Tagged: movie

Wolverine To Tear Up The Screen At Last

  • News
  • July 20, 2007

wolverine000505-9041281After two years of discussion and rumor, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine movie is finally a go.

Variety reports Gavin Hood will be directing from a David Benioff script. Hood is a director relatively unknown in the United States, although his work as an teevee actor (Stargate SG-1, King Solomon’s Mines, Rhodes) is somewhat better known. His movie Tsotsi won the Oscar last year as best foreign language movie.

Brian Cox (Deadwood, the Bourne movies) is expected to reprise his role as William Stryker from X2.

E3 Gaming Con Secrets Revealed!

A new week for the Big ComicMix Broadcast and some good scoops fresh out of the top-secret E3 Gaming Con, as well as a peek at the future of DC’s The Brave and the Bold and your wallet at war with tons of new comics and DVDs out this week – we are guessing you will surrender on this one! Then we toss out a few more San Diego tidbits and even subscribe to that X-Files 2 movie rumor!

The truth is still out there – but you have to PRESS The Button to get it!

Gloria Steinem, movie commentator

  • News
  • July 12, 2007

steinembig-7303470In a column today on The Huffington Post, Ms. Magazine founder and former Harvey Kurtzman assistant (at Help! Magazine, published by Jim Warren) Gloria Steinem notes the tendency of some to dismiss certain types of movies as "chick flicks."

She says, " … let me appeal to your self-interest as well as your sense of fairness: If the ‘chick flick’ label helps you to avoid the movies you don’t like, why is there no label to guide you to the ones you do like?"

Her solution?  "Prick flicks."  If only.

F&SF News & Links

The Slush God quotes from a bunch of writers who have seen the Transformers movie, most notably Cherie Priest, who made me laugh out loud with things like “I think that now I can DIE OF AWESOME POISONING because that was more awesome than a whole SWIMMING POOL THAT HAS BEEN FILLED WITH AWESOME, and then someone shoves A PAIR OF GIANT DUELING ALIEN ROBOTS INTO THE SWIMMING POOL, and there’s a UNICORN STANDING IN THE BACKGROUND, GRANTING WISHES and SHITTING DIAMONDS.”

Maureen McHugh explains the attitude of a writer towards a work in progress, via this handy chart.

Jacob Weisman, publisher of Tachyon Publications, recently got married, and both Frank Wu and Susan Palwick were there. The best part: they recited the Green Lantern oath (the one written by Alfred Bester) to each other as part of the ceremony.

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Too Many Bat-Baddies

Reports have been surfacing all weekend that both Two-Face and The Riddler will be joining The Joker in The Dark Knight, sequel to Batman Begins. If so, I hasten to point out that this is the sort of thing that killed the last round of Bat-films: too many villains.

One can hope that, at worst, we will see these guys in their pre-presumed identities.  Then the movie will choke on an overdose of foreshadowing, but  that beats the camera having to pick favorites for each shot. Nothing would beat two hours of Batman taking on The Joker, pure and simple.

Damn. And I really liked Batman Begins.

MOVIE REVIEW: Transformers

bumblebee_2007movie-6340859When this summer hit, only one image popped into my head, and it wasn’t a black spider, a drunk pirate, or a dorky kid with glasses. All I saw since day one was a semi truck that turned into a 50-foot robot. So as you can assume, going into the film my expectations were a little high, and you had better believe they were met with bells on.

Seeing as this film is truly the ultimate summer blockbuster (thanks, Mr. Bay), I’m going to have to break down this film like I do all others with the acting, the plot, and of course the one thing that ties the entire movie together: the effects.

Starting with the worst note and working our way up, the acting wasn’t the worst I’ve seen in a Bay film, but wasn’t exactly Gone with the Wind. I don’t know about you, but I expect when I’m going to see a movie about giant robots from space, I want Gone with the Wind.

Putting aside my disdain for Shia LaBeouf, I was just like every other fanboy out there on the Internet that rolled his or her eyes when the list of cameo’s for the flick got released. Bernie Mac’s presence in the film was completely superfluous, other than about eight seconds, his entire sequence should have gotten well acquainted with the floor. As well as John Turturro’s scenes. Turturro plays the cocky secret government agency role very well, but after about 10 minutes, it becomes too much to handle, and he needs to go away. When doing the entire exposition scene of Megatron and the plot-focusing All-Spark cube, there was no need for a cocky government type. Just faces of awe.

LaBeouf and Megan Fox did a decent job of playing the frightened kids… at first. But once the imminent threat of world domination became second priority to LeBeouf’s parents finding him alone in a room with a girl, the film kind of lost its head. As scary as chracter actor Kevin Dunn can be, a gigantic robot with a sword is far scarier. Finally, Jon Voight, Josh Duhamel, and Tyrese “Hero For Hire” Gibson played roles that were both aiding in the “Bay” way of showing the how disasters effect people on a human level, but these characters were effortlessly forgettable in comparison to the robots.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Live Free Or Die Hard

1559747260-1952543Well, after 12 years John McClain is back in full force with Live Free or Die Hard, the fourth sequel in the series, and the sixth sequel to come out this summer. I have to say going into the flick I wasn’t expecting much, especially after seeing the trailer, which only made me believe Ric Meyer’s micro-review in saying that this isn’t a Die Hard sequel, it’s actually the unwritten sequel for Unbreakable. So between that and the fact that this is the first Die Hard film to receive a PG-13 Rating, I was less than excited for it.

Having that frame of mind, I think I was able to enjoy the film much more. I wasn’t looking for a direct comparison to the first three movies, I just wanted a good John McClain movie, and that’s what I got. The biggest issue with Bruce Willis’ character is that Willis himself has so drastically changed his acting style in the last 12 years, that it’s like asking Walt Disney’s head to unfreeze itself and start drawing exactly like he used to. Granted the fun loving, swearing Bruce Willis that we remember from the first flicks is long gone, and we’re left with the bald, grumpy old man Willis who looks like he has to force himself to smile, but we all just have to change with the times, and even McClain has to age.

Following the formula of With a Vengeance, our hero is accompanied by a would-be sidekick, who fights spends a good chunk of the movie deciding whether or not this is a battle worth fighting, and of course breaking out of his mold by the end of the movie to become someone super cop John McClain can respect. This time around, we get Mac Boy Justin Long as the cowardly super hacker Matt Fuller. Long played the role just as any sidekick should, by accentuating the heroism of…well, the hero.

Also along for the ride were Maggie Q and Tim Olyphant as the evil duo. Everywhere I go, guys are falling in love with Maggie Q, and until checking out this movie I didn’t know why. She manages to play the seductive-yet-deadly henchwoman very well. And as per usual, Olyphant oozes charisma as the bad guy in this picture. I’ve been following this guy since Gone in 60 Seconds, and I’ve had nothing but good things to say about each of his roles.

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Tyrese Gibson wants Luke Cage

tyrese-9095585Fresh from the set of Transformers, Tyrese Gibson sat down with the boys over at IGN and spilled his guts on how much he wants the titular role of Marvel’s Luke Cage big-screen project.

"We’ll see, man," he says. "You know, they’re doing the rewrites on it right now. I have not officially signed on to be a part of it, but they have me in mind, so I’m honored."

Having third billing in Transformers may be a big deal, but Tyrese told us that he’d have to step it up even more for Cage. "I’m gonna have to get my body at 199.99 percent," he says. "The Luke Cage fans are out there. I see the emails and the blogs — they want the best for the character. Hopefully, I’ll be that guy… if the script is right."

Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President of Production, recently indicated that the movie rights to Luke Cage have went back to the studio after Sony couldn’t commit to a "decent" script.

"We never got a script on Luke Cage while it was at Sony that did it justice from our point of view or [director] John [Singleton]’s point of view," Feige says. "The rights since have reverted back to Marvel, but I would love to do a Luke Cage movie — again, looking for ways to continue Marvel movies with fresh content and different points of view. I think Luke Cage would absolutely fit into that."

Of course, we’ll have all the latest as news develops on this project right here at ComicMix.

Luke Cage art copyright Marvel Characters. All RIghts Reserved. Tyrese Gibson copyright Tyrese Gibson.

MICHAEL DAVIS: Fade To Black

  • News
  • June 22, 2007

michael-davis100-3637577I fully realized that the article I wrote last week was at some times petty and juvenile. I was furious and I forgot that the best way to make a point is a well thought out lucid argument. At one time I may have suggested some people in the Genarlow Wilson case were racist and because of that I wrote that “white women love me.” This was simply not right.

I was wrong and I apologize. In my attempt to strike a nerve with the people in the case I lashed out but I was totally wrong to say that. I was wrong and I hope that those people I lashed out at will forgive me.

The fact of the matter is white women don’t love me…they REALLY love me!

Dudes! I can’t keep them off of me! I’m thinking of changing my name to Mandingo (they love that) and seeing if there’s any money in this!

Yeah, I’m still a wee bit bitter over the whole Genarlow Wilson and Paris Hilton thing. To all my friends’ black and white, all jokes aside I’m just trying to get those morons in Georgia to lose some sleep at night. That way they can share in a little of what Genarlow Wilson is enduring.

I was going to write this particular column last week but I got caught up in the Genarlow Wilson and Paris Hilton debacle so here it is a week later and I hope it’s still relevant.

By now we have all seen or heard about The Sopranos series ending show. The vast majority of the world hated that ending. Me? I thought it was a cop-out UNLESS they are planning a movie. Then I get it. If they are not planning a movie then HBO should change its name to simply B.O., because that ending stunk.

HBO is a funny little network. No one doubts that they do GREAT TV. In fact The Sopranos would not (could not) have been done on any other network. If the show were picked up by ABC then Tony Soprano would have been played by Tony Danza or some such actor. It was The Sopranos that really lit the fire under the rest of the TV world. I remember NBC did a Soprano rip. It was called Kingpin. Everybody in that show looked like supermodels. Even the hit men were wearing Hugo Boss suits. That show went bye bye faster than Barry Allen. Why? Because as I have said a million times: Americans are not the idiots some TV executives think.

Rather or not you like the ending or not it sure did make an impact, this morning I watched a Hillary Clinton parody of the ending on the Today show.

Wait a moment.

Did I just say that Hillary Clinton, the front-runner in the race for President did a Sopranos parody? Love or hate the ending (or love or hate Hillary) you have to respect the power of a television program that can do that. As I said in my very first column my readers would always know where I stand so let me be clear: I hated the ending but I love Hillary. Why do I love Hillary? Well if we elect her we get Bill as a bonus! Why did I hate the Sopranos ending? Because unless there is going to be a Sopranos movie then that was not an ending. It was a big slap in the face of America by a great producer who wants to be considered an artist.

For the most part television is not an art form. It is an entertainment medium. Yes there is great TV and yes there can be some shows, movies etc. that can be considered artistic but TV is not an art form.

Art by definition is an individual who creates something for no other reason except to see it created. They do it because they have a desire to share their vision with the world. Anytime someone pays you to create a product where the sole purpose is to garner ratings, that is not an art.

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Next Trek Script Finished

  • News
  • June 18, 2007

home5pike-7587270Roberto Orci told SCI FI Wire that he and writing partner Alex Kurtzman have finished the script to the 11th Star Trek movie, which director J.J. Abrams will start filming in November. "We’re still casting," Orci said, and there will be "some kind of Kirk" in the movie. One recalls Star Trek OS featured "some kind of Captain Pike" in the episode "The Menagerie."

Orci also acknowledged he is "sure" CBS is thinking about using the new movie as a kick-off for a new teevee series, but his only concern is the upcoming movie.

Photograph copyright Paramount

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