Quite some time ago, I came across a chap called Antony Lane on twitter with the username @indywoodFILMS. Antony had set out to independently raise funds to make a feature film, “Invasion Of The Not Quite Dead”, which is a spin on the zombie movie genre. You might be saying, “Nothing new there” and would be forgiven for thinking that but when you dig deeper you realise that Antony, or should I say, AD Lane, is doing it a bit different than everyone else.
For a start, he’s really pushing the project as hard as he can. He’s not talking about it, he’s doing it. Through the power of Twitter and other social media sites, AD Lane, has managed to raise UK£16,340 (as of today) from 446 sponsors. And by sponsors, I mean regular people. That’s quite an achievement.
The concept is simple. On visiting the website, theindywoodproject.com you are given the option to take our a producer package. Their are producer packages that range from UK£10 to UK£500, each offering a number of unique perks such as signed DVD, posters, t-shirts and a chance to be a zombie on set for a day.
After following AD Lane’s progress for some time, I took out a producer package. I saw how much he wants this to work and how committed he is to it. But don’t just take my word on it, Jonathan Ross has also taken out a producer package and as you can see from the website, the project carries a number of celebrity endorsements.
So why am I only blogging about this now? Well the teaser trailer has just gone live on the web, giving a brief snapshot of what we can expect!
The teaser was shot on S16mm film on location at a small farm in Kent and stars horror veteran Leslie Simpson (Dog Soldiers, The Descent, Doomsday), Efisia Fele and Frank Jakeman. I’m looking forward to seeing how this project progresses!
Like what you see or even just a little bit curious as to what its all about?
For more information on how you can help the production of ‘INVASION OF THE NOT QUITE DEAD’ please visit: http://www.theindywoodproject.com or http://www.invasionofthedead.com
For real time updates you can add them on Twitter: @indywoodFILMS
The official facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Invasion-of-the-Not-Quite-Dead/16091146970
Came across this trailer today, a bit of a departure for Scorcese? (Sorry, couldn’t resist!) Based on a book, Scorcese is leaving the mafia at home but taking Leo with him. Looking forward to this one.
Its being rather quiet around here lately. “Hmmm” says you, “no shite mister”. My neglect can be attributed to a number of things, the main one being lack of diffidence. I dont know what lack of diffidence really means, but when I was in school it was something a teacher said to my parents to describe my inability to work harder.
Anyway, its 2009 and Im all growed up. So to demonstrate my maturity, Im going to share my favourite of the “Christian Bale goes doo-lally on a film set” parodies I have found on the net. Those of you with your head in the sand who don’t know the background; Bale on the set of Terminator Salvation had a mickey fit with the Director of Photography during an intense emotional scene (making love to terminators? Its McG for God sake!) and the DoP was more interested in adjusting his lights. Or something. Anyway, enjoy!
Those of you who were arsed to read one of my first posts on the site will remember I put up a story about John Singleton directing the A-Team movie. Well it has now been 100% confirmed by Fox and Ridley Scott, that the director of Alien and Blade Runner will be looking after one of the most popular TV shows of the 80’s.
In an interview with Variety magazine that they plan was to boot a franchise that he hoped would be around for “many years to come”. The film will be modernised, taking the action away from Vietnam and updating it with the Middle East. Scott also wants to dump the “campiness” of the TV show and bring to us a “fast paced” show that is “emotional, real and accessible as possible without cheesing it up.”
Co-creator of the original series Stephen J Cannell is also on board as a producer. Release date is June 2010.
Many of you have probably seen this movie by now, so I will keep this post brief. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading this and go see it now.
I get very antsy at this time of year when if comes to what is advertised as “Oscar”movies or “feel good” movies. At this time of year those kind of movies are no different than drunken men in a Dublin pub on a Saturday night. Except instead of looking for the ride, they’re only after awards.
When Danny Boyle’s latest film was being tagged as a feel good movie and award worthy material, I was nervous. BUT it is Danny Boyle and he has demonstrated his mastery of story telling on screen. I gave it a look.
In summary, the film opens with a young man as a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, one question for hitting the jackpot. He is arrested for attempted fraud and the story then intercuts with his explanations as to how he knows the answer, which in essence translates to his life story.
The movie is being badly touted in the media. There are far better feel good movies out there. There is no melodrama here to warrant being called an “Oscar” movie. Instead, what we have is a fine example of film making, story telling and character development. The performances are top notch.
Oh and it has this girl…
An excellent film and it has given 2009 a nice start. Although things get remarkably worse if you go see Bride Wars afterward….
Do you hear strange noises from your attic? Do you think you see something move in the corner of your eye when home alone? Do you often get the feeling of dread when you enter the attic? If the answer is yes, then you probably have mice or something. However there was a time when the only people you could call were called the Ghostbusters.
Back in 80-something, Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis graced our screens alongside Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis with a massive hit of a movie, Ghostbusters. Its also featured Ernie Hudson, but no one remembers him. It offered great special effects, groovy tunes, marshmallows and the one and only Bill Murray. There is no denying; it was great.
Then in 1989, the 80’s were coming to an end and Ghostbusters 2 hit our screens. It wasnt a patch on the original despite the spooky Vigo the Carpathian possessing a painting. Lets be honest, we’d much prefer Sigourney Weaver haunting our fridge.
There was talk of a third movie, loosely titled “Ghostbusters Go To Hell” but it became more and more apparant that the team weren’t happy with Ghostbusters 2 and went on to other things.
But the idea never died. Speculation of a third movie grew over the years and talk of a CG movie was abound fueled by Ackroyd. Fortunately that died a death too.
However rumours abound of something Ghostbuster-ish abound in 2009 featuring the voices of the original cast. What resulted was the following trailers…
Excited? Probably not, unless you like your video games. While it will be nice to hear the original team back in the roles, it wont be the same as watching them on the big screen with a bucket of popcorn.
Then again, its probably better than watching “old guy” Ghostbusters pass the reigns to new up and coming actors like, um, Josh Harnett and er, some dude from Superbad.
Given the latest excitement (or non excitement depending on your tastes), I thought it would share this clip with you. Its a fan made clip of what would happen if Star Trek met Star Wars.
Um ok, so it looks like I was on holiday the past week or so. But Im back. Although I wasnt on holiday. I was busy in a non bloggie way. Um indeed, anyway back on topic….
So some of you have probably seen the new Star Trek trailer. (see trailer below)
Wow says the trekkies out there. Or are you called Trekkers now? After the nut bar? Hmmm. Yes it does look interesting. I was never a big Trek fan. My brother was into it growing up. He bought Technical Manuals, pretend communicator badges and phaser rifles. Yet he never built a warp engine or even a door that went “schwooosh”. Now he fixes photocopiers. Spooky.
I will admit to enjoying some of Star Trek The Next Generation, and it is credited to one man.
Patrick Stewart. His performance brought an heir of credibility to it. A token mention to John DeLancie who played “Q” from time to time.
Then we had Deep Space 9, which only gained credibility when Sisko (not the rapper) became a captain, shaved his head and grew a goatee. It really took on its own when the Dominion war kicked off, which kicks the pants of the modern Battlestar Galactica nonsense people rave about it. (please, human cylons?)
Star Trek movies on the other hand suffered with “every second one is shite” syndrome until recently when they all went to the dogs. Then along came J.J. Abrams again. He took the reins and decided to inject new life into the series. When he first announce he would focus on the original crew, Kirk, Spock etc, we began to wonder if he had gone mad until it became clear he was going to do a prequel to the original series. Plot details and still very tight we have seen crew photos of who is playing who.
Something still didn’t sit right me over this whole rethink of the series. I can accept younger actors taking on roles that in many ways are bigger than them. So on watching the trailer again last night it dawned on me. It all makes no sense.
Not in a men in jumpsuits fighting aliens in space kind of way, but in a they all look like teenagers yet they captain and command starships.
Look Im not getting geeky. Films don’t have to be based in reality. But in order for them to be believable, they must maintain faithful to the physics of the reality of which they create.
Therefore having a crew that look no older than 21 commanding a starship just doesnt sit right with me.
I guess I will reserve judgement until the movie comes out. Chris Pine as Kirk, hmmmm, we’ll see…
Any idea who that is in the picture? Go on have a guess…
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Its no other than Brendan Gleeson. I kid you not. Gleeson plays Winston Churchill in the upcoming movie, Into the Storm which is currently in post production. It seems Gleeson may have taken a few leafs out of Lee Strasburg’s school of acting as he seems to have really gotten into the part. The film is directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan.
Thanks to vincenzo1975 from boards.ie who first posted the story here.
Fanboys erupted during the week, and Alan Moore rolled his eyes as 2009’s “Watchmen” director, Zack Snyder confirmed that the ending of the movie is different from the novel. You may recall my origina article linked here, where there rumours abound, well those rumours have been confirmed by Snyder.
Synder in an interview claims that the ending had always been different from the novel in every draft of the script he read. He also debunked rumours that a number of endings were films and tested. He went on to say that he “embraced” the revised ending. Which of course he would, with the paycheck he’s getting to direct!
My own personal view on it is mixed. I’m not a purist when it comes to these things. Despite many discussions when Transformers was being released about the robots looking more like Lego Bionicles and exo-skeletons, I was of the belief that it was the best template given we dont live in 1980 something anymore.
However, when I read the graphic novel, there were themes and the pirate sub plot which I felt did carry great meaning when reviewed in context of the ending. Sure the ending is a bit of the wall and one of the arguments for the side who welcome the change is that its not a realistic/believable ending in the vein of the realism in the story up that point. My counter argument is that superhero blue men making themselves big and small at random, who take holidays on Mars, is no less realistic than the novel’s ending!
OK nerdyisms aside, Im not put off by a revised ending. I’m not the type to picket the cinemas with Fr. Ted “down with this sort of thing” banners. I do hope though, that one of the rumoured endings surrounding Dr. Manhattan does not come to fruition.
So its all about the sequels and remakes this week!
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“Wonder Woman” to hit the big screen with Beyonce?
Beyonce Knowles has revealed that she has been approached by DC Comics and Warner Bros to don the sexy outfit and whip to fulfill many fanboy fantasies. Yes and I know, that’s not Beyonce but having seen the picture above created by some fanboy somewhere, there is only one woman for the role if you ask me, hence why there is no picture of Beyonce in this article…
28 Months Later
Danny Boyle was interviewed during a promotion for his latest flick, “Slumdog Millionaire” and indicated he would like to direct the ‘threequel’ to the successful series. He went on to say “”I feel the idea is quite a strong idea, and it could well involve directing it. Yeah, absolutely.”
“Conan” – to be remade?
Well, yes actually. Its been in the news in recent months that iconic ‘Conan’ would be remade. Now it has a director. (sit down please) X-Men 3 direct Brett Ratner is close to signing. However Ratner is going to produce Beverly Hills Cop 4 first… Love him or hate him, its going to be shite in my opinion! More here.
“Oldboy” to be remade by Spielberg
According to Irish movie site, movies.ie, Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are eager to remake Korea’s Chan Wook-Park’s excellent 2003 film. Check out the trailer for the original below.
With all the furore on the US election at the moment, it gives me a great opportunity to plug this extremely nerdy yet somewhat relevent ad campaign for the “Vote Lando Calrissian” campaign! Enjoy!
We all remember the train wreck of a movie that was the Da Vinci code following from the overwhelming success of a badly written book?
Well despite the lackluster response to the movie and the panning by the critics, director Ron Howard has pressed ahead with a sequel (or prequel to be more accurate) and Angels and Demons will be released next year. Personally I never really liked Howard as a director. Sure he has some blockbusters but I never found his movies edgy enough. Sorry Ron.
The book is very similar to Da Vinci Code in its style and dramatic coincidences! Anyway the teaser is below as well a a link to the official site with HD trailer.
This time of year every movie site and blog has lists of top horror movies and films to make you hide behind the sofa. In an effort to be that little bit different, I have compiled a list of 5 “scary” movies that are not horror films (i.e. no monsters, ghosts or slashers) that still have the same effect! The list is no particular order. Not doubt this list will spark controversy, disagreement and hopefully, downright anger!
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
A film starring Tim Robbins and an uncredited Macauley Culkin that we dont often here much about nowadays, it is still a worthy contender for it’s creepy imagery and it’s use of now common place photography technique which has the effect of creating a “body horror” effect. (An actor is recorded waving his head around at a low frame rate, resulting in horrific fast motion when played back.)
Robbins plays a traumitised Vietnam vet who suffers awful hallucinations and flashbacks of his failed marriage and dead son (Culkin). The line between reality and fantasy runs very thin and we are left wondering just how real his fantasy is throughout the film. The film is riddled with religious undertones throughout, the movie title of course a reference from the bible and his new wife, Jezabell, also taken from the bible. She’s not a very nice woman really.
Directed by Adrian Lyne (Yep that’s Adrian “Flashdance, Fatal Attraction and Nine 1/2 Weeks’ Lyne.), still a movie worth a Hallowe’en watch today.
Trailer:
Se7en (1995)
There are very few movie lists, be it top film, top horror, top blah blah, that doesn’t include Se7en in some part. Every movie fan in the world has seen it at this stage. (* Not a factually based statement). Se7en follows the story of 2 homicide detectives on the chase after a Serial Killer who takes his inspiration from the 7 Deadly Sins. Shot beautifully in a Film Noir style, the performances are top, even Pitt who at the time was the latest “pretty boy” to enter the movie world yet manages to pull off a convincing performance as the ambitious, young and cocky detective.
Despite the heavily gloomy theme throughout, the ending offered a contrastig opposite setup to the film noir style of the film but did not fail to deliver with its carthatic finale.
Interestingly enough, despite the horrific nature of the murders in the film, at no point do we witness the serial killer committing a murder. But the imagery of what the killer has done to his victims is enough to wake us wince and/or vomit. And as for our friend above, left to rot on the bed, it was an actor playing the part and not animatronics…
Rather than show a trailer of the movie, I will instead show you an excellent parody filmed by the band Radiohead as a video for the song 15 Steps from the album In Rainbows. Enjoy!
Bug (2006)
Despite Friedkin rarely pulling off a cracker of a movie nowadays, he still remains one of my favourite directors. HIs 2006 film, Bug had a limited release in Europe despite the extended run in the theatre in the US. Starring Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jnr and Michael Shannon, the film is based on a stage play of the same name.
Mostly shot inside a motel room, we follow an unstable war veteran as he drags a lonely woman into his world of paranoia when the bugs arrive. The loser waitress, getting grief from her ex-con husband starts to fall in love with this very strange war vet. The vet find bugs in the motel room and believes them to be an experiment of the American government.
The film is riddled with psychological warfare often putting the viewer in a state of unease and invoking bouts of depression! The performances are outstanding, particularly from Judd who appears to have put in much effort both mentally and physically for the role. I was also impressed by Michael Shannon’s performance and the convincing nature of his role as the war vet. Shannon however did play the same character in the stage version which probably explains his natural flow with the character.
Despite the performances and script, Bug was only given a limited release and took Friedkin a number of years to fund the project. I expect the grim nature and often “shlocking” nature of the film played a part in this. Well worth a watch though.
Trailer:
Funny Games (1997)
Directed by Michael Haneke, you would be mistaken from thinking my date above should have read 2007 but my preference of the 2 movies is the ‘97 Austrian original. In summary, 2 psychotic young men take a family hostage in their holiday home and force them to carry out sadistic games for amusement.
In line with with the themes of the previous films I’ve listed, Funny Games often blurs the line between reality and fantasy as at many points it appears the 2 psychos (sorry I dont know what else to call them!) address the camera directly. When the film was originally screened in Cannes in the year of it’s release, many people walked out, including critics in disgust. Haneke claims he never intended to make the film a horror, but his idea was to make a point about violence in the media.
The film is an unsettled watch and the performance of leading lady, Susanne Lothar help to solidify the unsettled nature of the ordeal. Haneke claimed that Lothar would often cry for 20 minutes before takes which would result in her being physically drained on camera heightening the effect.
The reason why I selected the original movie over the remake is because I believe it to be the stronger of the 2 (Despite an almost shot for shot remake).
Trailer:
Audition (a.k.a Ōdishon) (1997)
Somewhat a controversial choice. But a good one none the less. Apparently at a screening in Dublin’s IFI cinema, a number of viewers walked out, including some plonker who checked himself into hospital but was later discharged.
Sitting in on a special audition seeking an actress, Aoyama becomes besotted with one auditonee and persues her after the interview. However the auditionee, Asami, is quite perculiar, her CV doesnt completely check out and one of the co-panel finds something uncomfortable about her.
It turns out that she is a bit of a whack job, having been sexually abused as a child, she now likes to torture and cut up people. There is no really nice way to say that on your CV I guess.
Back to the controversy I hinted at, well the film isn’t all that disturbing until you reach the final 15 minutes or so. The less said about it the better, just go watch it. But not as a date movie!
Trailer:
And that completes my list. Hopefully there has been something of interest there for everyone. But no doubt there are many who feel the list is incomplete, shite or they could do it better. So what do you think?
To many fanboys, the forthcoming screen adoptation of “Watchmen”, has internet message boards alight with “Please dont screew it up” and “It cant be done” talk. Even one of the original graphic novel (a really long comic to those of us unfamiliar with comicbooks) author’s, Alan Moore, has distanced himself from any adoptation of his novel, listed in the New York Times, Top 50 novels of the 20th Century.
Zack Synder who brought us a previous comicbook adoptation with 300, has really immersed himself in the material. Video diaries from the set show us landscapes that look like they were directly lifted from the novel. Actors being interviewed speak of the enthuaism on set, their new found love for the source material. And all that good jazz.
What is interesting for me, is that when I first watched the trailer many months ago, I hadn’t read the novel. The movie to me just looked like a bunch of Batman wannabes. It wasnt until a friend begged me to read the novel (and I make no apologies at this point for calling it a novel, although it might be just laziness on my part), that I picked it up. And I didn’t put it down until I read the last page. It was definitely like no other hero story I had read previously. So I myself join the fanboys in anticipation of the movie’s release.
Recently another panic hit fanboy world. A secret press screening rumoured that the ending of the movie differs greatly from the novel’s ending. And while Kevin Smith on watching an early rough cut commented that the ending had changed slightly, this “new” rumoured ending was very different and for the most part non sensical.
I will avoid entering into any commentary that would reveal either the novel or rumoured movie ending, a simple internet search will bring you that information. In my opinion, I believe Synder either filmed the alternate ending or has plants to throw off the fanboys rather than go for such a dramatic change to the story. After all all his interviews do allude to his desire to stay close to the original source material. When you consider some people’s arugement the novel’s ending was too far fetched, you only have to point at the Dr. Manhattan character, who is really the only “super” hero in the story. And he is blue and, er, floaty.
Assuming the the 2 studios can reach a happy resolution in court next year to avoid delaying the movie release (Fox claims they had the rights to release this), next year we all will be watching the Watchmen, assuming of course its any good.
Well its that time again, the brats are hassling their parents about what to dress up as for “trick or treat” night later this week. And while the adult fancy dress parties will more than likely be dominated by an army of overdressed and probably overweight, Joker imitators, Im sure fairies, witches and spiderman will reign supreme for the kids.
For me, I don’t have kids nor will I be donning any make up to imitate a dead man’s magnificent performances. I will however have to decide what movie to watch this Hallowe’en.
To me, watching a horror movie at this time of year must carry some value. After all, horror movies often have a greater meaning when undertones and themes mirror events of the time.
As much as watching Jenna Jameson’s zombified body may appeal to the naughtier of us, it may leave me feeling unsatisfied, and undoubtably about as horny as rotting flesh. None the less I have a feeling I might watch this movie at some stage with friends where by we will have a 90 minute debate as to whether we would still give zombie Jenna “one” in her zombie state. Actually, the debate itself will last 1 minute and the remaining 89 minutes will be filled with “Even now?” moments. Even in the age of maturity, some things never change, thankfully.
Then of course there is a obligatory Saw movie release. What are we upto now? Number 5? Or is it roman numeral five? I’ve never understood the preference for roman numerals in movie title sequels. Perhaps its for added cultural symbolism? Or maybe the font is cheaper. Even so, I doubt even Jigsaw could keep me entertained long enough to want to sleep with the light on. Didn’t he die 3 movies ago? I can’t remember. I do remember the original Saw was an enjoyable movie, despite the sometimes comical performance from Cary Elwes. Its ok though Cary, we still love The Princess Bride.
Then there is Mirrors with Kiefer Sutherland. Or should I say Jack Bauer? feels like he is Jack Bauer in every movie he has made since “24″ hit our tv screens. I enjoy watching Sutherland run around the screen. He is like a modern day McGyver only without the family friendly persona.
Sadly Mirrors should really have taken a long hard look at itself in the, er, mirror before releasing itself on the general public. Unfortunately I wasn’t as afraid to look in the mirror afterward as I was after watching Candyman.
I guess it looks like there are no current movie offerings to tempt my viewing pleasure over Halloween. Instead I will just watch this trailer for 2 hours in anticipation for its release… Let The Right One In
The much anticipated A-Team movie which was pencilled in for a June 09 release date, has been pushed back until 2010 resulting in director, John Singleton quitting.
Don’t laugh, but the Fox execs wanted to focus on the sequel to Alvin and the Chipmunks in ‘09 instead!
The movie has been rumoured to the hilt with talks of George Clooney playing Hannibal and both Tyrese and Ice Cube interested in playing B.A.
Can Fox pull this one off? Unlikely. Will the kids of the 70’s and 80’s still go see it? You bet!
Is there a tweetup in Dublin this weekend or next week or am I misreading the grapevine? http://twitter.com/faceman10116 hours ago
I wouldn't mind seeing The Crazies before it finishes in the cinema. Better go before more cinemas close down! http://twitter.com/faceman10116 hours ago
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