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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.”
 

Three Head Down the Rabbit Hole

  • News
  • October 27, 2008

Following the news of Crispin Glover’s casting as the Knave of Hearts in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland comes word that Christopher Lee and Eleanor Tomlinson are joining the cast, while Danny Elfman confirms his involvement on the musical end of things.

SlashFilm reports on Lee’s casting, stating that the actor’s role in the film has yet to be made known. Speculation exists that he’ll either play The Caterpillar, King of Hearts or The White Knight. Lee is no stranger to fantasy films, as he’s played Sith Lord Count Dooku in Star Wars and Saruman the White in Lord of the Rings. He’s also a familiar face in the Burton circuit, having had roles in Sleepy Hallow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride and deleted scenes of Sweeney Todd.

Sixteen-year-old Eleanor Tomlinson has snagged the all original role of Fiona Chataway. Fiona, created specifically for Burton’s vision, is a spiteful young peer of Alice’s who appears in the film before Alice journeys down the rabbit hole.

Danny Elfman, meanwhile, <a href=”

set to contribute to the score for Wonderland. Elfman is a staple in the Burton universe, composing music for Batman, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, among others.

Horror Review: ‘The Substitute’

  • Uncategorized
  • October 27, 2008

substitute boxSynopsis:

The sixth grade students of a small town begin to realize that their new substitute teacher is an alien. When the parents don’t believe them, they are forced to take matters into their own hands. It is later revealed that the alien’s goal is to understand Earth’s concept of love and destroy the planet, because her planet knows only of war.

Lowdown:

It’s funny how many one-word horror titles are out there and have the ability to sound so ominous. “[[[The Substitute]]]” has been used a good amount of times to intimidate, if you count the 1996 thriller starring Tom Berenger about a militant sub who straightens out an urban high school(which spawned two sequels), or Martin Donovan’s 1993 TV movie about a substitute teacher with a dark past, or even the sequel to 1990’s Class of 1999, in which a robotic substitute assassinates a group of punks. This film, produced in 2007, certainly attempts to live up to it’s name, but sadly falls short with some poor acting and a confusing plot.

The film hails from Denmark, which means you have the choice of watching the DVD in it’s original language with subtitles (which is horrible for genres like comedy and horror which rely on timing), or you can watch the film with the English dubbing, which due to the cartoonish voices for the children, will make you laugh more than intended. While most of the actors in the film are children, the responsibility to hold things together is on the shoulders of veteran Danish actress Paprika Steen. She may be a big deal over in Denmark, but her overacting as the alien substitute with a hunger for live chickens is outlandish at best.

alien handsWith a plot synopsis reading “an alien takes over a sixth grade class”, there aren’t many places you can go that won’t deliver as obtuse or puerile, but this film manages to go in the opposite direction and take the “confusing and pretentious” path. The end of the film consists of the substitute teacher taking the students on a field trip to her point of origin with plans on doing something malevolent. The first time they arrive, the children plan an escape and almost get away, if it wasn’t for time rewinding twelve hours and nobody remembering anything. They then go for “ending #2” and fight the alien. The rewind ending made no sense and left me trying to figure out what had happened, rather than watching the ending, which was subpar as well.

The special effects are done pretty well in parts, which is good because it’s hard to sell an alien horror film with a weak budget unless your last name is Wood and you’re BFF’s with Bela Legousi. There are a few moments where the computer graphics look a bit wonky, but overall, there was no problem in believing that this substitute was just an alien with a tendency to overact.

With the script by Ole Bornedal, the same guy who brought us a great concept like [[[Nightwatch]]] and let it fall into confusion and obscurity, it only makes sense that a great concept like this film can fall apart inside of the first half hour. The overall moral towards the end was supposed to be that “love conquers war”, but really, didn’t we already know that? It doesn’t take a chicken-eating Danish cougar to explain it to us through a bunch of sixth graders.

Overall Rating: 3/10

Scare Factor: 3/5

aya-of-yop-city1-6400610

Review: ‘Aya of Yop City’ by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie

  • Uncategorized
  • October 27, 2008

aya-of-yop-city1-6400610

Aya of Yop City
By Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie
Drawn & Quarterly, September 2008, $19.95

[[[Aya]]] was one of the surprise pleasures of last year, a slice-of-life story about three young women and their families and friends in the neighborhood of Yopougon in late ‘70s Ivory Coast. The title character was actually the least involved in the plot, adding to a slight suspicion that the story was partially autobiographical. (Abouet did grow up in Ivory Coast, though she left in the early ‘80s at the age of twelve – so even Aya’s story couldn’t be directly hers. My personal theory is that Aya is based on an older sister or cousin of Abouet’s, one of her strong connections back to her homeland.)

By the end of Aya, Aya herself hadn’t been much changed, but her friend Adjoua had just given birth to a baby she claimed belonged to Moussa, the unmotivated son of local rich man and business owner Bonaventure Sissoko. But it was also clear that Moussa was not the father of Adjoua’s child, and that Bonaventure strongly suspected that.

[[[Aya of Yop City]]] begins almost immediately after the end of Aya; it’s a continuation of the same story rather than being a new, separate graphic novel. (And so the title is appropriate, like a [[[Babar]]] or [[[Madeleine]]] novel, or a line-extending superhero comic: [[[Aya]]], [[[Aya of Yop City]]], [[[The Adventures of Aya]]], [[[The Amazing Aya]]], [[[Yop Comics Featuring Aya]]], [[[The Spectacular Aya]]], and so on.) So it begins with a full-page close-up of Adjoua’s baby Bobby, who is very cute…but also looks absolutely nothing like Moussa.

(more…)

Two-Face Sees ‘Clear and Present Danger?’

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  • October 27, 2008

tn2-aaron-eckhart-3-1478570News about Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan film franchise has unfolded faster than one of the author’s fictional terrorist plots. First came word that Sam Raimi was dropping out of the planned Ryan relaunch, then a report that the film was still a go ahead despite the director’s departure. Now, Moviehole reports that The Dark Knight star Aaron Eckhart is being tapped to take over the spy franchise.

"Harrison Ford apparently won’t be getting another look in as Jack Ryan," says the site. "We’re told since this is a complete reboot of the series the studio wants someone new to play the literary hero.

"Rumored to be among the names on that wish list is Aaron Eckhart."

Moviehole states that while no offers have been made, Eckhart is "a name that keeps popping up in relation to the part of Ryan, so someone over [at Paramount] obviously likes him."

Things have been good for Aaron Eckart lately. His role as ill-fated District Attorney Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight launched the actor to world renown status. Before that, his performance as tobacco proponent Nick Naylor in Thank You For Smoking gained critical acclaim across the board, as has his work in Bill as a reluctant mentor to a rebellious teen.

Eckhart is not the only name attached to Jack Ryan. In addition to Harrison Ford, who previously played the role but is no longer considered in the running, there’s the oft mentioned Ryan Gosling. Gosling was attached to play Ryan around the same time that Raimi was on board, but no official movement occurred in either direction. Funnily enough, Gosling’s name is listed on the Jack Ryan Wikipedia page.

"It was reported on January 21, 2008, by the Empire official website and Moviehole, that a new reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise will take place in the near future, featuring Ryan Gosling in the title role," reports Wikipedia.

Just goes to show that the only news outlet you can rely on is ComicMix. Boo-yah!

‘Mad About the Movies Directors’ Cut’ Coming Tomorrow

  • News
  • October 27, 2008

Mad Artist Tom Richmond wrote on his blog about a new Mad book, due out tomorrow.

He wrote, “Back in 1998 Mad published MAD About the Movies, a collection of movie spoofs from over the years. It was in part to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Warner Bros. (WB owns DC Comics which in turn owns MAD) and all the movies in the book were Warner Bros. films.

“10 years later Mad is coming out with a new version of the book featuring parodies of films from other studios as well as some from WB. MAD About the Movies: Director’s Cut weighs in at a whopping 400 pages and contains not only 60 movie parodies from films of the last 60 plus years, but other goodies as well. Here’s a short list of some of the included parodies:

•    Gone with the Wind
•    Bonnie and Clyde
•    A Clockwork Orange
•    Brokeback Mountain
•    Spider-Man
•    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
•    The Lord of the Rings (all three films!)

“Obviously there are both black and white and color pages in the book. I was told I have several parodies in it myself, although I don’t have a full list. I’m pretty excited about being in the book, as it will be the first book I really have a presence in. My parody of “Traffic” was in Mad About the Oscars, but I believe that is my only contribution to a Mad book.

“The book is part of an exclusive agreement with Barnes and Noble, so that is the only place you’ll be able to get a copy. It’s dirt cheap at only $9.98 for an online price.
“I have not as yet seen a copy, so I have no idea what kind of stock it’s printed on. It’s listed as a “hardcover” but at less than $10.00 I think that might be a mistake. Still this would make a great stocking stuffer. It’s supposed to be released tomorrow, according to the Barnes and Noble website.”

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