“I use the script as the platform to go and do it and as long as I know what I’m talking about, I dont ever feel the need to go off and immerse myself in any world. I think it’s much more just trying to execute what the writer has intended.”
– Clive Owen
It’s a good time to be Clive Owen. In the past year he’s received an Oscar nomination for Closer, had a big role in the groundbreaking Sin City and made out with Jennifer Aniston in Derailed. Now he’s starring in the Spike Lee directed bank heist film Inside Man alongside Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster.
The first official character bios for the Avengers movie have been released. No big surprises here, just most of what is already known about the movie’s all-star superhero cast. Regardless, it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with any characters you might not be completely sure about, like Hawkeye.
Continuing the trend of rebooting superhero movies, David Slade has given an update on his upcoming Daredevil flick. Slade announced that Brad Caleb Kane has finished the first draft of the script and that more news would come in the new year. The original Daredevil film was better than some superhero movies, but it was by no means up to standards that superhero movies try to uphold these days. Hopefully the reboot will fix that.
While DC comics are still successfully pushing their New 52, Marvel has plans to move forward with another one of their giant world events. Raising the stakes — which is difficult since comic book events normally are quite apocalyptic — Marvel is waging an all-out war between the Avengers and the X-Men. After Phoenix Force return to Earth to seek a new host, Hope Summer (Cyclops and Jean Grey’s daughter), the Avengers want to quarantine her, and the X-Men refuse to let them without a fight – gripping stuff!
On to the Ender’s Game movie. Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is in negotiations for the female lead. This is the second major cast announcement in as many weeks. It’s fair to assume there will be plenty more where those came from as Ender’s Game is set to release on March 15, 2013.
Iron Man screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby have completed the script for the next Tomb Raider film. The original portrayal of Lara Croft by Angelina Jolie is being tossed aside. “For me it’s re-inventing the wheel a bit, it’s a reboot. We’re going back before she was Lara Croft,” said producer Graham King, talking to Digital Spy about the nature of the origins-style screenplay.
The iconic Jaws ride at Universal Studios is being removed and replaced with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The attraction will be build along the same lines as the original in Orlando, which has proved to be so successful that Universal Studios and Warner Bros. have decided that it will be augmented with a large expansion.
Finally, 2012 looks like it’ll be a big year for Joss Whedon. With the release of the Avengers already on the books, Whedon recently revealed he has completed another project, Much Ado About Nothing. Now there’s a third movie in the lineup. A poster for a Whedon project called Cabin in the Woods has just surfaced, and was followed up by the release of an official trailer. The film is looking like it could be a fantastic sci-fi/horror movie, and will premiere on April 13, 2012.
“I think what’s fun in the structure of these movies is that the audience is in on it but one of the characters isn’t.”
– Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey is very much like the characters he’s played in a few of his movies. He’s easy going, laid back, charming and very easy to talk to. He plays another one of those guys in the romantic comedy Failure to Launch. His character Trip is a wealthy boat broker who still lives with his parents at age 35! So his parents hire Sarah Jessica Parker to fall in love with him so he will have the confidence to move out.
It might be decades since you could pick up a copy of Black Mask, but anyone thinking that hardboiled fiction has disappeared is clearly mistaken. One of the names you should be paying attention to is Christa Faust, creator of femme fatale Angel Dare, and author of hardboiled pulp gems Money Shot and more recently, Choke Hold.
“I’ve always made my own way and then I saw somebody who was just going with the flow, it looked really attractive and nice.”
– Lisa Crystal Carver
Over the past decade or so Lisa Crystal Carver has made an industry out of Drugs Are Nice with an album, a DVD and now a book subtitled A Post-Punk Memoir. The book now out from Soft Skull Press chronicles Carver’s life in the band Suckdog, her major problems with her family and of course, lots and lots of drugs.
WHY DO YOU LOVE IT?: This group has threads covering everything you need to know about zombies and the impending apocalypse. It ensures that every member has a “zombie plan” and the best possible chance of survival. Members discuss everything from the best choice of weapons to the most effective safe house. If you’re into zombies you will find info on the best books, games, movies, and TV shows right here!
DISCUSSION TIP: This is a fun group, so don’t be too serious.
BEST RANDOM QUOTE: “Do not set zombies on fire! They will run around and catch everything else on fire!”
“Sometimes people think one type of artwork is different from another but anything that gets your juices flowing is the same.”
– Senon Williams of Dengue Fever
Dengue Fever is a band with a sound so wild you have to hear it to believe it. They are six person band with a native Cambodian singer named Chhom Nimol. Essentially they are a rock band with that bizarre foreign sound to it. It’s fucking great. I got a chance to talk with their bass guitarist Senon Williams about their album Escape from Dragon House.
