Modern Mythology

Review: 'A Christmas Carol' suffocates in glitz

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:20:31 -0800

In this film publicity image released by Disney, Ebenezer Scrooge, voiced by Jim Carrey, is shown in a scene from "A Christmas Carol." (AP Photo/Disney, ImageMovers Digital LLC)

JAKE COYLE
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lionel Barrymore. Alastair Sim. Laurence Olivier. Albert Finney. George C. Scott. Bill Murray. Michael Caine. Mr. Magoo. Scrooge McDuck.

Of the many to play Ebenezer Scrooge, Jim Carrey now adds his name, starring in Disney's new 3-D animation version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." The appeal of the part is clear: You get villain and redemptive hero rolled into one, plus you spend most of the movie in your pajamas.

But the allure of Scrooge alone wasn't enough for Carrey. In this latest incarnation of Dickens' Christmas fable, Carrey plays not only the penny-pinching miser, young and old, but also the three ghosts that visit him: the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.

Carrey's zest for the undertaking comes through clearly enough -- after all, the rubber-faced "Ace Ventura" and "Man on the Moon" actor has always been a contortionist. His Scrooge is exceptionally gaunt, topped by limp white hair, and features a downturned mouth below an Ichabod Crane nose.

When Scrooge breaks into a sudden jig or the Ghost of Christmas Past -- rendered here (faithfully to the book) as a kind of flickering candle -- gives a comic twitch, it's easy to recognize the actor behind the animation.

But on the whole, the film feels suffocated by its design, and the liveliness of Carrey and the rest of the cast (including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Cary Elwes) struggles to shine through.

For a distinctly modern approach, director Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump," ''Cast Away") opted to use performance-capture animation, having the actors movements and expressions transferred from live-action to animation. Zemeckis has previously employed the technique in "The Polar Express" and "Beowulf."

Unfortunately, the characters come across oddly inanimate. Many have vacant, almost ghostly eyes and closer resemble the figures that might be used in an architect's model. It seems a curious decision to go to such lengths to make a thoroughly human story so inhuman.

It's a shame, too, because the architecture of this "Christmas Carol" is at times striking. The mid-19th century London of Dickens' novella is painted with care, animated to be dramatically lit by candlelight. Alan Silvestri's bombastic score is also stirring.

Zemeckis largely hues closely to the text, allowing the audience to soak up Dickens' language, still fresh and familiar and musical.

But too much of the film is geared around 3-D wizardry. Unneeded sequences pop up for purely "wow" baiting, such as an airborne Scrooge shot skyward to the moon, and a gratuitous chase sequence as he runs from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (who has now wrestled up a chariot of black stallions).

Film adaptations of "A Christmas Carol" are nearly annual events. That's not a bad thing, necessarily. Dickens' story is about as sturdy a one as we've got -- it would be nearly impossible to mar what might be the finest ghost story this side of "Hamlet."

But it's unfortunate that this should be the 2009 edition. The time, not just the season, is ripe for "A Christmas Carol." It is, of course, about a greedy industrial capitalist of the 1800s (Scrooge recalls his deceased partner, Jacob Marley, as "a good man of business") who learns to see the value of family and charity.

How ever could such a story be relevant today?

"A Christmas Carol," a Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release, runs 95 minutes. Two humbugs out of four.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

Founder of San Diego Comic-Con dies at 76

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:45:44 -0800

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Sheldon Dorf, who founded the world famous Comic-Con International comic book convention, has died. He was 76.

A longtime friend, Greg Koudoulian, says the Ocean Beach resident died at a San Diego hospital on Tuesday from kidney failure. He had diabetes and had been hospitalized for about a year.

Dorf, a freelance artist and comic strip letterer, founded Comic-Con in San Diego in 1970 after moving from Detroit.

Today, the convention draws 125,000 fans a year and is a major gathering for comic book fans, artists, writers and movie stars.

Koudoulian says Dorf was friends with comic greats such as Marvel artist Jack Kirby and "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz. He says Dorf was also instrumental in helping budding artists find audiences.

The Geoffrey's Comics crew enters the 'Twilight Zone'

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:25:18 -0800

Ivan Dixon, left, and Steven Perry star in the 1960 Twilight Zone episode "The Big Tall Wish."

On what is usually considered a movie night at Geoffrey's Comics in Gardena the regular comics club crew gathered Tuesday to watch a handful of "Twilight Zone" episodes.

Before I made the journey from Long Beach I was asked by a friend which episodes we would watch this evening. I said I didn't know, but any of the older Zone episodes were a can't-miss when it comes to quality, theme and sheer entertainment value.

We watched the episodes "The Big Tall Wish," "Nick of Time" and "Living Doll."

There were some fine moments in "Nick of Time" starring William Shatner, who plays a seemingly well-adjusted man who becomes obsessed with the future. And who could ever forget the creepy, classic "Living Doll" starring Telly Savalas?

There's man vs. man, man vs. nature and in "Living Doll" writer Charles Beaumont introduces us to man vs. doll.

"Hi, I'm Talking Tina and you're gonna be sorry," the doll says to Savalas.

Who loves ya, baby? Apparently not Talking Tina... baby.

My favorite episode was "The Big Tall Wish," which was the first one we watched last night. Yes, there was some heavy-handed acting and the story is pretty straightforward, but that's just me being silly because Wish is a fine example of what a good episode of "Twilight Zone" can do. A hard-luck boxer named Bolie Jackson -- played by Ivan Dixon -- gets a little magic through the wishes of a kid named Henry.

What interested me as a filmmaker is how this episode was composed with such a creative economy of shots (due to budget limitations). What impressed me as a fan of the "Twilight Zone" is how Rod Serling's science/fantasy/fiction shows never lose sight of the fact that they are about more than the plot. "The Big Tall Wish" would serve as a fine example to some of the current science fiction television creators who need a reminder of how effective sci fi can be for social commentary.

Watch "The Big Tall Wish" yourself at Veoh.

Rare comics auction brings in $490,000

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:39:02 -0800

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) -- An auction of rare comics found in the basement of a suburban St. Louis home has brought in nearly $500,000 so far.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the first day of the auction on Sunday in St. Charles included $101,000 for the comic X-Men No. 1. All told, the auction has generated $490,000. It continued on Monday at Ameristar Casino.

About 3,000 comic books were found in the basement of a home in Arnold. The owner collected them as a boy. He died several years ago, and his mother died earlier this year. A cousin who became heir to the estate found the comic books. The heir has remained anonymous.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com

Required Reading: Jonathan Hickman

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:59:31 -0800

By Ryan Riley, Contributor

Newcomer Jonathan Hickman has been making quite the splash over at Marvel Comics. He is scripting Secret Warriors, which follows the adventures of Nick Fury and his new group of soldiers following Secret Invasion, and took over the reins of the Fantastic Four comic from Mark Millar based on the strength of his run on the Dark Reign: Fantastic Four mini-series. The new FF arc features Reed Richards being recruited into a multi-dimensional think-tank/support group/task force comprised of alternate versions of himself from every conceivable reality, including a couple where he ended up in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet. The story arc takes the concept of Grant Morrison's Superman Squad (featured in JLA 1,000,000 & All-Star Superman) to the next level, and is turning out to be a fascinating read thus far. But in my opinion, it is the work he did before he got snatched up by Marvel that is truly innovative and brilliant.

Hickman has written four separate mini-series under the Image imprint, three of which have been collected in graphic-novel form. It is those three books that I want to call attention to, as they push the boundaries of how a comic book story can be told and are among the finest books I've had the pleasure to read in quite some time. They are all incisive looks at human society both ancient and modern. More to the point, they point out some major problems with human society from many different angles.

The Nightly News

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Jonathan Hickman

This story was Hickman's breakout hit over at Image. The main character, John Guyton, is a recruiter for a cult whose members have had their lives wrecked by irresponsible and inaccurate journalism. Their main goal? Kill as many journalists as possible. The cult receives its marching orders from a person they know only as "The Voice", who sends them their directives through an audio tape sent via Fed-Ex. The cult's war against journalistic excess takes place on many fronts, both overt (sniper attacks & suicide bombings) and subtle (taking faces of female news reporters, splicing them onto the bodies of porn stars and placing them on the internet). The story takes quite a few twists & turns, but the revelation of the person behind "The Voice" at the end of it all is the real jaw-dropper. Let's just say that bedfellows make for strange politics.

Visually, this book is less of a pure comic book and more of a hybrid of a comic and an art magazine. The artwork is primarily sepia-tone, which is almost ironic since the story deals with many shades of grey. All of the little factoids and statistic graphs that Hickman intersperses throughout the story (some of which he admits are completely fabricated) drive home the notion that the relationship between the political & corporate masters of America and the general public has become extremely dysfunctional. These are rendered in extremely small print, so be sure to have a magnifying glass handy as they add some real depth to what is going on in the story.

Pax Romana

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Jonathan Hickman

This is easily one of the most ambitious stories I have ever read, and I've read a lot of books. In the year 2054, the Catholic Church is on its last legs, having been rendered irrelevant by almost every other religion under the sun. Looking for ways to regain its former prominence, it has been covertly funding scientific research into time travel. When their science team actually finds a way to accomplish it, the Pope and his inner circle decide to recruit the finest military warriors and strategists of their time to travel back to 312 A.D. to aid the Catholic Church of its time in dealing with threats to their superiority, such as the advent of Islam and the barbarian hordes that destroyed the civilization of Rome.

That premise would have been interesting enough on its own, but the story really takes off once the commander of their army, Brigadier General Nicholas Chase, executes the Catholic Cardinal in charge of the mission and decides to do something a little more ambitious: change the very course of human history itself. Chase and his army form an alliance with Constantine and help him ascend the Roman throne a full 12 years earlier than he would have on his own. Chase then uses their knowledge of the future to quell the threats to Roman civilization, whether they be obvious (the aforementioned barbarian hordes) or hidden (like abuse of religious power). But as they successfully execute their plan they encounter unforeseen obstacles, including disagreement on how to deal with Constantine's headstrong son Crispus, and political infighting between Chase and his inner circle that leads to open conflict.

There is really only one thing that could be perceived as a weakness with this book: The sepia-toned artistic style of Pax Romana is strikingly similar to that of The Nightly News, with alternate historical timelines and chat transcripts taking the place of the factoids & statistic charts. To more nitpicky readers, this might almost seem like a creative crutch. Personally, I quite enjoy the way Hickman employs this unique style of storytelling, and I wouldn't mind seeing a lot more of it. If only the text weren't so small...

Transhuman

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: J.M. Ringuet

Welcome to the future, where the post-human body of your dreams is available...for a modest price. This story chronicles the rise of two rival companies, Humonics Inc. and Chimeracorp, who are competing to deliver the next wave of human evolution to the public, each with a different focus. The initial product that Humonics initially offers is based in technology (a prosthetic hand attachment with basic household attachments that has room for better upgrades), while Chimeracorp tinkers with a pharmaceutical concoction that gives its recipient a biological enhancement.

The whole story plays out like a combination of a Michael Moore documentary and a VH1 "Behind The Music" episode. While the main focus of the story is on who comes out on top of the branding battle, the real fun comes from seeing the results of Chimeracorp's experiments. Their first batch of test subjects, a group of chimpanzees, end up with superpowers like telepathy, retractable claws and optic blasts (the X-Chimps!), and end up escaping from their cages. When their human test subjects (the ones that ended up with useful enhancements, anyway) get into superhero costumes and get sent out to recapture the chimp test subjects, it turns out about as well as the canoe trip in the movie "Deliverance".

Of the three graphic novels by Hickman, Transhuman is the one that has the most traditional comic book-style art and layout. Ringuet's artwork is just as gritty as Hickman's in The Nightly News and Pax Romana, but with a little more of a cartoonish bent. The story is a little more tongue-in-cheek than Hickman's other works, but the ending is probably the most subversive and unsettling (yet hilarious) out of all of his books. Be sure to look for the single-panel shout-out to Grant Morrison's WE3 when they show the test subjects from Humonics.

Artist Dustin Nguyen presents 'The Geto Boys Halloween in Gotham'

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:08:43 -0800

Beside his regular work on "Batman: Streets of Gotham," DC Comics artist Dustin Nguyen creates short works that he posts at his blog or his site at Deviant Art.

As a Halloween treat, Nguyen posted a short comic story depicting some lyrics by the rap group "Geto Boys" from their hit "mind playing tricks on me" and interpreted it into a mugger's confrontation with the Batman.

"But this was no ordinary man.
He stood about six or seven feet--
--Now, that the creep I'd been seein' in my sleep."

It works perfectly. Batman would definitely be a nightmare figure for any criminal. Good work, Dustin!

Check out the one-page story here.

Video: Zombies take over Fourth Street

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:25:32 -0800

More than a hundred "undead" dragged their way down Fourth Street on Retro Row Friday night for the 2009 "Zombie Walk."

A couple hours before the 10:30 p.m. event you could see dozens of anxious zombies sipping coffee or dining before they would get their walk on.

I didn't stay for the midnight screening of "Night of The Living Dead" at the Art Theatre this time -- I was afraid -- but I may have the courage to do it next year.

Even the undead can't mess with Ma Kent in 'Blackest Night: Superman' finale

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:30:57 -0800

Something for Halloween? Here you go...

I admit I have not been able to keep up with every crossover title in DC Comics' "Blackest Night," and it's not because it's been uninteresting.

For those who aren't hip to the Night, it's the event series spun from the Green Lantern side of the story-verse where dead heroes and villains are brought back evil-zombie-style by some dark, terrible force. And they go after old lovers, friends and enemies with the aim of feeding off your emotions (and the beating heart from your chest). These creatures are known as the Black Lanterns.

And while I fully expect to catch up and find out what's going on with the other parts of the series, it would be a little too expensive for me to do that right now.

I have been following one of the spin-off books: "Blackest Night: Superman." In this three-issue series, Superman, Conner Kent (the new Superboy), Supergirl and Martha Kent have to face their own undead demons in Smallville -- Earth-2 Superman, Earth-2 Lois Lane and the Psycho Pirate.

There are some interesting moments that give Blackest Night fans a few clues on the weaknesses of the Black Lanterns. I won't give all of those away but I have to say my favorite moment is in the comic excerpt above where Ma Kent tells zombie Lois to "get off her lawn!"

OK, she doesn't exactly say it that way but watching her throw down and not be some helpless victim was cool anyway.

Related posts:

Green Lantern makes with the scary stuff

Video: Spike Jonze smacks down Kanye West

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:48:15 -0800

Behind the Scenes With Kanye from We Love You So on Vimeo.

I know this confrontation is totally set up by director Spike Jonze ("Where the Wild Things Are") and music superstar (and current super villain) Kanye West. I consider this to be a public relations move -- a good one -- to remind us that West has quite a sense of humor ... despite his recent award show outbursts... and all of his, um, other outbursts.

Via Spike.com

'Paranormal Activity' slays 'Saw' with $22 million

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:06:02 -0800

In this film publicity image released by Paramount Pictures, a scene from the film, "Paranormal Activity," is shown. (AP Photo/Paramount)

DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "Paranormal Activity" has won a weekend battle of fright films over part six of the "Saw" franchise.

Paramount's upstart chiller "Paranormal Activity" went into nationwide release and took over the No. 1 spot with $22 million. That compares to just $14.8 million for the debut of "Saw VI," a franchise that has been an annual fixture before the October Halloween holiday since 2004.

It was the worst opening ever for Lionsgate's "Saw" series, whose previous low was $18.3 million for the original movie. Subsequent installments of the "Saw" franchise all opened at $30 million or better.

This time, horror fans simply gravitated toward "Paranormal Activity" instead of "Saw VI."

"'Paranormal' ate their lunch," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "There's no other way to explain it."

After four weeks in narrower release, Paramount slotted "Paranormal Activity" into 1,945 theaters. That still was just under two-thirds of the 3,036 theater count for "Saw VI."

"Paranormal Activity" raised its total haul to $62.5 million. The low-budget movie was shot for a reported $15,000 but has become a horror sensation because of online fan buzz. The fictional movie unfolds like a homemade documentary as a couple copes with apparitions and supernatural phenomena in their home.

It has a strong shot at topping $100 million, something none of the "Saw" movies ever managed. While "Saw," the grisly saga of a puppetmaster putting victims through savage moral tests, was embraced as a fresh twist by horror fans five years ago, it now is part of the Hollywood establishment compared to "Paranormal Activity."

"There's no question 'Paranormal' offered a fresh alternative," said Rob Moore, Paramount vice chairman. "This movie definitely has achieved a place in our culture right now."

The overall box office declined, with Hollywood revenues totaling $121 million, down 9 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" debuted with $42 million and "Saw V" opened with $30.1 million.

The box-office should get a jolt over Halloween as "Paranormal Activity" expands to as many as 2,500 theaters and Sony's "Michael Jackson: This Is It" heads into its first weekend after debuting late Tuesday night.

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, the Warner Bros. tale "Where the Wild Things Are," fell to No. 3, just behind "Saw VI" with $14.4 million. Spike Jonze's adaptation of the beloved children's book by Maurice Sendak raised its total to $54 million.

Among other wide releases, Summit Entertainment's "Astro Boy" opened at No. 6 with $7 million, Universal's "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" debuted at No. 8 with $6.3 million, and Fox Searchlight's "Amelia" premiered at No. 11 with $4 million.

"Astro Boy" features the voices of Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell and Nicolas Cage in a sci-fi adventure based on the Japanese comic book and cartoon series about a superhero child robot. "Vampire's Assistant" stars John C. Reilly as a centuries-old bloodsucker who takes on a teenage apprentice in a traveling freak show. "Amelia" is a film biography of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart starring double-Oscar winner Hilary Swank.

In limited release from IFC Films, Lars von Trier's graphic "Antichrist" had a modest debut, pulling in $73,500 in six theaters for a $12,250 average. The movie stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a couple whose relationship devolves into torture and self-mutilation after the death of their child.

Now that "Paranormal Activity" has a firm grip on audiences, Paramount is toying with the prospects for sequels or prequels.

"Given the success of this and the passion of the online community, I think our guys have got a number of different ideas they're percolating," Moore said. "Once we've gotten to the end of this run, we'll see what other fun we can have with this."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Paranormal Activity," $22 million.

2. "Saw VI," $14.8 million.

3. "Where the Wild Things Are," $14.4 million.

4. "Law Abiding Citizen," $12.7 million.

5. "Couples Retreat," $11.1 million.

6. "Astro Boy," $7 million.

7. "The Stepfather," $6.5 million.

8. "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant," $6.3 million.

9. "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," $5.6 million.

10. "Zombieland," $4.3 million.

Review: 'Astro Boy' never takes flight

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:03:35 -0800

In this film publicity image released by Summit Entertainment, Astro Boy, voiced by Freddie Highmore, is shown in a scene from, "Astro Boy." (AP Photo/Summit Entertainment)

CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP Movie Critic

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The animated "Astro Boy" is a shiny hodgepodge of "Pinocchio," ''WALL-E," ''Oliver Twist," ''Gladiator" and "Superman," with some obvious visual touches taken from "The Iron Giant." As its own entity, though, it's pretty forgettable.

Director David Bowers ("Flushed Away"), who co-wrote the script with Timothy Hyde Harris ("Kindergarten Cop," ''Space Jam"), gets some help from a lively voice cast that includes Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, Bill Nighy and Nathan Lane, and the Art Deco look of the film's architecture has a classic appeal. But it almost feels like there are too many movies competing simultaneously in what is essentially a pretty standard tale of good versus evil.

The jokes aren't all that funny and the father-son relationship between Astro Boy (Highmore) and brilliant scientist Dr. Tenma (a typically lethargic and curiously cast Nicolas Cage) isn't all that moving. There's a lot going on, but none of it ever really grabs you. (Along those same innocuous lines, the movie is sufficiently bright and colorful for kids of all ages without ever being too scary.)

Based on the Japanese comic book from Osamu Tezuka that began in 1951 -- and influenced the anime genre as we know it today -- "Astro Boy" traces the origin of a young superhero. He began life as a regular kid named Toby, but after dying in a freak lab accident, his father brings him back to life as a robot containing Toby's personality, memories and Bob's Big Boy looks (as well as some tricky gadgets and powers that are never explained).

Once Dr. Tenma realizes -- duh -- that this eager-to-please robot version of his child is nonetheless inferior and sends him away, Toby flees the floating, gleaming Metro City and lands back on the now-trashed Earth below, where he becomes known as Astro Boy. There, he meets other orphaned children who grubbily root around for spare robot parts to bring back to their Fagin-like father figure, Hamegg (Lane). (The trash can that follows them around and looks like a pug is pretty darn cute, though.)

Astro wants to fit in with the others, namely the street-smart Cora (Bell), and forge some sort of normal life. But high among the clouds in Metro City, President Stone (Donald Sutherland) is after him for his Blue Core: a powerful crystalline nugget that Dr. Tenma implanted in his chest. You see, there's a Blue Core and a Red Core. The blue one provides a peaceful, benevolent strength, while the red one turns you into a ferocious killing machine.

The Dick Cheney-like president wants to control them both for his ironically named "Peacekeeper," a burly device intended to dominate Earth: "I've got an election to win and I need my robot to be a fighter, not a lover," he says early on.

Yeah, it's not a terribly subtle political metaphor.

And so the obvious inevitably arrives: Astro Boy must return to his home to fight the ultimate fight and face his ultimate destiny. He also might run into his dad again. You never know.

"Astro Boy," a Summit Entertainment release, runs 90 minutes. Two stars out of four.

Trailer: Milla Jovovich in 'The Fourth Kind'

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:38:05 -0800

"The Fourth Kind," a thriller about alien abduction based on a case in Alaska, stars Milla Jovovich who plays Dr. Abigail Tyler. The trailer above appears to switch between taped footage from October 2000 and re-enacted stuff for the movie. Notice, I said appears, because that old Hi-8 video looking stuff was probably re-enacted too. I don't really know but it makes for an unusual and creepy trailer.

I'm still not sure whether I'm going to rush out and see this flick. However, anytime you say something is based on the actual case studies or what you're about to see is extremely disturbing, it's on like popcorn.

"The Fourth Kind" hits the screens November 6.

Video: Kristen Bell talks 'Astro Boy'

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:15:17 -0800

In this video Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars," "Heroes") gets the interview treatment form Comic Book Resources on her voice work on "Astro Boy," which opens Friday.

Bell, who voices "Cora," tells CBR interviewer Erik Amaya she considers herself lucky to work on "genre" films (the industry-speak for flicks that feature super heroes, wizards or science fiction elements).

When Bell appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con a couple years back promoting "Veronica Mars" she was the most engaging of actors with the crowds. And I do recall that she described herself as a fan of some of the genre projects she does.

Will this depiction of the legendary "Astro Boy" please fans old and new? I may not see it right away because it's Wife's turn to pick the movie and I chose last week's film "Where The Wild Things Are."

Maybe I can sneak out and catch a matinee Sunday morning? Hmmmm.

Nickelodeon snags the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' for $60M

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:36:18 -0800

Are the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" still relevant? Nickelodeon says yes they are, to the tune of $60 million paid for the global rights to the one-time comic book property turned multimedia powerhouse.

Nick plans a new Turtles television series and a CG feature film to be released in 2012.

From the press release:

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that maintains a very passionate global fan base, is rich with opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly the right property for us to work together with Nickelodeon," said Adam Goodman, President, Paramount Pictures.

The animated series running on CW4Kids, produced by Mirage Studios and 4Kids Entertainment will continue to run in the CW Saturday morning programming through August 2010.

When I read the Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird comics series back in the eighties I couldn't imagine what it would become as a media property today. As a change -- and I know this is totally unrealistic -- I would love to see a solid animated interpretation that's very faithful to the original comic.

But then it wouldn't be suitable for the multitudes of young TV and movie viewers who have embraced these characters as their own. Oh well...

Read the full press release via tvbythenumbers.com

Hollywood gushes bloodsuckers in vampire boom

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:53:17 -0800

FILE - In this undated image originally released by HBO, from left, Kristin Bauer, Alexander Skarsgard,and Patrick Gallagher portray vampires in a scene from the second season of the HBO original series, "True Blood." (AP Photo/HBO, Jaimie Trueblood)

DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Vampires have been an eternal force in Hollywood horror since silent-movie days, yet they have risen to new heights as the "Twilight" franchise, TV's "True Blood" and other incarnations put the bite on viewers.

In studio flicks, independent and foreign-language films and small-screen series, there are more bloodsuckers out there today than you can shake a wooden stake at.

With so many vampires afoot, will Hollywood's favorite night creatures lose their flavor with fans?

"Will there be a vampire glut? Will the vampire market crash? I don't know," said Chris Weitz, director of November's "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," part two in the movie series based on Stephenie Meyer's vampire-romance novels. "It's kind of the only growth industry in America, that I can tell."

So many of Dracula's brethren are being sired nowadays that Weitz and his brother have dueling vampire films out this fall.

Paul Weitz's "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" opens Friday, with John C. Reilly as a centuries-old bloodsucker in a traveling freak show.

While vampires have a strong pulse in Hollywood, some expect the genre could bleed out from overexposure.

"Sometimes there are trends with audiences and with film studios, TV stations, and they go wild, and they run like lemmings in one direction until they go over the cliff," said Werner Herzog, who directed 1979's "Nosferatu the Vampyre." ''The genre of vampire films in its darkness and in its nightmarish aspect is a genre that will be forever, but sometimes, you have an overload, an overkill, and when the heap gets too, too big, everybody starts to turn away."

In his 2007 Antarctica documentary "Encounters at the End of the World," Herzog wisecracked that he was not making yet another movie about penguins, a reference to a spate of films on the cold-weather birds.

Penguins reached a glut after only a handful of movies, but the sheer variety of vampire stories lends them superhuman durability for exploring the issues and fears of mortals.

"I think vampires are richer veins than penguins," Reilly said. "There's only so much you can do with penguins. They're cute. They can't fly. They live in snow and ice."

Vampires benefit from modern fans' hunger for fantastic stories. Otherworldly tales once were aimed mostly at specialized horror, science-fiction or fantasy audiences, with a "Star Wars" or an "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" occasionally breaking out to huge crowds.

Movie-goers today besiege theaters for out-of-this-world stories, from "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings" to the latest adventures of Batman or the X-Men.

"We're at a supernatural height right now with superheroes and science fiction. I think it's all being embraced, with 'Battlestar Galactica' being a critical hit and 'Iron Man' being a huge mainstream hit," said Meredith Woerner, whose book "Vampire Taxonomy: Identifying and Interacting With the Modern-day Bloodsucker" hits stores in early November. "It's a great time where people are ready for some magic."

Vampires have been hardy souls on screen for ages, dating back to 1920s and '30s classics such as "Nosferatu," ''Vampyr" and the original "Dracula," with Bela Lugosi. Dracula has been played by countless actors, among them Lon Chaney Jr., Christopher Lee, Frank Langella and Gary Oldman.

Movies and shows such as "The Lost Boys" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" transfused teen power to vampire tales, helping to open the current vein of hip, pretty young dead things in the genre.

"What's particular about them now is it's coinciding with the optimum market for TV and film. It's that young market, it's kind of the 'Dawson's Creek' thing," said Michael Sheen, who co-stars as the vampire Aro in the "Twilight" sequel and played a werewolf in the "Underworld" vampire franchise. "Whereas in the past, I don't think that has been the case. The symbol of vampires has never quite hit that marketing gold."

Along with "True Blood," recent TV bloodsucker sagas include "The Vampire Diaries," ''Blood Ties," ''Moonlight" and Britain's "Young Dracula" and "Being Human."

Among recent and upcoming big-screen stories are "Blood: The Last Vampire," the horror comedy "Transylmania," Ethan Hawke's vampire armageddon thriller "Daybreakers" and foreign-language vamp tales such as Sweden's "Let the Right One In" and South Korea's "Thirst."

"Twilight" leads the way, its love story between an immortal vampire stud (Robert Pattinson) and a sensitive school girl (Kristen Stewart) proving irresistible to teen and older audiences alike.

So far, fans seem willing to devour as many vampire stories as Hollywood can dish out.

"The truth is, you can't have too many vampire movies, just like you can't have too many zombie movies. Each movie is capable of being allegories for different things," said "Cirque du Freak" star Reilly. "Ours is this whole other universe for vampires that have nothing to do with Dracula or good-looking teenagers making out. It's this crazy underworld that exists, more like 'Harry Potter' than 'Twilight,' because the regular human world doesn't even know they're there."

While their popularity may ebb and flow, vampires always will have a place in the audience's heart, said Nicolas Cage, who starred in 1989's "Vampire's Kiss" and was a producer on 2000's "Shadow of the Vampire."

"The vampire is always going to be fascinating," Cage said. "It's like the vigilante cop, or it's like the cowboy or the Western. It's part of the fabric of society."