Producer Michael Uslan’s first film was Swamp Thing, he was 28-years old and asked Warner Publishing for the rights at no charge to an old DC comic book. Since then, Uslan has been involved with every Batman film produced and he is currently working Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Doc Savage and Shazam!.
When Uslan says there will be a major Batman announcement at New York Comic Con, everyone stops and listens.
“On Saturday October 10 we plan on making a major announcement. Stay tuned, join us at 1:45 p.m. in one of the large rooms. You won’t want to miss what’s going to take place there,” said Uslan on the Fan Theory podcast.
What could this major announcement be? Will Geoff Johns announce the Batman trilogy that is rumored or will they show the next Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?
If you were a betting man (or woman) I would make sure that I had a seat for the “Batman: The Bat Universe” panel which takes place on Saturday, October 10, on the Empire Stage of the Javits Center.
And check back with us as we make sure you’re covered on all your Batman and New York Comic Con news and updates.
New York Comic Con runs from October 8-11 at the Javits Center in New York City.
The previously announced Walking Dead zombie plane half-hour special now has more details and a premiere date. What was thought to be a complete 30-minute special is now a 16-part web series that will air one-minute episodes during the season finale of Fear The Walking Dead and continue on in The Walking Dead.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, AMC has confirmed the web series will be called Flight 462 and debut on AMC.com on Sunday, Oct. 4. The series will be a 16-part series and then will air as promos during two commercial breaks within The Walking Dead season six premiere on Oct. 11. Follow-up episodes will run less than a minute and then air during the flagship series. Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson will produce while David Wiener will co-exec produce. L. Signorino and Mike Zunic will pen the script, with Fear DP Michael McDonough set to direct. As was originally planned, one surviving character will become a regular on Fear season two.
“‘Flight 462’ is a great extension of the world of ‘Fear’ and will engage fans across multiple platforms with another riveting story set at the start of the fall of civilization,” said Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV. “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Dave Erickson and David Wiener on another piece of original content. Watching how they’ll bring one of these new characters to the second season of ‘Fear’ will be really exciting for viewers to follow.”
The Walking Dead season 6 hits Sunday, October 11th. AMC released a new trailer titled ‘You Don’t Have a Choice’ Sunday night.
Season 6 starts with Alexandria’s safety shattered by multiple threats. To make it, the people of Alexandria will need to catch up with our survivors’ hardness while many of our survivors will need to take a step back from the violence and pragmatism they’ve needed to embrace. These reversals of roles won’t happen easily. Or without conflict.
But now our group is fighting for something more than survival… They’re fighting for their home, and they will defend that at any cost, against any threat.
Bryan Snider in Gilbert, Arizona took a time lapse video of the eclipse that occurred Sunday evening into Monday morning. What Snider did not know is his video would go viral Monday morning as Facebook published his post in the trending section.
As of 10:30 a.m. EST this video has 195,258 views and counting on Facebook.
Horror remakes often fall flat in comparison to their originals. In the horror genre, George A. Romero is a God! In the sub-genre of zombie-horror films he is the grandfather of all. In 1968 he established himself as the king of the undead with his release of Night of the Living Dead. This black-and-white film noir about a hypothetical virus that reanimates the dead and turns those who are bitten by the infected into slow-moving corpses spawned a slew of sequels as well as imitators. We can thank Romero for shows like the Z Nation, Fear the Walking Dead, and the pan-ultimate, The Walking Dead. Hail to the slow-moving zombies! It has also muse behind spoofs like Simon Peg’s Shaun of the Dead.
Dawn of the Dead (1978) is the second in the “Living Dead” series, written by George A. Romero in collaboration with another horror great, Dario Argento. But there are no connections to the original characters or setting from the first film other than the virus outbreak and zombies. This feature picks up three weeks after the initial epidemic and portrays the U.S. as a population being overrun by reanimated, flesh-eating corpses.
In spite of the best effort of the United States government to manage the unknown virus, it continues to rage out of control. Civil services have all but collapsed and with it goes order and social control, and chaos ensues. The cities are the first to fall with their large populations creating a greater chance to come in contact with the infected. Folks in rural areas and the military fare better because of their smaller populations and weapons.
A television station in Philly, WGON, is still broadcasting, but some of their staff members come to the realization that they should get out of the city and find a safer haven. The dead move into the broadcast station and few of them escape in the station helicopter. While stopping to refuel they have a close call with the dead, but noticed an abandoned mall while flying over and take sanctuary there.
They move in, block off all the entrances to keep the dead out, and clear the mall of any zombies that happened to me inside. They make a living quarter and create a false wall to mask its existence in-case some undead inadvertently get in. They live decadent lives within the walls of the mall. As things do, they eventually go sideways and the mall is attacked by a horde of roaming motorcyclists (of which a young Tom Savini is one) looking to loot the place. They try to the defend their “home” but the mall becomes invaded with zombies and Peter and Francie – two from the TV station – are the only ones to get away in the chopper flying into an uncertain future.
Interesting factoid, for some of the zombies Romero used amputees as stunt doubles. He also enjoyed making a commentary on capitalism, the mall culture, and consumerism. The undead could have returned to any location in that area yet they were drawn to the mall. Their reanimated bodies drove them back to their consumer driven former lives.
The 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead is considerably dark and has a faster pace. The premise is the same, but the differences in the story line is quite evident. Sarah Polly, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber star in this well done film.
Polley’s character, Ana, is a nurse who comes home from a long shift to have date night with her husband, Luis. They miss the bulletin about the outbreak during their “date” and go to bed unaware. A neighborhood girl, who is infected, gets into their bedroom and kills Luis while Ana sleeps. He is almost immediately reanimated and he attacks her but she escapes through the bathroom window and speeds off in her car.
Ana eventually joins forces with some folks – a police sergeant (Ving Rhames), an electrician (Jake Weber), and a petty criminal (Mekhi Pfifer) and his pregnant wife, Luda – and they take refuge in a local mall with some security guards – C.J., Bart, and Terry – who insist on relieving them of their weapons in order for them to stay.
A day later a delivery truck full of people arrive at the mall and there is a dispute with C.J. and Bart over whether to let them in or not, and the two are outvoted and disarmed. The new arrivals are brought into the fold but it is, at times, a tense situation. There is also Kenneth, the man trapped in his gun store across the street, who has ammo, but is starving to death. His store is surrounded by zombies and he cannot get out. Friendships, romances, and animosity bloom in this close quartered community of strangers.
What the remake has that the original film lacks is greater tension between the characters locked in the mall together. Because there are more of them in this mall setting, there is a greater chance for disagreements and conflict. The only gang attempting to get into the mall are the zombies that surround them. Unbeknownst to the mall inhabitants, they also have to worry about Luda. Upon entering the mall she was scratched by a reanimated guard and became infected, but she hides it from the group.
Eventually they decide to leave the mall and set about reinforcing shuttle buses from the parking garage. The group decides to fight their way out of the mall and to the marina in order to take a boat out to a deserted island in Lake Michigan. During the journey to the marina we see something a vastly different. The zombies in this remake are fast-moving and they run after their prey with a vengeance. There is definitely more gore, and thanks to technology, more realistic undead. Don’t forgot to take notice of the zombie baby that the dead Luda gives birth to in the mall – it’s just as hungry as the rest!
The crew loses a lot of people on the way to the boat and the survivors sail into an unknown future. The island is not the Valhalla they sought. This film is definitely worth seeing, plus you get to see Ty Burrell, Phil Dunphy from Modern Family, play a complete douche!
Spectre is believed to be Daniel Craig’s last film in the James Bond franchise and Idris Elba is getting a ton of fan and Hollywood support to be the first OO7 of color, but British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror is reporting that Damian Lewis has been given “an unofficial nod” that he is the first choice if Craig should step down.
“If Daniel Craig leaves, it’s Damian Lewis who will be crowned the new Bond. He is seen as an all-round international star who is perfect for the role. As he ages, he looks increasingly suave and sophisticated,” said source at the Mirror.
Lewis is best known for his roles in Band of Brothers and Homeland. The actor is also 44-years-old and might be a bit old to wrap a franchise around.
About Spectre: A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
Spectre is directed by Sam Mendes, and stars Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott, Naomie Harris, Stephanie Sigman, and Ben Whishaw as Q.
It’s important to remember that regardless of how many great shows any single season may have, we must also fill our quota of terrible shows. I’ve given us a couple of those. But hopefully, this action, drama, fantasy, romance, ecchi, martial arts, school life show Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry (translated as A Chivalry of the Failed Knight) will be the last.
Synopsis: “Magic Knights are modern magic-users who fight with weapons converted from their souls. Ikki Kurogane goes to a school for these Magic Knights, but he is the ‘Failed Knight’ or ‘Worst One’ who is failing because he has no magical skills. However, one day, he is challenged to a duel by Stella, a foreign princess and the ‘Number One’ student. In this duel, ‘the loser must be obedient for life.'” (Source)
Despite being surprisingly well animated, the rest of the show looks… meh. In all honestly, the promise of quality seems all over the place. We have Silver Link, which has done good stuff like Penguindrum, Kokoro Connect, and even Watamote, but the also have Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya and Shomin Sample. The director has done good stuff like both ef: a tale of shows, and even Watamote, but he’s also done Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya.
Quick! How do we get people to realize our show is trashy?
Another comment of concern is the naming. Sometimes it’s Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry, others it’s Rakudai Kishi no Chivalry, and I’ve also seen it as Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan. But hey, at the very least you’ll get a good looking stupid ecchi harem, which is more than what most of the others can say.
Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry will begin airing October 3rd, 2015, for the Fall 2015 season.
Anna Paquin who sports a Rogue Twitter profile picture tweeted Sunday night that she will not be in the Channing Tatum’s X-Men spin-off Gambit. This makes sense as the first film will probably deal with Gambit’s origin and Rogue doesn’t show up till later.
As of now, Gambit has no director and appears to be hanging on by a thread. The film could introduce that romance that is Rogue and Gambit but FOX has to find a director and the rest of the cast together first. Gambit is supposed to start filming in early 2016.
The elegant death and decay of our natural world during Fall is perfectly mirrored through the gut-munching destruction horror films provide. Horror and Fall go together like children and piles of leaves (add a hidden serial killer to that pile of leaves and voila, instant horror). Like the ways in which we celebrate the season, each person takes to horror films differently than the next. I posit that no one actually hates horror, they just prefer a particular brand of the genre. The most benign pieces of art and entertainment almost always involve horrific elements because fear is such a universally evocative feeling.
Bringing friends together and watching horror movies is a cornerstone of autumnal celebration. It is key that when curating these events that you understand who your audience is. Challenging your established opinions is always a great approach toward entertainment, but you also want to try to provide your friends with a good time and not show your arachnophobic friend, Arachnophobia.
Here are 5 types of friends you probably hold very dear to your lives, and recommendations based on the type of horror they’ll dig:
1. The Significant Other/Date You’re Trying to Impress
Whether they’re the loves of your lives, or a crush on a Friday night, introducing horror into a romantic situation can make for a very stressful choice. You want to show them that you have style and taste, all with a good sense of fun. You want to be cautious, not wanting to totally freak them out (you better leave that Region Free DVD of Cannibal Holocaustin the box under your bed where it belongs–for now.) but adventurous, proving you aren’t a total wuss.
Darren Aronofsky‘s 2010 film has the perfect amount of psychological, supernatural and body horror, with the cerebral qualities that give you plenty to discuss when it’s over. Even if you’ve seen it before, Black Swan is great on a rewatch, discovering each bit of insanity as it creeps into the edges of the frame. The balance of the ballet-centric plot with the allure of Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis‘ riveting performances makes this film appealing for all people. This one allows you to show off some art house film-cred along with your steel nerves.
2. Big-Game-Talking Buddy Who’s Got It All Figured Out
I have three words for you: Shock and Awe.
You want to absolutely annihilate this person. They go into horror films with a level of braggadocio reserved for battle rappers in 8 Mile. They’re smarter than you, they’ve always “seen it coming” and they laugh at your visible emotions. Of course they’re masking their own fear and everyone around them knows it, but you want to take delight in finally being the person to bring the giant down to earth. Don’t worry about going too far here. This person is likely stubborn enough to stick around in your friend group no matter what you do to them.
Remember that box you keep under your bed, hopefully chained shut, the contents inside being hidden by something seemingly innocuous? I want you to take that box and unleash all of its horrifying contents upon this soul.
Each of these films serve up some of the most grotesque imagery in cinema. You might find it difficult to get through Audition or Visitor Q by Miike due to the absolute absurdity of the Japanese director’s visions, but trust that his work will get the job done.
The Last House on the Left provides you not just with an awful tale of sexual abuse and revenge, but a window into the creation of one of horror’s greatest legends, Wes Craven.
Cannibal Holocaust‘s director, Ruggero Deodato was arrested and charged for murder because it had been thought he actually filmed the real murders of his cast. Italian authorities thought this was a snuff film. That is all I have to say.
Pick one and go wild.
3. Needs To Be Tricked Into Watching a Horror Movie
These friends discuss what they would do in horrific situations mostly by saying, “Uh-uh. I’m getting out of there. I don’t have time for that.” I think this group has more courage than they give themselves credit and just need to be slightly goaded into the realm of scares with a low piece of dangling fruit.
You can take two approaches to this friend: Completely surprise them with a movie that sounds nothing like horror, but is. Or dust off an old classic that is far scarier than anyone remembers/thinks.
For the first category, go for Creep (2015) by Patrick Brice. The film stars charming funnyman Mark Duplass and starts off loose and light enough, but travels down some very dark paths that will sneak up on and ensnare a typically cautious viewer.
As for the second, give The Last Man on Earth (1964) a shot. This Vincent Price starrer could feel unassuming to a modern audience with its black and white portrayal of vampires (which they are, though the line between zombies and vampires is muddled here) and the presence of traditional Horror-Ham, Price. This film gets downright creepy, however, and there are images and moments that will stick in all viewers’ heads, along with an ending much more poignant and ripe for discussion than Will Smith‘s 2007 take on the material in I Am Legend.
4. It’s Time to Raise the Bar
This friend is placated by just about anything that says “Boo!” or has a Pumpkin Spice flavor option. Which isn’t to say that this is necessarily a bad thing! They don’t typically get out of their comfort zones and rarely challenge themselves with material that deserves discussion. It’s not that the friend is plebeian sensibilities, horror movies simply aren’t a devotion for them.
I know, I know… this reeks of you, as curator, sitting there in your turtleneck, smoking an American Spirit, nose turned all the way up toward the sky. Except this isn’t pretension! Let the Right One In is a genuinely unnerving vampire tale that portrays adolescence and the pains of growing up and making the right choices. It’s smart, it has depth and, most importantly, it is horrifying.
Note: Don’t mistake this with the merely passable American remake, Let Me In.
5. Friend Who is Way Too Into Horror and Movies in General.
If you’re curating, this is likely yourself. You love horror and movies so much that it manifests through all-night horror-thons and bad jokes about Satanic rituals.
Let’s face it, you’re just as annoying to your friends for your constant analytical tendencies and know-it-all attitudes. Odds are, you’re super-stoked for Halloween because your friends have no choice but to placate your need to show them movies. So, how do you program for yourself?
Here’s the cop-out answer: You don’t. This is about having a great time with those closest to you over two hours of cinematic joy and terror. Pick what you feel works best for the group, taking into account the personalities around you and enjoy. Be adventurous! Be fun! Be creative! Let your freak flag fly!
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema released a new TV spot and poster for Creed. The film explores a new chapter in the “Rocky” story and stars Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone in his iconic role.
Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) never knew his famous father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born. Still, there’s no denying that boxing is in his blood, so Adonis heads to Philadelphia, the site of Apollo Creed’s legendary match with a tough upstart named Rocky Balboa.
Once in the City of Brotherly Love, Adonis tracks Rocky (Stallone) down and asks him to be his trainer. Despite his insistence that he is out of the fight game for good, Rocky sees in Adonis the strength and determination he had known in Apollo—the fierce rival who became his closest friend. Agreeing to take him on, Rocky trains the young fighter, even as the former champ is battling an opponent more deadly than any he faced in the ring.
With Rocky in his corner, it isn’t long before Adonis gets his own shot at the title…but can he develop not only the drive but also the heart of a true fighter, in time to get into the ring?
Creed also stars Tessa Thompson as Bianca, a local singer-songwriter who becomes involved with Adonis; Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed, Apollo’s widow; and English pro boxer and former three-time ABA Heavyweight Champion Anthony Bellew as boxing champ “Pretty” Ricky Conlan.
Ryan Coogler directs from a screenplay he wrote with Aaron Covington, based on characters from the “Rocky” series written by Sylvester Stallone. The film is being produced by Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Kevin King Templeton and Sylvester Stallone, with Nicholas Stern executive producing.
Joining Coogler behind the scenes are director of photography Maryse Alberti and costume designers Antoinette Messam and Emma Potts, as well as his “Fruitvale Station” team: editors Michael P. Shawver and Claudia Castello; production designer Hannah Beachler; and composer Ludwig Göransson.
