WB Bumps Half- Blood Prince. Boycott Begins Here

Ain'tItCool.Com is reporting that the release date for "Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince has been yanked from the schedule for this November and moved back to July of 2009. Warner Brothers honcho Alan Horn gave this as the official reason for the move.

"Our reasons for shifting 'Half-Blood Prince' to summer are twofold: we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment. Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers' strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films--changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of. We agreed the best strategy was to move 'Half-Blood Prince' to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer."

"The release date change does not alter the production schedule for this or future Harry Potter films. Post-production on 'Half-Blood Prince' was completed on time, and the studio's release plans for the two-part 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' will not be affected by this change. We know Harry Potter fans are eagerly anticipating seeing the final chapters unfold onscreen. In fact, the good news for them is that the gap will now be shortened between 'Half-Blood Prince' and the first part of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.'"

Folks, I don't know about you, but I am not that easily fooled. There is only one reason that Potter has been moved and that is the unrelenting pursuit of corporate greed. One look at the July dollars for "The Dark Knight" and the great big WB (now forever known as Warner Bastards) decided that they could harvest more gold by holding out until next summer, hoping that all of the deprived Potter fans will rush to the gate, hoping to quench their undying thirst for wizarding magic, and plunking down dollar after dollar to satisfy their need. I am one of these fans.

To dangle a carrot out in front of this horse for all of this time with a promise of a November date, and then to toss it down the road 9 months into the future doesn't work, mainly because there are a lot of nuts and berries to be eaten along the way. Being teased like that and then not delivering only leaves my taste for carrots as something that I disdain.

I will boycott the next Harry Potter film. The bigwigs at WB need to find out that they can't screw with the fans. E-mail me or post a comment letting me know what you feel about this. In fact, join me in the Screw WB Boycott!!
You can also sign a petition by clicking here. I don't know when I've ever been more ticked off over a piece of movie news.

Second Trailer For Frank Miller/Will Eisner's "The Spirit" A Confusing Mess

I have been anxiously awaiting for the film version of legendary comic book artist Will Eisner's "The Spirit" ever since I heard Frank Miller was at the helm. If this second trailer for the movie is any indication of what's in store, I better find some pretty strong magic mushrooms before going to see it. This trailer is a disjointed, confusing, mess. Watch it for yourself and be sure to either email me and let me know what you think or make a post so that all the world will know what you think. Maybe your insight is better than mine and a trailer does not a movie make, but come on. Couldn't marketing have done better than this? The second trailer for The Spirit emphasizes the Spirit and his obsession with women. Preview ends with a compilation of action sequences from the film including a preview of Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus.


You can find this and all of the great movie trailers, new and old at traileraddict.com.
And here, in an interview, is director Frank Miller's take on what it is he is doing.

Alone In The Dark: Flame Is The Name Of The Game

Flame, as in fire has been taken to a whole new level with Atari's newest version of Alone In The Dark. The look and the realism of fire is taken to a whole new level with this game. And you don't just look at it. You play with it as fire, in many forms is the weapon of choice for Edward Carnby as he traverses through Central Park destroying the entities that desecrate it.

I'm not here to give out all the details behind the storyline for Alone In The Dark. You can find that by clicking here.

My purpose in this review is simply to let you know how it plays, and whether you should give it a try.

The game is riveting and yes you should give it a try.

I have to admit that some of the scares in Alone In The Dark actually had me jump out of my seat, much to the enjoyment of my son who was watching me. This is definitely not a game for the weak at heart or for the young. The violence and gore as the dialogue laced profanity definitely earn this game it's M rating.

So, do you want to know what is cool about this game?

1. The fire. I already told you about it.

2. Get stuck on a level? Go to another level, even to the beginning of the last
level, and play on. You'll get a video recap of the plot so far.

3. This is not a simple shoot 'em up game, like so many that are coming out. You
have to think about what you are doing, think about what combination of items
in your jacket pockets will create the best weapons, and carry out their use in a
deliberate and speedy manner.

4. It takes time to work it all out. Trust me. If you can finish this game
straight through in a day, you are a much better man than me. It is definitely
a challenging game and will break those looking for a quick victory or who get
easily frustrated.

5. The Graphics. I'll use a word that is completely overused. Awesome. That is
the best way I can put it. Someone at Atari must have been working on overdrive
to create this game.

6. An absolutely outstanding soundtrack that is moody, eerie, exciting, and just
plain cool.

Of course, nobody's perfect. There were a few things that were a little frustrating and perhaps Atari will correct these for the PS3 version.

1. At times when you are about to be pounced on by the bad guys, trying to put your
weapon together in the correct order can quickly lead to your demise. It takes
a while to get the hang of it and as the tension mounts everything you remember
to do tends to go out the left side of your brain. Perhaps you could make this
a tad easier by letting you assemble your parts in any order.

2. There are I think three levels where you are required to drive. The controls for
this part of the game is not the best. Fine tune the feel of the car. This was
for me the weakest part of the game.

3. At times I thought the profanity was thrown in just because you can. Some isn't
so bad, but I felt the game went overboard on this.

I had been looking forward to Alone In The Dark for quite a well and overall I can say that I was pretty pleased. This game gets 4.5 out of five o-rama's on our blog-o-meter. Not put out that match!

Mortal Combat Vs. DC Universe Video Gameplay

Now here's a unique twist on combining two well known franchises, one from video games and one from the comic book genres. The game play in this video looks pretty spiffy.


This next video is a trailer for the game.

Barack Roll : Boogie With The Next President

This is a cut-and-paste job of Barack Obama dancing on Ellen and then singing/speeching along with Rick's lyrics. Inspirational!

It's Cheese We Can Believe In.

You can see a lot of great videos by visiting Hugh Atkins webpage, The Margins Of Error by clicking here. Hugh hails from Sydney, Australia which just goes to show the international interest in our very own Messiah.

The Dresden Files: One Of My Favorite Episodes

For anyone not familiar with The Dresden Files, let me tell you a little bit about it. It appeared for only one season on the Sci-Fi channel in 2007. The series was based on the novels by Jim Butcher and as far as a series goes, was one heckuva good ride. Actor Nicholas Cage was even an executive producer of the series. The pilot film was made from a screenplay by television writers Hans Beimler and Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and based on Butcher's novel Storm Front. David Carson directed and shooting took place in Toronto. It was announced in November 2005 that Paul Blackthorne had been cast in the lead role. It was originally supposed to appear as the first episode as a two hour premiere, but was not released until the eight episode and by then had been cut down to one hour. The full pilot version of "Storm Front" was not included in the original DVD release of the complete series. The recent broadcast of the original re-edited pilot has led some to speculate that some potential interest from Lionsgate to possibly testing out a revivial of the series for at least a series of television movies akin to the original planned idea of having Dresden made as a series of theatrical movies, or at least a re-issue of the series DVD with the complete pilot included.

Based on Jim Butcher's best-selling novels, The Dresden Files tells the story of Harry Dresden (Paul Blackthorne), a regular-guy private detective with extraordinary abilities. While most people see assaults, kidnappings or murders as the work of people with a depraved indifference for human pain, Harry is as likely as not to see the work of supernatural villains.

That's because he's a wizard. The real thing (and the only one listed in the Chicago phone directory). Whether consulting for the police on seemingly inexplicable crimes or following his own cases, he battles dark forces with a wry sense of humor.

I'm hoping that they go ahead with the ideal of making several movies, whether in theaters or on t.v. as it's a great show.

The video that I have posted here is episode three from the series and comes from Hulu.com, which also has the other eleven episodes posted.

The episode is entitled Hair Of The Dog and was first shown on February 11, 2007. When Detective Murphy asks Dresden to help her with a series of ritualistic slayings, he discovers that werewolves are involved. Only the werewolves aren't the killers, they're the victims.



If you're familiar with the show, enjoy it again. If you've never seen it, get ready to enjoy.

Sci-Fi Trailer Sunday

Here are a few seldom seen classic sci-fi movie trailers from days long past.

The Deadly Mantis (1957)

The calving of an Arctic iceberg releases a giant praying mantis, trapped in suspended animation since prehistoric times. It first attacks military outposts to eat their occupants, then makes its way to the warmer latitudes of Washington and New York. A paleontologist works together with military units to try to kill it.

Invasian U.S.A. (1952)

Five people are sitting in a New York bar with a mysterious Mr. Ohman, when they hear the news that the godless Communists are invading the good ol' U.S. of A. The five rush off to various sections of the country to do their part to stop the invasion, when an A-bomb crashes down upon Manhattan.

The Flying Saucer (1950)

The CIA sends playboy Mike Trent to Alaska with agent Vee Langley, posing as his "nurse," to investigate flying saucer sightings. At first, installed in a hunting lodge, the two play in the wilderness. But then they sight a saucer. Investigating, our heroes clash with an inept gang of Soviet spies, also after the saucer secret.

First Spaceship On Venus (1960)

A mysterious magnetic spool found during a construction project is discovered to have originated from Venus. A rocket expedition to Venus is launched to discover the origin of the spool and the race that created it.