Comic Con Preview: NECA Apes Exclusive!

NECA's classic Planet of the Apes series is one of the best action figure lines out there. Spectacularly rendered with phenomenal likenesses and amazing attention to detail. Incredibly, the line has also been suffering mightily at retail, to the point that NECA is facing the prospect of canceling the series.

But there is hope, albeit somewhat frustrating hope. 

Series 3 will be available briefly as a Comic Con and retailer 3-pack exclusive, featuring Caesar, General Aldo (Battle for the Planet of the Apes) and a Conquest of the Planet of the Apes gorilla.

They'll be available in individual boxes at Comic Con or briefly online through NECA. There will also an exclusive window box package at random Toys "R" Us and Hastings stores, but only in person - NOT online. 

Here are all the details:

 

The hope is that if fans support this limited series 3, an additional wave 4 (featuring Apes TV series General Urko!) can also be released at some point, likely as a similar online exclusive bundle.

This is definitely a line worth supporting. It's baffling that they've been underperforming at retail, but encouraging that NECA is still trying to keep the series afloat for dedicated fans. Keep at it, NECA. Apes is a classic line and fans will definitely support it. 

Stay tuned for more news as Comic Con approaches!

Comic Con Preview: Mattel's 6-inch Batgirl!

Mattel's terrific line of six-inch figures from the classic 1966 Batman TV series made a big splash when it debuted a couple of years ago, then went quiet. 

We saw prototypes of a Batgirl figure at Toy Fair, and very soon collectors will be able to add the cowled crime fighter to their collection.

A Toys "R" Us exclusive, Batgirl will be available at San Diego Comic Con at the Entertainment Earth booth. 

Not getting down to the Con? TRU will make the figure available online at ToysRUs.com/ComicConvention on Thursday, July 9th. 

This one's a keeper, so don't miss it!

Patrick Macnee: RIP to The Avengers' John Steed

Fondly remembered for his role as John Steed in the 60s British TV series The Avengers, the great Patrick Macnee has passed away at age 93. Along with Diana Rigg as Mrs. Peel, Macnee’s Steed was the embodiment of the unflappable British gentleman, as an intelligence operative who thwarted evil by relying on his wits, panache and an umbrella instead of a gun. 

 

The Avengers ran from 1960 – 1969, with Macnee returning in The New Avengers in 1976, featuring Joanna Lumley and Geth Hunt. Steed was one of the great icons of the spy genre, and Macnee always brought a sense of humor, fun and civilized flair to bear against his antagonists. 

 

He also appeared in the James Bond film A View to a Kill and Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet. 

 

A toast to you, Steed. 

James Horner Lost in Plane Crash

Prolific and talented film score composer James Horner has been killed, when the private plane he was piloting crashed in Southern California.

Horner was easily one of the most popular and acclaimed composers of his generation, having won the Academy Award for Titanic, the best selling motion picture soundtrack of all time. Horner was especially well known by science fiction fans, having scored Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (as well as Star Trek III: The Search For Spock), and James Cameron's Aliens, for my money one of the greatest, most impactful soundtracks ever recorded. Movie trailers often use temporary music from previously released films, and for about ten years, it seemed the trailer for every action movie out there borrowed Horner's Aliens score, an adrenaline-fueled theme of hammered steel and relentlessly threatening brass and strings. It's the reason you feel like you're going to have a heart attack during Aliens' last twenty minutes.

Horner also scored 48 Hours, Field of Dreams, The Rocketeer, Braveheart, Glory, Legends of the Fall, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Perfect Storm, and for frequent collaborator James Cameron, Avatar. He has 156 composer credits on the imdb. 

At 61, Horner leaves behind a rich legacy of music that helped shape the tone and mood of modern cinema.

Jurassic World: Chris Pratt's Indominus Box Office

It’s a heck of a story. Colin Trevorrow directs a movie costing $750,000, and all of a sudden Steven Spielberg’s giving him $150 million (or more) to reboot the Jurassic Park franchise – delivering the biggest box office opening in movie history. Like Gareth Edwards' jump from Monsters to Godzilla, Trevorrow has achieved exponential success and responsibility on a level that’s hard to fathom. Jurassic World is a case of simply phenomenal timing, providing exactly the right movie at precisely the right time. 

 

More a remake than a sequel, Jurassic World springboards off of Jeff Goldblum’s line in the original, “If the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.” Now we get to see the functioning theme park, realized on a massive scale, monorailing in 20,000 tourists at a shot through attractions both tot-friendly and terrifying. That makes for one heck of a buffet. 

 

Like his similarly themed Westworld (likewise rebooting soon on HBO), Michael Chrichton’s theme parks are symbols of societal hubris, organizations that conceive of powerful scientific achievments, then delude themselves into thinking they can keep those powers under control. Engineered to prove chaos, something inevitably always goes wrong. Evidently jaded Jurassic tourists are always hungry for the next big thing, and in order to maintain public interest, the park’s lab wizards have designed their own new species of uber carnivore – Indominus Rex. A combination platter that’s a hyrid of the most aggressive killers nature ever spawned. Hey, that’s a great idea! The theme park is an explosion of corporation product placement, which Trevorrow is happy to skewer. Bryce Dallas Howard is the fembot in charge of Operations, absurdly coiffed and high-heeled, phone perpetually grafted to her face. Her similarly type-A sister has sent her two children to the park, while she works on her divorce. Howard’s idea of being an attentive auntie is to give the kids VIP all-access passes and turn them loose. It’s a pretty embarrasing character, no argument here. 

 

Jurassic World is painting by numbers on an epic scale, but two things save the day – Trevorrow’s stupendous orchestration of gripping, visceral effects sequences – and Chris Pratt. The characters in Jurassic World are about as thin as they come. Pratt’s a likeable ex-Navy guy who’s become the park’s “raptor-whisperer,” having let them imprint on him to the point they see him as their pack Alpha. It’s a pretty ridiculous conceit, but I guarantee you won’t care, because Pratt is a movie star here. He sells every moment with complete conviction, staying likable and engaging for every frame. Following Guardians of the Galaxy, Pratt’s now had the two biggest openings of any actor out there and it’s easy to see why. He brings high-wattage star power where it’s desperately needed and the rest of the movie somehow rises to the challenge in his wake, and damned if it doesn’t deliver like crazy.

 

You know those two nephews are headed straight for dire peril, and you know that everything’s going to go horribly, awesomely wrong. You know Vincent D’Onofrio is a venal weasel, intent on exploiting Pratt’s bond with the raptors in the hopes of weaponizing them. The playbook is as old as the hills, and I promise you – you just won’t care. Trevorrow does a terrific job of delivering exactly the kind of popcorn “check-your-head” thrills that define the summer tentpole. He’s clearly paid attention – and while the characters are pencil sketches, they’re attached to a ride that’s determined to be that theme park – a place of fantastical escape that wants you to be flabbergastingly entertained – and entertained you will be. Trevorrow (along with Rise/Dawn of the Planet of the Apes screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver – with Derek Connolly) knows what the audience wants, and he serves it up big time. The Mosasaurus from the trailer? Oh, yeah. The screaming armada of flying Ptaranodons and Dimorphodons – the Indominus…we get a massive serving of reptilian carnage and thrills that should satisfy the dino fan in everyone, young and old alike. One sequence of “asset-containment” soldiers with body cameras and bio-monitors is straight out of Aliens, but for the most part, Trevorrow brings a fresh sense of immediacy to the chaos and rampage that has clearly touched a nerve with audiences hungry for summer escape and another dose of Pratt’s heroics. It’s the first bonafide box office phenomenon in quite a while, guaranteed to be propelled by repeat business. 

 

Bring your inner thirteen-year-old and just enjoy. Pratt on a motorcycle with his raptor pack is just the ticket I was waiting for.

Film legend Christopher Lee dead at 93

Legend is the only word that even comes close. After well over a half century of iconic roles in everything from the Hammer Dracula films to The Lord of the Rings, the great Sir Christopher Lee has passed away at age 93.

At 6' 5", Lee was an imposing figure, but the life he lived cast the longest shadow of all. 

During World War II Lee served in the British Special Forces but refused to discuss it, saying he was bound by an oath of secrecy. One hint came during filming of Lord of the Rings when director Peter Jackson asked him, "Peter have  you ever heard the sound a man makes when he's stabbed in the back?" during filming of a gory sequence. "Well, I have, and I know what to do," Lee Replied. Lee was also a world champion fencer and holds a Guinness World Record for being in more onscreen sword fights than any actor in history, dueling with everyone from Errol Flynn to Yoda, performing all of his own stunts. He was fluent in Italian, French, Spanish and German.

Lee was married for 54 years to Danish model Birgit Kroencke. Lee had appeared in over 260 films, including the Hammer Dracula series, The Wicker Man, Bond villain Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun, Space:1999, 1941, Gormenghast, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels and wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.  His final film appearances will be in The Angels of Notting Hill and The 11th, with Uma Thurman.

Christopher Lee has always been one of my personal favorite actors and he leaves behind a legacy of incredible work that will stand for generations. Thank you for an incredibly body of work, Sir Christopher. The world will never forget you.

Funko Firefly figures are Gorram Shiny!

Thank you Funko! The first five Firefly figures arrived on my doorstep yesterday, and Gorram if they did not disappoint! We've got Zoe, Kaylee, Wash, Jayne and Mal, and the detailing and likenesses are really excellent. Here's hoping we get the remaining four and maybe a Reaver or two before waiting too long! Absolutely do not miss these exceptional, long-awaited figures!