Movie News - Commando is Being Remade

20th Century Fox has hired David Ayer to write and direct a remake of the 1985 Arnold Schwarzenegger-starrer Commando. Erwin Stoff and John Davis will produce.

Ayer is a former Navy soldier who wrote Training Day and moved into directing with Harsh Times and Street Kings.

Deadline New York says Ayer "will put his own real-world spin on this original premise: a retired elite special forces operative sees his daughter kidnapped and is told she'll die unless he gets on a plane and kills the rival of a nasty exiled dictator. In the original, Schwarzenegger jumped off the plane before takeoff, and killed everyone involved in the kidnap plot."

Ayer's version of the character "will be less brawny, but more skilled in covert tactics and weaponry."

DVD Review - Mutants (R2)

If your jaded eyes cannot bear any further onslaught of virus-ravaged, rage-infected, turbo-charged zombies, and if you believe that the 28 Days Later-fashioned super-sprinting plague-ridden nasties are boring, de rigueur staples of modern horror, then you’ll probably run faster from new French horror movie Mutants than if you were the first meal of the day for the starving undead themselves.

Yet to cast it off as just another amphetamine-fuelled flesh-ripper would be a mistake, as there is much to cherish in David Morlet’s challenging movie, which is particularly impressive given that it constitutes a directorial debut (in terms of a full-length feature, at least; Morlet had already cut his teeth on a couple of horror ‘shorts’). As with many of the successful modern French horror films, proceedings adopt surprising depth with a refreshing and analytical approach to what initially seems to be well-trodden territory. Don’t be put off by the outwardly familiar theme and the somewhat misleading cover imagery; the resultant product represents a live dissection of the anatomy of love, loyalty, and the miserable dynamics of human suffering.

Morlet cements the foundations of the impending ordeal from the off, presenting a disturbing and exhilarating opening sequence against the beautiful but cold and isolated backdrop of the sprawling, snowy forest. Already, we are trapped within an agonising dichotomy; we have the dazzling white, innocent beauty of nature as our canvas, yet the bloody carnage of the virus, and the filthy, dilapidated buildings are splattered crudely across the surface. Before long, this is mirrored in the unfolding human tragedy; Sonia, our paramedic protagonist, is a rare subject of immunity from the terrifying virus that has decimated the population within three months, and her love for partner Marco is loyal and pure. Yet with cruel and unrelenting attrition, the virus slowly dismantles his body, spirit, and mind, inflicting a cruel and unthinkable torment for both parties.

In some respects, one of the greatest assets of the movie – its comprehensive analysis of love and suffering – places it in danger of losing its substantial engagement with the viewer. The overall delivery plays out like a movie of two halves, with the climatic and frenzied second half existing in stark contrast to the slow-burning build-up of the first. It’s a testament to its quality that this inconsistent pace doesn’t impact too heavily on the entire piece, but the line Morlet treads carries substantial risk and may frustrate some.

If the pacing can sometimes be questioned, it’s difficult to query the technical delivery of this accomplished production. Lighting is thoughtful; when Sonia treats Marco in the blanketed darkness of the hospital we see a glowing shard of light emanating from the machine gun she is using as a light source, and the result is clearly one of gentle, warm tenderness; yet surrounding the light strand is thick, solid blackness, and the unerring manner in which this envelopes the pair represents their predicament with unequivocal bleakness.

The composition and framing is also executed with considerable thought and precision. As Sonia endures the agony of witnessing Marco’s protracted deterioration, the camera slowly and accurately zooms towards a small round window in a closed door, and as Sonia walks across, she is framed within the circular glass. Our helpless position as a viewer behind the window echoes her own sense of despair, helplessness, and futility, as she watches the cruel demise of her loved one.

The score swings from murky, throbbing, B-movie intensity through to the beautifully clean and intricate guitar and piano sections, and provides an elegant aural backdrop. Effects are supremely well handled, and work in tandem with the measured lighting to provide an increasingly tense climax. Restraint is key, as we initially glimpse stunning flashes of mutant images in the darkness, particularly in the mind of the bitten. The transformation of human to mutant is especially gruelling and effective, and the increasing hordes of the infected are represented with impressive aplomb.

Ignore the well-worn subgenre categorisation and regulation cover art; Mutants is a deeply human and moving document of love, loyalty, and human suffering. The two-speed story construction lends itself to some strange plot pacing, which has a partially diluting effect on the overall impact, but this story has sufficient depth to largely transcend the limitations of the structure, and still manages to crank up the pace to unleash a devastating climax. When it comes to challenging, emotionally-charged, and stylishly-executed nerve-slicing shockers, the French prove yet again that they really are a hard act to follow.

This could have been just another amphetamine-fuelled zombie flick, but David Morlet instead opts for an impressive mutation of the subgenre by introducing a love story, and an in-depth analysis of the dynamics of human suffering. The contrasting frenzied explosion of blood-soaked carnage in the second half of the film results in a strange sense of pace, and the paucity of extras is a real disappointment, but this superb picture represents an intriguing addition to the subgenre that is all the more impressive given the debutant status of our French director.

Movie News - Clash of the Titans : Clash Harder

According to the site, Deadline, Clash 2 would bring back Sam Worthington as Perseus as well as most of the Greek gods, demi-gods and mortals that survived the first picture. Greg Berlanti (Green Lantern) has been hired to write the sequel screenplay, and while director Louis Leterrier isn't interested in a second go-around with mythology, he'll get an executive producer credit on the new movie. As they did with the remake, Legendary Pictures will produce Clash of the Titans 2. Warners wants to get this one ready for filming before James Cameron orders Worthington to go all Na'vi again for Avatar 2.

TV News - Legend of the Seeker

“Legend of the Seeker” has been cancelled after two seasons, according to sources speaking to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello.

The syndicated series is produced by ABC Studios, which also recently axed its syndicated “At The Movies.”

Based on the Terry Goodkind novels, it was overseen by the same Sam Raimi-led production company behind the “Hercules” and “Xena” syndicated series.

Find all of all of Entertainment Weekly’s story on the matter here.

The FilmMasons Interview - Jac Charlton

First off, thank you Jac for agreeing to this interview.

The FilmMasons: As a set dresser on Ghost Ship, what would your typical day be?

Jac Charlton: On Ghost ship my direct Boss was Bev Dunn Head of Set decoration, usually i would check in with Bev and see what sets needed to be dressed that day, that may of included lagging of the ships pipes 50's style with fake asbestos lagging, painting and putting them into the set, or dressing the Ballroom or Kitchen with dressings that the set buyers had previously bought. All the floors you see in Ghost ship, i laid with linoleum or carpet. All the wires and cabling that run from switches and through roofs, all the small stuff you see.
Pretty much everything you see in that film i had a hand in dressing, from down into the ships laundry to the ships bridge and beyond, On Ghost ship there was a lot of ageing down on Ghost Ship, from the pristine liner in the beginning to the rusting hulk as the story progresses. Some days and nights i even spent in the ocean wrangling flotsam, jetsam and luggage that needed to be in the scene. Somedays i would even cross over an lend the scenic's a hand painting or ageing. Bev Dunn and Grace Walker, production designer were wonderful to work for. There was never a dull moment on Ghost ship a hell of a lot of fun.


TFM: House of wax was a fantastic movie, you were a set dresser again on this movie, how different is one film from another?

JC: Different movies have completely different "feels" when you are working on them. From the personalities with the crews to the way the sets are dressed, lit and presented. Even though both of these shows are horror they are chalk and cheese in terms of their look. This can be attributed to the genius of the Production Designer and Art Directors. Grace Walker was the Production Designer on Ghost ship and House of wax, yet he and the team gave those movies their own stamp and identity. My role on House of wax was slightly different to Ghost ship, even though i helped dress the sets in both movies, on the House of Wax i was the "on set dresser" which means during shooting i was the one responsible for the look of the set that the camera sees. On set dressers also move items as necessary to make room for the filming equipment. During the shoot, the prop department works with an on-set dresser to ensure that the props and furnishing are in the proper location for the script and to maintain continuity, as scenes are often shot out of order.


TFM: What single piece of work are you most proud of?

JC: Wow, i think thats a toss up between Daybreakers and The Pacific, for completely different reasons.
Daybreakers, because when i got into the film industry 15 yrs ago my goal was to do make Vampire teeth for a really cool Vampire feature film. Daybreakers provided much more than this. Daybreakers allowed me to have a huge creative input to what the Vampires aesthetics were, it allowed me to have my own dept, with my Brother Robert and friend and talented technician Renata Loren. I am proud of Daybreakers because we also pushed our skills as Dental Technicians. Daybreakers was also great because the crew was mainly Queenslanders, crew that i have worked with many times over the years, and proud to have made it here in Queensland. Its a great feeling when you achieve a life goal. I cannot wait to see the film.
I am also proud of the 10 months of Prosthetic work i did for Jason Baird and The JMB FX team on Steven Spielbergs Mini series The Pacific. These were long days sometimes 16, 17hr days, 5, 6 days a week, the amount of Blood, Guts, wounds and dead bodies we produced for that show was staggering. I was pretty much front and centre on set, in the make up/ prosthetic firing line every day. I am so proud to be a significant part of this awesome project.


TFM: With your work on Sea Patrol, do you find television different to film?

JC: Working on a feature film usually means more money in the production budget which should in theory should mean a better product on screen. Hmmmm, sometimes.
Tv can be fast paced which can mean a different kind of creative improvisation to that of a Film production. All in all its pretty much the same formula. And that usually means , "do anything to get the job done."


TFM: Everyone has a skeleton in there closet, can you mention any jobs you would rather forget, or would like to leave off the resume?

JC: I put everything on my resume, each job has very different hurdles to get over, and the people that may be hiring you, i feel should see the big picture in what you have done up to that point. Im sure there are things i should leave off and things that are not CV kosher, but i don't want to forget anything i've done, while some of it might not be considered note worthy, i am happy with pretty much every thing i've done.


TFM: Who gave you your first break in the business?

JC: Gillian Butler a set dresser pushed me forward into working within art depts along with a Production Designer called Michael Ralph. They also pushed me headlong into standby props and making props, We did a lot of American movie's of the week back in the 1990's.
Jason Baird from JMB FX Studio here on the Gold Coast gave me my first break in Prosthetics, and i have been working with Jason for the last 15 years. His company does amazing prosthetics.


TFM: For H2O: Just add water, how much prosthetic work needed to be done each day?

JC: To give you some background to the mermaid tails JMB FX have built in a long line of tails for various movies over the last few years. It has been a massive research and development program of testing and retesting of materials and designs. These tails are hundereds maybe thousands of hours of work. Most of the tails JMB FX have made have over 5,000 individual scales hand punched and detailed,. It takes about 8 to 10 weeks to build , its very labour intensive.
With H20 over the years the on set work with the tails has become pretty streamline, and while filming can be as simple as transporting the tails, and putting the girls in and out of the tails, as required. if something goes wrong with the tails then you have to know how to fix them or the crew may be standing around for hours or even loose day shooting, so while on set with the tails i am constantly doing minor repairs to keep the tail looking pristine, always on the look out for potential problems.


TFM: You designed the teeth for the vampires in Daybreakers, can you run us through the process?

JC: I met with the Directors Michael and Peter Spierig, Producer Chris Brown and Steven Boyle (creatures designer and supervisor ) and Kym Sainsbury (makeup department head) about 8 months previous to Shooting, we discussed how they wanted to portray the Vampires, and Subsiders, I offered up ideas on Vampire Aesthetics, Dental Techniques etc and what we would bring to the table in regards too our expertise to get the job done. From my point of view i wanted to try and keep the look as anatomically correct to what i think Vampire should be, Michael, Peter and Steven were also keen to see this happen and also wanted the Vampires to have a Human element so we can empathise and relate with them, this meant putting the Vampire Fangs onto the lateral incisors, rather like Lost Boys Vampires instead of the typical Canine style Vampire teeth. Steven Boyle had concepts of how the Subsiders ( Vampires that feed on themselves) would look, we obviously put our own design into it, making the teeth that were not fangs, rotten and decayed and effects that gave some of them oral deformities.
Michael, Peter and Steven would make regular trips to our effects studio to view the progress of the work, they were very interested in the whole dental process, but pretty much i think they had faith in what we were doing and left us to our own devices. The directors had a lot on their plate with a very tight pre production and shooting schedule. I would keep in close contact with Steven Boyle creatures designer and supervisor and Kym Sainsbury makeup department head and their feedback was invaluable.


TFM: We all love the extras on DVD's, do you think all these making of's ruin the illusion of movie magic, or are a great insight for the fans?

JC: I like to see the extras on the DVD's, i think it gives a great insight to how hard the film technicians really do work, i am a big fan of passing the knowledge on. And i think DVD extras is a great start for those who want a little more for their entertainment dollar or those that are interested in taking the next step into the industry.


TFM: What is the best piece of advice you can give to up and comers?

JC: I think its as simple as do what you love and be persistent.


TFM: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

JC: I would like to see myself acting, in a film with a script i have written or at very least breaking new ground in whatever i put my mind too, as long as i don't settle for being mediocre or boring i will be a happy man, maybe i should take some of my own advice from the last question.


TFM: Do you have any projects on the boil that you can let us in on?

JC: My brother Robert is writing a road trip horror script at the moment that we might shoot one or two scenes for just for fun, I have one or two scripts in my head i might like to have a crack at writing, the studios look as though they will be busy this year, fingers crossed that i can get on something that keeps the grey matter active and that pays the bills.

Jac Charlton thank you so much for your time.

DVD News - Hamlet

Title: Hamlet (IMDb)
Starring: Kenneth Branagh
Released: 17th August 2010
SRP: $34.99

Further Details:
Warner Home Video has announced a Blu-ray release of Hamlet for the 17th August. “Hamlet has the kind of power, energy and excitement that movies can truly exploit,” actor/director Kenneth Branagh says. In this first full-text film of William Shakespeare’s play – shot on 65mm film and exhibited in Panavision Super 70, power surges through every scene. The timeless tale of murder, corruption and revenge is reset in a lavish 19th-century world, using sprawling Blenheim Palace as Elsinore and staging mich of the action in mirrored, gold-filled interiors. A landmark cast (Julie Christie, Kate Winslet, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Charlton Heston and more), the excitement of the Bard’s words and an energetic filmmaking style lift the story from its often shadowy ambience to fully-lit pageantry and rage.

The Blu-ray will retail  around $34.99. Extras will include an introduction by Director/Star Kenneth Branagh, a commentary by Kenneth Branagh and Shakespeare Scholar Russell Jackson, a To Be on Camera: A History with Hamlet featurette, a 1996 Cannes Film Festival Promo, and a Shakespeare Movies Trailer Gallery. We've attached our first look at the official package artwork.

Movie News - Spider-Woman

As the story goes on the UK's MTV website, High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens is supposedly keen on starring in her own Marvel superhero movie: Spider-Woman. Believe it or not, it's not such a crazy idea after all.
While this is the first that anyone's heard of a potential Spider-Woman movie, there are three items which are conductive toward making as assumption that Hudgens may have had a meeting with someone at Disney about the idea:

• Five days ago CHUD's Devin Faraci broke the story that Marvel Studios is "currently taking meetings with writers and directors to work on small scale movies based on some of their third tier characters. The movies would cost in the range of 20 to 40 million dollars (very small when we're talking studio films) and would allow them to take risks with less obvious characters and with interesting talent." That lines up with MTV's UK report, doesn't it?
• Hudgens, as it doesn't need pointing out, was made a star by Disney through her HSM appearances. Taking a meeting with a Disney creative executive that she knows about playing one of the company's newly acquired Marvel characters isn't that big a stretch to imagine.
• There's also Coming Attraction's report from last year to consider about Marvel allegedly interested in giving their female superheroes more of the cinematic spotlight.

MTV says little else about its source except that the supposed take on Spider-Woman is "comedic" and in the movie the character is "strong and sexy but in this case hilarious."
In the Marvel comics Spider-Woman isn't used for comedic effect but it's not outside the realm of possibility either for the superhero maker to go this route. A recent retake on the She-Hulk character was played up for comedic sensibilities.
I guess we will just have to wait and see....