Kick off the summer convention season tonight at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund‘s
Book Expo Welcome Party! Enjoy free gourmet bites and a cash bar, while
mingling with the best and the brightest authors and pros from the
graphic novel world! The party runs from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Hudson
Terrace, conveniently located near the Javits Center on 621 W 46th
Street between 11th & 12th Ave.
This event is open to all
BEA attendees and CBLDF supporters. The party is free for current year
CBLDF members. A suggested donation of $10 is asked for non-members. If you sign up for membership at the party, you’ll receive a CBLDF lapel pin.
What: CBLDF’s BookExpo Welcome Party When: May 28, 6:00 to 9:00 PM Where: Hudson Terrace, 621 W 46th Street between 11th & 12th Ave How Much: $10 suggested donation, and free to CBLDF members! Dress: Business Casual
About
the CBLDF: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 as a
501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of
First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. They have
defended dozens of free expression cases in courts across the United
States, and led important education initiatives promoting comics
literacy and free expression. For additional information, donations,
and other inquiries, call 800-99-CBLDF or visit them online at www.cbldf.org.
If you thought comics weren’t dismal enough nowadays, just wait until they meet up with the Dismal Science. Lo, we shall combine comics and economics and there shall be Ecocomics:
In the Marvel Universe, Canada is responsible for creating some of the
most deadly super-soldiers in history. Wolverine, Sabretooth, Deadpool,
Kane, and Agent Zero were all deadly assassins who were empowered by
Canada’s Weapon X program. This secret division of the Canadian
government went to great expense to create nearly unstoppable weapons
(and in almost all cases, allow them to escape shortly thereafter).
This gives rise to a single question: WHY?
What threat was Canada so afraid of that the government felt the need to constantly produce human death machines?
“Holy Crap, Quebec is getting uppity again, let’s coat another mutant in adamantium!”
Or:
It has occurred to me that building repairs must make up something like
90% of the economy in comic book universes. This must be true to combat
the rampant destruction in the comic book world. Nearly ever major
title from DC comics showcases this constant and overwhelming
destruction. Superman frequently levels Metropolis while “protecting”
its citizens. Riots happen in Gotham City roughly every five minutes. A
FRICKIN DARK GOD POSSESSED EVERY LIVING SOUL ON THE PLANET AND
DESTROYED TONS OF BUILDINGS WHILE BURNING EVERY BOOK EVER WRITTEN!
I can’t wait to see the psych workup on Richie Rich. (Hat tip: Amy Goldschlager.)
We here at ComicMix would like to wish the happiest of birthdays to two of our favorite people:
Harlan Ellison, who despite various attempts directed at him of annihilation, assassination, bloodshed, butchery, carnage, destruction, foul play, homicide, knifing, liquidation, lynching, manslaughter, massacring, murder, shooting, stabbing, slaying, taking out, terrorism, general mayhem, and the rest of the works up to and including editing, has somehow survived to the distinguished age of 75. Happy birthday, unkie Harlan.
Mark Wheatley, who as far as we know has never been the object of anyone’s ire, and is the creator of Mars, Breathtaker, EZ Street, Lone Justice, andFrankenstein Mobster, turns 55 today. Celebrate by reading some of his great works today!
No one knew what to make of Taken when it opened in late January and the film garnered largely positive reviews but as the winter dragged on, the Liam Neeson action film took in more and more money. As it hits DVD, the global box office take stands at a robust $220,789,777 and was the feel good movie of the season.
The movie, though, is thoroughly predictable. Liam’s 17-year-old daughter goes to France with a pal and immediately gets kidnapped by a white slavery ring. Former Special Forces (or whatever) Dad flies over and is told he has a mere 96 hours to find her of she vanishes forever. So, we know there will be mayhem, the clock will tick down and he will save her. It’s a modern day Charles Bronson flick. I get that.
The trick is to make the journey an enjoyable one and frankly, it’s so standard that there’s little to be entertained by. Fights, car chases, double-crossing people, been there, seen that.
Neeson is not your first thought as an action star, [[[Star Wars]]] not withstanding. He’s more the everyman and he wrings your sympathy and you cheer to see him in action, regardless of the predictable outcome.
What would have been a lot more interesting would have been to show us two points of views, not just Liam Neeson’s. The most original thing in the film is the moment he tells her she will in fact be kidnapped. From that point, it would have interesting to see parallel tracks – while Liam Neeson sought his daughter throughout Paris; we also see what Maggie Grace as the daughter had to endure. As it stands, she appears to be the only one who was not drugged, not sold right into street prostitution and by happenstance, the sole virgin capping off an auction for international clientele. That makes her a little too precious and frankly, would have given Grace, a capable actress if too old for the role, something to do other than look terrified or cry.
In fact, other than Neeson, no one is given much of anything to do or so say to round out the story and show us the world Neeson thought he left behind.
Cowritten by Luc Besson ([[[The Professional]]]) and Robert Mark Kamen ([[[The Transporter]]] films), the film felt on autopilot from beginning to end. And with 96 hours to accomplish his task, we’re never given a good sense of when Neeson sleeps, eats, or actually rests. Sure, he’s driven, but he can’t be at his peak for that length of time and the story avoids the issue entirely, a common problem with stories like these. Pierre Morel directs with a nice attention to detail and setting, getting a good, smoldering performance from Neeson but everything else looked pretty much like his Transporter.
The movie comes in the release edition and an extended version that amplified the violence here and there but adds nothing to the story and barely three minutes to running time. The extras are perfunctory with Le “Making Of” featuring everyone gushing over how wonderful everyone else was. The Inside Action: Side by Side Comparisons of six sequences is more interesting.
The stars and crew are all capable of so much more; the overall product is a lackluster affair.
Well, David Tennant is continuing his buyer’s remorse by voicing a second Doctor Who animated story.
Dreamland, the seven-part, six-minute per part story, which really isn’t a sequel to the animated episode The Infinite Quest as much as a new, separate story, will also feature the voice talent of renown actor David Warner. Like Tennant, Warner participated in several Big Finish Doctor Who audio adventures.
The episode has been written by Russell T. Davies stablemate’s Phil Ford, a regular behind both The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood. He also co-wrote the upcoming Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars, expected to air in November.
Like The Infinite Quest, Dreamland is expected to be released on DVD after initial broadcast. Who might actually be airing the show in the States (pun not intended) remains unknown at presstime.
It is most logical for Paramount Home Video to be flooding the shelves with product capitalizing on the release of [[[Star Trek]]]. We’ve been treated to the various Best Of sets, the first season of the original series and now the first six feature films all making their Blu-ray debut. The first question is always, why should I upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray? In the case of the television, there was little doubt. Here, with the films, the answer is less clear cut.
The sextet of films featuring the original crew of the [[[U.S.S. Enterprise]]] was, at best, an uneven affair. It all began when Paramount floundered throughout the 1970s, unsure of how best to capitalize on the growing fan base for the canceled series. It made sense to launch a fourth television network with a revived Star Trek but when that was derailed, it took a while for them to figure out what to do next. George Lucas and [[[Star Wars]]] changed all that. Unfortunately, the corporate handwringing over the next two years meant we were presented with a turgid film that may have featured the cast but lacked the feel of Gene Roddenberry’s series.
The Motion Picture’s costumes were monochromatic bores, much like the performances wrought by director Robert Wise, and the crew were never really given much a chance to show that they still liked one another. Instead, we’re given some new faces to dilute the story and the conflict between the Enterprises new captain, Stephen Collins, and his predecessor, William Shatner, is never fully developed. Nor is the story about Spock and his search for something beyond pure logic. Instead, we’re left gazing at some kinda nice visuals as V’ger comes to menace Earth. It’s slow, ponderous and more than a bit of a mess. For $44 million, Paramount expected something more satisfying and profitable.
Turning the franchise back to the television division and asking for a fresh start with a quarter of the budget was perhaps the most inspired move. Veteran Harve Bennett was given the show to run and did so by combining with director Nicholas Meyer to give us the single best feature of them all. Why? Because it had everything from nifty one-liners from the crew, a philosophical debate over a truly important matter, a memorable villain and a good guest cast. Killing Spock to accommodate Nimoy also meant the status quo could change which was a good sign.
The next two films, though, suddenly turned the solid [[[Wrath of Khan]]] into the beginning of a trilogy that really doesn’t hang together. [[[The Search for Spock]]]was crafted to allow Leonard Nimoy back on board but did so without
giving us anything but the most stock of Klingon villains. The
philosophical and moral debates from the previous film are gone and
Kirk watches the son he just met die for no obvious reason. Robin
Curtis, replacing Kirstie Alley as Saavik, wasn’t given enough to show
she could be as interesting a character. Nimoy also made a nice debut
as a director although the film felt claustrophobic and shot entirely
on sets which didn’t help.
[[[The Voyage Home]]] wisely changed the tempo and look. Nimoy
grows as a director and the humor is all character-based which is
terrific. The fish out of water theme nicely works as does the
ecological message. A fine way to bring everyone home and reset the
mission parameters.
Of course, Shatner has to be given a shot at directing but his
ham-fisted story development and desire to search for god without
really exploring how everyone views the deity is a notion that arrives
stillborn. Shoehorning Sybok into the Spock family tree doesn’t help
matters nor does the lackluster performances by the guest cast. And the
humor here is more slapstick than necessary and the supporting cast is
ill-served.
As a result, Meyer was brought back for what everyone acknowledged would be the final original cast film, [[[The Undiscovered Country]]].
Given an opportunity to go out with a bang, the story is strong but the
execution isn’t quite as sharp as it should be. Overall, it was a
pretty fine way to go out, leaving us wanting more.
Today, we get that in the case of the DVDs with hours upon hours of
extras. Most noteworthy among them is the extra disc with a roundtable
discussion between Shatner, Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes and
moderator Whoopi Goldberg. Here’s a preview:
Each disc comes with its own set of extras, many of which are
already included on the DVD versions. New commentaries and featurettes
freshen each film’s experience. I can quibble that Blu-ray should have
allowed Paramount to include both the original Motion Picture
and the more-recently released director’s cut. The discs collect the
High-Def features plus the special two-disc DVD features, so all
together, you get 2.5 hours or so per film of goodies. New commentaries
are added with the previously released comments which could enhance
your enjoyment of the films, although little will improve [[[The Final Frontier]]]. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, from the new film, provide some fun commentary on [[[The Voyage Home]]].
Each disc has a link to BD Live with additional features such as quizzes.
Of the six films, only the best, The Wrath of Khan was given
a complete restoration. The rest look better merely because they’re
being watched on Blu-ray. All six, though, sound better than thanks to
Dolby TrueHD 7.1. Dialogue, sound effects and score all sound vastly
improved.
While not as good as the original series season one on Blu-ray, it’s
the best these films will look. While the Human Adventure may only be
beginning, the revamping and reworking of the films may well be a work
in progress so either get them now or wait until some undetermined
future date when remastered versions may arrive. The consensus seems to
be that the lack of a director’s cut or slightly modified edits of the
other films may well mean a new and improved set is in Paramount’s
plans.
I’ve been getting notices from people all morning, saying that they’re receiving warning messages at PeterDavid.net or BobGreenberger.com because Google is claiming there’s a link to a malware site somewhere– not that they’re saying what page it’s on, or other things that might be useful to a webmaster trying to track down the problem. (They’re claiming it’s on an underlying site in a different subdomain, which ain’t helpful.)
So we’re digging. In the meantime, use caution on odd links there.
Sure, this is David Tennant’s last season as the Doctor in Doctor Who. But, clearly, he’s not going out quietly.
On the heels of his appearance on John (“Captain Jack”) Barrowman’s song-and-dance show Tonight’s The Night (Glenn’s got that one here on ComicMix) comes word that he will guest as the Doctor on a two-part story in the new season of The Sarah Jane Adventures, coming to the BBC this fall — prior to his terminal closing three-parter.
Executive Producer Russell T. Davies promised it won’t be just a cameo. “This is a full on appearance for The Doctor as he and Sarah Jane face their biggest threat ever.”
Ah, yes. Biggest threat ever. You’d think both the Doctor and Sarah Jane would be a bit tired of that phrase. Still, it’s a living.
Oh, and K-9, now the star of his own Australian-produced teevee series, will be back with Sarah Jane, the kids whose lives she jeopardizes each week, and their big father-figure computer.
Nikki Finke has gotten her hands on the book proposal for Jon Peters’ autobiography. Peters was a producer for, among other films, the Michael Keaton Batman film franchise and Superman Returns. The details are unbelievable, if for no other reason that Peters seems to be burning every bridge behind him, including the one that he’s on. A few choice quotes:
“Batman was a box office bonanza, among the highest grossers
in history. Jon took a lot of credit for that hit, especially in his
heroic efforts to sell Jack Nicholson on playing the Joker. Jon had
bonded completely with Jack and partied hard with him on The Witches of Eastwick;
now Jon had to top himself. With the help of Madam Alex and Steve
Ross’s jets, Jon took Jack on a whore and drug fueled global joy ride
to see the Batman sets in London that was one of the most
expensive and decadent junkets in cinema history. Jon basically turned
staid Claridge’s into the Playboy Mansion, with strippers, hookers,
masseuses, coke dealers, and more, plus champagne and foie gras room
service that put Adnan Khashogghi’s stays to shame. Jack couldn’t say
no to a good time like this, and he succumbed to Jon’s relentless
charms.”
“During the Batman shoot in London in 1988, Jon had his first
high profile post-Barbra [Streisand], post-Christine [his 2nd wife] movie star
tabloid affair, with Kim Basinger, whom Jon had cast as Vicki Vale in
the biggest role of her career. Kim’s tall blonde beauty and her inner
turmoil were very much in the mold of Jon’s mother. Another shared
similarity was that Kim was also part Cherokee. Otherwise, she was pure
screen goddess, the hottest women on celluloid at the time. The Georgia
belle was a Ford model, the Breck girl, a Bond girl, the cover of Playboy.
She had rung up every milestone possible in the pulchritude
sweepstakes. And now she was Jon Peters’s girl, and, thanks to the
breathless London yellow press, the world took note. The affair with
Jon may have ended Kim’s nine year marriage to a makeup artist (again,
the beauty shop connection), but it did not result in marriage to Jon.
Like so many on-set affairs, the honeymoon tends to be over soon after
the premiere.
And we won’t even talk about Superman Returns, where the best guess is that Peters caused the film to cost $50 million dollars more. Instead, we’ll let Kevin Smith talk about it:
See also our previous story about Jon Peters and his parole violation for drunk driving— which apparently, if I’m reading this right, was on the way to the premiere of Superman Returns. Oh, and just for good measure, the book’s been pulled from major publishers at this time, as everybody appears to be ready to sue..
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Kick off the summer convention season tonight at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund‘s
If you thought comics weren’t dismal enough nowadays, just wait until they meet up with the Dismal Science. Lo, we shall combine comics and economics and there shall be 
We here at ComicMix would like to wish the happiest of birthdays to two of our favorite people:
No one knew what to make of 
when it opened in late January and the film garnered largely positive reviews but as the winter dragged on, the Liam Neeson action film took in more and more money. As it hits DVD, the global box office take stands at a robust $220,789,777 and was the feel good movie of the season.
It is most logical for Paramount Home Video to be flooding the shelves with product capitalizing on the release of [[[Star Trek]]]. We’ve been treated to the various Best Of sets, the first season of the original series and now 
. The first question is always, why should I upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray? In the case of the television, there was little doubt. Here, with the films, the answer is less clear cut.
Sure, this is David Tennant’s last season as the Doctor in Doctor Who. But, clearly, he’s not going out quietly.
Nikki Finke
