New X-Files Movie Could Happen.

I was always a big X-Files fan and really enjoyed the series (up until a point) and the Fight For The Future movie. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson had a amazing chemistry that you don't find very often in a syndicated show. Well, it looks like after a 7 yr wait we might actually see a new feature length X-Files movie starring the original cast. IGN Filmforce reports that Rob Bowman, who directed the 1st movie, has high hopes that the sequel will soon go into production. Chris Carter has yet to write a screenplay for the new movie, but it has been stated that it will be a stand alone story, not tied to any X-File mythology. It is unknown if it will go into production in 2006, it will all depend on the schedules of Chris Carter and the rest of the cast.

The Creature Gets A Remake.

It looks like 1954's classic The Creature From The Black Lagoon is getting the remake job curtsey of Universal Pictures. The new movie will be directed by Breck Eisner (son of ex-Disney mogul Michael Eisner), who also directed Sahara. Universal has been eyeing the Creature for a remake ever since the success of The Mummy in 1999. Gary Ross, who is the son of the original Creature author Arthur Ross has written the screenplay. Special effects are planned to be a mixture of CGI and practical effects to help create a new Gill Man. Shooting is set to start in the summer of 2006 in the States and in locations in Central or possibly South America. No release date has been set at this time.

Who Watches The Watchmen ?

Watchmen was a comic stories for the ages. When it came out it was hailed as a masterpiece of storytelling and that title still sticks today. The writer Alan Moore has always had a strained relationship with DC Comics who published the book, even to the point of backing out of a recently planned anniversary edition of the book and even nixed a action figure line. Moore also distanced himself from another film adaptation of his other masterpiece V For Vendetta. For years Watchmen lingered in development hell and every once in awhile we would get little tidbits about production or story. Earlier this year Paramount put Watchman into turnaround only months before director Paul Greengrass was set to begin filming. It was also known that work had already been done on sets and costume design. Paramount was leary of spending the projected budget on a dark and gritty comic story and it was deemed not economically viable. Now Entertain Weekly has stated that the films producers Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin are in talks with Warner Bros to take over the project. This could be a very good move on their part. Warner Bros is owned by Time Warner, who also owns DC Comics, and they have a promising stable of comic movies such as Batman Begins, Superman Returns, Constantine and the other Moore title V For Vendetta which is set for release in March. With the recent influx of comic source material in movies, this would be the perfect time for Watchmen to hit the big screen.

Agent 47 Comes To Life.

Caught up in the sudden wave of video game-to-movie productions, 20th Century Fox is bowling ahead with its adaptation of the Eidos game Hitman. Vin Diesel will play the ever ready and shiny bald Agent 47 and he will also executive produce the movie. Skip woods, who worked on the Logan's Run remake, will write the screenplay. Vin should be pretty good in the tough guy roll, as long as he does not try to pull a Riddick and be the balls-to-the-wall fighter. Agent 47 was a very stealthy hitman and hopefully the movie will stick with that character type.

Sin City : The TV Show.

Frank Miller's Sin City was an awesome movie and it was no surprise when it was announced that Rodriguez and Miller would team up once again for a 2nd Sin City film. The new film will center mainly on the graphic novel A Dame To Kill For. It would seem that after that movie there would probably be enough Miller material to do 1 more multi-story movie. Family Values would make a pretty cool side story. Well, it appears now that we will get even more sin City goodness as the series heads to the small screen. Variety has reported that following the release of the 2nd movie, a new TV series will be started taking place in the Sin City world. The starting date will probably be well into 2007 and it is unknown if it will be live action or animated. I can see them possibly trying a adult animated or CGI series (Roughnecks) due to the massive green screen and effects needed for the live action production. The other unknown is if Miller will present new material for the TV series. If they go for 3 feature movies, that will pretty much eat up all the published material, also the tone of millers work would have to be toned down for network TV unless it gets put onto HBO or FX on cable.

And this little tidbit of information gives me another excuse to post a picture of a scantly clad Jessica Alba.

SOX WIN !!! SOX WIN !!

Way to go White Sox. 2005 World Series Champs !!!!

Painkiller Jane on Sci-Fi.

Painkiller Jane, the creation of comic greats Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti, heads to the Sci-Fi channel on December 10th for a 2 hr made for TV movie. Jane will be played by Emmanuelle Vaugier who was recently in Saw II and will also appear in House Of The Dead 2. Emmanuelle stated they did not use the signature "bandages" that Jane dons in the comics, but they did give her a special jacket to wear. A jacket?? Come on, the bandages are one of the cool striking features of the comic character, why change something that is so connected to the character.

For those unfamiliar with the character, she first appeared in the comic 22 Brides and then in some solo issues. Jane has also teamed up with characters like the Punisher, Hellboy and Vampirella. Jane was a normal military grunt until she was exposed to some bio-weapons that changed her cell structure and makes her heal at a accelerated rate (ala Wolverine).

The show that airs on Sci-Fi is intended to possibly be a pilot for a ongoing series if the rating are good. Its a good character that could generate some interesting stories if thgey stick close to the source material. Hopefully it won't be ruined to bad by the TV screenwriters. Only time will tell.

Holy Bulging Biceps Batman !

DC Comics must have had their gay-dar turned up to high when they tracked down a few pieces of art on the web from 37 yr old artist Mark Chamberlain. Mark's art depicts the Caped Crusader in various states of undress (along with a few with just a mask) along with Robin the Boy Wonder. DC attorneys sent a cease-and-desist order to the artist and to Kathleen Cullen Fine Art who has the art on display. The letter also named the owners of the website Artnet.com which has the art posted online. The artist and website owners believe that the art is safe and acceptable under the parody exception of the US Copyright laws. A civil suit like this can be very expensive and it will be interesting to see if DC will follow thru with a suit or just try to rattle cages in hopes that the artist pulls the work himself without further action.

The art for the time being is still on display and can be viewed here. Please be warned that some are very explicit and are not suitable for those of young age or who are easily offended.

White Sox Win Game 1.

Back when I was living in Chicago (which spanned over 30 yrs) we never thought of the Sox going to the World Series. But now they have gone to the big show against the Houston Astros and have pulled off the first game with a 5-3 win.

Way to go White Sox,,,Good Luck in game 2!!

Chronicles Of Narnia Pics.

Its getting closer and closer to the release of The Chronicles Of Narnia : The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe on December 9th. As we get closer more and more images and trailer are coming out and this really looks like it will be the epic movie it should be and hopefully spawn the sequels it deserves. Here are a couple of my favorite images so far.

This is a great picture of the Tilda Swinton as the White Witch in her battle gear. I love the Lions mane head-dress and the chain mail dress. Tilda has a striking features which really suit the White witch.

here is what I think is the money shot of the whole first trailer. Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) on top of the mountain giving a mighty roar. I can remember as a kid reading all the books and envisioning this scene in my mind. I am very excited and cannot wait to take my kids to see this movie with me in December.

You can view the trailer and several making-of featuretts here.

The New James Bond.

It has been officially announced that the English actor Daniel Craig has been cast as the 6th James Bond.
Craig (37) will play Bond in the upcoming Casino Royale to be directed by Martin Campbell. According to Reuters, "in typically flamboyant 007 style, Craig swept up the River Thames on a power launch to a news conference escorted by Royal Marines." Craig is actually almost a decade older than what the filmmakers had stated they were looking for in a new Bond, since Royale will be about a younger Bond on a early 00 mission.

Stallone Makes Another Run At Rocky!

It looks like Sylvester Stallone is finally going to be able to step back into the shoes of Rocky Balboa. After years of talk and planning the next Rocky film has been green-lit with Stallone in the leading role as well as writing, Directing and Producing the movie. The premise revolves around a older Rocky who has retired but is of coarse drawn back into the ring 1 final time. At this time the title is being listed as "Rocky Balboa" and not Rocky VI as it was first talked about. Stallone states he wants this movie to be set apart from all the past movies in the series. (But you know everyone will just call it Rocky 6) It is rumored that real-life light heavyweight Champ Antonio Tarver will be playing Rockys foe in this film and his name will be Mason Dixon. The film is set to start shooting in early 2006 and no release date has been posted. Stallone has appeared to have kept in shape over the years, but it will be interesting if he can still pull Rocky off and still be convincing in the role. When I first heard about this all I could think about was the "parody" Rocky poster in Total Recall where they have a guy that looks about 100 yrs old in the Rocky roll.

New Releases For Tuesday.

The past few months have produced a blizzard of new blockbuster DVD releases. This week we see the release of 2 summer hits. The first is, in my opinion, the best Batman movie made to date. Batman Begins comes to us in a loaded 2-disc set with lots of special features.

The movie itself can be purchased in widescreen or pan-n-scan(why would anyone want that?) The special features run the gamut of movie, comic and spoofs. it includes the MTV Tankman Begins skit from the movie awards, an interactive comic book, over 10 featurettes on costume and design, a photo gallery and a collectible 72-page comic book containing Detective Comics #27, Batman The Man That Fell and a excerpt from Batman The Long Halloween. This was just a wonderfully done movie that gave us a gritty look and Batman and really fleshed out the Bruce Wayne character. Nolan and Bale did a great job and are already in the works for a sequel.
The 2nd movie this week is George Romero's 4th Zombie film Land Of The Dead. It has been a long time in the works and finally saw the light of day after the release and box office draw of other zombie flicks like the Dawn remake and Shaun Of The Dead. Romero has taken the premise one step further with the zombies now populating the the world and the surviving humans inside walled cities for protection. This time the zombie have also involved and become more intelligent. Also like all Romero movies there is that underlying look at our present social and political issues. The disc is toted as a Unrated Director's Cut, so hopefully a lot of the stuff that Romero says was cut will make it back in. The disc includes commentary by Romero and 6 featurettes. The main feature is entitled Undead Again and gives a great view behind the scenes of the production. Also a very cool featurette called When Shaun met George is included which brings the stars of Shaun Of The Dead on set.

I would recommend both these movies to any genre fan and both are well worth the $19.95 price tag on each. (or cheaper if you try Discountdvd.com). The coming month will be a little tough on the movie collectors pocket with the release of some more great movies like, war Of The Worlds, The Devil's Rejects, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and more. And December looks to be just as full of release.

The Flash TV Series Comes To DVD.

Warner Bros. has officially announced the release of The Flash TV series on DVD. The DVD set will include all 22 episodes of the series and the 90 minute pilot movie. I am sure there will be some special features, but they have not yet been disclosed. The release date is set for January 10 2006.

Nic Cage, Father Of Superman.

I guess when you are rich and famous you get the strange idea to give your kids very unusual names. Well Nic Cage has joined the ranks of Hollywood parents and named his new baby Kal-El Coppela Cage. For those who might not know, Kal-El is the real name of Superman. It was known for a long time that Cage wanted to star in a Superman movie, so I guess if you can't star in the movie you should just saddle your kid with a Superman name for the rest of his life. Ya think maybe his wife would have had a slight objection to that name.

X-Men 3 Set Pic.

Here is a little peek onto the set of X-Men 3 with a nice shot of Wolverine, Storm, Magneto and Prof. X. Take note of Storms very short hair, and at my only major beef with the ongoing casting, Wolverine is just to darn tall. In this scene he is taller than Magneto. Thanks to Hollywood North Report for posting this picture.

George Lucas Needs Your Money !!

Good old George must be feeling the money pinch like the rest of us, so in a ploy to attempt to get more of our money he is once again reissuing Episodes IV-VI on DVD. This new DVD set will once again feature the 1997 releases and not the original theatrical prints. I sure do wish that the originals would be released on official DVD, for years I have been viewing my DVD copies that were transferred from the old laser discs, real copies would be great. The set will feature new artwork, some very modest and not worth re-buying bonus features and several Easter Eggs scattered throughout the 3 discs. The 3 disc set will be housed in a slipcase like the last release and retail for $49.99. The release date is set for December 6th, only 1 month after the release of Episode III on DVD.

I really do not see the need for another release of these movies. If they where the original theatrical prints it would be something to buy, but why spend $49.99 on a set that is basically identical to the last 3-disc set released. And you know it is only a matter of time until a boxed set of Episodes I-III are released.

DOOM Poster and Website.

Here is a shot of the new DOOM movie poster. The first-person view of the artwork really shows that they are aiming for the video game crowd. Scenes I have seen for the movie look pretty cool and they are attempting to stay with the story presented by the games over the years. Hopefully when it is released in Oct it will not disappoint the fans. You can check out the official web site here. It has just come active and has lots of content on it.

HALO scores Peter Jackson !

In a big announcement today it has been stated that none other than Peter Jackson of Lord Of The Rings and King Kong fame will be Executive Producing the new video game to movie adaptation of HALO. The rumor had been in the air for the past day or so and was finally confirmed on the Bungie website by Joseph Staten. Jackson will also have his effects workshop WETA handle the CGI and make-up effects. This can only mean good things ahead for the production of this movie. With Jackson's insight and creative thinking, and the amazing work of WETA, this will be a amazing and possibly one of the best game-to-movie adaptations. A crew from Bungie will travel to new Zealand next week to meet with Jackson to begin discussing ideas and plans for the movie

The new season of LOST.

Me and the Mrs, started watching LOST just this year when the DVD set was released. For the beginning of the year we didn't have network channels on our Direct TV, so we missed most of the episodes. So then started our LOST marathon, trying to watch all the episodes before the new season started. We had a ball and it was fun just sitting together watching a show that just kept your attention and at times kept you on the edge of your seat. We finished the last episode the same day as the season premiere. Now a new problem would start. I work every other Weds and she is out every Weds night. The old VCR would come in handy now so we could record the shows and watch them together later. The night of the premier we where able to sit together at about 11 pm to watch the premier and it was a decent episode since we finally were able to see what was in the hatch, but what about the guys on the raft, whats going on with Sawyer and Mike?, wheres the kid?? All in all it was good and leave it to the writers to once again throw another strange twist into the mix with the guy down in the hatch/bunker. Now came the wait until the following weds for the 2nd episode to air. This time we both had to work and then the Mrs went out of town, so we didn't watch it until Sunday night. This was a difficult wait, mostly because we had to avoid people who kept wanting to tell us about the story. we sat and watched and then kinda looked at each other and agreed that the 2nd episode was about the worst one we had seen yet. Sure we got to see the fate of the raft crew (we where laying bets before the show on how long it would take for Mike to blame somebody for what had happened and it took him about 5 minutes to blame Sawyer), but all the hatch scenes where basically rehashes of last weeks story just seen from different angles. We didn't learn anything new about the hatch or its occupant and never once saw any other of the cast who where on the island except for a quick scene in the cave. The end was promising with a look at the others and in the preview for next week we got to see the Michelle Rodriguez character, which proves that people from the tail of the plane did survive. Even after a disappointing episode it is still one of the best broadcast shows on TV and I hope it stays strong.

Star Wars Characters Gone Bad.

Here are a few funny pics I found while surfing the net.

Do you think those people in the background even know who that is ? NNNNOOOOOOOO!

Maybe this is why Chewbacca never received a medal.

Into The Blue in Theaters.

Who cares if it is good or bad.

'nuff said !

Star Wars Ep III Deleted Scenes--Part 3

Here is a look at the last deleted scene that I have screen-shots for. This would be taking place at the end of the movie, probably prior to Obi-Wan turning Luke over to Owen and Beru.



This is a nice scene that should have stayed in the movie. Here we have Yoda in his ship landing on Dagobah for his self-imposed exile.



And then we get a last shot of Yoda, contemplating his fate, so it would seem. This scene really helps tie Ep III in with Ep IV. We get to see Yoda arrival to where he will stay until Luke searches him out many years later.

It will be interesting to see if any other deleted scenes surface in the coming month before the DVD release in November. There could possibly be more, or these could be the only 3. We will just have to wait and see.

Star Wars Ep III Deleted Scenes--Part 2

In this 2nd part of my deleted scene post, we will look at what is called the Fuel Room Escape scene. Another scene that could very interesting and added more to the first part of the movie, including a earlier encounter with Grievous.

I am not exactly sure where this scene would have fit into the movie timeline. It would appear that it occurs before the rescue of Palpatine during the enisstial assault on the command ship. Obi and Anakin appear to be cutting thru the floor to escape the droids. But if you look at the picture you can see Grievous and his guards in this scene. The original version has Obi and Anakin facing Grievous after they have beaten Dooku and have Palpatine. So this would take some scene rearranging to fit this in. It will be interesting to see if these scenes will be added back into the movie or just as deleted scenes extras.

Here is a scene after the one above. After cutting through the floor , they drop into this large fluid filled chamber. There is one more screen shot of a close up of the characters deep in the fluid. It will be interesting to see where this scene ends and connects back into the movie timeline