The works of H.P. Lovecraft have never had great success when adapted for film, TV, or comics.  I think in failing to understand the nature of the source material…Lovecraft’s unseen, indescribable brand of terror, film directors and comic writers have always tried to too hard to bring his work into the light, instead of allowing it to fester in the shadows.  This is why we’ve seen so many truly terrible film adaptations of his work.

I’m happy to say that Graphic Classics finally has it right!  Rather than making wholesale changes, the stories stick to the source material and many of the tales in the book end up actually being illustrated stories as opposed to traditional sequential artwork.  You can’t explain Lovecraft to someone who doesn’t get it, so why try.  Graphic Classics almost stubbornly clings to the spirit and tone of the original stories and delivers the best comic adaptation yet of Lovecraft’s work.

(more…)

It’s been four days now since the body of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit was discovered along with the bodies of his wife and son, who were murdered at his hands.

It’s taken four days for me to get to the point where I’m sitting here and composing and organizing the thoughts and the facts and the feelings to a point where it’s hopefully coherent and readable.

I think everyone reacted to the initial news of the deaths of the Benoit family the same way. Someone must have broken into the house and killed everyone. No one even considered that the cause could have been murder-suicide. By the time WWE Monday Night Raw went on the air, there still wasn’t any discussion of what investigators now believe to be the causes of death: strangulation, suffocation, and suicide. Vince McMahon praised Benoit and dedicated the evening’s programming in tribute to him.

Two hours into the 3-hour broadcast, investigators told the media that they believed that Benoit killed his wife Nancy and son Daniel over the weekend, and then killed himself on Monday. At that point, the responses to these incidents have ranged from merciful (to forgive him for making a bad choice, possibly in the heat of the moment) to delusional (police cover-up for a criminal at-large) to ignorant (I could care less who he murdered because he was a great wrestler) to hateful (people hoping that he burns/rots/is located at this moment in Hell).

Pro wrestling is at a crossroads. The death of Eddie Guerrero was in the mainstream media for a day. The killing of the Benoit family has had legs for four days now across major network and cable news programming, as well as the print media. In fact, Benoit’s picture is on the cover of People magazine last week. There is truly an opportunity right now to correct the ills of the pro wrestling business so that it never happens again.

Sadly, WWE already seems to be moving on and sweeping any mention of Benoit under the rug.

(more…)

Howdy Shotgun Reviews readers! Been to the Shots in the Dark page in a while? No? I’ll wait…

OK, you back? Good. You’ll notice it jives more with the Shotgun site now. We decided the KISS method was the best way to go. Also, we’re gonna use that main blog there as the only, not just the primary, location that podcasts will be linked on. Again, one simple place to find the best geek culture podcast on the net makes our lives easier and yours, too!

But, what does that mean about the video game reviews and those awesome Developer Blogs Eric, our man on the inside writes?

They’ll be right here on the Shotgun Reviews proper site.

All this, and more! We’ll have the debut of an all new SitD feature, the Pocketcast, a bite-sized mini-podcast focusing on the latest news, games, tech, or just something we’re excited about, next week! Also, look forward to some more kick ass interviews, and a special Wizard World Chicago preview with the guys from Wizard themselves that you won’t get ANYWHERE else!!

So keep reading Shotgun Reviews, and the next time you’re sitting down to play Madden, don’t listen to him drone on about how the team with the most points usually wins the game, listen to Shots in the Dark!

Last Wednesday, June 20th, the American Film Institute announced their updated list of the 100 best movies of all time, an enlightening, schizophrenic document with all the usual victories and disappointments. The list was compiled by polling 1,500 film professionals, critics and historians, all of whom chose from a ballot of 400 English language films released between 1895 and 2006. Each expert voted by listing his/her own 100 best, and picking a personal top ten to break any ties. They were asked to make their judgments based upon a film’s historical and cultural significance, lasting popularity, critical recognition and awards (either received or denied, I assume).

The filmmakers’, critics’ and historians’ new, all-time Top Ten: 10. The Wizard of Oz (1939) … 9. Vertigo (1958) … 8. Schindler’s List (1993) … 7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) … 6. Gone with the Wind (1939) … 5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) … 4. Raging Bull (1980) … 3. Casablanca (1942) … 2. The Godfather (1972), and of course, the perennial #1 of our age, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941).

Let me say right off that many people are tired of Citizen Kane winning the top spot in poll after poll, and I do sympathize with their position, it’s hard, I know, to see the same film at number one all the time, but I’m not tired of it.

I like it that a bold, innovative film, which terrified Hollywood and New York and cities in between, and which was literally buried by several factions of American culture working overtime — successfully, mind you — to destroy its young creator’s chance of ever having a decent filmmaking career, a movie so threatening to the fabric of consensual reality that it was hardly screened anywhere in the world for the first 20 years of its existence, has triumphed over all and is recognized by today’s moviemakers and pundits as a beacon for what movies should aspire to and be.

I like that a lot.  (more…)

I’ve got several running news headlines over on my blog, as well as links to the Atlanta media outlets. I also know that several on the site plan to offer commentary on this subject this week, but we decided to wait for the autopsy report yesterday before delving into too much speculation and/or judgment. Right now, I know that I personally am still trying to process how Benoit could have done all this given that he had a good public image.

I’ll have more reaction on Tuesday, but this news is… crushing.

From WWE.com:

World Wrestling Entertainment is deeply saddened to report that today Chris Benoit and his family were found dead in their home. There are no further details at this time, other than the Benoit family residence is currently being investigated by local authorities. Tonight’s Raw on USA Network will serve as a tribute to Chris Benoit and his family. WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family’s relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy.

Report: Benoit Deaths Being Investigated as a Murder-Suicide

Detective Bo Turner told television station WAGA that the case was being investigated as a murder-suicide, but said that could not be confirmed until the evidence was examined by a crime lab. WAGA reported that investigators believe Benoit killed his wife and son over the weekend, and then himself sometime Monday.A concerned neighbor called police. The bodies were found in three different rooms. Benoit maintained a home in metro Atlanta from the time he wrestled for the defunct World Championship Wrestling. Benoit’s wife managed several wrestlers and went by the stage name, “Woman,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on its Web site.They met when her then-husband drew up a script that had them involved in a relationship as part of an ongoing storyline on World Championship Wrestling, the newspaper said. Benoit has two other children from a prior relationship.The federal-style house is in a secluded neighborhood set back about 60 yards off a gravel road, surrounded by stacked stone wall and double-iron gate. Monday night, the house was dark except for a few outside lights. There was a police car in front, and two uniformed officers.

Wrestling Champ Chris Benoit Found Dead With Family 

Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department told ABC News that Benoit had missed several appointments over the weekend, leading concerned parties to ask police to do a “welfare check.” When sheriffs arrived at the Benoits’ home, they found the wrestler, his wife and their son dead. There were no signs of gunshot wounds or stabbing, according to Pope. Authorities are not ruling out other causes, such as poisoning, suffocation or strangulation.Pope told ABC News that his department is looking at this situation as a “possible double murder, suicide.” Pope said “the instruments of death were located on scene,” but he would not specify what those instruments are or where in the house the bodies were found. Pope added the department is “not actively searching for any suspects outside of the house.” An autopsy has been scheduled for Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. However, it could be weeks before there is a result.

Results from Gerweck.net

I guess the theme of the show as “Night of Champions” is that they brought back a bunch of old champions to remind us that the “good old days” were a lot better than WWE is today. Why not just put together a Legends PPV of old stuff for us then? I would seriously crack up if that doubled the buy rate of, say, One Night Stand or Great American Bash or one of those other lackluster shows. I think I went 4 for 9 on my picks, which just goes to show you that I am horrible at predicting anything (although I guessed that Foley would be the one to put over John Cena at the end of that match–then again, I don’t think that was much of a stretch).

(more…)

Vengeance is this Sunday, and they’re billing it as the night of champions… every match is a title match. Hopefully, they’re fighting over the actual belts and not the cheap foam ones they sell up in the souvenir stand. Sitting around the table this week are me, Birdsong, and Eks. The throw-out question this week was a multi-parter, with which I attached the official WWE draft scorecard:

Here is the official draft scorecard:

To Raw: Mr. Kennedy, King Booker, Bobby Lashley, Snitsky, Sandman, Jillian, Daivari, Brian Kendrick, Paul London, William Regal

To Smackdown: Ric Flair, Chris Masters, Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Bob Holly, Victoria, Eugene

To ECW: Chris Benoit, Boogeyman, Viscera, Johnny Nitro, The Miz

So, now that the WWE draft is over, answer the following multi-part question:

1) Which wrestler(s) benefit the most from moving?
2) Which wrestler(s) benefit the least from moving?
3) Which wrestler(s) should have been moved but wasn’t and where would you send them?

(more…)

If you ever take a trip down to Cobb County, Georgia, you better read the signs and respect the law and order or you’ll serve HARD TIMES!

Anyway, apparently law and order seem to be the order of the day in WWE, and not just because fake FBI agents are poking around backstage on Raw. Take a look at these three items:

Law: Charges Filed Against Jerry Lawler. Guess you shouldn’t punch out your workers.

Order: Bischoff Shoots on TNA, Can’t Compete With WWE. Eric states the obvious that never gets reported. Sting, Christian, Angle… they’re still doing 1’s.

Justice: Did Vince McMahon’s Fake Death Violate Security Laws? Guess the feds could get over on Vinnie Mac after all.

Also, Konnan and The Truth quit TNA. What would the company have had to do to keep them? Give them a kidney?

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

[[WARNING! THIS COLUMN MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!]]

So, here we are for this week’s column… short and sweet one, both because I only found 10 nits this week (just barely meeting the quota I established for the weekly column), and because since I’d finished reading all last week’s books on Friday, and it’s Tuesday morning when I’m writing this (the intro, outro, and headlines, in that order, are the last things I write). However, since I still need to edit some images and touch up some other details, I’ll hold it off until Wednesday night my place, or even, if it takes that long, past midnight and already into Thursday.

As I was saying, I barely found ten nits in the last week’s books, so I was on the verge on fortifying this column with some backlog nits from my vault. But no, not this time, and, if I might say so myself, there’s not much meat either. Alas, let’s go on to the all-new nits for this week.

(more…)

Results from Gerweck.net.

I was out this weekend with an illness, so not only did you not get a preview last week, but you didn’t get the review yesterday either. Well, have no fear, dear reader, you get two for the price of one today with dual commentary from Birdsong and I. Unfortunately, we weren’t at the same place at the same time to record our commentary (must be a Burt Ward / Adam West kind of thing), so you don’t get the full-on McCartney and Stevie experience, but I’m trying the best I can to make it up to everybody, especially Birdsong, who reliably did his part in getting me his preview on time so his stuff won’t go to waste.

Let me pose the opening question: will Ring of Honor supplant TNA as the #2 wrestling organization in the company now that they have PPV?”

(more…)

As a reader who is running out of patience for what feels like the 47th time in the last decade or so with Superman the ongoing series, this solicitation had me ready to call my local shop to get it taken off my pull list…

SUPERMAN #667

Part 1 of the action-packed 2-part finale of “Camelot Falls,” by Kurt Busiek, Carlos Pacheco & Jesus Merino!

“Part ONE of a 2-part finale” to a story that’s gone on how long now???

Jesus, Kurt, can we spin a new yarn already?? “Camelot Falls” was a story only moderately worthy of the three to four parts it got initially, then they break up things with some negligible filler stories, only to hit us with another 5-parter or what-the-hell-ever???

And they sprinkle in the more fill-ins, only to get back to this endless “epic” that feels like it’s stretching out the length of Arion’s lifetime??

And help us if DC’s brass ever wonders why we keep praising the way All Star Superman simply GETS IT, even when we only get a select few issues a year.

My favorite commerical of all time. Because it is true.

And . . . my second favorite.

Well, here we are with the second installment of the Fantastic Four Live action movie franchise.
Now, I’m one of the rare few that enjoyed the first movie. I thought it was good, cosmic fun, and that it really felt like a movie about a super-powered family. The casting wasnt perfect, but it also could’ve been much worse on all fronts.

The second movie improved on almost everything from the first. I really felt like this was a team that had universal influence. The inclusion of Silver Surfer and his master brought a, pardon the pun, fantastic feeling to the movie. From what little Fantastic Four comics I’ve read, I feel like they should feel more like a full on alien sci-fi movie, and this definitely did.

The family dynamic was strong here. The “tension” between Sue and Reed disappeared entirely, despite attempts by the filmmakers to force it back into this one. It was clear they would wind up married, and as part of the team, from the first scene. Any allusion otherwise was just plain lame. There was a little less of the Johnny/Ben back-and-forth than in the first film, but every one of their scenes together counted for sure.

This one was definitely Johnny’s film, despite some other reviewers’ thoughts. The bulk of the movie centered on his development, with everyone else taking a second tier. If anyone was negelected this time around, it was The Thing. Our rocky friend appeared only in full ensemble scenes, and really just plain didn’t do anything of any level of importance in this film. I can imagine it’d be frustrating for Chiklis to go through the hours of makeup and costuming to essentially appear in 5% of the movie.

Doom was pretty much useless in this movie as well- his scenes felt like filler. I hope for the inevitable next one that he’s brought back as a true despot. Also, I’d like just ONCE for him to speak in third person. Really, is that so much to ask?

Again, I of course as a comic fan have my nits to pick (search: Magnus for more of nitpicking!), but this really was a movie filled with fun, action, and some of the best super hero special effects I’ve seen on screen to date. I’d love to see more Fantastic Four, and more Silver Surfer (perhaps with the other heralds? Or at least one more…). The same people that enjoyed the first edition will love this one. The people that were iffy on the the first time out should still check this out if only for the much improved special effects. I say enjoy the ride for what it is, a fun, cosmic, family adventure.

(This is an updated, expanded version of a review first posted in the fall of 2001)

“I intended the film to be an intensely subjective experience that reaches the viewer at an inner level of consciousness, just as music does; to ‘explain’ a Beethoven symphony would be to emasculate it by erecting an artificial barrier between conception and appreciation.”

– Stanley Kubrick, (1968)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, US-UK)

running time: 2 hr., 19 m. / original studio: MGM / original MPAA rating: G

directed & produced by Stanley Kubrick; screenplay by Stanley Kubrick & Arthur C. Clarke; director of photography, Geoffrey Unsworth; edited by Ray Lovejoy

with: Keir Dullea (Dave Bowman), Gary Lockwood (Frank Poole), William Sylvester (Dr. Heywood Floyd), Douglas Rain (voice of HAL 9000)

Stanley Kubrick’s greatest achievement (Dr. Strangelove notwithstanding), 2001: A Space Odyssey comes closer to “pure cinema” than any other feature film I know. An ideal (and idealized) approach to film storytelling, using abstract imagery to provoke ideas and emotion in the viewer, pure cinema had been discussed prior to 2001 by moviemakers everywhere, and it still is, but this time Stanley Kubrick stopped talking and actually did it. It’s not his most entertaining film, arguably, nor his most beautiful, but it is his most beautifully made, his most ambitious, difficult and fully realized, an epic tone poem of imagery and music with a minimum of dialogue, and a gloriously entertaining film for people who want more from their movies than the usual canned answers to life’s Big Questions.

2001 is the rarest of American rarities, a movie that dares to shadowbox with the Great Nameless Unanswerable, the mother of all elephants in the room, the eternal problem of humankind’s place in the universe. Of course, it’s true that the film’s philosophical content is light as a feather, as its detractors still monotonously insist, but so what? Simplicity is vastly underrated by people who seek and demand the Big Answers (I know, I’ve done my share of seeking and demanding). (more…)