Finish it Monday: Evidence

Deadline is by the time I check my computer after I get up next Monday.

Christine tapped another cigarette on the edge of her desk and looked forlornly at the carboard box. This case was so stupid, and she had that creeping feeling that it was taking over her life. She didn't care about this missing rich kid, she didn't care about his bitch mother, and she was 100% convinced this kid had done a runner to get away from his bitch mother. He had access to huge amounts of cash to fund a getaway, and everyone who met his mother couldn't stand her inside of five minutes. Christine had gotten screamed at that very morning, the crazy bat going on and on about how her son's room was locked, oh my god oh my god. She just could not hear the obvious answer: the kid locked it from the outside to buy himself some time. What's more, he was 19, and really didn't need to tell anyone where he was in the first place.

If anything, Christine would've felt sorry for the kid, if it weren't for the fact that she'd had to comb through all his crap. He spent most of his waking hours on the internet, having tedious conversations with other recluses about God knows what. She'd pored through two hard drives worth of saved instant messages and now knew more about Heroclix figurines and Asian horror movies than she ever wanted to know. The last box sat on her desk, a smattering of incidental items that weren't dutifully organized like the all the rest of his stuff. She sighed, lit her cigarette, and pulled it towards her and peered inside.

Ugh. Piles of printout, paperbacks, fliers, boring boring boring. She saw something bulky at the bottom, and reached through the other crap to get it. It was a battered Playstation 2, still with all its controllers and wires attached. Goddammit, didn't forensic take care of this crap? Cursing under her breath, Christine bent beneath her desk and fit the AC adaptor into her powerstrip. She sat up and hit the "open" button. When the disc tray slid out, her boredowm abated somewhat. Inside was a disc type she was unfamiliar with. It was a dull gunmetal gray and had no markings at all, no indication whether it was a movie or a game disc. She picked it up and found it surprisingly heavy, like it actually was made of metal.

She doubted this had anything to do with anything, but for the first time in ten days this case yielded a glimmer of interest. She gathered up the PS2 and its wires and headed into the empty office in the back that had the TV. Her last ex had been a gamer geek and she hooked it up easily, re-inserting the mystery disc. As she heard the machine whirring to life, she noticed for the first time how empty the floor was, all the other cops having gone out for a drink or gone to drink at home. No matter, she'd have more fun with this mystery game or flick or whatever it was, and maybe wrangle a little overtime for watching TV, ha ha.

She lit another cigarette as the screen came to life...

FEMA pulls 'Scary' coloring book from web site

From usatoday, The Federal Emergency Management Agency has removed a controversial coloring book titled A Scary Things Happened from its web site following criticism that some drawings of the 9/11 attack might upset some children, the Albert Lea Tribune in Minnesota reports.

But Rose Olmsted, coordinator of the Freeborn County Crisis Response Team that produced the book after tornadoes hit Glenville, MN, in 2001, defends the project. She tells the Tribune that it was clearly made "as a tool for parents to use with an adult to help children put meaning to what has happened because words are hard to come up with."

The cover, a child-like drawing, features the Twin Towers, with one tower already on fire and a plane approaching the other. A similar image is inside the book for children to color.

It has been used to help children cope with disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the California wildfires and was applauded by a FEMA official in Chicago in 2003, Olmsted says.

Olmsted says she was told by FEMA that the book was being pulled as part of a redesign of the web site and that there had been a complaint from a parent about some of the images in the book.

"We removed the content from our Web site after reviewing www.FEMA.gov for appropriate material," said FEMA spokesman John Shea in a statement. "FEMA for Kids assists children in understanding disasters and we will continue to post appropriate material that supports its mission."

Go here for a PDF of the entire coloring book. I rock.

The worst movie of all time?

From slashfilm, About twenty years ago, director Claudio Fragasso and his wife, screenwriter Rossella Druti, ventured into the pleasant rural community of Morgan, Utah, to make a horror thriller that would be remembered forever. They unquestionably succeeded, but not in the way they had originally planned. Since its release, Troll 2 has frequently been regarded as the worst movie ever made. It’s difficult for those who have never seen the film to comprehend the sheer terribleness of filmmaking.

See a Troll 2 montage here

New G.I. Joe trailer!

From denofgeek, It’s not out until August, but catch the latest trailer for Stephen Sommer’s G.I. Joe movie here…
Published on May 1, 2009

You'll have to forgive the subtitles on this, but there's a new European trailer for G I Joe: Rise Of The Cobra that's just been released. It's thus far been a fairly forgotten summer blockbuster in the midst of the fog of hype surrounding Terminator, Star Trek and Transformers. But director Stephen Sommers has a track record of delivering hit blockbuster movies, and from the looks of this trailer, he might be about to do so again.

The film is out on 7th August, and perhaps it's wise for it - given the marketing budgets of the May, June and July releases - to fly under the radar a little until closer to the time. The trailer, though, doesn't look too bad. See what you think...

See it here

Thor to start shooting in January

From worstpreviews, IGN sat down with director Kenneth Branagh at the premiere screening of his Masterpiece Mystery TV movie series "Wallander," where he gave an update on the upcoming "Thor" movie.

"I'm working currently on 'Thor' for Marvel and we're planning that one," he said. "We're having a great time at the moment. We're in intense pre-production. I shoot 'Thor' in January of next year and because the time of release has been moved, it's allowed me to have a moment in the summer where I can shoot the Wallanders."

Branagh also confirmed the rumor that his award-winning "Wallander" co-star Tom Hiddleston is in the running for a role in "Thor." "Tom Hiddleston is a great actor and he, amongst a number of others, has been part of the group we've spoken to and all that's still a work in progress."

I can't imagine a film I'd want to see less

Seriously, when I look at this poster I just want to punch Jesus.

New Harry Potter poster features the homely kid

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day!

By David Colton, USA TODAY

You've seen the movie. Now read the comic. That's the comic-book industry's super plan Saturday as it celebrates X-Men Origins: Wolverine with the eighth annual Free Comic Book Day.

In an effort to attract new readers, more than 2,000 comic shops are offering free comics, ranging from Wolverine and The Avengers from Marvel to a preview of DC Comics' "Blackest Night" event in Green Lantern. There's a Shonen Jump manga special, Archie, Cars, even a NASCAR comic.

"It's like the peace summit of comic books when all of the major publishers work together," says Geoff Johns, writer of DC's Green Lantern. "There's always something for everyone."

While not every comic-book shop offers every title — each book costs a shop about 20 cents — by day's end, millions of comics will have been given away, says Steve Geppi, CEO of Diamond Comics, the industry's primary distributor. "Even with all their entertainment choices, kids still love comic books when they can get ahold of them," he says.

Though comic books have gotten more mature in recent years, the offerings Saturday are mostly kid-friendly. Marvel's Wolverine is an "all ages" book, and one of DC's offerings is a "Mega Sampler" of cartoon-based comics.

For a complete list of all the free comic books go here

First Look: Clash of the Titans Set Photos

From slashfilm, The first set photos from Louis Leterrier’s remake of Clash of the Titans have appeared on the Spanish website Loque Pasa En Tenerife. These ruins were photographed in Tenerife, Spain. Production began in studios outside of London earlier this week, but will later move on to various locations in Wales and in the Spanish Canary Islands, predominantly on Tenerife, off the coast of Africa. Further aerial work is set to take place in the diverse locales of Ethiopia and Iceland.

Go here for more shots

First Photo From Iron Man 2

From usatoday, By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
Tony Stark is out of the superhero closet, and it's no picnic.
The sequel to last summer's blockbuster, which began shooting three weeks ago and opens May 7, 2010, takes place six months after Stark revealed his identity as Iron Man, says director Jon Favreau. And the development is playing out with unexpected results. "How many superheroes are open about their true identities?" he asks. "We wanted to play with that idea. But it obviously has consequences — in his relationships, on the team. There are a lot of areas we can explore."

He hopes to have all other Iron Man 2 details locked down — even though he's sending dispatches via Twitter from the set. "It's never easy with summer movies, but we're trying to keep as much a surprise as possible," he says.

That means no new dirt on replacing Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle, or how the crime-fighting team S.H.I.E.L.D. will ultimately come together. Or how he'll work in new characters. Among those signed on for this go-round are Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer.

Favreau says that tackling the franchise a second time is easier because he knows the landscape. Something else would help, too: "I really enjoyed when we were a dark horse and no one knew much about us. ... I hope we can find that place again."

I'm assuming that Octopunk will attend?

From slashfilm, Paramount Pictures tweeted this really cool photo of the set-up outside the Chinese Theater for the Star Trek premiere.