Couple of Things...

Not much going on lately in my life, hence no posts all week. Pretty standard boring stuff: work, library, eating and sleeping. Extremely lame. I just wanted to mention two things. First, the new Watchmen trailer is online. It's awesome. If you haven't read the graphic novel, I can't emphasize this enough: you need to. I implore you. Read it. It's not just a 'comic book' for nerds. It's been taught in english classes and lit classes for 2 decades now. It's really an amazing story.



Second, this article about Chauncey getting traded is great. I'm gonna post the first part of it. It still makes me cry that he isn't here, but it was a good trade and I love A.I. Actually, my Iverson Pistons jersey just came in the mail yesterday and as strange as it felt putting it on, I loved it...













"Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton were crying. There they were, two NBA All-Stars, in Billups’ room in the Hilton City Center in Charlotte … crying. And laughing. And crying again.

The Pistons had just traded Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince had gotten word that morning, when Billups did not attend the team’s shootaround. They got back to the hotel and pounded on Billups’ door.

Billups was on the phone with his wife, Piper. He told her he’d call her back later. It turned out to be much later.

“It was the hardest two or three hours that I’ve had in a long, long time in my life,” Billups said. “We just couldn’t believe that it’s over. It’s over. That’s the thing that’s so tough about trades. No matter what happens, it’s over. So those two or three hours were crazy.”

They reminisced, told stories, savored their last hours before Billups’ 4 p.m. flight to another franchise. It was a strange dynamic, and not just because of the crying.

The three had been teammates since 2002, when they joined the Pistons. There had been trade rumors all summer. Pistons president Joe Dumars had told Billups that he had offered Billups and Prince for Denver’s Carmelo Anthony, and that he had turned down a Billups-for-Iverson trade over the summer. Once the season started, Billups figured the Pistons would stick with their core.

Now Billups knew he was gone. Prince knew the trade meant that he probably would stay put. And Hamilton had just agreed, days earlier, to a three-year contract extension.

There is no place for sentiment in the NBA. But there was a place for it in Chauncey Billups’ hotel room that day.

“It was good,” Billups said in a wide-ranging interview Thursday, at the Nuggets’ team hotel in Cleveland. “It was deep. I will never forget my six years in Detroit, and I will never forget those three hours that I spent with my two brothers in that room.”

Anyways, I'm out. As always go big and stuff.

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - and this is hilarious and this episode will no doubt, rule.

Superhero News...

Since there is just too much for me to mention in one blog, this will have to be a 2 part blog. Next time I'll mention all the upcoming movies and release dates but for now I want to talk about movies that are just announced or are still in production. I'm going to try and turn all of you into fanboys like me. If you care about big budget blockbusters at all then this is a very exciting time for you...










If you have been following details of the superhero / comic genre than this week was especially big. Watchmen finished production and I have high hopes for Zack Snyder (300). I recently finished the book and ordinarily I wouldn't trust anyone to do it justice. I originally wasn't a huge fan of 300 when it first came out but upon repeated viewings I find myself loving the movie more and more each day. It really is pretty amazing, and his screen stills from Watchmen seem to be lifted right out of the book itself. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (let's just call it Wolverine...) has also had some exciting news this week. Taylor Kitsch of Friday Night Lights fame (and my boy) signed up to play Gambit. I have actually been dying to make a Gambit movie myself and find this a little distressing but in my head I always cast Matthew Fox (good actor just needs longer hair) and never thought of Taylor but I like the choice. Oddly enough Fox's Lost co-star Dominic Monaghan will be in the film as Blackwing. Taylor looks the part but I am a little worried about the accent which is really what makes up so much of Gambit's character. Also, he signed on to do three movies which means either that he will have a big/important role or that the studio is just playing it safe in case fans love him. Also in Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds has been rumored to have landed the role of Deadpool which is pretty amazing. I love Reynolds and Deadpool and he pretty much is the character. The movie is sounding like it is going to be amazing. Also slated to be in the movie is Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth.

More comic news... Justice League will apparently be without Superman and Batman as the studio doesn't want to conflict with other characters portrayed by different actors in their respective franchise, but if you ask me those two are one of the only reasons I like Justice League so much. Their dynamic is one of the most interesting. The Spider-Man 4 talk has been heating up lately with rumors that my boy Joseph Gordon Levitt will take the helm as spidey. If they make a new one I am really hoping Kirsten Dunst is not in it. She is the worst actress ever. Captain America is slated to be directed by Nick Cassavetes, who, if you don't know, is known for his "gritty" movies though I'm not sure he's the guy to do this. The jury is still out on this one though since they haven't begun casting yet.

Also getting some steam now for next year is Transformers 2. Shia Labeouf claims that it's going to blow the first one out of the water. Obviously I'm excited for it but I swear, if that kid ruins the new Indiana Jones I'm gonna kill him. G.I. Joe is already filming and from what I'm hearing it actually is going to be pretty sweet. What gets me worried though is that so many of these movies get fast tracked and scheduled for an early release which doesn't give people enough time to make a great movie. Anyways, I guess they know they already have my money so they don't really care. Lincoln, Speilberg's next film is going to kill. Laim Neeson looks exactly like Lincoln and with playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America) writing it, it has to be good.




















Sad news though for anime fans. It seems that Hollywood plans on bastardizing everything under the sun. I though it was bad that I wanted to make a Cowboy Bebop film but apparently people wanna cash in on some other greats. Dragonball has already begun filming and I'm sure it is going to blow. News about ruining Akira though, they are now planning on splitting it into 2 movies. First of all Akira may be the greatest Anime film of all time and to make it into a live action film with Americans is just silly. It takes place in post-atomic bombed japan and somehow it's going to change location to "new-manhattan." I smell lame. DiCaprio's production company attached itself to the project with him as a producer though no word of him acting in it, thank god. I love him but he can't be in the movie. The movie is going to be based on the 6 part book instead of the 1988 film, and split into each film containing three of the books. Hopefully the movie doesn't happen though it's looking more and more likely.

I had a lot more to talk about but I guess this is going to do it for now. I don't feel like getting into everything else. More soon.

-M, p, z & shredder

oh ps - if you haven't read Watchmen yet, do so. It is a really great story.

pps - sorry this turned out to be such a nerd post. more movie news on other films not regarding comics or superheroes soon.