News Bytes:
- Casino Royale is the first Bond film to top the $300 million mark
- The next Star Trek: New Voyages project is “Blood and Fire”, written by David Gerrold
- A list of some of the biggest box office bombs of 2006 is chock full of some of the most expensive films of 2006
Movie Talk:
If you are tired of all the big explosions, monsters around every corner or starships whizzing by at faster-than-light speed, and want to watch a quiet but entertaining and delightful film then “Miss Potter” may be what you are looking for.
This film is about Beatrix Potter, wrote and illustrated some of the most beloved children’s fantasy and fable books of the 19th & 20th Century. Her famous characters ranged from Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle and Jemima Puddleduck.
Doug’s Slice of Trivia
TV Talk:
The BBC miniseries “Eleventh Hour”, featuring Patrick Stewart, is part CSI and part X-Files. Stewart portrays former physics professor Ian Hood, who probes the dark side of modern science now, new technologies and scientific breakthroughs are being used to do great harm.
The miniseries can be seen on BBC America, and is also available on DVD.
Interview: Michael and Summer talk with writer/director Matt Vancil and executive producer John Frank Rosenblum of Dead Gentlemen Productions about their latest project, “The Gamers: Dorkness Rising”. If ever there was a project that would appeal to geeks, this is one: a parody of gaming adventures and fantasy films all rolled into one.
For those who need to catch up before seeing the latest chapter, you can obtain either the original cut or the director’s cut on DVD.
Future Talk: What’s Coming Up?
“Sin City” and “Grindhouse” director Robert Rodriquez with partner Elizabeth Avellan are set to produce a big screen adaptation of the Harvey Award-winning “Madman” comic series for their Troublemaker Studio. They have hired “Swimming With Sharks” director George Huang to helm the project. Also involved with the production will be Bob Weinstein and Richard Saperstein from Dimension Films who will distribute the finished product.
Listener comments: If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know.
Spike has their Afro Samurai page up:
http://www.spiketv.com/#shows/afrosamurai/index.jhtml
If you don’t want people messing with your Netflix queue, it is trivial to set up sub-accounts and split “slots” between them and the main account.
the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD battle may already be over before it starts:
the South Korean company LG Electronics will unveil a DVD player that supports both Blu-ray discs and HD-DVDs. At the same time, Hollywood’s Warner Bros studio will unveil a new type of high-definition disc that can hold recordings in both new DVD formats simultaneously. LG and Warner Bros hope to convince CES delegates that these advances can save the home video market, worth about $24 billion (£12 billion) a year in the US alone, or $460 million a week.