NEWSCHUNKS for 05.30.09

NEW DOCTOR WHO COMPANION REVEALED: The BBC has announced that Karen Gillan, a young actress who previously had a smallish role in the fourth season Doctor Who episode The Fires of Pompeii alongside current Doctor David Tennant, will return as a full-time co-star when Matt Smith takes over the role of the Doctor in the upcoming season. Steven Moffat, the show's incoming lead writer and Executive Producer, commented on Gillan's hiring: "We saw some amazing actresses for this part, but when Karen came through the door the game was up. Funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy. Or Scottish, which is the quick way of saying it. A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too."

KILLER REVIEWS FOR DRAG ME TO HELL: Sam Raimi became famous for directing the cheesy and fantastically entertaining Evil Dead pictures, and reviews suggest his new horror movie Drag Me to Hell is a terrific return to his roots. Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman writes that "Raimi has made the most crazy, fun, and terrifying horror movie in years." The Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey gushes that "Raimi's Drag Me to Hell does everything we want a horror film to do: It is fearsomely scary, wickedly funny and diabolically gross." "As in the best horror movies," writes the Washington Post's Dan Kois," Drag Me to Hell keeps the audience on the edge of hysteria throughout, so that every thump sets the heart racing and every joke earns a slightly out-of-control laugh."

ALIEN PREQUEL CONFIRMED: It seems those Alien prequel rumors are true, with Tony Scott telling Collider, "Yes, Carl Rinsch is going to do the prequel to Alien. He’s one of our directors at our company." He also said the film could start filming as soon as the end of this year. At least a prequel sounds a lot more promising than a remake of the 1979 original. You don't tamper with horrible, gut-bursting perfection.

S. CLAY WILSON IMPROVING, DRAWING AGAIN: Late last year legendary underground comix artist S. Clay Wilson was seriously injured when he fell while walking home drunk. (It's not known if he simply passed out and fell, or if he was assaulted.) He was in the ICU for a week, and suffered brain damage severe enough that he couldn't hold conversations and was unable to draw. Fortunately, OregonLive now reports that he's recovering well and recently drew some pages for an issue of Zap Comix due to be released this summer.

WESLEY EURE SENDS NICE EMAIL TO BLOGGER: This is incredibly self-indulgent, but what the hell. Wesley Eure, "Will Marshall" from the original Land of the Lost, sent me a short, really nice response after I emailed him a link to this post. That's right, I got a freakin' email from Wesley from Land of the Lost! And you didn't! It turns out Eure's actually had a pretty varied and interesting career, beyond his teenage days running away from dinosaurs on maybe the best TV show ever. He starred in a few movies (ranging from the kiddie flick C.H.O.M.P.S. to the gory, drive-in hit The Toolbox Murders,) was on Days of Our Lives for eight years, hosted hit shows for NBC, Fox and Nickelodeon, co-created PBS' Dragon Tails, wrote the children's book The Red Wings of Christmas (illustrated by Ron "Horshack" Paolillo!) and co-wrote and directed the campy vampire stage musical Bite Me! He also has his own blog, so click on over there to see what Wesley's up to next. (When you look all around, you won't believe the things you've found...)

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