Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Diablo III's female Monk
Diablo III has four character classes announced so: Witch Doctor, Wizard, Barbarian, and Monk. This concept art is for the female version of the existing monk.
Get Him to the Greek: One Week Earlier
Universal Pictures has a couple more minor release date changes, including a new date for the Forgetting Sarah Marshall spin-off, Get Him to the Greek. The story, written and directed by Nicolas Stoller, follows a fresh-out-of-college record company intern named Aaron Greenberg (Jonah Hill) who is assigned by his angry record company boss Sergio (Sean “P-Diddy” Combs)to transport an out-of-control rock star named Aldous Snow (Russell Brand, reprising his role from Sarah Marshall) from London to a gig at Los Angeles’ famous Greek Theater. The film was scheduled to hit theaters on June 11th 2010, but will now be released nationwide on June 4th 2010.
The official plot synopsis:
Aaron Greenberg (Hill) gets things done. The ambitious 23-year-old has exaggerated his way into a dream job just in time for a career-making assignment. His mission: Fly to London and escort a rock god to L.A.’s Greek Theatre for the first-stop on a $100-million tour. His warning: Turn your back on him at your own peril. British rocker Aldous Snow (Brand) is both a brilliant musician and walking sex. Weary of yes men and piles of money, the former front man is searching for the meaning of life. But that doesn’t mean he can’t have a few orgies while he finds it. When he learns his true love is in California, Aldous makes it his quest to win her back…right before kick-starting his world domination.
Read more: Get Him to the Greek: One Week Earlier
Friday, February 5, 2010
District 9 Full Scale Prop Replicas
When I first laid my eyes on the alien weaponry in Neill 
The Arc Generator
Edition Size: 200
Dimensions: 15.7″ x 39.4″ x 3.9″ (H x W x D)
Weight: 10.8lbs
Wikus van der Merwe finds out the hard way that a measure of Alien DNA makes powering up and firing one of these babies a real doddle.
Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
‘
Gas Projector
Edition Size: 200
Dimensions: 23.6″ x 39.4″ x 3.9″ (H x W x D)
Weight: 11.9lbs
The Nigerian crime lord of the District 9 ghetto, Obesandjo, has amassed a significant cache of prawn hardware through terror and pushing tinned cat food.
The Gas Projector is a powerful weapon. If only it could be fired by humans…
Details on the replicas:
An EXACT replica of the guns used in Neill Blomkamp’s District
This gun comes battle worn, alien gunk oozing out of its couplings and all the scratches and markings you’d expect from tough action in District 9 and by handling by Nigerian gun runners. It’s made mainly from glass fibre, with some details made from other materials. It comes with a wall mounting bracket for display.
“PLEASE NOTE: Unless your genetic makeup is part prawn, you cannot power up or fire this gun.”
Both guns are on preorder for around $500 U.S.
Captain America Will Be Cast Soon, Is Iron Man 2 a Hulk Prequel? Read more: Captain America Will Be Cast Soon, Is Iron Man 2 a Hulk Prequel? | /Film
Two bits of Marvel news tonight: Director Joe Johnston, who’s helming the upcoming The First Avenger: Captain America, recently told Sci Fi Wire that they need to cast the Cap soon, “We have a very short list, but we’re still juggling actors here. I’d say within the next couple of weeks we’ll have ourselves a Captain America, I hope.” The film is “fairly early” in preproduction, and shooting isn’t expected to start until the end of June. I wouldn’t be surprised if we start to catch wind of this short list sometime soon. I recommend any of you with an investment in this franchise to start prepping for the fanboy/fangirl fury.
In other news, Jon Favreau was recently asked by a fan on Twitter if Iron Man 2 took place before or after 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. Favreau simply responded, “before.” Yes, I’m about to launch into an analysis of what a single word means to several films — something which Favreau could have said just to mess with a well-meaning Twitter fan — please bear with me.
As our friends at Empire mention, the statement adds some extra weight to the final scene in The Incredible Hulk, wherein Tony Stark recruits General Ross to join the Avengers Initiative. The logical assumption was that the scene took place before Iron Man 2. But if Favreau’s comment is true, it points to an Avengers film featuring Stark, Captain America, Nick Fury, and Thor hunting down the fugitive Hulk.
I suppose we won’t know what he really means until we see Iron Man 2, but after so many have talked about this potential plot for the Avengers film since last summer, I’d like to finally see it happen. If it does, I just hope that they bring back Edward Norton — who notoriously took issue with the action-heavy cut of the film.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
American Psycho Stage Musical in the Works with Music by Duncan Sheik Read more: American Psycho Stage Musical in the Works with Music by Duncan Shei
It says a lot about the performance of Christian
Variety has the dirt on the stage version of the story. Duncan Sheik (yeah, that Duncan Sheik) is writing the songs, while Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, a member of the Big Love writing staff, is penning the text.
There are many small questions to lob in reference to this new adaptation including obvious ones like “how much will the story change?” But much more important is: when the story is so reliant on specific ’80s musical references, can a musical version possibly work without having those songs intact? Seeing Christian Bale explain the sublime appeal of Huey Lewis and the News before murdering Jared Leto wouldn’t have been nearly as potent if ‘Hip to be Square’ wasn’t blasting on the soundtrack.
The trade says that the show’s producers “expect the original score to share that ’80s flavor,” but we don’t know anything more. Sheik is certainly middle of the road enough to capture a certain toothless ’80s pop vibe. And he’s got his legit cred established thanks to a 2007 Tony Award for the show Spring Awakening.
We might not see this terribly soon, however. The fact that an stage musical based on the book might come into being was first reported in September 2008. It’s taken this long just to get a creative team assembled to knock songs into shape, so we might be spared a final result for quite some time to come.
Kill Bill 3
There’s been even more gossip about a projected third Kill Bill film from Quentin
Hannah was speaking to UK TV channel Film 24 about her role in Raoul Ruiz’ A Closed Book when they got her on the topic of Tarantino’s Bride movies. In the first two films she played Elle Driver, the eye-patched Deadly Viper Assassin that we last saw losing her one good peeper. It was safe to assume she’d been offed, though apparently that’s not Daryl’s take. She told the channel:
He always meant it as a trilogy… Think about it. There’s always been a tradition of blind Samurais and you never actually saw her expire in the other film.
Does this mean we’re any closer to a Kill Bill threeque or spin-offl? Probably not, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out her comments on the blind samurai role were actually founded in something Tarantino has told her.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
joey
SkysGrey (6:13:38 PM) : the mother fucking jump off
DrSquidMan (6:13:40 PM) : and if hes alone
SkysGrey (6:13:49 PM) : i listened to wu tang earlier
SkysGrey (6:13:51 PM) : sorry about that
Hubble Detects Mysterious Spaceship-Shaped Object Traveling at 11,000MPH
Hubble has discovered a mysterious X-shaped object traveling at 11,000mph. NASA says that P/2010-A2 may be a comet, product of the collision between two asteroids. Or a Klingon Bird of Prey. Either way, UCLA investigator David Jewitt is excited: Click above to see the full resolution image
This is quite different from the smooth dust envelopes of normal comets. The filaments are made of dust and gravel, presumably recently thrown out of the nucleus. Some are swept back by radiation pressure from sunlight to create straight dust streaks. Embedded in the filaments are co-moving blobs of dust that likely originated from tiny unseen parent bodies.
OK, David, we will believe you until Jerry Bruckheimer finish his next movie, in which a "comet" suddenly stops, turns to Earth, and starts firing anti-matter rays against our underpants.
The weirdest thing, however, is not only the prettyful X-shaped debris pattern, but the fact that its 460-foot-wide nucleus is outside the dust halo and separated from the trail. This behavior is something which has never been seen before in a comet or any other solar-system-swooshing object.
The images—taken by Hubble between January 25 and January 29—lead NASA to believe that this is a product of the collision of two asteroids. The nucleus would be the "surviving remnant of a hypervelocity collision:
In other words: They have no clue about what this is, and they are still speculating about how this object was formed. Maybe it's time to call Dr. Zarkov. [NASA]"If this interpretation is correct, two small and previously unknown asteroids recently collided, creating a shower of debris that is being swept back into a tail from the collision site by the pressure of sunlight. The filamentary appearance of P/2010 A2 is different from anything seen in Hubble images of normal comets, consistent with the action of a different process.
io9.com
Giotto’s Perfect Circle
i always thought this was cool as shit:
After sleeping for a thousand years, art woke up in Tuscany at the end of the thirteenth century. Giotto was the first great genius.
There are a lot of stories about Giotto. The most famous is his big O.
Pope Boniface VIII wanted to commission some paintings for St. Peter’s and so he sent a courtier around to find the best painter in Italy. The courtier asked all the artists to give him a sample of their work to send to the Pope. He came to Giotto’s workshop, explained his mission, and asked him for a drawing which would give the Pope some idea of his competence and style. “Sure,” said Giotto; and he laid down a sheet of paper, reached for a brush dipped in red paint, closed his arm to his side to make a sort of compass of it, and in one even sweep scribed a perfect circle. “There you are,” he told the courtier, handing it to him with a smile.
“That’s your drawing?” asked the courtier, who didn’t know whether Giotto was pulling his leg. “Is that all you’re going to send His Holiness?”
“That’s more than enough,” said Giotto. “Send it with your other drawings and see whether it’s understood or not.”
The Pope’s messenger took the drawing and went away trying to hold his temper. Did that little painter think he was a fool?
When he got back to Rome he showed the Pope the big O and told him how Giotto had scribed it—freehand, without a compass. The pope and his advisors DID understand the achievement of that O and gave Giotto the commission.
Anne Hathaway interview for Alice in Wonderland
Anne Hathaway received a Best Actress Academy Award® nomination for her work in Jonathan Demme’s 2008 drama “Rachel Getting Married.” Her performance in that film also brought her Golden Globe®, Screen Actors Guild Award® and Independent Spirit Award nominations, as well as a number of critics groups awards for Best Actress. She was most recently seen in the Garry Marshall-directed romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day,” in which she joined an all-star ensemble cast. She also stars with Jake Gyllenhaal in Edward Zwick’s drama “Love and Other Drugs,” due out later this year. Hathaway made an auspicious feature film debut in the starring role of Garry Marshall’s hit comedy “The Princess Diaries,” and reprised her role in “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.” She has more recently earned widespread acclaim for her work in the hit comedy “Get Smart,” opposite Steve Carell; “Becoming Jane,” in which she starred as Jane Austen; the smash hit “The Devil Wears Prada,” with Meryl Streep; and Ang Lee’s award-winning drama “Brokeback Mountain,” with Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, for which she shared in a SAG Award® nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Hathaway currently stars as the White Queen in Tim Burton’s epic 3D fantasy adventure “ALICE IN WONDERLAND.”
Q: Is this an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s books?
A: This is “Alice in Wonderland” 10 years later. The story isn’t the same. And in re-reading the book in preparation for the film, I noticed that a lot of it is Alice trying to figure out who she isn’t by process of elimination. She knows that she isn’t all the things that people are saying that she is, and so, by going through all of them, she gets a better idea of what she is. And in the Tim Burton “ALICE IN WONDERLAND,” Alice is trying to name who she is without using the process of elimination in a similar way. There’s a great line in it, where someone says, “You seem like Alice, but you’ve lost your muchness.” That’s my favorite line. So I think if the book is about Alice exploring her imagination, this one is about Alice finding her soul.
Q: Why have his books been enjoyed for generations?
A: In my opinion, what makes a great book is something that is universally specific. I didn’t read the “Alice” books when I was a child. I read them when I was in college. I was really into Nabokov, and apparently, he was really into Lewis Carroll, so I thought it was a good idea. So I read it from the perspective of a young woman becoming a woman—and I really related to it, the idea that you’re never the right size, that you could drink something to make you feel smaller, or eat something to make you feel bigger. I remember that it just appealed to me because I understood it. On the surface, it’s kind of light and fantastical, but it actually does play into a lot of deep, psychological fears we have—inadequacies that we feel we have, insecurities, the way we relate to the world around us. And in Wonderland, the world is hyper-emotional. It doesn’t make sense. People don’t make logical, emotional sense, and people feel things very, very grandly, and it’s just full of contrarians. So then, you have this young girl—who’s quite sensible, especially for a young girl—navigating her way through it. Sometimes, you feel like you’re the supporting cast of characters, the Wonderland crew, and then other times, you feel like you’re Alice. Like I said, when something is that universally specific—universal enough that it’s just a great, entertaining story, but specific enough that you can find yourself in it and relate to it at different points in your life—I think that could possibly explain why people keep going back to it.
Q: Why are Carroll’s characters such great fodder for film?
A: One of the reasons why Lewis Carroll’s characters work so well in cinema is because they’re wildly imaginative and there’s no one way to interpret them. Because Lewis Carroll played around with words and concepts, and because the characters appeal to the imagination, I feel there are as many interpretations as there are imaginations in the world. It depends on what your take is.
Q: And why are the characters also great for a Tim Burton movie?
A: One of the reasons why “ALICE IN WONDERLAND” and Tim are such a great match is because nothing is exactly as it seems in Wonderland. Nothing is entirely good or entirely bad. There’s a mixture of life and texture and intention, and I think that’s something with which Tim is really comfortable. And if you look throughout his filmography, nothing is ever what it appears to be or should be. So, I think in that sense, living in the questions, the ambiguity, but also the specificity of the world—these are things in which Tim excels as filmmaker. I believe the filmmaker and the subject matter complement each other really beautifully in this film.
Q: Describe the character you play.
A: I play the White Queen. When I was trying to work her out, I kept saying to myself, ‘She is a punk-rock, vegan pacifist.’ So I listened to a lot of Blondie, I watched a lot of Greta Garbo movies, and I looked at a lot of the artwork of Dan Flavin. Then a little bit of Norma Desmond got thrown in there, too. And she just kind of emerged. And I really like her. When I first came onboard the project, Tim talked a lot about the relationship between the sisters, and that really opened the character up to me a lot. She comes from the same gene pool as the Red Queen. She really likes the dark side, but she’s so scared of going too far into it that she’s made everything appear very light and happy. But she’s living in that place out of fear that she won’t be able to control herself. There’s a lot to play around in. It was awesome. I had so much fun.
Q: Why did you want to be in this film and play this role?
A: I’m just going to be a gushy fan for a second. I love Tim Burton—he’s one of my all-time favorite filmmakers. For as long as he’s been making films, I’ve been going to them opening weekend. And I watch them again and again on DVD. I love his aesthetic. I love his ability to pace as a filmmaker, his comfort with things that are kind of odd—he also finds a way to ground them. I think it’s very unusual to find a filmmaker who isn’t trying to be different for the sake of being different, to show you something you’ve never seen, but is actually yearning to stretch the limits of his imagination. So everything Tim does comes from a very pure place. And I think that’s why his movies, in spite of the sometimes off-beat subject matter, have such heart. I love that. “Alice” itself is such a classic, amazing story, and it has been told so many times—but when I heard the combination Tim Burton/”ALICE IN WONDERLAND,” I knew it was going to be a very specific, very wonderful adventure. I love my character. I love that she seems to be the voice of reason—you’d think that she would be the good queen. But she didn’t have to be. I really had a lot of fun playing around with this idea, that what’s good in Wonderland is not necessarily good in the real world.
Q: Describe what she does with her hands, and the way that she walks.
A: That was absolutely derivative from the costume because, [costume designer] Colleen Atwood, who’s just such a genius, made this dress that has so much detail to it, that’s so complex, but it doesn’t look at all heavy. It looks like if you didn’t attach a weight to it, that it would float up into the air and spin around. And I noticed the way the dress moved when I was in it. It was never my intention to create a perfect light. I just wanted her to arrive in certain places, and in my head I just thought, the way she walks, she occasionally bumps into things and doesn’t know how she got there. And she’s a little dopey and kind of ditzy, but at the same time, very clued in. And so, the walk just happened. I took very, very fast footsteps, and I noticed the more languid I could make my arms, the more it looked like I was gliding. And that’s when the Norma Desmond thing happened. I remember being really nervous about the first take. And I did it and Tim smiled, so it was nice. That’s the feeling on set. ‘Show me your imagination. Show me how far you can take this.’ And I always had absolute trust that if it went too far, Tim would pull it back. He actually has a story in his head that he wants to tell. So usually what would happen, it would be some kind of combination of straightforward story and imaginary weirdness. And it was just nice the way it all fit together.
Q: What’s going on with the White Queen when we first meet her?
A: The White Queen has had her crown taken from her, and she’s basically powerless to stop her sister’s reign of tyranny. Her sister is the Red Queen. And so, she is waiting. She’s basically taken a vow of non-violence that she cannot break, and she’s waiting for her champion to arrive to help her reclaim her throne—the citizens of Underland would like to see that happen. They want to see her restored to power, because she’s kind.
Q: What is the relationship between the White Queen and the Red Queen?
A: The relationship between the White Queen and the Red Queen is not good. They are sisters, but I don’t think it was ever particularly good. I just think that my character would never admit that she doesn’t like her sister. I think she tries to make excuses for her. She tries to find little things to love about her, but she really doesn’t that much. I think, from her perspective, if the Red Queen were just a bit nicer to her—allow the possibility that they could be friends, allow the room for love—that she would be willing to give over to it. But the Red Queen just rubs her the wrong way. They’re not buddies—they’re just related.
Q: Who plays the Red Queen?
A: Helena Bonham Carter, in addition to being one of the most brilliant women I’ve ever had the pleasure to talk to, is so much fun as the Red Queen. She has so much energy that she gives to it. And her characterization is so lovely and demanding, not child-like but childish, and selfish and impossible to please. Then, at other times, she’s really vulnerable and sad, because this person is going to be lonely forever, because she’s just so darn selfish. She’s endlessly entertaining in the role. Her look and the dedication that it takes—three, four hours to get into that hair and makeup.
Q: Talk about the actor who plays The Mad Hatter.
A: The actor who plays the Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp—I have so much fun watching him in all of his movies as an audience member, so to actually get to watch him perform live is such a treat. He’s so inventive—and he’s kind, just a very kind, warm man. But to actually watch him in his element, in his zone, just acting, it’s a thrill. I want him to do theater so that everyone else can get in on it. He’s very powerful. I just felt very privileged to get to watch him.
Q: What does Mia Wasikowska bring to her role?
A: Mia Wasikowska is an absolute delight of a young woman. She’s so playful and natural and down-to-earth—but she also has this ethereal quality to her, she feels timeless. What she brings to Alice is very, very difficult to pull off. Every time I do a scene with her, I’m just amazed at what she’s doing with it and that a young actress can bring so much gravity to this world. It’s somewhat eerie, the way she’s able to communicate feeling and where Alice is at that moment. It was lovely to work with her, just to get to observe that.
Q: What is your impression about how this film is being made?
A: I took a very Zen approach to filmmaking on this one. It sounds silly, but I had no idea what was going on. I walked in and it was like being in a neon-green terrarium–green on all sides, and tons of empty space. Tim knew what was going on—he was the one that is in control of it. All I needed to do was hit my mark and say my lines, and wait for Tim to tell me that we’re ready to move on. And that was my approach to it. I didn’t put any other pressure on myself. I just showed up and acted.
Q: What are you wearing in this movie?
A: I’m wearing a dress designed by Colleen Atwood. It’s grand and the most fragile dress I’ve ever worn in my life. I love it so much. It’s beautiful. If you ever had a dream of being any kind of fairy princess, this is the dress you would wear. I love the idea that it’s this idealized, fairy-tale Queen, but it is in a Tim Burton movie, so there’s darkness mixed up with it as well.
Q: What do audiences have to look forward to with this film?
A: Because the world of this film begins and ends in the imagination of Tim Burton, you’re not seeing a movie that’s been shot on locations that you’ve seen a million times. Because this world has no rules, you’re seeing so many different and separate brushstrokes and colors and characterizations somehow getting combined through Tim. And what I think you’re getting is an absolute exploration of the imagination. I think that’s the essence of the book, and I think that’s the spirit Tim’s brought to the film. Everybody on the film was so clever, so creative, so imaginative—and I think that’s what the film is about—how can we tell a story that honors the imagination in the most imaginative way humanly possible? And that’s such a fantastic idea.
Read more: New Photo and Interview: Anne Hathaway in Alice in Wonderland | /Film http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/02/01/new-photo-and-interview-anne-hathaway-in-alice-in-wonderland/#ixzz0eNuVDOuk
Monday, February 1, 2010
$10,000 Gun Won't Shoot Unless Near an Ugly Watch
The watch this guy's wearing was made by Armatix, the same company who designed his high-tech gun. Poor fellow can't ditch the ugly accessory though, because the $10,000 weapon won't fire without it.
Basically the gun is disarmed and a red LED lights up unless the corresponding watch is close enough to send a wireless signal. While I really don't see a high demand for it, Armatix's .22cal weapon will be shipping next month for 7,000 euro, which is just under 10k in Washingtons. The watch is probably included. [Wired]
The World's Oldest Swiss Army Knife
If our multi-tools today, with their screwdrivers, pliers, and the rest, center on fixing things, this Roman predecessor is more useful for enjoying the pleasures of food. The tool includes a spike which historians think was used to snag snails out of their shells. A hook-like spatula is thought to have helped coax sauce out of the bottle.
Of course, the device also includes a fork, spoon, and knife for mealtime, as well as a toothpick to clean up your grill afterward. Amazingly, all of these tools appear to fold into the handle to keep everything compact, just like Swiss Army Knives and Leatherman multi-tools we use today.
The tool was found in the Mediterranean area nearly twenty years ago, so technically it's not Swiss at all, and it predates the modern Swiss Army Knife, invented in 1897, by nearly 1,800 years.
This very old gadget is currently being exhibited as part of a collection of Greek and Roman artifacts at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. [Daily Mail]
Mortal Kombat reboot
There’s a surprising little story at Bloody Disgusting which reveals Warner Bros. are in early development of a new Mortal Kombat movie. They’ve already selected a writer in Oren Uziel, author of the Black List 2009 entry Shimmer Lake. That script was a twisty, suspenseful thriller that combined murder mystery with a bank heist plotline, so it would seem Uziel has a smarter way with narrative than is strictly necessary for a beat ‘em up tournament film. Earlier Kombat pictures were depressingly linear and short on ambition.
The game’s selling point was gory ‘fatalities’, finishing moves that saw the little digital fighters turned into ripped up messes of red pixels. To render these money shots faithfully on the big screen would require an R rated picture - at least! - though I’m not sure that will be the plan. Surely Warners can see how the target audience for the film is stuffed with thirteen and fourteen year olds?
Mystery Of The Glowing Jellyfish In The Sky
Was this giant glowing aerial presence just a satellite — or a sign of intelligent life in the universe? That's what scientists are asking when a strange, eerily familiar shape showed up in a photo of Norway's Northern Lights.
The aurora borealis — oddball illumination caused by iodized atoms in extreme northern latitudes — are weird enough as it is without something like this showing up. Here, in a story by the Mail Online about the image captured by an amateur photographer, reporter Claire Bates fields educated guesses as to what exactly this thing is.
The photographer first assumed the odd optical effect was a spot on his camera lens. But after he posted his photographs on Spaceweather.com he was inundated with emails from interested experts from around the world.
Apparently every theory makes sense — but not completely enough to make a solid explanation.
Fun fact: Carl Sagan's Cosmos speculated that lifeforms on Jupiter, and other gas giants, could look very much like enormous jellyfish, using something like jet propulsion to move itself through the thick atmosphere.
Northern Lights image from Per-Arne Mikalsen. Jellyfish courtesy Getty Image.
For a Mere $700 Million, the Miramax Name and Film Library Can Be Yours
Miramax may be closed, but the story ain’t over yet. Disney has tried to shop the company around for sale in the past, and even offered the name to Harvey Weinstein for a reported $1.5 billion. But no one bought, and last week Disney closed down the company, ending the company’s 31-year run.
But Disney is still trying to sell, and has started an auction off at a lower price: bids of over $700 million are being entertained for the company name and full library of seven hundred films. (How many of those are Hong Kong films that Harvey bought and never released?) Summit is said to be one of the notable bidders, but The Weinstein Company is absent so far.
The New York Times has a story on the sale, saying that in addition to Summit, interest is coming from “at least one other independent studio” and “several private equity groups.” Any final sale could happen within the next couple months. The fact that Bob and Harvey Weinstein aren’t among the current prominent bidders isn’t too surprising, as the only perpetual story about The Weinstein Company is that it doesn’t have enough money to do much of anything.
For a film library that contains seven hundred films and reportedly generates $300m each year through various licensing deals, the current price sounds like a hell of a bargain. The NYT notes that revenues from TV and DVD aren’t as reliable now as they once were, and that the independent valuation of the Miramax library isn’t necessarily reliable. But as the film collection contains many of the major American independent films of the past twenty years and a combined 200 Oscar nominations, you’d think a savvy company could leverage plenty of revenue out of it. Says something about the current policies at Disney that they don’t even want to bother with it, don’t you think?
What we don’t know is whether the six remaining finished Miramax films are considered part of that library. Word is that Disney will be releasing one or two of those directly, but we don’t have concrete word on the fate of those six movies (Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, The Tempest, The Baster, The Debt and Tell Me, formerly called Last Night.)
Vaughn: Kick-Ass Follows, Breaks All The Superhero Rules
Bored of superhero movies that ignore everything that comic books have taught you? According to director Matthew Vaughn, Kick-Ass
is the movie you've been waiting for all along... as well as the movie he's been wanting to make for years.
Vaughn told Comic Book Resources that the upcoming movie, adapted from Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s comic book, scratched an itch that he's felt ever since his almost directing the third X-Men movie:
[E]ver since my flirting with doing "X-Men," and I was trying to make that more realistic, and I just felt comic book movies weren't reflecting what comic books were doing anymore. They were stuck in this rut. I think "Iron Man," when they cast Robert Downey Jr., was the first time they started being credible again and something that you could watch, even if you weren't into comic books, and relate to it. And I thought "Kick-Ass" took that to the next level... [T]hat's what I wanted to do with "X-Men." These guys have got superpowers or are genetically mutated, but at the same time, they're real people and they feel pain. I've always felt, whether it's Superman, who was basically a refugee who didn't fit, superheroes are always flawed characters that we can relate to and who you want to be and take you on a journey that gets you out of the mundane life that we all have.
Vaughn went on to call Kick-Ass a "good movie [as opposed to] what the studios want," adding that being self-financed, the movie can offer "such cool stuff that we'd never get if we were working with a studio":
When you see what Hit-Girl does in this film, it's mind-blowing. People may want to lock me up after they watch the film.
Kick-Ass is released on April 16th.
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