Of course, I've been saying this for years...

People's Sexiest Man of 2004...

Jude Law

And how! rawr.

Singer to direct Superman Returns

Bryan Singer is set to be in the director's chair on the fifth Superman movie, rumored to be entitled Superman Returns.

Rather than a "reboot" of the franchise (which, in some cases, is badly needed) as had been originally planned, Singer's vision is to pick up more or less where Superman IV left off. This will necessitate throwing all of the script and casting work done thus far out the window, but despite this Warner Brothers still seems intent on moving ahead with filming by the end of the year.

Only downside? X-Men 3 will likely be looking for a new director.

O Superman, where art thou?

No, the Coen Brothers aren't directing the next Superman film, but it seems like practically every other director in Hollywood has been attached.

Maybe that's a bit of hyberbole, but the director's chair has been somewhat of a revolving door. Latest victim: McG, who cites budget disagreements and Warner Brothers' lack of support for using New York as a stand-in for Metropolis as the reasons for his departure.

I suppose this means that the recent casting efforts are down the drain, too. *sigh*

Unfairenheit 9/11

Slate has posted a very thorough rebuke of Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, in which Christopher Hitchens exposes the film for what it is - morally and intellectually bankrupt.

If you don't share Moore's beliefs, then you bristle at the thought of the contradiction and hypocrisy involved in Moore's exploitation of the death of a woman's son within minutes of accusing the President of exploiting the death of those who were lost in the events of 9/11.

If you agree with his sentiments, then you are exasperated by his self-serving, systematic destruction of the credibility of your beliefs by associating them with his incoherent, paranoid, and intellectually lazy "arguments".

Either way, Moore is detestable. Give him and his film what they deserve - a big "who cares". Spend the money that you would have spent on a ticket to his film on a history book or a political contribution. Spend the time you would have spent in a theater being bombarded by his baseless sense of self-righteousness by having an intelligent conversation with someone with whom you disagree politically. These are the things that make America healthier, not rewarding an attention-craving imbecile for whom juxtaposing incongruous images passes for exposing the truth and taking words and events out of context to ridicule people constitutes political satire.

The new Superman

Well, Comic Book Resources, Dark Horizons, and Superman-V.com are all reporting that the field of actors to play Superman has been narrowed to six, almost all of whom reportedly screen-tested for the part over the past few days.

Here are the candidates:

Henry Cavill	Jason Behr	Jared Padalecki
Brandon Routh	Mike Vogel	Hayden Christensen

Rumor has it that Christensen, now famous for playing Darth Vader, has dropped out. Personally I like the look of Cavill and Routh, but I guess it remains to be seen if they can act...

Desiree's "down and dirty, mostly spoiler free, no-holds barred, short" review of Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban

Ack! No! Where the hell is Hagrid's hut? What the hell did they do to Flitwick?
Ahhh...I can't stop thinking about Hagrid's hut! It's a good thing I grew to care about these characters in the last two movies because this one ain't doing the trick. Hagrid's hut!

That's right folks: me...no...likey.

More official BB media

More photos from Batman Begins at the official site.

Saw the exclusive in Entertainment Weekly, too... my only question was, "where is the Bat-symbol?" Black on black is fine, but it almost looked like it was off to the side like some sort of Izod logo.

A night on the town

Who says Bruce Wayne can't have some fun with the ladies?

Now I'm thinking that the new coat I've been looking for should be a SeV, which the manufacturer claims (scroll down a bit until you see the Batman logo) may be the basis for the new on-screen utility belt.

Thank God for Monty Python!

Ahhh...the antidote.

More Batman

A couple of additional cast members have been signed up for Batman Begins, according to this Sci-Fi Wire re-report of a Hollywood Reporter news item.

While I like the casting that's been announced thus far, any script with characters as far-ranging as Ducard, Falcone, Fox, and Ra's Al Ghul sounds like it could be spreading itself a bit too thin... but there's nothing to be done about it except to wait and see.

Gary Oldman, how do I love thee?

...let me count the ways.

1) Every movie you've ever been in (here's an extra squeeze for Fifth Element and Dracula).
2) Every movie you'll ever be in.

I bring this up because Gary was just cast as a young Lt. Gordon for Batman Begins...and also because he'll be appearing as Sirius Black in the new Harry Potter movie.

And those are two very anticipated movies in this household.....made even more exciting by his participation.

Adapting Ender

Has enough time passed since the B-movie debacle that was Starship Troopers, the event that single-handedly set the sci-fi genre back 20 years in terms of credibility, to make another film about insect-like aliens hell-bent on taking over the Earth?

Is there enough distance from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to have another epic about fighting for the existence of your people and their values?

The answer to both questions is yes, when posed in response to the adaption of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, one of the few books to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards and quite easily one of my five favorite books of all time.

David Hayter's co-writers for X2 will adapt the script based on Card's quiet sale of the film rights to both Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, a more recent novel which tells the same story from another main character's point-of-view.

As with all of the upcoming adaptations - Watchmen, Hitchiker's Guide, etc. - I am hoping for a LotR-quality transition to the big screen but preparing for the worst.

Favorite films (2003)

Remember, to make extrasonic's "favorite" list, we're not looking for great works of art with profound cultural impact - we're just listing the things we personally enjoyed for any reason.

This year in the film category, we have an honorable mention: although the movie itself didn't make the cut, Chris Eliot's stump from Scary Movie 3 deserves some sort of award. We're just not sure what, exactly.

Favorite films (2003) | Last year's list

12. The Matrix Reloaded
11. The Hulk
10. 28 Days Later
9. Final Flight of the Osiris (short from The Animatrix)
8. The Matrix Revolutions
7. Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
6. Kill Bill, Vol. 1
5. Bend It Like Beckham
4. Finding Nemo
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
2. X2: X-Men United
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Now THAT's a big DVD

This week's theatrical release of Return of the King clocks in at a healthy 3 hours 20 minutes, but Sci Fi Wire reveals that one of the first cuts was over four and a half hours!

No telling how much of that will make it into the inevitable Extended Edition DVD when it's released in a year or so, but I for one wouldn't complain about the extra substance.

Separated at Birth?

This probably drives Dan crazy, but I can't help but yell out "Abe Vigoda!" every time we see this orc in Two Towers. Tell me I'm wrong.... :)

Abe

Orc

Caine == Alfred

Variety is reporting that Michael Caine will play Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler in the upcoming Batman film, Intimidation Game, according to Sci Fi Wire.

Harry Potter Trailer!

Yay! The Prisoner of Azkaban teaser trailer is out! Check it out here.

Marvel at just how dorky and awkward Draco looks, how "appropriate" the new Dumbledore seems to be, and how awesome the Dementors turned out.

And yes, Gary Oldman is the cool shoeshine.

Animation World on B:MotB

Animation World Magazine has a nice feature on the process behind making the Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman direct-to-video animated film that was released this past Tuesday.

Tarantino interview

The Tarantino interview at Japattack about Kill Bill actually makes me like the movie more in retrospect. Tarantino knows films - period.

Kurosawa commercials

For my brother-in-law (Desiree's twin): a link to information about Suntory Whiskey commercials for Japanese TV starring Akira Kurosawa.

Orson Welles as... Batman

Gravity Lens has posted a link to a great story about how Orson Welles was close to making a Batman feature film shortly after working on Citizen Kane.

Particularly interesting were the casting tidbits - Basil Rathbone as the Joker, George Raft as Two-Face, James Cagney as the Riddler, and Marlene Dietrich as Catwoman... fascinating stuff!

He's Batman.

Christian Bale will be Batman.

I'm not familiar with the work of all the actors that screentested, but among the ones I know, Bale was my first choice. I think he's got the swagger and playboy appearance to play Wayne's public facade, the intensity to play Wayne's dark side, and he's solidly-built enough to have the physical presence Batman requires. Even though he's Welsh, I think his American accent is pretty convincing.

He's a good casting choice - and coming from a pretty demanding fan like me, that's saying something.

Nolan's casting couch

Christopher Nolan is auditioning 6-7 actors for the role of Batman in his upcoming addition to the Batman franchise, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The film is supposed to start shooting in February; I'm hopeful that things are far enough along (pre-production, casting, etc.) that it won't get derailed.

LotR - an all-day event

For those among us with bladders of steel, New Line has announced that participating theatres will have a marathon screening of the extended DVD cuts of Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers as part of a triple-feature topped off by The Return of the King.

That should be 8.5 hours (plus intermissions) worth of Tolkien/Peter Jackson goodness on December 16th!

David Goyer interview

UGO has an interview with David Goyer - if you're interested in the screenwriting process, then you should check it out.

New Harry Potter director announced

Mike Newell (who helmed Four Weddings and a Funeral, among others) has been signed on as the first British director in the Harry Potter franchise. He'll be heading up the filming of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Kevin Smith interview

Filmcritic.com has an interview with Kevin Smith.

You're blaming who?

Just came across this article where Paramount is actually blaming Eidos for the lack of movie sales for Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.

Excuse me? You're blaming the game? What about your own advertising? What about the extremely shitty first movie you put out that completely burned all of us who were stupid enough to spend way too much money on admission, popcorn and a large Diet Coke in order to sit in a dark theatre with a bunch of drooling boys watching Angelina Jolie attempt to act while prancing around in her pajamas and artifically enhanced boobs?

Two Towers Platinum

The extended edition hits shelves November 18th and has 40 minutes of additional footage. Yum.

A new Batman movie... sort of

What better way to show off your filmmaking talents to the industry (and the world) than to make a Batman flick and then let people download it from the Internet for free?

You can get Batman: Dead End here and read more about it here.

Update: Now that I've seen it, it's a bit... unusual but still all in good fun.

Watchmen on film

Alan Moore's Watchmen and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns are generally considered to be high-points in comics history - books that elevated the art form to the level of complexity, sophistication, and adult themes that form the backbone of the industry's appeal to older audiences today.

While some aspects of Dark Knight were mined for Tim Burton's original Batman film, attempts by Terry Gilliam and others to bring Watchmen to life on the silver screen have been so far unsuccessful.

That appears as though it's about to change - Sci-Fi Wire is reporting that David Hayter (the screenwriter for both X-Men films) has written a "faithful adaptation of the graphic novel" and may direct the film (to be produced by Lloyd Levin) as well. My hope that this will be done well - and accurately - is only surpassed by my hope that Mr. Moore is making a whole lot of money off of this and other recent film adaptations of his comics (From Hell, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen).

Kill Bill. Repeatedly.

The New York Times is reporting that Kill Bill is so long, that Miramax has decided to split it into 2 films (to be released 2 - 6 months apart). This, after Desiree and I just saw the trailer this past weekend (in front of Pirates of the Carribean, which was pretty cool).

It definitely seems from the NYT article that these flicks will have the trademark Tarantino ultraviolence, with over 100 deaths in a particular action sequence and "particularly vibrant red" blood throughout.

Hitchiker's Guide... the movie

Sci-Fi Wire has relayed information in Variety that a Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy film is set to go into production. I'll let you all decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Intersecting sci-fi and horror

Sci-Fi Wire relates a Variety story that confirms Milla Jovovich is working on a sequel to Resident Evil (a movie that was always on the verge of being cool, but never quite got there) as well as a movie called Ultraviolet, which is set in the midst of a war between humans and vampires (Milla gets to be a vampire).

Speaking of sci-fi / horror hybrids, Sci-Fi Wire also republished a Variety report that David Goyer (who wrote the first two Blade films) will write and direct Blade 3. From a free-speech perspective, it's good to see someone still has the guts to make hyperviolent films despite the threat of being accused of inciting school shootings or some similar nonsense.

Top 25 Movies Filmed in Chicago

It's my kind of town. :)

Burton to direct 'Willy Wonka'?

Thus pronounceth Variety, according to this KCRA report.

The poll found at the above link is kind of amusing too; should Burton tap his longtime collaborator, Johnny Depp for the titular role, or would someone like Robin Williams have the right mix of comedy, drama, and evil to play a somewhat sinister Candy Man?

Comic Book: The Movie

This very well could be freaking hysterical.

15-word movie review

The Matrix Reloaded is the best movie without a plot that I have ever seen.

Convergence

Convergence - which most people think of as the consolidation of home entertainment (tv, movies, music, games, etc.) and information (computing, Internet, etc.) technologies - is becoming more and more of a reality, regardless of whether or not it's a good idea.

Sony is leading the charge - they are building IM capabilities into the Playstation 2, and they're teaming with IBM and Toshiba on the "cell" processor, which may serve as the basis for the PS3 and seems to have the potential to serve as the basis for a wide array of internetworked consumer electronics. Only Sony has the breadth of hardware (computers, game consoles, home theater components, etc.) to really see this convergence thing through. This positions Sony very well not only for making a single device that acts as the "digital hub" for a household (to use a phrase coined by another major convergence player, Apple) but also the "spokes" to be attached to that hub.

And what about Apple? If you believe Steve Jobs, then their iLife strategy has put them "so far ahead of anybody, it's not funny." Clearly, they've done more tactically than Sony has - iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and of course iTunes at the bleeding edge of the portfolio - but Sony has a leg up on Apple in the strategy department. After all, an install base of 50 million PS2s (scroll down to the 15 Jan 03 press release) really sets Sony up for the long haul.

Microsoft won't go out with out a fight, though. Their moves into pervasive computing with WinCE and the palmtop PocketPC are clear (even if the mobile phone portion of the plan is a bit murky), but their acquisition of WebTV, development of the TiVo-esque UltimateTV, and even the Xbox itself shows that Microsoft is definitely interested in having their software appear on consumers' TVs. Adding DVR and other multimedia functionality to the Xbox, as has been widely rumored, is yet another step down this path.

As great as it all sounds, general purpose hardware/OSes/software have historically never fared as well as a system of purpose-built technologies that have a well-understood way to interact with each other. The fact that you're reading this post over the Internet is probably the best example of discrete technologies communicating via standard protocols to achieve the ever-elusive concept of synergy - a whole that's more than the sum of its parts. The true aim of convergence, in my humble opinion, should be to bring open protocols (either new or existing) to consumer electronics - not to try to build a single "set top box" that is all things to all applications.

Smart money is on a redefinition of the home network - TiVo's Home Media Option upgrade has the right idea by adding TCP/IP capabilities to their DVRs via a USB ethernet interface - not the all-in-one approach that has tried and failed so many times. I'll take communication over consolidation any day.

X-Men 2

Desiree and I saw X-Men 2 last night - a day too late to contribute to the massive opening weekend it enjoyed.

It was a good movie; I agree with many reviewers who say it was better than the original. Simultaneously darker yet less complex than the first go-'round, I was neither disappointed nor blown away. Since my expectations were pretty high, I'll call it a success.

Without spoiling too much, I can say that I would liked to have seen more of some mutants and less of others. It also could have used a bit more of something - either more action sequences or a more sophisticated plot to fill the gaps more thoroughly. I'll also caution any potential viewers to make sure that they've either got a firm grasp on what happened during the first film or know the X-Men comic book storyline pretty well, or else you may find large chunks of plot completely incomprehensible. To the fans of the X-Men comic out there (you know who you are), there are a lot of fleeting references and "cameos" in the movie that are meant just for you.

Due to the strong opening weekend and with the seeds of another sequel - involving what is widely considered the greatest X-Men story ever told - very blatantly planted throughout the film, it's safe to say that Marvel's Merry Mutants haven't seen the last of Hollywood, and that's a good thing.

Big movie; BIG format.

Not that Matrix Reloaded or Matrix Revolutions needs our help in the hype department, but I was pleased to see that they are going to be remastered and presented in IMAX format, with Revolutions being the first major Hollywood feature ever released in standard and IMAX formats simultaneously.

Since the theatre Desiree and I usually attend has an IMAX screen, I'm all for it!

The Hulk (international trailer)

The quicktime site has a really nice trailer up for The Hulk.

Maybe I'm too easily swayed by 30 seconds of selective editing, but this not only looks fun, but well-acted too. I guess time will tell, but this looks like it'll be another fine addition to the glut of geek flicks this year.

Matrix-mania

As 15 May 2003 approaches, bringing us The Matrix Reloaded, the hype is starting to heat up. The full trailer can be downloaded at the official site, as can the third installment in the Animatrix.

Also, pre-orders are strong for Enter the Matrix, which will be released in conjunction with the film.

We're looking forward to it, despite the excessive hype.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

In a move that might even make Desiree's brother watch it, Gary Oldman has been cast as Sirius Black in the upcoming 3rd installment of the Harry Potter film series.

Principal photography for the film begins on Monday.

Awards and anime

The Oscar nominations have been posted. Academy members have sufficiently appeased their conscience by nominating The Two Towers for Best Picture, but snubbed Jackson by denying him a Best Director nod. The gesture would have been symbolic only - of course there's no way either the film or Peter could actually win; that would require taste AND integrity.

For something slightly less incestuous, check out the first episode of the Animatrix.

Favorite films (2002)

The favorite film category was a bit harder for us, since we didn't see many films in the theatre this year. And while we recognize that there may be other movies that are "better" by critical standards (and we certainly appreciate those too), these 'favorite' lists are meant to capture the things we found most entertaining. Also, it's worth noting that we haven't seen at least one film that probably would have made this list - Gangs of New York.

6. Spider-man
5. Minority Report
4. Signs
3. Blade II
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
1. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Entertainment round-up

Sci-Fi Wire has a sneak peek at the movie promos that will be airing during the Superbowl on Sunday - several with geek appeal, such as Terminator 3, 60 seconds of The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, a possible glimpse at X-Men 2, and the first unveiling of Ang Lee's computer-generated Hulk.

Sci-Fi Wire also has news about actual TV shows, and not just commercials! They've got a minor-spoiler-filled report that Eliza Dushku (Faith) has begun filming her 3 episodes for the current season of Angel, and will soon be filming 5 episodes for this season of Buffy. Keeping with the crossover madness once relegated to the comics world, Willow will guest on Angel as well for an episode, presumably to spend some quality time with her hubby-to-be.

Since it's obviously been a long time since I remembered to read Sci-Fi Wire, I might as well provide one more link from that site: Christopher Reeve is going to be on Smallville.

And, finally, in film / tv news that's not a link to Sci-Fi Wire, various sources now report that the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets DVD will include 19 deleted scenes. Woo!

"Kill Bill" trailer

The trailer for Tarantino's new film is up at the Apple site.

Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, and Darryl Hannah (sporting an eyepatch, no less). Not to mention lots of ninja action. I'll leave it up to you to decide if Tarantino can pull it all off.

The Two Towers

Well, I don't want to include any spoilers but I wanted to take a moment to say that the movie was AWESOME!!! Easily leaping to claim the spot as my favorite movie of all time.

Please go and see it as soon as possible. I know I'm going again the next chance I have...it's worth it.

The Two Towers TV commercial

TheOneRing.net has a new Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers commercial for download - it's really quite exciting, but if you haven't read the books or even if it's been a while, I'd strongly suggest that you don't watch this, as it depicts glimpses of what I'd consider to be some of the crucial plot twists in the story.

If you're a die-hard and know the book inside and out, then take a look at this - pretty compelling evidence that not only has Peter Jackson done a masterful job, but that moviemaking technology needed to wait this long to bring Tolkien's story to life on screen. Desiree and I can't wait for Wednesday!!!

Viggo injures himself, gives great performance

Peter Jackson really liked Viggo Mortensen's performance as a distraught Aragorn in one particular scene from the forthcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but in this specific case it had less to do with his acting skills and more to do with the fact that he had just broken his toes. This may be selfish, but as long as it comes off well on screen then I say it's all for the greater good. :)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Desiree and I were two ticketholders among millions who contributed to the $87.7 million weekend opening of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

While I enjoyed the first film in the series immensely and had no problem with its strict adherence to its source material, Chamber of Secrets seemed to strain a little bit more than its predecessor at recreating the novel as faithfully as possible. The fact that the story was darker and more complex than Sorcerer's Stone, though, made it more appealing (to me, at least). Overall, it was still highly entertaining and worth catching on the big screen.

Stan Lee sues Marvel

As a geek, I'd like to think I know a thing or two about math. When you gross over US$400 million on a movie and (by all reasonable accounts) couldn't have spent more than US$150 million on making and promoting it, to me, that would seem like you've made a profit. Not so, according to Marvel Comics' lawyers, who say they've yet to turn a profit on the recent Spiderman film - at least by the definition of "profit" in Stan Lee's contract with the company he helped create.

Anti-Harry Potter demonstration

An organization known as the "Jesus Party" is organizing an anti-Harry Potter rally to coincide with Friday's U.S. release of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", using the same tired argument that a story with wizards and witches is somehow trying to convert children into pagans or satan worshippers.

Especially revealing is the "book cutting" they held in protest of the first Potter film to "protect" children. Frankly, books/movies influencing children's opinion of witchcraft is pretty far down on my list of concerns - I'm more worried about children getting the message that totalitarian suppression is the best way to deal with ideas that you disagree with.

I feel sorry for parents who try to shield children from ideas that they perceive to be harmful rather than talking with their children and giving them the intellectual tools to make up their own mind rationally.

Norwegians love hobbits

Even though it's six weeks from release, tickets for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers are still outselling all other films in Norway.

Source: DiaWebLog