Will we get to watch the Watchmen?

It was the movie they said would never get made, and now it looks like it may be the movie that never gets seen. With it's March release date looming, there's a chance that the Watchmen movie may not see the light of day until 2011 or beyond. The Warner Bros. property (DC Comics is a subsidiary of WB) has switch hands from Fox, to Universal, then Paramount where it is finally being produced together with Warner Bros. and during that whole time not a peep came from Fox. In fact, Zack Snyder had signed to helm the project and the film was deep into production when bits of the movie started showing up online and causing quite a buzz of excitement. It wasn't until that point, when the movie was all but completed and fans were primed to finally see Watchmen that Fox called foul claiming that they still held certain proprietary rights to distribution of the film (that WB wasn't even aware of). Now Fox has taken the matter to court and apparently is less interested in settling than they are keeping the film from being released at all. To complicate matters more, on Christmas Eve the court ruled that Fox did in fact hold certain rights the film, but all of that was between Fox and producer Lawrence Gordon who brought the property to Fox in the first place. It's Gordon and not WB that is liable here, but he refused to testify in the initial hearing and now the judge, Gary A. Feess has ruled that any information that Gordon has that would go against the judge's ruling is not allowed. That means that if it turns out that WB is within their rights and all wrong doings are between Gordon and Fox, that will no longer matter. In fact, the man who took the property from Fox to Paramount (Gordon) isn't even a defendant in what's going on. The person responsible and who cashed in on the deal is not liable. Yeah, that sounds like justice. In actuality, the judge even decided to rule in favor of Fox without a hearing. When laywers for WB protested the lack of due process, the Judge Feess stated that he planned to move on to the question of remedies rather than fight the issues again. The problem with that is that if WB is within their rights to distribute this film, which is the main issue, then remedies are incidental. There is a court date set for January 6, 2009 to try to get this settled before the March 6th release date, but Fox has no intention at this time of letting this film see the light of day and Judge Feess has stated that the release of the film could very well be blocked if the dispute isn't settled in time. So, Fox decided not to make a film, they were cool with it going to Universal, they were cool with it going to Paramount, they were alright with Warner Bros. (who actually owns the property)/Paramount finally making a film out of it, but when it was clear that this film could be lucrative they decide that they still have the distribution rights to the property. They're like a little kid who doesn't want a toy until they see someone else enjoying it. Of course, I can't blame them since Fox is notorious for not being able produce a blockbuster movie anymore. Fox claims it never fully relinquished story rights from its deal made in the late 1980s, and sued Warner Bros. in February. Warner Bros. contended Fox isn't entitled to distribution. Warner Bros.' attorney said Monday he didn't know if an appeal was coming, but thinks a trial is necessary and a settlement unlikely. In my opinion I believe that 20th Century Fox thought that if they waited until Warner Bros. had already financed the film and production was all but complete to stake a claim that they would have WB in a corner and gain incredible leverage, which at this point seems to be the case. So, now what do they want? You know, Fox has been begging WB for the rights to distribute the old Batman TV series for years, maybe they can just trade distribution rights straight up. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

"9" Trailer

I recently posted the animated short "9" on GeekSexy from the Animation Show series and made mention that creator Shane Acker was currently in a deal to make "9" a full-length feature. Well, apparently production is much further along than I thought since just a few days ago an official trailer for the film was released online. So, here it is, the first trailer for the upcoming animated film "9":

Miller's solo directorial debut has no Spirit

We've all seen the fantastic trailers for The Spirit movie and immediate comparisons to Frank Miller's own Sin City come up. The pulp feel. The classic vernacular. The colorful characters. I guess the biggest difference between the two is that Sin City was actually good. The Spirit, although visually breathtaking, has nothing else to offer. The story is empty. The acting is flat. But, man, is it pretty! And for that reason many people will hear how extremely bad this movie is and they still won't be able to stay away. Don't say you weren't warned. I guess the best part about all the negative reviews is that now people have a better chance of walking into the theater expecting Batman and Robin and come out feeling like they saw The Dark Knight (well, maybe Batman Returns). Unfortunately, I did not have those expectations. I couldn't wait to see this film. I couldn't understand why it was going to be in black and white when Will Eisner's classic stories consisted of vibrant hues and colorful suits, but I thought, "Frank Miller knows what he's doing. Look at Sin City. Even if it ends up more like another entry in that series, I'm cool with that." Well, it turns out that it was Robert Rodriguez who knew what he was doing with Sin City. Don't get me wrong, Miller can paint quite a pretty picture and tell a heck of a story, but when it comes to getting the most from his actors...did I already mention that he paints a pretty picture? The only real kudos for this film would have to go to cinematographer Bill Pope for delivering a film that is actually more enjoyable with the volume off. Miller originally refused to direct this picture when he was approached at his good friend Will Eisner's funeral. Even when accepted he had no desire to make this film, he just didn't want anyone else to because he didn't want anyone screwing it up. I guess he wanted to save that embarrassment all for himself.

All-new Monsters vs Aliens trailer

Here is the all-new, all-different trailer for the upcoming Dreamworks Animation picture Monsters vs Aliens, now with more fiber!

[FIRST LOOK: MONSTERS VS ALIENS]

A Wish for Wings That Work

With the Christmas season upon us I thought I would share with you one of my favorite Christmas movies off the beaten path, A Wish for Wings That Work, starring Opus the penguin and Bill the psycho cat from Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County and Outland comic strips. Based on his 1995 book, the story was adapted for television in 1991. Since then it hasn't made many appearances, but you may catch it randomly every couple of years. Of course, it's been on video since the early 90's and finally came to DVD last year, but you can catch all three parts right here. A Wish for Wings That Work features the incomparable Frank Welker who is best known as the voice of Fred and sometimes Scooby-Doo in the Scooby-Doo cartoons, not a one-trick pony, Frank has also provided the voices for characters such as Hefty Smurf, Wonderbug, Dynomutt, Shmoo, Iceman, Donkey Kong Jr., even Megatron and Soundwave from the original Transformers cartoon. Welker is a walking who's-who of cartoon history, but I digress. Here he just has the insignificant role of Santa Claus in a Christmas movie. Oh, yeah, and that isn't enough, Robin Williams is the voice of Kiwi...but he's credited as "Sudy Nim" just for the fun of it. Anyhoo, here it is, A Wish for Wings That Work:
[PART 1]

[PART 2]

[PART 3]

RETRO CLIP: THE HULK

This is a quick look at the classic Hulk cartoon from 1966's Marvel Super Heroes series. Here is the first episode: The Origin of the Hulk.