TOO GOOD NOT TO HAPPEN

AN UPDATE:

Film School Rejects just received word personally from actor Tom Jane regarding the origins of the artwork below and his involvement (or lack therof) in the DC Comics adaptation Jonah Hex.

"Yeah, the pic is real all right – my pal [writer/producer] Akiva Goldsman told me about the project and I fell in love with the idea right away. Being a huge fan of all things Hex – I just couldn’t help myself. I called up my buddy Chris Nelson and we spent a Saturday afternoon working up some make-up for this impromptu shoot and I fired a few pics off to Warners. How do people get a hold of this shit? It’s a little embarrassing seeing my fanboy enthusiasm spilled all over the web, but great scripts don’t come around too often, especially for characters I love."

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FilmSchoolRejects posted a concept pic of actor Thomas Jane as comic book hero Jonah Hex in Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor’s announced adaptation of the famed DC book of the same name.

Granted, this photo and Jane’s casting have not been officially (or even unofficially) confirmed, it still seems right on the money. For those who have seen Jane in "The Punisher," it's obvious he has the tough guy chops.

Created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga, Jonah Hex is a former Confederate officer turned gun-slinging bounty hunter anti-hero whose face was horrifically scarred on his right side. The comic book, which was introduced in the 1970’s, and Neveldine/Taylor have said that they don’t plan on “making a straight-ahead Western but plan to develop the character with some of the supernatural overtones in the hopes of creating a franchise.”

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FIRST 'IRON MAN' PIC RELEASED (SEXY)

I know ... It's kinda gay and all for Hemingway's Lounge to be calling another dude, sexy but ... I gotta say, this is a great pic. So ...

Is everyone ready for a kick-ass Iron Man?

Hope so, because Robert Downey Jr. has been hunkified for his portrayal of the famed Marvel superhero in next year's big screen version - a film role originally tapped for Tom Cruise.. Pictures popped up all over the Interweb today after USA Today ran a pic of Downey as Tony Stark.

Undoubtedly, Downey's an interesting choice to play Stark -- aka Iron man. Why?

Well, for starters, the playboy-billionaire-industrialist has long suffered in his battle with the bottle. Plus, it's no secret that Downey himself fought demons as Hollywood's poster boy for wretched excess, eventually serving a year in prison on drug and alcohol-related charges and checking in and out of rehab.

Luckily, however, all that's behind the Oscar-nominated thesp."We didn't want to just go with a safe choice," Favreau told USA Today. "The best and worst moments of Robert's life have been in the public eye. He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That's Tony Stark. Robert brings a depth that goes beyond a comic-book character who is having trouble in high school, or can't get the girl. Plus, he's simply one of the best actors around."

For his role as Stark, Downey is trying to become a real-life iron man. At 42, he lifts weights five days a week and practices martial arts to get in shape to play the hard-bodied Stark, an arms manufacturer who uses his ultimate weapon, a jet-powered, missile-launching suit of armor, to fight evil.

-- Until next time,

S. Lee

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JOKER UPDATE: THE JOKE'S ON US

!!! NEW 'DARK KNIGHT' IMAX PROLOGUE - LOOKS AWESOME, AS DEC. 16 !!!! Click HERE

!!! NEW TEASER POSTERS - LOOKS AWESOME, AS DEC. 14 !!!! Click HERE

!!! A BUNCH OF NEW JOKER PICS AS OF DEC. 3 !!!. Click HERE.

!!! NEW JOKER PIC AS OF NOV. 30!!! Click HERE.

!!! NEW JOKER PIC AS OF NOV. 26!!! Click HERE

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NEW "DARK KNIGHT PICS" as of 8/17!! CLICK HERE

AN UNFORTUNATE JOKER UPDATE:

This is dubious, indeed ... That leaked Joker pic swirlin' throughout the Interweb yesterday turned out to be a Photoshop fake. The dude should be found, bound, tarred and feathered.

What a prick... This is what he had to say on the site, "In hindsight, it was probably a dick move but at least it was entertaining for everybody, right?"

Uh, no ...

So, that said, Garth over at Dark Horizons posted this on his site this morning:

"Two of the bigger scoops on film site's in the last few days have been shot down. Yesterday's huge tizzy about the Heath Ledger photo? Well its been confirmed as a fake as well - a rather clever amalgam/manipulation of a Heath Ledger photo from a film premiere with an old Orlando Bloom make-up test photo from "The Lord of the Rings".

In fact you can see how the fake was pulled off in a posting over at the forums of Superhero Hype. Other sources have indicated to me that other stuff linked to the film (script pages, Keaton's apparent link) are all also fake. So far the only genuine scoops have been the few Chicago eyewitness reports of the post office shooting, and those paparazzi photos."

Take a shot of Pretty Boy Bloom, blend it with 'Ol Heath and you get a pretty cool lookin' pic of Batman's evil nemesis.

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JOE ROGAN vs. CARLOS MENCIA

The concept of creating is no small task. As a writer, I think it takes real guts for someone to try and string letters and words and thoughts together. Not easy.

Even if you're highly proficient at poetry, art, songwriting or wood-carving, finding that "thing" inside of you can be daunting. Hopefully, you'll be lucky enough in life to realize it.

Watch any of the dopes on "The Apprentice" trying to make commercials as they try to get the creative juices flowing and you'll see - it's hard. But somehow, we're all critics. As children of mass media, we tend to take certain creative endeavors for granted and may say movies or TV shows suck but... try doing it.

Now, that said, try being creative and funny. To me, it's a freaky-deaky notion. That's why I have a lot of respect for comedians; there's gotta be something going on upstairs in their attics that we mere mortals just don't possess. Need proof? Check out the Tom Hanks film "Punch Line" and you'll see what I mean.

Maybe you'll say I'm over thinking this whole comedy thing, but I can't imagine standing on a bare stage, mic in hand, floodlights blazing into my eyes and hearing only minimal laughter from a small audience. Crickets. Typing this, I could just feel the sweat beading up on my temple, palms getting sweaty. Thank God, I can hide behind a keyboard. If I'm funny, cool. It's just icing. If not, who gives a shit?

Now, this brings me to two mainstream comics : Joe Rogan and Carlos Mencia.

Of late, these two cats have been at each other's throats. In fact, Paris and Lindsey have nothing on these two.

So, in my best Michael Buffer voice...

"In the blue corner we have ..."

JOE ROGAN
Most people know the Newark, New Jersey-native, from TV. He was on 74 episodes of the acclaimed sitcom "NewsRadio," a co-host of the machismo babefest "The Man Show." Most prominently, however, people will undoubtedly recognize Rogan from his high profile gig as host of NBC's insanely popular and wickedly crazy reality show "Fear Factor." A bit of Rogan trivia: Did you know this dude can fight? Rogan holds a black belt and is former high-level champion in Tae Kwon Do.

"In the red corner we have ..."

CARLOS MENCIA
The Honduras-born comic left school to pursue a career in comedy just one one credit shy of a degree. After earning his chops on the stand-up circuit in such clubs as The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, and The L.A. Cabaret, he earned the title of International Comedy Grand Champion from Buscando Estrellas (the Latino version of "Star Search"). TV came knockin'. He eventually wound up on "In Living Color," "The Arsenio Hall Show" and "An Evening at the Improv." In 1994 Carlos hosted HBO's series, "Loco Slam." In 2001, Carlos headlined the Three Amigos tour with comedians Pablo Fransisco and Freddy Soto. In 2005, he became the host of his second television show "Mind of Mencia." on Comedy Central. Some Mencia trivia: He is the 17th out of 18 children. Damn!

Um, OK ... So where's the beef?

For the longest time, it's been rumored that Mencia steals jokes from comics, or rather, he borrows them and puts his own spin on them. You know, kinda like Quentin Tarantino and his "homage" to films that he borrows from.

Mencia pretty much has defended himself saying that he does not steal jokes. Furthermore, the jokes that do, in fact, seem similar are just that -- similar fucking jokes that any comedian worth his salt can come up with.

The reason for this post is that I find the following videos utterly fascinating to watch. Comedy, while on stage, is such a light-hearted experience for the audience member. To see such hatred and accusations fly back and forth will certainly take the fun out of watching these two guys in the future.

I'm not saying Mencia did steal all these jokes. I'm merely here to show everyone the evidence. Simply watch all of these engaging videos and answer the question for yourself.

Until next time,

-- Chesterfield

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Here's a sample of a video, posted on Rogan's web site, in which he was confronted by Mencia onstage after Rogan refered to him as "Carlos Menstealia". In front of a packed house at The Comedy Store in Hollywood, they both go at it. Rogan blantantly accuses Mencia of stealing other comedian's jokes. It's actually a little uncomfortable to watch since the crowd obviously turns against the Hispanic comic.



Here's another video asking if MENCIA STEALS FROM COSBY?



Yet another video, this time of Sam Kinison


Here's a video of MENCIA ON THE DEFENSE posted on the comic's web site



Here's a video of WHAT PAULY SHORE HAS TO SAY. Interesting since his mom owns the comedy club and Pauly's known these guys their whole career.

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