Live action CG ALF Movie…….LAME!!!

Hey everyone it seems word on the net today is about the possible ALF reboot / remake full length feature film! Sounded good to me when I first heard about it, I mean you have to have no soul to not like ALF! I am certain there are some youngsters out there are like who the shit is ALF? But all of us 1980’s kids need no introduction, his name stands for Alien Life Form. He’s a furry smart ass alien who loves to dine on….Cats!

It was also one of best 80’s sitcoms around & Alf was brought to life entirely by puppetry. This version boasts a CG Alf. Uggh…hey Hollywood did you see the latest installment of The Muppets movie? Do you think that would have been any good if Kermit and Co were CG? It’s no wonder that this is the direction the movie is taking as Jordan Kerner the “genius” behind the latest Smurfs movie is Alf’s producer. This movie could be a completely nostalgic & delightful throwback for all of us. Somehow I have a feeling this new version of Alf will be a bunch of watered down Hollywood Schlock. Only Hollywood could ever be accused of something as atrocious as watering down Alf. But they are already en route to doing so. The good news is that original voice of Alf, Paul Fasco is on board at least! Maybe I am being too hard on Hollywood? But hey Alf was never broken, he doesn’t need to be fixed….in the meantime puppet ALF is saying F’ off to CG Alf via this ALF Metal, this isn’t the first time I posted this here because it’s goddamn amazing!!!

Silver Screen Supermen: The Blog of Steel by Chris “Optional” Gray

Hey folks, its Chris “Optional” Gray here bringing you a guest piece for Universal Dork. This blog was promised to Mr. Saturday long ago, and much like the topic this blog is covering there have been many set backs, production delays, casting issues, wardrobe disputes, you know, the typical things that can go wrong with writing a blog. My original idea was to compare and contrast the film making efforts between Marvel and DC, but that subject is for another time and day.Today we will be focusing on the Man of Steel himself, Superman and his adventures on the silver screen.

The first time Superman was brought to the big screen was in 1941 with the Fleischer Studios animated shorts, bringing the Caped Crusader to life for the first time. These shorts are absolute classics and have endured the test of time so much to be readily available on Netflix for your viewing pleasure.They perfectly capture the Superman of that early era.They feel like your reading a short comic in a newspaper fun,fast and a feast for the eyes especially if you love old animation.

The next time Superman graced the screen was in 1948 when Alan Kyrk starred in the theatrical series, which were very similar in style to George Reeve’s later television series. Unfortunately, Kyrk really lacked any kind of screen presence to pull off the roles of Superman and Clark Kent. The most entertaining aspect of the shorts comes from the lack of budget that prevented them from actually showing Kyrk take flight, those segments had to be animated which while distracting is still very entertaining. It makes even the worst modern day CGI look glorious in comparison, but the shorts still come off as enjoyable.

Now we come to George Reeve’s debut as Superman in the little known B-Movie Superman and The Molemen Continue reading →

Zero Dark Thirty: Cinematic Bin Laden Propaganda?

We all knew that it wouldn’t be long before we got a “hunt for Bin Laden” movie which chronicles the United States search for the evil doer and the “capture” carried out by the Navy Seals. Now to me the way this story has played out in the news makes for a perfect movie! It’s right out of an eighties shoot em’ up! I have had a hard time with this whole story from the get go however, it’s very similar for me to “United 93” as it’s actually very unclear what happened on that flight as many speculate it was actually shot down by our government. The movie however spins it one way, that the people on board beat the terrorists. It was actually an entertaining movie but as I watched I kept really wondering if the film was a big load of propaganda to help fuel more war?

So now we have “Zero Dark Thirty” the latest from Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark, Point Break, The Hurt Locker). Yeah folks now we’re all going to get “the real story”. Ugghhh…I am not sure about you but didn’t anyone think the whole Bin Laden killed and dumped / burial into the sea immediately because we didn’t want to upset any muslims thing was a little off? No pictures of his body and a Navy Seal story of his killing that changed a half a dozen times? Whatever the case when I heard the news my bullshit detector immediately went off in my brain, watching Obama tell us what happened didn’t sit right with me. Aside from the fact that we assassinated him instead of putting him on trial for the world to see, Bin Laden was never even indicted with a crime by the USA.

Now this is all beside the point that Bin Laden wasn’t ever seen on video for almost ten years after 911. What we did always get were “confirmed” audio tapes of his voice during that period of time spouting off his evil deeds. Seemed a little off to me. It was also claimed several times that Bin Laden had died of kidney failure in 2001. Was Bin Laden actually dead all these years? Has our Government been hiding things all these years about Bin Laden and the true story of 911? We all know Governments never lie to their people right? Well rest assured it’s good to know now all us Americans are now finally gonna get the real story with Zero Dark Thirty….whoopee…..

Comic Book Cover of the Week! Brian Bolland is the Master!!

Here’s one of my favorite covers drawn by quite possibly the best cover artist ever-Brian Bolland. He won me over completely as a kid with his incredible art on The Killing Joke, which is arguably the best Batman story of all time. Well Bolland also did some jaw dropping artwork on the covers for The Flash in the early 2000’s. Here is one of my faves, Bolland immediately gives Captain Cold the Killing Joke treatment. Cold has never before looked so sinisterly AWESOME!

Walt Simonson What Happened?!

I have done several posts here about how the “old dog” comic artists need to come back and show the young’ins how it’s done. I have ranted about John Byrne, Mike Zeck, Barry Windsor Smith and Walt Simonson. Well I guess I am going to eat my words here as I just couldn’t hold it in anymore. Walt Simonson’s latest artwork well kinda….SUCKS. There I said it. It’s out there on the table. I was initially thrilled to find out that him and Bendis were teaming up for the latest running arc of The Avengers but upon initially seeing the artwork I was stunned at just how terrible his skills have gotten over the years. So what gives? Did he just forget how to draw? Was he rushed and didn’t give a shit? Or am I crazy and maybe he always sucked? Lets take a closer look…

New Simonson 2012 (these are random images I found online, perhaps I can scan some soon that may really get my point across, however if you are reading Avengers currently you know what I mean) :

Walt Simonson 1980’s:

Well Walt all I ask is that you put a little more effort into it dude! It’s clear you got the skills still, maybe you don’t think you need to prove anything? Well I’ll be watching closely for a return to form

Do We Really Want a Darker Superman Movie?

I have watched the “Superman: Man of Steel” trailers quite a few times lately since they were recently put on the web for everyone to enjoy. I think so far it looks pretty interesting. However I am just not so certain that this is the Superman movie I really want to see. It’s clearly a darker more realistic take on Supes and it’s clearly trying to use the Nolan / Batman recipe for success. The trailers show a darker more emotional style of filming that may take a bit of getting used to. This however isn’t really what we’re all used to from Superman, so I am not going to jump to any premature conclusions yet, I’m quite sure I will enjoy this one immensely. Yet I would much rather have a brighter, more colorful Superman story to be honest. I could just be feeling this because this is all I am used to?

Hmm…Looks like Superman’s got Dr. Manhattan syndrome if you know what I mean! Blame it on Snyder again I guess…

I just don’t know how I feel about this one so far. What works for Batman may not necessarily work for Superman. I picture a Superman movie playing out a little more like Whedon’s Avengers personally – like a comic book really transformed into reality except without all the dark gritty real world vibe. I enjoyed Singer’s tone on his Superman film, I LOVED Brandon Routh as Superman.

Damn he was almost on par with Reeve in my opinion. He had that perfect charm, innocence and humor as the Man of Steel that is desperately needed to make the character work on the big screen. It’s still a mystery to me how Singer messed it up and somehow made a boring Superman movie! So instead now we get this, a dark Superman movie. It’s going to take a lot of convincing here for me folks…what do you now all think after seeing the trailers? Am I way lame for feeling this way?

MAD GOD: Probably the Coolest Thing I Have Laid Eyes On This Year!

I have just seen the Kickstarter video for legendary stop motion / effects master Phil Tippett’s latest movie he’s recently started working on again and it looks incredible!Seriously before you read on check out the Kickstarter video! Phil is famous for his work on little films called The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Jurassic Park & Robocop to name a few.

All I really need to say watch this teaser and if you’re interested check out the interview with Harry Knowles. It’s even better news to know the movie reached it’s funding goals on Kickstarter! So it will be a reality and most likely one of the most amazing little movies of current times…

Truly Sad….

There has been a dark shadow cast today for us all upon discovering the horrific event that happened today at the premiere of “The Dark Night Rises”. I can’t even imagine the terror of what those people witnessed. The world can really be an ugly place sometimes. To me the movies have always been a favorite way of escaping reality it’s a sad time when you don’t feel safe in a theater. My deepest thoughts are with all those who were directly affected by this event….