Stephen King Has Our Favorite Response Yet To Indiana's 'Religious Freedom' Law

From huffingtonpost, Stephen King might be a man of many words, but he kept his response to Indiana's new anti-gay law short and sweet.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was signed into law earlier this month, allows individuals and/or companies to cite religious freedom if sued for discrimination, thus, potentially legalizing discrimination against the LGBT community in the Hoosier State.

The declaration has resulted in a slew of backlash against Pence and the state from individuals and companies alike.

King, who split his time between Indiana and Connecticut as a child, took to Twitter to offer his opinion Monday, and he did not mince words.


Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration act is gay discrimination, pure and simple. You can frost a dog turd, but it's still a dog turd.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 31, 2015



King is not the only celebrity to speak out against the controversial law. Ashton Kutcher, George Takei and Miley Cyrus are just a few of the Hollywood figures to condemn the legislation.

Some Indiana GOP leaders are shocked the law is seen as anti-gay.

"I don't think anyone anticipated that the characterization of the bill would be, this denies to services to a specific class to Hoosiers," House Speaker Brian Bosma said during press conference Monday. "It does just the opposite. It includes all Hoosiers in the religious freedom standard. And it's a misperception that it denies services."

The governor has since called for an amendment to clarify the legislation would not discriminate against members of the LGBT community.

You Can Play 'Pac-Man' In Google Maps Right Now

Wednesday is April Fools' Day, and Google's already released its first "prank." Well, it's less of a prank and more of a treat. Starting on Tuesday, you can play the classic arcade game "Pac-Man" on Google Maps.

Here's how to play: Go to Google Maps, and on the bottom left of the map you'll see a little box with a screengrab from "Pac-Man" in it. It looks like this:

So far, we're only seeing this on desktop versions of Google Maps, not on the mobile app.

To play, click on the "Pac-Man" square, and Google Maps will zoom into your map and transform it into a game. (It works best if you use an area with lots of streets.) You can use your arrow keys to move the Pac-Man around the streets, eating up the little pellets and fruits while avoiding the ghosts.

It's not clear how long this game will last, so get some playtime in while you can!

Adam West and Burt Ward Announced They're Doing a Batman '66 Animated Movie

From toplessrobot, This broke on social media over the weekend, but is worthy of a mention here on the site too - at the Mad Monster Party convention in Charlotte, NC this past Saturday, the classic dynamic duo actors announced that they were on board for at least one, and maybe two, animated Batman and Robin features. This seems to me the best possible news to come out of DC regaining the rights to merchandise the property, though of course most of the key villain actors are dead.

I may have mentioned this before, but rather than simply setting the proposed movie in 1968 or so, I'd love to see versions of The Dark Knight Returns and Batman Beyond set in that universe. "I'm the Gosh-Darn Batman!" is a T-shirt ready slogan if I ever heard one.

Worth every second of the last seven minutes of my life

Every fatality in the new Mortal Kombat game. Balls get squished, faces lopped off, skulls fractured. Party!

Many bloody deaths at the other end of this link.

It Follows

(2014) *****

Jay has been dating local hunk Hugh and finally decides to sleep with him. Following a sweaty tryst in the backseat of his car she idealizes the event by reminiscing about how she used to dream of having a boyfriend when she was a little girl. Hugh has more serious matters on his mind as Jay passes out. When she awakens she is tied to a wheelchair in an abandoned building. Hugh apologizes but insists that she listen to what he has to say. Having little choice she stares at Hugh as he reveals a remarkable, terrifying tale. There is a curse that people pass through sex. Once you have the curse the only way to get rid of it is to have sex with someone else and then they will have it. The ‘curse’ is a being that takes a human form and then follows you wherever you go, slowly, steadily, it walks towards you. It can look like a stranger or a friend and if it ever reaches you, you die (horribly I might add). You can easily run away from it, drive away from it, etc., but wherever you go it will be slowly walking towards you and will eventually find you. If the curse kills you, it will then stalk the person who gave it to you. That’s it.



‘It Follows’ is the best American horror film since The Ring (2002) and is filled with a suffocating level of dread that I still haven’t shaken 48 hours after viewing it. The premise is so simple yet brilliant. The ‘rules’ are established early on and the ‘fun’ comes from seeing them applied. Director David Robert Mitchell cited John Carpenter as an influence and there are multiple nods to Halloween including long tracking shots of female friends walking down the street and a retro-synth soundtrack that you won’t be able to get out of your head. Like Scream (1996) the first five minutes are a shocker and set the stage for 90 minutes of terror. Go see it before someone ruins it for you. My only fear is that, like Halloween, unnecessary sequels will be made diluting the impact of the original. It’s perfect the way it is.

'Unfriended' trailer looks great!

I caught 'It Follows' over the weekend and I think it is the best American horror movie in the past decade.  The 'Unfriended' trailer was attached to 'It Follows' and I think it's a winner.

Box Office

From ew, The fight for No. 1 at this weekend’s box office wasn’t much of a battle: Home took home the prize by a longshot with $54 million—almost $20 million more than Get Hard’s $34.6 million debut.
Home overperformed, but that’s not surprising given the year’s lack of PG-rated offerings so far: The last big family-friendly debut was The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which premiered more than a month ago on Feb. 6. Combine the lack of fresh new family movies and the bright-and-cheery marketing campaign for Home, and you get a high-performing DreamWorks debut.

But just because Get Hard didn’t get No. 1 doesn’t mean it failed: With $34.6 million, Get Hard is the first Will Ferrell-led film that’s debuted with more than $30 million since 2010’s The Other Boys. It also made considerably more than Kevin Hart’s latest feature,The Wedding Ringer, which opened in January with $20.6 million.

Insurgent, now in its second week, dropped 57 percent to $22.1 million. This is comparable to the first Divergent film’s performance: That one dropped 53 percent between its first and second weeks. Although Insurgent has been making a bit less than Divergent, it’s obvious there’s still a strong audience for the YA adaptation.

There’s also a lot of continued love for Cinderella, a live-action Disney remake that’s been performing similarly to Maleficent, another live-action Disney film, since its debut. It dropped nearly 50 percent in its third week, and continues to be a solid commercial success for Disney.

And the No. 5 spot goes to It Follows, a well-reviewed horror film that expanded from 32 to 1,218 theaters this weekend and brought in a healthy $4 million.

1. Home — $54 million
2. Get Hard — $34.6 million
3. Insurgent — $22.1 million
4. Cinderella — $17.5 million
5. It Follows — $4 million

You need that little crank for frigging everything.

Somewhere out there, a new married couple is having their first argument: Cenobite or Samara? See more.

Rude: National Geographic Interrupts Boning Tortoises, Slowest Speed Chase Ensues

From geekology, This is a video of some folks from National Geographic who interrupt two giant tortoises trying to get their sex on, and then the male chases them away at a speed that can only be described as not very fast at all. Still, National Geographic, why you going to go and disturb two boning tortoises? They probably waited over 100 years for this moment, then you come along and ruin it. If I was that tortoise I would be PISSED. I would also have a jetpack and a ninja sword to deal with the interruption swiftly and deadly.

- note to yourself how much giant tortoise heads look like mutant penises.

Impressive, most impressive: Watch This Awesome '80s Anime-Style 'Star Wars' Short

From iwatchstuff, Typically, when the internet births its latest "What if [pop culture item] was made [in a decade and/or as a genre]" video, what's expected is a little re-cut trailer or something that might elicit a chuckle or two. What is not expected at all is a seven-minute opus that's been animated on someone's free time across four years. But that's exactly what we've got here with an awesome video that answers, "What if Star Wars was an '80s anime?" Mercifully, the answer does not include sarlacc tentacle rape.

A far shorter version of this has been online for a couple years now, but this is apparently artist and animator OtaKing77077's just-finished expanded and completed work, so it's definitely worth revisiting. Safe for work unless you work IT, in which case watching a heavy metal-drivenStar Wars anime at your desk is just way too fucking cliché.

Official: X-Files returning to Fox for 6 episodes

From ew, The truth is right here, and it’s amazing: After 13 years off the air, The X-Files is officially returning to Fox as a limited series.

Stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are back on board, along with creator Chris Carter.

“I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” Carter said. “The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories.”

The only part of this huge news you might not like: There are only six episodes planned.

“We had the privilege of working with Chris on all nine seasons of The X-Files – one of the most rewarding creative experiences of our careers – and we couldn’t be more excited to explore that incredible world with him again,” said Dana Walden and Gary Newman, Chairmen and CEOs of Fox Television Group. “The X-Files was not only a seminal show for both the studio and the network, it was a worldwide phenomenon that shaped pop culture – yet remained a true gem for the legions of fans who embraced it from the beginning. Few shows on television have drawn such dedicated fans as The X-Files, and we’re ecstatic to give them the next thrilling chapter of Mulder and Scully they’ve been waiting for.”

The sci-fi procedural classic first premiered in 1993. It became one of Fox’s first major breakout hits and a pop-culture sensation that went on to last nine seasons and spawn two feature films. The show also earned 16 Emmys and helped pave the way for other prime-time sci-fi shows like ABC’s Lost and Fox’s Fringe. Once again, the series will follow FBI special agents Scully (Anderson) and Mulder (Duchovny) as they investigate unexplained cases.

Carter’s “six stories” comment seems to suggest the series will embrace the show’s original format of focusing on stand-alone mysteries rather than delving into the serialized alien conspiracy mythology that dominated some of the show’s episodes and its first feature film (at least, that’s what I want to believe).

The move follows Fox reviving another one of its hits, 24, for a shortened run last year. The X-Files deal has been in the works since at least January when executives told reporters at the network’s press tour presentation that they were trying to revive the show.

The X-Files will start production this summer. There’s no premiere date yet, and no word if other cast members from the original series will return.

FIRST WEEK OF FILMING COMPLETED!!! Pee-wee’s Big Holiday!!!

"Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" looks awesome [full trailer now]

Apparently Cruise really did that airplane sequence (shiver)!

Box Office

From EW, Insurgent, as expected, took the top spot at this weekend’s box office, but it’s not all good news for the next entry in the YA series.

In its opening weekend, Insurgent took in an estimated $54.03 million domestically and $101 million worldwide. While that number is close to estimates (and still marks a significant opening), it is a tick below its predecessor, Divergent, which opened to $54.6 million.

Unfortunately, the rising box office success of Shailene Woodley in the last year and expanded presence of actors like Miles Teller did little to draw more viewers for the film’s opening. But what may be even more disappointing is another factor—Insurgent opened with 3D screens while Divergent did not. These higher ticket prices and the overall on-par opening weekend suggests Insurgent’s audience was down in the opening.

But Insurgent did usurp the box office throne from last week’s ruler, Cinderella, which held with an estimated $34.49 million in its second weekend. The live-action Disney film now stands at over an estimated $250 million worldwide total.

The top two earners dominated the box office for the weekend, as the other new films performed far below either of them. The Sean Penn starrer The Gunman debuted with only $5.01 million, splitting the action film audience with Run All Night. The Liam Neeson geri-action film took in an estimated $5.12 million over the weekend, narrowly beating out its competitor in estimates.

The weekend’s other wide release, the faith-based Do You Believe?, opened with $4 million. Last year, Pure Flix opened another religion-focused film, God’s Not Dead, against DIvergent. Dead surprisingly took in over $9 million in its opening, but it seems Believe was not able to match Pure Flix’s last Lenten release. That cume earns it the No. 6 spot below Kingsman: The Secret Service, which maintains a spot in the top five in its sixth weekend.

Here’s how the top five played out according to weekend estimates:

1. The Divergent Series: Insurgent — $54.03 million
2. Cinderella — $34.49 million
3. Run All Night — $5.12 million
4. The Gunman — $5.01 million
5. Kingsman: The Secret Service — $4.6 million

In smaller release news, the Al Pacino film Danny Collins opened to an estimated total of about $73,200 from five locations, while It Follows at 32 locations earned an estimated about $352,000.

Lego Jurassic Park!

[Buzzfeed]A father and his 8 year-old daughter have used $100,000 worth of Lego to recreate the story of Jurassic Park in just under three minutes.

Zombeavers

(2014) ????

I just couldn't wait

'till Horrorthon to watch this

more in October

New 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' TV spot features 1 minute of almost entirely new footage!

Just because

I will not be watching "Insidious 3"

I have not made it a secret how much I despise the Insidious films.  It's irrational, I know, but I HATE HATE HATE these movies with a passion, especially this character,

I couldn't even finish watching the trailer because I became too annoyed.

DAY TWO FILMING ‘Pee-wee’s Big Holiday’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From peewee, ow, am I tired! Just finished the second day of filming. Hitchhiked yesterday all day. Got a ride, hitchhiked some more, then got another ride. A lot of traveling in two days!

Sound vague? Want to know more? Well, I hope you’ll check in here periodically and I’ll tell you what I can while we film. And please, see ‘Pee-wee’s Big Holiday’ on Netflix when it’s finished, won’t you???!!!!!!!!!

'Pixels' trailer!

Why "It Follows" is the best horror movie in over a decade

From boingboing.net, I stopped being scared or creeped out by horror movies about 20 years ago, but when Carla and I watched It Follows on Saturday night we were both freaked out of our wits.

The premise is simple. If you have sex with a cursed person, a monster will begin walking slowly in your direction. The monster can take on the form of a stranger or someone you know. When the monster reaches you, it will kill you in a horrible way. You can run or drive away from the monster, but it knows where you are and will start walking towards you. To rid yourself of the curse, you need to have sex with another person. The monster will target them. If it kills that person, it will then come after you.

Lenika Cruz of The Atlantic says the monster of It Follows is "one of the scariest antagonists in recent cinematic history," because we don't know anything about it.

But what's most satisfying about It Follows is how its monster manages to inspire such slow-burn terror when it spends 90 percent of the film doing something decidedly un-scary: walking slowly, often out of frame. Even the absence of the linearly traveling, unrelenting "it" is no relief: The anticipation of its arrival slowly and brutally wears the audience down, like death by a billion spoon thwacks. It's hard to know what to call the thing at the center of It Follows—a spirit? A monster? A villain? Is it even really evil or just a human embodiment of inhuman malevolence? As the director, Mitchell, has said: "There's no logic to it—you can't really explain a nightmare."

The inclination of horror movies to explain and profile the dark force as much as possible often results in a didacticism that doesn't translate well onscreen. Just think of how many films feature a haggard, wide-eyed protagonist poring through old texts, newspaper clippings, or Internet searches, or tracking down old victims in hopes of finding an answer. The process of the investigation itself can be spooky. The little girl was pushed into the well by her mom? Shudder. Rather than cultivating fear in the gradual, deliberate reveal of gruesome details, It Follows' thrust comes instead from training the audience to recoil from the shadowy, blurry figure on the horizon, behind the characters, without fanfare or warning.

Another other big reason this movie was so terrifying is the ominous chiptune soundtrack by Disasterpiece. Listen to it here.

File under 'awesome' - Robert Downey Jr. gives child an Iron Man prosthetic limb

The Return of Pee-wee Herman

That too-small suit. That candy-wrapper bow tie. That nasal bray. It can mean only one thing: Pee-wee Herman is back.

His creator, Paul Reubens, along with producer Judd Apatow and Netflix, announced in February a deal to make and distribute an entirely new film about the lovable man-boy. Pee-wee’s Big Holiday will be the character’s first feature film in more than two and a half decades. (More recently, the outfit was brushed off for the 2010 Broadway revival of the character’s original stage show.) We talked with Reubens, now 62, about his return and the plans for the movie. Excited? I know you are, but what am I?

EW: When was this movie first conceived?

PAUL REUBENS: We’ve been writing it for five years almost, on and off. It was just announced, but the offer from Netflix came a year ago. It took a really long time to get from there to where we are now. I went on Jimmy Fallon before Halloween—the announcement was going to be made on his show—and at the last minute they weren’t ready. I just thought people had stopped believing me when I told them it was happening. Now people are like, “Oh my god, you weren’t a liar!”

What can you tell me about Big Holiday?

It’s a road-trip movie across the country. It’s very similar in style and tone to Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. But it’s not about a bicycle. I never really thought of Big Adventure as a family movie, but I didn’t try to make an adult movie or a kid movie. We wanted to make something that appealed to a wide age range, and I think that’s the case with this movie also.

You’ve hired John Lee, the man behind very odd, subversive shows like Wonder Showzen and The Heart, She Holler, as your director.

I love John Lee. I didn’t know him at the time but I certainly knewWonder Showzen and his work. It’s super-exciting working with him. He totally gets it. Anyone who knows who John is and who is a fan of mine is going to be really excited he’s the director. Because—I hate to say this and I don’t know how to say this the right way—he’s arty. He’s in the art world. That’s why I hired Tim Burton to direct Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Not to be too pretentious. We don’t think we’re making an art film, but you know what I mean.

Sure. I mean, you had Gary Panter doing the sets on Playhouse. Speaking of which, will stuff be coming out of storage for the movie or is everything going to be made anew?
It’s all new. And we’re shooting in locations all over, in a 60-mile radius of L.A. We start [this month]. They’re putting the finishing touches on my suit—my new suit—and I’m getting new Pee-wee shoes made. The bow ties aren’t done yet, though, and the clock is ticking.

Are there any folks we might recognize from Pee-wee’s past?

I think there may be an actor returning, someone who’s familiar, but not as the same character. None of the characters are recurring ones.

This August marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Will it be strange to put the suit on so many years later?

I don’t think it’s real different. But it can’t be the same because nothing’s the same. I’m older—physically, mentally. But I want to rise to the occasion. I don’t want it to be a movie where people go and say, “Wow, should he have made this movie?” I haven’t put the suit on other than for costume fittings, but that’s been the amazing thing about Pee-wee Herman over all the years, even right from the get-go when I first did it: It’s just something that’s inside me somewhere, and I’ve always been able to switch it on and switch it off. So it feels the same way to me in that respect. I put that suit on, I make a certain face and get in a certain mind frame, and there he is.

I imagine you’ve had a lot of people who grew up on your work, saying “I’m weird because of you.” What has been Pee-wee’s legacy for you?

It’s been really really gratifying and exciting, and it’s kept me going. The kid’s show went back on the air on Netflix right before Christmas. I did not realize the show being on Netflix would be like being back on television. Every day I get hundreds of notes from people on Facebook and Twitter, all over the place, “My 3-year-old, my 4-year-old…” and that’s super exciting to think that kids are going to see it now who didn’t know about it before.

[From EW]

Source: Twin Peaks reboot moving forward despite David Lynch's comments

Showtime’s Twin Peaks is still apparently on track.

Creator David Lynch reportedly made some dire comments about his Twin Peaks reboot’s odds of happening at a panel in Australia for his new art exhibit last weekend. The writer-director reportedly said Showtime’s resurrection of his classic ABC series was “still up in the air” and “there are complications” and that he doesn’t know if the revival is still on.

That was certainly news to Showtime, which has already received all of Lynch’s scripts, greenlit Twin Peaks as a limited series and signedKyle MacLachlan to reprise his starring role as Agent Cooper.“Nothing is going on that’s any more than any preproduction process with David Lynch,” a source said close to the show said. “Everything is moving forward and everybody is crazy thrilled and excited.”

Still, Lynch’s participation is still considered pretty crucial. Lynch is signed to direct all nine episodes and it’s hard to imagine Twin Peaks returning without his blessing. We reached out to Lynch’s representative for more clarity, but the rep had nothing to say about the director’s comments. Perhaps Lynch simply hadn’t had his morning coffee yet?

[From EW]

Test run of new roller coaster 'Fury' in Charlotte, North Carolina, barf bag please

Bill Maher blasts rich kids like "Fuck Face" Hilton

All The New Details About The Friday The 13th TV Series

From cinemablend, While we’re still waiting for the theatrical side of the Friday the 13th franchise to rise up from the lake, things are looking good for the previously announced small screen version of Jason Voorhees’ story. The original film’s director and franchise producer Sean Cunningham shared a few extremely interesting details about where the show will be headed, both in terms of story and network. Let’s break them down one by one.

1. It will take place at the “real” Crystal Lake. Cunningham was at the Monster-Mania convention this weekend, and according to the fansiteFridaythe13thFranchise.com, he shared that the show will take a meta approach in setting the premise in a (fictional) town that inspired the films with its own series of violent murders. (Note that Cunningham based the location on New Jersey’s Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, where the film was shot.) The story will look at how the movies have affected the town and its citizens, which sounds a lot like what both The Town That Dreaded Sundown films did, or even how the Blair Witch sequel was gabdked. This approach will probably get a lot of flak from fans who just want the slasher side of things to be the point, but I think it’s one of the more interesting ways they can tackle this material. To be fair, though, the realism aspect was also at the center of Jason Goes to Hell, which has a reputation for being the least beloved among fans.

2. Jason won’t be the only killer. That first point obviously brings up the question of how Jason is going to be handled, since he’ll be a fictional character within the storyline. And while we still aren’t quite sure how he’s going to show up outside of film clips, Cunningham shared that the murderer who inspired Jason will be seen throughout the series. The fansite reports that this “real” version will be a “more serious backwoods inspired killer.” Will this new/old villain also have a sports-inspired mask, or a hideous appearance? We can’t wait to find out.

3. The CW has confirmed interest in picking the show up. This might also make a lot of people balk, but it shouldn’t, as The CW is in the process of reestablishing itself as a network that specializes in genre fiction. They obviously have the superhero side of things handled with Arrow and The Flash, and they also have the horror-ish comedy comic adaptation iZombie and the sci-fi drama The Messengerscoming in the next month. As well, they’re working on a Tales from the Darkside pilot and one for Cheerleader Death Squad. It remains to be seen how well any of these latter series will do in the long run, but I’m not as disinterested in a Friday the 13thseries on The CW as I would have been five years ago.

Jason’s potential television debut is still presumably a ways off, but the fact that no one has thrown a machete in the spokes yet is a good sign. Do these new details make you guys more or less interested in what’s to come?

Box Office

From ew, inderella was the star of this weekend’s ball—if you count the box office as a ball, that is

The Disney live-action adaptation earned the No. 1 spot with $70.1 million, $59 million more than runner-up Run All Night. Its debut is exactly on par with Maleficent, another live-action Disney film that premiered with $69.4 million in May 2014.

Although Cinderella doesn’t have the same overwhelming star power as Maleficent, which starred Angelina Jolie as the title character, it does have the benefit of both being based on one of the more popular fairy tales and earning mostly solid reviews: The film currently has a perfectly healthy 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Liam Neeson’s latest action flick, Run All Night, was the only other wide debut this weekend, but it wasn’t nearly as popular: The film opened with $11 million—even less than A Walk Among the Tombstones, one of Neeson’s more recent (and less talked-about) films that debuted with $12.8 million in September. This debut is especially weak compared to Taken 3’s (another Neeson-led movie) $39.2 million January opening. So maybe it’s not a bad thing that Neeson is thinking about giving his action movie career just “two more years,” as he told reporters while promoting Run All Night.

Kingsman: The Secret Service, now in its fifth week, came in at third place with $6.2 million—just about 25 percent less than last weekend’s $8.3 million. This Matthew Vaughn-directed comic book adaptation is continuing to benefit from positive word of mouth, which should keep it in the box office top five for at least another week (Divergent sequel Insurgent is opening next weekend though, so that could cut its time at the top short).

Focus and Chappie are, so far, nearly tied for fourth place with an estimated $5.8 million each—Focus currently has a slight lead though with $5.805 million to Chappie’s $5.750 million, according to Rentrak’s early estimates.

1. Cinderella — $70.1 million
2. Run All Night — $11 million
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service — $6.2 million
4. Focus — $5.8 million
5. Chappie — $5.8 million

In box office news outside the top five, well-reviewed horror It Follows (which has a 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) opened with an estimated $163,453 in four theaters—bringing its per screen average to a little over $40,000.

See Albert Maysles' Final Solo Directorial Effort with 'Iris' Trailer

From iwatchstuff, Though we lost legendary director Albert Maysles last week, his body of work continues to grow with his latest documentary feature, Iris. Marking a return to the flamboyantly-dressed socialite subject matter that gave us the 1975 classic Grey Gardens, the film sees Maysles now following around Iris Apfel, a 93-year-old New York style icon who for decades has held influence in the world of fashion. In this trailer, you get to meet her, and as a bonus, you even get to see some footage of the late director working his craft--and being hit on by an older woman. Maysles' talents were many, it seems.

Happy Friday the 13th!

‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ Is the First ‘Star Wars’ Spin-Off Movie

From slashfilm, Star Wars news has been announced by Bob Iger on the Disney investor call this morning. The first Star Wars spin-off film, written by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Chris Weitz (Cinderella, About a Boy, Antz) and directed by Gareth Edwards(Godzilla, Monsters), based on a story by Industrial Light and Magic chief creative officer and effects legend John Knoll, will be titled Star Wars: Rogue One.





Iger said that the characters and events in the spin-off films will “go well beyond the core star wars saga.” He alsoconfirmed the earlier reports that actress Felicity Jones will have a starring role in the spin-off film. Star Wars: Rogue One starts shooting this summer (2015) in London and is due for release on December 16th, 2016.


While it hasn’t been officially announced, we had originally heard that the film would follow a group of bounty hunters who were hired to pull off a heist to steal the plans for the death star — think Seven Samurai or Suicide Squad meets Ocean’s Eleven in the world of Star Wars.

The new Rogue One title hints at a explosive start for the Rebels. Could this group of bounty hunters be the start of the Rogue Squadron and is Wedge Antilles going to be part of this ragtag group? I’m betting so.

Interestingly, Iger made no mention of original screenwriter Gary Whitta, but that might be just a gaff as Weitz has even stated publicly what Whitta’s draft is the basis for his rewrite.

I mean it all eventually comes down to understanding the nature of what a given film is and making the characters people who you want to be as invested in as possible. I think in this case I’m not working from a whole cloth, right? So there’s a very strong structure from Gary’s work and that’s a huge advantage to me. But just like with Cinderella, it’s a director’s medium so it’s really about my making what Gareth needs to do his film.

Knoll will executive produce along with Simon Emanuel (The Dark Knight Rises, Fast & Furious 6) and Jason McGatlin(Tintin, War of the Worlds). Kathleen Kennedy and Tony To (Band of Brothers, The Pacific) are on board to produce andJohn Swartz (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will co-produce.

Jon Stewart on racist fraternity

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Vote for Freeek

My band Chained to Insanity is officially entered in the Rhode Show's big break contest. Take a moment to listen to our video and vote for us. You don't have to register, just click. We really appreciate the support. Vote for us here.

We are also performing live at The Met in Providence on March 21st. Hope to see you there!

'Tomorrowland' looks terrific!

'Roar'!

Oh man, this one looks like fun! I'm not sure I can wait until October to watch it...

From toplessrobot, Most movies and their casts often love to boast about how dangerous it was shooting their efforts. That’s despite the fact that those involved were likely never in any real danger of being injured during the shoot. But 1981’s Roar is the one real exception, because while it was being filmed 70 members of its cast and crew were attacked by wild animals. Intrigued? Thought so. Well you’re in luck too, becauseRoar is being re-released and it looks just as intense and traumatic as its injury count would suggest.
I think it’s physically impossible not to be enticed by Roar -- especially since itstrailer wholly embraces just how irresponsibly dangerous both its idea and production were. Any movie that claims to be the most dangerous film ever made certainly deserves immediate, undivided attention. The problem is, living up to such a label more often than not proves to be impossible. But it sounds as though Roarmore than does succeeds. How can it not, when its opening title boasts, "For over a decade, Noel Marshall, Tippi Hedren, and their family lived with 150 untrained wild animals to create what became the most dangerous movie ever made."

Rather than just being 102 minutes of Tippi Hedren, Noel Marshall and Melanie Griffith playing hide and seek with this posse of wild animals, there is actually a narrative to Roar. Noel Marshall, who at the time was married to Tippi Hedren and was the step-father to Melanie Griffith, stars as Hank, who lives with 110 tigers, lions, leopards and cheetahs, as well as four tigers cubs, and two elephants. But disaster strikes when his wife and three children decide to visit his home, only to quickly learn that he’s not actually there. But all of his animals are. Cue mayhem. Bloody, violent mayhem.

The injuries the 70 members of the cast and crew weren’t mere scrapes and scratches either. As the trailer boasts, during production Noel Marshall got gangrene and multiple puncture wounds; Tippi Hedren broke her leg; Jan De Bont, who would go on to direct Speed and worked on Roar as a cinematographer, was scalped by a lion; and Melanie Griffith needed to have facial reconstructive surgery. That’s a hell of a lot of brutality, and really demonstrates some extreme irresponsibility on behalf of the filmmakers

Despite all this toil and trauma, Roar only managed to gross $2 million at the box office from a budget of $17 million. For those affected, let’s hope that it fares better when it’s re-released in select cinemas on April 17th.

Sam Simon, The Simpsons co-developer, dies

From ew, Sam Simon, a creative force for multiple TV shows, including his role as co-developer of The Simpsons, has died after a three-year struggle with colon cancer. He was 59.

Simon began his career by writing for animated comedies, including Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids and Mighty Mouse, before teaming up with James L. Brooks on Taxi, the Emmy-winning sitcom starring Judd Hirsch and Danny DeVito, from 1981 to 1983. He was a writer and producer for Cheers, and went on to contribute to a handful of other shows, including It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and The Tracy Ullman Show, which reunited him with Brooks and led to The Simpsons in 1989.

“He was a genius and a great humanitarian in ways public and private. I personally owe him more than can be repaid, but I will do my best to help every animal I can in his memory,” said Simpsons executive producer Al Jean.

Though Simon retained an executive producer title, he left The Simpsons after four tumultuous seasons in which he sparred with Matt Groening over matters big and small, profound and petty. But Simon is credited with building the Hall-of-Fame caliber writers room that helped define Springfield in the show’s early years, and many of the town’s most notable citizens—Mr. Burns, Dr. Hibbert, Chief Wiggum—were shaped in form or personality by his sensibility. “I think the unsung hero has always been Sam,” Brad Bird said in the Simpsons’ unauthorized history written by John Ortved. “I was in the room when he took some pretty mediocre scripts and just sat there in his chair, with all the writers in the room and a cigar, and went through it, line by line. He would get people to pitch lines, but nine times out of 10, he came up with the best line.”

Simon later helped shape The George Carlin Show and The Drew Carrey Show, among others. His negotiated exit from The Simpsonsin 1993 made him extremely wealthy, and he founded the Sam Simon Foundation, an organization that trains dogs to help people who are disabled. The foundation announced Simon’s death on its Facebook page Monday afternoon with a promise to continue honoring him: “We all miss him, and in his honor, we will continue bringing his vision to light through our work at the Sam Simon Foundation.”

Every 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' trailer re-edited and placed in chronological order

Box Office

From ew, Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie is not having a great weekend: The movie’s been mostly slammed by critics, and it debuted with $13.3 million—just about a quarter of its $49 million budget.

For context, Blomkamp made waves in 2009 when he released District 9, a sci-fi film that went on to gross $115.6 million total and earn a Best Picture Oscar nod. He followed that up with 2013’s Elysium, which grossed $93 million and was widely considered a disappointing follow-up to the impressive District 9. Chappie wasn’t expected to reach District 9 levels of success, but its weak premiere has already guaranteed it won’t even reach Elysium’s lower levels of success. That one at least premiered with a much more promising $29.8 million.

But strong debut or not, Chappie still nabbed the No. 1 spot at the box office above the weekend’s other new releases, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Unfinished Business. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel earned $8.6 million, a couple million more than its predecessor’s $6.4 million wide debut in 2012. Unfinished Business, a comedy headlined by Vince Vaughn, didn’t fare quite as well though: The film barely made the top ten with $4.8 million, finishing behind older movies including Fifty Shades of Grey and The Lazarus Effect.

Focus took the No. 2 spot with $10 million while Kingsman: The Secret Service and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water kept their places in the top five with $8.3 million and $7 million, respectively. Those days will likely be over next weekend though when Cinderella and Liam Neeson action flick Run All Night hit theaters and draw in both fairytale- and action-loving crowds.

1. Chappie — $13.3 million
2. Focus — $10 million
3. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel — $8.6 million
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service — $8.3 million
5. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water — $7 million

After 11 weeks in theaters, American Sniper finally found its way outside of the top 10—but it did reach a huge milestone: It’s now the highest grossing 2014 release. The title last belonged to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1, but Sniper beat it this weekend when its total domestic gross hit an estimated $337.2 million—just a bit more than Mockingjay’s estimated $337 million.

Saturday Night Live spoofs 'The Avengers'

Documentary Filmmaker Albert Maysles Has Died at Age 88

Albert Maysles, the documentary filmmaker who made films such as Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens, has passed away at the age of 88. Maysles was a master; a true auteur in the documentary form. As a brilliant observer and cinematographer, Maysles not only differentiated his films from the work of other documentarians, he set the standard for what all documentaries could be. He pioneered a movement.

Maysles regularly worked with his brother, David, who died in 1987, and with partners such as Charlotte Zwerin and Ellen Hovde & Muffie Meyer (on Grey Gardens). Together the Maysles brothers were revered for their work, gaining the praise of such legends as Jean Luc-Goddard, and making films about The Beatles, Marlon Brando, Truman Capote and more.Salesman, in 1968, truly put them on the map; they continued to document singular personalities and events. The quirkiness of the women in Grey Gardens, the fear of the Rolling Stones concert in Altamont. These were landmark people and events captured by a unique filmmaker.

On his official website, Maysels has this statement:

As a documentarian I happily place my fate and faith in reality. It is my caretaker, the provider of subjects, themes, experiences – all endowed with the power of truth and the romance of discovery. And the closer I adhere to reality the more honest and authentic my tales. After all, the knowledge of the real world is exactly what we need to better understand and therefore possibly to love one another. It’s my way of making the world a better place.

There’s no doubt that with his films, Maysles succeeded in that. He made this world a better place by showing us the world we live in. While he may be gone, his films will never go away.

For more on Maysles, visit his personal website. It’s a fascinating look into his groundbreaking filmmaking techniques and career.

[slashfilm]

Harrison Ford injured in plane crash

From starwars7news, Last year, Harrison Ford infamously broke an ankle during the production of The Force Awakens – and while the injury itself was fairly moderate in the grand scheme of things, many hoped that this would be the last of the many injuries he’s sustained. Unfortunately, news has just broken out that the 72-year-old actor has just crash-landed unexpectedly, and is in a serious (though not critical) condition.

From Screen Crush:

This is absolutely harrowing news: iconic actor and living legend Harrison Ford has been critically injured in a plane crash. The plane crash-landed in Venice, California today and Ford was subsequently rushed to the hospital where his condition is currently critical. Ford, who’s been reprising his role in the new series of Star Wars films and recently signed on for the long-gestating Blade Runner sequel, is 72 years old—making his enduring dedication to these franchises even more remarkable.



Ford had been flying a plane by himself when it malfunctioned, leading him to crash on a golf course. After the crash, Ford walked away from the wreckage with several head injuries. Though this comes at a shock, as Ford is an experienced pilot and has survived a few crashes before, there is a silver lining to it in that the actual injury itself wasn’t as severe as initially reported.

UPDATE: NBC News is reporting that Ford’s condition has been downgraded to “fair to moderate.” According to NBC Los Angeles, “Ford’s injuries were originally described as ‘critical,’ but sources emphasized that they are better characterized as serious, including lacerations to the head and possible fractures.”

It currently sounds as though Harrison Ford will survive his injuries, but he is still in an unstable state at this point in time. After the recent death of Leonard Nimoy, it would be a tragedy to potentially lose another great actor to unforeseen dangers. From the team at Star Wars 7 News, our hearts and prayers go toward Harrison Ford and his family.

UPDATE!

According to Ford’s son, Ben, Harrison is most likely going to be all right. Let’s hope that he has a quick recovery.

WTF: Aren’t You Glad This Homophobic ‘Back to the Future’ Scene Got Cut?

From slashfilm, For a story that centers around a woman’s unwitting love for her future son, Back to the Futuremanages to be admirably non-creepy. Sure, there’s a WTF factor that kicks in the second we realize Lorraine has the hots for Marty, but Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale manage to keep things on the right side of the funny / awful divide.

But getting that balance right apparently took some trial and error. A cut scene reveals one hilarious instance in which they found themselves on the wrong side of that calculation. Watch the bizarre Back to the Future deleted scene after the jump.



This Back to the Future deleted scene has been floating around the Internet for a few years already, but has been making the rounds again as of late (h/t Pajiba).

'Avengers: Age of Ultron' trailer #3 looks fantastic!

Dammit, Mother Nature: Amateur Photographer Catches Weasel Riding On The Back Of Flying Woodpecker

From geekology, This is the photo of a weasel riding/attacking a flying green woodpecker taken by amateur photographer (read: regular person) Martin Le-May in his yard in Essex, England. Personally, if I was a weasel I'd prefer to ride a hawk, but that's just me and I'm at war against the squirrels.
Speaking to BBC News, Mr Le-May said he had managed to capture the moment while he was out walking with his wife Ann.


"I think we may have distracted the weasel as when the woodpecker landed it managed to escape and the weasel ran into the grass."

Wildlife expert Lucy Cooke told the BBC News Channel: "This is a truly extraordinary image.

"The green woodpecker is a ground-feeding bird, but weasels normally attack rabbits. The woodpecker is not its usual prey.



You think the weasel was actually attacking the bird, or you think it just wanted to know what it was like to fly? Because if I was a weasel sitting around watching birds fly all day I'd probably want to know what it was like too. Thankfully, I'm not a weasel, I'm a chipmunk and I'm too busy stuffing my cheeks (mouth and butt) with nuts to think about that stuff.

'Lake Placid vs. Anaconda', I'm in!

From toplessrobot, Both Lake Placid and Anaconda were fun, late-'90s movies that featured celebrities goofing around in monster movie scenarios, ushering in the era of both Betty White as foul-mouthed dirty jokester, and Jon Voight as somebody not to be taken seriously. They were Syfy movies before there even was such a term, albeit on much bigger budgets.

And somehow, on DVD, they kept going as franchises (yes, Anacondas got a theatrical release, but it was brief), although Lake Placid proclaimed its "final chapter" three years ago. And today, this press release from Syfy:

LAKE PLACID VS ANACONDA (ORIGINAL MOVIE PREMIERE)
Premieres Saturday, April 25 at 9PM - Killer crocodiles and giant anacondas clash in this thriller about corporate greed and science gone wrong, starring Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street), Yancy Butler (Kick Ass) and Corin Nemec (Stargate SG-1). A production of UFO Films.

I don't know which is harder to believe - the notion that this is actually a "thriller," or the fact that it wasn't made by The Asylum.

Perfect Leonard Nimoy tribute

Stephen King's newest short story, "A Death"

Read it here, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/09/a-death-stephen-king

Find the #1 Song on the Day You Were Born

[JPX] My song is the lamest ever! In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus) by Zager and Evans

Go here to see what your song is, http://playback.fm/birthday-song

Who's the Boss of Wall Street?

Box Office or how Will Smith learned to love to bomb

From ew, Fifty Shades of Grey’s box office status would have dropped this weekend even without any new releases, but the arrival of crime drama Focus caused it to move all the way from the first to fourth spot in the top five—and signaled that its days as a big box office earner are nearing their end.

This already became obvious in its second weekend, when sales decreased by 74 percent. This weekend’s drop—51 percent—isn’t as steep, but it’s enough to prove that interest in the erotic drama is waning. Plus, viewers had a new drama to watch this weekend: Focus starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie, a film that opened with $19.1 million.

Many claimed Smith’s reign as box office king was over when his most recent film, 2013’s After Earth, debuted with $27.5 million. But even though Focus’ $19.1 million is considerably less, it’s a more successful premiere in context: After Earth was a big-budget ($130 million, to be exact) action film that ended up making just $60.5 domestically. Focus is a more low-key film made on a smaller budget ($50 million), and it’s one that performed similarly to its genre peers: The Wolf of Wall Street, another crime drama starring an A-list actor, debuted with $18.4 million in 2013—and that was even with Martin Scorsese’s name and Oscar buzz attached.

Kingsman: The Secret Service, The SpongeBob Movie, Fifty Shades, and horror newcomer The Lazarus Effect rounded out the box office top five—but their weekend estimates are all so close that the order could easily change when the actuals come out Monday.

1. Focus — $19.1 million
2. Kingsman: The Secret Service — $11.8 million
3. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water — $11.2 million
4. Fifty Shades of Grey — $10.9 million
5. The Lazarus Effect — $10.6 million

While Fifty Shades didn’t have the greatest week here in America, it continues to succeed overseas: It was the number-one film internationally for the third week in a row. Estimates say it made $36 million in 59 territories over the weekend, bringing the international total to $338.4 million and the worldwide total to $486.2 million.