If you had bet that Sofia Coppola’s next film would deal with disaffected young women in some way, then it turns out you’re a big winner. And if you imagined it would be a look at the bored lives of the rich and depressed, then congratulations, you were pretty spot-on. But what may come as a surprise is that, despite Coppola’s trademark inert style, her next film is going to have something of an action element.

Based at least in part on true events, The Bling Ring tells the tale of a group of fashion- and celebrity-obsessed teens in Beverly Hills who form a crime ring and proceed to break into celebrity homes. Coppola says that the film will “reveal a sobering view of our modern culture,” which sounds about right if you replace the word “sobering” with the word “infuriating.”

The movie is intended to be an ensemble piece, and Coppola says of pre-production so far, “I’m excited about the young cast we’re assembling and I’m looking forward to shooting on location here in Los Angeles.” While most of the specifics of who make up this exciting young cast aren’t known, we do know that Coppola and her producers have landed a pretty huge name already.

Fresh off of her lengthy and super successful run as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, Emma Watson is ready to take a break from her scholarly studies and help take the piss out of  celebrity worship in this one. While opinions on Coppola’s somewhat divisive works vary, I think everyone can agree that it’s nice to see Watson transition so seamlessly from what could have been a defining and limiting role into working alongside some of the most respected young talent in Hollywood. Add this collaboration with Coppola to the fact that Watson just worked with multiple time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn, and the rumblings that she’s going to reunite with director David Yates for Your Voice in my Head, and Watson looks like an actress who is making all the right moves post-Potter. [Variety]

The first glimpse we’re getting of Akiva Schaffer’s star-studded new comedy Neighborhood Watch certainly isn’t giving us much of a look at what the plot is going to be—and I guess that’s why they call it a teaser—but there still seems to be something a little off with the way they’re introducing this one to the world. The slow motion footage of lame suburban guys trying to look hard while driving, the slightly out of date rap song that makes up the soundtrack, somehow it all adds up to make something that feels a little less like a wide-release comedy that’s about to hit theaters and a little more like the funny new show that’s about to debut after Weeds on Showtime.

That said, there are still some laughs to be had when Jonah Hill and Ben Stiller interrogate that poor, confused kid at the end; so it’s possible that this one will end up being worth our box office dollars. And no doubt it’s going to be fun to see The IT Crowd’s Richard Ayoade perform comedy alongside some of the most established comedic actors in Hollywood. If he gets the right material to work with here, it could be the launching point for the next hot career in comedy.

And maybe the next trailer will have some of the alien stuff we were promised and a few more jokes so that people will actually have a reason to want to go see this thing.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s difficult to explain, really. We do know what it isn’t: boring.

We begin this evening with one of two images from the scene of the crime where George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road could very well be shooting. We know this because some wicked Mad Max-esque vehicles have been spotted near where the production is said to begin shooting in April. It’s got Tom Hardy, it’s George Miller back in the saddle, and it’s okay by me.

Special Urgent News Bulletin

You can now follow Movie News After Dark on Pinterest, a place where our FSR scavengers will pin awesome movie-related things to a board in the cloud. It’s very New Age, we assure you. Just click the button below.

“After many months we have finally closed the scoring with Ramin Djawadi – whose scores for Game of Thrones, Prison Break and Iron Man are amongst my favorites in the last few years.” That’s Guillermo del Toro giving composer Ramin Djawadi the Pacific Rim job. See what I did there? I’m twelve.

Nobody is watching HBO’s Luck, starring Dustin Hoffman. Which is sad, as that show is quite good.

We’d like to extend a hearty welcome back to our new-old friends at Gordon and the Whale. Also, thanks for not asking for Kate Erbland back. We’re so glad that we didn’t have to murder all of you and your families just to keep her under our employ. Live long and prosper, but remember not to get handsy.

Did you guys see the new Avengers trailer today? I did, and I very nearly cried as Hulk made his big catch near the end. It gave me chills, I tell you. Others have taken a more scholarly approach, including the folks at HitFix, who present 10 new things we learned about The Avengers today.

It’s now being rumored by gossipy types that Ed Helms may lead the Vacation remake. It’s a casting move that would make plenty of sense. At least it would make more sense than say, remaking the Vacation movies.

“Fans can show their support for #HungerGames24 by visiting Screenings.TheHungerGamesMovie.com and tweeting a unique hashtag assigned to their closest city to unlock Advance Screening locations. Starting tomorrow, March 1, the top four cities with the most Twitter volume will be announced each day and fans will then be able to enter to win tickets to those locations.” Get some, Hunger gamers.

In the following video, CinemaBlend editor Katey Rich and Hollywood.com editor Matt Patches video blog from the John Carter junket in Arizona. If you see someone wandering around in the background drunken through the desert, that might be me. Or Devin Faraci. It’s hard to say from a distance.

Nicolas Winding Refn’s next film, Only God Forgives may soon have distribution. The sooner the better, I always say.

Warner Bros. executive Kevin Tsujihara says that WB wants to lead the way to converting billions of DVDs to digital files. But Kevin, what am I going to do with all of these shelves I’ve purchased for my apartment? How will people be impressed by all of the money I’ve spent on home entertainment products? UGH!

Complex has a sizzling list of The 25 Craziest Parties in Movies. From what I hear, every single moment of reading this list is better than going and seeing Project X.

io9 has a wonderful interview with Michael Chabon about John Carter, a film he co-wrote after being a major fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ work for many years. Besides being an incredible writer, Chabon is also a massive geek.

Badass Digests resident green man, Film Crit Hulk, presents his Hulk vs. Downton Abbey – Series II. IF YOU LIKE READING INTELLIGENT WRITING IN ALL-CAPS, THIS IS A MUST-SEE FOR YOUR EVENING.

Reelizer has hipped us to the following fan poster for The Dark Knight Rises by Ben Whitesell. I want this on my wall.

We close tonight with news you can use, a video from the folks at SXSW that talks about their SXSW Go App, the SXSW Comedy Festival and various other things, all of which relate to the giant party which looms large in our near future. It’s hosted by Claudette Godfrey, one of my favorite people in the greater Austin area. Hi Claudette!

Click here and Continue Reading Movie News After Dark…

Richard Linklater‘s latest film, Bernie, features Jack Black as a mustachioed mortician who all the townsfolk admire. His character is a people person, which is probably why he tries to make nice with the snarly widow played by Shirley MacLaine. A romance blossoms, but there’s still plenty of dirt in the woman’s heart, and from the looks of the new trailer, she doesn’t get to see the end credits. And apparently Matthew McConaughey plays a lawyer convinced dear old Bernie is a killer.

Jack Black ratcheting it down a notch? Maybe without even scatting? MacLaine essentially reprising her Guarding Tess role? McConaughey with a shirt on?

Looks great:

The generic, buzz-worded voice over does not at all match the tone of the movie, but that’s the marketing game. The “True Story” angle here is interesting because they’re being bold about it even though it’s pretty obviously fictional. Still, the documentary talking heads giving their neighborly input seem like one of the best parts about it.

Would you go see it?

Why Watch? You know that outrageous, embarrassing story about the time you thought Goldschläger wasn’t that alcoholic? Imagine it being retold and acted out by puppets.

Strike that. Don’t imagine it. Just watch this. This series of shorts has the allure of “Drunken History” mixed with the deviance and cuteness of Avenue Q. This particular episode from comedian Jon Mick involves a ridiculously tolerant girlfriend, a lot of vomit, and a very special crevasse.

What will it cost? Only 4 minutes.

Skip Work. You’ve Got Time For More Short Films.

Building on the success of his previous book The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made, author David Hughes continues his quest to tell the stories behind cinema’s most famous, infamous and interesting projects that never were. It just so happens that many of these projects have a geeky slant. And his newest venture, Tales from Development Hell is no different. The other day our friends at /Film debuted an excerpt from Hughes’ chapter on Darren Aronofsky’s Year One with Clint Eastwood. Today, we’ve got ourselves a neat exclusive, debuting an excerpt from the chapter on Frank Darabont’s Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods. Remember that Shia LaBeouf-led storyline about Indy’s grease-ball accomplice slash (spoiler) offspring? All those flying monkeys? That wasn’t in the one written by the guy who would later bring The Walking Dead to the small screen.

What was in Darabont’s Indy IV? Well, you’ll just have to read on to find out…

Darabont’s script, entitled Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods, opens in 1952 with the hot rods racing in the Nevada desert, and Indy’s betrayal by an old friend — here, a Russian named Yuri Makovsky, rather than a Brit named Mac, who is on the trail of plutonium, rather than mummified alien remains. Instead of being captured by Russians infiltrating a U.S. military base at Area 51, Indy sneaks into the base (a scene reminiscent of the 1998 PlayStation game Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft), where he discovers the “huge cavern filled with…well, everything. It’s a maze of gantries, catwalks, experimental arcana, machinery, and mountains of crates marked ‘Top Secret.’”

The next several scenes closely mimic those from the final film: a Jeep chase through the cavernous hangar, narrowly avoiding the blasts of flame from experimental jet engines, Indy and Yuri propelled across the desert on a rocket sled. Indy is captured by the Russians, thrown in the trunk of a car, driven to a fake town constructed as part of an A-Bomb test, where he survives the blast by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator. After a radiation scrub and debriefing, Indy is accused of selling secrets to the Russians, put on a leave of absence from the university where he has tenure, gets drunk and bewails his lot to the statue of Marcus Brody, before visiting a display case containing, among other artefacts, the Cross of Coronado from Last Crusade and the fertility goddess from Raiders.

Here, he is attacked by a ‘Thin Man’ whom Darabont describes as “Death in a homburg hat. Dressed all in black. Rat-thin face with a long scar bisecting a milky dead eye.” The Thin Man shoots the FBI agent tailing Indy, and when he falls to his death during the ensuing fistfight with Indy, leaves behind the key to a left luggage locker at Grand Central Station — and a lot of questions. Later, as Indy packs a suitcase, he is scolded by his father, not only for getting drunk, but for running away. “It appears there’s a reason you’re named after the dog,” he quips, a reference to the origin of the ‘Indiana’ nickname.

The left luggage locker leads Indy to a disheveled hotel room, and a bowling ball bag containing a (human) crystal skull. “Perfectly formed, life-sized, smoother than glass, kicking light like a giant diamond orb,” it is the ‘Skull of Destiny.’ Moments later, a gangster named Reggie Nalder, mistaking him for Yuri, hands Indy a passport, some cash — and a plane ticket to Peru. As Reggie pays the price for his incompetence, Indy makes his way to a Peruvian backwater named Madre de Dios, where he is surprised to find his (Yuri’s) contact is none other than Marion Ravenwood, who he hasn’t seen for twelve years — and who greets him with a punch in the mouth. “I told you if I ever saw your face again I’d pop you one!” she says, before demanding that he hands over the crystal skull.

Marion convinces Indy to accompany her — and her husband, handsome Hungarian explorer Baron Peter Belasko — on an expedition to La Ciudad de Los Dioses, the fabled ‘Lost City of the Gods, which Professor Vernon Oxley, an old friend of Indy’s father, was trying to find when he disappeared without a trace three years earlier. According to Marion, one of Oxley’s retainers survived, crawling out of the jungle having found the crystal skull — but lost his mind. Together, they figure out the legend: “There are thirteen skulls in all, fashioned by the gods as they lay dying,” Indy explains. “When all the skulls are brought together again, the gods will be reborn and reward mankind with all the knowledge of the universe.”

Flying over the famous Nazca lines, which Oxley believed to be a map showing the way to the lost city, Indy and Marion are shot at by a biplane bearing Yuri, leading to a barnstorming aerial dogfight, a good old-fashioned ‘wing walk’ by Marion, and a crash-landing in the Amazon rain forest. Yuri continues to stalk the team as they survive such hazards as poisonous frogs, mutated bugs, the local despot’s armed goons, Yuri’s Zhukov commandos, rapids, waterfalls, a giant snake that swallows Indy, hat and all — and Marion’s husband, who, it transpires, is working for the Russians, who seek to harness the skulls’ psychic powers to use as a weapon in the Cold War.

Arriving at the fabled City, they discover huge water wheels, fifty feet in diameter, being spun by the rapids, acting as gigantic turbines in a ten thousand year old electrical generating station! Deep in the bowels of the ancient machine, Indy & Co stumble on the chamber which collects the relics of lost civilizations, and the throne room with thirteen (rather than just one) headless crystal skeletons. When Indy replaces one of the skulls, the creatures speaks through Oxley: “We are the ones who fell from the heavens,” the alien voice explains. “We are the Nephalim. We are the Rubezahl. We are the lights in the sky.” With echoes of von Däniken, StarGate and 2001: A Space Odyssey, the voice goes on to explain that they nurtured, enhanced and advanced the human race thousands of years ago, and were worshipped as gods. Now restored to their former glory, the aliens take off in a huge flying saucer — which then crash lands, exploding with the force of a nuclear blast, destroying the Lost City of the Gods forever. Indy winds up marrying the newly divorced Marion, at a ceremony attended by Professor Oxley, Henry Jones Sr, Sallah, and President Eisenhower himself.

While Lucas, Spielberg and Ford considered Darabont’s draft, delivered on 4 October 2003, the appetite for a fourth Indiana Jones was further whetted by the DVD debut of the original trilogy, previously available only on video and laserdisc. While fans reveled in the copious bonus features on the new DVDs, Spielberg and Ford both reacted enthusiastically to Darabont’s script. Lucas, however, did not. “It was a tremendous disappointment and a waste of a year,” Darabont later told MTV. “I spent a year of very determined effort on something I was very excited about, working very closely with Steven Spielberg and coming up with a result that I, and he, felt was terrific. He wanted to direct it as his next movie, and then suddenly the whole thing goes down in flames because George Lucas doesn’t like the script.” A despairing Darabont confronted Lucas directly. “I told him he was crazy. I said, ‘You have a fantastic script. I think you’re insane, George.’ You can say things like that to George, and he doesn’t even blink. He’s one of the most stubborn men I know.”

© 2012 by David Hughes. All rights reserved.

Tales from Development Hell is available now from Titan Books. Buy it here on Amazon.

Hunger is the reason mankind first decided to kill – one imagines. Surely, the first time someone domed a boar with a stick they didn’t do it just to be a dick about it. This is why when a movie does food right the result is extremely powerful; you can close your eyes and try to forget a sad or scary scene in a film, but if a scene makes you hungry there’s no going back from that.

Here are some scenes that you’ll no doubt wish you didn’t watch – scenes that make you hungry, no matter your preference, because sometimes food just looks good.

10. Phil Stuffs His Face in Groundhog Day

Admittedly, this is more about concept than content in that it’s less so that the food itself looks appetizing and more that the ability to consume immoderately would pretty much change the way life was lived to the extent that fusion power might. Imagine that – life would be one big all you can eat buffet where it mattered: on the inside.

The food does look quite tasty as well, but only really coupled with how guilt-free eating it would be. Lord knows Mr. Bill Murray does his absolute best to make such culinary splendor rest on the side of gluttony with his ultimate cake stuff. He takes that thing out faster than an anaconda eating a baby. We should all be so lucky to shove a cake into our awaiting gapes with such gusto.

9. Remy’s Masterpiece Meal in Ratatouille

Any petite-portioned meal powerful enough to mentally send you into a blissful maternal flashback is probably a decent dish. You don’t really need to know what Ratatouille is to want to gobble it in this scene, the fact that it was prepared by little animated rats seems to make it even more desirable in that it’s probability the only opportunity one would have for such an event to occur in life. After all, this isn’t a Disney universe where mice and birds dress you and squirrels fall in love with you and all that – we’re talking Pixar rules where most rats are running away from sentient toys and cars when they’re not eating bugs that plea for their little bug lives.

The entire movie portrays just how potent this one little rat’s sense of good taste is, and just how good he is at proving it to others when he gets a chance, which isn’t often – so imagine that one meal he finally creates with total power over the kitchen. That has to be friggin’ top notch.

8. Cypher Displays Exactly Why Ignorance Is Bliss in The Matrix

I haven’t eaten meat in exactly 20 years, and I can’t stand so much as the smell of steak being cooked – all true…but I want that fork of meat Baldy McThinbeard is holding. In the context of this film there isn’t a meal more satisfying because every other meal we see before and after it looks like unrefined regurgitation. And the crunch of steak as he chows down – the satisfaction on his face – it just sells that one bite. You completely understand why a guy like Cypher, someone confined to a pretentiously long-named underground space ship, would give it all up.

To be able to sit at a nice restaurant, sip wine, and eat juicy steak and not have to think about how you have like 20 metallic tubes in your naked body while suspended in an H.R. Giger painting is totally an okay desire to have. In fact – why are the humans even resisting? What exactly do they have to win? A clouded sky over cold rocky terrain with one giant hole-city where they can rave dance to their heart’s content? Just go to Russia, guys.

In all fairness, I know nothing about Russia’s landscape or nightlife, but that’s kind of how I always pictured it.

7. Kevin’s Sundae in Home Alone 2

The Home Alone films, while not all that amazing retrospectively, perfectly formed the ultimate childhood fantasy. Not only does our hero get to be left alone for many weeks of unsupervised fun, but also gets to spend some of that time elaborately torturing two adult home invaders. It’s the perfect fantasy because not only does it cast off authority but also actually attacks it in this weird way as Kevin refuses the will of his attackers – one of which actually disguises himself as a cop. The second film takes this even further with Kevin tricking an entire hotel into the royal treatment as well as upping his torture methods in the end. And of course when it’s all over his terrible, terrible parents always come to him in apology – he is blameless.

Sitting in a bed watching films you aren’t supposed to be watching while some adult makes you an ice cream sundae from a cart of decadent toppings and desserts pretty much embodies this ultimate childhood nirvana scenario in one delicious package.

6. The Sci-Fi Kitchen in The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy

Any futuristic culinary practice, save for everything the Klingons eat, is going to be especially appetizing. After all – it’s the future, and in the future everything’s better, right? Okay, unless there are like angry robots or something, but generally if we see some kind of advanced civilization/technology like in Star Trek or Hitchhiker’s Guide, we can assume that the ability to cook good food has also been improved. Such is the case with this kitchen, which can actually sense what you are craving and make it for you – that is when you’re not busy having mini-duels with your bread slicer/toaster laser sword.

However, probably the most appetizing feature of this film is not in the kitchen but rather the bar – where we are introduced to the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, a drink described as being like “having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.” That sounds awesome! The book goes on to describe this as the “alcoholic equivalent of a mugging,” which, again…just awesome. Space booze is the best booze, no doubt.

5. The Dessert Buffet in Jurassic Park

Click the image above to view the clip on AnyClip

Any dessert buffet is probably going to make you hungry – but this goes double if you’ve spent the last few nights hiding in trees hoping to not be swallowed whole by big genetic reboots of dinosaurs. So it’s really the pay-off more than anything else – these tired little shits have been on a two day trauma hike, not to mention that one of them has been freaking electrocuted, and this right here is their reward – endless fruit and cake.

Additionally – and before I say this, I am fully aware that this could just be me – but the dinosaurs themselves seem like a really good eat. After all – when’s the next chance any of these characters will get an opportunity to eat a dead triceratops or velociraptor? Surely, no matter the taste, the real savor would be getting to live with the fact that you consumed the blood of ancient monsters. If I were on that island I would grab the first available chunk of meat I found on a carcass and stuffed it in my face before someone could stop me. To hell with cooking it – sure you might get sick – but you think Neil Armstrong worried about the risks when he stepped onto the moon’s surface? I think not.

Zombies!

Of all the movie about the walking dead, one of them continuously appears on the best of lists time after time after time. Okay, maybe more than one of them shows up all the time, but this one’s considered by many to be the best of them. I’m inclined to agree. George Romero‘s Dawn of the Dead is more than just an improved follow-up to 1968′s Night of the Living Dead. It the film that made living in a zombie apocalypse fun. It’s the film that really introduced us to what Tom Savini could do with some plaster and a machete. It’s the high watermark for epic, zombie storytelling, and, for 34 years, no film has come close to topping it.

Who better to take us through Dawn of the Dead and show us how it all came to be than Romero, Savini, and George’s wife, Christine, who served as assistant director on the film. The commentary on this Anchor Bay Divimax is moderated by the DVD’s producer, not something we’ve come across before in this column. It could be a nice, organized way to handle information from the commentators. It could be such a slog it makes us wish Hell would run out of room. However the path it takes to get here, here are all the things we learned listening to George & Chris Romero and Tom Savini talk about Dawn of the Dead.

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Commentators: George Romero (writer/director), Chris Romero (assistant director/actress), Tom Savini (special makeup effects/actor), moderated by DVD producer for Anchor Bay Perry Martin

• At the start of the commentary, Savini asks George if the red carpeting on the walls was a forewarning of how bloody Dawn of the Dead was going to be. George says, “No.” The location where they shot the opening was a Pittsburgh TV station. The red carpet was already there.
• The TV director and producer seen at the control deck near the beginning of the film are actually George and Chris Romero – Christine Forrest at the time. Savini points out that George is wearing his “lucky scarf.” According to Chris, the two met before George directed the 1976 film Martin where Chris played a part. Dawn of the Dead was their second film together. There’s a slight bit of confusion as to whether or not they were married before filming. Chris says they weren’t. George says they were, but he quickly backtracks to agree with her. Probably because she was right.
• Martin asks George about the success of Night of the Living Dead. Due to the slow build on the film’s success, George explains the people who worked on it were never able to appreciate its success both with audiences and financially. “I didn’t want to make a sequel or another one,” he says. He explains that the idea for Dawn came about when he visited the mall seen in the film, which was owned by personal friends. He went to the mall and, upon seeing crawlspaces above the shops complete with supplies, began getting the idea for what would become Dawn of the Dead. According to George, it was Dario Argento who asked him if he wanted to do a sequel. George took the idea he got at the mall and ran with it. Well, not so much ran with it. More like shuffled along slowly with it.
• Martin asks George about offers after Night of the Living Dead found its success. “It’s amazing,” says George. “They don’t come out of the woodwork. Even today, I’m trying to promote a fourth one.” George notes how afraid studios are of him and the reputation for gore he brings with him. He mentions that even if and when – George is obviously talking about what would come to be 2005′s Land of the Dead – his fourth …of the Dead film gets made, he’s sure it would have to go through several cuts from what his original vision is for it. George and Chris agree later on in the commentary that they would ideally like to get $14m to make this “fourth one.” According to Box Office Mojo, Land of the Dead ended up costing $15m.
• “My idea for the fourth one is ‘Ignoring the Problem,’” George mentions. He also talks about how his ideas for the zombies films don’t start with character. They start with an idea or a theme that drives the story and, ultimately, builds the characters. The theme behind Dawn of the Dead was consumerism and reliance on material possessions. George does say the script for “the fourth one” is finished, and, due to the success of films like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake (2003), interest was growing.
• The cop that gets shot on the roof near the beginning of Dawn of the Dead was Savini’s first ever head shot. Just for future, trivia knowledge. He was working on a play in North Carolina when he got a message from George that said, “Hey, we got another gig. Think of ways to kill people.” The film originally had a crew member in charge of squibs, but he left halfway through shooting. Savini was left to learn as he went.
• The notorious head explosion shot utilized a head cast of Gaylen Ross, the lead actress of Dawn of the Dead. The cast was made because of the film’s original ending, where Francine, who Ross plays, commits suicide by stepping up into the helicopter’s blade. Savini put some “afro hair” on the cast, painted it dark, and came up with the shot where someone’s head gets literally blown off. That’s creative movie making, right there.
• Martin mentions how important the “head explosion” shot was to American horror films and how horror films before that time didn’t show that kind of graphic, in-your-face violence. Savini agrees, saying “They said, ‘Oh, no. If this is the beginning of the movie, what are they gonna do to us towards the end of this movie?’”.
• Each day, the crew had to wait for Monroeville Mall to close for the day before they could shoot, usually 10:30 PM. There were a few bars in that area, and Savini remembers making up zombies who would then go to the bar and drink. Everyone agree this probably helped their performances. Savini does say the drunk zombies caused damage, particularly a couple who stole a golf cart and crashed it inside the mall.
• According to Martin, Gaylen Ross told him she had completely fabricated a resume when she auditioned to be in Dawn of the Dead and that George had no idea how inexperienced she really was. “It wouldn’t have mattered to me,” kids George. “She didn’t realize she didn’t have to do that.”
• “War is Hell until it turns into a party,” says George when Martin asks him what he was aiming at with the mob of soldiers and citizens hunting zombies for sport. The director mentions this sequence in Dawn is carried over from the end of Night of the Living Dead. “Don’t you think this would be going on in this phenomenon was really happening?” he asks. “You can only hunt so many deer,” Savini replies.
• 22:22 – Martin asks someone how they’re “doing with that ambient audio.” There’s some slight dialogue between the two of them. Martin then explains the commentary is being recorded in George and Chris’ living room and a leaf blower is being used just outside. The sound is muffled but definitely audible on the commentary track. It’s definitely a leaf blower. Maybe a Toro. You can tell these things.
• The helicopter blades in the shot where the zombie accidentally chops the top of his own head off were animated in post.
• George notes his collaboration with Argento and the Italian financiers was a very good partnership. The writer/director was left alone to make the film he wanted to make. He notes part of the deal he made with Argento was that the Italian director could cut the film any way he wanted for foreign markets. Argento felt Dawn of the Dead had too much humor, and his version of the film is trimmed of many of the jokes. This version caused censors in foreign markets to crack down hard on the film upon its release. George mentions there are roughly 10 different versions of the film. “If you want to put out other DVDS,” he jokes to Martin.
• When Savini signed onto Dawn of the Dead, he didn’t know he’d be appearing in or performing actual stunts in the film. “It’s like the stuff needed to be done, and I think I said, ‘I can do that. I can fall off that balcony.’” The way Chris remembers it, it was Savini who kept hounding George to let him do a stunt. She quips that, if they did everything Savini wanted to do, they’d still be shooting. Savini mentions that was the fun of the production, that they could bring up new ideas every day and try to sort out how to do it. About that fall off the balcony, though, Savini injured himself while rehearsing it. He missed the cardboard boxes that had been set up to dampen his fall.
• Even though the production was fast and loose, George and Chris do mention they had day-to-day schedules they tried to stick with. Chris notes their schedule was never more than a few days out, but it was more or less an organized shoot. They were still able to come up with new ideas on the fly. The screwdriver death is one such moment in the film that was thought up on set. Continuity errors in what actor Scott Reiniger is wearing during this scene was one result of them coming up with and shooting this spur-of-the-moment death scene.
• Certain “zombies” in the cast would get their picture taken in the mall photo booth. They would then tape their own photos over the pictures on the outside of the booth for the next day’s mall patrons. Because NO ONE executes a practical joke like the undead denizens of Hell.
• Reiniger’s character Roger sliding down the escalator divider was an impromptu moment on set. Savini recalls how he and other cast and crew members did the same thing during the film’s production. He does joke that you can’t do that now, since all escalators have metal posts sticking up at the bottom. “You think that’s because of us?” asks George. “I’d love to say that it’s because of Dawn of the Dead,” Savini replies.
• Every morning during production, the mall’s Muzak would turn on over the PA system at 7:00 AM, causing the shooting to halt. Savini remembers they never could figure out how to turn the music off.
• In order to ensure a certain speed in their production, the lighting crew, headed by Carl Augenstein – “Oggy”, as George refers to him. Isn’t that cute? – switched out all the lights in Monroeville Mall for color corrected lighting. This way they didn’t have to do “setups” in the traditional sense but were able to shoot freely about the mall and have it all come out lit correctly. This lighting was kept in all the way through the shoot, even during regular mall hours.

• Martin asks George what kind of direction he would give his zombies. “Oh, you can’t,” George responds. He mentions that, if you give 100 people dressed as zombies a specific movement you want them to do, every one of them would do that exact movement. “You just have to say, ‘Be dead.’” He does mention David Emge, who plays Stephen in Dawn, was the best zombie the director has seen. According to Martin, Emge told him his inspiration for how to act like a zombie was Lon Chaney Jr. in the Mummy movies.
• To this day, George doesn’t use storyboards. He works from shot lists, as he did with Dawn of the Dead. He mentions directing Bruiser and how that film required much more choreography with the shots, since he was working with a 30-day shoot there. He uses a lot more long takes and camera movement with that film, whereas, with Dawn, it’s a lot of static shots cut quickly. He also notes a bigger budget means bigger limitations on a film.
• There are several instances where George, Chris, or Tom point out when one of their friends or family members show up as a zombie. “Who do you call?” asks George when Martin points this out to them. Savini mentions he still has people come up to him and say they were a zombie in Dawn of the Dead. Try that the next time you meet him. See if he believes you.
• George notes there are about a dozen shots or so, most of them establishing shots, where he wishes they had had more zombies walking around outside the mall. Savini points out that CGI would allow them to have about 3000 zombies in any given shot today. ”I don’t want to use it to rely on it,” George says after Martin inquires him about CGI later on. The director clearly prefers practical effects, but he does recognize if an effect is impossible without the usage of CGI. “But I guess I’m an old fashioned guy,” George says. “Give me a rubber suit.”
• Savini brings up Boris the Dummy, the production’s go-to dummy. He doesn’t say whether or not this was the only dummy they had on set, but it’s certainly the one they used the most. Savini points out every time Boris is seen in the finished film. Apparently a grenade going off right in front of the dummy was the end of Boris. “He was made of wood and foam,” says Savini, “but he lasted a while.”
• Because of the budget and the available technology at the time, the production wasn’t able to see dailies to ensure what they had shot came out acceptable. The film was shipped to New York and processed at a lab there. Chris mentions a lab tech in New York would call George to let him know if everything looked okay. It didn’t always, and the production had to fit in reshoots if it didn’t.
• George was introduced to Goblin, the Italian band who did soundtracks for a number of horror films, through Dario Argento. Since Argento had the right to change the music in Dawn of the Dead for release in foreign markets, he had the band create a soundtrack for it. George mentions he had the option to use some or all of Goblin’s score if he chose to. He uses it periodically throughout Dawn of the Dead.
• Chris Romero states she doesn’t like horror movies. Savini calls her a pansy because of this. She does mention she loves George’s movies, but she “can’t stand the blood and guts.” She does get noticeably uncomfortable later in the film when the zombies are taking out the biker gang.
• George briefly brings up the Dawn of the Dead remake. He believes his film was so much about its time that he isn’t sure the new film would work the same way. “I don’t know what it’s gonna be, but I can’t imagine it having the same impact this had then, because it meant more, the whole idea of the mall,” says George.
• Martin asks George which part of making films he enjoys the most, to which the director responds, “Watching them.” He does say his favorite part of the filmmaking process is the editing. He finds the writing phase an anxious part because of the uncertainty in the project’s completion. He finds shooting to be a grueling process even though he finds it a fun aspect. George particularly likes showing his films to an audience for the first time. Chris brings up the first time they showed Knightriders, George’s film after Dawn of the Dead, to an audience. It was the first, public screening of the film -critics were in attendance, as well – and the sound mix was so bad that no one could understand what Ed Harris was saying underneath his motorcycle/knight’s helmet. That last bit is just thrown in there by me so you’ll know what’s in store for you with Knightriders. Watch it.
• “I knew that if we could get it in front of an audience that the fans would ride it,” George remarks on the first, public screening of Dawn of the Dead. The film didn’t have a distributor at the time, but, due to the audience reaction, it did before the end of the night. It’s here where Chris asks who it was that actually did make money off Dawn. George says it didn’t do that well, because it was unrated and only played in a small number of theaters – the film opened in April 1979 with $900,000 on 68 screens. He does note it did well overseas. They go on to recollect how poorly Day of the Dead did when it was released in 1985 even though George remarks it’s his favorite of the series.
• The bike gang in the third act of the film was primarily made up of a real gang, the Pagans. Savini notes his character wasn’t written in the script but was a character he and George came up with on set. All of his character’s dialogue is improvised.
• All three agree how awesome the sound was when all the bikes were driving around inside the mall. George notes it was the first time he had experienced writing something and then being totally blown away by the reality of it when it was being filmed. He mentions there’s no way to capture that feeling on film. He also mentions the roar and vibration of the bikes set off every alarm in Monroeville Mall that night.
• Why the pie fight? “I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to have a pie fight in this.’,” George responds. Chris remembers fighting with George about this because of how stupid she found it. A shot of George and Chris running through the scene as a mall Santa and an elf zombie, respectively, was cut. Chris says she’s blocked this out.
• Savini recollects the stunt of driving through a window. The glass was much thinner on one end than another, and it was angled such that he drove through the thicker part. The part Savini drove through was two inches thick, and he hurt his knee, the only part that wasn’t completely padded over. He remembers George having a piece of the “break-away” glass in his office that he would periodically try to break on his table. “It was like a steel girder,” remembers Savini.
• George mentions how he wishes the had shot the stunt through the window in slow motion. Martin notes this is a technique the director doesn’t use often. “Maybe it’s anti-Peckinpah, or I don’t know. I just don’t like it. I like things happening in real time,” George says.
• To achieve the bullet ricochets off the side of the elevator shaft wall when the bikers are shooting at Stephen, Savini shot rocks with a slingshot at the wall next to David Emge. The actual hit on his arm utilized a blood-filled prophylactic. Something tells me this technique is used more in films than it’s mentioned.
• Martin asks George if there was an intention to top what he did with Night of the Living Dead in this film. George says there wasn’t and that the feeling with Dawn of the Dead was “unrestricted.” “You’re not trying to top your last film in that sense,” he says. “You’re trying to go over the top. You’re trying to do what you can to really make it a gas.” Savini agrees topping themselves wasn’t the intention, but it naturally happened based out of how much fun they put into the film.
• George originally intended Dawn of the Dead to end tragically like Night of the Living Dead before it. However, over the course of the making the film, he fell in love with the characters. He also realized they made the film too much like a comic book, too fun, to have it end horrifically. Savini remembers George announcing during production that they were “going to have an up ending.” They had already shot part of the tragic ending when Gaylen Ross’ character stands up into the helicopter blade. Ken Foree’s character, Peter, was originally going to shoot himself, which he teases in the film as it is now.
• Chris and George joke about how, even though the characters decide to leave the mall together, they don’t have much of an option as to where they go. “There’s what we could do, Tom,” says George. “We could get them together on an island somewhere.” Savini chimes in with his own idea for a sequel to Dawn. “Gaylen and Ken and David,” jokes Savini. “Yeah, they spent the last 25 years in some mall in Jamaica.” They all joke about how they could have the surviving members of Day of the Dead fighting with the survivors of Dawn of the Dead over control of the island.

Best in Commentary

“When you’re born in Pittsburgh, one of the things you want to be when you grow up is a zombie in a Romero film.” – Tom Savini

“Everybody screws up all the time, so, if the shit ever hits the fan, forget about it.” – George Romero about how society would break down in a real zombie apocalypse

“When you say zombie movie, this is the movie everybody thinks of.” – Tom Savini

Final Thoughts

This Dawn of the Dead commentary track is enlightening, even if much of it is about general thoughts on the film as well as Romero’s career in the industry. There are definitely specific anecdotes thrown in for good, personal measure, but it often falls back on banter about budgets and studios and how much George would like to get for his “fourth film” in the series. Granted, not a lot of that is interesting now, since we’re six years and three more …of the Dead films after this commentary track was recorded. A lot of Romero talking about his ideas for a “fourth film” was far more interesting in the days before Land of the Dead got made.

The moderator on this commentary track was an interesting addition. It kept the conversation on track and brought up specific bullet point topics for the group to converse about. There’s a lot of digression from this. The three will often point out friends and family members as zombies, sometimes in the middle of a sentence talking about something completely unrelated. Nonetheless, all of it comes together nicely in a commentary that includes film making technique, thoughts on the industry, and personal recollections from getting the film made. Hearing the best film maker of any sub-genre talk about the film that solidified his place as the best is always interesting. That’s precisely what we get with this Dawn of the Dead commentary.

Learn more about the movies you love with Commentary Commentary

Ahh, zombies. In many ways, speaking of the entertainment world, the end has already arrived and we are overrun with zombies. Zombie comics, t-shirts, movies, toys, and television shows. I used to love zombie movies. Hell, I wrote a zombie screenplay in college. The zombie craze reignited in the early 2000s with 28 Days Later and the remake of Dawn of the Dead. From then on, we’ve been fairly well saturated with the undead.

Can you get too much of a good thing? Yes, yes of course you can. Too much of anything will eventually kill you or drive you insane. What a stupid question. Ignoring that momentary lapse of stupidity, when inundated with zombie flicks to the point of not caring, is it possible to find anything worthwhile, anything new?

Enter The Dead. (That sounds pornographic!)

Kills

Zombie movies that work on any level most do one thing, and that is destroy zombies. There are around five legit on-screen zombie related deaths of people and a few more scattered around and off-screen to other causes, like a plane crash. In terms of the undead being redeaded, I’d say north of 75 zombies are dispatched.

Gore

The gore we see is mostly okay with a few highlights. It’s a zombie film, so we get a lot of bites and a lot of gunshots to the head. A guy goes on a machete rampage against a ton of zombies at one point, which is cool, and there is a great head smashing scene. Some of the bites are particularly vicious, with torn flesh.

Lust

Absolutely nothing.

Learning

You are especially fucked in a desert climate during the zombie Apocalypse. The desert will kill you on a normal day, one without roaming legions of the undead, so just imagine how complicated it gets when stragglers catch up to you and try to eat your face.

Review

The Dead is a story of survival. Two men, one an American Army Engineer and the other a Some-Nameless-African-Country Sergeant, whose paths cross and they decide their odds of survival are better together. One is just looking to get out, the other, trying to find his son. If the desert doesn’t kill them first, the zombies just might.

There’s not much more to it than that. People try to cross the African desert and zombies shamble after them every now and again. What The Dead does right is take a more realistic survival approach for most of the film. Our heroes don’t engage every zombie they see. If a slow moving zombie appears, they’ll walk around it to save ammunition. If a zombie is in uniform, and thus likely carrying supplies, it’s killed and looted. Need a new desert friendly get-up? Kill a zombie who is better dressed than you.

It feels as though it was written by guys who were always yelling at the TV, telling stupid characters what to do – and most of the time, there’s very little to yell at the movie about. The characters behave pretty intelligently – to a point.

Both of these men, who are supposed to be trained Armed Forces officers, lack basic field craft when it comes to establishing shelter and perimeter defenses. A single strand of rope with a single tin can is not going to be a good warning system. Likewise, sleeping on the ground is stupid, even if there aren’t zombies. If you smartly decide to sleep in an elevated position, you don’t just balance on a tree branch and hope for the best. A lofted bed can be created quite readily.

Similarly, when gathering gas, the men attempt to fill a large container, which if it was fully filled, would weigh north of 400lbs. A smarter solution would be to get a small container of gas, then bring the car to the gas, fill it up, fill up the large container, and take it with you. Think boys, think!

The Dead is almost overwhelmingly quiet. There is little dialog and little intense action. There are some great, tense sequences, but these are often short and well spread out. While the zombies permeate the scenes and are almost always present, there is a sense of immediacy and danger that is often missing from the film. This may be the intent, in portraying a ‘realistic’ situation, but as a film, it suffers.

Overall, this is a fairly smart and somewhat fresh take on the zombie apocalypse. It’s worth watching if you’re a zombie fan or haven’t been overwhelmed with the genre yet, but make it a rental.

I probably listen to more scores than most people (or even most film fans) do and I realized that while the various scores filling my iTunes range from action (LOUD NOISES!) to drama (sad guitars) to comedy (funny guitars!) one fact remains consist across the board – the majority of these scores are composed by men. In a time where the ladies are starting to make their presence more and more known in film (which, let’s be honest, has been a veritable boy’s club up until the past few decades) with Kathryn Bigelow becoming the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director for 2008’s The Hurt Locker to the ladies of Bridesmaids taking some of the raunchy comedy heat from the boys, it surprised me to see such a lack of a female presence when it came to who creates the music for these films. I am a lady and I (clearly) have a passion for music and know girls have just as much musical talent as the guys – so why is my gender lacking in the “Original Music by” section of IMDb?

As I started looking into this question, I began to realize that the majority of female composers seemed to be working in television. Women seem to be much more prominent in the world of TV with The Chop Shop’s Alexandra Patsavas (who has placed the music for shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Chuck, and Gossip Girl) practically ruling the role of music supervisor and the duo of Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman (“Wendy & Lisa”) composing the music for popular shows such as Heroes, Nurse Jackie and the upcoming FOX series Touch. But when it comes to creating scores for film, as Mary J. Blige would say, where my ladies at?

Back in 2009, a panel titled the “Music in Film and Television” (organized by Women In Film) featured five female composers (including Melvoin and Coleman), most of whom had made names for themselves in television. One of the panelists, composer Lisbeth Scott, did contribute to the score for Avatar by providing vocals for the music composed (and attributed to) James Horner and while British composer Helene Muddiman had just composed the music for the film Skin, she has since only composed music for television with fellow panelist, Hillary Thomas, also having composed (and continuing to) primarily for television. So why is it that female composers seem to live mainly on the small screen while male composers dominate the silver one?

Mikael Carlsson wrote a piece for the International Alliance for Women in Music that also tackled this question of female composers and in his piece interviewed composer John Ottman (The Usual Suspects, X2 and Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer) who said:

“It’s simply been women not being viewed as having the “chops” that males have — especially when it comes to “commanding” scores, or those with aggression. The misconception is that women composers tend to be meek, less bold or daring. And if they try to do so, the prejudice against them is that their efforts are seen as contrived or forced; in other words, trying to imitate boldness and not doing it naturally. So women composers have been in a sort of “Catch 22.” Because of this, I assume there are not as many women composers even trying to get into an uphill battle because they’re discouraged being faced with a glass ceiling.”

Outside of placing pop songs into certain scenes, the need for score in television is fairly limited to dramas and action based shows which may make the idea of having someone with less experience or not as extensive a background a good candidate to take the reins to create the mood for these serials. Creating the score for a film is certainly a much larger undertaking with more money at play and may be part of the reason it is taking a bit longer for women to really get a foothold there while their presence is slowly (but surely) coming to our television screens.

But make no mistake, there are female composers who are starting to break through into the film world starting with Shirley Walker who back in 1992 composed the score for John Carpenter’s Memoirs of an Invisible Man and became the first woman to compose (and conduct) the score for a major Hollywood release. More recently, Rachel Portman has been helping to break the mold having scored (and been solely accredited for) such films as The Other Sister, The Cider House Rules, Chocolat, The Manchurian Candidate and, one of my favorite scores from 2010, Never Let Me Go. Since then, Portman has scored the music for One Day, The Vow and the upcoming Bel Ami and while it is less than inspiring to see Portman caught up in creating music for films aimed at the female, rom-com demographic, the fact that she is creating good music for wide releases is how these doors get opened.

My question remains – why are these women not well-known? Where is the female Hans Zimmer or Cliff Martinez? Even in looking over the list of composers for Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions, there is only one woman (Lisa Gerrard) listed among the forty plus names. And while Gerrard won a Golden Globe for her work on Gladiator, she shared the honor with Zimmmer (who she did collaborate with on the score) and on her next big release, Ali, Gerrard shared composing duties with another man, Pieter Bourke. Again, I am not trying to discredit male composers or claim they are not talented, I am just questioning why you rarely hear about female composers when it comes to film and when you do, they seem to be paired with a man.

The simple answer is – change is coming, but it’s slow going. Those tapped into the world of film music or those who take the time to ask, “Who composed that?” may have come across some of the names mentioned here and even if you were to name the composers (male and female) who worked on the films released last year, most people would probably not recognize the names like they would a famous director or writer. Music is an important aspect of film and television, but those who create that music do not yet get the same notoriety as the Spielbergs, Nolans, and Sorkins, no matter what their gender.

So this is my siren call to all those female musicians and all filmmakers – let’s start getting some more female voices (and I don’t just mean vocals) out there holding the conductor’s baton and creating scores that will have the number of female composers rivaling (or at least equaling) those of the men.

What do you think about the lack of female composers? Was there a score mentioned here you were surprised to find out was written by a woman?

Welcome to “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City,” or perhaps more appropriately, welcome to Being Flynn, complete with its own bullshit and own suckitude. Based on writer Nick Flynn‘s memoir (you know, the one called “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City,” as if you could forget such a title), Paul Weitz‘s film sets Paul Dano as Nick and Robert De Niro as his wayward papa, the irreverent and inappropriate Jonathan Flynn. Nick’s lived most of his life without his father, a man who has “manifested as an absence” for twentysomething years, and Nick’s been just fine with it. Relatively. Kind of. Fine – not really. But things are about to get much worse for Nick, because Jonathan is about to pop back into his life – and utterly ruin it in the process.

Nick’s life so far hasn’t been that charmed – a directionless loner, he resembles his father perhaps even more than he would have even if he had grown up with the man. Both Nick and Jonathan have lost Nick’s mom (Julianne Moore, who is lovely in her brief bits in the film) and both of them struggle with their desires to be great writers (though Jonathan frequently announces that he already is a great writer, he just needs to get published). Both of them are also, almost hopelessly, alone. Jonathan returns to Nick’s life with a phone call – he’s been evicted and he needs someone to help him move, and he once heard that Nick had a truck – and Nick, struck by the sudden and precise communication, agrees to help Jonathan. But Jonathan does not have anywhere to go with his belongings, and too proud to tell his son the truth, he wanders off – and it’s only a matter of time before he ends up at the homeless shelter where Nick has just started work with his new friend Denise (Olivia Thirlby).

Weitz’s film almost immediately sets Nick and Jonathan as opposing, yet equal, forces. Both stubborn storytellers, the film unfolds with the pair of them facing off with dueling narration. Is this Jonathan’s story? He’ll tell you that it is. But maybe it’s really Nick’s? More likely. Darkly funny and eventually achingly human, Being Flynn is both a story about fathers and sons and about single entities finding their way. Nick and Jonathan both endure a number of personal trials, mistakes, and tragedies on their way to finding “great material” for their imagined published works.

The all-important “Suck City” is Boston, although most of the film was actually lensed in New York City. Weitz does his best with his locale, and most of the time it just feels as if the film is set in some nameless gritty city. Fans of the book will be pleased, however, to see that a pivotal scene involving library heating vents remains intact and appropriate to Boston. And, as it should, it appropriately sucks. How much does it suck? Nick lives in an abandoned strip club, and Jonathan eventually goes totally cuckoo. See? Sucky.

However, what Being Flynn ultimately hinges on is the performance of its two leads. While De Niro’s performance for the film’s first half is more than workable and he easily shows just why Jonathan is universally viewed as a charmer, as his character descends further into madness, paranoia, and extreme pain, the actor removes all nuance from his work, happy to portray the screaming madman as just that – mad, and screaming. It’s a performance completely without shades or any ounce of humanism – in short, it’s the sort of hammy and phoned in stuff we’ve been seeing from De Niro for years. Moreover, De Niro exhibits a profound reticence to abandon his now-classic cadence and speaking tics, which become more distracting as the film winds on. Fortunately, Dano’s contribution amounts to no less than perhaps the best performance of his career, which is all the more impressive considering that the actor hasn’t turned in a bad one so far. It’s his finest and funniest work yet.

Weitz has famously hopscotched across genres with his work – there’s been the raunchy teen classic (American Pie), the satire (American Dreamz), the mainstream comedy (Little Fockers), even a YA-adaptation (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant) – but, thankfully, his latest most closely resembles Weitz’s best film, About A Boy. Both films about relationships, masculinity, and being better than you are, Being Flynn will make a tremendous double feature with About A Boy one day but, for now, it stands up just fine on its own.

The Upside: Paul Dano’s pitch-perfect performance, well-placed gallows humor, and an engaging and personal story.

The Downside: A hammy, over-the-top performance by Robert De Niro that removes nuance from an otherwise well-crafted film.

On the Side: Go explore the real Nick Flynn’s website.

There’s some good news and some bad news for fans of last year’s return of the Muppets to the big screen. Much of the thematic heft of Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller’s The Muppets script came from the question of whether or not the Muppets were still a viable entertainment entity in today’s cynical world, whether anybody remembered them, and if they could still be stars. The answer to that question now seems to be a definitive yes, because The Muppets did so well that Disney is starting work on a sequel.

The good news is that The Muppets director James Bobin and co-writer Nicholas Stoller have both signed on to step back into their old roles and bring us whatever comes next, so there should be an element of continuity and tonal consistency between this new film and The Muppets that can often be lost when creative teams are completely shuffled around in later franchise installments.

But the bad news is that the other Muppets co-writer, and the man who was largely the impetus for getting The Muppets made, Jason Segel, won’t be coming back to pen this new Muppets adventure. With more work on the long in the tooth CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, other writing gigs he has already committed to, and promotional work for his upcoming acting efforts like The Five-Year Engagement and This is Forty looming in the future, there just doesn’t seem to be time.

Vulture’s report on this news does mention the possibility that Segel could come back to the franchise in an acting capacity once this sequel is ready to go in front of the camera, but that notion might just be a placating bit of damage control thrown in by Disney sources. New Muppets movies always tell radically different stories from the features that they’re following, so it’s hard to imagine Segel’s Gary character being needed for much more than a cameo this time around.

On a positive note, now that there’s a spot to be filled on the new Muppets set, maybe Bobin and Stoller will be able to get Frank Oz to come back and work with his old felt friends once again. That would certainly be an effective way of making sure this new movie stays in Muppets fans good graces.

While Tim Burton’s recent live-action films have still been raking in gobs of cash, they’ve also taken a bit of a downturn in quality that have left longtime Burton fans feeling a bit cold. Affection for his stop-motion animation efforts seem to still be ever-present and warm, however, so this new trailer for Burton’s Frankenweenie should play as a fun, bow-wrapped surprise to a lot of people.

Check it out after the break, you might just be in for a pleasant shock.

The warped visuals of a Burton film are never in doubt, so to say that this movie looks vintage, strange, and gorgeous probably isn’t necessary; but it also seems to have some thematic connections with past Burton works that might be worth mentioning. The best Burton films have always been about not just about oddities, but about youthful dreamers, and this one looks to have that in spades. It’s got the weird mixing of the Gothic macabre with suburban malaise that worked so well in Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice as well. And it explores childhood emotions and the way traumatic experiences effect kids differently than they do adults, because they’ve yet to develop the necessary coping mechanisms (you know, Pee-Wee losing his bike syndrome).

In addition to all that, Frankenweenie also seems to have more homages to classic Frankenstein movies than you could shake a stick at. So even if you’re not typically a fan of Burton’s oddball work, there’s a whole other level that you might be able to enjoy this film on. Whether you’ve been high the man’s recent output or not, this trailer is one that everyone will probably want to check out. Give it a chance.

Frankenweenie opens on October 5. [Yahoo! Movies]

Couple of questions for you: are you full up on adorable teaser trailers for the day after that charming Frankenweenie spot? Or do you have room in your heart for more cute? Have you missed the minions? Fine, that’s three questions, but they’re all applicable. Universal Pictures and Illuminations Entertainment’s Despicable Me came out of nowhere in 2010 to become a charming box office smash. Who knew that an animated film about a super-villain who adopts three tiny orphans as part of one of his evil super-villain plans would end up being so sweet, touching, and funny? Not me. I had no idea. And then I cried in the first film – I cried. So yes, I would like the inevitable sequel to come out right about now.

But we won’t be getting it until next summer. So, until then, sate your desire for villainous hijinks, peppy minions who speak their own wacky little language, and perhaps more music than you’re expected with the most teaser-iffic of teaser trailers for Despicable Me 2. It’s an all-minion affair, so be warned.

Despicable Me 2 opens on July 3, 2013. [Apple Trailers]

Momentum has been building behind a potential Top Gun sequel for quite some time now, but up until this point the only news about the project has been rumor and hypotheticals. What’s clear is that every time Tom Cruise talks about the project he sounds enthused to get it started, and he very much wants Tony Scott to come back and direct again. But, despite that enthusiasm, no concrete moves have been made to get the film in production.

There were rumors at one point that X-Men: First Class writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz had been hired to come up with a script, but nothing seems to have come of that, because now THR is reporting that The Town writer Peter Craig is the guy coming on board to take a crack at getting things started. If that’s true and Craig does actually start and finish a Top Gun script that gets used, then it should be seen as a pretty big coup for a movie about oversexed jet pilots. The Town turned a lot of heads, and it seems like after hitting it big with such gritty work Craig wouldn’t be looking to transition into flashy popcorn stuff. It would be exciting to see what he came up with given the task though.

But what’s there to make us think that this news of Top Gun 2 ramping up pre-production is any different from all the other false starts? Well, the first hint is the fact that they’re hiring Craig in the first place. Going after a serious writer can be seen as a new serious approach to finally getting a filmable version of this story on the page.

Secondly, Tom Cruise just made a ton of money at the box office starring in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and it has kind of assuaged some fears that Cruise’s worth as a box office draw might have been dwindling. Now that he’s put some new money in the studio coffers, there’s bound to be newfound enthusiasm for developing Tom Cruise projects that are easily marketable to a wide audience. Enter: a project with name recognition and a cult following. If the original Top Gun does actually get a 3D conversion and a theatrical re-release, and it ends up doing well, then I’m sure this sequel will get even more of a rocket engine strapped to it.

What do you think Top Gun fans? Is Cruise zipping up the flight suit one more time a good idea, or are we on the highway to the danger zone?

Though it’s taking longer than most would have expected, Sundance doc West of Memphis has been picked up for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. The deal has been buzzed about since the film premiered at the festival, but SPC has finally gotten around to sewing up the deal for Amy Berg‘s film about the West Memphis Three.

Berg’s film, produced by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, is a new entry into the cinematic world about the Three – Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. Accused and sentenced of the murder of three young boys back in 1993, documentarians Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofksy have previously chronicled the case in three Paradise Lost films, but Berg’s film features new information and interviews (some completed mere days before the film bowed in Park City), including particularly damning evidence against Terry Hobbs (a stepfather of one of the boys) and some very close time with Echols and his wife Lorri Davis.

Back in January, I reviewed the film at Sundance, calling it both “exceedingly well-executed” and “an essential entry into the horrifying true life tale.” I’m pleased as punch that the film will now be getting a release from an established studio that can push it out to plenty of audiences. A release date has not been announced yet, but we can likely assume that SPC will get out this timely documentary within the calendar year, especially with a number of other feature film adaptations of the story getting into production soon.

Be sure to also check out Dustin’s excellent interview with John Mark Byers. [via The Playlist]

Looks like Hollywood has picked their next big action director, and they’re not wasting much time setting him up with his next project. Daniel Espinosa likely made Universal very happy with his first English-language film, Safe House, which has already grossed $135m, and now Warner Bros. wants in on what the Snabba Cash helmer is dishing out. The studio is reportedly in negotiations for Espinosa to direct The Outsider, “a gritty action film” that centers on “a POW in Osaka in WWII who goes to work for the Yakuza.” Grit? Action? Bad people? Yup, that’s Espinosa’s wheelhouse.

The script’s been written by newcomer Andrew Baldwin, and he comes with his very own pedigree. While Baldwin hasn’t seen one of his scripts hit the screen yet, he’s a hot commodity in Hollywood. Last October, he was hired on to rewrite the Logan’s Run remake that Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling have been all over, and he’s been on the Black List twice – once with The Outsider in 2011 and once with The West Is Dead in 2008. When it appeared on the Black List, the logline for the film read “In post World War II Japan, an American former prisoner-of-war rises in the yakuza,” so yeah, that’s about what we’ve got for now.

And, if you’re interested, the still-unmade The West Is Dead‘s plot is: “During the Great Depression, a group of semi-outlaws go on the run from the law when forced to vacate a town as the Hoover dam is constructed.” Baldwin likes his outlaws. [Deadline Liberty City]

What is Movie News After Dark? Usually it’s a recap of what’s happening in the world of film. But on a slow news day such as today with FSR news teamers like Nathan Adams having already done that, News After Dark becomes something far more interesting: a gathering of links that will take you down the rabbit hole of the intelligent thought, analysis and otherwise fun reading that the movie blogosphere has to offer. Also, there was plenty of Mondo news today, so that’s good.

We begin tonight with a first look at Ryan Gosling in Only God Forgives, Nicolas Winding Refn’s next film that is currently shooting in Thailand. Radius-TWC, an off-shoot of The Weinstein Co., has closed a deal to distribute the film in the United States. Which means you’ll get to see it. And that’s really all that matters, right?

Special Urgent News Bulletin

You can now follow Movie News After Dark on Pinterest, a place where our FSR scavengers will pin awesome movie-related things to a board in the cloud. It’s very New Age, we assure you. Just click the button below.

Read this AV Club essay about Dead Alive. If you like film and happiness, that is. Then go and read Matt Singer’s article about Dead Alive and the debate between practical and CGI effects. It’s a cornucopia of nerdness.

The always lovely Joanna Robinson at Pajiba counts down 13 reasons why you’ll like The Hunger Games film through the release of a bunch of new images from the film. Finally, there will be a movie for those of you who are “fond of bitchfaces.”

Perhaps one of the best movies of 2011, regardless of genre or fiction status, was Senna, the high-speed documentary about one of Formula-1′s most fascinating and tragic icons. Initially the film was set to only be released on DVD (March 6), but fan outcry — including a bit of some from yours truly — has earned the film a Blu-ray release on July 10. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen that happen. Not fans getting what they want, but fans helping prompt a type of home video release with direct feedback. Anyway, here’s the beautiful Blu-ray box art to be (complete with a massive quote from my hero, Jeremy Clarkson):

In the spirit of love and lists, Badass Digest presents 10 episodes that will make you fall in love with Community, too. By my calculations you should be in love with Community because I say so. However, if you need additional reasoning, please explore the suggested curriculum. Seriously, stop holding out on those of us who are already enlightened.

There is a new Titanic miniseries. It will be just like Downton Abbey. Like the previous film about said large ship and the aforementioned show, many of us will struggle to grasp “the big deal” in regards to its popularity. Perhaps I should give Downton Abbey a try.

Our friends at Geeks of Doom present a really great list of creator owned comics that you should be reading. Just as we are constantly in support of great independent films, we also think that independent comics are a worthwhile pursuit. Especially when they come out like John Layman and Rob Guillory’s Chew, which was recently picked up for development by Showtime.

J.J. Abrams and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke are still working on their post-apocalyptic pilot, Revolution. And in order to make us really excited, they’ve roped in Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito. You’ll know him as the bad motherf**ker who played Gus Fring, the king of brotherly chicken and meth.

As always, Movies.com’s Monika Bartyzel writes an excellent edition of Girls on Film. This week’s topic: Redefining Rom-Com – What Hollywood Can Learn from Jennifer Westfeldt. For those wondering, Jennifer Westfeldt is the writer behind such progressive romantic films as Kissing Jessica Stein, Ira & Abby and the soon to be released Friends with Kids. The latter of which I’ve heard is pretty good.

If Benedict Cumberbatch says The Hobbit will be amazing, then I suppose The Hobbit will be amazing. There’s no reason not to believe that guy.

The Alamo Drafthouse’s boutique art arm Mondo made a few big releases today, both of which were caught by poster nerd extraordinaire Germain Lussier at /Film. The first is that Mondo will release a Back to the Future trilogy set of posters by Phantom City Creative. And they are quite gorgeous:

The second item is one that is pretty exciting for me personally, as it’s taking place in my own back yard and will not require me to hack the internet in order to participate (as is the case with buying anything from Mondo these days). Mondo is opening a permanent gallery space in Austin during SXSW. Last week invitations were sent out to press for the event, and now you can have one, too. If you’re coming to SXSW and you’d like to share in the glory (or find out whether or not your invite-centric conspiracy theories were right), here’s your chance:

We close tonight by awarding “Best Title on the Internet of the Day” to Topless Robot for their gem, Wonder Woman Makes a Sandwich in a Kitchen in Major Victory for Sexist Nerds Everywhere. Not only that, but it’s a delicious sandwich with pride in America made by a woman with perhaps the worst accent in the history of pride, in general. Here’s the offending video, for concerned parties:

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The latest film from the makers of Coraline, Laika’s ParaNorman has a lot to live up to – fortunately, the studio’s next film looks to be just as sweet, funny, and damn dark as their first. Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee as the voice of Norman, he’s just not like other kids – he’s got wacky hair, his parents don’t understand him, he doesn’t really have a lot of friends. Oh, and he can see dead people. And he’s cool with it. “AbNorman,” as the mean kids at school call him, might be a little lonely, but with spirits swirling around him, he’s never alone. And hopefully, Norman’s prowess with the undead will work beyond just everyday ghosts, because his town is about to be besieged by zombies and witches. Oh, my.

The film is one of our Most Anticipated Movies of the year, thanks to the strength of its first teaser and also, just how damn cute Norman is. The full trailer is finally here, and while it’s less atmospheric than the teaser, it does let us into Norman’s life, complete with a trainwreck pal, a cool sister, those parents who just don’t get him, the mean kids at school, and ghosts and zombies aplenty. Get hip to Norman’s lifestyle and watch the full trailer after the break.

Seriously, how cute is Norman? And how darkly funny are his sister and best friend?

ParaNorman opens on August 17. [Apple]

Last week’s installment of Foreign Objects took a look at the third film in Dario Argento’s so-called “animal trilogy,” Four Flies on Grey Velvet. Why start with the third film and not the first? No reason. But today we’re continuing with the theme and covering the second film, The Cat o’ Nine Tails. Don’t worry about continuity though as the three movies are in no way related.

A burglary at a local genetics institute catches the eye ear of a blind retiree, and when people associated with the incident start dropping dead he teams up with a reporter to try to crack the case. The duo discovers an elaborate chain of events surrounding the lab’s recent discovery of a genetic marker that may indicate criminal tendencies and a drug that may cure it. Is someone killing to protect the discovery… or are they killing to hide the fact that they’re a killer?

“Smile bitch, your train just crushed a guy.”

Franco “Cookie” Arno (Karl Malden) is an ex-reporter whose days are occupied looking after his young niece Lori and crafting crossword puzzles for other enthusiasts. He overhears one half of a peculiar conversation while out on a nightly stroll, and when the man behind the voice winds up murdered Cookie gets drawn into the mystery. He joins forces with a crime-beat reporter named Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus), and the two begin a dangerous investigation as the body count continues to rise around them.

Argento’s second feature film comes a few years before he would start introducing supernatural elements into his work, but while it’s a straightforward thriller it still contains other recognizable flourishes. The killer’s actions are often viewed through a POV perspective, we’re teased with androgynous closeups of their eye and snippets of their voice, and the bounty of potential suspects is limited by neither sex nor believability.

The actual murder set-pieces, something the director would become known for in later years, are fairly tame here as most of the killings are accomplished via a thick garrote that simply chokes the life from the victims. But that doesn’t mean some of the film’s other scenes and set-ups don’t shine. One suspenseful but otherwise harmless bit involving a razor-wielding barber works nicely as does a fist-clenching fall down an elevator shaft. The film looks good in general though, and Argento keeps the pacing running at a solid clip.

The most notable element here though is the presence and performances of the dual leads. Both Malden and Franciscus help ground the goings-on and convincingly portray their involvement in the events with energy and a strong, playful chemistry between them. The latter actor gets most of the fun, action-filled scenes though including a rooftop fight and a sex scene with a low-rent Italian blow-up doll played by Catherine Spaak. To be fair, the utter lack of sex appeal in the scene isn’t entirely her fault. What starts with a promising opening line quickly devolves into the least tantalizing breast reveal ever caught on film and a blurred image of immobile copulation.

The film’s biggest fault is its lack of anything all that special. It’s a capable thriller that still stands up today even with a plot that winds up far more complicated than it needs to be, but unlike some of Argento’s later films you won’t walk away from the experience with imagery or snippets of score stuck in your head.

Arrow Video’s Blu-ray does a fine enough job with both the video and audio presentation. There’s more visible grain (a good thing) than some of their Blu’s have afforded Argento’s films, and the colors are strong throughout. As with all of the label’s releases it comes with interchangeable cover-sleeves and a booklet insert as well. The disc’s special features include:

• Dario’s Murderous Moggy: Dario Argento Remembers The Cat o’ Nine Tails
• Luigi Cozzi: The Cat o’ Nine Tails in Reflection
• Sergio Martino: The Art and Arteries of the Giallo
• Original Theatrical Trailer

The Cat o’ Nine Tails is an okay little thriller, and while that sounds like faint praise the film is still far better than anything Argento’s directed in the past quarter century. The story gets a more than a little convoluted at times, but for the most part it’s a simple serial killer tale. Malden and Franciscus are both fine as the leads, Ennio Morricone’s unmemorable but competent score matches the film well, and even at nearly two hours the movie never grows boring or dull. It just isn’t very exciting for much of its length either.

Foreign Objects travels the world of international cinema each week looking for films worth visiting. So renew your passport, get your shots, and brush up on the local age of legal consent!