Comics on the Fringe

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If you’re a regular viewer of Fringe, then you know all about the alternate universe which is very similar to ours.  It’s an interesting concept and fun to see how things are just tweaked a bit and yet those tweaks make all the… I would say “all the difference in the world,” but I guess I should instead “all the difference in the universe.”

One of the characters on the show likes comics books and so several slightly different prop comics were created for the alternate universe.  Bleeding Cool compares the alt. reality comics with those from our universe.  Slightly tweaked comics can be seen here.

The Killer Inside Me Almost Out

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I’ve been looking forward to the movie adaptation of Jim Thompson’s classic The Killer Inside Me since it was first announced back in 2002.  As you can see from the poster above, our wait is almost over.

I really like the vibe that this poster gives off.  You can see a serial killer-sized version of it over at IMPAwards.com.  You can also see the creepy [and I mean that in a good way] trailer here.

TV’s Most Shocking Moments

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Recently TV Squad ran a piece called the 50 Most Shocking TV Moments.  So using just their list, I came up with my top ten [beware, there are spoilers, but my guess is you already know them]:

10.  Snakes and Rats – ‘Survivor’ — ‘Season Finale’ (Aug. 23, 2000)
Sue Hawk’s rant was the talk of Survivor fans and helped make the show must see tv.  It shocked viewers and still is considered one of the “highlights” in the show’s history.

9. Mama of Anarchy – ‘Sons of Anarchy’ — ‘Albification’ (Sept. 8, 2009)
Sons of Anarchy has had a lot of shockingly brutal moments, but the rape of Gemma at the hands of white separtists was brutally shocking.

8. A Family Affair – ”The Shield’ — ‘Family Meeting’ (Nov. 25, 2008)
Shane and his family had been on the run and it was clear that there wasn’t a good ending waiting, but the fact that Shane killed his wife and kids and then himself was a shocking end to a character who had been on the show since the first episode.

7. Sinéad O’Connor Declares War – ‘Saturday Night Live’ — ‘Tim Robbins/Sinéad O’Connor’ (Oct. 3, 1992)
Sinéad O’Connor killed her career with her misguided act of protest.  She’d have better off to go on Oprah and jump on the couch.  O’Connor’s act of tearing up the picture of the Pope was and is so shocking that it’s only been seen on tv once since it happened.

6. Jumping the Couch – ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ (May 23, 2005)
Tom Cruise was a box office superstar who could do no wrong… well, not counting that Brooke Shields incident… and then he started jumping on Oprah’s couch.  Again and again.  Faster than you could say whacky, Tom’s career was hurting and he was the butt of jokes everywhere.  Shocking then and even more shocking that his career still hasn’t fully recovered.

5. A Kiss Is Not Just a Kiss – ‘Star Trek’ — ‘Plato’s Stepchildren’ (Nov. 22, 1968)
I had just turned ten years old and still remember the first interracial kiss on television and how controversial it was.  At the time  didn’t understand the hoohal.  I mean Kirk was kissing all kinds of aliens, so why the big deal about kissing an attractive human?  Still, public reaction makes this a shocking moment.

4.  Two for the Death of One – ‘Lost’ — ‘Two for the Road’ (May 3, 2006)
When Michael shot and killed Ana Lucia I was shocked. Then Libby suddenly walked in, and Michael had to shoot her to cover up shooting Ana Lucia (which was done to cover up his release of Henry).  Well played, Lost writers.  You shocked us!

3.. Rocker Shocker – “American Idol’ — ‘Elvis Presley Week’ (May 10, 2006)
Many, myself included, thought that Chris Daughtry could win it all.  Everyone, including Daughtry himself was caught by surprise when he was voted out in the fourth spot.  After finding out he was leaving, Daughtry told Ryan Seacrest,”I’m a little bit in shock.” Who am I to argue with Daughtry.  Shocking it was.

2. “Chloe … Edgar …’24’ — ‘Day 5: 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.’ (March 6, 2006)
Some folks are expected to die on “24” but who would have thought that CTU geek Edgar Stiles would bite the bullet?  He was such a popular character, a love story seemed to be blooming and he worked in the CTU headquarters.  Who could be safer?  Definitely shocking.

1. Boob Tube, The Sequel – ‘Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show’ (Feb. 1, 2004)
I remember watching the half time show and thinking that Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson would put on a good show.  When the, ahem, “wardrobe malfunction” happened, I remember thinking, “Did I just see that?”  Everyone else in the room had the same look.  Shocking indeed.

Here are a couple of other shocking tv moments that didn’t make the TV Squad’s list, but should have:

  • At the end of the first episode of the very first season of The Shield when Vic Makey kills the undercover cop.  That action completely changed the tone of the show and set into motion all the events to follow.
  • Season 19 of Survivor finale – Russell does not win after dominating the game, finding idols with no clues and completely out playing, out witting and out lasting all ofther contestants.

It would be shocking if I forgot to thank Bill Crider’s Pop Culture Magazine for the link.

Hawaii 5-0: Tweaked and Ready to Book ‘Em

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The other day Chris Mills posted that there is a new version of Hawaii 5-0 coming to CBS.  The new show stars Alex O’Laughlin, Daniel Dae-Kim, Scott Caan and Grace Park.  The new  Hawaii 5-0 has tweaked a few things and looks interesting enough for me to give it a shot.

The one thing that I wish they hadn’t messed with was the theme song.  Nothing beats the original version when it comes to Hawaii 5-0.  Don’t believe me?  Chris Mills posted the new theme along with the original [and even a third riff on it for a show that never made it to series].

Preview of Stark/Cooke’s The Outfit

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Newsarama recently ran a six page preview of Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s The Outfit.  It’s the sequel to Hunter [also an adaptation of a Stark novel] and it…

…won the 2009 Diamond Gem Award for Original Graphic Novel of the Year, is nominated for a 2010 Eisner and was a New York Times bestseller.

If that doesn’t make you want to check it out, nothing will.

Predators Posters Fall Short

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I am really not feeling the Predators poster above or this one here.  First of all neither tag line works.

Above: “They are the most dangerous killers on the planet.  This is not our planet.” Huh?  Perhaps it would have been better had it read, “They are the most dangerous killers on our planet.  This is not our planet.” And the tag line for the second poster, “Fear is reborn” is equally as bad.  Does Adrian Brody look even the least bit scared?  Nope.  Worried?  Nope.  “Fear is reborn” indeed.

Let’s not forget the layouts on both. (Or better yet, let’s do.)  Above: They look like a team with the leader being the huge shadow creature — is that a Predator?  While the second poster makes it look like Adrian Brody is giving a Predator a piggyback ride.

I was really hoping for cool posters to go with a cool movie.  Let’s hope that these are not signs of the movie to come.

Survivor: Final Thoughts

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If you’re a Survivor fan, then there’s a good chance that you thought that this past season was the best yet.  Once again, I felt that Russell deserved to win and once again he made it to the finals only to lose.

After Russell’s first time on Survivor, I declared him the best to have ever played the game.  Now I’m not so sure.  I was going to write a post about why my feelings changed, then I read Survivor host Jeff Probst’s final blog about the season and decided he summed up my feelings about my change of heart better than I could.

100 Greatest Movie Characters

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Last week Fandomonia.com did a four part series on their choices for The 100 Greatest Movie Characters.  Using just their characters, here is My Top Ten:

10. Preacher Harry Powell played by Robert Mitchum in The Night of the Hunter.  I first watched this as a youngster on a little black and white tv.  The story pulled me in and Mitchum’s evil preacher had me loving every scary minute of it.

09.  Sam Spade played by Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon.  Was Bogie ever cooler than when he went head to head with Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Mary Astor in The Maltese Falcon?

08.  Rick Blaine played by Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.  If Bogie ever played a cooler character than Sam Spade, it had to be when he played Rick Blaine and found himself once again knocking heads with Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, but this time joined by a town overrun with Nazis!

07.  Phyllis Dietrichson played by Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity.  The only woman to make the list and I’m as surprised by that as I was when I first watched Ms. Stanwyck seduce Fred MacMurray and manipulate him into killing her husband.  I knew Ms. Stanwyck as the older matriarch on The Big Valley and Mr. MacMurray was the older father on My Three Sons.  To think that they had once been so young and so good in their respective roles!

06.  Don Corleone played by Marlon Brandon in The Godfather.  To think that the studio made Brando audition and still almost passed.  Thanks to Francis Ford Coppola for his vision and Brando for his skills since we were given one of the best movie characters ever.

05.  Forrest Gump played by Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump.  The new [at the time] technology coupled with Hanks’ portrayal made for an unforgettable character.

04.  Indiana Jones played by Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark and the sequels.  Ford was perfect as the swashbuckling adventurer.

03.  Hannibal Lecter played by Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs.  Hopkins wasn’t the first to play Hannibal the Cannibal, [that distinction goes to Brian Cox who played him five years earlier in Michael Mann’s Manhunter], but he more than made the role his own.  My guess is that after seeing Hopkins’ riff as Hannibal, census takers all over the country dreaded home visits.

02.  Harry Callahan played by Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry and the sequels.  It’s hard to remember that when Dirty Harry premiered in 1971, there weren’t any other cops like him.  Eastwood’s iconic performance created a new genre of cop movie… but none were better than Eastwood’s Harry Callahan.

01.  Rocky Balboa played by Sylvester Stallone in Rocky and the sequels.  Was there any doubt who my number choice would be?

The Fandomania list was a solid one, but I had to wonder about these characters that didn’t make the cut:

  • Lee played by Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon
  • Snake Plissken played by Kurt Russell in Escape from New York and the sequels
  • Ethan Edwards played by John Wayne in The Searchers
  • Connor McLeod played by Christopher Lambert in Highlander
  • Riddick played played by Vin Diesel in Pitch Black
  • Lornetta “Mace” Mason played by Angela Bassett in Strange Days
  • Samantha Caine played by Gina Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight

Okay… I’m going to stop before I end up with a list of 100… but, just one more before I go…

  • Jack Carter played by Sylvester Stallone in Get Carter.  Yeah, I know, but the character really struck a chord for me.  And it is my list.  ; )

Mark Pennington’s Rambo

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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. In the next few weeks I’ll post Mark’s take on an “older” Jack Carter. Like today’s Rambo sketch, it’s another winner.

The Frazetta/Stallone Connection

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A couple of days ago when I was looking for art to accompany my post about Frank Frazetta’s passing, I considered a ton of pieces.  The decision was a tough one because Mr. Frazetta had created so many iconic images throughout his career and because so many had made such an impression on me.  One that I had considered was the Judge Dredd cover that Frazetta had painted for Mad magazine.  I thought that the cover might be an interesting choice since it had a Sly Stallone connection.  Ultimately, I decided against it.

Today, as I was reading Mark Evanier’s blog, I came across a piece about Frank Frazetta that included a story about how that Mad cover came to be and why the painting’s background had to be yellow.  It’s an interesting post even if you’re not a Stallone or Judge Dredd fan, but even more so if you are.  Plus it gave me the opportunity to post the Frazetta/Stallone connection art.