Go To Hellboy

Just finished watching "Hellboy:Sword Of
Storms" on DVD, plus some of the extras.
The switch to animation is very well done.
The project was sent overseas for the
finishing touches, so it might get
compared to the Saturday morning fare.
But it falls more in the realm of
"Samurai Jack"--not so much in style,
but in the way that there's an
underlying mythology to everything.
You want to dig deeper into the
Hellboy comics, and maybe even rewatch
the movie after viewing this. It also
retains the humor of the film and comic,
which should appeal to adults and kids
(is it possible to make animation that
kids don't groove to? Don't say
"Ralph Bakshi", I just thought of that).

The San Diego Comic Con panel discussion
in the extras is very informative. I
thought I heard them talking about a
live-action "Hellboy 2" along with
another animated feature, and Mike
Mignola mentions a comic mini-series
arriving in stores soon.

Some interesting tidbits:
*Doug Jones, who portrayed Abe Sapien
in the live-action movie, supplies
the voice for his character vs.
David Hyde Pearce (Doug was also
key to "Pan's Labyrinth")
*Peri Gilpin, who worked with
Hyde Pearce on "Frasier" also
voices a role.
*Phil Lamarr is the voice behind
a couple characters--he was
also in the three "Samurai Jack"
seasons. This Hellboy story
unfolds in Japan, both past and
present--curious.
*Guillermo Del Toro drops a few
F-bombs in the panel discussion--
"Oh Crap!" Maybe he'll drop a
few at the Academy Awards when
he accepts his "Pan's Labyrinth"
Oscars (it's up for six).

If you're a casual or fanatic
Hellboy follower, this DVD is
worth a look!

Cinema 2007

I've been looking around the Internet, gleaning
some info on movies that will be arriving this year.
The release dates are probably not set in stone.

Which ones to throw money at?
Which will be better as rentals?
Which to abhor altogether?

*The Messengers--February 2, 2007
Directed by Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang

*Ghost Rider--February 16, 2007
Directed by Mark Steven Johnson ("Daredevil")

*Smokin' Aces--March 2, 2007
Directed by Joe Carnahan

*Grindhouse--April 6, 2007
Directed by Robert Rodriguez and
Quentin Tarantino

*Spider-Man 3--May 4, 2007
Directed by Sam Raimi

*Shrek The Third--May 18, 2007

*Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End--
May 25, 2007

*Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer--
June 15, 2007

*Ratatouille--June 29, 2007
Directed by Brad Bird ("Family Dog", "Iron
Giant")

*Transformers--July 4, 2007
Directed by Michael Bay

*Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix--
July 13, 2007

*The Simpson's Movie--July 27, 2007
From the mind of Matt Groening ("Life Is Hell")

*His Dark Materials: Golden Compass--
December 7, 2007

Others worth mentioning, but no dates:
*300--based on Frank Miller's graphic novel
*Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie--rumor
*Beowulf
*Live Free or Die Hard--Die Hard IV
*Meet The Robinson's--Disney CG movie, but
not Pixar-created!
*Mr. Bean's Holiday
*Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium
*National Treasure 2
*Sin City 2
*Sweeney Todd--directed by Tim Burton
*TMNT--a reboot of the franchise--not IV?
*Zodiac--directed by David Fincher

Two cool movies that aren't officially
from 2007(released overseas previously),
but I'd like to see them:
*Pan's Labyrinth--directed by Guillermo Del Toro
*Arthur & The Invisibles--from the mind of Luc Besson