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Andy Serkis Talks Knull MCU Return (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Whenever there is talk of a mo-cap character, Andy Serkis is always mentioned. Despite not being from the technology industry, Serkis is still a motion capture pioneer. He has played roles in The Jungle Book’s Baloo, King Kong, Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars, Caesar in Planet of the Apes, and Gollum in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies.

After his directorial work on Venom: Let There Be Carnage and his portrayal of Ulysses Klaue in the MCU, Serkis has returned to Marvel in Venom: The Last Dance. In typical Serkis fashion, he took on the role of a non-human character. This time, he portrayed Knull, the main antagonist of the movie. Fans now wonder whether Knull will eventually enter the MCU, and the actor has reacted to it.

Andy Serkis’s “Let’s See What Happens...

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MonsterVerse is one of the most interesting cinematic universes out of all of them. The Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures-owned franchise has earned over $2.5 billion worldwide and also consists of TV shows on different streaming services but the way it all came together is a bit iffy because of the rights issues and the general laziness that we see in the some of the MonsterVerse films, but still Godzilla vs. Kong is still one of the most iconic movies for me. So, we thought of compiling every project that exists in the MonsterVerse and ranking them according to their Rotten Tomatoes score, here it is.

7. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Max & Rent on Prime Video) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 42% Credit – Warner Bros.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a monster sci-fi action adventure film directed by Michael Dougherty...

Joseph Kahn’s sci-fi/horror satire “Ick” has its world premiere in Toronto Intl. Film Festival’s Midnight Madness slot on Saturday. He previously directed “Bodied,” which premiered at the festival in 2017, and won the People’s Choice Award for Midnight Madness. Kahn talks to Variety about his love for creature features, taking comedy-horrors seriously, and his respect for Steven Spielberg’s scary movies.

Midnight Madness programmer Peter Kuplowsky summarizes the plot as follows: “In the small American town of Eastbrook, nearly two decades after a viscous vine-like growth — colloquially referred to as ‘the Ick’ — began encroaching on every nook and cranny, a nonplussed populus have found their lives seemingly unaffected by the creeping anomaly. The exceptions to this oblivious conformity are Hank Wallace, a former high-school football prospect turned hapless science teacher, and his perceptive student Grace, who both regard the Ick with a suspicious scrutiny that is soon violently validated.

Naomi Watts has appeared opposite some of the greatest stars in cinema — Sean Penn, Viggo Mortensen, Leonardo DiCaprio, even King Kong. But none of those leading men prepared her for Bing, the 145-pound Great Dane she co-stars with in “The Friend,” a drama about heartbreak, art and a very big dog that screens at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.

And getting comfortable with Bing was a six-week process that involved more than handing out a few treats. Bill Berloni, the veteran animal trainer whose job it was to prepare Bing for his close-up, insisted on having Watts meet two times a day for 20 minutes each with the dog, so she could learn how to control the lumbering giant on the streets of New York City, where “The Friend” was shot.

“Initially, I thought, is this necessary?” Watts admits. “I’m an animal lover. I’m not put off by a little fur and slobber.

The Simpsons hasn’t exactly shied away from including references to Woody Allen over the years, such as when Bart and Homer spotted him shooting a Japanese rice cracker commercial, or when he was seen hammering out Chinese fortune cookie messages, or the time he was absolutely torn apart by the comic stylings of McBain.

But while these jokes were obviously intended to demean the Oscar-winning filmmaker/accused sexual predator, the show once came very close to including an innocuous Allen reference at the worst possible time.

The second segment in “Treehouse of Horror III” was the King Kong parody “King Homer,” which ends with an old-timey newspaper spinning into frame bearing the headline “Woman Weds Ape.” Just below it is the headline “Dick Cavett Born,” featuring an image of a fully adult Dick Cavett.

Disney

Which is a funny joke, but if you pause the scene right as the newspaper is spinning,...

Oliver Kalkofe und Peter Rütten haben mit ihrer SchleFaZ-Reihe ein neues Zuhause bei Nitro und Rtl+ gefunden. Jetzt stehen der Start und die ersten fünf Filme fest, wobei die beiden auch vor Rtl-Trashperlen nicht Halt machen.

Peter Rütten (l.) und Oliver Kalkofe (Credit: Rtl / Philipp Rathmer)

Nachdem es für die Trash-Filmreihe „ScheFaZ – Die schlechtesten Filme aller Zeiten“ nicht mehr auf Tele 5 weiterging, haben Oliver Kalkofe und Peter Rütten bekanntlich ein neues Zuhause bei Rtl Deutschland gefunden. Mit dem 30. August immer freitags gegen 22 Uhr auf dem Spartensender Nitro ist jetzt der Startpunkt gefunden. Auch stehen bereits die ersten fünf Highlights der Reihe für die scharfzüngigen Kommentare der beiden Filmexperten fest.

Bei Rtl+ können die Folgen, die von Kalk TV unter der Regie von Jana König produziert werden, bereits eine Woche im Voraus gestreamt werden. Um den Einstand des schlechten Geschmacks im neuen Umfeld gebührend zu feiern, veranstalten Nitro und Rtl...

Directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Denzel Washington alongside Ethan Hawke, the 2001 crime thriller Training Day undeniably stands as one of the highlights of both actors’ and the filmmaker’s careers.

Training Day | Credit: Warner Bros.

One of the film’s most memorable scenes occurs during its climactic sequence, the intense confrontation between Jake and Alonzo. The pivotal moment is enriched by Washington’s iconic improvised performance, which not only created an unforgettable cinematic moment but also played a crucial role in earning him the Best Actor Oscar.

How Denzel Washington’s Iconic Improvisation Secured His Best Actor Oscar

When Training Day hit the theatres in 2001, the audience was captivated by Denzel Washington’s raw and intense performance as the corrupt LAPD officer. The film went on to be a critical and commercial success.

Denzel Washington in Training Day | Credit: Max

Both Washington and Ethan Hawke received praise for their performance.

Imagine Kratos, the god-slaying warrior from God of War, going toe-to-toe with Godzilla, the King of the Monsters. It’s a wild thought, but Reddit loves these kinds of “who would win?” battles.

And honestly, seeing Kratos and Godzilla in a fight would be epic, but what would be the best medium to display this battle?

Kratos Is No Stranger to Battling Massive Creatures

Kratos has experience fighting massive gods and creatures in God of War. Image via Sony.

Kratos isn’t your average video game character. He’s the Ghost of Sparta, a demigod who has taken down the likes of Ares, Zeus, and a bunch of other gods. Equipped with weapons like the Blades of Chaos and the Leviathan Axe, Kratos is a powerhouse of strength and pure rage.

Ok… How long is this fight lasting?

byu/OrganicPurpose1229 inGodofWar

From the Olympian group of Greek gods to the Norse realm’s Baldur,...

Every year, when Uncle Steve went back home to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, from New York City, there was a strict rule: No one talks to him about work. He’s not here on business, his brother, Patrick, would tell the kids.

The adults, at least, knew about his profession as a comic-book creator, but to his nieces and nephews, he was simply the funny uncle who scientifically manufactured bobalki balls, the traditional Slovak Christmas dish. “We were told not to pester him, so we didn’t,” his niece Joanna Opela tells Rolling Stone,...

Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance focuses on a woman with a familiar problem. Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a former actress and contemporary fitness guru on the wrong side of 40 for the entertainment industry, who, as represented here by Harvey (Dennis Quaid), wants to replace her with the next hot young thing. Working in an ultra-blunt style, Fargeat boils Elizabeth’s world down to a few signifiers, among them: Elizabeth’s retro fitness show stands in for fleeting fame; Harvey, one of the broadest caricatures that cinema has offered, is the male chauvinist underbelly of Hollywood, befitting his namesake; and a billboard outside of Elizabeth’s sprawling apartment physicalizes her shifting place in the public.

One of Fargeat’s best symbols, worthy of Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, is the opening close-up of Sparkle’s Hollywood star as it’s installed and becomes just another bit of set dressing. A...

Embark on a thrilling expedition with Kong: Skull Island, a 2017 cinematic juggernaut that not only revitalizes the mythos of the legendary King Kong but also introduces us to a kaleidoscopic ensemble cast featuring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, and the indomitable Samuel L. Jackson.

A still from Kong: Skull Island starring Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston | Warner Brothers

Helmed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, this reimagined origin story propels us onto an untamed Pacific island that’s as treacherous as it is magnificent. The visceral energy of the film carried us away, arousing the same feelings of awe and fear that only splendid visual storytelling can. No surprise then that the movie snagged a Best Visual Effects nomination at the Academy Awards.

With the world still talking about the film, speculation that the Loki star could be the burgeoning MonsterVerse’s Robert Downey Jr. has reached fever pitch.

Tom Hiddleston: The Next Robert Downey Jr.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a cherished part of the film industry for decades. His influence on the action-film genre cannot be put into words, revolutionizing how fighting movies are made through projects like The Terminator franchise, Predator, Commando, and Total Recall. While all of these works are iconic in their own right, many more roles helped pave the actor’s reputation in Hollywood.

Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies (1994) | 20th Century Studios/Universal Pictures

One of the best examples is 1997’s Batman & Robin. As Schwarzenegger moves into the next steps of his life, becoming a grandfather for the third time, here is a look back at how he got the role of Mr. Freeze in the Joel Schumacher film.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Was Guilt-Tripped

The process of joining the cast of a film can vary depending on the actors, the roles, and the film itself. While many actors have to audition for roles,...

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Streaming Release Date is out(Photo Credit –Facebook)

After taking the box office by storm, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is getting a streaming release. So if you missed out on watching the Monsterverse blockbuster in theaters, you can finally enjoy it at the comfort of your home.

A sequel to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, the film features the two giants setting aside their differences and teaming up to defeat a threat that is bound to destroy Earth. Here is how and when you can watch Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on streaming.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Streaming Release Date

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will begin streaming on Max on Thursday, July 4th, 2024, just in time for Independence Day. Apart from the original version of the film, an American Sign Language version will also be available to stream on the same day,...

By the 1950s, the Universal Monsters had become a punchline with most of them ending their onscreen careers meeting Abbott and Costello. Many of them had become victims of their own success, becoming so iconic that they had lost any ability to frighten anybody. Creatures from outer space, radioactive monsters, and giant bugs had taken over the throne as horror’s reigning attractions and anything that deviated from these felt passé and played out. Universal itself supplied plenty of its own creations into this theatrical landscape and relegated its classic monsters to the small screen. Into this environment came something new from the studio that all but created the modern horror film when Universal unleashed Creature from the Black Lagoon into the world.

There is much about the Creature that is similar to the Universal monsters that have come before. Like Lon Chaney’s Phantom, Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein Monster,...

Gorgo promotional image Image: Courtesy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Why do we love kaiju movies so much? Is it the sight of an enormous creature stomping its way through a metropolis, tapping into our secret desires to see them leveled? Or the representation of nature’s wrath against humanity for its mistreatment of the planet?...

Did you know that there is a Child’s Play-inspired film from Mexico? If you didn’t, you can thank Vinegar Syndrome’s new label Degausser Video for making 1993’s Herencia Diabólica available for the masses to watch. Or at least for the Vs hardcore fanbase, Chucky completists and anyone else who needs something like this in their lives.

Director Alfredo Salazar, known for his writing connection to the 70s Santo film series, also serves as the writer here to bring us a film seemingly inspired from the Child’s Play franchise. While it has been recently labeled as the “Mexican Child’s Play” (there’s a special feature on the disc with that very title), the killer doll concept is where the comparison should start and end. Despite having some seeds planted by that franchise, Salazar delivers a story that blossoms into something unique.

Tony (Roberto Guinar) receives a letter...

The highly-anticipated premiere of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is drawing near, and in order to hype us up for what’s coming in two weeks’ time, the producers have released the final trailer for the upcoming MonsterVerse film, which will once again see Godzilla and King Kong team up against a shared enemy. You can check out the trailer here:

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is set to be released internationally on March 27, 2024, with the US premiere scheduled for March 29, 2024. Warner Bros. is distributing the movie, which is going to be the latest – and fifth overall – installment in its shared MonsterVerse fictional universe. The movie will be a direct sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), which saw the two titular monsters become allies after a heated battle.

In this movie, the two monsters are going to have to team up once again to defeat a common foe, one...

"It has all led to this... Fight together or face extinction!!" Only a few weeks until this lands in theaters. Warner Bros and Legendary have revealed another official "Legacy" trailer for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, opening in theaters at the end of March (here's the other official trailer). Once again directed by Adam Wingard, in The New Empire the two mega monsters Godzilla and King Kong have to team up to take on a "colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world" - which seems to be some kind of vicious "Red Ape" massive chimpanzee along with other mega monsters that will happily destroy all of humanity. GxK also delves further into the histories of these Titans and their origins, as well as the mysteries of Skull Island & beyond, while spending more time in the Hollow Earth realm where Kong is from. The Godzilla x Kong cast features Dan Stevens,...

These days, Peter Jackson is best known for directing big budget spectacles. He took the Hobbits to Mordor, he cast Benedict Cumberbatch as a dragon, he brought us the sight of a motion-capture King Kong smacking around a bunch of dinosaurs. But when he was just getting his career started, he was making very different kinds of movies: horror comedies that were drenched in blood and pretty much every other bodily fluid you can think of. In 1992, he brought the world what may be the bloodiest film ever made: a zombie comedy he would call Braindead, but many fans know it as Dead Alive. And if you haven’t seen this one yet (you can watch it Here), it’s the Best Horror Movie You Never Saw.

Peter Jackson never had any formal film school training, and not just because they didn’t have such courses in his home country of New Zealand.

In this FandomWire Video Essay, we explore why the Monsterverse worked and the Dceu failed.

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Monsterverse vs Dceu

Since debuting in 2013, the DC Extended Universe has been one disaster after another for Warner Brothers. Massive critical and fan backlash, constant shake-ups in creative direction, and increasingly dwindling box office plagued the once promising franchise before it was finally put out of its misery by The Flash; though Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom might still be canon depending on who you ask.

Yet at the same time, WB has helped spearhead another cinematic universe that might be the only one besides Marvel to work out in the long run. The Monsterverse: a series of films and TV shows adapting beloved Japanese kaiju such as Godzilla, alongside original monsters and American icon King Kong for good measure.

Actor Mark Wahlberg discussed an intense experience from filming the comedy Ted 2 involving a deleted scene. Despite never making the final cut, Wahlberg was forced to memorize a random list of 57 movie character names, and five years later, he still wakes up “saying that shit.”

The comedy Ted 2 was released in 2015 as a sequel to Seth MacFarlane’s original 2012 hit film, with Mark Wahlberg reprising his role as the titular teddy bear’s best friend. The plot involves Ted fighting to gain legal recognition as a person, rather than mere property. Wahlberg’s character John is Ted’s longtime buddy who helps him in his legal battles and silly misadventures.

Mark Wahlberg Can’t Forget Deleted Ted Scene That Made Him Recite 57 Names

Mark Wahlberg as Sam Sullivan in a still from Uncharted

While making a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show, in the cut Ted 2 segment,...

Writer/director/producer/editor Ed Wood‘s 1957 film Plan 9 from Outer Space has long been considered to be one of the worst movies ever made, if not the worst of the worst… although most genre fans have seen a lot worse than that one. Composer and B-movie fanatic Somtow Sucharitkul is clearly a fan of the film, as The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that he is giving Plan 9 from Outer Space an opera adaptation!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Plan 9 from Outer Space: A Really Grand Opera by Somtow Sucharitkul is “currently in the libretto stage. Rehearsals will begin in earnest next year. Sucharitkul plans to release a teaser suite from the opera next fall and to premiere the full opera in 2024. Torsten Neumann, director of the Oldenburg Film Festival, Germany’s leading indie film fest, is producing.”

Sucharitkul had this to say about his opera plans: “Plan 9 is,...

When the classic monster movie King Kong was released in the US in 1933, it had the biggest opening ever recorded, and little wonder – who could resist the fantastic story of a giant lovesick ape on the rampage in New York city!

Since then Kong has returned to the screen numerous times, not least in the 1976 version King Kong, starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange, with Kong himself brought to life by special effects legends Carlo Rambaldi (Et) and Rick Baker (American Werewolf in London). Directed by John Guillermin (The Towering Inferno) and produced by the legendary Dino De Laurentis (Flash Gordon) this blockbuster features a stirring John Barry score, action set pieces, stunning scenery, groundbreaking effects – it’s arguably one of the greatest King Kongs ever. To celebrate the towering release of the film in a stunning 4K restoration, here’s a look at Kongs onscreen from the 1931 original all...

One could feel a great disturbance in the Force when Kino Loy (Andy Serkis) showed up in "Andor" season 1, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror at the thought of what the Supreme Leader Snoke truthers were about to do with this casting reveal.

Serkis, of course, famously earned his motion-capture bonafides playing Gollum in director Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy in the early 2000s. He would only continue to pioneer the newfangled art of mo-cap acting over the next two decades, taking on parts as legendary as King Kong, as emotional as Caesar from the "Planet of the Apes" movies, and as dastardly as the First Order's head honcho Snoke in the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy. Now, thanks to his turn in "Andor," Serkis has joined the proud tradition of actors tackling multiple roles in a galaxy far, far away.

Yes, all galaxy-brain conjecturing to the contrary,...

You may have heard that last week's episode of "Andor" caused a bit of a stir among certain circles, but not for reasons you may have expected from this unapologetically adult-skewing and serious-minded "Star Wars" series. After spending several episodes soundly rejecting the urge to fill this series with the usual assortment of Easter eggs and deep-dive lore references and distracting cameos that remain so prevalent in other franchise media, "Andor" creator Tony Gilroy made a surprise casting decision in episode 8 that reverberated throughout the fanbase.

After first appearing in the sequel trilogy under motion-capture as Supreme Leader Snoke, the return of Andy Serkis in "Andor" as a completely different character altogether -- a prison inmate and supervisor who crosses paths with Cassian Andor, known as Kino Loy -- immediately sent viewers running to connect the tenuous dots for their fan theories. But while some found this to be an...

A new kaiju movie is coming to Netflix from Norway, and it looks like a blast. Today we have a trailer for "Troll," and we're not talking about the oh-so-delightful denizens of social media who will argue with and threaten you over even simple statements such as, "I like cheese." No, these are the trolls of folktales and legends, and they're much bigger than you might expect from the beginning of this trailer. 

"Troll" comes to us from director Roar Uthaug (who also has a story by credit for the film). He's responsible for "The Wave" and 2018's "Tomb Raider" starring Alicia Vikander and Dominic West. The script was written by Espen Aukan ("Baby Boom").

When I say this is a kaiju movie, it's because this troll is huge, but also because the human characters discover a giant footprint, leading the dismissive officials to ask if this is King Kong.

Click here to read the full article.

While filming Dune in late 2019, Oscar Isaac mentioned a passion project to one of the film’s key producers — Mary Parent, vice chairman of worldwide production at Legendary Entertainment.

It was not a sci-fi blockbuster — a genre Isaac has come to dominate in franchises like Star Wars and Dune — nor was it a prestige series in the vein of HBO’s Scenes From a Marriage, which he executive produced and starred in alongside Jessica Chastain.

It was a comic book. About a cop who walks around with a bullet hole in his head.

The result of that conversation is now upon us. With the publication of Head Wounds: Sparrow, from Isaac’s Mad Gene Media and Legendary Comics — the publishing arm of the Burbank-based production company behind films like Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong — Isaac, 43, further diversifies his professional résumé.

No longer is...

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“Double W. C. Fields”

By Raymond Benson

Kino Lorber has been releasing the W. C. Fields catalog in high definition, upgraded from previous releases on DVD, and two more have come to the fore—You’re Telling Me! and Man on the Flying Trapeze, two titles that don’t immediately come to mind when one thinks of top tier, classic Fields pictures, but never fear—they’re hilarious and worth a look.

You’re Telling Me! preceded The Old Fashioned Way and the brilliant It’s a Gift (both previously reviewed here at Cinema Retro), all three of which appeared in 1934, while Fields (real name—William Claude Dukenfield) still had a working contract with Paramount Pictures. Man on the Flying Trapeze was released in 1935, a return to a “Fields comedy” after the actor took a sidetrack sojourn, courtesy of Paramount, into more high-brow fare.

Before we delve too deeply into the weeds, this viewer finds it imperative to make two big caveats. First, any finished movie, as Tfh Fearless Leader Joe Dante often preaches, is a bit of a miracle. Completing a project, especially a low-budget indie like Bride of the Monster (1955) that culled resources together from disparate backers and was at one point shut down three days into production due to a lack of funds, is a feat to be applauded. I am fully aware of that reality, even though I will take pains to explore the many shortcomings of this notoriously flawed cheapie chiller. Second, the actual protracted production of this picture, which was at one time to co-star Bela Lugosi and his fellow Universal monster luminaries Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr., is as compelling as the movie itself. So we’ll be touching on some behind-the-scenes morsels, too.

Bride of the Monster...

Screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski have created another fascinating off-kilter biopic, “Dolemite Is My Name,” starring Eddie Murphy as cult movie legend Rudy Ray Moore. Alexander and Karaszewski previously wrote such films as “Ed Wood,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “Man on the Moon,” and the series “The People v. O.J. Simpson.”

Alexander and Karaszewski recently spoke with Gold Derby editor Zach Laws about what drew them to Moore’s story, how Murphy got involved, and how moviegoers have reacted to “Dolemite Is My Name.” Watch the exclusive video interview above and read the complete transcript below.

See‘Dolemite is My Name’ exclusive video: Eddie Murphy reveals how the dream cast was brought together [Watch]

Gold Derby: Scott and Larry, you guys have written films and television shows about people like Ed Wood, Larry Flynt, O.J. Simpson, Margaret Keane, Andy Kaufman. Why Rudy Ray Moore?

Scott Alexander: He sounds...

French director Pascal Laugier’s first English-language feature, “The Tall Man,” wasn’t seen by many, perhaps because that convoluted mystery-thriller with Jessica Biel wasn’t really the straight horror film it appeared to be. Maybe that explains why Laugier’s first film in six years returns to the terrain of his more successful 2008 breakout, “Martyrs.” While not as graphically icky as that film, his new “Incident in a Ghostland” adds up to much the same thing: It’s thoughtfully, even elegantly crafted, light on plot, character development, and explication, but very heavy on the torture inflicted on terrified young women. For some horror fans, such “extreme” content in a relatively upscale package made “Martyrs” special, and they may enjoy a similar frisson here. The rest of us will again feel a tad queasy about the way Laugnier meticulously showcases sadism while seeming comparatively indifferent to matters of basic storytelling logic and suspense.

You pick up a lot of baggage when you live to be 100, a sentiment confirmed by the long, long movie career of Bob Hope. His unofficial status as the preeminent entertainer of the 20th century is open to debate but he was without a doubt that era’s most conspicuous comedian. Marlon Brando’s infamous dismissal, “He’ll go to the opening of a market to receive an award”, was mean-spirited but it had the sting of truth; for over eighty years Hope was everywhere, for better or worse.

Living up to his nickname, “Rapid Robert”, the 31-year old Hope shot out of the gate in 1934 with a series of quick-on-their feet comic shorts revolving around his unique presence as a leading man and comical sidekick rolled into one. It wasn’t long before he was starring in pleasantly prosaic musicals like The Big Broadcast of 1938 and handsomely mounted...

Since the 1980s, comics artist Drew Friedman has been making a name for himself with his unmistakable, hyper-detailed style and ghoulish sense of humor. His work has depicted the underbelly of show business in particular and the seamy side of American life in general. His work is populated by sweaty, aging comedians, misshapen losers, and grotesque B-movie stars, including the hulking, bald Swedish wrestler Tor Johnson of Plan 9 From Outer Space fame. Now, filmmaker Kevin Dougherty wants to make a full-length documentary about the scarily talented Friedman, affectionately entitled Vermeer Of The Borscht Belt, and is turning to Kickstarter for funding.

The proposed feature film will cover Friedman’s entire life and career, tracing his development from underground comic books to the covers of major magazines. Friedman’s own life is interesting, too. His father is the acclaimed writer Bruce Jay Friedman, whose film credits include Splash and Doctor...

March 22nd’s Blu-ray and DVD releases are an eclectic bunch, featuring a handful of cult classics, a thriller with the likes of Val Kilmer and Michael Madsen, Goth Katie Holmes fighting against the oppressive nature of her educational system, cowboys taking on prehistoric creatures, and a special edition of Fear the Walking Dead’s inaugural season. Yes, there’s truly something for almost every genre fan.

Notable home entertainment releases arriving this Tuesday include Disturbing Behavior (from The X-Files alum David Nutter), The Black Sleep, Donovan’s Brain, Kill Me Again, All Hell Breaks Loose, Curse of the Poltergeist, Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs, and as mentioned above, Fear The Walking Dead​: The Complete First Season Special Edition.

The Black Sleep (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)

Newly remastered in HD! The masters of classic horror, Basil Rathbone (Tales of Terror), Bela Lugosi (Dracula, White Zombie), Lon Chaney, Jr. (The Wolf Man) and...

It's an All Star monster rally -- Lon Chaney Jr.!, John Carradine!, Bela Lugosi!, Basil Rathbone!, Tor Johnson! -- with Akim Tamiroff in there pitching as well. It's considered a must-see picture, and this HD presentation is nothing to sniff at. Added bonus: a Tom Weaver commentary. The Black Sleep Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1956 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 82 min. / Dr. Cadman's Secret / Street Date March 22, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Basil Rathbone, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi, Herbert Rudley, Patricia Blake, Phyllis Stanley, Tor Johnson, Sally Yarnell, George Sawaya. Cinematography Gordon Avil Film Editor John F. Schreyer Original Music Les Baxter Written by John C. Higgins, Gerald Drayson Adams Produced by Howard W. Koch Directed by Reginald Le Borg

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Older monster kids know that the 1956 chiller The Black Sleep existed for years only through stills in Famous Monsters magazine. We saw tantalizing...

“Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives!”

Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space screens Thursday September 3rd at 7:00pm at Schlafly Bottleworks

Ed Wood’s 1959 masterwork Plan 9 From Outer Space is nowhere near the worst movie ever made, as anyone who’s seen it might testify. What can be said about it? It defies any traditional movie-making conventions and does it without any shame whatsoever. Wood had to have the cast baptized in order to make this bizarre film, and that’s the least strange thing about it. The original title Grave Robbers from Outer Space was later ditched, but Criswell mentions it during the intro nevertheless.

Plan 9 is promoted as “almost starring Bela Lugosi” because he died before the film could even get finished, and...

Marvel Studios is taking its biggest risk yet with Guardians of the Galaxy, banking on an obscure team of heroes to bridge the gap until the next Avengers flick roars into theaters. But there's an even larger obstacle standing in the way of box-office success: Dave Bautista.

To the uninitiated, Bautista is a six-time world champion in Vince McMahon's wrestling circus, and one of the most iconic squared-circle stars of the last decade. In Guardians, he plays intergalactic warrior Drax the Destroyer, which is unquestionably his biggest role to date.

Release Date: Available Now on DVD! Written By: Steve Bingen, Paul Bunnell, Mark D. Murphy, George Wagner Directed By: Paul Bunnell Starring: Will Keenan, Creed Bratton, De Anna Joy Brooks, Reggie Bannister, Les Williams, Jed Rowen, Kate Maberly, Paul Williams, Kevin McCarthy, Heather R. Provost

Review by Daniel Xiii.

Give All Of Your Love To Johnny X!

Ya know what the best part of livin’ the rock n’ roll lifestyle of a rollickin’ reviewer is? No, it isn’t the mountains of cash, the mansions full of lovely ladies, or the non-stop adulation from tens of people. No, fiends, for me the best part is discovering obscure gems of cinematic rad-assness that I can turn you cats and creeps onto! To that end, let me lay a real treat on you: The Ghastly Love Of Johnny X!

Now to start this she-bang off right, I gotta say that I enjoy...

The North Pole is abuzz with activity as the big guy and his reindeer team are about ready to roll. But I think we can all remember one particular Christmas when a certain Pumpkin King made Santa's trip a little difficult. Today's Slay… The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Easily one of the most beloved holiday films for horror fans, not only has the exquisite vision that is The Nightmare Before Christmas become iconic, it also kept Hot Topic in business until Harry Potter and Twilight came along. It's a beautiful love story that is appropriate for everyone from children to adults, and the best part…it's all about horror! However, in the gentlest of ways.

From the two-faced Mayor to the werewolves, vampires and (my personal favorite) the Tor Johnson-esque guy with the axe in his head ("Bunny!"), everyone has their most beloved Nightmare Before Christmas character. Danny Elfman's music is brilliant,...

”My girlfriend still doesn’t know why her sweaters are always stretched out.”

Of the eight collaborations between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, most of my movie buff friends will choose Ed Wood as their favorite, yet it was the least successful at the box-office, grossing less than 6 million dollars in 1994. Chronicling the man’s rise to “personal success” and his overwhelming desire to become the next Orson Welles, Ed Wood charted the director’s fascinatingly manic career; from Glen Or Glenda, to Bride Of The Monster, to Plan 9 From Outer Space. These were three of the most shamefully undesirable disasters “Hollywood” has ever produced, but to Ed Wood they were gold. Wood was a man who had the utmost level of zest for his so-called “art” and would never back-down to the barrage of criticism he would constantly receive. To him, Glen Or Glenda was a highly personal film,...

Widely regarded as the worst film ever made, the Ed Wood classic Plan 9 from Outer Space is on its way to Blu-ray so you can see all those cardboard sets come to life in glorious 1080p!

Look for the flick starring Bela Lugosi, Gregory Walcott, Tom Keene, Mona McKinnon, Duke Moore, and Carl Anthony in stores on March 6, 2012 from Legend Films. No word yet on special features if any at all.

"This is it! The most popular Atomic Age cult film of the twentieth century. Winner of two Golden Turkey Awards for Worst Picture and Worst Director of All Time, the immortal Edward D. Wood, Jr.! It's all here, the not-so-special effects, aliens in skating skirts zooming around in string-powered flying saucers to implement the ninth plan of Earth's conquest (the first eight failed) with an army of zombies (well, three actually), Vampira, Tor Johnson and Bela Lugosi in...

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp make the world's worst director look charming, despite some historical fact-bending

Director: Tim Burton

Entertainment grade: A–

History grade: B+

Edward D Wood Jr made low-budget Hollywood films in the 1950s, including Jail Bait, Night of the Ghouls and Plan 9 From Outer Space. In 1980, Plan 9 was voted the worst film of all time in the Golden Turkey awards. Wood was posthumously voted worst director.

Talent

It's 1953, and aspiring film-maker Eddie Wood (Johnny Depp) is thrilled to hear that a producer is filming the story of a famous transsexual. The reason? Wood himself loves wearing women's clothes, particularly angora sweaters. He pitches himself as writing, directing and starring – "just like Orson Welles did in Citizen Kane". The result – Glen or Glenda? – fell slightly short of the critical acclaim bestowed upon Welles's movie. The New York Times said "It isn't quite a camp classic, although...

The Movie Pool creeps up on the new DVD release of the horror classic The Black Sleep!

DVD Specs

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 enhanced for widescreen TVs

Running Time: 81 minutes

Rating: Not rated

Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: None  

Special Features: Trailer

The DVD is offered as part of MGM's "Limited Edition Collection" on DVD, which are available from select online retailers and are manufactured only when the DVD is ordered. The DVD features a simple menu with no menu for chapters or scenes. Chapters are set every ten minutes. Manufacture-On-Demand (Mod) DVDs will play in DVD playback units only and may not play in DVD recorders or PC drives. This DVD did not play in our laptop DVD drive but did play in our Toshiba DVD recorder.

The Set-up

A falsely-convicted doctor is saved from the gallows by a brilliant scientist (Basil Rathbone), who fakes his death and takes him to a dark,...

Yonkers - Ernie Kovacs is the patron saint of innovative TV comedies. His impact can be felt on everything from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In to Monty Python’s Flying Circus to Saturday Night Live. Shout! Factory’s The Ernie Kovacs Collection gives a survey of his short yet stellar career that ended in 1962 with his death. Over the course of six DVDs, you realize this guy truly revolutionized what you could do on TV.

The boxset doesn’t have any of the episodes from his original Three to Get Ready show that aired on Philly TV. But we get a healthy helping of his other shows that allowed him to bounce between NBC, CBS, ABC and even the legendary DuMont. Along with creating comedy shows, he hosted talkshows, gameshows and even variety shows. He even contributed to Mad Magazine. His famous mustache and cigar popped up all over the dial.

Uncle Forry has been very active this month. In a New Yorker Magazine article by Daniel Zalewski, Monster-kid and maestro Guillermo Del Toro evokes Forry’s spirit and credits him as a big influence for him and other genre filmmakers. The Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy director has amassed a remarkable memorabilia collection of his own.

Make sure to follow this link to the article: Show The Monster – Guillermo del Toro’s Quest to get Amazing Monsters Onscreen. I thanked Gdt for bringing Forry back to us for a time in the article. His one-word e-mail response? “Yeah!” That says it all. Yeah!

"Tor Johnson, Forry Ackerman and Verne Langdon way back when ... "

Note: A big, “Hope You’re All Better” to Peter Jackson who reportedly had a recent hospital stay for stomach issues. We’re all wishing you’re 100% better by now. A fond farewell to two of Forry’s favorite femmes,...

Swedish wrestler Tor Johnson, also known as the Super Swedish Angel, was the Super Swedish Angel of death in Ed Wood’s “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” in which he played Inspector Daniel Clay, raised from the dead along with Bela Lugosi and Vampira in a bizarre alien plot to show the human race the error of its ways. He went on to also appear in Wood’s “Night of the Ghouls” and “The Beast of Yucca Flats,” ultimately appearing on-screen more than 40 times — often, in the early part of his acting career, in uncredited roles.

Choice Quotation:

Ruler (John Breckinridge): Yes, he’s a fine specimen. Are they all this powerful on planet Earth?

Eros (Dudley Manlove): This one is an exception, Excellency.

Photo: Ronald Grant Archive

10 Best Wrestlers on the Big Screen: #2

10 Best Wrestlers on the Big Screen: #4

http://www.movingpicturesnetwork.com/23215/...

Swedish wrestler Tor Johnson, also known as the Super Swedish Angel, was the Super Swedish Angel of death in Ed Wood’s “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” in which he played Inspector Daniel Clay, raised from the dead along with Bela Lugosi and Vampira in a bizarre alien plot to show the human race the error of its ways. He went on to also appear in Wood’s “Night of the Ghouls” and “The Beast of Yucca Flats,” ultimately appearing on-screen more than 40 times — often, in the early part of his acting career, in uncredited roles.

Choice Quotation:

Ruler (John Breckinridge): Yes, he’s a fine specimen. Are they all this powerful on planet Earth?

Eros (Dudley Manlove): This one is an exception, Excellency.

Photo: Ronald Grant Archive

10 Best Wrestlers on the Big Screen: #2

10 Best Wrestlers on the Big Screen: #4

http://www.movingpicturesnetwork.com/23215/...

Filed under: Columns, Cinematical

Welcome to Adventures in B-Movie Land, the monthly column where I take a look at some of the strangest, cheapest and worst films ever made ... and explore why you have to see them. Look for new entries during the second week of every month.

The Motion Pictures:

'Glen or Glenda' (1953), 'Jail Bait' (1954), 'Bride of the Monster' (1955), 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' (1958) and 'Night of the Ghouls' (1959).

Also Known As...

'I Led Two Lives,' 'He or She?,' 'I Changed My Sex,' 'The Hidden Face,' 'Bride of the Atom,' 'Graverobbers From Outer Space' and 'Revenge of the Dead.'

Featuring the Talented...

The legendary (and at the time, completely forgotten) Bela Lugosi, the incomprehensible Swedish wrestler Tor Johnson, the incredibly inaccurate psychic Criswell, Wood's long-suffering girlfriend Dolores Fuller, Ed Wood himself...

Filed under: Columns, Cinematical

Welcome to Adventures in B-Movie Land, the monthly column where I take a look at some of the strangest, cheapest and worst films ever made ... and explore why you have to see them. Look for new entries during the second week of every month.

The Motion Pictures:

'Glen or Glenda' (1953), 'Jail Bait' (1954), 'Bride of the Monster' (1955), 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' (1958) and 'Night of the Ghouls' (1959).

Also Known As...

'I Led Two Lives,' 'He or She?,' 'I Changed My Sex,' 'The Hidden Face,' 'Bride of the Atom,' 'Graverobbers From Outer Space' and 'Revenge of the Dead.'

Featuring the Talented...

The legendary (and at the time, completely forgotten) Bela Lugosi, the incomprehensible Swedish wrestler Tor Johnson, the incredibly inaccurate psychic Criswell, Wood's long-suffering girlfriend Dolores Fuller, Ed Wood himself...

Pahrump - Call it Hof Vegas. Dennis Hof of HBO’s Cathouse no longer wants me to warn readers that his Bunny Ranch empire is in only Reno and not Las Vegas. He’s bringing his style of adult fun to the outskirts of Sin City. He called up the hotline from the middle of Crystal, Nevada to spread the news. The sounds of hammering and drills came from his end of the phone.

“We’re moving around here and getting some things done,” Dennis Hof said. “I bought two 35 year old rundown, rat trap brothels. What you’re buying is the licenses.”

The two old names were Cherry Patch Ranch and Mabel’s Whore House. The new places are Love Ranch and Dennis Hof’s Cathouse. “Those are name that are synonymous with good times.”

There are no good times for the former owner. He got arrested for bribing a county official.