FOX is gearing up to start making some moves towards getting a Fantastic 4 reboot rolling (mostly, because if they don’t the license will revert back to Marvel, and GOD FORBID that happens). There have been no announcements regarding a director or any actors, but in true form, the rumors are a-buzz with who may be directing and playing some of the characters. I’ve broken down the rumors I could find below – who knows if they actually hold any weight!

Directors

It looks like the three names topping the list of rumored potential directors are Joe Carnahan (The A-Team), James McTeigue (Ninja Assassin), and David Yates (Harry Potter). I haven’t seen The A-Team, but I have seen Smokin’ Aces, and while that film is one of my guilty pleasures Carnahan seems to have a style that would be an odd fit for a F4 film, same goes for McTeigue. As far as Yates goes, I could see aspects of his style transferring okay to a F4 film.

Cast

Stephen Moyer (HBO’s True Blood) is supposedly a name being thrown around for Dr. Doom. . . meh? Much to no one’s surprise, FOX is most likely going with a CG version of the Thing – which, in my opinion,  studios are notorious for using CG when they shouldn’t have, but using it to create a big lumbering Thing would have been much better than that foam suit they used instead. Anyways, two names being thrown around to voice this rocky superhero are Kiefer Sutherland and Bruce Willis. Did you laugh at the latter? Yeah, me too, I kind of doubt FOX could get him for a reboot of a film franchise that was pretty bad the first time around – but hey, I’ve been surprised before.

FOX is also supposedly eyeing Adrian Brody (Splice) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) to fill the shoes of Reed Richards and Alice Eve (She’s Out of My League) and Amber Heard (Zombieland, she was “406”) to take on the role of Sue Storm. No rumors yet on who may fill the shoes of Chris Evans as The Human Torch (and in my opinion, the only well-cast character from the previous films). I don’t really have strong feelings one way or the other for these particular casting rumors – probably because these are just rumors right now.

Of course, this Fantastic 4 reboot is going to be shot in (sigh) 3D and FOX is aiming for a Summer 2012 release, so I’d imagine we will continue to hear casting rumors for the next few months followed by some relatively solid news early next year.

Come share your thoughts on this Fantastic 4 reboot over in the BSR Forum! Do any of these actors “tickle your fancy”? Have a dream cast you’d like to see fill the shoes of the first family of superherodom?

A little about me, I am an avid television watcher and reviewer. I have a very large tolerance for all forms of television and so this is why I will be gracing your computer screens with television reviews and related news. But here I am with an emmy recap as well as my thoughts on the nominees and winners.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

The Nominees were

Chris Colfer: Kurt on Glee

Neil Patrick Harris: Barney on How I Met Your Mother

Jesse Tyler Ferguson: Mitchell on Modern Family

Eric Stonestreet: Cameron on Moden Family

Ty Burrell: Phil on Moden Family

Jon Cryer: Alan on Two And A Half Men

Winner: Eric Stonestreet Modern Family

Having seen all of these actors except Jon Cryer, my official pick was for NPH, his role as Barney is incredibly good. However of the three actors from Modern Family Stonestreet is my favorite and I’m glad he pulled out the win.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series

Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester on Glee

Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy on Modern Family

Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on Modern Family

Kristen Wiig as Various Characters on Saturday Night Live

Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney on 30 Rock

Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper on Two and a Half Men

Winner: Jane Lynch of Glee

This was my pick to win it this year. Jane Lynch is incredibly funny and though I’m not an overall fan of Glee she is the best actress on the show. Her work on Party Down was also amazing and she definitely deserves it for this role.

Guest Actress in Comedy Series Winner: Betty White SNL

This episode of SNL was very funny and Betty White is one of the best older actresses out there today. She will be on the newest episode of Community Season 2 so make sure to watch that.

Guest Actor In Comedy Series Winner: Neil Patrick Harris on Glee

This episode of Glee with NPH was my second favorite episode of the series after the Pilot. NPH did a fantastic job and he’s a fantastic singer.

Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series

Glee • Pilot

Glee • Wheels

Modern Family • Pilot

Nurse Jackie • Pilot

30 Rock • I Do Do

Winner: Glee Pilot

This was the best episode of the show Glee. A very well thought out episode but in my opinion it has been downhill ever since.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A

Comedy Series

Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper The Big Bang Theory

Larry David as Himself Curb Your Enthusiasm

Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester Glee •

Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk Monk

Steve Carell as Michael Scott The Office

Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy 30 Rock

Winner: Jim Parsons

My sentimental favorite was for Larry David but Jim Parsons did do a very good job in the role of Sheldon Cooper this year.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A

Comedy Series

Lea Michele as Rachel Berry Glee

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine Campbell The New Adventures Of Old Christine

Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton Nurse Jackie

Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope Parks And Recreation

Tina Fey as Liz Lemon  30 Rock

Toni Collette as Tara Gregson United States Of Tara

Edie Falco Nurse Jackie

Having not seen beyond the first four episodes of Nurse Jackie I can’t really comment, and also since I’ve only seen two of the other shows I wasn’t up to date on who would win this one. I did like the first four episodes of Nurse Jackie though.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A

Drama Series

Breaking Bad Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman

Damages Martin Short as Leonard Winstone

Lost Terry O’Quinn as John Locke

Lost Michael Emerson as Ben Linus

Mad Men John Slattery as Roger Sterling

Men Of A Certain Age Andre Braugher as Owen

Winner: Aaron Paul: Breaking Bad

Damages is the only one of these shows I have not seen. Being a big fan of Lost I did want Terry to win, but Aaron Paul is a very good choice for this one. His acting is phenomenal on Breaking Bad.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In

A Drama Series

Burn Notice Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen

Damages Rose Byrne as Ellen Parsons

The Good Wife Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma

The Good Wife Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart

Mad Men Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris

Mad Men Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson

Winner: Archie Panjabi — The Good Wife

This was another category I’m not caught up on. I haven’t yet watched this season of Mad Men and I haven’t watched Damages or The Good Wife, so I can only comment on Sharon Gless and I didn’t think she deserved the win.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama

Series

Breaking Bad Bryan Cranston as Walter White

Dexter Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan

Friday Night Lights Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor

House Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House

Lost Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard

Mad Men Jon Hamm as Don Draper

Winner: Bryan Cranston: Breaking Bad

I like all 6 of these shows and all these actors were excellent this season. House had it’s best season yet, Dexter was awesome, Friday Night Lights continues to be a better show then it should be. But Breaking Bad is one of the best on television right now and Cranston is so good.

Outstanding Guest Actress In A

Drama Series

Big Love Mary Kay Place as Adaleen Grant

Big Love Sissy Spacek as Marilyn Densham

The Cleaner Shirley Jones as Lola Zellman

Damages Lily Tomlin as Marilyn Tobin

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ann-Margret as Rita Wills

Lost Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet Burke

Winner: Ann-Margaret

I wanted Mitchell to win but I haven’t seen any of the other shows. I am not update on leading females.

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama

Series

The Closer Beau Bridges as Detective George Andrews

Damages Ted Danson as Arthur Frobisher

Dexter John Lithgow as Arthur Mitchell

The Good Wife Alan Cumming as Eli Gold

The Good Wife Dylan Baker as Colin Sweeney

Mad Men Robert Morse as Bertram Cooper

24 Gregory Itzin as President Charles Logan

Winner: John Lithgow

Lithgow was amazing on this season of Dexter, if you haven’t caught up you really should. I’d also like to make a shout out to Itzin for being my favorite character in the series 24. The moment he showed up I knew I would love this season.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A

Drama Series

The Closer Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson

Damages Glenn Close as Patty Hewes

Friday Night Lights Connie Britton as Tami Taylor

The Good Wife Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Mariska Hargitay as Det. Olivia Benson

Mad Men January Jones as Betty Draper

Winner: Kyra Sedgwick The Closer

I’m not a big fan of The Closer, my mother loves it and she says it’s good so I’ll believe her on that. I would have given it to Connie Britton.

Outstanding Variety

The Colbert Report

The Daily Show

Real Time With Bill Maher

SNL

Conan O’Brien

Winner: The Daily Show

I had hoped Conan would take it, but The Daily Show has been very good this year. Also people should watch Real Time With Bill Maher, I watch it every week and it’s very good.

Outstanding Drama Series:

Breaking Bad

Dexter

The Good Wife

Lost

Mad Men

True Blood

Winner: Mad Men

Mad Men and Breaking Bad seemed to be the two at the top this year, but with Mad Men being more of an ensemble piece I can understand it winning. Lost’s sixth season was not the best season but I still enjoyed it a lot.

Outstanding Comedy Series:

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Glee

Modern Family

Nurse Jackie

The Office

30 Rock

Winner: Modern Family

This is more my area, I was very sad that my favorite show of this past season Community did not get nominated. My sentimental pick was for Curb, this past season was among the best they’ve ever done and the Seinfeld episodes were just top notch in comedy. But I am glad for Modern Family winning, I did like the show overall and it did receive and A rating from me for the season. It was my second choice to win this season and if you haven’t watched it you should give it a try.

The show itself was pretty decent, Fallon was a nice host, the beginning of the show had a funny Glee spoof with Jorge Garcia and Joel McHale which was very fun, perhaps youtube-ing that would be best. The last half of the show wasn’t very good as they were trying to rush it. Congrats to the winners and let’s hope for a good season this year.

So I opened up my email inbox last week to find this:

So, first– hilarious that they call me “a key influencer in Austin” (they must be referring to my day job) but I draw attention more to the language about encouraging me to start a conversation both online and offline, but I can’t offer an official review of the movie until a week from now.  Lame.

So, here’s something to get the conversation started, but I’m not officially giving a review.  Get it?

So… let’s have a conversation about Machete.

First off: Did you see this?

Were you, like me, a little disappointed by Rodriguez/Tarantino’s Grindhouse movie but walked out of the theater saying, “But that trailer for Machete was awesome!  They should have made that movie!”

And so they did.

But was this a good idea?

Depends on your point of view, but in my opinion yes.  Do you like the kind of B-movie vibe of Grindhouse? Do you dig Rodriguez’s ultra-violent almost mythological fables about action and romance along the US- Mexico border? Did you lke both “One Upon A Time In Mexico”  and “Sin City”?  Then you’ll probably dig Machete.

If you saw the trailer above, you get the story. Machete kills the bad guys. He gets the girls.  Cheech Marin wields shotguns. Stuff gets blowed up. Limbs are severed by sharp knives.

That sounds pretty glowing. Is this movie really that good?

No. It’s dumb fun. You have to turn off your brain to enjoy it. And hence problem #1: Rodriguez may have inadvertently stumbled on to the perfect movie for the moment, as the entire plot is centered on illegal immigration. You may remember the “Special Cinco de Mayo message to Arizona” from Danny Trejo.  And as much of a political junkie as I am and as much as I care about immigration as an issue, I kind of didn’t want to have to think during this movie. There are a lot of laughs in this movie, many of which are winks at the audience for how ridiculous this B-movie is, but when Jessica Alba scales the taco truck to preach to the day laborers that “We didn’t cross the border! The border crossed us!” I didn’t know whether to laugh or wince.

And then you have the questionable casting choices. Steven Seagall? I remember people saying that the only things missing from The Expendables was Segall and Jean-Claude Van Damme- better that he sat out The Expendables to make this movie. Jessica Alba?  Actually does well here, and isn’t terrible, sans the cringe-inducing line above.  Lindsay Lohan? Ditto.

Oh, and speaking of, like everybody gets naked in this movie. And then they get with Machete. So, if you’re into that, you’ll enjoy this.

Give us some spoiler-free things to look forward to?

Steering a cop car from the back seat of a police cruiser using a machete–through a cop. Rappelling out a window using… and unconventional “line”. Machetes impaling pretty much every body part imaginable. Attacking someone with a weed-whacker.  Attacking them with a weed-whacker a second time, where the plastic line is replaced with knives!

So, what’s the best way to see this movie?

Hopefully, a local drive-in will show this as a double feature with Expendables.  But be warned, you may want to schedule an appointment with your urologist for the next morning to treat a testosterone overdose.  Otherwise, enjoy it with some tacos bought off the back of a truck and some cold cervezas.

Full review will come Friday.

Earlier today DC’s blog, The Source, and the New York Post both broke the details of what will be happening in the Batman titles once Bruce Wayne makes his return. I believe there are some pretty surprising and interesting things in store for the Bat-books when things kick off this November. Here is the breakdown of what will be going on:

• There will be more than one Batman.

• Dick Grayson will stay as the main protector of Gotham City and will be featured in Batman and Robin, Batman, and Detective Comics while keeping Damien Wayne as his Robin.

• Bruce Wayne as Batman will be featured in the new Batman: The Dark Knight (Written and drawn by David Finch), and Batman Inc. (Written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Yanick Paquette) where Bruce decides that Batman can be a global symbol and influence the world and decides to franchise out the Dark Knight.

• Grayson’s Bat costume will feature the lone black bat symbol on his chest, whereas Bruce’s will feature the classic black bat on yellow.

Those are the basics, but here are the two articles as well.

DC’s Source Post:

As THE NEW YORK POST broke this morning, not only will Bruce Wayne be returning to a new set of Batman duds, but his first sidekick, Dick Grayson, will continue to fight crime on the streets of Gotham as Batman, and under the banner of “Batman Inc.”

But what does that mean for the Batman titles moving forward?

We’ve got the breakdown for you here. Fear not.

Starting in November, DETECTIVE COMICS, BATMAN and BATMAN AND ROBIN will feature the ongoing adventures of Dick Grayson as Batman, with Damian as Robin. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne will take center stage in the pages of Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette’s BATMAN INC. and writer/artist David Finch’s BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT.

What does this mean for Bruce and Dick Grayson? Can the world handle two Batmen? We can’t give everything away here, but we did manage to corner Batman Group Editor Mike Marts for a quick tease, and a look at an amazing spread from the first issue of BATMAN INC. Take it away, Mike:

“Just as readers were getting comfortable with the idea of former sidekick Dick Grayson playing the role of Batman, along comes Bruce Wayne’s triumphant return to the Cape and Cowl. Is Gotham City ready for two Batmen? Is the world? And who’s to say the fun will end there?”

And the NY Post article:

The Joker isn’t going to be wild about this, but there will soon be not one, but two Batmen defending Gotham City.

After years toiling as Bruce Wayne’s wingman in the comic-book series, Dick Grayson — better known as Robin — will now share top billing with the Dark Knight, DC Comics told The Post.

Grayson had already unofficially taken the reins as the Caped Crusader while Bruce Wayne was lost traveling through time (don’t ask), but upon his return to Gotham City in October, Wayne decides that just one Batman isn’t enough.

In fact, two might not be enough either, DC publisher Dan DiDio said.

“Bruce Wayne realizes that he can’t just be the grim avenger he was before,” DiDio said. “He wants to be more aggressive in his reach, and realizes the change that Batman as a symbol can effect around the world.”

In the new title, “Batman Inc.,” Wayne does what any billionaire would: build a Starbucks-style franchise of Dark Knights.

“Without giving too much away here, we wanted to show how Batman can have a global influence,” he said.

Joining the two Batmen will be Bruce Wayne’s troubled son, Damian, who had already taken on the role of Robin after his father disappeared.

“So aside from the new interaction between the two Batmen, there’s the interesting relationship between Bruce Wayne and his son,” DiDio said.

To avoid confusion between the two Batmen, Grayson’s costume features just the black bat logo, whereas Wayne’s will include the black bat over a yellow moon.

As for Grayson, the Boy Wonder is now all grown up, DiDio said.

“Grayson’s role really is the protector of Gotham City,” he said. “But we thought it only made sense for Bruce Wayne, a billionaire, to take a more global view.”

As you all know, we have a weekly column in one of Salt Lake City’s alt-weekly papers devoted to comics related issues called “This Week IN Comics”. IN This Week can be found on newsstands everywhere in the greater Salt Lake area.

This week, I wrote about Scott Pilgrim and the hard time it’s had getting butts in the seats.

It’s also a challenge. GO SEE SCOTT PILGRIM NOW.

If you want to read the online version of the article, click here. Otherwise pick it up on stands or read it below.   Preferably, do all three.

Day 4-
Bittersweet as always, the final day had its mix of highs and lows. We hit these events so hard that by the end we have nothing left. It’s a good feeling to know that it’s over and we can go home soon. But it’s also sad to see another one end, not knowing if or when we’ll get to do it all again.

Knowing Sara and I were working the last half of the day with Official Pix we arrived early and took lots of pictures. It was a good opportunity to get shots of things we wanted to get all weekend but missed because of the crowds. During this time we took pictures of one another in the Rebel Legion’s snowspeeder. I also met Ryder Windham (author of many SW books, particularly young readers and compendiums) when he asked me to take a picture of him in the speeder.

My priority for the last morning was getting my hands on the LucasArts demos. LEGO SW3 is nothing new. If you’ve played a LEGO game you’ve seen it. There are new moves for Yoda but I didn’t notice any grand new mechanics. Release date is some time in 2011. I’m thinking spring just because it seems to have most of the polish on it already.

The more exciting demo was The Force Unleashed II. Scheduled for launch alongside Clone Wars season two DVD set on 10/26/2010, this game should be thrilling. I was disappointed by the first game since it was so hyped but turned out to be a God of War clone. I’ve since come to realize GoW is an awesome game and giving it a Star Wars skin isn’t really a bad thing. They’ve also updated the quick time events by moving the button signals to the sides of the screen, a la GoW3. I noticed a few camera shots and maneuvers that seemed more inspired by Dante’s Inferno instead GoW. That may not mean much since it is also heavily influenced by Kratos’ games.

As expected, there are new moves and an increased level of violence. An exciting bit for fans is that Starkiller’s lightsaber is no longer just a club. I removed lots of arms, legs and heads. Some of the moves I enjoyed may be returning tools but there are definitely new ones as well. Holding a trooper in the air with the Force and flinging two sabers into his chest is awesome. Suspending a trooper in mid-air, charging him with Force-lightning and flinging him into a crowd so he explodes like a grenade will never get old. A favorite new toy for me was the Jedi Mind Trick. My first use caused a trooper to become confused and throw himself out a window resulting in a splatterful death on the deck below. Later uses were disappointing as the troopers just attacked their friends. I’m hoping the suicide trick wasn’t just contextual. I would love to see the game include level traps that can be utilized as suicide options using this ability.

The demo ended with a cutscene of Starkiller taking off in Vader’s modified TIE. Combining this bit with the trailer that was launched a few weeks ago should give a clue as to the general plot of the game. It’s shaping up to be a fun game, if not ground breaking. That’s okay. Maybe this time I’ll be able to enjoy the game for what it is instead of what it could be.

Another little side note about these demos is that they were running on the PS3. This is a step forward to a fan like me. Lucasfilm has had strong associations with Xbox and Microsoft in the past. Having early builds on PS3 suggests they aren’t making a PC game and trying to port it. While many games have successfully done it, porting from PC or Xbox to PS3 tends to give the Sony version significantly less quality. Developing on PS3 and porting the other way can give all versions better quality.

Finally, being the sneaky bastard that I am, I may have noticed something I shouldn’t. Since I was early and waiting for the booth staff to start the demos I was able to watch them boot their systems. One of them had a file in the XMB with Indiana Jones in the title. I couldn’t read the whole title but I definitely recognized the most important part. I asked both members of the booth staff about this file. One told me outright, “There is no Indiana Jones game.” The other said it was old data “…probably from the LEGO game.” Probably? If it were old Indy data on the PS3 what else would it be? I’ll trust them for now, but my curiosity is piqued.

After the demos we wandered back to Ashley Eckstein’s Her Universe booth. She was there hyping the brand and I overheard a snippet of her conversation. She mentioned she was planning something based on GL’s comment from the Main Event about “Dare to be Cute.”

Building functional (remote controlled) Artoo units is great example of how passionate some fans can be. Droid races featuring home-made astromechs is an under the radar event at Celebrations. Not having much time left in the morning we decided to visit the races. We arrived during the set up and one of the owners was teaching the crowd how to drive his droid. I got hold of the remote and it was surprisingly fast, simple and responsive. If I weren’t a technical moron I would consider one for myself. We watched the droid races for a few minutes but they were poorly planned and one of the tasks was clearly not tested. It became so frustrating to watch that we actually left. It was getting close to time for our last shift with Official Pix anyway. http://www.flickr.com/photos/28216824@N07/4911231472/in/photostream/

The last shift we were helping with the sales booth. Just be clear, this is not the booth that sells autograph tickets. This is the booth that sells the official photographs. The main attraction at this booth is the 8×10 portraits that run $5 a piece. My expectation was that everyone had already bought their photos over the last three days and the booth would be slow. I forgot to account for last day markdowns. Those 8x10s were buy one get one free when we started. In the last hour they went to four for $5. The markdowns were happening on the larger posters and picture packs as well. On the other side of the booth the lithographs made specifically for CV were clearing out at two for a dollar. Clearly we were slammed. After a full weekend of pushing ourselves to the limit we suddenly found our final shift taxing our energy as much as the bounty hunt two days prior. Despite the hard work I still found myself enjoying it. Sara did not.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28216824@N07/4910629235/in/photostream/

As all good things must, our time at the Celebration ended. It was fun and full of memories. I’m a die hard Star Wars fan, but in these dark times with no new movies and a slight drought in the quality of books for the Expanded Universe a Celebration is just what I needed to renew my love for the saga. It’s inspired me to jump back into the cartoon currently running. I’m also thinking of doing some additional work on my costumes, maybe even build a whole new one. I’m confident that there will be a Celebration VI. At this point I’d be a fool to miss it. The loonies that have hit all five US Celebrations are a dying breed. Each time we go there are fewer and fewer people who raise their hands when an emcee asks who has made it to all of them. I intend to count myself among the energizer bunny crowd for as long as I’m able.

As you all may or may not be aware, each month BSR! releases a modest little podcast wrapping up some of the month’s major nerd news among other topics. For our August ‘cast though, things are changing!

We are excited to announce that we will be moving from Podcast to LIVE Vidcast! As fun as the podcasts are to record we wanted to integrate more interaction from our listeners (how many of you are there now? 3? 4?). So, on September 3, we will be streaming a live vidcast from Kill-Tacular-Tron’s home in a box on a corner and we will have a live chat room set up for anyone who would like to come join in the conversation! Geek out with us, debate with us, come drink beer (virtually) with us! We understand this first Vidcast is early on a Friday evening, but we hope that you’ll be able to stop by an join us for a bit before you go start your weekend plans!

The Big Shiny Vidcast is hosted by Founding Contributor, Arse-Bot and features Co-Founder, Kill-Tacular-Tron; Founding Contributor, Proletariatron; Video Game Expert and Tech Guru, Zombietron; and Mexican, Mexicus Prime as regulars. The BSVC also features a rotating roster of regular guests including, Co-Founder, Swank-mo-tron; Local hero and fuck, Derek Hunter; Comic Book badass for BSR, Androidika; and Local Comic Book Guy (and also badass), Kiley, to name a few.

This group of ragtag robot geeks and nerds discuss some of the big geek stories from the month, drink beer, and occassionally get derailed by tangents! Podcasts/Vidcasts are released monthly and are 60-90 minutes long (NSFW – Language).

The next Big Shiny Vidcast:

Friday, September 3, 7:00PM MT
Further details (URL’s) to be released early next week
Recorded versions of the Vidcast will be available a few days following the live stream via BSR! and iTunes.

Hey all sorry about the lack of news yesterday. You’ll just get double the goodies today!

—No Way Out for The Walking Dead

Image has released this image for issue #80 of The Walking Dead, which is set to come out in December. What does this mean for the book and its characters? We’ll find out in December.

—Preview: Thor #615

Marvel is pleased to present your new look at Thor #615 as superstar creators Matt Fraction, Pasqual Ferry and Matt Hollingsworth take Thor to new heights! A menacing threat looms over the newly restored Asgard and no one is safe. With the Marvel Universe at stake, it will be up to the mighty Thor and his godly brethren to push back the dark, destructive force, but can they do it alone? The perfect jumping on point for new readers begins as Fraction, Ferry and Hollingsworth usher in a bold new era for Asgard’s greatest son in Thor #615!

[nggallery id=thor615]

—Preview: X-Force: Sex and Violence #3

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at X-Force: Sex And Violence #3, from acclaimed X-Force scribes Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost along with acclaimed artist Gabriele Dell’Otto. The conclusion to the sexiest, bloodiest X-Force adventure is here! Wolverine and Domino make their last stand against the Assassin’s Guild. Can the mutant heroes survive long enough to find some alone time? Find out in X-Force: Sex And Violence #3!

[nggallery id=xforcesex3]

—Preview: Black Widow #6

—Bomb Queen Makes Her Return In November

Berkeley, CA – 25 August 2010 – Just when you thought the streets were safe, Bomb Queen is back to make them dark and dangerous! Bomb Queen takes on the forces of good, confronting the president of the United States himself in BOMB QUEEN VI #2, in stores on November 24, 2010.

“Who better to take on the leader of the free world than Bomb Queen?” asks creator Jimmie Robinson. “She’s the antithesis of Barack Obama. Bomb Queen will be the worst adversary the Obama administration ever faces!”

In BOMB QUEEN VI, Bomb Queen returns with new twists and mayhem when President Obama attempts to shut down her city of crime. Can Washington D.C. put the evil Queen back in the bottle, or will this be Obama’s first comic book defeat? Don’t miss the shocking reveal at the end of this issue!

Ain’t It Cool posted this earlier today describing what could be the first Marvel movie made by Disney. This has me really excited as Iron Fist is one of my favorite Marvel characters!

Hey folks, Mike Fleming over at DEADLINE – has a story on how XXX writer Rich Wilkes has been tapped to adapt Marvel’s glowy pink fisted IRON FIST to the feature screen. Now back in the day, when Avi Arad was running things, they were attempting to get IRON FIST off the ground with Ray Parks “Darth Maul” being Danny Rand – whose best adventures (in my opinion) were the Claremont/Byrne stand-alone issues… And it makes me wonder if MARVEL will do what they’re doing with THE AVENGERS with IRON FIST… meaning, will we get a MASTER OF THE MARTIAL ARTS – Shang-Chi film developed shortly… not to mention the LUKE CAGE film – so that we can eventually work towards a HEROES FOR HIRE film? I like to think that the Marvel folks have big “Step 1, Step 2, BIG STEP 3” style plans on the drawing board – simply because… well that’s how to adapt the Marvel Universe.

No matter though, the key importance is to nail IRON FIST. And this isn’t an easy thing. Glowy Fist Kung Fu films tend to be scoffable. Like THE LAST DRAGON, which admittedly has some “awesome” mixed with the “ohmygod cheesy” – but when Danny’s fist starts glowing, visually and audibly – it’s got to make our arm hairs stand up and cheer. It has to be so cool, that it feels like nothing we’ve ever see in Martial Arts cinema, because this is MARVEL MARTIAL ARTS CINEMA. I would highly recommend bringing in an all-star team led my Yuen Woo Ping – that the martial arts be LONG TAKE Martial Arts and not chop-phooey the editing to such a point that visually none of it makes sense.

I loved the Bronze Age exploits of Danny Rand – they should begin the process of finding their Danny Rand immediately and get him training for 6 months to a year for this role. Forge the right actor. And please make it awesome. And please keep the costume and make the visual world make sense with that costume. Fingers Crossed.

Recently we got the chance to interview the great Ernie Hudson. Being the huge Ghostbusters nut I am, naturally the interview got pushed on me. Currently Mr. Hudson is involved with a film titled Doonby:

Sam Doonby, a mysterious, handsome drifter gets off a Greyhound bus in a small Texas town and finds work at Leroy’s Country Blues Bar where his great musical talents make him very popular, especially with Laura, the beautiful but spoiled daughter of successful doctor Cyrus Reaper. Sam always seems to be in the right place at the right time to avert disasters befalling the town and its people until suspicion and jealousy drive folks to ask who he is and where he comes from.  Even Laura starts to question him so now he disappears as quickly as he came and things start to go badly wrong. His rejection results in terrible shocks for the whole town, not least for the doctor and his family as Cyrus’ past comes back to haunt him.

Below is the conversation Ernie and I had about Doonby, as well as a few other things:

BSR!: What’s new in your life right now?

Ernie Hudson: Right now things are going well, obviously the film Doonby that John Schneider and me that we did in Texas. That’s the that’s happening most relevant right now. I also do have a reoccurring on the Secret Life of a Teenager, and you know, just staying busy doing Law & Order last season. I didn’t get picked up this season. And I’m always looking for something fun and exciting to be a part of.

Sure, so you play Leroy in this upcoming Doonby movie, correct?

Right, yah. He’s a blues musician who decided to settle down and runs a night club. I hire Jon’s character and it’s about friendship and the music. To me he’s an interesting character because he’s a guy just trying to reconcile that thing of which you love to do and how do you make peace with the woman that you love. And how do you hold things together but still be who you are. And somehow be responsible for all these people who surround your life. I really liked the character a lot, it was a great character.

That’s wonderful. How soon does this movie come out?

I think they are looking at the Fall. They haven’t given me any exact dates. I think they are shooting for a Fall release, I’m told. I’m not totally sure yet.

Oh OK. Now, I was wondering, throughout your career you’ve gotten a chance to play a lot of different characters and roles. From a paranormal investigator to a warden. Is there any character or role that you wish you could play, or haven gotten a chance to just yet?

I’ve always sort of considered myself to be pretty, you know, not the average guy who does the day in and day out stuff. And I love those sort of slice of life stories. And I’ve never really done a lot of that. For me it’s always being sort of the head of something. But just the guy that raises the family. The simple stories. Most of my actor friends, they get those roles and never get to be the guy in charge. The guy who’s doing something dynamic. But, you know, most everything I’ve had a chance to do.

That’s really interesting, I feel the same way about some of the comics that I come across. I tend to enjoy the slice of life stuff quite a bit more.

Right, yah. That’s kind of interesting. I think you learn a lot. But, I mean, I like the action stuff. That’s always fun to do. And I’ve done some of that, I’d like to do even more. And of course it’s always fun when you do the big movies. But I also like a lot of the small movies, like this movie Doonby. It’s a small movie about people and relationship and how we mess them up and how we correct them. That sort of stuff is kinda neat. But I’ve been fortunate enough to do a lot of different kinds of characters.

Now, obviously one of the bigger franchises you’ve been involved with was Ghostbusters.

Yah, yah the Ghostbusters. That’s something that the fans have been very loyal to. And really have kept it alive, and I’m really really proud of to have been a part of that. Because I really do think that it touched a vein. No matter where I go I still see people who build the outfits and build the cars. That’s really cool. But then there are other movies, The Crow. It’s unfortunate what happened, but I’m very proud to have been a part of that movie. You look over your career and there’s a few that people remember and still enjoy. Most of it you do and it’s over. It has its moment and then its gone. But some people still hold onto it.

Sure. I wanted to ask you too. It’s been just over a year since that Ghostbuster’s Video Game came out. That whole experience must have been pretty wild. Did your sons get a chance to play the game? What was that like to go through?

Well, yah, the video game, I’m actually glad because when they called me about it, and I’m like, “OK, is everyone going to be involved?” And I found out that even Bill Murray was going to do the voice. It was kinda cool. It was kinda like a reunion. And then of course, when you do a video game you are never really sure. Because it’s really in the hands of other people how it’s going to turn out. My son, when we were putting it together, my third son came with me and they gave him a chance to play the game before it was actually complete. So he was really jazzed about that.

That’s really cool.

Both my younger boys have played the game and love it. And the fans, I was really happy to see the fans really responded to it well. And felt that it was very much connected to the movie. As opposed to being something like the video game that came out years ago that didn’t quite do it. So I was very happy that we got the game out. I thought the game might push the possibility of a movie. To make it happen. I don’t see any signs that that’s true right now, but I know there was a renewed interest once the game did well. I think the fans liked it a lot. I’m glad we at least got that out there.

Oh definitely. I loved the game, and I know a lot of people are excited for the possibility of a sequel for the game or for Ghostbusters 3.

Right. Yah, I hadn’t thought about a sequel of the game. But that would be cool too. I think it’s just one of those movies that really, now that people are introducing it to their kids their kids respond to it. It holds up over time. You don’t think about it at the time that twenty plus years later people would still be talking about it and watching it. That’s kinda nice.

Oh yah, I’m definitely a pretty big Ghostbusters fan. I’m about 25 and my friends will bring their kids over, or my nieces and nephews, and they’ll see the memorabilia stuff I have, and they immediately recognize it. Which always kinda blows me away.

That’s very very cool. I don’t know why we haven’t set aside whatever is going on and made the third one happen.

Are you kind of on the outskirts of the talks and all that jazz?

Over the past year or so I’ve talked to the main players. I’ve talked to Sigourney Weaver. I’ve talked to Bill, Danny, Harold and Ivan Reitman. Everybody is like, “Yah, we want to do it, but…” And that’s the “but”. Getting everyone to agree with what needs to be done. I think Bill especially wants to make it something exceptional. What that means to him may be different to what it means to Ivan Reitman or Danny Aykroyd. I know everybody wants to do it. But getting them to agree on a script [is the key].  For me, I think if we just get a script together, so much of it happened on the moment of the set that it’ll be fine. But that’s just my opinion. I’m the last guy *chuckles* that has any input. But I’d love to see it happen.

Yah. And it definitely seems tough since there are so many different hands in that pot trying to make that decision.

That’s right, yah.

It’s nice that Sony has been pushing for it.

I think that becomes a problem. Because when you get the studios involved… In the first one we were kind of left alone.  And that’s why I think it came through so strong. We were making this movie, and it was our movie. And I think even with the second one you started to get a lot of people wanting certain things. Wanted to make certain things happen as opposed to really making a movie. So I would imagine this is going to be even worse. But we’ll see. I’d love to see it happen, but like I said I don’t have any input into it.

It’s pretty well known that Dan Aykroyd believes heavily in the paranormal and all that stuff. What’s your stance on the subject?

I believe that there is – I don’t believe life stops when our body stops. I believe this body is an instrument that we use to have this experience. And when this experience is over we shed the body. We move on. I don’t think consciousness or awareness ends just in this dimension. That implies to me that there are other dimensions that we don’t have access to in this present form. But I think there is a possibility that you can cross over. I think there are some people that are very intuitive, I think there are people that can experience things. But I think there is a barrier there that is not meant to be crossed so I don’t go out of my way to seek out an experiences [to do that]. I don’t want to be visited by *chuckles* you know, dead relatives.

*Laughs* Sure, not something you are looking to go experience.

Yah, no. In fact, I get invited a lot because of Ghostbusters. People will say, “We’re going on this hunt. And we’re going to spend the night”. And I say, “You know, I’m not really interested in that”. But some people are fascinated by it. And I think its definitely there. I think if you are open to it, and receptive to it, and not afraid of it. I think you can have those experiences. I’m having a hard enough time dealing with this experience. This is enough for me. I’m sure I’ll get to the next one in due time. I’m just not fascinated in say the way that Danny Aykroyd is. He’s really really very curious about it. I think it is very sincere, which is why I think [Ghostbusters] turned out the way it did. Because I think you could see he has a genuine interest in that. But I don’t. I’m not fascinated by the Exorcists whatever, you know? I think a lot of people that grew up in a very strict religious background, like me as a little kid… That stuff is a little scary to me on a certain level. So that’s part of the reason why I don’t seek that out. I’m not comfortable with that. Some people don’t have that background, so it’s a lot easier for them.

Yah, I can definitely understand that. Well, I’ve got just one last question before I let you go. Our particular website focuses on nerd news and reviews. And everyone has their speciality. I nerd out with Ghostbusters and comic books. But then, for instance, my Dad is nerdy about cars. Or my brother about sports. Is there anything in particular that you geek out about?

Well, you know, I guess… I’m not exactly sure how to describe it because there is a – you’e asked me about ghosts and I’ve explained that. But I do believe there is a spiritual connection to a greater awareness. Whatever you want to call that. And I find that really fascinating. I read a lot of books, I meditate. Because I do want to make that connection. To become aware of that. I do believe there is a greater connection that is consistent in all the dimensions that we are connected to. I find that fascinating. So it’s a little bit different than the ghosts that comes and blows up your house *chuckles*. But I do think there is a connection and I do find that fascinating. So its not the religious background I grew up in. I’m not tied to that social thing. But I do believe there is a connection that we are all a part of and I am fascinated by that.