Norrington to write & direct The Crow reboot?

So says this story reported in Variety (click on link).

Not sure what I think about this folks. I still think a SinCity style of film done, with an emphasis on being a faithful adaptation of the graphic novel, is to me, the logical and ONLY way to restart the franchise. I am going to see if I can dig into this a bit more.

Rochelle Davis confirmed for Scarefest08 and Croween 2K8 News

Reminder that Croween2K8 ramps up the 1st of August. Go to the Crowfans website or MySpace site for details.



Rochelle Davis (Sarah from the first Crow film) will be part of a panel during Scarefest08 in Orlando (image above from last year's program). Check out the site later in the year for details as they are added. In the mean time, click here for list of known guests.

Thanks to Frank for the heads up on Rochelle. We are pulling together all the questions sent in for her and will get those forwarded on.

A "murder" of Crow related news

Hey folks, hope your summer has been a good one so far. As you can tell by the lack of updates, I have been busy. But not too busy to catch THE best ever comic to film of all time, The Dark Knight. You gotta check out this movie, it is fantastic.

OK, on to Crow news. I mostly have fan-related stuff to report. Since the official creative forces have gone to sleep for The Crow, we, the fans, have carried forward creating some great stuff. David J. from over at Crowcoll has alerted me to some really cool fan-based stuff.

First off, A.J. has created another fantastic Crow-inspired video on his site. You need to check out the latest entitled "The Crow: Descent", way too cool!

Are you into Crow art? Here is a link to a site that is doing some crazy sick stuff with movie posters, to include The Crow.

Finally the folks over at Maximummetal.com have taken the 1994 movie "The Crow" and synched it with Queensryche's "Rage for Order" (1986). This is some wild stuff that you have got to read to believe.

Thanks again to David J. for heads up on all the above stuff. As I said, it is the fanbase which is keeping the flame going for The Crow. I still hold out hope that franchise we all love is brought back to life much like Batman and Halloween have over the last few years.

Our good friend Jamie Christopherson (composer of the score for The Crow: Wicked Prayer), has a lot of updates on his site. He has been a busy man, check out some of his latest work.

Finally, don't forget that Frank is gathering the troops and pulling together Croween 2k8. Start working on those ideas right now. I have been asked to be a judge once again and this year, I am going to really be looking for some originality. The thing I hear most from fellow fans about the official projects is "I can do better than that." Well prove it! Lets see how creative you can get this year.

I hope everyone is doing well. Take care & God bless.

View THE CROW: STAIRWAY to HEAVEN online!

All of the episodes of THE CROW: STAIRWAY to HEAVEN are availabe on Hulu! Huge thanks to Kelley B. for getting these up. The quality is excellent. The episodes are easy to access, with episode synopsis and feedback area. Thanks to Frank for the alert on this. If you were not able to find the boxed set (it was never in Wal-Mart) this is a great opportunity to be able to revisit the series whenever you want.

The Wicked Prayer revisited

This is what I said then (condensed as this was my longest review ever).............

Well, after much waiting and build up, the film delivered the goods for me. Having followed the film for so long, reading all the scripts, etc, I had built up this image of the film in my head which frankly, I thought couldn't be matched. That image was not only met, it was surpassed. This is a more than worthy addition to the Crow franchise and one I feel a majority of the fan base will embrace. My only regret about the film is that it will not see a much deserved full fledged theatrical release. It is high quality work and it is a shame that a film like this is not given its just due, especially in light of the films that HAVE been given a theatrical releases of late that absolutely tanked at the box office.

4 Crows

What I say now................

Boy was I wrong when I said that "one I feel a majority of the fan base will embrace". I should have said this was a Crow film that like-minded fans would embrace. This is the film that basically soured me on the franchise as a whole. Not the film itself, but the absolute mean-spirited nature of the reviews from print/net critics and, to me at the time, the absolute short sightedness of fans. Some time has passed since my bitterness toward the fan base boiled over. I have come to the realization that I was too close to this project. I had insight that many didn't and wouldn't ever have. There was a good amount of emotional context that didn't make it from the script to the film, but unlike the average fan, I had insight to so was able to put the pieces together easier. There is no way I can view this film without all of that context therefore have no way of being able to see it as someone who totally disdains it sees it. I do think the film proved that the fan base as a whole was stuck on one thing; the first movie. For better or worse everything from the first film is burned into fan's consciousness and can't be removed. I will go down with my guns blazing defending Wicked Prayer. It has a few hiccups, such as some of the worse dialog ever created for a character (El Nino, played by Dennis Hopper). But all in all, in my opinion, this film hit the core of what O'Barr's comic featured. Not only that, it featured a storyline I could all too identify with. I thought the blurring of lines between good and evil as well as having two righting of wrongs missions going on, parallel and in conflict, were a fantastic new element. I just watched this again recently and still feel it is the best film since the first one. I rated it 4 Crows originally and I stick by that rating.

The DVD release of Wicked Prayer was and is, for me, the best Crow DVD release of the 4 films. We have 4 commentary tracks from the director, producer, star and composer of the film. We have a comprehensive making of feature, deleted scenes, composer profile, etc. The film may have been a direct to video venture, but the quality of the images and sounds as well as extras gives the buyer their money's worth and then some. Unlike the previous 3 film's DVD's, I have no complaints here. My only complaint is that Jamie Christopherson's excellent score was never released. It is haunting and beautiful.

To see my full review of the film go here.

Rochelle Davis interview

As you know, Frank has kept up contact with Rochelle Davis since we learned of all the legal issues she was going through last year. As we reported last week, she is on the road to getting her life back on track. Frank contacted Rochelle recently about doing an interview. She has agreed! We want to solicit questions from fellow fans to ask her (to be approved by her manager of course). So we need you to get those questions in to me at aboyandhisbird@gmail.com . We will use as many questions as we can. This is going to be a great opportunity for fans to catch up with one of the most beloved actors/actresses from the first film.

The Crow: Salvation revisited

Here we are with our 3rd revisit, The Crow: Salvation

What I said then..........

We first see Alex in his cell, playing chess with his lawyer and awaiting the walk to the execution chamber. Eric Mabius does a great job conveying the emotions of his impending doom and his frustration in not apprehending the real killer of his girlfriend. His focus is more on this failure than his impending execution. This establishes his love for Erin Randall and shows us his motivation for coming back while creating a connection with the audience before his death. This is a new twist for "The Crow" movies. Previously, we were not introduced to the title character before his death. Eric Mabius neither looks nor acts like his predecessors. There is much irony and wry glee in what Eric's character is doing. Mabius' intense eyes add to the unsettling image of his Irony scared face smiling at his enemies (Alex's face is burned by the helmet he wears during his execution, giving him the famous "clown from hell" look). I found Kirsten Dunst believable and genuine. Fred Ward is his usual feisty self. One observation I had was that the characters in this film are more realistic than the cartoon figures of previous Crow movies. The characters in "Salvation" are more identifiable with people with which we have everyday contact. Even the title character is not decked out in the "gothic" attire of the past. All of the soundtrack songs are appropriately placed in the movie. A prime example of this is the song "Antihistamine" by Tricky. It perfectly enhances the tone of the scene it is in. The ending is a vast improvement over that of COA's and is very satisfying. The new director, Baharat Nalluri, brings some innovative visual elements to Salvation, such as a new Crow-vision style, as well as other personal touches. All of these changes, as well as the previously discussed story elements, helped to make Salvation a very enjoyable viewing experience for me.

Overall rating 3 1/2 Crows

What I say today...........

This film has kind of been an up and down enjoyment for me. We were pretty active in the promotion of the film back in 1999/2000. So there was a personal connection to the film. This film had an air of controversy in that Dimension strung Pressman and Most along making them think it would get a theatrical release. It received only one release, in Spokane, Washington. Hardly a true testing ground for the film especially given the very minimal promotion it was given. The star and producers had to literally walk the streets handing out posters since no real promotion was being done by the studio. In the end, there was no intent for this film to be released theatrical. It's sole purpose was to be shot so they would have a 3rd film for a boxed DVD set. The cast and crew, despite all of that, rose above that and gave us a worthy addition to the Crow franchise. I have gone through periods where my enjoyment of Salvation has waned. But today I can say it is definitely a fun movie to watch. It is different from the first two in that it has a "normal" element about it. They tried to get away from a lot of the otherworldly aspects of the first two and they do that successfully. The score is my least favorite of the 4 films, but it works for what it is intended to be. The soundtrack is packed with some very good songs, though at times it seems they are trying to get every single one of the songs into the movie and it hops from soundtrack or score and never seems to have any quiet moments. The movie brought in a new element of mystery to the franchise and that was a welcome change. I think the mystery is a bit deluded though in that every step is easy to figure out. Were it me, I would have gone a different route and pointed to the Capt as the main bad guy but then pulled a switch on the audience and revealed it was Alex's lawyer that was pulling the strings. Mabius put a lot into this film, especially post production. He made himself available for every possible promotional venture. The film was shown at the 2000 Dragon Con and received overall positive responses. It ended up going on to be the highest selling action direct to video title of 2000.

I would say 3 1/2 Crows is still a spot on opinion today.

The Collector's DVD release of the film gave us a very good commentary track with the director, star, composer, producer and production design lead chiming in. It was the most complete commentary of the first 3 films. The other extras are short, but informative (the "making of" is disappointingly very short). As with the other two films that are part of the boxed set, there is a script DVD rom feature that is very nice. Would be great to see this on Blu Ray when/if that happens. You can read my full review of the DVD here.