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Monday, February 28, 2005SPIDER-MAN 2 WINS EFFECTS OSCARSpider-Man 2 won the Academy Award for Visual Effects on Sunday night, the first time a Marvel Studios film has won an Oscar.
"I love my job," said visual effects director John Dykstra in accepting the award. "What an honor to be singled out in a year with so much terrific work."
Spider-Man 2 was nominated for three total awards, but lost in Sound Mixing to Ray and Sound Editing to The Incredibles.
Kirsten Dunst, who played Mary Jane, was one of the presenters during the telecast, which also included such comics films stars as Halle Berry (X-Men, Catwoman), John Travolta (The Punisher) and Natalie Portman (V for Vendetta).
In other news from the Academy Awards:
* The Incredibles won for Best Animated Feature Film.
* Morgan Freeman, who is playing Lucius Fox in Batman Begins, won Best Supporting Actor for Million Dollar Baby.
SIN CITY MOVIE UPDATE Robert Rodriguez said working with Frank Miller as co-directors on the Sin City movie was not difficult.
"People wonder how we worked together. We both seem to have strong personalities," Rodriguez said. "But my goal was to make Frank Miller's Sin City and that was his goal. I really understood where we was coming from. And when in doubt, go by the book. I made him stick by the book more than he wanted."
Miller, who admitted he isn't known for "playing nice with others," said that having the same objectives helped the unique relationship.
"Robert and I are very serious about our work, and we work very hard," Miller said.
Rodriguez said Miller took to directing quickly.
"Having been a cartoonist, it's just like drawing," Rodriguez said. "Especially with the way we're shooting against green screens, it's like working with layers. And he picked it up in no time. He was already talking all this tech-talk and setting cameras and directing the actors. It really did work."
Click on the thumbnails for larger images and look for more on Sin City soon here in The Continuum.
ALEX ROSS COVERS GATCHAMAN ADV Films has announced that Alex Ross is providing new original box artwork its collection of Gatchaman, the series that spawned Battle of the Planets and G-Force.
The first volume of the collection will be released on June 14.
Created by the award-winning Japanese animation house Tatsunoko Productions (Speed Racer, Robotech), the original Gatchaman series has never been aired or released on home video in North America in its original uncut form.
ADV's seven volume collector's series will contain all 105 episodes of the original uncut Japanese series with a new English dub, including 20 episodes never before seen in the U.S., along with newly released features and extras.
"Gatchaman is undisputedly one of the most influential anime shows ever and has had immeasurable impact on American anime," said John Ledford, CEO and co-founder of ADV Films. "Having the original series means a lot to us and more importantly to our fans. We are thrilled to bring this anime classic to the North American home video market for the first time."
Gatchaman: Collector's Box Vol. 1 ($44.98) is a three-disc DVD-only release containing the first two volumes (The Legend Begins, Meteors and Monsters) with 10 complete episodes presented in English 2.0 and Japanese 2.0 with English subtitles along with a bonus DVD jam-packed with extra features and special behind the scenes looks at the series. Volume one and two extras include: clean opening and closing animation, episode commentary, Gatchaman Karaoke, and ADV previews. The bonus extras DVD includes: Ken, the Eagle profile, character sketches: Ken, episode sketches, interviews with the English staff and cast, and audition footage.
SMALLVILLE UPDATE Sam Jones III, who played Pete Ross in the first three seasons of The WB's Smallville, told The Continuum there are not, nor have there been, any plans for his character to return.
Appearing at MegaCon in Orlando, Fla. on Sunday, Jones said he has been bombarded with requests about the return of Pete.
"Whether it's been here at the show, or in the streets or at the mall, people keep coming up to me and want to know when I'm coming back," Jones said. "And I'm not. These girls started crying when they found out. It's crazy."
There were various reports that Jones would be in a Smallville episode focusing on the prom, but he did told The Continuum he has not been asked to appear in any shows.
Since leaving Smallville, Jones has acted in Glory Road, the story of Texas Western Coach Don Haskins leading an all-black starting line-up to the NCAA basketball title.
"It's a major studio release," he said. "It will be out this fall."
Jones said he is interested in appearing in the fifth season of Smallville. "I definitely want to come back; they're great people," he said. "And if not, I'll keep doing movies."
As Jones packed up to leave MegaCon, he met with another Sam Jones -- Sam J. Jones -- who starred in the Flash Gordon movie in 1980. (see photo above)
FANTASTIC FOUR MOVIE UPDATEJulian McMahon, who plays Doctor Doom in the Fantastic Four movie, told The Continuum he recently provided voice work for Activision's video game based on the film.
"I tell, you that's fun," McMahon said. "Doing that voiceover stuff in the game was really fun."
McMahon said that it "was kind of weird" to see his likeness on toys.
"But it's a great part of what it is, the whole franchising, the whole spreading it from the movies to toys or whatever it is," he said. "To me, that was part of what it was when I was a kid. I went and got Darth Vader."
McMahon said the toys are "strikingly similar" to his appearance and that they will show the evolution of his character through the movie.
In case you missed the interview with McMahon from WonderCon in San Francisco,
CLICK HERE.
In other Fantastic Four movie news:
* Chris Evans, who plays Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, and producer Avi Arad of Marvel Studios will be appearing at Wizard World Los Angeles on March 19.
Arad will be the convention's guest of honor.
* Here's a first look at Fantastic Four: Deluxe Sound Storybook, which will be available in May. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.
FIRST LOOKS For covers and two- to seven-page previews of upcoming titles, CLICK HERE.
Titles include Armor X #1 from Image Comics, Belle Starr: Queen of Bandits #1 from Moonstone Books and Star Wars: General Grevious #1 from Dark Horse Comics.
CLAYPOOL COMICS FOR JUNE Claypool Comics has released its solicitations for June.
For a rundown, CLICK HERE.
BRIEFLY * Sci Fi's Painkiller Jane movie will likely air later in the year rather than this summer as earlier targeted, The Continuum has learned. This should not be interpreted as a bad sign for the property's chances to becomes a series.
* Constantine placed third at the box office over the weekend with an estimated $11.1 million.
* Above is a first look at the covers to Legend of Isis #3 from Alias Enterprises, Pigtale #3 from Image Comics and Exiles #61, The Incredible Hulk #79 and Fantastic Four: Foes #3 from Marvel Comics. Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
* Upcoming episodes of Mutant X in syndication include "Under The Cloak of War" the week of March 21 and "Once Around" the week of March 28.
Click on the thumbnails below for images from "Under The Cloak of War."
* Kids' WB! has released its schedule for the week of March 7, which can be seen in its entirety by CLICKING HERE. Episodes for Saturday, March 12 include "Winner Take All" for Teen Titans and "The Cat and The Bat" for The Batman.
* Buena Home Video has announced a June release date for Spider-Man: The Venom Saga, a DVD collection of episodes from Fox's Spider-Man animated series.
Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.
* Coming Tuesday: Movie news and much more!!!
COMICS CONTINUUM BACK ISSUES In case you missed The Continuum's recent coverage, here are some links:
* For Tuesday, Feb. 22, including Justice League Unlimited news, CLICK HERE.
* For Monday, Feb. 21, including interviews with Batman Begins' Christian Bale and Fantastic Four's Julian McMahon, CLICK HERE.
* For Sunday, Feb. 20, including the DC Universe panel at WonderCon in San Francisco, CLICK HERE.
* For Saturday, Feb. 19, including the Vertigo/WildStorm panel at WonderCon in San Francisco, CLICK HERE.
* For Friday, Feb. 18, including Marvel Comics' solicitations for May, CLICK HERE.
* For Thursday, Feb. 17, including Image Comics' solicitations for May, CLICK HERE.
* For Wednesday, Feb. 16, including news on The Batman's second season, CLICK HERE.
* For Tuesday, Feb. 15, including an interview with Constantine's Keanu Reeves, CLICK HERE.
* For Monday, Feb. 14, including DC Comics' solicitations for May, CLICK HERE.
* For Saturday, Feb. 12, including Painkiller Jane movie news, CLICK HERE.
* For Friday, Feb. 11, including an interview with Constantine's Shia LaBeouf, CLICK HERE.
* For Thursday, Feb. 10, including Man-Thing movie news, CLICK HERE.
* For Wednesday, Feb. 9, including Dark Horse Comics' solicitations for May, CLICK HERE.
* For Tuesday, Feb. 8, including Fantastic Four movie news, CLICK HERE.
* For Monday, Feb. 7, including Justice League Unlimited news, CLICK HERE.
* For Friday, Feb. 4, including Marvel Comics news, CLICK HERE.
* For Thursday, Feb. 3, including NYX news, CLICK HERE.
E-mail the Continuum at RobAlls@aol.com
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