On This Date: Lewinsky!

News
January 29, 2008

In today’s heated, war-fueled political climate, it’s sometimes nice to look back on a time when our biggest problem was a married man’s bodily fluids on a blue dress.

Today in 1999, Monica Lewinsky was subpeonaed for private videotapes to be used in President Clinton’s impeachment trials.

sigh

What a time, eh? It was the dawn of celebrity obsession (remember Gwyneth Palthrow?) and a time before the axis of evil, the destruction of the World Trade Center, the invasion of Iraq and all of the controversy surrounding Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

With that in mind, it seems wise to hope our future problems can be as simple as some Arkansauce on a blue dress.

Persepolis on The Colbert Report

Uncategorized
January 29, 2008

For those of you who may have thought Marvel EIC Joe Quesada was Stephen Colbert’s major comic book guest this week, he had a nice surprise for those who read beyond the Big Two: superstar graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi, whose animated film Persepolis is nominated for an Oscar. Here’s the video:

We’re not sure if Satrapi knew what to make of Colbert, but she seemed to enjoy herself.

Guillermo del Toro to Direct The Hobbit(s)?

News
January 29, 2008

Guillermo del Toro, director of the critically praised Pan’s Labyrinth and the comic adaptations Hellboy and Blade II, is in talks to helm a pair of films based on author J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings precursor, The Hobbit.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, del Toro is on a short list of directors who studios New Line and MGM, the holders of the film rights, believe to have both the filmmaking chops and respect for the source material necessary for another wildly successful blockbuster. If del Toro indeed becomes the director of The Hobbit, he would become the second filmmaker to to take on a Tolkien project after making a name for himself in the realm of horror films. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson began his career behind the camera of such cult-classic horror films as Bad Taste, Braindead (a.k.a. Dead Alive) and The Frighteners.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Few filmmakers have the cachet that del Toro has, as well as a deep love for the source material, an assured grasp of fantasy filmmaking and an understanding and command of geek culture as well as its respect. Del Toro has built that goodwill through such films as the Oscar-nominated "Pan’s Labyrinth," "Hellboy," "Blade 2" (which was made by New Line) and "The Devil’s Backbone."

Also of note: After settling a heated dispute with Jackson over "profit participation," the studios have agreed on an Executive Producer role for Jackson in The Hobbit, with the director also overseeing certain creative elements of the films.

The Hobbit films are tentatively scheduled for release in 2010 and 2011, but no writers have been assigned to the projects yet due to the WGA strike. Once the strike is settled, the studios plan to fast-track the projects.

Hate, by Dennis O’Neil

News
January 29, 2008

Calling movie actors “stars” was appropriate when I was a midwestern lad, long ago, because they seemed as distant and unattainable as those celestial twinklers that speckled the summer sky. None of my friends or relatives were movie stars — they were butchers or clerks or drivers or printers — and what the stars did, acting, wasn’t a real job and so those who did it weren’t real people. They were…stars. But if you knew someone who knew, or at least had spoken to, one of these distant beings who lived in places you never expected to visit, the stars became somehow real — or maybe realer, anyway. They were, if not people, then some sort of demi-people.

Clark Gable was a star. But Rock Hudson was both more and less than a star because I knew a girl who had worked as an extra on one of his films. Julia Adams…heck, she was a person, because she did a personal appearance at the grocery co-op my father belonged to when she was co-starring with Tyrone Power in Mississippi Gambler and people I knew actually saw her in the flesh. And didn’t that make Power a demi-person, too, by association?

Which brings us to Heath Ledger. I was never in a room with him, never saw him on the street, spoke to him on the phone, none of that. But when a heard about his death a few days ago, I felt just a tiny bit worse than I usually feel when someone whose work I admire passes. Why? Mr. Ledger and I lived in two of the same neighborhoods, one in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan, though not at the same time, and my big 2007 project was writing a novel based on the script of a movie Mr. Ledger performs in. Somehow, all this makes me feel a dim and distant connection to him.

(more…)

Captain America Returns… With a Gun!

News
January 28, 2008

The Merry Marvel Marketing Machine is firing on all cylinders once again, with coverage of this week’s return of Captain America (in the pages of Captain America #34) planned for every television channel, radio station, newspaper, mailing list and telephone pole on this planet and, quite possibly, a few others.

What’s that, you say? It’s not actually Captain America who’s returning, but his formerly deceased sidekick, Bucky Barnes, who has thrown away Cap’s shield in favor of a gun? You say he’s sporting a cybernetic arm and a bad attitude instead of a body full of super-soldier serum and some good ol’ American pride? And he’s not even wearing Cap’s old costume?

Well, I refuse to hear another word about it, Mr. HatesAmerica. Instead, I’m going to put my hands over my ears, hum The Star-Spangled Banner and provide you with a heaping helping of Captain America coverage, in the form of the links below. Remember: They go great with apple pie!

Just as they did with the news of Captain America’s death, The Daily News broke the story of Cap’s return this morning. According to Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada, the death of Cap and subsequent promotion of his former sidekick is "just an experiment."

Current series writer Ed Brubaker addressed the whole gun-toting hero issue, explaining, "people forget that Captain America carried a gun a lot in World War II. Every three covers there was a shot of Captain America with a machine gun or a flamethrower – or an atom bomb."

The Daily News also coaxed some hints about the future of Steve Rogers, the former Captain America, from Quesada in this excerpt:

Quesada admits Rogers, the scrawny kid from the lower East Side who was injected with Super Soldier serum and turned into one of the most recognizable characters in pop culture, may yet return.

(more…)

Mahalo Daily Interviews Stan Lee

Interviews / News
January 28, 2008

I have often been told that Stan Lee is the easiest interview subject in the world. You put him on stage or on camera, do a quick introduction and then stand back and let him talk.

Mahalo Daily featured an interview with Stan Lee today. One of the highlights? Stan Lee explaining how the first X-Men movie could have made twice what it did if they had given him a speaking role.

Of course, the Mahalo team has to be thrilled with Lee’s endorsement of Mahalo after the credits at the end of the video.

Happy 50th Anniversary, Lego!

News
January 28, 2008

LEGO On this day in 1958, the first Lego brick was sold. Eleven minutes later, it was lost under a couch.

Children all over the world have played with Lego bricks for the past 50 years, and Lego sets are still right at the top of many wish lists. Industry and trade associations also recognize the Lego success. Just before the turn of the millennium, the Lego Brick was voted “Toy of the Century,” one of the highest awards in the toy industry, by both Fortune Magazine in the US and the British Association of Toy Retailers.

Of course, we recognize their various media tie-ins, like what they’ve done with Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and Batman, among so many others. And over the years, they’ve given back to film themselves:

So let’s go build something!

New Dark Knight Photos

News
January 28, 2008

SuperHeroHype recently posted some new, leaked photos from the upcoming Warner Bros. film The Dark Knight featuring Christian Bale both in and out of costume as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Among the images also appears to be a promotional poster for the film.

The Dark Knight is scheduled to hit theaters on July 18.

Anton Yelchin on Becoming Star Trek’s Pavel Chekov

News
January 28, 2008

Anton Yelchin, the actor who will complete James T. Kirk’s away team on the upcoming Star Trek film by taking up the mantle of Pavel Chekov, recently opened up about taking the role in this interview with SuperHeroFlix.

It is weird being on a set where a lot of the actors, myself included, have no idea what a turbine engine is. Or what it might do when it explodes. You are looking at a green screen that is supposed to be a battlefield. But nothing is going on. It is fun. It really puts you into the frame of mind that you are making a movie. I had this feeling that I was on a big film. It is the old classic idea of what a film set is supposed to be.

The actor went on to discuss whether the original Chekov, Walter Koenig, has stopped by the set to give him any advice.

I was worried and freaked out that he would come on set and not like me. Then he would say may accent is awful.

Star Trek is scheduled for a December 2008 release.

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

News
January 28, 2008

In today’s free, full-color episode of Demons of Sherwood, by Robert Tinnell and Mark Wheatley, Robin and Marian fall back to their own habits. All the arguments of marriage, with the promise of some sweet making up.

The Mix : What are people talking about today?