Confessional

It's hard to determine what the best part about this year's Definitely, Maybe, which I thought was one of those surprise enjoyable and adorable romantic comedies that I don't have a problem confessing I liked. Ryan Reynolds is handsome as always as Will Hayes-though his characterization is a bit bland when all is said and done. Abigail Breslin, in her biggest role at the time since Little Miss Sunshine, is exceptional and given a decent script to play out. But the stand-out, step-out role was that of April Hoffman played by Isla Fisher, who had not been in more than one or two films I had seen prior-and nothing as substantial. She wafts between the sweet, comedic and meaningful.

There's just something about her that's incredibly charming. I also find her very attractive-her redheaded-ness is a plus too-crushing just a bit here. With that confession-here are a few more of those in the trailer for Confessions of a Shopaholic hitting theaters in February of next year.



Will this be the next Devil Wears Prada or a forgettable chick-flick? Regardless I'm glad she's doing well-still looking cute-and hopefully we will see even more of her in the future.

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer

Joyce: Honey, a-are you sure you're a Vampire Slayer?...I-I mean, have you tried not being a Slayer?

-"Becoming, Part Two" 2.22

This afternoon I watched the trailer for Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer with Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund and Trevor Matthews. It looks like a fun flick and it is sure to please, in particular, the generation of fans that grew up during the glory days of horror films.

The trailer can be found here at the film's official site or it can also be viewed over at the Apple movie trailer website.

The Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer synopsis:

After witnessing the brutal murder of his family, Jack Brooks (Trevor Matthews) is left with an unquenchable fury that he is constantly fighting to control. Now working as a local plumber and struggling in a relationship with his girlfriend Eve (Rachel Skarsten), Jack’s life has become a downward spiral. One night, Jack attempts to fix Professor Crowley’s (Robert Englund) old, rusted pipes, but unknowingly awakens an ancient evil. Lured by this demonic power, Professor Crowley discovers a monstrous black heart that quickly forces its way inside of him. Possessed by the heart now beating in his chest, the Professor starts a slow, gruesome transformation. It is at this moment that Jack realizes he can’t run from his past, and quickly discovers the true purpose of his inner rage.

Obviously there is more than a little "textual poaching" going on here. I'm sure that the nod to Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the title won't be the only one. I could see a similar Buffy poster with the titular character of Jack Brooks wielding the Slayer Scythe. Could that be a minor appropriation as well? The movie is probably not looking to reinvent the horror genre, by any means, but rather bring it back to the basics-no CGI as far as I can tell for example. The style of the movie is clearly invoking the low-budget, dark-humor and tone of many 80s horror flicks-to which I was introduced with a heavy hand by my last roommate several years ago-especially Sam Raimi's fantastically fun gorefests, Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1992), with Jack Brooks taking on the role of Slayer here as reluctantly as Bruce Campbell's "Ash" Williams assumes his role in fighting the forces of evil. Although, don't forget about one of my all time favorite camp-horror films, Dead Alive-as it is known in the U.S-directed by none other than a pre-Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson. It also appears that the content and tonality of Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer runs along the lines of contemporary films such as Black Sheep, Slither (starring Nathan Fillion) and Evil Aliens-all of which are worth checking out for the dark-comedy/horror enthusiast.

Speaking of the Evil Dead series of films, did anyone who has been following the continuation of Angel's storyline in Angel: After the Fall notice that as Angel is performing a healing spell, he is blatantly reading from the Necronomicon-the powerful "Book of the Dead" prominently featured in the Evil Dead trilogy-in several panels of After the Fall Issue 4? Such a great reference!

It has been often rumored that Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell would reunite for a sequel or possible remake of The Evil Dead and it looks like that the latter may still be in the works according to the page on IMDb.

I hope that Jack Brooks: The Monster Slayer gets a wide release and opens in Seattle, at least at one of the many fine Landmark Theatres we have here, soon.

I'm always up for a little slayage.

How Does This Happen?

Will someone please tell me how and why this exists?



Wasn't the first Scorpion King supposed to be a prequel? Is this, then, a pre-prequel?

And how bland of a subtitle is "Rise of A Warrior"?

I think Dwayne Johnson (aka the actor-formerly-known-as-wrestler-The-Rock) turning down a return to this role is one of the best career decisions he will ever make.

Will the direct-to-dvd mediocrity never end?

Watch Watchmen

The first trailer for the Watchmen movie debuted this past week. It looks phenomenal. Watchmen is considered one of the greatest graphic novels ever written. I plan on picking up a copy this week to see what it is all about. I've read some of his other superhero work, specifically his "TOP 10" series, which I read for a class on textual poaching, pastiche and intertextuality during my honors seminar series in college. "TOP 10" is set in an urban landscape in which every one has some kind of superpower or another and what kinds of problems and unique circumstances would arise within that kind of world. The drawings are rich and detailed, including, as was discussed in great detail in my seminar, references to other works of literature and art. The writing is intelligent and sometimes controversial in its portrayal of government and politics. While I have not read his acclaimed "V for Vendetta" graphic novel, I do like the movie a good deal.

In a recent interview referenced over at Aint It Cool News, "Watchmen" creator Alan Moore had a few words to say about the upcoming adaptation of his work. He’s wary of the fact that “Watchmen” is being helmed by 300 director Zach Snyder. “I've not seen any recent comic book films, but I didn't particularly like the book 300. I had a lot of problems with it, and everything I heard or saw about the film tended to increase [those problems] rather than reduce them: [that] it was racist, it was homophobic, and above all it was sublimely stupid.”

This same article stated that Moore thinks HBO’s "The Wire" is “the most stunning piece of television that has ever come out of America, possibly the most stunning piece of television full-stop.” Another show that I know I need to start watching! He also said that he no longer attends Comic-Con as he feels it is "a bit overwhelming and creepy.”

That said, here is the brand new trailer for Watchmen complete with hot-blue-floaty-naked-power-trip-guy:



Via JoBlo I found a great article showing the comparisons between frames of this trailer and their comic-book counterparts. Director Zach Snyder has to take 12 chapters and condense them into a 2 1/2 hour movie, always a challenge despite the length or breadth of the original material. You can take a look at the "Watchmen Trailer to Comic Comparison" here.


I love looking at issues related to adaptation theory like this! I am very interested in how filmic adaptations are made, from literature, comic books or even other movies. I wrote a paper for another class on literary adaptation that I am happy to share with anyone who is interested.

My paper opens with a reference to Dark Willow-I will include "Buffy" in any piece of academia I can! And most of the time, it doesn't take long at all to find the perfect example with seven years of great content at my fingertips!