March 2010 Archives

Writer Gail Simone reunited with Ed Benes on "Birds of Prey?" Man, that's all you had to say!

The DC Comics Source blog has some new artwork from Benes, who is not only known for his detailed renderings but also for his ability to illustrate beautiful women.  Check the shot of Huntress kicking the crap out of some sword-wielding assailant while she's on her cell phone.

That scene is classic Simone interpreted by Benes.

The first issue is expected to hit stores in May. See the pages from Benes here.

A friend of mine told me recently there was nothing to look forward to at the movies.

He's got a point.  In my, uh, undesirable age demographic, the flicks I'm supposed to look forward to are released from September to December -- the time of the year entertainment scribes dub "awards season."

If last year was any indication, consider me a kid at heart because Summer movies have been a lot more interesting.  However, there's one flick set for December I want to check out: "Tron Legacy."  

Be honest, weren't you a little bit hyped to see Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn in a TRON update that can take advantage of our current mastery of CGI?

Here's the latest trailer if you haven't caught it already. I've run an early version before but this one introduces a new character, Sam (Garrett Hedlund), the son of Kevin Flynn. 

That's all I'll say for now, but isn't this something to look forward to at the movies?

"Tron Legacy" stars Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde and opens Dec. 17, 2010.   

Image from the motion comics trailer for 'Iron Man: Extremis" By Warren Ellis and Adi Granov from Marvel Comics.

I can't help myself, I actually like motion comics.

So when Marvel officially announced that there would be another motion series based on writer Warren Ellis and artist Adi Granov's "Iron Man: Extremis" comics run, as an Iron Man nut I was pleased to hear it.

The "Extremis" mini series was the apparent basis for a lot of the Iron Man mythology used in the first film.  The detailed artwork and design by Granov inspired the ultimate look of the movie armor as well. Granov also served as a conceptual artist on the "Iron Man" movie.

The exclusive "Iron Man: Extremis" trailer over at Entertainment Weekly looks to be well suited to the work of Ellis and Granov.

So what do you think?  

It doesn't fail, whenever I mention motion comics -- animated versions of the actual comics art --  I get the usual reply: "Why not just call it animation?"

OK, it's animation -- feel better?  Probably not.

Whatever it's called, I suspect the real issue traditional comic/cartoon fans have is with the level of animation skill applied to the artwork.  I'm aware there's a big difference between what you get when you look at the work used on some earlier motion efforts and the stuff that's more prevalent now like "Astonishing X-Men," featuring characters with moving mouths and limbs. 

It's not an all bad reaction from comic folks. Despite the disappointment in there being only one voice actor, I've seen more positive reviews for the "Watchmen" motion comic DVD than the live-action movie.

I have seen recent "motion" efforts evolve beyond simple zoom effects and the sound design become more sophisticated.  Of course, there are also more voice actors and they have to be properly cast, recorded and directed. 

I guess it's the filmmaker side of me that appreciates the work for those reasons. 

There's always going to be some resistance from us comic fans to anything that deviates from what we're used to -- the funny book.  But I'm trying to be sensible about it.  I have said before that these motion comics aren't for me so much as for the considerable audiences who watch short animated shows. The ones who aren't opposed to downloading it on their iPhones or XBox. 

And yeah, these cats usually don't go to comic book stores.

I find it difficult to be opposed to anything that may draw a bigger audience to comic-based material, especially if it's successful enough to help the creators continue to make comic books.



 

BOB THOMAS
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Robert Culp, the actor who teamed with Bill Cosby in the racially groundbreaking TV series "I Spy" and was Bob in the critically acclaimed sex comedy "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," died Wednesday after collapsing outside his Hollywood home, his manager said. Culp was 79.

Manager Hillard Elkins said the actor was on a walk when he fell. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead just before noon. The actor's son was told he died of a heart attack, Elkins said, though police were unsure if the fall was medically related.

Los Angeles police Lt. Robert Binder said no foul play was suspected. Binder said a jogger found Culp, who apparently fell and struck his head.

"I Spy" greatly advanced the careers of Culp and Cosby and forged a lifelong friendship. Cosby said Wednesday Culp was like an older brother to him.

"The first born in every family is always dreaming of the older brother or sister he or she doesn't have, to protect, to be the buffer, provide the wisdom, shoulder the blows and make things right," he said. "Bob was the answer to my dreams.

"No matter how many mistakes I made on 'I Spy,' he was always there to teach and protect me," Cosby said.

Candace Culp, the actor's ex-wife, said she was devastated.

"He was a wonderful, creative man who contributed so much to his business, as an actor, as a writer, as a director," she said.

Robert Culp lately had been working on writing screenplays, Elkins said.

"I Spy," which aired from 1965 to 1968, was a television milestone in more ways than one. Its combination of humor and adventure broke new ground, and it was the first integrated television show to feature a black actor in a starring role.

Culp played Kelly Robinson, a spy whose cover was that of an ace tennis player. (In real life, Culp actually was a top-notch tennis player who showed his skills in numerous celebrity tournaments.). Cosby was fellow spy Alexander Scott, whose cover was that of Culp's trainer. The pair traveled the world in the service of the U.S. government.

Culp followed "I Spy" with his most prestigious film role, in "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice." The work of first-time director Paul Mazursky, who also co-wrote the screenplay, lampooned the lifestyles of the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Bob and Carol (Culp and Natalie Wood) introduced wife-swapping to their best friends, Ted and Alice (Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon).

Culp also had starring roles in such films as "The Castaway Cowboy," ''Golden Girl," ''Turk 182!" and "Big Bad Mama II."

His teaming with Cosby, however, was likely his best remembered role.

Cosby won Emmys for actor in a leading role all three years that "I Spy" aired, and Culp, who was nominated for the same award each year, said he was never jealous.

"I was the proudest man around," he said in a 1977 interview.

Both he and Cosby were involved in civil rights causes, and when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 the pair traveled to Memphis, Tenn., to join the striking garbage workers King had been organizing.

Culp and Cosby also costarred in the 1972 movie "Hickey and Boggs," which Culp also directed. This time they were hard-luck private detectives who encountered multiple deaths. Audiences who had enjoyed the lightheartedness of "I Spy" were disappointed, and the movie flopped at the box office.

"His proudest moments were when he was writing and directing 'I Spy' and 'Hickey and Boggs,'" Cosby said. "Bob was meticulous and committed."

After years of talking up the idea, they finally re-teamed in 1994 for a two-hour CBS movie, "I Spy Returns."

In his first movie role Culp played one of John Kennedy's crew in "PT 109."

His first starring TV series, "Trackdown" (1957-1959) was a Western based partly on files of the Texas Rangers. In the 1980s, he starred as an FBI agent in the fantasy "The Greatest American Hero."

He remained active in movies and TV. Among his notable later performances was as a U.S. president in 1993's "The Pelican Brief." More recently, he had a recurring role as Patricia Heaton's father in the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" and appeared in such shows as "Robot Chicken," ''Chicago Hope" and an episode of "Cosby."

Robert Martin Culp, born in 1930 in Oakland, led a peripatetic existence as a college student, attending College of the Pacific in Stockton, California, Washington University in St. Louis and San Francisco State College before landing at the University of Washington drama school.

Then at age 21, a semester removed from his degree, he moved to New York, where he began landing roles in off-Broadway plays. One of them was in "He Who Gets Slapped."

"I saw it in college in Seattle, and I said, 'My God, that's my part, that's my part,'" he once told an interviewer. After he won the role in a Greenwich Village production "the floodgates opened," he said.

Good reviews and an Obie award led to offers from Hollywood.

Culp was married five times, to Nancy Ashe, Elayne Wilner, France Nuyen, Sheila Sullivan and Candace Culp. He had four children with Ashe and one with Candace Culp.


-- Associated Press writers John Antczak, Robert Jablon and John Rogers contributed to this report.

AP Photo/Ron Frehm, file

After a flood of so-so casting rumors and suggestions for Captain America, it appears that Marvel Studios got it right again.  

The Hollywood Reporter reported last Friday that actor Chris Evans ("Fantastic Four," "The Losers") had been offered the lead role in "The First Avenger: Captain America." As of Monday, reports were that Evans had accepted the part cementing his place as the go-to actor for comic book-adapted movies.

There's a reason Evans got this role and it's not just because he looks the part.

The young actor has appeared in the "Fantastic Four" movies -- and was the best thing about both of them as The Human Torch. He voiced Casey Jones in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated film and he will also appear in "The Losers" and "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" set to be released later this year. Evans was also a key part of some other genre projects that could have easily been comic book concepts: "Push" and Danny Boyle's "Sunshine."

Evans has the ability to portray characters in a "superhero" universe without the usual Hollywood move of resorting to comic relief. 

Not to say that he can't be funny; see "The Losers" trailer, it's a riot.

I'm sure the Marvel producers know that the bar has been set pretty high by the work of Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man," and though it's not mentioned as much, the very Bruce Banner-like performance of Edward Norton in "The Incredible Hulk."     

If "The First Avenger" film is a winner at the box-office it's safe to assume that the core cast of Marvel Studios' "Avengers" movie would be complete. 

Supposedly, the Captain America film is a lead-in for an "Avengers" project and is expected to start in the 1940s and focus on Cap's origin.  I will say one more thing about this and I'm gone:

I don't expect the Pollyanna version of Captain America's alter ego Steve Rogers in this film directed by Joe Johnston.  And at the very least, If the character starts that way I don't see him finishing the film that way.

We can argue all day about whether movie Cap should be the holier-than-thou shield-slinging hero from comics thirty years ago or a more even-handed Cap.  Modern depictions of Steve Rogers in Ed Brubaker's Captain America don't even adhere to the old school and the book is as popular as it's ever been.

Making Evans play it too "Father Knows Best" could turn off audiences and I don't see the producers going that way.  Maybe this is much ado about nothing because Marvel Studios has done a good job so far. And while they are taking a risk by releasing a bevy of expensive interrelated films ("Iron Man 2." "Thor,")  I'd rather have the comic book company in the driver's seat.


"The First Avenger: Captain America" is scheduled for release July 22, 2011.   

I can't remember the last time I left a theater after a film feeling like everything was right but thinking something was really wrong. 

I watched Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" last weekend and I liked the whimsical special effects and dialogue and all that great stuff. 

The acting was fine, the effects were fine and Johnny Depp was an awesome Mad Hatter.

But everything seemed so... not a surprise.  Maybe someone can help me figure that out.  Perhaps it was the remnants of my severe head cold keeping me from fully embracing the No. 1 "Alice," who took the top spot at the box-office for the third consecutive week with an estimated $34.2 million.

Of course, the sniffles didn't keep me from digging "Brooklyn's Finest" by director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day").  I braved all two hours of the dark cop thriller on a full dose of DayQuil and when the credits rolled I wanted more.

...More "Brooklyn's Finest," not DayQuil.


Perhaps I'm lamenting the fact that we're going to get a lot more Wonderland-type films before we see more like Finest.

Moviegoers like me can sense when they are getting dealt another one of those flicks that are spoon-fed to you from a bowl of re-imagined ideas. Before "Brooklyn's Finest" the trailer for "Repo Men" played and when it was over I didn't quite know what to think. 

A few seconds later, a guy in the back of the sparsely-filled theater shouted, "That's just terrible!"

I didn't say it, but I know how he felt.


ABOVE: L-R Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska and Anne Hathaway from "Alice in Wonderland." MIDDLE: Wesley Snipes and Don Cheadle in "Brooklyn's Finest."

 

     

By Bob Thomas
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Peter Graves, the tall, stalwart actor likely best known for his portrayal of Jim Phelps, leader of a gang of special agents who battled evil conspirators in the long-running television series "Mission: Impossible," died Sunday.

Graves died of an apparent heart attack outside his Los Angeles home, publicist Sandy Brokaw said. He would have been 84 this week.

Graves had just returned from brunch with his wife and children and collapsed before he made it into the house, Brokaw said. One of his daughters administered CPR but was unable to revive him. Graves' family doctor visited the house and believed he had a heart attack, Brokaw said.

Although Graves never achieved the stardom his older brother, James Arness, enjoyed as Marshal Matt Dillon on TV's "Gunsmoke," he had a number of memorable roles in both films and television. Normally cast as a hero, he turned in an unforgettable performance early in his career as the treacherous Nazi spy in Billy Wilder's 1953 prisoner-of-war drama "Stalag 17."

He also masterfully lampooned his straight-arrow image when he portrayed bumbling airline pilot Clarence Oveur in the 1980 disaster movie spoof "Airplane!"

Graves appeared in dozens of films and a handful of television shows in a career of nearly 60 years. The authority and trust he projected made him a favorite for commercials late in his life, and he was often encouraged to go into politics.

"He had this statesmanlike quality," Brokaw said. "People were always encouraging him to run for office. But he said, `I like acting. I like being around actors."'

Graves' career began with cheaply made exploitation films like "It Conquered the World," in which he battled a carrot-shaped monster from Venus.

He later took on equally formidable human villains each week on "Mission: Impossible."

The show ran on CBS from 1967 to 1973 and was revived on ABC from 1988 to 1990 with Graves back as the only original cast member.

Born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Graves adopted his grandfather's last name to avoid confusion with his older brother, James, who had dropped the "U" from the family name.

He married his his college sweetheart, Joan Endress, in 1950 and had three daughters and six grandchildren.


This 1969 file photo shows actor Peter Graves close up during shooting of the popular television show "Mission: Impossible." (AP Photo, File)

Ah, there was a time long ago when the major talents were not so exclusive to one of the big two comics companies.

Of course, then came the contracts and we would be left to our imaginations when it came to seeing something like Batman illustrated by former Marvel-exclusive artist David Finch.

Imagine no more.

The DC Comics Source blog posted this cover by Finch and what appears to be inks by Scott Williams.  If you go here you can see the pencils.

If you haven't been reading Batman then you may or may not know that Dick Grayson has been wearing the cowl.  My question is whether this is an image of Bruce Wayne or Grayson?

ROBERT JABLON
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Corey Haim, a 1980s teen heartthrob whose career was blighted by drug abuse, has died. He was 38.

Haim died early Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Los Angeles County coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said.

"As he got out of bed, he felt a little weak and went down to the floor on his knees," Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said. His mother called paramedics.

An autopsy will determine Haim's cause of death. There was no evidence of foul play, police Sgt. Michael Kammert said.

Haim, who gained attention for his roles in "Lucas" and "The Lost Boys," had flulike symptoms before he died and was getting over-the-counter and prescription medications, police Sgt. William Mann said.

"He could have succumbed to whatever (illness) he had or it could have been drugs," Mann said. "He has had a drug problem in the past."

Haim was taken by ambulance to the hospital from an apartment in Los Angeles near Burbank.

Haim acknowledged his struggle with drug abuse to a British tabloid in 2004.

"I was working on 'Lost Boys' when I smoked my first joint," he told The Sun. "I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack."

Haim said he went into rehabilitation and was put on prescription drugs. He took stimulants and sedatives.

"I started on the downers, which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers because I was a nervous wreck," he said.

In 2007, he told ABC's "Nightline" that drugs hurt his career.

"I wasn't functional enough to work for anybody, even myself. I wasn't working," he said.

The Toronto-born actor got his start in television commercials at 10 and developed a good reputation for his work in such films as 1985's "Murphy's Romance" and his portrayal of Liza Minelli's dying son in the 1985 television film "A Time to Live."

His career peaked when he became a heartthrob with his roles in the 1986 movie "Lucas" and "The Lost Boys" in 1987 in which he battled vampires.

In later years, he made a few TV appearances and had several direct-to-video movies. He also had a handful of recent movies that have not yet been released.

In 1997, Haim filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing debts for medical expenses and more than $200,000 in state and federal taxes.

His assets included a few thousand dollars in cash, clothing and royalty rights.

In recent years, he appeared in the A&E reality TV show "The Two Coreys" with his friend Corey Feldman. It was canceled in 2008 after two seasons. Feldman later said Haim's drug abuse strained their working and personal relationships.

In a 2007 interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Haim called himself "a chronic relapser for the rest of my life."


FILE - In this 1987 file publicity image provided by Warner Bros., actor Corey Haim is shown. Haim, a 1980s teen heartthrob for his roles in "Lucas" and "The Lost Boys" whose career was blighted by drug abuse, died Wednesday, March 10, 2010. He was 38. (AP Photo/Warner Bros., File)

This is the new trailer that aired the night of the Academy Awards.  We get an extended look at Justin Hammer, Whiplash, Black Widow and War Machine.  Also... the new Iron Man armor... nice!

In this film publicity image released by Disney, Johnny Depp, left, Mia Wasikowska, center, and Anne Hathaway are shown in a scene from the film "Alice in Wonderland." (AP Photo/Disney)

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Johnny Depp and Tim Burton found a pile of money on the other side of the looking glass.

"Alice in Wonderland," their update on Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," had a mammoth opening weekend of $116.1 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Alice in Wonderland," Disney, $116,101,023, 3,728 locations, $31,143 average, $116,101,023, one week.

2. "Brooklyn's Finest," Overture, $13,350,299, 1,936 locations, $6,896 average, $13,350,299, one week.

3. "Shutter Island," Paramount, $13,225,411, 3,178 locations, $4,162 average, $95,750,005, three weeks.

4. "Cop Out," Warner Bros., $9,289,311, 3,150 locations, $2,949 average, $32,504,610, two weeks.

5. "Avatar," Fox, $8,118,102, 2,163 locations, $3,753 average, $720,607,444, 12 weeks.

6. "The Crazies," Overture, $7,078,851, 2,479 locations, $2,856 average, $27,472,164, two weeks.

7. "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," Fox, $5,124,623, 2,994 locations, $1,712 average, $78,057,749, four weeks.

8. "Valentine's Day," Warner Bros., $4,154,110, 3,040 locations, $1,366 average, $106,303,870, four weeks.

9. "Crazy Heart," Fox Searchlight, $3,312,591, 1,274 locations, $2,600 average, $29,532,002, 12 weeks.

10. "Dear John," Sony Screen Gems, $2,782,079, 2,496 locations, $1,115 average, $76,626,086, five weeks.

11. "The Tooth Fairy," Fox, $1,684,408, 1,734 locations, $971 average, $56,240,052, seven weeks.

12. "The Wolfman," Universal, $1,636,835, 1,829 locations, $895 average, $60,446,320, four weeks.

13. "The Ghost Writer," Summit, $1,287,646, 147 locations, $8,759 average, $2,600,505, three weeks.

14. "The Blind Side," Warner Bros., $1,257,186, 822 locations, $1,529 average, $250,467,047, 16 weeks.

15. "The Last Station," Sony Pictures Classics, $717,675, 354 locations, $2,027 average, $4,527,796, eight weeks.

16. "Up in the Air," Paramount, $607,465, 403 locations, $1,507 average, $83,011,223, 14 weeks.

17. "When in Rome," Disney, $575,254, 504 locations, $1,141 average, $31,720,305, six weeks.

18. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," Fox, $544,451, 562 locations, $969 average, $217,367,092, 11 weeks.

19. "The Book of Eli," Warner Bros., $533,156, 555 locations, $961 average, $93,412,890, eight weeks.

20. "The Hurt Locker," Summit, $439,000, 274 locations, $1,602 average, $14,700,000, one week.

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

Somebody save me.

I've been watching "Smallville" since it launched many moons ago and I feel like I'm trapped on one of those flat conveyors you ride at the airports that are obviously taking you somewhere but don't go fast enough.

Try as I might to ditch this coming-of-age show about Clark Kent's transition to Superman, I just can't bring myself to banish it from the TIVO listings. And credit to the producers, there is obviously an audience out there like me who are hooked. 

Comic Book Resources reports that the CW Network has confirmed a 10th season for "Smallville" and that it has enjoyed some success in its shift to the Friday night slot.  Something "Dollhouse" or even my beloved "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" couldn't do.

Respect.

The long-term viewer should be aware of the format change to the show.  Friday nights meant easing back, but not eliminating the relationship drama.  Also, the writers shamelessly increased the super hero story lines much to the delight of some comic book fans (appearances by The Justice Society, Zatanna, Zod). 

This TV series is tough to shake but don't get it twisted, please let the 10th season of "Smallville" be the last.


Above: Tom Welling as Super-Clark Kent rescues Vala, played by Crystal Lowe.  Photo by Jack Rowand/The CW



 

Blair Butler from G4's Attack of the Show segment "Fresh Ink" reveals an upcoming Marvel Comics series starring a bevy of under utilized super heroines called "Heralds."

Butler also talks the "Kick-Ass," "Human Target" and Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E." trade editions.

Aren't these trailers for books becoming really elaborate?

Take a look at the trailer above for the latest book from Seth Grahame-Smith, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."

Grahame-Smith, the mashup mastermind behind "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" writes this account of the "TRUE HISTORY" of the 16th president of the United States.

You have at least two questions on your mind, I will attempt to answer them both:

Yep, Grahame-Smith has found a way to follow-up that zombie book and ...

No, nothing is sacred anymore.

Anyway, I couldn't help but laugh when I watched the trailer. And here I am sharing the video with you, so I guess I'm one of the 50,000 or so folks this YouTube ad has successfully snagged.

But will it translate to book sales to match "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?"

What do you mean you haven't heard the reports about writer David Goyer ("The Dark Knight," "FlashForward") scripting the next Superman film to be titled "The Man of Steel?"

Oh, you have?  Well, the cats at IESB.net are not only sticking their collective necks out to say that's fully confirmed (I don't know if it is or not yet), they are offering a bunch of other rumored goodies like a future Justice League film to be helmed by Christopher Nolan? 

Don't let me spoil all the fun, check out the post at IESB.