Howard fans of Newport Beach and the surrounding area intrigued by news of Michael J. Bassett’s divisive interpretation of Solomon Kane will get a chance to see it, as the film will be shown at the 2010 Newport Beach Film Festival.

Here’s the blurb from the official site, though be warned, there are some substantial spoilers therein:

When English Captain Solomon Kane and his band of pillagers decide to attack a mysterious castle in Northern Africa to plunder its rumored riches, his mission to protect his homeland takes a fateful turn. One by one, Kane’s men are picked off by demonic creatures until he alone is left to face the Devil’s own Reaper — dispatched from the depths of Hell to lay claim to his hopelessly corrupt soul. Though Kane at last manages to escape, he knows that he now must redeem himself by renouncing violence and devoting himself wholly to a life of peace and purity. After Kane fails to thwart the brutal slaughter of the Crowthorns, a Puritan family that has befriended him, he vows to find and free their enslaved daughter Meredith; even if it means jeopardizing his own soul by re-embracing his murderous talents for a higher cause. His determined search eventually brings him face to face with his family’s own deadly secrets as he attempts to save Meredith and all of England from the forces of evil.

Anyone interested can make for the 5:45 PM Saturday screening at Screen 4 of the Edwards Island cinema on 24th April, or go for the 8:30 PM Sunday screening at the Regency South Coast Village Theater on 25th April.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, it now appears the screening has been cancelled. The eruptions of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull is responsible: with no HD or 35mm copies of the film in the United States and Bassett himself stranded in the UK, it appears the wrath of Eyjafjallajökull, which has caused so much trouble over the past few weeks, has spread beyond the fall of its ash.

Generally, there are many ways one can approach the iconic Medusa of Greek Mythology. The Gorgoneion was an apotropaic amulet of the Ancient Greeks, usually depicting a tusked, snarling, bestial face leering below a mass of writhing snakes. This form was also depicted in the Athenian aspis pictured above. Others take the serpentine approach, depicting her with an ophidian tail, scales, scutes, horns and other fearsome features, such as in Ray Harryhausen’s Clash of the Titans. Most recently, Medusa appeared in the infamous video game God of War, where she sports cobras for hair and razor-sharp claws: though her face is not quite as monstrous, she still bears fangs and a somewhat mean expression. However, the exact last approach I’d go for–indeed, the polar opposite of the mythic creature’s entire being–in a remake of Clash of the Titans is a face that elicits the response “she’s absolutely gorgeous.”

This is probably the most potent example of just how much of a colossal disaster Clash of the Titans is–and what’s most worrying of all is how the mistakes made here could so easily happen in “Conan.” I’m going to warn now that the plot of the film–and that of “Conan”–will be dissected, destroyed and defenestrated forthwith, though frankly, if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve pretty much seen the whole film anyway. (Continue reading this post)

This Cimmerian blog entry is a bit out of the ordinary. Following Damon C. Sasser’s recent post on the REH:Two-Gun Raconteur blog, fellow blogger Al Harron and myself both started to work on articles about proposed Howardian movies. Thus, instead of posting two blog entries with some overlap, we decided to revive the Auld Alliance and to provide a joint entry. Hence, this piece is a collaborative effort, co-signed by Alexander Harron and Miguel Martins.

The film purportedly based on REH’s mighty-thewed “Dark Barbarian” from Cimmeria has begun shooting in Bulgaria, but sadly, the positive news on the Conan project provided by Patrice Louinet tends to be drowned in a miasma of depressing, outrageous and otherwise unpleasant news. Damon Sasser was the messenger of doom last week, as he brought a number of upcoming Paradox projects to our attention.

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Given my interest in the development of the “Conan” movie (not for the film itself, you know, but mostly because it’s going to be introducing a lot of people to Robert E. Howard, and it’ll be important to know ahead of time what’s coming) I was eager to delve into May 2010′s Empire, a British film magazine of great esteem and popularity. Within was “Conan the Unmade,” a seven-page article on the history of Robert E. Howard “adaptations” on the big screen. However, I was not expecting a pleasant surprise: REH legend Rusty Burke graced the magazine with his presence.

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Taking a break from the Rumour Mill of Pain, we have some more official news regarding the upcoming “Conan” project. Once again, it is Fantasy.fr which gets an intriguing scoop on the film. Of particular interest is the fact that REH scholar Patrice Louinet has seen Jason Momoa as “Conan.” What does he think?

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My take on John Milius is ambivalent. I greatly enjoyed his films The Wind & The Lion and Red Dawn, as well as his scriptwriting in Apocalypse Now and Saving Private Ryan. “Rough Riders” was a contributing factor in granting Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor, and I share a similar level of awe for the 26th President of the United States. Quint’s unforgettable and haunting monologue in Jaws is frequently attributed to Milius, and his involvement with one of the finest pieces of popular cinema cements his status in cinematic history. Then again, he was also involved in the abysmal 1941, and a reading of the King Conan: Crown of Iron draft screenplay left me worried that a prospect film would be in danger of becoming the Matrix Reloaded of the Conan the Barbarian mythos.

So Conan the Barbarian leaves me somewhat conflicted for various reasons. However, I do share one sentiment with him: nobody wants to see a remake of Conan the Barbarian.

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George R.R. Martin has announced on his Not A Blog that Ted Nasmith is producing the art for the 2011 Song of Ice and Fire calendar.

Nasmith is probably best-known for his work depicting Middle Earth and is esteemed as one of the very best of the artists working in Tolkien’s world.

The HBO series A Game of Thrones will — as film tends to do —  “set” the image of Westeros for many readers of Martin’s epic. It will be interesting to see how much the film-makers draw on Nasmith’s imagery.

Courtesy of Anastasia on the Robert E. Howard Forum, we finally have some news on Solomon Kane’s DVD release. Any Howard fans across the pond itching to see Bassett’s controversial pastiche will get their chance on the 28th of June, 2010. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that a theatrical release will be happening, robbing those Howard fans of the chance to see the Man from Cross Plains’ name up on the big screen, an experience that was worth the time alone, in my opinion.

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Last time, on Rumour Mill of Pain: I mused on the possibility of Rose McGowan being cast in the “Conan” film, as well as being dismayed at the casting of Ron Perlman in yet another film that doesn’t deserve his time. Well, something seems to be very wrong here, for there is a possibility of something positive happening on the “Conan” film front.

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Those TC readers who have bothered to check the links I’ve posted in my ERB-related entries probably already suspect that I hold Bill Hillman’s ERBzine website in high regard. Such suspicions would not be unfounded. Mr. Hillman hath builded a mighty temple to the Lord of Tarzana that hangs amidst the æther in erudite splendor. 

This last January, Bill presented to his readership a most excellent symposium betwixt two major Edgar Rice Burroughs fans: Richard Lupoff and Michael Chabon. Mr. Lupoff, a long-time Friend of The Cimmerian, authored the first serious look at ERB and his works, Master of Adventure, as well as editing ERB volumes for Canaveral Press. Michael Chabon (a past recipient of the Pulitzer Prize) is on record as being a fan of of Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber. In his ERBzine interview (conducted by Lupoff), Chabon reveals his life-long love for the fiction of Burroughs.

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