Voices From Krypton

WONDER WOMAN & BATMAN CAST?

According to aint-it-cool-news.com, the previously rumored Megan Gale has been 100% cast as Wonder Woman in the Justice League movie. There's no way to be sure, of course, but at least this seems like a positive indication that the project is still moving forward. Given the Writer's strike and all of those (sometimes ridiculous) rumors that had flooded the net, there was concern that the project had been aborted. Hopefully further word will be coming soon from Warners.
   Over at iesb.net came word that actor Armie Hammer had been cast in the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Most of his previous acting credits have been as a guest starring actor in a number of network TV series, among them Arrested Development, Veronica Mars and Desperate Housewives. One confusing aspect of his casting is the fact that the approach was supposedly going to be that the members of the Justice League had been teaming up for several years by the  time the adventure of the film takes place. Hammer, however, is only 20 years old -- younger than the character was in Batman Begins. As with Megan Gale, the studio has had no comment.

WANNA CHAT WITH LEX LUTHOR?

A MESSAGE FROM AL GOUGH:

So, Miles and I were sitting around the other day (which is what writers do when they can't write and their picketing shift is over) wondering what we can do to kick this Pencils2Moguls campaign up a notch. Don't get me wrong, we are stoked by the response so far, but we felt there must be something we can do to really light a fire under it going into the holidays.
   Then the answer hit us -- the greatest criminal mind of our time -- Lex Luthor.
   We will give the gift of Lex.
   Well, not really since he is, after all, a fictional character, but we do have Michael Rosenbaum, one of the best young actors of our time (in our humble opinion). We thought, why not offer a challenge to some of these other shows who have devoted fanbases (that's right Battlestar and Buffy, I'm talking to you!) and see whose fans can really deliver the goods (in this case, pencils).
   So here is the skinny:
   For every box of environmentally friendly pencils you buy at Unitedhollywood.com, your name will be entered into an e-raffle. We will then pick a winner at random and they will receive a phone call from Michael Rosenbaum thanking them for their support of both the cause and the show.
   That is right, Lex Luthor will call you directly! Make sure you list SMALLVILLE as the show you are supporting when you click on the icon.
   Please spread the word far and wide... and thank you all for your continued support and good wishes. We are all in this together.

Best,
Al Gough

MOONLIGHT: "FLEUR DE LIS"

Moonlight “Fleur de Lis”

Episode: 1.09

Original Air Date: 11/23/2007

Writer: Gabrielle Stanton, Harry Werksman

Director: James Whitmore Jr.

Starring: Alex O’Loughlin, Sophia Myles, Shannyn Sossamon, Jason Dohring

Guest star: Victor Webster, Kathleen Munroe, Richard Cox, Marc Anthony Samuel, Amayla Early, Bryn Early, Andrew Lin

Plot Summary: Beth convinces Mick to keep Morgan (the photographer/‘ringer’ for his ex-wife) occupied while she conducts a more in-depth investigation into Morgan’s past.  Beth wants to prove one way or another that Morgan is Coraline, the vampire who kidnapped Beth when she was a child.

Review: In romance novels, writers have rules about their male hero. They must be loyal, faithful, courageous, have a good sense of humor and great abs (okay, that’s moi interjecting again). They are also determined. I like my hero steadfast in his convictions and capable of falling deeply, single-mindedly, in love, despite his flaws and the obstacles that keep ‘pulling him back in’.  And oh yeah, he has to have a big heart. What does all this have to do with Moonlight’s “Fleur de Lis”, episode 1.09? Sounds a lot like Mick St. John if you ask me.

This episode peeled away another layer from our hero’s mystique. It also answered a question I’m not certain had been asked before—how far will rage take Beth Turner? Cleverly crafted, “Fleur de Lis” used the procedural investigation to provide a reflection of what’s happening in the lives of the main characters. It also plays homage to an Oscar-winning movie from 1974 called “The Conversation” starring Gene Hackman, written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.  Check it out if you’ve never seen it. It might make you scream when you connect the dots to “Fleur de Lis”.

To recap: in the investigation portion of the story we have a head of household hiring Mick to check on his trophy wife, a stepmother found to be involved in an affair with a stepson, and other miscommunications that lead to errors in judgment. On the other side, we have Morgan/Coraline, getting to play multiple roles—photographer, forgiving new partner, and a mother dealing with her wayward children (Beth and Mick).

This was a dark episode. The dysfunctional relationship between parents and children and infidelity were examined.  And within this maze, we still have Mick being heroic, but making huge mistakes in judgment. He trusts information at face value until nudged by Beth or Morgan. He also wants to save innocent lives—that pesky heart of his gets him shot in the head (big shriek at that scene). He wasn’t the one who figured out the truth of who wanted to kill whom until it was shoved down his throat. That’s also reflected in what he’s doing with Morgan/Coraline. He wants a cure for vampirism—and might well have slept with Coraline out of sheer joy if Beth hadn’t interrupted.

However, his most evident flaw is his greatest attribute—the big freaking heart. He cares about too many things including Beth, his guilt over killing his wife, his guilt about being a vampire, his guilt about wanting to sleep with Beth, while at the same time loving her (and treating her) as if she was a child. Then he’s also got the other issue. As Josef said, Mick doesn’t always think with his big head – which rings clear in that shower scene.  Went Mick went in there, he wasn’t just searching for the fleur de lis on Morgan’s shoulder. Nor did he know for certain if she was Coraline when he opened the shower door. And he didn’t examine Morgan’s back first. Mick reached for her.

Well, Loyal Viewers, it was a complex episode – well played with a couple of surprises to boot. It even gave us a cliffhanger ending. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait three weeks to find out what happens next (new episode won’t air until December 14).

Things I liked: The surprise opening. Beth Turner letting us know she doesn’t forgive and forget. I was actually stunned by Beth’s rage. She was sure Morgan was Coraline, but she’d heard both Mick and Josef swear she was human. Nonetheless, Beth still staked a most likely human Coraline—no matter what she said about freezing vampires.

The women were the most clear-headed characters in the episode. They made the big decisions – the stepmother shooting Mick, Coraline rushing to Mick’s aid, Beth in about every scene was right on top of her crime investigative journalist game.

Things that made me go, huh? (in a good way): Beth’s in charge of this episode—and it’s more than getting to do the voice over (VO) for first time in the show’s young history. She handled it well, but it was a necessity. No way did we want to be in Mick’s head for this one.

What’s up with Alex’s patches of gray hair in the opening scene with the CEO? It disappeared later.

Stuff hits the fan: Beth’s words to Mick when Morgan slithers down the staircase are “How could you?” The implication is clear. She believes Mick has had “that good sex” with Coraline even after all she’s done to her. “It’s not want you think” he responds. But honestly, it is exactly what she thinks (see best quotes below).

The Funny: There were some good yucks to be had—Hari Krishnas dancing on the sidewalk, Mick stumbling over a baby carriage and the scene outside of Morgan’s apartment earlier in the episode—Mick and Beth dropping down in the car seat? Funny stuff.

Best Quotes:

Mick: “Okay, does this seem healthy to you?”

Beth: “Oh, she was a hooker!”

Beth: “Was the sex good?”

Mick: “You understand that, right?”

Beth: “You were on and off for like 33 years. Was it the sex that kept you coming back?

Mick: “Fidelity wasn’t our problem.” (Speaking to Morgan about his relationship with Coraline).

Mick: “I tend to work alone.”

Morgan: “I mean there has got to be something for Beth to do, right? We could make it a threesome or something.”

Beth: “I would love that, but I’ve got my own investigation going on.”

Morgan: “Hi Beth.”

Whether you allow Mick St. John his flaws or not, you’ve got to admit the writers of Moonlight aren’t playing it safe. I hesitate to give them too much credit so early in a series (they might backslideJ), but if I were writing this show, I’d want it to be as complex and dark and funny and surprising as it appears they are trying to make it. So a big shout out to the writers – please get that new contract signed to your satisfaction and get back to work on Moonlight.

There is too much fun here for it to end.

Yours in Vampire Solidarity

Denny S. Bryce/denny_dc

MOONLIGHT: "12:04 A.M."

Moonlight “12:04 AM”

Episode 1.08

Original Air Date: November 16, 2007

Writer: Jill Blotevogel

Director: Dennis Smith

Starring: Alex O'Loughlin, Sophia Myles, Shannyn Sossamon, Jason Dohring

Guest Star: Sarah Foret, Gideon Emery, Paul Keeley, Mark D. Espinoza, Lorena Segura, Aisha Kabia, Christopher Guyton

Plot Summary: When the followers of cult target a young woman based on their belief that she was responsible for their leader's death by execution, Beth gets Mick to help.

Review: Writers define a mystery as a story that elicits an intellectual response from its audience versus a thriller, which is all about getting to an audience’s raw emotions. So a thriller is like a tragic romance in that way—it gets under your skin.

   In “12:04 AM”, the writers of Moonlight chose to follow the highly anticipated and well-  received episode seven, “The Ringer”, with a scary, bloody, violent thriller that got a couple of squeals from a number of seasoned thrill-ride enthusiasts, including moi. However, it was a risky episode to throw into the mix. Loyal Viewers had been treated to the Mick/Beth relationship growing stronger each week in spite of interference from Josh (Beth’s boyfriend) and Morgan (Coralline), and Josef’s warnings. But what do the writers go and do? They up the tension between our hero and our heroine and leave out the rest of the familiar cast. Now, there’s no one in their way, just Mick and Beth and an evil sadistic killer and a young woman in need of protection, which sounds like our non-couple, except Mick’s not sadistic. (But did you see that bathroom scene, or the vampire priest in the confessional?)

   After some big fights scenes, crashing glass, Beth’s life on the line and a beheading, we are suddenly on a rooftop with Mick and Beth, with nothing standing between them. All of Mick’s secrets have been exposed and the audience knows Beth isn’t thinking about Josh. They’ve vanquished the bad guy and saved the girl, too. But our exhausted hero (he did roll down that hill) still walks away from the woman we know he loves. Why? Beth not only tells him, but shows Mick (more on that later), how deeply she cares about him, vampire or not. That’s a lot of story arc to throw into a thriller. Honestly, I don’t know if it worked, but I enjoyed it.

   I also liked Beth in this one, too. She was heroic (not just the over the top reporter girl), brave, and surprisingly capable of keeping it together. As vamp Donovan said, she wasn’t begging for mercy. She was going to freeze him with a stake in the heart (but spitting in the face works, too).

More things I liked: – I’ve always enjoy the music on Moonlight, but the entire score for this episode was a WOW, especially in the opening execution sequence. (What’s the name of that tune?)

   This episode also had a  few snappy, pop-culture lines, and Hollywood digs. There was great chemistry between Alex and Sophia as well. Not that there hasn’t been in the past, but they had a lot of emotion to deal with in that rooftop scene and they made it work there as well as in the lighter scenes (Me casa, su casa).

Things I didn’t like so much: The scene leading up to the reveal of the DA’s blood-covered office – the screaming executive assistant just didn’t do it for me.

   We could have had a more original look for Donovan. Admittedly he was creepy, but the longhaired blond vamp? Well, been there, done that.

Things that made me go, huh?: Vamp Donovan picking up Mick’s iPhone and immediately knowing how to use it. I mean the man was in prison for 14 years. It came out less than six months ago and it took me at least three days to figure out how to turn it on.

Continuity: The bullet Mick removed from his forearm in the opening sequence was from “Fever” (1.04) when he was shot in the desert. Enjoyed that refer back…

   How come the priest didn’t know Mick was a vampire when he walked into the confessional? He should have smelled vamp Mick.

Best lines:

Mick (voice over): “Sometimes I hate living in Hollywood.”

Mick (voice over): “I thought about being an actor back in the 70s, but I think I really just wanted to be Steve McQueen…there is a difference.”

Mick: I would recommend not going into the office.
Beth: Okay.

Mick: Okay…or upstairs…or through the gray door.

Beth: Wow! This all sounds so Alice in Wonderland.

Mick: Beware of the bottles that say Drink Me.

The Funny: Torture by nose pulling – seriously, folks. That was funny.

Kind of sad, but necessary: No Josef, no Josh, and no Morgan/Coralline.

The Ending or Stepping in Front of the Sun: Some might say it was heavy-handed, and I might agree, except my review is based on the idea that the emotions in “12:04 AM” had no place to go but up, and in the last act, that’s where these characters needed to be. Mick might have been prepared for Beth’s anger, but not her forgiveness. He doesn’t forgive himself for any number of things and only more episodes will show us the depth of Mick St. John’s self-loathing. But it was the intensity of Beth’s forgiveness that forced Mick to walk away. His laugh when she called him her “guardian angel” wasn’t about the funny. Plus, Beth wasn’t just blocking the sun, she stepped in front of it to protect him. What sacrifices will Beth Turner make for Mick St. John? He doesn’t want to have to find out.

But I for one, Loyal Viewers, am looking forward to it!

Until next week, yours in vampire solidarity,

Denny S. Bryce/denny_dc

FROM THE WATCHTOWER

The rumor making the rounds for weeks was that Warner Bros. would be making an official announcement of the cast for Justice League this past weekend. As has been the case with most of the rumors that have been associated with the film, this proved to be false as well.
   Last week it was supposedly confirmed -- though not through the studio -- that Adam Brody has been cast as one of the characters called The Flash (supposedly the Barry Allen version of the character is killed, only to be replaced by Wally West as the speedster), the rapper Common is the John Stewart version of Green Lantern and actress Teresa Palmer as Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Batman enemy Ra's al Ghul. If the latter character is indeed part of the film, it will confirm the rumor that at least part of the plotline will deal with Talia seeking vengeance against Batman for the death of her father as revealed in Batman Begins, thus creating continuity between the two films.
   The most substantial Justice League news to come out was the interview www.comicscontinuum.com conducted with Friday Night Lights actor Scott Porter, who had been rumored to be cast as Superman as far back as mid-October, though in the past few days other sites have made it sound like this is news that has just broken. In that interview, Porter revealed, "When I tested, I tested for the role of The Flash, which I lost to Adam Brody. At this point, Superman is purely rumor and speculation as far as I'm concerned, although I do want to buy a Superman shirt today and wear it to mess with people." Of the audition process itself, he added, "There were about 32 of us, and [George Miller] just said, 'We're having a test.' I don't know if he had a specific role until we got there. None of us knew the specific role until we got there. The Flash was written next to my name when I was there, so that's what I was under the assumption I was auditioning for, although they did say that it was kind of a blanket test. There was one scene and everybody did the same scene, so we could have been auditioning for any role." To read the rest of this interview, please click HERE.

CATCHING UP WITH SUPERNATURAL: EPISODES 3.4-3.6

It would be great to blame unnatural forces for the delay in updating this season's reviews of Supernatural episodes, but a far more earth-bound explanation is all that can be offered: behind the scenes situations that have settled down and allowed us to play catch up. What follows is Voices From Krypton's Gloria Atwater's take on the episodes "Sin City," "Bed Time Stories" and "Red Sky at Morning."

THE JUSTICE LEAGUE GOES ON

Just last week Variety was raising a concern that without the ability for rewrites due to the Writer's Strike, the movie version of Justice League would have to be postponded. According to a report that surfaced today at iesb.net, that's not the case at all.  "The WGA is not slowing down the WB and its plan to get Justice League on track," notes the site. "WB sources tell IESB that the cast will be announced this week. They tell the IESB that unlike the story ran by the trades, casting is 100% locked. The cast has been chosen and sworn to secrecy, but official confirmation will happen sometime this week. There have been many names associated with the Justice League throughout the last few months that it would make anybody's head spin.  Looks like this will all come to an end by the end of this weeknd. "

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: GREG & COLIN STRAUSE ON "AVP: REQUIEM"

Are you ready for round two of the battle between the Aliens and the Predators? We hope so, because the rematch is coming to theatres this Christmas, and we have an exclusive interview with the directors of Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, Greg and Colin Strause.

RAY WISE ON PLAYING THE DEVIL ON "REAPER"

EXCLUSIVE 3-PART INTERVIEW WITH AMANDA TAPPING

Voices From Krypton recently had the opportunity to talk to actress Amanda Tapping. In this wide-ranging three-part interview, Amanda discusses her live action web series Sanctuary, which is a to become a television series, as well as her 10-year run as Samantha Carter on Stargate SG-1, her over to the spin-off, Stargate: Atlantis, and the shooting of two made-for-DVD Stargate films, The Ark of Truth and Continuum. To  listen to this interview, just click below.