TRANSFORMERS 3 POSTER.......so.

There's a teaser poster for the new Transformers flick which appears to feature the Desepticon SHOCKWAVE. I have to say that Transformers movies have been a massive disappointment especially when it comes to the basic design of the robots themselves. Before the first film came out a load of test footage showed up all over the net and it looked great so when the film designs were finally revealed what you got was a bunch of very confused looking characters which had no personality and with the exception of Optimus and Bumblebee where indistinguishable from one another. Here are some of the best of the early "test" which show how things could have been.

MORE CAPTIAN AMERICA IMAGES.

filmshaft.com has some more images from the forth coming Captain America flick and they all seem to be from his WWII era. I'm still not convinced the makers have made the right decision regarding the casting of Chris Evans or the design of his modern day costume but these pics look really good especially the GI uniform and original shield.

Here's the article.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN. x

EVIDENCE OF TIME TRAVEL?

MMMmmm.... When you first watch this every rational bone in your body will rightly scream "FAKE" but you shouldn't be embarrassed by that microscopic glimmer in the darkness of your cold logic that whispers "what if."

JACK 'the KING' KIRBY

ALL HAIL THE KING.

BATMAN3 has a title DARK KNIGHT RISES.

Batman 3 has it's title "DARK KNIGHT RISES". Along with this comes the news that the main villain won't be the Riddler as had been the rumor since the dust settled on DARK KNIGHT. Nolan isn't saying who his bad guy of choice will be all he's said is that “We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones.” My initial take on this is that the death of Rachel Dawes leaves the film in need of a central female lead which immediately suggests the introduction of Catwoman and the only other surviving Bat-Villain to appear in the Nolan directed films other than the Scarecrow and the Joker is Mr.Zsasz who had a small cameo apperance at the beginning of Batman Begins. To be continued.....

Here's the article.

COMING SOON?

For a while now I have wasted much of my precious time keeping an eye on the trends that seem to dictate what projects get made into a money spinning BLOCKBUSTER, and so applying the rules I have observed I'm going to give it a go myself.

Step1: Choose a well loved character from the past, preferably the 80's with instant brand recognition and an established record in profitable merchandise. For my pitch I have chosen the CARE BEARS.

Step2: Hire the best team of writers or failing that hire the ones behind whatever the top rated TV show is at the time and begin to build "BUZZ" off the back of their shows hype.

Step3: Find a director, this can be done in one of two ways either blatantly go for the money and hire Michael Bay or put up some kind of artistic pretense and go for someone like Darren Aronofsky.

Step4: Suck out all the child friendly elements that made the central characters popular in the first place and apply the word "DARK" and or "EDGY" to whatever is left.

Step5: Although the selling point behind the movie are the beloved characters of your audiences youth, two hip young actors must be hired to give the film a human element your audience can relate to. So even though your going to see the CARE BEARS half the flick will be taken up by the relationship between these two actors.

Step6: Milk the fucker for as much as you can because you only have a small window of time before some other money grabbing dick decides to release a big budget version of THUNDERCATS.

LOONEY TUNES, read it and weep.

When I say I love cartoons, you best believe I LOVE them, L-U-V.
But when I talk about 'toons I'm not talking about kitsch Hanna-Barbera fare such as Scooby Do or the Hair Bear Bunch or Mickey Mouse and his merry band of corporate stormtroopers no I'm talking about the kings of slap stick The Looney Tunes. Now it may be unfair to point out the corporate machinations of Walt's favorite son while ignoring the Warner Brothers sized elephant in the room but when it comes to the original Bugs Bunny and Co all is temporarily forgiven, but i digress. The Loony Tunes are unsurpassed in their sheer greatness so it is with a heavy heart that I read what the money hoarding Golumites over at Warner have in store for them. Check out this article over at collider.com and try not to grind your teeth to dust as the sheer awfulness of it all consumes the small part of your childhood that will always be stamped ''PROPERTY of ACME''.

TOP GUN 2.........shit.

nuff said.

here's the article.

JERRY ROBINSON, Ambassador of comics.

For anyone interested in comics or Pop culture in general I highly recommend you check out the book JERRY ROBINSON, Ambassador of comics. For those who don't know who Jerry Robinson is he was part of the original team responsible for Batman. Among his many achievements where the creation of Robin the Boy Wonder, the Batman logo (a variation of which is still used today) and perhaps the most significant the Joker. Along with many other artists who made their name in the early days of comics he remains relatively unknown to the general public and is shamefully ignored by those who chronicle the history of 20th and 21st century art despite his creations wide spread influence and their earnings of millions for the corporations who own them.

NEW STAR WARS TRILOGY?

As if a live action TV series and the 3D re-release of the existing films isn't enough rumours are emerging that episodes 7,8 & 9 are looming on the horizon. I never thought the day would come when the idea of new Star Wars would leave me cold but if truth be told that day came and went long ago.
Here are my predictions for the unfortunately continuing saga: The story will revolve around the off spring of Han and Leia, (as found in the novels and comics) Jaina and Jacen who are twins played by Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez and their younger brother, Anakin who will be played by the fat kid who always plays a young Jack Black. The story will basically be "The GOONIES in SPACE" as the three youngsters steal the Millennium Falcon and go off on an adventure to save the Rebel Base from being closed down a bought over by their evil uncle Luke, (still played by Mark Hamill) who wants to turn it into a soulless BATTLE of ENDOR theme park. By this time Luke is up to his botched facial surgery with the dark side of the Force and so is covered in Maul style Sith tat's, as is now the norm. Along the way those crazy Solo kids receive help from the children of C-3PO and R2-D2 played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and their Wookie bodyguard Rugmuncharr played by Susan Boyle. When the kids finally find One-eyed Willie's sunken Star Destroyer there will be an over the top second rate Matrix style Lightsabre fight with their evil Uncle and his band of inept comedy Stormtroopers and a sexy female Boba Fett clone but thanks to the ghostly teachings of Obi-Wan, now played by Russle Brand (he is after all on a mission of his own to play every movie role ever played by a British actor, St, Trinians, Arthur, Drop Dead Fred... ) all ends well. That is until the Evil Sith Lord Darth JarBink-us shows up for no reason other than to cue the sequel. DUN-DUN-DUUNNNNnnn.........

Her's the article on the rumors over at filmshaft.com

“VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL”

With that title alone, how can this be anything other than brilliant.
Check out it's review over at fangoria.com

GREEN LANTERN CONCEPT ART

collider.com has gotten hold of some concept art from the Green Lantern flick and they've also posted up a preview video blog of they're time on the movies set with the promise of more to come.
My initial thoughts on this picture are that it's gonna be a stone cold downer because Hollywood just won't push it to the kind of limits a character like Green Lantern has to go. For now I predict a good chunk of the opening half hour being made up of an origin story peppered with Ryan Renolds sarcastically quipping about how cool/hard it all is as he looks in awe at his new ring (oo-er) ,the rest of the film will be used as a set up for the inevitable sequel with just enough CGI to keep everyone baffled and background cameos to keep the fan-boys happy,Hal trips over Ch'p "Hey little guy" Ch'p shows some attitude "cute" quip's Hal or he walks into the chest of Kilowog and slowly looks up "Hey big guy, why the long face", Kilowog grunts "cute" quips Hal (you get the picture.)

PULP ARTWORK

Here's a link to a great article on fearnet.com dealing with the cover art work of the pulp magazine WEIRD TALES, there are no words to describe how much I dig the work of the artists who worked on the pulps, many of whom went uncredited. Also check out the book CHEAP THRILLS by Ron Goulart for a more comprehensive history of what often is a shamefully ignored artform.

SAME OLD TUNE or WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BRYAN SINGER.

I remember going to the cinema in '95 to see the now classic Usual Suspects and loving every minute of it. It was released on the coat tails of Pulp Fiction and it's characters shared the same Pulp/Exploitation 'cool' as those found in the Tarantino flick but where Pulp was entertainingly cleaver Suspects was cleverly entertaining. It was quick paced, well acted by a relatively unknown cast and it's twists and turns where expertly directed by a man who had just turned 30 and had only one other feature to his name. The excellent Apt Pupil followed and then X-Men and it's sequel redefined the superhero movie, the future looked bright. Singer was quite rightly hailed as one of the most promising young directors and was expected to go on to produce original and substantial work. Then just before shooting the last installment of his X-trilogy he bailed out to direct Superman, what could possibly go wrong? answer, everything.
The concept of Superman Returns was solid, not a remake but a sequel to the Richard Lester version of SupermanII complete with Marlon Brando but from there it was all down hill. The film was dull, slow, long and in my opinion miscast and was savaged by critics, movie goers and more importantly the fans. Since Superman his director credits have been slight, a made for TV movie, episodes of House and the disappointing Valkyrie starring Tom Cruise. And now according to an article on deadline.com he has been given the go ahead for his remake of the beanstalk climbing adventure 'Jack the Giant Killer' this along with his other directorial projects , Battlestar Galactica & Excalibur both of which are also remakes marks an uninspiring phase in the career of someone who originally seemed to be, original.

SCHEME COMIX 'MATINEE' POSTER.

Harvey Pekar coroner report.

It's been reported that America Spledor creator Harvey Pekar died from an accidental overdose. A true original Pekar is among the few creators who really broadened the possibilities of the comic book medium which now, along with many readers waits patiently for someone worthy enough to fill the void.

here's the article.

William Castle

One word.....LEGEND.




Also check this out.

Mark Wahlberg Offered The Crow?

I'm taking this with a pinch of salt but would I be surprised, unfortunately no I wouldn't.

Here's the article.

MARVEL GOES TRON JUST DISNEY MAKE SENSE.

With the release of Tron Legacy immanent the Disney marketing machine unsurprisingly begins to gather pace with its latest acquisition, Marvel Comics releasing Tron ''inspired'' variant covers for some of it's monthly titles. Why? What have Captain America, Spider-man, Thor and..er...Moonknight have to do with the unnecessary sequel to a film that came out 28 years ago.
I have to admit that, while I liked the film when I first saw it I am far from being the worlds biggest Tron fan which, as with the likes of Transformers, GI Joe and Star Wars I see as nothing more than fodder for 30-40 somethings on hollow nostalgia trips hurrying to soak up merchandise they either couldn't afford or just couldn't get when they where 8 years old. These flicks and the rose-tinted spectacle wearers who watch them are bread and butter to the unimaginative corporate money men who lazily try to resell us our childhoods, hence the age/gender demographic pleasing image of Ghost Rider on a light cycle.

GREEN LANTERN MOVIE, MEANINGLESS?

The Green Lantern wins the ''most anticipated film award'' at the Scream Awards.
Could that be the most meaningless sentence ever written?
Here's the power battery prop from the up aforementioned up and coming Green Lantern flick.
One word...........ooft! (and not in a good way.)

Here's the article.

WHERE IS MY SUPERMAN?

In a report on filmsactu.com Zack Snyder has said that his Superman flick will concentrate on the man of steels 'early years', wow what a great direction to take, looking at how Clark Kent comes to terms with being the most powerful alien on planet earth......hang on.....wait a minute.....hasn't Smallville been doing the very same thing for almost 10 years now. What is it with Hollywood and comicbook superheros, why are they so unwilling to just cut loose. There is no need to take up the first half hour with an origin story (Fantastic 4, Spider-man...) that even if you don't already know it can't be explained in one short scene and there's no need to dwell on these people agonizing over how hard (or cool) it is that they can, fly, climb walls, pop claws or shoot fire from their dicks. I love good story telling and good characters, but over thought, angst ridden movies about guys in tights have me craving the lowest common denominator. Here is how my Superman movie would play out;

Shot 1: The credits scroll Star Wars style informing the hand full of coma victims who don't already know, who Superman is where he came from and why.
Shot 2: As Clark Kent and Lois Lane make their way through the streets of Metropolis (exchanging witty banter) a sudden bolt of energy rips through the city causing havoc.
Shot 3: amongst the chaos a silence grips the panicking crowds and the entire city looks up to the sky as a vast alien mother ship reveals itself.

(by this point we are at least 5 minuets in to the picture)

Shot 4: Clark runs into a phone box pulling his shirt open to reveal the 'S' symbol and in a flash he emerges in the full classic blue, red and yellow costume and takes to the sky to confront the alien ship.
Shot 5: Inside the ship Lex Luthor informs Brainiac (as seen in Action Comics *868) that his plan has worked and that Superman is on his way.
Shot 6: Brainiac turns to General Zod (dressed in a dark variation of Superman's costume) and tells him to destroy the son of Jor-El.

For the next hour there is nothing more than all out war between Superman and Zod which goes from one side of the solar system to the other during which one or two other heroes (Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter...) show up but fail to stop the Kryptonian rampage which eventually ends with Superman punching Zod through the moon.
The final shot has Superman returning to metropolis, battered and broken but ready to confront the alien ship only to find Metropolis in ruins with Lex Luthor and Brainiac waiting for him with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen locked in a cage made of Kryptonite and guarded by a 15ft tall Doomsday. the words "to be continued" fill the screen as it fades to black.....the end.

Is that really too much to ask?

Miller & Snyder plan seperate 300 spin offs.

Both Frank Miller and Zack Snyder are planning spin offs of the Spartan epic 300 both titled XERXES. Although Snyder's 2006 film was an adaptation of Millers graphic novel neither of the new projects will share any connection. I think I was one of the few who actually like the film version of 300 and I'm quite interested to see what it's spin off will look like the thing I am worried about surprisingly, is Frank Millers new mini series.
In my opinion Miller has 'lost the plot' slightly and really hasn't done anything of worth in comics or film since the Sin City books. His record of returning to passed glories is not good either The follow up to the seminal DARK NIGHT RETURNS was met with mixed reviews and his last high profile comics gig was as writer on ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN (which was touted as a prequel to Dark Knight), but even with Jim Lee as it's artist was nothing short of disappointing. It's ten issues where full of confused storytelling and bad dialog and at it's end, nothing had actually happened. Miller's place in comics history is assured and rightly so, but reputation isn't enough in these days of $5 funny books.

Here's what Snyder has to say on Xerxes.

SATURDAY MATINEE GREATS

Here's a suggestion for you cats looking for a classic to waste an afternoon on.
Battle Beyond the Stars: Roger Corman sets the Magnificent 7 in space. What's not to love. Track it down and enjoy.

ZOMBIES or HOW TO TURN COOL UP TO 11.

There's been a trend over the last decade that's eaten it's way in to all aspects of pop culture and it's beginning the nibble on what little nerves I have left, I am of course talking about zombies. Now I love a good zombie flick and of course celebrate the work of Mr. Romero just as much as the next guy, the thing that bothers me how zombies have become the Hollywood equivalent of a 'Go faster stripe'. In flicks such as Dawn of the Dead George A. Ramero gave the zombies metaphorical meaning whether it was for racism or Communist paranoia the walking dead where all ways more than just lumbering flesh eaters but now their just a 'cool' way to make a 'cool' idea even 'cooler', 'man'.
Take Marvel Comics for example, ''Do you know what would make all the cool, old school Marvel characters even cooler?'' asks one of the House of Ideas top creative types, ''no what?'' replies another equally creative type ''what if they where all zombies'' he concludes as his colleagues head implodes with all the 'coolness' that's just went super nova inside it. And so Marvel releases the Marvel Zombie books to great cheers of ''COOL!''.
Another zombie comic that came out a couple years before Marvels cool fest was The Walking Dead this benefited greatly from it's creators obvious love and understanding of Romeros earlier work. Computer games have also been over run, from the scary Resident Evil series to the schlock horror of the new LasVagas set Dead Rising 2.
Then there's the comedy zombie, Fido, Zombieland, the forth coming Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Shaun of the Dead which gave us the term Zom-Com. These reanimated ideas like the computer games and comics fluctuate wildly from great to awful with the zombies involved ranging from effective to pitiful novelty.
The trend that gnaws on the brittle bones of the genre most however is when 'zombie' is paired with the word Nazi. Since 2008's Outpost there have been 3 more films with the same 'cool' idea. If only those damn fascist, mass murdering, genocide loving, would be world conquerors had been undead flesh munchers then we'd have real reason to hate them. The latest to use national socialist dead folk as it's protagonists is A Chance in Hell Going purely by the trailer it's not up to much and like most things zombie probably seemed like a good idea at the time but in the cold light of day isn't really that...cool.

BATMAN 3 vs. SPIDER-MAN?

Will 2012 see BATMAN and SPIDER-MAN try and out do each other at the box office in more ways than one. According to an article on moviehole.net the makers of the new Spider-man movie are looking for a you actor to play the son of Dr. Curt Conners/the Lizard who they saying will be played by Rhys Ifans. As you may or may not know the previous Spider flicks had the actor Dylan Barker playing the role of Conners but never actually had him go all bad and scaly. The choice of the Lizard surprises me, I thought they would have went with the Vulture as a flying villain fits with the current 3D craze, but shows what I know.( although John Malkovich is still being linked with the role.)
There are also reports from the Bat camp that Tom Hardy will play the equally reptile like Killer Croc, news which was backed up with reports that 'Batman3' would feature scenes shot in 'Gator country, New Orleans. And with the Catwoman and Blackcat rumors still to be denied these movies are shaping up to be mirror images.

COMIC HEREOS HEADING FOR THE SMALL SCREEN

There's rumors that a few of comics mightiest fan favorites could be bypassing the big screen in favor of the small. Big hitters such as The Hulk and Wonder Woman are being touted but it's the B-list characters that have me most excited. Marvel/Disney seem to be the main instigators and of the characters being mentioned CLOAK & DAGGER are the ones I'm digging the most, Ive always loved the characters and look forward to their comic-book guest appearances and the odd mini series, although their recent involvement with the X-Men was misjudged and pointless but that say's more about the state of the X-men books than anything else.
Some of the Marvel characters like Cloak & Dagger and the enigma that is Moonknight could really work on TV. My only reservation is that since shows like Buffy and Smallville have been so successful the formula for American SCI-FI/Fantasy television is pretty much written in stone which can be either really good (Firefly, Dollhouse....) or really bad (Vampire Diaries, Andromeda....).

Here's the article from hollywoodreporter.com

ED WOOD jr DOCUMENTARY.

This is a short documentary about the legend that is ED WOOD jr. made for channel4's Incredibly Strange Film Show c.1988. enjoy.

BATMAN 3 CASTING

Tom Hardy is being tip for a role in the new Bat flick and it's thought he'll be the films main villain. There's also talk that Joseph Gorden-Levitt will be the Riddler which I like the sound of so who Hardy will play is open to discussion, although I've read that filming has begun in New Orleans which has KILLER CROC being touted about. I hope Nolan doesn't make the now classic mistake of 'too many villains' in the final installment of his trilogy.

Hers an article.

SUPERHERO MOVIE TRAILERS.

Here are the trailers for CAPTAIN AMERICA (1990), the Roger Corman FANTASTIC 4 (1994) and a truly awful SILVER SURFER short also from '94.
These films are terrible but the do have somethings going for them. The Captain America costume and the Red Scull look great and the Fantastic Four's THING looks a lot better than the orange sponge midget Michael Chiklis played, as for the Silver Surfer, well somethings are just plain crap.
It's also worth pointing out that Captain America is played by Matt Salinger who's father was J.D. Salinger the writer of "The Catcher in the Rye".

Comic Book Confidential ; JACK KIRBY

Comic Book Confidential is an 1988 documentary directed by Ron Mann that deals with the history of comics from superheros to the 60's underground and interviews most of the greats. I have it on DVD and VHS and i have to say there's something nostalgically comforting in watching it on VHS (as a side note this also applies to Bladerunner). Here's it's Jack Kirby interview. Dig?

The GREEN HORNET.

I have to say I'm really looking forward to seeing this although I'm still not sure of the casting. I'd like to have seen a more anti-Batman mixed with the Untouchables thing happening to match up to his radio play, pulp magazine roots but perhaps the lighter more comedic approach is the way to go. As I've mentioned before I've had enough of 'Dark' superheros especially when those heroes aren't 'Dark' to begin with (Superman, Spider-man....) so let's hope this flick delivers a fun adventure for all ages.
Check out the trailer and the above art work is my own take on the Hornet.

(my idea of making Kato a girl is not based on the recent Dynamite comic series but came from the original casting rumors for this flick which had George Clooney as the Green Hornet and Ziyi Zhang as Kato.)

THE FLASH, the fatest man alive!

The actor Bradley Cooper is the front runner (I thank you) to be cast as the Flash and www.collider.com has used the above photo match up to highlight this point, well done Bradley Cooper. The thing that I'd like to point out is how unhealthy the Alex Ross painted Flash looks, fastest man alive, fastest man to Wily Wonka's all night chocolate buffet more like, and what's with his costume it doesn't even fit him it makes him look like a sad 30 something waiting to be picked up by him mum from the local comic convention. I can appreciate Alex Ross for his technical ability and of course books like Kingdom Come show great skill and ability but from an aesthetic point you can take realism in superhero comics too far and when you do that instead of mythic heroes you get the 'Big Bang Theory' cast reunion 2035.

Here's the article.

SPIDEY VILLAINS?

ew.com has reported that the Welsh wonder Rhys Ifans is to play the badguy in the new Spider-man movie. They're not saying who he'll play but my money's on the Vulture purly because a flying villain is more 3D friendly.
I've also read that Philip Seymour Hoffman was being considered to play Venom, which I can totally dig.
And as a side note I'm gony, just for fun mind predict that there's a Hollywood cat fight a brewin',
with many believing that Catwoman will (has) to be in Batman 3 I won't be all a quelle surprise to find the Blackcat cross the path of Peter Parker.

Here's the article.

NOT ANOTHER RISE OF THE APES.

Is anybody, except hardcore fans excited about RISE of the APES the prequel to the classic PLANET of the APES. Nobody cared about the Tim Burton remake so will this flick fair any better, this disgruntled cinema goer's going to risk nothing by answering.......no.
Here's what the films star James Franko has to say about it. Here

And what is it with Andy Serkis and monkey remakes first the stone cold downer that was Peter Jackson's KING KONG and now a PLANET of the APES prequel I wait with bated breath for his take on BJ and the BEAR.

Kev Harper's ARTWORK

Check out Scheme Comix very own Kev Harper's artwork over at the central station web site.

Here's the link.

THE FUTURE ?

Dig this, it's a video made in the abandoned Dixie shopping mall. Now I have to admit I'm not 100% on where Dixie is although from what I can make out it one is the one used in the Blues Brothers.
These videos are both beautiful and frightening this ones by jonrev but there's a whole mess of them on you tube.
I'm not a big fan of the shopping mall culture, living in a city that is now dominated by not one but two slap bang in the city center with at least 3 more on it's outskirts it's disappointing to see the detrimental effect they have on the city as a whole. Times change and nothing, even cities stay the same but now thanks to the benefit of photography and film it's easier to compare what we had with what we got and as far as my city is concerned these videos could be a sign of things to come.

2001 SET DESIGN

This is a shot of the set from the end of 2001. I've always loved how this set looks, it's lack of colour and the contrast between the period furniture and the orange space suit. the set designers of the Matrix used a similar idea for the scene where Morpheus explains the Matrix to Neo.
Both sets are great examples of how in Sci-Fi basic simplicity can be more powerful than CGI and kitchen sinks.

REMAKES, REMAKES, REMAKES.....................

Nextmovie.com has put up a list of 50 yes 50 film remakes coming soon from some of Hollywood's finest hacks. Some notable ones such as, American Werewolf in London, Yellow Submarine, Warriors and Mad Max just don't make sense why do it, those movies are perfect.
(I know why they're doing it, these movies are 'brands' and are more easily sold and marketed than new unknown properties but that don't make it right and doesn't excuse all involved for being in it for the money goons! )
Others on the list don't make sense for different reasons nowhere in this world or the next is someone saying "Gee, I wonder when someones gony get round to remaking Overboard."
by the way it's legal to spit on anyone you hear say this, fact.
Out of the 50 (yes 50) only Judge Dredd has me waiting with fingers crossed but to be fair the Stallone effort had nothing going for it and Dredd deserves a good adaptation.

Check out the list here.

JOHN WATERS INTERVIEW

This is an interview with John Waters made for channel4's Incredibly Strange Film Show c.1988. enjoy.

Hands-On: Experiencing Michael Jackson on the Wii

err...no thanks.

here's the article.

ALIEN PREQUEL IN TROUBLE........good!

Prequels, prequels everywhere and no-one's stopped to think.
I can't get across how much prequels/remakes disappoint me, especially when they're attached to films the word classic isn't strong enough to describe (you can also add The Thing but more about that later).
It's directors such as Ridley Scott that you look to for the originality and innovation that will save you from the shlockbuster demons like Michel Bay.
I know prequels/remakes are out and out fan-boy fodder which means guaranteed bank for the hacks making them but as Star Wars has proven, just because you can doesn't mean you should.


''People are wrong when they say opera is not what it used to be. It is what it used to be. That is what's wrong with it.'' Noel Coward.

Here's the article.

Johnny Depp....goodguy.

Top Hollywood face Johnny Depp made a surprise visit to a London primary school in full Jack Sparrow costume at the request of one of the pupils who wrote him a letter asking for help in leading a mutiny against her teachers.
Now it would be very cynical to just see this a publicity stunt for a flick that perhaps the world isn't that excited about but then I'm not nine years old sitting in that class room having my mind blown at the fact Jack Sparrow and his crew just invaded my school.
So from all us here at Scheme Mr.Depp we salute you.

Sam Raimi, 'Wizard of Oz' Prequel

Sam Raimi will Direct 'Wizard of Oz' Prequel, to this I say big deal. For a while now on the Scheme Comix Facebook page I've been regularly posting up a list of forth coming movies I could not care less about imaginatively titled "Another in a continuing set of posts out lining future film releases we could not careless about....." at this point it's at about No.20 and it has to be said that most of these are remakes or prequels which 9/10 suck the shit out of tramps asses. What's worse is when directors who are primarily known for their originality (Evil Dead, Darkman) start tickling the corporate ball sack. I know he's done plenty commercial pictures and TV shows but just like when Tim Burton tried to tackle Alice in Wonderland this Oz prequel stinks of the hipster trend that's gone on too long now for taking family friendly movies, books, comics.... and make them dark and, your god forgive 'COOL!'.

Here's the article.

3 DEV ADAM, BEST MOVIE EVER ?

Best movie ever? probably not but for all you Marvel zombies out there waiting to be spoon fed the new Captain America and Spiderman shlockbusters here's the flick you should be watching
3 DEV ADAM or as it's also known THE 3 GIANTS / THE THREE MIGHTY MEN / CAPTAIN AMERICA AND SANTO VS SPIDER MAN.
This 1973 Turkish copyright infringing gem features Captain America and Mexico's número uno del héroe Santo going up against an evil Spiderman.

Produced by Onar Films here's a taster.

NEW PINHEAD (?)

Here's a pic lifted coldbloodedly from shocktillyoudrop.com of what is thought to be Pinhead from the new Hellraiser:Revelations movie played by the actor Stephan Smith Collins.
I've had enough of remakes/reboots although it sounds as though this flick is a means to an end.
As much as I love the classics we really need a new pop culture invading monster icon more than we need yet another 'hack' remake.

Here's what Fangoria have to say.

DOUBLE IDENTITIES.

Found this article about the actor Idris Elba and how he is starring in Thor and may be appearing in a Ghost rider sequel.
Of course he wont be the first actor to take on more than one comicbook role with the 'king of the comic adaptation' title going to Ryan Renolds who has 2 Marvel and an up and coming DC role to his name (Blade 3 as Hannibal King, Deadpool and Green Lantern).
Of course his wife Scarlett Johansson also has 3 (Ghost World, the Spirit, and Iron-man2 as Black Widow) but her man's efforts are a little more high profile so he just wins it.
As much as the younger more innocent me would have been jumping all over these flicks the older more bitter me is in two minds as to whether they benefit the books they're based on by placing them more in the public eye or if they are in some small way killing them off.
Big box office compared to poor book sales and a dwindling readership suggests the latter.

Ps. this article has Idris Elba linked to play Luke Cage although I see him as the far more interesting Black Pather.

Emma Stone will play Gwen Stacy

So Emma Stone is to play Gwen Stacy and not Mary Jane Watson in the new Spiderman flick. Shame cause I thought she was a dead ringer for a John Romita drawing but either way I dig her and she get's two thumbs up as Peter Parker's main squeeze.
Well done all you Spidey flick makers give yourselves a pat on the back.
Though personally I don't need a Spiderman reboot so soon after the the last three movies, if you really wanted to reboot a Marvel franchise how about a new Howard the Duck, bar none the best movie George Lucas ever made but in Spiderman there's money to be made and with all these Marvel Movies on the horizon isn't that what's really important.

Here's the article.

'SPACEMAN' a SCHEME COMIX ANIMATION

Dig this, Scheme Comix first animated short 'SPACEMAN' with music by Zero Defect. Shot using a mobile phone, photoshop and animated in Flash.

Tim Burton Exhibition and Retrospective

I have to admit that even though I think Tim Burton is mostly style over substance I wouldn't mind seeing this.

read the full article here.