Daniel Clowes and Jack Black? Now there's a pair to make fanboys and girls everywhere just drool.
In an attempt to recover from the disaster of his first feature-length screenplay, the simply awful "Art School Confidential," comic book hero Clowes will be adapting another of his graphic novelettes, "The Death Ray" from the Eightball series, for the big screen for Jack Black's Black and White company. Black will produce and take a small role.
From what I remember of the Death Ray, it is far more suited to Clowes' strengths than "Art School," which was just far too ambitious for its own good. Just as Clowes created the ultimate anti-heroine in Enid for "Ghost World" (come back Thora Birch .. we all miss you), Andy in Death Ray could just be the ultimate anti-hero.
In Clowes' story, Andy is a serious loser who wakes up one day to find, after puffing on a cigarette, that he has superpowers. So does he instantly become a superhero? Not in Clowes' world. He's just a loser who sees his new powers mostly as a burden.
However, goaded by his pal Louie, our hero ultimately takes up the vaporizing ray conveniently left behind by his absent father and lays waste to all things that annoy him.
This could be the funnest flick in years. Everyone gets a mulligan, and Clowes got his with "Art School Confidential." Here's hoping this new chance turns out much better.
The new joker?
It's hard to doubt the folks over at Latino Review, who figured out Brandon Routh would be the next Man of Steel well before anyone else, so I'm going to take this tantalizing tidbit as fact.
They're reporting that the primary villian in the next Batman flick will be the Joker, who will be played by Heath Ledger.
Maybe its just that I can't get past how he channelled the spirt of Karl Childers to be so sullen in "Brokeback Mountain," but I just can't see Ledger as the Joker.
Here's hoping I'm wrong (and believe me, that has happened well more than few times before.) He did seem to be having a lot of fun in "Casanova," which I was scared to see on the big screen, but was pleasantly surprised by on DVD.
Whatever he does, let's just hope he doesn't try to imitate the only real movie Joker, Jack Nicholson. That would just be a disaster.
Mr. Ledger has been on quite a roll, and it looks like it won't be stopping anytime soon.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Clowes' new project; big Batman rumor
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15 comments:
But Heath has the smile just right!
Judging from that, I think you might be right, Salome!
I heard about these joker news yesterday and I must say that at first, I was a bit surprised but I think Nolan has made a good choice. But I completely agree, it's going to go all wrong if he tries to imitate Nicholson. He just needs to do his own thing and he'll be great. I hope.
I did see "Lords of Dogtown," Bill, and he was good in it, but I thought the movie overall was just a pale shadow to the documentary it was based on, "Dogtown and Z-Boys" .. at least that's what I remember it being called!
I agree. I just can't see Keith Ledger as The Joker. I think he's a great actor, but I just don't think he looks the part myself.
Hi,
Thank you for leaving a comment on my blog.
On the bit about the "new" Joker, I just don't see how anyone could possible beat Jack Nickleson's protral of that charector--nor should they.
Janice~
I did not know Dan Clowes wrote the screenplay for Art School Confidential.
But I think he could have written something like that from his personal experiences.... I bet there were some discontented or depressed charactrers in it- like his comic characters.
And I'm not sure he can make a Batman character that is not depressed, discontented, and withdrawn... but again, it seems that is the way Batman is.
PS
Thank you for visiting my blog and making a comment.
Heath Ledger??
Say it ain't so...
Wow, I can't wait for DeathRay. Awesome comic. I thought Art School was a decent flick though.
Anyway thanks for the comments on my blog!
If anything, Heath Ledger could still play a wacky and zany Joker, while still helping to mantain the overall dark edginess that Batman Returns had.
(Hey, thanks for visiting my site! It's a nice blog you have here.)
interesting thought, heath as the joker...it just doesn't seem right.
--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
Well, now wait a cotton-pickin' minute.
Wasn't the Joker KILLED in the Tim Burton "Batman" flick?
I suppose it doesn't matter since Harvey Dent was a black man in the first movie and a white man/acid-ravaged white man in the second.
I predict in this new movie that Harvey Dent will be a cross-dressing, half-Latino/half-Asian schizophrenic with psoriasis as well as a lifetime membership to the Hair Club for Men.
Oh yeah, and the Joker will be played by Heath Ledger.
Very funny stuff, sudiegirl, but you know as well as I do that the rules of logic don't apply here!
Ha. I said he'd be great two years ago. *patsselfonback*
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