Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 1st to 8th, 2024 - UPDATE #15

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like this, MOVIES PAGE, and BUY something(s).

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

EMMYS - From Deadline:  The winners at the 2024 / 51st Daytime Emmy Awards have been announced.  ABC's long-running soap opera, "General Hospital," won four awards, including "Outstanding Daytime Drama."

NETFLIX - From Deadline:  Writer-director Tyler Perry has set the cast for "Straw," his latest film for Netflix, the streamer announced on Wednesday. Taraji P. Henson is set to star alongside Sherri Shepherd, Teyana Taylor, Glynn Turman, Sinbad, Rockmond Dunbar, Mike Merrill. and Ashley Versher.

From Deadline: Netflix has released the first images, title and voiceover cast for Aardman’s new Wallace & Gromit movie, "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl." The release date is this winter 2025 on Netflix, but the movie will debut on the BBC this Christmas.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  The CW has cancelled its drama, "All American: Homecoming" after three seasons.  That leaves the original series, "All American," as the sole remaining scripted series began on The CW before Nexstar bought the network.

MOVIES - From Collider:  Elle Fanning is in negotiations to star in "Badlands," the next film from the Predator-Prey franchise.  There apparently also a direct sequel to the 2022 film, "Prey."

STREAMING - From THR:  Oscar-nominee Paul Giamatti has signed onto starring in a TV series based on director Eli Roth's "Hostel" film series.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  The hit British TV series, "Ghosts" (2019-23) begat the American hit, "Ghosts" (CBS, 2021-present).  Now, there is to be a German television adaptation.  The six-part series will join a French version that is also being developed.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Neve Campbell says that she has returned to the "Scream" franchise for "Scream 7" because the studio came back to her in a "respectful way."

STREAMING - From Variety:  The site offers the 20 best movies coming to streaming in June 2024.  Among them are Netflix's "Hitman" and "Origin" at Hulu.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 5/31 to 6/2/2024 weekend box office is Sony Pictures' "The Garfield Movie" with an estimated take of 14 million dollars.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Billy Zane releases the first images of himself as legendary actor, Marlon Brando from the biopic, "Waltzing with Brando."  Directed by Bill Fishman, the film is set in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Actress Lily Tomlin says that she has mixed feelings about Jennifer Aniston's remake of the 1980s film, "9 to 5," the legendary comedy that starred Tomlin alongside Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton.

DISNEY/TRAILER - From Deadline:  Disney has provided a first look at "Moana 2," as well as a teaser trailer.  The film, which stars Dwayne Johnson and Auli'i Cravalho, is due Nov. 27th, 2024.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  American film producer and screenwriter, Stephen J. Rivele, has died at the age of 75, Friday, May 17, 2024.  Rivele shared a "Best Original Screenplay" Oscar nomination with Oliver Stone and Stephen Wilkinson for Stone's 1995 biopic, "Nixon."  Rivele also co-wrote the biopic "Ali" (2001), and he was one of the writers and producers of "Birth of the Dragon" (2016).

From THR:  British-Canadian stage, screen, and television actor, Alan Scarfe, has died at the age of 77, Sunday, April 28, 2024.  He may be best known in the U.S. for playing bad guys in action films and for his appearances in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Voyager".  Scarfe appeared in such films as "Street Justice" (1987), "Iron Eagle II" (1988), "Double Impact" (1991), and "Lethal Weapon 3."

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POLITICS - 

From YahooNews:  In case you were wondering, even after being convicted of 34 felony counts in New York yesterday (5/30), Donald Trump can still run for President of the United States and he can still vote for himself in Florida.

From Truthout:  On Thursday afternoon (May 30th, 2024), in "The People vs. Donald Trump" — the New York-based trial featuring, for the first time in United States history, an ex-president in a criminal proceeding— a jury of the former president’s peers delivered a unanimous verdict: that he was guilty of all crimes he was accused of committing. Trump becomes the first former President in US History to be convicted of a crime.

From NBCNews:  Outside the courthouse where Donald Trump is on trial, legendary Oscar-winning actor, Robert De Niro, clashed with Trump supporters.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 11th to 17th, 2023 - Update #18

By Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  NBC has passed on a third season of its sitcom, "American Auto."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Martyn Ford is among four new cast members added to New Line's "Mortal Kombat 2."

SCANDAL - From THR:  Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey says that if he is found "not guilty" in his U.K. sexual assault trial people are ready to hire him again.  He is set to appear in court June 16th and he is facing four counts of sexual assault against three men.

DISNEY - From Deadline: Director and Oscar-winning screenwriter, Sarah Polley, is in early talks to direct a live-action version of Disney's legendary animated feature film, "Bambi."

DISNEY - From Variety:  Disney has shaken up its release date schedules, announcing delays and date changes for its Marvel Studios and "Avatar" films, with the final Avatar film, "Avatar 5," not arriving until 2031.

POLITICS - From TheAP:  Billionaire investor turned philanthropist George Soros is ceding control of his $25 billion empire to a younger son, Alexander "Alex" Soros.  Soros, who is Jewish, is frequently the target of right wing conspiracies because his donations to human rights causes and to organizations promoting democracy around the world.  The 37-year-old Alex plans to continues his father's work, but be "more policital" and also to broaden his father's "liberal aims" to include issues such as voting rights and abortion rights.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Fox News has sent a "cease and desist" letter to its former property, Tucker Carlson."  Although Fox fired him, he is still under contract through the end of 2024, and they don't want him doing a show on Twitter.  He has already completed at least two episodes of his "Tucker on Twitter" show.

TONY AWARDS - From Deadline:   The winners at the 2023 / 76th annual Tony Awards have been announced.  "Kimberly Akimbo" was the big winner, taking five awards, including "Best Musical" and "Lead Actress" for Victoria Clark.  "Leopoldstadt" won four Tonys, including "Best Play."

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 6/9 to 6/11/2023 weekend box office is Paramount Pictures' "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" with an estimated take of 60.5 million dollars.

From Here:  A review of "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" by Leroy Douresseaux.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Actor Kelsey Grammar explains his choice of a British co-star, actor Nicholas Lyndhurst, for his reboot of his long-running, Emmy-winning NBC TV series, "Frasier."  The series is set for Paramount+ later this year.

MOVIES - From Variety:  In a new documentary about his career, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger says that he was embarrassed by the flop that was his 1993 action-fantasy-comedy film, "The Last Action Hero." In a phone call, his friend, director James Cameron, said Arnold sounded like he wanted to cry over the film's reception.

MUSIC/LGBTQ+ - From Deadline:  Grammy Award-winning country music legend, Garth Brooks, says that he will serve all beers, including "Bud Light," which is the subject of backlash and boycotts, at his new Nashville bar, "Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk."  Brooks says the bar will be welcoming to everyone and will be a safe space.

ANIMATION - From BloodyDisgusting:  Eli Roth and author James Frey are teaming up with DreamWorks Animation on a new 2D animated series for "older teens" entitled "Fright Krewe."  Still early in development, the series will focus on a group of misfits teens in charge of saving New Orleans from a great demonic threat.  The first season of 10 episodes will debut on Hulu and Peacock.

OBITS:

From WashPost:  Former U.S. military analyst and American political activist and whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg, has died at the age of 92, Friday, June 16, 2023.  Ellsberg is best known for leaking the "Pentagon Papers," a top-secret study and history commissioned by the U.S. Pentagon and concerning the U.S. government's decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War. He leaked the study first to "The New York Times" and then, to "The Washington Post."  Ellsberg's activities were the subject on the Oscar-nominated documentary film, "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers," which also won a Peabody Award.  Ellsberg also appears in the 1974 Oscar-winning documentary film, "Hearts and Minds."

From Deadline:  English actress and politician, Glenda Jackson, has died at the age of 87, Thursday, June 15, 2023.  Jackson won two "Best Actress" Oscars, for "Women in Love" (1969) and "A Touch of Class" (1973), and was nominated twice more.  She also won two Primetime Emmy Awards and one Tony Award.  Jackson was also a member of the British Parliament from 1992 to 2015 as a member of the Labour Party.

From Variety:  American author, Cormac McCarthy, has died at the age of 89, Tuesday, June 13, 2023.  He is best known for his novels, "All the Pretty Horses" (1992), "No Country for Old Me," (2005), and "The Road" (2006), all of which were adapted into film.  The 2007 film adaptation of "No Country for Old Me" won four Academy Awards," including "Best Picture."  "The Road" won the 2007 "Pulitzer Prize for Fiction."

From Variety:  Stage, film, and television actor, Treat Williams, has died at the age of 71, Monday, June 12, 2023. Williams died as the result of motor vehicle accident near Dorset, Vermont.  Williams is best known for his roles in such films as the musical, "Hair" (1979), Steven Spielberg's WWII comedy, "1941" (1979), "Prince of the City" (1981), and the cult film, "Deep Rising" (1998), to name a few.  He played the lead road in The WB drama, "Everwood" (2002-06).  He received a Primetime Emmy nominations for his work in the 1996 TV movie, "The Late Shift" (HBO).

From Deadline:  The family of actor the late actor Treat Williams has released a statement regarding his passing.  Williams died Monday evening (Mon., June 12th) when a car hit the motorcycle he was riding.

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WRITERS STRIKE:

From THR:  Studios won't give writers better pay, and now, are laying off janitors.

From Deadline:  The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has reached a tentative new three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). So what does the Writers Guild (WGA), currently on strike and negotiating with the AMPTP, think of that deal.

From Deadline:  Netflix shareholders declined to support the 2023 pay packages of top executives during a non-binding vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.  The vote won't prevent these execs from getting their loot (an total of $166 million), but this is a rare public rebuke.  The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has urged shareholders to vote "No" because the pay was "inappropriate" at this time.

From Deadline:  Warner Bros Discovery chief David Zaslav gave the commencement address at Boston University. There he was met with jeers and also chants of "pay your writers" from picketers and from some in the audience.

From Deadline:   President Joe Biden speaks on the Writers Guild of America strike.

From Deadline:  Retaliation! The studios have starting informing writer-producers who have "overall" and "first-look" deals that such deals are being suspended.

From Deadline:  Retaliation!  Prolific HBO creator, David Simon, who is best known for "The Wire," is one of the many writers who have had their overall deals suspended the studios due to the WGA strike.  Simon has been with HBO for 25 years.

From Deadline:  The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is on strike.

From Deadline:  Disney, HBO/HBO Max, and CBS have sent letters to showrunners (the TV equivalent of film directors) instructing them to return to work, inspite of the writer's strike.

From Deadline:  The WGA's chief negotiator, Ellen Stutzman, talks about the state of the writers' strike, including the lack of engagement on the part of the strike's other party, AMPTP.

From Deadline:  What went wrong between the WGA and AMPTP? What could they not agree on that led to a strike?

From Deadline:  The site explains the WGA strike: the issues, the stakes, movies and TV shows affected, and how long it might last.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from January 8th to 14th, 2023 - Update #20

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  "Snowpiercer," TNT's last remaining original scripted drama, is also leaving the cable network.  Season 4 of "Snowpiercer" has been completed and was to be the series' finale.  It will be shopped around to other networks.

MOVIES - From Variety:  "Variety" has a revealing Q&A with the great horror and science fiction filmmaker, John Carpenter ("Halloween," "They Live," "The Fog").

MOVIES - From ScreenGeek:  Just when you thought it was safe to go outside again ... and visit movie theater comes word that Mel Gibson will begin filming the sequel to his 2004 mega-hit, "The Passion of the Christ," sometime this coming spring.  The title is apparently "The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection."

GOLDEN GLOBES - From Deadline:  For those who care (and I don't care as much as I once did), the winners of the 2023 / 80th Golden Globes Awards were announced last night (Tues., Jan. 10th).  "The Fabelmans" won for "Best Motion Picture-Drama" and "The Banshees of Inisherin" won for "Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy."

From Deadline:  Eddie Murphy was the recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 80th Annual Golden Globes on Tuesday night (Jan. 10th). Murphy ended his speech with the “blueprint” for up-and-coming actors to achieve success in the industry.  “I want to let you know that there is a definitive blueprint that you can follow to achieve success, prosperity, longevity and peace of mind,” he said. “There’s a blueprint and I followed it my whole career. It’s very simple.” Murphy continued, “Just do these three things: Pay your taxes, mind your business and keep Will Smith’s wife’s name out your f*cking mouth.”

NETFLIX - From THR:  Netflix debuts a trailer for "You People," the new film from Kenya Barris, the creator of ABC's former sitcom hit, "black-ish."  The film stars Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Duchovny, and Jonah Hill.

MOVIES - From THR:  Halfway through its production in Atlanta, Georgia, director Francis Ford Coppola's new film, "Megalopolis," is in trouble with the loss of key creative talent and the exit of its entire visual effects team.

From Deadline:  Hold up, boo!  Francis Ford Coppola says that there is no truth to the rumors of "Megalopolis" being in trouble.

TELEVISION - From Deadline: TV super-producer, Greg Berlanti, has signed a new four-year exclusive deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.  Berlanti was the architect of DC Comics' live-action TV series on The CW broadcast network.

MOVIES - From THR:   Actor Tim Blake Nelson has joined director Denis Villleneuve's "Dune: Part 2."

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 1/6/2023 to 1/8/2023 weekend box office is "Avatar: The Way of Water" with an estimated take of 45 million dollars.

From Here:  Leroy Douresseaux's review of "Avatar: The Way of Water."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Director Eli Roth has not been fired as the director of Lionsgate's "Borderlands," a film based on the video game.  Instead Roth has hand reshoot duties on the film to director Tim Miller ("Deadpool") so that he can begin work on his next film, "Thanksgiving."

STREAMING - From Variety:   After premiering on Dec. 22, 2022, “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” became NBCUniversal streaming service, Peacock’s first original project to make it onto Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming rankings.  It is at #5 in an early version of the Dec. 19th to 25th, 2022 chart.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  Singer-songwriter, Lisa Marie Presley, has died at the age of 54, Thursday, January 12, 2023.  She was the only child of rock 'n' roll icon, Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley.  Presley recorded three studios albums, including the gold-certified "To Whom it May Concern" (2003).

From BBC:  English rock guitarist, Jeff Beck, has died at the age of 78, Tuesday, January 10, 2023.  One of the most influential rock guitarists ever, Beck was best known for his association with the bands, "The Yardbirds" and "The Jeff Beck Group."  He was nominated for 16 Grammy Awards and won eight of them.

From Deadline:  The great American cinematographer, Owen Roizman, has died at the age of 86, Friday, January 6, 2023.  He received five "Best Cinematography" Oscar nominations, including for his work on "The French Connection" (1971) and "The Exorcist" (1973).  He received the "Academy Honorary Award" in 2017.

From Variety:  Film and television actor and voice performer, Earl Boen, has died at the age of 81, Thursday, January 5, 2023.  Boen was best known for playing criminal psychologist, Dr. Peter Silberman, in three film in the "Terminator" film series, beginning with 1984's "The Terminator."  However, Boen appeared in numerous other films, including "9 to 5" (1980) and "To Be or Not to Be" (1983).  Boen also appeared in guest roles on multiple TV series, including "Seinfeld," "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and "The West Wing," to name a few.  From 1988 to 2004, Boen was a voice actor, performing in almost 40 animated TV series in various genres.

AWARDS:

From Deadline:  The nominees for the 2023 / 34th Producers Guild of America Awards have been announced in both film and TV categories.  The winners will be announced Sat. Feb. 25th, 2023.

From Deadline:  The nominations for the 2023 / 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards have been announced.  The winners will be announced Sun., Feb. 26th, 2023.

From Deadline:  The National Society of Film Critics has named "Tar" its "Best Picture" of 2023 and its star, Cate Blanchette, as "Best Actress."

From Deadline:  The nominations for the 2023 / 23rd Annual Black Reel Awards have been announced.  "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" and "The Woman King" have tied for the lead in nominations with 14 apiece.  The winners will be announced February 6, 2023.

From Deadline:  The Black Film Critics Circle named "The Woman King" the "Best Film" of 2022.

From Deadline:  The winners of the 2022 Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) Awards have been announced.  "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and "Tar" tie for "Best Picture" award.

From Deadline:  The nominations for the 2023 / 80th annual Golden Globes Awards were announced today (Mon., Dec. 12th).  "The Banshees of Inisherin" led the film field with eight nominations. ABC's "Abbot Elementary" lead the TV side with five nominations.  The winners will be announced January 10, 2023.

From Deadline:  The American Film Institute (AFI) has named its "AFI Awards Film" list of "Top 10 Films of 2022."  The list includes "Avatar: The Way of Water," "Top Gun: Maverick," and "The Woman King."

From THR:  The African-American Film Critics Association name "The Woman King" the "Best Film of 2022."

From Deadline:  The nominations for the "2023 Critics Choice Awards" in the television categories have been announced.  ABC's sitcom, "Abbot Elementary" leads the nominations.  The winners will be announced Sunday, January 15, 2023 and broadcast on The CW.

From Variety:  The 2022 / 88th Annual New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) Awards have been announced.  Todd Field's "Tar" wins "Best Film" and "Best Actress" (Cate Blanchett).  Keke Palmer wins "Best Supporting Actress" for her performance in "Nope."

From Deadline:  "Everything Everywhere All at Once" wins the "Best Feature" award at the 2022 / 32nd Annual Gotham Awards, one of two wins for the film.

From IndieWire:  The nominations for the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards have been announced.   "Everything Everywhere All at Once" leads with eight nominations.  The winners will be announced March 4th, 2023.

From Variety:  The nominations for the 2022 / 32nd Annual Gotham Awards were announced a month ago.  Todd Field's "Tar" leads with five nominations.  The winners will be announced Monday, November 28th.

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BRITTNEY GRINER:

From CBSNews:  WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from her Russian imprisonment in a one-for-one prisoner swap for notorious international arms dealer, Viktor Bout.

From NBCNews:   Brittney Griner will enter a system of isolation, grueling labor and psychological torment when she is transferred to a penal colony, the successor to the infamous Russian gulag, to fulfill a nine-year sentence handed down Tuesday in Moscow, former prisoners and advocates said.

From NBCNews:  A Russian court has rejected Brittney Griner's appeal of her nine-year prison sentence on (fake) drug charges.

From Reuters:  Russia says that it is ready to talk prisoner swamp for Brittney Griner and U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan, but also scolds the U.S. Embassy.

From TheDailyBeast:   Legendary NBA bad boy and champion (Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls), Dennis Rodman claims that he has been given permission to go to Russia and help free imprisoned hostage, WNBA star, Brittney Griner.

From Vox:  Vox's Jonathan Guyer talks the Brittney Griner case with Danielle Gilbert, a Dartmouth professor who is writing a book about states and rogue actors that take hostages.

From ESPN:   A Russian court sentenced WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison Thursday, Aug. 4th.  Griner was arrested Feb. 17 for bringing cannabis into the country and pleaded guilty July 7, though the case continued under Russian law.

From ESPN:  The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.

From RSN:  "Will Support From LeBron James, Joe Rogan, Kim Kardashian, and Other Celebrities Help Free Brittney Griner From a Russian Prison?" by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar via Substack

From ESPN:  Detained WNBA star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty on Thursday to bringing hashish oil into Russia, telling a judge that she had done so "inadvertently" while asking the court for mercy.

From CBSSports:  The Brittney Griner situation explained.

From RSN:  According to The Washington Post Editorial Board: "Brittney Griner is a hostage, plain and simple."

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from February 16th to 22nd, 2020 - Update #21

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

Support Leroy on Patreon:

STREAMING - From Variety:  NBCUniversal is looking to buy Wal-Mart's streaming service, "Vudu."  [I didn't know Vudu was a Wal-Mart service!!! - Leroy]

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DISNEY - From YahooEntertainment:  Pixar's upcoming "Onward" introduces the first LGBTQ character in Disney animation history.

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STREAMING - From THR:  The reunion special of the popular TV series, "Friends," is official at HBO Max.

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TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Julia Roberts Sean Penn, Armie Hammer and Joel Edgerton are joining "Mr Robot" creator Sam Esmail for a "Watergate" drama series.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Eli Roth will direct a film adaptation of the video game, "Borderlands," for Lionsgate.

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TELEVISION - From Variety:  NBC has renewed its long-running TV series, "The Blacklist," for an eighth season.  [I did not realize that it had been on this long. - Leroy]

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CRIME - From TMZ:  20-year-old up-and-coming rapper, Pop Smoke, was killed in his Hollywood Hills house during a home invasion early Wednesday morning, Feb. 19th.

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TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Sony Pictures Television is developing a TV series based on the venerable pulp fiction hero, "Doc Savage."

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STREAMING - From Variety:   Jennifer Lawrence to star in Adam McKay's comedy film, "Don't Look Up," for Netflix.

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MARVEL-CONTEST - From Newsarama:  Actor Chris Evan is raffling off a Captain America shield prop that he used in "Avengers: Endgame" for the charity, "Girl Powerful."

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Actress Dichen Lachman ("Animal Kingdom," TNT) has joined the cast of "Jurassic World 3."

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SCANDAL - From GuardianUK:  In regards to the Harvey Weinstein trial, actress Rosanna Arquette says that victims of sexual abuse will never be silent again.

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CELEBRITY - From YahooLifestyle:  Actress Rosario Dawson has come out.

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CRIME - From Deadline:  Famed Hollywood family and sex therapist, Amie Harwick, was killed Sat., Feb. 15, 2020 at her home in the Hollywood Hills.  Her ex-boyfriend has been arrested.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Director Martin McDonagh ("Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri") is planning to re-team with his "In Bruges" stars, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 2/14 to 2/16/2020 weekend box office is "Sonic the Hedgehog" with an estimated gross of 57 million dollars.

From Variety:  Did the Internet backlash that lead to a redesign of "Sonic the Hedgehog" save the film from box office disaster?

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MOVIE TRAILERS - From THR:  The site offers a roundup of seven recently released film trailers, including for such films as "The French Dispatch" and "The Green Knight."

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ECO-TELEVISION - From TheGuardian: The BBC is planning a documentary TV series focusing on teenage climate activist, Greta Thunberg.

OBITS:

From THR:   The actress and singer-songwriter, Ja'Net Dubois, has died at the age of 74, Tuesday, February 18, 2020.  She is best known for playing the role of "Willona Woods" in the CBS sitcom, "Good Times" (1974-79).  DuBois also co-wrote and sang the theme song, "Movin' On Up," for the CBS sitcom, "The Jeffersons" (1975-85).  A noted voice actress, DuBois won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as "Ms. Avery" in the animated series, "The PJs" (1999-2001, Fox/The WB).

From YahooEntertainment:  The young actress, Nikita Pearl Waligwa, has died at the age of 15, Saturday, February 15, 2020.  Nikita appeared in the 2016 Disney film, "Queen of Katwe."  She died as the result of a brain tumor.

From CNN:  Former Major League Baseball (MLB) player, Tony Fernandez, has died at the age of 57, Saturday, February 15, 2020.  Born in the Dominican Republic, Fernandez was a shortstop and played for 17 seasons, most notably with the Toronto Blue Jays where he was part of the 1993 World Series Championship team.

MGM Releases New Poster for Eli Roth, Bruce Willis' "Death Wish" Remake

From Press Materials:

DEATH WISH
Release Date: March 2, 2018
Genre: Action- Thriller
Director: Eli Roth
Screenplay: Joe Carnahan, based on a novel by Brian Garfield
Producer: Roger Birnbaum
CAST: Bruce Willis, Vincent D'Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue, Camila Morrone, Dean Norris and Kimberly Elise

SYNOPSIS:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures presents director Eli Roth's re-imagining of the classic 1974 revenge thriller Death Wish.  Dr. Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis) is a surgeon who only sees the aftermath of Chicago violence when it is rushed into his ER - until his wife (Elisabeth Shue) and college-age daughter (Camila Morrone) are viciously attacked in their suburban home.  With the police overloaded with crimes, Paul, burning for revenge, hunts his family's assailants to deliver justice.  As the anonymous slayings of criminals grabs the media's attention, the city wonders if this deadly vigilante is a guardian angel or a grim reaper.  Fury and fate collide in the intense, action-thriller
Death Wish.

Paul Kersey becomes a divided person: A man who saves lives, and a man who takes them; a husband and father trying to take care of his family, and a shadowy figure fighting Chicago crime; a surgeon extracting bullets from suspects' bodies, and the vigilante called "The Grim Reaper" who detectives are quickly closing in on.

Updated from the original novel by Brian Garfield, director Eli Roth  and screenwriter Joe Carnahan's (The Grey, Narc) Death Wish also stars Vincent D'Onofrio (The Magnificent Seven, TV's Daredevil and Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas), Camila Morrone, Dean Norris (Breaking Bad) and Kimberly Elise (The Great Debaters). It's a knife's-edge portrayal that challenges our assumptions, and pushes our buttons.

By bringing the complex psychology of Brian Garfield's book up-to-the-moment and injecting new thrills and a stark, unflinchinglook at the American psyche in 2017, Eli Roth and Death Wish brings audiences to the height of unforgettable suspense.

A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures production, Death Wish is set for release on March 2, 2018.  It will be distributed in the U.S. by APR and internationally by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.  Death Wish stars Bruce Willis, Vincent D'Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue, Camila Morrone, Dean Norris, Kimberly Elise.  Directed by Eli Roth.  Screenplay by Joe Carnahan, based on the 1974 Motion Picture by Wendell Mayes from the Novel by Brian Garfield.  Producer, Roger Birnbaum.  Associate Producer, Stephen J. Eads.  Executive Producer, Ilona Herzberg.  Director of Photography, Rogier Stoffers.  Edited by Mark Goldblatt.  Music by Ludwig Göransson.  Production Design by Paul Kirby.  Costume Design by Mary Jane Fort.

DEATH WISH Official Channels:
Website: http://deathwish.movie/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeathWishFilm
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeathWishMovie
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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 19th to 25th, 2016 - Update #46

Support Leroy on Patreon.

TELEVISION - From Variety:  "Gilmore Girls'" Rory Gilmore meets First Lady Michelle Obama in this video clip.

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OBIT - From Deadline:  The author and screenwriter, Michael Herr, has died at the age of 76, Thursday, June 23rd, 2016.  Herr was the author of the heralded Vietnam War memoir, "Dispatches."  Herr also contributed to two seminal Vietnam War movies, "Apocalypse Now," and "Full Metal Jacket," for which he shared an adapted screenplay Oscar nomination with Stanley Kubrick and Gustav Hasford.

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COMICS - From CinemaBlend:  Director David Ayers warns fans - Suicide Squad is like nothing they've seen.

From YahooNews:  Viola Davis says she almost pepper-sprayed fellow "Suicide Squad" actor, Jared Leto (Joker).

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LGBT - From YahooCelebrity:  Celebs remember their first experience at a gay bar.

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POLITICS - From YahooFinance:  Because the United Kingdom is leaving the the European Union, as a result of the "Brexit" vote, J.K. Rowling says "Goodbye, U.K."

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TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Starz releases a first-look image from "American Gods."

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MOVIES - From YahooMovies:  Hear "Ghostbusters (I'm not Afraid)," the theme for the new "Ghostbusters" film.  The track is by Fall Out Boy featuring Missy Elliot.  The song uses some of Ray Parker Jr.'s theme for the 1984 film.

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COMICS - From BleedingCool:  Bokeem Woodbine joins "Spider-Man: Homecoming," apparently to play a villain.

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OBITS - From Variety:  Conductor and composer, Harry Rabinowitz, has died at the age of 100.  He is known for conducting the music for "Best Picture" Oscar-winner, "Chariots of Fire," among his many credits.

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MUSIC - From YahooMusic:  Led Zeppelin wins the "Stairway to Heaven" copyright infringement lawsuit.

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SPORTS/MOVIE - From YahooNews:  Ben Affleck goes on anti-NFL deflate-gate rant.

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LAW - From YahooNews:  Affirmative Action had a major victory in college admissions in regards to a case brought against the University of Texas.  It must be a bitter loss for neo-segregationist Edward Blum and his skank surrogate, Abigail Fisher.

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STAR WARS - From TheWrap:  Who Forest Whitaker plays in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"  Plus, a photo gallery.

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MOVIES - From TheVox:  Jesse Eisenberg talks about being a successful Jewish American.

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COMICS - From YahooMusic:  Hannibal Buress joins "Spider-Man: Homecoming."

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MOVIES - From ThePlaylist:  John Boyega to star in Kathryn Bigelow's movie about the 1967 Detroit riots.  The movie also re-teams Bigelow with screenwriter Mark Boal and financier Megan Ellison.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Kate Winslet in final negotiations to appear in Woody Allen's next film, which begins shooting in the fall.

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COMICS - From CBR:  Abraham Attah, who played the child soldier, "Abu" in "Beasts of No Nation," will appear in "Spider-Man: Homecoming."

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MOVIES - From YahooMovies:  Will Smith most regrets 1999's "Wild Wild West" (which I kinda like), but what hurt the most was the box office failure of 2013's "After Earth" (which I really like), because his son Jaden was involved.

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COMICS - From TheWrap:  Lots of information is leaking out about the "Justice League" movie.

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MUSIC/LEGAL - From YahooMusic:  Led Zeppelin wants a halt to the "Stairway to Heaven" copyright infringement trial.

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COMICS - From IGN:  In the Doctor Strange" film, Mads Mikkelsen will play...

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MOVIES - From BleedingCool:  Noomi Rapace to appear in "Alien: Covenant," a follow-up to the film, "Prometheus."

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TELEVISION - From Indiewire:  J.J. Abrams and Tavis Smiley come together for an event TV series about Michael Jackson.  Bad Robot is developing the project on a Smiley book.

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ANIMATION - From TheWrap:  Sony Pictures Animation announces animated TV series based on "Ghostbusters" and "Hotel Transylvania."

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MOVIES - From ThePlaylist:  Eli Roth to make his big studio debut by directing a remake of "Death Wish" with Bruce Willis.

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PIXAR - From WashPost:  Sigourney Weaver and Ed O'Neill steal the show in "Finding Dory."

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COMICS - From Gamespot:  The new poster for the "Suicide Squad" is eye-popping.

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SPORTS - From YahooSports:  Cleveland Cavaliers are the 2015-16 NBA Champions.  LeBron James wins the NBA Playoffs MVP.

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BOX OFFICE - BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 6/17 to 6/19/2016 weekend box office is Pixar's "Finding Dory" with an estimated take of $136.1 million.  This is the largest opening weekend ever for an animated feature film.

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STAR TREK - The Death of Anton Yelchin:

OBIT - From YahooMovies:  The actor Anton Yelchin died early Sunday, June 19, 2016.  He was 27-years-old and was best known for his role as Pavel Chekhov in the "Star Trek" reboot film series that began in 2009.  Yelchin's death was apparently an accident and involved his car.

From IMDb:  Remembering Anton Yelchin.

From Variety:  Yelchin's life and career in photos.

From Variety:  Anton Yelchin leaves behind several unreleased films (including "Star Trek Beyond") and a high-profile animated series.

From Variety:  J.J. Abrams, who directed the 2009 "Star Trek" reboot and its 2013 sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness" mourns Yelchin.

From YahooMovies:  Hollywood mourns Yelchin.

From YahooMovies:  Anton Yelchin's most memorable roles.

From YahooMovies:  The original Pavel Chekhov of "Star Trek," Walter Koenig, mourns the death of Anton Yelchin, who played Chekhov in the "Star Trek" reboot film franchise.

From IndieWire:  Anton Yelchin's death made be tied to recently vehicle recall.

From YahooCelebrity:  Anton Yelchin apparently died about a minute after his accident.

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SPORTS - From YahooSports:  Dustin Johnson wins golf's U.S. Open, his first victory in one of professional golf's four "Major" tournaments.

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MOVIES - From ThePlaylist:  Warner Bros. moves the release date of Ben Affleck's upcoming directorial effort, "Live By Night," presumably for Oscar consideration.

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TELEVISION - From TheWrap:  Everything that has led up to "Game of Throne's" "Battle of the Bastards."

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POLITICS - From TIME:  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Trump and ISIS depend on irrationality.

TRAILERS:

From YouTube:  New trailer for "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back," starring Tom Cruise and releasing October 21, 2016.

From YouTube:  This is the second official trailer for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - from Tim Burton.

From YahooMovies:  Here is a new clip that gives the first straight-on look at the title character from Steven Spielberg's "The BFG."

Wizard World and Crypt TV Annouce a Tour of Eight Wizard World Comic Cons

Wizard World and Crypt TV Launch Eight-City Horror Series

Hair-Raising Video Series Debuts Exclusively at Wizard World Philadelphia June 2 - 6, 2016

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wizard World, Inc. (OTCBB:WIZD), producer of the largest comic and pop culture convention events, and Crypt TV, the digital brand behind the most terrifying content on the web, have announced a new eight-city video showcase series that will treat Wizard World Comic Con attendees to some of the scariest video content available today.

    Eight-city @CryptTV Tour begins at @wizardworld Phila June 2-5, 2016

Crypt TV, co-founded by famed horror director Eli Roth, will curate the exclusive showcase for select Wizard World Comic Con dates. The series will debut in Philadelphia on June 2nd-6th, 2016, followed by showcases at Wizard World events in Sacramento, Columbus, Chicago, Richmond, Austin, Tulsa and Pittsburgh (dates below).

“Our partnership with Crypt TV allows Wizard World to continue its commitment to creating and presenting new streams of content,” said John Maatta, President and CEO of Wizard World. “Philadelphia fans will be on the edge of their seats as they access some of the most unique and frightful programming ever at the convention.”

Crypt TV, which has over one million fans and averages over 15 million video views a month, prides itself on bringing new scary stories from talented filmmakers into the world. Crypt TV is fundamentally changing the way fans consume and celebrate genre content — in short form, on mobile, every day.

“We are so excited to partner with Wizard World and showcase Crypt TV’s content to their loyal fans” said Eli Roth, actor, director and co-founder of Crypt TV. “Wizard World is a perfect avenue to showcase our original characters and horror series, and we’re going to curate something really special for the fans.”

“There’s a lot of crossover between Wizard World fans and Crypt TV fans and I’m excited to bring our short scares to the big screen” said Jack Davis, CEO and co-founder of Crypt TV. “Wizard World has been great in helping make sure we make this a unique experience: our booth is going to have more than just exclusive content, we will have giveaways from HANNIBAL and more, available only at Wizard World.”

Crypt TV Screening Events will be held at the following Wizard World Comic Cons:

Philadelphia, PA                       June 2 – 6    
Sacramento, CA                 June 17 – 19    
Columbus, OH                 July 29 – 31    
Chicago, IL                 Aug 18 – 21    
Richmond, VA                 Sept 9 – 11    
Austin, TX                 Sept 22 – 25    
Tulsa, OK                 Oct 21 – 23    
Pittsburgh, PA                 Nov 5 – 6    
                

ABOUT Crypt TV
Crypt TV (http://CryptTV.com/) is a digital genre brand co-founded by Jack Davis and horror icon Eli Roth. Inspired by its motto #WeirdIsGood, Crypt creates and distributes dark, edgy and scary video content on Facebook and across its family of publisher sites. One year after launch, with 1.2 million direct social followers, and a syndication network of over 4 million unique monthly visitors on the sites in its network, Crypt TV has become the fastest growing leader in digital scares. In addition to working with the best up-and-coming filmmakers across the world, Crypt TV makes engaging original video content directly for the Top Hollywood Studios, including Universal, Fox, and Warner Brothers and has a strategic partnership with Blumhouse Productions. Crypt TV is uniting fans and creating a movement that is redefining what the future of genre content means to millennials.

About Wizard World (OTCBB:WIZD)
Wizard World, Inc. (www.wizardworld.com) produces comic cons and pop culture conventions across North America that celebrate the best in pop-fi, pop culture, movies, television, cosplay, comics, graphic novels, toys, video gaming, sci-fi, gaming, original art, collectibles, contests and more. A first-class lineup of topical programming takes place at each event, with celebrity Q&A's, comics-themed sessions, costume contests, movie screenings, evening parties and more. Wizard World has also launched Wizard World Store (www.shopwizardworld.com), CONtv, a digital media channel in partnership with leading independent content distributor Cinedigm™ (NASDAQ: CIDM), and ComicConBox™ (www.comicconbox.com), a premium subscription-based monthly box service. Fans can interact with Wizard World on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and other social media services.

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"Baywatch" Movie Begins Shooting

PARAMOUNT PICTURES ANNOUNCES START OF PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY ON “BAYWATCH”

HOLLYWOOD, CA – Paramount Pictures today announced that principal photography has commenced on “BAYWATCH,” starring Dwayne Johnson (“Central Intelligence,” “Fast & Furious” franchise) and Zac Efron (“Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates”). Production will take place in Miami and Savannah.

The film will be released on May 19, 2017.

Seth Gordon (“Horrible Bosses,” “Identity Thief”) is directing the film from a screenplay most recently written by Damian Shannon & Mark Swift and Barry Schwartz. Beau Flynn (“HERCULES”), Ivan Reitman (“GHOSTBUSTERS,”), and Michael Berk, Doug Schwartz & Greg Bonann, creators of the iconic “Baywatch” television series, are producing. The executive producers are Michele Berk, Louise Rosner ("THE BIG SHORT"), Tom Pollock, and Ali Bell. Eli Roth is a co-producer.

“BAYWATCH” follows devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon (Johnson) as he butts heads with a brash new recruit (Efron). Together, they uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay.

Joining Johnson and Efron are Alexandra Daddario (“True Detective”), Priyanka Chopra (“Quantico”), Jon Bass, Kelly Rohrbach (“UNTITLED WOODY ALLEN PROJECT”), Ilfenesh Hadera (“CHI-RAQ”), and Hannibal Buress (“DADDY’S HOME”).


About Paramount Pictures Corporation:
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Television, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

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"Aftershock" with Eli Roth Due May 10, 2013

Radius/TWC

Present AFTERSHOCK


FROM ELI ROTH

The only thing more terrifying than Mother Nature…is human nature.

AFTERSHOCK will open in the following California theatres on May 10th:

TCL Chinese Theatre/Chinese 6 (6925 Hollywood Blvd.)

Loz Feliz 3 (1822 N Vermont Ave.)

Terrance Cinema 6 (28901 S. Western Ave.)

Laemmle’s NoHo 7 (5240 Lankershim Blvd.)

Roxy Stadium 11 (5001 Verdugo Way)

Plaza Cinema 14 (255 West Fifth St.)

Cinema City (742 Vine St.)

Triangle Square 8 Cinemas (1870 Harbor Blvd.)

Dos Lagos 15 (2710 Lakeshore Dr.)

California Oaks 17 (41090 California Oaks Rd.)

BLVD Cinemas (742 W. Lancaster Blvd.)

Apple Valley 14 (14 Apple Valley.)

Reading Valley Plaza Stadium 16 (2000 Wible Rd.)

New Barstow Station Cinema 6 (1503 E Main St.)


Directed by Nicolás López
Written By Eli Roth (@eliroth) and Nicolás López (@nicolaslopez)
Starring: Eli Roth, Andrea Osvart, Ariel Levy, Selena Gomez

In the middle of a night of wild partying, a hapless American tourist (Roth) and his friends are suddenly plunged into a living hell when a powerful earthquake rips through the coastal town of Valparaíso, Chile.

Running time: 90 minutes

Review: "The Last Exorcism" is Kinda Crazy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Last Exorcism (2010)
Running time: 87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for disturbing violent content and terror, some sexual references and thematic material
DIRECTOR: Daniel Stamm
WRITERS: Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland
PRODUCERS: Marc Abraham, Thomas A. Bliss, Eric Newman, Eli Roth
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Zoltan Honti
EDITOR: Shilpa Sahi
COMPOSER: Nathan Barr

HORROR

Starring: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr, Louis Herthum, Caleb Landry Jones, Tony Bentley, John Wright, Jr., Shanna Forrestall, Justin Shafer, Becky Fly, Denise Lee, Logan Craig Reid, and Adam Grimes

The Last Exorcism is a 2010 supernatural horror film. It is also a found footage film, a movie that pretends that it is made of film or video that was found somewhere. That film or video is a recording of real events that happened sometime in the past – usually the recent past. The best known examples of found footage films are The Blair Witch Project and the Paranormal Activity franchise. The Last Exorcism follows a troubled evangelical minister and the documentary crew filming his last exorcism.

The Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) is a Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based evangelical minister. Years earlier, he and his wife, Shanna (Shanna Forrestall), went through the difficult birth of their son, Justin (Justin Shafer), and Cotton had a crisis of faith. After he learns of an autistic child being killed during an exorcism, Cotton begins performing fake exorcisms on people who claim to be possessed, but are probably suffering from some mental or psychological disorder.

As the film begins, Cotton decides to retire and want to perform his last exorcism. He agrees to let director/producer Iris Reisen (Iris Bahr) and cameraman Daniel Moskowitz (Adam Grimes) film his final exorcism as a documentary to help expose exorcism as a fraud. At random, Cotton chooses an exorcism request sent by farmer Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum), who claims that his 16-year-old daughter, Nell (Ashley Bell), is slaughtering his farm animals while she is possessed.

Cotton, Iris, and Daniel travel to the Sweetzer farm in Ivanwood, Louisiana, where they meet Louis and his hostile son, Caleb (Caleb Landry Jones). After meeting Nell, Cotton begins his fake exorcism routine with all the bells and whistles, but things turn really strange from there.

The Last Exorcism is like a cross between a horror movie and a reality television series, with the goofiness and inadvertent comedy of reality TV sometimes taking over the movie. There are moments when The Last Exorcism seems as if it is going to end up being an earnest movie crippled by its low-budget and by worn-out exorcism film clichés.

Then, the last half hour kicks in, and things get real fk-up. That’s when the party starts and we have us a horror movie. That’s it. That’s The Last Exorcism in a nutshell.

The acting from the leads is quite good. Ashley Bell’s mostly calm turn as Nell makes the moments when her character becomes possessed that much scarier, and Bell apparently did her own body contortions. Although it takes the entire movie, Patrick Fabian eventually sells Cotton Marcus as an authentic character.

As Louis Sweetzer, Louis Herthum gives an award-worthy performance. He reveals Louis’ troubled nature (which includes alcoholism), lingering grief over his wife’s death, and his stubborn religious fundamentalism in layers, one over the other. This is a performance that is both passionate and subtle. Somewhere, from some film group, there should have been at least a best supporting actor nomination for Herthum. In some ways, he gives The Last Exorcism gravitas.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

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Review: Fun "Piranha" Paints the Town Red

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 7 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Piranha (2010)
Running time: 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of strong bloody horror violence and gore, graphic nudity, sexual content, language and some drug use
DIRECTOR: Alexandre Aja
WRITERS: Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg
PRODUCERS: Alexandre Aja, Mark Canton, Grégory Levasseur, and Marc Toberoff
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John R. Leonetti
EDITOR: Baxter

HORROR/COMEDY/THRILLER

Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Ving Rhames, Steven R. McQueen, Jessica Szohr, Adam Scott, Jerry O’Connell, Kelly Brook, Riley Steele, Christopher Lloyd, Eli Roth, Brooklynn Proulx, Sage Ryan, and Richard Dreyfuss

It was called “Piranha 3D” when it was released last summer, but Piranha, the latest film from horror movie director, Alexandre Aja, is a remake. In 1978, director Joe Dante unleashed a campy horror flick entitled Piranha that was a spoof of Steve Spielberg’s Jaws. I didn’t see the new film in 3D, but I doubt I would have liked it more if I had seen it in 3D instead of the way I did – regular D on DVD.

It’s Spring Break on Lake Victoria in Arizona. Scantily clad girls are shaking their melon-like ta-ta’s, swinging their curvy hips, and bouncing their ample asses. Strangely, as healthy as the girls look, the guys are scrawny, but they will still provide good meat for the waterborne death soon to come.

Sheriff Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue) has her hands full trying to maintain order with an influx of rowdy college students. What she doesn’t know is that a small earthquake has split open the floor of Lake Victoria. From that chasm, a school of piranha has emerged from a subterranean lake. Sheriff Forester’s son, Jake (Steven R. McQueen), envies the fun everyone has while he has to baby sit his younger sister, Laura (Brooklyn Proulx), and younger brother, Zane (Sage Ryan). Fate has other plans for Jake, his family, his friends, and the visitors to Lake Victoria. The piranha are about to turn the lake into a bloody, killing field.

After the first 20 minutes or so of Piranha, I wanted everybody to die (even the two Forester children) because the movie seemed like it was going to be a disaster. By the time the piranhas really begin their killing spree, I was cheering this movie on and fretting over the fact that, at 88 minutes long, the movie would be over fairly quickly. As far as filmmaking merit goes, Piranha is trash, but as a horror movie willing to deliver bloody mayhem, it is pretty successful.

As a comic horror movie, Piranha is also winning, which isn’t all that common among films that mix comedy and horror. Director Alexandre Aja and his writers take the Spring Break movie set on the water and the wall-to-wall gore of a George Romero zombie movie and mix them into a death-by-trauma spectacular. There is so much blood in this movie that it often looks as if someone set off a cherry jello dirty bomb. The underwater shots of piranha pulling eyeballs out of sockets and stripping off flesh like pulled pork thrilled me – with my gleeful laughing as my own personal soundtrack.

Some viewers will consider Piranha a guilty pleasure. Others will wish more horror comedies could deliver the bloody goods the way Piranha does.

5 of 10
B-

Friday, January 21, 2011

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Review: "Inglourious Basterds" is One Crazy Bastard

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 (of 2009) by Leroy Douresseaux

Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Running time: 153 minutes (2 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong graphic violence, language, and brief sexuality
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino
PRODUCER: Lawrence Bender
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Richardson
EDITOR: Sally Menke
Academy Award winner

ACTION/DRAMA/WAR

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger, Gedeon Burkhard, Jacky Ido, B.J. Novak, Omar Doom, Martin Wuttke, Mike Myers, Julie Dreyfus, Rod Taylor, Samm Levine, and Samuel L. Jackson (uncredited voice)

Inglourious Basterds is the most recent film from Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction). While Inglourious Basterds is actually short on the titular Basterds in action, it isn’t short of Tarantino hallmarks.

Apparently inspired by the 1978 Italian war movie, The Inglorious Bastards, Tarantino’s film opens in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), a “Jew hunter” or “Jew detective” (which is the term Landa prefers). Meanwhile, somewhere else in Europe, American 1st Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish-American soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as, The Basterds, their mission is cause havoc and panic within the Third Reich by savagely killing Nazis and German servicemen. Raine tells his Basterds that being in this squad means they owe him a debt, and to pay it off, each man owes him 100 Nazi scalps.

Shosanna, who narrowly escaped Landa, fled to Paris, where four years later she has forged a new identity as Emmanuelle Mimieux, the owner and operator of a small cinema named La Gamaar. She catches the eye of a German marksman turned war hero, Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl). In an attempt to impress her, Zoller convinces his superiors to hold a film premiere at La Gamaar. Meanwhile, Raine’s squad has joined German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich – during the film premiere at La Gamaar. It seems that fates have converged at the cinema, as Shosanna, with the help of her projectionist boyfriend, Marcel (Jacky Ido), is poised to carry out her own plan of revenge on the Nazis.

I consider Tarantino’s best feature-length films to be his first three: Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), and Jackie Brown (1997), with Jackie Brown being his best work. His films since 1997 have been very good, but are mostly genre exercises and fanboy porn. Inglourious Basterds is the least of all of them, but compared to most American filmmaking, it is very good.

What else can be said about it? Basterds is not a World War II movie; in fact, it really isn’t a war movie. It’s just a Tarantino movie that may be, as the filmmaker himself described it, a spaghetti western dressed up as a WW II movie. Of course, the additives are gleefully executed violence and snappy banter passing as dialogue. Inglourious Basterds is a ferocious and sadistic fantasy that revels in a World War II that doesn’t even come close to existing.

This is also an ensemble movie. The film never depicts the entire Basterds squad in action together. Each scene focuses on a small group of characters chosen from the larger ensemble. In a way, Inglourious Basterds could have been called “Shosanna’s Last Picture Show” or “Landa the Basterd” because the film is as much about them as it is about Raine and his Basterds. Shosanna is one of the few truly high-quality characters in this film, and actor Christoph Waltz creates one of the year’s best villains in Hans Landa. Just about all the others are less characters and more like character types that Tarantino probably stole…err…borrowed from other films.

Inglourious Basterds is merely glorious Tarantino. He is a highly skilled filmmaker with an encyclopedic knowledge of film, but he desires to make bloody pastiches of the violent action/martial arts/war/western films he so clearly loves. Inglourious Basterds is Quentin Tarantino’s version of a summer movie – entertaining, but loud, violent, and empty.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, September 12, 2009

NOTES:
2010 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Christoph Waltz); 7 nominations: “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Robert Richardson), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Quentin Tarantino), “Best Achievement in Editing” (Sally Menke), “Best Achievement in Sound” (Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, and Mark Ulano), “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Wylie Stateman), “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Lawrence Bender), “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Quentin Tarantino)

2010 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Supporting Actor” (Christoph Waltz); 5 nominations: “Best Cinematography” (Robert Richardson), “Best Director” (Quentin Tarantino), “Best Editing” (Sally Menke), “Best Production Design” (David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco), “Best Screenplay – Original” (Quentin Tarantino)

2010 Golden Globes: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Christoph Waltz); 3 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Quentin Tarantino), “Best Motion Picture – Drama” and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Quentin Tarantino)

Review: "Hostel" is Trash Cinema with Imagination

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 3 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hostel (2005)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – R for brutal scenes of torture and violence, strong sexual content, language, and drug use
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Eli Roth
PRODUCERS: Chris Briggs, Mike Fleiss, and Eli Roth
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Milan Chadima with Shane Daly (additional photography)
EDITOR: George Folsey, Jr.

HORROR

Starring: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson, Barbara Nedeljakova, Jana Kaderabkova, Jan Vlasák, and Jennifer Lim

Two American college students, Josh (Derek Richardson) and Paxton (Jay Hernandez), on the verge of grad and law school respectively, take a tour of Europe hoping to make the kind of wild memories they can vividly recall while doing the serious business of being grown up. With, Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson), a European friend they meet in Barcelona, they travel to the Netherlands where they hear of a town in Slovakia where the women are horny for American men because all their own men were killed in one of the various civil wars that began after the fall of the Soviet Empire. Josh, Paxton, and Oli make the trip and find a hostel (a college dormitory style hotel for young people, which is usually supervised) in an out-of-the-way Slovakian town that is indeed stocked with European women hot for American men. However, there is something dark, brutal, and very ugly just beneath the surface of the easy sex.

Many film fans considered Eli Roth’s horror film, Cabin Fever, to be problematic, but they believed that it showed much promise for Roth’s future as a director of horror films. That promise is supposed to be met in Roth’s new horror film, Hostel. As far as I’m concerned Cabin Fever had problems, but was one of the best and truest horror films in the last decade. Hostel is actually a step back.

The film is gallows schlock, the kind of gory film a frat boy would make. In fact, the two American lead characters are not only spoiled college students, but are also the kind of dumb Americans who think every backwoods, exotic, international locale is just another place to score girls and indulge in super hedonistic behavior. The only thing that makes them sympathetic is that they are Americans, and since we can see their doom coming from ten miles away (while they apparently can’t see it a few feet in front of them), we can be sympathetic because we as Americans wouldn’t want to be trapped in a strange foreign place with no cavalry, let alone an American embassy, there to save us.

The film, like even the worst horror movies, at least succeeds in creating creepy atmosphere and a fine impending sense of doom that pervades the film’s first half hour. The film features nine foreign languages, none with subtitles – a record for an American film without subtitles, and that actually adds a nice touch to the film’s surreal and strange mood. However, the narrative itself is dull, and the gore shamelessly gruesome and overdone; it makes Rob Zombie’s flicks look mainstream. Hostel is also somewhat misogynistic. Women in this film are either flesh pots into which the Americans can insert their genitalia, or they’re skanky Euro-whores screwing, drugging, and lying men to their dooms – kind of like a heifer leading the bulls into the slaughter pens.

The film does have a redeeming quality – the last act, in particularly the last twenty minutes. At that point Hostel transforms itself from pornographic gore into a brilliant European chase flick. It’s taut, edge-of-the-seat pace is filled with moments of comic horror, just enough to make you laugh off the tension. Still, that’s not enough to make Hostel more than a DVD rental.

5 of 10
C+

Saturday, January 07, 2006

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"Cabin Fever" Will Make Your Skin Crawl

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 153 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Cabin Fever (2002/2003)
Running time: 94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and gore, sexuality, language, and brief drug use
DIRECTOR: Eli Roth
WRITERS: Randy Pearlstein and Eli Roth; from a story by Eli Roth
PRODUCERS: Evan Astrowsky, Sam Froelich, Lauren Moews, and Eli Roth
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Scott Kevan
EDITOR: Ryan Folsey

HORROR/THRILLER

Starring: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Robert Harris, Hal Courtney, Matthew Helms, Giuseppe Andrews, Arie Verveen, and David Kaufbird (Eli Roth)

They’ve finally finished college, so five friends (three guys and two young women) rent a cabin in the woods for a weeklong getaway before entering the real world of work. However, the fun ends when one of the friends (James DeBelle) encounters Henry “the Hermit” a dazed and frantic local covered in bloody sores. Not long after that encounter Henry makes it to the cabin. Panicked at the sight of his horrible appearance, the friends fend him off, but contact has been made. Soon, one of the young women becomes ill and her body becomes infested with the same oozing, bloody sores. Filled with revulsion and terror, her four friends lock her away, and then, turn on one another as the fear of contagion sets in their minds.

Cabin Fever closed the 2002 Toronto Film Festival to a packed house. Nine film studios to enter into an intense bidding war for the distribution rights to the film, and the film opened September 13, 2003.

Although the film rifts several horror films, most notably Evil Dead, Cabin Fever is itself an original. The killer in this film is a flesh-eating virus of unknown origin, but the villains are the five college graduates themselves as each friend turns on the other for fear that he or she might have the virus and might pass it on. Eli Roth’s little scary movie is a creepy, Southern gothic delight (filmed partly on location in North Carolina) that could have you washing and scrubbing your body raw after viewing.

Roth and his collaborators: cinematographer, composers, makeup and visual effects crew, etc. spent a lot of time getting the details right. Cabin Fever looks like a film shot for 20 times its cost, which was one and half million dollars. For instance, the cinematography captures and enhances the glorious, burnished hues of autumn. However, some of the rest of the film, in particular the core elements, are pedestrian. There’s nothing in particularly noteworthy about the five lead actors except that they know how to scream, run, fight, and lose their nerves. The characters are about as noteworthy; they are the same panicked kids and small town, backwoods local residents that scare the panicked kids – all of which have appeared in at least one hundred teen-oriented horror flicks.

But Roth, his cast, crew, and fellow filmmakers somehow bring it together the good and bad to make a fun film. Cabin Fever, in a sense, is really about the disintegration of a society when disaster strikes (and as I write this, the U.S. is a little over two weeks into the Hurricane Katrina disaster and recovery). Although the script seems to lack focus or an organizing principle (at times, the characters just wander around, almost in a delaying tactic to hide the fact that this film has no plot), it works like a fairy tale, folk tale, or urban legend. It’s the idea of something eating away at one’s normalcy; of civility oozing away in a stream of blood, of social connections infected, and, worst of all, of a world that doesn’t seem to care or can’t understand that you really freakin’ need help.

Cabin Fever bleeds deterioration, and Peter Jackson liked it so much that he reportedly stopped production on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King three times to screen this flick for his crew. He even offered his name and some quotes to help sell the film. Cabin Fever, while not perfect, is more than worthy of Jackson’s attention; the sum overcomes any rotting parts.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, October 10, 2005