Tagged: Variety

Arrow’s Kelly Hu Never Knew Danger Like Kissing Kirk Cameron on Growing Pains

  • News
  • June 12, 2013

kirkcameron-kellyhu-5125396Danger surrounds actress Kelly Hu today.

As the nefarious China White in Arrow, she plays the head of an assassins syndicate that goes head-to-head with Green Arrow; and in her new role as Cece on The CW’s The Hundred, she’ll be facing incredible odds in an enthralling, futuristic thriller.

But at no time was she in more danger than when she kissed Kirk Cameron in her debut role on Growing Pains.

Hu is among several notable actors whose careers took flight after taking their initial bow in a guest appearance during Season Three of Growing Pains. Four-time Academy Award nominee Brad Pitt played his first character with an actual name in the ninth episode of the season, “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”; The Hangover star Heather Graham doubled that feat by portraying her first two “name” characters as Cindy in “Michaelgate” and as Samantha in “Some Enchanted Evening”; and Butch Hartman, best known as the creator of the popular Nick animated series The Fairly Oddparents, had one of his first credited roles in the “Michaelgate” episode.

Season Three of Growing Pains is now available as a three-disk DVD set through the Warner Archive Collection.

For Hu, Growing Pains was truly a launching pad for a very busy career. Fresh out of high school, Hu filmed the episode – a season-opening two-parter entitled “Aloha” – and then moved to Los Angeles before it aired.

“The day (the episode aired), I put a full page add in Variety and sent out letters to agents announcing that I was ‘now available for west coast representation’,” Hu recalls. “I got 20 calls from agents before the show even aired that night.”

She also got fan mail. More to the point, hate mail. In the episodes, the Seavers take a family vacation to Hawaii – where Mike (Kirk Cameron) became infatuated with a young local girl named Melia (Hu). The island romance sent Cameron’s legion of young female fans into a tizzy.

“Kirk Cameron was my first on-camera kiss,” Hu says with a knowing smile, “and I got all kinds of death threats from little girls who were jealous that I got to kiss him.”

Now a veteran of more than 40 primetime series, not to mention films like X2, The Scorpion King and The Doors, Hu says the Growing Pains experience represented one new lesson after another. Even at the craft services table.

“It was on the set at breakfast my first day shooting in LA that I saw my first bagel,” Hu says. “I pointed at it and asked out loud, ‘Is that a bagel?’ and Tracy Gold, in her very New York accent, replied, ‘You don’t know what a bagel looks like!?’  I didn’t.  I was a little girl from Hawaii. There was a lot I still hadn’t been exposed to yet.”

Jeff Bridges Wants to Adapt The Giver

  • News
  • June 28, 2011

lgiver-297x450-8849174Lois Lowry’s classic young adult novel The Giver is headed for the big screen courtesy of actor Jeff Bridges’ persistence. According to Variety, Bridges has wanted to adapt the 1993 science fiction book about a world that has been rendered average and bland.

Bridges and Nikki Silver have reacquired the rights to the novel and have hired Vadim Perelman (The House of Sand and Fog) to write the screen adaptation and nearly got to direct a version in 2006. No other hires have been announced but Bridges is now at an age where he could make a convincing title character.

The Giver is the keeper of memory, of experiences good and bad, for a society that strives for a moderate approach to all things. When young Jonas is selected as the next Giver, he forges a relationship with the far older man and both recognize that the world they inhabit is far from ideal.

Lowry won the Newbery Medal for the novel which remains a high school staple. It has appeared on many best book lists and has endured as a classic example of a dystopian society. When Bridges’ daughter read the book for school, he became intrigued and imagined it for a vehicle for his father, the great Lloyd Bridges.

Lowry loosely connected Gathering Blue and Messenger into an overall trilogy that remains a popular offering bookstores and libraries.

Review: ‘Civil War Adventure’

cwa-cover-large-6790030{{{Civil War Adventure]]]
By Chuck Dixon & Gary Kwapisz
History Graphics Press, 144 pages. $14.95

The graphic novel as memoir and teaching tool has become accepted in schools and libraries and there is a growing need for well-researched material. Thankfully, Chuck Dixon knows his history and how to do research. He’s displayed this in a rich career, covering all the eras. Here, he’s partnered with veteran artist Gary Kwapisz to produce the first in a line of Civil War graphic novels.

The first volume was recently released and makes for good, solid reading. There are seven stories in this inaugural collection, spanning the length of the war, along with single page features on terminology, weaponry and personalities. The book smartly opens with a timeline of the Battle Between the States, placing each story contained in context. On the other hand, the stories appear in a jumbled order that makes little sense.

If anything, there appears to be a preference for stories told from the point of view of the seseches, that is, the Confederacy. Their passion certainly outweighed their level of preparedness and organization. If anything. Both North and South were comprised of militias and armies that were loosely organized and commanded so sometimes it’s hard to keep track of the squads.

Dixon keeps things personal, largely following a father and son both leaving their farm to go to war, to protect a way of life that was largely unsustainable. They crop up in several stories and we’re promised more about them in subsequent volumes. Wisely, many of his stories are taken from journals and letters written during the war and lend a voice of authenticity to the book.

The stories are light on ideology so there’s little about why the Union split in two, nothing about states’ rights or even much about the slavery issue. These are the men, largely uneducated, who are fighting for freedom on the front lines, far from the news and politicians.

Kwapisz provides the majority of the artwork and is a strong storyteller. Some of his characters border on the exaggerated and backgrounds could be more detailed here and there but overall, he does a commendable job with differentiating his players and battlefields. Silvestre and Enrique Villagran each contribute art for a story, providing a little visual variety.

The volume is a nice, if jumbled, package and promises more to come. While not to be considered a sole source for readers, it certainly helps bring some of the history to life. These two have formed their own company and I wish them well so other historic times can be explored in compelling ways.

(more…)

Review: ‘The Year of Loving Dangerously’

The Year of Loving Dangerously

By Ted Rall and Pablo G. Callejo
ComicsLit, 128 pages, $18.95

Ted Rall is a talented, controversial opinion-maker through his columns and his cartoonists. His somewhat jaundiced look at life has been shaped by many factors, chief among them, 1984, the year referred to in the title of this courageous memoir recently released under NBM’s ComicsLit imprint.

A junior, Ted developed a medical condition that shoved his life off course and in rapid succession; he was failed by his family, Columbia University, his friends, and strangers in Manhattan. As a result, Ted found himself expelled, homeless, and practically penniless, struggling to survive.

He found an unusual solution, picking up or letting himself be picked up by women essentially exchanging sexual favors for a warm place to sleep. For the better part of a year, Ted, still smarting from the breakup with Philippa, the girl of his dreams, has a steady stream of sexual relationships and in frank terms, tells his reader that he didn’t necessary revel in the activity. It was survival mechanism, much as he broke into a Barnard dorm to crash or later stole supplies from the University that jerked him around in order to raise cash.

Rall is 21, handsome, and clearly desirable but despite the variety of sexual partners at a time when AIDS was just hitting the headlines, he hates his life and his self-esteem remains fairly low. Chris, his best pal, has his own issues, walking a fine line between recreational drug use and becoming a junkie, threatening to drag Ted with him.

The writing is clear-eyed and unsparing in his appraisal of his own behavior and that of those around him. When things finally begin to turn around and he finds a job but doesn’t yet have the cash to afford first and last month rent, Ted continues to indulge in questionable behavior. Still, he tried to follow a moral path, writing, “Unlike faceless corporate entities, built on institutionalized theft, individual people were strictly off-limits.”

He gets the job, settles into three stable relationships with women (keeping each ignorant of the others), and survives a fresh encounter with Philippa. You’re rooting for him along the way, wondering if you would have made the same choices in the name of basic survival.

Much of the strength in this remarkable account comes from Pablo G Callejo’s artwork. The Spanish artist keenly captures the look and feel of New York City during the go-go Reagan years. His people are wonderfully varied and his attention to detail is excellent, from clothing to color. His artwork is ideally suited for this cautionary tale and made reading it a lot easier.

This is an important work in that it lays bare a man’s life and shows how easily things can go awry and why society needs safety nets.

Google goes comic crazy too for #SDCC

  • News
  • July 23, 2009

As part of iGoogle sponsoring the wi-fi at San Diego this year, they’ve also introduced a wide variety of comics themes that you can use to customize your iGoogle page– everything from Superman to Daniel Clowes (although, suprisingly, no Silver Surfer or Iron Man, and the web-slinger is Spider-Woman).

And they’ve noted the occasion by putting a Jim Lee logo on the Google home page today. Jim noted, “It will be the single most viewed image I have ever drawn!”

UPDATE: A full size version of the image. Thanks, Jim!

The Point Yes Cap Is Back!

Did Marvel really expect us to be surprised? And what lies in the closet of the man who created SUPERMAN? Plus, how funny is back at the top of the box office for the second week!


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The Point Goes 24/7!

pt0605091-4914958Now there is a magazine coming that will tell you which of all the OTHER magazines on TWILIGHT you need to read, plus we introduce you to a man who turned his daily walk into a book and movie deal, there’s some cool stuff out of E3 and yes, BIG NEWS about us (sneak peek below)…


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Regency Wants ‘The End of Eternity’

  • News
  • November 16, 2008

Isaac Asimov hasn’t been well served by Hollywood adaptations of his novels. That hasn’t stopped Regency from trying their hand with his long out of print The End of Eternity. Variety reports the 1955 novel has been picked up.

The production entity is seeking a writer and director.

The trade says the book is “a futuristic tale in which humanity is controlled by a ruling class called Eternity, a member of which can manipulate time to alter history and prevent disasters or wipe out undesirables.

“One of the time cops flirts with disaster when he breaks the cardinal Eternity rule and falls in love with a woman from another time period.”

Considered one of the prolific writer’s stronger efforts, it originally began as a 25,000 story which was rejected in February 1954 by Galaxy’s Horace L. Gold.  Undaunted, he decided to expand the story into a novel and had the concept accepted on April 7 by Walter I. Bradbury at Doubleday. The final manuscript was delivered December 13, being published in book form in August 1955.

At one time it had been optioned for a film to be directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise but died during development.

‘MadTV’ Canceled by Fox

  • News
  • November 13, 2008

Fox announced the cancelation of Mad TV. The series lasted an impressive 14 seasons but had suffered season-to-season ratings declines for a while now so the news came as no surprise.

"There’s been great interest in recent years," executive producer David Salzman told Variety. "We’ve had a number of networks inquire as to whether the show was coming off Fox and saying that they’d be interested. We have not started to talk to them yet, but now is the time to begin those conversations. I think we have real prospects, but you never know, especially given the economy."

The announcement came Wednesday, allowing the produces to plan to wrap production of the shortened season in December. "This will give us a proper sendoff, a chance to promote the finale and bring back old cast members," Salzman said.

"They said it was too expensive for a daypart where dollars have been shrinking," he said. "Their thought was, the show is what the show is, and that essence needs to be maintained — but it’s hard to produce as big and ambitious a show as ours for less money than they’re paying now."

Comedy Central has been airing reruns of the show, based in name only on the legendary humor magazine, but their deal with Fox expires at year end. Salzman intends to find a home for the 326-episode library and hopefully continue to produce new episodes.
 

‘The Graysons’ Fly to the CW

  • News
  • October 1, 2008

grayson3-4602958Inspired by Clark Kent’s Smallville roots, the CW is launching a new DC hero-turned-angsty teen television series called The Graysons. According to Variety, the show follows the early years of Dick "DJ" Grayson before he becomes Robin. Smallville executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson are behind the series, as is Supernatural executive producer McG. The CW has committed to a pilot episode.

Variety is calling the show a potential replacement for Smallville should that series end this season as anticipated. The Graysons would also be a solid companion to Smallville should it return next year. Further, the move to bring another DC property onto the CW shows a sign of good faith from Warner Bros., who has a 50% investment in the network.

Fans of the character are familiar with Robin’s origin. Dick, a young acrobat, is orphaned when his parents are murdered by gangsters during their trapeze act. He’s taken in by Bruce Wayne and becomes Batman’s protege. The Graysons takes place before these events. Set in modern times, the hour-long drama will focus on young "DJ" as he faces tasks fit only for a hero of Robin’s caliber: first loves, young rivals and family. Ahem. Guess you can’t say Dick on TV?

Smallville grew out of the oroiginal producers’ desire to tell the story of yourn Bruce Wayne.  When Warner Bros. refused to let television have access to their movie franchise, they shifted gears and set their sights on Clark Kent growing up and discovering his powers.

Since then the eight seasons have seen a variety of DC heroes and villains appear, some with spin-off potential.  Among the characters already seen have been Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), A.C. Curry (Aquaman), Bart Allen (the Flash), Dinah Lance (Black Canary), Cyborg, and the Martian Manhunter.  Coming this season will be Plastique and the Legion of Super-Heroes.

In 2006, a pilot was produced for an Aquaman series much in the same vein as Smallville and the proposed The Graysons, but the CW decided not to air the program. Smart money says that even if The Graysons sees the light of day, the series won’t survive long. Part of Smallville‘s appeal is its unique spin on a superpowered adventure. Considering The Graysons is pre-Robin, it’s hard to imagine little Di–… sorry, "DJ" sharing in Clark’s success. Makes one wonder why they didn’t just go for a Bruce Wayne show. Maybe then Armie Hammer would actually have a job.

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