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2009 | 2008

4 articles from 2009

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Franco Joins McBride To Get High Again

1 April 2009 12:11 AM, PDT | From EmpireOnline | See recent EmpireOnline news

King James Of Franco is set to join The Right Royal Danny McBride for medieval-regal exploits in Your Highness, helmed by their Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green.  Like a hybrid of A Knight's Tale and the role-playing bits in Role Models, with a little bit of The Neverending Story throne in for good measure (sorry), the comedy will follow a pair of vain, spoiled medieval princes who must unite in a quest to save their family and kingdom from an evil wizard.We first reported on this back in May last year, when it was due to begin production in early 2009. The shoot will now kick off on July 20 in Belfast. The whole thing was put together by McBride (who wrote the screenplay withhis Foot Fist Way collaborator Ben Best), Gordon Green and Role Models producer Scott Stuber.In the meantime, McBride is limbering up for the release of

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The Real Inspiration for The Joker

26 March 2009 6:00 PM, PDT | From WorstPreviews.com | See recent Worst Previews news

Heath Ledger recently won an Oscar for his portrayal of The Joker in "The Dark Knight," but we have yet to find out who is responsible for creating the character to begin with. Comic book artist Bob Kane, writer Bill Finger and artist Jerry Robinson have all claimed that they are the brains behind the evil villain. But very few dispute that the visual inspiration came from German actor Conrad Veidt's role in the 1928 film "The Man Who Laughs." In the movie, Gwynplaine (Veidt), whose father offends King James II, is sentenced to have a permanent smile carved on his face. The idea is to condemn Gwynplaine "to laugh forever at his fool of a father." Based on rumors, Bill Finger (co-creator of Batman) brought a picture to Bob Kane showing Veidt's creepy grin along with a Joker playing card. That meeting is said to be the creation of The Joker.

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Is This Guy The Original Inspiration for Batman's Joker?

26 March 2009 10:02 AM, PDT | From Cinematical.com | See recent Cinematical news

Tell me you wouldn't want to invite that dude over for dinner this weekend. This may belong in the "Things You Already Know File", but for those who don't ... Conrad Veidt was a German actor whose role in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs is said to be one of the main inspirations for the appearance of the Joker. In the film, Veidt plays a character named Gwynplaine whose father offends King James II and is sentenced to death via iron maiden (the torture device, not the metal band). Gwynplaine, because of his father's actions, is then forced to have a surgeon permanently disfigure his face so that -- as a title card states -- he'll be condemned "to laugh forever at his fool of a father." It's a freaky premise, and Roger Ebert once said of the film that it's a "a melodrama, at times even a swashbuckler, but

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Erik Davis

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Is Laura Hudson of Comic Foundry newfound royalty?

23 January 2009 6:31 AM, PST | From Comicmix.com | See recent Comicmix news

It's a fairy tale story that could only happen in comics.

Recent photographic evidence has come to ComicMix that shows that Laura Hudson, late of Comic Foundry and currently of Cerebus: A Diablog, is the long lost twin sister of Queen Beth Lowery of Waukau, Wisconsin.

Beth Lowery, according to America's Finest News Source, was recently chosen as the consort of the Mattress King James Koepke III, Lord and Master of a vast bed and box-spring empire in central Wisconsin.

As we all know, there has been no true royal powers exercised in the industry since the passing of King Jacob in 1994. The lack of a royal presence in comics since that time has been long and bleak, with poverty, despair, and widespread variant covers roaming the land.

It is unclear what new privileges her connection to royalty will bestow unto Laura. Royal pardons do seem to be within her portfolio,

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Glenn Hauman

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2009 | 2008

4 articles from 2009

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