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Dennis O’Neil: In For Repairs

Ye ed here again. 

Our pal Denny remains in for repairs. Let this be a lesson to all of us who think we are invulnerable to ice: if Denny isn’t, what chance do you have?

Marifran tells us that, outside of a complication last weekend, he is home and well on the mend. That is very good news indeed. He will be healing up as fast as he can – dodging the dark side of winter is one thing; blowing off the spring is quite another. 

Hang in there, Denny. Erudite people aren’t exactly a dime a dozen!

 

Doctor Who Lego set approved

  • News
  • February 4, 2015

NOW we know what the cubes were in The Power of Three – space Lego blocks.

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Lego has announced that its newest approved project will be a Doctor Who and Companions Lego set, designed by Andrew Clark.  Created as part of their Lego Ideas program, the site allows users to design and submit potential Lego sets to be manufactured by the company.  Past sets from the program include japan’s Hayabusa satellite, a series of Minecraft-inspired sets, and an assortment of female scientist minifigures.

Doctor Who already has a building block license with the company Character Building – their blind-buy minifigures are currently available across the world.

Emma Owen, UK spokesperson for LEGO Ideas commented:

“We’re extremely excited to announce that a Doctor Who and a WALL-E set will be released as our next LEGO Ideas fan based sets, congratulations to the designers Andrew Clark and Angus MacLane!

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No details have been revealed concerning the contents of the sets, only that more information will be forthcoming for a release by the end of the year.

Get in line now.

Mike Gold: Our Pulp Roots

justice-inc-2500063One would think that because the roots of comic book heroes are deeply planted in the forest of pulp heroes, adapting such characters to the four-color medium should be a snap. Despite the superlative efforts of such talents as Garth Ennis, Frank Robbins, Eduardo Barreto, ComicMix’s own Denny O’Neil and a handful of others, this is not the case.

Let us politely say that, overall, pulp heroes have enjoyed a mixed reception. Some good, some bad, some wonderful, some insipid. Sturgeon’s Revelation remains in complete control.

In making the transition, some people resort to measures that put these characters in modern times. Usually, that trick doesn’t work: The Shadow, The Spider et al are creatures of their own times. Sometimes they become something different – in the 1960s Archie Comics turned The Shadow into a routine, and boring, costumed superhero. At least the guy who wrote most of it, Jerry Siegel, knew something about capes.

These days most of the pulp hero resurrections are being handled by Dynamite Comics, and by and large they’re doing a fine job. I didn’t care for their approach to The Spider, but I was surprised that their putting Doc Savage in the modern era while maintaining his past actually works. Their Shadow is mostly terrific; there’s a lot of it so some is better than others.

It’s hard to go wrong with Gail Simone, and she fits Red Sonja like it’s her second skin. Probably has something to do with the red hair. Zorro has been in fine hands, particularly the stories by Matt Wagner and then even more particularly those stories drawn by John K. Snyder III. The idea of team-up up Zorro with Django is nothing short of brilliant, and Quentin Tarantino teamed up with Wagner to provide the story.

Because The Shadow, Doc Savage, and The Avenger are all owned and licensed by Advance Publications (better known as Condé Nast, which is one of their divisions), it was inevitable that these three would share their own mini-series. Any fan with an appreciation for history felt his spider-sense a-tingling when Dynamite announced they had all three licenses. The concept is akin to skating on thin ice.

Not to worry. This just-completed mini-series, Justice Inc., was written by Michael Uslan, and Michael knows his stuff.

Now, you might be asking “Geez, Mike, what the hell are you talking about?” In fact, you might have been asking this question for several years now, but I’ll just assume you’re referring to Mr. Uslan’s far greater notoriety as a Hollywood producer who specializes in bringing comic book characters to the screen. You know, like all those Batman movies. And the forthcoming Doc Savage movie, the one IMDB says is starring Chris Hemsworth (maybe) and is to be directed by Shane Black. Yep, that’s the guy.

However, he’s also written quite a few comic books. In fact, I regard him as one of our best writers – I will read any comic book with his name on it, and I just might even pay for it. (I heard the phrase “hey, kid, this ain’t a library” so often I salivate at each utterance). And he’s done some truly innovative stuff: he’s the guy who married Archie Andrews off to both Betty and Veronica – sadly, separately – and now he’s got Betty and Veronica out of Riverdale for a year in Europe. He’s written Batman, THUNDER Agents, The Spirit, The Shadow / Green Hornet crossover “Dark Nights,” the revived Terry and the Pirates newspaper strip, Beowulf, and an issue of DC’s original Shadow run. And other stuff.

Joining Uslan on Justice Inc. is artist Giovanni Timpano, who is quite up for the challenge of drawing such a character-heavy story in period. Covers – well, there are a lot of them by a lot of good people. Dynamite tends to approach variant covers the way a 16-year old boy approaches an orgy. But, yes, Alex Ross has one over ever of the six issues.

Since we’ve got at least three heroes and sometimes their associates, I should note the villains are two of the pulp classics: Doc Savage’s arch enemy John Sunshine and The Shadow’s persistent creep Dr. Rodil Mocquino, a/k/a The Voodoo Master. These are choices that might be obvious to the hard-core, but they are so for a good reason: they are solid villains right out of the best pulp traditions.

Even though Michael and I have yet to work together, he avoids violating one of my great many cardinal rules: he keeps the in-jokes accessible to the knowing without getting in the way of those that don’t know. Indeed, in-jokes abound in Justice Inc, ranging from very cute to quite clever. He takes some extremely minor liberties with the characters: Doc Savage is a bit more sarcastic than in the pulps, The Shadow seems a bit more OCD given the fact that he’s hardly a team player (unless it’s his team), and The Avenger’s origin story is bent slightly to accommodate this being set at the very beginning of his career.

You might ask why I’m plugging this mini-series after its conclusion last week. Outside of the fact that I’m absurd, it is possible that your friendly neighborhood comics store has a run left, and you should always support your local friendly neighborhood comics store. Aside from that, the trade paperback collection comes out in mid-May and is available for advance order from Amazon.

I doubt Uslan is going to give up his day job in order to churn out more great comics. That’s just a guess, but, damn, I can hope.

 

Emily S. Whitten: The World’s Worst Superhero Team!

quantum-and-woody-9977330This week I thought I’d get back to basics and, you know, actually talk about a comic book (gasp!). Being in the mood for some potentially light reading, I poked around the myriad stories that I’ve picked up and not had time to read yet, and happened upon the first TPB for Quantum and Woody! The World’s Worst Superhero Team (the Valiant Comics 2013-2014 version). One look at the title and the cover (one tough-looking costumed superhero, one completely douchey-looking frat boy type superhero, and… a goat?) and I knew I’d probably at least not be bored.

And boy, was I right about that. I’m trying to think of a way to sum up what I just read, and I feel like, “This book is so wrong it’s right” might just about cover it. The premise – about two estranged brothers who end up reuniting to find out who murdered their father – sounds like it has potential from the start, and it does provide a good structure for the action. But what makes the book really work are the irreverent humor, the zany take on storytelling, and the strongly developed personalities of the characters we’re introduced to; as well as the flips back to the early years of Eric (Quantum) and Woody.

Those glimpses of earlier times show us a couple of brothers who were once very close, despite Woody being a foster child in the home of Eric and his scientist father, and, well, … a bit of a problem kid. They draw us in to make us want to know more about how the brothers ended up in a present where they’re fist-fighting over their father’s casket; without overwhelming us with the past.

The present shows us a Woody who is always careless and short on funds and, almost always, as douchey as he looks on the front cover (like when he tries to tell the cops who are coming to arrest him and his brother that his brother is a “crazy black man” and a “Muslim fundamentalist who tried to blow up our Godless white science!”).

Because, oh yeah, did I mention? Eric is black, and Woody is white. Which the story totally owns, in the way that the TV show Psych owns the best-friendship of Shawn and Gus – by not ignoring it, but turning an alternatingly warmly humorous and sharply commentarial look on it instead. The present also shows us an Eric who is more serious and responsible (except when led astray by his ne’er-do-well brother), and who also has Army and tactical training, and an actual paying job. Naturally this mismatch turns out to make the two the perfect pair to see “working” together. It sets up a fun buddy story dynamic that (surprising to no one who knows me) reminded me a bit of Cable & Deadpool – the responsible straight man and the wacky irresponsible comic dude somehow balancing each other out. Oh, and the results of an exploding science experiment force them to spend time with each other even when they’d rather be anywhere else (can anyone say, “bodyslide by one?”).

The first four issues in the Volume I TPB show us the crazy science experiment and origin of the “superhero” part of the buddy story, and it was a weird and interesting enough tale to keep my attention, despite being a little convoluted. Some of it almost felt like an elaborate excuse to take a stab at a certain historical figure (I won’t spoil everything for you) but, eh – I was amused anyway. And the rest of it, involving the brothers’ dad, allowed for some great emotional beats in a comic in which most of the time, nothing is sacred, as the story pokes fun at clowns, cripples, superhero costumes, and more. But it’s played for a laugh that works, because the writer (James Asmus) isn’t asking you to agree with the (sometimes offensive) commentary; but instead, writes it in such a way as to lampoon the wrongness of the joke as much as the target.

And while we’re mentioning creators, let’s send a fist-bump (Woody would totally fist-bump) to artist Tom Fowler and colorist Jordie Bellaire for dynamic and expressive art, and vibrant (except for the muted flashbacks, done to good effect) colors in the book. The writing and art make for a fun, and cohesive whole, and kept me laughing or smiling (even while sometimes shaking my head) pretty much the whole time.

Needless to say I want to continue reading to see what happens to these two knuckleheads. It looks like there are at least two more TPBs by James Asmus out there, and a quick Google search shows that it’s recently come back under the new title of Quantum and Woody Must Die!. Sooooo…I know what’s next on my pull list.

Off I go to acquire some more Quantum and Woody! Maybe you should too? And until next time, Servo Lectio!

Michael Davis: No Respect. No Wonder. Part 2

Part 1 of this series can be read at BleedingCool.com

static-comicmix-4323951Hollywood, I’m sorry. I’ve been wrong.

You’re not responsible for the overwhelming opinion the general public has of my industry being just for kids. Yes, SDCC is our house, but our house is all fucked up. We deserve to be viewed as nothing but geeks, nerds, and children. We are not ready to play at your level, not even close.

We’re selfish, shortsighted, and stupid. Not all the time, but so often we’ve become a joke to the French and Japanese comics industries. Comics, one of the few original American art forms, are recognized as such by a country whose ass we had to save and a country whose ass we nuked. Yet we’re the joke.

And we deserve to be.

As an example, in about two weeks it will be a year since I sent an email to Variant Comics. It was my tongue-in-cheek attempt to be funny while addressing an important issue. The fantastic video they produced featured wrong “created by” credits.

The response I received wasn’t exactly what I expected. They said they would correct the issue: “We have already added a correction in our next episode to explain that we missed you and Denys as additional creators.”

But they did not think I was funny:

“I have not responded (quicker) because I do my best to steer clear of rude or aggressive correspondence.”

They thought I was being a heavy-handed bastard. Not my intention, and I immediately apologized with the following:

I bear you no ill will. I was being sarcastic, and if you read my Bleeding Cool piece, you will see I underscored time and time again how much I admire what you are doing. My goal was to show how a great piece with wrong information could do some injustice, but in no way did I ever think you guys would take to heart my FB email. I “liked” your page, I took every chance I got to say just how good your stuff and site is.

Clearly you don’t remember we met some time ago, and as such I thought you would get the joke.

My bad.

Really. My bad.

On the real, I meant to do nothing but poke fun and draw attention to the credits; it was never my intention to insult (except in jest) you or your people. Please accept my apology. It pains me (really) to think my attempt at satire fell short.

If need be, I will say what I just said to you privately in public.

I have no problem with that.

Again – I’m sorry. Try as I might, sometimes I just don’t see what others do. Truth be told most times I care not. This time I do.

The Bleeding Cool article I was referring to foreshadowed possible future events and the real damage that short film could do. That article was not the only article I wrote about this over the year – there were several. Some here on ComicMix, some on Bleeding Cool, and some on my Facebook page, and yes, they were tagged.

Occasionally, I wrote another lighthearted appeal that ended when the “possible” became reality, and the damage sure as hell followed. Since then, I’ve been that Nigga.

Variant has changed nothing on the Static Shock film, and they have had a year to do it. The credits are still wrong. If they added Denys and I to the “next episode” explaining the oversight, how the fuck would anybody know? Those watching an episode of what may be a totally unrelated “History Of” may not even give a fuck.

Anyone going to the History of Static Shock video will see what I’ve asked to be rectified for over a year: the wrong credits. Nothing has changed there.

Nothing.

In that same year, plenty has changed with Static Shock.

Static’s getting a live action television show; Milestone 2.0 was announced; my mother, Jean Davis, the real life inspiration for Static’s mom Jean Hawkins, died. In death Jean (that’s what I called my mom) joins my sister, Sharon Davis, the real life inspiration for Static’s sister, Sharon Hawkins.

As I predicted, the credits cited for Static Shock when the two major media announcements were made are exactly the credits cited in Variant’s film.

I predicted this. The film was so damn good people assumed it was the official version put out by Milestone. The Static live action show and the Milestone announcements went all over the world.

The death of Static’s real life mom?

Nope. No one knew. Not even some young Static fans, cousins of mine from North Carolina who I met for the first time at my mom’s funeral. I’m not naïve enough to think my mom would have gotten a “Static” mention when she died. She wouldn’t have. But it sure would have been nice if my newfound cousins knew who she was before I met them.

Not caring about getting a creator’s credit right is just one example of the unprofessional, childish antics that are commonplace in comics. Missing deadlines, missing shipping, quitting books, taking advances and not delivering work.

Some publishers paying established talent page rates far below what they are worth while using any excuse they can to justify it. Some creators having no choice but to take pennies on the dollar. Artists and writers blackballed on someone’s personal whim regardless of what work they have produced or what they bring to the industry. Been there, had that done.

Hollywood fires and/or sues people who pull what’s routine in comics. Try pulling that missed deadline dead grandmother bullshit at DreamWorks. You’re gone. Take an advance from Disney and decide not to do the work. Rumor has it Tupac and Biggie did that. Yeah, that’s a joke, but once Disney gets done with you, you may well wish you were dead.

Hollywood does not play our games. Disney wouldn’t wait a week after the initial letter sent to you to fix some something that was wrong. Ignoring them, just like I’ve been ignored, (not a word since my apology almost 12 months ago) would just make them increase the level of legal pain they will inflict on you.

And if they think you fucked with their brand, costing them revenue? Wow. Just wow.

Despite our flaws, I love the comic book industry. I love this business even though some in the industry have not loved me back. On a few occasions some serious power players have tried killing me in the industry.

I roll like a boss; people are always trying to kill a boss. They try. I survive and grow stronger. I don’t go public when these things happen – what good would that do? Give Hollywood another thing to look at, point and say, “Look what these children do to their own kind.”

But sometimes … sometimes, there is no other choice.

I don’t want to hurt or hinder Variant in any way. I don’t want to sue or threaten to sue. They do great work, are good for the industry, and I really do like their site.

However, they have done serious damage to my brand. Repeatedly over the course of a year they have been reminded that they were doing so. I’m not alone in being ignored. Those who posted comments echoing me were treated the same.

I’d very much like them to correct the credits on their Static Shock film. I’d like the same credits that appear in every episode of Static Shock and Milestone comics, with one exception: add Christopher Priest. He was a creator and he deserves credit.

Variant, I’m asking you once again, make this right and at least in this instance prove Hollywood wrong. Static was created by Dwayne McDuffie, Derek Dingle, Denys Cowan, Christopher Priest, and Michael Davis.

Let’s show the world we know how to act in matters like this. I’m sorry to say that if no action is taken, you leave me just one option.

End, Part 2. Part 3 can be read on Bleeding Cool and ComicMix next week.

 

Max Allan Collins’ Quarry set for Cinemax Series

quarry-6156358Cinemax today officially announced an eight-episode series order to drama pilot Quarry. Production will begin March 30 on location in New Orleans and Tennessee. Created and executive produced by Graham Gordy & Michael D. Fuller. Based on the novels of Max Allan Collins, the show will be directed and executive produced by Greg Yaitanes (Banshee), along with executive producer Steve Golin (True Detective).

Quarry tells the story of Mac Conway (Logan Marshall-Green), a Marine who returns home to Memphis from Vietnam in 1972 and finds himself shunned by those he loves and demonized by the public. As he struggles to cope with his experiences at war, Conway is drawn into a network of killing and corruption that spans the length of the Mississippi River. Jodi Balfour, Peter Mullan, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Damon Herriman co-star, along with Jamie Hector, Edoardo Ballerini and Skipp Sudduth. “This nuanced and dynamic show marks an exciting moment in the evolution of Cinemax programming,” said HBO’s Michael Lombardo.

quarry-1-6272921An HBO Entertainment production in association with Anonymous Content, the series is also executive produced by Matt DeRoss, David Kanter, Max Allan Collins and Ken Levin. Additional writers on the series include Jennifer Schuur and Max Allan Collins.

Cinemax has been making strides in original programming with dramas Banshee and The Knick, the latter earning the sister HBO network its first awards nominations.

Nintendo Drops The Amii-Ball

  • News
  • February 2, 2015

Being the weekend, Nintendo has not yet explained the delay but numerous major stores report  not to have received their complete shipment for the new wave of Amiibo figures, to have been released yesterday.  GameStop, Target,  Walmart and BestBuy locations report that no or limited stock came in, some only receiving one or two of the new figures, if any. None have any information on their expected receipt.

One GameStop location in New York claims the Amiibo figures have been delayed till the 13th, the day of the release of the new Nintendo 3DS. This has not been corroborated as of this writing.

The Nintendo Store in NYC, on the other hand, not only received their full shipment but broke their own company’s street date and started selling them last Tuesday, according to the manager on duty this morning.  They have already sold through their stock, and have none available on the advertised day of release.

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This is only the latest in a series of missteps that would ordinarily enrage gamers, but has somehow only increased the frenzy in obtaining the collectibles, far above the level that their playability would suggest.

The Nintendo Amiibo are the company’s foray into the integrated figurine market, joining the Skylanders and Disney’s INfinity lines.  The Nintendo lines differ from their competitors in two ways.  One, while the other lines only work in the game for which they have been designed, the Amiibo are compatible with a number of games, both current and upcoming, in varying ways.  Second, while the other companies are offering the figures in plentiful numbers, Nintendo has offered theirs in limited quantity, bringing figures out of production soon after their release.

The interactivity the figures offer is somewhat limited – they can store level information for Super Smash Bros, allowing you to bring your leveled-up character with you to friends’ homes, playing your character against their on other systems. A second game, Mario Party 10, will also allow you to store your progress, but there’s an important caveat – you can only store one game’s data on the figure.  So if you want to start using it to play mario Party, kiss your Smash Bros level data good bye. Of course, Nintendo is releasing a second set of the mario figures, identical save for different colored bases than the original, so if you want to store both games’ progress, you won’t feel silly buying two of the exact same figures for each games’ data.

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Two of the Amiibo figres I’m getting for my daughter, along with the one I’d have to trade her to get.

Other games offer Amiibo compatibility limited to obtaining special character bonuses and power-ups when the figure is activated in the game.  The Nintendo site offers a list of the games here. Save for the Smash Bros games, only two releases to date allow for the use of all the Amiibo figures.  A large number are essentially one-shot items that become more shelf porn.

As a result, Nintendo announced almost immediately after their release that several of the “one use only” figures first wave of Amiibo, including the Animal Crossing Villager and Wii Fit trainer, were already “out of print.” which is code for “buy every one you can regardless of how disinterested you are in them, because they are going to be worth BIG money.”  That, combined with the limited production runs has turned the line from an interesting game peripheral to instant fodder for speculators, increasing demand by an order of magnitude an making it nearly impossible for actually interested parties to obtain them.

The new wave of figures, ostensibly to have been released today, have been snapped up well ahead of their release in preparation for Nintendo’d announcement that some or all would receive a limited run.  This was exacerbated by the release of figures only offered by one store, like GameStop offering Shulk from the Xenoblade series, and BestBuy offers MetaKnight from the Kirby series.  These figres sold out almost immediately after being going up on their companies’ web sites, and pre-sales auctions on ebay are already getting four and five times their original price.

One of the upcoming games to offer Amiibo compatibility is the offbeat steampunk shooter Codename S.T.E.A.M. Four exclusive characters originally from the Fire Emblem series can be unlocked using their Amiibo figures. One problem – one of them, Marth, was one of the “discontinued” figures from the first wave of figures, and already fetching scalpers’ prices on the grey market. All signs point to the same being so for the three figures coming soon in an upcoming wave. Nintendo promises to make more marth figures available, but the odds that they’ll be plentiful enough to obtain without concerted effort is unlikely.

So to play all the characters in the game, you’ll need to spend a minimum of fifty or so dollars, more than the cost of the cartridge itself, and that’s only if you’re lucky enough to get the figures at the MSRP. Which you almost certainly won’t.

In short, while the Amiibo offer limited playability, at least they’re hard to get.  A suspicious individual would almost surmise that Nintendo, knowing the item they have offers limited play value, made moves to increase their scarcity, allowing the collector mentality to override the limitations of the product.

But that’d just be crazy. Right?

 

The Point Radio: Last Minute Guide To The Super Bowl Ads

The countdown to the Super Bowl kickoff is getting shorter, and the excitement is about to start. By the end of the night, who will be the big winners and losers on Madison Avenue? BBDO AdMan, Will Bordeau, gives us some last minute tips on the commercials you don’t want to miss plus we’re on the set of the USA Network drama, SUITS. Patrick Adams talk about how the current season will close and what’s coming for the next.

In a few days, we ‘ll introduce you to the cast of the newest docu-comedy from the folks who gave us THE OFFICE, plus the cast of BLACK SAILS talks about the dark days ahead. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

John Ostrander: Obsessive CHEWing

Some thirty years ago, I broke my left ankle in three places and was laid up for a while as it healed. It was around this time of year and it was a real harsh winter; I didn’t venture outside much because of the ice; crutches and a cast don’t lend themselves to walking on ice. I watched TV a lot, especially daytime TV. I was not then and am not now a fan of soap operas so I would find game shows and reruns to while away the hours. I became obsessive about some of them, especially reruns of Happy Days. I never said it was good TV, just compulsive.

These days, as I recover from my triple by-pass, I’m also into watching some daytime TV and my current obsessive show is ABC’s The Chew, which airs five days a week. The show is a cooking themed talk show featuring five co-hosts – Michael Symon, Mario Batali, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, and Daphne Oz. I’m not a chef and I wouldn’t classify myself as a “foodie” but I am a pretty good cook and I credit television with sparking my interest in cooking. I’ve long had an interest in food and eating as most of my photographs from past years will attest.

I first got interested in cooking and the Food Network with the original Iron Chef, a Japanese cooking competition. I was intrigued by the description of the show as a sporting event using kitchens. The set, in fact, was called “kitchen stadium.” The show was eventually replaced on Food Network by Iron Chef America, an Americanized version using American chefs. From there, I went on to sample other cooking shows hosted by chefs such as Sara Moulton, Mario Batali, and Alton Brown. I also watched some of Emeril LaGrasse’s shows but didn’t get into them as much.

Iron Chef was fun and so was Iron Chef America until they “improved” the latter and made it almost unwatchable.

The Chew premiered in September 2011 and, while I sampled some episodes, I wasn’t taken with it. Shot before a live audience, it had a frenetic pace and an attitude of forced gaiety, trying to be a “party” every day. It put me off.

Sampling it again during my current convalescence, I think the show has jelled and I find it very entertaining. For me, the main attractions are chefs Mario Batali and Michael Symon, both of whom had been on Iron Chef America. Batali also had a cooking show on Food Network called Molto Mario and I was always struck by his ease before the camera and his knowledge, especially of Italian food and its history. I like it when I can learn something. Symon is also a great chef with a maniac laugh. Clifton Kelly was the co-host on What Not To Wear (and I don’t know how that qualifies him as food knowledgeable). Carla Hall was twice a contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef and wellness expert Daphne Oz.

The show wants to be a party and I think it succeeds. I most like shows where I learn something about cooking (although most of that happens on the PBS cooking shows such as Sara Moulton’s Sara’s Weeknight Meals and, most especially, America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country – which are my favorites).)

The Chew has been successful enough to be ripped off by Food Network with The Kitchen. It also has a live audience and five co-hosts including an Iron Chef. To me, it seems a cut-rate version of The Chew; it’s gaiety and “party atmosphere” seem forced. It’s not the first time Food Network has done this; Robert Irvine’s Restaurant: Impossible is a low rent rip-off of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. Same concept for both – a borderline abusive UK chef comes to a restaurant that’s in trouble and gets it working again. In theory. Not all the restaurants saved are open a year later.

Still, I find it sad that Food Network, that sparked my interest in cooking, has become the home of rip-offs, endless food competitions, and/or “undercover” reality shows (although Mystery Diners is so staged it’s impossible to think of it as a reality show even within that genre’s elastic boundaries).

The Chew has a relentless pace; each cooking segment has only a few minutes allotted to it and so the hosts wind up speaking real fast which, I suppose, is supposed to add to the high energy feel of the show. I’m also a little put off by the shilling of certain sponsors’ products within the show. The segments become commercials embedded in the show.

As I return to my own work, I’ll have less time for The Chew but for now it informs me and entertains me – so what more can you ask from daytime TV? I mean, it’s no Happy Days… but, then again, what is?

 

Nic Cage Returns to Action as an Outcast

Nic Cage is back in the theaters this coming week, starring in Outcast.  Costarring is the seldom seen Hayden Christensen (although some think that’s a good thing). Here’s the trailer to judge for yourself.

DIRECTOR:                          Nicholas Powell (directorial debut. X-Men: The Last Stand, Batman, Cinderella Man)

WRITER:                               James Dormer (The Holding)

PRODUCERS:                      Alan Zhang (Waiting in Beijing), Jeremy Bolt (Shopping, Event Horizon, Resident Evil, The Dark), Christopher Milburn (An American Haunting, Getaway, Transit), Karine Martin (Magic Beyond Words: The JK Rowling Story), Gary Hamilton (Lord of War, The Bank Job, Predestination),Ye Ying (Three Kingdoms, 14 Blades, The Four).  George Mizen (The Holding),  Léonard Glowinski (The Diving Bell & the Butterfly, Unknown, Alexander),  Xun Zhang (CJ7,  Forever Enthralled,  The Founding of A Republic)

CAST:

Nicolas Cage  (Leaving Las Vegas, National Treasure, Moonstruck)
Hayden Christensen (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Jumper)
Yifei Liu (The Forbidden Kingdom)

RUNNING TIME:               98 Minutes

RATING:                               Not rated

SYNOPSIS:

When the heir of the Imperial throne becomes the target of an assassination by his despised older brother, the young prince must flee the kingdom and seek protection. His only hope for survival is a reluctant war-weary crusader named Jacob, who must overcome his own personal demons and rally the assistance of a mythical outlaw known as The White Ghost. Together they must fight side by side in an epic battle to return the prince to his rightful place on the throne.

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