The Wicked West is Like a Reese's Cup

The Wicked West is like a Reese's Cup.

A Reese's Cup combines peanut butter and chocolate which by themselves are great, but together are even better!

Well... that's what The Wicked West is like. Writers, Todd Livingston and Robert Tinnell have teamed with artist, Neil Vokes to bring us a horror story wrapped in a western. And the end result is something even better.

I'd been looking forward to The Wicked West since I first heard the tagline: Suppose Joesy Wales rode into Salem's Lot. Man, that is the best pitch I've heard for any movie, comic, book or tv show in years.

The cool thing is that Vokes, Livingston and Tinnell lived up
to the tag line! They created an ambitious story which not allows us to see "what really happened" in 1870 when Cotton Coleridge rode into a town under seige by vampires but also how the story was adapted to the "silver screen" for a "singing cowboy" movie in the 1930's.

The art and story mesh perfectly.

I think that anyone who is a fan of westerns, horror or simply great graphic novels would love The Wicked West.

Neil said that he had a blast drawing The Wicked West and it shows. I know I had a blast reading it, and like after eating one Resse's Cup, it left me happy, but ready for another!

Everyone Loves a Parade

When I was a kid, The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade was a big deal. Everyone would watch it... and I mean everyone.

Not just kids waiting for the turkey to be done, parents and grandparents would join their kids to watch as the marching bands, floats, convertbles with celebrities, and character balloons passed by.

And speaking of character balloons, did you know that the first were Felix the Cat, the Dragon, the Elephant, and the Toy Solider who appeared in the first Macy's parade in 1927.

Here are a few other things that I'll bet you didn't know about the parade:

1] The first balloons used in the parade were filled with helium, and would have exploded had they reached too high an altitude!

2] The second year Macy's came up with a helium and air mixture that is still used to this day.

3] Starting the second year and for the next three years, the balloons were released into the air at the end of the parade. Cash prizes were offered to those who found and returned the balloons.

Clarence Chamberlain, a pilot flying above New York City, caught the Pig Balloon in midair in an effort to be first to collect the prize money; and the following year, an aviator almost crashed into Broadway in an attempt to be the first to get a balloon. Due to stunts like these the practice of releasing the balloons at the end of the parade was stopped in 1933.

So here we are over 70 years later and the parade is still on, but does anybody watch anymore? Seems like even parade organizers are having trouble getting celebrities to come to the darn things. I guess we live in a world that is just too fast paced. We don't have time for a good parade anymore.

And that's too bad, because when I was a kid...

Only One Man Can Play "Dubya"

You just know at some point someone is going to have to play President George W. Bush in a movie.

But who could do President Bush justice?

Watch this short video and you'll know.

Amazing, isn't it?

A Legitimate Tough Guy

Chuck Zito.

If you know the name, it might be because Chuck is a co-star on Oz.

Then again, it could be because Zito has worked as a bodyguard to the stars (Michael Jackson, Sylvester Stallone [note the chain that he's wearing], Liza Minelli and many others).

Maybe you know him as the guy who knocked out Jean Claude Van Damme with one punch. Or it could be because Chuck is a member of the Hell's Angels.

Chuck Zito is a legitimate tough guy. Note I didn't say "good guy."

Check out his website and you'll get to know a bit about Chuck Zito. He's lived an amazing life and he covers it [warts and all] in his excellent autobiography Street Justice.

Read it and to know him any better you'd have to meet him. : )

What's Next for Vin?

I'll be picking up the unrated dvd of "The Riddick Chronicles" when it's released tomorrow. I'm hoping that this expanded version will be even better than the theatrical release and that the dvds sell enough to bring about at least one more Riddick adventure.

But even if that doesn't happen, Vin is staying pretty busy. Check out THIS INTERVIEW and you'll see what I mean.

[And if you're a fan of director David Twohy then you can check out THIS INTERVIEW.]

First Trailer for "Assault on Precinct 13"

As most of you know, I'm pretty psyched about the new "Assault on Precinct 13."

It's got a nearly perfect concept for a movie, a great cast and now a cool trailer is on-line.

You can see it by clicking HERE.

If you've seen the original movie and now the new trailer you know that they've made some changes.

Actually these changes kick up the action a notch.

And isn't Lawrence Fishburne just one bad mother - uh, watch your mouth!

Riddick... Two, Do I Hear Four?

Pitch Black is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies.

Although I can't say that about it's sequel, The Riddick Chronicles, I can say that I liked a lot of things about the sequel and am really looking forward to the director's cut that is going to be released this Tuesday.

You see, I'm a fan of both David Twohy [writer and director] and Vin Diesel [star].

Plus I think that the Riddick character has a ton of potential. Twohy and Diesel must think so as well, since they've done two movies about him and have two more potentially in the works.

Personally, I hope that we do get to see the other two Riddick movies. And that they're on par with Pitch Black.

Two Kinds of Hostage

Finally another movie that I can get excited about!

Hostage starring Bruce Willis in a screenplay by Robert Crais [based on the novel of the same name by Crais] has the potential to be really, really good.

Blackfilm.com has posted the first pics from the movie and you can see them HERE.

Willis plays a former hostage negotiator who is now the police chief of a small community where nothing much ever happens. That is until a botched 7-11 robbery turns into a hostage situation when the three young crooks take a family hostage. To make matters even worse... the father of the family is an accountant for a mobster.

Trust me, Hostage is a movie to watch. And Hostage the novel is one to read. :)

Lost Secrets

Man, if you're not watching LOST at 8PM on Wednesday nights, you should be.

It is without a doubt my
favorite new show. My entire family is loving it. And the cool thing is none of us is really sure what it's all about.

If you don't watch it, then you're probably wondering how the heck we can enjoy the show so much and NOT KNOW WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT. Well... that's part of the beauty of the show.

If you want to know more, check out THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE... if you want to know even more, check out THIS DARK HORIZONS INTERVIEW with one of the writers... and if you really want to know what I'm talking about then tune in for an episode!

First Pics for "Assault on Precinct 13"

I was excited when I heard that a remake of "Assault on Precinct 13" was in the works.

The original is one of my favorite John Carpenter movies, and even though he's not directing the remake, it still should kick butt.

When I heard about the casting, I was even happier: Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Bryne, Brian Dennehy, Maria Bello, John Leguizamo, and Ja Rule.

Now that the first pictures are available I'm feeling positive that I'm going to really like the movie. As long as they don't mess to much with the script, Assault looks to be a winner!

The Hits Keep on Coming

While surfing the web, I came across this great little interview with Robert B. Parker. It's a brief interview, but packs in a ton of interesting information about Parker; how he writes, the surprisingly little research that he does, and why he and his wife live on different floors in the same house.

Parker has been writing novels for over 30 years and at the age of 72 shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, this year alone, Parker's had three books published and each of them hit the best seller list!

Bad Business was the 31st Spenser novel [and if you like to read you owe it to yourself to check out the entire Spenser series].

Melancholy Baby was the fourth to feature female detective Sunny Randall.

And last, and definitely not least was Double Play.

Double Play is one of my all-time favorite books by Robert B. Parker. Set in 1947, the novel focuses on the relationship between Joe Burke [a hardened WWII vet with a death wish who has been hired to bodyguard Jackie Robinson] and Jackie Robinson [the first black man to break into the major leagues]. Along the way there's gangsters, dames, double-crosses, murders and more. It was truly a great read and I hope that Parker writes more Joe Burke novels.

Knowing how prolific Robert B. Parker is, I'd say that's a good bet!

New Sin City Posters

Yeah, I want to see Sin City more than any other movie coming out in the next year or so.

Why wouldn't I?

I love Frank Miller's Sin City comics. And Frank's co-directing this baby.

I'm a huge fan of Robert Rodriguez's direction.

Bruce Willis is da man.

MIckey Rourke as Marv is inspired casting. And you know Marv is one of the coolest characters ever.

And let's not forget that Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Josh Hartnett, Michael Madsen, Clive Owen, Nick Stahl and Elijah Wood are co-stars.

What's that? You need just two more reasons to be convinced that Sin City is gonna rock?

OK. 1] Check out the poster above of Bruce Willis as Hartigan. and 2] Click HERE to see the new Rosario Dawson poster.

Now are you convinced?

Nightscape

I've been a David Morrell fan ever since I read First Blood, way back in the early 70's. [Yeah, long before I even knew who Sylvester Stallone was!]

It doesn't matter if it's all out action, a thriller, horror, suspense... Morrell can write it all.

I just discovered that his second volume of short stories, Nightscape, has been published.

I'm putting in my order tonight.

Dawn of the 300

I'm a huge Frank Miller fan.

The Dark Knight Returns.
Daredevil.
Ronin.
300.
Sin City.

Classic stuff. And as most of you know, Miller is teaming up with Robert Rodriguez to co-direct Sin City for the big screen.

How could it possibly get any better than that?

How about director Zack Snyder ["Dawn of the Dead" - which I liked better than the original!] bringing 300 to the big screen?!

Yep, it's true. And you can read about it HERE.