Mel Gibson Has a Brave Heart
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 6:40 PM

Yesterday my son and I were channel surfing. Suddenly we came across "Braveheart." We both stopped talking and turned to watch the scene.

Mel was giving the troops the famous pep-talk. You know the one... "They can take our lives, but they'll never take our FREEEEEEEEEDOM!"

The next thing you know we were both grinning from ear to ear as we spouted classic lines from "Braveheart."

I can remember Entertainment Tonight doing a piece about "action star" Mel Gibson on location starring in and directing "Braveheart." I thought at the time, "Man, is he taking a risk!" Mel was walking away from barrels of money to do another "Lethal Weapon" and instead was directing [and starring in] a movie about some guy who lived hundreds of years ago that hardly anybody even knew existed.

We all know how it turned out.

Just a few years ago I remember when I first heard Mel's plans for "The Passion of the Christ." This time Mel was walking away from trunkloads of money for another "Lethal Weapon" to instead direct a movie [which he wasn't going to star in] about Jesus Christ. To make the movie even more unlikely to be successful, it didn't feature a cast of international [or even national] superstars and was subtitled!

We all know how it turned out.

Mel's next film, Apocalypto, is a violent tale which takes place 3,000 years ago and follows a Mayan hero who is on the run. Gibson won't appear in the film and it will be subtitled.

Anyone wonder how it will turn out?

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A Short Look at Wolverine
Monday, May 29, 2006 4:41 PM

"X-Men: The Last Stand" opened beyond all expectations earning just over $120 million dollars this weekend. That's the biggest opening ever for the Memorial Day weekend, the fourth best three-day opening ever as well as the best single Friday in movie history [$45.5 million]. Earning that kind of bank almost insures a sequel. My guess is that before the next X-Men movie comes out we'll see a film that focuses just on Wolverine.

Wolverine used to be my favorite comic character. That was back in the days when Chris Claremont [writer], John Byrne [penciler] and Terry Austin [inker] were amazing everyone with the classic comics that they were creating. At that time Wolverine was the cool secondary character that would have only a scene or two, but more likely than not, they'd be THE scenes that you'd remember.

Not much was known about Wolverine. What we did know made him an unlikely American comic book hero. He was from Canada. He was a loner. He was just a bit over five feet tall. He had a berserker rage and would actually kill those who threatened him or his friends. No other hero in comics looked or acted like Wolverine.

Of course over the years, because of the popularity of the character, he's been over-exposed. He's been a secret agent, a team leader, a father figure, a pirate, etc., etc. etc..

Even his look has changed. Hugh Jackman is tall and lean. Wolverine should be short and stout [4no teapot jokes, please]. Robert Blake in his prime would have made a great Wolverine.

The classic Wolverine is still Byrne and Austin's version. Frank Miller and Joe Rubinstein's take is also a favorite of mine. Not too long ago I talked about some new riffs on Wolverine. Joe Lisner's Wolverine looks interesting too. All of these guys draw the shorter Wolverine, like he's supposed to be. The funny thing is, most folks who only know Wolverine from the movies will think that he should be drawn taller.

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More Fear in Every Issue!
Thursday, May 25, 2006 7:00 PM

Rick Remender and Tony Moore have teamed up to create a really fun comic, Fear Agent, which follows the adventures of Heath Huston an "Alien Exterminator."

Fear Agent has been one of Image's most popular comics with each issue selling out! Fans and pros alike are jumping on the Fear Agent bandwagon. In fact Remender and Moore started hearing from so many pros who wanted to do a story about Heath Huston that starting with issue 5, "Tales of the Fear Agent" will begin appearing as an 8 page back-up to the main story.

So far Steve Niles, Jeff Parker, Kieron Dwyer, Eric Powell, Jason Latour, Mike Manley, Dan Panosian and many others have signed on! If you aren't reading Fear Agent, maybe it's time for you to sign on too!

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Long Live the King... Or Off With His Head?
Monday, May 22, 2006 6:46 PM

There was a time when I loved all things Stephen King. It started with Carrie which I read in 8th grade. I thought it was a really cool book. When I was a junior in high school I saw Carrie at a Midnight Movie. I loved it. It was my introduction to Brian DePalma. I still laugh when I think that I nearly jumped into the next row when Carrie's bloody hand came shooting out of the grave.

In college I got into King in a big way. I was reading everything that he published. The Shinning [great book -- I read it in a single night! and a pretty scary movie], Salem's Lot [another excellent novel with a cool, modern twist on vampires -- and a decent tv mini-series] The Dead Zone [perhaps the best movie adaptation of a King novel] ... and the hits just kept on coming [although the movies weren't always as good]... The Stand, Cujo, Pet Sematary, Firestarter, Christine, It, etc. etc. etc.

Then for some reason, I stopped reading King. I really don't know why. It just happened. I have a bunch of his novels and even some short story collections sitting on the shelf waiting to join the other King novels in a place of honor on my bookcase. But there they sit.

I did buy and immediately read Cell when it came out in hardcover. I was hoping for a more traditional zombie story, but never the less, I did really enjoy it.

Tomorrow night ABC is presenting a three hour adaptation of Desperation. For some reason, I'm really looking forward to it. Most likely I'll record it for viewing some late weekend night. I haven't read the book, but if the movie is works, perhaps it'll give me just enough reason to pull it off the shelf and see if the novel is good enough to make it to the book case.

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Highlander: There Can Be Only One?
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 4:15 PM

The original Highlander is one of my favorite movies.

I can remember seeing it in a theater for the first time and just loving everything about it. The classic tale of good vs evil, the blessing/curse of living forever, the coolness in being immortal and the sadness of losing a true love who isn't. Then there was the great direction by Russell Mulcahy, the soundtrack by Queen, Christopher Lambert in a role that he owned, Sean Connery as his mentor and Clancy Brown as the Kurgan. Everything came together to create a movie that was magical.

Highlander II took everything that was cool from the original and trashed it. Literally. Highlander II is without a doubt the worst sequel in history. I actually left the theater angry.

Highlander III was almost as bad.

I never even gave the tv series a single viewing.

In July, Dynamite Entertainment is releasing Highlander #0 which will jump start the Highlander comic book series. Written by Brandon (Battlestar Galactica) Jerwa with Michael (Red Sonja) Oeming, and art by Lee (Red Sonja) Moder and will set you back just a quarter! 50% of the covers will feature a photo from the movie with the other half sporting a painted cover by Gabriele Dell'Otto.

I'm going to pre-order a copy, but I have a feeling that it might still boil down to: There can only be one! [And if that's the case, for me it will be the original movie!]

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Charlie Huston - We Have a Problem!
Monday, May 15, 2006 5:12 PM

I discovered Charlie Huston's work a month ago when I read his first novel, Caught Stealing. Last night I finished Huston's second novel, Six Bad Things. Both books are among the best that I've read in the last year and both tell the tale of Hank Thompson.

Ten years ago Hank was a hot prospect to play some college baseball. A broken leg and some bad choices killed any shot of college ball and so Hank drifted up to New York where he found work as a bartender.

Things were going smoothly untl one night when two guys pulled him over the bar and beat him nearly to death. The next thing Hank knew he was on the run from the Russian mob, two Black cowboys, and a dirty cop. If Hank can figure out what's going on, he just might get out of this alive and with some of the $4.5 million that everyone thinks that he has!

On the strength of Caught Stealing, Charlie Huston jumped onto my "Author's to Watch for List." Seeing that Six Bad Things was just as good, he's now on my "Buy It Now List."

I'm putting in my pre-order for the final book in the Hank Thompson trilogy, A Dangerous Man, and also ordering Already Dead, Huston's novel about a detective who happens to be a vampire!

That means that I'll have all of his novels. He's just going to have to start writing faster.

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The End of a Great Season
Sunday, May 14, 2006 9:52 AM

I guess that maybe a picture of the cast of The West Wing would have been a more appropriate banner for today's post, but I just couldn't not use that great shot of the entire cast of Lost.

I really hate that this tv season is winding down.

The West Wing is ending for good. I've tuned in since the first episode and think that it's pretty sad that President Bartlett and crew aren't getting a bigger send off.

What may have been the best seasons ever on American Idol and 24 are almost over. Medium, Lost and Survivor are also getting ready to pack it in for the summer. The Shield, Wanted, Thief and Over There already ended their seasons.

There's always the chance that a summer replacement show will end up being as good as Over There [Bring it back, FX] was or as fun as So You Think You Can Dance. But even if that's not the case, I still have a ton of novels that I'm dying to get the time to read.

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