Tagged: 300

The Superhero Arms Race– And Chest Race, Too

one-9311713Acting skill – even paired with leading-man looks and undeniable charisma – is not enough to get you cast in a big-budget spy thriller or a Marvel Comics franchise. “A decade or so ago, Stallone and Van Damme and Schwarzenegger were the action stars,” says Deborah Snyder, who produces husband Zack Snyder’s films: 300, Man of Steel, the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie. “Now we expect actors who aren’t action stars to transform themselves. And we expect them to be big and powerful and commanding.”

Michael B. Jordan, who got his break as The Wire’s sensitive kid Wallace and raised his profile in last year’s Fruitvale Station, knows he needs to be able to bulk up on command if he wants to break into the A-list. “You’ve gotta be ready to take off your shirt,” he says, and he will as the Human Torch in next year’s Fantastic Four movie. “They want to blow you up and put you in a superhero action film. Being fit is so important. . . . The bar has been raised.” …

Gunnar Peterson, the trainer who for decades has maintained the physiques of Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, and others, agrees. “For male action heroes,” he says, “it’s an arms race now.”

via Men’s Journal Magazine.

300: Rise of an Empire Combo Pack Coming June 24

displaymamextview-e1399755028231-8384171Burbank, CA, May 9, 2014 – Vengeance is sought when 300: Rise of an Empire arrives onto Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD Special Edition and Digital HD on June 24 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Producer Zack Snyder teams up with Director Noam Murro to create the follow up to the 2007 hit “300” in the same visually stunning style as the original.  The stylized epic follows two warring nations that fight for glory amidst a raging sea.

Adapted from a screenplay by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad, and based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel “Xerxes,” Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ 300: Rise of an Empire was directed by Noam Murro. Gianni Nunnari, Mark Canton, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and Bernie Goldmann produced the film, with Thomas Tull, Frank Miller, Stephen Jones, Craig J. Flores and Jon Jashni serving as executive producers.

The film stars Sullivan Stapleton (“Gangster Squad”) as Themistokles and Eva Green (“Dark Shadows”) as Artemisia, alongside Lena Headey (“Game of Thrones”) as the Spartan Queen, Gorgo; David Wenham (“Better Man”) as Dilios; Andrew Tiernan (“Ripper Street”) as Ephialtes; Andrew Pleavin (“The Borgias”) as Daxos; and Rodrigo Santoro (“The Last Stand”) returns in the role of the Persian God-King, Xerxes. The main cast also includes Hans Matheson (“The Christmas Candle”) as Themistokles’ closest friend and advisor, Aeskylos; Callan Mulvey (“Zero Dark Thirty”) and Jack O’Connell (“Skins”) as father and son soldiers, Scyllias and Calisto; and Igal Naor (“Ambassadors”) as the Persian King Darius.

300: Rise of an Empire will be available on Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack for $44.95 and on Blu-ray Combo Pack for $35.99.  Both include a digital version of the movie on Digital HD with UltraViolet.* Fans can also own 300: Rise of an Empire in Digital HD on June 24 via purchase from digital retailers.

SYNOPSIS

300: Rise of an Empire, told in the breathtaking visual style of the blockbuster “300,” is a new chapter of the epic saga, which takes the action to a new battlefield—the sea.

The story pits the Greek general Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces, ruled by the mortal-turned-god Xerxes, and led by Artemisia, the vengeful commander of the Persian navy.

Knowing his only hope of defeating the overwhelming Persian armada will be to unite all of Greece, Themistokles ultimately leads the charge that will change the course of the war.

BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS

300: Rise of an Empire Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack and 2-Disc Standard Definition DVD Special Edition contain the following special features:

  • The 300 Effect

o   3 Days in Hell

o   Brutal Artistry

o   A New Breed of Hero

o   Taking the Battle to the Sea

  • Real Leaders & Legends
  • Women Warriors
  • Savage Warships
  • Becoming a Warrior

DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION ELEMENTS

300: Rise of an Empire will be available for streaming and download to watch anywhere in high definition and standard definition on their favorite devices from select digital retailers including Amazon, CinemaNow, Flixster, iTunes, PlayStation, Target Ticket, Vudu, Xbox and others. Starting June 24, 300: Rise of an Empire will also be available digitally on Video On Demand services from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles.

BASICS

PRODUCT                                                                            SRP

Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack                          $44.95

Blu-ray Combo Pack                                   $35.99

DVD 2-disc Special Edition (WS)         $28.98

Street Date: June 24, 2014

DVD Languages: English, Latin Spanish, Canadian French

BD Languages: English, Latin Spanish, Canadian French, Brazilian Portuguese

DVD Subtitles: English SDH, Latin Spanish, Parisian French

BD Subtitles: English SDH, Latin Spanish, Parisian French, Brazilian Portuguese

Running Time: 103 minutes

Rating: R for strong sustained sequences of stylized bloody violence throughout, a sex scene, nudity and some language

REVIEW: Cleopatra in Space

Cleopatra in Space: Target Practice
By Mike Maihack
169 pages, Scholastic Graphix, $12.99

cleo01_frontcover-e1395074030387-3389456The allure of Cleopatra VII has endured over the millennia and continues to be a source of fascination for people young and old. As a result, she is an easy subject to inject into novels, plays, and unfortunately, this graphic novel. What could have been a fun, interesting, character-driven fish out of water story became a by-the-numbers young adult graphic novel that bears no resemblance to the source.

Mike Maihack is a talent and clever storyteller and the art and color make the book a fun, if irritating, read. He has an open style that is expressive and a restrained color palette so you’re not overwhelmed. He’s been producing this as a webcomic since 2010 and the first cycle of stories is being collected by Scholastic’s Graphix imprint in April. A second volume is already promised for 2015 so they’re expecting great things.

Fifteen year old Cleopatra (or Cleo to her friends) is snatched from Egypt by a piece of technology that sends her far into the future where she has to attend an intergalactic school in order to fulfill her destiny of saving the universe. Her teacher Khensu, a talking cat, tries to mentor her, tempering her youthful exuberance and adolescent ways with exasperating results.

The future world is made up of species and races from around the galaxy, all of whom are looking to Cleo to save them from the Xerx War that threatens life as they know it. Additionally, they have no way of sending her home so she can fulfill her first destiny, to be the last great pharaoh of Egypt’s classic period.

History shows Cleopatra was fourteen when she was named co-regent with her father, Ptolemy XII, until his death when she was eighteen. So right here, the book makes little sense. Secondly, she arrives in the far future and at no point does she appear confused by the languages, the knowledge there is life beyond Earth, the technology, etc. Sher arrives, is assigned classes, and settles into dorm life where she is a slacker student but a deadly shot.

This is not the Cleopatra of history, the wily, tough leader who charmed two Roman leaders and oversaw her people after prolonged battle.  None of what we know of her personality is here, instead we’re given a modern day plucky teenager and we’ve seen that. We’ve seen the “savior” storyline, we’ve seen ti all before so plopping Cleopatra into this does nothing but trade on her name.

There is little explanation about why the organization that recruited her is acronymed .P.Y.R.A.M.I.D. or why there are Egyptian touches, such as her sphinx sky cycle, so far into the future on another world. Similarly, the Xerx is reminiscent of Xerxes, the Persian, conqueror of Greece as immortalized in 300 while their leader is Xarius Octavian (the surname being that of Caesar’s son who wound up with Egypt after Cleo killed herself).  The supporting cast is visually interesting but woefully under-utilized. What could have and should have been something different is a cookie-cutter approach to a young adult graphic novel, so it’s all the more disappointing that her 8-12 year old readers will know nothing of what the true Queen of the Nile was like.

Announcing the Mix March Madness 2014 Seeding Round!

  • News
  • March 11, 2014

UPDATE: Seeding round is over! Go vote in Round 1 now!comicmixmarchmadnessfeatured-550x98-7569623

Yes, it’s that time of year again, the time where bracketology reigns supreme and the cry around the nation is “Win or Go Home!” Last year’s Mix March Madness Webcomics Tournament was incredibly popular, and so we’re doing it all over again– and raising money for the Hero Initiative in the process! Find out how…

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“Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark” closing $60 million in the red

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Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark will end its Broadway run on January 4, with expected losses of $60 million, the biggest loss ever in Broadway history. New York Magazine has a breakdown on the show’s costs, both financial:

$1,300,000: Weekly production budget

$2,940,000: Gross for the week of December 25, 2011, the highest one-week take for any show ever

$621,960: Gross for the last week in September 2013

and human (five people with major injuries, including one person who required amputation).

Most disturbing to me: they spent more money on props and puppets for the show than Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko has ever seen from the creation of Spider-Man.

Tickets are available now, heavily discounted if you know where to look and are willing to brave Christmastime crowds in Times Square.

via A Monetary Autopsy of Spider-Man — Vulture.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Ticket Sales went… well…

  • News
  • October 26, 2013

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In an almost textbook example of what to do, and what not to do when inundated with high levels of traffic to one’s virtual door, ticket websites Fandango and Cinemark had wildly divergent responses to the avalanche of would-be customers trying to buy tickets to the live simulcast of The Day of the Doctor, the 50th anniversary adventure of Doctor Who, premiering globally on November 23rd.

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IDEAS LIKE BULLETS RETURNS TO ALL PULP!

  • News
  • October 31, 2012

IDEAS LIKE BULLETS- A Column by Tommy Hancock

ideaslikebullets-8055823

That’s right.  Although I’ve struck out with my own blog (ideaslikebullets.blogspot.com), I have been encouraged in the last few days to restore the ILB column to its first home.  So, when there is an idea that I feel I want to share, it will most definitely appear here.  There may even be a frew ALL PULP exclusives, ideas that I don’t share anywhere but here…. but now to our first new ILB!  

How this game is played, guys and dolls, is simple.  Generally I share an idea that I don’t have time to write or run with and give any and all of You a chance to write it.  Sometimes I want to retain ownership and let you play with it.  Sometimes its a freely given seed of inspiration that You may take and do with as You please.  Today’s is a bit of both.

This idea I have is very much just an inkling, but it is for a character that I will hold onto at least most of the proprietary rights to, in a ‘Concept created by’ sense.   The reason for that is I’m toying with this character becoming a regular addition to the Pro Se line up, someone who might show up in every magazine or somesuch like that. But other than that, I’m going to leave the door pretty open to whatever you as a writer want to do with it….and, if enough of You play along, you’ll all even get to see your take on this concept in print.

Here we go, first with the idea-  A man, six feet tall, athletic build, black suit and shirt, red tie, red gloves, black shoes, black fedora, red mask that is pulled over the top of his head and ends at the bridge of his nose..so sort of like a full face mask cut in half, the bottom hem resembling a domino cut.  He has a plethora of weapons, reliant on no one in particular, but the weapons are not high tech gizmos- just guns, knives, anything that is needed to fight crime and destroy evil.  No one knows who he is under the mask, but one key element is that when he slips that mask on, he is a total and completely focused Pursuer of Justice.   Justice as he defines it, by the Law if that fits, in the Spirit of Justice if that is more applicable.   He investigates…He brings to trial…and he prosecutes in his own unique way…That is why  they call him… THE D.A.!

Now, the actual reason they call him The DA is, except for the mask, he wears an outfit that is exactly what prominent up and coming D.A. Frank ‘Two Fisted’ Finnegan wore on every single day he was seen in public.  Finnegan was also mercilessly killed and butchered, first riddled with bullets by unseen gunmen and then literally sliced into pieces by a fast moving blade wielding assassin known only as The Knife…in front of over 300,000 people at a campaign rally in the largest park in the city in October, 1938.  On January 1st, 1939, this character in a mask and Finnegan’s outfit delivered The Knife and six gunmen to the city police station, beaten, unconscious and bound.   The papers immediately picked up on the resemblance to Finnegan and theories abounded….so the name- The D. A.- struck and stuck hard.

So, that’s the idea…and here’s the rest of it.   You, if you’re interested, write a 1,000 word story (I know, didn’t say it would be easy) focused on the D.A.  Not one word more, not one word less.  1,000.  It must be complete, beginning, middle, and end.   Any and all who write one will not only be reprinted here, but will also find their way into a future issue of PRO SE PRESENTS (after editing of course).
So, you get a chance to breathe life into this character and get published as a result.  Oh and let’s say by December 1st, that thousand words.  Work for you? Good.   Just email to tommyhancockpulp@yahoo.com as you get it done with the subject -THE D.A.-IDEAS LIKE BULLETS.  And don’t ask me questions about the character…You have all the information you’re going to get…the rest, dear Bulleteer, is up to you.

#NYCC sold out; tickets going for up to $300 a day

  • News
  • October 12, 2012

img_2120-300x224-5568102Well, this is impressive: a quick look at StubHub is showing people selling passes to New York Comic Con at really heavy price markups, going for as much as $300 for a single day pass.

We’ll be providing coverage of the convention over the next few days, as soon as we can find places to type and decent wifi to upload. Keep checking here and on our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Related articles

Your Avengers Movie Roundup

phase-one-bd-300x194-8478960You know you’re saving up to buy Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled but now you might need to save a little longer once you see the packaging. As revealed yesterday at MTV’s Splash Page. The package looks pretty sweet.

Additionally, Entertainment Weekly showed off the poster promoting the short film Item 47, which will be found on the Avengers Blu-ray disc. Copies of the poster will be given away following an Exclusive Premiere Screening at San Diego Comic Con later this week.

Here are the promotional details surrounding this event:

In anticipation of upcoming home entertainment release of Marvel’s The Avengers, Marvel is unleashing an all-new alternate reality game (ARG)  that ultimately grants the first 300 fans with special access to an exclusive, premiere screening of Item 47, a Marvel One-Shot , fan experience & Special Filmmaker/Talent Q&A at Comic-Con.

Beginning on July 6th, Comic-Con attendees can download the all-new App – The Avengers Initiative: A Marvel Second Screen App (at the iTunes store) – that will not only garner fans unprecedented access to exclusive content building up to the home entertainment release but also give them access to partake in the alternate reality game (ARG) at Comic-Con.

Beginning on Friday, July 13th, fans will be able to start solving special codes, that when unlocked, will guide them to their next clue. The App will also have a built in map of the Gas Lamp District in Downtown San Diego that will guide them to their location spots. There will be a total of 4 spots.  Fans must complete the entire ARG experience in order to redeem access to the special screening.

UPDATED: Vote In The Finals of the Mix NSFW Webcomics Tournament– Go Get A Roomie vs. Oglaf!

  • News
  • June 16, 2012

mixmaymayhemfinalssquare-6484374UPDATE 3 AM, 6/22: Holy cow, a lot of money has come in this round– $65.75 for Oglaf and $500 for Go Get A Roomie! We’ve modified the vote totals accordingly, adding 263 votes to Oglaf and 2000 to GGAR, but there’s still time for your favorite to win, either by voting, getting your friends to vote, or by buying votes with proceeds going to the CBLDF!

At long long LONG last– the Finals of the Mix May Mayhem (well, it’s not May anymore) NSFW Webcomics Tournament!

So far, we’ve raised over $650 for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and now we’re down to the final two contestants– Go Get A Roomie going head to head against Oglaf!

Here are the updated brackets… and remember, these are NSFW comics, so be careful when you click through to look and read them! (more…)

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