Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
I’ve always had mixed feelings about Jerry Lewis and the MDA telethon. It really surprised me to find out that the MDA basically dropped Mr. Lewis without so much as a fare-thee-well. But love him or hate him, don’t you think that after 130 years as the host, Jerry Lewis should be allowed to go out in style?
Mark Evanier came up with a plan that would do just that plus raise a ton of money for the cause. Let’s hope someone with pull reads Mr. Evanier’s blog.
AMC has released four new Walking Dead teaser spots. My favorite is the third.
Robbi Rodroguez did a Rocky sketch for me at last year’s Heroes Convention. When I saw that Robbi was going to be at Heroes again this year and was taking commissions early, I asked for an iconic black and white piece of Sly as Jack Carter. Robbi knew exactly what I was looking for and came through like a champ with this piece. I was totally blown away.
So I requested another Stallone piece, this time totally of Robbi’s choosing. He decided to go with Sly as Machine Gun Joe Viterbo from Death Race 2000. It was a unique choice that I quickly got behind. Robbi not only drew Machine Gun Joe standing in his race car with a smoking machine gun, but threw in Joe’s co-pilot as well. I can’t say enough great things about Robbi’s commissions except that I want another!
You can see more of Robbi’s art here and here… and definitely again here at the SZ in the future.
Here’s a teaser poster to Frank Miller’s long-awaited graphic novel Holy Terror BATMAN. I’m a huge Miller fan, but I’m still not sold on this one.
Here’s a new poster for Contagion. I can’t wait to catch it!
Buzzfeed.com posted a piece about 10 Famous Fictional Characters You Didn’t Know Were Based on Real People. It’s a fun read. (Sorry it is no longer there. You have to admit that Shrek sure resembles the guy they used. – Craig, 2021)
Moviehole scored some casting and plot news for Riddick 3. Sounds like a real return to the Pitch Black Riddick that we all loved… except this time out, he’ll be even more intense.
My buddy, Mike Torrance aka The Krayola Kidd is back. This time Mike brought a couple of friends with him. That’s Gabriel Cash on the left and Ray Tango on the right. Mike created the cards for me as reward for winning one of his free monthly sketch card contests. Love the movie, dig the art.
You can see more of Mike’s art at The Daily Sketch with The Krayola Kidd and his Deviant Art site. Mike is available for commissions and his prices are very reasonable. And don’t forget that once a month Mike has a contest for someone to win a free sketchcard!
It’s time for another yet Drive. Do you get the idea that I’m excited about this movie? You’re right. Want to see a foldout map-sized version of the poster?
Time for another Drive. Want to see a freeway-sized version of this poster?
The Hollywood Reporter is saying that Frank Darabont was fired from The Walking Dead! Here are some tidbits from the article:
I can not wait to see “Drive”. Oh, you already know?
I can not wait to see “Drive”.
The Huffington Post recently did a piece on The Creepiest Celebrity Masks of All Time. Of the 42 shown, my favorites are The Three Stooges. Of course since the article is about creepy masks, perhaps I should have picked the ones of Prince Charles, Linda Tripp, Al Gore, George Bush Jr., Dick Cheney, or David Letterman. They were by far the creepier.
Recently Ryan Britt at TOR.com took a look at 5 Unfairly Derided Action Sci-Fi Flicks. Here they are with a bit of what Britt had to say and, for what they’re worth, my thoughts on each.
Britt: Seemingly a rip-off of Logan’s Run and The Running Man, the movie tells the story of a couple of runaway clones who are searching for their counterparts.
Zablo: I saw The Island and it was okay. I don’t remember too much about The Island , which probably gives you an indication of how good it really was.
Britt: I think most fans would agree Pitch Black is a pretty solid sci-fi thriller, but most of us don’t really know what to make of Riddick. Does this character even belong in a movie like this? In the first film, it was all sneaking around in the dark dealing with scary stuff, and then the next movie was this big Dune meets Lord of the Rings visual epic.
Zablo: Britt is exactly right. Chronicles was 180 degrees away from Pitch Black. Fans weren’t expecting the dramatic change and Chronicles threw them. Over the years my fondness of Chronicles has grown. I like it more with each new viewing. [But I am glad that the third Riddick movie is going to be more like Pitch Black than Chronicles.]
Britt: Though Lucas and Spielberg talk a mean game about how Star Wars and Indiana Jones pay homage to Flash Gordon-style serials of a bygone era, Kerry Conran actually did it for real. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow shouldn’t be viewed as a contemporary action film, but instead as a kind of alternate universe where these sorts of movies never stopped getting made.
Zablo: I saw Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow on the big screen. I really dug it. I didn’t think it was the greatest thing ever, but it was fun. It was good enough to earn a spot in my movie library. After reading Britt’s take on the film, I think it’s time to pull Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow down for a viewing!
Britt: The movie also seems pretty low budget which, unlike the Matrix, means its not trying to impress you. With Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Sean Bean, and yes, Taye Diggs, you’ve got an action movie cast at least as good as the far inferior Terminator: Salvation.
Zablo: I disagree with Britt. I think that Kurt Wimmer was trying to impress us and for most of us, he succeeded. (And I’d have that opinion even if I didn’t get to attend a special showing with Kurt Wimmer.) Sure, the budget was not huge, but look at the talent he scored. What would it cost today to make a movie with Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Sean Bean, and yes, Taye Diggs?
Britt: This is the big one. Seemingly everyone thinks this movie was absolutely terrible, including the studio, as they are totally uninterested in bringing anybody back for the new impending reboot project, Man of Steel... Brandon Routh is actually not bad as Supe at all (and he really demonstrated his versatility in Scott Pilgrim last year!) Kevin Spacey is great as Lex Luthor…
Zablo: I agree with “seemingly everyone”. Superman Returns was really bad. It did have a couple of cool scenes and I liked Routh but Spacey [and I am a fan] wasn’t right for Luthor and the overall movie was just bad.
Other Action Sci-Fi Movies that could have been included in the article: Cyborg [Jean-Claude Van Damme], Omega Man [Charlton Heston], and The Ultimate Warrior [Yul Brennor].
