What’s The Magic Word? (Clue: Shazam)

I had mixed feelings when I heard a Shazam movie was in the works. Any comic book superhero in the wrong hands (I’m talking to you, Joel Schumacher!) is bound to lose any of the appeal that he/she had on paper. Captain Marvel has always been an iffy character for me. I loved his appearances in the Giffen-DeMatteis Justice League books, and his appearances in Geoff Johns’ JSA were always welcome. But mostly, he came across as the poor man’s Superman.

I can sort of see now what the angle of the movie is. And oddly enough, I find it very appealing.  John August, who was tapped to write the screenplay, recently gave an interview about the project. He says:

“It’s not Spider-Man plus jokes. There’s really good comic potential there,” he asserted, revealing that his film — an origin story — owes as much to “Big” as it does to “Superman.” 

So, in industry lingo, the project was pitched as Big meets Superman. Could be fun.

I Say…Take Me Out!

Not just a Franz Ferdinand song.

Riley got tickets to a Dodgers game last night. I’m glad I went– the seats were pretty damn good. When not rooting for the boys in blue, we chugged down beer and wolfed on italian sausages. I also scarfed down a generous helping of garlic fries– a mistake I’m not likely to make again (and for that, Riley is grateful).

One thing’s for certain: experiences like these tend to spoil me. I’m not sure I can do nosebleed seats anymore!

So Notorious (Or, Mother May I Sleep with Danger?)

(Note: I’m not the biggest Tori Spelling fan. But I couldn’t resist naming this blog entry after two of her projects: her reality show on BRAVO, So NoTORIous (check out a pre-Heroes Sylar playing Tori’s gay friend Sasan) and her classic Lifetime movie, Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?)

If there’s one thing I learned Saturday night, it’s never underestimate the drawing power of Ingrid Bergman.  Hollywood Forever Cemetery was packed Saturday night for the outdoor screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious. I’d never seen it before, although my dad had told me the story ages ago. It was fun seeing Ingrid let her hair down and play a relatively easy woman trying to win the love of a cynical government agent (Cary Grant). To do so, she infiltrates a circle of German conspirators by marrying one of the key players (Claude Raines), whose mother (Leopoldine Konstantin) has a nasty habit of interfering in all her son’s affairs. When mother and son realize that Bergman is a spy, they scheme to get rid of her quietly. It’s lots of fun, with Hitchcock milking some tense moments from rather everday occurrences–  the rapid consuption of wine by guests at the dinner party, for instance.

Another memorable moment worth mentioning is the legendary on-again, off-again kiss between Grant and Bergman, which was intended to flaunt then-current film code regulations that restricted the length of kisses to only a couple of seconds each. Hah! Take that, Hays Code!

Film: The Nines

Next Friday a rather enigmatic movie called The Nines will have its L.A. premiere. Written and directed by John August, who penned such Tim Burton flicks as Big Fish and The Corpse Bride, the film weaves together the stories of an actor under house arrest, a reality show producer working on a pilot, and a game designer who runs into trouble in the woods, all played by Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder). No one has really come out and said what it is about really, although some people have noted that it’s in the same vein as Donnie Darko . Always a good sign.

There’s a series of online puzzles related to the film, although for the life of me I can’t figure the first one out. Apparently it’s an anagram:

The second puzzle can be found here, and the third one here. If you crack the code, drop me a line.

The Nines will be in limited release beginning August 31st. In the meantime, you can check out the trailer below:

Dave Curd

 Dave Curd is an illustrator based in Maplewood, New Jersey. Some pretty cool prints for sale, including a duel between bloated versions of Batman and Spider-Man, and a ball-gagged Statue of Liberty.

Check out more of his work at www.davecurd.com.