The Flickcast

Jack Kirby’s Family Sues Marvel

Posted on September 24, 2009

It would seem the children of legendary comic book creator Jack Kirby want some of that four billion dollars that changed hands between Marvel and Disney a few weeks back. Earlier this week, The Kirby estate issued 45 notices of termination of copyright against Marvel. If acted on, it means Marvel could lose control of characters such as The Silver Surfer, Hulk, The Fantastic Four, and Thor (to name just a few). Of course, Marvel would seemingly never let such a pantheon of characters go so this could end up turning into a windfall for the Kirby kids in the way of royalties.

It’s hard not to compare this case with the ongoing actions between Warner Brothers (specifically DC Comics/Entertainment) and the estate of Superman creator Jerry Siegel. Siegel’s family is seeking to regain the rights to Superman from DC. Actually, the connection is closer then you may think. You see, the law firm representing the Siegel family, LA-based Toberoff and Associates, is the same one acting on behalf of the Kirby family.

Heather Locklear Joins ‘Melrose Place’

Posted on September 23, 2009

In 1992, Executive Producer Aaron Spelling’s latest soap-drama Melrose Place was lacking some serious ratings sizzle. Heather Locklear was recruited to play the stiletto heeled, micro-mini wearing maneater, Amanda Woodward. The character stirred things up in the boardroom (at D&D advertising agency) and in the bedroom.

Almost overnight, ratings climbed, and Locklear was credited with a 22% rise in ratings, according to Entertainment Weekly. Originally hired for a guest starring stint, Locklear remained on the show throughout its 7 year run, and her character’s bitchy persona and questionable board-room attire provided fodder for countless water cooler chats.

Later, Locklear appeared on Spin City, Scrubs, and Two and Half Men. All three shows saw a bump in ratings as well (“The Locklear Effect”, so to speak). Her 2004 series LAX didn’t fare as well, though, and was quickly canceled.

New Smallville Season 9 Clip: ‘The Future’

Posted on September 23, 2009

Much like the rest of the universe of comic and TV fans out there, we have had a love/hate relationship with Smallville. The first few seasons were fun, but then the show began to lose it’s focus, along with a number of dedicated fans. Last season, that all seemed to change with the move of the show’s setting from Smallville to Metropolis, and more specifically, the Daily Planet.

At the end of last season, one of the big cliffhangers that was thrown into the last hour was that of Lois Lane (played by Erica Durance) disappearing into the future after stumbling across a Legion of Superheroes ring that one of the Legionaires left on their last visit.

Check out a new clip from Friday night’s season premiere in which Chloe (Allison Mack) and Clark (Tom Welling) discuss Lois’s disappearance–and reappearance–from the present time. This clip also alludes to a new villain for this season, which we will have a clip of tomorrow. Don’t forget to catch Smallville in it’s 9th season this Friday on The CW and 8PM/7PM Central.

Summit Hires Team To Reboot ‘Highlander’

Posted on September 23, 2009

We here at The Flickcast are all but shocked when we hear about this thing or that getting rebooted or remade. Sadly, we were a little bit surprised when news came that 1986’s Highlander is getting a fancy Hollywood facelift, and even has a director and producer attached.

Distributor Summit Entertainment is going forward with the reboot of the film, hiring the team of Justin Lin to direct and Neal H. Moritz to produce. The team was also behind Fast and Furious, which was one of the bigger film of the year, and the highest grossing title of the year for Universal Pictures.

Summit has had great success so far with the adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series (with New Moon hitting theaters this November). According to Variety this may be the birth of another franchise for the company:

Summit plans to expand on the original “Highlander” premise of immortals hunting each other through the ages. The new pic will center on the immortal Scottish swordsman Connor MacLeod, who must confront a murderous barbarian who lusts for a fabled prize.

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New ‘Surrogates’ Featurette: ‘Losing Your Surrogate’

Posted on September 23, 2009

We’ve discussed the notion of how cool it would be to see a movie where Bruce Willis takes on an army of robots, and this week, we’ll actually get to see it happen in theaters across the country. This Friday marks the national release of Bruce Willis in Surrogates from Disney and Touchstone pictures.

For those who are unaware of the film’s premise, yet intrigued by the idea of Willis kicking tin butt, the plot is simple. Humans grow lazy and develop a robotics program that allows them to play as robot versions of themselves from the comfort of their own homes. Those robots are able to do all the things that humans could not, without all the risk of…well, risk. This is all good and well until a person gets murdered when his surrogate is killed. FBI agent Bruce Willis is on the job, and in order to do it, he must step outside as himself, not his robotic counterpart.

There’s a brand new featurette hitting the web, which has a few people from the film discussing it. Alongside stars Willis and Radha Mitchell is director Jonathan Mostow, producer Max Handelman and co-writer of the original graphic novel, Robert Venditti.

Check out the video after the jump, and catch Surrogates in theaters this Friday.

More ‘Left 4 Dead’ Announcements: ‘Crash Course’ and ‘L4D2’ Demo

Posted on September 23, 2009

252px-Left4Dead_Windows_cover As we reported yesterday, a title update went live for Left 4 Dead which updated the Infected HUD. Many people also speculated it would play a role in laying the coding framework for the new “Crash Course” Campaign, even though it hadn’t been given a release date. On the heels of that update comes the announcement that “Crash Course” is indeed coming before the end of the month to both PC and XBox 360 on September 29th.

The update will be free for PC players but will be 560 Microsoft Points ($7.00) on the XBox 360 due to XBox Marketplace rules regarding free Downloadable Content. “Crash Course” is presented as a more streamlined multiplayer experience for L4D players, containing a half hour campaign that links together the events of the original retail release’s “No Mercy” and “Death Toll” campaigns.

Exclusive: Andrea Romano Talks Casting ‘Superman/Batman: Public Enemies’

Posted on September 23, 2009

All week long, we’ve been bringing you daily exclusive interviews with some of the folks behind the scenes for DC’s newest animated venture, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, which gets a release next Tuesday. Monday, we had a chat with the screenwriter of the feature, Stan Berkowitz, then yesterday executive producer Michael Goguen on adapting the comic to the animated screen.

In continuing with that fashion, we got a chance to speak with legendary casting director Andrea Romano out at Comic-Con, and she was more than elated to discuss getting the “dream team” back together in Tim Daley, Kevin Conroy, and Clancy Brown as Superman, Batman, and Lex Luthor respectively.

Check out the video after the jump, as we discuss the team coming back together, some of the cameos we may or may not see, and what Clancy Brown’s original idea was for Superman: The Animated Series. Keep it here all week for more interviews before the release of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies on September 29th.

Review: ‘The Haunted World of El Superbeasto’

Posted on September 23, 2009

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You may remember that back in the earlier part of this decade, Spike TV resurrected Ren & Stimpy. Basically they gave creator John K. free reign, and he delivered 10 adult-themed episodes. The emphasis was clearly on the visuals; the sole purpose of the stories were to add some semblance of structure to each animated sequence—but the animation was superb.

The Haunted World of El Superbeasto is pretty much the same thing.

The animation is top-notch and heavily derived from John K.’s style. And, like John K.’s cartoons, it’s filled with innumerable little details and delightful visual gags while at the same time maintaining a sense of spontaneity and chaos.

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