Category: Movies

The Rock is Back, Baby!

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is back!  And by “back” I mean in the action genre that propelled him to fame.  Johnson will play an ex-con out to avenge his brother’s murder.  The film, called Faster,  will  be directed by George Notorious Tillman and co-star Billy Bob Thorton and Carla Gugino.

Oh, and how do we know it’s not a kid’s film?  Let me quote from USAToday’s First Look article:

How do you know this isn’t the Johnson of kid-friendly The Game Plan and Return to Witch Mountain? For starters, Johnson gets shot in the head.

Faster is set to premiere in November.  We’ll keep an eye out for more news as it becomes available.

R.I.P. – Fess Parker

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Fess Parker, best known for playing Davy Crockett in the 50’s and Daniel Boone in the 60’s died today at age 85.

Parker first gained fame playing Davy Crockett for Disney.  Although he’d played supporting characters [many uncredited] prior to getting the starring role as Crockett, it was almost a fluke that he ended up in the lead.  Disney execs were screening “Them!” to get a look at James Arness, who was being considered for the role of Davy Crockett, but they were so impressed with Fess Parker’s turn in a bit part that he ended up with the role that was make him known to millions.

After his run as Davy Crockett, Fess Parker appeared in several movies [perhaps the most famous being Old Yeller and guest appearances on tv.  In 1964, he again put on a coonskin cap and hit the big time.  Daniel Boone ran for 159 episodes from 1964 to 1970.  Not long after, Mr. Parker left show business to concentrate on real estate, and a winery.

I was a fan of the Daniel Boone series as a kid and spent many hours playing “Daniel Boone” with my friends.  I also had the Daniel Boone playset as a kid and spent even more hours playing with it.  I can still remember getting to see Old Yeller when it was re-released in the 60’s.  And of course watching Mr. Parker many, many times in his small but important role in the classic Them!

Mr. Parker is survived by his wife of fifty years, a son and daughter and many grandchildren.  My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.

Seen One Predator, Seen ‘Em All

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I have mixed feelings about this poster for Predators.  I like the idea and the black and white photography.  I guess the two things that bug me most are: 1] The Predator’s arm seems pretty small and not near long enough and 2] The movie is called Predators — at least hint that there is more than one.

Maybe I’m just being too picky, because I think this movie is going to be a winner.

Want to see a huge version of the poster above?  Then click over to IMPAwards and check it out!

“Predators” Live

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Since I’ve been out of town at MegaCon, I may be a bit behind the curve on the news that the Predators movie site has gone live.  There’s a gallery, a synopsis of the movie and some behind the scenes stuff introduced by executive producer, Robert Rodriguez.  If you haven’t seen the site already, it’s worth a look… or two.

“The Expendables” Comic Prequel

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If you can’t wait for The Expendables to premiere in theaters later this year, then perhaps an Expendables comic prequel will help hold you over. CBR.com has an interview with Chuck Dixon, the writer of the project. Here’s a bit of what Dixon had to say:

“This is a movie that Sylvester Stallone has been trying to get together for years; an action movie packed with as many well-known action stars as possible…

“Sly’s not re-inventing the wheel here. He’s just built a really bad-ass, killer wheel of awesomeness…

“My job is to tell a story that takes place before the events of the movie without revealing anything that’s to come in the movie’s story…

To read the full interview as well as see some preliminary art for the comic, simply click here.

Dave Wachter’s Rocky

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It couldn’t be more appropriate [since there were several pieces about Rocky and the Oscars in this week’s update] that we have Rocky by Dave Wachter for this week’s Stallone art. Dave’s work has appeared on the SZ before with his riff on Sly from Paradise Alley.

After the recent earthquake in Haiti, Dave offered everyone who made a donation to Doctors Without Borders to aide earthquake victims in Haiti a free sketch. The piece about is what I got for my donation. You can see what others selected, and more of Dave’s art by heading over to his website.

Thanks to Dave for my great sketch as well as his efforts to help the people in Haiti.

Survival of the Dead

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FilmFilia scored a first look a the red band trailer and some new posters for George Romero’s Survival of the Dead.  Although I’m not feeling the poster or the trailer like I hoped I would, you know at some point I’m going to have to check out Survival of the Dead.  I mean, c’mon, it’s George Romero and zombies.  Which is, pardon the expression a No BRAINSer.