Craig Zablo’s Zone

Archive for February, 2004

Frank Miller’s Sin City directed by Robert Rodriguez! Man, that news is just too good to be true.

Frank Miller’s a genius. Daredevil... Ronin… The Dark Knight Returns… 300… and my personal favorite, his Sin City series.

Robert Rodriguez is the man behind El Mariachi, Desparado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico and the Spy Kids Series… 1, 2 and 3D.

Now Rodriguez is teaming with Miller to bring Sin City to the big screen. And when I say, “teaming,” I mean as co-directors.

According to Harry at Ain’t It Cool News the screenplay will pull from Sin City, That Yellow Bastard, The Big Fat Kill and possibly Booze, Broads & Bullets.

The only thing cooler than that is how Miller and Rodriguez got together.

After seeing “Kill Bill” I left disappointed.

I felt that the hospital scene was excessively gross… even for a movie which thrived on excess and went down from there.

Yet, I will probably return to see the conclusion in Kill Bill 2.

I’ve heard that it is more like Tarantino’s other films. I sure hope so.

Well… if it’s half as good as the latest advance poster, then I’ll leave happy.

[For a larger look, click HERE.]

A new trailer for The Punisher is online.

I think that the movie will probably do okay at the box office…
but it could go either way.

If the younger crowd gets behind it, it could do pretty well. If the reviews are good and it’s advertised to reach the baby boomers, it’ll do even better.

But it could just as easily sink. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

One of the biggest suprises to hit Hollywood in recent years is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The Rock took a bit part in The Mummy and in just a small role showed an amazing amount of screen presence and charisma. Last year’s The Rundown was one of my favorite movies of the year. It had just the right blend of action and drama.

Next up for The Rock is Walking Tall, which I have to admit sounded like a bad idea to me. I did change my opinion after seeing the trailer. The Walking Tall web site is now open. Look around and see what you think.

That’s the new Dawn of the Dead poster above and the original below.

I guess the new one is scarier but I still love the look of the old one.

The real question is will the new movie be as good as the original?

I’ve always liked Mel Gibson. I’m talking about Mel Gibson, the actor.

Gibson could have went the easy route after the runaway worldwide success of The Road Warrior. But he didn’t. Instead he took chances… movies like Hamlet, The River, and The Year of Living Dangerously.

Then Mel Gibson, the actor, took an even bigger chance and became Mel Gibson the director. He soared to even greater heights with Braveheart and The Patriot. Gibson hedged his bets somewhat since he was the star of both of these megahits. But with The Passion of Christ he has put it all on the line.

Gibson co-wrote, directed and funded [to the tune of $30 million or more of his own money] The Passion of Christ. The movie is subtitled since the actors speak the original languages. And Gibson’s face never appears on screen. Talk about taking chances. All of this has added to my admiration of Mel Gibson.

Last night after watching his interview on ABC’s Primetime I was even more impressed. Gibson spoke openly and honestly about his crisis of faith and how his beliefs have saved… even redeemed him. He answered the charges that he was anti-Semitic. And he refused to answer anything about his father other than to say that he loved him. Mel says that message of The Passion of Christ is “faith, hope, love and forgiveness.” It was refreshing to see a celebrity be so open and revealing. And while I may not believe everything in the same way as Mel I can honestly say that I’ve never liked him more.

I’m talking about Mel Gibson, the man.

30 Days of Night was one of the best vampire stories in any medium in recent years. The fact that it was done in a comic made it all the more impressive.

I mean, how many people pay attention to comic books? [Thankfully the number seems to be on the upswing.]

Steve Niles then followed up 30 Days of Night with the sequel Dark Days. Surprisingly [well, not so surprisingly if you follow Niles' writing], it didn’t seem like a forced sequel. And it was good, really good.

If you missed out on it, or if like me, you like a trade edition for the bookshelf, then click HERE.

While we’re on the subject of cool comics, Red / Tokyo Storm Warning is another trade paperback that you may want to check out.

Red / Tokyo Storm Warning is actually two comic book comic mini-series for the price of one, both written by fan favorite Warren Ellis.

Red alone is worth the price of admission. Drawn by Cully Hamner [check out his take on Sly!], Red is the story of retired CIA assassin Paul Moses who finds himself the target of a hit… by his own government! This would make a great movie and you just know who I’d love to see play Moses.

Tokyo Storm Warning [drawn by James Raiz and Andrew Currie] imagines a world where Tokyo, not Hiroshima, was nuked in WWII. Now American test pilot Zoe Flynn must help turn the tide against massive monsters!

Coming soon to a comic shop near you… or better yet place your pre-order HERE!

Without a doubt one of the most enjoyable comics going today is Eric Powell’s The Goon.

Dark Horse says The Goon “is a hilarious blend of pulpy horror and slapstick comedy following the ongoing misadventures of the man they call the Goon and his spastic sidekick Franky as they battle the legions of the undead!” Yeah, that pretty much sums it up!

I’ve been buying and loving the Goon since it was a little self-published comic. Now that it’s one of the most popular comics going today, I’m still pumping it up. Although I’ve posted this link before, here it is again in case you missed it… read The Goon #1 for free by clicking HERE.

Then if you’re so inclined check out the first and second trade paperback and here’s a link for the third which is just now being pre-ordered. [That's the cover for it to the left.]

The last ZONE piece that I did on Mel Gibson brought in a lot of e-mail, so I thought that many of you would be interested in another Mel Gibson update.

Mel is featured on the cover and is the subject of a lengthy article in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly. Mel will also sit for an interview that will air on ABC’s Monday “Primetime.” Mel also has an interview in the March issue of Reader’s Digest. You can read excerpts HERE.

Finally, the Ransom Special Edition dvd will be released on March 23rd. It’ll have a commentary track by director Ron Howard, extensive deleted scenes, a “What Would You Do” making-of featurette, and more.

If you have a passion [sorry, I couldn't resist] for Mel Gibson movies, then February and March are going to be a lot of fun!