Cartoonist Doug Marlette Dies In Crash
Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Doug Marlette, creator of the newspaper strip Kudzu, was killed in a car accident this morning in Mississippi.
According to the Associated Press, Marlette was a passenger in a car that struck a tree after skidding on a wet road. The car hydroplaned and struck the tree, killing the cartoonist. Marlette was working in Oxford, Mississippi, with a high school theatrical group that was mounting a musical version of Kudzu.
A few weeks back I was waxing enthusiastic about Sony Home Entertainment’Â’s line of Columbia Classics CollectorÂ’s Editions, especially The Guns of Navarone two-disc set. Well, it turns out that 20th Century Fox wasnÂ’t going to take that lying down, so they started peppering me with flicks young and old for the old ultra-violence (yes, that’Â’s A Clockwork Orange reference, what of it?).
The Reno 911 squad is not through with you yet, however. There are three audio commentaries: an entertainingly informative one with director Garant and writers Lennon and Kenney-Silver, and then two more with the cast in character as the hapless Nevada cops they play on TV. ItÂ’’s like watching three different takes of the same movie. The group then go on to make it clear that they probably could’Â’ve actually made three different movies, or more, with the extended deleted/alternate scenes, which, as is their wont, last fifteen minutes or more, until the improv runs out or the cameraman drops from exhaustion.
It’s that time again. I’m back on my annual summer filmfest tour. My first, and favorite, stop is FanimeCon in San Jose (“By Fans, For Fans”) California, where my friends at Media Blasters showcased riches aplenty – some recent, one brand spanking new.
First, the good news: the mass of extras do nothing to lessen the impact of this literally unforgettable entertainment (although I almost hoped it would, given the intensity of the flick). They include a new 16×9 transfer, audio commentary with both the director and the manga artist/writer (Hideo Yamamoto), interviews with the actors and producer, and an illuminating on-the-set making-of doc.
Oh, you lucky consumers. This week, all the benefits of DVD watching have come to the fore with four classics that come in four different varieties. First, celebrate all ye cinema-of-the-fantastic fans, for two of the greatest science fiction and fantasy films of the 21st century are now out on disc but only one in a way that shows how superior the DVD format is to virtually every other medium.
Instead, go right to the Two Disc Platinum Series, which envelops the already magical, monstrous, mystical, and majestic film with gobs of film-enhancing extras. All too often, even when a DVD has loads of extras, they’re not really film-enhancing. They may be film-promoting, film-marketing, film-indulging, or even film-smoke-blowing, but it only takes a few of those to know the real deal when it comes around. Each of the documentaries included on the Platinum Edition make successive viewings of the film all the more enriching and enjoyable.
As a contributor (audio commentaries, on-camera interviews, liner notes, and packaging copy) to more than three hundred DVDs in America and Asia, IÂ’’ve always wanted a source for what ComicMix is now allowing me to do — review DVDs specifically on the quality of their extras (audio commentaries, makings-of, et al). When deciding upon which DVDs to buy and which to rent, that’Â’s often the deciding factor.
I got a note from a long time comic book reader on Wednesday. He was incensed that Marvel disgraced themselves by killing Captain America. Worse, they did it sneakily, without telling the retailers this was the issue so it sold out to the fan boys before the general public could see the bloody body for themselves.
Mikhaela Reid is 
