Judge for Yourself

I posted the link to the SPEED RACER photos yesterday, most of which appear to have been taken directly from the trailer that premiered last night. From some of the comments I've read it's definitely polarizing, with some folks saying it looks fantastic and others commenting that it's destined to be worse than the ROLLERBALL remake.

Me? I fall strictly in the "This May Be the Worst Movie Ever Made" category. I'm not even sure who the audience is for a G-rated (?!) 'Speed Racer' adaptation that looks like a video game. I can't imagine kids are going to go ga-ga for it (since none of them know or care who Speed is) and – as a huge SR fan – I'd rather stay home and watch the old cartoons than look at John Goodman in a horrific dye job.

In all honesty I grudgingly admire the Wachowski Bros. for attempting to bring a new visual style to audiences, I just wish they'd done it with a beloved piece of somebody else's childhood.

But judge for yourself.

First Evel, Now THIS?

What do people have against my childhood? First, 70s icon Evel Knievel dies and while I'm waxing nostalgic about his Stunt Cycle toy and those great comic book ads I have to be reminded what a complete dick the guy really was.

Now, the Wachowski Brothers are out to destroy one of my fave childhood icons. Don't get me wrong. I don't like trashing a film before I've seen 1 second of it. And I usually hate when on-line critics (read "nerds") get all up in arms because "so and so's costume doesn't look right" or "that actor isn't the right height/weight/skin tone to play fill-in-the-blank."

But I gotta say that for everything it looks like Christopher Nolan is getting right with his interpretation of The Joker in the upcoming THE DARK KNIGHT, the Wachowski's are doing, hell, I don't even know if "wrong" is the proper word in next summer's SPEED RACER flick.

I was leery about the idea of a live action update of the cartoon icon from the get-go. I wasn't sure how you'd bring the world of Speed and his family to life. If you went for a strict interpretation of the cartoon – complete with Speed's scarf and the annoying little brother with his pet monkey – you risk looking ridiculous. If you try and update the look and feel ala the comic book and cartoon reinterpretations of the last few decades you risk alienating the show's legion of hardcore fans.

Recent news that the whole thing was done with green screens upped my leery factor and now we have these photos from USA Today. To say I'm stunned with a numbing mix of disappointment and rage isn't anywhere near strong enough. The trailer premieres tonight and will be appearing online shortly thereafter. I'll try and reserve my judgment until the flick hits theaters, but this one is dropping on my list of next year's Must See Flicks.

What's the World's Greatest Super-Villain Costume?

It's probably obvious that I consider Batgirl to have the greatest superhero costume of all-time. (Actually, this is just a cheap opportunity for me to post this link to a cavalcade of sexy Batgirl drawings.)

But who has the greatest super-villain costume? Check out this countdown over at Retro-Crush.

While we're on the topic of sexy superheroes here are links to: a costume shop offering adult costumes of Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Bat Girl and more and some online superhero girl stories.

Another Year Another Eurotrash World, er, Gathering

Another year, another gathering of The Eurotrash Paradise under my belt. Actually, it's more like over my belt as it seems like we ate and drank and ate and drank our way through four days of fun, friends, movies, buying and more. Unfortunately, these weekends are too short and infrequent, but what are you going to do?

Also unofficially dubbed Christmas in August (nobody owns that, do they?), these gatherings are a great time to exchange movies, posters, books, mags and more with friends you know will appreciate them. This year I made out like a bandit and my weekend haul (gifts and purchases) included:

• A YEAR OF FEAR by Bryan Senn: this terrific new book is just what the title suggests. Senn offers up 366 horror films, one for each day, that somehow ties in to an event from that day. For instance, today, August 14th is National Senior Citizens Day, so the author features THE MAN WHO TURNED TO STONE, a "lurid" 1957 shocker with a mad scientist on the prowl for nubile bad girls. Bryan and I don't always see eye-to-eye (he prefers snooty Eurobrews, soccer and LAKE PLACID while I dig American swill, pro football and FRIDAY THE 13TH) but his writing is always engaging and entertaining, and he never pulls his punches.
• TARGET FOR KILLING: I've never seen this 1966 Eurospy flick featuring Stewart Granger and the great Klaus Kinski, but it now sits on my shelf awaiting a viewing.
• THE MANHUNT (a revenge pic featuring John Wayne's son John Ethan, Ernest Borgnine, Bo Svenson and Henry Silva) and DOUBLE TARGET, an over the top actioner starring Miles O'Keefe and Bo Svenson, directed by Vincent Dawn (aka Bruno Mattei).
• ALIENS: SALVATION and IRONWOLF: FIRES OF THE REVOLUTION, two comics featuring artwork by HELLBOY's Mike Mignola.
• A handful of CDs including 'Don't Worry About Me' by Joey Ramone, Japan's 'Quiet Life', and 'The Platinum Collection', a 16-track compilation of tracks from the years Hall & Oates spent on the Atco label. (Sue me. I love blue-eyed Philly soul.)
• Issue #20 of the continually amazing CINEMA SEWER by Robin Bougie. This sleazy installment features VICE SQUAD, nude cowgirl movies and much, much more. With the passing of Tower, CS – like many zine publishers including yours truly – needs support more than ever.
• BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #6: I missed issue 5 and I haven't been overwhelmed by this Frank Miller-penned comic but I find it almost impossible to resist a cover featuring a spandex-clad redheaded Batgirl.
• BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN trade paperback. I've been meaning to pick up this sequel to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS for a couple years now. With Batman on the brain (thanks to the upcoming film) and store credit burning a hole in my pocket I had to get this 200+ page sequel.
• THE MAN WHO SAVED BRITAIN: A PERSONAL JOURNEY INTO THE DISTURBING WORLD OF JAMES BOND by Simon Winder. Bats and Bond are two of my weak spots and this 2006 hardcover about the evolution of 007 and post-war Britain was definitely calling my name.
• CRAZY LEGS CONTI: Zen and The Art of Competitive Eating. I'm almost as much a food nut as I am a movie nut, so this documentary about the eccentric competitive eater is right up my alley.
• Atomic TV's Natty Boh Tribute and Atomic TV Cocktail Hours DVD. While I love living in the Baltimore suburbs, I miss having things like cable access channels that feature the Atomic Books produced Atomic TV. After enjoying the Natty Boh documentary that screened at The Senator last summer I had to grab this tribute to the legendary local brew.
• LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE DEAF MAN by Ed McBain. I used to read 87th Precinct Mysteries all the time when I was going through my "pulp phase" about 10 or 12 years ago. This pulp should make for a nice change of pace.
• MONSTER PLANET: A Zombie Novel by David Wellington. Again, I had store credit burning a hole in my pocket and I find it hard to resist words like "A Zombie Novel." Unfortunately, I didn't realize this was the conclusion to a trilogy so I may have to track down the first two books before I get into this one.
• A COOK'S TOUR: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by Anthony Bourdain. I'll admit to being a Danny-Come-Lately as far as Bourdain goes. I'd sampled some of his stuff before and found him to be off-putting, cocky and arrogant. After watching his television shows and reading some more of his writing I still find him to be cocky and arrogant, but damned if he's not funny and engaging as hell.
• A couple vintage issues of pulpy men's mags, including STAG and BLUEBOOK.
• The latest issues of FILM COMMENT (only purchased because it features a four page article on Kinski) and PHANTOM OF THE MOVIES' VIDEOSCOPE.
  
• Not one, not two but three new Klaus Kinski movie posters (SCHIZOID, VENOM and the BEAST OF THE YELLOW NIGHT/CREATURE WITH THE BLUE HAND double bill) plus an awesome window card for WEB OF THE SPIDER featuring Kinski as Edgar Allan Poe with a moustache that can only be defined as "whispy".

Wow. At the time I really didn't think I'd acquired that much stuff over the weekend, but I guess I did! I won't go into the details of our bar and restaurant adventures here, but I will post a link when I get around to it over at The Hungover Gourmet.

Troubling Times

Do you ever find yourself watching those eSurance commercials and thinking, "Hey, that Erin Esurance is a hot little cartoon"? Um, me neither, but apparently this person did and so did this one.

So, the question is, Erin Esurance... hotter than Trixie and Batgirl?