I don’t think anyone was expecting much from Season of the Witch. So in that respect, I guess it doesn’t disappoint. The film has been rotting in distribution hell for 10 months now. It was originally slated for a March 2010 release, but sour business between Lionsgate and Relativity Media forced it to be shelved…until now. Cage’s presence is probably the only factor that saved this silly film from a direct to DVD ditch.

Personally, I will see anything with Nic Cage in it. I think he’s a genius. And in college I studied under one of the leading Black Plague scholars, Dr. Donna Vinson. So Cage starring in a Black Plague-related film? Sounded like a dream. But as more and more info trickled out, it became obvious SotW was going to be a throwaway in Cage’s oeuvre. I took the bullet anyway – just for you guys.

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Some internet being is trying to sell a new-in-the-box set of Zelda dinnerware for upwards of $100,000. The uh, gorgeous set was released in 1989, and is apparently like totally rare. The description on the eBay page mentions that some of the uh, hopeful $100,000 will go to the Red Cross:

The box is in excellent condition with some wonderful artwork on the back. There is a sheet of plastic covering the window on the front of the box which is still completely intact with no tears! The set includes a plate, a cup and a bowl. I have looked all over the internet for this set, but I have only seen people with the pieces of the set and not the entire set all together in the original box.

This is really a rare find and it is likely that there is no other such set even complete together in existence still today. If you are a collector of Nintendo or Legend of Zelda items, this is a must have. It was made by Peter Pan and is officially licensed by Nintendo. I am going to put a donation on this auction too because if this is going to sell for what it should sell for, then I think part of that money should go to a charity.

Starting bid is at $15,000. Asking price is $100,000. I got $75, who wants to go halfsies? It’s for fucking charity, ya pricks!

Via.

Hugo Weaving is playing the nefarious Red Skull in the upcoming Captain America movie. And as Skull, he’s going to be hunting down the reality-warping Cosmic Cube to use against the Allies. Fucking Nazis, man. Want a look at the Red Skull, holding the Cosmic Cube?

Hit the jump.

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Every Tuesday I post a section of my novella DEFEAT. While I think the readership of OL would be interested in a science fictional tale guaranteed to end with the hero killing himself at the nexus of his reality, I know that there’s skepticism about the value of any fiction appearing on the `net. Whatevs, bro!

However, every episode of DEFEAT. is accompanied by a piece of gorgeous art by my pal Brian Galiano. I’ve given him free reign to do whatever he wants – every Tuesday I just check my email – and the results have been fantastic.

Hit the jump to check out all of the art that Bri has submitted thus far!

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While this may not exactly be nerdy news or the usual OL steez, I’ve been drooling over this news since last night and had to post. Mildred Pierce, one of the greatest tales of greed and sex from the oeuvre of roman noir, is getting a much-deserved treatment by HBO and director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven). The 1941 novel, by crime scribe god James M. Cain (Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice) was originally adapted by Warner Bros. in 1945. That version, starring Joan Crawford, had its balls cut off to appease the censors and features none of the book’s complex narcissism or an ounce of its darkness.

Winslet is playing Mildred, a housewife turned pastry chef desperately trying to maintain her family’s social status during the Great Depression. She’s also desperately trying to win the acceptance of her ungrateful daughter, Veda (Evan Rachel Wood). She’s a total biotch. When Mildred falls in with dashing playboy Monty (Guy Pierce), a twisted tangling of wills begins between Mildred and Veda. Cain’s major works were always about sex and the fast-buck. While Midred Pierce isn’t my favorite of his work, it’s unarguably his most ambitious and “epic.”

Depression era LA looks abso-lutely gorgeous and Winslet definitely has the chops to pull of Mildred’s grim naivete. This pleases me.

Ok. Back to your regularly scheduled nerdiness and sexual euphemisms.

[images & words is the comic book pick-of-the-week at OL. equal parts review and diatribe, the post highlights the most memorable/infuriating/entertaining book released that wednesday]

Life can be too damn busy at times. Too much work to do. Too many errands to run. Too many cults to join.

With free time a commodity, one has to be very careful about prioritizing. As much as it pains me, there’s no way that I’m going to get through this week’s stack of comics before next Wednesday. It sucks, but I’d feel like a real sonofabitch if I sat around reading comics instead of going to the pharmacy to pick up Grampa’s prescription.

So this week, I looked through my funnies and tried to determine which single issue would receive my attention. Again, this wasn’t easy – it sucks to have to put off reading Choker as Templesmith’s art is fantasti-gorgeous, and Wolverine: The Best There Is since it seems to be specifically designed for my ultra-violent sensibilities.

Nevertheless, I decided. This week’s featured collection of wordy-scribbles and colorful-doodles is Sweet Tooth #17.

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Yayzus Graphics went ahead and re-envisioned token male characters from the Star Wars universe as pin-up girls. I don’t know what’s more disconcerting; the idea, or the fact that I find myself mildly aroused. Yes, yes, Admiral Ackbar with breasts. Oh, so glorious. I can’t tell if this is sharp subversion of powerful male figures, or just good natured fun.

Who the fuck cares?

Hit the jump to see Darth Vader and Greedo with boobs.

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Oh yeah! How about some late Friday night news off your tits? Trent Reznor is once again working with David Fincher. After absolutely rocking out on the Social Network score with Atticus Ross, it’s been revealed that Mr. NIN is returning for Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo remake.

Slashfilm:

Briefly: Not a lot of info right now, but during a New York Times livestream interview with Trent Reznor, the musician revealed that he is scoring David Fincher‘s version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and has been working on the film for about six weeks. He said to expect something different from his score for The Social Network, though things might change in the year before the film opens.

Bleeding Cool Update:

Little Bleeder Scorpio tells me that the news originated within a  Times Talk broadcast with Reznor, and that Atticus Ross  isindeed involved. The two of them have been working on the score for a couple of months now. Reznor apparently also talked about his non-soundtrack music career, and said that he had no plans for more NIN.

A “disgustingly huge” Reznor fan at  Filmonic was tuned in and offers this information:

In the interview, Reznor stated that words such as “ice” and “frozen” have inspired the new score, and that it is performance-based, with him playing strings (violin, ‘cello, etc.) to the best of his abilities, and then placing those performances through various processing. It sounds interesting. The score for  The Social Network used entirely electronic sounds and instruments. Reznor was due to perform / play some of the new music for  Girl with the Dragon Tattoo during the interview, but unfortunately was unable to prepare for it and thus perform it, due to the passing away of his mother last Sunday.

Fucking fantastic.  These two dudes have been collaborating together for a while now. Closer was used in Se7en, Fincher directed a video for Nine Inch Nails’ song Only, and there’s the aforementioned work on the Social Network. And since I have a pants ripping hard-on for both of the dudes, this is fanboy wankery to me.

The newest Bulletpoints came out today, in hype of Bulletstorm, and if you thought the first one was great, wait until you see this. Dude Huge pontificates on his grandfather telling him he can do anything. It also features the phrase “blow out a man’s asshole.”

Hit the jump for the video.

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There’s been casting rumors swirling around Elijah Wood, Sir Frodo himself, returning in The Hobbit. I know, you’re all like, wait, what? Jackson is hell bent on getting the band back together, regardless of whether or not it makes sense. How exactly are they going to inject some Frodo into The Hobbit, when he was never originally there?

Oh shit, framing sequence! A little bookending, to get Wood into the game.

The One Ring elaborates:

As readers of “The Hobbit” know, the tale of “The Downfall of The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit or There and Back Again,” are contained in the fictional “Red Book of Westmarch.” In Peter Jackson’s LOTR films, the book is shown on screen and written in by Bilbo and Frodo and handed off to Sam Gamgee. (Not explained on film are Sam’s progeny later having the book and being Wardens of the Westmarch – hence the book’s title.)

The fictional book, and either the telling from it or the reading of it, will establish Frodo in the films experiencing Bilbo’s story. Viewers are to learn the tale of ‘The Hobbit’ as a familiar Frodo gets the tale as well.

Interesting. I’m going to go ahead and still file this bullshit under shoehorning Frodo into The Hobbit flick. Why? Fan service. Marketability. Jackson’s love for Wood and the character. Still though, the framing sequence as th means to accomplish it? I can get down with that. If we need some Frodo in the flick, I like this approach. Better than him rolling up into some awkward scene.

Thoughts?