These Guys?

This is a billboard I would pass every morning after dropping Zack off at daycare. Since we're taking him somewhere else starting Monday, I took this yesterday morning. It's underlit, as the sun was in the wrong direction, but I don't know when, if ever, I'll go back to get a better one. You may want to click it for bigness.

This billboard cracks me up. Look how excited the ad geniuses at Hamer Motors got about sculpting the personality of their inferior rivals Mega Motors. Mega Motors is mega, so it must be a huge company that doesn't care about the little guy -- despite its size, however, their entire staff can be personified by these two characters. "Jerry," who is loud and obnoxioius, will likely be unconcerned about your car's problems because he's constantly on the phone busy with all the wheeling and dealing that is typical of his kind of power position. And then there's hapless "Doug," the mechanic who's so stupid he's going to work on your car with just a hammer and saw. Plus, he's totally intimidated by Jerry.

What really cracks me up is that they thought of these characters, figured out their props and personalities, hired some actors to play them in a photo shoot, stuck them up there with their names in weird, goofy typeface, found an appropriately scornful yet different typeface for "Mega Motors," and then, on the other side of the billboard, on which they get to present their carefully crafted depiction of their superior knowledge and service, they've got...

nothing. Just their name. They were so giggly about making their fictional rivals come to life they reduced themselves to a blank cypher. The catch phrase "experience the difference" becomes largely meaningless, as we're given nothing at all to go by except that they're not like "These Guys." Are they a crack team of well-kempt professionals in snappy uniforms with today's high-tech tools hanging off their belts, or are they a rabid warehouse full of poo-stained, screaching monkeys? Either one fits the bill. Throw us a frickin' bone, Hamer!

It was bothering me so I checked into it...

I didn't sleep well last night because something just didn't add up. I couldn't for the life of me think any logical reason why Rex Morgan MD would dress up like a clown so I did a little research. Turns out the strip JPX used was taken from this website and the clown getup was was added in by a blogging yukster*. Take a look below at the original:



And then the modified version:



Octopunk deserves bonus points for identifying "Zippy".

Here's the original version of JPX's selection:



That is all. Carry on.

*That was the first time I've ever used the word "yukster" and it felt pretty good.

Caption Contest results, early!

Okay, I lied. I know that I was going to allow the contest to go until midnight but I decided to post the results now because I had an unexpected 2 hours to kill at work and I decided that I might as well get paid to do this!

I love you guys! You really stepped up to the plate for our little captain contest. As the entries trickled in I felt like I was reading a genuine comics page albeit a sarcastic version from an alternate universe. As some of you have told me, this game is not as easy as it first appears. I too found myself struggling to come up with anything for the Archie strip, and Rex Morgan threw me for a loop as well. Thank you for making me laugh all week long! In no particular order these are my favorite from each strip:



Catfreeek made me laugh with the hilarious suggestion that Peter wears the Spider-Man costume in bed and that even a superhero has his limitations!

The Amazing Spider-Man

Panel 1

"Seriously Peter, you need to get over it."

Panel 2

(Peter mumbling incoherently)

Panel 3

"It happens to everyone! Seriously! It's not like the whole world has to know Spider-man has erectile dysfunction!"




The Archie strip was especially challenging. I struggled with it until the 11th hour. It was a toss-up between Stan and JSP but in the end I went with JSP for being the first one to come up with the hallucinogen humor.

Archie

Panel 1:

"Coach Kleats survived the operation and is expected back at school next fall. Can you believe that Mr. Weatherbee chose Archie to take his place in the meantime?"

"Why am I sitting on the ground?"

"I just hope Archie comes up with a solid plan to beat Rival High on Sunday."

Panel 2: "Hey Arch, wanna buy some pot? It makes you creative."

Archie: "Well... now that you mention it, if I'm gonna coach the girls to victory over the River Rats I could use a few clever ideas."

Panel 3:

"Urban purple marshmallows danced the tango as I awaited the arrival of my space train. The butterflies amused themselves by critiquing the omelette that no one dared to eat."

Panel 4:

"Holy crap, this stuff is strong!"



Octo nailed the Hagar strip with a perfect gut-punching joke! When you really think about it, he’s right! Hagar’s wife would probably be shocked if she knew what his job truly entailed.

Hagar the Horrible

Panel 1

Helga: As a welcome back from a successful raid, I present your Hero's Sundae!

Panel 2

Silence

Panel 3

Hagar: I raped a whole family this morning.



I must admit that I pondered a dead Mr. Wilson gag but DCD nailed it perfectly! I want to see more from you, my dear!

Dennis the Menace

"Now remember Joey - if anyone asks, you haven't seen Mr. Wilson in days."



Whirlygirl’s stab at writing a Rex Morgan was absolutely perfect! If you really look at the strip while you read her words you will appreciate how well the rhythm of her prose matches the panels. I love the suggestion that Rex makes house calls and, even more, I love the idea that Rex is such a cheapskate that he goes to flea markets to acquire his attire. In the end I made Whirlygirl the winner because not only did she make me laugh but she did so with one of the more challenging strips. Congrats, Whirly!

Rex Morgan

Panel 1

Woman: Dr. Morgan, thank you for seeing me on such short notice.

Morgan: I expect those hemorrhoids to clear up in a jiffy.

Panel 2

Woman: One more thing...is there a clown convention in town?

Panel 3

Morgan: I have to stop shopping at flea markets.

I know 50 was busy but where are the rest of you (*cough cough AC, H-Town, Tami, Trevor, Landshark…)? Until next week, my friends, enjoy your weekend. I look forward to seeing Whirly’s picks!

What, you want the original strips? Without further ado,

The Monkees' Head: 'Our fans couldn't even see it'

From usatoday, Davy Jones doesn't really want to talk about Head. The former Monkees heartthrob is happy to talk about his old home in Manchester, his new home in Florida, his racehorses, his theatre career – anything, basically, except the cryptic, psychedelic art movie that, in 1968, marked the end of the Monkees' short tenure as the biggest rock band in America. "We were pawns in something we helped create but had no control over," he says crossly. "We should have made Ghostbusters, OK?"

Head could never be mistaken for Ghostbusters. It's a fourth-wall-shattering, stream-of-consciousness black comedy that mocks war, America, Hollywood, television, the music business and the Monkees themselves. These days, it is fondly remembered as one of the weirdest and best rock movies ever made, and a harbinger of the so-called New Hollywood. Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright are both fans. DJ Shadow and Saint Etienne have sampled its dialogue. According to director Bob Rafelson, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones both requested private screenings, while Thomas Pynchon attended a screening disguised as a plumber. But to the fans who had made the Monkees household names, it might as well never have existed. "The movie dropped like a ball of dark star," says bassist Peter Tork. "The simile of a rock in the water is too mild for how badly that movie did."

Full article here

Cool Green Lantern banner

Even Trump was impressed

Full trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon

X-Men: First Class full theatrical trailer

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 full trailer!

HHD: Caption Challenge!

Wow, has it been 7 days already? Actually, no, it’s only been 6 days. Anyway, I am continuing JSP’s marvelous comic strip contest introduced last week. Below are the strips that I have chosen with dialogue removed thanks to JSP and his magical Photoshop skills. Choosing strips that would generate interesting dialogue proved to be more challenging than I initially believed. I hope you have fun with these! I will take submissions up until Friday midnight (est) and will hopefully post the results in a timely manner. By extending the contest I hope to see some pithy posts from everyone. Only one post each for each strip please!

Hagar the Horrible is set in the Middle Ages in a coastal village somewhere in Norway and is a loose interpretation of Viking and medieval Scandinavian life. The strip waxes and wanes between two gags; Hagar is either being shamed by his battleaxe wife, Helga, or he is engaged in some conflict as he pillages the countryside. Twenty-seven years after its debut Hagar the Horrible remains largely unfunny and redundant.


Dennis the Menace has been around since 1951. Recently while helping my parents clean up their basement I stumbled upon an old scrapbook of my father’s that he made when he was 8 or 9 years old. Within the pages he had pasted a lot of comic strips and among them were a bunch of Dennis the Menaces. I can now report that the strip was no funnier 60 years ago than it is today. Dennis the Menace rankles me in a way other strips don’t. We are supposed to believe that he is “cute”, “precious”, whatever; when the reality is that Dennis is a brat growing up in an environment that provides no consequences for his endless misdeeds. He breaks everything, he’s filthy all the time, and he terrorizes his elderly neighbors by constantly trespassing and causing mayhem.


I make no secret of the fact that I love reading Archie comics. The comic book debuted in 1941 and the comic strip started in 1946. Believe it or not the strips from the 40s are excellent. Written and drawn by Bob Montana the early strips were clever and a bit darker than the Archie comics of today, which have devolved into predictable gags and punch lines. I won’t go into details about the world of Archie as most have some familiarity with it. If you don’t know a thing about Archie comics just know that Archie constantly swings back and forth in an endless love triangle with the rich, self-absorbed Veronica Lodge and the sweet girl-next-door Betty Cooper. His best friend is sarcastic, beatnik Jughead Jones and the stories are generally set at Riverdale High where the gang is involved in endless academic hijinks.




The Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip has been around since 1977 and was featured heavily on this blog a few years ago. I’ve been following the strip daily for about 8 years (see also Rex Morgan) and can definitely state that its the same story written over and over again; Peter Parker is trying to spend some down-time with his hot wife Mary Jane and his attempts at leading a normal life are frequently interrupted by an endless array of super-villains.


Created by a psychiatrist in 1948 Rex Morgan follows the adventures of family doctor “Rex Morgan”. The strip occasionally deals with patient issues/themes but more often than not Rex and his wife June become mired in the problems of their friends and colleagues. I’ve been following the strip for years after being curious about “serious” comic strips. The stories are glacially paced, each lasting a few months, with little payoff but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I get sucked into them.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Doing Terminator 5, Sequel From Fast Five Director

From cinemablend, The years as California Governor may have moved Arnold Schwarzenegger closer to the middle, but thankfully, they have not squashed his will to destroy all in his path, especially now that Skynet is active. The action star will return to ruin lives as his most beloved character, The Terminator, in at least one but likely two films in the near future.

The move comes almost a year after Pacificor purchased the rights to the franchise for what seemed like an astounding figure of nearly thirty million. With Arnold back in play, that gamble no longer seems like such a foolhardy investment, and the company will make its pitch to Lionsgate, Universal and Sony later this afternoon. Deadline is speculating the Terminator package will sell for upwards of twenty-five to thirty million at minimum, but the ultimate price tag shouldn’t really affect the finished product. Anyone willing to shell out that kind of money will follow it up with at minimum a hundred and fifty million dollar investment to do this thing right. You don’t coax Arnold Schwarzenegger back into the game and then pinch pennies and go cheap. People will expect Terminator 5: He’s Back or whatever the hell it’s going to be called to be a balls to the wall orgasm of death, explosions and eye mutilation.

Beyond Arnold, the only other person officially on board in this package is Robert Cort as producer, but there’s been a ton of internet buzz over the last few weeks that Fast Five helmer Justin Lin would direct a sequel whether or not The Kindergarten Cop was involved or not. Expect that little rumor to be confirmed or disconfirmed as soon as a studio opens the bank and buys the rights.

Christopher Hitchens is a bad ass.

Couldn't make a conference but wrote a cool letter instead.

Cool fan-made Tron 3 trailer

I miss practical fx

(via aintitcoolnews)

What movie do you tell people you've seen that you haven't?

From worstpreviews, In a Lovefilm (a UK video rental company) poll, 1,500 people were asked to name movies that they have lied about seeing. It turned out that almost 1 out of 3 named "The Godfather" as the film they have claim to have seen.

The rest of the top five most lied about movies are "Casablanca," "Taxi Driver," "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Reservoir Dogs." Researchers found that four out of five people lied to impress other people.

"Whether it is a small white lie about having seen a cult classic or nodding along to friends as they recount the infamous horse head scene in 'The Godfather,' there are some films that we just do not want to admit we have not watched," said Lovefilm editor.

Top 10 Lied About Films:

1. The Godfather (30%)

2. Casablanca (13%)

3. Taxi Driver (11%)

4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (9%)

5. Reservoir Dogs (8%)

6. This Is Spinal Tap (7%)

7. Apocalypse Now (6%)

8. Goodfellas (5%)

9. Blade Runner (5%)

10. The Great Escape (4%)

Question: What movie have you lied about seeing?

The Avengers starts shooting today

The Avengers features Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man; Chris Hemsworth as Thor; Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk; Chris Evans as Captain America; Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury; Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow; Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye; Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill; Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson; Tom Hiddleston as Loki; and Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig. The Avengers will be released just over a year from now, on May 4, 2012.
Via slashfilm

Box Office

Easter went to the birds. Fox’s animated adventure Rio led the box office for the second weekend in a row, earning $26.8 million according to studio estimates. That’s a slim 32 percent drop for the G-rated film, which was produced for $90 million by Blue Sky Studios, of Ice Age fame. The tropical toon held up so well in part because most kids were out of school on Friday, giving the film a larger-than-normal start to the weekend. In just two weeks, Rio, which features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway as the world’s last two blue macaws, has collected an impressive $81.3 million.

Read the full report here

HUMP DAY RESULTS!!!

This is going to be one of those long winded, drawn out results posts but hey, it's Easter Sunday and it's doubtful that anyone else will post today so shut up and continue reading.

Oh boy! I know it's a good hump day when I can't stop giggling at work and there was much to giggle about this week. JPX liked the caption concept so much that he suggested that it replace our regular weekly poetry slam. I agree that it has a lot of potential and that the poetry thing has has lost some steam. However, ultimately our Wednesday competitions should simply serve as an enjoyable way to pass the time in the middle of the work week. I propose that it should be the responsibility of the winner come up with something that's fun and encourages participation. It can be a haiku contest, a caption contest, a short story narrative like the old "Finish it Friday's" or anything else our little hearts desire. I'd like to hear your thoughts. The evolution of Horrorthon is at stake.

In addition to addressing each comic individually, I'm also going to reveal them in their original form. Let's dig in, shall we?

MARY WORTH


When you think about it, it's pretty remarkable how Mary Worth has the ability to put you to sleep in a mere 2 panels. In a recent experiment inspired by morbid curiosity, I read 3 months worth of The Worth and all that transpired was 1) they flew a kite and 2) they talked about enjoying the simple things in life. That's IT. Who reads this shit? Who, in this day and age, gets all excited to pick up the daily paper to check in on a snippet of cartoon gossip? Crazy old people, JPX and myself, that's who.

From JPX:

Panel 1:

“And then I said to Blanche, ‘Blanche, you have to get with the times, I know it’s difficult adapting to new things, but look at me, if you had told me a year ago that I would be using email I would have thought you were crazy’…”

“Mmmm Hmmm”

Panel 2:

“I know technology can be scary but we have to keep up with it, right? Just yesterday my grandson told me that he wants to teach me how to use Face Book so I can stay abreast of everyone’s busy lives. Harold, can you imagine me, Mary Worth, using Face Book?

“For the love of God would you please stop talking?”

Hahaha! I was ready to declare JPX the winner right then and there but then AC pointed out Mary's missing lower legs:

Panel 1:

"Harold, i've had my legs cut off below the knee, as a gesture of love for you!"

"Where are the legs?"

Panel 2:

"Why, at the hospital, of course!"

"But it's the legs i was interested in."

Winner: JPX by a hair

MARMADUKE


Ahh, Marmaduke, how I hate thee. Ever since Handsome Stan mentioned 'Duke's (assumed) foul odor I've never been able to look at him the same way.

JPX: “Why…didn’t…I…change…the…batteries…in…the…carbon…monoxide…detector…last…winter? Feeling…sleepy…"

AC: "Phil, i think someone's been eating his own shit again!" [Freakin' hilarious]

Whirly: "I think the condom broke!" [I don't get it but I like it.]

Tony: "Do I smell peanut butter?"

Julie: You're a great lover!

Handsome Stan: "Why can't I just masturbate in the living room in peace?"

Octopunk: "It is TIME. I REVEAL myself as your LORD. CLEANSE the neighborhood. KILL them ALL. But first get me some SNAUSAGES."

From yours truly: “Phil, get your big fucking dog out of the living room before I kill him. *sigh* Nothing like waking up from a lovely nap to the sensation of warm, fart breath on the back of my neck...”

Catfreek: "I've been stuck with this smelly dog since 1954, that's 399 dog years! Why won't he die? Whhhhyyyy!!!"

Winner: Tie between AC & Catfreeek

FOR BETTER OR WORSE


A more appropriate name would be "For Better or Worse (But Worse More Often Than Not)".

Whirlygirl:

Frame 1 -

Husband: Woo-hoo the Red Sox beat the Angels 10-1.

Frame 2 -

Wife: You're so insensitive! Don't you care about Little Susie? Look at her sparkling eyes, and cute button nose.

Frame 3 -

Husband: I thought the picture came with the frame?

Octopunk:

Panel 1

My face is a mask of anxiety and hopelessness. I can't change it. Even you, reading your paper, look anxious.

Panel 2

Watch. All I'm doing now is reaching for this picture on the night table, but you look like I might be going for a gun.

Panel 3

Note my despair as I look at this random baby. I look like the face on the album cover for The Wall. What's the big fucking deal?

Catfreeek:

Panel 1

"So John, I was thinking about all the years to come with little Michael."

Panel 2

"I conclude that the bad will outweigh the good. The sheer cost alone will break us, not to mention the aggravation and gray hair."

Panel 3

"Do you think it's too late to put him up for adoption?"

JPX:

Panel 1

“I can’t believe how fast the kids are growing up, I feel like we just got married yesterday”

Panel 2

“I know, sometimes I miss the carefree days before motherhood but I wouldn’t change a thing about our lives”

Panel 3

“Did you fart?”

All four of those were positively delightful but JPX's was perfect. It completely captured the bittersweet sappiness of the comic in the first two frames and then pulled the rug out from under us in frame 3.

Winner: JPX

FAMILY CIRCUS


Family Circus causes brain damage. This cannot be confirmed because everyone who has attempted to prove the hypothesis by studying the comic has suffered brain damage and thus lost all credibility.

Octopunk:

Mom: Well, Jeffy,it finally happened. That imp from the 5th dimension touched Dolly and her brain exploded all over the floor. Oh God, he's leaving the panel now. Jesus Christ that freaks me out.

Jeffy: Holy fuck!

JPX:

"Not Me, who made this mess?"

"Billy did it!"

Winner: Octopunk

CATHY


And finally we reach "Cathy" - the histrionic cartoon role model for unfunny, unattractive women who won't shut up about themselves despite their lack of self esteem. Her antics have been pissing me the hell off ever since I learned how to read.

50 Page McGee's lone submission struck comic gold because of his decision to ignore Cathy completely.

intro -
Cathy's father: Guess what, Cathy? The Lifetime Network just offered to make a TV series out of your comic strip.

Cathy: (nothing but static because 50p is holding his thumb over where cathy is standing)

setup -

C: (static)

climax -

C: (static)

denouement -

Dad: But think how great it will be to meet *the* Jennifer Aniston!

C: (static)

JPX:

“Cathy, look at this old picture I found of your great-grandmother”

Panel 2

“Wow, she looks just like me! I wonder what she was thinking when that picture was taken!”

Panel 3

“She’s so young and so full of life! She looks so happy and optimistic!”

Panel 4

“Stop shouting. Did anyone ever tell you that you sweat a lot?

“It’s a medical condition!”

Winner: 50 Page McGee

And now for The Big Winner. If I may paraphrase the Simpsons - in a way you're all winners. But in another, more accurate way, JPX is the winner. Congratulations on winning a hard fought battle. The ball is in your hands now, brother!

Trollhunter trailer

Marvel parodies 'Lil Darth Vader' Volkswagen commercial for upcoming Thor movie

Via geekology

I want to see Trollhunter

From cinemablend, After a series of strange occurrences in the forest, a Norway Wildlife Board official (Hans Morten Hansen) swoops in to put local hunters at ease, blaming the incidents on bears. However, a group of students know better and, armed with a video camera, take it upon themselves to investigate the situation. The local hunters point the kids in the direction of a supposed poacher named Hans (Otto Jespersen). When Hans refuses to give them a warm welcome, Thomas, Johanna and Kalle (Glenn Erland Tosterud, Johanna Morck and Tomas Alf Larsen) are left with no choice, but to secretly follow Hans into the woods on one of his mysterious late night exploits. Before they can track down Hans, the hunter barrels in their direction yelling, "Troll!"

Even after Thomas is slashed on the shoulder by something and they find their car wrecked and slimy, the kids still don't buy Hans' belief in the fairytale creatures, that is until they come face-to-face with a three-headed Tosserlad. Despite the danger, the students are determined to capture the complete story, learning all about Norway's Troll Security Service and exposing the brutal beasts the government desperately tries to hide from the public.

For an enthusiastic review go here

Thursday Caption Challenge!!!

Firstly, I'm quite pleased with myself for hijacking last week's hump day victory and smearing AC's good name in the process. *pats self on shoulder and smiles in such a way that makes you just want to punch him*

I'm trying something different for this week's (day late) hump day competition. Since the funny pages have been a (mildly) hot topic on Horrorthon in recent weeks, I came up with this simple challenge. I removed the inane dialogue from the following comics. Your job is to fill in the word bubbles with something hilarious. It can be sarcastic, overly dramatic, completely random, just plain dumb, satiric, ironic, supersonic or gin and tonic. You can make the strips form a story together or you can treat them as 5 different gags.

Take a quick glance at Cathy, For Better or Worse, Family Circus, Marmaduke and Mary Worth:









I'm only allowing one submission per person, per comic strip - a maximum of 5 comments for each person. Here's an example of an acceptable submission (referring to the Mary Worth strip directly above).

Mary Worth

Frame 1 -

Mary Worth: Harold, I haven't gone BM in several days.

Harold: I'm Sorry to hear that.

Frame 2 -

Mary Worth: Do you think it has something to do with the pot luck?

Harold: Please stop talking about it.

I'll accept entries through Saturday night and I'll post a winner Sunday before noon. I expect everyone's best.

The Honey Badger

This has cracked my up several times in the last few days, so I had to share.

X-Men: First Class poster

Oh no he di'int!!

Okay, so the winning haiku I'd erroneously attributed to AC was in fact written by JSP. Here I was loading AC up with props for her performance art execution of the anonymous haiku, and it wasn't even her.

Let me just say this before passing along this week's hump day conch to JSP: if it were in my power to award you *permanent* stewardship over FWW, I would do so. You are brilliant and subversive. Truly one of Horrorthon's finest moments. My hat is off to you sir!

Free-Write Wednesdays (is that what we're going to call it now?) Winnah!

This week's hump-day winning entry was actually an ensemble effort. The prize goes to AC -- but I have to give additional credit to Octo and JSP for the peanut-gallery hurdles they threw in AC's way.

It started off with a simple query by AC:

"great topic, but can we comment anonymously? i'm not sure i want my true-life junk stories to be linked to my blog identity! unlike the admirable 50p, i don't have the sack for that level of self-disclosure."

Her double entendre use of the word "sack" makes this a viable FWW entry, even though she wasn't intending it to be so.

Octo replies:

As ad-hoc presenter, I say yes!

AC's official winner came next, anonymously:

I screw my patients
It's a psychologist perk

And good therapy

Great entry just based on its merits as haiku, but the transparency of immediately going "anonymous," while flagrantly identifying herself as one of the three licensed therapists at Horrorthon, puts this on the level of transcendent brilliance.

JSP put the cherry on top by completely blowing AC's cover with the very next post.

This wasn't just free-writing, it was performance art -- and with audience participation. Whatever. It was my favorite part of the thread and it happened immediately.

Honorable mention for this one from Stan:

Misleading title
Neither word applicable
Stupid Naked Lunch

You could almost imagine Stan sitting there thinking, "Shit. No nudity? Oh well, at least there's lunch...Oh, come *on* now!"

Dis-honorable mention goes to JSP and Freeek for reminding us how grody it is when people don't trim their pubes. Won't be reprinting either one here because they're both grody.

...so how long was Octo stuck in DCD's car with his tunk hanging out?

Michael Bay refuses to work with Shia LaBeouf again

From worstpreviews, MTV caught up with Michael Bay to talk about "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and whether the franchise can be rebooted since the director has already stated that he won't return for another installment.

"It still could be rebooted. Not with Shia. He's turning grumpy in his old age," said Bay. "He's like a little brother to me but I told him, 'I'm never going to work with you when you're older.' [Shia said] 'Why?' 'Because you're just a grump.' You put him on a wire and he turns into this evil monster. Other actors say, 'This is really fun,' he's just the opposite."

He went on to explain that he is used to dealing with actors who misbehave, but has a way of dealing with this by reminding them of some great actors who were always professional.

Bay stated: "With actors, it's great learning from a guy like Sean Connery who has the greatest work ethic. Owen Wilson, great guy, I put him in 'Armageddon,' it was my third movie. He was an hour and a half late. When he showed up I put my arm around him, 'Hey Owen, how are you?' 'I’m excited to do this,' [Wilson said]. I said, 'You’re an hour and a half late. You know what? Sean Connery was never late.' And he was never late again."

Ayyy, Unhappy Days!

LOS ANGELES -- "Happy Days," one of the most popular shows in television history, faces an unhappy legacy nearly four decades after it first went on the air.

Four cast members, and the estate of Tom Bosley, who died last October, claim CBS (CBS, Fortune 500), which owns the show, has not paid them for merchandising revenues they are owed under their contracts...In exclusive interviews with CNN, the cast members -- Williams, Don Most, Marion Ross and Erin Moran -- all claim they have been cut out of the merchandising bonanza the show has spawned. Those products includes comic books, t-shirts, scrapbooks, trading cards, games, lunch boxes, dolls, toy cars, magnets, greeting cards and DVDs where their images appear on the box covers.

Full article here

A few new X-Men: First Class pictures emerge

Check out the rest here

Bryan Singer admits ‘Superman Returns’ had problems

[Excerpts]

"I think that Superman Returns was a bit nostalgic and romantic, and I don’t think that was what people were expecting, especially in the summer. What I had noticed is that there weren’t a lot of women lining up to see a comic book movie, but they were going to line up to see The Devil Wears Prada, which may have been something I wanted to address. But when you’re making a movie, you’re not thinking about that stuff, you’re thinking, “Wow, I want to make a romantic movie that harkens back to the Richard Donner movie that I loved so much.” And that’s what I did."

"I’ve always felt that the origin of Superman is the story of Moses – the child sent on a ship to fulfill a destiny. And this was a story about Christ – it’s all about sacrifice: “The world, I hear their cries.” So what happens? He gets the knife in the side and later he falls to the earth in the shape of a crucifix. It was kind of nailing you on the head, but I enjoyed that, because I’ve always found the myth of Christ compelling and moving. So I hoped to do my own take, which is heavy shit for a summer movie. But definitely the nostalgic, romantic aspects of it worked against people’s expectations of it in the climate. And if I was going to do another one, it would be a reboot. I would go back and redo the original, but I only thought of that recently. It would be a much less romantic, more balls-to-the-wall action movie. It would be a very different pace than Superman Returns, which I can say at this point because I have distance from it now."

Read more at slashfilm

'Centipede' worms its way onto Nintendo

From usatoday, Centipede: Infestation, due this fall (Atari, $40, for Nintendo Wii and 3DS, estimated rating ages 10-up), reimagines the addictive quarter-magnet from 1980 as a 3-D shooting adventure in which you battle multiple pests.
In the original, vividly colored centipedes shimmied through a field of mushrooms from the top of the screen to the bottom, accelerating as you shot them, segment by segment. "My memory of it was 'I need to stop this bug from coming down the screen.' There was no story or reason," says Atari's Jonathan Moses. "For the time, that was great."

Today's Centipede: Infestation borrows its back story a bit from the post-apocalyptic Fallout as a nuclear war has left a largely uninhabitable landscape. But a few teen orphans wearing protective suits survive. You are a boy named Max.
"You meet up with Maisy, who has this almost magical power over flowers (and) is able to grow in what is otherwise this irradiated wasteland," Moses says. "You follow Maisy through this world and protect her."

Developers at WayForward Technologies (Contra 4) are designing the Wii version to be an arcade-style shooter; players will point the remote at the screen like a gun and use the control stick to maneuver Max. 3DS will use the touchpad to move and other controls to aim and shoot.

In the original — which has just become available for 99 cents on the Atari Greatest Hits iPad and iPhone App — when you hit the centipede, mushroom barriers popped up. "In this game, as you kill the different bugs, they drop everything from gun turrets and walled barriers to power-ups for the player," Moses says.

Eventually, you will face off against the Godzilla of centipedes. "There are centipedes, and then there is 'The Centipede,' " he says.

Charlie Sheen does something cool.

(msn) The actor - who famously insisted he is "bi-winning" not bipolar - hit the city's streets on Friday with hundreds of fans and took donations in aid of Canada's Organization for Bipolar Affective Disorders.

He went on to raise more than $3,000 by hosting an auction during his live show that night, selling off a number of items to audience members, including a Toronto Blue Jays jersey which went for $1,000 and one of his "warlock" merchandise shirts which was sold for $2,000.

Sheen also urged his Twitter followers to make donations too, and offered to match the total raised.

[JPX, didn't you go see him recently??]

Separated at birth?