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Syfy Making LEGION Series Based On Movie

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Syfy is adapting the 2010 angel action-thriller Legion for the small screen.

According to Deadline, Scott Stewart, the director and co-writer of the film starring Paul Bettany. Stewart will be directing and executive producing the adaptation which will be written by Vaun Wilmott from Sons of Anarchy.


The film follows a group of humans battling against a legion of angels that are sent by God to deliver the Apocalypse. Fortunately for the humans of Earth, the Archangel Michael goes against God and helps them fight the angels. It's not yet been announced what direction the show will go.

Sony Pictures TV will be producing with David Lancaster and Michael Litvak of Bold Films attached to executive produce. The two were also producers for the movie which grossed $68 million on a $26 million budget.



Universal Is Reviving DRACULA YEAR ZERO

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After shutting the project down because of a high budget, Universal has decided to bring back Dracula Year Zero with a new director.

According to Deadline, Gary Shore will be directing the new film. At one point the project was very close to production and had Sam Worthington set to star with Alex Proyas attached to direct. There is now a new script and a lower budget.


Worthington who is not involved, would have played the role of Prince Vlad of Transylvania, A.K.A. Vlad the Impaler. The historical figure's blood lust inspired the character of Dracula that we all know and love today.

Shore is known for directing The Cup Of Tears which is currently being turned into a feature length project at Working Title.

After the budget issues came up, Proyas left to direct the adaptation of Paradise Lost which was recently shut down because of high cost. The new draft of the script was written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. As far as the rest of the project is concerned, Michael De Luca will continue as a producer




Movie Casting Call Round-Up

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The big name actors come out today for Quentin Tarantino, Dracula, and Snow White.

Russell Crowe could be looking donning fangs as Dracula, while Saoirse Ronan is Snow White. Tarantino's new project and a prequel to one of his earliest films are getting more cast members. And finally, the Beat Movement of the 40s has a few new characters. See all the casting news, right after the break.


Variety reports that Modern Family star Ty Burrell will be coming to the prequel of Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown. Burrell is set to play Marshall Taylor a country club member who has a moral dilemna after witnessing the kidnapping that is the focus of the film. The follow up to Tarantino's early film is an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's adaptation Switch which is set 15 years before the events in Jackie Brown. John Hawkes and Yasiin Bey have already signed on to play the leads as younger versions of Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson's respective roles from Rum Punch

According to Deadline Evan Parke will be coming to Quentin Tarantino's newest project Django Unchained. His role in the film is not yet known. He joins big names like Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Samuel L. Jackson. Production has already started in parishes in Louisiana and the same set built city that Deadwood was shot in. He previously has done work on Desperate Housewives and The Young and the Restless along with films like King Kong and Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes.

Michael C. Hall, Kyra Sedgwick, and Jennifer Jason Leigh are set to join Kill Your Darlings according to Deadline. The three join Daniel Radcliffe, Ben Foster, Elizabeth Olsen, Dane Dehaan, and Jack Huston in the thriller. Hall is set to play the role of a murder victim and friend of Foster's character William Burroughs. His death is an event that helps trigger the Beat movement in 1944. Radcliffe has the role of Allen Ginsberg while Huston will play Jack Kerouac. The roles of the other new additions to the cast are unknown. John Krokidas will be directing from a script he co-wrote with Austin Bunn.

For the upcoming Snow White story Order of the Seven, Saoirse Ronan (Hanna) is in early negotiations for the lead role in the Disney action adventure. According to THR, Ronan will play the Englishwoman being chased by "an ancient evil." She meet the seven, a group of international warriors that belong to an old order but have lost their way. Each of the warriors will have a unique fighting style and come from all over the globe. Michael Gracey will be directing the project which is set in China.

Vulture reports to us that Russell Crowe could be coming to the Dracula story Harker that Leonardo DiCaprio is producing. He would be playing the role of Jonathan Harker, now a Scotland Yard detective that is investigating a number of murders in England carried out by the Count. The project has Jaume Collet-Serra set to direct. He was supposed to be doing Akira, but after budget troubles, that project has been shelved, but he could return to direct it after Harker is finished. Crowe has been working on Les Miserables and is seriously considering Noah with Darren Aronofsky, so there are no guarantees.


COMIC LEGO EVERYWHERE!!! LOTR, AVENGERS, DEADPOOL

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I love LEGO. Let's get that out of the way first. Now they've teamed up with both Marvel and DC Comics and The Lord of the Rings in an effort to take every last one of my dollars.

Yesterday at the Toy Fair, Lego unveiled some of their new promotional tie ins for The Avengers movie, along with new sets for the DC Universe and The Lord of the Rings. While the tiny Deadpool and Loki are my favorites. They have all the characters from Thor and Cap, Hulk and Iron Man, Batman and Robin, Joker and Harley Quinn, Riddler, Two-Face,Superman and Lex Luthor, the list goes on. I think you can even see a Bane Minifig. I didn't even start talking about all the new Lord of the Rings figures. Take a look at all the great new sets that will be coming out soon.

The Avengers are first and they look awesome. Just look at Loki's Helmet and Iron Man's too.

Captain America's Avenging Cycle
While riding his Avenging Cycle, Captain America spots the general on his craft. Help Captain America use his indestructible shield to defeat the general and his foot soldier! Win the battle and send them back to where they came from. The fate of the world lies in your hands. Includes 3 minifigures: Captain America and more.

Hulk's Helicarrier Breakout
The Hulk and Thor have Loki captured on board the Helicarrier. Loki makes Hawkeye lose control of his function-packed jet fighter. Help Hulk bring down the malfunctioning jet fighter and its flick-missiles by smashing the fuel canisters to hit the jet fighter! Then jump onto the jet fighter and rescue Hawkeye from the cockpit with the cockpit blast function! Includes 4 minifigures: Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye and Loki. 

Quinjet Aerial Battle
Loki is up to no good and is planning to destroy the earth! As he flies into battle on board his chariot, help the Avenger's defeat their nemesis using the supersonic Quinjet! Fire the missiles, release the mini-jet and imprison Loki in the prison pod! With the high-tech Quinjet, the Avengers can't fail! Includes Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Loki and more minifigures.

Loki's Cosmic Cube Escape
Loki is escaping from S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters with the powerful Cosmic Cube. If he succeeds, he could use it to wreak havoc on the world! Will Iron Man in his amazing armored suit alongside Hawkeye in his function-packed S.H.I.E.L.D. off-roader be fast enough to catch Loki, or will the Asgardian villain escape with the Cosmic Cube? You decide! Includes 3 minifigures: Iron Man, Loki and Hawkeye.
 Next up is The Lord of the Rings. Check out this Cave Troll being attacked by Legolas. Awesome.


The Orc Forge (Target Exclusive)Includes 5 mini figures: Isengard Uruk-Hai, Lurtz, 3 Mordor Orcs. Available June 2012. $39.99 USD
The Mines of Moria
On their epic journey across the lands of Middle-earth, the heroic Fellowship of the Ring travels through the abandoned Mines of Moria. Pursued by the evil Moria orcs and a giant Cave Troll, Pippin, Boromir, Gimli, and Legolas make a stand in Balin's Tomb. Includes 6 minifigures: Pippin, Boromir, Gimli, Legolas, and 2 Moria orcs along with a giant cave troll and 2 skeletons. Available June 2012. 776 pieces. $79.99 USD
Gandalf Arrives
Relive the opening scene of "The Fellowship of the Ring" in LEGO form. As Gandalf the Grey makes his way through the Shire on his horse and cart, he meets an excited young hobbit, Frodo Baggins. Includes 2 minifigures: Gandalf the Grey and Frodo Baggins. Available June 2012. 83 pieces. $12.99 USD
Shelob Attacks
Plotting to reclaim The One Ring, Gollum lures Frodo into the lair of the ancient giant spider, Shelob. Will Shelob cast her web and capture Frodo or can Samwise Gamgee rescue him in time? Includes 3 minifigures: Frodo, Samwise Gamgee, Gollum. Available June 2012. 227 pieces $19.99 USD






Here's the Marvel collection "Wolverine's Chopper Showdown" I love Deadpool so much.


Here we have the big DC Universe collection with all those guys I mentioned earlier.














Arcana Comics Joins Benderspink To Create ArcanaBenderspink Comics

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In a joint venture to make more comics that can be turned into movies or TV titles. Benderspink and Arcana Comics are working together for ArcanaBenderspink Comics.

The new venture will publish stories under the Arcana brand according to Deadline. Bendersspink already has multiple comics in film adaptation development including Y The Last Man, Area 52, The Might, and Ghouly Boys. JC Spink said of the new deal with Sean Patrick O'Reilly that,“what I thought made this a great partnership was that Sean not only knows how to make a great comic but he’s actually produced movies.” He also added, “I don’t know any comic publishers that have his producing experience.” The new line already has 20 comics lined up with more on the way.

Benderspink partner Jake Weiner said of ArcanaBenderspink that “This is one of five IP creation deals we are entering into along with deals in mobile content/apps, Y/A publishing, videogames, and toys.”

The company will soon start shopping the project to different studios. Chris Bender said. “What we wanted to do differently was have studios option the projects inexpensively and then hire writers as the studio helps us develop the comic. I think this makes it a no lose proposition for everyone.”

Here are the 20 comics that the company already has in production:

* Legacy: During an emergency surgery, doctors operating on Alex Sullivan discover that he is something more than human. When the entire hospital explodes, Alex escapes to find out who or what he is and why people are trying to kill him.

* The Order: The Vatican has created an elite group of agents to travel the world and combat supernatural forces.

* The Numbered: Betrayed and unjustly sentenced to death a notorious crew of seven galactic
mercenaries escape to the last free planet of the universe. Tracked by the ruthless Galactic Overlord Earth is given an ultimatum surrender The Numbered or be destroyed. Cook and Weisberg are attached.

* Bishop: When a government operative goes undercover to infiltrate a secret illuminati type group, he begins to realize that the people he’s been sent to take down may actually be the good guys.

* Below: When the police aren’t able to catch a new group of ruthless criminals who commit crimes against the defenseless, the leaders of the underworld band together to use methods the police can’t in order to bring them to justice.

* Target Earth: A lone scientist believes the warning from an imprisioned alien, who declares an invasion coming from a more powerful group of aliens. He frees the alien and they end up on the run from the government and the advance guard of hostile aliens as they try to save our planet.

* The Hunt: Five years after taking out a terrorist leader, an ex-Seal who was part of the special unit that did the job discovers that his fellow team members are being killed and he is next on the list.

* War Of The Gods: At the dawn of humanity, a multitude of gods from Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Nordic, Hindu, Chinese, and Aztec lore do battle against each other for control of the world.

* Dime Detectives: The story of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler who teamed up to work as detectives and roughly based their fictional characters Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe on their own real life exploits.

* Foretold: A young man is brought to the future to fight the most powerful being who has taken over the world 30 years later – himself.

* Kill On Sight: When a group of professional thieves steal 30 million dollars from a covert, black-ops CIA program the program responds by sending a team to NYC to kill the thieves and retrieve the money.

* Untouchable: In 2012 Al Capone’s great nephew has become a cop, trying to make right some of the wrong done by his family in the past, and has to track down Chicago’s most notorious criminal, the great-grandson of Elliot Ness.

* Countdown To Armageddon: With the better years of his career behind him, a once-great rapper returns to his hometown where in order to save his son he gets pulled back into his old life and has to fight everything he thought he had left behind.

* Supersonic: Top Gun underwater with subs developed by DARPA to travel at super speeds.

* 2076: When America is taken over in 2076, Revolutionaries fight a second war for American independence.

* Revelation: A disbelieving NORAD agent’s faith is tested when he begins to suspect a man’s rise to power mimic’s the 12 signs of the Anti-Christ from the book of Revelation.

* The Surface: Grant Roberts, his ex-girlfriend, and her best friend attempt to escape Chicago after terrorist attacks that they begin to realize are extraterrestrial in nature. Based on the Mike and Tim Schneider script The Surface.

* Atlantis: One hundred and fifty years after a plague has ravaged Earth and the wealthy and privileged have retreated to live in a bio-dome under the ocean, their resources run out and they have to return to the surface where they’re met by a bitter resistance from the ancestors of those they left above ground to die.

* The Triangle: A group of researchers who uncover the secret of the Bermuda Triangle and travel to a different dimension have to figure out how to get back in order to help save the world.

* Langley High: A student at Langley High, a school located less than two miles away from the CIA headquarters in Virginia, teams with an undercover CIA agent who’s been posing as a teacher to help rescue his father who’s been captured in Russia and disavowed by the agency. Atlas Entertainment is attached to Langley High. The comic is being adapted by Benderspink’s Christopher Cosmos.


HERE'S A HOTDOG EATING BATMAN...Apparently Justice Tastes Delicious

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Well, when they reboot the Batman series again in a few years, this guy would make a fantastic nemesis.

Source: Viva la Geek


What the Oscars Can Learn from the Super Bowl

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The problem with the Oscars is that it has two divergent goals:

1) Recognize excellence in filmmaking; and 2) Producer an award show that is viewed by as many people as possible.

Its credibility in doing the former is constantly undercut by its pursuit of the later.

But, with a little creativity, it is possible for the Academy to have its cake and eat it too.

The Oscars cannot be taken seriously if it keeps tweaking what should be straightforward voting rules on selecting the best films and artists in order to try and control which films are nominated and win to boost ratings.

The most obvious example of this is that now up to 10 films may be nominated for best picture and that instant runoff voting is used for selecting the winner. If this were the sports world, it would be akin to a league becoming upset with teams from small media markets always making it to the championship and changing playoff rules to try and help teams from larger media markets make it farther in the postseason.

I think a lot of the Oscars’ need to ramp up how much of a popularity contest the awards are stems from the fact that year after year they crap all over the technical awards.

While these awards makeup about half of the statues, they get very little attention because the public is least emotionally invested in them — who is really rooting for sound mixer? But by completely marginalizing these awards, you're left with few categories to engage the audience with, and that’s why the stakes are so high in trying to control who wins.

The major success of the Super Bowl is that no matter who is playing in it, people always tune in.

There’s a lot more to it than just the game — most obviously the commercials and halftime show. Or to put it another way, it offers more content than just a football game. About the only similar content the Oscars offer is the opening bit. The rest is terrible banter and those stupid self-congratulatory montages. So what the Oscars needs to do is develop more content — and to do that, use the technical awards.

Here’s my big idea: everyone likes behind-the-scenes looks at movie making, and everyone likes sneak previews — let’s combine the two. The public has little concern for the technical awards because they don’t really know what a lot of the technicians do — how about educating people so maybe they will give a damn about something like sound mixing?

If I were producing the telecast, I’d reach out to the studios making the big summer action movies and ask them to put together three to four minute segment that explains what exactly someone like the sound mixer does using their upcoming movie as an example. And I’d be a stickler for quality, making sure that it isn’t superficially done. Studios will get to plug their upcoming movies, people will watch the telecast for the sneak peak, and hopefully they’ll also learn a little something about filmmaking.

If the segments are done well, they’ll become something that people look forward to seeing each year, they’ll tune in regardless of what movies are nominated, and there will be less pressure on the right movies being nominated and winning best picture.

And maybe, just maybe, people will start to care about the technical awards and have some emotional investment in them.


Hammer Films Boss Talks About Dracula Reboot and the Return of QUATERMASS

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Hammer Films is behind movies like The Woman in Black and Let Me In, but they also have a rich back catalog of horror films like Dracula and some sci-fi titles like Quatermass.

In an interview with Heyuguys, Hammer CEO Simon Oakes talked about he success of their current film The Woman in Black, but also talked about projects in the future that could include everything from a Dracula reboot, a monster movie possibly with The Abominable Snowman, and the return of Bernard Quatermass.


When asked about the sci-films of Hammer, Oakes talked about bringing back a familiar name to some. He said, "We are developing Quatermass at the moment. Completely contemporary, but rooted in his character. If you look at the BBC’s Sherlock it’s got enough DNA there, so you could bring him forward and say that this is what Bernard Quatermass would be like today."

He also made sure to note that the new Quatermass would be like the old one, "So he’d still be gruff, an outside, contrary, fighting authority but what would he be doing today? He wouldn’t be doing the Rocket Group because the world has moved on since the 1950s."

As far as the horror movies are concerned, he made sure to call it a reboot and not a remake. Specifically he said "I think Hammer should make a contemporary Dracula and I think if we can find a route in, which we’re looking at right now, then the answer is yes. The thing is that most of the films are remarkable as such, they’re caught in a time capsule of their own but we should a contemporary Dracula, we should do our version of a Frankenstein film."

Looking into new ventures he talked about what the company has already achieved saying "We’ve done a vampire film, we’ve done a haunted house film, we’re looking at a monster movie right now as Hammer did The Abominable Snowman and The Reptile, so we are looking at them. But more rebooting than remaking."

Oakes was proud of the company's individuality and ability to make different movies. He said "If you look back at the old Hammer films there was a strong literary background, it followed on the history of that. There’s an elegiac quality to the films and Let Me In carries on from that, and The Woman in Black is the same. We wouldn’t make a down-the-road exploitative horror, today we’ve announced that we’re starting pre-production on The Quiet Ones which is a poltergeist movie. So wherever possible we like to have a strong story base. I think you can achieve a lot with old-fashioned filmmaking. "



THE AVENGERS/CARTOON ALL-STARS MASH-UP Will Make You Want to Do Drugs

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Back in 1990 (when I was sixteen and abusing baby aspirin) there was an anti-drug cartoon created to keep kids off of pot and alcohol called Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

Basically, it featured every animated character that was popular during that time (from ABC, NBC, CBS, Nickelodeon and USA) coming to the rescue of a young boy and helping him understand the dangers of drugs and hooch.

I watched it while drinking rum and coke.

This Mash-up is very similar to that experience.

God, I miss the 90s.

Source: Topless Robot


GEORGE CLINTON and PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC: THE MOTHERSHIP STILL ORBITS

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The Mothership touched down a few nights ago here in Providence, RI.

Legendary "King Funkateer" George Clinton, brought his mighty Parliament-Funkadelic tour (now known as The P-Funk All Stars) to the venerable downtown nightspot, Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel for an evening that will not soon be forgotten by the lucky punters in attendance.

Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, Parliament/Funkadelic still remain as one of the largest groups to ever be elected to the Hall, and most definitely the most colorful of any to ever grace a stage.

The history of George Clinton's musical accomplishments is as vast as the outer space themes he so frequently mined for ideas.

 The Parliaments in 1969 (George on the right)
Imagine a career that spans a timeline from the mid-fifties and mid sixties (brief songwriter with Mowtown, R&B vocal group The Parliaments) through to the late sixties and seventies (formation of Acid Funk Rock group Funkadelic and sister group, the chart topping hit-makers Parliament) to solo work in the eighties and nineties, and onto his present time as a heavily sampled and heavily influential bandleader.

Funkadelic

Parliament
Here is an impresario with some of the highest creativity that popular music has ever seen, presiding over a body of work that took the Afrofuturist  ideas of Sun Ra, combined them with the funky soul music of James Brown, Stax and Mowtown records, added a psychedelic rock component (continuing the guitar work laid down by Hendrix), upped the costumes, props, and with Parliament's seminal 1975 album Mothership Connectionbrought to the stage a spaceship a.k.a. The Mothership carrying Black space aliens—and gave the world a uniquely visionary melting pot of musical styles, sounds and singles. 

Not bad for a teenager from Plainfield, N.J.


Yet another classic Parliament album

While utilizing space themes, outlandish and at times completely ridiculous presentations and on the surface seemingly nonsensical lyrics, Clinton also managed to always approach serious social issues and topics, all the time sticking to what was his most important goal "I am intent on making the word Funk as legitimate as Jazz and Rock and Roll."


For the Lupo's show, opening act was Providence's Big Nazo: a performance art/puppet ensemble/R&B band that was one of the better choices for a P-Funk show that you'd likely ever see.

Appearing with a full blown stage full of characters that included their trademark giant creature creation heads such as Star War's influenced alien horn section players, giant squid type dancing monsters, and their ever present front-man vocalist, "Quasimodo."

P-Funk's Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk

From the very start of the show the audience knew this was a perfect fit and as a good omen for what would be a great show, as one of P-Funk's singers joined the band for a few verses and there was a quick walk on from George Clinton himself. Even with all the things that George and his ensemble have seen and experienced over their many collective years of heavy touring, on this particular night Big Nazo seemed to entertain the P-Funk Allstars as much as they in turn would entertain the audience. High praise indeed!


The P-Funk All Stars show contains musicians and vocalists that are as professionally seasoned and tight as James Brown's J.B.s ever were.

Ably locking into all grooves with the ability to conjure up any song Clinton adds to the night's set list from his huge P-Funk catalog. Starting out this set with a song from the very first Funkadelic (1970) album "I Bet You" which itself was a reworking of an earlier song from George's earliest days singing with The Parliaments, the show touched on every facet of P-Funk and Clinton's hefty career. They performed Funakadelic's central masterpiece the ten-plus minute "Maggot Brain." Some songs, such as this were performed in their entirety, some worked in as medleys or as snippets of melodies weaving in and out, and some as huge jams that would then included other well known audience faves inside of them.

A small sampling of George Clinton's  P-Funk All Stars
Performing for what seemed like days (it was at least two and half hours), such was the stage so packed with performers that it became difficult to count just how many folks tour as part of the P-Funk All Stars roadshow.

In 1975 and early 1976, Bob Dylan envisioned his Rolling Thunder Revue tour as a big traveling caravan of musicians traversing the country to entertain audiences. For Clinton and company, this is a huge, mutating small city of folks and family members drifting in and out on instruments, taking a vocal spotlight and often times sitting back somewhere onstage enjoying the show that they are a part of. Certainly no easy feat to pull off, but with so many years in the business doing a similar thing, it's understandable that Clinton has mastered the art of a grand musical spectacle.

 "King Funkateer" George Clinton

Even at age 70 George Clinton seems to have no sign of slowing down the tours, or his self-described "Parliafunkadelicthang" as he roams the globe bringing his message of Funk to those willing to partake. These folks take their signature song seriously when they sing "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)."


All the time managing to keep things both intelligent and at the same time downright dirty, despite the grit, there is a reason why an exact replica of the Mothership (Clinton has no recollection of what happened to the original one from the Seventies) was added to the permanent collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. His legacy is as important on African American history as it is on the history of popular music.

George Clinton: Genius at work, genius at play.

Or, as he so delicately put it on one of his great Funkadelic albums from  1970: Free Your Mind...And Your Ass Will Follow.




Columbia Doesn't Like THE BOYS Anymore

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It looks like The Boys will have to wait a bit longer to make it to the big screen now that Columbia has dropped the project.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's comic book has been put into turnaround. The violent and edgy book was being adapted by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay along with Seth Rogen. The screenplay has been in development since 2009.

The story follows an CIA Squad who watch superheroes and when needed, they intimidate or even eliminate them. Those are "the boys." The project had producers Neal H. Moritz from Original Film and Kickstart's Jason Netter attached. The two will now be shopping the project to the many studios.


HOW LEOPARDS CELEBRATE VALENTINE'S DAY (Here's a Hint: It Involves Urine and Destruction)

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What is love?

Is it a feeling of absolute contentment? Walking around with the confidence that you are with your soulmate? Being one with another human being?

Or is it two big cats pissing on a cardboard kissing booth and then destroying it?

I'm going with the last example my friends...it just feels right.

Source: Neatorama


Damning with Faint Praise: BRICK

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 “Lunch is a lot of things. Lunch is difficult.”

Hello, and welcome to the first installment of Damning with Faint Praise.

We’re going to talk about horrible movies and how they could be better, but I’m going to start with a great movie, Brick (2006), and a lot of cool things about it.


Synopsis

“Throw one at me if you want, hash-head. I got all five senses 
and I slept last night. That puts me six up on the lot of you.”

Emily calls her former boyfriend, Brendan, while hysterical and terrified. Brendan, a tough-talking outsider, dives into the elaborate ranks of his high-school social scene in search of Emily, unable to shake the call or the cryptic things Emily said. Two days later, he finds Emily dead, outside a remote drainage ditch. Brendan confronts high-school jocks and drug-dealers alike with a near-suicidal determination to get justice for the girl who left him.




Verdict

A terrific high school noir detective movie that’s well worth your time.


“Deal with whatever this ain’t about and drop it.”

Brick was filmed in 2005, on an estimated budget of US $475,000 which writer/director Rian Johnson borrowed from friends and family over six years. Released in April, 2006 and distributed by Focus Features, this gritty high-school detective film disappointed on its opening weekend $83754. Two months later, though, word-of-mouth boosted it over US $2 million.

Today, it’s 79% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes where 82% of the audience report liking it.

“Brendan, I know you're mad at these people because you think I 
went away from you and went to them but, you need to start 
seeing it as my decision. Stop getting angry because where I 
want to be at, is different from where you want to be at.”

Rian Johnson loved Miller’s Crossing while he was in film school, and that led him to the hard-boild detective fiction of Dashiell Hammett. He decided to make his own film noir, and set it in his own high school and hometown to inject the genre with fresh visual cues. It was Rian Johnson’s first full-length feature (his second was The Brothers Bloom, and his third, Looper, is in post-production). Not a guy with a lot of work under his belt.



Brick stars one of my favorite actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Brendan; 3rd Rock from the Sun, (500) Days of Summer, G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Hesher, Inception, 50/50).

Supporting roles include Lukas Haas (Pin), Richard Roundtree (Assistant VP Trueman, can you dig it?), and Emilie de Ravin (Emily; she’d actually filmed her scenes before Lost aired).

You might recognize Nora Zehetner (Laura) from her 9-episode role as Eden McCain on Heroes or her work in Everwood.

Lessons

“There’s a thesaurus in the library. ‘Yeah’ is under Y. Go ahead. I’ll wait.” 



Brick raises a lot of issues around independent film-making. Rian Johnson spent six years gathering money and preparing to film, and that paid off during filming. He could take advantage of every moment of his limited filming time.

Because he paid for the film without studio involvement, we get a fresh, well thought-out, intelligent film with a highly stylized language. We also have to wonder, is Brick independent because it’s so smart, or is it purposely obscure? In the DVD commentary, producer Ram Bergman talks about turning away Focus Features, telling them that Brick would never succeed in theaters, that it was strictly a festival & art house film.

Obviously, this was never going to get major studio backing at SXSW. Rian Johnson had never written or directed a full-length feature before (he’d been a camera operator and an editor).

None of its young stars was famous at the time. Joseph Gordon-Levitt hadn’t achieved the recognition as an adult actor that he would get from Mysterious Skin. Lost hadn’t put Emilie de Ravin on the map yet. Nora Zehetner hadn’t made the jump from TV to film.

To big studios, Brick was going to look like a risk.



To that, you have to add that it’s an homage to film noir set in a high school.

Film school students love film noir, but it hasn’t been popular on big screens for fifty or sixty years. High school movies are supposed to be raunchy comedies (everything from Porky’s to American Pie) or light-hearted message movies (pretty much every movie John Hughes ever made). Doing something dark, complex, and stylized wasn’t an obvious sell.

“I don't want you to come kicking in my home- 
room door because of something I didn't do. “

One of the things that I love about Brick is how character driven it is.

Flashback scenes show a more open, innocent, Brendan. We know that because he doesn’t wear his jacket and brushes his hair back off his forehead. In the contemporary scenes, Brendan is cut-off, isolated, and out for himself. Emily is his link to that earlier time, and his love for her drives him through the movie.

I really appreciated that the script allows Brendan to show fear and loss.

His fear accentuates his determination to get justice for Emily. His loss accentuates his love for her. The pain he suffers shows not only his humanity, but how much he values Emily and their relationship – even though they’ve broken up. He may be a loner and a small-time dealer who ratted out his partner, but he’s also a romantic trying to overcome his own past.

Brick doesn’t spend any time giving us character revealing scenes. It dives right into the story and depends on dialogue and action to reveal character.

“See the Pin pipes it from the lowest scraper for Brad Bramish to sell, maybe. Ask any dope rat where their junk sprang and they'll say they scraped it from that, who scored it from this, who bought it off so, and after four or five connections the list always ends with The Pin. But I bet you, if you got every rat in town together and said ‘Show your hands’ if any of them've actually seen The Pin, you'd get a crowd of full pockets.“

Brick has a profoundly pre-feminist, film noir attitude toward women. Nora Zehetner says, in the DVD commentary, that she was on set with Emilie de Ravin for a few hours, and never met Meagan Good (Kara). None of the three female characters have scenes together.

In fact, all three of the women are trying to figure out their own power.


Emily breaks up with Brendan when she realizes that she’s just the girlfriend of a popular boy. She wants her own identity, and it gets her killed.


Kara can’t be happy or safe unless she’s in control of the men in her life. Her power lies only in her sexuality and skill with manipulation. Even when she controls the men around her, she knows that’s only borrowed power.

By the way, when you watch, check out Kara’s costume changes. Each one signals the role that she’s trying to play in her life.


Laura wants to be on top. She wants to be the one in charge. She starts her drive by dating Brad Bramish (Brian White), the top jock of the school (or so he claims, even though the coach never puts him in). Brad turns out to be a sap, but he links Laura to the Pin, a legendary drug dealer. The Pin has real power, and money, and Laura wants both.

Of course, high school is a time when everyone, regardless of genre, is trying to figure themselves out and figure out their power.
 
“I was just going to come up with some bit of information, 
or set up some phony deal. And I think she'd let me walk. 
Then I was going to go to the vice principal and spill 
the street address of the biggest dope port in the burg.”

Directorially, Brick betrays Rian Johnson’s inexperience in a few places – but not as many as you might think.

For example, early in Brendan’s search for Emily, Mr. Johnson makes extensive use of people entering scenes in the background, often seen in reflections. This evokes Brendan’s lack of clarity and understanding at that point in the film. Mr. Johnson handles it deftly. I watched the movie several times before I noticed how he was communicating Brendan’s lack of understanding.

Rian Johnson uses some inexpensive tricks with camera angles, film speed, and even film direction, to accomplish his effects under his budget. He goes into great detail about them in the DVD commentary (while joking that he’s teaching the listener how to make Brick at home). They look terrific, and add greatly to the impact of the scenes in which they appear.

A lesson for filmmakers here is that you have to match what you show with what you can afford, or what you can pull-off. 


If you lack the chops or the funds to film something, let it happen off-screen. In Brick, we hear a big gang brawl happen upstairs in Pin’s house, but Mr. Johnson doesn’t spend time or money filming it.


 “I don’t like being told which side I’m on.”

There are several jarring quick cuts in the film. Some of them are there because test audiences had trouble following the story. Mr. Johnson went back and cut in some close-ups and inserts to clarify clues and plot points.

However, there are some cuts during length dialogue scenes that reflect a lack of confidence. Good actors (and Mr. Johnson cast some) should be able to hold our interest throughout dialogue. Switching camera angles and inserting close-ups can underscore drama, but here it mostly shows a lack of confidence in the performers.

Brick’s language is highly stylized on purpose. Mr. Johnson says, in the DVD commentary, that he wasn’t trying to create a realistic depiction of high school. Stylizing the language was both a pointer towards the visually stylized film noir genre, and an attempt to evoke the intensity of emotion that pervades high school years. Those years feel like the most important ones of your life, when you’re in them. It’s a bubble of time when everything can feel like life and death.

Brick feels like real high school, even though it sounds nothing like it.



A theme that runs through Brick is imperfection.

Brendan wears glasses, and so does Brain. Dode and Emily, among others, are addicts. The Pin walks with a cane. Tug clearly has anger management issues exacerbated by his drug use. The more perfect anyone appears, the more you can be sure that some imperfection lurks behind their facades.

Closing

There are plenty of ambitious filmmakers out there who can't get their vision on film. 

That said, the minor flaws in Brick show Rian Johnson's potential, rather than his lack of film-making savvy. 

This is a lesson in how to do things right.


GUILLERMO DEL TORO Comments on PACIFIC RIM

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Guillermo del Toro's latest project Pacific Rim is still being kept pretty secret, but the man is willing to give us a few bits of information.

The plot of Pacific Rim takes place in 2012 Japan when a monster emerges from the Pacific Ocean and destroys parts of Japan. The humans build giant robots to fight the aliens with and discover the alternate monster world hidden in the hole in the ocean. With the tragedies last year in Japan, some people wondered if del Toro would change the setting at all. That and they wonder what the robots will look like.


Del Toro commented in the forums of deltorofilms that the Mechs in the new movie would be his own creation. "These are proper robots but they obey our own sensibilities in design. I am not making them gear or steampunky at all but I also don't want them to be just a "riff" on preexisting designs from Anime or games."

Moving on to the setting and the earthquake issue he said "As far as Japan, Mako Mori, one of our main characters is Japanese and her flashbacks are tied to a MAJOR set piece set in Tokyo. We are involving - and always have involved- the entire PACIFIC RIM. Japan, China, Australia, Coastal Russia etc, etc No major rewrites took place after the Earthquake. I changed the nature and location of Mako's flashback but it was still in Japan."


I GOT 99 PROBLEMS But A Clip Ain't One: Remixing the Jay-Z Song Through Film Clips


THE PULL LIST - BATWOMAN #6, CAPTAIN AMERICA #7, SCARLET SPIDER #2 AND MORE!

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Check out what I checked out this week.

Whether the comics are inspiring or disappointing, I read them all.

Welcome to The Pull List.

And, as always...Spoilers ahead!


Penguin: Pain & Prejudice #5 of 5 (Pick of the Week)
Writer: Gregg Hurwitz
Art: Szymon Kudranski
Colors: John Kalisz
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

The finale of the Penguin’s character brings out the truth of what kind of man he really is.

Throughout the series, Gregg Hurwitz's writing makes you feel sorry for Oswald. I mean, how could you hate someone who has beaten and severely tormented as a child and would do anything for his mother and girlfriend?

Hurwitz flips the switch as he reveals the one thing Penguin loves the most and it makes you so mad that you hated him even more than when you started reading the series.


The art and color presents a dark and dingy world which I like to believe it the mental depiction of Penguin’s state of mind. If you’ve read the previous four issues, you don’t want to miss this one.

If you passed on it then please, buy the graphic novel that will be released in a few months. The series has not received a lot of press but I promise you it will be the hidden gem of your collection.

Grade: A-



Batwoman #6
Writer: J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman
Art: Amy Reeder, Richard Friend & Rob Hunter
Colors: Guy Major
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

Best Artwork and Best Cover of the week goes to the sixth issue of the New 52’s best series that you might not be reading, but should, Batwoman.

This is a great jumping on point and this issue introduces the reader to all the characters in the series. Amy Reeder stepped in for J.H. Williams and I can safely say she more than held her own. It’s fair to say that the art is the main attraction to this series.

The writing can’t be judged by good and bad or right and wrong;  it’s simply different than anything else in comics today.

There is a two page layout of Kate Kane being bombarded by a plethora of bullets and she is stunned to learn her new Batwoman suit is bulletproof.

There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen on this one and they all helped to produce an exquisite blend of art and story.

Grade: B+

Captain America #7
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Art: Alan Davis & Mark Farmer
Colors: Laura Martin and Larry Molinar
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99

Ed Brubaker is putting Captain America through the ringer as his super-soldier powers keep kicking in and out at the wrong time.

Queen Hydra’s dastardly plot is taking shape and Sharon Carter is concerned that Steve might not recover from his body’s reaction to the serum.

There is one page layout beautifully produced by Davis and Farmer that shows Cap trying some peaceful crowd control during a riot. All of a sudden, he grabs his ribs and he reverts to his pre-super soldier physique and a rioter yells “They are trying to fool us with a fake Captain America. Get him” and boy do they get him.

What’s next for our Star-Spangled hero? The ending sequence will make you come back for more!


Grade: B+

Suicide Squad #6
Writer: Adam Glass
Art: Clayton Henry
Colors: Val Staples & Hi-Fi
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

Deadshot and company are hot on the trail of Harley Quinn and shoot her in pursuit.

Their victory is short lived since it was merely an ugly decoy and find themselves in the midst of several decoys they have to battle through. The action is nice but the meat and potatoes revolve around Harley as she is sad since The Joker is “dead” according to Detective Comics.

She recalls her first meeting with the clown prince of crime in her sane days as Dr. Harleen Quinzel when she first met the Joker. This was covered in Paul Dini’s Mad Love but there are subtle changes to their interaction. For example, Harley tells Mr. J “I will kick your nuts up through your mouth and show you how we do it in Canarsie” in response to one of his advances.

I enjoyed Clayton Henry’s work in this issue and especially when the Squad comes face-to-face with what I can only characterize as the transvestite army of Harley Quinn.

Grade: B+

Star Wars: Crimson Empire III – Empire Lost #4
Writer: Mike Richardson & Randy Stradley
Art: Paul Gulacy
Colors: Michael Bartolo
Publisher Dark Horse
Price: $3.50

The plot accelerates as Kir Kanos is determined to stop the attack planned by Devian, leader of the Imperial Remnant.

He is so determined, in fact, that he risks capture by the New Republic, you know, the people he swore to slay in the name of Emperor Palatine.

In other news, Han Solo is leading an armada of star ships to a planet Star Wars fans are very familiar with to snuff out Imperial activity. The story was great but the art not so much.

I’m not an art snob by any means but the character depiction was terrible.

There were three different people who could have been Luke Skywalker and only the word balloons clued me in; Han Solo looked lame; Admirial Ackbar has a bright orange tan that would make the Jersey Shore cast proud and Leia kind of looked like Peggy Bundy in a panel or two.

The plot is something you can sink your teeth into but the art takes away from the overall experience.

Grade: C+

Scarlet Spider #2
Writer: Chris Yost
Art: Ryan Stegman
Colors: Marte Gracia
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $2.99

This series had me when I saw that Chris Yost, writer of the amazing Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes animated series, was writing this title.

He excels at strong character driven storytelling and his is no exception as Scarlett Spider dives into Kaine’s internal struggle with making the right choice or just fending for himself.

Salamander, the issue's nemesis is a muscle-bound, Fire god who Kaine ends up battling in the finale.

Ryan Stegman provides some fun visuals that depict Kaine not wanting to fight at first because he doesn’t want to be like Peter Parker.

At the end of the day, Kaine has to choose: life in Mexico or crime fighting in Houston.



Grade: B-

Star Wars: Agent of the Empire: Iron Eclipse #3
Writer: John Ostrander
Art: Stephane Crety & Julien Hugonard-Bert
Colors: Wes Dzioba
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $3.50

Jahan Cross is on the run from the authorities of the Corporate Sector for a crime he didn’t commit.

As he draws closer to the mystery surrounding the Iron Eclipse, he is without Imperial assistance and his droid, IN-GA 44. He has an ace in the hole in the form of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Sergeant Myrsk, a Nikto, has had Cross in his sights since the moment he arrived and is salivating at the idea of arresting an Imperial officer.

He knows Cross didn’t commit the murder but he doesn’t care and will do anything to get Cross behind bars.

The art maintained it’s vibrant display that contains a lot of fighting and things blowing up.



Grade: B

Superboy #6
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Art: R.B. Silva & Rob Lean
Colors: Richard Horie and Tania Horie
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

Superboy just finished wiping the floor with the Teen Titans and is kind of feeling guilty about it but he doesn’t know exactly why.

He is tired of being N.O.W.H.E.R.E.’s puppet and wants answers. Along the way he gets into a mile high slugfest with Supergirl that brings about some education and revelation of his Kryptonian heritage.

No complaints about the artwork and the story is compelling because this is their first interaction in the new universe.

DC has already announced a Superman Family crossover event in the summer and I believe a couple of breadcrumbs were left for us to chew on.





Grade: B

Batman & Robin #6
Writer: Peter J Tomasi
Art: Patrick Gleason & Mick Gray
Colors: John Kalisz
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

This book really should be called Damian Wayne or Robin since he is the central character of this series.

Morgan Ducard is determined to convince Damian that his father’s crime fighting methods are ineffective.

Damian appears to be drinking the Kool-Aid while Batman desperately scours Gotham in the Batmobile in order to find his son before he crosses the point of no return. T

omasi’s script and Gleason’s art provides a nice brisk pace to the story. We’ve seen father and son squabbles before but this is unlike anything we have seen to date.

While most parents worry about their kids sneaking out to a party, Bruce has to worry about his kid sneaking out and killing someone.

The last page shows an extremely angry Batman when he hears something while on a pursuit.

Grade: B

Green Lantern #6 (Shelf Listed- Disappointment of the Week)
Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Mike Choi
Colors: Mike Choi & Alex Sinclair
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

This is a filler issue and nothing more.

Hal Jordan is enjoying time with Carol Ferris and life without the ring.

Meanwhile, in outer space, Sinestro is beating up on some fools we haven’t seen since The Blackest Night. The confrontation on the cover happens on the last page.

Nothing good or bad just an uneventful 32 pages you can do without.

Skip it.


Cartoon Network's REGULAR SHOW Celebrate's VALENTINE'S DAY

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Mordecai tries to get to Margaret’s phone before she hears his embarrassing voicemail in “Butt Dial”

Love Is In the Air this Valentine’s Day, Regular Show Style

Special Loved-Themed Episode to Air Monday, Feb 13 at 8 p.m. (ET, PT)

Season Four Slated to Premiere Later this Year

Regular Show, Cartoon Network’s hit animated comedy featuring best friends Mordecai, a six-foot-tall blue jay and Rigby, a hyperactive raccoon, presents a special Valentine’s Day episode “Butt Dial” on Monday, Feb 13 at 8 p.m. (ET, PT). The loved-themed episode, with a title based on the very modern occurrence of an un-locked mobile phone unintentionally making a call, will help set the Valentine’s Day mood and features a big moment for Mordecai and his crush Margaret. In “Butt Dial” Mordecai accidentally leaves an embarrassing voicemail on Margaret’s phone that tells her how he really feels.

To get hearts pumping even more, Regular Show fans are receiving a very special Valentine, Cartoon Network announced today the fourth season of the hit series is in production. Look for season four to premiere later this year, yeeeauuhhhh!

Created by JG Quintel and produced by Cartoon Network Studios, Regular Show features Mordecai and Rigby, two groundskeepers at a park whose attempts to escape their everyday boredom take them to fantastical extremes. The job is so deadly dull that the two friends will do anything they can to avoid it. This doesn’t go over well with their boss Benson (an anthropomorphic gumball machine) — but their efforts often result in insane escapades that delight their co-workers and friends.

Since its premiere in September 2010, Regular Show has become an instant hit with its first and second seasons on Monday nights, ranking #1 in its time period among all key boy demos across all of television according to Nielsen Media Research. Just months after its premiere, the series was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy®.

Cartoon Network (CartoonNetwork.com), currently seen in more than 99 million U.S. homes and 207 countries around the world, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s ad-supported cable service now available in HD offering the best in original, acquired and classic entertainment for youth and families. Nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. (ET, PT), Cartoon Network shares its channel space with Adult Swim, a late-night destination showcasing original and acquired animated and live-action programming for young adults 18-34.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.


Support The Inaugural Make-A-Wish Lightsaber Run (In Less Than Twelve Parsecs)

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INAUGURAL LIGHTSABER RUN TO DEBUT LEADING UP TO 2012 SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL 

Course of the Force run/walk from Santa Monica to San Diego will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation
 
Star Wars fans will have a chance to channel their Force of good-will while raising a lightsaber, an elegant symbol of hope, in an epic journey worthy of the Jedi Knights.

Lucasfilm Ltd., Nerdist Industries, Octagon and Machinima have teamed up to present Course of the Force, an Olympic-style lightsaber relay held July 7-11, where participants will make a journey from Santa Monica to San Diego while benefiting a worthy cause. At quarter-mile markers (much less than 12 parsecs), participants will hand off the official Course of the Force lightsaber to the next runner as they begin their leg of the journey. Course of the Force will take place in the days leading up to the annual San Diego Comic-Con International, July 12-15.

On top of creating an event for Star Wars enthusiasts to celebrate and embrace their love of the Saga, Course of the Force will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Fans will have the opportunity to participate in the historic lightsaber relay through various promotions and online calls to action.

Participants in the relay are encouraged to come decked out in their best Star Wars or pop culture-themed running gear, not only to look good but also to win prizes. Ancient Jedi Masters carried within backpacks are not required.

“The Course of the Force lightsaber run is a great cause that combines fitness with helping others, principles that aspiring Jedi Knights can embrace. We have long supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and this is a great opportunity to raise funds and awareness while letting Star Wars fans celebrate their favorite saga,” said Kayleen Walters, Sr. Director of Marketing for Lucasfilm.

Giving the event a true fan’s touch, Nerdist Industries’ founder Chris Hardwick and co-hosts will follow the action from the Course of the Force lead vehicle each day, broadcasting live to the Nerdist platform, including its YouTube channel, youtube.com/nerdist. Machinima, the dominant video entertainment network for gamers around the world, will provide extensive coverage and promotion of the event through its multi-channel video network.

As the Course makes its stops along the iconic California coast, Star Wars-themed parties, contests and live Nerdist shows will cap off each day for fans to enjoy. Participants will receive a customized Hasbro Star Wars Ultimate FX lightsaber, along with other gifts celebrating the Force and Comic-Con.

“We aim to build on the excitement leading up to San Diego Comic-Con International, to raise awareness for the wonderful Make-A-Wish Foundation and to ensure that Course of the Force becomes an evergreen part of the pop culture lexicon,” said Nerdist Industries’ principal and Course of the Force creator and executive director Peter Levin. “Partnering with Lucasfilm, Octagon and Machinima creates a trilogy of cachet, profile and execution expertise. As a wise green man might say, ‘succeed we will, for a good cause’.”

ABOUT LUCASFILM LTD.
Lucasfilm Ltd. is one of the world's leading film and entertainment companies. Founded by George Lucas in 1971, it is a privately held, fully-integrated entertainment company.  In addition to its motion-picture and television production operations, the company's global activities include Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, serving the digital needs of the entertainment industry for visual-effects and audio post-production; LucasArts, a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide; Lucas Licensing, which manages the global merchandising activities for Lucasfilm's entertainment properties; Lucasfilm Animation, which is currently producing content for film and television, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a CG-animated half-hour television series; and Lucas Online creates Internet-based content for Lucasfilm's entertainment properties and businesses. Additionally, Lucasfilm Singapore, produces digital animated content for film and television, as well as visual effects for feature films and multi-platform games. Lucasfilm's motion-picture productions include three of the 20 biggest box-office hits of all time and have received 19 Oscars and more than 60 Academy Award nominations. Lucasfilm's television projects have won 12 Emmy Awards.  Lucasfilm Ltd. is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.

ABOUT NERDIST INDUSTRIES
Nerdist Industries is a multi-platform creator of genre and popular-culture content – a true next generation media company. Founded in 2008, Nerdist is the brainchild of comedian, author, podcaster and new media personality Chris Hardwick. In 2011, Nerdist and GeekChicDaily merged to form Nerdist Industries with Hardwick serving as Founder and Chief Creative Officer and digital media entrepreneur Peter Levin, co-founder of GeekChicDaily, serving as Chief Executive Officer. Nerdist Industries investors include Legendary Pictures, Mandalay Enterprises, Machinima CEO Allen DeBevoise, Japanese media juggernaut Yoshimoto Kogyo and Revolution Studio’s Joe Roth. Nerdist Industries' partners in its premium YouTube channel include The Jim Henson Company, Broadway Video Entertainment and The Chernin Company. Nerdist Industries is headquartered at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood, CA. 

ABOUT MACHINIMA
Machinima is the dominant video entertainment network for serious gamers around the world. The number one entertainment channel on YouTube, Machinima serves over 1 billion video views a month, and reaches over 124 million gamers monthly. Machinima’s global content network features official publisher content, gameplay videos and original content, including over 20 original weekly shows, all aimed at the coveted 18 – 34 year old male demographic. Machinima is fast-becoming a global phenomenon with an ability to capture a cultural sensibility and awareness among a next generation of entertainment consumers and marketers alike. The company is backed by MK Capital and Redpoint Ventures, and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit www.machinima.com.

ABOUT OCTAGON GLOBAL EVENTS
Octagon Global Events is a division of Octagon, the world's largest sports and entertainment representation and marketing agency. Octagon Global Events focuses on premium event/property management and providing strategic corporate solutions.  The division currently manages five professional golf tournaments, the Course of the Force and the Toyota Texas Bass Classic. For more information, visit www.octagonglobalevents.com.

. Machinima, the dominant video entertainment network for gamers around the world, will provide extensive coverage and promotion of the event through its multi-channel video network.

As the Course makes its stops along the iconic California coast, Star Wars-themed parties, contests and live Nerdist shows will cap off each day for fans to enjoy. Participants will receive a customized Hasbro Star Wars Ultimate FX lightsaber, along with other gifts celebrating the Force and Comic-Con.

“We aim to build on the excitement leading up to San Diego Comic-Con International, to raise awareness for the wonderful Make-A-Wish Foundation and to ensure that Course of the Force becomes an evergreen part of the pop culture lexicon,” said Nerdist Industries’ principal and Course of the Force creator and executive director Peter Levin. “Partnering with Lucasfilm, Octagon and Machinima creates a trilogy of cachet, profile and execution expertise. As a wise green man might say, ‘succeed we will, for a good cause’.”

ABOUT LUCASFILM LTD.
Lucasfilm Ltd. is one of the world's leading film and entertainment companies. Founded by George Lucas in 1971, it is a privately held, fully-integrated entertainment company.  In addition to its motion-picture and television production operations, the company's global activities include Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, serving the digital needs of the entertainment industry for visual-effects and audio post-production; LucasArts, a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide; Lucas Licensing, which manages the global merchandising activities for Lucasfilm's entertainment properties; Lucasfilm Animation, which is currently producing content for film and television, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a CG-animated half-hour television series; and Lucas Online creates Internet-based content for Lucasfilm's entertainment properties and businesses. Additionally, Lucasfilm Singapore, produces digital animated content for film and television, as well as visual effects for feature films and multi-platform games. Lucasfilm's motion-picture productions include three of the 20 biggest box-office hits of all time and have received 19 Oscars and more than 60 Academy Award nominations. Lucasfilm's television projects have won 12 Emmy Awards.  Lucasfilm Ltd. is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.

ABOUT NERDIST INDUSTRIES
Nerdist Industries is a multi-platform creator of genre and popular-culture content – a true next generation media company. Founded in 2008, Nerdist is the brainchild of comedian, author, podcaster and new media personality Chris Hardwick. In 2011, Nerdist and GeekChicDaily merged to form Nerdist Industries with Hardwick serving as Founder and Chief Creative Officer and digital media entrepreneur Peter Levin, co-founder of GeekChicDaily, serving as Chief Executive Officer. Nerdist Industries investors include Legendary Pictures, Mandalay Enterprises, Machinima CEO Allen DeBevoise, Japanese media juggernaut Yoshimoto Kogyo and Revolution Studio’s Joe Roth. Nerdist Industries' partners in its premium YouTube channel include The Jim Henson Company, Broadway Video Entertainment and The Chernin Company. Nerdist Industries is headquartered at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood, CA. 

ABOUT MACHINIMA
Machinima is the dominant video entertainment network for serious gamers around the world. The number one entertainment channel on YouTube, Machinima serves over 1 billion video views a month, and reaches over 124 million gamers monthly. Machinima’s global content network features official publisher content, gameplay videos and original content, including over 20 original weekly shows, all aimed at the coveted 18 – 34 year old male demographic. Machinima is fast-becoming a global phenomenon with an ability to capture a cultural sensibility and awareness among a next generation of entertainment consumers and marketers alike. The company is backed by MK Capital and Redpoint Ventures, and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit www.machinima.com.

ABOUT OCTAGON GLOBAL EVENTS
Octagon Global Events is a division of Octagon, the world's largest sports and entertainment representation and marketing agency. Octagon Global Events focuses on premium event/property management and providing strategic corporate solutions.  The division currently manages five professional golf tournaments, the Course of the Force and the Toyota Texas Bass Classic. For more information, visit www.octagonglobalevents.com.


MARILYN Comes Home

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“One of the best movies of the year.” 
~ Jan Wahl, KCBS


“Glowingly evokes a vanished era in filmmaking.” 
~ Adam Green, VOGUE


ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT and THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY PRESENT THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED FILM MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – STARRING THREE-TIME OSCAR® NOMINEE MICHELLE WILLIAMS – ON BLU-RAY™ AND DVD


Based On A True Story And Featuring An Award-Winning Cast,

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Heads To Retail On March 13, 2012!


Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Company announced today the Blu-ray™ and DVD release of the “warm, wonderful and enchanting” (Rex Reed, The New York Observer) film, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, starring three-time Academy Award® nominee Michelle Williams (BLUE VALENTINE), who is “flawless, brilliant and exhilarating” (Bruce Handy, Vanity Fair) in the iconic title role. Based on Colin Clark’s memoir, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, also stars Academy Award® nominee Kenneth Branagh (HAMLET) as Sir Laurence Olivier, Tony Award® winner Eddie Redmayne (THE GOOD SHEPHERD) as Clark, and Academy Award® winner Judi Dench (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) as Dame Sybil Thorndike.



The film’s principal cast is joined by Dominic Cooper (AN EDUCATION), Emmy® Award winner Julia Ormond (“TEMPLE GRANDIN”) as Vivien Leigh, Zoë Wanamaker (HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE), Emma Watson (HARRY POTTER series), Dougray Scott (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II) as Arthur Miller, Toby Jones (FROST NIXON), and Derek Jacobi (THE KING’S SPEECH). From acclaimed director Simon Curtis (“CRANFORD”), MY WEEK WITH MARILYN heads to retail on March 13, 2012 for an SRP of $39.99 for the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and $29.98 for the DVD.

A strong contender this awards season, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN has received two 2012 Academy Award® nominations, including Best Actress in a Leading Role (Michelle Williams) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Kenneth Branagh). Williams won a 2012 Golden Globe® Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, while the film received nominations for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Kenneth Branagh). Additionally, the film received two Screen Actors Guild Award® nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (Michelle Williams) and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Kenneth Branagh).

Rex Reed, film critic for The New York Observer, hailed MY WEEK WITH MARILYN as “Pure perfection!” In her review for TIME magazine, film critic Mary Pols wrote, “Michelle Williams captures Monroe’s mystique and humanity with uncanny accuracy.” Wrote Vanity Fair film critic, Bruce Handy, “Michelle Williams is flawless, brilliant and exhilarating. I can’t think of a better performance in the role of an icon.” Pete Hammond, film critic for Deadline Hollywood, described the film as “One of the most purely entertaining films of the year!” Finally, in his review for The New Yorker, film critic David Denby called the film “Charming and touching. Expertly made… Michelle makes the star come alive.”

During Marilyn Monroe’s (Michelle Williams) first trip to London to film The Prince and the Showgirl with Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh), she befriends Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), an ambitious 23-year-old Third Assistant Director on the set. As their relationship progresses, Colin’s focus shifts from making his way in the film business to rescuing her from the pressures of celebrity life. When Monroe’s new husband, playwright Arthur Miller, makes a brief trip to Paris, Clark takes the opportunity to introduce her to the world outside of Hollywood fame. Based on the true story by Colin Clark, this memoir describes a magical week in which Monroe opens herself up to a stranger and finds in him a confidant and an ally.


The MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD bonus features include an audio commentary with director Simon Curtis and a “The Untold Story of an American Icon” featurette. Note: Special features are subject to change.

Learn more about MY WEEK WITH MARILYN at: http://myweekwithmarilynmovie.com/

ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein, which has released such popular franchises as SCREAM, SPY KIDS and SCARY MOVIE. Together TWC and Dimension Films have released a broad range of mainstream, genre and specialty films that have been commercial and critical successes, including Tom Hooper’s THE KING’S SPEECH, winner of four 2011 Academy Awards®, including Best Picture.

Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such films as GRINDHOUSE; I’M NOT THERE; THE GREAT DEBATERS; VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; THE READER; THE ROAD; HALLOWEEN; THE PAT TILLMAN STORY; PIRANHA 3D; INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS; A SINGLE MAN; BLUE VALENTINE; THE COMPANY MEN; MIRAL; SCRE4M; SUBMARINE; DIRTY GIRL; APOLLO 18; OUR IDIOT BROTHER; I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT; SARAH’S KEY; and SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD IN 4D. Currently in release are MY WEEK WITH MARILYN; THE ARTIST; THE IRON LADY; CORIOLANUS; and W.E. Upcoming releases include UNDEFEATED and BULLY.

TWC is also active in television production, with credits including the Emmy® nominated and Peabody Award winning reality series Project Runway, the VH1 reality series Mob Wives, and the critically acclaimed HBO comedy/crime series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency which also received a Peabody Award. The company is currently producing After The Runway, Project Runway All Stars and Project Accessory. The company currently has 17 series in different stages of development, including Marco Polo, a scripted historical series about the great explorer; and The Nanny Diaries, being adapted for ABC by Amy Sherman Palladino (Gilmore Girls).

ABOUT ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT
Anchor Bay Entertainment is the home entertainment division of Starz Media, LLC. It includes the Anchor Bay Films and Manga Entertainment brands. It distributes feature films, children’s entertainment, fitness, TV series, documentaries, anime and other filmed entertainment on Blu-ray™ and DVD formats. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Starz Media (www.starzmedia.com) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LMCA).


WALKING DEAD's GLENN and DARYL To Appear At IMAGE EXPO

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THE WALKING DEAD PANEL LIVE AT IMAGE EXPO ADDS NORMAN REEDUS
Actor will join THE WALKING DEAD creator Robert Kirkman and WD castmate Steven Yeun in conversation with Chris Hardwick


Image Expo is excited to announce the addition of Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl Dixon on AMC's record-breaking television series The Walking Dead to the comic convention's The Walking Dead panel. The panel takes place during Image Expo on Saturday, February 25 at 4 p.m. in the Oakland Convention Center in Oakland, California. Reedus will join The Walking Dead creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman and Reedus' The Walking Dead castmate Steven Yeun (Glenn) in conversation with Chris Hardwick.

Fans of The Walking Dead stick around after the show every week to watch The Talking Dead and hear what goes on behind the scenes of cable TV's highest rated drama in history. This conversation will be even better because you can see it up close and in person exclusively by attending Image Expo. This unique and first-time ever opportunity offers the chance to not only listen in but ask your own questions of some of the show's principle players live and in person. Kirkman, Yeun, and Reedus will talk to Hardwick about the latest shocking plot twists and what it’s like working on a show that has taken the world by storm.

This is just one of the exciting panels taking place during Image Expo, ranging from small, limited-attendance workshops conducted by the Image founders to large panels with some of comics' most talented creators talking about the present and future of the industry. In addition to this panel, Robert Kirkman will also be on the stage for three other panels: to discuss taking your favorite comics from the page to television, the latest from his Image Comics imprint Skybound, and a special fan question-and-answer session. For a complete listing of Image Expo's programming, go to www.imagecomicexpo.com




ABOUT IMAGE EXPO
Image Expo is a three-day comic book convention commemorating Image Comics' 20th Anniversary and celebrating creator-owned comics, being held on February 24, 25, and 26, 2012 at the Oakland Convention Center. Image partners Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino, will be the guests of honor, appearing for signings, panels, and special events. Other special guests include Image founders Rob Liefeld, and Whilce Portacio, plus the creators of today's best creator-owned comics, including Ed Brubaker and Brian K. Vaughan. For more information about Image Expo, visit www.imagecomicexpo.com.


ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.


ABOUT ROBERT KIRKMAN
Robert Kirkman's success and passionate advocacy for creator-owned comics led him to become the first person invited to become a partner at Image Comics since the company's inception twenty years ago. He's the creator/writer of the Eisner Award-winning The Walking Dead, long-running Invincible, kid-friendly Super Dinosaur, The Astounding Wolfman, and new title Thief of Thieves, among many others. Kirkman has earned the respect of the comic, writing and television communities and topped the New York Times bestseller list for graphic novels in 2011, taking four of the top spots. He's the creator/executive producer and writer of the hit television show, AMC's The Walking Dead, the highest-rated basic cable drama of all time in the U.S, also an international success in 120 countries and 250 million households. www.Skybound.com is your destination for all news and merchandise for Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead and all Skybound titles.


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