I Am NANCY

In my twitter list tonight, I saw a link to an article whose title was "Elm Street's Nancy Has Her Day." My knee-jerk reaction was, of course, cynical that it was an interview with Rooney Mara, who is playing Nancy Thompson in the remake, but I'm a sadist, I suppose, and went ahead and clicked on the link even in spite of hating what I've heard so far about the new Nancy. I'm so, so glad I did. This article at DreadCentral.com reports that Heather Langenkamp is making a documentary about being Nancy and the effect of the character on the lives of the fans as well as the dynamic between Freddy and Nancy and the story they're in.

There's no way to properly explain my reaction to this news other than to say that I was jumping up and down whilst clapping like a mad woman.

I've always been upset that Nancy has never really gotten her due. She's an amazing character and Heather Langenkamp plays her with intense, quiet strength. It's because of this movie, and this character, that I'm a writer and director. I try to put a little bit of Nancy in the majority of my female characters, and I find her strength and courage inspiring in a personal way. She was the first strong female character I encountered when I was a kid and is one of the few strong female characters in the genre. She doesn't back down from Freddy, Freddy doesn't back down from her, and Wes Craven didn't make one character weak in order to make the other strong. Every action and reaction from all of the characters feels very organic and realistic; however, it's Freddy who gets all of the attention. There's a scene in Wes Craven's New Nightmare that illustrates this perfectly. In the film, in which Wes Craven's writing a new Nightmare script and it mirrors real life so closely that it becomes real life, Heather is waiting in a green room after a talk show appearance completely unbothered by the throngs of fans that surround Freddy actor Robert Englund.



(The part I'm referring to comes in at 6:26 in the clip above assuming neither New Line nor Warner Brothers pull the clip for reasons of copyright at any point. The still used in the player is from the scene.)

Anyway, the documentary has a Facebook page where you can become a fan and get updates in addition to the website that will be updated once they have more to say. It appears that they're making the film right now.

I'm incredibly excited for this project and I can't wait to see Heather's perspective on this career and life defining, groundbreaking role and for her to bring Nancy out of Freddy's shadow and into the light where she deserves to stand.

"Donuts don't wear alligator shoes..."

Every once in a while, as a public service, I will post trailers for some upcoming movies that seem to be made of awesome, things that the general public may miss because they're too cool for colour teevee. This is one of those posts. These trailers are generally not safe for work mostly because the awesome may in fact singe your eyebrows and possibly set off the fire alarm.

First up is Black Dynamite:


Next is a trailer for which there are no words except Chocolate:


Finally, Bitch Slap:

Films in the "OMIGOD I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS!" file...

Bitch Slap is going to be freakin' AWESOME! It's like an UberXena for all of the PacRen actors in it! 

Sorry, I probably lost you with that last sentence. Basically, what I mean to say is that this flick, Bitch Slap, has Renee O'Connor, Lucy Lawless, Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst, and Zoe Bell and was written by Eric Gruendemann and Rick Jacobson with Jacobson directing (these last two worked on Xena as producer and director respectively.) PacRen refers to Pacific Renaissance, the production company formed by the "Michigan Mafia" (Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi) to make Hercules and Xena. In other words, I'm a geek.

Plus, I mean...come ON! Lucy?! Renee?! As NUNS?! Zoe Bell? One of the biggest badasses ever is in it?! WOO!! Count me in!! And Michael Hurst! I just love him... I'm not a big fan of Kevin Sorbo, but with four pluses to his one minus, I think I'll survive. I also love me a good grindhouse romp so bring it on already! Not that we'll actually get this at my theatre, but still...one can dream.

Also, there has been no news on Prank lately... Last I heard, Heather Langenkamp's chapter, "Jessica", was to have been filmed already and Danielle Fisher's "Madison" was to play at Screamfest in LA. From there, nothing. IMDb lists the film as a whole as being in post. I THIRST FOR NEWS!!

It's rough being a fan... hahahaha!

He'll probably be in...in the Zen Room! (with a little bit of the Thunder)

NOTE: Please don't yell at me about Tropic Thunder's "retard" debacle. While I understand where the advocates are coming from, this is a satire about shallow actors one of whom, the action star, was hoping to be taken seriously as an actor and get one of those little golden statues by playing a mentally handicapped character. Flagrant use of the word "retard" illustrates the shallowness. They don't refer to each other as "retard," either.

Think of it this way: a white character is playing a black character, a crazy-ass Scientologist is playing a foul-mouthed Jewish studio head, one character starts detoxing and about to go into the motherlode, the head of the Flaming Dragon heroin syndicate is a child, and Stiller's character is attacked by yet another child.

This isn't a message movie.

Anyway, I was going to post about Tropic Thunder and how funny it is (it really is) and how awesome Robert Downey Jr. is (he really is) and how miscast yet strangely perfect Ben Stiller was (he really was), but I've decided to divert your attention instead to a problem that has been plaguing Hollywood for a long time now.

Remakes.

We're so inundated with remakes (and 'American versions') that even I can hardly keep count -- Death Race, Mirrors, and Quarantine are but three coming out before the end of the year, not to mention Friday the 13, A Nightmare on Elm Street, My Bloody Valentine (this time in 3D!), The Birds, Sisters, A Tale of Two Sisters, Bangkok Dangerous, and so many more...too many more. However, I think Hollywood has finally reached its breaking point.

MTV has announced that it plans on remaking The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Say what you will about the quality of the original film, it's a landmark piece that has opened the minds of the world's youth and kept small art house theatres in business when they would otherwise be trounced by the big chains. Like some of us here on planet earth, it was made out of passion and fire, a need to do something different and freaky and fun! And it's been bringing that light to millions of people every Friday and Saturday night since 1975.

Rumours have abounded for years about remakes, but this is the first one I've taken even somewhat seriously and that's because of MTV's involvement. Where MTV was once groundbreaking and provocative, and actually showed music videos (you know, MTV stands for MUSIC TELEVISION), it's now just a tired relic full of 'reality' shows. As it's drained the life out of so many teens, I'm afraid they'll drain any spark of life from Rocky Horror.

Thanks to Wil Wheaton's post, where he shared his first time with Rocky Horror, I bear a link to a petition that may not put a stop to the madness, let's be reasonable here, but may get the attention of some of the Viacom bigwigs.

I was twelve or thirteen when I finally saw Rocky Horror. I'd wanted to for a while. I'd first heard of it when I was much younger; my mom had a copy of the movie soundtrack on vinyl (I still have it, though I doubt it's playable now) and I loved the cover. As I grew up and became familiar with Tim Curry through Clue, Annie, and Legend, and Susan Sarandon through Thelma & Louise, I found out that they were both in this one flick. And with big, thick, blood red lips the video box, how could one go wrong?

I rented the 15th anniversary edition of the video from the store where I'd work years later and popped it into my VCR. From the opening chords of "Science Fiction Double Feature" I was hooked and when it was over, I rewound it and immediately watched it again. For years afterward, I would have my own Rocky Horror night, popping it in the VCR and dancing and singing along. Magenta was my favourite character, but I memorized everyone's lines.

Fast forward a few years, and I'm 21 or 22. I track down a cast an hour north of me, call up some friends, and the lot of us went to see the shadow cast Interchangeable Parts at the Beach Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida. My sister, who isn't my sister but might as well be and HATES Rocky Horror, came with us, mostly because she loves me, but I think she wanted to see what kind of de-flowering I'd have to go through. You see, you're a virgin in Rocky Horror if you've never seen the show in the theatre. It doesn't matter how many times you watch it on tape or disc. I knew that going in and still allowed my deflowering in spite of the fact that I really like wearing clothes.

That night, all of the female virgins had to take off their shirts and run up and down the aisles screaming "I LOVE CHEESE!"

Did I mention that I really like wearing clothes? No? Well, I do. I don't like buying clothes and, really, the most thought I put into my ensemble for the day is saved for my t-shirt choice of "Zombies? Or Stevie Nicks?" But wearing them? Much love. For me to disrobe, even the tiniest bit, is usually unthinkable. Usually.

They let me keep my unbuttoned button-up shirt on, but it flapped mightily as I ran up and down the aisle, bare-chested save for a lacey bra, screaming the phrase that will be forever burned into my memory...and I wouldn't give it up for anything. Later that night, as I recited every bit of dialogue in time with the movie and even better than their Frank, the director of the shadow cast asked me to join up. I had to decline, though...the theatre was an hour away and I didn't have a car. I still don't. These boots were made for walkin', after all.

I highly doubt that a remake would have the same kind of magic that even the 33 year old original still holds, the kind of magic that makes people do things they wouldn't normally do, say things they wouldn't normally say, and have the kind of fun they wouldn't normally have. I just hope it's not too late.

edit to add: I had a problem posting this last night and I didn't realize until just now that the links I'd put in didn't work...so I've redone them.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe midnight showings tonight!

Just a reminder to people, since 20th Century Fox apparently doesn't want to promote this, theatres around the country will be playing special midnight showings of the new X-Files movie tonight!

 

Some theatres, like mine, have mini-posters with the teaser poster image available for free!

 

Call your local theatre to make sure they're showing it at midnight and come out to see it!!

Prank: Yet another thing I'm insanely excited about...

I swear, if I didn't love writing and directing so much I would go into publicity for all the things I've hyped up and geeked out about, but this one is absolutely HUGE to me on many, many levels. On the other hand, I'm a little too opinionated to be a proper publicist...or critic, for that matter. Too picky.

 

I've already blabbered on about my love for actress Heather Langenkamp and I've already talked about how excited I am that she's directing one third of a horror anthology with Danielle Fisher and Ellie Cornell (both of Halloweens 4 and 5) taking on the other two parts. The film is called Prank and they've got an official site and a trailer for Fisher's section of the film, called "Madison."

 

The trailer for "Madison" looks really good (alright, I'll say it...the lead's hair reminds me of Ann-Margaret.) Fisher seems to have picked up a thing or two from Rob Zombie when she worked with him on Halloween. While his revisionist take on the flick wasn't very good (first half was great, second half was terrible and parts simply didn't make any sense), he's a good director and not a bad person to learn from. While I have a pretty good idea of what the denouement will be, I'm intrigued and I look forward to seeing it in the anthology.

 

As a woman who writes, directs, and is a fan of horror and sees few women in the genre to look up to, be it as actors or their characters or as behind-the-scenes crew, this is a phenomenal thing. While they didn't write the scripts they're directing, it's still huge. I'll admit that it's been years since I last saw Fisher and Cornell's Halloween movies, but Heather Langenkamp has had a huge impact on my life through Nancy Thompson and the A Nightmare on Elm Street films...

 

It's ridiculous how excited I am for this flick. It's true that if Heather Langenkamp* weren't involved in it, I wouldn't be as excited or even make an attempt to follow the production, but it's still something amazing to look forward to in a decade of studios playing it safe by revamping old or foreign horror flicks, forgetting what made them successful in the first place, or putting out films so bad and/or so stupid as to insult the viewer and effectively destroy the genre**.

 

* I simply can't refer to her by last name only...it's too weird. And referring to her as Heather has always been strange outside of conversations between myself and friends.

** Eli Roth, I'm lookin' at you...please don't screw up Cell.

Can anyone read cuneiform?

Can anyone read cuneiform?
Originally uploaded by Kimyoo Films

I received this today and I can't find anything out about it beyond a few bloggers, journalists, and "pop culture genre personalities" (whatever the hell that means) got one of four different letters; mine is the Sumerian cuneiform.

Since I'm not really any of the listed types (at least, not in a sense widely paid attention to), and because the envelope was actually addressed to my mom whose name is on my subscription, I'd have to say that this is a viral marketing campaign through Fangoria. For which movie, I couldn't say. I thought it was for Hellboy II until I found out about the Japanese website (www.chishio.jp). "Chishio" means "blood" and is apparently used as a metaphor to mean "hotblooded."

Weird, but in a cool way. Let's hope that the movie they're pushing is worth it.

"I miss the way she says my name..."

Go here to check out two videos, one of David Duchovny as Fox Mulder and the other of Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully, talking about each other. The videos are very brief, but so cute...

I am way beyond excited for The X-Files: I Want to Believe. I have only one more season of the show yet to watch: Season Nine. I didn't even watch it when it originally aired, but I bought it on DVD because darn it, I'm gonna see it all! The show sucked when David Duchovny left and I know that had it instead been Gillian Anderson who departed, it would have sucked just as much. The best part of the show, for me, was Mulder and Scully's relationship, how DD and GA played off each other and how the characters changed over the course of the series. Doggett and Reyes just didn't work. Not to mention that nothing says "jumped the shark" like that Brady Bunch episode.

I have a couple of months yet before the movie (which isn't mytharc so I don't NEED to have seen the entire series to get it) and I may need them just to get through season nine. I was hoping to go back and watch my favourite episodes again, though. We'll see...

The day I've been dreading has arrived...

New Line, with remake "masters" Platinum Dunes, are "re-launching" A Nightmare on Elm Street.

 

Okay, look Bob...you want to add yet another pointless slapstick sequel chock-a-block with snappy one liners? Have at it. You want to have Freddy vs. Jason vs. the rest of the New Line Stable o' Horror? Whatever. But you're never, NEVER EVER going to be able to top the original Nightmare. You're never EVER going to find a better Freddy than Robert Englund and absolutely not EVER, NEVER NEVER EVER going to find a better Nancy than Heather Langenkamp. The backstory's been covered several times. The sequels have covered nearly every angle, for better or worse. So...where do you expect to go from here? New Line may be the house that Freddy built, but certainly the Hobbits brought in enough to keep it going without most likely ruining its foundation?

 

Wes Craven once said, just before he made New Nightmare, that he sat down and tried to watch all of the films in the series and by the end, he could make neither heads nor tails of the story. It was part of the reason why he made New Nightmare, to bring Freddy back to his roots and make him scary again. (That stupid fifth claw aside, it was actually a fantastic entry in the series, in my opinion.)

 

On a personal level, and pardon my American here, I think this is a really shit idea. The original Nightmare is extremely important to me and the only thing I've ever seen happen with 99% of the remakes being forced onto us is somehow, the remake is worse than any of the crappy sequels the original spawned. Other than a lucky strike with the American version of The Ring (I really liked it, surprisingly enough considering how much I LOVE the original...The Ring 2, not so much) I have not seen one remake that was even close to being good much less up to par with the original.

 

I actually almost started crying. If I felt better, I probably would have.

It's a shame about Cage...

Obviously, I like movies. I like to talk about movies that interest me, I like to watch movies, and I like to make them. Occasionally, when I find a bit of movie news that sparks my interest, I'll talk about it and this is one of those times.

Alex Proyas (Dark City, The Crow...I, Robot) has a new movie coming out called Knowing. You can find some information here, courtesy Coming-Soon.net. Unfortunately, it stars Nicholas Cage, who has gotten increasingly cheesy since Leaving Las Vegas. However, the power of Proyas will compel me to watch the movie anyway.
 
*****

I don't know what most writers do when they have a sit down to do what they do, but I tend to put Ferris Bueller's Day Off on in the background. I look up every once in a while, of course, and catch some of my favouritest bits, but
it really does help me write. I transcribed eight typed 12 pt courier pages tonight in an hour and a half. Don't know what that's all about because I LOVE Ferris Bueller and look up often even though I can recite some parts from memory. Guess I'm some sort of super fast typist or something.

If you're wondering where this is coming from, I'm currently reading Stephen King's On Writing and it's got me thinking about my processes and such. He and I already have quite a few things in common as far as how I approach writing my stories, but I think I should wait until I'm finished before I delve into all of that TOO much further.

Teaser poster revealed for new Indiana Jones flick.

Courtesy Coming-Soon.net, the world gets to see the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull poster with art by the amazing Drew Struzan.

The more I see stuff for Indiana Jones the more excited I get, which is the point, of course. Except Shia LaBeouf's hair. There was one promo shot of him and his hair was really distracting.

I can remember seeing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in the theatre. Picture it: Canton, Ohio. 1989. There was an Oscar Meyer wiener truck idling outside of a one screen movie theatre whose name has since been lost to the ravages of time (and probably to a demolition crew's wrecking ball as well), but whose interiour is reminiscent of a castle. I still have at least one of the Oscar Meyer wiener pins around here somewhere...no whistles, though. They weren't handing any of those out, that I saw anyway. We must have gone on opening day because why else would the Oscar Meyer wiener truck be there?

Anyway, I don't know how she managed it with a broken leg, but mom took myself and my best 
childhood friend, Jennifer, to the movies and that was what we saw. A month or so later, we moved to Florida. My family and I, that is, not Jennifer and my family.

I liked Last Crusade, but Temple of Doom was still my favourite...is even to this day. When I saw the movie, I was only a few years younger than Ke Huy Quan, the kid who played Short Round. That were was a smart, 
capable kid in a grown up movie enthralled me at a critical point 
in my life. 

I still love it for that...and it's a good flick.

I hope Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still holds that Indy magic...guess we'll find out in May.