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Tampa, Here I
Come!
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 8:06 PM
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 This
weekend I'm heading down to the
Tampa
Comic Book and Toy Convention.
Tim Gordon puts on the show and it's ALWAYS
a blast.
The guest list this time out includes:
Cindy "Tron" Morgan, Marty
"Green Lantern" Nodell, Ethan "Green
Lantern" Van Sciver, Alex "Spider-Man"
Saviuk, Pablo "Conan" Marcos,
and many others. The second Tampa Indie Film Fest
will also run during the show.
If you're in the area, you ought to join
in on the fun!
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MI 3 and Zero
Chance of Failure
Monday, August 22, 2005 6:15 PM
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 Yep,
you're looking at the first pic from
Mission Impossible 3 to show up on the web.
The Hollywood News has the honor of the scoop
and a slightly
bigger version of the
pic as well.
That's Kerri Russell alongside Tom Cruise...
they look like a pretty good team and with JJ Abrahams
[Alias and Lost] directing, it can't
fail!
 And
speaking of things that can't fail, does anyone here
remember when Coca Cola released New Coke?
Talk about a big time mistake.
New Coke was promoted as being THE, well,
new Coke. The idea was that New Coke would
replace the traditional Coke. The powers that be
thought that the hype and "new" taste would
bring in more Coke drinkers without losing the faithful
millions already drinking Coke.
Guess what? New Coke tanked. It was a long time
before the Coca Cola Company tried "new"
recipes. But things have changed. Now you can get Coke,
Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Coke with Lime...
Last month Coke Zero was introduced. It's a diet
cola with no caleries and no after taste.
It's really good. For me, it's my new Coke.
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I'm Glad That
I Waited
Sunday, August 21, 2005 8:46 PM
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 From
the title of this post, you might think
that I'm going to talk about the success of
"The 40 Year Old Virgin," but I'm not.
Instead, I'm here to talk down the "bare
bones" dvd
release of "Sin CIty." As most
of you know, I'm a huge fan of Robert
Rodriguez, Frank Miller and especially the
Sin City series of graphic novels. The mix
of Rodriguez and Miller with one of the best
casts in recent memory made Sin City a
must have for my dvd collection.
I thought long and hard about whether
or not
to get the current "bare bones" edition
and
finally decided to wait. I figured that the
deluxe edition would be out maybe as soon
as Christmas, I'd already seen Sin City twice
and would be taking a stand against this kind
of marketing.
Beatty bought his copy and really
tempted me to break down and get one as well.
But ultimately I didn't. And in
a weird way I felt like I wasn't supporting Rodriguez,
Miller and Sin City.
Yeah, I felt that way until I read that Rodriguez
"openly loathes" the "bare bones"
edition. Rodriguez even
goes on to say, "I hate it when they do
double-dip stuff, so I
don't put any extra **** on there at all so people will
hopefully go, 'Ah, I'll just wait.'
So how long will we have to wait? "December
[or] not too far afterwards" is the word
from the man himself.
Now you know why I'm glad that I decided
to wait... and four months compared to
40 years is a piece of cake.
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Robert Rodriguez-O-Rama
Thursday, August 18, 2005 7:11 PM
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 Robert
Rodriguez talks about his favorite films,
why we'll never see another Spy Kids movie, why
Stallone would make a great Batman,
the role that
he had planned for Mickey Rourke in From
Dusk Till
Dawnand a whole lot more an interview HERE.
And in the Robert Rodriguez interview HERE
you'll
learn about the casting and storyline for
Sin City 2
[and maybe 3], the double feature that he's
doing
with Quentin Tarantino, and the part he had planned
for Quentin in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and even
more!
That should hold you over until next time!
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Like Cheap Whiskey,
Very Nasty and Satisfying
Wednesday, August 17, 2005 6:27 PM
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 Today
while surfing the net I came across a
couple of items that should interest most ZONErs.
The first is that several authors [including Stephen
King, John Grisham, Peter Straub, Neil
Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, Michael Chabon
and others] are participating in an auction for charity
where the winning bidders will get to name a character
in each author's novel. How cool is that? For more details
click HERE.
The second item of interest is directly related
to the first, in that Stephen King's particpation
in the auction involves a new novel titled Cell.
King describes Cell as "a violent
piece of work, which comes complete with zombies
set in motion by bad cell phone signals that destroy the
human brain. Like cheap whiskey, it's very nasty and
extremely satisfying." Stephen King and
zombies! Count me in.
And come to think of it... maybe I should take a shot at
the auction as well. A zombie named "Big
Beatty" is just too cool not to give it a go.
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Worth a Watch?
You Be the Jury!
Monday, August 15, 2005 7:49 PM
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 A
few weeks ago, Chris
Mills listed some movies that aren't on dvd,
but should be. I, the Jury starring Armand Assante
as Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer was one of them.
I couldn't agree more. I saw the movie when it was first
released and loved it.
I wish I was writing to say that Assante's Hammer has
finally made it to dvd, but I'm not.
Instead I'm writing to say that you can see it on the FOX
Movie Channel this month. I, the Jury isn't
a classic or for everyone. But if you're a fan of
Spillane, Assante, or Barbara Carrera
then... you might want
to give it a go.
I know I will.
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A Decade Later,
Your Words Still Sting
Sunday, August 14, 2005 9:00 AM
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 Mike
Hoffman is an artist who has strong opinions. Unfortunately
most of what he posts are attacks on other artists that
he considers hacks, no-talents, etc. Hoffman
has been ranting about many of the biggest name artists
in the comic business for several months now. Not
only does he denegrate their talents, but at the
same time he puffs up his own.
And it's not that Hoffman lacks talent. He's very
good at what he does. And what he does is paint and draw
in the style of Frazetta. That in and of itself is
not a bad thing. Like anything, it is what it is.
Hoffman's style has stirred up a lot of debate
among fans and pros alike. Some love it,
some hate it. At any rate, everyone has an opinion. And
you know how opinionated Big Beatty is. Well, it
seems that at some point in the last ten or fifteen years,
Beatty said something that got under Hoffman's
skin. Well... it finally worked its way out in a a
recent rant posted on his
website:
And then there's "Big" John Beatty, who went
into a blind fury over my artwork way back in the 1990s.
I'd post a pic of this moron here, but a Google search turns
up almost nothing on this clown. Great career as an "inker"
ya got going there, John!
 John
got wind of Hoffman's comments and responded:
I've had a great career as an "inker" and
enjoyed it for many years...now I've moved on to doing other
work, which is of no interest to you, or many others so,
I'll leave it at that.
You're a scary talent that comics and illustration
will lose, but I'm sure your life, as mine, will continue
on and hopefully for the better, as I can see staying in
the business you are in is making your life practically
unbearable...according to what I read in your weblog.
Your a great humorist and I enjoy your rants very
much...really...I figure you are working towards a new career
goal in commentary, instead of art for your future?
Anyway...big "ups" for the mention and
for the memory that I must have left on you since you've
been stewing about it since 1990. Finally got the balls
to come out and say something in 2005?
I know that someone must scan all of your email due
to the fact that you must have thin skin or something, so
if this never does reach you, that's fine too.
Have a great life outside of the USA and I hope this
means that there really will be a "Hoffman International"
once you and the family are outside of the country?
That is if you ever really leave instead of just
talking a lot about it?
Best wishes-
-John
I wonder what Beatty said that's been bugging Hoffman
for all these years...
I wonder if this is the last we've heard from the two of
them...
But most of all I wonder if this means that I'll never
get a Hoffman Stallone sketch for my gallery.
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Maybe 2005 Just
Got A Little Better
Wednesday, August 10, 2005 5:21 PM
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 2005
has NOT been the greatest year for movies.
Sure there was Sin
City, and War of the Worlds. And yeah, King
Kong is coming. Heck, even The
Transporter 2 and The
New World might be good... but the year overall
has been pretty blah.
So in a year like this, when a movie
comes in under the radar and looks to be a winner,
ya just gotta love it.
A History of Violence could be
THAT movie. Take a look at the one
sheet that was just released. Check out the trailer
and clip -- heck look all over the
official site.
Maybe 2005 just got a little
better.
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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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