Garbriel Hardman Must Have a License to Kill

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James Bond not only has a new movie, Spectre, but 007 also recently made his return to comics with the release of a new comic series written by Warren Ellis with art by Jason Masters and published by Dynamite Entertainment.

To celebrate the release Dynamite Entertainment commissioned several artists to create variant covers for the first issue.  The cover above is by Gabriel Hardman and tops my list.  You can see all of the other covers at Bleeding Cool and they are worth a look.

Gravedigger: The Abductors by Mills and Burchett

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The photo above is of page two of the third Gravedigger story that Chris Mills and Rick Burchett would like to complete.

I sure hope they’re able to since Gravedigger is one of my favorite comic characters and the first two stories that Mills and Burchett created are some of my favorite crime, no scratch that, some of my favorite comics of any genre.

If you haven’t read any of “Digger” McCrae’s crime yarns, you can easily and cheaply enough here.    The trade paperback is also available through Amazon and InStockTrades. [I don’t make any kickbacks on any of the links, and honestly if I did, I send it to Mills and Burchett to get them closer to more Gravedigger tales.]

If you’re a fan of crime comics, great stories and art, or just want to help out a couple of really decent human beings — please consider giving Gravedigger a go.

15 Must-Watch Facts About “The Ring”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 15 Must-Watch Facts About The Ring.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. THE DIRECTOR FIRST SAW RINGU ON A POOR QUALITY VHS TAPE, WHICH ADDED TO ITS CREEPINESS.
Gore Verbinski had previously directed MouseHunt. He said the first time he “watched the original Ringu was on a VHS tape that was probably seven generations down. It was really poor quality, but actually that added to the mystique, especially when I realized that this was a movie about a videotape.” Naomi Watts struggled to find a VHS copy of Ringu while shooting in the south of Wales. When she finally got a hold of one she watched it on a very small TV alone in her hotel room. “I remember being pretty freaked out,” Watts said. “I just saw it the once, and that was enough to get me excited about doing it.”

6. THE TWO WEREN’T SURE IF THE MOVIE WAS GOING TO BE SCARY ENOUGH.
After shooting some of the scenes, and not having the benefit of seeing what they’d look like once any special effects were added, Henderson and Watts worried that the final result would not be scary enough. “There were moments when Naomi and I would look at each other and say, ‘This is embarrassing, people are going to laugh,'” Henderson told the BBC.” You just hope that somebody makes it scary or you’re going to look like an idiot!”

11. CHRIS COOPER WAS CUT FROM THE MOVIE.
Cooper played a child murderer in two scenes which were initially meant to bookend the film. He unconvincingly claimed to Rachel that he found God in the beginning, and in the end she gave him the cursed tape. Audiences at test screenings were distracted that an actor they recognized disappears for most of the film, so he was cut out entirely.

10 Amorphous Facts About “The Blob”

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Mark Mancini and Mental_Floss present 10 Amorphous Facts About The Blob.  Here are three of my favorites…

6. ITS THEME SONG CRACKED THE BILLBOARD TOP 40.

Titled “Beware of the Blob,” this catchy anthem spent three weeks on the Billboard charts,peaking at #33. The song was co-written by Burt Bacharach, who also penned such hits as “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head” and “What’s New Pussycat?” Thus far, Bacharach’s career has included six Grammy and three Oscar wins. Mack David—his partner on The Blob—was a seasoned vet, too (and eight-time Oscar nominee) who’d written lyrics for Disney’sCinderella (1950), among many other films.

7. ED MCMAHON CAN BE HEARD DURING THE MOVIE THEATER SCENE.

When the throbbing invertebrate descends upon an unsuspecting cinema, the audience is watching a genuine, real-life thriller flick. Daughter of Horror (a.k.a. Dementia) was released in 1955 and features narration from Johnny Carson’s future Tonight Show sidekick. Keep your ears open for McMahon’s familiar voice near the beginning of the clip above.

5. LEADING MAN STEVE MCQUEEN CHEATED HIMSELF OUT OF A HUGE PAYCHECK.
Despite a handful of television roles—including a guest appearance on the NBC series Tales of Wells Fargo—Steve McQueen (credited here as Steven McQueen) had yet to establish himself as Hollywood’s favorite bad boy. So Harris got him for a bargain price. After taking on the lead role (his first) in The Blob, McQueen was offered a choice: $3000 upfront or 10 percent of the film’s gross profits; he didn’t hesitate in opting for the former. At the time, McQueen was in dire financial straits and didn’t have much faith in The Blob’s box office prospects. He’d soon regret that call. Within a month of its release, The Blob had earned $1.5 million and went on to snag $12 million (nearly $97 million in today’s dollars) domestically.

13 Judicious Facts About “To Kill a Mockingbird”

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Eric D. Snider and Mental_Floss present 13 Judicious Facts About To Kill a Mockingbird.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. ROCK HUDSON ALMOST PLAYED ATTICUS FINCH.
Universal Pictures offered the role to Rock Hudson when the project was first being developed, and the actor was prepared to take it. Things stalled, however, when the film’s producer, Alan J. Pakula, wanted an even bigger star: Gregory Peck. Universal basically said, “Well, sure! If you can get Gregory Peck, we’ll not only agree to it, we’ll finance the movie!” And that’s what happened. Sorry, Rock.

3. GREGORY PECK WANTED TO CHANGE THE TITLE.
He wasn’t the only person who felt the phrase “to kill a mockingbird” didn’t accurately reflect the content of the story. He was the most influential, though, and he pushed for a change before he’d even read the screenplay. Lee’s literary agent, Annie Laurie Williams, was furious at the suggestion, and wrote to the publisher (who naturally wanted the bestselling book’s title to carry over) to assure him that Peck “has been signed to play the part of Atticus, but has no right to say what the title of the picture will be.” Mulligan and Pakula publicly stated that the title would remain intact, and Peck dropped the subject.

8. THERE’S A REASON THE MOVIE FOCUSES MORE ON ATTICUS THAN THE BOOK DOES, AND THAT REASON IS NAMED GREGORY PECK.
After seeing a rough cut of the film early in the summer of 1962, Peck sent a memo to his agent and to Universal execs listing 44 problems he had with it. What it boiled down to was that the children had too much screen time, Atticus not enough. “Atticus has no chance to emerge as courageous or strong,” Peck wrote. He said in a later memo, “In my opinion, the picture will begin to look better as Atticus’ story line emerges, and the children’s scenes are cut down to proportion.” Universal wanted the star to be happy, but Mulligan and Pakula’s contract had stipulated they’d get final cut. Still, they made more changes to appease Peck, deleting some of the children’s scenes in favor of Peck’s. In the end, the trial occupies some 30 percent of the film, despite being only about 15 percent of the book

20 Surprising Facts About Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

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Hollywood.com presents 20 Surprising Facts About Dwayne The Rock Johnson.  Here are three of my favorites…

He wasn’t always known as “The Rock” in the ring. 
Successful wrestling gimmicks rarely happen right out of the gate. Even The Rock wasn’t exempt from that rule of thumb. He started his pro wrestling career as “Flex Kavana,” followed by “Rocky Maivia” (a blend of his father and grandfather’s ring names) before landing on the name that would help make him a superstar. I think we can all agree that it’s hard to imagine his persona as anything other than “The Rock” in the ring.

His Scorpion King paycheck was a record-breaker
Back in 2002, The Rock made his leading-role debut in The Scorpion King, and he was paid $5.5 million to do it. For a first-time above-the-title name, that sum was the most ever paid – a testament to The Rock’s fame before he started starring in films

He Doesn’t Want to be Called The Rock
In a 2006 interview with Entertainment Magazine, Dwayne Johnson says “I no longer am a wrestler, I am now pursuing a future as an actor and someday as a director. I am not the Rock. I am Dwayne Johnson.” It sounds like people are a little slow to come around to that fact, but it seems to be happening, slowly but surely.

RIP Noriyoshi Ohrai

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The art above and below was created by the extremely talented Noriyoshi Ohrai.  Although I’ve shared two black and white pieces, Ohari’s color work is equally amazing.

Mr. Ohari passed away on October 27th at the age of 79.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Ohari’s family, friends and fans.

Source: /Film. 

15 Fast-Talking Facts About “Get Shorty”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 15 Fast-Talking Facts About Get Shorty.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. “SHORTY” WAS DUSTIN HOFFMAN.
Danny DeVito’s Martin Weir character was modeled after Dustin Hoffman, who Elmore Leonard dealt with when the actor expressed interest in an adaptation of the author’s LaBrava.Weir’s very specific food order at a restaurant was based on Hoffman ordering off-menu at a lunch meeting with Leonard. Hoffman suspected he was Shorty after the book came out.

3. QUENTIN TARANTINO CONVINCED TRAVOLTA TO PLAY PALMER.
Travolta said no to Sonnenfeld. Twice. His Pulp Fiction director convinced him to change his mind.

15. ELMORE LEONARD LOVED IT.
“Definitely, it’s the best adaptation I’ve had,” Leonard said at the time of its release. At that point, 12 of his books had been adapted into movies. He also said he never realized how funnyGet Shorty was until he saw the film.