Movie Geekiness: New "Indiana Jones" movie poster

Ah, the joy of Spring ... specifically, the joy of looking forward to the movies that come out at the end of Spring. May promises to be a HUGE month, with "Iron Man" opening May 5th, and of course Indy returning to movie screens May 22nd. Since I posted the new Iron Man posters earlier this week, here's the new "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" poster, just released this week by Paramount. Great stuff by veteran poster artist Drew Struzan!

Movie Geekiness: New "Incredible Hulk" trailer

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Here we go again ...

Well, Universal and Marvel are giving us another Hulk movie, and this time it's Edward Norton filling the role of Bruce Banner, brilliant gamma radiation scientist with a hot girlfriend (Liv Tyler) and a SERIOUS anger management problem. Now, I've said this time and again and I will defend it to the end--I didn't think the last Hulk, starring Eric Bana as Banner and Jennifer Connolly (now and forever gorgeous), was that bad. It had a truly ambitious, thoughtful script and strong performances. It was simply mired by some truly silly special effects and a few bad ideas (the gamma-irradiated dogs just don't work as well in the movies as they do in the comics). In the end, the film was doomed by those bad choices and some pacing issues, and was deemed one of Marvel's more costly movie flops of the past ten years.

Now we have this movie, which was announced last year right before San Diego Comic-Con and generated significant buzz through its casting of Norton, another fantastic actor, in the role perhaps defined best by the late Bill Bixby in the '70s TV show. From what can be seen in the trailer, this film actually has quite a bit in common with the old show: Banner in hiding, trying to find a cure for his condition while keeping the rage in check, the eyes going green when the not-so-jolly Green Giant does show up. But for the first time on film really, the script throws the Hulk up against a villain in his same weight class as far as strength, a villain known in the comics as Emil Blonsky, aka the Abomination. The trailer promises that the battle between these two gamma-irradiated tyrants will truly be something to behold ... just imagine a WWE grudge match when both wrestlers can pick up and throw buildings at each other.

What do want to bet, just due to the promise of that kind of carnage, that this movie makes even more bank than Iron Man, which will show up in theaters just one month before?

Movie Geekiness: The final theatrical poster for "Iron Man"

Here are the theatrical posters for this summer's Marvel blockbuster-hopeful, "Iron Man", soon to be appearing in theaters. (Click on either image to see a larger version) Man, if only I had room for one of these in my place now, preferably the first one ... I like it!

"Iron Man" opens May 2nd.

D&D Creator Gary Gygax, dead at age 69

The Dungeon Master has DMed his last adventure.

Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax passed away earlier today, apparently from a number of health issues that had plagued him since last year. Here's the AP news report:

He had been suffering from health problems for several years, including an abdominal aneurysm, said his wife, Gail Gygax.

Gygax and Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. The game known for its oddly shaped dice became a hit, particularly among teenage boys, and eventually was turned into video games, books and movies.

Gygax always enjoyed hearing from the game's legion of devoted fans, many of whom would stop by the family's home in Lake Geneva, about 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee, his wife said. Despite his declining health, he hosted weekly games of Dungeons & Dragons as recently as January, she said.

"It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, what he gave them," Gygax said. "He really enjoyed that."

It's a strange coincidence that just last weekend my friends and I were playing D&D using a module written for the version of D&D pioneered by Gygax. Now I came into role-playing during the heyday of AD&D, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, apparently long after Gygax had parted ways with game developer TSR, Inc., but his name was still spoken of reverently among those who had been playing for far longer than I. Gygax's work that probably affected me the most was his CBS Saturday morning cartoon series (of course) Dungeons & Dragons, which I loved and hope to pick up someday on DVD (though I've heard watching it now is pretty close to the legal definition of 'torture').

I find myself wondering how the gaming world is taking this news, by and large. Is his name even remembered, except by gamers from the generation before mine? I know my friends and I are aware of his work and contributions, but beyond us, when the games became more about cards and decks and little miniatures? I certainly hope so.

And now for something completely different ...

This is one of those moments where something completely unexpected pops into my head, and I can't get past it and move on to something else without finding it, reading it through, getting the giggle out of it that made me remember it in the first place, and then recording it somewhere so that i don't have to hunt for it again. Most often, this sort of thing happens to me with movie quotes, but in this case, its' a TV show quote. Specifically, it's from Monty Python's Flying Circus, Episode 37 (I had to look that up) and it's not even one of the more popular sketches, either. This is from a skit about a weekly game show called "Prejudice"

(Michael Palin is the cheeky host) "Well now, the result of last week's competition when we asked you to find a derogatory term for the Belgians. Well, the response was enormous and we took quite a long time sorting out the winners. There were some very clever entries. Mrs Hatred of Leicester Said 'let's not call them anything, let's just ignore them' ... (applause starts vigorously, but he holds his hands up for silence) ... and a Mr St John of Huntingdon said he couldn't think of anything more derogatory than Belgians. (cheers and applause; a girl in showgirl costume comes on and holds up placards through next bit) But in the end we settled on three choices: number three ... the Sprouts (placard 'The Sprouts'), sent in by Mrs Vicious of Hastings... very nice ; number two..... the Phlegms (placard) ... from Mrs Childmolester of Worthing; but the winner was undoubtedly from Mrs No-Supper-For-You from Norwood in Lancashire... Miserable Fat Belgian Bastards. (placard; roar of applause)"

And here's the skit in its entirety, just for the hell of it:



That's all. Now back to your regulary programmed afternoon.

Hi-Def News: Paramount (finally) commits to Blu-Ray

Late Wednesday, as one media outlet put it, "the last domino fell."

Paramount, the last of the major Hollywood studios backing HD-DVD, had been notably silent in the two days following Toshiba calling it quits and Universal switching sides to Blu-Ray. On Wednesday, in a statement issued through The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Home Entertainment finally (and quietly) caved and announced their commitment to once again release their catalog and upcoming features in Blu-Ray.

"We are pleased that the industry is moving to a single high-definition format, as we believe it is in the best interest of the consumer ... As we look to (begin) releasing our titles on Blu-ray, we will monitor consumer adoption and determine our release plans accordingly." No further details were provided.

Now, as I've noted in earlier entries, Paramount SHOULD be in great shape to start releasing catalog and new features in blu-ray right away--after all, they WERE format neutral (releasing in both formats) until August of last year. They've got everything they need, or so you'd think.

But you have to wonder what must be going through the heads of the execs over there right now. They made that move to HD-DVD exclusivity last summer amidst MUCH hoopla and fanfare (and controversy, considering the rumors that Microsoft paid them HUGE to make the move), they alienated many blu-ray enthusiasts by not following through with catalog released they'd made available for pre-order months before, of which "Top Gun" was the most notable, they released their summer megahit, Transformers in the single format and boasted huge first week sales numbers (those numbers turned out to be VERY inflated, as several media sources noted almost immediately), and they spent the rest of the year and the holiday season watching HD-DVD lose more and more ground in terms of sales and market share. Is it even possible to imagine how much more they would've made on the release of Transformers alone, not to mention all the other titles that hit shelves in the back half of 2007, had they simply stayed format neutral? Now yes, if they did get money from Microsoft, that might've offset the loss somewhat, but still ... what a colossal blunder.

Oh well, all water under the bridge now. Us blu-ray enthusiasts will happily forgive Paramount (and Dreamworks once they make their announcement) once we can get our hands on high-definition versions of stuff like Gladiator and Star Trek.

Now if only I could spend my tax rebate JUST on blu-ray movies ...

Hi-Def News: Toshiba officially quits HD-DVD, Universal officially goes Blu

So the war's over.

Toshiba made it official this morning, and the story's been all over the web all day long, so I won't belabor it here. I'd reported on the rumors last Friday, and so I'm glad they didn't drag it out. Their official exit apparently releases all the studios previously committed to HD-DVD from their contractual agreements immediately.

Now this NEXT bit of news is apparently just breaking, and this is the part of today's news that's surprising, at least it is to me: Universal Studios Home Entertainment announced they will begin releasing titles in Blu-Ray in the near future, issuing this statement just hours after Toshiba's:

"The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear. Universal will continue its aggressive efforts to broaden awareness for hi-def’s unparalleled offerings in interactivity and connectivity, at an increasingly affordable price. The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate. While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray." -Universal Studios Home Entertainment President Craig Kornblau

I had honestly expected Paramount Home Media and Dreamworks to pledge their support for Blu-Ray LONG before Universal would be prepared to do so, simply because Paramount and Dreamworks were ALREADY releasing Blu-Ray discs into the market while they were format neutral, until last summer's highly-publicized move to HD-DVD exclusivity. In comparison, Universal has been HD-DVD exclusive from the beginning, and was widely thought to be FAR behind the curve as far as Blu-Ray development and retooling.

The fact that they could issue this statement so quickly can mean two different things: 1) that they just want to get it out there and in the public domain that they're committed to Blu-Ray and will get titles out whenever they can in the near future, OR 2) they had seen the writing on the wall about the way the format war was going to go a LONG time ago, since at least the New Year but maybe even earlier, and had prepared contingency plans. It's important to remember that their media statements regarding continuing HD-DVD support in the wake of Warner's move to Blu-Ray exclusivity never ruled out Blu-Ray adoption at some future date.

Well, hot damn. And here I was, just happy to look forward to the release of Top Gun, Star Trek, Gladiator, and Transformers on Blu-Ray. Now I can officially look forward to Heroes and Battlestar Galactica going Blu, as well. Woo Hoo!!