It looks like Christian Bale is not headed to THE DARK TOWER after all. Deadline reports that Javier Bardem has been offered the lead role of Deschain in Ron Howard's adaptation of Stephen King's seven-novel series. [image via bleedingcool.com]
Film news site Shockya found this neat footage from the set of the SPIDER-MAN reboot. It features the web-slinger swinging through traffic on New York City streets. Say what you will about the suit, but it's nice to see a non-CGI Spider-Man doing high-flying stunts for the camera.
Zack Snyder's SUPERMAN reboot has found its Man of Steel in Henry Cavill, according to Deadline. The website reports that THE TUDORS actor has long been the front-runner for the role, but the decision was only made in recent days. Cavill reportedly beat out Matthew Goode, Matthew Bomer, Armie Hammer,...
HUSTLE POINTS (1/30) Leave a comment » So Eric Gordon is on your fantasy team? He has been a nice source of stats for you, drafted from a position before the season that probably makes him a pretty big bargain for you. It was just announced that Gordon will miss...
Late Thursday afternoon I recieved an invitation to catch the blogger screening of Kevin Smith's RED STATE-- alas, the screening was scheduled for last night, and I had a previous engagement that I couldn't get out of. After Nerd Alex's coverage of the Smodcastle Starf*cking event, it was a no...
With Chris and Marisa indisposed by a certain disease, we welcome special guest host Angela Paman from the Invisible Jetcast.
Hosts: Bryan J Daggett, Angela Paman
*WARNING! THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
SIMON SAYS (1/28) (click here to go to thefantasygeek.com) Leave a comment » First of all, I want to welcome our new writer Keith Roberts, who will be joining us the rest of the way for fantasy basketball. His knowledge should be a plus for readers… OJ Mayo has been...
In the summer of 2009, screenwriter George Richards was approached by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon (Friday the 13th, Freddy vs. Jason) with a one-word premise for a horror movie: twins. “They told me to take it in whatever direction I wanted – just make it smart and make it...
_ Today, Sony revealed the (codenamed) NGP, its next portable gaming device. Among its features are built-in wi-fi capability, 3G capability available on certain models, the Playstation Network, a multitouch screen, cameras on the front and back, dual analog sticks, a quad-core processor and more. Several games for the NGP...
Back before the world got even more complicated, when it looked like we'd reached a rut in the Cold War, back around 1978, when we had a handful of reliable heroes, Walter Cronkite, Johnny Carson, the Fonz, we still had Muhammad Ali in the boxing ring. By some curious stroke of fate, DC Comics decided back then to put together a giant-sized comic, 10.25"x13.5", that had Ali and Superman in the ultimate duke out. It came in a hard stock cover and, of course, was prominent wherever it was shelved. For any kid back in the day, it was a colossal match up. Now, over thirty years later, that book is back in a shiny hardcover.
It's a goofy premise to be sure. Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, as out of touch as they could possibly be, are exploring the inner city of Metropolis when they just happen to run into Muhammad Ali! So, before they can decide if Clark should shoot hoops with Ali, they all run into this ghastly killer alien dude. He may not look formidable but he's plenty angry. Finally, to get everyone's attention, he blows up a small island. That could have been Toledo or Seattle! Okay, now he's taken seriously. The only solution is to have Ali and Superman fight each other in a match back on the angry alien's planet. The winner will then take on the pride of all the Scrubb aliens, none other than Hun'ya!
Not to take anything away from this book, it is pure hokum but beautifully executed hokum. "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali" is co-written by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams and the art is by Neal Adams. It is, without a doubt, industrial strength superhero comics, given all the contributions this creative team has made to comics, particularly with Batman and with injecting social issues into comics. Of course, their strong point is not subtlety. Obviously, the social message of this comic is to promote positive race relations: Muhammad Ali and Superman, ebony and ivory, can somehow work it out. Adams is not shy to think this book made a positive contribution, as he states in the Introduction. And maybe he did. The book was significant enough to need the approval of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
If you want a taste of what comics were like in the '70s, this is your ticket. Basically, your typical comic book featured no-nonsense square-jawed superheroics. You had your earnest good guy and he whomped on that month's bad guy. End of story, which was perfectly fine with your typical kid. Comics were far more kid-friendly back then. I have to hand it to O'Neil and Adams for ripping off "Star Wars" as much as they could in this book. It was what you did back then. And it was done with love, all for the sake of putting a smile on the face of a little chap. And as much as you may groan over the "Star Wars" goofiness, how the champ is treated with kid gloves sometimes comes across as condescending. I suppose that is what kids wanted to see. They wanted to see Ali ham it up big time and come out smelling like a rose.
What is great about this book is that it provides in one neat package, a little glimpse at where we were some thirty years ago. Back then, we thought comics could change the world. In some ways, we have more reason to be optimistic. For the purpose of this review, we can just say the world has changed quite a lot in thirty years. We can't turn the clock back, although we do love to look back. It makes me think of the on-going trend to buy vintage and all the items for sale that are given a retro look at places like Pottery Barn and Urban Outfitters. In fact, I think a great place for this book would be at Urban Outfitters! It has that special shock value of vintage pop culture you just can't fake.
"Superman vs. Muhammad Ali," published by DC Comics, is currently available at your local comics shop. The deluxe oversized edition is $39.99. The big deal here with the deluxe edition is that, in the past, the oversized format was difficult to reprint and so was simply unavailable. You can also get a regular hardcover version but, in this case, you gotta supersize it.
According to Variety, Viggo Mortensen is in talks to join Universal's retelling of the Grimm fairy tale, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN. Mortensen is set to star as the huntsman who, in this version of the story, acts as Snow White's protector against the evil queen (whom Charlize Theron is...
Entertainment Weekly reports that SyFy has found its young William Adama for BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: BLOOD & CHROME. SKINS (U.K.) actor Luke Pasqualino has taken on the role of Adama as a rookie Viper pilot during the first Cylon War. HELLCATS actor Ben Cotton has been cast as Adama's commanding officer....
With David E. Kelley's WONDER WOMAN reboot back from the dead, the next bit of news we're waiting for is who will help bring the pilot episode to life. According to TVLine, CHARLIE'S ANGELS helmer McG is the front-runner to direct the pilot for NBC. In addition to directing the...