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I have a soft spot in my heart for 1982’s The Dark Crystal which was written and directed by Muppet legend Jim Henson.  It’s a beautiful and wondrous tale and one of the most unique films of it’s time…well not anymore ‘cause there’s gonna’ be a sequel!  Wow, did you hear the cash registers chime?  The Power of the Dark Crystal will attempt to merge the style of the original with CGI and make something new.  Mmm-hmm….I’ll won’t hold my breath.  There may be a silver lining however, even without Jim Henson the original conceptual designer Brian Froud is on board and Ain’t It Cool News is reporting that the studios have decided against Brain Henson behind the director’s chair in favor of Genndy Tartakovsky.  Now what the creator of Samurai Jack might do with the world of The Dark Crystal certainly piques my curiousity.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Power of the Dark Crystal
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(This one’s for Aaron!)  The trailer for Kevin Smith’s latest flick is up and running and I thought we’d share it with you.  Click here for the trailer (Quicktime needed).  Love him or hate him you have to admit Smith has grown quite a cult following and his return to the View Askew Universe with a sequel to his first film, 1994’s Clerks, has been a hopeful sign of him returning to the stories and style of his earlier films (which includes one of my favorite films of all time – Chasing Amy).  While you’re checking out the trailer you also might want to take a peek at the reactions of filmmakers Quentin Tarrantino and Robert Rodriguez who were granted a special early look at the film (click here for their video responses).

The Passion of the Clerks
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The much maligned, delayed, and constantly pushed back Ghost Rider finally has a home site up and running (though the film’s release has once again been pushed back, this time to February 2007).  The film tells the story of Johnny Blaze (played by Nicholas Cage) who makes a deal with the devil in order to protect someone he loves and ends up becoming possessed with a spirit of vengeance now known as Ghost Rider.  Deals with the devil can be tricky buggers; I guess he didn’t read Faust, huh?  Also starring are Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley and Peter Fonda as Mephisto.  Just click on the pic to go to the official site.

Ghost Rider
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Apple’s trailer site now has the full length spot for the upcoming Ron Howard film “The Da Vinci Code”, available in both regular and high definition Quicktime.  Based off Dan Brown’s runaway best seller, the film tackles the motherlode of conspiracy theories: the bloodline of Jesus.  Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany, Alfred Molina, Jean Reno, and Audrey Tautou (the best reason to love the French) star along side a host of other recognizable faces.

The Vatican has already publicly derided the film, but hey..they don’t like anything so that’s no good indication.  I thought the book was a standard issue pot-boiler for all it’s attempts at stirring up controversy.  It’s an interesting subject (and one of much debate), but I can’t imagine Ron Howard will be firing a shot across the bow of Christianity in this climate.  Guess we’ll just have to wait until May to find out, huh?

The Da Vinci Code
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