i m N s h o

Really, all you've got to do is watch The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (go ahead, I dare you) and then read Moore's LoEG graphic novels (go ahead, I challenge you) to see that's obvious. (I recommend this in that order, too, as going from the books to the movie I guarantee you'll never make it through the movie.) They're currently in production for his "V for Vendetta" novel and, according to this story in the LA Times, it's running into problems because its themes ("set in a dystopian future London, The main character uses the trains of the London Underground to attack the government") are hitting a little too close to home these days. Yeah, I can see that being a bit problematic for producers and distributors. But here's the thing (and I haven't read "V" yet, so I can't speak to the merits of the book) but it looks like the kind of story that might work a little better for you if you're British, or at least...

Seriously? This article was on the front page of the LA Times this weekend. Apparently, creationists are out to "take back the dinosaurs" with the argument that "the fossil record does not support evolution." Yeah, right. I've always known that fundamentalists see the Bible as literal truth (it's the bumper sticker "God said it, I believe it, that settles it" mentality at work), but I've never really thought it through to the point that I realized that would include all the fun and fantastic stuff in the book of Genesis. According to these guys, baby dinosaurs huddled in the ark while their big brothers and sisters were wiped out in the flood, so all those stories of knights battling fire breathing dragons are based on literal truth. Oh, god, my head hurts just typing that one. (For a real eyeful on the arguments for a creationist view of "the origin of the species", check our this disturbingly fascinating site.) It's somewhat r...

So I saw what I HOPED was a good trend in DVD releases last month when Constantine came out on DVD. Side-by-side on the shelf were the basic, all you really get is the movie, DVD and the "super deluxe, get all the extras you can handle" edition. Just interested in the movie? Buy the standard release. Feeling obsessive and want all the extras? Pay a few bucks more and get that special edition. No more rushing to the store and finding a stripped down version the only one that's available and then having to wait months or more for the studio to get around to releasing the obsessive/completist Special Edition version (yes, I'm a DVD-extras junkie). Unfortunately, if it IS a new trend, it's one that's in its infancy and it hasn't translated to the release of Sin City on DVD. I really liked this movie in the theatres and was really looking forward to getting it, now that it's out on DVD. And hey, I get my choice of 4 DIFFERENT COVERS! Woo hoo! Of course, t...

I think "telephone" is what the game's called. Start a rumor about someone or something, then wait for it to pass through your circle of friends and acquaintances, just to see how it turns out. Reports came out this week that Walter and Laurie Parkes, producers of The Island, slammed Ewan MacGregor and Scarlett Johansson on their personal website for "half-hearted efforts" and not being "superstars" as reasons for The Island's failure. (Amusingly, all the links I found to this story, as above, are from the International press. And if Walter and Laurie have a site for Parkes/MacDonald Productions , I can't find it.) But when one looks at the interview they actually gave, it may be that they weren't anywhere near that harsh, and a lot of what they say actually makes some sense. Most of their remarks are in praise of both MacGregor and Johansson, and even their comment about "lesser TV actresses" makes a kind of cold-hearted (read ...

There's a site called "T-Shirt Hell" out there. (I'm not going to link this one for reasons which will become obvious VERY soon.) I'd heard about them on KROQ a month or two ago because they were getting a lot of press for their truly tasteless "Worse than Hell" shirts. I checked out the site and they had a whole line of shirts that truly WERE over the top in their efforts to offend everyone. Of course, if you weren't offended, you might find them amusing, but that's beside the point. Tonight, for reasons that escape me, I decided to check out their site and see what's up. On their landing page, they're promoting their US & UK Harry Potter spoiler t-shirts, which tell you what happens to whom on page 596 and who does it. Those of you who've already read the book will know exactly what I'm talking about. Those of you, like me, who have not yet read the book and have any interest in reading it—and experiencing the full effect of...

Two summers ago, it was the abuse of CGI effects leading to soulless, tedious uninteresting movies (a problem that has most definitely NOT gone away). Last summer it was the overuse of the "cinema verité" style of handheld camera work (a la Bourne Supremacy ) that got me going. This year, my nominee for the most abused movie tool is product placement. God knows this isn't a new problem… product placement has been a part of entertainment since before movies were even being made, I'm sure. It's just that it keeps getting worse and worse and worse and there are two truly egregious examples of it in this year's crop of summertime brain-death movies. (Not that there probably aren't other bad examples to pick from… these two just beat me over the head with it and I find it annoying at best.) Fantastic Four , in an apparently desperate attempt to give Johnny (the Human Torch), some kind of character hook, made him an action junkie prone to X Games friendly purs...