Screenhead

On October 31, Nordstrom and Summit Entertainment invite Twilight fans to take advantage of a special opportunity to meet select cast members of The Twilight Saga: New Moon at select Nordstrom stores. The cast appearances are being held to celebrate the highly-anticipated November 20 release of the second movie in Summit’s Twilight film saga. Nordstrom launched an exclusive clothing and jewelry collection inspired by the mood and spirit of the film in early October.

Customers can visit nordstrom.com/newmoon for more details about how to acquire VIP access on Saturday, October 31, at 8:00 a.m., to be one of 75 customers to meet the cast.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon cast members will visit the following Nordstrom stores: 

    November 5- Topanga (Canoga Park, CA)**

    November 8- Park Meadows (Lone Tree, CO)*

    November 9- Natick Collection (Natick, MA)*

    November 10- The Galleria (Houston, TX)*

    November 11- Mall of America (Bloomington, MN)*

    November 11- Cherry Hill Mall (Philadelphia, PA)*

    November 11- Stonestown Galleria (San Francisco, CA)*

    November 12- Perimeter Mall (Atlanta, GA)

    November 12- Southcenter (Tukwila, WA)*

    November 13- Aventura Mall (Aventura, FL)

    November 13- Scottsdale Fashion Square (Phoenix, AZ)*

    November 14- Fashion Place (Murray, UT)*

* These malls will also host a talent question and answer forum in the mall which will be open to the public.

** 125 customer VIP packets will be available for the Topanga event only. The mall will not host a talent question and answer forum.

Select Nordstrom stores will also offer customers advanced movie screening passes as gifts with purchase (see nordstrom.com/newmoon for participating stores and details), and will host in-store styling parties on November 14 and 15. Customers can visit nordstrom.com/newmoon to learn what events are taking place at their nearest Nordstrom store and sign-up for email alerts.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon directed by Chris Weitz and starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner will be released November 20, 2009. In the film, the romance between mortal and vampire soars to a new level as Bella Swan (Stewart) delves deeper into the mysteries of the supernatural world she yearns to become part of–only to find herself in greater peril than ever before. Following Edward Cullen’s (Pattinson) departure from Forks, Wash., and Bella discovers his image comes to her whenever she puts herself in jeopardy. In time Bella’s frozen heart is gradually thawed by her budding relationship with Jacob Black (Lautner) who has a supernatural secret of his own.

I thought that, when I first read this, either I had lost my mind or my wayward past had finally caught up with me.  But no…no such luck.  I was indeed reading about how Diablo “Gibberish? What Gibberish?” Cody was actually planning to stage a movie adaptation of the Sweet Valley High series of books.

For those of you not already in the know, and I only remember these because an old friend read these voraciously throughout much of high school (and if you happen to be reading this, hello Stephanie, and I hope you actually READ that copy of The Prince I gave you for graduation.), the Sweet Valley series revolved around Californian twins the Wakefields, who proceeded to engage in a pathologically ridiculous number of soap opera plots including lots of backstabbing and clandestine romances but an unsettlingly low number of chainsaw killings.  At the time, of course, I lamented that last and often got kicked in the shins for my opinion.

Early reports peg Cody as saying that her Sweet Valley movies will include the following: “Sharp comedy/satire, plenty of “sincere” SVH moments too. No werewolves. Plenty of Todd.”

Well, so much for the chainsaw killings….

I admit that I’ve been looking forward to writing this one up also–ever since I heard it was making its grand return, I’ve wanted to grab a copy if for no other reason than to experience the sheer lunatic joy that is Corey Feldman actually back acting in a movie.

That movie, of course, is called Lost Boys: The Tribe, and it represents something long, LONG, awaited for a lot of people–a sequel, albeit a direct to video sequel, to the original Lost Boys movie.  Some will actually call it a “reimagining” or an “homage”, though the prevailing thought appears to peg this one as a sequel.

This time, we’re back with the vampires that made the original great, except this time we’ve got Angus Sutherland instead of Kiefer Sutherland–and yes, they’re related.  And we’re going back to Luna Bay, where the sun never seems to really shine and the people are a mixed bag of outcasts and lunatics (no pun intended).  Worse, there’s a whole lot of missing persons cases in Luna Bay, and those who disappear never really seem to turn up again.    And when a former champion surfer arrives in Luna Bay with his sister, they might well wind up on the list of missing persons…unless they can stop the vampires infesting Luna Bay.

This movie was a lot more than I expected, really–I love the subreferences contained in this little puppy, for one.  They’ll reference THE GOONIES.  Wow, says I.  It’s not every movie that actually references The Goonies.  In fact, I can’t remember the last movie I saw that referenced The Goonies. I love some of the baffling non sequiturs this movie generates, like when one of the vampires takes a knife to the stomach and complains about his shirt being ruined.  That’s just one of them.  Even better, bonus credit goes for the “no vampire dies the same way twice” angle–this yields a lot of really sweet vampire death sequences that keep you guessing.  Will this one turn to ash? Will that one burst into flames?  Who KNOWS what’s going to happen next?

Okay, sure, maybe it’s a little pedestrian.  Maybe it’s just a little TOO focused on working that “x-TREEEEEM sports!” angle.  That’s all really rather debatable.  But coupling the vampirism angle onto it is a little extra spice that lends an extra note of quality to the whole thing.

I’m somewhat torn on this one.  On the one hand, I hate most every vampire movie I get my hands on with only a few exceptions, because they’re all too much alike.  Too many Clan Ventrue-wannabes mincing around and talking about angst and whatnot.  Too many fanboy wish-fulfillment cases who live the life pretty much every fifteen year old wants to live before he realizes that such a life would have probably killed him at a young age.

There are some differences, some exceptions–John Carpenter’s Vampires, Salem’s Lot and 30 Days Of Night come immediately to mind.  Lost Boys, and of course Lost Boys: The Tribe, sadly do not fall into that category.  This is more of the same, but with a couple of different twists and a few laughs.

I’m not personally very wild about this movie–it’s not really a BAD movie, and if you’re into vampire flicks then chances are good you’re going to like this one.  Me personally, however, this sucker just grates too hard on a lot of my pet peeves as horror movies, as vampire movies, go.

Thus, I’m giving it a six out of ten on the ten-scale:  not particularly bad, not particularly good either, and if it IS your cup of tea, you should be all over it.

Miley Cyrus is still hooked to Disney and I don’t blame her either because Disney has acquired screen rights to the young adult novel “Wings.”  Disney has plans to develop the bestselling Aprilynne Pike story as a star vehicle for Miley Cyrus.

Cyrus will play Laurel, a 15-year-old who grows up sheltered and home-schooled in a small town. Adjusting to a big high school is difficult, and her suspicion that she’s not like the other kids becomes a reality when she sprouts a pair of wings and learns that she’s a fairy.

“Wings” hit the bookshelves in May of this year,  the first book of a planned four-book series.

Cyrus is filming The Last Song, a Julie Anne Robinson-directed adaptation of the novel that Nicholas Sparks wrote as a vehicle for Cyrus.  

(Source)

Remember how, just yesterday, I was describing Friday the 13th part five as one of if not the worst of the lot?  Well, here’s the interesting followup–we’re wrapping up our coverage of the Friday the 13th Deluxe Editions with Friday the 13th Part Six: Jason Lives Deluxe Edition.  And Jason Lives is probably one of the best in the series.  Truth be told?  This is where it starts getting GOOD.

Once again, we’re back with good old Tommy Jarvis, who’s looking to be the longest-running protagonist ever.  Tommy’s still the nutter he was last time, though not much is mentioned or even alluded to about what happened to him in part five.   Anyway, Tommy wants some closure on the whole thing, and he figures the best way to get it is to go find Jason’s grave, dig it up, and set the whole worm-riddled mess on FIRE.  For those of you starting to sputter, just hold on a second while I get through this.  Anyway, Tommy’s out to find Jason, and in so doing, accidentally brings him back to life, whereupon he makes a beeline for Crystal Lake, now called Forest Green, where he kills everything in sight.  Now Tommy, along with the local sheriff’s hot daughter, has to try and put Jason to bed once and for all (at least until the next sequel) before he exterminates the entire ZIP code.

It’s really for the best that we forget all ABOUT part five for a panoply of reasons, most of which have to do with the fact that parts five and six so blatantly and openly contradict themselves.  For instance, back in five they claimed Jason was dead.  Cremated, in fact.  He never even showed up in the movie…and yet, in six, there he is, sunk in the ground and badly worm-eaten.  Worse, you remember the ending in five?  Well, Tommy sure looks different now.  It’s like nothing ever happened!  See what I mean?  Loads of plot holes between the two, so just ignore part five completely.

Why, you ask?  Simple–because in every way, part six is vastly superior to part five.  There’s action in here, great horror effects, some downright comedy–the kids at camp positively steal the show sometimes–and just vastly more FUN than the previous installment could bring to bear.  This one’s just entirely too good to pass up.

It represents a start in a whole new direction–this really is the Friday the 13th series’ “New Beginning”.  Ignore part five; this one’s the real deal.

Oh, and a special note–this is the movie that will prove beyond any doubt that Damian Shannon, Mark Swift et al are complete bubbleheaded morons.  Watch this movie and THEN tell me Jason’s hydrophobic.  Assholes.

But all that aside, there’s one critical thing to remember here.  This movie is great fun.  There’s just no two ways about it.  In fact, it’s one of the–quite possibly the very–best in the series.  It has everything you need in a good horror flick and precious little you don’t.  Great for parties or just a night in, Friday the 13th Part Six: Jason Lives Deluxe Edition will be all the slasher joy you need in life.

I have to admit, there’s a certain sort of strange appeal to the recent release Hotel for Dogs, which makes me wonder why it got relegated to the depths of a January release.  But then, it IS sort of a niche appeal, that I have to admit.

See, this is a movie that’s about pretty much what it says on the box—a couple of foster kids who’ve been shuttled around from house to house, and the current couple they’re with is a part of jackass wannabe rockers (one of whom, for some reason, is Lisa Kudrow).  Anyway, about the only joy in their otherwise sad lives is their dog Friday, who they’ve been keeping hidden for three years.  Bruce, the little brother, is something of a mechanical genius whilst big sister Andi keeps a close eye on him.  They’re minor-league grifters on the side, in an effort to keep their forbidden dog fed from foster parents that actually keep their pantry locked against unauthorized feedings.

In something of desperation for a place to keep their dog hidden, they end up in an abandoned hotel that, through Bruce’s unusual mechanical skill, is converted into a doggie paradise, complete with toilet facilities specifically adapted to dogs.  Of course, the good times don’t last long, and soon enough, new problems arise.  Can they be beaten?  Can the dogs find permanent homes that don’t require trespassing?

I’ll admit to personal bias on this one—one of my favorite things in a movie is amateur mechanical engineering, the jury-rigging of disparate parts to make cohesive wholes that accomplish all manner of bizarre tasks.  This movie is literally STUFFED with amateur mechanical engineering—a doggy-functional elevator, a machine that throws sticks for fetching and can be reloaded, primed AND launched by the dogs themselves, the list just goes on and on.  One particularly fun scene involves the jackass rockers getting a filthy comeuppance via the doggy toilet’s exit chute.

Okay, granted, the plot is based on a children’s book and weaker than wet Kleenex.  But the visuals are pretty solid and there’s an undeniable sort of feel-good feeling to this movie.  PETA itself might well have commissioned this as a commentary on caring for strays of all type, be they dog or human child.  And of course, a nice commentary on the nature of the deeply flawed system that services both stray dogs AND stray human children.  It’s a movie packed to the gills with cute dog, and tons of messages.  Schmaltzy beyond all reason, and packed with plot holes (who owns this hotel property, anyway?  Why did they leave several thousand dollars’ worth of furniture and assorted whatnot buried within to be used as parts?  Dare I ask?  Dare I even CARE?  I think I’m supposed to just forget about these massive plot holes.), but it’s a cuddly little package nonetheless.

If you’re a dog lover, if you can’t get enough of jury-rigged mechanical doodads (guilty as charged—this is why I loved Saw II), and if you’re willing to ignore MASSIVE plot holes that will almost insult your intelligence, then you’re going to love Hotel for Dogs.  They’re not promising anything they didn’t deliver—it’s just up to you if that’s what you want delivered.

USA Today ran an exclusive article on the quartet of dudes that fits the requirements for New Moon’s wolf pack.

No. 1 on the list: Native American or First Nation ancestry, because their characters belong to the Quileute tribe, based in La Push, Wash., both in the book and in real life.

Even the director, Chris Weitz says they have the papers to prove their heritage. Boy, are these Native Americans in shape. The temperature rises at this site.

According to USA Today: The Twilight sequel is filming now, and between takes, the actors usually are working out with barbells, doing push-ups or chowing down on steak, Weitz says. “They went through wolf camp together, and they are in constant training. It paid off as a bonding thing for them and helped them to get to know one another. They drove each other to get more buff.”

I’d love to be in Kristen Stewart’s wardrobe right now.

By the way, while the wolves are on all fours running, it’s CGI, but the eyes are from the actors. Go figure.

Well, it’s been a great ride, folks–but all good things must come to an end with the final installment of Lions Gate’s The Lost Collection.  And this time, I’ve got the one horror movie in the lot to hit you with–Slaughter High.

Marty was the kid that everyone picked on, going so far as to have a hot chick invite him to have sex in the girl’s locker room on his birthday and then film him naked.  Well, one of the pranks goes a bit too far, and gives Marty a shot of boiling nitric acid to the face, leaving him disfigured for life.  But Marty’s not taking this one lying down, no sir–he may have vanished for five years, but he’s also set up an extra-special reunion for the little friends who left him disfigured.

Yes, Marty majored in cutting classmates–and it’s a good thing, otherwise we wouldn’t have much of a movie at all.  And when your movie starts out with full-frontal male nudity within the first five minutes, you know you’re in for a serious ride.

See, here’s the especially nifty part: The Lost Collection’s installment of Slaughter High is a fully uncut release.  Yes, to get its R back in the day, they had to dump some footage.  That footage is now back in full effect.  See, back in the eighties, studios couldn’t just release an unrated director’s cut when they went to video.  Now they can, but that’s left earlier stuff like Slaughter High in a bit of a lurch.  Until now–Lions Gate managed to find a fully uncut master print of this one buried in like a broom closet or something, where isn’t really that important, but the important thing is that you’re seeing this sucker exactly as it was meant to be seen.

And yes, it’s very, VERY, familiar–you’ve seen this type of movie before–but once again, this was actually around long before all those other movies you’ve already seen.  You’re looking at a genuine piece of horror history, folks; it really wasn’t a big deal where they found that complete print–it’s the fact that they found it at all that makes this one a downright collectible.

The really interesting part about Slaughter High is that the parts you’ve seen before are very well done…but the parts you HAVEN’T already seen are what really make this one worthwhile.  The ending is going to be quite literally unlike pretty much anything you’ve ever seen.  I’m having a very tough time recalling an ending similar to this one.  And I’ll say this, too–why Simon Scuddamore, who played Marty, didn’t find more work after this one is just downright perplexing.  He made an absolutely incredible lunatic serial killer, moving seamlessly from downtrodden nerd to lunatic with an axe to grind in both the physical AND metaphorical senses.  He could’ve done some truly AMAZING stuff.  Of course, the drug overdose he had the same year Slaughter High was released may well have had something to do with that, but wow…talk about your tragedy, huh?

But regardless of this, Slaughter High ends The Lost Collection with an absolute bang.  It’s everything a proper slasher flick should be, and then some.  It’s easy to see why so many movies were based on this sort of movie–it does its job with a fierce efficiency that’s unrivaled in most of its imitators.

Warner Bros. 17 Again out played all the other movies Friday placing Zac Efron as an audience favorite headliner whom they love and adore. Sorry folks, but I really think he is adorable.  17 Again is a teenager movie.  I am sure younglings are in the movie theaters, too. I know my eight years old wants to see this film. I haven’t quite decided yet if she’ll see it.   

Warner Bros. sent this to me: a wonderful program for teenagers to get Zac Efron on your phone.  I don’t know about the phone, but how about my house (I’ll just stop there.) 

Anyway, all you do is text 17 to 58671 to get the latest on Zac’s new movie 17 Again.  The hit movie is now in the theaters starring Zac Efron and Matthew Perry.  Get more news and free stuff on this hot new movie by becoming a 17 Again mobile member.  Mobile members have a chance to WIN 17 Again prizes including a Zac signed basketball.  Also find out where you can download free 17 Again (Zac) voice tones, mobile wallpapers, clips from the soundtrack and more!