News Around the Net: Comic-Con Edition!
Hi friends! This past week was the San Diego Comic-Con, and as a result there has been an awesome flood of news about all sorts of geeky things. Let’s review some of the highlights, shall we?
Here’s the first teaser trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. I don’t love that title (is the second “the” really necessary?) and I think the “The Defining Chapter” tag-line they are going with in this trailer and on the posters is silly, but I dig this trailer. These Hobbit films have not lived up to the expectations established by the phenomenal Lord of the Rings films, but I have still enjoyed them a lot and I am eager for the third and final film.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron footage that screened sounds cool. I am intrigued by this glimpse of Ultron Mk. 1.
This is a pretty terrific interview with Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige. Interesting stuff covered. Someday the true story of what went down with Ant Man and Edgar Wright is going to be told, and it is going to be fascinating.
This description of footage of Batman v Superman sounds interesting. Are they really using some of Frank Miller’s designs from The Dark Knight Returns? I’d love to see this footage. DC’s plan of stuffing lots of Justice League characters into this Man of Steel sequel seems worrisome to me, but on the other hand this first image of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman is pretty great.
People seem to have been bowled over at the footage that screened from Mad Max: Fury Road. (I can’t believe this movie finally got made and is being released!!!) I am very, very curious to see what George Miller has crafted after so much time away from this franchise. This first teaser, made up of some of the footage they showed at Comic-Con, is pretty great:
Here is a teaser trailer for Kevin Smith’s Tusk:
Just what the heck is this film going to be, and could it be any good??? I dunno, I am not hugely optimistic, but I’ll admit I am damn curious and that’s a pretty great trailer…
Ronald D. Moore (one of the best Star Trek writers and creator and show-runner of the modern version of Battlestar Galactica) just did a fantastic Q & A on reddit. Prepare to loose a large amount of your time reading this.
Dr. Julian Bashir will be appearing on Game of Thrones? Awesome!! I grew to love Alexander Siddig’s work on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (my favorite of all the Trek series) and I have often felt that he is a great actor who deserves to work in higher-profile stuff. (Have you seen how magnificent he was in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven?? That’s an in-appreciated film, by the way. I have heard the theatrical cut stinks, but the director’s cut is magnificent.)
Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight is actually happening?? Also awesome! I am beginning to detect a recurring theme in Mr. Tarantino’s work — the man really likes to tell stories of groups of violent guys (see: Reservoir Dogs, Inglourious Basterds), but any news coming new Quentin Tarantino project is good news indeed. (And I LOVE that teaser poster.)
Speaking of the great Mr. Tarantino, PLEASE STOP TEASING ME WITH RUMORS OF THE RELEASE OF Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair!!! I can’t take it anymore. I would love for this to actually happen, but I’m not holding my breath.
They’re making a new King Kong movie? OK, I am curious. (I’m one of the few people who really enjoyed Peter Jackson’s King Kong.) It’ll be interesting to see what Legendary Studios has in mind…
A few other things:
I have posted before about Alan Sepinwall of Hitfix’s “summer rewind” articles. (I loved this piece about Newsradio.) This look back at the Seinfeld episode “The Red Dot” is pretty fantastic as well. A great episode of a great show.
I just recently stumbled across a link to this great interview with comic-book legend Bill Sienkiewicz. This man is a comics genius. It’s awesome to read about his work on Daredevil: Love and War and Elektra: Assassin (two remarkable collaborations with an at-the-top-of-his-game Frank Miller). Love and War, in particular, is an incredible artistic achievement.
The Wire and Treme mastermind David Simon has a new TV project in the works for HBO? I’m in!!!
I’ll leave you with one last bit of Comic-Con goodness: this sneak peek at the one-hour Simpsons/Family Guy crossover!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xcrXwijHlY