Undecided by David Sedaris

Read a new piece from The New Yorker by David Sedaris entitled “Undecided” HERE.

M. Night Shyamalan’s New Horror Film Project

M. Night Shyamalan and Media Rights Capital have formalized the first project in their three-picture deal to hatch horror films, reports Variety, They’ve set Brian Nelson (30 Days of Night) to write Devil, a film that will be directed by Quarantine helmers John and Andrew Dowdle. The supernatural thriller is based on an original story by Shyamalan, who’ll produce with Sam Mercer under The Night Chronicles banner. The Dowdle siblings will be executive producers. The film will be PG-13 and will begin production next year. MRC set The Night Chronicles as a financing and production partnership with Shyamalan in July. The company’s goal is to generate one genre film per year over three years, with Shyamalan hatching the ideas and overseeing the selection of talent the creative direction.

Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau & Don Cheadle Suit Up for The Avengers

Marvel Studios has sent out the following two-part production update for Iron Man 2 and The Avengers!

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. AND JON FAVREAU SUIT UP FOR MARVEL STUDIOS’ THE AVENGERS AND IRON MAN 2

As part of his four picture deal with Marvel Studios, Robert Downey Jr. is appearing as Tony Stark in THE AVENGERS motion picture, as well as reprising his starring role as the larger-than-life leading character in IRON MAN 2. Jon Favreau will return to direct the sequel to the blockbuster IRON MAN, which to date has grossed over $578 million worldwide, as well as executive produce THE AVENGERS.

DON CHEADLE WILL STAR AS RHODEY IN IRON MAN 2

Marvel Studios is pleased today to confirm that an agreement has been finalized with award-winning actor Don Cheadle to take on the role of Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes in Marvel’s IRON MAN 2 due in theaters on May 7, 2010. In casting Cheadle, Marvel replaces Terrence Howard who appeared in the role of Rhodey in IRON MAN.

Cheadle is also signed on to perform the same role in THE AVENGERS and subsequent installments of the IRON MAN franchise.

“We are very excited about working with the extraordinarily talented Don Cheadle as we expand the role of Rhodey in Iron Man 2. It has already become apparent as we prep the movie for production, that the dynamic between Robert and Don will take Iron Man 2 to new heights,” said Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios.

Based on Marvel’s iconic Super Hero, IRON MAN 2 continues the story of this summer’s box office blockbuster IRON MAN, the first feature film produced independently by Marvel Studios. IRON MAN 2 will be produced by Marvel Studios’ President, Kevin Feige, and executive produced by Louis D’Esposito, Jon Favreau, Stan Lee, David Maisel and Denis Stewart.

In a movie event, THE AVENGERS will bring together the super hero team of Marvel Comics characters for the first time ever, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk and more, as they are forced to band together to battle the biggest foe they’ve ever faced.

The highly anticipated sequel to IRON MAN will be released in theatres on May 7, 2010 and THE AVENGERS will be released July 15, 2011. Both films will be distributed by Paramount Pictures. (From ComingSoon.net)

 

 

In honor of Halloween, some Shining Trivia

Classic Kubrick, classic Nicholson. Released in 1980, the Shining was one of the first films (and definitely the most famous of these early movies) to use the newly-invented Steadicam. It was a camera that was weighted, which allowed for smooth movement even in smaller spaces. Here is some trivia regarding this classic spooky movie.

 

Jack Nicholson’s visitors on the London set of the Shining included Anjelica Huston, Mick Jagger, George Harrison, John Lennon and Bob Dylan.

 

Other actors considered for the Jack Torrance part were Robert DeNiro, Robin Williams (can you imagine?) and Harrison Ford. Nicholson was always the first choice, though. DeNiro later said the movie gave him nightmares for a month. Stephen King didn’t like any of those choices and tried to talk Stanley Kubrick into using Jon Voight or Jack Palance.

 

Diana Vreeland is pretty much the reason the movie was able to continue shooting. Jack’s back was bugging him from a previous movie injury and he was popping all kinds of pills to try to alleviate the pain. Nothing worked and he was starting to get worried that his pain was going to have to halt production. The fashionista heard about this while at dinner and promptly left her meal and had Jack’s driver take her to a pharmacy, where she purchased two back plasters. Then she went back to the eatery, commanded that Jack drop trou and applied the plaster right then and there. It worked, and the film was finished.

 

Jack Nicholson claims he wrote the scene where Jack Torrance writes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” over and over and over. “That’s what I was like when I got my divorce,” he said.

 

It got baaaaad reviews: Variety said it was the “biggest box office disappointment since Exorcist II”, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner said it was “completely fake and banal” and the Wall Street Journal said it failed not only as a horror movie, but as any other genre as well.

 

The famous “Heeeeeeeere’s Johnny!” line was improvised.

 

Although most exterior shots were done at the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood, Oregon, all of the interiors were a movie set. Kubrick refused to film in the States if he had to, since he was an ex-pat. At the time, the movie set was the largest ever built.

 

Stephen King didn’t care for much of the Kubrick version, which is why he made his own T.V. miniseries version in 1997. Among other things, he didn’t agree with the casting of Shelley Duvall as Wendy Torrance. He pictured Wendy as a blonde, cheerleader type who had clearly never known any type of hardship – pretty much the opposite of Duvall. He cast Rebecca DeMornay in the 1997 version, which, you have to admit, fits King’s original vision much better.

 

 

Donuts And Bacon ‘08

Not to be confused with…

 

 Click on either t-shirt to order.

Awareness Test

The World’s Weirdest Vending Machines

Click HERE for a look at some of the most unusual vending machines in the world.

 

Spaghetti Trees

When this report was broadcast on the BBC in 1957, hundreds of people phoned in asking how they could grow their own spaghetti trees.  More hoaxes can be found HERE such as the left handed Whopper, the baseball phenom Sidd Finch and the Taco Liberty Bell.

 

MTVMusic.com

For all of you haters out there griping about how MTV doesn’t play music videos anymore, here’s something to calm the waters. Check out MTV’s new website MTVMusic.com — their new online catalog that finally opens up MTV’s massive music video archive.

 

While MTV.com has always been a source for the latest music videos, MTVMusic.com offers up a more in-depth library, including over 16,000 videos, “Unplugged” performances and exclusive MTV concert footage. And if a video you’re looking for isn’t there yet, check back regularly as more and more vids are added daily.

 

Footloose Remake On The Fast Track

After watching Zac Efron and director Kenny Ortega deliver a $42 million opening weekend for “High School Musical 3,” Paramount Pictures has fast-tracked “Footloose,” hoping to get the film ready for Efron and Ortega to start production next spring.

 

The studio has brought on “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” director Peter Sollett to rewrite the Jon Hartmere script and hired Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to join Dylan Sellers as producer.

 

Unlike “HSM3,” “Footloose” will aim for an older teen and adult demo. Efron is just about set in a deal that will pay him a mid-seven-figure salary and give him script approval.

Zadan and Meron are established producers of musicals “Chicago” and “Hairspray,” the latter of which was Efron’s first feature. Zadan also was a producer of the original 1984 “Footloose.” They join Sellers, who has put two years of work into the musical with Ortega.

While Sollett rewrites the Hartmere script, the studio is working on new songs that will complement some of the memorable original tunes. Though the Herb Ross-directed film wasn’t a musical, screenwriter Dean Pitchford wrote lyrics for songs that included the Kenny Loggins title song as well as “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” “Almost Paradise” and “Holding Out for a Hero.” At least some of those tunes are expected to be in the new movie.

 

“Footloose” spawned one of the biggest-selling soundtracks of its era and made a star of Kevin Bacon. (From Variety)

 

First Look At Angels and Demons

Religious expert and scientist: Tom Hanks stars with Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer in Angels & Demons, due May 15.

Intelligently designed: Filmmakers had hoped to shoot Angels at the Vatican and inside Roman churches. But Brown’s Angels, which includes the murder of two cardinals, was quickly shut down by the church. “This movie was strangely harder to shoot than Da Vinci Code, even though there’s less controversy,” says producer Brian Grazer. Exteriors were shot quickly in Rome, and elaborate sets were built to replicate the Vatican and other churches at Los Angeles studios.

Faith under fire: Ewan McGregor plays Carlo Ventresca, the faithful servant to the church during the papal conclave in Vatican City. Grazer says the movie examines the conflict between science and God, particularly when faith is tested by violence. “This is the hardest movie Ron (Howard) has ever shot,” Grazer says. “Not only because of being exiled from the Vatican, but it’s darker subject matter.”

Digging deeper: Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks, left), Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), Chartrand (Thure Lindhart) and Carlo Ventrasca (Ewan McGregor) examine clues in Angels. Grazer describes their earlier film, The Da Vinci Code, as “a puzzle movie. It wasn’t a contemporary movie. It was a little static. This one is more dynamic. It’s an action movie.”  (Images and Text Reprinted from USA Today)

Time Magazine Interviews Chip Kidd

As a book jacket designer for respected U.S. publisher Alfred A. Knopf, Chip Kidd has worked with authors from Cormac McCarthy to Michael Crichton to Haruki Murakami. He is also a twice-published novelist, graphic designer, and comics fanatic – hence Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan. Kidd talked to TIME about his superhero obsession, why books will never die, and the almighty power of Oprah Winfrey.

 

So, you’re pretty much obsessed with Batman, huh?

Yes, though I like to think in a healthy way.

 

Why him above all other superheroes?

I really liked the design of Batman. I liked the concept. There’s a lot more you can do with Batman than most other superheroes. Like Superman. Superman’s basically an omnipotent god. Batman is the flip side of that, which is a lot easier for people to relate to.

 

What’s the story behind this crazy Batman/Japanese comic book you’re putting out?

I’ve published several books on the lore and the toys and the this and the that of Batman. When the Batman TV show came out in 1966, it was a global hit. But Japan was the only country in the world that contacted DC Comics and said, “We want to license the right to write and draw our own Batman and Robin stories.” These stories appeared for exactly a year, from April ‘66 to May ‘67. And they kind of came and went. They were never collected, never translated. They just appeared and then vanished.

 

How was it different than the American version? I noticed one comic where Batman was fighting a man who could change into a praying mantis, a drill bit, a pterodactyl…

They took it back to the ’40s, where there wasn’t any deep psychological exploration, just a slam-bang fun thing. There’s this one villain called Lord Death Man, and his ability is basically to die. But much more importantly, he comes back to life and starts to haunt Batman’s dreams. All kinds of wonderful weird things happen that don’t get explained.

 

I’ve seen pictures of your place and you have tons of collectibles. What the oddest one you have?

There’s a water gun from England, which is a figural water gun of Batman basically bent over…I don’t know how far you want me to go with this.

 

No, keep going.

I was amazed that this thing got made. It’s legit, too, not a knockoff. His arms are behind his back. The water comes out of his mouth and the trigger of the gun is basically…what you think it would be. The plug you pull out and put more water in is, well, the other end.

 

Which Batman incarnation have you enjoyed more, the campy ’60s one or the grim, “I want to commit suicide if I have to watch half an hour more of this” Dark Knight from this past summer?

There are aspects of all the various incarnations that I like. The animator Bruce Timm, I think, got it best. He was the art director and designer for Batman: The Animated Series. The opening credits are the single best Batman movie that anybody has ever made. It’s about 45 seconds and there’s no dialogue or words on the screen. It’s brilliantly done and looks like a 1930’s German Expressionist movie.

 

Aside from ones you’ve worked on, what are some of your recent favorite book jackets?

The cover for James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces. Since all that’s happened with that book, the cover is the only aspect of it that has emerged with its dignity intact. The cover works regardless of whether it’s a novel or a memoir or what have you.

 

Do you still work on as many book jackets as you used to?

I still have a steady stream of book cover work. I’m grateful for it. Viva le book! I often get asked, “Is the book dead?” It hasn’t happened yet. It’s different than music. Music was always meant to be pure sound-it started out as pure sound and now it’s pure sound again. But books started out as things. Words on paper began as words on paper. The paperback book is the best technology to deliver that information to you.

 

Do covers sell books?

I wouldn’t buy a book simply because I like the cover. I would pick it up. The jacket can call your attention to it. But in that sense, Oprah Winfrey is worth all the jackets in the world. A jacket is basically trying to do what she does all on her own. (Reprinted from Time.com)

 

 

Christopher Nolan Talks Batman

The LA Times spoke with Christopher Nolan regarding Batman, The Dark Knight, The Joker and a bunch of other stuff fans have been talking about for way too long now. Here’s a peak at some of the interview:  

 

Watching “The Dark Knight,” it’s very easy to imagine the Joker returning to Gotham, the way his fate remains unresolved. When you were writing the film, did you anticipate that the Joker would be back in the third film?  

 

No, really and in truth, I only deal with one film at a time. I find myself sort of protesting this issue a lot. We’ve never attempted to save anything for a sequel or set up anything for a sequel. That seems improbable to some people because, particularly with “Batman Begins,” the film ended with a particular hook (with Jim Gordon showing Batman a Joker playing card announcing the arrival of a new villain in town). But for me that was just about the excitement of people leaving the theater with the sense that now we have the character up and running. I wanted people to walk away with that sense in their head. You know, that he’s become the Batman in the movie. That’s why we had the title come up at the end, because it was “Batman Begins,” and it was all very specific to that.   Then I got excited about seeing where that character would go. It was planned in advance, but it followed in that way. But we tried our hardest to really do everything in this movie that we would want to see the Joker do and to get that in the fabric of the story as much as possible. We wanted the Joker’s final taunt to Batman to be that they are locked in an ongoing struggle because of Batman’s rules. There’s a paradox there. Batman won’t kill. And the Joker is not interested in completely defeating Batman because he’s fascinated by him and he enjoys sparring with him. It’s trapped both of them. That was really the meaning of it. Of course what happened is Heath created the most extraordinary character that you would love to see 10 movies about. That’s the bittersweet thing. It was incredible characterization. It is a bittersweet thing for all of us.    

 

Read more HERE.  (Reprinted from LatinoReview)

 

Last Night We Saw An Early Screening Of Pixar’s “Up”

Last night my wife and I had the wonderful opportunity to watch an early screening of “Up”, Pixar’s 10th animated film which is scheduled for release on May 29th, 2009.  We had no idea what movie we were going to watch until we entered the theater and were giddy to find out it was “Up” as we are avid fans of animated movies. We were lucky to be one of the first audiences in the world to see the film which combined a bittersweet coming of age story with an unexpected friendship. The rough-cut version of the film that was presented to us was mixed with storyboard, rough and finished animation.  The movie plot was completely original but somewhat dark with many adult themes (aging, loss, separation and unfinished promises).  Both my wife and I welled up at a few scenes and there is a memorable montage that depicts a couple’s life together that is so poignant, even the toughest critic will be moved. There are still some very funny moments but this picture really stands on its own and is difficult to compare to its Pixar predecessors.

The cantankerous hero of “Up” is named Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) who spends his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seemed to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. The audience is along for a thrilling ride and journey with the unlikely pair of Carl and Russell as they encounter wild South American terrain, an unexpected villain and unusual jungle creatures.

The film was directed by Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.) and co-directed by Bob Peterson (Finding Nemo) who also wrote the screenplay. “Up” featured the voices of Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger and Jordan Nagai.

After the movie, we were part of a 20 person focus group that provided commentary on our likes and dislikes, highlights and low points.  It will be interesting to see if any of our input will alter the finished product.

I would definitely recommend this movie to family and friends as the animation that we saw was top notch.  We generally cared for the major characters and found the story to be unique although a little morose compared to other Pixar fare.  It was refreshing to see an action hero in his 70’s.  If your grandparents have never seen a Pixar movie, this is the one to bring them to as long as they remember their tissues.  Kids will love the Russell character and the fun animals in the film.  Although not my favorite Pixar film (my favorites were Finding Nemo and The Incredibles) it is far better than many animated or even live action movies in the theater currently.