And so, the Eclipse begins . . .

With the latest instalment in The Twilight Saga released in cinemas worldwide this evening, I've been having an absolute ball reading all of the stories and content out there about crazy fans. Therefore, it only seems appropriate that I too bring you a Twihard story to sink your teeth into. Sorry, that was a lame vampire joke and I promise not to make any more (note: this is a lie).

Anywho, I hunted these gals down myself so I hope you enjoy the story. Stay posted for my Eclipse review tomorrow and for my Top 4 Twihard stories click on the links at the bottom of this post.

It was love at first bite when Edyn Mackney (pictured on the right, above, with here sister Grace) first read Stephenie Meyer's vampire romance novels, The Twilight Saga, in 2006. Now the 14-year-old estimates she has read the series of four books at least 10 times, seen the first two films 20 times, spent hundreds of dollars on Twilight memorabilia and even got her younger sister hooked on the series.
"I love it tons,'' she said.
"My friends think the series is cool too and they love my room, but they think I'm a bit obsessed with it.
"You really relate to the books and fall in love with the love story between Edward and Bella.
"I don't think I will ever get over it because you can always re-read the books and watch the movies again.
"As soon as the movie comes out you become even more obsessed with it.''

Her obsession will reach fever-pitch tonight when the third film, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, is released in cinemas worldwide. Edyn said for Twihards, the nickname given to hardcore Twilight fans, the film is the most anticipated event of the year.
"Eclipse and Breaking Dawn are the films that everyone is looking forward to,'' she said.
"Eclipse is probably my favourite book because of the big fight scene at the end, Edward comes back and there's the competition for who's going to be with Bella.
"When I saw the trailer at the cinemas for the first time I freaked out, I grabbed my mum's leg and my heart was racing.''

Mother Janine Mackney said Edyn and Grace, 10, have turned their bedrooms into a `Twilight shrine', complete with posters, calendars, T-shirts, CDs, companion guides and Robert Pattinson books.
"If she could turn into a vampire she would,'' she said.
"But Edyn is a mature girl, she doesn't carry a vial of blood around like some crazy fans.
"Her obsession is with the whole series, Stephenie Meyer's writing and the romantic storyline.
"I think my biggest crush growing up was George Michael, and look how that turned out, but I understand their obsession with this.''
"I read the books too and think they're really cool.''

Mrs Mackney said after attending the midnight screenings of the previous two films, they had purchased tickets to see Eclipse in Gold Class so they `didn't have to deal with people screaming with excitement' throughout the movie. Event Cinemas and Birch Carroll and Coyle spokeswoman Belinda Kite said movie sessions have already been selling out across the Australia, up to a month before the film’s release.
"There have been great ticket sales already and thousands have pre-purchased to see the film,'' she said.
"Eclipse already has the hype and anticipation that New Moon seemed to have last November.
"I think sometimes when the movie makers get a combination of the right elements with actors, directors, writers and cinematography, people get behind the films and follow their journey going to the cinema, buying the DVDs and memorabilia.''

As a self-confessed `movie buff' Ms Kite said it is exciting to see people from a wide demographic getting enthusiastic about a film franchise.
"I love to hear people get excited about the characters and the storyline,'' she said.
"People like to be entertained and if they enjoy something, it's great to hear people share their experiences.
"Who knows whether it will stand the test of time like the Star Wars series, but we can only wait until Breaking Dawn comes and see how The Twilight Saga continues in peoples' lives.''

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opens in worldwide tonight at 12.01am.

Movie Mazzupial's Top 4 Twihard Stories *insert Kanye here* OF ALL TIME!

1. Crazy Twilight lady makes everbody sad (at Film Drunk)
2. Twilight premiere spawns tent city - `Lonesome Town' (at Film Drunk)
3. When Twilight fandom becomes an addiction (at Los Angeles Times)
4. Top 10 batshit insane Twilight fan moments (at Ranker)

Invasion of the celebrity spawn

I did the good Samaritan thing on Sunday and took some boys I babysit to see The Karate Kid. Considering what I endured sitting through that movie, karma better have a pet unicorn heading my way! Anywho, HERE is my online video review of the film, which is worth watching for my fossil head alone.

And while you're in the laughing mood, you must must must watch the video clip for The Karate Kid theme song: Never Say Never by Justin Bieber, featuring rapping from Jaden Smith. Hopefully this is not an indication that Smith will make a rap song to accompany every movie he makes, just like his dad. But seriously, when you look young standing next to Justin Bieber then it's time to stop rapping and get back in the womb.

The Karate Kid is out in cinemas on Thursday.

Picasso, Matisse and now Burton.

Weirdo. Loner. Outsider. These are some of the terms director Tim Burton uses to describe himself. You will notice `creative genius’ isn’t one of them, however, the term is being thrust upon on the quirky filmmaker thanks to Tim Burton: The Exhibition which opened at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne on Thursday. The show is an extension of an exhibition curated by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, which attracted more than 850, 000 visitors and made it the third largest exhibit at MoMA ever, behind Picasso and Matisse.

It is a remarkable feat for someone who is firstly, not a mainstream artist, and secondly, alive.
“Most of this stuff was never meant to really be seen,” says Burton, sitting cross-legged in an ACMI room in his signature uniform of black jeans, a black shirt and black oversized cardigan. His famous curly hair frizzes out at all ends and his hands, fluid and always moving, add to its state by running through it as he describes the `freedoms’ of being labelled a weirdo.
“As soon as society says you’re a weirdo, then you’re a weirdo, whether you like it or not,” says the 51-year-old.
“After a certain time you just accept it and it gives you a sense of freedom because if you want to wear a bag over your head society will just accept it because they thought you were weird anyway.
“Like when I was at Disney they thought I was weird, so I would work under my desk for half the day.
“Sometimes if they couldn’t find me I’d just be in a dark cupboard working, like my private confessional.
“So there’s an amount of freedom when you’re categorised a certain way. “
Growing up in Burbank, California, Tim Burton was fascinated by the visual image and spent his formative years sketching, painting, animating and filming what he saw around him.
“When you circle outside of society, when you’re kind of, you’re not in there, you’re looking at things,” he says.
“A lot of it has to do with feeling out of society so you have a lot more observation.”
These observations make up the first part of the exhibit, Surviving Burbank, and include, among dozens of sketches and early short films, a handmade book he submitted to Disney in the 1970s and the accompanying rejection letter. Several years later Burton achieved his goal and began working at Disney’s Burbank studios as an animator. Some of his early work for the company was as on family hits The Black Cauldron and The Fox and the Hound, which Burton physically shudders remembering.
“I was never good at drawing foxes, especially the cute ones,” he says.
“That’s why I can’t look at the exhibit because it freaks me out too much.
“I know they’ve done a good job, but it’s like seeing your dirty laundry hanging up.
“`Oh there’s my underwear from 1973 and there’s some dirty socks.’
Personal embarrassment aside, the exhibition is an in-depth look at the creative processes and twisted imagination of Burton, featuring more than 700 works including drawings, early films, sculptures, concept art, installations, puppets, costumes and cinematic ephemera. The second part of the exhibition, Beautifying Burbank, follows Burton’s step away from the Disney studio and his first early film and animation works, including his rarely seen Japanese kung-fu version of Hansel and Gretel and better known works Frankenweenie and Vincent, the latter based around one of Burton’s great inspirations - horror movie icon Vincent Price.

The final section, Beyond Burbank, looks at his feature film career, which has spanned over two decades. From his early works, such as Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, to more recent films like Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, Burton has made the leap from cult to commercially successful filmmaker. His latest film, Alice In Wonderland, has grossed more than $1 billion at the international box office and gone on to become the fifth highest grossing film of all time. But Burton is quick to write-off his recent success and says if spending half his lifetime in the movie-making business has taught him anything, it is that filmmaking is a `humbling process’.
“I remember after making Batman I thought `oh, that was a success, I can go and do anything now’,” he says.
“And so I went and pitched them Edward Scissorhands and they gave me a completely blank look.
“Nobody wanted to do that and nobody wanted to do Ed Wood, so I had to go about it in other ways.
“Then I remember pitching a musical version of The House Of Wax with Michael Jackson that he was into but they, the studio, were definitely not into.
“It’s always a struggle to make a film.”

Despite the many `challenges’ faced when trying to get a project off the ground, Burton says he has faith that everything works out for a reason. He cites the studio not letting him have Sammy Davis Jr play Beetlejuice as an example, because `it opened the door for Michael Keaton’ who also went on to play Batman in Burton’s two adaptations of the comic book superhero. Another near-miss occurred when, after three hours of auditioning, Burton talked a young Tom Cruise out of wanting the role of Edward Scissorhands, which was later filled by Johnny Depp, who has become a frequent collaborator and one of Burton’s closest friends. Failed projects and major successes go hand in hand for Burton, who says he has learned `not to regret anything’.
“I don’t really regret, it’s always important not to,” he says.
“Every movie I’ve done, whether it’s turned out or not, I’ve still enjoyed aspects of it, you know?
“I mean I think the one I got the most slack with is Planet Of The Apes because that was messing with a classic.
“But I still enjoyed seeing talking apes."
One of the highlights of the exhibition is the 2.7kg costume Depp wore in Edward Scissorhands (above), which is stationed at the entrance to the exhibit along with one of the scissor hands on display in a glass cabinet. Other featured works which will have the legions of Burtonites, the name given to passionate Tim Burton fans, gushing is the famous outfit Michelle Phfieffer wore as Catwoman in Batman Returns, original puppets from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas borrowed from the Disney archives, costumes and sketches from Alice In Wonderland and the Burtonarium, a carnival tent buried deep within the exhibit which houses a light emitting sculptural work by Burton called Carousel (pictured at the very bottom).

ACMI Head of Exhibitions Conrad Bodman says the `diversity’ of the exhibits represents Burton as a filmmaker and goes a long way to explaining his loyal fan base.
“One of the things that Tim has always done is work across a range of film genres - action films, animated films, family films, horror films - and I think all of those types of films have different audiences and when you pull all those inspirations together in the one place, people want to come,” he says.
“What we’re showing in the exhibition is a lot of original concept artwork for his major feature films and we’re kind of looking at the process of his feature filmmaking over the years.
“People can see that often the hand drawn is the starting point for some ideas and then that turns into a visual reality for a whole process of development.
“Tim still does a lot of that kind of drawing, painting and making puppets for himself and people will be fascinated to see that process in action.”

Unlike many other filmmakers, Burton says he has been able to maintain his artistic integrity and stay connected to his creative roots by separating himself from the industry.
“I don’t live in Hollywood,” he says.
“I moved away many years ago and once you start doing things they try to treat you as a commodity, a thing.
“You know, you spend your whole life to be recognised as a human being and then they try to tag you as a thing.
“Like `oh, you’ve done this and that’s what we expect’ so I don’t go back and look at my films too much because I try not to become a `thing’.
“I try to keep human. . . no person or people should be described as one thing.
“I think everybody has lots of different aspects to their personality.
“Some are dark, funny, sad, there are so many words for each person.”

Considering Melbourne was originally to be called Batmania, after one of it’s founders John Batman, it seems appropriate that it is to be the home of Tim Burton: The Exhibition, which runs until October 11. Already ACMI has experienced a fevour amongst Burton’s Australian fans, with all of his public appearances selling out within 24 hours of going on sale and hundreds of fans queuing through Federation Square to be the first to enter the exhibit when it opened on Thursday and have copies of the exhibition guide signed by Burton himself. It is ironic that his work and films are so accepted by the society he once considered himself `outside’ of. It is a phenomenon best summed up by Burton’s partner and regular collaborator Helena Bonham Carter, with whom he has two children. In a book on the art of Tim Burton she says; “When I see him surrounded by flushed and hyperventilating young fans I feel it’s a triumph of the lonely misunderstood outsider child he once felt he was. Now he’s the most understood misunderstood person I’ve come across in the world.”
In the meantime Burton says he is enjoying a lull between live action projects, while busying himself with a feature-length adaptation of Frankenweenie (concept art above), due for release next year. He emphasises the stop-motion animated film is the only project he is working on and committed to, despite online reports which have linked him to adaptations of The Addams Family and super-natural TV series Dark Shadows, both which he blatantly denies were ever `considered’.
“That’s why I never go on the internet because it always seems like I have some sort of evil clone out there that is doing all these projects,” he says.
“I’m still recovering from the last one.
“Whenever I read this stuff I get tired, I think `God, I must be busy’.
“The studios often have a release date before they have a script, which is such a mistake.
“I’m trying to get out of that and, you know, into this strange concept of having a script before you announce a release date.”

There is a full program of events surrounding Tim Burton: The Exhibition and the details can be found at www.acmi.net.au

Five favourite films with Tim Burton

At the time of writing this I'm currently sitting on the cold cement outside the Australian Centre For Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne. It's 4.30am and I suspect about 4'C, although I don't think I want to know the actual temperature in case it's way worse. I've spent the past three hectic days covering Tim Burton: The Exhibition, a career retrospective of sorts for the legendary director aka one of my all time great inspirations. I've toured the exhibition before its opened, attended special events with Burton and interviewed him twice, but still, here I am queuing to be one of the first to have their The Art Of Tim Burton book signed.

Yes, I am a massive geek. But I also appreciate that a Goth visualist and universal creative genius like Tim Burton only comes around once. Suffice to say I have a huge amount of Burtonesque content coming in the next few days, so I suggest you stay posted for exclusives, insights and pics.

In the meantime, as regular readers of my blog would know, one of my favourite questions to ask anyone even mildly film-related is what movies are their favourites and what ones have inspired them. I sat in on a session with Burton on Tuesday night where he discussed just that. It was an extremely interesting peek into the directors mind and without further delay, here's a list of Tim Burton's five favourites along with the reasoning behind his choices.

#5: Dracula A.D. 1972

"Christopher Lee is not to proud of this, but it’s a favourite of mine. It was one of first films I saw; you could pay 50 cents and see three films back at a cinema in Burbank. I think this is where I saw it. I loved how it combined the `swingin’ 60s and 70s London with Hammer horror films. You become hypnotised by how crap they are.

When I was younger I went to Grauman's Chinese Theatre and it had a picture history of every film that has won an Academy Award. I went `well, I’ve never seen that or that’. You know, I wouldn’t really know a good movie if it bit me in the face. But in these kind of films there’s something that takes you back to a weird, pulpy fairytale. Some of their flaws are actually part of their strengths and I found that to be more powerful to me than Academy Award winning types of films. I enjoy mistakes sometimes."

#4: The Wicker Man (1973)

"It’s like a weird musical, a weird, twisted musical. That’s actually one of Chris’s favourite movies of his. It’s like a weird dream. It wasn’t very popular at the time, but it’s one that has grown on people over time. Growing up in Burbank was bit like this village, except we had no fishermen. It was quite nice, quite friendly, but there was always something bubbling under the surface. "

#3: The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad (1974)

"Ray Harryhusen did the special-effects on this, he’s incredible. He’s an inspiration to me, I’m actually missing his 90^th birthday in London at the moment. He came on the set of the Corpse Bride and was a real inspiration to everyone. After Clash Of The Titans he didn’t really do anything and then when I met him years later he’s still very intelligent, inquisitive and a real artist.

You can see the artist at work there, even in crappy science fiction films his acting of the characters was better than the real acting. It inspired me, that’s what I like about movies is the fantasy. Stop-motion is really exciting, not just in terms of the movement, but having the artists around working on it."

#2: War Of The Gargantuas (1966)

"This is one of my favourites. It’s my 2-year-old daughter's favourite movie and she’s as obsessed with it as I was. She’s the green gargantuan and my son is the brown one. One of the other things I love about it is, unlike hardcore film people, I don’t mind dubbed movies. There’s something about the language and the way it comes across relating to the movie; it’s like weird poetry. I’ve always much preferred the dubbed version as opposed to the original Japanese movie. And plus, subtitles take about from the imagery.

I’ve always had a little bond to Japanese culture and they (their films) have a real heart to them in a weird way. There’s a lot of great dialogue. There’s another part when a man reports to the General and goes ‘there has been great damage to the city and over 100, 000 people have been killed’ and the General goes ‘that’s weird’. It’s quite surreal.

One of the things I love about monster movies, the monsters were always the most soulful characters. Usually because they were the main characters and misunderstood, and the actors were so bad the monsters ended up being the emotional focal point. That’s why I was always fascinated when people said `why do you like all those monster movies?’ The characters were great and at the end of every movie the characters would get killed and it was a very tragic, Shakespearean death that they had. I always found it quite moving in most monster movies."

#1: The Omega Man (1971)

"The thing I like about this is the vampire characters are played by real people which is nice and they had a cool look to them. They all were wearing cool black robes with cool black glasses and they just looked cool.

I actually am quite obsessed by him, Charlton Heston is like the greatest bad actor of all time. I mean, just between that and Planet Of The Apes and also The Ten Commandments, which I know is like this big religious film, but I always thought it was the first zombie movie. He starts out as a real person and by the end of it he’s like this weird zombie.

(In The Omega Man) I also love the scenes where he’s talking to himself and then when he watches Woodstock and is quoting lines to himself. The family are also great, they’re probably my favourite characters. It’s one of those movies where the rough edges make you love it more. Also, he was the first person in my mind to kind of bring in the line, the kind of Arnold Schwarzenegger thing `I’ll be back’, the cheesy one-liners.

I’m sure everybody has got films where if they come on TV late at night or they’re on cable they’ll watch them. They’re part of your make-up, your DNA. They will just stay with you, for better or worse. I guess that’s why some people might say I’ve made some bad movies because bad movies I watch and enjoy."

Tim Burton: The Exhibition runs at the ACMI until October 10, along with a whole program of Burtonesque events. For the full details visit their website here.

EXCLUSIVE Megan Fox nude video!

If you're the kind of person who is reading this post soley because of that headline, then you deserve to be disappointed. Sorely disappointed.

As shamelessly self-promoted in the article below, I have begun doing online video reviews of the latest movies for the Gold Coast Bulletin's, the paper I work for, moderately interactive website. Anywho, to bide time until I finish transcribing my hours, literally hours, of Tim Burton interviews. . .I suggest, nay, BEG you click on THIS link and watch my video.

Sure, you won't see Megan Fox's baby-maker sticking out of a pair of hot pants, but if you still feel unfulfilled then just go and rent Transformers 2 instead. That's all the mind-fuckery one will ever need.

Shameless self-promotion 101

Okay kids, here’s a bit of shameless self-promotion for you. If you’re a fan of the awkward and uncomfortable-chic look a la Kristen Stewart, then I suggest you click on the link below and watch my online video review of Mother and Child for GoldCoast.com.au.

To watch Movie Mazzupial in almost physical pain click HERE.

Go on, you know you want to. Later this week tune in for my slightly more exciting review of Toy Story 3, followed by The Karate Kid the following week. And boy, am I looking forward that *record scratch*.

Right now though I'm off to catch my plane to interview TIM FREAKIN BURTON in Melbourne! GAH! SO EXCITED! Stay posted for all the gory details :o)

The toys are back in town

Finally, I’m so excited that I can share my thoughts on Toy Story 3 with you guys. I saw it three weeks ago and had to sign an embargo with Disney to hold-off on publishing, posting or even mentioning the film on social networking sites until the date was lifted a few days ago. So, here goes.

Toy Story was the first film released to use only Computer-generated Imagery, CGI and it redefined the course of movie making and animated films forever. Fifteen years later, Pixar and Disney are hoping to recreate that magic with the third film in the franchise.

Toy Story 3 sees Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the beloved characters accidentally dumped in a day-care centre after their owner, Andy, goes to college. From the fantastical opening which captures the imagination of children, to the signature wit and humour of the story, the film is a worthy entrant in the series. Other animated franchises, like Shrek, have struggled to find purpose in the later films. However, Toy Story 3 progresses, it grows up, and introduces new elements instead of trying to rehash formulas that worked previously.
There are also some colourful new characters introduced, the highlights being the flamboyant and uber metro sexual Ken (voiced by Michael Keaton), a dialogue-free security monkey, and Mr Pricklepants (voiced by Timothy Dalton) a stuffed-hedgehog who recites Shakespeare. The use of 3D technology is executed perfectly, immersing the audience in the experience rather than trying to be gimmicky.

Overall this is slower, and a little sadder than its predecessors. Even the adults will be hard pressed to hold back a tear when Andy realises that he has to grow up and leave his childhood friends behind. It feels like the writers have made a conscious effort to wrap up the series, while at the same time leaving the tiniest bit of potential for a fourth film. Only time will tell if the toys once again come out of the box.

Toy Story 3 opens in cinemas this Thursday, and already it is smashing box office records for Pixar and Disney in the US. Looks like there’s no `death by monkey’s’ for this series.

Favourite movies with Harry Cook

Its been a little while since we’ve talked about the delightful Harry Cook, one of the pivotal actors alongside Geena Davis in Accidents Happen. But since his next film Caught Inside screened at the Sydney Film Festival last week, what better time to talk about his favourite movies. The 18-year-old had this to say:

“That’s hard. Forrest Gump is really good. I like old school films, like Death Becomes Her is amazing. Thelma and Louise too, and I’m not just saying that because of Geena Davis, it really is an awesome movie. The first movie I ever saw was Oliver and I would love to do the musical one day.”

Stay tuned for an up and coming interview with Harry Cook about Caught Inside. In the meantime, you can re-live the joy of my Accidents Happen interview with him here.

(Above) L-R: Harrison Gilbertson and Harry Cook at the premiere of Accidents Happen at the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Cremorne, Sydney.

An appeal to the Narnia camp

Dear The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,

Because you are the first film I ever got to visit the set of, you shall forever hold a place in my heart. However, the excitement and enthusiasm I once felt for you quickly dwindled away when I watched your first full length trailer online. Craptacular doesn’t even begin to cover it.

I know there’s a story in there somewhere because I’ve read the synopsis, so how about showing that in the trailer? Or heaven forbid, a logical order of events as opposed to a wet painting here, a magical coat there and Ben Barnes with a pedo-mo slotted in the middle? Sigh. I hope the hardcore fans are a little more pleased than the rest of us.

Sincerely,

Movie Mazzupial

P.S. For my full story on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader trailer and to view it, head HERE.

For my Narnia exclusives swing by this, this and this.

Todd Farmer talks about horror, 3D & pissing Hollywood off

Prepare for an epic post fellow movie lovers, as I finally finished the full transcript of my interview with Todd Farmer (above) and Kerri Hill-Grisham about their up and coming 3D horror film The Dark Things. For those who have been living under a rock and have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t be lazy, scroll down the page and read the full story a few posts below.

Anywho, as I eluded to last week, the interview is extremely interesting and Farmer in particular shared some awesome insights on Hollywood, modern horror films and 3D technology.

Enjoy and stay tuned for more The Dark Things updates.


Movie Mazzupial: So now that you’re here, what have you guys been doing so far? Have you been busy scouting locations?
Kerri Hill-Grisham: Yes, we’ve already had a meeting with Warner Roadshow Studios and talked about the different places we can film and what Queensland has to offer, which is obviously a lot. We’ve been very happy with that.

MM: So you’re definitely coming to shoot here?
KHG: Yes, definitely.

MM: Cool!
KHG: We’ve been giving Todd a quick, rushed Australian education.

MM: Have they been getting you hooked on Tim Tams and Vegemite yet?
KHG: Oh, we’ve got him hooked on Tim Tams, but he’s not a fan of Vegemite.
Todd Farmer: The Tim Tams are fine, I have no problem with Tim Tams, but Vegemite…
KHG: But he needed to do that to experience what we go through (laughs).

MM: And you will be shooting the film primarily at Warner Roadshow Studios?
KHG: Yes and on locations throughout the coast.

MM: When are you planning to start filming?
KHG: The start of the year, definitely next year.

MM: Great, I’m just trying to suss that out so I can lurk on set everyday. So, the storyline, it’s about Aboriginal legends that come to life? Have you started writing the script already?
TF: I started the outline for this, then decided it would be better to just come here and dive in, meet the people, see the locations and look at pubs. I can write pretending to be an Aussie, but I need to come here to experience it. We have consultants that we’re going to meet with. It’s been quite fun.

MM: What kind of research have you had to do so far?
TF: Just researching…even film is different. Watching your films compared to our films, they’re different. So, watching films and what I like to do the most is just people watch. While that sounds boring, it’s actually fascinating because everything is different, everyone is different; the way you drive, the way you think. It's really quite fun because I've never done anything like this. At the end of the day it will all come down to the story, it will all come down to the characters. I grew up reading Stephen King and he was great at taking ordinary people and dropping them into extraordinary situations and that's exactly what I'm going to do.

MM: Right. As far as Aboriginal legends and Aboriginal culture goes, have you got some experts and consultants who are helping with the projects?
KHG: Marcus Waters, he’s a screenwriter and teacher at Griffith University here. We’re actually meeting him today and tomorrow and going over a bunch of stuff.

MM: What has the support been like from places like Screen Queensland and Screen Australia?
KHG: Everyone has been great and very supportive. You know, film’s not so hot here right now, so they’re excited to be getting a film over here. Everyone has been great, which is a lot different from the states.

MM: Why do you think that is?
KHG: It helps that I’m Australian too, us Aussies love to back each other. Another thing is I’m bringing home a good story with top Hollywood people. And it’s different, with all the remakes and sequels, it’s different. Everyone is excited to have a breath of fresh air.

MM: What made you decide to shoot the film specifically here?
KHG: It's an Australian story about Aboriginals; it's not going to work in Canada.

MM: No, I meant why on the Gold Coast, out of the whole of Australia?
KHG: Because I'm from here, I love it here. And the town that the story is set, it’s on the beach and I love Queensland. I want it here.

MM: Did the facilities help drawing you here? I know the studios have quite amazing capabilities. James Cameron’s Sanctum just wrapped filming here and the Narnia entry.
KHG: We’ve already had photos sent to us of different locations we’ve fallen in love with. There are some cool areas along the beach and we had some photos sent to us this morning and we saw that and were like `holy hell, that’s perfect’.

MM: With the cast, have you got that picked out and underway?
TF: No, we just have a wish list.
KHG: We’re just going to wait on that right now. We would like to cast Australians, established Australians.
TF: I would like to do another nude scene but other than that…

MM: (Laughs) What’s the budget?
KHG: Around $25 million. This is mainly a research trip, give Todd an education, get our feelers down and meet our producer. We have Mike Lake on board so we’ll be having a chat with him. We’re just flying our soldiers in and getting them ready to go.
MM: Now Todd, you were one of the key people behind trying to get Halloween 3D up and running and you worked on My Bloody Valentine, which was my first 3D experience and one I must say I’m a huge fan of. What is it about 3D that lends itself so well to the horror genre?
TF: I like it for a number of reasons; I like the rollercoaster aspect of it. There's a couple of ways to do 3D; there's the gimmicky, in-your-face way, which we were not afraid of in My Bloody Valentine. There’s also the Avatar version, which is the more voyeuristic, immersion-type where you are sucked in. But the truth is, you’re going to get that anyway with today’s 3D and you saw it yourself with Valentine and other 3D movies that you see, you’re literally inside. But with a horror movie, you’re even closer to the scares and the action. So I like that, the risk is that because we had a lot of success with Valentine and there’s been a lot of success with other movies, because of that everyone jumped on the 3D bandwagon and the problem is a lot of 3D has been rushed with the conversion process and a lot of the stories. I think at the end of the day it still has to be about the story, it still has to be about telling that story and you have to shoot good 3D. We will be shooting everything in 3D, we won’t be converting. We will be doing everything we did with Valentine and Drive Angry. I think as a result of that, especially here with all the sweeping vistas and the land, it’s going to look quite remarkable.
KHG: It’s a tool to telling a good story. There are a lot of crappy stories that are hoping to get by on their 3D and it’s a marketing gimmick. And it is, it’s a good marketing ploy for sure, but we’re using it as another tool to tell a really cool story.

MM: You guys have an awesome crew on board with the producers, composers, concept artists, is this a very exciting process, for it to be so early on and have such a great team already?
KHG: Exactly, that’s why I did it because I knew to pull this off I had to have the best around me. And I’m in Hollywood with the best so it was just a matter of pull. Everyone realises it’s something unique and who doesn’t want to come to Australia and make a movie, right? `Come to paradise with really cool people, really beautiful beaches!’ That was my lure and then it was just about building a good team. I think it’s like building a house and my foundation is strong, so you’ve just got to keep moving up.

MM: Have you made any decisions about the director yet?
KHG: We want Patrick Lussier.

MM: Right, because you and Patrick have worked together quite a lot on My Bloody Valentine, Drive Angry and Halloween III is it?
TF: Yeah. Patrick and I will write it together and depending on how the system works down here and what we can bring and what we can't-
KHG: -because we’re going after the 40% (producer) offset.

MM: Oh, that explains the caution; they can be really dicky with that.
TF: It will also depend on his schedule in the states because he is working on Drive Angry to the end of the year and then there’s another project we may end up working on which won’t affect me for this, but it might affect him.
KHG: A couple of things, he’s my first choice for a lot of reasons; he's an amazing editor, an amazing director and in 3D he’s very experienced. You want the best.

MM: With the general story idea, what was the appeal with…well, you haven’t gone for a standard slasher flick. Instead you’ve gone with the whole mythical and supernatural take?
KHG: Because it hasn’t been done before.

MM: It hasn’t?
KHG: It’s original. I’m very picky about movies and I’m very in tune with audiences and that’s why Paranormal Activity did well because everyone wants something different. It’s just the same stuff repetitive, sequels and presequels, and this is different. It hasn’t been done before. Then I looked at the 3D aspect of seeing Aboriginal culture in 3D and how amazing would that be? There’s a lot of people that say `oh wow, you’re from Australia, I would so love to go there’ and they’re never going to get here so now I’m brining Australia to them. In 3D. So, it will do well just for that appeal alone and then everyone loves to be scared.

MM: And it has so much potential too, the horror twist on Aboriginal legends hasn’t really been done. Well, I guess Prey but that was terrible. So, it hasn’t been done well yet.
KHG: Yeah, and we were saying Australian films have a very sort of independent feel and as far as Australian stories go, this is going to be very different. It’s going to be structured very different.

MM: Now this is more of a general question, but what is the key to writing a decent horror film?
TF: I think at the end of the day it’s about…I’m still scared of everything, which helps, and for me it’s always been about taking everyday life and throwing a twist into it. Certainly we did it with My Bloody Valentine. You take these ordinary people and you put them in a situation where the audience can relate to them and I think if you can do that…that’s another reason Paranormal Activity worked so well because you watch the movie and think `what if that was me?’ So, as long as the characters are first, as long as they’re relatable, they can be as unique on screen as they can in a person. I started in the horror genre because when I started, that’s what you did, that was how you broke into the business. So, back then it was just Miramax and New Line, those guys making horror movies and then Scream came out and that kind of blew the lid off everything and we were all a part of it. Now everybody has a genre department and what ended up happening is the same thing that I think will end up happening with 3D; a lot of people were making horror and some of them were horrible. I think as long as you put the characters first, as long as you put the story first, as long as you keep the momentum of the story, then the rest is about creating situations that scare you as a writer.

MM: Both of you seem like really big fans of the horror genre. What is it about it that you love so much?
KHG: I love the rollercoaster ride. You go to the movies and you want a thrill, you want to leave going `wow’ and that’s what I like about it. You know, I don’t like torture, gore, blood and guts, I don’t want to look at that. I want a rollercoaster ride where I’m scared and where you’re trying to solve it…like The Sixth Sense. I think that was perfect. I loved that twist and you think you have it figured out, but you can watch that movie three or four times and always see something different. There’s suspense, I love that about it. That’s what I want for this, rather than `oh look, someone’s dead and their guts is everywhere’. Obviously that will be in there, but there will be a reason, not just insanity.
TF: I just like scaring people.

MM: (Laughs) Out of all your projects Todd, what would you say is a favourite of yours? Which is your baby?
TF: At this point, Drive Angry, which will come out 19th of February, we just wrapped it. The reason I like it so much is because what we wrote is what we were able to shoot. You know, Jason X changed a little, The Messengers changed a little, the others have changed, but Drive Angry didn’t. So we’re hoping for the same thing here, we write this and then we can go shoot.

MM: I saw the bloody car from Drive Angry that you posted on your blog, it looks awesome.
TF: Yeah, that was Gary (J. Tunnicliffe), the dude is just remarkable. He’s killed me more than anyone else and he’s really the only one I would want to.

MM: So what’s the rest of the schedule like for you guys? What’s the next step when you go back?
TF: I dive in and start making the magic.
*my phone starts ringing*
TF: Nice ring tone.
MM: Thanks, nothing like a bit of Wu Tang Clan (Kill Bill Theme). Sorry about that. Okay, so the next question I have to ask you is, please don’t be offended, but a friend of mine wanted me to ask you what shrooms were you on when you put Jason in space?
TF: The big ones, the big yellow ones with the hairs. (Laughs) Okay, it’s funny because Michael De Luca was running New Line at the time, the guy who green lit Jason X, and he read the script and loved the script. So, that’s what we went in and pitched; Alien and Aliens, a combination of the two movies so that you take those actors and the aliens and you pull those out and then you have Jason with a real crew, ghetto, raw, no slapstick in-your-face jokes. It was just a very dirty movie, dark and dirty. Then Scream came out and suddenly everyone wanted everything to be tongue-in-cheek, so things changed as a result. But it’s funny now because De Luca is producing Drive Angry and what we like about him is he was like `Jason X was a great script, what happened?’ Now a lot of people still love Jason X, a lot of people hate it, my excuse is, well, I wrote what I wanted and maybe that didn’t get made, but it bought me an Audi. But I loved Alien and I love Aliens, and I still think that someone will take another scary movie into space.

MM: When you say take another scary movie into space, do you mean the slasher genre?
TF: Yes, I don’t understand why a slasher can’t…I mean, I know slashers have gone into space and I know one can, why couldn’t it? It’s all about production value and it’s all about story, and so far those two have not made it into space from some sort of slashers point of view. It’s just a matter of time. If Kevin (Williamson) had written Scream in space it would have worked, that was fantastic. They better do a good job on Scream 4, I see him tweet about it all the time. You following him?
MM: Yeah, I was so pissed off last fortnight when he was doing a give away of signed posters and our work computers are so slow that even though I had the right answers, I would miss out because it wouldn’t update before all the crazy Americans who answered a second after.
TF: I saw it way too late, otherwise I would have tried to.

MM: (Laughs) Oh come on, you would be able to get a poster from him, surely?
TF: No, he wouldn’t give me a free poster. He’s honestly a really nice guy though.

MM: Finally, this is a more general question, but what are some of your favourite films? Whether that’s horror or whatever?
KHG: The classic ones like Jaws, Alien, The Sixth Sense and all of the different elements in those. I like the hunt, the twists, you think you know what’s going on but you don’t. What I like is that people could know what’s going on, and they’re given the signs, but they see what they want to see.
TF: Oddly enough some of the same movies; Alien and Aliens, Jaws was the first movie that scared the crap out of me, The Exorcist I saw next and both of those movies influenced me, and Star Wars on a how to tell a story level, especially The Empire Strikes Back, those were, granted, big fantasy movies but as far as the mythology and linear story structure, those were pretty incredible. It was Quentin Tarantino that taught me to actually break the rules a little bit and go outside the Hollywood system, write outside the Hollywood system, and create characters that were interesting and didn’t fall into the norm. I don’t have a favourite movie, I get asked all the time, but it’s literally a lot of great movies.

MM: What else do you have to do before you can get back here and film?
KHG: We’ve learnt a lot on this trip. Now we’ve got to get the script down and tight, we want to make sure it’s good and not rush that because you only get one shot. Then just hit it.

MM: Fantastic, well that’s pretty much everything I have to ask you guys. If you don’t mind we’ll head out and get the pic taken soon?
KHG: Yeah sure.
TF: I sent you a really creepy tweet when you arrived.

MM: (Laughs) Oh really? Awesome.
TF: I wrote `I’m looking at you right now’.

MM: (Laughs) I love it!
TF: That’s creepy, it was when you were walking in right then.

MM: I love how you are so interactive with your fans online and getting content out there.
TF: Well, it has got me into trouble. Hollywood doesn’t want you to tell the things that I sometimes tell. They certainly didn’t want me telling the Halloween 3D story. It didn’t get me into trouble, they just didn’t like it. But there’s nothing they can do about it.

MM: It probably got you a lot of respect from people as well.
TF: I think from the fan base perhaps.

MM: The Bloody Disgusting guys were on to it.
TF: Yeah, but they always shoot it straight anyway and that’s why I like them. That’s why I like Brad and those guys. I don’t like rude behaviour, even from a studio.

MM: Yeah, I’m a big fan of Bloody Disgusting because they cover everything. They don’t just look at the big, commercial horror films, but they give time to the independent, small-budget and foreign language stuff that you wouldn’t know about otherwise.
TF: I trust those guys because if I know they like something I know that it’s worth my time. Everybody’s opinion is different, but I trust their judgment.



To visit Todd Farmer’s blog head here. To get creepy with him on Twitter, follow the jump.

And finally, trek over to Bloody Disgusting for horrific good times.

If you can get past the Samuel L. Jackson sex scene. . .

Mother and Child is the latest film from Sundance and Cannes award-winning Colombian writer/director Rodrigo Garcia, who is best known for his series In Treatment. It follows the interwoven lives of three women; a 50-year-old woman (Annette Bening), the daughter she gave up for adoption 35-years-ago (Naomi Watts), and an African American woman (Kerry Washington) looking to adopt a child of her own.

The title sums up this movie in a nutshell, as it’s all about the relationship between mother and child, specifically mothers and daughters. But despite being a female centric film, men don’t take a back seat and Samuel L. Jackson and Jimmy Smits put in solid performances in supporting roles. In fact, all of the performances from the multicultural cast are outstanding. Washington is the biggest surprise, holding her own as a powerful, contemporary actress.

Like his Golden Globe-winning In Treatment, Garcia has crafted an intense, adult drama that relies heavily on the complex, multi-layered characters at the fore. Watts plays against type and once again proves there’s nothing she can’t do, putting in one of her best performances to date, despite a seriously cringe-worthy sex scene with Jackson. And yes, it is as awful as it sounds.

Garcia has made a beautiful, tragic and often hilarious film that develops and evolves with the characters. He tackles the big themes and the big issues, and by the conclusion you’re left with an insight into the human condition. However, it will be interesting to see how this plays to a male audience and whether the content translates.

Mother and Child is released in cinemas on Thursday.

Farmer bringing The Dark Things

He’s responsible for making valentines bloody and putting Jason Vorhees in space, now Hollywood horror film writer Todd Farmer wants to bring The Dark Things to the Gold Coast. The writer, behind films such as My Bloody Valentine 3D and Jason X, is on the coast until Wednesday with producer Kerri Hill-Grisham (pictured above) as they scout locations for a $25 million horror production to be shot in 2011. The film, titled The Dark Things, will be made in 3D and is set in a small town where Aboriginal legends are coming to life.

Farmer says it’s his first trip out of America and he has been using the time to research the Australian way of life through `Aussie films' and `people watching'.
"I started the outline for this then decided it would be better to just come here and meet the people, see the locations and look at pubs,'' he says.
"I can write pretending to be an Aussie, but I need to come here to experience it.
"It's really quite fun because I've never done anything like this.
"At the end of the day it will all come down to the story, it will all come down to the characters.
"I grew up reading Stephen King and he was great at taking ordinary people and dropping them into extraordinary situations and that's exactly what I'm going to do.
"I just like to scare people.''

Farmer also serves as a producer on the film and says he will write the script with Patrick Lussier, who is first choice to direct. Farmer and Lussier regularly collaborate, first on My Bloody Valentine 3D (pictured above) which Lussier directed and edited, then on the up and coming Drive Angry 3D, which he co-wrote with Farmer, and directed and edited, and Halloween III, which he directed and edited..

The films producer and co-writer Kerri Hill-Grisham says they have already met with Warner Roadshow Studios, where they hope to shoot most of the film, and have received support from Screen Queensland.
"It's an Australian story about Aboriginals, it's not going to work in Canada,'' she says.
"I'm from here, I love it here and Aussies like to back each other.
"I'm bringing home a good story with top Hollywood people.''

After being seriously injured in a horse riding accident 21-years ago, Ms Hill-Grisham became a successful para-equestrian and started working extensively as a make-up and special-effects artist in Hollywood. She says they have been consulting with experts from Griffith University about aboriginal legends and that there is a market for the film because it is an `original' idea.
"All the same stuff is coming out of Hollywood at the moment with sequels and prequels,'' she says.
"This is different and seeing Aboriginal culture in 3D, how amazing would that be?''

Michael Lake (The Condemned, 12 Rounds, The Marine 2) is attached to produce with Harry Manfredini (Friday the 13th 1,2 and 3, Freddy vs. Jason, Jason X) composing and Michael Broom (Wolverine, Aliens V Predator: Requiem, Surrogates) coming on board as the concept artist. Farmer first came to the attention of horror fans when he put the iconic villain Jason Vorhees in space with Jason X (2002) (pictured below). Loved and hated in equal amounts by fans of the genre, he had more success with thriller The Messengers (2007) starring Twilight's Kristen Stewart. After My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009) was a hit, he wrote Messengers 2: The Scare Crow (2009). Due for release next year are his films Drive Angry 3D, starring Nicolas Cage and Amber Heard, and Halloween III. For those of you playing at home he has occasional cameos in his films, most notably as the naked trucker in My Bloody Valentine 3D.
And yes, I know I promised you readers the juicy juice on this project on Thursday, however, I have been chronically sick since then and only been able to stomach getting out of bed today to put this together. Flu of death be damned, I’ll bring you the full interview transcript tomorrow because there are frankly too many excellent details to include in this tiny snippet. Suffice to say I had a geek-out moment meeting Farmer, as I’m quite the fan, and had a ridiculous amount of questions to ask him. He endured me and besides being a genuiely decent and humourous dude, he has some hugely intriguing ideas for The Dark Things.

Anywho, stay posted.

Get an iron-on for this

Now that the moderate excitement that was Iron Man 2 has died down, prepare to have your minds blown with this awesome fan art made for the movie. I thought the film posters were incredibly lack lustre so it’s not surprising the geek lords out there have come up with something much more creative and downright genius. Tyler Stout aka Tstout.com put together the following collage;
What’s more, is after I recovered from the nerd-out I had while looking at this poster, I flicked through his website and found some other stellar takes on movie posters he has created. Hence, I present to you a trip through Hollywood posterdom via Tyler Stout (note the close ups on the side);

Inglourious Basterds

The Monster Squad

Blade Runner

The Big Lebowski
The Lost Boys
All of these posters are available to purchase through his website and while I’m here, having a an art binge and all that, I also came across an exquisite side project from one of the artists at Pixar. He has recreated some iconic and very adult scenes from movies in the style Pixar is so famous for. The result is quite impressive and I suggest you check them all out at his blog Cooley.

In semi-related news, check out my posts on the worst, the lego and my favourite movie posters of all time.