From Troma to indie superheroes to to cartoon adaptations to big-time monster-fests, James Gunn is a filmmaker I like to keep an eye on from time to time. I find his Slither to be a supremely entertaining mixture of comedy and horror, his The Specials a very funny little comedy (at least a whole lot funnier than the similar Mystery Men), and his Tromeo & Juliet the finest thing ever produced by Lloyd Kaufman's Troma team. And while director Zack Snyder did a great job on the Dawn of the Dead remake, let's not forget who penned the adaptation: Gunn did it. Basically, if I had the skills required to write and direct movies, they'd probably look a lot like James Gunn's flicks -- only with more nudity. (Oh, and check out LolliLove some time. Funny little film.)

So when we got a late call during Comic-Con asking us if we'd like to do a brief sit-down with Jimmy Gunn, I said "Heck, yeah. That guy's a nut." (That was literally what I said. Ask Erik.) And since I'd actually met James once before, it was much more laid-back than your typical interview. James Gunn is sort of like a grown-up child, which I mean as a compliment, and that always makes an interview a bit more entertaining. Plus he has great taste in schlock.

If you're like me, you read that headline and immediately thought of What About Bob?, an almost perfect "comedy of the uncomfortable" that starred Bill Murray and a never funnier Richard Dreyfuss. Unfortunately, the new film is not a sequel, but it still sounds promising. The gorgeous and funny Elizabeth Banks will star in and produce What About Barb, a romantic comedy about a socialite who is forced to let her uncouth cousin be her maid of honor in order to have her rich uncle pay for her wedding. The movie will be written by Mark Perez who also wrote the immediately forgettable college comedy Accepted, with Justin Long and Lewis Black.

Banks is busy these days, you'll see her next in Spider-Man 3, she's got a lead role in Fred Claus with Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, and she was recently added to the cast of the Eddie Murphy vehicle Starship Dave. I first took notice of Elizabeth Banks in Wet Hot American Summer, which I consider one of the funniest films ever made. I was smitten at first sight, even when her face was covered in barbecue sauce. She was adorable in her brief role in Catch Me If You Can, hilarious as the secretly kinky Beth in The 40 Year-Old Virgin, and played a difficult part perfectly in the nifty horror/comedy Slither. The article doesn't mention whether she'll be playing the socialite or the "uncouth sister" in Barb, but here's hoping for the sis. I really love Banks as a character actress, and I'd hate to see her off-kilter charms watered down.

It was a good year for much of Hollywood, but a bad year for A Good Year. The Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe team-up only grossed $7 million domestically, and has been labeled a flop. Variety has listed the major box office disappointments for 2006, and interestingly enough, a few of them have to do with water. The appropriately bad way to describe their fate, then, is to say that they drowned. Flushed Away, The Lady in the Water, Poseidon and The Fountain (okay, I didn't see it, but I don't think there's an actual water-type fountain), just couldn't swim. Here's some more bad puns: Sharon Stone didn't have the Basic Instict 2 stay away from a dumb sequel; Producer Dean Devin said, "Flyboys," to his new movie but it crashed and burned; All the King's Men stayed away from this remake, and so did everyone else; Audiences let their Freedomland in other activities besides seeing a movie starring Julianne Moore and Samuel L. Jackson. There's no pun needed for The Wicker Man; it just sucked.

Unlike the biggest flops of all time, none of these movies from 2006 broke a studio or likely ended a career. Ridley Scott and Wolfgang Petersen (director of Poseidon) have had flops before, but they can be forgiven for "flukes" every once in awhile since they usually turn out successful work. Plus, their films did okay business overseas. International box office saves more flops these days than back in the times of the really big bombs. Most of the other filmmakers represented are also probable to bounce back, or at least fall back on their other talents. Joe Roth (Freedomland) has already returned to producing. Steve Zaillian (All the King's Men) is back to writing. Tony Bill (Flyboys) may continue acting. Michael Caton-Jones (Basic Instinct 2) will eventually make another crappy film. M. Night Shyamalan (Lady in the Water) might need to be forced to work on somebody else's script for once, but he isn't going to disappear anytime soon, unfortunately.

If there's one thing the media really loves to do, it's lump a bunch of barely-connected people into an ill-fitting group -- and then give that group a clever name. Whether it's The Rat Pack, The Brat Pack or The Splat Pack, I just get irked whenever a new "pack" makes it into the cultural lexicon. Oh, you're not familiar with that last one? Yeah, it's a moniker that's been given to a bunch of "new" horror filmmakers, one that seems to imply that these guys get together every weekend to smoke weed and watch Halloween 2 together.

According to a recent article in Time Magazine, one that seems to approach horror flicks the same way a prissy schoolmarm would approach some inappropriate comic books, the members of "The Splat Pack" are Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel), Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent), Alex Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes), Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects), and James Wan, Leigh Whannell and Darren Lynn Bousman of the Saw trilogy. (Apparently Wolf Creek director Greg McLean was part of the original pack, although he goes unmentioned in the Time article, probably because he hasn't made much money yet.)

But what do these guys have in common, really, other than the fact that they all make horror flicks? I see Americans, Brits, Aussies and a Frenchman in the mix, and while some of the guys are fresh-faced and 20-something, guys like Roth have been toiling away in backstage anonymity for years. Plus, c'mon, Rob Zombie is 42 years old, so how exactly does he tie in with these kids? And why is it that Neil Marshall never seems to be quoted in these articles? Is he just included because his horror movies are ... GOOD? Apparently the Splat Pack label was created by Alan Jones of Total Film, and I'm sure the guy's an absolute expert on horror flicks -- but labels create limits, exclusions and oversights. And, ultimately, articles like this one, I suppose. (Either way, I bet Jones bangs out a book called The Splat Pack by the end of 2008.)

The UK's Christopher Smith (Creep, Severance) is young and horror-heavy, so why isn't he a member of The Pack? Shouldn't (Dawn of the Dead screenwriter, Slither director) James Gunn be one of the den mothers? Lucky McKee has made only two feature films (May and The Woods), but they're both downright excellent pieces of horror. Why's he not a member? Uwe Boll's done a bunch of horror flicks that could be accurately described as " laden with torture," so why not throw him an invitation? You want a guy who loves the word splat? Try Jake West, the guy who directed Evil Aliens. Plus I read another article a while back in which Jonathan Liebesman (Darkness Falls, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) was considered a member of The SP! Now, if that guy can be considered some sort of "future of horror," I'll eat my hat.

The common themes among the Splat Packers are ... what? They all like horror movies, they don't shy away from intense chills, harsh themes or copious gore, and they're all carbon-based life forms, I guess. But really: Does anyone out there think the work of Eli Roth is even remotely similar to that of Neil Marshall? Does a Rob Zombie flick remind you of what was seen in, say, High Tension? I mean, if you're going to define a term, then define it. And as a big fan of just about all these movies, I just gotta scratch my head when I hear these guys lumped together in one basket.

And what happens when guys like Ryan Schifrin (Abominable), Adam Green (Hatchet), J.T. Petty (S&Man) Scott Glosserman (Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon), Jon Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane) and Adam Mason (Broken) start to make their way up the ranks? Will we have the arrival of Splat Pack 2: The New Generation? Back in the late '70s/early '80s, did we need a goofy little heading to remember names like Carpenter, Hooper, Craven, Dante, Landis and Cunningham?

Ultimately, I have no real point. I'd just seen the phrase "Splat Pack" one too many times and felt the need to vent. Opposing viewpoints are welcome, as long as they agree with my own opinions.

A few days ago, Slither-maker James Gunn mentioned on his MySpace page that his adorably splattery sci-fi horror rom-com was the receipient of four Fangoria Chainsaw Award nominations. My response was "Hey, cool. Where are the rest of the nominations?!?!?" And now, a few days later, here they are. Neat-o.

Although Fangoria has been doing their annual Chainsaw awards for over a decade now, 2006 marks the very first time the event will be televised, much to the delight of zombie freaks and slasher geeks all over North America. The event will be held in L.A. on October 15th, although the Fuse Network won't be airing it until the 22nd. (Which means if you want to watch the event "un-spoiled," I wish you luck.) Want to throw your own votes into the tally? Fine. You can vote right here, but only between September 1st and 13th (which is a Friday, mwaahaaa!)

After the jump you'll find a complete list of all the 2006 Chainsaw nominees, plus my own predictions on which flicks would win if the event were called Amazing Geek Weinberg's Horror Awards instead of The Chainsaws.

As the magical Martha Fischer reported way back in May, the Slither DVD looks to be overstuffed with fan-geeky goodness. And now that Universal has announced an official release date (and writer/director James Gunn has reiterated the Goodies Bin at his MySpace page), I figure it's a good time to sift through the gory goods one more time.

The audio commentary with James Gunn and Nathan Fillion will undoubtedly be a treat (probably in a John Carpenter / Kurt Russell kinda way), but there's also tons of deleted and extended scenes, gag reels and bloopers, a full "making of" doco, several amusing-sounding featurettes (which include a Fillion roast and an up-close look at the splattery FX), set tours, video diaries, and a whole bunch of little treats.

But the most important thing on a DVD is, of course, the movie. And I suspect that Slither might just end up on that short list of long-lasting tongue-in-cheek monster movies that everyone eventually grows to love. Like Tremors and Arachnophobia and Eight-Legged Freaks. (Hey, I like it. Sue me.)

The Slither DVD hits stores on October 24th. And Universal better throw those trailers on there.

Over on Slither's MySpace page (What, you don't have one of your own? All the cool movies are on MySpace these days, loser.), director James Gunn has unveiled the massive list of extras that will be part of the forthcoming DVD of the film. Listed among them is a commentary track from Gunn and star (and, according to the commenters on Scott's review of the movie, budding megastar) Nathan Fillion, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and a naughty-sounding impromptu roast of Fillion from the wrap party, something that he graciously has allowed to see the light of day.

Unfortunately for all you fans, Gunn's giant list didn't include a release date. If the list is this firm and detailed, though, the DVD must be coming sooner than later -- start checking your etailers for the preorder page.

[via Movies Online]

The good news for James Gunn is that moviegoers and critics alike seem to have really enjoyed his little Slither flick. The bad news is that the movie, ahem, kinda, well, stumbled out of the box office gates upon its big-screen debut. (In its first 19 days of release, Slither has grossed less than $8 million.) But that's not slowing this guy down. Mr. Gunn's next feature will be (you guessed it) a horror movie that, in the filmmaker's own words, "has a little bit to do with Satan."

Tentatively titled Scratch, Gunn's next baby is not yet attached to a studio, but that's just the way he seems to like it. "I’m just writing it. I’m doing exactly what I did the last couple times, which is write it and then go out," JG told Now Playing, "because the thing is I like making movies. I like going out and getting them made. What happens when you get attached to a studio beforehand, you can end up in development hell."

But what is Scratch actually about? The husband of Jenna Fischer had this to say: "I love creepy kids and I love bad pregnancies. Those are my two favorite things so this one has both in spades."

Anyone else out there think James Gunn and Eli Roth would make one hell of a horror team?

(By the way, Gunn and his lovely Mrs. put together a really funny indie called LolliLove, and I highly recommend you give it a rental.)

Right after I finished writing my review of James Gunn's Slither, I ran over to Rotten Tomatoes to see what the general concensus was among my favorite movie geeks. I was happy and surprised to see the reactions were positive; Slither has maintained a 85% - 90% approval rating since it opened last Friday. If you read through any of the worthwhile horror sites, you'll find interviews with a very pleased director and you'll find tons of geekily enthusiastic responses to the flick on various message boards and blogs.

The filmmakers liked Slither; the critics (yes, "the critics" who allegedly sneer at all sci-fi, horror, and comedy movies) liked Slither; the fanboys (well, the ones who got off their Xbox and actually went to see it) liked Slither. Heck, Universal even did a pretty solid job of selling Slither.

So why'd the flick make less than $3.9 million in its opening weekend? Did it really do less than $2,000 per theater? How'd it debut in 8th place, two spots behind the second freakin' weekend of the monumentally absymal Stay Alive?

Shockingly, this weekend might actually be sunny here in the Puget Sound. If you're like me, you'll be out and about soaking in some rays that don't come from a lamp, but that's okay. Once the sun goes down, you'll still be wanting something to do, though --  and as always, Seattle has your movie fix.

UW Film Club 

This week brings us the 5th Annual Native Voices Film Festival. Check out the schedule - all events are free, so if you don't want to spend $20 to go see something at the multiplex, this might be a good option.