January 2010 - Izmovies - Watch Full New Movies movies Youtube

The Avengers?

I'm about three days behind on this one, but it bears relevant mention anyway. USA Today on 12/27 had a press piece from Marvel Comics about their upcoming most-recent line-wide revamp, "The Heroic Age," largely touted as a return to "old fashioned optimistic" superhero stories following the close of the current "Dark Reign" line-wide arc; which involved most of the company's "Avengers"-related heroes being replaced by rechristened supervillains under the direction of Spider-Man nemesis Norman Osborne. This is, of course, a cousin to DC's "Brightest Dawn" followup to their current "Darkest Night" crossover event, though both companies are spinning their respective shifts as being in some way inspired by the "Age of Obama."

Whatever. These "cycles" are how these things go. USA Today article is HERE: http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2010-01-27-marvel27_ST_N.htm?csp=usat.me

The point of more immediate interest is an official "teaser" image that accompanied the piece, showing nine Marvel characters standing at attention. As the (evidently soon to be no-longer-pissed-at-eachother) "core" Avengers members Captain America, Thor and Iron Man are side-by-side, most are jumping to the conclusion that the teaser represents the new Avengers lineup, though no one has confirmed that. The other six are Hawkeye, Thing, Beast, Black Widow, Spider-Man and Gorilla Man - which casts some doubt on that notion since Thing, Beast and Gorilla Man are currently associated with other Marvel Teams (Beast is even depicted in his X-Men gear.) However, it's also notable that ALL of these characters have been Avengers members at one time or another.

Of more immediate interest to me: Major comic shakeups made in-advance of a related film production are usually connected in some way (see: Spider-Man wearing black again prior to SM3) and as such what immediately leaps out at me is Clint Barton (presumably) being back in his old-school Hawkeye identity/outfit. It's been heavily hinted that Hawkeye might be turning up in the planned "Avengers" team-up movie and possibly in one of the still-to-release lead-in films (Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America) and this would certainly be in-line with setting the stage for that (Black Widow is ALREADY known to be in IM2.)

Also noteworthy: The Captain America pictured seems to be the original Steve Rogers (blue eyes) but wearing a variation on the uniform of fill-in Cap Bucky Barnes (black pants, no mail-armor) which gives a certain amount of weight to the speculation that that's close to what Cap will be wearing in HIS movie. (FWIW, I like the design okay even if it IS just the standard-issue 2000s revamp cliche of mostly-black witha triangle-shaped suggestion of the original outfit draped over the shoulders.)

Escape to the Movies: "Edge of Darkness"

"Intermission" is about "Spider-Man," again. Hey, YOU find something else in this vein going on: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/7093-Advice-From-a-Fanboy

Wall Street 2

Gotta say, this "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" trailer is about 90% perfect:

I'm speaking, of course, of all the stuff that involves treating Gordon Gekko's return like that of some iconic movie hero/villain to power, shades of the "Hannibal" trailer, etc. The question mark, naturally, is the focus on Shia LeBeouf - who's batting zip for 80s revamp movies so far and who's presence seems to have moved into the "automatic eyeroll" territory in trailers.

Back

Computer fuckups kept me out of posting-ness for a week or so, hopefully no longer.

Just a quick notation for now: J.D. Salinger and Howard Zinn both passed away today (so did Zelda Rubenstein); authors of "Catcher in The Rye" and "A People's History of The United States" respectively. So, if you know any college students - particularly here on the East Coast where Zinn mainly did his thing - give them a hug if you see them.

Salinger's passing will ultimately prove the more fascinating, as it may afford the world a glimpse into just what he's been up to ever since retreating into self-imposed exile.

Escape to the Movies: "Legion"

INTERMISSION: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/7052-The-Good-Book-of-Bad-Movies

Cindy McCain "No H8" ad

Hey, look. Some political news NOT related

to my homestate's momentary brain-fart:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CINDY_MCCAIN_GAY_MARRIAGE?SITE=CAANG&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

That's Sen. John McCain's wife Cindy posing for the pro-gay-marriage "No H8" campaign, which has previously run similar ads featuring the McCains' daughter Megan.

According to the McCain campaign-proper, the senator - previously known as a regular for of the "values-voter' crowd prior to his (apparent) turnaround during the 2008 election - "respects disagreements" within his own family, but still claims to be against gay marriage. Then again, so does President Obama. In fact, at this point just about the ONLY high-grade presidential-level player in American politics who OPENLY supports equal-marriage is still... Dick Cheney.

Like it or not, this will continue to be the "difficult" issue for both parties, because they're both on the defensive. Lots of inside-baseball stuff indicates that a solid majority of Democrats support it but are terrified of saying so, that's no surprise... but it's also becoming clear that plenty of Republicans are either for it or "don't care one way or the other" but feel they have to be "against it" publically in order to appease - for lack of a better word - the Palin-wing of the party. I have a feeling that what the leadership of both parties would like more than anything else would be for the Supreme Court to bang the gavel and say "It's legal now!" Then they'd still be able to agree or disagree but also tell the Palin-wing "look, it's kinda done, out of our hands now" etc.

Controller-snapping fury

To whomever at Nintendo is guilty of World 9-7 in New Super Mario Bros. Wii:

I hate you. I love you. Well done.

Hey, look! Spider-Man reboot news!

Ah, Sony Pictures... having you and this godforsaken project to beat up on has gotten me over A LOT of personal and professional humps these last few weeks ;)

Anyway, The Hollywood Reporter's "Heat Vision" blog is reporting on "the details" of the "Spider-Man" reboot, more or less confirming what the web snoops have been saying all along:
http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2010/01/marc-webb-to-direct-spiderman.html

As expected: A dramatically lower-budget, no "big names" in the main cast (so look for lots of stunt-casting in the villain seats), a high-school setting beginning with at least three installments with heavy, openly-acknowledged influence from Brian Michael Bendis' deplorably-overrated "Ultimate Spider-Man" run. In other words, it's a Buffy/Smallville approach but without the sole saving grace of room-to-grow afforded by television. (How long has it taken "Smallville" to go all the way from complete-shit to kinda-almost-passable, again?) Oh, and Marc Webb IS directing - possible all of the first three - so you may as well get used to how HYSTERICAL the mainstream entertainment press thinks it is that a guy named WEBB is making a Spider-Man movie.

Elsewhere, Chud's Devin Faraci is intimating additional information, namely that the main overrarching plot thread is a chaotic romantic entanglement involving Peter, Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane and Flash Thompson. Yegh. Why not just relocate the whole thing to coastal Washington State and get it over with? http://chud.com/articles/articles/22215/1/WELCOME-TO-SMALLVILLE-SPIDER-MAN/Page1.html

Elsewhere in geek-world, the Fox Network is developing a (presumably Dr. Who-unrelated) "Torchwood" remake for the U.S. Gee... I wonder what the first thing NOT carried-over will be? ;)

Golden Globes

Yes, I watched the Golden Globes.

Yes, the Golden Globes are an utterly worthless institution.

Yes, Sandra Bullock winning ANYTHING for "Blind Side" is preposterous, but it's not worth being outraged over because it's just a Globe and as mentioned before the Globes are worthless - position I will maintain up until if and when I'm nominated for one, at which point they will become a tremendous honor I've been dreaming of recieving since I was a small boy.

Yes, once Us/InTouch/etc "catch up" to the whole "and he's her ex-husband" thing, Kathryn Bigelow is going to be the most-sympathized-with woman in America - primary by women who've never seen one of her movies and had no idea what "The Hurt Locker" was before last night.

Yes, James Cameron actually delivered a portion of his acceptance speech in his own made-up space-alien language. I'm still trying to decide whether that's the most awesomely nerdy thing anyone has ever done at an awards show or just kinda lame. It would not surprise me at all to learn that he speaks Na'vi more fluently than I speak English.

Yes, I'd like to find out how much sound and/or light would be completely shut out if one tried to check Christina Hendricks' heartbeat. Failing that, I'd like to see the same experiment performed by Elizabeth Banks.

Yes, I'm starting to come-around on the "Avatar is very-possibly going to win Best Picture" train. It's not in my top-ten, it won't be my favorite of the nominees... but unless District 9 is also nominated I'm compelled to root for it. "Best Picture" going to an action-epic about blue kitty-people fighting soldiers piloting mecha-suits is a HUGE step forward for getting "genre film" out of the ghetto once and for all.

Escape to The Movies: Book of Eli

And "Intermission" is about Spider-Man: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/7014-Spider-Man-No-More

Spider-Man reboot thought of the day (again)

Everyone and their uncle is reporting that Marc Webb, a music video mainstay turned feature director with last year's "Mopey Guy Pursues Manic Pixie Dream-Girl Indie Rom-Com #472" (released in some markets as "500 Days of Summer,") is Sony's go-to guy for "Spider-Man: The New Class."

Webb had a lot of heat on him, even prior to "Summer," but he's new enough to not have precisely a ton of clout. Make no mistake - the only people they're looking to hire for this are people who're already in-sync with the pre-mandated approach OR people who can be pushed around INTO the pre-mandated approach.

The important detail to take away from all this is how fast it's been: Unless someone at Sony is blowing smoke, they had a script the DAY they announced #4 was canceled and now they may have already nabbed a somewhat-sought-after new talent for director. In other words, it looks more and more like they'd decided on this course of action faaaaaar in advance, and that all the stonewalling of Sam Raimi over the villain was quite possibly a manuver to get him to leave "voluntarily" so this reboot could proceed. Not at all an unheard of move in the business.

"Spider-Man: Breaking Eclipse" is currently slated for 2012.

Spider-Man reboot thought for the day

(y'know what would be great? If this story stays big long enough that this title becomes no longer a joke...)

I was struck by a bitter thought today, regarding A.) this unfolding story and B.) the whiny, insecure twits who're still convinced that Peter Parker - gasp! - DANCING!!!! in "Spider-Man 3" is the worst, most horrible thing in the history of cinema. The following is addressed to them:

I hope you're happy now. I hope you're fucking thrilled.

I also hope that, in 2012, when we all get to see whichever "adorable" up-and-coming castoff from whatever the 2012 equivalent of "Gossip Girl" get's picked to don the hip, fresh n' with-it "reimagining" of the Spider-Man costume and do battle with an inexplicably all-important Eddie Brock (Mike "The Situation," perhaps?) under the direction of some hired gun director who's only prior credits are some Puma commercials and 2nd unit on a fucking Lady Gaga video (or just Bret Ratner, same difference really) ...I hope you're even happier.

Maybe this means we'll get Morbius, after all...

(note: Anyone who's already "sick" of me covering Spider-Man Reboot news might as well just check out of this blog from now until about 2013, just so we're clear.)

EVERYONE on the Web is covering the Spider-Man story, but as of right now the best "day of" reaction I've come across was from Devin over on Chud: http://chud.com/articles/articles/22113/1/THE-DEVIN039S-ADVOCATE-TWILIGHT-FOR-SPIDER-MAN-AND-HOLLYWOOD/Page1.html

As is frequently the case, he's landed on a thesis that makes a depressing amount of sense regarding Sony's "send the series back to high school" angle: It allows them to morph the franchise into "Twilight" i.e. 'superpowers-as-teen-angst-melodrama.'

Yegh. Might as well start scanning The CW for whoever's going to take the lead (they'll be looking for "a less-edgy Michael Cera.")

Ultimate Spider-Man: The Movie

Good Spider-Man Movies: 2001-2010. RIP.

The question of whether or not the movie industry would have an earth-shaking, massive angry-talent/angry-studio story of the year to match Leno vs. Conan vs. NBC has been answered. Deadline Hollywood is reporting - and Sony is confirming - that the difficulties surrounding "Spider-Man 4" (read: Sam Raimi won't budge on using the characters/plot he wants to) have led to a major shakeup: Raimi is gone, along with the ENTIRE cast and continuity of the series up to this point: http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/urgent-spider-man-4-scrapped-as-is-raimi-and-cast-out-franchise-reboot-planned/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

It's over. The series is done.

Sony's plan - detailed enough for anyone to conclude that this is what they ultimately wanted for a long time now - is to RE-START the whole thing. Peter Parker back in high-school, "Ultimate Marvel"-style. New go-round of the origin, newer, younger actors in the roles.

A re-boot. Of a franchise that isn't even a decade old. The last installment of which broke $300 Million US. This the "nightmare scenario" everyone was worried about when the remake/reboot thing went started to get out of control.

The only positive to come out of this is a creatively-freed Sam Raimi. Everything else... WOW, this is going to suck. The whole history of this series has been Raimi and his people holding fast against bad ideas from the studio. Can you IMAGINE what a "hip young teenaged" Spider-Man is going to look like with only Sony and whatever jobber filmmaker donates his body to this in charge? The mind reels at whom they might cast - remember, before Raimi stepped in Freddie Prinze Jr. was going to get the part. And you can probably bet good money that Venom will turn up right away... and probably Carnage, too, along with every other worthless fucking 90s Spidey villain that still moves a fucking t-shirt.

secret shame

Okay, quick show of hands:

How many of you, besides me, are guilty of FULLY RECOGNIZING that "Ctrl Alt Del" sucks... but can't stop reading the fucking thing? It's as though it's devolved into something like the ultimate, last-word parody of masturbatory, self-aggrandizing, soap-operatic webcomics... except it doesn't know that it's a parody. It's "The Room" of webcomics.

Art Clokey: 1921 - 2010

TV Animation pioneer Art Clokey is dead at 89. A claymation filmmaker, he was best known for creating "Gumby" and "Davey & Goliath."

He was going to be a priest, but fell in love instead. He and his wife developed a passion for filmmaking, and he earned attention for an abstract claymation short called "Gumbasia."

"Gumbasia" led to a contract to do "Gumby" on TV, first in shorts for "Howdy Doody" and then as it's own series (two of them, in fact) that were staples of kids TV for decades. In between them, he did "Davey & Goliath" under contract to the Lutheran Church of America.

He re-emerged in the 1990s to independently-produce "Gumby: The Movie," which is a very special kind of amazing if you can find it these days.

For a fellow with seemingly few "official" credits to his name, his impact on culture was massive: Everyone knows Gumby, or at least nearly everyone. "Mystery Science Theater 3000" even riffed on a Gumby short once - a kind of pop-culture double-team - and "Davey" of course inspired "Moral Orel," which started out shaky but came to a close as one of the most psychologically-searing animated shows ever to run in the U.S. (If there's a darker turn for a "comedy" show than "Nature," I've never seen it.)

Escape to the Movies: "Daybreakers"

"Intermission" this week is about "Avatar" and the political stuff it's managed to stir up:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/6985-Blue-Skin-State

Clash of the Titans score

Apparently everyone but me HATED the heavy(ish) metal music in the trailer for the "Clash of The Titans" trailer; in which case that same everyone is about to be very, very angry...

According to Chud the film may forgoe a "traditional" singular-composer score in favor of a score by rock band Muse:
http://chud.com/articles/articles/22069/1/CLASH-OF-THE-TITANS-HAS-FOUND-ITS-MUSE/Page1.html

This is how out of the loop I am on popular music: Is Muse still "cool," or has the Stephanie Meyer connection killed it for them? Whatever, I like their stuff for the most part. They aren't precisely "metal," closer to a self-parody riff on a kind of Radiohead/early-Queen fusion, but they're "bigger" material trends close to "symphonic metal" like Symphony X.

For what it's worth, I'm MASSIVELY in favor of this... ANYTHING to avoid another tired variation on the "Gladiator" score for this genre. The "Clash" remake looks to be eschewing the traditional Greek mythology visual tropes for something closer to Frazetta-type "high fantasy" pulp-art, which has ALWAYS mixed tremendously well with metal/symphonic-hard-rock. If this goes through, watching this flick is gonna feel like a Man-o-War album cover come to life; and that's a damn good feel as far as I'm concerned.

Interviewed

A little while back, I sat down to be interviewed by Ryan McAskill, aka "The Boston Comedy Examiner," who has now published said interview as part of his podcast.

Check it out here: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-8746-Boston-Comedy-Examiner~y2010m1d6-Podcast-MovieBobThe-Game-Overthinker

Escape to the Movies: "Heavy Metal"

Happy new stuff.

NOTHING came out this week worth doing a show about, so "The Escapist" put me on-assignment to do a flashback-ish thing for "Heavy Metal."

I think it turned out pretty good:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/1361-Heavy-Metal

And, as usual, here's the INTERMISSION column, this week titled "Decade of The Nerd." It's a look-back-at-the-decade thing, because you all know how much I like doing stuff that no one else in media is doing at the same time:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/6967-Decade-of-the-Nerd

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