Summit Entertainment is getting in on the Super Bowl fun with an ad for their film, Snitch, opening in a few weeks.
The studio describes the film, starring the odd combination of the Rock and Susan Sarandon, this way: In this fast-paced action thriller inspired by true events, Dwayne Johnson stars as a father whose teenage son is wrongly accused of a drug distribution crime and is looking at a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years. Desperate and determined to rescue his son at all costs, he makes a deal with the U.S. attorney to work as an undercover informant and infiltrate a drug cartel on a dangerous mission — risking everything, including his family and his own life.
For those of you not inclined to watch, we have the spot below.
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Genre: Action/Thriller
Rating: PG-13
Release date: February 22, 2013
Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Writers: Justin Haythe and Ric Roman Waugh
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Benjamin Bratt and Barry Pepper
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:11
Uh uh.
Leaving aside the gender issues that run rampant through our so-called holy books, I find myself about to enter my seventh decade with a computer full of rock’n’roll songs, shelves full of toys, and a plastic figure of <a href=”
Doody watching over my bed as I sleep. I revel in childish things.
So when I saw a story about Mattel’s latest attempt to revive the Max Steel line of action figures, I was curious. And then a little bit horrified. And then fascinated again.
When I was a kid, I loved team-up comics. The Legion, the Justice League, the Teen Titans – they were great because I could imagine myself as different characters depending on my mood. If I had friends who were also into comics, there were enough characters that we could each play our favorite. It was fun. We didn’t need any accouterments except maybe towels tied around our necks as capes.
In the 1980s, when my son was a boy, the ways corporations marketed to kids had changed a lot. My husband and I were real opinionated about it, and we had bunches of rules. We didn’t allow him to watch any cartoons that were created just to sell toys. No He-Man. No G.I. Joe. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were okay, because they were based on a comic book that was a satire of Frank Miller’s Ronin. The rules relaxed as he got older and better able to understand how marketing worked. Also, at four years old, he could tell the difference between a Tex Avery cartoon and a Chuck Jones cartoon.
Here’s what I noticed as a mom. Favorite characters came and went. Ghostbusters. Dick Tracy. Batman. Turtles. Whatever was in vogue, the kids would run around the playground, pretending to shoot (or send rays out of their hands, or wave swords). The names of the characters would change, but the game was always the same.
Back then, kids didn’t have computers. There was only television and, if the family budget allowed it, books and comics. Kids knew the story lines of their characters, but there was still a lot of room for running and fighting evil.
Maybe I’m wrong, but that doesn’t seem to be what’s happening here. According to the article I cite, Mattel is creating a rather ornate web site with lots of information about the various characters and what they can do, even before the toys are available or the cartoon goes on television. “The intent of the wide distribution is to create viral marketing on social networks,” said Bob Higgins, the executive vice president for children’s and family programming at Fremantle. “Around the world, kids will start hearing about this,” he said. “Kids want to do what their friends do. If they are watching Max Steel, they want to be a part of that party.”
Before I buy my kid a toy, I want to know that he will actually play with it. Not hold onto it while he sits in front of the computer, but play. I want it to engage his imagination so he makes up his own stories, or thinks of ways the characters could participate in his own life.
Toys are media. They are how children learn about the world and how they fit into it. I don’t want my kids to learn that their place is in front of a screen, absorbing content.
As someone who’s had to deal with a lot of hacked websites recently, I can’t help but sympathize with the Emerald City Comicon, whose site has been hacked and backups deleted, all with less than a month to go to this year’s con in Seattle.
Although the Emerald City Comicon site is down, you can still buy tickets: http://ow.ly/hgGe2 March 1-3 #eccc
Getting this book was pretty much like getting an extra Christmas gift for this reviewer. Go through these archives and you will discover we’ve been reading Van Plexico’s Sentinels series since day one; and applauding all of them. Of course the inherent danger with any long running series is that the writer will become tired of the concept and characters and begin to offer up deluded stories missing the verve and punch of his or her earlier entries.
Well, rest easy, Sentinel fans old and new, “Sentinels – Metalgod,” is another top notch chapter in the saga of Earth’s mightiest super-heroes. Without skipping a beat, this new book picks up where the last story arc end; the cataclysmic battle between the Sentinels and a trio of super beings all bent on the complete destruction of our planet. (Note, if you haven’t read those books yet, you have some serious catching up to do.)
So in the wake of the Sentinels miraculous victory over these outer space threats, the team finds itself divided. With their leader, super powerful Ultraa, locked in stasis in a giant red gem, Pulsar (Lyn Li) returns to Earth with the remnants of the team minus scientist Esro Brachis who has opted to visit the alien worlds of Kur-Bai Empire with Mondrian, a beautiful Captain in the Kur-Bai Starfleet with whom he is infatuated. They are traveling with aboard a fleet starship commanded by Devenn, leader of the Kur-Bai super warriors known as the Elites.
No sooner does Pulsar and company return to Sentinels HQ then a new super being calling himself Law appears and, taking control of the Earth’s communications satellites, broadcast a warning that the Kur-Bai areactually planning to an invasion the Earth. It falls squarely on Pulsar’s shoulders to deal with this mysterious new character while at the same time trying to recruit new members to help bolster the team’s decimated ranks.
At the same time the Elites, nearing their home world, are attacked by a Kur-Bai starship crewed by powerful robots called Eradicators. Esro and the Elites discover a military junta has taken over the governing body of the empire and they have been labeled outlaws to be captured and imprisoned. Barely managing to foil the Eradicators, they make their way to a Kur-Bai space station and there learn the full extent of the events that have befallen their people. A power-hungry admiral of the fleet has successfully orchestrated a coup, killing thousands of loyal citizens in the process. A full scale civil war is about to erupt throughout the empire and Devenn and his Elites are caught right in the middle.
Those of you who are fans of this series understand itshomage to Marvel Comics’ Avengers. “Sentinels – Metalgod,” now tips its literary inspiration cap to that classic sci-fi TV series, Babylon 5. Filled with political shenanigans, outer space battles, empire civil wars this book catapults readers into a whole now universe of action and adventure while at the same time injecting it with a marvelous wry commentary on today’s shallow attitudes about fame and popularity. The scenes of Pulsar meeting her German based fan club had this reviewer in stitches. Plexico’s enthusiasm for this series has never been stronger and that is evident on every single page. If you aren’t a Sentinels fan yet, it’s high time you checked it out. This kind of reading fun doesn’t come along every day.
Ralph’s Rants conducted an in-depth interview with New Pulp Author Bobby Nash. Bobby discusses his writing history, what makes a story pulp, what books are coming up from him, how it feels to kill off a favorite character, and much more.
Over the past year, Peter Parker has been saving New York City from evil villains as the masked hero, Spider-Man while balancing his heroics with homework and friends. When S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, Nick Fury, offers Peter the chance to raise his game to the next level…to become The Ultimate Spider-Man, Midtown High becomes a secret operations base for young heroes under the watchful eye of Fury and the school’s new principal, Agent Coulson. Spidey takes on S.H.I.E.L.D. missions across the Marvel Universe, encounters new villains, and battles his biggest threat yet…teen high school drama, in this funny and action– packed new series!
Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Avenging Spider-Man 2-Disc DVD
PREMIERED APRIL 1, 2012 ON DISNEY XD BY MARVEL ANIMATION STUDIOS
Genre: Animation/Action-Adventure
Rating: TV-Y7 FV
US Release Date: February 5, 2013
Feature Run Time: Approximately 135 minutes each disc (six 22-minute episodes) – total: 270 minutes
Suggested Retail Price: 2-Disc DVD = $26.99 (US only)
Content:
Disc One: Great Power, Great Responsibility, Doomed, Freaky, For Your Eye Only, I Am Spider-Man
Disc Two: Flight of the Iron Spider, Exclusive, Field Trip, Home Sick Hulk, Run Pig Run, Not a Toy
Voice Cast:
Drake Bell as Spider-Man (Drake & Josh), Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson (The Avengers, Thor), Logan Miller as Sam Alexander/Nova (I’m in the Band), Caitlyn Taylor Love as Ava Ayala/White Tiger (I’m in the Band), Greg Cipes as Danny Rand/Iron Fist (Teen Titans), Ogie Banks as Luke Cage/Power Man (Fatherhood), Tara Strong as Mary-Jane (The Fairy Odd Parents), Steven Weber as Norman Osborn (A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up Timmy Turner! Brothers & Sisters), Tom Kenny as Doctor Octopus (Spongebob Squarepants, Dan vs.), Chi McBride as Nick Fury (Human Target, Hawthorne), J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson (Spider-Man 3, The Closer).
Executive Producers: Alan Fine (Marvel’s The Avengers, Thor, Iron Man 2) Dan Buckley (The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Iron Man: Armored Adventures) Joe Quesada (Ultimate Spider-Man) Jeph Loeb (Lost, Heroes).
Phase 2 of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe kicks off in May with Iron Man 3, to be followed in November with the second Thor film. There will be a new commercial for the feature to be aired during the Super Bowl. Here is Disney’s teaser for those who can’t wait. The studio is betting heavily on the audience for the Ravens-49ers contest (we’re rooting for the Ravens) with spots of Oz the Great and Powerful, The Lone Ranger, and Iron Man 3.
IRON MAN 3 (in Digital 3D and RealD)
MARVEL STUDIOS presents in association with PARAMOUNT PICTURES and DMG ENTERTAINMENT
Website and Mobile site: IronManMovie3.com
Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/ironman
Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/Iron_Man
Genre: Action-adventure
Rating:
U.S. Release date: May 3, 2013
Running time:
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley
Director: Shane Black
Producer: Kevin Feige
Executive Producers: Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Charles Newirth, Victoria Alonso, Stephen Broussard, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Dan Mintz
Screenplay by: Drew Pearce & Shane Black
Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley,Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce & Shane Black and is based on Marvel’s iconic Super Hero Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of “Tales of Suspense” (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with “The Invincible Iron Man” (#1) in May of 1968.
In Marvel’s “Iron Man 3,” Tony Stark/Iron Man finds his world reduced to rubble by a malevolent enemy and must use his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him as he seeks to destroy the enemy and his cohorts.
First off, let my introduce myself. I’m Sara. Normally you don’t hear from me because I work behind the scenes, helping keep the technology that runs ComicMix running, writing code to implement new features and being an all around source of technical knowledge. I’m a recent convert to comics, and I’d like to do things to be involved with the community of fans and creators. When I heard Matt Fraction was going to be at my go-to comic shop, House of Secrets, I was ecstatic.
Fraction is donating all his royalties from writing hurricane themed Hawkeye #7 to the Red Cross to help the victims of Superstorm Sandy, and signed copies at House of Secrets in exchange for additional donations (he raised $722.60). I braved the crowds to get my copies of Hawkeye #1 – 7 signed, threw in a donation and picked up five extra signed copies of Hawkeye #7, because I want to give you all a chance at one of these. Inspired by Matt and his wife Kelly Sue DeConnick’s twitter donation drive, I decided to do the same thing.
So here’s the deal. Make a donation to the Red Cross, grab a screenshot and donate in honor of Hawkguy and tweet it at us (@comicmix) or email it to hawkeyecontest@comicmix.com or leave it here in a comment. Feel free to let @mattfraction and @kellysue know you’ve donated too. We’ll let this contest run for five days, since I have 5 copies, and end it at midnight EST on Monday, February 4th. On Tuesday the 5th I will make a big spreadsheet of everyone who contributed and entered and randomly pick five of you to mail these to. It’s that simple! You do something good, and maybe get a free signed copy of Hawkeye #7.
ALL PULPâÂÂS New Pulp Bestseller List, the original concept created by Barry Reese, will debut on Monday, February 4, 2013.ààIn an effort to make sure that books that need to be included on this list are on our radar, we are asking for the following-
If you are a New Pulp Author and/or Publisher OR YouâÂÂre a fan of New Pulp and you have had or know of a book published in the LAST 60 DAYS and is available at www.Amazon.com, please email allpulp@yahoo.com with the name of the book and the author.àAlso, if a book is available in print, for Kindle, or both that has been published in the last 60 days, please let us know that.àRemember, this list only follows books that have an Amazon sales rating.
Also, this list may not follow what some fans/publishers consider New Pulp if itâÂÂs published by one of the larger houses.àAlthough there are works that are published by larger concerns that would be considered New Pulp, this list focuses on the small and medium presses that are the primary reason New Pulp is so prevalent today.àIf you send in a title to be listed on the New Pulp list and it does not meet our qualifications, you will receive an email explaining why.
All Pulp is aware that the above information is slightly different from how Barry handled the list.ÃÂ Even though we are going to very much keep the essence of what Barry created, he has allowed and we have decided that there will be some changes to it.ÃÂ By the time the first list appears, there may be more changes or there may not.ÃÂ This is a very organic project, but All Pulp endeavors to continue what Barry started in the best way possible.ÃÂ ÃÂ
So there I am, about to do a column themed to last Sunday’s episode of The Good Wife, when the telephone rings. It’s my main DNA-sharer and in the course of the ensuing chat, I mention the column idea and while we talk he does a Google search and – egad! – the digital oracle indicates that my premise is wrong.
Thank whatever benevolence caused Larry to call when he did, even if that benevolence is, in this instance, blind coincidence, because I really dislike being ignorant in print.
What I was going to impart to you is that on the aforementioned television program, a quiet revolution occurred. The title character, who is admirable and capable and sympathetic, came out of the ecclesiastical closet and pronounced herself an atheist. My thesis: with non-Caucasian and gay characters pretty common on the tube these days, the last barrier is the religious one. Your hero can be black or gay or female, I might have written, but your hero can not be a non-believer. Same is true in politics (I might have asserted): though the battle is not yet over, and I’m certainly not claiming that it is, race and gender no longer automatically preclude election to high office. But I can’t think of a single poobah who proclaims his atheism the way Mike Huckabee and Paul Ryan, to name just two of many, proclaim their Christianity. There may be the odd office holder here and there willing to deny faith in the almighty, as the great Senator Barney Frank denied heterosexuality, but they are emphatically in the minority.
But, alas, the revolution I was about to claim for The Good Wife didn’t happen. Rather, it’s been happening for a while now. Larry’s Google search revealed that there are at least 17 atheist characters on series television and – here comes the shocker! – nine in comic books. Among them is a fella I thought I knew pretty well because, for three years or so,I was his chief biographer. Tony Stark’s the name, and Iron Man’s the game.
When I was writing Iron Man for Marvel, the question of Tony’s belief system never arose, just as than the question of his favorite breakfast cereal never arose. That may be because comics are a very compressed way of delivering stories, and anything not germane to the plot is generally omitted, or it may be because somewhere in the pit of my psyche I thought that characteristics like religion were off-limits. Nobody ever told me that they were, but religion was never, ever mentioned in comics – or in movies or television or radio, and very seldom in genre novels. The no-religion stricture was one of those taboos that I assumed without really giving them much thought. However, I don’t believe that the taboo didn’t exist. My guess would be that the dudes in the carpeted offices feared that identifying a character’s religion would alienate anyone of a different faith. Maybe they were right.
By the way…the Wayne family were probably Episcopalian and if their surviving member, Bruce, were ever asked about beliefs, he’d identify with the family tradition. But he doesn’t get to church very often. Too busy jumping off roofs.
FRIDAY: Martha Thomases, Howdy Doody, and Corinthians.
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Summit Entertainment is getting in on the Super Bowl fun with an ad for their film, Snitch, opening in a few weeks.
