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03.29.08 by Widge @ 11:57 pm An ongoing attempt to make sense of the onslaught of new swag that people want you to buy. Should you? I'll try and help.
TwoMorrows is back on the scene with three new selections. First up, there's the third volume of the All-Star Companion. And I can't keep up with how DC is screwing over their unimultiwhateververse these days, but back when things made sense, you had stuff like the Justice Society and the All-Star line of comics. If haven't been keeping up with these series of companions, then you're missing out: continuing to serve as the archivers of the Non-Sucking Age of Comics, they lay everything out for you. You've got an interview with editor Julius Schwartz, the All-Star Western comic (which I had completely forgotten about), a history of Earth-2, a guide to JLA/JSA teamups up through 1985, plus looks at various and sundry attempts (prior to the current JSA book) to relaunch a book about the Society. It's wall to wall content and, because it's from TwoMorrows, it's packed to the freaking gills with cover art, panel art, sketches, the whole nine yards. If you look back fondly on that era of comics, then you need this and the first two volumes on your shelf. Definite buy. (Click here to buy it.) Categorized as: Headsup
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03.29.08 by Widge @ 4:01 am  Okay, I meant to post this back when Uncle Warren first posted it. I hadn't checked out Gutsville prior to the first issue being put up for free over on Newsarama. But having given it a read, I'm going to get the rest of it. Because it's basically what would happened if you crossed The Crucible with Goliath Awaits and got Guillermo Del Toro to direct it. It's seriously fucked up. I'm in. Categorized as: Headsup
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03.28.08 by Widge @ 4:18 am
So St. Patrick's Day was a recent thing and to celebrate the evening, we watched this stand-up DVD from Tommy Tiernan, Something Mental. Beats what Chazz did. Took him forever to get that green out of his hair. Anyway, the set is excellent. Tiernan is an Irish dynamo, and it's easy to see how he stays so fit, the bastard, jumping and leaping about the stage as he does. Two things strike me about Tiernan's style. First, he pushes jokes to their limit and then beyond because they come back around and are funny again. Second, he gets this amused look on his face because he's enjoying himself--he knows what he's up to and that it's working. There are stories of him coming home from school to his psycho mother, his philosophy of drinking, and a terrifying but hilarious incident where he tried giving and receiving sex that involved the arse. There's a CD version of this too, and it's out from Image Entertainment. Should you buy it? If you're a fan, sure. But otherwise, at least rent it. (Click here to buy the DVD from Amazon.) Trey Parker and Matt Stone seem to be making a renewed assault on the hearts and minds of the world these days. They just released their new online vid jukebox of South Park episodes, SouthParkStudios.com, and I think...what, isn't the show renewed through 2047 or something? Anyway, lest it be lost in the shuffle, we bring to your attention the madness that is Imaginationland, available from Paramount and Comedy Central in an uncensored director's cut edition. The gist is that there is a place called Imaginationland, and basically everything we've conjured up from our imaginations is there, good and bad. But terrorists are mucking about with the scenery and cause our collective imaginations to go batshit crazy. This was originally three episodes, now cut together and complete with some storyboards, commentary by Trey and Matt (which is a massive amount of commentary for the two of them) and two bonus episodes. South Park fans will want to at least give it a rental for the commentary, even if they caught the episodes (or watched them online on the new site, natch). Completists will want to own. (Click here to buy the DVD from Amazon.) Categorized as: Headsup
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03.26.08 by Widge @ 3:29 am  BevNet reports that Bawls is expanding its line of drinks. From the same people who brought you not only tasty guarana goodness in blue bottles but also numerous snickers among college males, they're coming out with a caffeinated root beer: G33k B33r. It's supposed to hit April 1st, but we hope this isn't a joke (anything that even mentions the words April 1st is suspect online). And we hope it's got all the root beer taste but yet with the kick we've come to expect from Bawls. Would be nice to have the words "root beer float" take on a completely different meaning. Categorized as: Headsup
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03.25.08 by Widge @ 4:02 am An ongoing attempt to make sense of the onslaught of new swag that people want you to buy. Should you? I'll try and help.
Dan in Real Life is a bit of surprise: it's a comedy that came under the radar that lacked the CG-oompah of something like Evan Almighty and as a result didn't burn up the box office. But these days, are there small romantic comedies that demand the big screen treatment? A few. Regardless, it's on DVD now from Touchstone and you can give it the small screen treatment as much as you'd like. Carell will no doubt return to wrecking the box office later this year in Get Smart. Anyway, in this simple but endearing comedy he falls in love with Juliette Binoche (wouldn't you?) only to find out that she's his brother's new girlfriend. Don't you hate it when that happens? Especially since he's a relationship advice columnist. Nice. Also stars Dane Cook, John Mahoney and Dianne Wiest. Comes also with a commentary with the writer/director, deleted scenes with commentary from the same writer/director, outtakes, a making-of featurette and a music featurette. Carell fans or people who just like romantic comedies should rent before purchasing. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.) Granted, Groundhog Doy was in February. But the beauty of the film is that, fifteen years on, our day to day lives are even more like the day Bill Murray's Phil Connors is doomed to repeat. It just gets better with time, as do all the classic Murray flicks. This new 15th Anniversary Edition out from Sony has only improved a little over the previous special edition, however. My copy of that version is still buried in my archives from my move to the compound here, but I'm fairly certain this commentary from director, co-writer, and all-around excellent fellow Harold Ramis, while still amusing, is not new. Neither is the "Weight of Time" docu. The only things that I don't recall from that previous iteration of the title are the deleted scenes, an interview with Ramis, and a groundhog featurette. Still no Bill Murray in the features, sadly. But regardless, if you don't own this title already, there's no excuse not to. The film is good enough to nab even with a bare bones disc. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.) Categorized as: Headsup
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03.24.08 by Widge @ 1:49 am  So Starbucks is soliciting ideas from its customer base with the promise that they'll take action based on popular demand. Free wifi and customer loyalty programs appear to be the overwhelming leaders so far, although I didn't dig far enough down into the running to see all the obligatory completely mental ones, like "Orbiting Laser Cannon Platforms" and "Monogrammed Foam" and "More Kenny G CDs." But I'm sure they must be there. I'm all for the free wifi. Not having ready access to T-Mobile hotspots is about the only thing I miss after having jumped ship on my cell phone plan. You can contribute your idea here. Categorized as: Headsup
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03.19.08 by Doc @ 10:11 am  Another titan has departed the science fiction world. Arthur C. Clarke, author of more than 30 novels and inventor of the geostationary communications satellite, passed away earlier today at his home in Sri Lanka. As hard science fiction goes, there were none greater than Clarke, and his vision and tireless advocacy for human exploration and utilization of space may well be as important as any of his contributions to fiction. Among his many awards and recognitions, he was one of only two dozen SFWA Grand Masters, a Knight Bachelor, and a Commander of the British Empire. He also had an asteroid and a dinosaur named after him, and an Apollo command module named after one of his fictional spacecraft (Odyssey). Categorized as: Headsup
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03.18.08 by Widge @ 1:50 am  For those wondering how the Spaced American version might turn out (which we did warn you about earlier), we point you to Collider, where they've posted a review of the American first episode. Which seems a lot like the British first episode: Some of the scenes have been switched around, a few jokes and lines changed, but for all I know, Barr could have just grabbed the original screenplay for the original series and mixed it around in Final Draft. But then came page 23. And then...the unimpressed needle went into the plaid. For the full tale of woe, check it out here. Categorized as: Headsup
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03.16.08 by Widge @ 4:16 am  Rox writes in to let us know that the Luggage is up for auction. Not just any luggage, though. The Luggage from Sky One's adaptation of Colour of Magic. As I write this, it's currently at £2,150. And if you know anything about the exchange rates these days, that means it's roughly $10,000 in US currency. But the good news is that the Pratchett Nation continues its assault against Alzheimer's, and 100% of the purchase price goes to Alzheimer's research. Nice. On a side note, some of you on this side of the pond might be saying: "Colour of Magic? Sky One? Eh?" Yes, apparently. Check out the official site with the trailer. David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry and Christopher Lee as the voice of Death. Wow, Christopher Lee as Death. What great casting. That airs on Easter in the UK. As Ken says after watching the trailer, it's possible to do a completely faithful TV adaptation of Hitchhiker's Guide. Somebody get on that, would you? Categorized as: Headsup
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03.15.08 by Widge @ 2:28 am  It's well known that I was a big fan of Valiant Comics. They had some great ideas, and what they did with Shadowman remains one of my favorite character bits to this day. The concept of X-O Manowar (Conan meets Iron Man) is still genius. Why does Valiant still remain true to my heart? Because they were the third party candidate. They were the guys who came out with a storyline spanning their universe which was small enough to digest and enjoy as a whole. They also did crazy stuff to tie this universe together--crazy stuff that worked! "Wait, Magnus' dad is who? My God, that's mental! I love it!" I also liked Valiant Comics 2: Futility Harder, aka Crossgen. And from time to time, Valiant tries to rise again. As does Crossgen. But now Valiant Entertainment has inked a deal with Brett Ratner to make Harbinger into a movie. The press release states he was "looking for an opportunity to start a superhero film franchise from scratch," which probably translates into "would really like to not be called in at the last minute to direct the damn thing," like he was on X3. Now here's the interesting bit. About rising again. Categorized as: Headsup
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