The Dumb Are Mostly Intrigued By The Drum

I love Millar's line in that if he was given superpowers that he would "kill who ever John McCain told me to kill." Pretty much! I mean, who wouldn't want to have super powers? Well dude's always spewing gold (it's comments like those that make you either love or hate the guy) and in this interview with G4, he talks it up about everything from his latest comic book, War Heroes to the latest on his much talked about reboot of the Superman franchise on the big screen. And during the whole interview, dude's holding a beer. Ah, to live the rock star life of a comic book writer....

I know that God didn't invent them, but damn are Pluots delicious....Oh, didn't see you guys there. Well after taking it easy for a week due some insane deadlines at work, everything should be back to normal this week....somewhat. Anyways, besides working most of this holiday weekend, lets recap some of the coolness:

No matter what you thought of last week's #2 film in the box office, Wanted is a success. Raking in over $50 million in the box office (and that's going up against the Pixar juggernaut named Wall-E), creator Mark Millar has gain even more Hollywood clout. In the past Millar had spoken about his dream project: writing a Superman film. With the commercial failure of 2006's Superman Returns, the future doesn't look very bright for Millar. Pile that on top of the fact the Millar has, in the past, said some very no so nice things about the people over at DC Comics. But with his new found "power" can that be changing? Well, Slash Film has a real good write up on the latest on Millar's quest to get the ball rolling on Superman in which the writer talks that the film is pretty much a go with a director already attached and an announcement to come before Christmas. Awesome. Even if it is more of Millar's hype machine, it's always good to dream. Maybe, we can finally get a Superman film that is on par with what Christopher Nolan has done with the Batman franchise. 

Wanted iz gud. There's my review. No bullshit about how the acting was or how you will see shades of The Matrix or Fight Club (or muthafukin' GunsmithCats for that matter, woot!). I will not ramble about foreseeable twists or inspiring moments. What I will say is that Jolie is teh badaz(yum!), the action is FTW, and I am not a pussy. Go see Wanted tonight! Or ASAP if you are not teh hardcorez.

Who goes to midnight screenings anymore? Well, I wish I did but as an old man, I can't seem to muster up the energy anymore (damn yooz, father time!). I tired for Indy, but failed. Well, with Wanted coming out this week, I got a renewed sense of youth. I feel like the bustling 18-year old of yesteryear and with new found gusto, I'm doing it! I'm going to the midnight screening of Wanted this week. Fuck yeah! So who else wants to ride out on my energy train? C'mon, join us over at Edwards this Thurs. night (technically, it's Friday morning, but you know what I mean) at 12:01 am even if it's for the screening of Wall-E, which they're also having a midnight show for. Afterwards, we can all practice trying to "curve the bullet" in the theater parking lot so come packin'! So who's in?

Newsarama has posted the first review that I've seen for the upcoming Wanted. Hmmm...not too positive, but not too negative either. The review is sure to warn fans of the book to not expect too many similarities between the two and then goes on with mild excitiement. The fact that this is coming from a comic book site kinda scares me but I'm still looking forward to the film, regardless. Mustn't...get...hopes...too...high.... FUCK! Too late :( Check out the full review over here and decide for yourself

No embedding, as clips from Empire usually aren't, but click here to go over there and check it out. But be warned....there a whole lot of people getting shot in the head in this one. I'm pretty sure they were all very, very bad guys, though.

Wanted in HD

This one looks like it's the final trailer before the film is released later this month and it looks good. Can it be the surprise hit of the summer? It definitely has potential and it's looking real slick right now. Gotta keep my fingers crossed that some of that Millar spark is still infused within the confines of the film. Check out the trailer in HD over at Myspace here.

Coming over from Filmz.ru (via slashfilm.com) is this beautiful trailer. Why can't we get stuff like this over here? Anyways, beware as there are bloody head shots, a sex scene and some outright crazy gun violence jam packed into this little extended trailer. Are you cool with that? I knew you would be. Go over here to check it out. (and those keys and tooth flying through the air up there spell out "Fuck You" in Russian)

When we went to Wondercon in Feb., James McAvoy was there talking about the film and he brought and extended scene with him. It wasn't that great. It actually dampened my hopes for the film. The FX looked pretty lame, some of the shots were questionable and some of the black artifacts coming through looked like it had in fact been shot digitally (this is the first feature film to use the Red Camera) so I took and put the film in the loss column right then and there in order to be pleasantly surprised if the film is actually decent. But this new featurette posted over at Empire got my hopes up a little. To see Mark Millar talk about the transition and to hear him say that he had his fears too actually made me push the film back over to the win column. Of course, we'll just have to wait and see what transpires once it actually drop in June.

Awesome! That Hellboy 2 poster looks like Drew Struzan's handiwork and although the Wanted poster was....kinda cool but I'm always down for some twin guns, Freddie Foxxx-style! Check out Superherohype.com for Hi-Res versions of the posters by clicking here. NYUP!

Wanted is going to be coming out soon. While the skepticism remains, it has original comic author Mark Millar's blessing, so hey, I'll give it a shot. That isn't going to stop a bit of unhappiness on my part at the changes being pushed onto the film from who-knows-what direction that divert it dramatically from the graphic novel to the silver screen, most noticably the "Super-Villians" being swapped out in favor of "Assasins".

Lets preface this just a scooch: I'm not against changes that are better for the literature-to-film transition. I understood why Peter Parker was given organic web shooters. I don't care how bright the 17 year old is, I'm not going to buy him forging metal, wiring electronics and triggers, and creating a web-juice formula that NASA would probably stab jaws to get a hold of. So the web shooters being a part of him make sense. In Daredevil, they cast an African-American as Kingpin, but hey, Michael Clark Duncan is a big fella. That's cool.

But Wanted isn't a story about assassins. Wanted is about Super-villains. Not only that, it's about Super-villains who won. Even deeper then that, it's not just about Super-villains, but a guy growing up, coming of age and enjoying the dark pleasures that such unlimited power brings. It's about a battle between the inherent greed of people who not only want ultimate power, but want everyone to know they have it. The ones who want to shepherd with a shotgun, not a crook. Assassins? Just a wee bit shy of Super-villains. So why change it?

Here's my theory why: they don't want people to know this is a comic-book film. They are betting on the loyalty of fan-boys to drag them into the theater to watch a film that bears a passing resemblance to a property they love, while herding in millions of people who they're worried would scoff at the comic roots of the film should they find out. Would they? Maybe. Spider-man, Superman, you're not gonna hide their roots. Spider-man ain't gonna cut it as a story about a justice-loving gymnast. Superman wouldn't work trying to pass itself off as a hang-gliding strongman. Maybe there are people that shunned these films because of where they came from.

And lets not just pick on Wanted, because this isn't the first time, is it? Stardust, V for Vendetta, even League of Extraordinary Gentlemen dodged the bullet of a frightening label: kids stuff. It's sort of a Catch-22, isn't it? These stories may not get any respect if they're put forwards as a film based on a comic book, but at the same time, these stories may have put a little respectability into comic-based films, if only people knew they were...well...comic-based films. It's a frightening proposition, it's a gamble, and a gamble that will have to occur before change happens, but at the same time one that will not occur because it's a gamble. Vicious cycle.

So there's no answer. Not from me. Essays are supposed to propose an answer, but I don't have it. People are surprised when I tell them V for Vendetta was a comic first. Would they have seen it before? Would they have respected the film if they had? Their interpretations would be different. How nice, if we heard a trailer that started "Based on the Best-selling graphic novel by Neil Gaiman..." It would take more change than the movie industry itself could provide, but a revolution in perceptions of an art form.

But we can hope. Tell people you know about comics as films. Let them know that there's something out there other then underpants-on-the-outside man. If you care, at least. Who knows what could happen. Maybe there's a glimmer of hope for a solution after all. Tell people who seen Wanted where it came from if they liked it. Hell, tell them if they don't. Change starts somewhere.

Fuck, Wanted is gonna suck. There, I had to say it because that way when I actually see it, no amount of suckiness will contradict my preconceived notions. The graphic novel is something that will forever be one of most cherished pieces of modern art that will stay with me until the day I die (unless they find a cure for 44 stab wounds by then) and the film strays far (very far) from the source material. Swap "unionized superhero villains" with "unionized assassins" and you can see the discrepancies. But the gunplay they've showcased so far does arouse me to no end (I can't wait to head out to The Range to see if I'm one of the few who can "curve" a bullet). Oh well, so instead of Lex Luthor we get Miguel Bain. Mark Millar (author of the graphic novel) has seen the film and has said he liked it so maybe it will be good....but I'm sticking to my notion of it sucking. Hopefully, I will be surprised come June 27th. If not, I'll always have my graphic novel to go back to. Check out the new HD trailer here or stream it right here:
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So a while back I noticed that an official Hellboy 2 web site had opened up and on that site, there were some forums where people could ask director Guillermo Del Toro questions. I asked, he answered. Check out the thread right here. Pretty cool, huh? I've met Del Toro when he was doing the press for the first Hellboy movie and he was a great guy and he even threw down a sketch of himself in my sketchbook. It's awesome that a director of his caliber is always cool with mingling with the fanboys like myself. And for those of you who don't know what the RED camera is, check it out here. Basically, it's a digital camera that shoots very close to film quality. How close? Nearly indistinguishable. The first feature that will be shot entirely using this camera is a little movie named "Wanted" based on the mind blowing graphic novel by Mark Millar. Check out the trailer or the samples you can find on the RED site (along with a short that Peter Jackson shot as a test for the camera). Very good stuff. And all for the low, low price of around $20,000. Truly a baragin, no joke. Soon enough, all video quality will be looking like Hollywood and not like someone ran it through a meat waffler. The future is here and with classy directors like Del Toro always willing to do fan service, cinema, as a whole, has a bright future ahead! VIVA MEXICO, CABRONES!