New Product From Forbiddenplanet.co.uk - Rogue Bishoujo figure

Every once in a while I come across an item in my job that I really love. There have been quite a few this year but this new product from the masters at Kotobukiya is one of my favourites for 2009.

Following the plethora of Marvel statues being pumped out by the Japanese company this Bishoujo figure statue (Bishoujo literally translates as "beautiful young girl) of X-Men comics favourite mutant "Rogue" is a gorgeous piece. I've already ordered mine as I'm a big Rogue fan (not the movie version, Anna Paquin sucked, I mean the comic and 80's cartoon version) and this anime style statue represents her really well. Standing 7 & 3/5 inches tall (1/8 scale) Rogue has been designed by master Japanese illustrator Syunya Yamashita, who has worked on some stunning female busts for Koto in the past.

Only £39.99 which is 20% off, this statue is a great release. Click here to see it on FP's site

Kevin McKidd For Thor?

Over the last month there have been rumours of Rome and Journeyman actor Kevin McKidd being the front runner for the part of the Mjolnir wielding Thunder-God "Thor" in the 2010 movie.
McKidd's agents have indeed been talking to Marvel studios about the Kenneth Branagh directed movie but it seems the execs are actually looking for a younger actor for the title role. Someone closer to 20 years old (which worries the hell out of me when you look at the bigger picture for Avengers in 2011 next to actors like Robert Downey Jr, Edward Norton and whoever plays Captain America).

Kevin may still be cast in the movie as there's an older role that he's still under consideration for, but then again I don't think he would be too far off as the title role and it just seems the studio might be aiming for a slightly younger audience this time round and maybe an older one for Captain America... By the time Avengers does hit they'll have a huge audience base with a varied age range that'll hopefully go see it.

Kenneth Branagh recently broke the silence on directing Thor too."I am directing “Thor” or “The Mighty Thor’ as you might like to call it,” he said with a smile before clarifying what the title of the film will be. “I think it will be ‘Thor’.”
When asked what the appeal is with this movie Kenneth replied: “To work on a story about one of the immortals, Gods, extraordinary beings, inter-dimensional creatures,” he enthused.
He continued excitedly, “There’s science fiction and science fact and fantasy all woven into one. It’s based on Norse legends which Marvel sort of raided in a brilliant way.

Now it's just a matter of time before we hear who will actually play Thor...

Kevin McKidd as Thor?

Bettie Page, Legendary 1950's Pinup Dies Aged 85

Only 3 weeks ago I posted about the new limited edition 6" red lingerie statue of Bettie Page, the 1950's pinup and sexual icon. Last Thursday at the age of 85 Bettie died from pneumonia.

As I mentioned before I was, and still am, a huge fan of Bettie Page. She was a phenomenon in her day and remembered fondly by many ever since. She was the inspiration behind many characters in movies and comics (a movie biopic of her life was released in 2006: The Notorious Bettie Page) and was a poster girl for an entire generation, leading the revolution for a new sexual awakening in the 50's and 60's. I'm only 30 years old but she was still one of my fantasy girls when I was young, along side women on my wall like Jet from Gladiators, Cindy Crawford, Pamela Anderson, Erika Eleniak and Gillian Anderson (quite a varied mix I know).

R.I.P Bettie, you will be remembered xxx.

Better Late Than Never...

So, as regular readers can clearly see, my promise of posts coming thick and fast over last weekend didn't actually happen. Apologies for that!
The time I'd set aside to get posts done got totally wiped out with my house suffering a 4 hour power cut and the rest of my week being so busy my feet haven't touched the ground. I guess it's just that time of year.. It's funny when something like a power cut happens, especially to someone like me who's life literally revolves around TV and computers. I was reduced to sitting in complete silence (I still had light) with the only options being to go to bed early or read a book.
Luckily I'd only recently received the latest installment of the unbelievably addictive Walking Dead Hardcover Book 4. This ongoing zombie survival horror is probably one of the best graphic novels you can ever read, even if you're not a fan of horror (as I'm not at all). Robert Kirkman's writing creates such a rich and realistic character base and some visceral, gut wrenching, moments that you get completely drawn in and involved to the survivors plight. I have to say that the last few pages of book 4 actually affected me so much I felt like I lost people that I actually knew, I felt sick, such is Kirkman's ability to shock his readers. Artist Tony Moore should get a huge portion of the praise too with his fantastically simple, yet sickeningly accurate black and white art depictions of the action. If you get the chance to pick up these books you should. As with Image's Invincible books you won't regret spending the money.


Again, I will be attempting to update as much as possible over the next week but it's still a very busy time for me so forgive me if you don't see a huge amount until new year.

Streetfighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li - New Pictures

Yet more images from the potentially cringe-worthy/ potentially cool Legend Of Chun-Li movie. I have to admit that Kristin Kreuk looked a lot hotter than usual in the most recent episode of Smallville (where she returns for Chole's wedding and kicks some Green Arrow butt at the beginning) but I'm still not sure she was ever the right choice to play Chun Li. Here are the new pics, make your own choice.

Upcoming Movies - US Release Dates

Here's the current list of upcoming movies with their release dates and distributing movie studio. There are some good movies coming to our screens very soon and a few I didn't even know about!

2009
06-Feb
Coraline
Summit Entertainment
13-Feb
Friday the 13th
New Line Cinema
27-Feb
Street Fighter
Fox
06-Mar
Watchmen
Warners
27-Mar
Monsters vs Aliens
Paramount
03-Apr
Wolfman
Universal
10-Apr
Dragonball
Fox
01-May
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Fox
06-May
Star Trek
Paramount
22-May
Terminator Salvation
Warners
29-May
Up
Disney
26-Jun
Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen
Paramount
17-Jun
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Warners
07-Aug
GI Joe: Rise of Cobra
Paramount
11-Sep
Whiteout
Warners
02-Oct
Toy Story 3D
Disney
16-Oct
Where the Wild Things Are
Warners
23-Oct
Astro Boy
Summit Entertainment
06-Nov
Nottingham
Universal
20-Nov
Sherlock Holmes
Warners
18-Dec
Avatar
Fox
2010
12-Feb
Toy Story 2 3D
Disney
30-Apr
Iron Man 2
Paramount
07-May
Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Disney
21-May
Shrek goes Fourth
Dreamworks
28-May
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Disney
11-Jun
A-Team
Fox
16-Jun
Toy Story 3 3D
Disney
25-Jun
Green Hornet
Sony
02-Jul
M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender
?
16-Jun
Thor
Paramount
08-Nov
James Bond 23
MGM
19-Nov
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Warners
25-Dec
The Hobbit Part 1
Warners
2011
06-May
The First Avenger: Captain America
Paramount
11-Jul
The Avengers
Paramount

New Terminator: Salvation Poster

Released recently, this new poster below from the Terminator: Salvation movie is basic but effective. The Terminator skull melding into a human skull is pretty creepy but reflects the fact that these chrome killing machines evolve into human looking infiltrators that resemble Austrian bodybuilders... From what I've seen there are numerous Terminator models in this movie including killer motorbike versions and a giant building sized mecha version as the well known hunter killers and T versions.

I'm back again...

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. What with work, the kids, and a growing obsession with X-box live (in particular the unbelievably addictive Left 4 Dead) I've not had the time to get on here and post...

Posts should hopefully be coming thick and fast over the coming weekend so stay tuned!

New Product @ Forbiddenplanet.co.uk - Bettie Page Red Lingerie 6" Statue

When I was young there were many famous women that I had a 'thing' for and had their numerous posters and pictures adorning my bedroom walls. There was one woman that completely captivated me though... this woman was the 1950's model Bettie Page.

I wrote the following basic description for the solicitation to the FP site myself:

Bettie Page is a former American model who became famous in the 1950's for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She was also one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for Playboy magazine.

Bettie has become a cult icon and products based on her image are hugely popular and highly collectible. Her previous statues have sold out in record time in the past so this extremely limited edition 6" statue of Bettie in red lingerie will be an extremely hot collector piece.

If you click on this LINK you can get this great little piece for £46.99, that's 22% off the RRP.

Astroboy - New Teaser Trailer

The techno-age Pinocchio; 'Astroboy' is set to thrill audiences in 2009. Here's the brand new teaser trailer to wet your appetites!

Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans - New One Sheet Poster

This one sheet poster from the new Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans movie shows Bill Nighy as Viktor looking pretty hard-ass on his throne. It's unfortunate that although this looks like a good movie we already know all the characters fates... Which it can be said isn't good for any of them!!!

He-Man Movie 'Grayskull' - Killed By Warner Bros

Unfortunately a potentially kick-ass movie based on an iconic 80's cartoon character and toy line is shot dead before it even gets going.

The movie titled Grayskull: The Masters of the Universe was first announced last May during the Transformers movie hype and was going to be spearheaded by producer Joel Silver (Matrix/ Speed Racer) and written by the up-and-coming screenwriter Justin Marks. Said to be Mark's best ever script, Grayskull was set to blow cinema-goers away with a serious, no comedy, Batman Begins themed story showing the origins of Prince Adam, Skeletor and the Power Sword on planet Eternia. The script was reviewed to be like Lord of the Rings and Matrix combined, but in a believable reality of technology and fantasy and a fanboy's dream. The movie would have been a very hard and edgy PG-13, nearing the R rating (US ratings, so maybe a 15 for us) but it had the potential to be a good as, if not better than Transformers... Damn I hate Warner Bros for killing it!

Unfortunately the movie hit the rocks from the start with Silver's last movie Speed Racer turning out to be a flop and Silver's very short list of proposed directors not being at all interested in the project. Then one of the execs from Silver's company left and as he was the guy that brought the project onto Warner Bros plate in the first place it just ended up fizzling out and WB dropping the idea completely.

I have to admit to being a huge fan of the 1987 Dolph Lundgren movie as well as the 80's cartoons and toys so this would have been one of my dream movies. Shame it'll now never be...

I HAVE THE POWERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! ;(

Ryan Gosling - Front Runner For Green Lantern Role

The word on the grapevine is that Lars And The Real Girl star 'Ryan Gosling' is the front runner to star as DC's Green Lantern. It hasn't been mentioned yet whether the movie's GL will be based on Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner but either way I'm not sure with this decision. He might fit the role of a young Hal, or even Kyle if you dyed his hair black, but Ryan doesn't fit my ideals for the role at this point. Nothing's set in stone just yet but you could be seeing Mr. Gosling wearing the jade power ring very soon!

Red Dwarf - New Episode News

In an interview with SFX Magazine Robert Llewellyn (better known as Kryten) stated that there will be 4 episodes coming to the UK channel Dave in 2009.

2 episodes will be structured the same as the original series with the same cast and the same sort of feel but the other two episodes will be slightly different. One will be take a retrospective look at the life on Red Dwarf and the other will be a clip show with a serious difference.

Red Dwarf is the BBC's biggest-selling series on DVD and one of my favourite programmes of all time. I can't wait to see the new episodes, in whatever format they take, so "Smeg It, Let's Get Out There And Twat'em!"

Is This The Most Beautiful Woman In The World - Part 2

OK so we all know that Angelina Jolie is possibly the most beautiful woman in the World in my opinion. However there are a few that could quite easily take her crown in my opinion.

Megan Fox for instance is a prime candidate for the moniker of "most beautiful". The smouldering 22 year old was first seen by myself and many others in Michael Bay's 2007 Transformers movie, although she'd done some TV and movie work before Transformers gave her her big break. She's since become one of the hottest female properties in Hollywood with photographers literally fighting each other to take her pictures and the World's male (and female) population not being able to get enough of her. She's starred in How To Lose Friends And Alienate People and Jennifer's Body since the first TF movie and is set to reprise her role as Mikaela Banes in next years Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen. Please God give us more of Miss Fox!

Just take a look at some of the pictures below and see if you agree with me...

Death In The City?

The Grim Reaper is to play a starring role in the next Sex and the City movie - but which of the girls is going to meet her maker? That is the question currently taking up Sara Jessica Parker's time as one of the producers of the sequel to this year's hit big-screen comeback for the former TV cast. "There is no doubt that a sequel will happen but the producers are very aware that something dramatic has to happen in order to keep the fans captivated," reports a movie insider. "There is a very strong possibility that one of the main characters will be killed off but it's not clear who yet. Obviously it's unlikely to be Carrie but any of the others could meet their end. Scripts are already being worked on with various scenarios."

This news was a rampant rumor for the first movie and the trailers helped spur that rumor along, especially when Carrie drops her mobile phone just before her wedding, only for it to turn out she'd been dumped at the aisle instead... Whether this supposed death actually happens is another matter but I really can't see Sex and the City losing one of the 4 main cast, and I'm sure fans would be pushed away rather than captivated if they did go ahead and bump off a girlie. It's a sly marketing technique at the very least, fans will go and watch it just to see who it is and how they go. My choice: Miranda...

X-Men 4 - First News On Possible New Movie

Variety is reporting that Josh Schwartz (exec producer of Gossip Girl, as well as The O.C. and Chuck) will be writing (and possibly directing) the fourth installment of the film franchise, X-Men: First Class, with plans to "inject a next-gen sensibility into the superhero series," according to Variety.

X-Men: First Class is the name of a best-selling 2006 X-Men limited series and 2007 mini-series imagining the very early adventures of Professor Xavier's first group of mutant students: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, and The Beast. The X-Men sported revamped costumes and the stories included other characters such as Lizard, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Man-Thing, Gorilla-Man, and Thor.

I guess a prequel of sorts is the only way you could really have another X-Men movie (seeing as Brett Ratner killed off Xavier, Cyclops and Jean Grey plus the entire franchise for that matter, with Last Stand...). I wonder though who would play a younger Xavier in the new film? Patrick Stewart would be far too old by that point to play a youthful version... We'll have to wait to see if this is all true, at this point I hope not!

X-Men: First Class

Captain America: The First Avenger - Director Secured

Joe Johnston has inked a deal to direct "First Avenger: Captain America," Marvel Studios' take on its classic comic book character. Marvel's Kevin Feige is producing.

Johnston has directed movies such as Honey I Shrunk The Kids, The Rocketeer, Jumangi, October Sky, Jurassic Park III, Hidalgo and the upcoming 2009 Wolfman movie. He's also the guy responsible for the final designs for Boba Fett and Yoda and numerous vehicles for Star Wars and for storyboarding the convoy sequence in Indiana Jones: Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

Reports suggest the movie will be set almost entirely, if not exclusively, in World War II (which I think is a great decision) and then the character will appear in the modern day setting for Avengers. The word is that Cap himself will resemble the Ultimates version and not the initial comics version (another good decision).

Again I'm a huuuuuge Captain America fan and have numerous items of memorabilia including a full size shield, statues, mighty muggs and various action figures... I can't wait for this particular Marvel movie to come out, regardless of who the actor is who plays Cap!

Smallville's Cloverfied-esque Episode Has Doomsday!

WARNING EPISODE SPOILERS

Episode 10 of the current run of Smallville's season 8 will not only bring Chloe and Jimmy together in holy matrimony (finally) but will also be unique and possibly the most awaited episode in its entire run. Unique because it will be almost entirely viewed through a handheld video camera (a la Cloverfield) and the most awaited episode as Doomsday has finally arrived. And no I don't mean Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer), we've seen him and he's beginning to simply bore me, I'm talking about the big, mean, spiky, "Ultimate Destroyer" Doomsday.

After Chloe and Jimmy tie the knot the big lummox crashes the party and causes mass destruction on poor old Clark's barn and the wedding guests, nearly killing Jimmy and kidnapping Chloe (like we didn't see that coming). I gather Clark must be out for the count as he's not on hand to rescue anyone from the clip I've seen. Although there are no pics of Doomsday circulating the net just yet below are 3 grainy images, one of Jimmy and Chloe getting married and two of the scene where Doomsday sweeps Chloe off her feet (literally). You can make out Chloe laying close to a knocked out Jimmy Olsen in one pic and then the other pic is of Doomsday's legs with Chloe's wedding dress just above. Believe me he's there...

We'll see if the big D actually shows himself fully and if we'll all have a laugh at how poor he looks compared to the comic version (that image at the top of this post) but if this doesn't satiate your appetite you'll be pleased to know that episode 11 (titled 'Legion') sees 3 members of the Legion of Superheroes travelling back in time to help Clark eradicate Braniac from Chloe... Will they be dressed in embarrassing, brightly coloured Lycra? Maybe, but it's good to see the producers having a little more fun with the DC Universe characters in the stories again (just like with the mini Justice League of Green Arrow, Flash, Black Canary, Cyborg and Aquaman) even if it is Smallville's last season.

Punisher: Warzone - Trailer And Pics

I have to admit that this is one Marvel movie I'm not holding my breath to see. Although I'm a fan of the character of Frank Castle/ Punisher I haven't overly enjoyed the last two movie incarnations and my instincts tell me this new one isn't going to change my mind. Either way below are some movie stills and the trailer for those of you who actually want to see it. Released December 5th in the US but no date set for the UK from what I can tell.

Synopsis:

Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante anti-hero Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the "Punisher Task Force" hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.

The Punisher and his heavy weaponry.

Wayne Knight as 'Micro', Frank's armourer.

Angela (Julie Benz) and Grace (Stephanie Janusauskas).

Det. Martin Soap (Dash Mihok), Paul Budiansky (Colin Salmon) and 'The Punisher' Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson).

Ray Stevenson stars as Frank Castle -- a/k/a The Punisher.

Jigsaw (Dominic West) and his brother Loony Bin Jim (Doug Hutchison).

Dominic West as 'Jigsaw'.

Race To Witch Mountain - NewTrailer

Here's the new trailer for a film I now definately want to see. It's Disney, it's sci-fi and it stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson" and the gorgeous Carla Gugino, it's bound to be good!

Synopsis:

A UFO expert enlists the help of a cabbie to protect two siblings with paranormal powers from the clutches of an organization that wants to use the kids for their nefarious plans.

Click on his LINK to download a HQ quicktime version from Rapidshare.