It’s an extra-special movie-themed linkblogging day today.  To start things off:

District 9

Reviewed by Spencer Ackerman, we get some thoughts about white anxiety in the film, and also the future of video-game movies. No, District 9 isn’t a video-game film, but Ackerman points out some similarities to video-game structure in the pacing of the movie, and wonders what it means for the future. He also takes on another blogger whose comparison of the movie to US policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, he thinks, is over the line.

At Racialicious, of course, the focus is even more on the racial undertones, with one commentator finding the film uneven and problematic and another writer examines the racist portrayal of black Africans in the movie.

Inglourious Basterds

R.M. Guera of Scalped (the best comic you may not be reading) worked on a comic book from the film, and the results can be seen here.

Splash Page’s Twitter report shows several comics professionals have Tarantino on the brain, too. Glad it’s not just me.

Whiteout

1979SemiFinalist looks at Whiteout’s promo materials and gender issues. Verdict? Looks pretty, who knows if it’ll be any good.

Twilight

Eclipse, the third Twilight movie, started filming today, apparently. And apparently the werewolf pack likes to hang out and eat muffins? (I swear that’s not sexual innuendo.)

Finally, Scott Pilgrim

Splash Page has some video from the Scott Pilgrim set. You know you wanna see it…

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A friend forwarded me this article on Slate on the new vampire phenomenon, and pointed out a piece of it that I haven’t thought much about: the new sexy vampires don’t actually drink blood. Or if they do, they don’t kill.

Yet, like many people who acquire mega-celebrity, the vampire has developed an eating disorder. Read the books. Watch the movies. You’ll see vampires who manage nightclubs, build computer databases, work as private investigators, go to prep school, lobby Congress, chat with humans, live near humans, have sex with humans, and pine over humans, but the one thing you won’t see them do is suck the blood of humans.

Grady Hendrix snarks on a lot of the most popular vampires of recent pop culture, starting with Anne Rice and moving on to the one that many of my peers grew up crushing on: Angel, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Faced with the impact of his diet on humans, Angel accepts a yucky, cruelty-free substitute, then endlessly lectures other vampires about their moral failings because they don’t do the same. He’s not a vampire—he’s a vegan.

I’ve more than once made the comparison of Angel to Edward Cullen in Twilight, but I hadn’t thought about the spiral this way: as one spinning from less and less consumption of human blood. (There are, of course, occasional recurrences of the bloodthirsty, evil vampires like those of 30 Days of Night, but I digress.)

But Hendrix doesn’t seem to actually be that up on the details of Buffy. Witness:

At least Angel, Anita Blake’s vampires, Sookie Stackhouse, and most of the rest of them have a lot of sex.

Well, I haven’t gotten around to Anita Blake or into True Blood yet, but I know my Buffy, and Angel didn’t have a lot of sex–because if and when he did, he lost his soul and turned evil. People love to compare Buffy to Twilight, but the fact is that Angel and Edward Cullen indeed have a lot in common. They can’t get it on with their human lady-loves, because something BAAAD could happen. They don’t drink blood, because they have consciences.

The whole story of both Angel and Edward Cullen, in other words, is that of the monster tamed by the woman he loves. The just-bad-enough boy who’s really a sweetheart on the inside. Sure, Buffy kicks Angel to the curb (after running him through with a sword) but soon enough she’s taken up with a new vampire–this one with a chip in his brain so he can’t, er, drink human blood.

I don’t agree with Hendrix’s faux concern for the way kids might be receiving mixed messages from their media, because I tend to read media for clues about the way we’re already heading, not look at it as something that shapes us. Pop culture as a symptom. So what does it signify to me that out of millions of books, I see more women (yes, grown women) on the subway reading Twilight books than anything else? After all, we’re adults. We’re not adolescent girls having our perception of men shaped by some sensitive emo-boy vampire. We already know that relationships are messy and fraught with danger.

True Blood is next on my Netflix list, so until then, I really can’t comment on the symbolism there, but this piece has set me thinking in yet another way about what it might be that we get from these defanged monsters. If you take away the blood drinking and sleeping in coffins (which neither Angel nor Edward do), what do you have but a boyfriend who never grows old?

No, my linkblogging posts don’t come on any particular day, they just tend to appear when I’ve gathered enough links that I like but don’t really have enough to say about to warrant their own posts. In case you were wondering. Now, onward!

At The Nation (full disclosure: I’m currently a Nation intern), Melissa Harris-Lacewell talks about the conservative campaign to paint President Obama as the Joker, and does an excellent job teasing out some interesting political parallels with The Dark Knight film.

Via When Fangirls Attack, a post on close female friendships in comics. How many female “buddy” or “bromance” pairings can you think of?

A comparison of Marvel Divas and Gotham City Sirens, also via When Fangirls Attack.

Johanna Draper Carlson looks at Huntress: Year One.

From Splash Page, Charlyne Yi of Paper Heart and Knocked Up is doing a comic with Oni Press. Insert random blather about how Yi is actually a geek here, right? Well, because she’s not Megan Fox (read, sexy girl everyone slobbers over) this hasn’t gotten that much attention, but it makes me happy: Charlyne Yi is funny, and from what I’ve seen of Paper Heart, is actually creative as well.

Jezebel looks at my favorite superheroine from childhood: She-Ra.

Finally, Defamer wants to know how gay Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes is going to be. Apparently word leaked out that there was going to be some sexual tension between the leads (Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr.), which was enough to send Michael Medved into a panic. Apparently there’s nothing to offend Medved in the screenplay, at least, and so he can go back to doing what he does best–which certainly isn’t knowing what women would like to see in a film. Or at least, this woman.

It should be shocking to absolutely no one that a huge part of my love for Alien is the character of Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver. I once had a college professor say that the only truly feminist movie she could think of was the original Ridley Scott Alien.

Scott’s history of directing movies with badass women (Thelma & Louise and G.I. Jane among them) got its start with Ripley, and it makes me happy to hear that Scott will be returning to helm an Alien prequel, even if we’re unlikely to see Ripley in it: I have faith that we’ll get some other good, complex female characters.

The first Alien movie is so good precisely because you don’t see Ripley coming as the last woman standing. She’s not your typical horror movie Final Girl. She’s abrasive, effortlessly competent and undersexualized–until the final scene, where she’s let down her guard literally and symbolically, and has to fight the alien with none of her defenses. Each character you get attached to is killed off and you realize, slowly, that Ripley is your hero.

Then, of course, you got her for several more films. But the original horror of Alien can be brought back in a prequel because once again, you won’t know who your hero is. Since Ripley first met the Alien in the original film, even if we catch a glimpse of young Ripley she won’t be our lead, and instead there will be a new cast to deal with new horrors.

I also can’t wait for a Scott-helmed Alien movie with 2009-style special effects. If you watch the bonus features on the original Alien DVD, you’ll learn interesting facts like the alien inside the egg was actually Scott’s own rubber-gloved hands. And since the movie claims one of the most truly horrifying moments I’ve seen in cinema, still–the moment where the alien bursts out of Kane’s chest and skitters off down the hall–with those rudimentary effects, imagine what disgusting moments Scott can create with high-end CGI?

Again, though, the first movie is terrifying because you don’t know what’s going to happen. When the alien erupts out of the insides of a human character you’ve grown to like, in a vicious horror of pregnancy gone wrong (untopped til Breaking Dawn, but I’m so not going there right now), you realize that even bodies are not safe, and this is capitalized upon when you find out that Ash is a robot. A prequel will have a lot to do to top the thrills of a long franchise like Alien, but I’m betting Ridley Scott is the director who can live up to the early films.

And since I started off with a tribute to Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, how about some ideas for a badass heroine for a new Alien age? Entertainment Weekly suggested Ellen Page, but I’m not feeling her. My vote for now goes to Lucy Liu or Eliza Dushku, but I can be persuaded…

It’s official: Fox has announced that Ridley Scott, who brought us Alien in 1979, is set to direct the latest entry in the franchise, the yet untitled Alien 5, slated for 2011.

Is it possible that the horrible creatures from Alien can behave themselves? We should get to see how they interact on their own turf as this prequel will visit them on their planet of origin. No doubt, they won’t act civilized for long once the humans arrive.

At 71, Ridley Scott is a very busy man. A look at his IMDb shows he has quite a number of movies in the works including Brave New World, The Forever War, Stones, The Kind One and Child 44.

The screenwriter for the new Alien movie, John Spaihts, made the successful pitch to Fox and Ridley Scott on the strength of his previous space thrillers, featuring Keanu Reeves: Shadow 19 and Passengers. Spaihts’ current writing schedule includes The Darkest Hour, Children of Mars and St. George and the Dragon.

There have been three sequels to Scott’s original, most notably James Cameron’s Aliens, the second movie that came out in 1986. This is the first time that Ridley Scott has returned as director of the franchise. Will he be able to bring this latest movie back to the level of the first two?

Regular readers here know I love Joelle Jones’ art. You’ll also probably know I love Joss Whedon. So Joelle Jones character sketches for Dr. Horrible comics? WIN.

You can get Phonogram vs. The Fans, the limited-edition Phonogram fanzine that I wrote about here, on Etsy for the low, low price of $5. You want this.

Gail Simone, good and pissed about the EA Games “booth babes” debacle.

Racialicious has a review from the first Asian American Comic Con.

Johanna Draper Carlson talks Girlamatic, which I’d somehow missed out on, so read what she has to say.

One of my favorite bloggers, Renegade Evolution, talks about girls and gaming: “Hey baby, why all the aggro?”

Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan have a cool Op-Ed in the New York Times about “why we need vampires.” Lately I’ve been doing a good bit of thinking about why vampire stories seem to appeal to a teen girl demographic in particular, so this fit right in.

And via BUST, Johnny Depp is set to play a vampire in yet another Tim Burton-helmed picture, Dark Shadows.

Stephenie Meyer, author of Twilight, is set to test the theory that fans are really just out for the hot boys at Comic-Con–she’s going to star in her own Female Force comic. (Can I mention yet again that the name “female force” creeps me out? Referring to women as “females” sounds so animalistic to me…)

Finally, on that note, an interview with Francesca Lia Block on her new vampire young adult novel, Pretty Dead. Since one of the things I’m interested in is why the vampire romance always seems to be older male vampire and young mortal girl (Angel/Buffy, Edward/Bella, etc.) I’m especially intrigued with Block’s book since it reverses that dynamic.

If you’ll excuse me, I think I’m off to watch Angel…

Dash Shaw (Bottomless Belly Button, Body World) wrote his first essay on comics in a contribution to the comics art mag, Comics Comics, with a look at a book of prep work for an animated movie, Groundwork for Evangelion: 1.0, that turned into a debate over comics and cinema.

It’s interesting to note that Shaw begins his essay with a plea to “go easy” on him, the same plea he used at the start of BBB. A superstar cartoonist, like himself, doesn’t really need to ask that, does he?

So, the overview of the book, which is wonderfully detailed, leads to a discussion on whether or not comics should share any of the vision of film. Quoting from Chris Ware, who comes out completely against comics sharing anything with film, Shaw follows up with his own view.

Here is a Chris Ware quote from Shaw’s piece:

I don’t like to think of my work as “cinematic.” A movie is passive — you’re watching it, taking it in. Where a comic strip, it’s completely active: you have to read it, search it for meaning, for the connection with your entire experience and your memory. Yes, you do have the illusion of watching something happen in a comic strip — but if it’s done well, it comes alive on the page like a novel. A novel is the most interactive thing ever created.

Dash Shaw concludes that “cinematic” comics can be seen in a positive, not passive, way and that cinema is “one of many modern languages that comics can react to.”

I think it’s too much to come out so against film as Ware does but, this is Chris Ware, and I’m happy to “go easy” on him. His vision has gotten him where he is. And of course, his way is only one of so many ways of making comics.

Yesterday, Summit Entertainment took another step to piss off fangirls nationwide. They announced that Bryce Dallas Howard (best known to comic fans as Spider-Man 3’s Gwen Stacy, or perhaps as Ron Howard’s daughter) would be replacing Rachelle Lefevre as Victoria, the one of the series’ baddest vampires, for Eclipse, the third movie in the series. Since Summit already sped on to make New Moon and Eclipse without Catherine Hardwicke, the director of the first film, I wasn’t too surprised that the reason given was “scheduling conflicts.”

Now, though, Lefevre’s statement seems to imply that there was something else behind her bump:

“I was stunned by Summit’s decision to recast the role of Victoria for Eclipse. I was fully committed to the Twilight saga, and to the portrayal of Victoria. I turned down several other film opportunities and, in accordance with my contractual rights, accepted only roles that would involve very short shooting schedules. My commitment to Barney’s Version is only ten days. Summit picked up my option for Eclipse. Although the production schedule for Eclipse is over three months long, Summit said they had a conflict during those ten days and would not accommodate me. Given the length of filming for Eclipse, never did I fathom I would lose the role over a 10 day overlap. I was happy with my contract with Summit and was fully prepared to continue to honor it. Summit chose simply to recast the part. I am greatly saddened that I will not get to complete my portrayal of Victoria for the Twilight audience. This is a story, a theatrical journey and a character that I truly love and about which I am very passionate. I will be forever grateful to the fan support and loyalty I’ve received since being cast for this role, and I am hurt deeply by Summit’s surprising decision to move on without me. I wish the cast and crew of Eclipse only the very best.“

Twilight is hardly Shakespeare, and I don’t have a problem with movies being a commercial product per se, but I don’t like the rush to capitalize on the success of the first film making subsequent ones suffer. This seems to be less of a scheduling conflict on Lefevre’s part and more of a calculated decision by the studio–is Howard that much more bankable a name than someone who’s already built the part through two films and will thus have fan loyalty?

Judging from her brief screen time in the first film, it certainly wasn’t Lefevre’s acting or looks that hurt her–who can forget the last shot of her walking down the stairs, shaking her mane of hair loose with a look on her face that needs no words to tell us that Bella is in deep trouble? The directors stuck with Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black despite obvious physical differences between him and his character–several inches in height, for a start–so why dump Lefevre just in time for the movie where she gets her biggest scene?

Update: Thursday 7/30 1245 Eastern: The Plot thickens. Over on SciFiWire, they have an interesting rebuttal from Summit, claiming, well, that it’s all her fault to begin with.

Here’s Summit’s reply:

Ms. Lefevre’s representatives were advised as early as April that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE was expected to start shooting in early August.If Ms. Lefevre was, as she describes “passionate,” about being part of THE TWILIGHT SAGA, we feel that she and her representatives would have included us in her decision to work on another film that would conflict with the shooting schedule of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.

It was not until July 20th that Summit was first informed of Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to BARNEY’S VERSION, a commitment we have since been advised she accepted in early June. Summit had acted in good faith that she would be available to fulfill her obligations both in terms of rehearsals and shooting availability for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. We feel that her choice to withhold her scheduling conflict information from us can be viewed as a lack of cooperative spirit which affected the entire production.

Furthermore Ms. Lefevre took a role in the other film that places her in Europe during the required rehearsal time, and at least ten days of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE’s principal photography. This period is essential for both rehearsal time with the cast, and for filming at key locations that are only available during the initial part of production.

Contrary to Ms. Lefevre’s statement, it is simply untrue that the Studio dismissed her over a ten day overlap. It is not about a ten day overlap, but instead about the fact that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE is an ensemble production that has to accommodate the schedules of numerous actors while respecting the established creative vision of the filmmaker and most importantly the story.

If all that is factual, Summit may actually have a case for being “right” this time.

The comics writing talents of Eric Trautmann (JSA vs Kobra: Engines of Faith) and Brandon Jerwa (Battlestar Galactica) have created a webcomic, Wide Awake, that is now on its way to becoming a movie. Wide Awake got its debut as a short story, “Behind The Wall of Sleep,” in Image Comics‘ Popgun Vol. 2 anthology.

Here is the official press release:

Do-Over Productions has just announced that they have optioned the film rights to Wide Awake, the extraordinary webcomic written by Eric Trautmann and Brandon Jerwa, with art by Mirco Pierfederici and art direction by David Messina. As described in the press release from Do-Over, Wide Awake is the story of Amanda Carter, a young woman whose dreams of terrifying monsters are much more than just figments of her unconscious mind. If she doesn’t defeat them before she wakes up, the horrors from her dreams get loose in the physical world and she must deal with them there.

Trautmann and Jerwa co-created the series which premiered a sample chapter on Free Comic Book Day and was originally scheduled to commence weekly chapters later this summer. This new deal may possibly alter that schedule some. Jarrod Feliciano and Mirjana Novkovic will produce and write the film adaptation. They are repped by attorney Bianca Bezdek-Goodloe. Do-Over Productions is currently in production of the crime drama Fallen Moon, directed by Peter Medak and produced by Feliciano, Novkovic, Valerie McCaffrey, and co-produced by Roger Pugliese. Eric Trautmann can be found at his web site: www.eric-trautmann.com. Brandon Jerwa can be found online at www.brandonjerwa.com.

Having read the first chapter, I have to say this webcomic packs a sly punch. The lead character, Amanda Carter, is someone who could grow on us. The idea here that your worst nightmares would like to stay for coffee is pretty cool.

One scene from a few clips shown of Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass got a standing ovation during its panel at Comic-Con in San Diego. To get a standing ovation is suppose to be a rare thing at Comic-Con and that is a sign that this adaption of a Mark Millar (Wanted) creator-owned comic book has legs and will ultimately find a distributor.

Whether or not your taste is for the ultra-violent, is something to consider. Vaughn admits that part of the problem with finding a distributor is that “the script broke every taboo known to man.” But it sounds like this film about teenagers who want to be superheroes is going to turn out to be pretty cool.

Keep in mind, Matthew Vaughn, the co-writer and director of Kick-Ass, also produced Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1997 and that was a fun ride. Is this something you’re looking forward to? I think I’d give it a try. It is Mark Millar after all.

For those of you who didn’t watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night, you missed out on some comicky goodness!

In last night’s episode, the comedian went to the San Diego Comic Con met up with industry figures like Stan Lee, Dan Didio, Geoff Johns, and Jon Favreau to discuss his comic book character, which I will refer to as “Rechargo Boy.” He’s solar-powered, and looks suspiciously like a late-night host.

While Johns kind of made me chuckle with his response, it’s Stan Lee that (as always) steals the show. You can see the full episode, which this is in the first segment of, by clicking here.

Hollyscoop.com has picked up on an amusing rumor, regarding the possible third Batman film (which Gary Oldman let slip to AICN might start filming as early as next year)…

That Miley Cyrus wants in. And she’s not afraid to cosplay to do it.

Hollyscoop said that the young Hannah Montana star allegedly surprised Warner Bros. execs by arriving fully dressed in her own Batgirl costume, spouting off lines (of dialogue, not anything else, despite what you might think about this situation) that she had made up herself.

She apparently really wants to become Barbara Gordon, even as uber-realist Christopher Nolan has said that in his Batman films, Dick Grayson is “still in a crib somewhere.”

Now, I’ll be honest in saying that I’m pretty sure this rumor is bunk, but that is the rumor going around Hollywood these days. What say you, ‘Rama Readers?

Friday at San Diego Comic-Con was a full day for me. Here is a quick run-down of what’s been going on lately from my vantage point:

• EQAL and Anthony Zuiker Present LEVEL 26: I had the pleasure to interview Miles Beckett who, with Greg Goodfried, run EQAL, a company that produces original interactive content online. They have come a long way since their first lonelygirl15 videos and now have teamed up with Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the CSI franchise, to bring you, LEVEL 26, the world’s first “digi-novel,” a fully interactive novel. It’s a very cool idea that, thanks to some awesome talent behind it, is something to really look forward to. You can start right in and see for yourself. I will provide you guys with the full interview in a later post and some other interesting news about this and other related projects in future posts.
• COMICPALOOZA SHOUT OUT: I have to thank P. J. Holmes for allowing me to borrow his laptop at a critical moment here at SDCC, the home of critical moments. Check out the great comics con of the Southwest, Comicpalooza.
• THE PRISONER PANEL: I caught the tale end of this panel and it really came across as a genuine lovefest for this film by the actors, Jim Caviezel, Jamie Campbell-Bower and Lennie James; writer, Bill Gallagher; AMC’s Vlad Wolynetz, vice president of production; and producer/director Robert Meyer Burnett. I will just say here that the sneak peek clip was very cool with the sinister “Two” character played wonderfully by none other than Ian McKellen! The scene has “Two” wondering if anyone really likes him as he tosses a grenade into the trembling hands of an assistant who can’t quite bring himself to say he actually likes his insane boss. I also should say that this is a six-part mini-series and runs for three consecutive nights in November on AMC.
• NO ROOM FOR ME AT DOLLHOUSE BUT FAN COMES TO RESCUE: I tried. I stood in one of the longest lines you’ll ever want to see for a very long time only to be told that they had a packed house. No one dared move at first and only a few hesitantly gave up and walked away. But all was not lost, really, since I  got a fan to give me the scoop on what’s going on with Dollhouse. Andre Walker, a lean man in his thirties, let me know that the series has problems but that fans are willing to wait. “It’s got some good stuff but it needs character development. It’s not like Buffy or Angel. There’s only a few characters right now I really care about. Eliza Dushku’s main character is not someone people care about like they should. And, hey, it’s Joss Whedon. Give him time. Just look at Firefly. That was a bumpy ride at first.”

On Wednesday, I was fortunate to catch the tail end of the ICv2 conference as well as take a first look at the convention floor. As they say, it’s all about the fans. And that often means it’s all about the money. Seeing so many people at Comic-Con with giant bags of swag, standing in so many lines, desperation in the eyes of some, waiting for a chance to win something or buy something, I could clearly see money as the dominant theme: those who make it and those who spend it.

So, before being part of the human comedy that is SDCC, it was nice to listen to a few elite voices plot out what they think will motivate the fans. ICv2 is a consulting firm in the service of those trying to sell something to the fans. The conference was meant to tell it like it is about market trends. For my money, the star of the last panel was Jeff Katz, a Hollywood exec (Snakes On A Plane) turned comics writer (DC Comics’ Booster Gold) who led off with a two guns firing declaration that Hollywood is no fool and it knows how to chase down money and the money is in comics. Katz, looking like a hyperactive Kevin Smith, went on to rally for all those good-natured, well-meaning, creators who feel powerless in dealing with corporate interests. “The secret is that they need us more than we need them. The corporate balls are exposed and you should feel free to squeeze!”

Katz, who runs his own company, American Original, was beside himself in forecasting further profit in comics in a big way. He didn’t say exactly how a lone creator overcomes and succeeds but the general idea was to control what is yours. This is where Top Cow’s Matt Hawkins stepped in with more straight talk, “Don’t take the money. Don’t sell you soul for $25,000 when your title could make millions over time.”

Once I was out on the convention floor, observing the fans, as a mass of humanity, out for the next shiny bauble, they seemed totally at the mercy of the various corporate interests, utterly powerless. Of course, they really are not. Just like those good-natured, well-meaning, creators, the fans have more power than they probably realize. As Jeff Katz would advise, if the corporate balls are hanging, the fan should not hesitate to squeeze.

Would the sequel to Frank Miller’s 300 be called 301? 302? 600? 300 II? 3,000? 300: Three Harder?

Either which way, the Hollywood Reporter has stated that Frank Miller has recently polished off the first draft of his comic book sequel to 300, which smashed through audience expectations in a live-action film adaptation directed by Zack Snyder.

This follow-up will be published by Dark Horse, who printed the initial book. THR also asks some interesting questions regarding casting: Miller and company would be doubly hard-pressed to recruit original star Gerard Butler, considering (A) this role made him really famous, and (B) well, if you’ve read the book (or know anything about how the Battle of Thermopylae ended) he’s not in a position to do sequels.

Either which way, while the comics portion of the project is chugging along, the Hollywood Reporter has also stated that neither director Zack Snyder or writer Kurt Johnstad have been hired yet for work on the film.

In a surprising move just days before the San Diego Comic Con, David Elliot, the former editor in chief of Radical Comics, has sued parent company Blatant Entertainment.

The co-founder of the Radical Comics, Elliot said that he was terminated in April, and alleges he was not given his full salary from Blatant.

Elliot also claims that he was not credited some Radical Comics finds such as Aladdin, City of Dust, Caliber, and Hercules; that he was not compensated for acquiring Hotwire, Cholly & Flytrap, and Lords of Misture; and that other projects that he owns part of the copyrights have been exploited by the company without his consent. You can read the complaint in full here.

Another interesting quote, from THREsq.com: “Blatant’s management failed to have any of its employees sign work-for-hire agreements and/or assignments of copyrights, thereby clouding title to all of Blatant’s projects, and making it impossible for Blatant to provide proper chain of title documents and guarantees to investors, production companies, studios, and insurers, to the detriment of its shareholders.” If this is true, this a whole new can of worms for the comics-to-film venture company.

Radical Comics, which hit the scenes last year, has teamed up with figures ranging from Jim Steranko to Steve Niles to Nick Simmons.

Steve Lieber has announced that Warner Bros. has launched its web site for the upcoming film adaptation of the Greg Rucka/Steve Lieber graphic novel from Oni Press, Whiteout. IGN has posted the following trailer:

The film, which stars Kate Beckinsale and is due September 2009, follows a U.S. marshal as she investigates a series of brutal murders throughout the Antarctic science stations placed along the continent. Meanwhile, if you’re already at the San Diego Comic Con, you should hit up Steve at Artist’s Alley at table FF16!

Tim Burton has released to IGN the trailer for his upcoming film, Alice in Wonderland!

The film will star In Treatment actress Mia Wasikowska, and will have Tim Burton mainstays Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp, the latter of whom will play (who else?) the Mad Hatter.

This eye-popping movie (which despite all appearances, does not have the Joker anywhere near it, thankyewverymuch) is due out in January. What do you guys think?

Can even the vaunted Super Soldier serum save the Captain America movie from it’s biggest foe — international audience ambivalence?

MTV sat down with Kevin Feige, and gave an interesting bullet point list of Captain America news, including the fact that Will Smith — one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, who has conquered the 4th of July numerous times with films like Hancock and Independence Day — is still in the running for Captain America, as well as some of the Thor runner-ups.

Now, the thing that’s interesting for me is the fact that based on these notes, it’s clear that Marvel is really nervous about parading a guy in the Stars and Stripes in the current world climate. Indeed, the film won’t even be marketed as “Captain America” abroad, but as “The First Avenger” — and they’re ditching the typical route of searching for an “unknown” to play the lead character (which worked so spectacularly with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine) in order to bring in someone who they know will bring in the money.

And to be honest, who else would be on that list? Will Smith is exceedingly bankable — but Feige says that if Smith were cast, Kyle Baker’s “Truth” storyline, which repositioned the Super Soldier Project as a Tuskeegee-like experiment on unsuspecting African-American troops, would not be used. Tom Cruise, once the most bankable star in Hollywood, is still clawing his way back to respectability after his public weirdness made him a tabloid target. That said, Forbes has an interesting list of bankable celebrities (granted, Will Smith is at the top of that list), with Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon all on the list — and after rewatching the Departed the other night, I could definitely see Damon nailing this.

But in my opinion, I think Marvel is really selling the cultural cache of one of its most heroic characters short. It did a surprisingly effective job with teasing the Super Soldier program in the most unlikely of films — the Ed Norton remake of the Incredible Hulk:

But even more importantly, Captain America doesn’t serve politicians or administrations — as Frank Miller once said, he serves the Dream.

In this case, the dream of a better world. While having a World War II epic is certainly within Marvel’s prerogative, I feel like Captain America’s best quality is the fact that he is a man out of time — in short, he’s a human time capsule of all the nobility and selflessness of a bygone era, and I think it would be interesting to see him wrestle with the post-9/11, post-Enron, post-Operation Paperclip era, where America has teamed up with the enemy, and clasped new ones to its breast, but still strives for greatness. (In other words, Richard Donner’s Superman meets Austin Powers, but played straight.) It’s this sort of story that could confront the rest of the world’s ambivalence to the U.S. head-on, and would really give some solid allegorical weight to a prequel that may otherwise be written off as an action flick.

What say you, Rama readers? Do you think Will Smith could be the One? Is there another bankable star you think would be ideal? Tell us what you think about “The First Avenger: Captain America”!