If you were to ask me, right now, to name my top ten favorite murder mystery movies, sci-fi movies, and
love stories, one movie
would make all of these lists.

Don't belive me? OK, then
ask me... Really... Ask me.

Would one of you please
ask me?

Ok. Thanks.

The movie that would make all three lists is Strange Days.

Bet that surprised you.

Strange Days was made
in 1995 from a story by James Cameron, a screenplay by Cameron
and Jay Cocks and directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

It stars Ralph Fiennes,
Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Glenn Plummer.

I watched Strange Days again last night and re-remembered just how much I love it and how cool it is that it works in all of the genres that I mentioned at the start of this post. I'd really like to discuss it here, but my guess is that many, if most of you haven't seen it.

You see it really didn't do gangbusters at the box
office. Heck, I didn't even
see it until it came out on video and I love it.

Maybe some of you have
seen it and want to talk
about why you like or
don't like it.

Maybe some of you who haven't seen it want to learn more about it. If so, you can click HERE to see the teaser trailer, or HERE to see a Strange Days fan page... or even HERE if you want to purchase a copy for your collection.

At any rate, I'd love to hear your thoughts about Strange Days!

To be real honest, I'm not real excited about many movies coming out this year.

Sure, War of the Worlds looks like fun, and Land of the Dead may be a good scare... but now that Sin City has come and gone, what's out there to really make us anticipate its release?

Well, History of Violence might fill the bill. I'm not a big Cronenberg fan, but this does look like a winner.

It was a classic match of different styles. No, I'm not talking about the season finale of The Contender.
Instead, I'm talking 'bout American
Idol.

Carrie Underwood, the country
singing cutie was up against Bo
Bice, the Southern Rocker.

From the first show this season, I predicted that Carrie would win.
Early on, it seemed that she was
going to blow away the competition.
But that wasn't to be.

You see, Vonzelle came on strong
and actually seemed to be the best performer on a couple of nights. She
was definitely the most improved
singer over the course of the season.

Constintine had the teeny-bopper following. It was tough to tell just how much of a factor they would be. Constantine wasn't the best singer, but he sure could work the camera.

And then there was Bo Bice. He really began to kick things up a notch with night after night of excellent song choices and performances. The night that he sang without benefit of back-up musicians made everyone sit up and take notice.

Still, it was Carrie Underwood who walked away with the crown. I'm sure that Bo is going to do just fine with his career, despite coming in second.

I'm happy that Carrie won. She's an excellent choice... she can sing, she looks the part and has all of the qualities to be an American Idol. Heck, that was obvious back in episode one, right Beatty?

Variety.com has announced that Jeff Parker's
Interman has been optioned for the big screen by
the folks at New Line Cinema who hope to see it
become an action-adventure franchise.

This is great news not only because I want to see Interman turned into a movie, but also because
Parker is such a cool guy. He self-published the
graphic novel at a time when people said comics
were dying. Parker proved that quality will rise to the
top.

And to think that I knew him when...

Steve Niles is one of my favorite authors. He made
it to my "Must Read Author" List after I read his novel Guns, Drugs and Monsters. It was that good.

Most of you probably know Steve from his comic work. His 30 Days of Night is already considered a classic
and has helped spawn a rebirth of horror comics.

In late 2005 or early 2006, Niles is coming at us with three new mini-series: "Giant Monster," "In The
Blood" and "Gutwrencher" and all are from a new publisher, Boom Studios.

"Giant Monster" teams Niles with artist Nat Jones [they previously worked together
on "The Nail"] as they bring us a classic giant monster story. It looks and sounds
like fun. Don't believe me? You can see a 21 page preview by following a link I'll provide below.

Josh Medors joins Niles for "In The Blood" which is Steve's take on werewolves. Like, Steve, I've always had a soft spot for werewolves. Steve goes on to say,
"For a while now I've been wanting to do a werewolf story and that's what we've
got here. I'm very excited about this one." Me too Steve, me too.

Finally, Niles is teaming with Keith Giffen for the "Gutwrencher" mini-series.
We'll learn all about it tomorrow.

Until then, here's a link to the interview with Niles where he discusses all of the
above and more... and provides a link to the 21 page preview of "Giant Monster."

This is the picture that started it...

Well, the idea was already there, but after seeing this picture John "Big" Beatty knew that the time was right to shed some weight and get back into shape.

If you're like most of us, then you've probably put on some pounds since high school. If you're like many of us, you try to loose weight and succeed... if only for a while. Sadly many of us gain back more than we've lost... so we try to loose again.

And each time we try again, we think that THIS will be the time that we get it right. That we'll not only loose the weight, but we'll keep it off.

That's why many of us, don't like to talk about dieting. We try a diet or start a health plan and we don't talk it up. We keep our yaps shut, not because we're cutting back on what we eat, but because we don't want to eat crow should the diet fail... as most of them do.

Ah, but I digress.

Anyway, John "Big" Beatty noticed from the picture above that he'd really grown into his name. He decided that he would not only work to get back into shape, but that he'd document his journey.

He's started a blog called "Diary of a Fat Man: The Road to Less." Great title, great idea, and what a motivater... as John says: "So, here I am, putting this out for all of you to help me keep track, inspire me, make fun of me, or whatever else you want."

So head on over and drop him a line... just don't bring any eats!

That's [left to right] Mickey Rourke, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. They were in France last week at the Cannes Film Festival promoting "Sin CIty."

Not only were they talking up "Sin City" but they also announced that a sequel is in the works and that a "Dame to Kill For" would be next Miller yarn to get the silver screen treatment. This would be the best choice since everyone seems interested in coming back and "Dame to Kill For" features Marv, Dwight and other characters from the original. Rodriguez says that filming could begin later this year [please!] for a 2006 release [yeah, baby!].

Buena Vista and Dimension have confirmed that the Sin City DVD will be released on August 16th with a suggested retail price of $29.99. You can pre-order it right now by clicking HERE. If you do, you'll get it for 35% off... but be aware that there will be another "more elaborate" release next year with additional extras. Now normally, I would just wait and get the release with more "stuff" but in this case, I'll buy both versions.

I know, I know... that's pretty silly. But sometimes I'm silly like that.

I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to post her as often as I'd like. So... how about we do a little catching up.

	24, just keeps getting better and better. Each episode ups the stakes, and just when you think that they won't be able to top the last cliffhanger... they do! I'm even happier about the show since I read today that 24 has been renewed for two more seasons!
	Transporter 2 looks to be a blast. It opens on Sept. 2, and I plan to be there the opening weekend. JoBlo.com has posted six new pics and a link to the international trailer . I couldn't get the trailer to work, but maybe you'll have more luck.
	On June 8th, Marvel celebrates the 30th anniversary of Giant Size X-Men #1 with the release of Giant Size X-Men #3, an 80-page special reprinting some classic X-Men tem-up stories, along with a brand new “untold tale” from writer Joss Whedon and artist Neal Adams!
	Jeff "Interman" Parker let it slip today that he's "going to be writing Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four." Now that's pretty cool. His interview HERE is even cooler. But neither tops the fact that he's working on a new Interman story!
	Shelton Drum's Heroes Convention is one of the best comic conventions you'll find anywhere. The guest list keeps growing and with good reason. Heroes is a blast for fans and pros alike. It's not too early to make plans to attend. I have!
	Survivor never fails to entertain. I was really pulling for Tom to win it all. I thought that he had the most class of ANY Survivor to yet play the game. I'm still amazed at how the final challenge turned out. Ian's probably a nice kid, but...
	Now we're down to the final three on American Idol. Any of them could win. Still, my guess is that Vonzell will go home tomorrow. And Carrie will eventually win it all.