“Dune,” “Nightmare Alley” and “West Side Story” have won the top feature-film awards at the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ 69th annual Mpse Golden Reel Awards, which took place in a virtual ceremony on Sunday night.
“Dune” won in the Feature Effects/Foley category, which over the years has been the Mpse’s most accurate predictor of Oscar success. “Nightmare Alley” won in the Feature Dialogue/Adr category, while “West Side Story” won in the music category.
Other film awards went to “Raya and the Last Dragon” for animation, “The Rescue” for documentary and “Cliff Walkers” for foreign-language feature.
Television winners included “Succession,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “The Underground Railroad,” “The Witcher” and “The Beatles Get Back.”
Director and producer Ron Howard received the Filmmaker Award, while Anthony J. “Chic” Ciccolini III received the Career Achievement Award.
The list of winners:
Feature Dialogue / Adr: “Nightmare Alley”
Supervising Dialogue/Adr Editor:...
“Dune” won in the Feature Effects/Foley category, which over the years has been the Mpse’s most accurate predictor of Oscar success. “Nightmare Alley” won in the Feature Dialogue/Adr category, while “West Side Story” won in the music category.
Other film awards went to “Raya and the Last Dragon” for animation, “The Rescue” for documentary and “Cliff Walkers” for foreign-language feature.
Television winners included “Succession,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “The Underground Railroad,” “The Witcher” and “The Beatles Get Back.”
Director and producer Ron Howard received the Filmmaker Award, while Anthony J. “Chic” Ciccolini III received the Career Achievement Award.
The list of winners:
Feature Dialogue / Adr: “Nightmare Alley”
Supervising Dialogue/Adr Editor:...
- 3/14/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Oscar-frontrunner “Dune” (Warner Bros.), “Nightmare Alley” (Searchlight Pictures), and “West Side Story” (20th Century Studios) each won sound editing feature awards Sunday night at the 69th annual Mpse Golden Reel Awards (held virtually). “Dune” took feature effects/foley, “Nightmare Alley,” a non-Oscar nominee and surprise winner over “Dune” and “No Time to Die,” snagged feature dialogue/Adr, and Oscar nominee “West Side Story” collected feature music. The other Oscar sound nominees are “Belfast” (Focus Features), “No Time to Die” (MGM/UA), and “The Power of the Dog” (Netflix).
There were other surprises: Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” triumphed in animation over the studio’s Oscar-frontrunner, “Encanto,” which has won a slew of guild awards, and “The Rescue” (Disney+) took feature documentary over Oscar-frontrunner “Summer of Soul” (Searchlight Pictures). Additionally, “Cliff Walkers” (Viki) earned foreign language honors, and “Infinite” (Paramount +) grabbed non-theatrical feature.
On the TV side, “Succession,...
There were other surprises: Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” triumphed in animation over the studio’s Oscar-frontrunner, “Encanto,” which has won a slew of guild awards, and “The Rescue” (Disney+) took feature documentary over Oscar-frontrunner “Summer of Soul” (Searchlight Pictures). Additionally, “Cliff Walkers” (Viki) earned foreign language honors, and “Infinite” (Paramount +) grabbed non-theatrical feature.
On the TV side, “Succession,...
- 3/14/2022
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
The Motion Picture Sound Editors are out with nominations for the 68th annual Golden Reel Awards, which recognize sound artists in 22 categories spanning film, TV, toons, computer entertainment and student productions.
Eight films will vie in the marquee Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Underscore category: The Invisible Man, The Midnight Sky, News of the World, Sound of Metal, Tenet, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Wonder Woman 1984.
Winners will be announced during an international virtual trophy ceremony on Friday, April 16.
The Golden Reels also will honor Mad Max franchise director George Miller with the 2021 Mpse Filmmaker Award.
“We’re very excited about this year’s Mpse Golden Reel Awards,” Mpse president Mark Lanza said. “It will feature a dynamic, virtual format that will be great fun and allow people from around the world to participate. We will have presenters from every part of the globe along with many other surprises.
Eight films will vie in the marquee Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Underscore category: The Invisible Man, The Midnight Sky, News of the World, Sound of Metal, Tenet, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Wonder Woman 1984.
Winners will be announced during an international virtual trophy ceremony on Friday, April 16.
The Golden Reels also will honor Mad Max franchise director George Miller with the 2021 Mpse Filmmaker Award.
“We’re very excited about this year’s Mpse Golden Reel Awards,” Mpse president Mark Lanza said. “It will feature a dynamic, virtual format that will be great fun and allow people from around the world to participate. We will have presenters from every part of the globe along with many other surprises.
- 3/1/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Darius Marder’s innovative “Sound of Metal” and Paul Greengrass’ “News of the World” western each grabbed three sound editing nominations at the 68th annual Mpse Golden Reel Awards (which will be held virtually on April 16). “Sound of Metal,” the frontrunner, captures Riz Ahmed’s heavy-metal drummer slowly losing his hearing, while “News of the World” creates the shootouts, sandstorms, and rainstorms that assault Tom Hanks on his journey in post-Civil War Texas. The Academy has consolidated sound editing and mixing onto a single category for the first time this season.
Several features scored two nominations: “Tenet,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” and “Greyhound.” Also making the cut were “Mank,” “The Midnight Sky,” “The Invisible Woman,” “Nomadland,””Wonder Woman 1984,” “Emperor,” and “Cherry.”
Feature musical nominees included “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” The Prom,” “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of the Fire Saga,” “The High Note,...
Several features scored two nominations: “Tenet,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” and “Greyhound.” Also making the cut were “Mank,” “The Midnight Sky,” “The Invisible Woman,” “Nomadland,””Wonder Woman 1984,” “Emperor,” and “Cherry.”
Feature musical nominees included “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” The Prom,” “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of the Fire Saga,” “The High Note,...
- 3/1/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
The Motion Picture Sound Editors (Mpse) have announced the nominations for the 68th Annual Mpse Golden Reel Awards.
“Sound of Metal,” “News of the World” and “Wonder Woman 1984” are among the nominees. “Sound of Metal,” a frontrunner in the Oscar race for best sound, leads the way with three nominations for outstanding achievement in sound editing including feature effects/foley, feature dialogue/Adr and feature underscore.
Elsewhere, Netflix’s “Better Call Saul” landed three nominations, and freshman shows “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Ted Lasso” also scored nominations.
“We’re very excited about this year’s Mpse Golden Reel Awards. It will feature a dynamic, virtual format that will be great fun and allow people from around the world to participate,” said Mpse president Mark Lanza. “We will have presenters from every part of the globe along with many other surprises. Most importantly, this will be an opportunity to celebrate...
“Sound of Metal,” “News of the World” and “Wonder Woman 1984” are among the nominees. “Sound of Metal,” a frontrunner in the Oscar race for best sound, leads the way with three nominations for outstanding achievement in sound editing including feature effects/foley, feature dialogue/Adr and feature underscore.
Elsewhere, Netflix’s “Better Call Saul” landed three nominations, and freshman shows “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Ted Lasso” also scored nominations.
“We’re very excited about this year’s Mpse Golden Reel Awards. It will feature a dynamic, virtual format that will be great fun and allow people from around the world to participate,” said Mpse president Mark Lanza. “We will have presenters from every part of the globe along with many other surprises. Most importantly, this will be an opportunity to celebrate...
- 3/1/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Erik Nelson describes his documentary “The Cold Blue” as “the garage band of movies” — he didn’t have the large team or crew other documentary contenders have.
“The Cold Blue” is a World War II documentary that looks at raids and B-17 bombing missions that took place during the war. Nelson’s team looked at 34 reels of 16mm footage from William Wyler’s “The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress,” poring over them for 15 hours.
The footage was without sound, so Nelson not only restored it to stunning quality, but he also tracked down eight of the existing B-17 planes, flew up in them and captured the sound. The end result is an immersive and modern documentary.
As a film historian, Nelson also sought out veterans who flew the B-17s.
“Wyler covered the bomb runs, the briefings, and I knew what we had,” Nelson said of the footage.
“The Cold Blue” is a World War II documentary that looks at raids and B-17 bombing missions that took place during the war. Nelson’s team looked at 34 reels of 16mm footage from William Wyler’s “The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress,” poring over them for 15 hours.
The footage was without sound, so Nelson not only restored it to stunning quality, but he also tracked down eight of the existing B-17 planes, flew up in them and captured the sound. The end result is an immersive and modern documentary.
As a film historian, Nelson also sought out veterans who flew the B-17s.
“Wyler covered the bomb runs, the briefings, and I knew what we had,” Nelson said of the footage.
- 12/10/2019
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Mark Harrison Aug 17, 2017
Anyone for monkey baseball? We examine the weird and wonderful unmade scripts of the Planet Of The Apes series
In 2006, screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were inspired by footage of domesticated chimpanzees who were unable to adjust to our lifestyles to write a sci-fi horror spec script that they called Genesis. Apparently, it was a while before the two of them realised that they were writing a Planet Of The Apes movie.
Their resultant pitch to 20th Century Fox led to 2011's Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, the excellent, emotional prequel/reboot of the franchise that led to 2014's Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and recent trilogy topper, War For The Planet Of The Apes. Together, the three films take Caesar from domestication to domination and have been huge critical and financial hits for the studio.
The development hell that plagued Fox's...
Anyone for monkey baseball? We examine the weird and wonderful unmade scripts of the Planet Of The Apes series
In 2006, screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were inspired by footage of domesticated chimpanzees who were unable to adjust to our lifestyles to write a sci-fi horror spec script that they called Genesis. Apparently, it was a while before the two of them realised that they were writing a Planet Of The Apes movie.
Their resultant pitch to 20th Century Fox led to 2011's Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, the excellent, emotional prequel/reboot of the franchise that led to 2014's Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and recent trilogy topper, War For The Planet Of The Apes. Together, the three films take Caesar from domestication to domination and have been huge critical and financial hits for the studio.
The development hell that plagued Fox's...
- 8/15/2017
- Den of Geek
Review by Roger Carpenter
Made at the height of the creature feature resurgence popularized by films like The Howling, An American Werewolf in London, Wolfen, Humanoids from the Deep, and The Boogens, C.H.U.D. (1984) was a (very) low budget film that was briefly popular upon its release and became a staple of the mid-80’s video stores that seemed to pop up like weeds around that time. We tend to throw around terms like “cult classic” a little too lightly nowadays. I don’t think C.H.U.D. qualifies as a genuine “cult classic,” but the film certainly has legs over three decades plus since its original release.
Perhaps those “legs” have something to do with the coverage from the popular Fangoria magazine during production of the film. Or maybe it had to do with the schlocky but nonetheless horrific rubber monster suits worn for the CHUDs (actually foam latex) to go along...
Made at the height of the creature feature resurgence popularized by films like The Howling, An American Werewolf in London, Wolfen, Humanoids from the Deep, and The Boogens, C.H.U.D. (1984) was a (very) low budget film that was briefly popular upon its release and became a staple of the mid-80’s video stores that seemed to pop up like weeds around that time. We tend to throw around terms like “cult classic” a little too lightly nowadays. I don’t think C.H.U.D. qualifies as a genuine “cult classic,” but the film certainly has legs over three decades plus since its original release.
Perhaps those “legs” have something to do with the coverage from the popular Fangoria magazine during production of the film. Or maybe it had to do with the schlocky but nonetheless horrific rubber monster suits worn for the CHUDs (actually foam latex) to go along...
- 6/26/2017
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Welcome back for Day 11 of Daily Dead’s fourth annual Holiday Gift Guide, readers! Once again, our goal is to help you navigate through the horrors of the 2016 shopping season with our tips on unique gift ideas, and we’ll hopefully help you save a few bucks over the next few weeks, too. For our second-to-last day of this year’s Gift Guide, we’re going to be featuring several great cult films that arrived on Blu-ray in 2016, as well as Star Wars books, a ton of horror-themed enamel pins, the amazing artwork of Hero Complex Gallery, FiverFingerTees, and much more!
This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is sponsored by several amazing companies, including Mondo, Anchor Bay Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and Magnolia Home Entertainment, who have all donated an assortment of goodies to help get you into the spirit of the season. Daily Dead also recently teamed up with...
This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is sponsored by several amazing companies, including Mondo, Anchor Bay Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and Magnolia Home Entertainment, who have all donated an assortment of goodies to help get you into the spirit of the season. Daily Dead also recently teamed up with...
- 12/9/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Dirty cops were a movie vogue in 1954, and Edmond O'Brien scores as a real dastard in this overachieving United Artists thriller. Dreamboat starlet Marla English is the reason O'Brien's detective kills for cash, and then keeps killing to stay ahead of his colleagues. And all to buy a crummy house in the suburbs -- this man needs career counseling. Shield for Murder Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1954 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 82 min. / Street Date June 21, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Edmond O'Brien, Marla English, John Agar, Emile Meyer, Carolyn Jones, Claude Akins, Herbert Butterfield, Hugh Sanders, William Schallert, Robert Bray, Richard Deacon, David Hughes, Gregg Martell, Stafford Repp, Vito Scotti. Cinematography Gordon Avil Film Editor John F. Schreyer Original Music Paul Dunlap Written by Richard Alan Simmons, John C. Higgins from the novel by William P. McGivern <Produced by Aubrey Schenck, (Howard W. Koch) Directed by Edmond O'Brien, Howard W. Koch
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Here's the kind of '50s movie we love, an ambitious, modest crime picture that for its time had an edge. In the 1950s our country was as blind to the true extent of police corruption as it was to organized crime. Movies about bad cops adhered to the 'bad apple' concept: it's only crooked individuals that we need to watch out for, never the institutions around them. Thanks to films noir, crooked cops were no longer a film rarity, even though the Production Code made movies like The Asphalt Jungle insert compensatory scenes paying lip service to the status quo: an imperfect police force is better than none. United Artists in the 1950s helped star talent make the jump to independent production, with the prime success stories being Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. But the distribution company also funded proven producers capable of putting out smaller bread 'n' butter movies that could prosper if costs were kept down. Edward Small, Victor Saville, Levy-Gardner-Laven. Aubrey Schenck and Howard C. Koch produced as a team, and for 1954's Shield for Murder Koch co-directed, sharing credit with the film's star, Edmond O'Brien. The show is a smart production all the way, a modestly budgeted 'B' with 'A' ambitions. O'Brien was an industry go-getter trying to channel his considerable talent in new directions. His leading man days were fading but he was in demand for parts in major films like The Barefoot Contessa. The producers took care with their story too. Writers Richard Alan Simmons and John C. Higgins had solid crime movie credits. Author William P. McGivern wrote the novel behind Fritz Lang's The Big Heat as well as Rogue Cop and Odds Against Tomorrow. All of McGivern's stories involve crooked policemen or police corruption. Shield for Murder doesn't tiptoe around its subject matter. Dirty cop Detective Lt. Barney Nolan (O'Brien) kills a hoodlum in an alley to steal $25,000 of mob money. His precinct boss Captain Gunnarson (Emile Meyer) accepts Barney's version of events and the Asst. D.A. (William Schallert) takes the shooting as an open and shut case. Crime reporter Cabot (Herbert Butterfield) has his doubts, and lectures the squad room about the abuse of police power. Barney manages to placate mob boss Packy Reed (Hugh Sanders), but two hoods continue to shadow him. Barney's plan for the money was to buy a new house and escape the rat race with his girlfriend, nightclub cashier Patty Winters (Marla English). But a problem surfaces in the elderly deaf mute Ernst Sternmueller (David Hughes), a witness to the shooting. Barney realizes that his only way forward is to kill the old man before he can tell all to Det. Mark Brewster (John Agar), Barney's closest friend. Once again one of society's Good Guys takes a bite of the forbidden apple and tries to buck the system. Shield for Murder posits an logical but twisted course of action for a weary defender of the law who wants out. Barney long ago gave up trying to do anything about the crooks he can't touch. The fat cat Packy Reed makes the big money, and all Barney wants is his share. Barney's vision of The American Dream is just the middle-class ideal, the desirable Patty Winters and a modest tract home. He's picked it out - it sits partway up a hill in a new Los Angeles development, just finished and already furnished. Then the unexpected witness shows up and everything begins to unravel; Barney loses control one step at a time. He beats a mob thug (Claude Akins) half to death in front of witnesses. When his pal Mark Brewster figures out the truth, Barney has to use a lot of his money to arrange a getaway. More mob trouble leads to a shoot-out in a high school gym. The idea may have been for the star O'Brien to coach actors John Agar and Marla English to better performances. Agar is slightly more natural than usual, but still not very good. The gorgeous Ms. English remains sweet and inexpressive. After several unbilled bits, the woman often compared to Elizabeth Taylor was given "introducing" billing on the Shield for Murder billing block. Her best-known role would be as The She-Creature two years later, after which she dropped out to get married. Co-director O'Brien also allows Emile Meyer to go over the top in a scene or two. But the young Carolyn Jones is a standout as a blonde bargirl, more or less expanding on her small part as a human ashtray in the previous year's The Big Heat. Edmond O'Brien is occasionally a little to hyper, but he's excellent at showing stress as the trap closes around the overreaching Barney Nolan. Other United Artists budget crime pictures seem a little tight with the outdoors action -- Vice Squad, Witness to Murder, Without Warning -- but O'Brien and Koch's camera luxuriates in night shoots on the Los Angeles streets. This is one of those Blu-rays that Los Angelenos will want to freeze frame, to try to read the street signs. There is also little downtime wasted in sidebar plot detours. The gunfight in the school gym, next to an Olympic swimming pool, is an action highlight. The show has one enduring sequence. With the force closing in, Barney rushes back to the unfinished house he plans to buy, to recover the loot he's buried next to its foundation. Anybody who lived in Southern California in the '50s and '60s was aware of the massive suburban sprawl underway, a building boom that went on for decades. In 1953 the La Puente hills were so rural they barely served by roads; the movie The War of the Worlds considered it a good place to use a nuclear bomb against invading Martians. By 1975 the unending suburbs had spread from Los Angeles, almost all the way to Pomona. Barney dashes through a new housing development on terraced plots, boxy little houses separated from each other by only a few feet of dirt. There's no landscaping yet. Even in 1954 $25,000 wasn't that much money, so Barney Nolan has sold himself pretty cheaply. Two more latter-day crime pictures would end with ominous metaphors about the oblivion of The American Dream. In 1964's remake of The Killers the cash Lee Marvin kills for only buys him a patch of green lawn in a choice Hollywood Hills neighborhood. The L.A.P.D. puts Marvin out of his misery, and then closes in on another crooked detective in the aptly titled 1965 thriller The Money Trap. The final scene in that movie is priceless: his dreams smashed, crooked cop Glenn Ford sits by his designer swimming pool and waits to be arrested. Considering how well things worked out for Los Angeles police officers, Edmond O'Brien's Barney Nolan seems especially foolish. If Barney had stuck it out for a couple of years, the new deal for the L.A.P.D. would have been much better than a measly 25 grand. By 1958 he'd have his twenty years in. After a retirement beer bash he'd be out on the road pulling a shiny new boat to the Colorado River, like all the other hardworking cops and firemen enjoying their generous pensions. Policemen also had little trouble getting house loans. The joke was that an L.A.P.D. cop might go bad, but none of them could be bribed. O'Brien directed one more feature, took more TV work and settled into character parts for Jack Webb, Frank Tashlin, John Ford, John Frankenheimer and finally Sam Peckinpah in The Wild Bunch, where he was almost unrecognizable. Howard W. Koch slowed down as a director but became a busy producer, working with Frank Sinatra for several years. He eventually co-produced Airplane! The Kl Studio Classics Blu-ray of Shield for Murder is a good-looking B&W scan, framed at a confirmed-as-correct 1:75 aspect ratio. The picture is sharp and detailed, and the sound is in fine shape. The package art duplicates the film's original no-class sell: "Dame-Hungry Killer-Cop Runs Berserk! The first scene also contains one of the more frequently noticed camera flubs in film noir -- a really big boom shadow on a nighttime alley wall. Kino's presentation comes with trailers for this movie, Hidden Fear and He Ran All the Way. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Shield for Murder Blu-ray rates: Movie: Good Video: Very Good Sound: Excellent Supplements: Trailers for Shield for Murder, Hidden Fear, He Ran All the Way Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? N0; Subtitles: None Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 7, 2016 (5115murd)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Here's the kind of '50s movie we love, an ambitious, modest crime picture that for its time had an edge. In the 1950s our country was as blind to the true extent of police corruption as it was to organized crime. Movies about bad cops adhered to the 'bad apple' concept: it's only crooked individuals that we need to watch out for, never the institutions around them. Thanks to films noir, crooked cops were no longer a film rarity, even though the Production Code made movies like The Asphalt Jungle insert compensatory scenes paying lip service to the status quo: an imperfect police force is better than none. United Artists in the 1950s helped star talent make the jump to independent production, with the prime success stories being Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. But the distribution company also funded proven producers capable of putting out smaller bread 'n' butter movies that could prosper if costs were kept down. Edward Small, Victor Saville, Levy-Gardner-Laven. Aubrey Schenck and Howard C. Koch produced as a team, and for 1954's Shield for Murder Koch co-directed, sharing credit with the film's star, Edmond O'Brien. The show is a smart production all the way, a modestly budgeted 'B' with 'A' ambitions. O'Brien was an industry go-getter trying to channel his considerable talent in new directions. His leading man days were fading but he was in demand for parts in major films like The Barefoot Contessa. The producers took care with their story too. Writers Richard Alan Simmons and John C. Higgins had solid crime movie credits. Author William P. McGivern wrote the novel behind Fritz Lang's The Big Heat as well as Rogue Cop and Odds Against Tomorrow. All of McGivern's stories involve crooked policemen or police corruption. Shield for Murder doesn't tiptoe around its subject matter. Dirty cop Detective Lt. Barney Nolan (O'Brien) kills a hoodlum in an alley to steal $25,000 of mob money. His precinct boss Captain Gunnarson (Emile Meyer) accepts Barney's version of events and the Asst. D.A. (William Schallert) takes the shooting as an open and shut case. Crime reporter Cabot (Herbert Butterfield) has his doubts, and lectures the squad room about the abuse of police power. Barney manages to placate mob boss Packy Reed (Hugh Sanders), but two hoods continue to shadow him. Barney's plan for the money was to buy a new house and escape the rat race with his girlfriend, nightclub cashier Patty Winters (Marla English). But a problem surfaces in the elderly deaf mute Ernst Sternmueller (David Hughes), a witness to the shooting. Barney realizes that his only way forward is to kill the old man before he can tell all to Det. Mark Brewster (John Agar), Barney's closest friend. Once again one of society's Good Guys takes a bite of the forbidden apple and tries to buck the system. Shield for Murder posits an logical but twisted course of action for a weary defender of the law who wants out. Barney long ago gave up trying to do anything about the crooks he can't touch. The fat cat Packy Reed makes the big money, and all Barney wants is his share. Barney's vision of The American Dream is just the middle-class ideal, the desirable Patty Winters and a modest tract home. He's picked it out - it sits partway up a hill in a new Los Angeles development, just finished and already furnished. Then the unexpected witness shows up and everything begins to unravel; Barney loses control one step at a time. He beats a mob thug (Claude Akins) half to death in front of witnesses. When his pal Mark Brewster figures out the truth, Barney has to use a lot of his money to arrange a getaway. More mob trouble leads to a shoot-out in a high school gym. The idea may have been for the star O'Brien to coach actors John Agar and Marla English to better performances. Agar is slightly more natural than usual, but still not very good. The gorgeous Ms. English remains sweet and inexpressive. After several unbilled bits, the woman often compared to Elizabeth Taylor was given "introducing" billing on the Shield for Murder billing block. Her best-known role would be as The She-Creature two years later, after which she dropped out to get married. Co-director O'Brien also allows Emile Meyer to go over the top in a scene or two. But the young Carolyn Jones is a standout as a blonde bargirl, more or less expanding on her small part as a human ashtray in the previous year's The Big Heat. Edmond O'Brien is occasionally a little to hyper, but he's excellent at showing stress as the trap closes around the overreaching Barney Nolan. Other United Artists budget crime pictures seem a little tight with the outdoors action -- Vice Squad, Witness to Murder, Without Warning -- but O'Brien and Koch's camera luxuriates in night shoots on the Los Angeles streets. This is one of those Blu-rays that Los Angelenos will want to freeze frame, to try to read the street signs. There is also little downtime wasted in sidebar plot detours. The gunfight in the school gym, next to an Olympic swimming pool, is an action highlight. The show has one enduring sequence. With the force closing in, Barney rushes back to the unfinished house he plans to buy, to recover the loot he's buried next to its foundation. Anybody who lived in Southern California in the '50s and '60s was aware of the massive suburban sprawl underway, a building boom that went on for decades. In 1953 the La Puente hills were so rural they barely served by roads; the movie The War of the Worlds considered it a good place to use a nuclear bomb against invading Martians. By 1975 the unending suburbs had spread from Los Angeles, almost all the way to Pomona. Barney dashes through a new housing development on terraced plots, boxy little houses separated from each other by only a few feet of dirt. There's no landscaping yet. Even in 1954 $25,000 wasn't that much money, so Barney Nolan has sold himself pretty cheaply. Two more latter-day crime pictures would end with ominous metaphors about the oblivion of The American Dream. In 1964's remake of The Killers the cash Lee Marvin kills for only buys him a patch of green lawn in a choice Hollywood Hills neighborhood. The L.A.P.D. puts Marvin out of his misery, and then closes in on another crooked detective in the aptly titled 1965 thriller The Money Trap. The final scene in that movie is priceless: his dreams smashed, crooked cop Glenn Ford sits by his designer swimming pool and waits to be arrested. Considering how well things worked out for Los Angeles police officers, Edmond O'Brien's Barney Nolan seems especially foolish. If Barney had stuck it out for a couple of years, the new deal for the L.A.P.D. would have been much better than a measly 25 grand. By 1958 he'd have his twenty years in. After a retirement beer bash he'd be out on the road pulling a shiny new boat to the Colorado River, like all the other hardworking cops and firemen enjoying their generous pensions. Policemen also had little trouble getting house loans. The joke was that an L.A.P.D. cop might go bad, but none of them could be bribed. O'Brien directed one more feature, took more TV work and settled into character parts for Jack Webb, Frank Tashlin, John Ford, John Frankenheimer and finally Sam Peckinpah in The Wild Bunch, where he was almost unrecognizable. Howard W. Koch slowed down as a director but became a busy producer, working with Frank Sinatra for several years. He eventually co-produced Airplane! The Kl Studio Classics Blu-ray of Shield for Murder is a good-looking B&W scan, framed at a confirmed-as-correct 1:75 aspect ratio. The picture is sharp and detailed, and the sound is in fine shape. The package art duplicates the film's original no-class sell: "Dame-Hungry Killer-Cop Runs Berserk! The first scene also contains one of the more frequently noticed camera flubs in film noir -- a really big boom shadow on a nighttime alley wall. Kino's presentation comes with trailers for this movie, Hidden Fear and He Ran All the Way. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Shield for Murder Blu-ray rates: Movie: Good Video: Very Good Sound: Excellent Supplements: Trailers for Shield for Murder, Hidden Fear, He Ran All the Way Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? N0; Subtitles: None Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 7, 2016 (5115murd)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
- 6/11/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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Looking for good books about the movies to read? We've got a bumper selection of recommendations right here...
A confession. I actually started writing this article in 2013, and the reason you've only reading it now is that I've made sure I've read every book on this list, save for one or two where I've marked otherwise. As such, what you're getting is a very personal list of recommendations. Each of these books has at least something to it that I think is of interest to someone wanting to learn more about film - or just enjoy stories of movie making.
I've tended to avoid picture books, with one exception, as these ones I've chosen are all intended to be chock-full of words, to relax with at the end of a long day. Which is what I did. There are one or two notable omissions, as I'm still...
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Looking for good books about the movies to read? We've got a bumper selection of recommendations right here...
A confession. I actually started writing this article in 2013, and the reason you've only reading it now is that I've made sure I've read every book on this list, save for one or two where I've marked otherwise. As such, what you're getting is a very personal list of recommendations. Each of these books has at least something to it that I think is of interest to someone wanting to learn more about film - or just enjoy stories of movie making.
I've tended to avoid picture books, with one exception, as these ones I've chosen are all intended to be chock-full of words, to relax with at the end of a long day. Which is what I did. There are one or two notable omissions, as I'm still...
- 12/10/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
The Water Diviner and The Dressmaker dominated the feature categories at the 19th Australian Screen Sound Guild Awards held at The Establishment hotel ballroom in Sydney.
Russell Crowe.s drama won the prizes for feature film soundtrack of the year, best sound design and Assg members. choice for best film soundtrack.
Jocelyn Moorhouse.s dramedy was feted for best film sound recording and sound mixing .
The Syd Butterworth lifetime achievement award went to James Currie, whose career spans 38 years and includes A Month of Sundays, Charlie's Country, Red Dog, Ten Canoes, Man of Flowers, Incident at Raven.s Gate and Bad Boy Bubby.
The Principal was named best sound for a TV drama series while Deadline Gallipoli — episode 2 was best sound for a telefeature and Only the Dead best documentary sound.
The Greg Bell student encouragement award was given to Alex Gastrell, a recent North Sydney Tafe graduate. The full...
Russell Crowe.s drama won the prizes for feature film soundtrack of the year, best sound design and Assg members. choice for best film soundtrack.
Jocelyn Moorhouse.s dramedy was feted for best film sound recording and sound mixing .
The Syd Butterworth lifetime achievement award went to James Currie, whose career spans 38 years and includes A Month of Sundays, Charlie's Country, Red Dog, Ten Canoes, Man of Flowers, Incident at Raven.s Gate and Bad Boy Bubby.
The Principal was named best sound for a TV drama series while Deadline Gallipoli — episode 2 was best sound for a telefeature and Only the Dead best documentary sound.
The Greg Bell student encouragement award was given to Alex Gastrell, a recent North Sydney Tafe graduate. The full...
- 11/23/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
We look at the films that slipped through Hollywood's net, from biblical epics to a time travelling Gladiator sequel...
This article contains a spoiler for Gladiator.
If you're one of those frustrated over the quality of many of the blockbusters that make it to the inside of a multiplex, then ponder the following. For each of these were supposed to be major projects, that for one reason or another, stalled on their way to the big screen. Some still may make it. But for many others, the journey is over. Here are the big blockbusters that never were...
1. Airframe
The late Michael Crichton scored another residential on the bestseller list with his impressive thriller, Airframe. It was published in 1996, just after films of Crichton works such as Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, Disclosure and the immortal Congo had proven to be hits of various sizes.
So: a hit book, another techno thriller,...
This article contains a spoiler for Gladiator.
If you're one of those frustrated over the quality of many of the blockbusters that make it to the inside of a multiplex, then ponder the following. For each of these were supposed to be major projects, that for one reason or another, stalled on their way to the big screen. Some still may make it. But for many others, the journey is over. Here are the big blockbusters that never were...
1. Airframe
The late Michael Crichton scored another residential on the bestseller list with his impressive thriller, Airframe. It was published in 1996, just after films of Crichton works such as Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, Disclosure and the immortal Congo had proven to be hits of various sizes.
So: a hit book, another techno thriller,...
- 6/11/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
YouTube channel VideoLab adjusts the colour levels on Zack Snyder's desaturated Man Of Steel. See the results within...
A muted colour palette wasn't necessarily the greatest of Man Of Steel's problems, but it's fair to say that one of the first questions on my lips when I emerged from the local multiplex in 2013 was, "Shouldn't Superman's suit been a bit more, I don't know, blue and red?"
(Admittedly, my memory of this event is hazy. It's possible I just asked whether the pub was still open.)
Anyway, YouTube channel VideoLab has attempted to work out what Man Of Steel might have looked like if its colours hadn't been so heavily desaturated. The results of their re-grade are quite dramatic - the skies are a California blue instead of a Skegness grey, and, yes, Superman's suit is a pleasing blue and red once again.
Take a look for yourself below,...
A muted colour palette wasn't necessarily the greatest of Man Of Steel's problems, but it's fair to say that one of the first questions on my lips when I emerged from the local multiplex in 2013 was, "Shouldn't Superman's suit been a bit more, I don't know, blue and red?"
(Admittedly, my memory of this event is hazy. It's possible I just asked whether the pub was still open.)
Anyway, YouTube channel VideoLab has attempted to work out what Man Of Steel might have looked like if its colours hadn't been so heavily desaturated. The results of their re-grade are quite dramatic - the skies are a California blue instead of a Skegness grey, and, yes, Superman's suit is a pleasing blue and red once again.
Take a look for yourself below,...
- 4/24/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Latest 2015 Awards Roundup: "Birdman" Triumphs with Cinematography, Sound Mixing and Editing Awards!
With one week before the Academy Awards, "Birdman" continues its triumphant march towards Oscar glory. Just this past weekend, the Alejandro González Iñárritu contender won the top awards at the American Society of Cinematographers (Asc) awards, the 62nd Sound Editors' Golden Reel, and the 51st Cinema Audio Society. The film also took home the Best Contemporary Hair Styling award from the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild.
Will this transfer to Oscar glory?
Here's the complete list of winners from the Asc, Golden Reel, Cinema Audio Society, and Make-Up Artist and Hair Stylists Guild awards.
29th American Society of Cinematographers Winners
Feature Film: "Birdman"
Emmanuel Lubezki, Asc, AMC
Television Episodic: "Boardwalk Empire: Golden Days for Boys and Girls"
Jonathan Freeman, Asc
Television Movie/Miniseries/Pilot: "Manhattan" pilot
John Lindley, Asc
Spotlight Award: "Concrete Night" ("Betoniyo")
Peter Flinckenberg, Fsc
62nd Sound Editors' Golden Reel Winners
Feature Animation: .Big...
Will this transfer to Oscar glory?
Here's the complete list of winners from the Asc, Golden Reel, Cinema Audio Society, and Make-Up Artist and Hair Stylists Guild awards.
29th American Society of Cinematographers Winners
Feature Film: "Birdman"
Emmanuel Lubezki, Asc, AMC
Television Episodic: "Boardwalk Empire: Golden Days for Boys and Girls"
Jonathan Freeman, Asc
Television Movie/Miniseries/Pilot: "Manhattan" pilot
John Lindley, Asc
Spotlight Award: "Concrete Night" ("Betoniyo")
Peter Flinckenberg, Fsc
62nd Sound Editors' Golden Reel Winners
Feature Animation: .Big...
- 2/16/2015
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
From his psychological thriller to Spider-Man to Battle Angel, here's a look at the James Cameron-directed projects that never happened...
In the summer of 1977, James Cameron, like lots of other people that year, went to the cinema and watched Star Wars. But unlike so many others, Cameron didn't feel elation as the room went dark and the first space ship soared overhead - he felt a shiver of mild panic.
"My reaction to it was not, 'Oh, wow, that's cool. I want to see more,'" he later recalled. "It was, 'Oh wow, I better get off my butt because somebody is doing this stuff, you know, and they're beating me to it.'"
Within one year, the 24-year-old Cameron had borrowed some money from a consortium of dentists looking for a tax break, and with it, made the short film Xenogenesis. That film and its title (which could...
In the summer of 1977, James Cameron, like lots of other people that year, went to the cinema and watched Star Wars. But unlike so many others, Cameron didn't feel elation as the room went dark and the first space ship soared overhead - he felt a shiver of mild panic.
"My reaction to it was not, 'Oh, wow, that's cool. I want to see more,'" he later recalled. "It was, 'Oh wow, I better get off my butt because somebody is doing this stuff, you know, and they're beating me to it.'"
Within one year, the 24-year-old Cameron had borrowed some money from a consortium of dentists looking for a tax break, and with it, made the short film Xenogenesis. That film and its title (which could...
- 2/3/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Hollywood’s sound pros nominated Birdman and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes for three awards apiece as the Motion Picture Sound Editors unveiled nods for its 62nd Mpse Golden Reel Awards, honoring the best feature film, television, animation and computer entertainment work of the year.
“2014 was a fantastic year for sound,” said Mpse president Frank Morrone. “The advent of new distribution channels, streaming services and gaming platforms is creating additional opportunities for sound artists to practice their craft beyond the traditional venues of film and television. This year’s nominations reflect that change, spanning an amazing diversity of mediums and genres, all executed at the highest level of creativity. We are truly inspired and impressed by the work of our colleagues.”
This year’s Golden Reels will additionally honor Noah director Darren Aronofsky with the Mpse’s annual Filmmaker Award. Oscar winner Skip Lievsay, known for his work...
“2014 was a fantastic year for sound,” said Mpse president Frank Morrone. “The advent of new distribution channels, streaming services and gaming platforms is creating additional opportunities for sound artists to practice their craft beyond the traditional venues of film and television. This year’s nominations reflect that change, spanning an amazing diversity of mediums and genres, all executed at the highest level of creativity. We are truly inspired and impressed by the work of our colleagues.”
This year’s Golden Reels will additionally honor Noah director Darren Aronofsky with the Mpse’s annual Filmmaker Award. Oscar winner Skip Lievsay, known for his work...
- 1/14/2015
- by Jen Yamato
- Deadline
For the first time ever, UK horror fans will soon be able to enjoy a wide variety of horror films, from cult favourites to new releases, via VOD platform TheHorrorShow.TV’s brand new subscription service, which goes live at midnight on Thursday, November 6th.
Since its launch in June 2013, TheHorrorShow.TV has been offering transactional Video on Demand (Tvod) on a growing catalogue of British, Us and international horror films spanning some 60 years and a wide range of distribution partners. On Halloween, the digital platform added its 230th film, quickly followed by the launch of its brand new subscription service, which offers many of its most popular films on a subscription basis, for an introductory price of £2.99 per month (normal cost will be £4.99). It’s a bold new venture for the growing VOD platform, the UK’s only dedicated VOD destination, “curated by horror fans, created for horror fans.
Since its launch in June 2013, TheHorrorShow.TV has been offering transactional Video on Demand (Tvod) on a growing catalogue of British, Us and international horror films spanning some 60 years and a wide range of distribution partners. On Halloween, the digital platform added its 230th film, quickly followed by the launch of its brand new subscription service, which offers many of its most popular films on a subscription basis, for an introductory price of £2.99 per month (normal cost will be £4.99). It’s a bold new venture for the growing VOD platform, the UK’s only dedicated VOD destination, “curated by horror fans, created for horror fans.
- 11/5/2014
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
UK VoD service will launch a subscription service this week.
TheHorrorShow.TV will launch a subscription service on Thursday [Nov 6].
Since its launch in June 2013, the UK VoD service has been offering transactional Video on Demand on a catalogue of horror films, recently adding its 230th title on Halloween.
The subscription service will initially offer 50 of its most popular films for an introductory price of £2.99 a month (normal cost £4.99).
David Hughes, TheHorrorShow.TV’s co-founder and curator, commented: “Ever since we launched the transactional service back in 2013, the subscription offering has always been the ultimate goal. We’re delighted that many of our distribution partners have cemented their partnership with us on this exciting new venture, an ‘all you can eat’ model which will run alongside our existing ‘pay as you go’ service.”
“The initial offering of 50 films is modest, but we’ll be adding to it on an almost daily basis as new deals are signed. We wanted...
TheHorrorShow.TV will launch a subscription service on Thursday [Nov 6].
Since its launch in June 2013, the UK VoD service has been offering transactional Video on Demand on a catalogue of horror films, recently adding its 230th title on Halloween.
The subscription service will initially offer 50 of its most popular films for an introductory price of £2.99 a month (normal cost £4.99).
David Hughes, TheHorrorShow.TV’s co-founder and curator, commented: “Ever since we launched the transactional service back in 2013, the subscription offering has always been the ultimate goal. We’re delighted that many of our distribution partners have cemented their partnership with us on this exciting new venture, an ‘all you can eat’ model which will run alongside our existing ‘pay as you go’ service.”
“The initial offering of 50 films is modest, but we’ll be adding to it on an almost daily basis as new deals are signed. We wanted...
- 11/5/2014
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
The first few pages of Frank Miller's script for the shelved Batman: Year One have a disturbed Bruce Wayne waking up from chronic nightmares, some nameless prostitutes being slapped around by their pimp, and Jim Gordon putting a gun in his mouth.
You can see why Warner Bros didn't ultimately go for the project, which was to be helmed by Darren Aronofsky and would have rewritten the Bat mythology even more radically than Miller already had in his comic book arc of the same name.
"Our take was to infuse the Batman franchise with a dose of reality," Aronofsky has said, citing The French Connection and Taxi Driver among his influences. "We tried to ask that eternal question, 'What does it take for a real man to put on tights and fight crime?'" It's an approach not far from the one ultimately taken by Christopher Nolan in Batman Begins,...
You can see why Warner Bros didn't ultimately go for the project, which was to be helmed by Darren Aronofsky and would have rewritten the Bat mythology even more radically than Miller already had in his comic book arc of the same name.
"Our take was to infuse the Batman franchise with a dose of reality," Aronofsky has said, citing The French Connection and Taxi Driver among his influences. "We tried to ask that eternal question, 'What does it take for a real man to put on tights and fight crime?'" It's an approach not far from the one ultimately taken by Christopher Nolan in Batman Begins,...
- 7/23/2014
- Digital Spy
UK horror-themed VOD platform TheHorrorShow.TV has announced its first foray into physical distribution, having picked up Lucky McKee's acclaimed The Woman for release on DVD, Blu-ray and Limited Edition Steelbook across the UK on 18 August, sporting a brand new audio commentary!
From the Press Release:
Commenting on the VOD platform's new venture, TheHorrorShow.TV's David Hughes said, "Having celebrated our site's first birthday by uploading our 200th horror film, we are hugely excited about this new acquisition, which heralds our entry into the physical market with a lavish all-formats edition of Lucky McKee's brilliant 2011 horror film The Woman."
He added, "Of course, TheHorrorShow.TV is primarily a digital platform, but the physical side of film distribution shows no signs of slowing down, and we want to give horror fans as much choice as possible about how they consume their favourite genre."
The film's director, Lucky McKee, commented:...
From the Press Release:
Commenting on the VOD platform's new venture, TheHorrorShow.TV's David Hughes said, "Having celebrated our site's first birthday by uploading our 200th horror film, we are hugely excited about this new acquisition, which heralds our entry into the physical market with a lavish all-formats edition of Lucky McKee's brilliant 2011 horror film The Woman."
He added, "Of course, TheHorrorShow.TV is primarily a digital platform, but the physical side of film distribution shows no signs of slowing down, and we want to give horror fans as much choice as possible about how they consume their favourite genre."
The film's director, Lucky McKee, commented:...
- 7/11/2014
- by Gareth Jones
- DreadCentral.com
Exclusive: VoD streaming service moves into physical distribution with the acquisition of Lucky McKee’s The Woman [pictured].
VoD platform TheHorrorShow.TV is moving into physical distribution.
The UK-based streaming service specialising in horror and fantasy films has acquired all UK rights to Lucky McKee’s The Woman, starring Pollyanna McIntosh, which was originally released in the UK via Revolver.
With a brand new audio commentary from McKee, the film will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and limited edition steelbook on Aug 18.
TheHorrorShow.TV’s David Hughes commented: “Of course, TheHorrorShow.TV is primarily a digital platform, but the physical side of film distribution shows no signs of slowing down, and we want to give horror fans as much choice as possible about how they consume their favourite genre.”
“I am delighted The Woman has found a new home in the UK with TheHorrorShow.TV. With this new edition, fans will get the chance to watch the film...
VoD platform TheHorrorShow.TV is moving into physical distribution.
The UK-based streaming service specialising in horror and fantasy films has acquired all UK rights to Lucky McKee’s The Woman, starring Pollyanna McIntosh, which was originally released in the UK via Revolver.
With a brand new audio commentary from McKee, the film will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and limited edition steelbook on Aug 18.
TheHorrorShow.TV’s David Hughes commented: “Of course, TheHorrorShow.TV is primarily a digital platform, but the physical side of film distribution shows no signs of slowing down, and we want to give horror fans as much choice as possible about how they consume their favourite genre.”
“I am delighted The Woman has found a new home in the UK with TheHorrorShow.TV. With this new edition, fans will get the chance to watch the film...
- 7/9/2014
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
Described by VODzilla.co as “the iTunes of horror”, TheHorrorShow.TV launched in 2013 and is the first UK-based video-on-demand streaming service specialising in horror and fantasy films. It is one of the fastest-growing VOD destinations in the UK, carrying over 120 films (to stream and/or download) from cult classics by the likes of Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento and Mario Bava, to new releases and the odd UK exclusive. Run by David Hughes and filmmaker and entrepreneur Jack Bowyer, the pay-as-you platform offers top-flight features, popular classics, cult favourites and edgy underground titles to stream or download via computers/ laptops and Android and iOS-based smartphones and tablets.
TheHorrorShow.TV have recently hired esteemed horror critic Sott Weinberg (formerly of the now sadly defunct Fearnet) to do some Vodcasts for the service focussing on various aspects of, and movies within, the horror genre. The latest episode – which we are exclusively debuting – focuses on the zombie genre,...
TheHorrorShow.TV have recently hired esteemed horror critic Sott Weinberg (formerly of the now sadly defunct Fearnet) to do some Vodcasts for the service focussing on various aspects of, and movies within, the horror genre. The latest episode – which we are exclusively debuting – focuses on the zombie genre,...
- 5/15/2014
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes details on The Book, which brings together some of the biggest names in Italian horror, a trailer for Dead of the Nite, new releases from Cavity Colors, and much more:
First Details on The Book: “The Book sees the ultimate collaborative Italian horror film unfold before your very eyes. A one off project of unprecedented scale, The Book brings together, for the very first time, the writers, directors, actors, composers and artists behind the finest Italian genre cinema of the past sixty years. This includes the creative forces behind the Giallo movement, Spaghetti Westerns, Eurocrime and more. Each director will be given the opportunity to showcase their own personal vision of Rome, spread across a dozen episodes. Each segment in this feature film will contain a unique blend of macabre thriller,...
First Details on The Book: “The Book sees the ultimate collaborative Italian horror film unfold before your very eyes. A one off project of unprecedented scale, The Book brings together, for the very first time, the writers, directors, actors, composers and artists behind the finest Italian genre cinema of the past sixty years. This includes the creative forces behind the Giallo movement, Spaghetti Westerns, Eurocrime and more. Each director will be given the opportunity to showcase their own personal vision of Rome, spread across a dozen episodes. Each segment in this feature film will contain a unique blend of macabre thriller,...
- 12/1/2013
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
UK service run by David Hughes and Stephen Moore sets sights on Afm, closing deals.
The UK Tvod space is increasingly congested. But TheHorrorShow.tv is a newcomer with a twist, being the first UK horror only VOD service.
“This is a go-to venue for horror fans,” says marketing consultant David Hughes, co-founder of the recently launched bespoke site.
“While some of our films are on iTunes, we’re building a specific community and a niche,” explains Hughes who set up the privately-backed site with former Fox and Disney executive Stephen Moore. “We have 4,000 followers on Twitter, 3,000 on Facebook.”
The site currently has about 55 films available for streaming and download to own with another 50 set to be available by the end of the year.
Most titles are rentable for £3.49 or buyable for £9.99 at the same time as their DVD release. Some are available before, while five are exclusive to the service – including FrightFest features Daylight and Saddiq...
The UK Tvod space is increasingly congested. But TheHorrorShow.tv is a newcomer with a twist, being the first UK horror only VOD service.
“This is a go-to venue for horror fans,” says marketing consultant David Hughes, co-founder of the recently launched bespoke site.
“While some of our films are on iTunes, we’re building a specific community and a niche,” explains Hughes who set up the privately-backed site with former Fox and Disney executive Stephen Moore. “We have 4,000 followers on Twitter, 3,000 on Facebook.”
The site currently has about 55 films available for streaming and download to own with another 50 set to be available by the end of the year.
Most titles are rentable for £3.49 or buyable for £9.99 at the same time as their DVD release. Some are available before, while five are exclusive to the service – including FrightFest features Daylight and Saddiq...
- 10/8/2013
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 7 Oct 2013 - 06:41
Horror. Fantasy. Animated Comedy. Here's a list of films we'd love to see rescued from the jaws of development hell...
Development hell. The place where all kinds of movies and games languish while assorted filmmakers, designers and producers fight over the minutiae of scripts, ideas and finances.
It's a topic so fascinating, entire books have been written on the subject - for a really great, geek-friendly one, check out David Hughes' fantastic The Greatest Sci-fi Movies Never Made. And while there are some movies that we're quietly glad are stuck in limbo (sorry, Akira), there are others we're desperately keen to see.
For this article, we've stuck to relatively recent film projects, and ones that aren't, to the best of our knowledge, utterly beyond the bounds of possibility. The Tourist, for example - an exotic sci-fi script written by Clair Noto...
Horror. Fantasy. Animated Comedy. Here's a list of films we'd love to see rescued from the jaws of development hell...
Development hell. The place where all kinds of movies and games languish while assorted filmmakers, designers and producers fight over the minutiae of scripts, ideas and finances.
It's a topic so fascinating, entire books have been written on the subject - for a really great, geek-friendly one, check out David Hughes' fantastic The Greatest Sci-fi Movies Never Made. And while there are some movies that we're quietly glad are stuck in limbo (sorry, Akira), there are others we're desperately keen to see.
For this article, we've stuck to relatively recent film projects, and ones that aren't, to the best of our knowledge, utterly beyond the bounds of possibility. The Tourist, for example - an exotic sci-fi script written by Clair Noto...
- 10/4/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Later this month on August 24th, the Orange County Regional History Center will be holding a special day of presentations related to Orlando’s famed Halloween Horror Nights – including both a special effects demonstration and a speakers event with the artists and authors behind Universal Orlando Resort’s Halloween Horror Nights.
From 11Am to 1Pm, attendees will be able to meet Michael Burnett, a special effects artist whose work has been seen in such films and tv shows as Aliens, Darkman, Little Monsters, Universal Soldier, Star Trek: Voyager and many more. The special presentation will give fans and chance to learn about the secrets and techniques behind practical effects during Burnett’s special Prosthetics Demonstration as part of the Year in the Life: Backstage to Onstage at Universal Orlando Resort exhibition.
How do those masks at Halloween Horror Nights become so scary? What makes a character’s face and body transform into something else completely?...
From 11Am to 1Pm, attendees will be able to meet Michael Burnett, a special effects artist whose work has been seen in such films and tv shows as Aliens, Darkman, Little Monsters, Universal Soldier, Star Trek: Voyager and many more. The special presentation will give fans and chance to learn about the secrets and techniques behind practical effects during Burnett’s special Prosthetics Demonstration as part of the Year in the Life: Backstage to Onstage at Universal Orlando Resort exhibition.
How do those masks at Halloween Horror Nights become so scary? What makes a character’s face and body transform into something else completely?...
- 8/1/2013
- by Adam B.
- GeekRest
Dubbed the first feature film to shoot in Equatorial Guinea, the coastal country located in central Africa, here's a first trailer for a drama titled Where The Road Runs Out, which stars Isaach De Bankolé, along with Juilet Landau and Stelio Savante, which was shot over the last 2 months, in Equatorial Guinea, and other location in South Africa and the Netherlands. The film was written by David Hughes, and is being directed by Rudolf Buitendach, and produced by the Dutch production company Firenze Films. What's it about? A Rotterdam based respected scientist and lecturer (Isaach De Bankole) has grown weary of the world of academia. The...
- 5/13/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Feature Mark Harrison Jan 3, 2013
The 2005 adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy divided fans. Mark takes a look back...
In 2005, director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith, better known collectively as Hammer and Tongs, finally brought Disney's long-gestating film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy to the big screen. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. But as this article will contend, on the subject of the 2005 cinematic adaptation of the same name, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would have this to say: mostly harmless.
This is not a popular opinion amongst those fans who have derided the film ever since its release, but we don't intend to persuade people that they were wrong about this version of the beloved Douglas Adams story. But it was liked by some, including this writer, and so it's worth re-evaluating.
The 2005 adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy divided fans. Mark takes a look back...
In 2005, director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith, better known collectively as Hammer and Tongs, finally brought Disney's long-gestating film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy to the big screen. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. But as this article will contend, on the subject of the 2005 cinematic adaptation of the same name, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would have this to say: mostly harmless.
This is not a popular opinion amongst those fans who have derided the film ever since its release, but we don't intend to persuade people that they were wrong about this version of the beloved Douglas Adams story. But it was liked by some, including this writer, and so it's worth re-evaluating.
- 1/2/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Update and first look at a project we first alerted you in June, dubbed, the first feature film to shoot in Equatorial Guinea, the coastal country located in central Africa. As a quick recap... Isaach De Bankolé headlines Where The Road Runs Out, along with Juilet Landau and Stelio Savante, which was shot over the last 2 months, in Equatorial Guinea, and other location in South Africa and the Netherlands. The film was written by David Hughes, and is being directed by Rudolf Buitendach, and produced by the Dutch production company Firenze Films. What's it about again? A Rotterdam based respected scientist and lecturer...
- 8/20/2012
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Isaach De Bankolé will headline along with Juilet Landau and Stelio Savante the first feature film to be shot in Equatorial Guinea, Where the Road Runs Out, this June and July, with other locations set in South Africa and the Netherlands. The film was written by David Hughes, and will be directed by Rudolf Buitendach, and produced by the Dutch production company Firenze Films. In the film, de Bankolé plays a "Rotterdam scientist and lecturer who has grown weary of the world of academia. The sudden death of an old friend who has been running a field research station in Africa gives him the incentive he needs to turn his back on his academia and return to his...
- 6/11/2012
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
So far, our look at David Hughes" Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made? has focused on movies that remained stuck in "Development Hell," never to see the light of day. In our fourth and final chapter, we examine Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, one of the rare examples of a movie that spent years in Development Hell, but somehow managed to break free and find its way to the big screen (though many die-hard fans of the franchise wish that it hadn't), where it earned a place in Hollywood history.
Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare to have your mind blown as we journey to Development Hell in the final installment of Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?.
Part 4: Keeping Up with the (Indiana) Joneses >>
Next Showing:
Link | Posted 3/26/2012 by BrentJS
George Lucas | Harrison Ford (I...
Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare to have your mind blown as we journey to Development Hell in the final installment of Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?.
Part 4: Keeping Up with the (Indiana) Joneses >>
Next Showing:
Link | Posted 3/26/2012 by BrentJS
George Lucas | Harrison Ford (I...
- 3/26/2012
- by BrentJS Sprecher
- Reelzchannel.com
Tales From Development Hell
Written by David Hughes | Published by Titan Books | Format: 368pp, Paperback
As film fans we look at the finished result and it’s sad to say that often we see a mess. The big event we were looking forward to just does not meet our expectations and we blame the director or the actors because they did not do a good enough job in our eyes. We may even blame the writers as they messed up a story that we loved so much. What we don’t see very often is what happened behind the scenes to create the problems evident on the screen. Welcome to development hell.
Tales from Development Hell is quite an informative book about how movie companies, actors, directors and money makers can destroy projects before they even have a chance to show us what they truly had the potential to do.
Written by David Hughes | Published by Titan Books | Format: 368pp, Paperback
As film fans we look at the finished result and it’s sad to say that often we see a mess. The big event we were looking forward to just does not meet our expectations and we blame the director or the actors because they did not do a good enough job in our eyes. We may even blame the writers as they messed up a story that we loved so much. What we don’t see very often is what happened behind the scenes to create the problems evident on the screen. Welcome to development hell.
Tales from Development Hell is quite an informative book about how movie companies, actors, directors and money makers can destroy projects before they even have a chance to show us what they truly had the potential to do.
- 3/23/2012
- by Pzomb
- Nerdly
Warner Bros. live-action adaptation/remake of the highly influential and incredibly popular Japanese manga/anime Akira stalled out a few months back. The production had cycled several times through core talent, but even after things looked good for new director Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown), the studio just couldn't stomach the sci-fi film's high budget and back into the development abyss it went. Die hard fans of the original material rejoiced, those more open to seeing what a big studio would do with an out-there story about psychic kids and government experiments were no doubt bummed (hey, at least it's not another Transformers movie). Maybe some day David Hughes will write about what the Akira that almost was would have been like in his next update to The Greatest...
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- 3/22/2012
- by Peter Hall
- Movies.com
If you’ve been rocking back and forth with anticipation for The Raid: Redemption, your wait is almost over. It hits theaters this weekend (alongside another certain highly-anticipated movie), and to whet your appetite, we talk with writer/director Gareth Evans who dissects an action scene for us. Plus, Kate Erbland and Rob Hunter join us for the Movie News Pop Quiz and to share their favorites from SXSW that will be coming to your neck of the woods. Download Episode #126 On This Week’s Show: Movie News Pop Quiz [Beginning - 15:15]: It’s Erbland vs Hunter in a war to see who knows what Michael Bay plans to do with Turtles and what superhero movie just got a viral video. Fighting Words [15:15 - 40:25]: The Raid: Redemption writer/director Gareth Evans talks action and offers the perfect double feature for his film. Out of SXSW [40:25 - The End]: Erbland and Hunter return to give you some movies to add to...
- 3/21/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
For every movie that makes it to the big screen, countless more fall into "Development Hell," never to see the light of day. Would we have had to wait decades for Ridley Scott to return to sci-fi with Prometheus if his "Alien on a train" movie, The Train, had left the station back in the late-'80s?
Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare to have your mind blown as we journey to Development Hell in the latest installment of our look at David Hughes’ Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?
Read Part 3: Ridley Scott's Train Wreck >>
Next Showing:
Link | Posted 3/16/2012 by BrentJS...
Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare to have your mind blown as we journey to Development Hell in the latest installment of our look at David Hughes’ Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?
Read Part 3: Ridley Scott's Train Wreck >>
Next Showing:
Link | Posted 3/16/2012 by BrentJS...
- 3/16/2012
- by BrentJS Sprecher
- Reelzchannel.com
Wish you could watch the Frank Darabont-scripted Indiana Jones 4? Dying to see Terry Gilliam’s Watchmen? Curious as to how a ton of great scripts got passed over before Tim Burton made his remake of Planet of the Apes? “Tales From Development Hell” author David Hughes joins us to dissect why we’re fascinated with stories of flicks that were never made, explains why At The Mountains of Madness got canned and explains how the big damned system of tentpole studio production works. Download Episode #125 On This Week’s Show: Movie News Roulette [Beginning - 18:25]: Kevin Carr joins us to play the most dangerous game – born from The Deer Hunter – involving the casting, development and trailers from the week. Tales From Development Hell [18:25 - The End]: Author David Hughes discuss the murky world of how big budget Hollywood development actually works and shares the long strange trips of movies that were never made. Please...
- 3/14/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
David Hughes, longtime Empire contributor and author of the critically acclaimed new book Tales from Development Hell, highlights 10 planned Hollywood productions which didn’t quite go to plan. 10. The Lord of the Rings starring… The Beatles!? It’s true: before Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation – even before Ralph Bakshi’s Rotoscoped animation – J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel was considered as a post-Yellow Submarine feature for the One Group to Rule Them All. “We talked about it for a while,” says Paul McCartney, “but then I started to smell a bit of a carve-up, because, immediately, John wanted the lead.” Although John Boorman attempted to get a version off the ground in the early 1970s, adaptation proved virtually impossible. “We used to get the giggles about some of the issues,” the...
- 3/13/2012
- by David Hughes
- The Daily BLAM!
David Hughes' new book Tales From Development Hell looks at films that were never made, and ended up nestling into the cracks of Hollywood's scariest location, development hell. A place where movies go to die and usually never see the light of day. In the book David provides an incredibly thorough account of how some of Hollywood's most famous projects that never were went from a simple idea, to a script, to having directors and even directors attached, but still no matter what ended up on the scrapheap. The following article is made up of excerpts of excerpts that were distributed to sites. Links are provided so that you can view excerpts in full if you like, and I suggest you do. After reading over the material I'd like you to vote for the films most and least deserving of development hell. Neil Gaiman's Sandman In 1987 Neil Gaiman...
- 3/11/2012
- ComicBookMovie.com
For every movie that makes it to the big screen, countless more fall into "Development Hell," never to see the light of day. What would the Batman franchise look like today if Warner Bros. had decided to hand the keys to the Bat-mobile to Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) instead of Nolan?
Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare to have your mind blown as we journey to Development Hell in the latest installment of our look at David Hughes’ Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?
Read Part 2: Fall and Rise of The Dark Knight >>
Next Showing:
Link | Posted 3/9/2012 by BrentJS
Darren Aronofsky | The Dark Knight Rises | The Dark Knight...
Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare to have your mind blown as we journey to Development Hell in the latest installment of our look at David Hughes’ Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?
Read Part 2: Fall and Rise of The Dark Knight >>
Next Showing:
Link | Posted 3/9/2012 by BrentJS
Darren Aronofsky | The Dark Knight Rises | The Dark Knight...
- 3/9/2012
- by BrentJS Sprecher
- Reelzchannel.com
Book Review: "Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?"
You might be asking yourself why a television blog is reviewing a book - "Tales from Development Hell" - that revolves around movie scripts. Well, the truth is that TV is part of the Hollywood business machine. The development of a TV show/script might not be completely identical to that of a screenplay, but there are certainly similarities. In any event, the subject matter of "Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?" (the updated edition) is interesting enough for anyone fascinated with the Hollywood way of doing business.
Basically, here's how a script gets developed in Hollywood: a screenwriter drafts a script, perhaps on spec (without prompting) or at the rest of a director/producer/studio. The script goes through a few drafts, with some people providing their notes along the way regarding changes to the script.
You might be asking yourself why a television blog is reviewing a book - "Tales from Development Hell" - that revolves around movie scripts. Well, the truth is that TV is part of the Hollywood business machine. The development of a TV show/script might not be completely identical to that of a screenplay, but there are certainly similarities. In any event, the subject matter of "Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?" (the updated edition) is interesting enough for anyone fascinated with the Hollywood way of doing business.
Basically, here's how a script gets developed in Hollywood: a screenwriter drafts a script, perhaps on spec (without prompting) or at the rest of a director/producer/studio. The script goes through a few drafts, with some people providing their notes along the way regarding changes to the script.
- 3/6/2012
- by Clarissa
- TVovermind.com
In an interesting bit of “What-might-have-been” Batman movie trivia, the newly updated book Tales From Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made? written by David Hughes and just recently re-published by Titan Books gives us a glimpse of an infamous project that nearly rebooted The Caped Crusader a few years before Christopher Nolan and David Goyer pitched their take to Warner Bros.
In the book, there’s a write up on the failed Batman project from director Darren Aronofsky and writer Frank Miller, which would have been a spin on Miller’s own Batman: Year One. Much of this we have talked about previously at What Culture over the years but we always love a bit of delving into alternative history around here.
Here, a few snippets from the book;
Aronofsky : “I told them I’d cast Clint Eastwood as the Dark Knight, and shoot it in Tokyo, doubling for Gotham City,...
In the book, there’s a write up on the failed Batman project from director Darren Aronofsky and writer Frank Miller, which would have been a spin on Miller’s own Batman: Year One. Much of this we have talked about previously at What Culture over the years but we always love a bit of delving into alternative history around here.
Here, a few snippets from the book;
Aronofsky : “I told them I’d cast Clint Eastwood as the Dark Knight, and shoot it in Tokyo, doubling for Gotham City,...
- 3/6/2012
- by Marcus Doidge
- Obsessed with Film
Author: David Hughes Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: Titan Books Language: English Isbn-10: 0857687239 Isbn-13: 978-0857687234
Synopsis: A compulsively readable journey into the area of film-making where all writers, directors and stars fear to tread: Development Hell, the place where scripts are written, actors hired and sets designed… but the films rarely actually get made!
Whatever happened to Darren Aronofsky’s Batman movie starring Clint Eastwood? Why were there so many scripts written over the years for Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’s fourth Indiana Jones movie? Why was Lara Croft’s journey to the big screen so tortuous, and what prevented Paul Verhoeven from filming what he calls “one of the greatest scripts ever written”? Why did Ridley Scott’s Crisis in the Hot Zone collapse days away from filming, and were the Beatles really set to star in Lord of the Rings? What does Neil Gaiman think of the...
Synopsis: A compulsively readable journey into the area of film-making where all writers, directors and stars fear to tread: Development Hell, the place where scripts are written, actors hired and sets designed… but the films rarely actually get made!
Whatever happened to Darren Aronofsky’s Batman movie starring Clint Eastwood? Why were there so many scripts written over the years for Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’s fourth Indiana Jones movie? Why was Lara Croft’s journey to the big screen so tortuous, and what prevented Paul Verhoeven from filming what he calls “one of the greatest scripts ever written”? Why did Ridley Scott’s Crisis in the Hot Zone collapse days away from filming, and were the Beatles really set to star in Lord of the Rings? What does Neil Gaiman think of the...
- 3/5/2012
- by Brandon Johnston
- ScifiMafia
For every movie that makes it to the big screen, countless more fall into "Development Hell," never to see the light of day. What would the Batman franchise look like today if Warner Bros. had decided to hand the keys to the Bat-mobile to Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) instead of Nolan? Would we have had to wait decades for Scott to return to sci-fi if his Alien-on-a-train movie, Train Wreck, had left the station back in the late-'80s?
And can you imagine what it would have been like to have The Beatles play the four Hobbits journeying to Mount Doom in an adaptation of The Lord of the Rings directed by John Boorman (Excalibur)? These are but a few of the movies-that-never-were documented in David Hughes’ new book, Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?, from Titan Books. Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare...
And can you imagine what it would have been like to have The Beatles play the four Hobbits journeying to Mount Doom in an adaptation of The Lord of the Rings directed by John Boorman (Excalibur)? These are but a few of the movies-that-never-were documented in David Hughes’ new book, Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?, from Titan Books. Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare...
- 3/2/2012
- by BrentJS Sprecher
- Reelzchannel.com
Anyone remember Frank Darabont trying to get Indiana Jones And The City Of The Gods made? This was before the days of the Crystal Skull-f*cking. Author of "The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made", David Hughes is back with another book about cinema's failed endeavors called "Tales From Development Hell". In this excerpt, Hughes gives the details on what Darabont's vision was all about and how even after approval from Spielberg and Ford, George Lucas shut that shit down....
- 3/2/2012
- by Niki Stephens
- JoBlo.com
For those of you who didn't already know, back in 2003, Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) was trying to get a Indiana Jones film of his own off the ground, called Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods. Unfortunately, nothing ever happened with it, and we ended up with that crap film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Darabont's vision was sure a hell of a lot better! I wish to hell that this movie would have been made because it would have been incredible. Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford loved the script and the idea--it was George Lucas that shut it down, which give us one more reason to dislike the man. Spielberg even helped develop the script. After Lucas said no, Darabont confronted him,
I told him he was crazy. I said, ‘You have a fantastic script. I think you’re insane, George.
I told him he was crazy. I said, ‘You have a fantastic script. I think you’re insane, George.
- 3/1/2012
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Building on the success of his previous book The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made, author David Hughes continues his quest to tell the stories behind cinema’s most famous, infamous and interesting projects that never were. It just so happens that many of these projects have a geeky slant. And his newest venture, Tales from Development Hell is no different. The other day our friends at /Film debuted an excerpt from Hughes’ chapter on Darren Aronofsky’s Year One with Clint Eastwood. Today, we’ve got ourselves a neat exclusive, debuting an excerpt from the chapter on Frank Darabont’s Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods. Remember that Shia Labeouf-led storyline about Indy’s grease-ball accomplice slash (spoiler) offspring? All those flying monkeys? That wasn’t in the one written by the guy who would later bring The Walking Dead to the small screen. What was in Darabont’s Indy IV? Well...
- 3/1/2012
- by Neil Miller
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Chicago – There’s some incredible alternate universe in which Darren Aronofsky directed “Batman: Year One,” John Boorman made “The Lord of the Rings” (with The Beatles!!!), James Cameron filmed “Fantastic Voyage,” and Frank Darabont wrote the fourth “Indiana Jones” movie. How these films, and many others, fell apart before they could even make it to the big screen is chronicled in David Hughes’ excellent “‘Tales From Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?,” a wonderfully entertaining read with a perfect mix of trivia, movie history, and cautionary tales. Hughes’ skill as a researcher is more notable than his skill as a writer, but the book is still a must-read for serious movie buffs who like to wonder “what if”.
Casual film fans may be surprised to know that it’s incredibly common for a script to fall apart before it even gets to the first day of shooting. What happens most often is that someone,...
Casual film fans may be surprised to know that it’s incredibly common for a script to fall apart before it even gets to the first day of shooting. What happens most often is that someone,...
- 2/29/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Remember that rant I went on a couple weeks back about how Clint Eastwood playing an elderly Batman would be the only thing that could trump Nolan's Batman movies at this stage in the series? Turns out in his new book Tales From Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made? writer David Hughes discusses a time where Eastwood was actually in the running for Batman!
Most Batman fans know that Batman: Year One (released by DC earlier this year in animated form) was actually first developed to be Batman's next movie following the flop that was Batman and Robin. It is known that Darren Aronofsky was set to direct the film, and it was ultimately shelved for Batman Begins, but Hughes shares some additional unknown info about casting and Joel Schumacher's third pitch for a Batman film. Read a piece of the excerpt below!
Despite Schumacher’s interest in...
Most Batman fans know that Batman: Year One (released by DC earlier this year in animated form) was actually first developed to be Batman's next movie following the flop that was Batman and Robin. It is known that Darren Aronofsky was set to direct the film, and it was ultimately shelved for Batman Begins, but Hughes shares some additional unknown info about casting and Joel Schumacher's third pitch for a Batman film. Read a piece of the excerpt below!
Despite Schumacher’s interest in...
- 2/28/2012
- by Robot Reagan
- GeekTyrant
Hollywood churns out roughly 400 movies per year, which is already a mind boggling figure, but becomes even more impressive when you think about the many hoops that need to jumped through just get a camera rolling. The vagaries of financing, locking down a cast, getting a script approved, protecting the film's creative integrity versus the business expectations of executives, balancing the egos of producers -- it's a minor miracle that as many movies get completed as they do. But for every movie that does get made, there are a handful more that don't for a variety of reasons, with some projects lingering around for years passing through multiple hands and directors without moving an inch. A recent example would be "Prisoners" which has been attached to directors Bryan Singer, Antoine Fuqua and Daniel Espinona at various points, with Christian Bale, Mark Wahblerg, Leondardo DiCaprio, Michael Fassbender all rumored to star...
- 2/27/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
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