Grimm Up North Film Festival, horror sci-fi movie fest, Manchester, UK

Date: Oct 28-31
Venue: The Dancehouse, Manchester, UK

FILMS:
This year's films include: Aliens vs Ninjas, Reel Zombies, Evil: In the Time of Heroes (aka To Tako 2) and Slice.

GUESTS:
Special guests this year include Ramsey Campbell, David Moody, Christopher Priest, Grenville Charles, Scott MacIntyre, Conrad Williams and Richard Evans.

EVENTS:
This year's events include seminars on adapting a novel into a movie, making monsters, exploring how artificial intelligence has been portrayed in movies, and a comedy stage adaptation "How to Survive A Zombie Apocalypse."

ABOUT:
It�s grim up north, as the saying goes. But now every Halloween in Manchester � it�s GRIMM UP NORTH!

Tales of mystery, terror and the supernatural have always been with us, since the first cavemen crowded around the campfire. Forming the basis of our legends and fairytales, they are how we deal with our fears and make sense of our world. At Grimm Up North, we want you to celebrate those fears and challenge those perceptions, by offering a boundary-pushing, perception-challenging experience of the unknown and the fantastic.

Launched in 2009, Grimm Up North started as it means to go on. The inaugural festival screened 25 features, including 15 premieres, many featuring Q&As and seminars with directors, cast and crew. Last year we screened movies from Japan, Finland, Germany, Romania, Canada and Australia. Many of the award-winning international movies were UK premieres and for some will have been their only UK outing on a big screen � indeed some may never get a UK release at all.

We screened films as diverse as the Tarkovsky-influenced SAUNA from Finland and Romanian art house vampire movie STRIGOI. Supporting our homegrown talent, we covered the new wave of UK horror from the micro-budgeted COLIN, to gritty social-realist psycho drama TONY. But we never lost sight of our hardcore genre audience, with sold-out screenings of genre classics DAWN OF THE DEAD and HALLOWEEN, as well as a gala premi�re of THE DESCENT 2 that also featured a Q&A with the cave chiller sequel�s director and cast. Other guests included HELLRAISER�s very own Cenobites and author of The Prestige Ramsey Campbell. We also had an exhibition of work by SFX legend Bob Keen; props, storyboards and production stills from locally-produced shocker SPLINTERED; and a special game room set up by CAPCOM where punters could try out the new RESIDENT EVIL: DARKSIDE CHRONICLES game before its release.

All in all, even if we do say so ourselves, Grimm Up North 2009 was a Hell of a festival. It created impact at a national and international level, and in its very first year was being reviewed favourably. We intend to build on this � to truly put Manchester on the festival map with film distributors and movie fans alike.

And we�re not limiting ourselves to cinema, either. We want to spread a little GRIMMness across all of the arts and sciences. This year we are partnering with other festivals and organisations such as the Manchester Science Festival and The Manchester Literary Festival to bring more diverse, interactive events. These will include films with live musical accompaniment, a look at book to screen adaptations, and explorations of the scientific truths behind horror, fantasy and SF. There will be seminars, workshops and more. We�ll even be doing a couple of scary movies matinees in association with the Family Friendly Film Festival � we want to hook in your kids while they�re young and impressionable!

Grimm Up North: A festival of horror and fantasy, taking place on the last week of October in Manchester UK.

http://www.grimmfest.com/

Missing 25 minutes of 1927 Metropolis found and restored

BBC News has reported that the 25 minutes of Fritz Lang's 1927 classic sci-fi movie "Metropolis" have been found in Argentina and now the film has been put back together as Fritz Lang had originally intended. The film is now the proper two and a half hours long.

Visit this BBC News page and watch the news broadcast video in which Stephen Smith reports on the discovery and even shows a few seconds of the missing footage.

This is one of the most influential science fiction movies and Fritz's vision of the future was eerily accurate. We are looking forward to this full version being packaged and released for general viewing.

Sci Fi movie prop auction Sep 11

Make sure to register now for Premiere Props� Huge Sci-Fi Live Auction Event on September 11! Featuring all new props and costumes from the upcoming Resident Evil: Afterlife, Academy Award Winner Inglourious Basterds, 300, Desperado, Public Enemies, Conan The Barbarian, Black Hawk Down, Battlestar Galactica and much more! Over 750 items will hit the auction block at this amazing event!

The Sci-Fi Live Auction Event takes place on Saturday, September 11 at Premiere Props in El Segundo, California (128 Sierra Street, El Segundo, CA 90245). There will be a preview from 9am � 11am, before the auction starts at 11am. The Sci-Fi Live Auction Event can be seen on Premiere Props� 3 camera LIVE broadcast show online. The catalog is online now and more major props and costumes will be added daily!

Pre-register now to be part of this amazing live event! This live auction will be broadcast live for everyone to watch and bid live!

Toronto After Dark Film Festival Aug 13-20

Aug 13 - Aug 20

Toronto After Dark Film Festival is thrilled to officially announce its complete lineup of new horror, sci-fi, action and cult films that will have their regional premieres at our 5th Annual edition this August 13-20, 2010 at the city�s legendary Bloor Cinema. The 16 amazing feature films at the core of the festival include a number that have created a storm of interest on the genre festival circuit as well some more recent finds that will be a treat for fans to to discover!

Highlights include cult horror sensation THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE and the killer tire movie RUBBER that captivated audiences at Cannes! Other fun items on the cinematic menu include Japanese cult mayhem (ROBOGEISHA), supernatural chills (Eli Roth�s THE LAST EXORCISM), brutal Roman action (Neil Marshall�s CENTURION), Billy Zane as a zombie slayer (EVIL IN THE TIME OF HEROES) and Adrien Brody as a psychotic drug dealer (Sundance midnight hit HIGH SCHOOL). AUG 11 Update: Our one-minute festival preview trailer gives fans a good sense of what to expect, with shots from most of the films playing:



Below is the overview of the films screening, along with links to their festival site pages, where you can watch trailers and read more detailed synopses:

OPENING CREATURE FEATURE
We open the festival on a hugely crowd-pleasing note with the International Premiere of the hilarious new monster comedy, THE LAST LOVECRAFT (Fri, Aug 13, 7pm), a story about a group of social misfits battling an assortment of sea monsters trying to take over the earth!

ZOMBIES WELCOME
This year�s ever-popular Zombie Appreciation Night where those dressed as the undead get a special deal on ticket prices, features a double helping of fun zombie carnage: DOGHOUSE (Sat, Aug 14, 7pm), the riotous zombie comedy that took Britain by storm last year is followed by the deranged zombie action flick EVIL IN THE TIME OF HEROES (Sat, Aug 14, 9.45pm) which features none other than Billy Zane as an immortal Greek zombie killer!

JAPANESE TREATS
Fans of outrageous Japanese genre cinema will also be delighted with a double dose of cinematic mayhem this year, in the form of the splatterific sci-fi horror action mashup ROBOGEISHA (Sun, Aug 15, 7pm) and the equally mad and bloody fight sequences that make up much of ALIEN VS NINJA (Mon, Aug 16, 9.45pm) a film that completely delivers on its title!

SCARES IN THE DARK
Those looking for a good fright should check out the hotly anticipated Eli Roth produced new scarefest, THE LAST EXORCISM (Mon, Aug 16, 7pm), as well as the welcome return of our favourite posse of Thai horror filmmakers with five new tales of of fear set to make fans jump out of their seats in PHOBIA 2 (Tue, Aug 17, 7pm)! The creepy new sci-fi thriller CARGO (Sun, Aug 15, 4.15pm) also brings its share of chills, but this time the outbreak of fear takes place on a deep space voyage.

NEW BRITISH INVASION
This year Toronto After Dark showcases three new flicks from some of Britain�s most talented genre filmmakers: whether it�s Neil Marshall�s brutal Roman action piece CENTURION (Wed, Aug 18, 7pm), Philip Ridley�s demonic thriller HEARTLESS (Wed, Aug 18, 9.45pm) or Christopher Smith�s medieval witchcraft tale BLACK DEATH (Thu, Aug 19, 7pm), there�s something to delight any fan who likes their Brit flicks on the dark side.

EXTREME CAUTION HORROR
We feel I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (Thu, Aug 19, 9.45pm), Anchor Bay�s hugely anticipated and incredibly graphic remake of the already notoriously violent cult classic of the same name, deserves a category unto itself. Don�t say we didn�t warn you!

CULT DISCOVERIES
A fantastic eclectic cast (Natasha Lyonne, Thomas Dekker, Noah Segan, Mink Stole, Peaches Christ, Elvira) chew all kinds of scenery in the velvet curtain movie theatre set cult horror flick ALL ABOUT EVIL (Tues, Aug 17, 9.45pm) that will seem be perfect viewing fare at our very own cult venue, the Bloor Cinema! While a stoner comedy may not seem like the most obvious fit for Toronto After Dark, when you see Adrien Brody�s crazed performance as drug dealer Psycho Ed, amongst too many WTF moments to mention in the Sundance hit HIGH SCHOOL (Sun, Aug 15, 9.45pm), you�ll see why we programmed this offbeat piece of cinematic madness!

BIZARRE HORROR TO CLOSE THE FEST
Toronto After Dark celebrates the end of its 5th Year on a wonderfully bizzarre note: to start with we treat fans with RUBBER (Fri, Aug 20, 7pm), the tale of a Killer Tire with feelings which was perhaps the most talked about horror film at the Cannes Film Festival this year! Then things get even freakier, with our Closing Gala, THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (Fri, Aug 20, 9.45pm) a twisted tale of one scientist�s quest to perfect a disgusting surgical procedure. The film has grossed out fans at festival screenings across the globe, ignited a frenzy on discussion boards and youtube (two milllion views of the trailer and counting), but no-one has dared to screen the film in Toronto� until now!

PLUS: INCREDIBLE SHORTS, GUESTS, PARTIES, PUB NIGHTS!
While the Feature Films at Toronto After Dark typically take centre stage, be sure to also check out SHORTS AFTER DARK (Sat, Aug 14, 4.15pm), a kick-ass collection of outstanding new genre short films from around the world, as well as CANADA AFTER DARK homegrown mini-gems that screen as the opening acts for all our features. We also expect a number of FILMMAKER GUESTS to be in attendance to introduce their films and host Q&As with fans and join us at our SOCIAL EVENTS including After Parties and nightly Pub Socials (details to be announced closer to the festival).

http://torontoafterdark.com/2010/

Disney acquires Radical Publishing's Oblivion

August 5th, 2010, Los Angeles, CA � Radical Publishing is proud to announce that Disney has acquired the film adaptation of OBLIVION, based on Radical Publishing�s illustrated novel created by Tron: Legacy director, Joseph Kosinski, written by Rex Mundi creator, Arvid Nelson, and with illustrations by Andr�e Wallin. OBLIVION will be directed by Joseph Kosinki and will be produced by Radical�s President and Publisher, Barry Levine, and Kosinski. Radical Studios� Executive Vice President Jesse Berger is signed on as Executive Producer. Kosinki is repped by Verve and Anonymous Content while Radical is repped by CAA and David Schiff.

In a future where the Earth�s surface has been irradiated beyond recognition, the remnants of humanity live above the clouds, safe from the brutal alien Scavengers that stalk the ruins. But when surface drone repairman Jak discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows.

�We�re thrilled to partner with Joe Kosinski on OBLIVION,� said Barry Levine, president of Radical Pictures.  �Joe is one of the most creative forces in filmmaking today.  From the moment he teamed with Radical to produce the book and film, he had such a clear vision of the OBLIVION landscape and universe.  Add to that Joe�s successful partnership with Disney on Tron: Legacy, and you have all the ingredients for a phenomenal action/adventure film.�

OBLIVION, the 128-page illustrated novel, will be released in Summer 2011 and will feature prose, combined with over 40 fully painted landscape renderings. OBLIVION will be distributed worldwide through Random House.

Fans are encouraged to visit the Radical Publishing websites:

http://www.radicalpublishing.com
http://www.facebook.com/radicalpublishing
http://www.twitter.com/radicalcomics

SKYLINE promoted at Comic Con with ad and bubbles

Photo by E. Lacey

Universal's upcoming sci-fi thriller Skyline had a hotel sized ad on the Marriot in San Diego during San Diego Comic Con 2010. The movie is about a group of friends who are awoken in the night by a bright light and when they go outside to investigate, they see everyone else is drawn outside as well. Then everyone rises up into the air and vanishes. A small group of survivors must now struggle against the foes that taking the Earth's population.

In a stroke of advertising genius, there was a bubble machine that made human shaped bubble blobs that were sent up into the air over the San Diego Convention center. These bubble people also vanished into the sky, although not due to an alien force like in the movie. It was awesome to see the reactions of all the Comic Con attendees that saw the bubble people floating away.

US release date is set for November 12, 2010

Select Academy Invitations For Membership

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sent out invitations to join the Academy. We have chosen from the list of 135 invitations the ones we felt would be of most interest.

�The work of these individuals has been appreciated by moviegoers all around the world,� said Academy President Tom Sherak. �The Academy is proud to invite each and every one of them.�

The 2010 invitees include:

Actors
Tobin Bell � �Saw�
Jeremy Renner � �28 Weeks Later"
Zoe Saldana � �Avatar,� �Star Trek�


Animators
Darragh O�Connell � �Granny O�Grimm�s Sleeping Beauty� (no, really, she's made it creepy and funny)
Simon Otto � �How to Train Your Dragon,� �Kung Fu Panda�


Art Directors
Kim Sinclair � �Avatar�
Dave Warren � �Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"


Cinematographers
Shane Hurlbut � �Terminator Salvation�
Dan Mindel � �Star Trek�
Tobias Schliessler � �The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3"
Stephen Windon � �The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,� �House of Wax�
Robert Yeoman � �Get Him to the Greek�


Film Editors
John Refoua � �Avatar�


Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Kris Evans � �X-Men The Last Stand," �Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl�
Mindy Hall � �Star Trek�
Joel Harlow � �Star Trek,� �Pirates of the Caribbean: At World�s End�


Music
Brian Tyler � �Fast & Furious,� �Aliens vs. Predator Requiem�


Producers
Jon Landau � �Avatar�


Set Decorators
Caroline Smith � �The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus�


Sound
Frank Eulner � �Iron Man 2,� �Hellboy�
Gary A. Rizzo � �How to Train Your Dragon,� �The Dark Knight�
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle � �Avatar,� "The Simpsons Movie"


Visual Effects
Matt Aitken � �District 9,� �The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring�
Karen Ansel � �Angels & Demons,� �Men in Black II�
Richard Baneham � �Avatar,� �The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers�
Paul Debevec � �Avatar,� �King Kong�
Russell Earl � �Star Trek,� �Transformers�
Steve Galich � "Transformers"
Andrew R. Jones � �Avatar,� �I, Robot�
Dan Kaufman � �District 9�
Derek Spears � �The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor�
Steve Sullivan � �Avatar,� �Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith�
Michael J. Wassel � �Hellboy II: The Golden Army�


Writers
Neill Blomkamp � �District 9�
Alex Kurtzman � �Star Trek,� �Mission: Impossible III�
Roberto Orci � �Star Trek,� �Mission: Impossible III�
Terri Tatchell � �District 9�

INCEPTION opens July 16

Using technology that allows people to enter the dreams of others to "steal" or "plant" information, these espionage experts/thieves can literally modify reality. However, information, even in a dream, is very powerful, sometimes too powerful.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page.

"Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming."
- Written by Warner Bros. Pictures

http://inceptionmovie.warnerbros.com/