…we now have Betty White in medieval garb wielding a flaming chainsaw, riding a centaur with the body of John Ritter.
All this from the warped warped warped mind of Andrew Zubko, and yes, prints and postcards are available.
And yes, Andrew’s doing some mindblowing work for us as well– take a look.
There’s something to be said for immersing yourself in a new world, letting yourself discover new life forms and new civilizations. Going where no man has gone before is one reason we pay out bucks and attend big screen presentation. James Cameron delivers on that expectation with [[[Avatar]]], the lushly-produced science fiction film that recently was released on Blu-ray by 20th Century Home Entertainment.
Pandora is a colorful world, looking nothing like Earth and yet has a vibrant ecosystem with intelligent life that has found harmony with the flora and fauna. The worst thing that ever happened to them was being discovered by mankind.
By the 2040s, we’re told Earth has ruined its ecology and was a dying world so people needed to spread out, find new resources to let the billions live until solutions could be found. A new mineral discovered in abundance on Pandora brings ship after ship as man invades a new frontier, threatening a way of life.
While this has been an engaging theme in fiction for decades, Avatar offers us nothing new on the subject. The story has been reviled and ridiculed because it evokes memories of better versions of this same story, most notably Dances With Wolves, but even that Kevin Costner epic was retelling an old tale.
Cameron put all the money on the screen. Even on home video, Pandora is a rich world that moves and breathes with grace. The logical extrapolation of technology looks great down to the tiniest of details.
And again, this is why the story fails us so completely. On the one hand we enter an alien world and see compelling imagery and then on the other, we watch every stock cliché and story point telegraphed because of its utter familiarity. While sitting at home seeing the film for the first time, my wife and I were calling out what was coming next because it was so obvious. James Horner seemed equally uninspired, repeating elements of his Glory soundtrack.
There’s a reason Jake, our hero, was only a corporal: he sucks as a strategist. The final assault to protect Pandora from the humans wasted so much life because he didn’t use the geography and geology to his benefit.
When Colonel Kilgore, I mean Colonel Quaritch, suits up to take on Jake, I uttered, “We have gone from a Cameron film to a Bruckheimer film” and the utterly unnecessary final battle was saved from being too much on-the-nose by Neytiri delivering the killing blow on behalf of her world.
By being given nothing real to play, the performers went through the motions and did the best they could but no one performance stands out as being particularly good or memorable.
Similarly, the Blu-ray had one of the sharpest transfers I’ve ever seen and it made me miss seeing Pandora projected large and in 3-D. The Blu-ray/DVD combo pack lacks a single extra (not even the trailers) so no doubt some collector’s set is in the offing.
On the other hand, the thin and flat story made me equally happy I didn’t shell out extra bucks for what is ultimately a disappointing experience because the finished product came nowhere close to its potential.
As a storyteller, Garry Marshall’s credentials include some of the finest character-driver television of the 1960s. This success with [[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]] and [[[I Spy]]], among others, led to his chance to produce and direct sitcoms and then feature films. Along the way, he built a reputation as a great person to work for, earning him endless loyalty. His films grew in sophistication without losing the heart and soul, as seen when he turned $3000 into [[[Pretty Woman]]].
With the passage of time, though, it has become clear that while a beloved figure, he has lost sight of the strong and individualistic characters he used to surround himself with. As a result, his more recent offerings have been softer, less interesting, and far less commercially relevant.
When viewers saw the marquee ensemble he assembled for [[[Valentine’s Day]]], it was a guarantee that people would come and see their favorites. There were big names for every demographic from Emma Roberts and Taylor Launter for the tween set to Shirley MacLaine for the seniors. Unfortunately, when we bought our tickets and popcorn and sat down, we were treated to a watered down, predicable story.
The film’s biggest problem is that it poorly compares with 2003’s [[[Love Actually]]], which has become a cable, DVD and sleepover staple. That film focused on a far small cast with much stronger storylines for everyone.
Watching Valentine’s Day on DVD, out tomorrow from Warner Home Video, you are just a tad surprised by how some of the characters intersect but not by what they do. Every storyline is telegraphed and every character is a stock type, yanked from Central Casting.
Katherine Fugate’s story may feel sprawling and at the same time intimate, it also fails to surprise. More, it fails to show us anything but a narrow demographic which was upper middle class to the wealthy. George Lopez, playing the lowest paid character in the film also had the strongest romance and shortest amount of screen time to demonstrate it.
Her story also has logic-defying plot holes such as Jennifer Garner’s 5:30 flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco and yet was able to get humiliated, return to the airport and manage to crash the early dinner seating at a posh LA restaurant.
Several actors were criticized for walking through their parts but then again, when they were given nothing to work with, it’s clear they were there out of love for Marshall. Garner and Anne Hathaway give two of the most honest performances while Taylor Swift shows us what a good singer she is. Even Marshall’s go-to actor, the great Hector Elizondo, gives a fairly rote performance.
This disappointing film comes in the standard combo pack with Blu-ray, Standard DVD and digital copy in a nice package. The Blu-ray video and sound were top-notch, which let us enjoy the excellent sound track. Blu-ray extras include an extensive number of deleted scenes, none of which make the story any deeper or more satisfying, while The Garry Factor clearly demonstrates why people signed on to make this sad effort. The Blooper Reel, a Jewel music video, and The Stars Confess Their Valentine’s Day Stories round out the nice assortment of extras.
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The fine folks at Exploding Rabbit should be given an award. What award? Heck, ANY award. Oscar? Sure. Tony? Why not? Grammy? Give em’ two. Why you ask? Because they mashed-up Super Mario Brothers with some of our favorite classic 8-bit heroes. The Rabbits took the Super Mario Brothers game, and through sheer magic (or programming, we’re not entirely sure yet) allow players to choose from Mario (meh.), Link from the Zelda series, Bill from the Contra series, Simon Belmont from the Castlevania series, Mega Man, or Samus from the Metroid series… and rip through the classic game. And folks? They got it all down pat. Each character runs and jumps like they did in their own game, come with special abilities (Samus turns into a ball, Mega Man can charge shot, Bill can shoot in 8 directions, etc.). They even balanced the game play as well, by ensuring that characters with weaponry don’t dispatch goombas and turtles without a few shots a piece. What you end up with is an amazing experience that will make you forget about 3D rendering engines and new-fangled polgyons.
We’ve already said too much. Just visit mariocrossover.com and enjoy your misspent youth.
The 2010 Glyph Comics Awards were handed out Friday night at this weekend’s East Coast Black Age of Comics Con. The awards honor “the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color.”
Jay Potts and his blaxploitation webcomic World of Hurt took three of the ten awards. Aya: The Secrets Come Out and Luke Cage Noir each took two awards, while The K Chronicles by Keith Knight won for best comic strip for the fourth time in five years. Last year’s big winner, Jeremy Love’s Bayou, and our own The Original Johnson by Trevor Von Eeden were nominated for several awards but were shut out. (And yes, it was a honor just to be nominated, particularly against a field like this.)
The complete list of winners includes:
The DC Bullets, the company softball team of DC Comics, is undefeated so far this year with a record of 4-0.
Newsarama has the recap of the latest game.
For those in the New York City area who can’t attend tomorrow’s Nebula Awards Dinner in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has arranged NYC Nebula Night which will include a large-screen simulcast of the ceremony, along with a full-scale reception and dinner including an open wine bar, rib-eye steak and paella. NYC Nebula Night will be held at The SoHo Gallery for Digital Art at 138 Sullivan St. in New York, NY. Catering will be provided by Sagaponack of Chelsea. (The SGDA is owned by John Ordover, who has spent over 20 years in the science fiction field.)
The New York evening begins with a reception at the gallery from 6pm to 7pm, followed by an upscale banquet. The Simulcast is scheduled to begin between 7:00 and 7:30 as attendees in Florida and New York are being seated for dinner; from then the New York banquet will run in concert with the Florida gathering until the Nebula Awards Ceremony has concluded. Nebula Award Nominee N. K. Jemisin will be attending, her Nebula nominated story “Non-Zero Probabilities” can be read here.
The cost of the evening is $25 for SFWA members, $30 for all others; 30% of the proceeds will be donated to the SFWA Emergency Medical Fund. There are less than fifty seats left. Tickets can be purchased at http://tinyurl.com/nycnebs.
Yes, we really are living in the future now…
UPDATE: Originally had wrong prices. Fixed now. Go order.
Even though many of NBC’s sitcom faves are about to end their season, there is a lot of new original material turning up on the web. COMMUNITY‘s DANNY PUDI talks about that shows line up of webisodes now showing at NBC.COM, plus good news for DC’s HUMAN TARGET and not so good news for ABC’s HAPPY TOWN.
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Before you see this year’s live action film of Jonah Hex starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox, see the all-new Jonah Hex Motion Comics series that brings the pages of the book phenomenon to life. Adapting Joe R. Lansdale and Timothy Truman’s Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo, the series is now available on iTunes and Amazon Video with new chapters debuting each Wednesday.
Here are links to Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3 on iTunes, here’s the link to Amazon Video
, and here’s the trailer:
And of course, if you like the artwork of Mr. Truman, we highly recommend both GrimJack: The Manx Cat and The Black Lamb here on ComicMix.
We call this to the attention of those living on the west coast because it sounds kind of neat:
LOS ANGELES, CA, MAY 10, 2010 – In celebration of ALICE IN WONDERLAND’S Blu-ray™ and DVD debut on June 1, 2010, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (WDSHE), in partnership with Disney Consumer Products (DCP), are unveiling a first-of-its-kind Alice In Wonderland Exhibition in the FIDM Museum & Galleries at FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in downtown Los Angeles. The exhibition is free to the public and opens on Thursday, May 27 and will run through September 30, 2010.
Fans of the film and fashion alike will find a new appreciation for the craftsmanship, artistry, and design behind the making of the costumes and merchandise at this particular exhibit that is comprised of three distinct parts: (1) Original costumes from the film designed by two time Academy Award® winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (Best Achievement in Costume Design for Memoirs of a Geisha in 2005 and Best Costume Design for Chicago in 2002), (2) The Edgier Side of Alice inspired clothing and products from DCP and designed by a variety of celebrities, designers and fashion icons (e.g. Sue Wong, Tom Binns, Avril Lavigne, etc.), and (3) Alice inspired gowns created by FIDM designer graduates with FIDM Fashion Mentor and Instructor Nick Verreos.
Colleen Atwood’s work portrays a reinvention of the madcap look of “Alice in Wonderland” for the 21st Century. Featured on display will be her original costumes from the film, including Johnny Depp’s original Mad Hatter fighter garment, a few of Mia Wasikowska’s Alice dresses and Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen Dress, as well as costume sketches, hats and props from the film.
In addition to the original costumes on display, there will be modern-day “Edgier Side of Alice” inspired clothing, jewelry, accessories and collections designed by fashion icons such as Sue Wong, Tom Binns and Avril Lavigne. This display by Disney Consumer Products illustrates its collaboration with these renowned designers in order to create an interpretive line that brings the allure and mystery of the film and characters to life.
FIDM will also play an active role in the exhibition. In collaboration with Disney’s fashion team, the college challenged six Designer grads to partake in a FIDM SuperLab project led by Nick Verreos (Star of “Project Runway”, Graduate and Instructor at FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and NIKOLAKI Owner/Designer). Since the ALICE IN WONDERLAND film is all about discovery, FIDM Fashion Designers were challenged to discover their talents in the world of Alice by designing and producing couture gowns inspired by six iconic characters in the film. Garments are couture glamour meets the red carpet – unconventional, unexpected, Alice in “Underland” – where nothing is what it seems! Their creations will be on display for all to see alongside Colleen Atwood and DCP’s collections.
Exhibition Gallery Hours & Details:
Admission to the exhibition is free of charge to the public and opens on Thursday, May 27 and runs until September 30, 2010. Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. FIDM Museum & Galleries Is located at FIDM/Fashion Institute Of Design & Merchandising, 919 S. Grand Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90015. For more information about this exhibition, please visit FIDMmuseum.org or call 213-623-5821.
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