CHRISTIAN THE LION

How bad do you think I felt yelling at my dog for crapping in the house after watching this viral sensation? So, for the three who haven't seen this yet, enjoy and don't weep too much...

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JUDGE JUDY & PENNY CAUGHT ON TAPE DURING EARTHQUAKE

Wow... Dunno how I would react in this situation, but damn, seems scary. As someone who's never been in an actual earthquake, I think it's safe to say that I'd run for the fuckin' hills. Gotta love how the dude on Judge Judy was so stupefied that he just stood there under teetering stage lights and how Judge Penny did what they taught her in grade school and dutifully dived under her desk.

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DIG IT... RETRO-FEELING BATMAN in 'BRAVE AND THE BOLD'

Here's a Batman ripe for the cocktail set... Actually, it's the teaser from the recent ComicCon called "Batman: The Brave and the Bold." Looks like for the new 'toon, we're seeing less of a broody and grim Dark Knight that makes way for a more campy Bat in the POW! BAM! BOOM! vein. Looks like tons of fun.

The animated series based on the famed DC comic book title and, as the title suggests, will feature Batman teaming-up with various characters in the DC Universe. Known characters to have been revealed so far are Green Arrow, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman. The series was set to start airing in Fall 2008, but was pushed back to March 2009 instead

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GROOVESPOOK'S LATEST IS ... 'STUPID'

Originally posted at Bukowski's Basement...

Our favorite hard-drinkin' techno ambient groovemeister is back with the eclectic and eerie tune "Stupid." Watch it in the dark... it'll freak you out.

Of the poetic tune (read the lyrics first), Groovespook says on his blog:

"So I have finally completed STUPID. It took me literally MONTHS of gradual frame by frame masking of both my eyeballs (it's called rotoscoping in professional circles) Great learning experience and got me some mean chops with a few key shortcuts. Seriously though, I looked at the first test I did and it was FEBRUARY!!!! So it really has taken me nearly 6 months to complete.

It is not highly apparent either that all of my two eyes through the entire video have been painstakingly masked. 6736 frames to be exact. That is like drawing a vector shape onto a layer in Illustrator or photoshop and applying a 3 pixel feather 13472 times. I soldiered on like a.. ... soldier, I guess, for MONTHS.

I am very proud of it. My mind is boggling at the future of my videos now this is complete. Options options options are almost LIMITLESS - aside from my damn time!!! I want to employ my good friend Gregger to direct the next one, in a huge green room he has access to. ooooooh. It will not be the Matrix but it will feature more effect heavy rendering and fun. I presume. Better lighting too no doubt.

Here are the lyrics...

STUPID

he sold his belongings again
took what was left
of his friend's advise to heart
round the bend to
begin this legend this great one's defences end

spilled whisky and shunned one to win
the eyes of such beauty his world went out to end
round the bend to begin this legend this princesses stories end

Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
Stupid

Now both of his remaining wits end
struck out for the one bastard ravers intent
round the bend to begin this legend
this young drivers next stupid
this young drivers next stupid
this young drivers next stupid
this young drivers next
this young drivers next

Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
Stupid

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SHIA LaBEOUF ARRESTED FOR DUI

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" star Shia LaBeouf was charged with DUI after he was involved in a multi-vehicle accident in Hollywood early Sunday morning, says Entertainment Weekly.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s office said the 22-year-old actor, who also starred in last summer's blockbuster "Transformers," was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after the car he was driving rolled over.

This wasn't the young star's first incident involving alcohol. Last November, LaBeouf was charged with criminal trespassing in a Chicago drugstore. Those charges were later dropped.

Word on the grapevine is that he had to have some minor surgery and that "Transformers 2" will be postponed. Bet the studio loves THAT...

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'DARK KNIGHT' BREAKS $300 MILL, EYES 'TITANTIC'

This weekend, "The Dark Knight" continued to shatter records as it crossed the $300 million mark in 10 days, surpassing the benchmark set in 2006 by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which took 16 days, says the Associated Press. Analysts expect the Batman film could reach $400 million in about 18 days, which would beat the record "Shrek 2" set in 2004 when it made that much money in 43 days.

In all likelihood, "The Dark Knight" could pass "Titanic" as the highest-grossing film in U.S. history, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. James Cameron's 1997 disaster film made $600,788,188 domestically, a record no other movie has come close to touching.

"Titanic" which shot Leonardo DiCaprio to superstardom, has sat in a lock box for over a decade. "It's a tall order but if any film has a chance to surpass that number, it's got to be `Dark Knight,'" Dergarabedian said.

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LA TIMES GAGS THEIR BLOGS

This little tidbit comes via Slate and being that Papa H. fancied himself a journalist of the highest order we have to ask ourselves, should a newspaper be doing this? I say no. While granted, the L.A. Times doesn't want to "dignify" something that's appeared in the National Enquirer, perhaps the editorial board on Monday morning should review how many big stories the so-called scandal sheet has actually broken. Many...

LAT Gags Blogs: In a move that has apparently stirred up some internal discontent, the Los Angeles Times has banned its bloggers, including political bloggers, from mentioning the Edwards/Rielle Hunter story. Even bloggers who want to mention the story in order to make a skeptical we-don't-trust-the-Enquirer point are forbidden from doing so. Kausfiles has obtained a copy of the email Times bloggers received from editor Tony Pierce. [I've excised the recipient list and omitted Pierce's email address]:

From: "Pierce, Tony"

Date: July 24, 2008 10:54:41 AM PDT

To: [XXX]

Subject: john edwards

Hey bloggers,

There has been a little buzz surrounding John Edwards and his alleged affair. Because the only source has been the National Enquirer we have decided not to cover the rumors or salacious speculations. So I am asking you all not to blog about this topic until further notified.

If you have any questions or are ever in need of story ideas that would best fit your blog, please don't hesitate to ask

Keep rockin,

Tony

That will certainly calm paranoia about the Mainstream Media (MSM) suppressing the Edwards scandal.

AGAIN, via SLATE -- P.S.: Is the Times' edict a) part of a double-standard that favors Democrats (and disfavors Republicans like Rep. Vito Fossella and John McCain)? Or does it b) simply reflect an outmoded Gatekeeper Model of journalism in which not informing readers of certain sensitive allegations is as important as informing them--as if readers are too simple-minded to weigh charges that are not proven, as if they aren't going to find out about such controversies anyway? I'd say it's a mixture of both (a) and (b). This was a sensational scandal the LAT and other MSM papers passionately did not want to uncover when Edwards was a formal candidate, and now that the Enquirer seems to have done the job for them it looks like they want everyone to shut up while they fail to uncover it again. ...

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'DARK KNIGHT' BREAKS RECORD ($200 MILLION IN 5 DAYS)

Continuing to smash records, "The Dark Knight" is the first film to break $200 million in five days, Entertainment Weekly reports.

The second Batman movie from star Christian Bale and director Christopher Nolan, earned a $203.8 million dollars, smashing the prior record held by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" in 2006 which took eight days to reach the goal.

Ultimately the 'Pirates' film, which starred Johnny Depp as swashbuckling pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, took in $423.3 million domestically - a number that doesn't seem too far off for Gotham's vigilante superhero.

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MEET GROOVESPOOK: THE NEXT MOBY

Originally posted on our other blog Bukowski's Basement. For the four of you who saw it there, my apologies...

Meet the next Moby...

... Only more poetic and with no dopey political or environmental agendas like saving the tsetse fly or rare leaves in the Amazon. He's a hard-drinkin', eclectic techno artist whose lyrics are thought-provoking, dark, ambiguous and timely.

Granted, the musical vibe of Hemingway's Lounge isn't exactly ambient or techno-driven. Yup, as we stir our whiskey with a rusty nail, we gravitate towards those tunes that akin to the underbelly. But that said, we do love to chill every now and then, so meet Groovespook. His quirky, grim, two-toned lyrics are a perfect fit for Bukowski's Basement as are his simplified, disturbing videos (constructed in his own basement).

Here's some lyrics...

TWAS PINK FOR A MINUTE
The Shape of it was cool,
The eye of any fool
could name it's origin but for the mix that lay within

The feel of it was cool
the touch of any fool
could tell the presence of a forethought kept on ice
on ice
but
the taste of it was cool
the look of any fool
could send a weaker man to mirror such a weaker man
than I am
than I am
than I am

And the video...



So how just how did "Twas Pink for a Minute" come about? "I came directly home from having to work Saturday and Sunday of the long weekend that was the 4th of July," he explains on his blog.

"Nothing could be more depressing for a 36 year-old really," said the musician, who's real name is Porl Gordon, an Australian transplant who lives in New Jersey. He goes on to say that after getting home from work, he built himself the aptly-named "Gordon" (a simply awesome Martini with secret ingredients) and sat down and did the following:

1. Wrote a poem about it.
2. Turned it into a tune.
3. Performed it.
4. Recorded it.
5. Visually recorded it.
6. Visually performed it.
6. Merged the three (almost seamlessly)
7. Imported them into After Effects and added... ummmmm... After effects? Or is that too stupid?
8. Exported it to a happy format for You Tube.
9. Uploaded it.
10. Watched it and finished the Martini

Born in England and raised in Australia, he started penning music when his parents gave him a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer at 14. Ever since, he started buying more equipment and developing his own style which led to a self-produced disc called "Broad Water Moods."

Gordon says he's inspired by the likes of Thomas Dolby, Tears for Fears, Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack and Portishead. In addition to the ivories, Gordon also plays flute and bass and uses his voice in his recordings. He worked as a deejay in his native land down under and when he was 26, he headed to London and continued to work the steel wheels at various music venues. "I did raves in London. I would do eight hours of music," Gordon told his local paper. In 1999, he came to America.

Here's his other hypnotic creation, "FAILURE AT THE CAVE" which we think may have fanboys wetting their pants.

FAILURE AT THE CAVE
I walked right in
not me scared
not of him
not a lizard hissing
could sweat me pissing my
x wing trousers

he said I wouldn't need my light saber
the little wizard said backwards clever things
not three more minutes
till I'm face to face
with a nasty man

in a trench coat
and a garbage can
redesigned to keep his
scorched dead skin
from flicking all right off of him

Of course I couldn't know that then
because of lying old man Ben
and the little green wizard
shot glances between me and him
under my x wing
swamp weed
wouldn't need my light saber
the little wizard said backwards clever things
not a pained long focus
could have let me see who the nasty man was

in a trench coat
and a garbage can
redesigned to keep his scorched dead skin
and showing Luke Anakin

Now check out his video for it...

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WHO REMEMBERS THIS??

Am I the one one who gets oddly sentinental at this retro HBO Movie Night intro? I remember watching a "Behind the Scenes" special about the making of this sequence. It involved many scaled wooden sets and a zooming camera overheard. All pre CGI and yes, very very cool.

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YOU DON'T MESS WITH BATWIFE

The alleged confrontation between "The Dark Knight" star Christian Bale and his 61-year-old mother may have stemmed from a long-running family feud of Bale's wife, Sibi, according to a report in the British newspaper.

The Daily Mail reports the quarrel in a London hotel room on Sunday night on the eve of the movie's European premiere, led to Bale's arrest on Tuesday. He denies the assault allegation, and police released him after four hours without pressing charges except for a whole lotta bad press on what's potentially the biggest week of his career.

For the record, though, I must admit that this story sounded fishy from the get-go. Bale always seemed to be the kind of low-key guy that was never in trouble, constantly worked, had a stable marriage, and didn't party - so when I had heard the initial story, I felt that there was a layer to it that we all, perhaps, didn't know.

What's more, I also heard that in Britain, one can get arrested for verbal assault. Not sure how true that is but damn, if all the guy was doing was shouting... Sucks to be him right now.

Unfortunately, all people will think from here on out is that Christian Bale is the prick that assaulted his mom and sis. Sucks...

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NEW VEGAS TALE: THE SEVEN SINS

Producers Moritz Borman and Peter Graves have licensed film rights to Jon Land's action thriller novel "The Seven Sins: The Tyrant Ascending" says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story centers on a Sin City casino owner, Michael "The Tyrant" Tiranno, the adopted son of an Italian crime lord who is called upon to defend the gambling mecca from terrorist attacks.

The character is loosely inspired by Las Vegas entrepreneur Fabrizio Boccardi's life story and is designed as the first of a series of James Bond-like adventure tales.

We're stoked...

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HOLY BATCRAP!!!

BATMAN star Christian Bale has been arrested by detectives investigating a claim of assault, police sources said today. Bale, 34, faces questioning over the claim — made by his own mother and sister.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: “A 34-year-old man attended a central London police station this morning by appointment.

“He was arrested in connection with an allegation of assault. He currently remains in custody.”

Bale was arrested just hours after he attended the first European screening of the new Batman blockbuster, The Dark Knight.

But he was able to attend the first European screening of new Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight in London’s West End.

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'THE DARK KNIGHT' SETS RECORD

"The Dark Knight," the highly-anticipated sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins" raked in $66.4 million in its opening day to set the single-day box office record, according to its distributor Warner Bros. The Friday tally bests previous record-holder "Spider-Man 3" which set the prior record with a $59.8 million opening day last year.

Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros., told Reuters the film will likely break the opening weekend record of $151.1 million set by the Spider-Man movie,

Three summer's ago, "Batman Begins," grossed nearly $49 million its first weekend in America and collected $372 million worldwide.

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BATTLE OF THE JOKERS (cool vid)

God, how I love that you can make kick-ass videos on a desktop these days. The future is here. Case in point, check out this great video that some dude tagged "SilverLightsaber" put together. Kinda like "Battle of the Batmans" a few weeks ago, this faux trailer imagines a Gotham with not one but TWO insane Jokers running amok. Very cool...

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LET'S HEAR IT FOR ... STEVE GUTTENBERG

Seriously. How can you not like this guy?? Here's a recent piece from The Observer in the Big Apple, written by Spencer Morgan

About two years ago, Steve Guttenberg walked into the showbiz haunt Crustacean on Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

“I walked in and the maitre d’ made a big deal for me,” said Mr. Guttenberg. The Goot—as he’s known to his friends—appreciated the show. To hear him tell it, eating in public in Los Angeles is a dangerous business for an actor whose last box office hit was Three Men and a Baby in 1987.

“All of a sudden, the maitre d’ says, ‘Get out of the way!’” said Mr. Guttenberg. “And they literally threw me to the side and Tom Cruise came in. And he sat Tom Cruise and said, ‘I’m so sorry, but you know, Tom Cruise.’ And I’m like, ‘Holy fuck.’”

To read the rest of the piece, click HERE.

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TARANTINO CHATS WITH PITT/DiCAPRIO

Variety reports that Quentin Tarantino is chatting with Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt this week in regards to his upcoming WW2 epic "Inglorious Bastards."

Tarantino met with Brad Pitt in France on Tuesday to talk about the possibility of Pitt playing the key role of Aldo Raine. He'll talk with DiCaprio for the role of the villain Hans Landa on Thursday.

This is the first time either actor would be appearing in a Tarantino-helmed project which is currently seeking a co-financing partner to handle offshore territories. Shooting commences this Fall in Germany and France.

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BERT & ERNIE GONE GANGSTA

Said it before and I'll say it again: Steve at Sand Cotton finds the best videos. This one is pure genius, if not for the editing alone. Watch, enjoy and don't drink anything cuz you'll spit it out.

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FIRST NEGATIVE REVIEW FOR 'THE DARK KNIGHT'

It was bound to happen. While "The Dark Knight" is currently getting 100% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the first bad review of "The Dark Knight" has surfaced. Film critic for New York Magazine David Edelstein calls it “a morbid affair”, claiming that “It could only be darker if Batman died. From what has been written, he is right -- The Dark Knight is not Adam West’s Batman, it’s not Tim Burton’s campy Bat and it’s not even Frank Miller’s vigilante. Edelstein comments that when Burton’s Batman came out critics complained that the film was too violent for kids. “Wait’ll they get a load of this,” he says. Like Kevin Smith said - this is "The Empire Strikes Back" of comic book movies.

Here's a sample:

Bat Out of Hell
They don’t make superhero franchises much darker than this.
By David Edelstein

Even if the death of Heath Ledger hadn’t already draped it in a funeral shroud, The Dark Knight would be a morbid affair: It could only be darker if Batman died. (He does die a little, on the inside.) The director, Christopher Nolan, has decided to get real with the thing. Forget Gotham City—or Anton Furst’s splendid Gothic Gotham of Tim Burton’s Batman, which summoned up the freaky superhero’s inner landscape of vaulted arches and gargoyles. We’re now in a modern, untransformed Manhattan, where the Joker’s opening bank heist unfolds in a tense, realistic style with multiple point-blank shootings. It’s a shock—and very effective—to see a comic-book villain come on like a Quentin Tarantino reservoir dog. But then the novelty wears off and the lack of imagination, visual and otherwise, turns into a drag. The Dark Knight is noisy, jumbled, and sadistic. Even its most wondrous vision—Batman’s plunges from skyscrapers, bat-wings snapping open as he glides through the night like a human kite—can’t keep the movie airborne. There’s an anvil attached to that cape.

To read the rest of the review, click HERE.

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THROWING DOWN AT 80?? (hilarious)

Major props to my bloggin' buddy Steve at Sand & Cotton for diggin' this gem up. Seriously... He finds the best crap online. In any case, this one is for all you aggressive types. Study this video and ask yourself if you wanna be "the old dude who fights." This is how it will end up... Calm yourself.

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'HEAVY METAL' MOVIE PUT ON HOLD

This one would've been awesome... David Fincher's remake of 1981's "Heavy Metal," the animated film based on the long-running erotic and sci-fi fantasy magazine of the same name, has been nixed by Paramount.

Fincher, who has directed subversive films such as Zodiac and Fight Club, along with animator Tim Miller and current Heavy Metal publisher Kevin Eastman, will shop the film to other studios.

Why? Well, the brass at Paramount felt the film would be too raunchy and edgy and would not appeal to a mainstream audience. Since when does edgy and raunch not appeal to the masses? Sounds like a bullcrap idea to us.

Granted, while the film's content is erotic and violent, its form will also be unusual, with approximately 10 segments lensed by different directors and sewn into a single film. The project will go on the back burner until another studio swoops in and saves the day. Let's hope!

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R.I.P: COMIC ARTIST MICHAEL TURNER DEAD AT 37

I just found out this morning that one of the industry's leading and most influential (and most copied) comic book artists has succumbed to his long illness. Here is his obit via the Associated Press

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Michael Turner, a comic book artist who drew covers for major titles such as "Superman/Batman," "The Flash" and "Civil War,'" has died. He was 37.

Turner died June 27 at a Santa Monica hospital of complications related to cancer, said Vince Hernandez, editor in chief of Aspen MLT, the Santa Monica publishing company Turner founded in 2003. Turner had battled bone cancer for eight years.

Through his company, Turner created online comic adaptations for the NBC series "Heroes" and published his own titles, including the best-selling "Fathom," a deep-sea story about a female superhero.

He also drew covers for large projects such as DC Comics' "Justice League" and Marvel's "Civil War" and was a regular cover artist for "Superman/Batman" and "The Flash."

"He was definitely one of the most popular and influential comic-book artists working right now," said Andrew Farago, curator of San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum. "He was very, very much in demand as a cover artist on high-profile projects."

Ryan Liebowitz, general manager of the Golden Apple Comics store in Los Angeles, said Turner's name was synonymous with special-edition covers that often became collectibles. The milestone 500th issue of "Uncanny X-Men," due out next week, will feature a special-edition cover by Turner.

Turner was also known for drawing female comic book characters that evoked both innocence and sex appeal and exuded energy.

In 1994, the budding artist was hired by Century City-based Top Cow Productions after an editor saw his work at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego.

At Top Cow, Turner co-created "Witchblade," a comic about a voluptuous female detective who fights evil after discovering a mystical glove. The comic went on to make Top Cow's name and set the standard for Turner's future work.

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'DARK KNIGHT' B-FOOTAGE (VIDEO)

It's almost here ... Next Thursday we'll all get the see "The Dark Knight." Until then, though, here's a little Bat Treat ...

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TOBEY MAGUIRE FREAKS OUT (again)

Your rich. Got millions. Oh, and let's not forget your're the face of one of the most profitable film franchises in the cosmos and ... the biggest problem in your world is driving away from the stalkarazzi. We thinks that Tobey should invest in a pair of Ray Bans. And maybe chill out a little, dude. We know the pappers are crazy, but chill... Take a lesson from Clooney. Make them your buddies...

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IS IT POSSIBLE TO LOVE A MOVIE TOO MUCH?

Do you think this kid likes "The Karate Kid"??

Sean Cunningham goes around the world to find the locations, fans, and stars of his favorite movie - "The Karate Kid." He fulfills his childhood dreams or training and entering a Karate Tournament. Check out the rest of the documentary HERE.

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DARK HORIZONS 'DARK KNIGHT' REVIEW

Online film journalist Garth Franklin and his Dark Horizons is one of the best film sites on the 'Net. No ifs, ands, or buts... He just published his review for "The Dark Knight," and much like the Slashfilm review, it's a rave. Check it out...

Doing exactly what a sequel should do, "The Dark Knight" takes the already superbly crafted world created in 2005's "Batman Begins" and corrects its few flaws while expanding on both its potential and premise. The result is a decidedly darker, richer, more ambitious and more mature follow-up.

Great comic book films of late like "Iron Man" and "Spider-Man 2" may be more polished and crowd-pleasing, yet "Batman Begins" remains the most intriguing and influential effort of the superhero film genre to date. Artfully constructed, unflinchingly committed to its style, crisply shot, gorgeously designed and superbly acted - it's a film that works beautifully for what it is and remains just as strong after multiple viewings.

Yet Katie Holmes' performance, awkwardly filmed action, stilted humor, and a distinct tonal shift can admittedly detract from director Chris Nolan's otherwise excellent creation. The same goes for the grand-sweeping location-heavy gritty human drama of the first half being awkwardly fused with increasingly sound stage-enclosed comic book villainy in the second. The flaws are very minor, most seemingly driven by commercial needs rather than a lack of artistic ability, but they are enough to not so much diffuse but certainly dilute the edge off the enjoyment for a decent sized portion of the audience.

"The Dark Knight" has no such schizophrenic mood swings. Right from the start the film establishes itself as a sprawling epic.

To read the rest of the review, click HERE.

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HILARIOUS: WHAT IF MICHAEL BAY WROTE 'THE DARK KNIGHT'?

The dudes at Spill have created a faux screenplay (Lord, let's hope it's fake) written by director Michael Bay for his take on The Batman. It's hilarious and filled with all the Bayisms that filmdom has come to embrace (if you're a suit) or loathe (or you're a film enthusiast).


For those under a rock, Michael Bay is an American film director and producer who has given us the gems:

"Transformers," "Armageddon," "The Rock," "Pearl Harbor," "Bad Boys" and its sequel "Bad Boys II"

He's also one of the members of the Los Angeles music video production company Propaganda Films. His style? Fast edits, dodgy camera movement; slick pace; gorgeous actors and music. LOTS of loud music.

Bay and Wydncrest Holdings recently bought the special effects company Digital Domain from James Cameron and Stan Winston. He also runs his producing company, Platinum Dunes, that produces horror genre films (mostly commercially successful remakes of 1970s films).
To read more of the script, click HERE.

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IT HAD TO HAPPEN...

... Sin City is feeling the pinch. Being that I was there a year ago to the day getting hitched on 7-7-7, I feel this post in pretty apropos. Yup, the good-time capital of the U.S. has hit a losing streak. Check out Guy Adams' report on an epidemic of bankruptcies, foreclosures and mass lay-offs in America's fastest-growing city.

Down and out in Las Vegas

Since the day Las Vegas was created in the shimmering Nevada desert, visitors have been drawn by one simple promise: "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". The motto adorns the city's road signs, and has inspired everything from its souvenir T-shirts to the local tourist board's seductive advertising campaigns.

These days, that motto is imbued with a worrying sense of irony. Because America's most outrageous city is facing a growing multitude of problems, and they all boil down to a single, unavoidable point: right now, far too little happens in Vegas, because not enough people are actually staying there.

The onset of global slowdown, high petrol prices, and a nation-wide housing slump is spelling disaster for a town that owes every aspect of its wealth – from that gaudy replica of the Eiffel Tower to those scale models of Venetian canals and the Pyramids of Egypt – to its ability to inspire free-spending hedonism.

With Americans cutting back on luxuries, and the price of transport rocketing, the so-called "Vegas vacation" is facing the axe. This week, as the nation celebrated Independence Day, major hotels were taking stock of a fall in all-important room occupancy rates from their usually impressive 95 per cent levels to nearer 80 per cent.

To read the rest of the story, click HERE.

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MARK MILLAR: THE BEST WRITER IN COMICS

I've always admired Mark Millar. Not only does he seem like a heck of a guy to grab a beer with, but his work on Marvel's "The Ultimates" rivals almost anything by Frank Miller or Neil Gaiman. His writing is highly entertaining without coming off as pretentious. In any case, one of his comics, "WANTED," was recently made into a little action yarn starring an actress named other than Angelina Jolie. Yup... Flash-forward. It was the highest-grossing 'R' rated June opening ever. In any case, check out this great interview. Also check out his fabulous online forum at Millar World.

Scots comic writer Mark Millar is toast of Hollywood after Wanted
By Rick Fulton

Mark is the man behind the story of summer blockbuster Wanted, which hit cinemas last night.

And if Angelina and Scots star James help him to box office glory, Mark knows how he'll celebrate - take a day off and go to Ayr with wife Gill and daughter Emily, nine.

Laughing, the writing wizard, of Glasgow, said: "I can't drive so I won't be buying a flash car. We live in a nice house already and I dress the same as I did at university.

"There's actually nothing to spend it on. If things turn out well at the weekend I'll take Monday off and me and the family will go to Ayr for the day. But I'll be back at work on Tuesday morning."

Life couldn't be much better for Mark right now. Not only is he one of the best-selling comic book writers in the world, Wanted is the first in what could be a long line of film adaptations of his work.

Released in the UK and America yesterday, he knows that across the pond he won't get a No.1 movie as Pixar's latest animated movie, Wall-E, is also released this week.

To read the rest of the story, click HERE.

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'QUANTUM OF SOLACE' DOSSIER

Check out this awesome piece by Tom Burns... It's pretty much everything you want to know about Bond's upcoming adventure. Also, check out the new teaser poster.

James Bond Dossier: What We Know About Quantum of Solace

Have you gone on the internet in the last 36 hours? Are you a man, woman, or child who has, at one point, expressed even a passing interest in motion pictures? If so, I'd wager that 90% of you have already been forwarded the link to the beyond bad-ass trailer for the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, a trailer that debuted online this week and already has Bond fans drooling onto their shaken-not-stirred vodka martinis.

(If you're part of that lonely 10% who haven't seen the trailer yet, you can check it out right here. How cool is the trailer? Well, we think people will immediately stop mocking the title - it wasn't warmly received by online pundits - because, even though "Quantum of Solace" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, with a trailer as exciting as the one that just hit the 'net, they could re-title the film "Mr. Bond's Wonder Emporium" and we'd still be preordering our opening night tickets as early as possible.

But how did we get here? Perhaps more than any other film series, the Bond franchise has been relaunched again and again - going from the quiet cool of the early Connery years to the blink-and-you'll-miss-it Lazenby chapter to the '70s swingin' Roger Moore era, back to a balding, half-assed Connery Bond (damn you, Never Say Never Again), moving on to the doomed-though-not-as-bad-as-you-remember Dalton legacy and floundering out with the Pierce Brosnan "always had potential but never really delivered" 007. But then Bond was relaunched yet again with 2006's Casino Royale - starring a blonde Bond, no less - and something strange happened. The relaunch worked. Not only did it work, but it blew Bond into the stratosphere, giving the secret agent a level of cool cache that he hadn't seen since Goldfinger and re-making Bond into a truly international film icon. Casino Royale pulled Bond out of the fanboy subconscious and made him once again relevant (and desirable) across all film demographics. 500 bucks says you would've been hard-pressed to find more than five women in the opening night crowd for The World Is Not Enough. But trust us, Quantum of Solace will be packed with hordes of new female Bond converts of all ages, all hoping to console poor 007 over the loss of his tragic love Vesper.

To read the rest of the piece, click HERE.

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WOLVERINE PIC LEAKED

Thanks to Filmonic, check out this ominous new promotional shot of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in the forthcoming "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." The pic is a scan from the latest issue of Empire Magazine.

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THE FINAL 'DARK KNIGHT' TRAILER

Enjoy this trailer for "The Dark Knight" which premiered at last year’s Wizard World Chicago. It's recently been officially released online. Packed with action and very little dialogue, watch for the tease of Two-Face at the conclusion.

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HAPPY JULY 4!!!

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'GODFATHER' ON BLU-RAY

Paramount is set to release the "Godfather" trilogy in Blu-ray format on September 23rd. The films have undergone a painstaking year-long restoration for optimum picture and audio quality.

To get the full scoop, click HERE.

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SLASHFILM PUBLISHES ITS 'DARK KNIGHT' REVIEW

Peter Sciretta at Slashfilm is one of the best film journalists online. Bar none. He's been given the go-ahead to publish his review for "The Dark Knight" and it's an out-and-out rave. Not a fanboy fave. A fave for serious film critics. He calls it the "Empire Strikes Back" of comic films...

Here's an excerpt:

I have been given the go ahead to review The Dark Knight, but this is the type of film that I need to see at least two or three times before attempting such a task. The film is so very expansive, so incredibly epic. I decided that instead of a full review, I will just share my first impressions. But lets first talk expectations. Going into 2008, I was looking forward to only a few films, The Dark Knight being one of them. As you probably already know, WALL-E was at the top of my list, and Pixar’s latest didn’t disappoint. I was very sure that WALL-E would end up being my favorite film of the year, and it is… errr WAS. That is until I saw The Dark Knight. I screened the film on Saturday night in Los Angeles, and now that I’ve had a few days to think about the film, I thought I would share my ten spoiler-free reasons why I believe that The Dark Knight is a masterpiece - an almost flawless comic book movie adaptation.

1. The Movie is Epic - The Dark Knight is not just a superhero movie. It is the first comic book adaptation to transcend the genre. Imagine one of the greatest crime thrillers of all time which just happens to have a guy who dresses in a bat costume and fights crime. Think Godfather 2 or Heat, with a insane terrorist who paints his face like a clown and goes around killing random people. It’s expansive in feel and tone. It’s the type of film which you make a point to refer to as a “film” instead of a “movie”.

To read the rest of the review, click HERE.

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