And coming from Charlie Higson, old-school horror fanatic and all-round genius, and featuring make-up effects by the team from Shaun of the Dead . . . I'm considering starting the petition for a film version right here, right now.
There's a full version of the film, featuring Charlie's transformation from mild-mannered, besuited, middle-aged man into a slavering zombie, which will be released on Sept 3rd. Yum yum.
Michael Moore is releasing his Slacker Uprising direct to the people of the internet in the same style as time-restricted download Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
Though released in this fashion for different reasons (Dr Horrible's being budgetary and Moore's ostensibly being as a 'gift to his fans'), it signals an interesting change in movie consumption which is more reflective of modern feeling towards shelling out (or not) on film entertainment.
The film will be available to download for three weeks, starting 23 September.
Moore also feels that this will be the best way to get young people voting by November. The download window will be followed by a low-cost DVD.
Slacker Uprising follows Moore on the 2004 election trail, attempting to drum up enthusiasm for the vote in young people.
The new Star Trek is not a sequel, prequel or anything so crass. They're just about allowing it to be called a reboot. Yep, despite featuring the crew of the original Enterprise in their salad days, it does fit exactly into what fans would call current canon.
Some time after Nemesis, old Spock gets wind of some time-travelling Terminator style tomfoolery in which the Romulans plot to go back in time and deal Young Kirk a lethal spike in order to craft a Kirkfree universe for them to rule. Good try, but Spock's a canny bugger who simply follows them back - straight into the youthful Enterprise - to put a stop to their upstart behaviour.
Depending on whether we're following Back To The Future rules or not, the resolution of the film could essentially void everything from the last 40-odd years of Star Trek history, setting up Spock as some kind of mentor figure and creating a whole new, alternative timeline. A little bit wanky, but possibly the breath of fresh air the series needs.
Inside Tarantino's production folder, far more exciting than Pitt's name on the dotted line is the pencil note that reads 'Simon Pegg'.
Far more exciting for cinemagoers of taste with a fondness for all things British, that is.
Pegg is currently in talks to play a British lieutenant in Inglorious Bastards, which Tarantino is hoping to squeeze out in time for Cannes last year.
Pegg has been dipping his toe in the wider waters of Hollywood for some time now; Mission Impossible III saw him hold his own in a role that was sadly limited, and Big Nothing wasn't half bad at all, right down to his accent. Having turned down a part in Watchmen because of the pressure of being Rorscharch, he's stepped up to the plate to play Scotty in JJ Abrams' Star Trek. This could be the role that cements his status as a fine actor on a worldwide scale.
As for the Bastards as a whole, all signs point to Good Gracious. Festival season timing, canny mix of big names and cult stars and a script from way back when Death Proof was a distant headlight down the road. Yes please! Looks like someone's kicked off his Ego shoes and rolled his sleeves up...
What's interesting to me (beyond an adaptation of Alice by a director who was born to do it) is that the film industry is once more turning to 'novelty' 3D/IMAX formats in order to pull in audiences. It's the same thing that happened with the advent of television: film clutches for something to bring the bums to the seats. Cinerama, Cinemascope, Vista-Vision and low-grade schlocky alternatives like smell-o-vision, scream-o-vision . . . anything-o-vision, really. And here we are now, with Tarentino and Rodriguez churning out homages to the schlock and studios putting serious money behind 3D technologies.
The internet is doing to film now what television did to film in the 50s.
It's about time there was a film really worthy of the lurid flash or a red band trailer, and much like Roxanne, Choke has put on the red light, smirked, and bared its hilarious and filthy arse to the world (or those of us who can fight our way into the restricted area of its sophisticated site at chokeonthis.net).
I could watch Sam Rockwell taking a dump, and thanks to Choke I may very well have that pleasure. Not for the faint of heart, it is straight from the pits of the warped mind that brought us Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk. Rockwell plays Victor, a man who (among other nefarious dealings, mainly sexual) fakes choking in restaurants in order to get money from his rescuers.
The book is bleak, depressing, angry, violent and filled with right-in-the-corners grime that makes your toes curl, and the film seems to have taken this remit and juiced it up with an intravenous injection of hard comedy. Not that the book isn't funny, but bringing it to the screen with a lighter touch may have been inspired.
Check out the red band trailer, or try this one for size:
(that scene is seamless. odd, ain't it? feels totally natural. i like to think qui gon and obi wan just look at each other, shrug, and carry on about their business.)
This is hardly news, given that everyone in the world right now is watching this film at this very second (note: slight editorial hyperbole), but The Dark Knight is going to be the biggest box office smash of all time.
On Friday - in one day - the mega-blockbuster took $66.4 million, making the next highest taker look like a drunken mother at a wedding: Mamma Mia took $9.6 in the same period. It also pisses from on high on Spiderman 3's opening day, taking roughly $7 million more.
Sit tight and watch the behemoth roll home with showings still selling out and people going back for seconds already.
that picture is somewhat awful. forgive the unintentional pun, but it's just dead, har har. the amount of skin on show should be sexy, at least, but there's no connection between them at all. the film will do insane business, no doubt.
must point out that it's not a 'tween' thing - very much a teen thing!
It's not often that the runup to a film seems to take over the national consciousness, but The Dark Knight is making a pretty good go of it - and with good reason.
This new clip (from the MTV movie blog, but apparently not viewable there outside the US) shows a heartless and efficiently evil Joker in an artic lorry giving a vanful of people what for with a succession of larger and larger weaponry.
He looks amazing. It looks amazing. The stunts sing with twisted metal and falling masonery. It looks real - the Joker himself looks completely realised in a way that somewhat obliterates the Willy Wonka stylings of previous efforts.
Whether it's Ledger's death or an efficient media machine that's pushing anticipation to all kinds of crazy levels, it at least looks like the product is worth the hype.
i absolutely agree. i'm not a massive potter fan, but i really enjoy these movies. they're always festive, easy on the eye and seamlessly put together, even if the raw material is sometimes lacking. the development of the cast has been pretty amazing, too; something that will always mark their lives. makes you wonder how many of their parents are now regretting making their offspring into potter-children.
i'll be there on opening night for this, as ever, with my little sister and a big bag of sweets.
There are only three Trailer Voice Men, and they've picked the best one.
It's a shame that a trailer which really should be ramping up the adrenaline has to be so expository. Have DVD sales of the first film not picked up as much as they'd hoped?
The creatures and art design look amazing, if quite a lot like Pan's Labyrinth offcuts.
I don't know what I'm complaining about, this is going to be great fun! In the summer of the superhero movie, it is refreshing to see plucky Hellboy showing that the underdog has balls. And a huge fist.
No, they're not remaking I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry. Yet.
Sly and Arnie are currently mooted to unite on screen for the first time in Incredible Love, a production bourne of Bollywood, made in Hollywood and potentially destined for massive things.
The Bolly/Holly divide is still in place, and the two industries work on massively different terms. The film will apparently have the biggest bugdet in Bollywood history - and yet only clock in at around $11 million, meaning great returns for Universal, who are taking up the filming reins.
This could be an incredibly canny way to utilise the stars' dual power. Whether it'll follow the time-tested and incredibly popular Bollywood formula of high melodrama, musical numbers, chastity, action and remarkable length (Titanic just about cuts the Bollywood mustard, length-wise, but where are the songs?) remains to be seen, as does the nature of their roles.
This pairing will have a massive draw for anyone who grew up on their action movies. Will they play it cute? Hostile? Camp? Could it be awesome?
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