While I’m not entirely certain what the status of Aaron Woodley’s Drone - the film being produced by Woodley’s famous uncle, David Cronenberg - is, I do know this:  Woodley is one very busy man.  Tennessee has wrapped up, the Toronto Stories anthology project is complete and ready to premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and he’s already got another feature in development:  League of Monster Slayers.  Wondering where all the Goonies have gone?  Missing the Monster Squad?  It looks like Woodley is preparing to scratch that particular itch:

Orphaned twin siblings LILLY (10) and SEBASTIAN (10), live at their wealthy uncle - MR. BLACKBURN’s estate. The castle-like house is run by the cold and stern cook, MRS. KIND (60), the odd groundskeeper SAMUEL (50’s), and mysterious, mute maid CAMILLE (60s). The orphans are alone, all their previous nannies have quit, exhausted by the children’s overactive imaginations, discounting their wild stories that the house is haunted and that monsters are lurking.

Everything changes with the arrival of their new nanny, MADELINE THATCHER (29), a prim and proper sort who occupies them with intense schooling each day. But Madeline is more than she at first appears. In fact, the children quickly discover that their new nanny has trained in the dark arts since her father was killed by a werewolf when she was just 10. With vengeance she hunted the werewolf down and killed it with a silver bullet. Part detective, part warrior, Madeline is on business - undercover. Someone is up to no good at this house and she’s there to put an end to it. The children agree to keep Madeline’s identity under wraps, on the condition that she teaches them everything she knows about fighting monsters.

They name their newly formed alliance the “League of Monster Slayers” (L.M.S. being an acronym for Lilly, Madeline, Sebastian), and begin to uncover the dreaded secrets of the grand estate by doing battle with an onslaught of monsters and confronting an evil ghost constructing a portal to hell.

Ummm ... yes, please?

I’ve spent the last day in Ottawa on the set of the latest film from Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter director Lee Demarbre and while I’ve got to hold off a bit to comment on what I’ve seen on this set as part of the visit I was just given a look at several scenes from Demarbre’s Smash Cut, the director’s tribute to Herschell Gordon Lewis starring horror icons David Hess (Last House on the Left) and Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) along with *ahem* adult star Sacha Grey.  Lewis has not only given his blessings to the film but appears in a small role while Hess takes the lead as a struggling film maker who resorts to extreme measures to add realism to his films.

So, what did I think?  The second film shot on the Red camera here in Canada the thing looks great.  Cinematography is very strong and the production designers have obviously had a blast with the color schemes and set design.  Hess looks very strong in a rare lead role, delivering a bizarrely compelling off-kilter performance.  The balance of humor and gore is very strong, there are some very strong kill shots and all involved are obviously having a blast.  It’s early days yet, but from what I saw today this looks like the real thing.  We’ve got a few stills to share already along with a conceptual teaser that includes no actual footage from the film, and have been promised more images along with a first look at the proper trailer once it’s cut together.  You can check that teaser below the break and hit the link below for the images.

Continue Reading "Very Early Thoughts on Lee Demarbre’s SMASH CUT"...

Okay, Mike Judge fans here’s news to to brighten and / or darken your world.  On the positive side the director of Office Space, King of the Hill and Idiocracy has gotten the green light to make a new film about an ambulance chasing lawyer titled Extract.  On the negative side the lawyer is slated to be played by Ben Affleck.  Am I being a bit hard on Ben?  Maybe, but I don’t plan on being any nicer to him until he stops making crappy movies.

Yes, this is indeed That Zac Efron, the one from Disney’s High School Musical films, represented here on Twitch because he’s making his “serious” acting debut in Richard Linklater’s Me And Orson Welles, soon to debut at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.  Here’s the skinny on the latest from the director of Dazed and Confused and School of Rock:

The story of a whirlwind week in 1937 NYC when a young aspiring actor (Efron) is thrown into the middle of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre Company on the eve of the opening of Welles’ historic staging of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. During this week, Richard will find romance with a worldly older woman (Danes), become immersed in a creative experience few are afforded, and learn the downside of crossing the imperious, brilliant Welles (strikingly portrayed by newcomer Christian McKay).  Richard is about to grow up FAST.

We’ve got a quartet of brand new images from the film - including a pair of Efron in character - which you’ll find at the link below.

The Asian Film Festival of Dallas (AFFD) concludes on Thursday, August 21, 2008 with a screening of Tak Sakaguchi’s directorial debut Be A Man! Samurai School. Sakaguchi is the festival’s 2008 special guest, and has flown into Dallas, Texas exclusively for the screening. Tak kindly provided us with the latest demo reel for his Zero’s action team, which is to say the least, completely on fire.  Anyone even reasonably close to the Dallas area should seriously consider making the screening as Sakaguchi has brought Isao Karasawa, who is one of his lead stuntmen, and there will be a live demonstration before the event. The demo reel is contained beneath the fold. 

Continue Reading "Exclusive Demo Reel for Tak Sakaguchi’s Zero’s Action Team"...

Europa Corp has unveil the teaser poster for Transporter 3 with Jason Statham as the unstoppable Frank Martin, springing into action.  No, this isn’t an advertisement for a wrist watch.  The object attached around Frank’s wrist is actually an explosive device and it seems he is on the move to prevent it from detonating.  If you haven’t done so already, watch the teaser trailer at the official site.

The theatrical release date in France is on November 26th.

Alex Proyas. The man does sci-fi and he does it well, there is no doubt about that. Any misgivings aside about I, Robot, his other film, Dark City, stands out as one of the genre’s great offerings. And news has come forth that Alex Proyas is setting himself up to write and direct an adaptation of The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag by author Robert A. Heinlein. Just reading the plot summary for it gets me all excited and tittering like a little school girl. This sounds like excellent material for someone with Proyas’ visual strengths.

Originally published in 1942, the offbeat tale centers on a man who becomes increasingly disturbed when he realizes he cannot account for his activities during the day, or even what he does for a living. He divulges his problem to the husband-and-wife partners of a private detective agency, and their investigation leads to a series of revelations they could never have fathomed.

The budget will be in the $40 million-$50 million range. Proyas is in post on “Knowing” and is attached to direct the Universal project “Dracula Year Zero.” Presumably, the Heinlein project will lense in 2010.THR

If I was a betting man I would hedge a bet how long Twentieth Century Fox was holding out from dropping this bomb on fanboy land. Just long enough for the trailer to come out and get that Pavlov reaction a swirling? I would have bet they used our collective geek drool to seal the envelope of their claim to the rights of Alan Moore’s graphic novel thus their presumed share of the profits when the film adaptation of The Watchmen comes out in March 2009… maybe. Alas this appears to have been a long time coming as they originally made the claim back in February that they still hold the rights to the graphic novel.

Following a series of complex legal arrangements in the ensuing years that involved the joint venture Largo Entertainment and producer Larry Gordon, US District Court Judge Gary Allen Feess ruled that Fox still held a claim to the rights.

The ruling leaves both parties clear to proceed to litigation. Fox claims it is owed a share of the profits when a Watchmen film is released and foreshadowed a possible request for an injunction blocking the release when it issued a statement that said: “We will be asking the Court to enforce Fox’s copyright interests in The Watchmen and enjoin the release of the Warner Brothers film and any related Watchmen media that violate our copyright interests in that property.” Screendaily

Enjoin - law to forbid or command somebody to do something by means of a legal injunction.

This of course adds up to “DAMNIT”. I know we’re many months away from the actual release but it would be a shame for something so pretty to wallow away in darkness while studios bicker about rights and profit shares. 

**UPDATE** Here’s how you can purchase the Summer Afternoon DVD, which is only available in Taiwan. Just send an email to: .

Two girls and a guy on a road trip through the countryside. Two are lovers and one is a nuisance. As they say, two’s company and three’s a crowd, and that’s how trouble starts.

Ho Wi Ding, the Malaysian filmmaker based in Taiwan, first came to our attention by winning in Cannes 2006 with his short film, Respire, an affecting tone poem about the last days in the life of a young girl in a virus-infected, post-apocalyptic world. This year, he went to Cannes again with Summer Afternoon, the only Asian short film in the line-up.

And what a film it is.

More info after the break.

Continue Reading "Ho Wi Ding’s SUMMER AFTERNOON … A Shocking Road Trip. Catch It In Palm Springs."...

Yes, the time has come for the Toronto International Film Festival to stop teasing and finally announce the remaining titles for this year’s edition of the festival.  You want ‘em?  You got ‘em.  Hit the link below to download the complete list.

I remember I introduced this back in 2006, but there was little to no news for the following two years. Korean animation, at least in its feature form, still has a hard time leaving first gear, in many ways because of cultural issues (the same reason space operas or straightforward SF rarely do well). Yet, the talent is certainly there, as the few efforts we get every year rarely end up being stinkers, and there’s even the occasional gem a la 아치와 씨팍 (Aachi & Ssipak), or the flawed but immensely beautiful 원더풀 데이즈 (Wonderful Days). 오디션 (Audition) adapts manhwa kingpin Cheon Gye-Young’s bestseller, about a young man who has to find some old friends (all of immense musical talent, obviously) and form Korea’s “greatest band” to inherit his father’s empire. Now the idea, in the manhwa, was that it would be Korea’s greatest boy band, which moved this quite up the ranking in the “don’t touch with a ten foot pole” department. Then again, a look at the teaser and it’s just good old Hongdae sound, with the modern rock of Every Single Day, Crash and Sugar Donut. Much healthier for your ears, trust me.

Film is produced by Min Kyung-Jo, who worked on 장금의 꿈 (Jang Geum’s Dream)—the animation version of 대장금 (Dae Jang Geum). Storyboards are by Matsuzono Hiroshi, and music by Kim Sung-Soo. Still no word on when this will release, but looking at the history of this project, it might take a while. First teaser is a little older, while the new one looks much more polished.

Marcel Sarmien and Gadi Harel’s DeadGirl is one of the great unknowns of the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.  It will receive it’s world premiere at the upcoming fest and producers have been playing very coy with details, imagery and footage from the film so far.  The very small number of people who have seen it already assure me that it’s pretty spectacular but beyond that they’ve all been sworn to secrecy so we haven’t had much to say about the film until now.  The fine lads over at Bloody Disgusting have just scored the first still from the film and while it doesn’t show much it shows enough to raise the interest level ...

A horror/thriller about two teenagers who make a shocking discovery that not only threatens their friendship but also their lives. In a forgotten room of an abandoned asylum, they find a beautiful woman tied to a bed, and soon come to realize she is anything but dead.

I’m way behind with this annoucement but better later than never. Exactly a month after Fantasia ends, another film festival begins in Montreal. Celebrating it’s 32nd edition, the World Film Festival is probably the most contreversial local film event. Every year, some journalists praise it, others dismiss it. A lot can be said about Serge Losique’s show and, because it would be too long to explain everything in this article, we’ll only focus on the movies shown this year. Curious readers are welcomed to do a Google search, they’ll find plenty of litterature on the subject…

Continue Reading "Full Line-Up for the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival Announced !"...

I’d love to stick around and chat but I gotta get to work. Variety Japan unveiled a number of stills from the upcoming J-punk rock comedy Shonen Meriiken Sakku. They feature Koichi Sato, Tomorowo Taguchi, Yuichi Kimura and Hiroki Miyake in character as The Brass Knuckle Boys. Still no footage from the film as of yet but as soon as we know you will know.

どうもありがとう to Chris over at J-Film Pow Wow for the heads up.

The latest film from Darren Aronofsky has just been announced at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival and what better way to celebrate than with new stills!  There were a pair of images from the film released earlier, but those were both quiet shots taken from a relative distance.  This new trio gets much more up close and personal, including close up images of Rourke in full on wrestling mode and Tomei ‘dancing’ for the ‘gentlemen’.  Hit the link below to check them out!

A once hugely successful professional wrestler in the late 80’s, Randy “The Ram” Robinson now ekes out a living performing for diehard wrestling fans in high school gyms and community centers around New Jersey. Estranged from his daughter, unable to sustain any real relationships, Randy lives for the thrill of the show, the adrenalin rush of combat and the adoration of his remaining fans.

But, when he suffers a heart attack in the middle of a bout, Randy’s doctor tells him he needs to lay off the steroids and stop wrestling. For good.

Forced out of show business, Randy begins to evaluate the state of his life. He tries to reconnect with his daughter and strikes up a wary romance with an aging stripper, Pam. For a while, things work out.  But try as he might to resist, the pull of the spotlight is too much for him and Randy attempts once again to fight his way back into the ring.