This is a “remix” of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Edward Cullen from Twilight. And yep, it’s pretty funny. It plays the overwrought, overdramatic bits of Twilight up against the snarky, sarcastic Buffy we all love.

Yet I am a bit irritated by the constant comparison of Buffy to Twilight as if Buffy was perfect and Bella Swan just a horrendous corruption of all feminist ideals. Was I the only one who remembers the part where Buffy slept with not one, but two vampires who also stalked her, hovered outside her bedroom while she slept, and in one instance, tried to rape her?

Buffy gets a pass because mostly she kicks vampire ass and in the end she doesn’t need any of the men. However, I very much doubt if you can scratch a Buffy fan and find someone who doesn’t get a bit emotional about Buffy and Angel. Forbidden love is as much a part of the Buffy mythos as Twilight–in fact, I describe Twilight to people as “The Buffy and Angel part of Buffy, without most of the sarcasm and action.”

But you know, the reason a lot of girls don’t want to call themselves feminists is because they think it means they have to hate men, or fit some certain vision of a “strong woman” that maybe they don’t want to fit. What if they’re quiet and bookish, like Bella Swan, not coordinated enough to fight vampires?

I’m not saying that Twilight is a perfect vision of the romance I think girls should aspire to–it’s not. But it’s fiction. The romance in Love in the Time of Cholera or Lolita or Beloved isn’t one that I want teenage girls aspiring to, either, yet I think those are all wonderful works of literature that should be widely read. And Buffy? Well, the human parts of Buffy are the ones that really kept us with her for seven seasons, not the perfect ass-kicking sarcasm machine. That would’ve gotten old, fast.

Nuke the Fridge is reporting that Blade: Trinity’s Jessica Biel is in talks for the upcoming Thor film.

Here’s the highlight of what they have to say:

Reportedly if cast, Biel will play the love interest of “Thor.” The most probable love interest for “Thor” would more than likely be “Jane Foster,” a nurse and girlfriend of “Thor” alter ego Donald Blake. But the problem is that our source was not sure of the character’s name, but seemed to believe it was the same female character from the animated “Hulk vs Thor.” If that is the case, since “Jane Foster” was not in the animated movie, Biel is more than likely playing either “Amora, The Enchantress” or “Sif.”

Granted, at this early stage in the game, everything is still rumor, and even if Biel is in talks, they could fall through at any point. While I know a lot of sites are betting she’d play Sif, I really can’t imagine her going brunette. And remember that in Blade Trinity, her battle preparation was uploading songs to her iPod.

Thoughts?

Not quite. But maybe.

George Clooney’s production company Smokehouse Entertainment is working on a movie entitled Escape From Tehran, documenting the true story of how the CIA used a fake movie project to smuggle hostages out of 1979 Tehran. What does this have to do with comics legend Jack Kirby? Jack Kirby did the storyboards for this faux movie.

Back in 2005, Wired Magazine did an article about it which you can read in full at their website. Long story short, Kirby did storyboards for a prospective movie based on the  Rogr Zelazny novel entitled Lord of Light. It also chronicles attempts to make a Colorado theme park entitled “Science Fiction Land” based on Kirby’s set designs for the movie.

Sadly, the movie and the theme park were never made — but work from it was used as part of the subterfuge by the CIA against Iran.

This story, and the larger one about Tehran would make good movie magic. Let’s hope they have room for Kirby in there somewhere.

Steve Weintraub has an interview at Collider.com with Johnny Depp, who’s working the publicity circuit for the Wednesday release of Public Enemies. The interview covers a range of topics from his love for director Tim Burton, and their upcoming collaborations like next year’s Alice in Wonderland and the planned-but-not-in-production-yet Dark Shadows. He also had something to say about the possibility of a fourth Pirates of the Carribbean:

On Pirates, Johnny said, “What we’re trying to do is just get a script in order and make sure it’s the right thing to do. If we can get a great script it’d be a ball.”

Go read the entire interview for more from Depp. It’s a good little read.

I’m sure a lot of you are rolling your eyes over the idea of yet another Pirates movie. I’ll admit, the sequels weren’t nearly as good as the original, which was pretty damn awesome. Dead Man’s Chest was boring as hell until the climax, but I thought At World’s End redeemed the franchise enough to make me want to see another sequel. And don’t even try to deny it; you know you’d still go see another one too, even if you thought the sequels were crap.

And though I’ve never been on an acid trip, I think seeing Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is going to be about as close as you can get to one without actually dropping acid.

One of my favorite things about watching Marvel superhero movies is seeing what Stan Lee is going to do in his obligatory cameo. Let’s face it, the only good thing about the first Fantastic Four movie was seeing Stan The Man playing Willie Lumpkin. Now, word has leaked out regarding who Smilin’ Stan will be playing in Iron Man 2. The info comes from Collider.com, so I’m not sure how reliable it is, especially considering they’ve admitted straight up they’ve only got one source for the news. Nor will they give any hints as to the source’s identity. That’s some bad journalism, right there. But, the news sort of makes since in context with his cameo in the first Iron Man flick, in which he played a pseudo Hugh Hefner. So if you don’t mind getting this little bit of casting info spoiled for you, click on this link to find out. If you don’t want to know, then just ignore this post and move on to the next post. I’m sure it’s a good one.

Y’know, I think a lot of people have gotten so wrapped up in this myth of Megan Fox (which goes hand in hand with the myth about Michael Bay, by the by), that no one seems to realize that she’s a real human.

And a comics geek to boot.

On Jimmy Kimmel last night, the Transformers actress revealed that she once wanted to become a comic book artist, before she became, to quote some CGI artists, “impossibly hot.” Not only did she draw a picture of Jimmy Kimmel (which was not half bad), but she also gave some love to Witchblade, Fathom, and Gen13, not to mention a shout-out to onetime Amazing Spider-Man cover artist J. Scott Campbell.

I’ll be honest — I wasn’t expecting that from her. She’s got a sense of humor, and a little bit of awkwardness regarding her sex appeal, and, well, it certainly makes her seem a bit more approachable. (Unless Especially if you’re this guy.) What say you, Rama readers?

Do you remember earlier this year when The Dark Knight was snubbed for a Best Picture nomination by the Oscars, despite being the highest-grossing movie of the year, one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, and featuring what is arguably one of the greatest performances in motion picture history? And do you remember how damn near everyone who saw the movie thought it got screwed? Well, if there was a silver lining in the situation, here it is: The New York Times is reporting that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will now be nominating ten films for Best Picture, instead of the traditional five. And it’s partly thanks to The Dark Knight.

From the article in the Times:

“We will be casting our net wide,” Sidney Ganis, the academy’s president, said in announcing the change at a morning news conference at the group’s headquarters here.

In a question-and-answer session that followed the announcement Mr. Ganis said, “I would not be telling you the truth if I said the words ‘Dark Knight’ did not come up.”

This is a pretty big deal when you think about it. How often have genre movies, comedies, and animated films gone without Best Picture nods due to the Academy’s refusal to acknowledge anything but period pieces and stuffy, bloated dramas? Yeah, the change is a few years too late, but better late than never.

G4 and Lucasfilms will be teaming up for an unprecedented live airing from the San Diego Comic Con!

The Star Wars Spectacular! will film at 2pm on July 25th, as a live airing of the main Lucasfilm panel from SDCC. In addition, Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira of Attack of the Show will meet up with Lucasfilm’s Steve Sansweet as well as voice talent from the Clone Wars television show, to give their own insider insight.

Never-before-seen footage will be shown, and there will be a live table reading of a new Clone Wars script. Furthermore, Lucasfilms will also unveil Star Wars Stories, which asks Jedi lovers everywhere to tell their movie memories and other tales of fandom, to help contribute to the company’s historical archive.

You can upload your stories here (or if you’re at the con, find Lucasfilm’s camera crew) — otherwise, make sure to set your TiVo, as G4 will be hitting the convention from 4-7pm!

Comics Nexus has just unveiled the latest of Neill Cameron’s A-Z of Awesomeness series, which has some pretty hilarious comic-related alphabetery (see what I did there? I made up a word, and it rocked).

That’s not to say that this is the best letter — they’re all equally the best. Well, the Inebriated Iron Man (for the Letter “I,” or as some lazy people type, the lower-case L) is sick and wrong, but also funny. As is Hagar’s actions to Hello Kitty. As is the Letter J.

[A tip of the hat to Manolis Vamvounis for introducing me to this debauchery]

Topless Robot has found the new trailer of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender online:

Love it? Hate it? Think he looks like the Dancing Baby from Ally McBeal? Share your thoughts!

While this story may have to do with Pixar’s new film Up, they’re more like the Incredibles for doing this.

The Orange County Register has written a story about how the computer-animation giant isn’t above helping out on a person-to-person basis.

When 10-year-old Colby Curtin was on her deathbed, after fighting a rare form of vascular cancer, Pixar employees brought a DVD copy of Up, which she wanted to see before she died.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” said Colby’s mother, Lisa Curtin. “I just know that word ‘Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”

Colby passed away only hours after seeing the film. But it’s good to know that with all that money, Pixar still hasn’t forgotten what has made it big: having a heart.

Yahoo! News has reported that Michael Bay is done with the Transformers franchise.

Here’s the quote that really stood out/surprised me/made me wonder if he’s ever seen any of his own movies: “I need to do something totally divergent, something without any explosions.” The dateline for this article is June 18, so this is not an April Fool’s gag.

He added that if the Transformers franchise goes to a third film, they’ll have to find another director.

“It’s easy to go shoot an art movie in a winery in the South of France,” Bay said. “But people have no idea how hard it is to create something like Transformers. They (the critics) review me before they’ve even seen the movie.”

It looks like a Wanted lady has some very good things to say about First Second.

Angelina Jolie, who has starred in roles varying from the Fox in Wanted to mother Christine Collins in the J. Michael Straczynski-penned film Changling, has given a rousing endorsement of First Second’s book, the Photographer, which follows the crew from Doctors Without Borders in the heart of war-torn Afghanistan.

“An unflinching and gripping photographic memoir, The Photographer takes you on a breathtaking journey through the best and worst humanity has to offer in times of war,” she said. “Turning its pages, the reader begins to understand what it means to lose everything as a refugee of war, to cross mountains to help someone you never met, to feel the intense responsibility of being the only one able to capture the last moments of a child’s stolen life. Suddenly Afghanistan, a distant land, a foreign culture, a courageous and resilient people seem closer, more familiar—more human. I love this book.”

A pretty cool coup for First Second, considering it comes from Forbes’ #1 most powerful celebrity. You can learn more about the book here.

Curious about the new Kate Beckinsale film, based on the Greg Rucka/Steve Lieber book by Oni Press?

Time to get more curious.

[Link via TrailerHQ]

Whoops - According to Greg Rucka himself (and pointed out below), this isn’t the trailer. At his blog, Rucka writes: “There’s a Whiteout trailer that’s apparently making the rounds at the moment. It is not the official movie trailer, but rather the teaser that WB put together for San Diego the year before last. It’s not bad, but it’s not the trailer.”

The trailer, according to Rucka, will be in front of the film Orphan.

Landline TV explains a lot about Megan Fox’s popularity. Because she’s CGI.

[Hat tip to Laura for showing me the truth]

IDW has posted on their blog that Linkin Park has released a video for “New Divide,” the theme for the upcoming film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Linkin Park – “New Divide”

The soundtrack will be available in stores on June 23rd.

TONIGHT: Kevin O’Neill at Forbidden Planet New York at 6:00. The artist behind The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, among many other books, will be appearing and signing books. Get in line!

Joelle Jones has some more of her gorgeous Endless drawings on her blog. Someone hire this girl to do a Delirium comic, stat. She also has a Blankets tribute and a gorgeous bit of Craig Thompson’s art as well.

Splash Page has more on Ryan Reynolds’ work on the upcoming Deadpool movie. Alas, no pictures…

You’ll probably want to skip straight to this one, because Warren Ellis has a color page from Planetary #27. Yes, it’s really going to happen.

Finally, I bring you a thought-provoking essay on the lack of black supervillains, at Comics Waiting Room. (via When Fangirls Attack)

Via Comics Worth Reading, apparently IGN is running a contest to win a trip to San Diego Comic Con to participate in an “Assignment.” Cool, right?

Unless you, like me, are a female over the age of 24. Though we too might like to meet District 9 director (and, um, Lord of the Rings director) Peter Jackson, we are apparently excluded. As Johanna notes, the rules of the contest state:

This sweepstakes is open only to males who are both legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and Washington D.C. and who are at least between 18-24 years of age as of July 23, 2009

I can almost understand trying to restrict the contest to younger people–almost. But why on earth would this contest be restricted only to “males”?

Like there aren’t enough men in the comics/film/sci-fi fields already, we need to make sure that only boys get to participate in these type of contests? Like comic conventions don’t have enough guys at them, you need to import extras?

Apparently in the latest Wizard magazine, Shia LeBouf says he doesn’t want to play Yorick in the upcoming Y: The Last Man movie:

“You take Sam and you put a monkey on his shoulder,” said LaBeouf of Yorick’s sidekick Ampersand. “I don’t know if it’s that big a differential. It seems like he’s the ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation again.”

That’s Shia LeBouf, saying that Sam from the Transformers movie is the same character as Yorick. Please, please, please let this be the end of any talk of him playing Yorick. It all stemmed from director D.J. Caruso, who had a firm movie relationship with LeBouf, making the suggestion years ago. This quote right here should say all anyone needs to about why he’s wrong for the role. To think that any of the nuance, emotion, and growth that ‘Rick displays throughout the story of Y could be portrayed by someone who thinks he’s the same character as “human 1″ in a robot action movie is quite simply nonsense.

So, that’s that. Shia LeBouf is not going to be Yorick (hooray!). So, who SHOULD be Yorick? I’d like to officially throw my hat in the ring, despite not having acted in about 9 years (call me!). Anyone else you’d like to see be the last man on earth?

[via Coming Soon]

So while I was making some epic cross-state drives this weekend, I came across a new product: Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms.

I sadly purchased a pack. And after eating one, I pretty much felt just like this:

Which, after seeing this ad in Entertainment Weekly, then sets me up for an easy joke about wanting to punch this guy in the nuts.*

[Thanks to SlashFilm for the ad news]

*(Either almonds or peanuts, of course.)