He-man.org has posted a number of VERY tentative release dates for upcoming NECA He-Man products.

• Wave 4 Mini-Statues (Leech, Snake Face, Webstor) – OCTOBER 2006
• 15″ Trapjaw Statue – NOVEMBER 2006
• 8″ Zodak Mini-Bust – NOVEMBER 2006
• King Randor repaint Mini-Statue (AFX Exclusive) – FALL 2006
• Wave 5 Mini-Statues (Rio Blast, Sssqueeze, Evil-Lyn) – FEBRUARY 2007
• 15″ He-Man Statue – FEBRUARY 2007
• Kobra Khan Mini-Statue (Exclusive for unrevealed retailer) – SPRING 2007

Also mentioned was the availability of a quantity of the classic colored Evil-Lyn mini-statue to the NECA collector club.

On the anniversary of Judgement Day, The Movie Blog brings us news that the franchise seems to be getting ready for a TV property, following the life and times of Sarah Connor after the events of the second movie. David Nutter, of the Smallville pilot, will be directing.

Another day, another leak from the set of Transformers: The Movie. The Movie Blog brings us the face of Bumblebee. I have included the picture after the jump to avoid any spoiling. The only spoiler though is the face. It is good to see an Autobot sigil finally. Its good to know something hasn’t changed.

[Edit – Crazy: It seems that Roberto Orci has chimed in on the Don Murphy boards with this quote: “without confirming or denying anything, all faces will have CG elements augmenting them.”.]
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Oh happy day! The Tick Season 1 is out! I ran out to the store to get my copy. What a great show it was and how I was excited to watch the first season again in it’s entirety!

Looking at the package I had some trouble telling how many episodes were in season 1. I still wanted it I just wondered whether it was a bargain or not because to be honest if it was just 13 episodes for 37.99$ Canadian that’s a pretty crappy deal. Looking through the episode titles on the back I see “Does not contain episode 11”.

Why the God damned hell not?!

Needless to say the DVD remains on the shelf where I found it. I may very well buy it later but 12 episodes for 38$ on it’s own is pretty sub par not to mention the aggravation of knowing I’m missing that one episode. What a debacle of Sailor Moon R ADV boxed set proportions. Okay sorry I take it back nothing could be that bad. Anyway I was just too pissed off so I left it on the shelf and thought I’d look in to what the hell was going on.

Well apparently Internet has known about this for about 3 months now. I get all my relevant news from Powet and they must have missed that one. Oh well. The reasons it seems have something to do with rights. Not sure why. The episode is the one where the Mole people come up from the ground and the one Mole wants to marry the supermodel with a mole on her face like Cindy Crawford has. Now I get that this was a Cindy Crawford parody but I’m sure they don’t pay Batman royaltees for the Die Fledermaus character who’s a rip off of him or Superman for that matter. Bah. Anyway that pisses me off. And maybe that’s not even it but those fat cats at Disney felt while it was okay to rip an episode out of this boxset it wasn’t acceptable to give us an honest explanation of why we’re not getting it.

It’s so God damned easy to do things right. Why the hell do idiots have to make it so damned complicated? Think twice before picking this one up my friends and screw all you Tick fans who say it’s no big deal just so you can justify your purchase. You’re allowed to buy something and still be pissed off about it you know.

Snakes on a Plane #1 (of 2)
Written by Chuck Dixon, art by Gordon Purcell, covers by J.G. Jones and Jerome K. Moore

For the sake of honesty, I’m going to be perfectly up front and admit that I will not be buying this comic. I just want the world to know that it exists. Also, this image I believe is just for the variant cover, for all you Snakes on a Plane comic book collectors out there. The normal one should just be photo work. Exciting!

Since that’s just about all the nice things I have to say about the book, here’s DC’s fantastic description of it:

You’ve heard the Internet buzz…seen the hair-raising trailer…now experience the 2-part comic-book adaptation of the sensational soon-to-be released major motion picture from New Line Cinema Snakes on a Plane, written by Chuck Dixon (NIGHTWING) with art by Gordon Purcell and painted covers by J.G. Jones (52) and Jerome K. Moore (JSA: LOST)!

Snakes on a Plane stars Samuel L. Jackson as an FBI agent assigned to escort a government witness on a flight to Los Angeles. But when a crimelord sets loose hundreds of deadly snakes during the flight, the agent must band together with the pilot, frightened crew and passengers in a desperate attempt to survive and protect his witness!

Issue #180 of Wizard is going to give a preview of The Mighty Avengers, the upcoming second Avengers book that’ll be done by Bendis and Cho. To promote their promoting of a book (a promotion of a promotion which I, myself, am now promoting), they’ve got an image up to show off the lineup:

• Ms. Marvel, Wonder Man, and Iron Man are all deeply entrenched in the Pro side.
• Black Widow works for the government.
• Yellowjacket – ex-husband and longtime matched pair with the Wasp – has also been prominently featured on the Pro side.

The only puzzler is Axe Man. Based on other interviews, this must be Ares. But why’s he here? I guess it’d help if I’d read his miniseries. Heard it was decent.

Speaking pragmatically, one the one hand, he makes a good counterpart to Thor. But on the other hand, why isn’t Thor on this team? I guess that means him and Spidey are jumping ship together. Quitters. Anyway, keep your eyes on the news sites tomorrow night, as there’ll no doubt be more news busting down the doors during an otherwise quiet week for comics.

Shit Sandwich.

This game is terrible. I’ve played some dumbed down crap games, but never had an excellent, barnstormer game like Burnout been lost so completely.

The blame lies entirely in the DS hardware. It can’t support Criterions’s “RenderWare” engine. The game engine in its place is some kind of Ridge Racer knock off, very slow, with the added ability to explode on any crash. But with the limited DS capabilities, the crashes don’t entertain or amaze like the Xbox version or whatever.

I don’t even want to talk about it. Its been out for months, but I finally rented it. I really loved Burnout Revenge. I really hate this. I had to post this just in case someone out there might find it in a bargain bin and remember how well reviewed the console versions were.

Its now being hailed at the most anticipated movie of 2007, and its production has been a long time in the making and the subject of much fan speculation, cheer, and frustration.

I have read John Roger’s script, “Pime Directive.” I am going to let you know right now I am a Transformers fan. I’ve read virtually every issue of every comic series, spent thousands on toys, and can recite the 1986 movie word for word. But I’m also a movie fan, and would rather have no new Transformer movie than another terrible summer action movie, and I recognize how even the best adaptations end up shattered promises, failing to deliver on the origins of a great source.

New elements do not puzzle or needlessly change the history of the franchise, but enhance the narrative, allowing the introduction and origin to be told in a more accesible way. The military presence in the movie is felt throughout, and not only does it work, it makes me wonder why the army never took up arms against Transformers before. This does not take away, this does not change, this adds to the story.

Not to say its perfect. In fact, theres 2 characters I don’t really care for at all and could be taken out completely and even losing their expository dialog we’d still have a functional plot and movie. But I do like what I have read. It will not win any academy awards, but it will satisfy a summer movie audience.

Weighing in at 112 pages, this would make the movie, if shot directly from the page, a little less than 2 hours. Fans might not like that it takes a while to really get any Autobots, but the first half of Spiderman and Batman Begins are decidedly without the title hero, so its not that big a deal. It is felt right away this is a movie for Michael Bay when action sequences come with little down time within minutes of the films start. This will be a spectacle film, and I have high hopes the fights suggested on the page translate into elaborate brawls and firefights.

I’m also happy to report the new characters Blackout and Barricade are really cool. Blackout (called “Vortex” in script) is a military attack helicopter, and one of the largest Decepticons. He’s involved very early on in the film, and is interesting enough to make you wonder why any helicopter Transformers of the past had been this well utilized. Barricade (script name “Brawl”) is a high powered police car, and while theres no corny “bad cop” stuff in his dialog or actions, it all really works when put together.

Thats really a ringing endorsement if there ever was one. This movie is not corny. It is not Scooby Doo. Its not Spy Kids. It takes itself seriously whenever possible. The Bumblebee & Spike stuff is bordering on stupid, but Shia LaBeouf is a good comedic actor and he may be able to pull this off. Everyone involved openly says they want to start a new movie franchise, and Michael Bay is anxious to direct a movie kids and parents can both enjoy. I’ve got to have faith they’re not interested in ruining it for the existing fans, and really trying to make new ones.

Continue on for a spoiler-enhanced review.
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