I hear tell that the upcoming Oldboy adaptation being birthed by Steven Spielberg and Will Smith will be based on the original manga, not Chan-wook Park’s film. Having read some of the original material, I can say that it’s sufficiently different that Spielberg and Smith conceivably have some wiggle-room.

But, honestly - reading Smith’s comment on the matter - I get the sense that he knows people are already uneasy about the prospect of an Oldboy re-make. And they have good reason to be uneasy.

So - the question becomes not how badly Spielberg and Smith will fuck up Chan-wook Park’s work, but whether they can do a better job at adapting the same material. I’m thinking not. But I’m willing to be pleasantly surprised.

Oh, Voltron - why do you vex me so? This is the third time I’ve had to write about Voltron in the last week. It’s like a bad ex-girlfriend that won’t stop calling me. Do I have to file for a restraining order, Voltron? Because I will.

Oh, and I just filed for a Concealed Carry permit, so don’t come around unless you bring a posse.

From AICN Anime and Anime News Network:

According to Anime News Network, World Events Productions (WEP) attempted to serve Toei Animation with a law suit concerning the live action adaptation of Voltron on Monday.

While Toei produced Hyakujuu Ou Golion (King of Beasts Golion), the anime localized as “lion” Voltron and Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV (Mechanized Fleet Dairugger XV), localized as “vehicle” Voltron, Koplar Communications licensed the rights to that original anime and produced the Volton localization.

The relationship between Kopar and Toei went to the courts in 1999 when Koplar’s WEP production company created the CG Voltron: The Third Dimension, leading to new agreements between the companies in 2000 , and future head-aches trying to suss out who had the rights to what.

The live-action Robotech adaptation being produced by Hollywood power mogul (yes, that’s facetiousness you detect) will be scripted by Smallville writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. So speaketh Aint-It-Cool-News. I’m not a big fan of Smallville, but since it’s apparently been on television since I was six, those guys must be doing something right. Personally I think Joss Whedon needs another film gig (nudge-nudge), but hey - whatdoiknow.

Despite what I may have written in the past, I don’t want the Dragonball movie to suck. I’d really like to see  some cool live-action anime action on the big screen. Doubt we’ll get it, but ComicBookMovie.com posted a pretty cool picture that purports to be Goku in full-on saiyan form. Is it real? Sure looks like it, and let’s be frank - the producers of this film have nothing to lose by showing us whatever cool stuff they’ve got up their sleeves at this point.

I’m still not sure this is going to get me to haul my ass over to the local cinema on opening night (or ever, really), but that’s some neat makeup they’ve got going on there. Wonder how it’ll look when it’s fully CGI’d?

Once again I feel the need to point out that - with regards to the upcoming Dragonball film adaptation - I have no dog in the race. Never been a Dragonball fan, and probably never will be - that said, word has it that Glenn Wong’s film is undergoing a little plastic surgery - perhaps as a result of the resounding yawn uttered by internet fandom in response to the recently-leaked preview.

I’m not sure if this is a cause for hope, or a hopless cause - either way I will probably be doing something else the day this hits theaters.

I have no words to describe this. Okay - one word.

smeg·ma /ˈsmɛgmə/ Pronunciation Key - [smeg-muh]
–noun
a thick, cheeselike, sebaceous secretion that collects beneath the foreskin or around the clitoris.

Yeah, that sums it up.

Over at MTV news, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt rebuts rumors that he is playing Kaneda’s telekinetic pal Tetsuo in the (supposedly) upcoming Akira live-action adaptation.

When asked about the rumor, Levitt responded, “That just goes to show what you can believe about what people write about movies. I love the movie ‘Akira.’ I still have yet to read the manga, but that’s really just a rumor. They don’t have a script or anything.”

Hey, well - that just means he’ll be available to play Rick Hunter in the Robotech flick, right Joseph?

Is there any videogame property which has been adapted more than Street Fighter? I mean, besides Pokemon? I doubt it. Previous attempts to bring Capcom’s premiere fighting franchise to the small screen were tepid at best, and the 90’s feature film, featuring JCVD as Guile - and an equally mis-cast (though easy on the eyes) Kylie Minogue as Cammy - is best left unmentioned.

What with the shiny new Street Fighter 3 on the way, however, the road has once again been paved to all sorts of SF tie-ins, including a brand-new ‘animated comic’ DVD courtesy of Eagle One Media. I have no idea how this will turn out, but according to CBR the first volume Street Fighter: Round One - FIGHT! won’t be out until February, 2009. If anyone caught the recent Watchmen animated comic on iTunes, that was actually pretty cool, so who knows…then again, that was given away for free. I’m guessing Street Fighter: Round One - FIGHT! will be at least $19.95 more than free.

…and god help me, I can’t help but to post another YouTube clip. Enjoy…

I’m going to keep repeating that until it actually comes out (sometime next year, methinks.)

There are a lot of bad things you could say about the upcoming Dragonball adaptation, but condemning it as ‘racist’ isn’t one of them. Mike Ferro at Gamer.Blorge actually did levy this charge and while I share his misgivings about the direction the film is taking, I find the details of his accusations hard to swallow.

Dragon Ball the movie looks awkward and a bit racist as well. One of the most obvious thing you notice is Goku the main character of Dragon Ball is, well not Asian like Goku is suppose to be. Goku is played by Justin Chatwin from Josie and the Pussycats. Could they just not find some Asian guy to play the part? There has to be somebody except Justin Chatwin.

However ironically, everyone else is practically Asian in the movie such as: Gohan(Randall Duk Kim), Master Roshi(Chow Yun-Fat), Yamcha(Joon Park), Mai(Eriko Tamura),  and Chi Chi(Jamie Chung). It seems the producers thought they could fool us into believing Justin Chatwin was Asian if they surrounded him with other Asians.

I think in the grand scope of things, the fact that the filmmakers cast a caucasian as Goku is small potatoes. I mean, aren’t the Saiyans aliens anyway?  Does his ethnicity matter?

If you want to throw a fit about Hollywood’s exclusion of Asians, let’s talk about 21, the recent film about Jeff Ma and the MIT Blackjack Team that made a nuisance of themselves in various casinos through the 1980’s. Now there’s a prime example of Hollywood’s disdain for Asian Americans who do anything other than beat the shit out of each other or give white protagonists access to exotic Asian pussy. 

Really, Mike, all this baggage about Dragonball is pointless. This film would probably suck no matter who they cast as Goku.