SFSurplus-2008-07-11 #055 [55:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Topics: Comic Books, The Dark Knight, Joss Whedon, The Brigadier, Mark Cuban.

Thank you for taking your valuable time to listen to us. This is show number 55 on the feed July 11th, 2008. In the Council of Great Relevance today we’re going to discuss Comic Books getting in to Movies. In the news: trailers before The Dark Knight, Joss Whedon’s new movie project, The Brigadier Returns, and Mark Cuban’s connection to SciFi.

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Casey: I’m Casey and joining me on the show today is…

Vince
Dave - Comic-Con
Darren
John
Jeromy

Now that the introductions are out of the way, Let’s get our geek on!

Anti-witness News

Copy: The Dark Knight is going to be fronted by a number of high-profile trailers. Before the Batman film, you’ll see Christian Bale in Terminator Salvation, Zack Snyder’s The Watchmen, and Ridley Scott’s “Body of Lies.” The trailer for “Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince” will not be seen with The Dark Knight. The Potter teaser will premier before Star Wars: The Clone Wars in August. The Dark Knight is in theaters July 18th.

Copy: Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, is getting a green light for a film called “Cabin in the Woods.” Whedon co-wrote the script with “Lost” and “Cloverfield” scribe, Drew Goddard.

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Copy: The Doctor Who universe is going to see more of Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, also known as the Brigadier. The character made famous by Nicholas Courtney will appear in a two-part episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures in Series 2. The Brigadier was the commanding officer of the UK branch of UNIT.

Copy: Mark Cuban’s HDNet will begin to air more Science Fiction and Fantasy films. The DirecTV channel will look for liscencing to older films and independant projects. He may also be looking at putting many of the films in Landmark Theaters, which he also owns.

Council of Great Relevance: Comic Books to Movies

In this segment, John mentioned Halfpixel.com, a podcast about Web Comics. We encourage you to visit their site and listen to their show. Click here for the link.

1. Dave. What movie that originated as a comic book has had the most impact on cinema itself? (Spider-Man grossed nearly as much as Titanic, Matrix was originally a comic script, etc.)Matrix

2. Darren. Is the film industry abusing the comics medium or springboarding it into a greater spotlight?

3. John. How much control should comics creators retain on their works translating to film? (Hellboy is more Del Toro’s than Mike Mignola’s now; Stan Lee shows up and gets credit in “his” films; Alan Moore outright wants nothing to do with his properties made into film.)

4. Vince. Predict which is more likely: whether (1) the superhero bubble will burst and abate in Hollywood, or (2) the success of superhero flicks will help usher in other comic book genres to the screen. (300, Road to Perdition, Ghost World, and particularly Persepolis have all made it to the screen intact; will superheroes ruin things or help?)
Did comics infiltrate cinema? Or cinema infiltrate comics?

5. Dave. Why do you think making films out of comics has become so popular over the last decade or two?

Comments by Darren

Over Arching comment on the transfer from comic to the film. It Works with a good script director and acting. But what happens for fan who have followed the comic they are bound by past stories and their own imagination and will be able see fault with the movie. But if you come to the film without the history of the comic and allow the film to stand on its merits. I find you can get a great deal of enjoyment from the film.

2000AD and Judge Dredd

The points I would like to made with the 2000ad

The comic was a collection of a number of stories in the same universe/style.

ABC Warriors, Strontium Dog, Rogue trooper. To name a few

The comic when view as a whole gave a bleak impression of the future world. Which allowed the reader to ‘feel’ each story arc with a similar dark ethos.

But alas the Judge Dredd movie, was somewhat sanitised as an attempt to broaden audience. As with the inclusion of the comic elements brought by Rob Schneider.

The bleakness that is the story of dredd was lost.

Unlike brit comic V which carried across so very well to the film. With a dark view of a British state gone so wrong. The history of English oppression entrenched in the culture of the comic written in the thatcher years. Was an extension of the 1980 Pol tax fiasco. The story see a government takes the control of the state and remove rights for the peoples own “good”. While honouring Guy Fawkes who in 05 / 11 /1605 seeing the same government control applied. Failed to blow up Parliament. But left us with the famous poem.

Remember remember the fifth of November Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot…

And a great fireworks display every year to remember.

A. Dave has comments

The look (and feel) of films that have made the jump from comics to film. What made the Ang Lee Hulk movie so terrible was that it actually tried to look like a comic book but demonstrated nothing of its mechanics. (This is one of the few places where a film like Speed Racer succeeded, in capturing in a way appropriate for film the flavor of the cartoon series animation; Dick Tracey won an Academy Award for just such a thing, too.) Daredevil looked like Batman shot on a left-over Law & Order set.

What of Superman’s legacy (if it still has one)? What makes Smallville work where Superman Returns didn’t? And what about films like Wanted or Road to Perdition that break away strongly from the plot of their original source?

Ones to forget: Steel, Daredevil, Captain America (starring J.D. Salinger’s son!), League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Catwoman, Ghost Rider, Swamp Thing, HOWARD THE DUCK!
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This is a place for a cheesy commercial break and/or a bit of fiction that revolves around the SurplusVerse. They can be skits that we read live on the show, produced in advance but they should always be funny. A commercial needs to be between 30 and 60 seconds. Most of this will be making fun of radio, television and media in general.

Topic: A new trailer for The Day the Earth Stood Still is now available. From the look of the clip this is going to be a different film from the original. We are going to see some alien action! And what little you see of Keanu Reeves shows this may be yet another role made for his deliberate style of acting.

Topic: To satisfy the demand for 3-D animated films Dreamworks and Intel have announced a strategic alliance designed give more muscle the studio’s animated 3-D tools. By allowing access to the current and future multi core processors developed by the chipmaker.

Casey: Thanks go out to Vince, Jeromy, Darren, Dave, John, and Bob. Great job everyone! If you like SciFi Surplus and you’d like to help out, please take the time to make a donation at SciFi Surplus dot com. Even a dollar or two helps. We want to keep this ‘cast on the feed as long as possible and we need your support. Just find “Support SciFi Surplus” on our website. For everyone here, I’m Casey and we’ll talk to you next time!