by A.J. Focht

After months of rumors and unfounded speculations, there is finally some solid evidence of the presence of the Skrulls in the upcoming Avengers movie. A recent change to the Avengers IMDb page has confirmed that Cobie Smulders (Robin from How I Met Your Mother) is not only playing Maria Hill, Nick Fury’s second in command, but she is also cast as Anelle, the Skrull Princess. How large of a part the Skrulls play is still unknown, but I’m betting they’re Loki’s mysterious army.

While the Avengers are prepping for an apparent intergalactic invasion, the writers of Captain America 2 are discussing what’s going to happen next. Screenwriters Chris Markus and Stephen McFeely recently revealed details about plans for the sequel. There is a high possibility that the second movie will revisit Cap’s past, during an intentional six-month break that was left in the first movie. They are torn at the moment though because they feel it would be a shame not to visit present day Captain America.

On screen superheroes are hotter than ever, and the CW is looking to cash in further. After ten successful seasons of Smallville (six of which were good) the CW canceled the show, which left a large gap in their schedule. Rumors of everything from Nightwing to Raven have floated around, but nothing has come to fruition. Most recently, we hear Supernatural creator Eric Kripke is looking to fill that slot with a Deadman series. Deadman is a lesser known ghost superhero with several powers, including possession of others. Kind of a cool in concept, but I doubt it has the fan base to get past a pilot.

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By Fred Topel

One more of the Serenity crew returns to television. We’ve got Nathan Fillion on Castle, Adam Baldwin on Chuck, Morena Baccarin on V and Homeland, Gina Torres on Suits, and Alan Tudyk as a series regular on ABC’s new comedy Suburgatory. He’ll play Noah Lerner, an old friend of George (Jeremy Sisto) who moves his daughter to the suburbs to take her away from bad influences. Hilarity ensues.

But there is much more to Alan Tudyk than one new show. He has a movie coming out this fall. Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil hits VOD on August 26 and theaters September 30, after years of playing the festival circuit. Tudyk plays Tucker, one of two innocent woodsmen mistaken for a chainsaw killer. He’ll also be seen in the upcoming movie adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and has voiced several characters in MTV’s animated show Good Vibes.

Read our exclusive interview with Alan Tudyk on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

Chilean born filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky changed the world in 1971 when he released El Topo, a bizarre psychedelic Mexican western. The film became an immediate hit on the burgeoning midnight movie scene. Since then Jodorowsky has done a number of wonderful films, all fascinating and beautiful, such as Holy Mountain, The Rainbow Thief and Santa Sangre. They are all highly personal tales filled with commentary on religion, sex and so much more. Jodorowsky has also done groundbreaking work on comic books with such legendary artists as Moebius, Georges Bess, Juan Gimenez and many more.

Now, after 30 years, Jodorowsky and his distributor Abkco films have settled their differences and finally El Topo and Holy Mountain will be re-released in theaters and enjoy proper DVD releases. I had a chance to talk with Jodorowsky in person on a recent visit to New York City.

Read our exclusive interview with Alejandro Jodorowsky on SuicideGirls.com.

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by A.J. Focht

When we left off last week, Gamescom 2011 was just starting over in Germany. Most of the major publishers were present to show off what they’ve done since their last junket (E3 for most them). Some favored highlights include updates on Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, with developers Bethesda offering up details on a whole new crafting concept for the game. Blizzard was also on the scene with information on upcoming Cataclysm patches and the announcement of a new “Inferno” difficulty mode being added to Diablo III.

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For more details from the event, check out Kotaku’s Gamescom 2011 recap.

Gamescom was just the start of a round of gaming conventions. This weekend the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) takes place in Seattle, Washington. Any games that weren’t showcased at Gamescom are bound to show up here, including the debut of the next game from Portal developers. For a full PAX schedule check here.

One last bit of news from the gaming world; apparently Nintendo shareholders are impressed with the company’s plans for the 3DS. The night after Nintendo revealed its plans for a 3DS-focused closed-to-public event at the Tokyo Game Show, their stocks jumped 9%. Let’s hope that the fans who are actually going to be playing the updated system are just as impressed.

Video games didn’t hold all the convention news last week, as D23 2011 (the Disney expo) took place last weekend as well. This meant more Avengers teasers, and lots of them. Early footage of the film was shown where Loki has been captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. While I am pretty sure this will be part of the start of the movie and ultimately inconsequential, I was more intrigued to hear about his “army.” He could be referring to the Ice Giants, but I’ve got an odd feeling (maybe more of a desire) that it’s the Skrulls. MTV has cast interviews you can check out here.

Other superhero related news this week includes the iTunes-released trailer for the forthcoming Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance film. Nicolas Cage is back as Johnny Blaze, and the new CGI is looking wicked.



There have also been reports coming out about Iron Man 3. President of Robert Downey Jr’s production company, Schmoes Know, had a lot to say on the matter, including the transition from Jon Favreau to new director Shane Black. The third movie in a trilogy is always tricky, and Downey recently mentioned there are still element of the movie he is not satisfied with.

Marvel also unveiled its next big thing: Shattered Heroes. Once Fear Itself has ended (most likely coinciding with the ends of Spider Island and Schism), we’re told the Marvel world will see its heroes trying to pick up the pieces of their lives post-catastrophe.

A last bit of comic news; ComiXology digital storefronts launched Tuesday, with over 100 comic book retailers participating in the program. The digital storefront allows you to purchase your digital copies, and support local stores. It’s not the most practical thing –– since you can purchase exactly the same content direct from the publishers –– but I’m all for helping out mom and pop comic shops.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

My father-in-law’s cookies aren’t as dry as John Hodgman’s wit. Currently Hodgman is best known as the bespectacled correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and as the PC to Justin Long’’s Mac in a recent series of Apple commercials. But before his television work, Hodgman enjoyed a career as a well respected print humorist for publications like New York Times Magazine and McSweeney’s –a stint which culminated in the hysterical book of lies, The Areas of My Expertise. Hodgman is also a contributor to This American Life, a radio show played nationally. This American Life has now collected some of their best segments onto a CD called This American Life: Stories Of Hope And Fear.

Read our exclusive interview with John Hodgman on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

We don’t do much New York City theatre coverage on SuicideGirls but an exception must be made for the daring brilliance of Neil LaBute. Wrecks, written and directed by LaBute, is currently up at the world famous Public Theater in Manhattan. It’s a very powerful and disturbing work, which is par for the course for LaBute. Harris plays Ed Carr a man at the funeral for his wife talking directly to the audience. Carr is a wonderful character who at times stalks the stage like a panther smoking cigarettes. When memories of his wife flow through his mind he exhibits contemplation, but never regret. Harris does an amazing job of making a man that would be considered insane in any other context feel as human as the rest of us.

Read our exclusive interview with Neil LaBute on SuicideGirls.com.

by Lily Suicide

On May 5, 1993, three young boys, Chris Byers, Michael Moore and Stevie Branch, were brutally murdered in the town of West Memphis, Arkansas. Grieving and looking for answers, the town allegedly bypassed evidence pointing at probable suspects. Instead, they prosecuted three teenage boys who were unconventional for the town of West Memphis. The boys, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Miskelly, wore black and listened to heavy metal music. They would later come to be known as the West Memphis Three.

There was what many critics call a coerced confession from Jessie Misskelly, who had a below average IQ. Jessie Miskelly recanted his statement the next day, stating that he had been put under extreme pressure and psychological warfare by the West Memphis police, but by then it was too late and the fate of three young men rested uneasily in the hands of the judicial system. They were convicted of murder in early ’’94. Jessie Miskelly got life plus 40, Jason Baldwin received life without parole and Damien Echols – at only 18 years of age – was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

Luckily, there were cameras in the courtroom, and they were used for the making of the HBO documentary Paradise Lost. Burk Sauls first saw Paradise Lost in August of ’96. He watched it and watched it again. At the end he was always left with the same feeling that many other people were left with: “with a lot of empty spaces, unanswered questions and doubts.” Many people became angry after watching Paradise Lost. Burk Sauls, Kathy Bakken, and Grove Pashley decided to do something about it. They launched the WM3.org website and the West Memphis Three support group, as well as eventually appearing in the sequel to the first HBO documentary, Paradise Lost 2.

I caught up with Burk to talk about the case, as well as Damien Echols’ memoir Almost Home, written on death row.

Read our exclusive interview with Burk Sauls Of The West Memphis Three Support Group on SuicideGirls.com.