Good Morning, Crow

Squawking at us this morning via Vanity Fair -- where they have a few more images and interview stuff, check it -- is our first look at Bill Skarsgård as The Crow in the new movie version, out on June 7th. Bill is getting a lot of use out of those new carved-in-marble abs huh? (See also here.) We don't mind. Re-use em if ya got em, that's my motto. Anyway I've never been much of a Crow person -- indeed that came up just yesterday when I mentioned on Twitter that it was the 26th anniversary of the other big 90s gothy movie directed by Alex Proyas...

I am very much Dark City > The Crow

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) February 27, 2024

I don't know if you can take yourself back to the 90s -- hell I don't know if half of you were alive in the 90s (SIGH) -- but superhero movies were considered real fucking goofy. Even something (maybe even especially something) that was taking itself as seriously as The Crow. Now we have to pretend they're not (although, genuine thoughts and prayers, that might be changing back?) but superhero movies were Barb Wire and the original Super Mario Brothers. And yes -- those movies have very much attained cult status now. Mostly because people can't believe there was a time when superhero movies were allowed to be so fucking weird. 

I was the right age for those movies when they were coming out, in my early teens, and I did indeed go and see them, but I was never a person who was taking them seriously. Same with The Crow. It was Hot Topic filtered through Hollywood -- it wasn't nearly as edgy as it thought it was. But I will say that the one excellent thing about it was that soundtrack. I was huge in my Nine Inch Nails phase right then and that soundtrack still rules. But I feel like I'm rambling now. So back to Bill Skarsgård and his gothic abdominals. What do we think? What is our immediate thought?

online polls

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Dark City (1998)

Dr. Schreber: Remember John
- never talk to strangers!

Dark City was released on February 27th 1998 and yes, that means it turns 25 today. Which also means I have been waiting for director Alex Proyas to make something as good, to no avail -- not to knock a man when he's down, seeing as it's been six years since he dropped the steaming turd that was Gods of Egypt and he's only made short films since then. I wonder if he's ever been attached to any of the attempted remakes of The Crow? I'm not much of a fan of the original Crow film but he did a fine stylish job there and I know it has its mega-fans, they should let him have another go. The man did have Dark City in him -- he's capable of greatness. Then again he's also capable of Knowing, shudder. Anyway I have pretty vivd memories of going to see Dark City at a midnight screening in college and immediately being blown away -- does it lean a little heavy on its silent-film goth noir influences? Sure, but I'd argue it tangles them into something fascinating and new.  I did get to revisit it on the big screen a few years ago at MoMA and its special effects still look fantastic today -- when in doubt cloak that shit in darkness! A 4K upgrade on this would be more than a little welcome though.

Where Is Your Gods Now

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I know we're all boycotting Gods of Egypt because of the white-washing (and thankfully the trailer's so ridiculous that I don't feel much tension in missing it) but I still wanna take the chance to stare at Nikolaj Coster-Waldau when given the chance, ya know? They released a few stills from the movie (click to embiggen) and he looks great, although ridiculous, and yes white.

White as sin! Anyway the movie's on course to flop horribly, but let's not hold it against Nicky. I have a few things that I want to hold against Nicky, personal things, but this isn't one of them. Let's hope the new season of Game of Thrones is a good one for the Kingslayer and we can put this unfortunate bit of business behind us. (And yes I's also like to put Nikolaj behind me - words have many meanings.)

Who Wore It Best?

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I wasn't going to bother wishing Gerard Butler a happy birthday today because what's Gerry done for me lately? Huh, Gerry? 300 was a long time ago, my friend. But then I stumbled upon the first posters for his upcoming epic Gods of Egypt from director Alex "Dark City was also a long time ago" Proyas, co-starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and uh...

That's a whole lotta look, guys! My first thought was... well my first thought was "That's a whole lotta look, guys!" But my second thought was, and this is something I have been noticing lately, I really do appreciate it in theory that we seem to be moving away from the washed-out colorless post-LotR landscapes. I know the gaudiness of these posters is not the hill to die upon with this argument, and maybe the movie itself won't follow the same color scheme seen here, but directors and their technician friends have started embracing the entire rainbow again, which is something that was missing for a bit. (Insert stink-eye at Man of Steel right here.) This is good. The world needs color! (And yes it's also terribly ironic that I'm making this argument against a movie as white-washed casting wise as this one.) But this... this is a lotta look.

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Golden Gods

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Even after some photo-shopping on my part the quality's not great (I think it's a pap-snap from the set) but that's the first picture I've seen of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Alex Proyas' upcoming ancient deity epic Gods of Egypt (via) - do you think anybody behind-the-scenes of this movie has heard the rightful bitching at Ridley Scott & Co. over the white-washing of the Moses story with Exodus: Gods and Kings? I suppose the fact that Gods of Egypt is filled with mythical not historical characters could give them a little bit more of a buffer than Scott's film has, but with a cast like Nicky, Gerard Butler, Geoffrey Rush and Rufus Sewell (they have got Chadwick Boseman in there, at least) they might be asking for it.

I Am Link

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--- Meat Eater - Consummate creep Michael Pitt has joined the cast of Bryan Fuller's Hannibal - he'll be playing Mason Verger, which is a pretty big character in Thomas Harris' series if you know what's what. I'll refrain from jumping into the details in case you do not now what's what. But this is a juicy role. Gary Oldman played the role in the movie called Hannibal. He's showing up late in the second season.

--- Hard Eight - Why am I not surprised that Tarantino's probably going to make The Hateful Eight his next movie anyway, after the script leaking and his hissy fit? It all seemed like such a sploosh in a teacup the whole time. I'm not all that enthusiastic about this movie based on plot alone but I will obviously see it, I don't not see Tarantino movies. At least not yet.

--- Super Sad Love Story - Yorgos Lanthimos is finally gearing up to make his third movie after the pair of wackadoo-masterpieces called Dogtooth and Alps; the new one's called The Lobster and it's a dystopian future love story kinda thing. It was going to star Jason Clarke but Colin Farrell's taken over the role - I do love Clarke but I am always happy to see Farrell working with a good director so I am totally cool with this switch. The lady role is being played by Rachel Weisz which is of course also super welcome.

--- College Dick - Rumor is that Dane DeHaan and Danny Radcliffe are teaming back up with their Kill Your Darlings director John Krokidas to make College Republicans, which will have Dane playing a young Karl Rove and Lee Atwater manipulating the electorate back in the halcyon days of youth slash diabolical powers.

--- Myth Makers -  42 star slash up-n-comer Chadwick Boseman is going to play Thoth, the God of Wisdom in Alex Proyas' period epic Gods of Egypt, opposite Gerard Butler and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. No word yet on if this will all end up as gay as 300, but I've got my fingers crossed.

--- Bald Oblivion - I don't even know what to say about Jesse Eisenberg playing Lex Luthor in the Superman Vs. Batman movie. It just seems so spectacularly ill-advised to me that I'm at a loss. It's not even that I have anything against Eisenberg, but I find him stupendously non-threatening. He can be a prick, sure. But you never lose the sense that you couldn't just hold your hand on his forehead as he swings away at you. Not really Lex Luthor-ish, that.

--- Family Matters - I am one thousand percent on board with everything Nathaniel says in this piece at The Film Experience looking at the firestorm currently spreading about in the media about the Woody Allen Mia Farrow thing. To a tee, ace, on point.

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I Am Link

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--- Into the Woods - Have any of you watched Crystal Lake Memories, the seven hour long Friday the 13th documentary, yet? I have not, but believe you me I will at some point. Today the New York Times of all places chatted with the doc's director about the hows and whys of making a seven hour long Friday the 13th doc - fun fact according to him: Hugh Jackman became an actor because he wanted to play Jason. WTF really? (thanks Mac)

--- Fat Bottomed Dan - I actually didn't think that Daniel Radcliffe was a terrible choice to play Freddie Mercury, weirdly, once I thought about it. My first thought when I heard the rumor was no, but it grew on me. Anyway it's not happening, Daniel batted it all away as tomfoolery.

--- Stars 80 - Who knew that 1980 was such a great year for births? (Not as great as 1977, ahem, obviously, but still - look through this list at The Film Experience and try not to be wowed by the quality movie stars that came outta Reagan's inauguration.

--- Gods of War - It's going to be Gerard Butler facing off against Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Alex Proyas' Gods of Egypt, apparently. It's about the battle between Set, the evil god of the desert (played by Butler), and the son of Osiris (the God of the Sun), played by Nicky. It's been so long since Alex Proyas made something good I don't know whether to be excited or not.

--- Blues Men - Did you know that Douglas Sirk directed a short film in 1979 called "Bourbon Street Blues" that starred Rainer Werner Fassbinder? I actually did, go me, but it was one of those things I never thought I'd get to see... well bless the internet, because here it is. Amazing.

--- Last Will - Stacie Ponder's picked the next Final Girl Film Club title and it's a movie I haven't even heard of before - something called The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh, which Stacie says she's heard good things about. Ooh a new horror movie to watch, I'm in!

--- And finally, here's the first teaser for that Lifetime movie with Gena Gershon playing Donatella Versace. It is everything. Absolutely everything.

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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau In A Skirt

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Hooray, my plan is working! I just keep posting and posting and posting about Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and he keeps getting more work. Yes, it's all my effort here that's getting this done - it has nothing to do with his supernatural manliness or professional talents or any of that hoo-hah. It is me! Me! Ha ha ha! Ahem. 

Speaking of Gods among men, Nicky's lined up a new part, and it sounds like a big 'un (he's used to big parts, wocka wocka) - he's going to play "The God of the Sky" in Gods of Egypt, the next movie from Dark City director Alex Proyas. (We call him "Dark City director Alex Proyas" because we choose to ignore everything he's done since Dark City.)

Anyway it's a team-up movie involving NCW's character and a human and a goddess all going on a quest together or whatever - all's I care is the costuming's good! Nicky's 6'2" - you know he's got some legs on him. I'm thinking they should take their notes from 300 or The Immortals, and ignore something like the Clash of the Titans movies which seemed utterly and insanely terrified of Sam Worthington's glorious calves. Here I made a chart:

Lick It Up, Luke Baby, Lick It Up

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Ah yes, him again. Noted Homosexual Luke Evans has a new job, you guys! And the tip top fangbanger at that. He's been cast in the lead in Dracula Year Zero, apparently beating out Tom Hardy for the role... which you should read as "Tom Hardy was too busy with other projects," of course. Sam Worthington and Alex Proyas were going to make this movie last year but budget bloat cut it down; now its being directed by a dude named Gary Shore, who's coming right out of television commercials. I hear baby chicks singing! (Cheap, cheap, cheap.) Think he'll come anywhere near a microphone between now and then? He does have his Fast Slash Furious movie coming out this Summer, and then there's Ye Olde Hobbit sequels. Yeah we'll see. I will not be holding my breath.
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I Am Link

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--- Counsel This - Ridley Scott is yapping his mouth already about a Prometheus sequel (all the better to get press for the first one), but now we know for real what he's really doing next, and that is the first movie script from The Road author Cormac McCarthy, something called The Counselor. And apparently Scott's been talking to his Prometheus star Michael Fassbender about being the lead in it. It sounds very Breaking Bad and/or Weeds - it's about a lawyer who thinks he can deal drugs on the side but things spiral way way out of control. As things tend to do, especially when Cormac McCarthy is involved. (pic via)

--- Paradise Really Lost This Time - John Milton can stop spinning in his grave, for now - director Alex Proyas, who made one good movie a very long time ago, is not going to make that big budget bastardization of his epic poem Paradise Lost starring Bradley Cooper as Lucifer and Benjamin Walker as the archangel Michael. The budget got out of control and the studio said no thanks.

--- Forget Fontaine - The writer of Eastern Promises has been hired to write a script for a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca. Technically I suppose he's just going to write a new adaptation of the book by Daphne DuMaurier. It's been a long long time since I read her book, so I can't remember how different the two are. As long as a tightly hair-bunned lezzie lovingly strokes some silky underthings, we're good!

--- Ghost Dad - You can't go wrong highlighting the one thing I really liked about Paranormal Activity 3 - that being hot pop Dennis, played by Christoper Nicholas Smith, who we'll hopefully get to see in something else sometime. Preferably he'll bring along those jeans to his next job. Or, you know, less, much less, far far less.

--- White Rice - Because Edward Zwick hasn't made enough movies about the experiences of non-white people shown to us through the eyes of a white person, he's setting up a movie about the building of The Great Wall in China, starring who else but that renowned Asian specimen Henry Cavill. I mean I love me some Henry Cavill, but come on. I can't wait for his movie about slaves starring Matthew Broderick... oh wait, nevermind.

--- And finally, have you seen this video of Jean Dujardin auditioning for his next roles? Love it. He's such a sex beast.
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Jean Dujardin's Villain Auditions from Jean Dujardin

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I Am Link

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--- Blessed By Bale - It must be good to be Christian Bale. I mean, duh. Obviously! (Besides the whole "rae" thing or whatever.) Slash breaks down the five roles Bale's apparently got on the table as possibilities for him to follow up The Dark Knight Rises with and they're like a hit list of good goddamns. He could do "A Star is Born directed by Clint Eastwood, Gold directed by Michael Mann, Oldboy directed by Spike Lee, Out of the Furnace directed by Scott Cooper or... Noah directed by Darren Aronofsky". You can find more about each of those if you're unfamiliar at the link. I have to say he might be a great choice for Oldboy, if remaking Oldboy were at all a good idea. But Spike Lee directing, Bale starring... it'd be something you'd have to see, at least. Anyway let's help him make his decision...

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poll by twiigs.com

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--- Dark Del Toro - The remake of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is out on Friday so we're gonna be seeing interviews with Guillermo Del Toro everywhere - if you hadn't noticed, he likes to talk. Here's one over at AICN. I love how when he's asked what time in a kid's life it's alright for them to view horror movies he basically says he lets his little girls watch as much horror as they want. Damn straight! Gotta warp 'em early, ya know.
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--- Getting Warmer - I've talked about the upcoming "zom-rom-com" Warm Bodies before - it's based on a book by Isaac Marion that I read forever and a week ago and the film's set to star Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer - who's totally ready to be a star, she was so beyond charming in the terrible Take Me Home Tonight (also, the lucky girl dates Scott Speedman in the real life). BD's reporting that Rob Corddry has joined the cast as one of Hoult's friends, a fellow zombie named M. It's been so long since I read the book I don't remember the deal with that character though. Oh well! The movie will seem all new then. Shooting starts next month.

--- Tacos For My Ben - Since I don't tend to watch videos at my office (it's impossible to turn up the sound here) I thought this story about Robert Rodriguez making a horror movie about killer tacos next was a true thing, which was alarming. Apparently it's just a joke, which I would know had I listened to the video. It can be so confusing, being me.

--- Boy Wonder - This picture of a pubescent Jake Gyllenhaal is adorable. Adorable! Meanwhile I thought the teenage shot of Matthew Morrison (barf) was Vincent Cassel!

--- Sewell Seconded - Alex Proyas once made a really good movie, and that movie is called Dark City. He then went and made a whole bunch of crap and depressed everybody that found that early film so enthralling. He's making some sort of action-horror version of Milton's poem Paradise Lost right now, which okay? It's starring Bradley Cooper as Lucifer and Benjamin Walker as the archangel Michael, and now the star of Proyas' Dark City Rufus Sewell is in talks to join the cast. I like Sewell also mainly because of that film, so this reunion hits a happy place. Bring on Kiefer Sutherland then! (That's the first time I've ever said that sentence.)

--- And finally, aww I like this pic of Megan Fox hanging with Chris O'Dowd (cutie from Bridesmaids) and Jason Segel on the set of Judd Apatow's This Is Forty (via). I know it's everybody's pastime to knock her, but fuck that, MNPP is in her corner still.
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I Am Link

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--- Lots of Superman news this week - Henry Cavill sported the Supes curl in public which got all the fan-boys wet (I was too busy staring at the way he fills out those trousers and getting correspondingly wet from that to notice his hair), he talked about his crazy training regime and trying on the super suit for the first time, and Laurence Fishburne got the role of Perry White (great choice).

--- Good to see Natasha Lyonne getting some work, we liked her back in the day, and this is some good work at that (we assume, sight obviously unseen) - she's gotten a gig in that dark comedy of Kristen Wiig's called Imogene that we've been hearing so much about lately.

--- Lost Hitchcock movie The White Shadow has been found! Or at least half of it has. Plus Hitch didn't actually so much direct the movie as he did a bunch of important creative tasks in the making of it. But still! Some cool pics from it can be seen over here.

--- End Of Times - Stake Land, a movie I liked, is out on DVD this week and Twitch caught up with its director Jim Mickle to find out his favorite pieces of apocalyptic fiction and it's a fun list.

--- And speaking of apocalypses, and when aren't we, ow weird is it that the problem that's now holding up George Miller's 4th Mad Max film - the one that supposed to stuff Tom Hardy into those snug leather pants - is there's been too much rain in the area of Australia where they were set to film and it's not apocalyptic enough to shoot in now? Cursed by foliage! George Miller can't catch a break.

--- And in sexy apocalypse news, big bad Benjamin Walker, who I haven't seen in anything yet but am still sort of infatuated with, is playing the archangel Michael in Alex Proyas' movie Paradise Lost, which already has Bradley Cooper playing Lucifer. Ben's got the baby-face and godly bod of every dream archangel.

--- Apparently Margaret - the second film by Kenneth Lonergan after You Can Count On Me that's been sitting on a shelf for what, six years now? - is getting released in September. It supposedly has a brilliant performance from Mark Ruffalo, but got all tangled up in legal crap (plus the studio wanted a shorter cut and Lonergan refused).

--- I'm not really sure I have it in me to watch a show from Ryan Murphy at this point. Nip/Tuck became nigh unwatchable after a couple seasons and y'all know my feelings towards Glee, not to mention the man himself has proven himself completely and totally insufferable in the press. I guess we'll always have Popular. Anyway his next show is a horror show so maybe I can be brought around. It's called American Horror Story (Really? Blah.) and it stars Dylan McDermott and Connie Britton (I know people love her from Friday Night Lights but as I've never gotten around to that show she's left me relatively unimpressed so far) but most awesomely Jessica Lange as the neighbor, presumably spooky. I dunno. BD has a teaser and some pictures. McDermott still looks pretty good (although he'll always be the crappy husband from Steel Magnolias to me).

--- Did anybody else see the trailer for Battleship in theaters this past weekend - two minutes of Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgard looking hot in naval uniforms amidst some really blatant Transformers ripping-off (Really, Peter Berg? Michael Bay's who you wanna rip off?) - and experience what I did when the title came up, which was an entire audience of people bursting into laughter? I wonder if the folks at Universal did, since news is they're scrapping their plans for several of their long-planned board-game movie adaptations like Clue and Monopoly.

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I Am Link

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--- Til Video Do We Part - FourFour has done something kinda crazy awesome - he's recapped the wedding video of some complete strangers that he found at a thrift store. I haven't made my way through the whole thing yet but I'm a little in awe of it, concept-wise. This is our future? Echoes of echoes of echoes. One more teensy tiny step down the rabbit hole.
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--- Anyone But Her - I was all curious about this movie called Retreat that PopWrap posted the trailer for, it's a thriller about Cillian Murphy trying to survive some kind of global pandemic which naturally brings to mind 28 Days Later, but then the Thandie bomb got dropped and my interests dissipated like the flesh falling off of Napalm victims.

--- Sweet Cheeks - This week's round of The Film Experience's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" series took a glance at David Lynch's Eraserhead.

--- Hot Doc - Seeing these shots of Ryan O'Neal being a sexy young thing in What's Up Doc at Stale Popcorn reminded me that I've actually been trying to watch Funny Girl on Netflix in fits and starts for weeks now. I'll watch five minutes here, five minutes there. I'm not hating it as much as you might think I would, given the musical thing, and the Barbara Streisand thing, and the I'm only watching five minutes at a time thing. Anyway it's Streisand that's kept me from watching WUD and missing out on the hunkiness of Ryan O'Neal therein is my point. My loss.

--- In For May - Joe's playing some catch-up with his Summer Movie Preview since it begins with movies out this very weekend - Thor! Kate Hudson Wedding Movie! Mel Gibson Is An Asshole Movie! - only one of which I'll definitely be catching. If you guessed the Kate Hudson movie, I think you should go see the doctor, you've apparently struck your head at some point recently, and might have swelling of the brain. Obviously it's The Beaver I can't wait for. Duh.

--- Big Hose - The only reason I'm linking to this news that I really shouldn't care about is it involves Josh Duhamel playing a firefighter in a movie and that's one more wonderful visual plucked off the fantasy tree in heaven for me. I hope it has many scenes like this one in Backdraft.

--- Ringmaster of Hell - Bradley Cooper wants to play Lucifer in Alex Proyas' "loose adaptation" of John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost. Right-o.

--- Ghost Fish - The dudes how made Catfish are apparently signed on to make the third Paranormal Activity movie. Hopefully they learned some lessons from the shittiness of the second film and can use those to make a better one this time around. Because the simple tried-n-tested formula of just pointing a camera in a room and just making us stare for awhile is still able to unnerve me. Just don't surround that with complete bullshit and you'll be good!

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Sam Sucks

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Sam Worthington and his Neck Beard and director Alex Proyas will be shooting Dracula Year Zero for reals, says STYD. But the source they link to has gone missing! Here's what it says there at the original source now:

"Article not available

This article has been removed for legal reasons by request of Universal Pictures managing director Mike Baard:

“I would ask please that all reporting of our presentation be removed from your website with immediate effect and that no reference is made to it in any future publication of Encore Magazine or on your website. Universal Pictures reserves its rights in this matter.”

We apologise for the inconvenience."

Oh my god, intrigue! Anyway DYZ's been batting around for a bit now. It'd be awesome if Alex Proyas could make a movie anywhere near as good as Dark City was, but instead we get Knowing. Shudder.
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Today's Mood

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Dedicated to the 90 minutes this morning that I just spent trapped on the E train because, and I quote the train's conductor, "a piece of concrete fell in front of the train and we ran over it." I love New York's literally crumbling infrastructure, hooray!
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I Am Link

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Hi everybody! You can dry your eyes and toss aside your Japanese body pillows, I'm back. And confronted with a few news items worthy of speaking of, as usual. So let's just fling 'em out quick-like so we can get back up to speed...

--- Necking With Sam - Apparently Sam Worthington is apparently maybe gonna play Dracula for Alex Proyas in that Dracula: Year One project that's been spoken of before. I don't know yet what the take on Vlad here will be so I can't say whether Sam seems right for said take but he seems an odd choice at first instinct.

--- Speaking Vamp - And then there's this vampire news that warms my "heart" out of True Blood - that Alexander Skarsgard will be naked a whole bunch in the third season. Naked and gay-ish and delightful, I'm sure. Man they're making me want to get HBO proper they are...

--- Crazy House - Right after I "reviewed" that Japanese bug-nuts haunted house movie Hausu, Rich at FourFour went and did the same, only he made lots and lots of gifs so he wins. He always wins.

--- Saw'd - The dude who got hired to direct the sequel to Paranormal Activity is being forced to go back and direct the seventh Saw movie instead by the studio, because they're a bunch of whiny babies that didn't like their shitty franchise getting squashed by the original Activity this past Halloween, hopefully sparing us from a lifetime of All Hallows Saw domination. Hrm.

--- The 3rd D is For Dominance - Both the final Harry Potter films are gonna be in 3D now. And so will the Clash of the Titans remake, as they've been threatening for a few months. Can I send the bills for my headache medicine and vision repair right to James Cameron then?

--- And finally, there's maybe really for real gonna be a third Gremlins film? I've been waiting my whole damned life for one, so I hope so. Of course they're saying 3D, of course, but whatever. I'll take my beloved Gizmo and Gremlins any which way I gotta in order to get 'em.
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Knowing in 150 Words or Less

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Was Ignorance taken?
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Quote of the Day

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It was late when I got home last night from the screening of The Box and the Q&A with Richard Kelly and James Marsden (or at least late for an old man like me) but I did notice before I went to sleep a certain tweet from the mind of Roger Ebert:

"It wasn't screened in a timely fashion for critics, but "The Box" is surprisingly good."

So I knew it was coming. A positive review of the film from Roger, that is. Still I didn't think he's pop it out so quickly, but sure enough today there it sits, making my stomach curdle. Choice bit:

"Norma and Arthur Lewis aren't bad people -- pretty nice ones, in fact. They regret her impulsive action immediately. But then the plot grows sinister, coiling around to involve them, which we expect, but also venturing into completely unanticipated directions, and inspiring as many unanswered questions as "Knowing," which I loved.

Many readers hated "Knowing," and many will hate "The Box." What can I say? I'm not here to agree with you. This movie kept me involved and intrigued, and for that I'm grateful. I'm beginning to wonder whether, in some situations, absurdity might not be a strength."

That's actually the end of his review, so my apologies for ruining what he builds to. That being a defense of Knowing of all godforsaken things. Jinkies.

Okay, honesty time - I need to step back from that, I have not gotten around to watching Knowing yet. So I know nothing. I've had it for months but Alex Proyas is another filmmaker like Richard Kelly that has started to depress me (although Proyas is much, much further gone than Kelly is), and I just haven't wanted to go there just yet. Perhaps I oughta. Although if its anything on par with my reaction to The Box, I just have got more depression in store.

Sigh. And meanwhile Richard Kelly just tweeted this:

"Heading back to LA on opening day - thanks to everyone in NYC for your support!"

I am a traitor.
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I Am Link

--- Leave Blair Be - As big a fan as I am of The Blair Witch Project - and I am a very very big fan of the movie and will defend it with my dying breath if necessary (although I certainly hope it never comes to that) - I'm not sold on the need for a Director's Cut of the film that includes a "poetry jam" session. Maybe a new DVD where they just put this shit in the extras? That sounds okay. But the movie is perfect as is, and this stuff sounds like it's more fuel for the "these characters are unbearably annoying" fire that's engulfed the film for years.

Perhaps co-director Daniel Myrick is just yapping this up to get press for his new (coming out in NYC next week) horror flick The Objective though.

--- Getting Back To Drac Basics - Alex Proyas gives a little blurb on what his long gestating Dracula: Year One project (which he might be doing next) might be about... sorta. it's still vague.

--- The Genius Of Joss - AMC's Horror Hacker blog looks at the rumor mongering genius of Joss Whedon and JJ Abrams and how they've been dribbling out info so slightly on Cabin in the Woods.

--- Eyeballs a'poppin' - The new DVD of Friday the 13th: Part 3 has 3D glasses and can be played in 3D. I have never seen it in 3D. I have to have it NOW. Despite my better instincts Part 3 has always been my favorite chapter (I'm not alone). It has the hottest guys, the silliest deaths, and 3D. Now for real! Awesomeness.

--- Mirror Mirror - Twitch reviews The Broken, which I reviewed here, and agrees with me that it's an underseen spooky gem.

--- Add Requisite Oscar, Stir - Piper lays down the truth and tells us how Slumdog Millionaire is the new Crash. It rubs your tummy all better it does.

--- That Thing They Do - I don't really understand how MacReady's brother could play into a prequel of the events of John Carpenter's The Thing since it's supposed to be (or was supposed to be about from all I'd read before) the Norwegian scientists that get all eaten up before the events of Carpenter's film and they shouldn't really have anything to do with MacReady at all... but Ronald Moore of Battlestar is the writer so I am not as freaked as I could be. Anyway, that director guy signed on.

--- Off To Hell We Go - BD also reviews (very spoilery) the rough-cut of Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell and like the AICN one I linked to earlier this week says it's the best horror flick they've seen in years.

--- Wear Them For Me, Chris - Chris Evans chats with AICN about his upcoming flick Push and admits the following:

"I had a great, great time playing [Johnny Storm]. He's such a fun character. And I'm not going to lie: I loved the blue tights. I had a blast getting into them every day."

I liked it too, you hot ass bastard. I liked it too. And I wouldn't argue if you wore them around town. To the grocery store... jogging... whatever.
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Well That's Certainly A Striking First Image

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Via SciFi comes a bunch of images from Knowing, Alex Proyas' next movie, a thriller starring Nicolas Cage (sigh) and Rose Byrne. Including that plane crash above. Which yes is the sort of picture that grabs one's attention.

Poor confounding Alex Proyas. Every time he comes up I remember how dear Dark City is to me, and then I remember everything he's done since then and I feel bad inside my secret places. And this... starring Nicolas Cage... just it's terrifically hard to get amped up over anything with that man in it. I do love me some Rose Byrne though. Tarnation, it's confusing.

Knowing will be known (that's right, I said it) on March 20th, 2009.
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