Thursday, July 31, 2014

Daily Spider-Man triple dose! Something is almost gonna happen soon I think!

Hey gang!  I'm on the road so this is choppy.  I won't even be catching all the way up today...
 
Panel 2:  Rich people fart question marks.


Panel 2: J. Jonah Jameson displays amount of glee that violates regulations.


Panel 2:  We're just a few words away from a Dr. Seuss book.

Leaked test 'Deadpool' footage looks promising



[Octopunk]:  The original link got nuked so I found this elsewhere.  Check it out before it's pulled again!  (I never new Deadpool was such a wiseass.  But why not?)

Everyone loves Guardians of the Galaxy


[JPX admits that he kept predicting that this movie would be bad but it continues to get rave reviews so now I have to see it]

From ew,If the Avengers are the New York Yankees of the Marvel universe — a collection of slick all-stars for whom victory is more or less a given — then the Guardians of the Galaxy are the Bad News Bears. They're a motley crew of bickering, bumbling mercenaries driven by self-interest. They may band together in the end, but it's rarely peaceful or pretty. The de facto leader of this assembly of intergalactic antiheroes is Peter Quill, a cocky Terrian (i.e., earthling) who was hoovered up into space by a colossal spaceship when he was 8 and now introduces himself as ''Star-Lord'' to the derisive laughter of his snarling alien foes. Twenty-six years later, he's grown into a swashbuckling fortune hunter with a maroon leather duster, a vintage Walkman loaded with classic rock, and a roguish sweet tooth for extraterrestrial hotties. Played with wily mischief by Chris Pratt, he's like Han Solo's more excitable, less responsible nephew. Joining Quill in Marvel's fizzy franchise kickoff are the green-skinned assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the mumbly mound of muscles Drax the Destroyer (wrestler Dave Bautista, whose physique is its own special effect), a rascally, foul-mouthed raccoon named Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and a walking tree creature called Groot, whose only words are ''I am Groot'' (delivered through the gruff, grunting tonsils of Vin Diesel).

Directed with an effortlessly light touch by James Gunn, a low-budget maestro of genre films such as 2006's Slither and 2010's Super, Guardians of the Galaxy represents a risky proposition for Marvel on several levels: a director who's never grappled with a project of this scale before, a menagerie of comic-book characters who are hardly household names (even to fanboys), and a tongue-in-cheek B-movie vibe that's moreStarcrash than Star Wars. But give Marvel props, even with all of its mega-success; the studio's still willing to take chances. Here, that risk pays off big-time. The film's a giddily subversive space opera that runs on self-aware smart-assery.

The plot is hardly worth spelling out in too much detail. I'm not sure I could do it justice anyway. It's the usual overstuffed action-adventure boilerplate about trying to retrieve a mystical MacGuffin — a multilayered orb with the glowing power to destroy worlds — from a sinister baddie (Lee Pace's blue-hued Ronan the Accuser). Actually, if Gunn and co-writer Nicole Perlman had just called the orb a tesseract, you'd basically be rewatching The Avengers. And there's such a mishmash of seemingly interchangeable alien names (Morag, Thanos, Yondu, etc.), it's tempting to tune out, assume it will all make sense in the end, and wait for the next bit of anarchic insult comedy from Pratt & Co.

Unlike the sober Norse seriousness of Thor or the rah-rah retro-squareness of Captain America, Quill and his posse of merry pranksters are such a delirious blast of laughing gas that Guardians feels more like an unofficial sequel to 1984's cult hit The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension than a Marvel product. (I mean that as a compliment.) A large share of the credit goes to Pratt. On TV's Parks and Recreationand in such big-screen features as Her and Delivery Man, he's always provided a dependable jolt of joy-buzzer surprise in supporting roles. Now he's graduated to leading man — the straw that stirs the drink — and he's such a natural, you can't help but wonder why it took so long. The other standout is Cooper, who gives the motormouthed Rocket an outer-borough wiseguy honk and a hair-trigger temper. He's like an R-rated Daffy Duck with a machine gun.

Together, they're a gang of exiles from the planet of misfit toys. Or, as Gamora generously calls them, ''the biggest idiots in the galaxy.'' Will they learn to overcome their selfishness and embrace responsibility for the first time in their lives? Of course they will. The genius of Gunn's superhero send-up is its cheeky, anything-goes absurdity. I've been pretty mixed on Marvel movies over the years — some have dazzled me, others have left me depressed. But Guardians is the first one that feels excitingly unpredictable. A-

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Happy Birthday, Jeff!

Yes, even though he was days late with my bday posting *ahem*, I will not hold a grudge!  Happy Birthday to my dear brudder. Here he is looking cool with adorable Zack. Can't wait to see you all soon!!

Probably not a good poster for a September 11th release...


Monday, July 28, 2014

Christopher Robin finally loses it


Awesome 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' poster


'Batman V Superman' Wonder Woman revealed at Comic Con


'Mad Max: Fury Road' trailer looks promising

Box Office


From ew, Hercules‘s muscles were no match for Lucy‘s drug-enhanced brain at the box office this weekend. Audiences turned out in earnest to see the Scarlett Johansson thriller, which earned an expectation-shattering $44 million from 3,173 theaters in its first weekend.

Not only is it director Luc Besson’s biggest opening, Lucy is also a career high for Scarlett Johansson as a lead. Audiences for the original feature were evenly split between genders, 35 percent were under the age of 25, and 29 percent were Hispanic. But even though the EuropaCorp-produced, Universal-distributed project appealed to a wide demographic swath, those who did see the R-rated action film were a little less kind in the exit polls, slapping Lucy with a poor C+ Cinema Score.

Hercules (B+ Cinema Score), starring Dwayne Johnson, took the second place spot with an estimated $29 million from 3,595 locations in its first weekend in theaters. Audiences were 58 percent male and 36 percent under the age of 25. The Paramount and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie cost a reported $100 million to produce, so, although this domestic debut isn’t ideal, it did still manage to beat the modest analyst expectations. Besides, international is what really matters for the Brett Ratner-directed sword-and-sandals feature, which took in $28.7 million from 25 territories and 3,264 locations. It took the No. 1 spot in Russia ($12 million), Australia ($3.5 million), Malaysia ($1.6 million), the Philippines ($1.2 million), and Taiwan ($1.2 million), to name a few. Next weekend it opens in Finland, India, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, and Slovenia.

The rest of the top five were holdovers this weekend, which is down 13 percent from last year when The Wolverine opened to $53 million. After two weeks at No. 1, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes dropped 55 percent and earned an estimated $16.4 million in its third weekend in theaters. Meanwhile The Purge: Anarchy fell 67 percent in weekend two with $9.9 million across the three-day. Compared to other films, that might seem like a disaster, but it’s expected for horror offerings, which are reliably front-loaded. The first had an even steeper 75.6-percent drop last year. Finally, Planes: Fire & Rescuecontinues to fly in competition-free skies and took in an estimated $9.3 million in its second weekend in theaters.

Here’s the top five:

1. Lucy — $44 million (new)
2. Hercules—$29 million (new)
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes—$16.4 million ($172.1 million domestic total)
4. The Purge: Anarchy — $9.9 million ($51.3 million domestic total)
5. Planes: Fire & Rescue – $9.3 million ($35.1 million domestic total)

Clarius Entertainment’s And So It Goes (B+ Cinema Score), starring Diane Keaton and Michael Douglas failed to break the top five, earning an estimated $4.55 million from 1,762 locations.

In the specialty box-office world, A Most Wanted Man managed to snag 10th place with an estimated $2.72 million, even though it only played on 361 screens. Roadside Attractions released the R-rated, John le Carré adaptation which stars Philip Seymour Hoffman (in one of his last big-screen roles), Rachel McAdams, and Willem Dafoe. The comedy concert film The Fluffy Movie picked up $1.3 million from 432 locations, and Woody Allen’s Emma Stone/Colin Firth vehicle Magic in the Moonlight debuted in 17 locations to $426,000.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

'Expendables 3' leaks online 3 weeks before theatrical release



From ew, A copy of The Expendables 3—the latest in a series of all-star action movies starring major Hollywood figures like Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, and Jason Statham, among others—leaked online Wednesday on various BitTorrent piracy websites. The film has been downloaded nearly 200,000 times since it leaked, according to Variety.

Movies frequently leak online, but the Expendables 3scenario is a big deal for two reasons. First of all, it leaked before the movie hit theaters—three weeks before its scheduled premiere, to be exact. And secondly, the quality of the leak is unusually high. The earliest movie leaks are usually “cam” copies, recorded via cameras snuck into screenings, then uploaded online. The Expendables 3 copy, however, is taken from a DVD screener—a format usually produced by the movie’s distributor and given to media figures ahead of theatrical release.

Because the movie will not be officially released for weeks, Lionsgate may lose millions of dollars in sales. The first Expendables movie, released in 2010, grossed nearly $275 million worldwide. Expendables 2, released in 2012, grossed over $300 million.

Due to the decentralized nature of BitTorrent piracy, and because of the pseudonyms frequently used on piracy websites, it may be impossible to trace the source of the leak. TorrentFreak, a blog about filesharing news, believes it has traced the alleged leaker to as far back as “an entity known as Drarbg,” which could be either a single person or a group of people working to leak movies online.The last movie leak as high-profile as The Expendables 3 came in 2009, when a copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine leaked two months before its release date. However, that copy was of an incomplete workprint, with special effects still unfinished.

[JPX watched it last night and thought it was a blast!  Easily the best of the Expendable franchise]

Friday, July 25, 2014

Daily Spider-Man! No maybe about it, Spidey! All your pride is false.


Guardians of the Galaxy, terrific?


From cinemablend, Thinking back on my experience watching Guardians of the Galaxy, the new film from writer/director James Gunn, I find myself challenged to decide on the first aspect to really focus on. The comedy seems like an easy target, given that the feature is far and away the funniest Marvel Studios title to date. But it would be criminal to not pay immediate tribute to the impressive, gripping action sequences filled with stunning visual effects. It’s incredible that each member of the ensemble cast steals every scene they are in – letting your mind race and struggle to determine a favorite character – but it’s equally notable that each song in the ‘60s/’70s pop-rock-infused soundtrack beautifully enhances the moments it’s played. Hell, the natural starting place may just be talking about the beginning of the movie, featuring a heartbreaking, unexpectedly pathos-drenched moment set in 1988 where a young Peter Quill, the lead hero, watches as his mother passes away.

What really can’t be stressed enough is just how insanely fun and entertaining Guardians of the Galaxy is for literally its entire two-hour-plus runtime. Made with the same kind of energetic and creative gusto that has fueled classics like Star Wars, Ghostbusters and Back To The Future, the movie transports the audience to a unique, whole new world on the other side of the universe, and features no shortage of diverse landscapes, colorful aliens (both in personality and skin tone), and spaceship battles and chases. Fight sequences play out not just with skilled martial arts and weapons play, but also with bizarre little toys and gadgets found useful in rocketing characters from one side of the screen to the other. The film is built to be bright, colorful and laugh-out-loud funny, and it’s a scream to watch it succeed.

When Guardians of the Galaxy was first announced, it was viewed as a risky proposition on behalf of Marvel Studios, given that the titular comic book heroes were largely unknowns to even most die-hard comic book fans. Now having seen the film, all of that questioning just seems rather foolish. What James Gunn and company have put together is nothing short of phenomenal, and one of the most outstanding, entertaining pieces of science-fiction space opera out there. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen, and everything you could want from a piece of summer entertainment.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Daily Spider-Man! Peter's enthusiasm is endearing, but I'm reminded of that Judy Blume book in which the kid thinks a good grade on her book report will get her parents back together. It's not gonna work out, is what I'm saying.


Ant Man poster at Comic Con


From ew, As this poster makes clear: That’s Paul Rudd taking on the central role of Scott Lang, a thief who, according to the comics, stole the technology behind the shrinking suit from the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym.

And there’s Michael Douglas, joining the Marvel universe as Pym, a scientist with Tony Stark-levels of ingenuity. He not only builds a miniaturizing mechanism, but also constructs a method of communicating with tiny creatures. (Better to have them on your side than trying to eat you.)

Although Lang only steals the suit to make it easier to lead a life of crime—it’s simple to sneak in and grab other things of value when you are microscopic—he inevitably follows a reluctant hero arc.

Ant-Man directed by Peyton Reed opens July 17, 2015.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Daily Spider-Man! Jameson responds to Spidey's half face by becoming huge in panel 3.


Wonderful, Just Wonderful: Terrifying New World's Largest Flying Aquatic Insect Found In China


From geekology, This is the giant dobsonfly, the current record holder for largest flying aquatic insect. They can measure almost 8.5-inches across. For reference, that is 8-inches entirely too large for my liking.
Large enough to cover the face of a human adult, this scary-looking insect is also known among entomologists as an indicator of water quality, says the museum.

The giant dobsonfly makes its home in bodies of clean water and is highly sensitive to any changes in the water's pH as well as the presence of trace elements of pollutants. If the water is slightly contaminated, the giant dobsonfly will move on to seek cleaner waters.

Did you read that? They only like the very freshest water and will leave if they detect even the slightest pollution. You know what that means, don't you? "You're going to go take a dump upriver?" Haha, I am going to go take ALL the dumps upriver.

'Space Station 76' Trailer: See Space as Imagined Four Decades Ago



From iwatchstuff, Now nearly 20 years since spoofing Slim Goodbody on Conan, Jack Plotnick returns to weirdly-specific, left-field '70s parody with Space Station 76. Patrick Wilson, Liv Tyler, Matthew Bomer, Jerry O'Connell, and Marisa Coughlan star in the comedy, which imagines a future as imagined in the age of disco and key parties, and EW has put up the trailer. Welcome to the jokey retro future, everyone.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Han Solo In Carbonite Toilet Seat


From geekology, This is the $60 custom painted Han Solo in carbonite toilet seat available from eBay seller derbycovers. It's only printed and painted though, it's not actually 3-D, so if you thought this was going to be a cheap way to experience sitting on Han Solo's face, think again. I know, I was*this close* to clicking the 'Buy It Now' button too.

Daily Spider-Man! "I will call him Morton, and I will love him and hug him and squeeze him and..."


Monday, July 21, 2014

Daily Spider-Man double dose! New supervillain makes everyone feel better about their silly animal-themed names!

So I guess this guy was bitten by a radioactive ox?  That could happen, right?

In the Daily Spider-verse, car doors just fall open when the car is at an angle, and a rich guy can be a sandwich!

'Star Wars' X-Wing revealed!

Laura Palmer's House Could Become A 'Twin Peaks' Museum, Shrine And B&B



From huffingtonpost, When this lovely home in Everett, Washington popped up for sale on the web, most people didn't think twice. But "Twin Peaks" fans are a rare breed. The brightest devotees of the trippy '90s classic clearly recognized this "charming 1930s home in the heart of Historic Rucker Hill" as the ex-home of the beautiful enigma known as Laura Palmer.

That's right, the humble abode of Leland, Sarah and Laura is actually up for sale IRL. The charming manse was featured in the show's pilot as well as the film "Fire Walk With Me." As the LAist points out, many interior shots took place on a sound stage in L.A. made to resemble the house. Although the listing made no mention of the home's former Lynchian life, in typical "Twin Peaks" cult following fashion, the connection was soon made.

Fan site Welcome to Twin Peaks posted the finding, comparing photos from the listing with those from the show. Strangely, the rocking chair from Laura's bedroom is still in the house. It's good to know even 25 years after the show, "Twin Peaks" fanatics haven't lost their touch.

But the unparalleled fan following of David Lynch's surreal suburban mystery doesn't simply post a listing of Laura Palmer's house. Oh no, they start a Kickstarter campaign to buy the house themselves and transform it into a Twin Peaks museum, shrine and Bed & Breakfast.

Seattle's Stephen Lange is the man behind the mission. His campaign "The Palmer House -- Twin Peaks Museum and Tourist Destination" aims to raise enough money to buy Laura's house and transform it into an event space and functioning Bed&Breakfast, eventually redesigned to resemble its 25-year-old self. Come now, who wouldn't want to stay in this not-at-all-creepy lodgings?

"With 4+ bedrooms, the residence can sleep up to 8 people an evening, with a full kitchen, and a renovated Red Room movie theater in the basement," the Kickstarter explains. "The home will also come stocked with a full library of DVDs and music from the series, so you can fully immerse yourself in the Twin Peaks vibe." Lange is trying to raise $600,000 by August 3. Offers have already been placed on the home, which is listed for $549,950, so those moved by Lange's proposition must act fast.

Donating to the cause will get you many a "Twin Peaks"-centric reward, from an "I Saved the Palmer House" poster to complimentary pie and coffee, ostensibly served black as midnight on a moonless night. If you dream of sleeping in a spooky house where demon spirits once lived and David Lynch placed his literal, divine body, head to the Kickstarter ASAP and see how you can help.

Box Office


From ew, Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s… After a Friday night showdown that heavily tipped the scales in favor of the survival-horror thriller The Purge: Anarchy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes came back strong this weekend to take the No. 1 spot at the box office.

The Apes sequel, starring motion-capture master Andy Serkis as the hyper-evolved higher primate named Caesar, collected $36 million for the weekend, according to Sunday estimates. Meanwhile, The Purge: Anarchy, a follow-up to last year’s nightmare-inducer about a 12-hour period when no crime is illegal, garnered only $28.3 million.

The Purge wasn’t entirely beloved by its terror-craving audience, getting only a B from the polling firm Cinemascore—compared to the A-minus received byApes. So-so word-of-mouth may have led to the Saturday stumble.

It’s still a terrific opening for the Universal horror movie, which cost only $9 million to make (compared to an estimated $170 million budget for the Apes film, which has earned back only $138 million domestically so far.) The winner there is obvious.

Apes is off to a strong start after only two weeks, however, and if it can maintain that it will stand as one of the stronger films of summer. For a while on Friday, it seemedPurge would take not just the spoils but the title as well. The movie earned $13 million from Friday night showings, compared to Apes‘ lackluster $10.4 million, a 62 percent drop from its opening night a week before.

But Apes rallied big-time on Saturday, earning $14.8 million to Purge‘s $9.5 million, which was a 27 percent drop from its opening night. The writing was on the wall: theApes had it.

The No. 3 slot went to Planes: Fire & Rescue, a DisneyToon Studios sequel to last year’s family comedy about a adventurous airplanes, spun-off from Pixar’s Cars universe. With only $18 million—$4 mil less than the first Planes—that’s a pretty bad stall for a family movie in the middle of summer.

It’s low Friday gross of $6.3 million seemed like it may simply have been a reflection that not many adults turned out on opening night for kiddie fare. But then Fire & Rescue didn’t do much better during family-friendly matinee hours of Saturday, earning $6.6 million. The Cinemascore rating was an A, so those who did turn out enjoyed what they saw.

The same can’t be said for Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel’s Sex Tape, which nabbed a dismal C-plus Cinemascore, and opened in fourth place with only $15 million. Diaz had been on a comedy hot-streak lately, and this raunchy slapstick about a couple trying to prevent their friends and family from seeing an accidentally-uploaded boudoir video seemed like it would be primed to continue the trend.

But there was no Bad Teacher here. Just bad.

Critics were cruel, and audiences didn’t disagree. “Director Jake Kasdan, who also helmed Bad Teacher … doesn’t quite seem to know what tone he’s going for, and the last half of the movie veers wildly between crude hard-R comedy and warm-hearted teachable moments. Blessedly, it’s also short,” wrote EW’s Leah Greenblatt.

In limited release, Zach Braff’s partially Kickstarter-donation-funded Wish I Was Hereopened in 68 theaters and earned $495,000 for a relatively strong $7,300 per screen.Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry’s whimsical French dramedy Mood Indigo collected $25,100 in two locations, for an average of 12,550 per screen.

The philosophical sci-fi saga I Origins earned $28,700 in four locations, for an average of $7,175, while Persecuted, a paranoid thriller about a preacher framed for murder, straddled the wide-release/limited-release framework by launching in 736 theaters, but earning only $959,000, 0r $1,300 per screen.

STAR WARS EPISODE VII Plot Details Revealed!


From badassdigest, I'm going to keep this vague. I have no interest in spoiling Star Wars Episode VII, although I'm sure some people will find any information about the film's plot to be spoilery. If you're a spoilerphobe or want to go into Star Wars Episode VII totally, completely clean, stop reading now. If you want to know what, on a very basic and general level, is the premise of Star Wars Episode VII, read on.

Ready?

Imagine the standard Star Wars crawl, and when it ends the camera pans up to the stars. But instead of a spaceship zooming into frame we see... a hand! A severed hand, tumbling through space. A severed hand gripping a light saber.

That hand falls onto a desert planet, where it is discovered by characters who will be our heroes. One is Daisy Ridley. The other is John Boyega, who is playing someone trying to change his path in life (again, I'm keeping it vague here). They recognize the light saber as a Jedi relic and decide to return it to the proper people.

Their quest takes them off world, and they meet up with Han Solo and Chewbacca, who aren't flying around in the Millenium Falcon anymore but are piloting... well, that could be a spoiler. I'll leave it. Anyway, Han and Chewie recognize the light saber as Luke's, and they say they haven't seen their friend in thirty years, since the events of Return of the Jedi.

So begins a quest to find the missing Jedi Master. Meanwhile, on an ice planet, nefarious forces are building a super weapon, one capable of destroying not planets but entire solar systems...

In many ways this plot of Episode VII is an echo of A New Hope. Instead of R2 coming to Tatooine it's a hand falling from the sky, but the basic sweep of the story is similar, and intentionally so. But things that seem familiar may not be as familiar as you think - don't assume that every ice or desert planet in the galaxy has already been visited, if you know what I'm saying.

There's more, of course - this is just the broadest of outlines, a basic synopsis. On the one hand I sort of roll my eyes at the story echoing A New Hope, but on the other I like the propulsive quest concept. I'm hearing extremely positive things about the action, and very, very good things about the characters themselves and the way the actors are bringing them to life. Again and again I'm hearing that John Boyega owns this movie.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Daily Spider-Man! Peter carefully chooses lamest photo ever in attempt to woo Jameson.


Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert fight over who's the bigger Star Wars fan

But I thought the characters were real: Elastigirl's face falls off at Disney World

Fett lives!



From starwars7news, Today’s a good day for any Star Wars fan that was worried about the new Expanded Universe, because a fan-favorite character is going to come crawling out of the underworld to kick ass once more…

Boba Fett had been appeared in post-Original Trilogy works since 1991′s Dark Empire (indeed, the revival of the character is almost universally considered the best thing about the comic to this day), but this resurrection seemingly was not to be once Disney decided that they were going to reboot the Expanded Universe. Those who worried that Disney wouldn’t retcon the iconic background baddie’s undignified death in Return Of The Jedi, fret not: according to Lucasfilm Story Group’s Johnathan Rinzler (rather, George Lucas himself being paraphrased by Rinzler), Fett made his way out of the Sarlacc pit after all.

Yesterday, Jonathan Rinzler of the Lucasfilm Story Group held an “Ask Me Anything” thread on Reddit, which works just as it sounds – curious users ask the host questions for a few hours on end, and he or she answers the best and most interesting ones. (For anyone else who’s curious, the link to the entire AMA Thread can be found here.) Of course, avid fans of the famous mercenary were quick to ask questions about what Rinzler personally thought happened to the character (as opposed to what was apparently canon), but instead of getting a simple personal opinion, Rinzler confirmed a fact that many fans were hoping for: Boba Fett survived his defeat at the Great Pit of Carkoon!

blackbetha: Jonathan, In your mind, does Boba Fett Escape the Sarlacc Pit?

Rinzler: Yes, he does. I have been in meetings with George where he confirms that Fett survived. If it comes from George then it’s true!

There you have it, folks – the head honcho of the Star Wars franchise has said that everyone’s favorite Mandalorian Bounty Hunter got to live to fight another day, meaning that we’ll no doubt be in for some interesting stories involving the character. The possibility of him getting a spin-off movie just got that much more likely! Here are a couple of sincere words you don’t see on the internet every day: thanks, George Lucas!

I approve: Snake in zero gravity

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Daily Spider-Man! I think I like these "Doc Ock sweet talks his tentacles" scenes more than the "Peter whines at MJ in their apartment" scenes


Annabelle trailer

Universal Plans Monsters Shared Universe


From darkhorizons If comic book heroes can have shared universes, why can't classic monsters? Universal Pictures has announced major plans to revitalize its heritage by developing a "substantial new production endeavor that will expand and unify a network of classic characters and stories".

In layman's terms, it means its library of monster movie properties - Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolf Man, Creature Of The Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, Bride Of Frankenstein, and The Mummy - are about to get a shared onscreen universe deal akin to the Marvel Studios films.

"Star Trek," "Transformers" and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" co-scribe Alex Kurtzman along with "Wanted" and regular "Fast and the Furious" series scribe Chris Morgan are the architects behind the interconnected slate, though it's unclear if either will write any of the projects planned.

Morgan and Kurtzman will work closely the studio's various arms to support the revival. They will also reevaluate projects with preexisting attachments to bring them together under one cohesive strategy.

The plan will commence with "The Mummy" reboot which will be released April 22nd 2016, making the upcoming "Dracula Untold" the studio's likely last foray into stand-alone films using these characters.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Daily Spider-Man! Sorry to get all political, but I think the prison should discontinue their Mad Science Devices workshop.


First Look at Ultron In ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’




From iwatchstuff, The cover of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly has our first look at Ultron as he’ll appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron. In fact, there are multiple Ultrons, and the story confirms they were made by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)

For better or worse (trust us, it’s worse), his Tony Stark has devised a plan that won’t require him to put on the Iron Man suit anymore, and should allow Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk to get some much needed R&R as well. His solution is Ultron, self-aware, self-teaching, artificial intelligence designed to help assess threats, and direct Stark’s Iron Legion of drones to battle evildoers instead.

The only problem? Ultron (played by James Spader through performance-capture technology) lacks the human touch, and his superior intellect quickly determines that life on Earth would go a lot smoother if he just got rid of Public Enemy No. 1: Human beings. “Ultron sees the big picture and he goes, ‘Okay, we need radical change, which will be violent and appalling, in order to make everything better’; he’s not just going ‘Muhaha, soon I’ll rule!’” Whedon says, rubbing his hands together.

“He’s on a mission,” the filmmaker adds, and smiles thinly. “He wants to save us.”

The article also says Ultron has the ability to upload himself to different places and recreate himself in multiple different forms. Some of these forms are bigger, stronger and faster than his first build.

Since the EW issue is a Comic-Con tease, I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing much more of Ultron, and probably James Spader, in Hall H next Saturday evening. Until now, we’ll keep an eye on the new EW for more information. What do you think of Ultron?

Green Lantern honest trailer

Monday, July 14, 2014

Ha!


Comic-book icon Archie Andrews will die saving gay friend



From ew, In April, Archie Comics publisher and co-CEO Jon Goldwater told CNN that Archie Andrews would die in issue #36 of “Life with Archie,” a comic-book series set in an alternate universe that presented possible futures for the characters of the classic Archie Comics series. Issue #36 will arrive on stands on Wednesday—and while we don’t know yet who kills Archie, we do now know how he dies.

Today, Goldwater revealed to the Associated Press that Archie would die trying to stop an assassination attempt on Archie Comics’ first openly gay character, Kevin Keller, a military veteran and newly elected senator who’s in favor of increased gun control.

“We wanted to do something that was impactful that would really resonate with the world and bring home just how important Archie is to everyone,” Goldwater told the AP. “That’s how we came up with the storyline of saving Kevin. He could have saved Betty. He could have saved Veronica. We get that, but metaphorically, by saving Kevin, a new Riverdale is born.”

Issue #36 is the penultimate issue of “Life with Archie.” The following issue, #37, will jump ahead one year to depict how Betty, Veronica and the rest of the Riverdale gang is handling Archie’s death and honoring his legacy. Goldwater said that the way in which Archie dies is meant to “epitomize not only the best of Riverdale but the best of all of us,” and that he hopes that it works as “a lesson about gun violence and a declaration of diversity in the new age of Archie Comics.”

Watch long lost 'Nothing Lasts Forever' Bill Murray movie




From slate, Hardcore Bill Murray fans may have read about his 1984 film Nothing Lasts Forever, an off-kilter sci-fi film directed by Saturday Night Live writing alum Tom Schiller (“La Dolce Gilda”). It was never released, but Dangerous Minds points out that it’s somehow made its way online and is available to watch in full (at least for now) on YouTube.


Nothing Lasts Forever stars Zach Galligan (Gremlins) as Adam, an aspiring artist who moves to New York only to find that the Port Authority has seemingly taken over and turned the city into a totalitarian state. Adam is forced to work as a night watchman at the entrance of the Holland Tunnel (Dan Aykroyd cameos as his boss) until he can prove his worth as an artist, but soon he finds himself on a bus to the moon (Murray plays the conductor) to find his true love.


It’s a weird premise, and the movie has the style to match. While it’s mostly black-and-white, it occasionally jumps into color, and even includes a couple of musical numbers. More intriguingly, clips from a variety of older movies are integrated into scenes, as if it were a sort of early YouTube mashup.


This particular aspect of the film might be one of the reasons MGM has keptNothing Lasts Forever under wraps for so long. Copyright issues have long stalled or flat-out prohibited some releases from obtaining wider distribution—hip-hop group De La Soul’s early discography being another apparent example. IFC has suggested that the shaky financial state of MGM in the wake of the failure ofHeaven’s Gate a few years prior is another possible motive. Schiller—who touched on the making of the film in the 2005 book Nothing Lost Forever: The Films of Tom Schiller—has stated that he never received a straight-forward answer as to why the studio shelved it, though he suspects it may be because the film didn’t appear “commercial” enough.


The film had one test screening before MGM pulled the plug, but it has since lived on through airings on European cable channels and the occasional public screening, sometimes at the insistence of Murray. It remains Schiller’s only feature, though he has gone on to direct hundreds of commercials. No plans have been announced for a home video release, but you can try to catch it on YouTube while you still can.

Box Office, Apes rules!


From ew, If this weekend’s number one movie Dawn of the Planet of the Apes — the second entry in the rebooted Apes franchise — has a spiritual sibling in the original series of films, it is 1972′s Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. While Conquest was the fourth movie in the franchise to arrive in cinemas it is, like Dawn, the second according to the interior timeline of its series and, again like director Matt Reeves’ new film, features an apocalyptic showdown between apes and humans. Thus, it seems appropriate that this weekend Dawn of the Planet of the Apes comprehensively conquered the domestic box office by earning an estimated $73 million, exceeding both expectations and the $54.8 million opening weekend of its predecessor, 2011′s Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

In many ways, however, Conquest and Dawn represent a study in contrasts — and anyone wanting to understand just how much Hollywood’s business model has changed over the past four decades, particularly when it comes to sequels, could do worse than consider the differences between the way Hollywood executives handled theApes sequels of the ’70s and the manner in which Dawnhas been carefully shepherded to the big screen.

Forty years ago, movie sequels were regarded for the most part as a bargain basement business of diminishing returns with very few exceptions (notably the Bond and Pink Panther movies). If you hadn’t seen a film on the big screen there was very little chance of you seeing a sequel, given the lengthy delay before movies turned up on TV and the fact that being able to control your home entertainment viewing via DVDs or even videotapes was itself still the stuff of science fiction as far as most consumers were concerned.

With less and less people going to see each sequel in a series it made sense to executives to spend less and less money on each entry. 1968′s series-inauguratingPlanet of the Apes boasted a huge star in the bare-chested form of Charlton Heston and a substantial-for-the-era $5.4 million budget. Apes proved to be a blockbuster, grossing $32 million. But the budget for the second film in the series, 1970′s Beneath the Planet of the Apes, was substantially less and featured only a cameo from a reluctant Heston. By the time director J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone, the original Cape Fear) came to make Conquest he was forced to depict his ape uprising for the Hollywood equivalent of pennies, a decision which would have been justified in the minds of studio financiers by the movie’s profit-turning but comparatively unimpressive $9 million domestic gross.

The contrast with today could hardly be greater. While the original, Heston-starringPlanet of the Apes was regarded by all concerned as destined to be the commercial high point of the series, Fox treated 2011′s James Franco-starring Rise of the Planet of the Apes as a launchpad for a franchise which executives hoped would become bigger with time. Rise cost around $90 million, but a reported $170 million was lavished on the sequel, whose cast boasts Keri Russell, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, and of course, the ape-playing Andy Serkis. The studio further primed the pump with an astute marketing campaign, including a trio of short films which bridged the events between director Rupert Wyatt’s Rise and Reeves’ new movie. Add in the by-no-means-inconsequential fact that people actually seem to be enjoying Dawn (which earned an A- Cinema Score) and you can understand why the film has done so well. You can also understand why the next person to make an Apes movie will be given a King Kong-sized budget while poor J. Lee Thompson made the fifth and final entry in the original Apes series, 1973′sBattle for the Planet of the Apes, for roughly the same amount of money Michael Bay pays for a haircut.

Speaking of Bay, this weekend saw the second-placed Transformers: Age of Extinctiontake in $16.5 million at the box office, which easily sends the director’s robot fourquel over the $200 million mark domestically. There’s not a whole lot of exciting news elsewhere in upper reaches of the chart, although it is notable that 22 Jump Street has clambered its way back into the top five a month after the movie’s initial release. Whether that is a testament to the long box office legs of the Channing Tatum- and Jonah Hill-starring comedy or the more truncated commercial limbs of other recent films is open to debate. (Personally, I’m reminded of the time the great Norm Macdonald hosted Saturday Night Live not long after he was fired from the show by NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer for — depending on who you believe — either not being funny or for making too many jokes about Ohlmeyer’s acquaintance O.J. Simpson. “They fired me because they said I wasn’t funny,” the returning Norm explained during his opening monologue. “But it’s only a year-and-a-half later, and now they ask me to host the show. So I go, ‘Hey, how did I go in a year-and-a-half from being not funny enough to be even allowed in the building to being so funny that I’m now hosting the show?’ Then it occurred to me, I haven’t gotten funnier, the show has gotten really bad.”)

Finally, Richard Linklater’s more-than-a-decade-in-the-making movie Boyhood opened at five locations this weekend, raking in an encouraging $359,000. We’ll have to wait and see whether this extremely well-reviewed film can cross over and become a genuine hit. But the signs are looking good — and if anyone is at home to the idea of waiting-and-seeing, it is Linklater.

Here’s the top five.

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – $73 million weekend ($73 million domestic total)
2. Transformers: Age of Extinction – $16.5 million weekend ($209.03 million domestic total)
3. Tammy – $12.91 million weekend ($57.35 million domestic total)
4. 22 Jump Street – $6.7 million weekend ($171.96 million domestic total)
5. How to Train Your Dragon 2 — $5.87 million weekend ($152.07 million domestic total)

Daily Spider-Man double dose! In a weird twist, Monday's strip recounts Sunday's!

If my hot wife spent all Sunday lounging around in nothing but a shirt, I wouldn't scowl so much.

Not shown:  Doc Ock's "well appointed" lab contains several framed pictures of J. Jonah Jameson

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Daily Spider-Man! Years from now when Spider-Man's identity is revealed, Jameson will rage horribly that it was that punk Parker all along, then remember this moment and laugh himself to death.


‘The Conjuring’ Spin-Off ‘Annabelle’ Set for October Release




From slashfilm, The creepy, haunted doll from The Conjuring is about to be the star of her own movie. Annabelle is a spin-off featuring the doll that ended up in the home museum of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring. But like the rest of the events of that film, the doll has a real-world basis, and this October we’ll see some of it translated to film.


Despite the fact that the movie Annabelle is a white-faced, almost garishly made-up little girl, the original Annabelle investigated by the real Ed and Lorraine Warren was a pretty normal-looking Raggedy Ann doll. Given to Donna, a college student, the doll resided in the home Donna shared with a roommate. They soon experienced strange things with the doll: it seemed to move on its own, and even left notes.


The doll eventually attacked a friend of the girls — or he believes himself to have been attacked by it, at least. That led to a call to a priest, who in turn called the Warrens. An exorcism was performed to rid the doll of the demon which supposedly wanted to possess Donna, and the Warrens took the doll home. Even then, it continued to exert a malevolent influence, moving through the Warren home, and levitating from Ed’s desk. After another failed exorcism, they finally locked the doll in a cabinet, where it still sits.




We still don’t know much about the plot of this film, which is produced by Peter Safranand Conjuring director James Wan. John Leonetti, the cinematographer on The Conjuring, directed based on a script by Gary Dauberman. But the chances are it will be based on the doll’s real story. Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton and Alfre Woodard star.


Variety reports the October 3 release, which pits the film against David Fincher’s Gone Girl and refugee drama The Good Lie. A direct Conjuring sequel is also planned.

Monday, July 07, 2014

Daily Spider-Man! Peter is obsessed with the windshield. He's also a petty little whiner, but we knew that already.


Amazing fan-made Star Wars video

Now You Can Drink, Crush, Cry Into the Beer Can from 'Jaws'

From iwatchstuff, Narragansett Lager, the official beverage of getting tanked while hunting a giant shark, is re-issuing the 1975 can design seen in Jaws. According to the official release, this summer, all their 12-ounce 12-, 18-, and 30-packs of of the fifth-cheapest beer at the store will celebrate the Steven Spielberg classic with the gilded aluminum of cinema past. Now we, too, can live like Quint, slam a whole GD 'Gansett, crush the can, and thereby emasculate the nearby Richard Dreyfuss. This will be the summer that we absolutely shame the shit out of that guy for making Mr. Holland's Opus.

Box Office

From usatoday, Independence Day didn't hold many fireworks at the box office as new films fizzled at theaters.

Transformers: Age of Extinction won its second straight weekend, topping the Fourth of July weekend with $36.4 million, according to studio estimates from box-office firm Rentrak.

Analysts expected a challenge from Tammy, Melissa McCarthy's latest comedy. The film struggled with just $21.2 million, good for second place.

Box office has been on a ticket sales slide all summer, and moviegoers appeared more interested in pyrotechnics outside than inside the cineplex this weekend.

Ray Subers of Box Office Mojo notes that the holiday isn't typically a great one for moviegoing, as families hit the road on the long weekend.

"These titles would likely have earned a bit more on a traditional Friday," he says.

Still, the industry has been slumping for more than two months. June's ticket sales plummeted 16% from the same month last year, according to the site. While movies are enjoying healthy debuts, ticket sales are dropping off 70% and more per weekend as movies cannibalize each other in a packed slate.

It didn't help that this weekend's three new films came with little firepower. McCarthy has been one of the industry's most bankable comedians. But the $20 million movie, directed by husband Ben Falcone, mustered just a 26% approval rating from critics, says survey site Rotten Tomatoes. More troubling: It earned just a C-plus from moviegoers, says CinemaScore, an ominous sign for its long-term prospects.

Not that other films caused a ruckus. The horror film Deliver Us From Evil took third place with $9.5 million, meeting most analysts' modest expectations.

The sequel 22 Jump Street claimed fourth with $9.4 million, while the animated sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2 was fifth with $8.8 million.

The only other major newcomer, the sci-fi film Earth to Echo, landed in sixth place with $8.3 million. Final figures are expected Monday.

Says Rentrak's Paul Dergarabedian: "The Fourth of July holiday went off with more of a whimper than a bang."

Sunday, July 06, 2014

New Pink Floyd Album 'The Endless River' Out in October: Report


From Billboard, Pink Floyd may be releasing a new record this fall, according to guitarist David Gilmour's wife Polly Samson, who tweeted (and possibly leaked?) the news earlier this morning.

The band's longtime engineer Andy Jackson also confirmed the album's release via fan site Floydian Slip; while the band's current label home, Warner, has yet to confirm the release, Gilmour's manager hinted to the site that a proper announcement would come this monday (July 7). Billboard has reached out to the label and will update as the story progresses.

If the reports are true, "The Endless River" would come just in time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band's final album, 1994's "The Division Bell"; the "new" material would have been recorded around the same time. Gilmour currently has a solo album in the works; no word on whether Roger Waters will have been included, but his last appearance on a Floyd record was in 1983 with "The Final Cut," and he reportedly has a new solo album in the works.

Keyboardist Rick Wright -- whose membership in Pink Floyd fluctuated over the years, thanks to a brief exit in 1979 stemming from clashes with Waters while recording "The Wall," a stint as a live session musician while the band toured that album, and an official reentry into the band by the time "Division Bell" was released -- died at 65 of cancer in 2008.

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...