Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
James Brown, the 70 year old Godfather of Soul, was arrested today and charged with criminal domestic violence after he allegedly pushed his wife to the floor during an argument. Tomi Rae Brown, 33, had scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip and was taken to a hospital. Brown served a 2 1/2-year prison term after a 1988 arrest on drug and assault charges and was convicted of a drug-related offense in 1998. He was granted a state pardon in May.
You just know that Leno and Letterman are going to have a field day with A judge has ordered R. Kelly , who is awaiting trial on child pornography charges, to stay away from Michael The King of Pop Jackson who is facing child molestation charges when Kelly attends the Grammy awards next month!
I guess neither should plan to sit next to Lil Romeo.
Chud.com has a nice little interview with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. Mike talks about a lot of different projects with an emphasis on the soon to be released Hellboy movie.If you’re wondering how close the movie will follow the comic, wonder no more.
Mike says, “The fact that it’s as close to the comic as it is and the fact that the personality of the main character is so close to the comic, it’s beyond anything I ever imagined.”
That’s just great news for Hellboy fans everywhere.
Dark Horizons reported today that “French director Jean-Francois Richet will helm the remake of the John Carpenter classic… Assault on Precinct 13… which starts filming April. Assault on Precinct 13 is one of my favorite John Carpenter films. I don’t know much about Jean-Francois Richet, but as long as he doesn’t stray from Carpenter‘s screenplay and they don’t screw it up in casting, it can’t go wrong.
Nominations for the 76th Academy Awards were announced today. Here are the nominees for the major categories and my predictions on who will win… Best Picture: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” / “Lost in Translation” / “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” / “Mystic River” / “Seabiscuit”
My prediction: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Best Animated Feature: “Brother Bear” / “Finding Nemo” / “The Triplets of Belleville”
My prediction: Finding Nemo
Leading Actor: Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” / Ben Kingsley in “House of Sand and Fog” / Jude Law in “Cold Mountain”/ Bill Murray in “Lost in Translation” / Sean Penn in “Mystic River”
My prediction: Bill Murray
Leading Actress: Keisha Castle-Hughes in “Whale Rider” / Diane Keaton in “Something’s Gotta Give” / Samantha Morton in “In America” / Charlize Theron in “Monster” / Naomi Watts in “21 Grams”
My prediction: Charlize Theron
Directing: “City of God” Fernando Meirelles / “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” Peter Jackson / “Lost in Translation” Sofia Coppola / “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” Peter Weir / “Mystic River” Clint Eastwood
My prediction: Peter Jackson
Best Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin “The Cooler” / Benicio Del Toro “21 Grams” / Djimon Hounsou “In America” / Tim Robbins “Mystic River” / Ken Watanabe “The Last Samurai”
My prediction: Tim Robbins
Best Supporting Actress: Shohreh Aghdashloo “House of Sand and Fog” / Patricia Clarkson “Pieces of April” / Marcia Gay Harden “Mystic River” / Holly Hunter “Thirteen” / Renée Zellweger “Cold Mountain”
My prediction: Renée Zellweger
Original Screenplay: The Barbarian Invasions” Denys Arcand / “Dirty Pretty Things” Steven Knight / “Finding Nemo” Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds Original Story by Andrew Stanton / “In America” Jim Sheridan & Naomi Sheridan & Kirsten Sheridan / “Lost in Translation” Sofia Coppola
My prediction: Sofia Coppola
As I said, these are just my predictions and not in every case the person that I would like to see win. The Academy Awards will be presented on February 29th… tune in and find out who wins and how good of a guesser I really am!
The Shield doesn’t premiere until March. Like I told you The good news is that at the same time the third season premieres, a new comic based on The Shield will also premiere. Jeff Mariotte, the writer, promises that like the tv show, the comic will be “a bit edgy, a bit dark…” and will stretch “the boundaries of its medium.”
The Day After Tomorrow is one of those movies that is tough to judge based on advance materials.The trailer makes it look good… but then maybe we’re seeing all of the best parts that the movie has to offer. I hope not.
Blade 3 Trinity has a 50-50 chance of being really good. I say this partly because I didn’t care for Blade, but loved Blade 2. This will be the third director for the third movie.
At least Wesley Snipes keeps coming back. Chud.com has a couple of new pics from Blade 3.
After seeing the pics I think Blade 3‘s odds have risen to 55 – 45. ; )
I have to admit that I felt it coming… This may be the last season for Boston Public. Although this season wasn’t as strong as past seasons, I had hoped that things would improve. Big Beatty said that the show had jumped the shark with “the hook lady.” I think it was when Jeri Ryan was made an assistant principal… and a guidance counselor.
I love it when a movie comes out of left field and surprises me. It doesn’t happen all that often, but The Reckoning just may do it.
I really hadn’t heard anything about this movie which stars Willem DaFoe, but if it is as good as the trailer, then we just may be on to something.
Although the new trailer doesn’t have me as excited as the trailer for Kill Bill Volume 1 did, I must admit that I like it a lot.
A whole lot.
Check it out… you may find that you like it too.
Bob Keeshan died today. And piece of my childhood went with him. You see, Bob Keeshan was Captain Kangaroo.Even if you’re too young to have ever watched Captain Kangaroo, I’ll bet you know what a huge part he played in the lives of kids growing up in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and even the 80’s! Each morning as a child, I can remember sitting in front of the television waiting for the Captain to get his big key ring full of keys to open the Treasure House. Then we’d wait to see who would pop in… Mister Green Jeans, Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Moose [watch out for falling ping pong balls], Grandfather Clock… there were cartoons and all kinds of cool stuff [for kids].
I outgrew the Captain Kangaroo show well before the 60’s ended, but I never outgrew the good feeling that it left me as a child.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Keeshan‘s family and friends.
Seems that horror is really “in” these days. Like most of you, I’ve always been a fan and so I was really excited to hear about a new USA series based on the Frankenstein legend. As if that wasn’t cool enough, you’ll never guess who’s teaming up to make it.Martin [Goodfellas] Scorsese, Dean [The Servants of Twilight] Koontz, Marcus [The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake] Nispel and producer Tony [“24”] Krantz have pooled their creative talents to bring us the show which will most likely premiere this fall.
Dark Horizons has more details right [HERE].
Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith hit a homerun with their “30 Days of Night” comic mini-series. Not only did it merit a trade paperback, a limited edition hardback and a follow-up series, but it was also optioned for the big screen. And for good reason. “30 Days of Night” is an excellent story with daring choices by both writer and artist. Well, I’m happy to say that Niles and Templesmith are creating a final six issue mini-series called “Return to Barrow.” The first issue will be out in March.
Templesmith seems psyched when he says, “This is going to be the big finale for 30 Days, where everything comes full circle… I’m working on the first issue now and it reads even more like a movie than the original did too. It’s pretty cool!”
For full details click [HERE] and if it sounds like something that you’d like, let your local comic dealer know to reserve you a copy. I know I am.
Congratulations are in order for Jeff Parker. Jeff’s graphic novel, Interman, was just named as one of the four Best Graphic Novels of 2004 by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
They’re not the only ones who like Parker‘s Interman.
Entertainment Weekly praised it in their first comic/graphic novel review column. It’s been optioned for a the big screen.
Here’s what I said, back in June of 2003 when I posted Jeff‘s take on Sly. Check out Interman and you just might want to get on the Parker bandwagon.
Oh, and before I forget, congrats to Jeff!
