Ok, first things first. We loved “No Country For Old Men”, and if you recall we even listed it at #6 on our 10 best films of 2007 list. However, there were 3 things in the film that prevents it from being in the top 2 spots… and with all the awards consideration the film seems to be getting these days, I thought it would be interesting to open up the conversation about those flaws (as I saw them anyway). So for your consideration, and strictly for the purpose of conversation, here now are the 3 Things To Hate About No Country For Old Men.

BE WARNED!!! THIS VIDEO IS INTENDED FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY SEEN THE MOVIE AND IS FILLED WITH SPOILERS

Greetings folks, and welcome to the last Movie Blog Uncut podcast for the year of 2007. It’s been a year of many changes, but we’re ending it on a high note and look forward to all the amazing stuff ahead in 2008. That being said, it’s business as usual today on the podcast as we talk about:

1) Alien vs Predator - Requiem

2) Walk Hard

3) National Treasure 2

4) Meet The Spartans

5) Ali G and Borat being retired

6) Semi-Pro and getting tired of Will Ferrell

7) Jessica Simpson breaks new Box Office LOW record

8) Dee Snieder of Twisted Sister

All this and a few things more

 

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We have obtained words and image for Bolt, a Disney animated picture slotted for a Nov 26 2008 release. We get the following picture and synopsis thanks to our friends at firstshowing:

For super-dog Bolt (voice of John Travolta), every day is filled with adventure, danger and intrigue—at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he begins his biggest adventure yet—a cross-country journey through the real world. Armed only with the delusions that all his amazing feats and powers are real, and with the help of two unlikely traveling companions: a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens (voice of Susie Essman) and a TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino, Bolt discovers he doesn’t need superpowers to be a hero.

I have not heard much about this film, until now. Talking animals make for wonderful animated heroes and when magic happens they become immortal. Mickey Mouse still spends most of his residual paychecks on Jack Daniels and Russian Wives; when he tires of a wife he feeds them to Jim J Bullock (who is chained in his basement).

I am quite startled that the cat in this film will be named Mittens. I have a cat named Ms. Mittens that is black, with white paws just like the feline we see in the picture. Ms. Mittens is a very luxurious kitten with a long flowing midnight mane, and bright golden eyes. With lightning speed she hunts at night and has killed 3 rabbits by herself! She has also killed countless birds, mice and is quite upset that squirrels keep eluding her. I will be certain to watch this movie with my cats and will be sure to tease Mitten that she has become a whore starlet.

It will be interesting to see what kind of animated films Disney puts out now that Pixar lives in the same house. We will keep our ears to the ground for further news and will be sure to keep you posted.

We have obtained a sketch of the Hulk that has been released from the crew that is currently making the movie. The picture was made available to us thanks to our friends at comingsoon:

If this is the look we can expect to see in the movie, then I am wholeheartedly on board with their vision. This picture looks like a classic Hulk but avoids getting too overblown and overly cartoonish. We will have to wait and see what the CGI Hulk will look like, but if he looks close to this; I will certainly be pleased.

What do you guys think of this pic?

We have a trailer for the upcoming Knight Rider remake/made for TV movie. Thanks to ropesofsilicon for the hookup.

I refuse to support and/or endorse any K.I.T.T. that is not a Pontiac Trans Am. I do not care if I am being petty or childish, it just doesn’t sit right. If you want other sentient cars to be different models - that is fine, but remaking a classic series and then changing the iconic car makes zero sense to me. If it ain’t broke ….

Thanks for checking out our Alien vs Predator Requiem Review. You can see the video review at the bottom of this post.

In the world of “dream fights”, without question one of the top most yearned for on screen battles has always been Aliens verses Predators. So along came the first AVP movie a couple of years ago, and to call it a disappointment would be a bit of an understatement. Personally, I still got a bit of a kick out of it (the line about finding Moses’ DVD collection almost made me spit up my pop) but there is no denying that it could have… and SHOULD HAVE been much much better.

When word came out about they studio giving the franchise another shot, I was shocked. Yes the film made over $170 million world wide, but it was so panned by fans and critics I thought they’d just celebrate their money and call it a day. Nope… here comes AvP-R (bloody stupid as hell title). The trailers made it look like it would be a big step up from the previous attempt? Was it? No.

THE GENERAL IDEA

Our old friends the Predators are back. Always looking for the ultimate prey to hunt and challenge themselves against, they seem to have run out of worthy opponents. So instead of just retiring the old cloaking devices, they decided to breed a new kind of prey by crossing their own DNA with that of ALIENS. Something goes horribly wrong and the Predator ship crashing on earth releasing the new PrediAlien onto our unsuspecting world to kill, breed and multiply. The Predator response to this…. send one guy to come fight them. Why not?

Meanwhile, an edgy pizza boy is in love with the high school hottie, but she is dating the evil popular school jock (no, I’m not kidding, I swear to high heaven I wish I was) who bullies him and makes him sad (poor sad pizza boy), but undeterred the pizza boy is committed to winning the hottie’s heart, and surviving the oncoming Alien Apocalypse (aren’t we all).

THE GOOD

The film wastes no time in setting up the situation. Right from the opening credits we see the Predator ship circling around earth with their little PrediAlien experiment. Chaos, the ship crashes, Aliens escape and start the killing… all within the first 3 minutes!!! I’m come to appreciate it when dumb mindless fun flicks just recognize what they are and jump right into it… AVP-R does that.

It was nice to see that AVP-R never took itself too seriously. They filmmakers clearly understood that people weren’t expecting “300″ or “Braveheart” here… they just wanted to see a lot of people and monsters getting ripped the hell up. There were none of the dreaded “life lessons” that plague some other films, no deeper message or purpose… it was essentially an hour and a half of video game nonsense… and for a film like AVP-R, that’s a good thing.

Some of the action was great! As promised by the advanced R rated trailers, there are some gloriously gory and fun shots of guys getting their heads blown, acid burning through unsuspecting flesh… and the movie doesn’t spare children or pregnant women either (I won’t give anything away here… but wow the scene in the hospital was fun!). Yup, it sure seemed like the filmmakers understood what people wanted to see… well… at least in the third act. The first two acts were a waste, which leads us to….

THE BAD

As already mentioned in the opening of this review… THERE IS A PIZZA BOY IN LOVE WITH A HIGH SCHOOL HOTTIE, WHO IS ALREADY DATING THE EVIL POPULAR SCHOOL JOCK!!!! No,,, once again I’m NOT kidding. I had to look around the theater to see if anyone else was about to get up and walk out just for that alone. And of course the big bad boyfriend bullies the pizza boy all while the hottie looks on and feels bad, ultimately (SPOILER) rejecting the jock to get with the loser pizza boy. Good… fricking… grief. For a little while I thought it was some sort of joke.

As expected, the “story” and “dialog” were completely pathetic. Like I said, no one was expecting 300 or Braveheart, but at least pretend to give a shit about the words coming out of these people’s mouths.

For a movie that supposedly understood what people were wanting out of it… a brainless action flick with lots of violence, Alien killing, Predator hunting, people dying a horrible horrible horrible ways… it sure was slow for most of the film. As I mentioned, the movie does jump right into it in the first 5 minutes… but then is pretty much goes to sleep for the next hour. A pizza boy trying to get the hot girl (GAG!!!)… an army mom coming home from a tour of duty trying to win back the affection of her little girl (GAG!!!!)… an ex-con returning to town to try to start over (GAG!!!)… these are the things that make up the majority of the first 2 acts with just the odd transitional scene showing either the Aliens or the Predator.

Ok, now on the level of wanting a dumb, brainless fun action film… I was wanting to see a LOT of Aliens and Predators fighting. However, I was quickly disappointed to see that there was only ONE Predator! COME ON!!!!! Yes we want to see the hapless humans get ripped to shreds… but we’d also like to see some fights where Aliens win certain encounters and rip up a Predator or two as well! Nope… wasn’t going to happen… not with just one Predator. Very disappointing.

OVERALL

If you really want to enjoy Alien Vs Predator - Requiem, just watch the R-rated trailer… because most of (not all) of the best stuff is in there… and the rest of the film is mostly moms connecting with daughters and the pizza boy trying to get the girl. However, AVP-R is not a total waste of a film. There is enough mindless fun in it that you won’t HATE the film (I didn’t hate it), just not enough to be anywhere as good as it could have been. Overall I give AVP-R a 4.5 out of 10.

YOU CAN WATCH THE REVIEW BELOW

We have another picture from a soon to be film. This time it’s an image from the rom com What Happens In Vegas. We get the image from our friends at comingsoon:

The Kucher and Diaz should make for a successful box office draw, but I am often horrible at guessing the success of a film. I generally judge rom-coms harshly because I hate most of them. This may no different, but we shall see. All we have to go on right now is this picture; and it is a good one.

Kucher looks like he is having a riotous time with a straw in his beer bottle. I am not sure if that is root beer or beer beer, but I will assume it is alcoholic until I learn otherwise. Diaz looks like a trashy, drunk, slut-bride, and that could be good times. This picture is bursting with emotion and it was a great decision to lead with this one.

We have the first picture from the set of Meet The Spartans. We were made aware of this image thanks to our friends at moviesonline:

I am not looking forward to this movie. I loved 300 and have no desire to see it bastardized by spoof movies that lampoon current events. I suppose one reason to see this film would be Carmen Electra. Her visage has been known to help many a sailor on long lonely nights. Does anyone else think that the dudes have had their guts airbrushed? It looks like Sorbo has a filthy stomach.

It’s that time of year again! Yesterday, thousands of nominations were mailed to the Academy members, which let’s us know that in just a few weeks, people will be gathered around the water cooler at their work, discussing this year’s…(oops, I should still say ‘next year’s) Oscar Nominees.

Yahoo!News gives us this:

Accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers counted, sorted and numbered the ballots before the massive mail-out. Voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have until Jan. 12, 2008, to return the forms.

Nominees for the 80th annual Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 22. The awards will be presented Feb. 24 at the Kodak Theatre.

Despite the writer’s strike, it seems that the biggest award ceremony will still go on. This will definitely be a show I will be watching, because it will either be fantastic or it will be a total and utter mess. (I don’t want to miss that!)

So, let’s pretend you readers are members of the Academy. Who would YOU nominate and what are your predictions?

For those of you that got to watch ‘Hatchet’ this year, (if you haven’t, go out and rent or buy the DVD) you are probably not surprised about this news considering the abrupt ending of the first film, but it looks like the possibility of Adam Green returning to direct ‘Hatchet 2’ is likely. Adam Green recently talked to the folks of ‘Fangoria’ about the possible sequel.

Arrow in The Head via Fangoria gives us this excerpt for the interview:

It all comes down to when it happens and if I’m available, as well as what the terms are, because often when they make these movies and realize they have a cult following, they try to cheap out in a lot of areas. You know, the budget becomes smaller because they’re afraid that no one really cares or they don’t pay what they need to in order to bring certain actors back.

I met Adam Green this summer in Toronto when he came to premiere his movie at the Bloor Theatre, and I really took a liking to him. At the Q&A, he told the audience that Hatchet is a planned trilogy. There are certain things in the movie that gives that away. He said there’s a reason why the camera lingers on the kid with the pig mask who burns the Crowley house down in the flashback and why Victor Crowley was staring at Mary Beth for a long period of time.

In the possible sequel, he said that Tony Todd’s character plays a much bigger part in the film and to the story, and that we will find out how Victor Crowley and Mary Beth are connected.

I don’t think this is just a rumour. I have no doubt in my mind that audiences will see ‘Hatchet 2’ in the future. (You just can’t waste a villain like Victor Crowley!)

If you would like to read the rest of Adam Green’s entertaining interview, click HERE.

So are you ready for another round with Victor Crowley?

It looks like some of the most beloved characters in recent history will be riding into the sunset together. Borat and Ali G will speak no more, and have been cast into oblivion. We get the scoop today from the professionals at Variety:

Sacha Baron Cohen tells The Daily Telegraph that he’s retiring the clueless Kazakh journalist, as well as his alter ego, aspiring rapper Ali G.

“When I was being Ali G and Borat I was in character sometimes 14 hours a day and I came to love them, so admitting I am never going to play them again is quite a sad thing,” the 36-year-old actor-comedian says in the British newspaper’s Friday edition. “It is like saying goodbye to a loved one. It is hard, and the problem with success, although it’s fantastic, is that every new person who sees the Borat movie is one less person I `get’ with Borat again, so it’s a kind of self-defeating form, really.”

As much as I hate to say it; this is great news. Borat and Ali G are household names and there is no way the pair of characters will be able to surprise anyone ever again; unless you go to the far north or the deep jungle - and there people still kill strange men without regret. If Cohen continued with either of these characters it would eventually get lame and people would get sick of the over-saturation. Both of these characters had the luxury of exiting the stage at a time when they were regarded highly, and it is always wise to leave them wanting for more.

These characters were fantastic and have caused us all to laugh hard and lots. They have introduced us to the man behind the curtain, and Cohen will remain a beloved entertainer for years to come. To quote the great Dr. Seuss “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

I now throw it open to all of you in the message board. What was your favorite Borat and/or Ali G sketch/moment?

For Ali G - I loved it when he interviewed Boutros Boutros-Ghali at the U.N.
For Borat - I think my favorite moment was when he got permission to grab a man’s crotch at a gun convention.

It looks like Ms. Rossum has decided to treat us all with a blog entry about her training sessions with Chow Yun Fat for the upcoming Dragonball movie. We get the following quote from her blog via slashfilm:

“Sorry I’ve been rather quiet for a bit, I’ve been working on a very exciting new film that I’m shooting outside the US. I’m working with the great Chow Yun Fat and I’m very excited about the role, which is so different than any role I’ve ever played. I love the character and I’m excited to get to share something so fun with you. In prep for the film I’ve been training very hard, learning how to fight, fire a gun, weapons training and even some martial arts. It’s fun to play such a different character when I am such a pacifist in real life. Speaking of pacifisim and peace, I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy holiday and New Year.”

This blog entry does not tell us a ton about the movie, but it is cool to have a snapshot into what is going on right now in preparation for the film. It is also nice to see that she has respect for Chow Yun Fat; if she didn’t we would put slugs in her ears like Khan did To Pavel Chekov in Star Trek 2. Above all, it is cool to see excitement for the project, a lot of Dragonball fans are looking forward to this and excitement usually always leads to better work.

We may have to wait some time before we get a chance to see sneak peaks and teaser trailers, but blog entries like this one are the best window we have when it comes to peeping on the current progress. I did not grow up with this cartoon, but I know what it is like to love a cartoon, and the desire to see it recreated with reverence and skill. From where I stand - it looks like things are shaping quite well. For those of you that are fans of the series; how do you feel about the project thus far?

We have a new Semi Pro poster to show you guys. Thanks to our friends at IGN for the hookup.

I am looking forward to Semi Pro. I enjoy most everything Will Ferrell births and I am interested to him work with Woody Harrelson. Woody was damn hilarious in Kingpin and it is cool to see him bring his comedic talents to this picture.

This poster is not too shabby. I enjoy the car on the basketball court, it is a festive event when a car goes on hardwood and/or carpet and I don’t know why. The best thing about the poster - is the jerseys. The tropics jerseys are sweet as hell and are chock full of funk. I want the full outfit; perhaps it will re-ignite my desire to return to the hoop.

Every few months, we hear about a blockbuster breaking box office records on opening weekend, I can honestly say that I have never heard of a movie making news because it made hardly any money. Jessica Simpson’s ‘Blonde Ambition’ was which was ordered to go straight to DVD next month, had a limited engagement in Texas last weekend and only took in (GULP) 1,190 dollars over the weekend.

IMDB gives us these embarrassing details:

Blonde Ambition, co-starring Luke Wilson, took in just $1,190 over the weekend. True, it was shown in only eight Texas theaters, but that’s still an average of less than $50 per theater per day, meaning about six people showed up to see it in each location each day. On his TV Guide Online blog, film critic Ken Fox asked, “Doesn’t someone like Jessica Simpson have more than 48 friends?

Okay, I know I poked fun at the woman earlier last week about her trying to get the leading role in a possible ‘Pretty Woman’ remake, and this is going to sound very “Chris Crocker” of me, but LEAVE JESSICA SIMPSON ALONE!

Out of all the brainless, horny, overly rich “princesses” out there, you have to admit Jessica Simpson is the most harmless of the bunch. She hasn’t been arrested for a DUI. She doesn’t do drugs, and she hasn’t been knocked up by a random guy. She has earned her money unlike a lot of the debutantes in the tabloids.

True, this woman should NOT be an actress. I just recently watched ‘Employee of the Month’ and realized if they had a replaced her with a female blow up doll, I probably wouldn’t even notice the difference. Although, Jessica is not the ONLY actress out there that has had a movie come out STRAIGHT to DVD. Every month I’m at the video store, I see tons of straight to DVD movies that suck which star A-list and Oscar winning stars. For me, I just don’t understand why this made the news.

The opening weekend in Texas is quite embarrassing I can’t deny, although it only OPENED in Texas for a limited engagement before it goes straight to DVD. To me, it really shouldn’t count as the lowest box office record if the movie didn’t open nationwide.

So those are my thoughts about Miss Simpson. Sure, the woman opens herself up to public mockery, but I think picking on her for a poor box office record, is just (GULP) mean.

P.S. This poster looks eerily similar to the one sheet poster for Mariah Carey’s bomb, ‘Glitter.’ THAT should have been a huge sign right there!

What are your thoughts?

Well International Friends, it is upon this most festive of holidays that we are flooded with Christmas Movies. In the regular fashion of the Movie Blog, I thought I would compile a list of my personal Best 10 Christmas Movies off the top of my head.

10. Christmas Vacation The Griswalds just never catch a break, and yet they seem to come out on top in the end anyways. This being the third of the National Lampoon’s Vacation series, and finally we get to see some Christmas action. I just love watching this guy fail. Chevy Chase can embody that moment of utter defeat in just one blank stare set specifically at 3.5 seconds in length that just makes you wonder if your life is in danger for witnessing it.

9. White Christmas This movie just makes me wish I lived in the mid 50s so I could be as cool and smooth as Bing Crosby. That guy just gets all the ladies hearts a thumping and looks cool as ice doing it. Guys were Guys, and the Girls were Dolls. This has more musical numbers than most modern musicals and it is the first classic black and white on my list, but it wont be the last.

8. Nightmare Before Christmas There are not enough true Halloween movies. Horrors are popular at that time of year, but very few of them are actually about Halloween itself. Jack knows it and decides to take over Christmas as they have the better time slot. Clever music, creative stop motion animation and a twist we didn’t see coming makes this Burton film the top listed animated feature about Christmas on my list.

7. Miracle On 34th Street As far as the classics go, this one is likely the most heart tugging and amusing at the same time. Santa himself has to go on trial to prove he is who he says he is. Its a real Christmas miracle when some whackjob who claims to be the real Santa turns out to actually BE Santa. A diligent lawyer who decides to take on his case to defend him in court isn’t the only person to learn a handy lesson here. Watch this with your kids so you can explain why they couldn’t just look up his MySpace page for proof.

6. A Christmas Story This irreverent little take on Christmas showed us for once that it was OK that your life wasn’t like the perfect candy coated Christmas families of the Leave it to Beaver generation. Randy didn’t have a BBGun to take anyone’s eye out but he had a pink bunny pajamas. Your tongue WILL stick to the flagpole if its freezing. And Dad showed us that a fishnet clad lady’s leg does make a fine art deco lamp base. I am sure we learned other stuff in there too, but mostly just not to swear in front of your father.

5. Its a Wonderful Life Just when you think your life can’t be any shittier, remember that Clarence the angel taught us that your existence makes it less shitty for everyone else. He also teaches us how looking slightly tipsy actually makes you more adorable and cherub like. A brilliant tale of perspective illustrated with the charm and innocence of the classic black and white movies of the late 40s. You can watch this with your parents.

4. Die Hard Although this movie doesn’t revolve around the Christmas theme, it takes place at Christmas and puts a cop with marital problems at the wrong place at the right time. We cringe in unison as the barefooted hero dashes across a sea of broken glass but hell, when a tough guy is in love there is nothing that will stand in his way. Forevermore will we associate the true bliss of relationship sacrifice with the bold smarmy YippeeKiYay Muthafukker!

3. GremlinsAh the spirit of giving that keeps on giving with just the addition of water. Gremlins starts with a truly original gift idea that soon spirals out of control. Sure the muppets are a little dated and the comedy was really only considered funny in the 80s but this is one Spielberg film not to miss. These little troublesome goblins not only gave me nightmares, but Gizmo’s cute little song made even the toughest man exert a gentle “awwwww…”

2. The Santa Clause Tim Allen movies are always full of good moral lessons for the whole family. And the very premise of this movie is ripped from a pun on old St Nick’s name itself. How can you go wrong with that? I truly enjoy this franchise and I had no problem when they brought out a sequel adding another Clause to the deal, and a third giving him an Escape Clause. Pure feelgood genius. Best watched with warm chocolate chip cookies and milk.

And the Number One movie on my list of All Time Christmas Movies is…

1. Scrooged This list would not be complete if it were not for at least one variation of the classic Christmas Carol. Of course the most entertaining and downright enjoyable versions would be Bill Murray’s Scrooged. This film is Christmas Perfection. You get to see yourself in at least ONE of the characters and every other character is just someone else you know. Every scene makes me laugh. Every moment makes me feel the true joy of Christmas.

I am sure there are some I missed. What would you put on your top 10 Christmas movies?

Without question Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I’m one of those lucky guys who has a great family with some simple traditions. Each Christmas eve, my siblings and I all gather at my parents place, have dinner, stay the night, get up as early as possible and unload our stockings (yes, we still do stockings), wait for everyone else to wake up then open presents, dad makes breakfast, clean up, then a big family day. I love Christmas time.

This year has certainly been an eventful one around The Movie Blog, and 2008 looks like it’ll be the best one yet. We hear at The Movie Blog want to wish you all a very merry and safe Christmas. Posting will be quiet the next couple of days as we all relax and spend time with family and loved ones… we hope you do too.

The picture below is one Elias from Clerks 2 would approve of. It was provided to me by Timothy Lim. Transformers are certainly a gift from God. :) Merry Christmas everyone!

The Kingdom is part whodunit part shoot em up in the land of camels, sand and black gold.

The Special features on this DVD include: deleted scenes, character by character the apartment shootout, constructing the freeway sequence, creating the kingdom, history of the kingdom: an interactive timeline, commentary with director Peter Berg. Much of the extras focus on the camerawork and the technical wherewithal that was necessary to deliver the action in this film. This film was almost entirely shot on 3 hand held cameras to create a fluid and almost documentary feel to the film (director’s words). I must admit my favorite part of the Kingdom was the “closeness” of the camera shots; you feel like you are on the street watching the action unfold in front of you.

In the character by character the apartment shootout we see the action take place from 4 different perspectives. It was great to see an action scene broken down like this and see the editing work that is involved to make these different scenes reflect different aspects of the same event. This is probably my favorite part of the film and it was cool to see it from different angles.

In constructing of the freeway sequence we see very serious men playing with dinky cars on the road. These men are working out an intense highway scene that involves multiple explosions, smash ups and all out carnage. To see the different stages of planning, and the amount of work that is required for less than 5 minutes of screen time is quite an eye opener. We are a species that likes to be entertained; and doing so is no easy task.

The Kingdom DVD is full of behind the scenes shots and explanations of scene set ups. The extras themselves seem to be geared to students of film and those that enjoy the craft of filmmaking. I appreciated this film much more after I saw the work that was required to put it together. We see so many action movies that we take them for granted, and often sluff them aside as kitsch. Behind every action film is an army of artists and in the special features of this disc, they are given a tip of the hat.

Hatchet was a fun movie to watch. It was one of two 80’s throwback slashers that I enjoyed immensely this year. As someone that does not go out of their way to see horror films, I am always surprised and delighted when I become a fan. Killer death scenes, an unstoppable foe, wicked tits and the best cameos possible; hatchet rams a lot of the right ingredients into the recipe and we are all rewarded with a delicious dinner.

The extras on the dvd include: The Making Of Hatchet, Meeting Victor Crowley, Guts And Gore, Anatomy Of A Kill, A Twisted Tale and Gag Reel. I got a Tattoo on the weekend and my Tattoo guy (Justin) was heaping praise upon this movie and the DVD special features. This was timely, because I had the assignment of reviewing the DVD. The segments are all self explanatory but 2 stories from the extras stand out.

The Director Adam Green dedicates an entire segment in the extras to his appreciation of Dee Snider. As a youngster Adam was moved and encouraged by the clean living, positive thinking, motivational music of Twisted Sister. Not only did the young Mr. Green write his only A+ childhood assignment on Dee Snider’ s life, but he also went on to write Dee a letter in adulthood that was read by Dee himself. We then skip to an interview with Dee Snider about receiving this letter from Adam and he discuses the ongoing dialogue between the two. Dee Snider continued to encourage him as an adult film maker and this positive affirmation was a wind at the director’s back throughout the stages of his career.

It was touching to see a man give back to the Metal God that has given so much to him. Dee Snider may not be a hero to you, and Metal may be noise as far as you are concerned, but to Green and many others - Dee Snider is a prophet and metal is the thundering sound of human triumph and potential. The encouragement of Dee through words and music was a driving force in this director’s life and it’s cool to see a grown man champion one of his heroes.

Another segment that was very much beloved by myself, (and was drawn to my attention by Justin) was Anatomy Of A Kill. This segment is all about what goes into an on screen kill scene. One kill in particular stands out. In their effort to make all the scenes “believable” a death by belt sander shot was almost axed. (no extension cords in the woods) One of the guys on production saved the the shot when he made the first fully functional gas powered belt sander for the film! This is the kind of ingenuity, love and dedication that best describes the Hatchet crew.

What stands out more than anything when you watch the extras of this DVD, is how much fun these guys had when they were making this movie. Thanks to online press from BloddyDisgusting and print press from Fangoria early on, the group was able to get the funding they needed to make their dream come true. This film is a perfect example of why you should be ready to go - when you get your break. With skill, dedication and a palpable love for what they were doing Hatchet is a film that delivers tons for what they had to work with.

The people behind this film are the reason it excelled, and it was nice to meet them. This is a cool movie with fun and enjoyable extras. Support dudes that make kick ass horror films and buy a copy today. This holiday season - give the gift of axe!

I often get that internal flinch when I hear about another TV show turning into a movie. So when I heard Fame was getting a remake I had to stop and think for a moment. Fame WAS a movie, then it was a TV Show (which I recell more clearly) and now it is once again to be a movie.

Hollywood Reporter

The $25 million “Fame” remake is slated to hit theaters in summer 2008 and will be based on the Alan Parker film set at the New York Academy of Performing Arts, which starred Irene Cara and Debbie Allen and launched a generation of wannabe performers.

It is said to still be a musical with mostly the same songs but it is going to be updated.

I think this movie was already “remade” in light of how many of those “trying to get into a performing arts school” movies that have come out. And this new version will likely have less 70s musical style songs and updated chart topping hopefuls remaking the songs.

But it is coming out in summer of 2008? That is a lot closer than you would think. Granted this is not a visual epic with tons of special effects so it won’t be the most difficult thing to get out in 7 months, but it does sound like its springing up fast on us.

I do like musicals and I recall Fame from my childhood, so hopefully this will not be a stereotypical “updated” remake and make it about hardcore rapper thugs tryin’ to get respect in Da Art Skool.

Dune is the elitist of literary scifi geek fandom. Its not heralded in the mainstream like Star Wars or Star Trek which are far easier and lighter to ingest, but those of us geeks who rally around the Frank Herbert Dune flag hold it as a dear bastion of our culture. It is brilliant and epic. I have recently accepted myself into this fold and have updated my geek status.

Now a big screen version of Dune is coming and MTVMovies confirms that Peter Berg (The Kingdom) will direct.

“Dune” is coming and that he’s the one that will helm it. Calling the plans for him to direct “a done deal,” Berg told me that “if it weren’t for the writer’s strike, we’d be in it right now.”

After the poorly received David Lynch feature version, I was surprised to hear they intend to make this into a feature film. The most widely accepted version is the TV MiniSeries in 2000. I talked months ago about Berg coming on board but that was just speculation as it is now confirmed.

This story is just too vast to carry out in one movie. This has been the strongest criticism of nearly every book turned to film, but Dune is such an epic and involved tale that 120 minutes just isnt enough to tell it. Berg has put out some quality work, and with the right writers maybe they will create some magic.

I am wary of seeing a feature film adaptation again. Perhaps they will prove me wrong, but I just can’t see it justice fitting in one sitting.

But rest assured if this does turn into a big hit, even in spite of the fans, there will likely be a Dune Mesiah and Children of Dune and etc.