Could this woman use a manhole cover as a weapon? I think so.
Pop culture news is a constant bombardment of bloated informational pieces that sites use to draw traffic. That might work for them--but we know you have better things to do. Here's all the news with all the irrelevant bits taken out. We kept it on a warmer, so don't worry. You can subscribe to the Stuff feed solo or get this as a free email newsletter.
Amazon headsup for a killer deal: today and today only they have The Immaculate Collection of Dawn French's The Vicar of Dibley for 60% off the list price of $98.98, putting it at $39.49. While stocks last. Thought you'd like to know. Snag yours here.
Superman: Man of Steel has a Zod (Michael Shannon--yes, the creepy agent from Boardwalk Empire--which is good casting, methinks) and now has a Faora. Which is apparently Ursa. Or...something. The female villain. Antje Traue (Pandorum), a name designed to screw me up when I inevitably try to Wayhomer any film she's in, is been cast, according to Variety. Production starts this summer.
I know we just had a Stuff You Need to Know hit, but every once in a while a big event or big sale comes along and even the news round-up without a deadline needs to resurface and tell you something else. And this time it's this: Thriller, the series hosted by Boris Karloff that ran from 1960 to 1962. If you want a taste, here's the post I did back in 2009 bitching that it wasn't on DVD yet.
Well, less than a year later, Image Entertainment responded to my bitching and put the whole thing out. All fourteen DVDs of it. And that's two seasons of a total of sixty-seven episodes with twenty-seven audio commentaries, part of fifty hours of bonus bits. I'm reading all this off the back of the copy of this thing that I personally own. Why am I bringing this up? Because right now the set is on sale at Amazon--today and while stocks last--for $53.99. That's 64% (almost $100) off the regular price. About eighty cents an episode. So I thought you'd like to know.
Kris Kristofferson is such a badass that Randall Flagg wouldn't think to mess with him.
Movie news sites give you a lot of information. But it is a lot of information. Don't you just wish you could find out what you actually need to know and leave the rest alone? Never fear, we are here. Well, I mean, it's us...so fear a little. Anyway, subscribe to the Stuff feed or get this as a free email newsletter. Anyway you want it, that's the way you need it.
It's official. Ghost Brothers of Darkland County is back on the schedule at the Alliance here in Atlanta. Why should you care? It's a musical with a score by John Mellencamp and book by Stephen King. T-Bone Burnett is musical director. Apparently a three-CD version of the musical has already been recorded with a full cast, which included Kris Kristofferson, Elvis Costello, Roseanne Cash, Mellencamp, King, Sheryl Crow, Neko Case and Joe Frazier (yes, the boxer). I want this album five minutes ago. Show dates? April 4-May 13, 2012. No, you can't stay on my couch. Source.
Sometimes you just need somebody to read all the pop culture news for you and just tell you the important bits, leaving out all the fluff. Well, here you go. Subscribe to the Stuff feed or get this as a free email newsletter. However you want to hit it, just smack it. It's yours to smack. Enjoy.
Suck factor is high! Darren Aronofsky has left The Wolverine. Which is a damn shame, too, because I would have loved to have seen his take on the character and I think he could have finally given a Wolverine-infused movie that is worthy of Hugh Jackman's badass portrayal. What's odd is that his reasoning is incomplete in my opinion: he reportedly left because he didn't want to be away from his family--shooting in Japan--for a year. But...surely that wasn't a new bit of news that was happening. Something changed: either the tsunami changed his mind (although Fox could shoot the film elsewhere for Japan--secondarily although, they could, I'm sure, use the infusion of dollars) or something changed on the family side of things. Either way...damn. Source.
Why didn't I just let Nic Cage have the role? Damn.
There are pop culture websites out there that want to stretch every little snippet of news into its own post. They're squeezing blood from each metaphorical turnip they get hold of. Not us--we figure you don't have time for that. So we squeeze the blood out for you and give it to you with a little umbrella in it.
That metaphor didn't quite work out. Oh well. Enjoy.
Amazon's deal of the day is The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection for 68% off its usual price of $89.95. It's $28.49 as I type this and will be that way for today or until they run out. It's eight discs containing 80 original theatrically released shorts. Thought you might like to know. You can snag it here--but move if you're gonna.
Yup, another Daredevil movie. Being handled still at Fox, who Variety confirms they need to keep this project in some form or fashion lest the rights revert. David Slade (30 Days of Night) has been tapped to helm--he's also on board the previously mentioned Last Voyage of the Demeter. No scribe on board yet, but according to Hollywood Reporter they're going for the Frank Miller/David Mazzucchelli "Born Again" storyline. Okay, that could be interesting.
You know, some people actually have time to watch movie news websites for every scrap of stuff that comes in. They want their news immediately. This feature isn't for them. It's for the rest of us, who have lives, and don't have to know what's happening on the new live action Peanuts movie right this second. We filter out the nonsense and give you a single post with everything you need to know within. Enjoy.
Amazon's deal of the day is for the Blu-Ray/DVD collector's set version of The Sound of Music. If you have any interest in the film, I suggest clicking through to check it out, because it comes with a lot of stuff including a music box, scrapbook, soundtrack, souvenir program reproduction and more. You can find it on Amazon here.
Angry Birds mania continues...ThinkGeek is now offering Jumbo Angry Birds Plushes. They give this as a reason to build a cushion fort. I'm just wondering who's bought the film rights. What do you think?
If you watch movie news sites like a hawk, then this feature isn't for you. If, however, you don't give a rodent's posterior about reading rewritten press releases and entire blog posts rehashed from Variety and Hollywood Reporter--in other words, you have a life--then this will give you everything you need to know in a single post. Blam. Enjoy.
Another Spider-Man musical? Yes, but this one actually sounds interesting: Justin Moran (POPE! The Musical) has decided to create, rehearse and perform a full-on Spider-Man musical for exactly $65 million dollars less than the budget of the Julie Taymor monster. Yes, that would be for zero dollars. He's also presenting the completed project on March 14th, a day before the official opening of Turn Off the Dark (assuming that doesn't get moved again). For more info on his quest, check out the site here.
Avatar 2 is to be set underwater, so says Michelle Rodriguez. What's weird about the article is it says it's unsure if she'll be cast--but we'll say no more on the subject for spoiler reasons. (I know, everyone has seen the film but everyone still is missing some people--I know some of them.) That new film hits in 2014. Source.
There are some people who need every little pop culture news tidbit the moment it comes off the presses. They like reading press releases converted into 250 words of article. This feature is not for them. This feature is for people who need to know the important bits and don't have time for the extraneous info. If that's you: enjoy.
Immortals is what War of the Gods is called now. Tarsem is directing Mickey Rourke as a mad Hyperion trying to kill mankind. Seriously. What else do you need to know? If you don't know what I'm talking about, go back and watch The Cell and The Fall and tell yourself that that man is going to bring you GODS THAT FIGHT.
American Horror Story is the show that FX has ordered a pilot of from the people who brought you Glee. You know what would make the show a slam-dunk for me? Get Kings of Leon to do the theme. Source.
Here's one way to do it: create a video game trailer that's so awesome that you sell the film rights on the strength of it before the game even hits. That's Dead Island, of course--although the rights were bought before the trailer, even. Bought in 2009. Just damn. Anyway, the trailer is what everybody has been sending me, trying to get me to buy a console. Bastards. Anyway, fine, here's the trailer. This is more of a horror movie than, well, most horror movies. Watch it after the break.
The Pareto Principle states that 80% of the worthwhile pop culture news can be snagged by only taking in 20% of the volume of regular pop culture news coverage. (Or something like that.) This post is designed for anyone who wants pop culture news in digestible bits, all in one shot, so that person can take a few minutes to get up to speed and then get on with their lives. Enjoy.
Amazing Spider-Man has a release date: July 3, 2012. And while a previous picture showed a slightly battered Andrew Garfield in most of the Spidey suit, the official site now has a pic that's supposed to be Garfield in full gear. I dunno...works for me. Click through to the official site to embiggen it.
Dominic Cooper has signed on to play Henry, the friendly neighborhood vampire, in Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. Source.
Atlas Shrugged Part 1 has a trailer and a release date of April 15th. It looks, however, frighteningly good. Whatever it turns out to be, I imagine it has a screenwriter that didn't blatantly misread the original novel. I won't mention any names, because that would be indiscreet. Randall Wallace. Trailer comes after the break.
At least somebody will get to use all those sets they built for me...
A single blog post about a pop culture news story? That's so 1997. I know--I was writing a version of them back then. I'd rather you got all the news you need in one post. Read it, and you're good for a few days. I'll take you through the high points of pop culture news, then let you get back to your life. You're welcome.
Harker is an interesting spin on Dracula. They're taking Jonathan Harker and making him a Scotland Yard detective chasing Dracula. If Renfield is Harker's driver and knows kung fu, then this could at least be better than Green Hornet. Helmer is Jaume Collet-Serra, who previously brought you the House of Wax remake. Source.
Fantastic Voyage is going to be helmed by Shawn Levy (the upcoming Rock Em Sock Em Robots movie), who's currently co-reworking the script from Shane Salerno (the 2000 Shaft). This remake has been in the works as far back as I can remember, with Devlin and Emmerich along with James Wong and Glen Morgan being on board for a while and then Devlin and Emmerich went to Sony and blew up the idea. Two more months of script development apparently before the thing gets the possibility of being greenlighted. So it may still go nowhere. Source: Variety.
