The Hulk Gets a Fresh Start in ‘The Avengers’

In the past decade, there have been two attempts to bring Marvel Comics’ “Incredible Hulk” to the big screen.  And neither fully satisfied critics or comic-book fans with how they portrayed Bruce Banner, the mild-mannered scientist who grows into an uncontrollable green monstrosity when he gets angry.

So when writer/director Joss Whedon (creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) was brought aboard “The Avengers” — next year’s movie that teams up the Hulk with fellow superheroes Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor — he had both the opportunity and the challenge of giving the character a fresh start.  Luckily for Whedon, he had a great Oscar-nominated actor, Mark Ruffalo, to help him redefine both Banner and Hulk.

via The Hulk Gets a Fresh Start in ‘The Avengers’ | Movie Talk – Yahoo! Movies.

Battle Royale vs. Hunger Games

Ever since the publication of the first book in Suzanne Collins’ THE HUNGER GAMES series, the similarities between that saga and Kinji Fukasaku’s violent 2000 cult film BATTLE ROYALE have been noted and debated by genre fans. Anchor Bay, which will give BATTLE ROYALE its long-awaited official U.S. release next year, knows it, and plans to tie in to the debut of Lionsgate’s much-anticipated HUNGER GAMES movie next March.

via Do you “HUNGER” for “BATTLE ROYALE”?.

Mini-series to Movie Magic

There’s been a bit of a trend over the last decade of short-run British TV mini-series being turned into feature films. One of the early of these British mini-series to be turned to feature film was the six episode series Traffik (1989) that was adapted as the film Traffic (2000).

Traffik presents a global heroin trade that starts in places like Pakistan, winds its way up through Europe and finally ends in the streets of Great Britain.

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