The recently released documentary “No Room for Rockstars” is an attempt to broadly characterize the Vans Warped Tour by following the adventures of vocalist Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence, Chris Drew of Never Shout Never, Mike Posner, tour founder Kevin Lyman, and Joe Candelaria of Forever Came Calling during the summer of 2010. As the documentary’s website claims, “a historical retrospective or concert film this is not.” So if it is not that, what is it?

During the summer of 2010, the Warped Tour hosted 600,000 fans and featured 200 bands. They reached 43 different cities across America in only 52 days, claims “No Room for Rockstars,” travelling close to an astounding 17,000 miles. The tour has been a career stepping-stone for everyone from Sublime to Pennywise to Blink 182 and is in many ways America’s summer home for misfits and outsiders. The tour is not for the faint of heart.

The documentary weaves several lives together by following their divergent paths during the Warped Tour. Vocalist Mitch of Suicide Silence and Chris of Never Shout Never are intentionally juxtaposed. The doc begins on the first day of the tour where Mitch walks onto the stage and screams “get violent!” It shortly after cuts to Chris of Never Shout Never in which he states, “now this first song is about everybody in the whole wide world falling in love with each other. I hope to see some peace signs out there.” The crowd immediately throws their two fingers into the air.

The self-aware Mike Posner is the odd man out as a pop singer on an otherwise countercultural tour. We watch his quick rise in popularity as the summer progresses. Posner is juxtaposed with Forever Came Calling – an independent band following the Warped Tour trying to make a name for themselves by selling CDs to the people in line outside the gates. While Posner quickly rises to fame, singer Chris and his group spiral into the increasingly grim reality of being a band on the road with no money and little support.

The legendary Kevin Lyman, the leader and creator of the tour, is also profiled in the doc. He is mythically known as the egalitarian blue-collar leader who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He will listen to anyone’s demo and is always giving jobs to hard working people. He is a man’s man who barbeques and drinks beer. But during one date midway through the tour, the show gets delayed by storms. When a manager confronts Lyman about why his band is not playing that day, Lyman tries to fix the problem. But when he can’t fix it, he gets frustrated, curses, and storms out of the makeshift office. It is a rare glimpse into a moment of a man’s life that goes against his myth.

“No Room for Rockstars” takes on the momentous task of following several different artists and individuals, while trying to tell their stories within a two hour run time. This is where the documentary struggles; instead of complete characterizations, we only get incomplete snippets of life on the road. There are many moments where the doc appears to set up a theme or tension, only for it to go unexplored. In one case, the documentary introduces that the bands Anarbor and Fake Problems have to share a bus with Mike Posner in order to save costs while touring. The idea is set: what happens when two bands and a pop star with contrasting lifestyles are forced to live together on a cramped bus? This is never answered. We never see Anarbor or Posner interact; we never see footage of them trying to live together or the struggles of living with people they don’t know.  We are only presented with the idea of it.

But despite this, there are pleasurable moments in the film as well. When getting to understand Mitch of Suicide Silence, we learn why he works so hard; he is a family man. As a tatted up metal vocalist who writes songs about aggression and inciting violence, Mitch is also a father of a young daughter. He explains that touring is his way of putting food on the table for his family, creating the heart wrenching dichotomy that to be away from his family is the best way to help them. But even this wonderful characterization falls prey to the documentary trying to take on too much. We never see Mitch struggle with not seeing his family; we only get a sense of it through a quick interview, a photo, and some footage of his daughter on stage. It is all tell and no show.

With this in mind, it is difficult to pinpoint who this film is for. I don’t feel comfortable recommending it to the Warped Tour crowd simply because most of the themes that the documentary discusses are already widely known. It is not a secret that Kevin Lyman is a blue-collar iconoclast, or that it gets hot on tour, or that it is all about the DIY and EIY ethic. Anyone that has gone to the tour knows these things; it is all on display when you get there. And it does not go far enough behind the scenes to offer up anything new.

And despite the website’s claims “No Room for Rockstars is meaningful insight into current state of rock and roll and the zeitgeist of youth culture,” the film does not provide enough depth to be engaging to someone unfamiliar with the Warped Tour. Hype! – a documentary that discussed the grunge scene – appealed to a broader audience because it discussed political economy and commercialization of grunge, broadening the scope beyond being just a rock doc. In “No Room for Rockstars,” Chris of Never Shout Never comes to the conclusion near the end that the Warped Tour is just as commercial a tour as any other, despite its roots in a punk scene. It is a counter to the other sentiments of the doc that present the tour as an amazing unforgettable experience. But this sentiment does not come into the film until well after an hour. If “No Room for Rockstars” were to discuss throughout the commoditization of the tour versus the opportunities it provides, it could appeal to broader interests. But it doesn’t; it falls in the cracks between being for fans and for people interested in the “zeitgeist of youth culture.”

With that said, it is still a well-crafted documentary. Sure, there is no Altamont-style incident, but it does provide different perspectives on the same subject. Forever Came Calling’s narrative arc is rewarding and the characterization of Mike Posner is dynamic and evolves throughout the film. If you have a passing interest in Rock and Roll or the Vans Warped Tour, than “No Room for Rockstars” is for you.

Imagine the following story elements. The rain forests of Mexico and Latin America, alien beings loose in said rain forests, and a man and a woman trying to make their way through this landscape (without being eaten) to get home to America. Sounds exciting, no? Similar to Skyline or Battle Los Angeles?

Not exactly…

Monsters, the 2010 sci-fi, alien invasion movie, is not at all what you would expect. Yes, there are huge monster aliens in this film. They look like giant squids or octopi and stomp around like Godzilla or Cloverfield, but they are only backdrop. This film is not about aliens: it’s about two people, who live lives of quiet desperation, trying to outrun their own emotional turmoil with the aliens being the external manifestation of their feelings.

Monsters does have a plot. At some point in the future, the United States launches a probe to seek out alien life somewhere in our solar system. The probe returns but crashes into the jungle south of the border. The aliens escape and begin to multiply in this area. The United States and Mexican governments have a hard time controlling these entities and establish an “infected zone” where travel is discouraged.

Unto this come Andrew and Samantha. Samantha is the daughter of a wealthy American publisher. Andrew is a freelance photographer who works for Samantha’s father. Samantha is traveling in Latin America but finds it hard to get home. Andrew is tasked with finding Samantha and bringing her home. Naturally, this is not easily done, and the pair must travel through the infected zone to get to America.

Samantha is engaged but doubts her fiance. Andrew has an out of wedlock son whom he rarely sees. As the two brave travel via planes, trains, and automobiles (substitute boats for planes) and a variety of corrupt and suspicious locals, we learn more and more that neither Andrew or Samantha is at peace. As they continue to skirt the aliens –the encounters becoming increasingly frightening—they reveal more of themselves and their pain to one another. By the film’s end, when we finally see the monstrous aliens up close, Andrew and Samantha realize they are in love with one another. As the monsters engage in a right of courtship hundreds of feet in the air, Andrew and Samantha share their first kiss. Metaphor city!

Monsters is beautifully shot, and the characters’ journey on the rivers of Latin America reminded me of Werner Herzog’s seminal work, Aguirre, Wrath of God. If you are looking for heart-pounding chases, heroic acrobatics, or a shoot ‘em up flick, Monsters will disappoint. Netflix categorizes this film as “sci-fi, fantasy” and “sci-fi, horror/thriller,” but it really should be classified as a drama and one with an indie feel at that. Monsters is not a popcorn film, but if you must think of it that way have this snack lightly-salted.

Though I doubt we’ll ever see it highlighted on Netflix, there has been an interesting film sub-genre emerging in the last few years. It might never be as prominent as the “Depression” era type of film (of which The Grapes of Wrath is the epitome), but in the last two years I’ve seen three films which could very well fall into the “Great Recession” genre. “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps” and “The Company Men” are now joined by “Margin Call” in this genre (call it a financial drama if you want to define it more broadly), the last having been nominated for an Academy Award in original writing. That nomination is deserved, and I believe Margin Call to be the best of the three films, with The Company Men a close second.

Margin Call depicts the events, over a 24-hour period, at a fictional –and never named—brokerage, which discovers it is immensely over-levered with toxic mortgage debt. The firm’s brain trust gathers to figure a way out. Unlike Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers, the firm realizes it’s in trouble ahead of anyone else and devises a way –a slightly unethical one—to survive.

At times, this movie had the feeling of a stage play. The locations are hardly more than boardrooms, offices, taxi cabs, and elevators, and there are a few soliloquies delivered. The writing is sharp, however, and though the sets are simple and the action little, the narrative and the characters are engaging throughout.

The cinematography is also compelling. Margin Call’s cast is quite recognizable: Demi Moore, Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, Zachary Quinto and Simon Baker. Though undoubtedly these stars had makeup applied for the film, the filmmakers seem to emphasize the vulnerability of the characters. Faces show cracks and crinkles and wear. The stress of the events and the lives these men and women lead does not leave them unblemished, and you can see that every time the camera lingers on a face.

If I had a criticism to make of this movie it would be that the characters all seem too self aware, as if they know they are going through the Great Recession. Every moment is dripping with portent, and these men and women behave in an a posteriori way when they should be more oblivious to what they are going through. In addition, they are all self-loathing. They like the money but seem to hate the lives they lead. They are soulless husks, which may be the belief filmmakers have about people in finance but is something that strikes me as unfair. Stocks, bonds, commodities, and other instruments get traded, and because of this interchange medical research, education, technology, and a vast array of other fields benefit. In bad times, everything takes a hit, but the general trend is upward, and I’m not sure most financiers, traders, and analysts view themselves the way the characters in Margin Call do, even when things go wrong.

That gripe aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It probably won’t achieve the legendary status the original Wall Street did and it doesn’t have that outrageous tone that made Boiler Room one of the best financial films of the last twenty years, but Margin Call is definitely worth seeing before the closing bell sounds.

Susan Eisenberg, the voice of Wonder Woman in the popular “Justice League” and “Justice League Unlimited” television series, reprises her role for the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie, “Justice League: Doom.”

Eisenberg will join several of her voicecast colleagues for the West Coast Premiere of Justice League: Doom at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills on February 16.

The all-new, PG-13 rated Justice League: Doom will be available February 28 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and for Download. Both the Blu-Ray Combo Pack and DVD will include an UltraViiolet Digital Copy.

Eisenberg has focused her career in voiceovers for animation, video games and commercial use. In addition to her work for the past 12-plus as Wonder Woman for Justice League and Justice League Unlimited television series and the DCU films Superman/Batman: Apocalypse and Justice League: Doom, Eisenberg can also be heard in a variety of animates series, including Jackie Chan Adventures, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and The Super Hero Squad Show, as well as video games like Star Wars: The Ford Unleashed – Ultimate Sith Edition and Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight. She is one of nine actors returning to the booth to record their original Justice League roles for the film, Justice League: Doom.

In anticipation of the West Coast Premiere, Eisenberg gladly offered some recollections and thoughts regarding her years of voicing Wonder Woman, including flirtations with Batman, her personal memorabilia collection, and the real reason Wonder Woman flies an invisible plane. Take a read …

QUESTION: What do you recall of earning the role of Wonder Woman some 13 years ago?

SUSAN EISENBERG: I can remember it vividly – because it was a big deal. It felt like a real life-changer, so it’s a huge memory for me. It was 1999, and I remember going to the call back and being with Andrea (Romano) and Bruce (Timm). Even the dialogue is still clear in my memory. And when I got the call that I got the role, it really had an impact on me.

Most jobs in voiceover don’t make you feel like they’re going to change your life, but this one did. And in many ways, it really did. I got to work for six years on a series, and I’d never done something that long term. And I was chosen to voice this wonderful, iconic character … and through these movies, I get to continue that role. It’s been fun and kind of surprising – people obviously know Wonder Woman, but it’s wonderful when they care that much that they actually recognize and acknowledge your work as the character. I walk into other jobs and people still say, “You’re Wonder Woman, right?” That’s really a kick.

QUESTION: What’s special to you about playing Wonder Woman?

SE: Wonder Woman is truly iconic. Everyone knows her. There’s something wonderful about playing a character who is recognized throughout the world. And I love her strength. I love that she stands for something and that she believes in what she believes. She’s very, very loyal and faithful and, in the beginning, I got to play her more vulnerable, and now I get to play her more adult and stronger. She’s a wonderful character.

QUESTION: You don’t have the benefit of weekly recording sessions to keep the voice fresh in your mind. How do you jump back into this role without a hitch?

SE: Working with Andrea and Bruce is a great because they were there at the start – Andrea has always directed me in this role, so she knows what she’s looking for. Listening to her direction is the first trick. Reading the script a few times also helps, especially to find the attitude and the voice. And as a refresher, I like to go online, check out YouTube, and play some old clips, or watch some of my DVDs. That helps to get me back in that space – and then Wonder Woman is right there in my head. But honestly, it’s not a huge leap for me – she’s pretty much in there all the time, anyway.

QUESTION: How much of what you do with Wonder Woman is through a change in your voice, and how much is really acting and attitude?

SE: A lot of it’s attitude. That’s why, if I’m speaking just normally, it’s not as if somebody next to me would ask, “Do you play Wonder Woman?” But then when I do the attitude and lower the register slightly, you will see this smile of recognition on the face of a little kid … or a true fan. And that’s always fun.

QUESTION: Who recognizes you more – kids who watch cartoon, or the adult devotees of the genre?

SE: Kind of both, and the reactions are different, but similar. It’s really nice to have people who are so passionate about these characters. So you get the 6-year-old child who has watched the cartoon and their eyes get big when they recognize that you’re this person behind the voice. But then you get the 40-something-year-old who has been watching, and loves this world, and loves this universe, and reads the comic books, and cares deeply about the genre. That’s fabulous, too. Just to have fans is a very cool thing. No one can complain about that. It’s good.

QUESTION: Wonder Woman has some very long battles in Justice League: Doom with a lot of physicality required in the vocal performance. How’d you handle that?

SE: The initial recording session is pretty straight-forward – we save most of the impacts and grunts and physical action for the ADR session. But as I was reading the script, I just kept thinking of Dwayne (McDuffie) and thinking, “You really layered it on me, didn’t you!” I’m going to have to be electrocuted and hit over the head and punched over and over and punch back over and over. You often have to be physical to sound physical. So – that’s a truly exhausting day.

QUESTION: What’s it like to have the gang back together again?

SE: You know, it’s thrilling because it’s a grand reunion. I get to be reunited with Michael Rosenbaum and Kevin Conroy and Carl Lumbly and that’s like having the League back together, if you will. I didn’t that expect that to happen, and I could not be more thrilled. Driving to the recording session, I was just so excited that we’d be in a room together. It is just so comfortable coming back into this. It’s the best gig in town. And anyone who does voiceovers would say that.

QUESTION: What are the scenes that appeal most to you in this film?

SE: I always like the quieter moments. So I like my scenes with J’onn, because those two characters really can relate to each other in so many ways, and I also liked my scenes with Batman. In both cases, those were some of the quieter moments with some emotional content. I enjoy the scenes where I have to kick some butt, too. But I truly enjoy the interplay with the other characters and the actors that play them.

I’ve never been shy about my feelings with Batman and Wonder Woman because, first of all, I love Kevin and I love working with Kevin. I think he’s amazing as Batman. And I love Batman and Wonder Woman together, and I think the fans do, too. You can go on YouTube and find all these wonderful videos of the two of them – showing their romance, put to music – so you know the fans love them together.

Playing Diana gives you a lot of different angles and emotions to play. Diana is very serious – she’s not like Flash where she’s funny and throwing out the one-liners. When she’s funny, it’s not necessarily intentional that she’s funny. And so I love the other aspects of her, when she gets to be flirty with Batman or when she gets to be funny with Flash or more earnest with J’onn. I especially like to play the flirty and hint at that romance between the characters. That’s a lot of fun.

QUESTION: How much equity to you take in this character?

SE: I’m enormously proud that I get to play her – it truly is a privilege and an honor. People have definite, strong opinions of Wonder Woman, and she’s known everywhere. She is this embodiment of female empowerment, and that’s a thrill, too, because there are little girls and little boys and they’re watching this and seeing that she’s so strong and so tough and righteous. It’s great to be able to provide that example of heroics through this character. I’m a guardian of that, and I don’t take it lightly. And every time I get asked to voice the role, I feel grateful – each and every time. I hope I keep getting to do it.

QUESTION: Has playing Wonder Woman changed you?

SE: In several ways. I think I’ve grown up with this part. I got this role 10 years ago, and just working alongside my fellow Justice League actors and with Andrea and Bruce has changed the way I work. And learning about this universe has changed me. You can’t have a part like this and not feel changed by it, because it’s enviable to have this job and play this character. There’s humility attached to that. You know you’re lucky. And that changes you, also.

QUESTION: What’s your attraction to voiceover work?

SE: I grew up doing radio commercials for my father’s business in Woonsocket, R.I., and I loved it. My father and my sister worked together – they would write the copy for me, and I would do the commercials for them. There’s something just so freeing about being behind a microphone as opposed to in front of a camera. There’s no worry about your hair or lipstick – on camera you get so self-conscious. Sure, there’s a self-consciousness in a room recording with other actors, because you want to be good. That’s just performance anxiety. I’ll take that any day over that camera and all those people staring at me. Some people are so natural with the camera – the can just pretend it’s not there. I am so aware it’s there.

QUESTION: What Wonder Woman memorabilia do you have at home?

SE: I have a lot of pictures and some beautiful cels – all gifts from the Justice League and Justice League, Unlimited. And some small things that people have sent me – mugs and little toys and notebooks with her on the cover. When we first started, we all ran out and bought our own action figures, so that’s right at the forefront of my bookshelf.

Best of all, I have all the scripts from the series. I keep them in a big bookshelf in my closet. I’m nostalgic about that stuff. It’s very sentimental to me to. It was a big deal this job – it really does mean the world to me. So I kept all the scripts.

QUESTION: Wonder Woman can fly. Why does she need an invisible plane?

SE: Because she likes to go in style. And why should she always be flying when there is a plane that can do it for her? I mean, why not have the private jet if you can have the private jet? Right? You’re going to begrudge her a private jet? I don’t think so.

“A Marine Story” is an important movie in one respect: it humanizes the struggle of homosexual men and women in the United States military who want to serve but must keep their sexual preference secret. The film was released in 2010 and was a festival/indie hit. Even though the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is now defunct, “A Marine Story” succeeds in dramatizing what so many men and women had to undergo all the years DADT was in effect.

The movie tells the story of Alexandra Everett, an accomplished and decorated Marine, who is discharged under murky circumstances. It seems she was drummed out of the military when allegations of homosexual behavior emerged. She returns to her rural hometown, where everyone believes she was honorably discharged. The town also believes she is married. Only near the end of the film do we learn her marriage is a sham, a cover so no one suspects her of being gay. Upon returning to the town, Alex is asked by a policeman friend to mentor a troubled girl, Saffron. The town has been overrun by ‘meth’ related crime, and a judge has given Saffron a choice: she can go to jail or join the military. Alex is tasked with preparing Saffron for boot camp. The training relationship storyline between Alex and Saffron competes with Alex’s struggle to remain closeted both in the present and –told in flashbacks– while in the military.

I do not believe “A Marine Story” was in theaters, but it is available on DVD. It is a movie that should be seen, but I’m not sure it succeeds artistically. It’s a message film and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but, as with many message films, the message can overshadow the ability to enjoy it as a work of art or entertainment. That’s why I led this review with the notion that it is “important” to see this film. It’s important to see “A Marine Story” because one gets a glimpse at the unintended consequences of DADT. But it’s as if the concept of the movie is where it ended.

The filmmakers have a difficult time with getting beyond the message to tell a truly engaging story. As such, the politics of the movies are always too close to the surface, and when the filmmakers try to veer away from politics into pure story (as when Alex tries to rescue Saffron from her meth-addled boyfriend’s drug lair or when a man Alex bests in a bar fight begins to stalk her and take clandestine photos of her with another woman) it’s hard to become truly engaged by the narrative.

“A Marine Story” could have taken a lesson from Biloxi Blues. Biloxi Blues is a comedy starring Matthew Broderick and Christopher Walken, a sentimental and humorous look back at recruit training during World War Two. It’s a two hour movie, but in one five minute segment we get all the power of the issue that it took “A Marine Story” 90 minutes to tell. One of the recruits, a kind and shy boy who always stuck up for the other guys in the platoon, is revealed to be homosexual. He’s taken away in front of the entire regiment, presumably to prison. It’s a devastating and moving moment, and it works because the character felt like a real character, not a walking rhetorical point.

In “A Marine Story,” Alex is at times a compelling character and the performance of Dreya Weber is very strong, but we never feel like we are too far away from political and social pot shots, and the movie does have some contradictory moments.

For example, Alex hoists the American flag immediately upon returning home so we are meant to see she is a patriot. But patriotic toward what? The military is generally sneered at. Her superior in Iraq wants to help her, but then it only seems to be a ploy to bed her to prove she is heterosexual. When folks in the town get wind she is gay, someone paints “Fag” on her car. She covers the graffiti with American-flag car magnets, and as she drives through the town a series of country bumpkins and other rough and tumble types blindly shout out things like “USA, woo!!!”

I think the idea is to show that even though the military has mistreated her, she is loyal to her country and loves it. But then why are fellow patriots around the town depicted as little more than mindless rubes? We don’t get any sense that she may regret sending Saffron off to a military that has treated her so callously. In fact, it’s kind of a back-handed compliment to the armed forces: boot camp is better than meth addiction or jail.

These reservations aside, “A Marine Story” does not drag even if its narrative stretches credulity at points. It’s the kind of film that is earnest and probably deserved more attention as opposed to another 4,000 screen release of some run of the mill blockbuster with a bloated budget and too many explosions to count.

I confess I know almost nothing about the music group Kings of Leon. The name rings a bell, as if I’ve heard it somewhere, but I couldn’t name one of their songs or even in what genre they play. No longer! The just-released documentary, “Talihina Sky is the story of Kings of Leon,” details the rise of the Grammy-winning band from roots in poor, Bible-Belt Oklahoma and Tennessee to global fame and success as progressive/alternative rockers.

In some ways, it was refreshing to be ignorant of the band and anything about them. I brought no per-conceived notions about the topic to the film, and thus my reaction was purer than it would be, say, if I were to watch a new Michael Moore (whom I believe to be a rank liar) documentary.

An old film school professor of mine divided documentaries into two camps, the “autocratic” and the “democratic.” The autocratic documentary is one in which the filmmaker manipulates and directs the viewer’s point of view to provoke a certain outcome. Michael Moore is the essence of the autocratic documentarian, for he essentially produces propaganda (can you tell I don’t like his work?). Other documentaries present a subject then take a step back, and, in democratic fashion, allow the viewer to come to his or her own conclusion. “Talihina Sky” falls securely in the democratic camp.

Appropriately enough, within this “democratic” model, I found myself viewing the film in different ways at different times. “Talihina Sky” derives its name from the town of Talihina, Okla. where a few of the members of Kings of Leon hailed from. The documentary never lets us forget the origin of these musicians: they were dirt poor and Christian. Thus, my first reaction was that the documentary was what some wags call “poverty porn.” If the tone of the movie wasn’t mainly serious, I would have thought I was watching a Jeff Foxworthy performance. “You might be a Redneck if…” could be applied at every turn in this doc: there is plenty of kitchen and bathroom appliances in the front yard, splashing in the creek, drinking and guns, shirtless men, and all sorts of kooky behavior.

However, the band members themselves are the executive producers of the documentary, so it’s not as if they were ambushed by someone wishing to mock them and their origins. Any wounds in Talihina Sky are self-inflicted, and later on in the film I came to see it more in line with the great documentary about the heavy metal band Metallica, titled Some Kind of Monster. Some Kind of Monster is intensely introspective, detailing the band’s struggles with addiction, creative conflicts, and family.

Like the Metallica doc, “Talihina Sky” shows a music group trying to come to grips with its identity. The Kings of Leon, at the same time, wish to pay homage to and escape their background. I’m not sure if this film will appeal to those who are not fans of the group, but if you do happen to see “Talihina Sky” you will be impressed by not only the technical competence of the film, but also its ability to convey the joy and the pain of rising from humble and dysfunctional origins to worldwide fame and adulation.

Three-time Emmy Award winner Bryan Cranston flips to the other side of the law as the voice of Lieutenant James Gordon in the animated retelling of Frank Miller’s landmark comic in “Batman: Year One,” the next entry in the series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated feature was released today on DVD, Blu-ray and digital formats.

Cranston earned Emmy Award nominations in three of his seven years as the lovable, goofy father on “Malcolm in the Middle.” It took a shift toward the dark side as chemistry teacher-turned-meth dealer Walter White in AMC’s “Breaking Bad” to start a record-tying run as only the second actor in history to score three consecutive Emmy wins.

As Gordon, Cranston gets to find a middle ground between his two best known roles – providing a moral center for the gritty tale of two men striving to bring their own idea of justice to an unjust world.

Cranston is joined in the stellar voice cast by Ben McKenzie (“Southland”) as Batman, Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, and Katee Sackhoff (“Battlestar Galactica”) as Detective Sarah Essen. Alex Rocco (“The Godfather”) is the voice of crime lord Carmine Falcone.

Following his initial recording session for “Batman: Year One,” Cranston had the chance to discuss his thoughts on initially turning down the role of Jim Gordon, his love of the inner monologue, the inward journey afforded by comic books, his chances of one-day playing a certain Edwrd Nigma opposite a live-action Dark Knight, and much more.

QUESTION: You were Warner Bros. first choice for the role of Jim Gordon, but the feeling wasn’t mutual – you initially declined. What made you change your mind?

BRYAN CRANSTON: I always talk about the writing – I’ve gotten to a point in my career where I don’t want to just take a job, I want to be part of great storytelling. I always say that I don’t care if it’s a children’s play, I’ll do it so long as it’s great writing. I’ve done some animation work and, quite frankly, I haven’t loved all of it. So when they first offered this to me, I turned it down. I didn’t want to do something that I just assumed was goofy or cartoony.

Fortunately, my representatives convinced me that I needed to give this material a fair shake – and I’m so glad they did. I had no idea that animation could have such depth and sophistication. This is adult storytelling, handled in intrinsically adult ways. It’s interesting and thoughtful and dark and nothing that I thought I’d find in an animated script.

Jim Gordon is trying to find his moral center. He keeps getting shot down. He doesn’t want to work in this hellhole of a city, hated by his fellow cops, hated by his superiors. His wife is pregnant and he’s conflicted about bringing a child into this troubled world. He’s on an island. I was really surprised – in a good way. This script was well-written, unpredictable, good storytelling. And so I happily ate my hat because I’m so glad they forced me to read it.

QUESTION: The name in the film’s title is Batman, but this is just as much Jim Gordon’s story, isn’t it?

BC: What I was first attracted to in reading Batman: Year One was that James Gordon actually is the star. That’s the way I look at it, anyway. That was really unexpected, especially the way he’s portrayed. My first experience with Batman was through the comics, but the Batman television series really had an impact. So I thought, “Oh, Gordon’s an old Irishman with that big, thick over-the-top brogue.” But there was no comic book silliness – there were twists and turns, darkness and light, and truly human mistakes that I’d never anticipated. And it’s as much Jim Gordon’s story as it is a story about Batman’s origins.

QUESTION: So is this your chance to finally put that education in police work to use?

BC: (laughs) In thinking about James Gordon, basically I used my own background. I went to college to become a police officer. There’s a certain similar decorum that all police officers have – it’s a skepticism and a curiosity and a bit of cynicism, too. And what I found in reading the script was that all those elements seem to be in place for the character. So all I wanted to do is to bring out that sensibility and make him real. He has to be a real guy, someone you believe could be this police officer, in order for you to accept the plight and the dismay that he’s going through, and trying to do the right thing in a city that is surrounded by corruption.

QUESTION: So all that time on Malcolm In The Middle, playing that great dad, you really were just waiting for some truly dark roles to present themselves?

BC: Malcolm In The Middle was a great seven years. We had a great time. And I think what made that story work is that at the core you had a real family that was striving to do the right thing. And when you look at what Gordon is to Batman: Year One, he is a guy who’s still striving to do the right thing. Anytime you have that, an audience will even allow you to do the wrong thing if they know that you’re trying to do the right thing. So they’ve got you. It’s like they know that, at the core, you’re a good person, and that’s what he is. So when an issue comes up that forces him to walk a fine line between what is right and what is wrong, and certain things pull him in one direction or the other, the audience empathizes with his struggle. That makes it interesting.

QUESTION: What makes Batman an interesting character to you?

BC: As a character, Batman is someone who has a righteousness about him. And yet, it’s not pure. He is a vigilante. He’s taking matters into his own hands. So you could say that he’s doing good things, but I don’t know that you could say he’s a good guy because of the manner that he approaches his actions. That’s what always makes characters more interesting, that they walk the line of good and bad.

QUESTION: Was there any element of the script that you particularly enjoyed?

BC: I didn’t have any particular favorite lines or scenes, but what I really appreciated about doing Lieutenant Gordon was the inner monologue. I don’t remember having (a role) that had that kind of sensibility that allows the character to be honest and open, vulnerable, and let the audience then determine if they’re welcome into this man’s soul or not. So that was probably my favorite part – to be able to have that running inner monologue going on, which I find fascinating.

QUESTION: What’s your take on comic books?

BC: To a kid growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, comic books were pretty much one of the only written material that was a diversion for kids. There were three television stations, and movies were few and far between as far as access to them. So you’d get together with your friends and you’d open up comic books when you got tired of playing football in the street, or baseball or whatever. And then you’d allow your imagination to go and to wonder. And the great thing about comic books is that it allows the reader to be his or her own art director. You can see a glimpse of Gotham behind in the tall buildings and you start to imagine the heights of the building, Batman looking down. And when he swoops down, you put that all into your head and fill in the blanks. Sometimes in the comic books, it appeared to me like it was like an impressionistic painting. Where (you thought), “What’s that in background? I can’t quite make out what that is, but it feels real.” So you fill in the blanks, and that makes it more interesting and like you’re a part of the storytelling itself.

QUESTION: Must you take a different acting approach when playing a real-life individual or a fictional icon – as opposed to a character specifically written for the page?

BC: Yes. You approach each character with a little different idea of how and what you need to shape him. I played Buzz Aldrin in From The Earth To The Moon about the Apollo project for HBO, and that I did approach differently. This is a real person, an American hero, a worldwide hero, and he’s still alive. And there’s something in the back of your head that says, “I really want him to be proud of this. I want him, above all else, to be able to say that I gave an honest depiction of the sensibility of what was going on then and who I was at that time.” I think that’s, in a sense, the same when working with an iconic figure like Jim Gordon in Batman: Year One. Everybody has a pretty good idea of Gordon – who he is and how he sounds – so you can’t go too far against that grain. You need to be in the ballpark. He’s an established character, but the script will give you a good idea of how far you can stretch here or there.

QUESTION: There are a few fan sites spreading a rumor that you’re going be the The Riddler at one point or another in a live-action Batman film. Any truth in these rumors?

BC: I would love to be able to jump into a character like that – whole hog – and play The Riddler. That would be fun. Although I haven’t been lobbying for that, and there’s a certain part of me that is really fatalistic about (rumors like) that. It’s like, if it’s supposed to happen, then it’s supposed to happen. But I can only say that I’d be interested in playing something like that and see how it turns out.

Warner Home Video will present the world premiere of “Catwoman,” the latest addition to the DC Showcase Animated Shorts series, as part of its DC Universe Animated panel on Friday 3-4 p.m. in the IGN Theater at New York Comic Con.

Catwoman is included in the October 18 Blu-ray/DVD release of “Batman: Year One,” the next entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

The panel includes animation legend Bruce Timm, nine-time Emmy Award-winning dialogue director Andrea Romano, and the fan favorite voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy. The panelists will discuss the Catwoman short, the upcoming release of Batman: Year One, and next spring’s release of Justice League: Doom.

The world premiere of the Justice League: Doom trailer is another New York Comic Con exclusive to be unveiled during the panel.

Catwoman/Selina Kyle is voiced by Eliza Dushku, well known for her television roles in Buffy the “Vampire Slayer,” “Tru Calling” and “Dollhouse.” The 15-minute short is penned by respected comics/animation writer Paul Dini.

The short finds Catwoman posing as an “entertainer” in a strip club to get close to black market diamond smuggler Rough Cut — who doesn’t take kindly to Catwoman’s interference in his business, leading to an all-out battle through the streets of Gotham City.

“When Alan Burnett and I first started discussing the idea of a Catwoman short, we both agreed that we wanted to make the story and the settings as adult as we could,” Dini explains. “The world of burlesque has returned in a big way to the contemporary consciousness, and that proved to be a very natural setting for this Catwoman story. At the time I wrote the initial screenplay, I didn’t know the short would be paired up with Batman: Year One, but the steamy setting that Selina inhabits in that book also proved to be ideal for the short.”

For the short, Dini created the character Rough Cut, a villain whose smuggling interests beyond diamonds catches Catwoman’s attention.

“I liked the idea of a villain who was obsessed with diamonds, but as this story takes place in the down and dirty side of Gotham, I felt the bad guy couldn’t be too glamorous,” Dini said. “I came up with the name Rough Cut both to describe the man and the kinds of crude, unfinished diamonds he pedals. There’s always a market for industrial diamonds, but lately Rough Cut has been feeling the economic pinch, so he’s smuggling more precious cargo. That’s what brings Catwoman into the picture.”

Dushku was very happy to return to her Batman: Year One role, having already taken equity in the part of Catwoman/Selina Kyle. Dushku has definitely found a clear understanding of her character’s emotional make-up.

“A lot of people are familiar with the characters I’ve played – these strong and vicious women who are, very deep down inside, really wounded women with an entirely unexpected side, so there’s nothing black and white about them,” Dushku said. “I think people identify with the characters I play because even though they do terrible things, there’s a humanity there. They’ve got lots of layers. They’re not just good or evil. Selina is a prostitute, and she’s abrasive and in your face, but she also has this maternal, protective, loyal quality to her. Her relationship with Holly is a perfect example – it shows a side you might not expect.”

Ben McKenzie plays a wealthy young man on a personal quest for justice in TNT’s hit series “Southland.” Now the actor heads to the streets of Gotham City as the voice of another rich young adult with a need for righteousness in Batman: Year One, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

McKenzie makes his maiden voyage into animation voiceovers as Bruce Wayne/Batman, the title character of comics legend Frank Miller’s classic retelling of the Dark Knight’s gritty, formative days.

Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated Batman: Year One arrives October 18 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD, On Demand and for Download. Batman: Year One will also be available in a special download-for-purchase early window starting October 11 through iTunes, Xbox Live, Zune, VUDU HD Movies and Video Unlimited on the PlayStation Network & Sony Entertainment Network.

McKenzie rose to fame staring in 92 episodes of “The O.C.”

Following his initial recording session for Batman: Year One, McKenzie took some time to discuss the film, the character, Adam West and his dog’s linguistic skills.

QUESTION: What was your initial reaction to being offered the role of Batman?

BEN MCKENZIE: When I got the offer for Batman: Year One, I was very excited because I really like this particular take on Batman. It’s a darker take – a Frank Miller take – on the origin story. And I think it’s fun to play the character in a way that it is more reminiscent of his being a real vigilante. He’s a tough, tortured soul who is exacting revenge upon a criminal element that took something very important away from him. As an actor, this role gives you a little bit more backstory, so you have the chance to play him as a real person, albeit a person who is a little bit mentally unstable, perhaps, but heroic nonetheless. It’s exciting to get to play a character who is so specifically intense and unusual.

QUESTION: And how many times in the last weeks since you’ve known you got the role have you said to anyone, “I’m Batman”?

BM: (laugh) I usually wake up in the morning, go to the mirror and say, “I’m Batman.” I’ll say it to my dog, and he gives a very confused look, which he always does because he doesn’t speak English. I’ve tried to use the “I’m Batman” line on everyone from the valet to the guy washing my car. You know, anyone who will listen. No one seems to pay any attention. But I know. (laughs)

QUESTION: Did you do any research or prep work going into the recording session?

BM: I did actually read the comic again, and it was exactly how I remembered it. Really cool and kind of dark and gritty and very bold in how it approached the source material, which has been carved out into such a revered piece of comic book fiction. It is impressive that someone would do a new take on the story, summoning the courage to just throw away a lot of that traditional stuff and really focus on some of the darker elements, which is what Frank Miller did. I think it’s great. It’s cool, it’s bold, and I think the film lives up to that.

QUESTION: Is this was your first animated voiceover project, what were you expecting and how did find the experience?

BM: It’s always fun to do something that you’re not particularly experienced in, something that’s a little bit of a new skill to learn. Regina King has done a lot of voiceover stuff for Boondocks – with Andrea (Romano) – and she loves it. So it was really nice to feel like I was in good hands and that I’d be well treated. I think any job where you can stay indoors, work a couple of hours, say a few things and get paid is a good job to have. It beats Southland, where you’re out in the streets and the heat in the wool uniforms. Nobody needs that. (laughs)

QUESTION: Were there any outside influences on your performance before working on the booth?

BM: I’d like to say I was influenced mainly by Adam West’s performance as Batman more than anyone else – but it’s not quite the same take. There’s something in the way that Frank Miller wrote the comics that lends itself to a darker gravelly-voiced kind of intensity. You can’t help but go there. So maybe it’s sort of similar to the live-action version that Christian Bale is doing, but maybe not quite as much in that direction.

QUESTION: How did your familiarity with the original Frank Miller comics help formulate your approach to the acting?

BM: This Frank Miller world is an amazing place with a wonderfully dark aesthetic – it has the kind of noir-ish world of moral ambiguity that I really respond to. And I think if you’re going to play it sincerely, you have to realize that it’s written like a piece of noir with real characters and real emotional takes. This isn’t some fantasy. Bruce Wayne is damaged, he’s emotionally scarred, and he’s trying to make sense of justice in the world. So he creates an alter ego to keep some normalcy in his daily life. That’s the way he tries to make some sense of the world. He’s battered and scarred, but that sort of makes him stronger, because he’s ultimately unafraid of putting it all on the line. He’s very human. That’s the great thing about Batman – he has no super powers. He is a flawed man.

QUESTION: How did you differentiate the voice or the attitude for Batman versus Bruce Wayne?

BM: We worked on distinguishing between Bruce, who is an introvert perhaps, but is forced through his position in society to be affable to a certain degree, and then Batman himself, who is really sort of the devil within. He can really take on a whole another vocal inflection and demeanor. So we sort of wanted to play with that and make Bruce almost overcompensate in order to hide his identity, to be even more affable and agreeable than he would otherwise in order to hide the fact that he is Batman.

It’s hard to do because when you’re going through the script in the sessions, you’ll just jump back and forth. One page, you’ll be doing Bruce Wayne, and the next page, you’ll be doing Batman. So it is hard to kind of keep them separate in your mind. It requires a few takes to sort of relax into it and to switch it up. I’m sure tonight I’ll be dreaming of being Batman. (laughs)

QUESTION: Was there a focal point for you to stay on target throughout the recording session?

BM: I think the acting is really just trying to imagine being 12 again and seeing Batman in this animated form and thinking “What would you like to see? What would you really geek out on?” If you can bring that passion across on the screen, then that’s your job. I think if you were going to do anything acting-wise that got any methody, you’d be a little scary. I think it’s better to just try and have fun with it.

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite line or scene?

BM: There’s a fun scene with one of the young thuggish guys where (Batman) says something like “I know pain. Sometimes I like to share it, maybe with somebody like you.” I like that moment. The adrenaline and the testosterone really flows through you. It’s fun. It’s really fun. If you were ever picked on in high school and you just wanted to grab the bully and say, “I’m gonna beat the living heck out of you,” that’s exactly what you get to do as Batman.

QUESTION: Did this experience give you a new perspective on Batman?

BM: Yes, absolutely. This experience has definitely reinvigorated my interest again for Batman. I’ve seen the Christopher Nolan films, and I think they’re great. When you get a chance to actually be a part of something based on the same source material, it’s really exciting. It allows you to sort of experience what that character is experiencing, which is a darkly fun take on what it would be like if you could actually fight crime, if you could actually get revenge on all of the people that you think are bad people in this world, if you could exact justice out of an unjust world. It’s kind of thrilling even to be an actor playing that part.

QUESTION: Do you see any parallels to your character on Southland?

BM: I think there is sort of a broad parallel between Bruce Wayne/Batman and my character on Southland in the sense that they’re both wealthy and they’re both fighting crime – in the broadest sense. Bruce Wayne and, really, Batman is just the extreme version. Instead of becoming a patrol officer, he spends his money creating an alter ego and going out and doing it himself. So Bruce Wayne/Batman is just the fantastical version of what Ben Sherman is doing on Southland. He’s just doing it to a more extreme level. So, yeah, there’s definitely a comparison to be made for sure.

“I truly believe that there are a lot of people who need to go to jail,” said Thomas “Nephew Tommy” Miles. “But I think that there is way more people that need their ass whopped.”

Nephew Tommy, who is most known for his role on the syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show, closes his stand-up comedy act with Tommy’s Ass Whipping Factory—his first client is Bishop Eddie Long.

Tommy describes his character on the morning show as “fun” and “loveable,” but on stage he will show you a different personality. “The guy you see doing stand-up is a 44-year-old man saying here’s how I feel about life…straight from the hip,” he said.

Tommy’s stand-up comedy special, “Just My Thoughts,” will be available on DVD and digital download July 26. By filming the show in Motor City Casino in Detroit, Tommy is following in the footsteps of great comedians before him such as actor/comedian Robin Williams.

His uncle Steve Harvey has also been instrumental in Tommy’s career. The name Nephew Tommy, which is now recognized by many, was derived from his relation to Harvey.

Tommy has been on the morning show with Harvey for 10 years and he has also toured with him across the country; but now Tommy is taking big strides and venturing out on his own. “I went out with Steve so many times and I was doing 20 minutes in front of him and I just had so much more to offer,” he explained.

Four years ago Tommy began doing stand-up comedy at small improv clubs with capacities between 200 and 350 people. He would do multiple shows on the weekends and come to the radio station on Mondays with a strained voice. Now, he sells out venues that hold thousands of people and only does one show per city.

“I was killing myself,” Tommy reflects. “But that’s what you have to do; you gotta go pay your dues.”

Although Tommy has achieved great success thus far, he has not forgotten his humble beginnings. He received his undergraduate degree in theater arts from Texas A&M University and says that for him, stand-up came second and theater was always first.

His career in stand-up began as the result of a friend encouraging him to enter an amateur comedy competition in his hometown. He won the competition, began performing more frequently and soon thereafter was asked to be the opening act for Luther Vandross. His first performance with Vandross was in Rochester, NY.

“All I can remember is after getting off stage and I have tears running down my face,” he recalls. “[I was] like ‘Wow I just opened up for Luther Vandross.’”

After touring with Vandross for three years in the United States and Europe, Tommy received a phone call from his uncle’s manager asking him to be on the Steve Harvey Morning Show for a week. Vandross’ tour, which was only supposed to be on hiatus for six months, never restarted.

“God gave me a job before I ever knew I needed a job,” said Tommy.

Currently, Tommy is proactive in securing his next move. He is already working on his second stand-up project titled “Life after 40,” which will be shot in October.

“After 40 things start happening,” he explained. “Like you can’t see good anymore, you can’t hear good anymore, you can’t remember shit no more. I’m doing a show on…how I’m going to kick 40s’ butt and make it work for me.”

It seems as if Tommy is already doing just that. Earlier this month he hosted the Essence Music Festival for the second consecutive year. That, along with the popularity of his stand-up shows, is evidence that he is definitely winning in the fight against his age.

“I’m just getting started and I got a long way to go,” he said. “Get on the ride ‘cause I’ma take you somewhere.”

Lex Luthor finally achieves everything he ever dreamed of. Superman faces the specter of a real death.

In All-Star Superman, Luthor delivers the coup de grace by poisoning the Man of Steel’s sun-absorbing cells with the very source of his powers, sunlight. That’s just within the opening scenes.

The plot of “All-Star Superman” drags at times, but moves forward into the psyche of Superman as reality sets in. The Last Son of Krypton spends time coming to terms with his possible mortality, doing things like revealing his identity to Lois Lane. Wait…haven’t we seen this one already?

He brings her to the Fortress of Solitude, re-imagined as a geological structure absent ridiculous crystals and Marlon Brando. When Lois — always the paragon of journalistic integrity — gets paranoid and nosy, she finds that Superman is keeping a secret from her. But just as her trust with the blue boy scout is breached, she finds that there is only one thing Superman would keep from Lois Lane. After all, he showed her the room with the kryptonite laser and the gravity-gun. It turns out he has a romantic surprise for her, at least his idea of one.

This time, instead of flying her over the world in his mighty blue embrace, Kal-el lets Lois fly herself. Superman kept the surprise in a secret room, a vial of a concoction made to endow a mortal with all of Superman’s powers. That could never fall into the wrong hands, could it?

Finally, they have a romantic kiss on the surface of the moon. After they have a great little adventure and Superman arm-wrestles two super-suitors after his girl, Superman lets her know that he is dying.

He flies the bottled city Kandor into space, immediately after the plot flies spinning into comic-book-nerd insider ball.

Upon his return from space, he faces two Kryptonians bent on conquering the world. In a true demonstration of decency, Superman overcomes their hatred by helping them. The script avoids a catastrophic explosion of violence between them and Superman — even though the heightened sunlight infusing his anatomic structure jacks his powers even further than ever imagined.

In the mean time, the United Nations finds out how Lex poisoned Superman and decides to put him in the electric chair. They make this exception to their anti-death penalty stance to punish Luthor for crimes against humanity, but the criminal mastermind has other plans. He drinks a cocktail, eats 1,000 volts, busts the restraints, and stands there as the guards pump rounds into him.

Didn’t somebody mention something about a Superman-power-imbuing concoction?

Suffice it to say that Superman faces even more peril as some giant sun-eating robot — who would be cooler if voiced by Orson Welles — turns the sun red, stripping Superman of his powers just as soon as Luthor gains them.

The DVD/Blu-ray combo hits shelves February 22, so you diehards can wait until next week to see how it ends.

It’s freebie time!

Blast has some “Open Season 3″ prize packs — including the DVD, a book “The Art of Making Open Season” and copies of the Cloudy with a Change of Meatballs PS3 and Wii games PLUS some toys!

In “Open Season 3,” Boog, Elliot and all their forest friends return with an all-new adventure that is their fastest and furriest yet — this time in a big top circus! When Boog’s buddies can’t make their annual guys-only getaway, he decides to take a trip by himself. Stumbling across a visiting circus, Boog switches places with a look-alike circus grizzly and takes over his part in the act. But when the circus decides to go back to Russia, it’s a race against time for Elliot, McSquizzy, Mr. Weenie and the gang to rescue Boog before it’s too late!

As usual, all you have to do is be a registered Blast user and leave a comment on this article and WIN!

Award-winning actor Anthony LaPaglia returns to his villainous roots as the voice of Lex Luthor in “All-Star Superman,” the highly anticipated 10th entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies coming February 22.

LaPaglia is best-known for his Golden Globe-winning lead role in the CBS drama “Without a Trace” and won an Emmy for his role as Simon on “Frasier.”

LaPaglia takes the villainous lead in an “All-Star Superman” cast that includes James Denton (Desperate Housewives) as Superman, Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) as Lois Lane, seven-time Emmy Award winner Ed Asner (Up) as Perry White, Golden Globe winner Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under) as Ma Kent, Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds) as Jimmy Olsen and Linda Cardellini (ER) as Nasty.

In the feature, the Man of Steel rescues an ill-fated mission to the Sun (sabotaged by Lex Luthor) and, in the process, is oversaturated by radiation – which accelerates his cell degeneration. Sensing even he will be unable to cheat death, Superman ventures into new realms – finally revealing his secret to Lois, confronting Lex Luthor’s perspective of humanity, and attempting to ensure Earth’s safety before his own impending end with one final, selfless act.

QUESTION: What were the challenges of creating Lex Luthor as an animated voice?

AP: You have to understand the medium that you’re in. As opposed to (on-camera) acting with another individual where it requires listening in order for you to respond, here you’re having to create the question the other person would ask you in your head and then respond to it. It’s a much more difficult process because there’s a line between it being real and it being animated. There’s a slightly different tonal quality to the way you say things, or in the way you have to make it bigger sometimes than you would naturally do in order to sell it. But not having the visual in front of you – you’re kind of shooting in the dark a lot.

QUESTION: Did you enjoy this incarnation of Lex Luthor?

ANTHONY LAPAGLIA: Yeah, I did actually. I found it surprising that Lex Luthor was getting a bit spiritual (laugh). I guess it’s kind of like a sign of the times where he’s trying to get in touch with the inner Lex. (laugh)

QUESTION: Can you talk about the journey Lex goes through in All-Star Superman?

AP: The journey Lex Luthor takes in this film – in the beginning it’s what you’d expect: he’s interested in power and world domination and Superman is the bane of his existence. And then as it progresses, there’s a slight injection of humanity, which is surprising to Lex Luthor that he’s even experiencing feelings that are remotely human. So it kind of gives him an unusual arc. He definitely has more dimension to him in this film.

QUESTION: What do you bring to Lex Luthor?

AP: As a kid, I loved comic books. It’s basically how I learned to read as a kid because my mother would buy them for me to keep me quiet, I think. I remember one time particularly – I was 4 or 5 years old, and I was sick and I had to stay in bed for three weeks, and so she would buy me comic books every second or third day. And I just created my own world, sitting under the covers reading Superman, Batman, Silver Surfer, a lot of the great comics.

QUESTION: What is it about Lex Luthor that most appeals to you?

AP: There’s a kind of sarcastic streak in Lex Luthor that comes from that extreme confidence in his ability to do what he does. I like the attitude of him. I like that nothing really fazes him, that he feels like he has complete control over everything, therefore, he can be relaxed enough to be a smartass. A good Lex Luthor makes or breaks it for me, I think.

QUESTION: As you’ve played so many villains, do you prefer being the bad guy?

AP: I’ve always liked playing the baddy. Some people have a problem with getting typecast. I’m quite happy with being typecast. I don’t care, as long as you’re working. The truth is you could play every bad guy in a one dimensional fashion, but it’s like everything else in life – everything’s different and everyone’s unique, so you have to find the uniqueness in the character to bring it to life.

QUESTION: You’ve obviously performed in every medium available, but voiceover is relatively new for you. Does voiceover work offer you challenges or joys of acting that you don’t get elsewhere?

AP: I like the isolation part of it. I like that there’s a certain amount of freedom, and that you’re not waiting for somebody else to find their motivation. It’s more challenging to come up with a believable character doing animation work than it is (in live-action). Acting is relatively easy because you have a personal one-on-one interaction with someone, therefore whatever you’re doing is a lot smoother. This requires a bit more patience and you have to suspend the fact that you’re in a sound stage and really commit to the material.

QUESTION: You had a moment where you weren’t understanding Andrea Romano’s direction on a particular emotion, and Bruce Timm was able to draw Lex Luthor with an expression that depicted that emotion. Have you ever gotten direction via artwork before?

AP: That made me laugh. We were trying to get that particular passage done right and I didn’t quite know how to get it. It’s not an uncommon issue where you have three or four people that have three or four different takes on what it should be – it gets a little confusing sometimes if you’re doing it and you’re taking in all the different stuff. You want to deliver what they want but sometimes you’re not sure how to quite get there. And I thought that was ingenious, actually, showing me the picture through the glass of the expression on Lex Luthor’s face. It made perfect sense – Bruce is an animator. That’s what he does – so he was able to show me visually what he was looking for in my voice. I could actually see Lex’s mental state of anguish. It actually made me think of doing it a different way and that ended up working.

QUESTION: You’ve earned a Tony Award, an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe — does one of those honors mean more to you than the others?

AP: To be honest, after a certain period of time they’re just kind of like objects in your closet. I think that, of all of them, the one that kind of means (more) was the Tony Award because doing theater is way, way, harder than doing anything you’ll ever do on film or television. It’s about real discipline. You have to go in and do eight shows a week whether you feel like it or not and, in the case where I won the Tony, it was in one of those shows where you could never phone it in. It just didn’t work if you phoned it in. So, come hell or high water, I did it for a year – which is a long time to do eight shows a week. I think I missed about five in a year. Also, I think (the Tony Award) meant probably the most because it’s where I started. It’s kind of what I admire the most. Theatre is what I find the most challenging. So I would say that the Tony kind of meant more. But the others are nice, too, you know (laughs).

QUESTION: How much does a background in the theatre help in the voiceover booth?

AP: The theatrical background helps you in doing (voiceover) because you’ve already been through a hundred different acting classes where you’ve had to sit on a black box and pretend that you were a lemon or an imaginary cup of coffee or whatever. There’s always a part of that program that requires you to strip yourself bare and be an idiot. And if you’re not prepared to do that, then you have no place being there.

QUESTION: You had quite a lengthy list of unglamorous jobs before becoming an actor. Pro soccer player, teacher, shoe salesman, furniture restorer, sprinkler installer. And now you’re an award-winning star voicing a super villain for an animated film. How does it all tie together?

AP: Well, that’s glorification. I used to dig the trenches for the guy who actually installed the sprinklers. I just did the digging (laughs). I had no idea that I would be doing what I’m doing now when I was a kid. When I was a kid you could’ve said that I was going to be an astronaut and that would have been more realistic than doing this. So I think it ties together in that I don’t really have any expectations or feelings of how things should go anymore. They go how they go and you’ve just got to roll with it. And I think it’s your ability to roll with it that keeps you in the game. It’s also your ability to recognize when it’s changing and how you need to change with it if you want to. And I’ll tell you that from the minute I decided what I wanted to do, it’s all been gravy from there. It’s what I want to do. Whether I’m successful or not at it, it’s what I chose to do. It wasn’t what somebody told me to do, so everything that comes out of it is just a bonus.

QUESTION: OK. But if you could do it all over again, what would you choose – acting or soccer?

AP: That’s a tough one. What level of football? (laugh) Well, if I could play in Italy for a five-year career, I’d swap it. Absolutely. People don’t realize how huge football players are in other parts of the world – compared to them, actors and musicians are nothing. They’re doormats. You walk through Rome with Francesco Totti and I don’t care who you are – nobody’s going to notice you because Francesco Totti is God. It’s hard for people to conceive in this country just how important the game of football is culturally in Europe and South America, and even Asia. It’s religion; it’s life; it’s everything.

A meteor just crashed in Fawcett City causing a fiery explosion to interrupt a teen make-out session. Out of the flaming wreckage steps a villain with mythic power that springs straight from the gods, Black Adam.

This Tuesday “Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam” hits shelves on Blu-ray and DVD.

Comic fans know the face of the villain, but uninitiated have no idea the powerful forces at command of the black-clad powerhouse. Voiced by Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy), the newcomer lets the viewer in by clapping to create a sonic concussion and level a diner where the unsuspecting reporter Clark Kent interviews the poor orphan Billy Batson.

After being slapped through a series of buildings Kent reveals his identity to the newcomer. Reprising his role as Supeman, George Newbern (Justice League) announces that he has no intention of letting the rampaging sociopath kill the boy.

The titanic battle that ensues highlights that what animators can accomplish these days is limited only by their own imaginative powers.

Just as Black Adam capitalizes on his realization that Superman is weak against magic, Billy Batson goes through a Harry Potter-like train sequence where he meets the wizard Shazam.

When the wizard grants him powers similar to those of Black Adam, Billy jumps at the chance to save The Man of Steel.

As he first attempts to return the favor, it becomes very clear, very quickly that Black Adam is quite comfortable in his own powers. In the ensuing throw-down Black Adam demonstrates the battle prowess of a 5,000-year-old warrior. Needless to say, it’s awesome.

This animation presents the master-crafted jewel for the crown of animated shorts from Warner’s DC showcase. The Blu-ray retails for $29.99, and the DVD for $19.99, featuring The Spectre, The Green Arrow, and Jonah Hex. Even though these are 10-12 minutes each, the 22 minute title feature makes it worth the cash. Checking out producer Bruce Timm’s favorite picks from previous Warner Bros. shows adds nostalgia value, for fans of Justice League Unlimited, or Batman: The Animated Series.

DVD And Blu-Ray

Predators (R)

This week, yet another installment in the Predator Franchise hits shelves. But instead of a brigade of soldiers led by Govenator Arnold Schwarzenegger, this group of mercenaries includes unlikely faces such as Topher Grace, Adrien Brody, and Laurence Fishburne. The group find themselves in a confusing spot when they realize they have been transported to an alien planet, inhabited by a species of alien that is anything but friendly. Soon, the mercenaries begin to realize that they were brought to the planet for a reason, one that places them in the middle of a game of predator and prey. (Fox, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99)

Oceans (G)

Ever wondered what the beautiful landscapes of the ocean and its inhabitants look like, but with James Bond narrating it all? If the answer is yes, then the release of this Disney documentary onto DVD will probably make your week. With Pierce Brosnon contributing his voice, Disney delves into the bottom of the ocean, and explores the breathtaking, but dangerous world that lies beneath. Oceans is sure to captivate audiences, and guide them on a wonderful journey into the ocean deep. (Disney, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99)

Agora

Following the story of an astronomer during the times of Roman rule over Egypt, Agora stars RachelWeisz, who plays the lead role of Hypatia. As she tries to save the

knowledge of the ancient world, three of her male followers vie for her heart, and grapple with their loyalty to her, even if it costs them their very freedom as people. (Newmarket, $27.98)

Other Releases:

Holy Rollers (First Independent Pictures, $19.93)

Bo Burnham: Words, Words, Words (Paramount, $14.99)

Please Give (Sony Picture Classics, $28.95; Blu-ray, $34.95)

Book Releases

Worth Dying For (Jack Reacher Series #15) by Lee Child

Author Lee Child returns with another thriller in his Jack Reacher series, and this time, Jack finds himself in deep water when he manages to get on the bad side of The Duncans. As a clan that has the Nebraskan town in the palm of their hands, the Duncans want Jack gone, especially when he starts to delve into a decade old child murder case that was never solved. But things only get sticker for Jack when the Duncans’ boss comes into the picture, and proves that the conspiracy goes farther than Jack would have ever imagined. (Random House Publishing Group, $28.00)

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

The angel-human relationship between Patch and Nora continues in the new installment in this YA series. In the New York Times Bestselling prequel, Hush Hush, Nora was introduced to the snarky yet mysterious Patch, who seemed to be as filled with secrets as he was with pick-up lines. In Crescendo, The couple deals with the aftermath of Patch becoming Nora’s guardian angel, and the secrets he could be hiding from her. The mysterious death of her father has haunted her for years, but now Nora is determined to find out if the new angelic twist her life has taken lately has any connection to the tragedies of the past. But as Patch begins to move away from her, Nora begins to becoming even more determined and risky with her search for the truth. But what if the truth she seeks involves the very same guardian angel she has come to love? (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, $18.99)

In the Company of Others (Father Tim Series #2) by Jan Karon

In the sequel to New York Times Bestselling, Home to Holly Springs, Karon explores Father Tim and Cynthia’s exploration to Ireland to find out more about his ancestry, and find themselves staying in a very nice lodge. But luck begins to run out when Cynthia is wounded, and a painting is stolen from the lodge. Can the two of them piece together the secrets that shroud his broken family? (Penguin Group, $27.95)

Other Book Releases:

Chasing the Night- Eve Duncan Series #11 by Iris Johansen (St. Martin’s Press, $27.99)

The Fall of the House of Zeus by Curtis Wilkie (Crown Publishing Group, $25.99)

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, $16.99)

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (Penguin Group, $17.99)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Robert Downey Jr. is back as the snarky yet heroic billionaire, Tony Stark, in the second installment in the movie adaption of the classic Marvel comic series, Iron Man. After revealing his identity to the whole world, Tony finds himself in conflict with the US government, who want to get their hands on the secret behind his Iron man suit. But Tony’s unwillingness to hand over his secrets has consequences he could have never imagined, and with the appearance of an enemy from his father’s past, It is very clear that Tony Stark won’t be finding much peace. (Paramount, $30.99; Special Edition DVD, $37.99; Blu-Ray, $39.99)

Get Him to the Greek (2010)

From the people that produced notable comedies such as Knocked Up and 40-Year Old Virgin, Get Him to the Greek features familiar characters, and completely new ones. British comedian Russell Brand plays Aldous Snow, a fictional British Rocker that we were first introduced to in the comedy hit, Forgetting Sarah Marshell. Snow is about to embark on a multimillion dollar tour that kicks off at L.A.’s Greek Theatre. But he has other plans in mind, ones that involve winning back his one true love. This wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t for his escort, Aaron Green, who is played by Jonah Hill. Green’s career can be made or broken depending on his efforts to get the wild rock star to the Greek. But when he realizes that Snow has other plans, he goes on a wild ride that he never expected to be on. (Universal, $29.98; Unrated, $34.98; Unrated Blu-Ray, $39.98)

Babies (2010)

It’s very hard to resist the appeal of a cute newborn baby, a fact that the producers of the documentary, Babies, know very well. The film follows the journey of four newborn babies from birth to their very first steps. The babies come from four different parts of the globe, and provide an interesting look on the beginning of life, and the similarities and differences between the foundations that make all of us human. (Focus, $29.98; Blu-Ray, $39.98)

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2010)

Based on a novel written by Chris Greenhalgh, This French film chronicles Coco Chanel’s relationship with Igor Stravinsky, and the time that she and his family spent together in her villa. Through their secret affair, Chanel and Stravinsky rouse creativity that they never knew they had. But, at the same time, turmoil starts to rear its ugly head, affecting the secret couple, and the family that they hide their feelings from. (Sony, $27.96; Blu-Ray, $34.95)

Other Releases:

Frozen (Anchor Bay, $29.97; Blu-Ray, $34.98)

The Killer Inside Me (IFC, $19.98; Blu-Ray, $29.98)

Books

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris

Known Humorist David Sedaris releases his new volume this week, but this time with an animal themed twist. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk features stories of normal daily life situations, except for the fact that humans aren’t experiencing them. Subject matter ranges from AA meetings to star crossed lovers, and leaves us wondering if the lives of animals are just as complicated as our own. (Little, Brown & Company; $21.99)

Assholes Finish First by Tucker Max

When it comes to Tucker Max’s books, the titles speak for themselves. In his follow up to the National Bestseller, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, Tucker Max reveals more of his scandalous stories about his physical interactions with the opposite sex, and the other debaucheries he can’t help but get involved in.  (Simon & Schuster Adult, $25.99)

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Ken Follett’s World Without End was a huge critical success, and earned him much praise for his writing and storytelling abilities. In his new book, the first in the Century Trilogy, Follett crafts a world in which five families of different nationalities grapple with different situations, including the First World War and the fight for women’s suffrage. The book series will follow generations of each of the families and how they deal with many infamous events of the twentieth century. With a heavily researched background and heartbreaking characters, Fall of Giants is bound to make any Follett fans happy campers. (Penguin Group, $36.00)

Torment (Lauren Kate’s Fallen Series #2) by Lauren Kate

In the second volume in Lauren Kate’s angelic YA book series, Luce is finally able to be with the love of her life, Daniel, who happens to be a fallen angel who she falls in love with in every past life. But

when Daniel becomes determined to hunt down those who would like to see Luce dead, he decides to hide her in a peculiar location: a high school devoted to Nephilim, the children of fallen angels

and humans. But her hiding place turns out to be more trouble than they thought when Luce begins to doubt Daniel’s intensions and versions of past events. Soon, she starts to wonder if she is really destined to be with Daniel, or if she is truly meant to be with someone else. (Random Hous

e Children’s Books, $17.99)

Other Book Releases:

Naked Heat (Nikki Heat) by Richard Castle (Hyperion, $24.99)

I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins, $16.99)

Taken by Midnight: A Midnight Breed Novel by Lara Adrian (Dell, $7.99)

The Jedi Path by Daniel Wallace (becker&mayer! Book Producers, $99.99)

Obama’s Wars by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster, $30.00)

The New Road to Serfdom: A Letter of Warning to America by Daniel Hannan (Harper, $24.99)

Traditional movie renting is on the decline, and video streaming picks up more steam everyday. Yesterday Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the latest video rental chain in recent years to feel the pressure of the digital age. In the wake of the announcement, Netflix’s stock has soared, and today it Netflix announced it’s adding more content to it’s digital streaming library, furthering itself as the future for rented entertainment content.

With a new agreement with NBC Universal, Netflix will bring more of the conglomerate’s library to Netflix streaming than ever before. All past seasons of “The Office, 30 Rock, and Friday Night Lights” will remain on the service, while “Battlestar Galactica, Psych, and Saturday Night Live” will make their debut on the service.

Yesterday, rumors began to circulate the web that soon Netflix will introduce a streaming-only subscription plan. Currently, customers must subscribe to a plan tied to DVD deliver, starting at 8.99 a month, so the digital transition may be complete sooner than people think.

Here are the books and videos coming out this week:

DVD and Blu-ray

Robin Hood (2010

Russell Crowe once again shows his affinity for period pieces, but this time does so while evoking the spirit of the most legendary heroes in pop culture. With a cast that includes names such as Cate Blanchett and Matthew Macfayden, Universal pictures adaption of the classic tale in its original unrated format tells the tale of the notable hero and his band of men as they endeavor to fight the corrupt hand of the crown, and bring justice back to their country. (Universal, $29.98; Special Edition, $34.98; Blu-ray, $39.98)

Ondine (2010)

Colin Farrell goes back to his roots in this modern fantastical film heavily based in Irish lore. When Irish fisherman, Syracuse (portrayed by Collin Farrell, of course) finds a mysterious woman in his net, he can’t help but feel that she is more than human. The appearance of Ondine (played by polish actress, Alicja Bachleda) brings him luck in fishing, but naturally, all good things come with consequences, as Syracuse soon learns. (Magnolia, $26.98; Blu-ray, $29.98)

Community: The Complete First Season (2010)

Just in time for the premiere of the second season (September 23, 2010 at 8pm EST), Community’s first successful twenty-two episode season will be available in one box set. In the spirit of similar comedies such as 30 Rock and the Office, Community is filled with laughs, yet brandishes a cast filled with unlikely people. The Soup’s Joel Mchale’s starring role as Jeff Winger shows off his comedic talents in a venue other than his popular show, and trades puns about pop culture for the misfortune life of a disbarred lawyer attending Greendale Community College. Other peculiar faces include Chevy Chase of National Lampoon and Caddyshack fame, who portrays Pierce Hawthorne, a moist-toilette tycoon who serves as a sort of mentor to Mchale’s character. The show chronicles Jeff’s life at the community college dealing with all of the new people around him and his growing crush on fellow student, Britta Perry (played by Gillian Jacobs). (Sony, $39.95)

Other Releases:

• 30 Rock- Season 4 (Universal, $49.98)
• Spartacus: Blood and Sand- First Complete Season (Anchor Bay, $59.98; Blu-Ray, 79.99)
• Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (Disney, $29.99; Blu-Ray, $39.99)
• How I Met Your Mother- Season 5 (Fox, $39.98)
• Desperate Housewives- The Complete Sixth Season (ABC, $49.99)
• Bored to Death- Season One (HBO, $39.98; Blu-Ray, $49.99)
• Stomp the Yard: Homecoming (Sony, $24.96; Blu-Ray, $30.95)
• Human Target-The Complete First Season (Warner Bros. $39.98; Blu-Ray, $49.99)
• Castle- The Complete Second Season (Buena Vista, $45.99)
• Two and a Half Men- The Complete Seventh Season (Warner Bros. $44.98)

Books

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race

Once again, Jon Stewart makes his presence known in the publishing world with his new volume of parody, but America is not the only thing under the self-deprecating microscope this time around. In Jon Stewart’s new title, he takes a hilarious look at the world we live and what defines us as people, not just as one country, but as an entire planet. Just imagine Jon Stewart and everything that makes his show entertaining crammed into a book, a must read, right? (Grand Central Publishing, $27.99)

Don’t Blink (James Patterson and Howard Roughan)

James Patterson is known for his ability to put out a mystery novel in what seems like, seconds. The same can be said for this title, yet another mystery book to put under his belt, and not to mention yet another product of partnership between two authors. The book depicts the murder of a mobster that takes place in a famous steak house in New York, but unbeknown to the murder, Nick Daniels is seated only inches away doing an interview with a legendary face in baseball. Nick manages to get a hold of an important piece of evidence that could be the key to the whole case, and parties on both sides of the law are eager to get Nick on their side, placing him in the middle of a mafia war. (Little, Brown, and Company, $27.99)

The Fall — Strain Trilogy #2 (Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hugan)

In the long awaited sequel to THE STRAIN, The vampire virus has taken over New York City, and is well on its way to taking over the world. The remaining survivors, including Eph Goodweather, CDC Team head, must band together to stay alive, and preserve what is left of the human race. Even if it means protecting the ones they love from those who used to be seen in that same regard. From the mind of the man behind Pan’s Labyrinth, The Fall is bound to be a creepy ride, and quench the thirst of anyone who is interested in the science fiction or vampire focused genre. (HarperCollins, $26.99)

Other Releases:

• Bad Blood (Virgil Flowers Series #4) by John Sanford (Penguin Group, $27.95)
• Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (Random House Publishing, $25.00)
• Twelfth Grade Kills (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Series #5) by Heather Brewer (Penguin Young Readers, $16.99)
• Aftershock : The Next Economy and America’s Future by Robert Reich (Knopf Doubleday Publishing, $25.00)
• The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff (Penguin Young Readers, $17.99)

Seven-time Emmy Award winner Ed Asner (Up) reprises his Superman: The Animated Series/Justice League role as Granny Goodness in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, the ninth entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies coming September 28 from Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Home Video.

Granny Goodness is the primary henchwoman for the evil lord Darkseid, ruler of the distant planet Apokolips and a cruel, ominous being even more powerful than Superman. Asner first voiced the role for four episodes of Superman: The Animated Series, and returned to those evil female roots for two episodes of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

Asner’s storied career boasts seven Emmy Awards — three supporting actor honors for his role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, two more as the title character in Lou Grant, and a pair of awards recognizing individual supporting performances in the landmark miniseries Roots and Rich Man, Poor Man. He has won more acting Emmys than any other performer, and is the only actor to ever win Emmy Awards for playing the same character in both a comedy and a drama.

The five-time Golden Globe winner also served as President of the Screen Actors Guild from 1981-1985.

Live-action accolades aside, Asner has been ever-present in animation for nearly 25 years, running the gamut from guest spots on shows like Animaniacs, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Johnny Bravo, King of the Hill, The Boondocks and Hercules (to name but a few) to regular roles in Gargoyles, Freakazoid, Batman: The Animated Series, Spider-Man and Captain Planet and the Planeteers. He also voiced the role of Santa Claus in the animated television special Olive the Other Reindeer (he’s played Santa Claus for four different film/TV productions).

Asner’s stirring, funny, wonderful portrayal of Carl Fredrickson in Disney/Pixar’s Up had critics wondering why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences had yet to add a voice acting category to the Academy Awards slate.

Asner joins a Superman/Batman: Apocalypse cast led by fan favorites Tim Daly (Private Practice) and Kevin Conroy (China Beach) reprising their seminal roles as Superman and Batman, respectively. Also featured among the celebrity-laden guest cast is Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age) as the daunting Darkseid, and sci-fi heroine Summer Glau (Serenity/Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles).

Based on the DC Comics series/graphic novel "Superman/Batman: Supergirl" by Jeph Loeb, Michael Turner & Peter Steigerwald, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is produced by animation legend Bruce Timm and directed by Lauren Montgomery (Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths) from a script by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist).

Asner, who turns 81 this November, had a few short minutes to answer questions following his latest recording session as Granny Goodness. Take note … or Granny will know.

QUESTION: How does Granny Goodness compare to playing other female characters?

ED ASNER: I don’t think I have played any other female characters before (he laughs). But if I did, she’d have more balls than any of them. It’s become the fashion lately — there’s Brian Bedford in Stratford doing Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s play. What hasn’t been done enough is women playing men in as butch a manner as possible. That’s got to be even more fun. I’m talking somebody like Marjorie Main pulling it off.

QUESTION: What do you use as a focal point while voicing Granny?

EA: I’m thinking she’s a lot of chest, a lot of high pressure steam, and that she’s probably got a constant focus on vengeance and wreaking havoc on whoever she can. And I want to get away with as much damage as I can in as high-flown an effeminate form as possible.

QUESTION: You’ve done it all and had long-lasting success in the entertainment industry. What’s the enticement of voice acting for you?

EA: It’s always a trip a joyful trip to come into the studio, and especially working with this group. Andrea (Romano) is a delight to work with, and Bruce (Timm) knows this genre better than anybody. Plus, it’s the ability to let your imagination take flight — to take chances, to plunge and to soar. That’s something you don’t get to do as an actor. You get to do it as a kid. So I grab the opportunity as often as I can.

QUESTION: With all the animation work you’ve done, and the huge success of Up, can we assume you see animated films and television as a viable source of entertainment.

EA: I’ve always loved cartoons — I watched them when I was young, I still watch them now. And it is interesting to see how much more adult they’ve gotten in terms of content, from these super hero pieces with their violence and more adult themes to the truly mature, fully-developed stories developed in films like Up and Wall-E. Today’s animation goes places cartoons didn’t used to go.

QUESTION: How do you feel about spunk?

EA: That all depends on who’s got it.

Roughly 540 years in the future, the human race is at war with an intergalactic alliance of alien races called the Covenant. A genetically engineered warrior — the last of his kind — fights fervently to drive back the advancing alien force. Soldiers of the United Nations Space Command fight at his side, know his name, and spread his legend, Master Chief John -117. Welcome to the universe of Halo. Climb deeper into it — or explore it for the first time — with the animated feature that hit shelves last week.

The seven animated stories in “Halo Legends” unfold over eight episodes. The artificial intelligence Cortana narrates “Origins,” the first two animations in the set. The plot gets somewhat labyrinthine as she explains the origins of all life in the fictional universe. A trip to the Halo Wiki might help, if you get lost.

“Origins 1″ — narrated to the unconscious Master Chief — details the rise of what are called the Forerunners. Cortana tells Master Chief that these advanced beings reached technological heights thousands of years ago. It was all fun and games until they met a biological terror called the flood. The flood was to the universe what a really bad virus is to your hard drive; to wipe it out you have to wipe out your hard drive. The Forerunners fixed the problem by wiping out all living things in the galaxy. But they were smart. They backed everything up and started from scratch. Once the universe was rebuilt, human history could begin.

“Origins 2″ picks up were the first one left off. Humanity, it turns out, was rather good at making war. Once humanity spread to the stars the ability to blow itself to kingdom come became cool on a whole new level. Fighting over land and resources was equally fun in space. When the Covenant joined the party, humanity turned their attention away from killing each other and toward killing the aliens. Then the flood showed up again, and the real fun started. These two stories bring you nicely to a place where you have some idea of what is going on if you are unfamiliar with Halo.

“The Duel” quickly puts places you in unfamiliar surroundings, where you have no idea what’s going on. The story takes place on the alien world of the Elites. The water-color style animation follows the Arbiter, a general of his species, as he defies the Covenant. The Covenant has another Elite fight him in a Samurai-style duel. By this point, it would be nice to see some Spartans kill some aliens.

“Homecoming” gives you just what you are thirsting for: alien blood, and lots of it. The story intertwines with a flashback. Daisy, a Spartan who wears red close-quarters battle armor, is helping some soldiers escape an over-running Covenant force. As she assists them, by blowing aliens of various sizes away with a shotgun, she remembers attempting to escape from the facility where she was turned into a Spartan.

“Odd One Out” raises a new question for Halo fans. What if Halo was more like Dragon Ball Z? A Spartan falls out of a passing ship. When he hits the ground he encounters kids dressed like cavemen whose dinosaur tries to eat him. The children have a big brother and big sister who help the spartan fight a crazy Brute creature. Just when you can’t stand any more ridiculous antics it ends.

“Prototype” provides some relief by being pretty awesome. This sergeant is trying to get his men to safety after executing a mission. He does this by using an armor suit of high-tech weapon systems to blow tons of Covenant forces off the face of the planet.

“The Babysitter” details a mission where Orbital Drop Shock Troopers deploy with a Spartan. In the course of their sniper mission together the team and the Spartan earn each other’s respect. The Spartan has to buy a Gravity Hammer in the face to do it, but there has to be some downside to being a super-soldier.

“The Package” delivers the goods. It does this by answering an important question. Where the hell is Master Chief in these stories? Not only is there quite a bit of Master Chief, there is quite a bit of shooting aliens and even some first person animations.

Overall the feature contributes to the lesson of Halo. Generations to come will learn that if there is one thing aliens need it is to be shot in the face, or stabbed in the side of the head with a close-combat knife, or even smashed in the skull with the butt of a rifle.

Gina Torres mixes equal parts evil, sexy and powerful of conjure the hypnotic voice of Superwoman in “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths,” an all-new DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movie arriving today from Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation.

In “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths,” a "good" Lex Luthor arrives from an alternate universe to recruit the Justice League to help save his Earth from the Crime Syndicate, a gang of villainous characters with virtually identical super powers to the Justice League. What ensues is the ultimate battle of good versus evil in a war that threatens both planets and puts the balance of all existence in peril. Torres plays Superwoman, the evil doppelganger to Wonder Woman and one of the leaders of the powerful Crime Syndicate.

Torres had an unanticipated assist in bringing about the powerful, yet sultry voice of Superwoman, coming into the booth in the final days of a bad flu that slightly lowered her vocal range and added a smoky sexiness to the outstanding performance. Even more impressive is her perfect match with the voice of Owlman, James Woods — considering the two actors recorded on opposite coasts, weeks apart, and have never met each other.

She is well known throughout the fanboy realm for her standout roles in Joss Whedon’s Firefly/Serenity and Angel, her performance at Cas in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, as well as 28 episodes in Cleopatra 2525. Torres has since been a mainstay across primetime television with recurring roles on 24, Alias and Standoff, in addition to guest appearances in CSI, Without a Trace, Boston Legal, Bones, Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Criminal Minds, Dirty Sexy Money, The Unit, FlashForward, Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries, to name just a few.

Torres has also spent some time in the animated world, working with Warner Bros. Animation as Vixen on Justice League.

Torres spent a few minutes after her recording session — and last week during the Los Angeles premiere of the film at the Paley Center for Media — to chat about her performance as Superwoman, the importance of strong female role models, the acting strengths of Whedon alums, her childhood obsession with Wonder Woman, and the fun of allowing her evil side to come out and play. Listen up … or else.

QUESTION: As you stepped into the sound booth to voice Superwoman, were you actually feeling wickedly sexy, delightfully cruel and ultimately powerful … or was that all just acting?

GINA TORRES: I’m so glad they called me to do Superwoman, (she laughs) because I was in the mood to get back in there and be a badass. Superwoman is one of those super heroes that knows her power, and is very comfortable in her power. And it’s all cat — it’s no mouse with her. She likes to bat around her prey and she really enjoys what she’s doing.

In the booth, you sort of have to become this person. When you’re not on stage with other actors and you’re not on camera, you really get to free up your body and do all kinds of things that maybe aren’t as pretty on camera. You get to have a good time getting your whole body involved in the interpretation.

QUESTION: Have you ever had a relationship with comic books?

GT: Do the Archies count? (laughs) I was a big Archie fan. I love Veronica — I want to look like Veronica. Betty was great, but Veronica was the girl. And that whole "Sugar, Sugar" (singing) thing was great. I’m telling my age — I’m really only 28. My sister is older (laughs). I was listening to her 45s.

I don’t want to disappoint any comic book fans out there, but I’m a girl so I really wasn’t reading the super hero comic books much. But it’s done great things for my marriage. The husband loved the idea of me playing Superwoman. And my girlfriends said, "Well, that’s just kind of you every day, isn’t it?" So I’m happy.

QUESTION: So there was no super hero role playing games when you were a kid?

GT: I absolutely played Wonder Woman when I was a kid. I had the lasso, the whole bracelet thing, I even had my twirl down. I just knew that I was going to be taken back to Paradise Island, because that’s really where I belonged. I was this small little Amazon just waiting to express myself, waiting for my true mother to come and get me. (laughs)

QUESTION: Can you give us an idea of what Superwoman’s motivations are in this film?

GT: Let’s see. Superwoman is motivated by power and money and sex, and sex and money and power. Who can’t relate to that?

QUESTION: Good answer. Not that Superwoman is a role model, but do you feel like women have enough super hero representation these days?

GT: What do you mean Superwoman is not a role model? Isn’t she a role model? She rules the world (laughs). She’s Superwoman! (laughs). What I love about super heroes, and Superwoman in particular, is that in that comics world they’re all curvaceous. There aren’t really any skinny bitches in the world of comic books. They’ve got muscle. I like that. I appreciate that. They’re strong. And it’s important to have strong images of women out there, women who aren’t afraid of expressing themselves, women who aren’t afraid of taking chances, women who aren’t afraid of their own power. Unfortunately, being a woman in society means that sometimes you have to sort of quell what is instinctually broad and magnificent and magical about you. I think a lot of people feel that way. I don’t know if that’s necessarily relegated to being a woman, because we’re all so worried about fitting in and not sticking out. So what’s great about this whole genre is that it’s all about sticking out. It’s all about being magnificent to the highest power.

QUESTION: You’re a terribly nice person by everyone’s perception. What’s your trick for turning on the villainy in a performance?

GT: Oh, there is no trick to capturing villainy. (laughs) The rumor is that I’m a nice person. I love that rumor. Everybody has different sides to them. Everybody has that inner villain that you want to break out and express. It’s a good time going out there and letting her come out. Lock good Gina in the closet … and have evil Gina come out and play.

QUESTION: You’ve been in this universe before, most notably as Vixen for Justice League. Do you have an attraction to the medium or just when the situation presents itself?

GT: I love voiceover work. It’s wonderful, it’s expressive. It’s a way of using a part of my instrument that I’m comfortable and familiar with. The voice is such a vital part of crafting a character. I’m so pleased that I have the kind of voice that prints well and that people want to hear. I’ve had friends actually say, "You know, I was in the kitchen, and the television was on and I heard you." I love hearing that there’s something familiar about my sound, and that to some people it’s soothing.

QUESTION: The DC Universe animated original movies have been blessed with numerous members of the Joss Whedon alumni association — from Adam Baldwin and Nathan Fillion to David Boreanaz and James Marsters, to name just a few. Is there something about the Joss experience that lends itself to this universe?

GT: Joss has an attraction to a certain kind of actor. Obviously, we’re all so very different in our own way. But when he’s choosing a world, he really does inhabit it quite completely. I mean, it is an entire universe. It is a Whedonverse, which is why I believe he’s so successful when he creates these worlds that one can get lost in. All the inhabitants in it require, without sounding self-serving, a kind of intellectual whimsy. You have to understand where you are and be true to it and at the same time let it go and let it fly and enjoy it for what it is — for the maniacal, for the fantasy, for the tragedy of it. I think all of these actors have lent themselves to these kinds of projects because we’ve been in that place. And so we can come here and say, "Yeah let’s have fun. I know where we are and let’s just go and have a good time."

QUESTION: You’ve got significant sci-fi fantasy experience. Is that by choice or happenstance?

GT: I would say that I was dragged into the sci-fi genre. (laughs) I wouldn’t say kicking and screaming. I actually went willingly. But it wasn’t something that I sought out. I grew up in New York, born and raised, and cut my teeth in the theatre. I did a lot of off-Broadway, and some Broadway. Sci-fi was certainly not where I thought I’d be making my bread and butter for this period of time. It’s been a pleasant surprise, certainly. I find that it’s a niche that I’m comfortable with. What else are you going to do with a strong, almost six-foot girl? Give her a gun. Give her superpowers. (laughs) And you give her a hefty belt with things attached to it. Yeah!

QUESTION: Can you quantify the passion of the fanboys out there?

GT: That passion of the fanboy is immeasurable. And it is priceless. And it is necessary when you’re doing these things because you don’t quite realize while you’re doing the work that you’re in a bubble. And it’s not until you’re released into the world that you realize that you’re making an impact and that you’re making somebody’s day brighter and someone’s universe broader. It is great fun to be confronted with these guys and gals.

It’s time for another free Blast DVD giveaway. The last two contests are being shipped this week, and this time we have the pure action of “Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball” featuring guns, hot chicks, and little else.

As usual, you only need to be a free registered user here at Blast. Just register, leave a comment, and you may win. We have 10 copies to throw at you.

TAMPA, Fla. — "I used to get banned from a number of the bars on the Beach, but now I’ve started to really mellow out,” Michael Mancini declares as we drive north on the Florida Turnpike.

"Without skateboarding, I would probably have gone down the wrong path, like many of my friends who ended up in prison, on drugs, or dead,” he adds calmly, flipping through songs on his iPod. "And the irony of it is that people’s perception of skateboarders is that they’re the delinquents, when it’s really skateboarding that’s keeping us out of trouble."

It’s 11:30 a.m. and pouring rain. After hours of working hard, the windshield wipers of the car can barely keep up with the deluge from above. I expect them to quit anytime. Barely anybody is on the road (smart) and we are surrounded by flat plains dotted with cattle huddling together rather uselessly for protection against the weather. At this point, we’re somewhere in between Miami and Tampa, and two and a half hours into the road trip. Mancini is behind the wheel, while his girlfriend of more than three years rides shotgun, and me, the plus one with a press pass, in the back seat.

The destination is Muvico Theatre in the Ybor City section of Tampa for the Hollywood-esque premiere of “The Dango is Dead,” a skate video that Mancini has been working feverishly on for the past year. As is the case with most skate videos, the filming required him to travel to different cities — the more gritty and urban, the better — to get good footage highlighting three generations of highly respected skaters, from teenagers to some in their late thirties.

"The old school generation, like me, focus more on refined skating and clean lines while the younger skaters are mainly doing things like wild stunts and maneuvers," explains Mancini, 34. "Also, you can see the difference between the two styles. Whereas the old school skaters have been doing this for 15, 20 years, it becomes more natural with the younger kids. The footage you see in the video, it’s usually the first time that they landed that trick. Don’t get me wrong, I mean, they’re doing really, really hard tricks. But style wise, it’s different."

Along with showcasing these athletes’ ability and distinct style, the movie also serves as another purpose: In this particular skate video, “The Dango” dies.

“Dango” is Mancini’s nickname among the skateboarding community. But, as much notoriety as the name gets, it’s something he’s ready to bury and start fresh.

"Now I’m ‘The Kleetcha’. It’s a spin on ‘The Creature.’ I have my own language where I tend to use a lot of ‘l’s." Mancini laughs. "I have an infatuation with skeletons, but if anybody calls me ‘The Dango,’ I’m going to correct them. It’s ‘The Kleetch’ for short."

So, in short, “The Dango” must die for a “Kleetcha” to be born.

Mancini said he first got into skateboarding at the age of 12, when a kid skated in front of his house on the street in Oviedo, Orlando, where he grew up. Mancini asked the youngster — who’s now one of his closest friends and is thanked in the credits of “The Dango is Dead” — where he could get one of those things. The following Christmas, his first skateboard awaited him. He has not stopped skateboarding since and gained recognition by word of mouth, mostly through his participation in competitions and posting skate videos on YouTube. Some skaters think posting videos on YouTube is controversial, but doing so has become a launching pad that has helped the underground skating community get noticed. The counter argument is that it takes away from the hard work of people behind the scene who video tape the skaters, when the clips become public online for free. Mancini doesn’t receive any royalties whatsoever from his videos.

"Skating is an outlet for me, not a sport,” says Mancini, who at a rest stop took note of some places — a ledge, some stairs — that would be perfect for tricks. “I don’t look at it like a sport, but more of an art form. To let out my anger or how I’m feeling. We took a board and a ledge and made a video from it. I just love to skate and see the end product. From nothing into something."

“The Dango Is Dead” is the fifth installment of Mancini’s DVD career, one that spans well over a decade. It’s being sold as a box set come this winter, along with his other four other videos: “Volume” (2002); “The Dango” (2004); “The Good Life” (2006) and “Last of the Mohicans” (2008). They’re being sold through The Westside Skate Shop (www.westsideskateshop.com and www.theoriesofatlantis.com), a well-respected store with headquarters on the outskirts of Tampa. It was John Montesi, the shop’s founder and a major player in the Florida underground skateboarding scene, who came up with the title ‘The Dango Is Dead,’ influenced by the hip-hop album “De La Soul is Dead.”

Mancini is no stranger to the underground skating community. He, along with many other skaters, prides himself on being “underground” or, better yet, the “underdogs.” With this video, Mancini also hopes to get skateboarding back to its roots.

"Ninety-five percent of skateboarding is bullshit to me. And you can quote me on that,” says Mancini, laughing, but with a stern tone. "I’m over the whole blown out, Mountain Dew, helmet, elbow pads … How hip hop was great in the 90′s, is how I feel skateboarding use to be back then. Nowadays with hip-hop and skateboarding, people unfortunately don’t pay attention to the skill or style. Anybody can land a trick, it’s just how you put your own personal flavor or spin on it."

For Mancini and a number of other skaters, there is a sense of pride, bordering on nobility, when it comes to skating strictly for the love of it and not for potential business opportunity and ventures that could make skating less authentic by making money off it.

But, strangely enough, as much as Mancini the obscure underdogs of the American skating community, he is anything but that in Japan. He’s very well-known there, he jokes, since “Dango,” means “sticky rice balls” in Japanese. In turn, the Japanese skateboarding community has embraced him with open arms. As Mancini says with a smile, "Whatever we love, the Japanese love a hundred times more."

When Blast interviewed Michael Shanks last month, we learned that the new, anticipated “Stargate SG-1″ straight-to-DVD movie does not exist yet. That is, it’s not under production as of now. MGM is out of money and for sale, and they own all the rights to Stargate.

Nonetheless, we believe the movie will get made eventually. Stargate remains a popular and potentially profitable franchise.

If a new SG-1 movie is to be, the producers and writers have a high bar set for them. It would likely be the last we ever see of SG-1, and with the uncertainties raised by “Stargate Universe,” and the cancellation of “Atlantis,” this untitled DVD movie might be the last gasp of Stargate as its original fans know it.

Here is what we think the producers should do to make it a success — and a proper sendoff.

1. Create a funeral ceremony for General Hammond. Actor Don S. Davis gave his last media interview to Blast in March 2008, a few months before his death. In the Stargate world, they named a new ship, under the command of Col. Carter, after their beloved General Hammond and acknowledged that he died of a heart attack in the first episode of “Universe.” But Stargate never did anything to remember or commemorate him and the amazing actor who played General George Hammond. The new movie should begin with or feature early on some sort of ceremony, and feature Bra’tac in some way.
2. No time travel or alternate universes. The “SG-1″ episode called “1969″ was the only good time travel story the franchise ever created. Don’t get us started on “Stargate: Continuum.” The new movie should stick to the troubles of modern Earth and the SGC.
3. No religious bad guys. There are ways we could go with a new movie that don’t involve more fake religions. The Lucian Alliance is obviously still a problem.
4. No replicators.
5. Fix the Asgard core. Obviously the Stargate world has only had the gifts of the Asgard for one episode and two movies, and they haven’t done much good with this power and knowledge yet.
6. It’s time to disclose. It’s time to tell everyone about the Stargate. This would be the perfect arc to develop a movie. The people of Earth have been blind to the true nature of the universe for too long, and it’s time to open their eyes. We’re anxious to see how this would play out.
7. Let there be a genuine human conflict. There are a lot of humans in the galaxy. Now that the Goa’uld are wiped out and the Ori are defeated, the humans of the galaxy are going to rebuild. Maybe some “United Nations” style coalition will develop among dozens or even hundreds of worlds. Stargate’s biggest strength was always in its ability to be a “human” drama.
8. Make the movie at least two hours. This 1:40 crap has to go. If you’re going to make a movie, make a feature-length movie. Stargate fans would watch a 2-hour or 2:30 film — and we would watch it over, and over, and over again.
9. Pax Tau’ri. The Tau’ri — Earth — has once again saved the galaxy. This should usher in a Golden Age of sorts. It’s even possible that the new movie could easily be set 10 years in the “future,” which isn’t too hard since SG-1 ended three years ago. Earth can change. We can open with some kind of montage with Hammond’s funeral, and a glance at the team’s victories over the years. Then the people of Earth are told about the Stargate. We spend a few minutes dwelling on that and setting the stage. There will be some panic. Some riots. Then people will calm down. (It’s kinda like when the Red Sox won the World Series in 04). Then we show “Pax Tau’ri,” the period of relative calm. Time goes by. Then we formally start the movie. Get it? It’s opening the door for a clean slate.

What do you think?

The new Justice League DVD deals with two worlds, and it took two directors to make it happen. “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths” is an all new PG-13 movie from Warner and DC.

Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu, the animation directors of the past three DC Universe films, have combined their talents to bring “Crisis on Two Earths” to the screen as a blockbuster tale of super heroes and super villains engaged in the ultimate battle of parallel worlds and, through a diabolical plan launched by Owlman, puts the balance of all existence in peril.

The film will be released by Warner Home Video on February 23 as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray, as well as single disc DVD, and On Demand and digital download.

QUESTION: How did you two go about co-directing Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: We kind of just went over the whole film together and it was really good to get two different points of view as a check and balance for each other. If we disagreed, we found compromises that would work. If one of us felt strongly about something, we just traded off — Sam would take a sequence he felt strongly about, then I’d take one I wanted. But for the most part, we agreed. We both work in such different ways, it was interesting to see how someone else works and learn from it.

SAM LIU: We went through the film front to back, and if we ran into a problem or an area where either of us had an issue, usually where we thought it could be stronger or could be playing better, we usually solved it right on the spot. If we got to a section that was requiring a lot more revisions, one of us would jump on it and the other would move the rest of the film forward until we hit another rough spot. So that was our process.

QUESTION: What have you learned from each other?

LM: Sam breaks things down a lot, he’s very analytical. I tend not to. He spends a lot of time thinking about the story and getting into all the nooks and crannies of it, and I like to work with the general story. He’ll read the whole book, I’ll read the back of the book. I try to get the emotional points down so people can understand them, but Sam will go even deeper to use shots and set-ups to drive the point home, sometimes metaphorically. He thinks harder than I do.

SL: Our processes are very different. I like getting into a script and breaking things down. Maybe I don’t have the best ideas, but I’m pretty good at recognizing where things are needed. I really liked the back and forth process (with Lauren), talking about ideas and batting it back and forth to find a good solution. Lauren is more instinctual, she works more from the gut. And I think she works off reaction rather than an intellectual breakdown. I’m the other way by process. But I do feel like sometimes I over-analyze things, when sometimes it’s almost like the emotional flow of the movie is good enough. Lauren gets that. Sometimes logic can be bypassed if the scene is engaging enough, or interesting enough. It’ll bridge gaps and you don’t need to analytically fix all those gaps.

QUESTION: What do you think you might have taught each other?

LM: I think Sam stresses out slightly less when I’m around. He stresses and I don’t. I think I calm him down a little bit. But when he’s alone, he stresses out just as much. Hopefully I helped with that.

SL: I don’t think I taught her anything (he laughs). She’s a free-flowing, shoot-from-the-hip kind of person, and I’m kind of an angster — I nitpick things. I like getting into the story, and from there some things do need working out — things related to the emotional journey of a character that need to be highlighted or punctuated to set something up for later. I’m a stickler for things like that. And I think she saw those things.

I do stress, though — and there are times when I’m freaking out about something and she puts me at total ease. And then there’s times when I’m freaking out and she’s fighting me on it, and it makes it worse. I think we’re both control freaks in our own way, it’s just a difference in approach. I fixate on a lot of things, and she thinks things are just good enough, so let’s move on. We have an innate concept about the overall picture, but she focuses more on the acting and poses and timing and movement, and I think more on structure. I guess there’s a good balance.

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite scene in “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths?”

LM: There’s a fight between Wonder Woman and Olympia that I thought was really beautifully animated. That’s always fun to watch. It was boarded well, but the overseas animators took the drawings from the boards and really plussed it out. I think they just enjoy animating girl fights overseas because those scenes always come back looking good.

SL: More than one scene, I like the overall relatability of the Justice League characters. There was great character interaction. When I watch movies, I like something that has an emotional connection, and this film definitely does.

Specifically, I think the spectacle of these evenly matched supers fighting was really cool. Superman versus Ultraman. Flash fighting someone equally as fast. Strengths against strengths. Jay Oliva boarded the last fight sequence and the Superwoman-Wonder Woman fight is great. They’re both strong, super powerful women and I think it was brutal enough as is, but the way Jay made Wonder Woman use the lasso to slam Superwoman to the ground is pretty amazing.

The battle between Owlman and Batman is awesome, too, because it’s sort of this weird intellectual standoff. Owlman is so far into his psychosis as to how the universe operates, it’s very existential. His concept is crazy, but the way he reasons out the technology of how things work and the way he thinks, it gave us great room to improvise Batman’s reaction. And then when they actually fight, it’s brutal. They do these gadget fights, sort of a modern ninja battle. The sound effects on the planet, the colors, the way it’s animated, it all works really well. And James Woods’ voice is perfect — most of the Crime Syndicate is very thuggish, they’re all about stealing money. But Owlman has created the ultimate plan to annihilate everybody, and James Woods does this great build-up. It’s great acting. He plays Owlman as a little bit off and kind of creepy, but not sinister creepy. His cadence is great, and his voice is almost charming in a way. It was a good mix of all the things I thought we’d have a problem with if we went too far one way or the other. It’s a great, tight sequence and I’m very happy the way it all came together.

QUESTION: What were the challenges of directing this film?

LM: It was a challenge because we had a really large cast of characters — lots of main characters — and they all needed a decent amount of screen time. Both the good guys and the bad. We had to make sure the audience got to know each of those characters and make sure they had a presence in the film that was important, and that was a challenge.

SL: Definitely the size of the cast and how to give enough screen time to everyone. At one point, Green Lantern was a little light on having enough important things to do. We needed to add a bit for Lex Luthor, too, and I still don’t think we did enough. We added a fight to show that Lex can fight, too, and tried to beef him up a bit. But there just wasn’t enough screen time to accommodate everyone.

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite character?

LM: Superwoman … just because she’s so wrong. She’s a bully, but she’s got the muscle to back it up. She’s everything you shouldn’t be, but is fun to work with.

QUESTION: What skills you learned or developed on past projects were you able to apply to this film?

LM: We had the same animation studio that did Wonder Woman, so we were able to draw from the work done on Wonder Woman and improve on that. Overall, the animation was good in Wonder Woman, but there was some poor stuff, too. I think they really improved — they saw what we responded to in Wonder Woman and they tried to do what they knew we liked, and it was good.

SL: I think, this whole process was better for me this time, especially working with Bruce (Timm) and Lauren. I was able to let go a little bit and not have to over-think things, and still know that things would work out. I generally stress over everything until the very last minute. With Lauren, I sort of learned that you can say "that’s enough" and move on to the next thing. I appreciate Lauren and her patience, and that we’re still friends. In the end, you take care of the important things and everything will work out.

Below is a Q&A session with rising anime star Hiroshi Yamazaki, the director of “The Duel” episode of Halo Legends — an all-new seven-episode anthology expanding the Halo universe.

The Blu-ray and DVD will be available February 16

Anime director Hiroshi Yamazaki provides fans with a distinctly different artistic vision of the Halo universe with his painterly approach to animation in “The Duel.”

Yamazaki’s episode goes back to ancient times, at the dawn of the Covenant. A shamed Elite defies his role as an “Arbiter” — an honored but suicidal role that would regain him a shred of honor—to take a path of revenge against those that stole the only thing that matters to such an amazing warrior: His true love. This ancient Arbiter must fight his way through ever-growing groups of his former allies (grunts, elites, hunters, etc.) until he finally stands face-to-face with the elite who betrayed his trust.

QUESTION: What made you think Halo would lend itself to anime/animation?

HIROSHI YAMAZAKI: I believe that the suitability (of a property for animation) depends upon each story. This story definitely worked well in animation, and in this style.

QUESTION: What was the inspiration for your artistic vision in your episode of Halo Legends?

HY: I have been a lover of viewing the Halo art /illustration collection books and such for some time and the entire collection of Halo properties inspired me.

QUESTION: Were there any particular images within the Halo realm that helped shape or drive your creative vision?

HY: When I was contacted by I.G about the project, I imagined that the project would be very Sci-Fi in taste. However, when I met Mr. Frank
O’Connor (of 343 Industries, Microsoft Games Studios) for the first time, his requirement was to create a Samurai episode featuring an Arbiter, and I was considerably and happily surprised.

QUESTION: What did you set out to accomplish in this episode, and why do you think you achieved or exceeded your goals?

HY: What I was aiming for in this project was to make audiences understand there should be other styles of animation beyond the existing two primary kinds of animation presented — precisely cel-drawing 2D style and CG 3D style. I wanted to show that creators are not limited, that they have many options for different (animation) styles to create stories.

QUESTION: Did you feel you had the proper Halo experience to to bring the world to life in anime?

HY: I have played Halo 1 and 2 all the way through to the end. As I was so busy in this project, I could not play Halo 3 but instead I watched the gaming movie many times from the beginning to end.

QUESTION: Did you include any "Easter eggs" for the devout Halo fans in your episode?

HY: I employed the phrase "Akuma-da!" ("He is a devil" in English) as part of the dialogue of a grunt soldier for fun for game lovers. I’m not
certain whether everyone will get to enjoy that treat, though, as I understand the English version and Japanese version differ considerably and I am not sure how this dialogue by the grunt is treated in the English version.

If Sex In the City fans were confused over their see-saw love affair with Chris Noth’s Mr. Big, comics fans will endure an equal amount of trepidation over Noth’s latest performance as the voice of a "good" Lex Luthor in “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths,” a new DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movie coming February 23 from Warner.

In “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths,” a "good" Lex Luthor arrives from an alternate universe to recruit the Justice League to help save his Earth from the Crime Syndicate, a gang of villains with virtually identical super powers to the Justice League. What ensues is the ultimate battle of good versus evil in a war that threatens both planets and, through a diabolical plan launched by Owlman, puts the balance of all existence in peril.

“Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths” is an original story from Dwayne McDuffie (Justice League). Bruce Timm (Superman Doomsday) is executive producer, and Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman, Green Lantern: First Flight) and Sam Liu (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies) are co-directors. The full-length animated film will be distributed by Warner Home Video as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray Hi-Def, as well as single disc DVD, and On Demand and Download.

Noth is best known as Mr. Big in “Sex and the City” and as Mike Logan in “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” He can currently be seen starring opposite Julianna Margulies in the CBS drama “The Good Wife.” “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths” is his first animated role.

He took some time to discuss the role:

QUESTION: You’ve had an extensive career in a number of acting mediums — is this really your first animation voiceover experience?

CHRIS NOTH: I think I did about three lines of Mike Logan on Family Guy. That was a quick little gig. The character (Stewie) on the show carries a picture of Mike Logan in his wallet, so I was very flattered by that. But that was just a few lines — so Lex is pretty much my first real animated role.

QUESTION: In that case, can you describe what your first "actual" animation voiceover experience was like?

CN: I felt I had an instinct for it, and it was a lot of fun. It’s an interesting technique and, like any medium, whether you’re doing radio or certain kinds of narrative voiceovers for stage or movies, it has its own sort of rules and performance values. I think the choices had to be bold and succinct and clear. To me, it appears that super heroes have to be powerful, but it also has to be real. You have to make bold choices and go all the way through with them. That’s true with a lot
of acting anyway. But with animation, it seems to me there’s nothing coy about it. The acting has its own subtleties. So you have to find that balance. And as long as you go with that instinct, it’s a blast.

QUESTION: Did you take a different approach to this Lex Luthor -a good guy Lex — than you would’ve taken with a typically villainous Lex?

CN: I was extremely excited to be playing the ultimate villain from my youth. I remember how Gene Hackman portayed Lex Luthor with such great delight in the films, and I thought I’d be getting that Lex. So I was surprised to see that in this script, Lex is actually on the right side of the law. It required a whole new thinking on my part on how to approach him. I mean, he’s a super hero who’s in this very complex, parallel universe. He’s actually trying to save all of reality from being destroyed. So I just took that adjustment and said, "Wow, I need to get up to date on my super heroes." I’m guess I’m a little bit retro. (he laughs)

QUESTION: Do you feel any special significance to be joining the canon of actors — Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey, Michael Rosenbaum, Clancy Brown — to have brought Lex Luthor to life?

CN: Initially when I heard about the role, I thought about that great tradition of actors associated with Lex. And I really feel honored to be a part of that group. But this is a complete departure from those performances. This time, Lex is on the right side of the law. He’s worlds away from the old Lex.

QUESTION: You’ve done your share of Shakespeare. Can you characterize Lex within the context of some of the great literary or stage heroes/villains?

CN: Not this Lex. I find super heroes to be more archetypes of values of courage and fortitude and things like that. It’s interesting to me that the new world of animation, compared to when I was growing up, is so much more diverse in its characters. There’s so many more of them, and it’s a much more complicated world. The old comic books that I grew up on had these characters that were in many ways Shakespearean.

They were very big with their evilness in the same vein as Richard III in Shakespeare. Those characters relished being bad, and that’s always fun to play.

QUESTION: How did you find working alone in a sound booth versus playing off other actors?

CN: It presented a different challenge in the same way that a radio play is different from being on stage, and being on stage is different than being in the movies, and the movies are different than being on a TV series. They all have different values that are fun to explore and to take a crack at. So I found it challenging and interesting to jump into that world.

QUESTION: Did it get easier when Bruce Davison joined you at the microphone?

CN: That was even more fun because I know Bruce and it’s always more fun to work off another person. Sandy Meisner, the great acting teacher, used to say that what you do doesn’t depend on you. It depends on the other fellow. In other words, they make you respond. So when Bruce came in, there was a new kind of energy that I sort of relished. I didn’t have that many scenes with him, but he was a lot of fun and I think he made a great President.

QUESTION: As you are new to animation voiceovers, you’re also new to the direction involved. How did you find Andrea Romano’s direction?

CN: (Animation) is very quick, it’s to the point, and very on message, and you have to just go with it. Andrea was extremely helpful to me to get some of the tone and in knowing what you have to keep in mind with what’s happening to the character in the scene. Whether it’s an intimate scene or there’s a lot of action, she keeps you on point. So she’s a very good field marshal.

For more information, images and updates, please visit the film’s official website.

Grenade, grenade, fire, fire, melee. Master Chief can do more than that quick combo, which almost always gets you a kill in multiplayer, in the upcoming Halo animated feature.

“Halo Legends” will hit DVD and Blu-ray on February 9. Distributed by Warner Home video and produced by 343 Industries, part of Microsoft Game Studios, the CG and traditional anime will explore the history and origins of the Halo universe and some of its characters. The eight episodes will cover seven storylines, which will also be available via On Demand and Digital Download.

The episodes will fall inside Halo’s 26th Century continuity as humanity battles aliens to protect the ever-expanding space colonies of Earth. Halo fans will recognize some characters and locales from the games. Each episode will be 10 to 17 minutes long, with about two total hours of viewing.

Halo Legends will have the same look and feel as “The Animatrix” and “Batman Gotham Knight,” in that each episode will be self contained. Each episode will be presented as imagined by a the director or animator. Children of the 80s and anime fans, alike, will recognize the work of some of these creative contributors including Shinji Aramaki, who did character designs on “MASK;” Mamoru Oshii, creator and writer of “Jin-Ro;” and Hideki Futamura, a key animator on “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.”

Extras on the two disc will include a “making of” feature, audio commentary with the directors and a mini-feature detailing the rise of the Halo franchise from an Xbox game to a mammoth property commanding over $1 billion in revenue with games, comics, novels and other merchandise. The Blu-ray will retail for around $35, the two-disc set for around $30 and the DVD for around $20.

More than 20 years after it delighted TV audiences, the Ruby-Spears Superman series finally hit DVD yesterday.

In addition to the thrills of Superman’s weekly adventures, each episode included a mini-segment called Superman Family Album that told the “real” story of what it was like to grow up as the most powerful boy in Smallville.

Joe Ruby and Ken Spears talked about the DVD and series recently, and the studio sent the interview over:

QUESTION: How was the title character developed for your Superman series?

JOE RUBY: “We went through a lot of different directions in development as to what kind of Superman we wanted. We had several different models – the crying/feeling Superman, the lecturing/do-gooder/save-the-day Superman, then there was the hip Superman and even the long-haired Superman. And, of course, there was the old straight-as-an-arrow Superman. Ultimately, we settled on the Christopher Reeve model – he had personality and a sense of humor, and yet he was still Superman. We figured that it worked for the films, so it would work well for us.”

QUESTION: Why were there only 13 episodes to the entire series?

JR: “I think the problem for us was our timeslot. It turned out 8:30 in the morning was a killer for Superman. Only the little kids were up, and they don’t understand Superman as well as the older kids. It wasn’t for 4- to 5-year-olds”

QUESTION: Was there a guiding theme to the series?

KEN SPEARS: “I think we were true to Superman to begin with – we produced a show that the audience expected Superman to be. He was the tried and true Superman, That’s who they wanted to see – that’s the feedback that we continue to get today.”

JR: “We basically had Superman tackling anything and everything, with the marching orders to have bigger-than-life fights.”

QUESTION: What did you see as the strength of your Superman series?

KS: “We had the best talent in the business at the time – that was our strength. They were excellent. When you first create a show, you hope your talent will be able to plus it – and they really plussed it. There are so many shots in the show that weren’t written into the script – those kind of great additions come straight from the artists and the storyboarders.

JR: “We had a pretty amazing crew – and an especially great crew of artists – including some of the best comic book guys in the business, and that made for good filmmaking. Guys like John Dorman and Gil Kane – we had an army of great talent on that show. Give credit to John Dorman – he’s a filmmaker and that’s the difference. He made sure the show had all the creative shots, the movement, some of that great left-to-right or down-angle camera moves. The show was well paced, well boarded, and I think John really put these things together well.”

QUESTION: Did splitting the production between two overseas studios in Japan and Korea cause any problems?

JR: “It was an experience for us, from a production standpoint, traveling overseas and working with two different interpreters having to translate in three different languages. They’d be answering before I’d get done with my question. It was the worst torture I ever had in my life.”

QUESTION: Looking back now, can you see how Ruby-Spears Superman fits in the canon of productions surrounding the Man of Steel?

JR: “As a kid, we all grew up with Superman. He’s the favorite, always. Your heroes stick with you. So we wanted to make the best Superman show we could, to really set it apart. I think everyone that worked on it felt that way. He’s Superman.”

KS: “It was like an honor to do something that classy and classic as Superman. He’s the No. 1 guy. We wanted to do it justice.”

“If I were making a film of myself, I would definitely start with my childhood” said Director Roman Polanski in a 1987 interview with Diane Sawyer. Director and star of “Polanski Unauthorized” Damian Chapa does exactly this in his timely new biopic of the infamous Polish director.

Chapa starts the film in 1939, where we meet the young and happy boy version of Polanski and his loving parents. In a rather clichƒ© move, each time the film flashes back to this period, it’s shot in black and white.

The film jumps between periods in his life in absolutely no chronological order.

The film begins in 1939 then jumps between the years 1968, 1977 and 1966 with no specific pattern. Chapa doesn’t spend much time in each year, which might confuse some viewers at first, as the storyline seems disjointed. However, what we are getting from Chapa with this style of story-telling, are bits and pieces of Polanski’s life, which is all the public has anyway.

What ultimately holds this film back is the excessive use of symbolism. Showing Polanski’s childhood in Nazi-occupied Poland is enough for people to grasp that he knew the horrors of war growing up and was most likely haunted by them. There really isn’t a need to include the Devil as a central character, constantly on Polanski’s back and having conversations with him.

Polanski is such a divisive figure in the mind of the American public and that is what this film successfully delivers. We see Polanski the Holocaust survivor, the director, the visionary, the womanizer, the criminal, the fugitive, the husband, the father and the haunted man. And while Chapa may not look very much like Polanski, he has the speaking cadences and mannerisms down precisely to deliver a convincing performance.

“Polanski Unauthorized” is now available on DVD

It’s time for another great Blast DVD giveaway.

This time we have “The Office” Season Five on DVD.

If you want a copy, all you have to do is register a free account with Blast and leave a comment here!

It’s so wicked easy to win! Anyone can do it!

Even as one of the few remaining Blockbuster video stores in Boston goes kaput, the company is maneuvering to try and remain a household name.

Blue Blockbuster Express kiosks will be open in more than 100 Tedeschi Food Shops by the end of the month, with kiosks planned in all 188 stores in New England by the end of the year.

It’s amazing that these little kiosks do so well. Redbox kiosks, a common sight at Stop & Shop stores, combined with the mega-popular Netflix service are literally erasing video rental stores from existence. That’s to say nothing for iTunes, illegal downloading, On Demand television and DVR service.

The kiosks will hold a whopping 900 DVDs, ranging from classics to brand new titles. All you do is swipe a credit card. Just like Redbox, it’s a dollar a night.

The economy is at an all-time low, violence has led to martial law, and with the death toll rising the desperate American public turns to the one man who can save them, Lex Luthor. In a world where the bad-guy has control of the White House, what happens to the good-guys?

This Tuesday Warner Brothers Animation released “Superman Batman: Public Enemies” on DVD.

For those not familiar with the graphic novel created by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness, this is the story that pits the “world’s finest” against the full force of the United States government.

But animations like Justice League Unlimited have done similar stories, so what’s new?

Most noticeably, the visual feel is different from many other Warner Brothers comic book based cartoons. The animation, based on the art Ed McGuinness drew for the graphic novel, is charged with excitement.

The mainstays of the animation are the same, however. Kevin Conroy’s iconic voice breathes life into the caped crusader as it has from Batman the Animated Series, in 1992, all the way through Batman: Gotham Knight- the 2008 DVD animated companion to the films starring Christian Bale.

Two of the major voices from JLU are also back. Tim Daly reprises as Superman, and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor.

The story is a bit more politically charged than any previous animated features about the titanic team-up. First of all, Luthor is president. It begs the question; if things got really bad, how far would the American public be willing to go to make things right?

In this world we elect a man with the savvy to do whatever is necessary to keep the citizenry safe. When a country-sized asteroid comes hurtling from space the president’s resolve is tested.

And that asteroid is pure kryptonite.

In a live televised address, President Luthor calls for a meeting with Superman. When the man-of-steel meets the Commander In Chief, a new addition to the Secret Service lends a super-powered hand putting the hurt on the Last Son of Krypton. The confrontation quickly turns south for Superman, and the results lead to a perfect opportunity for a set-up. President Luthor issues a bounty for one billion dollars. Maybe he should put a pinky to his lip? But instead he unleashes all kinds of super-powered heavyweights, to slug it out with the man of tomorrow and the dark knight, who stands by his buddy through thick and thin.

The pair find themselves in deep trouble when Mongul and Solomon Grundy show up in the first wave of stringers looking to cash in on the bounty. Shit hits the fan when the bounty hunters are finished and the President plays his ace card, some top-tier members of The Justice League. These are probably best left a surprise, but suffice it to say there are two heroes whose name begin with “Captain” who slug it out with the big “S.”

The battles can be summed up in one word, for anyone who is into superhero cartoons, nerdgasm.

One key difference from the comic book is noticeable. The climax. In Loeb and McGuinness’s version Batman and Superman confront Lex in the Oval Office. Batman tells Superman that they can “make it look like an accident.” Direct threats on the chief executives life, in the land’s highest office, might not be politically prudent right now. The cartoon opts for a more discreet location and no consideration by the teamed-up superheroes to kill the president, but it does leave room for a question. If a sitting president ever took truth and justice too far, would the world have any way to check the might of the only real super-power?

Hey Mickey, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you… want to get free “Bring It On: Fight To The Finish” DVDs. Blast has 10 DVDs to give away for the film, which hits stores September 1.

Leave your favorite cheer in a comment below from your registered account and the best 10 cheers will receive free “Fight To The Finish” DVDs. So get out your pom-poms and spirit fingers, because you’re going to have to bring it to win it.

This contest ends August 28, so make sure you leave your cheer before then for a chance to win!

If someone hurt the one you love, how far would you go to get revenge? Wes Craven’s reimagining of “Last House on the Left” was terrifying enough in theaters, but the unrated version that is going to hit DVDs August 18 shows footage to frightening to be shown in theaters… And of course Blast is going to help get your hands on it before everyone else can.

We have 10 copies of “Last House on the Left” to give away to some lucky winners. Just share with us in the comment section from your registered account the most terrifying moment that you have ever experienced, and the 10 scariest stories will win a free DVD.

This contest ends August 14, so make sure to leave your comment before then for a chance to win!

Remember when you were afraid to go in the lake at summer camp after the first time you saw “Friday the 13th?” Or couldn’t go to sleep at night because you thought Jason Voorhees was going to be lurking under your bed with a machete, waiting? Or wished your camp counselor looked like Kevin Bacon?

Okay, so maybe you didn’t experience any of those things, but we’re sure you have a story. Tell us at Blast about the first time you saw the original “Friday the 13th” for a chance to win one of 10 DVD copies of the new “Friday the 13th” film, hitting stores Tuesday June 16. Send an e-mail over to schwartz.t@blastmagazine.com for a chance to win one of these copies.

We’ve got the frakking 411 from Universal on the release of several Battlestar Galactica DVD and Blu-ray sets, including a $350 complete series collection on Blu-ray that does everything but fly you away into outer space.

They’ll all be released on July 28.

The science fiction epic that not only bridged generations but brought a whole new generation into the genre is over, but season 4.5 on DVD and Blu-ray will have 13 hours of extras including three extended episodes of the series finale that were never aired. There will also be deleted scenes and behind the scenes fun. Finally, there are commentary tracks and podcast-able interviews with executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick.

Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series is a ridiculous 20 disk Blu-ray or 25 disk DVD set with every episode and just about every bonus feature you can think of.

Season 4.5 bonus features on Blu-ray only:

• U-CONTROL: Universal’s exclusive signature feature puts viewers one click away from going deeper into the making of the film without ever leaving the movie.
• THE ORACLE: An interactive guide including ships and characters.
• BATTLESTAR ACTUAL: A glossary of all the unique Battlestar Galactica terms.
• WHAT THE FRAK HAPPENED TO YOU? Explore the history and connections of your favorite characters through video clips and relevant facts.
• BD-LIVE: Access the BD-Live Center through your Internet-connected player to get even more content, watch the latest trailers, and more!
• BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ULTIMATE BATTLE: Players can battle their friends as Colonials or Cylons using strategy and luck to achieve victory.
• MY SCENES: Pick your favorite scenes from the film to create your own video montage.
• THE MUSICIANS BEHIND DAYBREAK: Composer Bear McCreary interviews and explains how many unique musicians have contributed the show and specifically the series finale, Daybreak.

Blu-ray and DVD features:

• EVOLUTION OF A CUE: Composer, Bear McCreary takes us step by step through his process of creating the music of Battlestar Galactica.
• What the Frak is Going On With Battlestar Galactica?: A recap of Battlestar Galactica’s first three thrilling seasons “" in only eight minutes!
• “¦AND THEY HAVE A PLAN: What do they mean every episode when the opening sequence on the Cylons states “And They Have A Plan?” All will be revealed in the upcoming movie The Plan.
• THE JOURNEY ENDS: THE ARRIVAL: Battlestar Galactica has traveled full circle. The journey has concluded never to be revisited. But how did we arrive at the end?
• A LOOK BACK
  • SO SAY WE ALL: Executive Producer Ron Moore and the cast and crew reveal their personal insights on Battlestar Galactica.
  • MANIFESTO DESTINY: It all began with this manifesto. Why was it written and what was the response?
  • BATTLE-STYLE GALACTICA: Those behind the camera delve into their approach to visual style of Battlestar Galactica.
  • MARTYR TO A CAUSE: As the only actor to appear in both the original and reimagined series, Richard Hatch offers his unique perspective on Battlestar Galactica.
  • THE SINS OF THE FORGIVEN: Insights on the curious religious aspects of Battlestar Galactica.
  • BATTLESTAR REVELATIONS: Firsthand accounts from those on the Battlestar for the past five years.
  • AUDIO COMMENTARIES BY RONALD D. MOORE, DAVID EICK, AND EDWARD JAMES OLMOS
• Moore’s Podcast Commentaries
• Eick’s Video Blogs
• DELETED SCENES

The Battlestar Galactica saga began on one devastating day, when the human population of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol was annihilated in a series of surprise attacks by their own creation”"the Cylons, a race of sentient robotic clones. The few survivors huddled together on space ships, facing almost certain death at the hands of their ruthless enemies. In Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5, Commander William Adama (Emmy Award-winner Edward James Olmos), the hawkish military leader of the last surviving battleship, searches for a habitable planet as the murderous Cylons follow relentlessly. As mysterious premonitions help Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) the President of the Twelve Colonies, guide the ship to the fabled Thirteenth Colony, Earth, treacherous double agents, Cylon spies and internal dissent plague the Galactica. The ship’s crew and passengers battle for their lives”"and the survival of the human race”"armed with only cunning and determination against the military might of the Cylon Empire.

The world has been bitten by the “Twilight” bug — right in the neck.

In the latest word on the series guaranteed to elicit delight, Borders will be offering an exclusive 2-disc DVD set this spring and holding midnight release parties at stores nationwide to push sales of the DVD, which comes out March 21.

The DVD set includes bonus special features, unique photo cards and special packaging.

The standard DVD/Blu-ray release will include audio commentary, trailers and promotional reels and extended and deleted scenes. The Borders-exclusive special edition will also feature over one hour of additional content produced by Borders, including:

• Cast interviews with Robert Pattinson (Edward), Kristen Stewart (Bella), Cam Gigandet (James), Edi Gathegi (Laurent) and Rachelle Lefevre (Victoria) that were recorded during Comic-Con in San Diego.
• Red-carpet footage from the global movie premiere in Los Angeles, including a never-before-seen segment that contains interviews with Kellan Lutz (Emmett); Ashley Greene (Alice); Nikki Reed (Rosalie) and the rock band Paramore, which contributed to the movie’s soundtrack.
• A re-edited version of the Borders Book Club episode that features author Stephenie Meyer discussing the phenomenon behind the “Twilight” saga.

The set will also include 10 photo cards with images of the cast.

It will sell for $29.99.

Borders will hold midnight release parties on March 20 for fans, with vampire-themed games and movie discussions.

Warner Bros. issued a press release today announcing the DVD and Blu Ray release of the much anticipated “Watchmen” companion — “Watchmen: Tales from the Black Freighter and Under the Hood” — will be released on March 24, 2009.

“Tales of the Black Freighter” will also include “Under the Hood,” an autobiography of “Watchmen” character Nite Owl featured heavily in the graphic novel.

Both titles are executive produced by “Watchmen” director Zack Snyder, Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Deborah Snyder, Thomas Tull and Wesley Coller.

A comic-within-a-comic from the original “Watchmen” graphic novel, “Tales of the Black Freighter”tells the story of a sailor’s return home after being marooned. It is read in “Watchmen” the graphic novel by a young man in New York City while the city around him is being destroyed. The events in “Black Freighter” seem to mirror those in the world of “Watchmen.”

A “Director’s Cut” version of “Watchmen” is planned to be released incorporating “Tales of the Black Freighter” into the film as director Zack Snyder had originally intended. Due to the length it added to the film, Snyder was forced not to include “Black Freighter” in “Watchmen”s theatrical release.

“Under the Hood” is the autobiography of the original Nite Howl, Hollis Mason. It discusses how Mason’s life led him to become a masked avenger and how the Minutemen, the first superheroes to emerge in the “Watchmen” universe, were formed. It is directed by Eric Matthies, written by Hans Rodionoff and produced by Eric Matthies and Wesley Coller. Stars Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan appear as their characters from the theatrical “Watchmen” film in this live-action documentary style special.

“Watchmen: Tales from the Black Freighter and Under the Hood” will be available on standard definition disc for $27.95 and Blu-ray disc for $35.99.

Blockbuster and Sonic Solutions have joined forces to make a convenient, digital movie service for consumers to use at home and on the go.

The companies’ alliance would offer subscribers to access Blockbuster’s digital library through their electronic and mobile devices from the comfort of their own home or mobile phone.

So now, when you want to rent a movie, game, or anything from Blockbuster, you can access their database of entertainment through your computer, cell phone, Blu-ray disk players and web-connected televisions, among other things.

The partnership marks one of the most expansive video on demand and electronic sell-through choices in the market because of the library provided by the Blockbuster brand. Basically, the world of entertainment will soon be at your fingertips. No more waiting for On Demand to change this month’s movie listings, or going to the video store. Virtually anything and everything will be available for you anytime, anywhere.