vivapopaganda

VIVA POPAGANDA PUT TO BED!

2006-02-25T15:30:00.000+08:00

Sorry faithful readers of this bodaciously, byzantine blog but as typical of many bloggers out there, life and ADD have worn down the posting speeds of yesteryear to not even a trickle.

I thought I'd just post this message to let the few and faithful that visit the VP! to let them know to stick a fork in me, because I'm done! It was fun for awhile and it was just a test against my brother to see who could keep his blog going the longest (I won) and after that sweet taste of victory subsided I realized I had other things to do.

So thanks, gracias, arigato, do ghe sai, grazi and danke shoen my friends and I'm sure I will see you all again one day!

Merry X-Men X-Mas!

2005-12-23T11:45:00.000+08:00

Ok so the holidays are here and everyone is either running around shopping or travelling - so lets all relax and write off 2005! I might do a Best of 2005 list after the holidays I might not.

Below is the cover to X3 director Brett Ratner's Christmas Card that I wanted you all to see since it has nice shots of Beast and Colossus...

Be Merry!

STEVE CARELL IS GOLD!

2005-12-19T10:59:00.000+08:00

Yeah so I missed the theatrical release of THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN but I caught the DVD recently and must say this movie is hilarious. Carell blows me away on THE OFFICE, but he shows range in this movie. If you haven't seen it and are a geek (you must be if you are reading this blog) then you should rent/buy/download this movie. Definitely worth giving as a gift in lieu of action figures or to the person that has all the other blockbuster films (EP3, Batman Begins etc.) everyone will be very happy with this even if you thinking its a slam against geeks - its not - its pure comic genius and even his buddies and co-workers shine!

First rate comedy if you like Farelly Brothers type stuff and The Office. I saw 2 cast members of The Office in the movie too.

I just love this image of Carell!

ZATCH BELL!!!!

2005-12-19T10:49:00.000+08:00

I know, you are thinking the same thing - what kind of weird anime has a little kid in a choirboy outfit as the main character? When I first heard about ZATCH BELL (Gash Bell in Japan) I thought it looked weird and creepy. New rule: Creepy and Weird from Japan = AWESOME!

This is kind of like a Pokemon show where humans with their mamodo's/pokemon's do battle against others to be come the Mamodo King. There isnt much info on where they come from and why all the mamodo are kids and why some are kids, some are teens and some are weird duck-looking creatures - but its one hell of a fun ride and for those who like zaniness in their action-adventure should be catching this show on Cartoon Network.

One of the things I love best is the voice of Zatch himself...if you've seen Jimmy Neutron you might do a double take but the actor who is a woman (accomplish voice actor and film actress Deri Derryberry) the naive yet deadly nature of Zatch and his relationship with his owner Keyo makes this series fun to watch.

I am just starting to read the manga now from Viz and it seems like a storyboard for the anime. Mattel is making toys for the show so I hope they make a plush life size Zatch. The card game is selling well and I even picked that up having never played a CCG before...

I guess this show is aimed at Teen Titan age kids, but if you are older you'll enjoy it too.

KONG BABY, YAH!

2005-12-18T11:39:00.000+08:00

I was one of the people that helped KING KONG show off a bad opening day. I was there for the midnight show on Tuesday to see if this flick could live up to the hype. I am not a huge Kong fan...I like the Japanese monsters better, actually Kong might very well be on the bottom of my ist of favorite monsters but if Pete "Slim" Jackson likes him and I loved LOTR then I can at least see what he did. Actually I was sold on the fight scenes in the trailer. If you are like me and want to see some cool monster-on-monster fights then you won't be disapointed.

You can really see the 3 acts in this movie - Act 1 on the way to Skull Island, Act 2 on Skull Island and Act 3 in New York. Act 1 should have been cut down by half or more. 1 hour from the beginning to when you finally see Kong. While you could argue that Act 2 was too long (90 minutes I believe) I would have been disappointed if it was any shorter because this is what I paid to see. The final act? I guess how else could it really end? I won't really flaw the story because it is what it is...looking at it from a new perspective with all the CG effects is what I am basing my viewpoint on.

The reason why LOTR didnt seem like 3 hours is because of its 3-4 different narritive streams which kept bouncing back and forth, KONG just has one - so you either love it or like me get fidgety in the theatre at 2am.

Good fun for monster fighters...like Gollum, Kong ceased to be a CG effect after about 30 minutes. Naomi Watts is hot, like a new Nicole Kidman, Jack Black although not the crazy School of Rock guy was good but what is up with Adrian Brody's nose?

I'll probably get the DVD to see the fight scenes again but no doubt they wont look as good as they did on the big screen. I am indifferent about this flick maybe because of my preconceptions, so maybe another viewing will do it justice.

ESSENTIAL MANGA: GANTZ

2005-11-15T12:30:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I do like being the last in line. Usually I am first but sometimes being first is not the best...take this anime and manga series called GANTZ for instance. Its been a manga since 2000 and its been available as a English anime from ADV since last year and this year in box set form.

I did see an episode but it moved a bit too slow for my taste, and I didn't quite know what to make of it. Then I was able to get the English manga and I must now say this is one of the best manga I have ever read.

First, for those who like more Western style comics and dont like manga because of the big eyes and cutesy nature of most of the stereotypes of Japanese comics - PUT THAT BIAS ASIDE...you won't find a better story than the first 6 volumes of GANTZ manga...it is creepy, sexy, action packed and violent - this is more in line with a Vertigo comic drawn by Jim Lee than whatever preconceptions you may have about manga.

I might even go as far as saying outside of my nostalgic view and love for INFINITE CRISIS that GANTZ is the best comic I've read this year! While I havent finished it yet, it so far has pushed all the right buttons with me. The reason why I like manga is that it really decompresses a storyline to the point that it does feel like a movie. After a comment is made, the art shows the characters reaction in art rather than thought balloons and a fight scene will be a wordless 10-pages of extreme detail and 2-panel pages where you feel each blow and the destruction around it.

OK so I haven't seen the anime yet but this kind of story I like to read at my own pace because its so exciting and cliffhangery (there's that term again) that reading the manga lets me follow it and keep me going. For some reason the manga is not available in bookstores yet, I got mine off the web...so there really is no reason not to seek it out because people say the manga is better in terms of it being more graphic and also better drawn.

You can find a blurb about the storyline online, but I will say that besides its Battle Royale type theme of killing for a game - the rest is so original that you will not have seen or read anything like it. So seek it out, it will be worth it.

NIGHT STALKER CANCELLED; PRISON BREAK CONTINUES

2005-11-15T11:43:00.000+08:00

Ouch - well the last 3 epsiodes of the 6 that aired of the new NIGHT STALKER series were pretty bad, did anybody actually think that it would survive against CSI: LAS VEGAS? But still scoring 5 million viewers is pretty good. Producer Frank Spotnitz reveals on his blog that its game over for the Stuart Townsend X-files type show. I thought it was OK but I'm sure Stuart will find work elsewhere.

Good news that PRISON BREAK which was supposed to be just filler until 24 came back on has built a fan base so that it will continue. Prison Break is probably my favorite NEW show of the 2005 Fall season...but what is up with new episodes in MAY 2006??? But this show is so damn good and cliffhanging that you have to watch it. If you haven't seen it yet save yourself the suspense and wait for the DVD box set as this is one of those shows you will want to watch in a marathon - this once a week thing is killing me.

PS
I find it flattering that some of you spammers think that my blog is popular enough to warrant leaving spam messages. I guess the joke is on you guys...viewership has dropped like a rock in the last month.

IN A MINUTE: EP3 DOCUMENTARY

2005-11-13T21:00:00.000+08:00

I have never seen anything I could call "exhaustive" - okay maybe watching all 3 Lord of the Rings or all the Star Trek movies in one sitting is equal but Rick Macullum's 90-minute documentary on Disc 2 of the STAR WARS REVENGE ON THE SITH DVD - the making of the 60 second fight scene between Anakin and Obi-Wan on Mustafar was the most in-depth thing I have ever seen!!!!!

Going from the design group at Skywalker Ranch to the location shooting to the costumes and props to even the CATERING - it took over 1000 people 2 years to make that 60 second scene...wow! Anybody that doesnt think this kind of CGI movie isnt a work of art should watch this. For film buffs everywhere this documentary is a must watch!

BATMAN BEGINS DVD - MUST BUY!

2005-11-13T20:46:00.000+08:00

Wow time flies - I remember posting my comments of BATMAN BEGINS on this blog not too long ago and now I am reviewing the DVD.

If you loved the film you obviously are buying the DVD so I dont really need to sell you on this. I bought the 2 disc set with the comic inside. The comic has Long Halloween #1 and Detective Comics #27 - two issues I've read many times - but its nice to see the inclusion of the short story from SECRET ORIGINS Circa 1989 as I've never read the story "The Man Who Falls" - great story and can see that this story was used in fashioning the origin elements of the film.

I wont go into details about the sound and picture clarity of the DVD, but I can say that after watching this again - this is my favorite superhero movie - let me watch it a few more times before I *definitely* say this but right now it beats out SPIDER-MAN 1, X-MEN 1 and marginally sliding by SUPERMAN 1. One thing I warn you is to NOT BUY the original 4 Batman films unless you are die-hard. Watching those again is like watching Robotech and then Ghost in the Shell. Just painful in comparison! Christian Bale and cast and crew - Chistopher Nolan and David Goyer you guys just knocked this so far out of the park.

The Second Disc is pretty cool except for the annoying comic book interface - this movie is so far beyond comics I dont know why they need to dress it up this way. This movie is so good it makes me forget this is based on a comic book and that Batman is an actual urban myth. The behind the scenes features are OK - in-depth but very glossy look at the making of the film. OK, I did see the documentary on the REVENGE OF THE SITH DVD and that will make anything else seem glossy. All in all a great 2-disc set but I know, I KNOW I will have to buy it again - WHERE THE HELL IS THE NOLAN AND GOYER COMMENTARY??? That was one commentary I was really looking forward to hear (Lucas didnt do one for EP3 either)

Anyways - buy it and love it - SUPERMAN RETURNS has alot to live up to and without the origin story to fall back on.

BSG COMPANION BOOK

2005-11-13T20:26:00.000+08:00

I just finished reading this companion book for BATTLESTAR GALACTICA from Titan Books and its great! Thumbs up! There are 2 covers to this book - I have one with Number Six on the cover flanked by cylons which I believe is the direct market cover - Titan likes to have a more mass appeal one for bookstores and then I guess a sexier one for theh fanboys - I'd prefer the mass one but they only had this one at the comic shop I bought it at.

Its like the Concordance for Star Trek but focuses on the mini-series and the first season. It has ALOT of behind the scenes info which is why I bought it - I didnt want it if it was just an episode guide but it talks to Ronald Moore about his thinking behind the re-imagining as well as casting, costumes, music and visual effects - great if you love the show and great if you want to learn about what goes into making a sci-fi show.

January cannot come soon enough for more of Season 2. (FYI - Sci Fi ordered 20 epsiodes for Season 2 but for some reason broke them up into 2 packs of 10 - I guess to avoid the regular networks Fall releases , whci h Iwuldnt be scared of since of all the new shows BSG is still the one I would choose to watch.)

Hurry up with the toys Hasbro!

The first 10 epsiodes of Season 2 are on DVD on December 20th!

IC 2 IS HERE!

2005-11-13T20:15:00.000+08:00

Sorry its been a month since last blogging but wanted to drop in and make sure everyone is buying INFINITE CRISIS - the second issue is out and its awesome.

Geroge Perez actually draws a few pages where the original Crisis is re-capped so its a nice change from the ugly artwork that is Phil Jimenez. I still don't understand why this very important comic was drawn by a bad Perez-clone. I would take any of the DC staple artists like Rags Morales, Howard Porter or even Ed Benes - but Phil is the only thing that is bringing this series in a notch below the original COIF for me.

But I've waded through worse to get a good story and I did suffer with Jimenez on his run with Grant Morrison on NEW X-MEN so I guess I can take it - at least its not Ethan Van Sciver...what's up with all these bad post-Image artists?

INFINITE CRISIS IS HERE!

2005-10-14T18:35:00.000+08:00

I haven't felt this way since maybe the first issue of Crisis on Infinite Earth's #1 20 years ago...INFINITE CRISIS #1 by Geoff Johns and Phil Jimenez was the only comic I bought this week and I couldn't wait to get home to read it. Straight home after the comic shop and plopped down on the sofa and read it super slowly to make sure I took in all the artwork and the double-page spreads.

I obviously won't spoil anything here because since Wednesday I have been dodging any mention of anything to do with this comic online. Obviously I am a huge DC nerd because to me the best comic series of all time was CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS and I have that hardcover that came out a few years back and I will treasure that as my history book to the DC UNIVERSE.

A big thank you to the current DC COMIC management for putting this Infinite Crisis together - whether it turns out good or bad or does or doesn't compare to COIF it doesn't matter - its the DC event we've been waiting for since the Death of Superman.

Don't you love how comics can make you regress into a kid again! Thanks DC!

BATTLESTAR IS AWESOME!

2005-10-14T07:47:00.000+08:00

I just love it when I miss something and then am able to catch up in one whirlwind of being glued in from of whatever it is. I did see the first part of the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA mini-series and it was so bad and so boring that I never bothered to see the series.

Then my buddy lends me his box set of SEASON 1 and I skip the mini-series and dive right into the 13 episodes of the series and love it. It's jumping up quickly to be the best sci-fi show. I don't know if I count FIREFLY as sci-fi really, and while I still think FIREFLY's cast and stories were great, with BSG having wrapped part 1 of their second season its going to be tough for Firefly to keep that title because BSG is just great television and great sci-fi.

I cannot recommend this show highly enough. Everything I thought I'd hate about it is perfect. How can anyone replace Lorne Greene and Dirk Benedict - well Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff have more than amazingly pulled it off.

And I just love the classic viper - IMHO the best space ship design ever.

TOO MUCH TV

2005-10-14T07:28:00.000+08:00

No new blog entries in almost a month means we have been sucked in by the TV season. I can't remember ever watching this much TV except when I was 8 and living for Saturday Morning and After school cartoons.

I'm going to post these shows I like and see if I still like them the next time I see this entry.

NIGHT STALKER: Never really saw the original KOLCHAK - but this one if pretty creepy, and now comparing it to SUPERNATURAL whoch is also a bit creepy, Stuart Townsend is more creepy than the Supernatural Brothers - and Kolchak gets a Jimmy Olsen and a black Lois Lane to boot.

E-RING: USually I don't like military shows, I don't watch JAG or things like that, but these stories with Benjamin Bratt and Dennis "Spitting Mad" Hopper are neat little Bruckheimer-type adventures. I've been entertained at least so far and will continue watching.

PRISON BREAK: Still good and still keeping up the story. I have a morbid facination with this show waiting to see it fall apart - if it doesn't I will be very happy.

MY NAME IS EARL and HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: Two sappy comedies but the only short form sit-com content that is passable this season, seems everyone went for 1-hour drama's.

I've already dropped THRESHOLD and SURFACE and will skip through SUPERNATURAL.

And then there are the usual suspects: ALIAS, SMALLVILLE, CSI, THE SIMPSONS, BOSTON LEGAL, MEDIUM and LOST - no Desperate Housewives here.

I point you to a great TV Show blog here!

MGS4 HAS THE GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS!

2005-09-18T16:51:00.000+08:00

Oh yes we have been waiting! Not as crazy as the subtitles for the Star Wars movies but Hideo Kojima: the most important man of all video game developers has released the VIDEO for the 4th installment of the greatest game ever created at the TGS 2005 expo, and it has the subtitle of: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS - go and watch it and the MGS3 Subsistence trailer as well - where MGS3 goes online multi-player and has 3 Discs in time for Christmas!

SERENITY IN GERMANY

2005-09-18T16:50:00.000+08:00

Is this a real poster f0r SERENITY? Who knows but it sure is interesting how they promote and sell a movie in other markets. If you have seen the show FIREFLY that this movie is a continuation of; you'll know that its very much a gritty sci-fi cowboy show - other than the costumes on the bottom of this poster you might mistake this for something like MINORITY REPORT type sci-fi. And the image of Summer Glau as River at the top makes her look like some kind of ninja - which she does seem to be in the trailers, but the show she is almost autistic.

Always good to see MORENA BACCARIN in a bikini top though - that should sell anyone.

Is this the first FALL movie that has been this eagerly anticipated by fanboys?

NEW FANBOY SHOW: THRESHOLD

2005-09-16T14:02:00.000+08:00

This is going to be fun for fanboys - new CBS series THRESHOLD amalgamates just about every fanboy personality into one new sci-fi show.

OK I saw the pilot premiere - and from what I get its about an alien invasion only instead of War of the Worlds style, these aliens send a probe here to put themsleves INTO us. So the first episode shows all this and the "crack" team that is going to stop it. Absoluytely comic book-y and so over the top crazy that it just might work! I give it a thumbs up and will continue watching to see how it unfolds, but the pilot is strong but let us look at the fanboy quota here.

David Goyer is involved he of JSA comic writing and writing the Blade Trilogy and Batman Begins, Brannon Braga the worst producer ever who helped kill the Trek franchise with his work on Enterprise. OK so lets look at the stars - Carla Cugino - she was in Sin City and oh yeah DATA - Brent Spiner is in it too - man did he get old or has it really been more than 15 years since TNG debuted???

So with all this fanboy narcissim involved this show HAS to appeal to our demographic, I can only imagine its been toned down for TV because of budget and it does want to get more regular people to watch it but so far it has the feel of a sci-fi comic book come to life.

ALSO - SUPERNATURAL from producer McG on UPN was on the other night and it had some great creepy editing for the ghost woman. Its the Hardy Boys for the 21st century with The Ring and all those Japanese horror films toned down for TV - lets see how much they can get away with but it was a good beginning.

I like PRISON BREAK so far as well! Completely unsustainable for more than 1 season but at least it will have a fun run! I like the cast and the unbelievable concept.

THE 2005-2006 TV SEASON HAS BEGUN!!

SIGMA 6 IS COOL

2005-09-14T13:37:00.000+08:00

For sounding like I have a modicum of literary knowledge in my last post on cool comics - I turn the tables on readers again! This time we are pumping up the cool factor of the new G.I. JOE SIGMA 6 cartoon.

Ok if this was a purely American venture then it would get an instant thumbs down, so give whoever at 4Kids or Hasbro that said "Let's get GONZO to do this!" a raise and hope the show retains the excitement of the first episode I have seen.

The team is back, well at least the main characters that had the most personality traits to diferentiate them from the other "greenshirts" - only Tunnel Rat is the surprising character but I guess it makes it a more racially-diverse team - I wonder if Larry Hama has seen it and what he thinks of his character being turned into basically Keyop from the Gatchaman re-styling in 1994.

Don't ask me what the story was about other than it was cool to see Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow back out there on the TV fighting. I did see all the 3D videos that came with the toys in the past year and wonder why they decided to go with a 2D look instead of the 3D look? I guess we can all assume that 3D is for theatrical and 2D can stay on TV which is fine by me!

Just got an advance screener of FINAL FANTASY 7: ADVENT CHILDREN - the next generation CG anime from Japan and will watch it this weekend and tell you all about it then if its as good as it looks.

COMICS ARE GETTING GOOD?!

2005-09-06T16:46:00.000+08:00

This is yet another opinion piece. I just read NEW AVENGERS #9; and although it reminded me of TOTAL RECALL without Arnold - it was a fun read, it was really a chapter out of a longer story, but an exciting chapter nonetheless. What is going on here? Are comics getting better than they have since the 1980's? I really would like to know what the kids today think or else the pre-teen me would I think if I was reading today's comics back then.

I grew up on Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, American Flagg, Miracleman, X-Men, Ninja Turtles, Nexus and all the great stuff from the mid-80's; I know its not just me who loved that stuff everybody remembers it fondly even if people read it today.

So was the period from say 1990-2000 mainly filled with junk? Of course there are many, many stand-out series in that time period, but compared to what I've been reading I can't compare. Is it really the Editor-In-Chief that makes things so exciting - for all those that hate Jim Shooter his period at Marvel was the most memorable and now we have Dan Didio and Joe Quesada heading up the 2 biggest mainstream comic publishers in the world and really whacking out great stuff.

There really is no point to this POV, I just find it interesting that I can remember what happened in the last issue of New Avengers and it was a month ago...I even skip over that front page (which I am glad is there) I also think it interesting that both sides are actually kicking up the sideline characters too. HAWKMAN, AQUAMAN, GREEN ARROW, FLASH and now even WONDER WOMAN are all good reads on a monthly basis. And Marvel is trying its best to bring in new characters or re-invigorate old ones - RUNAWAYS, SHE-HULK...um I guess that's it outside of the main ULTIMATE UNIVERSE books, the X-Men, Avengers and Spider-Man books, but still lots of fun it to be had.

It really is a great time to be reading comics. Buy them in singles or trades, just buy them.

With all the excitement in mainstream I hope to see a pick up in the independent comic company scene...we need a new ECLIPSE, FIRST and COMICO - people who publish mainstream stuff but just off the beaten path. Places where we found stuff like MAGE, ELEMENTALS, GROO, DREADSTAR, LIBERTY PROJECT, ZOT! and many many more...and I dont mean like Dark Horse, IDW and Oni - who are producing licensed comics and obscure indie books. I mean more like DEVIL'S DUE who tried superheroes but bombed out, they should be acting more like publishers and finding the best material and then putting it in the market - not deciding that the market needs more superhero books so they manufacture some that are just sub-standard riffs.

Ok enough for today...tell me what comics you liked in the 80's and today and what parallels you see.

DONUT COMICS ARE GOOD AND TASTY!

2005-09-04T20:28:00.000+08:00

If you've been reading this blog you'll most likely think us total mainstream fanboys that just reads Marvel and DC and see's only studio movies - well that is 90% true! Sometimes we like to mix it up like a HipHop-apotamus and slum with the black and white indie.

I don't know where this came from, but if you should try and find this first issue of THE THOUSAND DEATHS OF BARON VON DONUT - I mean buy it just for the title. Some company called Arenic Lullabies made it and it's about a giant talking donut that is alot like Willy Wonka...it doesn't really make alot of sense other than if you think a breakfast icon that works till 11am and then drinks himself silly for the rest of the day funny - then this comic is for you.

OK, and yes - lets not forget; ULTIMATE X-MEN ANNUAL #1 and ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1 were both top notch reading and I guess the reason why the annual was created in the first place - to tell and extra length story that meant something, instead of the filler material it turned into in the 80's and 90's. Good to have them back!

THE SON OF JOR-EL RETURNS

2005-09-02T13:38:00.000+08:00

JUSTICE LEAGUE vs LEGION OF DOOM - ROUND 2

2005-08-31T10:31:00.000+08:00

I didn't want to post too much news here but this is too exciting not to share. ALL NEW JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED cartoon loglines.

Episode #27 - We Are Legion
Original Airdate - September 17th 2005 - Season Premiere

Lex Luthor escapes from a maximum security prison, only to be invited to join Grodd's unstoppable Legion of Doom.

Episode #28 - Shadow of the Hawk
Original Airdate - September 17th 2005

Batman is suspicious of Shayera's new boyfriend, a mysterious archeologist with sinister ties to her Thanagarian past.

Episode #29 - Chaos at the Earth's Core
Original Airdate - September 24th 2005

Supergirl, Stargirl and Green Lantern go to Skartaris, the fantastic, hidden world at the Earth's core, to help free it from the rule of a brutal dictator.

Originally titled "Heart of Stone."

Episode #30 - To Another Shore
Original Airdate - September 24th 2005

Wonder Woman stumbles onto a plot to steal the powers hidden inside the 3000-year-old, frozen remains of the legendary hero, the Viking Prince.

Originally titled "Elegy."

Episode #31 - Flash and Substance
Original Airdate -

Batman and Orion see a different side of the Flash when a rogues’ gallery of villains attacks the museum that is opening in his honor.

Episode #32 - Dead Reckoning
Original Airdate -

The ghost of a circus performer convinces Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to help him retrieve the stolen souls of a mystic order of Monks.

Episode #33 - Patriot Act
Original Airdate -

When an out of control super soldier threatens Metropolis, Green Arrow leads seven non-powered Justice Leaguers, including Crimson Avenger and Shining Knight, in a battle they can’t hope to win.

Episode #34 - The Great Brain Robbery
Original Airdate -

A mystical accident leads to Lex Luthor and the Flash’s minds being swapped into each other’s bodies.

There are 5 more episodes after that - and then that could be it for JLU which most likely looks to be what is going to happen since next year there are the 2 big DC cartoon announcements of a certain movie hero getting a new series and a team of youngsters from the future.

Back to JLU - I was at the panel at San Diego where they showed the teaser to the I AM LEGION season premiere - and man was it awesome. Well since it was metioned in the logline - you'll be happy to know that GORILLA GRODD has asssembled a new LEGION OF DOOM with EVERY FREAKING DC VILLAIN in it! I mean this is the evil version of the JLU so there are hundreds of villains to fight. What Bruce Timm said was that the Legion will be the overlying arc for this entire season even if they are not in every episode!

This will likely be the best season ever, I mean read those loglines again....DEADMAN, WARLORD, HAWKMAN!!!!! This is what a DC cartoon should be like. I bought all the 3-packs of the new JLU action figures from Mattel - and now I set them up in front of the TV when I watch new episodes - that is what you have done to me Bruce Timm you have regressed me to childhood again!

GIVE IT UP FOR JESSICA!

2005-08-30T12:03:00.000+08:00

Because of the homoerotic tones of the last post as noted by friends of Viva...we ask you to absorb the beauty of Jessica Alba here. Nope, no story - just have a look at her...FF2 is on her plate plus apparently she will be the genie in a I Dream of Jeannie remake. Best casting idea ever especially with that bare middrift costume.

Ummm, yeah she was on the MTV VMA last night...

IS she the Anna Kornikova of movies? So hot but hasnt really been in any big movies or won any awards. I guess we let that slide right guys?

2005-08-30T11:35:00.000+08:00

This is a photo of TOM WELLING for some publicity for the upcoming season of SMALLVILLE! First time I've seen him with his hair slicked back and yes doesn't he look even MORE like Superman now. I just hope this Brandon Routh guy is good because I think all Smallville fans wished it was Tom in the Superman Costume. Here's hopiong that Season 5 is better than the Season 4 which I will say was somne of the worst TV ever, that would be grounds for cancellation. The only characters the writers need to worry about is Clark, Lex and Lana - stop bringing in these lame characters...OK I disclaim that with the casting of Spike as BRANIAC this season! Please make him a cool villain and bring the show back up.

Fans of the show or of The WB should check out this video which shows the new look for the station this season and gives highlights on some of its shows. Wow - there is so much on the WB that I don't even watch.

FIREFLY HAS FOUND SERENITY

2005-08-25T17:26:00.000+08:00

The show was called FIREFLY, the ship that the crew flew around in is called "Serenity" hence the movie coming in Septmeber is called SERENITY. Yes, they should just have called it FIREFLY: THE MOTION PICTURE like our Federation friends but what are you gonna do?

You've probably heard of this show by now, and like me had dismissed it as one of those shows you didn't want to get into because its by that "Buffy" guy. Your guard has been dropped since you started reading Joss Whedon's ASTONISHING X-MEN because its the best X-Men since Claremont and Byrne but you still don't want to commit to a series that got cancelled.

Well I tell you, I sat down with the PILOT (Hmmm..also entitled "Serenity") and was sucked in. I had to watch the rest, as it went along it got better and better. Dare I say that Mal Reynolds is the best captain since Kirk or Solo? He's got the best crew since the A-Team? Definitely an amazing show that will captivate you, no vampires and no real sci-fi techno-babble and no weird aliens - it really is a live-action Cowboy Bebop or Outlaw Star. If you like the idea of a Han Solo series (Jayne is a human Chewbacca) but set in a futuristic cowboy back drop then you need to get yourself up to speed on this series before the movie SERENITY hits September 30th. If you need the sex appeal to lure you in - Serenity has its own on board hooker played by the SUPER HOT - Morena Baccarin - that if slightly taller would be a dead ringer for Diana Prince.

And speaking of the movie - Whedon has already preached and won over the converted with these special advance screenings - and now they are getting the rest of you webheads; with special viral mini films going out in a Blair Witch sort of way. You had me already Joss - this kind of stuff just puts it over the top and how legends are made. Damn, now I have to watch 7 seasons of Buffy and 5 of Angel - if you dissed him before I'd say you were missing out.

ALL-STAR BATMAN BEST SELLER SINCE 1997

2005-08-22T12:34:00.000+08:00

One of the things I like about Comic's Buyers Guide is that it isnt necessarily filled with hype like Wizard is. It talks about the indutry as a whole and actually it looks at the value of comics and why prices go up and down - really a guide for speculating - which is strange seeing as to old-school comic fans that was the problem in the 90's, but I digress.

According to their new report - ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN - is the biggest seller sine Image's DARKNESS #11 in 1997 which had 11 covers. That is absolutely incredible and amazing to learn and why CBG will always get my money for its interesting articles (especially written by Crimson Dynamo scribe John Jackson Miller)

And to prove that JIM LEE is no one trick pony, he really is the best selling comics creator of all time:

The top-selling DC comic book prior to 2003 was Superman: The Wedding Album, which had Diamond preorders of 346,000 copies in its November 1996 release. A contemporaneous Marvel peak could be found in the “Heroes Reborn” Fantastic Four Vol. 2, #1, which had preorders of 314,000 copies from Heroes World Distribution. The comic book with the largest print run of all time was 1991’s X-Men Vol. 2, #1, with 7.1 million copies across five covers.

His FF Heroes Reborn was #1 and X-Men Vol. 2...including the ALL-STAR BATMAN all 3 were truly terrible reads - but the art can't be beat! Which leads me to the diappointment on READING ASBaRtBW...Frank Miller pretty much cannot write for anyone else and looking at Dark Knight Strikes Again cannot write for himself...I think that sequel should never have been done because you know it would never hold a candle to the original and just tarnish the integrity of the first one. Poor Jim Lee - his best partner is Jeph Loeb, Brian Azzarello screwed him over completely with the terrible Superman "For Tomorrow" story and now "comics-God" Frank Miller is going to waste an amazing chance to push Lee to top his "HUSH" work - we'll see of course but for the best selling comic (so far) of the 21st Century I'm a little disappointed with the result.

VIVA THE UPDATE

2005-08-22T12:31:00.000+08:00

I just wanted to chime in here because I just got my latest hit report and it seems the traffic is actually GROWING since I slowed down the updates, then when I actually updated daily. Are people now finding this blog or what?

As you can see I am probably going to sway closer to commentary than actual news since that takes up a bit of time to do. If I read or see something really cool I'll blast it here.

Let me know if you like this new format or rather it go back to news or if you have some other suggestions.

Thanks for reading!

THE ISLAND SWIMS

2005-08-19T20:46:00.000+08:00

I really hate it when critics have some kind of personal vendetta against a film maker or actor. Micheal Bay has his enemies - everyone loves The Rock but felt so ripped off by Pearl Harbour. He made his bones on BAD BOYS and then screwed up the sequel...so now its time to crush him. Given that maybe audiences were tired of all the action movies, I have to say that I totally enjoyed THE ISLAND and thought it was along the lines of MINORITY REPORT. I like the close idea and thought the first half of the film was great, when it goes all crazy chase movie from that point - its OK but loses alot of pwer in teh sappy ending. All in all aI was entertained more than I thought I would be. I know there are plot holes but tell me one action movie that doesnt have any...if you like any sci-fi like LOGAN'S RUN, BLADE RUNNER chances are you will like this for its sheer escapist fun and pseudo science of the future - and most importantly to see Scarlet Johansen running around in that T-shirt. I hope this didnt sour her on making more action movies because I think she is great fun to watch...OK and so are you Obi-Wan.

HOUSE OF M - IRON MAN

2005-08-19T20:39:00.000+08:00

I had to pick this up because of this amazingly cool cover and you know what - this Iron Man is better than the Warren Ellis IRON MAN...In the House of M, Tony STark's Dad is still alive and they all "wrestle" in a Sapien Death Match with Johnny Storm...when Tony of course goes out in the IM armour his Dad comes in a Sentinel armour to take him down...wow and that is the first issue - the second issue keeps the excitement going!

I read all 4 issues of Warren Ellis' Iron Man and its crap - only saved by the amazing Adi Granov art. How can this be??? House of M Iron Man is done by 2 crap creators Greg Pak and Pat Lee...oh the humanity. If only Dreamwave comics read this good it wouldn't have gone bankrupt. I'm starting to not look at credits any more and go in without any preconceptions of the talent and let it stand on its own.

GI JOE - NOT BAD!

2005-08-19T20:33:00.000+08:00

Damn this is fun! I liked Devil's Due's original run on Joe but this new one written by Joe Casey is pretty darn fun if not a bit more grim and evil. Just by looking at that cover you can tell the Joe's are a bit more battle worn which is a good thing and it has that layer of realism - so much so that I forgot this was a toy line for a minute. How did Hasbro allow this kind of re-working in beyond me.

And lets give it up for the art find of the year Mr. STEFANO CASELLI - stand up and take a bow! Your style totally fits the Joes and gives them an edge that they need - I mean check out this panel of STALKER and STORM SHADOW - that is your incentive to pick up the book, if you don't think that looks cool then nothing will get you to buy it.

All in all with AMERICA'S ELITE #2 - I have to give this Joe a thumbs up and its OK if you want to wait for the trade because it's a double buy for me - singles and trade - its that exciting.

THINGS THAT NEVER WERE: ALIAS COMIC

2005-08-16T09:46:00.000+08:00

Did you kow that Rob Liefeld had a comic planned on the Jennifer Garner show ALIAS? Who knows why it never came out because the pages by Andy Park are amazing and looks like they follow events in the first season - I guess no chance of these coming out now.

And since we're speaking of ALIAS, I really think that their hype machine is sending out funky rumours to get people talking. I HIGHLY doubt that either of these are real but they do stir up debate.

1) The upcoming 5th season is the last.
2) In season 5 Sydney trains a new spy and she will take over in Season 6 as Jennifer Garner leaves the show.
3) Michael Vaughn is really a double agent.

I doubt the first 2, but #3 sounds pretty real. I didn't like any of season 4 - the format changed to self-contained episodes and had no real interesting storylines or doublecrosses. The reason I got into the show was teh cliffhanger format and that I was rewarded for paying attention. Now the show, no doubt to survive, has to be dumbed down and made more accessible. It's funny because LOST isn't that accessible - unless you count in one season that nothing happens other than you know these people are stranded on some freaky alien planet..or something - and its doing double the ratings ALIAS is. So since they are working Jen's real life pregnancy into the season, give it a shot and I will be there as well to see what happens this year that Season 4 season finale was fantastic (Although Season 2's was still the best!)

DAMN YOU DC

2005-08-12T14:06:00.000+08:00

I'm sorry - but Damn You DC, Damn you for making comics so exciting again! I was really all fed up with comics in my 24th year of reading them - but you have sucked me back in with this damn INFINITE CRISIS series - I have never bought crossovers EVER but dammit - every single one of them (Well maybe except Rann-Thanagar War) are so good even as stand alone series.

And now I read JLA #117 and it just gets better and better - look at this last page - I don't care if you read #117 or not - just look at it! It's so beautiful that you just can't wait and its not drawn by Jim Lee or written by Alan Moore - so it must be good. I cannot stress enough how much fun I am having reading these comics. I am all for the new series 52 if it keeps this level of quality up and is a rollercoaster of fun.

Dan Didio - I can safely say, more than Joe Quesada, is definitely the most important man in Comics! For him to use company resources to put together an epic like this is just amazing! I just hope it can stay this exciting AFTER the last issue of IC. Also my $10 is that they kill Wonder Woman and reboot her with a new #1 after this is all done and she becomes as cool a character as Batman. ITS ABOUT TIME!

JMS DOES MARVEL GOOD!

2005-07-31T16:10:00.000+08:00

I've been really playing up DC in the blog lately because of how amazing the Infinite Crisis build up is and the overall quality of DC's books and it is easy to overlook the all hype no substance of Marvel and the buying power of the Marvel Zombie but even though Bendis and Millar get most of the press the MVP for Marvel should go to J. Micheal Straczynski. His initial Spider-Man arc was great then it slid to mediocre then he pissed alot of people off with the Gwen Stacy/Norman Osbourne thing (which I bet will be forgotten about by next year) but he is doing a great job of Spidey and this new arc is pretty good. Likewise of FANTASTIC FOUR which he seemed to drop the ball on his first 2 issues, the third really kicks into overdrive. Spoilers are for kids - the Gov wants to recreate the conditions that created the FF, Reed sabotages it but not because he wants to stop an army of FF's but because of something more important. Great cliffhanger and hope he can keep it up. Save your money on the crap House of M spin-off mini-series, just buy the core House of M series and use the rest of your cash to buy FF and AMAZING fine reading.

BROKEN AND DEFEATED!

2005-07-26T10:37:00.000+08:00

The team at Viva Popaganda have returned finally to the blog - but have basically crumbled under the amount of visual stimulation that the San Diego Comic-Con has brought and will take their sweet time before coming back full force to the blog.

Thanks to all our supporters and we'll mind meld again soon!

SAN DIEGO HERE WE COME

2005-07-06T09:12:00.000+08:00

Well, we'll be heading to the San Diego Comic-Con International end of this week so the blogging will be on hold and I doubt we'll be doing any floor coverage until its over. Sorry!

The SDCC programming schedule has been posted and there are some sweet looking panels coming up and for those headed down here are a few that we'll be attending!

THURSDAY

2:00-3:00 Art Asylum: Clive Barker—Master author Clive Barker and The Art Asylum's Digger and Adam Unger take you through their new world of the Jump Tribe. You’ll get to see Clive's original paintings on display and be given a visual tour of the future franchise. This event will include a digital slide show and Clive's readings from the first storybook, followed by a Q&A session. Room 6B

3:00-4:00 Spotlight on Lou Scheimer—One of animation's most popular masters makes a rare public appearance. Hear stories from Filmation founder Lou Scheimer about the last five decades of animation, including the creation of such memorable series as Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Archies, the Emmy-award–winning Star Trek: The Animated Series, the 1960s incarnations of Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Bravestarr, She-Ra: Princess of Power, the live-action Shazam!, Isis, Space Academy, and many more! Plus, Lou shares secrets about He-Man and the Masters of the Universe while discussing its upcoming DVD launch. Lou will be joined by his wife Jay Scheimer and his daughter Erika Scheimer, both of whom were voice actors throughout Filmation's animation history. Moderated by best-selling novelist and documentary director Andy Mangels, this panel and Lou's appearance are sponsored by BCI Eclipse and Tower Records. Room 6B

5:30-7:00 Constantine: From Comic to Film—Warner Home Video hosts key Constantine film and comics luminaries for a special presentation and discussion. The panel features actress Rachel Weisz (Mummy series), film director Francis Lawrence, VERTIGO editor Karen Berger, comics writer Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets), and artist Tim Bradstreet (Punisher). Moderator Jeff Conner interrogates the participants and raffles off signed movie memorabilia and prerelease DVDs. Room 6B

FRIDAY

11:00-1:00 Warner Bros. Presents—This giant-size presentation includes four great new films coming soon from Warner Bros.: V For Vendetta— Based on the groundbreaking graphic novel, V for Vendetta stars Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman, is directed by John McTeigue, and produced by Joel Silver with Larry and Andy Wachowski from their screenplay. Appearing in person at this event will be Natalie Portman, Joel Silver, and original graphic novel co-creator David Lloyd. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire—In the fourth film adaptation of J. K. Rowling’s popular Harry Potter novel series, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) must contend with being mysteriously selected to compete in the prestigious Triwizard Tournament, a thrilling international competition that pits him against older and more experienced students from Hogwarts and two rival European wizarding schools. Get an exclusive look at this pivotal adventure in Harry Potter's life. Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride—Carrying on in the dark, romantic tradition of Tim Burton’s classic films Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride is set in a 19th-century European village. This stop-motion animated feature follows the story of Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp), a young man who is whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious Corpse Bride (voiced by Helena Bonham-Carter) while his real bride, Victoria (voiced by Emily Watson), waits bereft in the land of the living. It’s a tale of optimism, romance, and a very lively afterlife, told in classic Tim Burton style. Appearing in person to show a never-before-seen look at this remarkable film will be producer Allison Abbate and co-director Mike Johnson. The Fountain—Info TBA. All of these programs will held in Hall H

4:00-5:30 WB Animation: The Batman and Justice League Unlimited Superhero Action Panel—Warner Bros. Animation takes fans behind-the-scenes of power-packed productions in a revealing panel and Q&A session, including never-before-seen footage and other special surprises. Justice League Unlimited producers Bruce Timm, Dwayne McDuffie, James Tucker, and Shaun McLaughlin take your questions and unmask the secrets of bringing superheroes to life. The Batman voice talent Rino Romano (The Batman/Bruce Wayne), Tom Kenny (Penguin), and Kevin Michael Richardson (Joker) join producers Jeff Matsuda, Duane Capizzi, and Michael Goguen in a Dark Knight discussion. Don't miss an all-new episode of JLU and world-premiere footage from Warner Home Video's upcoming feature-length thriller The Batman vs. Dracula! Room 6CDEF

SATURDAY

1:00-2:30 Todd McFarlane Tells All—Comics! Video games! Toys! Movies! Animation! Spawn.com! Todd McFarlane’s companies are involved in all aspects of popular culture. Hear the latest about all the ongoing McFarlane projects from Todd himself in a lively 90-minute discussion. Room 8

SUNDAY

2:30-3:30 Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers: Screening and Q&A with creator Robert Mandell—In 1986 a doorway to the stars was opened with The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, a revolutionary animated series that blazed new grounds in animation and storytelling in the toy-as-cartoon craze of the mid-80's. Zach, Doc, Niko, and Goose protected Earth across this new frontier and are back again in a new digitally remastered DVD line and a new collectible line. To celebrate, and making his first ever Comic-Con International appearance, is Robert Mandell, creator of the Galaxy Rangers, in a special screening of an episode of the show and Q&A session with Casey Lau of Hyperchild. Room 6CDEF

YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGURE CLUB!

2005-07-03T10:59:00.000+08:00

If you are bored this holiday weekend this is something that will bring a smile to your face.

Take 1 part FIGHT CLUB (my favorite movie) and mix liberally with geeks and action figures and you get a classic in the making.

Welcome ladies and gentlemen - to FIGURE CLUB.

WHY FANTASTIC FOUR WILL OPEN BIG!

2005-07-02T10:26:00.000+08:00

I have 2 words for you why FANTASTIC FOUR will open to at least a $50 million weekend and close at X2 box-office levels:

JESSICA ALBA

AVI ARAD VIDEO INTERVIEW

2005-07-02T10:25:00.000+08:00

This is a great hot off the press video interview with AVI ARAD of MARVEL as he goes over the Marvel movie slate. Listening to him though, sounds like listening to a older more fan boy Arnold sometimes but he knows his stuff and we'll see if he's right about the FANTASTIC FOUR but I think he is really grabbing at straws if he thinks NAMOR or THOR are going to be blockbusters.

Stick the with the big 5 and then have these neat little movies like Daredevil and Ghost Rider on the side and wait for the talent to come to play. Only do a movie when you find a Bryan Singer or Sam Raimi.

His other comment about DC taking over with movies does ring true - Batman - DC's star didn't come any where near Spider-Man (as I predicted) and even if FF is not as good as Batman Begins, because its a family movie and more bright and something new I think it will end up doing better than Batman Begins.

AMERCIAN McGEE BRINGS ON NEW TOYS

2005-07-02T10:20:00.000+08:00

From the guy that made that twisted ALICE game (Soon to be a movie starring Sarah Michelle Gellar) is now turning his sights to other fairy tales with new toys.

Go read about it at my new favorite site: BLOODY-DISGUSTING.COM

MARK MILLAR HAS OWN MAGAZINE

2005-07-02T10:14:00.000+08:00

Trying to make up for missed postings this week - here is a few for the long weekend. MARK MILLAR comics writer superstar of THE ULTIMATES and WOLVERINE (Well that one sucks) has re-launched his message boards AND a new web magazine and a blog. Proof that this guy writes everything down at the pub and squanders his daytime online talking to fans.

And if you need any incentive to go and check it out - Mark interviews ROB LIEFELD (Hold on a minute) and we find out that in 1992 Rob made $20 MILLION in comics!!!!!

RL: Yes, the math is simple. 12 Image comics in the form of 4 Youngbloods, 4 Supreme’s, 4 Brigades, each bringing in one million bucks each. X-Force royalties for the first 12 issues( royalties were sent 12 months after a book shipped in those days) broght in around 4 million and additional licensing contributed another 2 million and the money from the Levi commercial was about a million. After taxes, Uncle Sam left me with around 12 million bucks.

IN other comic news the COMIC'S BUYERS GUIDE the oldest news source about comics has finally launched their own website called CBGXtra.com. For a magazine that used to come out WEEKLY they are mighty slow in the e-world.

FLASH MOVIE GETS UPDATE

2005-07-01T10:32:00.000+08:00

This is the one movie we will be following very closely on as a FLASH movie could be the most amazing SFX superhero movie ever. Of all the super-powers the FLASH would be the most dramatic (with Green Lantern as #2).

So here is director DAVID GOYER talking about the Flash movie.

"Fans know there's been more than one Flash over the years," Goyer adds. "There's been a lot of speculation and rumor, but both Barry Allen and Wally West will be in this movie."

Goyer is referring to the The Flash's "normal" identity. He started as Jay Garrick in 1940. Allen took over in 1956 and Wallace (introduced as Kid Flash in 1959) in 1986.

"We're going to go into the 'Speed Force' and a lot of the cosmic aspects of the character from the more recent past," Goyer says. "Trust me, we're going to do a lot more than have the Flash run on water and create vortexes.

"I have a guy from M.I.T. helping me with all of this. We're going to be playing with relativity, Doppler effects and all kinds of things like that. Audiences will be amazed."

OK, OK sounds cool - you know Goyer wrote BATMAN BEGINS right? So he is in good hands scripting it, but he also directed BLADE: TRINITY - which alot of people hated (I liked it, am I that easy to please by seeing Jessica Biel?) so its a 50/50 take on how the FLash will turn out - I like his idea of using RYAN REYNOLDS as Wally West and probably some classic actor to be Barry Allen...oh man this sounds sweet!

TOM LOOKS GOOD, WoW OPENS AT $21 M

2005-07-01T10:29:00.000+08:00

With the all the bad press he's been getting I am surprised that WAR OF THE WORLDS opened at $21 million on its first day!

I have yet to see it but I guess we know why the FF pulled out against him and with such strong reviews I guess we know which of the 5 Big Summer Movies is going to suck - yes I am unfortunately looking at you Avi Arad and Tim Story!

SAN DIEGO EXCLSUIVES CHECKLIST

2005-07-01T10:24:00.000+08:00

For you going to the San Diego Comic-Con in 2 weeks make sure you print out this handy checklist of stuff to buy that will only be available at the con! I will be broke - there is at least 10 things I must get on this list - I mean just look how cool this Hellboy Junior is!

WB PAYS $17 MILLION FOR DUKES

2005-07-01T10:19:00.000+08:00

Of course any reason to post a picture of Jessica Simpson and hype her upcoming movie DUKES OF HAZZARD (who are the 2 guys playing the male leads again?), there has been a bit of a problem with the rights of the movie that the details have been kept quiet and for any true pop culture fan you must know this:

Warner Bros. Pictures has agreed to pay a Georgia-based producer at least $17.5 million for infringing on the copyright to his even-more-obscure 1974 United Artists film, "Moonrunners," which became the basis of the hit Warners TV skein, "The Dukes of Hazzard."

This is amazing! Nobody making a multi-million dollar movie thought to have the WB lawyers check this out properly.

NEW HE-MAN STATUES LOOK LIKE FIGURES

2005-07-01T10:16:00.000+08:00

Don't be fooled by the blister card appearance. This line of 4 Horsemen and NECA MASTERS OF THEUNIVERSE figures are atcually statues - albeit small 6" ones - so to keep in the same mood and style as the original action figures.

My take on this is that it is exactly what the collectors wanted. Continue the line get all the characters that MATTEL would not make and everyone is happy. My concern is that blister is not the best material to pack a resin figure in...but beyond that the painting will be superior the scale will be correct so that bigger characters like CLAWFUL will tower over your He-Man figure and that we get to complete our collections. Watch as the MOTU line soars in price now with new interest in the line!

WONKA LOOKS GOOD...SO FAR!

2005-06-30T23:50:00.000+08:00

I like Johnny Depp and I like Tim Burton when he isnt trying to make Hollywood movies (his POTA sucked!) - but I still have no idea what to make of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY..until now!

IESB has posted a ton of clips that make me want to see the movie. Since its not a thriller or an action movie, I don't think these clips will ruin anything for those who like to go in blind to a movie like myself but this is definitely quirky at its best! The trailer says nothing, but...this is going to be a feast for the eyes and kick start your imagination. Johnny Depp plays yet another oddball, but the whole look is pure Burton and looks like it will at least be appreciated by people who like this type of movie and hopefully kids. I have no idea if the story is any good as I have not seen the original or read the book, but if its a way to get Burton to flex his production design skills then I will definitely enjoy seeing it and it already looks like a DVD buy!

WELCOME TO LUCASLAND

2005-06-29T13:19:00.000+08:00

I have to admit I was lucky enough to spend a day at the Skywalker Ranch outside of San Francisco but I was surprised at how "earthy" it looked. No AT-AT's or Jawa's walking around, just a clean and peaceful vinyard looking place.

And now the photos of Lucas' new digs in the city at the old Presidio site (yeah remember the Sean Connery/Mark Harmon movie) and this is what I expect Lucasland to look like. Have a look at the photos here and here.

There is even public areas so you can get a glimpse of the magic. Why there is no StarWars Land yet is beyond me, I'm sure that place would do boffo business!

GHOST RIDER FOOTAGE FOR DOWNLOAD

2005-06-29T10:07:00.000+08:00

Some of you may have missed ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT's visit to the GHOST RIDER set in Australia. I did, and so Buzzscope has digitized it and put it online for you to download.

OK the scene here is not in the video - sorry, it's those gonzo message board kids at SHH that love photoshopping playing around with stills from this ET clip.

We already posted what GR will look like if you scroll down you'll see the shot from the Licensing show.

UNTOUCHABLES 2 IN THE WORKS

2005-06-29T10:02:00.000+08:00

THE UNTOUCHABLES was the first R-rated movie I saw as a kid! My Dad took me to see it when I was 12 and I gotta say it was once of the best movies I ever saw! It even won Sean Connery an Oscar. Best movie score I ever heard because I actually bought the vinyl for it - also my first soundtrack purchase!

Now that said, do we really need a sequel - or as they are calling CAPONE RISING - a prequel? Wasn't there just a Carlito's Way prequel as well? And really, who are you telling me who is at least B-List that can play a young Sean Connery as Malone? I guess we can thank George Lucas for setting off this prequel craze!

MARVEL X APE SHOES

2005-06-29T10:00:00.000+08:00

Will Marvel be cool now? Auctioneo sent us this link from Hypebeast about the newest show collaboration between Marvel and Japan's UBERBRAND A Bathing Ape.

This could set off a new trend of collectible shoes collected by comic fans?

V FOR VENDETTA POSTER

2005-06-28T21:14:00.000+08:00

"PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID OF THEIR GOVERNMENTS.

GOVERNMENTS SHOULD BE AFRAID OF THEIR PEOPLE"

Great tagline for the new V for Vendetta movies starring Natalie Portman and Elrond until you look down a bit further:

"FROM THE CREATORS OF THE MATRIX TRILOGY"

A) that isn't doing anything for me, the Wachowski's are flukes, not to mention weirdo's! and B) I thought this was ALAN MOORE and DAVID LLOYD'S vision of the future!

Either way to the unintitaed it sounds like a futuristic version of Zorro, don't you think?

1 MILLION BATTLES FOR LOTR

2005-06-28T11:46:00.000+08:00

Well this is interesting, with all the hoopla over online massive multiplyaer games who has time to play all of them?

It seems at least 1 million battles have been going on in the LORD OF THE RINGS game and there is a special contest to commermorate this special event. Very interesting to see that this game sounds to be doing well. Wonder how many people are in the Matrix and Star Wars games? And wonder if this effects original games like Warcraft and Lineage?

TOP COW ANIME COMING!

2005-06-28T11:36:00.000+08:00

Top Cow steals from the Japanese the concept of the cyborg killer hot-chick and some how got them to license it back to make an anime. Incredible but this trailer looks pretty much like same-old anime with a girl with green hair. And who is this character anyways? I thougt WITCHBLADE was their main character?

CONAN CARTOON COMING

2005-06-28T11:35:00.000+08:00

OK I was too lazy to screen-cap the flash images at the CONAN: RED NAILS site so that picture there is some arbitrary image I googled. So, if the HIGHLANDER animation wasnt enough - here comes an animated version of RED NAILS.

RANGER CREATOR AT SAN DIEGO

2005-06-28T11:34:00.000+08:00

If you are going to this years San Diego Comic Con then you better stop by and meet the man who created the GALAXY RANGERS! And even a screening - what kind of goodies is Mr. Mandell going to share with us?

KONG TRAILER UP!

2005-06-28T11:33:00.000+08:00

What? You haven't seen it yet? Its Lord of the Kongs! The trailer is here go see it - I didn't know Kong was from Helm's Deep and fought dinosaurs??!

...AND DID I MENTION JLU IS THE BEST CARTOON EVER!

2005-06-27T10:03:00.000+08:00

I won't spoil it for you but the final epsiode of JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED entitiled "EPILOGUE" is amazing! While it doesnt feel like a JLU episode, but more an epilogue for the BATMAN BEYOND show. Yes that's right we go back to the future and the BIGGEST TWIST EVER is dropped in our collective laps about the origins of Terry McGuiness and the whole BATMAN BEYOND world takes on new meaning. A perfect ending to one of the strongest seasons of TV ever - and to think that Cartoon Network didn't air this on the weekend of Batman Begin's second reign at #1 at the box office.

BATMAN BEGINS #1 FOR SECOND WEEK!

2005-06-27T10:01:00.000+08:00

Yup the Bat hangs on to another week at #1 scoring a whopping $26.8 million over this weekend bring its gross over 12 days to $121.7 million (which includes its record-0breaking IMAX showing) Most importantly is that BB only dropped 45% from its opening weekend when most movies frop 50% or more (Hi Hulk) but still estimates only see it hitting $200 million for its entire domestic run. I was hoping it would have hit into Top 10 of all time, but as long as it beats out the original 4 Batman movies I guess I will be OK.

And a drunk Bruce Wayne (wow he really thinks he is Batman) lets the loose lips announce that SEAN PENN is in the running to be the Joker - which of course is completely crazy, but is what the new rumour mill has unleeashed!

SPAWN 28 IMAGES UNVEILED!

2005-06-27T09:58:00.000+08:00

Yowza! It's great that with all the success on DRAGONS and MILITARY that Todd hasn't forgot his Spawn fans and this looks to be a great line! MANDARIN SPAWN 2 looks like a winner! Check them all out here!

YOU COULD HAVE BEEN ON THE GLOBAL FEQUENCY!

2005-06-27T09:57:00.000+08:00

I DL'd the pilot of the stillborn series GLOBAL FREQUENCY based on WARREN ELLIS' comic book seriesfor Wildstorm. I'm not sure what the networks look for in a pilot to agree to air the series, but this series sure looked like fun! If you don't know it's about; a woman named MIRANDA ZERO that has a ton of people around the world that are all on-call agents on the "global frequency" that assist in solving bizzare and superhuman-type crimes - very similar to premise of The Shadow but updated.

The pilot was cool, well shot, well acted and had the potential to go all the way - at least better than BIRDS OF PREY and a ton of the crap that is out there. It might have even been the next X-Files because of the weird cases they could have covered. Its too bad, although it does suck that it wasn't picked up its neat that we at least got to see what a potential show might have looked like.

LEGO GETS MAGAZINE!

2005-06-25T11:53:00.000+08:00

Just when you thought LEGO Sales were down the toilet here comes a magazine all about Lego called the BRICK JOURNAL.

BrickJournal will also invite the general public to meet and join the community. With a variety of articles on many of the aspects of the LEGO hobby, interviews with people who have impacted the hobby or community, building tips and instructions, and other fun things, BrickJournal will be an outreach to the public - introducing the LEGO hobby by showcasing the best the community has to offer!

You can download the 5MB magazine in PDF format at the link above How cool would a Marvel Legends magazine be or a DC Direct magazine?

UN-Q-LIEVABLE!

2005-06-25T11:51:00.000+08:00

Here's a fresh take on the new, new, new X-Men...wonder what Whedon & Cassaday think about their team being Hong Kong-ized?

JOKER CASTING FOR BATMAN AGAIN!

2005-06-25T11:49:00.001+08:00

Oh yeah, its waaaayyy too early to start this BUT - I'm throwing my hat in the ring for CRISPIN GLOVER as the JOKER for BATMAN BEGINS AGAIN (or whatever they call it). If you have been following this the names mentioned are CRISPIN GLOVER who you may or may not recognize as GEORGE McFLY from BACK TO THE FUTURE and more recently as The Thin Man in CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE and of course in the remake of WILLIARD and MARK HAMMIL (Yes, Luke Skywalker but obviously the man with the cartoon Joker's voice) Hammil is too old obviously and come on, that is just a fanboy comment whoever suggested that.

But now there is a new contender and in keeping with Chris Nolan's majorly UK cast - PAUL BETTANY is now apparently in the running. I don't know his work very well, but I did see him with Kirsten Dunst in WIMBELDON and must say he is more the big screen English version of Chandler Bing. And plus this guy doesnt need any perks, he's married to JENNIFER CONNELLY which is reward enough for being an actor!

And oh yeah they want LIEV (The Manchurian Candidate) SCHRIEVER to be HARVEY DENT which is perfect casting now lets just forget the other days comment about Frankie Muiz and go back about our business!

MARVEL COMICS FOR SEPTEMBER

2005-06-25T11:49:00.000+08:00

Marvel's new comic solicits are up - because DC, Marvel and Image do this I alsmost feel like I dont need to buy Previews anymore. Some highlights:

The above cover to GHOST RIDER Marvel Knights mini series by GARTH "PREACHER" ENNIS!
OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE: ALTERNATE UNIVERSES 2005 - intertesting look at all the multiverses in the MU, will we see SPIDER-HAM?

...and that's about it - besides the usual great stuff in the Ultimate line not much else Marvel has planned for September is too exciting (even the much hoopla'd HOUSE OF M has been a big let-down) it's almost if Joe Quesada reads the Previews catalogues too and decided to throw in the towel after seeing DC"s stellar line-up.

THE BIG BEATDOWN: FF Vs. WoW!

2005-06-25T11:48:00.000+08:00

Even though early reviews are not sounding too fantastic (no links due to spoilers) - it looks like Samsung is pretty positive that there will be a FF2! At the very least I'm sure you will at least be entertained it sounds like Spielberg pulls his usual crap and screws up the last 20 minutes of War of the Worlds. You did see Minority Report right?

YO SIGMA!

2005-06-25T11:45:00.000+08:00

I am really looking for to the new GI JOE SIGMA 6 anime-style take on the Joe story (does anybody else find it strange that THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO looks like it was drawn by JAPANESE - if you need more proof of an invasion?). But will it work? Rememebr GI JOE EXTREME, eeks! Anyways there is a big GI JOE convention happening and you can see art, toys and more JOE Stuff than you can imagine here and here.

THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE CRISPIN GLOVER?

2005-06-24T09:49:00.000+08:00

Is this a teaser poster for BATMAN BEGINS 2? if not I hope Christopher Nolan goes with this more Conrad Vietch-ish style Man Who Laughed style Joker than the Nicholson Clown look.

Also in a bit of a double sided comment, BB director Chris Nolan does say he will NOT be around when Robin makes his debut in the franchise, which is good because he's dedicated to keeping the Dark Knight solo - but then makes a bizarre comment that if he did have to cast a ROBIN he would cast Frankie Muniz? I really don't know how to take that comment.

How many of you saw Batman Begins more than once in the theatre?

BEST SUPERHERO CARTOON EVER!

2005-06-22T14:21:00.000+08:00

If BATMAN BEGINS is the best superhero movie of all time, then JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED is the best superhero animated series of all time!

As readers know, I have a great affinity to this show and I hated the first season of 2-parters when it was just JUSTICE LEAGUE...but UNLIMITED proves that a kid's cartoon can be entertaining to all ages as BATMAN: TAS proved before.

Now for some reason Canada's YTV is running the last batch of JLU epsiodes before Cartoon Networkin the U.S. is so because of this I will leave a spoiler free review of "DIVIDED WE FALL" - the fourth and final episode of this arc, which is probably the best 22 American animated minutes of all time. I can't wait for this to come out unabridged on DVD.

Lest to say the Flash gets his due finally from being absent from most of this Unlimited run. The rumours are true we do see a Professor Zoom/Reverse Flash in this episode and its amazingly touching not once but twice and of course the homage to the Legion of Doom's cool looking HQ. Absolutely fantastic animation values here! All I can say is there is one last epsiode for the season called "EPILOGUE" and this season is the best I've seen ever - fan service, kid-appealing and great stories that can only be done in the DC Universe and why the Founding Seven memebers of the Justice League will always be our favorites...ok and Green Arrow!

Tivo it, download it, even VHS-record it because this episode is not to be missed!

PHOTOS FROM THE LICENSING 2005 SHOW FLOOR!

2005-06-22T10:39:00.000+08:00

Ghost Rider - if this is what Nicolas Cage is going to look like it may be actualy quite cool. Amazing how much it stayed on with the comic book look.

USA TODAY has the big article today on the LICENSING 2005 show.

2005-06-22T10:37:00.000+08:00

This snapshot looks to bring the FF back to animated form but in a more ANIME look!

2005-06-22T10:36:00.000+08:00

Its the LICENSING 2005 show in New York this week and thank GOD someone brought a camera...Here is the sizzle being sold for the TRANSFORMERS live action movie!

FANTASTIC FOUR GET KUBRICKS!

2005-06-21T12:40:00.000+08:00

Medicon has some special edition FANTASTIC FOUR Kubrick's coming out for the movie! It's always neat to check out foreign sites for American stuff - the Japanese FF site has a quick video of Jessica Alba asking you to see the movie, (I'm sure you can navigate through to the English button that says QUICKTIME on it) I guess she is big over there as well.

And of course there is the 10-minute pretty-much spolier free Behind-The Scenes video at Apple that should have any naysayers changing their tune. As long as the story stays together even with all the changes, the FX and the rest will be good enough and should shoot this into a $60 million weekend, but with so many hits already in terms of critical acclaim, someone has to be the Catwoman...so its either Tom Cruise or FF - I doubt that we can have all 4 Blockbusters being good (Ep3, BB, WoW, FF) can we?

MINDGAME: NEXT GEN ANIME?

2005-06-21T11:12:00.000+08:00

Finally an anime that pushes the borders of what anime can be. MINDGAME is facinating - have a look at the trailer here. You can see it live at the Asian Film Fest in NY.

STAND ASIDE JOHN WOO!

2005-06-21T10:45:00.000+08:00

OK if you are any kind of action fan you need to click here to experience SHOOT 'EM UP. If you like the gunplay styling of JOHN WOO then this is the movie for you. While its still in early stages, CLIVE OWEN (Y'know, DWIGHT from SIN CITY) has signed on to be the bad ass mofo hero. So this makes it sound like a slightly classier production in that I would assume JASON STRATHAM (The Transporter) would be the kind of actor tapped to play this kind of no-words-tons-o-bullets type character. Make sure you watch these animatics as it gives a good idea of what the movie will look like - and even looks good as a cartoon. How the hero gets out of a head-to-head car collision is worth taking time out to watch.

I see this as being the super e-viral promo that will flood email boxes around the world.

DC's SEPTEMBER SOLICITS

2005-06-21T10:42:00.000+08:00

DC has released its upcoming solicitations for new comics and graphic novels so have a look at all the great Bat-books for September. Also gasp at the Rob Liefeld TEEN TITANS cover art, the cool Ed McGuiness SUPERMAN/BATMAN cover for #23 and the awesome Ladronn FLASH cover.

NEW BATMAN ACTION FIGURES

2005-06-21T10:39:00.000+08:00

New DC DIRECT action figures delve into the Batman mythos - while having this KNIGHTFALL Batman is cool what is up with the BAT BAG MAN? MILLIONS of awesome characters in the Bat-Universe and DCD decides that the pajama Batman was a good idea. Now I know where the term "peg warmer" really means!

NIGHTCRAWLER OUT OF X3

2005-06-20T09:09:00.000+08:00

I don't know how truthful this is even coming from Alan Cumming himself, but according to his own website he will NOT be coming back to X3 as Nightcrawler (on a side note this site says he has his own perfume called CUMMING; so take it how you will, or is he really that wacky?) - now this could be HE himself was such a pain in the ass on the set of X2 that they decided to recast the character or the producers are really not including Nightcrawler which could be true since we know the BEAST is in it and having 2 blue-furred mutants in the same movie might be confusing, but then again they did have Nightcrawler and Mystique so there must just be too many characters in it...but even a cameo by NC would be nice - c'mon everyone was blown away by the first 10 minutes of X2 where he teleports and jumps through the White House.

How can they not have NC in X3? Brett Ratner is already tearing the franchise apart!

SUPER BLONDE

2005-06-20T09:06:00.000+08:00

Just in case you don't buy ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY - the full story on SUPERMAN RETURNS stars Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth has been scanned and ready for you to read. Is it me or would you rather see a blonde LOIS LANE if Kate looks this much better blonde than as a brunette? I still think this is the worst casting possible and could be Bryan Singer's Waterworld.

BATMAN DARK KNIGHTS $46 MILLION WEEKEND

2005-06-20T09:03:00.000+08:00

The tally is in - BATMAN BEGINS over the 3-day weekend pulled in $46.9 million in North America and a combined $71.1 million since it opened on Wednesday. Brad and Angelina seemed to hang on well at #2 by adding another $27.3 million to their haul. BATMAN BEGINS also collected $112.8 million worldwide in the same time frame.

So in terms of production costs it looks like its paid for itself already insuring a sequel. Now what about that $100 million marketing fee? Not a record-breaker by any means but still solid numbers to prove to the WB execs that this was the right take on the Dark Knight and cementing Christian Bale as a superstar leading man!

BB WEDNESDAY TAKE: $15 MILLION

2005-06-17T09:50:00.000+08:00

Good but not groundbreaking - $15 million places BATMAN BEGINS only at #11 on the all time Wednesday openers. To contrast, SPIDER-MAN 2 opened at $40 million, while it was a sequel, and opened at a few hundred more cinemas I am thinking Batman is going to be a wait-and-see and word-of-mouth movie like the first SPIDER-MAN. All signs point to this one opening bigger than EP3 as it maintains its box-office throughout the weekend rather than a huge 1 day surge for the fanboys. I'll be adding a few more bucks to the pot as I see it again this weekend!

BE BATMAN ON YOUR PLAYSTATION!

2005-06-17T09:47:00.000+08:00

Matching the ads for the movie is the BATMAN BEGINS video game from EA. I have yet to play it, but I do love the idea that after you see a movie these days you can immerse yourself in the world you just saw by playing a game, going online to the website and message boards, read comics, listen to the soundtrack - missing was a virtual Gotham CIty where you and others could walk around hopefully to catch a glimpse of the Bat. See a video of the game here. And read Xbox and PS2 reviews to see if this is a buy or a rent!

BATMAN BEGINS - THE MOVIE OF 2005!

2005-06-16T18:27:00.000+08:00

Well it was worth the wait to get here. Probably the most exciting and faithful comic book movies ever. BATMAN BEGINS is a sheer thrill from beginning to end as learn how Bruce Wayne became Batman. This is more along the lines of the first Superman movie as it really goes in depth into the origin showing more of what led Bruce to become Batman.

I have some problems with it specifically that he is a trained ninja but what about criminologist and detective, that part was kind of left out...I guess it was like the organic web-shooters, too unbeliveable that one guy could be all these things and we wouldn't have Morgan Freeman in it. THE CASTING was brilliant - I mean everyone was amazing, all of them even Katie Holmes...Cilian Murphy was awesome, Michael Caine as always was awesome...it just makes me cringe now to try and watch the original 4 ever again. That was like a cartoon version of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, this is like the ULTIMATE BATMAN version - Year One taken up a notch.

And for those of you that don't like the rubber and all the gadgets - you will change your mind, the introduction of the bat suit and the gadgets was half of the fun of the movie. Most importantly when you walk out of the theatre you felt you just got off a rollercoaster. Best movie of the Summer? So far the BAT IS BACK and loved the new DC logo animation at the start.

MESSY ROBOTS ARE COMING!

2005-06-16T11:42:00.000+08:00

Ashley Wood is a freaking amazing artist and now he has been set free to create his own line of crazy robot toys. Those SPAWN figures he did were some of the best ever in the entire series so I cant wait to see what happens here.

KERI RUSSELL CAST IN MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3

2005-06-16T11:41:00.000+08:00

Felicity has been cast in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3 replacing the scorching hot Scarlet Johansen. While people sigh relief that it isn't Tom Cruise's current girlfriend Katie Holmes in a sign of nepotism, it is a bit incestuous as Russel's claim to fam was the TV show that MI3 director J.J. ABRAMS created...and I guess Keri has been living off of her fat Felicity royalty checks off these DVD's because I dont think I have seen her in anything since that show ended. Even that dude on the right was in UNDERWORLD. Oh well, lets see what happens here as casting continues.

THE DEFENDERS: GAY REALITY SHOW?

2005-06-16T11:38:00.000+08:00

The Defenders are back...but this time as a comedy team? So what's so special about that - they always were a comedy team - 3 half naked naked men and a hippie who don't want to be together, sounds like a gay reality show.

THE X3 TEASER POSTER

2005-06-16T11:35:00.000+08:00

Yeah, yeah you probably saw this by now. X-Men 3 has a teaser poster and a date - you can just feel the gun pointed at Brett ratner's head as he races to have this done in time.

VIN CAST AS BALD HITMAN! WHAT A SHOCKER!

2005-06-16T11:33:00.000+08:00

Back in the game today - sorry about yesterday. VIN DIESEL has decided that having hair in a law movie was too much hard work especially pro-noun-see-ating those big legal terms so he's back in a role where he can let his bald dome hang all out and be happy as he signs on to the movie of the video game HITMAN.

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

2005-06-14T10:37:00.000+08:00

Oboy - new HIGHLANDER anime series is being prepped and you can see the trailer here. No Ducun or Connor looks like but that is what is good about the series it can be anyone with a sword.

RESIDENT EVIL RETURNS FOR 2 MORE MOVIES!

2005-06-14T10:23:00.000+08:00

When you see a picture of Milla Jovovich these days you know it must have something to do with RESIDENT EVIL...and no matter how passable the first movie was, the second one decimated any sort of credibility - so now they want to make THREE and FOUR. It must be a DVD money maker so hopefully that is where they will go direct to.

WHY DOESN'T OBI-WAN RECOGNIZE R2-D2?

2005-06-14T10:21:00.000+08:00

Having watched EP4 recently there are so many problems now after having seen EP1-3...and this blog answers the biggest question I have 15 minutes into A NEW HOPE...Why doesnt Obi-Wan recognize R2-D2? He fought with him in 3 movies, who's next don't remember which Wookie is Chewbacca? Some of the questions you have about continuity are answered here.

MARIO LIKES THE ACCESSORIES

2005-06-14T10:16:00.000+08:00

Curiously cool MARIO BROTHERS speakers shaped like those damn cubes you were always hitting in the game! Also check out the mouse and all kinds of funky Mario stuff.

FETT ON THE TV

2005-06-14T10:15:00.000+08:00

Oh yeah - BOBA FETT could be one of the main characters in the Star Wars TV show that takes place between Episode 3 and 4. Why not just a younger Han Solo since he is the one character who actually makes it through the next 3 movies.

JACKO IS A FREE MAN!

2005-06-14T10:14:00.000+08:00

He must really be innocent as he has no money to buy his way out of this....now he's off to K-Mart where he heard that in Aisle 15 "Boys Pants Were Half Off" (Stolen from Triumph)

NO, IT'S NOT TOM, IT'S DANE COOK!

2005-06-13T14:51:00.000+08:00

If you have seen TOM CRUISE on Oprah or on Jay Leno then you ain't seen nothing! Comedien DANE COOK goes apeshit on JIMMY KIMMEL as he professes HIS love for Katie Holmes. This is the funiest thing I have seen in a long time and Cook is an awesome stand-up with his tears-from-laughter inducing CD HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED and his upcoming RETALIATION. Watch this video and the rest of the week will look alot better!

PRAYING FOR #1 NEXT WEEK!

2005-06-13T11:28:00.000+08:00

Well MR. AND MRS. SMITH ARE #1 this week at the box office with an amzing $51 million in the US. Apparently it also opened internationally in alot of markets at the same time making this $120 million movie a bonafide hit. This picture is of BRAD PITT and ANGELINA JOLIE praying that they can keep the top spot next week when a certain flying rodent finally bows. If Brad and Angelina (also props to director DOUG LIMAN) can make $50 million in its opening weekend - I think we're looking at a $75 million for BATMAN BEGINS.

NO WONDER THEY NEVER LEFT GILLIGAN'S ISLAND!

2005-06-13T11:24:00.000+08:00

Continuing with fun links to videos for you to view - which wasn't really planned it just happened this way - is this commercial for a show called THE REAL GILLIGAN'S ISLAND...apparently causing quite a stir like the MILLER LITE commercial with Kitana Baker in it, Mary Ann and Ginger go at it with cream-pies and showers, all whilst the Skipper and Gilligan watch - no wonder they never got off that island. 2 Popaganda points to whoever remembers where the crew ended up on the ANIMATED version of their show...

ENTOURAGE: BEST SHOW ON TV NOW!

2005-06-12T22:19:00.000+08:00

Why does HBO make the best shows? It has to be the swearing! Well chalk up another awesome show and one pop culture fans can eat up: ENTOURAGE - Vincent Chase is the hot new "it" actor in Hollywood and he and this is the story of him and his 3 buddies from Queens as we follow their Hollywood lifestyle. PRIME acting citation goes to JEREMY PIVEN as Vincent's agent ARI. A whole new catchphrase for our generation: "LET'S HUG IT OUT BITCH!" even has its own website.

The first season of 8 epsiodes is out on DVD (And you thought Seinfeld's first season was short) and season 2 has already started giving us something to actually look forward to watching on TV this Summer. Mark "Marky Mark" Whalberg is an executive producer and I can't help but see that this is semi-autobiographical of his career. Everything you think Young Hollywood must be like especially if you are a good-looking guy, its all in this show. Funny, smart, hip with great performances and clever writing makes this show one that cannot be beat - so take it from Vegas its the one to watch this Summer.

DEMONS INVADE LONDON!

2005-06-12T22:13:00.000+08:00

Oh yes, this is a video-linking day! Check out this amazing trailer for this incredible looking game: HELLGATE LONDON. 2 cyber-knights run through a demon-infested London...really, you must download this and if you have the broadband you need to get the jumbo-sized video.

MTV MOVIE AWARDS : PURE POP CULTURE!

2005-06-12T22:11:00.000+08:00

The reason I like to watch the MTV MOVIE AWARDS, and not just this past week's show because of Ryan Gosling and Rache McAdam's acceptance speech for Best Kiss, but because of the great movie parodies they do. Jimmy Fallon did some this year with Batman which was OK. But lets spin back to 1998 when WILLIAM SHATNER did a take on the movie SEVEN by playing all the roles in the movie as different characters he has been on TV. Hilarious!

EP3 ON DVD NOVEMBER 1

2005-06-10T12:33:00.000+08:00

Yeah baby! NOVEMBER 1st is the first time I will actually buy a DVD on the first day (well second after Spider-Man 1) Reports are coming in that STAR WARS EPISODE 3: REVENGE OF THE SITH will hit DVD that day plus re-releases for the other crappy 5 movies in the franchise.