BitterNews for Monday, March 8th, 2010

• Okay, last week was maybe the most boring week since I’ve lived on Planet Earth. Maybe this one will be better.
• Religious folks, it appears there may be a God, as Avatar won little at the Oscars, although it did bewilderingly capture Best Cinematography. Great job filming all that stuff that wasn’t there, Avatar Cinematographers!
• It was nice to see Cameron get his ass beat by his ex, although I would have rather seen District 9 or Inglorious Basterds win the Best Picture.
• There’s a new (amazing) Iron Man 2 trailer online.
• Amazon had a weird GN meltdown yesterday – with Marvel Omnibuses going for under $10 - some folks are getting their orders, others are getting cancellation notices.
• The last couple of JLU 6 packs are on Target online for $19.99 each. Great news for those who couldn’t find them at retail.
• The new JLU single figures are $8.99 at Target – bad news for people who find them.
• Max Brooks (WWZ and son of Mel) is writing a new GI Joe mini-series. Maybe GI Joe comics will be good for the first time since the early 90’s.
• Alice in Wonderland had a $116 million weekend – further proof that 3-D will stay in our lives for the foreseeable future.
• Ashley Wood is selling an amazing painted skateboard deck on his blog - $3K.
• The Sideshow Cobra Commander throne environment is shipping at last.
• Some decent DVD/Blu Ray releases Tuesday: Up In The Air, Capitalism: A love Story, Boondock Saints 2, Precious.
• Peter Hook (bass player of Joy Division and New Order) is going to play a Joy division set and read Unknown Pleasures on an upcoming spoken word tour. How’s desperate?
• A new Social Distortion album is coming soon – their first album in six years.
• iTampon is coming out on April 3rd, later than originally announced. 3G still a month later?
• Mark Linkous, the architect of Sparklehorse committed suicide over the weekend.
• The UK Royal Mail is issuing a Pink Floyd stamp.
• Iron Maiden’s new album is called “The Final Frontier” and Eddie’s head now appears to be a planet.
• Looks like there will be a sequel to Midnight Run. Word is DeNiro is on board if the script comes together.
• Straczynski is going to write both Wonder Woman and Superman starting this summer. Looks like the new DC team has realized that there are writers other than Grant Morrison and Keith Giffen.
• Brooke Burke is going to co-host Dancing With The Stars.
• How can there be an earthquake every week now? Publicity for 2012?

BitterNews for Monday, January 25th, 2010

• Mattel Named to FORTUNE’s 2010 “100 Best Companies to Work For” List; it must be great to work there – they never fire anyone, no matter how bad they are!
• 3A Toys have been dropping hints about upcoming projects – in addition to already announced collaborations with McFarlane (Spawn), 2000ad (the entire Universe), and Metal Gear Solid, today they hinted that Tank Girl is coming to 3A. I’d love a Hewlett designed 1:6 comic style Tank Girl…
• Cold Space is a new comic book series co-written by Samuel L Jackson and Eric Calderon drawn by Jeremy Rock, published by Boom! Jackson & Calderon worked together on Afro Samurai.
• Gareb Shamus is Vince McMahon-ing the comic con business, since the San Diego crew seem unwilling or unable to take it national. Wizard is launching a new Wizard World comics convention, in New Jersey. (what exit?). It will be October 15th-17th this year at the New Jersey Convention & Exposition Center (NJCEC), in Edison.
• Will Joseph Gordon-Levitt Be The New Spider-Man? It looks likely, esp in the wake of the Director announcement. So, if you weren’t already convinced that Sony fucked up ditching Raimi, this should do it. This guy must have a golden tongue (and I don’t mean fer talking with), because one of the top female execs at Sony has been looking for a franchise for him to take over and look what dropped in his lap. Ugh.
• AT&T may be losing it's iPhone exclusivity as early as Wednesday at Apple's media event. Jobs is calling the tablet “the most important thing he’s ever done.”
• Good Charlotte finished an album and have scrapped it – apparently it didn’t meet their high standards (!).
• Nikki Sixx has broken up with Kat Von D, giving hope to aging irrelevant rockers and aging pickled whores everywhere.
• Aerosmith begins auditioning singers soon.
• Gary Coleman arrested for domestic violence. If reports are true, he’s still a virgin, so I can see why he might beat his wife of many years.
• Sag Awards were essentially a re-run of the Golden Globes.
• Throwing Muses recording new album with “Donations” from fans. Time to hang it up.
• Fox beat out Lion’s Gate and Paramount in bidding war for domestic rights to Robert Rodriguez’ “Machete” – spin-off of Grindhouse trailer. Film is already completed.
• LA Johnson, director who worked closely with Neil Young has died.
• MAKE IT STOP!: Jane’s Addiction recording new material. Just stay broken up, please. Thanks.
• Roman Polanski ordered to return to US for trial. Looking forward to the testimony about how he drugged and ass-raped a minor.
• Avatar #2 film of all time in USA, proving people are stupid.
• Gremlins 3 is in the works; might be 3-D.
• Planet of the Apes re-re-boot happening, now called “Ceaser” and a new take on “Conquest”.
• John Edwards (after finally admitting he is the father of his mistresses child) is getting self-kicked in the crotch again, this time by a sex tape he made with his baby-mama, which was discovered by the former aide who not only tried to cover up the affair because he believed in Edwards, but who now is probably the one leaking it in advance of his own tell-all book, the Politician, which comes out in early Feb. Andrew Young (the author and ex-Aide) will be on 20/20 Friday to promote the book.
• Damages starts season 3 tonight – a major character is supposed to die in the first episode. Remind your mom.
• The cast of Jersey Shore is holding out for more money for season two from MTV. Wow. Can’t they find more semi-literate Ugnaut whores that’ll suck anything? Snooki must have a few sisters, probably some she hasn’t even met yet!
• David Bowie is dumping out another live album tomorrow, in hopes of keeping up with those bond payments. He’s also reissuing his debut album as a 2CD set, but only in the UK.
• Also in stores, the only two albums by the Other Two, the husband/wife team from New Order that didn’t start Revenge or make records with the Pet Shop Boys after New Order broke up the first time. These are less than marginally interesting records, avoid.
• Another Fozzy album comes out, too. Yikes! Did Michael Alago get another A&R job that allows him to hang out with shirtless rock boys?

BitterNews Roundup for Weekend of January 22-24, 2010

• Conan (the Barbarian, not O’Brien) has been cast. It’s Jason Momoa, some greasy stud from Stargate – which is at least a bit more accurate to the character than a right wing Austrian.
• Lots of hubbub over stupid speculative article about Paul Levitz’ replacement at DC, proving a lot of indie comic nerds are more fruity for the big two than they would admit at Mocca gatherings in Brooklyn.
• Next Friday (Jan 27th) is release date for the new 3A 1:6 World War Robot release from Ashley Wood. Look for Dropcloth to be available in many versions. It’s not clear yet from the 3A news as to how many and in what configs they will be sold, but right now it looks like singles (some packed with a bonus exclusive square) a 4 pack and perhaps an 8!!! Pack. As these are $130 each for singles, hard to guess at what an 8 pack will cost. Also there appear to be Nightwatch & Daywatch versions coming (this is typical for Wood) which may or may not be random or part of a multipack only.
• Today’s picture is Lt Uhura’s nipples. You are welcome.
• Flint is the next 1:6 Joe from Sideshow. Let me guess, it’ll blow and be overpriced?
• Avatar is still not as good as you think it is.
• Touma is doing Alien and Predator super-deformed vinyls. Both look great and much nicer than previous Medicom attempts.
• The new KISS Medicom dolls are as nice as any recent Hot Toys figure. Hopefully this is the sign of a new start for Medicom who were veering into Sideshow territory with their recent releases.
• Everyone has a beard now. Everyone is stupid.
• 21st Century Toys, who helped spearhead a renewed interest in 1:6 Military figures in the US (and also did the Misfits figures) before going bankrupt, are now coming back as Go ???. It is not known if they are doing more 1:6 or if they are abandoning the scale in favor of 1:18, which they successfully sold to Wal-mart, K-mart, TRU and K-Mart before they screwed the pooch the first time. Good luck, guys!
• The trailer for “Diary of A Wimpy Kid” is online.
• The Gorillaz, fake cartoon band co-created by Martin Hewlett of Tank Girl fame are back with a new album, surprisingly on EMI, who have done much to alienate singer Damon Albarn (also of Blur fame). That Blur have reformed and may have a new album in the works (their first in many years, and featuring the return of guitarist Graham Coxon) – is the Gorillaz album a deal-ender to get Albarn free of the poisonous EMI? Blur are huge everywhere around the world except the USA.
• Some of the stuff I am selling on eBay is overpriced.
• Pee-Wee Herman appeared on 2nd to last Conan episode – slightly frightening, yet eerily similar to his 80’s heyday.
• Peter Gabriel is looking for a new label situation in the USA. Catalog and Real World included – no wonder there hasn’t been a deal yet.
• Haitians get 58 Million from Clooney & pals show – more money to be generated by downloads of largely evil performances from show.
• Gerald McCabe, founder of one of THE greatest Los Angeles venues, McCabe’s Guitar Shop, has died.
• Here are your Tuesday new album releases: Animal Collective - Campirefire Songs, Corrine Bailey-Rae – The Sea, Beach House - Teen Dream, Jason Castro - Jason Castro, Citay - Get Together, Evacuate Chicago – Veracity. Joe Firstman - El Porto, FredriK- Trilogi, Four Tet - There Is Love In You, Charlotte Gainsbourg – Irm, Gorevette - Lustfully Yours [EP], Lady Antebellum - Need You Now, Locksley - Be In Love, Jennifer Lopez - Love?, Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring, The Magnetic Fields – Realism,
Never Shout Never - What Is Love?, Patrick & Eugene - Altogether Now (Birds Bees Flowers Trees), The Silent League - ...But You've Always Been The Caretaker, Three 6 Mafia - Laws Of Power. Not sure what is scarier; all the beard rock or the J-Lo album.
• As we move to a lease-based entertainment society, DVD sales are so down that Best Buy and Papa Johns are offering a free pizza with purchase of select titles this week. Is that smell melting cheese or desperation?
• Quincy Jones is going to remake “We Are The World” for Haiti. Not everyone from the original lineup will be participating, like Kim Carnes and Michael Jackson, albeit for different reasons.
• Prince’s new theme song for the Minnesota Vikings Football team is so gay that a greased gerbil in leather on Christopher Street called it gay.
• Wilco is giving away free live shows on it’s website, with the understanding that you’ll donate money to Haiti charities if you partake. I donated the money in the name of never having to hear their boring new stuff any more.
• Latest Apple Tablet rumors – has front facing camera for video chat, still no carrier determined for what is assumed to be a cloud based machine that will always be connected to the internet via the 1 Billion dollar data center Apple is building near Atlanta. We’ll know more Wednesday.
• Speaking of Wednesday, Captain America Reborn #6 is coming out this week, so you can find out why Cap is in all those books you’ve been reading for the last few weeks since this was SO LATE!! Just another reason to kill these multi-book storylines.
• Chris Morris, one of the most interesting (if not consistent) British comedy provocateurs has a new project about a group of terrorists planning an attack. This is a comedy piece and promises to skewer these idiots with the same delicious wit as Morris has used to pop various other douchebags in the past.
• Powers TV series has a script and director. I haven’t heard of either.
• Jay Mohr is filming a new Clint Eastwood / Matt Damon film.
• Based on Adjusted gross (inflation, etc), Gone With The Wind is still no 1 film. Avatar is #36. And a piece of shit.