Afro Samurai: Resurrection

I wasn’t a big fan of the series, but this feature length anime was pretty entertaining. The storytelling was much better this time around. Really makes me want to experiment with animation -- I don’t have the skill to do anything on that level, but you can do wonders with Flash these days. A short motion comic, like they did for “Watchmen” wouldn’t be incredibly demanding... something to put on the back burner for later this year.

UW: Rise of the Lycans

Fast fact: “Skinwalkers”, Rhona Mitra’s last werewolf flick, only grossed around 1 million in theaters (limited release), but made close to 25 million on DVD.

Solid showing over the weekend. Guess the lack of Kate Beckinsale wasn’t that big of a deal to audiences -- these films are driven by werewolf/vampire action, plain and simple. I wonder where the franchise will go from here: graphic novel, straight to DVD movies, anime, a TV series?

It's good to see that the action/horror genre is still alive and kicking.

Outlander

After sitting on the shelf for quite some time, "Outlander" is finally getting a limited release in the States -- surprising when you consider that the budget is close to 50 million dollars and the cast includes some recognizable names. Badass Vikings battling an alien creature. Plus, it's rated R! You would think the marketing folks wouldn't have had a hard time selling this one. Came across an insightful article on how the idea/script was developed. Eighteen years in the making? Talk about perseverance.

Destiny Calls

Last night’s season premiere of “Lost” was a bit of a departure. The show has always stuck a tentative big toe in the sci-fi waters for a few seconds, but this time it dove in head first. What happened to all the promises of a logical explanation to everything? Hopefully, time travel won’t become a big mess like it did on “Heroes”. Ratings weren't that -- though it came in third place behind "Criminal Minds" and the premiere of "Lie to Me".

Ricardo Montalban (1920-2009)

So sad to hear that Ricardo Montalban passed. I was a huge fan of “Fantasy Island” and his iconic performance in “Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan” -- one of the best villains ever. Right up there with Darth Vader. He will be missed, but never forgotten.

The Uninvited

“A Tale of Two Sisters” was probably the first Asian horror flick that made me sit up and pay attention to the genre. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood would sink its claws into the film rights, so now we have “The Uninvited”. The commercials seem creepy enough, but nothing grabs me -- really hard movie to sell without giving away the good stuff. Still, if “The Unborn” was able to make 21 million in its opening weekend, “Uninvited” should do just fine.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Pretty much what I expected: dazzling visuals, but just an average tale. Looking back, I think the loss of Agent Meyers probably hurt the film more than expected. He served as a wide-eyed surrogate for the audience. There are just too many freaky creatures running around for the non-fantasy fan to settle into the story. The ho-humness to the plot didn’t help matters either. Once you save the world, what do you do for an encore? Save it again?

Like I said, it’s a great looking film. In terms of visual creativity, “Hellboy 2” easily outperforms the direct to DVD animated movies -- which is pretty amazing when you think about it. Hellboy isn’t supposed to be dark or heavy -- I get that, but a little would go a long way.

Best of 08: Story Starters

Haven’t decided if I’ll be posting story starters this year, but here are some of my faves from 2008...

38 dead after being bitten by vampire bats.

Between 150 and 200 real-life superheroes operate in the United States.

Eight real-life Doctor Frankensteins.

Man with suicide victim's heart takes own life.

Werewolf boy appeals to doctors for cure

The Woman Who Can't Forget ANYTHING

Woman wakes up from coma as her funeral is being planned

A New Day

There were a bunch of things that I was trying to accomplish before the new year, but my laptop had other ideas -- I’ve been trying to drag it, kicking and screaming into 2009. Luckily, the really important stuff was already backed up. My blog entries might be a little sporadic this month.

One of my goals in 2008 was to finish a script -- ole lappy screwed that one up, should be done by tomorrow. For 2009, I’m aiming for multiple scripts. I have some low-budget ideas that I’ve starting fleshing out. The plan is to be more proactive in the second half of the year: contests, e-mail querying, cold calls, etc. Good luck to everyone in ‘09!

BTW, in totally Prince related news, Vanity turned 50 yesterday. Damn, I feel old!