Star Trek The Next Generation: The Last Generation #2, IDW. This is basically a "What If" for Star Trek. Part of the Myriad Universe line.
The Walking Dead #56, Image. Five Years!
Cthulhu Tales #9, Boom Studios.
The Age of the Sentry #4, Marvel Comics.
Conan the Cimmerian #6, Dark Horse Comics.
Trade Paperbacks: Invaders Classic Vol 2 Marvel Comics. I was feeling a little blue about my friend Josh so I picked this up. There’s just something life affirming about Captain America and crew kicking Nazi butt.
Well this was totally off my radar. I might be too busy in July to see Space Chimps but dam, I do loves me some monkeys. I think I see a few nods to the POTA movies in those costumes... and ah... to Evel Knievel as well.
We’ve officially started principal photography on Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Like you guys, I’ve been a long-time fan of the series and I understand your passion for the Terminator movies -- and it’s my full intention to deliver a film that lives up to the previous three installments. I’ve spent time with James Cameron, spoken to Arnold Schwarzenegger, gone over the story with Jonah Nolan, and enlisted Stan Winston.
Everything we’re shooting is designed to be tactile and real, you’ll be seeing a whole set of inspired designs you’ve never seen before, and best of all you’ll finally get to see some of the post-judgment day future that was only hinted at in the previous movies.
John Connor will be pushed to the brink. And for me, Christian Bale embodies Connor’s strength and tenacity perfectly. And after visiting Sam Worthington on the set of Avatar, I know he’s perfect for his role.
As you know, Anton Yelchin is playing Kyle Reese, and his prep has been unbelievable. The guy's been watching all three Terminators incessantly and he’s definitely going to capture the essence of the character Michael Biehn created in Cameron’s first film.
We started principal photography with a sequence at Griffith Observatory. I've already seen a cut of it -- Anton and Sam are excellent. I’ll have more on that soon, and can’t wait to share some of what we’re doing with you all. Stay tuned for more.
I’m about 75% of the way through my copy of Showcase Presents: Enemy Ace and I must say it’s been one of the best silver/bronze age comics that I have read. Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert (which write and draw, respectively, most of the stories) have really created something special here. Choosing a German pilot and setting the stories in WWI was an inspired choice because it allows the reader to dispense with the usual jingoistic tripe and focus on one man’s hellish struggle to stay alive and sane during combat. The main character, Hans von Hammer, is an allegory to the Red Baron but with a pulpy goodness that only a DC war comic could provide. In some ways his personality is the opposite of another Bronze Age comic character I like, Conan the Barbarian but they both have the same evocative, brooding nature.
There’s just something about WWI air combat that lends itself to great storytelling: the newness of the technology, the sense of dying chivalry, and the aloneness of the expanding sky. The last frontier has been opened and it’s used for bringing death. There’s also the sense of the duel, which recalls both knights defending their honor and an old west shootout like the OK Corral. It was Europe’s chance to play Cowboys and Indians except everybody was a Cowboy.
I have always had a passing interest in WWI aviation history and Showcase Presents: Enemy Ace, has brought that back to me of late. I started looking around the net reading articles about WWI aircraft and people again. While skimming a wikipedia article on Manfred von Richthofen, I noticed that a Red Baron movie is coming out this year. It’s a European production that plays a little loose with the facts but it still looks to be a first-rate film nonetheless. One of the things that stood out is that Lena Headey of Terminator: the Sarah Conner Chronicles fame has a significant role in the film as Nurse Kate. It will be interesting to see her in a softer role after her turn as the hardcore, kick ass mom.
Red Baron Shots:
In a sick sense of simpatico, I had just finished reading an Enemy Ace story of a puppy falling to it’s death when the news story of a marine killing a puppy by throwing off a cliff showed up in the news… scary… and sad…
We’ve been enjoying the Sarah Conner Chronicles here at Casa de Swinebread, but my SO was having some trouble with the context of the show. She couldn’t really remember the movies and to make matters worse, FX had been showing Terminator 3 over and over again, which is totally ignored by the TV show, so she was confused even more. It’s been a while for me too for that matter.
Freddy’s was having a DVD sale so I picked up the first Terminator movie for seven bucks and we watched it this last weekend. I gotta’ say, Man, what a great piece of Sci-fi fun! I’m really getting CG’ed and kungfu-ed out, so it was nice to watch something made on a smaller budget with straightforward action. In fact, by today’s standards the look of movie seems almost grindhouse, but that's part of the appeal IMO. After all these years, I still enjoy the performances and I also realized I prefer Arnie as a robotic killing machine rather then a sympathetic hero (or Governor?). My SO really enjoyed the film too and the whole Sarah Conner and Son thing was finally cleared up for her.
Since we’ve gotten some chorological distance from ‘80s, I’ve noticed another aspect of the film I don’t think I could have recognized when I was younger. The Terminator is also a horror film of sorts. Think about it. A mindless killer, that can’t die, keeps coming back over and over. Sounds like any number of slasher flicks from the 80s and 70s to me. But this film works much better than any Slasher flick because it actually has a plot and an inventive use (for the time) of sci-fi tropes. Who, isn’t bored by the dumb ingénue that’s alone in the dark, but with Terminator, it could be night or day with lots of people around and the killer is still there chasing you. I feel the film also taps into fears of gun violence, which is much more of a real concern than a guy cutting you up in your dreams.
So, after all this time and all the special effects that have come down the pike, I like the first one the best. The Terminator is an excellent science fiction film and maybe that’s because the one-liners are actually delivered by a “robot.” This picture is also different too, because motherhood is seen as a strength and the brief romance between Sarah and Kyle is must if humanity is to survive. In fact, the only thing I don’t like about this film is Sarah Conner’s hairstyle… that’s one part of the eighties that didn’t age every well.
Trailer:
On a side note, Dynamite Entertainment is currently doing a 4-issue crossover between their Painkiller Jane and Terminator 2 Infinity comics and it's surprisingly entertaining. We get a strike team invading Skynet, John Conner in command, and another Terminator randomly sent into the past. The first two issues are out now with last two next month.
Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters #1, Dynamite Entertainment.
Black Summer #5, Avatar.
Narcopolis #0, Avatar.
Salem: Queen of Thorns #0, Boom Studios.
Badger Saves the World #2, IDW.
Terminator 2 #6, Dynamite Entertainment.
Back Issue: Painkiller Jane #4, Dynamite Entertainment. Apparently this is part one of a crossover with Terminator 2. So I bought this issue of PJ so I’d know what was going on in issue 6 of Terminator 2.
Trades: What Were They Thinking Boom Studios.
Previously Published Trades: Wasteland Book 2, Oni Press.
Marvel Legacy: The 1960s-1990s Handbook Marvel Comics.
Even without Arnold, the Terminator franchise is most certainly back.
According to Variety, the premiere episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles scored the highest opening-night ratings of any new show in three years. The show nabbed an outstanding 7.6 rating/18 share amongst the 18-49 adult demographic, and scored 18.3 million viewers for the show's debut, according to the Nielsen ratings service. The scripted show's success only accentuates the need for scripted programming while the networks try to make due with reality programming during the writers' strike.
Speaking of the strike, it conversely affected another program this week as well. NBC's hour-long telecast of the Golden Globes annoucement was trounced in the ratings with a 1.7/4 in demographic and drawing just 5.8 million viewers. The announcement special came in lieu of the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild both boycotting the normal two-hour telecast.
Hey FOX give the writers a good deal so we move on and ensure that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles doesn't end up with crappy scripts that doom the show.
FOX may have a hit on their hands with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I really enjoyed the first half of the premiere this last Sunday and I'm looking forward to the second half Monday night. From Wikipedia:
[The Show is about] the adventures of the title character and her son in the years after Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The series will ignore Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Sarah Connor will be alive. The series starts with the return of the Terminators into their lives, prompting Sarah and John to stop running and focus on stopping the birth of Skynet. They are aided by Cameron, a Terminator, played by Summer Glau, who poses as a student at John's school and whose mission is to protect John. Meanwhile, an FBI agent named James Ellison pursues Sarah and John with the belief that Sarah is deranged.
I didn't pay attention to any of the publicity for the show and I'm glad I didn't because the plot was a delightful surprise. A great premise, good actors, and thrilling action (for a TV program), make Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles a winner in my book (so far). Sure it's got a TV budget but it works for what they're trying to do with this program. It's a case where less is more. It makes me happy to see Summer Glau on network TV again and it makes me really happy the whole thing doesn't look like Vancouver B.C.
Of course I could be all wrong and the Sarah Connor Chronicles will get cancelled... this IS a sci-fi show on FOX we are talking about here.
In a sick sense of simpatico, I had just finished reading an Enemy Ace story of a puppy falling to it’s death when the news story of a marine killing a puppy by throwing off a cliff showed up in the news… scary… and sad…
