The Farrelly Brothers have broken the comedy barrier in a number of films, but with so much unrated material posted online daily, is it harder to be raunchy funny on the big screen? That was one of the challenges they faced with MOVIE 43, and our exclusive preview continues with a look at that challenge – plus she was DOCTOR WHO’s River Song, but can she pull off Black Canary in ARROW?
It’s that movie you saw a trailer for – the one with Richard Gere, Halle Barry, Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman and a bunch of familiar people. The one with the unusual names. It’s MOVIE 43 and our exclusive preview begins with the story on how the project actually came together, straight from director Peter Farrelly. And did you know there is;more of Robert Kirkman‘s comics-verse coming, plus FRINGE exits with a bang.
Milo Ventimiglia is back in action in the new series, CHOSEN and this time he’s doing it digital. Milo gives us all the details on the new Sonyweb series from Crackle.com, plus – SyFy cancels ALPHAS and are they serious about a GREMLINS reboot?
Uchronic Tales: The Studio Specter is now available!
The Uchronic Press is proud to release Uchronic Tales: The Studio Spectre. This action packed novella by W. Peter Miller (Jungle Tales Vol. One) features cover art by Mike Fyles (Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man Noir.)
Investigator Clark Tyler is joined by a new hero—The Jade Monk—as they are thrust behind the scenes and into the line of fire in Hollywood’s Golden Age.
A spirit is on the loose and terrorizing the cast and crew of The Mayan Mummy and it is up to these unlikely allies to get to the bottom of the secrets behind… The Studio Spectre.
The Claim– Coming Soon!
The third exciting pulp adventure featuring Ace Insurance investigator Clark Tyler is now available in ebook form on the following platforms: Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Smashwords. iBook and Sony stores should follow soon…
A print edition will also follow soon.
Next up – Uchronic Tales: The Claim – it all comes full circle as I finally release the expanded version of the first thing I wrote that got me into this whole pulp writing thing.
Cover Art: Mike Fyles
About Uchronic Tales: The Studio Spectre– Is the ghost of Triumph Pictures haunting the studios biggest star? When scares turn to murder, Clark Tyler is on the case in his third exciting Uchronic adventure. Tinsel Town is turned upside down when the Spectre is on the loose. Clark Tyler teams up with the Jade Monk to face the mystery and terror of the Studio Spectre.
Clark Tyler returns to the Uchronic past in another exciting novella also featuring an exciting new hero, The Jade Monk.
The set of Triumph Pictures latest epic is threatened when accidents and tension plagues the set of starlet Fay Reynolds’ newest picture, The Mayan Mummy.
Action, thrills, and double crosses careen across the silver screen and it is up to Clark Tyler and his new friends, Kendo Foster and the mysterious Jade Monk, to solve the case and save the studio.
The Studio Spectre is action in the classic pulp hero style and adventure in the tinseltown in the 1930s.
Clark Tyler is also featured in the other Uchronic Tales novellas – The Zeppelin and The Horn.
Sony is telling PSP owners that its comic book portal is shutting down after October 30th. Users will then be unable to download the necessary app or buy additional titles. Any currently owned comics will be available to download again until mid-January, but readers will be on their own to preserve existing comic collections after that. According to Engadget:
Outside of Japan, that creates significant problems for literary PlayStation fans: while PS Vita owners in Sony’s home country will get a Manga store and reader in October, there’s no equivalent crutch for other countries (or any PSP owners) at this stage. The console maker is non-committal and says there’s nothing it can discuss “at the moment,” which to us is a hint that we shouldn’t plan our reading hours around a PSP or PS Vita in the near future.
Of course, those of us old enough to remember Sony’s Bookman and Reader, or those of us who saw royalty statements for the PSP platform, aren’t surprised by this in the least. Just remember Sony’s current slogan: Make. Believe.
Audiences are rewarding “The Amazing Spider-Man” for being a very, very good film.
The fourth film in the Sony franchise faced high skepticism as the producers resorted to rebooting Spider-Man for the second time in a decade — and as “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises” have loomed large as the summer’s superhero tentpoles.
Turns out, Peter Parker’s origin story, in the right hands, is as resilient as a wrist-packed monofilament — even as the Marvel webslinger turns 50 this year.
“Amazing Spider-Man” continued to soar above studio projections by grossing $65-million domestically to win the weekend — doubling the take of last week’s champ, “Ted” — and lifting its six-day start to $140-million, according to studio estimates released Sunday. Final numbers are due Monday.
Buoyed significantly by the winning performances of Andrew Garfield (who has inherited the super-suit from Tobey Maguire for his own newly announced trilogy) and Emma Stone (as Gwen Stacy), “Amazing Spider-Man” has now grossed a strong $341.6-million worldwide.
As Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee told Comic Riffs: Whoever decided to cast the talented Garfield as the new teen “Everyguy” should get a medal.
“Amazing Spider-Man” performed well right out of the gate, grossing $7.5-million Tuesday from midnight screenings; and through the Fourth of July, “Amazing Spider-Man” had grossed $58.3-million domestically and $108-million overall, according to the site BoxOfficeMojo.
“What a spectacular relaunch,” Sony worldwide distribution President Rory Bruer told the Hollywood Reporter, citing “the chemistry between Andrew and Emma” and “the out-of-the-box direction of Marc Webb,” who until now was best known for directiong “(500) Days of Summer.”
“Amazing Spider-Man” also benefited from its popularity with “family” demographics (25-percent of the film’s audience); its generally positive critical reviews and filmgoer scores; and its haul at IMAX theaters ($14.3-million).
”Spider-Man’s” performance dwarfed the domestic debuts of “Savages” (fourth at $16.2-million) and “Katy Perry: Part of Me” (eighth; $7.15-million).
Seth MacFarlane’s CGI/live-action “Ted” strengthened its claim as the R-rated comedy hit of the summer, grossing $32.6-million to raise its domestic total to $120.2-million. And Pixar’s animated “Brave” also remained strong, grossing $20.1-million to boost its domestic take to $174-million.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
Sony’s four Spider-Man films have now grossed $1.25-billion domestically and $2.83-billion worldwide.
“Amazing Spider-Man” had the fourth-best Independence Day weekend ever (not adjusted for inflation) — behind only two “Transformers” film (“Dark of the Moon” tops the list with $97.8-million) and “Spider-Man 2” ($88-million).
“Amazing Spider-Man” had the 12th-best weekend opening ever for Marvel character film — barely trailing last year’s “Thor” ($65.7-million) and “Captain America: The First Avenger”($68.05-million), though those two films didn’t open on a Tuesday.
And “Amazing Spider-Man” just beat the average opening for a Marvel character film: $65.57-million.
Am I the only one that could give a flying fish about the new Spider-Man movie?
I have no desire to see that film. You would think that a Spider-Man junkie like myself would be counting the days until it opened.
Nope. It could have opened already and it would still not be a blip on my must see radar. It would be great if the reason I have no yearning to see this film is because The Avengers was so good it made waiting to see any other superhero film unattractive.
Nope. I still can’t wait to see the next Dark Knight movie.
I simply have no desire whatsoever to see the new Spider-Man film. Is it the new actor that turns me off? Maybe, in the clips I’ve seen I have none and by none I mean no emotional attachment to him. Granted, I only get to see snippets of him in coming attractions but in those snippets I can garner no interest in this guy.
None.
Perhaps I’ve gone extreme fanboy and by extreme fanboy I mean, perhaps Marvel Studios has done something that just does not sit right with me so I must go to a dark fan place.
I’ll admit to being a fanboy and I’m mighty proud of that distinction, but being an extreme fanboy is something I’d never thought I’d succumb to. The difference between fanboy and one who is of the extreme kind is this; an extreme fan boy will spend endless hours, debating, blogging and otherwise conversing about whatever is bugging he or she. A regular old fan boy will just enjoy the ride and revel in all that is his or hers pop culture drug of choice.
I think with regards to the Spider-Man movie I have made the move to the dark side of fan boy domain and I think I know why. The more I think about it the more I’m certain what has brought me over to the dark side of fandom.
The side in which I must make my ire known to all that want to listen and more importantly those who don’t want to listen and more importantly still is to get my message of disgust out to those who simply could give a shit about any to this stuff.
That is the essence of the true extreme fanboy; talking passionate shit about something most of the world could give a fish about!
So, what has gotten me to extreme fan boy status over the Spider-Man movie? What has sent me from can’t wait to I could give a shit?
Gwen Stacy.
Gwen Stacy is in this retelling of the new Spider-Man movie.
Why? Oh why is that?
There were plenty of places to take Peter Parker after the third movie but someone had the bright idea to dig up Gwen Stacy. My beloved Gwen Stacy.
Why? Just so I can watch her die again? Everyone knows that Capt. Stacy, Gwen’s police chief dad and Gwen bite the damn dust. Well every real fan of Spider-Man knows that. I guess killing Gwen all over again for the delight of the millions who don’t know is O.K.
O.K?
It’s O.K. to kill the first non-real woman I ever loved?
Well, it’s not O.K. with me. No, I have not seen the movie nor do I have any insider knowledge that Gwen will be killed in the movie but whatever other reason is there to jump back in continuity? What other reason is there to bring back dear, sweet, lovable, I’m old enough now to tap that ass, Gwen?
I can’t think of any reason except Sony and Marvel studios desire to reinvent Spider-Man and bring in some Twilight or some other pussy franchise’s fan base. What better way then getting you to take your girlfriend to a superhero movie and get you to cry like a little bitch when Gwen dies?
That, my friend, is just cold blooded. Or, to put it another way, that’s Hollywood.
So, no I won’t be seeing this Spider-Man. If I’m wrong and Gwen survives I still won’t see it. If she survives this film you can be damn sure she will be toast in the next one.
I’m not going out like that-seeing her neck broke when I was a little kid was enough for me.
Sony, Marvel you killed Gwen Stacy!!!
You bastards!!
TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Emily S. Whitten, real girls, and costumes!
BOOK FOR WEBCOMIC FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY
GATHERS TEN YEARS OF LYRICS AND HISTORY
(Glendale, CA) – FLYING GLORY FLASHBACK: CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF THE LYRICS, WORDS, AND HISTORY BEHIND THE WEBCOMIC FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY, a book that features the complete words for all of the lyrics featured within the storyline along with the history of the webcomic’s evolution, is now available in multiple ebook formats along with a print edition in time for the holiday season. For a decade, the webcomic FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY continues to feature the adventures of super powered teen Debra Clay, known as Flying Glory, and her backing band the Hounds of Glory. She’s mentored by her grandmother Elsie Stokes, who served as Flying Glory during World War II. The webcomic launched in the summer of 2001 with a four page short, soon followed by a twenty nine page first issue. Artwork is drawn by Kevin Paul Shaw Broden, who co-writes the adventures with Shannon Muir. Currently, each issue is twenty-four pages in length and generally posted as one page weekly in black and white. As of June 2011, the tenth anniversary of the webcomic, the website features roughly 350 comic story pages. In addition, “Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory” appeared in print for the first time this year as part of a charity cookbook by TGT Media (http://webcomiccookbook.org/order/) entitled “Webcomics: What’s Cooking?” that raises funds to feed the hungry, and for which the complete lyrics for “What’s Cooking Tonight?” used in that piece are part of FLYING GLORY FLASHBACK.
Now for the first time, every “song” from within the comic as well as special features such as the print appearance appears complete and with one text-only volume, accompanied with introductions to each section explaining the creative development behind the storylines from each period. In addition, readers get a rare opportunity to read material written by Shannon Muir before the inception of the concept as well as material from the not yet produced FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY Christmas story. The book includes a special introduction by artist, co-writer and FLYING GLORY creator Kevin Paul Shaw Broden.
Broden and Muir also have shared writing credits on several episodes of the Japanese animated series MIDNIGHT HORROR SCHOOL; he contributed illustrations to her textbooks GARDNER’S GUIDE TO WRITING AND PRODUCING ANIMATION and GARDNER’S GUIDE TO PITCHING AND SELLING ANIMATION. Muir’s worked in production on several animated television series for such major studios as Sony, Nickelodeon, and SD Entertainment. Muir’s other indie self-published novels include the paranormal focused HALF TRUTH AND FULL LYE originally completed as part of National Novel Writing Month 2011, along with her other women’s fiction/romance novels TOUCH THE STARS and THE HEART’S DUTY, and her short story/poetry anthologies SEARCH FOR A WOMAN and THE END OF INNOCENCE’S ROAD.
“I’ve always loved music, and even spent some time as radio DJ in college,” explains Muir. “But I’ve never been able to play a musical instrument. Getting to use my poetry experience as a writer to create the ‘songs’ that bring extra effect and poignancy to the stories we do in the FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY webcomic, is absolutely amazing. I always look forward to the visuals Kevin comes up with to go with my words, which are always written first based on the plot script, with an exception or two. Occasionally Kevin’s handed me a page, and I’ve said to him that I know song words that go there. I’ll tell him what they are and he’s agreed every time. It’s been an incredible ten years and I’m glad to share more insights of that journey with everyone. I hope there will be many more.”
FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY’s 36 page celebratory issue 14, “Reverberations,” began on June 26, 2011 and will be running weekly (breaking for holidays) until approximately June 2012 at http://www.flying-glory.com. FLYING GLORY FLASHBACK is currently available on Amazon for Kindle, the iBookstore, Smashwords for all other platforms including NOOK as of press time, and in print through Lulu and also for sale on Amazon. The ebook version retails for $3.99 and the print version for $9.99, with purchases helping to subsidize webhosting costs.
Deadline reports that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has delivered a summary judgment for Disney/Marvel and other studios Sony, Universal, 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures against the Jack Kirby Estate in the matter of notice of copyright termination.
The estate of Jack Kirby, co-creator of Captain America, Fantastic Four, X-Men, The Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, Silver Surfer and Thor, sent notices terminating copyright to publishers Marvel and Disney, as well as film studios that have made movies and TV shows based on characters he created or co-created, including Sony, Universal, 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures.
The federal judge not only granted the studios’ motions for summary judgment but also denied the Kirby cross-motion for summary judgment.
The Kirby estate is represented by Marc Toberoff, who is also currently representing the Jerry Siegel estate against DC Comics in the copyright termination case regarding Superman and Smallville.
Just in time for San Diego Comic-Con, Sony is pushing hard for next year’s release of The Amazing Spider-Man. First, Columbia Pictures grabbed the cover spot in this week’s Entertainment Weekly along with a hefty photo spread, and now we’re seeing the (legitimate!) release of this teaser trailer:
We fully expect to see some of the cast in Hall H at San Diego, particularly Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. But personally, we’re pulling for Denis Leary. His reaction to seeing the audience at San Diego could rival Shatner’s “Get a life!” speech.
But still– there’s something about the costume revamp that just (sorry) bugs me.
