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Neil Gaiman Talks ‘Coraline’

  • News
  • October 28, 2008

Neil Gaiman’s Coraline has been turned into an animated film by Henry Selick and the popular author spoke with Premiere about the film, which opens in February. Much of the material is familiar to connoisseurs of the man’s career but he did fill in some gaps.

He discussed how he had the book sent to the director 18 months prior to publication. “That’s true. I mean, Henry didn’t even get the final draft. But the moment I finished it, I gave it to my agent, the redoubtable Jon Levin at CAA, and I said… ‘Well, I want it with Henry Selick and I quite like it with Tim Burton, ’cause I love The Nightmare Before Christmas, and they were the two people who did that, and I think, if it’s gonna be a film, it should be something like that.’ And I don’t know if it ever made it through the ranks to actually land on Tim Burton’s desk and get read, [but] it was really a moot point, because by the end of the week, Henry had read it, said that he wanted to do it, and had put the mechanisms in place. You know, the contract negotiations had already started.”

Gaiman was very pleased with Selick’s fidelity to the source material but clearly things had to be modified between print and screen. “He wrote a first draft that was incredibly faithful,” Gaiman said. “And I think I actually wound up saying to him, ‘Look, I think it’s a bit too faithful,’ because it didn’t feel like a movie, it felt like you were just reading the book. And I sort of encouraged him to expand it into a film a bit more. And the next one he rather nervously added a character and added events, but now the script read like a movie script. And then it was just a matter of him having another six years to find a studio that would give him the money to make the ultimate stop-motion movie.”

He remained uninvolved in the production but remained curious. “I’d go about my life and then I’d sit up one day and think, You know I haven’t seen anything for three or four months now, and I’d phone Henry and I’d say, ‘Have you got anything for me to see?’ And he’d say, ‘Yeah, I’ll get you off a DVD.’ And I’d get a DVD with another 10 minutes of footage on it! [laughs] What’s actually been fun is, because they’re pretty much shooting it exactly in order, the DVDs have been getting scarier and scarier. They started off [and I thought], ‘Well this is rather sweet and rather friendly,’ and the last one that I got I could actually say, ‘No, this is scary, this is really scary.’

Gaiman also addressed the long-delayed film version of his Death: The High Cost of Living. “Well, I think the latest is that we’re all waiting to see what happens to New Line. Death is a very odd thing because, unlike Coraline or Anansi Boys, which I’m doing for Warners, or The Graveyard Book or any of those kinds of things, I don’t own and control the rights to Death. I’m attached to it, I’ve written a script for it, I’m meant to be directing it… but I don’t control it, and for reasons having to do with corporate relationships between DC Comics and Warner Brothers, it has to be done by a Warner Brothers company, and then you have to find a Warner Brothers studio within Warner Brothers that will be a good fit for that film, and of course New Line was a really good fit for that film, and it remains to be seen right now what New Line is when the dust is settled and whether there is a New Line or not.”
 

Chris Pine Talks ‘Star Trek’

  • News
  • October 28, 2008

Right now, fans across the world identify Captain James T. Kirk with actor William Shatner. That’s likely to change when the J.J. Abrams helmed Star Trek premieres this coming May with newcomer Chris Pine in Kirk’s captain’s chair. Collider got the chance to speak with Pine at the recent Hollywood Awards, where the actor initially shrugged off the epic scope of his upcoming film.

"[I’m in] a small, small movie called Star Twars," jokes Pine. "It’s a mix between Star Trek and Star Wars."

Pine acknowledges that he’s stepping into some hefty shoes, and knows that some fans are already "giving the middle finger" to the project. However, the endorsement of Kevin Smith was a huge morale booster for the young actor. When he found out about Smith’s glowing review of both the film and Pine’s performance, Pine was through the roof.

"[I sent him an e-mail and said], ‘Thanks dude. I couldn’t have asked for a better thumbs up from someone [of Smith’s caliber]," Pine says. "This far away from the release date, to have someone say I did a good job, especially with the potential naysayers out there, it was a nice ego boost for a Wednesday."

Unless Kevin Smith can create millions of clones, Pine and the rest of the Trek team will need to appeal to a much wider audience. In that regard, the soon-to-be Kirk isn’t worried about the detractors.

"It’ll be what it’ll be," says Pine. "People will like [our movie] or they won’t.  I’m really proud of it. From what I’ve seen I think we did a great job. We just have to leave the rest [up to] the peanut gallery."

For now, after months of fighting Romulans and avoiding Spock’s death grip, Pine’s working on a project that’s just a tad more small scale.
  (more…)

Horror Review: ‘Trackman’

  • Uncategorized
  • October 28, 2008

trackman boxSynopsis:

A perfect bank heist turns deadly when the robbers and their hostages flee to the abandoned underground subway station where they encounter the Trackman, a deformed madman that prowls the darkness. It becomes a fight for survival as the mysterious monster picks off the people, both good guys and bad, one by one.

Lowdown:

Remember the days when horror films didn’t need a twist ending? When Freddy Krueger never turned out to be Nancy’s father, or Michael Myers was never just a part Laurie’s subconscious? Those were the good old days, but since the genre has been changed by things like Saw or the trend of remaking Japanese horror, it’s almost like a rite of passage to have a “mind-altering” twist at the end of the film, and quite frankly, its getting old.

Trackman has some great slasher movie elements to it, buried deep inside of a poorly edited and badly shot film. Having that the film was made in Russia, I may not be up to speed on how things are shot and edited there, but I’m pretty sure taking a page from Zack Snyder’s book of “unnecessary slow motion” is universally unacceptable. At least when Snyder does it, it’ during a moment of deep(ish) drama to accentuate the moment, and not just establishing shots of dark hallways slowed down to fill time. The film weighs in at 80 minutes, but if you were to dump the slo-mo shots, we’re looking at more like an hour.

The beginning kicks off with a very “Inside Man” feeling, with two men going over the plan for a bank robbery. The robbery goes on, some unneeded blood was shed, and the robbers escape with a few hostages for good measure. Their plan, for some reason, involves roaming around an abandoned tunnel system where (here’s when things get fun) they come across the Trackman.

The origin of the “monster” is done through about two lines of dialogue and something about Chernobyl, but is vague and pretty borders on being convoluted. The great thing about the Trackman is that he had just about all of the elements that made Jason Voorhees so scary for decades: covered face, skulky, had the ability to appear and disappear when needed, wielded a pretty big weapon, and even had a memorable rattle (replacing the Ch-Ch-Ch-Ka-Ka-Ka with some pretty heavy footsteps). The twist in the end of the film, however, negates all of this as we learn that the monster may not be all that monstrous.

The gore is done on a pretty low budget for the film. The big shtick that the Trackman has is a makeshift eye-scooper that he uses to rip out the eyes of his victims and keep. The act of scooping is done all off camera with screams, and even the more gory slasher-type kills are done off camera. A bit of a rip off for the fans of the genre who remember the days of Jason hacking away pieces of campers.

While the film does have its flaws, it makes up for it by bottling what we all loved about the slasher films of the 80s. There are some great moments of suspense and horror, and there may even be room for a return of the Trackman, provided they can find another reason to go into an abandoned Russian mining tunnel.

Overall Rating: 6/10

Scare Factor: 4/5

‘Secret Invasion’ #8 to be a Week Late

  • News
  • October 28, 2008

Marvel has issued a release indicating the final issue of Secret Invasion will now be in store the first week of December, a week later than anticipated.

“The additional pages in #8 did both Leinil and the schedule in,” explained Executive Editor Tom Brevoort in a press release. “Anybody who pored over the artwork from #7 a week ago can easily see how he and Mark Morales have been putting their all (and then some) into every page and every panel, and that effort has finally caught up with us. Hopefully, retailers and fans will forgive us these extra two weeks as we make sure that everything is in the shape it should be in for the extra-sized climax—and from there, it’ll be smooth sailing straight into Dark Reign.”

David Gabriel, Marvel’s Senior Vice President of Sales, said in the release, “In speaking with retailers, Marvel decided it was more important to preserve the creative integrity of the series, rather than rush out the final issue. This not only creates a stronger product for our loyal readers, but also for our retailer partners, whose support helped make Secret Invasion a huge success.”

A mammoth event like this shipping late is no surprise and keeps the creative team intact as opposed to DC’s Final Crisis that recently announced the final issue will be illustred by Doug Mahnke and not J.G. Jones. (more…)

spike-tvs-2008-scream-awards-show

Nolan Talks ‘Batman 3’

  • News
  • October 28, 2008

spike-tvs-2008-scream-awards-showBatman, Batman, who’s got the Batman? The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan sure did, but according to a new interview with The L.A. Times, he might be hanging up the cape and cowl.

"There are two things to be said [in deciding whether or not to make a third Batman]," Nolan tells Geoff Boucher. "What’s the story? Is there a story that’s going to keep me emotionally invested for the couple of years that it will take to make another one? That’s the overriding question.

"On a more superficial level," he continues, "I have to ask the question: How many good third movies in a franchise can people name? [Laughs] At the same time, in taking on the second one [The Dark Knight], we had the challenge of trying to make a great second movie, and there haven’t been too many of those either. It’s all about the story really. If the story is there, everything is possible."

There are rumors all across the internet of what that story might be. Many suggest Catwoman, with Angelina Jolie as the most often discussed actress for the role, while certain news outlets such as the National Enquirer are convinced that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Johnny Depp are locked as the Penguin and Riddler respectively.

Nolan, on the other hand, doesn’t know much about what a sequel would entail. He admits that in filming The Dark Knight, his eyes weren’t set towards a third film, despite leaving The Joker alive.

"I only deal with one film at a time," states Nolan. "We’ve never attempted to save anything for a sequel or set up anything for a sequel. That seems improbable to some people because, particularly with Batman Begins, the film ended with a particular hook [with Jim Gordon showing Batman a Joker playing card announcing the arrival of a new villain in town]. But for me that was just about the excitement of people leaving the theater with the sense that now we have the character up and running. I wanted people to walk away with that sense in their head. You know, that he’s become the Batman in the movie. That’s why we had the title come up at the end, because it was Batman Begins, and it was all very specific to that. Then I got excited about seeing where that character would go. It was planned in advance, but it followed in that way."

(more…)

Everything Changes, By Dennis O’Neil

  • Uncategorized
  • October 28, 2008

When you realize the fact that everything changes and find your composure in it, there you find yourself in nirvana. – Shunryu Suzuki

Because I’m a sorta-kinda Buddhist (without portfolio) and, if that isn’t enough, because I’m an eager believer in evolution, I guess I can’t lament, much, that this is our last visit together. Yeah, sorry, everything does change and eventually go away, and as the Buddha taught, trying to hang on to what’s already disintegrating is a swell way to make yourself miserable.

We had our fun and no harm done…

Had this weekly enterprise continued, we might have discussed how, since modern political campaigns are about touting narratives without regard to whether or not the narratives are true, maybe storytelling is no longer useful to survival; or, with a nod to Ken Wilber, how people get stuck at certain levels of development and how this is pertinent to comics fandom; or why fundamentalism, whether political or religious, always seems allied to violence.

Maybe another time, another place. Or maybe not. (That old man is me, looking for my damn composure, and that lousy nirvana has to be here someplace…)

Final verdict: No regrets. It’s been a pleasurable two years spent in good company and I’m grateful to ComicMix for giving me an opportunity to touch, and be touched by, a world that once meant so much to me.

RECOMMENDED READING: I hereby break one of my own rules – if not now, when? – and recommend two works that I haven’t quite finished reading yet. But I’m close to their ends and feel confident calling them to your attention.

The Wise Heart, by Jack Kornfield.
 
The Scribbler’s Guide to the Land of Myth, by Sarah Beach. (Sarah was kind enough to dedicate this book to me and I’m deeply honored.)

And a final recommendation, not of a book or article but a course: Big History, taught by Professor David Christian and available from The Teaching Company.

Bye.

William the Conqueror Takes His Turn

  • News
  • October 28, 2008

First it was Rob Roy.  Then William Wallace. Now, it’s William the Conqueror’s turn in a new film to be written for Killer Films and GC Corp. by screenwriters Brian Edgar and Derek Wallbank.

Wallbank was a film editor in the 1970s with Hamlet and Devices and Desires to his credit while Edgar is a newcomer to film. Their script, according to Variety, will tell of “the rise of the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy to the English crown in 1066 following the Battle of Hastings.”

Killer has previously produced films including Boys Don’t Cry, Far From Heaven and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Producer John Wells funds the outfit and will receive an Executive Producer credit. GC Corp. is a venture capital fund that specializes in entertainment-related portfolios and is capitalized at $100 million.

"This is a big-budget studio movie. For many years we’ve been interested in a bigger canvas. It was just a matter of finding the right project," Killer Films’ Pamela Koffler told the trade.
 

The Wait for ‘Fanboys’ Continues

  • News
  • October 28, 2008

The Weinstein Company has, according to Slash Film, moved Fanboys from November to open February 6, 2009, another delay. The studio  picked up Fanboy for release some time back and the utterly charming tale of friends trying to get their dying friend to see The Phantom Menace has been hung up ever since.

Clearly they have little faith in the film given it will now open opposite Push, Pink Panther 2, and the Jennifer Aniston’s He’s Just Not That Into You.

When they picked up the movie, it was essentially complete and ready for release but instead, the Weinsteins wanted to tinker with it and the creators and fans were horrified at the notion that the charm might be replaced with something different. They decided to reedit the film their way then test screen both versions before deciding which one to release.
Weinstein decided the cancer subplot was too downbeat and put up $2 million to have four scenes created, under producer Shauna Robertson (The 40 Year Old Virgin) and director Steve Brill (Drillbit Taylor) that changed the story. The Hollywood Reporter noted that the non-cancer version of the film narrowly edged out the original version but well within the margin of error. After much public hemming and hawing, the studio opted to retain the original cut.

Fanboys was conceived in 2003 by Kevin Mann, who produced the love letter fellow geeks with Kyle Newman. The script was from Ernie Cline and it made the Blacklist, the top unproduced scripts circulating in Hollywood. It stars Jay Baruchel (Just Buried), Kristen Bell (Heroes), Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), and Dan Fogler (Good Luck Chuck) and has been eagerly anticipated since footage was shown at various conventions. Release dates of August 17, 2007 and January 18, 2008 came and went without a movie.

Both edited versions are expected to be available on the eventual DVD.
 

WB Finds a ‘Ninja Scroll’

  • News
  • October 28, 2008

Jubei Kibagami’s strapping on the ninja gear and heading for theaters around the globe.

Variety reports that the acclaimed anime film Ninja Scroll will be adapted by Warner Bros. as a live action adventure. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way will produce the picture alongside Jennifer Davisson Killoran and Mike Ireland. The film will be written by Alex Tse, who worked as a writer on Zack Snyder’s Watchmen.

Set in feudal Japan, Ninja Scroll follows ninja for hire Jubei Kibgagami as he battles longtime rival Himuro Gemma. Gemma, who is seemingly invincible, dispatches a legion of dangerous villains to dispatch of Jubei, including the stone golem Tessai and the blind assassin Utsutsu Mujuro. Jubei is joined by the female ninja Kagero, the lone survivor of a team of killed Koga Ninja.

Ninja Scroll is one of the most beloved anime features to cross from Japan to American shores. It joins an ever growing list of anime-to-live action adaptations, including the in production Dragonball starring Justin Chatwin and Chow Yun Fat. James Cameron has stated for years that he plans to adapt Battle Angel Alita, which is rumored to be his next project after Avatar. M. Night Shyamalan has similar plans for a live-action trilogy of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was announced in February 2007 and has a tentative release date of July 2, 2010. There’s been little movement on the project thus far.

Perhaps most closely related to Ninja Scroll is Appian Way’s involvement in the adaptation of Akira. Although Leonardo DiCaprio is not attached to star in Ninja Scroll, it’s possible that he’ll play a role in Akira, which is rumored to be set in America instead of Asia. The move is somewhat worrisome given the way Dragonball looks to be turning out with American actors in Japanese roles, but the prospect of Leo as the telepathic terror Tetsuo is awesome enough for us.

Bryan Fuller Stumps for New ‘Star Trek’

  • News
  • October 27, 2008

bryan-fuller-2287329Bryan Fuller has been making it clear he wants a crack at the 23rd Century. In several recent interviews, promoting his ABC series Pushing Daisies, he’s also expressed his desire to make a new Star Trek television series.

Most recently, he told MTV, “I would love to do another Star Trek series,” Fuller said. “One where you could go back to the spirit and color of the original Star Trek, because somehow, it got cold over the years. I love Next Generation, but it’s a little cooler and calmer than the ones from the 60s, which were so dynamic and passionate.”

Fuller is no stranger to Gene Roddenberry’s creation, beginning his media career by writing for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. “Deep Space Nine was the best of the modern ones,” Fuller told the site, “because it was so emotionally complicated. Enterprise was the most sterile of all of them, when it should have been the most fun.”

His idea is to create a new crew for another starship set during Captain Kirk’s era, feeling the most familiar characters should remain in the films, starting again with J.J. Abram’s reimagined feature due out May 2.

 “Star Trek has to recreate itself,” Fuller said. “Otherwise, all the characters start to feel the same. You always have a captain, a doctor, a security officer, and you have the same arguments based on those perspectives. It starts to feel too familiar. So all those paradigms where it takes place on a starship have to be shaken up.”
 

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