Geektress.com

Geektress Supports Geeks With Heart

2010-02-14T05:04:34Z

Today, while you're in the lovin' mood, why not share your big geek heart with others? Geek Girls Network™ & Geeky Clean have created a fundraiser to support the Haiti Relief called Geeks With Heart. Through Mercy Corp, Geeks With Heart has a fundraising goal of $2500 and there’s no minimum for donations. If you can spare just one special cup of coffee, an iTunes download, or a crispy chicken sandwich, donate to Haiti instead. Show Haiti why geeks have heart! As extra incentive, and not that you need any, once Geeks With Heart reaches $2500, all who donated will have the chance to win a prize from an amazing grab bag of geek prizes! So donate, tweet it up, put a badge on your website, and tell all your friends and family. Thanks! Geeks With Heart: http://www.mercycorps.org/fundraising/geekgirls

Green Arrow and Hawkman Watch “Smallville: Absolute Justice”

2010-02-08T06:03:12Z

This past Friday was the two hour event "Smallville: Absolute Justice," that had superhero fans talking. Viewer reactions were pretty mixed, so I thought I would get the opinions of two of the episode's stars, or, at least, the opinions of their action figures. So, what did you both think of “Absolute Justice”? Green Arrow: It was pretty good. I think I nodded off for a bit during the second half though. Hawkman: The parts with the JSA were good, but I was confused as to when the past events of our careers were supposed to take place. It was very anachronistic. Green Arrow: I have no idea. I wasn’t paying attention.]]> What did you think of your characters specifically? Green Arrow: That guy who plays me? That’s a good lookin’ guy. I like him. He should maybe think about growing the van dyke though. Hawkman: The actor who played me made me sound ridiculous. I don’t sound like that. Green Arrow: You mean saying everything with a silly growl? That’s exactly what you sound like. Hawkman: What about that idiotic voice modulator they had you using? Like that was any better? Green Arrow: It’s to hide my secret identity. It’s smart! Hawkman: I didn’t like my wings either, or that breast plate. It made me seem weak and afraid. Green Arrow: It also made you look fat. What did you think of the rest of the characters? Green Arrow: Would’ve been nice if Black Canary was there. I always appreciate seein’ Pretty Bird’s fishnets in HD. Hawkman: Yeah, and I had a great time watching my friends get killed off. Why’s it always so tragic? They always have to focus on the death, especially with me and Hawkgirl. We had our good times too. Green Arrow: I was just surprised that one of the JSA guys was acting all stalkerish there at the beginning and it wasn’t bird boy over here. He’s the one with the experience. Hawkman: What’s that supposed to mean? Green Arrow: Why don’t we ask Hawkgirl? Soooo…You guys did interact a lot in this episode. Did you think that was handled well? Hawkman: I really don’t like him, so yes. Green Arrow: Yeah, I got no problems there. Stargirl: I kept expecting them to make out! Green Arrow and Hawkman: What? NO! Oh, Stargirl, I didn’t notice you were here too. Stargirl: That’s because they won’t let me out of this box. Since you obviously watched the show, what did think of how you were portrayed? Stargirl: They made me look so old. That actress was ancient. WTH?! Also, my staff looked like a stick with a lightbulb on it. So cheap. Just like the special effects. Was there anything about the show you liked? Green Arrow: I liked the part where I exchanged sexy emails with Black Canary. That didn’t actually happen in the show. Green Arrow: Yeah, but you know it was happening off screen. That’s what counts. Hawkman: I liked when I threw Green Arrow through a window. Green Arrow: Yeah, like I’d really ever let that happen. Hawkman: Like you could stop me. Did you think any of the characters came off particularly well in this episode? Hawkman: Martian Manhunter. Green Arrow: J’onn was pretty bad ass. Stargirl: Yeah, Martian Manhunter was awesome. Do you have any final thoughts on the episode? Stargirl: The JSA should get it’s own spinoff or something. We were so much cooler than those other losers. I mean, I’m seventeen and I’m already doing my thing as Stargirl. Clark Kent is like 40 and he doesn’t even fly yet. He’s supposed to be Superman! What a disappointment. Green Arrow: Yeah, and why was it all “Clark is so different from the others. Clark is so righteous. Clark will bring hope. Blah…blah…blah!” He barely even did anything in the episode. What about me? I formed the Justice League! Hawkman: You’re an ass. Green Arrow: You’re a fascist! Hawkman: I should crush you with my mace! Green Arrow: When pigs fly! Oh, wait! You already do!

Dear Sam Worthington: Please Fire Your Agent. Out of a Cannon. (Into a wall.)

2010-01-27T02:09:51Z

Remember this, sweetness? This is back when you were still kinda blond. We could call this: Your Fun Period. The Hollywood Reporter is confirming posts elsewhere on the web saying Universal, in a fit of stupidity, wants to produce a film called "Dracula Year Zero," "rebooting" the "Dracula myth", with Sam Worthington starring. (If I wanted to get really bitchy with the sarcastic quotations, I could write "starring," but I'm taking advice from Coco this week and trying to be less cynical. Sorta.) In other words, Laura called it a couple of weeks ago: Sam Worthington is becoming Gerard Butler, which means soon he'll be in a romantic comedy playing a New Zealander with a peculiarly high-pitched version of his native accent, because his interpretation of a Kiwi accent means stepping on your own nuts. Or, he'll play Mr. Mistoffelees in the film version of Cats, which will star everyone else who can sing except him. ...I can't be the only one who sat through Dracula 2000, seriously. SPOILER DRACULA WAS JUDAS SPOILER. That was seriously a spoiler. Ridiculous rant after the jump.]]> Gamma Squad: Hollywood, stop trying to make Sam Worthington happen. And here's the real kicker: If I have to pick just one Liam Neeson movie this year, it's gonna be the A-Team. I will not even hesitate in making the decision. That Clash of the Titans remake is not even going to come close. Sorry, Sam, you are just fucking your American career up. You're making movies I can anticipate not seeing months in advance. Please either move to New York City and get some career counseling from Hugh Jackman (who can't lose even when he makes dumb prequels) or go home and let Bryan Brown beat some sense in to you. I would even settle for letting Sam Neill beat some sense in to you. AND SAM NEILL WAS IN JURASSIC PARK 3. JURASSIC PARK 3, SAMUEL. You aren't cute enough to pull something like that off. You once said you like to study other people's work so that you know exactly who they are and it puts them off-balance when you meet them in person. Well, clearly you haven't seen Timeline because I'M PRETTY SURE THAT MOVIE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A SCRIPT, and we all should have seen it as a sign of Gerard Butler completely dursting, despite his ripped abs. So if you don't calm down, Laura and I are going to beat you with sticks. BIG, sharp sticks.

Among the Many Reasons I Go to the Movies Less and Stay at Home Watching TCM More

2010-01-14T03:22:30Z

(Image via Terry Border's Bent Objects) The other day it was reported that the Spider-Man film franchise would be rebooted, and I, huge Spidey geek that I am, blogged about it and tried to remain optimistic. I knew that a rant was forming though, not specifically because of the news itself, but because of how the whole thing is just another example of a film studio completely missing the point. My annoyance was further fueled by reading this post at EW.com, which stated:

This time around, the series will place Peter Parker in a more contemporary setting, as a teenager battling today’s issues. The decision to go with an origin story stemmed from Sony developing two Spidey projects simultaneously. According to studio insiders, Sony was working on both Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 and the new origin story from James Vanderbilt, who wrote Zodiac. The original plan was to keep the Spider-Man gang together for one last film in 2011 before rebooting the series in 2012. When it became clear that Raimi would not be able to make the summer 2011 release date planned for Spider-Man 4, the studio opted to scrap Spider-Man 4 altogether, and focus solely on the series reboot.

Furthermore, according to EW, "the studio [is] interested in a more gritty, contemporary redo of the series." Did I not just say in my last post that I didn't want to see a gritty Spider-Man movie? And did I miss something where Sam Raimi's movies were some sort of period piece? Do kids today not live in crappy New York City apartments and have bosses who are jerks? Have teenage boys stopped having crushes on pretty girls? Are we going to get to see Gwen Stacy die? Is the new movie going to be all about terrorists and bomb threats in the high school? I'd just like to get an idea of what exactly is meant by contemporary.]]> Spider-Man 4 seems like the cinematic equivalent of those sad middle aged men who dump their wives for younger women who look just like their wives when they were twenty. Also, if they already had the reboot planned, I have to question how committed they ever were to continuing the current films. After all, they could promise Raimi all the creative control he wanted, knowing that even if they didn't follow through and he wound up quitting, they could just got ahead with the script they already had waiting in the wings. It just smacks of Raimi getting a really bumb deal from the studio. The biggest failure here though is Sony failing to realize that Spider-Man isn't anything like Batman. Christopher Nolan was able to successfully relaunch the Batman franchise because he made really good Batman movies. Sam Raimi's first two Spider-Man movies were a success because he made really good Spider-Man movies. The same goes for Favreau's Iron Man, while I'm at it. If you look at those movies, there are similarities there, but they're not carbon copies of eachother. These were all story and character based, creator driven movies, but the characters story and tone were all very different. The key ingredient was talent and vision from people who understood what made characters why characters that had already endured for decades had achieved that popularity, not corporate meddling. (The Fantastic Four movies had some of those ingredients, but completely lacked the key talent component, leading to sheer mediocrity on all fronts.) Now, you could ask me, "What about Superman Returns? That was a creative driven movie, and look how that turned out," to which I say it's the exception that proves the rule. Any idiot could have seen the pitfalls of giving Superman a kid. The fact that they didn't just goes to show how stupid studio executives are. Huge fucking road signs on that one. For a non-superhero example of a studio's nonsensical meddling, I direct you towards an io9 post from last week, regarding Darren Aronofsky's unwillingness to go ahead with the Robocop remake if MGM would only greenlight it if he agreed to make it in 3-D. Apparently, this decision was made because of the success of Avatar, because people just love any movie that's in 3-D. Remember the mobs of people trying to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 2008? Certainly just because a space adventure about large, blue aliens worked in one format a gritty, near-future tale of a Fascist police state would also work in that format. If studio interference was in any way related to quality and success, I, Robot would have been Citizen Kane and Titanic all rolled into one. Audiences are going to get sick of the bland, cookie-cutter crap that studio executives insist on churning out, and when they do all the good filmmakers are going to be off making self-financed films for the internet.

Rebooted Spidey in 2012, If We're Still Around to See It

2010-01-12T02:49:05Z

After a lot of drama in the past few weeks, it was reported today that director Sam Raimi would be walking away from the Spider-Man franchise, and taking Tobey Maguire with him, leading to a decision by Sony to reboot the franchise with a script by original Spider-Man 4 scribe, Jamie Vanderbilt, and a director to be named later. Hopefully, this means I no longer have to fear seeing Anne Hathaway in a bad, platinum blond wig. Sadly, it also means I won't get to see John Malkovich, the scariest actor alive, fly around with goofy green wings and a feathery, white collar. It definitely means no more of Kirsten Dunst's annoyingly dreary Mary Jane Watson, which should, at least, be the one thing we can all agree is reason to rejoice. Maybe now Maguire and Dunst can join James Franco in the cast of General Hospital.]]> Spider-Man 2, and not impose stories and characters on him, like forcing Venom into Spider-Man 3. The Vulture is a great, classic Spidey villain, and it would have been really fun to see if they could have done with him what they did with Dr. Octopus. It was pretty clear from all the rumors flying about that it wasn't going to happen though, and if Raimi felt his hands were tied creatively by the time restraints of the release date, it's better that he walked away. I don't think any of us wanted to sit through another Spider-Man 3. (There's about half a good movie there, which just makes it worse. All that wasted potential is just frustrating to watch.) Maybe now Sam Raimi can go back to directing movies like A Simple Plan and The Gift. I've kind of missed that Sam Raimi anyway. (I still haven't watched Drag Me to Hell though, so I haven't missed him too much. Actually, Evil Dead 2 and Spider-Man 2 are my favorite Raimi movies, so if he wanted to retire and sculpt bunny statues for the rest of his life, I doubt I'd mind. Getting back to the more varied career he was working on prior to Spider-Man would be interesting though.) I'm glad that Sony did the smart thing and decided to reboot the franchise, instead of making Spider-Man 4 with a different director and star. Unlike the Hulk reboot, people other than comic book fans are interested in Spider-Man movies, so people will probably go see it instead of just wondering what it's connection is to some other movie they didn't go see a few years earlier. (OK, most people probably didn't even bother to wonder about The Incredible Hulk, but that just further proves that it won't matter if the next Spider-Man movie is a sequel or a reboot.) A reboot at least allows for the potential, however unlikely, of the next Spider-Man movie being more like Batman Begins or Casino Royale than Batman Forever or, shudder to think, X-Men 3. (Now we just have to hope and pray that Brett Ratner is too busy adapting Rob Leifeld comics to be considered for the directing job. What's McG doing now? I'd like to make sure he's too busy to be involved too. Also, I hope it won't actually be like Batman Begins or Casino Royale, because the tone of those movies isn't very Spidey, if you know what I mean.) If Sony was really smart, they would have gotten Greg Weisman and the rest the Spectacular Spider-Man writing staff to work on the next movie. That cartoon is as close to perfect as any Spider-Man adaptation has ever gotten. Still, this is me with my optimistic face on. Until I have reason to believe otherwise, I'm hoping that 2012 brings Spidey in all his wise-cracking glory, and a Mary Jane Watson that finally does justice to one of my favorite female characters in all of superhero comics. If it doesn't, well, maybe the world will end in the beginning of the year, instead of waiting until December 21st, and we can all pretend it would have been the greatest thing ever.

Tapdancing Crocs and Nuclear Dingoes

2009-12-29T01:35:59Z

This clip has next to nothing to do with the rest of the post. Hey, guess what happens when there's no podcast for a while? You folks get chat transcripts. It's like the low-fi version of the podcast. Brenda So, I am watching Bootmen on my iPod now. (Bootmen is available on iTunes for $5.99) Laura Yeah, I doubt I'd actually want to pay for that though. Brenda I will of course force you to watch it the next time I see you, much like I did Rogue. You don't know what's good for you. Only I know. I have the cure, and the prescription is: more attractive Australian men. (more chat after the jump)]]> Laura I would be more inclined to watch it, I think, if I caught it randomly on HBO. Brenda That's for the best. It's how I found it. 3 in the morning and I couldn't sleep. Laura That's the thing, despite my obsession with dance movies, I only ever watch them at random. Brenda I think perhaps it's a requirement of hot Australian men that they be able to sing and dance, or they don't let them off the continent. It's either that, or wrestle crocodiles. Laura Can Eric Bana sing and dance? Brenda One can only assume. Maybe he sings in that Funny People movie? I know there has to be something I saw where he was singing. I'm telling you, it's like they sent all the fun people to prison in Australia and the result is extremely attractive musical theater. Now we know, there were two extreme groups, the felons and the Puritans, and England wasn't having any of it. Which is probably why the #1 anything of all time in the UK is always ABBA-related. Laura Because they sent all the people with taste to Australia? Brenda It's like if you had a magical kingdom that was awesome, but maybe TOO awesome, so you kicked out all the drag queens and ministers. The result is that you have nothing left to sing about. The second exchange happened after I commented on a status message of Laura's, the gist of which was that Sam Worthington was in danger of over-saturating the American movie market, much like Gerard Butler, and she'd prefer it if half of Sam's future gigs went to Karl Urban, to prevent Butler-like burnout. Brenda I like the idea of Sam Worthington and Karl Urban working together. Laura No, I'm replacing Sam Worthington with Karl Urban, as part of the Australian actor job sharing program.* Brenda I know that's what you're saying, I'm just saying, the two of them together would be awesome. Maybe in a movie about tap dancing crocodiles. Laura We should write a movie about two Australian guys who fight a giant, man-eating dingo or something. Wait! Three Australian guys, so we can put Eric Bana in it too. We'll kill him off first though, since he's the most famous, people won't be expecting it. Brenda I wish we could go see Daybreakers together. Although I hear Willem Dafoe doesn't get to kick as much ass as he clearly wants to. Why isn't Willem Dafoe in more action movies, then? Laura I didn't even know Willem Dafoe was in Daybreakers. I wish we could go see it together too. Aside from Spider-Man, I don't think I've ever seen him in an action movie. After the man-eating dingo movie, we can write an action movie for Willem Dafoe. Brenda I don't see why he can't be the grisled ex-dingo hunter who's roped in to fighting the psychotic giant irradiated dingo, but okay. Laura Because I thought Bryan Brown would play that role. Brenda That's a good point. Shit, now I'll have to think on it. In trying to photoshop a headline graphic, I run across a problem. Brenda I can already see a problem with this dingo movie: they're super cute. Laura Dingos eat babies though. Everybody knows this. Meryl Streep doesn't lie. It's totally OK to kill giant mutated ones. Brenda We better make it really goddamn ugly. I got a photo of Willem Dafoe with a crossbow and I can't find a dingo ugly enough to photoshop into the crosshairs. Even the grumpy dingoes look cuddly. Laura I'm looking at pictures now, and you're right. Baby eating or no, they are dogs, and I just can't hurt them. I mean, look at this puppy. I just want to squish it. I would give that puppy a baby to eat. Brenda I told you so. Laura Mutated, maneating kangaroos? They're cute, but not so cute that I think a movie about a mutant maneating one wouldn't be funny. Brenda I don't know if kangaroos would work -- I mean, I wouldn't want people to get it mixed up with Kangaroo Jack. You know who I hear are assholes? Koalas. Laura Good call. They're all adorable, but then they have those scary claws. Mutated, maneating koalas it is! *Karl Urban: Not Australian. Still, he's one of those Upside-Down-niks.** ** ™PinkBatMax.

THIS ONE TIME, THERE WAS A ROBOT SHOW

2009-12-28T00:47:21Z

This one time, there was a robot show. It was a robot show that I liked very much. It was a robot show I wrote about on this very site. It was a robot show that never had the chance to disappoint me with some bullshit about angels, because this robot show was cancelled before that could happen. It was a show with hot robots, like that other show, but more importantly, it was a show with Garret Dillahunt as a robot, and also that girl from Garbage with the hair and the accent. In short, it was an awesome show, and lately I've come to resent its being cancelled. Again. Yes, it's time for my quarterly "FOX is the devil and they took away my robots" rant. Here we go:]]> [ed. note: what?]), rounding out the top ten are the terms: SCC, Lena Headey, Dean Winters, 1920s speakeasy, Sarah Connor Kyle Reese, Time Travel, and John Connor as a vampire. I have no idea what the last one is because Google can be a disappointing mess, too, apparently. So, a full 70% of the people that visit this site are looking for more killer robot show stuff. YOU AREN'T GOING TO GET IT BECAUSE FOX IS THE DEVIL. Anyway. It's the holiday season, which is why I've chosen to bring this all up again. There's nothing else on television right now and naturally when you think of the baby Jesus you think: killer robots. So I decided to take out the figurative razor and drag it over the proverbial vein in my theoretical soul by going through Josh Friedman's blog and wondering where it all went wrong.

Geektress Does Christmas

2009-12-07T00:27:44Z

If you're fretting over what to get that certain weirdo someone for the holidays this year -- don't. Geektress has got you covered. Take, for instance, Brandon Bird's Nic Cage Adventure Set. I don't know if you ever played with Colorforms as a kid, but you sure as hell never played with them like this. Nine vinyl stickers on two re-usable backdrops -- ALL NICOLAS CAGE. You see, although Nic Cage is sort of scary and bizarre, I like to think we can move past Ghost Rider and learn to appreciate Cage in the abstract. Like justice, or Cheetohs. And for just $10 (plus shipping), you can appreciate him... anywhere! In the car, in the bathroom, on an international treasure hunt for historic-type objects. You never know. (Thanks to Jack for the tip.) For more gift ideas, check out the full entry.]]> I don't think I have to really explain to you why a robot riding a triceratops is a great idea. If you want to buy it in t-shirt form, check out the listing on happyfamily's Etsy page. It's $18 + shipping. However, if you're shopping for a special lady friend, do her a favor and get her something I always enjoy: Jewelry. Start with Molly Spilane's Etsy shop: Yep. A Zoltar necklace. (Let's never forget that BIG is part science fiction, y'all.) In case you were wondering, it slides open and has Zoltar fortunes inside. You can even buy replacement fortunes if you feel like handing yours out. Me, I'm a hoarder. Ms. Spilane has lots of acrylic jewelry, too, like this taco necklace that particularly interests me. Plus other assorted pendants featuring everything from cowgirls to Frida Kahlo. Of course, if you're looking for something a little more cerebral, there's always Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters. I haven't read it yet, but I'm hoping Mr. Willoughby gets eaten by a giant squid.

We Are The World's Worst Gossip Blog

2009-10-06T22:28:20Z

Click to Embiggen Someone who loves us, or just loves to confuse us, gave us the hot tip that a P.A. for Lost (presumably for the writer's production office, since the show shoots in Hawaii) has been buying up old Nick Fury comics, and having them mailed to an address on the Disney lot. This may cause some of you to jump to the conclusion that J.J. Abrams is writing the Nick Fury movie. That's because you don't have our superior intellect. (Unless you turn out to be right, in which case, we told you so all along.) Logic says that it's probably nothing, and there is no cause for alarm, especially since J.J. has booked his waking life with movie sequels through 2012. So, since we can't get anyone on the phone to confirm or deny said purchases (and possibly explain what they're actually for), this lead to a lot of discussion between Laura and myself whether we should run this story at all. Which leads to classic email exchange material, after the jump. By the way, you should all be thanking me for not using a Hasselhoff photo on this post. It was damned tempting. ]]> Laura: Maybe one of the Lost writers just really likes Nick Fury. Brenda: That's my theory. Someone just got a raise! Laura: Last time I got a raise, I bought all of White Rabbit's appearances, but that was only 2 comics. Brenda: I thought Abrams was at Paramount, not Disney. I heard the Bad Robot offices moved. My sources confirm that they have no idea, but they also thought it was at Paramount. Good to know nothing changes in 8 years. Of course this does not help me figure out which phone number to call. Laura: Wasn't Paramount the studio that distributed movies for Marvel Entertainment before the Disney buy out? Brenda: I have no idea. When I was there they were all about Enterprise. Laura: Did you get to meet any Vulcans? Brenda: No. It was all Bakula, all the time. Laura: My guess is that some writer wants to write a Nick Fury movie, but isn't necessarily involved in one. Brenda: I think some production secretary obsessed with Jack Kirby just got a pay bonus and is using the proceeds to buy up rare Nick Fury comics. The pay raise, of course, is for something related to the DUIs everyone gets on Lost. Laura: He's their stand-in at court appearances! Brenda: That is completely plausible. Just as likely that J.J. Abrams has anything to do with the new Nick Fury movie. Laura: The production secretary could also be obsessed with Steranko. We don't know what comics were bought. Or, space aliens have found out about Nick Fury's involvement in ending the Skrull's Secret Invasion, and have posed as a production assistant at Lost in order to covertly buy a lot of Nick Fury comics so they can study him, and nulify him as a potential threat to their own invasion. Brenda: Another acceptable theory. Though less likely that the secret invasion's home base wouldn't be in Portland. If I'm a comic book writer, I'm living anywhere but Oregon, because one carelessly aimed missile could take out half the industry. Or, wait. ...Where can you buy missiles?

MOAR PIKSHURS, LOL

2009-10-01T22:52:05Z

Click to embiggen For some reason we can't post more than two video clips in one post, which probably makes your browsers happy. In that case, here is another photo from Superman Batman: Public Enemies, and more pictures, plus a clip, after the jump.]]>

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Tim Daly Talks Superman, We Have Videos

2009-09-29T21:06:24Z

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So, here's a free clip from Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, which is available today on DVD and Blu Ray and On Demand and Pay Per View and beamable directly to your subconscious. Okay, maybe not the last one. After the jump we have a few more clips, plus more photos from the film, and an interview with Tim Daly (the voice of Superman.) Apparently he does some sort of television show now. That's nice for him. What a nice young man.]]>

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Can you recall your initial audition for Superman? Tim Daly: Yes, I remember it very well. The wife of one of the writers on Wings knew Andrea (Romano, casting/dialogue director), and, I guess they had been having trouble casting (Superman) for some reason. I don’t really know why. She suggested me and I came in and read for them, and they sort of hired me in the room. I was just shocked, but I was thrilled, because it was Superman. And, you know, if someone's got to keep America safe for democracy, it might as well be me (he laughs). What are the challenges to voicing Superman? Superman is a real boy scout, a real straight arrow, and yet he does have certain moments of kind of ironic humor. The challenge is not to tip him into cynicism because he is not a cynical guy. He is truth, justice and the American way. He is about trying to do the right thing and trying to be earnest about his goodness. What makes him fun are those little moments where he reveals that he actually does have a sense of humor. Also, Superman has always gotten the crap kicked out of him by various laser beams, electrical force fields, bombs, kryptonite and new weapons – so there's a lot of grunting and straining and screaming noises that you have to do. There is so much punching and fighting that I find myself standing in front of the music stand and the microphone, pinching myself and torque-ing my body around as if I'm getting punched or straining against someone or grabbing someone by the scruff of the neck. The key is to push out of your mind the embarrassment of what it would look like if someone actually saw you do that in your shorts and flip-flops when you're supposed to be the Man of Steel. I think probably the most fun I have as Superman was in the episodes with Superman and Bizarro, where he changes into this sort of idiot Superman and his whole demeanor sort of changes. He's not really deviously bad, or not consciously bad, but he does a lot of bad things because he can be manipulated – of course, by Lex Luthor. What do you bring to Superman? I guess the actual embodiment of that character (he laughs) – no, I'm kidding. I ain't no Superman (laughs). I guess I bring whatever little quirks make him more real. I like to think that this is my wheelhouse Superman. Whenever you reprise something, you hopefully reinvent it a little bit. If I had portrayed Superman as a live action person, I would really have wanted to know that there was a new spin on the ball. You’ve been away from the role for a while – did recording Public Enemies present any new revelations about the character and doing the voice? The most surprising thing about it was that I missed it. I found that I really had missed doing Superman. I thought that particular script was really good. For those of us who are interested and aware of new certain things in our world and our country, I think that it presents a very kind of subtle social commentary which I think is cool and relatively bold for something that's a DVD release of a Superman animated project. How did recording with Kevin Conroy influence your performance? Voicing animation is always interesting because you don’t have to all be in the room together. It can be done separately. But it's always better when you're in the room because then you're responding to someone else. Kevin is such a good Batman and, unlike Superman, Batman is pretty cynical. He's of darker character. When you have those two flavors playing off each other in real time, there's a lot more sizzle to it. You're not in a vacuum. So being in the studio together is definitely helpful. Did you enjoy the “buddy cop” aspect of the film? Superman and Batman have a good flavor to them, much like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in the 48 HRS movies. They're sort of thrown into a situation where they have got to respond to a dilemma and they have very different points of view about how to deal with it, but ultimately they bond as a team. And it's funny having these two guys who are so different working for the same cause. When you were first cast as Superman, did you understand the importance of the character to the world, and were you surprised by the fan reaction? I admit to my own shame that I took it just on a lark. I thought, “Oh, this would be fun.” And then I started to realize that Superman actually meant a lot to a lot of people. I feel badly that I didn’t take a moment to understand that I actually have a greater responsibility than I thought I did. I understand that now, and I enjoy my responsibility and have more of a profound sense of it. Every once in a while, someone comes up to me and says, “Excuse me, are you Tim Daly?” And I say yes and they say “I have to tell you, I am such a huge fan of yours, and my favorite work of yours is the voice of Superman.” I'm always sort of surprised when that happens – I used to think that it was all about the kids watching those animated shows, and who did the voices didn’t really enter their consciousness. But there are people that it means a lot to and I'm always a little bit taken aback by that. And I'm thrilled when that happens. Which character do you gravitate toward: Batman or Superman? And why? I like Superman better. Not just because I play him, but I think because I'm a little bit of an idealist and Superman is, too. He's a little bit more pure. He's about saying that good can win, that you can have goodness be the order of the day. Batman is somewhat more realistic in terms of the human psyche because he's a little more tortured – he's darker, more cynical and more street savvy than this strange guy that landed in a cornfield in Kansas. But for the purposes of having a super hero, I think having someone be good is more satisfying for me. Is there something you consciously do to put that sense of trust in your voice as Superman? It's acting 101. I see what Superman is supposed to say, and then I say it as truthfully and straightforward as I possibly can. It's always more fun to play villains and there's a lot more latitude, but it's way more difficult to play the good guy – especially someone as squeaky clean and straightforward and All-American as Superman. You really have to commit to the idea that this guy believes in his mission, that he's telling the truth and that he's looking somebody in the eye and giving it to him straight. It's surprisingly difficult to do. In conjunction with everything else you've done as Superman, can you envision how the fans will embrace this film? I think that, interestingly enough, this particular film will work on a pure light entertainment level because there's all the fighting and characters and technological things involved. But there's also this subtle social commentary that I think that people who are more thoughtful or sort of discerning about that the progress of Superman over the years will be very interested in. I think that a lot of people will love it. Other people might be a little discomforted by it, which I think is great to stir things up a little bit.

Kevin Conroy: Good Cop, Bat Cop?

2009-09-28T20:40:06Z

(Click to embiggen, for downloadable, wallpapery goodness) Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is available for purchase on DVD (and On Demand) tomorrow. We haven't seen it yet, so we can only infer from the following interview with The Voice Of Batman, Kevin Conroy, just how much sexual tension there is between Bats and Supes. (We hope it's A Lot.) Click through to get more photos and an interview with Conroy from this year's San Diego Comic Con.]]> You’ve been doing this role for nearly 19 years. Are there still challenges to doing the voice of Batman? Kevin Conroy: I guess the biggest challenge to doing any kind of animation voice work is that you only have your voice to tell the story. And you want to keep it real and you don't want to get cartoony, especially now because the audiences are much more sophisticated. Anything over the top is going to read over the top. So it's a very fine line that people walk. For Batman, I think the biggest challenge is the timber of the voice that I established early on. I just kind of improvised it and it stuck. It's very deep in my register – very throaty – and whenever it gets emotional, it’s a difficult sound to create with a lot of volume technically without blowing your chords out. So there's all kinds of tricks you learn along the way of how to produce a sound, how to produce it without injuring yourself, and how to juice it enough. It's a delicate, funny balancing act. Recording Superman/Batman: Public Enemies was actually easy because of the cast that Andrea (Romano) put together. Tim (Daly) and Clancy (Brown) – all of us have worked together a lot over the years, and there's a real shorthand when you're dealing with people who have done a lot of it and know what they're doing. Which is really a pleasure. Andrea doesn't have to say very much for me to know what she wants. What do Tim Daly and Clancy Brown bring to their respective roles? Tim brings to Superman that strong voice, but there's also a real humanity to Tim as an actor and that really comes through. So there’s strength but there's a great sensitivity, and that's unique about his take on Superman. Clancy is great at being crazy. He's a very talented actor. He's got that great sound, that resonate voice. And yet when you've got that kind of power under you, you can afford to be very casual with it. It makes his sinister quality so much more frightening when this guy with this voice is just being very debonair. What can people expect to find different about Superman/Batman: Public Enemies than most crossover stories? There's definitely more humor in this because of the relationship they've created between Superman and Batman. It was really fun doing it with Tim because it almost became like a buddy cop kind of thing. There are not a lot of people that Batman can fool around with like that – that can take it and can dish it back. So I really enjoyed that aspect of the script. Batman and Superman have all these amazing foes. And yet Lex Luthor has no super powers. What makes Lex a great villain, and how does Clancy make him greater? Actors always want to play the villain – they’re a lot more fun. Think about it. The hero is just about being a good guy and, in life, we all want to be good guys. But when you're playing at something other than yourself, it's fun to do what is taboo. I played Edgar in a production of King Lear that John Houseman directed for Lincoln Center. Edgar is the good son in Lear and it's probably the hardest role in the play. I thought I did a pretty good job at it – although one critic was particularly unkind. Years later, I did a production at the San Diego Shakespeare Festival of Lear and I played Edmond, who is the force of evil throughout the play. The plot really revolves around Edmond's machinations. It was so much more fun to play Edmond because of the joy he took out of being evil. This guy is planning the downfall of his family, and laughing about it, and delighting in it. And it was a real blast to me. A couple years earlier I was busting my back for Houseman, doing Edgar every night, working so hard on a role that the audience doesn't care about. They want to cheer Edmond and how evil he is because it's so much fun. Clancy brings that joy to Luthor and the more ease he does it with, the more frightening it becomes. And he's really good at that. So what does Kevin Conroy bring to Batman? I guess I am basically most comfortable when I'm alone. As a kid, I was very much a loner. I love long distance running and long distance biking. A director once pointed out that those are all very isolated exercises you do for hours at a time. I think Batman taps into that quality of me, because my initial take on the character was that Batman wasn't the performance. Bruce Wayne was the performance. Batman is where he's most comfortable. The cave is where he's most comfortable. And he puts on this persona of incredible sophistication to be able to deal with the world just like I think everybody puts on a mask to deal with the world. Everyone has a private self and a public self. With him, it's taken to a real extreme. And I think I related to that aspect of him. I am basically a pretty shy person – I think a lot of actors are. That's why they get into acting – because it's easier to be free emotionally when you're pretending to be someone else than to be free emotionally when you have to be yourself. And I think Bruce has the same problem. Is there still a cool factor for you to be the voice of Batman? Oh, yeah. It’s something that I'm reminded of a lot from people who enjoy the show. That's a very cool thing. I don't ever take for granted how cool a job it is and how lucky I am to have landed in it. It was the first animation job I ever auditioned for – and it just happened to all come together so well. But it was just pure chance. Were you a comics reader as a kid? I had an interesting childhood in that my parents were older. I was a late child, and they were children of immigrants. So the connection of the family to Ireland was very close. I have an Irish passport – I went to school there a bit when I was younger. So my parents were very old world, and they grew up during the Depression. They were kind of like my friends' grandparents – my family kind of skipped a generation that way. I was put in very conservative Catholic schools – the nuns had habits to the ground, and the boys and the girls were separated. It was very old school. And comic books just weren't allowed. It just wasn't part of my world. I didn’t read them because I didn't like them – I didn't even know about them. (he laughs). Comic books weren’t part of the planet that I was raised on. Of course, once I heard about them, I liked them a lot. Do you have a collection of Batman paraphernalia? I'm no dumb actor (he laughs). Do you remember the Warner Brother stores? One of the most lucrative parts of those stores was the galleries – they ran them like real art galleries. They'd have people who did the voices come in and do so signings, and when they asked me, I said, “Do I get some kind of compensation?” They were trying to get us on the cheap, but I thought there had to be something to make it worth my while. I said “Why don't you give me a cell?” And they said “Oh, that's a great idea.” So I said, “Why don't we make it two?” And so I started doing appearances at the stores and my compensation was two cells – and now I've got about 60 or 70 cells. It's very cool. I have a great apartment in New York and they're all on this wall. Everyone who walks into that apartment turns into a 12-year-old boy. They all walk in and say, “Oh. Wow. Cool.” And it is. What makes Batman the greatest super hero? Oh, that's easy. The thing that makes Batman unique as a super hero is that he has no super powers, and the darkness of his personal story. Everyone relates to having a personal dark story – his is just much more dramatic than most people's. Everyone is handed adversity in life. No one's journey is easy. It's how they handle it that makes people unique. Batman took adversity and turned it into something enormously powerful and positive without any superpowers. For more information, images and updates, please visit the film’s official website.

The Brave and the Delicious

2009-09-05T01:58:52Z

Do you like Airheads brand taffy? Do you like Batman? Well have I GOT THE CROSSOVER FOR YOU! In some sort of promotional blitz (I assume) for the Batman: The Brave And The Bold cartoon, you can get a six pack of airheads, each flavor with its own hero, for $0.99.* Red Tornado is cherry, Blue Beetle is blue raspberry, Aquaman is tangerine, Plastic Man is watermelon, Green Arrow is green apple, and Batman is grape. I never though of Batman as grape flavored, but then again his costume is often purple-ish. Heh. Is Batman the grape drank of superheroes? (More pictures after the jump.) *UPDATE: I bought more today (11/14/09) and they are in fact $0.99 for a pack with all six flavors. BARGAIN.]]>

DIY Wonder Pigs!

2009-08-07T03:51:49Z

Yay! Wonder Pig! Remember the episode of Justice League Unlimited where Circe turns Diana into a pig, and the pig has little piglet wristlets and Batman is trying to save her from the slaughterhouse and it was awesome? Well, to everyone's shock and delight, DC actually released the above JLU action figure version of Batman, complete with Wonder Pig. Target had the exclusive deal to sell this particular line of action figures, and quick-thinking Laura snatched up the two she saw at her local Target. Since then, the both of us have been checking every Target we see to try and find a third for Rania. I haven't even taken mine out of the box, because I don't want anything to happen to it and then I no longer have a Wonder Pig. Even my Puptress loves this thing: However. If you have any kind of free time and crafting skills and want to make your OWN unlicensed Wonder Pig, you don't have to worry. I've done it in order to help you do it yourself -- and here is the step by step guide.]]> First of all, you'll need a little plastic pig. I couldn't really find one exactly like the cartoon-ish pig that comes with Batman, but I think I came close. Schleich makes miniatures, mostly realistic looking ones nowadays. But you probably already own a Schleich figurine and don't even know it -- they started out making Smurf, Peanuts, and Muppet Show figurines. This particular model is called the standing piglet. I had to buy it online because Schleich figures are only sold at little boutique toy stores. (You can find the dealer nearest you by clicking here.) Black Acrylic Paint Silver Acrylic Paint (both available at your nearest craft store.) (If your pig is totally blank, you might also need pink paint!) Clear primer (if the pig is already painted, like the ones I used.) If your pig is totally bare, you can use any color primer, but I suggest white. Paintbrush Palette - I have a slew of those tins that AOL trial offer CDs come in. (Or used to come in.) They work great, and they're free.
Instructions: 1. Remove or clip any little bits of plastic hanging off any seams from the mold it was cast in. (Also, remove their little pricetags.) 2. Wash your little piggies in warm soapy water. This is to remove any oils from production or handling that may prevent paint from adhering to the miniature. You can just pat them dry with a paper towel. 3. Prime them with your clear base primer. This allows your paint to stick and not get rubbed or chipped off. If your pigs were already pink, like mine, be careful to only prime the areas that you're going to paint. Allow the primer to dry. Mine dries within a half an hour. Follow whatever it says on the can. 4. Time to paint! Because my pigs had weird beady eyes that didn't make them very friendly, I added some black paint to the eyeballs to give them big doe eyes. Then I painted all the hooves black. Depending on what the weather is like, leave these to dry overnight. (If it's humid, dry for two nights.) 5. After the black paint is completely dry, carefully paint on the wristlets with your silver paint. Some of them I got carried away with, so they have much bigger bracelets than the others. They're still beautiful, though! 6. Leave them to dry again for a few days. You want them to be completely dry to the touch, which takes longer than what it says on the bottle. Once they're COMPLETELY DRY, you can put more clear glaze/enamel primer over the top to make them shiny and pretty, and to make double sure the paint won't flake off. And, because I totally have to, here is the clip of Batman singing "Am I Blue." You watch it and try to tell me that he's not secretly making out with Wonder Woman.

This Was Bands We Know! Week

2009-07-31T19:59:45Z

(Image by Gre3g) Did you know? This week on our Twitter and our Facebook page, we let you know about our friends that are cooler than us because they decided to organize and write music. It was Bands We Know! week, and four rock groups were linked from our various social networks. If you missed out, there's a recap after the jump.]]> On Monday, we featured Mayors of Super Awesome Town. (Facebook page, Twitter, Myspace page.) Comprised of Brenda's friends Don and Jack, the Mayors are still in the market for a bassist and a drummer, but that in no way stops them from putting on an entertaining rock show. Using Jack's iPod for the backing track, the duo performs a short list of songs that are reminiscent of They Might Be Giants (and not just because They Might Be Giants had a backup band comprised of a tape deck in their earlier days.) They're based out of Cincinnati but their most recent show was in Buffalo, so they're not afraid to travel for a gig. Look them up and give them a listen! Tuesday was Backwoods Payback day. (Facebook page, Twitter, Myspace page.) If you don't remember, Backwoods Payback was also featured on our music podcast, as band members Jessica & Mike are good friends of Rania's. (The song featured was entitled "Dirtbike.") Based out of West Chester, PA, Backwoods Payback is mostly metal that is heavy. They've been around since 2003 and have put out their own album and sent themselves on tour. If you like to bang your head or possibly just rock out, you can download their music at their Myspace page. Wednesday is for Tall Friends. (Facebook page, Myspace page.) Born of the remnants of a few other bands, most notably Brenda's husband's band Retire, Tall Friends makes their home in Chicago and has been kicking around since 2002. They have three full length albums to their discography, most recently "Stand By." You may also recognize them from our music podcast, with the song "Blue on Blue." They quite often go underground to record or pick their noses, whatever. Currently they are on such a hiatus, but it is to be expected they'll make a comeback eventually. In the meantime, catch some of their live tracks on their Myspace page. Thursday was for The Last Troubadour, whom we don't know personally but we like them just the same. (Facebook page, Myspace page.) Another fun Cincinnati band, the Troubadours are sorta punk, sorta rock, lotsa awesome. They are currently on tour, but that shouldn't stop you from taking a listen to their stuff while they're on the road.