For some Halloween and chainsaws just go so well together. It seems like at the end of every spook alley or hunted maze is a one or more guys waiting with chainsaws to chase you out. Those things just give off such a frightening and menacing sound. VitalyzdTv took the whole chainsaw bit to a new level, though, with this amazingly funny yet brutal chainsaw massacre prank that they held in a parking garage. Seeing something like this would actually kind of scare the living shit out of me!
Horns starring Daniel Radcliffe looks like a fun horror movie. There is a great mystery driving the drama that gets amplified by the movie's supernatural elements. In this new clip, Radcliffe's character turns to a priest for answers and things go awry.
Horns opens in theaters Halloween, October 31st (USA).
Artist Phil Postma created this incredibly cool set of art featuring horror movie icons as action figures. He calls the set "Fisher-Price Adventure People Killers," and it's a mashup of Fisher-Price Adventure People with famous murderous monsters. As you can see, they are a perfect gift for kids ages 4 to 9. Here's what the artist had to say about this project:
"It's a BLAST FROM THE PAST with the Fisher-Price adventure people. Some of you might remember these from your childhood but probably don't remember them being so bloody gory. That is my fault, this mash-up just popped into my brain one afternoon and I just had to make them. It is a literally[sic] my youth mashed together with toys I have played with as a kid and my love of the horror movies from teen years.
"I also chopped up some Backgrounds from 'Scoody-doo: Mystery Incorporated'[sic] and put them in the illustration to make my drawings look better since My[sic] BG skills are lacking. And before anybody asks, they are done entirely in Photoshop and are not real custom figures."
Walt Disney Animation Studios has given us our first look at their new animated feature film that they are developing called Moana, which is described as a "sweeping, CG-animated comedy-adventure about a spirited teenager on an impossible mission to fulfill her ancestors' quest." The studio also revealed that they will release it in theaters sometime in 2016, which is two years earlier than the 2018 release date it was originally slated for. Here's a synopsis that gives you a better idea of what the story entails:
In the ancient South Pacific world of Oceania, Moana, a born navigator, sets sail in search of a fabled island. During her incredible journey, she teams up with her hero, the legendary demi-god Maui, to traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous sea creatures, breathtaking underworlds and ancient folklore.
The film is directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, who brought us other classic Disney films such as The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, and Aladdin. Clements said this in a statement:
"John and I have partnered on so many films - from 'The Little Mermaid' to 'Aladdin' to 'The Princess and the Frog,' Creating 'Moana' is one of the great thrills of our career. It's a big adventure set in this beautiful world of Oceania."
Musker went on to talk about the character saying,
"Moana is indomitable, passionate and a dreamer with a unique connection to the ocean itself. She's the kind of character we all root for, and we can't wait to introduce her to audiences."
It looks and sounds like this is going to be another amazing adventure from the Mouse House.
A video featuring footage from Jason Momoa's audition for Game of Thrones has leaked online, and in it you will see why they gave him the part. The guy is terrifying as hell in this thing. Instead of delivering lines from the script the actor breaks out into a haka, which is a battle cry and dance of the Maori people of New Zealand. Momoa deserved the role in this epic fantasy series, and it has become one of the best things he's done in his career so far. He's sure going to make one badass Aquaman.
Via: THR
Hasbro Studios has announced that they will be developing a feature film version of their classic franchise My Little Pony. The movie will be developed, produced, and financed in house, through a new production company they set up called Allspark Pictures. They are also producing Jon M. Chu's live-action adaptation of Jem and the Holograms through this company as well.
The studio has hired Joe Ballarini (Ice Age: Continental Drift) to write the script for My Little Pony, and it will be executive produced by Megan McCarthy, who produces and has written for the series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and the straight-to-home video My Little Pony: Equestria Girls films.
Stephen Davis, president of Hasbro Studios, says they are looking to release the film “on the broadest possible number of screens,” and that they are “very excited about the potential of that movie.”
My Little Pony was first introduced in 1983. Over the years Hasbro has launched four animated series. The most recent incarnation came in 2010 which has become quite popular among kids and adults.
Davis went on to say that they have no plans to stop making big-budget franchise films. Some of those include Transformers, G.I. Joe, Monopoly, Ouija, and Candy Land. He says:
“We will continue to make big tentpole movies with our studio partners, but there is another set of movies where we feel we have an opportunity to have a bit more control over the budgeting, financing, calendarization, marketing and creative of our films. There are new economic models that fit certain films.”
My Little Pony is one of them. There's no word on if it will be CG animated or traditionally animated like the series, but there's a huge market out there for this franchise. It's sure to blow up at the box office.
Below you'll find the trailer for one of their direct to DVD movies.
Source: Variety
This Star Wars art by U.K. artist Chris Skinner is brilliant. They are beautifully rendered in black and white with an energy that evokes the spirit of each iconic ship. The X-Wing and TIE fighter are coming right at you and have a great display of dynamic perspective. The Millennium Falcon presents the ship being pursued by the foreboding Slave I.
"The Baby’s Got A Few Surprises Left In Her, Sweetheart" — $40 at HCG
The X-Wing and TIE fighter pieces are not yet available so stay tuned to Skinner's twitter for when they do.
H/T: Poster Posse
We may not see a sequel to Pete Travis' Dredd anytime soon, but there's a cool looking animated miniseries that is being released that should tide us over! This seems like somthing that will be really fun to watch, and I'm looking forward to seeing some actual footage.
The web-series comes from Dredd producer Adi Shankar, and it is inspired by the “Dark Judges” comic book story arc. The series is called Judge Dredd: Superfiend, and according to EW "it's intended as a kind of sequel to Dredd, although it’s technically a part of Shankar’s 'Bootleg Universe' series." That series is a line of unofficial short film productions that include 'Dirty Laundry' and 'Truth in Journalism,' which riffs on the Punisher and Venom characters.
You can check out some images from Superfiend, below, which gives us a look at some iconic Dredd characters from the comic series.
The very first professional gig that I got as an actor through my agent was a video game commercial for Super Nintendo. The video game was Super Adventure Island, and the commercial is as cheesy as 1990s video game ads could possibly get.
I remember only going to one audition for the lead role in the commercial. I excitedly read my lines, they liked my look, and they wanted to hire me. There was one little hang up though. I might have been too short. I've always had height issues. They kept testing my reach because in the commercial I had to pull down a screen in front of a classroom full of kids. After a few tests showing them I could do it they gave me the part.
A few weeks later I showed up to a sound stage where they were shooting the commercial. This would be the first time I was ever on the set of something like this, and it was the coolest thing ever! They had a full on elementary school class room set up where the commercial was set. There were a ton of other kids my age to fill it, and there was all the delicious food that a kid could want.
We filmed two separate commercials that day. The first included me skateboarding away from a boulder, and jumping into the classroom. The other involved me skateboarding away from a UFO. The boulder commercial is the only one I ever saw. Once I was in the classroom I had to immediately jump in and excitedly deliver my lines at a fast pace. We had to do a few takes because whenever I got to the word "treacherous" it just wouldn't come out right. I don't know why, but I just had a problem saying that word during the filming of the commercial. It was pretty embarrassing every time I got to it and screwed up. I didn't have a problem with it at the audition! We finally got it though, and everything worked out.
One of the more interesting things I had to do in the commercial is work in front of a green screen and interact with an animated character from the game. It was so weird! They didn't give me any real points to work with. I just had to interact to what the director was explaining to me which is why it all looks so laughably strange and stiff in the commercial. It was hard interacting with something that wasn't there!
One of my favorite parts about the experience was meeting and hanging out with some the other kids on the set. We would look around and check out the camera equipment and stuff. It was a little weird though, too. Some kids were really cool and nice and we'd hang out and talk. Others formed their own clicks, and I would over hear them talking crap about me. I guess it wouldn't be show business without having a bunch of jerks talk crap about another person. This was a hard lesson about life that I had to learn though. I've never liked people talking crap behind my back. Who does?! It's just another form of bullying, which is another thing I dealt with throughout my life. I learned at a young age how to deal with those people though. If they want to lower their standards as human beings that's their problem. If you couldn't tell, I'm very passionate about this issue. Maybe one day I'll go into it with more detail. This commercial was the first real experience I had with stuff like this where it really hurt.
Regardless of the hard life lessons learned while shooting the commercial, it was an extremely fun and rewarding experience, and acting is something that I wanted to keep doing. You can watch the commercial below. It's really embarrassing, so I hope you get a laugh out of it.
Last week DC Entertainment's big movie line-up was revealed, and one of the movies that was included on the list was Suicide Squad, which Fury director David Ayer is set to direct. Empire had the opportunity to talk to the director about his next project, and he seems really excited about it. When asked about the comic book adaptation this is what he said:
"'Fury' whetted my appetite for a bigger canvas and this idea of world creation. You can do amazing things as a filmmaker if you have the proper tools, and those are time and money...I can say that it’s a Dirty Dozen with supervillains. Then I can ask the question, 'Does a movie really need good guys?'"
Almost every great screenwriter will tell you that, yes, every good story needs a protagonist. But Ayer is the kind of director I can see going against the grain. Ayer went on to talk about his anticipation for getting started on the project, saying,
"I love the passion [comic-book fans] have for these characters and these worlds. I think there's something incredible about the comic genre and technology has finally caught up with pen and ink to render these fantastic worlds in a way that feels believable and visceral to audiences. It's a secular religion in that regards. The mythology that these characters represent - the idea of them as fallen gods on Earth - is intriguing to me. I can't wait to start exploring those corridors."
I'm a huge fan of Ayer's work, and this is the perfect story for him to tell. I'm really excited about seeing what he does with it. The Suicide Squad was introduced in 1959, and it focused on a team of supervillains who were given a second chance by the government for redemption. There's one catch though. They are sent out on deadly missions that will likely get them killed.
The characters in the film are rumored to include Blockbuster, who is super strong; Multiplex, who can self-replicate; Jaculi, who is very fast; Mindboggler, who is an illusionist, the original Captain Boomerang, George Harkness; Vixen the animal mimicker, and Floyd Lawton, a.k.a. Deadshot. I wish they would include Harley Quinn.
There are also casting reports that Ryan Gosling, Tom Hardy, Margot Robbie, and Will Smith have all been approached for roles in the film, but nothing is confirmed at this time. Suicide Squad is currently set to be released on August 5th, 2016.
I got an interesting sci-fi short film for you to watch today called Nothing Safer. The story is set in the near future in which pocket-sized devices exist that are capable of creating instant panic rooms to protect their owner from any threat. "With an alien invasion imminent, an inventor and his wife put the experimental technology to the test." The short was directed by Marc Leidy, and I enjoyed watching it. The film has some cool and original ideas that make for a solid paranoia thriller. I hope you all like it.
As we bear down on the third and final installment of The (interminable and also delightful) Hobbit Saga, Peter Jackson is looking to exploit our nostalgia for his other Middle Earth trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Or possibly he is feeling nostalgic himself and no one ever says no to him so he does what he wants. Either way, it’s good news for fans.
Remember in the Return of the King when Pippin, played by Billy Boyd, sang “The Edge of Night” while Denethor, son of Ecthelion, wonderfully played by John Noble, grossly ate that chicken leg and that grape tomato and we hated him so much and wondered why couldn’t he see how great Faramir was and also wondered why Jackson had ruined Faramir and made him actually weak instead of strong in a way that Denethor and Boromir just couldn’t understand??? Wow, that got away from me.
Anyway, that song, which was taken from a Tolkien poem and set to a melody Boyd composed himself (although is was scored by composer Howard Shore), was great, and one of the best moments of the movie. Now Boyd is coming back with a new song for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Unfortunately, Jackson has not found a way to shoehorn Pippin into the film, because that would be ridiculous. Instead, the song will play over the credits, which will be a fitting end to all of our onscreen Middle Earth adventures (unless Jackson finally grants my wish and adapts Tom Bombadil's Songs). The new song is called “The Last Goodbye,” and it appears to be written by Boyd with producer Philippa Boyens and screenwriter Fran Walsh. The melody is likely all Boyd’s, who fronts a band called Beecake.
You can rewatch “The Edge of Night” below, and I’ve also included a music video for a Beecake song called “Please Stay.”
There's a fun new web-series that has been released called Slash Up. The series comes from Dead Pixel, and the first episode pits Sarah Connor from The Terminator films against Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise. Before they get into the actual showdown where we get to see the short film of the two characters battling each other to the death, they provide a breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses of each character. There's a similar web-series out there called Superhero Beat Down, but the difference with this one is that they throw in a classic horror icon. These vs. videos are a really fun idea, and I hope they are able to keep it up. The group is trying to get funding for their second episode…. "Freddy Kruger Vs. Neo." If that's something you want to see get made then head on over to their Kickstarter page. In the mean time, check watch Sarah Connor and Jason Voorhees fight in the video below. I also included a making of video for you to check out if you're interested.
We recently posted news that Robert Downey Jr. is very close to signing on to play Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, in Captain America 3. Lots of readers decried the news as false despite originating from Variety, who debunks or confirms rumors, but is not in the business of creating them. Iron Man's presence in Captain America 3 would kick off a Civil War story arc to run simultaneously with the Infinity Gauntlet arc, a war on two fronts if you will.
While promoting The Judge in the U.K., Downey was asked by Yahoo about Captain America 3, which he was pretty coy about. One thing he did sneak in on the record was, "It's Gonna Be Huge".
Captain America 3 opens in theaters May 6th, 2016.
This Jungle Princess cosplay for Adventure Time by Laurie Foster is full of vivid color. The costume and body paint are a great interpretation of the character.
Foster via Geek X Girls:
"I love the bizarre silliness of Adventure Time. I thought I would spice Jungle Princess up a little bit and did my own take on the costume! I made the entire thing myself and did the bodypaint myself as well. It was fun to be fierce!"
Yes, Jason Momoa is set to play Aquaman in Justice League and a stand alone film. After playing coy, and constantly denying his involvement over the last few months, the actor has finally opened up about it in an interview with ComicBook.com. Here's what he had to say in regards to being able to talk about it:
"Listen, I was asked to play it. You know, you audition and stuff like that, but the fact is you’ve just got to keep it quiet. You know what I mean, I was just trying to respect Warner Bros. and everyone’s wishes. I’m really, really happy that I don’t have to be quiet anymore, because that’s really hard for me."
Momoa also went on to say that it's an "honor" for him to bring Aquaman to the big screen:
"The greatest thing for me is that Polynesians, our gods, Kahoali, Maui, all these water gods, so it’s really cool and a honor to be playing a [water] character. And there’s not too many brown superheroes, so I’m really looking forward to representing the Polynesians, the natives. It’s cool be a part of DC’s universe. I’m really excited to be with Warner Bros., and hopefully everyone likes it. And Zack Snyder’s a genius, so I’m really excited to be hanging out with him."
It's good to see that he's excited about it. Because every time it was previously brought up in interviews he just came off as being annoyed. He still won't provide any details, which is expected, but he does say:
"I really wish I could say something, but I don’t even know.. I found out some of the characters that are in Justice League that are casted that I didn’t know. So you found out when I found out. And that stuff is pretty tight-lipped so I don’t have anything to give."
As you know, stuff leaks out all the time, so I'm sure we'll eventually find out more information on the role Aquaman will play in DC's cinematic universe. When talking about Justice League he did say the following:
"I don’t know the director. I know about as much as you guys know. I know the Justice League will come first. That’s really what we’re going to focus on. I’m not sure if it will be [set] prior to Justice League or post. I don’t know too much about it. It will probably be where he came from. It will probably be his whole origin story I would think…I mean I don’t even want to get quoted on this shit. So I know we’re going to do Justice League first. I don’t even know when we’re shooting yet, but it will be like 2016 or 2017, so there’s plenty of time."
I'm actually excited about seeing Momoa take on the role of Aquaman. I'm sure he'll be able to bring a badassery to this character that we've never seen before.
Remember way back, such a long, long time back, when you could go to video stores with knowledgeable workers and shelves and shelves of movies, and explore the titles and get recommendations from strangers and discover really great movies? Well, whether you can remember those days or not, they are gone, never to return, and scrolling through the super specific suggestions on Netflix just isn’t the same. They never suggest anything that grabs you and surprises you by how much you love it.
So how are we going to discover great movies now? You could try A/Z. Movie Guide, a book project that aims to “promote interest in film history, worldwide cinema, and contemporary films.”
“The concept stems from the idea that there is a World of Film out there to be explored, and the best way to take a trip to this world is with a travel guide book.”
The completed book is 650 pages and features 1700 films from 88 countries, with over 600 reviews that explain why you should appreciate the film. No synopses, no criticisms. The book also contains lists of Oscar, BAFTA and Cesar Award winners, as well as lists of major festival winners.
In addition to all that, the book is really beautiful. It features alternate posters for over 200 movies, with work by 135 artists from 26 countries.
If you are interested, you can help crowdfund the book here. (The donation levels seem high until you realize that the Argentinean peso has a very favorable exchange rate.) If you aren't interested, you can see more images from the book here. The book itself is written in Spanish, so if you aren’t fluent you may have some difficulty reading it, but it’s always fun to see which movies people love and think are important, even if you don’t understand all their reasons.
Watch the video for a further explanation of the project. (The English version is on top.)
Anything Alex Ross illustrates immediately becomes the definitive version of that thing in my mind. If he drew a picture of the back of my hand and showed it to me, even if it looked noooothing like my hand, I would just accept that as the ultimate version of my hand. “You nailed it, Alex. That is my hand,” I would enthusiastically say to him as I forked over the ridiculous amount of money it would probably cost for him to accept such an odd and ridiculous commission.
Admit it, though. When you think of Marvel and DC characters, you think of his drawings. He has a way of making everything he does seem timeless. Take, for example, this variant cover he did for Star Wars #1, the first issue in a new ongoing series from Marvel that will focus on characters from the original trilogy. If you look at Luke, Han, and Leia, even though they’re wearing clothes from A New Hope, their faces look like an amalgamation of how the actors looked as they aged throughout filming the trilogy. Luke, in particular, is a perfect blend of Mark Hamill pre/post the accident that fractured his nose and cheekbone. The cover also serves as an homage to Howard Chaykin’s iconic cover for first issue of the original Star Wars comic that started in 1977, which I’ve included below for comparison.
Marvel’s new Star Wars comic series will kick off in January 2015. The variant cover debuted on Entertainment Weekly.
(Click Images to enlarge)
Images via: Fanart.tv
The latest trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar was extremely evocative. The story itself and the spectacular visuals play a large part in that, obviously, but Thomas Bergersen’s stirring track “Final Frontier,” which is used heavily throughout the trailer, deserves much of the credit as well. You could pretty much cut anything to that song and make grown men shed a tear or two. The Unusual Suspect does just that with this Interstellar-style trailer for Space Balls. It makes Mel Brooks’ hilarious 1987 Star Wars parody look like an exceptionally epic space adventure. Essentially it’s the exact opposite strategy George Lucas took with the actual Star Wars films when making the prequels.
The Unusual Suspect is the same guy that brought us Harry Potter (Scott Pilgrim Style), which is a much watch mashup if you haven’t already seen it.
H/T: Dorkly
I don’t know if Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is going to be good. Catching Fire was an improvement over The Hunger Games, so I would like to think that this next movie will continue that upward trajectory, but the source material is problematic, so we’ll see. What I do know is that the marketing team working on the franchise is nothing short of brilliant. In addition to the standard posters and trailers, they’ve put out propaganda posters and videos, as well as the incredible online fashion mag Capitol Couture, all from the point of view of Panem’s government.
Today they’ve launched a web series called District Voices, a series of propaganda videos aimed at increasing district pride in the midst of the current rebellion. From the press release:
“District Voices is a five episode series on YouTube that brings to life Panem, the fictional world of The Hunger Games, through videos featuring popular YouTube creators. Each episode of the series was created with a different creator, whose channel content aligns with a specific industry from one of the districts of Panem.”
Today the “District 8” video aired, in which the co-directors of the ThreadBanger YouTube channel give a tutorial in repurposing old Peacekeeper armor into something a little more fashionable. A new episode will roll out every day this week.
I’ve included the trailer for the series and the first episode below, and you can check Capitol TV every day at 4 pm ET for a new episode.
