Bradley Cooper as "The Crow," Joss Whedon's "Wonder Woman" and Other Comic Book Movies That Never Were

Nick Nadel is a comedy writer and blogger living in Brooklyn, NYWe're in a golden age of comic book movies right now, where even the most obscure comics (ahem, Cowboys & Aliens) can become blockbusters. But while fans have gotten movie versions of everything from Ghost Rider to Kick-Ass, there are still plenty of comic book movie properties that fall through the cracks. Recently, filmmakers like Joss Whedon and George Miller have spoken up about their failed would-be comic book franchises. Let's take a look at Whedon's Wonder Woman, Bradley Cooper's near performance as The Crow and other comic book movie "might-have-beens." Fans of DC's Amazonian warrior princess had their hopes dashed when Joss Whedon's proposed Wonder Woman flick fell apart several years back. Recently, Whedon revealed some details about his take on the iconic hero. "[Wonder Woman] was a little bit like Angelina Jolie ... she sort of traveled the world," Whedon said. "She was very powerful and very naive about people, and the fact that she was a goddess was how I eventually found my 'in' to her humanity and vulnerability. ... She would look at us and the way we kill each other and the way we let people starve and the way the world is run and she'd just be like, None of this makes sense to me." Whedon added that in his original screenplay, Wonder Woman's romance with Steve Trevor would also help to humanize her. An interesting take on a character that DC has so far failed to get a handle on for the big screen. Of course, Wonder Woman fans' loss is Avengers fans' gain. 
The Crow RebootRecently, concept artwork was released from director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's failed reboot of James O'Barr's enduring goth icon. The planned update was to have starred The Hangover's Bradley Cooper in the role made famous by the late Brandon Lee way back in 1994. But, as with many projects related to the seemingly cursed Crow franchise, Fresnadillo's reboot fell apart once Cooper dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. As evidenced by the concept art, the new Crow would've had something of a Western punk rocker thing going. Diego Latorre's grim drawings (which originally appeared on Shock Till You Drop) are also proof that the jovial Cooper was completely wrong for the Eric Draven role. With The Crow, casting is everything. (Didn't the producers learn anything from Edward Furlong's over-the-top performance in the dreadful fourth film The Crow: Wicked Prayer?) Justice League Remember when Warner Bros. was working on a Justice League movie? Well, director George Miller (Happy Feet) talked to Superhero Hype recently about what happened to Warner/DC's answer to The Avengers. Turns out the 2007 Writer's Guild strike was only part of the problem. "There [were] a whole bunch of complex events," Miller said. "It was the middle of a writers' strike. There was Australian rebate legislation that was required to get the film going. ... It was no one particular's fault that it didn't happen." At one point, the film was ready to go with Adam Brody as the Flash, DJ Cotrona as Superman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Common as Green Lantern, and the then-unknown costar of The Social Network Armie Hammer as Batman. After the project fell apart, Miller went on to work with Common in the upcoming Happy Feet 2. As for Justice League, it's sadly still languishing in development hell while Avengers rockets toward the big screen.
Throughout the '90s, Avatar guru Cameron tried for years to get a Spider-Man film off the ground, only to face a protracted legal battle between defunct studio Carolco and various other parties that was more epic than a Green Goblin-Peter Parker face-off. Last year, Cameron's illustrated script treatment surfaced, providing a peek at what might have been. Featuring Electro and Sandman as the primary villains, copious profanity, and a racy Peter-Mary Jane sex scene, Cameron's take on Marvel's wacky wallcrawler was far more mature than Sam Raimi's 2002 film. One element that remained from Cameron's treatment? Those divisive organic webshooters. So feel free to blame James Cameron for that one.  Before bouncing back with Superman Returns and Batman Begins, DC's top superheroes floundered throughout the late '90s and early '00s. Everything from a third Joel Schumacher film (tentatively titled Batman Triumphant) featuring Scarecrow and Harley Quinn to an adaptation of the Batman Year One comic helmed by Darren Aronofsky was considered for the Caped Crusader, while Superman projects were tackled by the likes of Tim Burton and McG. (Who could forget Nic Cage's bizarre Superman costume that leaked a while back?) At some point, Warner Bros. just gave up and decided to combine the two franchises for the ultimate superhero smackdown. Director Wolfgang Petersen was attached to the project but eventually left to make Troy. The story found Superman battling a Batman who was driven to the edge by the deaths of Robin, Alfred, and Commissioner Gordon. (Of course, they eventually team up to take down Lex Luthor and Joker.) The strange project, which also involved Joker killing Batman's fiancée and Clark Kent dating Lana Lang, ended up being referenced in the least likely place -- as a fake movie poster in I Am Legend's post-apocalyptic Times Square. (Legend screenwriter Akiva Goldsman also worked on Batman Vs. Superman.)

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The 10 Best Closing Songs in Movies

is Filmcritic.com's features editor.A great final scene can stay with you long after a film's over. And when it's paired with a great closing song, well, that can stay with you forever.

Herewith, our list of the top 10 best movie closing songs.

10. Rushmore: "Ooh La La," The Faces   
For a quirky, bittersweet movie about a precocious school boy and his unconventional friendship with an older businessman (Bill Murray), nothing could capture the mood better than this nostalgic 1973 song. At the heart of Rushmore is an unrequited love story, and this wistful sound permeates the final scene, where Max (Jason Schwartzman) proves he's moved past his crush but his eyes still burn and time slows down when he meets Rosemary (Olivia Williams) on the dance floor. 

Key Lyric: "I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger."

9. Good Will Hunting: "Miss Misery," Elliott Smith
As Will Hunting (Matt Damon) takes off in his Chevy to California, having decided to pursue the girl instead of settling down and accepting a new job, Elliott Smith's poignant song accompanies him as he literally drives off into the sunset.

Key Lyric: "I know you'd rather see me gone/Than to see me the way that I am/But I am in the life anyway."

8. The Matrix: "Wake Up," Rage Against the Machine
"I know you're afraid of us, afraid of change," Neo says. Flash to a systems failure in the matrix, then to him taking off in flight from a crowded city street, then to a black screen just as the hard-driving opening chords and angry lyrics start up.

Key Lyric: "I'll give ya a dose/But it'll never come close/To the rage built up inside of me/Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy."

7. Flashdance: "Flashdance ... What a Feeling," Irene Cara
Alex (Jennifer Beals) finally gets the big audition at the dance conservatory, despite her lack of training and her day job as a steel welder. And what does she do? Dance her heart out, astounding the staid old dance judges, and then run out the door, naturally. The song is so closely associated with the movie, they even share a name.

Key Lyric: "I can have it all, now I'm dancing for my life/Take your passion/And make it happen."

6. Harold and Maude: "Trouble," Cat Stevens
For such a quiet movie, the ending is pretty dramatic, as clips of the death-obsessed Harold (Bud Cort) driving his car at top speed toward a cliff are intercut with scenes from the hospital as he gets the news that Maude (Ruth Gordon) has died. The build-up of the song and the denouement are perfectly synced. And then of course it switches to the more upbeat "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out," and we see that Harold ditched the car and is happily strumming his banjo.

Key Lyric: "Trouble/Oh trouble set me free/I have seen your face/And it's too much too much for me."

5. The Breakfast Club: "Don't You Forget About Me," Simple Minds
As the kids go their separate ways, with their lessons about themselves and each other ready to transform all their school days ahead -- or not, depending on how you like to imagine it -- we hear the strains of Simple Minds' anthemic song. And who could forget Bender (Judd Nelson) strutting off and giving that fist pump?

Key Lyric: "Will you recognize me?/Call my name or walk on by?"

4. Beetlejuice: "Jump in the Line," Harry Belafonte
A Tim Burton movie that actually has a happy ending! Well, if you consider a loner teenage girl finding acceptance with her surrogate ghost parents while her unsatisfactory real parents live in the same haunted house a happy ending. When Lydia (Winona Ryder) gets an A on her math test, Adam and Barbara (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) reward her by staging a little floating dance party, complete with dead-football-player backup dancers, to this jumpin' calypso song.

Key Lyric: "Shake, shake, shake, Senora, shake it all the time."

3. Ferris Bueller's Day Off: "Oh Yeah," Yello
Charming movie about a high school boy's charmed life. After a nearly perfect day of free-spirited fun, Ferris (Matthew Broderick) leans back in bed, puts his hands behind his head and says, "Yup, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." The satisfied little smile creeping up on his lips is perfectly punctuated: "Oh yeah..."

Key Lyric: There aren't a whole lot of 'em; the title's the most notable one.

2. The Graduate: "The Sounds of Silence," Simon & Garfunkel
In the dramatic finale, Ben (Dustin Hoffman) bursts into stop Elaine (Katharine Ross) from getting married, then takes her away with him ... on the bus. They run to the back, sit on the bench and then realize that they have to figure out what to do next. The silence between them is profound, as is the song.

Key Lyric: "Hello darkness, my old friend/I've come to talk with you again."

1. Monty Python's Life of Brian: "Look on the Bright Side of Life," Eric Idle
This absurdly optimistic ditty is made more so by the context, as our hero (Graham Chapman) is strung up on a crucifix alongside his condemned fellows -- one of whom (Eric Idle) starts singing and whistling. It's the perfect close to the Monty Python classic. Of the entire Python repertoire -- and there were plenty of memorable songs -- this remains an all-time favorite.

Key Lyric: "When you're chewing on life's gristle/Don't grumble, give a whistle/And this'll help things turn out for the best."

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Money For Reviews - Get Paid to Review Movies

Before I begin I'd like to ask you a few questions, just answer them in your head. First of all, how many movies do you think you have watched in your life time? Second, how many hours did you waste on boring, uninteresting, unoriginal, poorly thought, just downright BAD movies? Well it makes sense there are so many movie reviewers, since there is such a high demand for quality movie reviews, because of the never ending supply of poorly written, directed, etc. movies. I've been getting paid to write movie reviews since I was 16, and honestly I got paid pennies writing for newspapers and magazines than I'm getting now. How? Publishing the reviews my self, on the internet.

Everyone knows where the moneys at: the internet. What everyone doesn't know, is how do you take advantage of this? How do you make a dime on the net, there are so many frauds and scams, you can't find any legitimate way to earn online. How can you get paid to review movies?

The Big Picture: Every time I surf over to websites that allow users to post there own personal movie reviews, and I see hundreds (sometime thousands) of reviews posted for any given movie, I get a good belly laugh. A lot of these articles are high quality, insightful, well written reviews. With a descent understanding of article marketing, these reviewers could be making a KILLING off this talent. But because no one has told them about it, and they haven't bothered to run a quick Google search, they are getting ziltch for something that could literally be there primary source of income.

Getting paid good money for your movie reviews isn't about the way you write them or on what movies you write about. It's about where you post them, it's about applying article marketing principles. Article marketing is a mixture of SEO (Search Enginge Optimization), simple internet marketing, and just plain resourcefulness. The idea is, your reviews will get indexed on Google for terms like "[Insert Movie Here] Review." So for example you write a review for Hellboy 2, and you apply the article marketing techniques, and you see some descent results. Your article "Hellboy 2 Review" gets indexed on the third spot, so when someone searches for "Hellboy 2 review" your article is right in front of there eyes.

This article in this scenario, will probably earn about 250$/month until Hellboy 2 is no longer in theatres, once it hits DVD the article will make roughly 100$/month, and after that it will make about 40-50$/month.

As you can see, you could make hundreds, sometimes thousands of a single well written review.

The Facts

Who's paying me?

The owners of these movies! After every review you leave an affiliate link, this is simply a URL that has your user name embedded. If someone purchases some movie tickets for that movie, you get a commission. If you rated the movie poorly, simply leave a second link for a movie that you would recommend instead.

Is this going to cost me anything?

Nope, your reviews are submitted to article banks and blogging sites such as EzineArticles or Squidoo.

Do I need my own website?

No. Again, you will be submitting these to blogging services and article submission websites.

How much can I expect to earn?

Well that all depends on you, and how much time your willing to invest, and how seriously you wish to take it. Even a poorly written review will make at least 20 - 30$ per month. Pump out 10 reviews in a day, and at the minimum you added 300$ to your monthly income.

Article marketing is your key to success in the field of paid movie reviews. It's literally the only way to go, unless you get a job working for a national newspaper, this is the highest paying way to get paid for movie reviews.

Want to get paid top dollar for your movie reviews? Grab this Free Guide on article marketing that will show you the ins and outs of article marketing.

Brainbox Quizmaster Movies Quiz Game for iPhone Review

Brainbox Quizmaster Movies Quiz Game for iPhone is a great game which explores the extraordinary world of movies.

There are films that we fall in love with, older ones or newer ones, actors and actresses that have became our idols. Who didn't have posters with actors in the childhood? Or who didn't dream of becoming the next big actor by watching TV at an early age?

Have fun learning more about this industry with huge amounts of questions and answers about actors and actresses, movies, directors and famous quotes. Do you know which movie character said: "You talking to me?" To whom? In what movie? And what was the name of the actor? Indulge in your passion for films and share it with your friends with a little help from Professor Brainbox.

The main features of the game are:

- Ten of thousands of questions in total about movies, studios, actors and actresses, as well as famous quotes from the world of film

- Three different difficulty levels from beginner to movie-buff

- Ten multi-player modes including team and competitive play

- Ten single player modes including Adaptive Challenge, In a Rush and Error Switch

If you know cartain facts about the movies industry will help you manage better the acquisitions for your favourite DVD's and tickets to the movies. Also can be an extraordinary resource to share it with your friends and family by playing it or just using the information gathered. If you think of competing in TV quiz shows where the prizes are important usually, you can use this game as training tool.

Mobile games are in a high development and will be in the next years as effect of the globalisation of use for the mobile phones. Sooner or later you will play games on your mobile phone if you didn't start this already. It is only up to you which games you will play and if this will be time well spent or wasted. Maybe you will need to write for a magazine in the future and through this you will need specialised info to enrich your articles. Or maybe you will want to enter in an affiliate network specialised in home entertainment products. Who knows? The truth is that such knowledge can be useful both in professional and leisure situations. Or maybe you will start a specialised website? Do you see how many lucrative ideas can come up just from a game?

Next, if you want to learn more about Brainbox Quizmaster Movies for iPhone or about the whole Brainbox Quizmaster Series [http://www.newgameoutlet.eu] you are invited to visit this link [http://www.newgameoutlet.eu].

Surfing For Movies: Renting Movies Online

Did you know renting movies online has become more popular in recent years? The average cost of seeing a movie in a theater has nearly doubled; therefore, many people have chosen to take the alternative approach--renting movies instead.

Renting movies from the video store is still common; however, it doesn't offer the same convenience as renting movies online. First, you must drive all the way to the store. And once you get there, you're faced with the possibility of not finding exactly what you're looking for. Then, after searching for what seems like hours (and sometimes is), you may find yourself waiting in long check-out lines.

If that weren't enough, try forgetting your account number or ID. Now you may experience a lengthy interrogation process, or worse, if you haven't rented anything in a while, you may be expected to take some extra time to re-apply for new membership.

On top of all this, there's the late fees should you either forget to bring the movies back or the car breaks down, leaving you without transportation and unable to return the movies. Either way, just one or two days can quickly add up.

On the other hand, with online rental companies, there's no driving. They also offer a wider selection of movies to choose from, quickly and easily. After signing up for their service, you simply log on and browse through the selections, which are usually listed in both genres and sub-genres. Choose your movie and that's it.

And as a bonus, with every selection, there's the option of checking current reviews. No more long searches, no more long lines, no more unexpected hassles, and best of all, no more late fees. In fact, most of the leading online movie rental companies such as Netflix and Blockbuster online, have no due date or late fee worries.

You should, however, do your homework, researching these online companies thoroughly. Look out for and be aware of the fine print. There may be some of the smaller online rental companies out there charging up to $1.50 per movie for additional viewing.

Along with the convenience of renting a movie from the comfort of your home is the cost. With various payment options that suit nearly any budget or individual viewing habits, you are pretty much guaranteed to find something meeting your needs. You can rent a single movie at a time or get a monthly plan, which can include up to 3 or 4 movies out at a time. Many of the online rental companies also offer free trial periods with monthly membership fees as low as $15. Even better, with competition booming, lower prices are inevitable. Considering the fact that you may already be spending $20 or more per month on movies or the fact that postage is paid both ways, online movie rentals can be quite a bargain.

For even more convenience, there's also the option of creating a wish list, or queue, to keep the movies coming. Once a movie is returned, another from the list is sent out as they become available. Email confirmation is sent both ways as well. Of course, as with any business or service, there may be downsides. Unless you're a new member, some of the new releases may be harder to come by. Most of the availability is dependent on the returns from other members. Also, unlike video stores, you don't get to view movies right away. Most online movie rentals are delivered within 1-3 business days, and depending on availability, viewing the top movies on your wish list may not happen as soon as you would like. DVDs can also get easily scratched or damaged from continual handling through the mail.

All in all, however, the good far outweighs the bad. Renting a movie online offers something neither a theater nor video store can--convenience at a reasonable price, no long lines and no late fees.

This article was written by Nikki Phipps and sponsored by Compare Best DVD Rentals Website [http://www.compare-best-dvd.com] where you can compare the features of many different DVD rental companies. Reproductions of this article are encouraged but must include a live link back to [http://www.compare-best-dvd.com]

Why Are Some Movies Released Direct to DVD?

No Budget

Quite frankly, it costs a lot to promote a theatrical release. While technology has revolutionised low-budget film making, it's done nothing to overcome the costs of actually promoting and releasing a film in theatres. When you consider that movies like last year's wildly popular low-budget hit, Paranormal, are made with little more than $10,000, but that it takes tens of millions to promote and release them, it's easy to see why some studios and producers simply don't - or can't - bother with a theatrical release.

Distribution Contract

With so many blockbusters coming out these days, it can be hard to get a distribution contract for a movie that has low income expectations.

Small Target Audience

Some movies are simply more profitable if they cut out the marketing and distribution expenses and go straight to DVD. For example, Disney has become the king of profitable straight-to-DVD releases. They know their market, and they know parents would rather buy the newest sequel than sit through it in a theatre.

Too Much Competition

These days, when a themed movie makes big money, other studios are all too quick to jump on the bandwagon, which can make it hard for smaller movies of the same genre to compete. Also, blockbusters are frequently rescheduled, and such an event may mean that a previously scheduled smaller release will suffer for having to share its date. It only makes sense then that theatres are reluctant to take on a movie that they know will be low grossing. If a studio knows that their movie is not going to be able to compete, then their only options are 1) to further delay its release in hopes of finding a better date, or 2) to release it to DVD and avoid the expense of a theatrical release altogether. As any movie insider knows, a poorly grossing film (even if it's received good reviews) can be the kiss of death it's for actors, director and writers.

Last Ditch Effort

Whether it's the earlier mentioned difficulties with competition, getting a good distribution contract or legal woes that prevent a movie from being released in theatres as originally planned, if complications have shelved a completed movie for more than two years the studio almost always releases it straight to DVD just to get it out there and cut their losses.

Direct to DVD Heroes

The world of movies is becoming increasingly more competitive, to the point that straight-to-DVD releases are no longer an option reserved for low budget bombs. Even big earners like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Gerard Butler have seen some of their recent projects go direct to DVD. Of course any cult classic fan knows that a movie can survive without a theatrical release. Take for example Boondock Saints. Its huge cult following recently earned it a sequel that was released worldwide a full ten years after the original went straight to VHS.

You can find all the latest DVD's at BigPond DVD Rental and get all the latest movie news.