James Note: Sheesh. Seems like lately I’ve been playing the frustrating game of “Shake-The-Lawyers” more than actually blogging around here. Last week Warner Bros. demanded we take down photos from their upcoming Batman film, today 20th Century Fox is doing the same with the Drangonball Z photos that used to exist in this space. Bravo T, way to dig up the stuff they don’t want us to have. You keep posting it, I’ll keep taking it down - what a team we make!

I can’t stand anything to do with Dragonball Z. Maybe because I’m a decade or two too old. Maybe I can’t get behind the concept of characters yelling and fighting over balls.

Still, I’m always interested in film adaptations of any comic, period. Yet this, along with other stills revealed at this French site, are laugh-out-loud funny. This looks even worse than the live-action Street Fighter film starring Van Damme a few years back. At least that had Kylie Minogue going for us.

Click here to see them all.

Superhero Hype! has posted some pics that seem to imply that Transformers 2 is about to start filming!  Both Optimus Prime and Decepticon Barricade have been photographed as they are being moved to their rumored shooting location in Sedona.

Check out the pics!:

AICN has revealed YouTube links showing the two alternate endings to Cloverfield. Personally, I’ve seen them this past weekend on an advance DVD, which hits retail on April 22. There isn’t that much of a difference in the endings, just minor edits to set different tones, and I actually agree for once that the one in the film is actually the most effective.

Click here to check them out.

Superhero Hype! has posted the first Watchmen Video Journal.  It shows quite a bit of footage of the sets being built, all of which look EXACTLY as they do in the original graphic novel.  There is also some shots of Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian checking out the sets.  I can’t wait to see more of these, which guarantee to make the wait seem much longer as the film arrives next March!!

I’m still concerned that much of the intricate backstory from the graphic novel is going to be left out, but that is certainly inevitable.  Perhaps they should have shot for a trilogy?

Click here for the video. 

Movie legend Charlton Heston, best known for his starring role in films such as Ben Hur and the Planet of the Apes series, has passed away at the age of 84 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.  May he be remembered best for his film work, and not his infamous turn as the face of the National Rifle Association!

I’m befuddled. For every piece of solding casting in the upcoming G.I. Joe film (Ray Park as Snake-Eyes, Arnold Vosloo as Zartan, Dennis Quaid as General Hawk), there are just as many that seem like misfires on paper (Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander, Marlon Wayans as Ripcord). The following seems like a bit more of the latter:

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Latino Review is reporting that Brendan Fraser has already filmed a cameo as Gung Ho, the bald-headed Cajun Marine, for a training sequence in The Pitt, the Joes’ headquarters.

= ????

Additionally, the site is reporting that an offer has been made to The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, to play the part of Shipwreck, a Hispanic sailor who sounded like Jack Nicholson in the original cartoon.

To me, neither of these actors resemble the characters they are playing. I’m all for a fresh take on things, but why use the names of childhood icons when they could easily play new characters?

DarkHorizons has posted a link to a French site with four new pics from The Dark Knight, including Joker sans-makeup and dressed as a cop. Click the pic below to check them out!

James Note: Warner Bros. contacted our registrar complaining of “Copyright Infringement” concerning the awesome ticket-selling image that used to be located here.  Sadly, we had to remove it.  I guess they don’t want you to be excited about the film.  Sorry fellas.

I received these just a few moments ago in my inbox….along with word that they’re official and Paramount is not happy about them hitting the interwebs:

Retro, eh?

I’m excited about this one because I just saw the classic Twilight Zone episode Death Ship for the first time a few weekends ago on SciFi. The plot concerns a trio of astronauts who land on an alien planet seeking extraterrestrial life, only to find a duplicate of their ship with three corpses inside that look exactly like the explorers! The rest of the episode concerns arguments over whether or not they are seeing the future or just an alien illusion, and whether or not they should stay on the planet and die naturally or take off and perhaps end up like their dopplegangers. It of course ends in a classic pisser TZ ending.

Now DarkHorizons reports that the episode is set to be made into an action-adventure feature film entitled Countdown:

Scribe Michael Brandt will make his directorial debut on the project and will co-write with Derek Haas a new draft of Stephen Gregg and Scott Burn’s original adaptation. Brandt and Haas have worked together before on “3:10 to Yuma,” “2 Fast 2 Furious,” and “Wanted.”

Production could begin as early as late summer with a budget in the $30 million range.

Let’s hope this isn’t the second Richard Matheson story to be bastardized into a crappy action film in as many years!

Veidt.com has posted the contents of an email claiming to have information about season 3 of Dexter, Showtime’s hit show (airing edited on CBS) starring Michael C. Hall as a “good” serial killer. For those that haven’t seen it, here’s the basic plot : He works for the Miami Police Department as a blood spatter analyst, and uses his inside pull to let killers go free so he can later hunt them down.

Previously, I had been worried (especially with Dexter’s monologue in the finale stating something about the Dark Passenger feeling like something bigger than himself) that the new season would be based on the third book in the series by Jeff Lindsay, which has been largely disowned by fans of the character for introducing the story element of Dexter being possessed by a supernatural being as the genesis for his murderous desires.

However, it looks like we won’t have to worry about this element seeping into the show (even season 2 was largely new material, while the 1st more or less follows the first book very closely). Here’s the info, straight from the source:

I received an email about the upcoming season 3 of Dexter, from a friend in a position to know, and it contained the following hints of what’s in store:

“…new season seems is trending darker. Again, nothing to do with “Dexter in the Dark”…no body-switching demons. Think more along the lines of the serial killer convention story from Gaiman’s Sandman run, and Suspect Zero.”

The Sandman story referenced is issue #14, it’s an outstanding issue of an epic series, and can be found here. Suspect Zero is a criminally-underrated, 2004 psychological thriller that plays like a horror movie designed to scare serial killers.

This news has me stoked, I can’t wait for September, when the new episodes are set to premiere.