Spaced The Complete SeriesBuy New: $34.99
Vampyr - Criterion Collection Buy New: $27.99
CD new releases July 22, 2008
U2 Deluxe Edition Box Set [Amazon.com Exclusive] Buy New: $63.99
CSNY/Deja Vu Live Buy New: $12.99
David Bowie - Live in Santa Monica '72 Buy New: $24.99
U2- Boy remastered expanded Buy New: $27.99
U2 - War remastered expanded Buy New: $29.99
U2 - October remastered expandedBuy New: $29.99
Paul Weller - 22 Dreams Buy New: $12.99
X-Files - I Want to BelieveBuy New: $12.99
Dr. Dog - Fate Buy New: $13.99
Batman - Gotham KnightBuy New: $14.99
My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves Buy New: $10
Teen Titans Trouble in Tokyo Buy New: $16.98
Chris Difford - The Last Temptation of Chris Buy New: $14.98
Pop links
Dial B for Blog explores 1960s Batmania in the pages of 16 Magazine. This is part of a 16 Days of Batman series over there, which promises to be awesome. Stick around here in coming days, too, as Pop Culture Safari presents various Bat-artifacts in our daily posts.
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A film exploring John Lennon's troubled childhood is in the works.
Entitled 'Nowhere Boy', the film will be written by Michael Greenhalgh, who adapted the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis' wife Debbie Curtis' autobiography, 'Touching From A Distance', for last year's film 'Control'.
The Lennon film will cover the story of late Beatle's childhood in Liverpool, where he was brought up by his aunt Mimi after his mother Julia died in an accident involving a police car...
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Musicologists have saved a cache of endangered tapes by electronic music pioneer--and "Doctor Who" theme creator--Delia Derbyshire.
...the collection, which comprises 267 tapes, correspondence and scores, was entrusted Mark Ayres, the Radiophonic Workshop.
The material had languished unheard for 30 years until it was passed to Manchester University’s School of Art, Histories and Culture to catalogue and preserve. The material, in poor condition, had to be played on a 1960s Studer A80 tape machine lent by the BBC’s Manchester studios before it could be digitised.
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Pappy presents a rare Walt Kelly tale from 1949.
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Today in sharity:
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A film exploring John Lennon's troubled childhood is in the works.
Entitled 'Nowhere Boy', the film will be written by Michael Greenhalgh, who adapted the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis' wife Debbie Curtis' autobiography, 'Touching From A Distance', for last year's film 'Control'.
The Lennon film will cover the story of late Beatle's childhood in Liverpool, where he was brought up by his aunt Mimi after his mother Julia died in an accident involving a police car...
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Musicologists have saved a cache of endangered tapes by electronic music pioneer--and "Doctor Who" theme creator--Delia Derbyshire.
...the collection, which comprises 267 tapes, correspondence and scores, was entrusted Mark Ayres, the Radiophonic Workshop.
The material had languished unheard for 30 years until it was passed to Manchester University’s School of Art, Histories and Culture to catalogue and preserve. The material, in poor condition, had to be played on a 1960s Studer A80 tape machine lent by the BBC’s Manchester studios before it could be digitised.
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Pappy presents a rare Walt Kelly tale from 1949.
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Today in sharity:
Does the world really need a Watchmen movie?
It's always sort of exciting to see comic book characters you've known for years fleshed out in live action movie posters, pics and trailers, even though--90 percent of the time--I never end up going to the films being advertised.
Usually the movies are bad. Or the portrayal of the characters is so far off the mark for my tastes. I don't know, for example, if I'll see "Batman: The Dark Knight," despite all the great reviews it's generated. I've lived with dark Batman for 20-some years now and, frankly, I liked him a lot more the way he was before. The best-ever on-screen take of the character for me was "Batman: The Animated Series." And his high water mark in comic books was when Denny O'Neill and Neal Adams chronicled his adventures, not that I don't love the Fox/Finger/Sprang stories or the Haney/Aparo "Brave and Bold" years just as much.
And then there's "The Watchmen." The limited series came out 20 years ago and, along with Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight," and changed the super-hero genre completely. Maybe forever. And, in my opinion, for the worse.
These were groundbreaking comics at the time: Dark takes on the super-hero mythos. And they were fascinating to read. But I think anything provocative they had to say has been diluted by the influence they had on every other super-hero comic that followed. The genre has become one of unrelenting darkness with nary a spot of humor or whimsy to be seen.
And, in recent years, super-hero movies have followed suit. From what I've seen and read of it, "Batman: The Dark Knight" is what it is because of "The Watchmen" and Frank Miller's Batman comics. "Spider-Man 3" was fairly dark. Same with "The Incredible Hulk." Those movies, along with "Iron Man" and others aren't appropriate for children--the audience the characters were originally created to entertain--even though there's still plenty of toys and other related merchandise from those movies being marketed to kids.
So, I'm wondering, will "The Watchmen" film have any sort of impact in the wider culture--that which exists outside the walls of comic book shops? Seems like the general public may likely say "Dark superheroes. Seen it." And, unlike Batman and the Hulk, none of these characters has any name brand recognition. People may go because it looks cool and it has superheroes in it. But will they come away feeling any of the shock and awe present in the Alan Moore-David Gibbons comic series?
It may well be "just another super-hero film," where "The Watchmen," at the time, was anything but "just another super-hero comic."
Usually the movies are bad. Or the portrayal of the characters is so far off the mark for my tastes. I don't know, for example, if I'll see "Batman: The Dark Knight," despite all the great reviews it's generated. I've lived with dark Batman for 20-some years now and, frankly, I liked him a lot more the way he was before. The best-ever on-screen take of the character for me was "Batman: The Animated Series." And his high water mark in comic books was when Denny O'Neill and Neal Adams chronicled his adventures, not that I don't love the Fox/Finger/Sprang stories or the Haney/Aparo "Brave and Bold" years just as much.
And then there's "The Watchmen." The limited series came out 20 years ago and, along with Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight," and changed the super-hero genre completely. Maybe forever. And, in my opinion, for the worse.
These were groundbreaking comics at the time: Dark takes on the super-hero mythos. And they were fascinating to read. But I think anything provocative they had to say has been diluted by the influence they had on every other super-hero comic that followed. The genre has become one of unrelenting darkness with nary a spot of humor or whimsy to be seen.
And, in recent years, super-hero movies have followed suit. From what I've seen and read of it, "Batman: The Dark Knight" is what it is because of "The Watchmen" and Frank Miller's Batman comics. "Spider-Man 3" was fairly dark. Same with "The Incredible Hulk." Those movies, along with "Iron Man" and others aren't appropriate for children--the audience the characters were originally created to entertain--even though there's still plenty of toys and other related merchandise from those movies being marketed to kids.
So, I'm wondering, will "The Watchmen" film have any sort of impact in the wider culture--that which exists outside the walls of comic book shops? Seems like the general public may likely say "Dark superheroes. Seen it." And, unlike Batman and the Hulk, none of these characters has any name brand recognition. People may go because it looks cool and it has superheroes in it. But will they come away feeling any of the shock and awe present in the Alan Moore-David Gibbons comic series?
It may well be "just another super-hero film," where "The Watchmen," at the time, was anything but "just another super-hero comic."
Entertainment Weekly sports Watchmen cover
Here's the cover of the new Entertainment Weekly, spotlighting the "Watchmen" film adaptation.
You can see a trailer for a movie on the movie's official site here.
You can see a trailer for a movie on the movie's official site here.
New pics from The Spirit
Here are three new pics from Frank Miller's "The Spirit," based on the Will Eisner comics character.
Eva Mendes as Sand Saref
Jaime King as Lorelei Rox
Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss
Eva Mendes as Sand Saref
Jaime King as Lorelei Rox
Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss
Pop links
Anatomy of a No-Prize.
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Black Canary Barbie has generated a bit of controversy in the UK.
Makers Mattel say Black Canary Barbie, out in September, is based on a DC comic superhero of the same name.
But religious group Christian Voice said: “Barbie has always been on the tarty side and this is taking it too far.
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Ray Davies is writing a musical based on his old Kinks' hit "Come Dancing."
The musical...will be performed for the first time at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in the autumn and rumours are rife that Davies will appear in the show – but as a narrator rather than a singer.
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Black Canary Barbie has generated a bit of controversy in the UK.
Makers Mattel say Black Canary Barbie, out in September, is based on a DC comic superhero of the same name.
But religious group Christian Voice said: “Barbie has always been on the tarty side and this is taking it too far.
-----
Ray Davies is writing a musical based on his old Kinks' hit "Come Dancing."
The musical...will be performed for the first time at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in the autumn and rumours are rife that Davies will appear in the show – but as a narrator rather than a singer.
Batman: Dark Knight review roundup
The consensus seems like this one's supposed to be quite good. Personally, I'm not so sure I like my Batman and Joker so dark, but...that's just the way things have gotten, I guess.
Chicago Courier News
Oppressive but never overwrought, it's a comic-book adaptation in which there will be blood.
Paul Thomas Anderson's fuming There Will Be Blood, an Oscar runner-up this year, is not too lofty a comparison (neither, really, would be the tragedies of Shakespeare). Both pictures employ staggering cinematic artistry to explore the pursuit of power and the way it can corrupt even the most well-meaning men.
... The Dark Knight takes us deep into madness, albeit the pop variety. It's a comic-book adaptation with real weight.
Most superhero movies make you slightly envious of the out-of-this-world characters and their powers. After watching The Dark Knight, you'll be relieved to be normal.
Buffalo News
Welcome to one of the most remarkable “comic book movies” ever made.
“The Dark Knight” is the best “Batman” movie since Tim Burton’s remarkable first one in 1989. It is, in every way, so far above anyone’s sensible expectations for a comic book movie that it stands a good chance of being the great movie of summer 2008 (and one of the great movies of the year).
“The Dark Knight” is such a deep, dark, dire meditation on heroism, evil, social class and urban corruption that you realize just how very far beyond a “comic book” this movie goes.
San Jose Mercury News
In his final performance — not counting an unfinished role in Terry Gilliam's "The Imagination of Doctor Parnassus" — Ledger turns the iconic character into a truly frightening villain, possibly the genre's scariest ever. The patchy, clown makeup barely hides his character's facial scars, adding a ghoulish tint to his off-hand malevolence.
San Francisco Chronicle
With its frenetic pace and its many concessions to blockbuster formula, "The Dark Knight" is by no means a complete success. But the more it reveals its dark heart, the better it gets, and at times it seems just a step away from achieving something extraordinary. In the end, it's no leap forward, but it's certainly a step in the right direction: an action blockbuster extravaganza that's sadder than sad and never pretends otherwise.
Chicago Courier News
Oppressive but never overwrought, it's a comic-book adaptation in which there will be blood.
Paul Thomas Anderson's fuming There Will Be Blood, an Oscar runner-up this year, is not too lofty a comparison (neither, really, would be the tragedies of Shakespeare). Both pictures employ staggering cinematic artistry to explore the pursuit of power and the way it can corrupt even the most well-meaning men.
... The Dark Knight takes us deep into madness, albeit the pop variety. It's a comic-book adaptation with real weight.
Most superhero movies make you slightly envious of the out-of-this-world characters and their powers. After watching The Dark Knight, you'll be relieved to be normal.
Buffalo News
Welcome to one of the most remarkable “comic book movies” ever made.
“The Dark Knight” is the best “Batman” movie since Tim Burton’s remarkable first one in 1989. It is, in every way, so far above anyone’s sensible expectations for a comic book movie that it stands a good chance of being the great movie of summer 2008 (and one of the great movies of the year).
“The Dark Knight” is such a deep, dark, dire meditation on heroism, evil, social class and urban corruption that you realize just how very far beyond a “comic book” this movie goes.
San Jose Mercury News
In his final performance — not counting an unfinished role in Terry Gilliam's "The Imagination of Doctor Parnassus" — Ledger turns the iconic character into a truly frightening villain, possibly the genre's scariest ever. The patchy, clown makeup barely hides his character's facial scars, adding a ghoulish tint to his off-hand malevolence.
San Francisco Chronicle
With its frenetic pace and its many concessions to blockbuster formula, "The Dark Knight" is by no means a complete success. But the more it reveals its dark heart, the better it gets, and at times it seems just a step away from achieving something extraordinary. In the end, it's no leap forward, but it's certainly a step in the right direction: an action blockbuster extravaganza that's sadder than sad and never pretends otherwise.
Pop links
The Hollywood Animation Archive presents a selection of Terry-Toons lobby cards.
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Here's an update on the planned Spider-Man musical, produced by Julie Taymor (Broadway's "The Lion King") with music by Bono and The Edge. Impressive. But I bet it can't top this:
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Via Bedazzled: Here's standup comic Woody Allen on the "Ed Sullivan Show."
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From Bully: Ten Things You Didn't Know About the Hulk.
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The rather primitive-looking typewriter Douglas Adams used to write "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" is up for auction.
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Here's an update on the planned Spider-Man musical, produced by Julie Taymor (Broadway's "The Lion King") with music by Bono and The Edge. Impressive. But I bet it can't top this:
-----
Via Bedazzled: Here's standup comic Woody Allen on the "Ed Sullivan Show."
-----
From Bully: Ten Things You Didn't Know About the Hulk.
------
The rather primitive-looking typewriter Douglas Adams used to write "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" is up for auction.
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