American Horror Story: Freak Show
One of the great things about Ryan Murphy‘s FX anthology horror series is that each season is a fresh start. The next season, American Horror Story: Freak Show, will see many of the same cast and crew heading to 1950’s Florida, where a “dark entity” emerges.
While Murphy isn’t as secretive as some of his fellow showrunners, he hasn’t said that much about where the new run of episodes might take us. So it’s exciting to get our first glimpse at the cast in costume, including Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Michael Chiklis, and so many more.
American Horror Story: Freak Show’ begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952. A troupe of curiosities has just arrived to town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.Speaking to THR, Murphy explained what makes American Horror Story: Freak Show unique even among American Horror Story seasons. “It feels like a Douglas Sirk movie; it’s very 1952 presentational and then the horror is an unexpected jab,” he said. “As opposed to last year, which was crazy camera work and comedy. This year feels different.”
Though the tone, setting, characters, and storyline are all new, Murphy said American Horror Story: Freak Show does tie in with some of the same themes laid out in earlier seasons.
“At every freak show, you have the tropes but there’s some [that are] unique and weird. It’s about something: It’s about outcasts and how society at that time … true stories about circus performers who were cast aside. The story in many ways dovetails with Asylum, because they leave one era and you can see many of them in real life were put into asylums. There’s a great symmetry we’ve come up with that’s rewarding.”
The poster is amazing. From top to bottom and left to right, we have Sarah Paulson as Bette and Dot Tattler, Denis O’Hare in an unnamed role, Kathy Bates as bearded lady Effil Darling, Angela Basset three-breasted woman Desiree Dupree, Frances Conroy in another unnamed role, Michael Chiklis as strongman Wendell Del Toredo, Jessica Lange as freak show manager Elsa Mars, and Evan Peters as Effil’s son Jimmy. Other stars include Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Wes Bentley, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Jyoti Amge. Patti LaBelle and Matt Bomer are expected to guest star. Not everyone here has an obvious physical deformity, but we’ll surely find out what makes them freakish on the inside. After all, the hashtag #WirSindAlleFreaks translates to “we are all freaks.”
American Horror Story: Freak Show premiere’s Wednesday, October 8 at 10 PM on FX.
Saw – 10th Anniversary Halloween Re-release
Lionsgate has announced it will re-release its gruesome 2004 franchise-launcher Saw in a limited nationwide run this Halloween, giving horror fanatics something to mark their calendars for. Saw will open for a one week 10th anniversary engagement on Friday, October 31 with Thursday midnights in select locations. The serial killer pic spawned a seven-film, $874 million franchise with a simple high concept premise: Two men wake up in the lair of a serial killer named Jigsaw, forced to do the unthinkable to survive while figuring out their captor’s identity.
The gory thriller not only gave birth to the most successful horror franchise in history, it also launched the career of director James Wan, who went on to helm recent hits Insidious, The Conjuring, Insidious: Chapter 2, and Universal’s upcoming Fast & Furious 7. Wan’s Saw co-writer Leigh Whannell starred in the first film and is now set to make his directorial debut with Insidious: Chapter 3.
It appears to be a smart move by Lionsgate, as the Halloween weekend is otherwise light on horror offerings. October 31 even falls conveniently on a Friday. Only Clarius Entertainment’s Nicole Kidman thriller Before I Go To Sleep and Open Road’s crime drama Nightcrawler are hitting wide release that weekend, while more traditional horror titles The ABCs of Death 2 (Magnolia), Horns (Radius-TWC), and genre-bending import Why Don’t You Play In Hell? (Drafthouse) are opening in limited theatrical runs.
We await the inevitable 4K, 10th Anniversary Remaster on Blu-Ray…
Guardians of the Galaxy – By My 8 Year Old Son *****
Guardians of the Galaxy is about a thief called Star Lord, an alien called Gamora, a racoon called Rocket, a tree called Groot and a warrior called Drax who all come together to save the galaxy from Ronan. Star Lord steals an orb which has inside of it the Infinity Stone. The Infinity Stone is so powerful that it can destroy galaxies. Ronan steals the orb with the Infinity Stone and uses its power to attack Xandar. The Guardians of the Galaxy battle Ronan to save the planet.
My favourite parts of the movie are the start when Star Lord dances to the song called ‘Hooked On A Feeling’ by Blue Swede. I also like when the Guardians first come together in the prison to escape, it’s funny and chaos all in one. I like Star Lord because he’s funny and cool.
Guardians of the Galaxy is the BEST movie of the year. I give it 10 stars and I can’t wait for a next movie.
Lord Richard Attenborough R.I.P.
Two-time Oscar-winner Lord Richard Attenborough has died in England at the age of 90 after a glittering career on both sides of the camera that included acting in films such as Brighton Rock, The Great Escape, 10 Rillington Place and Jurassic Park, and directing and producing Oh! What a Lovely War, A Bridge Too Far, Magic, Gandhi and Chaplin.
Attenborough won the Oscar for best director in 1983 for his work on Gandhi, and for Best Picture for producing Gandhi. He also won three Golden Globes for supporting actor in Doctor Doolittle and The Sand Pebbles, and as director for Gandhi, which seemingly won everything the year it came out (its Oscar total was eight). His directing of musical adaptation A Chorus Line and Cry Freedom, the biopic about slain anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, also earned Golden Globe nominations.
Attenborough’s relationship with BAFTA (where he served as president for seven years, beginning in 2002) was even longer, beginning in 1959 and including 11 BAFTA Award nominations and four wins.
Sir Ben Kingsley, who won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal in Gandhi, issued a statement as well: “Richard Attenborough trusted me with the crucial and central task of bringing to life a dream it took him twenty years to bring to fruition. When he gave me the part of Gandhi, it was with great grace and joy. He placed in me an absolute trust and in turn, I placed an absolute trust in him and grew to love him. I, along with millions of others whom he touched through his life and work, will miss him dearly.”
Steven Spielberg, who directed Attenborough in Jurassic Park, also issued a fond statement: “Dickie Attenborough was passionate about everything in his life. Family, friends, his country and career. He made a gift to the world with his emotional epic Gandhi and he was the perfect ringmaster to bring the dinosaurs back to life as John Hammond in Jurassic Park. He was a dear friend and I am standing in an endless line of those who completely adored him.”
Attenborough had been in failing health in recent years, selling his beloved estate and moving into a nursing home in 2013 to be near his wife, Sheila, whom he married in 1945. He died at yesterday in west London, his son said, five years after a stroke that had confined him to a wheelchair and only a few days before his 91st birthday.
He was also older brother of naturalist and TV personality Sir David Attenborough, who survives him, as does his wife and three sons. A daughter, Jane Holland, and her daughter died in the 2004 tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in Southeast Asia. Attenborough created multiple facilities at Leicester and elsewhere to honor his lost family members and others killed in the disaster.
BAFTA Chief Executive Amanda Berry and Chair Anne Morrison issued the following statement: “We are deeply saddened by the death of Lord Attenborough Kt CBE, a monumental figure in BAFTA’s history. Lord Attenborough was intimately involved with the Academy for over 50 years. He believed in it passionately, supported it tirelessly and was integral to the organisation that BAFTA has become today.”
A proposal to introduce an Academy Fellowship was originally put forward by Lord Attenborough and it was first presented by SFTA as part of the annual Film Awards in 1971 to Alfred Hitchcock. The occasion was hosted by Lord Attenborough and reached a television audience of 16.5 million. Lord Attenborough himself became an Academy Fellowship recipient in 1983.
In 1976, he played a pivotal role in the Royal opening of the present Academy’s headquarters and during that occasion introduced the presentation of the Fellowship to Sir Charles Chaplin, whom he admired enormously.
On a personal note, I had the pleasure of meeting him in 1985 at a Premiere performance of A Chorus Line at the Newcastle Odeon. Working part-time at BBC Newcastle I was given a ticket by one of my bosses, and being at the time a young student, I headed straight for the food on offer. A man next to me asked what was good? It was ‘Dickie’, on hearing my accent he asked if I supported Newcastle United, when I replied ‘yes’ he asked if we could talk about the football as he was sick of talking to everyone about his movie. He was a passionate Chelsea supporter and we had a lively discussion for 5 minutes or so before he was whisked away to speak to the press. I remember him fondly as a charismatic figure, very engaging and quick-witted. I became a huge fan there and then.
Lord Attenborough occupies a special place in the hearts of so many and will be missed enormously. My thoughts are with his family, to whom I offer my deepest sympathy at this time.
The Living And The Dead
Life On Mars creators Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham are writing the six-episode period drama The Living And The Dead. Co-produced by BBC America and BBC Wales Drama Production, the story follows Nathan Appleby, a reluctant gentleman farmer in 1888 England who is obsessed with proving the existence of the afterlife. He looks into hauntings, paranormal happenings, and ghostly visitations, encouraged by the Society for Psychical Research. But as his investigations become more frequent and scary, Nathan starts to see and hear disturbing things that he simply cannot have imagined. Casting is to be announced. “We are as excited about this show as anything since Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes,” said Pharoah and Graham, who also are exec producing for Monastic Productions. “We want it to be moving, tender, sensual — and very, very scary.” BBC Worldwide will distribute The Living And The Dead worldwide.
The Bringing – Elisa Lam Movie
Sony Pictures is negotiating with Jeremy Lovering to direct The Bringing, the horror script by Brandon and Phillip Murphy based on actual events. Matt Tolmach and Daniela Cretu are producing. This has been top priority at Sony, and at one time had Nicolas Winding Refn circling. The pic is based on Elisa Lam, who was found dead in the water tanks on the roof of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. That’s the place that killers like Richard Ramirez called home at one time or another, and where suicides have occurred. Footage of Lam’s bizarre, inexplicable behavior in an elevator before her death became a massive Internet sensation, and this has been turned into the story of the man investigating her death, and the nightmare he stumbles into. Cretu’s First Born Films developed the script that was brought in by Kate Checchi and Brad Zimmerman.
Lovering directed In Fear, an Irish psychological horror film that premiered at Sundance 2013. It stars Iain De Caestecker and Alice Englert as a young couple terrorized by an unknown assailant.
Here’s the video of missing Canadian Elisa Lam from the LAPD.
Hannibal Lecter by David Hardy
More wonderful caricature art from Sydney artist David Hardy, an amazing Hannibal Lecter. You can check out Dave’s Facebook page HERE and see his earlier works, Tyrion Lannister from Gane of Thrones HERE and his Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead HERE
The Cornetto Trilogy
Check out these amazing The Cornetto Trilogy images from A Large Evil Corporation HERE
Leatherface – The Early Years…
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre seems to be in the news quite a bit of late, with the imminent re-mastered 4K 40th Anniversary rerelease and sadly, the death of Marilyn Burns. Now more news of yet another film to the Chainsaw canon…
Up-and-coming genre scribe Seth M. Sherwood has been hired to write a prequel to the original 1974 horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre titled simply Leatherface, (haven’t we already had that title..?) an individual familiar with the Millennium Films project has told The Wrap.
Official plot details are being kept under wraps, though the new film is expected to serve as an origin story that follows Leatherface’s early years in the 1970s (Didn’t we already see that in TCM:The Beginning..?)
Alexandra Daddario starred in last year’s Texas Chainsaw movie as Leatherface’s long-lost cousin, but it’s currently unclear whether she would return, given the bloody timeline of the series. If she does, it would likely be a cameo appearance as another character, such as a different member of Leatherface’s extended family.
Carl Mazzocone is producing Leatherface, while Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman will serve as executive producers. Campbell and Grobman fought hard to resurrect the franchise and being self-professed genre buffs they are excited to get started on the next installment.
Millennium Films is financing the project and will sell international rights. Millennium executives Beth Bruckner and Christine Crow are overseeing Leatherface for the studio. Production could start as soon as this winter, with a director expected to sign on in the coming weeks.
Sherwood has several projects percolating around town including a supernatural thriller at Blumhouse that will be directed by Greg Plotkin (Paranormal Activity 5). He also wrote a psychological thriller titled Interstate 5 that was voted to the 2012 Blood List. Described as a cross between Jacob’s Ladder and Natural Born Killers, the story follows a serial killer’s son and the daughter of one of his victims as they team up to find the maniac, only to be haunted by demonic forces intent on driving them mad.
I hope it’s good, it probably won’t be, but we live in hope. Some originality would be great…
Lauren Bacall R.I.P
One of the leading ladies of Hollywood’s Golden Age died today after a stroke. The sultry, fiery Lauren Bacall was 89. MSNBC’s Thomas Robert broke the news in a tweet, and the Bogart estate has confirmed it. She was famous for starring — on screen and off — with Humphrey Bogart in such 1940s classics as The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not, Dark Passage and Key Largo. In one of Hollywood’s great love stories, they married in 1945 and stayed together until his death in 1957. Four years later she married another acting legend, Jason Robards Jr.; they divorced in 1969.
Bacall worked in films consistently and enjoyed a career renaissance a decade later with key roles in Murder On The Orient Express (1974), alongside the likes of Albert Finney, Ingrid Bergman and Sean Connery, and The Shootist (1976), starring John Wayne as a dying gunfighter. Bacall continued to act in films and telepics, eventually landing a supporting role as the mother of Barbra Streisand’s character in 1996’s The Mirror Has Two Faces, which Streisand directed. It landed Bacall her only career Academy Award nomination; she lost to Juliette Binoche in The English Patient — she won the Golden Globe and SAG Award that year — but went to receive an Honorary Oscar in 2010.
Robin Williams R.I.P.
The comedian and actor Robin Williams has died at 63, according to police in Marin County, California. A statement from the assistant chief deputy coroner of Marin County announced on Monday that the Coroner Divisions of the Sheriff’s Office “suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia, but a comprehensive investigation must be completed before a final determination is made.”
His publicist confirmed the news: “Robin Williams passed away this morning. He has been battling severe depression of late, this is a tragic and sudden loss. The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time.”
His wife, Susan Schneider, released a statement saying she was “utterly heartbroken.”
“This morning I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings,” she said in the statement. “On behalf of Robin’s family, we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief. As he is remembered, it is our hope that the focus will not be on Robin’s death, but on the countless moments of joy and laugher he gave to millions.”
Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork & Mindy (1978-1982), Williams went on to establish a successful career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting.
His film career included such acclaimed films as Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990), The Fisher King (1991), Good Will Hunting (1997) and Insomnia (2002), as well as financial successes such as Popeye (1980), Hook (1991), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), The Birdcage (1996) and Happy Feet (2006).
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times, Williams went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Good Will Hunting (1997). He also received two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and five Grammy Awards.
LEGO – Decaying Houses by Mike Doyle
We all love playing with LEGO, but artist Mike Doyle is a guy who doesn’t mind spending countless hours upon hours in his endeavor to create amazing art using the famous bricks. And one of his projects was to create abandoned houses using only white, gray, and black blocks, ending up with creations that look like they’re haunted, infested with the most terrifying apparitions imaginable.
But what’s most impressive about these sets is just how detailed they are. Considering their massive size (some are measured in feet, not inches), you really begin to lose sight of the fact that they’re created with Lego and, instead, think that they are made of something else entirely. It’s seriously impressive.
Check out more of Mike’s art HERE. This is what the artist had to say about the snow-covered, two-storey build below:
To my eyes, patterns of decay find a more pleasing path than an untouched object. A roof collapsed by the weight of snow, side shingles ripped by the force of winds, substructures rotting, insects and weather gnawing the exposed surfaces. I can picture those windy days where a shingle flies off. Or the sudden creaking, cracking and burst of tinder giving way under snow’s heavy hand.
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