Monday, April 30, 2007

ITS SNAGGLEFUGS BIRTHDAY!!!

From WWTDD, "I'm sure everyone is busy cleaning the house and getting ready for tonight to celebrate the birthday of the most beautiful woman in the world, Kirsten Dunst! But hold on, because it's also the anniversary of the day Hitler shot himself, and now that reincarnation is a proven fact, I think it's obvious what this means and I think everyone in Hollywood needs to know the truth: Kirsten Dunst hates the Jews. I was surprised too but the numbers just don't lie. She hates them and she wants to re-open the camps and fire up the ovens. I, on the other hand, have always admired how they run the banking industry and Hollywood, and one time I even saw a movie that I think co-starred Amy Irving. Wait ... okay, no it didn't. Never mind.

Fun Fact: Kirsten told W magazine that when she gets older she'll have her pick of the hot young boys because of her sexy turn as Mary Jane in Spider-Man! Look out fellas, Kristen's on the prowl, and she's disgusting!"

Happy Birthday, Kirsten Dunst!


That's right, Horrorthon's favorite It Girl punching bag is turning a big 25 today. So, in her honor, let's all get wildly drunk tonight and look stupid climbing out of our limos. That way we'll all have pictures to display along with whatever debauched, unflatteringly lit images she winds up starring in herself.

For the record, I still like Kirsten Dunst. And you're all bastards.

YES!

A school bully picks on a kid about half his size during recess. The bully pushes the kid up against the school wall and the little guy throws a mean hook knocking the bully unconscious.

Quentin Tarantino Making More Genre Stuff

From Iwatchstuff, "Writer/director Quentin Tarantino, having already unofficially ripped-off countless directors and styles throughout his career, has announced he will officially remake the Honk Kong martial arts film Come Drink With Me. The news comes as no surprise, as it's widely acknowledged Tarantino basically jacks off this kind of campy action/revenge stuff, then tries to incorporate it into a wordy film with some washed-up actors.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Tarantino added that he's still going to make his World War II film, Inglorious Bastards, for which he'll be ripping off The Dirty Dozen, then move on to imitate some kind of spaghetti western but set in the slavery-ridden south, allowing the director to possibly throw in some cool blaxploitation shit, too (maybe Pam Grier as a sexy, badass slave escaping her rapist captors, like The Big Bird Cage with more social commentary).

With these three projects on the table, and Tarantino often taking years between movies, it may be as long as a decade before we hear another announcement for a new film, but I'm willing to speculate whatever it is will be something imitating some other stuff from the '60s or '70s, possibly involving kung fu or badass babes, and star.... Patrick Swayze? Maybe Billy Dee Williams? Something like that. And, despite myself, I'll still think it's kind of awesome."

The Simpsons Escape R Rating

From moviesonline, "Apparently, Bart Simpson will bare all in "The Simpsons” movie. It’s a bold move, and one the show would never get away with on television, so why not use the opportunity to get more daring than ever before. Bart’s always dropped his pants to bare his rear in answer to any number of situations, being the untamed skateboarding brat he is, and fans wouldn’t have him any other way. But now that he’s going to the big screen, he will have a full frontal nude scene in the beginning of "The Simpsons” movie.
"The Simpsons” was nearly slapped with a R-rating due to the Bart in the buff content. According to AssociatedContent.com, this gives "The Simpsons” the unique distinction of being the first film, animated or live action, to escape the Restricted rating despite depiction of full frontal nudity. It’s a cartoon, and if anyone’s going to get away with going there and push that envelope as far as it will go just to try to prove that there’s no reason it can’t go there, it’s "The Simpsons.”

Rating this animated feature R would be a bit excessive in my opinion. Bart is America’s ultimate iconic bad boy, and I believe a "Simpsons” movie should take more risks and defy some of the limitations that broadcasting on television imposes on one of the boldest shows on TV, animated or not."The Simpsons,” and Bart’s full monty, hits theaters on July 27."

Fresh crap

From worstpreviews, Here is the trailer for the sequel to Uwe Boll's "BloodRayne." In the film, only Rayne, born of the unnatural union of vampire and human, stands between an unsuspecting humanity and a horrifying vampire dawn.The trailer turned out half-decent, but we all know that trailers can be deceiving, especially if Uwe Boll is behind the project.While the first installment of "BloodRayne" was actually in theaters, the sequel will only be available on DVD.

Well it took long enough

I don't ever want to meet the lunatic that would want or use this mouse.

The Headstand stool is annoying

The Headstand stool offers dynamic seating due to its unusual balance point. Which is a fun way of saying it's a pain in the ass. Call me crazy, but the idea of sitting is way less appealing when it becomes more work than standing. It's like inventing a bed that forces you to do pushups.

Horrorthon in no way endorses this smut

From Cinemablend, "Let’s face it: you love nudity. You might act like you’re above drooling and ogling over curvaceous starlets, but you pine after it like it’s your job. From Phoebe Cates in Fast Times At Ridgemont High to Kathy Bates in About Schmidt, actresses have a long and storied history of stripping in the name of “character development.”

Thankfully for you, the reader at home, Mr. Skin also has a long and storied history of repeatedly viewing these busty scenes. Every year, the internet exploitation king puts out a list celebrating the enchanting vixens that flashed their way into movie lore. Last spring, Anne Hathaway’s curvy performance in the straight to DVD gem, Havoc, topped the well-researched chart. Now, it’s Salma Hayek’s turn. The buxom brunette has been honored, by Mr. Skin, as this year’s best nude endeavor.

Chances are you didn’t see the 2006 period piece, Ask The Dust, but you probably downloaded the erotic feed. It’s OK; I won’t tell your wife. Rounding out the top three were Gretchen Mol in The Notorious Betty Page and Brittany Daniel in Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders. You may remember Daniel from her scintillating performance in Joe Dirt. She, along with Kid Rock, provided the white trash eye candy. So hick-alicious. YIf you don't have a problem with nudity, you can check out the entire catalog over at MrSkin.com. Showing a little skin can be a great way for actresses to revive fledgling careers. Just ask Neve Cambell. Her titillating turn in When Will I Be Loved certainly did wonders."

Man, remember when Ridley Scott made cool stuff?

From cinemablend, "Ridley Scott is putting a sword back in the hand of Russell Crowe. He’s signed up to direct Crowe’s anti-Robin Hood movie Nottingham. For those who haven’t been following along, Notthingham is a twisted take on the Hood legend with Crowe as a Sheriff of Nottingham isn’t such a bad guy while Robin Hood is kind of a dick. Before he does this, Ridley is working on a CIA thriller with Leo DiCaprio, hopefully it will be better than the last CIA thriller we had to sit through, Matt Damon’s boring, blah spy movie The Good Shepherd Once Scott finishes with espionage, he’ll turn is camera on Crowe and use his bad boy persona to bring a more sympathetic Sheriff to life. Some of you may be surprised to learn that the last time Crowe and Scott worked together wasn’t on Gladiator. That’s because like everyone else in the world, you stayed away from their terrible 2006 movie A Good Year. Fortunately, Nottingham will probably be focused less on wine drinking and mid-life crisis and more on things Ridley and Russell know, like stabbing that bastard Robin Hood with sword."

Lucas is officially an old fart

George Lucas is set to commission and oversee several documentaries for The History Channel.
Variety had this, "The History Channel has greenlit six specials and acquired a raft of digital programming that includes a slate of documentaries commissioned and overseen by George Lucas.

Subjects will range from the topical, such as climate change (special "A Global Warning") and fundamentalist Islam ("Stalking Jihad"), to the more historical, such as Abraham Lincoln's assassination ("Manhunt"), archaeology ("Egypt Project") prophesy ("Lost Book of Nostrodamus") and China ("China's First Emperor").

All will debut between next fall and the summer of '08.
The History Channel is set to announce them today at a Gotham upfront presentation.
Net is also beefing up its Web site with several digital originals on History.com.
Most notable is a set of 94 short docs it has acquired from Lucas which the helmer oversaw as companion pieces to his ABC series "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" but never aired on television.
The educational docs, which are mostly between 30 and 60 minutes, cover a wide range of topics including ballet, slavery and Al Capone.
Net had been negotiating with Lucas for years, but discussions had stalled until exec veep and general manager Nancy Dubuc revived them after joining the net from A&E earlier this year.
Lucas, Dubuc said, is interested in the teaching of history.
Docs will also air on History Intl. and History Classroom multiplexes.
Net has also commissioned several other digital series. They include "Band of Bloggers," which features video taken by soldiers in Iraq; "History Ships," about famous nautical tales; uncut footage from history such as the Reagan assassination attempt; "The Naked Underground," an extension of weekly skein "Cities of the Underworld"; and "Greatest Stories Never Told," about surprise historical incidents.
Move complements the earlier announcement of a younger-skewing slate of original series.
Dubuc says the goal of the topical specials and digital programming is to bring down History's average age slightly from its current 51 without sacrificing the larger mission of history-centric programming that provides new ways of looking at historical events.
"This isn't A&E. We're not trying to remake ourselves that much," Dubuc said, alluding to her previous net. "But we want to get younger by a few years. We don't want to be five years from now and find ourselves five years older."
Dubuc also said she plans to continue developing the Web site and hopes programming can flow more easily between the net and the online platform."

Annoying movie gets sequel

From bloody disgusting, "He's not really the ghost with the most without Michael Keaton attached, but Moviehole.net reports that Warner Home Video is still prepping Beetlejuice 2 for a direct-to-video release sometime next year without hilm. We've been reporting for years now that a sequel has been in the works, it just didn;t sound like it would ever come into fruition. "With Warner Premiere, we're creating an additional stream of new, high-quality, 'fan-ready' DVDs that will be supported by top-notch marketing to help them standout in the increasingly crowded marketplace," says Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. What do you guys think? post your comments inside.

Click the link for more news and watch for Return to House on Haunted Hill in October."

Legendary Hogzilla to be portrayed in horror flick

ALAPAHA, Ga (AP) — Hogzilla, a near-mythical monster hog that roamed south Georgia, is about to get a little bigger.

An independent filmmaker is producing a horror movie about the super swine calledThe Legend of Hogzilla, and has even enlisted the beast's killer on the set as an adviser.
"He's our hog expert," producer Rick Trimm said of guide Chris Griffin, who shot the huge porker in 2004 at a hunting preserve.

Photographs of the hog hanging from a backhoe were sent around the world, and the town of Alapaha 180 miles south of Atlanta quickly adopted Hogzilla as its own, even launching a parade in the pig's honor.

A National Geographic team confirmed the pig's existence in 2005 after exhuming the behemoth's remains. While the experts said the hog didn't exactly live up to the hype — local hunters said the pig was 12 feet long and weighed 1,000 pounds — they still discovered a mighty big hog. They estimated it weighed around 800 pounds and was probably about 8 feet long.


Lithium Productions says the production will need 200 locals for extras and is hosting tryouts next month.

"We don't need professional actors," Trimm said. "We need real people who are interested in the movie."

Horrorthon will be alive and well for years to come

By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES — Want to see something really terrifying in Hollywood? Look at the number of horror flicks invading the multiplex.

This year, no fewer than 39 fright films have been scheduled for the big screen, according to the tracking firm Media by Numbers. From 2004-06, the average was 20.

And given that the typical horror and suspense thrillers have at least a two-week life span in the top 10, it means fierce competition every weekend this year to spook crowds.
"I thought this was the year of the sequel," says Paul Dergarabedian of Media by Numbers. "But it's more the year of the horror film."

This weekend, three of the top four films —Disturbia, The Invisible and Fracture — were in the suspense or horror vein.

"I can't ever recall that happening," says Chris LeRoy, a senior vice president at Disney, which released Invisible.

Says Marvin Levy of DreamWorks, which released Disturbia with Paramount: "You used to see these come out maybe close to Halloween. But now it's every weekend. Eventually, some movies are going to get caught in the crush."

Some already have. Hannibal Rising underperformed at $27 million. Hilary Swank's The Reaping did a disappointing $23 million. Jim Carrey couldn't lift suspense thriller The Number 23 past $35 million.

The highest-profile casualty may be Grindhouse, the grisly homage to the exploitation films of the 1970s from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. The $67 million Weinstein Co. film was considered a lock for No. 1 and at least a $25 million debut. Since its release April 6, it has taken in $23.9 million.

"You have to think all the horror films hurt Grindhouse," says Bert Livingston, a distribution exec for 20th Century Fox. "It might have gotten lumped in with the others."

It's no wonder the industry is going horror-happy. In most cases, a fright flick costs less than $30 million and easily makes that back in theater and home video revenue. According to Nielsen VideoScan, sales of horror films rose nearly 10% last year. But with so many similar films, the chances for a breakout shrink.

"There's definitely a glut," says Rory Bruer, distribution chief for Sony Pictures, which distributed Vacancy, a disappointment. "At some point, people will be more discriminating before they go," he says. "Or make them."

Gillian Anderson should be a politician


From Anderson's BLOG,

THIS IS A BLOG - IT IS THE FIRST AND THE LAST I want to address the recent confusion around whether or not I enjoyed working on the X-Files which seems to have stemmed from out-takes of interviews past present and future as far as I can work out. I don't even know where to begin but I need to keep it short and with my claws in. My experience is that whether I am asked about the X-Files or not in an interview, details about the series and my previous comments about the series are included in the text. If I am asked about the series, and I ask to not stay too long on the subject due to the fact that I am promoting something else, I am frequently made out to be moody/abrupt/rude/dismissive you name it.

If I do talk about the series, which I recently did as it was blatantly clear that the interviewer did not like the film I was promoting, I try to make it light and fun and not repeat myself as even I am sick of hearing the same old yarn. What usually happens is that they ask about the long hours - I say yes they were long - they say, but you have said that at times it was a living hell and I say, yes at times it was... it was insane and long and wet and all that but there were good times too - and then the interviewer says provocatively - as if I'm either an idiot for staying in the series under such conditions or an idiot for saying it was so challenging when clearly it wasn't because I stayed - why didn't you get out?

And my response which is as much incredulity that someone who has written for years about the television industry has either never heard of a contract or has the shallowness to pretend he has never heard of a contract - I say, "are you kidding me?! when you go to network you sign a contract even before your last audition".....So the dilemma, do I go on explaining the X-F contract/salary details - as if he really cares - all the while injecting positive quips about the show and how grateful I am, or do I cut it short because I really don't want to be in this conversation yet again even though I know that no matter how nicely I request the end, it will, especially in this situation, be contorted to fit the snippy mood of the journalist.

None of this has much of anything to do with my experience on the series let alone me as a person. The series went on for a long time - longer than any of us had anticipated or some of us had wished. It was the hardest work I will ever do in my life. I hope for the sake of my children and my sanity that I never have to work that hard again. Did I hate it? At times yes. Did I love it? At times yes. Did I regret it or do I regret it now? Not for a second. Did David and I hate each other? At times yes like any brother and sister, husband and wife, co-worker and co-worker forced to spend that much time together under such strenuous circumstances. Do we hate each other now? Not in the least. Do I imagine that when we do the film together we won't hate each other for a few hours during the filming? No. We will. Vehemently. As David waits patiently, again and again for the hair dryer to calm my frizzy hair between takes so it matches the beginning of the scene... he will undoubtedly be thinking "what the hell was I thinking agreeing to shoot with her f****** frizzy hair again?" But we will also love each other and laugh with each other and pull pranks on each other and bug each other like we did for nine years. And that's that.

Simpsons movie promotion

From film ick, "I love the picture in ths post. Bigger, better cinema foyers are soon to be blessed with a wonderful piece of Simpsons Movie promotion - a full size couch, filled with the family, and with a space for you to join them.

If you see one of these, and get a pic of yourself staging your very own couch gag, send the image to me and I'll put it up on film ick. That's sort of like fame, right?And if Fox are reading this and want to turn it into a contest with prizes... c'mon Fox."
[JPX] I worked in a movie theater for many years. I guarantee this will be destroyed the first night it's set up. Either that or Octopunk will steal it.

Disturbia continues to take top spot at box office

Teen thriller "Disturbia" once again took the top spot at the box-office, the third week in a row which should help push Shia LaBeouf's asking price up (how much does he charge per hour? I only need 45 minutes).

The entire weekend though was a quiet one, the calm before the "Spider-Man 3" storm, and thus four newcomers bowed with little fanfare.The surprise strong showing was "The Invisible," the David Goyer-directed Disney supernatural thriller beat out Nic Cage sci-fi actioneer "Next" and took a definitely stronger per theatre average ($3,767 vs. $2,642). "Next" marks the lowest opening for a Nic Cage film since 2005's "The Weather Man".

Also opening were action thriller "The Condemned" which took a mere $4 million, and Jamie Kennedy comedy "Kickin it Old Skool" which took a mere $2.8 million. In limited release both "The Valet" and newcomer "Zoo" did the best (around an $8,000 per theatre average), whilst Aussie thriller "Jindabyne" did a so-so $5,033 per screen. "Hot Fuzz" held the best of the Top Ten, falling a mere 18% from last week and earning a strong $3,757 per screen average. The Brit action-comedy stands to continue performing well. Hits "Blades of Glory" and "Meet the Robinsons" continue to hold well (32.3% and 30.5% respectively), whilst last week's thriller "Fracture" also stayed quite high - dropping a mere 35%. Horror flick "Vacancy" fell 44%, not bad considering the genre usually posts bigger dives than that.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Oh yeah, Octo? My favorite Happy Meal toys

These are my favorite, only because I never got the robot ones. Octo, can you leave those in your will for me?

Unnecessary spin-off alert

From syfyportal, "Hugh Jackman's Wolverine movie is likely going to be made first, but Twentieth Century Fox is already touting the director of its Magneto spinoff film as one-time "The Flash" scribe David Goyer signing on to take on the early days of the X-Men bad guy.
Sheldon Turner, the writer behind "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning," will tackle the Magneto script that will focus on the beginnings of not only the magnetic baddie, but also when he first met Professor Xavier.

Variety reports that the film will show how the two became friends while Xavier, a soldier during World War II, saves him from a German concentration camp. Fans of the X-Men movies will likely remember the scene in the beginning of the first film that featured Magneto as a young boy losing his parents at a concentration camp.

It is unknown how much of a role Ian McKellen or Patrick Stewart, who play Magneto and Xavier in the X-Men trilogy respectively, will have as the story will focus on younger characters, hence younger actors.

Goyer's new film, "The Invisible," opens Friday. He's best known for creating the Blade vampire hunter character, and writing the popular "Batman Begins" for Warner Bros."

People magazine taken over by blind person

From WWTDD, "Drew Barrymore has been selected as the cover girl for People magazines Most Beautiful People issue, the annual collection of idiot hippie rambling and flattering photographs of old people and fat people who aren't attractive in any way. It's just crap like Drew Barrymore who is fat and has a terrifying profile, then some veterinarian and then Sophia Loren and then a cowboy and then Bill Clinton. To call it the Most Beautiful People is intellectually dishonest, at best. Keep in mind this monster was on it last year, and this and this monster made the cut this year. It should be called People magazines 100 Ways To Make Kids Cry. I'd rather look at People magazines 100 People Whose Chute Didn't Open."

I wonder what Dan thinks about this "that'll teach ya" tactic

From cinemablend, "With all the noise the MPAA makes about combating piracy, they’ve overlooked one extremely effective method for putting a stop to it. Screw over the piracy consumer. You don’t need to prosecute people, just rip them off and they’ll eventually stop supporting piracy.

For example Sony is reporting that in China, buyers looking for an illegal, advance copy of Spider-Man 3 on the streets will find them for sale. Unfortunately, when they take them home and pop them in the player, they’re getting a Dan Akyroyd movie.

If the MPAA really wants to take things up a notch, they should start boxing Uwe Boll movies in Spider-Man 3 cases and selling them. One viewing of Alone in the Dark will kill piracy forever. Earlier this week, it was Spider-Man 2 that counterfeiters were packaging in Spider-Man 3 DVDs. Now it’s the Dan Akyroyd 2001 made for TV movie Earth vs. the Spider they’re selling with Peter Parker’s face on it. Hey, at least it has “spider” in the title. Hollywood is quick to say this is proof that their anti-piracy efforts are working. Counterfeiters on the other hand say it’s simply too early, and they’ll have illegal copies for sale in a few days. I say it’s proof that movie piracy just isn’t the massive problem that Hollywood and the MPAA would like you to think it is. Unless of course, you’re Dan Akyroyd."

Crankier

From cinemablend, "Jason Statham’s last movie Crank didn’t do big business at the box office, but apparently it did enough to warrant a sequel. John over at The Movie Blog spoke to Crank co-writers and co-directors Brian Taylor and Mark Nevedine who say they’re doing another.

It probably helps that the first one was made relatively cheaply. It only made $43 million worldwide, but it only cost $12 million. Somebody made a nice profit. But was it profitable enough to bring Jason Statham back? It’s not like he’ll do the sequel on the cheap in hopes of winning an Oscar. Well, there’s no word on that yet, or for that matter any word on what the sequel will be about.

What kind of a sequel are we talking about here? Is this White Noise 2 where they take some other completely unrelated concept with completely different characters and slap the White Noise name on it to sell it or is this another story about the same characters in related or similar circumstances? I don’t know about you, but with the recent deluge of junk sequels to lower budget movies like this, I’ll need answers before I get interested in Cranking back up again."

First official shot of Tony Stark

From iwatchsctuff, "USA Today has scored the first official look at Robert Downey Jr. as billionaire hero Tony Stark in Iron Man. Seen here forging his original Iron Man suit, it's clear RDJ has been working out for the role, and looks as if he'd belong in the Men of Metallurgy calendar as much as in a comic book film. But I want it to be clear that when I say that I'm not discounting any of the current Men of Metallurgy; quite the opposite, RDJ could never replace any of you. You all perfectly embody both your months and the spirit of metallurgy. Maybe if one of you died or something Downey could come in, but then and only then, and I don't even want to think about that."

Spider-Man is a jerk

From thesuperficial,

April 27, 2007


Tobey Maguire smacked a camera out of the hand of a fan who tried to get his picture while he was headed back to his hotel in Paris. The guy wasn't even paparazzi. It's like the cast of Spider-Man is having a competition to see who can make me hate them the most. Tobey Maguire is being a dick and Kirsten Dunst is, well, just being herself. Which, ironically, puts her in the lead for the fifth straight year in a row.


See Tobey act like a jerk here, http://www.thesuperficial.com/

Fantastic Blade Runner DVD news

For a long while, we’ve been hearing about the forthcoming mega DVD of BLADE RUNNER. We’ve heard all kindsa stories about what material the set would contain (like multiple versions of the film, including a new edit that addresses continuity gaffs, FX inconsistencies, etc.) But, we hadn’t heard much about just how extensive this undertaking might be.

Now we have a sense…

Joanna Cassidy (who played Replicant Zhora in the film – she’s the one Harrison Ford runs down on the street & shoots in the back) has just finished shooting new material for the forthcoming DVD restoration!


"Joanna has just finished re-shooting her scenes from the original BLADE RUNNER movie. Joanna is wearing her original outfit (which she kept over from the first production). These new scenes will be part of the upcoming special BLADE RUNNER DVD re-release. Check back for more details."


…says HER OFFICIAL WEBSITE. You can glean a few more details HERE.
Wonder if other scenes will be similarly adjusted/re-approached for the DVD set? It’s a safe bet wire removal (that Police Spinner lifting off from the street in the beginning of the film) and smoothing out the blending of some matte paintings are on the agenda.

Annoying person reviews The Transformers

From AICN, "Last week I was at the Harkins Arrowhead Theater here in Peoria, Arizona to see Blades of glory. When I was leaving, some theater person handed me a flyer and asked if I wanted to see a test screening of an "upcoming PG-13 major release summer action movie" (or something like that, I can't remember). Being a movie geek, and a broke one, I was like "fuck yeah, free movie".

I've never been to a preview or test screening or whatever before, so I didn't really know what to expect. All week I had been trying to figure out what it could be, my friend said "just pray it's not "Flatulence Four: taking a number two"" THANK GOD it wasn't…that would have sucked. I was thinking maybe Die Hard or maybe Pirates, but I honestly never thought I would be Transformers, I figured with all the CG that it probably wasn't ready yet. I was partly right.
Anyway, i showed up last night at the same Harkins and the theater was packed, looked like a lot of families with kids and some scattered people around my age (I'm 28). After we sat for a few minutes I was looking around at the group of "reserved" seats that were taped off….and then I saw him….MICHAEL FUCKING BAY was in the house! Right then I knew what was up and I thought I was gonna SHIT!
I didn't say anything to anyone…mainly because I didn't know anyone else there…but I knew… I couldn't believe my luck. there could have been some other cast or something there, but I didn't recognize anyone else in the audience.

A few minutes after The Bay sat down ( I am an open Bay supporter (minus Pearl Harbor) so you can commence with your blind hateration below at anytime) , a very studio looking guy stood up in front of the theater and told us that "a lot of effects weren't done and the music was temp" blah blah. I didn't give a shit- I wanted the fucker to start! He finally says we are the "first audience to seeTRANSFORMERS!"

There was a loud cheer in the theater, I looked around and many of the older moms/dads didn't quite get it, but their kids seemed to know the score. I saw two 15ish year old fat kids do a chest bump…alas, I had no one to chest bump- but I totally would have!
So then the movie started, I have to be honest, I was smiling ear to ear- I was about to see the MOTHERFUCKING TRANSFORMERS before anyone else!
FIRST, BITCHES! (never been able to say that before :)

So, the movie…
It opens with what looks like the surface of a planet, Cybertron, but it doesn't look anything like the cybertron we know from the cartoons. Its more like a rocky, mountainous wasteland, but alive…if that makes any sense. Then we hear a voice and I know this voice, OPTIMUS FUCKINGPRIME- albeit he sounds older and more bassy than he did in the show. It was cullen for sure though. He tells a short back story about the AllSpark Cube and how it was lost during an epic battle and all transformers went searching the galaxy for it. We see the cube floating through space and coming up on earth where it starts a comet like decent through the sky. OP stops talking and the screen goes black and then : TRANSFOMERS logo comes up. That's the only credits, no laundry list of names that no one cares about, just a logo. Loved it.
After the logo we are dropped into the desert where we come up on some army guys in the back of a helicopter as they arrive at a base in Qatar, josh duhmel, tyrese and that latino guy from prison break. After some army talk and Josh Duhmel doing a cutesy baby talk webcam thing with his wife and child (luckily this doesn't really play much of a factor in the movie) we see that there is an inbound helicopter that isn't supposed to be there…cue ominous music and then BRING ON THE BANG BANG! The helicopter lands and is surrounded by armed men and tanks- but fret not for helicopter guy, cause its Blackout and he came to bring the pain.
This is the scene that is in the trailer, where he starts transforming and the army goes Michael Bay on his ass. Only this time it didn't cut away like the trailer- he transforms, stands up and gets to blowing shit up!

The transformation is unreal, it looks SO FUCKING COOL! Gears shifting, metal scrapping, pistons doing pistony things and it had the TRANSFORMATION SOUND FROM THE CARTOON! It had a little geek chubby, I couldn't stop smiling. Blackout proceeds to fuck shit up and nothing the army does even slows him down. I recognized a few of the shots form the trailer like the tanks flying through the air and the EMP looking thing he does. The scene is like 3-4 minutes of him just wreckin shop on the base- it was fucking awesome. There was a part where tyrese is laying on the ground below him that was kinda lame, Blackout just looks at him for a minute giving his buddy time to shoot. But then he sprouts scorponok from his back and takes out a WHOLE AIRFIELD!

I just remember thinking now THAT'S how you start a giant robot movie. We then go to a school where Shia is doing a show and tell kinda thing on his grandpa (this plays a key roll in the film but I wont ruin it with detail spoilers). This whole scene and the next two or three are all simply to set up the main story of Sam (Shia) getting his first car (bumblebee) and setting up the Shia/hot girl plot.

As is my problem with most "origin" movies, theres a shit load of origin and not a lot of action for the first 30-40 minutes or so. Which is probably why I like spidey 2 better than spidey 1. Maybe its my fault for knowing too much about the world before hand. Whatever.
So there are some really funny moments with Shia and the girl (ill call her Foxy). Foxy is slowly wooed by Shia with the help of Bumblebee via his radio. He doesn't speak at all, he talks through the radio….which sounds really lame, and is really lame for the first couple times but then it stopped bothering me and became kinda funny (intentionally)

So back to the sam//foxy story. Sam and dad go to get sams first car, we then meet Bernie Mac as Bobby B or something like that. I took it as a nod to BumbleBee (BB get it?) Bernie is actually very funny in his small part, I wasn't sure id like it (after seeing in the TV spot) but I actually really liked him. Small part, big laughs.

Sam gets BumbleBee ( and yes there IS a subtle nod to the origin as there is a yellow VW bug next to the camaro) this is a pretty funny scene as BumbleBee does things to ensure Sam takes him home.

The movie overall is actually very funny, in a good way. Some really cheesy laughs that are more than tolerable, its got light hearted flavor throughout, but when its time to fight- they fight- Bay style.

Shia's parents in the film are very well cast and they are really funny, much more so than any other Bay characters of the past in my opinion. It feels like this is the first time where he decided to embrace some elements of cheese and run with it. I am glad he did. It works, mainly because Shia is really really great as a semi-woody allen type kid, I was genuinely impressed with him throughout the movie.

So it doesn't take long for Shia to find out that BB is not just a shitty old car, it's a big ass robot…he also soon finds out that there are bad big ass robots that need something from him. He gets chased by Barricade (the cop car) and BB comes to his rescue and we see the first Robot vs. Robot action….i was a little disappointed by this in the sense that it was shot in a way where you really never got a good look at either of them. After seeing the rest of the film I can see why, they wanted to save it, but when I was watching it it bothered me that I couldn't get a good clean look at the bots.

Also during this time a small "boombox" robot is on Air Force one (unsure how he got there, wouldn't an x-ray see that it wasn't normal? ) anyway, he gets into the belly of the plane and starts hacking for info and then gets in a fight with some secret service agents. Frenzy (I think that's who it is based on internet info, they never really say) is a little bothersome from a viewer perspective. He is very shiny metal and doesn't blend with the background nearly as well as the rest of them---this COULD be one of those "not yet done" things, I hope it is.

It was sometimes hard to tell what exactly wasn't complete CG wise. Sometimes it was super obvious and sometimes there were small hints that it wasn't complete. I'm not sure where this bots stands in that sense.

I'll refrain from describing too much detail with the rest of the film because im not a fan of spoilers. Ill simply make some general observations.

I consider myself a mid-core TF fan. I LOVE transformers and ive seen every episode numerous times (G1), the movie numerous times and have been waiting for this movie for the last 20 years, but I accept that certain things need to happen in order for the movie to be made. Some lure/history/canon needs to be re-written/ignored in order to make a film like this- I accept that.

The robot design change, in my opinion, was the right choice. When you see it you will understand. The boxy designs from the cartoons simply would not have worked, they would have looked stupid and old. OP mouth…..thats a different issue- it sux. Period.
I really wish the decepticons, namely Starscream, would have gotten far more screen time. He doesn't show up till near the end. He TOTTALLY fucks shit up and is THE bad ass of the decepticons, but I needed more-

"I've got a fever, and the only prescriptions is MORE STARSCREAM!!!!!!"

The rest of the decepticons (except megatron) are pretty much just fodder for the autobots to stomp on, which im fine with, that's all they were in the cartoon anyway.

Megatron, even in his "cyberform" is pretty fuckin cool. When he eventually gets in on the fight he makes it clear who is boss. He never "scans" anything on earth so he stays in "cyberform" the whole movie….and yes I know it's called "protoform" but that term seems stupid to me.

We do, however, get to see at least a glimpse of the SS/Megs dynamic. "you failed me yet again Starscream" was awesome!" Some of the voices I think were temp still as they were hard to understand. Megatron didn't sound at all like Hugo Weaving to me, but as I said, the audio may have been temp.

Optimus Prime- sword arm- fuckin sick! That's all im gonna say about that.

OP says more than a few of the "iconic" lines from the toon- there are many many nods and references to the history of TF, it's clear that there was a lot of thought into adding some "fan only" moments into the film that the general audience wont get, which was great.

I'd say about 25% of the robot stuff was still temp and there was very little music/score in place so some scenes felt a bit slow and hard to keep up with, but I think once the FINAL movie is out in theatres those moments will be fixed.

So to sum this all up: This is a Michael Bay movie. Make no mistake about it. You can see influences from Spielberg and a conscious effort to make this not just a blow em up bang bang movie (although I would have been fine with that). The last 30 minutes is non-stop robot destruction- I honestly couldn't tell you everything that happened because it was just so damn awesome I had a hard time even keeping up- i almost wish I hadn't seen it….because now I have to wait TWO MORE FUCKING MONTHS TO SEE IT AGAIN…explosions, destruction, robots flying through the air, shooting missiles and rockets from their arms- absolute insanity on city streets. This is what I wanted to see out of this movie. There are some things that you may shake your head at or roll your eyes during, but when you see the goods, the stuff WE ALL want to see, you let the other stuff slide. Or at least I did."

Thursday, April 26, 2007

This one is even dumber

So we've got Invisibility power, Flame power, Orange Rock power, and...Reaching Towards The Camera power. What the hell? Why isn't Mr. Fantasmic stretching???? Seriously, is it too much to ask for a superhero movie to feature some characters with super powers? Or, like the first movie, did they just not have enough money?

I can top that!


My favorite Happy Meal toys ever were these guys, the Changeables, transforming robots whose disguised forms were McDonald's products. As you can see, they enjoyed a wide range of deception. Some of them were disguised as the food itself, some looked like the packaging, and then the frybots incorporated both concepts.

I still love the absurdity of the idea -- for safety, disguise yourself as food!

"Argh! Burgertron's been half-eaten! Why oh why didn't we see this coming?"

I found your sneakers, Jordan

In preparation for the new Transformers movie, Takara is releasing these Transformers toys which turn into 1/2 scale Nike shoes. No, seriously. Not a tank, or a jet, or even a sports car. Shoes. They turn into shoes.

Nerd attack!

Hugh Grant was arrested last night after a photographer accused him of attacking him with a container of baked beans. The photographer says Grant kicked him and verbally abused him on Tuesday morning before throwing the beans at him.

The Metropolitan Police don't identify suspects who haven't been charged, but said a 46-year-old man was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of assault and released on bail. No charges have been filed, police said.

That's not an attack. An attack is getting punched in the throat by some crazy guy wielding nunchucks. No, this guy got free beans. Last I checked, an offering of free beans meant peace. See that expression on Hugh Grant's face? It says: "Here, have some free beans. Let's be friends." They probably held hands afterwards and sang around a camp fire while taking turns farting.

He should get the death penalty for this egregious act!

NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian court issued arrest warrants for Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywood star Shilpa Shelty on Thursday for kissing at a public function, media reports said.

Judge Dinesh Gupta issued the warrants in the northwestern city of Jaipur after a local citizen filed a complaint charging that the public display of affection —which he called an "an obscene act" — offended local sensibilities, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
Last week Gupta subpoenaed television footage of the event.

Such cases against celebrities — often filed by publicity seekers — are common in conservative India. They add to a backlog of legal cases that has nearly crippled the country's judicial system.
It was not immediately clear how the warrant would affect Gere, a frequent visitor to India.

Under Indian law a person convicted of public obscenity faces up to three months in prison, a fine or both.

Last week, crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of Gere, 57, after he wrapped the 31-year-old Shetty in his arms and kissed her several times on her cheeks during an HIV/AIDS awareness event in the Indian capital.

Photographs of the clinch were then splashed across front pages in India — where public displays of affection are largely taboo.

The event's organizer, Parmeshwar Godrej, called the controversy a distraction from more important issues.

"It has detracted from and undermined the value and success of the event, which was concerned with creating AIDS awareness and promoting AIDS prevention among truck drivers," CNN-IBN quoted her as saying.

Shetty has said the embrace was not obscene and that the media should instead focus on


HIV/AIDS awareness.

Shetty, already well-known in India, became an international star after her appearance on the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother— another controversial public appearance. A fellow contestant, Jade Goody, sparked international headlines by making allegedly racist comments to Shetty. Mobs took to the streets of India to denounce Goody, and Shetty went on to win the competition.

Yeah but it was the best car chase I've ever seen

From iwatchstuff, /film says, 'Due to the mediocre American box office take, The Weinstein Co have decided to put the film's U.K. release temporarily on hold.'

Rumor has it that the new plan is to release both films individually. Unnecessary, says I. Grindhouse would work fine as a double feature if you just cut the fat. Car stunts are great, but they're less great when you have to listen to two chicks who can't act talk about them for a half hour first.

"Should we do the ship's mast?" "You wanna do the ship's mast?" "Yeah, I wanna do the ship's mast." "You ain't doin' the ship's mast, you crazy ass bitch!" "Shut up, bitch, I'm doin the ship's mast." "You really gone do the ship's mast, ain't you?" "Bitch, I told you I'm doing the ship's mast." "Well, if you gone do the ship's mast, at least... wait, no way are you doin' the ship's mast." "I wanna do the ship's mast, bitch!" "You ain't doin' the ship's mast, you crazy ass bitch!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Fantastic Four Face Wilderness Threat

From iwatchstuff, "If one from a series of leaked production shots is any indication, the Fantastic Four's newest foe may come in the form of a large bear. Despite the supergroup's awesome abilities, which in this latest chapter pit them against a massive, omnipotent devourer of worlds and his intergalactic metallic herald, viewers may finally get the chance to see how The Thing's incredible strength and rock-hard body will pulverize one of nature's most dangerous creatures, really putting the species back in its place.

Other leaked shots include Dr. Doom's updated look and many of the team in action and casual situations. But seriously, think about him tearing up that fucking bear.

See the rest here!"

Carol Burnett not able to get over herself

From planetfamilyguy, "Carol Burnett, a woman who has made a living off spoofing popular culture, is suing 20th Century Fox over a copyright infringement. In April 2006, a Family Guy episode showed Burnett’s character Charwoman as a woman cleaning an adult store. Apparently, Burnett feels that this spoof is worth a $2 million lawsuit."

New Transformers action figures, slow news day

By Mike Bruno

What would this summer's tentpole movie Transformers be without new ''Robots in disguise'' action figures? (A smidge less profitable, for one thing....) Well, worry not, fanboys and girls — Hasbro has given EW.com a sneak peak at the first action figure to be released as part of the Transformers Movie Deluxe Assortment line, which goes on sale June 2, ahead of the DreamWorks movie's July 4 release.

Introducing Barricade, a rather mean looking fellow (clearly a Decepticon) who can transform from robot into police car in the blink of an eye (or longer, depending on how adept you are at folding the thing up). Hasbro says of Barricade: ''The greatest thrill in his life is knowing people trust him because of the human decorations on his door panels. The look of betrayal they get when they realize what they're dealing with is as sweet as candy.'' He also has a twisted take of the familiar police slogan enscribed on his bumper: ''To Punish and Enslave.'' Clearly, not a robot to be tinkered with.

Also this June, IDW Publishing is releasing two graphic novels tied to the Transformers film: Transformers: The Movie Prequel, which will tell the story leading up to the movie, and Transformers: The Movie Adaptation, a full-color graphic novel interpretation of the film.
The movie follows the feud between the Autobots and the Decepticons as they bring their battle to earth. To prevent their war from overwhelming the planet, the Autobots meet up with an unsuspecting teen (Shia LaBeouf) who could be the linchpin in the intergalactic war.
Transformers is directed by Michael Bay (Armageddon, The Rock, Bad Boys) and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. For more information about the movie or the new product lines, head to www.Transformers.com beginning Friday, April 27.

Rick McCallum on the boring Young Indiana Jones and Star Wars TV

From IESB, I like Rick McCallum, he’s funny, has an extremely foul mouth and loves to talk to the press and fanboys alike. He recent gave updates on the Star Wars live action TV series and mentioned that he is hopeful for Young Indy to be on DVD by X-Mas ’07.

The boys over at Tosche Station recently met up with Rick and spoke to him about the Young Indiana Jones DVD’s and a bit on the live action Star Wars TV series.
Here are some of the highlights from Tosche Station.

Q: You mentioned ”Young Indiana Jones”. When will it finally be released on DVD?

RM: We are hoping that the first set will be released just before Christmas. I’m not sure about the date since Paramount is releasing it. Since Star Wars was finished one of the things we have been doing was making 94 documentaries which will be completed by the end of this month. (editors note: april 2007) These go with the TV series. There is a historical timeline that takes you trough the life of Young Indy and incredible documentaries about the people that he meets. That was a fun and fantastic experience.

Q: Will ”Young Indiana Jones” be used as a blueprint for the upcoming live action Star Wars television series?

RM: No, the Star Wars television series will be used as a blueprint for how we’re going to do our own films, the more personal movies George wants to make, how we’re going to use technology to make a movie for 10 or 15 million dollars with a lot of effects in it. Nowadays movies cost a lot of money and it doesn’t work. Movies are too expensive. It’s about how to change the perimeters of how do you set up the movie, how do you shoot it around the world, how do you make it look big in a more reasonable way. Most people forget that it takes three and a half, four years to make a Star Wars film. It’s long and that is why we are so excited to make the TV series because it’s much more character driven, you make a mistake one week and fix it the next week. You got this extraordinary story of twenty years between Episode III and IV while Luke is growing up that needs to be explored. So, we are looking forward to it. One of the things we are also looking forward to is finding a new group of talent to work with on feature films very much the same way as we did with Young Indy. Almost everyone that worked on Young Indy stayed with us for seventeen years or longer and some are still with us. Now we’re gonna start off with a new group, the next generation of filmmakers.

Q: And lastly, do you have a message for the fans who are reading this interview?

RM: I hope that Episode III brought peace to everyone and I cannot wait to show everybody the TV series because I think that its going to be much darker and much more character based its gonna go on forever and I think everybody is going to love it, if we can get it right and we crack it and don’t fuck it up it’ll be Fantastic.

Wes Craven continues to be a shadow of his former self

From ifitsmovies, Wes Craven’s THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT is one of the more brutal films out there, mainly for its rape and torture scenes. Most people are shocked when they see this movie because of how twisted it is.

Well with the remake that is currently underway, don’t expect to see the same sort of brutality that was so prevalent in the original. Craven recently talked to Rottentomatoes.com and had this to say:

“I think it’s probably the film I’ve made the hardcore fans respect the most because it’s just so brutal,” Craven said. “We don’t want to do it quite that brutal because it’s also just a great story. Bergman did the story and before that it was a medieval story so we’re going to try to split the difference.”

Craven will only be producing the remake, so he has no say in what goes into the film. If you ask me, the filmmakers need to do this remake justice. In today’s films, we have seen much worse than what was in the original film, so there is no reason for this remake to be any less than the original.

Jessica Alba looks ridiculous


From iwatchstuff, "Marvel has chosen a daring new campaign direction with their international Fantastic Four 2 posters by showing awkward portraits of the characters. My main concern with these is that it might urge some people to think, "Hey, weren't these the same guys in that really awful Fantastic Four movie a few years ago?" To which someone will surely reply, "Yes! They were!"

And it's not helping that they've airbrushed Jessica Alba into a mutant/wide-eyed Claire Forlani.

Nine (9!) more at Marvel's site."

The final HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX one-sheet hits the net! Dumbledore's Army looks pissed!


Wednesday, April 25, 2007

New Twin Peakish-sounding Lynch

From moviesonline, "What if nothing is as it seems? What if the murderers are amidst you? Waiting for the kill. Somewhere deep inside the Santa Fe desert there have been a number of blood curdling murders... a real killing spree. David Lynch will answer this in his latest thriller Surveillance.

The film is being directed by Jennifer Lynch and produced by David LynchThe local police station is in disarray. Captain Billings, Officers Degrasso and Wright have apprehended three witnesses: Officer Jack Bennet, one of their own, tough, but affected by recent events; Bobby, young, high as a kite on cocaine; and Stephanie, eight years old, who has just witnessed her family being brutally murdered by two figures dressed in jumpsuits, gloves, boots, and horrifyingly disfiguring blue latex masks. Even though everyone is ready to go, they are still waiting... waiting for the Feds to arrive.


As always, the FBI has come to take over the case, interrogate the witnesses, steal the thunder. As the witnesses tell their stories, the murderous events unravel before our eyes. It becomes clear, little Stephanie knows something, something about the agents Hallaway and Anderson.Two more bodies have been found. Agent Anderson takes officers Wright and Degrasso with her to inspect the crime scene. Anderson watches Degrasso closely, as he sits in the back of the sedan, looking at the pictures lying around: dead bodies, grotesque murders, atrocities... slowly, the truth dawns on him, he looks up, straight into Anderson's eyes: He is a dead man. Anderson returns to her partner at the police station. Sexually aroused and excited, the two killers kiss in front of their witnesses, relishing the murders that await them... "

The Simpsons ride

Or at least it promises to be the best ride ever, or so a Bizarro Comic Book Guy might be so inclined to say. "The Simpsons" outstanding animated series is not only coming to theaters with its own movie this summer, but it is also hitting Universal Theme Parks next spring.

20th Century Fox seems to be pouring the works into "The Simpsons" now that their big screen debut is finally approaching, after more than a decade of demand and speculation and the shattering of several TV records to become the longest running series on the small screen with its 400th episode coming before this season’s end. Now the pop culture phenomenon that knows no end will prove just how far-reaching and high-impact its success has been with a ride at Universal Studios in Orlando and Hollywood.

What will this ride be? Knowing that it’s "Simpsons," there’s sure to be a wild and crazy, and of course hilarious, trip in store for all. ComingSoon reports that it will be a journey through a Springfield you rarely see starring many familiar "Simpsons" characters and hosted by none other than Krusty the Clown, and all characters will be voiced by the same actors who do their voices for the show. The report quoted Matt Groening, creator of the series and its characters, on what parkgoers should expect.

"The ride is designed to duplicate the Simpsons home-viewing experience, only at high speed and with lots of screaming," said Groening.

Chairman and CEO of Universal Theme Parks and Resorts Tom Williams spoke highly of the opportunity to make a ride of the unique comedy and pop culture television entertainment that is "The Simpsons." Just as excited are the Presidents of Fox Television, Dana Walden and Gary Newman, who were also quoted by ComingSoon:

" 'The Simpsons' is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon and nearly 400 episodes in, the multiple Emmy-Award winning show continues to be as hilarious and inspired as ever … Creating an attraction based on this landmark series is a fantastic opportunity for our viewers to experience 'The Simpsons' in a whole new way, as well as potentially expose it to an even wider audience."

Another Dracula remake in the works

From bloody-disgusting, "Do you know which monster has graced the big screen more than any other? The answer is Dracula, and he's not planning on retiring anytime soon. A few months back a direct sequel to Bela Lugosi's Dracula (1931) was announced, Un-Dead, which was scripted by Ian Holt - today a director has been named, along with the name of our new Dracula! Read on for the skinny.

Blackfilm.com has learned that Ernest Dickerson (Juice) will be directing the sequel to Dracula called "The Un-Dead". Not only is Dickerson directing, but rumor has it that the following people are in negotiation to be in the film as well. Javier Bardem will play Dracula, Monica Bellucci will play Lucy, and John Hurt will play Professor Van Helsing.Holt scouted locations in Whitby, England, and Transylvania, Romania, including a visit to the ruins of Dracula's castle. His credits include horror project "Dr. Chopper."The official sequel to the Bela Lugosi 'Dracula' from 1931. The film is set 25 years after the book’s events. All the surviving protagonists—including Jonathan and Mina Harker and Professor Van Helsing—appear, along with Inspector Cotford, a character cut from the original manuscript, facing the bloodsucking Count once again."

Saving The Earth From Impending Doom ... Again



I watched exactly one episode of Babylon 5. I found the character pictured to the right to be so irritating I never watched it again. Yep, I'm just that petty about such things. I also couldn't stand Quark and any of the other "funny" Trek characters. From syfyportal,

"If five seasons, six television movies, and several attempts at spinoffs of Babylon 5 weren't enough, you can soon view never-before-seen tales this summer.



Written and directed by show creator J. Michael Straczynski, "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales" a made-for-DVD Warner Bros. movie, reunites familiar characters on the famed space station. The original cast has returned, including Bruce Boxleitner (President John Sheridan), Tracy Scoggins (Capt. Elizabeth Lochley) and Peter Woodward (Galen).



"Babylon 5: The Lost Tales" takes place in 2271 New York, 10 years after John Sheridan is appointed president of the Interstellar Alliance. The set of mini-stories follows Sheridan as he prepares for a Babylon 5 reunion that could prevent Earth's impending doom. Unfortunately, he is also forced to compromise his own principles in doing so. At the same time, Lochley confronts an unexpected interloper on the way station -- a being whose presence makes Babylon 5 the crossroads between heaven and hell.



"Babylon 5: The Lost Tales," will be available for sale on July 31.



"Babylon 5" is a major DVD seller, with more than $44 million in sales as of last November when this project was first announced. The series was first launched in February 1993, and averaged more than 13.7 million viewers in its first season.



Although it spent its first five years in syndication, it later moved to do four more seasons on SciFi Channel and TNT spinning off five feature lenght movies, as well as the short-lived "Crusade" spinoff."

Dark Knight just got better

From Iwatchstuff, "Eric Roberts, veteran of a million movies I haven't seen and current star of a couple TV shows I've never watched (but he did do a pretty funny interview with Howard Stern the other day), is rumored to be playing a mafia kingpin in The Dark Knight, Chris Nolan's upcoming Batman project.

Man, I was excited about this movie before, but now?

Let's see you disguise this boner, sweatpants!"

Movies cost a lot to make

From dark horizons, "There's talk all the time of expensive film sequences which didn't make it to the screen. For now the most notable remains the many millions spent on several space-set sequences in "Superman Returns" which didn't make the final cut.

Now, Yahoo News reports that Warner Bros. $150+ million sci-fi actioner "I Am Legend" spent at least $5 million for six days of night shoots in January to film a key scene for the Will Smith project.In the scene survivors gather at a pier by the Brooklyn Bridge, desperate to be evacuated. The scene required co-operation with no fewer than 14 government agencies, a 250+ crew, 1,000+ extras, and 160 members of the National Guard in full combat gear.


A fascinating full breakdown of the sheer scale and costs involved can be found in this intriguing read."

The boys are back in town!

By JAKE COYLE

NEW YORK (AP) - Spinal Tap is back, and this time the band wants to help save the world from global warming.

The mock heavy metal group immortalized in the 1984 mockumentary, "This is Spinal Tap," will reunite for a performance at Wembley Stadium in London as part of the Live Earth concerts scheduled worldwide for July 7.

The original members of Spinal Tap will be there: guitarist Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest), singer David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). Rob Reiner, who both directed "This is Spinal Tap" and played the fake documentarian Marty DeBergi in the film, will also be in attendance.

A new 15-minute film directed by Reiner on the band's reunion will also play at the opening night of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Wednesday. The slate for the opening gala, to be hosted by Al Gore, was previously announced, excepting the Reiner short.

The festival is to open with a showing of several global warming-themed short films produced by the SOS (Save Our Selves) campaign. SOS is also putting on the Live Earth concerts, to be held across seven continents.

Reiner spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday to explain the reunion of Spinal Tap - a band always known more as a parody of rock 'n roll excess than environmental awareness.

"They're not that environmentally conscious, but they've heard of global warming," said Reiner, whose other films include "When Harry Met Sally" and "Stand By Me.""Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing - that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler."
Spinal Tap has reunited several times since the film, but hasn't for a number of years. For the band - whose last album was 1992's "Break like the Wind" - the occasion warranted a new single: "Warmer Than Hell."

Reiner provided a sneak peak at the lyrics: "The devil went to Devon, it felt like the fourth degree/ He said, 'Is it hot in here, or is it only me?'"

The director said the new short film explains what the band has been doing with their lives lately. Nigel has been raising miniature horses to race, but can't find jockeys small enough to ride them; David is now a hip-hop producer who also runs a colonic clinic; and Derek is in rehab for addiction to the Internet.

Reiner, 60, has for over 20 years worked with the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental action organization. Though the Spinal Tap reunion will be a lot of laughs, he hopes the SOS short films program and the Live Earth concerts have a substantial effect.
"What I think is going to be nice about this whole effort is there will be marching orders for people," said Reiner. "Not only from a personal standpoint of what individuals can do in their lives, but a macro perspective with respect to the public sector and government."

New Fantastic Four 2 action figures, including Galactus!


Right on!

From cinemablend, "On Monday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screened Star Wars as part of their “Great to be Nominated” series. See, the MPAA does do something besides censoring filmmakers and beating up grandma’s for downloading movies. I wonder which version of the movie they showed? Any chance they got George Lucas to give them a print of the film as it was originally shown? I doubt it.

No matter what format they showed it in, c One of the big theater chains really should pick this thing up and put it in their regular “turn of your cellphone” reminder rotation. We’ve all wished this would happen to the idiot cell phone talker next to us at a movie at some point.

Check it out in Quicktime by clicking here.

It’s eight kinds of force choke cool. "

Slow news day

WorstPreviews came out with another week of results of which movies everyone is interested in.
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" is still the most popular movie, now for 16 weeks straight. "28 Weeks Later" was able to take second place, even with such heavy competition behind it. Rounding out the top five, were "Transformers," "The Simpsons Movie" and "300." With the release of "Spider-Man 3" just around the corner, I'm surprised it is not doing better; the film took sixth place.

On the BUZZ charts, which determine how good people think a film will be, "Pirates 3" took first place again. "Bourne Ultimatum" has been the only movie to beat it in the last few weeks, and came pretty close again this week. Pretty much all the big blockbuster made it into the top ten list.
To see a chart for any film, click "Buzz Chart" link located on each of the film's description page.

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...