Comic Book Universe // Current

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28 days ago

Sherlock Holmes Movie Review

Scene Stealers--

Everyone’s been making a fuss about the new Sherlock Holmes movie from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels English crime filmmaker Guy Ritchie and how it’s suposed to be a different animal from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle detective stories that are ingrained in pop culture. Many have worried it would be all flash and dazzle, a fear that wouldn’t be totally unjustified considering the quick-cut editing and matter-of-factness dialogue that Ritchie’s filmography has been host to.

But now that it’s out, it turns out we have nothing to worry about.
Well, almost nothing.

The Sherlock Holmes we’ve come to know is the one with that ridiculous deerstalker hat, perpetually staring through a magnifying glass and walking alongside an amusingly obese Watson. While it’s always more entertaining to see a jolly fat man in the movies than the new Holmes‘ version, the slim but adept (and to be fair, pretty strong in his own right) Watson, played by Jude Law, is just one example that proves the changes made in Ritchie’s Holmes work pretty well.

But it’s not all shoot-’em-ups and drug runs like you’d expect from Ritchie. It’s also not a Robert Downey, Jr. romp of charisma and smartassery (I have to admit, I was worried Downey would be reprising his super-likable characters from Iron Man and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in this titular role.) Instead it is, quite genuinely, an old-school mystery movie.

It’s apparent from the get go that Ritchie’s not interested in giving us a straight-up entertainment ride - instead he creates a grimy 19th Century London, with filthy brown rooms shown through dirty cinematography, almost with the vibe of an early 70s New Hollywood film. It’s a great breath of fresh air from every other tent pole released today, from the good (Avatar) to the thoroughly crappy (Transformers 2). It’s not that movies shouldn’t look pristine, but it’s great to change it up and see Holmes in a dirty, utilitarian style that feels real (and, as a guy that got nauseous during The Hurt Locker, it’s great to see Ritchie do it without having to rely on steadicam.)

http://www.scene-stealers.com/print-reviews/movie-review-sherlock-holmes/Scene Stealers-- Everyone’s been making a fuss about the new Sherlock Holmes movie from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking... more

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1 month ago

He-Man And The Masters Of Fine Art: Skeletor Like You've Never Seen Him Before

We have long clamored for Skeletor to become an artistic icon, and now he's finally immortalized on canvas. Galleries 1988 in... more

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28 days ago

'Spider-Man' film team is squashed - latimes.com

Peter Parker can catch all sorts of villains in his webs, but the one thing Spider-Man couldn't bring to Sony Pictures was a workable script -- and budget -- for the $2.5-billion franchise's fourth installment, derailing one of the most lucrative movie series in Hollywood history.

Less than a week after the studio said it was postponing production on the fourth web-slinger movie over story problems, Sony on Monday pulled the plug on the project as it was being conceived with director Sam Raimi after he told the studio he wasn't comfortable moving forward with the sequel, originally scheduled for release in May 2011.

Star Tobey Maguire, who has played the arachnid superhero in the previous three "Spider-Man" films, is also bowing out, as is his on-screen love interest, Kirsten Dunst. The studio said it would hire a new star and director and re-boot the movie as a story about Parker's early life as a "teenager grappling with contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises." Because Sony is essentially starting from scratch, the studio has pushed the picture's release to 2012.

The resulting film is expected to be far less costly than the production Raimi had envisioned for his version. Sony wanted to make the picture for about $230 million, which the director thought was not enough given his ambitions.

" 'Spider-Man' will always be an important franchise for Sony Pictures and a fresh start like this is a responsibility that we all take very seriously," Sony Chairman Michael Lynton said in a prepared statement. "We have always believed that story comes first and story guides the direction of these films."

The studio declined to elaborate on the decision. But several people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter said Sony hopes to find a new director and actors quickly, with filming expected to begin before the end of the year. Screenwriter James Vanderbilt ("Zodiac") has been hired to write the script, and "Spider-Man" veterans Marvel Studios, Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin will return as producers, the studio said.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-spiderman12-2010jan12,0,6349068.story

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2010-01/51587170.jpgPeter Parker can catch all sorts of villains in his webs, but the one thing Spider-Man couldn't bring to Sony Pictures was a... more

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28 days ago

Marvel Adventures to return with Spider-Man #1 and Super Heroes #1

Marvel relaunches its Marvel Adventures line in April with Spider-man #1 and Super Heroes #1.

WesleySmith
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3 months ago

Can the old Animal Forest Park and Funland in York Beach, Maine follow a new sustainable path?

It would make my heart sing to be allowed, by the forces that be, to be able to help develop and renovate my father and his... more

CarolynGillis
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3 comments

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28 days ago

DC Comics' Birds of Prey returns with Gail Simone

DC Comics has announced that Birds of Prey will return this spring with the creative team that redfined the title, Gail Simone and... more

WesleySmith
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29 days ago

Vatican Slams 'Avatar': Promotes Nature Worship Over Religion

The Vatican newspaper and radio station have called the film "Avatar" simplistic, and criticized it for flirting with... more

pjacobs51
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12 comments

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29 days ago

James Cameron’s Avatar = Disney’s Pocahontas

James Cameron’s Avatar is Disney’s Pocahontas? Well, we all know the similarities between “The Curious Case... more

remanns
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2 comments

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30 days ago

Captain America reborn

Captain America has been dead for two years, but this month, Marvel Comics is bringing him back in a storyline called... more

cwmackowski
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3 comments

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30 days ago

Spider-Man 4 No More?

So says the one-two combo of Nikki Finke and recent Variety transplant Michael Flemming. According to a source of... more

jlichman
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6 comments

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1 month ago

DC follows Blackest Night up with Brightest Day

DC's The Source blog has announced that Blackest Night will be followed up with another Green Lantern-themed event: Brightest... more

WesleySmith
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1 month ago

John Malkovich Confirms his Role as The Vulture in Spider Man 4

Geek Tyrant reports: "As you know there's a lot of drama revolving around the Spider-Man 4 production right now. The... more

DeliaTheArtist
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4 comments

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1 month ago

Hey Oscar Wilde! It's Clobberin' Time!!!

THIS WEBSITE, NOW IN ITS TENTH INCARNATION SINCE BEING LAUNCHED IN 06.1998, IS AN EXTENSION OF A PERSONAL ART COLLECTION OF... more

remanns
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1 year ago

Machines of the apocalypse

Check out Kris Kuksi's dark apocalyptic mech/goth sculptures. Awesome stuff. [gallery at link]

purplefox
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7 comments

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1 month ago

Marvel sues Spider-Man, Hulk artist heirs for rights

Marvel is suing the family of the late artist Jack Kirby in a bid to retain copyright to some of the company's best-loved... more

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25 comments

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1 month ago

Science Fiction is about to take the giant leap to Oscar recognition

The Producer's Guild of America, a key predictor of Oscar nominees, has released its Best Picture selections for 2009. Three of its ten choices were science fiction blockbusters, which could mean the genre is getting long overdue mainstream critical recognition.

As guest blogger extraordinaire Marc Bernardin noted on Monday, Avatar has emerged as a legitimate contender to win Best Picture at next year's Academy Awards. Apparently it's time to add a couple more genre films to that list, as the PGA also nominated District 9 and Star Trek for Best Picture. Joining the science fiction trio are Up, Inglourious Basterds, An Education, Invictus, Precious, and Up in the Air.

The Producer's Guild expanded its field of Best Picture nominees from five to ten this year to keep pace with the Oscars. The doubling of the Best Picture field was widely seen as a reaction to the snubs of the massively successful, critically acclaimed science fiction films The Dark Knight and Wall-E. On a more cynical level, the move allowed the Academy an opportunity to throw token nominations at popular films, which would likely draw in more viewers than a slate of lesser-known, critically respected fare.

Both of those analyses appear to be reflected in the PGA slate. If I can put my film geek hat on for a second, I would guess that, if the PGA had not increased the number of its nominees, the five choices would probably have been The Hurt Locker, Up in the Air, Precious, Avatar, and either Invictus or An Education. That would have left Star Trek and District 9 out in the cold, not to mention the genre-friendly films Up and Inglourious Basterds. (It also would have left out their combined $1.5 billion box office figure, which admittedly is still only barely comparable to what Avatar will end up making, but still. Point is, that's a lot of moviegoers who might be a little more interested in the PGA Awards than they otherwise might be.)

So what, if anything, does all this mean? Although producers are a part of the Oscar voting bloc, this by no means guarantees Star Trek or District 9 will be similarly honored by the Academy. (Indeed, the correlation between PGA and Oscar nominations in recent years has been shaky at best.) And no, this doesn't get Sam Rockwell any closer to a Best Actor nod for Moon, and this awards prestige doesn't necessarily mean studios will be incentivized to make higher quality science fiction films in the future.

Even so, for a genre that has spent so much time in the critical wilderness, it probably is an honor just to be nominated, particularly when it happens three times over. And anyway, anything that raises the critical profile of science fiction, however slightly, can't be an entirely bad thing.

http://io9.com/5443388/science-fiction-is-about-to-take-the-giant-leap-to-oscar-recognitionThe Producer's Guild of America, a key predictor of Oscar nominees, has released its Best Picture selections for 2009. Three... more

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1 month ago

Thor Steps in for Spidey

Tuesday came bearing news that because of apparent script issues, Sony would likely be ditching their proposed May 6, 2011 release... more

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4 comments

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1 month ago

Cartoon Midget TITS? Wizard of Oz?

Funky fish, midget cartoon boobs, crack heads and death!

ElderGrogh
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1 month ago

The Hobbit - Official Casting Call and Initial Plot Details

http://www.movies.spoilertv.com/2010/01/hobbit-casting-call.html

Here are just a few of the key roles being cast!

[BILBO] A well-to-do, respectable Hobbit.... Although he doesn’t realize it himself, BILBO has a good deal of courage; he can be practical and resilient. He has a good sense of humour, and is able to appreciate the ridiculous. He is very quick on the uptake and is well read having been encouraged to read widely by his mother. The most distinguishing characteristic about BILBO is his humanity; he is empathetic with a big heart and generous spirit. LEAD. AGE: 25-35. ACCENT – STANDARD R.P.

[THORIN OAKENSHEILD] Heir to the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, Thorin Oakensheild was forced to lead his people far away from their homelands into exile in the Blue Mountains. Powerfully built and a legendary fighter, Thorin has led a tough and dangerous life and it shows on his face. He is sharp eyed and sharp tongued, proud in his bearing and un-trusting of those he does not know. But Thorin is also capable of intense loyalty, immense courage and surprising gentleness and humour. Thorin will be required to wear a wig and beard and some minor prosthetics make-up, like a nose or forehead, is possible. LEAD. AGE: EARLY 40’S to MID 50’S. ACCENT – STANDARD R.P. OR SLIGHTLY ACCENTED REGIONAL ENGLISH ACCENT.

[SMAUG] VOICEOVER ONLY. Two hundred years earlier, the Dragon SMAUG came down from the barren northern reaches and laid waste to the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. Sitting upon his pile of gold, he has grown to a truly immense size. Old and yet not old, his voice still carries the sense of a sharp and lethal mind. He is the most deadly creature in all Middle-earth - and he knows it. Sly, quick and ferociously intelligent SMAUG is a dangerous opponent and not one to under-estimate. If he has weakness it is his unbridled greed and his arrogance. His voice is part of what gives him is power - his ability to seduce, persuade and flatter, even to display a degree of charm. But any sense of civility or consideration for others is utterly false. He is merciless and without empathy for any other living creature. He is a killer sptv050769. AGE: 40-70. ACCENT – STANDARD R.P ACCENThttp://www.movies.spoilertv.com/2010/01/hobbit-casting-call.html Here are just a few of the key roles being cast! [BILBO] A... more

HGreenwood
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1 month ago

100 Quotes Every Geek Should Know

One thing that every geek can do is quote their favorite geek-culture media, whether it’s movies, books, television, theater... more

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All Rights Reserved