What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly movie news collection that doesn’t usually involve so much nudity, or Dance Dance Revolution references, but Mondays are always a little special.
We begin this evening with a new shot from The Hobbit, a film you may have heard about. It’s also a film that will undoubtedly be filled with little people, tall wizards, shires, middling earths and rings inscribed with “From Sauron, with love.” This one features Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, standing amongst friends.
Fear not fans of action films based on somewhat popular toys from like, forever ago, a Stretch Armstrong movie is still happening. In related news, Taylor Lautner is out as the project moves to Relativity under the watchful eye of producer Ryan Kavanaugh. The situation, if there ever was one, has already been improved.
Many people saw Joe Carnahan’s The Grey this past weekend, including yours truly. It was quite good, with plenty of Liam Neeson badassery, excellent sound design and a little poetry about cold, black death. What I didn’t notice, however, is what PETA has called the film’s ability to “make wolves look bad.” Dudes… Wild wolves are not going to stop and have tea. Still, the likes of the very intelligent Jen Yamato at Movieline ask, Does PETA have a legitimate beef with The Grey? No.
The Sundance Channel has published a great interview with Man on Wire director James Marsh, who talks about the Academy’s absolute snubbing of not only his film Project Nim, but also the likes of The Interrupters and Senna. It’s embarrassing for the documentary branch to make such egregious oversights. They also overlooked Rise of the Planet of the Apes star Andy Serkis. I’m beginning to believe that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is racist against monkeys.
Here lies a new poster for The FP, a Drafthouse Films release that will go down in history as having perhaps one of the most ridiculous opening sequences in the history of movies about Dance Dance Revolution battles. Screw it, I’m calling it the greatest movie about Dance Dance Revolution battles. That’s all you need to know. Also, The FP will open in select cities on March 16. You should know that, too.
Producer Keith Calder, who has worked on such films as The Wackness and a little horror flick that’s going to blow your mind in 2012 called You’re Next, has published The Big Filmmaking Book List, a list of books that he views as a starting point for anyone that wants to learn about filmmaking. There’s some usual suspects — including Robert Rodriguez’s Rebel Without a Crew – as well as some killer pulls, which is basically everything from and about Walter Murch. If you’d like to participate in the making of films and know how to read, this is a list for you.
The folks at FilmSpotting have launched a new alternate podcast called Filmspotting: SVU (Streaming Video Unit), hosted by Alison Wilmore and Matt Singer. It’s more than worth your time.
Sundance did a neat thing this year, utilizing Instagram to get people involved in the festival. The project, #Sundance on Instagram, features images from filmmakers, fans, Sundance staff and other attendees, all capturing a great snapshot of the Sundance experience.
MSN’s James Rocchi talks to William H. Macy about Catholicism and his naked body. Basically I wanted to be able to write that, because I’m mentally four years old. Also, it’s a fine interview.
Did you know that our own Robert Fure was on The Golden Briefcase last week raging about Extreme Prejudice, The Grey and Man vs. Nature films? We’re hoping that he didn’t break anything while he was there, though we won’t be surprised when we get the bill.
Yahoo Movies counts down all the Sundance 2012 breakout performances, including the likes of Andrea Riseborough, John Hawkes and just about everything about Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Sometimes finding a good closing video for News After Dark is a tall task. The web can only deliver so many gems on a weekly basis, and I have a standing policy not to post crap. So on a night like tonight, when I don’t have anything better, the answer is as simple as reaching into my own recent viewing history. Earlier this evening I watched Frank Oz’s wonderful 2007 dark comedy Death at a Funeral. Tonight I end our session with this clip reel of Alan Tudyk as Simon, the unintentionally high, oft-nude funeral guest. The way he yells “NO!” (at the 4:24 mark of this video) kills me, every time.