“Kong: Skull Island” Limited Edition Prints by Francesco Francavilla
Francesco Francavilla has created a very cool limited edition print for Kong Skull Island. There are actually two versions that you can see at Mondotees.com.
“Baby Driver” Official Trailer, International Trailer and Poster are Here!
Wow! Baby Driver looks like a great ride. Check out the official trailer below and the international trailer even farther down.
Rocky and Mickey Limited Edition Maquettes
Have you seen these Rocky and Mickey limited edition statues coming from NECA?
These limited edition maquettes (statues) are based on a famous stopmotion commercial from the late 1990s that starred Rocky and his trainer Mickey in puppet form. Even in stylized form, those two had selling power!
Working from the actual puppets used to make the commercial, we’ve reproduced Rocky and Mickey as extra-detailed maquettes. Rocky stands approximately 12″ tall and has fabric boxing shorts. Mickey stands approximately 10″ tall and features fabric hat and clothing.
Both statues are in accurate scale to each other and have movable eyes that can be positioned in various directions.
Comes with two display bases. Limited to 1500 pieces worldwide
Any of my deep-pocket buddies wondering about an early birthday or Christmas present for me… now ya know. ; )
15 Revival Series We Want That Will Never Happen
Padraig Cotter and ScreenRant present 15 Revival Series We Want That Will Never Happen. Using just Cotter’s list, here are my top 3 suggestions…
- Frazier – I loved the series and it could be fun to revisit the characters to see how they’ve matured.
- Firefly – I came to Firefly after it had already been cancelled, but really enjoyed it. Yeah, I’d tune in if it came back.
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – I’d bet they could even get Arnold to guest occasionally now!
Breaking Bad and Seinfeld were two shows that I absolutely loved and they made their wanted revival list. Not for me though. For Breaking Bad the story has been told. And told very well. Leave it alone. As for Seinfeld, it is a classic comedy series. Perhaps the greatest comedy series ever. The finale is a stain on the memory of Seinfeld and a revival would just look like grumpy middle-agers complaining.
How about these three series that didn’t make the cut, but I’d revive in a heartbeat if given the chance:
- Justified: There are more stories to tell for Raylan Givens… even if they don’t involve Boyd Crowder… although they could.
- The Shield: Bring back Vic Mackey!
- The Twilight Zone: We need a good anthology. Twilight Zone was the best.
21 Movies I’m Embarrassed to Admit I Love
Germain Lussier and io9 present 21 Movies I’m Embarrassed to Admit I Love. Using just Lussier’s list, here are my top 3 movies…
- Armageddon – is an action/adventure by way of a disaster movie wrapped around a love story. Yeah, it’s over the top but what do you expect when you send deep water oil drillers into space to save the world?
- Independence Day – is another over the top combo disaster film by way of alien invasion… and that’s before we even get to Randy Quaid cropdusting an alien spaceship to death.
- Twister – is a disaster movie that gets crazy even before we see the flying cow. But like Armageddon and Independence Day are fun rides.
Although they didn’t make the list, two movies that would have are The 13th Warrior and Babylon A.D. — love ’em both even if no one else does!
Ken Meyer Jr.’s Ink Stains 44: Gulacy, Starlin, Simonson and More!
If you’re a fan of fanzines, then you’ve got to check out Ken Meyer, Jr.’s monthly column Ink Stains. Each month Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts… well, let’s let Ken explain…
I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!
For Ink Stains 44, Ken took a look at Whizzard 12, 13 and 14 from 1979 – 1981 from Marty Klug.
Whizzard 12 features –
- Walt Simonson cover
- Jim Starlin frontpiece (seen above)
- Interviews with Simonson, Starlin, Michael Golden and Mike Nasser
- Spot illos by Rick Burchett, Terry Austin
- Indexes for Simonson, Starlin, Golden and Nasser
- Fan art and articles
Whizzard 13 features –
- Interviews with Marshall Rogers, Craig Russell, Tim Conrad, Steve Gerber and Don McGregor
- Indexes for Russell, Conrad and Rogers
- Art by Conrad, Rick Burchett and art pulled from comics by Rogers, Russell
- Fan art and articles
Whizzard 14 features –
- Mike Nasser/Terry Austin cover
- Interviews with Paul Gulacy, Dick Giordano and Mike Nasser
- Indexes for Gulacy
- Centerspread by Paul Gulacy
- Art by Rick Burchett, Ken Meyer, Jr., Mike Nasser and others
Boy, did these bring back memories. I owned all of these fanzines back in the day. Ken points out in his Ink Stains article that Whizzard was more focused on interviews than art and that art is timeless. As I looked back over these issues (which I loved at the time) I kept thinking I’d have loved to seen more art. Still, it was great to revisit them.
Ah, the memories of the glory days of fanzines. Thanks to Ken Meyer, Jr. for making these available!
“28 Days Later”: The Intimacy of Horror
28 Days Later: The Intimacy of Horror is a well made examination of how Danny Boyle amped up the horror through the use of intimacy.
18 Things We Learned from John Carpenter’s “Rio Bravo” Commentary
Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 18 Things We Learned from John Carpenter’s Rio Bravo Commentary. Here are my three favorites…
2. Hawks is Carpenter’s favorite director, and this is one of his favorite films ever made. He’s long credited it with being the inspiration for his own Assault on Precinct 13.
8. Robert Mitchum’s brother, John, plays the bartender in the scene where Chance and Dude enter the bar in search of the wounded bad guy.
9. The belt buckle Wayne wears during the film was a gift from Hawks upon the completion of their first film together, Red River. It features the brand from the ranch his character owned in the film.
The Official Trailer for “The Fate of the Furious”!
Here’s the Official Trailer for The Fate of the Furious!
I’m a fan of the series but have a hard time with the idea that Dom has turned his back on his family. Everyone knows he hasn’t. Still with the great cast and way over the top action it should be a fun couple of hours.
The Real Reason ‘Hudson Hawk’ is So Bonkers
Even Hudson Hawk‘s most devoted fans would admit that the movie goes waaaay over the top.
Guess what? It wasn’t always meant to be like that!
During filming of Hudson Hawk, testing on Bruce Willis’ previous movie, The Bonfire of the Vanities, showed that audiences loved Willis. They were even going to re-edit Bonfire prior to its release to make Willis’ role bigger.
Suddenly Bruce Willis had much more say on Hudson Hawk so it kept getting wilder and wilder. I’m not complaining since I’ve always enjoyed Hudson Hawk but it is interesting to consider what it would have been like as a more conventional heist film.
Check out The Real Reason ‘Hudson Hawk’ is So Bonkers by Fred Topel at /Film for the complete lowdown.
The Top 5 Movie Mistakes for “John Wick”
Here are The Top 5 Movie Mistakes for John Wick.
10 Self-Defense Tips from Boxer Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey, the Heavyweight Champion who many call the Greatest Heavyweight Fighter of the 20th Century wrote a book on self-defense.
Jake Rosen and Mental_Floss present 10 Self-Defense Tips from Boxer Jack Dempsey. If you click over you can see all 10 tips as well as a pdf of Dempsey’s book. In the mean time, here are my top three tips from the Champ…
3. KNOW YOUR ENVIRONMENT.
Has a hooligan drawn you into a physical confrontation? Before you even think about raining blows upon him, consider your arena: “Let me suggest that any time you are about to be drawn into a fight, keep your head and make a split-second survey of your surroundings,” Dempsey cautions. “Decide immediately whether you have fighting-room and whether you have good footing. If you haven’t, try to force your opponent to shift to another battleground, where your knowledge of fighting will leave the percentage in your favor. Yell at him, for example: ‘Okay, wise guy! You want to fight! Let’s see if you’ve got the guts to come out into the street and fight me like a man!’”
This, Dempsey says, will allow you to avoid obstacles and crowds, “so that you’ll be able to knock his head off when you get him where you can fight without footing handicaps.”
7. NEVER SWING, UNLESS YOU WANT A RIDE IN A HEARSE.
Any pro will tell you that straight punches are the key to victory: Wild, looping punches dilute your guard and lack precision. Dempsey is no different. “Some current fighters attempt a long-range right upper-cut called the ‘bolo’ punch. They even attempt to lead with it. Let me warn you that the bolo is more showy than explosive. It’s more dangerous to the user than to his opponent. The bolo, or any long-range uppercut, is merely an underhanded swing. And you know that any type of swing, against a good straight puncher, signals to the mortician.”
10. FINISH IT QUICK.
The number one obstacle to victory in any altercation, Dempsey writes, is fatigue. “True, your opponent also may be getting fatigued; but you can’t be certain about his exact condition unless he’s blowing and staggering. You know for sure only that you’re nearly ‘all in,’ and that he’s still out there swinging at you. Accordingly, the longer he keeps fighting, the less chance you have of winning; but the greater chance you have of being battered, cut up, knocked down, knocked out, or injured.”
The “Manassa Mauler” has practical advice to combat this issue. “Because of the danger in a fist-fight, it is imperative that you end the brawl as quickly as possible; and the best way to do that is by a knockout. The knockout is far more important in fist-fighting than in boxing, YOU’VE GOT TO KNOCK ‘EM OUT IN FIST-FIGHTS.”
The 30 best TV Shows Ever
Daniella Lucas and GamesRadar.com present The 30 best TV Shows Ever. Lucas’ list is a good one, with the understanding that for the most part, we’re looking at dramas. Otherwise you’d have to include at least one of the following: The Honeymooners, Andy Griffith, Seinfeld, All in the Family, etc.
With that said, it is still tough to limit the list to 30. Using just their list, here are my top three (in alpha order) and reasons…
- Breaking Bad – The first time I can ever remember seeing the main character’s arc take them from being a good character to someone so evil. Also my first binge-watching series.
- The Shield – I was rooting for the bad guy each week. Wha-what?
- The Walking Dead – Love the genre. Was a huge fan of the comic from the first issue. AMC took a chance and made the series into a huge hit.
Shows I would have included had they been on the list: The Wild, Wild West and Justified.
The 25 Best Action Movies to Get Your Adrenaline Pumping
Gem Seddon and GamesRadar.com present The 25 Best Action Movies to Get Your Adrenaline Pumping. It’s a good list which includes Terminator 2, First Blood, Hard Boiled, Raiders of the Lost Arc, The Matrix and more. Very, very tough to narrow it down to just the top three but I did. Here they are in alpha order…
- Aliens
- Die Hard
- John Wick
I chose these three because they really redefined the genre.
Aliens took a haunted house movie and turned it into a war picture.
Die Hard confined the action to a building. Movies after that were summed up as Die Hard on Air Force One; Die Hard on a Boat; etc.
John Wick just took the action to an all-new level.
Please be aware your mileage may vary and these choices are subject to change… but for now, these are my picks for top three.
1966 Batman Pre-Production Art!
Today we have a detail from pre-production art created for the 1966 Batman tv show by artist Leslie Thomas. You can see more of Mr. Thomas’ Batman pre-production pieces here.
