New Jonah Hex Poster and Trailer!!

I was going to wait and post about the new Jonah Hex trailer tomorrow, but with the poster coming out earlier this week I figured what the hell I'll just combine them and do one big super post of awesomeness! Except, and I hate to say it, I'm a little disappointed with the trailer. Its not really the trailer's fault though, I just had my expectations too high....

Being a huge fan of Jonah Hex in the comics I'm obviously coming from a different place than people who might not know him very well, or at all. Not unlike Constantine, Jonah Hex looks like its for the people who don't know who the character is. I know that the point of some movies is too make a fun exciting experience...and since this is a summer film they've added the bang bang and the boom boom and the Victorian super gadgets. People who have seen it have described it as The Outlaw Josey Wales meets The Wild Wild West....That doesn't bother me, in fact that is one of the things that makes me want to see this. I'm a fan of Wild Wild West, even though I have no illusions that its a good movie, (Its definitely better than some other Weird Westerns out there).....Of course Van Helsing looked good too...and then I saw that and....yikes...

Josh Brolin looks great, my only complaint is I wish he had a contact lens or something in his ruined eye....but I love his line delivery and he seems like he might be fun too watch as Jonah. Megan Fox looks serviceabley hot, as usual, although she might want to tone down the "Hot girl" roles if she wants to be taken as a serious actress (like she seems to want)

There's a giant metal ship with a cannon device (or is it the USS Monitor?) and some dynamite flinging crossbows that could be interesting (That's actually a pretty dang good idea). We'll see, I'm definitely going to go see it, I might even start getting excited as I process the fact that its not the comic, but its own version of Jonah. I DO like that it has supernatural elements.

As for the Poster, I LOVE it! I think the image looks good, well lit, its exciting...I like that they've obscured Jonah's scar (but still kept a hint of it). He's using that Dynamite crossbow AND a Gatling gun....also, there is some good character shots, bottom line, its a well put together poster. You can click on the picture above for a better look.

Anyway, the time has arrived to make your own judgments on the new Trailer, don't let your expectations get too high and you wont be let down....eh, who knows, this may be one of my favorite films this year!

Jonah Hex Motion Comics!

This could turn into Jonah Hex week, with the debut of the trailer tomorrow (Which Ill post on Friday), the new Poster revealed (Which Ill blog about tomorrow), and today's post, a brand new Jonah Hex Motion Comic, it seems like full Jonah goodness all around.

I know I'm in the minority, but I LOVE the DC/Vertigo comics version of Jonah Hex. They were a gritty, nasty, mature version of the character. Also they introduced me to Joe R. Lansdale and Tim Truman, AND of course (Although at the time, I didn't make the distinction) they were a Weird West version of the character...a genre which I think he really works in (another minority view I'm sure)

The first one, Two Gun Mojo, is the best and had a truly shocking moment of horror at the end.....The second Riders of the Worm and Such started off great and also had a couple moments of brutality that shocked me the first time I read it, but then sort of devolved into silliness.....and the third Shadows West, (I hate to say) kinda sucked and felt rushed and uninspired.......

They get less good with each mini unfortunately, BUT, Warner Premiere Digital has just announced the release of a new 7 part Jonah Hex Motion Comic based on the first one Two Gun Mojo, and two short stories from his original series, The Gunfighter and The Hangin' Woman.

And the best part about these, the first episode is out TODAY! The idea is that they will be released weekly up too the premier of the new film.

The official word from the Newsarama comic book site is this:

Jonah Hex Motion Comics will debut Wednesday, April 28th on iTunes, Amazon Video on Demand, Xbox Live / Zune Market Place and the PlayStation Network for 99 cents per episode or $5.99 for a season pass.

There's a lot of good Jonah stuff coming up in the next few months including an original graphic novel and a Warner Brothers animated short, so anyone unfamiliar with the character has plenty to choose from to acquaint themselves with...

...Starting with Two Gun Mojo, available today. I'm about to buy it, and maybe Ill even do a review....although I'm terribly bad at those things...so here's the official trailer for now:

Deadwalkers is a rockem, sockem Zombie Western!

I should start off by saying that Deadwalkers is a fun film. You can see that a lot of care and love went into it. Lots of people working, for probably not a lot of money, got together and made, what is essentially a feature film in a very small package. Its taut, fast, violent and fun, but it isn't perfect.

The story starts right off, as a Bounty Hunter named Jack Link is bringing two men into town to collect on a bounty. As soon as he arrives, however, something is wrong with both the town and its citizens, as they start attacking, and trying eat, Jack and the men he's bringing in. After a few a gun shots, bullet holes, and splattered Zombie heads, Jack and a surviving bounty find refuge in a boarded up Saloon where they run into the last of the towns uninfected survivors. What happens next is the classic "group of mismatched people forced together to fight a common enemy" Zombie fightin' scenario.

The dialogue is noticeably hard boiled, with Jack spurting tough guy lines through a clinched cigar or clinched teeth for most of the movie. I like the sets also, The film was shot in Calgary, Alberta on a western town used for movie shoots. The inside of the saloon was beautiful, with Tin-Tiled walls and

I did have a few problems with the film however.

I thought the Zombie make up was too cartoonish, The main Zombie bad guy, the Town's Sheriff, has almost clown white make-up on his face, I can see what they were trying to do with it, but I didn't really like the way it looked...In the picture for this article, the makeup actually doesn't look half bad, but in the film.....not so good...Other characters have a more subtle form of Zombie makeup and I would have preferred to see that encompass all of the Zombie characters. They also use digital blood, which isn't really a problem...but there is one decapitation that looks very cheesy and VERY video effect-y.

Also, this film wants to be HUGE, its at least a half hour or 45 minutes worth of story trapped in a 12 minute short film, its almost too short. Parts of it feel rushed and then its over. I'm sure budget was a factor in the length, and they needed to get the film made within an allotted production schedule, but I would have loved to see it breathe a little more.

Don't let my pet peeves sway you off giving Deadwalkers a try, though. I did really enjoy it, and if you are looking for a fun short fast moving Zombie Western, this just might be what you are looking for!

I was under the impression that you could get it through iTunes, however I haven't been able to find it on the site....If I hear anything about availability Ill let you guys know!

UPDATE: From Greg Jeffs, Producer of Deadwalkers: The iTunes release is in October 2010 to kick off Halloween week, it'll coincide with a UK, US and Canadian broadcast.

Details on Lansdales Dead Man's Road Anthology!

A few weeks ago I reported that Joe R Lansdale's Reverend Mercer stories were going to be collected into a single book called Dead Man's Road, well Subterranean Press has provided details about the release, AND a look at the rough artwork for the cover by the great Timothy Truman:

The Reverend Jedidiah Mercer returns with the re-release of the highly influential pulp novel, Dead in the West, and four stories, one never before collected, one brand new. Contained herein are the Reverend's adventures with zombies, ghouls, werewolves, Lovecraftian monsters and kobolds. Western action blends with grisly horror and ribald humor for a super collection of shoot-outs and fang-outs, claws and crawling horrors, and lessons about an angry, unforgiving god and methods for killing nasties of all kinds.

You can read the rest HERE. The article also gets into content specifics (including storylines) and ordering prices.

Dead Man's Road will be released in October, and I for one am very excited!

I'll keep you updated as I hear stuff...

Harrison Ford WILL be fighting Cowboys and Aliens soon!!!

UPDATE: It was Just confirmed on Favreau's Twitter Harrison Ford is joining the cast of Cowboys and Aliens!

Please stop asking if Harrison Ford is in Cowboys & Aliens. Okay? He is. Please don't tell anybody.

Nice!

----Original Story----

Its all just rumor at this point, but Latino Review is reporting they heard from an anonymous tip that Harrison Ford might be joining the Weird Western Cowboys and Aliens directed by Jon Favreau. If this is true, it would be very exciting!! Ford needs a good role to get behind after some uninteresting parts he's taken in recent years, and this could be just the thing!

Favreau also put a little tease in one of his Twitter posts last night: Some very cool Cowboys & Aliens casting news coming soon... Hmmmmm, tantalizing...and this would certainly fit the bill...

Nothing has been announced just yet, but lets keep our fingers crossed...I'm suspecting that there will be something later this week, and when there is I'll let you know!

It Came From The West - A Puppet Zombie Western!

Happy Flyfish, the makers of the puppet film Zombie Western: It Came From The West call their movie "the first ever hand-puppet animated ZOMBIEWESTERN!" and I gotta say that they are quite probably right. For anyone thats seen Peter Jackson's Meet The Feebles knows, when you do a puppet film you can get away with quite a lot, and it looks like the film makers have done just that!

There are buckets of Zombie Puppet Blood aplenty and my personal favorite scene in the trailer is the zombie puppet getting his head cleaved in half by a chain saw, (Ahhhh Zombie films)

Zombie Western: It Came from The West is a 17 minute film from Denmark that has won a bunch of awards, they have an official Website with tons of pictures, an online store for DVD purchases, a press page, and a page devoted to their copious Film Festival accolades...The story synopsis from the website is this:

Virgil lives alone with his bully father and a mute bartender and he is being mocked by the two tough cowboys Eddie and Hank. Because of The Dark Butcher who has been terrorizing the local Indian tribe, the Indians see no other way, than bringing the dead to live by performing The Forbidden Rituals. When the Zombies suddenly attack the saloon, action begins and true characters are brought to daylight.

The film is inspired by Sergio Leone’s classic Westerns as well as the legendary films by Peter Jackson and George A. Romero and there are several references to the genres to be found in the film. The style is a mixture of hand held puppets and animation. Besides the funny characters and the gory action, it is the richness of highly prepared and surprising details that makes this film a unique experience full of dark humor.

....And, oh yes, there is a Trailer too, which shows off the Puppet Zombie splatter and political incorrectness in full force (my goodness!)

The Deadeye Kid goes Bi-Weekly!

Our friend, Paul Green, over at the The Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns site is reporting that, due to overwhelming demand, Julie Hoverson from 19 Nocturne Blvd will begin releasing new episodes of The Deadeye Kid radio show bi-weekly.

The official word from Paul's site is this:

“Due to overwhelming positive response, The Deadeye Kid is spinning off into his own series of audio dramas – no more waiting six months for us to slip the next episode into the regular rotation! Current plans are to release the kid in 10-minute episodes every other Tuesday (alternating with current serial “Bingo the Birthday Clown”), with each story lasting 4-6 episodes. The series begins with the new story “Haunting Melody” (with a cameo from Paul Green) on May 11, 2010.”

Sounds great! And congratulations to Paul on his radio acting debut!

Until then, if you haven't done so yet, you can check out the current adventures of Deadeye and Fanshaw over at the official 19 Nocturne Blvd site

DV Mission 2009 - The Golden 8!

I have a few friends who have done 48 hour film challenges in the past and let me tell you they aren't easy, but you don't need me to tell you that! So when I came across the DV Mission 48 Hour Film Challenge I knew these guys worked their butts off and in most cases, came up with some really fun short films.

The challenge was this, on a Friday night (at 6 pm) 22 teams from across the UK got together and received a Title, a Film genre, and one line of dialogue and had to return at 6 pm the following Sunday with a finished film.

The breakdown was like this:

Film Title: Golden Eight
Dialogue: Well, nobody's perfect.
Genre: Weird West (YES! My kind of film challenge!)

They came up with some really entertaining films, you can see them HERE

But the ones I want to showcase are a couple of my favorites:

The first is a Werewolf Western from Team Zombie where we find out that even though you can kill a regular werewolf with silver bullets....the Alpha male requires something a little more.......expensive:



The other is a Steam Western from Quod Victor Est Productions about the search for 8 golden puzzle pieces that will restore order to the world, and a fight at the end of everything for the last one:



Not bad for a couple of films made in 48 Hours....I strongly suggest you check out their Youtube Channel and watch some of the others, it'll make for a fun (and very strange) afternoon of viewing!