I was browsing around and stumbled across some really fun webseries via Fangoria. I love this new frontier of web distrubution. These web series are a lot of fun and really, much more satisfying than what’s in theaters these days. I like this vibe of how these filmmakers are making films they want to make and not trying to cater to white bread America.

First up, Vampire Killers. Hot chicks making out, great sound design, spooky and dark atmosphere. Good times.

Next, Blood on the Highway

And finally, Deathstop

Nothing we haven’t seen before, but it’s not what’s been done, but how one does it.

See you next time.

The biggest opening ever for a James Bond title and a major victory for a film franchise nearly half a century old. Previous record-holder for best Bond opening was the $47.1 million for “Die Another Day.” Director Marc Forster’s “Solace,” playing in 3,451 runs, opened 74% higher than the 2006 critically acclaimed “Casino Royale,” which gave a new look and feel to the Bond franchise, as well as a new 007–Daniel Craig

Other cool news; Trailers and Casting news:

The Latest Watchmen Trailer

2012

Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. 2012 is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.

Inglorious Basterds final casting with Jackson, Cheung

Samuel L. Jackson has muscled his way into a part as a rarely present narrator and Maggie Cheung, who won the Cannes Best Actress prize in 2004 for Clean, will play Madame Mimieux, the French cinema matron who cares for Basterd’s protagonist Shoshana (Mélanie Laurent) when she is being searched for by the Nazis. Cheung won the role over other European actresses once rumored for the part including Catherine Deneuve, Nastassja Kinski and Isabelle Hupport.

And yes, we have the script; do a search and you’ll find it on our site.

Australia

This looks radical.

Australia is an epic and romantic action adventure, set in that country on the explosive brink of World War II. In it, an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) travels to the faraway continent, where she meets a rough-hewn local (Hugh Jackman) and reluctantly agrees to join forces with him to save the land she inherited. Together, they embark upon a transforming journey across hundreds of miles of the world’s most beautiful yet unforgiving terrain, only to still face the bombing of the city of Darwin by the Japanese forces that attacked Pearl Harbor. With his new film, Luhrmann is painting on a vast canvas, creating a cinematic experience that brings together romance, drama, adventure and spectacle.

The Spirit

That’s all for today; I’ve got screenplays to develop.

Callaghan

Hollywood’s Scare Affair with the Haunted House By Callaghan

Every community has one, or so the rumors say. Surely you’ve heard tell of your own hometown’s version. You know the “condemned convalescent home” or the “slice ‘n dice bed ‘n breakfast”, or even the “vexed axe lady”. Whatever it was.

It didn’t take Hollywood long to realize that the INT. HAUNTED HOUSE - NIGHT was a setting that audiences would keep coming back to. And they would not have to spend the night inside (as their neighborhood chums as doubled-dared them to back home.) No sir, here in the theatre’s dark spooky auditorium, those brave souls would only have to spend an hour and a half, maybe two…

From The Cat and the Canary to What Lies Beneath - from Old Dark House to Session 9…

How do you know which phantasm flat you’ll want to visit? Which spectral suburbs are not to be missed? Welcome to Callaghan Haunted Tours. If you’ll look out the window to your left, you’ll see…

The Shining

#1 The Shining (1980)
The Overlook Hotel does act as a temporary residence…Which is good enough for me, but not so much for the Family Torrence.

Haunted By:

-Lloyd the Bartender
-The Grady Family
-Bathtub Broad (shivers)
-Bear Suit Guy (shivers harder)

Poltergeist

#2 Poltergeist (1982)

“They’re here,” said Carol Anne way back in 1982…and “they” subsequently never left our collective consciousness.

Haunted By:

-The “T.V. People”
-Evil Clown Toy
-One Crazy Tree (that used to scare me shitless)

The Haunting

#3 The Haunting (1963)
Director Robert Wise showed the Haunted House fable in all its chilling glory…Quite the departure from his films “The Sound of Music” and “West Side Story”.

Haunted By:

-The Hill House Posse

The Changeling

#4 The Changeling (1980)
One of the scariest films ever, I kid you not…Carried on the acting shoulders of one George C. Scott.

Haunted By:

-Girly girl

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, !

#5 Beetlejuice (1988)
One of Tim Burton’s most bizarrely bad ass creations, Beetlejuice has the unusual power to scare the laugh out of you.

Haunted By:

-I can’t say (seeing as that would be three times)
-Adam
-Barbara

The Legend of Hell House

#6 The Legend of Hell House (1973)
Considered the “Mount Everest” of haunted houses, Hell House is well worth the climb.

Haunted By:

-My Man Belasco
-A Surprise Guest

The Others

#7 The Others (2001)
Proof positive that lackluster remakes are not the way to go if you want to tell a good Haunted House story today.

Haunted By:

-A Great Big Spoiler Alert

The Innocents

#8 The Innocents (1961)

A How-To for crafting good, rounded gothic ghost tales on-screen is this.

Haunted By:

-Miss Jessel
-Peter Quint
-Eerie Atmospheric Filmmaking

Burnt Offerings

#9 Burnt Offerings (1976)

Who woulda thunk that a Bette Davis, Oliver Reed and Burgess Meredith flick could be so disturbing?

Haunted By:

-One Bitch of a House

House on Haunted Hill

#10 House on Haunted Hill (1959)

With this being a Haunted list, I was enticed…to include the irreplaceable Vincent Price.

Haunted By:

-B Movie Goodness
-Things That Go Awesome in the Night

Happy Halloween From Cineobscure!!

Cheers,

Callaghan

It’s been quiet since THE BOSTON STRANGLERS was announced last June as a vehicle for Brian De Palma, but, according to producer Gale Anne Hurd (Terminator 2, The Abyss, Aliens, The Terminator and De Palma’s Raising Cain), it’s still in the pipeline and slated for a Spring production. The screenplay is based off the book “The Boston Stranglers: The Public Conviction of Albert DeSalvo and the True Story of Eleven Shocking Murders,” by Susan Kelly.

The Master.

It’s based on Susan Kelly’s book called The Boston Stranglers, because everything that we think we know is wrong. There was a film made right after the events called THE BOSTON STRANGLER starring Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda. And it posits that Albert DeSalvo was the Boston Strangler, but the truth is, if you scratch beneath the surface, Albert DeSalvo was never charged with the crimes. He was actually incarcerated for another series of assaults, and there was not one shred of evidence linking him to the crimes. So the film is very much (about) how did things go so wrong, that to this day we all think Albert DeSalvo was tried and convicted as the Boston Strangler?

The screenplay draft by Alan Rosen went over 160 pages starts off with DeSalvo’s first foray into the crimes as he talks his way into the homes of desperate women pretending to be a modeling scout and then dramatizes the police investigation, the intense media scrutiny, and DeSalvo’s jailhouse confession to convicted murderer George Nassar. It’s kinky and bloody and chalk full of conspiracy; standard faire for De Palma, a certified master of the genre. I personally loved The Black Dahlia and if Brian’s name is on it, I’ll be satisfied just watching the direction and visual tour de force he commands. No one, and I man, no one understands films visual language better than De Palma, cut from the cloth of Hitchcock, he is a master.

Spring of 2009 with a 2010 release date is the projection on this one.

You can read the Busch interview with Gale and for up to date news from the best De Palma site on the net, check out De Palma Ala Mod and you can talk about Brian in our own forums Here.

In other cinejunkienessism news; what’s another post without some Inglorious Basterd’s news ? And before you message me to let me know I spelled the title wrong again, it has been confirmed that Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming WWII-spaghetti western remake of Enzo Castellari’s Inglorious Bastards (which filming began this month), that QT’s “misspelled” title is official.

When the script (which you can download here) made its onto the internet (accident, I’m sure) this summer, many simply thought he was a poor speller but according to the Weinstein Co. and Universal Pictures, who confirmed the title after releasing a new synopsis for the film:

“Inglourious Basterds begins in German-occupied France, where Shoshanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema.

Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as “The Basterds,” Raine’s squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own…”

Tarantino’s international cast includes Brad Pitt Diane Kruger, Mike Myers, Eli Roth, Cloris Leachman, Rod Taylor, Daniel Brühl (The Edukators), Samm Levine (Freaks and Geeks), Til Schweiger (King Arthur), B.J. Novak (The Office), Michael Fassbender (300), Mélanie Laurent (Days of Glory), Michael Bacall (Death Proof), Omar Doom (Death Proof), Julie Dreyfus (Kill Bill Vol. 1), August Diehl (The Counterfeiters), Richard Sammel (Casino Royale), Christian Berkel (Black Book), and more. The film reunites Tarantino with Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 cinematographer Bob Richardson, longtime production designer David Wasco, Oscar-nominated editor Sally Menke (Pulp Fiction), and producer Lawrence Bender.

And here is another pics from the set of the newly constructed French farmhouse that will open Inglorious Bastards in a soon-to-be-classic and nail-biting fashion. The window on the far right will presumably frame and foreshadow a showdown between the female main character and the Jew Hunter

The Farmhouse from the scripts opening scene.

That’s all for today. I have some writing to do and then it’s off to work.

Callaghan

Show East is already abuzz this year, before it has even officially begun. Of course, those in the film distribution and exhibition industries are getting ready to be dazzled by the latest and greatest “picture show” technologies, same as every year. Sure, the studios are sending some of their best star power (and above-the-line talent) down to Sunny Florida for a week of hobnobbing with theatre owners. Nuthin’ new there either. What is different this year is the fact that an “NC-17” film is being peddled and promoted…well as close to an NC-17 flick as veteran Show Easters (or is it “Show Easterners”) have ever experienced, anyway. And that is exciting; or more appropriately that is titillating.

Enter “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”. A few days prior to the screening, I was asked by a member of the Weinstein Company team what my favorite Kevin Smith movie was up to that point. Seldom being at a loss for words (as many of you can attest to), I played along.

“Mallrats,” says I, “Mallrats represents what Smith does best. It shows that he knows how to tell a good dirty joke, and I am a man who loves me a dirty joke. I honestly think he may have swayed a bit too far from that ranch with his last couple a’ three films. I, for one, wish he would come full circle and be that Kevin Smith again. ”

Perhaps it was more of an answer than he was expecting. Okay, definitely it was more of an answer than he was expecting. Regardless, he smiled a big company man smile and said simply, “You won’t be disappointed.” What can I say…he wasn’t lyin’.

Yeah baby.

Zack and Miri has put the wind back in its Captain’s sails. I can only hope that Skipper Smith follows this wind to the next creative island or archipelago. But I digress.

Porno is easily one of the funniest comedies to come along in a coon’s age. Keep in mind, I have been something of a Comedy Curmudgeon for the last several years, saying everything short of “the genre is dead” (Okay, maybe I did say that after all). In any case, if this film is any indication, comedy is bouncing back. Set in the ‘Burg, the story follows platonic flatmates Zack and Miriam (Miri) who just can’t get seem to break free of the funk that they’re in. This all changes when they attend their 10 year high school reunion, which acts as the inspirational catalyst they need to end their woes by making a, you guessed it…porno.

Seth Rogen, with all do respect, has been party to some of those very comedies whose overall punch-line I just did not get (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, etc.) But after seeing him shine as title character Zack, I gotta say I’m now a big fan. I see him being a comedic force to be reckoned with for some time. His no-bullshit delivery as Zack was a bull’s eye for me. He was able to keep the character in check, never letting it get too over-blown (which would have been so easy to do.) Rogen proves that he has real comedic chops and tip-top timing.

Zack and Miri.

Elizabeth Banks (as the adorably desperate Miri) also won my heart faster than you can say “Iron City Beer”. Her performance is well-crafted yet subtle. In a funny way, Rogen and Banks together reminded my of a vintage screen comedy duo (think Burns and Allen) with their set-up/pay-off banter. Nice chemistry all around. Don’t be surprised if this is the beginning of more co-starring gigs for them. Not to mention Miri’s moment of bliss…wow, what acting! I know what you’re thinking…what woman doesn’t know that little bit of theatrics. But I shit you not, I don’t think Stella Adler herself could have taught that any better.

The cast is rounded out by Craig Robinson (the heir apparent to Bernie Mac); View Askew regulars Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson; and Traci Lords (yes that Traci Lords). Justin Long and Brandon Routh also are along for surprisingly successful turns at comedy. I couldn’t help but think that Routh sounded more like Clark Kent here (as gay former-classmate Bobby Long) than he did in Superman Returns. Weird. Anyway, the entire cast pulls together very well as an intracule ensemble. Oh, and you’ll never think about Glengarry Glen Ross the same way again.

So, go see this flick. It is a fun and exciting communal experience. Like I said, I like a good dirty joke as much as the next guy…and “the next guy” to me was choking on the free Snowcaps that the Show East cats were handing out for the screening. That’s just how funny Zack and Miri Make a Porno really is. So here’s to you, Kevin Smith, for going back to that voodoo that you do so well..now, let’s go ahead and 86 that Jersey Girl Part II idea that’s rolling around in your head. Now Mallrats 2 on the other hand, hmmmm….

Cheers,

Callaghan

Cine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This link courtesy EW

Image Courtesy AICN

Pitt

Here’s the first look at Brad Pitt in costume on the set of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. Pitt has the starring role in this remake of the Dirty Dozen-ish WWII adventure as Lt. Aldo Raine, known to the Germans as Aldo the Apache for his practice of scalping his victims.

And if you wonder why Bastard’s, is spelled Basterd’s, read the script (Search this site).

I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS.

First up, Variety is reporting that Will Smith is looking at an I AM LEGEND Prequel. I AM LEGEND, a book written by Richard Matheson, a book directly responsible for inspiring Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD as well as being a key read that made Stephen King want to become an author and a film that was released into the world of PG-13. (Brakes screeching)

Don’t worry dog. We got another 20 Million coming.

This is a book near to my heart and if I have my way, I’ll make my own, definitive version of this film one day. The day I heard about I AM LEGEND coming to the screen, twas a bittersweet one. I wanted to make this film, this would be my endead epic but I also was excited to see more undead films with the backing of a major studio. Alas, I predicted the canvas of the film long before it came out, PG-13, Will Smithy “Oh no you didn’t!” pop corn lameness.

The film was an uninsirped piece of crap with CGI vampire creatures to boot. CG Vampires ? What genius made this call during pre-production ? Well, it looks like we’re getting a prequel.

The prequel will chronicle the final days of humanity in New York before a man-made virus caused a plague that left Smith’s character the lone survivor among a mutated mob in the city.

Here’s an idea, ditch Will Smith, pick up where the movie left off and rate this shit R. Does anyone really want to see another PG-13 Horror film for th sake of Box Office profit ? Oh yes, the studios do. Read the article Here.

You can also read my rant from April 2005 when I first learned of the project HERE.

Del Toro

In other news; Guillermo del Toro has inked a publishing deal with HarperCollins imprint William Morrow to pen a trilogy of vampire thrillers with Chuck Hogan. Here we go again with the resurgence of the Vampire film, of which most outright suck, although I loved 30 Days of Night (Rated R.) With the huge popularity of Stephenie Meyer’s young adult novel series ‘Twilight’ you would bet thathere come the Vampires. Always a popular sub genre genre, but what’s the point when we get PG-13 crap. It’s like Soft Core porn but not really. Read it HERE.






Clive Barker’s The Midnight Meat Train.

Midnight Meat Train

Is that fucking Brooke Shields ? Why would you cast Brooke Shields in anything ? Never the less, this still looks pretty cool. The trailer is HERE.

Suspiria remake ? Really.

1977’s Suspiria is an Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento and is often considered Argento’s finest film and a classic of the horror genre. Entertainment Weekly rated it #18 in its top 25 scariest movies of all time, saying it had “the most vicious murder scene ever filmed”, and it was rated #24 on the cable channel Bravo’s list of the “100 Scariest Movie Moments”.

Suspiria

IFMagazine sat down with Giallo Master Dario Argento and to my notice has a Suspiria remake in the works. Here is the interview.

And finally, from CHUD. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is a Swedish Vampire film that has gotten some nice hype about 2 12 year olds that fall in love. And Hollywood of course has greenlit a reamke directed by Cloverfield director Matt Reeves; yeaaaaaaaah, there’s a good idea. Oh yes, and we shoul remake it PG-13 too !

Oskar is a 12-year-old-boy who is being bullied at school. He befriends a mysterious girl, Eli, who moves in next door with her father Håkan. In the course of the story the reader finds out all is not what it seems. Eli is really a vampire and her ‘father’ supplies her with fresh blood by murdering young boys. As Oskar gradually begins to understand who Eli really is, the bond between them grows stronger. Eli teaches him to stand up to his bullies and Oskar grows increasingly fond of ‘her’.

Eli

The film won the “The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature” at the TriBeCa Film Festival in 2008.

The Trailer

Alright, I have to get to working on my horror masterpiece.

Callaghan

Colorful language has long been an important tool for movie makers. Sure, it has been used as a gratuitous placeholder or as a shocking spacefiller from time to time. (Bad Santa’s bottomless bag of F-Bombs comes to mind.) On the other hand, the use of swearing has lent itself to an authentic sense of realism for many a genre (think any crime or police drama since the late-sixties). Sometimes, just sometimes, profanity can be a beautiful weapon…a weapon crafted by the blacksmith artisans (aka the writers), and wielded by the (not always so) heroic Sir Actalot on screen. In the rarest of occasions, the perfectly written explicative perfectly delivered can go well beyond the purpose of merely driving the character’s point home. It is in these instances that, instead of the dialogue reflecting how “real people” talk, we the audience are schooled in the proper use of the profane.

During the silent era, Douglas Fairbanks would hurl a “cocksucker” or a “son of a whore” (or worse) at his on-screen adversary, knowing full well that the final print would instead include a title card that read “You Scoundrel”. He and other leading men of the day were forced to curb the obscenities, however, when some deaf lip-reading audience members became flabbergasted by what they “heard”. The infamously feared Hayes Office was officially born in the year 1922. As all content censorship was largely voluntary for the next eight years, however, the occasional colorful adjective would still rear its dirty head. Then came the early 1930’s, and with them the Production Code was rolled out. Starting in ‘34, all films had to adhere to said code in order to get the all-important Seal of Approval. Make no mistake about it, some of our greatest films were produced over the next thirty years. All the same though, movie swearing went largely into the dark ages…or into the fucking dark ages, as the case may be.

Join me now, fellow filmphiles, as we take a look at the decades that followed. Along the way, let us examine the unforgettable moments in colorful language that exploded right off the screen and into the pop culture itself.

The Essential Ten
Great Moments In Cinematic Cursing History

#1 Gone With the Wind (1939)
“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

#2 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
“Look, sweetheart, I can drink you under any goddamn table you want, so don’t worry about me.”

#3 The Last Detail (1973)
“Welcome to the wonderful world of pussy, kid.”

#4 Serpico (1973)
“You stupid fuck! You didn’t know me? You fired without a warning, without a fucking brain in your head? Oh, shit. I buy one, motherfucker, I ain’t buying it from you.”

#5 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
“Well, I don’t want to break up the meeting or nothin’, but she’s something of a cunt, ain’t she Doc?”

#6 Arthur (1981)
“Perhaps you would like me to wash your dick for you…you little shit.”

#7 Full Metal Jacket (1987)
“I’ll bet you’re the kind of guy that would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around. I’ll be watching you.”

#8 Die Hard (1988)
“Yippee ki-yay, motherfucker”

#9 Goodfellas (1990)
“No. No, I don’t know. You said it. How do I know? You said I’m funny. How the fuck am I funny? What the fuck is so funny about me? Tell me, tell me what’s funny!”

#10 Pulp Fiction (1994)
“Say what again. Say what again! I dare you, I double dare you, motherfucker. Say what one more goddamn time.”

The Theme for Quantum of Solace is out. From two of musics best acts, Jack White of the White Stripes and the hot hot hot Alicia Keys. The song is called ‘Another Way to Die’ and it kicks ass. I do miss the more traditional Bond themes that have a Bondesque cinema undercurrent that wreaks with adventure and espionage but by now, we know the producers are taking Bond to places we’ve never seen in the franchise. It’s a different Bond and it’s all good.

Here are my Top 10 Bond Songs and then you can check out the new one.

10. Diamonds Are Forever (Shirley Bassey)
09. Tomorrow Never Dies (Sheryl Crow)
08. Live and Let Die - (Paul McCartney & Wings)
07. A View To A Kill (Duran Duran)
06. The Living Daylights (a-ha)
05. GoldenEye (Tina Turner)
04. Die Another Day (Madonna)
03. For Your Eyes Only (Sheena Easton)
02. The World Is Not Enough (Garbage)
01. Nobody Does It Better (Carly Simon)

Sadly, neither the new song nor Chris Cornell’s from Casino Royale have me hooked. And on a liner note, I miss the opening theme with the silhouettes of the girls. I hope we don’t get poker cards as a substitute on this one.

Okay, check it out.

And here’s the second trailer TRAILER B

This film looks phenomenal. A perfect balance of bad ass and love interest. I can’t wait.

She’s better than most dude directors.

In the long list of great directors and favorite filmmakers, a woman’s name isn’t often, hell, ever brought up and I confess I do find it hard pressed to name some that raise the bar for me and inspire me in my own pursuit and dream of filmmaking. Immediately coming to mind are Sofia Coppola (Marie Antoinette, Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides), Kimberly Pierce (Stop-Loss, Boys Don’t Cry) and Mimi Leder (Deep Impact, The Peacemaker and the upcoming Thick as Thieves starring Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas,

Beyond that, I am scratching my head. I’n not sure why there aren’t many more female director’s but I do think Hollywood would benefit greatly if opening up it’s boys club cowboy mentality to the ladies.

No surprise that according to Martha Lauzen, a San Diego State University professor who has been tracking the industry for 10 years and publishes an annual study she calls “The Celluloid Ceiling,” which tracks gender for the casts and crews of the top 250 films released in North America every year, of the 8,500 directors represented in the Directors Guild of America, about 13 percent are women. (That figure includes women who work in television, which has long been considered a more welcoming environment.) The number of women directors actually working in film is only 7 percent.

Which brings me to Kathryn Bigelow (born 27 November 1951). Most of you film geeks might recall she was married to fellow director James Cameron from 1989 - 1991. This woman has mad chops; see Near Dark (More balls in this Vampire film than any I’ve seen), Point Break (One of the better surfer movies I have seen) and the vastly underrated Strange Days.

I’ve been a fan of hers for sometime. She is currently directing The Hurt Locker starring Brian Geraghty, Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie with cameos by Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes. The film is set during the Iraq war and was written by former Playboy journalist Mark Boal and has generated significant buzz at both Toronto and Venice.

Financier Nicolas Chartier of Voltage Pictures reported Wednesday that U.S. rights to his Kathryn Bigelow-helmed explosive action suspenser, “The Hurt Locker,” sold to Summit Entertainment in the wee hours of Wednesday. Chartier revealed he sunk $1.5 million of his own coin into the Iraq-set bomb-diffusing action film.

Courtesy Variety: