Month: October 2009

Sirius XM Lists Top 101 “Halloween Horror Score Chop Down”

halloween poster

Quick, what’s the scariest horror film score out there?  I’m sure a couple of no-brainers came to mind, and a few of you probably thought of something wholly original.  Thanks to the Cinemagic channel on Sirius XM, we have an official list to choose from.  There are a few shocking inclusions, and a couple of omissions, one that I, myself, deem glaring.

See for yourself:

Halloween John Carpenter 1
Psycho Bernard Herrmann 2
The Shining Wendy Carlos/Assorted 3
Jaws John Williams 4
Alien Jerry Goldsmith 5
Omen, The Jerry Goldsmith 6
Bride of Frankenstein Franz Waxman 7
Thing, The Ennio Morricone 8
Exorcist, The Pendereki 9
Fog, The John Carpenter 10
Rosemary’s Baby Christopher Komeda 11
Hellraiser Christopher Young 12
Friday the 13th Harry Manfredini 13
A Nightmare on Elm Street Charles Bernstein 14
Suspira Goblin 15
Poltergeist Jerry Goldsmith 16
Changeling, The Rick Williams 17
Dawn of the Dead Assorted 18
Haunted Palace, The Ronald Stein 19
Amityville Horror, The Lalo Schifrin 20
Creepshow John Harrison 21
Re-animator Richard Band 22
Hellraiser II: Hellbound Christopher Young 23
Carrie Pino Donaggio 24
Fly, The Howard Shore 24
Dracula Philip Glass 25
Scream Marco Beltrami 26
Saw Charlie Clouser 27
Phantasm Fred Myrow & Malcolm Seagrave 28
Ring, The Hans Zimmer 29
Mummy, The Franz Reizenstein 30
28 Days Later John Murphy 31
Bram Stoker’s Dracula Wojciech Kilar 32
Wicker Man, The Paul Giovanni 33
Creature from the Black Lagoon Assorted 34
Candyman Philip Glass 35
Curse of the Werewolf Benjamin Frankel 36
Night of the Living Dead Assorted 37
Ninth Gate Wojciech Kilar 39
Christine John Carpenter 40
Cape Fear Bernard Herrmann 41
Dracula John Williams 42
Wolf Man, The Hans J. Salter & Frank Skinner 43
Fury, The John Williams 44
Drag Me to Hell Christopher Young 45
Children of the Corn Jonathan Elias 46
Silence of the Lambs Howard Shore 47
Puppet Master Richard Band 48
House on Sorority Row Richard Band 49
Exorcist II, The Ennio Morricone 50
Evil Dead Joseph LoDuca 51
Prince of Darkness John Carpenter 52
Howling, The Pino Donaggio 53
Halloween 3: Season of the… John Carpenter & Alan Howarth 54
Ghost Story Philippe Sarde 55
Nightbreed Danny Elfman 56
Sleepy Hollow Danny Elfman 57
Interview with a Vampire Elliot Goldenthal 58
Seven Howard Shore 59
Sixth Sense, The James Newton Howard 60
Alien 3 Elliot Goldenthal 61
Grudge, The Christopher Young 62
Dawn of the Dead Tyler Bates 63
Evil Dead 2 Joseph LoDuca 64
28 Weeks Later John Murphy 65
From Beyond Richard Band 66
Damien: Omen II Jerry Goldsmith 67
Invasion of the Body Snatchers Denny Zeitlin 68
Haunting, The (original) Humphrey Searle 69
Descent, The David Julyan 70
Hostel Nathan Barr 71
Mephisto Waltz, The Jerry Goldsmith 72
Serpent and the Rainbow, The Brad Fiedel 73
Mimic Marco Beltrami 74
Mist, The Mark Isham 75
Fly II, The Christopher Young 76
Jeepers Creepers Bennett Salvay 77
Let the Right One In Johan Soderqvist 78
Halloween 2 John Carpenter 79
Videodrome Howard Shore 80
Silence of the Lambs Howard Shore 81
Dunwich Horror, The Les Baxter 82
Scars of Dracula James Bernard 83
Cell, The Howard Shore 84
Cabin Fever Nathan Barr 85
Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb Tristam Cary 86
Orca Ennio Morricone 87
Troll Richard Band 88
Funhouse, The John Beal 89
Quatermass and the Pit Tristam Cary 90
Misery Marc Shaiman 91
Trick ‘r Treat Douglas Pipes 92
Pet Sematary Elliot Goldenthal 93
Maniac Jay Chattaway 94
Others, The Alejandro Amenabar 95
Signs (Touchstone) James Newton Howard 96
Frighteners, The Danny Elfman 97
Copycat Christopher Young 98
Event Horizon Michael Kamen (w/Oribital) 99
Altered States John Corigliano 100
Young Frankenstein John Morris 101

Personally, I don’t get HOSTEL being anywhere on this list, and, while the EVENT HORIZON score was somewhat memorable, do we really need Orbital getting any recognition here.  For the glaring  omission, I nominate the score from RAVENOUS by Michael Nyman and Mitch Albarn aka “2D” of the Gorillaz, one of the better “put on and listen to” movie soundtracks in the last ten years.  Granted, it’s not terrifying, but terrifying isn’t exactly what they were going for on this list when they decided to include YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.  And, if you’re going to include JAWS then you have to, at least, consider the score for the ’33 version of KING KONG.

All in all, however, they have all the staples here, and, even if you have a tenth of what’s on this list in your MP3 library, you have quite a playlist for your Halloween party this year.

Thanks to Shock Till You Drop for pointing us the list’s direction.

Featurette Friday: Happy, Happy Halloween from Silver Shamrock

silver shamrock pumpkin

Some of you may not have seen HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH.   Some of you may have heard that, being the red-headed step-child of the HALLOWEEN franchise, the film simply isn’t worth checking out.   If anyone told you that, they are dead wrong.   Granted, it’s not as terrifying or as memorable as the original film, or even some of the sequels, but it certainly is better than your average horror flick.

One of the reasons for this can be found just below.   Just in time for October 31st, we give you the clip that will rattle around in your brain for days and months to come.

Enjoy, and, from all of us at We Are Movie Geeks, we wish you a fun and safe Halloween.

Thursday Night Scares Up Some Good Comedy

COMMUNITY-on-NBC-Halloween-Epis-8-550x366

There are two bits of good news to report about NBC’s Thursday night comedies.   One is that every single show was able to pull off their Halloween episodes perfectly and they were all hilarious as ever, even you Community.   The second piece of news is that NBC has decided to order full seasons of Community and Parks and Recreation! YAY!!   This is really good news for Parks and Recreation which, even though having an amazingly gut-busting season this year, has been struggling hard in the ratings.   There was even a worry that this show might be on the chopping block of shows to soon get the axe but it appears rave critical reviews and a loyal fan base will at least allow it to finish out the year.   And now for the cavalcade of Halloween episodes!

I did like Community’s attempt at a Halloween episode as it featured everything you think would go wrong at a Community College Extra Credit Earning Spanish Class Halloween Party hosted by Annie the jittery ex high school nerd.   You have Chevy Chase’s character accidentally taking some ecstacy and losing it while dressed in a pretty hilarious Beastmaster outfit.  Then there’s Jeff thinking of himself yet again as he tries to score with his insanely hot History teacher but failing on all cylinders.   And Brita dressed in a pretty odd squirrel costume, though I did love the giant acorn, as she tries to stop Shirley from messing up Jeff’s moves.   All in all a good episode which was completely saved by Ahmed dressing up as Batman and of course putting on a whole Dark Knight routine but he did save Jeff and Chevy from a pretty horrible fate and that was pretty brilliant.

Parks and Recreation also went with the Halloween party route as Anne through one of the lamest parties imaginable.   Luckily Tom showed up dressed as T-Pain and saved that party like only a rapper could, he turned on music, that’s pretty much all you have to do.   We did get a little bit more info on Tom and his wife’s fake marriage and how they are going to get divorced and the look on Tom’s face shows he’s not ready for that loss. Leslie, on the other hand, was not able to attend the party as she and her new cop boyfriend attempted to stop some punk kid from vandalizing a statue and failed miserable in the process.   Probably the best bit of the show is when they had Andy try to interrogate the kid and he pretended to be an FBI agent.

The Office on the other hand only spent the first bit before the opening credits on their Halloween party which was pretty good as I liked everyone’s costumes with Michael as a dick in the box guy, Dwight as the Jigsaw puppet, and even Kelly bringing back the chick from The Fifth Element. I wish they had spent more of the episode on Halloween stuff because then it pretty much devolved into just a regular episode of The Office with Michael falling into a coy pond and everyone making fun of him for it.   Also Andy and Pam have to go on a sales call and get mistaken for a couple since Pam is pregnant and some awkward shenanigans arise from there.   All in all not a bad episode and I did like how they are kind of pushing for Andy to go out with the new receptionist because I like his character and would like to see him get some.

And finally on 30 Rock, Tracy Morgan did hid usual crazy bit by fearing that he will be the next celebrity to die after two have keeled over already.   In a really good bit he even calls Betty White and tries to scare her to death and she figures out what he’s doing and says she’s going to be the one to bury him.   Also Frank and the other writers are struggling to make their Halloween party less nerdy and pathetic, I loved Lutz dressed as Boba Fett, and realize that gay guys hang out with Jenna and have amazing Halloween parties that hot girls show up to so they befriend her.   Then there’s Liz and Jack who are still trying to find a new cast mate for the show and for some reason head down to Kenneth’s old neck of the woods and find a ventriloquist act.   Now I’m not a fan of Jeff Dunham and I’m not sure if they were making fun of his act or not but what Jack does to his puppet at the end had me applauding.   Well that wraps up another good year of Halloween comedy episodes and a Happy Halloween to all you blog readers.

Heath Ledger directed music video has been released

ledgervideo

One of Australia’s old school hip hop gods NFAMAS wanted to do a solo project. He called it NO FIXED ABODE. As a childhood friend of Heath Ledgers, they discussed that he would shoot and be the creative driving force behind the video. Check it out below followed by a 10 minute behind the scenes video for the making of where NFAMAS talks about how it all came to be.

Dennis Hopper Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer

dennis_hopper

Actor, writer, director and artist Dennis Hopper has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. On October 1st, we reported that Mr. Hopper was admitted into a Manhattan hospital for severe flu-like symptoms and dehydration.

Mr. Hopper has chosen to undergo a “special programme” in California and has canceled all upcoming appearances so that he can focus on treatment. We certainly wish Mr. Hopper a full and speedy recovery and offer our thoughts and prayers during this difficult chapter in his life.

Source: BBC News

TROPIC THUNDER Scribe Taking on MEN IN BLACK 3

men in black

With a $589 million worldwide take for the first film and a $441 million worldwide pull-in for the second, I am shocked beyond belief (and a little appreciative) that Sony never force-fed a third MEN IN BLACK film.  Granted, there were Saturday morning cartoons, video games, and amusement park rides to rake in some cash off the brand, but a third film, with or without Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones’ involvements, could have easily been thrown together years ago.

Well, those “years ago” have turned in to today, as Risky Biz Blog is reporting that TROPIC THUNDER screenwriter Etan Cohen is hard at work on a third film in the MEN IN BLACK franchise.  Sony officially announced the project back in April, but, since then, not much has moved on the project until now.

Though no deal has been set in stone, Risky Biz is also stating Barry Sonnenfeld, who helmed the first two films, is attached to the new film, though in what capacity they do not state.  When all is said and done, Sonnenfeld may just end up an executive producer, which, for all intents and purposes, is just an approval-giver for the new film.

This brings us to the big question surrounding this project.  Will Smith’s involvement in the MEN IN BLACK series is part and parcel for the success the first two films had.  Will he be back?  With a screenwriter such as Cohen, who has become a hot Hollywood commodity in the last, few years, on board, it does seem Sony isn’t looking to make this a fly-by-night operation.  To that, look for them to dish out all kinds of green to get Smith’s name back into the credit list.  Tommy Lee Jones, not so much, for a number of reasons.  His character could easily be written out, his involvement isn’t all that necessary for the success of the film, and, in recent years, it has appears Jones has gone on to more high-end projects, leaving the MEN IN BLACK and BATMAN FOREVER projects to the ’90s.

What do you think?  Is a MEN IN BLACK 3 right up your sci-fi geek alley?  Is there any chance Sony will able to lure Smith back to the project?  What do you think of Etan Cohen, whose screenplays include IDIOCRACY, TROPIC THUNDER, and MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA, working on the script for this film?  Let us know by commenting below.

SIN CITY 2 Still Flashing That Elusive Carrot

sin city2

It appears every once in awhile we are going to get a little morsel of information about a SIN CITY 2 film that is just going to drive fan reaction into a frenzy and carry the notion that the film is actually going to happen for another couple of months.  At this stage of the game, we will be lucky to ever see  SIN CITY 2, particularly one that is A) directed by Robert Rodriguez or B) nearly as compelling and fascinating as the first one.  Today comes that little bit of news for the end of 2009, and it comes to us from Comics 2 Film at Mania.com.

They caught up with producer Stephen L’Heureux who confirmed that SIN CITY 2 would be rolling before cameras in the second half of 2010.  As with the first film, Frank Miller will be co-directing with Rodriguez, but, unlike the first film, this one will not be based on one of Miller’s graphic novels.  Instead, it will be a wholly original screenplay written by Miller for the screen.

L’Heureux also had this to say:

There’s also talk, of course, of ‘Sin City 3‘.

Pardon my cynicism, but I will believe it when I see it.

What do you think?  Will SIN CITY 2 actually happen?  What do you think of it being an original screenplay by Miller?  Which characters from the first film would you just be clamoring to see more of?  Let us know by commenting below.

Anthony Hopkins Set to Play THOR’s Daddy

anthony hopkins

You just knew with a high-profile director like Kenneth Branagh on board taking control of THOR there would be some A-level thespians taking charge of some of the roles.  Well, you don’t get much more of an A-level thespian in today’s world then Anthony Hopkins.  According to Variety, the Oscar winner has officially signed on to play Odin, Thor’s father, who believes the titular character needs to be taught a lesson thus thrusting his consciousness into the body of a mortal.

Hopkins hasn’t exactly had a slew of great roles in recent memory.  Performance aside, which he always nails, his most memorable film in the last ten years has been RED DRAGON and HANNIBAL, where Hopkins returned to the role that brought him to the big kid’s table.  While THOR doesn’t sound like a film where Hopkins is set to shine, he will definitely be thrust into the Hollywood spotlight once again.  Just like every other performance Hopkins give, he is sure to hit this one out of the park.

THOR is set for release on May 20th, 2011.

AVATAR Official Site Gives Us a Nice Shot of a Cliff

avatar navi

There has been a barrage of footage from Cameron’s upcoming AVATAR.   So much so, in fact, in the last few months that some of us are starting to dream about cat-like Smurfs.   It’s creepy, really.   We are going to have even more footage thrust upon us this coming Sunday, as 20th Century Fox announced today they will be showing the new, 3 1/2-minute trailer on Cowboy Stadium’s Diamond Vision Screen, the world’s largest video display.   Thanks to Coming Soon for pointing this out to us.

So, it’s somewhat strange when you consider the film’s official website, which went live today.

Let me ask you this.   Does this shot excite you?

avatar site1

If not, then don’t worry about clicking on it.   It will just take you to AVATAR’s homepage, which is just what you see, a shot of a cliff with an embedded link re-directing you to the trailer housed on Yahoo!.   In fact, maybe this is a good thing.   With all the footage we have been seeing for this film, maybe they have decided to take a subtle approach on the website, just offering us a logo and a simple, exquisite shot.

Of course, I’m sure all of that will change, and, before you know it, you will be able to control your own N’avi via the site.   There will be a thousand hours of production footage.   All will be right in the Jim Cameron world.   For now, just enjoy the subtlety a little bit.

AVATAR hits theates on December 16th, but I’m sure you already had that tidbit of information drilled into your brain.

Governors Awards Presenters: Tarantino, Huston, Demme, and Douglas

080215a_030

Earlier today AMPAS released the names of the presenters at this year’s Governor’s Awards. I preferred it when the speeches were included in the actual ceremony. The previous acceptance speeches have made for some of the best LIVE television in history.

From the AMPAS Press Release:

Beverly Hills, CA (October 29, 2009) – Oscar ® winners Jonathan Demme, Anjelica Huston and Quentin Tarantino, along with past Honorary Award recipient Kirk Douglas, will be among the presenters at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ inaugural Governors Awards event on November 14, Academy President Tom Sherak announced today. The evening will feature presentations of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-executive John Calley, and Honorary Awards to actress Lauren Bacall, producer-director Roger Corman and cinematographer Gordon Willis.

Demme, Douglas, Huston and Tarantino will join 600 invited guests at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center ® to celebrate the careers of Bacall, Calley, Corman and Willis, who each have made lasting contributions to the motion picture industry.

The black-tie dinner event will include film clips as well as remarks from the honorees, their colleagues and admirers.

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given to an individual for “extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”

The Thalberg Award, a bust of the legendary motion picture executive, is given to “a creative producer whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production.”

The Governors Awards presentation is being produced for the Academy by Oscar-winning producer Bruce Cohen in association with Emmy ®-winning producer Don Mischer.

Academy Award nominations in all categories will be announced on February 2, 2010. The 82nd Academy Awards presentation will be telecast LIVE by the ABC Television Network on Sunday, March 7, 2010.

Source: AMPAS