Y’know, I never saw the original Tron in the theatre. I can’t tell you why that is. I saw lots of movies in the theatre that same year. We had a cinema in the mall a block from our house. Maybe Tron never came there. Whatever the case, it was a few years later that I saw it and really enjoyed it. It never became a fixture of my geek formation, but it was certainly cool.

Now Tron Legacy is on the horizon. You can see the first trailer here. It looks like it’s going to live up to that legacy. Heh heh.

I’m really looking forward to this coming out in the theatre.

And am I the only one that got a chuckle that this comes out the night after Jeff Bridges won the Oscar? No?

The new Iron Man 2 trailer is up, complete with better visuals of War Machine and a quick look at the classic (for the comics) armour in a briefcase moment.

So sweet.

This is something I must see in the theatre. About this, there is no question.

Things have been a bit quiet, yeah? Sorry about that. A bit busy.

There’s been some Conan news that might interest some of you. It certainly interested me.

Sorry that I haven’t been keeping up with the casting information–probably because most of it hasn’t excited me. In case you haven’t heard, Conan has been cast, as well as a couple of the villains.

For Conan, we get Jason Momoa, whom I know nothing about. Apparently, he’d a dude from Stargate: Atlantis. Yeah, didn’t watch that. No hit against Stargate, but I just don’t watch a lot of TV. I’m sure it’s a great show and I’m sure he’s great in it. For Conan? Well, I can see him as a young Conan, kind of the Barry Windsor-Smith version of the young Conan from Marvel.

Mickey Rourke is apparently cast as Conan’s father, possibly named Corin. I honestly don’t know how accurate this is. Rourke may only be in talks or it may be a rumour. This, frankly, would be cool. He had a really short part in Conan the Barbarian, but William Smith as Conan’s father did it right. Heck, he kind of set the mood for the following story.

There’s a rumour that Stephen Lang has been approached to play the main villain:

Khalar Singh is in his 40s to 50s, Asian or Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Mongol, Turkish, or Persian,. . .

Now, the rest of the description goes on to talk about a real bad-ass, which certainly Lang could play, but given a name like Singh, isn’t there anyone who might be able to play that part? Anyone? Anyone at all?

In any case, now the “romantic lead”—um, female lead perhaps? Romantic lead does not sound right for a Conan movie—has apparently been cast. Those of you who saw GI Joe might have opinions on Rachel Nichols who played Scarlett, but not having seen it, I really don’t. She looks attractive enough.

I’ve heard that two guys named Bob Sapp and Raw Leiba have been hired to play minor villains. Good for them. Don’t know them at all, so I don’t have much to say.

Basically, what this casting news is telling me is that this movie is quickly heading into ‘meh’ territory for me, with a likely excursion along ‘total B-movie’ route. Might be fun, but there’s no way this movie is going to hold a candle to Conan the Barbarian. Robert E Howard purists out there will likely say the same in regards to that movie and the source material, but I liked it.

Thanks to Andy Diggle, both for writing the Losers and alerting me—through his Twitter feed—that there be another TV spot. It’s short, but it has some new footage, mostly from when Max gets the Losers pissed off.

I think we can safely say that I am excited about this movie. Everything I’ve heard and seen tells me this is going to be a fun adaptation of an awesome comic. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—I can totally live with changes being made to the source material if they can distil its essence.

I think this may have been achieved.

Also? I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Chris Evans as Jensen.

I can’t say I was a huge fan of Superman Returns, Bryan Singer’s much heralded helming of the attempted resuscitation of the Superman franchise. It wasn’t terrible, but it lacked something, both emotionally and intellectually. I can’t say any of the performances were bad, but none of them really got me.

Bryan Singer was much heralded because of the work he had done inside and outside of the superhero genre. The man behind the Usual Suspects and the first two X-Men movies had proved his chops both artistically and critically. Christohper Nolan is the same, and that’s who’s been linked to Superman now.

To be clear, though, it is Jonah Nolan, Christopher’s brother, who is the topic of Superman rumours, while Christopher is rumoured to be eyeing helming a Justice League movie.

Here’s where I stand: Richard Donner’s Superman was about as perfect as one can get as an adaptation. That movie did, in fact, make us believe a man could fly, but it also made believable characters out of Superman, Lois Lane and the lot. Superman II could have been the icing on that cake, and it was still an outstanding movie, but unfortunately, the controversy of who really directed the movie, and the inclusion of a lot of unnecessary slapstick kind of dents that one.

The less said about the other movies in that earlier incarnation of the franchise, the better.

Then along comes Bryan Singer, golden boy at that time, and the choirs sang. I was one of the people who was disappointed that he didn’t complete the X-Men trilogy, given that the ending of X-Men United hinted at the Phoenix Saga. I am not a huge fan of the Superman character, so seeing him move to that iconic property did not give me the tingles

Christopher Nolan has already re-engergized one franchise, that of Batman. He has done it with skill and artistry. Given that the Dark Knight was a self-contained storyline, I have no problem with Mr. Nolan moving on to a different DC property. As to his brother, word is (and IMDB agrees) that the Nolan brothers have collaborated on many of Christopher Nolan’s prestigious works, including Memento and the Prestige.

Now, being a good writer does not equal being a good director, but let’s see what he brings to the party. If this gives us a Justice League movie, I’m cool with it. Maybe DC is trying to steal a page from Marvel and build a team movie based on a group of solo movies. We’ve got Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern as movies, either completed or in the works. I’ve heard word of a Flash movie.

Maybe this will lead to something. I’m voting “cautiously optimistic.”

Just in case you’re interested, I’ve tried to unload my thoughts regarding my top ten books from the interview in On Spec. In that post, I mention the Sarantine Mosaic is my favourite Guy Gavriel Kay work—and of the two, I’d have to choose Lord of Emperors.

Now I’ve loved everything I’ve ever read by Guy Gavriel Kay. I found him through reading the Fionovar Tapestry, but became a huge fan through reading Tigana. I’ve been lucky enough to meet and chat with him twice, once before Tigana was released and once during the release of Lord of Emperors. He’s a fascinating person, extremely intelligent, personable, and with vast knowledge of mythology.

The Sarantine Mosaic was something different for me. First off, the period is after the fall of Rome, but it is before the dark really descends on the Dark Ages. The main characters are not sword-swinging heroes, but an artist and a physician. The action is mostly social and political.

Now, given that right now I’m digging on something called sword noir, and that I’m in the middle of a modern action/adventure/fantasy serial, this might not hit you as something that I would love.

Here’s the thing: Kay does it right. He hits all the right notes. The characters are engrossing. The setting is fully realized, and the text allowed me to build this world in my head. Kay knows Byzantium, he’s done his homework. Just like a jazz musician, because he is so supremely confident, he can riff on something and create a thing of beauty. This is not Byzantium, but there’s enough of our world there to quickly situate oneself. I know this place, but it holds secrets and surprises.

It’s also not that the Sarantine Mosaic does not deliver on action and adventure, because it does, but action is not the driving force of this story.

I hear a lot about how “Eurocentric” fantasy is, and how readers are looking for something different. The funny thing is that while—especially in this period—Byzantium could be considered part of Europe, the society and attitudes illustrated in this work are alien to us. This is something different. It is a different culture in a different book inhabited by different characters.

So, if you love your fantasy, but you are ready for something different, check out Guy Gavriel’s Kay the Sarantine Mosaic.

Oh, but first, go buy the current issue of On Spec if you have not already.

Reason # 6? To read the results of Fraser being totally blindsided by a simple question about top ten books.

I for one welcome our new On Spec overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a “trusted”¹ internet personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to enjoy On Spec’s copious speculative fiction goodness.

1. This blog cannot guarantee that Fraser Ronald is, in fact, trusted or has, in fact, a personality.

There’s a new 30 second TV spot for the Losers available on Youtube. I don’t have much to say. There’s nothing really new presented here, a couple of scenes and such, but nothing ground-breaking.

The wife has agreed that if we can get a babysitter, we’ll go. I won’t be there opening night, but considering my love for the comic, I really want to see this one. It might not be something that demands the big screen, but I’m not willing to wait the months required for the DVD to hit the shelves. That’s saying a lot, because I’ve passed on a lot of movies.

I think I like the title “Mercenary Hack of the Fantasy World.”

Screw that, I love the title.

For those of you just joining us, I’m the featured author in the current issue of On Spec. It’s also got my story “For Simple Coin” in there. I was thrilled to see the title of the interview. It’s absolutely true. That’s me.

Now, you all need to go and buy a copy (perhaps two). Given that I mention sword noir in the interview, I’m going to take some time over the next few weeks to try to develop the concept both here—for fiction—and Sword’s Edge Publishing—for gaming.

If you happen to be here because you read about this place in On Spec, welcome. The fiction you were promised can be found here and at SEP.

Stick around for more fun.

I can’t say that I’m huge into pulp, but I do enjoy it and am always ready to check it out in a movie or on TV. Heck, I even enjoyed the Phantom, so, y’know, I might be suspect.

I am a huge fan of the movie Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, though not everyone was. Everything in this movie clicked for me, from the story, to the performances, to the awesome dialogue delivered with incredible confidence by the leads.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang happened to have been Shane Black’s directorial debut. Shane Black had made a name for himself as a great action movie writer in the 80s and 90s, and even appeared as one of Arnie’s spec ops boys in Predator.

Now, Mr. Black seems destined to both write (in collaboration) and direct (one expects solo) Doc Savage.

There’s not much more information than that, but I’m excited. I’ll love to see what the guy who wrote Lethal Weapon and directed KK,BB is going to do with the Man of Bronze.

Sometimes Hollywood–just sometimes–I love you.