Alan Moore: The Watchmen sucks
Apparently (and not surprisingly, given the way he's felt about past movies based on his works) "Watchmen" author Alan Moore isn't pleased about the having a film based on the graphic novel. From The Los Angeles Times:
"I find film in its modern form to be quite bullying...It spoon-feeds us, which has the effect of watering down our collective cultural imagination. It is as if we are freshly hatched birds looking up with our mouths open waiting for Hollywood to feed us more regurgitated worms. The 'Watchmen' film sounds like more regurgitated worms. I for one am sick of worms. Can't we get something else? Perhaps some takeout? Even Chinese worms would be a nice change."
"I find film in its modern form to be quite bullying...It spoon-feeds us, which has the effect of watering down our collective cultural imagination. It is as if we are freshly hatched birds looking up with our mouths open waiting for Hollywood to feed us more regurgitated worms. The 'Watchmen' film sounds like more regurgitated worms. I for one am sick of worms. Can't we get something else? Perhaps some takeout? Even Chinese worms would be a nice change."
New and upcoming pop culture books
Here are some upcoming titles of possible interest to Pop Culture Safari readers:
The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
Telling Stories: The Classic Comic Art of Frank Frazetta
Fantasy art's most popular painter was also one of the most popular comic book illustrators during the industry’s golden age. Telling Stories: The Classic Comic Art of Frank Frazetta celebrates the rare and largely forgotten stories created five decades ago by this iconic artist. These jungle adventures, true-life tales of heroism, and dreamy love stories not only exhibit the skill of a master craftsman but also provide tantalizing glimpses of where the young artist’s career would ultimately take him.
Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative By Will Eisner
Based on Will Eisner's legendary course at New York's School of Visual Arts, this guide has inspired generations of artists, students, teachers, and fans. Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative teaches how to control a story effectively using a broad array of techniques. With examples from Eisner's own catalog and such masters as H. Foster, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Milton Caniff, Al Capp, and George Herriman, this book distills the art of graphic storytelling into principles that every comic artist, writer, and filmmaker should know. 2-color art and text.
Scorchy Smith And The Art Of Noel Sickles
Noel Sickles drew comics for three brief years, yet his groundbreaking work on the 1930s aviation adventure series Scorchy Smith is a milestone in the history of newspaper comic strips. Over the past 70 years, however, readers have seen only occasional excerpts of this seminal work. Now, IDW's Library of American Comics presents Scorchy Smith and The Art of Noel Sickles, a comprehensive, oversized volume that collects, for the first time, every Sickles Scorchy strip, from December 1933 through November 1936.
Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions
They love nothing better than sipping free-trade gourmet coffee, leafing through the Sunday New York Times, and listening to David Sedaris on NPR (ideally all at the same time). Apple products, indie music, food co-ops, and vintage T-shirts make them weak in the knees.
They believe they’re unique, yet somehow they’re all exactly the same, talking about how they “get” Sarah Silverman’s “subversive” comedy and Wes Anderson’s “droll” films. They’re also down with diversity and up on all the best microbrews, breakfast spots, foreign cinema, and authentic sushi. They’re organic, ironic, and do not own TVs.
You know who they are: They’re white people. And they’re here, and you’re gonna have to deal. Fortunately, here’s a book that investigates, explains, and offers advice for finding social success with the Caucasian persuasion. So kick back on your IKEA couch and lose yourself in the ultimate guide to the unbearable whiteness of being.
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
An unprecedented blend of science and art, Daniel Levitin's debut, This Is Your Brain on Music, delighted readers with an exuberant guide to the neural impulses behind those songs that make our heart swell. Now he showcases his daring theory of "six songs," illuminating how the brain evolved to play and listen to music in six fundamental forms—for knowledge, friendship, religion, joy, comfort, and love. Preserving the emotional history of our lives and of our species, from its very beginning music was also allied to dance, as the structure of the brain confirms; developing this neurological observation, Levitin shows how music and dance enabled the social bonding and friendship necessary for human culture and society to evolve.
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die
The musical adventure of a lifetime. The most exciting book on music in years. A book of treasure, a book of discovery, a book to open your ears to new worlds of pleasure. Doing for music what Patricia Schultz—author of the phenomenal 1,000 Places to See Before You Die—does for travel, Tom Moon recommends 1,000 recordings guaranteed to give listeners the joy, the mystery, the revelation, the sheer fun of great music.
Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice
Marcia Brady, eldest daughter on television's The Brady Bunch, had it all—style, looks, boys, brains, and talent. No wonder her younger sister Jan was jealous! For countless adolescents across America who came of age in the early 1970s, Marcia was the ideal American teenager. Girls wanted to be her. Boys wanted to date her. But what viewers didn't know about the always-sunny, perfect Marcia was that offscreen, her real-life counterpart, Maureen McCormick, the young actress who portrayed her, was living a very different—and not-so-wonderful—life. Now, for the very first time, Maureen tells the shocking and inspirational true story of the beloved teen generations have invited into their living rooms—and the woman she became.
Star Trek The Collectibles
This book provides a wide-range of Star Trek treasures you can appreciate whether you’re a devoted Trekkie or a novice collector of this epic American science fiction franchise. In the pages of this spectacular guide you’ll discover more than 1,500 color photos – including memorabilia direct from Paramount Studios’ warehouses. In addition, you’ll enjoy chapters covering more than 40 years of Star Trek action figures, lunch boxes, games, pins, posters, uniforms, original scripts and countless other items, all with identifying details and current market values.
The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
Telling Stories: The Classic Comic Art of Frank Frazetta
Fantasy art's most popular painter was also one of the most popular comic book illustrators during the industry’s golden age. Telling Stories: The Classic Comic Art of Frank Frazetta celebrates the rare and largely forgotten stories created five decades ago by this iconic artist. These jungle adventures, true-life tales of heroism, and dreamy love stories not only exhibit the skill of a master craftsman but also provide tantalizing glimpses of where the young artist’s career would ultimately take him.
Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative By Will Eisner
Based on Will Eisner's legendary course at New York's School of Visual Arts, this guide has inspired generations of artists, students, teachers, and fans. Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative teaches how to control a story effectively using a broad array of techniques. With examples from Eisner's own catalog and such masters as H. Foster, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Milton Caniff, Al Capp, and George Herriman, this book distills the art of graphic storytelling into principles that every comic artist, writer, and filmmaker should know. 2-color art and text.
Scorchy Smith And The Art Of Noel Sickles
Noel Sickles drew comics for three brief years, yet his groundbreaking work on the 1930s aviation adventure series Scorchy Smith is a milestone in the history of newspaper comic strips. Over the past 70 years, however, readers have seen only occasional excerpts of this seminal work. Now, IDW's Library of American Comics presents Scorchy Smith and The Art of Noel Sickles, a comprehensive, oversized volume that collects, for the first time, every Sickles Scorchy strip, from December 1933 through November 1936.
Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions
They love nothing better than sipping free-trade gourmet coffee, leafing through the Sunday New York Times, and listening to David Sedaris on NPR (ideally all at the same time). Apple products, indie music, food co-ops, and vintage T-shirts make them weak in the knees.
They believe they’re unique, yet somehow they’re all exactly the same, talking about how they “get” Sarah Silverman’s “subversive” comedy and Wes Anderson’s “droll” films. They’re also down with diversity and up on all the best microbrews, breakfast spots, foreign cinema, and authentic sushi. They’re organic, ironic, and do not own TVs.
You know who they are: They’re white people. And they’re here, and you’re gonna have to deal. Fortunately, here’s a book that investigates, explains, and offers advice for finding social success with the Caucasian persuasion. So kick back on your IKEA couch and lose yourself in the ultimate guide to the unbearable whiteness of being.
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
An unprecedented blend of science and art, Daniel Levitin's debut, This Is Your Brain on Music, delighted readers with an exuberant guide to the neural impulses behind those songs that make our heart swell. Now he showcases his daring theory of "six songs," illuminating how the brain evolved to play and listen to music in six fundamental forms—for knowledge, friendship, religion, joy, comfort, and love. Preserving the emotional history of our lives and of our species, from its very beginning music was also allied to dance, as the structure of the brain confirms; developing this neurological observation, Levitin shows how music and dance enabled the social bonding and friendship necessary for human culture and society to evolve.
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die
The musical adventure of a lifetime. The most exciting book on music in years. A book of treasure, a book of discovery, a book to open your ears to new worlds of pleasure. Doing for music what Patricia Schultz—author of the phenomenal 1,000 Places to See Before You Die—does for travel, Tom Moon recommends 1,000 recordings guaranteed to give listeners the joy, the mystery, the revelation, the sheer fun of great music.
Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice
Marcia Brady, eldest daughter on television's The Brady Bunch, had it all—style, looks, boys, brains, and talent. No wonder her younger sister Jan was jealous! For countless adolescents across America who came of age in the early 1970s, Marcia was the ideal American teenager. Girls wanted to be her. Boys wanted to date her. But what viewers didn't know about the always-sunny, perfect Marcia was that offscreen, her real-life counterpart, Maureen McCormick, the young actress who portrayed her, was living a very different—and not-so-wonderful—life. Now, for the very first time, Maureen tells the shocking and inspirational true story of the beloved teen generations have invited into their living rooms—and the woman she became.
Star Trek The Collectibles
This book provides a wide-range of Star Trek treasures you can appreciate whether you’re a devoted Trekkie or a novice collector of this epic American science fiction franchise. In the pages of this spectacular guide you’ll discover more than 1,500 color photos – including memorabilia direct from Paramount Studios’ warehouses. In addition, you’ll enjoy chapters covering more than 40 years of Star Trek action figures, lunch boxes, games, pins, posters, uniforms, original scripts and countless other items, all with identifying details and current market values.
Visit the Unofficial DC Comics Fortress of Memorabilia!
The Unofficial DC Comics Fortress of Memorabilia is a showplace for vintage DC Comics memorabilia. See it here!
And don't forget about the Mighty Marvelmania Museum!
And don't forget about the Mighty Marvelmania Museum!
Pop links
Famed Motown producer Norm Whitfield, who brought the Temptations a harder-edged, psychedelic sound on late 60s hits like "Ball of Confusion" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," has passed away, Billboard reports.
"Norman Whitfield was one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers of our time," Temptations principal Smokey Robinson says in a statement. "He will live forever through his great music."
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And now here's Lynda Carter on Sarah Palin:
PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE: Okay, last question. I'm sure you've seen all the comparisons in the media and among Republicans of Sarah Palin to Wonder Woman. How do you feel about that?
LYNDA CARTER: "Don’t get me started. She’s the anti-Wonder Woman. She’s judgmental and dictatorial, telling people how they’ve got to live their lives. And a superior religious self-righteousness ... that’s just not what Wonder Woman is about.
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Via PCL LinkDump: A documentary on Jamaican ska music.
"Norman Whitfield was one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers of our time," Temptations principal Smokey Robinson says in a statement. "He will live forever through his great music."
-----
And now here's Lynda Carter on Sarah Palin:
PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE: Okay, last question. I'm sure you've seen all the comparisons in the media and among Republicans of Sarah Palin to Wonder Woman. How do you feel about that?
LYNDA CARTER: "Don’t get me started. She’s the anti-Wonder Woman. She’s judgmental and dictatorial, telling people how they’ve got to live their lives. And a superior religious self-righteousness ... that’s just not what Wonder Woman is about.
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Via PCL LinkDump: A documentary on Jamaican ska music.
Beatles Love DVD due out Oct. 21
"All Together Now," a documentary about the Cirque du Soleil's Beatles-based "Love" show will be out on DVD Oct. 21, Apple Corps has announced.
The DVD will be available in US stores exclusively at Best Buy and at The LOVE Boutique at the Mirage in Las Vegas. In addition, Apple Corps Ltd./Cirque du Soleil will partner with The Bigger Picture, to bring the feature-length documentary ‘All Together Now’ to digital cinema audiences across the U.S. beginning on October 20th.
The documentary details the story behind the unique partnership between The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and 2006 launch of LOVE, the stage production still playing to packed houses at The Mirage in Las Vegas, and the experimental Beatles soundscape album of the same name which garnered two Grammy Awards for producers Sir George and Giles Martin. The film is dedicated to the memory of Neil Aspinall, former CEO of Apple Corps and an Executive Producer of the DVD.
In addition to their roles within the main film, Sir George and Giles, along with engineer Paul Hicks, also feature in a bonus feature titled “Changing The Music” which reveals in fascinating depth how the music was created and the challenges they faced. They explain how they sourced some of the individual instruments and effects and how they were encouraged to experiment.
You can see a trailer for the film here.
The DVD will be available in US stores exclusively at Best Buy and at The LOVE Boutique at the Mirage in Las Vegas. In addition, Apple Corps Ltd./Cirque du Soleil will partner with The Bigger Picture, to bring the feature-length documentary ‘All Together Now’ to digital cinema audiences across the U.S. beginning on October 20th.
The documentary details the story behind the unique partnership between The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and 2006 launch of LOVE, the stage production still playing to packed houses at The Mirage in Las Vegas, and the experimental Beatles soundscape album of the same name which garnered two Grammy Awards for producers Sir George and Giles Martin. The film is dedicated to the memory of Neil Aspinall, former CEO of Apple Corps and an Executive Producer of the DVD.
In addition to their roles within the main film, Sir George and Giles, along with engineer Paul Hicks, also feature in a bonus feature titled “Changing The Music” which reveals in fascinating depth how the music was created and the challenges they faced. They explain how they sourced some of the individual instruments and effects and how they were encouraged to experiment.
You can see a trailer for the film here.
Pop links
Check out a vintage, Steve Ditko-illustrated horror tale.
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See the origin of Dr. 13: Ghost Breaker!
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Who can resist a Major Matt Mason picture post?
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See the origin of Dr. 13: Ghost Breaker!
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Who can resist a Major Matt Mason picture post?
J.K. Rowling guest spot on Doctor Who nixed by Tennant
"Doctor Who" producers hoped to have "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling as a guest on one of the show's Christmas specials, but the plan was vetoed by "Who" star David Tennant, according to an exchange published in a new behind-the-scenes book by "Who" producer Russell T. Davies.
Davies wanted someone who could top Kylie Minogue's appearance on the show last Christmas.
He came up with a plot where Rowling's imagination came alive and the Doctor had to battle through a snow-covered world of wizards and witches.
Davies added: "David doesn't like the JK idea.
"He thinks it sounds like a spoof, so we've paused slightly, wondering whether to win him round or just abandon something that he's not going to be happy with.
"We've got to keep him happy. He keeps us happy."
Davies had earlier asked JK to write an episode of the BBC show. But she "politely declined".
More...
Davies wanted someone who could top Kylie Minogue's appearance on the show last Christmas.
He came up with a plot where Rowling's imagination came alive and the Doctor had to battle through a snow-covered world of wizards and witches.
Davies added: "David doesn't like the JK idea.
"He thinks it sounds like a spoof, so we've paused slightly, wondering whether to win him round or just abandon something that he's not going to be happy with.
"We've got to keep him happy. He keeps us happy."
Davies had earlier asked JK to write an episode of the BBC show. But she "politely declined".
More...
Marvel to launch Web-only Iron Man and Hulk titles
Marvel is taking a new tack with its digital comics initiatives, and has announced that it will be offering Web-only comics through its subscription-based Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited service. The comics will be produced “under the guidance of Marvel Studios.”
The first two series will be tied into Marvel Studios’ theatrical (and soon) DVD releases from 2008—Iron Man and Incredible Hulk. Each will launch roughly two weeks before the corresponding DVD release: Iron Man on September 17th (DVD release September 30th), and Incredible Hulk on October 8th (DVD release October 21st).
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