Movie Film News
Back To The Future: the stage show?
Could Marty McFly and the Doc be heading to the Broadway stage? Plans might just be afoot for Back To The Future: the stage show…
Ignore the reports that seem to say from to time that the Broadway musical of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark has been a failure. In spite of the swathe of negative press, it’s turning into a substantial hit. And perhaps with that in mind, other unlikely properties are being looked at for a stage show.
Next on the radar? If you believe the latest report from Deadline, it might just be Back To The Future that’s set for the stage treatment.
The site reports that director and co-writer Robert Zemeckis has had some early chats with Bob Gale, the other scribe on the Back To The Future films. And it’s a stage version that’s been discussed.
This would be a job for Zemeckis’ ImageMovers company, which is short on work since its expertise in performance capture fell out of favour, off the back of the financial returns of Mars Needs Moms.
It’s early days for the project yet, and we’d suggest that the chances of it happening are bordering on slim. But we’ll certainly keep you posted of any progress.
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The Almighty Johnsons episode 1 review
Episode one of Syfy’s Norse god fantasy drama The Almighty Johnsons has a disappointingly long way to go before it can be compared with the likes of Being Human or Misfits
Warning: this review contains spoilers.
1.1 It's a kind of a birthday present
Let's get the snickering at the rather Freudian name of this show out of the way and launch straight into the set up. The Almighty Johnsons (fnarr!) is the story of four New Zealand brothers who are the human incarnations of Norse gods.
There's Mike, or Ullr, the god of the hunt and champion rock paper scissors player. Ty, human version of Höðr, god of the cold and dark which makes him the ideal man to fix fridges which is handy because that's what he does. Anders, Vodka magnate and smooth talker by day and incarnation of Bragi, the god of poetry by day as well. It's very much a 24 hour role for him. And lastly we have the baby of the pack and focus for this opening episode, Axl.
It's the eve of young Axl's 21st birthday and we first see him stocking up on booze under a night sky filled with shooting stars. After a near miss with a 4x4, he invites the pretty blonde driver back to his party as you would do to the person who nearly ran you down. After getting a bit bouncy on a trampoline (heeeeee!) she pulls out a dagger and what follows is an assassination attempt on Axl so pitiful, she might as well have sent him a warning letter a week in advance.
But Axl's issues don't end there, the morning after he's abducted by his own brothers and driven to the woods to meet his 92-going-on-31 granddad Olaf, the god of rebirth and dancing around holding a lamp. He can add god of exposition to his repertoire as he brings Axl up to speed with his legacy. Turns out, the baby of the pack is also the king of the gods himself, Odin!
Despite such a solid set up, The Almighty Johnsons (vwoop vwoop!) starts off in a manner as uninspired as the title. Billed as a comedy drama, it manages to lack both as the episode plods along ploddingly. There are attempts at showing the tensions between the elder brothers but the biggest crime is right after being told his entire life is a lie, Axl then carries on partying. This is pretty typical of The Almighty Johnsons’ approach, a great big sloppy mess (thrrup thrrup!) of plotlines and stock characters thrown together.
The Almighty Johnsons seems to be following the footsteps of both Charmed and Supernatural but remains firmly in their shadows. Plot elements are dropped in seemingly as an afterthought through Olaf. There's no rhyme or reason to this show, the would-be killers, or the loose telling of Norse mythology.
The brothers themselves just simply aren't interesting enough for me to care about, they may get a few admirers but they won't be watching for the plot. At the end of the first episode, it's revealed that the last incarnation of Odin died before he could fulfil his quest and his godly brethren passed away alongside him. So how the hell did they get to return?
In an age where Being Human and Misfits are doing amazing things with fantasy in a modern day setting, The Almighty Johnsons has no place. Granted, the show is in its early stages, but this opener is disappointingly promise-free. Largely devoid of wit, cohesion and even commitment to premise, it doesn't even have the courtesy to be entertainingly awful.
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Al Rio: 1962-2012
Brazilian comics artist Al Rio has died aged 49. CJ looks back at his career...
In fairly sudden news this week, good-girl comics artist Al Rio has died. The artist is survived by his wife Zilda and their three children.
Alvaro Araújo Lourenço do Rio was born in Fortaleza, northeastern Brazil in May 1962. Disney helped start Rio's career. The House of Mouse's animation studio in Rio's homeland also fostered another Al, the title character of the 1994-1995 Aladdin animated series.
Rio worked for Jim Lee's Wildstorm imprint in the 1990s, striking a balance between retro and modern styles in his work on DV8 and Lee and Brandon Choi's Gen 13. Although he had worked on numerous high-profile projects for Marvel and DC, the South American artist had become synonymous with Zenescope's Grimm Fairy Tales series in recent years.
Rio's death was made public by his agent and collaborator, David Campiti of Glass House Graphics. Tragically, Bleeding Cool and Newsarama have reported that Rio committed suicide. It's very sad to hear that such a talented person ended their life prematurely. "Few could draw as well, adapting to so many styles so effortlessly, as Al Rio," Campiti commented in tribute.
Much of Rio's work was what's termed as good-girl art. The good-girl style had recently come under fire from the Women in Comics movement, with some of Rio's work held up as examples of sexist portrayals prevalent in the industry.
In 2010, Rio told Newsarama that he approached comics with a storyteller's eye, "I believe that the difficulty and pain they [heroes] have to go through to destroy evil — not their clothes, but the intelligence — is the most appealing factor."
In December last year Golden Age comics legends Jerry Robinson and Joe Simon passed away. Along with writer Dwayne McDuffie - who passed almost a year ago and who was also born in 1962 - Rio's contribution to Modern Age comics will be remembered fondly.
Bleeding Cool, Newsarama and Big Cartoon News
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Al Rio: 1962-2012
Brazilian comics artist Al Rio has died aged 49. CJ looks back at his career...
In fairly sudden news this week, good-girl comics artist Al Rio has died. The artist is survived by his wife Zilda and their three children.
Alvaro Araújo Lourenço do Rio was born in Fortaleza, northeastern Brazil in May 1962. Disney helped start Rio's career. The House of Mouse's animation studio in Rio's homeland also fostered another Al, the title character of the 1994-1995 Aladdin animated series.
Rio worked for Jim Lee's Wildstorm imprint in the 1990s, striking a balance between retro and modern styles in his work on DV8 and Lee and Brandon Choi's Gen 13. Although he had worked on numerous high-profile projects for Marvel and DC, the South American artist had become synonymous with Zenescope's Grimm Fairy Tales series in recent years.
Rio's death was made public by his agent and collaborator, David Campiti of Glass House Graphics. Tragically, Bleeding Cool and Newsarama have reported that Rio committed suicide. It's very sad to hear that such a talented person ended their life prematurely. "Few could draw as well, adapting to so many styles so effortlessly, as Al Rio," Campiti commented in tribute.
Much of Rio's work was what's termed as good-girl art. The good-girl style had recently come under fire from the Women in Comics movement, with some of Rio's work held up as examples of sexist portrayals prevalent in the industry.
In 2010, Rio told Newsarama that he approached comics with a storyteller's eye, "I believe that the difficulty and pain they [heroes] have to go through to destroy evil — not their clothes, but the intelligence — is the most appealing factor."
In December last year Golden Age comics legends Jerry Robinson and Joe Simon passed away. Along with writer Dwayne McDuffie - who passed almost a year ago and who was also born in 1962 - Rio's contribution to Modern Age comics will be remembered fondly.
Bleeding Cool, Newsarama and Big Cartoon News
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New trailer for The Hunger Games
Ahead of this weekend's Superbowl, Lionsgate has unleashed a brand new trailer for the upcoming The Hunger Games. Here it is...
Presumably ready to air come Superbowl Sunday in the States this weekend, here comes a brand new, shorter trailer for The Hunger Games. It still looks reverential to the book it came from, but Gary Ross' film might just cut the mustard.
Take a look...
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