Trailer watch: John Carter

OK, I admit: This first trailer for John Carter -- set to open March 9, 2012 at theaters and drive-ins everywhere -- appeals to my inner geek. But did I miss something, or have the folks at Walt Disney decided to downplay the movie's literary source? I mean, it's based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars novels, right? So what's with the bland movie title? Shouldn't the Disney brass be afraid that some folks will buy tickets expecting to see Noah Wyle back in the emergency room?

Princess Avatar?

Here's the latest from the folks who gave us Snakes on a Train and Transmorphers. Note the ad copy: "The classic story that inspired James Cameron's Avatar." Oh, really? Do the folks at the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate know about that?

R.I.P.: Herman Brix (a.k.a. Bruce Bennett), 1906-2007

When F. Scott Fitzgrerald claimed there are no second acts in American lives, he surely could not have conceived of anyone like Herman Brix, the Olympian-turned actor whose 1935 portrayal of Tarzan impressed no less demanding a critic than Edgar Rice Burroughs himself. A few years after essaying the Lord of the Jungle, however, Brix took drastic steps to avoid typecasting -- he changed his name to Bruce Bennett, then launched himself as an actor all over again. And then, after two decades or so of appearing in movies as diverse as The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Dark Passage, he dropped out of acting and went into private business. And then, seven years later, he resumed working as a character actor in movies and TV. He passed away Saturday at the ripe young age of 100.