[Books]

Amazon did a great job getting us on our feet when it recently announced it was coming out with an international version of the Kindle electronic book reader. Readers outside the United States have long wanted to get their hands on the most popular e-reader today, and it would seem that the wait will be over in October 19. Well, for most of us, at least.

Possibly the biggest buzz-kill of the season, Amazon surprisingly isn't offering the international Kindle in some of the biggest markets in the world -- Canada, China, New Zealand, South Korea, and (you guessed it) Singapore. Readers around the world have e-mailed Amazon asking for an explanation, but all Amazon could say is that they're working to make the international Kindle available in all countries down the line.

Adding salt to the wounds is the fact that Zimbabwe, with its million-percent inflation rates, are getting the Kindle. What gives?

There are two major hurdles to offering the Kindle in a particular country -- the first are local publishers, who may argue the Kindle may be stepping on some touchy copyright issues. The other reason are the local carriers, who need to offer AT&T's WhisperNet service to reach Kindle users -- and this might take a bit of negotiation.

In most countries, local publishers are saying they're not the ones holding things up.

I'm an optimist, and I like to think that this is just the first of many stages in which Amazon plans to make the Kindle available to the rest of us. I'd like to think that Amazon is really negotiating with Singapore's carriers, and I'd like to think that I'll still have the chance of getting my own Kindle before Christmas.

Let's just hope Amazon gets moving soon, before Sony and other rivals move in with some new stuff before them.

It was announced about a month ago that Sam Raimi and company had set the release date for “Spider-Man 4” at May 6, 2011, and the film industry was abuzz about “Spider-Man 5” being released back-to-back with the fourth installment of the successful Spidey series. These were pretty much unfounded rumors, as Raimi yesterday confirmed that “Spider-Man 5” isn't even on the table yet. This may be a good thing, since the last back-to-back release I can think of was “Matrix Reloaded” and “Matrix Revolutions” -- and we all know how well that turned out.

Still, there's still some genial rumors about Spider-Man's creator Stan Lee and actor Bruce Campbell again making cameos in the next Spider-Man movie. Raimi seems especially keen on the idea. How about Chris Gomez? Not very.

I'll admit that the first two Spidey movies were pretty good, but the third one was just okay. Many got pretty tired of seeing Spider-Man swoop in to save pretty hysterical women falling from buildings, caused by incredibly-implausible circumstances. (A crane going haywire and they can't shut off power, for example.) The movie also had a few cliché moments for my tastes. And the cameos? Too fan-servicey if you ask me. Wait. I'm a fan. Crap. OK. I like the fan-servicey bits.

Though Spidey-3 was dark and there was some conflict thrown into the screen romance between Peter and Mary Jane, I'd like to see the next Spider-Man tackle darker themes. The Dark Knight” pulled it off pretty well - though let's get something straight here - it was great writing (acting was consequential. And yes I did drama for some time - I know what I am talking about.) It might be a little out of the way, but it would serve the Sam Raimi and the guys at Sony if we weren't fed with benign Spider-Man stories.


In other news, the first trailer for DC Universe's next animated movie “Green Lantern: First Flight” was released yesterday. This is coming off the heels of the well-received “Wonder Woman” film, and I have to admit I am waiting to see Hal Jordan in action. The movie's set to be released in DVD format on July 21 this year.


Can't wait to see more superhero features in the future? Don't be so excited – there have been loads of Marvel superheroes who should never be allowed near a movie theater, according to Sacha Howells of Film.com. He just made a list of some of the worst superheroes ever made – some are so laughable it's embarrassing. Check it out here for a few laughs before the long weekend rolls around.