Fantasy geeks rejoice

What is best in life?

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.

It appears, according to Cinematical, that a new Conan movie may be in the plans at New Line. Cinematical reports that New Line has an 18-month window on the rights with one option to extend the rights of unreported duration.

With Conan the Governor immersed in the political machinations of California, and Mako having passed away, the casting for one of the roles that has become inexorably linked with Shwarzenegger's acting career is now wide open. I expect that the names that Hollywood will come up with for the old pulp-novel and comic book stand-by will include the likes of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, or even John Cena.

It's hard to see anyone other than Arnie in the roll...that said, it should be noted that he wasn't cast for his acting ability, or that funny look he gets on his face when he's straining really hard and gritting his teeth. He was cast for the exact same reason that anyone of those wrestling stars would be cast - because they're large, muscle bound creatures that would be a match for the physicality of the roll. Let the speculation begin.

Personally, if they had to go with one of the wrestlers, I vote for The Rock. Ten years ago I would have gone with Kevin Sorbo. If they don't want to go pro wrestler, I could also see them looking at Vin Diesel.

The more I speculate about this, the bigger a car wreck it feels like.

Comic books, the movies and the last 17 years...

The better part of the last two decades have seen probably the most successful marriage of the comic book and film industries ever. Sure, there were adaptations for film and television of some of the biggest names in the comic book industry that predate 1990 - most notably the Adam West Batman series and films and the early Superman serials and the George Reeves series, not to mention the reinvention of the character in 1978 with Christopher Reeve.

Since 1990 and Tim Burton's popular butchering of Batman, we have seen everything from the cerebral American Splendor, to the heroic X-Men, to the heroic Goth tragedy The Crow (boy, there's a mouthful). Some have been excellent, others less so.

For my money, the ten best have been (the order is pretty much subject to change on my whim, but this is pretty much how I see it) -

1. American Splendor - How Paul Giamatti didn't get at least a best actor nomination out of this is beyond me. The movie may deal with many more serious issues than other comic book adaptations, but this little slice of Harvey Pekar's life is absolutely fascinating, in part because of how it was filmed, but in larger part because of Giamatti.

2. A History of Violence - Admittedly, I am coming from only one side of this, having never read the graphic novel, but for a movie, it was pretty damn good. Worth watching, if for no other reason than to see the performance of William Hurt.

3. The Crow - Honestly, I enjoyed Brandon Lee's swan song more than the comic book itself. Dark and moody, this is the movie that Burton's Batman should have been. Even Michael Wincott who played the villain in The Crow was a better villain than Jack Nicholson's Joker.

4. Blade - Very nice adaptation of one of Marvel's fringe characters. Good action, decent acting, and nice development of their very own mythology surrounding Vampires.

5. Batman Begins - Finally, a Batman movie that was shot right, cast right (Katie Holmes notwithstanding), and scripted right. Ironic though that it took pretty much a British cast to get the American super hero right.

6. Spider-man - Outside of making the Green Goblin look like some sort of nouveau sports mascot, I was impressed with the adaptation's faithfulness (in spite of certain liberties, such as the biological webbing) to the comic book, and personally had no issue with Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane as many fans do. The character itself is kind of innocuous, so why would I be bothered by any vaguely competent actor in the roll?

7. X-Men - An entertaining action film well done from beginning to end.

8. Heavy Metal - This animated piece, dated by today's standards, is a personal favorite, and I know, not to everyone's taste. I never understood the need to string the vignettes together, as most of the stories probably would have stood on their own. Like the magazine, the stories varied from the comic, to the tragic, to the melodramatic...and it always reminds me of college, but that's a different story.

9. Sin City - Frank Miller's homage to the noir detective stories of the 1940's. If you go into it expecting a deep and meaningful film, be prepared to be disappointed.

10. The Rocketeer - Reminiscent of the 1940's serials, upon which the comic book was based, this was just fun. Pay particular attention to Timothy Dalton and Alan Arkin who appear to be enjoying their parts more than anyone else in the picture.

There are plenty of others that I would consider - Akira, Men in Black, The Mask are all worthy, and on another day, one of them might bump one of the above. For today, though, that's my list.

I would love to hear what others have to say about their favorites, or what you might disagree with that made my list.

Movie Review: The Fountain

Okay, here I am chiming in with a movie review.

As the mom of a two year old with a simmering distain for rude movie-goers, I have gotten into the habit of waiting until things come out on DVD to watch them. This is remarkable, given a five year period when I saw virtually everything in the theater (I worked at a movie theater and saw things for free-those were the days).

So The Fountain. Have you ever had that feeling where you are feeling suicidal, but need that extra push to get you to actually "go through with it"? Then The Fountain is the movie for you! Let me tell you, it has the one thing you need-90 minutes of meditation on the inevitability of death.

I haven't even quite decided if I know what was going on in the film, let alone if I liked it. I can say that I am not sure if it works. Apparently I am not the only one. Scouring the Internet for other conversations on what exactly this film might be about, I could not find a consensus. And whether one loves it or hates it seems to be the main talking point-there is no middle ground.

It is definitely the type of film that could be dissected in a film class, but does not make for an enjoyable Saturday night flick. But if you are feeling particulary pensive and desire to drown in your sorrows or want to join in the discussion about this very strange film, Netflix it and brew yourself up a nice cup of tea, 'cause it'll be a long night.

Super Teams, the new frontier for Hollywood...

The dominoes appear to be falling.

With the The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer about to be released, rumors that the Watchmen is floating into the casting stages, additional rumors about an Avengers movie, a script in the can for the Justice League, and three X-Men movies, and The Fantastic Four, not to mention The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen under the belts of Hollywood studios in recent years, it looks like the movie mill is really just now ramping up its foray into the world of super teams. But how many could they do, and how successful will they really be?

Hollywood is two for five in quality entertainment with the super groups, producing decent films in only the first two X-Men films.

We have yet to see Hollywood produce a decent product from an Alan Moore work, so I have relatively low expectations on the long-rumored Watchmen movie, particularly considering what is leaking about casting choices which include Keanu Reeves as the favored actor to play Dr. Manhattan.

As for the Avengers, there is no script yet, although there is a writer who has discussed working on an Avengers movie.

The Justice League is another matter.

Even though, according to reports, a script has been turned in, with DC tied up in Superman and Batman projects, this could either be a long wait before we see anything made, or it could be that there will be several re-writes of the script which is said to include both of DC's heavy hitters.

This is one of those projects that I would love to see made, but doubt it would be done right (anyone who has seen clips of the ill-fated and never aired pilot of the Justice League television show shot in the late 90's on youtube knows of which I speak). I first really got into the JL while reading Batman in the mid-1980's. I thought highly of Keith Geffen's writing and enjoyed many of the satellite characters like Blue Beetle, Guy Gardner, and of course J'onn J'onz.

The title itself was not terribly popular, getting canceled after a 10-year run (although not terribly unpopular, either), but, as always, was reincarnated as the Justice League of America. The JLofA was more serious, leaving behind some of the humor that laced the pages of its 1980's counterpart. One of the questions becomes, what incarnation of the league will the movie tackle?

Without Batman or Superman, the major characters, probably in order of recognition for the non-comic book fan become Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Green Lantern. That begs the question of marketability with the general public in the eyes of the producers.

I leave you with this question - can a Justice League film without Superman or Batman be worth the investment of cash into big name actors if the Superman and Batman are written out of the script?

Stan Lee and Disney together again for the first time

According to a report at the Cinematical Blog, Stan Lee has just inked a deal with Disney to...essentially produce new ideas for movies, television, and DVD's. Lee and his POW! Entertainment is expected to be a creative force giving Disney any number of original characters.

The two biggest things I can think of off the top of my head that Lee has given us in recent years have been the short lived Stripperella and the reality show Who Wants to be a Superhero. Given his recent track record, I would call this a win for Lee and a loss for Disney.

Let's face it, Lee, while still a name, just isn't the creative force he once was.

Much like his former partner in comics, Jack Kirby, Lee's work has declined with age. Sure, late in the game Kirby had come up with DC characters The New Gods, Darkseid, and the One Man Army Corps (OMAC), but he also did Kamandi: Last Boy on Earth.

Here's hoping Lee can show some of the old magic that he had when partnered with Kirby and the two came up with the Silver Surfer, the Incredible Hulk, and Fantastic Four.

Since I've been talking about zombies, how about horror comics...

Horror comics are an interesting thing. Vastly popular when the medium was first coming into its own, EC Comics was at the forefront publishing horror, crime, and science fiction titles. Better known as the publisher of Mad Magazine at this point, EC's horror line all but vanished by 1955, shortly after the Comics Code Authority came into being.

The impetus of the CCA was Dr. Fred Wertham and his book, Seduction of the Innocence. Wertham, a psychiatrist, linked juvenile delinquency to comic books based on flimsy evidence and sloppy processes. In spite of that, his book was well received and sparked a major censorship movement with parents and government.

In a move to avoid major governmental interference, as the senate launched an inquiry into the industry, the industry itself launched the CCA and imposed their own limits. EC's horror and crime lines, typically considered more adult fare, had difficulty passing the industry's strict guidelines - those guidelines are where much of the superhero moral code was born that permeated DC throughout the late 1950's until the 1980's.

EC's horror comics, often hailed by industry historians as ahead of their time, went away. In it's place, comics like the watered down 1960's entry from DC; Strange Adventures.

But a new player hopped on the boat in the mid 1960's - Warren. Warren skirted the issue by publishing their comics as magazines, rather than comic books, thus avoiding the need to pass their work through the Comics Code Authority. The big three that came out of Warren (at least that I enjoyed), were Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella. Often done in anthology format, these magazines would have several short horror pieces. In the cases of Eerie and Creepy, they were strung together by a Tales from the Crypt Crypt Keeper sort of character - Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie.

Unfettered by the limitations of the CCA, artists like Neal Adams, Frank Frazzetta, and Gene Colan stretched the limits of comic art at the time, exploring places that hadn't been seen in the medium in a decade.

Why? Because these were the teenagers ten years earlier that saw the EC horror comics, and as adults in the 1960's were demonstrating their artistic influences.

Personally, I have always had a soft spot for these magazines. They are the bridge between EC in the 1950's to Heavy Metal in the 70's and 80's and the Silver Age grandparents to DC's Vertigo horror comics like Hellblazer, and more recently, Marvel's Legion of Monsters line, which is even reminiscent of those anthology magazines, running at least two stories with wildly divergent artwork.

For those who haven't caught the Legion of Monsters, I would recommend the titles that I have seen, with the caveat - be prepared to expect at some point during the run some weak tales. It is just the nature of the anthology style beast.

Braaaaiiiinnnss

A quick revisiting of current poll standings in regards to Zombie films - I have had additional sentiments expressed to me or outright voted at the WiredFrederick site. The current standings are as follows -

1. Night of the Living Dead (19 points)

2. Tie
Dawn of the Dead (2004 - 15 points)
Dawn of the Dead (orig - 15 points)

4. Shaun of the Dead (12 points)

5. 28 Days Later (10 points)


6. Tie
Evil Dead II (5 points)
Army of Darkness (5 Points)

8. Night of the Living Dead (1990, 4 points)

9. Dead Alive (3 Points)

Also receiving votes, Ed and his Dead Mother, Zombi 2, Grindhouse: Planet Terror, Night of the Creeps and Return of the Living Dead.

What is it about these films that attract us? Or are you one of those who dislike this genre? If so, why?

So, over at Wired Frederick...

I have had a poll running regarding what the best zombie movies of all time are (that would be www.wi-fred.blogspot.com). So far I only have three votes, and would like to see a few more.

As it is, weighting each place (5 points for 1st, four for second, and so on), and number of votes received acting as the tie-breaker, here are the rankings -

1. Dawn of the Dead (2004) - 10 points on 3 votes
2. 28 Days Later - 9 points on 2 votes
3. Shaun of the Dead
Evil Dead II - 5 points on 2 votes (each)
5. Night of the Living Dead (original) - 5 points on 1 vote
6. Dawn of the Dead (original) - 4 points on 1 vote
7. Army of Darkness - 3 points on 1 vote
8. Dead Alive - 2 points on 1 vote
9. Ed and his Dead Mother
Night of the Creeps - 1 point on 1 vote (each)

C'mon people, I know there are other zombie fans out there. I want to hear from you - your top 5 zombie films in order, best to worst.

Battlestar Galactica going into its final season

Check out this report from The Hollywood Reporter. I guess that means that by the end of 2008, anyone who wants a Galactica fix will either have to watch in reruns, get the DVD's, or for new story lines, pick up the comic book unless the Caprica spin-off actually moves forward.

For my money, this has been the best show on television since it first aired as a mini-series. Even the weak episodes have been pretty good.

As for resorting to the comic book for new story lines, personally, I've never been fond of comic book adaptations. For the most part I have found that the writing never lives up to the original source material (and sometimes it works the other way...League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Constantine, I'm looking at you).

I don't know if it's just that the writers don't have all the nuances down, or if it's something else, but the adaptations just never seem to work.

As for the four years of Galactica? I would like to express my gratitude to the producers, directors, writers, and actors who have given life to what was a cheesy sci-fi show from my youth. I still can't believe that the one begot the other, but thanks all, it's been one hell of a ride and I'm looking forward to the final season. Just please, please find a way to make that season three ending work without it coming off as ridiculous (I know that each of the characters were having trouble sleeping, but none of them seemed so far gone that they should have been channeling Bob Dylan).