Friday Night Lights
Dead Set (Monday-Friday, midnight/11c, IFC)
TV is gearing up for a zombie invasion, and Halloween-ies with strong stomachs will be in hog hell (because frankly, it doesn't really feel like heaven). As a disgustingly hilarious curtain-raiser for AMC's much-anticipated Halloween night premiere of The Walking Dead, IFC imports this wildly graphic five-part British miniseries that imagines a zombie outbreak sweeping London, with the last safe haven being...
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John Carpenter's entry, Cigarette Burns, was my second favorite Masters of Horror episode from season 1. (My all-time favorite MoH to date is William Malone's The Fair-Haired Child). Cigarette Burns had everything in it that makes a horror film (even a short one) great: A unique, darkly mystical story; gorgeous photography; a deep feeling of dread; extremely shocking, perfectly-placed gore; an atmospheric musical score; and Udo Kier. If you have not yet rented or purchased Cigarette Burns on DVD, I highly recommend it. The episode itself remains one of the best of the series, and the DVD contains some interesting extras, including commentary by the master himself, John Carpenter.See, I had to begin this entry by praising J.C., because I hate feeling "meh" about any of my favorite directors' work, and I don't like blogging about disappointment. Considering the title alone, Pro-Life evokes a hot-button issue, and I expected to feel at least a bit stirred up, no matter which side of th...
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Hey, tough-guy Daniel Craig! Can you get the laughs? Per the Hollywood Reporter, former 007 James Bond Pierce Brosnan will star in Spy vs. Stu, a comedy about a commitment-phobe who fears losing his one true love to a debonair superspy (Brosnan).... Per Variety, Battlestar Galactica exec producer Ronald D. Moore is penning a remake of John Carpenter's The Thing.... DreamWorks has grabbed rights to Camp Creepy Time, the forthcoming children's book authored by Gina Gershon (Bound) and concerning a summer camp that's a front for an alien-run smuggling operation.
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Need you more proof that the Shape is unstoppable? John Carpenter's original Halloween haunts the big screen for the first time in 27 years on Oct. 30 and 31, when a digitally remastered, hi-definition cut of the 1978 horror classic hits 150 movie houses. This re-release will be preceded by a 20-minute featurette, including interviews with original cast members. A list of participating theaters can be found here.
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Emannuelle Vaugier, Two and a Half Men
Someone's getting married tonight on the season finale of CBS' Two and a Half Men, and it may or may not be Charlie Sheen's man who loves women. (The first clue should have been when Charlie Harper registered himself at Scores.) Emmanuelle Vaugier, who plays fiancée Mia, brings TVGuide.com up to speed on the nuptials that may be nope-tials.
TVGuide.com: The good news is that since the last time we spoke, I have seen
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Charlie Sheen and Emmanuelle Vaugier, Two and a Half Men
A ballerina dances back into Charlie's life on tonight's Two and a Half Men (9 pm/ET on CBS), when Emmanuelle Vaugier — who is seemingly everywhere these days — reprises her November 2005 role as Mia for several episodes. Will the Saw II siren be the one to finally make Charlie Sheen's player cough up the "commitment" word? TVGuide.com spoke with the actress about that, her run as Lex Luthor's honey and more.
TVGuide.com: What brings Mia back? Didn't Charlie selflessly let her go, out of deference to poor li'l Jake's crush?
Emmanuelle Vaugier: Yes, I know! It's never really explained, but
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Question: Is someone making a new remake of The Blob, or am I going insane? If so, do you have any plot details? I hope they cast Shawnee Smith in the lead again — she was awesome in the '88 version.Answer: Superproducer Scott Rudin is indeed developing another remake of the 1950s sci-fi/teen picture The Blob for Paramount Pictures. The screenwriters include House of Wax remake scripters Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes, and Joe Ballarini, who's sold several high-profile but unproduced scripts. The Blob deal was struck immediately after Revolution Studios secured the rights to remake
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John Carpenter's "Cigarette Burns"
Showtime is laying claim to the deepest, darkest destination on the cable dial. The blood curdling began over the weekend with Don Coscarelli's "Incident on and off a Mountain Road," the first of the network's highly anticipated Masters of Horror anthology. The 13-part series (premiering new installments Fridays at 10 pm/ET) is the brainchild of veteran writer-director Mick Garris (Phantasm). The idea was simply to give a select group of filmmakers an hour episode each in which to spill their guts (and gore) on screen with unlimited creative freedom. The only constraint: to make each creation with under $2 million dollars. Not too shabby considering contributing master Tobe Hooper
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John Carpenter's "Cigarette Burns"
Tonight at 10 pm/ET — in plenty of time for Halloween — Showtime will lay claim to being the deepest, darkest destination on the cable dial. The bloodcurdling begins with Don Coscarelli's "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road," the first of the network's highly anticipated Masters of Horror anthology. The 13-part series is the brainchild of veteran writer-director Mick Garris (Phantasm). The idea was simply to give a select group of filmmakers an hour episode each in which to spill their guts (and gore) on-screen with unlimited creative freedom. The only constraint: to bring each creation in under $2 million dollars. Not too shabby considering contributing master Tobe Hooper
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Hazed and confuzed: Maggie Grace
Question: Is the new movie The Fog a remake of an old black-and-white film?
Answer: The Fog (2005) is a remake, but the original is John Carpenter's 1980 The Fog, which is most definitely in color: The neon pea-green fog is vividly etched in the memories of all of us who traipsed out to theaters to see it, hoping for another Halloween (1978). Carpenter himself was involved with the remake, which defied all expectations of taking the No. 1 box-office slot on its opening weekend, but it's still a pretty soggy excuse for a horror film.
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