Quick Headline Rundown for Today

1. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Google has purchased 5% of AOL. For most people this news comes as no surprise, but I was worried that it might not happen when Carl Icahn warned Google against the act. Icahn has been seeking for some time to purchase Time Warner and break it into many little profitable pieces, and given the state of the comic book industry I was worried that it might spell the end of DC Comics. It appears that AOL's threat to shift over to a Microsoft designed search engine influenced Google to invest in the internet service provider. I for one have always thought that AOL was an undervalued commodity that suffered from the dot com bubble burst. The marketing power of AOL is massive and it must provide enough of a user base to inspire internet giant Google to have invested.
2. According to WENN news service (IMDB Pro Subscription Required), Michael J. Fox may be making yet another Back to the Future sequel. This time Fox demands that the character be the same age as he is currently. Sequels are always a tough racket. There is a saying about Hollywood that, "The only thing Hollywood knows how to do is sequels." Implying that the only time they know they can make money is with something that has worked before. I loved the first Future film, hate the second one, and like the third, but I wonder what story is left to tell. I guess we could find out if Marty has really changed, or if he still can't stand being called a chicken.

Wallace and Gromit Release Date

The DVD for Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit will be available for purchase on February 7th. For those of you who didn't see this movie in the theater, go out and buy this film as soon as possible. The film borrows from the old Universal horror films and is truly entertaining.

While you are waiting, you might want to pick up the very enjoyable early adventures of the entertaining duo.

Is King Kong Really a Flop?

Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong has grossed $66.2 million in its first five days in release. It had a disappointing Wednesday release, Monitor Duty has some thoughts on why, and a less than impressive Thursday, but still ended up as the fourth largest December release ever. So let's see...big opening, but not biggest ever, what's the story here? Ah, that's the real question isn't it? Turns out that ticket sales may end up down 6% for the film industry this year and a Kong flop seems the perfect way to end the year narratively. We all know how much the media love their narratives. Nevermind that Kong is three-hours long which cuts into it's number of showings. Nevermind that Narnia is in early release as well. Kong is a flop, just ask the LA Times and it is because there are no "stars" in it.

Just to remind people what a real flop looks like, I would like to make some comparisons:

Town and Country starring Warren Beatty (you know a big name) cost $105 million to make which is about half of Kong's budget. Though inflation adjusted it would be a little more than half. Town and Country had a $10 million worldwide gross. Total. Not opening weekend. Period. That's it.

Ishtar. While we are talking Warren Beatty, let's add Dustin Hoffman to to the mix. Cost $40 million...made $14 million and those are 1987 dollars folks.

Titanic, not a flop at all. Never topped $36 million on any given weekend. Cost $200 mil grossed $1.8 billion. Now I'm not saying Kong is Titanic, but that Titanic never had an "awesome" first weekend. Let's see if Kong has "legs" before we jump ship.

Heaven's Gate. Cost $44 million (1980 dollars), gross box office: $3.5 million.

The Four Feathers Cost: $35 million. Gross: $18.3 million.

Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, were all flops when they came out.

Gigli. Cost: $54 million. US Gross: $6 million.

The Postman. Cost: $80 million. US Gross: $17 million.

Shanghai Surprise Budget: $17 million. US Gross: $2.32 million

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Budget: $46.6 million (1988 dollars) US Gross: $8.08 million.

Cutthroat Island. Cost: $92 million. US Gross: $10 million.

Hudson Hawk Cost: $65 million. US Gross: $17.2 million.

Battlefield Earth Budget: $80 million. Worldwide Gross: $29.7 million.

Let's not presage the death of a film because it didn't make "as much as expected." Or the death of an industry that has survived the above flops.

Having Background Information is Useful...Being a Geek is Being a Geek

This past Saturday, I had the honor of hosting a town hall forum for some high school students who are interested in politics. In my job outside the village (that's a Prisoner reference), I promote youth civic engagement and this was a wonderful opportunity for some of the students I work with to listen to a diverse range of opinions about a politically salient topic. The topic of discussion, while it mattered to the students participating, is of little concern to the story I am about to share so let us leave it aside for the moment.

My panel was filled with excellent speakers from a broad range of professions, from academia to television writing/directing. I guess the one similarity the participants shared was that all of my speakers had been "published" in one format or another. As I mentioned above, one of the speakers was a television writer/director who has worked/created a number of shows I have enjoyed. As the diligent host, I -- who is already a geeky fan -- did additional background research so that I could have intelligent, but not "fan shocked," conversation. In other words, so that I could talk about what the writer/director is and will be doing rather than asking about minute obscuria from his shows. Who was this individual? Tim Minear, who has worked on no less than four of my favorite television shows of all time (Lois and Clark, Angel, Buffy, Firefly, to name the geekiest), and written/directed some of my favorite episodes. Needless to say, I think I came across as a fan, but not fanboy and was holding my own until the following occured...

TIM MINEAR

Comforatably enjoying his rubber chicken dinner.
[Telling a funny story about his time on Lois and Clark]

So Larry Niven wrote this short story called Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex that discusses how Superman would kill Lois if they ever tried to have children.

CHRISTIAN JOHNSON
Carefully attempting to stay cool...

That sounds like a lot of the conversations on comic book fan forums. Naturally, these discussions usually end with someone pointing out that only one person is "woman enough" for Superman...Wonder Woman

At this point everyone laughs and the joke is made. It is a veritable conversation coup. But then, alas, something I hadn't planned for occured. My deep geek knowledge, and excitement regarding the current Infinite Crisis, decided to surface. Sure the last comment was geeky, but it was a surface comment and funny. It was meant to be a joke after all, but the next comment was too geeky to be useful.

CHRISTIAN JOHNSON
Continuing obliviously

Naturally this leaves out the "pre-crisis" availability of Kara Starr aka Power Girl. Who was the Earth-2 equivalent of Supergirl, not to be confused with Supergirl who naturally died during the Crisis on Infinite Earths...

chirp chirp chirp

I am still reeling from the explosion of geekdom. I might as well have whipped out my copy of Who's Who in the DC Universe (every issue) and begun a detailed lecture on the multiple Earths and their relevance to the Superman mythos. Enough already...

Note to self, next time just leave it at the Wonder Woman joke.

At least I didn't talk about how disappointed I was that Helen Slater didn't get to talk to Patrick Dempsey when she was on Grey's Anatomy. I had hoped to see if there would be any references to Happy Together. How does this relate to the Lois and Clark/Superman story? Helen Slater played Supergirl, naturally.

Hello!

Yes, long time no postie. Haven't felt very pop culture-y. Anyway, we managed to con our Business Research Professor into endorsing our research into a female-friendly game store. I say 'conned' because everyone knows you can't have a female-friendly game store, right?

Well, it's my wife's idea, and she, being a female gamer, thinks the potential for thousands more is just limited by the loser guyishness of the whole thing. Is it true, or a utopian fantasy? Hell, I dunno. I guess you have the Frag Dolls, and a few similar things. And I've always noticed a reasonable amount of women at local cons,though not as much on the message boards, but I guess that's a second category. So, maybe it's true.

It seems to me that something like this is pretty online-focused. But then again, maybe not. We shall see, won't we?

So, anyway. The point of all of this is...

Wanna take our survey?

:)

Putting the Warcraft Back into the War Against Christmas

While Fox News is worrying about the "War Against Christmas," the ever embroiled citizens of the World of Warcraft are fighting to ensure a Happy Winter Veil.

Greatfather Winter has gifts in store for those who are willing to bring him Milk and Gingerbread cookies.

Higher level denizens can find and ride a Rudolph-like reindeer.

Have a conversation with a Snowman.

Collect snowballs to throw at your friends.

Buy Holiday gear from Goblins.

Many say that Winter Veil is becoming too commercial, and some speculate that the Goblin salesmen may be Horde infiltrators into Alliance territory. But one thing is certain. Winter Veil only lasts from December 15th through January 2nd and while it is going on, new players can join the World of Warcraft for only $19.99. I have to admit that I had my reservations about WoW, but once I started playing I dropped my other MMORPGs almost entirely. This is a fun game, and the seasonal event displays some of its glory.

So come join me, Faldir, over on the Malfurion server for some good times this Winter Veil season.

Why I am a Catholic

Or...for those who thought the Monk in 1st Edition D&D didn't make any sense. This is for you.

Thanks to the Ziggurat of Doom for this one.