Unperfect Streak Continues
My unperfect [yeah, I made it up] streak continues with this
My unperfect [yeah, I made it up] streak continues with this My unperfect [yeah, I made it up] streak continues with this Babylon AD Director Unhappy
If you’ve been around the ZONE in the last day or so, you know that I planned to check out “Babylon A.D.” this weekend when it premiered. I wasn’t going in with high expectations, just the hope that I’d have an enjoyable couple of hours. Now I’m not so sure.That’s Mathieu Kassovitz, “Babylon A.D.” director in the photo with Vin Diesel above. Kassovitz says he’s very unhappy with the film and that he “never had a chance to do one scene the way it was written or the way [he] wanted it to be.” He’s especially upset that the film has been cut down to 93 minutes instead of the 108 he was hoping for. Kassovitz doesn’t call the film a total waste — “I like the energy of it and I got some scenes I’m happy with,” he says. “But I know what I had — I had something much better in my hands but I just wasn’t allowed to work.”
I still may still go see “Babylon A.D.” this weekend… but with even lowered expectations. Anyone want to bet that a “director’s cut” dvd will be released at some point?
Beaten by Bela
Arrrgh! Just missed a perfect score again. 8 out of 9. Knocked out of the Gold Medal slot by Bela Lugosi. Here’s
Vin Diesel Speaks
Vin Diesel has a new movie, “Babylon, A.D.” opening Friday. The reaction to what we’ve seen of it so far, at least from most ZONErs has been mixed. I’m actually looking forward to “Babylon, A.D.” with midlevel expectations.
Even if you’re not interested in
“Babylon, A.D.”, you still might want to check out this Vin Diesel interview at Newsarama.com. Diesel talks about the “Fast and the Furious” pre-se/quel that brings back the orginal cast [Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Paul Walker], his dream project “Hannibal” and “Dark Athena” which is the third in the Riddick trilogy. According to Diesel, writer/director David Twohy is working on the script now. I love the Riddick character and would love to see him in a new adventure.Movie Polygraph Quiz
Cheating Death Quiz
80% means that I got two wrong. The only way to get one wrong is to use the same answer twice. If you use every answer once and aren’t perfect, the best score possible is 80%. Beat my score [or at least give it a go] by clicking Rushing to a Very Dark Place
James Hibberd, a senior reporter for The Hollywood Reporter, posted a spoiler-free review of the first eight episodes of The Shield’s final season.Here are a few snippets that really stood out for me:
- …gives viewers exactly what they want.
- Some old faces return to tie up loose ends…
- … the highly effective premiere…
- …Vic Mackey immediately seeking retribution against his longtime partner Shane Vendrell.
- …the Strike Team devolving into a cannibalistic game of survival.
- …hugely suspenseful…
- …leaves viewers impatient for each new episode.
- …Mackey… his every move to save himself only sucking him further down.
- On “The Shield,” we are rushing to a very dark place.
- … “The Shield” has returned to demonstrate how serialized television is done.
Brubaker: The Sleeper Option
It’s no secret that I’m happy about Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillip’s “Sleeper” graphic novels being optioned for the big screen. The fact that Sam [‘Spider-Man”] Raimi may direct with Tom Cruise set to star sweetens the deal, at least in my humble opinion.
If you wonder what Ed Brubaker thinks about it, wonder no more. Simply click here.
You Say Fantasy, I Say Horror
One of my favorite authors, Charlie Huston is the subject of this interview at FantasyBookCritic.
Huston’s new Joe Pitt novel, Every Last Drop comes out next month, so that’s probably the reason for the interview… and I guess
Every Last Drop could be classified as “fantasy” since it features modern day vampires. Still, if anyone asks me, its genre when I’m reading Every Last Drop, I’m going with “horror.”Weather Report Anyone?
It’s good that I didn’t bet that things would be back to normal tomorrow. Compare the map from 11am in the post below and the one above from 5pm and you can see the problem. Tropical Storm Fay is hardly moving. Who would have thought that this blog would turn into a weather report? Yeesh.
Word at 2pm was that schools would open tomorrow. Teachers, administrators and support staff would arrive on time and prepare for the students who’d come in one hour later. At 6pm a new notice came through. School tomorrow was cancelled due to flooding, winds and above average rain everywhere.
I still think that tomorrow I’ll go in and get some work done. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t plan so far ahead. If we’ve learned only one thing with this weather it’s that projections, predictions and plans seldom work out.
Fay Decided to Stay
On Monday we received word that the Daytona Beach area was in the direct path of Tropical Storm Fay. At that time, it was projected that Fay would come across the state at tropical storm strength, hit our area at about 2am Wednesday morning and then head out to sea.
Tuesday morning I went in to work to assist in running a special needs shelter. Schools and many businesses closed in anticipation of the high winds and rain. Tropical Storm Fay changed paths. Because of the storm shift our area didn’t get near the winds or rain predicted. Our shelter closed down at 2:30pm and we were sent home. Those who had come for shelter had the option to go to another shelter.
It was then projected that Fay would cut across the state, head out to sea and then double back slamming into our area at about 8am Wednesday. But that’s not what happened. Instead Fay slowed down and didn’t move for hours. She just kept dumping rain and wind. News reports came in from areas south of us that homes were being flooded, streets washed out and that people should not go out unless absolutely necessary. The local news warned to be careful of snakes and alligators that could be in newly flooded areas. Schools and many businesses opted to close down for Thursday. At 10pm Wednesday evening, I received a call that we might have to go back and open up the shelter at midnight. Fortunately, the call never came [which means the current shelters were able to handle the people in need].
So here it is 11:50 on Thursday morning. The prediction is that Tropical Storm Fay will be out of our area by Friday morning. If that’s the case then things will pretty much back to normal tomorrow. Since Fay has yet to follow her projected path and timeline, I’m not betting on it.
The Death Quiz
So I’m pretty good at figuring out who’s more likely to die. Is that a good thing? Can you beat my score? Click here to give it a shot.
Emily Is Not Real
Emily is not real, but she’s a better actress than some I’ve seen. All kidding aside, that is some pretty amazing animation.We’re getting close to the point that I wrote about nearly two years ago when discussing that lifelike animation…
“will also usher in the next generation of all-star movie casts! Think about how cool it would be to see Sly Stallone, young Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart and Lee Marvin acting alongside each other. The possibilities are endless.So, what would your dream cast be?”
Transporter Poster Disappoints
Remember the other day when I said, “Quite often foreign posters are cooler than their American counterparts” and then gave a rare example of an American movie poster looking better than the Russian version? Well, I’m willing to bet that I like the American poster for “Transporter 3” better than this French one. My photoshop skills are weak, but I think I could come up with something more interesting.
The Shield Goes Out in Style
FX has announced that the season/series finale for The Shield will air on November 25th. The good news is that the network is planning events to make the send-off special. There will be a retrospective with a roundtable discussion with the cast and crew. The official The Shield website has already posted exclusive new clips, photos and more. You can see them 
