My rye! My rye! (Get it? Anyone? Just... never mind....)
Night of the Living Bread
Thursday, October 30, 2008
No! Not... whole wheat!!!
"This is Halloween"
Outbreak: Interactive Online Zombie Game
Comic Monsters Cool site, layout's a bit busy though.
What Happens to Science Fiction Writers After They Die?
Scifi's most daring head transplants
Teen Vampires: 10 Most Toothsome
Something for Everyone: Looking at the Varieties of Vampires “Ow, my neck! Dang, why am I so unpopularrrrrrr?”
The Joy of Cooking Human Flesh
Hurley Lantern
The Graveyard Pumpkin
Vegan Zombie
Zombie Apocafest
The Cruisin' Casket
Comics and Books
Monthly comic book series Vincent Price Presents, written by Chad Helder and illustrated by Joel Robinson, will have "the master of macabre haunt a new generation of horror fans posthumously. The new series features Price in a myriad of roles including host, muse, background player, and protagonist." Published through Bluewater Productions.
Prince of Stories: A New Guide To All Things Gaiman, Plus Poster Giveaway
Twelve Kingdoms, vol 3: The Vast Spread of the Seas has a March 17 release date and is available for preorder.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Band of Ninja
November 15, Toronto, Canada, the Cinematheque Ontario will host an English narrated screening of Nagisa Oshima's rare 1967 anime film Ninja Bugei-cho (Band of Ninja). 2:00 pm at the Art Gallery of Ontario's Jackson Hall, tickets are C$10.14 for the general public, and C$5.90 for students, seniors, and Cinematheque Ontario members.
"Band of Ninja is an adaptation of Sampei Shirato's 1957 manga about a young boy from a noble family who joins a peasant rebellion to avenge the death of his father. Rather than just using the manga as the basis for the film's plot, Oshima shot pictures of the actual manga pages, added camera pans to give an illusion of movement, and had actors read the dialogue and narration."
Band of Ninja is part of the Cinematheque's touring Oshima retrospective that will travel to various cities around the United States and Canda.
For more on this showing.
Go here for the other titles in, and more information about, the retrospective.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
DVD Releases
The 4400: The Complete Series - October 28
Toward the Terra - November 25
The Mask (Blu-ray) – December 9
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor – December 16
Wedding Crashers (Blu-ray) – December 16
Resident Evil: Degeneration - December 30
Being There (Blu-ray)– February 3, 2009
TV News...
Effective October 31, after four episodes CBS will pull The Ex List. It marks the first death of an hourlong scripted series this fall season.
Q & A with Seeker producers.
A list of updates on Stargate Universe.
Ben Koldyke and Tony Hale will star in Fox's comedy science fiction Boldly Going Nowhere.
Gary Cole will be a regular in the sixth season of Entourage as Ari's friend, Hollywood agent Andrew Klein.
Paterson Joseph confirms that he's "on a list of God knows how many others, but flattered to be considered" as Doctor Who's next Doctor.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Trailers
Some of these links may contain mature material, and MRFH is not responsible for their content.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
17 Again
Notorious
Gran Torino
JCVD
Boogeyman 3
My Bloody Valentine 3D
Friday the 13th teaser
Friday the 13th Scream Awards trailer
Lost Season 5 (TV)
Videos
Some of these links may contain mature material, and MRFH is not responsible for their content.
Watchmen Scream Awards footage
The Spirit 1 featurette
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa 1 clip; 2 featurettes
Twilight 1 clip
REPO! The Genetic Opera 1 clip
REPO! The Genetic Opera 1 featurette
Saw V 5 clips
The Haunting of Molly Hartley 7 clips
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Fox's new dates
Fox’s new line up of release dates:
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel - December 25, 2009
The A-Team - June 11, 2010 (formerly June 12, 2009) [John Singleton has left due to the changes and rewrites]
Tooth Fairy - November 13, 2009 (formerly June 2009)
I Love You Beth Cooper - July 10, 2009 (formerly March 27, 2009)
They Came from Upstairs - July 31, 2009 (formerly February 13, 2009)
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief – July 2, 2010 (formerly 2009)
Ramona - July 2, 2010
Movie News
Anime distributor FUNimation says that Japanese trading company Sojitz’s decision to dissolve its North America anime licensing and distribution subsidiary ARM will not effect their titles. "FUNimation no longer deals with ARM or Sojitz regarding the titles we acquired over the summer. Each title was transferred to us and we have been in direct contact with the licensers." A list of transferred movie and series titles here.
Castle Rock has bought Zoe Green's spec script Book of Shadows. The movie, which'll be a vehicle for director Rob Reiner, is about "a young man who must embark on the perilous journey of first love and face many trials of maturity while on the dangerous quest to close a mythical tome called the Book of Shadows in order to restore balance to the world."
Chris Columbus will direct Paramount's Ripley's Believe it or Not, a film Tim Burton was at one point the director for. The biopic of newspaper columnist/explorer Robert Ripley is still starring. Columbus has dropped Burton's China set storyline.
Steven Soderbergh is shopping around a 3-D rock ‘n’ roll musical about Cleopatra. The script is by James Greer, with music by indie band Guided by Voices, and Greg Jacobs and Casey Silver are producing. Soderbergh wants Catherine Zeta-Jones for Cleopatra and Hugh Jackman for Marc Antony. [E: Chicago meets Oklahoma! in Egypt]
Robert Luketic will direct action comedy Five Killers. It'll star Ashton Kutcher as an ex-hitman with someone from his past sending people to kill him. Ted Griffin is doing the rewrite of Bob DeRosa's spec script.
Burr Steers will direct romantic comedy The Fiance, starring Anne Hathaway as a woman who breaks up with her fiance in oreder to find herself, cue meddling parents. Ethan Cohen is rewriting from Dyanne Stempel and Jennifer Robinson's script.
Ron Perlman, Stephen Campbell Moore, Claire Foy, and Robbie Sheehan have joined Nicholas Cage in the cast for Dominic Sena's Season of the Witch. [Okay, I know it's about knights and witches, and it's going to have Ron Perlman, so yeah I'm seeing it, but every time I hear the title I think of this: 
French Stewart, Doug Hutchinson, and Eileen Ryan have been cast in Russell Mulcahy's Give 'em Hell, Malone.
Teri Polo will play the mother in Joe Dante's supernatural horror The Hole.
Ashley Greene, Haley Ramm, and James LeGros will star in Anthony Burns' '80s coming of age roller rink story Skatetown. Taylor Handley and Shiloh Fernandez are in talks to join the cast.
Stella Stevens has joined Derek Milton’s horror western Death Keeps Coming.
Prequels, Sequels & Remakes
Andy Fickman will "godfather" four of the eight Roseblood and Twisted Pictures remakes of RKO horror movies, directing at least one. The four titles that Fickman has made a deal for are Jacques Tourneur's I Walked With a Zombie (1943); Robert Wise's The Body Snatcher (1945); Mark Robson's Bedlam (1946); and John Farrow's Five Came Back (1939).
Warner Bros. has the rights to remake anime Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s anime movie Ninja Scroll as a live action. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way will produce, but he will not be acting in it. Alex Tse will write the script about a wandering sword for hire in feudal Japan who gets in the middle of a fight between the government and demons that has connections to his past.
The 18 straight to DVD titles Dimension plans to release in 2009 will include sequels to: Pulse, Children of the Corn, Feast, and Hell Ride.
Director McG made his first Terminator Salvation post in three months:
“We wrapped principal photography. Now we're heavy into post. I've already shown early cuts to Christian and Sam. They seem pleased with where the film is headed. Our focus is on story and character, but it's fun diving into the world of visual effects.”
Marc Foster says that he knows and asked fellow directors Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron to portray members of a fictional Bolivian army in Quantum of Solace.
Adaptations
Dragonball -which was suppose to release back in August, but was pushed back to April 2009- is still filming. Fox is currently planning to debut the trailer in North American theaters December 12.
Robert Kurtzman will direct the movie adaptation of Mark Kidwell’s horror comic Bump. Kidwell also wrote screenplay: “Sheriff Lundy is called into action to solve the mystery of the unexplained forces at work on the Dill Farm. A supernatural tale of extreme horror, where even the confines of the grave aren’t able to contain the brutal spirit of serial killer Edgar Dill, and his legion of monstrous Treehuggers.” It’ll star Tobin Bell, Sean Patrick Flannery, and Ashley Laurence. Kurtzman's Precinct 13 Studio will do special effects.
Mark Goerner Talks James Cameron's Battle Angel
Crispin Glover will play The Knave of Hearts in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.
Warner Bros. has the rights to Jon Stock’s upcoming novel Dead Spy Running. McG will direct, and co-produce with Jeanne Allgood, the adaptation of Stock’s first of three books about the origin of a newly trained spy.
Neil Gaiman on bowing out of Black Hole: “Once they got David Fincher on, David explained his process consisted of having over ten drafts, done over and over, and Roger and I were sort of asked if we wanted to, if we were interested in doing that. And we definitely weren’t.”
Thursday, October 23, 2008
"Is there... anyone?"
In 1938 Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre adapted H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. The sixty minute broadcast aired October 30 as a special Halloween episode - without commercials. While they (Welles and Mercury Theatre) always said that they said it was a dramatization, the one at the opening of the show was timed to be before people would have turned the channel from other radio programmes. End result: People freaked.
I can't tell you how much I love this recording. While I listen to it on cd every once in a while, it's the first time I heard it in fifth grade that'll always stick with me. Halloween was on a Friday, and so my homeroom teacher decided to make it a light day. She played it while we waited for school to get out and I remember as it went on everybody got quiet and just listened, looking at each other like 'What if?'.
An interview with H.G. Wells and Orson Welles:
Mercury Theatre's presentation of War of the Worlds (7 part playlist):
Superman vs. Roger Ebert vs. JJ Abrams vs. Jigsaw (Tonight on Pay-Per-View)
"The Kinokuniya bookstore in New York City will be holding a Cosplay Night on October 29 at 6:00 p.m. Manga For Dummies author Kensuke Okabayashi will be holding a reading, demonstration, and signing at the same store on October 25 at 3:00 p.m."
Saw V's viral marketing shutdown by the police.
Abrams talks to EW about William Shatner's YouTube video. "I don't know how my life has become a thing where William Shatner talks to me through YouTube."
Roger Ebert talks about his Tru Loved review.
Universal Parks & Resorts, Hasbro, and DreamWorks will bring a Transformers ride to Hollywood and Singapore. Using 3-D high-definition with special effects, robotics, and a track, it'll put riders in the middle of the war between Autobots and Decepticons. In early 2011, it'll open first at Universal Studios Singapore and then Universal Studios Hollywood. Transformers will replace the Backdraft attraction and special effects soundstages in the lower section of the Hollywood park.
Superman Takes On Other Superheroes in Court The Man of Steel's legal history.
Truthful TV Title Cards
Comics and Books
It seems Borders will stop shelving (note: NOT pulling from shelves) original and mid-list author science fiction books.
Bloomsbury Q3 trading solid despite credit crisis
Oregon mom won't return 'Bunny Suicide' book
Now on CD: library's treasure trove of authorial voices
Dark Horse is re-releasing the Bernie Wrightson illustrated Frankenstein in hardcover. [Thanks to Drew]
The New Annotated Dracula by Bram Stoker (Author), Leslie S. Klinger (Editor), Neil Gaiman (Introduction) [Submitted by Drew]
Preview Azzarello and Bermejo’s JOKER
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Theatrical horror...
Los Angeles' New Beverly Cinema has a few neat things going on:
"Oct. 29: Legendary horror writer CLIVE BARKER is scheduled to appear in person for a double bill of THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (2008) and CANDYMAN (1992)!"
"Oct. 31 or Nov. 1: Schedule permitting, director EDGAR WRIGHT will appear in person on one of these nights for our screening of his film SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)! Mr. Wright has also selected the film's co-feature, the amazing RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY (1992)."
Also, today (the 22nd) and tomorrow (the 23rd), they're showing a double billing of William Castle movies Homicidal(1961) and Strait-Jacket (1964).
The 24-25, there'll a double feature of Stephen King based movies The Dead Zone (1983) and Pet Sematary (1989).
Full calendar and times here.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
DVD Releases
Chuck: The Complete First Season – November 11
Tropic Thunder – November 18
Europa [Criterion Collection] – December 9
Event Horizon (Blu-ray) – December 30
Night Court: The Complete Second Season – February 3, 2009
The Blu-ray edition of The Incredible Hulk will come out on the 24.
Warner VP of TV marketing Rosemary Markson said that the second season of Everwood is coming 2009.
TV News...
Battlestar Galactica has set the date of the premiere for its last nine episodes as 9 pm (CT) January 16, 2009.
Fox has picked up Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for another full season.
While NBC has ordered another full season of Knight Rider.
NBC is developing a pilot for a new Jason and the Argonauts (no relation to the two movies both titled The Argonauts. Jason and crew are very busy). Media Rights Capital will produce what would be the first green screen prime time drama.
MGM and the BBC are developing two TV projects based on movies. 1998 Robert De Niro starring Ronin will be for a series. MGM exec vp Chris Ottinger says they're looking for an American lead. The French Lieutenant's Woman, a 1981 movie starring Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep, will be a, probably four hour, miniseries. It'll use parts of John Fowles' novel that weren't in the movie.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Trailers
Some of these links may contain mature material, and MRFH is not responsible for their content.
Push
Transporter 3
Block 66 (teaser)
The Haunting in Connecticut
Trick ‘r’ Treat
Let the Right One In (red band)
Videos
Some of these links may contain mature material, and MRFH is not responsible for their content.
Quantum of Solace 8 clips, 3 TV spots, behind the scenes
High School Musical 3 6 clips, 1 featurette
High School Musical 3 twenty minute behind the scenes
Role Models 7 clips
Zack and Miri Make a Porno 4 clips
Saw V 1 clip
Eleventh Hour behind the scenes (TV)
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Movie News
DreamWorks has signed a five year distribution deal with Universal Pictures. The agreement, which takes effect in 2009, is for six films per year.
Vince Colosimo on Spierig Bros’ vampire movie Daybreakers, “It was meant to be released at the end of October… November… but I think it’s been delayed and probably won’t be released till next year now.” It stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Neill.
Kevin Smith is developing a futuristic space comedy about a father and son and will reference scifi movies. View Askew will produce, and the Weinstein Co. is interested after having read part of the first draft of the script. Smith wants a $45 million-50$ million budget. There will be no movement on it until after he’s finished Red State.
F. Gary Gray will replace Frank Darabont as director on Law Abiding Citizen, starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. Since production starts in December, he’s still set to direct Armored, which films in April.
Production I.G. and Fuji TV are producing a computer animated family film tentatively titled Hottarake no Shima: Haruka to Maho no Kagami (The Abandoned Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror). Director Shinsuke Sato is overseeing the movie about a girl who gets lost in a mysterious fantasy world. It’ll release summer 2009.
Mamoru Oshii is developing and writing Miyamoto Musashi: Sōken ni Haseru Yume (Musashi Miyamoto: The Dream of Riding with Two Swords) for Production I.G., though the actual director will be Mizuho Nishikubo. Kazuto Nakazawa will design the characters, Kazuchika Kise will be animation director and supervisor, Shuichi Hirata will direct the art design, and Makoto Endo will handle the computer animation. Pony Canyon will distribute the film that’s scheduled for early summer of 2009 in Japan.
Alice Braga, Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Carice van Houten, The RZA, and Liev Schreiber will star in Miguel Sapochnik’s directorial debut, science fiction thriller Repossession Mambo. It “takes place in the not-too-distant future, when people can buy artificial organs using credit. Pity those who fall behind on their payments, as someone may come calling to get the organs back. Law plays Remy, a repo man whose body is filled with artificial organs ... and who must go on the run when he can no longer pay the bills.”
Adrien Brody and Michael Chiklis have signed on for John Stalberg Jr.’s indie comedy High School. Co-written with Stephen Susco, it’s about a valedictorian who decides to get the whole school stoned so he can beat a drug test. Production starts November.
Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, and Malin Akerman will play, respectively, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, and Vince Vaughn’s wives in Couples Retreat.
Kim Cattrall and Brian Dennehy will be in Keith Bearden’s comedy Miss January. In it a young man goes cross country to meet an ‘80s screen siren to find find she’s a 50 year old mother in the middle of a child custody battle.
Prequels, Sequels & Remakes
Don Cheadle will replace Terrance Howard as Jim Rhodes/War Machine in Iron Man 2. While Marvel have made no official statement, the word is that contractual negotiations fell through because of financial differences. Says Terrance Howard, “It was the surprise of a lifetime. There was no explanation. [The contract] just…up and vanished. I read something in the trades implicating that it was about money or something, but apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren’t worth the paper that they’re printed on, sometimes. Promises aren’t kept, and good faith negotiations aren’t always held up.”
Star Trek XI’s synopsis: “Star Trek’s time-travel plot is set in motion when a Federation starship, the USS Kelvin, is attacked by a vicious Romulan (Eric Bana) desperately seeking one of the film’s heroes. From there, the film then brings Kirk and Spock center stage and tracks the origins of their friendship and how they became officers aboard the Enterprise. In fact, the movie shows how the whole original series crew came together.”
Universal is moving forward on the fourth Bourne movie as a tentpole project. George Nolfi will write the script, the first original story in the series instead of being based on one of Robert Ludlum’s novels. Director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon are already on board.
Fox is fast-tracking a sequel to 1987’s Wall Street. Allan Loeb has been hired to write, and Edward R. Pressman will produce, what is being planned as a Michael Douglas vehicle, though he’s not technically attached yet. It’ll be about Gordon Gecko coming back into the, now more tumultuous, financial world after getting out of prison. Bud Fox, Charlie Sheen’s character, will not be in it.
Paul W.S. Anderson, “I’m writing an adaptation of the Long Good Friday right now, set in present-day Miami. Then I will probably write Resident Evil 4.”
David Friendly says that Big Momma’s House 3 is currently in the script writing stage, and will hopefully be ready for 2009. [E: Why?]
When asked Sam Raimi said that he isn’t sure about Dylan Baker’s Dr. Connors as the villain in the next Spider-Man, “He’s a great actor, and I think one day The Lizard’s story will be told. I don’t know if it will be this one or not. I just don’t know. I’m definitely hoping to work with Dylan in the picture. I just don’t know who the villain is yet.”
Kevin Smith on going back to any of his earlier films: “I don’t think so for Jay and Bob. I am 38 now and it’s not cute having a baseball hat on backwards. Plus I would have to get in shape to play him and that would be pathetic. Jason no longer looks like the impish weed dealer as well, becausehe’s grown up. When I get into my 40’s I might want to visit Dante and Randle and see what they are up to though.”
Lakeshore Entertainment and MGM are reinventing 1980’s Oscar winner Fame. Some of the names signed on are Thomas Dekker, Kristy Flores, Paul Iacono, Paul McGill, Naturi Naughton, Kay Panabaker, Kherington Payne, Collins Pennie, Walter Perez, and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle. The story will be in the same vein as the original with a bunch of young hopefuls trying to make it at the High School for the Performing Arts… they wanna live forever, so, baby, remember their names.
Shannon Elizabeth and Edward Furlong are filming on Night of the Demons. “Inspired by” the ‘80s movie of the same name, it’s about three friends who go to a Halloween party at a notorious mansion where six people disappeared without a trace about eighty years ago and the owner hung herself. After the party is broken up by the police, the remaining guests realize (dun dun DUN) the mansion is home to demons that need seven vessels to break a curse. Drac Studios is in charge of makeup.
While it’s nothing official it is kinda interesting, Iron Man Writers Want Hulk To Be ‘The Avengers’ Villain.
Adaptations
Warner Brothers have hired Brad Ingelsby write the Sam Raimi produced adaptation of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' comic Sleeper.
If he can get a studio behind it, Seth Green will direct the movie adaptation of his and Hugh Sterbakov’s comic The Freshman, "It is kids - it's Revenge of the Nerds meets X-Men. It's kids in their first year of college, their first days of college, leaving the nest for the first time, awkwardly discovering their own identifies, trying to cast off all the things that have been placed on them throughout their scholastic career, and define their own identity in college. And these kids are - you know, because of the overflow of the enrollment, they're put into the science building, where they don't even have permanent housing. And, you know, now this is a makeshift group they're supposed to be best friends with, and they find themselves at a fraternity party where they are the butt of every joke and humiliated beyond their imagination. And then they go back to the dorm and kind of mull over the notion of being trapped in this place for the next four years. And then they are the victims of a scientific event, which gives them borderline useless superpowers. So now in addition to being these outcasts of the outcasts, they are additionally alienated, with a physical deformity."
Tai Seng Entertainment will release Cheang Pousoi’s adaptation of Izô Hashimoto and Akio Tanaka’s manga Shamo. “Shamo is the story of a promising young student who suffers a mental breakdown, murders his parents, and while in prison, trains to become a professional martial artists.” It stars Shawn Yue, Francis Ng, Bruce Leung, Ryo Ishibashi, and Masato Kobayashi.
Post apocalyptic thriller The Road has been pushed forward, from a November 14 limited release and November 26 wide release, to at least December, possibly next year.
Fox 2000 has the rights to Joe Haldeman’s novel The Forever War. Ridley Scott will direct, with Scott Free producing, and Vince Gerardis and Ralph Vicinanza exec-producing. “The book centers on a soldier who battles an enemy in deep space for only a few months, only to return home to a planet he doesn't recognize some 20 years later.”
Tim Burton on Alice in Wonderland: "It's a funny project. The story is obviously a classic with iconic images and ideas and thoughts. But with all the movie versions, well, I've just never seen one that really had any impact to me. It's always just a series of weird events. Every character is strange and she's just kind of wandering through all of the encounters as just a sort of observer. The goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness but also keep the classic nature of 'Alice.' And, you know, getting to do it in 3-D fits the material quite well. So I'm excited about making it a new version but also have the elements that people expect when they think of the material."
Marvin Media LLC will produce “an original environmentally aware scifi” based on a story by Paul Kanter. Keiichi Satou will direct and Manabu Ishikawa will write. They’ll try for a 2010 release date.
Brad Pitt will star in George Miller’s futuristic outer space take on Homer’s The Odyssey Warner Brothers.
From BlizzCon about the World of Warcraft movie: “There are still plans for a World of Warcraft movie. The script is being written but if they say anything more than that they will be shot.”
Milla Jovovich will play Alyssa Barron in Clock Tower. Senator Entertainment and the Weinstein Co.’s adaptation on the survival horror video game series is set to start filming November, in Los Angeles. Eric Pippen wrote the screenplay, that will take its cue from the second game, with the heroine trying to escape a psychiatric hospital and a family curse.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Black and white and dark comedy all over...
Two videos of morbid movie mirth this week! The first is a clip from a Eunice’s Top 5 Comedies ™ movie, 1944’s Arsenic and Old Lace. It’s about a crazy family, particularly a pair of darling little serial killer aunties, and how things come to a head on Halloween night.
The Body Count:
And, to go with Justin’s Psycho II and Psycho III reviews, one of my favorite trailers of all time:
Psycho (Oh, Alfred Hitchcock, you so funny!)
Hey you GUYS!
The first episode of a new Witchblade anime series is now available on iTunes for free until October 26.
CBS has started putting Star Trek episodes on YouTube.
Funimation to Stream Anime Samples on Joost for Free
BBC radio launches major cross-station sci-fi season.
"'Goonies' cast reflect on life-changing film. Richard Donner about a sequel: "We tried really hard, and Steven (Spielberg) said, 'Let's do it.' We had a lot of young writers submit work, but it just didn't seem to call for it." But perhaps on the stage? "I'm in the process of trying to get it done as a musical on Broadway. Wouldn't that be great?" I see a whole show stopper devoted to the Truffle Shuffle and Jake Fratelli bring down the house with an aria. I have a good imagination.
Browse the Artifacts of Geek History in Jay Walker's Library
The Battlestar Galactica computer. Shiny!
5 Ways To Make Star Trek More Like Star Wars
Slideshow: Steampunk Sensation
The William Gibson line of designer bags.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Games
Microsoft corporate vice president John Schappert on Xbox Live Arcade: "We have no immediate plans to act on de-listing."
French entertainment publisher Infogrames completes Atari Inc acquisition for $11 million.
Diablo III Wizard Class Cinematic Trailer From BlizzCon '08.
TGS '08 Street Fighter IV trailer.
The World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse
Comics and Books
Devil's Due is putting out Stef Hutchinson and Jeff Zornow's Halloween: The First Death of Laurie Strode this month. The four part comic takes places between Halloween 2 and H20: "As the only survivor of Michael Myers’ rampage through the small town of Haddonfield on Halloween night, 1978, Laurie Strode is haunted by the memories of her encounter with evil itself. To make things worse, she is convinced Michael Myers is still out there, ready to strike again-- and the only person who believes her is Dr. Sam Loomis!"
Last month Dynamite started releasing New Battlestar Galactica: Ghosts. The four part comic is written by Brandon Jerwa, with art by Jonathan Lau and covers by Dennis Calero. "Meet the Ghost Squadron, a black-ops Viper team that calls the Pegasus home. Separated from the Pegasus at the time of the Holocaust, they join forces with a freelance salvage team and their ship, Orion's Pride. After the apocalypse, unlike their fellow survivors on the Galactica, the Ghost Squadron isn't looking for Earth - they're just trying to stay alive."
Associate Publisher Marco Pavia has said Tokyopop will release a graphic novel based on the TV franchise CSI called CSI: Interns. Written by Sekou Hamilton and illustrated by Steven Cummings, it'll be about "a group of teenaged interns in the Las Vegas Criminal Investigations Unit. The interns discover that a body in the morgue is one of their own." Planned release September 2009.
No Starch Press will translate and release Ohmsha's Understanding Through Manga series. The non-fiction manga guides teach technical or educational topics with comics. No Starch will eight books by the end of 2009, starting with The Manga Guide to Databases in December 2008 and The Manga Guide to Statistics in January. Other subjects will include physics, molecular biology, electricity, and relativity.
Dark Horse Comics will post one new chapter a week of Kim Young-Oh's supernatural adventure manhwa series Banya: The Explosive Delivery Man for free on its website.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
DVD Releases
Wanted – December 2
Battlestar Galatica: Season 4.0 – January 6, 2009
Dexter: Complete First Season (Blu-ray) – January 6, 2009
The Boondock Saints (Blu-ray) – January 13, 2009
Star Gate: The Ark of Truth (Blu-ray) – January 13, 2009
The Pink Panther [1963] (Blu-ray) – January 27, 2009
Zodiac (Blu-ray) – January 27, 2009
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull retailer exclusives:
“Circuit City will offer two lithographs of concept art from the movie.
“Best Buy will sell a gift set with a replica crystal skull from Sideshow Collectibles and a $25 gift card to Sideshowcollectibles.com.
“Target will feature exclusive packaging and a hardcover book from Palace Press with 80 pages of behind-the-scenes photos, including many never-before-published images.
“Kmart and Sears will offer four exclusive LEGO mini-posters, with a LEGO replica of the original theatrical poster from all four Indy films.
“Trans World will sell exclusive steel packaging.”
WFAC
November 13-16, in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada, the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema will hold all screenings at The Gig Theatre.
“A unique film festival celebrating the artistry of animated feature films, the Waterloo Festival showcase is one of the most comprehensive public exhibitions for animated feature films in the world. More ambitious than ever, the first titles revealed in the 2008 programme span the gamut of animation and storytelling styles.”
Titles include:
Quirino Cristiani: The Mystery of the First Animated Movies
Sita Sings The Blues
We Are The Strange
Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone
Genius Party
Genius Party Beyond
Piano no Mori
There will also be a retrospective screening of, earliest surviving animated feature, Lotte Reiniger's 1926 Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed, and We Are The Strange will be presented by director M dot Strange in person.
Press release with ticket info here.
Updates will be posted here.
TV News...
NBC has ordered four more scripts for Knight Rider.
USA Network has renewed Burn Notice, for a third season, and Psych, for a fourth season, with orders for 16 episodes for both shows.
FX has cancelled The Riches. The show lost steam with only seven, of its total twenty, episodes in the strike shortened second season. Show costs were another factor. Meanwhile, FX has already picked up Sons of Anarchy for a second season.
CW shows Valentine and Easy Money have halted production for four to six weeks. The official reason given was so writers could catch up to their writing schedules. Shooting, however, will continue on already written episodes and a spokeswoman for MRC says that the agreed upon thirteen episodes will be produced.
ABC is developing a new version of '80s miniseries V. Written by Scott Peters this one will "center on Erica Evans, a Homeland Security agent with an aimless son who's got problems. When the aliens arrive, her son gloms on to them, causing tension within the family." Just like the 80's one, there will be multiple simultaneous storylines, and it'll open with an army of spaceships around Earth's major cities. Peters, Warner Brothers TV, and Jace Hall will produce.
RHI Entertainment has sold its science fiction miniseries Meteor to several European broadcasters: Germany's Tele Muenchen, Italy's Mediaset, and Spain's Antena 3 TV. The four-hour action-adventure, which chronicles the race to stop a giant meteor from making final impact with Earth stars Christopher Lloyd, Marla Sokoloff, Jason Alexander, and Stacy Keach.
Marvel Animation and Film Roman have started production on The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The 26 episode animated series will broadcast 2011, the same year as movies The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers. Marvel characters will include Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Giant Man, and Wasp.
Turner Broadcasting and MGM Worldwide Television have announced they are producing 26 half hour episodes for an animated Pink Panther series. Production will be done in both Los Angeles and Amman, Jordan, through Rubicon. The show - which will havePink Panther as a rambunctious teenager who, along with his friends, gets into all sorts of mischievous capers and hilarious escapades – will air Fall 2009 on Cartoon Network channels worldwide.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Trailers
Some of these links may contain mature material, and MRFH is not responsible for their content.
Twilight
The International
Sunshine Cleaning
Good Dick
Christmas on Mars
The Uninvited
House
The Unborn
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Movie News
Paramount and DreamWorks formalize breakup.
Marvel Studios has signed a long term lease with Raleigh Studios to film Iron Man 2, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America, and The Avengers at Raleigh's Manhattan Beach complex. Also part of the agreement, Marvel will move its Beverly Hills offices to Raleighs Manhattan Beach facility.
Director Darren Lynn Bousman has said that since Lionsgate will only release REPO! The Genetic Opera in a limited theatrical release (in Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco) on November 7, he'll be financing his own tour. The planned seven cities are Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Orlando, Florida; and Atlanta, Geogia, November 10-17. "There has been so much support from the fans--even those who have yet to see the movie and won't be able to in its official limited release -- we want to reward their loyalty by taking it around to as many of the other major cities as we can. Terrance Zdunich will be joining me, and we're so excited about giving everyone a chance see this labor of love we have all put our hearts and souls into. It's a bold, big-screen, audience-participatory kind of movie."
Dominic Monaghan, Freddy Rodriguez, and Barthelemy Grossman, who also wrote and directs, will star in science fiction horror thriller Fortuna. In 2100 the Earth’s economy has collapsed and there are climate crises, which creates a small very wealthy class with everyone else in severe poverty. To keep the unwashed masses from rebelling a game called Fortuna is created where you can win big and join the elite – and are never seen again. The real goal is to “reduce poverty” by 30 percent over 50 years. Shooting begins November in Bulgaria.
Danny Glover will play the president in Roland Emmerich's 2010.
Carrie-Anne Moss will star in Gregor Jordan’s action thriller Unthinkable.
Prequels, Sequels & Remakes
Chris Nolan has officially signed on for The Dark Knight sequel. Rumor is it’s already in preproduction.
Warner Brothers is developing a sequel to Get Smart and has signed a three-year first-look deal with Steve Carell.
ComingSoon.net has some quotes from Guillermo del Toro about The Hobbit and Frankenstein: "There will be different sensibilities involved in this movie than there were in the original trilogy. First of all, because we have the travelogues in 'The Hobbit' which goes to places and variations on races that were not addressed in the trilogy.”
Character designer Aaron Sims on Magneto: “Remember the scene [from 'X-Men'] in the concentration camp where you see Magneto as a young boy? It just continues from there. Some people thought that might be too dark, but I really like that. It’s a lot of death and mayhem.”
“A sequel to ‘Bull Durham,’ the 1988 movie that helped jump-start the popularity of minor league baseball, is in the works, and the producer [Thom Mount] of the sequel said Tuesday he hopes to be filming in Durham sometime in late spring.”
Ray Wright and Scott Kosar will write for Breck Eisner’s take on George Romero’s Crazies. Production will begin early next year.
Eric Bana has signed on for Armored, Millennium Films’ remake of heist thriller Le Convoyeur. “The story follows a man who takes a job for an armored car company and ingratiates himself with his co-workers, who trust him enough to make him part of their heist plans. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, the man had his own motives for taking the job.” F. Gary Gray is in talks to direct.
Adaptations
The synopsis for Captain America: “Born during the Great Depression, Steve Rogers grew up a frail youth in a poor family. Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe, Rogers was inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he was rejected. Overhearing the boy’s earnest plea, General Chester Phillips offered Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment… Operation: Rebirth. After weeks of tests, Rogers was at last administered the 'Super-Soldier Serum' and bombarded by 'vita-rays.' Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers was then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program. Three months later, he was given his first assignment as Captain America. Armed with his indestructible shield and and battle savvy, Captain America has continued his war against evil both as a sentinel of liberty and leader of the Avengers.”
A 3-D animated version of Ken Haeser and Buz Hasson’s The Living Corpse will be released next year from director Justin Paul Ritter and Shoreline Entertainment.
Josh Brolin is “in talks” to star in Jonah Hex.
DreamWorks has extended its option for the rights to John Wyndham’s novel Chocky.
Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter have joined the cast for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland as the White Queen and the Red Queen, respectively.
Guillermo del Toro on Frankenstein: "I'm not doing 'Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.' I'm doing an adventure story that involves the creature. I cannot say much, but it's not the central creation story, I'm not worried about that. The fact is I've been dreaming of doing a 'Frankenstein' movie since I was a child. The one thing I can promise is, compared to Kenneth Branagh, I will not appear shirtless in the movie!"
David Cronenberg will direct and Denzel Washington will star in political thriller The Matarese Circle. Michael Brandt and Derek Haas wrote the adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s novel about two men who must cooperate to stop a plot to bring down the world’s governments during the Cold War.
Kevin Lima has on with Warner Brothers and Red Wagon to direct a live action Tom Thumb movie. Robert Rodat’s script will be an origin story of “an arrogant knight who's shrunk to 6 inches while assigned to protect a princess and then discovers what it means to be a real hero.”
Fox says that the trailer for Dragonball will not be released with Max Payne film next week, but later this year.
Kristen Bell and Matt Lucas have been cast in Astro Boy.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
House of the Knitted Opera Marvel
The soundtrack for REPO! The Genetic Opera came out September 30.
As part of Fearfest, AMC's website has free streaming of The Haunted Palace (1963), House of Usher (1960), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977), and Pumpkinhead (1988).
Marvel Entertainment, Inc. has "announced that David Maisel, Executive Vice President, Office of the Chief Executive, and Chairman of Marvel Studios, will lead a 'Fireside Chat' regarding Marvel at the Natixis Bleichroeder Second Annual Hidden Gems Conference on Tuesday, October 14th. The Fireside Chat will start at 3:00 p.m. and will be webcast live for all interested investors. The Hidden Gems conference is being held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, NY. Live Webcast and Replay: http://www.wsw.com/webcast/nblr2/mvl or via www.marvel.com/company/index.htm?sub=webcasts_current.php. An archived version of the webcast will be available at these locations for 30 days."
Star Wars slippers!
For $45,000 you can own a fully restored Ecto-1.
An extraterrestrial teapot.
Iron Man concept art.
The 9 Transformers Toys Who Looked Nothing Like Their Cartoon Counterparts
A Loudly Lurid Universe of Sci-Fi Pulp Illustration
I've got two from You Knit What - 2: "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." Peter's first go at the Spider-Man suit.
Comics and Books
A video of tour of Neil Gaiman reading The Graveyard Book. Alternate link if the first gets overloaded.
The second chapter of Warner Premiere's Watchmen Motion Comic came out this week on iTunes, Amazon Video on Demand, Xbox Live and the Sony PlayStation Store. Motion Comics for Batman: Black & White and Superman: Red Son are both currently under developement.
Fred Van Lente on Marvel Zombies 3
Halo: The Cole Protocol's final cover.
An article by Terry Pratchett on his Alzheimer's.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
DVD Releases
Futurama: Bender's Game - November 4
Primeval: The Complete Series 1 and 2 - November 4
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - November 11
Night Gallery: Season 2 - November 11
Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald (Vol. 4 - 1951-1961) - November 11
The Third Man (Blu-ray) - November 18
24: Redemption - November 25
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - December 2
The X-Files: I Want to Believe - December 2
The Day the Earth Stood Still [1951]: Special Edition (Blu-ray) - December 2
The Shawshank Redemption (Blu-ray) - December 2
Lost: The Complete Fourth Season - December 9
Battlestar Galatica: Season 4.0 - January 6 (Submitted by Sitting Duck)
Is Spinal Tap (Blu-ray) – January 20, 2009
Moonlight: The Complete Series - January 20, 2009
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Films from the South
October 9-19, in Oslo, Norway is the Films from the South festival. Now the website is in Norwegian, so I can't tell you much, BUT I can tell you that these titles are included:
My Neighbor Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service
Porco Rosso
Spirited Away
The Cat Returns
Howl's Moving Castle
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
The October 15 showing of Nausicaä will include a presentation and a panel led by Nausicaä.net and EX.org contributor Geir Friestad.
More info here. (Norwegian)
Bleach the Movie
October 20, Canada, Viz Media has announced that anime Bleach the Movie: Memories of Nobody will be screened at select Cineplex Entertainment and Empire Theatres locations throughout Canada.
The list of participating Cineplex locations.
The list of participating Empire Theatres.
Howl's Moving Castle
October 25-31, West Yorkshire, England, The National Media Museum will be screening Ghibli's anime adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones' (completely excellent) book Howl's Moving Castle.
Show times here.
TV News...
Fox has ordered an additional nine episodes of Fringe, bringing the season total up to twenty two.
AMC is developing a series based on Kim Stanley Robinson's science fiction novel Red Mars, about the first human colony on the Red Planet. Jonathan Hensleigh is writing and will exec produce with Jaffe Braunstein Entertainment and Created By.
Smallville's producers Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders:
"Dear Smallville fans,
As news and rumors swirl around the development of The Graysons for the CW, we have every intention of letting you, our fans, be the first to know the reality. Never have we been so committed to the continuing success of Smallville as we are to seasons 8 and 9. While we are extremely excited to be working hand-in-hand with Wonderland, Warner Bros. and the CW to create the origin story of Dick Grayson, it has never been intended as a replacement for Smallville, as is speculated in some media. The cast, crew, writers and producers are all working full-steam ahead on a story-line for Clark that allows for seasons of further trials and adventures for our favorite hero. As always, we all have you to thank for achieving eight years of this amazing show that Al and Miles created, and we're looking far beyond!"
Monday, October 6, 2008
Trailers
Some of these links may contain mature material, and MRFH is not responsible for their content.
Just Buried
Hank and Mike
Resident Evil: Degeneration
Let the Right One In
Shiver
Videos
Some of these links may contain mature material, and MRFH is not responsible for their content.
Watchmen making of Doctor Manhattan
Splinter podcast 3
Quarantine 3 clips
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Movie News
Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment have an agreement for Paramount to distribute Marvel's next five self produced features. It's an extension of the original agreement, so now it includes theatrical distribution in foreign territories. The titles and changed release dates are Iron Man 2 (May 7,2010), Thor (July 16, 2010), The First Avenger: Captain America (May 6, 2011), The Avengers (July 15, 2011), and Iron Man 3.
According to Variety, more directors want to film in IMAX, “Michael Bay will film at least three action setpieces using Imax cameras for ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,’ which is lensing. Jon Favreau has discussed using Imax cameras in filming ‘Iron Man 2,’ while ‘Eagle Eye’ director D.J. Caruso has expressed interest in doing so for future projects such as ‘Y: The Last Man.’"
“Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) announced today that it has entered into long term agreements with Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Motion Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Lionsgate Films for the deployment of digital projection systems to nearly 20,000 movie theatre screens across North America, including the AMC, Cinemark and Regal theatre chains.”
Sundance Channel now has the international rights to Isabella Rossellini starring short series Green Porno.
Horror Camp Hope has been pushed to early 2009.
George Romero has written and started production on an untitled zombie movie. Alan Van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe, Devon Bostick, Richard Fitzpatrick, Stefano Colacitti, and Athena Karkanis will star in the movie about an island community where the dead rise and eat their relatives. The living must decide whether to kill them or hold them while looking for a cure.
Universal has bought Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger’s comedic take on The Borne Identitiy. The Jack Black vehicle is about an “American who washes up on the shores of Cuba with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He comes to the inaccurate conclusion that he must be a superspy like Jason Bourne.”
Live Schreiber and Helen Hunt will play a couple whose marriage is strained to the breaking point in Richard Levine’s drama Every Day. It’ll be Levine’s feature directorial debut. Filming begins this month.
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