34 Seconds of Retro-Futuristic Fun

If you’ve got 34 seconds to spare today you should check out this very retro, very cool teaser trailer to “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”.  No, there’s no movie in the works yet, but the folks behind this trailer would like to do a serialized version for the web.  From what I’ve seen, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for whoever holds the rights to Buck Rogers to let ’em!

Thanks to AICN for the link.

An Epic Zombie Movie

The Hollywood Reporter posted today that work is underway on an animated 3D CGI re-imagining of George Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead.

Although the storyline will follow a small band of people trying to stay alive, the director, Zebediah de Soto says that this one not have the survivors taking refuge in an enclosed environment like a house or a mall.  Instead this will be the first zombie movie played on a epic scale.

Sounds cool.  I’ll post updates here as I get ’em.

John Beatty: Expendable

John Beatty, who’s no stranger to long-time Zoners, created this amazing drawing of Sly from “The Expendables” on Friday while I was hanging out in his studio. John’s been my best friend since junior high and gifted me with this piece since I’ve been serving as his co-host for some of his live UStream sketch sessions.

Although I have quite a few pieces in my collection, and it’s impossible to pick a single favorite, this piece by John is going to be tough for anyone to top. Thanks again to John for going above and beyond the call.

$10 Head Sketch Saturday

Later this morning I’ll be at my buddy, John Beatty’s studio co-hosting as he draws, what we like to call $10 Head Sketch Saturday. John will be drawing live on UStream as fans interact with us.  It’s always a blast, even for those not ordering sketches.  And if you want a sketch, it makes the session even more fun.  The festivities kick off at 11am EST.

.Hope to “see you” there.

The Wolfman

When I was a kid, the wolfman was always my favorite movie monster.  While this poster is a step in the right direction, I still don’t hold high hopes for the new Wolfman movie coming out next month.  I hope I’m wrong, especially with that cast, but I have a feeling that The Wolfman is going to be a howler.

The Book is THAT Book?

While I’m still really looking forward to “The Book of Eli”, I have to admit that some of the anticipation has worn off.  I read a couple of spoilers and if “the book” is what it is purported to be and the events take place just a few decades from now… well, it’s going to be tough to get over that plot conceit.  Still, I’m hoping for a fun couple of hours.

A Lovely Story… a Lovely Movie?

My wife read the novel The Lovely Bones a few years ago [long before I ever heard that there would be a movie].  She kept telling me how much she loved the book as she was reading it.  [I haven’t read it myself, but might some day…]  Of course she wants to see the Peter Jackson adaptation and from all accounts it looks to be a winner.

Maybe I will have to read that book.

“Black Friday” Stallone

The art above was drawn by my buddy, John Beatty. It’s his take on Sly as Cosmo Carboni from “Paradise Alley”. John has done quite a few drawings of Sly for me over the years and he’s about to do another this coming Friday. Only this time he’s drawing it LIVE on UStream and you can tune in to watch it being drawn.

As an added bonus, I’ll be co-hosting the event. We’re calling it “Black Friday Stallone”. While our wives are out dealing with the holiday crowds, we’ll hopefully have a small crowd of our own watching as John gives us his take on… well, that would be telling, wouldn’t it? We’ll be talking about Stallone, movies, tv, art, comics and more. We plan to get things started at about 11am. John will have a direct link on his site. Hopefully you can join us and add to the fun.

Meeting Frank Stallone, Part II

On Sunday, November 8, 2009, Frank Stallone dropped by City Line Pizza in Edgewater, Florida. Store co-owner, Joe V, is a SZoner, and gave me advance notice so I made plans to be attend. It was a totally cool experience. Frank was down to earth and spent the time talking with fans, signing autographs and CDs. You can read part one of my report here.

That’s Mike Tourney getting Frank to autograph his ultra-rare Valentine record album cover. [Valentine was Frank’s band back in the early 70’s.] Mike is a long-time Frank Stallone fan who collects autographs and guitar pics!

That’s me, Frank and SZoner Stephen Isaia. Stephen sent in the photos used last week and has provided us with photos before. He’s a true Stallone and StalloneZone fan and I was pleased to meet him!

We close out with a final shot of my wife, Doralya, Frank and me. It was great meeting Frank and I want to thank him again for all the support he’s provided the StalloneZone over the years. Frank is a great guy, an amazing artist [singer, song writer and actor]. It was a true pleasure to meet him.

I also want to thank SZoner Joe V. of City Line Pizza [great food!!] for the “heads-up”. Hopefully, Joe will be able to have Frank back again some time. If so, we’ll report it here!

Sly as Francesco Francavilla’s Black Beetle

I’m a fan of Francesco Francavilla’s art. Usually when Francesco releases a new sketchbook, he offers free “quick” sketches with each purchase. My first piece from Francesco was Sly from “Cop Land”. My second quick sketch was in Francesco’s sketchbook of classic horror movie characters and for that sketch he did a “Jack Carter” zombie.

My most recent Francesco sketchbook was dedicated to a character that Francesco created, “The Black Beetle”. Francesco came up with the idea for my sketch — what would the Black Beetle look like if played in a movie by Sly Stallone. LOL. How could I not go with it? You can learn more about the Black Beetle here. You can see more of Francesco’s art here, here and here.

UFC 106 Results

Let’s take a look at the results from last night’s UFC 106 card:

  • Kendall “da Spider” Grove [12-6] vs Jake Rosholt [6-1].  Rosholt was dominating Grove throughout the first round when suddenly Grove transitioned from bottom to an armbar attempt and then again quickly to a leg triangle.  It was over with Grove getting the winMy pick – Rosholt making me 0-1.
  • Ben Saunders [7-1-2] vs Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis [21-6].  Saunders dominated the fight earning a KO win in the first round from brutal knees thrown from the head clinch.  My pick – Davis making me 0-2 for the night.
  • Amir Sadollah [2-1] vs Phill “The New York Bad Ass” Baroni [13-11].  Sadollah earned a unanimous decision win.  Okay, my pick – Sadollah giving me my first win of the night and making me 1-2.
  • Antonio Rogerio “Minotaro” Nogueira [17-3] vs Luis “Bana” Cane [11-1-1].  Nogueira came out and bullied Cane, scoring a first round KO My pick – Cane in an upset and boy, am I upset with myself for THAT pick since it made me 1-3.
  • Paulo Thiago [11-1] vs Jacob “Christmas” Volkmann [9-0].  Thiago earned a unanimous decision. My pick – Volkmann in an upset win making me even more upset that my record for the night dropped to 1-4.
  • Josh “Kos” Koscheck [15-4] vs Anthony “Rumble” Johnson [8-2].  Koscheck defeats Johnson in the second round via rear naked chokeMy pick – Koscheck takes me to 2-4.
  • Tito “The Hunington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz [16-6-1] vs Forrest Griffin [16-6].  Griffin scores a split decision win setting up a tie-breaker match somewhere down the line [Ortiz scored a split decision win in their first fight].  My pick – Griffin takes me to 3-4 for the night.

It was a good night for fights, but a bad night for my picks.  Lucky for me I wasn’t betting.

“The Goon” in Thought

Friday night I watched my dvd extras for “The Mist” and was surprised to see Eric “The Goon” Powell on set with Frank DarabontI’ve been an Eric Powell fan for years. So has Frank DarabontIn fact, Eric Powell did one of my favorite Stallone pieces [thanks again, John Higashi!].

Eric’s work on his creation, The Goon is required reading for all comic fans.  And since we’re speaking of The Goon [okay, technically we’re not speaking and I am writing, but…} did you know that Eric has created an issue of The Goon without word balloons?  The entire comic is made up of silent panels or just shots with thought balloons.  The story involves the Goon, a stolen necklace, a fem fatale and a crazy killer… oh, and no word balloons.  Sounds cool, right?  You can read more about it, here at CBR.com.