Assemblog: June 21, 2013

Elysium

New this week on Popshifter: Melissa remarks on the good and bad in The Cary Grant Film Collection on DVD; Chelsea loves El Valiente, the new album from Piñata Protest; Jeff finds little to love in Ozzy’s covers album, so cleverly titled Under Cover; Paul remembers some of the great roles from James Gandolfini; I have great things to say about iLL Manors, the debut film from Ben Drew; discuss the horror bona fides of Donna Davies’s documentary Nightmare Factory; and am impressed by The ABCs of Death, now on home video.

Please note: tomorrow, June 22, is the last day to donate to Among The Living, the new film by the makers of À l’intérieur (Inside) and Livide, Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo. They are so close to their goal. Won’t you help?

As much as it pains me to link to Deadline, they have the scoop on a new casting announcement for Cillian Murphy in The Heart of the Sea. He’ll portray Matthew Joy, “second mate on the whale ship Essex.” Here’s the synopsis:

Citing reports of cannibals in the Society Islands, Joy and first mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) convince first time Captain Pollard (Benjamin Walker) to sail to South America after an enraged sperm whale rams and sinks the Essex, leaving 21 crew members adrift in small boats, 3,000 miles from land.

Yes, yes, I know we’re all snorting at the words sailors, sperm whales, and Chris Hemsworth, but this does sound good.

For everyone who loved Prometheus, there is some news on the film’s proposed sequel. Screenwriter Jack Paglen, who has also written the script for the upcoming Wally Pfister film Transcendence, has signed on, according to The Hollywood Reporter. For everyone who hated Prometheus and continues to spew hate in Damon Lindelof’s direction, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

This year’s FanExpo Canada (Toronto) is shaping up to be great. Rue Morgue’s Festival of Fear has just announced the first wave of guests and panels, including Jen and Sylvia Soska (American Mary); Maurizio Guarini of Goblin; Re-Animator and From Beyond reunions; a horror artists workshop with Ghoulish Gary Pullin; Liisa Ladouceur and her book How To Kill a Vampire: Fangs in Folklore, Film, and Fiction; plus a special encore presentation of The Black Museum’s “A Cultural History of The Zombie.” For more details, check out the Rue Morgue website.

In surprising, but really cool news, John Cameron Mitchell has announced a new Broadway production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch starring Neil Patrick Harris. I can hear the groans turning into thoughtful contemplation and finally approval and excitement already. Mitchell is also working on a Hedwig sequel which also blows my mind just a little bit. (H/T to Indiewire.)

Product placement in films is no longer the exception but the rule and /Film has a great piece on how Neill Blomkamp chose the product placement for the upcoming Elysium (out on August 9). If we’re going to have product placement, and it looks like we will, then I guess we should be thankful at least for some thoughtful product placement.

The Lone Ranger, oh wait, I mean Disney’s The Lone Ranger, opens on July 3. I’m not at all interested in seeing it and in fact, the very existence of the film totally irks me. I know Johnny Depp was made an honorary member of the Comanche Nation, but the whole thing doesn’t sit well with me. Videogum has a good article called, “Can We Talk About This Johnny Depp Thing For A Second (Again)?” that covers a lot of my concerns and misgivings. And you should definitely check out the comments because it’s Videogum and their commenters tend to be insightful and funny.

—Less Lee Moore, Managing Editor