The Friday Five – 5 Things on My Mind

1.The Beatles Remastered Box Set available on 9-9-09

2. Coconut M&M’s – I hunted them down, tried them and they grew on me. This limited edition candy tastes like a small crispy lighter version of a Mounds candy bar.

3. Apple’s event next week.  What goodies will the purveyor of shiny things announce? I will certainly let you all know.

4. Patton Oswalt in Big Fan.

5. Glee on Fox – Looking forward to this show.

Chris Jordan’s Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait

Chris Jordan, a Seattle based visual artist, has created an exciting new exhibit entitled “Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait.” It can be viewed from May 15^th until September 11^th at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

The exhibit features seventeen original pieces, each of which illustrates a staggering social or environmental statistic. His piece entitled “Building Blocks,” for example, (measuring 16 feet tall and 32 feet wide) depicts a single children’s building block. But that building block happens to be composed of nine million microscopically smaller building blocks, each block representing one child in America who lives without health insurance as of 2007.

And so the pieces continue. A desert wasteland composed of 8 million toothpicks, each toothpick standing in as one tree destroyed for the express purpose of mailing out monthly catalogues. A gray and white hazy mass becomes, upon closer inspection, 426,000 cell phones—also known as the number of retired phones in the United States each year. A mesmerizing series of concentric circles morphs into 213,000 Vicodin pills, each pill a United States hospital visit in one year involving the often abused prescription medication.

The crowning achievement, however, seems to be the “Ben Franklin.” The faint image of the seminal American, standing 8.5 feet wide and 10.5 feet high, stares out at onlookers. His image is composed of minute $100 bills. 125,000 of those $100 bills to be exact. Another way to view that figure is $12.5 million, the amount spent each hour on the war in Iraq.

For more information about this exhibit, or any of Jordan’s previous work, visit his website: www.chrisjordan.com.

Skull With Cigarette, Depicts 200,000 packs of cigarettes, equal to the number of Americans who die from cigarette smoking every six months.

Ben Franklin, Depicts 125,000 one-hundred dollar bills ($12.5 million), the amount our government spends every hour on the war in Iraq.

Lost: The Complete Fifth Season Dharma Initiation Kit

The LOST Complete 5th Season: Dharma Initiation Kit will be available in both DVD ($78) and Blu-ray Disc ($94) editions. These limited edition releases will  be specially packaged versions of the sets filled with a VHS tape, Dharma Initiative orientation pamphlets, DVDs in floppy-disk clothing, a variety of maps and other fun Lost ephemera.

These are obviously aimed at more serious collectors and fans of the show.  The DVD will be released on December 8^th and can be pre-ordered HERE.

Mister Rogers & Me

Benjamin Wagner and his brother have been self-producing an independent documentary about meeting Fred Rogers. After over $30,000 of self-financing, some 4,000 miles of travel and hours and hours of videotape, they have a 75-minute rough cut.

In order for them to finish their project the filmmakers are reaching out to fans for financial assistance. Their goal is to raise $10,000 by September 19th; right now friends have pitched in more than $6,000.

The pair created a trailer for Mister Rogers & Me which you can watch below. (From Pop Candy)

Gobble Money Bank Monster

Give a kid $5 and it might be hard to convince him that it’s more fun to put it in a plastic piggy than to run outside to the ice cream truck. Designed especially to get kids excited about putting their money away, the Gobble Money Bank Monster ($30) rewards little Scrooges with a blinky red eye, wiggly ears, and 20 hungry monster phrases. He even has a motion sensor and will try to beg a snack of dough off anyone who walks by. Of course, for most kids, the best part will be his post-feeding belch.

AT&T Finally Schedules Multimedia Messaging for iPhone on September 25th

AT&T has announced an official date for the arrival of multimedia messaging on the iPhone: Sept. 25, a few days past the official end of summer. Thus, the company is breaking its promise to deliver MMS by “late summer” by a few days.

The company confirmed the date in an e-mail provided to Wired.com.

“We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS),” an AT&T spokesman said. “We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches – and today we can announce that launch date: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.”

PS Publishing Announces A Very Limited Edition of Joe Hill’s Horns

PS Publishing will be doing a 500-copy limited edition of Joe’s second novel, Horns – there’ll be 300 slipcased copies signed by the man himself, and 200 traycased copies signed by Joe and artist Vinny Chong.

The slips will feature a wraparound dust-jacket cover (with the cover art also on the actual boards) plus four interior color plates. The trays will feature a different dust-jacket (though the boards will still have the artwork from the slipcased edition) plus an additional interior piece… which will complement a deleted chapter from the book (note: the deleted chapter will feature only in the traycased edition).

The book is currently scheduled for February 2010, and the prices will be as follows:

300 slipcased copies signed by Joe, with wraparound cover A (on both the boards and the dust jacket) and four interior color illustrations – £75 ($125 approx. at current rates of exchange)

200 traycased copies, signed by Joe and Vinny Chong, with wraparound cover B on the dust-jacket (and cover A on the boards), with the same four interior color illustrations plus a deleted chapter and an extra color illustration – £200 ($330 approx. at current rates of exchange)

Ordering information should be on this site very soon.

U2 To Perform on Saturday Night Live September 26th Premiere

U2 will serve as the musical guest on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live on September 26th, cast member Bill Hader told Access Hollywood. The band’s performance will come just two days after the Dublin rockers bring their 360° Tour to two sold-out nights at East Rutherford, New Jersey’s Giants Stadium. Jennifer’s Body star Megan Fox will handle the hosting duties on the premiere.

U2’s upcoming performance on SNL will mark the third time Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton have played Rockefeller Center’s Studio 8H. The No Line on the Horizon band made their SNL debut on a December 9th, 2000 episode hosted by Val Kilmer, then returned when Luke Wilson hosted on November 20th, 2004.

Disney’s Earth DVD

The Walt Disney Company introduces a new motion picture label, DisneyNature, to home audiences when Earth comes to Blu-ray Hi-Def and DVD on September 1, 2009 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

The film tells a trio of unforgettable stories sure to captivate movie lovers of all ages. Set against some of the world’s most spectacular vistas, this breathtaking motion picture achievement uses the classic Disney storytelling tradition to celebrate the diversity and determination of its animal stars in a heroic journey that covers the Earth from pole to pole.

Narrated by James Earl Jones, the inaugural release from Disneynature is was released in theaters to the acclaim of families and film critics alike.

Available in a single-disc DVD or two-disc Blu-ray Hi-Def/DVD Combo Pack, Earth includes bonus features that offer viewers an in-depth look at the making of the film and an opportunity to learn more about our planet and its myriad fascinating inhabitants. In Blu-ray, the film gives audiences an unmatched opportunity to view its dizzying aerial photography, epic backdrops and rare footage of land, sea and air in astonishing high definition.

Bonus Features for Earth(Both Blu-ray Hi-Def and DVD) include Earth Diaries — The making of Disneynature’s first feature film

Exclusive Blu-ray Hi-Def bonus features take audiences deeper into the fascinating mysteries of Earth, including Filmmaker’s Annotations — An in-movie experience with pop up facts

If you have already seen the acclaimed “Planet Earth” television series, you may be underwhelmed by the Earth DVD. If you haven’t seen the BBC series, then you are likely to enjoy this spectacularly-photographed documentary of wildlife around the globe.

 

Grey’s Anatomy Season 6 Promo

Retro Rocket

Every space explorer needs a rocket ship, and the Retro Rocket ($70) is the perfect size for your toddler-turned-astronaut. This shiny red ride-on toy from Radio Flyer is low to the ground to give little ones the stability they need to feel confident pushing themselves along. Buttons on the handle bars control lights, rocket sounds, and engine vibrations, keeping kids’ imaginations engaged while they fly through space, or around the driveway.

 

Guy Ritchie To Direct DC Comics Lobo

Warner Bros. has locked Guy Ritchie to direct “Lobo,” the live action adaptation of the DC Comics drama about an alien interstellar bounty hunter. Don Payne wrote the most recent script draft, and Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona will produce. Pic is a co-production between Silver Pictures and Weed Road.. Ritchie will make the film his follow-up to “Sherlock Holmes,” the Silver-produced film that stars Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams, which Warner Bros. opens Christmas Day.

Production on “Lobo” begins early next year. The character originated in 1983 in “Omega Men,” written by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen. Lobo has had several comic incarnations. In the film, he is a seven-foot tall, blue-skinned, indestructible and heavily muscled anti-hero who drives a pimped out motorcycle, and lands on Earth in search of four fugitives who are bent on wreaking havoc. Lobo teams with a small town teenaged girl to stop the creatures.

 

Fantastic Mr. Fox Featurette

 

Fantastic Mr. Fox is visionary director Wes Andersons first animated film, utilizing classic handmade stop motion techniques to tell the story of the best selling childrens book by Roald Dahl (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach). The film features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, and Jarvis Cocker.

Mr. and Mrs. Fox (Clooney and Streep) live an idyllic home life with their son Ash (Schwartzman) and visiting young nephew Kristopherson (Eric Anderson). But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr. Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with not enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers – Boggis, Bunce and Bean – who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr. Fox at any cost.

Disney Marvel Mashups

After Disney announced yesterday that they would acquire Marvel Comics, it was inevitable that new characters would be created such as Gooflactus and Duck Devil.  Here are some of the most creative “Misney” mashups floating around the internet today.  Please send me more if you spot them.

Fantastic Four Movies Will Be Rebooted

Some have questioned whether Disney overpaid when it bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 million. After all, its best known Marvel Comics superhero franchises are parked at other studios, and Universal’s Islands of Adventure is as dominated by Marvel attractions as it is Dr. Seuss.

But one thing to remember about Marvel assets is, they don’t seem to wear out. We’re about to see the second example where successful Marvel movie franchises are going to be reinvented. 

20th Century Fox is the latest studio to start the process of overhauling one of its big Marvel Entertainment franchises, “Fantastic Four,” which has already hatched two films. The studio has hired Akiva Goldsman to oversee the re-boot as producer.

New script will be written by Michael Green, the “Heroes” co-executive producer who co-wrote “Green Lantern,” the Martin Campbell-directed Warner Bros. film that will star Ryan Reynolds.  

Fox would not comment on its plans, and neither would Columbia Pictures when BFD revealed a couple weeks its plan to potentially re-boot the studio’s most valuable franchise, “Spider-Man.” 

With “Spider-Man 4” moving toward an early 2010 production start, the studio recently hired James Vanderbilt to write a fifth and sixth installment of the web-slinger franchise, with the understanding that one or both could give that franchise a makeover with a new director and cast (Daily Variety, Aug. 16, 2009). Whether director Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire return or not, Sony smartly has given itself the chance to shorten the gap between its superhero installments.

And with state-of-the-art visual effects on superhero franchises pushing these pictures toward the $250 million-$300 million range, reshuffling the creative cast gives the studio a chance to save money, since actors and directors usually have a pre-negotiated option or two before the studio is held over a barrell by talent and their reps.

Marvel Studios has eliminated that problem by making talent sign as many as nine options, which was the case with the supporting cast of “Iron Man 2.”

The 2005 “Fantastic Four” and 2007 sequel “Rise of the Silver Surfer” were directed by Tim Story, and starred Ioan Gruffud, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis. Since the deals are just getting made, it is unclear at present if any of them will return. 

Though Marvel Entertainment owns and finances properties like “Iron Man” and “Thor,” Fox controls “Fantastic Four” in perpetuity—as long as it continues making the films. Fox has the same arrangement on Marvel Comics properties “X-Men,” “Daredevil,” and “Silver Surfer” –which, despite an appearance in the “Fantastic Four” sequel, is still a Fox priority for a solo film.

Marvel is a producer and financial participant through a licensing agreement signed before Marvel franchises had the drawing power they have now. In fact, the original deal was made back when Marvel was struggling to pull itself out of bankruptcy in 1997.

Fox has been extraordarily effective in mining its Marvel franchises. The studio made three “X-Men” films, and then a hit summer spinoff in “Wolverine.” Fox is working on a sequel to that film, and has scripts for “X-Men Origins: Magneto,” and “X-Men Origins: First Class,” the latter of which could bring original “X-Men” helmer Bryan Singer back to the fold. Potential spinoffs for the Gambit and Deadpool characters seen in “Wolverine” have also been discussed.

As producer, Goldsman is involved with several DC Comics transfers, including “Jonah Hex,” “The Losers” and “Teen Titans.” He was also producer on the Will Smith-Charlize Theron-superhero film “Hancock,” a film that has a sequel in development.