Live-action Narnia movie!

According to Chud, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe will be made into a movie, directed by Andrew Adamson (half of the Shrek directing team -- no, I don't know if he was responsible for the touching and funny parts, or the fart jokes).

It could suck, majorly, but it could also be fucking incredible. And it's a film that deserves to get made.

The latest Sanrio character

( From The Onion ;-) )

You annotated WHAT?!?

So the Sci-Fi Book club mailer came yesterday.

The first flyer we looked through had The Annotated Alice.

I've got this, and it's wonderful. If ever a book deserved annotation, it's Alice. And Martin Gardner does it justice.

Next to it was The Annotated Flatland. I don't own this one, but it certainly deserves annotation (although, as a much tinier book, doesn't have the same instant "spend the $20 and buy it" appeal). It's a classic.

(Although it wasn't listed, I own the Annotated Wizard of Oz. This book is a bit more dubious -- it's a wonderful book, and a classic, but it's less subtle than the other two -- many of the annotations are major stretches.)

But then, later in the catalog, there was the kicker:

Dragonlance: The Annotated Chronicles.

You. Must. Be. Shitting. Me.

They fucking annotated Dragonlance? Weis and Hickman, the writers who practically redefined "hack" for an entire generation?

There is way too much crack in the drinking water at Wizards.

What the fuck will they annotate?

"Hickman's use of a lich in this scene is highly representative of his own confused sexuality, with his Mormon faith forcing him to contain his inner homosexual."

"Weis, in this scene, uses a skeleton as a metaphor for dead people who come back to life. Oh, wait. It's not a metaphor. They are dead people coming back to life."

Anyone expecting the Annotated Xanth next?

Frank Miller on Marvel and 9/11

Okay, I don't think Frank has a lick of talent left for comics, to be honest (The 300 being the only readable title he's had in the last decade or so). But in his latest interview at Newsarama, he makes a damned good point (and one I've made a few times over here and at Chud, but since I'm not a Comics Bigwig, it's not quite as meaningful):

JP: Fair enough. What about comics is driving you nuts right now?

FM: "Crying fireman" comics. Golly, we all got plenty emotional after 9/11, and a lot of us did some plenty emotional work. But at least we knew when to stop. Now Marvel seems to have turned it into a goddamn cottage industry. Ghoulish. Shameful.

It reminds me of the old saw that every American tragedy winds up turning into a farce.

To repeat something I've already said, I fully expect Bill Jemas to announce that Marvel is the official comic company of 9/11.