for ushering in the sexual revolution of the 1960s, passed away yesterday at the age of 85. Page, whose later life was marked by depression, violent mood swings and several years in a state mental institution, died at a Los Angeles hospital where she had been on life support since she had a heart attack on Dec. 2. A cultural phenomenon, Page was most recognized for the 20,000 or so 4-by-5-inch black-and-white glossy photographs taken by amateur shutterbugs from 1949 to 1957. In 2005, HBO Films released The Notorious Bettie Page, a look into the crazy life of this troubled icon. It's a great film for any Bettie Page fan. -When looking for a photo for this post I noticed that there aren't a lot family-friendly Bettie Page photos out there. Odd, huh?
n for the critically-acclaimed movie at this year's Golden Globes. Whether or not The Dark Knight and Heath himself have garnered enough Oscar buzz has yet to be seen, but I think it's safe to say that another Best Supporting Actor nomination is more than likely in the wings. The hit comedy Tropic Thunder actually has two nominations for BSA themselves, Robert Downey Jr. in his amazing performance as Sgt. Lincoln Osiris and Tom Cruise in his amusing performance as Les Grossman sporting the bald cap and fat suit (Really? Golden Globe-worthy?! Are you serious?). Oddly enough, James Franco is also nominated for his role as a stoner in Pineapple Express as opposed to his dramatic performance in Milk. Even if they more than likely won't win, it's nice to see comedies getting some well-deserved respect. You know what they say, "As an actor it's easier to make someone cry than it is to make someone laugh." I believe that Ledger should win the Golden Globe hands downs, but then again stranger things have happened. The Golden Globes are scheduled for January 11, 2009, just eleven days before the Oscar nominations are announced.
still have to go and see for them
selves, and some will hate it and some will love it. That's just how it goes. The only really positive change is the addition of an actual comic book villain, Jigsaw; although to me, it just looks like SNL's Will Forte in make-up fighting a Jigsaw played by Johnny Knoxville.
From the mind of Will Eisner, creator of the graphic novel and inspiration to multiple generations of comic creators, comes the The Spirit. Introduced in 1940 (just two years after Superman) as a way for newspapers to compete with the rising popularity superhero comic books, Eisner's Spirit has been revered for decades in the literary community, albeit under most people's radars. The Spirit has never really left the scene and is currently going strong in his own DC Comic's title. In fact, The Spirit was actually made into a TV movie back in 1987 starring Sam J. Jones (Flash Gordan), but met with lackluster response.
On a separate note, Hugh Jackman publicly stately recently that he is already looking toward a sequel set in Japan, but that if fan response is poor when the movie comes out that he will gladly walk away from the character permanently with no regrets.
or Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) as Gambit in the upcoming Wolverine movie. Set years before the X-men series of films, it will tell the story of Wolverine in his early years with the Weapon X program. For those of you curious about the relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth, wonder no more. The Weapon X program is when a young Logan is teamed up with Victor Creed (Sabretooth) for the first time. Another character that fans have been frothing at the mouth for is everyone's favorite 'Merc With a Mouth', Deadpool. This Weapon X alum makes his debut in the film courtesy of Ryan Reynolds. If all goes as planned, expect a Deadpool solo film in the works soon after. X-men Origins: Wolverine hits theaters May 1, 2009. In case you haven't seen it yet, I have included the bootleg of the Comicon exclusive preview. The quality is not the best, but this is the best version that you're going to find on the web. (Stupid Con exclusives...)
(now owned by DC), Who Killed the Peacemaker was an idea conceived by masterscribe Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell) and pitched to DC Comics. The story (as it is now) begins with the death of Edward Blake. When masked vigilante (and the coolest dude in the story) Rorschach discovers that Blake is actually former teammate and government operative The Comedian, he develops a conspiracy theory that someone is targeting heroes for extinction. Rorschach begins warning the rest of his former team and as elements begin to prove Rorschach's theories may not be so far-fetched it brings others out of retirement and things get progressively worse. Editor Dick Giordano loved the concept, but eventually decided that maybe this wasn't the best use of the newly acquired characters. Giordano saw more potential for the Charlton characters and felt that placing them in this 
dystopian storyline would ruin any future plans for the lot, so he agreed to publish the story only on the concession that Moore create an original cast. Fearing that unfamiliar characters would cause a disconnect with the audience, he basically used the same characters and shifted them two degrees to the left. Blue Beetle, Nightshade, The Question, Captain Atom, The Peacemaker, and Thuderbolt would now be Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, The Comedian, and Ozymandias. Watchmen became a 12-issue phenomenon, selling over a million copies of the the collected graphic novel alone and is still considered by many as the greatest story in comic history (it's not bad). Since then Moore has severed his ties with DC (more than once) and signed over the movie rights for Watchmen to 20th Century Fox, stating that he wanted no involvement in the movie version of the property. Since the first failed attempt to bring this story to the big screen in 1986, over the years Watchmen has built up a reputation as the greatest comic book movie that will never be, after several misstarts had cause fans to lose all hope. Director Terry Gilliam began production on the film twice himself and finally conceded that Watchmen would be unfilmable, stating that, "Reducing [the story] to a two or two and a half hour film seemed to me to take away the essence of what Watchmen is about". Now the property of Warner Brothers, Watchmen finally makes it's way to theaters March 6, 2009 under the direction of Zack Snyder (300) and fanboys that have clamored for over two decades for the release of this of this film can begin filling the internet with criticisms and derisive statements, preaching to the world all of it's flaws. I'm afraid it's inevitable, that's just...what...they...do. So, "Who Watches the Watchmen?" I guess we'll find out this Spring. Until then, here's the latest amazing trailer for the upcoming film:
decades for his contributions to the sequential art medium and just this Wednesday became one of nine recipients of the 2008 National Medal of the Arts, managed by the National Endowment for the Arts, at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. It's always great to see people from the lesser respected comic world recognized by a more select community. And to meet Stan in person, he is the most modest and down to Earth person you could ever want to meet. He deserves everything that he gets. To make the reception even more poetic, Wednesday just happens to be 'comic book day', as I'm sure everyone out there knows (OK, maybe not EVERYONE).
(Chicken Little and Meet the Robinson's both received the 3-D treatment as well). You're also going to have the opportunity to watch Bolt at the IMAX in 3-D and that's just crazy! Pixar guru John Lasseter even mentioned that during Bolt people can expect a 3-D trailer for Pixar's latest release, Up, which will be Pixar's first true 3-deminsional feature. Hopefully, this will just whet people's whistles for more because Disney's got 'em coming. After Up hits theaters in May, 2009, Disney has plenty more offerings to follow including: G-Force, a live action/CGI animated film (7/24/09). Everyone's favorite cowboy and spaceman get a facelift with the 3-D re-release of Pixar's original Toy Story (10/02/09). Don't worry, it's the exact same movie, just with one extra dimension. A Christmas Carol (11/06/09) is re-imagined (again) with motion capture technology. This time starring Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge and all three Christmas Ghosts and Gary Oldman portraying Bob Cratchit, Marley, and the lovable Tiny Tim. Of course, by the time the movie is released, the name probably have been changed to 'A Holiday Carol' as not to offend (stupid PC jackholes). In 2010, the Oscar-winning 
Beauty and the Beast returns to the screen in 3-D, followed closely by Toy Story 2 and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp. I've been saying for a few years that this one was inevitable, but Disney finally goes back to the classic princess well with Rapunzel (finally, Disney will have something to market to little girls). Just in case you were wondering about the re-releases of Toy Story 1 and 2 being so close together, well they're just a primer for Toy Story 3
that will be following close behind also in glorious 3-D. Now, Pixar has announced that Cars 2 is in production, but no official word as to whether it will get the 3-D treatment or not, but my money would be on 'yes, it most definitely will.' A lot of people are complaining about the classic movies being retreated and re-released, but I have to say that I saw the very first showing of A Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D back in 2006 at the El Capitan down in Hollywood and LOVED it. My only complaint would be that they didn't offer a 3-D option on the Blu-Ray disc, which was also disappointing on Meet the Robinsons. The real question now is: Is 3-D just another fad temporarily popping it's head back up for a quick visit or is this the start of an entirely new movie-going experience? Is Disney going to saturate the market to the point that it loses it's luster or is it going to have audiences clamoring for more? Tell you what, get back to me in 3 years and let me know how it went.
. This time around the competition will be more stunt and action based (duh), all taking place on an abandoned movie set and in the middle of nowhere -again. Torture-masters Chris and Chef have been confirmed to be returning, and at this point it has been unofficially officially announced that 15 of the original campers will be coming back for more punishment. TDA will premiere on Canada's Teletoon network in Spring of 2009. It is unsure at this time whether Cartoon Network will air it simultaneously in the U.S. or if we'll be delayed a year again like TDI was (stupid Canada!). Until then, the one-hour Total Drama Island Special will definitely be airing at the end of this month, so at least that's something. Here is the trailer for Total Drama Action, which I have yet to watch yet because I haven't finished watching TDI and I don't want to know who won yet, so SHHH!
to bring you 'Paul'. Paul is the story of two fanboys (Pegg & Frost) from the U.K. who come to the states for Comicon and afterwards decide to road trip it to the sci-fi Holy Grail, Area 51. On their adventure they come across Paul, an alien who needs help finding his way home. The story is written by Pegg and Frost themselves and will be directed by Superbad helmer Greg Mottola. Although Edgar Wright is not directing the duo this time around he is still attached as executive producer. Paul begins shooting in New Mexico (You know, where Roswell is) in April, 2009. As for information on The World's End, Wright has confirmed that it will be a mint chocolate chip Cornetto movie. (each movie is based on a different color wrapper for the ice cream snack) With the mcc wrapper being green and a title like The World's End, one could easily assume an alien invasion could very well be the premise.
invading theaters March 27, 2009. When aliens try to take over the Earth, our last hope is a group of B-movie misfits that have secretly been in captivity by military for years. This will be Dreamworks' first foray into 3D animation and I think a sci-fi adventure with a nostalgic feel is the perfect choice. To add to the draw of this movie, they have assembled a tremendous cast to bring these characters life including Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde), Rainn Wilson (The Office), Hugh Laurie (House), Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), Will Arnett (Arrested Development), Kiefer Sutherland (24), and the infamous Stephen Colbert (Colbert Report, duh). I think this one may be the animated movie to beat in 2009. March can't get here fast enough.
3:24 PM
Billy...
