From ReelzChannel.com
The merger between Disney and Marvel Entertainment was made official today after stockholders gave their approval. Marvel believes the merger will close by the end of the business day today.
Since the merger was announced, comic book fans have been nervous about what this might mean for Marvel properties such as the upcoming The Avengers or First Avenger: Captain America, even after Disney promised the merger would not cause a “Disneyfication” of Marvel’s properties.
Meanwhile, it appears that Stan Lee was correct in thinking that Disney will look to explore almost all Marvel characters, including Ant-Man and Doctor Strange. Peripheral characters may even get a test run on a Disney cable network such as Disney XD before getting a big screen adaptation. “Instead of making a $200 million movie and kind of betting the farm on one character, you can develop a television pilot, a television series,” Disney Chief Robert Iger told the Associated Press.

By Steve Pond

“Samson & Delilah,” Australia’s entry in the Oscar foreign-language film race, was the big winner at the Australian Film Institute Awards Saturday night in Melbourne. The film took home awards for Best Film, Best Direction and Best Original Screenplay, along with a shared Best Young Actor award for its two stars, Marissa Gibson and Rowan McNamara.  

At the AFI Industry Awards, which took place on Friday, the film won in the Best Cinematography and Best Sound categories, as well as picking up the AFI Members’ Choice Award.  

Director/writer Warwick Thornton’s drama, which deals with two teenagers who are ostracized from their remote, indigeneous community in central Australia, was also nominated for its musical score and supporting actress, and for the News Limited Readers’ Choice Award.   

“Balibo,” the story of killings during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor in 1975, won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Lead Actor (Anthony LaPaglia) and Best Supporting Actor (Oscar Isaac).  In the actress categories, Frances O’Connor won the Best Lead Actress award for “Blessed,” while Rachel Griffiths took Best Supporting Actress honors for “Beautiful Kate.”

By Nikki Finke – Deadline Hollywood

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 live action short films will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards®. Seventy-one pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:

“The Door,” Juanita Wilson, director, and James Flynn, producer (Octagon Films Ltd.)

“The Ground Beneath,” Rene Hernandez, director, and Kristina Ceyton, producer (Passion Pictures)

“Hotel,” Tim Conrad, director-producer (Oyster Films)

“Instead of Abracadabra,” Patrik Eklund, director, and Mathias Fjellstrom, producer (Direktorn & Fabrikorn)

“Kavi,” Gregg Helvey, director-producer (Gregg Helvey)

“Miracle Fish,” Luke Doolan, director, and Drew Bailey, producer (Druid Films)

“The New Tenants,” Joachim Back, director, and Tivi Magnusson, producer (Park Pictures)

“The Response,” Adam Rodgers, director, and Sig Libowitz, producer (Look at the Moon Productions)

“Short Term 12,” Destin Daniel Cretton, director-producer, and Michelle Steffes, producer (Destin Cretton)

“Sidney Turtlebaum,” Tristram Shapeero, director, and Daniel Jewel, producer (Third Man Films Limited)

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting in screenings held in New York and Los Angeles.

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in January 2010.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre

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from BBC

A festival featuring gore, blood and fear is getting under way in Aberystwyth to celebrate horror films.

Abertoir, which calls itself the national horror festival of Wales, opens later at the town’s arts centre.

Scheduled highlights include a master class with film director Herschell Gordon Lewis and an appearance by Doug Bradley, from the Hellraiser films.

Hundreds of fans are expected at the five-day festival, which is now in its fourth year.

It features UK film premieres, cult screenings and master classes.

Gareth Bailey, who organising the festival, said: “Being a big horror buff and living and working in Aberystwyth, I found I was travelling long distances to horror festivals,” he said.

“I’m the cinema manager here and choose what films get shown.

“Anyway, I decided on Halloween four years ago I would show The Wicker Man. And then I decided to show another and another and it kind of turned into a festival.

“So the next year I decided to do it again but this time put it on a few days after Halloween and it has been really really successful.

“We are attracting people from all over the country,” he said.

This year’s event will see the cult 1980s film The Keep, which was shot in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llanberis, open the festival.

Sir Ian McKellen starred in the film, which was directed by Michael Mann before he gained success with the likes Manhunter, Heat and Miami Vice.

Splatter movie

Herschell Gordon Lewis, nicknamed “The Godfather of Gore”, will share his experience in a master class on the ins and outs of low-budget film making.

He is credited with inventing the “splatter movie” with his 1963 film Blood Feast.

For fans of more contemporary horror, Doug Bradley, who played the character Pinhead in the Hellraiser movies, is expected at the festival to discuss horror effects.

The event is supported by the Film Agency for Wales, and attendance figures for the festival have nearly tripled since it began in 2006, although Mr Bailey describes it as being an “intimate event”.

The festival, which is run and operated by Aberystwyth arts centre, runs from Wednesday to Sunday.

Other events include a screening of An American Werewolf in Paris and An Evening at the Grand Guignol, a recreation of three classic plays from the “Theatre of Horror” in early 20th Century France.

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by Mark Gorelord

My firend from Indonesia, Yasmi Setiawati told about EloProgo Art House and here is the description:

EloProgo Art House is a space for an artists and everyone who wants to enjoy the art and nature at the same time. Surrounded by a beautiful views.. the rivers Elo and progo too tempting to be forgotten, stream from the Merbabu and Sumbing mountains and meet in the backyard of Eloprogo Art House. It is also close to the three amazing temples, Mendut, Pawon, and Borobudur. Here, nature offers beautiful scenery, while we offer a space for everyone..

Our missions are,
-to give a space for the art workers and lovers to express and create the ideas from within -to use art as an approach to the society and invite them to gather in the joy of art

Eloprogo provides :
-Four open stages
-‘kedai apresiasi’ as café -‘small wall’ for small exhibition
-Two guest house
-Dormitory for artists in residence
-One permanent gallery of sony santosa’s paintings
-A heavenly park ‘batu dua’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT ; Maya Abdi Manuputty – 081391785656 Putri Fitria – 085747052226 Ervin Ruhlelana – 085860421234

WHAT DID WE DO?
- our annual event, art camp I, II , and III, have been running since 2007. this event are held every May, to appreciate Waisak celebration. And another annual events are poetry camp, ‘laluna a la Eloprogo’ (fullmoon celebration), ‘kuda lumping kontemporer’ festival, and Movie camp.
- we held art exhibition for almost every kind of art – paintings, installations, photographs, sculptures, etc.
- We held ‘pesta melukis’ (painting’s party), a painting course by an artist from Eloprogo, and some fun games. All for the kids, especially for them who live near eloprogo art house.

WHAT DO WE DO?
-actualize art and culture workshop
-reach the social dedication
-environmental research and development
-publishing an art and culture magazine (in process)

ELOPROGO ARTISTS :

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-Andrie Topo (Magelang, Art Performer)
-Aning Purwaranti (Semarang, Art Performer)
-Budi Suro (Sidoarjo, Poet)
-Dhani (Magelang, actor and director performance)
-Din Kandhihawa (Tegal, Art Performer)
-Ervin Ruhlelana (Indonesia, Writer)
-Ida (Muntilan, Musician)
-Mario Rouv (Muntilan, Art Designer)
-Miko Bima (Kotagede, Poet)
-Nundang Rundagi (Indonesia, Poet)
-Putri Fitria (Medan, Photographer)
-Sony Santosa (Indonesia, Painter)
-Tito Yoyo (Indonesia, Painter)
-Yasmi Setiawati (Surabaya, Videographer)
-Yayan Rozaq Triyansah (Semarang, Poet)

From Vocus/PRWEB

Just in time for Halloween, Castle of Chaos in Branson, MO Merges State-of-the-Art 3D with Heart-Pounding Motion, Special Effects, Animatronics, and Gaming for the First Ever 5D Interactive Haunted Experience in the World.

Haunted house aficionados, video game buffs, and Branson tourists who are ready for a thrill will find a whole new kind of entertainment beginning this Halloween season. Castle of Chaos, a fright ride and battle game, is the newest attraction in Branson, MO and marks the world premiere of the 5D experience, it was announced by owner Kuvera Attractions.    

Castle of Chaos merges state-of-the-art 3D with heart-pounding motion, special effects, animatronics and gaming for the first-ever 5D interactive haunted experience in the world. Visitors enter an enormous castle to discover the fate of 1920s horror film star Carli Winepeg and her crew, who mysteriously disappeared while shooting the planned epic film Castle of Chaos. Once securely buckled into armchairs with 3D glasses on and pistols ready at their sides, guests are spun into Carli’s tortured world and forced to protect themselves from its terrifying inhabitants.

“Castle of Chaos is such an engrossing experience because it is the first ride in the world to incorporate so many multi-media and interactive technologies in one attraction,” says Tej Sundher, Kuvera Attractions Partner whose family also founded the world-famous Hollywood Wax Museum.

This 21st century haunted house combines the latest in 3D projection with surround sound, special effects, motion-based seats, and a shooting system that scores each member of the audience. The 24 seats are affixed to a five-ton rotating platform that has ten engines and achieves a top speed of 15 rpm. There are sequences that include total darkness, wind, water, smoke, and foul scents, among other effects. Each player racks up points, and the top five scorers are shown on the screen at the end of the ride.

Initial surveys have shown that guests absolutely love Castle of Chaos. “My favorite part was the bats flying out of the screen and over our heads,” wrote 46-year-old rider Don from Florence, KS. “Oh my gosh! The anticipation made me want to bite my nails, but I couldn’t because I was so busy shooting at everything,” said Lizette, age 17, of Waukesha, WI.

“Nearly 50 percent of riders get right back in line to try again,” says Sundher. “The competitive element appeals to all ages and is especially compelling to video game players who always want to improve their scores.”

Players can earn thousands of points shooting at targets including candles, cameras, bats, bugs, rats, and zombies. Items that are more difficult to hit are worth more points, and certain objects react when struck. For example, candles flare when they are hit, one bat flies out upon contact, and a jar releases a ghost when shot.   

Get info on-line at www.castleofchaosbranson.com.

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Are you thinking of going to the same boring costume party this year? Think again! The Haunted House Association(http://www.hauntedhouseassociation.org/), a collective of the most successful and renowned haunted houses and attractions in the country, today announced 13 reasons that haunted houses will scare even the bravest of family members this

Halloween season.

Here are some reasons to check out one of the hundreds of haunted houses

located all across the country:

1. Screaming is good for you! – The surge of adrenaline in the terrifying but safe environment of a haunted house peps you up and really makes you feel alive.

2. Horror movie madness – Modern haunted houses have special effects rivaling top Hollywood horror movies, only in this case, YOU are the star!

3. Get transported into another world – Haunted houses are completely immersive worlds that let you journey through using all of your senses with each room hiding a new horror in the darkness just like your favorite survival horror video game.

 4. Create lasting memories – Visiting a haunted house with friends and family creates memories you will never forget. For years you will laugh at how loud Uncle Pete screamed when the chainsaw started!

5. It’s affordable – Haunted houses are extremely cost effective entertainment choices compared to expensive theme parks and they are easily located all over the country.

6. Help out the economy – Haunted houses contribute vastly to the economy, employing approximately 100,000 seasonal workers every October while pumping tons of money into the production of the event and boosting local businesses.

7. Not just your neighborhood decorations – The level of detail and artistic skill in modern haunted houses is insane, with many serving as museums of horror.

8. It’s safe – Haunted houses are very safe, requiring rigorous inspection by local authorities before they open and often staffed by off-duty policemen and firefighters to ensure that extra level of security.

9. It’s fun for the whole family – Haunted houses are great places for kids and young adults alike. They are controlled, drug and alcohol free events that still have a massive cool factor.

10. It’s philanthropic – Haunted houses help charities by collectively raising huge amounts of money and contributing free tickets to scores of worthy causes across the nation.

11. Haunted houses help local businesses – Through sponsorships and local deals, haunted houses stimulate the economy for everyone and give a push to start off holiday shopping season.

12. It sure beats costume parties – The details, costumes, music, actors and overall experience of haunted houses SCREAMS Halloween.

13. Haunted houses just plain rock – Today’s modern haunted houses are technological marvels, featuring skilled actors in great costumes and intense makeup.

 Source(s) Sean Carney, Dukas Public Relations, Haunted House Association

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From Barry Renshaw – www.grimmfest.com

October is upon us. The nights are drawing in….
There’s a sudden chill in the air. Visitors to the city are discovering that the old saying is actually true. It really is Grim Up North. But this year, for the very first time, it’s also GRIMM UP NORTH!

This Halloween, something dark and deadly is slithering towards the Printworks. Manchesters very first full-on, hell-bent, red-in-tooth-and-claw Horror Film Festival is all set to grab you by the throat and drag you along with it on a journey into the blackest night.

We’ve heard the screams and smelled the blood in the air, and we know. We know where the bodies are buried, we know where evil dwells, we know where the bad things are. And we’re all set to take you there.

Join us for three days of the best in horror and experience some of the worst nightmares you’ve ever had. We’ve bloodsoaked red carpet film premieres, ghoulish guest appearances from cast and crew members, and the chance to preview one of the gaming industrys hottest unreleased titles. You can even stock up on sinister supplies at our horror fair. Why not become one of the undead at the Zombie aid walk of death or party on at the Zombie Ball. It’s all happening at GRIMM UP NORTH! You want to know more? Of course you do.

Check it out, if you dare!

THE FULL SCHEDULE GOES LIVE! It’s been one hell of a job to cram all of that gore, mayhem and chaos into an organised three day event, but we’re bloody-minded enough to have succeeded where others might fail. Check out our Programme Page RIGHT NOW and see whats screening when. There are premieres galore, Q&A session with cast and crew after many screenings, along with the odd competition for ticket holders (We have got goodies from many of the films to win!). We are also screening some mighty disturbing short films with many of the features. Its a veritable catalogue of horrors, and you can subject yourself to it HERE! TICKETS ON SALE. 5th OCT from Odeon Box office. Your best bet is to go straight to the GRIMMFEST SITE, for a comprehensive and ghoulish guide to our full Halloween horror show, and from there you”ll be directed to the right place on the ODEON online ticket shop to buy all the tickets you need!

THE OPENING NIGHT! Starting as we mean to go on, mix celebs and press as we present a gala screening of DESCENT 2, with drinks reception, Q+A with cast and crew and apocalyptic after-party! Join stars Myanna Buring, Anna Skellern, and director Jon Harris for this exclusive screening of the much-anticipated sequel to Neil Marshalls claustrophobic classic, well before its December release. This is your chance to ask the team a few awkward questions and win a signed movie poster. Seats are strictly limited for this one off event, so be sure to book early! There will be limited access to the after party, which will take place at an undisclosed PRINTWORKS venue. If you have purchased a screening ticket, you’ll have a chance to get in at a reduced rate but space WILL be very limited.

LET THE DARKSIDE OUT! We have partnered with games company CAPCOM to bring you an exclusive chance to try out their new game in the Resident Evil franchise, RESIDENT EVIL: DARKSIDE CHRONICLES, which promises to be their bloodiest, most challenging release yet. The game isn’t released until end of November on the Nintendo Wii, so this is your chance to get your clammy hands on it before anyone else! And to top it all off, all players will be entered into a prize draw to win a Wii console and a copy of the new game! Check out the Games page for more info. Don’t miss out!
AUTUMN GUESTS. To celebrate the premiere screening of Steve Rumbelow’s AUTUMN, we are pleased to welcome the film’s stars Dexter Fletcher (Lock Stock, Layer Cake) and Dickon Tolson (The Bill, Casualty, Peak Practice), together with author David Moody, whose cult novels were the basis for the film. David has just had the option on his novel HATER picked up by Mexican master of the macabre Guillermo del Toro, and will be on hand to sign copies of his books. Then he and the film’s stars will all attend a Q&A after the screening on the Sunday!
STRIGOI MEETS ITS MAKERS! Strigoi are the Vampires of Eastern European mythology, far removed from the familiar creatures of cinema cliché. Director Faye Jackson and producer Rey Muraru have been turning heads and blowing minds with their film at festivals around the world, and we are delighted that they will be joining us for the Premiere UK screening at GRIMM UP NORTH, to give us the low-down on blood-sucking in darkest Romania!

UK PREMIERE. Just to prove that it really is Grimm Up North, we celebrate the local talent, with the UK premiere SPLINTERED – award winning horror from our own Simeon Halligan. There’ll be a big turn out for this one, including Holly Weston (Madonna\’s Filth and Wisdom), Sacha Dhawan (The History Boys) Jonathan Readwin (Dread), Sadie Pickering (Waterloo Road). The director, producer and many other members of the crew will be on hand to answer all your questions. There’ll even be a few SPLINTERED goodies to win! And we’ll also be offering you a chance to feast your eyes on….
SEE BEHIND THE SCENES. ….forbidden fragments from SPLINTERED! A chance to see behind the scenes, with storyboards, visuals, props and documentary material. You’ll not find any of this material anywhere else until the release of the film next year – and perhaps not even then. So, if you want to take a look where you shouldn’t and find out how a horror film is spawned, stitched together, and finally unleashed, check out our exclusive SPLINTERED exhibition at the Odeon Printworks through out the weekend.
CLIVE BARKER. Back in the 80s, Clive Barker revolutionised the world of horror. And he”s set to do so again. We are proud to be screening an exclusive premiere of DREAD, the latest cinematic horror from his dark and deadly imagination, as well as a chance to relive that first terrifying glimpse of the Cenobites, in the classic HELLRAISER. Both on the same night. Can your already flayed and frayed nerves stand the strain? If were luck we might just have a celebrity guest or t wo! Watch this space.
COLIN. You’ve heard the hype, you’ve read the press, now see the film. The infamous £45 Zombie movie will be shambling onto the screen at Grimm Up North. Now is your chance to discover for yourselves the trials and tribulations of being COLIN, just a normal rotting face in the crowd of the undead apocalypse. Director Mark Price and members of his cast and crew will be joining us for this exclusive screening to launch the film”s UK release. If we’re lucky, they might even join us at Zombie Aid 2, the charity Zombie walk of death! COMPETITIONS: Plus if you sign up to our group on Facebook, sign up to our newsletter or follow us on Twitter, you can enter exclusive competitions to win great prizes like free tshirts from Last Exit To Nowhere and festival tickets!

More announcements (and maybe a few dire warnings!) to come from the GRIMM Office as we draw ever closer to the abyss, but for now, we wish you unpleasant dreams…

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynsey Jefferies at info@grimmfest.com. Fax: 0845 017 6769. Grimm Up North!, 4 Acton Square. The Crescent. Manchester M5 4NY, UK.

Find out more at The Official Website…Click HERE

Rick Baker and Rob Zombie

This image provided by Universal Studios shows six-time Oscar-winning special effects artist Rick Baker (left) and director/rock star Rob Zombie arriving at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights opening night event event Friday Oct. 2, 2009 for the Chiller Eyegore Awards. Baker was honored with a ”Lifetime Achievement Award.” Zombie received a trophy as ”Filmmaker of the Year” for Halloween II.

By Sherri Jennings – AP

Venice, Italy — George Romero swears his latest zombie installment isn’t a horror-filled commentary on America’s military entanglements in Iraq or Afghanistan.

“George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead” is more a broad, global commentary on enmity and discrimination of every kind, Romero told reporters Wednesday after screening the film at the Venice Film Festival.

The film, Romero’s sixth in the zombie franchise, is the first horror film in competition at the Lido since the festival’s debut, when Rouben Maumolian’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” opened the 1932 edition, Venice artistic director Marco Mueller said.

In the movie, Romero’s flesh-eating zombies are set against the backdrop of a warring world in which two feuding families disagree on how to dispose of the dead: One clan opts to kill them off indiscriminately while the other chains them up to “keep them among us.” A band of AWOL soldiers arrive on Plum Island, off the eastern U.S. coast, hoping to find paradise but find that life there is all too similar to the war they left behind.

“Zombie films are always a vehicle to talk about something that happens in the present time,” Romero told reporters. While no specific war inspired it, a host of current conflicts — from Northern Ireland to the Middle East — were all influences, Romero said.

“Discrimination, racial discrimination, religious discrimination and tribalism of any kind,” he said. “I wasn’t looking at Iraq and saying ‘Oh, let’s make a movie about that,’” he said.

“It’s more about what’s underlying man’s inability to forget enmity,” he said. “They’re enemies even long after they’ve forgotten what started the conflict in the first place.”

Some of Romero’s previous “Dead” movies explored the Vietnam War, racism, consumerism, militarism and class differences.

Romero’s 1968′s classic “Night of the Living Dead” launched the franchise; he followed up with, among others, the 1979 “Dawn of the Living Dead” and the star-filled 2005 box office flop, “Land of the Dead.”

“I don’t know how many more there will be,” Romero said. “It’s a practical reality. I think I would prefer it if they were farther apart.” But he said his financial backers frequently want him to do another if the latest one does well financially.

“I think if I were trying to make serious films about some of these topics I wouldn’t be able to,” he said. “So it’s great to be able to bring the zombies and talk about social issues and have fun at the same time.”