 |
 |
|
|
|
IT'S ONLY A RUMOR!
05.26.2006.... Turner Classic Movies has announced that horror rocker/filmmaker Rob Zombie will host TCM UNDERGROUND, a weekly late-night cult-movie showcase debuting in October. Zombie will not only introduce the features but select them as well. Already set for broadcast are George Romero’s THE CRAZIES, Francis Coppola’s debut shocker DEMENTIA 13, Leonard Castle’s THE HONEYMOON KILLERS, Seijun Suzuki’s Yakuza thriller TOKYO DRIFTER and Ed Wood’s BRIDE OF THE MONSTER. Like all of TCM’s movies, they’ll be presented uninterrupted and commercial-free..... The success of the Showtime series MASTERS OF HORROR has spawned not only a planned MASTERS OF SCI-FI spin-off, but a foreign edition. ITALIAN MASTERS OF HORROR will feature four films by veterans of spaghetti nightmares....... 04.11.2006...... GODZILLA, the hit stage play that was a hit in Japan makes its American premiere in Washington DC this Thursday! A hapless young woman faces family strife when she falls for a gigantic mutant dinosaur. Is this the lost prequel to HONORE FINNEGAN AND THE BRAIN OF THE GALAXY? Washington PFS members should check it out here.... 03.31.2006..... Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman will play Roger Ebert in a movie about the late, controversial auteur Russ Meyer....
01.16.2006....... B-Fest is back again! everybody go read my B-Fest piece for the Chitown Daily News!: http://bfest.notlong.com
10.14.2005....Well another gang of hairy whos have joined our
ranks. Welcome the SE Wisconsin clench of the Psychotronic Film Society, and
look what they're up to 10.28.2005:..... HALLOWEEN FILM FEST
at CATHE Join the Psychotronic Film Society (southeastern Wisconsin tentacle) for an evening of films, shorts, a serial, and discussion – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28 at the CATHE. FREE!
FREE! FREE! Starts at Main features: 7:30 – 9:15 –
Godzilla vs. the Thing (Mothra vs.
Godzilla) (1964, 98 min) 9:15 – 10:45
– Abbott & Costello Meet
Frankenstein (83 min) 1948 10:45 – 12
midnight – The Black Cat (65 min) 1934 (All starting times are approximate!) FREE!
FREE! FREE! And join CATHE and the PFS(SEWT) next month for TURKEY MOVIES! 07.24.2005...... Culture fans can meet up with us next weekend at the Flashback Weekend HORRORAMA DRIVE-IN and convention. Meet Bruce Campbell and watch his new movie MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN on the big outdoor screen!..... 06.20.2005........ Get ready to rumble at the VIVA LAS VEGAS ROCKABILLY PARTY WEEKEND......... Yoshimitsu Banno may be the director of a new Godzilla film in 3D and made for IMAX and other large format theaters. Mr. Banno has signed a contract with Toho to use Godzilla and Hedorah the Smog Monster in his film. He will discuss the new movie and answer questions at G-FEST XII........ Another summer event to add to your schedule is FLASHBACK WEEKEND. The drive-in will never die!......... Disney is developing a live-action retooling of UNDERDOG....... George Romero says that if LAND OF THE DEAD is a hit, you won't have to wait 20 years for another sequel. He's ready for another one right away........
05.24.2005..... Over at Time.com, their tottering old film critics Richard Schickel and Richard Corliss have released a list entitled "All-Time 100 Movies", supposedly their picks for the best 100, in an effort to have some fun debating the value of different movies. The list includes the expected lobster faves and popular hits, but also quite a few psychotronic films, which would have been unlikely in any such list published 20 years ago. Included: BLADE RUNNER, BRAZIL, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, DETOUR, DRUNKEN MASTER 2, E.T., THE FLY, INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS, KING KONG, LORD OF THE RINGS, METROPOLIS, OUT OF THE PAST, PINOCCHIO, PSYCHO, PULP FICTION, SHERLOCK JR., STAR WARS, TAXI DRIVER, A TOUCH OF ZEN, UNFORGIVEN and YOJIMBO. Maybe we should announce a Top 100 psychotronic list to get some cheap publicity, too..... A lot of people laughed 20 years ago when Sylvester Stallone said he wanted to make a movie about Edgar Allan Poe. Shooting is finally set to begin this year..... 05.17.2005..... PFS pal Anthony Ferrante's first flick BOO is screening at Cannes and looks damn scary. Check out the trailer here..... 03.08.2005....... WTF?!? Keanu Reeves, fresh from making the most of being miscast as CONSTANTINE, has signed on to play the lead in THE 8th VOYAGE OF SINBAD for director Rob Cohen, which we assume will be a pastiche of the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad flicks. And since the plot takes Sinbad to China, there's likely to be some kung fu, too...... We've been anxiously waiting for Eli Roth to follow up on the promise of CABIN FEVER.His slate includes THE BOX, THE BAD SEED and SCAVENGER HUNT, but next month he starts shooting HOSTEL with Jay Hernandez........ WTF?!? Part 2: Rumor has it that Quentin Tarantino is considering writing and directing the next FRIDAY THE 13th movie.... 01.27.2005...... Get the scoop on our upcoming shows at the Improv Kitchen here......... A class action suit is being brought against MGM for selling "widescreen" movies on DVD that are actually zoomboxed. That's right, your copies of COFFY, KISS ME DEADLY, ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, PUMPKINHEAD, SCANNERS, AMITYVILLE HORROR, or other psychotronic films might be zoomboxed. This practice, in which the cropped fullscreen version is simply matted instead of formatted to the proper aspect ration, has been going on for years at several video labels, but not many people got upset about it until more folks got widescreen TVs. Read more here...... 01.18.2005........ Look for the cast of SHAUN OF THE DEAD to turn up in George Romero's upcoming LAND OF THE DEAD....... 01.14.2005.... Psychotronic Film Society of Paris? We're not telling. While patrolling a section of the city's extensive catacombs and tunnels, the police recently discovered a highly sophisticated movie theater built in a huge hidden chamber adorned with mystic symbols. The theater is equipped with electronic security devices and phone lines, and film cans of several classic films were found by the projector, along with a note reading "Do not try to find us." Details in the Guardian........ Shopping for a new home computer this year? Check out the latest model........ Takashi Shimizu will be back to direct THE GRUDGE 2....... 01.07.2005....... 2005 slates have
been announced for major studios psychotronic theatrical releases, more proof
the psychotronic is now the mainstream: 01.06.2005..... Santo lives! Even the Son of Santo is too old to wrestle, but the legend lives on in animation, now showing on the Cartoon Network in Mexico. You can see episodes online here...... 01.03.2005.......... It's a new year and we've got more shows at the Improv Kitchen. Get the scoop here.........
12.31.2004....... Yuen Woo-ping is signed up to direct SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN, in which a princess on the run befriends 7 Shaolin monks, from a script by art house fave Michael Chabon (WONDER BOYS) of all people........ 12.20.2004....... For your holiday enjoyment, children horrified by Santa Claus..... David Goyer (BLADE: TRINITY) has signed to produce, write and direct THE FLASH..... The hit video game Tom Clancy's SPLINTER CELL is headed for the movies under the direction of Peter Berg (THE RUNDOWN)........ Chow Yun-fat will play an infamous Chinese pirate in two planned PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN sequels..... 12.13.2004....... Our last show of the year will be this Thursday night at Improv Kitchen. Last week's showing of BATTLE ROYALE was SRO, with many of you brighter members calling ahead to make reservations. Get the whole scoop here, and we'll see y'all in 2005!...... Fox isn't satisfied with only one spin-off of X-MEN in the works, so WOLVERINE will soon be joined by MAGNETO..... Those hoping to see Paul Schrader's shelved EXORCIST prequel as a bonus on the EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING DVD will have to wait a while, as Warner Bros. have reconsidered in the face of the $42 million Renny Harlin's version took in at the box office, and are considering a limited theatrical release....... Good news for those that came in late or missed the boat entirely for the excellent ABC series LOST. Reruns start this Wednesday night with the pilot, followed by all ten episodes running through February, when they'll pick up things with show 11..... As a result of this year's rash of zombie films, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 4 and 5 are reportedly already in the can, directed back-to-back by Ellory Elkayam (EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS)..... 11.18.2004.... Don't forget that
PFS shows start TONIGHT in our new home at Improv Kitchen. Click
here for the scoop....... Well now we know why Sam Raimi backed off
on getting Ash involved with Freddy & Jason. With a work order to fill for a
bunch of new flicks from his Ghosthouse Films company, Raimi and friends are
making a deal to remake THE EVIL DEAD!..... 10.26.2004....... PFS member David "The Rock" Nelson writes in to tell us: "Yes, I WILL be live on "WGN Morning News"(WGN-TV) this *Fri. morn., between 7 & 9 am Central Time(8-10 am Eastern, or 5-7 am Pacific), for a 5-minute interview & clips shown of my new monster/comedy movie! It'll be "Fun"! Also, the same man who's interviewing me on WGN-TV Fri. morn., interviewed me for this Fri.'s Tribune "Red Eye" Paper, sold all-over Chicagoland! Look for WGN-TV Larry Potash's article on me, near the back of the "Red Eye", this Friday, *Oct. 29th! 10.18.2004......... Friends of the PFS will be showing BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (in tribute to Russ Meyer) at Odd Obsession films, 1659 N. Halsted, Chicago, this Friday, October 22, at 11:00 pm. Admission is free...... 10.13.2004........ Larry Cohen will write and direct the remake of his own IT'S ALIVE..... Sam Raimi says that, oddly enough, Columbia wants SPIDER-MAN 3 to wrap up the franchise. It seems more likely that the studio simply wants a clean break so further films can take up with a less expensive team, but we'll see. He also says Ash will not be a part of the FREDDY VS. JASON sequel...... Another X-FILES movie will be made next year...... DOOM finally goes before the cameras this month, with Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike and The Rock starring as space marines...... 10.06.2004........ Howard Stern has signed a 5-year contract with Sirius satellite radio. His show will move his morning show to the satellite network at the close of his current contract at the end of 2005. Stern's contract calls for him to program 3 of Sirius' channels........ Inspired by the 50th anniversary of Godzilla, Sony has been releasing as many of the lizard king's films as they can acquire rights to on DVD. Even better news is that these movies are being released in their original format, with both Japanese and English soundtracks, plus subtitles. Three G-films from the 1970s are out this month, with SON OF GODZILLA and last year's GODZILLA: TOKYO S.O.S. coming in December. Meanwhile, plans are continuing to bring GODZILLA: FINAL WARS to US theaters in at least a limited release within the next few months....... Fox is preparing a WOLVERINE spin-off movie while X-MEN 3 heads toward production.....Vertigo Entertainment is specializing in US remakes of Asian horror hits. THE RING was a big hit for DreamWorks, their remakes THE GRUDGE and DARK WATER are coming up, and they've just signed to redo the Korean horror RYEONG ("The Ghost")....... I loved Louis Letterier & Corey Yuen's French action flick THE TRANSPORTER. They're now shooting a sequel in Florida...... It seems unlikely he'll actually direct, but John Woo's Lion Rock has signed to make a new MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE flick...... Paramount is planning BELIEVE IT OR NOT, based on the semi-fictional life of cartoonist Robert Ripley.....
09.22.2004......... We don't do a lot of death notices here, but we can't pass by without giving a moment to mark the death of Russ Meyer, a psychotronic saint of the first order....... 09.20.2004........ Odd Obsession Films, located at 1659 N. Halsted St., Chicago, will be hosting a "Back to School" themed Drive-in Double Feature on Friday, September 24 at 11:00 pm. They'll be showing CLASS OF 1984 and MASSACRE AT CENTRAL HIGH, along with school-themed trailers, shorts, music videos and surprises. Admission is free...... Apparently Sony pulled a second screening of Stephen Chow's KUNG FU HUSTLE out of the Toronto Film Festival because they feared bootleggers. Some journalists and fans were allowed to bring in cameras to record intros and Q&A sessions, and Sony thought the security risk too great...... Speaking of security, terrorists will be the least of your worries if you book seats on the FLIGHT OF THE DEAD, now set to shoot in Germany..... 08.27.2004.......... GODZILLA: FINAL WARS director Ryuhei Kitamura has confirmed rumors that the film will not only feature an appearance by the American Godzilla, but also will have a massive battle between the real Godzilla and the CGI-created "Zilla" across Sydney, Australia...... 08.06.2004........ We've got SIX copies of the new KILL BILL VOLUME 2 DVD to give away! Find out how on our contest page........ The men that actually served with John Kerry in Viet Nam say that mudslinging ads produced by a group calling itself "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" are actually a pack of lies, and high ranking members of both the Republican and Democratic parties are calling for the White House to denounce the ads....... 07.30.2004....... Jesus & The Rock! Our pal David "The Rock" Nelson, enthused by the success of Mel Gibson's recent release, is planning some religious epics of his own, including LAZARUS: THE FIRST MUMMY, EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF JESUS and a comedy called JESUS IN VEGAS. He's also using footage from his recent Las Vegas trip in THE WEREWOLF GOES WEST and DEVIL ANT INVADES LAS VEGAS........ 07.16.2004........ John Dillinger Died For You! For details on how to honor the death of Public Enemy Number One Number One, tune in here........ Now that everyone's back home, I'd like to thank J.D. Lees and all the folks at G-Fest for making my visit so much fun last weekend. This is one convention that's still for the fans, not companies promoting something. They also gave my book a rave review in G-Fan Magazine...... Our pals over at Stomp Tokyo will be providing commentary for a series of films at the Orlando Science Center for their "Cocktails & the Cosmos" series. Details here. Oh, and you can see a horrific science demonstration here....... 07.14.2004........ Finally, a reason to be interested in Project Greenlight. The winner of the third competition has been chosen, and for the first time they've chosen a horror script called FEAST, which will be produced by Wes Craven....... Upsetting previous rumors, Jessica Alba will be going blonde to play Sue Storm in FANTASTIC FOUR....... Warner Bros. are planning THE WILD, in which humanity flees planet Earth after animals are mutated by genetic engineering into dangerous monsters..... Rob Zombie is hard at work on the HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES sequel, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS....... 07.08.2004...... 2004 Election: OVER! I'm sure that famous psychic John Edwards wouldn't have agreed to be John Kerry's running mate unless he had been assured how things would work out by his friends on the "other side". Here's to our first psychic VP! I'm sure he'll straighten out this mutant problem...... I'll be a guest at the G-Fest Godzilla Convention all weekend, so be sure to come by the panels I'm moderating and bring me gifts of cash and quality merchandise........ 07.01.2004........ A photo of the new Godzilla from GODZILLA: FINAL WARS was published in a Japanese newspaper yesterday. It looks like a more agile version of the suits used in the past few movies. See it here........... 06.28.2004......... A while back we gave you an article explaining how to sync up 2001 and Pink Floyd. Here's a site that tells you how to sync WILLY WONKA and Rush....... 06.24.2004...... We are running another
contest! This time, you can win a pair of passes to see GODZILLA
at the historic Music Box Theatre. Check it out here........
06.22.2004...... THE ACID TEST 1966
returns to the Holiday Club for another run on July 8. Details......
In addition, Michael Flores, playwright, theatre and movie
director and head of Chicago's Psychotronic Film Society, will speak on
Tuesday August 10th at the Eisenhower Library, 4652 N. Olcott in Harwood Hills
at 7:30 PM on the topic CENSORSHIP IN THE 1950'S: FROM COMIC BOOKS TO
BETTIE PAGE. For more info please call Penny Blublaugh at 708- 867-
7828. Admission is free, Mr. Flores will have copies of his film BETTIE PAGE
UNCENSORED available on DVD......... The PSYCHOTRONIC STORE is now
open on eBay! Go shopping here.....
And while you've got your wallet out, I contributed a pile of material to
the new book VideoHound's GROOVY MOVIES, available on Amazon
and at your local book store. It's the perfect companion to the ACID
TEST........
05.20.2004......... Andy Kaufman is
still alive. He even has a blog.
Pretty good gag, eh? Either this is a pretty good fraud or Andy has pulled
of the greatest practical joke in history. Which one? Well, until I learn
different, I'm perfectly satisfied to believe both explanations....... 05.19.2004....... There's a story on
Fearless Leader Michael Flores and his new show ACID
TEST 1966 in today's Chicago Tribune.......... What the-? At a Cannes
preview of the emotionally powerful SHREK 2, star Antonio Banderas
and Justin Timberlake were weeping and holding hands by the end,
which surely must have amused Cameron Diaz, who was sitting beside
them.... Is the public feud between KILL
BILL adversaries Daryl Hannah and Uma Thurman real, or
just a publicity stunt?..... Next for Jennifer Anniston? Plastics!
Jen will be seduced by older man Kevin Costner in the upcoming
comedy THE GRADUATE 2.......
05.14.2004..... NBC has nearly completed
its merger with Universal, and is eying MGM next, which would give the
corp. control of over 10,000 titles.... The MPAA has given John Waters'
latest A DIRTY SHAME an NC-17. Film stars Tracey Ullman as a woman
whose concussion turns her into a nymphomaniac..... The Weinsteins
are looking to buy Michael Moore's FAHRENHEIT 9/11 from Disney, and
may split to form a new film company over the hassle....
05.05.2004....... David "The
Rock" Nelson recently went to Las
Vegas to appear in Buddy Barnett's SKID ROW DRACULA (which is
planned for video release on a double bill with Don Glut's VAMPIRE
HUNTER'S CLUB). Unlike other PFS members, Rock did not get married while
in Vegas, but reports shooting scenes for some more of his own movies in
his spare time, including DEVIL ANT INVADES VEGAS, WEREWOLF GOES WEST and
JESUS VISITS VEGAS.....
05.04.2004...... Thanks to Roger Ebert and
the folks at the Chicago Sun-Times for listing our upcoming
PFS shows last Sunday. Lookee
here...... DINOS FOR DUMMIES: Wackos are opening creationist
dinosaur theme parks. Why not say the world is only a month old? I
could swear I saw Jesus die a few weeks ago....... The director of
the AMITYVILLE HORROR remake is yet another music video/commercial
director handed a genre studio film as his debut. You know that the
studios are thinking that the director is an unimportant part of the
production process on these kinds of projects, since they so often dismiss
experience as a factor. "Hey, anybody can make a horror film, right?
Just make sure there's a hot teen idol in it - and maybe a rapper for the
hippy-hop crowd.".... Jean Claude Van Damme will attempt a
comeback with the kind of film that made him famous in KUMITE....
04.16.2004.......... Here's
a piece on me and my book in the Chicago Tribune.....
04.10.04.2004.... Got those filling out
tax forms on Easter weekend blues? Get revenge! We're giving away DVDs of KILL
BILL Volume 1! Get all the details here.......
04.06.2004....... The latest news on the
long-awaited FANTASTIC FOUR movie is that a director has been chosen
(again), and rumor has it that it's Tim Story (BARBERSHOP), who is
currently working on the US remake of the Euro action hit TAXI...... In
other remake news, Paramount is planning a new version of TO CATCH A
THIEF, which actually isn't a bad idea...... The Sci-Fi channel has
announced a whole bunch of upcoming TV-movie and miniseries projects, and
some of them sound intriguing: a 4-hour FARSCAPE movie, Larry Niven's
RINGWORLD, our pal Clive Barker's limited series HISTORY OF THE
DEVIL, Ursula K. LeGuin's EARTHSEA, SPECIES 3, Stan Winston's
"reality" series MONSTER SMASH (actors made up as monsters fight
each other), STRANDED (a SURVIVOR-type game show set on an alien planet),
WITCHHUNTER ROBIN (series based on the popular anime), the animated series
AMAZING SCREW-ON HEAD created by our pal Mike Mignola (HELLBOY),
and 2 movies starring our pal Bruce
Campbell, MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN and ALIEN APOCALYPSE....
04.01.2004....... After all the hype, I
felt I should catch up with THE
PASSION OF THE CHRIST last weekend, and found it to be much different
than expected. For one thing, I had no idea that Jesus even had a
dog, much less a big goofy Great Dane. Sarah Michelle Gellar makes
a terrific Mary Magdalene, but I was disturbed by the graphic
nature of scenes in which Jesus is tortured by the Tar Monster Ghost.
Oh, and be sure to stick around through the end credits to learn the
secret GameBoy code........ In an effort to polish their tarnished image,
the folks at the once-respected American Movie Classics channel have
decided to offer programming made up exclusively of infomercials and
reruns of ELIMIDATE....... Due to the popularity of recent horror movie
remakes, next year we can look for a remake of this year's DAWN
OF THE DEAD remake.......
03.30.2004..... Jack Black has been
signed to play the Carl Denham role in KING KONG....
03.18.2004....... Steven Spielberg
plans to direct a new version of WAR OF THE WORLDS, reteaming with
star/producer Tom Cruise!........ Thanks to all who have been
coming out to the Holiday Club for our March Mayhem series - we've got the
terrific GODZILLA VS. DESTROYAH coming up this Sunday. Details here.....
03.12.2004......... Hideo Nakata,
director of the original RING, will direct
RING 2, sequel to the American remake. US
remakes of Nakata's CHAOS and DARK WATER are currently in the
works............
03.04.2004......... Fearless Leader Mike
Flores may be popping in and out of the hospital lately over his sex
change operation (they can't figure out what to change it to), but he
still found time to make it easier to buy BETTIE PAGE UNCENSORED. You can
now order it on ebay here......
03.03.2004........ The official title of
the 50th anniversary Godzilla film is GODZILLA: FINAL WARS and is
being directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (VERSUS)! Godzilla will fight 10
other monsters all over the world!........
02.27.2004....... Thanks to all who came
out on Fat Tuesday for our screening of SHOGUN ASSASSIN at Brainstorm.
We're hosting movie screening parties every Sunday next month at the
Holiday Club! Tune in here for
details...... The title of the new Batman movie will be BATMAN
BEGINS.....
02.13.2004...... New PFS Show! Check out
the news here!........ BUBBA
HO-TEP comes to DVD on May 25....... Rialto
Pictures is releasing GODZILLA to US theaters in its original form
this Spring to celebrate Godzilla's 50th birthday......... Wow, it'll be
great to finally lose my virginity, even in a smelly camp cabin. Oh, don't
worry about those kids in the lake - they can take care of themselves.
Hey, who's that guy in the hockey mas--- eeeYAAAA!!
01.29.2004.... Since its launch, the
Hubble space telescope has been an invaluable aide in man's exploration of
the universe. Now NASA has decided to cancel a shuttle mission for
necessary maintenance. However, outraged astronomers have launched a
petition to save the Hubble. Sign it by clicking here........
Beat the cold weather! Huddle inside an insane asylum for psychotronic
movie fans for 24 hours at B-fest 2004
this weekend....
01.19.2004...... Robert Rodriguez
claims he'll begin shooting the film version of Mike Allred's
MADMAN this year..... Sean Astin is pushing to get in the
director's chair for FANTASTIC FOUR..... The WB is planning another
revival of DARK SHADOWS..... Nic Cage is in a action blockbuster
called NATIONAL TREASURE in which the US Constitution is really a treasure
map!.........
01.13.2004......... Lots of great
Asian movies coming up on cable this weekend, including SAMURAI 1 & 2 on IFC this
Saturday,
Sci-Fi and Encore Action both have blocks of Godzilla movies - avoid, however,
the US debut of VOLCANO HIGH on MTV2 Monday morning. It's a terrific
movie, but unfortunately MTV has decided to ruin it by putting hip-hop
crap on the soundtrack and dubbing it with people like Snoopy Doggy. These
are the kinds of people that want to ghetto-ize both blacks and Asians by
connecting kung fu movies with rap music for no reason. Will somebody
please release this movie uncut in the USA?....
01.10.2004.......... There was a leak in
the security wall around the new BATMAN movie this week, when it was
learned that filming had begun - in Iceland! Scenes featuring star Christian
Bale fighting a student of villain R'as al Ghul on Europe's largest
glacier are said to be underway....
01.06.2004........ Congrats to Forrest
J Ackerman for finding a home for a big chunk of his sci-fi
collection at the new Seattle
Science Fiction Museum, opening in June. Forry has been complaining
about being broke because of legal and medical fees, but that didn't stop
him from donating a Christmas present of $153,000 to the Egyptian Theater,
which in part will be used to install seat plaques honoring 153 of Forry's
favorite filmland people.......
12.31.2003..... Don't usually go in for
obits on this page, but I have to pause to announce that yesterday Anita
Mui died of cervical cancer. She was a worldwide singing star, but
we'll always remember her for movies like RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, HEROIC
TRIO, LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER, MOON WARRIORS, MAGIC CRANE, JUSTICE MY
FOOT, MIRACLES (now on US video as BLACK DRAGON), A BETTER TOMORROW 3, and
SAVIOUR OF THE SOUL.....
12.22.2003....... We're back! Sorry for
the downtime, folks - appears that a bill or a check or something got lost
in the mail, which isn't surprising. Whose idea was it for the CAT IN THE
HAT to be running the US Postal Service this holiday season? Not only is
the movie a bomb, but the lead character is an icon of anarchy. He
shouldn't be anywhere near our mail, or making Whoppers with cheese for
that matter. I smell the Conspiracy at work......... The date for B-Fest
2004 has been announced: Jan. 30-31. Check
B-fest.com for updates....... PFS member Don Glut tells us his
latest feature COUNTESS DRACULA'S ORGY
OF BLOOD, the first American film with Spanish horror star Paul Naschy,
will be out this spring on Fred Olen Ray's Retromedia label,
distributed by Image........ Trailers and posters are popping up
that make the pulp/serial sci-fi action flick WORLD OF TOMORROW look darn
cool. Stars Jude Law as an aviator hero Sky Captain in 1939, with Gwyneth
Paltrow as the good girl, Angelina Jolie as the bad girl, Ling
Bai as the mystery girl, and a mad scientist building robots to take
over the world..... MGM and Dimension will be partners on the upcoming
AMITYVILLE HORROR remake, as well as TRUE BELIEVERS, the first US film by
director Hideo Nakata (CHAOS).......
12.11.2003.... a Japanese man accused of beating his mother to death with a baseball bat has stated that he was inspired by the anime
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION which cause him to form "The ultimate conclusion of (human) evolution is ruin." He also came to believe that humans were unnecessary beings who were destroying the world's environment, and in turn began to want to kill people, prosecutors said......
Say, what is David Lynch up to these days, anyway? Well, when he's
not working on a script, or directing some scary short films for his
website, he's raising money to provide transcendental meditation
instructors, which he believes can help bring more peace to the world.
Well, it couldn't hurt.......
12.05.2003...... Duelling DAHLIAS: Brian
DePalma is signed to direct BLACK DAHLIA next year, but he may get
beaten to the punch by an indie rival. Bloodshot Pictures is lining up a
load of psychotronic faves to appear in their upcoming - and still
untitled - movie about the Black Dahlia murder, the still unsolved True
Crime in which Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Short was found sawed in
half. So far Karen Black (DINOSAUR
VALLEY GIRLS), Trent Haaga (TERROR
FIRMER), Alejandro Jodorowsky (SANTA SANGRE), Julie
& Lizzie Strain, beautiful fire-breathing contortionist Masuimi
Max, Werner Herzog, Dame Darcy, artist Robert
Williams, Richard Rush, and Lloyd "Troma" Kaufman
are confirmed, and they're talking to Fairuza Balk and Crispin
Glover. Music will be provided by Orb, Julee Cruise, David
J, and more......
12.04.2003...........
Talk about your wrong-headed projects - looks like there's bound to be a
clunker amid the current crop of superior comics-to-movie adaptations, and
this looks like a sure bet. Not only have they cast Keanu Reeves to
play John Constantine in the HELLBLAZER movie (we know how much he
sucks at Brit accents), but they're aiming for a PG-13 rating (the comic
is unrated)......
12.02.2003....... LORD OF THE RINGS
director Peter Jackson says he definitely wants to direct THE
HOBBIT after KING KONG, but it's in New Line's court.......... Supposedly
artist Alan Davis' first big project
back at Marvel will be as the new artist on UNCANNY X-MEN. I know you're all
pleased but that's not all. He will be joined by X-Men Guru Chris Claremont, as
the new on-going writer......... Clint Eastwood was rumored to be playing Commissioner
Gordon in the upcoming BATMAN 5. This however would seem to have been false.
Instead, word is that he is to play the Gotham City Mayor.........
Mick Foley, the former WWE (World, Tag Team, Hardcore Champion) wrestler, who
has recently been a bestselling author is close to signing a deal, along with
writer Teddy Tenenbaum, with CBS to develop a action TV series. Foley would play a
detective in the Tampa Police Dept. who's just as ruthless as the criminals he
hunts down. If the project goes through, WWE would also help finance...........
TETSUJIN 28, known as GIGANTOR in the
US, will soon be returning to Japanese airwaves in it's fourth animated
incarnation, beginning in January 2004. Not only that, a live action film is in
production as well........ David
"The Rock" Nelson surprised everyone with his appearance
on WGN-TV MORNING NEWS, presenting a new short he and WGN's Jeff Hoover
made together: DEVIL ANT SAVES THANKSGIVING, which pits the atomic ant
against a turkey monster.......
11.27.2003..... Happy birthday to David
"The Rock" Nelson, who reminds us that he'll be showing
a special film for Thanksgiving on the WGN Morning News program between
8am and 9am Central Time..... 11.17.2003..... Aside from BILLY JACK,
among the post-MATRIX projects Keanu
Reeves has in mind is another BILL & TED sequel, since he thinks a
40-year-old Ted would be hilarious......
11.10.2003...... Cara Jepsen wrote
a nice piece about me, my book, and our upcoming
show for the Chicago Reader, which you can see online here.....
11.09.2003.... David "The
Rock" Nelson called in to talk about
how he's become a regular on the noisy Chicagoland radio zoo Mancow's
Morning Madhouse...
11.06.2003....... For those of you who
haven't heard yet, we're having a big book signing/kung fu movie
trailer/mash-up party called MARTIAL ARTS MAYHEM next Thursday night -
details here. Check out a funny photo of Me
with accompanying story in the Chicago Reader........ The Michael Bay-produced
retread of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is a hit, sparking Bay to make a deal
with Dimension Pictures to develop more >$15million horror properties
including remakes of AMITYVILLE HORROR and maybe HALLOWEEN......... The Wachowski
Sisters? The credit for MATRIX REVOLUTIONS as a "Wachowski
Family" film rather than "Wachowski Brothers" has the rumor
mills churning, including reports that both brothers have left their
wives, one is a submissive transvestite living with a dominatrix, and the
other has completed a sex change operation..... Director Uwe Boll wants
to be the king of video game movies. His (horrible) adaptation of HOUSE OF
THE DEAD debuted last month, ALONE IN THE DARK is coming soon, and he has
on his schedule a HOUSE sequel, BLOODRAYNE and DUNGEON SIEGE..... Congrats
to Cinescape editor-in-chief Anthony
Ferrante for getting the greenlight on his directorial debut film BOO
from David Allen's Graveyard Filmworks. Graveyard also has in the
works SERVANT OF THE DARK and CEMETERY GATES.......
10.30.2003....... Joining the ranks of
upcoming films based on the works of Isaac Asimov is END OF
ETERNITY......
10.28.2003......Universal Pictures has
optioned the film rights to DC Comics' THE PSYCHO, a 1991 miniseries
about a superhuman spy ...........
10.17.2003....... The Chicago Horrorfest Film Festival, hosted by the beautiful
Mistress Xena, will be brought to you this year at the 3 Penny Cinema. Filled
with over 25 films, spread out over 3 Days, Oct. 26th, Oct. 30th, and Oct. 31st. Drinks
to be served to anyone with a valid I.D. and Bloody Mary's will be the
drink of the night. Featuring the U.S. Premieres of 2 Feature Films, UNEARTHLY
HARVEST and FRANKENSTEIN X. Also on Oct. 26th, Mark Rapp, Director of
the upcoming Feature Film BIOPHAGE will be there to promote his film, plus many other great short
films. For a complete list, check
out ChicagoHorrorfest.com ......
10.04.2003........ This Wednesday October 8 in Novi, Michigan at 8 PM our
own Fearless Leader Mike Flores will be screening BETTIE PAGE UNCENSORED
- THE UNAUTHORIZED STORY and he'll be spinning mash ups in the lobby of
the theater! For more info click here: www.michiganindependentfilmfestival.com/........
09.26.2003...... Funnyman Will Ferrell
IS the Man in the Yellow Hat in CURIOUS GEORGE. Hey, wouldn't he be good
in the MAGNUM P.I. movie, too?....... Now that Keanu Reeves has
finished the MATRIX trilogy, will he follow through on his plan to star in
a remake of BILLY JACK?....... Manga legend Go Nagai goes
live-action, with features based on both CUTEY HONEY and DEVILMAN in the
works....
09.25.2003.... PFS member David "The
Rock" Nelson will be a guest at the Independent Video
Alliance this Sat., Sept. 27th, at 7009 N. Glenwood, in Chicago (Rogers Park area). The doors open at 8:00 pm,
show starts at 8:30
pm. Admission is only $2. There will be many independent short films shown,
by various independent filmmakers, plus live band music, then, "Rock" will introduce his 2-hour hit-feature,
DEVIL ANT! Plus: "Rock's" hilarious "monster-snack"
trailers will be shown! Bring a friend (or "fiend")! The show will last
until about midnight...... UNDERWORLD 2 has already been given the greenlight....
As I predicted a month ago, the success of FREDDY VS. JASON has prompted
Paramount to begin work on a special edition DVD box set of the 8 FRIDAY
THE 13th movies in their possession. Hopefully they'll make sure all the
films are uncut and release PART 3 in 3-D. Creator Sean Cunningham
is working on a new F13 TV series set at old Camp Crystal Lake. Meanwhile,
New Line continues to ponder how to best follow up their hit.... BLADE 3:
TRINITY just got even more interesting with the addition of Parker
Posey to the vampire cast.....
09.20.2003..... News and Rumors from our
buddy Bruce Campbell:
The newly-minted psychotronic classic BUBBA
HO-TEP has a sequel in the works - BUBBA SASQUATCH... Oh, and though
his agent has yet to call, apparently New Line execs are fairly excited by
the idea of ASH VS. JASON VS. FREDDY...... With horror once again hot,
sequels-in-limbo like SEED OF CHUCKY, LOST BOYS 2 and 2001 MANIACS are
getting the greenlight....... Execs at Warner Bros. are scrambling around
to assemble cast & crew to get Superman and Batman movies in
production and released at about the same time to crush the box office
competition. They're also very close to signing Alicia Silverstone
for SUPERGIRL..... Is Tim Burton really going to direct PLANET OF
THE APES 2?....
09.15.2003.... Chicagoland's cable access legend ABDUCTIONS WITH THE ALTER BOY is back on
the air for several weeks. Check out the schedule at www.alterboy.tv.......
09.10.2003...... Cult queens Tura
Satana, Haji, Francine York, Lori Williams, Mamie
Van Doren, Kitten Natividad, Cynthia Myers and Teresa
Ganzel will be starring in a new movie shooting next year titled
PLEASE SIGN IT LOVE, a drama about what happens sex objects when they grow
older. The script is said to include plenty of comedy and even some fight
scenes, too.........
09.08.2003..... PFS member David
"The Rock" Nelson has clued us in to the relatively new
web home of Chicago's horror host Svengoolie.
I've always felt that horror host programs work best at night, when
kids can gather for slumber parties and adults can gather for
whatever-adults-do-to-party parties, so I'm happy to hear that Sven's show
on WCIU channel 26 will be moving to Saturday nights at 9 PM on September
20..... .... The popularity of the Fox cartoon series THE FAMILY GUY in
reruns on cable and on DVD have led to a greenlight for a direct-to-video
feature version............ This new
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS is starting to sound like a lot of fun, with
the team of Jackie Chan and British comic Steve Coogan
meeting up with Arnold Schwarzenegger (as an Arab prince), Kathy
Bates (as Queen Victoria), John Cleese, Luke & Owen
Wilson (as the Wright Bros.), Rob Schneider, Mars, Karen
Mok, Macy Gray and Sammo Hung (as Wong Fei-hung!). And
it's directed by Frank Coraci (THE WEDDING SINGER, THE WATERBOY).........
08.25.2003........ We were saddened to learn of the death last
Thursday of PFS member and one of the true originals in both art and rock,
Wesley Willis. I first met Wesley when he was skinny, riding
home with his big drawings on the El. Being just a poor art student, I
couldn't spare the dough to buy any of his art. Now I'm regretting it - he
might've written a song about me....
08.18.2003......... Psychotronic Film Society co-founder and Member #3
Del Close,
is the subject of an article in the September issue of Chicago Magazine. Our own
Fearless Leader Michael Flores was interviewed for the piece. The magazine is on
the stands now........ Is Ara
Paiaya the next big action star? The lanky Iranian-born Armenian was
raised in Scotland, but seems to have been fed a steady diet of Hong Kong
action movies, and his DUBBED & DANGEROUS trilogy of short action
comedies have become cult favorites in the UK. Crash Cinema will be
releasing the goofy D&D films on DVD in the USA this Fall, and Ara has
a part in Jackie Chan's latest Stateside release THE
MEDALLION.....
07.24.2003.... This Saturday, July 26,
American Movie Classics will be showing Bruce Lee's three Hong Kong
Golden Harvest classics under their original titles - THE BIG BOSS, FIST
OF FURY and WAY OF THE DRAGON - for the first time in the USA! Does this
presage a similar video release to re-establish copyrights, eventually
usurping the old confusing US titles?............This weekend our pal David
"The Rock" Nelson is due to be awarded a prize at the Under
Shorts Film Fest................
07.22.2003... First review I've seen of my
book is up on Kung
Fu Cinema....... There's a sequel to BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA in
the works.... Marvel Comics movies that will definitely be made, according
to CEO Avi Arad: BLADE 3, HULK
2, FANTASTIC FOUR, IRON MAN, ELEKTRA, X-MEN
3, DEATHLOK..... New Jersey's Dante Tomaselli has directed a couple
of interesting horror flicks (DESECRATION, HORROR), and is the cousin of
director Alfred Sole (PANDEMONIUM). Now it looks like Dante will be
directing the sequel to Alfred's 1976 cult hit ALICE SWEET ALICE...... Ben
Affleck will play SUPERMAN star George Reeves in the biopic
TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY....
07.15.2003....... The
Hallmark channel is producing a new 4-hour version of FRANKENSTEIN..... Tobe
Hooper is set to remake the disturbing old slasher flick THE TOOLBOX
MURDERS..... No Doubt songbird Gwen Stefani is in talks to play
Dazzler in X-MEN 3...
06.18.2003........ Quite a few horror
movies over the years, from FRANKENSTEIN on down, are prefaced with a
health warning to people with heart conditions, etc. But in New Delhi, a
50-year old man died during a late Monday night screening of Rangopal
Varma's demonic possession flick BHOOT (a semi-remake of his
successful RHAAT), which is preceded by such an onscreen warning by Varma.
Good thing Varma didn't follow in William Castle's footsteps and
offer million dollar insurance policies with each ticket...... A headless
corpse has been found near the ruins of Castle Frankenstein.... William
Marshall died over the weekend after battling Alzheimer's for several
years. Marshall will forever be remembered by fans as the star of BLACULA,
his appearances in many sci-fi and horror films, and as the King of
Cartoons on PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE........
06.12.2003....... NBC is bringing the aliens back with
V: THE SECOND GENERATION, a three-hour TV
movie from the original creator Kenneth Johnson..... Warner Bros. also seems to
think the CHARLIE'S ANGELS movies work because folks just want to see
movies based on old TV shows, so they're making a FALL GUY
movie.....TRANSFORMERS are also headed to the big screen.....Also in the
works: a biopic of Ghostbuster Harold Ramis - or more specifically,
based on his days as a mental hospital worker.....
06.02.2003........ After turning in his
third script in the series, David Goyer was able to leverage his
success into being hired as director of BLADE 3. The latest sequel will
depict a vampire apocalypse that leaves humanity scrambling for cover as
the nosferatu take over......... Meanwhile, in Australia, Brett Leonard
(VIRTUOSITY) will be directing MAN-THING, based on Marvel's somber monster
comics series....... Unwilling to wait until Daiei Studios get around to
another Gamera movie, a group of enthusiastic fans have made a low-budget
short version of their own called GAMERA 4, complete with one of the
actors from the series and CGI f/x, which the studio has authorized and
may release on video..... Ghoulardi fans can pick up 2 CDs worth of
compiled music the horror host used on his 1960s show here......
05.30.2003....... With Pixar possibly outgrowing their relationship with Disney, Michael
Eisner is making plans to fight back with renewed energy directed
toward their animation studio. But instead of adopting the emphasis on
creativity/writing that Pixar favors, it looks like Disney is just
planning on going in for more CGI, including re-animating classics like
PINOCCHIO and PETER PAN. Oy........... Japanese game giant Gainax and US
importer of Japanese films ADV Films are teaming up to produce a
live-action film based on the mecha anime classic NEON GENESIS EVANGELION.....Director
Darren Aronofsky may be working on a remake of LONE WOLF &
CUB.....
05.29.2003........ Many of you caught my
appearance on Chicagoland's most psychotronic TV show ABDUCTIONS WITH THE
ALTER BOY [www.alterboy.tv] not too
long ago. Well, some of you may not have caught it, so they're running it
again, late this Saturday night, 12:30 on cable access channel
19...........
05.27.2003........
PFS members traveling to Europe this summer may want to stop in to visit
the Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona, where the CCCB
is putting on an exhibit of trash culture featuring a festival of
psychotronic films......
05.19.2003...... As cable network TNN evolves into the New TNN, one of
their top rated programs is MOST EXTREME ELIMINATION CHALLENGE, which is
actually the wacky Japanese game show TAKESHI'S CASTLE starring "Beat"
Takeshi Kitano. Though hilariously dubbed in English, with everyone
given "American" names (Kitano is "Vic Ramano"), this
gives US fans of Kitano's hard-action movies like VIOLENT COP and BOILING
POINT a chance to see him as the Japanese are used to seeing him: as goofy
host and comedian....
05.15.2003............ Cheeta, the chimpanzee that provided distraction and
comic relief for kids too young to be interested in jungle heroics in 12
vintage Tarzan epics, is still alive, and celebrated his 71st birthday
last month - the oldest known ape! Cheeta is retired and lives in Palm
Springs at a rest home for show biz primates.....
05.12.2003..... With the departure of daughter Asia for greener
post-XXX pastures, Dario Argento has rewritten his latest project
THE CARD PLAYER, taking it from the planned sequel to STENDAHL SYNDROME to
a return to the grittier style of BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE. Following
this film, Argento plans to complete his Three Mothers trilogy began with
SUSPIRIA and continued in INFERNO........ Nicolas Cage will be torn between Winona Ryder
and Angelina Jolie in Neil LaBute's very different American
remake of THE WICKER MAN.... George Lucas, who once owned Pixar,
has opened his own Lucasfilm Animation studio, which plans on producing
features....
04.24.2003.... DMX plays the blues? The rapper/non-actor joins
the current werewolf movie wave in WEREWOLF, playing a traveling bluesman
who fights werewolves..
04.13.2003..... Hong Kong legend Yuen Woo-ping will direct a new
film for DreamWorks based on the Marvel Comics series MASTER OF KUNG
FU.... Miramax has licensed 50 classic films from the Shaw Bros. library
for US distribution, with options to remake 2 of them. While this is good
news for US fans dying to see these movies, it's also potentially bad
news, as Miramax has a history of editing the foreign films they
distribute....
04.03.2003...... Our "fiend" David "The Rock"
Nelson is featured in issue 34 of CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN magazine, and he
wants to make a special offer, to "quote": "You can recieve your "autographed"(by Nelson, "The'New'Ed Wood"!) copy of
this new mag. from David "The Rock" Nelson, himself, postage-paid for the
"dirt cheap" total price of only $8. "stinkin'" bucks! Send your $8. money
orders to: *David Nelson -1170 Howard Av. -Des Plaines, IL. -60018.For a great combo, recieve the
issue of "Castle of Frankenstein" & Nelson's movie, "Frankenstein Stalks",
for a total of only $25. "stinkin'" bucks, post-paid/total! At that price,
you "Can't go wrong"! -This special deal, my "Fiends", will last until
Midnight(The Witching Hour!-"Hah, heh"!), *April 15Th, 2003, in 2 weeks!" Yes,
that's the way he writes, and I can't wait for his autobiography....
04.02.2003..... We're sad to hear that p-fave actor Leslie Cheung committed
suicide by leaping off the roof of Hong Kong's Mandarin Oriental Hotel
last night. A hugely popular singing star in Asia, who made no effort to
hide his bisexuality despite the repressions of Chinese society, starred
in ONCE A THIEF, A CHINESE GHOST STORY, A BETTER TOMORROW 1-3, ROUGE, ACES
GO PLACES 5, ALL'S WELL END'S WELL, EAGLE SHOOTING HEROES, ASHES OF TIME,
BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR 1 & 2, THE PHANTOM LOVER, FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE,
HAPPY TOGETHER and more. In recent years, he's broken away from his usual
young hero roles to play edgier - even psychotic - parts in films like
MOONLIGHT EXPRESS, DOUBLE TAP and INNER SENSES - in the latter, a role for
which he's been nominated for an HK Film Award, he played a man possessed
by his late girlfriend's ghost, who tries to lure him into leaping off the
roof of a building............ Guess it was too late for Disney
to cut one ear off of Roger Rabbit for their new deluxe DVD. Now he
just has to look like a peace symbol, unlike that poster for WHAT A GIRL
WANTS which is being altered so that it doesn't look like Amanda Bynes
is in favor of peace. I can remember when most folks thought of peace as a
good thing........
04.01.2003..... Paramount has announces that the latest comics
character to make the leap to the movies is NANCY. Rosie O'Donnell will
come out of semi-retirement to assay the title role, claiming that the
strip has been a favorite of hers since she was a little girl watching
MIKE DOUGLAS and eating Oreos with her mom and aunt. The studio thought
about casting a child actress as the precocious orphan, but decided that
the budget would be too small, and will instead employ f/x to shrink the
adult actors to child size in the manner of LORD
OF THE RINGS and STUART LITTLE. Pamela Anderson has already
signed on for the crucial role of Aunt Fritzi, with Vin Diesel being
sought to play Sluggo..... The Sci-Fi Channel, while trumpeting
their lineup of new series, has picked up new episodes of the syndicated
series STARHUNTER, because "it's a science fiction series, and nobody
wants to watch it.".....
03.19.2003...... Madonna's Maverick Films has the
rights to the graphic novel VIOLENT MESSIAHS: THE BOOK OF JOB, and is
developing it into a movie.... Producers on THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN are
nervous that Tobey Maguire's back problems may cause him to pull
out of the project...... MTv's anime series AEON FLUX is going live-action
for the big screen...... The SUPERMAN project is still a mess, with all
actors dropping out of the lead and director Brett Ratner's option
expiring......... CATWOMAN is also on questionable ground, having cast Halle
Berry in the lead and hired French f/x master Pitof as
director.........
03.12.2003........ MGM has signed John Travolta to star in a
remake of HARVEY..... There's a Hollywood movie version of the LUPIN III
series in the works.... F/x man Phil Tippett will direct the
direct-to-vid sequel STARSHIP TROOPERS 2......
03.07.2003..... Spanish horror star Paul Naschy is in Hollywood
this week, playing a vampire in Don Glut's COUNTESS DRACULA'S ORGY
OF BLOOD, then will again don his famous werewolf makeup for a film with Fred
Olen Ray called THE UNLIVING, co-starring Michelle Bauer as
Countess Elizabeth Bathory........
02.28.2003..... For those of you that haven't heard: the 3
Penny Theater has us back again for late shows starting tonight with GAMERA,
GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE. Details here.......... Our
friends at Unearthed Films, DVD home of the notorious GUINEA PIG series,
will bring the wild Japanese zombie flick JUNK to DVD April 29, and are
preparing to release even more hard-edged horror double features,
including Nacho Cerda's AFTERMATH and GENESIS, plus Shozin Fukiu's
PINOCCHIO 964 and RUBBER'S LOVER....... Our friends at Cyberscope Wizards
remind us that the weird Chicagoland cable TV show ABDUCTIONS WITH THE
ALTER BOY returns this weekend. Head to www.alterboy.tv
for details and schedule.....
02.05.2003.... Front Line Films has signed horror legend Paul Naschy for
COUNTESS DRACULA'S ORGY OF BLOOD, the sequel to EROTIC RITES OF COUNTESS
DRACULA, which starts shooting March 10. William Smith and
Del Howisen return as Count Dracula and Renfield, respectively. TV
horror host Count Gore De Vol makes a guest appearance............ The Vatican has announced that the HARRY POTTER books
and movies are okay with them.....
01.24.2003..... Jackie Chan will star in a straight drama for
director Edward Yang.....
01.14.2003.... ... Recording star William
Shatner is working on a new album with New Age popster Ben Folds......
Troma's next in-house feature will be a horror anthology called TALES FROM
THE CRAPPER.....
01.06.2003...... Pop star Britney Spears is turning
more toward movies than music lately, with her latest project a mystery
thriller about a modern American girl who turns Sherlock Holmes to
save the President's son........
12.16.2002..... Producer Scott Rudin has left the LEMONY SNICKET
movie (based on the wickedly funny children's book series) over budget
haggles with Paramount, who want to spend less than the budgeted 100
million bucks on it. Jim Carrey is signed to star as Count Olaf,
with Barry Sonenfield directing.......
12.04.2002...... Morgan Freeman and Jet Li will team
up in DANNY THE DOG for Luc Besson's Europa production company, to be
directed by Louis Leterrier (THE TRANSPORTER). Besson's KISS OF THE
DRAGON is Li's best movie to date outside of China, so here's hopin'.......... Robert
Zemeckis (CONTACT) is working on an
intriguing feature called POLAR EXPRESS, which will use CGI to make Tom
Hanks into a little boy for an extended flashback......... CAPTAIN HARLOCK GOES LIVE- French director
Olivier Dahan (La Vie Promise, Le Petit Poucet) is gearing up to produce a live-action interpretation of
Leiji Matsumoto's classic manga and anime hero Captain Harlock.
According to the article on French film site AlloCine.com the film will be an American/Japanese co-production, featuring English dialogue and Japanese special effects. The screenplay is being produced by an unnamed English
author. A composer has also not yet been named, but it's speculated that two possibilities are
Joe Hisaishi and Kenji Kawaii. Harlock has been budgeted at 27 million euros..........
11.28.2002.... That last item reminded me to tell y'all that we have a
song about Rocky's film CONRAD
BROOKS VS. THE WEREWOLF by Space Coyote. Download the
mp3 here - and hope you
have a happy holiday weekend. Recommended: get together with family and
friends to watch that Thanksgiving classic BLOOD FREAK.....
11. 26.2002..... HEROES!... While editing DEVIL ANT 2, our pal David
"The Rock" Nelson saved his mother's life by delivering
CPR when she had a cardiac arrest. Bravo, Rocky - and hope your mom gets
well soon!..... Not quite as dramatic, but while director of friend of PFS
Don Glut (DINOSAUR VALLEY
GIRLS, EROTIC RITES OF COUNTESS DRACULA) is in town visiting his
mom for the holiday, he saw to it that one of the Frankenstein family
tombstones in a local cemetery was restored to its proper place after he
noticed vandals had moved it while trying to steal it. Bravo, Don - and
we'll be watching for your next flick THE MUMMY'S KISS early next
year......
11.22.2002.......... Kadokawa Publishing has purchased Daiei Studios to form
the Kadokawa Daiei Motion Picture Company. Among the first big projects on
their production schedule is a new version of DAIMAJIN (aka MAJIN, MONSTER
OF TERROR) and negotiations are underway with Toho Studios to make
GODZILLA VS. GAMERA!!....
11.14.2002.......In the wake of THE
RING, United Artists is buying remake rights to the creepy Japanese
hypno-killer flick CURE.......
10.29.2002............. Interviewed about their Christian flick TIME
CHANGERS, directing twins Dave and Rich Christiano are quoted as saying
"Hollywood just pretends that Jesus doesn't exist." Tell that to
the producers of Hollywood that have made more Christian movies than
anybody else, including INTOLERANCE, BARABBUS, KING OF KINGS, DOGMA,
GODSPELL, THE SILVER CHALICE, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTACY, THE PASSOVER
PLOT, JESUS, SIGN OF THE CROSS, THE BIBLE, THE BOOK OF LIFE, THE ROBE,
WHOLLY MOSES, THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, BEN-HUR, JESUS CHRIST
SUPERSTAR, THE CRUSADES, SAVING GRACE, CIVILIZATION, LIFE OF BRIAN, THE
PASSION, THE CROSS, THE WORD, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, etc......
10.22.2002........ Warners is buying remake rights to the Jet
Li movie HITMAN, released on video in the USA as CONTRACT
KILLER...........
09. 03.2002............. Universal is thing-king about making THE
THING 2.......
08.14.2002.... We're saddened to have to report the death of legendary
psychotronic director Doris Wishman, who passed away last Saturday.
Doris always said "When I die, I'll direct movies in Hell", so
she may be filming cloven hooves walking around right now, though we
suspect she's actually dubbing voices in Heaven. Her website has up a web
board where you can pay your respects here.....
Razor 3D, a label that has released several Imax and specialty 3D films on
DVD and CD-ROM has signed a deal to release a list of 20 films this Fall
using a process that makes 2D movies look like 3D. The list includes
psychotronic faves like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, CHINESE CONNECTION and
FIVE DEADLY VENOMS.....
07.23.2002..... I'm sure some Chicago PFS members caught SVENGOOLIE'S
TV GRAVEYARD featuring THE MONKEES last Saturday on Ch. 26.
Coincidentally, I'd just watched HEAD the night before I watched it, but I
never once thought about the 1987 NEW MONKEES. Well, apparently NBC was
thinking about it, as they've announced plans for the NEW NEW MONKEES,
from the folks that brought you AMERICAN IDOL........ Forrest J
Ackerman has decided his Ackermansion is too large for him to maintain
and will be selling a large portion of his vast collection on eBay to fund
his retirement to a smaller, more streamlined Ackermuseum...........
06.28.2002........ Love Hong Kong action movies but hate the way Disney
butchers them for US release? You can sign a petition to let them know here.
Do it for director Chang Cheh (FIVE DEADLY VENOMS), who died last
week at age 79.............
06.25.2002...... The Psychotronic Film Society will co-sponsor TWO
upcoming events! The first is the 68th annual JOHN DILLINGER DAY
celebration. And next month, come see us, along with Bruce Campbell,
Herschell Gordon Lewis, and more, for a psychotronic film festival
and dealers convention at FLASHBACK WEEKEND. For details see our schedule
page at www.psychotronic.info/news.htm........
John Woo's next project will star Chow Yun-fat and Nicolas
Cage, and be about foreigners working on US railways in the
1800s........ This week sees release of Ed Wood's THE BRIDE &
THE BEAST on DVD from a 35mm print in a deluxe edition from Fred Olen
Ray's Retromedia. The disc
includes trailers for the feature (subject of a hilarious musical stage
adaptation by our own Michael Flores) and Conrad Brooks' MAN
FROM PLAN 9, plus David "The Rock"
Nelson's featurette MUMMY A.D. Yes, you heard right, one of
Nelson's flicks on DVD before KING KONG....
06.21.2002...... Miramax will get into
CGI feature animation with S.P.O.O.K.S., about a bunch of kids who are
ghostbusters...... Though announcements have been hesitant for a fourth
INDIANA JONES movie, Steven Spielberg has announced that Sean
Connery will definitely be asked back, and there may be a role for Calista
Flockheart as well..................
05.21.2002......... Michael
Jackson will produce and play a werewolf in WOLFED, based on an
Alexander Dumas story.... Jackie Chan, 48, won the 2002 Taurus Award for Best Action Movie
Star in the
World Stunt Awards.....
05.15.2002..... John Woo is producing, and Lucy Liu is
starring as the granddaughter of CHARLIE CHAN. The Honolulu police
detective has been a hot button for some Asian-Americans due to the fact
that Chan was always played by Anglos in his old movies, but I'm guessing
Liu loves them as much as we do. Besides, the series gave steady work to a
lot of Asian actors (Chan had a dozen or so kids) like Keye Luke,
Victor Sen Yung, Benson Fong and Barbara Jean Wong. Say,
wouldn't Wu Ma make a great Charlie Chan?.............
05.06.2002....Just when we thought we had heard enough of
Fearless Leader Michael Flores, he signs a deal with Mark Mothersbaugh
(Devo,
music for everything from RUGRATS to PEE WEE'S PLAYHOUSE) to do art direction
and music for his next show, THE ACID TEST, which will be opening in both Los
Angeles and Chicago in 2003....... Other PFS news: If it seems like reviews in Movie
Madness! and items here haven't been updated as often lately, it's
because Propaganda Minister of the Sinister Brian Thomas is hard at
work on another project for Visible
Ink Press. Last year, I was lead contributor to their expanded second
edition of Videohound's CULT FLICKS & TRASH PICS. Now I'm smack in the
middle of a book of my own, Videohound DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT
FLICKS, an encyclopedic guide to Far East cinema available on tape or DVD
in the USA, that should be available for Xmas giving. Video distributors
that want their titles included that I haven't been able to contact yet
should email me immediately...... Roland Emmerich is set to direct
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, in which global warming causes extreme
weather........ Two imprisoned Cambodian crematorium workers were freed by
a provincial court Saturday because there was found to be no law on the
books against cannibalism. The law was likely removed during the Killing
Fields years of the 1970s, when eating each other was the only way many
Cambodians survived.........
04.29.2002.......... Theatre guy and PFS fearless leader Michael Flores has been chosen by
underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger to shoot a film on Aleister
Crowley's
artwork in the collection of rocker Jimmy Page. Watch for Michael's new play AU
GO GO about 1965 go go clubs to open May 17th at the Rive Gauche Nightclub- the
first play in Chicago to play a nightclub!.... Warner Bros. and Tarsem
(THE CELL) are suing each other over his leaving the CONSTANTINE project
(based on the comic HELLBLAZER) after a year of work. Tarsem says he left
because of studio interference with his work..........
04.15.2002..... Warner Bros. has hired Stephen Norrington (BLADE)
to direct a live-action remake of AKIRA........ Alphaville (THE
MUMMY, SCORPION KING) hopes to get production underway for Edgar
Rice Burroughs' PRINCESS OF MARS by next year...........
04.01.2002....... The results of the recent Oscars have been so popular
that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has announced that
from now on, eighty percent of all awards must go to African American
nominees. This includes Best Animated Feature, so Forrest Whitaker
should dust his mantle for both THE PANIC ROOM and FAT ALBERT. When told
of the decision, Halle Berry was said to burst into tears of joy. Spike
Lee has issued a statement, which says in part, "... it's a
start. Maybe ninety-five would feel better after five hundred years of
oppression."..... At as recent film convention, we were approached by
representatives of 20th Century Fox that prefer to remain anonymous, who
showed us to a hotel room for a super-secret private screening of
STAR WARS: Episode 4! Though some of the special effects appeared to be
unfinished, it's two hours of solid entertainment that definitely lives up
to the hype! It has a back-to-basics approach that gives the impression
that George Lucas has regained some of the early energy he had in
the director's chair. And by the way, that annoying Jar Jar Binks
is nowhere to be found.... Relatives of the late Milton Berle are
reported to be fuming over a controversial last request by the comedian
that he be buried in drag. It may be up to a court of law to decide
whether or not "Uncle Milty" was joking or not in the request,
or whether the request, joke or not, is legally binding....... Arnold
Schwarzenegger has accepted an offer of 20 million dollars to have his
name attached to an upcoming sci-fi action film. "Ahnuld" will
not appear in the as yet untitled film, but his name will appear on all
advertising and above the title in the film itself......
03.20.2002........ Disney just
laid off 250 employees from their animation department......
03.15.2002..... Threshold Entertainment has announced plans to turn
anime favorite NINJA SCROLL into a $60 million live-action film. They're
also producing DUKE NUKEM......... Check out the latest on the BETTIE PAGE
UNCENSORED movie here.
Lots of photos!.... Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed on to play an
android in a remake of WESTWORLD. Wouldn't an update featurte some kinda
virtual reality, like TOTAL RECALL?......
02.22.2002...... Jay Chou has been chosen to star in the US
remake of FIST OF FURY (aka THE CHINESE CONNECTION)........ 02.12.2002........ Due to the football season overruns, production on
some Fox shows like FUTURAMA is over a year ahead of schedule..... Ticket
sales in Japan for GODZILLA GMK have equaled those of the last two Godzilla
pictures combined. This is partially due to the enthusiastic response to
the new feature, and partially due to it being double-featured with a Hamatoro
movie. Toho has announced plans to repeat the teaming for this
year.........
01.25.2002...... Just want to say I hope to see you all at B-FEST
tonight. If anybody wants me to sign their copy of VideoHound's CULT
FLICKS & TRASH PICS, bring it along.....
01.17.2002.... We're rebuilding the PFS mailing list. If you'd like to
get our news and announcements in your email box, please send a message
now. We do not give out our mailing list to anybody......
01.08.2002....... NBC has given the greenlight to two new TV movie
pilots: CARRIE, based on the Stephen King novel, and LOST
IN SPACE....... Stephen Sommers (THE
MUMMY RETURNS) has signed aboard THE ARGONAUTS, a tale set in the
1930s about a crew of adventurers seeking Jason's fabled sunken
ship....... Blockbuster Video is once again trying to wreck home video and
shoot themselves in the foot. Now they're trying to get studios to release
more flicks on DVD in full screen format only, saying that their customers
prefer it. Blockbuster's market research is always 5 years out of date -
one of the reasons DVD is so successful is because viewers are hipper to
film and prefer quality. Here's a link
to a petition seeking to call a halt to this nonsense.....
12.14.2001........ The First Family of Punk - The Ramones - will
be inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame next year...... Columbia Pictures
and director John Singleton are planning to revive Ray
Harryhausen's SINBAD series for a new movie......Universal and
Dimension Films will partner to produce the new 6 MILLION DOLLAR MAN
movie. They've also purchased rights to Martin Caiden's other
novels in his CYBORG series....... USA Films is developing a movie based
on the death of SUPERMAN star George Reeves..... Hey! Winona
Ryder stole my cigarettes!........
12.11.2001....... Korea's Zero
Nine Entertainment (YONGGARY/REPTILIAN)
is now shooting a flick called DRAGON WARS, which should get to the US in
time to look like a cheap rip-off of REIGN OF FIRE......... Pimply,
balding comic-book artist Alex Ross has been hired to design the
poster for the 74th Academy Awards Presentation......
12.10.2001..... Sony is close to giving a green light to ASTRO BOY,
having just hired Eric Leighton (DINOSAUR)
to direct from a script by Todd Alcott (ANTZ) and Ken Kaufman (SPACE
COWBOYS). Sony Imageworks is working on test footage for the now all-CGI
project......... 12.07.2001...... Big ASTRO-ZOMBIES PFS screening
Party tonight!..... Speaking of zombies, Fangoria Pictures' WilliamButler
is currently working on a script for an action-packed RETURN OF THE LIVING
DEAD 4. He says there's also a TV series being considered.........
12.06.2001....... The WB network is looking into a new LONE RANGER
series........ Warners has given the greenlight to a WONDER WOMAN movie,
though no names are attached as yet...... THE RAVEN has to be the most
filmed poem ever (even though none of the movies has ever had much to do
with the poem's "plot"). Now Ron Howard is working on a
flick based on the Poe rhyme, with Greg Kinnear, Linda
Hunt and Richard E. Grant in attendance.....
12.04.2001.......
T3 should net Arnold Schwarzenegger around 30 million dollars.....
The Sci-Fi channel has given the green light to a sequel miniseries,
CHILDREN OF DUNE...... Nathan Lane is set to star in the Jackie
Gleason biopic TO THE MOON..... PLUG: A few years back, I was the lead
contributor to the best-selling book VIDEOHOUND'S GUIDE TO CULT FLICKS
& TRASH PICS. Now we've gone and done it again, completely revising,
updating and expanding the book for a massive new second edition!
Available in bookstores now - in time for X-mas giving - or follow this link.......
11.21.2001..... After a decade of Development Hell at Universal,
Miramax has picked up the feature rights to THE GREEN HORNET.....
11.20.2001...... Kismet Entertainment has announcedtwo remakes in the
works of Mario Bava horror films. The first will be BARON BLOOD and
the second BLACK SUNDAY....... New Line has made a deal with the Cartoon
Network to produce two features based on the series SAMURAI JACK, one
animated and one live-action. Rumor has it Brett Ratner may direct
the feature after RED DRAGON..... Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell,
and a few other conspirators are being rather cagey about a low budget
film they're working on together........
11.19.2001...... Michael Bay (ARMAGEDDON,
PEARL HARBOR) says he and Will Smith are trying to get Warner
Brothers to let them make Richard Matheson's I AM LEGEND through
Bay's new lower-budget-project production company.......
11.16.2001...... Norton Records www.nortonrecords.com has just released
FRIDAY AT THE HIDEOUT- Boss Detroit Garage Music 1964 - 1967. The cd and booklet
cover the scene that everyone from Suzy Quatro to Bob Seger came from. Our
Fearless Leader Michael Flores has an excerpt from the interview you can read at
www.psychotronic.info/ioam/hideout_records.htm
in the booklet. Of course it is about the groupie scene. He has also started an
internet civil defense group, www.civildefenseleague.com and is
toiling away on the BETTIE PAGE movie........... After tossing around story
ideas for JUMANJI 2 for years, looks like Columbia is going back to the
novel's writer Chris Van Allsburg, picking up the rights to his new
book ZATHURA for the sequel........ Taking the place of the canceled
HOWARD STERN RADIO SHOW in syndication will be the Stern-produced sitcom
KANE, about a Southern jerk who is re-united with his long-lost
family...... Robert Weide (MOTHER NIGHT) is writing a script of Kurt
Vonnegut's SIRENS OF TITAN........
11.15.2001....... Bruce Lee lives! Sort of. Korea's ShinCine has
purchased the rights to the late star's image to be used as a CGI actor in
a film called DRAGON WARRIOR....... Studios will be scrambling today as
movie rights to C.S. Lewis' CHRONICLES OF NARNIA books go up for
auction......
11.14.2001.......... After having to abandon his
DON QUIXOTE project, Terry Gilliam appears to be bouncing back with
GOOD OMENS, which pits enemy angels Joseph Fiennes and Christopher
Lambert against each other.....
11.13.2001..... Government and Hollywood brass started meetings this
week to determine how the entertainment industry can help out with the war
effort. Spokespeople claim there is no talk being done about propaganda or
any specific content. MEANwhile, Sylvester Stallone is working on a
script for RAMBO 4, in which the aging hero invades Afghanistan (again) to
capture bin Laden single handed. This should piss off Chuck
Norris, who has had a nearly identical TV movie in the can that CBS
refuses to broadcast........
HELLSEEKER will be yet another unwanted sequel milking the HELLRAISER
franchise......
11.12.2001......... Universal has signed to make a film project
based on Clive Barker and Todd McFarlane's TORTURED SOULS
horror action figures - creatures that kinda look like the folks that
deliver mail to the Cenobites, do their laundry, etc.........
10.29.2001..... Sobini
Films has announced production of the action adventure SWORD OF
HERCULES.....
10.26.2001...... Universal has hired David Hayter (X-MEN)
to write the screen version of WATCHMEN, and Hayter also wants to
direct......
10.23.2001...... Dredd again: Shoreline Ent. and 2000 AD have signed a
deal to bring their most popular character back to the screen for two more
features. Though the first film was pretty much ruined by having star
Sylvester Stallone appear without his helmet, JUDGE DREDD: DREDD
RECKONING and JUDGE DREDD: POSSESSION are planned to hew more faithfully
to the comics....... Speaking of JUDGE
DREDD, Anchor Bay may be doing a
director's cut DVD of the film. They are also planning a 4-DISC special
edition of EVIL DEAD, a possible box set of John Carpenter's ESCAPE
FROM... movies, and a special series of Orson Welles discs,
including a newly finished cut of THE DEEP!......... Ridley Scott's
next will be the supernatural thriller SWIFT....... While his GANGS OF
NEW YORK is being pushed back until next year (possibly to put some time
between it and star Leo DiCaprio's uncomplimentary comments about
the film), Martin Scorsese is said to be preparing ALEXANDER THE
GREAT.........
10.19.2001.... One doesn't usually associate author Harlan Ellison
with the word "action", but nevertheless director Alex Proyas
(DARK CITY) is making a
chase-and-fight feature called DRIVE, adapted from Ellison's "Along
the Scenic Route"...... Regency Pictures are producing David
Benioff's supernatural thriller script STAY........ Will there be a live-action
feature of DEXTER'S LABORATORY? Director D.J. Caruso (MIND PREY)
has it on his schedule.....
10.16.2001....... Dario Argento
is writing a sequel to his quirky masterpiece PHENOMENA.......... Fox appears to be
gaining the upper hand in bidding with ABC over the rights for a new TIME
TUNNEL series.....
10.03.2001...... Shopping: Sobini Films bought the film rights to
Graham Joyce' witchcraft novel DARK SISTER. They're also working on a
script called JOHNNY FRANKENSTEIN. And Dimension bought the film rights to
the ALONE IN THE DARK video game series.... Laszlo Kovacs will
pick up a lifetime achievement award from the American Society of
Cinematographers. Kovacs' lens has recently graced such hits as MISS
CONGENIALITY, but we'll always remember him for scores of old exploitation
films like TARGETS, KISS ME QUICK, MANTIS
IN LACE, BLOOD OF DRACULA'S CASTLE and HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS.........
Screenwriter of THE NINTH GATE Enrique
Urbizu willtake up the directing chores as well on the sequel THE
DEVIL'S BEAUTY......
10.02.2001...... Happy Palindrome Day! See ya again on January 2,
2010......... Chuck Norris is pushing for CBS to air his TV movie
THE PRESIDENT'S MAN. No, it's not a serious drama about a gay president,
but an action flick in which Norris is sent to Afghanistan to abduct a bin
Laden-like terrorist kingpin......
09.28.2001.... According to Video Business magazine, the evil pinheads
at Blockbuster Video are expanding their DVD business - but destroying
their tape titles by 25% at each store. Not selling off, or donating to
charities - destroying. Reminds me of how film studios have
burned thousands of negatives in their archives to make room for
"newer, better" material. Like the script for SHALLOW HAL I
s'pose............
09.26.2001.......... Sony is working on an animated
feature based on the Smashing Pumpkins' "Machines of God"
album........
09.25.2001............ According to DreamWorks, their remake of
FORBIDDEN PLANET will resist the urge to "update" and will
include a Robby the Robot that looks just like the
original..........
09.24.2001.......... Mark Frost
is looking to get use of some characters, including FBI Agents Dale Cooper
(Kyle MacLachlan) and Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland) for a
TWIN PEAKS spin-off feature set at Bureau headquarters.........
09.18.2001....... Countess Coralina
Cataldi-Tassoni has a music cd out, has worked in film with Dario
Argento (OPERA, DEMONS 2, PHANTOM
OF THE OPERA) and has been in plays created by our own fearless leader
Michael Flores (Yep, he just keeps discovering new talent). To see her
very very nude
click here.......... Beloved
character actor Victor Wong (TREMORS, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA,
PRINCE OF DARKNESS) has died........
09.17.2001.......... Producer Samuel
Arkoff died of natural causes at 83 on Sunday. As co-founder of
American International Pictures, Arkoff executive produced and/or
distributed hundreds of psychotronic films, from US independent producers,
AIP's in-house production companies, and foreign productions from around
the world.......
09.14.2001....... Predictably, a lot of
folks are using the 9-11 attack as an excuse to spout all kinds of
bigotry. On Pat Robertson's 700 CLUB, broadcast on the Disney-owned Fox
Family Channel, Lynchburg's own Jerry Falwell blamed "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists and the gays
and lesbians ... the ACLU, People for the American Way" and groups "who have
tried to secularize America". He forgot to add Tinky-Winky....
09.13.2001....... Studios have announced
changes due to the 911 terrorist attacks on the USA. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's COLLATERAL DAMAGE, which opens with the bombing of an
LA skyscraper, has been shelved. Disney's BIG TROUBLE has also been
shelved due to a plot element that involves a nuclear bomb smuggled onto
an airplane. Special f/x, including a trailer, for SPIDER-MAN that show
the WTC towers are being reworked. MEN IN BLACK 2 will need a rewrite
because the climax is rumored to take place at the WTC. British theaters
have pulled the terrorist-themed SWORDFISH out of theaters. Release of
TRAINING DAY is pushed back to October 5. Production on WAR OF THE WORLDS
has gone on hiatus. The upcoming Jackie Chan film NOSEBLEED, about
a WTC window washer, will undergo a rewrite. NBC has scrapped plans for
it's crossover miniseries TERROR. Fox TV has canceled this weekend's
screenings of PEACEMAKER and INDEPENDENCE DAY.
However, THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON, a true account starring Sean
Penn as a man who tried to hijack a plane to fly it into the White
House in 1972, will stay in production........
09.12.2001....... The world was stunned to watch suicide bombers attack the United States and
more than one commentator compared the assault to psychotronic films such as
INDEPENDENCE DAY. But this wasn't a movie. Bruce Willis, Jackie Chan and
Arnold did not save the day, No super hero arrived to stop the horror. This
was reality shaking us from our private worlds, reminding us how unsafe the
world is. Our hearts go out to those touched by these events and our
condolences to those whose lives have been forever changed by the events of
September 11, 2001.............
09.10.2001....... Beware of banner ads for
the Republican National Committee floating around on the web. Clicking on
them not only takes you to their website, but also adds your address to
their spam mailing list so they can tell you about "the latest
successes of George W. Bush"......
09.05.2001............
Like many, I thought it was a joke item at first, but it turns out Hank
the Angry Drunken Dwarf (who played God in CITIZEN TOXIE) is
really dead. From now on, the part of Hank on THE HOWARD STERN RADIO SHOW
will be played by comedian Craig Gass on his knees............
08.31.2001............. Jim Cameron is having a love affair - with the sea! His Lightstorm Ent. is stepping into the production of a film based on the FATHOM comic-book....... 08.28.2001........ Steven Spielberg is looking into the possibility of producing a CGI film based on the legendary European hit comic TINTIN...... 08.23.2001........ Michael "Phantom Of The Opera" Crawford will star in the theatrical adaptation of Roman Polanski's THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS, which was a dud at the box office but has since picked up a cult following. The play bears the film's original title DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES. Singing and dancing vampires?......... Philip Kaufman will direct a remake of Hitchcock's SUSPICION for Dimension and RKO............. 08.21.2001........ With his Hollywood stock slipping since TWISTER, director Jan DeBont is moving more into TV production, presently planning a miniseries for Fx Network called EATER, based on the Gregory Benford novel about a black hole headed for Earth........... John Carpenter says a French remake of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 is in the works...... 08.20.2001......... Ray "Shifty" Ferry lost to Forrest J Ackerman in court in the famous Famous Monsters of Filmland trial, but has yet to pay a penny of the half million dollar judgment, claiming bankruptcy. However, now the US Bankruptcy Court has filed suit against Ferry's law firm, claiming Freund & Brackey helped Ferry hide his assets to dodge the bill. They're seeking $750,000 in punitive damages................ 08.17.2001........ In honor of the Chicago debut of 3 Jose Mojica Marins films at the Chicago Underground Film Fest, we've put up reviews of the DVD releases now available in Movie Madness.............. With the prison drama OZ a hit for HBO, a confused WB network has ordered a pilot based on the L. Frank Baum children's book series........ 08.16.2001...... Sounds like the funniest episode yet: WILL & GRACE star Sean Hayes (CATS & DOGS) came across a robbery victim that had been shot Friday night. Hayes ripped off his shirt and stuffed it in the bullet wound, helping to stop the bleeding until help arrived........ 08.13.2001....... Paramount and Nickelodeon have picked up the feature and TV rights to ECTO-KID, based on the Marvel comic-book owned by Clive Barker...... Disney bought the rights to DC Comics' BIG DADDY DANGER......... Despite general disinterest that greeted the first sequel, MGM has some new writers working on PUMPKINHEAD 3....... Warner Bros. seems to be going through a period great indecision of late, not knowing what to do with some properties other than animated series. Lots of speculation as to what Batman and/or Superman project should be done in what way, and now they've got a couple different concepts for a SPACE JAM follow-up, including SPY JAM with Jackie Chan and RACE JAM with NASCAR drivers........ 08.08.2001..... Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in New York will unveil figures of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster and the Mummy, and Bela Lugosi as Dracula this Halloween........ 08.06.2001.......... Tom Hanks will provide voice work for Universal's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Disney vet Eric Goldberg (POCAHONTAS) has been hired to direct...... Disney has bought INDIANA JACKSON, a "hip-hop RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK" set to star Pras from the Fugees. Will Paramount and Spielberg sue?..... 08.03.2001......... Comedy Central cancelled THAT'S MY BUSH, but creators Matt Stone & Trey Parker plan to make a feature out of the concept called GEORGE BUSH & THE SECRET OF THE GLASS TIGER...... 08.01.2001..... TNT network is remaking SALEM'S LOT as a new miniseries. Has it really been 22 years since the original?....... 07.31.2001........ DreamWorks plans to follow their success with SHREK by producing an all-CGI version of CURIOUS GEORGE....... Daniel Day Lewis says he'd like to play Namor, THE SUB-MARINER....... 07.27.2001....... Kirk Wong (CRIME STORY) will direct Ray Park (X-MEN) as IRON FIST, based on the Marvel comic about an American kung fu master with explosive punches and kicks.... Universal is preparing a script called BROTHER SAM for a biopic of late comic Sam Kinison, based on the book by his brother Bill. Wow, could be another MAN ON THE MOON or WIRED........ Harry Knowles has announced that he's co-written a book that'll be published soon. I admire a lot of things that Harry has done with his site, but I can't possibly endorse any book by a film critic that has a caricature of him on the cover holding a box of popcorn....... Waiting at the Disney stoplight is TRON 2.0. Will they think kids will want to see a sequel to a 20 year-old movie they've never heard of? Decision could hinge on how their deluxe DVD of the original does..... 07.24.2001........ Over at DreamWorks SKG, they've just signed Stephen Norrington (BLADE) to direct an epic kung fu movie called HAMMER OF GOD...... What th--- Dimension Pictures have secured the rights to remake DOLEMITE, and are casting LL Cool J (DEEP BLUE SEA) in the lead. We'll see if they don't fuck it all up, meanwhile here's Dolemite's Blaxploitation Tagline Generator, with props to Dolemite.com!........... 07.23.2001.......... Gives me a headache to even think about this, but Michael Jackson plans to produce an animated feature called THE WAY OF THE UNICORN: THE ENDANGERED ONE. Jackson will provide the voice for "an orphan named Sailor who teams up with a lonely rich girl and a band of endangered animals on a quest to save Mother Earth".......... 07.18.2001............ Lots of folks are steamed at Sarah Silverman and Conan O'Brien because Sarah used the word "chinks" in a joke on Conan's show last week, despite the fact that she was using it as an example of something inappropriate. Typically, managers at NBC that I might inappropriately term "pussies" are apologizing all over the place. Speaking as a part Asian, I'd have been offended if they'd cut the word out because it would ruin the joke. However, I'm still mad at Comedy Central for airing that recent cuss-heavy SOUTH PARK because I'm mostly full of shit...... F. Gary Gray (THE NEGOTIATOR) has been signed to direct MAGE, based on the cult hit comic-book........ The new Swedish Bikini Team is really confusing. Now there's only 4 instead of 5, they're all really Swedish (except Gunnel, a token Norwegian), and they don't wear blonde wigs........ 07.17.2001...... Phillip Morris is now trying to promote the fact that since smokers die earlier, they save the government millions in Medicare costs. Amateurs. The government has a better plan: keep getting into wars. And give the soldiers plenty of free cigarettes just in case they don't get shot, blown up, or poisoned....... 07.12.2001..... Harrison Ford rescued a Boy Scout stuck in a tree or a kitten that fell down a well or something....... Talent from around the world is converging in Shenzhen, China, to work on THRU THE MOEBIUS STRIP, a CGI sci-fi flick created by the French comics legend..... Miramax has signed Reese Witherspoon to play HONEY WEST, based on the 1960s series of novels and TV series...... Jean-Claude Van Damme is going to India to co-star with Chiranjeevi in RETURN OF THE THIEF OF BAGDAD...... |
|
07.02.2001............. Richard Donner plans to produce and direct a film based on Sega's CRAZY TAXI video game.....
06.29.2001...... If you happen to be in Malaysia today, let the buyer beware. Those tapes of PEARL HARBOR on the market only have about 5 minutes of the real movie. The rest is all hard core porn starring Asian and Caucasians performing. Whether or not this is an improvement is up to the individual viewer..... In more porn news, a couple seen having (under blanket) sex on the Portuguese version of BIG BROTHER tried to calm down the populace by getting married. Bet CBS' BB2 ain't gonna be a tenth as interesting.....
06.21.2001............... Comics legends Len Wein and Marv Wolfman have sold a script called GENE POOL, about super-folks banding together to fight off enemies.....
06.20.2001..... Looks like Disney's at it again. They had so much success ripping off KIMBA to make THE LION KING that now they've swiped from NADIA to make ATLANTIS. Click here for a comparison. Meanwhile, after botching the potential goldmine release of PRINCESS MONONOKE, they've buried other Miyazaki treasures under their control. Where's LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY? CRIMSON PIG? Maybe being hidden until they can come up with projects just like 'em...... Toho Studios are in tentative pre-production for a remake of WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS.......... SURVIVOR host Jeff Probst showed off some hidden talents as a director when his FINDER'S FEE took the Best Film prize at the Seattle Independent Film Festival.....
06.18.2001...... Action producer Joel Silver is trying to put together a modern urban remake of M, to star rapper DMX (ROMEO MUST DIE) as a crime boss competing with police to find a child killer..... Filming a fight in THE HUNTED, Tommy Lee Jones accidentally busted Benicio Del Toro's arm. Wonder if BTD changed his perpetual squinty expression........
06.13.2001.... Toy company Takara plans to sell canned "Godzilla Meat" (actually corned beef) in Japanese grocery stores. "Rodan Meat" will actually be canned BBQ chicken........
06.11.2001......... Brian DePalma is working on another remake of INHERIT THE WIND..... Will they really make: BEVERLY HILLS COP 4?.... Somewhere on the internet, a Chicago STAR WARS fan is selling his own "Jar Jar free" edit of PHANTOM MENACE, said to be about 20 minutes shorter....... Disney lawyers cracked down on a small school in Scotland, forcing them to cancel the kids' stage production of THE LION KING......
06.06.2001....... Jonathan Davis of Korn and Richard Gibbs of Oingo Boingo are teaming up for a DVD project that will combine their music with paintings by Clive Barker...... Newsweek has exposed Sony for the fraud of using a phony critic quote in ads for THE ANIMAL......
06.01.2001...... After 22 years, the censor board will allow folks in South Africa over 18 to see CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST..... Neo-groaner Steven Seagal says his first album is finally ready for release, unlike most of his films......
05.31.2001...... Screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick (CHICKEN RUN) will direct the upcoming SUPERKID, from his own script.......... Dimension Films is planning a film based on Marvel's CLOAK AND DAGGER comics...... Golden Harvest has announced their next 2 Jackie Chan projects: OPERATION CONDOR 3 and the ambitious 80 million dollar SUN TZU'S THE ART OF WAR, to be shot in India....... Dan Haggerty will be the voice of Terl in the BATTLEFIELD EARTH animated series......
05.25.2001...... TiVo has been awarded patents that cover the basic processes of its video recording systems, which spells bad news for competitors Replay TV and Microsoft's Ultimate TV, who may have to cough up big bucks in licensing fees..........
05.18.2001....... ALICE will be the first feature made as part of vid game producer American McGee's deal with Dimension pictures. Wes Craven is attached as director....
05.17.2001....... Despite criticism from the scientific community, a group of US businessmen plan to carry on with their plan to clone Vlad Dracula the Impaler..........
05.16.2001......... PFS member Perry Pagonis sent us a copy of his novel BLOOD & POPCORN, a story of mallrats, movies, and a local horror host in the neverland of the 1980s. Check it out...... Samsung will pick up the tab for SKYQUEST, a futuristic animated ecological tale, which at over $20 million will be the "most expensive Korean feature ever"......... While in the UK, another animated sci-fi feature is underway. WATER WARRIORS is about dinky space aliens that want to invade Earth, but land in a pond instead.....
05.02.2001...... Talk about product placement! As if TOY STORY wasn't enough, there's a flick in the works called FOOD FIGHT about animated corporate icons come to life.........
04.26.2001............ As another sign that we always have to blame somebody, some of the families of Columbine shooting victims are suing game companies for 5 billion dollars. If that doesn't work I suppose they'll sue the bullet manufacturers.......
04.22.2001.......... Sen. Joe Lieberman was in Hollywood last week trying to push his vague government-control ideas on the entertainment community, members of which were cordial but resistant. Hey Joe, a rating system for movies and TV shows sounds like a good idea - that's why THERE ALREADY IS ONE. Now stop trying to milk celebrities for free publicity to further your own political career and get back to work........
04.15.2001.... Hail to thee our recent dead: Brother Theodore and Joey Ramone............
04.06.2001........... Apparently they're going to make their own version of CHARLIE'S ANGELS in India......... Since the new owners of Roger Corman's old studio building were going to tear it down anyway, thrifty Corman asked if he could blow it up for a hastily-written movie called SLAUGHTER STUDIOS..... Tim Allen goes to China? The GALAXY QUEST star is attached to a possible remake of Hammer Film's LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES.....
04.01.2001....... Following the long-awaited release of THE PHANTOM MENACE on DVD next year, George Lucas plans to do a total revamp of the film using new digital technology. Besides a general audio/visual polish, Lucas has come to terms with the fact that some areas of the film are not as popular with fans as they could be. The Jar Jar Binks character will be replaced by funnyman Orlando Jones, while the casting misfire that was Jake Lloyd will be "corrected" by replacing him with little Hallie Kate Eisenberg from the Pepsi commercials. According to Lucas, these two actors are very hot with the preteen target audience..... Celebrating his Lifetime Achievement Oscar, producer Dino De Laurentiis will get in on the strike-breaking re-release bandwagon this Summer. While a restored version of his KING KONG remake was briefly considered, he chose instead to go with MANDINGO, which is thought to be a more commercial property....... Speaking of King Kong, the big ape will continue to rile the other contestants of SURVIVOR: MONSTER ISLAND in an upcoming episode by confessing to his homosexuality, then insisting on flaunting it in front of everyone. At one point Gamera can't resist the giant gorilla's chatter about being "flaming" and blasts him with a fireball, requiring the injured beast's extraction from the island via helicopter and helium balloon airlift...... The team behind the hit play BURLY-Q will have to get their film version of the show on the market fast, as producer Roger Corman has announced plans to have his similarly-themed BURLESQUE-A-RAMA on video shelves by late July.......
03.29.2001............. Hallmark is producing a TV series based on the NEVERENDING STORY movies...... Paul Reubens has THE PEE WEE HERMAN STORY, plus two sequel scripts, in the works.....
03.21.2001.......... The Sci-Fi channel is spending millions to acquire series created by the likes of Stephen Spielberg, Clive Barker and Stephen King - yet, when they took over Mothership.com in a merger, were too cheap to take on the site's staff as well, and lost little time firing everyone, replacing all content with their own frivolou
