From A-list to straight to DVD. That’s what the cast for the upcoming adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s Freaky Deaky has just become. Variety is reporting that Billy Burke, Christian Slater, Michael Jai White, Breanne Racano, and Roger Bart will now be taking over for the likes of Sienna Miller, William H. Macy, Craig Robinson, and Matt Dillon in the hotly-talked about project.

The film will follow a couple who attempt to reunite with a movie mogul looking for a quick buck, as well as a cop team who try to bring the crew down. Slater and Racano will be playing the couple, with Burke as one half of the cop team, and White as the mogul’s assistant. For all intents and purposes, Macy was rumored to be joining the mogul role, so he could very well be involved, but that doesn’t appear likely. This cast is definitely odd, and one that, despite Burke, doesn’t really get my blood pumping. (more...)

Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz, and Kate Winslet. Those names right there should be enough to get any movie lover excited. Making it even more exciting is that they’re starring in Roman Polanski’s upcoming CARNAGE, an adaptation of the Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage, which sees two sets of parents having a chaotic night when trying to discuss a quarrel between their children.

The film is currently slated to arrive in theaters later this year, with an accompanying Oscar campaign. Sony Pictures Classics (via The Playlist) posted a new photo from the film, which you can check out after the break. (more...)

Not to be overshadowed by the THINGS release, Intervision's other new DVD this week, THE SECRET LIFE: JEFFREY DAHMER, is a must-see for those with any passing interest in how real-life serial killers are portrayed on screen. Filmed after his imprisonment and before he was murdered two years into his life sentence, this film chronicles Dahmer's life from first kill to capture. Director David R. Bowen and star Carl Crew keep things accurate and unsettlingly clinical. Narrated by Crew, the killer's voice in constantly in the viewer's head and, whereas this type of voice over work is used too often as a crutch, it becomes extremely effective in keeping the viewer connected directly to the Dahmer.

It's a low-budget affair, sets are sparse, effects are effective and not flashy. There is some repetitiveness to the film, once Dahmer moves out of his grandmother's house where he completed his first kill into his own apartment, he entered his real spree period and there's a long cycle in the film of him luring men to his home with the promise of money in return for posing for pictures, then killing, then repeating. In a strict narrative sense, this is weak but it's a testament to Bowen and Crew's determination to stick closely to the facts and their ideas about Dahmer's drive to kill that this device comes off as an effective way of wearing down the audience. It's a dream-like lull into the world of serial-murder- it's extremely unsettling and quite unique in the world of serial killer based films. (more...)

THINGS opens with a dream in which a man named Doug encounters a masked woman who proceeds to undress and inform him of his success in impregnating her. Later, Doug's brother Don (Barry J. Gillis, screenwriter and dude on the cover) and his buddy Fred show up at Doug's house for some drinking. They find the house empty, put their coats in the freezer, crack open a few breskies, admire the classy artwork in Doug's house, and surf channels, marveling at the reception of the "bestiality channel". It's not long before weird things begin to happen and they discover Doug has turned to some unusual methods in order to get his wife pregnant. This turns out to have been a bad idea as they are now sharing the house with the large, insect-like creatures that have emerged from her unholy womb.

No amount of reading is going to prepare you for a movie like THINGS. It's a product of so many forces foreign to the majority of people on Earth (and I'm talking well beyond the Canadian connection) that all the reviews in the world are not going to give you an idea of whether you or not you'll connect with the film. Films like THINGS have a built-in fanbase, one that ranges from the those truly intrigued by this sort of free-for-all no-budget direct-to-video lunacy to those always on the lookout for the next great "party film" where friends gather to drunkenly marvel at the incomprehensible goings-on. Beyond those that already know THINGS is up their alley, many will find the absolute lack of rules intriguing and should have just as much fun delving into the singular world created by the film. (more...)

There's no doubt that the seminal Michael Chiklis role is that of Detective Vic Mackey on The Shield, but he has been involved with many other projects over the years. Even since the conclusion of The Shield he has showed up in various projects such as EAGLE EYE and HIGH SCHOOL. Now he is looking to add another film to his post-Shield filmography.

Chiklis has officially joined the film PARKER, in which he will play the villain. PARKER will pit Chiklis against Jason Statham and will be directed by Taylor Hackford (RAY). The film is a thriller based off a series of books written by Donald E. Westlake. Jennifer Lopez is also currently in talks to play the female lead. (more...)

We may have had a brief look at actor Jared Harris as the evil Dr. Moriarty in the upcoming film, SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS, in one of the film’s teaser posters, but now we get our first full-on glimpse at the actor in all of his bearded glory.

The USA Today has given us our first look at the actor as Moriarty, and I must say, it looks damn good.  The outlet also reveals that the film will borrow some story bits from the short story The Final Problem, which finds our titular lead trying to outwit Moriarty as the latter attempts to bring the former down for the final time. SHADOWS will bring back Sherlock and Watson, Robert Downey Jr., and Jude Law, and will also include Stephen Fry as Mycroft and Noomi Rapace as a gypsy named Sim. (more...)

THE MUPPETS is fast approaching, and now that we have a full trailer for it, Disney is trying to tease us in any way possible. Things have been a little quiet since the release of the trailer, but now we have a brand new poster to feast our eyes on.

You can check out the full poster after the break! (more...)

Movie sequels can sometimes have to bear the burden that they are just not expected to be as good as the original. It’s a sad state of affairs that sometimes means there seemingly won’t be as much of an effort being made to make a quality film. If only American filmmakers had the integrity of directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. Together, these two have created a franchise that, for two movies now, has maintained the same tone, and have both been incredibly frightening. Their franchise in Spain has even spawned an almost shot-for-shot remake of the original here in the U.S.

The much-anticipated sequel to Spanish horror phenomenon REC finally arrives on DVD this week. The same directing team as the original film puts [REC] 2 together so it has the same look and feel. What’s different is that this time it’s shot from multiple cameras. Picking up 15 minutes from the terrifying ending of the first film, REC 2 follows a team of SWAT-like officers who are preparing to enter a building they know is harboring an infection similar to rabies. They just don’t know exactly what they’re in for. (more...)

In a somewhat surprising move, Netflix announced this morning (via their blog) a number of changes to their services, including new plans and prices. The biggest change announced is that Netflix is doing away with plans that combine unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming. Netflix will be splitting that current plan into two plans - an unlimited DVD option and an unlimited streaming option. Though the unlimited DVD plan will be Netflix's cheapest ever ($7.99 a month), duplicating what was once a $9.99 per month option for all unlimited services will now cost $15.98 a month. Cue screams from faithful Netflix-ers now.

The blog goes on to explain the company's reasoning for such a change, basically hinging on the persistence of DVDs as a demanded service by customers, not a soon-to-be-phased-out add-on that the service once made it out to be. You can read the entire blog entry after the break. Netflix customers, what do you think of these changes? (more...)

UPDATE: The Washington Post reveals that Paul Rudd will star in Morris' film, WE FROZE THE FIRST MAN.

Director Errol Morris is an interesting filmmaker. With a penchant for really inventive and off-beat documentaries, there has always been an aspect of his filmmaking style that’s seemed to have been really well-adjusted for the world of fiction filmmaking. That said, he’s not really been able to make much of a splash in that world. THE DARK WIND being his only fictional film, Morris is looking to dive head first into the world of narrative features however, with one hell of a project.

The Playlist spoke to the director, who revealed that he is currently working on an adaptation of the Richard Preston book, The Demon In The Freezer. The book looks at “the US government’s relationship with the biological weapons anthrax and small pox” ad finds comparisons to entities like TRAFFIC. He’s also still very much hard at work on the films WE FROZE THE FIRST MAN and THE END OF EVERYTHING, both of which are in some stage of production. (more...)