Pictured, center-frame: Young woman, cosplaying as "Bayonetta."
Pictured, bottom-left: Young boy, in the midst of what will be a defining moment of his adolescence.
(photo by Shiraz Malik, seen on Kotaku.)
Suddenly...
Pictured, bottom-left: Young boy, in the midst of what will be a defining moment of his adolescence.
(photo by Shiraz Malik, seen on Kotaku.)
A Strange proposal...
In the midst of some "Intermission" comment reading/responding, it dawns on me that since physicality isn't so much a concern when it comes to the potential casting for a "Doctor Strange" movie; one of the key questions would probably end up being VOICE - i.e., whom do you most want to hear speak dialogue like "By the Crimson Bands of Cytorak!!!"
With that in mind, perhaps a radical suggestion:
With that in mind, perhaps a radical suggestion:
This is a real thing
via Yahoo!
Classic Animation buffs will, of course, note the irony of a Golden Age Hannah-Barbera character being presented in 33333DDDDD ;)
Classic Animation buffs will, of course, note the irony of a Golden Age Hannah-Barbera character being presented in 33333DDDDD ;)
Did a Marvel movie prop just tease The Avengers' villain?
(Hey look, another new format feature: JUMP BREAKS!)
Shorthand auto-headline for pretty much every image coming out of Comic-Con in relation to the Marvel Films slate: "If This Is What It Looks Like... This Is Awesome." See: Yesterday's web-shuddering revelation of a certain Special Object being somehow involved in "Captain America." (Note, since that story is a report on something that was publically shown at SDCC, I don't know that it counts as a SPOILER or not, but just in case call this a light-warning.)
And then there's THIS rather ostentatious-looking piece of handwear, which was apparently out on the floor along with the already widely-seen Captain America shield and Thor/Loki/Odin helmets. And, well, if this is what it sure-as-hell LOOKS like it is...
...Holy shit.
Fans don't need me to tell them what they seem to be looking at. For non-fans: That's almost-certainly a Marvel Universe MacGuffin known as "The Infinity Gauntlet." Short version: Magic Glove inlaid with six Magic Gems representing absolute power over Time, Space, Mind, Soul, Reality and Power, respectively. If you're wearing it, you're pretty much God. Keeping this from certain bad guys is really, really important. So... it's a more ostentatious "One Ring," would be the idea.
Now, here's why this should give fans something close to an intellectual-erection: While this is supposed to be a prop from "Thor," The Infinity Gauntlet isn't specifically a Thor element in the books. In fact, it doesn't "belong" to any one hero's series or continuity. It's an "everybody" MacGuffin, most-commonly associated with (in fact, created-by) one of Marvel's ultimate "everybody" Big Bads: THANOS.
Created by "cosmic"-specializing artist/writer Jim Starlin, Thanos is a nearly all-powerful alien conqueror who is "the ultimate nihilist" - he is in love with Death (literally - in the Marvel Universe, important esoteric "concepts" like Eternity and Infinity have sentient physical embodiments, and Death is nominally-"female") and typically wants to commit acts of universe-scale genocide in order to impress her. Really.
In other words, EXACTLY the sort of "too big for one guy" threat that Marvel Films' has kept hinting would be the "only" thing that could bring The Avengers together for the movie. He'd certainly be right up there with also-speculated potential enemies like the Skrulls (aliens) H.Y.D.R.A. (Neo-Nazis, James Bond style) The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson at some point after he exits the "Hulk" movie) or A.I.M. (made scientists), but for whatever reason he never seemed to be at the top of anyone's list. Hell, I'd never have even thought to consider him, mostly because he's always been on that list of "Things I'll Never See In a Movie." But, then again, yesterday I never would've believed I'd see a live-action Infinity Gauntlet.
This is really happening.
Shorthand auto-headline for pretty much every image coming out of Comic-Con in relation to the Marvel Films slate: "If This Is What It Looks Like... This Is Awesome." See: Yesterday's web-shuddering revelation of a certain Special Object being somehow involved in "Captain America." (Note, since that story is a report on something that was publically shown at SDCC, I don't know that it counts as a SPOILER or not, but just in case call this a light-warning.)
And then there's THIS rather ostentatious-looking piece of handwear, which was apparently out on the floor along with the already widely-seen Captain America shield and Thor/Loki/Odin helmets. And, well, if this is what it sure-as-hell LOOKS like it is...
...Holy shit.
Fans don't need me to tell them what they seem to be looking at. For non-fans: That's almost-certainly a Marvel Universe MacGuffin known as "The Infinity Gauntlet." Short version: Magic Glove inlaid with six Magic Gems representing absolute power over Time, Space, Mind, Soul, Reality and Power, respectively. If you're wearing it, you're pretty much God. Keeping this from certain bad guys is really, really important. So... it's a more ostentatious "One Ring," would be the idea.
Now, here's why this should give fans something close to an intellectual-erection: While this is supposed to be a prop from "Thor," The Infinity Gauntlet isn't specifically a Thor element in the books. In fact, it doesn't "belong" to any one hero's series or continuity. It's an "everybody" MacGuffin, most-commonly associated with (in fact, created-by) one of Marvel's ultimate "everybody" Big Bads: THANOS.
Created by "cosmic"-specializing artist/writer Jim Starlin, Thanos is a nearly all-powerful alien conqueror who is "the ultimate nihilist" - he is in love with Death (literally - in the Marvel Universe, important esoteric "concepts" like Eternity and Infinity have sentient physical embodiments, and Death is nominally-"female") and typically wants to commit acts of universe-scale genocide in order to impress her. Really.
In other words, EXACTLY the sort of "too big for one guy" threat that Marvel Films' has kept hinting would be the "only" thing that could bring The Avengers together for the movie. He'd certainly be right up there with also-speculated potential enemies like the Skrulls (aliens) H.Y.D.R.A. (Neo-Nazis, James Bond style) The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson at some point after he exits the "Hulk" movie) or A.I.M. (made scientists), but for whatever reason he never seemed to be at the top of anyone's list. Hell, I'd never have even thought to consider him, mostly because he's always been on that list of "Things I'll Never See In a Movie." But, then again, yesterday I never would've believed I'd see a live-action Infinity Gauntlet.
This is really happening.
Is THIS the new "Godzilla?"
Legendary Pictures is prepping another stab at an American-produced "Godzilla" feature, and apparently they've been showing THIS image around Comic-Con. It has an AR (Altered-Reality) stamp on it that makes a roaring sound and particle-effect fire when held up to a webcam that's been teased on AR sites, so apparently it's legitimate product. Question is, is THIS what the new Godzilla actually looks like?
Because if so, color me 99% "sold." I just want to see his feet - I'm hoping they've opted to accept that Godzilla just "has" humanoid proportions and not try and give him more "authentic" tri-jointed legs or feet like most re-design attempts have.
Because if so, color me 99% "sold." I just want to see his feet - I'm hoping they've opted to accept that Godzilla just "has" humanoid proportions and not try and give him more "authentic" tri-jointed legs or feet like most re-design attempts have.
more Thor
(trying some new format stuff, nobody freak out)
SLASHFILM has yet another gloriously preposterous "Thor" image up. This time it's a wide shot of the Hall of Asgard, where it appears Thor is recieving a dressing-down from Odin. Frigga (Rene Russo!!??), Loki, Fandral and Hogun are also in attendance. It's hard to make out costume detail, but fans should take note that you can see Odin and Loki both wearing what look like remarkably faithful versions of their comic helmets (that's Loki down on the far left behind Frigga with the big crazy horns.
I must say I'm still really digging the "alien-ness" of the design here - the main inspiration is still clearly reproducing Jack Kirby designs in live-action (I really want to know if Brannagh has just been a fan this whole time, or if he and his designers looked at old Thor comics and immediately decided "this is what we're doing.") and Kirby was famously fascinated by the Ancient Astronaut/"Chariots of The Gods" theory of mythology, i.e. "Gods" as primitive man's interpretation of contact with extraterrestrials. Maybe that's the "answer" of how this ties in to the rest of the Avengers etc. "universe," that THIS Thor etc. are/were alien or extra-dimensional superbeings and the ones we know from Norse myth are actually these guys as-described by early humans who didn't fully "comprehend" them? I've heard worse ideas, and like the man said "any technology, sufficiently advanced, would be indistinguishable from magic."
SLASHFILM has yet another gloriously preposterous "Thor" image up. This time it's a wide shot of the Hall of Asgard, where it appears Thor is recieving a dressing-down from Odin. Frigga (Rene Russo!!??), Loki, Fandral and Hogun are also in attendance. It's hard to make out costume detail, but fans should take note that you can see Odin and Loki both wearing what look like remarkably faithful versions of their comic helmets (that's Loki down on the far left behind Frigga with the big crazy horns.
I must say I'm still really digging the "alien-ness" of the design here - the main inspiration is still clearly reproducing Jack Kirby designs in live-action (I really want to know if Brannagh has just been a fan this whole time, or if he and his designers looked at old Thor comics and immediately decided "this is what we're doing.") and Kirby was famously fascinated by the Ancient Astronaut/"Chariots of The Gods" theory of mythology, i.e. "Gods" as primitive man's interpretation of contact with extraterrestrials. Maybe that's the "answer" of how this ties in to the rest of the Avengers etc. "universe," that THIS Thor etc. are/were alien or extra-dimensional superbeings and the ones we know from Norse myth are actually these guys as-described by early humans who didn't fully "comprehend" them? I've heard worse ideas, and like the man said "any technology, sufficiently advanced, would be indistinguishable from magic."
The first image of Green Lantern...
...looks really, really, REALLY bad. Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly's "Comic-Con Issue."
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/07/15/green-lantern-ryan-reynolds/
Not that it matters. The reaction, I mean. Since negative first-impressions on things like this are always innevitably brushed-aside as "fanboy" complaints not worth taking seriously. In fact, let me save various anonymous trolls some time: "Shut up, Fanboy! You're just mad it doesn't look exactly like the gay-ass comic version you fap to in your mom's basement!" There, copy/paste THAT into the comment-box and feel free to add some choice references of your own to weight, appearance and sexual-orientation for that personal touch ;)
But good LORD, what a hideous design - yes, fine, maybe it looks good in motion... but it's hard not to feel bad for Ryan Reynolds having to "wear" that thing - "wear" being in quotes because it's not even a costume, it's a CGI augmentation being made to him after the fact. This is, of course, par for the course for Warner Bros., who evidently remain so ashamed of "having" to make superhero movies there's no amount of extraneous detailing they won't add to make the costumes look like anything OTHER than a superhero costume (See-also: Batman's awful lumpy bat-armor, Superman's overdesigned threads and, in the comics, Wonder Woman's new body-conscious-actress-friendly slacks.) In this case, the design-directive seemed to be "Tron-as-reworked-for-a-reptilian-offshoot-of-Furry-fetishism."
Look, I get the logic that a green-and-black body-stocking is a hard sell to audiences who aren't going to see this anyway, and I get that it's supposed to look more like a "construct" of the ring... but it also looks like ass. I mean, ignore the GL logo for a minute and tell me that even if this were some "original" character this wouldn't look completely laughable. The Billy Zane PHANTOM had a better-looking suit than this, and he was wearing a purple skinsuit with a fucking WIDOW'S PEAK!
Fortunately, I can at least partially soothe my dissapointments (this project was sounding so promising!) with the new "Thor" image of Odin, Loki(?) and Thor hanging out in (presumably) Asgard:
I love that. Know what I love about it? Absolutely NO pretending it's anything other than exactly what it is: "Yeah, we're Viking Superheroes. What of it?" Cheezy? OF COURSE it's cheezy! What part of VIKING SUPERHERO wasn't clear enough? And check out the Kirby-esque jagged-line details on Hopkins' armor. Every Marvel movie has reference being "live-action Jack Kirby drawings" at one point or another, but this is the first time anyone actually seems to have gone for it.
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/07/15/green-lantern-ryan-reynolds/Not that it matters. The reaction, I mean. Since negative first-impressions on things like this are always innevitably brushed-aside as "fanboy" complaints not worth taking seriously. In fact, let me save various anonymous trolls some time: "Shut up, Fanboy! You're just mad it doesn't look exactly like the gay-ass comic version you fap to in your mom's basement!" There, copy/paste THAT into the comment-box and feel free to add some choice references of your own to weight, appearance and sexual-orientation for that personal touch ;)
But good LORD, what a hideous design - yes, fine, maybe it looks good in motion... but it's hard not to feel bad for Ryan Reynolds having to "wear" that thing - "wear" being in quotes because it's not even a costume, it's a CGI augmentation being made to him after the fact. This is, of course, par for the course for Warner Bros., who evidently remain so ashamed of "having" to make superhero movies there's no amount of extraneous detailing they won't add to make the costumes look like anything OTHER than a superhero costume (See-also: Batman's awful lumpy bat-armor, Superman's overdesigned threads and, in the comics, Wonder Woman's new body-conscious-actress-friendly slacks.) In this case, the design-directive seemed to be "Tron-as-reworked-for-a-reptilian-offshoot-of-Furry-fetishism."
Look, I get the logic that a green-and-black body-stocking is a hard sell to audiences who aren't going to see this anyway, and I get that it's supposed to look more like a "construct" of the ring... but it also looks like ass. I mean, ignore the GL logo for a minute and tell me that even if this were some "original" character this wouldn't look completely laughable. The Billy Zane PHANTOM had a better-looking suit than this, and he was wearing a purple skinsuit with a fucking WIDOW'S PEAK!
Fortunately, I can at least partially soothe my dissapointments (this project was sounding so promising!) with the new "Thor" image of Odin, Loki(?) and Thor hanging out in (presumably) Asgard:
I love that. Know what I love about it? Absolutely NO pretending it's anything other than exactly what it is: "Yeah, we're Viking Superheroes. What of it?" Cheezy? OF COURSE it's cheezy! What part of VIKING SUPERHERO wasn't clear enough? And check out the Kirby-esque jagged-line details on Hopkins' armor. Every Marvel movie has reference being "live-action Jack Kirby drawings" at one point or another, but this is the first time anyone actually seems to have gone for it.
Who's surprised?
There's a great, largely-unremembered Humphrey Bogart / Gloria Graham movie called "In A Lonely Place" that everyone ought to see. It's an ultra-bleak film noir in which Bogie's character, an alcoholic screenwriter suffering from what we'd now call PTSD, begins to put his life back together by romancing his hot neighbor (Graham)... only to see it all scuttled when he finds himself investigated for the murder of a female aquaintance. The tragic arc of the film is that it ultimately doesn't matter if he's innocent or not: The investigation reveals enough of his past and dark side that his few remaining friends/lovers realize that he very probably could have... and thus he's done for. In other words, being accused and having no one doubt it is almost as bad as being guilty.
So I ask you: Regarding actor turned director turned religious-nut turned comeback-kid turned racist (prospective) woman-beater Mel Gibson... in terms of "is this the end?," does it even MATTER if he actually "did it?" When you're alleged to have punched your girlfriend in the face while she's holding your baby and people's reaction is pretty much "Yeah... that sounds plausible," you're DONE as any kind of viable public personality unless your name is Sheen, yes?
In any case, Radar Online now has the (apparent) audio of the infamous "raped by a pack of n****ers" conversation. WARNING: It's a pretty hard listen: http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/07/world-exclusive-audio-mel-gibsons-explosive-racist-rant-listen-it-here
Going back to the whole "just as bad as having done it" thing, even if this were a fake or "out of context"... who's surprised? Particularly given the pathetic, self-hating projectionism that seems to be at the root of it: The guy leaves his wife and seven kids for a hot young model... but SHE'S the "whore" and "bitch" for dressing provocatively. (From the tape: "I don't WANT THAT girl!!!") It's the classic, good ol' fashioned "damn the TEMPTRESS for ruining MY righteousness" routine, yes?
Well, given that this IS the same mind that gave us "The Passion of The Christ"... Well, are you at all surprised?
So I ask you: Regarding actor turned director turned religious-nut turned comeback-kid turned racist (prospective) woman-beater Mel Gibson... in terms of "is this the end?," does it even MATTER if he actually "did it?" When you're alleged to have punched your girlfriend in the face while she's holding your baby and people's reaction is pretty much "Yeah... that sounds plausible," you're DONE as any kind of viable public personality unless your name is Sheen, yes?
In any case, Radar Online now has the (apparent) audio of the infamous "raped by a pack of n****ers" conversation. WARNING: It's a pretty hard listen: http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/07/world-exclusive-audio-mel-gibsons-explosive-racist-rant-listen-it-here
Going back to the whole "just as bad as having done it" thing, even if this were a fake or "out of context"... who's surprised? Particularly given the pathetic, self-hating projectionism that seems to be at the root of it: The guy leaves his wife and seven kids for a hot young model... but SHE'S the "whore" and "bitch" for dressing provocatively. (From the tape: "I don't WANT THAT girl!!!") It's the classic, good ol' fashioned "damn the TEMPTRESS for ruining MY righteousness" routine, yes?
Well, given that this IS the same mind that gave us "The Passion of The Christ"... Well, are you at all surprised?
HEADLINE! Andrew Garfield To Become Most-Hated Man In Movie-Geek Universe!
Figures this would come when I'm trying to get some pre-flight sleep...Whatever. British actor Andrew Garfield, best (only?) known to moviegoers as Anton in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," is Sony and director Marc Webb's choice to play the hip, happenin' new Peter Parker in their fast-tracked, quick-n-cheap reboot of "Spider-Man." For those who haven't been keeping track, the new film will rewind the story back to High School and rework it into a "Twilight"-style teen romance soap.
This is unfortunate, since Garfield has struck me as a pretty good actor so far - in other words, not deserving of being associated with this pending atrocity - but also somewhat depressingly-funny in at least one sense: On the "celebrity scene," Garfield was at one point best known for being frequently mistaken for another actor...
...named Robert Pattinson.
In other news, it continues to be sincerely hoped that everyone for whom Tobey Maguire doing a silly dance for about a minute in "Spider-Man 3" was the worst thing that ever happened in the history of anything!!!!! continues to be really, really thrilled.
