DVD new releases March 10, 2009: Witch Mountain! Get Smart! Howard the Duck! Pinocchio! More!

Here's what looks interesting this week. Click the titles to order from Amazon. Proceeds help support this site!

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Pinocchio (2-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)

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Howard the Duck

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Get Smart: Season 2

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Escape to Witch Mountain Special Edition

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Return from Witch Mountain Special Edition

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Max Fleischer's Gulliver's Travels

Pop links: Crockett Johnson! Becoming Batman! Enid Blyton! More!

Those Fabulous Fifties shares a batch of "Barkis" comic strips by the great Crockett Johnson.

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Fred Hembeck rediscovers overlooked DC Comics sci-fi artist Phil Kelsey for the first time.

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We know he doesn't have any super powers, but a could a mere mortal really become Batman? "Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero" by Paul Zehr, a University of Victoria researcher, tests the theory.

So, moment of truth: Can a mere mortal become Batman?

It is possible. But it's not just a three-month training period and away you go. I estimate it would take a long, long, long time [15 to 18 years].

Who would be your ideal candidate?

You need to start with somebody who has the genetic ability to really respond to exercise, and get strong and powerful and flexible. Batman has to be one of those people who can pick up movement skills really quickly and be very good at them.




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Helena Bonham Carter will star as the prolific children's author Enid Blyton in an upcoming BBC 4 documentary.

Having sold over 500 million books in 40 countries, this one-off drama follows the woman behind the enduring and compelling stories such as the beloved Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers and Noddy series.

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From Geek Orthodox: "Batman Teaches You the ABCs."

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Batman: Brave and the Bold March 18 details: Adam Strange!

New info and pics from the Cartoon Network:

"Aquaman joins Batman in a thrilling space adventure on Adam Strange's home planet of Rann. There our heroes join forces to battle Gordanian General Kreegaar and his reptilian horde. It¹s the power of justice and a good old fashioned fight that resurrects Aquaman¹s heroism as he leads the team to on a mission to destroy the Eye of Zared! The teaser gives you a first look at the villainous Equinox and introduces the Question."

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New Star Trek movie trailer



Find more videos like this on ENewsi.com

Pop links: Plastic Man toon! Japanese Spidey TV show! Human Target pilot! Mort Meskin! Pogo! More!

Geek Orthodox presents a vintage Plastic Man TV cartoon.

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Marvel Comics is streaming episodes of a late 1970s Japanese Spider-Man TV series. Spidey vs. giant robots and monsters! Great stuff.

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Jackie Earle Haley is set to star in the Fox TV adaptation of DC Comics' Human Target.

The pilot focuses on Christopher Chance, a mysterious freelancer who offers a unique form of security for hire: he assumes the identities of people in danger, becoming a human target.

Haley will play Chance's information gatherer, who keeps his ear to the ground.


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Those Fabulous Fifties presents another Mort Meskin-illustrated Tom Corbett: Space Cadet story.

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Hear George Harrison's unreleased tribute tune to the Bonzo Dog Band.

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The stars of "Seinfeld" are set to reunite in episodes of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

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Pappy shares a classic Pogo tale.

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Sad news: Ex-Monkee Peter Tork has been diagnosed with a rare form of head and neck cancer.

The 67 year-old star made the announcement on his official website, Petertork.com, on Tuesday (March 3), where he revealed that he was scheduled to have extensive surgery in New York the following day (March 4).

Liverpool Cathedral bells to chime Lennon's "Imagine"

Yoko Ono says she's moved by the Liverpool Cathedral's plans to have John Lennon's "Imagine" performed on its bells.

...cathedral bosses, who say they believe the performance will inspire thought and “anticipate it will be a very moving and spiritual experience and will engage with all people including those who don’t usually interact with places of worship”.

Today, the Dean, the Very Rev Justin Welby, said: “Yoko Ono’s reaction clearly shows the impact of this project, and indeed how the cathedral plays an important part in the life of Liverpool’s culture.”

Liverpool cathedral has the highest and heaviest ringing peal bells in the world and they can be heard for miles around.


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Why I'm not watching Dollhouse tonight

I'm not trying to bait Joss Whedon fans here. I'm one of you, believe me. But it's got to be said his newest TV offering, "The Dollhouse," is fraught with problems.

"Give it a chance," is a mantra I keep hearing from the Whedon faithful. Well, I gave it three. I figure if that's good enough for baseball, well. Yeah, three episodes.

The first one left me perplexed because I didn't like the show and I wasn't quite sure why.

The second one clarified my misgivings: Whedon is trying to say something serious in the show about the exploitation of pretty young women, while at the same time exploiting pretty young women.

In short, he's trying to have it both ways. On the one hand, he's showing us these situations--the Dollhouse is a service that gives short-term personalities to blank-slate humans and sends them out to do things with/for "clients"--and saying "isn't this twisted? Isn't this wrong?" But, at the same time, he's also saying "isn't this sexy? Isn't this hot?" There's so much about the show that's purely about sex and exploitation: near nudity, skimpy clothing, etc.

Basically, what happens in the second episode is that the main character, Echo (played by Eliza Dushku), is hired out to go whitewater rafting and have sex with a handsome, rich guy (why he needs to pay for such things isn't quite clear). But the guy turns out to be a psycho who tries to hunt her down bad-1980s-horror-movie-style with a bow and arrow. Nice.

And the third episode sealed the deal for me. It was just plain dumb. Bad writing, mediocre acting. The plot involves Echo portraying a backup singer to a diva who's getting death threats. It could've been a "Charlie's Angels" episode. Except that the Angels had more personality than Echo. The writing was completely out of touch with current pop culture. It was like something somebody's grandpa would write.

This, people, is a bad TV series. And I'm greatly disappointed to say so. I adored "Buffy" and loved "Firefly" (and never bothered with "Angel," to be honest. Just couldn't get into it). Those are two of the best TV series I've ever watched. Funny, thoughtful. And I expected "Dollhouse" to be at least one of those things. Sure, it's wrong to think it's gonna be a second "Buffy." But it could be good in its own way. It could have a point worth making, or dialogue to marvel at.

I even started an offshoot blog about the show, long before it began, because I anticipated being a big fan. But after last week's show, I decided to suspend it. When I announced there that I intended to stop making new posts because, frankly, I just don't like the show, I started getting nasty remarks in the comments section. I was gonna leave the postings up for anyone who was interested. But after things turned ugly I decided just to delete the blog. Click. Gone. Folks who like the show can find more die-hard sites to visit.

Back to my thoughts on the show: "Dollhouse," I think started with a premise that just doesn't work. Why was this Dollhouse created? Why do clients use its services? The show just can't supply enough believability to make me suspend disbelief. And frankly, Eliza Dushku is not a varied enough actress to pull off being a different person each week. She's got her thing, as displayed when she's played Faith in "Buffy" and somewhat similar characters. But she's not the sort of actress who gets lost inside characters. There's nothing wrong with that. It just demonstrates that she's not suited to this part, such as it is.

I see no point to hanging in there watching a show I thoroughly don't enjoy in hopes that it's going to turn a corner at some future point. "Buffy" certainly improved over its first few years, but it started from the get-go with a great concept and fabulous, groundbreaking dialogue. "Dollhouse" is a TV show. It needs to serve some sort of function, right off the bat, to make people watch: It's gotta be moving, or funny, or different, or suspenseful, or... something. But there's nothing there that makes me want to continue watching.

I sincerely hope this is a misfire and can honestly say I'm looking forward to checking out Joss Whedon's next project in hopes that it's one that resonates with me more than this one did.

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Get Yer Mod On Week: The Who!




Play that unplugged Telecaster, Pete!


Play that unplugged Rickenbacker, Pete!


Buffy cast reunion DVD available

From the press release:

The Paley Center for Media announces the long-awaited DVD release of its 2008 PaleyFest Buffy the Vampire Slayer reunion panel. The DVD captures the once-in-a-lifetime reunion event presented live on stage before a sold-out audience in Hollywood. A decade following the series premiere, creator Joss Whedon joins cast members Sarah Michelle Geller, Seth Green, Amber Benson, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, James Marsters, and Michelle Trachtenberg along with series writer/producers David Greenwalt and Marti Noxon for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at one of the most revered, iconic, and deconstructed television series of all time.

The DVD is available for $19.95 here.

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Living Beatles reunion set

From Mojo:

Paul McCartney will play the Change Begins Within gig at New York's Radio City Music Hall on April 4. The event is taking place in aid of the David Lynch Foundation - an organisation that aims to "raise funds to teach one million at-risk children to meditate - giving them life-long tools to overcome stress and violence and promote peace and success in their lives."

New Dylan album out in April

Via Pitchfork:

Rolling Stone's David Fricke says it has "a seductive border-cafe feel (courtesy of the accordion on every track) and an emphasis on struggling-love songs." Sample song titles: "I Feel a Change Coming On", "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'", "If You Ever Go to Houston", "This Dream of You", "My Wife's Home Town", "It's All Good". Sample lyric: "I'm listening to Billy Joe Shaver / And I'm reading James Joyce / Some people tell me I got the blood of the land in my voice." Yeah, sounds like a Bob Dylan album.

No title or exact release date yet.

Beatles Rock Band video game release date announced

The new Beatles video game from the creators of Rock Band will be out Sept. 9. The 9/9/09 appears to be a nod to John Lennon's fascination with that digit.

Details from the Beatles' press release:

# The game takes players through an "unprecendented experiential progression" of the musical career of the band.

# The game will be available as standalone software and hardware, as well as a limited edition bundle. The game will be compatible with all Rock Band instrument controllers and other current music-based video game peripherals.

# There will be limited edition hardware modelled on instruments used by John, Paul, George and Ringo.

# The numbers:
- The Beatles: Rock Band Software - Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $59.99 MSRP
- The Beatles: Rock Band Standalone Guitars - Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $99.99 MSRP
- The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Premium Bundle: Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $249.99 MSRP
- International pricing to be announced at a later date

# Giles Martin, co-producer of The Beatles innovative LOVE album project, is providing his expertise and serving as Music Producer

# Fans who pre-order the game will get access to exclusive content created by Apple Corps, MTV Games and Harmonix over the next few months.

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What happened on Lost last night?

Get the full report on the Lost Season 5 blog!

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Get Yer Mod On Week: The Small Faces








New music I like: C.W. Stoneking




more info

Get Yer Mod On Week: The Artwoods and the Birds!

First up, the Artwoods, led by Ronnie Wood's brother, um, Art.



And now The Birds, featuring Ronnie, from the 1966 UK film "The Deadly Bees"




Upcoming DC Comics collections: Flash and more Flash! Warlord Showcase! Robin dies!

Not much info on these to date, but here are some upcoming DC Comics titles of possible interest. Click the links to for more info and to pre-order from Amazon.

Kubert Covers War
due out Oct. 13, hardcover, 208 pages
A collection of Joe's covers to DC war comics? Or a collection of his best war tales? Either way, good stuff.

Showcase Presents: Warlord Vol. 1
due out Sept. 8, softcover, 528 pages
A big, black-and-white slab of Mike Grell's cool sword and sorcery stories. I dug these a lot as a youngster.

DC Classics Library: Batman: A Death in the Family

due out Sept. 8, hardcover, 272 pages
The "let's kill Robin" storyline. Much as I like Jim Aparo, who illustrated these stories, I found the whole exercise exploitative. Not good comics, in my opinion. Just a gimmick to sell 'em. (Also, the Robin they killed isn't the "real" Robin. Just a kid in the Robin costume that few readers cared for in the first place. Big whoop.)

Flash Chronicles Vol. 1
due out Sept. 8, softcover, 160 pages
The Silver Age Flash gets the softcover, but in color, Chronicles treatment. Great stuff if you don't own it several times over already.

Flash vs. The Rogues
due out Nov. 10, softcover, 144 pages
More Silver Age Flash reprints, in color.

Watch Lost tonight!

Visit the Lost Season 5 blog for previews and spoilers of tonight's show. Then, go back there in the morning for a full rundown of what happened!

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New comics March 4, 2009: Buffy! Nexus! Shazam! Conan! Legion! Supergirl!

Here's what looks interesting to me this week. Click the links to order discounted books from Amazon.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #23

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NEXUS ARCHIVES VOL. 8

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SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN VOL. 5

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DC LIBRARY LEGION OF SUPERHEROES: LIFE AND DEATH OF FERRO LAD

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SHAZAM MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL TPB

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SUPERGIRL 1/6 SCALE COLLECTORS FIGURE


SUPERGIRL COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE 8TH GRADE #4

Pop links: Life on Mars axed! Disposed Dalek discovery! Walt Kelly mouse comic! Disneyland '58! More!

ABC has decided not to order any additional episodes of "Life on Mars," which means writers will be left to craft endings to this season's storylines before the show checks out permanently.

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A 30-year-old Dalek has been dredged from a pond in Hampshire.

Dalek experts believe the body could have been in the murky water for more than 30 years – but the head and eye stalk were still intact.

...Terrified Marc Oakland, 42, made the startling discovery.

The sales executive said: "I'd just shifted a tree branch with my foot when I noticed something dark and round slowly coming up to the surface.

"I got the shock of my life when a Dalek head bobbed up right in front of me.

"It must have been down there for some time because it was covered in mould and water weed, and had quite a bit of damage.


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Fortress of Fortitude
presents a vintage Walt Kelly funny animal comic.

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Gorilla's Don't Blog takes a trip to Disneyland, circa 1958.

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Chris' Invincible Super-Blog utters the single greatest piece of dialogue in Savage Sword Of Conan Vol. 5