The air in Canoga Park was thick with teeny-bopper pheromones this evening as the cast of the CW’s hit television series “The Vampire Diaries” swooped inside the Westfield Topanga Mall to meet-and-greet fans of the show.
(UPDATE: Want to meet the cast of “The Vampire Diaries” at Paleyfest 2010? Click here for more info)
Tween-retailer Hot Topic hosted the event which brought “Diaries” stars Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, and Ian Somerhalder face-to-acne-riddled-face with thousands of loyal viewers. Much to my dismay, I could not attend the event because I have a penis.
However, my good friend Girard from Hills of Woodland made it down to the signing in hopes of having Somerhalder autograph his chest, which coincidentally is adorned with a Dharma Initiative tattoo (Somerhalder played Boone on the ABC sci-fi series “LOST”).
Girard writes:
It looked to me like everyone was pretty excited, and the people coming out of Hot Topic with autographs and such seemed very pleased. I didn’t get to see any of the cast members myself, which is a bummer. I didn’t stick around for A Fine Frenzy’s performance, but hopefully it went well.
“The Vampire Diaries” is writer-producer Kevin Williamson’s (Scream, “Dawson’s Creek”) adaptation of L.J. Smith’s popular novel series of the same name for the CW television network. The show follows high-schooler Elena Gilbert as she’s courted by two vampire brothers.
MTV kicks off its new “Saturday Night Horror” program tonight at 10 p.m. with a presentation of director Jaume Collet-Serra’s (Orphan) House of Wax remake. The film stars Elisha Cuthbert, Paris Hilton, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt, Jared Padalecki, Jon Abrahams and Robert Richard.
House of Wax got pretty lousy reviews when it hit theaters back in 2005, but it’s actually a pretty good movie to watch on TV (unless the good parts are seriously edited). The kills are violent. The story is engaging enough. And, the pacing is just right.
No nudity, sadly, from Cuthbert and Hilton (not that MTV would show that anyway), but they look hot anyway. Hilton haters will also get a kick out of her brutally sweet death scene.
CBS has announced that actress Beau Garrett will play the female lead in their currently untitled “Criminal Minds” spinoff series. Garret will play a tough FBI rookie agent named Gina under the employ of Forest Whitaker’s rogue agent Cooper. Her character will be introduced during an episode of “Criminal Minds” in the spring.
Garrett’s film creds include the superhero blockbuster 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer and the indie survival-horror gem Turistas, costarring Olivia Wilde. She and Wilde can also be seen in Disney’s upcoming reboot Tron: Legacy, due out in Dec.
The “Criminal Minds” spinoff is scheduled to debut in the fall with Richard Shepard directing from a script by Chris Mundy.
Scream of the Bikini is a kitschy ode to the spy films of the ’60s. Directed by Fernando Fernandez, if that is his real name (According to IMDB it’s not), the film follows two supermodels-turned-spies on their bikini-clad quest to bring down terrorist outfit S.I.A.D.
While I am a huge fan of bikinis, I don’t really care for these type of flicks. That’s not to say Scream of the Bikini sucks. Judging by the film’s trailer and website, it’s apparent a lot of effort has gone into producing something fun for fans of its genre. What’s caught my attention, however, is the casting of actress Kelsey Wedeen.
Fans of the After Dark’s annual 8 Films to Die For film-fest may recognize Wedeen as one of the leads in the 2007 entry Lake Dead. The 30-year-old California native can also be seen in the straight-to-DVD frighteners The Curse of the Forty-Niner, where she starred opposite Jeff Conoway and Karen Black, and the survival-horror indie Detour.
While none of these films is very good, Wedeen displays believable acting talent and is pretty damn easy on the eyes. In other words, exactly the kind of hot chick you serial-killers-in-training love to see tormented. Let’s hope her next project finds her back in peril … preferably while in a bikini.
Scream of the Bikini begins its limited theatrical run on Feb. 19.
Anchor Bay Entertainment has secured the North American distribution rights to director Michael Feifer’s (Drifter: Henry Lee Lucas) Abandoned, starring the late Brittany Murphy. The low-budget thriller stars Murphy as a woman frantically trying to find her boyfriend after he disappears from a hospital during a routine procedure.
Perhaps anticipating a few raised eyebrows, Anchor Bay president Bill Clark spins the purchase this way:
Releasing this young actress’s last film is both an honor and bittersweet. It was important to Anchor Bay that the timing of this release be right, because we’re sensitive to such a tragic loss. However, we also recognize that Brittany’s fans will want to see her amazing work.
Abandoned is slated for a summer release and costars Dean Cain (“Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”), Peter Bogdanovich, Kristen Kerr (Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane), and busty straight-to-DVD queen Mimi Rogers (Penny Dreadful).
Murphy was found dead on Dec. 20 in the bathroom of her Los Angeles home. The L.A. County Coroner concluded that the 32-year-old actress’ death was a result of “community acquired pneumonia,” iron deficiency anemia, and multiple drug intoxication.
Megan Fox’s (Jennifer’s Body, Transformers) commercial for Armani brand women’s underwear is now circulating TV and the web. The spot features Fox in nothing but her unmentionables, but was shot in black-and-white to help you feel less pervy.
We’ve all heard actor Christian Bale’s (American Psycho, The Dark Knight)notorious rant against a film crew member on the set of Terminator: Salvation. We’ve all read about the assault charges his mom brought forth against him (they were dropped). Now, a dead man has been discovered underneath the home Bale rented while working in New Mexico last year.
Could the hotheaded actor really have gone all Patrick Bateman on a motherfucker?
Police don’t seem to think so.
According to their investigation, Michael Snyder had been missing for eight years. His body was found this week buried underneath the home Bale rented in Albuquerque, New Mexico while working on Terminator: Salvation. Snyder’s ex-wife has been arrested for the murder.
After a career-making turn in last year’s outrageous hit comedy The Hangover, Bradley Cooper is quickly becoming the new Ryan Reynolds. The 35-year-old actor stars in this week’s high-profile, all-star rom-com Valentine’s Day and will be seen as The Face Man in this summer’s big screen adaptation of The A-Team.
This, of course, means nothing to horror fans. We’re still waiting to see how he follows 2008’s brutally violent supernatural slasher The Midnight Meat Train. Well, today, Variety reports that Cooper is in talks to star in director Joe Carnahan’s The Grey.
Budgeted at $34 million, the film follows a group of plane crash survivors as they are hunted down by rogue wolves (are there any other kind?). Ridley and Tony Scott are attached as producers through their Scott Free banner.
Universal Pictures re-imagining of the The Wolfman opens in theaters today. Directed by Joe Johnston, the film stars Benicio del Toro as Lawrence Talbot, a nobleman who returns to his family estate to investigate the disappearance of his brother, but instead digs up an old family secret.
A lot has been made about The Wolfman’s rocky road back to the big screen (it was pushed back to Feb. from its originally scheduled Dec. release date due to numerous production issues), but I’m hoping the end result still has plenty of bite.
Del Toro, for one, seems happy with the production (click here to see video) and believes horror will always be popular among moviegoers.
As long as we are not sure what will happen after we die we will paint it in the scariest colours. That’s the point, isn’t it? If we could know, if somebody would come back from the dead and could explain it to us, all the vampires and zombies and ghosts would lose a lot of their fascination.
The Wolfman costars Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, and Anthony Hopkins.
Taylor Lautner turned 18 yesterday. The Twilight Saga star can now bang the mothers of his tween fans without getting them arrested.
Access Hollywood asked the actor what his B-day plans were. He said:
Absolutely nothing really. I mean, I’ll spend time with family and friends… I don’t like to do anything huge, but it is 18, so, it’s kind of a big one I guess.
Loosely translated, I believe that means: I’m going to snort coke out of Taylor Swift’s asshole.
In related news, Summit Entertainment has confirmed that it will adapt The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final chapter in the book series by Stephenie Meyer, as two separate films, both to be shot simultaneously this fall in Vancouver. Lautner, along with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are scheduled to reprise their roles.
Eclipse the third installment in the lucrative series will be in theaters on June 30
