Why does George Lucas hate humans?

While I will always be excited about the prospect of new Star Wars material, I have been less than thrilled with the snippets of "The Clone Wars." Specifically the latest from Comic Con. Lucas seems hell bent on using his massive team of designers to create more "cartoonish" looking characters instead of building on realism. I mean, George, I get that you hate actors and working with "actual people." But what's the point of putting all this energy into the project if your main characters are going to look like Hanna Barbara sketches plopped in front of a kick-ass backdrop?

Someone take the keys away from grandpa, please.

TRON Muthaflippin' 2!!!

JoBlo.com has a detailed description of the Comic-Con 2008 trailer that caught everyone off guard (apparently since nary a cellphone video has appeared thus far):


"After sitting through the lame RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN panel for an hour (more on that later) I thought there was nothing that could save my sanity short of a nail driven into my skull. However, just as the talent table cleared out and the anxious audience made it's way toward the exit, our host got back on the mic and told us Disney had a little something special to show us. The lights dimmed, the Disney logo appeared, and then everything went digital.... and neon. Cue the teaser for TRON 2... "

Visit http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=22180 to read the rest of the recap.

I'm suddenly very excited about TRON again. I'd scramble for my DVD of the first movie, but then I thought... do I even have a DVD copy? Did they make one? Yes... they did and apparently I already bought it.

UPDATE!!! io9 has a sneakily shot shaky-cam version of the trailer. It still blows my pants off.

http://io9.com/5029516/tr2n-rips-your-eyeballs-and-light-cycles-off

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Did Abe Sapien's voice sound less like Niles from "Fraiser"? Sure, but outside of that I have no complaints with this visually stunning, kickass and hilarious sequel. I'm more excited now to know that Del Toro is doing the Hobbit movies. That guys imagination is crazy and I dig it big time.

Ron Perlman is a really damn good actor and he'd have to be to get any emotion through the giant prosthetic that is his Hellboy uniform. Most of all the Hellboy movies know exactly when to make things light and fun. Too much doom and gloom is never a good thing these days. I really like the idea that the only hope for mankind is the spawn of the devil.

More movies like this one please. I'm giving it a 4 out of 5 cats.

Me. Like. Hulk.

"The Incredible Hulk" was awesome. On par with "Iron Man." Sure it wasn't as funny because Ed Norton isn't Downey Jr. But it fit right in with the new movie "universe," that Marvel is trying to establish. I mean how can you not love Tim Roth as a bitter strung out special ops maniac? It's Tim Roth!? Again, just based on that casting and performance alone I am flabbergasted that the critical consensus on this movie likened the film to its false-start predecessor. Did those people watch the Ang Lee's first film?

The CGI didn't take me out of the story either. In the TV series, which this movie basically mirrored, Bruce Banner and the Hulk are two separate entities loosely connected by a confused mind and soul that struggle to coexist. So I didn't lose any emotional heft when the computer characters started to brawl with each other.

Lastly, this movie was our first definitive evidence that "The Avengers" is really gonna happen. If all the same people are involved, these series of Marvel films could translate to comic geek nirvana. God bless you Marvel, for taking control of your own destiny.

There and Back Again.

Now that the "overture," to the LOTR trilogy has a release date I think it is important to find out where Guillermo del Toro got his "geek card" and what qualifies him to direct this film (if the Hellboy franchise wasn't enough proof already) . As a personal aside, I really hope he gives Smaug the dragon real personality (like Peter Jackson did to the Ents), because the Smaug is not just a Hollywood CGI effect.

Click through to find out what his intentions are for Middle Earth.

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2008/06/15/29024-del-toro-talks-the-hobbit-in-geek-monthly/

The Middleman

My favorite former, "Lost" writer has a new show on ABC family. If you liked the live version of "The Tick," and hated the way the X-files turned out but also secretly love the witty banter of those crazy Gilmore Girls... then this is your show.

New Hulk vs. Old Hulk

I have yet to see "The Incredible Hulk." I cannot imagine how it can be equal to, worse than or even in the same stratosphere than Ang Lee's abomination "The Hulk," in 2003. Just based on the trailers, this movie is better, because I've seen 4 different awesome trailers for "The Incredible Hulk." That net's out to about 10 minutes of Hulk-smashing goodness and a funny one-liner from Ed Norton. Point and case. That's 5 more enjoyable minutes than the entire previous film.

Now onto the acting quality factor:

1.) Edward Norton or Eric Bana? Is this even a question?
2.) Liv Tyler or Jennifer Connelly? They're both gorgeous but Connelly is a better actress. However, we are talking about a film based around a giant green angry monster who's pants never seem to completely rip apart... so I'll stick with the woman that's already mastered the art of playing an Elvish creature.
3.) William Hurt or Nick Nolte? Again is this even a question? Nick Nolte most likely didn't even realize he was acting in a movie called "The Hulk." When acting against the giant green screen he probably thought he had just mixed his diet pills with a little too much Robitussin that morning.

I will see the movie eventually and if it sucks, I'm blaming it on the French director. Seriously Marvel studios, I'm not trying to be jingoistic but how about finding an American born comic-book fan to direct. Or am I missing something? Was the tv series a ginormous hit in Belgium? Was the Hulk actually a secret communist propaganda tool during the cold war? Hmmmm... I always knew their was something fishy about Bill Bixby.