Category: Celebs

Rodriguez, Jackson and a Pan Pizza with Everything

Posted on by

Crow, Hackett, P-Diddy and More

Posted on by

  • Michael Crow has created one of the most enjoyable hardboiled novels that I’ve ever read. I just finished Red Rain and have already ordered The Bite, his latest Luther Ewing novel [just published this month]. If you like crime fiction then check out Crow’s work.
  • .Dark Horizons posted two reviews for “Shade” today. Both of them were positive!
  • Comedian Buddy Hackett has died at the age of 78. I didn’t know until today that Buddy had been offered Curley’s spot with the Three Stooges after Curley had a stroke. Our prayers go out to Buddy’s family and friends.
  • SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) – Chilean scientists are baffled by a huge, gelatinous sea creature found washed up on the southern Pacific coast and are seeking international help identifying the mystery specimen. This is a story Jazz will love!
  • SAN FRANCISCO – People fascinated with the history of “The Rock,” aka Alcatraz Island, can now own a piece of it. So you could literally own a piece of the rock!
  • Sean ‘P-Diddy’ Combs has been sued for more than $25 million by a former business partner who charged the rapper with forcing him to sign away his interest in their company by threatening him with a baseball bat. P-Diddy must be a fan of the movie “The Untouchables.”

Kathern Hepburn; Suge Knight and More

Posted on by

Four-time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn died at 2:50 pm yesterday, at her Connecticut home, surrounded by family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends.

BERLIN (Reuters) – A German man lay dead in his bed for almost three years before being found, police said Friday. I’d like to think that someone would start missing me after oh, a YEAR or SO!

VIENNA (Reuters) – A woman lay awake during surgery for 45 minutes, unable to move or call for help, after staff forgot to hook up the machine pumping out anaesthetic. I’d like to think that someone would have noticed my tears after oh, a minute or SO!

BEIJING (AFP) – An investigation has begun after sightings of a legendary “ape-like” beast in the forests of central China, it was reported. Anyone checked to make sure Big Beatty hasn’t left the country?

Death Row Records founder Marion ‘Suge’ Knight has been arrested for allegedly punching a parking attendant outside a Los Angeles nightclub. This could effect his participation in “Rampart Scandal.”

28 days later; Return of the King; Rush Hour 3 and More!

Posted on by
  • I saw a great little horror film today. If you enjoy a good “zombie” flick in the vein [pardon the pun] of “Night of the Living Dead” then you’ll love this! “28 days later…” should be seen now not later! 
  • USAToday ran a picture of the advance poster for “The Return of the King,” the next installment in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The poster can also be seen at theonering.net. Peter Jackson [director] said it was his favorite of the three… I know I’m looking forward to it! 
  • Chris Tucker is in line for another $20 million-plus payday to co-star in “Rush Hour 3.” If he makes the movie it will be his third film since 1998 [with the other two being “Rush Hour” and “Rush Hour 2”]. It’s good work if you can get it! 
  • MESA, Ariz. – City officials in Mesa have mistakenly installed two bus shelters where no buses run. Can’t you just imagine some poor soul… “Uh… I’m sure it’ll be a long any minute now.” 
  • Singapore unveiled Friday plans for a $114 million, 558-foot Ferris wheel that would swing 114 feet above the current world record holder. “C’mon mom, don’t worry about SARS, I just GOTTA ride that Ferris wheel.” Yeah, that should bring in the tourists.
  • HANOI (Reuters) – A Vietnamese man passed off a lump of iron as valuable black bronze found buyers — but was paid $64,000 in counterfeit bills. Talk about poetic justice! 
  • PARIS (AFP) – Bean-lovers, rejoice: the embarrassing side-effect of your favourite food may soon become a distant memory. Big Beatty can go back to eating chilli on his omlettes!
  • NEW YORK (AFP) – New York police rescued and then arrested a red-faced burglar after he managed to get himself stuck in the chimney of the restaurant he was trying to burgle. Another criminal mastermind brought to justice!
  • BERLIN (Reuters) – A German thief has had to call the police to rescue him after becoming trapped during a bungled break-in. Still another criminal mastermind brought to justice!
  • STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Vodka-flavored ice pops won’t be available on store shelves in Sweden after regulators said Tuesday they were worried that young kids might eat them. Guess that means no crack flavored cupcakes either!

The Interman, the Hellboy, the Lucky Man, the Miracle Man, and Seahorses

Posted on by

Jeff Parker’s The Interman rocks. It is one of the most intelligently written graphic novels that I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Check it out. I’ll bet you’ll like it too!

CHUD has a nice interview with Ron “Hellboy” Perlman. Now, this is a comic movie that I can get behind!

Ashton Kutcher must be living right. He co-stars in “That 70’s Show,” hosts MTV’s “Punk’d.” is up against Prince William in an online vote for People magazine’s top bachelor of the year, and is dating Demi Moore. Wouldn’t you think that dating Demi Moore would be enough?

A woman has claimed that Ozzy Osburne is the father of her six year old child. I guess she didn’t know that Ozzy he had a vasectomy 17 years ago.

Seahorses are their own worst enemy. They’ve been fished to the point of extinction, yet they mate for life and their unwillingness to seek new partners after being separated has done little to improve their chances of survival. Seems the seahorses don’t believe until “death do us part.”

Monster Bash, Halfway Home for Arnie, Lisa Marie Preps and More Planet Hollywood

Posted on by
  • The 7th Annual Monster Bash was held this weekend in Pittsburgh. It featured guests [the guy who played the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Boris Karlaff’s daughter, etc.] and film showings. I’ve been in the mood for some good horror movies [last night we watched “Frankenstien,” “Donavan’s Brain,” and “The Invisible Man”]… if I lived near Pittsburgh, I’d have attended the show! 
  • Arnold told Bob Costas that he feels like he’s in the middle of his career.  If Arnold does “King Conan” I’ll believe him. 
  • Lisa Marie Presley is getting ready for her first concert tour. Presley will play hour-long sets opening for Chris Isaak but will NOT cover any of her dad’s songs. Maybe she can cover some over her ex-husband’s songs. That could be a real “Thriller.” 
  • A federal bankruptcy court awarded the billion-dollar Aladdin casino to investors who plan to turn the Las Vegas property into a Planet Hollywood-themed resort! And you just know I love me some Planet Hollywood!

“Assault on Precinct 13” Remake; “Blade III”, “Shade” and More

Posted on by
  • According to a post at Ain’t It Cool News, one of my favorite John Carpenter movies, “Assault on Precienct 13” is being remade. I’d love to see Sly Stallone play Napoleon Wilson in a low budget remake. 
  • Ain’t It Cool also has a post about “Blade III”with writer David Goyer set to direct. I didn’t care for “Blade” but thought that “Blade II” was one of the best horror movies in years so I don’t know what to expect with “III.” 
  • Dark Horizons reports that “Shade” “the Stallone film will recieve its world premiere at the Cinevegas Film Festival on June 21st.” Ah, life is good! 
  • “Finding Nemo” earned $70.6 million this weekend which is the best ever weekend haul for an animated movie. Look for “Nemo: Reloaded” coming to a theater near you! 
  • Mswati is Africa‘s last absolute monarch and he says that women wearing pants are the reason the world is in such a sad state and that human rights are an “abomination before God.” And here I thought it was because of mimes. 
  • A German wanted for theft has been arrested after he reported his wallet stolen. Can you say “poetic justice?” 
  • Singapore plans to rate public toilets using a five-star system called “Happy Toilet” which is similar to that used to grade hotels. Although I think it’s a pretty good idea, I’m sure there are those who think it is a load of crap.

“Tanks, But No Tanks” and More!

Posted on by
  • Did you wonder why “Tank” wasn’t in the sequels to “The Matrix”? Marcus Chong, the actor who played Tank, claims he was blackballed by the producers. I liked the character and the actor who played him but after reading the article I think I can see why they said, “Tanks, but no tanks.”

  • A suburban Washington woman was in a Maryland jail Monday on charges of assaulting a 4-year-old after he spilled ice cream on her in a fast-food restaurant over the weekend, police said. The woman shouted obscenities at the child and his grandmother, chased the boy around the restaurant and eventually rubbed hot french fries in his face, a Montgomery County police spokeswoman said. Brings a whole new meaning to “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.”

Cruise, Ming and OZ

Posted on by

 

  • NBA star Yao Ming took center stage at a telethon Sunday, which raised more than $300,000 to help researchers seeking a cure for SARS. The Houston Rockets center said this was his way of giving back to his homeland. If only more celebrities felt this way!

 

  • Was it a break-in or a break-out? Speaking of Prison… I rented season one of OZ. I’ve heard great things about the HBO series… and ya gotta love a good prison story.

Dangerfield & Ridley

Posted on by
  • Rodney Dangerfield looks to fully recover from brain surgery. Dangerfield is one of my favorite comedians, so I’m especially happy to hear that he’ll be providing more laughs in the near future!
  • John Ridley has signed on to direct the thriller “Let Me Take You Down” from his screenplay. The project is an “eerie tale of murder, obsession, intrigue and Hollywood folklore” when a young woman who is murdered has similarities with the 1947 Black Dahlia case. John Ridley is one of my favorite writers. This could be a winner!

“X2” – George Wyle – Jennifer Garner – Stephen King and James Brown!

Posted on by

  • “X2: X-Men United” opened with a projected $85.85 million debut . This would make it the fourth highest opening ever and almost a sure thing to spawn an “X-Men 3.”
    With the popularity of some of the individual characters, such as Wolverine and Nightcrawler, it might be interesting to see them spring off into their own films separate from the other “X-Men.”     What do you think about that idea?

  • George Wyle, who wrote the theme song to “Gilligan’s Island” has died at the age of 87. I was going to say that even if that was the only song that he ever wrote that attained any level of popularity, he had accomplished more than most. The I discovered that he also wrote the Christmas classic “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and more than 400 other songs. Although most people probably don’t know his name, I’ll be they can sing the theme to “Gilligan’s Island”! Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Wyle’s family and friends.

  • “Alias” star Jennifer Garner will replace Gwyneth Paltrow in “Happy Endings,” which is set to shoot this summer in Los Angeles. Lisa Kudrow will co-star in the comedy.It’s really amazing how popular Jennifer Garner has gotten. Seems she’s everywhere these days. Not that I’m complaining! ; )

  • Two new Stephen King stories have been discovered. “The 43rd Dream” and “Code Name: Mousetrap,” are believed to be among the earliest published works of best seller Stephen King. Believe it or not, they appeared in his high school newspaper… copies have been selling on e-Bay for several hundred dollars.

  • James Brown celebrated his 70th birthday Saturday! Ya gotta love it. “The Godfather of Soul” is still touring, has recently lost weight and… uh, he feels good! Ugh!

ZONE Logo & More

Posted on by

 

  • Hey! What do you think about the new ZONE logo that Big John Beatty did for me? Pretty cool, huh? And have you checked out the new StalloneZone Message Board? It, too, is very cool… and easy to use! I’ve been spending a lot of time over there talking about things like…
  • Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton were geniuses but British scientists believe they may have suffered from Asperger syndrome — a form of autism.

  • Aaron Sorkin, creator of the Emmy-winning White House drama “The West Wing” is leaving the series after this season.

  • David Lee Roth used a shotgun to detain an unwanted visitor when a man being chased by police climbed over a fence and tried to hide in the rock star’s yard!

  • There’s also a lot of discussion about the new X-Men movie as well as other summer films!
    We’ve added polls and caption “contests” and more. If you haven’t dropped by, you really ought to     join us!

  • With a new logo and new message board… who knows what’s next? Stick around and you will!

So… What’s on Your Mind?

Posted on by

So, what’s on your mind?

Many of you find your way here through StalloneZone, while others come in through the art gallery or from message boards at other sites. However you got here, I want to thank you for taking the time to check out what I have to say. I’d also like to hear what’s on your mind. I’ve opened up a NEW message board which should be more user friendly. Why not drop by and tell me what you’re thinking?

Here’s some stuff that I’ve been thinking about this morning:

  • There’s a sad article about Charlton Heston making his final appearance before the NRA. A lot of people bag on Heston for his stance on guns, or make jokes about his acting ability. While I don’t agree with everything he stands for and he’s not high on my list of favorite actors; I do admire his taking a stand for what he believes in. He also starred in some of my all-time favorite movies. [Who doesn’t love “Ben Hur” or the original “Planet of the Apes”?]. It was sad to read he was schuffling on stage and only said three sentences. Alzeheimer’s is a terrible, terrible disease.
  • Despite a $60,000 reward, there have been no leads into who killed Jam Master Jay [real name: Jason Mizell] of Run-DMC fame. What’s also equally surprising is that the article says that Mizell was “drowning in debt.” It’s hard for me to understand how celebrities can STILL go through all of their money… you’d think that someone in their family or friends would say, “Hey! You’ve made enough for the rest of your life if you don’t go crazy.” For most people three words should get the message across “M – C – Hammer.”
  • Shelley Morrison, who plays a wisecracking maid on television’s “Will & Grace,” has been arrested for investigation of felony shoplifting in LA. Comedian Jamie Foxx and his sister were arrested in New Orleans for allegedly refusing to leave a casino and then fighting with police officers. Two comedians get arrested — hmmm… sounds like a set-up for a sitcom.

Movies In Our Future

Posted on by

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a theater to see a movie, but with the summer season approaching that’s going to change. The best trailer that I’ve seen lately has been for Underworld. I really haven’t heard much about this movie, but the preview kicks and kicks hard. It will be on my “must -see” list.

Of the other new trailers, here are a few you might want to check out: S.W.A.T. looks like a sure thing with Samuel L. Jackson, Collin Farrell and Michelle Rodriguez.  Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle looks to be as much fun as the original, so I’ll plan to see it..

Hollywood Homicide [with Harrison Ford], Pirates of the Carribean and The Hulk look to be movies I’ll pass on, at least until a rental is available.

I’m sure that we’re going to see more trailers for “Terminator 3,” “Spy Kids 3D,” and many more in the next few weeks. And you know I’ll post up my thoughts and the links here!

AtlantaCon 2003 Report, Part 2

Posted on by

Preview in new tab

So where did we leave off? Oh yeah…

I’m at AtlantaCon with my son, Mike. I’ve picked up sketches from Jason Alexander, Andy Lee, and Cully Hamner. Adam Hughes will have my sketch ready on Sunday. Believe it or not the day gets even better!

How? Glad that you asked! Well, let me tell you…

AtlantaCon and Chud.com have teamed up to present a special screening of Equilibrium followed by a Q&A session with writer/director, Kurt Wimmer. Seating was limited, but I was able to get two tickets.

The only thing that I knew about the movie was that it starred Christian Bale and Taye Diggs, was scifi set in the future and received good word of mouth. I figured we’d be in for an entertaining evening even if the movie was just “ok.”

The screening was set for 7:30. Everyone was to get there by seven. Mike and I arrived at 6:40. A crowd was already forming. Mike and I ended up next to Nick from Chud. We had a nice conversation. I was pleased to learn that he knew of StalloneZone. He was also a Stallone fan. Nick said that we were in for a very cool film with Equilibrium.  It was a movie that he was really proud to help promote. I also spoke briefly with Jen who has set up a very nice Equilibrium fan site.

Soon it was time to go in. Mike and I took seats in the middle of the last row. People continued in and the theater was nearly full. Nick thanked us all for coming and that Kurt Wimmer had flown in from LA to attend the screening. Kurt had brought drinks and chips for the crowd!

As Mike went down to get a couple of sodas Cully Hamner, Phil Noto, Brian Stelfreeze, and Karl Story came in.  They sat directly in front of us. When Mike came back and saw them sitting there a giant smile came across his face. [For those of you who aren’t comic fans, this would be like driving to a basketball convention and having Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, and well, you get the idea, sitting in front of you.] Right before the movie started a gentleman and his young son took seats next to Mike.

The movie started.  It immediately took you to another place. It’s our world, but in the near future. The opening scene is so cool and so well done that I knew we were in for a ride. Then comes the action and – MAN – it is AWESOME! I loved Christian Bale‘s work in Shaft and Reign of Fire but Equilibrium shows that he is a star. Taye Diggs, Emily Watson and Sean Bean are also excellent… but the real star of the show is Kurt Wimmer who wrote and directed it.

Kurt has also written other screenplays including The Recruit and The Thomas Crown Affair. After the movie ended Kurt Wimmer was introduced.  He went to the front of the auditorium for the Q&A session. It was the guy sitting next to Mike! Mike looked at me like he couldn’t believe it… watching the movie with the Gaijin guys and the director of the movie!

Kurt was really entertaining. He spent an hour answering questions about the film. After the Q&A ended a group of us [including Brian Stelfreeze] stood in the lobby discussing how cool the film was. The dvd will be out in May. My advice is to pre-order now. I think this baby is a sleeper.

Sunday arrived. The final day of the show. The main question on my mind: Would Adam Hughes be able to get to my sketch? As we walked in I heard John Higashi yelling, “Craig, come and see what Adam did for you!” Needless to say, I was excited. Adam had created a very, very cool drawing of Sly dressed for an audition as Superman. I absolutely love the idea and execution. Adam Hughes is da MAN! I got a picture of Adam holding the sketch and thanked him.

Phil Noto was setting up. I checked to see if he would be able to fit me in. Unfortunately Phil was booked solid. He said he would do something for me and asked if I would leave him my address. I did and offered to pay for the sketch in advance. Phil said we’d settle up once he was finished with it. Believe me, it will be worth the wait! [Next on my list will, hopefully, be Brian Stelfreeze!]

Mike and I then went over to see Dan Brereton. We discussed a Stallone sketch. Dan was leaning towards a Rocky, but as he looked through my reference book he mentioned that he really liked Nighthawks. Whatever he wanted to do was fine by me. He said to check back in a couple of hours.

Mike and decided to visit some artists one last time. Mike got a headshot of Batman by Phil Hester, a Batman by Dave Cook of Splatter Comix and a Batman by Tim Flanagan. Our final stop was with Jacen Burrows. Jacen was doing some really interesting sketches. Mike got one for his sketchbook. I asked Jacen if he’d be interested in doing a Sly drawing for me. He said he would, but that he’d want to do it at home. We agreed on a price and Jacen said he’d have it to me in about a month!

Mike and I then headed back over to Dan Brereton‘s table. The piece was finished. It was a knockout! Dan had opted to do Deke DaSilva from Nighthawks! I got a picture of Dan and his lovely lady, thanked him. It was time Mike and I got back on the road for home.

It was a great show. I’ll post pictures of the artists and their artwork later this week. Mike and I hope to return next year. Maybe we’ll see you there!