That's Entertainment

Some items on AICN caught my eye this morning as being worth commenting on so here goes...

NEWS: New Star Wars Movie! Well, sorta.
RESPONSE: On August 15th, Warner Brothers is going to release a roughly 100 minute feature animated flick that will serve as the jumping off point for the new 3-D Animated Series which apparently will air on Cartoon Network and TNT. The other interesting news in the article is that they already have 30 half-hour episodes in the can and that Anthony Daniels will be back to voice C-3PO. That's hot. I'm looking forward to this. I mean, after all, it's Star Wars, right? Like I'd be pissed about new Star Wars even if it's Episode 2.5. The footage shown at Comic-Con to preview it looked amazing so I'm eagerly anticipating August 15th... and if I were a betting man, I'd wager that Lucasfilm gives an advanced screening at the Con so I may get to see this early. Sweet!

NEWS: Writers Strike Vote Today
REACTION: Eeeeeek. So much tension. I can't wait for tonight so we know the score.

NEWS: Dr. Who's Chris Eccleston as Destro
REACTION: Apparently David Murray stepped out and was replaced. I don't know much about Eccleston either other than I've heard a lot of good things about him. I vote this as an UPGRADE!

NEWS: Marisa Tomei scores lead role in THE WRESTLER
REACTION: Okay, so if you haven't heard, Darren Arnofsky is directing a movie called THE WRESTLER starring Mickey Rourke. For months, they have been visiting east coast indy shows [ROH, CZW, etc.] to do research and this week, news broke that they will actually be filming at a couple ROH shows soon. The basic storyline is that Rourke is a big time wrestler [think WWE] who suffers a heart attack while on top of the world and has to battle his way back to the top through the indies. Marisa apparently has been cast as a stripper who is Rourke's love interest. As a wrestling fan, this could be very, very good... or very, very bad. So far, I'm going to be hopeful as the cast seems good. Apparently Ms. Tomei is on a comeback.

NEWS: Fanboys gets its heart cut out
REACTION: There's a movie called "Fanboys" that has been hyped for the past two years at Comic-Con but has not been released yet. The basic story is a group of friends travelling cross-country to break into Skywalker Ranch to see Episode I before it is released. Along the way, there are tons of Star Wars references to make any SW fan giggle with joy. Here's the snag... the original version of this movie has these fans going on this journey because of the group has been diagnosed with cancer and is not expected to survive until the movie actually comes out. This is where the heart and soul of the movie comes from and as someone who lost a friend to cancer in '06, I can relate to the situation. But Hollywood thinks cancer has no place in a comedy and made them re-cut the movie removing that part of the story. It's things like this that make me unsure about trying to be a writer in their world.

NEWS: Sigh... lawyers.
REACTION: Two hugh fanboy movies are being hit hard by legal action. First, THE WATCHMEN finds itself in trouble as Fox apparently just decided that they, and they alone, have the rights to make a WATCHMEN movie... a fact that might have been useful to share before the movie was shot by WB. And perhaps in worse news, THE HOBBIT is in trouble again as the Tokein estate is suing New Line over Rings. Of course. Because New Line apparently just fucked everyone on Rings. Their suit states that the estate was entitled to 7.5 percent of the total gross and got nothing. Now... I just don't understand this one at all. How can you pay nothing on a multi-billion dollar franchise? Of course, part of the suit is asking for the termination of any future Tolkien projects by New Line until the matter is settled. Christ, that movie is cursed.

NEWS: Val Kilmer is the voice of KITT
REACTION: Hell, I'm just glad Kilmer has a job still. This news does nothing for me unless word breaks that he's doing it as Doc Holiday. "Why, Michael, you look like someone just... walked over your grave." Money. Pure money.