Referred to as the most anticipated zombie film of 2010 (anticipated by who, nobody knows), Zombie Chronicles: The Infected is the kind of film that stays with you, but probably not in the way the filmmaker, Mr. Suarez intended.

It’s New York City and the Zombie apocalypse has arrived. A team of Paramedics “Sarah and Josh” are trying to save lives in the middle of the zombie pandemic.

That is a synopsis for the film, from the summary provided by Mr. Suarez on the film’s IMDB page.

The films’ story of a zombie rampage on the city of Manhattan is hardly original, but like Tommy Wiseau’s The Room and James Nguyen’s  Birdemic: Shock and Terror, Mr. Suarez’s film is one that you have to see to believe. Don’t worry, The Room and Birdemic: Shock and Terror shall always reign supreme as the ”best of gloriously bad”, but on a smaller scale, Mr. Suarez’s film is certainly worthy of mention. Now, it’s easy to toss aside these films as simply awful and wonder if they’ve been made fun of on RiffTrax yet, but to me, it goes deeper than that. To me, these are the kinds of films that are bad, so very, very bad, but they’re so bad that you just have to see them and I consider Mr. Suarez’s film to fit into that ”bad, but hard to resist” category thanks to the films’ shoddy camera work and the fact that there is no lighting, as in there is no light in his scenes. I’m not kidding, a large portion of the film is in complete darkness.

But the reason this film earns a spot on the ”bad, but hard to resist” list is perhaps the most unintentionally comic performance of all time from actor Lavrenti Lopes as one of the films’ heroes ”Josh the Paramedic”.

When I first saw the film at 2010′s Big Apple Film Festival, I and many others who were in attendance for the November 2, 2010 screening

With line readings that make Alan Bagh look like Gielguds and Oliviers

Filmmakers, take this advice from late, great director John Huston seriously ”90 percent of directing is casting”.

Mr. Suarez probably should have followed that rule, and if you’re an overly critical film viewer or filmmaker yourself, you may take fault with Mr. Suarez’s choice of Mr. Lopes as his films’ hero.

But you know what, I’m glad he didn’t follow that rule, because if he had gone with, say a good actor, we would not be treated to the visual feast that is the performance of Lavrenti Lopes, who stars in the pivotal role of Josh in  Zombie Chronicles: The Infected.

I didn’t think it was possible to see a performance in a motion picture as gloriously awful as Tommy Wiseau’s in The Room and then I saw Alan Bagh’s hysterical performance in Birdemic: Shock and Terror. Now, I must admit, I am quite stunned, because I didn’t think it possible for anyone to top Mr. Bagh’s.

He lacks inspiration in his work as of late. He needs something fresh and vital to shoot, so he decides to get personal and begins taking pictures of his wife (Rhea Sandstrom) in poses that are very personal. These are poses that may perhaps show a vulnerable side to her. Perhaps he’s striving to capture her essence, to see her as he has never seen her before? To understand her better? Perhaps it will inspire Harlan to take his work to a new level?

These are questions that I wished writer / director Chai Dingari addressed in his new 13 minute short film The Misogynist, a competently made film visually, but a confusing piece on the page that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be.

On one hand, Dingari’s film wants to be an exploration of the artist and what makes the artist tick, which would have been interesting, but as the film stands now, we never see enough of the artists’ struggles…internal or external. We get brief glimpses of Harlan’s struggle in two scenes with his agent W.D. Frost (Timothy J. Cox), but the scenes are too brief to ignite interest in Harlan or his plight.

Instead, the film takes a turn to psychological thriller when Harlan’s wife discovers that she is the focus of Harlan’s work and when she protests, Harlan kills her. One can only assume that he commits this act because of his struggles and attempts to find that perfect thing to shoot are unsuccessful, so he has lost grip with reality, but we never see Harlan’s descent into madness. In the end, the whole affair proved to be more than a little confusing.

I don’t fault Mr. Dingari for his efforts here, as he is not an untalented filmmaker. There are a number of striking visual flourishes in his film, but I will say that on this effort, he proved to be a filmmaker who simply tried to inject too much into a 13 minute film. If I fault Mr. Dingari on anything, it would be on the title of the film, which I found a little baffling. To me, the title didn’t match the action that was taking place in the film.

As for the performances, Rhea Sandstrom seemed lost in her role as Harlan’s wife. She and Pascal Yen-Pfister as Harlan, lacked chemistry in their scenes as husband and wife.  By himself, Mr. Yen-Pfister was an appropriately brooding presence, but the script doesn’t give him enough to do to explore his inner struggles as an artist further. Timothy J. Cox brought a nice, cynical touch to his very brief role as the agent Frost, but the script has him coming off more ”father confessor” than agent.

The Misogynist is available for viewing here http://vimeo.com/36390095.

For additional information on the film, please visit the film’s IMDB page here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140569/

That’s pretty much what you get with All Things Random’s 2009 comedy pilot Overcrowded, about four such people.

Unfortunately, the laughs in Overcrowded don’t even come close to the laughs earned in the now classic Jerry Seinfeld comedy.  Also, Kramer may have been an off the wall idiot, but at least he was a likable idiot.

The same cannot be said for the 4 leads in this pilot, created by stars Greg Vorob and Dan Conrad,  which is merely a series of unfunny skits thrown together in an attempt at a cohesive story, but the thread linking all of the stories together is short on cohesion and on laughs.

The basic story is that Vorob and Conrad live in a small, cramped apartment with friends Marc Seidenstein and Paul White. They don’t seem to have jobs or any realistic prospects. Of course they don’t; these guys are complete idiots. I’m not going to mince words. Each character is so blissfully clueless as to the ways of the world and each are so unlikable that I was literally turned off in the first scene and only grudgingly watched the remaining 35 minutes.

In that remaining 35 minutes, I was subjected to Vorob making his new neighbor Steven Hansen’s (poor Ian Campbell Dunn) life a living hell when he is somehow hired as a colleague in Steven’s insurance company where he manages to win over the boss (a wasted Timothy J. Cox) and is then basically given Steven’s job, driving Steven to the brink of insanity. While this is going on, Conrad falls under the delusion that Steven’s wife Claire (Jennifer Zigler) is trying to seduce him. Marc decides to seek enlightenment, but in reality, he just wants to get laid, while Paul is being hunted by the Yakuza (you read that right) after stabbing their boss. Hilarious, right? No.

I’m guessing that Conrad and Vorob were going for the broad, the farcial and the theatrical with Overcrowded, but they missed the mark completely.  Farce ceases to exist when all you have are a bunch of idiots terrorizing anyone who comes into their path. It’s simply not funny.

Of the four, Vorob was the only one who showed the slightest potential in the acting department, while Conrad and White sputtered their lines throughout and Seidenstein barely seemed interested in the whole affair, delivering his lines with a certain air of indifference.

Director Dan Kowalski’s sloppy and uninspired direction and camera work also didn’t help matters. Kowalski’s scenes lacked energy and imagination, while his editing gave the feeling that it all looked very thrown together.

Overcrowded is available for viewing at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uGuMx_vEnk . For additional information, please check out their IMDb page at  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1566935.

From the press release:

Legendary Academy Award-winning motion picture director/producer Steven Spielberg presents the critically acclaimed and multi Academy Award-nominated epic adventure “War Horse” on Blu-ray, DVD, Digital and On-Demand, April 3rd, 2012. This newest home entertainment release not only enthralls viewers once again with its visually stunning and emotionally heartwarming story on the Blu-ray, but also offers an unprecedented look into the making of the film by Spielberg himself.

The extraordinary journey of courage and friendship as seen through the eyes of one unforgettable horse named Joey and his miraculous journey to find his way back home, “War Horse” is a must own contemporary classic for everyone’s home entertainment collection. Spielberg’s renowned creative passion and artistry not only shine throughout the film but are also evident in all the fascinating bonus features included exclusively on the Blu-ray disc.

The film has been nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.

You can read my original review of the film right here.

You can bring War Horse home on April 3rd, 2012. You can pre-order a copy right here.

Luckily I’m not the only Burroughs fan out there, nor am I the only one disappointed with Disney’s marketing. The above video is a trailer pieced together with footage from various trailers and online featurettes, and it is simply wonderful. Its rough around the edges, but it captures the epic scope and character dynamics that have been largely absent from previous trailers. This guy deserves a medal for pulling this together and doing what Disney couldn’t.

John Carter opens in theaters and IMAX on March 9th, 2012.

20th Century Fox is still keeping a lot of the plot details under wraps, so we don’t have a well detailed plot synopsis for you. But really, a movie set in the Alien universe by the director that defined the franchise should be more than enough info to pique your interest. I for one can’t wait.

Prometheus hits theaters on June 8th, 2012.

Without going into too much detail, the relationship between the Thompson’s and Blake become increasingly awkward and tense, not in a horror like fashion, but in dealing with a socially detached yet fragile spirit, whose character transforms in one of the most touching and reflective people I’ve seen on screen in recent times. Following on from this, it has to be said that the performances are fantastic with dry humour coming from the distanced parents, apathy from the daughters and Tanaka’s troubled youth. Combining these creates some great chemistry and is purely one of the highlights in this film. Visually the film has some neat touches too, as it experiments with hand drawn animations to depicting the more simplistic yet lovely scenery such as the titular pond in smothered in snow. Yet the story has such emotional impact that it leaves you contemplating the relationship with Blake well after the credits roll. For a debut from such young directors (Tom Kingsley and Will Sharpe) also nominated for a BAFTA,  this shows an extreme amount of promise and I bet we’ll be seeing more great films from the pair in the future.

Anthony Pettis

The UFC is the fastest growing sports organizations in the world. UFC® stands for ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP. It’s a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) organization that is the world’s leader in MMA sports events. It’s also broadcast in over 149 countries and territories to half a billion homes worldwide.

That’s huge! Right?! So you can imagine along the way of each MMA fighter working their way up towards the top, there have to be some pretty amazing stories. And out of those stories, one stood out and now a biography on UFC star Anthony Pettis is in the works.

You may be wondering who Anthony Pettis is, well, he’s held ranks for WEC Lightweight Champion, Gladiators Fighting Lightweight Champion. He’s a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. Before the UFC, he was a P.O.C Fire Fighter and Martial Arts Instructor.

Joshua Hall is an actor, producer, writer and director who has partnered with Johnny Javas Productions and together they are currently developing a biography on the UFC star.

Joshua Hall

Joshua wrote a script about an Ultimate fighter about two years ago. The script was making its way through Hollywood and his close friends. Anthony Pettis was contacted about the script by some friends and told Joshua Hall to give Anthony a call exploring making the film. Joshua and Anthony met up at a local Starbucks in Milwaukee, WI. Joshua did an interview with Pettis, asking him about his life, upbringing, schools, training, friends and relationships.

The next day Joshua got up around 9am to start researching tons of articles and archives on Pettis to get his story as accurate as possible. He proceeded to write his script based on his conversation and interview with Anthony.

Before things could go any further, Josh needed Pettis to sign a release form acknoledging that he brought Josh on board to write and produce his film. The release form is not meant to be a contract, but it is used for giving permission to move forward.

In order for Pettis to sign the release form, Josh had to contact his agent, Jeff Meyer, at the office of MMA Inc. Jeff was helpful in facilitating Josh in what was needed to get things rolling. One of the next steps was to contact the legal department of the UFC-MMA.

After 2 weeks of conversations, botht he attorney and MMA Inc. agent wrote to confirm that Josh and Pettis were working on a film together. Josh was then able to move forward and after four weeks of researching and writing, the script was complete.

Joshua Hall decided to team up with Johnny Javas Productions and together they have gathered A-list talent together for the ultimate fighter film project. With the help and great insight of the Johnny Javas Productions CEO Terri Jacobs, Josh was able to complete the entire package for the film inlcuding arranging A-list talent, projecting budget numbers, distribution, etc.

Links:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2540393/

http://johnnyjavasproductions.com

http://www.ufc.com/fighter/Anthony-Pettis

Total Film has a chat with director Steven Spielberg about the sequel, and the man had this to say:

“Peter [Jackson]’s doing it. I wanted to do it, but Peter has to because we made a deal. I said, ‘I’ll direct the first one, you direct the second one.’ And Peter, of course, is going to do it right after he finishes photography on The Hobbit. He’ll go right into the 31, 21 days of performance capture. We’re not telling the world what books we’re basing the second movie on yet.”

When asked about early reports that the sequel would involve The Calculus Affair, Spielberg replied:

“We haven’t decided that yet. She’s throwing a monkey wrench into your story! It could be that. I like The Calculus Affair. So it could be. We have completed a story outline now. We have a writer on it. I’m just not declaring what it is. It will be more than one book, but no more than two.”

So there we have it. A second Tintin is on the horizon, and Peter Jackson is signed to helm.

We’ll keep you updated as the story develops.

Paramount has been trying to get a reboot of the turtle franchise of the ground for about a year now with Transformers director Michael Bay as a producing partner. Variety has the scoop on which director has been chosen to helm the flick, and the choice is Jonathan Liebesman, director of Battle: Los Angeles and the upcoming Wrath of the Titans.

Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec are currently writing the script. The pair recently broke into features by penning Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol. I thoroughly dug Ghost Protocol and I thought Battle: Los Angeles was a good directorial effort in search of a better script, so hopefully these talents will combine for a solid Ninja Turtles flick. With Bay on board as producer we can certainly expect a film closer to the Turtles’ gritty comic book roots than the saturday morning cartoon. I don’t think the Turtles need to be gritty, but I can’t help but chuckle at a Frank Miller-esque Shredder.

We’ll keep you updated as the story develops.

A while back we reported that Michael Bay would be returning to direct the fourth installment (which I’m calling Trans4mers, because we all know that that’s going to be the poster title, right?), and the folks at Badass Digest have got an inside scoop on the “tone” of the piece.

“Michael realized it needs to be more like the last hour [of Dark of the Moon],” this source told me. So expect lots of big action, lots of carnage, lots of military badasses, very few silly bits.

This is good news. For every two hours this movie has there’s a good forty five minutes, and it seems Bay agrees with that idea. With the Witwicky family out of the picture, maybe Trans4mers is going to be worth our time after all.

We’ll keep you updated as the story develops.

The film stars Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, Never Let Me Go) as Peter Parker, Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, Sally Field as Aunt May, Dennis Leary as Captain George Stacy and Emma Stone (Easy A, The Help) as Gwen Stacy. Rhys Ifans also joins the cast as the villainous Dr Curt Connors. Here’s the official plot synopsis:

“The Amazing Spider-Man” is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.

The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters on July 3rd, 2012

Legacy does feature several key characters from the first few films as they deal with the fall out after Jason Bourne’s reckless actions. This trailer does a great job of reminding us about the major players in the franchise while introducing Jeremy Renner’s character as another Treadstone soldier.

Tony Gilroy directs this installment after writing the last two installments. Joan Allen and Albert Finney return while Edward Norton and Rachel Weisz join Renner as Bourne newcomers.

Of all the great films coming out this year, The Bourne Legacy is high on my “Can’t Wait” list.

The Bourne Legacy hits theaters on August 3rd, 2012.

A modern retelling of Alexander Dumas’ timeless swashbuckling classic – arrives on 3D Blu-ray™, Blu-ray and DVD March 13^th from Summit Entertainment.  This exciting adventure for the whole family stars Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson & the Olympians), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean films), Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil films) and Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz (Best Supporting Actor, Inglourious Basterds).

With powerful special effects and explosive visuals, The Three Musketeers comes to life onscreen as Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans), along with aspiring warrior, D’Artagnan (Lerman), embark on a dangerous and legendary mission across Europe to save both their King and country – “all for one and one for all.”

The Three Musketeers is directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) and co-written by Alex Litvak (Predators).

The Three Musketeers hits BluRay and DVD on March 13th, 2012. You can pre-order a copy right here.