Daily Archives: September 16, 2013

TV

American Psycho Possibly Getting the TV Treatment with FX

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Serial killers seem to be fast becoming the new zombie for entertainment fans. As well as having Dexter, Bates Motel, and Hannibal we now have the return of a character that was thoughtful enough to give musical advice while murdering his victims. Yes Patrick Bateman may be making a return in a televised series of American Psycho. Planned for FX, it has Allison Shearmur (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) producing and Stefan Jaworski (Those Who Kill) behind it as writer.

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For people unaware of Mr. Bateman (and who have been living under a rock since 1991) he is a yuppie executive who in his spare time murders his colleagues and any one he becomes annoyed with. The book American Psycho, where Patrick is first unleashed into the world (he does appear in a very brief scene in The Rules of Attraction novel), came from the brilliant mind of Bret Easton Ellis, and was turned into a movie starring former Batman, Christina Bale, who gives a stunningly mental performance.

It seems in this updated version (which follows on from the movies and novel), Bateman is now in his 50s and has taken on a protegé to help him in a sick social experiment which will hopefully create a new generation of psychos just like him. Sounds promising and if this is crafted as well as the Hannibal series, it should be superb. A big part of what makes Hannibal great is knowing who the killer is and watching him twist the cast around his fingers. We would guess that American Psycho is probably going to take this route as well. It would be difficult to mold him as the likable psycho like we’ve seen in Dexter, because he really is a bit of an unlikable chap. In the movie, though everyone he meets loves him until the moment he snaps in front of them. If it involves a protégé then his manipulation of people Patrick has will definitely come into play.

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No casting news as of yet but the serial killer role is going to be a tough one to fill. TV psychos tend to be more charming and sophisticated with just a hint of menace behind their eyes. It is unlikely that Christian Bale is going to reprise his role as Patrick so the casting of this role is going to be crucial in the audience accepting this new series and character.

The only downside is that first impressions of the book and the movie were you did not actually know if Patrick was a killer or not. The scenes of murder that we see him witness are all discredited by the end and certainly make you wonder if it is all in his head. The ambiguous nature of this ending really appealed to me. However, the existence of a series with a protégé seems to confirm it will not be in his head, unless it is later revealed to all be imagined. That is the great thing about entertainment though, how differently each person interprets the material in front of them. TV interpretations of popular characters from books and film have been incredible as of late and very well scripted pieces. Here is hoping American Psycho can do the same as the many shows before it. If it can it should make for some fantastic television.

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Adam Thompson: Artist Draws a Superhero a Day for 50 Days

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It is hard not to love hearing these types of stories. The story involves one Adam Thompson, an artist who decided he wanted to improve his skills on Adobe Illustrator and he gave himself quite an inventive way of doing it.

He decided that for the next 50 days he would create, in his own style, a hero. Called 50 Heroes in 50 Days he managed to produce some of the most innovative designs of well-known heroes that the fandom collective have ever seen. Here is what the man himself had to say about his gallery of heroic heroes.

[quote] “As the title indicates, each day for 50 days I drew a new superhero in Adobe Illustrator. In doing so I learned many new shortcuts and tools, and ultimately made myself more efficient in the program.  This project was incredibly fun for me. As an illustrator I am inspired by comics, this project allowed me to pay extra close attention to the details of each character, and gain a greater understanding of what goes into character development. I hope to do a villains series in the future, so keep an eye out, and as always, enjoy!”[/quote]

Now the villains series certainly sounds like it will have promise after such a good job he did on the heroes.  What is so great about these designs is their unique style, making the heroes cute-a-fied while sticking to their superhero roots. The pill shaped body also adds a certain continuity to them that is something to be admired. A lot of the designs are from the film versions of these characters, but the comic designs pop up as well (look out for super cute Agent Coulson!). So enjoy the pictures below and if we keep our fingers crossed we will see more of these in the near future. Mr. Thompson, if you are reading this, these pictures would look great in a book.

Below are some of our favorites…

To see the complete run of all the heroes check out Adam Thompson’s Page.

Movie News & Opinions

Star Wars: Rumors Swirl Around Stand-Alone Movies for Han, Yoda, & Boba Fett…

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We have known for a while that starting in 2015 Disney plans to release a new Star Wars movie each year, alternating between the new series and stand alone character based movies. We now have confirmation that these movies will be origin stories. Disney’s chief financial officer Jay Rasulo announced during a presentation to financial investors that the intermittent installments would play host to the origins of some of the best-loved characters from the franchise.

Variety broke the story yesterday afternoon stating that Rasulo sees it as “the sky’s the limit”  for the for the sci-fi franchise, including expanding its presence in the company’s theme parks. “There’s incredible flexibility. It’s an unbelievable palette to create from.”

Rasulo also confirmed that from 2015 one Star Wars trilogy film or origin story film would also appear on the release schedule, starting with the seventh installment in the Star Wars saga directed by J.J. Abrams. Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg were previously rumored to have been hired to write the second and third installments, with Michael Arndt already scripting Star Wars Episode VII, however it is now confirmed the Kasdan and Kinberg will be writing the stand-alone origin movies.

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Any Star Wars fan that knows his salt is aware that Kasdan is no new-comer to the saga, having written, in my opinion the best installment, Empire Strikes Back and having an eye in on Return of The Jedi. Aint It Cool News  reported a little while back that one of the stand alone films would focus on Yoda, and Bleeding Cool recently reported that there was also talks of Han Solo and Boba Fett movies with a casting call already out for a young Han. It remains to be seen if Han Solo and Boba Fett would get separate movies or have share the screen. We already know that Harrison Ford and the rest of the central Star Wars cast will be reprising their roles, but this would be the first sign that Disney is looking to recast characters from the original trilogy for the new movies. Granted Harrison Ford is too old to play a young, agile Solo, but this is certainly a piece of casting Disney will need to get right.

It would be great to see two of the best characters from the saga face off against each other. I fear for fanboys the world over whose heads would explode in excitement!