Tales of the Starlight Drive-In

It’s no secret that I love drive-in theaters… and comic books. So does Mike San Giacomo. Mike is a writer who took his passion for drive-ins and comics and created a pretty cool concept for a graphic novel. Mike wrote “26 illustrated stories and six text stories set in a drive-in theater.” The stories take place over a 53-year period. Each story had to accomplish three things:
  1. It had to be able to stand alone, make perfect sense even if nothing else was read.
  2. Each stand-alone story must still advance the overarching storyline of the graphic novel as a whole.
  3. Each story had to somehow relate to the movie that is playing at the drive-in at the time.
How cool an idea is that? Very cool, I say!

Here’s a link to the website for Tales of the Starlight Drive-In. Here are links to Newsarama’s three part series [Part One; Part Two; Part III] covering Mike’s trips to historic drive-ins to promote his graphic novel. And here’s a link in case you want to order a copy of Tales of the Starlight Drive-In for yourself!

Sly is Expendable

Great news! Sly Stallone is set to write, direct and star along side Jason Statham in “The Expendables” for Nu Image/Millennium Films [the same company that released the latest Rambo movie].

Jet Li is in final negotiations to join the cast. “The Expendables” begins filming in February and follows a team of mercenaries hired to overthrow a South American dictator. You can read the full report here.

"…Of the Dead"

DreadCentral.com scored the first look at the poster for George Romero’s latest zombie-fest titled “… of the Dead.” I kind of like the title considering that we’ve had “Night of the Living Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “Day of the Dead,” “Land of the Dead,” “Diary of the Dead” and even a return to some of the earlier titles. Yeah, “… Of the Dead” works just fine.

Remembering Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton died yesterday at the age of 66 from cancer. I was totally shocked to read the news since I had no idea that Mr. Crichton had been ill.Most folks know Michael Crichton as the author of the best selling novel, Jurassic Park, which became the blockbuster movie of the same name. Many of Mr. Crichton’s novels were turned into movies: “The Andromeda Strain,” “The Great Train Robbery,” “Congo,” “The 13th Warrior,” and many others made the transition from the written page to the silver screen.Mr. Crichton wrote the screenplay and directed “Westworld” and was the creator of the long-running and award-winning TV series E.R.?

Michael Crichton was a man of many talents, but his greatest was his ability to create impossible stories and fuse in just enough science to make them seem possible. I’ve read almost all of the books written under his own name and have enjoyed every one. I still have a couple sitting in my “To Be Read” Bookcase. I think, perhaps, when it is time to start a new novel, I’ll pull one down.Our thoughts and prayers go out to Michael Crichton’s family, friends and fans.

Worth a Look

Most ZONErs will want to check out the current issue [11.07.08] of Entertainment Weekly [which is on newstands now]. Not only does it cover 54 films that will be coming out this fall, but there is also extended coverage of Daniel Craig in “Quantum of Solace” as well as an eight page profile of Mickey Rourke. Any of these features is worth the price of admission, but all three together is a bargain.

Vote Smart

I got up early today and headed down with the family to take part in early voting. Although it was the longest line I’ve ever stood in for anything, the time went by amazingly fast since we were regularly moving forward. I’m always surprised at the number of people on hand to pass out flyers and information about candidates and positions. If you haven’t made up your mind by the time you’re in line to vote, you probably should have done a bit more homework. Still, these last minute efforts must pay off since there are always folks on hand to make them. I ended up voting for three Democrats and two Republicans. I guess that fits my Independent profile.

I’m glad that I voted early. Now I can sit back and enjoy watching how the election plays out. I seldom post about politics or religion on the ZONE. There are enough political sites on the net and I’d rather spend my time at discussing movies, novels, tv, comics, and art. But before I close out this political post, let me encourage each of you who can vote in this election to do so. Vote for the candidates that you think will do the best job — and don’t be afraid to cross party lines. Do your research and then vote smart.

We now return to our regularly scheduled blogging.