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This Fall, Kong
Will Be King
Sunday, August 7, 2005 11:35 AM
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Without a doubt,this fall
Kong will be King
Pretty much every movie
fan in the world knows that Peter Jackson's King
Kong will be released on December 14th. What
many of us didn't know until just recently was that Warner
Brothers had finally decided to release the orginal
King Kong to dvd on November 22nd.
What makes this release
even cooler is that
Peter Jackson is also contributing to the dvd
release. Jackson has created a two hour, seven
part documentary titled: "RKO Production 601:
The Making of Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World."
What will really get Kong fans going is that "part
of the documentary focuses on the mysterious 'spider
pit' sequence deleted from the film before its theatrical
premiere." The dvd will also contain a recreation
of it as well as features on director Merian
C. Cooper, and commentary tracks by legendary
stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen and others.
Of course to maximize their
profits, Warners is releasing Kong in not
one, not two, but THREE, that's right - THREE
editions. You can read about what's in each edition
HERE.
I don't know which version,
I'm going to get, but you can be sure that one will find
it's way into my collection!
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A Story About
a Valuable Stolen Property
Saturday, August 6, 2005 8:12 PM
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 If
you're like me or any of the other 36 million people
who've
read Dan Brown's The
DaVinci Code, then you probably love a
good conspiracy story.
If that's the case, then whoo-boy, do I have a doosey for
ya.
Lewis Perdue has not only accused Dan Brown
of plagiarizing
from Perdue's books The
DaVinci Legacy [published in 1983 ]
and Daughter
of God [published in 2000], but he has
taken his
case to court and the Internet.
A recent
court ruling by Judge George Daniels of U.S.
District Court in New York
says that "Any slightly similar elements are on
the level of generalized or otherwise unprotectable ideas."
 Still,
Perdue plans to appeal this decision and argues that
there are over 300
significant similarities between his book and
The DaVinci Code. Perdue further
argues that "in an
analysis of
more than 50 pivotal plot events, sixty-five percent
of these – 65%
– occur in the same order."
In his
latest blog post, Perdue says despite Judge
Daniels' ruling, Perdue's battle to show that
Brown plagiarized his work isn't over,
in fact, "It's hardly begun."
 You
can find more of Perdue's thoughts HERE.
I've read and enjoyed Brown's The DaVinci
Code.
I haven't yet read Perdue's The DaVinci Legacy
or Daughter of God, but I should since they
sound like good conspiracy stories.
Then again, maybe I should just follow Perdue's Battle
Against Brown.
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Who Needs Five
Different Sin City Covers?
Saturday, August 6, 2005 9:41 AM
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 I've
been on quite the dvd kick of late, recommending
Lost:
Season One and Superman:
Season One.
Now comes along one of my favorite movies of the year
and my all-time favorite comic book movie and I'm
still trying to decide if I'm going to by the initial release.
Sin
City [aka The Barebones Edition] hits the street
on August 16th. It's already been announced that
next year a deluxe edition [with tons of extras]
will be available. So, I'm thinking that I ought to just
wait for it. It'll only be a few more months -- and it'll
have everything that the August 16th release has
and more.
Studios release various editions of dvds
to maximize their profits and I can understand
that. They're in business to make money. What irks me is
when they do gimmicks like 5
different covers for the same edition. I guess some
people will buy all five.
Me, I'm still trying to decide if I should buy just one.
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You Won't Believe
a Man Can Fly
Wednesday, August 3,
2005 6:22 PM
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 Yesterday,
I said that I usually don't buy tv
series dvds for my collection. Then I talked up
one. Any guess what I'm about to do today?
Yep, today I'm recommending the first
season
dvd of Superman.
If you're anywhere near my age [46], then George
Reeves WAS Superman. And sure, the effects
were low budget [ok, no budget], but man,
did we
love the show.
I can't wait to get the chance to love it again!
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What Would I Have
to Lose?
Tuesday, August 2,
2005 6:25 PM
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 I
usually don't purchase tv series for my dvd collection.
I may make an exception though when Lost
comes to dvd
on September 6th.
Lost was on my "Must See TV" list
from its premiere and
it continued to gain momentum with each new episode.
What was not to like? Great characters. A great
mystery. And just enough info to REALLY
wonder what the heck is going on.
The dvd
extras and price [$38.99] also add to the
appeal
for making Lost a dvd addition to my collection.
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Treat Your Mother
Right
Monday, August 1, 2005
7:50 PM
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 You
may remember the sage advice of The Mayor of Carter Country...
No, not "Handle it, handle it, Roy." His
words of wisdom were, "Always be kind to your mother."
Mr. T agrees. So Treat
Your Mother Right and quit yer jibber-jabberin'.
And don't give me no backtalk!
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Snake Plissken
Lives!
Sunday, July 31, 2005
9:30 AM
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 It
was a running joke in Escape from New
York that almost everyone Snake Plissken ran
into thought he was dead. Escape
from New York was released in 1981 and although
it was a fan favorite, it wasn't a block buster.
Everyone pretty much thought that was it for Snake...
that he was dead.
Then 15 years later, Escape
from LA was released. It also developed a cult
following,
but wasn't a block buster.
Everyone pretty much thought that was it for Snake...
that he was dead.
 In
2002 CrossGen published the first two issues
of John Carpenter's Snake Plissken Chronicles. CrossGen
then folded... but Snake wasn't dead. Hurricane
Entertainment published the last two issues.
Everyone pretty much thought that was it for Snake...
that he was dead.
Alias Comics and Hurricane Entertainment
are teaming
to bring back John Carpenter's Snake Plissken
Chronicles this November when a collection
of the original four-issue miniseries
will be published.
Movie and comic fans will love this news
since
the original mini-series sold "strong from start
to finish." For most comic art fans, the cover
alone will be worth the price of admission since
it'll be by Drew Struzan [and as an added treat don't
forget that Tone Rodriguez provided the pencils for
the series].
Snake Plissken is my favorite John Carpenter
character and translates easily to
comics. Who knows, maybe if this collection sells well,
we'll see more of Snake's adventures.
Anyone here think that Snake Plissken is dead?
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Charlotte Over
Atlanta
Friday, July 29, 2005
9:31 PM
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 Last
Saturday I started hyping Shelton
Drum's Heroes Con for 2006. I did this partly
because Wizard had announced that their Atlanta
Convention would be held the same weekend, but mainly
because I love Heroes Con.
This isn't news to anyone who's been reading the ZONE
for any length of time. What may be news though, is the
fact that Wizard has announced that they
will not have the Atlanta Show in 2006, and when
they do schedule it, it won't be the same weekend as Heroes.
And if you think that's great news [and it is --
I want to be able to support both shows, but if I have to
choose, there is no choice for I will be at Heroes!]
then wait till you see
the guests who've already signed up for Heroes 2006!
Man, I can't wait!
If you're still not sold on the idea of attending, then
check out these pictures
and con report from 2005 [some provided by yours
truly].
Hopefully, I'll see you there!
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300: Sin City Style
Thursday, July 28, 2005 8:13 PM
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Most of you probably remember that
I was pretty
stoked when it was reported that Zack
[Dawn
of the Dead] Snyder looked to be taking
the director's spot for the movie adaptaion
of Frank Miller's epic 300.
Harry at Ain't
It Cool News reported
today that Snyder plans to film it like Robert
Rodriguez did with Sin
City - a near shot for shot panel recreation
of the comic. The film has been budgeted
at $60 million with shooting to begin this
fall.
And I, for one, am still stoked!
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Bruce Lee Lives!
Sunday, July 24, 2005 11:45 AM
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On November 27th of this year, Bruce
Lee would have been 65 years old. Amazing
isn't it?
It's hard to imagine Bruce
as ever being older than 32, since that's how old
he was when he died on July 20, 1973. Think about
that for a second. Bruce
Lee died 32
years ago. Bruce
has been dead now for a longer period of
time than he lived.
And yet, you can say his name to almost anyone of any
age and they know who
Bruce
Lee was.
My guess is that he's more popular now
than he was while alive. I say that because each year
a new generation discovers Bruce
Lee and his movies [and he only
made a handful of kung fu movies before he died].
I'm old enough that my first memory
of Bruce
was as Kato on The Green Hornet.
Man, Kato was cool! Of course, that was because
of Bruce's
charisma.
After The Green Hornet, Bruce's
next onscreen performance was with James
Garner in Marlowe. Bruce
had a small role as a martial artist thug.
I also fondly remember my anticipation to
see Bruce
in the tv movie "Longstreet.
" Lee
played the part of a martial artist who trains
a blind insurance investigator
the art of self defense. When the movie spun off into
a short lived tv series, Lee
was brought back for four of the 23 episodes.
It wasn't long after that Bruce
Lee's Fist
of Fury aka The Big Boss hit the US.
It
was quickly followed by The
Chinese Connection and Return
of the Dragon
[with Chuck Norris fighting Bruce
to the death]. Bruce
Lee fever was growing,
but it wasn't until the release of Enter the Dragon
that Bruce
Lee mania really
soared. Sadly, Bruce
Lee died three weeks prior to it's
premiere in the USA.
As you probably know, Enter
the Dragon is the classic Bruce
Lee movie... it's
still the best kung fu movie ever made... and arguments
can be made the best
action movie as well.
After Bruce's
death, producers sought every way possible
to continue to make
money from Bruce
Lee. Green
Hornet episodes were combined and released
as features with Kato getting top
billing! The
Game of Death, the movie that Bruce
was working on when he died was completed
with a look-alike and bad effects
and it was released. Several movies
were released "based" on the life
of Bruce
Lee [but made to look like new Bruce
Lee movies], equally as bad were the movies
starring guys like Bruce Li or Bruce Le
trying to pass as the original. The one excellent documentary
that should be in every Bruce
Lee fan's collection is
Bruce
Lee: A Warrior's Journey.
Earlier this year Bruce
Lee was named "Chinese Film's Bright Star
of the
Century." This November, in honor of Bruce's
65th birthday and bigger than life bronze statue
of Bruce
will be errected in Hong Kong's Avenue of Stars.
You can
read the details HERE.
Yeah it's true that Bruce
Lee died 32 years ago... but it's equally
true that Bruce
Lee
will live forever!
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