Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Looking at the art above by Ben Walker, I can almost hear Rod Serling as he says…
You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Your next stop, The Twilight Zone!
How can anyone not love the new poster for The Expendables? Want to see a version so big the name should be changed to The Expandables? Click here and check out IMPAwards.com.
About two weeks ago, Chris Mills did a post on the Hawaii 5-0 theme variations and the new CBS series of the same name. I have to admit, my interest was raised.
Now that I’ve seen the new Hawaii 5-0 preview that CBS has released, I’m going to be sure to tune in!
Principal photography on Frank Darabont’s adaptation of the ever-popular Walking Dead comic series has begun! In order to celebrate, AMC posted several images of zombies and more!
And as an added bonus, here’s a video interview with Frank Darabont talking about why he wanted to do The Walking Dead!
If you enjoyed yesterday’s post about Frank Miller and Xerxes, his prequel to 300, then you’ll probably want to check out this interview with Miller posted at the LA Times. If you didn’t like yesterday’s post, my advice is to skip the interview. I’m just saying.
Yesterday, CBR.com followed up on a Dark Horse Comics announcement via its twitter page that Frank Miller is returning to comics with a prequel to 300. The long rumored series won’t hit the stands until sometime in 2011 and will be titled Xerxes.
Xerexes was the Persian king who attempted to conquer the world, only to fall short thanks to the efforts of 300 Spartans. The tagline for the new series is a good one…
Xerxes: “They were 300. He was one.”
You can read more about the Xerxes mini-series and the Frank Miller lithograph that Dark Horse is releasing by checking out CBR.com’s post.
Did you ever wonder what you’d look like as a character in Avatar? Well, wonder no more. McDonald’s has made it possible for you to see yourself as one of James Cameron’s Na’vi.
Man, switching from human to Na’vi did wonders for my diet!
In just about exactly 72 hours, I’ll swing by and pick up my best bud, John Beatty, and we’ll be off to Heroes Con. John will be a guest there, sketching and signing autographs for his fans. Although I’ll hang out at his table and help keep the good times running, I’ll also spend time on the other side of the aisle as a fan, visiting other artists to get books signed and some new sketches for my collection.
Heroes is always a blast. I can’t even begin to imagine how much fun it will be this year. The guest list has never been bigger. In addition to all of the regular comic superstars that always attend, this year we’ll also get to see folks like Tim Sale and Mike Mignola for the first time. As LittleJohn312 said today, “The guest list keeps growing, but my budget doesn’t.” Amen to that. My plan this year is the same as last: get the most bang for my [limited] buck. So I’ll be looking for sketchbooks with head sketches and avoiding the superstars.
If you’re going to be at Heroes, you can usually find me hanging out at John Beatty’s table [#721 in artist’s alley]. If I’m not there, I’ll be the guy looking to score some Stallone sketches. Either way, I’m not too hard to find.
Mark Pennington graduated from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in 1985. Upon graduation Mark became a toy designer at Hasbro. Mark created designs for the G.I. Joe line of action figures including a Rocky Balboa GI Joe that never saw production! Mark’s first work as an inker in the comic book industry was for SQP on Judge Dredd!
When I started collecting original sketches of Sly, Mark was one of the first artists that I approached. I was excited to get this Rambo head sketch from him. Earlier this month I posted Mark’s take on Sly as Rambo.
Today we have Mark’s take on Sly as an older Jack Carter. Although we’ll never get a sequel to Get Carter, and it is not a perfect film, Get Carter remains one of my favorite Stallone movies. Sly was perfect as the “bad brother” — the man who knew that he’d taken the wrong path and saw a chance at redemption by finding his brother’s killer and keeping his niece and sister-in-law safe. So I thought it would be cool to get Mark to draw Sly as Jack Carter, but with some more years on him… sort of like Clint Eastwood’s performance in Unforgiven. I couldn’t be happier with the result!
UFC 114 was last night on pay-per-view and SPIKE had the pre-fights for free. Here are my predictions and the actual results:
Waylon Lowe vs. Melvin The Young Assassin Guillard
Prediction: Guillard by TKO.
Result: Guillard won by TKO (referee stoppage from strikes) at 3:28 in the 1st round
My predictions for the night: 1-0
Dan The Upgrade Lauzon vs. Efrain Hecho en Mexico Escudero.
Prediction: Escudero by TKO.
Result: Escudero won by unanimous decision
My predictions for the night: 2-0
Dong The Stun Gun Hyun Kim vs. Amir Sadollah.
Prediction: Kim by decision.
Result: Kim won by unanimous decision
My predictions for the night: 3-0
John The Hitman Hathaway vs. Diego The Nightmare Sanchez.
Prediction: Sanchez by decision.
Result: Hathaway won by unanimous decision
My predictions for the night: 3-1
Jason The Hitman Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Prediction: Nogueira by early TKO or submission.
Result: Nogueira won by split decision
My predictions for the night: 4-1
Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee.
Prediction: Duffee wins by 1st round KO or TKO.
Result: Russow won by KO at 2:35 in the 3rd round
My predictions for the night: 4-2
Dan Miller vs. Michael The Count Bisping.
Prediction: Bisping by unanimous decision.
Result: Bisping won by unanimous decision
My predictions for the night: 5-2
Rashad Suga Evans vs. Quinton Rampage Jackson.
Prediction: Evans by decision.
Result: Evans won by unanimous decision
My predictions for the night: 6-2 [75%]
+++++
Final thoughts:
UFC 114 is tonight on pay-per-view and SPIKE has the pre-fights for free. Here is how I think things will go:
Waylon Lowe vs. Melvin The Young Assassin Guillard. I’m not a Guillard fan. With that said, he’s just going to be too much for Lowe.
Prediction: Guillard by TKO.
Dan The Upgrade Lauzon vs. Efrain Hecho en Mexico Escudero. Oddsmakers have Escudero as a huge favorite. I think they’re right.
Prediction: Escudero by TKO.
Dong The Stun Gun Hyun Kim vs. Amir Sadollah. This should be a closer fight than the two previous match ups. Sadollah is a likeable guy, but that’s not much help in the cage.
Prediction: Kim by decision.
John The Hitman Hathaway vs. Diego The Nightmare Sanchez. I really thought that Diego was going to be able to do more with BJ Penn in their fight. Despite the fact that Penn dominated, Diego kept coming. That’s one of the reasons that Diego is one of my favorite fighters. This should be a close, tough match tonight. I think the edge will go to Diego because he won’t quit looking for a way to win.
Prediction: Diego Sanchez by decision.
Jason The Hitman Brilz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. So we have two “Hitman” fighting on the same card. Unfortunately for Brilz, I’m predicting a loss for both Hitmen tonight. Nogueira is just too tough.
Prediction: Nogueira by early TKO or submission.
Mike Russow vs. Todd Duffee. Don’t go for snacks on this one.
Prediction: Duffee wins by 1st round KO or TKO.
Dan Miller vs. Michael The Count Bisping. I think that this one will go the distance in a fight controlled by one fighter.
Prediction: Bisping by unanimous decision.
Rashad Suga Evans vs. Quinton Rampage Jackson. The fight the world has been waiting for. Most folks who are in the know think it will be Rampage by KO or TKO… and it very well could be. I think that Evans‘ speed, wrestling and ability to take a fighter out of his game plan combined with Jackson’s inactivity in the cage for the last year will all come into play. This is a tough one to call. I’m going with my heart and not my head.
Prediction: Evans by decision.
I’ve been a fan of The Walking Dead comic since shortly after the first issue was pulled off a printing press. The Walking Dead is the best comic series being regularly published today. I’m especially excited about the new AMC tv series that will bring the comics to life.
Quint over at AICN recently posted an interview with The Walking Dead creator, David Kirkman. Here are a few tidbits…
AMC is giving us a huge deal of support and they have already shown that they have a lot of confidence in the show just by immediately picking up the six episode first season without ever even starting to shoot the pilot…
I’m actually writing the fourth episode in the six episode first season…
…Frank Darabont… His vision for this show is so unique and the pilot script is so strong that I think that that’s why AMC got behind it so quickly. I think Darabont’s hand in this is the thing that is driving it. I think that he’s going to turn this into a pretty awesome television show…
To read the entire interview, simply click here.
Harry, at AICN, scored a first look at a new The Expendables teaser trailer that will appear on the UFC pay-per-view this weekend [Rampage vs Rashad Evans — which should be a great fight!].
I’m happy to say that I started watching LOST with season one, episode one and never missed a single show. When the series first started I was intrigued by the mysteries of the characters and the island. Somewhere along the way I began to think that we’d never get all the answers we’d want, but I was still enjoying the ride, so I went along.
Unlike many, who felt the final episode was a let down because we were left with questions unanswered, I felt that the finale was a fitting ending to a series that was always more about characters and questions than storyline and answers. If you want to read a really cool account of what the LOST finale means [supposedly written by someone who actually worked on the show] then click on this link to io9.com’s repost of a piece that originally ran at Dark UFO.
