I saw this on Boing Boing. Annalee Newitz from the science fiction blog io9 says,We did a study (with related analytical chart!) of how many zombie movies got released every year since 1910, created a line graph of them, and correlated spikes in zombie movie production with social unrest. It was actually quite eerie, because wars and social upheavals always seem to be followed by a giant leap in numbers of zombie movies in theaters. Coincidence? You be the judge!
Here is the poster for Will Smith's new film, Seven Pounds. The poster isn't really anything special unless you love looking at the Fresh Prince's face and hey, who doesn't. Seven Pounds is directed by Italian filmmaker Gabriele Muccino (One Last Kiss, Remember Me My Love, and The Pursuit of Happyness. The original screenplay was penned by newcomer Grant Nieporte.In the film, Ben (Will Smith) is an IRS agent who is depressed and guilt-ridden about mistakes from his past. He sets out to make amends by helping seven strangers. When he meets a beautiful woman with a heart condition (Rosario Dawson), he falls in love with her, thereby complicating his plans. Woody Harrelson also appears as a blind pianist who befriends Ben.
Apparantly, there's a lot of wondering on the internet as to what he will do to change the lives of the seven. I reckon Smith's character will be planning on killing himself and then donating his organs to them all. The fact he falls in love with one of them means if he stays with her he will be happy but would lose her as she would not get his literal heart although she would have his romantic heart as it where.
There you go. No need to see the film now. The trailer is below. What do you think of that?
On your daily travels around the internet you have no doubt noticed the Google holiday design for Halloween. What you may not know is that horror meister, Wes Craven, designed it. Now you know. What do you think of it?
Following the recent Hollywood trend to take a classic and remake it for today's audience (The Day the Earth Stood Still) it looks as if Forbidden Planet is next.
Warner Bros have hired J. Michael Straczynski to write the remake of Forbidden Planet. The original saw a group of Earth scientists who are sent some 17 light years away to investigate what happened to a colony of settlers on Altair-4. They find a man with a secret and his daughter who somehow survived a hideous monster attack on their planet.
Loosely based on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the movie was nominated for best special effects Oscar, and was noted for its groundbreaking use of an all-electronic score, and the first appearances of Robby the Robot and the C-57D starship. The movie’s poster was listed as the fifth best Movie Poster ever created by Premiere Magazine.
Forbidden Planet is one of my all time favourite films. It just works so well for so many reasons - great effects, brilliant story, Robby the Robot, Leslie Nielson with brown hair, Walter Pidgeon being all frosty and mad scientist as Dr Morbius, Anne Francis playing with tigers, Creatures from the ID, the vast underground city of the Krells, and the bit where you see the invisible beastie's footsteps in the sand as it approaches the ship while the electro theromin music works its magic. It is just excellent. Go watch it. Go now. Do it.
When I watched it with my son (he was 8 at the time) he explained to me how, because the spacemen were travelling at the speed of light, time would move slower for them than it would for the people on Earth. Quite a big concept for an 8 year old and it made me proud. He also loved the film and thought Robby was cool.
However, I'm not sure if this film should be remade. There is just no need and I'm not sure if a remake could add anything new to the mix. Although if you look at it as a work based on Shakespeare then a remake is not that unusual as the Bard's tales have been doing the rounds in all forms forever. What do you think of the news?
Andy D passed me this story from The Telegraph.Rhys Ifans is to play the role of fellow Welshman Howard Marks in a British film about the life of the reformed drug smuggler.
The actor will star alongside Chloe Sevigny and David Thewlis the adaption of the former cannabis dealer's best-selling autobiography. Ifans, 40, is in final negotiations to play the part of Marks, who spent seven years at Terre Haute jail in Indiana after his hashish empire was busted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration. During his 20-year career as a drug dealer, the Oxford graduate cultivated ties with members of the IRA and was apparently recruited as a spy by the British secret services. Bernard Rose is writing and directing the film, which is based on Marks's 1996 autobiography, Mr Nice. Sevigny is in talks to play Marks' wife Judy, who lived with him for most of the time that he was dealing drugs. She was herself imprisoned for two years and separated from her three children as a result of her involvement in Marks' affairs. Thewlis will play the IRA man with whom Marks conspired to traffic cannabis through Ireland and on to Britain. Marks said he was pleased at the news and disclosed Ifans had been a fan. "We met in the 1990s at a Super Furry Animals gig," he said. "I didn't have a clue who he was but he wanted by autograph. He brought over all these cigarette papers and asked me to sign them. "I thought I was doing him a really big favour but since them he has become so famous it's like he's doing me one." Marks studied at Balliol College, Oxford in the 1960s before turning to drug dealing out of boredom. By the 1980s, he has 43 aliases, 89 phone lines and 25 worldwide companies trading as money-laundering vehicles for his dope business. He was released from prison in April 1995 after serving seven years of his sentence, and claims he was never violent to anyone during his criminal career. He stood for parliament in 1997 on the issue of leglisation of cannabis.
War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn, the film exhumes remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war line of one administration after another. War Made Easy gives special attention to parallels between the Vietnam war and the war in Iraq. Driven by media critic Norman Solomon's meticulous research and tough-minded analysis, it sets stunning examples of propaganda and media complicity from the present within the context of rare footage from political leaders and leading journalists of the Vietnam era, including Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, dissident Senator Wayne Morse, and news correspondents Walter Cronkite and Morley Safer. Norman Solomon's work has been praised by the Los Angeles Times as "brutally persuasive" and essential "for those who would like greater context with their bitter morning coffee." This film now offers a chance to see that context on the screen.
Have a great Halloween. Trick or Treat safely and enjoy your goodies. Scare safely and if you are dressing up send me a photo of you in your costume and I'll post them on the site for the World to see (below are a couple of pumpkins I carved for the kids last night). I've also got my 2 year old daughter walking around like a little smiling Zombie whenever I ask, "What's a zombie do?" If you pretend to be scared she then runs up to you saying, "It's okay, it's okay!" and then hugs you. I think she's going to enjoy Halloween. My son is going to be dressing up as a Vampire and will be eating lots of sweets.
Once the kids are all partied out and down from the sugar rush, the Wife and I will settle down to watch Psycho. What will you be getting up to? What scary movies will you be watching? Let me know in the comments below.
Send you Halloween costume photos to live.for.film@hotmail.co.uk
Disney are trying to get WALL-E nominated for Best Picture and Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. All well and good but they could end up splitting the vote on it and winning neither. Above is the beginning of Disney's ad campaign.
Christopher Nolan has been talking to L.A. Times Hero Complex about why we won't be seeing his Batman meeting the Justice League and Superman anytime soon. He also discusses Heath Ledgers performance and the possibility of a third Batman movie."I don’t think our Batman, our Gotham, lends itself to that kind of cross-fertilization,” explained Nolan in the Hero Complex piece. “If you think of ‘Batman Begins’ and you think of the philosophy of this character trying to reinvent himself as a symbol, we took the position — we didn’t address it directly in the film, but we did take the position philosophically — that superheroes simply don’t exist. If they did, if Bruce [Wayne] knew of Superman or even of comic books, then that’s a completely different decision that he’s making when he puts on a costume in an attempt to become a symbol. It’s a paradox and a conundrum, but what we did is go back to the very original concept and idea of the character. In his first appearances, he invents himself as a totally original creation.”
With regards Heath Ledger possibly being nominated for an Oscar.
“I think the thing that has always been important to me in light of Heath’s death is the responsibility I’ve felt to his work,” said Nolan. “I felt a great wave of relief, really, as people first started to see the performance and it was clear that they were getting the performance. It’s easy to forget with everything that’s happened what an enormous challenge it was for Heath to take on this iconic role. It’s been extremely satisfying for all of us already. Anything that adds to that would be wonderful.”
Boucher asks the director, given how important the franchise has become to Warner Bros., if he’s been under pressure from the studio to come back for an encore.
“[Warner Bros. are] being extremely gracious,” Nolan responded. “I have a very good relationship with the studio. They know that I really needed to go on holiday and take some time to figure what I want to do next. They’ve been very respectful of that, which is terrific and one of the reasons I enjoy working with Warner Bros.”
What do you think of that?
The Guardian have a few images showing some of the early artwork Dave Gibbons did for the Watchmen graphic novel. They are from the new book Watching the Watchmen
. It's interesting to see how Gibbons went about creating the character's various looks - he used a selection of ink blobs made by hand to ensure variety and randomness for Rorschach's mask and Dr Manhatten went through a few costumes before Gibbons left him as nature intended. I've only posted a few images here. The one of the Comedian above has him wearing the mask from the comic, but in the movie he just sports a small domino style mask. Make sure you check out the rest. You can also get the book here. 
What do you think of them? I've put the book on my Christmas list. Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Snoop Dogg, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg, Justin Timberlake, along with Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat, Zach Braff, Colin Farrell, Neil Patrick Harris, Scarlett Johansson, Shia LeBeouf, Tobey Maguire, Ryan Reynolds, and Jason Segal, are featured in a second of a series of public service announcements to encourage American youth to vote in partnership with Google, YouTube, Declare Yourself, and MySpace. The non-partisan PSAs, produced by DiCaprios Appian Way, were created to engage and inspire young people to vote and participate in the upcoming election.
Source: MoviewebThe actor will play Sho'nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, a role played in the original by the late Julius Carry, whose spiel included asking ego-driven questions like 'Am I the baddest mofo lowdown around this town?' Each time his gang of thugs answered, 'Sho 'nuff!'
Handling screenwriting as well as producing duties is Dallas Jackson, who heads up the urban family label DJ Classicz with Davis. Wu-Tang Clan's RZA is co-producing.
This new version of the film will be along the same lines of the original, centering on young martial arts student Leroy Green in his quest through the streets of New York to achieve the highest level of martial arts accomplishment, known as the Last Dragon. Those who achieve the high ranking possess the Glow, making them the greatest fighter alive.
The plan is for the project, announced by Columbia presidents Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, will take a new look at The Last Dragon
"We're thrilled to be working with Kerry Gordy as he continues his father's legacy, and we're confident that he along with John and Dallas are the perfect team to develop the project," Belgrad offered. "They will capture everything that people love about the original while also bringing a fresh edge to the remake."
Even though it got poor reviews, Last Dragon did well at the boxoffice, grossing nearly $26 million. It soon became a cult classic for scenes like Bruce Lee follower Green remaining so loyal to the martial arts star that he eats his popcorn in a movie theater with chopsticks.
What do you think of that? You can buy the original version of The Last Dragon
Sideshow Collectibles proudly presents the Darth Maul VCD by Medicom Toy Corporation! Standing approximately 9 inches tall, this stylized designer VCD is a must-have for any vinyl or Star Wars collector.
In a murky cave deep below ground, Tolbiac (Clovis Cornillac) wakes up naked and disoriented. Pulling himself up from the mud, he is cold and hurt, and has no idea who he is, what brought him there or what happened to the dead man lying next to him. Digital phantoms appear and inform him of a paradise known as Eden Log, a community sustained by energy drawn from the twisted roots of a mammoth tree. His journey propels him through a labyrinthine network of tunnels and abandoned laboratories as he discovers he is not the only one trapped in this tomb-like underworld. Pursued by ravenous mutants and phantoms, he meets a female botanist who may provide clues to his identity, the brutal force that rages within him and the vital part he plays in a project that could threaten the very existence of mankind.
This from Yahoo. David Tennant has announced that he is vacating the Tardis and leaving the BBC's Dr Who
Tennant's decision brings to an end his popular four-year tenure as the time lord.
The BBC confirmed that the actor will complete the filming of four special episodes to be screened this year and in early 2010 as well as 2009's Christmas special.
Tennant, who is the tenth incarnation of the immortal time-traveller, has starred in three series and three Christmas specials.
He has drawn praise for his reprisal of the role after Christopher Eccleston left in 2005.
He said: "I've had the most brilliant, bewildering and life changing time working on Doctor Who. I have loved every day of it.
"It would be very easy to cling on to the Tardis console forever and I fear that if I don't take a deep breath and make the decision to move on now, then I simply never will.
"This is all a long way off, of course. I'm not quitting, I'm back in Cardiff in January to film four special episodes which will take Dr Who
He added: "I feel very privileged to have been part of this incredible phenomenon, and whilst I'm looking forward to new challenges I know I'll always be very proud to be the Tenth Doctor."
Looks like that rumour saying Paterson Joseph is to be the next Doctor may have some truth in it. What do you think?
Finally we get a glimpse of the new version of Gort. What do you think of him? He looks pretty cool in my opinion. What do you think of the trailer
I mentioned a while ago that Mark Millar (Wanted, Kick-Ass) had wanted to bring a cooler version of Superman to the big screens. Now he has been talking about his plans for the 3-film Superman story to Empire."It's gonna be like Michael Corleone in the Godfather films, the entire story from beginning to end, you see where he starts, how he becomes who he becomes, and where that takes him."
Millar explains that "The Dark Knight showed you can take a comic book property and make a serious film, and I think the studios are ready to listen to bigger ideas now." So he partnered with a big director and producer and went in to Hollywood to pitch his "Magnum Opus of Superman stories." The idea consists of an 8-hour saga, split into 3 films to be released a year apart, much like Lord of the Rings. Millar adds that "the problem with Superman Returns was like releasing Star Wars in '77, The Empire Strikes Back in '80 and then waiting 28 years to release Return of the Jedi — it wasn’t relevant. I understand what Bryan Singer was trying to do, to pay homage to Richard Donner's original vision, but I think you should pay homage by doing something completely different."
"I want to start on Krypton, a thousand years ago, and end with Superman alone on Planet Earth, the last being left on the planet, as the yellow sun turns red and starts to supernova, and he loses his powers."
I think that sounds pretty cool and suitably epic. I wonder who the big director is that Millar keeps mentioning? What do you think of that? Would you go and see it?
This morning, AintItCoolNews.com posted the first part of a two-part, extensive interview with the writer/director/producer, Jon Favreau, where he discussed the current status of “Iron Man 2″. He also mentioned that “Samurai Jack” creator Genndy Tartakovsky will be joining the production and working with Favreau, collaborating on fight sequences in sequel.“I’ve always liked ‘Samurai Jack’ and I loved his ‘Clone Wars’ vignettes that he did,” Favreau is quoted in the AICN.com interview. “Now clearly his stuff is a bit broad for a live-action film but I love his rhythm and his attention to detail. It has a real comic booky feel but yet it feels cinematic and not gimmicky and even his cartoons feel… there’s an elegance to them. So in this process as we’re storyboarding and designing sequences he and his team have come in and I’m working with them and they’re working on collaborating with us on the project and that’s a new wrinkle and it allows me… I feel like I’m really learning a lot from collaborating with this guy.”
Favreau also gave a status update on the production, saying, “[Screenwriter] Justin [Theroux]’s almost done with the first draft of the script. And we’re boarding and been creating animatics for the action sequences. We’re starting to do some location scouting and designing some sets and figuring out how much of it we want to… you know, what techniques we’re going to use.”
What do you think of Genndy getting involved with the next Iron Man movie? What are your thoughts on Samurai Jack?
Cheers to Del for passing me this from The Guardian.Joaquin Phoenix, the twice Oscar-nominated star of Gladiator and the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, has announced his decision to retire from acting to pursue a career in music.
Phoenix said this to a presenter for US celebrity TV show Extra at a benefit for a
Paul Newman-backed charity in San Francisco last night. Phoenix had been on stage performing with Hollywood glitterati such as Julia Roberts, Jack Nicholson, Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Warren Beatty, Danny DeVito and Sean Penn in a one-off production of Ernest Hemingway's The World of Nick Adams."I want to take this opportunity ... also to give you the exclusive and just talk a little bit about the fact that this will be my last performance as an actor," Phoenix told the shocked reporter. "I'm not doing films any more." The actor's representative later confirmed the news.
Phoenix has been working on an album with Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess. The move into music follows his successful turn in
Walk the Line, in which the actor performed all of Cash's famous songs. In addition to his Oscar nomination for best actor, Phoenix won a Grammy for his work on the soundtrack.It's not the first time Phoenix has turned his back on acting. In the 1990s, after establishing a fledgling career as a child actor under the name Leaf, he withdrew for a time to travel to Mexico and South America with his father. Then in 1993, following the death by drug overdose of his brother River, Joaquin retreated from the public eye once again after his distraught 911 call to the police was recorded and repeatedly played over the airwaves and on television across the globe.
On that occasion it took him a year to return to acting. This time around it looks like the break could be rather longer.
What do you think of that?
Factory Farmed was conceived, shot, and edited in just 2 days, it's truly a stellar piece of film making. It was submitted to Sci-Fi London's 48 Hour Film Challenge back in May. Entries have only 48 hours to script, shoot and edit a film that contains a specified prop and line of dialogue. Team "Rebel Alliance's" prop; a clear bottle with red or green liquid, their line "I am required to carry out this task until completion: your orders do not override anything."
What did you think of that?
Source: Quiet Earth
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Indie company Werc Werk Works will finance and co-produce "The Turin Horse," a new movie from Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr that will use the story of a farmer and his horse as an existential metaphor... (full details)
Danny Boyle admits that he shot "Slumdog Millionaire" with a PG-13 rating in mind, despite the film landing an R from the MPAA. He also admits that he tried to appeal the rating but doesn't seem to have had any success... (full details)
'W.' screenwriter Stanley Weiser talks about his "Wall Street" sequel treatment that he penned a while ago and is being ignored by "21" scribe Allan Loeb who's penning the upcoming project entitled "Money Never Sleeps"... (full details)
Despite a press release indicating Michael Bay had approved the upcoming Transformers theme park ride, Bay himself has just announced he isn't happy with what they have presented him... (full details)
Legendary Pictures ("Batman Begins," "Superman Returns") is in negotiations to acquire Epic Games ("Gears of War," "Unreal Tournament") - the first film financing company to start investing money in video games... (full details)
Real life couple Christopher Lee and Fann Wong are in advanced talks to star in Singaporean romantic comedy "The Wedding of the Year." The dark story deals with a marriage between two celebrities whose fans have been tracking their romance and rooting for nuptials. Pic will be released in Singapore by Golden Village in time for Chinese New Year in late January... (full details)
Mirovision is developing a third remake of Korean helmer Kim Ki-young's 1960 masterpiece thriller "The Housemaid"...The story follows a maid who ruins a family. Gina Kim ("Never Forever") penned and is attached to direct the $2.5 million Korean-language remake... (full details)
Danny and Oxide Pang ("Bangkok Dangerous," "The Eye") will next direct the horror feature "Child's Eye" for Universe Intl. Holdings. Shooting is scheduedl to start in April or May... (full details)
Joss Whedon has revealed that his original pilot for the new Fox series "Dollhouse" was thrown out completely and several characters were removed from the show... (full details)
Jackson Rathbone tries to defend the Donnie Darko sequel S. Darko: “Look at the original Donnie Darko. When it was first released, did anybody like it? No, it was a year later. Through people talking, people got it. We’re in an opposite boat, because people loved the first one after a while. Maybe they’ll warm up to this, too. Or, they’ll hate the idea of it, but once they see it, I think they’re going to turn around. It takes the idea of the film and it goes beyond, answering and delving into more questions than Donnie Darko did. A lot of people are pissed that Richard Kelly is not involved, but he did sell the idea. He did give the license to do it. So it’s not like he’s opposed to it.” [Shock]
Danny Elfman is developing a broadway show based on the life of Harry Houdini and he also might be doing a Cirque Du Soleil show at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood in 2010. [Collider]
The Playlist takes a look at the soundtrack for Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
Universal is giving Pride and Glory director Gavin O’Connor another chance, a Vince Vaughn comedy film called Sunny and 68. [Variety]
The Wackness hits DVD and Blu-Ray on January 6th 2009. [movieweb]
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso complains that he doesn’t have enough time to read comic books: “It’s hard to read comic books as my time is now restricted.” [boingboing]
Cinema Blend has 26 new photos from Gus Van Sant’s Milk.
Gus Van Sant, he will be directing an adaptation of 1968 Tom Wolfe’s book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. [Reuters]
Rob Cohen is trying to get xXx: The Return of Xander Cage into production by late spring, for a Summer 2010 release. [collider]
Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode will star in Tom Ford’s directorial debut, an indie drama titled A Single Man. [Variety]
Universal has preemptively bought Mike Sobel’s disaster-action pitch Skyscraper. [CS]
Natalie Portman is set to star with Scott Cohen and Charlie Tahan in Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, a Don Roos-directed adaptation of an Ayelet Waldman novel. [Variety]
Amy Adams will star in the indie drama Daughter of the Queen of Sheba, Karen Croner’s script based on Jacki Lyden biography. [Variety]
To promote Anaconda 3 on DVD, Sci-Fi Channel has launched an online game called Snakes on a Babe featuring David Hasselhoff.
Neil Gaiman is producing a live-action adaptation of his new New York Times best-seller The Graveyard Book. [MTV]
Netflix will offer HD streaming to XBox Live members first. [/Gamer]
Adrien Brody will become The Courier for Russell Mulcahy. [FirstShowing]
Edgar Wright is hosting a special Halloween night at the New Beverly Cinema: A double bill of Shaun of the Dead and Wright’s personal Halloween choice film - Riki Oh: The Story of Riki.
Wright explained his reasoning for picking the movie, “What could be more amazing than a film that names it protagonist twice in the title? And what could be more Halloween-y than a ridiculously gory futuristic prison romp with a hero who can play the flute and punch through peoples heads? I swear that if you haven’t seen it before - it’s a crazy film and a great one to see with a crowd. If you need further prompting; please peruse the IMDB plot keywords for RIKI OH.
Plot keywords for :RIKI OH: THE STORY OF RICKY (1991): Hook For Hand, Stabbed In The Eye, Exploding Body, Seppuku, Suicide, Taser, Glass Eye, Decapitation, Wetting Pants, Crow, Crushed To Death, Razor Blade, Vengeance, Severed Leg, Blinding, X Ray, Shower Room, Transformation, Stabbing, Extreme Gore, Crushed Head, Severed Arm, Opium, Intestines, Hand Through Head, Broken Finger, Skinned Alive, Grindhouse, Profanity, Disembowelment, Gore, Martial Arts, Prison, Splatter, Exploding Head, Black Comedy, Controversial, Torture, Animal Abuse, Buried Alive, Christ Allegory, Dismemberment, Hiding On Ceiling, Nail Through Hand, Murder, Mutilation, Megalomaniac, Social Commentary.
If you were not sold by the time it got to ‘Hand Through Head’ on the list, then I do not know what to say.”
I'd not heard of the Riki Oh movie so thought I would share the trailer. Looks kind of crazy good. Anyone seen it?
Marvel has announced today (the full press release can be found on SuperHeroHype) that Robert Downey Jr. will appear in both Iron Man 2 and The Avengers as Tony Stark, with Jon Favreau set to direct Iron Man 2 and executive produce The Avengers. Additionally, Marvel confirms the announcement made a few weeks ago surrounding Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard as Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes. Cheadle is officially signed on to appear in Iron Man 2 and other Iron Man sequels (and presumably spin-offs) as well as The Avengers. Additionally, Marvel confirms that the full line-up will include: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk and more.It's happening. It has begun. After years of waiting, we're finally going to get the ultimate crossover movie that we've all been dreaming of! Jon Favreau will be directing this, as initially rumored. Marvel also said, "In a movie event, The Avengers will bring together the super hero team of Marvel Comics characters for the first time ever, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk and more, as they are forced to band together to battle the biggest foe they've ever faced."
Who do you think the big bad could be? Who could play Cap and Thor?
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Empire have the pics and a Trek cover.
The 2008 card above was designed by Harrison Parker. You can find out more about the creation of the card on StarWars.com. Check out some of the cards from ILM’s past Halloween parties. /film have some of the past party invitations.
"A vengeful nature has unleashed a powerful virus from the world’s diminishing rainforests. Transmitted through air and touch, the virus physically assaults the doomed infected, violently twisting their bodies into strange intolerable shapes. Within weeks of the first reported outbreaks, the members of an elite Catholic boarding school on a remote island lose communication with the outside world. Facing the terrible possibility of the end of the world, they begin to struggle amongst themselves. The virus hits and they realize they were wrong. Civilization isn’t ending. Only the adults are dying."
This review by Paul. Nice review. I always wanted a Plymouth Fury.
I first fell in love with this film when i was about 13, a long time ago! It was one of the few videos that were for rental in the local garage - yesteryear's Blockbuster! and it had swearing in it!
The story has the classic geek-turned-god aspect centered around one Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon), a 17yr old spec wearing geek who falls for the Christine of the title, a red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury (what a car!). What he doesn't know is the car is possessed by an evil malevolent sprit, which is going to be his undoing.
When we first see Christine, she (opps, it's got me as well!) is for sale outside a ramshackle building, and held together by the rust of ages. He needs her and the first spell is cast on poor Arnie. His folks understandably go mental so he hires a spot in the local garage, with the intention of doing her up. Not very exciting yet is it? oooooo, but you gotta stick with me here.
At this point we have already seen Arnie being bullied by the school hard knocks, until his hero-jock mate saves him and the day from the nasty Buddy Repperton. Understandably Arnie is a bit miffed and pours all his energies and love into Christine. I can't describe the state of the car, but when you hear the words 'show me' fall from Arnie's mouth you sit back and prepare to be amazed. The car fixes herself! better than ever before! Pristine condition! and as the old dude that told him says, 'there's nothing in the world that beats the smell of a brand new car, 'cept maybe for pussy' (you can see why a 13yr old loved this film, he said pussy!). the effects are pretty mindblowing for a 1983 film, before CGI was even thought about, the way the car bends back into shape and the glass all reforms still does it for me even today.
Arnie turns up at school the next day, minus the specs and riding in Pristine Christine, to the envy of all, even his soon-to-be-on-crutches best mate, and especially Buddy and the badlad crew. They find where Christine is housed and trash her, big style. (I may have some things out of order but the jist is there).
Now comes the Revenge!
Arnie/Christine hunt the dudes down one by one and disposes of them in ruthless fashion. The scene where he crushes the fat kid in the alley stuck with me for years! and the shot of a burning Christine driving down the road is pure cinema joy. Hear me roar!
I'm not usually a Stephen King fan, but it is the presence of John Carpenter that brings this film to another level (as usual). I read the book (and still chuckled at the pussy line) and now have the DVD. The first re-watch of this after so many years brought a big smile to my old chops, like going to visit an old friend, although a big red scary one that kicks ass!
And the final scene, well, the very final shot, where we see a bit of broken bent mental swaying in the beeze makes you turn and go oooooooo to anyone not hiding behind the sofa.
It might not be the bloodiest or scariest of movies, but it still holds it own 25 years on. a demonic car? Beats getting a cab.......
It started off with a Big Brother group of housemates arguing on eviction night and then cut to behind the scenes at the staff working on the show. As they near broadcast time we see news reports of violence spreading in Britain and we, the viewer, get to see the zombie-ness slowly spread.
The virus gets to the Big Brother studio and the zombies lay waste to the staff and fans of the show. Only Jaime Winston's characters, the director of the show and the housemates are still breathing by the end of the show.
The zombies are of the fast type and you could tie it in with Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake. Kind of what happened in Britain while that was going down.
The effects are really good and it did keep you gripped for the 70 minutes it was on. The housemates are suitably obnoxious and the few kills you see are suitable gory, especially the second death of the zombies (good use of a fire extinguisher).
I also liked how the zombies still watch the housemates on the TV or through the 2 way mirror or their own reflection. Not too subtle a way of saying that the viewers of reality TV are just zombies without the blood lust, but effective nonetheless. It wasn't cheesy as I thought it was going to be and played it as a proper zombie story.
Now that the initial set up is out the way I look forward to seeing how they survive the apocalypse.
What did you think of the series opener? Let me know in the comments below.
My Uncle (his name is David and he lives in Sweden) has been involved in the music industry for many years. One of his companies provided stages for various concerts and events. As I owe him for many ice creams and free concerts over the years I thought I would help spread the word. It is pretty cool.
Now he has cut up one of the stage floor into 5107 pieces meaning you can own a part of rock and roll history. They are all unique, are individually numbered and mounted by hand in a protective plexi-glass cover. They are all for sale.
Just some of the bands that have played on it are U2, Depeche Mode, Santana, Oasis, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Guns and Roses, Frank Zappa, Sex Pistols, Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra, Nirvana, Bon Jovi, Blur, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Joe Cocker, Eminem, Marilyn Manson, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Bruce Springsteen. There have been many more.
Pope John Paul II led a midnight mass in 1989, Nelson Mandela gave his first public speech on it after his release and the Dalai Lama spoke in it in 1996.
So go on over to On-Stage and take a look (it's in Swedish but click on the "In English" tab at the top to read it). There is a search engine on there so you just put the band name in you are looking for and it will tell you if and when they played on the stage.
Just tell him I sent you. It won't get you a discount but it may get me some more concert tickets. Let me know what you think.
