he world must love watching AMERICA be destroyed.. SAN ANDREAS, the epic action disaster pic–essential for summer box offices–is number 1 in 55 countries.. Even more, it made $60 mill in the overseas box office and for some reason performed exceptionally well in MEXICO..
The domestic take for the movie is $53 mil–even more than the original projections for the earthquake epic..
For months, fans of Nikki Finke wondered what her next move would be.. her site, Nikkifinke.com, sat lifeless after she roared originally, leaving DEADLINE.com and in turn meeting a legal struggle to do her work..
Cryptic messages were posted.Then nothing.
Now this: NIKKI FINKE IS RETURNING. But she is going to be writing fiction..
Ravi Somaiya in the NEW YORK TIMES expands on Finke’s announcement in the NEW YORK TIMES, reporting more of the background of how she ended up traveling down this new path..
The most despised woman in Hollywood is also the most read in the industry.. Deadline.com, then NIKKIFINKE.COM, were both daily reads for insiders in the entertainment industry—and all of them dreaded a post about them. Now Finke will do something different on HOLLYWOOD DIMENTIA.. Finke wrote this,
My website will present short stories, novellas and novel excerpts written by Hollywood insiders like myself. After 30 years as a journalist, I’m now going to expose the hard truths and gritty reality of showbiz through creative writing. In fiction, I can be more honest than just sticking to facts. The stories which I and others write won’t depict any actual Hollywood person or event. But they will marry artifice with verisimilitude into original content creation
She also said she didn’t care of the site gets traffic. She also installed a small pay wall to the content..
Hollywood loved the free rag she dished on them. But will they pay some pocket change to hear fiction based on them? We will see by the end of June when Finke’s DIMENTIA begins..
Nelson Greaves is getting some positive press about this week’s horror release: UNFRIENDED.. the movie is a twist on the safety net of the internet–a net that isn’t safe at all, as we know.
UNFRIENDED takes viewers down the road of what scares him about cyberspace. Matt Barone in WIRED explains the genesis of UNFRIENDED. One day, Greaves got an email from a friend. The scary part was that the friend recently committed suicide .. Barone goes on to write in WIRED:
“It was so emotionally troubling for me,” says Greaves. “It’s such a simple thing but it made me stop and say, ‘This is like something out of a scary movie.’”
After that, Greaves started thinking about how the Internet is in many ways a secondhand cemetery, housing millions of social media profiles created by people who have passed off this mortal coil but left their Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr accounts active. That dovetailed with discomfiting memories of being a kid in the early ’90s and seeing his older sister spend hours in AOL chat rooms without ever knowing what what her chatmates looked like—for all she knew, she could have been chatting with, as Greaves puts it, “dirty 40-year-old men.” The inherent creepiness of anonymity, its potential for malevolence, always stuck with him.
The idea of monsters and FREDDY KREUGER type characters in horror movies is so cliche at this point.. the generation who is budding today with youthful vigor doesn’t get freaked by Michael Myers or Jason. They are simply laughing stocks of the 20 century, relics of a time when movies were just slashing and dashing their way to cheap quick cash at box offices..
But the internet? Now that can be scary.
I think TUMBLR can often be scary.. I recall vividly the moment on my personal TUMBLR page–one I don’t update much anymore because I just quite frankly thought about it too much–when I posted a family photo of me with my wife and son.. And then the photo got reblogged on another page.. But then it got reblogged on a really not so good page. I asked for the photo to be removed, the person complied, but I was sort of amazed and yet appalled with how easy it was for my personal items to be taken from me. Until it dawned on me, or hit me like a freight train: I put it out there. I was the problem. Me. I didn’t realize the power of a clunky social network. How can I possibly blame someone else.
This is off the path of the movie UNFRIENDED. The actual film looks, well.. a little clunky itself. The reviews are mixed. I don’t doubt it will have a successful quick fortune at the box office, even if it’s not in the number 1 or even 2 place. It will also have a longer lifespan when it eventually gets to NETFLIX and others.
However the idea of the movie is what fascinates me more than the movie itself.
I remember when HALLOWEEN 8 tried an online angle way back in 2002. The movie, HALLOWEEN RESURRECTION, followed the cast of characters as they live-broadcasted a show from the Michael Myers house. Of course we know how that ends. The movie wasn’t received very well. It was a disaster. It failed miserably. I don’t think the concept was a failure, but perhaps the use of the internet in horror was too soon. Or maybe it is because the premise was just wrong. Instead of showcasing the internet as horror, Akkad (RIP) thought Michael would be more frightening. He wasn’t.
What UNFRIENDED may be getting right: The chills and spills of the NET and how often it can give you a little bit of hair raising moments. UNFRIENDED is speaking to bigger issues … social issues.. pop culture issues. Real issues. The fact that the monster isn’t some supernatural being, but instead the vast information superhighway, now that’s scary. Because we are so connected, and we are so often at the mercy of the anonymous creature or villain on the other end of the road.
When I read Greaves anecdote about getting an email from a dead friend, it reminded me iof something I wrote on February 2014, I wrote an article on the HORROR REPORT about how, if ghosts and EVPs are real, they should be starting to appear on Facebook and the internet any time now. Then, I wondered what it would be like to suddenly get a live message on Facebook from a friend you know is dead. I spoke personally about a friend I knew who did in fact die and leave a beautiful family behind. And I was as much struck then as I am now about how Facebook pages become milestone memorial sites, with profile pictures frozen in time of the person who passes, and constant updates are thrown on the wall by friend who wish happy birthdays or Christmases, or just pop in to say they miss the person. Maybe eventually, so as long as EVPs and contact from the dead is real, they will also learn how to use Facebook and update their page from beyond the grave.
In UNFRIENDED, the bullied soul, someone who committed suicide, enacts revenge on the cyber bullies who caused it.
Now that is scary for this generation.
Eisenberg has been comic relief.. he was Mark Zuckerberg.. and now he will toughen up and play evil in BATMAN VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE..
And he looks foreboding.
Welcome to Hollywood.. where apparently even the Oscar statue snorts cocaine..
It is actually a message of art being sent by the artist PLASTIC JESUS..
More from the LA TIMES:
“The piece is intended to draw attention to Hollywood’s hidden problem of drug addiction that affects hundreds of people in the showbiz industry and is largely ignored until the death of a high profile A list celebrity,” Stern said in a statement on Plastic Jesus’ behalf to LAist.
A few months ago, I introduced the classic film POLTERGEIST to someone younger in my family.. She was born in the late 1990s and did not have a notion of pop culture of the 1980s or the reason the Stephen Spielberg film changed everything. I really played the movie up to her, as well. I mentioned the spooky scenes, the scary clown, the bizarre tiny psychic, and the tree that came to life during a thunderstorm. By the time she had made it through the movie she was unimpressed.. It wasn’t scary compared to the compelling gory snuff films of today. And among the horror of our modern world, you can find a few gems, don’t get me wrong. But I still find the original POLTERGEIST compelling, deeply frightening, and yet amazingly beautiful and a story about how love perseveres.
Enter into the fray the newest incarnation, or should I say reincarnation, from Hollywood: Poltergeist is back. With iPhones and flatscreens.. no fuzzy TVs in this version.
I saw the trailer a bit ago for the film. Every fiber in my being wanted to hate the remake. I wanted to loathe the trailer.. But I ended up being a little more enthusiastic about it than I imagined myself to be..
There’s a few things to contemplate here.. The 1980s’ version was amazing because it took on the ‘feeling’ of pop culture of the 1980s and made it the very essence of the film.. take for example the television set going to fuzz after the nightly NATIONAL ANTHEM played.. That scene, more than anything, constantly stuck with my as I grew up. Because I recalled the time when TV did that–when channels signed off for the day and networks would give people their Star Spangled Banner, complete with the video featuring lots of creepy subliminal messages. Beyond that, there’s the nostalgic feeling I still get when I watch the original movie.. There’s something deeply troubling, now as a parent, thinking about the loss the main characters were feeling during the film. And then the amazing miracle of love bringing them back together at the end. This movie is as much a drama as it is a horror. Spielberg created an immense classic..
So while I figure nothing will ever diminish his work with this movie, the newest trailer put me in a much different place than what I assumed I’d be in after watching it..
Let me first say, I dislike remakes for the most part. The Rob Zombie HALLOWEEN films were simply trash worthy of a garbage heap.. the newest NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET had no meaning in my life.. Sometimes there’s a score but for the most part it’s Hollywood rehashing old ideas and attempting to get some street cred with the use of modern gadgets and phrases.
While I think the new POLTERGEIST may still do that, I sort of changed my tune when it comes to this movie.
I think this generation needs that ‘pop culture’ fit .. I think it needs a film that one day, when they go back and watch, they too will become nostalgic for the 2000 teens. Maybe this movie will do it. It could, and it should.. If it sticks to the Speilberg concept of keeping a family together with love, ensuring the triumph of good over evil, and reinforcing the notion that you don’t busy yourself conjuring up demons under your bed, then it may have an impact.
There are a few notable things in the trailer. First off, the use of a flat screen TV is an obvious thing.. no more big giant boxed versions with antennas on. The is the new world.. There will be more cellphones and technology will be showcased–just as it was in the original .. What seems missing is the enigmatic 4-foot-tall psychic Tangina Barrons.. Maybe we will have a new memorable character in the latest..
There is debate within circles of fanboys and horror sites as to whether this movie will be a kids’ story or an R-rated horror.. back in January, there were rumors that this movie was going to be a 3D family friendly child abduction film *(if that is possible)*.. But the new trailer looks a bit more intense than a family friendly film.. The inclusion of a clown makes it even more worthwhile of horror..Even BLOODY DISGUSTING thinks the trailer looks ‘bonkers’ ..
Time will tell as the who will be happy seeing this movie and who will not be.
But as far as remakes go, POLTERGEIST may finally be one I deem worthy of viewing.
In the mean time, I went back in time and found the original trailer for POLTERGEIST in 1982.
I dare stay no matter what Hooper and company do in 2015, nothing will ever defeat the classic or the theme song, one of the scariest and yet most beautiful scores ever written:
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER IS SPLASHING MORE LATE NIGHT SATURDAY BREAKING NEWS REGARDING SONY.. HOLLYWOOD WAS NOT ONLY ROCKED BY A TORNADO FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1983 BUT NOW ADDITIONAL GUARDIANS OF PEACE THREATS ARE BEING MADE..
From Ryan Gajewski at THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:
Hackers released a seventh cache of files leaked from Sony Pictures Entertainment on Saturday, along with a promise of more to come.
Someone claiming to be a member of hacking group Guardians of Peace sent an email to journalists that listed two web addresses where new Sony information could be found.
The email also said that a “Christmas gift” would be arriving soon that will “put Sony Pictures into the worst state.” Countless Sony files, revealing everything from embarrassing email threads to salary details, have been released online following a Nov. 24 cyberattack on the studio.
According to Recode, the newest batch of files includes a PowerPoint presentation given about Sony-backed video site Crackle.
Clearly the GOP realizes one thing: The media has eaten up the treasure trove of racist and juicy emails from Pascal and Rudin..
This site, and others, having been covering the SONY hack in depth.. There have been a number of twists..turns.. moments of shock. Emails of scorn.
Jolie got chicken pox..
Leo is ‘despicable.’
Will Smith? Jayden? No kind words..
Pascal got Sharpton’s rocks..
THE TRUTH ROCKS.. IT’S A BRUTAL WORLD AFTER THE HACKS ATTACK HACKS..
But HOLLYWOOD hacks at Sony are going to have a very brutal Christmas season..
Just as their movie THE INTERVIEW gets set for Christmas, it appears this GOP group will wage even more cyber terror on investors and egos before the mistletoe gets hung..
So .. back to the question I keep asking.. an act of war??
JARED LETO will play the JOKER..
WILL SMITH is DEADSHOT..
TOM HARDY is Rick Flagg..
MARGOT ROBBIE is HARLEY QUINN..
JAI COURTNEY is BOOMERANG..
CARA DEVELINGE is ENCHANTRASS..
All of this casting will occur for the film SUICIDE SQUAD, expected to begin filming during the spring of 2015..
WARNER BROS announced the news today with fanfare, saying that the comic book film will center around the vaudevillians and their chance of redemption in the eyes of the government that denounced them..
The movie is planned for a release August 2016..
There are more casting rumors saying that Lex Luther will be played by Jesse Eisenberg..
However, it’s not all rosy news for the press release naming the big stars to the cast..
Some DC Comics fans are concerned about the use of character actors to play lead roles–in this regard there is concern as well that none of the female leads are strong actresses .. User comments on various stories in relation to this press release seem lukewarm to the cast. While some are able to live with names like Will Smith, others are exceptionally concerned about the way Leto will play the clown prince of crime–
DC COMICS fans know the SUICIDE SQUAD well. They are the people who, in the comic, have redeemed themselves in the eyes of the United States government and have now become assets of UNCLE SAM..
There is undoubtedly a strong political message throughout the comic–it’s most likely the same theme will be present in the film adaptation. It just also so happens to come at the same time the 2016 presidential election will be wrapping up, some wonder if the film will try to assert some sort of statement in the political world..
The WALKING DEAD show had a major development last night in its midseason finale.. a major character died. And the East Coast knew it first.
Unfortunately in our wired world of uber connectivity, it’s tough to keep things of the pop culture category secret for very long.
Normally its fans that spoil the show.. last night, though, it was the show itself..
After the EAST COAST airing of the was complete, someone thought too fast and posted this image on the official WALKING DEAD Facebook page:
The response was immediate–and angry. The entire West Coast audience just had the major plot twist revealed with a photo and an “RIP BETH” underneath..
At the time of this post, the image has garnered 190,000 shares, 540,000 likes, and 140,000 comments–most of them negative and containing humorous memes insulting the people behind THE WALKING DEAD for revealing by accident such a major affair on the program..
One demanded to ‘fire your social media manager.’ Another posted these
There were countless others–countless in the hundreds of thousands now–that most people cannot humanly have time to read..
But that’s the net..
There is a report circulating in the UK press that the image was pulled from the Facebook page–probably an OH S&*T moment occurred in a dark office somewhere, or a badly timed pre-written update went viral too quickly.. While the image may have been pulled quickly, the UK TELEGRAPH reports accurately that far too many people saw it already for the sudden pull down to become effective..
And with that: You have a PR disaster for a program that has a dedicated fan base who defends it to the death. Even Beth’s death.. Except the West Coast. They’re a bit angry..