“Plastic Man” to Become Keanu Reeves’ Most Aptly Titled Film Ever

When will the Wachowski brothers ever learn their lesson? Maybe when millions of blind, easily amused theater goers stop going to their movies and since that’s never going to happen, I guess ignorance is bliss.
Ain’t It Cool News reports that the team that brought you “The Matrix” is hard at work on a remake of the comic book character, “Plastic Man.”Producer Joel Silver spilled the beans in a German radio interview, possibly under the threat of torture. We don’t know.
Silver also said Keanu would return to the team to play the title character, which is a mistake because I don’t remember Plastic Man being a clueless stoner.

You Can’t Spell “Wow, This Movie Sucks” Without “WWE”

If you thought wrestling looked fake, wait until you see their movies, which is doubly sad since you know movies are supposed to be fake.
The World Wrestling Entertainment franchise have officially opened their own Hollywood film studio, according to Variety.Their first film on the marquee will be a John Cena star vehicle called “12 Rounds,” a wrestling movie directed by Renny Harlin, the man behind such timeless classics as “Deep Blue Sea,” “Driven” and “Cutthroat Island.” And when I say timeless classics, I mean films that are so bad, they can actually slow the process of time, so if you have two days to live, rent “Deep Blue Sea.”
This won’t be WWE Films’ first flick. They’ve already produced three films under the WWE banner including “See No Evil,” “The Marine” and “The Condemned,” all of which pretty much tanked. How they get producers to back this studio? Did they get some of their wrestlers to threaten to pummel them into the canvas and how did they convince the producers to sign up once they stopped laughing at the wrestlers?
Of course, they aren’t just going to focus on movies. In fact, they are only going to put out one or two movies a year. Their biggest market will be television because movie studios require their customers to wear pants AND shoes when they go out to see a movie.

Movies, Bugs, Sunflower Seeds, and whatever else comes to mind

You know that feeling when you know you need to do something, yet can’t bring yourself to do it? Procrastination? Well, this blog is what I procrastinate about. Oh, and following up on emails. I’m terrible. I’m trying to get better. See, I’m sitting here writing rather than reading. And this takes a lot more effort, believe me. CCP (Cream City Photogs, for those not in the know check the link on the right) has a show this coming weekend, which to be honest, I’m feeling fairly ambivalent about. Not about everyone else’s work, just mine. Don’t get me wrong, the photos are fine. I think I picked well, but…there’s something missing, not quite right. I’m having a difficult time putting my finger on it. I get the same feeling when I look at photography magazines and books. I can never find what I’m looking for…not that it’s been defined. I can’t tell you the last photography article I’ve read. I just look at the images. There are two photo magazines that I do like; Lenswork & Doubletruck. What I would really like is the two combined. But, alas…
I think sometimes I worry too much about what other people think. I had this problem on flickr of making people contacts because they made me one. I must have 5 pages of contact requests in my mailbox. And I haven’t made them contacts, nor have I deleted them. They just sit there waiting for me. If I delete them I could be shutting the door on a very nice person. If I make them a contact I’m sure to be overwhelmed. Even the amount of contacts I have now (something just under 200) is too much. I comment on a handful of contacts and feel guilty about the rest. I just don’t have the time or desire to wade through everyone’s photos, good or not. I’m sure I’m missing tons of great stuff, and this may sound selfish, but my only concern is making my own great photographs and I’m a long way from great.
Anyway. Enough photography for now. I’m a ‘busy little bee’ ( first person to chime in with the character and movie that this is from gets a print of their choice) as of late. We have the show Friday night and K and I are having a BBQ on Sunday as a sort of house warming. This is the first time we actually have space to have people over. I also have to get prints framed for Photo Midwest. Oh yeah, and find a new printer. I’m not really happy with WHCC right now. Guess I’ll be trying Mpix. But I also heard about another place in Colorado that’s supposed to be good. I’ll keep you updated. What else… You know, you would think I would have a lot more time around here since we canceled cable. But with a new place there’s always something to do.
Jason, Randy, and I went and saw the new Indiana Jones film last night. We agreed it wasn’t the best nor was it the worst. I rank it 3rd. But that’s me. I would have rather seen The Dark Knight. But I think I’m going with K’s dad tomorrow night. The Indy film had too much CGI and was too, as Randy said, cartoonish. But I guess that’s what one should expect from a Lucas film nowadays. I was watching The Bourne Ultimatum, which I still need to finish watching tonight. I really like those films, all three. Say what you want about Matt Damon, but he’s perfect for these movies. I said last night, I found it humorous that all these people were going to see The Dark Knight. Most of them probably have never picked up a Batman comic in their life. But if it brings attention to the movie, all the better. Same with Iron Man, which I haven’t seen. Indy was my first summer movie. And I still want to see Hellboy 2 and I’d like to see Hancock, but that’s not high on the list.
Moving on. Ah hell… I want to finish watching Bourne and then read. I’ll talk about bugs and sunflower seeds tomorrow. And probably some more about photography, where I’m sure I’ll alienate more people.
I really like Cranes.

Spider-Man 4

No title, no finished script and no absolute commitment yet from Tobey Maguire or director Sam Raimi, who helmed Hollywood's top-grossing trilogy and brought a true child-geek's love of Steve Ditko's original comics to the movies. However, Raimi professes optimism about the script-in-progress by James Vanderbilt.Secret weapon: Persistent producer Laura Ziskin can be counted on to give a new Spider-Man her all, with or without Raimi.Publisher: Marvel ComicsRelease: In development

Whiteout

Underworld's skintight-suited ass-kicker Kate Beckinsale stars in the movie version of Greg Rucka's graphic novel. Set in the Antarctic and directed by Dominic Sena (Gone in Sixty Seconds, Halle Berry's Swordfish), Whiteout casts Beckinsale as U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko, who's in a hurry to solve a murder before the sun disappears for six months. Gabriel Macht (The Spirit) co-stars.Secret weapon: Reese Witherspoon -- not. Hollywood's highest-paid actress originally planned to star but evidently didn't warm to early versions of the script. Publisher: Oni PressStudio: Warner Bros.Release: 2009 TBD

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Producer/star Hugh Jackman claws his way back into the role of alpha mutant Wolverine in this X-Men prequel, which explores his twisted rapport with Victor Creed/Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber). Dominic Monaghan (Lost) plays Beak.Secret weapon: Director Gavin Hood, who won a Best Foreign Language Oscar for South African film Tsotsi, follows in the tradition of art house filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, Bryan Singer and Jon Favreau who transitioned from the indie realm to make big-budget hits. Publisher: Marvel ComicsStudio: 20th Century FoxRelease: May 1, 2009

Watchmen

300 auteur Zack Snyder's translation of Alan Moore's grisly alternate universe yokes the director's green-screen visual effects wizardry with a wildly eclectic ensemble cast. Jackie Earle Haley (famously creepy in Little Children) plays Rorschach, with Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan and Patrick Wilson playing Nite Owl.

Punisher: War Zone

Irish he-man Ray Stevenson replaces Thomas Jane to play vengeful but virtuous vigilante Frank Castle in this sequel. His target? The demonic Jigsaw (Dominic West of TV's The Wire).Secret weapon: German director Lexi Alexander, formerly an actress who toured with the Mortal Kombat traveling show, proved her rock'em-sock'em mettle by making the soccer movie, Hooligans.Publisher: Marvel ComicsStudio: LionsgateRelease: December 5, 2008

The Spirit

Samuel Jackson (as The Octopus) and Scarlett Johansson (pictured, as Silken Floss) appear in this adaptation of Will Eisner's classic noir-meets-supernatural graphic novel, with Gabriel Macht starring as the title character. But the real star is graphic novelist-turned-filmmaker Frank Miller (300, Sin City). Miller had the good sense to bring his Sin City siren Eva Mendes on board to play the Spirit's sultry ex-flame, Sand Saref.Secret weapon: Cinematographer Bill Pope knows how to frame action scenes, having previously shot Spider-Man 3 and the Matrix sequels.Publisher: DC ComicsDistributor: LionsgateRelease: Dec. 25, 2008
Image courtesy DC Comics