“X-Files” star and geek Goddess Gillian Anderson is set to face the undead in British actor-turned-director Mathew Butler’s zombie period piece The Curse of the Buxom Strumpet. The horror-comedy costars Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings), Judi Dench (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), and Mark Williams (Harry Potter).
Set in a small sea-side town in England during the 18th century, The Curse of the Buxom Strumpet follows a small group of zombie apocalypse survivors as they attempt to reach safe haven in France. Butler and producing partner Tori Hart are shopping the project at Cannes and hope to start shooting in Scotland later this year.
Anderson, best known for her role as Agent Dana Scully on the Fox sci-fi series “The X-Files,” has not been seen near supernatural forces since 2008’s regrettably dull The X-Files: I Want to Believe.
Michelle Williams is set to stir things up as Glinda (The Good Witch of the North) in director Sam Raimi’s Wizard of Oz prequel Oz, the Great and Powerful. The 30-year-old stunner joins a cast that includes Mila Kunis as Theodora (Wicked Witch of the West), Rachel Weisz as Evanora (Wicked Witch of the East), and James Franco as the soon-to-be wizard.
Oz, the Great and Powerful tells the tale of how a lost snake oil salesman and illusionist (Franco) defeats evil witches Theodora (Kunis) and Evanora (Weisz) with the help of their sister Gilda (Williams) to rule the land of Oz. The film goes into production in July and is slated for 2012 fall release.
Williams, who made her genre debut at age 15 as Young Sil in the 1995 sci-fi classic Species, received an Oscar nomination this year for her performance in the relationship drama Blue Valentine. Her horror creds include 1998’s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and the slightly better-reviewed 2010 Martin Scorsese thriller Shutter Island.
Imagine having the ability to alternately wake up every morning next to either Laura Allen (“Terriers”) or Michaela McManus (pictured above). Sounds pretty fucking sweet right? Such is the reality Jason Isaacs’ character Detective Michael Britten is living on NBC’s much buzzed-about mind-fuck of a show “Awake.”
Peep it:
Of course, a series about a guy who gets to bang two beautiful women for the rest of his life isn’t going to score big ratings from women-folk. Things need to be complicated. He needs to suffer. That brings us to the synopsis:
When Detective Michael Britten regains consciousness following his family’s car accident, he is told that his wife Hannah (Allen) perished but that his teen son, Rex (Dylan Minnette), has survived. As he tries to put the pieces of his life back together, he awakens again in a parallel reality in which his wife is very much alive — but his son Rex died in the accident.
In order to keep both of his loved ones alive at one time, he begins living two dueling realities in parallel worlds, which churns up confusion — in one moment, Michael and his wife debate about having another child to replace their son, while in the other reality, he is attracted to his son’s tennis coach, Tara (McManus), to fill the void from the loss of his wife.
Trying to regain some normalcy, Michael returns to police work and solves crimes in both worlds with the help of two different partners — Detective Isaiah “Bird” Freeman (Steve Harris) and Detective Efrem Vega (Wilmer Valderrama).
So, will Det. Britten end up living his life with his wife or his kid and the hot tennis instructor? It’s quite the dilemma. Thankfully for him, one that can be pondered while having lots of sex with both women.
Alison Eastwood, daughter to Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood, is starring in a creepy new indie thriller currently being shopped at Cannes. Directed by some guy named Matthew Arnold, Shadow People follows a CDC doctor (Eastwood) as her research on SUNDS (Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome) leads her to a supernatural conclusion.
The official synopsis reads:
Shadow People is a psychological thriller that explores the rare medical phenomenon known as SUNDS (Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome). Millions of people across the globe have had encounters with what they describe as dark, shadowy creatures that visit them at night.
Sometimes horrifying, sometimes deadly, these nocturnal intruders have been described as early as man’s first recorded writings. But what are they? And what do they want?
Small town radio personality Charlie Crowe (Dallas Roberts) is thrust into the mystery when a strange caller relates a terrifying experience during Crowe’s late night call-in show. At the same time CDC Public Health Agent Sophie Lancombe (Eastwood) is hot on the trail of the cause of the rare medical condition known as SUNDS.
Her investigations entwine her with Charlie’s own discoveries and take them both into a dark world and a decades old cover-up about the phenomenon we now call The Shadow People. Once you open the door to the mystery…you’ll never sleep soundly again.
Personally, I have had those moments when I’m in bed, counting sheep, and suddenly the room seems to go especially dark, as if shadows were caving in on me and I can’t move. I always figured these instances to be mild heart attacks due to my over consumption of booze and burritos. But, maybe, it really is just monsters. Talk about dodging a bullet! Goodbye diet!
ABC has released a clip from their upcoming supernatural adventure-drama “The River.” Produced by Paranormal Activity writer/director Oren “one-trick-pony” Peli and his partners, Jason Blum and Steven Schneider, the shaky-cam series will premiere mid-season this fall.
The show’s synopsis reads:
“The River” follows the story of wildlife expert and TV personality Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood). Emmet set course around the world with his wife, Tess (Leslie Hope), and son, Lincoln (Joe Anderson), while filming what would become one of the most popular shows in television. After he goes missing deep in the Amazon, his family, friends and crew set out on a mysterious and deadly journey to find him.
The pilot episode was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, Unknown) from a script by Peli, Michael Perry (Paranormal Activity 2), and veteran scribe Michael Green (“Heroes”), who was brought in to rewrite the original draft.
Gotta admit, this show looks like a lot of fun. Guess I’ll have to keep a puke bucket next to my Lazy Boy.
By Eddie Muertos on May 17th, 2011 at 10:36 am
Category: Uncategorized /
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IFC Midnight has unleashed a trailer for German director Dennis Gansel’s cheesy-but-fun-looking all-girl vampire flick We Are the Night. The film stars Karoline Herfurth (Perfume: the Story of a Murderer) as a thief turned reluctant bloodsucker after a one-night-stand with a 250-year-old vampire queen.
Peep it:
The film’s synopsis reads:
We Are the Night is an edgy tale of a provocative gang of female vampires living large, making their own rules and leaving a merciless trail of blood.
The film centers on a 20-year-old Berlin native Lena (Herfurth) who gets by as a petty thief. On one of her nightly job runs through an underground club, she meets 250-year-old Louise (Nina Hoss), the owner of the club and leader of an unusual all-female vampire trio – the other two members being wild child Nora (Anna Fischer) and elegant Charlotte (Jennifer Ulrich).
Louise falls head over heels in love with the scruffy Lena and bites her during their first night together. Once bitten, LENA discovers the curse and the blessing of her new, eternal life. She revels in the glamour, parties and infinite freedom, but quickly discovers that the endless blood thirst and murderous appetite of her new girlfriends come at a steep price.
I am definitely taking my penis to see this flick.
We Are the Night will play selected theaters on May 27. It will also be available nationwide On-Demand starting on May 25th.
Emily Browning (pictured above), Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises), and Catalina Sandino Moreno (Twilight Saga: Eclipse) are set to star in Chilean director Sebastian Silva’s new indie psych-thriller Magic, Magic.
Set in a remote part of Chile, the film’s story revolves around a girl’s gradual mental breakdown while vacationing with girlfriends too drunk on life to notice. No word on who has the lead, nor what part costar Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)—the first attached to the project—will play.
Browning last starred in Zack Snyder’s girl-power fantasy-actioner Sucker Punch and will next be seen making her nude debut as a student-turned-prostitute in writer/director Julia Leigh’s erotically-charged mind-fuck Sleeping Beauty.
Juno Temple
Temple can currently be seen in the sci-fi comedy Kaboom and dyking it up opposite Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough in the teen lesbian werewolf thriller Jack & Diane. The pretty Brit will next star as teen-prostitute-turned-Catwoman-sidekick Holly Robinson in Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.
Colombian starlet Moreno, an Oscar nominated actress for her performance in 2004’s drug trafficking drama Maria Full of Grace, is coming off of Summit’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, in which she played Mexican vamp Maria.
Fox has released the first full-length trailer for its upcoming mystery series “Alcatraz.” Produced by J.J. Abrams (“LOST”), the show revolves around a reappearance of inmates who vanished years ago from the infamous prison without explanation.
“Alcatraz” stars Sarah Jones as Det. Rebecca Madsen, Jorge Garcia as Dr. Diego “Doc” Soto, Sam Neill as Emerson Hauser, Parminder Nagra as Lucy Banerjee, Robert Forster as Ray Archer, Santiago Cabrera as Jimmy Dickens, and Jonny Coyne as Warden Edwin James.
Personally, I can’t wait to see this. While I can’t let myself believe that it will rival the amazing story that was “LOST,” I do sense a good mystery coming on. I just wish Hurley had dropped weight for the new show. How shocking would it have been if he had returned to TV all skinny-like? But, I digress.
Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia), and Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class) have been cast as vampires in art-house director Jim Jarmusch’s (Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai) upcoming “crypto-vampire love story.”
No plot details yet, but Jarmusch had this to say to the 12 people who will see the film:
I’ve been imagining this film for years. I can’t wait to now realise it with these remarkable collaborators.
Recorded Picture Company and Pandora Films are flipping the bill. Production is expected to start early next year in Germany, Morocco and Detroit.
Wasikowska, who made her horror debut in the 2007 creature-feature Rogue, is coming off director Cary Fukunaga’s critically acclaimed Jane Eyre. Swinton can be seen as the White Witch in the third Narnia offering The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Sundance Selects has acquired the U.S. rights to writer/director Julia Leigh’s feature film debut Sleeping Beauty. Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) stars as Lucy, a student-turned-prostitute who allows herself to be used while passed out in a drug induced stupor inside what is called a Sleeping Beauty chamber.
Jonathan Sehring, president of Sundance Selects, said today:
For the last 5 days, people throughout Cannes have been discussing Sleeping Beauty. We are thrilled to introduce Julia Leigh and her arresting debut to American audiences, and to continuing the discussion.
What Sehring failed to mention is that North American audiences will now get to see Browning in her first nude performance. According to Clatto’s very own international informant, the 22-year-old cutie goes nude throughout most of the film and delivers full-frontal thrills.
Browning began her acting career at the age of eight. While in her teens, she starred in Ghost Ship, Darkness Falls, and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. She scored the lead role in Dreamworks PG-13 thriller The Uninvited in 2009 and led a cast of half-naked babes in director Zach Snyder’s 2011 masterpiece Sucker Punch.
