This is cool

Longtime fan John-Paul Checkett recently had an article published in the magazine VAN HELSING'S JOURNAL. That in itself is pretty cool, but check this out: the article in question is up for a Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award! Check it out HERE! Scroll down to the "Best Magazine Article" category, and if you feel like voting, go right ahead!

Congrats, very cool John-Paul and best of luck!

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID MOVIE!

WOOO HOOOO:


If you're not reading these books, well, you're missing out on some high comedy. This movie looks great!


And of course we carry the books. You HAVE read them, haven't you?

The most awesome Star Wars costume ever

This one comes from alert reader Rich Spidle... the most awesome Star Wars costume EVER, Scott Holden's TaunTaun costume:

"Three years ago I decided I wanted to make a Tauntaun costume for the Zone Ball in Sacramento. My wife advised me that it would be best to start as soon as I had finished building the house."

CLICK HERE to see the step-by-step process. It's amazing. Some people are 1) incredibly talented and 2) have too much free time on their hands, for which I'm very glad.

Resident Star Wars Uber-Geek Nicky, what do you think?

The Lucas Legacy

George Lucas' influence on American pop culture is undeniable... witness this collection of artistic interpretations of the iconic Stormtrooper from the STAR WARS film series:

CLICK HERE!

Hat tip to Rich Spidle for the link!

The Art of Disney Animation

I recently ran across this amazing site of pre-production art for most of Disney's classic animated films... click HERE and browse to your heart's content.


Wonderful stuff - just an incredible wealth of material...


Go waste a couple of hours!

Special Guests at the Comix Connection Halloween Sale at the Mechanicsburg store!

This just in:

Comix Connection - Mechanicsburg is proud to welcome publisher/editor of VAN HELSING'S JOURNAL and SCARLET magazines Harry Long and author John-Paul Checkett on Saturday, October 31st from 1:00PM - 4:00PM during Comix Connection's fabled Halloween Sale!


The Mysterious Mr. Long is the publisher and editor of VAN HELSING'S JOURNAL and the editor of SCARLET: THE FILM MAGAZINE, two publications devoted to cinematic horror/fantasy/sci-fi. He has also contributed articles to many publications devoted to classic movies.


John-Paul Checkett is a licensed psychologist and a contributor to both Scarlet and Van Helsing's Journal. His recent articles have explored Werner Herzog's horror films and the cinematic history of the the lesbian vampire Carmilla.

Come out and meet Harry and John-Paul and gain some insights into horror, mystery and noir fiction in movies and on television, and also the creative process and influences behind the genres! That's at Comix Connection - Mechanicsburg from 1PM to 4PM this coming Saturday!

More info about the Comix Connection Halloween Sale HERE!

ASTRO BOY trailer!

Woot!



Thanks to Mike Bollinger for the linky!

Character photos from Tim Burton's upcoming ALICE IN WONDERLAND movie

Although I think Tim Burton is a terrifically overrated director (it's just me seriously please don't yell at me), I thought these looked amazingly cool:






That White Queen is completely awesome by the way. Whoo. She has a hint of Vlad Tepes to her doesn't she?



(And I've always liked the somewhat surreal"Alice In Wonderland"-themed video for Tom Petty's DON'T COME AROUND HERE NO MORE.)

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE in 30 seconds

Behold:



You're welcome.

Disney's STAR WARS Weekend Posters

Check this out:


It's one of thirteen awesome posters for the annual special Star Wars event held at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida! Check out the rest HERE! Very cool and whimsical. Thanks to Mike Bollinger for the link!

GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT preview!

Check it out:



Veddy cool.

The Wilhelm Scream

A compilation of Wilhelm Screams (possibly recorded by Purple People Eater's Sheb Wooley) used in many many films:



What is a "Wilhelm Scream"? CLICK HERE to find out.

Next time you're watching a movie at the theater, play the "Wilhelm Game". I'll throw my JujyFruits at you, but still.

Where The Wild Things Are!

Check out this trailer for the upcoming Where The Wild Things Are movie, based on the classic children's book by Maurice Sendak:



The movie, directed by Spike Jonze is set for release October 16th 2009.

Thanks for the heads-up everybody who sent a link!
(Strangely enough, I never read this book until I had my own kids, so it doesn't resonate with me as strong as it does with a LOT of you.)

Smiley face on Mars

As seen in the WATCHMEN graphic novel:



And as seen on MARS:



Check out GOOGLE MARS and then type in "Galle Crater" to see for yourself.

Pretty neat, eh?

All WATCHMEN, all the time

Online Surveys & Market Research

TJ watches the WATCHMEN

Check out this cool graphic Manager Joe painted on the front window of Comix Connection - Mechanicsburg:



Now where have I seen that image before...

More amazing WATCHMEN stuff

Found at The New Frontiersman website.

When you go to that site, click on the quarter on the right near the top and PLAY the 1980's-style WATCHMEN arcade game! It didn't work for me in FireFox, but it did in Internet Explorer. All Hail MICROSOFT!

Less than 18 days to go.

I surrender

There is no way I would have predicted this:


CANDYLAND: THE MOVIE!

Read more than you need to know HERE.

Hear that muffled sobbing sound? That's the collective consciousness of all the unemployed Hollywood writers out there, starving.

(Although I gotta admit precedent-setting CLUE: THE MOVIE was actually pretty good.)

The Keene Act & YOU (1977)

This WATCHMEN stuff is just so incredible... a lot of effort is being put into this deep, deep background stuff:



As always, found on the NEW FRONTIERSMAN website.

"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"

Not incredibly action-packed or compelling, but here's the GI JOE movie trailer that aired during the Superbowl:



Heh.

Hat tip to Chris Yother for the link! Thanks!

Man, this WATCHMEN stuff is killing me! BRING IT ON ALREADY!

Check this out:

NBS Nightly News with Ted Philips, March 11th 1970



Found at THIS SITE which is completely awesome. (HERE if you Twitter.)

(Hat-tip to Tom Hayes for pointing me to this site, and to Jason Resh for pointing me to this video! Thanks guys!)

At last, our long national nightmare is over

Well, we can all breathe a huge sigh of relief... behold:

Warner Bros. and Fox have resolved their dispute over "Watchmen," with the studios scheduled to present a settlement to Judge Gary Feess this morning and request that the case be dismissed.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the deal is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the film's boxoffice grosses; Fox will not be a co-distributor on the film, nor will it co-own the "Watchmen" property, but it will share in revenue derived from it. The studios released a joint statement last night.

Click HERE to read the entire Hollywood Reporter article. It's about lawyers earning their pay.

It just keeps getting better

Mike Bollinger sent me a link to this Japanese WATCHMEN trailer:



It pretty much confirms my suspicions about the Comedian and JFK!

Now let's see if I'm right about a B-29 and Doctor Manhattan!

New WATCHMEN trailer

with commentary from director Zach Snyder:



(I know FOX and Warner Brothers are fighting over who has the rights to WATCHMEN right now, but I am not a lawyer so I don't know what will happen. I assume Warner Brothers will pay Fox a fat pile of money.)

(Thanks for the link, Jason Resh!)

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE trailer!

WOOT! The new X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE trailer! I think this looks awesome... it's got a bit of the Barry Windsor Smith WEAPON X storyline!


CLICK HERE to see it in all it's glory!

R.I.P. The Ackermonster

Sad news... Forrest J. Ackerman has died.


From his Wikipedia entry:

Forrest J Ackerman (November 24, 1916 - December 4, 2008)^[1] was an American collector of science fiction books and movie memorabilia and a science fiction fan. Ackerman, known as "Forry" or "4e" or "4SJ", is influential not only in the formation, organization, and spread of science fiction fandom, but has long also been a key figure in the wider cultural acceptance of science fiction as a literary, art and film genre. Ackerman is also known as the editor-writer of the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, as well as an occasional author, actor, producer (Vampirella), and literary agent.

Who amongst us hasn't been influenced by Forry? A sad day indeed.

SUPERMAN - How it should have ended

Steve Leach sent me this:



Crack me up.

New STAR TREK TRAILER!

This actually looks pretty cool:



What do you think?

(ADDED 11/19: A couple of readers have pointed me to THIS SITE for a much better version of the trailer... unfortunately I can't embed it on the CC website, so I have to send you away from here to view it...)

New WATCHMEN trailer!

Here's an awesome new trailer for the upcoming WATCHMEN movie:



Woot!

SIX new WATCHMEN posters!

Check these out!







Could this be the best comic book movie ever? I think it just might.
(Thanks to Mike Bollinger for the heads-up!)

Young America Horror Club to screen WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS!

This just in:

The Young America Horror Club will present a special Monster Matinee this Saturday (October 4) at 1:30 PM in Weiss 235 on the campus of Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA. The film featured will be War of the Gargantuas, one of the most beloved giant monster movies of all time. The film is for viewers of all ages, and a number of children will be attending. Admission is free, and prizes will be given to attendees.

What can be better than a FREE giant monster movie on the big screen?

Walt Disney Magic to Come!

The Walt Disney Co. showed an industry crowd an showcase of its upcoming films that included a sequel to its 1982 sci-fi flick "Tron", a brief snippet from "Tron 2" featured a louder, crisper and more thrilling bike race and a cameo of an older Jeff Bridges, who starred in the original version.



Also announced was a "Lone Ranger" remake with Johnny Depp as Tonto. Depp, who received top billing for the role of Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, will also play the Mad Hatter in a Tim Burton remake of "Alice in Wonderland."



Jim Carrey will be starring in his first Disney film, a 3-D motion capture remake of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," in which he plays seven characters including Ebenezer Scrooge.

I'm also super excited about a new hand-drawn Disney film, as I miss that department of the films. Oprah Winfrey will be the voice of the character of Eudora in the hand-drawn animated movie set in New Orleans, "The Princess and the Frog." The film features an African American heroine, Tiana. Winfrey plays Tiana's mother in the movie set for release on Christmas in 2009.

All good news for the future of Disney, and also for fans of the movies!

Darth Vader's REAL voice

Strangely enough he has an accent not unlike those found on 21st Century Earth on a group of islands called the United Kingdom:



I remember when David Prowse (along with Jeremy Bulloch/Boba Fett) was a guest at Comix Connection-Camp Hill back in the '90s... David's voice was a bit deeper than that due to adding 20 years to it. Those were some fun times, lemme tell ya. To this day I still brag that BOBA FETT BOUGHT ME A GUINNESS! 'Nuff said.

(Thanks to Mike Bollinger for the link!)

A peek at new WATCHMEN movie posters

Check them out by clicking HERE!

I'm pretty sure they are identical to the original Dave-Gibbons-art WATCHMEN portfolio images, which were also the same images that appeared as ads in DC comics back in 1985 or so...

(Thanks to Mike Bollinger for the linky.)

Apparently there's a new BATMAN movie...

So did anyone see THE DARK KNIGHT? What didja think of it?

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY -> WATCHMEN TRAILER!

I actually wept a little when I saw this:

CLICK HERE TO SEE AWESOME WATCHMEN TRAILER ALREADY!

I never thought I'd see WATCHMEN done right on the big screen, but for goodness sakes, every scene in this trailer is torn right from the comic!

2009: The Year of WATCHMEN!

(Thanks to Jared for the heads-up, and thanks for the image Mike B!)

SPIRIT movie looking better?

OK, this was actually pretty cool. Longtime fan Mike Bollinger sent me THIS LINK to the new SPIRIT by Frank Miller trailer... what do you think?

ORANGE ALERT! Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel to star in PRISONER remake!

Well, it looks like they picked some good ones to star in the remake of my FAVORITE TV SHOW EVER, The PRISONER! Behold:



CLICK HERE!

Caviezel, who shot to fame playing the role of the idealist private Witt in The Thin Red Line, has been cast in the Patrick McGoohan role as Number Six, the hero who finds himself trapped in a mysterious and surreal place known as The Village, with no memory of how he arrived.

McKellen, who is best known globally for playing Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, will take the role of Number Two, the sinister head of The Village.

WOOT! More info on The Prisoner HERE and HERE!

Be seeing you...

Punisher War Zone teaser trailer

Longtime fan Mike Bollinger sent this link to the new PUNISHER WAR ZONE teaser trailer...

CLICK HERE to view.

Pretty cool looking, not a lot of clue as to the plot besides your basic Punisher revenge story, but it's gotta be better than the previous PUNISHER movie, right?

More WATCHMEN goodness

Longtime fan Jason Resh forwarded this awesome picture along to me today:


(Found HERE on aintitcool.)

It's a still from the WATCHMEN movie of The MINUTEMEN, that universe's "Golden Age" 1940s characters!

The WATCHMEN movie just keeps looking better and better!

Thanks Jason, and keep those cards and letters coming, kids!

IRON MAN blasts the box office

And has this to say:



Thanks to longtime fan Mike Bollinger for the image. Apparently it's from a Marvel greeting card from the 1970s. Here's the rest of them:



Too cool! Thanks, Mike!

R2-D2 projector and more!

Check this out... a totally cool R2-D2 video projector!



CLICK HERE to see the video!

Thanks to longtime fan Chris Heilman for the link!

DARK KNIGHT goodness

Here's the "old" trailer for the upcoming DARK KNIGHT movie:



Even better, the DARK KNIGHT trailer done in LEGO™s, (sent in by MegoSteve):



Wasn't that awesome?

OK, for those of you who haven't seen it, HERE'S the NEW trailer of the upcoming DARK KNIGHT movie! Thanks to all of you who sent this along!

Look what's coming! Sleestacks and Batman!

Longtime comic fan Mark Lamotte sent me the following cool pics:


From the upcoming LAND OF THE LOST movie! Woot!


And the new advance poster for the upcoming DARK KNIGHT movie!

Thanks, Mark! Keep those cards and letters coming, kids!

That's the Spirit!

Wait. That's the Spirit?

You tell me:



So what do you think?

Many thanks to all of you who sent me this link! Keep those cards and letters coming!

(Who's the Spirit? Shame on you! CLICK HERE to learn some comic history.)

REPO MAN sequel!

Of sorts. As a fan of the movie REPO MAN, I'm seriously looking forward to this:


From the Amazon review:

1980s cult film Repo Man gets an official sequel - in graphic novel form... with a script by original writer/director Alex Cox. Cox explains: "After REPO MAN, I became interested in the idea of a sequel. Specifically - what had happened to Otto, during his ten-year absence from earth? And what would he make of the changes which had taken place in his absence? Otto, it would appear, has been held prisoner, in great luxury, on the planet Mars. Now he has returned to earth, and changed his name -- to Waldo." Waldo, recently returned from Mars, is forced to choose where his allegiance lies -- his boss, Duke Mantee, or the goddess, Velma; money or knowledge; the past or the future; Earth...or Mars?

Reserve your copy today, as they should be in stores soon! I know I want one.