News

Earlier this week we shared a sneak peek at the upcoming book Screaming and Conjuring from author Clark Collis that put the spotlight on James Gunn’s horror comedy Slither, and we’re back with another Gunn-themed excerpt from the must-read horror book.

This particular exclusive excerpt is all about James Gunn and Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, the 2004 remake of the George A. Romero masterpiece that Gunn scripted and Snyder directed. Yes, two filmmakers who would go on to bring very different depictions of Superman to the big screen got their start working together on a classic horror remake!

While Dawn of the Dead is fondly remembered as one of the best remakes from that particular period of time, the initial response to the project wasn’t exactly kind. In fact, James Gunn – who had previously written the Scooby-Doo movie at the time – even received death threats.

In Hollywood, there’s no greater risk than mounting a vanity project. You know the type – when a director or star achieves superstar level, they can’t resist the temptation to turn their pet project into a film, no matter how poorly conceived or uncommercial it may be. When a star gets that big, chances are they’ll find someone to fund their movie, with notable examples being John Travolta’s Battlefield Earth, Chris Pine’s Poolman, or The Weeknd’s recent flop, Hurry Up Tomorrow.

Somewhat in that vein, but not as egregious, is the way that star Vin Diesel, whenever his stardom hits a peak as opposed to a valley, uses the opportunity to try to make his favourite character, Riddick, a household name. One can see why Diesel might hold the character in high regard, with the original Pitch Black arguably the first true Vin Diesel movie.

The (in)famous film website Ain’t It Cool News goes offline, 29 years after it first launched. More on the story here.

One of the original movie websites, and certainly the highest profile, was Ain’t It Cool News, often shortened to AICN. Launched all the way back in the mid-1990s, there was a brief window of time where it became a huge thing in Hollywood, at a point where movie studios were failing to understand the internet.

It attracted some really good writers, not least including screenwriter C Robert Cargill, although it was ultimately built around the personality of its founder, Harry Knowles. His style of writing went very much against that of the time, as did reports of test screenings, giving the first hints that movies such as Batman & Robin and Speed 2: Cruise Control were not on the good side.

Knowles became something of a Hollywood celebrity,...

On September 21, 2024, two women went blow-for-blow under the blazing lights of a boxing gym in Austin, Texas. Jabs. Hooks. Uppercuts. A handwritten sign that read “Death to Mainstream Cinema.” These are the Fantastic Fest Debates.

Ahbra Perry and Annick Mahnert are programmers for Alamo Drafthouse’s infamous genre film festival. For its 19th edition, they also participated as fighters in a controversial boxing ritual that has existed almost as long as the festival itself. Competitors select a subject for debate, and after three rounds of verbal back-and-forth, they put on gloves and duke it out — physically.

Over the years, big names like Michelle Rodriguez, Elijah Wood, Keanu Reeves, and Zoë Bell have participated in the theater chain’s gonzo exhibition. The celebration of disagreement lets actors, directors, critics, Fantastic Fest organizers, and more fans put their fists where their film opinions are. As America’s largest genre festival enters its second decade,...

Shaun and his best mate Ed are in trouble. They’ve discovered two zombies in their garden, and the lumbering flesh-eaters show no signs of stopping. However, Shaun and Ed have found one way of slowing the approach: throwing records.

And so, as the two zombies grow closer, Ed and Shaun rustle through the latter’s collection. “Sign o’ the Times … Purple Rain,” Ed suggests as projectiles, only to have Shaun tell him no. That is until Ed reaches a low point in Prince’s discography, the Batman soundtrack. “Throw it,” Shaun commands, striking a blow against the living dead.

The above scene is just one instance of the humor and horror that director Edgar Wright and his co-writer Simon Pegg bring to the RomZomCom Shaun of the Dead, released twenty years ago. Shaun (Pegg) and Ed (Nick Frost) spend a lot of time discussing their pop-cultural interests, even in the most dire situations.

“World’s Largest Metaphor Hits Ice-Berg,” read the The Onion headline. Agreed. As Kate Winslet’s own Freud-referencing Rose Dewitt Bukater snips, James Cameron’s Titanic is epic cinema’s grandest erection, and when the near-scale model set of the towering hulk of steel that was, at the time, the largest ship in the world severs down the middle, it then becomes the most vulgar representation of castration to ever cause millions of heartwarmed teenage girls to choke sobs into their fists. It’s a ready-made sarcophagus for everything that’s vulgar in mainstream cinema. Titanic both embodies and validates the excess that is its own subject.

And Titanic is arguably the most artlessly touching disaster movie of all. No, really. Time and a number of equally irony-free blockbusters in the interim (including Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and Peter Jackson’s original Lord of the Rings...

The story of the Raiders Of The Lost Ark fan film is brought brilliantly to life in this new documentary...

I love fan films. I remember the very first fan film I ever saw: Hardware Wars (a Star Wars spoof). I’ve been hooked ever since. They’ve come a long way since then, some of them nowadays boasting a production value that almost rivals Hollywood productions. When I watch, for example, the Piano Guys’ Cello Wars (which in essence, is still a fan film), I’m amazed how much fan films have evolved, but my favorites remain the older ones, like Closet Cases Of The Nerd Kind (who can forget those singing mailboxes?).

But while some fan films of that era were happy to simply parody blockbuster movies, in 1982, two kids from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Chris Strompolos (11 years old) and Eric Zala (12 years old) set our to produce a...

John Carter was a very public disappointment for Disney, the studio posting an $84 million dollar loss on the Edgar Rice Burrough’s beloved series of sci-fi novels. But there was a time, before the property landed in the House of Mouse, that the project, at the time called John Carter of Mars (a better title, in my opinion, because it let audiences know what they were in for) was in the hands of Paramount and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow director Kerry Conran, and before that project was axed, Conran made a presentation reel of his vision for the movie, complete with concept art and very early effects work. A lo-res version has been doing the rounds for some time, but below you can find a much more clean and crisp version, uploaded by Ain’t It Cool News founder Harry Knowles, who was also set to produce the Conran directed adaption,...

Several years before the film began production, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" creator and director Kerry Conran was attached to take the helm of a film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough's beloved science fiction series "John Carter of Mars" at Paramount Pictures.

Conrad's version didn't come together and the film ended up at Disney where Andrew Stanton took the helm and delivered the Taylor Kitsch-led version which sadly became one Hollywood's most famous big budget bombs of modern times.

Today, AICN's Harry Knowles has posted a high-res version of the presentation reel for Conran's original vision of the story. The clip, which has previously only been available in blurry low-res, shows off some stunning artwork along with test footage of some fighting.

Once upon a time Kerry Conran (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow) was slated to direct an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough's beloved science fiction series John Carter of Mars for Paramount. Of course, that didn't pan out, and what we ended up with was Disney's John Carter, the Taylor Kitsch-led box office disaster that generated a bizarre amount of hate for what I understand was just a kind of okay movie. For those who wanted to see what Conran's version might have looked like, today's your luck day. Harry Knowles, who was set to produce the axed adaptation, has released a high-res version of the presentation reel, featuring tons of gorgeous artwork and some solid fight choreography. A low-res version of this video has been floating around the internet for a while, but this version is crisp and offers a solid idea of what Conran had in mind for his film's aesthetic.

There was a fairly famous commentary in Wired a couple of years ago by Patton Oswalt that essentially came down to the comedian telling today’s movie geeks that they have it too easy. Back in the day, there was no internet to follow the development of a film blow-by-blow, there was no Internet Movie Database to learn who all the primary people behind the film were, and a home video was months, if not years, after the initial theatrical run, rather than weeks. In essence, the technology has taken the effort out of it, and truthfully, the same can be said about the art of filmmaking as well. Digital cameras, Photshop, Final Cut, it all means you can make a movie at home look like a top-notch professional effort.

All this has probably also leant to the rise of the fan film, an easy way for people who love...

Academy Award-winning cinematographer Andrew Lesnie has died at the age of 59. Leslie was the cinematographer for Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, for which he won his first and only Oscar in 2002. He afterwards continued to shoot for Jackson, lensing "King Kong," The Lovely Bones" and "The Hobbit" trilogy. "Andrew Lesnie and Peter Jackson would giggle behind the camera together like the most mischievous pair of movie masters that I've seen," said film critic Harry Knowles, who visited the set of "The Lord of the Rings." Jackson's New Zealand production house, Weta Digital, posted their condolences on Facebook: "Our memories of Andrew will always be of a wonderful and caring person who looked out for the technicians around him, was keen to have a good laugh and keep everyone jollied along, even when things were at the most stressful for everyone." Ron Johanson, president of the Cinematographers Society in.

“I don’t care what the critics say,” is a refrain you hear often when it comes to popular media, be it movies, TV series, musicians, and yes, even books. When it comes to the literary world, no one gets more grief than those who write or enjoy the works of the romance genre. In the snooty world of books, even the literati need someone to look down their noses at, and sadly, romance is the bottom of the food chain.

The documentary Love Between the Covers aims to shake those assumptions though. Probably every reader in their time has made a joke at the expense of the romance genre, but Laurie Khan wants to look at those kinds of books in a new way, as she asks us: what if we celebrated them?

Admittedly, this reviewer’s been occasionally snide so far as romance novels are concerned. Purely for...

It was a story that, in film nerd circles, gradually took on the glimmer of legend: in 1981, a group of kids in smalltown Mississippi set out to recreate, shot-for-shot, Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark." It would gradually consume every summer of their childhood and gain some big name appreciators in the form of horror filmmaker Eli Roth and nerdy movie blogger Harry Knowles. The recreation was something that had to be seen to be believed, a pop culture artifact as lovingly crafted as the film it so astutely mimicked. What makes "Raiders!," a documentary by Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen, so compelling, is that it chronicles not only the phenomenon but the attempts by the original filmmakers Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos, and Jayson Lamb, to finish the one shot that never got completed. The resulting film is exhilarating, most notably for its ability to be awesomely triumphant...

Just days ago we were declaring Power/Rangers absolutely fantastic, but it may have its work cut out for him in the documentary Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made. Set to premiere at South by Southwest in March, Raiders! tells the story of two 11-year-old kids who in 1982 became obsessed with Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark and sought to remake it shot for shot (take that Gus van Sant! That’ll teach you to remake Psycho).

Though they worked for seven years, sadly, the kids never finished the project with only one scene remaining to film, and went their separate ways. A tape made its way into the hands of Eli Roth and subsequently Ain’t It Cool News’s Harry Knowles, who screened the fan-made remake at a festival. Raiders! ultimately follows the two kids, now grown, as they get back together...

Raiders!, a documentary of the story behind the greatest fan film ever made, is set to have its world premiere at SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX on March 14, 2015. Raiders! chronicles the epic thirty year journey that began in 1982 when two twelve-year-old kids in Mississipi set out to film a mind-bogglingly ambitious shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Before it debuts at SXSW next month, the first trailer and photo have been released.

It took Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos seven summers to make Raiders of the Lost Ark - The Adaptation. By saving up their allowances, hijacking younger siblings, and setting Eric's basement on fire, the boys used astonishing ingenuity to make a film that is surprisingly entertaining and even stunning at times. For fifteen years, Raiders of the Lost Ark - The Adaptation was nearly a forgotten masterpiece of fan filmmaking until Aint It Cool News'...

Raiders!, a documentary of the story behind the greatest fan film ever made, is set to have its world premiere at SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX on March 14, 2015. Raiders! chronicles the epic thirty year journey that began in 1982 when two twelve-year-old kids in Mississipi set out to film a mind-bogglingly ambitious shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Before it debuts at SXSW next month, the first trailer and photo have been released.

It took Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos seven summers to make Raiders of the Lost Ark - The Adaptation. By saving up their allowances, hijacking younger siblings, and setting Eric's basement on fire, the boys used astonishing ingenuity to make a film that is surprisingly entertaining and even stunning at times. For fifteen years, Raiders of the Lost Ark - The Adaptation was nearly a forgotten masterpiece of fan filmmaking until Aint It Cool News'...

The great The Interview saga of 2014 has reached its apex. After the film was publicized, parent studio Sony Pictures found itself victim to the largest, most destructive and costly computer hacking operation in history. Emails, personal information of employees including social security numbers, and untold other secrets were not only stolen, but partially released by the culprits with a threat to do more damage if the movie was released. Last week, Sony caved to the major theater chains and cancelled the release, spawning innumerable conversations about free speech in the digital age.

And just before that, I got to see it along with 200-ish other attendees at Butt-numb-a-thon, the annual birthday party for AICN founder Harry Knowles where vintage films are celebrated alongside big Hollywood premieres and sneak peeks. The Interview played fifth in the lineup of 12 films, immediately after Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice. Directors Evan Goldberg (This is the End...

Not surprisingly, Elijah Wood is a lovely guy. He's a film geek at heart, as passionate about the medium as anyone reading this site. He's made small budget indie films and some of the biggest productions ever made, but none of it seems to have dampened his enthusiasm for movies. I'd met Elijah a few times at Harry Knowles' Butt-Numb-a-Thon in Austin, Texas, including a very memorable Hobbit screening where we chatted at length about 3D Hfr before the event began, and always found him to be incredible genuine and quick with a laugh. Plus, those eyes in person, man, they're like giant blue laser beams, it's almost disconcerting talking to the guy feeling that he's about to melt your face off with his...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

My first interactions with James Gunn were, to put it lightly, awkward thanks to the particularly strident way in which Harry Knowles took him to task over his work on "Scooby-Doo." I respect the way Gunn has built a career out of a a start in the Troma factory, not a given by any means, and he's been true to his voice as he's worked on larger and larger films, something else that isn't easy. Making the jump from "Super" to "Guardians Of The Galaxy" has got to be one of the biggest examples of upward mobility in the history of mainstream franchise filmmaking. I liked "Super" a lot when I saw it at the Toronto Film Festival, and I thought it was smart, grown-up filmmaking. I moderated a panel with him and Rainn Wilson at SXSW that also revealed just how far Gunn will go for a cheap dick joke.

So, as you may have heard, first the scripts from the first five episodes, and then a work print of the actual first episode of Doctor Who leaked last week. And those fans with access to the internet (also known as “all fans”) all felt like Pandora, wondering whether or not they should take just a peek…

Now for a moment, let’s play conspiracy theory. Back when Titanic was in the planning stages, it was largely predicted it’d be a colossal failure that would make Heaven’s Gate seem like a boutique release. But then Harry Knowles got an anonymous tip (from what was certain from Cameron’s office) that there was to be a preview screening in the Twin Cities.He immediately sent out the word, and made sure the screen was packed with his readers. And lo and behonl, the reviews came back glowing, and just...

The great thing about taking over the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas is that it will be virtually impossible for J.J. Abrams to be criticized for the title to his 2015 sequel. Not after The Phantom Menace and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Now that the core cast has been announced, attention has shifted to what the film will be called, and Harry Knowles at Ain’t It Cool is confident that the working title is Star Wars: Episode VII — The Ancient Fear. Reportedly, the title “refers to Max Von Sydow’s villain who makes Pazuzu look like a p—y!

There is no doubt that a love of Star Wars got a lot of people interested in the internet. The first time I saw someone logging on to the web it was to find a Jedi chat room (he used Lycos as a search engine – that’s how long ago it was), and throughout the Special Editions and the hype and misplaced hope for the Prequels rumour and hearsay was at a premium. As George Lucas once said*, ‘it has a sort of echo, it’s like poetry,’ that Harry Knowles, self-appointed Geeklord, is the one to excitedly shout this working title for the biggest film in the geekosphere.

Star Wars Episode VII, according to ‘Col. Mustard’ and several source, has the subtitle of The Ancient Fear. Jedi-quick minds will flit to the subtitle for Episode IV: A New Hope and see the immediate logic to this title. Of course...

Here's one more name for the rumoured cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. AICN's Harry Knowles says he's heard from "two different sources" that Jack Reynor is now in the frame for an unspecified role.Reynor is is the Irish actor who supplied an impressive lead in 2012's What Richard Did, and caught the eye of Michael Bay in the process. That led to his scoring the part of Shane in Transformers: Age Of Extinction, the start of a new trilogy in which Reynor is contracted for all three instalments.Rebel? Empire? Sith? There's no more information about what might be in store for him in J.J. Abrams' take on the galaxy far, far away. And there's also the question of, if he really is in the running, would he actually want his next decade to be entirely consumed by two behemoth sci-fi franchises? But, to use Yoda syntax,...

(Cbr)With less than two years until its release, some official "Star Wars: Episode VII" news should be coming our way any day now. Until that time, expect the rumors to come flying in at light speed. Case in point: Ain’t It Cool News reports that actor Jack Reynor has landed a role in the J.J. Abrams film. The report stops short of saying what the role is, or how important the character is to the plot. But AICN’s Harry Knowles said the scoop has been confirmed by “two different sources.” Take that for what it’s worth. If the rumor proves true,...

A casting rumor and an interesting pre-production rumor about Star Wars: Episode VII have surfaced today. There has been very little official news on Episode VII, mostly just rumors. Let's hope that changes soon.

Simon Bew at Den of Geek reports:

There's been a security clampdown in the prop shop at Pinewood Studios, but we now understand that work is afoot on building a full scale Millennium Falcon there. Furthermore, model makers are also building lightsaber hilts. This would tie into reports that the emphasis is going to be on practical, rather than computer effects wherever possible with future Star Wars films.

Also, we now understand that model makers on the Star Wars: Episode 7 project are being recruited on up to seven year contracts, which cover three sequels and three spin-offs.

I wonder how far director J.J. Abrams it taking the return to practical effects. Could all the ships...

Strap back into the Rumor Chair, boys and girls. We.re about to take another spin through J.J. Abrams. pending blockbuster Star Wars: Episode VII, a production that has endured quite a few visits from the Rumor Police, and one that.s about to entertain one more bit of possible casting speculation. Needless to say, this should be taken with a grain of salt until it is confirmed by a source at the studio, but the name Jack Reynor is being linked to Abrams. effort, and that rumor is starting to take a few laps around the .Net. Harry Knowles at AICN started this ball rolling, citing "two different sources" as saying the Irish lad had landed a mystery role in the as-yet-untitled Episode VII. "No idea of what role," Harry says, "but here he is." Here he is, indeed. Reynor was born in Colorado, but moved to Ireland ...

Director Jj Abrams has been considering almost everyone in Hollywood for roles in "Star Wars: Episode VII." And while we have yet to get any official casting news, AICN claims that Jack Reynor is already on board. The site's owner, Harry Knowles, writes: "I'm hearing that Jack Reynor, a young Irish actor that will be in this new Bay 'Transformers' trilogy - but that I've now heard from two different sources has landed a role in 'Episode VII.' No idea of what role." Reynor has appeared in Vince Vaughn's "Delivery Man," but was recognized by Michael Bay for his performance in the 2012 film "What Richard Did." The actor is next to appear in "Transformers: Age of Extinction."...

Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News is reporting that two sources have confirmed to him a very intriguing piece of information. Apparently, Jack Reynor, who will lead Transformers: Age of Extinction, has been cast in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII in an unspecified role. We don’t have any other details at this time and of course, the studio has not made any official comment on it. That being said, it’s definitely worth talking about.

While it seems like every other day we’re hearing a new rumor about a hot, young actor being cast in the next installment of Star Wars, Harry Knowles is a well connected individual with a lot of solid, reputable sources. Sure, he’s been wrong before but at the same time, he’s also been right on a lot of very big scoops.

Plus, we know that Abrams is looking to cast a young,...

"It’s impossible to predict," Terry Gilliam told us last August on the eve of the world premiere of "The Zero Theorem" at the Venice Film Festival. "Fewer people have seen 'Zero Theorem' during the making of it and the editing of it than any film I’ve done. The basis of any predictions is not solid. Harry Knowles, he said it was the best thing I’ve done since 'Brazil' and watched it three times in a row. That kind of excitement and enthusiasm about a film is what I love and it doesn’t mean it’ll find a monstrously huge audience, but there's enough of an audience for it. I just keep clinging to the fact that 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'Singin’ in the Rain' weren’t big hits when they came out." Basically, good films don't necessarily find an audience, and...

Celsius Entertainment is a London and Berlin based international sales agent that finances and represents slate of high quality, high profile feature films for distribution to the international territories. Celsius is a private company, wholly-owned and managed by Thierry Wase-Bailey, a 25 year veteran of the international film licensing business.Celsius has an interesting array of films at the Efm. Most already have U.S. distribution but rights in many territories are still up for grabs.

Genre : Drama

Synopsis : Inspired by a true story from the late 1970s and touching on legal and social issues that are as relevant today as they were 35 years ago, Any Day Now is a powerful tale of love, acceptance and family. When a teenager with Down syndrome is abandoned by his mother, a gay couple takes him in and becomes the loving family he’s never had. But when their unconventional living arrangement is discovered by authorities, the men are forced to fight a biased legal system to save the life of the child they have come to love as their own.

Us Distributor: Music Box Films

Cast: Alan Cumming (The Good Wife, X2), Garret Dillahunt (Looper, Winter’S Bone, The Last House On The Left), Isaac Leyva, Frances Fisher (Titanic)

Efm Screening Schedule :

07/02/13 6.30 pm: CinemaxX 11 (Potsdamer Straße 5, 10785 Berlin) 10/02/13 5.55 pm: CinemaxX 12 (Potsdamer Straße 5, 10785 Berlin)

Winner of an unprecedented 8 Audience Awards:

Chicago International Film Festival 2012 Seattle International Film Festival 2012 Tribeca Film Festival 2012 Outfest 2012 Provincetown International Film Festival 2012 Woodstock Film Festival 2012 Napa Valley Film Festival 2012 Key West Film Festival 201

"Cumming is the linchpin, and the actor does an exceptional job of moving across the vast galaxy of universal emotions about partners and parenthood." - Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

"Cumming’s performance [is] a perfect balance of flamboyance, humanity, vulnerability, paternal love and righteous anger...it's the best work he's done to date." - David Fear, Time Out NY

"Dillahunt has chilling realistic moments that make you feel the actual discrimination in the air." - David D'Arcy, Screen International

“Powerful! Superb! Depictions of custody battles have become a cinematic staple, but few register with the heartfelt emotion of Any Day Now." - Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

“Alan Cumming delivers what is possibly his best performance to date.” - Boyd Van Hoeij, Variety

"3 1/2 Stars! One of the season's hidden treasures." - Marshall Fine, The Huffington Post

“...an outraged, unblinking depiction of institutionalized homophobia...” - Stephen Holden, The New York Times Critics' Pick

“Cumming and Dillahunt create characters that are as memorable as they are moving.” - Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

“It would take a heart of stone to resist Any Day Now..." - Ella Taylor, NPR

"Powerful" - John Hartl, 3 1/2 stars, Seattle Times

“Packs a powerful, timely and ultimately heartbreaking message.” - Dan Heching, Next

View Trailer : Click Here

Come Out And Play (El Juego De Los NIÑOS)

Genre : Horror

Synopsis : While on vacation, Beth (Vinessa Shaw The Hills Have Eyes) and Francis (Ebon Moss-Bachrach The Lake House) visit a remote island that turns out to be almost solely inhabited by children. Unfortunately for them, these kids are far from well behaved.

Us Distributor: Cinedigm

Also Sold to Metrodome [UK] following its world premiere at Midnight Madness in Toronto. Also sold to Nikkatsu in Japan, to Germany, to Cis/Russia, etc...

Festivals : Was also in official competition at Fantastic Fest, Sitges, Rio, AFI 'Midnight’, & Torino. Next up at Gérardmer and Fribourg.

20th Festival International du Film Fantastique de Gérardmer:

Screening Schedule:

02/02/13 2.00 pm Espace Lac (Official Screening) 02/02/13 7.30 pm McL (Screening) 03/02/13 9.30 pm Casino (Screening)

“I loved Come Out And Play. I really really dug it.” Harry Knowles Click for full article [Ain’t it cool news]

View Trailer: Click Here

The First Time

Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance

From Castle Rock Entertainment

Us Distributor Sony Pictures [out on DVD Mar 2013]

Synopsis: A high school romance that follows two teenagers over the course of one weekend.

Producers: Martin Shafer and Liz Glotzer [Friends With Benefits, Bernie, Did You Hear About The Morgans?, Music & Lyrics, etc…]

Cast : Dylan O’Brien (star of MTV's Teen Wolf), Britt Robertson (star of The Secret Circle), Victoria Justice (Fun Size), Craig Roberts (Submarine, Red Lights), James Frecheville ( Animal Kingdom) & Lamarcus Tinker (Glee).

" ' The First Time' is a polished gem of a teen romantic comedy, with a maturity and emotional intelligence not usually associated with the genre.” -Marshall Fine, Huffington Post

“sweet, low-key comedy… has a freshness” Neil Genzlinger , NY Times

“Quite simply put, ‘The First Time’ is phenomenal stuff. This is one of my favorite films of 2012 so far” Joey Magidson Awards Circuit Click Here for full review

“this witty, sweet and charming little gem may be the year's most romantic movie. Prepare to swoon. 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)” -Dan Jewel Life & Style Review

“Objectively, what the world needs now is another teen-romance-slash-virginity-loss dramedy like we need a hole in our collective movie heads. But Jonathan Kasdan's The First Time, against all odds, is something of a wonder” Michael Atkinson, Phoenix New Times Click Here for full review

View Trailer: Click Here

Also available for your territory:

Turn Me On, Goddammit!

coming of age comedy sold to over 20 distributors. Winner Best Film & Best Cinematography at the Norwegian Oscars [The Amandas] & Best Screenplay Tribeca Film Festival, amongst numerous other awards.

Us Distributor: New Yorker

“You’ll be gladder to have seen this beguiling little film” Wall Street Journal

View the International & Us trailers: Click Here

Angels Crest

Dramatic thriller starring Thomas Dekker [A Nightmare on Elm St], Jeremy Piven [Entourage], Mira Sorvino [ Oscar winner] and Lynn Collins [female lead in John Carter]

Us Distributor: Magnolia

View Trailer: Click here

Freakonomics

Based on the international best-seller

Us Distributor: Magnolia

View Trailer: Click Here

and from the genre division of Celsius:

Amphibious 3D

Creature/horror shot entirely in 3D starring Michael Pare [Lincoln Lawyer]& directed by Brian Yuzna [Re-Animator]

Us Distributor: Freestyle

View 3D Anaglyph Trailer [you’ll need Red/Cyan glasses ]: Click Here

“this film has an absolutely killer ending” Ambush Bug (Ain’t It Cool News)

Library Titles also available for your territory:

From Within

Teen supernatural horror starring Thomas Dekker [A Nightmare on Elm St, Terminator TV series], Adam Goldberg [upcomingInferno: A Linda Lovelace Story], Jared Harris [Mad Men] & Rumer Willis [ 90210]

Us Distributor : Lionsgate

Crusade: A March Through Time

$14m teen fantasy adventure starring Emily Watson

Us Distributor : Phase 4

Manda Bala: Send A Bullet

When the rich steal from the poor... the Poor steal the rich.

Sundance Winner Best Documentary & Best Cinematography...

We’re back! After a week off in Park City, What to Watch is back with 8 movies for you to check out at your local Blu-ray shop or download on your favorite streaming service. Some great variety this week, including a fantastic On Demand debut starring Elijah Wood & John Cusack, a few classics, and a couple of current Oscar nominees.

Grand Piano

Photo credit: Magnet

“Grand Piano”

We’re going to try and lead each What to Watch with the most interesting new film available exclusively On Demand and this week’s is a gem for all of you who wish Brian De Palma made more movies like he did in the ’70s and ’80s. Elijah Wood plays a famous pianist doing a tribute show to his deceased mentor. He sees a note on his sheet music that if he misses a key, he’ll be shot by a sniper...

Someone leaked a first draft of Quentin Tarantino's script for "The Hateful Eight," and boy is he angry.

Tarantino rang up Deadline yesterday to give them the scoop on the leak and was fuming mad. "I'm very, very depressed... I finished a script, a first draft, and I didn't mean to shoot it until next winter, a year from now. I gave it to six people, and apparently it's gotten out today," he said.

It seems like Tarantino is shelving it as a movie and hopes to publish it first, though not ruling out making it as a film some day. "I could totally change my mind; I own the f***ing thing. But I can tell you, it's not going to be the next thing I do. It's my baby, and if the muse calls me later to do it, we'll do it. I was thinking about the...

The best movie culture writing from around the internet-o-sphere. Just leave a tab open for us, will ya? “Why Smaug Still Matters” — Lauren Davis at io9 thoroughly chronicles the old dragon’s history and meaning in a must-read piece. “Butt-Numb-a-Thon 15 Recap” — Meredith Borders at Badass Digest recounts the agony and the ecstasy (and the other movies) of the annual 25-hour movie marathon hosted by Harry Knowles. Apparently still no word on why he needed $125,000 to film five webisodes. “The year in documentaries: 2013 was about playing with form” — Scott Tobias at The Dissolve dissects the commonality shared between the major docs of the year (with one glaring omission).

Director Zack Snyder has created further buzz for his Man of Steel sequel with the casting of Fast & Furious franchise star Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.

The casting of Ben Affleck as Batman opposite Henry Cavill's Superman in the upcoming movie generated waves of controversy online, and the announcement that Gadot will join the project has also garnered an interesting response on social media.

> Superman vs Batman: Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot - career in pictures

The Batman vs Superman movie is slated for release in 2015, but Digital Spy presents the first look at social media reaction to the new Wonder Woman:

All the world is waiting for you... Wonder Woman cast in Man Of a Steel 2! http://t.co/ZTdIb7kyfi Finally! The grande dame of DC in cinemas!

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) December 4, 2013

Wonder Women! So exciting!!! Can't express how happy I am :)))) pic.twitter.com/gUXxgroTvr...

The last two weeks have been amongst the busiest in my entire life. As a result, my New York Comic Con coverage for this site has been non-existent. Now that my friend’s wedding is over, the Orlando Film Festival has come to a close, my extravagant musical puppet wedding proposal was a huge success and I am now back in New York, it is finally time to get my Nycc experience online.

Thursday has always been a preview day at Nycc defined by shorter hours, smaller crowds and few panels/signings. Oddly enough, I have never attended on a Thursday but it was always my plan to make it this year. That was until Wednesday October 9th when I received an invitation from Universal to attend a junket for Curse Of Chucky. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Child’s Play the new sequel and the Nycc panel, they...

Alright, this week has been a little bit of a horror awesomeness overload, which started with me getting to interview Don Mancini, Brad Dourif, Alex Vincent, Fiona Dourif, and Danielle Bisutti, who were promoting their now released Child’s Play sequel, Curse of Chucky. I mean, I was sitting face to face with the man (well, voice) who haunted my nightmares as a young boy – Ok, young adult – Ok, fine, Chucky totally f#cked up my adult life too. Whatever, don’t judge me, Chucky is scary, end of story, but that wouldn’t be possible without such a devoted fan base.

While you’ll get all my interviews shortly, right now I’m caught up in the flurry of Comic Con, and starting my day off was the Curse Of Chucky panel featuring all those names, plus franchise favorite Jennifer Tilly. Please note, there are spoilers for anyone who...

Every American has fond memories of Walt Disney World, moments in time that bond us to family like no other vacation really could. There’s magic in the air, and whether it’s manufactured or not, millions flock to the mouse Mecca every summer.

Well, first-time director Randy Moore is here to ruin all of that. To be fair, Escape From Tomorrow is not an assault on the corporate icon nor is it really offering deft social commentary about consumer culture. It’s just a weird, horror sci-fi hybrid that just so happens to be illegally shot on the grounds of Disneyland and Disney World. Moore came out of hiding from an undisclosed location to talk to Dread Central about the film and the surprising response it’s been getting since premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.

DC: So, I saw the film this morning …

Rm: It’s a great morning movie.

The headlines and articles back in summer 1999 said that the film had changed cinema forever. They made extravagant claims that the internet had now been used to such a degree that the marketing and distribution of films would never be the same again. This may have been premature, what these journalists didn’t quite grasp was that the majority of citizens with a connection to the internet were still on slow dial-up connections, and this made watching trailers or downloading porn a lengthy night’s chore at best.

The film that was causing all of the hoopla was none other than Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick’s The Blair Witch Project, although not the first ever in the sub-genre now known as ‘found footage’, it turned out to be the most memorable and acclaimed. Sanchez and Myrick had used the internet and showings at film festivals to build a major...

A few days ago, I’d never been to an Alamo Drafthouse location, whereas I’ve now spent hours upon hours inside of one. I was in comically close proximity to roughly 2,000 people over the last week, the same 2,000 people. I had to not get even remotely awestruck when I walked into the men’s bathroom at the Lakeline Drafthouse in Austin, Texas, and Elijah Wood walked by me to exit. Or Doug Benson. Or Pat Healy. Or Harry Knowles. They’re all real! I can prove it, even if I didn’t speak to any of them.

Yes, Fantastic Fest 2013 is now in the history books. (Well, after tonight, at least, with the closing night selection The Zero Theorem, from director Terry Gilliam. But like the rest of you, I’ll have to wait to watch it at a later date.) From last Thursday to Monday, I watched 26 films at Fantastic Fest.

Day four at Fantastic Fest is but a distant memory and our team remains remarkably unscathed in the land of the longhorn (Hook 'Em Horns!). Back home we continue the enviable task of documenting their journey for them. You know. Just in case they wake up in the middle of a field the following morning with someone's number scrawled on their forearm by a Sharpie. It was also the first Secret Screening of the festival; a tradition carried on by AICN's Harry Knowles. The first film he managed to bring to the festival was Eli Roth's Green Inferno. And according to Eli they were not planning to screen the film any time soon since it was bought up at Tiff so good on Harry to...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Frank Pavich’s Jodorowsky’s Dune won the Fantastic Fest audience award and claimed best picture prize in the Documentary Features section.Scroll down for full list of winners

Ari Folman’s The Congress was named best picture and that film’s Robin Wright won the best actress prize in the Fantastic Features strand.

Derek Lee and Clif Prowse’s Afflicted dominated the Horror Features section, winning best picture, screenplay and directors.

In the Next Wave Spotlight competition, Matt Johnson’s The Dirties was named best picture, while Sion Sono’s Why Don’t You Play In Hell? prevailed in the Gutbuster Comedy Features’ best picture contest.

In Fantastic Fest’s inaugural genre co-production market, Fantastic Market | Mercado Fantastic, Cuban filmmaker Alejandro BruguésThe Wrong Place won Gold Prize.

The Wrong Placebeat 15 other submissions at the market, which ran from September 19-21, and will receive a production support package comprising products and services provided by Panavision, Chemistry, Assimilate...

Frank Pavich’s Jodorowsky’s Dune won the Fantastic Fest audience award and claimed best picture prize in the Documentary Features section.

Ari Folman’s The Congress was named best picture and that film’s Robin Wright won the best actress prize in the Fantastic Features strand.

Derek Lee and Clif Prowse’s Afflicted dominated the Horror Features section, winning best picture, screenplay and directors.

In the Next Wave Spotlight competition, Matt Johnson’s The Dirties was named best picture, while Sion Sono’s Why Don’t You Play In Hell? prevailed in the Gutbuster Comedy Features’ best picture contest.

In Fantastic Fest’s inaugural genre co-production market, Fantastic Market | Mercado Fantastic, Cuban filmmaker Alejandro BruguésThe Wrong Place won Gold Prize.

The Wrong Place beat 15 other submissions at the market, which ran from September 19-21, and will receive a production support package comprising products and services provided by Panavision, Chemistry, Assimilate and Sofia...

Fantastic Fest kicked off in Austin, Ts last night with hometown hero Robert Rodriguez world premiering his new Mexploitation movie Machete Kills (in theaters October 11). Danny Trejo—the man, the myth—returns as Machete, the unstoppable one-man army against all things evil and corrupt. The sequel, about Machete’s quest to defuse a bomb built into baddie Damian Bichir’s chest before it detonates on Washington, D.C., is stuffed with cameos. There’s the Chameleon, a ruthless, face-changing killer played by everyone from Cuba Gooding, Jr. to Antonia Banderas to Lady Gaga. Mel Gibson is a Star Wars-loving genius bent on world destruction.

New Star Wars movies will include origins tales as well as standalone films featuring characters from original trilogy

Disney has confirmed that its planned spin-off Star Wars movies will be origins stories.

The studio, which bought all rights to the long-running space opera saga last October with its purchase of LucasFilm for $4.05bn, has long said it plans a new film each year from 2015. These will consist of a new trilogy of movies, starting with Star Wars: Episode VII, and a variety of standalone films which have been rumoured to feature characters from the original trilogy that ran between 1977 and 1983.

Disney chief financial officer Jay Rasulo said last week during a conference call with investors that each of these spin-off movies would be an "origins story film". Of Star Wars as a whole, he said the saga was "not a new franchise for kids," but added that the property was ripe for exploitation.

Peter Jackson has spent 15 years in the world of Tolkien and yesterday…it all came to an end. It was the final day of shooting and to make it special Peter kept his Facebook page updated throughout the day. Here are all his photos along with his commentary for you to enjoy, right after the jump.

Our last day of shooting.

Ever since starting these blogs, there’s been something I thought I’d like to try one day (as well as answering the other 19 questions I owe you!) – blogging throughout a shoot day in real time. Try to give you all a feeling for what we deal with on an average day.

Today is not exactly “average”, given it’s our last day of shooting, but if I don’t do it today, I never will!

So here goes … I’ll try to update as much as I can during the day.

Features: Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon, Eli Roth, Seth Green, Paul Scheer, Seth Rogen, Harry Knowles, Stan Lee | Written by Jeremy Chilnick, Morgan Spurlock, Joss Whedon | Directed by Morgan Spurlock

After dishing the dirt on fast food, terrorism, and advertising, documentarian Morgan Spurlock turns his camera to one of the biggest pop-culture events in the world, the San Diego Comic-Con. Filmed at the 2010 comic-con, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope is a behind-the-scenes look at the fans who gather by the thousands each year in San Diego to attend the world’s largest comic book convention – a convention which some say has drifted away from its original focus and is now more about the celebrities and studios than that titular “comics”.

From the get-go it’s obvious that Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope is unlike anything Spurlock has previously produced. Whereas his previous work took a sharp eye to its subject matter,...

And so begins that price gouging Steven Spielberg warned us about.

Paramount and Regal Entertainment have partnered for what they’re calling the “ultimate fan event” — a World War Z package offered at just five theaters nationwide, including screens in Orange County, Houston, San Diego, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. Its price tag? A hefty $50.

To be fair, those who purchase these “mega tickets” will get more than just a pass to see Brad Pitt fight zombies. The bundle includes a ticket to see World War Z in RealD 3-D two days before its official release, a pair of custom RealD 3D glasses,...

Brad Pitt didn’t just surprise one theater filled with moviegoers yesterday; he surprised four theaters, in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Austin, all playing his upcoming zombie-apocalypse thriller World War Z. At the last theater, he even hung out onstage with Ain’t It Cool geek guru Harry Knowles. Check out the video of them hanging out below. Hey, you’re probably a little interested in seeing World War Z now, right?

Follow Darren on Twitter: @DarrenFranich

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‘World War Z’ trailer: Brad Pitt versus zombies

Brad Pitt amid the panic of ‘World War Z,’ and why its zombies...

Paramount has now taken Brad Pitt on the road to Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago and Austin, in addition to New York's Museum of Modern Art, for early sneak peaks at Marc Forster's long-delayed "World War Z," in order to build some early buzz. Austin's Harry Knowles got to introduce Pitt on June 6 to a room full of screaming, smartphone-filming fans; Pitt said, "Mr. Knowles, let's kick some zombie ass." Watch below. Knowles also tweeted after the event that "So Brad Pitt has a really manly handshake and rocked the fuck out of Austin." Pitt and partner Angelina Jolie also schlepped to London for the June 2 premiere in their first public appearance together since her high-profile double masectomy. Here's a batch of early reviews. Earlier: Paramount has always been innovative about going straight to the fans with its films, from "Paranormal Activity" to Jason Reitman's "Young Adult." (Last year Weinstein Co.