Paul's Brain Trust - Once In A Lifetime Blade Runner Opportunity

Please read this.

I reckon that the greatest film of 2007 was Blade Runner: The Final Cut. It was also the best DVD set of last year - easily. And the Alien Quadrilogy boxset might still be the best DVD boxset on the market at all.

None of these things could have existed without Paul Prischman. He was a producer, or worked on the production team, on these and many more DVDs to treasure.

I remember the first e-mail I ever received from Paul, completely out of the blue. Just making conversation about something I had posted here. He was just a film fan, reading around - like me, and quite like you too.

The conversation went on through more e-mails and telephone calls. It didn't take long at all for me to realise how thoroughly decent Paul is, how knowledgeable, enthusiastic, interesting and, most importantly, I feel, how nice. As yet, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Paul face to face, but I would like to call him a friend. He's definitely been a good friend to film ick.

Some good friends of Paul's have now set up a charity called Paul's Brain Trust. Why have they done this? Because Paul has been diagnosed with "particularly aggressive" cancer in his brain. Because, while Paul does have medical insurance, it won't cover everything. And because they love him.

I dare say you've probably loved his work - on the DVDs I mentioned above, or on the discs for Monster House, Spider-Man 2, or countless others. Please, then, check out the Brain trust page. Just click on over and see what they're up to. You'll be amazed, actually - for example: a very special screening of Blade Runner, right there alongside the lot where it was shot, with Ridley Scott attending and carrying out a Q&A... and much, much more.

Keep your eyes on the Brain trust site (and here, too) for more. Fingers crossed, we'll be able to raise some support for Paul via film ick too.

Thanks for reading.

In Search Of Steve Ditko

Outside of the UK, Jonathan Ross is probably best known to film ick readers for kissing Neil Gaiman, or being married to the co-screenwriter of the Stardust film. Here, however, he's probably the fourth biggest TV presenter - after Davina, Ant and Dec - and almost certainly the best. He's been running a variant on The Tonight Show for a couple of decades now, on and off, from The Last Resort in the 80s to the current Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. This later show is part of his phenomenally lucrative deal with the BBC, for whom he also presents a weekly radio show and occasional offshoots, such as Japanorama, his joyous, if indulgent, exploration of Japanese culture.

As part of the current BBC 4 comic-centric season, Ross has made a documentary with a fully self-explanatory title: In Search of Steve Ditko. It begins with a to-camera address by Ross in which he reveals just how much comic book illustrator and author Ditko means to him. Apparently, no other individual in any of the entertainment industries has ever brought Ross so much pleasure (and he gets a lot of pleasure from the entertainment industries, that much is clear).

Personally, I'm not too experienced in first hand Ditko. I know Spider-Man, of course, but I've already spent more time with the Sam Raimi incarnation than any paper version; I'd held some Dr. Strange in my hands, some Shade too, and I knew The Creeper and Mr. A by reputation. One hour with Ross and company later, and I'm not only much better informed about all of the above, I'm actively seeking some Ditko to get a better look. Any suggestions where to begin?

Before searching for Steve Ditko himself, Ross chases around Steve Ditko 'the legend', speaking to a number of his collaborators and colleagues. There's a couple of very suspenseful moments - when Ross has Stan Lee in his sights he gets him up against the ropes, on the verge of admitting for the first time ever that Ditko was in fact the co-creator of Spider-Man. I won't tell you if Ross delivers the knockout blow or not, but I promise, what happens is quite remarkable and will be quoted for years to come. I'm quite curious about Ross' attitude to Stan Lee overall - it's no doubt tempered by a nostalgia that I don't share, so maybe I'll never quite get my head around it.

One of the many interview subjects is Neil Gaiman who later joins Ross on the physical hunt for Ditko in person. It's a brief gallivant about the streets of New York culminating in another eminently quotable conclusion. I can't really spoil this either, but Ross' goal is to get Ditko to give a history-making first interview on camera and he at least sort-of succeeds.

It's great TV, and the sections on Ditko's politics are particularly engaging. Alan Moore appears throughout, which is probably enough to bolster ratings by 10% alone, and in one instance explains Ditko's influence on Watchmen - and not in terms of the artwork, but the moral dimensions (both of them) of one particular character.

As an interested, partly initiated layman this was great TV. Ross' shows about Asian cinema, for example, are much more my usual remit and play much more to my knowledge and specific focus, but this was perhaps even more interesting and every bit as entertaining.

If you're here in the UK, the show screens on Sunday 16th September at 9pm, repeated later at 12.50am, then on Thursday 20th at 12.30am (strictly Friday 21st, then, I suppose). After that, or in other locations, the LocateTV embed below will keep you informed of any time the show is going to screen again, with a fourteen day advance window.

Movie Minesweeper - The Retirement Age Edition

I'm getting too old for this. film ick isn't my day job, you know: it costs me money. Sometimes I just don't have the patience. But I never have the choice.

And now I've vented a little, I feel better. I'm listening to The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas by They Might Be Giants. That should cheer me up a little bit.

- Is Halle Berry the next Barbarella? Probably not. Maybe. I found the link via JoBlo.

- Mark Wahlberg has confirmed Darren Aronofsky's directorship of The Fighter. No start date has been locked, however. Wahlberg said "If it aint like Raging Bull, then it aint worth doing" but I beg to differ. For one thing, we already have Raging Bull. For another thing, Raging Bull is actually rather bad.

- Nicole Kidman is headed to Monte Carlo. The film is to be directed by Tom Bezucha, previously guilty of The Family Stone.

- The site for Derren Brown's US show is now a go. If you don't watch it you're making a mistake. This man is one of the two greatest illusionists since Harry Houdini.
- Paramount have already reaped 1 billion dollars in the US this year.

- I don't need to update you at all on any forthcoming (or not) Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, Harry Potter, Ocean's, Bourne, Hulk, Mummy, Indiana Jones, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hellboy, National Treasure or Wolf Man films because The Hollywood Reporter have done it for me.

- 'Angry Sherriff' Don Murphy listened to the fans re: Transformers and now the NYTimes have a piece on his approach. If only he'd listen to me about We3 and... er... give me the job of directing it.

- Spielberg has a finger in Aaron Sorkin's pie, lending finance and production muscle to the Broadway incarnation of The Farnsworth Invention with an eye to later turing it into a movie.

- Anywhere Road have snapped up the distibution rights to Brad Gann's Black Irish.

- Cartoon Brew have a wee piece on Barry Purves new Stop Motion book.

- Peter Berg is to produce and direct Gone Like the Wind, a based-on-fact story about the slaughter of a kentucky Derby winner because he'd broken his leg. Euthenasia for wounded sporting animals - discuss. The original Vanity Fair story was written by Berg's cousin Buzz Bissinger, and you can currently read it online.

- 3:10 to Yuma has been brought forward a month. That is, out of prestige season. Because it isn't much good?

- Stellan Skarsgaard is to star in the improbable sounding Patrick 1,5. This one is about a gay couple adopting a kid sight unseen, believing him to be 18 months old but actually, ending up with a fifteen year old homophobe.

- Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now might be on the Hairspray soundtrack CD, but it isn't in the film. On the other hand, The New Girl on Town was nixed from Boradway but it has been used for a montage sequence in the film. Stream the entire soundtrack courtesy of AOL - if you live in the US.

- Sam Rockwell has been talking Star Trek. And so has William Shatner - who seems to think there's a spot for Leonard Nimoy in the script.

- Hannah Montana is headed to the big screen. Miley Cyrus is the next...? Hilary Duff? Lindsay Lohan? Christy Carlson Romano?

- Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Hefner? Maybe. Though probably not.

- The Pirates of the Caribbean MMO game has been delayed. All the same, I bet it rolls out in a glitchy version and needs a whole string of patches.

- Richard Kelly is still promising Southland Tales news without actually delivering any. Wake me up when it hits DVD will you?

- Universal have snapped up the rights to Beware the Moon, a documentary on the making of An American Werewolf in London. I hope it's good.

- I heard Ricky Gervais and Chris Rock discussing Badge Buddies during the Live Earth concert but I didn't think for one second it was actually real. They just seemed to be making it up as they went along. What do you think?

- Leonard Hartman is adapting Water for Elephants into a screenplay.

- Season 7 of 24 has gone back to the drawing board.

- The full programme for this year's Fantasy Film Fest has been published. My picks? Paprika, Edmond, I'm a Cyborg But That's Okay, Tales From Earthsea and Bug have all been widely seen elsewhere, so how about The Last Winter, Stuck, Dead Daughters and The Deaths of Ian Stone. The title of the last one there is very amusing to me, but, chances are, you wouldn't find the in-joke at all amusing.

And as we come to close on this Minesweeper, I'm listening to Laughter in the Rain by Neil Sedaka.

Sam Raimi Selects His Spider-Man 4 Villains

Sam Raimi has revealed the two villains he'd want for Spider-Man 4... not that he's agreed to direct the film.

Indeed, most signs point to him departing the series: a number of projects in quiet development, that tempting Hobbit offer, his casual chat about Spider-Man 4 as if there's no point in him keeping secrets... or maybe this chat is his way of exerting some control.

Raimi pledges to return only if Sony find 'a great story' for the next Spider-Man installment. This essentially means that he's waiting to see what the studio wants before inking - not like last time, where Venom was essentially forced on him. If they want Sam, they're going to have to have a premise he can invest in.

His two choices, by the way, are The Vulture and Electro, or 'maybe even The Sinister Six as a team'.

So, what of all this Lizard set-up in the prior chapters?

"The Lizard is probably one of my favorite characters but [Spider-Man 4] will probably have to start with the central journey of the main character to arrive at the proper villain."

Expect Sony to try and get their ducks in a row by early next year.

Movie Minesweeper - The Blue And Red Marker Pens Edition

- Cartoon Brew have linked to an interesting video. An abandoned cave in Cody, Montana apparently bears the signature of Walt Disney. Could it really be real?

- Amy Pascal at Sony is softening us up for the future of the Spider-Man franchise: stand alone narratives with different creatives and, every now and then, a new actor in the lead. Spider-Man 4 is to be the On Her Majesty's Secret Service of the series, I suppose.

- Regal Cinema's Complain-o-tron is finally going wide.

- Mark Verheiden has the job of writing a Teen Titans movie. Who do you get to direct that? Not Victor Salva, obviously... but who?

- The remake of Midnight is to be written by Michael Arndt and will star Reese Witherspoon in the Claudette Colbert role. The original is really very, very, very good so, of course, I'm nervous about this but, well, Arndt and Witherspoon? Seems to be working out very well so far.

- After finishing Sugar, Ryan Fleck will adapt Special Topics in Calamity Physics from Marisha Pessl's novel. He's also attached to an adatation of Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story. I really have to track down Half Nelson and see if all of this is something to get excited about or not.

- The Weinsteins are to release Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream. It was looking pretty hairy for the film for a while with no buyers stepping up (or at least, not as far as anybody knew) but at least it should get a decent release now.

- The remake of The Women is finally set to go ahead. I'm quite disappointed Todd Haynes isn't directing, but fingers crossed for Diane English anyway, despite her suspicious cast list: Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Anette Bening, Candace Bergen and Debra Messing.

Sam Raimi On Cinema

Time Out have published a nice interview with Sam Raimi that serves a nice refresher on how his filmmaking developed over the years, eventually reaching the incredibly high standards on display in the Spider-sequels.

Some excerpts:

I've always been interested in the camera and the effects of it - that's what drew me to film in the first place. My father would take home movies of the family and play them back and I was always amazed that you could capture reality and replay it. Backwards motion was incredibly cool. So the camera as a recording device was the thing that first thrilled me. Then I got interested in the moving camera. How does it affect an audience when a camera moves? What does the audience think when two shots are put together? And the pace of those shots, one after another, changing - how does that affect an audience? These are the questions I was interested in.

Then I realised I could still grow and learn new things if I began to focus on the actors in front of the camera - things that I had just moved around like pawns before because I was ignorant of the things they could bring to the picture. Now I became very interested in stories and emotion and actors and performance, to the point where, when I made A Simple Plan, I tried not to move the camera at all. I tried to allow the actors in the frame to tell the story, and I was very satisfied with that. That reinvigorated my appetite, and it still does to this day.

Now I'm reaching a point with the Spider-Man movies where I'm becoming re-interested in the camera again, especially with the possibilities of computer-generated imagery.

Spider-Futures

Of course Sony want more Spider-Man. 4, 5 and 6, apparently. But it goes without saying that 6 depends on the success of 5, 5 on the success of 4... and I think we can rest assured that 3 will deliver more than enough the get gears moving on 4.

But not with Sam Raimi. He's not going to sign, I'm sure.

Batfans Snap

SuperheroHype have published some pictures of what certainly appears to be Heath Ledger on the set of The Dark Knight. You'll have to go there to look at them. Spoiler alert: he's got a white face and green hair.

What do you mean that's not a spoiler? Apparently it is. Comic book fans don't much like change - witness their refusal to accept the cloud for of Galactus or (the oldiest, goldiest online argument of the lot) Spider-Man's organic web shooters. But they actually seemed plenty pleased about some rumoured changes to The Joker for Nolan's next film.

The rumour was, the white face and bright green hair were out, that the character was going to be a morturary-slab grey, with scars and ratty-tatty clothes. Certainly not the impression left by the pics now posted.

I could care less if this Joker is white with green hair or grey and covered in bumps, scars and slices - just as long as there's a reason for it. The green and white worked brilliantly for Burton, Nolan may or may not need something else. He might even need an eight mile tall giant in purple spandex and a truly absurd hat thing.

The questiuon is, really, what do these pictures tell us about The Dark Knight overall? Can we get slightly better bearing on it's direction from what we see here?

Super-Consultant

In a new interview at MoviesOnline, David Goyer admits that he has served as a consultant on a number of big superhero franchises.

I think we can exclude Spider-Man from that list... and Singer's films too... aren't all of the others really bad? Without exception? In the last ten years or so, at least.

Correct me in the comments below by reminding me, oh-so-ironically, that the Goyer scripted Blade II became a thing of beauty in the hands of Guillermo del Toro. And then let me remind you that there's always one allowed to prove the rule. Apparently.

Spider-Stuff

Here's a round up of some Spider-Man 3 stuff, just to get it all covered and out of the way.

Firstly - the film has been passed uncut with a 12A certificate in the UK. Spider-Man 2 had a headbutt removed before it was submitted to the BBFC, essentially meaning it was cut for a PG certificate.

Lots and lots of new Spider-Man 3 video snippets have gone online: there are two (one, two - count 'em) Taiwanese TV spots and Slashfilm have a German TV spot. IGN do best of all, unsurprisingly: they have a whole range of clips. The clips in particular are very compelling.

[EDIT: IESB have done a better job with the clips]

I've been sent a new poster that shows, in a series of seperate images, Peter's red and blue suit getting covered by the symbiote - you can see it at the bottom of this post. Click upon it to make it much, much bigger.

Spider-Man 3 - the best film of 2007? - is just over two weeks away. Two weeks!

Future Raimi Film From Freddy Vs Jason Penmen

Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, two of the many writers to have taken a crack at Freddy vs Jason - one of my more indulgent semi-guilty pleasures - have sold a new project to Columbia for big dollars. The new film hasn't been named, but it has been described: a tentpole hopeful about a cynical New Yorker battling fairy tale creatures to save a princess. Not that much to go on, so far.

The 'big news' is that Sam Raimi will be producing and, of course, the internet's gestalt geekmind is already fantasising that he'll direct. Maybe this would be a safer choice, in many ways, than The Hobbit, though probably less tempting too. Reports are also swirling around that Raimi is planning a return to horror, so who knows what he'll actually sign on for? Probably not even Raimi, at this point.

I'm prepared to bet Spider-Man 4 isn't his next film, however. Or even the film after that.

Our Man In Japan's Man Takes On Spider-Man

Just a brief note from a friend-of-a-friend of film ick in Tokyo: Spider-Man 3 is, reportedly, even better than Spider-Man 2 - !!! That's incredible. Our friend, the middle link, seems almost as annoyed as me to have not seen the film yet. Can't...wait...any...longer...

We're trying to coax a full review out of the middle link.

And, yes, 98% of the spoilers given here on film ick over the last twelve months or so have been absolutely correct. Or, to put it another way, 100% of the spoilers have been 98% correct. Well, we already knew that because we knew who our sources were.

So, if you can't wait any longer, and you need to find out every major plot beat in Spider-Man 3, and many of the minor ones, I suggest you start looking thorugh the archives or using the search box above and the labels below. But you can wait, can't you? Just for a couple more weeks...?

Julie Taymor Directing New Spider-Man, The Edge And Bono To Assist

According to 'beast boy', scooping at Superhero Hype, Julie Taymor is to direct Spider-Man as a msucial and the casting call is out and about right now. Taymor has written the book with Glen Berger, and the music and lyrics are to be by Bono and The Edge.

Beyond Peter and MJ, the characters named on the casting breakdown are Norman Osborn, J Jonah Jameson, Arachne and a Geek Chorus.

Arachne? Yep. Get this:

A beautiful, boastful young woman turned into a spider for her hubris and lack of respect for the gods. She subsequently appears to Peter Parker and the audience as in turn a powerful spider-woman who comes from another time to inspire Peter; an otherworldly lover; a bride; a terrifying (and sexy) dark goddess of vengeance; a dance partner in a charged and violent spiders dance of death; and, finally, a lonely, fragile young woman. Possesses an ethereal, unique, gorgeous singing voice. Strong Celtic, Balkan style, e.g., Sinead O'Connor. Outside the box ideas are welcomed. Could be someone from the music industry.

'Outside the box ideas are welcomed' - you can say that again, Ms. Taymor.

I've actually been reading about Julie Taymor taking on Spider-Man for some time, but I wasn't entirely sure it would ever see the light of day. Do you think this could be a success?

Paul McGuigan Directing New Spider-Man

That's right - it's a confirmed fact. Paul McGuigan, the director of Wicker Park, Lucky Number Slevin, Gangster No 1, The Acid House and another handful of similar turkeys, is the latest director to tackle Spider-Man. Personally, I think Wes Anderson would have been an amusing choice for this job...

What's more, you can see McGuigan's take on Spider-Man now. There's a video up on MySpace.

Let me explain: McGuigan has directed the video to Snow Patrol's Signal Fire, as featured on the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack. The clip shows a school play with kids recreating scenes from the Spidey films. Rushmore fans will now understand my Anderson comment.

Spider-Man 5.1

Add the below image from Spider-Man 3 (courtesy of Mike Markus) to a very nifty YouTube clip from Spider-Man 2.1 and what do you get?

Download that clip now. You won't have long.

Super Max

David Goyer and Justin Marx' Super Max has an amusing premise, though one seemingly born of fanboy rapture. Notice how Superhero films are now always stuffed with cameos from other characters from the associated mythos - and this can be anything like Hank McCoy on TV in X2 to Curt Connors' lizard lab in the Spider-Man series? One of the most popular of thse is the Arkham Asylum cameo set hinted at in Batman Begins and now much rumoured for The Dark Knight - the idea that, in the hospital we see lots and lots and lots of Batvillains, all incarcerated and only referred to by their 'real names'. This idea really seems to appeal to fanboys.

Super Max is based entirely on this premise. The film will revolved around the arrest and incarceration of The Green Arrow. Stripped of his Lincoln Green, goatee and daft alias, he's locked up in a high security prison for those with extrahuman powers. In there he comes face to face with, and has to deal with, any number of his foes - all stripped down to stripes and birthnames also.

Goyer promises B and C villains, powers and an escape plan. This should almost be a TV show.

With a strong director and a good catch to the escape caper Super Max could be a fair bit of fun. I'm on the record for not really being much of a fan of Goyer's scripts, so I hope Mr. Marx keeps him on the straight and narrow a little.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiide Spider-Images

These can be bigger. If you click, they will be.

Consider this a celebration of the news that Spider-Man 3 is being released in IMAX style as well as normal size fashion. If only all IMAX screens were a decent scale - some are diappointingly close to a typical cinema screen.

Three More Spider-Man 3 Images For You

Minor Spider-Man 3 Image Update

Just the two for you this time, but don't grumble: they're delivered still warm from my inbox.

More Venom In Australia

The Australian edit of the final Spider-Man 3 trailer features different shots, such as the one I've excerpted above.

Just a little more Venom for you.