From Marvel to Finance Up to 10 Films:
Comic book publisher Marvel Enterprises Inc. on Tuesday said it completed a new $525 million debt facility to independently finance a slate of films based on its characters.
Cool, another X-Men film, maybe a few other mutant books, and if God likes me, a Silver Surfer film. Oh, wait, what’s this…
Marvel said the 10 characters in the arrangement are Captain America, The Avengers, Nick Fury, Black Panther, Ant-Man, Cloak & Dagger, Dr. Strange, Hawkeye, Power Pack, and Shang-Chi.
Holy B-movie Batman (I know, wrong publisher), this list is spectacularly dull. Cloak and Dagger could be interesting with the right script and director, and the Avenger’s could be fun if they don’t do it up “Fantastic Four” style. The rest of the list are your bargain basement characters that have little in the way of character development or even interesting action stories. Shang-Chi? I don’t think he even had his own book (those of you who can correct me, please move out of your parent’s basement).
Besides, they’ve already done two of these. What, you didn’t know about the Hasselhoff version of Nick Fury? I hear they loved it in Germany.
From: ‘Voltron’ morphs into movie
The story being developed will be based on the series about five maverick explorer-pilots who must travel to the planet Arus to learn how to operate Voltron, a giant mechanical warrior formed by five smaller robots. The gargantuan robot is the last hope against the evil Drule Empire that has subjugated Earth and taken control of the universe.
Sounds like a combination of Lion Voltron (five people / mini-bots, planet Arus) and Vehicle Voltron (the Drule). Regardless, it will most likely be teh suck.
I’d just be happy to see the original, unedited Japanese versions of these released on DVD. At least give me re-runs of the American ones on Boomerang.
While shopping for my wife just before Christmas, I came across a copy of Robin Hood: Prince of Theives on DVD at Best Buy for $15. I know she liked the movie, being a classic chick flick, so I decided to pick it up for her. She did indeed like the purchase, and we watched it the next evening. I immediately noticed that the picture was very hazy and speckled, and a few minutes in I started to notice streaks, blips, and artifacing of the picture. It was almost always worse in dark scenes, and I quickly assumed that I had a bad copy of the DVD. However, a little reading online told me otherwise. Apparently, the standard DVD of this movie is a pretty bad transfer, and to really see a good picture, you need to buy the special edition. Well, I think that just sucks. Why should I be forced to pay $10 more for a movie to get a good picture? I would assume that there would be some minimum standard of quality for any DVD, but this is apparently not the case. I mean, this DVD looked like a 3 year old VHS tape that had been watched one too many times. I’m also unable to return this DVD, since it has been opened, and I’m sure exchanging it for another copy will produce the same result. So I guess I’m stuck with the crappy copy. I’ll have to pay more attention to so called "special editions" in the future.
I heard about the LOTR Trilogy Tuesday last week, but didn’t pay it any mind until today, when I realized I really wanted to see all three movies on the big screen down at the Senator Theatre. So, I try their website to get some information on when tickets will go on sale. Uh oh, the site isn’t responding. So, I actually pick up the phone and (*gasp*) call them. The polite woman on the recording informs me they’ve sold out. Grrr. However, she also thanks everyone for waiting in line to get the tickets. Sounds like something I wasn’t prepared to do, so in a way I’m relieved that I’ve already missed out on it. Still, it would have been very, very cool. Oh well.
I saw Kill Bill, Vol. I yesterday. An excellent film, both disturbingly violent and immensely enjoyable at the same time. You can definitely see the influence of the Shaw Brothers directors and Kurosawa showing through; in fact the movie is almost a throwback to earlier film production methods, mixed with Tarantino’s trademark violence. While I really enjoyed the movie, I was tense and uncomfortable for the entire viewing. He most certainly succeeds in the suspense department, using anticipation and surprise very, very well. I highly recommend seeing the film to anyone not put off by harsh violence.
Well, I saw it, and I liked it. I liked it a lot. I’ve been over it several times in my head. The love story is a bit of a strech, but the action, and over-all scheme of what Palpatine is planning, is really what makes the movie. And Yoda is just amazing in everything he does.
The event itself was fun. It was a freakshow, as I feared, but it was still fun. A few people in costume, but mostly just a bunch of sci-fi nerds out to see their type of flick. It was interesting being in an audience like that, because there was a lot of natural energy. People clapping, cheering, laughing, during the movie; but everyone knew just when to shut-up. It was a unique experience.
As promised, I got a few pictures. I’ll post them as soon as I finish of the roll in my point-and-shoot, which I don’t use that often, so it may be a week or so. They’re mostly of some kids in jedi costumes having a “light-saber battle” down in the front of the theatre.
Well, I’m off to wait in line to see Episode II. I’m sure it’s going to be… interesting. However, no matter how annoying (or just plain bizare) the line wait will be, the movie will more than make up for it (at least, it better). I’m taking my point-and-shoot, so I’ll post any good pictures I get in a few days.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones reviews are hitting the ‘net, since the press screenings have been going on for the past week or so. Everywhere there is news, postings, tidbits. It’s driving me nuts, because I can’t wait to see this film. I know, I’ve read some of the bad reviews too, but it’s the fan reviews that I care about. And they’re all positive, even from the Comic Book Guy types. I have no doubts that this will be a fantastic Star Wars movie.
<RANT>
Notice the "Star Wars movie" bit, not "fantastic character study", or "insightful social piece". Good movie reviewers know how to recognize a target audience, and how to appreciate something for what it is.
</RANT>
Anyway, I’ve got my 12:15am tickets, and I’m counting the days. I just hope the midnite showing isn’t too much of a freakshow. I don’t really want to be sitting next to "Chewbacca" and "Princess Leia"…
I just saw Spider-Man, and wow, it’s really good. It’s definitely a comic book movie, but it has great mass appeal. It takes a while to tell it’s story, but it kept me entertained the whole time, and the ending was terrific. See it, you’ll like it. Up next, Send in, err, Attack of the Clones. I haven’t been this hyped to see a movie since, well, since Episode I, which sucked. So this better rock the house.
I know it’s been a while since I updated the page, but I’ve been really busy learning about Windows 2000 Server. Besides, it’s not like anyone reads this.
Kiersten and I saw Showtime this afternoon. Not a bad movie, but it seemed to lack direction. It sort of jumped all over the place, trying to be a comedy, a buddy-cop movie spoof, and a serious cop movie. Overall, it was fairly entertaining, especially when Deniro and Murphy were on the screen at the same time. If you’re looking for a decent afternoon chuckle (NPI), check it out, as long as you’re paying the matinee price.