© by Gerald So | 3:00 AM
Decorated Naval aviator-turned-Arizona senator John S. McCain III succumbed to brain cancer on Saturday, aged 81.
Most recently he was one of the few Republicans to speak out against Donald Trump's boorish brand of politics.
Some are calling McCain the last honorable Republican, but I hope politicians of all stripes are inspired by his example.
Where he succeeded, carry on. Where he fell short, strive to improve. These have been my words to live by since my father died from pancreatic cancer in 2001.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Mark Wahlberg Netflix Spenser Movie Update
© by Gerald So | 5:00 AM
Since the June 26 announcement that Ace Atkins' second Spenser continuation novel, Robert B. Parker's Wonderland, was being adapted for a Netflix movie starring Mark Wahlberg and directed by Peter Berg, Ace has said in a July 15 interview with The Real Book Spy he has no involvement with the movie beyond having written the novel.
On August 4, Boston Casting had an open call "[s]earching for real people—character men with tough faces."
Yesterday Ace tweeted a Collider Peter Berg video interview in which the director said Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Payback, Mystic River) was writing the script, apparently replacing originally-announced screenwriter Sean O'Keefe. Berg also said he was two weeks away from announcing the rest of the cast and the movie was scheduled to start shooting the last weekend of September.
Helgeland's cred is undeniable. I hope he shows familiarity with Spenser as he did with Dennis Lehane. I had been most concerned about the original premise of a Spenser fresh out of prison, stripped of his P.I. license, and sucked back into Boston's underworld, but it may change with the writer.
Berg did say the movie would be darker and more contemporary than Spenser: For Hire, but then Parker's books always were harder-edged, and the more contemporary setting tracks with Atkins' books.
I'm also following Wonderland's IMDb listing.
Since the June 26 announcement that Ace Atkins' second Spenser continuation novel, Robert B. Parker's Wonderland, was being adapted for a Netflix movie starring Mark Wahlberg and directed by Peter Berg, Ace has said in a July 15 interview with The Real Book Spy he has no involvement with the movie beyond having written the novel.
On August 4, Boston Casting had an open call "[s]earching for real people—character men with tough faces."
Yesterday Ace tweeted a Collider Peter Berg video interview in which the director said Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Payback, Mystic River) was writing the script, apparently replacing originally-announced screenwriter Sean O'Keefe. Berg also said he was two weeks away from announcing the rest of the cast and the movie was scheduled to start shooting the last weekend of September.
Helgeland's cred is undeniable. I hope he shows familiarity with Spenser as he did with Dennis Lehane. I had been most concerned about the original premise of a Spenser fresh out of prison, stripped of his P.I. license, and sucked back into Boston's underworld, but it may change with the writer.
Berg did say the movie would be darker and more contemporary than Spenser: For Hire, but then Parker's books always were harder-edged, and the more contemporary setting tracks with Atkins' books.
I'm also following Wonderland's IMDb listing.
Monday, August 06, 2018
THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN Animated Movie
© by Gerald So | 4:45 AM
A mindless monster's killing spree reaches Metropolis, mauling the Justice League in its path. Only Superman (Jerry O'Connell) is powerful enough to stop the beast, but his unprecedented effort leaves him bloodily beaten as well.
I remember the spike in interest when DC Comics announced it was killing Superman in 1992. I wasn't the fan I would become with the 1993 premiere of TV's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. My brother, not much of a Superman fan himself, bought the complete trade paperback, and I flipped through it but didn't get into the story.
In the years since the event, I've pieced together why it didn't resonate with me. I like a good match: equally complex and powerful opponents. Doomsday had no mind, no motivation. He was as simple as the idea of killing Superman.
That said, I can't say it failed as a publicity stunt. Similarly, Superman: Doomsday launched Warner Bros. Animation's PG-13 direct-to-video line in 2007. I bought and enjoyed it along with most of the line. The Death of Superman animated movie, releasing tomorrow, attempts a more faithful reflection of the comics event. As always, though, what hooked me was the portrayal of Lois and Clark's relationship.
Many of Warner Bros. Animation's New 52 Justice League voice actors rejoin O'Connell, lending their characters' chemistry. O'Connell's wife Rebecca Romijn debuts as Lois, but their real chemistry is just as clear, bringing out the authority and down-to-earth quality that I want in Clark and Lois and that must come through to deliver the impact of this story.
The movie ends with the discovery that Superman's body is missing, and the closing credits tease the four main characters in next year's continuation, Reign of the Supermen.
A mindless monster's killing spree reaches Metropolis, mauling the Justice League in its path. Only Superman (Jerry O'Connell) is powerful enough to stop the beast, but his unprecedented effort leaves him bloodily beaten as well.
I remember the spike in interest when DC Comics announced it was killing Superman in 1992. I wasn't the fan I would become with the 1993 premiere of TV's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. My brother, not much of a Superman fan himself, bought the complete trade paperback, and I flipped through it but didn't get into the story.
In the years since the event, I've pieced together why it didn't resonate with me. I like a good match: equally complex and powerful opponents. Doomsday had no mind, no motivation. He was as simple as the idea of killing Superman.
That said, I can't say it failed as a publicity stunt. Similarly, Superman: Doomsday launched Warner Bros. Animation's PG-13 direct-to-video line in 2007. I bought and enjoyed it along with most of the line. The Death of Superman animated movie, releasing tomorrow, attempts a more faithful reflection of the comics event. As always, though, what hooked me was the portrayal of Lois and Clark's relationship.
Many of Warner Bros. Animation's New 52 Justice League voice actors rejoin O'Connell, lending their characters' chemistry. O'Connell's wife Rebecca Romijn debuts as Lois, but their real chemistry is just as clear, bringing out the authority and down-to-earth quality that I want in Clark and Lois and that must come through to deliver the impact of this story.
The movie ends with the discovery that Superman's body is missing, and the closing credits tease the four main characters in next year's continuation, Reign of the Supermen.
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