Written By: Brandon Engel

John Carpenter is a popular American film director best known for horror and science fiction movies. In a career that has spanned more than four decades, Carpenter has amassed a large body of work. He is not simply a director of horror films, but a successful filmmaker who has both written and directed action and science fiction films as well as horror. His best known and appreciated films include Halloween, The Thing, Escape From New York, Starman and They Live, starring professional wrestler Roddy Piper.

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Source: Peter Jackson Facebook | LA Times | Posted By: Dan Geer

A few months ago director Peter Jackson screened footage from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at CinemaCon in the actual frame rate the film was shot in, which is 48 fps. For those of you not in the know, for the last 80 years or so, films have been shot at 24 fps (frames per second). At 48, things like motion blur seem to be non-existent and footage appears to be more “real” than ever before, according to those who have filmed at this frame rate, such as Jackson.

San Diego Comic-Con is happening as I write this, and yesterday Jackson commented to the LA Times that he would not be screening The Hobbit footage there at 48 fps this time around, because of all the negative responses last time around from various news outlets and bloggers who claimed that the footage looked like video, sort of like what soap operas or sporting events look like in HD. They essentially claimed the footage almost looked fake. Jackson says that, by screening the footage at 24 fps at the Con, people will report more on the film’s content, performances, etc., and not be distracted by things they may find not so appealing, such as 48 fps.

After his comments to the LA Times were made public yesterday, some bloggers made the accusation that Jackson is trying to cover up how “bad” the footage looks at 48 fps, as if Jackson got cold feet. However, the acclaimed film director has released a more detailed response via his Facebook page addressing in full his decision to screen the footage at 24 fps. Read on to see what he had to say!

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Posted By: Dan Geer

One of the most iconic and well-renowned films in cinematic history is director F.W. Murnau’s classic 1922 German Expressionist film, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens. While most people today probably haven’t even seen the film, images of actor Max Schreck’s portrayal of the vampire are still engrained in pop culture today. Many people I have talked to still think he is the scariest looking vampire ever put on film.

Since my wife is from Germany, she and I often make it over there to visit family and friends. So, as a fan of Nosferatu, I decided that our next trip should include a visit to Lübeck, Germany, where the film’s fictional town of “Wisborg” was brought to life. More specifically, I wanted to visit the “Salzspeicher” (salt storehouses), which are the buildings that were used to portray the vampire’s home in the film. They are still in existence today, although they are no longer used to store salt. Rather, they have since been converted to a clothing boutique, primarily consisting of women’s apparel (believe it or not). Hit the jump for more on this historic filming location for the film, as well as some of the photos I took while we were there.

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Source: Empire | Posted By: Dan Geer

Indiana Jones fans have been divided over his latest adventure in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Some enjoyed it overall (like myself), while others couldn’t get past things like Mutt swinging with monkeys, CGI gophers, or Indiana Jones surviving a nuclear blast. Either way, it seems like the general consensus among fans is that perhaps Indy needs one more outing, whether it’d simply be for the fun of it, or to right a few wrongs.

Empire recently sat down with Spielberg to ask for an update on Indy 5, and also got the chance to hear his thoughts on some of the critiques Crystal Skull has received since it first hit theaters in 2008. Hit the jump to find out what he had to say!

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Written By: Dan Geer

The original Star Wars films are probably the most influential movies in the history of film-making, and are definitely the most referenced in pop culture. They have formed an incredibly relatable modern myth that movie-goers have fervently latched onto for over 30 years. Since the original film’s conception in 1977, a franchise was created that quickly became a “force” to be reckoned with, through its various popular sequels/prequels, animated series, TV movies, books and countless amounts of collectables. To this day, Star Wars is an unstoppable marketing machine, having birthed into existence the biggest, most passionate fan base on the planet when it comes to movies, and showing absolutely no sign of fading away. Like it or not, Star Wars is forever.

So it goes without saying that, ever since Star Wars creator George Lucas officially announced the release of all all six flims in one Blu-ray Set last year at the Star Wars: Celebration V convention in Orlando, FL, it became the most anticipated Blu-ray box set from that point on – right up to its release a little over a week ago on September 16th (Sept. 12th in the UK). In its first week of release, one million sets were sold around the world, raking in $84 million dollars – making it the bestselling catalog Blu-ray set of all time.

And yet, along with the release of the new set has come a vicious swarm of controversy. Fans are all over the map with this one, varying from embracing all the great special features and accepting the new changes made to the films, to flat out rejecting all of it simply because the original theatrical cuts of the original trilogy are not included. Because of all the insane debating and nitpicking going on over the set, I felt compelled to give my own take on it – after having already viewed what’s on the box set, unlike many who immediately dismissed it without even giving it a fair chance. I can only offer my reasoning behind why I chose to purchase the set, and from there the reader can evaluate (or reevaluate) whether or not this is a set worth owning. Sure, it is not really that important in the grand scheme of things. But, this is a movie website after all, and it’s Star Wars, so the following commentary on this set was pretty much inevitable.

You ready? Let’s get geeked…

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Source: Kevin and Josh Movie Show | Nolan Fans | Posted By: Dan Geer

Image from Life.com

When Batman Begins was released, I really thought there would be no way to top it. It was the perfect Batman movie in my eyes. Then, director Christopher Nolan came back for a second time with The Dark Knight, achieving the impossible by making a movie that is somehow more perfect.

So what if someone who worked on both films, and who will be working on the third, came along and said that The Dark Knight Rises is even better? When asked on the Kevin and Josh Movie Show how Nolan can top The Dark Knight, cinematographer Wally Pfister said, “I read the script 2 weeks ago, and he’s done it. Plain and simple — he’s done it.” Read on for more!

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Source: Entertainment Weekly | Posted By: Dan Geer

No, Liam Neeson is not shooting new footage to be reedited into the Star Wars movies for the Blu-ray release (as far as we know). However, he will be officially returning to the same universe to voice Jedi Master “Qui-Gon Jinn” in Cartoon Networks’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series! Hit the jump for more!

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Source: ShowbizSpy | Posted By: Dan Geer

We all know David Duchovny is a strong supporter of a third X-Files film. He has repeatedly said in many interviews over the last couple of years that, even though the last film wasn’t as successful as they had hoped, he is game for a third film.

But how about releasing it in the summertime, like they did with The X-Files: I Want to Believe? Would that be wise on the part of 20th Century Fox? Duchovny seems to think so. Read on for an excerpt from his interview with ShowbizSpy on the matter!

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Source: Marvel Studios | Troublemaker Studios | Posted By: Dan Geer

Right before the teaser trailer for Marvel‘s Thor was released, the first official poster for the film was unveiled to the public. While it’s a pretty cool, shadowy-looking poster, I actually found it to be quite similar to a little poster by Troublemaker Studios for another film that was released this past July. Take a look at the poster comparison after the jump!

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Source: Collider | Posted By: Dan Geer

As you probably know from my previous posting of the trailer for the Lost Boys: The Thirst DVD/Blu-ray, my hopes were raised a bit after watching the preview. The franchise’s previous straight-to-DVD installment, Lost Boys: The Tribe, was pretty much a total mess of a film, save for the welcome appearance of Corey Feldman’s character “Edgar Frog,” who will have a much more prominent role in the The Thirst.

To follow up on that post, you can check out Collider‘s surprisingly positive review of The Thirst. Hit the jump for some excerpts from the review.

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