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Walking Dead Artist Lends Talents to Romero
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Movies, Image Comics,
The Walking Dead writer Robert Kirkman may be lending his concentration to filming the television version of the hit comic book series, but artist Charlie Adlard is lending his talents to a great source of their inspiration: George Romero.
In a promotional poster for Romero’s latest film, Survival of the Dead, fans of the Image series should be quick to notice Adlard’s familiar artwork. That’s a whole lotta zombie goodness right there.
Check out the film when it hits theaters on May 28!
Read More 
| MTV
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Q&A: Jim Beard, Batman & Gotham City 14 Miles
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Interviews, Television, DC Comics,
If you’re a fan of the 1960s Batman TV show starring Adam West and Burt Ward, then you already know what that phrase means. It’s the sign you see denoting the distance from the Batcave to Gotham City. Wayne Manor was way out in the 1960s suburbs! Gotham City 14 Miles is much more than that, however. It’s also the title of a new book edited by Jim Beard whose full title is Gotham City 14 Miles: 14 Essays On Why The 1960s Batman TV Series Matters. Essayists include Beard, comics historians Peter Sanderson and Robert Greenberger, and a host of people whose names are being revealed one at a time.
The book will be published by the Sequart Research & Literacy Organization a “non-profit devoted solely to the study and promotion of the artistic and literary medium alternately known as comics, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, manga, sequential art, and sequart.”
Beard says Gotham City 14 Miles is the first book on the old Batman TV series in over 10 years, and I say it’s about time. The book will examine the 1966-68 TV series and “quantify its worth and weight in current pop culture. It also intends to shoot down many of the cliches, falsehoods and outright misinformation about the show and illuminate its strengths and, yes, its weaknesses.”
Click to continue reading Q&A: Jim Beard, Batman & Gotham City 14 Miles
Weekend Reading: Kick-Ass, iPads, Vertigo Crime and Richie Rich
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
Last week it was Kick Ass, now it’s The Losers, and coming up it’s Scott Pilgrim. Is this not the year of the nerd who loves popcorn? Let’s see what else there is to do while ordering our tickets…
Batman, Robin and Kick-Ass: Over at Something Old, Nothing New, Jaime Weinman longs for the return of a viable Robin character to the Batman movie franchise. Here’s a little taste of the longer and worthwhile read: “The thing about the concept of Kick-Ass is that it deals with an aspect of the Robin character that has been batted around in the comics from The Dark Knight Returns on, and even in the animated shows, but has never been dealt with in the movies: superheroes inspire kid copycats. In a weird way Robin is more ‘realistic’ than a man who, based on no apparent model except a bat, decides to fight crime in his underwear.”
The Losers: “This movie isn’t too violent because…hey look over there: a puppy!” Movie studio publicists work overtime for stories like this.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Kick-Ass, iPads, Vertigo Crime and Richie Rich
Stephen Moyer Says Producers Forced Him to Date Anna
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Television, Dating, Engagements, Hook-ups,
British hunk Stephen Moyer thinks that his TV bosses wanted him to date Anna Paquin.
The True Blood actor - who got engaged to his co-star last August - claims staff at network HBO tried their best to bring them together by booking them into the same hotel during filming of the pilot episode:
“They put us in the same hotel - though in not the same room to begin with. No, I’m joking. They put us in these hotel suites, and we hung out for a while and got to know each other. The attraction was there, so it was a matter of whether we acted on it or not.”
While he is blissfully happy with 27-year-old Anna, Stephen - who plays vampire Bill Compton in the show - admits he was reluctant to get romantically involved with her at first in case it destroyed the future of the program. He added in an interview with Details magazine, “To get a pilot that runs to a series, it’s big s**t to people. And so to come along and go, ‘Oh, let’s have a quick f**k’ and then risk arguing and being a nightmare when you’re playing the two people who are together the whole time - that would be immature.”
Stephen, 40, has been dating Anna - who plays Sookie Stackhouse - since 2007 but insists they won’t marry “until at least 2020.”
R.I.P. Mike Valerio
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
I met Mike Valerio at a pre-convention party on the upper east side of New York City. He was funny, caustic, opinionated. He made me laugh right away and we became instant friends, bonding through sarcasm. Over the course of the long con weekend, we bumped into each other regularly, scouted out the dealer’s room together, and dropped in on a few panels. Towards the end of the con, at lunch, he asked me what else I’d done while I was in New York. When he found out I’d done nothing, he said, “You can’t go back to your hillbilly hometown and tell them all you saw in the big city was a bunch of comic books and Jim Steranko’s girlfriend.” He led the way out of the con and within minutes we were atop the Empire State Building. Thus began a friendship that would span many years and several states.
We stayed friends over the years and eventually and without planning it, we both ended up in Los Angeles about a year apart. He came west for a career as a writer/producer in film and television while I turned my attention to the comic book industry before jumping into television as well. A lifelong comic book fan, he was a regular at Golden Apple on Melrose Avenue and then Earth II on Ventura Blvd.
Click to continue reading R.I.P. Mike Valerio
Read More | News From Me
Treat Your Inner Jerk to the TV Poltergeist
Posted by Finnian Durkan Categories: Accessories, Mods / Hacks, Toys,
Want to piss off your friends with more than just your abrasive personality and obnoxious hygiene habits or complete lack thereof? Yes, it is rude to clip your toenails in someone else’s living room, genius; what are you, five? If you feel the need to step up your toxicity—to neutron bomb your friendships, poisoning the landscape for decades to come and leaving behind a barren landscape of people hating the very mention of your name in your wake—then look no further: the TV Poltergeist is the gadget for you. The TV Poltergeist is a battery-powered and easily hide-able palm-sized piece of hardware with a tiny, flexible LED that you can point towards the TV of your intended victim. Once you turn it on the TVP will randomly emit a signal via the LED and shut your future ex-friend’s TV off. Works on just about any TV—CRT, Plasma, LCD—just not your Gramma’s 30 year-old knob-operated Zenith, though if you pull this stunt on your Gramma a) you’re an a$$ and b) expect to get written out of the will and hit with a cane. That woman lived through 5 wars and walked 40 miles to kindergarten everyday. Show some respect!
Read More | TV Poltergeist
Summer Glau Nabs Superhero Show
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Television,
After her short-lived gigs on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Joss Whedon‘s shows Firefly and Dollhouse, Summer Glau landed another role in a sci-fi, superhero-themed series The Cape.
The pilot centers on a former cop, played by David Lyons, who dons a superhero alter ego to clear his name of criminal charges. Glau portrays “Orwell, a cute and intrepid investigative blogger who fearlessly goes after corrupt cops and costumed bad guys.” So… Dollhouse‘s Bennett meets Kick-Ass‘s Hit Girl?
Considering all three Fox shows she worked on were cut short, let’s hope that moving to NBC will fare better for the actress.
Is this the nail in the Heroes coffin? Bah, I’ll still watch it if I can catch Glau being her adorable, geeky-cute self!
Read More | The Hollywood Reporter
Gilligan’s Island: Casting The Castaways
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television,
If you’re like me, the second you heard there was going to be a Gilligan’s Island movie updated for the 21st Century, the first thought that went through your mind was “Ginger-Mary Ann Lesbian Kiss.”
After spending about 30 minutes dwelling on that, I started to cast the movie. I’ve always thought of Gilligan as a live-action cartoon; perfect entertainment for those times when an episode of Scooby-Doo won’t satisfy and Batman: The Animated Series seems a tad too challenging.
Who would be Gilligan, The Skipper, The Professor? Who, indeed. Who could take the place of Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Russell Johnson, Tina Louise, Natalie Schaefer, Jim Backus and Dawn Wells? Who would play the Harlem Globetrotters this time? And since vampires are the new black, would they feel the need to bring in Dr. Boris Balinkoff?
Click to continue reading Gilligan’s Island: Casting The Castaways
Read More | Slash Film
Stan Lee And The Big Bang Theory
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television, Marvel Comics,
Stan Lee has made a pretty good hobby out of appearing in projects based on Marvel Comics. It’s a fun, and not too distracting, game to try to figure out if Stan will be showing up in a crowd scene, a cocktail party, a press conference or other setting where he can do his cameo, fulfill his Screen Actor’s Guild obligations, and eat the free lunch at break time.
On March 1, Stan appeared as himself on the fanboy favorite, The Big Bang Theory, probably the best sitcom currently on the air, thanks to creator-producer Chuck Lorre, co-creator-producer Bill Prady, and the rest of their talented staff of producers and writers. In “The Excelsior Acquisition,” the cast is excited about Stan’s appearance at the local comic book store, but Sheldon misses it when he gets tossed in jail for contempt while defending his traffic ticket. Naturally, when he gets out, he takes advantage of an opportunity to make the pilgrimage to Stan’s house. Stan acquits himself quite well and there are laughs galore. It’s a great use of stunt-casting and it’s packed with jokes that reveal the writers as fans of Marvel Comics, not posers. Well done, all!
Stan liked the experience so much, he Tweeted about it.
Click to continue reading Stan Lee And The Big Bang Theory
TV gets way more green screening than you thought
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Videos,
The Stargate Studios virtual backlot reel video above does a great job at showing off just how many virtual sets are used in television shows. We aren’t just talking about intense action scenes either, because a lot of what’s featured is just people walking around on a city sidewalk. Interesting and eye-opening, to say the least.
