I Miss Letters Pages...

The fine folks at Titan Publishing in the U.K. have been reprinting a bunch of recent DC material in neat packages, comic-book sized but with more pages than U.S. "floppies" and with really cool cardstock covers. My recent run on the SUPERMAN/BATMAN series is currently being reprinted in "DC Universe Presents", where, with the most recent issue (#4), Titan is including a good, old-fashioned letters page.

DC in the U.S. killed their letters pages a few years back, reasoning that fans are interacting aplenty on the internet (and, I suspect, the time it took to assemble the pages was just one responsibility too many in a busy editorial schedule), but bandying opinion back and forth on a message board just not the same as seeing your name in cold print in your favorite book.

When I was a kid, I had letters published in several comics, including X-MEN (first series, of course), RAWHIDE KID, PHANTOM STRANGER, GREEN LANTERN and others. For someone with aspiritions toward professional writing, these "appearances" were a real thrill. And when I was running my own letters pages (for THE AMERICAN, mostly), it was usually fun to go through the mail and see what people had to say. (Note that caveat, "usually.") E-mail has pretty much put an end to pen and ink letters, but not the sense of investment that came from seeing your name or other fans "up in lights" and discussing their favorite books.

Anyway, kudos to Titan for bringing back the letters page!

WGA Strike - Day 53

Check the url below for some interesting financial analysis of the WGA/AMPTP standoff from the number crunchers at Bear Stearns. Bottom line; even if the AMPTP gave the WGA everything currently on the table, the effect on corporate "bottom lines" would be negligible. And yet the WGA's being assailed as the spittle-flecked bomb-throwers out to destroy Hollywood. Hmm. I think a rewrite may be required on that particular (bad) script...

http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2007/12/
wall-street-congloms-let-town-suffer.html

EVIL DEAD The Comic #1 - Friday Jan. 4!!

It's been four years (!) in the making, but it's finally coming out! Because of the New Year's holiday, comic book shops are getting new books on Friday Jan. 4 next week, and that is when Ash and friends will be ready to CHILL YOU TO THE BONE. Or something like that. Solicitation material below:

Artist John Bolton returns this January with his adapatation of Evil Dead in a four issue comic book series written by Mark Verheiden.

"We're gonna get you! We're gonna get you!"

Verheiden and Bolton present an exciting expansion on the classic horror film that introduced us to the powerful Book of the Dead, the relentlessly violent deadites, and Ash -- one resilient, blood-stained survivor. Now an iconic horror hero, relive Ash's first visit to the cabin that brought him face to face with the delectably deranged deadites who possessed his girlfriend and friends . . . and turned "the perfect place to get laid" into a house of fear and fury. Return to the original nonstop gore-fest and experience the thrills, gags, and gagging anew, with unexpected new directions, additional scenes, and Bolton's jaw-dropping new paintings.

32 pages, $2.99, in stores on Jan. 4! The first of four glorious issues!

WGA Strike - Days 51, 52

Nikke Finke's dour words of warning on Christmas Eve were moderated by my friend Mark Evanier's more moderate commentary, so Christmas was celebrated with a smile after all. As Mark often points out, it is in the AMPTP's interest to claim they're ready to write off this TV season, the next TV season, the 2009 movie schedule and whatever else puts the fear of God into the WGA. Click on the appropriate links at the right for all the conflicting info...

Tip of the hat to Mick Betancourt, strike Captain of the Barham Gate Strikers, who welcomed his daughter "Untitled" to the world on Christmas Day. (Mick and his lovely wife are still trying on names for the youngun'.)

SKIDOO Alert - Don't Miss This Movie!

It really IS Christmas! I've written about the miracle that is "Skidoo" The Movie before, but now you can actually see it! TiVo it! Watch again and again and again and...

This never-released-on-DVD and rarely screened epic is going to break in 2008 big time with a one time showing on Turner Classic Movies. 2:00AM, Jan 4.

Otto Preminger directs. Groucho Marx plays "God." Carol Channing does a strip tease. Jackie Gleason takes acid and fantasizes about Mickey Rooney (!). The Turner people make a brave attempt to write a synopsis, but this is one movie that has to be seen to be believed.

All the info is at:

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/title.jsp?stid=90381

WGA Strike - Days 48, 49, 50

An unfortunate landmark in this standoff, it's now been 50 days since the AMPTP walked out on negotiations (the first time) and the strike commenced. I doubt there will be much action during the holidays, but I intend to continue the day by day count. Here's hoping negotiations resume soon...

But this headline from today's Nikke Finke column doesn't offer much cheer...

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/exclusive-attempt-fails-to-restart-wga-amptp-talks-outlook-very-grim/

Permission to be grumpy on Christmas, granted.

Early Christmas Present

If you love live music, the word "free" and the idea of not stealing illegal downloads, then check out this site. Hundreds of live shows from hundreds of bands, and according to the site it's all legal and approved by the performers. Thanks and a tip of the hat to http://atrios.blogspot.com for the heads up...

http://www.archive.org/details/etree

I'm just starting to poke around, but the 3/6/94 Wheeler Opera House show by Warren Zevon is pretty amazing, and there are a couple of fantastic Was (Not Was) shows...

BLADERUNNER The Briefcase of DVDs

That makes two fancy "briefcase" DVD sets in the last month (between this and the MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. collection)... what next, the complete SUPERMAN series packed in a phone booth?

At any rate, this latest 5 DVD BLADERUNNER release offers what one would hope is the final, absolute, definitive director's cut of the film in uber-quality, along with all the previous cuts (including the original release with narration) and, most interestingly to fans, a 3 1/2 hour long documentary on the making of the movie. This exhaustive study has new interviews with director Ridley Scott, writers Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, actors Harrison Ford, Daryl Hannah, Edward James Olmos, Rutger Hauer and many others, and a host of behind-the-scenes folks. This is not a sanitized "everyone loved one another" piece; the on-set and post-production tensions are fully explored, as well as many details of set design and special FX.

There are some great finds, including screen tests (with actor Morgan Paull playing the Harrison Ford character against multiple actresses vying for the role Sean Young eventually landed), cut scenes and outtakes. But mostly it's a textbook look at the stresses and problems involved in doing an epic, expensive, visionary piece of work. If you're looking for a gift for the Replicant in your life, you can't go wrong here!

Mary McDonnell Talks BSG...

Courtesy a link from

http://community.livejournal.com/mary_mcawesome/

A lengthy and fascinating interview with Mary (President Roslin) McDonnell, touching on many things Battlestar. No spoilers, but some teasing about what we were up to when the writer's strike hit. Read the interview at:

http://flowtv.org/?p=1015

The Beatles Sing Stairway To Heaven?

Or a reasonable facsimile thereof... part of a series of Stairway/Zep tributes done in Australia in the mid 90's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WfoccRna6I

WGA Strike - Days 45, 46, 47

As we approach Christmas week, there's still no real public progress on resuming talks. Rumors abound about an AMPTP "February strategy" (see Mark Evanier's blog for more), which doesn't exactly bring tidings of comfort and joy to all those currently out of work.

And the propaganda war continues, especially the charge that WGA members are all so rich that this strike is little more than a welcome, extended vacation for the membership. I'm sure the folks applying for emergency loans, in fear of losing their homes or apartments, appreciate this characterization. It's an especially interesting charge given that it's being promulgated by several enormous multi-national corporations whose CEOs make millions. I don't think you have to be Milton Friedman to understand that the conglomerates are the ones with the deep pockets here, not the writers. Or to remember that it was the AMPTP that walked away from the negotiating table twice now, not the WGA team.

Strange thing is, I don't "hate" the studios or the CEOs... or anyone, actually. I've worked with too many great people on the other side of the table to go there. So I watch all this transpire with something more akin to sadness than rage. Sadness that we've come to a place where charges and counter-charges have to be lobbed in the first place...

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - Popcandy says #2!!

Unlike my now deleted mistake re: TIME'S Ten Best List (I accidentally took the 2006 list for 2007), this one IS 2007. USA TODAY and Popcandy! We're #2! Yippee!

http://blogs.usatoday.com/popcandy/2007/12/mini-list-my-to.html

MY NAME IS BRUCE - Poster Art!!

You can feel the interest building... the passion... the majesty of Mr. Bruce Campbell. Check out some possible poster art at:

http://hopeless-devotion.org/brucecampbell-news/?p=139

WGA Strike - Days 42, 43, 44

Day 43 (Monday) was a busy day. It started with another successful picketing session at the Barham Gate at Universal. Our favorite parking patrolman was there (seriously, the police who have been assigned our gate have all been helpful and protective), spirits were up, and Chase Masterson (hi Chase! Thanks for reading my blog!), Mary McDonnell and several wonderful BATTLESTAR fans made appearances along with valuable donut/bagel/coffee contributions.

There were at least two location pickets during the day, which seem to be making a real financial dent against whatever's still out there shooting.

And finally, Monday night there was a major membership meeting at the Santa Monica Civic to discuss the current state of affairs re: the strike and the future. There seems to be a fixation by some of the press to focus on WGA dissenters, but the closest thing I heard to "dissent" was the guy politely suggesting a change in negotiators, and even that was met with strenuous and vocal disapproval from the assembly. I left before every question had been asked and answered, but if people were wavering or demanding the guild capitulate, I sure wasn't hearing it. What we did hear was that it's very difficult to "negotiate" with a group that resorts to bullying tactics and ham-fisted P.R. offenses instead of anything resembling a good-faith discussion.

There is also continued bewilderment among some over the fact, verified by the major advertising agencies, that the studios would rather lose a billion (with a "b") dollars in advertising losses/give-backs AND simultaneously destroy two television seasons, than negotiate over the modest proposals on the table from the WGA. And the AMPTP keeps saying OUR leaders are crazy?

It was also great to hear from Alan Rosenberg, the President of SAG... if you think the WGA is cranky, wait until 100,000+ SAG members decide to hit the bricks if this mess isn't resolved by next June. Of course we all hope things are resolved well before that...

WGA Strike - Day 41

More activity on the strike front, including the WGA's decision to push to negotiate with each individual studio as opposed to the monolithic AMPTP. Be interesting to see if this gets any traction (seems unlikely, at least at the moment), but as always, Mark Evanier has an eloquent and interesting take on the siutation at his site.

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_12_15.html#014467

MORE Live Crowded House?!!

Long time readers are unfortunately familiar with my Crowded House obsession, which neither strike nor sleet nor dark of night has diminished. Neil Finn and crew released 28 (!) live shows from their 2007 U.S. tour, all still available from those fine folks at kufala.com, and now there are five more live gigs up for grabs, this time from the Euro legs of their tour. One set has already sold out (Wembley) and these are strictly limited to 1500 copies, so the obsessed must move fast. Check it out at:

https://www.concertlive.co.uk

These guys also have a pretty great live Gang Of Four show from 2005, worth checking out as well!

Amazon, Ain't It Cool News, Cheap DVDs

I'm not sure how long it will be going on, but Amazon has been putting some interesting DVD sets on sale recently, in one day "Gold Star" events that are actually pretty good. Yesterday I picked up all three seasons of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT for the total price of $29.99. This morning (Saturday), they're offering both seasons of ROME for $59.99. (Retail for both was $200.00). The TV reviewer at aintitcoolnews.com, Hercules, spots these sales and gives a heads up when he can, but again the sales are for one day only or until supplies run out... they sold out of the ARRESTED sets around Noon. More ways to spend your money!

MY NAME IS BRUCE - The Trailer!

Years in the making! No, not the trailer, the epic adventure everyone has been demanding! Yes, Bruce (EVIL DEAD, BURN NOTICE, BUBBA HO-TEP) Campbell IS "MY NAME IS BRUCE." Or something like that. Written by yours truly, directed by Mr. Campbell, produced by Dark Horse Indie.

And now, the first trailer has finally been posted on-line! So here you go. Bruce. Guan-Di. "You wanna move that hand?" Ted Raimi. "Hooch for the pooch!" Watch, then prepare yourself for the full experience SUMMER 2008!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JChhVK2KaWg

MSN HEARTS BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - #5 Best Show Of 2007!

How about some good news for a change? Nice photo of Grace, Lucy and Tricia too!

http://tv.msn.com/tv/2007review/bestandworst?photoidx=6

WGA Strike - Days 39, 40

Day 39 picketing was a change of pace, as the BSG contingent took a later shift so we could congregate for lunch with Chicago Tribune columnist Maureen Ryan. We were joined on the picket line by Kate (Ellen Tigh) Vernon and Chase Masterson and a whole bunch of great Law And Order SVU writers and other WGA/SAG folks. At the end of the picket we were given an update on negotiations by Neal Baer from the negotiating committee, but even he didn't spill the latest development, which was the WGA filing unfair negotiating charges against the AMPTP. Details of that situation are available in depth at Nikke Finke's Deadline Hollywood site (see my sidebar for the url) and at the United Hollywood site. Interesting times, indeed...