As I noted a few weeks ago, NBC’s Heroes has been a guilty pleasure of mine this past season: It serves up poorly-scripted, wafer-thin, and yet undeniably scrumptious slices of z-grade fanboy cheese every week, and it’s close to the only network show I watch these days. (And the “Company Man” episode of a few weeks ago was good television by any reckoning.) That being said, the show’s outright plagiarism is getting more and more marked, to the point where I’m fast losing interest. Series creator Tim Kring says he doesn’t read any comics, which I find somewhat hard to believe. And there’s always going to be some overlap in the superhero genre, just because there’s only so many ways you can tell the same sort of story. But Monday’s episode not only showed the writers continuing to lift liberally from the famous “Days of Future Past” arc from the Claremont-Byrne years of X-Men, but brazenly ripping off one of the key plot points of the mother of all contemporary graphic novels, Alan Moore’s Watchmen. And I don’t mean homage or tip-of-the-hat — I mean straight-up, unabashed, actionable stealing, right down to Linderman’s Ozymandian monologue. For shame. Do Kring & co. really think their fanboy/fangirl viewership isn’t going to notice?
Tag: Fanboy
And, with your right, you’d seek to supplant me…
“Peter Jackson might be the best filmmaker on the planet right now. But, um, I don’t know what’s going to happen next for me right now. First and foremost, those are Peter Jackson and Bob Shaye’s films. If Peter didn’t want to do it, and Bob wanted me to do it — and they were both ok with me picking up the reins — that would be great. I love the book. It’s maybe a more kid-friendly story than the others.” As Spiderman 3 gets its Tokyo premiere, Sam Raimi discusses the possible Hobbit in his future. Well, Raimi isn’t a bad choice by any means. But, even despite New Line’s bad behavior of late, this should really be PJ’s film to make, and anything less will seem a disappointment.
Project: Mayhem.
Even after Tyler Durden, apparently, he still has rage issues: Edward Norton signs up to play Louis Leterrier’s Incredible Hulk. Interesting — I was expecting this movie, coming so soon after Ang Lee’s botch, to be basically a straight-to-video do-over. But Norton’s presence is, without a doubt, an X-factor, and now I’m actually intrigued by it.
This is Iron Man.
Is he alive or dead? Has he thoughts within his head? AICN obtains the first picture of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, in the original gray suit.
Bruce and Brock.
Trailers I’ve missed lately: John McClane goes up against Seth Bullock, with Kevin Smith and Mac Guy along for pained comic relief, in the new trailer for Live Free or Die Hard (which I caught with Grindhouse last Friday — review forthcoming), and Topher Grace prays for vengeance in the impressive final trailer for Spiderman 3.
Steamwars and MechaElrond.
AICN’s Moriarty points the way to these worth-perusing Star Wars/Steampunk mash-up sketches. And, also via AICN, Hugo Weaving will voice Megatron in Michael Bay’s The Transformers. Can’t say I’m all that interested in Transformers (or any other Michael Bay project. for that matter), but Weaving invariably adds a touch of class to sci-fi/fantasy proceedings.
Venom and Stardust.
Venom (Topher Grace) comes to the fore in the final, very spoilerish, and Comcastic trailer for Sam Raimi’s Spiderman 3 — really, it seems like more of an executive summary than a preview. And, also up this weekend is the trailer for Matthew Vaughn’s version of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, featuring, among others, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Ricky Gervais, Jason Flemyng, Rupert Everett, Ian McKellen, and Peter O’Toole. Not a bad cast, that, and with Layer Cake‘s Vaughn at the helm, I’ll go see it, even if this trailer is a mite underwhelming.
Kiss Me Cate.
Also breaking during my west coast sojourn, the lovely Cate Blanchett will apparently star in Indy IV, I’m presuming as Dr. Jones’ love interest. Well, Blanchett definitely adds star wattage and acting chops to the ledger. But, really, doesn’t Jones have unfinished business with Marian Ravenwood? Act your age, Indy.
Destination: Tintin
Ten Thousand Thundering Typhoons! As has been rumored for good long while, Steven Spielberg officially announces he’ll be producing a Tintin movie. Berk says don’t forget Snowy/Milou.
Rorschach Blot.
After last night, I gotta say I’d have much preferred to see a Paul Greengrass Watchmen. Still, I’ll give him this: Zack Snyder knows his audience, and has inserted a test image of Watchmen‘s Rorschach in a new Internet trailer for 300. (And, for the record once more, I’m totally on board with the commenter in that AICN talkback who suggested Simon Pegg for the part.)