Mansfield News Journal staff

Since Patty McCormack’s murderess Rhoda Penmark in “The Bad Seed” in the 1950s, the horror movie subgenre featuring wicked kids has been scaring people no matter their age.

Now comes “Orphan,” by screenwriter David Leslie Johnson, who broke into the movie business in his hometown of Mansfield.

He began his career as a production assistant on director Frank Darabont’s “The Shawshank Redemption.” The 1994 movie, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards, was filmed at the historic Ohio State Reformatory, where Johnson’s great-grandfather had once worked as a prison guard.

In an interview Tuesday with DailyActor.com, the 1988 Lexington High School grad said he spent the next five years as Darabont’s assistant, using the opportunity to hone his craft as a screenwriter.

Johnson is a fan of “The Bad Seed,” the 1956 Academy Award-nominated film in which a pigtailed schoolgirl turns out to be a sociopath, killing a classmate, a neighbor and a teasing janitor with relish. Adopted, Rhoda’s bad behavior turns out to be genetic — her mother was a well-known serial killer.

“There’s just something really primal in that mother-child relationship,” Johnson says, “so I felt like that was really the best relationship to exploit and corrupt, to take what should be the most natural bond in the world and turn them into enemies.”

In “Orphan,” Isabelle Fuhrman stars as Esther, who comes across as the perfect child — until she smashes a bird’s head and forces a nun to drive off a snowy road. That’s just for starters.

In many of the evil-child films, the father is absent or bamboozled by his precious kid; it’s left to the mother to come to the slow realization about her offspring.

Johnson follows suit with “Orphan”: Vera Farmiga’s character — troubled by alcoholism, a miscarriage and guilt over the near death of her deaf daughter — figures out there’s something wrong with Esther. Peter Sarsgaard as the father doubts his wife because of her past unreliability and is quite taken in by his adopted child.

Johnson has a special bond with his mother as well — she turned him on to Hitchcock when he was growing up, and “Psycho” was one of their favorite movies.

“My parents were great — I had a completely normal childhood. Everything was fine, I’ve just been a fan of the horror genre and read a lot of Stephen King,” he told DigitalCity.com recently. “I’ve always been fascinated with dark subject matter.”

The local native developed his interest in storytelling as a child, writing plays as early as the second grade. A later interest in film led him, at age 19, to write his first screenplay. He has a fine arts degree from The Ohio State University. In 1999, Johnson wrote an adaptation of the classic Doc Savage pulp novels. Johnson then wrote a miniseries sequel to John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” which brought him to the attention of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, for which he wrote “Orphan.” He’s teaming up with Appian Way again for one of several developing projects — an epic horror and fantasy inspired by a classic fairy tale. Johnson’s next project will be an adaptation of the Australian ghost story thriller “Lake Mungo.”

Johnny Depp

Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit – HollywoodReporter.com

Are you ready to see Jack Sparrow swashbuckle his way through a big, flashy musical number?

Choreographer-turned-director Rob Marshall is in talks to take the wheel of the massive “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise from director Gore Verbinski. Disney and series producer Jerry Bruckheimer have been eager to set sail on a fourth installment with star Johnny Depp back in his bandanna as Sparrow as early as next year.

Verbinski, with scripts from Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, directed the first three films to $2.67 billion in worldwide grosses (the last, “At World’s End,” was released in 2007). When he exited the franchise in April, the studio immediately sought a fresh take to continue the pirate voyage on a potentially smaller scale. (The last two pictures cost north of $400 million, together.)

Marshall, who is finishing up the Weinstein Co. musical “Nine” for a November release, is not an obvious choice for a loud action-and-mayhem tentpole. But presumably, if he can corral the singing, acting and dancing talents of Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren and Stacy Ferguson, he can handle cannon battles, funny monkeys and angry natives.

The CAA-repped Marshall has directed the films “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Chicago,” which won six Oscars, including best picture, in 2002.

Mark Gorelord – GoreMaster News

Screenwriter Jon Spaihts has written Passengers for Keanu Reeves. The project, which tells of a passenger on a spaceship who is prematurely awoken from a cryogenic slumber a century before anyone else. The Producer is Stephen Hamel.

Screenwriter Jon Spaihts has written Passengers for Keanu Reeves. The project, which tells of a passenger on a spaceship who is prematurely awoken from a cryogenic slumber a century before anyone else. The Producer is Stephen Hamel.

Jon Spaihts is also known for writing St. George and the Dragon.

By Venkman – GeekTyrant.com

Here they are little thunbnail images of the Volturi, if you’ve read the book then I don’t have to explain to you how they are, if you haven’t but you are reading this anyway, they are a aristocratic clan of vampires that will be introduced in the next film, The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

The Volturi are the equivalent of a royal family to vampires. They operate from the city of Volterra, Italy. The Volturi have existed for at least three thousand years, if not more. They are the largest coven in existence, followed by Carlisle’s family and Tanya’s. However, they do not follow a “vegetarian” diet, as seen in New Moon, in which they capture and murder several humans in a carefully planned “meal”. They are considered the de facto royal family of vampires, as they are the largest and most influential coven in existence . The Volturi deal swiftly and decisively with anything they consider a threat to their city, or the vampire world. They destroy anyone who attempts to overthrow them, or resist their authority and, at Caius’ insistence, have hunted werewolves (true werewolves, not shape-shifters) to near extinction in Europe and Asia.

The pics come with what looks like the Volturi seal. These pics give us out first look at Michael Sheen as Aro, Christopher Heyerdahl as Marcus, Jamie Campbell Bower as Caius, Dakota Fanning as Jane and Cameron Bright as Alec.

Peter Sciretta – SlashFilm.com

   If you read the Friday morning edition of the Hollywood trade newspaper Variety, you will notice a story about Jerry Bruckheimer acquiring the big screen rights to IDW Publishing’s graphic novel World War Robot. But if you had looked at the recent domain records that Disney had purchased: WORLDWARROBOT-MOVIE.COM, WORLDWARROBOTMOVIE.COM, or WORLDWARROBOTTHEMOVIE.COM, you would have known about this announcement before it happened.

   Jim Hill noticed that the mouse house went on a domain buying spree yesterday (July 29th), snapping up a bunch of Internet addresses for possible upcoming projects. So which projects were on the purchase list? Details after the jump.

Among the new domains purchased was MONSTERS2.com, the possible future location for the highly rumored sequel to Pixar’s Monsters Inc. At a recent licensing fair, Disney officials supposedly told attendees behind closed doors that Pete Doctor would be following Up with Monsters, Inc 2. We asked Disney head John Lasseter about the rumors last weekend at Comic-Con, but as expected, he wouldn’t comment. The domain purchase seems to be an admission by Disney that they are developing a sequel, or at very least — thinking about it.

   Another interesting purchase was the domain TheTigerKingMovie.com, which we can only assume is a spin-off based on The Lion King. With the word “Movie” in the domain name, we know it is a feature film — but we don’t know if it is a new animated feature film or a direct-to-dvd production. Some of you might remember that when John Lasseter became Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios when the Mouse purchased Pixar in January of 2006, he was quick to kill many of the company’s direct-to-dvd sequels and spin-offs, because he believed the productions hurt the studio’s brand. The Aristocats 2, Chicken Little 2 : The Ugly Duckling Story, Meet the Robinsons 2: First Date, and Disney’s Dwarfs were among the productions which were trashed. I find it hard to believe that Lasseter would approve of a Lions King spin-off titled The Tiger King, unless it was for theatrical release. But you never know?

   As for World War Robots, which was mentioned above, the 48-page book was published in August 2008, and is out of print. Here is the official plot synopsis from the book:

Award-winning designer/artist Ashley Wood (Popbot, Zombies Vs. Robots) has handled his share of robots over the years. And now, he presents total robot war! In World War Robot, a dwindling band of humans and robots face off in a battle that will likely end humanity as we know it – on Earth, on the Moon, and on Mars, too! Badass battles, really intense human/robot drama, and even a little black humor and political intrigue are the order of the day in this oversize, standalone epic courtesy of Wood.

Michael and Peter Spierig, the Australian filmmakers behind the low-budget zombie flick Undead and the upcoming sci-fi vampire movie Daybreakers (released by Lionsgate on January 8, 2010) have been hired by Warner Bros. to write a new version of the 1935 pirate swashbuckler Captain Blood, updating the Errol Flynn classic about British doctor Peter Blood, who leaves his practice to becomes a pirate in the Caribbean.

The brothers won a heated battle against other filmmakers and pitched their own take on the movie to Warner Bros. and producer Bill Gerber, which would take the story into outer space, although Gerber has gone on record that the film will remain faithful to the plot of Blood’s inevitable clash with a French pirate who captures the woman he loves.

Source (s) Variety, Comingsoon.net

TheHDRoom.com

Ridley Scott’s involvement in an Alien prequel has proven to be more substantiated than wishful rumors.

Variety is reporting Fox is moving forward to resuscitate the four film franchise by hiring Jon Spaihts to write a prequel script and attaching the original Alien director Ridley Scott to direct.

Scott’s name has come up in rumors to helm an Alien prequel for some time now. Over that time, Robert Rodriguez has gotten a Predator reboot off the ground with Fox which is expected to hit theaters next summer. With Alien also getting a fresh start, we can formally say adieu to the Aliens vs Predators franchise.

Spaihts’ recently completed the script for Keanu Reeves’ space epic Passengers which helped him secure the Alien prequel gig. Though Spaihts’ body of work appears slim at first glance, he has a number of writing projects in the hopper including The Darkest Hour for Timur Bekmambetov, Children of Mars for Disney, and a rewrite of St. George and the Dragon for Sony.

Still unknown at this time is whether Spaihts will write a direct prequel that leads into the events of Alien or a completely separate standalone story constructed to launch a new franchise with new heroes. I am personally pulling for a clever mix of the two.

Director Peter Jackson is hoping to give his upcoming Dam Busters remake a more “realistic” feel by making the movie in 3D.

The Lord of the Rings moviemaker is working on a new version of the classic 1954 World War II epic, shooting the $36 million (£24 million) project in his native New Zealand.

And he has revealed his is currently filming experimental three-dimensional footage and if the trial is successful, the whole movie will be given the special effects treatment.

He says, “I think a World War Two bombing raid in 3D would be neat.”

By Kelly Vance – EastBayExpress.com

Park Chan-wook’s Thirst doesn’t disappoint.

Director Park Chan-wook, whose Oldboy set the international standard for stressful revenge theatrics back in 2003, is arguably the leading light of the decade-old K-horror/K-thriller invasion. Where such South Korean filmmakers as Bong Joon-ho and Ahn Byeong-ki contented themselves playing riffs on the well established monster/teenage ghost/ecological sci-fi motifs they inherited from the Japanese pacesetters of the 1990s, Park set out for new territory. His genre work combines disturbing psychological elements with Korea’s customary graphic-visual overkill. The most terrifying creatures in a Park Chan-wook film are the human beings.

With that in mind, when we discovered that Park’s latest project, Thirst (Korean title: Bakjwi), was a vampire story, we expected something extraordinary. And Thirst does not disappoint. It’s the best vampire film since Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In — kiddie shows like Twilight and Blood: The Last Vampire pale (you’ll excuse the expression) in comparison.

The story begins with an emotionally fragile Roman Catholic priest named Sang-hyun (played by frequent Park collaborator Song Kang-ho), who tirelessly comforts patients in a hospital and in his spare time sorts out his tangled inner life. Caregiver Sang-hyun’s devotion to humanity leads him to volunteer as a human guinea pig at a clinic in Africa, where researchers give him a blood transfusion infected with the Emmanuel virus, a puzzling disease that mostly strikes single males. Immediately Sang-hyun develops an ugly skin rot — shades of David Cronenberg — but he returns to Korea and continues to care for his flock. They soon dub him the “Bandaged Saint.”

However, there’s another, unnoticed side effect of the virus: The priest has turned into a vampire. His selfless ministry to the poor and sick now competes with his carnal thirst for blood, and he begins making nocturnal visits to the hospital after sleeping all day in a battered wardrobe in place of the usual coffin. Drinking blood makes his boils temporarily disappear. Perhaps not coincidentally, unaccustomed sexual desire also arises in the virginal Sang-hyun — his remedy for that is to violently flog his penis.

Running alongside Sang-hyun’s agony is the pitiful plight of Tae-jun (exploitation star Kim Ok-bin), the Cinderella-like “stepdaughter” of Lady Ra (Kim Hae-sook), a mean, petty old hag who uses Tae-jun’s marriage to her cancerous, disabled son Kang-woo (Shin Ha-kyun) as an excuse to treat the young woman as a virtual slave in their household. Tae-jun’s tasks include feeding and bathing her invalid husband, occasionally masturbating him (they don’t have sex together), and, worst of all, enduring Lady Ra’s weekly mah-jongg games in the family’s tacky parlor with their hideous friends.

Sang-hyun happens to be a boyhood pal of the sickly Kang-woo, so he routinely socializes with the family. It doesn’t take the horny bloodsucking priest and the unhappy, resentful wife long to figure out they can help solve each other’s dilemmas. There’s a problem with their relationship, though — the priest cannot easily let go of his spiritual need to protect and serve other people, and Cinderella isn’t quite as docile as she first appears to be, under the thumb of the awful family.

Park, who wrote the screenplay with Chung Seo-kyung as a loose adaptation of Émile Zola’s 1867 novel Thérèse Raquin (the lover was not, alas, a vampire priest in the original version), clearly enjoys juggling complicated motivations and the old ultraviolence with mind-boggling special effects, but these days anyone can make characters crawl down walls like spiders and do a bubble-and-squeak under the rays of the sun. Thirst’s true seductive power comes from the carefully constructed collision of two desperate people who have only their thirsts in common — his quite literally for the life-giving blood, hers for vengeance against the world.

Actors Song and Kim inhabit their roles by degrees, and their performances are the best argument yet that K-horror, at least in the hands of Park, possesses hidden dimensions of subtlety. As in Let the Right One In, the vamp saves someone from a bully, and the climactic reckoning underscores the essential inequality between the vampire and his beloved — victim and predator, servant and master. Park’s twelfth directorial effort is probably his most mature outing. It’s also one of the all-time grisliest entries in the genre, packed with shocks and depravity and thrillingly sensual sound engineering. You never heard such slurping.

While we’re on the subject of codependency, Jonas Pate’s not completely worthless drama Shrink reminds us of that notorious service station in Hollywood that used to advertise: “Free psychiatric visit with car wash.”

In fact, Shrink’s story of a depressed LA psychiatrist (Kevin Spacey) treating a typically crazy cast of Tinseltown misfit patients — most of them connected to the movie biz — also brings to mind Thom Andersen’s Los Angeles Plays Itself. In that intelligent, organic 2003 documentary, writer-director Andersen, a CalArts film professor, convincingly complains about movies using lazy clichés to explain his hometown: Everyone there takes pills, works in the entertainment industry, lives in a Richard Neutra house on a hilltop, is flamingly neurotic, is unable to sustain a normal relationship with anyone, constantly looks in the mirror, and so on.

Shrink hits every single one of those clichés in its who-cares critique of La-La Land witch doctor Henry Carter (Spacey, drawing a paycheck) and his nutty fellow Angelenos: a fear-ridden, bullying talent agent (Dallas Roberts); the agent’s down-trodden assistant (Pell James); a fading screen actress (Saffron Burrows); an alcoholic, oversexed, aging actor (Robin Williams); a misplaced pro-bono-case teenager from South Central (Keke Palmer); an action-movie phenom from Ireland (Jack Huston); a blond up-and-coming starlet who will fuck anybody (Laura Ramsey); and, of course, the shrink’s godson, a would-be screenwriter played by actor Mark Webber — a younger, cheaper version of Sam Rockwell.

Newcomer Thomas Moffett’s screenplay, adapted from a story by Henry Rearden, doesn’t miss a speed bump. The only character with potential, and that’s extremely limited, is the weed dealer (Jesse Plemons) with his supply of “Dutch Act,” “Toasty Brunch,” and “Christmas in Vietnam” — an escapee from a Judd Apatow flick. How did they talk Gore Vidal into his cameo as a talk show host?

After discarding all the hackneyed distractions, we’re left with the realization that without Kevin Spacey, Shrink would never have been made. In a way, the film is a referendum on the state of his career. We find him in a contemplative mood, mentally adding up all the snippy, verbally sharp characters he’s played since he burst into wide recognition in The Usual Suspects. His Henry Carter in Shrink is pretty much like all the rest. That’s disappointing.

 From wenn.com

Moviemaker Tim Burton’s home has become a macabre tribute to his films, featuring furniture and puppets from his sets.

The Corpse Bride director loves to take mementos home from all his films – and now he has a bizarre movie museum full of his own creations.

He tells WENN, “I’ve got so much c**p in the house. I got a really huge chair from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory which everybody loves sitting in because you feel like a little kid.

“I’ve got Corpse Bridge puppets, Nightmare Before Christmas puppets.”         

But his collection of oddities isn’t limited to his own films: “This wax museum closed down and I bought the wax figure of Sammy Davis, Jr. I have it on the couch and one of the friends of my kids went crying to his mother, saying we had a dead person on our sofa!”