The Mist
Through the sea of torture porn mania and Korean horror remakes came The Mist -- the sort of movie to attract those who like chills and thrills, as well as those who might only scare themselves with Stephen King, or like what happens when Frank Darabont tackles King's writing. A wet and sticky mist falls upon a small coastal town, but instead of just being eerie, it gets downright deadly as monsters come to prey on those left out in the thick fog. It's strange, completely out of this world, but still believable in that way that taps into your cautious fears.

Thomas Jane got to wipe Dreamcatcher for the minds, or at least dull the memory of it with this film, and he's joined by an intriguing cast that includes Sayles powerhouse Marcia Gay Harden (as a bible reciter no less), the fighter of Demon Knight William Sadler, the American Pie-wanting Chris Owen, and the Infamous-starring Toby Jones.

Instead of giving us one of those annoyingly bare-bones discs that makes you want to smash it into little pieces, The Mist hits hard with a 2-disc collector's edition. On the first DVD, you can check out the feature with commentary by Darabont, deleted scenes with optional commentary, some featurettes/webisodes about Drew Struzan and behind-the-scenes fare, and a trailer gallery. The second offers, get this, the full film in black and white, plus an intro by Darabont, some making-of nibbles and a few bits about the film's fx.

Check out James Rocchi's Review | Buy the DVD

People tell me I'm nuts, but I absolutely adore long plane rides. Mainly because, over the years, the wife and I have assembled quite an electronics arsenal. I have the personal DVD player, the PSP, the iPod -- not to mention (in the non-electronics department) books, pillows, blankets and -- most importantly -- a big bag of Twizzlers. It doesn't get much better than that. Prior to traveling, I also map out which seat I want (and then bother whomever to make sure I get it), and do plenty of research on which films will be playing on the flight. The other great thing about long plane rides is that no one (except a flight attendant with crummy food) is allowed to bother me. No emails. No phone calls. No taking the dog for a walk. Nothing. Just me, my electronics, my pillow and my movies. This is my heaven.

I mention this because, on Saturday, I leave New York City for a two-week trip to Australia. My cousin is getting married. And I'm so there. Today I started to assemble my movie playlist, which include the actual DVDs I plan to bring, as well as what I plan to watch (all edited and whatnot) on the plane. Since I like to be diverse, here's what I have so far: A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Wristcutters (a LEGAL copy, mind you -- I'm no pirate), Tale of an Osaka Love Thief (a doc I've heard wonderful things about), The Boys of Summer (another festival-ish doc), Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series, Weeds: Season 1 (for the wife) and Battlestar Galactica: Seasons 1 and 2.0. (Damn you Heroes for not being out on DVD yet!) I'm also planning to watch Fracture and Zodiac on the plane, although I'm not crazy about them being all chopped up. I'd like to add a tad more comedy and a really great thriller to the lot, so feel free to offer up suggestions. Are you as ridiculous as I am with regards to your in-flight movie planning? How does your inner movie geek go about prepping for a long trip at 35,000 feet? Do tell ...

There are many directors who I think should be barred from making films, but Courtney Solomon is near the top of the list. He disappointed gamers everywhere with Dungeons & Dragons (some people humorously feel it is worth watching), a movie even he admits is awful, and then tried to redeem himself with the not-much-better An American Haunting. As head of After Dark Films, he has gotten into more than one controversy regarding his advertising practices -- going so far as to be made an example of by the MPAA -- and still hasn't even put out a decent-enough release to make the company worth Lionsgate's trouble. Now the director is looking to annoy us some more by attempting to revolutionize the zombie genre, a plan that he claims is desired by horror fans.

Solomon isn't revealing the title for this proposed movie, which he thankfully won't be directing, but describes it as a "zombie version of Underworld," which sounds bad even if you like Underworld. Worse, though, is his explanation that the zombies in this movie will be fast and emotional, something he says is completely new for the creatures (did he not see the running zombies in the Dawn of the Dead remake or the seemingly conflicted zombies in Land of the Dead?). I'm all for new takes on the genre, but I hope Solomon has more ideas than this. Supposedly the movie will feature a whole new lore for zombies (actually, he calls them part human, part zombie, which is redundant, I think) inspired by conversations had on the web between Solomon's people and real horror geeks, but unless the movie has a good sociological undercurrent -- as the best zombie movies do -- the tweaking of the genre is simply an unnecessary attempt to create something original. But if Solomon truly wants to do something original and to please us movie fans, he needs to make a good movie.

After Dark Films clearly has a marketing team that knows what it's doing. The company's movies are causing controversy and sparking conversation well before release. First came the graphic billboards for the upcoming Elisha Cuthbert thriller Captivity that caused an uproar and were taken down last week. And now even more scandal is stemming from the marketing campaign for Sundance hit Wristcutters: A Love Story -- read Karina's review here. We told you a few weeks back about the campaign in question, and reading about it, I get the feeling that controversy is exactly what they had in mind. The campaign was set to unspool in July in preparation for an August release, and was reported to include cardboard cut-outs depicting various ways to kill yourself. Courtney Solomon, After Dark's co-owner, said of the signs: "We just hope they don't cause too many accidents."

Fifteen suicide prevention groups, including the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health America and the Suicide Prevention Action Network USA are outraged, and determined to put a stop to the campaign. Solomon says he has been "too busy" to reply to the groups because he's been busy re-shooting and adding violence to Captivity, in order to make it appeal to the gore-hungry audiences of today. He says Wristcutters and its promotion is certainly anti-suicide, but does concede that the marketing strategy may have to be altered, and that After Dark will offer screeners to, and welcome input from, the protesting groups.

Those raising the complaints have not seen the film and are not objecting to the movie itself, but they are concerned about the possible effect such an advertising campaign could have on the public. The letter from the AFSP to Solomon and After Dark states: "(We) know from more than 30 years of scientific research that media portrayals of suicide can be inadvertently harmful to vulnerable individuals, leading to what behavioral scientists call suicide contagion or 'copycat suicide.' Recent research confirms that young people in particular are vulnerable to this effect and can tragically act on depictions of suicide." Wristcutters follows a group of people who have taken their own lives and journey through purgatory. It stars Patrick Fugit and Shannyn Sossamon, and was directed by Goran Dukic. The film is set for a limited release on August 31st.

The 11th annual Gen Art Film Festival concluded last night with a screening of SXSW darling Live Free or Die, followed by the presentation of jury awards. 

Wristcutters: A Love Story took home the Acura Grand Jury Award for Best Feature and, honestly, you could tell the folks from Live Free or Die were pissed. In fact, and I don't know if this was his reason, but Michael Rapaport abruptly left immediately following the awards and was the only cast member not to participate in the Q & A. Judging from our reviews of both films, it appears Wristcutters was more worthy of its award. And I agree.

A film called The Intervention won the Acura Grand Jury Award for Best Short and my personal favorite from the festival, Behind the Mask, took the coveted Feature Film Audience Award. Why is it coveted? Well, because Gen Art claims they have the best audience. And since yours truly was in attendance for a few of the nights, I can't really disagree with that statement.

As Erik reported back in January (Can you believe it's already April?), the Sundance Institute will bring its indie mojo to the east coast next month with a series at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). For eleven days, starting on May 11, BAM will be featuring not only films from this year's Sundance festival, but also Q&A sessions with filmmakers, discussions on independent cinema, and chances to see and hear works from the Sundance composers lab and new works of musical theater.

Among the 14 films that will screen at BAM are Iraq in Fragments (look for a review from Kim in the next couple of days), artsy porn flick Destricted, Wristcutters: A Love Story, Sherrybaby, and screenwriting award winner Stephanie Daley. Also, as an added bonus for you The Usual Suspects fans (it premiered at Sundance in 1995), screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie will be featured at a special event, discussing the development of his film and showing "never-before-seen uncut footage straight from [the]...set." Yeah, you suddenly want to go to Brooklyn, don't you?

Tickets for most screenings go on sale next Monday, so get your calendar out and starting making some plans.

 

There's nothing worse than slitting your wrists, falling to the ground to drift off in a pool of your own blood in an apartment you've just cleaned for the occasion ... only to discover, right before the life drains out completely, that you've missed a giant dust bunny. This is your last glimpse of life on earth: an accumulated ball of dirt, wrecking, and mocking, your plan for flawless self-termination. Could hell be any worse?

Yes and no. Wristcutters: A Love Story, is the directorial debut of Goran Dukic, who developed the script at the Sundance Screenwriters lab in 2004, based on a short story by Israeli writer/actor Etgar Keret. The film tracks Zia (Patrick Fugit), a young guy so wrecked by a break up that the only solution is to clean his house and slit his wrists. After dying, Zia finds himself in a special afterlife reserved for suicide victims. It's not quite hell, exactly – unless your version of hell looks an awful lot like industrial Los Angeles – but it's certainly not heaven, and though Zia is resigned to his lot, he can't stop thinking about Desiree (Leslie Bibb of Popular fame), the gal he offed himself in the name of. Zia wastes away most of his hours either working for minimum wage, or drinking with Eugene, a mutton-chopped Russian who got his ticket to the afterlife by electrocuting himself whilst onstage fronting what appears to have been an Gogol Bordello ripoff band (speaking of Gogol Bordello, Wristcutters has a feel similar to Liev Schreiber's Everything is Illuminated, except far less self-important and pretentious).