In an effort to jump start the kinda sluggish-to-catch-on (for good reasons) new DVD format, Disney announced plans to release five of their classics in Blu-Ray over the next two years.

The films are “Pinocchio,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Fantasia,” “Fantasia 2000” and “Beauty and the Beast.” The company had previously announced plans to introduce one such title, “Sleeping Beauty.”

All the DVDs will include unusual features geared toward a generation that embraces interactivity and social networking. Viewers can watch a movie in tandem with friends in other locations, while they chat using a laptop or cellphone (the comments appear on the screen).

Viewers will also be able to compete against others around the world at trivia or send what Disney is calling movie mail, video images of themselves that appear within the context of the movie.

Such activities are possible because of a technology called BD Live that connects Blu-ray discs with the Internet.

Truthfully, the extras sound kind of dopey (ZING), and Fantasia 2000 is kind of a screwy pick. But hey, if I can traumatize entertain my kid with Monstro, fighting dinosaurs, and giant, mountain-dwelling demons in HD, I’m all for it.

Spread the word!

Apparently Hollywood still thinks of comic books as being primarily a kid-oriented artform. The normally excellent Cynopsis (with annoying autoplaying video and audio) always lumps it’s comic book stories right into their Kids daily newsletter, no matter what the actual content of the title(s) being discussed. This morning, they’ve decided that the closing of Virgin Comics’ NY offices was prime Cynopsis Kids material, giving it their main story position.

Virgin Comics, the two year-old joint venture between the Virgin Group and India’s comic book publisher Gotham Entertainment, has closed its US offices in NY, at the very least, according to Publishers Weekly. The report cites a statement by Virgin Comics CEO and Gotham Entertainment Prexy Sharad Devarajan confirming the shuttering of the NY office and explaining that the company is restructuring and plans to relocate to LA, with more information coming in the next weeks. Financed by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Author/speaker Deepak Chopra is Chairman/Virgin Comics and his son Gotham Chopra is CCO and Editor-in-Chief of Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation respectively.

Offensive? Naw. Just not terribly accurate considering pretty much the entire Virgin Comics line consisted of adult-oriented titles, including massively violent stories and art, not to mention a Jenna freakin’ Jameson series. No, not offensive, but it really foes show that despite having the two biggest movies of the summer (with huge adult appeal, mind you) based off of comics, the remainder of the comic book movies grossing about $100M apiece (Hellboy II excepted), and the upcoming “Watchmen” movie being the buzz flick of ‘08-’09, Hollywood’s gonna continue to not really pay attention to the actual source material.

Spread the word!

This past weekend, I gathered up The Family and went down to J-Town on a day-trip, to see the sights, maybe grab some food and do a little shopping. Whilst in the local Mitsuwa supermarket, I noticed a bag of chips of some kind that featured a rather familiar likeness. Seems that, much like his animated cousin (6 times removed), OJ Simpson’s likeness has been appropriated by by an Asian company to hock their goods! I’m sorry I didn’t get a better photo, but for some reason Asian markets and stores are extremely sensitive about anyone taking photos of any type in them, so you kind of have to snap them surreptitiously, often on the fly.

Spread the word!

Apparently the NYC offices of Virgin Comics are now closed, once again proving that starting a high-profile and almost ludicrously ambitious comic book publishing company is a near impossible venture in this day and age, especially if you’re paying people like John Woo and Guy Ritchie and Jenna Jameson (and, more importantly, their co-writers) to produce books while expecting to be successful/make any money.

Although calls to Virgin Comics CEO and cofounder Sharad Devarajan (who is also president of Gotham Entertainment) have not been returned, sources confirm that the venture has been closed and that a statement will likely be issued soon. The closing appears to effect only Virgin Comics’ U.S. publishing operations in New York City and does not effect the operations of Gotham Entertainment, the Bangalore, India-based partner in the venture that produces comics targeted at the South Asian consumer market.

The company produced about 17 different comics series in addition to publishing about 18 trade paperback collections and 3 hardcover titles. It is unclear what will happen to the rights to these properties.

They had some real nice looking books, though. Although personally, as far as Hollywood-comic-pet-projects go, I’m more interested in finding out when the next Shaolin Cowboy is due.

Spread the word!

For some reason, despite rarely buying anything other than the occasional post-holiday Christmas ornaments from the store, we’re always getting Pottery Barn catalogs in the mail. The latest “issue” of Pottery Barn for Kids actually has a number of very cool looking things in it, albiet at prices that are probably not as commonly paid now as they were 3 months ago when everyone and their mother had all that extra refi money laying around. Still, flipping through the thing, I came across the following room mock up.

Pretty sweet mini-nerd room, yeah? I was immediately drawn to the recreated cover art adorning the wall, thinking that maybe - maybe - this was the catalog that would break my resolve. Then I saw what they were asking for the damn things.

$79 a pop…for removable wall stickers. I took a quick glance through the rest of the catalog, and while nothing in there is what one would call reasonably priced, the Marvel stuff is way out of line. They’re selling framed stuff for $39 a pop, but as soon as they slap Spider-Man on a “poster decal,” it’s an eighty dollar affair. WTF? Is there a reasonable explanation I’m not seeing here, or is this a case of someone at PB having attended CCI at one point and realizing that comic book nerds loo-oo-oo-ve to pay for overpriced crap?

Spread the word!

I should’ve posted something earlier, but yes, that’s right: the banner at the top of this site is no longer true. I did manage — like seemingly 92-95% of the entire country — to see The Dark Knight.

This film has some real problems, so I don’t necessarily see where the Best Movie Of All Time Ever love is coming from if you’re older than, say, 18. But I do concur that the film is something that’s sadly a very rare thing these days: a big, interesting, smart Hollywood entertainment that is worth going to see. But then again so was Tropic Thunder. So…

Anyway, I think at the very least we should thank the maker or whomever that it wasn’t this redux:

Spread the word!

Uh, no. No. Unless they plan to somehow age Bale and translate DKR, then I’m into this idea 100%.

If this happens, I blame each and every internet critic that gave The Dark Knight a 5-star review.

The 62-year-old singer and actress is reported to be in talks to play Catwoman opposite Christian Bale in the third Batman film from British director Christopher Nolan.

The Oscar-winner will join a cast that includes Johnny Depp as The Riddler as she plays the whip-carrying burglar. The character has also been played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry.

A studio executive said: “Cher is Nolan’s first choice to play Catwoman. He wants to her to portray her like a vamp in her twilight years.

Spread the word!

Here are some early photos of some statues that are going to be released in Hong Kong in the coming months. Batman, I get. Punisher makes sense, too. But was the world truly clamoring for another piece of Ben Affleck as Daredevil merchandise?

As always, thanks to Lucas for the HK hookup.

The Punisher War zone Movie Fine Art Bust
HK$780.00/pc, estimate arrival on Dec 2008

Read More »

Spread the word!