Marilyn Manson has announced that he and long time label Interscope Records are parting ways. The news comes as the band embarks on a tour of the U.K.
Manson tells Metal Hammer U.K.:
We’ve just been released from our record contract with Interscope so I think a lot of the creative control on which my hands were tied on a lot of choices – the music videos – things like that. And the first example is the newest video, they clearly wouldn’t have allowed me to make that video. So we started writing new songs on the road – a bit like [David Bowie’s album] ‘Aladdin Sane’ – I think people can expect a new record a lot sooner than we [expected].
Marilyn Manson has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and is arguably one of music’s best live acts. In recent years, his off-stage, headline-grabbing antics have eclipsed his work, reducing the one time Antichrist superstar to tabloid fodder. It’s an ironic and unfortunate turn of events being that Manson is currently creating his most mature and exciting material in years, namely 2007’s epic goth-romance Eat Me, Drink Me and this year’s ode to misery and loss The High End of Low.
Two of my favorite things have come together in a sexy new ad campaign aimed at horny alcoholics: Vodka and actress Kate Beckinsale (Underworld, Whiteout). Photographer Ellen Von Unwerth has photographed Beckinsale for a series of ads promoting some of Absolut Vodka’s signature cocktails. Beckinsale dons costumes inspired by the old-school sci-fi-comedy Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and the classic urban legend Bloody Mary.
Absolut’s ad campaign also features actress Zooey Deschanel (The Happening) in a Barbarella inspired pose.
Konami Digital Entertainment has announced a Dec. 8 street date for the debut of its Silent Hill franchise on the Nintendo Wii system. The company describes Silent Hill: Shattered Memories as a re-imaging of the first Silent Hill game.
The synopsis reads:
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories begins just like the original as Harry Mason is searching for his daughter through the snowy streets of the haunted Silent Hill where he will encounter a cast of unique characters. However, this time, players are equipped with only a flashlight and cell phone to get story information, solve puzzles and navigate the darkness while escaping the demons that lurk among them. In addition, a psych-profiling feature has been added to analyze players and adjust itself to their actions, making this the most customizable and terrifying survival horror title to date.
PSP and Playstation 2 versions of the game will follow soon after.
The Silent Hill games are arguably the best in the horror-survival genre. I recommend locking your doors before initiating game-play. You don’t want anyone walking in on you as your arms are flailing with the Wiimote and you’re calling out for mommy.
The red-carpet premiere of Oscar-winner Peter Jackson’s (Lord of the Rings) The Lovely Bones was held Wednesday night at the Paris theater in New York . The film, which marks Jackson’s return to directing since 2005’s King Kong, opens in limited release on Dec. 11 in New York and Los Angeles, before going nationwide on Jan. 15.
The Lovely Saoirse Ronan
The supernatural-drama tells the heartbreaking tale of Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl who is raped and murdered by a neighborhood man. Her grief-stricken father, played by Mark Wahlberg, desperately sets out to help find his daughter’s killer, all the while being guided by Susie’s spirit.
Bat man
Judging from the following clip, this could be Wahlberg’s best dramatic role since Boogie Nights. Check it out:
Susan Sarandon officially makes her transition from MILF to GILF in the film as Susie’s hard-boiled, whiskey-swigging nana. Take a look:
The Lovely Bones costars 15-year-old actress Saoirse Ronan as rape/murder victim Susie Salmon, Rachel Weisz as her mother, Michael Imperioli as Det. Fenerman and Stanley Tucci as Susie’s killer, Mr. Harvey.To see more clips and the film’s trailer, click here.
And, don’t forget to check out the following gallery:
Friends of feather wait together. I had erroneously reported that The Guardians of Ga’Hoole would have its premier in Australia on Dec. 9 of this year. It did sound too good to be true and my eyes (or was it the public school system) did, indeed, fail me when reading the ABC Australia story. There film is slated for release on Sept. 24.
Ga’Hoole, the 3-D animated feature from director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen), was test screened for audiences here in Los Angeles, leading me to believe the picture will be out a lot sooner. I still think we’ll see Ga’Hoole before the summer.
(UPDATE: Click here and here for latest news on Ga’Hoole)
Director Zack Snyder
So, now, I’m left with this picture of Zack Snyder (he looks disappointed too) and an agonizing self-hatred for having led you astray. My apologies.
In any case, this part of the post remains accurate:
Contrary to earlier reports, actor Huge Jackman is not attached to the project. But, his countrymen Geoffrey Rush, David Wenham, Ryan Kwanten, Jay Laga’aia, Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, and Emilie de Ravin (aka: Claire from “Lost!”) have all been confirmed. Sam Neil, Hugo Weaving, Miriam Margolyes, Helen Mirren and Jim Sturgess round out the cast.
Guardians of Ga’Hoole is the story of a young orphaned barn owl named Soren (voiced by Sturgess) and his quest to escape a group of war-mongering owls. The film is an adaptation of the first three books in author Kathryn Lasky’sfantasy series of the same name.
Guardians of Ga’Hoole is produced by Village Roadhouse and Australia’s very own Oscar-winning animation studio Animal Logic (Happy Feet).
There must be something in the water blood. First Twilight babe Christian Serratos bared her butt for PETA and now the film’s star Kristen Stewart is stripping for James Gandolfini in the indie drama Welcome to the Rileys. Directed by Jake Scott, Rileys was shot in New Orleans and stars Stewart as an emotionally unstable stripper-prostitute named Mallory.
The synopsis reads:
A troubled young woman unites a grieving couple who have drifted apart after the death of their daughter.
Stewart is said to have numerous scenes in which she “walks around naked.” She also grinds on Gandolfini’s pole (bada-bing!). The 19-year-old actress has described the film’s subject matter as the hardest she’s ever had to deal with and even had her friend and Twilight co-star Nikki Reed join her on the set in New Orleans for support during the movie’s racier scenes.
"You're trashy, but I'm in waste management, ya hear?"
Buzz around the film is deafening. Stewart, whose indie creds include Adventureland, What Just Happened, and The Yellow Handkerchief, told the WENN blog back in August that:
It’s an independent movie that nobody would normally see and now it’s like, ‘Oh, let’s go see Bella in this stripper movie. It’ll be crazy!’
Welcome to the Rileys is set to premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
Here you have the second poster for Marvel Studios Iron Man 2, due in theaters on May 7, 2010. Unlike the first one sheet which gave us a glimpse of War Machine, this one focuses on the man behind the mask: Tony Stark. It’s simple, but effective. Robert Downey Jr. has got that intense “I’ll-break-into-your-kid’s-bedroom-and-fall-asleep-on-his-bed” gaze that let’s you know he’s a bad-ass.
Directed by Jon Favreau, Iron Man 2 costars Scarlett Johansson (The Spirit, The Black Dahlia), Mickey Rourke (Sin City, Angel Heart), Samuel Jackson (1408, Jumper), Don Cheadle, and Gwyneth Paltrow (Seven, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow). The original Iron Man opened in 2008 and went on to earn over $582 million worldwide.
Director MCG’s surprisingly dark take on the Terminator mythology met with great resistance from the press. Critics called the flick soulless (Uh, it’s post-apocalyptic, people) and chose to focus their reviews on Christian Bale’s infamous obscenity-laced, on-set rant against a careless crew member. Even James Cameron, director of Terminator 1 & 2, reportedly had lukewarm feelings towards the fourth chapter in the John Conner saga.
Well, fuck James Cameron in the neck. Terminator: Salvation is by far the best entry in the franchise. Sure, the first two Terminators were cool when they first came out–much like stone-wash jeans–but they just don’t stand the test of time. The story is still one of the most compelling in sci-fi, but you have to get through a lot of cheese to get to the meat of the Terminator mythos.
"Is there a crew guy behind me?"
Set in the year 2018, Salvation doesn’t waste time with cute cyborg-out-of-water scenarios (though there are cyborgs in the water). Instead, the film, a prequel of sorts, skips the time travel to paint a brutally dismal future where a variety of killing machines–each more frightening than the last–hunt down human survivors. John Connor (Bale) is now leading the war against Skynet and has discovered its plan to harvest people to use in the development of their new human/cyborg hybrid … the T-800.
Along with providing the origins of the T-800, Salvation also introduces Conner’s father Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) as an adolescent. Other new characters joining in on the battle against the bots include more human than human cyborg Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) and femme-fatal warrior and pilot Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood).
Terminator: Rise of the ... well, you know.
Salvation really comes through in story and jaw-dropping effects (think The Road meets Transformers). The scope and intensity MCG has brought to the franchise is impressive and sure to pump up fans for a new series of Terminator movies. It should also be noted that Bale has given us a John Connor we can finally stand behind (hard to believe Edward Furlong’s whiny teen-bitch Connor grew up to be such a bad-ass).
Terminator: Salvation is available on DVD and Blu-ray disc from Warner Home Video. If you have the means, I recommend the Blu-ray. Along with a handful of bonus features, the BD includes an R-rated Director’s Cut of the movie that features a little more violence and a deleted brief topless scene from the very sexy Moon Bloodgood.
RENT: SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT BOX SET (PARTS 3, 4, 5)
The first Silent Night, Deadly Night is the amusingly disturbing tale of a boy named Ricky Caldwell who grows up to be a serial killer after witnessing the murders of his parents by a killer in a Santa suit. The film is holiday classic and definitely a must own. It’s four sequels, however, add up to a steaming pile of coal. But, that’s not stopping Lionsgate Home Video from releasing a three-disc set priced at $19.99 (you can pick it up at Amazon for $14.99). The box set marks the first time the following three titles are available on DVD:
Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out finds Ricky stalking a blind clairvoyant girl as she travels with her brother to meet her family on Christmas Eve. Cast includes stunner Laura Harring (One Missed Call, Dead Women in Lingerie) and Bill Moseley (Devil’s Rejects, Halloween) as Ricky Caldwell.
Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation dashes off in a completely different direction by centering its story around an ancient Egyptian cult. Noteworthy actors include “Moonlighting’s” Allyce Beasley, Bond-girl Maud Adams, and B-movie icon Clint Howard (Halloween, the Dentist 2).
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker stars a then 71-year-old Mickey Rooney as a beloved toy maker with a Geppetto complex who may be up to no good.
These sequels are awful, but worth a few laughs if viewed while intoxicated. I suggest using your Netflix.
BURY: DEADLINE
Brittany Murphy stars as Alice, an emotionally unstable writer out to finish a manuscript in a desolate Victorian house. Spooked by unexplained noises and an ongoing sensation that she’s being watched, Alice explores the house and finds camera tapes belonging to a troubled couple that once lived at the residence . The woman in the video (Thora Birch) appears tormented and it soon becomes clear to Alice that the woman is dead and haunting the home.
Deadline is pretty generic stuff. In fact, it’s so dull, I couldn’t help but to think about the deadlines I was missing by watching this flick. No scares. No suspense. And , the make-up is Halloween shop caliber. All this could have been forgiven with some frivolous Birch boob shots, but such was not the case.
Deadline is available from First Look Studios. Both DVD and Blu-ray include a short BTS featurette and trailers.
Ladies, you may finally get your man to escort you to the ballet … well, a movie about ballet.
Black Swan, the in-the-works supernatural thriller from director Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain), is set in the world of ballet and depicts the ruthless and escalating rivalry between dancers Nina and Lilly, played respectively by Natalie Portman (V for Vendetta, Revenge of the Sith) and Mila Kunis (The Book of Eli, Max Payne). The film is Aronofsky’s followup to last year’s sleeper hit The Wrestler and remains shrouded in secrecy. However, one extremely titillating and buzz-generating plot point is known: Portman and Kunis will share a sex scene.
Admit it. You feel a disturbance in the force.
How explicit the sex scene will be is not yet known. But, the folks at ScriptShadow have reviewed a copy of the screenplay and describe the romp as:
Ecstasy-induced hungry aggressive angry sex.
Of course, things can change once filming starts. Portman downplayed what could be the greatest pairing in movie history during an interview with MTV today.
Portman, who did go nude in Wes Anderson’s short film Hotel Chevalier, told MTV:
It’s a very extreme movie, it’s like very extreme situations. But, it’s not explicit in any way.
Kunis was also vague when discussing the scene. She tells Black Book Magazine:
Sure, it’s two girls making out, and guys have a thing for that. And Nat is like every guy’s dream. She’s a nerd’s idea of heaven. The whole thing is silly, but I can see why people care.
What I don’t understand is how none of these journalists ever ask the question that we the people (those of us with cocks) are dying to know: is there nudity? While common sense tells me that the scene will most likely be lame tame, until I hear someone say “tastefully done,” I am holding on to hope. After all, Aronofsky is the man who got Jennifer Connelly to go bottomless in Requiem for a Dream.
Black Swan also stars Winona Ryder (Star Trek, Alien: Resurrection) as lead ballet dancer Beth, Barbara Hershey (Riding the Bullet) as Nina’s mother, and Vincent Cassel (The Cross) as Yevna, the ballet’s director.
To keep you interested, enjoy the following gallery featuring Mila Kunis courtesy of Black Book:
“Lost” actors Evangeline Lilly (Kate Austin) and Emilie de Ravin (Claire Littleton) were in Los Angeles today re-shooting a scene for the season premiere episode of the Emmy award-winning sci-fi series.
The scene was originally taped in Hawaii but had to be reshot, and because Evangeline, Emilie and director Jack Bender all happened to be in Los Angeles (the cast is on hiatus), they decided to shoot it at ABC Studios. According to a source on set, the scene involved a gun, a cab driver and a…wait for it, certain female actress sporting a baby bump.
Well, Mrs. Muertos and I won’t be getting any sleep tonight trying to figure out what this could mean. We’re fairly certain Claire will be the pregnant character, but will it be a flashback episode or have things gone back to square one since Juliette set off the bomb at the Black Swan? One thing is for certain: I need to stake out ABC Studios. Maybe, even Evangeline’s bedroom.
