First Picture from The Lone Ranger!

They've released the first image from Gore Verbinski's take on the Lone Ranger! At first I was a little disappointed by how normal the Ranger looked, but they are clearly trying to ground the character by not putting him into a "Costume". I can live with that, as the Pulps have shown us, you don't need to dress up in a fancy costume to make an impression, plenty can be done with a suit, a tie, and a mask. However in this case I almost feel like the Ranger should be a LITTLE more dressed down, not so formal. If he lost the coat and had gloves he'd look a LOT better. Like Robert Vaughn in The Magnificent Seven or Johnny Depp as the Blind Gunman in Once Upon a Time in Mexico....except with a Mask. Ill wait to make a judgement call however, there are some visually cool stuff that can be done with a coat.

Depp looks great as Tonto, except for the bird, a lot of people have been critical of the bird. To me, by putting the bird on top of his head it feels like they went one step too far. He looked great and then they said what ELSE can we do with him. Right now he looks like an over-stuffed version of Captain Jack that doesn't completely work. He looks too formal now, like he's going off to do a rain dance or a War dance, or maybe that's war paint...but both him and the Ranger look a little too formal to be riding across the desert righting wrongs.

This is just one picture however, Ive been wrong before. How they look, and how their look is used in the film can be two very different things, so reserving judgement is probably good thing for now.

This is picture is actually about a week old, but Ive been having 'puter problems and can't log onto Blogger. Its giving me trouble with anything related to Google....Hmm, very strange....but I'm reformatting this week so I should be right as rain soon.

Anyway, As more Lone Ranger pics and info start popping up I'll post them here. There really hasn't been enough to judge how the film will be yet, so as new stuff is released it should be very telling.

The Buntline Special and Rango reviews!

While I haven't gotten around to reading Mike Resnick's The Buntline Special, one of the Emporium's readers, Penelopecat, has and unfortunately, according to her, It isn't all that good. The basic problems seem to be the lack of tension in the story and the lack of intriguing characters. Also people tend to get out of situations FAR to easily. It sounds like it lacks focus and even that Resnick doesn't exactly know what Western Steampunk is, or he does but doesn't know how to write it well.

Ashe Armstrong may also be reviewing The Buntline Special when he is able so stay tuned for that, but until then here is Penelopecat's Blogger Page Sinister Urge to read her review.


Its too bad you can judge a book by it's cover, because if you could The Buntline Special would be GREAT...but alas....

There has also been some early reviews of the new animated film Rango. I'm still on the fence on whether its a Weird Western, and Ive heard on both sides for and against. Some reviews have stated that the main bad guy, a rattlesnake character named Rattlesnake Jake has a mechanical pistol on his tail in place of a rattle. Also I was informed by "Anonymous" that:

There are a lot of weird things in Rango, and yes, that includes science fiction references (spot the Star Trek one if you can...) and supernatural elements. Can't say no more, but I figure you guys won't be disappointed...

"Anonymous" says that THIS review at Aint it Cool is very accurate to the film. It is from someone who saw an early screening in Phoenix. There is also a fairly spoiler filled review over at Wegotthiscovered.com if you don't mind that sort of stuff.

Regardless, it looks like its going to be a fun film, and Ill do a review after it comes out. Until then however, check out these quick videos about the recording process Gore Verbinski had the actors go through for Rango. Its actually quite entertaining. I wouldn't mind seeing the live action footage cut together as an extra on the DVD!





Rango opens on March 4th

Rango...A Weird Western?

I had known about Gore Verbinski's Rango a few months ago. There was a teaser trailer with the main character running around the desert in a Hawaiian print shirt. With Johnny Depp doing the voice, and the way the first poster was designed, it looked a little like an animated version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with funny animals (which, now that I think about it, would have been pretty darn cool).

A bigger trailer was released today that showed more of the film, and now it looks like something else, an all out Weird Western; or at least a standard western with animated animals. With a name like "Rango" I should have suspected. Regardless, its a gorgeous looking film and I felt it was worth showcasing here. It really seems too get the Western look right.

...but, is it "Weird"? Now you can decide that for yourself! Rango opens March 4th.

The new Lone Ranger movie a Weird Western?

With this script review of the new Lone Ranger movie from Latino Review, there seems to be talk of Tonto, played by Johnny Depp, hunting a Wendigo....hmmm, interesting.

Of course this wouldn't be the first time the Masked Rider of the Plains has dipped his foot into the Weird West waters.....but more on that later.

You can see it all at the Latino Review website!