PVP CELEBRATES TENTH ANNIVERSARY- AND RIGHTLY SO!

Glorious webcomic/comic book series PVP (Player Vs Player) is celebrating its tenth anniversary in May with a special release from Image. The continuing misadventures of Brent, Cole, Francis, Jade and Skull are something we enjoy greatly here, and it's cool that a webcomic has been able to cross that great divide into print without disappearing completely. PVP does have its detractors, but they can whinge all they want, as PVP has earned its decade of success, and I sincerely hope therwill be years more of it to come. The geekery involved in the strip is spomething wonderful, and while the stories may sometimes teeter on the edge of being soap operas with chuckles, the characters save it from becoming too twee. Scott Jurtz is an incredibly talented man, and in bringing us PVP he has created essentially the comic book and video game version of Dilbert. The tenth anniversary will be celebrated with a special all-colour issue from the title's print home, Image Comics.

G.I. JOE- SNAKE EYES PICS ONLINE

Well there we go, the first image to be released from Stephen Somers’ big screen G.I. JOE movie. Snake Eyes is played in the film by Ray “I was Darth Maul, me” Park, and the costume is looking pretty damn cool. There’s another pic on show over at AICN, again making Snake Eyes look as badass as he should do. People are already flaming each other left right and centre over the pics, but jeez, get some perspective. It could be fantastic, despite the overt patriotism.

There’s a divide in opinion regarding the movie, which is understandable as the G.I. JOE toy line is such a popular and well-loved piece of modern pop culture history, but seriously folks, wait and see what the movie is like before you start complaining about it. As long as we’re not in for another STREET FIGHTER debacle, we should be fine. Whats that you say? There’s a new Street Fighter movie on the way too? Well yes, but until I see Kristen Kreuk in the Chun Li costume I’m pretending that doesn’t exist.

The new HAMMER FILMS horror movie has a trailer out!

The brand new Hammer Films production has had its official trailer released in the past couple of days. The internet-only film is entitled BEYOND THE RAVE and will be released in installments via Myspace TV. Not exactly the glorious return of Hammer that fans had hoped for, but still, blood will be spilled. The film, while looking remarkably cheap, does seem to have some level of atmosphere to it, but isn;t the whole thing of Vamps in a club rather old hat (Vamp/From Dusk Til Dawn) and the concept of raves a bit, well, dated? I know Hammer were into making period pieces but this is pushing the definition a bit. Not sure about this one yet. It seems a bit amateurish and rushed, but you never know, it could be awesome.

SPACED US- THE TRAVESTY CONTINUES

Okay, following on from my earlier post concerning the US version of our beloved SPACED, it would appear that this McG infused nightmare is going ahead with a pilot episode. Don't give me any of that 'It might not be that bad' crap, as quite frankly, it will be terrible. DO NOT DO IT.

The thing is, not only do the Spaced fans think this is a terrible idea, but now Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson have gone record to say the exact same thing. Want proof? Check out this post on Edgar Wright's Myspace blog. See? This really shouldn't happen, and now here we have the people behind the original backing up the cries of the fans. Yeah, I can see why the suits would want the thing to be remade, I mean, look at it, it's pretty much perfect in every damn way. Who wouldn't want something that good to have their name on it? Myself, my colleagues, my friends, my fellow fans cannot stress this enough: CANCEL THE PILOT AND LEAVE SPACED ALONE. Your network's money is going to be wasted on something that will turn out to be nothing but another sitcom, with none of the heart or ingenuity of the original. Sermon over.

Well, actually, I will add this: It says alot about the attention to detail McG's monkeys are applying to Spaced (please note sarcasm): The cover page of the pilot script says 'Based on the BBC series'.

Pardon?

BBC?

*sigh*

LOST BOYS 2 TRAILER REVEALED!

One of the greatest genre movies of the 80s was THE LOST BOYS. There’s no two ways about it. That decade was great for vampire movies that crossed over into the brat-pack mentality of the time, and there are some very varied examples of genre from that era. Films such as Vamp mixed vampires and comedy, and films like the legendary NEAR DARK (which is currently being remade…surprise surprise) mixed vamps with a hard edge and some stereotype-bashing. Above them all in terms of style and longevity stands THE LOST BOYS. A weird mix of ‘the Breakfast Club’, ‘Easy Rider’, ‘The Hunger’ and Anne Rice, it boasted a strong cast of young faces including a certain Kiefer Sutherland, now known the world over as Jack Bauer in 24.

The film, the questionable outfits, the stunning soundtrack and the whole iconography of a bunch of rock n’ roll vampire party animals became the stuff of legend.

A sequel has long been planned and talked about, but it took a hell of a long time for the thing to get filmed, and not only that, but this film has been completed for a good long while already, and just hasn’t been released.

Last year saw the Cult Classics range of figures add LOST BOYS action figures to their arsenal, proving straight away that interest still existed in the franchise. Add to that the constantly strong DVD and soundtrack sales. The first Lost Boys film has indeed become part of our pop culture tapestry, and a rather integral part at that. Now at last comes the sequel, titled LOST BOYS: THE TRIBE, which sadly won’t be getting a theatrical release (it will go straight to DVD).

Now, the trailer has been revealed and looks, hmm, like a straight to DVD sequel. On the upside, it does star 80’s legend Corey Feldman from the original movie, which can only be a good thing. Rumour has it (and so does the actor) that the other Corey, namely Corey Haim, will also be appearing in the film, but he doesn’t show up in the trailer, so something tells me this is going to be little more than a cameo.

As for the trailer itself? Check it out. The limits of the budget and the shoot itself are immediately apparent, but if I’m not mistaken it does seem to carry some of the same atmosphere as the first film, but that might be down to the succession of shots that seem to have been lifted directly from it! The lead vamp even seems to have been given a very similar appearance to Kiefer Sutherland’s 80s character, but with action, vampires, the Corey and THAT TUNE (it is still an awesome song), the new LOST BOYS movie at least looks entertaining.

Something to sink your teeth into, anyway.

Sorry.

I couldn’t help that one.

WATCHMEN CHARACTER PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

Oh yes, yes yes! Zack Snyder has been a very kind man indeed and deemed us worthy of some juicy photos from his forthcoming feature film based on the legendary WATCHMEN graphic novel. The photos went up on the official site, and as soon as AICN caught wind of it, servers were working overtime as fanboys and girls the world over feasted their eyes on the delights that are to come.

So what has been revealed over at the official website?

First up is a great action shot of The Comedian. His costume as expression are spot on, but I’m a little wary of the white in his hair. Is it going to look natural onscreen? I do love the wiseass grin he’s sporting. The Night Owl photo has surprised me somewhat. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting him to look this cool. Looking for all the world like some feral version of Batman, the costume is perfect, even though it strays from the comic a fair bit. Can’t be helped really. Ozymandias looks as camp as expected, but the costume looks, hmm, a bit much? Mind you, this is perfect for the character, as he always was a bit of a pretty boy.

Then we have a great photo of the Silver Spectre. Oh yes, she is looking foxy, even in those impractical heels. This is the most comic-book style photo of the batch, with her in a suitably heroic pose that could have been taken straight from a comic frame. I bet that costume rides up a bit. Poor girl. The most exciting photo is, naturally, another picture of Rorscharch. Yes, we’ve seen him a few times already, but the character is so important to comic fandom, and indeed the film, that any glimpse of our favourite antihero is a moment to savour. He is looking every bit as unhinged as we wanted him to, and I love it. I can’t wait for this movie. At long last, the general public will get a chance to experience what we have been ranting on about for two decades. Watch out world…

SPACED- Why the US version should never happen...

(aka 'What're you Doin?')

This is something that everyone here at Starstore/The Last Picture Show feels incredibly strongly about. Haven’t heard? McG is intent on remaking SPACED for the US market (old news I know, but it seems to be moving forward now), and despite Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson et al explicitly saying NO to being involved, and indeed saying it shouldn’t happen, it looks as though the damn thing is going ahead. I just read the article over at CHUD and wanted to write something about it myself.

Now lets get something straight. SPACED is about as English as it gets. The humour, the pacing the plots, they are very, very English. Add to that the characters are so British, that any attempt at shoving that into the American market will rob the show of everything that made it so special in the first place. Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson (not to mention the marvellous Mark Heap and everyone else in the show) made those fourteen episodes so utterly perfect that not only should a US version never be made, but I don’t think a third UK series should either. Now, I am a HUGE fan of Spaced, I mean, I am pretty much living Tim Bisley’s life myself right now (although my girlfriend is more like Fran from Black Books than Daisy, even though she’s a journalist), and everyone here can relate to every story, pop culture reference and one liner. An American version would not work. It would not work. Do you hear me?

The last time something similar happened was the US version of MEN BEHAVING BADLY, which came out like a poor man’s Friends. A US version of Spaced would come out pretty much the same. The humour would not translate. Plus, can you imagine getting a character like Tyres onto American screens? He’d have straight teeth and everything!

Fair enough, I can see the temptation in remaking it. Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were huge and made people aware of what had come before, thus the legion of Spaced fans growing so much in recent years. I was there from the start dammit, and I don’t want the characters I love so much to be tarnished by something so crass and cheap as a remake. Everyone here thinks the idea stinks, as do pretty much everyone else that enjoyed the show. Save your money, big American network, try and get something original off the ground.

And if you must get Spaced remade, don’t let McG anywhere near it. Actually, forget I said that. Don’t remake it at all. Watch those episodes. Look at the character interplay. The timing. The direction. That could never be replicated. Leave them be. There is the definite feeling of things going very, very right in those two series. It is one of those rarest of creatures; a show in which literally everything fell into place and there are no weak links at all.

It is also incredibly watchable again and again. I know every episode off by heart, but with every viewing, the show loses none of its humour and none of its pathos. It is a very special thing to us, as well as the people that made it. Please, please, please don’t spoil it. Let us have our Spaced.