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Michael Jackson’s Thriller will be remade as a feature film.

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

For reasons that remain to be unclear tome, the plans to re-create Michael Jackson‘s Thriller as a feature film are afoot. I’m not surprised at all, the music video made in 1983 by John Landis and featuring Michael Jackson himself must be one of the greatest moments of Zombies on a screen of any size, and was a remarkably great and important part in making music videos have their golden age in the 80s that lasted all the way to late 90s. So picking a good old idea since everyone seems to be completely out of good new ideas is a natural way to go. Yet, making a remake of Thriller without Michael Jackson is like making The Predator without Arnold Schwarzenegger – and look how well that went…

(By the way, Schwarzenegger stated just 4 hours ago in his Twitter that we should “stay tuned for more info on his next project with James Cameron”. I intend to.

Anyway, now the big film blogs have started to whine about how wrong it is that the short film is being remade. The same people who think it’s just OK to do a remake of a film like Let The Right One In – the main difference there really is that Let the Right One In is a Swedish movie, made in this strange language, so it’s OK to rape the shit out of the film. But when it comes to a Zombie music video, remaking that seems to be one hell of a whining point.

Anyway, I’m not specifically looking forward for the remake of either one of them – Thriller or Let the Right One In – but I’m aware that the latter of thes two was remade only because that’s the American equivalent of subtitles. Anyway, here’s the original Thriller music video, enjoy:

(via GeekTyrant & Slash Film)

Posted in Movies, News Splat, Videos, Zombies | 1 Comment »

The Hobbit: Sylvester McCoy cast as Radagast the Brown

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

One more bit of casting news for The Hobbit has just popped online – Sylvester McCoy, who’s been rumored for quite some time to play the role of Radagast the Brown (but which I didn’t take too seriously, since I didn’t remember Radagast having more than a side notion on the novel). Radagast is one of the Istari, the wizards that were sent to Middle-Earth to set things right – or at least to make sure they don’t go too wrong – but some of them went astray (like Saruman for example), some decided to fight the evil (like Gandalf) and some became wandering old coots more interested in the world around them than the actual big picture they were supposed to look over.

Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor, who has a long career behind him, and he’s known for example his role as The Doctor in Dr. Who in late 80′s. He was also considered to play the role of Bilbo Baggins in Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings.

Here’s the updated cast list for The Hobbit:

At the same time, the makers of The Hobbit are trying to fight to keep The Hobbit in New Zealand, and are mustering a rally for shooting The Hobbit in New Zealand on Labor’s Day on Monday, 25th of October. Here’s a trailer:

Posted in Movies, The Hobbit, Trailers, Videos | No Comments »

The Unexpected Party – The Hobbit cast revealed.

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010

Now, as Peter Jackson‘s two-part 500+ million dollar production The Hobbit has finally been greenlit, the first casting news are pouring in. As huge fans of both J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Middle-Earth saga and Peter Jackson’s film adaptations, the Zombies will be closely following the production process.

Here’s the casting sheet for The Hobbit from Zombie Room, which we’ll be updating as new info comes pouring in (click to view larger):

Confirmed cast so far:

Bilbo Baggins – Martin Freeman (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Hot Fuzz (2007), Sherlock (2010))
Gandalf the Grey – Ian McKellen (Last Action Hero (1993), X-Men (2000), The Lord of the Rings (2001))
Thorin Oakenshield – Richard Armitage
Dwalin – Graham McTavish (Rambo (2008), Prison Break, 24)
Bombur – Stephen Hunter
Dori – Mark Hadlow (Meet the Feebles (1989), Xena: Warrior Princess, King Kong (2005))
Oin – John Callen
Gloin – Peter Hambleton
Fili – Rob Kazinsky
Kili – Aidan Turner
Gollum – Andy Serkis

TheOneRing.Net has more coherent information about the cast, but just wanted to mention that Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo Baggins, has also a role as Watson in Moffat‘s new, highly acclaimed mini-series Sherlock.

In other news, it seems it’s not that clear at all that The Hobbit will be filmed in New Zealand after all – the talks about taking the production to Europe are still ongoing, and London has been mentioned as one possibility. Taking the film to UK, which has been the inspiration for Tolkien as the basis of Shire doesn’t sound bad at all. But Kiwis are going to put up one hell of a fight to get to keep the production, and that’s no wonder, given the size of the production – to start with.

Here’s Peter Jackson talking about the issues of the production:

More good info about the topic from Slash Film.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter, Slash Film, TheOneRing.Net)

Posted in News Splat, The Hobbit, Videos | 2 Comments »

Cars 2 Trailer Looks Like Shit.

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

For the first time since I saw the original Toy Story (1995), my faith on Pixar’s excellency is wavering. In a way, it’s not really fair, given they’ve done only awesome films without any exceptions, but still, looking at the new teaser for Cars 2, I can’t but say I’m not completely convinced. Cars hasn’t been the best Pixar film, and I know to many it’s even considered as a bad film, but I have to disagree on that. I’ve been watching Cars over and over again with my kid since it was out, and I know it inside out – and I think it’s a fine film. It may not be as unique as most of them, but still – it’s a good basic small story with a lot of character, a good story structure and all that stuff.

But let’s see. Cars 2 seems to be some kind of an … agent film? What? Have I missed something somewhere? I mean I know the franchise quite well, having been exposed to it quite much as a dad of a 5-year-old, but I never knew about this angle. The only real explanation to it that this is one of Mater’s (Larry the Cable Guy) fantasies they’ve been pushing out as Mater’s Tall Tales, but I don’t know. It doesn’t feel like it.

So, I’m concerned. But, nevertheless, here’s the new teaser, and a bunch of concept art. We’ll see, it’s coming out in the summer of 2011.

Tags: Cars, Cars 2, Larry the Cable Guy, Mater, Mater's Tall Tales, Pixar, Toy Story
Posted in General, Images, Movies, News, News Splat, Trailers, Videos | 1 Comment »

Zombie Sunday: Waste Your Money On The Dead!

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Got too much money?! Yes, I know the feeling – nowhere to spend, but shitload of it at hands. Well, why not spend it on some cool Zombie stuff. This sunday the Zombies go shopping online – let’s see, what we found!

Everybody needs a calendar on the wall. In most cases it’s some ugly-ass paperscrap with boring pictures of nature – or even worse, Anne Geddes “funny” baby photos… Zombie Room suggests you to get something to enjoy – a Zombie Calendar! Empty Room Studios has one for you:

I’m always shocked on how utterly horrible the mobile phones – especially the ones made for iPhone – look like. I know that some of you wield an iPhone on your side. For those, Zombie Bikini Babes is probably the worst thing to spend your hard-earned money on. But they got Marina Orlova, the hottest babe on the Net – so maybe it is worth a dollar or two. Who knows.

Buying a shotgun for the Zombie Apocalypse preparations is not always easy. Here’s an experience snatched from Not Always Right:

(A customer in their 50s walks into my pawn shop, which sells weapons.)

Customer: “Yeah, can you get me that shotgun behind the table?”

Me: “Sure, do you have your license and registration?”

Customer: “Yeah, right here.”

Me: “Thank you sir. There’s a 5 day waiting period for firearms. Come back soon.”

(He looks disappointed, but forks over the cash and walks out. Five days later…)

Customer: “Okay, dude, I’m back. Where’s the gun?”

Me: “Right here, sir…

(I make the transaction and hand him his shotgun.)

Me: “Have a nice day and come back soon!”

(About one minute after the customer leaves the store, I hear several loud shotgun blasts. I look through the window and the man is firing rounds into the air! He then runs into the store.)

Customer: “The zombie invasion has begun! It’s every man for himself!”

(I hide under the desk and press the silent alarm. Five minutes later, the police arrive, taser the guy, and bring him out of our back room in cuffs. I work at an ice cream store now.)

The guy should probably check out the Guns ‘n Gardens How To Survive Zombie Apocalypse -show, so he would know what to do when he gets back from the jail – don’t go shooting around aimlessly, you have only this many bullets and there’s always more of Zombies, that’s for sure:

Posted in Videos, Zombie Sunday, Zombies | 79 Comments »

How To Transform Into a Zombie 101

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Since we are getting closer and closer to Dead Snow Zombie Walk, I thought it would be good to go over some basic tips and tricks on how to actually transform yourself into a zombie. I will tell you a little what I will be doing and then some tips from all over the internet. Keep in mind that I’m not an expert, so if I can do it – so can you!

COSTUME

Start by choosing what kind of zombie you wanna be. We are going as nazi-zombies, since that’s what they have in Dead Snow, but it can be anything you like. After deciding your character, you need to think how did you die. Was it resent or have you been roaming the streets eating brains for decades? So dress accordingly. The present day is of course the easiest since you can use some of your old clothes and just zombify them.

What you wanna do is take those clothes you’ve chosen and just give them a feel of them being under ground as zombies usually have been. So just dirt them up a bit. The most important thing is of course blood, but by adding mud and ripping your clothes to shreds, you get a bigger effect. Flea markets are the best place to find clothes cheap and they might be a bit torn already. Here’s an example of what I did today to a shirt I just bought.

zombie_walk_shirts_01

zombie_walk_shirt_after_05

This is only one part of my look, the rest is still under development. But you get the general idea.

MAKE-UP

All you really need is a white face paint for the base and some black to define your eyes and cheek bones. And of course a lot of blood. A good place to buy this stuff is Punanaamio in Helsinki.

Here’s a great video on the most basic and traditional zombie make-up. This is the direction we are taking with our look.

And here’s a couple of more advanced tutorials. The first one shows you how to get that “fresh dead look”.

And here’s how to do the rotten flesh effect. It’s actually quite simple.

And remember to have fun, this is not in any way serious and it doesn’t really matter what other people think, as long as you are having fun. I would also like to remind everyone that you can of course come to see Dead Snow even if you weren’t going to be dressing up as a zombie. This is a movie you don’t wanna miss!

Dead Snow Zombie Walk 28.10 20:00 from Rautatientori, Helsinki (RSVP to the Facebook event here)

Dead Snow screening 28.10 21:00 Maxim 2 (buy tickets by pressing this link)

Read my previous article about Dead Snow Zombie Walk here.

Hope this helped and see you at the Zombie Walk!

Tags: Dead Snow, Dead Snow Zombie Walk, Zombie make-up, Zombies
Posted in General, Videos, Zombies | 72 Comments »

Countdown To Night Visions: CRISPIN GLOVER EXPERIENCE! 30.10.2009!

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Crispin_Glover

One of the coolest events at Night Visions this Halloween has to be THE CRISPIN GLOVER EXPERIENCE! Remember George McFly from Back to the Future? How about the the freaky Train Fireman from Dead Man? Yes, that’s Crispin Glover. The eccentric American actor and filmmaker has been an idol of mine for a long time and I can’t wait to see his “one man live-performance”. The Crispin Glover Experience contains a screening of his film It Is Fine. Everything Is Fine! (2007), Glover’s Big Slide Show, Q & A and a book signing.

Show and screening 30.10.2009 19.00 Maxim 1

Here is the trailer for It Is Fine. Everything Is Fine! I think it is an understatement to say that the trailer speaks for itself. Wow!

It Is Fine. Everything Is Fine! is based on Glover’s friend, a CP-handicapped Steven C. Stewart’s manuscript. It’s about Stewart’s alter ego, permanently wheelchair-bound Paul, who craves women with long hair. It is “partly autobiographical, psycho-sexual, imaginative report on Stewart’s outlook on life”. The screening in Night Visions is a unique opportunity to see the film, because Glover doesn’t sell his work for commercial distribution, and doesn’t make DVDs. Glover even transports the print personally to each screening himself.

Glover finances his films with money made from playing roles in big films like Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.

Here are some of my favorite Crispin Glover moments. What are yours?

“My career has been a mixture of having to make money and doing things I feel OK about. If I could just get a lobotomy, I’d be a lot better off.” – Crispin Hellion Glover

For more info visit the official site www.nightvisions.info
Visit Crispin Glover´s official site here.

Tags: Crispin Glover, It Is Fine. Everything Is Fine!, Night Visions Maximum Halloween 3009
Posted in Awesome, Countdown, Film festivals, Videos | 158 Comments »

Love & Anarchy Diary # 1: It was death at first sight

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

The 22nd Helsinki International Film Festival, better known as Rakkautta & Anarkiaa (Love & Anarchy) is starting today and will go on until the 27th of September. During these one and a half weeks, there will be over 130 feature films screened. Once again The Zombies are reporting from the scene more or less daily so stay tuned.

But first let’s get into the festival mood. Here to assist in that is this years very cool Love & Anarchy trailer, which is made by the Helsinki based animation studio, Anima Boutique. Enjoy!

The Zombies have been making our own schedule for the festival and if you are having any difficulties choosing what films to see, here are a few tips from our selection.

This year the festival opens with Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! It is a true story based film that tells a story of the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history and it stars Matt Damon. Soderbergh is very well known for his ability to make films from very different genres and this year is no exception. He also has another film at the festival called The Girlfriend Experience. These two movies couldn’t be more apart from each other. The Girlfriend Experience is a small budget indie film that is centered on a high-end Manhattan call girl meeting the challenges of her boyfriend, her clients, and her work.

On the animation front I’m really exited to see Hayao Miyazaki’s new movie Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. An animated adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become human. Another interesting animated movie is of course 9, which is produced by no other that Tim Burton himslef. 9 is a post-apocalyptic nightmare in which all of humanity is threatened. 9′s all-star cast voices include Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly and my personal favorite Crispin Glover.

From South Korea we have two very exiting movies. The Good, The Bad, The Weird is a so called eastern western of three Korean outlaws in 1940′s Manchuria and their rivalry to possess a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits. The other film is Thirst. It is a vampire movie by Chan-wook Park where a failed medical experiment turns a man of faith into a vampire. I absolutely loved Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and I can’t wait to see his take on the vampire genre.

There are two epic two part movies that you should definitely see. From France we have Mesrine: Part 1 – Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Part 2 – Public Enemy #1. The story of french gangster Jacques Mesrine, before he was called Public Enemy N°1. Mesrine is portrayed by one of my favorite French actors Vincent Cassel. Also John Woo’s five hour long Red Cliff can be seen in full lenght and in two parts for the first time in Finland. There is a another version that has cut the movie into one and is significantly shorter. Red Cliff is based on the events during the Three Kingdoms period in Ancient China in which specifically told in the title, The Battle of Red Cliffs.

As a woman film maker I’m always interested on seeing movies made by other women, but they are more than usual quite disappointing. One exception how ever has always been Kathryn Bigelow. Point Break and Strange Days are some of the great action films of the 90′s and now her new film is screened at Love & Anarchy. The Hurt Locker is set in Iraq where an elite Army bomb squad unit is forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, they must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb. The movie has received praise and awards from all over the world.

Another woman film maker veteran is also represented on the festival. This years closing film is Jane Campion’s Bright Star, a drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats’ untimely death at age 25. Campion is best known for The Piano, which won three Academy Awards.

Also I’m really eagar to see (500) Days Of Summer, An Education, Hierro, Metropia and many many others. Hope this entry helped you make some decisions.

For more info on the movies, schedules and tickets go to the official site from here.

See you at the festival!

- Essi

Tags: 9, Bright Star, Chan-wook Park, Hayao Miyazaki, Helsinki International Film Festival, Jane Campion, John Woo, Kathryn Bigelow, Love & Anarchy, Mesrine: Part 1 - Killer Instinct, Mesrine: Part 2 - Public Enemy #1, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Rakkautta & Anarkiaa, Red Cliff, Steven Soderbergh, The Girlfriend Experience, The Good The Bad The Weird, The Hurt Locker, The Informant!, Thirst
Posted in Diaries, Film festivals, Movies, Videos | 192 Comments »

Making Of Iroun Sky Basterds

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

ukkokaarto_isabasterd

Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France… in Cannes to be exact. A group of film makers decided to have a break from meetings and to have some fun.

We were in Cannes film festival for 8 days straight and everyone had lots of meetings and very little free time. So when we had one day that was more or less a free day, we decided to do something fun together. And because we are all big movie nerds, we just had to do our version of Inglourious Basterds trailer. We decided to re-make the whole trailer shot by shot, only using the soundtrack from the original trailer. It took us a bout 12 hours to do the graphics, organize and finally shoot the trailer. Let´s take a look at how this all came together.

Everything starts with good planning. Here are Timo Vuorensola and Pekka Ollula looking for the right angels to shoot

Samuli Torssonen is getting ready for his close-up as Hitler

Samuli is getting in the zone

Roll camera... and... ACTION!

As you can see, we have a map of Cannes here covered with Swastikas just like in the original film... well almost

We even got Iron Sky producer Tero Kaukomaa to play a part. Ukko Kaarto is making the last touch-ups to the props before shooting

Ukko Kaarto as Lt. Aldo Raine. Each and every man under his command owes him one hundred Nazi scalps... and Ukko want his scalps!

Pekka Ollula is getting his make-up done by Merja. The metamorphosis to Diane Kruger is almost complete

Last adjustments to the wardrobe

And the transformation is complete, you go girl!

Ukko Kaarto, Timo Vuorensola and Merja Ritola are hanging around the "set"

I have no idea what's going on here...

Ukko Kaarto, Pekka Ollula and Merja Ritola are shooting a running scene

Merja is running away from the Nazis

We were shooting outside a sex store in the streets of Cannes and we were loosing light fast. But we got the shot.

And here’s where it all started, the original trailer for Inglourious Basterds.

And finally, here is the the end result of all of our hard work once again. Enjoy!

I have say that I had a blast making Iroun Sky Basterds and it was probably one of the funniest days of my life. And for that me and Timo would like to thank our wonderful team one more time: Pekka Ollula, Ukko Kaarto, Janne Torssonen, Christian Arnold, Merja Ritola, Tero Kaukomaa and Samuli Torssonen as Der Führer.

- Essi

Tags: Inglourious Basterds, Iron Sky, Iroun Sky Basterds
Posted in Awesome, Images, Movies, Nazis, Trailers, Videos | 1 Comment »

Iroun Sky Basterds is here!

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

The grandest of all Nazi films lately is coming to the theaters tomorrow here in Finland, so we decided to celebrate it with a small video we made with the Iron Sky team while in Cannes.

Enjoy

Shot and edited during one quite fuzzy and hot day in Cannes by our wonderful Pekka Ollula, directed by umm maybe me or something Starring Ukko Kaarto, Essi Suomela, Janne Torssonen, Christian Arnold, Merja Ritola, Pekka Ollula, Tero Kaukomaa and Samuli Torssonen as Der Führer.

Tags: Inglourious Basterds, Iron Sky
Posted in Awesome, Movies, Nazis, Trailers, Videos | 10 Comments »

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