A movie like Chronicle was bound to happen. Superhero films have blossomed in popularity over the past few years with The Dark Knight and Iron Man being successful and impacting among the rabid film geek culture. By balancing a non-established or branded superhero film with an economical found footage execution, you are able to bring the story to theaters with as minimal financial impact as possible.

Chronicle is the brainchild of screenwriter Max Landis (yes, John Landis’ son) and director Josh Trank.  While the story isn’t wholly original, it is the way it is delivered is what makes it more interesting than a simple retread of what was already covered in Marvel comics of the past. We are quickly introduced to high school outcast Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) who gives a very logical reason on why everything is being recorded on a newly bought camcorder. Through the progression of the footage, Andrew gets to a point where he has been beat up and bullied to no end and has no way out. Conveniently, this is when he meets Steve (Michael B. Jordan). Steve and Andrew’s only friend, his cousin Matt (Alex Russell), convince him to film something extraordinary that they found. All three of them explore a hole in the ground and what has seemingly crashed into the earth is something extraterrestrial. Quickly after the exploration, they find out they have telekinetic powers which they try to hone and master – as one of the characters say, we need to treat this like a muscle.

You have three different characters with three different personalities that deal with their new found powers. With the fragile personality of Andrew, it is essentially a ticking timebomb. No matter how Steve and Matt try to  discourage him from using his powers based off of his emotions, it is inevitable. Andrew becomes unstable and starts to use his powers negatively.

One of the flaws of the film could be the believability of the CGI effects as they are not the best and at times look really bad, the other major flaw is essentially what differentiates the film from other origin  type superhero stories. At first Trank, is smart with some of the camera logic by showing the different resolutions of the cameras in one scene it later gets lost – for example, the end scene by the Seattle tower. However, the “found footage” angle brings you closer to Andrew’s character and gets you into his head as everything is from his point of view. The homemade footage really makes you identify with him because it cannot break away from him.

Actors DeHaan and Jordan are believable and genuine while Russell’s performance weakens the further the film goes along until you get to the hokey self confessional ending. Chronicle was supposedly made for $15 million which once you see it will make you wonder where all that money went until you consider that it wasn’t actually filmed in Seattle which can only tell the audience that the majority of the film’s finale was CGI – and it kind of shows.

There are a lot of strong suits in Chronicle with its storytelling that elevate it from mediocrity even if the latter third of the film is rushed. Director Josh Trank shows tons of promise and definitely puts him on my radar. His handling of the found footage with logical reasons as opposed to gimmicky means to sell a movie should be commended. Comic book fans and fans of previously released superhero films might want to give this breath of fresh air a try either at a matinee or once it is released on cable.

One film that I didn’t get to check out last year was Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but luckily I won’t be waiting too long until I can watch it in my own home. Universal Pictures released details on the Blu-Ray and DVD release coming up next month.

From the Press Release

Things aren’t always as they seem in the Oscar^®-nominated, suspenseful, and stylish thriller from director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In), based on the classic novel by John le Carré. Focus Features’ Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy will be available on Blu-ray^™Combo Pack with UltraViolet^, on DVD,on Digital Download and On-Demand March 20, 2012, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.  At the height of the Cold War, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), a.k.a. MI6 and code-named the Circus, has been compromised.  An ever-watchful former top lieutenant and career spy, George Smiley (Gary Oldman, The Dark Knight, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ), is called out of retirement by the government to help identify and track a suspected mole at the top of the agency.  The list of suspects is narrowed to five men.  Even before the startling truth is revealed, the emotional and physical tolls on the players enmeshed in the deadly international spy game will escalate…Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is Academy Award^®-nominated for Best Actor (Gary Oldman), Best Adapted Screenplay (Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan), and Best Original Score (Alberto Iglesias); and is nominated for 11 BAFTA Awards including Best Film and Best Actor.

Also starring Oscar^® winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) with Benedict Cumberbatch (“Sherlock”), David Dencik (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Tom Hardy (Inception), Ciarán Hinds (The Debt), Oscar^® nominee John Hurt (Midnight Express), Toby Jones (The Hunger Games), and Mark Strong (Robin Hood), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is “a pleasurably sly and involving puzzler” (Manohla Dargis, The New York Times) and showcases “easily one of the year’s best pictures – Gary Oldman gives a performance that is flawless in every detail.” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone).

Included with the Blu-ray^™ Combo Pack is an all-new UltraViolet^™ copy of the film. UltraViolet^™ is the revolutionary new way for consumers to collect movies and TV shows, put them in the cloud and download and stream instantly to computers, tablets and smartphones and soon, consumers can download to devices of their choice too. The Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Blu-ray^™ Combo Pack also includes a Digital Copy of the film which is compatible with iTunes^®, iPad^®, iPhone^®, iPod^™ touch, Android or other retail partners.  So now, consumers can truly enjoy their movies and TV shows anytime, anywhere, on the platform of their choice!

BONUS FEATURES EXCLUSIVE TO Blu-ray^TM : Unleash the power of your HDTV with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound.

• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY: FIRST LOOK
• DELETED SCENES
• INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR JOHN LE CARRÉ
• BD-LIVE^TM : Access the BD-Live^™ Center through your Internet-connected player to watch the latest trailers and more!
• pocket BLU^TM app: The groundbreaking pocket BLU^™ app uses iPad^®, iPhone^®, iPod^® touch,  Android^™, PC and Mac^® to work seamlessly with a network-connected Blu-ray^™ player.  Plus iPad^® and Android^™ tablet  owners can enjoy a new, enhanced edition of pocket BLU^™ made especially to take advantage of the tablets’ larger screen and high resolution display.  Consumers will be able to browse through a library of Blu-ray^™ content and watch entertaining extras on-the-go in a way that’s bigger and better than ever before.  pocket BLU^™ offers advanced features such as:
• Advanced Remote Control: A sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-ray^™ player. Users can navigate through menus, playback and BD-Live^™ functions with ease.
• Video Timeline: Users can easily bring up the video timeline, allowing them to instantly access any point in the film.
• Mobile-To-Go: Users can unlock a selection of bonus content with their Blu-ray^™ discs to save to their device or to stream from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi network, enabling them to enjoy content on the go, anytime, anywhere.
• Browse Titles: Users will have access to a complete list of pocket BLU^™-enabled titles available and coming to
  Blu-ray^™ Hi-Def.  They can view free previews and see what additional content is available to unlock on their device.
• Keyboard: Entering data is fast and easy with your device’s intuitive keyboard.
• uHEAR^™:  Never miss another line of dialogue with this innovative feature that instantly skips back a few seconds on your
• Blu-ray^™ disc and turns on the subtitles to highlight what you missed.

BONUS FEATURES (BLU-RAY^™ and DVD):

• INTERVIEWS  WITH ACTORS GARY OLDMAN, COLIN FIRTH, TOM HARDY; DIRECTOR TOMAS ALFREDSON; AND SCREENWRITER PETER STRAUGHAN
• FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR TOMAS ALFREDSON AND ACTOR GARY OLDMAN

TECHNICAL INFORMATION – BLU-RAY^™:

Street Date: March 20, 2012
Copyright: 2012 Universal Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
Selection Number:  61120849
Running time:  2 Hours, 8 Minutes
Layers: BD-50
Picture Format : Widescreen
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Rating:  Rated R for violence, some sexuality/nudity, and language
Languages/Subtitles:  English SDH, Spanish, French
Sound:  DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish DTS Surround 5.1, French (EU) DTS Surround 5.1

TECHNICAL INFORMATION – DVD:

Street Date: March 20, 2012
Copyright: 2012 Universal Studios.  All Rights Reserved.
Selection Number: 61120847
Running time: 2 Hours, 8 Minutes
Layers: Dual Layer
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Rating:  Rated R for violence, some sexuality/nudity, and language
Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1

Pre-Order the Blu-Ray

Pre-Order the DVD

Evil Dead 2 is definitely one of those films that became embedded into my childhood. It was fun, gory, hyper-kinetic and full of energy which is why it still remains a classic today. We previously reported on back in August 2011 that NECA would be releasing four figures in early 2012. Amazon.com has now posted two out of the four that were previewed in that post (Hero Ash, Deadite Ash, Henrietta and Farewell to Arms Ash), but these are definitely the ones that I enjoyed the most out of the ones revealed, and they are available for Pre-Order RIGHT NOW!

Farewell to Arms Ash

Pre-Order Now!

Deadite Ash

Pre-Order Now!

Deadite Ash and Farewell to Arms Ash are available for pre-order now and should be released on February 14, 2012.

Joss Whedon is a hero among comic geeks. I have a feeling, if the hype is true, he might even be a hero to horror geeks this April with The Cabin in the Woods. While we all wait for The Avengers movie, we can see what he did with the X-Men Dangerous line via Marvel Knights in a new animated film.

From the Press Release

Danger takes on a whole new meaning as the X-MEN are forced to confront a reality they never thought possible. Continuing the saga of the ASTONISHING X-MEN, comic book pages come alive when Shout! Factory, in association with Marvel Knights Animation, debut the highly anticipated Marvel Knights Animation ASTONISHING X-MEN: DANGEROUS on DVD, April 10, 2012. The highly popular “Dangerous” storyline and eye-popping visuals from the graphic novel by pop culture icons Joss Whedon and John Cassaday combine smart story telling, incredible action, and startling revelations in the second story arc of the acclaimed ASTONISHING X-MEN multi-part series. This DVD invites viewers to delve deep inside the imaginative world of the Marvel Universe. A must have for collectors and loyal fans, this deluxe DVD is featured with a graphic rich cover and a unique replica of comic book-style packaging that bridges the comic book to DVD concept. It is priced to own at $14.97.

Marvel Knights Animation
Marvel Knights Animation remains true to the heritage of panel-by-panel graphic storytelling, boasting groundbreaking illustrations, sensational soundscapes, and of course, the explosiveness of the Mighty Marvel Universe. Behind every image and every word lies the genius of Marvel’s celebrated creators like Robert Rodi, Esad Ribic, Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, Joss Whedon, Reginald Hudlin, John Romita Jr, Warren Ellis, Adi Granov, John Cassaday, and more.

ASTONISHING X-MEN: DANGEROUS
Synopsis: The tragic death of a student at the Xavier Institute reveals that a powerful enemy is working from inside the mansion to destroy the X-Men. It’s an enemy who knows all their weaknesses and can predict their every move. This new foe doesn’t want wealth, power or world domination – it only wants them dead. As the X-Men fight for their lives, they learn they’ve been deceived by one of their own. Even if they survive, the team will never be the same.

Marvel Knights Animation ASTONISHING X-MEN: DANGEROUS is produced by Atomic Studios; and written by Joss Whedon with art by John Cassaday.

Pre-Order the DVD Now!

Tomorrow, the film that most of us have been waiting for, Dead Hooker in a Trunk, will be released by IFC Midnight. To celebrate, the lovely Soska sisters want to hang out with you, a date of sorts, while you watch the film with them. Basically it will be a live commentary that will be totally interactive-meaning you can ask them questions and stuff. Just keep it proper because if you don’t you are liable to lose your head as I believe they have chainsaws near by full of gasoline to last all night long.

Follow the twins on Twitter at @twisted_twins starting at 8pm Pacific Time (10pm Central) tomorrow on the 31st for the commentary! Tell the ladies that @destroythebrain sent you.

HAMMER Films returns to the big screen next Friday with The Woman in Black. We got 10 Admit Two passes to give away not only to see the film for free but to see it the Tuesday before it comes out.

Synopsis

The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true intent.

How to Win

• “Like” us on Facebook
• Leave a comment on either your favorite Hammer horror film or your own personal ghost story.
• The screening is Tuesday, January 31st at 7pm. Location will be revealed to the winners.

Sundance is coming to an end in Park City, Utah. One film that made a huge impact on Sunday night was the found-footage anthology V/H/S directed by Adam Wingard, Glenn McQuaid, Radio Silence (a collaborative group), David Bruckner, Joe Swanberg and Ti West. For those of you on Twitter (follow us @destroythebrain), some of those film geeks out in the snowy city that were lucky enough to get in for the premiere on Sunday night splooged at how good it is. With a phrase like “One of the scariest movies I’ve seen in recent memory” being touted by Drew McWeeny’s review on HitFix, V/H/S hit a very high expectation on my radar. It was already there with Wingard, McQuaid, West and even Bruckner involved anyway.

Magnolia Pictures’ genre arm Magnet Releasing picked up the film for over $1 million dollars according to The Hollywood Reporter. Magnet, while bad for VHS tapes, plans on distributing the film via VOD and a theatrical release 30 days after the on demand premiere. No word on what month this will happen but we do know it will be released this year.

Synopsis

When a group of petty criminals is hired by a mysterious party to retrieve a rare piece of found footage from a rundown house in the middle of nowhere, they soon realize that the job isn’t going to be as easy as they thought. In the living room, a lifeless body holds court before a hub of old television sets, surrounded by stacks upon stacks of VHS tapes. As they search for the right one, they are treated to a seemingly endless number of horrifying videos, each stranger than the last.

Paramount Pictures released The Devil Inside on January 6th. If you still haven’t had the chance to check it out, we have some passes to give away during its theatrical engagement.

Official Synopsis:

In 1989, emergency responders received a 9-1-1 call from Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley) confessing that she had brutally killed three people. 20 years later, her daughter Isabella (Fernanda Andrade) seeks to understand the truth about what happened that night. She travels to the Centrino Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Italy where her mother has been locked away to determine if her mother is mentally ill or demonically possessed. When she recruits two young exorcists (Simon Quarterman and Evan Helmuth) to cure her mom using unconventional methods combining both science and religion, they come face-to-face with pure evil in the form of four powerful demons possessing Maria…Many have been possessed by one; only one has been possessed by many.

All we ask you to do is:

• “Like” us on Facebook
• Tell us what compels (pun encouraged) you to see this film.

We previously reported on the North American release of Battle Royale on DVD & Blu-Ray. Amazon.com has the Blu-Ray of the Complete Collection which includes Battle Royale and Battle Royale II on Blu-Ray along with 2 hours of special features. Simply click on the image below to pre-order the Blu-Ray which is set to release on March 20, 2012

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection’s four disc set Blu-ray set will include:

• Battle Royale Director’s Cut

  with Japanese Dolby TrueHD 7.1, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and English subtitles.

• Battle Royale Theatrical Cut

  with Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and English subtitles.

• Battle Royale II

  with Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and English subtitles.

• Battle Royale

  Bonus disc (DVD).

The bonus DVD will feature:

• The Making Of Battle Royale
• Battle Royale  Press Conference
• Instructional Video: Birthday Version
• Audition & Rehearsal Footage
• Special Effects Comparison Featurette
• Tokyo International Film Festival 2000
• Battle Royale Documentary
• Basketball Scene Rehearsals
• Behind-The-Scenes Featurette
• Filming On-Set
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Special Edition TV Spot
• TV Spot: Tarantino Version

The 2012 season of the Late Nite Grindhouse program continues at the Hi-Pointe Theatre with David Cronenberg’s The Brood on February 3rd and 4th!

Synopsis

Behind the walls of his secluded Somafree Institute, Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed) experiments with “Psychoplasmics,” a controversial therapy designed to help release pent-up emotions in his patients. He keeps his star patient Nola (Samantha Eggar) in isolation, but as she vents her fury during their sessions, brutal murders befall the people she’s angry with outside the institute. What is the connection between Raglan’s methods and these monstrous killings? The answer will unleash a whole new breed of terror!

We will be showing a 35mm film print of The Brood. Come see why Yahoo Movies says THE BROOD is “One of director David Cronenberg’s Darkest and Most Twisted Films.” Get to The Hi-Pointe early as the pre-show of our vintage trailers and diabolical video goodies start at 11:30pm with the film starting around Midnight. Admission is only $6!!!

Original Theatrical Trailer

Late Nite Grindhouse Presents
‘The Brood’
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
&
Saturday, February 4th, 2012

At The Hi-Pointe Theatre
Located at 1005 McCausland Avenue
Saint Louis, MO

Pre-Show @ 11:30pm
Film @ Midnight

RSVP for the Friday Show on Facebook Here

RSVP for the Saturday Show on Facebook Here

Like Late Nite Grindhouse on Facebook As Well!

Shortly after Repo Man (which still has no Blu-Ray release scheduled for North America), Alex Cox followed up his cult classic with a biopic about Sid Vicious. Instead of the sensationalism of the punk scene or how influential the Sex Pistols were to punk, Cox decided to focus on Vicious and his junkie girlfriend Nancy, an American who was visiting London at the time they met, and their descent in a drug induced downward spiral towards the end of their short lives.

The Film

Sid Vicious (played amazingly by Gary Oldman) is the bassist for the British punk band Sex Pistols who meets American groupie/junkie/drifter Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb). While initially blowing her off, something in him takes an interest to her and once Sid and Nancy team up and start shooting up heroin together, they begin to rely on and confide on each other. What follows is a strange romance that is fueled not only by drugs but by Nancy’s admiration towards Sid and his punk rock fame. Their companionship is bittersweet with scenes where Sid will do anything to please Nancy with a simple kiss on her foot to Nancy calling her mother to send some money so they can get some drugs.

What Alex Cox does with the film is something unique. While you have those moments of romance, their descent into drug addiction seems to consume any trace of that romance by trying to eradicate it from your memory. Cox could have taken the easy road by making the film more of a documentation of the band that Sid was infamous of being in but there is a professional level of respect to tell Sid & Nancy’s story. The reason I mention the word “professional” is because Cox is and always has been a punk to the film industry – this is later discussed in the special features as well. With the film starting with the death of Nancy and a very sobering shot of Sid sitting on the bed that makes you wonder how it would get to this point. By beginning with the end of the story of the couple, we become more intrigued as when their story started, they seemed like such an unlikely couple.

The film’s highlight is Gary Oldman’s performance as Sid Vicious. His transformation into Vicious’ persona is flawless and relatable not to mention almost being infectious. Chloe Webb’s Nancy could easily be dismissed due to the character of Nancy, who is not really a likeable character. Nancy is a junkie who will do anything for her fix. Through the progression of the film you realize that she starts to care for Sid as much as she cares for her heroin. She has an addictive nature that ultimately results in her demise.

The Presentation

The film was shot in a gritty film stock so it isn’t the prettiest film you will see on Blu-Ray. However, the transfer looks pretty clean and it looks like cinematographer Roger Deakins’ color palette for the film seems pretty consistent throughout the film. There are a couple of scenes, mainly the Hotel Chelsea scenes, that seem like they could have been a bit more lighter and this could be due to high contrast, but this only happens on a few scenes so I tend to believe it might of been how these scenes were photographed. While the video is definitely an improvement over the previous Criterion Collection release, and not just because of Blu-ray format being able to hold information, the colors seem to be more true.

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack highlights the musical contributions to the film as the dialogue is pretty much focused towards the front. The clarity in the soundtrack sounds great.

Special Features

This is where MGM/20th Century Fox kind of misses the mark. Much like the Straw Dogs release, the supplementary materials from the previous Criterion DVD release of Sid & Nancy are pushed off the wayside. Sure, this is probably because MGM/20th Century Fox couldn’t get the rights to these features but they called this release “Sid & Nancy: Collector’s Edition” yet there is nothing collectible about it. With two talking head featurettes and a Theatrical Trailer in HD, this is the most disappointing thing of the release.

Overall

While the supplemental features are definitely lacking, for fans of the film this is an improvement with the actual film presentation. Sid & Nancy is a integral film of the 80′s that is only heightened by Oldman’s performance. As a biopic, the film is definitely more of a dramatization than a true documentation of events but that doesn’t mean that the film doesn’t accomplish what it sets out to do.

My interest in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown originally stemmed from John Carpenter mentioning it as an influence in the lighting of his classic, Halloween. I remember being infatuated for a year or more with Chinatown. Something about that film is haunting yet seductive. I can’t wait to see it in high-definition and Paramount is looking to fulfill my wish.

From the Press Release:

HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. — Teeming with murder, corruption, greed and sex, director Roman Polanski’s unforgettable classic Chinatown arrives for the first time ever on Blu-ray April 3, 2012 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston, the film follows an intricate web of deception as private investigator Jake Gittes (Nicholson) unravels a mystery involving water rights that are critical to the development of Los Angeles, as well as unspeakable family secrets. Written by Academy Award® winner Robert Towne, Chinatown was nominated for 11 Oscars® and was named by the AFI as one of the top 25 American films ever made.

With a new high definition transfer, the Chinatown Blu-ray sports packaging that features the original theatrical poster and includes a collectible booklet. The disc includes over 2 ½ hours of bonus material such as an illuminating, feature-length commentary by screenwriter Robert Towne and director David Fincher (Zodiac); an in-depth, three-part documentary on the history and impact of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the continuing efforts to cultivate water resources for the metropolis; an appreciation of the film by prominent filmmakers; a look at the filming; an exploration of the legacy of this cinematic masterpiece; and more.

The Chinatown Blu-ray will presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, English Restored Mono Dolby TrueHD, French Mono Dolby Digital, Spanish Mono Dolby Digital and Portuguese Mono Dolby Digital, as well as English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

Special features are set to include:

• Commentary with Robert Towne and David Fincher

  — Towne and Fincher offer unique insights into this classic film.

• Water and Power (HD)

  — In this three-part documentary, Robert Towne visits sites along the original Los Angeles Aqueduct for the first time.  He is informed of the social and environmental impacts and given insight into the major issues around the creation and ongoing operation of the aqueduct.

• The Aqueduct (HD)

  — The City of Los Angeles completed the 233-mile gravity-fed aqueduct from the Owens Valley in 1913, under the leadership of a self-taught engineer named William Mulholland. L.A. Department of Water and Power representatives along with Catherine Mulholland, granddaughter of the engineer, discuss the development of the aqueduct and its contribution to the growth of the nation’s second-largest city.

• The Aftermath (HD)

  — For decades a large rural community was desiccated under the management of water rights by the City of Los Angeles over a vast area of the Owens Valley.  Legal victories beginning in the 1970’s lead to successful reductions in environmental damages and the restoration of some natural habitats.  Historians, local ranchers and activists discuss the up-to-date impacts of the aqueduct and struggle to maintain a stable environment and community.

• The River & Beyond (HD)

  — Prior to the building of the first aqueduct a century ago Los Angeles relied solely on its own local water supply: the Los Angeles River and its aquifer.  Today the river as a water resource is largely forgotten. Currently there are plans to re-develop the river to reduce L.A.’s dependence on imported water, reducing the environmental impact on distant communities, while creating parks and open spaces for the city.

• Chinatown: An Appreciation

  — In this featurette, prominent filmmakers express their personal admiration for the film: Steven Soderbergh – Director ( Traffic), James Newton Howard – Composer ( The Dark Knight), Kimberly Peirce – Writer/Director (Boys Don’t Cry), and Roger Deakins – Cinematographer ( No Country For Old Men).

• Chinatown: The Beginning and the End

• Chinatown: Filming

• Chinatown: The Legacy

• Theatrical Trailer (HD)

  
  
  
  
  

  Pre-Order @ Amazon.com now!

I remember hearing about Battle Royale back in 2000 and it was available through many bootlegs but I always held out waiting on a proper release. Come 2005, I realized that North America might not be getting the proper release I have been waiting for so I imported a Korean version of the film on DVD. All the special features didn’t have subtitles and I could only enjoy the Tarantino endorsement. Now, 2 DVD sets and the Arrow Films Blu-Ray set later, Anchor Bay will be releasing the film and its sequel on Blu-Ray & DVD.

From the Press Release:

Battle Royale. A title that has shocked, thrilled and unnerved audiences. A film whose fiendishly simple premise has inspired many imitations, including the upcoming The Hunger Games motion picture. Based on the 1999 global best-seller by Koushun Takami, the futuristic tale first came to the screen in 2000, directed by the legendary Kinju Fukasaku. Authors, filmmakers and film fans the world over consider the film and its 2003 sequel Battle Royale II: Requiem sacred cinematic classics. And now, fans can own them on high-definition Blu-ray™ and DVD!

On March 20th, Anchor Bay Entertainment proudly brings the Battle Royale: The Complete Collection to Blu-ray™ and DVD for the first time in North America. Featuring state-of-the-art HD transfers, hi-res audio and a wealth of bonus features that delve deep into this truly international phenomenon – the three disc Blu-ray™ plus bonus DVD set has an SRP of $49.99 and an SRP $44.98 for the four disc DVD. Battle Royale will also be released separately on Blu-ray™ for an SRP of $29.99 and DVD for an SRP of $24.98. Battle Royale will be available digitally via select outlets including iTunes® and Xbox LIVE®.

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection’s four disc set Blu-ray set will include:

• Battle Royale Director’s Cut

  with Japanese Dolby TrueHD 7.1, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and English subtitles.

• Battle Royale Theatrical Cut

  with Japanese and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and English subtitles.

• Battle Royale II

  with Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and English subtitles.

• Battle Royale

  Bonus disc (DVD).

The bonus DVD will feature:

• The Making Of Battle Royale
• Battle Royale  Press Conference
• Instructional Video: Birthday Version
• Audition & Rehearsal Footage
• Special Effects Comparison Featurette
• Tokyo International Film Festival 2000
• Battle Royale Documentary
• Basketball Scene Rehearsals
• Behind-The-Scenes Featurette
• Filming On-Set
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Special Edition TV Spot
• TV Spot: Tarantino Version

The Battle Royale  single disc Blu-ray release will only include Battle Royale: Director’s Cut  with Japanese Dolby TrueHD 7.1, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and English subtitles.

Below is the cover art for both editions:

Most fans of this film may have picked up the awesome Arrow Films Blu-Ray Limited Edition Box Set which blows this one out of the water. However, being the completest I am and the fact that I absolutely love this slice of violent melodrama, I might end up picking up this set as well. The only thing this set seems to have that the Arrow Films Limited Edition release, which is “out of print” (you can still find copies but it is more expensive than it was in December 2011), didn’t have was Battle Royale II. I know that Anchor Bay is trying to cash in on The Hunger Games, which they should. I just wish that Anchor Bay would be a bit more bold and give this film a limited theatrical release.

Amazon.com has the 3-Disc Blu-Ray for Pre-Order as well as the DVD version of the Complete Collection. The Single Disc is also available for Pre-Order on Blu-Ray & DVD.

Well, this week is kind of a wash when it comes to the home entertainment shelves. While there are some releases that might interest you, this is one of barest weeks yet….then again, we are only in the second week of 2012. There are a few Mill Creek releases, including a Spaghetti Western collection and even a Synapse Films release!

All descriptions are from Amazon.com unless otherwise noted. We have included buttons for you to order that product which not only makes it easy on you but also helps us pay the bills around here.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The greatest mysteries of the world’s most recognized sleuth!

The legacy of the investigative mastermind Sherlock Holmes has transcended through three centuries and appeared in books, television series, films and so much more. This deluxe 4 DVD collection includes 4 feature films and the entire 39 episode American television series featuring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle s master sleuth in some of his greatest mysteries and adventures.

STARRING:

BASIL RATHBONE, NIGEL BRUCE, RONALD HOWARD, HOWARD MARION-CRAWFORD, ARTHUR WONTNER, IAN FLEMING, IAN HUNTER, ARCHIE DUNCAN…and many more!!

A Darker Reality

A group of women wake up in a cold cement basement. Drugged and terrified they find themselves captive to a depraved psychopath whose blood-lust and insanity knows no bounds. Police Detective Balasco and psychiatrist Dr. Metcalfe team up in a desperate attempt to locate the girls and their soon to be murderer a serial killer known as Ghost. But time is running out as Ghost s sick experiments begin to leave the girls tortured beyond recognition. To survive, the girls must band together in a last attempt to save themselves from a fate far worse than death.

Death Bell-Bloody Camp

Director Yu Seon-Dong presents another Battle Royale style tale of young students and brutal killing! After the school swim star is found murdered, Cha Se-hui and her elite summer session class find themselves locked in the school with an ultimatum: find the murderer among you, or everyone dies. Their only clue is a message scrawled on the blackboard. When an innocent mother is killed, what son would not avenge her death?

Doctor Who: The Android Invasion (Story 83)

The Doctor and Sarah return to Earth in the present day to find a strangely deserted village and woods stalked by white-clad figures. (from IMDB.com)

Doctor Who: Invasion of the Dinosaurs (Story 71)

The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) arrives in a modern-day London under attack from prehistoric monsters in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, an infamous 1974 serial from the 11th season of the venerable British science fiction series Doctor Who. Though its dreadful puppet dinosaurs have the scorn of generations of fans, Invasion of the Dinosaurs does have an intriguing storyline in Operation Golden Age, a bizarre plot to return the Earth to the purity of its pre-human days through time-travel technology. As noted in the fine making-of featurette, People, Power and Puppets, which is featured on the set’s second disc, the ecological-extremism element lends much-needed gravity to the serial, as does a subplot involving UNIT captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin), whose brainwashing by the supercomputer BOSS in 1973′s The Green Death makes him a willing accomplice to the Golden Age scheme. Of course, any semblance of verisimilitude goes out the window anytime Pertwee or companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) have to face off against the stiff rod-puppet saurians, but both actors shoulder the burden manfully, and Franklin makes the most of Yates’s brief moment in the spotlight. There’s no question that much of Invasion of the Dinosaurs is a misfire for the Pertwee-era Doctor, but by the same token, it’s also not the unmitigated disaster it’s been made out to be since its original airing.

The two-disc Invasion of the Dinosaurs set presents five of the serial’s six episodes in their original color presentation; as Who historians well know, episode one was erased as part of the BBC’s recurring practice of wiping tapes of past television shows, but a black-and-white 16mm work print was eventually unearthed, along with a scene not shown in the original broadcast that is included in the set’s brief collection of deleted scenes. Viewers can watch episode one in its monochromatic format or in a version that attempts to approximate the original broadcast color quality. Also included are two audio commentaries, one featuring director Paddy Russell, script editor Terrance Dicks, Yates, and several other cast and crew members, while the other offers John (Sgt. Benton) Levene’s observations on 10 minutes of Part Five. Now and Then revisits the serial’s extensive London locations, while Doctor Who Stories: Elisabeth Sladen Part 1presents the late actress’s lively recollections of her brief tenure as companion to Pertwee’s Doctor. The extras are rounded out by a clip from a broadcast of England’s long-running Billy Smart’s Circus that features Pertwee behind the wheel of the outrageous Whomobile, as well as a photo still gallery, a PDF of the Radio Times listings that can be viewed in DVD-ROM format, and the by-now standard production notes subtitle option. –Paul Gaita

Fistful of Bullets – A Spaghetti Western Collection – 16 Films

Sixteen specially selected classic Western films starring Lee Van Cleef, Richard Harrison, Jack Palance, Klaus Kinski and many more!

You’ll be thrilled at the action, suspense, comedy and drama involved with this 16 film DVD set. Tiles include Apache Blood, Between God, the Devil and a Winchester, Beyond the Law, Death Rides a Horse, The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe, Find a Place to Die, Fistful of Lead, God’s Gun, Grand Duel, Gunfight at Red Sands, It Can Be Done Amigo, Johnny Yuma, Sundance and the Kid, This Man Can’t Die, Trinity and Sartana & Twice a Judas!

Gurozuka

A fun getaway turns into a journey to Hell for some teenage girls visiting an isolated house to rehearse and perform a play for their private movie club. Taking the trip with an adult chaperone, the girls learn that a previous club member supposedly went missing in the house, and another went insane! Shortly after they arrive, a mysterious videotape is found with footage of a violent killer wearing a Japanese deigan mask. Is this footage real or fake? Soon, their food and equipment disappears and one of the girls is haunted by ghostly visions of the masked demon. Someone or something is in the house, and gruesome death awaits those who cannot escape!

Synapse Films is proud to present Yôichi Nishiyama’s GUROZUKA, a stylized horror film in the tradition of SCREAM and genre-bending Japanese classic, THE RING!

Kenneyville

There s something seriously wrong in Kenneyville. When a young woman from Toronto goes missing and police mysteriously drop the case earlier than expected, two private detectives are hired to find her. With undercover aliases in hand, they head to the small town of Kenneyville for answers.

Kenneyville is filled with intense action, complex mystery, and acts as a metaphor for director Brooks Hunter’s personal experience with mental illness. A fantastic example of how innovative, independent filmmakers can create an epic adventure on a low budget!

Psychotica

Caught in the middle of a menacing social experiment, a group of teenage heroin addicts barricades themselves in an abandoned farmhouse in order to kick the habit. But they must also overcome the murderous forces within the house, as well as the threat that is closing in from down the road. With nowhere to run, they must face their greatest fears and fight for their very survival…

The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption

Since his triumphant rise to power in the original blockbuster The Scorpion King, Mathayus’ kingdom has fallen and he’s lost his queen to plague. Now an assassin for hire, he must defend a kingdom from an evil tyrant and his ghost warriors for the chance to regain the power and glory he once knew.  Starring Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and Billy Zane (Titanic), and featuring 6-time WWE® champion Dave Bautista and UFC® star Kimbo Slice, The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption takes The Mummy phenomenon to an all-new level of epic action and non-stop adventure!

Shriek of the Sasquatch

Julie (Scarlet Salem, ”Strip Club Slasher”) and Nick (Donny Versiga, ”Sinister”) are on a road trip which derails after they become involved in a series of gruesome murders committed by what seems to be a large ape-like creature. Will either of them survive to learn the secret of the Sasquatch? ”Shriek of the Sasquatch” comes in the tradition of retro hits such as ”Grindhouse” and is packed with drive in-style fun from cult director Steve Sessions.

The Summer of Massacre

Director-Writer, Joe Castro (Terror Toons 1&2, The Jackhammer Massacre) introduces another original tale — the first anthology slasher film which presents eight killers in 5 gorefest tales. Featuring Brinke Stevens (Slumber Party Massacre), Nick Principe (Laid to Rest), and Cleve Hall (Nightmare), plus a never before recorded gore epic body count with more than 150 onscreen deaths.

Ungodly brutal beatings turns Chris, a young man, into a fiend that sets off a bloody, like never before seen, rampage. Beauty is truly only skin deep – Watch a young paraplegic, whose body is also wrecked with spinal bifida, fight for her life as her older, beautiful sister tries to murder her.

It s been 36 years since Jesse s loving mother was raped by his biological father. Now, after hiding and running their entire lives in fear of this murderous rapist — He has found them! A group of Christian teenagers are stalked, maimed and burned by a local legend in a haunted forest.

Three legendary serial killers terrorize downtown Los Angeles by murdering countless innocent souls and the killer plan is to go out with a real bang.

There’s nothing like the sweltering heat of summer to set off a massacre. The Summer of Massacre is a 100 mph slasher ride that never slows down and is packed with enough gore and insanity to send you looking for your barf bag.

We previously got an exclusive scoop about some actresses that auditioned for roles in the upcoming Evil Dead remake. Now, Bloody Disgusting is reporting that Lily Collins is in final negotiations for the role of Mia. As previously reported by Bloody Disgusting, Mia will be taking a Ash-esque role as there is no Ash in this remake. From what we have heard, there are 5 characters in this remake/reboot: Eric, Olivia, David, Natalie and the aforementioned Mia. Per our sources, Lily hasn’t been mentioned as of yet so we are not sure if there was a private audition or if she auditioned at all. What we do know is that they are actually beginning auditions for the male roles today. If Mia is to take the head role/savior of the film, I would assume that they have solidified who will be playing Mia and will want said actress to audition/screen test with other cast members. The film shoot is supposed to start in March in New Zealand for a release on April 12, 2013. We have gone back to our source to see if we can pull out some more information on this piece of news as well as some more news and will keep you up to date.

Those who forgot, here is the synopsis of the remake/reboot:

Fede Alvarez directs from his own screenplay which was co-written with Rodo Sayagues with rewrites by Diablo Cody. Mia, a young woman struggling with sobriety, heads to a remote cabin with her brother and a group of friends, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads to danger and horror.

Chicago is our bigger Midwestern brother. They are only about 5 hours away from St. Louis and tend to get all the cool stuff. Some well known names from the Chicago area are creating a two day film festival for independent horror and with the names involved, I only expect quality. Hell, if it wasn’t a week after my birthday, I would possibly travel up there to check it out. Just because I can’t make it doesn’t mean you can’t check it out. Also, this could be a big break for you aspiring horror filmmakers out there, regardless of your location.

From the Press Release:

Chicago may be known as the “Second City”, but Chicago-based Horror Enterprises Flashback Weekend (Horror Conventions & Drive-In Film Fests), Horror Society (web based horror news & Horror film fests), Sinister Visions (horror website & graphic design), and Zombie Army Productions (Haunted House design & film production), are working to establish Chicago as the 1st city of Horror!

The weekend of April 13-14, 2012, these four Titans of the Chicago Horror Community and Muvico Theaters are teaming up to present CHICAGO FEAR FEST, a major two day indie horror film festival. All of the festival selections will screen at Chicago’s premiere movie going experience; the Muvico Theaters Rosemont 18 located in Rosemont, IL.

CHICAGO FEAR FEST will showcase the very best in cutting edge independent horror films. The lineup will include short films, feature films, celebrity guests, panel discussions, and Q & A’s. Festival after-parties will be held in Bogart’s, a full service bar and grill located on the second floor of the Muvico Theaters Rosemont 18.

Films will be judged based in 3 different categories: Best Feature, Best Short and Audience Favorite. The winning director of each category will be invited to appear as a featured celebrity guest at the Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Convention to be held August 10-12, 2012 in Rosemont, IL.

CHICAGO FEAR FEST will be a celebration of the art of indie horror film making by encouraging and supporting independent filmmakers from around the world. CHICAGO FEAR FEST and Muvico Theaters are committed to promoting excellence in independent filmmaking by fostering a community of filmmakers and encouraging an appreciation of independent film.

We are accepting film submissions from horror filmmakers now! This is your chance to get your film screened in Chicago in front of an audience of high profile media, film critics, film-making industry professionals, and horror fans!

For more information about the festival and for film submission, please visit our website at WWW.CHICAGOFEARFEST.COM and follow us on facebook and twitter!!

Well, it’s a new year so we have tons of films that we liked from last year to be released on DVD & Blu-Ray. Also, later this year, we will see films that maybe either never got a DVD release before or receive a hi-def upgrade. Here is the first Home Invasion post of 2012 and there are a couple of titles might catch your eye.

All descriptions are from Amazon.com unless otherwise noted. We have included buttons for you to order that product which not only makes it easy on you but also helps us pay the bills around here.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Season Five

Reunite with the “Master of Suspense,” Alfred Hitchcock, for more of the mind-boggling twists and devious thrills synonymous with one of TV’s greatest shows, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In the fifth season, delve into 38 stories of greed, larceny, revenge and murder where every character holds a guilty secret and a misleading “MacGuffin” lurks in every corner. Featuring some of Hollywood’s brightest guest stars, including Walter Matthau, Steve McQueen, Peter Lorre, Dick Van Dyke, William Shatner and Burt Reynolds, it’s five discs of delicious mysteries from the icon whose highest hope for his audience was to “give them pleasure – the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.”

Episode List

American Scream King

When two guys get a hold of a camera from a debt, they decide to make a horror movie since most of them are cheesy and cheap anyways. They know nothing about special effects or make-up so why not just kill people for real while filming their movie? (from IMDB.com)

trailer

Attack Of The Vegan Zombies

Joe and his wife Dionne have had yet another bad crop for their winery. Faced with the prospect of losing the family farm, Dionne convinces her mother (a witch) to cast a spell upon next year’s crop. The crop is such a success that Joe hires some college students to help them harvest. However, when a nosy neighbor begins poking around in the fields, he finds out more than he bargained for. Now the question isn’t how to best harvest the crop, it’s how to keep from being harvested! (Written by Jim Townsend from IMDB.com)

Contagion

Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne and Bryan Cranston, along with medical journalist Sanjay Gupta, explore the real science of global viruses and what they mean to the human race. The world is preparing for the next biological disaster…but is it too late?

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark 

Sally, a young girl, moves to Rhode Island to live with her father and his new girlfriend in the 19th-century mansion they are restoring. While exploring the house, Sally starts to hear voices coming from creatures in the basement whose hidden agenda is to claim her as one of their own.

Don’t Let Him In

What if you invited a serial killer on holiday? Heading off for a weekend in the country, Paige and Calvin reluctantly allow Calvin’s brash younger sister to bring along Tristan, an arrogant city trader she’s picked up in a one-night stand; but when the group learn a brutal serial killer is plaguing the area, Paige must confront the disturbing truth about Tristan.

Trailer

Ice Quake

It’s Christmas Eve in Alaska, but the holiday season is in for a rude awakening: A massive ice shelf has collapsed in the Russian Arctic. Intense shockwaves are rocking the region. And military geologist Michael Webster (Brendan Fehr of ”Bones” and ”Roswell”) and his family’s snowy wilderness hike to cut down a Christmas tree leaves them trapped by huge ice geysers, giant avalanches and enormous cracks in the permafrost. But with the help of a hard-nosed Army Colonel (Victor Garber of ”Alias”) and their own survival instincts, can they now find a way to stop a monstrous methane explosion that threatens to destroy the entire planet? Jodelle Ferland (THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE), Holly Dignard (”Hellcats”), Ryan Grantham (DIARY OF A WIMPY KID) and Rob LaBelle (”First Wave”) co-star in this Syfy Original holiday hit based on the actual catastrophic climate science of ICE QUAKE!

Trailer

Red: Werewolf Hunter

The modern-day descendant of Little Red Riding Hood brings her fiancé home to meet her family and reveal their occupation as werewolf hunters, but after he is bitten by a werewolf, she must protect him from her own family.

Trailer

Shark Night 

A weekend at a lake house in the Louisiana Gulf turns into a nightmare for seven vacationers as they are subjected to shark attacks.

As we begin to say our goodbyes to 2011, we are super excited to see what 2012 will bring us. There is no doubt that there are tons of high profile movies that bleed over into our genres that we cover. While we mainly cover horror films here, we bleed exploitation, sci-fi, and anything fantastique or strange. You will see new writers join us in 2012 as well as more original content that shows that we are true fans of the genres we report on. I have been living and breathing horror and its subgenres for over 2 decades now. That doesn’t mean I have seen every film ever made, but I have seen a lot and one thing that is missing from our site is how knowledgeable we are. I had a conversation with someone who would come and read the site every now and again but after we talked for awhile about past horror films, he said “Why don’t you ever get this in depth on your site?” That is what I plan to do with our articles that we will be introducing throughout the year.

Some people, very few, have asked me about the podcast. Destroy the Brain first started as a podcast and then seemed to dwindle off once the site content started to get pretty heavy. I’m happy to say that 2012 will see the return of the podcast with writer Michael Haffner joining me as a co-host. Look for it to start back up in the next couple of months.

You will still see the normal news and reviews pop up on the site but we plan to put some original content out there to differentiate us from the other sites. 2011 was our first full year as a fully fledged website and we learned quite a bit. We are looking forward to 2012 coverage and content and we hope you are too.

It has been a real slow news week but I came along this cool little video that I think every horror & sci-fi fan will enjoy. If you are a fan of Ridley Scott’s Alien and are just as excited as we are for his film Prometheus you will want to take a look at this.

While Scott and his crew have skirted around the issue of if Prometheus is really a prequel to Alien or not, this trailer will definitely gear us in the right direction. Scott has said that it takes place in the same world as Alien but I think he is trying to keep us in the dark just as much as he can so we can be truly surprised by what he is creating for us. June can’t come soon enough.

Official ‘PROMETHEUS’ Synopsis

Visionary filmmaker Ridley Scott returns to the genre he helped define, creating an original science fiction epic set in the most dangerous corners of the universe. The film takes a team of scientists and explorers on a thrilling journey that will test their physical and mental limits and strand them on a distant world, where they will discover the answers to our most profound questions and to life’s ultimate mystery.

As 2011 is nearing a close and the news being sparse, we thought it would be a good idea to hear from you. We have done this in the past with very little response but we hope to hear from you this time around.

Destroy the Brain covers horror, cult and all things fantastique which is a pretty wide spectrum. Yes, our bread & butter is mainly horror films and we have leaned more towards the contemporary which we plan to change in 2012 but what else would you like to see on the site? What are you sick of? Anything we can do to make the site more attractive or make improvements to the navigation?

Tell us! This is your time! Leave your comments below!

10 years ago, The Lord of the Rings trilogy was released. It was an adventurous and risky feat to give director Peter Jackson, a filmmaker who made himself known to horror fans with Dead Alive (aka Braindead). Jackson never was given a huge budget before by any studio but due to his persistence and the trust of New Line Cinema/Warner Bros., he was granted to shoot the trilogy back to back and given release dates for the three consecutive Decembers. Of course, it all paid off and the trilogy is part of film history and it’s impact on cinema, mainly fantasy cinema, is still seen to this day.

The prequel to the trilogy, if you will, is being helmed by Jackson again and even though those pesky attendees of Butt Numb-A-Thon in Austin got to see this first, the rest of the world can now sit in their undies and watch the trailer to what will be one of the most anticipated films of what looks like to be a stellar year in 2012 for film. Also, for you believers out there, the film will be released a week prior to the Mayan predicted End of the World.

Go to Apple to see the trailer in HD.

We are running with two reviews of David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to give readers two perspectives on this new adaptation. Michael Haffner has read the novel and has seen the Swedish adaptation while Andy Triefenbach has not. Read Michael’s review here to see if it is different from Andy’s.

One of the most anticipated films of the year is finally here. David Fincher returns off of his Academy Award nomination for Best Director and Best Picture from The Social Network with the American adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I will admit that even though the story has either been experienced by most people by reading the novel or seeing the Swedish adaptation, I never read the book or saw the original film. When I was about to see the 2009 film, I heard that Fincher was readying himself to direct the American film. I decided to hold out to see if I could have a different reaction than the majority of my colleagues who have seen the 2009 adaptation.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is an oddly structured story (I only say story instead of film because I hear the book has the same delivery) where it is a film divided in three segments of sorts. We are first introduced to Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) as he has lost a substantial lawsuit that questions his integrity as a journalist and will possibly lose his life savings because of it. He is later approached by the Vanger Corporation and is propositioned by an aging Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to help with his legal issues in return for investigating into a now 40 year old disappearance of Henrik’s niece, Harriet. Henrik believes she has been murdered by someone within the Vanger family but has never been able to find any proof to confirm his theory. Blomkvist agrees to move onto the island that is mainly inhabited by the Vanger family. He quickly realizes he needs an assistant to help him research into this mystery and ends up with the same researcher, Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), that the Vanger Corporation hired to do a extensive background check on him. Lisbeth, while talented, also uses her computer hacking skills to find additional information that gives her an advantage against other security investigators. Together, Lisbeth and Mikael dig into the past of the Vanger family through what could be something akin to procedural police work.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is an odd structure as it feels like a three part TV show. The first act establishes the characters of Blomkvist and Salander separately. A good 45 minutes or more is spent with these two characters never meeting. Personally, I think that this might be the weakest aspect of the film and it is not Fincher’s fault as this, from what I hear, is how the novel is structured as well. Instead of Fincher or screenwriter Steven Zaillian improving on this fault, they roll with the punches. Once the meat of the story, the mystery and investigative aspect, starts the film is quietly interesting. Much like Fincher’s Zodiac, the most interesting part of the mystery is the characters who are either involved or Blomkvist’s obsessive nature of investigation. Essentially, we see Blomkvist live and breathe the case without very little rest. Sometimes distractions come into play, like his daughter who is introduced at the beginning of the film and shows up midway through the movie to give her father a revelation on a clue thanks to a biblical reference, but for the most part this is Blomkvist teaming up with Salander and developing a relationship with her through collaboration despite the grim details they are discovering. There is a connection between the both of them that almost seems like fate that just cannot be denied. The other fault of the film is essentially the mystery. The killer is pretty predictable throughout the film however I give some leniency due to the fact that the mystery doesn’t really end with finding out who the killer is, granted it is a big part though.

Daniel Craig does a fine job playing Blomkvist because of a certain vulnerability he brings to the character. As on paper, Blomkvist can be looked down upon due the fact that he is having an affair with his head editor and seems to put his work before his family however you can relate to him in the film because of Craig’s likability. The real standout is Rooney Mara’s performance as Lisbeth Salander. The original Swedish adaptation had Noomi Rapace playing Salander and really won over viewers because of her performance. So much so that there was a campaign to have her reprise her role. I still haven’t seen the Swedish adaptation but Mara’s performance is bold, brave and entrancing. She is anti-social yet intriguing. Her interpretation of Salander is definitely a memorable one and will burn into your brain for weeks to come, along with some the actions that carries out, specifically how she handles her sadistic legal guardian assigned to her.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross deliver, yet again, with an amazing score that differs a bit from their previous collaboration with Fincher. With their The Social Network score, it added a aggressive side to the character of Mark Zuckerberg and accompanied the speed of the written dialogue by Aaron Sorkin. In Dragon Tattoo, the score is the driving force behind Lisbeth Salander, however the score really accompanies her like a passenger on her motorcycle.

While Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo might not be his best directed film due some pacing issues but the main faults are with the story. It will just make you wish that they made some improvements to the story as opposed to being meticulously faithful to the novel.

There is no doubt that for science fiction and horror fans that Ridley Scott’s return to the “genre he redfined” with Prometheus is one of the most highly anticipated films for 2012. The film has been shrouded in secrecy with some images leaking out to give us hints of what the story is about. While we have been told it is not a sequel to Alien per se, we have been told it fits in the same mythology. There are also hints of the mysterious Space Jockey from Alien showing up on set of Prometheus.

The official trailer for the film will premiere in three days on Apple but there is a 30 second teaser to the trailer that features brief flashes of the film mixed in with a on camera interview with Ridley Scott hinting at the “epic” scope of the film. This summer is going to be a crazy one between this film and Nolan’s conclusion of his Dark Knight trilogy.

Even though I was a child of the 80′s and saw most horror films via good ol’ VHS in the 8 plus years I rented from my local video store, some horror films passed by me. Sometimes it was because the title or the cover never interested me. Scott Spiegel‘s Intruder was a film that got knocked on both merits. The cover of the VHS looked like it was an alien film and the name of the film didn’t help prove me wrong. Even though it had “From the creators of Evil Dead II” on it, I just never gave it a chance.

Lucky for me some of these films are hitting DVD & Blu-Ray in restored versions. Synapse Films brings Intruder home in a Director’s Cut. The film was heavily cut during its VHS run via Paramount and after seeing the film, I’m kind of glad I waited and got to see the film for the first time the way it was supposed to be seen.

The Movie

The night crew of a grocery store is closing up for the night and an employee, has a ex-boyfriend that keeps harassing her. After the employees of the store are informed the owners are selling the store, the workers need to slash the prices in half, but that isn’t the only thing that is getting slashed on this night.

Scott Spiegel was the co-writer of Evil Dead II and this is his debut feature. He had some help with his co-writer and producer Lawrence Bender, who would later become a producer of Quentin Tarantino‘s films, and his friend Sam Raimi, who also stars in the film. Spiegel crafts a unique film that rises above average due to some unique artistic shots. Spiegel litters his film with tons of point-of-view shots from shopping carts, phones and other things you wouldn’t expect. Spiegel is definitely a visual guy but that’s not to say that the whole film is filled with visual gags. The Director of Photography, Fernando Argüelles, crafts a fine looking horror film. The film definitely is a play on shadows and light as we see the killer make his appearances to kill sequences via introduction of his shadow cast on doors and walls. Also, there are well staged and framed shots dealing with light & reflections. There are a lot of little things on how this film was shot that makes the film a more memorable film than it should be. Most people will be interested in this film because of the ties to Evil Dead II with Danny Hicks, Scott Spiegel and Sam Raimi but also because it is KNB’s (Greg Nicotero, Robert Kurtzman and Howard Berger) first job and the effects are awesome. Intruder should be seen my every horror film fan out there.

The Presentation

Intruder is a gem of a horror movie because this is the first time the film has been released uncut and in a decent enough quality to actually watch. Previously released on VHS in a truncated, edited version which cut out all the gore and then later released, still edited, on DVD via a horrible transfer, Synapse really came to the rescue on this one. The film is overall a darker film which is probably why it has had such a troubled past with its home video transfers.

Synapse brings a 2K restoration of Intruder to a region free Blu-Ray & DVD combo pack. For those of you that haven’t made the jump to high definition yet (WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?), you can still see the fabulous work that Synapse did via a DVD version of the film. The majority of the film is pretty clean. There are a couple of scratches but nothing too noticeable. The audio is presented in DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio for the Blu-Ray and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono for the DVD.

An odd thing I noticed is with some of the menus when watching the special features. Some of the special features do not feature the popup menu – this could be because some of the special features are not presented in 1080p (actually, I pretty sure this is the case).

Special Features

• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Scott Spiegel and Producer Lawrence Bender – Spiegel and Bender use the 88 minutes to really just relive the film. There is very minimal information shared in the commentary but Spiegel and Bender have fun watching the film for the first time in a few years. One could have an interesting drinking game listening to the commentary by simply taking a drink every time Spiegel says “Good Grief”. It’s an entertaining commentary but like I said, not one full of tons of information that can’t be found in the other special features.

• Slashed Prices: The Making of Intruder – You know you are in store for a good “Making Of” when you see Red Shirt Pictures. Yes, Michael Felsher and his crew are behind this feature and they happened to round up the majority of the cast and crew – with exception of Sam Raimi – to ask them about the making of the film. Informative and entertaining, Slashed Prices is the heart of the special features on this presentation.
• Extended “Murder” Sequences from the Original Workprint – It is exactly what it says it is. Presented in 16:9 with raw audio – the director’s voice is heard in some of these sequences – it’s nice to see some of these scenes in a truly uncut format. However, these extended sequences definitely slow down the pacing of the film.
• Outtakes from the Now-Lost Short Film, NIGHT CREW – Spiegel lent the original 20 minute 8mm short film, Night Crew, to a friend and never saw it again. Night Crew was the basis of Intruder. It is kind of interesting to see some of these outtakes to see how this idea/story generated.
• The Slashing of  “Intruder” with Filmmaker Vincent Pereira – A short featurette featuring a one-shot story of a fan, later turned filmmaker, who grew up reading GoreZone and Fangoria who found the film, like most horror fans, on the video shelves heavily cut. It’s a short feature but a cool story nonetheless.
• Original Cast Audition Footage
• Behind-The-Scenes Still Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer for Intruder
• Original Theatrical Trailer for Night Crew – This is not related to the previously mentioned 8mm short. Night Crew: The Final Checkout was an alternate title of the film. The trailer looks to be compiled from video, Synapse’s restoration and another transfer (specifically speaking of the dolly shot with one of the characters running on top of the checkout aisles which is darker than the restoration).

Overall

If you have previously seen Intruder, you will definitely want to check out Intruder: Director’s Cut as it is the most complete version of the film and Synapse’s restoration of the film brings to light (no pun intended) a gorgeous, albeit dark, looking film. If you have never seen Intruder and are a fan of 80′s slasher films, this is one that you need to pick up immediately!

*All screenshots are from the Synapse DVD version of this release not the Blu-Ray.

Buy it now on Amazon.com

Most of the word that you may have been hearing about Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is that Dark Knight Rises prologue playing before it. It recently played at Harry Knowles’ Birthday celebration, Butt Numb-a-Thon this past weekend and the buzz on the actual movie is good! On Wednesday, the film will officially premiere in Rio de Janerio, Brazil and Paramount wants to invite you to the red carpet….via your internet connection.

From the Press Release:

Paramount Pictures and Coke Zero announced today they will team up to present the live MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—GHOST PROTOCOL movie premiere in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on December 14th. The live red carpet event will air online beginning at 7:00 p.m. BRST/ 4:00 p.m. EST / 1:00 p.m. PST and will feature a live performance by Grammy®-nominated DJ & Producer Tiësto, who will unveil his brand new re-mix of the famed Mission: Impossible theme song, written by Lalo Schifren, for the first time ever. This special red carpet event will be streamed free at CokeZero.com/Mission, MissionImpossible.com, Livestream.com/MissionImpossible, http://www.facebook.com/tiesto and Coke Zero on Facebook. 
 
The film’s star and producer Tom Cruise, co-star Paula Patton, director Brad Bird and other special celebrity guests will be on-hand in Rio for live interviews with hosts Quddus and Carla Lamarca. As part of this special live-stream, Coke Zero, Tiësto and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—GHOST PROTOCOL fans will be able to ask cast members questions directly from the Livestream chat. In addition, fans will have the opportunity to experience highlights from the multi-city global tour the cast and filmmakers have completed, including stops in Japan, Korea, India, Dubai, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Russia and Italy.
 
“The ‘Mission’ movies have an immense worldwide fan base,” commented LeeAnne Stables, Paramount’s Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Partnerships. “And bringing brand leader Coke Zero and a live performance by internationally renowned DJ & Producer Tiësto together to celebrate the release of this next installment in the hit ‘Mission’ franchise couldn’t make for a more exciting global event.”
“The theme song to MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE is so recognizable and immediately ignites an emotion. We’re so excited to see how Tiësto will make it his own,” said Chip York, Worldwide Entertainment Marketing Director, The Coca-Cola Company.  “The energy at the Rio premiere and the Livestream of the event will ‘Make it Possible’ for fans to experience something unique and special, as Coke Zero celebrates our partnership with the next installment of the movie franchise.”
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—GHOST PROTOCOL is directed by Brad Bird, written by Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec and is produced by Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk. Blamed for the terrorist bombing of the Kremlin, IMF operative Ethan Hunt is disavowed along with the rest of the agency when the President initiates “Ghost Protocol.”  Left without any resources or backup, Ethan must find a way to clear his agency’s name and prevent another attack. To complicate matters further, Ethan is forced to embark on this mission with a team of fellow IMF fugitives whose personal motives he does not fully know.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL opens in IMAX and other select locations beginning Friday, December 16th and nationwide on December 21st, 2011.
 
For more information, visit http://www.MissionImpossible.com
Like us on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/MissionImpossibleMovie
Follow Mission: Impossible on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GhostProtocol

Personally, I liked what was done with the third entry of the franchise which was five years ago. I’m interested in this new entry moreso because it is Brad Bird’s debut into live action directing. Is anyone else excited?