We’re all pretty big fans of the original Showtime series Weeds around The Flickcast offices. The show has managed to stay strong and innovative since it’s launch back in 2005, with plenty of plot twists and fan favorite cameos. One of the main reasons we love the show so much is the use of the ensemble cast, especially any major story arcs with Andy Botwin, played by Justin Kirk.

We recently got a chance to sit down with Justin about the show, his work on the recently released season five DVD, and where he sees the upcoming season going. One cool feature on the DVD is a collection of the University of Andy web shorts. We asked Justin where the idea came from, and he knew that it was already going to be a success.

The writers had done various web-based content over the years. I don’t know if you remember ‘Good Morning, Agrestic’, which was a faux public access channel, but it was all meant to be for the web and DVD’s, which inevitably turned into a big hit. There’s also a new round out right now. We are only 3 episodes deep into round 2, which is going on right now.

One of the biggest events of this past season was the jump ahead six months and the story progressed. Justin was more than excited about that idea when he first heard about it.

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This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are joined by our resident comic book expert Sal Loria to discuss a bunch of topics. Some of these include comics (of course), the upcoming Green Lantern movie and the recently released concept art, the Deadpool movie, Smallville, the Superman franchise, Zac Ephron as Spider-Man, Batman, the comic book business, the nature of heroism and a whole lot more.

The guys also make some picks this week including Sal’s pick of Marvel’s mini-series Deadpool: Suicide Kings, Matt’s choice of the Cohen Brothers A Serious Man and Chris’ pick of David Lynch’s modern classic Mulholland Drive.

As usual, if you have any comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitterand at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

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Marvel is at it again, adding a new spin to their image and changing things up to excite readers new and old. This time around, the publisher is set to unleash “the dawn of new heroism in the Marvel Universe.” What are they talking about? Well, read on for all the scoop, via the official press release.

Marvel Comics is proud to announce The Heroic Age, the dawn of an exciting new era of heroism in the Marvel Universe! Beginning in May 2010 with the release of Avengers #1, The Heroic Age ushers in a brighter Marvel Universe and a bold new era for the world’s greatest super heroes as they emerge from darkness with a renewed sense of hope and optimism, leading to the formation of all new teams with new members…and brand new characters!

Titles branded with the Heroic Age banner offer a perfect jumping on point for readers new and old alike, as the top comic book creators in the world deliver a Marvel Universe like you’ve never seen before!

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This week on The Flickcast, Matt and Chris fly solo as they take on Sunday’s Golden Globes. Some surprises, some reliefs, and Matt talks Christina Hendricks while Chris talks Mo’Nique. They also discuss some other stories making waves including Apple’s announcement next week, and what that could mean for users of the iPhone, as well as Marc Webb getting to take on the reboot of Spider-Man.

Since it was just the two of them this week, Chris and Matt both got cocky and opted for two picks. Matt went with The Adventures of Power, an indie comedy starring Ari Gold (not Jeremy Piven) and the silver screen adaptation of Tucker Max’s I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, which hits DVD on January 26th. Chris also had two picks, as he went with Paul Thoman Anderson’s Magnolia on Blu-ray, which we’ll have a review of next week, and Whiteout starring Kate Beckinsale.

Sorry for the tardiness of the episode, but due to how much Matt and Chris gushed about the Golden Globes, we think it’s well worth the wait. As usual, if you have any comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

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Coming directly from the “that didn’t take long” department comes word that Sony has already confirmed a new director for its next Spider-Man film and that person is (500) Days of Summer helmer Marc Webb. Representatives of Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios made a joint announcement today regarding the decision.

In a joint statement by Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Matt Tolmach, president of Columbia Pictures, the studio highlighted what went into the decision: “At its core, Spider-Man is a small, intimate human story about an everyday teenager that takes place in an epic super-human world. The key for us as we sought a new director was to identify filmmakers who could give sharp focus to Peter Parker’s life.”

“We wanted someone who could capture the awe of being in Peter’s shoes so the audience could experience his sense of discovery while giving real heart to the emotion, anxiety, and recklessness of that age and coupling all of that with the adrenaline of Spider-Man’s adventure,” continued the statement. “We believe Marc Webb is the perfect choice to bring us on that journey.”

Let’s hope so.

This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt are again joined by Elisabeth Rappe and, as usual, launch into discussions of various topics including Twilight’s vampire baby, that Breaking Dawn may be unfilmable, Conan O’Brian, Jay Leno and NBC and the Spider-Man reboot. They also discuss Stuart Townsend leaving Thor, the casting of Blake Lively in Green Lantern, who should play Sinestro in Green Lantern and a whole lot more.

The trio also made some new picks this week including Matt’s pick of Aziz Ansari’s standup video Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening, Elisabeth’s pick of Lesbian Vampire Killers and Chris’ pick of Katherine Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, which is new on Blu-ray this week and also one of Chris’ top ten films of 2009.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

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As first reported via Deadline Hollywood, things are going in a completely different direction in the cinematic world of Spider-Man. According to the report, the fourth film featuring the web slinger won’t star Tobey Maguire or be directed by Sam Raimi. In fact, none of the creative team from the first three films will be returning and the next film will be an entire reboot of the franchise.

This news comes after recent reports of script and villain problems and delays in filming in order to reach a projected release date in 2012. In addition, Sony released a statement today and we’ve got that for you right here:

Culver City, CA (January 11, 2010) — Peter Parker is going back to high school when the next Spider-Man hits theaters in the summer of 2012. Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today they are moving forward with a film based on a script by James Vanderbilt that focuses on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises.

The new chapter in the Spider-Man franchise produced by Columbia, Marvel Studios and Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, will have a new cast and filmmaking team. Spider-Man 4 was to have been released in 2011, but had not yet gone into production.

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I’m particularly fired up for some brand new Adam Kubert art this week. The Kubert Brothers are probably my favorite comic artists working today, and this week we get Adam Kubert handling a Dan Slott Spider-Man issue, where our favorite web-slinger gets put on Norman Osborn’s List. This is probably the Must Buy of the week in my opinion, and there you have it.

Other good issues include the beginning of the Gauntlet story in Amazing Spider-Man. With Mark Waid writing and Paul Azaceta drawing the introduction, Joe Kelly and his I Kill Giants artist Niimura handle a Black Cat story.

From DC we get the penultimate issue of the Flash: Rebirth, with some incredible art from Ethan Van Sciver. At this point, with Blackest Night and everything else it seems like this book has kind of gone by the wayside and we know that Barry Allen is back and he is back to stay. So why stay with this book? Well, I feel like its still interesting to see how he comes back, plus all the Flashes together makes for some neat visuals.

Finally, an Indie book called Viking, written by one of the best comic writers that you may or may not know of, Ivan Brandon, takes on a viking crime book with artist Nic Klein. This is a beautifully dialogued, and gorgeously rendered book that is a feast for your eyes. Its easily the best put together comic on the market so I urge you all to try it out.

As always, we here at The Flickcast care about what you read, so leave us a comment and let us know what you liked/didn’t like from this week’s comics. For a more complete list of what comes out this week, check out the one at Midtown Comics.

When the idea for a book called 1000 Comic Books You Must Read came about, I’d imagine that picking an author for the project would be almost as difficult as picking which 1000 comic books to focus on. Luckily for Krause Publications they had just the person right under their noses: Tony Isabella.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Isabella’s accomplishments, and more importantly (in this case), credentials, allow me to fill in the blanks for you. He’s been a writer and/or editor for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics – along with a smattering of other publishers – for over 30 years. He’s reviewed and written about comics and comics-related items for Comic Buyer’s Guide – produced each month by F+W Media, which is also affiliated with Krause Publications – in his “Tony’s Tips” column for almost the same period of time.

He’s arguably read more comics than most of us comic aficionados hope to read in our lifetimes. While judging comics always comes with the usual “how it’s interpreted” hang-up, having Tony Isabella at the helm is definitely a step in the right direction.

So how’s the book? For starters, neglecting the urge to rank said comics was probably the best decision the powers that be ever made in regards to this project. All ranked lists do nothing but fuel debate, which the seemingly endless Internet trolls love to argue and spit vitriol over. Instead, the book is broken up into sections spotlighting the various decades, ranging from the forties to the current decade.

There are two notable exceptions to the breakdown: a section for Superman’s first appearance and early issues as well as a section where Isabella talks about his pick for “the greatest comic book of all time” for an extended period. I won’t tell you which issue stood out for Isabella but I will say he makes some interesting points – both professionally and personally – as to why it was chosen.

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Pull of the Week:

Green Lantern #46 – DC – $2.99
Score: 7.5

As Blackest Night continues, as does the rest of the saga of Hal Jordan and the other Lantern Corps. This issue picks up immediately following the Indigo Lantern teleporting Hal away from the Flash in Blackest Night #3, Hal finds himself in the middle of the Star Sapphires battle with the Sinestro Corps as well as the Black Lanterns.

In the process of the attack from the Black Lanterns, the Star Sapphires must also worry about the threat of the Predator being released. Sharing the secret of how to destroy the Black Lanterns with Star Sapphire, Indigo-1 quickly transports away Hal, Sinestro and Star Sapphire as they try to gather bearers of the various lights. But to unite the various Corps, the split within the Sinestro Corps must be mended and only have one leader. Hal, Sinestro and Star Sapphire quickly realize that the Indigo Lantern has transported them to face off against Mongul, the Yellow Lantern who has tried usurping Sinestro’s power.

Green Lantern #46 is a great addition to the “Blackest Night” story. In many ways, it has a touch of the epic galactic storytelling that made War of Kings such a good story as well. The encounters of this book don’t just affect those on planet earth. This story is one that feels like it has the potential behind it to change everything. But even as this monstrously large storyline takes place, Geoff Johns makes sure to include some quality character building on top of the story. There are tons of callbacks to Sinestro’s past, especially focusing on Abin Sur, the Green Lantern who passed his ring on to Hal Jordan and had always spoke openly of the prophecies surrounding the Blackest Night.

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