Dear Sony: Alert Nerd Pitches Five Villains Lamer Than The Vulture
Jan 12At the heart of the alleged kerfuffle between Sam Raimi and Sony Pictures, the one that resulted yesterday in Raimi and the cast of the film being chucked in favor of a hard Spider-reboot in 2012, is a disagreement over the film’s villain. Raimi was pulling for The Vulture, a classic Spidey baddie. John Malkovich – yes, John Malkovich – was attached to the role; of course, that should be taken with a grain of salt, just like 99% of casting rumors. Hell, I could probably say right here that Anna Kendrick is being considered to play Paper Doll and at least one person is going to run off and tell their friends that Anna Kendrick is going to be Paper Doll in the new Spider-Man film – you know, that one where Michael Cera is Peter Parker and has to fight that girl’s Sinister Six boyfriends or whatever (Scott Pilgrim:Spider-Man IV :: Blue Harvest:Star Wars, right?). Anyway, the Sony suits – allegedly – were all, “Sam, an old guy that flies? Lame,” and then likely demanded a storyline they call ‘Venom Wars’ in which Venom comes back only there are like five of him and so there’s a Mary Jane Venom and a JJJ Venom and a T-Rex Venom, because kids love dinosaurs, and maybe also Venom Uncle Ben (“Uncle Benom?”) could show up and say something like “With great power comes a righteous ass-kicking, Petey!”* Oh, and a romantic subplot involving the Black Cat, who is not a Venom but maybe she is revealed to be at the end in a shocking twist? And Carnage. And Anna Kendrick as Paper Doll.
Rage of the Red (Internet) Lanterns
Jan 11
I’ll be upfront: I’m a Blake Lively fan. I love how shrewdly she captures Serena van der Woodsen’s messy It Girl joie de vivre every week on Gossip Girl and her slumber party monologuing in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants never fails to make me cry like a small child who has just been denied candy.
And so, you know, I sort of braced myself when I found out she’d been cast as Carol Ferris. Because I knew the resulting internet shitstorm was probably going to be brutal and horrible and enough to make me long for the days when we geeks didn’t have 140-character tools that allow us to instantly register every tiny drop of vitriol we might be experiencing at any given moment.
It was. Of course it was.
The Bin – 1/8/10
Jan 08
We used to just like stuff every week. Now we throw that in a blender with links, videos, and random claptrap and we call it…THE BIN. It stinks like garbage but it doesn’t taste half bad.
2009: This Was That Year What Was
Jan 04
I keep seeing people complaining about what a crummy year 2009 was. Maybe it’s the afterglow of the holidays talking but I thought 2009 was a perfectly serviceable year. Personally, it was full of the usual ups and downs, with a few really good “ups” to boot, namely the birth of my son, who is adorable and perfect, thanks for asking.
Pop culturally, there was plenty of bullshit but certainly no more or less than any other year. Bubble Boy, Sookie, and the tragic Michael Jackson deahth show would just as easily have gone down in any other annum.
I have a lousy memory for these things, but here’s a few geeky things that stand out for me from 2009. It goes without saying that the best things about the year were my wonderful family and friends, and that is sure to continue into 2010 and beyond. These are just the dweeby highlights:
Star Trek: If I had seen more than 3 movies at the show this year, I’d feel more confident naming this the best movie of the year. It is easily my favorite anything of 2009. I can’t speak for casual fans but I think there’s a certain stripe of lapsed Trekkie for whom this movie felt like a homecoming, a validation, and a brave new start, all at the same time. Let’s put it this way: It’s got me buying Trek comics again for the first time since high school. It’s good to be back.
