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ComicMix Quick Picks – February 21, 2009

  • News
  • February 21, 2009

hugh-jackman-wolverine-nude-6045795Today’s list of quick items that don’t fill a full post on their own:

  • Hugh Jackman to Do Oscars Drunk and Nude. Okay, maybe that would deserve a post of its own, if only it were true. Still, the post from E! Online wins headline of the week around here. Also, Ricky Gervais will write some of Hugh’s Oscars gags.
     
  • If you’re a fan of anime, manga and/or other Japanese pop culture in New York City, run, don’t walk to BookOff in Midtown – they’re having a 20% off sale on almost everything in the store until the end of this month.  This emporium for used Japanese language books, CDs, DVDs, manga and videotapes ALSO has a substantial selection of good-condition second-hand materials in English. Their usual US edition manga prices are around 40%-50% off  and the current sale takes the percentage off of that. They also sell $1 books and $3 CD’s, which don’t get the 20% discount but what the hey, those prices are already a steal.

    Since it’s second-hand, the selection is kind of catch-as-catch-can, but this reporter always ends up walking out of the store with SOMETHING cool. Just make sure you give yourself a strict spending limit…this reporter also has been known to get a little carried away with the bargains.

  • Are your pop-culture tastes more Anglophile than Japanophile? (Or, hey, it’s OK to be both — I loves me my Monty Python as much as my Mobile Suit Gundam) you will want to keep your eyes on BBC America. Ashes To Ashes, the BBC sequel/spinoff of the  time-travel (or something) series Life on Mars (the Americanized version of which is currently airing on ABC) will begin airing on the cable network in March. Check your cable or satellite system for BBC America On-Demand — you can catch a 25-minute sneak preview of the first episode of Ashes to Ashes now.
  • DOCTOR WHO MEETS THE BIONIC WOMAN! Well, no actually, it’s actually pictures from the set of the new Doctor Who Easter special, which also features Michelle Ryan, late of last year’s Bionic Woman reboot.
  • And, getting back to anime, in case you haven’t heard — a new Full Metal Alchemist TV series is coming in April!  The scuttlebutt seems to be that it will explore the continuity of the manga that diverged from that of the original TV series.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

The Dark Knight officially does a billion dollars in box office

  • News
  • February 21, 2009

darkknight-5962707Wayne Enterprises has another billion in the bank.

According to Box Office Mojo, The Dark Knight has officially reached $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue, distributor Warner Bros. announced today. The Batman sequel is the fourth movie in history to hit the mark, right behind Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest:

Breaking the worldwide gross down, The Dark Knight has made a phenomenal $533.1 million domestically and $468 million overseas. It’s the only movie in the Top 20 of the all time worldwide chart where the domestic gross exceeds the foreign gross, which is a common trait among comic book-based pictures. On the all time domestic chart, The Dark Knight ranks second to Titanic, while it stands at No. 22 on the all time foreign chart. Warner Bros. noted that The Dark Knight‘s total includes the highest-grossing two-dimensional re-mastered IMAX release ever at $49.6 million domestic and $15.3 million overseas.

For another point of comparison, this year’s five Oscar nominees for Best Picture, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Reader ,have only grossed $481,205,302 worldwide combined so far. Gee, why would Warner Bros. announce that the day before the Oscars…?

ComicMix Quick Picks – February 20, 2009

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  • February 21, 2009

Today’s list of quick items that don’t fill a full post on their own:

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

The Point – February 20th, 2009

  • News
  • February 20, 2009

It’s our Official Toy Fair 2009 debriefing with some of the finest action figures we’ve seen yet including Strangers in Paradise, Dick Tracy and even The Wolfman. And by the way, someone out there forgot to buy their comics in January and the numbers showed it. Even the President couldn’t stimulate this, 

PRESS THE BUTTON to Get The Point! 
 
 

And be sure to stay on The Point via badgeitunes61x15dark-9136151 or RSS!

 

 

Review: ‘Friday the 13th’ I-III Special Editions

When Sean Cunningham and Victor Miller concocted the story for Friday the 13th, they were merely trying to cash in on the success of John Carpenter’s [[[Halloween]]]. The seasonality for horror and the death of the promiscuous were copied along with the plucky virginal heroine.

What they did, though, was layer it with an interesting story of a mother’s grief for her son, the only thing to sustain her for two decades. Betsy Palmer gave a nice performance as the murderous mom, grounding the story more than it probably deserved.  The movie, shot on a shoestring budget, went on to become a major hit and an unexpected series for Paramount Pictures.

With Platinum Dunes, Michael Bay’s schlock remake arm, striking fresh gold with the remake this month, Paramount Home Video released the first three films in the series as deluxe editions. Under the snazzy lenticular covers are the same quickly made, poorly acted and over scored films, with a smattering of extras.

The first film told a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end as a group of teens attempted to reopen Camp Crystal Lake, long closed after two counselors were brutally murdered in 1958.  “Camp Blood”, as the locals called it, needed some TLC and they were readying it a new summer but one by one, the teens vanish, killed by an unseen assailant.  Along the way, we get our requisite one scene with a bare boob, lots of talk about sex, and a group of under-developed characters headed by the heroine, Adrienne King. 

When we learn that the grieving mom was behind the deaths, blaming careless counselors on her son’s death, you feel something for her.  And once she’s dispatched, of course, you get the shock ending straight out of Carrie.

The second film picks up immediately after, just months after the first ends.  Adrienne King is still recovering from the emotionally difficult period but gets one final shock at finding Betsy’s severed head in her refrigerator (starting the whole women in refrigerators trend, I suppose) and Jason actually alive and seeking his own revenge.

(more…)

ComicMix Quick Picks – February 19, 2009

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  • February 20, 2009

drhorrible-7603030Today’s list of quick items that don’t fill a full post on their own:

  • If you haven’t read it yet, you simply must: about DIGITAL COMICS by ~Balak01 on deviantART. Now this is the way to think about digital comics, none of this clutch cargo animation going around. Marvel, take note.
     
  • Matt Smith locked into Doctor Who role with £600,000 deal. And most importantly, it’s a five year deal.
     
  • Missed this one: Two more actors reported to be in line for The Flash — and one of them is Neil Patrick Harris, who already voiced the Flash in New Frontier.
     
  • And speaking of Neil Patrick Harris, Trinity College in Connecticut is running live performances of Dr. Horrible. Everybody, sing along!
     
  • “Spider-Man” Arrested In Israel:

    “Cops were called to the scene after receiving a flurry of calls from gridlocked commuters near the Rosh Ha’ayin intersection who reported a man in a Spiderman costume throwing ropes at cars, the improvised lassos presumably meant to substitute for the web-crawler’s famous mechanical web-shooters.”

    When the individual woke up in the hospital, he said that he had no idea where the costume came from.

    Clearly, this is going to be the evil costume’s fault. Via Haaretz

  • My favorite non-comics story of the day: Police: TV exec beheads wife who filed for divorce.
     
  • Joss Whedon to receive SFWA Bradbury Award. Created in 1992 by then-President Ben Bova and named after famed author and screenwriter Ray Bradbury, the Bradbury Award is a special president’s award presented for outstanding genre-themed work in a dramatic medium. "Like everyone who picks up a pen, I was a rabid Bradbury fan and as greatly influenced by him as any other writer I read," Whedon said. "To receive the award named for him is an honor I’d not dreamed of. In my defense, it didn’t exist back then. What did exist were the very lovely, very twisted and very human stories that warped my impressionable mind, and that I have tried, in whatever medium they will let me, to measure up to." Whedon will be honored during the Nebula Awards Weekend in Los Angeles, California, April 24-26, 2009.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan condoms

  • News
  • February 19, 2009

Yes, I have a bit of history with comic books and condoms. (Go ahead, Google my name with "condom". I’ll wait.)

But even I wouldn’t have thought of this one.

Lord help us, it’s the Dr. Manhattan condom.

No, I don’t know if it glows in the dark.

And we hear another scream from Northampton, England…

Hat tip: Valerie D’Orazio’s new Comic Book Junction.

Kyle Piccolo watches the Watchmen

  • Uncategorized
  • February 19, 2009

NY-based web producer For Your Imagination announced a major marketing deal with Warner Bros. theatrical arm to promote Watchmen. As part of the 6-figure deal FYI will integrate the movie into the storylines of a quartet of shows including Abigail’s Teen Diary, The Retributioners, HungrymanTV’s Phistophicles and the latest installment of Kyle Piccolo: Comic Shop Therapist. Take a look at the first of three new episodes:

Michael from FYI mentioned to us: "As part of our integrated sponsorship with Warner Brothers new film ‘Watchmen’ we have embedded easter eggs throughout the video that will lead viewers to more cool Watchmen content. The easter eggs, powered by Innovid, appear throughout the episode and are the beginning of what we think will be a revolution in terms of how we create video for the internet. Of course the show itself includes all sorts of Watchmen references and images too."

ComicMix Quick Picks – February 18, 2009

  • Uncategorized
  • February 19, 2009

marvelshsa-7849352Today’s list of quick items that don’t fill a full post on their own:

  • Cartoon Network has committed to 26 episodes of Marvel Super Hero Squad, to begin broadcasting in late 2009.
     
  • Apparently, the classic romantic comedy of manners is just not considered to be of sufficient interest anymore. First, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy were battling zombies; now, they’re facing an alien invasion. Where’s the reverse of this trend? When do they put “Mars Attacks—and Hosts an Afternoon Garden Party” on the schedule?
     
  • The BBC plans to put Doctor Who on stage.  (Wow, and it worked out so well for that other beloved British property, The Lord of the Rings. Heck, maybe Coraline will prove me wrong.)
     
  • Dragonball purists will no doubt be disappointed to learn that Goku will be played by a 26-year-old in the live-action film Dragonball Evolution. However, fans of James Marsters—who’s portraying Goku’s foe, Lord Piccolo—are probably salivating at the slashy opportunities that this choice offers. Let’s face it, slash is a fine manga/anime tradition; plus, that episode of Buffy Season 6, in conjunction with that episode of Torchwood Season 2, suggest that Marsters is making a career of playing characters who confuse fighting with foreplay (and that’s definitely not a bad thing…).
     
  • Cardiologist needed at the Satellite of Love (or its current equivalent), stat! Mike Nelson, formerly of MST:3K, now of RiffTrax, is spending the month of February on an all-bacon diet.  He’s not allowed to add any sauces or condiments to the bacon, either, which seems an unwarranted restriction, because how can you go on an all-bacon diet without trying Bacon Explosion?

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

Amy Goldschlager is an editor for FindingDulcinea.com.

Obama stimulus plan already working on comic books

  • News
  • February 18, 2009

It’s been said that Barack Obama’s web-savvy would help the economy, and now we have proof.

ICv2 reports: "Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man #583 rode President Obama’s coattails to a record-setting total of 352,953, making it the bestselling full-price periodical comic book since ICv2 began tracking sales through Diamond Comic Distributors in 2001.  Previous high numbers belong to Marvel’s Civil War #3 and Captain America #25, which each sold 290K, but unlike those titles ASM #583’s performance was the result of not just multiple variant covers, but multiple printings–in fact it appears likely that the majority of ASM’s sales came from subsequent printings not its initial run.  And, for anyone who thinks that the Obama cover was not the primary sales driver, please note that prior to the Obama story and cover image, the title had been selling south of the 70,000 mark.  The sales for this title may not be all over–the fourth printing of ASM #583 shipped in February along with the fifth printing."

Now all we have to do is get Obama to crossover into every single comic published. I bet they’re already discussing it in editorial offices across the land, though it’s going to be tough to slip him into an issue of Jonah Hex.

UPDATE 3:15 PM: Looks like President Awesome has already predicted this.

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