Michael Hutchison: July 2005 Archives
Stealth gets panned by Ebert in an early review.
Sounds putrid. Wish I didn't still want to see it.
The Japanese have developed a lifelike 'female' android. They have been in a race with America on this front ever since Anthony Michael Hall did this 20 years ago.
The lifelike android is hot and her name is Sexy O'Sullivan...oh, wait, no it's Repliee Q1.
Sayour, 35, the stunt coordinator for the show and primary stuntman for "Smallville" star Tom Welling, was badly injured in...a "freak accident" during filming Tuesday morning on location near the township of Langley.
We recently had an escape well added to our home. It's a 5' wide window in our basement so that in case of fire we could escape from the basement, and it adds in a ton of light to what was once gloom.
Next we're having the contractor put in ceramic tile in the basement bedroom (currently empty) and the basement living room (crammed full of everything from the bedroom plus my comic collection), so Sunday night we pulled up the old carpet and took it out, and I pulled up the pad and prepared to take it out Monday. Under the pad is some old vinyl tile that also has to come up. The contractor asked me to clear out the living room as best I can, so I told Melinda that I would stack the comic long boxes in our shop. I hate to put them on the floor, but I don't have a pallet. That's okay, it's only for 2 or 3 weeks.
The excavation of the window well left a huge mound of dirt right by it, which I plan to distribute appropriately...but the month of July has been beastly hot. I haven't mowed the lawn...I've barely been outside...and I certainly didn't have the energy for shoveling dirt around.
SO! Monday, we have a horrible rainstorm. The dirt pile that I didn't move yet turns out to be blocking the drainage from the side of the house and from the gutter downspout. Since the water can't go into the yard, it diverts into ... the window well. When Melinda notices this, the water is FOUR INCHES HIGH against the window well and there is a half-inch of water on that bedroom floor! The puddle has spread through the wall to the shop area where I had, the day before, said I was going to put the comic collection.
Had we not taken the carpet out just the day before, we'd have had a godawful mess. Had I put the comic collection in the shop...well, I'd have ruined a couple boxes and needed to clean off all the polybags. I think I'll put down a bed of two by fours wherever I decide to put the collection.
Cast Set for 'Lord of the Rings' Musical
How in the world are they going to tell this story on stage in a couple of hours, especially taking time out for singing?
Payola Shocker: J-Lo Hits, Others Were 'Bought' by Sony
I remember thinking, back in college, how I was going to keep up with pop music so that I would be different from my dad. When my kids talked about a singer, I'd know who they were talking about. Then, around 1995 or so, popular music got so sucky and weird that I had to stop listening. (When "Ace of Base" is the best thing out there, pop music is dead.)
Maybe this will lower your esteem of me, but when I was driving across Iowa to go to I-CON, I heard Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and it's the first pop song I've liked in ages. I don't watch "American Idol" because watching kids redoing songs I didn't really like when Barry Manilow did them and then being berated by some British twit doesn't strike me as a fun time. Still, I have to admit that it's an attempt at the one thing that the music industry isn't: a meritocracy. The people succeeding on that show really can sing! Contrast Kelly Clarkson to most of the underfed, semi-naked hotties whose singing ability consists of warbling unchallenging songs into a headset mic.
OF COURSE there's corruption in the music industry!
Penciller Stephen Sadowski says that the inker on JSA #75 changed his art for #75 and he has posted the original pencils to prove it.
The V for Vendetta trailer is up. Natalie Portman, back from stinking up the screen in the Star Wars prequels, stars as a young woman taken under the wing of a masked anarchist fighting a fascistic British government.
It's based on an early work by Alan Moore, though oddly enough his name isn't even mentioned in the trailers. Instead, it says the story is entirely written by The Wachowski Brothers. They didn't approach Moore about the story; rather, they acquired the rights from DC Comics, which owns the story even though Moore and DC Comics famously don't get along.
As I said, it's an early work by Alan Moore. I read it once, and it's a terribly boring tale. I kept expecting it to be good because it's Alan Moore, but it's Moore at his worst. It's blatantly paranoid, and while it's set in a 1984-like future Britain it's clear that the writer thinks it's not far off of the Great Britain of his then-day. As poster Striker Z...a Power Company fan, I would presume...says over at the Libertas blog, all the great lefty writers of the early 1980s were paranoid about Margaret Thatcher.
Adapting this meager work at all is questionable. It's just hard to take seriously a movie where English chaps are acting like Nazis, even conducting Dr. Mengele-esque experiments, and the story seems cribbed from Orwell. This delusional view of Merry Old England didn't even work as a statement about Thatcher's administration, and now Thatcher's party isn't even in power. Why would this movie get greenlit? Oh, perhaps it could still work as an interesting "what if" story, sure, if one stuck more to the central plot. But making this movie now, when England is at war and has been for almost four years, can only be a political statement.
I mean, this film contains explosions on subway trains and bombing attacks on government buildings, plus protagonists in bomb vests and numerous statements about government and anarky...it's not like this film reached the studio's desk and then they looked around and said, "Oh, dear, maybe this isn't the right time to release this. We hadn't realized some of the subject matter mirrored current events. People might take it the wrong way." They've even decided to leave in scenes of bombings on the London Underground!
And it's by the Wachowskis. You know, the fellows who made cops and suited agents the bad guys in their Matrix movies, establishing scenarios where you are supposed to admire characters who enter a government building and begin shooting everyone in sight. These guys aren't exactly apolitical, or they wouldn't be putting Professor Cornel West in their movies because they love his philosophies so much.
Folks, you thought "The Passion of the Christ" was going to stir people up? You thought it amazing that "Fahrenheit 9/11" could get financing during a time of war? You wondered about George Lucas getting in his sly digs at Dubya in SWIII? Wait till this one hits.
I say it again, the movie Stealth is probably fluff, but it sure does look good! If you're still doubtful, you can check out the STEALTH COMIC-CON SIZZLE PIECE. But be warned, this is one of those trailers that pretty much gives away the whole movie except for the ending.
This is off-topic, granted, but I'm a writer and every now and then I'm struck by the peculiar usage of words and phrases. That's why, as soon as I saw this AP article entitled "Poll: Americans Say World War III Likely", I was baffled by the title.
They think World War III is likely? We're in a World War right now. And frankly, this is World War IV because the Cold War will come to be regarded as World War III.
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law FINALLY begins a new season of episodes. See a brief clip of the new episode. It's about the booty.
The Adult Swim web site has been revamped, too. A great improvement over the old one.
What sneak peek should I give for Metro Med #0?
Vote in this poll and I'll have a sneak peek up soon.
This mother is selling her soul on eBay in order to raise money for her kid to attend his last year at a Catholic school. (Lot's of things philosophically wrong with this, too. She says her son "actually worships that school", although any Catholic would know you don't worship anything besides God.)
So far the winning bid is $300 and the bidder is, no kidding, "satanthesoultaker."
I think I have my evenings back, for a short while. My next comic book, "Metro Med Summer Special #0", is done, turned in to Shooting Star Comics, ready to print. PHEW!
I know I haven't really been talking much about this, aside from generally hyping it, but I guess it's time to share a few bits of inside baseball.
Metro Med, as some of you know and some of you don't, is a project I've wanted to do for a long time, centering on a superhero hospital. If you need a Hollywood pitch description, it's "E/R" but set in Astro City instead of Chicago. I collaborated with artist Phil Meadows in pitching this in spring 2004 for Dimestore's Small Press Idol and last summer we won first place. Various delays kept it from being published until now. Instead of being a part of an anthology, we decided to put out a full issue of Metro Med stories and background materials, all for only $2! This is a great introduction to our hospital staff, our superhero characters and the Tri-Metro in which they live.
OK, everybody caught up? Here's some insider talk:
Phil Meadows has been knocking himself out to get a new second page story done. I make it tough for him because I keep creating new characters and places and he has to design them all. Comics set "in a world of superheroes" are challenging because we have to create dozens of heroes and villains with histories, noteworthy names, interesting costumes and origins for them all...and all for people who are background figures for the main action. (Some of these teams I'm creating seem like they really could have titles of their own.)
If you see Phil at Wizard World, be sure to tell him what a good job he's doing. I say it as often as I can, but I know it's never often enough!
Roz Terrill helped us out with our second story by taking over the coloring chores. Roz is juggling three kids, doing colors for our book and STILL working on her own comic book. While she's doing colors, she can color me impressed. (You KNOW I'll tell you more about her comic when there's more to tell.)
In order to make the deadline for publication in time for Wizard World, we had help from two Shooting Star regulars, Erik Burnham (writer/artist of "Nick Landime") and Robert Bavington (one of the artists on "Rex Solomon" and Metro Med's Fifth Beatle). They each have done a pinup for a superteam, which gave Phil Meadows more time to concentrate on art in the story and doing a two-page pinup. (Wait till you see that one!)
But I mentioned a surprise.
We had one last page on which to show two of the main superheroes. Phil was running out of time so Robert offered to draw one of them. Due to a miscommunication on my part, Robert did a full-sized action scene that was so impressive, we decided to devote the entire page to it. (And Robert did it in only a day and a half!)
Robert now has two pinups in the book. And he's going to be flying all the way from England to join us at Wizard World Chicago, so be sure to get his autograph there or you'll have to take a trip across the pond!
As I read more and more memorials to Jim Aparo, I'm reminded of some of my favorite stories that featured his art.
That cover of Batman hanging from Elongated Man's neck? That was his!
He also did one of the greatest Metal Men stories ever, the immortal "Whatever Happened to Whatsername?"
In light of our recent talk about "The Island" being a ripoff of "Parts: The Clonus Horror", I've been meaning to follow that up with a similar discussion.
A kid is the progeny of the world's two most powerful superheroes, so he is sent to a superhero school even though he doesn't have any powers of his own. There he worries about his very life, given the godlike powers manifested by all of the other kids, and an hour in gym could very well get him killed.
That's "Sky High", due out in a couple weeks from Disney, right? No, that's the plot of P.S. 238 #3, published in fall of 2003!
If I were Aaron Williams, I'd be thinking lawsuit. He's taking it in stride, it seems:
Yeah, it's incredible the level of originality at the House of Mouse, eh?I think this may come down to being the only Bruce Campbell movie I have no desire to own.
Fortunately, Williams may be getting a movie of his own!
Fox News: Movie Theaters All Comic-Booked Up
"We just optioned 'P.S. 238,' (search) a comic by Aaron Williams about a public school for the children of superheroes," said Chris Tongue, creative executive for Dark Horse Entertainment.
Whoo-hoo! Aaron Williams just got mentioned in the national press! Way to go, dude. (If Dark Horse Entertainment options a Dork Storm book, will it be released as Dork Horse?)
I have been saying for two years that P.S. 238 was one of the best comics on the rack. I'm glad to see that it's catching on. Now, are they also interested in a superhero hospital book?
Two goodies from a great interview with The Man: BRUCE CAMPBELL'S SKY HIGH SDCC PANEL
QUESTION: What's up with Ash vs. Freddy vs. Jason?ANSWER: We had a five minute talk with New Line. Five minutes that will haunt me for the rest of my career! Here's how it went: New Line expressed interest in doing the project. We said, "So we only have control over Ash?" They said “yes.” So one-third of the movie could be cool, and two-third could suck and we'd have no say over that. See the thing is, that's three different sets of rules to play by, who could defeat or kill who, etc. etc. That's three different ways to split the check. It was a bad idea.
QUESTION: Any progress on the Evil Dead remake?
ANSWER: Yeah, they want it to star Ashton Kutcher. And who doesn't want to see him get raped by a tree? (This was met with roaring applause)
Ethan Van Sciver reports that Jim Aparo has passed away. I didn't even realize Aparo was that old. Aparo was THE Batman artist for me and a generation of Bat-fans, especially readers of "The Brave and the Bold", and IMHO he established the definitive look for Commissioner Gordon.
Farewell, Mr. Aparo. R.I.P.
Oy, I was so busy on Monday I didn't post anything. I've just been working on getting Metro Med off to Scott McCullar. My entire day has been writing, writing. No time for cruising comic book news or reading columns or anything. In fact, I almost missed the significance of July 19th being the anniversary of Chappaquiddick! Now that is preoccupied, folks.
Ah well, a few more days of torture and then Metro Med #0 will be set for debut. I can't wait for you all to see what I'm seeing!
You only have until the end of July to vote in the NEW Rhino Home Video/MST3K Poll!
Meanwhile, Volume 8 of the DVD releases is in the works and two of the four movies it will contain are already decided: "The Phantom Planet" (bah!) and "Hobgoblins" (booyah!). I liked Hobgoblins so much that I bought the original movie just to find out what they were really singing during the "Fishpicker / Piglicker / Pitpicker" song.
The DC Panel revealed a few goodies:
Mark Waid is now exclusive to DC.
All magic will be destroyed at the end of "Day of Vengeance". (Umm...isn't that kind of the ending they're giving away there?) Instead of magic there will be "something different".
The Red Hood will appear in Teen Titans, where Tim Drake and Jason Todd will fight.
Captain Atom will Quantum Leap into the Wildstorm Universe, and apparently he's back to the...ugh...Kingdom Come uniform. (I'm sorry, but Alex Ross seems to be the only person capable of pulling off that ugly design.)
Bad news for PvP fans: Scott Kurtz didn't win, while Kyle Baker won for Plastic Man. (Maybe there were some miffed Christians on the committee?)
Wait, is DC still making Plastic Man?
The Batman - Batman takes on blood-sucker
Warner Bros has announced "The Batman vs. Dracula," a direct-to-DVD title releasing on October 18. This 75 minute adventure will come on a single disc for $24.98.
This is the first movie done by the team that does "The Batman" (you know, the show where everyone has weird teeth).
There's no mistaking the look of a Terry Gilliam movie. The Brothers Grimm High Def Trailer is finally available. The film follows Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as hucksters who have built up a reputation as monster-fighters, only to encounter a village that is truly having a problem with a haunted forest.
Two warnings: You'll need to download the new QuickTime 7 in order to see the trailer, and it would be best to stick with the smallest resolution file unless you have an absolute flamethrower of a computer! I tried the 1080 pixel version and then the 720 pixel, and in each case it was like watching a filmstrip. The 480 looks just fine.
This is the first Terry Gilliam film since his Don Quixote film was abandoned in mid-production due to monumental problems. What's funny about that situation was that the crew doing the behind the scenes "making of" film had so much interesting footage about the disaster that they were able to turn it into a critically acclaimed documentary.
Is it just me or has everyone on the Internet done a web page about how to be a supervillain? It seems like we've all given this subject way too much thought. And yet, each such web page raises a point that the last one overlooked.
(Thanks to Roz for the link)
Roger Friedman's Friday column is not to be missed! It's all about Harry Potter, Batman Begins and Superman Returns. If I quoted you all the interesting parts I'd be reprinting the whole column without permission, so here are two great teases from Warner Brothers chief Alan Horn:
"Batman 3 and 4 were awful." That's a direct quote from Horn, which is what makes the "new" Warner Bros. so refreshing.As the studio releases its second big hit of this summer season today, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Horn doesn't mind admitting to have made mistakes.
...
He meant to "Batman Forever" (1995, starring Val Kilmer) and "Batman and Robin" (1997, with George Clooney).
"They were terrible," he said. "But we're also the studio that made 'Catwoman' and 'Pluto Nash,'" he said with a chuckle. "Everybody makes mistakes."
Oh, bless you for admitting it! This is so refreshing. And how about this:
Finally, I did ask Horn how the new Superman movie, "Superman Returns," is going.Newcomer Brandon Routh, he says, "looks just like Superman. But we knew we had to overcome the fact that Chris Reeve was so beloved and that everyone thinks of him in the role."
The solution?
"We're going to dedicate the new movie to him. I haven't told [director] Bryan Singer yet, but we'll put it at the beginning or the end, 'In memory of Christopher Reeve.'"
According to Ebert, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory succeeds despite the inexplicable performance of Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka as a copy of Michael Jackson.
I'm going to be busy for the next week getting Metro Med #0 to bed so that it can be printed in time for Wizard World Chicago. I have to make that priority #1. Phil Meadows is going to be busy finishing the art, so he can't post anything. And R.B. is designing a logo for us, so HE will be busy, too.
Chris Arndt! It's up to you to carry the site, or our audience will be running.
If anyone else would like to post comic/movie news on Monitor Duty, throw me an e-mail and we'll give you a shot.
I hope this isn't costing them sales! Amazon.com's Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper
Hat tip to Mark Silka
Don't forget to cast your vote for your opinion of War of the Worlds?
Katie Holmes interviewed in Style.com.
Look, I REALLY don't care about celebrity couples and couplings, but "Batman Begins" star Katie Holmes is just wigging me out. This is just the weirdest thing. The entire world is taking the place of the one kid shouting that the emperor has no clothes, but the emperor isn't hearing a word of it.
'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' a Winner. So far, the buzz is very good.
Here's the out-of-left-field element that may determine success: the Jacko factor. Since Willy Wonka is a recluse and he hangs around with kids, a decision was made (by Depp? by Burton?) to add an aura of Michael Jackson to Willy Wonka. I didn't believe that at first, and even took a commenter below to task about that. Then Chuck Dixon mentioned the same thing on Dixonverse:
I find the movie's correlations with the recent Michael Jackson shenanigans the most disturbing. A skinny, pasty faced guy dressed all in black wants to take a bunch of kids to his wonderful house filled with childish temptations while their parents look on with expections of rewards and riches.Plus, Burton's regard for audience sensibilities is nil.
And now the same is noted by Fox 411:
Johnny Depp, who's a Burton repertory player, portrays chocolate factory owner Willy Wonka like he's Michael Jackson. Sometimes the Jacko factor is a little too obvious, but Depp has more depth than Jackson.
Fantastic Four gets one star from Roger Ebert. And no, I am not an Ebert fan, but he is a nerd who knows his nerd stuff.
So...is this a Russian movie? In-teresting.
This is the most hypnotically bizarre thing I've seen since I had the grave misfortune to first encounter the Boobahs and somehow found myself locked into their kiddie show for five minutes.
It is apparently (for lack of any better term, as nothing is really apparent) about four guys played by the same musician and they all have elemental powers. Most of the song they stand around with their arms folded, except for this one part where they put their hands together in a ring to initiate their power-up sequence. (But we never see them morph into their megazords.)
Go there. Watch the Realvideo. Laugh your hinder off.
Hat tip to Jonah G. Now, don't forget to keep reading until you find my big news item of the day.
Cool Brit spot for the Golf GTI. (Quicktime download. 5 1/2 megs.)
Now read below to find out about my comic. Today's about me.
My beautiful baby book wasn't the only announcement made today by Shooting Star. They also announced the upcoming three-part mini, "Perils On Planet X: Hawke of The Lost Planet" by writer Christopher Mills and Gene Gonzales. All The Rage has previews, plus this tempting snippet (emphasis ours):
The first issue is scheduled to hit in early 2006. For his part, Mills describes the series as an “old-school tale of interplanetary swashbuckling, filled with action, adventure, romance, sword fights, six-legged lizards, strato-pirates, jetpacks, flying cities and… vampire gorillas.”
I'm happy to announce that my first full book, Metro Med, is finally reaching the end of the pipeline and is about to burst forth in a month. Shooting Star Comics made the announcement today.
METRO MED #0 Preview Special Available at Chicago Wizard WorldShooting Star Comics will debut a new title this summer at the Chicago Wizard World Convention called METRO MED by writer Michael Hutchison and artist Phil Meadows (Melvin & Marvin - Time Meddlers from SSCA #4).
Some readers may recall that METRO MED won the 2004 Small Press Association's 'Small Press Idol' contest last year . This series is about the only hospital in the world suited for the treatment of superheroes, super villains and other strange and supernatural individuals. Both Michael and Phil have chosen to develop METRO MED with Shooting Star and have included their award winning story along with another bonus tale and special features in METRO MED #0 that we will have on sale in Chicago at Wizard World as a special preview book to the series of the same name that they are developing for release in 2006.
This preview special will have an introductory $2 price tag on it and will also be available for sale later this summer on a new online store that we're currently building!
Available first at Chicago Wizard World
On the Dixonverse Forum, someone raised the point that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory should have been made with kids in mind, but it wasn't. While I still consider the original Gene Wilder version to be a fun classic, I do have to disagree with this point.
First off, why remake it at all if the original movie is so fondly remembered? I'm sure we've all wondered that. The reason is that "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) is an attempt to make the movie as much like the book as possible, whereas "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971) deviated from the book by having mostly-new songs and a script that had been greatly rewritten from Roald Dahl's first script. Dahl never liked the movie, especially as Wonka was toned down.
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", as originally intended, is supposed to be a horror story for kids. It's like the Grimm fairie tales used to be, where kids that did the wrong thing got chopped up by a goblin and the kids who behaved got rewarded.
Ever hear the original Snow White, with the woodcutter killing a deer and turning the severed heart to the queen claiming it's Snow White's? Then Disney gets a hold of it and makes it into this marketable cute story with seven merchandisable Dwarves...excuse me, Dwarfs...all ready to be turned into players on a Franklin Mint Chess set. Now, because of Disney, if someone tried mounting an actual production of the real tale of Snow White, they'd be accused of corrupting a children's story...and that's essentially what you're doing by decrying "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
Willy Wonka is intended to be a bit of a boogeyman figure. All these kids go to Willy Wonka's factory expecting the time of their dreams, but their inhibitions lead them into trouble...and as we can see, they are also the victims of parents who spoil them. The book/movie is just as much a Grimm Faerie Tale for parents: "Don't spoil your selfish little pig child or he could get stuck in a high pressure chocolate release valve or shrunk to an inch tall."
Is this inappropriate for kids? Well, sure, if by kids you mean tiny tykes who should be watching Pooh Bear. If they're 8-10 years old, then absolutely. Kids love being scared. I know I loved a good fright. Heck, it's really the age when you can be legitimately frightened, before you start rationalizing everything. Parents are way too overprotective these days.
Sequential Tart: Redirected Male - Michael Hutchison (vol VIII/iss 7/July 2005)
I'd like to thank Sequential Tart for giving me a chance to spout off on minutia in public.
I'm going to give the site a little pep for the fourth. Graphics courtesy of PatriotIcon.org
Peter Jackson, LOTR actors not feeling the love (second item on page)
Hollywood is a fantasyland, especially when it comes to economics. "Forrest Gump" was a colossal success until author Winston Groome demanded his share of the profits, as was previously agreed, at which point he was informed that Gump had not turned a profit. I also remember a news announcement in the latter half of the 1990s that the film "Hook," which had to pay percentages to Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams, had at last broken even.
Now it looks like New Line Cinemas made billions and billions off of Lord of the Rings but didn't see fit to pass enough of the rewards on to the actors:
I can now tell you that, Jackson's problems aside, I have heard nothing but grumbling about money from various actors in the series for the past three years....
The low rumble of dissatisfaction began after the first movie, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," turned out to be a blockbuster.
If you recall, Jackson — who shot principal photography for all three movies simultaneously — went right back into post-production after the 2002 Academy Awards to get the second film ready for a December 2002 release.
But he knew he needed the actors back in New Zealand to fix things, reshoot some scenes, etc.
Unfortunately, New Line didn't want to pay the actors more money for the additional work — even though it was happy to fly them all back to New Zealand and underwrite the travel expense.
... At one point I was told that Sean Astin, who played Sam Gamgee the Hobbit, "was close to losing his house" because New Line had not ponied up the remaining fees.
Great news from our friend Josh Elder:
As of yesterday Tokyopop has given me the greenlight to turn Mail Order Ninja into a graphic novel trilogy. My existence has now, finally, been justified.So thanks to all of you who voted for me in Rising Stars contest. It really worked! And for those of you attending WizWorld Chicago, I'll be signing copies of the Rising Star book that contains the original short story...