Thursday Hodgepodge

I got over to Conway Tuesday night for a book signing and speech by one of my favorite authors, Chuck Klosterman. He was a bit under the weather but keep the Ricolas and water coming and put on a pretty fun 2 hours of Q & A from the audience and stories. He started the night by saying what a great time it was to be living in America, a time of great change, when everything will be different from here forward... as Guns n Roses' Chinese Democracy is finally coming out. That set the tone for what was to follow. He talked about interviewing everyone from Marilyn Manson to Bono to Steve Nash. He's sort of a nerdy hipster with an insight on current pop culture that's as thought-provoking as it is funny. He asked questions like "If they created some sort of super-gorilla, should it be allowed to play in the NFL?" then took audience responses and tried to make sense of things. My only problem with the evening was that many in his audience gave answers trying to make themselves more of the "show" than him. But all-in-all it was a pretty entertaining night.

Here's some more reading for you:

Chuck reviews Chinese Democracy
my Killing Yourself To Live review
my Fargo Rock City review

There's a solid show at Juanitas tonight for those in the Little Rock area as Four on the Floor, a heavy band that does some originals and solid covers, are opening a gig for my favorite local band Bombay Black. Here's a flyer for you:



ComingSoon reports that Walt Disney Studios went over its 3D schedule today in Singapore at the 3DX: 3D Film and Entertainment Technology Festival, with the highlight being news that Beauty and the Beast is being remastered as a 3D picture. The work’s already begun, and the new version is expected to be ready for a 2010 release.

Here’s Disney’s 3D schedule for the next few years:

* Jonas Brothers 3D Concert Movie (2/27/09)
* Disney-Pixar’s Up (5/29/09)
* the new 3D verion of Toy Story (10/02/09)
* A Christmas Carol, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Jim Carrey (11/06/09)
* Beauty and the Beast, 3D version (2010)
* the new 3D version of Toy Story 2 (2010)
* Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010)
* the brand new 3D Toy Story 3 (2010)
* Rapunzel, a new 3D animated film (2010)
* Step Up 3D, the latest in the crappy dance franchise (2010)

Variety reports that Fox has chosen Josh Schwartz to write the next X-Men movie, X-Men: First Class. The story will focus on teen characters introduced in other movies while they’re at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Schwartz is best known for his small-screen creations, such as teen hits Gossip Girl and The OC. He’s also responsible for Chuck. Schwartz is expected to “inject a next-gen sensibility” into the superhero series.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Stephen McFeeley and Christopher Markus are in negotiations with Marvel Studios to write First Avenger: Captain America. Joe Johnston is set to direct. McFeeley and Markus wrote The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and its sequel, Prince Caspian.