’ve exhausted every resource to get on track, with a primary focus on catching up with talent payments first and foremost, but when Diamond controls the money flow, that becomes impossible.”
The decision did not come lightly, adds Blaylock, “Of course this is the last thing a company wants to do in the Diamond dominated comic book industry, but it is necessary if we are going to be able to ever again be able to turn the money faucet back on. I am hopeful that we will be able to work something out with Diamond in the future. Until we verify a number of questions regarding sales from late 2008 through the present, DDP will be utilizing other avenues of distribution to move back stock, as well as limited releases of select new material.
To order direct, DDP encourages customers to contact the numbers and emails below.
Haven Distributors
1-877-HAVEN-50(1-877-428-3650)
http://www.havendistro.com/
Devil’s Due Direct Sales: j.blay@devilsdue.net
It also welcomes fans to purchase digital downloads on Graphic.ly, iVerse through the iTunes App store, and comiXology, the latter of which currently has over 100 comics available at https://comics.comixology.com/#/devils_due including the never-released-in-print Hack/Slash – Mercy Sparx: A Slice of Hell crossover special, as the sales from these companies are going in large part towards paying off moneys owed to licensors and talent.
Preview: ‘Rubicon’
It’s getting closer to San Diego Comic-Con, which means we’re going to start seeing more leaked movie trailers and TV shows. Here’s one of the newer entries, Rubicon.
The show is a conspiracy thriller starring James Badge Dale (who earlier
this year headlined HBO’s The Pacific) as an analyst at a New
York City-based federal intelligence agency who is thrown into a conspiracy
where nothing is as it appears to be. Henry Bromell (Homicide,
Chicago Hope, Brotherhood) has signed on as showrunner. The
one-hour, 13-episode weekly series is produced by Warner Horizon
Television and premieres August 1 on AMC.
But because we like you, here’s the first episode in its entirety. Enjoy.
Oh, and SPOILER ALERTS for everything in the comments.
Review: ‘Despicable Me’
As any parent of school-aged children will tell you, there aren’t as many kid-friendly releases as there used to be. When I first saw a trailer for Despicable Me (releasing July 9th from Universal), I wasn’t sure if it was actually aimed toward the grade school set. When my favorite go-to site for kid-friendly events in New York City announced that they had arranged a free advance screening for the film, I did a little research, determined my kids would like the story, and signed up. I’m very glad that I did.
[[[Despicable Me]]] is about a supervillain named Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) who is distraught to discover that a young up-and-coming villain named Vector (Jason Segel) is stealing his place in the spotlight. When Gru is unsuccessful in infiltrating Vector’s lair, he goes to a local orphanage and adopts three little girls who have been going around the neighborhood selling cookies for a fundraiser. This is where he film’s tagline “Super bad. Super Dad.” comes from. Now, those of you who have seen a few touching movies about old curmudgeons whose hearts are warmed by having children in their life can probably guess the basic plot, but keep in mind that the target audience will not. Additionally, there is much more going on than just the basic plotline.
The Point Radio: Remaking A Romero Classic
When it comes to cult horror films, George A Romero set the standard. So how did director BRECK EISNER approach remaking one of Romero’s creepiest classics, and what did George think of the outcome? Plus ECLIPSE soaks in the BO office cash and KEVIN SMITH looks to TV next.
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‘Eclipse’, ‘Toy Story’ Income Gone With The Wind
This was not a great week for big
box office blockbusters. Let’s look at this week’s quarter-billion dollar money
machine.
Twilight: Eclipse took
a dive!
Okay, let’s define “dive.” Eclipse made $161 million in its first
five days, and that’s good by anybody’s standards. But… It brought in 43% of those bucks in its first day. After that,
it was just another big movie. Even the opening day revenue was down 6% from New Moon. So where did this drop-off
come from?
Women.
No kidding. They accounted for 80%
of the New Moon audience, but only
65% of the Eclipse audience thus far.
But $161 million, plus another $100 million overseas (that’s more than a
quarter-billion bucks, or $36,000 a minute!),
seems like a lot of money, doesn’t it?
In Hollywood, perception rules the
day and reality doesn’t save your job. Eclipse
was expected to exceed the $200 million brought in by Transformers Two during its had a five-day start. If you don’t make
your projections, you’re a failure – at least temporarily.
So is Eclipse a bomb? Certainly not. Is it a disappointment? Yes it is…
thus far. The missing repeat business enjoyed by the previous two Twilight movies might come in
eventually, but one thing is sadly clear: the Twilight saga has lost some if its bite.
Now you’d have to be some sort of
Russian commie to hate Toy Story 3,
wouldn’t you? Well, the Rooskies certainly did not love Toy Story 3. It bombed. It took in less than $5 million in its
first ten days. Shrek Forever After
did almost eight times that business.
According to the Los Angeles Times, adults found Toy Story 3 to be too much of a kids
flick. Okay, fine. But does Russia have a shortage of children? As it turns
out, yes it does. Russia has endured terrible heat waves in its metropolitan
areas, and kids have been hustled out to cooler climates. Still, $5 million
sucks. Toy Story 3 was the first of
the series to be released in Russia, so perhaps the adults felt lost in the
backstory. I saw Home Alone 2 without
seeing the first one, so maybe I can understand that.
Well, maybe not.
It’s always fun to watch Disney
take one in the neck, but I can’t help but believe that bombing in Russia would
have made Walt Disney a happy man.
Review: ‘Dark Blue’
I have to admit to not being sure how much I like TNT’s [[[Dark Blue]]]. The series about an undercover unit operating in Los Angeles debuted last summer and for ten weeks my wife and I kept watching and wondering if it would get better. Slowly, and slyly, we found ourselves getting interested in some of the characters and kept watching.
The series opened with 3.5 million people watching the pilot episode but by the tenth episode, it shed just over half the viewers. Still, TNT had enough faith in the premise and Jerry Bruckheimer’s production savvy to bring it back for a second season starting August 4. Of note to ComicMix readers is the addition of Tricia Helfer to the cast as Special Agent Alex Rice.
Warner Home Video is showing a tad less faith by making the first season available tomorrow as an exclusive only at the WBShop.com and TNT.tv. Additionally, the ten episodes, on four discs for $24.95, comes without any additional features or commentary. We get just a short preview, without any substance, of the forthcoming season.
The show is built around Dylan McDermott’s Carter Shaw, who runs his operation away from police headquarters and does whatever it takes to complete his assignment. As a result, he pisses of his commanders and his team and raises the question how damaged a cop is he? McDermott broods exceedingly well, but without much of a character to portray, the harsh manner feels one-dimensional. Even his big story, the season finale “A Shot in the Dark”, doesn’t do enough to round him out.
We wound up far more interested in Ty Curtis (Omari Hardwick), a married cop trying to juggle how deep his undercover role can go and his commitment to his newlywed spouse. Dean Bendis (Logan Marshall-Green) is the one who goes too deep undercover and is only now beginning to willingly come up for air and sees how empty his own life has become. Then there’s juvenile delinquent Jamie Allen (Nicki Aycox) who escaped her criminal life in Detroit and faked a new identity to restart, becoming a cop who winds up recruited into the unit. She’s forced to use her real name and background in “Betsy”, a revelation that probably should have been saved for later, after we really got to know Jamie.
The stories have been the weak link as you care less about the cases and more about how the leads handle the tension. Each episode is self-contained and you’re told they’ve spent weeks building up a new role, infiltrating the criminal organization du jour, but you never saw those moments. We’re usually brought in when something goes wrong or the case is about to be closed.
The writing is solid if uninspired throughout and it lacks the high octane action of Bruckheimer’s CBS crime series. Still, you find yourself rooting for these cops to do the right thing, avoid temptation, avoid getting their cover blown, and avoid the interpersonal complications that can cloud their judgment.
With Helfer arriving next month, we can hope she stirs things up a bit and inspire stronger character-based tales.
