Casting Internets

Posted on by TJDietsch

My pal Jim McCann was on The freaking Price is Right! It was so cool watching him, unfortunately he got robbed. Dude gives great face, though, doesn’t he?

Reading my buddy Sean Collins‘ review of Contagion makes me want to get it from Netflix again and hope for a copy that isn’t scratched to crap.

I feel strangely proud that Dan Trachtenberg is going to direct a Y: The Last Man movie. I was a big fan of The Totally Rad show and miss the podcast more than I thought, but am happy those guys are getting out there and doing their respective things. Also, that’s just a great book that I know he gets. (via THR)scott c showdowns the stuff

I love Scott C’s Showdowns, I also love when I happen to have seen one of the more obscure movies he does for the first time a few months before he draws things like this one based on The Stuff.

Crank and Gamer in 3D? I would love to see that. Don’t know if my brain could handle it, thought. (via THR)

Rolling Stone reports that Jack White found a recording of his pre-White Stripes band Jack White and the Bricks from 1999 recorded in a Detroit bowling alley. It’s going to be presented on white vinyl but is exclusive to TMR Vault members. Anyone have an extra $240 I can just have to get all their releases this year, that’d be rad. mike mignola catwoman

Gah, Mike Mignola drew Catwoman! Don’t know if I’ve seen this before, but I’m glad The Mary Sue posted it cause it’s radtacular. Much as I love Hellboy, I’d love to see him get back into the Big Two every now and then.

There’s going to be a Doctor Who audio drama starring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann called “The Light at the End.” I very much want to hear this. (via Hero Complex)

I really enjoyed Charles P. Pierce’s “The Chris Christie Conundrum” on Esquire.com. This opening sentence is fantastic: Ever since it realized that the entire Republican nominating process was a competition between grifters and fools that only made sense if it produced the one man in the field whom nobody really liked, America’s courtier press has been turning itself into a pretzel trying to avoid the obvious fact that the Republican party has become demented.”

Sean Lennon’s noise rock duo Mystical Weapons sounds pretty interesting. I have no idea what noise rock means, by the way. (via Rolling Stone)

Disney’s Infinity game sounds pretty interesting. I like the concept of trying to recreate playing with a bunch of toys from different lines in video game form. Not excited about having to buy actual toys to play in the game I assume you’ll have to pay for, though. (via THR)

I love seeing trailers for Jason Statham movies on TV and have therefore had a great time seeing all the Parker ads. Anyway, while he talked to Collider about that movie, they also got updates on Homeland and Expendables 3. I think it’s rad how he’s gotten in with the old guard of action guys to the point where Stallone is rewriting scripts that he intended to star in for Statham. That’s got to feel awesome.

Whoa, Tom Morello’s filling in for Stevie Van Zandt on Bruce Springsteen’s Australian tour? I would like those shows recorded, someone make it happen. (via Rolling Stone)

Lastly, I’m excited that DC‘s reprinting Jack Kirby’s In The Days Of The Mob! I wonder how much more of his material there is to reprint, anyone know?

Preferred Podcasts: The Derrick Kosinski Podcast/Ultimate Challenge Radio

Posted on by TJDietsch

As anyone even remotely familiar with me or UnitedMonkee.com will know, I’m a big fan of MTV’s The Real World and The Challenge. I’ve been watching these shows since I was a kid and it’s such a great system because Real World leads into The Challenge and then, if they continue to appear, you get to keep up with their story or at least the story that they’re able to portray through their characters on the show.

It might surprise some people, though, that my interest pretty much ended there. Much like comics up until the time I interned at Wizard, I would absorb the material and then move on. But, a few months back I somehow discovered The Derrick Kosinksi Podcast/Ultimate Challenge Radio (it’s known by the former on iTunes if you’re looking, but referred to by the latter just about everywhere else). I listened to an episode and instantly fell down the rabbit hole, going back and downloading as many episodes as I could from iTunes and blazing my way through them.

The podcast’s focus, for the most part, is all things Real World and Challenge. If you’re unfamiliar with Kosinski, he’s one of the few people to play this game that just about everyone respects and likes which is a rare breed in a game filled with back stabbing and talking out of both sides of your mouth. This gives Kosinski the cred to have pretty much anyone who’s ever been on either show on his podcast to talk about their experiences and sometimes clear up leftover drama from the show.

Of course, you also get dosed with Johnny Bananas, a character who has become less offensive over the years, but still drives me a little crazy. A few episodes have even been dedicated to just letting him complain about stuff and this dude hates everything. However, while my opinion of Johnny hasn’t changed, mine has flipped on several other cast members who get a little bit more time on the podcast to explain their side of the story. I tend to roll my eyes anyone a reality show person says they got a bad edit on their show, but I do think it’s difficult to get your entire persona across when someone else is piecing their version of your experience together.

The show doesn’t seem to have much of a regular schedule, but there have been three episodes since The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons started about five or six weeks ago and all three have gone pretty deep into what was going not so much behind the scenes, but on the cutting room floor. I won’t get too much into it, but there are whole characters making deals and moves that we’re not even seeing! It’s a bummer if you’re like me and find this season to be kind of boring. I will say that listening to the new episodes does round the experience out, which is nice.

Want to know the most interesting piece of information I’ve learned about BOTS? There was going to be a Team Road Rules. Kosinski said it was going to be him, Susie, Darrell and Katie Doyle. Unfortunately, he didn’t say WHY that team didn’t materialize. He did say that Susie was pregnant or had just given birth around the time of filming, but the whys were not fully explained for the rest of them. It didn’t get as far as the Real World Sydney team which was chosen and sent to Turkey, but then sent home, which is why the Fresh Meat squad was brought in so last minute. THESE are the kinds of things you can learn form listening to Ultimate Challenge Radio!

Casting Internets

Posted on by TJDietsch

I’ve been holding on to these links for WAY too long. Like, back to NYCC long, so let’s get these out and move on.

As I mentioned in a previous Casting, I’m writing for Spinoff Online now, you can check out all those posts here.

For CBR, I wrote a ton of stuff including this Commentary with Ron Marz and Filip Sablik about Artifacts Volume 2, the Image creator owned comics panel at NYCC, David Hine about taking over The Darkness, the NYCC announcement that Extreme Studios is coming back, Dark Horse‘s NYCC panel, Robert Kirkman’s Skybound panel and the McFarlane panel.

Speaking of CBR, I was in the room for this interview with Patton Oswalt and had to stifle myself from laughing too loud. It’s weird seeing video of a memory but from a different angle. That Roots bit at the end was genius.

My pal and brand new member of the CBR family Brett White wrote a killer column about new Ultimate Spider-Man Miles Morales. It’s been out for awhile, but I finally had a chance to read.

Speaking of Brett, check out his Tumblr now for the amazing sketches he got at NYCC. I am jealous of his ability to talk to artists. Dorkly‘s graphic of Fifteen People You’ll See At Every Con is pretty accurate. I’d add “Adventure Time Cross Dressers,” “Dead-Eyed Journalists” and “Skanky Costume Chicks” to the list. (via IHC)

Dan Trachtenberg of Totally Rad Show fame will be directing his first feature called Crime Of The Century. I know I don’t actually know him, but I feel like one of my pals has made good. (via /Film)Mondo’s Trick r Treat, The Burning and Sleepaway Camp posters look amazing. I’ll take one of each. (via /Film)

TLo wrote about the first episode of the second season of Work Of Art on Bravo which features Sucklord, a toy customizer/kitbasher who used to get covered in ToyFare all the time. It’s awesome to see him on TV and I think TLo’s take on his performance in the first ep was pretty spot on.

Conan O’Brien sold a sitcom to TBS called Fat Chance according to THR. Nuff said.

The possibility of a Cannonball Run remake by Guy Ritchie starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney is a remake I could get behind. (via /Film)

I can’t believe I just discovered Jay Mohr had been blogging about Real Housewives of New Jersey recently! I could have been enjoying this Bravo blog all season!