Listen to the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently’s Holistic Agency – The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul."
-----
The New York Times reviews Donald Spoto's third book about Alfred Hitchcock, "Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies."
Other, better Hitchcock aficionados — most notably François Truffaut in his book-length conversation with his fellow auteur — have already paid considerable attention to the most flagrant kinkiness in the Hitchcock canon. No single performance in any of his films has been more heavily analyzed than Kim Novak’s in “Vertigo.” Still, Mr. Spoto has enjoyed extraordinary access to Hitchcock’s players over a long period of time, and he has assembled a cavalcade of chatty firsthand impressions.
-----
Geppi's Entertainment Museum, a Baltimore showcase for pop culture artifacts from comic books, movies and cartoons, etc., is in a spot of financial trouble.
The museum, founded by Stephen A. Geppi, CEO of Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. in Timonium and publisher of Baltimore Magazine, accrued approximately $622,500 in unpaid rent to the Maryland Stadium Authority as of Oct. 6. The museum also owed more than $77,000 in late fees and unpaid electricity bills that have accumulated since February 2007, according to accounting documents from the authority.
-----
We can all rest easy now, Paul McCartney's head has been relocated.
The waxwork head of Paul McCartney has been found at Reading train station by a tramp, who has since been rewarded for handing over the bizarre object.
The head belongs to a waxwork of The Beatles star, which was previously on display at the Louis Tussauds Museum in Great Yarmouth, and the owner Joby Carter left it on a train last week.
"Tramp"? Apparently political correctness hasn't quite caught on with the Brits...
Batman: Brave and the Bold postcards
Via Newsarama: here are series or postcard images from the Cartoon Network's press kit for its upcoming Batman cartoon series:
And here are some wallpaper images from the show's official site:
The show debuts Nov. 14. And it looks like it'll be fun. Nice to see a lighter take on the Caped Crusader.
And here are some wallpaper images from the show's official site:
The show debuts Nov. 14. And it looks like it'll be fun. Nice to see a lighter take on the Caped Crusader.
Jack Kirby discussion by Mark Evanier
Here's comic book writer/historian Mark Evanier talking about his biography of the great artist Jack Kirby, co-creator of the Fantastic Four, Hulk and many more.
First "Lost" sesion 5 promo!
Hey, lookie here! "Lost" finally returns in January and here's our first peek at what we'll see:
See Hulk vs. Thor animated trailer
Marvel has posted a trailer for it's upcoming, direct-to-DVD "Hulk Vs." movie, which features the green goliath squaring off against various folks, such as, in this clip, Thor.
The movie is out in January.
The movie is out in January.
Pop links: Who has the head of Paul McCartney?, More and more Paul, Doctor Strange movie, plus Carol Burnett and Boris Karloff
Paul McCartney's head has gone on a magical mystery tour, NPR reports.
A wax head of singer Paul McCartney is on the loose. The mop-topped likeness came from a wax museum at a seaside resort in England. A London auctioneer had taken it — in a cardboard box — to be appraised. And then left the box under a train seat somewhere between London and Reading.
-----
Speaking of Paul, this DVD, out Nov. 25, sounds like it might be half-decent:
Composing the Beatles Songbook: Lennon and McCartney 1966 / 1970. The DVD is an independent documentary film that reviews the partnership, music and impact of Lennon and McCartney as composers during this hugely creative period.
From the first bars of Eleanor Rigby to the closing Abbey Road song-cycle, this film shows how they barely put a step wrong in making the most joyous music the world had ever witnessed. Drawing on rare footage, classic performances and penetrating revelations from friends of the pair, Beatles academics and musicologists, we here discover the true story of how those classic songs were written.
With contributions from; friends Barry Miles, Klaus Voorman and Maureen Cleaves; musicians Alan Moore and Chris Ingham; journalists Robert Christgau [Village Voice] and Anthony De Curtis [Rolling Stone]; authors Johnny Rogan, Pete Doggett, Steve Turner, and Nigel Williamson and broadcaster Paul Gambaccini.
Evidently, the disk is a companion to previous DVD that concentrates on Lennon and McCartney's earlier music.
-----
Still speaking of Paul: Here's a preview of his new "Fireman" album.
------
A Doctor Strange movie is evidently in the works.
it looks like the moustachioed Master of the Mystic Arts might be getting his own movie after all. At least, that’s if Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige has his way.
“Dr. Strange? This is one of the best characters we have. [He represents] this amazing cosmic universe to Marvel that we haven’t played with in films yet and I think could be amazing to play with,” Feige told MTV. “I love the idea of tapping into the magical realm of the Marvel Universe, which is fairly significant and hasn’t yet seen life on screen.”
-----
Video: Carol Burnett meets in Boris Karloff on "The Entertainers" TV show from 1964.
A wax head of singer Paul McCartney is on the loose. The mop-topped likeness came from a wax museum at a seaside resort in England. A London auctioneer had taken it — in a cardboard box — to be appraised. And then left the box under a train seat somewhere between London and Reading.
-----
Speaking of Paul, this DVD, out Nov. 25, sounds like it might be half-decent:
Composing the Beatles Songbook: Lennon and McCartney 1966 / 1970. The DVD is an independent documentary film that reviews the partnership, music and impact of Lennon and McCartney as composers during this hugely creative period.
From the first bars of Eleanor Rigby to the closing Abbey Road song-cycle, this film shows how they barely put a step wrong in making the most joyous music the world had ever witnessed. Drawing on rare footage, classic performances and penetrating revelations from friends of the pair, Beatles academics and musicologists, we here discover the true story of how those classic songs were written.
With contributions from; friends Barry Miles, Klaus Voorman and Maureen Cleaves; musicians Alan Moore and Chris Ingham; journalists Robert Christgau [Village Voice] and Anthony De Curtis [Rolling Stone]; authors Johnny Rogan, Pete Doggett, Steve Turner, and Nigel Williamson and broadcaster Paul Gambaccini.
Evidently, the disk is a companion to previous DVD that concentrates on Lennon and McCartney's earlier music.
-----
Still speaking of Paul: Here's a preview of his new "Fireman" album.
------
A Doctor Strange movie is evidently in the works.
it looks like the moustachioed Master of the Mystic Arts might be getting his own movie after all. At least, that’s if Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige has his way.
“Dr. Strange? This is one of the best characters we have. [He represents] this amazing cosmic universe to Marvel that we haven’t played with in films yet and I think could be amazing to play with,” Feige told MTV. “I love the idea of tapping into the magical realm of the Marvel Universe, which is fairly significant and hasn’t yet seen life on screen.”
-----
Video: Carol Burnett meets in Boris Karloff on "The Entertainers" TV show from 1964.
Early Zappa albums coming out "expanded"
My favorite Frank Zappa albums have always beenhis earliest. They're musically adventurous and funny, but not overtly gross or deliberately silly like a lot of the stuff that came later. Of the later material, I really like his instrumental works. The silly/scatological "rock" tunes? Not so much.
So it's cool to hear of these new reissues focusing on my favorite, early period of his work. First up is a package focusing on the Lumpy Gravy and We're Only in it for the Money albums, to be titled Lumpy Money. Here's the skinny:
The "Lumpy Money" package will feature two separate mixes of each album, done by Frank himself. It will include feature the first official release of the instrumental, Igor Stravinsky-influenced orchestral "ballet" version of "Lumpy Gravy" that Zappa recorded in 1967 for Capitol Records but decided to revamp, adding rock musicians and eventually releasing it on MGM/Verve four months after "We're Only in it For the Money" in 1968. Gail Zappa says a "sister" project will be released shortly after "Lumpy Money" that will contain more music from those sessions.
Other releases in the series will be treated "more as individual albums," drawing material from the Sequin Mines vault underneath the Zappa family home. A new version of "Cruising with Ruben and the Jets," Frank Zappa's third 1968 release, is also being prepared, while the Zappa Family Trust is working on other projects such as a vintage live album from the Roxy in Los Angeles and a set of Zappa's renditions of the compositions French composer Edgar Varese.
So it's cool to hear of these new reissues focusing on my favorite, early period of his work. First up is a package focusing on the Lumpy Gravy and We're Only in it for the Money albums, to be titled Lumpy Money. Here's the skinny:
The "Lumpy Money" package will feature two separate mixes of each album, done by Frank himself. It will include feature the first official release of the instrumental, Igor Stravinsky-influenced orchestral "ballet" version of "Lumpy Gravy" that Zappa recorded in 1967 for Capitol Records but decided to revamp, adding rock musicians and eventually releasing it on MGM/Verve four months after "We're Only in it For the Money" in 1968. Gail Zappa says a "sister" project will be released shortly after "Lumpy Money" that will contain more music from those sessions.
Other releases in the series will be treated "more as individual albums," drawing material from the Sequin Mines vault underneath the Zappa family home. A new version of "Cruising with Ruben and the Jets," Frank Zappa's third 1968 release, is also being prepared, while the Zappa Family Trust is working on other projects such as a vintage live album from the Roxy in Los Angeles and a set of Zappa's renditions of the compositions French composer Edgar Varese.
New comics Oct. 22, 2008: More Showcase Presents World's Finest
Here are my recommendations of new items in comic book shops today:
SHOWCASE PRESENTS WORLDS FINEST Vol. 2
SPIRIT FEMME FATALES (I won't get this, being a collector of the hardcover Spirit Archives books, but it's good stuff.)
ELEKTRA BY FRANK MILLER OMNIBUS (This is from back when Frank Miller didn't drive me nuts).
TOMB OF DRACULA OMNIBUS Vol. 1 (Great stuff once this title hits its stride a half dozen or so issues in. Lovely Gene Colan art.)
THOR TRUTH OF HISTORY #1 (The first issue of an Adam Davis-written/illustrated mini.)
SHOWCASE PRESENTS WORLDS FINEST Vol. 2
SPIRIT FEMME FATALES (I won't get this, being a collector of the hardcover Spirit Archives books, but it's good stuff.)
ELEKTRA BY FRANK MILLER OMNIBUS (This is from back when Frank Miller didn't drive me nuts).
TOMB OF DRACULA OMNIBUS Vol. 1 (Great stuff once this title hits its stride a half dozen or so issues in. Lovely Gene Colan art.)
THOR TRUTH OF HISTORY #1 (The first issue of an Adam Davis-written/illustrated mini.)
Upcoming Marvel Comics releases: Marvel index, Human Torch Masterworks,
A couple of interesting items from Marvel's January 2009 solicitations:
OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #1
Written by VARIOUS
Follow the history of the Marvel Universe as it unfolds month by month with the All-New Official Index to the Marvel Universe. Each issue provides synopses for dozens of individual comics, including back-up strips, introducing you to the characters, teams, places and equipment that appeared within, providing vital information about first appearances, where they last showed up and where they appeared next! Join us as we chronicle the Marvel Universe, starting with Spider-Man (from Amazing Fantasy #15 on), Iron Man (from Tales of Suspense #39 on) and the X-Men (from 1963's X-Men #1 on).
64 PGS./Rated A ...$3.99
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE HUMAN TORCH VOL. 2 HC
Written by STAN LEE & LARRY IVIE
Penciled by DICK AYERS, BOB POWELL, CARL BURGOS & JACK KIRBY
Cover by JACK KIRBY
Hot dog! It's a treat, the swingin' '60s solo adventures of the Human Torch come to cacophonous conclusion in this much-demanded Masterworks milestone! Written by the one-and-only sultan of the Silver Age, Stan Lee, and illustrated by the Bullen's professor of penciling, Darlin' Dick Ayers, these tales of the Torch (and his odd-couple partner, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing) are bona fide and certified cover-to-cover fun! Join in as the Torch tests his mettle against the Wizard, the riotous Rabble Rouser and Plantman. Then, place your bets in the battle of fire and ice between Johnny Storm and the X-Men's Iceman, illustrated by Jack Kirby! After that we waste no time because it's team-up time. The Thing joins the show and wastes no time getting down to clobberin' time vs. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, Paste-Pot Pete, the Beetle (not those Beatles, they come later), the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master. And before we close it all down comes...the Watcher! Guest-staring the Amazing Spider-Man, the X-Men, four guys named John, Paul, George and Ringo, and if that doesn't sell you on it, then I've got five words that will: "Thing in a Beatle wig." That's it! We stuck a fork in ya. So reserve that copy today, True Believer! Collecting STRANGE TALES #118-134
256 PGS./All Ages ...$54.99
OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #1
Written by VARIOUS
Follow the history of the Marvel Universe as it unfolds month by month with the All-New Official Index to the Marvel Universe. Each issue provides synopses for dozens of individual comics, including back-up strips, introducing you to the characters, teams, places and equipment that appeared within, providing vital information about first appearances, where they last showed up and where they appeared next! Join us as we chronicle the Marvel Universe, starting with Spider-Man (from Amazing Fantasy #15 on), Iron Man (from Tales of Suspense #39 on) and the X-Men (from 1963's X-Men #1 on).
64 PGS./Rated A ...$3.99
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE HUMAN TORCH VOL. 2 HC
Written by STAN LEE & LARRY IVIE
Penciled by DICK AYERS, BOB POWELL, CARL BURGOS & JACK KIRBY
Cover by JACK KIRBY
Hot dog! It's a treat, the swingin' '60s solo adventures of the Human Torch come to cacophonous conclusion in this much-demanded Masterworks milestone! Written by the one-and-only sultan of the Silver Age, Stan Lee, and illustrated by the Bullen's professor of penciling, Darlin' Dick Ayers, these tales of the Torch (and his odd-couple partner, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing) are bona fide and certified cover-to-cover fun! Join in as the Torch tests his mettle against the Wizard, the riotous Rabble Rouser and Plantman. Then, place your bets in the battle of fire and ice between Johnny Storm and the X-Men's Iceman, illustrated by Jack Kirby! After that we waste no time because it's team-up time. The Thing joins the show and wastes no time getting down to clobberin' time vs. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, Paste-Pot Pete, the Beetle (not those Beatles, they come later), the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master. And before we close it all down comes...the Watcher! Guest-staring the Amazing Spider-Man, the X-Men, four guys named John, Paul, George and Ringo, and if that doesn't sell you on it, then I've got five words that will: "Thing in a Beatle wig." That's it! We stuck a fork in ya. So reserve that copy today, True Believer! Collecting STRANGE TALES #118-134
256 PGS./All Ages ...$54.99
Pop links: Worthless Beatles iPod, RKO horror film remakes, new Spirit trailer
Plans are afoot to remake four classic RKO horror films from the 1940s, Variety reports.
The remake properties are the Jacques Tourneur-directed “I Walked With a Zombie” (1943); the Robert Wise-directed Bela Lugosi-Boris Karloff starrer “The Body Snatcher” (1945); the Mark Robson-directed Karloff starrer “Bedlam” (1946); and the John Farrow-directed Lucille Ball-John Carradine starrer “Five Came Back” (1939).
-----
Here's a new trailer for "The Spirit."
-----
This is stupid: Bloomingales is selling a Beatles iPod. But don't get all excited that this means the Fabs' songs are available on iTunes. They aren't. Yet. No--with this deal you get an iPod etched with the band's logo on one side and the cover shot from Abbey Road on another. An empty iPod. But it comes in a box filled with all the Beatles albums on CD. So you can load up the songs yourself. But the CDs are the same ones that have been around for 20 years and the same ones you most likely already own if you would go out buy yourself a Beatles iPod.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Especially when, as Mojo mag revealed in its October issue, all the Beatles albums will be out in remastered form on sometime next year. The sound is supposedly zillions times better than the current batch of CDs. And, odds are, it's these remasters that eventually be available via iTunes, as well.
But, if you have nearly $800 (yes, seriously) to spend on a bunch of outdated CDs and an empty iPod, here's yer link.
The remake properties are the Jacques Tourneur-directed “I Walked With a Zombie” (1943); the Robert Wise-directed Bela Lugosi-Boris Karloff starrer “The Body Snatcher” (1945); the Mark Robson-directed Karloff starrer “Bedlam” (1946); and the John Farrow-directed Lucille Ball-John Carradine starrer “Five Came Back” (1939).
-----
Here's a new trailer for "The Spirit."
-----
This is stupid: Bloomingales is selling a Beatles iPod. But don't get all excited that this means the Fabs' songs are available on iTunes. They aren't. Yet. No--with this deal you get an iPod etched with the band's logo on one side and the cover shot from Abbey Road on another. An empty iPod. But it comes in a box filled with all the Beatles albums on CD. So you can load up the songs yourself. But the CDs are the same ones that have been around for 20 years and the same ones you most likely already own if you would go out buy yourself a Beatles iPod.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Especially when, as Mojo mag revealed in its October issue, all the Beatles albums will be out in remastered form on sometime next year. The sound is supposedly zillions times better than the current batch of CDs. And, odds are, it's these remasters that eventually be available via iTunes, as well.
But, if you have nearly $800 (yes, seriously) to spend on a bunch of outdated CDs and an empty iPod, here's yer link.
New releases: DVDs and CDs Oct. 21, 2008 - Blu Ray Bond, Complete Man from UNCLE,
Here's what looks good to me CD and DVD-wise this week:
DVDs:
The Incredible Hulk (Three-Disc Special Edition)
Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Vol. 6
James Bond Blu-ray Collection Six-Pack (Dr. No / Die Another Day / Live and Let Die / For Your Eyes Only / From Russia with Love / Thunderball) (Amazon.com Exclusive) [Blu-ray]
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - The Complete Series
The Incredible Hulk - The Complete Fifth Season
Warner Gangsters Collection, Vol. 4 (The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse / Invisible Stripes / Kid Galahad / Larceny, Inc. / The Little Giant / Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film)
The Mothership Connection Live 1976 ~ Parliament Funkadelic
CDs
No Pussyfooting Brian Eno and Robert Fripp
Acoustic Vagabonds by Gary Louris
DVDs:
The Incredible Hulk (Three-Disc Special Edition)
Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Vol. 6
James Bond Blu-ray Collection Six-Pack (Dr. No / Die Another Day / Live and Let Die / For Your Eyes Only / From Russia with Love / Thunderball) (Amazon.com Exclusive) [Blu-ray]
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - The Complete Series
The Incredible Hulk - The Complete Fifth Season
Warner Gangsters Collection, Vol. 4 (The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse / Invisible Stripes / Kid Galahad / Larceny, Inc. / The Little Giant / Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film)
The Mothership Connection Live 1976 ~ Parliament Funkadelic
CDs
No Pussyfooting Brian Eno and Robert Fripp
Acoustic Vagabonds by Gary Louris
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)