"Snakes on a Plane!"

Special thanks to screenwriter Josh Friedman for this new expression of disgust. (For the explanation, click here).

Try it, you'll like it: "Snakes on a plane, I haven't posted anything on my blog for 6 days."

Or, to get on to today's topic:

"Snakes on a plane, V for Vendetta has been delayed until March 2006!"

You can read the details at Sci Fi Wire. The anonymous Warner Brothers spokesperson claims the delay is for the sake of postproduction, and is not a response to current events. I'd like to believe that, but...

At last month's Comic Con, V for Vendetta artist David Lloyd said, "Society has actually become a lot more like the one we claim here. I think it's important that we try to understand terrorists. It's gonna be healthy to understand what leads someone to terrorism."

Understanding? Sorry, but that's not the American way. If something is troubling, it is hidden away, out of sight, out of mind, so as not to risk disturbing anyone's delicate sensibilities. In other words, pushing the V for Vendetta movie back from its original premiere date of November 4 (which coincided nicely with Guy Fawkes Day, November 5) reminds me of the campaign to wipe out any evidence the World Trade Center ever existed after September 11, 2001 -- digitally removing it from movies and TV shows where necessary.

For details, you can check out Wikipedia's List of audiovisual entertainment affected by the September 11, 2001 attacks, which includes not only movies and television shows, but theme parks, music, and video games! I notice the list is incomplete, however, as it doesn't include the Playstation game "Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro," which originally included a battle atop the WTC, and was scheduled to be released September 18, 2001. Activision delayed it, and changed the look of the twin towers by connecting them with a rooftop bridge which, I must say, made the game a lot easier to beat, since Spider-Man could run from building to building, instead of having to swing or jump.

Speaking of Spider-Man and the WTC, I recently downloaded the original Spider-Man movie teaser trailer via BitTorrent so that my son could see it. It disappeared into oblivion (and every image of the WTC was removed from the movie itself) after 9/11. You'd think it would have turned up on the DVD as an easter egg, but no.

Describing V for Vendetta, producer Joel Silver said, "It's that horrible word: intellectual. I mean, you have to think about the movie." Obviously not an easy movie to market to the American public, which much prefers simplistic "solutions" to actual thought.

I can wait until March, as long as "postproduction" in this instance doesn't mean dumbing it down for the masses, or trying to make it fluffy and inoffensive.

World's Finest

The SHAFT NewsWire for August 2005 has been posted. Get the latest news on Batman, Superman, and their respective rogues galleries!

Ultimate Avengers DVD

The Ultimates, the Marvel Comics series by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch that inspired the "Ultimate Nick Fury, Agent of SHAFT" website, is going to be a straight-to-DVD animated film titled Ultimate Avengers.

Based on this interview at Comics Continuum, it sounds like it's going to be pretty sweet.

At left is the DVD cover art. As always, you can click on it for a larger image.

"The Most Important News Show... Ever"

Last year, Nielsen Media Research pointed out that viewers of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" are better educated than those of "The O'Reilly Factor," not that that's saying much. (Check out sweetjesusihatebilloreilly.com for an archive of the article).

Some people describe Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" as the only television news source they can trust. I'll take it a step further and admit that it is the only television news source that I can stomach, because frankly it only takes a few minutes of CNN or Fox News to make me nauseated. Besides being funny and entertaining, Jon Stewart often seems like the only person on TV willing to discuss real issues who isn't completely full of shit.

Unfortunately "The Daily Show" only has a half hour a night, four nights a week, to edify the masses, which means the 24-hour news networks are able to provide marginally more news coverage in the course of a year. (I say "marginally" because these news channels waste an inordinate amount of time on topics like Michael Jackson, Terry Schiavo, baseball players who use steroids, and some white girl missing in Aruba, instead of cluing Americans in on what's actually going on in the world).

So if you're looking for more in-depth coverage than "The Daily Show" has time to provide, you must of course turn to the internet, and a good place to start is Footnote TV. As its name implies, this website provides footnotes for episodes of "The Daily Show" (and some other programs), a handy reference if you want to do some research on any of the topics mentioned by Jon Stewart, his co-stars, or guests.

TV Squad is useful for recaps of "The Daily Show," while America (The Book) is like having "The Daily Show" in hardcover.

See also: SHAFT NewsWire coverage of Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly.

Monkeying Around

When I was a kid, nothing was cooler than giant gorillas (yes, including Gargantua and Grape Ape), so it was with great joy that I received the news that "The Lord of the Rings" director/producer Peter Jackson was helming a remake of King Kong.

The deal got even sweeter this week when it was announced that Jackson is also working on the bonus material for the original 1933 version.

Wait, it gets better. The 2-disk special edition of King Kong will also be released as part of a 4-disk collectors set along with The Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young.

More details on the DVD extras at Sci Fi Wire.

Above: Mighty Joe Young rescues children from a burning orphanage. (Taken from this page of MJY stills).

All right, I just spent 12 hours hanging vinyl siding and kitchen cabinets, that's enough blogging for today.

No One Expects the Legion of Terror!

Hey, guess what? I received my first Cease & Desist notice yesterday! I know, I know, it sounds really cool, but sadly, it's just über lame. Anyway, you can check it out here.

From GTA to JLA

This summer Warner Bros. announced that a Justice League of America videogame is in production for the Playstation 2 and the Xbox, and is scheduled to be released in 2006. (You can read the WB Interactive Entertainment press release at IGN).

Described as a "super hero action role-playing game," it will offer players the chance to battle the forces of evil as Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Zatanna. That's right, Zatanna, the second-generation wizard whose super hero costume is a top hat, tuxedo jacket, and fishnets.

Now, I'm not complaining. Zatanna is one of my favorite comics characters, and I think it's cool that she's included in the game along with the movers and shakers of the DC Universe, despite her obscurity. I'm just confused by this statement in the game description:

"Each super hero will possess unique super powers that are character-specific, creating a variety of fighting styles for players to utilize."

Okay, let's see, Zatanna's character-specific super power is the ability to cast magical spells by saying the desired result backwards. For example, if she were ever to encounter Bill O'Reilly, she'd probably tell him to "pu kcuf eht tuhs."

So my confusion arises from the fact that Justice League of America will be a videogame instead of a computer game. How exactly am I going to play Zatanna without a keyboard?

Poll: Which Is Creepier?

Today's poll involves the disturbing photos to the left. As always, you can click to enlarge.

Also, you can still vote in the previous poll, "Worst abuse of CGI in movie history?"

Which is creepier?

Scarlett Johansson + SpongeBob SquarePantsScarlett Johansson + David Hasselhoff

Free polls from Pollhost.com

Scarlett Johansson Is Desperate

Johansson desperate to direct a movie
'Lost in Translation' star Scarlett Johansson is so desperate to direct a film that she's prepared to make a commercial if it would help her achieve her dream.

Johansson Wants To Work With Burton
Screen siren Scarlett Johansson is desperate to work with maverick director Tim Burton after hearing Ewan Mcgregor enthuse about the movie-maker on the set of The Island.

In less desperate news:

Scarlett Johansson And Her Mammoth Breasts
Up and coming actress Scarlett Johansson, the star of Lost in Translation, unsuspectingly found herself appearing on a colossal billboard promoting her new film The Island as she was driving on the freeways of Los Angeles.

Scarlett Johansson blasts the paparazzi
Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson says that paparazzi who hound celebrities should be arrested and prosecuted as stalkers. Johansson spends plenty of time running from the bad guys in her new science-fiction film The Island, but the 20-year-old actress is tired of running away from the paparazzi in real life.

Joss Whedon Explains It All

Joss Whedon on Firefly, Serenity, Toy Story, Alien: Resurrection, Speed, Wonder Woman, X-Men, Batman, Iron Man, Global Frequency, Buffy & Angel:

IN FOCUS

Also: New Serenity trailer; Serenity Action Figures.