Royal Cinema Saved

Toronto film buffs were dealt a harsh blow last month when three of the city's oldest and most beloved vintage repertory theatres were shut down: The Kingsway, The Revue, and The Royal.

I live near the Royal Cinema (just a few blocks' walk from Little Italy, but close enough) and while I never got out to it nearly as much as I'd like, I think it's a great place for its nostalgic facade (dig the marquee), elegant art deco interior (with reclining seats), and eclectic range of films. The Royal is a typical rep house in that it operates primarily as a second-run venue, but it's also hosted cool speciality programmes like "B Movie Thursdays", which afforded me the chance to see the likes of "The Evil Dead", "Flash Gordon" (1980), "Shivers", and "Dark Star" on the big screen. As well, the venue has hosted the Toronto runs of such offbeat Asian offerings as "Sympathy For Mister Vengeance", "Dead Or Alive", and "Uzumaki".

Good news, then, with the announcement that the recently-closed Royal has been saved from conversion to a big box store by the owners of "Theatre D Digital" on Mt. Pleasant Ave, who converted the vintage Regent Cinema into a combination post-production facility and public theatre and plan to do the same here, possibly as early as September.

Molly

Happy Birthday, Molly (you would have been twelve today).

"Help Me Make The Music Of The (Dark) Knight..."

Believe it or not, the concept of "Batman: The Musical" was not a Jonathan Crane-induced hallucination. I'd heard rumour of it over the years, but then again, I also once read that Garth Drabinsky's Livent planned to mount "Raising Arizona" on the Toronto stage.

Jim Steinman--rawwwwk n' roll's would-be Wagner behind the successful Meatloaf collaborations, the "Streets Of Fire" soundtrack, and--kreegah!--latter-day Celine Dion warbling, was to compose the song score, with David Ives writing the book. In 1998, Warners officially announced that none other than Tim Burton would direct the stage incarnation of the franchise he'd successfully (and how!) reinvented for a generation nearly a decade earlier. Unfortunately, Steinman's vampire-themed musical (with former "Phantom" Michael Crawford, perhaps biding his time for "Condorman: The Musical"?) proved to be a flop and the studio's momentum for "Batman" dwindled.

Jim Steinman, however, managed to record what came to be known as "The Batman Demos" at the historic (and now gone) The Hit Factory in New York, with vocals from Rob Evan as Batman, Karine Hannah as Catwoman, Elaine Caswell, and Steinman himself. According to a fan-site, Warner's theatrical wing is considering resurrecting the property (no doubt thanks to the success of "Batman Begins") so who knows? I hear there's a stage free in Toronto, now that "Lord Of The Rings" has folded. Take your time, fellas--remember that "Superman" musical from the mid-70s?

In the meantime, you can listen to Steinman's "The Joker's Song", here.

"Beowulf And Grendel" Now On DVD In Canada

Indulge me in some shameless self-promotion: Sturla Gunnersson's "Beowulf And Grendel" was released on DVD in Canada today, from Warner Home Video. The single disc edition features a nice transfer that preserves Jan Keisser's lush cinematography and the requisite director's commentary (with Sturla joined by screenwriter Andrew Rai Berzins). Extras include deleted scenes, a costume design gallery, on-set stills, and most importantly, and a too-brief sampling of storyboard art from yours truly.

Regrettably, the gallery features only two scenes--Scenes 1 and 15--which were already posted on the official site with the former never truly completed to my satisfaction (like the Icelandic weather, the scene's specifics changed often). I drew an insane amount of boards for this project, and the best of them didn't end up on the disc. You can check out Grendel's berserker rampage through Heorot on my still-under-construction online portfolio here.

And of course, if you're so inclined, you can order a copy of the DVD here.

Don't Miss "The Vader Sessions"

"Star Wars" fan spoofs have gone beyond merely "viral"--the sheer volume of them has arguably spawned an Internet pandemic. While I support the efforts of these youngsters, the sad fact is that most of these shorts aren't half as fun to watch as I'm sure they were to make--I hope that some of these crazy kids got ILM intern gigs for their troubles and obvious passion.

But this one is that rare killer-diller: the riotous "The Vader Sessions", which works in audio clips from some of James Earl Jones' other films (mostly "The Great White Hope", "Coming To America", and "Field Of Dreams") into "Vader" footage from the 1977 original. The whole thing manages to work--impressively ("most impressively"..) as a compressed "A New Hope" for the attention-span impaired.

But can someone explain to me what's up with all the Billy Joel tunes?

An Animated Life...

...and how! Stop-motion master Ray Harryhausen--arguably the special effects industry's only true auteur (other than, say, Georges Melies?)--celebrates his 86th birthday today. Ray's still going strong despite having not worked on a film since 1981's "Clash Of The Titans"--a new book ("The Art Of Ray Harryhausen"), a new DVD compilation of early shorts (including the newly-finished "Tortoise And The Hare"), audio commentary on the long overdue special edition DVD of the original 1933 "King Kong", and a recently-announced teamup with Mindfire Entertainment to produce merchandise from his amazing filmography, as well as oversee some new films based upon some of his unrealized fantasy projects (maybe he'll get his aborted "Beowulf" off the ground, too?). Happy birthday, Ray--and thanks!

"My Friends, You Know Me To Be Neither Rash, Nor Impulsive...Nor Alive..."

Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" turned out to be a damn good film--not quite perfect (its leads are a little too baby-faced to have had all their "history", and what will they do now with Superkid?!)--but a soulful and handsomely produced ode to Richard Donner's still-definitive take on the character that will--hopefully-set things up for a series that will look to the comics, specifically, the the revamped "Superman" universe streamlined by John Byrne in the 80s, and avoid Big Blue's supersonic slide into mediocrity with "Superman 3" and "4".

Considering the advance hoopla and shroud of secrecy, I was disappointed by Brando's promised digital "resurrection" as Jor-El--which amounted to a mere few seconds of screen time with a dialogue take not terribly different than the one from the 1978 classic.

Still, it's a mean feat of digital wizardry, and Ain't It Cool New is still hosting the demo on how Rhythm And Hues pulled it off. You can check it out here.

What Your Favorite "Scott" Reveals About Your Personality

Ridley vs. Tony--do I have to choose just one? Why must one's artistic and entertainment preferences always be confined to one camp or the other? When I was in university, people would peruse my record collection (I'm dating myself with that one) and marvel that I'd have The Clash's "London Calling" or Joy Division's "Closer" right next to Springsteen's "The River" and Lindsay Buckingham solo albums--was I schizo? Hardly--just eclectic, and years later, I still can't understand why everything must be defined as either "mainstream" or "alternative" (or the dreaded "guilty pleasure"). Can't Ridley's more austere and meditative works (well, comparatively) reside on my video shelf along with Tony's giddy and operatic bombast? Not all that long ago, I used to hate Tony Scott's films--"Top Gun", "Days Of Thunder", and "Beverly Hills Cop 2" are among the most excruciating endurance-fests I've ever had the displeasure to witness--but he's redeemed himself with "Crimson Tide", "Enemy Of The State", "True Romance", "Man On Fire", and last year's delirious and woefully undervalued "Domino".

The New Republic's Lee Seigel lays it on thick with typical criticspeak and lambastes Tony as the very embodiment of everything wrong with cinema today, while The New York Observor's Ron Rosenbaum finds the younger Scott's recent films progressive and subversive.

Siegel's lament can be found here, after which you can read Rosenbaum's defense here.

May I Suggest A Chipper (And Lock It With A Zipper...)

I woke up this morning to find all the problems of the world must have been solved: this week Italy-- the land that gave us Baron Zarth Arn, pornstar politicians, and many fine salty meats (make up your own joke here)-- is hosting The Annual World Robot Championships...that's right, they been having these all along and none of us knew anything about it.

Over a hundred robots from 28 countries are competing in rounds of robo-golf, with some unusual rules: droids play in pairs, points are scored by putting colored balls into identically-colored holes, points are lost if the balls go into the wrong hole. So rest easy, it's obvious we lowly humans won't be enslaved into caddydom until there have been a few upgrades.

Wonder if Asimo kicks the ball when no one's looking (assuming he won't fall over)?

The whole story's tee'd up here.

Bean Gets Hitched...

Fewer films need "improvement" than Robert Harmon's taut n' terrifying mid-80s nailbiter "The Hitcher", which remains a textbook example of how to do a thriller right. Rutger Hauer's John Ryder ranks with Hannibal Lecter and John Doe as the creepiest kook ever realized on celluloid, and two decades later, I'm still getting over what happened to Jennifer Jason Leigh. And other than Spielberg's "Duel", no other filmmaker has combined the existential with the visceral with the skill of Harmon (further props: he made a C. Thomas Howell film bearable).

Of course, there's a remake in the works, now that filmmakers seem to have remade every horror film released in the 1970s with the possible exception of "Slithis". Making his feature debut with this one is music video sensation David Meyers, and Eric Red's screenplay has been updated by Jake Wade Wall, whose revamp of "When A Stranger Calls" didn't leave much of an impression.

But the project got interesting this week with the signing of Sean Bean in the title role. Bean, last seen in a rare "good guy" role in the underrated "Silent Hill", will don Ryder's duster and make life on and off a mountain road a living hell for some as-yet-unsigned young buck or possibly "One Tree Hill"s Sophia Buck, who's listed on the cast list but her role is not yet defined (is she stepping in for C. Thomas, Jennifer J.?)

Read all about the recent tragedy in screenwriter Eric Red's life here--in which he endured his own nightmare on the road...

"Blacksad" Coming To The Big Screen!

Created by writer Juan Diaz Canales and artist Juanjo Guarnido, "Blacksad" is set in an alternate 50s-era America right that James Ellroy and Sam Fuller would feel right at home in, except that this world is populated by anthropomorphic animals ala "Fritz The Cat". In fact, the lead character, John Blacksad, is a humanoid panther, equal parts Kipling's Bagheera and Spillane's Mike Hammer. But "Blacksad" is hardly a gimmicky "funny animal" book, or a freewheeling satire ala the works of "Fritz"s Crumb. It's a deadly serious, often heart-wrenchingly tragic, melodrama featuring honest emotions, gloriously operatic violence, and sly satire (targets have included white supremacy, McCarthyism, and The Manhattan Project). But Gaurnido's stunning art alone makes it worth the purchase.

Director Louis Leterrier (best known for those "Transporter" films with Jason Statham) is attached to helm the feature film (which is still in the financing stage as of this writing)--no hint as to whether or not it will be animated or live-action.

Three volumes of "Blacksad" are available to English readers ( (two serials, one a sketchbook compendium) , well worth investigating. Check out a sample page from the first volume here.

Alex Toth: 1928-2006

Comics legend Alex Toth (pronounced "Toath") passed away this weekend at the age of 77. The indefatigable, journeyman cartoonist died--appropriately enough--at his drawing table. While he never achieved household name status ala Neal Adams, Frank Miller, or Todd McFarlane, his work was probably enjoyed by more people than those artists combined: after a respectable career in syndicated strips and comics, Toth designed for Hanna Barbera throughout the 60s and 70s on such classic Saturday morning staples as "Johnny Quest", "Super Friends", and "Space Ghost". His work on the latter was resurrected for Cartoon Network's "Space Ghost: Coast To Coast", and his short-lived s.f. series "Sealab 2020" provided the basis for the hilarious "Sealab: 2021". He was also an outspoken critic of his field, and was vocal in his dislike of hand-painted comics and (what he felt was) the medium's overall deterioration into "pointless nihilism" and "mature content".

Check out Toth's gallery from his official site, and read The Comics Reporter's eulogy to a great one here.

Perfect For Another "Hollow Man" Sequel!

Fans of Steve Guttenberg's "The Man Who Wasn't There" who have endured decades of persecution can now rejoice in their collective prescience: MSNBC reports that an "invisibility cloak" might be a reality sooner than we thought--that is, for those of us who actually sit around pondering such things. Researchers say they are rapidly closing in on new types of materials that can throw a cloak of invisibility around objects, using "real-life" technologies. Of course, the military will be the first to benefit--possibly as soon as within 18 months.

Two separate research groups have posted papers detailing their respective theoretical methods for creating invisibility. One involves superlenses that cancel out the light from nearby objects, while the other proposes actual cloaks onto which video can be projected as a moving camouflage. Still other theories are based on "metamaterials," blends of polymers and tiny coils or wires that twist the paths of electromagnetic radiation (University of Pennsylvania's Nader Engheta published his own invisibility recipe last year).

If these geeks want the public on their side, they'd better enlist Jessica Alba as their poster girl, now...

They Only Do It Because They Love You

I admit it, I miss my video iPod. I bought the 20G model early this year, paraded it around the workplace, watched "Wondershozen" and Bryan Singer "Superman" diaries at my workstation, took it to Costa Rica where I chuckled to Ricky Gervais podcasts poolside while searing my pasty Canadian flesh. Couldn't watch my MP4 converted "Kill Bill Vol. 2" or "Sin City" vids beginning to end, though--the damned battery burned out after about 20 consecutive minutes of video play. Oh yeah, and I had to return my first model after only a week, when the hard drive crashed and I lost everything. Other than that, I felt it to be money well spent, until I got a tip of the (alleged) new, improved widescreen version on the horizon, got spooked, and took the little miracle back to the big yellow-n-blue box store a few hours shy of the 30 day return cut-off.

So it's now months later, and there's still no official word on this new model. Lots of rumours. Lots of excuses. Worst of all, I'm having to make due with my el-lame-o 256Mb RCA Lyra player, because I'm sure any day now, the brainiacs at Apple will unveil the inevitable upgrade. How am I convinced? Because Steve Jobs himself has told NBC: "If you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new iPod at least once a year." Great, Steve--'cept I've got the money, burning a hole in my pocket, and we're ending month number five of 2006. So just when are you gonna release the damn thing? Read Jobs' startling confession here.

Do Androids Dream Of Blu-Ray Or HD?

Fans of Ridley Scott's classic cybernoir "Bladerunner" have been waiting for this announcement for a long time now (roughly five times the life span of your basic Tyrell Corp. replicant): Cinematical reports that the official "director's cut" is finally on the way and will hit the rain-slicked streets this September. It'll be accompanied by a theatrical release and the inevitable boxed-set blowout so you might as well scrap that cheapo Warner disc this weekend--it's the bogus "director's cut", after all, and I'm not alone in preferring the original, albeit flawed, 1982 theatrical version (bet some of you are glad you kept your Criterion laserdisc...).

Dream of DVDs, basic pleasure models, and unicorns here. And here are two (1, 2) gorgeous montages from Drew Struzan (who should be hired to provide the packaging art...)

This Is What's Known As The Seven Year Kryptonian Itch...

After months of staring at the magenta "S" and contemplating "when?"--we can final behold the official "Superman Returns" North American one-sheet, and I must say, I like it. Not sure if it'll go up on the wall of the rumpus room yet--I'll wait until after June 30th. I'm sure most of us would've preferred an Alex Ross portrait, but this comp retains the mythic vibe of the teaser trailer and isn't too heavy on the Photoshop soft-edge brush like most other posters are these days.

For those of you have forgotten what a proper superhero movie poster is supposed to look like, here's a reminder of that I consider the best: 1978's "Superman: The Movie", as rendered by the late, great Bob Peak.

@#**%!!!

Reuters reports that the upcoming third season of HBO's "Deadwood" (which debuts June 11th) looks to be its last. The network has opted not to renew the cast's options on the series, which releases them to pursue other projects. "Deadwood" creator David Milch is shifting his attention to his new surfing (!) drama he's developing for HBO (well, "Big Wednesday"s John Milius did write for the network's "Rome"...)

Gandolfini's rung the death knell for "The Sopranos" on more than one occassion, and yet here we are in the midst of a sixth run, with another mini-season to come our way early next year, so let's not board up the Gem Saloon just yet. All I know is--IMHO, "Deadwood" is "The Sopranos" dirt-encrusted equal in every department, and my current vote for the best damn dramatic thing ever aired on the ol' idiot box, with the possible exception of the original "The Prisoner"--and I'm gonna miss the profane poetry of Al Swearengen's philosophical musings, the anachronistic (but never gimmicky) music cues, and the show's masterful turns from absurdist comedy to gut-wrenching tragedy. All of this in the form of a western--long considered a moribund genre.

While you're fuming, check out this hombre's homemade Al Swearengen statue here. Where the @#**%!!! can I get one of these?

Lutz Runs Out In Vegas

George Lutz, likely the most famous (former) resident of Amityville, New York, died yesterday at the age of 59. And despite his association with one of the last century's most enduring (alleged) supernatural ordeals--alas, his passing was due to something all-too-earthbound: heart disease. In 1975, the former land surveyor moved into a three-story Long Island home on 13 Ocean Avenue with his wife and three children, about one year after Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his family there. According to Lutz' best-selling account, "The Amityville Horror" (written with Jay Anson), the family fled after 28 days when spirits attacked and all hell literally broke loose. C'mon, you've seen the 1979 movie: Jodie the phantom pig, screaming Helen Shaver, oozing walls, flies, James Brolin's home perm, Rod Steiger's histrionics--why did they stay so long?

(Annoying autobiographical pause: I'll never forget that during my university years, I spent several hours late one night watching Dr. Gene Scott read from Anson's book...)

Lutz stuck to his remarkable tale until his last days--even though DeFeo's defense lawyer admitted to the press that he and Lutz dreamed up the whole thing over several bottles of wine (Lutz once confessed in an interview that the story was "mostly" true...). When a second adaptation of his book was released last year, Lutz was miffed that he wasn't asked to participate and was reportedly planning his own screen followup.

(Oh, one other thing: I knew a gal who worked at my home town movie theatre that said people would call the box office asking when "For God's Sake, Get Out!" was playing, since the tag line was displayed larger on the poster than the actual title)

You can pay your respects to Mr. Lutz at the official "Amityville Horror" website--which may or may not change your mind as to the story's validity-- here.

Wanted: "Dogme 95" Auteurs With Kung Fu Grip!

Well, given that we're all just a little bit ticked off at Darth George this week over yet another DVD reissue, this item is well-timed: now you can own your own little GL to drag behind your car/landspeeder, toss into the snowblower/Sarlaac pit, melt down into a skate tightener/ restraining bolt, whatever gets yer bacta flowing..

Hasbro is offering a limited-edition action figure of Georgie in full Stormtrooper regalia, albeit on with his 70s-era hair and waistline (this isn't the first time Lucas' likeness has inspired a toy--Hasbro confirmed his visage was previously used in an action figure called "George Sacul"). Now for that "bad feeling" you've all had about this: The Lucas figure is only available to participants in something called "Hasbro's Ultimate Galactic Hunt", in which fans must show proof-of-purchase of five vintage "Star Wars" action figures in order to score the Lucas trooper.

Lucas isn't the first director to have his own action figure: there's Peter Jackson as a hobbit from the "Lord Of The Rings" line, Quentin Tarantino as a "Crazy 88" from "Kill Bill, Vol. 1", Kevin Smith of course, Andy Warhol, Warren Beatty ("Dick Tracy"), Steve Buscemi, Terry Jones as "Mandy" from "Life Of Brian" (which he also directed), and even Steven Seagal (he did helm, unfortunately, "On Deadly Ground").

I waited for a Dickie Attenborough from "Jurassic Park", but it didn't happen. Nor did a Francois Truffaut from "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind". Wouldn't an official line of plastic, poseable auteurs be just the thing for obsessive film junkies who've got it all? Just think, your very own Alfred Hitchcock playset, with Tippi Hendren sold separately, whom you could torture with marathon bird attacks. Or a Werner Herzog/Klaus Kinski limited edition "Fitzcarraldo" kit where you disassemble the ship, pull it up a mountain, and rebuild it on the other side. And what Criterion completist could resist a talking Jean-Luc Godard doll that spews Marxist rants?

"Number Six, Why Did You Resign As Dr. Who Number Nine?"

Patrick McGoohan's 1967 masterpiece "The Prisoner" is set to be remade into a six-part "thrilling reinvention", with former "Dr. Who" Christopher Eccleston to portray the titular character, the enigmatic and indefatigable "Number Six".

McGoohan's witty, paranoia-drenched deconstruction of Cold War-era spy melodramas ran for 17 episodes on ITV, and, for me, remains at the top of my list of all-time favorite dramatic television series. As a kid in the 70s, I happened upon a rebroadcast of the hallucinatory final episode, and had no idea what the hell was going on, but fell in love with it immediately. I remember when TVOntario ran the series once a week and concluded each installment with a commentary/analysis by Werner Troyer--in an era where sci-fi and fantasy programming was rare, British fare like "The Prisoner" and Gerry Anderson's "UFO" and unfairly-maligned "Space:1999" helped stimulate the imagination with something other than "Star Trek" and "Lost In Space" reruns until Lucas and Spielberg came along.

The new "Prisoner" series will be produced by Granada, from a pilot script by Bill Gallagher, writer of the series "Clocking Off" (I confess, I've not seen it). The producers promise a long list of "A-list" talent are seeking involvement with the re-invention.

"Like '24', the new series will entrap you from the opening scene", promises executive producer Damien Timmer. "We hope it will tap into this iconic show's existing cult following, whilst creating a whole new generation of fans." No word on whether or not McGoohan will be involved--he was cool enough to voice a parody of his character on "The Simpsons" a few years back.

Check out this piece on "The Village" itself, in actuality Sir Clough Williams-Ellis "Portmeirion" resort in North Wales (thanks, Phil L!).