In the wake of the recent reveal of the “Egg Race” sequence, a few new links and snippets have popped up. Plus two quirky photos of Jason’s photo call in Madrid!

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Who would’ve thought there could be 30 stills’ worth of new information in a 30-second Facebook trailer? Or that a trailer for a 15-rated film could have an 18-rated trailer? Not me, that’s for sure.

Warning: SIGNIFICANT SPOILERS will follow, as well as veritable buckets of blood and various body parts flying about, and most horrifically of all, at least one shot of (gasp) a lady’s chest. Ach, help ma boab!

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Seemed an appropriate teaser image, methinks. Anyway, this trailer happens to show a few shots from the climax of the film, so you might want to be wary of SPOILERS.

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A bearded patron of the Greenock Waterfront Cinema is anxious to know how it all turns out…

After much ado, here’s the analysis of the UK trailer. The reason it had been taking so long as fairly simple: I couldn’t find a decent high-resolution copy of the trailer. However, as the days passed on, I figured it would be better to just use what we have, since the quality’s decent enough that we can tell what’s going on.

There’s going to come a point where these just become redundant. Until then, let’s have a dive in.

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Not as many news pieces this week, but since I’m still having problems with the latest Stills & Analysis post, I figure I have to get something out.

We’ll start off with some disappointing news: a Little Birdie has regrettably announced that Conan’s eyes won’t be blue in this film.

Conan isn’t gonna have blue eyes. They tried using contacts and after that they tried digital effects and go frame by frame to changes Jasons eyes blue. But the effect looked bad. Jason’s dark skin in combo with the “smoldering blue eyes” looked fake. “Like Eddie Murphy in Vampire of Brooklyn” one guy said. So they just went with his regular eye color.

Tremendously disappointing news for those holding out hope on ensuring one of the fundamental hallmarks of Conan’s appearance would make it in the film. What’s more, it suggests future films will probably have to follow suit, which would be even more disappointing. All the more jarring since the love interest and lead villain do have blue eyes.

Luckily, not all the news is so disappointing. Click on, and hopefully we can wash that disappointing aftertaste away.

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There were a couple of articles I neglected to post back in June, so I’ve included them in this roundup, as well as some pictures of Rachel Nichols making funny faces. Gotta have some pictures to spice up the blog, right?

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Reports are flooding in about Mike Goldberg’s interview with Jason Momoa at UFC 132, where Jason appeared to be, ahem, “tired and emotional” (© Private Eye):

- Right after the Leben vs. Silva fight, Mike Goldberg did an unforgettable interview with “Conan The Barbarian” star Jason Momoa. The star was wearing a derby hat which was too small for him, a leather vest with nothing underneath, and was clearly inebriated to the point of falling over. I was embarrassed for the actor, for Mike Goldberg, and for myself, due to the fact that I was even watching what was transpiring. I don’t care how much the movie’s production company was paying to sponsor the event. You’ve got to cut that guy off. It was atrocious.

Ouch. Obviously we don’t have any footage of this interview since UFC 132 is a pay-per-view event (and I didn’t pay for the viewing, so I missed it), but perhaps someone who has seen the event can give a more detailed account of what happened.

Erm, happy 4th of July, everyone!

EDIT: And here we go!

… That’s it? “Inebriated to the point of falling over”? Where in that interview did he look remotely “inebriated to the point of falling over”? He looked a bit tipsy to be sure, but not to the extent of compromising his motor skills.  The way Haggerty was talking gave the impression Momoa was practically legless, and needed support to stand up.  I don’t know much about the effects of various recreational substances, but to me, I think Momoa just looked like a guy having a good time, letting his excitement about one of his “boys” winning in a hard-fought contest get the better of him. He didn’t really act any differently from a particularly emotional sports fan whose team just won. Maybe he had a bit much to drink, maybe he partook in some other substances – but this didn’t look remotely as horrific as Haggerty was implying.

I’ll try and get a transcript up.

Another week, another roundup of information that doesn’t fit anywhere else. Lots of news this week!

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I’ve received an anonymous email from a little birdie (you know, I should probably just use that as a codename) regarding the recent review of Michael A. Stackpole’s Conan the Barbarian novelization – specifically, how closely it reflects the story of the screenplay.

Little Birdie is a Howard fan like myself, and was disappointed we wouldn’t be getting a Howard adaptation. Birdie also wasn’t a fan of the first Donnelly-Oppenheimer screenplay. However, some of what our avian friend had to say was illuminating, and I’m still reeling by how much I don’t hate what I’m hearing.

Dare you brave the Sea of POSSIBLE SPOILERS?

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Crom’s devils, it’s all happening this week! I’m going to be doing a more in-depth analysis when I get time, but for now, I’m going to direct you all to Lagomorph Rex’s extensive overview and review of Michael A. Stackpole’s Conan the Barbarian novelization (naturally, massive spoilers ensue):

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six

Lagomorph Rex has been reviewing just about everything Conan-related in some way at his site Hyborean Apocrypha, mostly reviews of the Ace, Bantam and Tor novels, though he’s started to branch out into the tv show, so he’s certainly well-seasoned when it comes to “Conan the Adjective” fare.

Now, as with every novelization, one should keep in mind that the story in this book will likely be greatly expanded and undoubtedly divergent from the film. There are some pleasant surprises, and some most unpleasant revelations, but if the book reflects changes made to the script since the Donnelly-Oppenheimer edition, I can give it the highest praise possible – it wasn’t quite as horrible as I feared.

Michael A. Stackpole is a true-blue Robert E. Howard fan, and was in fact a member of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association for a period, so his Howard credentials are solid. How much of the Howardian elements are in the film, and how much were added by Stackpole as a heroic attempt to reconcile the film with the original stories, is as yet not clear. Nonetheless, it might be illuminating to read it.

EDIT: Well, here we go. Click on to read my appraisal. Remember, MASSIVE SPOILERS. I’m not kidding, folks.  Spoilers everywhere. I saw one myself – it’s as big as a battleship!

EDIT 3: I’ve received an email from an anonymous source, who claims that although there seem to be a few omissions from the film in the story in the form of set pieces and the like, the novelization does appear to stick fairly close to the shooting script. That’s a pretty good sign.

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